Nuttall, Jeff

Infinite Worlds of H.G. Wells

Damage

The fascination of watching Damage is similar to the fascination of watching a car crash in progress--you know something unpleasant is going to happen, but your attention is riveted to the scene of destruction. In the case of this acclaimed drama, adapted by playwright David Hare from the novel by Josephine Hart, the destruction results from a collision of sexual attraction between a British governmental official (Jeremy Irons) and his son's fiancée (Juliette Binoche). Blind to the damage they'll cause to others and themselves, they begin an obsessive affair based purely on impulsive attraction and the hidden emotions that feed into their immediate physical desires. As you could expect, this leads to emotional fallout for everyone concerned, lending multiple interpretations to the film's title and allowing Miranda Richardson (as Irons's wife) to give a brilliant performance drawn from raw anger and betrayal. Under the direction of Louis Malle, this forceful drama never resorts to sordid detail or gratuitous titillation. Rather, Malle and his esteemed cast have explored the ways in which the power of sexuality supercedes the rationality of logic, when mutual attraction is stronger than one's ability to resist temptation. Damage makes it clear that such an indulgence will always come at considerable cost. The DVD of this fine film includes a behind-the-scenes featurette and the original theatrical trailer. --Jeff Shannon

Chef! - The Complete Series One

Meet Britain's finest -- and most ill-tempered -- chef Gareth Blackstock (Lenny Henry) of the prestigious Le Chateau Anglais restaurant. Each meal is a masterpiece. Just don't ask for salt. Chef Blackstock rules his kitchen with an iron ladle and puts up with no slacking. The trouble is that his underpaid and overworked kitchen staff is littered with slackers. Tuck in and prepare to double over in laughter with this hilarious and much loved comedy series from the BBC!Running Time: 210 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY UPC: 794051222527

Hungry for a laugh? The BBC serves up more than a few chuckles in this engaging sitcom about imperious chef Gareth Blackstock (Lenny Henry), a stern taskmaster who runs his kitchen with an iron fist, a lightning tongue, and a silver palate. The show combines some of the best elements of episodic drama and zany comedy, generously seasoned with sensual splashes of fine French cuisine. (Picture Julia Child crossed with Fawlty Towers' John Cleese following a script by the creators of thirtysomething and you get the general idea.) The first series introduces Blackstock as a brilliant, egotistical black chef running an all-white kitchen--until, that is, his wife maneuvers him into hiring an old school chum. Challenges mount as the restaurant faces bankruptcy and Blackstock decides to risk everything to buy it. Could fulfilling his dream wind up costing the king of the kitchen his home and savings? Supported by a talented ensemble cast, the dramatic story arc develops gradually enough to keep viewers wanting more, while individual episodes rest on more traditional sitcom gags--like when the new apprentice chef loses a Band-Aid somewhere in the kitchen but can't tell which gourmet dish it landed in. Later, Blackstock, the ultimate perfectionist, devises his most perfect mouthwatering meal and scours the shady underside of England's green and pleasant countryside for the perfect closer... the king of cheeses, an illegal unpasteurized stilton. Gradually the supporting characters are given more room to grow--especially charming young Everton (Roger Griffiths), the bumbling, insecure prep cook. When Blackstock's boorish Jamaican father (Oliver Samuels) browbeats the "serious professional" into abandoning haute cuisine for a night featuring Caribbean food, it's Everton's legendary dumplings that save the day. (Watching him carefully prepare his Guinness punch might be worth the price of the disc alone.) Those expecting the surreal hysteria of Monty Python or similar classic British comedies might not care for Chef's subtleties, but those interested in quality television mixed with fine food and sprinkled with a few decent laughs will be more than satisfied by what this show has to offer. --Grant Balfour

The Fortunes & Misfortunes of Moll Flanders

This energetic, sardonic, and richly funny adaptation of Daniel Defoe's classic novel is completely unlike what you might expect from genteel Masterpiece Theatre. The heroine, Moll Flanders (Alex Kingston), after being born in prison, wends her way through the top and bottom of 18th-century English society, has five husbands (including a roguish highwayman who becomes the love of her life), many lovers (male and female), travels to America and back again, and in general discovers all that is cruel and sweet in life. Kingston tears into her role with gleeful amorality and delicious charm, often turning to the camera with a seductive smile to ask, "What would you do?" This British miniseries is brilliantly written, skillfully directed, and superbly acted all around (with particularly delightful performances by Diana Rigg and Daniel Craig)--in short, among the best of its kind; both a cunning examination of social morés and a hugely entertaining story. Not to be missed. --Bret Fetzer

No Description Available.
Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: UN
Release Date: 15-SEP-2004
Media Type: DVD

Robin Hood

Film buffs may remember the tangled tale of competing Robin Hood projects in 1991. Kevin Costner, riding high from his Oscar wins for Dances with Wolves, had his pick of projects at the time, and he juggled his interest in parallel Hood films that were under development at different studios. Costner chose Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, of course, directed by his friend Kevin Reynolds, while the other production (the one described here), attached to veteran British director John Irvin (The Dogs of War), ended up on cable television with another Yank, Patrick Bergin, in the lead. Comparisons were inevitable, even though the two films were very different from one another. A little harder edged and more surprising than Reynolds's work, the Irvin-Bergin movie made all that medieval heroism seem more an effort of the heart than previous versions. Roughing things up a bit is Uma Thurman as a bratty Maid Marion, not quite the traditional damsel in distress of yesteryear. Irvin keeps the adventure quotient up, but this is simply a darker, grittier variation on the old tale. With Jürgen Prochnow, Jeroen Krabbé, and Conrad Asquith. --Tom Keogh

The Swashbuckling legend of Robin Hood unfolds in the 12th century when the mighty Normans ruled England with an iron fist.

Captives

The thrill of forbidden passion electrifies the air when young dentist Julia Ormand, the wounded victim of a rough divorce, falls for sad, soulful convict Tim Roth, a patient in her part-time prison duties. Her impulsive embrace of a man who seduces her with whispered confessions and little love bites (how better to flirt with a dentist?) and the rush of their affair raises unsettling questions: what exactly are his motives, and what crime is he in prison for? Captives can't decide whether it's a tale of obsessive love or a film noir thriller with an erotic twist, and it finally falls back on mundane complications. But delicate Ormand is a beauty with a deer-in-the-headlights look, and Roth steals the film with his simmering and tragic eyes. --Sean Axmaker

A beautiful dentist working at a men's prison falls in love with an inmate and finds herself being blackmailed by another inmate.
Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: R
Release Date: 1-MAR-2005
Media Type: DVD

Chef! - The Complete Series Two

Meet Britain's finest -- and most ill-tempered -- chef Gareth Blackstock (Lenny Henry) of the prestigious Le Chateau Anglais restaurant. Each meal is a masterpiece. Just don't ask for salt. Chef Blackstock rules his kitchen with an iron ladle and puts up with no slacking. The trouble is that his underpaid and overworked kitchen staff is littered with slackers. Tuck in and prepare to double over in laughter with this hilarious and much loved comedy series from the BBC!Running Time: 210 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY UPC: 794051222626

Chef! - The Complete Series Three

Meet Britain's finest -- and most ill-tempered -- chef Gareth Blackstock (Lenny Henry) of the prestigious Le Chateau Anglais restaurant. Each meal is a masterpiece. Just don't ask for salt. Chef Blackstock rules his kitchen with an iron ladle and puts up with no slacking. The trouble is that his underpaid and overworked kitchen staff is littered with slackers. Tuck in and prepare to double over in laughter with this hilarious and much loved comedy series from the BBC!Running Time: 180 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY UPC: 794051222725

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