Browse Drama. Period Piece

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Swing Kids

Actors: Robert Sean Leonard, Christian Bale, Frank Whaley, Barbara Hershey, Tushka Bergen
ASIN : B000065V3W
Sales Rank : 3219
Director : Thomas Carter
Brand : Swing
Studio : Buena Vista Home Entertainment
Region Code : 1
Format : Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0786936188387
UPC : 786936188387
Release Date : December 03, 2002
Publisher : Buena Vista Home Entertainment
Manufacturer : Buena Vista Home Entertainment
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Buena Vista Home Entertainment
Running Time : 112

Description

In 1939, Nazi Germany declares war on freedom and demands conformity from its youth. But a group calling themselves Swing Kids rebel with their "swing music" from America. When two of them dare to stand up against the powerful forces around them -- traditions will be broken and loyalties must be crossed! Robert Sean Leonard (DEAD POETS SOCIETY) and Christian Bale (SHAFT, AMERICAN PSYCHO) deliver gripping performances as two friends who must choose between their individual freedom or loyalty to the murderous Third Reich. Also featuring screen favorite Barbara Hershey (BEACHES, TIN MEN), SWING KIDS is an inspirational and powerful story about friendship -- and finding the courage to fight for what you believe in!

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This strange movie with a niche subject--jazz-loving, dance-loving German kids persecuted by Hitler's men--almost works, thanks to a good cast who seem devoted to the unusual story line. Director Thomas Carter doesn't bring the necessary stylistic oomph to the musical sequences, something that might have pushed the whole production to another, more interesting level of Hollywood dream. Kenneth Branagh makes a particularly effective, wolf-in-sheep's-clothing Nazi official. --Tom Keogh

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Christy - A Change of Seasons

Actors: Lauren Lee Smith, Stewart Finlay-McLennan, James Waterston, Dale Dickey, Andy Stahl
ASIN : B00005LQ0V
Sales Rank : 3845
Brand : Lions Gate
Studio : Lions Gate
Region Code : 1
Format : Color, DVD-Video, Letterboxed, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 9781588172457
ISBN : 1588172457
UPC : 031398771128
Release Date : December 28, 2001
Publisher : Lions Gate
Manufacturer : Lions Gate
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Label : Lions Gate
Running Time : 87

Product Description

Studio: Lions Gate Home Ent. Release Date: 05/20/2003 Run time: 88 minutes

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In A Change of Seasons, Christy returns to Cutter Gap with her adult daughter, Catherine, and narrates an episode in her life as a young schoolteacher. The story picks up where the PAX production, Return to Cutter Gap, left off. In this recollection, typhoid sweeps the region, and Christy's faith is tested when her best friend succumbs to the disease. Christy (Lauren Lee Smith), Alice (Diane Ladd), Dr. MacNeill (Stewart Finlay-McLennan), and David (James Waterston), the local preacher, do what they can to save the rest of the inflicted, but they can only do so much. Towards the end, Christy gets engaged to one of the men, but then he contracts the disease. Fortunately, he recovers, but things end on an ambiguous note as Christy appears to have lost the friendship of the man whose affections she spurned. This dilemma will be resolved in A New Beginning. Ages 8 and older. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

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Schindler's List (Full Screen Edition)

Actors: Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Kingsley, Caroline Goodall, Jonathan Sagall
ASIN : B00012QM86
Sales Rank : 2615
Director : Steven Spielberg
Brand : Universal
Studio : Universal Studios
Region Code : 1
Format : AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Live, Subtitled, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 9780783252742
ISBN : 0783252749
UPC : 025192115226
Release Date : December 09, 2004
Publisher : Universal Studios
Manufacturer : Universal Studios
Availability : Usually ships in 9 to 13 days
Label : Universal Studios
Running Time : 195

Product Description

The story of oskar schindler a black marketeer during hitlers regime. While he exploited the labor camp workers he also saved more than a thousand jews. He compiled a list and brought as many as he could to work in his factory rather than face certain death in the concentration camps. Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 01/23/2007 Starring: Liam Neeson Jonathan Sagalle Run time: 195 minutes Rating: R Director: Steven Spielberg

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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

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Dangerous Beauty

Actors: Catherine McCormack, Rufus Sewell, Oliver Platt, Fred Ward, Naomi Watts
ASIN : 6305078319
Sales Rank : 4343
Director : Marshall Herskovitz
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 : 9786305078319
ISBN : 6305078319
UPC : 085391477525
Release Date : December 27, 1998
Publisher : Warner Home Video
Manufacturer : Warner Home Video
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Label : Warner Home Video
Running Time : 111

Product Description

Catherine mccormack plays veronica franco the real-life courtesan who used her influence over the most powerful men in europe to change her own life and the course of world events. Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 02/08/2005 Starring: Catherine Mccormack Rufus Sewell Run time: 114 minutes Rating: R Director: Marshall Herskowitz

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Although it was unfortunately ignored during its brief theatrical release, this sumptuously seductive production is that rarest of cinematic breeds, the (barely) respectable guilty pleasure. Combining historical fact with hysterical anachronisms of language and mannerism, it's been tailored for maximum contemporary appeal but maintains a lush, romantic feel for its factual 16th-century tale of Venetian love, lust, and political repression. Catherine McCormack (Mel Gibson's ill-fated bride in Braveheart) delivers a star-making performance as the "dangerous beauty" who becomes a skillful courtesan to pursue her forbidden love for a dashing Venetian senator (Rufus Sewell). It's all rather silly in a high-toned fashion, and the film turns dour when the church intervenes with a Scarlet Letter-like papal inquest. But the movie's joyously ribald vitality is utterly irresistible, and the casting of McCormack with Jaqueline Bisset (as her mother and courtesan mentor) is a stroke of pure genius. Merchant-Ivory would've made a smarter film from this material, but it probably wouldn't be nearly as entertaining. --Jeff Shannon

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House of Flying Daggers

Actors: Ziyi Zhang, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Andy Lau, Dandan Song, Hongfei Zhao
ASIN : B0007Q6VXC
Sales Rank : 3082
Director : Yimou Zhang
Brand : Sony
Studio : Sony Pictures
Region Code : 99
Format : Anamorphic, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Subtitled, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 9781404970106
ISBN : 140497010X
UPC : 043396091788
Release Date : December 19, 2005
Publisher : Sony Pictures
Manufacturer : Sony Pictures
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Sony Pictures
Running Time : 119

Product Description

Mel is an exotic beautiful blind dancer associated with a dangerous revolutionary gang known as the house of flying daggers. Captured by officers of the decadent tang dynasty mel finds herself both threatened - & attracted - to the most unusual circumstances. Studio: Sony Pictures Home Ent Release Date: 01/22/2008 Run time: 119 minutes Rating: Pg13

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No one uses color like Chinese director Zhang Yimou--movies like Raise the Red Lantern or Hero, though different in tone and subject matter, are drenched in rich, luscious shades of red, blue, yellow, and green. House of Flying Daggers is no exception; if they weren't choreographed with such vigorous imagination, the spectacular action sequences would seem little more than an excuse for vivid hues rippling across the screen. Government officers Leo and Jin (Asian superstars Andy Lau and Takeshi Kaneshiro) set out to destroy an underground rebellion called the House of Flying Daggers (named for their weapon of choice, a curved blade that swoops through the air like a boomerang). Their only chance to find the rebels is a blind women named Mei (Ziyi Zhang, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) who has some lethal kung fu moves of her own. In the guise of an aspiring rebel, Jin escorts Mei through gorgeous forests and fields that become bloody battlegrounds as soldiers try to kill them both. While arrows and spears of bamboo fly through the air, Mei, Jin, and Leo turn against each other in surprising ways, driven by passion and honor. Zhang's previous action/art film, Hero, sometimes sacrificed momentum for sheer visual beauty; House of Flying Daggers finds a more muscular balance of aesthetic splendor and dazzling swordplay. --Bret Fetzer

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A copy machine repairmans world is rocked when hes tapped to be the new singer for his favorite band. A knowing funny look at 80s metalhead rock and the price of fame. Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 05/06/2008 Starring: Mark Wahlberg Jennifer Aniston Run time: 155 minutes Rating: R Director: Stephen Herek

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If you've ever indulged a rock & roll fantasy, Rock Star will give you the vicarious thrill of seeing that fantasy come to life. That's what happens when talented tribute-band singer Chris Cole (Mark Wahlberg) is tapped to replace his idol as frontman for 1980s metal gods Steel Dragon. Chris becomes the groupie-laden "Izzy," his manager girlfriend (Jennifer Aniston) grows weary of sex 'n' drugs on tour, and Rock Star plays out its utterly conventional plot line. Despite the casting of real rockers to support Wahlberg's underrated performance (nicely matched by Aniston and Timothy Spall as Steel Dragon's road manager), his character is too rigidly written to follow an obligatory rise and fall, and even its basis in fact (inspired by Tim "Ripper" Owens's recruitment into Judas Priest) can't conceal the movie's predictable formula. As a cautionary tale it's routine, but as a leather-pants love story, Rock Star's got enough good karma to keep its dream alive. --Jeff Shannon

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The Aviator (Two-Disc Widescreen Edition)

Actors: Alan Alda, Alec Baldwin, Kate Beckinsale, Cate Blanchett, Frances Conroy
ASIN : B00080ZG10
Sales Rank : 3959
Director : Martin Scorsese
Brand : Warner Brothers
Studio : Warner Home Video
Region Code : 1
Format : AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 9780790795232
ISBN : 079079523X
UPC : 085393893927
Release Date : December 24, 2005
Publisher : Warner Home Video
Manufacturer : Warner Home Video
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Warner Home Video
Running Time : 170

Description

An epic biopic depicting the early years of legendary director and aviator Howard Hughes' career, from the late 1920's to the mid-1940's.

DVD Features:
Audio Commentary: Commentary by Scorsese
Deleted Scenes:Deleted scene: Howard Tells Ava About His Car Accident
Documentaries:Modern Marvels: Howard Hughes-- a 45 minute Documentary By The History Channel
Documentary:2 Music Featurettes: Scoring The Aviator: The Work Of Howard Shore The Wainwright Family - Loudon, Rufus And Martha
Featurette:A Life Without Limits: The Making of The Aviator The Role Of Howard Hughes In Aviation History An evening with Leonardo DiCaprio and Alan Alda The Affliction of Howard Hughes: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder OCD Panel Discussion With Leonardo DiCaprio, Martin Scorsese, And Howard Hughes' Widow Terry Moore
Other:2 Behind-the-scenes featurettes: The Age Of Glamour: The Hair And Makeup Of The The Visual Effects Of The Aviator
Photo gallery

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From Hollywood's legendary Cocoanut Grove to the pioneering conquest of the wild blue yonder, Martin Scorsese's The Aviator celebrates old-school filmmaking at its finest. We say "old school" only because Scorsese's love of golden-age Hollywood is evident in his approach to his subject--Howard Hughes in his prime (played by Leonardo DiCaprio in his)--and especially in his technical mastery of the medium reflecting his love for classical filmmaking of the studio era. Even when he's using state-of-the-art digital trickery for the film's exciting flight scenes (including one of the most spectacular crashes ever filmed), Scorsese's meticulous attention to art direction and costume design suggests an impassioned pursuit of craftsmanship from a bygone era; every frame seems to glow with gilded detail. And while DiCaprio bears little physical resemblance to Hughes during the film's 20-year span (late 1920s to late '40s), he efficiently captures the eccentric millionaire's golden-boy essence, and his tragic descent into obsessive-compulsive seclusion. Bolstered by Cate Blanchett's uncannily accurate portrayal of Katharine Hepburn as Hughes' most beloved lover, The Aviator is easily Scorsese's most accessible film, inviting mainstream popularity without compromising Scorsese's artistic reputation. As compelling crowd-pleasers go, it's a class act from start to finish. --Jeff Shannon

DVD Features
In his commentary track, director Martin Scorsese offers his own impressions of Howard Hughes and rattles off his memories of experiencing Hughes's films. He mentions how he made Cate Blanchett watch every Katharine Hepburn film from the '30s on the big screen, and observes that Kate Beckinsale had "a real sense of the stature of a Hollywood goddess." But in general he doesn't talk much about the craft of making the film. That area is covered better by editor Thelma Schoonmaker, who also appears on the commentary track, and producer Michael Mann makes a few appearances (all were recorded separately). The picture is brilliant, but the 5.1 sound is not as aggressive in the rear speakers and subwoofer as one might expect, other than some nice surround effects in the Hell's Angels flying sequence.

The second disc collects almost three hours of features. There's one unnecessary deleted scene, and an 11-minute making-of featurette that's basically the cast and director heaping praise on each other. More interesting are the short featurettes on visual effects (including the XF-11 scene, of course), production design, costumes, hair and makeup, and score, and Loudon Wainwright discusses his and his children's musical performances. Historical perspective is provided by spotlights on Hughes's role in aviation and his obsessive-compulsive disorder, and a 43-minute Hughes documentary from the History Channel (part of the Modern Marvels series, it focuses on his mechanical innovations and spends less than a minute on his movies). More unusual are DiCaprio and Scorsese's appearance on an OCD panel, and a half-hour interview segment DiCaprio did with Alan Alda. --David Horiuchi

The Personalities of The Aviator
Click the links to explore more movies by these stars.

Leonardo DiCaprio as Howard Hughes
"Sometimes I truly fear that I... am losing my mind. And if I did it... it would be like flying blind."

Cate Blanchett as Katharine Hepburn
Howard Hughes: "You're the tallest woman I have ever met."
Katharine Hepburn: "And all sharp elbows and knees. Beware."

Kate Beckinsale as Ava Gardner
Howard Hughes: "Does that look clean to you?"
Ava Gardner: "Nothing's clean, Howard. But we do our best, right?"

Gwen Stefani as Jean Harlow
Jean Harlow in Hell's Angels: "Would you be shocked if I put on something more comfortable?"

Jude Law as Errol Flynn
Errol Flynn in Captain Blood: "Up the riggings, you monkeys! Break out those sails and watch them fill with the wind that's carrying us all to freedom!"

Director Martin Scorsese
"You get a sense of Howard Hughes being Icarus with the wax wings. Those wings were great for a while, but he flies too close to the sun." --Martin Scorsese

Other Movies by The Aviator's Oscar® Winners

Production Designer Dante Ferretti
Film Editor Thelma Schoonmaker
Costume Designer Sandy Powell
Cinematographer Robert Richardson
See all the Oscar® winners at Oscar Central

The Aviator at Amazon.com

The Aviator soundtrack
The Screenplay
Howard Hughes: The Real Aviator

Howard Hughes movies
Great movies of the 1930s
The films of Martin Scorsese

Browse Period Piece Online

Swing Kids

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Christy - A Change of Seasons

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Schindler's List (Full Screen Edition)

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Dangerous Beauty

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House of Flying Daggers

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Rock Star

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Love's Abiding Joy

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The Aviator (Two-Disc Widescreen Edition)

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Though None Go with Me

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The Legend of 1900