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Leaving Las Vegas [1996] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Starring: Kim Adams , Susan Barnes , Graham Beckel , Xander R. Berkeley , and Nicolas Cage Director: Mike Figgis Manufacturer: MGM ProductGroup: DVD Binding: DVD Similar Items:
ASIN: 0792838068 Release Date: 2001-02-06 ![]() |
Amazon.co.uk Review
One of the most critically acclaimed films of 1995, this wrenchingly sad but extraordinarily moving drama provides an authentic, superbly acted portrait of two people whose lives intersect just as they've reached their lowest depths of despair. Ben (Nicolas Cage, in an Oscar-winning performance) is a former movie executive who's lost his wife and family in a sea of alcoholic self-destruction. He's come to Las Vegas literally to drink himself to death, and that's when he meets Sera (Elisabeth Shue), a prostitute who falls in love with him--and he with her--despite their mutual dead-end existence. They accept each other as they are, with no attempts by one to change the other, and this unconditional love turns Leaving Las Vegas into a sombre yet quietly beautiful love story. Earning Oscar nominations for Best Director (Mike Figgis), Best Adapted Screenplay (Figgis, from John O'Brien's novel) and Best Actress (Shue), the film may strike some as relentlessly bleak and glacially paced, but attentive viewers will readily discover the richness of these tragic characters and the exceptional performances that bring them to life. (In a sad echo of his own fiction, novelist John O'Brien committed suicide while this film was in production.) --Jeff ShannonCustomer Reviews:
Compelling but very Depressing.......2007-12-24
One for the road..........2007-10-27
gripping sense of reality portrayed here.......2006-11-10
Nihilistic but touching........2004-07-21
This is the film that Nic Cage was born to make. It is his best performance by a mile. Unfortunately it makes watching pretty much everything else he has done frustrating as he has never hit these heights again.
The bleak premise of the film, a broken man drinking himself to death in the company of a hooker whose pimp has been killed, could put some people off. Don't be one of them, this film has a rare beauty and emotional depth.
If you want to see a love story that isn't saccharine, cliched guff then this is it.
I'm Going To Drink Myself To Death.......2003-11-17
One scene at the beginning of the movie encapsulates beautifully the way in which alcohol has dragged Ben down, and robbed him totally of any last shred of his self-respect.
His film producer colleagues Marc (Steven Webber) and Peter (Richard Lewis) are having dinner and drinks in an upmarket restaurant while they shoot the breeze about their latest blockbuster film project.
Ben has run out of cash, and is desperate for a drink.
He spots his erstwhile buddies, and dollar signs immediately begin to flash before his eyes. He bursts into their private conversation in a desperate attempt to cadge enough money to allow him to carry on boozing. He completely demeans and degrades himself for the paltry price of a few drinks, and what’s more he realises it. But alcohol has him in such a fierce stranglehold that he would quite literally go to any lengths to get the necessary wherewithal to buy his next glass of hooch!
His career is on the slide, and he’s eventually sacked by his boss. This is done reluctantly, and it’s plain that his boss still has a lot of regard for him, but has now been let down just once too often, and left with no alternative but to let Ben go.
It’s the last straw for Ben, who concludes that he can’t fight his addiction any longer, and decides to take his own life. But a painless death with a bottle of pills is not for him! He decides to go out with a bang. He liquidates all his remaining assets, and with the severance pay from his job heads for the bright lights of Las Vegas, where he reckons he can ‘party’ 24-hours a day without sticking out like a sore thumb.
He’s worked out a budget that will allow him to maintain his required daily alcohol intake (enormous) and the occasional fling with a hooker, and which should see him dead and buried within a few months.
But he hasn’t reckoned on falling in love!
He’s hardly landed in Vegas when he meets Sera, (Elisabeth Shue) a prostitute with a heart of gold, who falls for him like a ton of bricks. (And vice versa)
Before long she has convinced him to move into her apartment, and has even given him a present of a silver hip flask to hold the real love of his life, his beloved booze. Ben reckons he’s at last found a woman that truly ’understands’ him.
A poignant scene with Sera captures to a tee the hopeless plight of the drinking alcoholic. Sera is trying to convince him to move in with her, and he agrees, but only after making her give a solemn promise.
“The one thing you can NEVER ask me to do is to stop drinking!”
You know from the start that the relationship is doomed to failure.
Ben is incapable of sustaining any form of physical relationship. In one harrowing scene by a hotel pool, we see Sera taking off her bikini top and soaking her breasts in champagne, in a futile attempt to get Ben more interested in her body than his beloved booze.
Ben’s interested all right, but is so piss*d that he falls over, shattering a glass table and cutting himself to ribbons. Sera then proceeds to lick his wounds clean!
She loves this man so totally that she’s prepared to put up with almost anything to win his affection, and will care for him no matter what.
Elisabeth Shue gives the performance of her life as Sera.
We’re never really told how she ended up as a prostitute, working for a sadistic Russian pimp. (played by Julian Sands) She is as trapped by her lifestyle every bit as much as Ben is ensnared by his alcohol addiction, and cannot break free from the ‘easy money’ she has become used to earning.
This is no glossy “Pretty Woman” type of movie, and we see the inherent dangers of prostitution when in one gut-wrenching scene she is brutally beaten and anally raped by a bunch of college boys out for a night on the town.
The movie is directed by Mike Figgis. ( Stormy Monday, Internal Affairs) and is based on a autobiographical novel by author John O’Brien.
Incidentally, O’Brien never got to see his novel on the silver screen, because he himself committed suicide only two weeks after it went into production.
British director Figgis has brilliantly captured the futility and despair of both the drinking alcoholic and the unglamorous and dangerous life of a prostitute.
He doesn’t even attempt to introduce any “feel-good” factor, by hinting at a possible happy ending, with Sera giving up the game, and Ben getting himself ‘clean and sober’. Instead he concentrates on showing us what actually happens to over 90% of alcoholics, who NEVER get sober, and eventually end up dead from their illness.
Incidentally, Cage researched his part in the movie by actually going on a series of binge drinking sessions himself, and by talking to dozens of alcoholics in clinics all over America.
Be warned. This is not a movie that is easy to watch, and to say I enjoyed it wouldn’t be a correct assessment. It’s far to hard hitting, and it’s message far too brutal, for it to be ‘enjoyed’ in the conventional sense.
But I guarantee that you won’t fail to be moved.
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The Canterville Ghost [1996] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Starring: Cherie Lunghi , Leslie Phillips , Joan Sims , Donald Sinden , and Patrick Stewart Director: Sydney Macartney Manufacturer: Platinum Disc ProductGroup: DVD Binding: DVD Similar Items:
ASIN: B0002IQJBO Release Date: 2004-08-31 ![]() |
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Ed [1996] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Starring: Matt LeBlanc , Gene Ross , Paul Hewitt , Sage Allen , and Stan Ivar Director: Bill Couturié Manufacturer: Universal Studios ProductGroup: DVD Binding: DVD ASIN: B00009AOAV Release Date: 2003-07-01 ![]() |
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Navajo Blues [1996] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Starring: Steven Bauer , Irene Bedard , Charlotte Lewis , Barry Donaldson (II) , and Ed O'Ross Director: Joey Travolta Manufacturer: Ardustry Home Entertainment ProductGroup: DVD Binding: DVD Similar Items: ASIN: B0001DCYN2 Release Date: 2004-03-09 ![]() |
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Miracle at Oxford [1996] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Starring: Dylan Baker , Ryan Bollman , Johan Leysen , Geraldine Somerville , and Josh Lucas Director: Ferdinand Fairfax Manufacturer: Miramax ProductGroup: DVD Binding: DVD ASIN: B00069FKUK Release Date: 2005-01-04 ![]() |
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The Greatest Adventure Stories From the Bible: The Easter Story [1996] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Starring: Bruce McGill , Joe Spano , Adrienne Barbeau , Darleen Carr , and Rob Paulsen Manufacturer: Warner Home Video ProductGroup: DVD Binding: DVD Similar Items: ASIN: B000BVM1V4 Release Date: 2006-03-07 ![]() |
Amazon.co.uk Review
If a musical sci-fi satire about an alien transvestite named Frank-n-Furter, who is building the perfect man while playing sexual games with his virginal visitors, sounds like an intriguing premise for a movie, then you're in for a treat. Not only is The Rocky Horror Picture Show all this and more, but it stars the surprising cast of Susan Sarandon and Barry Bostwick (as the demure Janet and uptight Brad, who get lost in a storm and find themselves stranded at Frank-n-Furter's mansion), Meat Loaf (as the rebel Eddie), Charles Gray (as our criminologist and narrator) and, of course, the inimitable Tim Curry as our "sweet transvestite from Transsexual, Transylvania".Upon its release in 1975, the film was an astounding flop. But a few devotees persuaded a New York cinema to show it at midnight, and thus was born one of the ultimate cult films of all time. The songs are addictive (just try getting "The Time Warp" or "Toucha Toucha Touch Me" out of your head), the raunchiness amusing and the plot line utterly ridiculous--in other words, this film is simply tremendous good fun. The downfall, however, is that much of the amusement is found in the audience participation that is obviously missing from a video version (viewers in cinemas shout lines at the screen and use props--such as holding up newspapers and shooting water guns during the storm and throwing rice during a wedding scene). Watched alone as a straight movie, Rocky Horror loses a tremendous amount of its charm. Yet, for those who wish to perfect their lip-synching techniques for movie cinema performances or for those who want to gather a crowd around the TV at home for some good, old-fashioned, rowdy fun, this film can't be beat. --Jenny Brown
Amazon.co.uk Review
If a musical sci-fi satire about an alien transvestite named Frank-n-Furter, who is building the perfect man while playing sexual games with his virginal visitors, sounds like an intriguing premise for a movie, then you're in for a treat. Not only is The Rocky Horror Picture Show all this and more, but it stars the surprising cast of Susan Sarandon and Barry Bostwick (as the demure Janet and uptight Brad, who get lost in a storm and find themselves stranded at Frank-n-Furter's mansion), Meat Loaf (as the rebel Eddie), Charles Gray (as our criminologist and narrator) and, of course, the inimitable Tim Curry as our "sweet transvestite from Transsexual, Transylvania". Upon its release in 1975, the film was an astounding flop. But a few devotees persuaded a New York cinema to show it at midnight, and thus was born one of the ultimate cult films of all time. The songs are addictive (just try getting "The Time Warp" or "Toucha Toucha Touch Me" out of your head), the raunchiness amusing and the plot line utterly ridiculous--in other words, this film is simply tremendous good fun. The downfall, however, is that much of the amusement is found in the audience participation that is obviously missing from a video version (viewers in cinemas shout lines at the screen and use props--such as holding up newspapers and shooting water guns during the storm and throwing rice during a wedding scene). Watched alone as a straight movie, Rocky Horror loses a tremendous amount of its charm. Yet, for those who wish to perfect their lip-synching techniques for movie cinema performances or for those who want to gather a crowd around the TV at home for some good, old-fashioned, rowdy fun, this film can't be beat. --Jenny Brown, Amazon.comCustomer Reviews:
Love it!!.......2007-08-26
CHICKEN CURRY OR TIM CURRY.......2007-07-28
Let's do the Time Warp again!.......2007-07-16
A '70s classic.......2007-06-29
So what if you're a sexually repressed accountant?.......2006-12-29
Average customer rating: |
Eye for an Eye [1996] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Starring: Sally Field , Ed Harris , Olivia Burnette , Alexandra Kyle , and Kiefer Sutherland Director: John Schlesinger Manufacturer: Paramount ProductGroup: DVD Binding: DVD ASIN: B00005Y1UV Release Date: 2002-04-16 ![]() |
Amazon.co.uk Review
If a musical sci-fi satire about an alien transvestite named Frank-n-Furter, who is building the perfect man while playing sexual games with his virginal visitors, sounds like an intriguing premise for a movie, then you're in for a treat. Not only is The Rocky Horror Picture Show all this and more, but it stars the surprising cast of Susan Sarandon and Barry Bostwick (as the demure Janet and uptight Brad, who get lost in a storm and find themselves stranded at Frank-n-Furter's mansion), Meat Loaf (as the rebel Eddie), Charles Gray (as our criminologist and narrator) and, of course, the inimitable Tim Curry as our "sweet transvestite from Transsexual, Transylvania".Upon its release in 1975, the film was an astounding flop. But a few devotees persuaded a New York cinema to show it at midnight, and thus was born one of the ultimate cult films of all time. The songs are addictive (just try getting "The Time Warp" or "Toucha Toucha Touch Me" out of your head), the raunchiness amusing and the plot line utterly ridiculous--in other words, this film is simply tremendous good fun. The downfall, however, is that much of the amusement is found in the audience participation that is obviously missing from a video version (viewers in cinemas shout lines at the screen and use props--such as holding up newspapers and shooting water guns during the storm and throwing rice during a wedding scene). Watched alone as a straight movie, Rocky Horror loses a tremendous amount of its charm. Yet, for those who wish to perfect their lip-synching techniques for movie cinema performances or for those who want to gather a crowd around the TV at home for some good, old-fashioned, rowdy fun, this film can't be beat. --Jenny Brown
Amazon.co.uk Review
If a musical sci-fi satire about an alien transvestite named Frank-n-Furter, who is building the perfect man while playing sexual games with his virginal visitors, sounds like an intriguing premise for a movie, then you're in for a treat. Not only is The Rocky Horror Picture Show all this and more, but it stars the surprising cast of Susan Sarandon and Barry Bostwick (as the demure Janet and uptight Brad, who get lost in a storm and find themselves stranded at Frank-n-Furter's mansion), Meat Loaf (as the rebel Eddie), Charles Gray (as our criminologist and narrator) and, of course, the inimitable Tim Curry as our "sweet transvestite from Transsexual, Transylvania". Upon its release in 1975, the film was an astounding flop. But a few devotees persuaded a New York cinema to show it at midnight, and thus was born one of the ultimate cult films of all time. The songs are addictive (just try getting "The Time Warp" or "Toucha Toucha Touch Me" out of your head), the raunchiness amusing and the plot line utterly ridiculous--in other words, this film is simply tremendous good fun. The downfall, however, is that much of the amusement is found in the audience participation that is obviously missing from a video version (viewers in cinemas shout lines at the screen and use props--such as holding up newspapers and shooting water guns during the storm and throwing rice during a wedding scene). Watched alone as a straight movie, Rocky Horror loses a tremendous amount of its charm. Yet, for those who wish to perfect their lip-synching techniques for movie cinema performances or for those who want to gather a crowd around the TV at home for some good, old-fashioned, rowdy fun, this film can't be beat. --Jenny Brown, Amazon.comCustomer Reviews:
Love it!!.......2007-08-26
CHICKEN CURRY OR TIM CURRY.......2007-07-28
Let's do the Time Warp again!.......2007-07-16
A '70s classic.......2007-06-29
So what if you're a sexually repressed accountant?.......2006-12-29
Average customer rating: |
Ed McBain's 87th Precinct: Ice [1996] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Starring: Dale Midkiff , Joe Pantoliano , Paul Johansson , Andrea Parker , and Dean McDermott Director: Bradford May Manufacturer: Evg ProductGroup: DVD Binding: DVD ASIN: B00009MEH0 Release Date: 2004-02-12 ![]() |
DVD: