Wives and Daughters (2002) Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a superlative period piece and a brilliant adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell's 1865 novel of the same name. This BBC mini-series is a superb costume drama with stellar performances by the entire cast. Set in rural England, the film centers around Molly Gibson, the seventeen year old daughter of a country doctor. Richly drawn portraits of Molly's neighbors and friends quickly emerge and weave an absorbing tapestry of nineteenth century life.
Molly and her father, a widower for most of Molly's life, have an exceptionally close and loving relationship. Their relationship is put to the test when he decides to marry a widow and former governess, Hyacinth, who is a pretentious, self absorbed, ridiculous woman. She has a grown daughter named Cynthia, a beautiful young woman, close to Molly in age, but as different from Molly as night and day. Cynthia is best described as a Marilyn Monroe of the Victorian age. Cynthia and Molly become fast friends, while Molly barely tolerates her nigh intolerable step-mother.
The series really revolves around Molly's relationships with all the characters in the production and her handling of the various everyday situations in which she finds herself. Richly drawn, memorable characters, as well as intrigues, secrets, and romance, make this a highly absorbing drama and one that those who love period pieces and lush, well acted costume dramas will enjoy. It is simply a masterpiece.
With stunningly crisp visuals and beautiful clarity of sound, the production value of this three disc, five hour DVD is simply first rate. It is also value laden with some very interesting features. There is an engaging fifty five minute portrait of Elizabeth Gaskell, the author of the novel upon which this mini-series is based. There is a also a twenty minute documentary on the making of the film which is entertaining, as it gives a bird's eye view of the thought that went into the making of the film and the development of the characters. There is also a who's who guide to the performers. This DVD is well worth having in one's collection.

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From the team that brought you "Pride and Prejudice." Set in a richly portrayed society well-stocked with eccentric nobles and gossipy villagers, the story centers around 17-year-old Molly Gibson, the only daughter of a respected country Doctor.

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Memories of Midnight (1991) Review

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(More customer reviews)Jane Seymour is at it again as an innocent victim. She plays a great role alond with Omar Sharif who puts the icing on the cake. I suggest this mini-series to anyone and is definitely worth the price! It kept me in suspense 99.9% of the time. Sheldon is a true master! Also suggested with Seymour: Somewhere in Time, Matters of the Heart, Dr. Quinn, Onassis, and Live and Let Die. With Sharif: Dr. Zhivago, Oh, Heavenly Dog! (he plays the same type of villain only not as powerful but still high in the ranks).

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One More Kiss (2006) Review

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(More customer reviews)Sarah left her father and Scotland behind when she moved to America to pursue her career. She also left behind Sam, her first love. Now Sarah -- dying of a brain tumor -- must return home and face her biggest challenge: to die with dignity knowing you've made peace with your past. But things have never been easy for Sarah -- her father vegetates in his chair withdrawn from life, Sam is married, and the other cancer victims in Sarah's support group sometimes help her and sometimes scare her.
How do you go back and make amends before you die? Does your need to set the past right take precedence over the lives of people living in the present? This movie doesn't supply easy answers but will make you think about love, life and death.
All the actors are wonderful but I want to single out a youthful Gerard Butler as Sam. His confusion and complicated situation regarding his past with Sarah and his present with his wife is played with heart-breaking sincerity. Warning -- tears may flow...
Butler and the director Vadim Jean are planning to work together again on a movie about Scottish poet Robert Burns and I am looking forward to their reteaming on what should be another heartfelt production.

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When Sarah Hopson (Valerie Edmond) realizes her successful high-rise New York lifestyle is devoid of meaning, she packs her bags and heads for her home town in the Scottish Borders to look for Sam, her childhood sweetheart and the only man she ever loved. Sam Murray (Gerard Butler of PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, DEAR FRANKIE) runs a restaurant. He and Sarah grew up together and Sam hoped they'd grow old together. His world fell apart the day Sarah left and now she's back, standing on his doorstep and telling his wife she'd like to spend some time with him.

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Danielle Steel's The Ring: Parts 1 & 2 (1996) Review

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(More customer reviews)All cast members are outstanding in this movie. A truely touching movie about family, friendship and survival. The movie is set during the time of the war. Family members are seperated and possessions are left behind, except for a hand painted picture and a mothers ring. The story of how the picture and the Ring reunite family members is very touching.....A gripping story that will keep you at the edge of your seat....

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Damage (1993) Review

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(More customer reviews)As is true with the novel, _Damage_ the film is not for everyone. If you are easily offended or prudish in any manner, skip this one. I have talked with a few people who rented the film because they were fans of Jeremy Irons but were upset by the premise of the movie. So, as I said, if you are easily offended, skip _Damage_.
Stephen Fleming (Jeremy Irons) is a prominent MP with a career that continues to blossom. He is married to an attractive, blueblood wife and has two healthy children. His son, Martyn (Rupert Graves), is doing well for himself: he has met a new girlfriend and has been promoted to an important position as political writer for a newspaper. Stephen and Anna (Juliette Binoche) meet at a party or get-together of some sort and discover an instant attraction. Stephen finds out shortly thereafter that Anna is Martyn's girlfriend. Within days, a steamy, destructive sexual relationship begins between Anna and Stephen. It continues, growing increasingly passionate, obsessive and harmful. In an odd (even wacky) twist of fate, their affair is discovered. Anna flees in her usual pattern and Stephen must return to his wife, Ingrid (Miranda Richardson), to see if he can possibly salvage his marriage.
Aside from the plot being centered around a man cheating on his wife with his son's girlfriend, the intense sex scenes in the film will likely turn some people off. I have seen both the R-rated and the Unrated version of the film and I cannot tell any difference between them so whichever one you choose, you are sure to see plenty of skin. After I watched the film, I read the novel by Josephine Hart and felt that I understood the characters much better. Although Stephen does inspire some feelings of repulsion from me, I do feel sympathy for him. He has lived a life of routine and boredom. As Louis Malle discusses in the "One on One" feature found on this DVD, the family life Stephen has experienced is one built on habit, not on strong emotions. When Anna comes along, something snaps. All of the emotions that Stephen has bottled up come rushing out like a floodgate that has burst. I suppose, all explanations and interpretations aside, that in the end, _Damage_ is the kind of film a person with either love or hate, understand or misapprehend. If you enjoy films about forbidden love or love gone wrong, _Damage_ is certainly for you.

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A middle-aged man enters into a self-destructive affair with his son's fiancee. Starring Jeremy Irons, Juliette Binoche, and Academy Award - nominee Miranda Richardson. Directed by Louis Malle.
DVD Features:FeaturetteTheatrical Trailer

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Lady Chatterley (1992) Review

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(More customer reviews)It is rare that a novel can successfully be adapted to the screen without losing much of its force. Lady Chatterley, Ken Russell's adaptation of D.H. Lawrence's Lady Chatterley's Lover, however, loses almost none of the force of the original source. The novel was banned when it came out, and one viewing of Lady Chatterley will explain why.
The British VHS box for Lady Chatterley boasts that it is filled with "very, very erotic sex." That is about the most accurate statement you can make about this movie. Lest one get the wrong idea, however, this made-for-TV movie is not pornography. It utilizes the original plot, cutting out some of the more social aspects of the novel, to tell a beautiful story about one woman's search for love -- sexual and otherwise -- outside of her marriage and class.
Joely Richardson, best known in the U.S. for cavorting with Mel Gibson in "The Patriot," here bares it all early and often with Sean Bean. Both of them shine in their respective roles. Ms. Richardson is brilliant as a strong, independent woman whose husband is crippled during WWI, thus basically ending her sexual life prematurely. Sean Bean plays her lowly, gamekeeper lover, Oliver Mellors. The dirty, scruffy, growling Mellors is the perfect vehicle for Sean Bean's talent -- part bad guy, part sensual lover, in many ways a guilty pleasure (much like Sean Bean himself!)
This is not a movie for immature audiences -- it is as beautiful a story as it is erotic, much the way D. H. Lawrence wrote it. Nor is it for the faint of heart -- the sex scenes are revealing and very intense. It is beautifully shot, wonderfully acted, and overall, is an amazing cinematic experience. The 3.5 hours are well worth watching, at least for fans of Joely Richardson or Sean Bean.
Although the movie is extremely good, I would definitely recommend reading the original novel as well, particularly the unexpurgated version. Some of the best scenes in the novel were cut for censorship considerations and their inability to work onscreen. Nonetheless, fans of the novel will not be disappointed -- and those unacquainted with the novel will certainly be more than a little surprised at the force and eroticism of this movie.

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From the director of Women in Love and Altered States comes a retelling of the literary classic that launched the most celebrated obscenity trial of the 20th century. In adapting the famous tale of unbridled passion, Ken Russell has made a moving love story and some of the most talked about television of the 1990s. Joely Richardson (Return to Me, The Affair of the Necklace) stars as the young, sexually repressed Lady Chatterley, whose paralyzed husband (James Wilby, Gosford Park) urges her to find fulfillment and an heir for his fortune in the arms of another man. Sean Bean (Patriot Games, The Lord of the Rings) is the lowly gamekeeper whose scandalous attentions awaken her senses. DVD special features include an exclusive interview with writer/director Ken Russell, behind-the-scenes photo gallery, broadcast trailer, cast and crew filmographies and DH Lawrence biography.

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Under the Greenwood Tree (2006) Review

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(More customer reviews)I stumbled across this delightful gem of a film recently: as everything I've ever read & seen of Hardy is quite tragic, I was expecting quite the same from this...boy, was I in for a surprise! This light-hearted romance comes from the usually gloom & doom Thomas Hardy pen: well-acted & filmed, this movie is a nice treat...
When Fancy Day returns to Mellstock to care for her father & teach the local schoolchildren, she creates quite a stir: the townspeople don't quite know what to make of this educated girl & the parson's plans to replace their beloved choir with her playing of the "harmonia" (organ). Pretty soon the sweet & beautiful Fancy has attracted the eye of three men: a poor but handsome carrier, a rich but crass farmer and a gentlemanly but superior parson. Her father urges her to marry well, but Fancy wants to follow her heart: will true love win out in the end?!
For those of you worried about content, it is kept to a few stolen kisses between an unmarried couple; there is also some time when a young man is in the river with his shirt off & he & a young lady steal a kiss. There is some mild carousing, as a few of the townsfolk show up to the church a bit tipsy on cider.
I was quite impressed by this film: I kept waiting for the dark, depressing side of Hardy to come out & almost couldn't believe that the tone of the film seemed to be upbeat most of the time. Surprisingly, the film stayed on the happier side & ended quite nicely: I love Hardy's other stories, but it is quite refreshing to see that he was not always doom & gloom, and could pen such a sweet & spirited tale as this!! Highly recommended!

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In a small village in the south of England, Dick Dewy, a handsome working man, falls in love with Fancy Day, a newly arrived schoolteacher from a wealthy family who happens to be the village beauty. But other, richer men also want to win the hand of Fancy. There's Farmer Shiner, a wealthy landowner, and Reverend Maybold, the decent young vicar. Who will win Fancy's hand? And even if she agrees to marry Dick, will her father consent to the marriage? This charming, timeless story of rural life gave Thomas Hardy his first real taste of success, and with its rustic setting and moving tale of young love, it weaves a spell that still entrances today.

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A Lot Like Love (Widescreen Edition) (2005) Review

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(More customer reviews)I have never been a big fan of Ashton Kutcher's since most of his role consist of him being the annoying bumbling fool such as his role in FOX's 'That '70s Show' and films such as 'Dude Where's My Car' and 'Just Married'. The only film of his that I liked was his performance in 'The Butterfly Effect'. So when this film was first announced I never gave it a second thought until I saw the trailer. The trailer looked good and even though Kutcher was in it, it also starred the beautiful and talented Amanda Peet who I have loved since her role on the short lived WB series 'Jack & Jill'. I finally saw this film on DVD and I was pleasantly surprised at how good this film was. Not only did Amanda Peet give an excellent performance but Ashton Hutcher also did a good job as well. Even though it was a comedy there are other aspects to the film including romance and hints of drama. It is a wonderful film that I believe both men and women alike will find very entertaining and romantic. Over the coming years I see this film becoming a very popular date film.

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In the spirit of WHEN HARRY MET SALLY comes A LOT LIKE LOVE, the romantic comedy about destiny and the possibilities of a chance encounter evolving into a close encounter of the happily-ever-after kind. Ashton Kutcher (GUESS WHO) and Amanda Peet (SOMETHING'S GOTTA GIVE) set off sparks as opposites who attract and have a one-flight stand from LA to New York. When the trip's over, they are too -- and both move on but can't really let go. As they search for love that doesn't end in disaster, they keep finding each other. And while the chemistry that first brought them together keeps generating heat, the timing is always wrong. This funny and disarming story of modern romance will have you falling in love over and over again.

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Our Mutual Friend (1999) Review

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(More customer reviews)Others here have done a fine job of reviewing this excellent film, so I'll focus briefly on the DVD from BBC/Warner. The video and audio transfers of Our Mutual Friend are quite good. Although there are no subtitles, this DVD is closed-captioned. In general, this DVD is of similar quality to other BBC Dickens adaptations that have been released on DVD (e.g., Oliver Twist (1999) and David Copperfield (1999)).
One reviewer below complained that 45 minutes or more of the original film are missing from this DVD. I have no idea where he got that idea. It must be some kind of misunderstanding or perhaps a defective copy because my copy clearly has the entire film (divided into four episodes, two on each side of a two-sided disc). The all-important climax and ending scenes of this 351-minute production are all there to enjoy. Highly recommended for Dickens fans and fans of period dramas in general.

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Critically acclaimed as Dickens' crowning achievement, this sweeping tale of two turbulent love affairs plays out amidst a tangled web of wealth, corruption, passion and betrayal in 1860s London.

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