Ryan, Ger

Intermission

The rough-edged vitality of contemporary Irish filmmaking is readily apparent in Intermission, a deliriously ambitious black comedy in which 54 characters and 11 plotlines compete for consistently impressive screen-time. In a dazzling display of audacity, screenwriter Mark O'Rowe and first-time director John Crowley jump from one plot to another, tangling their characters in an infectious series of intersecting events, shifting from scenes of brutal violence, poignant compassion, and richly dark humor, and somehow managing to make it all fit together in a miraculously coherent tapestry of romance, crime, and authentic Dublin atmosphere. Colin Farrell and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine alumnus Colm Meaney are the familiar stars here, and they're in peak form on native soil, but the entire cast shines in equal measure, all of them playing malcontents striving for something better in a world that's simultaneously harsh and hilarious. From start to finish, Intermission is so full of surprises that you'll want to see it twice, just to marvel at the way its puzzle fits together. --Jeff Shannon

Fifty-four characters and eleven storylines intersect with dazzling (San Francisco Chronicle) results in this raucously funny and compellingly gritty (BBCi) comedy. An ingenious tale of small-town delinquents shady cops and warring lovers reunited by a bizarre kidnapping plan Intermission is a dark edgy very funny study of love lust and petty crime (Sight and Sound)!Special Features:Deleted ScenesOriginal Theatrical TrailerSystem Requirements: Running Time 106 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: R UPC: 027616906830 Manufacturer No: 1006497

Moll Flanders

Robin Wright gives an adolescent, one-note performance as Daniel Defoe's 18th-century heroine, who has successive experiences as an abandoned child, a prostitute, a wife (five times over!), a thief, an artist's model, a felon, and much else. Writer-director Pen Densham takes a Forrest Gump-like sentimental angle on Moll's many manifestations (quite a bit different from Terence Young's bawdy 1965 film version) and mostly succeeds in making a movie that is too silly, precious, and weepy. Morgan Freeman plays a narrator (who doesn't exist in the book), and there are some good performances from John Lynch, Stockard Channing, and Jeremy Brett. But by the time this wobbly adaptation reaches its sappy conclusion, one can't help but feel the overriding power of the film is to insult the intelligence with treacle. --Tom Keogh

Take a beautiful and compelling trip back to 18th-Century England ( Prevue Channel ) with this lovely romantic epic ('satellite News Network ) starring Robin Wright (Forrest Gump) as a bold, courageous heroine. Featuring stellar supporting performances from Morgan Freeman (The Shawshank Redemption) and Stockard Channing (Six Degrees of Separation) Moll Flanders is a remarkable motion picture (Jeanne Wolf's Hollywood).Wright portrays Moll, a spirited, headstrong woman whose unfortunate social position leaves her in the most dire of circumstances. Famished and without shelter, Moll is forced to use her beauty as a means for livingfirst as a prostitute and then as a model for an artist who helps change her life for the better. But Moll's struggles are far from over, as the unthinkable occurs, effectively shattering her newfound happiness and forcing this pillar of strength to summon the courage to fight her greatest adversity yet!

Mystery: Malice Aforethought

Falling in love with this doctor could be bad for your health...

Between an endless round of garden parties and village gossip, the only way long-suffering Dr. Edmund Bickleigh can bear the torment of his formidable wife Julia's ferocious tongue is to find solace in the arms of sweet and besotted Ivy Ridgeway. But when he falls for the charms of Madeleine Cranmere, the exotic new resident of Wyvern's Cross, both Ivy's and Julia's fates are sealed as Madeleine won't marry a divorced man. With no other recourse, Dr. Bickleigh decides that one will be dismissed, the other murdered.

Arrogant with the success of a seemingly undetectable murder, Dr. Bickleigh rushes to be united with Madeleine only to find that he has been supplanted by a wealthier suitor. Gossip about his wife's death is rife and it seems to Dr Bickleigh that there is only one way to make the gossip stop. And that is to dispose of the gossipers…

Ben Miller (Johnny English), Barbara Flynn (The Forsyte Saga) and Megan Dodds (Love in a Cold Climate) lead an ensemble cast in this classic tale of infatuation, revenge, and the scandalous business of murder.

Special DVD features include: link to the Masterpiece Theatre Web site; scene selections; and closed captions.

On one DVD9 disc. Region coding: All regions. Audio: Dolby stereo.

Amongst Women

"...great television... as close to the bone as a drama can get." - Daily Record

"Hit Irish drama..." - Sunday Mirror

"...a great performance from Tony Doyle..." - The Independent

"One of the finest TV dramas... emotional..." - Birmingham Evening Mail

WINNER - Best Television Drama - Irish Film and Television Academy Awards / WINNER - Best Leading Performance Tony Doyle - Irish Film and Television Academy Awards / WINNER - Best Mini-Series - Banff World Television Awards / NOMINEE - Best Drama Serial - BAFTA Awards

A family bound together by love and fear

Based on John McGahern's award winning novel and set in 1950's rural Ireland, this is the searingly truthful story of embittered ex-IRA soldier Michael Moran (Tony Doyle - A Love Divided, Ballykissangel), a brutal, domineering patriarch. Widowed and desperate to keep his family together, he succeeds only in driving his children from him. His daughters, bound together by love and fear of him, struggle painfully to establish their own lives away from the family home, while his sons, resentful of his harsh and at times, violent discipline, manage to break free - and break his heart.

Also Starring: Ger Ryan (Malice Aforethought), Susan Lynch (Elizabeth: The Golden Age), Geraldine O'Rawe (The Harpist), Ann-Marie Duff (Notes on a Scandal), Brían F. O'Byrne (Before the Devil Knows You're Dead)

approx. 219 mins.

Forgive and Forget

This insightful British film features the handsome, macho David, a construction worker who visits trendy Soho for casual sexual encounters. David is unable to admit to himself or anyone else that he is gay, including Theo, his good-looking, straight best mate whom David secretly loves. Inseparable since childhood, they've always been there for each other. That is until Theo moves in with his new girlfriend Hannah, putting a strain on David and Theo's friendship. It takes an appearance on the TV show "Forgive and Forget" to set David on the right path to accepting both himself and Theo's new relationship. Sexual tensions build and secrets are bared in this edgy, hard-hitting drama

Oliver Twist (Masterpiece Theatre, 1999)

In this extraordinary production, storyteller Alan Bleasdale broadens the scope of Charles Dickens' classic tale of an orphan in 19th century England—and the characters who influence his destiny.

Oliver's mother, Agnes, struggles against the tragic circumstances that ultimately leave Oliver a penniless orphan. At the Parish Workhouse, he is forced by other boys to ask for more food, and as a result, is sold as an apprentice to a miserly undertaker. He runs away and is taken in by master thief Fagin, who is in league with a murderous pair determined to see that Oliver never inherits the fortune he deserves. Life twists and turns again and again for Oliver, landing him in alternately dangerous and hopeful circumstances.

Oliver Twist is a drama of dark comedy, astonishing vivacity and soaring imagination, but ultimately, it is a story that celebrates the resilience and triumph of a little boy's spirit.

Special DVD features include: materials and activities for educators; a link to the Masterpiece Theatre Web site; closed captions; and described video for the visually impaired.

On three DVD5 discs. Region coding: All regions. Audio: Dolby stereo. Screen format: Letterboxed.

A Love Divided

Queer as Folk - Series 1 (British TV Series)

When it appeared on British television in 1999, Queer as Folk caused quite a ruckus. There was the sex, as graphic as most anything you'd see in an R-rated film. There were the questionable morals--after all, one of the lead characters knowingly seduced a virginal 15-year-old boy. There was, of course, the rampant homosexuality, seeing as the series followed a group of gay men living in Manchester. But what really got people talking was the quality of the series: no leaden soap opera or exploitative sex romp, Queer as Folk is an engrossing, incredibly well-written series that ranks with some of the best ever produced for British TV. Following the adventures of Stuart (Aidan Gillen), a rake capable of seducing anyone anywhere, and Vince (Craig Kelly), his boy-next-door best friend, as well as the family and friends who surround them, Queer as Folk paints a complex, emotional, and funny portrait of its characters, who range from the regular to the outlandish. Less sensationalistic than it sounds, Queer as Folk shares more in common with gritty, working-class British films like My Beautiful Laundrette and Beautiful Thing than it does with glossy, sex-themed American TV like Sex and the City or even the Americanized version of Queer as Folk. Though definitely comedic in parts, Queer as Folk takes a clear-eyed yet fond view of its characters, from lothario Stuart, who can be charming one minute and self-obsessed the next, to hapless Vince, a mess of insecurities who can't believe it when a handsome Australian (Peter O'Brien) falls in love with him. Fans of the American Queer as Folk will recognize the British counterparts to the American characters, as well as familiar plot arcs, but this series' writing and directing make it a far more dramatic--and multifaceted--look at gay life. This first season set, known as "Series 1," clocks in at four hours. --Mark Englehart

Driftwood

Lonely and desperate Sarah walks along a deserted beach to discover an unconscious man who has been brought to land by the waves. When he awakens he does not remember his name or his past. Sarah quickly takes on the role of his protector but at what cost to this man she lies and convinces him they are on a deserted island with no way out.System Requirements:Running Time 100 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA UPC: 692865228332 Manufacturer No: T-2283

The Return [Region 2]