Il Postino
by Michael Radford
from Miramax
Italian star and filmmaker Massimo Troisi was dying of heart failure even before this film, his dream project, began production, and he prevailed upon British director Michael Radford (White Mischief) to see him and the film through to the end. (The 40-year-old Troisi, a beloved comic actor in Italy, died the day production wrapped.) Based on true events, Troisi plays a shy postman who strikes up an unlikely friendship with exiled Chilean poet Pablo Neruda (Philippe Noiret). Through Neruda's example and tutelage, the hero learns to think of his Italian fishing village in lyrical terms, as well as how to talk to women and even find the strength to take his political stands. Sweet as it is, the film finally pushes beyond its charming borders to become an even more complex and poignant story about the pain of growing into one's destiny. --Tom Keogh
Cheered by critics and audiences everywhere, IL POSTINO (THE POSTMAN) is the record-breaking Academy Award(R)-winning (Best Dramatic Score, 1995) romantic comedy that delivers heartfelt laughs! Mario is a bumbling mailman who's madly in love with the most beautiful woman in town ... and who's too shy to tell her how he feels. But when a world-famous poet -- Pablo Neruda -- moves into town, Mario is inspired. With Neruda's help, he finds the right words to win the woman's heart! This unforgettably funny comedy proves that passion ... with some artful deception ... can win the most improbable love!
The World Is Not Enough
by Michael Apted
from MGM (Video & DVD)
When British oil tycoon and M's friend Sir Robert King is killed in a bombing at the MI6 headquarters it becomes James Bond's new assignment to protect his daughter and heir Elektra from further harm. Renard a man who can't feel physical pain due to a bullet in his head seems to play an important role in the sabotage of the ongoing construction of the new King pipeline which can give oil to all the world for the future. The three competing pipelines all end up in Istanbul whereas the King pipeline is being laid elsewhere and therefore is an easy goal to anonymous attackers. James Bond involuntarily teams up with emancipated Dr. Christmas Jones and they soon find out that there is more threat to the situation than just some pipeline sabotage.System Requirements:Run Time: 129 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE Rating: PG - 13 UPC: 027616066428 Manufacturer No: M106644
In his 19th screen outing, Ian Fleming's superspy is once again caught in the crosshairs of a self-created dilemma: as the longest-running feature-film franchise, James Bond is an annuity his producers want to protect, yet the series' consciously formulaic approach frustrates any real element of surprise beyond the rote application of plot twists or jump cuts to shake up the audience. This time out, credit 007's caretakers for making some visible attempts to invest their principal characters with darker motives--and blame them for squandering The World Is Not Enough's initial promise by the final reel.
By now, Bond pictures are as elegantly formal as a Bach chorale, and this one opens on an unusually powerful note. A stunning pre-title sequence reaches beyond mere pyrotechnics to introduce key plot elements as the action leaps from Bilbao to London. Bond 5.0, Pierce Brosnan, undercuts his usually suave persona with a darker, more brutal edge largely absent since Sean Connery departed. Equally tantalizing are our initial glimpses of Bond's nemesis du jour, Renard (Robert Carlyle), and imminent love interest, Elektra King (Sophie Marceau), both atypically complex characters cast with seemingly shrewd choices, and directed by the capable Michael Apted. The story's focus on post-Soviet geopolitics likewise starts off on a savvy note, before being overtaken by increasingly Byzantine plot twists, hidden motives, and reversals of loyalty superheated by relentless (if intermittently perfunctory) action sequences.
Indeed, the procession of perils plays like a greatest hits medley, save for a nifty sequence involving airborne buzz saws that's as enjoyable as it is preposterous. Bond's grimmer demeanor, while preferable to the smirk that eventually swallowed Roger Moore whole, proves wearying, unrelieved by any true wit. The underlying psychoses that propel Renard and Elektra eventually unravel into unconvincing melodrama, while Bond is supplied with a secondary love object, Denise Richards, who's even more improbable as a nuclear physicist. Ultimately, this World is not enough despite its better intentions. --Sam Sutherland
The Bible Series Box Set
by Roger Young
from Lions Gate
King Solomon led a grand life, thus rating this epic movie told in two parts, averaging 86 minutes apiece. Director Roger Young chronicles the king's rise from the weakling mama's boy of Bathsheba to a ruler known for his wisdom, international alliances, construction of the Jewish temple, and oh yes, those thousand wives--concubines included. Part 1 spends the first hour tracing the rivalry of Solomon (Ben Cross) with half-brother Adonijah, before and after the death of their father King David (Max Von Sydow in a brief appearance). It then makes a 10-year leap to dramatize his famous method of divining the true mother of a contested infant. In Part 2, the filmmakers embrace the legend that Solomon and the Queen of Sheba (Vivica A. Fox) had a romantic as well as political alliance, suggesting that they were the star-crossed loves of each other's life and introducing some soft-focus nudity. With the queen's departure, Solomon descends into materialism and idolatry. The performances are strong and the script, penned by Bradley Winter, artfully weaves in background information to give the viewer helpful historical context. --Kimberly Heinrichs
The World Is Not Enough
by Michael Apted
from MGM (Video & DVD)
In his 19th screen outing, Ian Fleming's superspy is once again caught in the crosshairs of a self-created dilemma: as the longest-running feature-film franchise, James Bond is an annuity his producers want to protect, yet the series' consciously formulaic approach frustrates any real element of surprise beyond the rote application of plot twists or jump cuts to shake up the audience. This time out, credit 007's caretakers for mak