Verso, Enrico Lo

Hannibal (Two-Disc Special Edition)

Yes, he's back, and he's still hungry. Ten years after The Silence of the Lambs, Dr. Hannibal "the Cannibal" Lecter (Anthony Hopkins, reprising his Oscar-winning role) is living the good life in Italy, studying art and sipping espresso. FBI agent Clarice Starling (Julianne Moore, replacing Jodie Foster), on the other hand, hasn't had it so good--an outsider from the start, she's now a quiet, moody loner who doesn't play bureaucratic games and suffers for it. A botched drug raid results in her demotion--and a request from Lecter's only living victim, Mason Verger (Gary Oldman, uncredited), for a little Q and A. Little does Clarice realize that the hideously deformed Verger--who, upon suggestion from Dr. Lecter, peeled off his own face--is using her as bait to lure Dr. Lecter out of hiding, quite certain he'll capture the good doctor.

Taking the basic plot contraptions from Thomas Harris's baroque novel, Hannibal is so stylistically different from its predecessor that it forces you to take it on its own terms. Director Ridley Scott gives the film a sleek, almost European look that lets you know that, unlike the first film (which was about the quintessentially American Clarice), this movie is all Hannibal. Does it work? Yes--but only up to a point. Scott adeptly sets up an atmosphere of foreboding, but it's all buildup for anticlimax, as Verger's plot for abducting Hannibal (and feeding him to man-eating wild boars) doesn't really deliver the requisite visceral thrills, and the much-ballyhooed climatic dinner sequence between Clarice, Dr. Lecter, and a third unlucky guest wobbles between parody and horror. Hopkins and Moore are both first-rate, but the film contrives to keep them as far apart as possible, when what made Silence so amazing was their interaction. When they do connect it's quite thrilling, but it's unfortunately too little too late. --Mark Englehart

Anthony Hopkins is "perverse perfection" (Rolling Stone) in his return to the role of Dr. Hannibal Lecter, the sophisticated killer who comes out of hiding to draw FBI agent Clarice Starling (Julianne Moore) into a high-stakes battle that will test her strength, cunning and loyalty.

Farinelli

This interesting Belgian film from 1994 has a surface subject that might make a few guys wince: an 18th-century castrato, or castrated male opera singer. A superstar in Europe, Farinelli the vocalist--despite compromised equipment--gets his share of groupies and is showered with attention and gifts from rich patrons. Meanwhile, his brother--a so-so composer whose career and fortunes are inextricably linked to his sibling, as per their father's wishes--feels like a sham for enjoying the fruits of another's success. For director Gérard Corbiau, the real story is that of the forced bond between the two men, and their unspoken awareness that their separate destinies have been slowed by the arrangement. Corbiau gives us the best of two worlds: a costume drama with an unusual, even exotic, story line, and a tender, universal tale of real love. The opera sequences are a kick: the breathless crowds, Farinelli's hammy control over the drama, and his stunning castrato voice (manufactured by Corbiau via synthesized merger of male and female voices) and all make for great fun. --Tom Keogh

Che - AKA Che Guevara

"A Film about the World's Greatest Revolutionary Rebel. Hero. Lover. Legend. Che Guevara has inspired generation after generation as the young idealist and revolutionary who fought for the poor and oppressed. Eduardo Noriega (Open Your Eyes, The Devil's Backbone) electrifies in the title role of this fascinating story about Che's fearless life, helping to lead a bloody socialist revolt that would shock the world. Rebelde. Héroe. Amante. Leyenda. Che Guevara, el joven idealista y revolucionario que luchó por los pobres y oprimidos, ha inspirado a una tras otra generación. Eduardo Noriega (Abre Los Ojos, El Espinazo del Diablo) es deslumbrante en el papel protagónico de esta fascinante historia acerca de la intrépida vida del Che, líder de una sangrienta rebelión socialista que sacudiría al mundo entero"

Moses (The Bible Collection)

Hudson Hawk

Bruce Willis's awful, 1991 vanity piece is an abuse of audience goodwill and a waste of a good cast and director (Michael Lehmann of Heathers). The story, cowritten by Willis, concerns a cat burglar pressured into stealing precious art, including some from the Vatican. But the script is just a convenience upon which Willis piles his vaguely boorish brand of hip irony, assuming his audience will stay with him every step of the way. Certain, self-congratulatory scenes induce cringing--Willis and Danny Aiello, for instance, sing "Side by Side" (to brassy accompaniment on the soundtrack) every time they're working a job--but the overall effect is more irritating and baffling. Keep a good thought for Willis (an underrated actor better than the summer junk we usually see him in) by checking out his superior work in Pulp Fiction and his small but memorable role in Billy Bathgate. --Tom Keogh

Hannibal (Full Screen Edition)

No Description Available.
Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: R
Release Date: 24-AUG-2004
Media Type: DVD

Yes, he's back, and he's still hungry. Ten years after The Silence of the Lambs, Dr. Hannibal "the Cannibal" Lecter (Anthony Hopkins, reprising his Oscar-winning role) is living the good life in Italy, studying art and sipping espresso. FBI agent Clarice Starling (Julianne Moore, replacing Jodie Foster), on the other hand, hasn't had it so good--an outsider from the start, she's now a quiet, moody loner who doesn't play bureaucratic games and suffers for it. A botched drug raid results in her demotion--and a request from Lecter's only living victim, Mason Verger (Gary Oldman, uncredited), for a little Q and A. Little does Clarice realize that the hideously deformed Verger--who, upon suggestion from Dr. Lecter, peeled off his own face--is using her as bait to lure Dr. Lecter out of hiding, quite certain he'll capture the good doctor.

Taking the basic plot contraptions from Thomas Harris's baroque novel, Hannibal is so stylistically different from its predecessor that it forces you to take it on its own terms. Director Ridley Scott gives the film a sleek, almost European look that lets you know that, unlike the first film (which was about the quintessentially American Clarice), this movie is all Hannibal. Does it work? Yes--but only up to a point. Scott adeptly sets up an atmosphere of foreboding, but it's all buildup for anticlimax, as Verger's plot for abducting Hannibal (and feeding him to man-eating wild boars) doesn't really deliver the requisite visceral thrills, and the much-ballyhooed climatic dinner sequence between Clarice, Dr. Lecter, and a third unlucky guest wobbles between parody and horror. Hopkins and Moore are both first-rate, but the film contrives to keep them as far apart as possible, when what made Silence so amazing was their interaction. When they do connect it's quite thrilling, but it's unfortunately too little too late. --Mark Englehart

Hudson Hawk (Special Edition)

Bruce Willis's awful, 1991 vanity piece is an abuse of audience goodwill and a waste of a good cast and director (Michael Lehmann of Heathers). The story, cowritten by Willis, concerns a cat burglar pressured into stealing precious art, including some from the Vatican. But the script is just a convenience upon which Willis piles his vaguely boorish brand of hip irony, assuming his audience will stay with him every step of the way. Certain, self-congratulatory scenes induce cringing--Willis and Danny Aiello, for instance, sing "Side by Side" (to brassy accompaniment on the soundtrack) every time they're working a job--but the overall effect is more irritating and baffling. Keep a good thought for Willis (an underrated actor better than the summer junk we usually see him in) by checking out his superior work in Pulp Fiction and his small but memorable role in Billy Bathgate. --Tom Keogh

Bruce Willis, Danny Aiello, Andie MacDowell and Sandra Bernhard star in this funny action/adventure comedy. Willis is Eddie "The Hawk" Hawkins, the world's most famous cat burglar, who, after 10 years in prison, is ready to go straight. But it's not going to be easy for The Hawk. The mob andthe CIA have conspired to blackmail Eddie and his partner (Aiello) into stealing three da Vinci masterpieces from the most heavily-guarded museums in the world. Sounds simple, right? WRONG! While trying to steal the goods, Hawk falls in love with a beautiful but schizophrenic nun (MacDowell) and isrelentlessly pursued by the greedy and powerful Minerva and Darwin Mayflower, who want the artworksas part of their twisted plot to ruin the world's economy. It's wall-to-wall action as the wise-cracking Hawk saves the world, wins the girl, and gets the last laugh.

Lamerica

Albania, 1991. After weathering a pre-World War II bout of Italian fascism and decades of communism (sketched out with newsreel footage in the film's opening moments), Albania has thrown off the shackles of totalitarianism and reveals to the world an economically devastated country...just ripe for the picking. As hordes of refugees stream out of Albania to Italy, a pair of Italian con men arrive with promises of industry and jobs. They select an addled former political prisoner (Carmelo di Mazzarelli) to front the company as the Albanian "chairman," and get ready to siphon off government development money and split--until their front suddenly wanders off and junior partner Gino (Enrico Lo Verso) sets off to find him. Systematically fleeced of his valuables and his identity by the very people he was out to bilk, the brash, flashy Italian is soon just another refugee struggling to sneak back past the borders of his own home. Shot entirely in Albania with a largely nonprofessional cast by Gianni Amelio (Stolen Children, also starring Lo Verso), a documentary immediacy fills the film with a harsh beauty, and it serves as a shocking revelation of a country so long cut off from the rest of the world. Amelio resists opportunities for sentimentalizing the desperate poor in his neorealist odyssey, but suggests hope in the periodic acts of kindness they bestow upon Gino. Though he is hardly a likable character, the haunted look in Gino's eyes by the end of his journey suggests a hard education that's likely to remain with him. And with us. --Sean Axmaker

Upstaging the neorealist masterworks of Rossellini and Bertolucci, Gianni Amelio's Lamerica triumphs. A visually arresting tale of moral conflict and the journey that leads to atonement, Lamerica has been hailed by critics everywhere as one of the best films of this past decade.

After nearly half a century of communist rule, a poverty stricken Albania falls subject to the invasion of two exploitive capitalists looking to prosper within the changing economy. As Albania's people try desperately to flee destitution, Gino (Enrico Lo Verso) and Fiore arrive from Italy with plans to use a makeshift manufacturing plant to front their next scam. Forced to name an Albanian citizen as their company's acting "chairman," Gino and Fiore turn to Spiro-a prisoner of war for over fifty years, Spiro emerges as the perfect pawn. However, when Spiro suddenly disappears, Gino finds himself on a journey that will ultimately reshape the integrity of his soul. Beautifully photographed in Cinemascope, Lamerica has garnered director Gianni Amelio (Stolen Children and Open Doors) with a record third consecutive Felix Award for Best European Film.

The Hannibal Lecter Anthology (Hannibal / The Silence of the Lambs)

Based on Thomas Harris's novel, Jonathan Demme's terrifying Silence of the Lambs really contains only a couple of genuinely shocking moments (one involving an autopsy, the other a prison break). The rest of the film is a splatter-free visual and psychological descent into the hell of madness, redeemed astonishingly by an unlikely connection between a monster and a haunted young woman. Anthony Hopkins is extraordinary as the cannibalistic psychiatrist Dr. Hannibal Lecter, virtually entombed in a subterranean prison for the criminally insane. At the behest of the FBI, agent-in-training Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) approaches Lecter, requesting his insights into the identity and methods of a serial killer named Buffalo Bill. In exchange, Lecter demands the right to penetrate Starling's most painful memories, creating a bizarre but palpable intimacy that liberates them both under separate but equally horrific circumstances. The Silence of the Lambs won 1992 Oscars^® for best picture, actor, actress, director, and adapted screenplay.

Ten years later in Hannibal, Dr. Lecter (Hopkins) is living the good life in Italy, studying art and sipping espresso. FBI agent Clarice Starling (Julianne Moore, replacing Foster), on the other hand, is now a quiet, moody loner. A botched drug raid results in her demotion--and a request from Lecter's only living victim, Mason Verger (Gary Oldman, uncredited), for a little Q&A. Little does Starling realize that the hideously deformed Verger is using her as bait to lure Dr. Lecter out of hiding. Taking the basic plot contraptions from Harris's baroque novel, Hannibal is so stylistically different from its predecessor that it forces you to take it on its own terms. Director Ridley Scott adeptly sets up an atmosphere of foreboding, but it's all buildup for anticlimax, as Verger's plot for abducting Dr. Lecter doesn't really deliver the requisite visceral thrills, and the much-ballyhooed climatic dinner sequence wobbles between parody and horror. Hopkins and Moore are both first-rate, but the film contrives to keep them as far apart as possible, when what made Silence so amazing was their interaction. When they do connect it's quite thrilling, but it's unfortunately too little too late.

La Scorta

In the Sicilian town of Trapani the Mafia owns just about everyone except for four loyal bodyguards who are assigned to protect a newly-appointed honest judge marked for death. Based on a true story.System Requirements:Running Time 95 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE Rating: NR UPC: 827058109291 Manufacturer No: BU1092