Venture, Richard

The Thorn Birds

The second most-watched miniseries (after Roots) of all time, The Thorn Birds was originally broadcast in 1983 and captivated viewers with its story of a lifelong conflict between the spirit and the flesh. Adapted from the bestselling novel by Colleen McCullough, the production stars Richard Chamberlain as a Catholic priest named Ralph de Bricassart, whose life in Australia between 1920 and 1962 is one long torment as he pines for his lover, Meggie Cleary (Rachel Ward), while seeking advancement in his clergyman career. The passion and the guilt make for compelling drama, but a stellar cast of supporting players adds muscle to the proceedings: Barbara Stanwyck (who won an Emmy for her work as Meggie's tough aunt), Jean Simmons, Richard Kiley, Christopher Plummer, Bryan Brown, and Mare Winningham. Chamberlain, who was something of the king of the miniseries form at the time, is very good in the lead, as is the often-underrated Ward. Their affair is indeed irresistible to watch, which proves to be true, too, of the story's thick weave of church politics, forbidden desire, social change over decades, and family secrets. --Tom Keogh

Television epic story of interpersonal drama set against Australia's outback. When a priest does not return the affections of the owner of a large sheep ranch, she vows to influence him-- even from the grave.
Genre: Television
Rating: NR
Release Date: 3-FEB-2004
Media Type: DVD

Scent of a Woman

Hoo-hah! After seven Oscar nominations for his outstanding work in films such as The Godfather, Serpico, and Dog Day Afternoon, it's ironic that Al Pacino finally won the Oscar for his grandstanding lead performance in this 1992 crowd pleaser. As the blind, blunt, and ultimately benevolent retired Lieutenant Colonel Frank Slade, Pacino is both hammy and compelling, simultaneously subtle and grandly over-the-top when defending his new assistant and prep school student Charlie (Chris O'Donnell) at a disciplinary hearing. While the subplot involving Charlie's prep-school crisis plays like a sequel to Dead Poets Society, Pacino's adventurous escapades in New York City provide comic relief, rich character development, and a memorable supporting role for Gabrielle Anwar as the young woman who accepts the colonel's invitation to dance the tango. Scent of a Woman is a remake of the 1972 Italian film Profumo di donna. In addition to Pacino's award, the picture garnered Oscar nominations for director Martin Brest and for screenwriter Bo Goldman. --Jeff Shannon

A bitter blind man and his caretaker for the Thanksgiving weekend have a short, wild fling in New York.
Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: R
Release Date: 28-MAR-2006
Media Type: DVD

Heartbreak Ridge

The controversial, Reagan-era invasion of Grenada by U.S. troops is, oddly enough, at the center of this initially interesting story of a seasoned Marine sergeant (Clint Eastwood) routinely insulted by younger officers for being a symbol of the war that America "lost" in Vietnam. Looking for both a victory and a little redemption, Eastwood's character trains a squadron of scrappy pups and turns them into fighting grunts, just in time to follow White House orders and take the little island. Marsha Mason plays Eastwood's love interest, and Mario Van Peebles is funny as an undisciplined con artist who joins Clint's men and finally catches the spirit after getting his butt kicked a few times. --Tom Keogh

A Marine Corps drill sergeant starts his last tour of duty before mandatory retirement and leads his men into Grenada.
No Track Information Available
Media Type: DVD
Artist: EASTWOOD/MASON/MCGILL/SNYDER
Title: HEARTBREAK RIDGE
Street Release Date: 09/27/2005
Domestic
Genre: ACTION / ADVENTURE

The Hunter

Truman

Harry S. Truman had a hard row to hoe as the 33rd president and he never enjoyed popularity while in office. Think about what occurred on Truman's watch: the bombing of Hiroshima, a nationwide railroad strike, the rise of the Southern States' Rights Party, integration of the armed forces, the ascendancy of McCarthyism, the early cold war, and finally the Korean Conflict and Truman's decision to fire General MacArthur. Few American presidents have been faced with more difficult and dangerous times than Truman. It wasn't until some 50 years later that Harry Truman, a farmer from Missouri, got his due appreciation in the history books. Truman follows the man from his beginnings as an artillery officer in WWI through his connections with Missouri's Pendergast political machine and onward to Washington. The always-excellent Gary Sinise is a perfect fit for the Truman character, having obviously studied the President's plainspoken Missouri twang and ramrod-straight bearing at great length. Diana Scarwid is also very good as Truman's long-suffering wife Bess; the film studies the relationship between the two in some depth, and also sheds light on the men who surrounded Truman in Washington. Truman's chief failing is that in its effort to detail 40 years of the man's life, certain historical events are given short shrift in order to fit them all in. Nonetheless, Sinise inhabits the character well; the scene where the President ruminates on dining alone in the White House (while Bess is back in Missouri) is a great, understated comment on the loneliness, isolation, and stress of the job. --Jerry Renshaw

Navy Seals

They re America s ultimate weapon. Charlie Sheen (Platoon) Michael Biehn (The Terminator) and Bill Paxton (Twister) team up as three of America s finest Navy commandos in this pulse-pounding adventure that brings out the heavy artillery for explosive action and breathtaking suspense "that will leave you clenching your teeth" (The Washington Post)!The Navy s elite SEAL (SEa Air and Land) squad is made up of the best of the best: supreme warriors who take on dangerous missions no other fighting force would dare attempt. Sent to rescue the crew of a U.S. Aircraft held hostage by mideast terrorists the SEALs know that their skills will be put to the test. But when they discover that the terrorists have seized the plane s arsenal of deadly Stinger missles they re thrust onto the frontlines of the battle of a lifetime.System Requirements:Starring: Charlie Sheen Ron Joseph S. Epatha Merkerson Gregory McKinney Michael Biehn Joanne Whalley Rick Rossovich Cyril O Reilly Bill Paxton Dennis Haysbert Paul Sanchez and Nicholas Kadi. Directed By: Lewis Teague. Running Time: 113 Min. Color. This film is presented in "Widescreen" format. Copyright 2000 MGM Studios.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE Rating: R UPC: 027616858696 Manufacturer No: 1001559

Navy SEALs are a top antiterrorist unit that goes anywhere (SEa, Air, or Land) to fight for and protect the American Way of Life. When a SEAL team rescues American hostages in the Middle East, they discover the terrorists have a warehouse of deadly Stinger missles. Rather than risking his entire team, Lt. Curran (Michael Biehn) orders his men to leave without destroying the Stingers. But when civilian aircraft start getting shot down--and when one of Curran's men is killed by terrorists--the SEALs make it their personal business to track down and destroy the deadly missles--and the fanatics who want to use them. Made in the Top Gun mold, Navy SEALS features stock characters (including Charlie Sheen's loose cannon) and at times seems like a recruiting film for the SEAL program. But the action sequences are well done (especially the final battle in war-torn Beirut) and the special effects and cinematography are first-rate. There's also a certain gung-ho, testosterone-driven, adrenaline-junky sensibility that seems appropriate to the sort of impossible missions SEALs are asked to do. It's a good time, as long as you don't take it too seriously. --Geof Miller

Looker

Someone is killing the supermodel clients of Hollywood plastic surgeon Albert Finney, and because this is a Michael Crichton movie, there has to be a pop-techno-scientific reason for it. Welcome to the daffy world of Looker, a 1981 film that manages to blend one or two interesting cultural ideas with a dismal storyline and a wonderfully cheesy early-Reagan-era look. The trail of murders leads to a corporation called Digital Matrix (Crichton always was prophetic about naming things), where head honcho James Coburn has launched a nonsensical plan involving TV commercials and mind control. Accused of the model deaths, Finney must track down the real culprit, aided by client Susan Dey (in her most appealing non-TV role). There's also a crazy "light gun" that causes victims to black out, a device that leads to some very strange shoot-outs. All of this might have been fun if the movie had any kind of suspense or distinctive characters. Albert Finney made this the same year he did Wolfen, after a hiatus from movie acting--a pair of eccentric choices, to be sure. Adding to the silliness is a truly wretched theme song, made the way they made 'em in the early '80s. --Robert Horton

A plastic surgeon (Albert Finney) gets suspicious when models he has operated on begin to die in mysterious ways. With the help of Cindy (Susan Dey) the next in line to be killed he traces the deaths to a mysterious corporation which develops new technologies. Directed and written by Michael Crichton (Westworld Coma).Running Time: 93 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA UPC: 085391112044 Manufacturer No: 111204

Missing

The peril facing a lone American amid Third World political turmoil is elegantly communicated in this important film from Costa-Gavras (Z), adapted by the director and Donald Stewart from Thomas Hauser's nonfiction book. The key to its power onscreen stems from the decision not to center the action merely on the disappearance of Charles Horman (John Shea), but also on the search for him by his father Ed (Jack Lemmon)--and on Ed's discovery of a son he never knew. The Oscar-winning script flows freely between that search and Charles's earlier experiences in the unnamed country (in the true account, Chile). Providing a link between those two stories is Charles's wife Beth (Sissy Spacek), who follows her father-in-law around a country in chaos, teeming with reckless authority and disinterested American diplomats (epitomized by ace character actor David Clennon). The film, which was nominated for a Best Picture Oscar and won the Cannes Film Festival's top prize, is certainly manipulative, but it works because of its finely detailed human elements. Usually emotionally extroverted, Lemmon gives one of his finest performances playing against that type--here, he's a controlled, intellectual man who learns more about his son, and his country, than he ever dreamed he would. --Doug Thomas

The Onion Field

One night in 1963, two plainclothes LAPD officers were abducted by armed small-time criminals after a routine traffic stop, then driven to a remote area where one was brutally executed. The other officer managed to escape and the perpetrators were captured and brought to trial. Despite overwhelming evidence, the slayers managed to drag the justice process on for years through appeals and delaying tactics, one of them making use of the prison law library to become a "jailhouse lawyer." Taken from the Joseph Wambaugh book, The Onion Field is a true story about a case that changed LAPD policies forever. More than a simple police procedural, though, the film is a character study that follows the aftermath of the murder for all involved. John Savage, as the surviving officer, is called on over and over to reenact the event in court, chided by his superiors and eventually fired from the force, with redemption a long way off. He does a great job in a harrowing role as frustration, guilt, and depression cause his life and career to disintegrate over time. There are impressive early performances by Ted Danson and James Woods (setting the tone for countless raw-nerve, psycho-lowlife roles that Woods would take on in the future). The compelling script, written by ex-cop Wambaugh (with no studio interference), is a reminder of why he's one of novelist James Ellroy's favorite writers. It's a story of tragedy and hope, dignity and pain, with a potent emotional payoff. --Jerry Renshaw

From a real-life American tragedy this tale of thoughtless brutality cold-blooded murder and hard-won justice is a prowling gripping disturbing movie (Newsweek). Starring John Savage and James Woods and featuring a stunning attention to detail and an unflinching emotional honesty The Onion Field is intriguing absorbing powerful well-acted (Film Journal) and riveting from beginning to end. On March 9 1963 LAPD officers Karl Hettinger (Savage) and Ian Campbell (Ted Danson) pull over a vehicle for making an illegal U-turn and find themselves held at gunpoint by two seasoned armed robbers. Forced to give up their guns and drive to a deserted road both officers face the horror of becoming victims in a mob-style execution...but only one is able to escape into the bleak darkness of an onion field.Special Features:"Ring of Truth" DocumentaryAudio Commentary with Director Harold BeckerOriginal Theatrical TrailerSystem Requirements: Running Time 126 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: R UPC: 027616879035 Manufacturer No: 1003778

Red Corner

Using a faulty thriller for his soapbox as an outspoken critic of China, a devout follower of the Dalai Lama, and an influential supporter of Tibetan freedom, Richard Gere resorts to the equivalent of propagandistic drama to deliver a heavy-handed message. In other words, Red Corner relies on a dubious strategy to promote political awareness, but director Jon Avnet appeals to the viewer's outrage with such effective urgency that you're likely to forget you're being shamelessly manipulated. Gere plays a downtrodden TV executive who sells syndicated shows on the global market, and during a business trip to China he finds himself framed for the murder of the sexy daughter of a high Chinese official. Once trapped in a legal system in which his innocence will be all but impossible to prove, Gere must rely on a Chinese-appointed lawyer (played by Bai Ling) who first advises him to plead guilty but gradually grows convinced of foul play. Barely attempting to hide its agenda, Red Corner effectively sets the stage for abundant anti-Chinese sentiment, and to be sure, the movie gains powerful momentum with its tale of justice gone awry. It's a serious-minded, high-intensity courtroom drama with noble intentions ... but did it have to be so conspicuously lacking in subtlety? --Jeff Shannon

In modern-day China, an American is about to be punished for the ultimate crime...his innocence. Richard Gere stars in this electrifying suspense thriller charged with lethal confrontations, raw passion and international intrigue. On the verge of signing a huge business deal, attorney Jack Moore (Gere) is on top of the world. But his elation soon comes tumbling down after he spends the night with a beautiful woman...and is then accused of her brutal murder! At the mercy of the strict Chinese court systemwhere one is guilty until proven innocentJack finds himself completely alone. But when his defense attorney (Bai Ling) unearths puzzling contradictions in the case, she acts against the court and her country, joining him in a pulse-pounding race to find the true killer...while both of their lives hang in the balance!