Fingersmith
by Aisling Walsh
from Acorn Media
From Sarah Waters, author of Tipping the Velvet, comes this twisting and twisted Victorian-era thriller with an L-word charge. Sally Hawkins stars as Sue, an orphan who grows up among the reprobates of Lant Street to become an accomplished "fingersmith" (thief). Elaine Cassidy costars as Maud Lilly, an heiress who, as a young girl, was plucked from the madhouse and raised by her stern, bibliophile uncle (Charles Dance). He makes her wear gloves at all times so as not to smudge the precious tomes he makes her read every night. Enter Richard Rivers (Rupert Evans, the otherwise sterling cast's weakest link), an artist hired to give her painting lessons. But he has designs on Maude's fortune, and recruits Sue for an elaborate con. That's when the gloves really come off. Originally broadcast on the BBC, this riveting three-part tale of illicit passion and betaryal is by turns harrowing and quite erotic (the tasteful sex scenes manage to generate heat without baring a lot of skin). The literate script reveals its feminist leanings ("You are a man and might do everything," Maude tells Richard during their first meeting. "I am a woman and might do nothing."). The superb cast includes Academy Award-nominee Imelda Staunton (Vera Drake) as Mrs. Sucksby, a Fagin-esque character who mentored Sue, and has a few surprises for Maud, as well. --Donald Liebenson
Growing up as a foster child among a family of thieves, orphan Sue Trinder hopes to pay back that kindness by playing a key role in a swindle scheme devised by their leader, who is planning to con a fortune out of the naive Maud Lilly.
No Track Information Available
Media Type: DVD
Artist: STAUNTON/DANCE
Title: FINGERSMITH
Street Release Date: 09/13/2005
Genre: DRAMA
Sharpes - Rifles Collection Set
by Tom Clegg
from Bfs Entertainment
No Description Available.
Genre: Feature Film-Action/Adventure
Rating: UN
Release Date: 1-NOV-2005
Media Type: DVD
Crime & Punishment - The Complete Miniseries
by Michael Darlow
from WEA
Experience the gripping tale of pride, remorse, and redemption set among the 19th-century Russian working class in Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment. Two-time Academy Award®-nominee John Hurt stars in this moving BBC dramatization that brings to life the classic story of an antihero doomed by his misguided sense of intellectual moral authority. A former student with fierce and rational intellect, Raskolnikov feels that he is above the law and even capable of shedding blood without penalty. When he commits a murderous act, he is forced to confront his inner demons as well as a clever adversary determined to bring a killer to justice. But Raskolnikov slowly realizes that he will never find peace until he admits his guilt to himself…
Sharpe's Rifles
by Tom Clegg
from Bfs Entertainment
Dance with a Stranger
by Mike Newell
from MGM (Video & DVD)
On July 13, 1955, Ruth Ellis became the last woman to be hanged in England. With a smart, tough little script by Shelagh Delaney, Mike Newell's noir-ish film is a dissection of the human frustration and complex class issues surrounding her crime. Miranda Richardson, looking like some delicious, chilled confection, plays Ellis, the hostess to a "glorified brothel" who plans for a better life with her young son until she meets David Blakely (a young, gorgeous Rupert Everett), the wealthy ne'er-do-well whose fitful attentions chip away her armor. Their vicious attraction and its constant tug-of-war lose some dramatic pull as the story heads toward its inevitable climax, but Richardson's performance holds your attention. She plays the entire film in a kind of stunned ardor, a feisty little animal caught in the headlights of Everett's sullen magnetism. By the time she's plugging bullets into his body, she's already hit you a few time with her heated, fatal despair. --Steve Wiecking
"Densely packed with social and psychological nuances" (Variety), Dance With A Stranger is based on the true story of the last woman hanged in England. Starring Miranda Richardson in her "spectacular movie debut" (Vogue), along with Rupert Everett and Ian Holm, Dance With A Stranger is the "stunning, powerful [and] fascinating"(Vogue) winner of the 1985 Cannes Best Picture Award. Ruth Ellis (Richardson) is a private dancer with a tough exterior. But her armor begins to crack when she meets wealthy racecar driver David Blakely (Everett). And despite warnings against the affair by her friend and would-be lover Desmond Cussen (Ian Holm), Ellis is quickly seduced by Blakely's charms. But when his passions turn cold, she is caught in a dark dance of obsession that gives way to desperation and finally culminates in a deadly confrontation that shatters the stillness one fateful night with a shocking act'that may ultimately destroy them both.
Sharpe's Eagle
by Tom Clegg
from Bfs Entertainment
No Description Available.
Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: UN
Release Date: 25-JUL-2000
Media Type: DVD
Masterpiece Theatre: All the King's Men
by Julian Jarrold
from WGBH BOSTON
In 1915, during World War I, a doomed campaign was fought by the Allies against German-affiliated Turkish forces in the Dardanelles. (This devastating conflict was also the inspiration for the 1981 Australian film Gallipoli.) The Fifth Battalion of the Norfolk Regiment, composed wholly of servants, grooms, and gardeners from King George V's estate at Sandringham, was sent into the fray and, legend has it, vanished without a trace into a mysterious mist. This deeply affecting Masterpiece Theatre production, All the King's Men, tells the horrifying true story of what really happened to these men. From paradise on an English country estate, we follow them into the chaotic hell of war on blistering foreign shores. The pathos of the innocence and optimism of these boys, some as young as 14, as they march off to battle is tremendous. Before shipping out, Sergeant Ted Grimes (William Ash) celebrates a joyous wedding to his childhood sweetheart, plucky Peggy Batterbee (Emma Cunniffe), assuring her of his swift return. Gallant Captain Frank Beck (David Jason) has trained his boys well in the principles of loyalty and duty. Tragically, they soon learn that these niceties are worse than useless during wartime. Performances by a large ensemble cast are superb in this engrossing TV film. Dame Maggie Smith is a standout, exuding marvelous warmth and wisdom as the Queen Mother Alexandra, who mounts an extensive inquiry to determine the real fate of her beloved lads. --Laura Mirsky
The true story of England's vanished regiment is revealed. It is one of the most compelling and curious legends of the First World War. Led by Captain Frank Beck (David Jason), a favorite agent of King George V (David Troughton, Madame Bovary), Sandringham Company was comprised entirely of servants, grooms and gardeners from the King's Norfolk Estate. On August 12, 1915 the unit marched into battle against the Turks in Gallipoli and simply vanished, never to be heard from again. Queen Alexandra, played by Dame Maggie Smith (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, A Room with a View), was the driving force behind the investigation into the real fate of the battalion. But despite her extensive inquires, no trace of the men was ever discovered. Now, All the King's Men brings the details of what really happened in 1915 to the screen for the first time. It tells the story of these amateur soldiers, the idyllic life and loves they left behind in the quintessential English country estate and the horrors of an ill-prepared campaign to which they were subjected.
Twelfth Night/Macbeth
by Michael Bogdanov
from Homevision
Twelfth Night This classic Shakespeare comedy of disguise and mistaken identity follows twins Viola and Sebastian, asylum seekers who are separated and washed up on the strange island of Illyria - a contemporary, multicultural London dreamscape that is both soulful and sensual, yet dark and dangerous. Parminder Nagra (Bend It Like Beckham) and Chiwetel Ejiofor (Dirty Pretty Things) star in this story about the loneliness of exile, the pain of loss and the madness of love in this contemporary screen adaptation of Twelfth Night. Macbeth Using Shakespeare's classic text, Macbeth is set in a timeless zone somewhere in the twentieth century against a raw, urban industrial environment, giving the film a surreal quality. The abstracted setting puts this version of Macbeth alongside other modern treatments of Shakespeare, such as Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet. Starring Greta Scacchi (Emma, The Player), Macbeth is a deeply thought-provoking portrait of Macbeth and his Lady, and how the two characters sow the seeds of their own destruction. This is a Macbeth as never seen before, offering newcomers and Shakespeare lovers alike a memorable experience with one of Shakespeare's darkest tragedies.
David Copperfield (BBC)
by Joan Craft
from Koch Vision
In this definitive BBC adaptation of Charles Dickens classic David Copperfield struggles to fulfill his potential after enduring the hardships of cruelty poverty and injustice. Starring David Yelland Arthur Lowe Martin Jarvis Liz Smith Patricia Routledge. System Requirements:Running Time 325 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: NR UPC: 741952638292 Manufacturer No: KOCDV6382
Battle of The Brave
by Jean Beaudin
from Sony Pictures
Battle of the Brave is set against the sweeping backdrop of history and is the epic tale of great passion and sacrifice in a time of war. When Canada is besieged by British forces two brave lovers risk everything to protect their freedom and the freedom of Quebec. Marie-Loup Carignan (No mie Godin-Vigneau) a peasant woman and single mother is madly in love with Francois (David La Haye) a French-Canadian trapper. Discovering that local French authorities are in league with the British Francois becomes a resistance leader ' a course which endangers everything the lovers hold dear ' in this grand-scale epic adventure.System Requirements:Run Time: 143 minsFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE UPC: 043396165786 Manufacturer No: 16578
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