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Amores Perros

Actors: Emilio Echevarría, Gael García Bernal, Goya Toledo, Álvaro Guerrero, Vanessa Bauche
ASIN : B00005N8A9
Sales Rank : 2292
Director : Alejandro González Iñárritu
Brand : AMORES PERROS (AKA LOVE'S A BITCH) (DVD MOVIE
Studio : Lions Gate
Region Code : 1
Format : Anamorphic, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 9781589710702
ISBN : 1589710703
UPC : 658149786424
Release Date : December 25, 2001
Publisher : Lions Gate
Manufacturer : Lions Gate
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Lions Gate
Running Time : 154

Product Description

Three lives become inextricably linked in the wake of a terrible car crash: a young punk stumbles into the sinister underground world of dog fighting; an injured supermodel's pooch disappears into the apartment's floorboards; and an ex-radical turned hit man rescues a gun-shot Rotweiler. Discover why Amores Perros is the best reviewed film of the year.System Requirements: Running Time 153 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: R UPC: 658149786424 Manufacturer No: 71479

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Amores Perros roughly translates to "Love's a bitch," and it's an apt summation of this remarkable film's exploration of passion, loss, and the fragility of our lives. In telling three stories connected by one traumatic incident, Mexican director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu uses an intricate screenplay by novelist Guillermo Arriaga to make three movies in close orbit, expressing the notion that we are defined by what we lose--from our loves to our family, our innocence, or even our lives. These interwoven tales--about a young man in love with his brother's pregnant wife, a perfume spokeswoman and her married lover, and a scruffy vagrant who sidelines as a paid killer--are united by a devastating car crash that provides the film's narrative nexus, and by the many dogs that the characters own or care for. There is graphic violence, prompting a disclaimer that controversial dog-fight scenes were harmless and carefully supervised, but what emerges from Amores Perros is a uniquely conceptual portrait of people whom we come to know through their relationship with dogs. The film is simultaneously bleak, cynical, insightful, and compassionate, with layers of meaning that are sure to reward multiple viewings. --Jeff Shannon

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Mr. Holland's Opus

Actors: Richard Dreyfuss, Glenne Headly, Jay Thomas, Olympia Dukakis, William H. Macy
ASIN : 6305428352
Sales Rank : 1691
Director : Stephen Herek
Brand : DREYFUSS,RICHARD
Studio : Buena Vista Home Entertainment / Hollywood Pictures
Region Code : 1
Format : Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Letterboxed, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 9786305428350
ISBN : 0788816217
UPC : 717951003096
Release Date : December 24, 1999
Publisher : Buena Vista Home Entertainment / Hollywood Pictures
Manufacturer : Buena Vista Home Entertainment / Hollywood Pictures
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Buena Vista Home Entertainment / Hollywood Pictures
Running Time : 143

Description

Acclaimed star Richard Dreyfuss gives the performance of a lifetime (1995 Academy Award(R)-nominee, Best Actor -- MR. HOLLAND'S OPUS) in this uplifting hit cheered by audiences everywhere! Glenn Holland (Dreyfuss) is a passionate musician who dreams of composing one truly memorable piece of music. But reality intrudes when he reluctantly accepts a "day job" as a high school music teacher to support his family. In time, however, Mr. Holland realizes that his real passion is teaching, and his legacy is the generations of young people he inspires. Also featuring Glenne Headly (BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS) and Olympia Dukakis (MAFIA!) -- you're sure to find this electrifying motion picture both entertaining ... and unforgettable!

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An earnest and at times overblown story of a music teacher's impact on those around him, Mr. Holland's Opus is at times a genuinely touching drama in the vein of It's a Wonderful Life. Richard Dreyfuss (Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind) plays an aspiring composer and musician who takes a job teaching music at a local high school to save money while he composes his music. But when his wife (Glenne Headley) becomes pregnant, Glenn Holland must put aside his dreams and address the everyday realities of his life, from the melancholy and sometimes tragic fates of his students to the discovery that the son he cherishes is deaf. Building to a highly emotional climax in which the teacher sees the impact he's had on the world around him, Mr. Holland's Opus is a showcase for a fine Oscar-nominated performance by Dreyfuss and an engaging, heartwarming story. --Robert Lane

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The Queen

Actors: Helen Mirren, Michael Sheen, James Cromwell, Sylvia Syms, Alex Jennings
ASIN : B00005JPAO
Sales Rank : 1582
Director : Stephen Frears
Brand : Buena Vista Home Video
Studio : Miramax
Region Code : 1
Format : Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Subtitled, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 5060002835128
UPC : 786936712414
Release Date : December 24, 2007
Publisher : Miramax
Manufacturer : Miramax
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Miramax
Running Time : 103

Description

Winner of the Academy Award® for Best Actress, Dame Helen Mirren gives a spellbinding performance in THE QUEEN, the provocative story behind one of the most public tragedies of our time — the sudden death of Princess Diana. In the wake of Diana's death, the very private and tradition-bound Queen Elizabeth II (Mirren) finds herself in conflict with the new Prime Minister, the slickly modern and image-conscious Tony Blair. THE QUEEN, also starring Academy Award® Nominee James Cromwell (Best Supporting Actor, BABE, 1995), takes you inside the private chambers of the Royal Family and the British government for a captivating look at a vulnerable human being in her darkest hour, as a nation grieving for its People's Princess waits to see what its leaders will do. Suspenseful, heartfelt and riveting, it's a fascinating story you won’t soon forget.

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Helen Mirren reigns supreme in The Queen, a witty and ingenious look at a moment that rocked the house of Windsor: the week that followed the sudden death of Princess Diana in 1997. Diana's death came at just the same time that Prime Minister Tony Blair (played by the bright Michael Sheen) was settling into his new government--and trying to figure out the delicate relationship between 10 Downing Street and Queen Elizabeth II (Mirren). A large portion of the British population was trying to figure out the Windsors that week, as Elizabeth remained stiff-upper-lip and largely mum about the death of the beloved princess. In Peter Morgan's skillful script, we watch as Blair grows increasingly impatient with the Royals, who are sequestered in their Scottish estate while the public demands some show of grief. Prince Philip (James Cromwell, in good form) clumsily decides to take Diana's sons hunting, while a sympathetically-treated Prince Charles (Alex Jennings) displays some frustration with his mother's eerie calm.

None of this conveys how funny the film is, or how deftly it flows from one scene to the next. Director Stephen Frears (Dirty Pretty Things) deserves great credit for that, and for the performances, and for the movie's marvelous sense of well-roundedness; you could see this movie and groan at the cluelessness of the Royals and their outmoded existence, or you might just sympathize with showing reserve in a world that values gross public displays of emotion. But either way, you'll marvel at Mirren, who makes the Queen far more alert and human than one might ever have imagined. --Robert Horton

Beyond The Queen

The British are Coming! Kings & Queens on DVD
Helen Mirren Essential DVDs
The Queen: Music From the Motion Picture by Alexandre Desplat

Stills from The Queen (click for larger image)

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Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind

Actors: Sumi Shimamoto, Mahito Tsujimura, Hisako Kyôda, Gorô Naya, Ichirô Nagai
ASIN : B0001XAPZ6
Sales Rank : 1337
Director : Hayao Miyazaki
Studio : Walt Disney Home Entertainment
Region Code : 1
Format : Anamorphic, Animated, Color, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 9780788824005
ISBN : 0788824007
UPC : 786936175240
Release Date : December 22, 2005
Publisher : Walt Disney Home Entertainment
Manufacturer : Walt Disney Home Entertainment
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Walt Disney Home Entertainment
Running Time : 84

Product Description

Warrior/pacifist princess nausicaa desperately struggles to prevent two warring nations from destroying themselves and their dying planet. Studio: Buena Vista Home Video Release Date: 02/22/2005 Run time: 117 minutes

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Hayao Miyazaki gained widespread attention in Japan for his complex ecological manga series, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1982), which he adapted for the screen two years later. One thousand years after a war devastated much of the Earth, humanity clings to existence at the fringes of a vast, polluted forest inhabited by monstrous insects. Only Nausicaä, the princess of the tiny realm of the Valley of the Wind, grasps the environmental significance of the forest. She sees beyond petty wars and national rivalries to the only viable future for the planet. In Nausicaä, Miyazaki began to explore elements he would develop more fully in his later films: daring, compassionate heroines; exciting flying sequences; colorful side characters; strong interpersonal relationships; and a call for an ecologically sustainable way of life. Nausicaä prefigures Sheeta in Castle in the Sky and Chihiro in Spirited Away, just as the rough and ready Asbel anticipates Pazu in Castle in the Sky and Ashitaka in Princess Mononoke. For years, Nausicaä was available in the United States only as the badly re-edited Warriors of the Wind. The new English dub from Disney presents the film in its entirety, with strong vocal performances by Uma Thurman, Patrick Stewart, Alison Lohman, and Edward James Olmos. (Rated PG: violence, frightening imagery) --Charles Solomon

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Funny Girl

Actors: Barbra Streisand, Omar Sharif, Kay Medford, Anne Francis, Walter Pidgeon
ASIN : B00005O3VD
Sales Rank : 1663
Director : William Wyler
Brand : Sony
Studio : Sony Pictures
Region Code : 99
Format : Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 9780767824934
ISBN : 0767824938
UPC : 043396030893
Release Date : December 23, 2001
Publisher : Sony Pictures
Manufacturer : Sony Pictures
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Sony Pictures
Running Time : 151

Product Description

Only her mother believes fanny can make it in show business. When she gets her first break at keeneys music hall her hilarious debut as a rollerskating chorus girl gets her hired as a comedienne. A year later fanny is working for florenz ziegfeld in his famous follies and brings the house down. Studio: Sony Pictures Home Ent Release Date: 11/27/2007 Starring: Barbra Streisand Omar Shariff Run time: 147 minutes Rating: G

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Ah, Barbra. Of all her onscreen personas, she sparkles in none as she does in her role as 1930s comedian Fanny Brice in the musical Funny Girl. Portraying the life of this star of stage and radio, Brice preens and prances and sings, captivating her audience both onscreen and off. Fanny Brice started life on the Lower East Side of New York, the daughter of a Jewish saloon owner. Not the prettiest girl around, Brice still managed to quickly rise to stardom as a performer in the Ziegfield Follies. A shrewd, obstinate woman, Brice dictated her own success story on stage; things were a different matter in romance. Falling hard for the stunning Nick Arnstein (suavely played by Omar Sharif), Brice must navigate a difficult marriage. While kids may love the tunes (which include the now-infamous "People," as in "People who need people are the luckiest people in the world"), the plot is definitely adult-oriented. Enjoy this one, but don't go too far out of your way for the sequel, Funny Lady. --Jenny Brown

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Cinema Paradiso (Two-Disc Deluxe Edition)

Actors: Antonella Attili, Enzo Cannavale, Isa Danieli, Leo Gullotta, Marco Leonardi
ASIN : B000I0RNV6
Sales Rank : 2003
Director : Giuseppe Tornatore
Brand : WELLSPRING/GENIUS
Studio : Weinstein Company
Region Code : 1
Format : Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0796019797016
UPC : 796019797016
Release Date : December 07, 2006
Publisher : Weinstein Company
Manufacturer : Weinstein Company
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Weinstein Company
Running Time : 295

Description

A famous film director returns home to a Sicilian village for the first time after almost 30 years. He reminisces about his childhood at the Cinema Paradiso here Alfredo, the projectionist, first brought about his love of films. He is also reminded of his lost teenage love, Elena, ho he had to leave before he left for Rome. Cinema Paradiso is one of the most beloved Foreign films of all time! Winner of the 1990 Oscar for Best Foreign Film!

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Giuseppe Tornatore's beautiful 1988 film about a little boy's love affair with the movies deservedly won an Oscar for Best Foreign Film and a Special Jury Prize at Cannes. Philippe Noiret plays a grizzled old projectionist who takes pride in his presentation of screen dreams for a town still recovering from World War II. When a child (Jacques Perrin) demonstrates fascination not only for movies but also for the process of showing them to an audience, a lifelong friendship is struck. This isn't just one of those films for people who are already in love with the cinema. But if you are one of those folks, the emotional resonance between the action in Tornatore's world and the images on Noiret's screen will seem all the greater--and the finale all the more powerful. --Tom Keogh

Amazon.com

Cinema Paradiso's complex, interwoven tales of wartime Italy, a boy's coming of age, and the history of cinema can be viewed in their entirety on the Director's Cut included in this Deluxe Edition. Director Giuseppe Tornatore's additional 50 minutes of footage provides closure for the saga's detailing Alfredo's death, and Salvatore Di Vita's lost relationship with his teenage love, Elena. Most of the 50 minutes serves as a continuation of the story, rather than as previously deleted scenes. The original, already celebrated Cinema Paradiso follows Toto (Jacques Perrin), a Sicilian boy who persuades the town projectionist, Alfredo (Philippe Noiret), to teach him how to show films. Spanning nearly 50 years, the film craftily draws parallels between Toto's life and those lives he sees on screen. As Toto matures into Salvatore, a successful Italian filmmaker, the Cinema Paradiso ages as well. Salvatore's return home for Alfredo's funeral is also a goodbye to his Paradiso, demolished to become a parking lot. The film's heightened sense of nostalgia subtly mirrors our humanistic love of movies, making it a tribute to cinema as an artistic genre. The Director's Cut can be fulfilling if one felt unsatisfied by the more ambiguous ending of the theatrical release, but it also feels slightly overwrought. Two documentaries in this package feature fans and critics praising Cinema Paradiso, proving its endurance as a classic. However, as Salvatore discovers over the course of the film, there is no need to improve a masterpiece. --Trinie Dalton

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The Great Debaters

Actors: Denzel Washington, Forest Whitaker, Damien Leake, Gregory Nicotero, Brian Smiar
ASIN : B00125WAWS
Sales Rank : 1469
Brand : WELLSPRING/GENIUS
Studio : Genius Products (TVN)
Region Code : 1
Format : Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, NTSC, Widescreen
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0796019810708
UPC : 796019810708
Release Date : December 13, 2008
Publisher : Genius Products (TVN)
Manufacturer : Genius Products (TVN)
Availability : Usually ships in 7 to 12 days
Label : Genius Products (TVN)
Running Time : 124

Product Description

Two-time Academy Award® winner Denzel Washington (American Gangster) directs and stars with Academy Award® winner Forest Whitaker (Last King of Scotland) in this important and deeply inspiring page from the not-so-distant past (Richard Roeper, At the Movies with Ebert and Roeper). Inspired by a true story, Washington shines as a brilliant but politically radical debate team coach who uses the power of words to transform a group of underdog African American college students into an historical powerhouse that took on the Harvard elite. DVD Special Features:

Deleted Scenes
The Great Debaters: An Historical Perspective. That's What My Baby Likes; Music Video.
My Soul Is A Witness; Music Video
Theatrical Trailer
Sneak Peeks: Grace is Gone, Cassandra's Dream, I'm Not There, Hunting Party

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Inspired by real events, the fascinating The Great Debaters reveals one of the seeds of the Civil Rights Movement in its story of Melvin B. Tolson (Denzel Washington in a captivating performance) and his champion 1935 debate club from the all-African-American Wiley College in Texas. Tolson, a Wiley professor, labor organizer, modernist poet, and much else, runs a rigorous debate program at the school, selecting four students as his team in ’35, among them the future founder of the Congress of Racial Equality, James Farmer Jr. (Denzel Whitaker). Washington, who directed The Great Debaters from a script by Robert Eisele (The Dale Earnhardt Story), anchors the story with the team’s measurable progress, but the film is also about the state of race relations in America at the height of the Great Depression. With lynchings of black men and women a common form of entertainment and black subjugation for many rural whites, the idea of talented and highly intelligent African-American young people learning to think on their feet during debates would seem almost a hopeless endeavor. But that’s not the way Tolson sees it, as his students serve themselves and the cause of racial equality in America with energetic arguments in favor of progressive government and non-violence as a viable social movement. There are some startling moments in this movie, particularly the sight of a man found lynched and burned to death, and an extraordinary moment in which we see black sharecroppers and white farmers engaged with Tolson in arguments about unionizing together. Forest Whitaker is outstanding as Farmer’s emotionally-reserved father, also a Wiley professor. This is the kind of film where one hopes two great actors such as the elder Whitaker and Washington will have a scene together, and when it comes it’s as powerful as one might hope. --Tom Keogh

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Rocky Balboa

Actors: Michael Buffer, Tony Burton, Jim Lampley, Leroy Neiman, Talia Shire
ASIN : B000N4SHPS
Sales Rank : 3864
Brand : Team Marketing
Studio : Sony Pictures
Region Code : 99
Format : AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0043396161900
UPC : 043396161900
Release Date : December 20, 2007
Publisher : Sony Pictures
Manufacturer : Sony Pictures
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Sony Pictures
Running Time : 102

Product Description

When he loses a highly publicized virtual boxing match to ex-champ Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone), reigning heavyweight titleholder Mason Dixon (Antonio Tarver) retaliates by challenging the Italian Stallion to a nationally televised, 10-round exhibition bout. To the surprise of his son (Milo Ventimiglia, TV's Heroes) and friends, Rocky agrees to come out of retirement and face an opponent who's faster, stronger and thirty years his junior. With the odds stacked firmly against him, Rocky takes on Dixon in what will become the greatest fight in boxing history, a hard-hitting, action-packed battle of the ages!

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The sixth installment of the Rocky series picks up the story of the Italian Stallion 16 years after the morose Rocky V. And sure, at his advanced age, Sylvester Stallone now looks like one of those sides of beef his character used to pound on. No matter. Somehow you buy the premise after all these years, even if it takes forever for Rocky Balboa to stop wallowing in self-pity (Adrian is dead, his old haunts are demolished) and get down to the business of drinking raw eggs and running up staircases. The business at hand is an unlikely exhibition fight with champion Mason Dixon (Antonio Tarver), which the near-sexagenarian Mr. Balboa has no business accepting. Of course, just as sure as the horns of Bill Conti's theme music are even now trumpeting through your head, the ol' Rock might have a punch or two left in him. Stallone wrote and directed, and there isn't much to say except that the movie steps in its pre-determined paces with a canny sense of what has come before (it's practically an homage to all the previous Rocky pictures, complete with fleeting flashbacks). Burt Young is around again, and Geraldine Hughes makes an appealing, rather chaste female companion for Rocky. Stallone's Rocky has gotten suspiciously articulate over the years, but he still knows how to slouch. If Stallone never forgets that, he can probably keep the franchise rolling. --Robert Horton