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In the Heat of the Night

Actors: Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger, Warren Oates, Lee Grant, Larry Gates
ASIN : B000053VBH
Sales Rank : 7182
Director : Norman Jewison
Studio : MGM (Video & DVD)
Region Code : 1
Format : Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 9780792848363
ISBN : 0792848365
UPC : 027616857927
Release Date : December 09, 2001
Publisher : MGM (Video & DVD)
Manufacturer : MGM (Video & DVD)
Label : MGM (Video & DVD)
Running Time : 109

Description

Starring Academy AwardÂ(r) winners* Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger and Lee Grant, this provocative mystery thriller won** five 1967 OscarsÂ(r), including Best Picture. Highlighted by an evocative score from OscarÂ(r)-winning*** composer Quincy Jones, In The Heat Of The Night is a "powerful film" (The New York Times) that delivers the "highest level of exciting entertainment" (New York Daily News)! While traveling in the Deep South, Virgil Tibbs, a black Philadelphia homicide detective, becomes unwittingly embroiled in the murder investigationof a prominent businessman when he is first accused of the crimeand then asked to solve it! Finding the killer proves to be difficult, however, especially when his efforts are constantly thwarted by the bigoted town sheriff (Steiger). But neither man can solve this case alone. Putting aside their differences and prejudices, they join forces in a desperate race against time to discover the shocking truth. *Poitier: Actor, Lilies of the Field (1963); Steiger: Actor, In the Heat of the Night (1967); Grant: Supporting Actress, Shampoo (1975) **Actor (Steiger), Adapted Screenplay, Editing, Sound ***1994: Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award

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Both riveting murder mystery and classic fish-out-of-water yarn, Norman Jewison's Oscar-winning In the Heat of the Night represents Hollywood at its wiliest, cloaking exposé in the most entertaining trappings. Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger prove the decade's most formidable antagonists. Poitier plays Virgil Tibbs, an arrogant homicide detective waylaid in Sparta, Mississippi; Steiger, in his bravura Oscar-winning turn, is Bill Gillespie, the town's hardheaded, bigoted sheriff who first arrests Tibbs for murder and then begs for his expertise. As the clues and suspects mount, Gillespie and his deputies develop begrudging respect for the black officer. The first-rate supporting cast includes Lee Grant as the victim's angry widow, Warren Oates as a voyeuristic deputy, William Schallert as the pragmatic mayor, and, in his screen debut, Scott Wilson (In Cold Blood) as an unlucky fugitive. The brilliant widescreen cinematography is by Haskell Wexler, and the scat-music score is by Quincy Jones. Ray Charles wails the blues theme song. --Glenn Lovell

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Conspiracy Theory

Actors: G.A. Aguilar, Terry Alexander, Cylk Cozart, Donal Gibson, Mel Gibson
ASIN : 6304708793
Sales Rank : 4427
Brand : Warner Brothers
Studio : Warner Home Video
Region Code : 1
Format : Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 9780790733258
ISBN : 0790733250
UPC : 085391509127
Release Date : December 30, 1997
Publisher : Warner Home Video
Manufacturer : Warner Home Video
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Warner Home Video
Running Time : 135

Product Description

A conspiracy obsessed cabdriver named jerry fletcher believes he has an inexplicable connection to a justice department attorney alice sutton. He keeps trying to warn her about impending conspiracies even though she gently but firmly dismisses his concerns. Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 02/08/2005 Starring: Mel Gibson Patrick Stewart Run time: 135 minutes Rating: R Director: Richard Donner

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What is it about director Richard Donner that Mel Gibson enjoys so much that he's appeared in five of Donner's films? Is it the on-set pranks? Could it be the big-budget perks and $20-million paychecks? Or is it just a well-stocked catering table? Whatever the case, the Lethal Weapon star and director teamed up again, along with fellow superstar Julia Roberts, for this typically glossy, entertaining but ultimately hokey thriller. Gibson plays New York cab driver Jerry Fletcher, whose wacky belief in conspiracies finally hits on a coincidental truth involving an evil figure named Jonas (Patrick Stewart) and a secret program of government-funded mind control. Roberts plays the Justice Department attorney who finally believes in Jerry's paranoid ramblings. With a plot (from LA. Confidential cowriter Brian Helgeland) that's a lot of fun as long as you don't think about it too critically, Conspiracy Theory benefits immeasurably from the charisma of its high-magnitude stars. --Jeff Shannon

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Kiss the Girls

Actors: Morgan Freeman, Ashley Judd, Cary Elwes, Alex McArthur, Tony Goldwyn
ASIN : 6305127565
Sales Rank : 5912
Director : Gary Fleder
Brand : Paramount
Studio : Paramount
Region Code : 1
Format : AC-3, Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 9780792152989
ISBN : 6305127565
UPC : 097363318873
Release Date : December 07, 1998
Publisher : Paramount
Manufacturer : Paramount
Availability : Usually ships in 1 to 2 days
Label : Paramount
Running Time : 117

Product Description

A washington d.C. Detective stakes his claim on a north carolina kidnapping investigation after his niece becomes the kidnappers latest victim. Local authorities only offer grudging support leaving the detective to do some investigating of his own with the help of one woman who escaped the kidnappers lair. Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 08/24/2004 Starring: Ashley Judd Tony Goldwyn Run time: 117 minutes Rating: R Director: Gary Fleder

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Coming after The Silence of the Lambs and Seven, this thriller about a collaboration between two serial killers feels like a pale attempt to cash in on the success of those earlier, better films. That's a pity, because this film certainly has its strengths--particularly in the central performances of Morgan Freeman as a forensic detective and Ashley Judd as a would-be victim who escaped from one of the killers. Director Gary Fleder demonstrates visual flair and maintains an involving undercurrent of tension, but as this adaptation of James Patterson's novel approaches its climax, familiar elements combine to form a chronic case of thriller déjà vu. It's altogether competent filmmaking in the service of a moribund story of competing psychopaths, and by the time the serial killers reach the home stretch of their twisted contest, the movie's dangerously close to Freddy Kruger territory, with a finale that could've been borrowed from any dozen similar thrillers. --Jeff Shannon

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L.A. Confidential

Actors: Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, Kim Basinger, James Cromwell
ASIN : 0790734850
Sales Rank : 3953
Director : Curtis Hanson
Brand : Warner Brothers
Studio : Warner Home Video
Region Code : 1
Format : Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 9780790734859
ISBN : 0790734850
UPC : 085391491323
Release Date : December 21, 1998
Publisher : Warner Home Video
Manufacturer : Warner Home Video
Label : Warner Home Video
Running Time : 138

Product Description

Six people dead. One of them a cop. But theres more to the grim discovery at the nite owl cafe than a murder case. Three of the los angeles police departments finest uncover a scandal that goes to the heart of the sun-soaked paradise thats 50s los angeles. Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 11/13/2007 Starring: Kevin Spacey Guy Pearce Run time: 138 minutes Rating: R Director: Curtis Hanson

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In a time when it seems that every other movie makes some claim to being a film noir, L.A. Confidential is the real thing--a gritty, sordid tale of sex, scandal, betrayal, and corruption of all sorts (police, political, press--and, of course, very personal) in 1940s Hollywood. The Oscar-winning screenplay is actually based on several titles in James Ellroy's series of chronological thriller novels (including the title volume, The Big Nowhere, and White Jazz)--a compelling blend of L.A. history and pulp fiction that has earned it comparisons to the greatest of all Technicolor noir films, Chinatown. Kim Basinger richly deserved her Supporting Actress Oscar for her portrayal of a conflicted femme fatale; unfortunately, her male costars are so uniformly fine that they may have canceled each other out with the Academy voters: Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, Kevin Spacey, and James Cromwell play LAPD officers of varying stripes. Pearce's character is a particularly intriguing study in Hollywood amorality and ambition, a strait-laced "hero" (and son of a departmental legend) whose career goals outweigh all other moral, ethical, and legal considerations. If he's a good guy, it's only because he sees it as the quickest route to a promotion. --Jim Emerson

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Othello

Actors: Laurence Fishburne, Kenneth Branagh, Irène Jacob, Nathaniel Parker, Michael Maloney
ASIN : B00003OST5
Sales Rank : 4050
Director : Oliver Parker
Brand : Warner Brothers
Studio : Turner Home Entertainment
Region Code : 1
Format : Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 9780780629363
ISBN : 0780629361
UPC : 053939253023
Release Date : December 18, 2000
Publisher : Turner Home Entertainment
Manufacturer : Turner Home Entertainment
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Turner Home Entertainment
Running Time : 123

Product Description

Writer/Director Oliver Parker (An Ideal Husband) adapts Shakespeare's towering tragedy of passion and jealousy with shattering performances by Kenneth Branagh (Iago) Irene Jacob (Desdemona) and Laurence Fishburne as the title-role warrior who ruled armies but not his own heart.Running Time: 125 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: R UPC: 053939253023

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Oliver Parker, a stage and film actor (Hellraiser), made his directorial debut with this scaled-back version of Shakespeare's play about the paranoid Moor, Othello (Laurence Fishburne), and his manipulative friend, Iago (Kenneth Branagh). Parker gets the story so lean he starts running a little short on the author's subtext, and if it's possible to overemphasize the banality of Iago's scheming and Othello's malleability, he does so. The director throws out what is universal in the story and makes it all seem merely ordinary, human, and unfortunate, which is the opposite of what watching Shakespeare should be. In the end, it's hard to care what these characters have done to one another. Branagh's Iago is a little flat and unfocused, while Fishburne is excellent as a quieter Othello than we're accustomed to. With Irène Jacob (Red) as Desdemona. --Tom Keogh

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When the skeleton of his murdered predecessor is found sheriff sam deeds unearths many other long buried secrets in his texas border town. Studio: Turner Hm Entertainm Release Date: 03/29/2005 Starring: Chris Cooper Matthew Mcconaughey Run time: 121 minutes Rating: R Director: John Sayles

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This complex and rich film by John Sayles stars Chris Cooper as the contemporary sheriff of a Texas border town still under the sway of his late, legendary lawman father (Matthew McConaughey, seen in flashbacks). The discovery of a skeleton and crusted-over badge--buried some 40 years--initiates an investigation into an old crime no one wants to talk about but which will determine for Cooper's character, once and for all, various truths about his father's life. Sayles ingeniously sets this mystery against the backdrop of a developing, multicultural community losing its economic base while haggling over a history of racism. The overall effect is of a complicated American tragedy mitigated by the possibility of personal redemption. A terrific experience. --Tom Keogh

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The Player (Special Edition) (New Line Platinum Series)

Actors: Tim Robbins, Greta Scacchi, Fred Ward, Whoopi Goldberg, Peter Gallagher
ASIN : 0780618564
Sales Rank : 15890
Director : Robert Altman
Studio : New Line Home Video
Region Code : 1
Format : Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 9780780618565
ISBN : 0780618564
UPC : 794043403224
Release Date : December 16, 1997
Publisher : New Line Home Video
Manufacturer : New Line Home Video
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : New Line Home Video
Running Time : 124

Product Description

When a callous movie executive starts receiving anonymous death threats from a rejected screen writer his alrady shaky career begins to crumble. Finally his desperation drives him to kill but did he rub out the wrong writer? Studio: New Line Home Video Release Date: 09/26/2006 Starring: Tim Robbins Greta Scacchi Run time: 124 minutes Rating: R Director: Robert Altman

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A wicked satirical fable about corporate backstabbing--and actual murder--in the movie business, The Player benefits from director Robert Altman's long and bitter experience working within, and without, the Hollywood studio system. Rising young executive Griffin Mill (Tim Robbins) is tormented by threats from an anonymous writer. The pressure and paranoia build until Griffin loses control one night and semi-accidentally kills screenwriter David Kahane (Vincent D'Onofrio), who may or may not be the source of the threats. From that point, Griffin's life and career begin to fall apart. In keeping with the ironic spirit of the film itself, Altman's scathingly funny attack on the moral bankruptcy of Hollywood was embraced by many of the same people it was intended to savage, and restored the director to commercial and critical favor. Michael Tolkin adapted the screenplay from his own novel, and the movie is studded with cameos by famous faces, many of whom appear as themselves. The digital video disc includes a commentary track with Altman and Tolkin, some deleted scenes, a documentary about Altman, and a key to help identify more than 50 of the picture's big-name cameos. --Jim Emerson

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Boys Don't Cry

Actors: Hilary Swank, Chloë Sevigny, Peter Sarsgaard, Brendan Sexton III, Alicia Goranson
ASIN : B00003CWN3
Sales Rank : 6300
Director : Kimberly Peirce
Brand : Twentieth Century Fox
Studio : Fox Searchlight Pictures
Region Code : 1
Format : Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0024543001737
UPC : 024543001744
Release Date : December 18, 2000
Publisher : Fox Searchlight Pictures
Manufacturer : Fox Searchlight Pictures
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Fox Searchlight Pictures
Running Time : 118

Description

A true story about hope, fear, and the courage it takes to be yourself, "Boys Don't Cry" is "One of the 10 best films of 1999" (National Board of Review). Critically acclaimed and nominated for two Golden Globe Awards, this four-star, "must-see" (People), "riveting" (Enterainment Weekly) drama features incredible performances by newcomers Hilary Swank and Chloe Sevigny.

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When Brandon Teena, a young man with an infectious, aw-shucks grin and an angelic face that's all angles, wanders into Falls City, Nebraska, he takes to the town like it's a second skin. In little time he's fallen in with a gang of goofy if temperamental redneck boys, found himself a girlfriend, and befriended enough people to form something of a small family. In fact, it's the best time Brandon's ever had. However, there are shadows looming over Brandon's life: a court date for grand theft auto, a checkered criminal record, and a seemingly innocuous speeding ticket that could prove to be his undoing. Why? Because as it turns out, Brandon Teena is actually Teena Brandon, a woman masquerading as a man.

This fascinating story was based on real-life events (as documented in The Brandon Teena Story) that occurred in 1993 and ended in tragedy: Brandon's rape and murder by two of his supposed friends. Despite this horrible outcome, however, in the hands of director Kimberly Peirce (who cowrote the unfettered screenplay with Andy Bienen), Brandon's story becomes not oppressive or preachy, but rather oddly and touchingly transcendent, anchored by Hilary Swank's phenomenal, unsentimental performance. Swank inhabits Brandon's contradictions and passions with a natural vitality most actresses would refuse to give themselves over to. Brandon's deception is doomed from the start, but Swank's enthusiasm is infectious, and when Brandon starts romancing the sloe-eyed Lana (a pitch-perfect Chloë Sevigny), he finds a soul mate who wants to transcend boundaries and fated identities as much as he does. The last part of the film, when Brandon's true identity is discovered, is truly painful to watch, but in between the agony there are touching moments of sweetness between Brandon and Lana, who wrestles with the truth of who Brandon actually is. You'll come away from Boys Don't Cry with affection and respect for Brandon, not pity. --Mark Englehart

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A Simple Plan

Actors: Bill Paxton, Bridget Fonda, Billy Bob Thornton, Brent Briscoe, Jack Walsh
ASIN : 6305417830
Sales Rank : 9823
Director : Sam Raimi
Brand : Paramount
Studio : Paramount
Region Code : 1
Format : Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 9780792155478
ISBN : 6305417830
UPC : 097363337676
Release Date : December 22, 1999
Publisher : Paramount
Manufacturer : Paramount
Label : Paramount
Running Time : 121

Product Description

Three men are embroiled in mistrust murder and intrigue when they find four million dollars in a crashed plane. Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 01/17/2006 Starring: Billy Bob Thornton Bridget Fonda Run time: 121 minutes Rating: R

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An endless white landscape of rolling hills and snow-blanketed forests. A lonely acoustic score (by Danny Elfman) playing in the background. A vision of rural simplicity portrayed in hushed tones. The stillness is about to shatter. Brothers Hank (Bill Paxton), an accountant at a small-town feed store, and Jacob (Billy Bob Thornton), an unemployed, hygienically challenged dim bulb, accompanied by Jacob's oafish pal Lou (Brent Briscoe), stumble across a downed plane in the brush containing a corpse and a sack containing millions of dollars--surely the aftermath of a drug deal, they conclude. Greed overcomes good sense, and the three agree to hide the money for a year and keep the secret to themselves. A simple plan indeed, and it doesn't take long for it to go all to hell as the lure of wealth tears at kinship and friendship, and the ruthless machinations of impetuous partners leave a body count in its wake. Bridget Fonda costars as Hank's wife, whose initial hesitation gives way to cold-blooded plotting. Sam Raimi, best known for wowing audiences with stylistic gymnastics and manic mayhem, directs this quietly desperate thriller with chilly restraint, finding its cold, tragic heart in the estranged relationship between Hank and Jacob: the college boy blind to the truth of his own family and the town loser whose tortured soul reveals a humanity lost on his brother (a brilliant performance by Thornton). Adapted by Scott B. Smith from his acclaimed novel. --Sean Axmaker

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Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead

Actors: Andy Garcia, Christopher Walken, Christopher Lloyd, William Forsythe, Bill Nunn
ASIN : B00000IQC9
Sales Rank : 9244
Director : Gary Fleder
Studio : Walt Disney Video
Region Code : 1
Format : Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Letterboxed, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 9780788815720
ISBN : 0788815725
UPC : 717951002082
Release Date : December 29, 1999
Publisher : Walt Disney Video
Manufacturer : Walt Disney Video
Label : Walt Disney Video
Running Time : 115

Description

Sexy Andy Garcia (WHEN A MAN LOVES A WOMAN) heads an outstanding all-star cast in this riveting and highly original thriller! When a powerful mob boss (Christopher Walken -- PULP FICTION) gives ex-gangster Jimmy the Saint (Garcia) one last job, it's an offer he can't refuse! But when someone gets killed, Jimmy and his partners are marked for death, leaving Jimmy just 48 hours to put things right for his buddies and the woman of his dreams (beautiful Gabrielle Anwar -- SCENT OF A WOMAN)! Acclaimed by critics nationwide, THINGS TO DO IN DENVER WHEN YOU'RE DEAD delivers sensational edge-of-your-seat entertainment!

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After a foolproof scam turns sour, Jimmy the Saint (a soulful but miscast Andy Garcia, who mainly acts with his hair) and his hard-bitten crew must put their various sordid affairs in order before facing their final bloody curtain call. It's not nearly as clever as it thinks it is, but this terminally wise-ass (and extremely violent) caper flick is still one of the better post-Tarantino crime opuses, with some sharp dialogue, a scenery-chewing Christopher Walken (as a paraplegic archcriminal), and unhinged performances by Treat Williams and the obsequious Steve Buscemi that must be seen to be (dis)believed. Neophyte scripter Scott Rosenberg would later pen hipper-than-thou scripts for Beautiful Girls, Con Air, and Armageddon, while director Gary Fleder moved on to the somewhat more reputable Kiss the Girls. The tongue-twisting title is from a Warren Zevon song. --Andrew Wright

Browse Murder & Mayhem Online

In the Heat of the Night

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Conspiracy Theory

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Kiss the Girls

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L.A. Confidential

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Othello

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Lone Star

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The Player (Special Edition) (New Line Platinum Series)

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Boys Don't Cry

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A Simple Plan

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Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead

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