Tyzack, Margaret

2001 - A Space Odyssey (Two-Disc Special Edition)

When Stanley Kubrick recruited Arthur C. Clarke to collaborate on "the proverbial intelligent science fiction film," it's a safe bet neither the maverick auteur nor the great science fiction writer knew they would virtually redefine the parameters of the cinema experience. A daring experiment in unconventional narrative inspired by Clarke's short story "The Sentinel," 2001 is a visual tone poem (barely 40 minutes of dialogue in a 139-minute film) that charts a phenomenal history of human evolution. From the dawn-of-man discovery of crude but deadly tools in the film's opening sequence to the journey of the spaceship Discovery and metaphysical birth of the "star child" at film's end, Kubrick's vision is meticulous and precise. In keeping with the director's underlying theme of dehumanization by technology, the notorious, seemingly omniscient computer HAL 9000 has more warmth and personality than the human astronauts it supposedly is serving. (The director also leaves the meaning of the black, rectangular alien monoliths open for discussion.) This theme, in part, is what makes 2001 a film like no other, though dated now that its postmillennial space exploration has proven optimistic compared to reality. Still, the film is timelessly provocative in its pioneering exploration of inner- and outer-space consciousness. With spectacular, painstakingly authentic special effects that have stood the test of time, Kubrick's film is nothing less than a cinematic milestone--puzzling, provocative, and perfect. --Jeff Shannon

When Stanley Kubrick recruited Arthur C. Clarke to collaborate on "the proverbial intelligent science fiction film," it's a safe bet neither the maverick auteur nor the great science fiction writer knew they would virtually redefine the parameters of the cinema experience. A daring experiment in unconventional narrative inspired by Clarke's short story "The Sentinel," 2001 is a visual tone poem (barely 40 minutes of dialogue in a 139-minute film) that charts a phenomenal history of human evolution. From the dawn-of-man discovery of crude but deadly tools in the film's opening sequence to the journey of the spaceship Discovery and metaphysical birth of the "star child" at film's end, Kubrick's vision is meticulous and precise. In keeping with the director's underlying theme of dehumanization by technology, the notorious, seemingly omniscient computer HAL 9000 has more warmth and personality than the human astronauts it supposedly is serving. (The director also leaves the meaning of the black, rectangular alien monoliths open for discussion.) This theme, in part, is what makes 2001 a film like no other, though dated now that its postmillennial space exploration has proven optimistic compared to reality. Still, the film is timelessly provocative in its pioneering exploration of inner- and outer-space consciousness. With spectacular, painstakingly authentic special effects that have stood the test of time, Kubrick's film is nothing less than a cinematic milestone--puzzling, provocative, and perfect. --Jeff Shannon

A space mission that could reveal man?s destiny is jeopardized by a malfunctioning shipboard computer. A dazzling journey that tops them all ? and showed the way for other effects-packed films that followed.

Our Mutual Friend

Critically acclaimed as Dickens' crowning achievement this sweeping tale of two turbulent love affairs plays out amidst a tangled web of wealth corruption passion and betrayal in 1860s London.Running Time: 354 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA UPC: 794051233820

One of Charles Dickens' darkest yet also most romantic novels gets a lavish treatment in this BBC mini-series of Our Mutual Friend. The heir to a great fortune made from the garbage business is drowned--and his death affects everyone. His father's manager, Noddy Boffin (Peter Vaughan, Brazil), gets the money, to the alarm of snooty society. The man who pulled the heir's body out of the Thames is accused of his murder; his daughter, Lizzie Hexam (Keeley Hawes, Tipping the Velvet), finds herself pursued by both an idle gentleman (Paul McGann, Withnail & I) and an obsessed, violent schoolteacher (David Morrissey, Basic Instinct 2). The heir's intended bride, Bella Wilfer (Anna Friel, Me Without You, gets socially adopted by the Boffins, where she succumbs to the lure of money above all and spurns the interest of a mysterious stranger (Steven Mackintosh, Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels). The plot creeps up and down London society like a tenacious plant, twining around a pair of golddiggers who mistakenly married each other and a heartsick bone merchant named Mr. Venus (Timothy Spall, Secrets & Lies). This excellent adaptation moves with aggressive speed, drawing the viewer into the grimy worlds of the riverside and the dust heaps and the glittering, gossiping parties of the rich. Our Mutual Friend balances one of Dickens' most entrancing love stories with his creepiest gothic turns--it's a rich stew of characters both earnest and vile, made with sumptuous production values and movie-quality cinematography. --Bret Fetzer

I, Claudius

Dramatization of the reigns of the first four Julio-Claudian emperors of Rome as seen through the eyes of the fourth, the emperor Claudius, who was considered a most unpromising youth, yet survived the political dangers of decades to become a wise and jus
Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: NR
Release Date: 21-AUG-2007
Media Type: DVD

This superbly acted, mordantly funny romp through 70 years or so of Roman history is one of the best-loved miniseries ever made, and deservedly so. Derek Jacobi plays Roman Emperor Claudius, who reflects in old age on his life and his remarkable family, giving us a history lesson that's unlike anything you learned in school.

The story begins in 24 B.C. during the reign of Augustus Caesar, Rome's first emperor, and ends in A.D. 54 with Nero on the throne. In between, I, Claudius details the scheming, murder, madness, and lust that passed for politics in the early years of the Pax Romana. The biggest worm in the Roman apple is Augustus's wife, Livia (the superb Siân Phillips), whose single-minded pursuit of power shapes the destiny of the Empire. With a carefully planted rumor here and a poisoned fig there, she gradually maneuvers her son, Tiberius, toward the throne, creating an atmosphere of suspicion and treachery that starts Rome on its helter-skelter slide into bloody chaos. Phillips somehow makes us understand this extraordinarily wicked woman. As she ages and her carefully wrought webs begin to unravel, it becomes clear that Livia has been as thoroughly poisoned by her own ambition as her victims were by her carefully prepared meals.

Further acting honors go to George Baker as Tiberius, who resists but eventually succumbs to the destiny forced upon him by his mother, and to John Hurt as a hilarious and absolutely terrifying Caligula. In one breathtakingly tense scene, the mad Emperor performs a dance in drag, then asks Claudius to critique it, perfectly capturing the horror of a world where one wrong word means death, or worse. Jacobi is the perfect Claudius, hiding his intelligence behind a crippling stammer and shuffling around the edges of events--until he finds himself pulled to the very center. His wry comments give shape to the tangled story of his family and help the audience make sense of a dauntingly complex cast of characters.

I, Claudius might seem a little studio-bound to viewers brought up on more recent big-budget costume dramas, but the topnotch cast and the incident-filled plot are more than enough to hold the attention through almost 11 hours of gripping, deliciously wicked Roman follies. This boxed set also includes a documentary entitled "The Epic That Never Was," about Alexander Korda's failed attempt to film I, Claudius in 1937. The film, directed by Josef von Sternberg and starring Charles Laughton as Claudius and Merle Oberon as Messalina, was abandoned unfinished, and it remains one of Hollywood's great lost movies. --Simon Leake

2001 - A Space Odyssey

When Stanley Kubrick recruited Arthur C. Clarke to collaborate on "the proverbial intelligent science fiction film," it's a safe bet neither the maverick auteur nor the great science fiction writer knew they would virtually redefine the parameters of the cinema experience. A daring experiment in unconventional narrative inspired by Clarke's short story "The Sentinel," 2001 is a visual tone poem (barely 40 minutes of dialogue in a 139-minute film) that charts a phenomenal history of human evolution. From the dawn-of-man discovery of crude but deadly tools in the film's opening sequence to the journey of the spaceship Discovery and metaphysical birth of the "star child" at film's end, Kubrick's vision is meticulous and precise. In keeping with the director's underlying theme of dehumanization by technology, the notorious, seemingly omniscient computer HAL 9000 has more warmth and personality than the human astronauts it supposedly is serving. (The director also leaves the meaning of the black, rectangular alien monoliths open for discussion.) This theme, in part, is what makes 2001 a film like no other, though dated now that its postmillennial space exploration has proven optimistic compared to reality. Still, the film is timelessly provocative in its pioneering exploration of inner- and outer-space consciousness. With spectacular, painstakingly authentic special effects that have stood the test of time, Kubrick's film is nothing less than a cinematic milestone--puzzling, provocative, and perfect. --Jeff Shannon

When Stanley Kubrick recruited Arthur C. Clarke to collaborate on "the proverbial intelligent science fiction film," it's a safe bet neither the maverick auteur nor the great science fiction writer knew they would virtually redefine the parameters of the cinema experience. A daring experiment in unconventional narrative inspired by Clarke's short story "The Sentinel," 2001 is a visual tone poem (barely 40 minutes of dialogue in a 139-minute film) that charts a phenomenal history of human evolution. From the dawn-of-man discovery of crude but deadly tools in the film's opening sequence to the journey of the spaceship Discovery and metaphysical birth of the "star child" at film's end, Kubrick's vision is meticulous and precise. In keeping with the director's underlying theme of dehumanization by technology, the notorious, seemingly omniscient computer HAL 9000 has more warmth and personality than the human astronauts it supposedly is serving. (The director also leaves the meaning of the black, rectangular alien monoliths open for discussion.) This theme, in part, is what makes 2001 a film like no other, though dated now that its postmillennial space exploration has proven optimistic compared to reality. Still, the film is timelessly provocative in its pioneering exploration of inner- and outer-space consciousness. With spectacular, painstakingly authentic special effects that have stood the test of time, Kubrick's film is nothing less than a cinematic milestone--puzzling, provocative, and perfect. --Jeff Shannon

The Thief Lord

Mystical magical and completely enchanting this epic tale in the tradition of the Harry Potter series brings the beloved characters of prize-winning novelist Cornelia Funke to dazzling life. After their mother dies two boys flee their mean aunt and head for Venice Italy where they meet Scipio the mysterious "Thief Lord." Along with a small band of abandoned kids who call an old movie theater home the boys join Scipio's world of robbing the rich to support themselves. Soon they win the heart of the detective hired to track them and begin an adventure that leads them to an old merry-go-round believed to have special powers. Featuring Vanessa Redgrave and a captivating supporting cast The Thief Lord will steal your heart from beginning to end.DVD Features: Available Subtitles: English Spanish Available Audio Tracks: English (Dolby Digital 5.1) Two-sided disc with widescreen (2.35:1) on one side and full screen (1.33:1) on the other Disc 1 side 1: Full Screen Feature Moscas Animation with Glow/Stumm Theatrical Trailer Disc 1 side 2: Widescren Feature Deleted Scenes: "Aunt Esther" "Ida with the Sisters" and "Thinking About Mom" System Requirements:Running Time 99 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: CHILDREN/FAMILY Rating: PG UPC: 024543229773 Manufacturer No: 2232977

The Thief Lord is a blend of Dickensian adventure and Harry Potter magic, an exciting adaptation of a popular novel by Cornelia Funke. A pair of orphaned and separated brothers, Prosper (Aaron Johnson) and Bo (Jasper Harris), escape their dreary homes in England and flee to Venice, Italy. On their first, frightening night there, they find sanctuary with the Thief Lord (Rollo Weeks), a masked, 16-year-old boy who gives them, along with a gaggle of other orphans, shelter in a shuttered movie theater. Living on the spoils of the Thief Lord's nightly raids of the rich, the kids become a happy, self-sufficient family that only has to stay out of the clutches of police and a nosy private detective (Jim Carter). But things change when a strange, elderly pair ask the kids to steal a strange object--a hunk of wood carved into the shape of a wing--for a lot of cash. What follows is completely unexpected, wildly imaginative, mysterious, and a lot of fun. The story has a way of sticking with one long after the film is over. With a cameo by Vanessa Redgrave, and loads of gorgeous exteriors of sunny Venice. Directed by Richard Claus, producer of The Little Vampire. --Tom Keogh

The Forsyte Saga - The Complete Series

The Forsyte Saga is often cited as the first television miniseries; it wasn't, but there's no question that it was a singular, powerful cultural phenomenon that deservedly got under the skin of European viewers in 1967 and changed the American TV landscape two years later. (Among other things, The Forsyte Saga brought more viewers and extra clout to a then-struggling public television in the U.S., and gave rise to PBS's Masterpiece Theatre.)

Today the 26-episode production, based on several novels and short stories by John Galsworthy, is a more timeless enterprise than many of the protracted British TV dramas that have followed. While it would be wrong to consider The Forsyte Saga high art, it's certainly a mesmerizing and inspired mix of theater, sprawling Victorian narrative, thinking man's soap opera, and some finely tuned, 1960s black-and-white production values that (especially when shot outdoors) are strikingly handsome.

Above all, Forsyte is driven by its characters--perhaps to an extreme, though the two-generation storyline makes no apologies for creating compelling people whose capacity for short-sighted blundering, bursts of grace, and slow-brewing redemption make them recognizably human. Eric Porter towers over everything as Soames Forsyte, a humorless attorney whose guiding principles of measurable value cause great heartache but slowly evolve, leaving him a graying, good father, arts patron, and sympathetic repository of memory. From the cast of 150 or so, other standouts include Susan Hampshire as Soames's troubled daughter, Nyree Dawn Porter as the wife of two very different Forsyte men, and Kenneth More as the family's artistic black sheep. --Tom Keogh

The miniseries that started it all! In 1969, a internationally-acclaimed BBC show began airing on the fledgling public broadcasting network. The Forsyte Saga, in telling the remarkable story of a nouveau riche English family, introduced America to a new kind of TV. Millions of Americans devoted the next half year of their lives to following the frank treatment of all sins, foibles and peccadillos of the Forsytes and their circle. The passing decades can never the erase the memory of their extraordinary eveningswith the Forsytes: Kenneth More as Jo, the philosophical outsider; Eric Porter as Soames, the grasping man of property; Nyree Dawn Porter as Irene, "born to be loved and to love" and in later episodes, Susan Hampshire in an Emmy-winning performance as Fleur, Soame's 'restless' daughter. The series was so popular that Masterpiece Theatre was created to meet the new demand for great literary adaptations. With 150 characters, 2000 separate costumes and over 100 sets, this sprawling yet intimate saga continues to move, provoke and entrance viewers today.

DVD Features:
Biographies
Featurette:Archival behind-the-scenes featurette

The Legacy

Wallis & Edward

Wallis Simpson was the been-around-the-block American siren who lured a King of England from his throne, forever changing history. Or was she? The layered and gripping Wallis & Edward a lushly produced British film, dares to look at the infamous affair from the point of view of Mrs. Simpson, and rather sympathetically at that. Simpson, played with an enticing wry humor by the splendid Joely Richardson, is quite happy with her second husband, Ernest, when we meet them at the beginning of the story. Mutual friends introduce them to the Prince of Wales, a callow, rather feckless playboy (played by Stephen Campbell Moore), who becomes transfixed by Mrs. Simpson's refusal to fawn over him. And the chase is on. Richardson is a wonder in the role, bringing sympathy and anguish to the choices faced by her character. If some of the plot points seem a bit hard to swallow--that, say, Ernest, after having a man-to-man with the prince, is the one who encourages a divorce and essentially hands over his wife to Edward--the overall execution is delightful, and, no small feat for a story so well known, completely involving until the end. The behind-the-scenes scheming of the monarchy and those invested in its continuation is sometimes chilling, but always entertaining. At a gala ball, where the Simpsons have arrived as reluctant guests, Edward's mother, the Queen--so laden in jewels virtually none of her hair, neck, or shoulders is visible--sniffs at the vulgarity of the American who dares to wear "rubies and emeralds." There'll always be an England--and there'll always be a fascination with the affair that brought down a King. --A.T. Hurley

"Affecting and richly enjoyable" —Radio Times

He gave up the throne. What she gave up was perhaps even more painful.

Was American divorcée Wallis Simpson a scheming seductress bent on becoming Queen of England? Or did she get caught up in something she did not understand and could not stop? Based on extensive research, this new drama—starring Joely Richardson (Nip/Tuck, 101 Dalmatians) and Stephen Campbell Moore (A Good Woman, Bright Young Things)—marks the first time the famous love story has been told from her point of view.

When their love affair begins, Edward, Prince of Wales, is a charismatic playboy, and Wallis is married to her second husband, businessman Ernest Simpson. Because Edward has had a string of mistresses, his affair with Wallis does nothing more serious than raise a few aristocratic eyebrows. But once he becomes King, the establishment demands that he give up Wallis. His refusal to do so puts her in the middle of the bitter struggle between the King's heart and his duty to the royal family and the nation.

Also starring Miriam Margolyes (The Age of Innocence, Ladies in Lavender) and Margaret Tyzack (The Forsyte Saga, Match Point).

DVD SPECIAL FEATURES INCLUDE interview with writer Sarah Williams, production notes, production photo gallery, historical photo gallery, and cast filmographies.

The First Churchills

PBS's Masterpiece Theatre began business in 1971 with the American premiere of an engrossing, 12-part BBC series, The First Churchills, inspired by Sir Winston Churchill's biographical writings about 17th-century ancestors John Churchill and Sarah Jennings. Besides being a painless way to learn a few things about the revolving-door monarchy of the House of Stuart, The First Churchills is written with a stately air though its story flows like a steady stream of fresh gossip. A viewer needn't feel guilty about being entertained by intrigues at the royal court while listening to screenwriter's Donald Wilson's elegant and uplifting dialogue, rich in civility and courtly asides.

John Neville (The Adventures of Baron Munchausen) and Susan Hampshire (lauded for her earlier performance in The Forsyte Saga, a British series that helped launch public television in America) play John and Sarah, who meet in the court of Charles II (James Villiers) and defy family and friends by marrying for love instead of family fortune. (Neither has any money.) John, a military officer who built much of Charles's army and never lost a battle, and Susan, an aide and confidante to the Duchess of York, are trusted figures in the king's circle. But as with everyone around them, they are jostled by political and religious forces following the death of Charles, including anti-Catholic sentiments that drive the king's stubborn successor, James II (John Westbrook), to Ireland and see the latter replaced on the throne by William, Prince of Orange (Alan Rowe), and his vindictive wife (and James's daughter), Mary (Lisa Daniely). With a European war raging and British soldiers and resources mishandled by amateurs, a restless John is sidelined and even briefly arrested due to royal paranoia; meanwhile, Sarah's close friendship to the future Queen Anne (Margaret Tyzack) yields numerous dramas on its own. The First Churchills is really about a tumultuous period in English history which saw strains between Parliament, the citizenry, and the monarchy come to a head, several times over. The story of John and Sarah's survival and deep regard for one another offers a perfect, reassuring line to follow through all the epochal raucousness. Neville and Hampshire bask in their characters' good-humored intimacy and level-headedness while madness whirls all around. --Tom Keogh

Based on Sir Winston Churchill's biography of his ancestors, the first Duke and Duchess of Marlborough, this classic BBC miniseries is a tender love story played out amid the intrigues of the 17th-century English court.

At a time when most marriages were made for money and position, Sarah Jennings and John Churchill married for love. And their love lasted throughout their long lives spent at the epicenter of political power in England. He was a military genius who never lost a battle. She was the intimate friend of a princess who later became queen. This addictive drama follows them from their budding romance in the bawdy court of King Charles II through five decades and five monarchs from the tumultuous House of Stuart.

The popularity of The First Churchills helped establish Masterpiece Theatre as a venue for the best of British drama. Starring John Neville (The Adventures of Baron Munchausen) as John Churchill with Susan Hampshire (Monarch of the Glen, The Pallisers) in an Emmy®-winning performance as the tempestuous Sarah.

DVD SPECIAL FEATURES INCLUDE an exclusive interview with Susan Hampshire, photo gallery, cast filmographies, and full-color insert with a sampling of the real love letters of Sarah and John Churchill, glossary of historical figures and terms, and House of Stuart family tree.

Mrs. Dalloway

Vanessa Redgrave glows from within as the heroine of this superb adaptation of Virginia Woolf's novel. As Clarissa Dalloway prepares to host a sumptuous party, her mind wanders back to a summer in her youth, when she was courted by an eager young man--a young man whose much older self will come to the very party she's preparing. Mrs. Dalloway moves fluidly between the past and the present, exploring the shifts in perspective and understanding with an unsentimental but graceful eye. What's most stunning is the remarkable interplay between the younger and older actors, who truly seem to be different versions of the same character (the young Clarissa is played by Natascha McElhone). Beautifully directed by Marleen Gorris (Antonia's Line), the movie also features Rupert Graves as a shell-shocked soldier who crosses Clarissa's path. --Bret Fetzer