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Driving Miss Daisy (Special Edition)

Actors: Morgan Freeman, Jessica Tandy, Dan Aykroyd, Patti LuPone, Esther Rolle
ASIN : B000087F7D
Sales Rank : 1203
Director : Bruce Beresford
Brand : Warner Brothers
Studio : Warner Home Video
Region Code : 1
Format : Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 9780790772370
ISBN : 079077237X
UPC : 085392334025
Release Date : December 04, 2003
Publisher : Warner Home Video
Manufacturer : Warner Home Video
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Warner Home Video
Running Time : 99

Description

Four Academy Awards(R) including Best Picture! The funny, tender story of a feisty Southern lady and her chauffeur, fueled by the starpower of Jessica Tandy, Morgan Freeman and Dan Aykroyd.

Amazon.com essential video

Winner of the Academy Award for best picture of 1989, this gracefully moving drama, adapted from the hit play by Alfred Uhry, chronicles the 25-year friendship between a stubborn, aging Southern widow (Jessica Tandy) and her loyal chauffeur (Morgan Freeman). At first, the self-sufficient Miss Daisy is reluctant to accept the services of a chauffeur, but Hoke is quiet, wise, and tolerant, and as the years pass the unlikely friends develop a deep mutual respect and admiration. Tandy deservedly won the Oscar for her sassy and sensitive performance, and Freeman earned an Oscar nomination for bringing quiet depth and integrity to his memorable role. Ironically, director Bruce Beresford (Tender Mercies) was not nominated, but the film won Oscars for makeup and for Uhry's screenplay, in addition to a supporting actor nomination for Dan Aykroyd as Daisy's supportive son. Delicate, funny, and bittersweet, Driving Miss Daisy was a surprise hit when released, and marked the crowning achievement of Tandy's great career. --Jeff Shannon

The Lives of Others

Actors: Martina Gedeck, Ulrich Mühe, Sebastian Koch, Ulrich Tukur, Thomas Thieme
ASIN : B000OVLBGC
Sales Rank : 716
Director : Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
Brand : Sony
Studio : Sony Pictures
Region Code : 99
Format : AC-3, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0043396170858
UPC : 043396170858
Release Date : December 21, 2007
Publisher : Sony Pictures
Manufacturer : Sony Pictures
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Sony Pictures
Running Time : 138

Product Description

This critically-acclaimed, Oscar®-winning film (Best Foreign Language Film, 2006) is the erotic, emotionally-charged experience Lisa Schwarzbaum (Entertainment Weekly) calls "a nail-biter of a thriller!" Before the collapse of the Berlin Wall, East Germany’s population was closely monitored by the State Secret Police (Stasi). Only a few citizens above suspicion, like renowned pro-Socialist playwright Georg Dreyman, were permitted to lead private lives. But when a corrupt government official falls for Georg’s stunning actress-girlfriend, Christa, an ambitious Stasi policeman is ordered to bug the writer’s apartment to gain incriminating evidence against the rival. Now, what the officer discovers is about to dramatically change their lives - as well as his - in this seductive political thriller Peter Travers (Rolling Stone) proclaims is "the best kind of movie: one you can’t get out of your head."

Amazon.com

Nominated for a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, this is a first-rate thriller that, like Bertolucci's The Conformist and Coppola's The Conversation, opts for character development over car chases. The place is East Berlin, the year is 1984, and it all begins with a simple surveillance assignment: Capt. Gerd Wiesler (Ulrich Mühe in a restrained, yet deeply felt performance), a Stasi officer and a specialist in this kind of thing, has been assigned to keep an eye on Georg Dreyman (Sebastian Koch, Black Book), a respected playwright, and his actress girlfriend, Christa-Maria Sieland (Martina Gedeck, Mostly Martha). Though Dreyman is known to associate with the occasional dissident, like blacklisted director Albert Jerska (Volkmar Kleinert), his record is spotless. Everything changes when Wiesler discovers that Minister Hempf (Thomas Thieme) has an ulterior motive in spying on this seemingly upright citizen. In other words, it's personal, and Wiesler's sympathies shift from the government to its people--or at least to this one particular person. That would be risky enough, but then Wiesler uses his privileged position to affect a change in Dreyman's life. The God-like move he makes may be minor and untraceable, but it will have major consequences for all concerned, including Wiesler himself. Writer/director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck starts with a simple premise that becomes more complicated and emotionally involving as his assured debut unfolds. Though three epilogues is, arguably, two too many, The Lives of Others is always elegant, never confusing. It's class with feeling. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Beyond The Lives of Others

Films from Germany

Other Cold War Films

More Arthouse Selections from Sony Pictures Classics

Stills from The Lives of Others (click for larger image)

Schindler's List (Widescreen Edition)

Actors: Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Kingsley, Caroline Goodall, Jonathan Sagall
ASIN : B00012QM8G
Sales Rank : 543
Director : Steven Spielberg
Brand : Universal
Studio : Universal Studios
Region Code : 1
Format : AC-3, Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0025192386626
UPC : 025192386626
Release Date : December 09, 2004
Publisher : Universal Studios
Manufacturer : Universal Studios
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Universal Studios
Running Time : 195

Description

Schindler's List, a Steven Spielberg film, is a cinematic masterpiece that has become one of the most honored films of all time. Winner of seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, it also won every major Best Picture award and an exceptional number of additional honors. Among them were seven British Academy Awards; the Best Picture Awards from the New York Film Critics Circle, the National Society of Film Critics, the National Board of Review, the Producers Guild, the Los Angeles Film Critics, the Chicago, Boston and Dallas Film Critics; a Christopher Award; and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association Golden Globe Awards. Steven Spielberg was further honored with the Directors Guild of America Award. The film presents the indelible true story of the enigmatic Oskar Schindler, a member of the Nazi party, womanizer, and war profiteer who saved the lives of more than 1,100 Jews during the Holocaust. It is the triumph of one man who made a difference, and the drama of those who survived one of the darkest chapters in human history because of what he did. Directed by Steven Spielberg, the film, which also won Academy Awards for Screenplay, Cinematography, Music, Editing and Art Direction, stars an acclaimed cast headed by Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes, Caroline Goodall, Jonathan Sagalle and Embeth Davidtz.

Amazon.com essential video

Steven Spielberg had a banner year in 1993. He scored one of his biggest commercial hits that summer with the mega-hit Jurassic Park, but it was the artistic and critical triumph of Schindler's List that Spielberg called "the most satisfying experience of my career." Adapted from the best-selling book by Thomas Keneally and filmed in Poland with an emphasis on absolute authenticity, Spielberg's masterpiece ranks among the greatest films ever made about the Holocaust during World War II. It's a film about heroism with an unlikely hero at its center--Catholic war profiteer Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson), who risked his life and went bankrupt to save more than 1,000 Jews from certain death in concentration camps.

By employing Jews in his crockery factory manufacturing goods for the German army, Schindler ensures their survival against terrifying odds. At the same time, he must remain solvent with the help of a Jewish accountant (Ben Kingsley) and negotiate business with a vicious, obstinate Nazi commandant (Ralph Fiennes) who enjoys shooting Jews as target practice from the balcony of his villa overlooking a prison camp. Schindler's List gains much of its power not by trying to explain Schindler's motivations, but by dramatizing the delicate diplomacy and determination with which he carried out his generous deeds.

As a drinker and womanizer who thought nothing of associating with Nazis, Schindler was hardly a model of decency; the film is largely about his transformation in response to the horror around him. Spielberg doesn't flinch from that horror, and the result is a film that combines remarkable humanity with abhorrent inhumanity--a film that functions as a powerful history lesson and a testament to the resilience of the human spirit in the context of a living nightmare. --Jeff Shannon

Chariots of Fire (Two-Disc Special Edition)

Actors: Nicholas Farrell, Nigel Havers, Ian Charleson, Ben Cross, Daniel Gerroll
ASIN : B0006HBLUA
Sales Rank : 1081
Director : Hugh Hudson
Brand : Warner Brothers
Studio : Warner Home Video
Region Code : 1
Format : Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Widescreen, Surround Sound, Special Edition, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 9780790789118
ISBN : 0790789116
UPC : 085393190828
Release Date : December 01, 2005
Publisher : Warner Home Video
Manufacturer : Warner Home Video
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Warner Home Video
Running Time : 124

Product Description

An absorbing drama dealing with the personal struggle of two very different men who are distance runners competing in the 1924 olympic games in paris. Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 02/01/2005 Starring: Ian Charleson Ben Cross Run time: 124 minutes Rating: Pg Director: Hugh Hudson

Amazon.com essential video

The come-from-behind winner of the 1981 Oscar for best picture, Chariots of Fire either strikes you as either a cold exercise in mechanical manipulation or as a tale of true determination and inspiration. The heroes are an unlikely pair of young athletes who ran for Great Britain in the 1924 Paris Olympics: devout Protestant Eric Liddell (Ian Charleson), a divinity student whose running makes him feel closer to God, and Jewish Harold Abrahams (Ben Cross), a highly competitive Cambridge student who has to surmount the institutional hurdles of class prejudice and anti-Semitism. There's delicious support from Ian Holm (as Abrahams's coach) and John Gielgud and Lindsay Anderson as a couple of Cambridge fogies. Vangelis's soaring synthesized score, which seemed to be everywhere in the early 1980s, also won an Oscar. Chariots of Fire was the debut film of British television commercial director Hugh Hudson (Greystoke) and was produced by David Puttnam. --Jim Emerson

La Vie en Rose (Extended Version)

Actors: Marion Cotillard, Sylvie Testud, Pascal Greggory, Emmanuelle Seigner, Jean-Paul Rouve
ASIN : B00005JPX8
Sales Rank : 998
Director : Olivier Dahan
Brand : Warner Brothers
Studio : Hbo Home Video
Region Code : 1
Format : AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0026359441226
UPC : 026359441226
Release Date : December 13, 2007
Publisher : Hbo Home Video
Manufacturer : Hbo Home Video
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Hbo Home Video
Running Time : 141

Description

Picturehouse and HBO Films present a critically-acclaimed biopic about the legendary international singing icon Edith Piaf, whose voice and talent captivated the world. Starring award-winner Marion Cotillard (A Very Long Engagement, A Good Year) in an astonishing performance, the film is a portrait of a remarkable artist born into poverty who survived using the only gift she had â€" her voice. Piaf’s tragic life was a constant battle to sing and survive, to live and love, with no regrets.

Amazon.com

Edith Piaf is the subject of La Vie en Rose, director Olivier Dahan's powerful if emotionally redundant biographical film about the iconic French superstar whose life, as depicted here, seems to have been a numbing succession of tragedies interrupted on occasion by artistic triumph. Dahan's portrait begins with Piaf's stay in a brothel as a young girl. Left to the care of her grandmother (who runs the place) after her father pulls her away from a narcissistic mother, Piaf undergoes significant health problems and grows up to sing on the street in lieu of outright prostitution. The film pulses along with the usual biopic rhythms, with pivotal moments in the life of Piaf (played as an adult by Marion Cotillard) turning up regularly only to be smacked aside by the unseen hand of perpetual misfortune. There's the impresario (Gerard Depardieu) who recognizes Piaf's great but raw talent only to have a run-in with the criminal element around her. There's the heavyweight fighter (Marcel Cerdan) who becomes the love of Piaf's life but can't be with her. Drug addiction, random car accidents, tax problems, you name it, it's all here, topped by an unnerving revelation that pops up in La Vie en Rose's final moments. After awhile, with such a concentration of bad news squeezed into 140 minutes, one begins to wish Dahan had taken a more expansive approach to Piaf's life and times. But the film is never less than interesting, and the lead performance by Cotillard is often astonishing. --Tom Keogh

Joyeux Noel (Widescreen)

Actors: Lucas Belvaux, Suzanne Flon, Bernard Le Coq, Ian Richardson, Michel Serrault
ASIN : B000I6BJ56
Sales Rank : 1430
Brand : Sony
Studio : Sony Pictures
Region Code : 99
Format : AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0043396150997
UPC : 043396150997
Release Date : December 14, 2006
Publisher : Sony Pictures
Manufacturer : Sony Pictures
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Sony Pictures
Running Time : 116

Product Description

Academy Award, Golden Globe and BAFTA nominee for Best Foreign Film, Joyeux Noel (Merry Christmas) tells the true-life story of the spontaneous Christmas Eve truce declared by Scottish, French and German troops in the trenches of World War I. Enemies leave their weapons behind for one night as they band together in brotherhood and forget about the brutalities of war. Diane Krüger (Troy), Daniel Brühl (Good Bye Lenin!) and Benno Fürmann (The Princess and the Warrior) head a first-rate international cast in a truly powerful, must-see film.

Amazon.com

Joyeux Noel captures a rare moment of grace from one of the worst wars in the history of mankind, World War I. On Christmas Eve, 1914, as German, French, and Scottish regiments face each other from their respective trenches, a musical call-and-response turns into an impromptu cease-fire, trading chocolates and champagne, playing soccer, and comparing pictures of their wives. But when Christmas ends, the war returns...Joyeux Noel has been justly accused of sentimentality, but if any subject warrants such an earnest and hopeful treatment, it's the horrors of trench warfare. The largely unknown cast--the more familiar faces include Diane Kruger (Troy), Daniel Bruhl (Good Bye Lenin!), Benno Furmann (The Princess and the Warrior), and Gary Lewis (Billy Elliot)--deliver low-key but effective performances as the movie dwells on the everyday elements of life in the face of war. Based on a true incident (though considerably fictionalized). --Bret Fetzer

Stills from Joyeux Noel (click for larger image)

Persuasion

Actors: Anthony Head, Alice Krige, Marion Bailey, Peter Wight, Rupert Penry-Jones
ASIN : B000YIGNKE
Sales Rank : 1039
Director : Adrian Shergold
Brand : Warner Brothers
Studio : BBC Warner
Region Code : 1
Format : Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0883929005475
UPC : 883929005475
Release Date : December 15, 2008
Publisher : BBC Warner
Manufacturer : BBC Warner
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : BBC Warner
Running Time : 93

Description

Jane Austen’s romantic masterpiece comes to DVD in a thrilling new production from the BBC and Masterpiece Theatre. Anne Elliot fell deeply in love with the handsome young naval officer Frederick Wentworth at the age of nineteen. But with neither fortune nor rank to recommend him, Anne was persuaded to break off her engagement. Eight years later, Anne has lived to regret her decision. She never stopped loving Wentworth, and when he returns from sea with a fortune and rank, she can only watch as every eligible young woman in the district falls at his feet.

Amazon.com

Jane Austen fans will delight in the sumptuous production design and first-rate acting in the 2007 Masterpiece Theatre version of Persuasion. Sally Hawkins is controlled and moving as Anne Elliot, the quietly heartbroken but sensible heroine who was "persuaded" (read: forced) to turn away her true love but still carries an unseen torch for him. Hawkins's performance is genteel yet steely, and the quiet strength of the entire production. Hawkins looks alternately quietly lovely and sadly pinched--as one might expect the long frustrated Anne to look.

Other highlights include a post-Buffy Anthony Head, as Anne's clueless, blustery father, Sir Walter. Head gets to turn on his deft comic talent here in ways most American audiences have not yet seen him; he's clearly enjoying himself immensely, blustering about "my shrubberies" and other trivial affairs. The cinematography is lush (several breathtaking tracking shots are used, especially early on), as are the period costumes. The production was filmed exclusively on location, and the reality of the sets enforces the story.

Some fans may prefer the 1995 Amanda Root version, for the casting of Ciaran Hinds as Capt. Wentworth, but this later effort is a worthy entry in the Austen film oeuvre--and Rupert Penry-Jones is a dreamboat in his own right. As the wistful Anne says, on behalf of all women, "We do not forget you, so soon as you forget us." --A.T. Hurley

Ballet Shoes

Actors: Emma Watson, Eileen Atkins, Peter Bowles, Richard Griffiths, Gemma Jones
ASIN : B0019OP0GU
Sales Rank : 3586
Director : Sandra Goldbacher
Brand : Koch International
Studio : Koch Vision
Region Code : 1
Format : Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0741952654599
UPC : 741952654599
Release Date : December 02, 2008
Publisher : Koch Vision
Manufacturer : Koch Vision
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Koch Vision
Running Time : 84

Description

Dreams do come true…
Emma Watson (Hermione from Harry Potter) stars in Ballet Shoes, a heartwarming and uplifting film based on the beloved, best-selling novel by Noel Streatfeild and featuring an award-winning cast that includes Emilia Fox, Victoria Wood, Richard Griffiths and Eileen Atkins.

"We three Fossils vow to put our name in the history book, because it is ours, and ours alone…" With these words, three orphans, raised as sisters, leave their sheltered lives and embark on an exhilarating journey that takes them to the heights of the stage, screen and sky!

DVD EXTRAS:
Exclusive 20-Minute Interview with Emma Watson
Deleted Scenes, Ballet Shoes Audiobook Excerpt

Amazon.com

Based on the Noel Streatfeild novel Ballet Shoes, this is not the 1976 film starring Angela Thorne and Barbara Lott, but a 2007 BBC Northern Ireland production starring Eileen Atkins, Peter Bowles, Richard Griffiths, Gemma Jones, and Harriet Walter. The Fossils are an unconventional British family living in 1930's London. Orphans Pauline (Emma Watson), Petrova (Yasmin Paige), and Posy (Lucy Boynton) are being raised by an elder sister Sylvia (Emilia Fox) and her Nana (Victoria Wood) in the absence of their eccentric great uncle Matthew (Richard Griffiths). As Sylvia struggles to educate and support her three charges on very limited funds, she is forced to let rooms and enroll the girls in the Academy of Dance and Stage Training in hopes of furthering their education and preparing them to earn a comfortable living. While at the academy, each of the three ambitious girls discovers her own personal calling and labors intensively to achieve her dreams: Pauline studies to become a star on the stage, Petrova gravitates toward a career in aviation, and Posy trains to become a great classical ballerina. Their paths are difficult and full of adversity, but the sisters' steadfast support of one another and common resolve to earn a place in the history books based on their own merits propels each of them toward individual success. A compelling and inspirational film that encourages young women to strive for their dreams, Ballet Shoes is most appealing to ages 9 and older. --Tami Horiuchi

Ever After - A Cinderella Story

Actors: Drew Barrymore, Anjelica Huston, Dougray Scott, Patrick Godfrey, Megan Dodds
ASIN : B00006ZXSK
Sales Rank : 1865
Director : Andy Tennant
Studio : 20th Century Fox
Region Code : 1
Format : Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0024543057611
UPC : 024543057611
Release Date : December 14, 2003
Publisher : 20th Century Fox
Manufacturer : 20th Century Fox
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : 20th Century Fox
Running Time : 121

Description

A "modern" young woman of the 16th century, Danielle (Barrymore) is as independent and wise as she is beautiful and kind. Against remarkable odds, she stands up to her scheming stepmother (Huston) and works miracles on the lives of everyone around her, including the crown prince of France (Dougray Scott)!Now you can relive this captivating, contemporary retelling of the classic fairytale.

Amazon.com

Take away the Fairy Godmother, and what have you got left from the Cinderella fable? The story of a girl for whom a bad stroke of luck is no match for her internal strength and purity of heart. Drew Barrymore plays Cinderella's alleged inspiration, Danielle, in this romantic drama that purports to tell the "facts" behind the Grimm brothers' story. One of three daughters of a man (Jeroen Krabbé) who dies and leaves her fate in the hands of a conniving stepmother (Anjelica Huston), Danielle is cast into the lowly role of a servant. Meanwhile, her sisters are evaluated as possible mates for a French prince (Dougray Scott), but he's far more intrigued with Danielle's intelligence and beauty--not to mention her way with a sword and fist. Directed by Andy Tennant (who directed Barrymore in TV's The Amy Fisher Story), Ever After has that rare ability to win the heart and mind of a viewer simply by being committed to its own innocence, particularly where Barrymore's luminous performance is concerned. A contemporary take on an old, virtually forgotten Hollywood convention--the costume adventure with middling artistic ambition but real audience appeal--Ever After is a surprisingly delightful film. --Tom Keogh

The Greatest Game Ever Played

Actors: Shia LaBeouf, Stephen Dillane, Elias Koteas, James Paxton, Tom Rack
ASIN : B000CNFC76
Sales Rank : 1598
Director : Bill Paxton
Brand : Buena Vista Home Video
Studio : Buena Vista Home Entertainment
Region Code : 1
Format : Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0786936277920
UPC : 786936277920
Release Date : December 11, 2006
Publisher : Buena Vista Home Entertainment
Manufacturer : Buena Vista Home Entertainment
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Buena Vista Home Entertainment
Running Time : 120

Description

From Walt Disney Pictures comes THE GREATEST GAME EVER PLAYED . . . the crowd-pleasing underdog epic that's based on an inspirational true story! Young amateur golfer Francis Ouimet (Shia LaBeouf -- HOLES, I ROBOT) has nothing but talent and a seemingly impossible dream to challenge the world's greatest player, his idol Harry Vardon. Soon, with the help of his spunky 10-year-old caddy Eddie, Francis boldly breaks down all barriers with a thrilling display of unrivaled drive, skill, and heart . . . and challenges the golf pro for the U.S. Open Championship!

Amazon.com

You wouldn't think a movie that uses the game of golf as a metaphor for class struggle could be so entertaining. The Greatest Game Ever Played stars the charming Shia LaBeouf (Holes) as Francis Ouimet, a golfer who, in 1913, rose from caddy to U.S. Open champion at the age of 20--despite the resistance of the powers that be, who thought it unseemly for a lower-class plebian to play the sport of gentlemen. Ouimet's main competitor is Harry Vardon (Stephen Dillane, The Hours), a British professional, still considered one of the greatest players of all time, who fought his own class battles. The two go head to head in a genuinely gripping match, deftly balanced against the juxtapositions of their personal struggles. Is it sentimental and formulaic? Is the outcome a foregone conclusion? Yes, but it doesn't matter--formulas exist because, when executed with verve and dexterity, they work. Bill Paxton, best known as an actor (One False Move, Apollo 13), steps into the director's chair and hits all the right notes, aided by an excellent cast playing colorful characters, a vivid recreation of the time period, glowing cinematography, and an expert pace. The Greatest Game Ever Played works. --Bret Fetzer