Stormy Monday (DVD)
Writer-director Mike Figgis`s remarkably understated first feature concerns a young man named Brendan (Sean Bean) who becomes involved in the seedy underworld politics of small Newcastle, England. Brendan takes a job at a local nightclub run by a man named Finney (Sting); he also meets Kate (Melanie Griffith), a cocktail waitress. Both Finney and Kate are struggling with an American business tycoon called Frank Cosmo (Tommy Lee Jones), who is trying to develop Newcastle at the expense of local businesses. Brendan`s only half-knowledgeable involvement, the role of coincidence in shaping the ensuing action, the woman with a past--all the elements of film noir are at play here, accompanied by darkly lit streets and the reds and blues of nightclub neon. Figgis indulges his taste for jazz as well; he scored the film, and a jazz band even figures in the story. Bean and Griffith are believably entwined, but the standout in the cast is Sting, whose soulful Englishness is perfectly counterpoised with Jones`s brash American bravado. In fact, STORMY MONDAY`s interest in English culture versus American culture is an appropriate beginning for a director whose career would continue on both sides of the Atlantic.R"
Director: Mike Figgis
ACTORS: Melanie Griffith, Tommy Lee Jones, Sting, Sean Bean
Footnotes: The Classics of Ballet - V. 1: Swan Lake/La Sylphide (VHS)
This is the first volume in a series which reviews clips of classic ballet performances and interviews the stars. The ballets featured in this volume are Swan Lake and La Sylphide. NR"
Civil War Minutes - Union Volume 2 (DVD) Parts 3 and 4 Emphasizing the Union Experience in the Civil War, CIVIL WAR MINUTES - UNION VOLUME 2 contains parts III and IV of the gripping real life story of the soldiers who lived through the Civil War in all its glory. Experience ...
Emphasizing the Union Experience in the Civil War, CIVIL WAR MINUTES - UNION VOLUME 2 contains parts III and IV of the gripping real life story of the soldiers who lived through the Civil War in all its glory. Experience never-before-seen photographs, artifacts, and paintings through 19 four to eight minute segments. Hear how men and women spent their time in the Civil War with newly found letters that were written by these soldiers. Narrated by History Consultant and Advisor, Michael Kraus (Military Coordinator for GETTYSBURG, 1993), CIVIL WAR MINUTES is a must-see for both the curious and history aficionados.
NR"
Under the Roofs of Paris (DVD) Criterion Collection A romantic boy-meets-girl drama with historical significance as the first French film with sound and the first screen musical.
A romantic boy-meets-girl drama with historical significance as the first French film with sound and the first screen musical.
NR"
Director: Reni Clair
ACTORS: Albert Prejean, Pola Illery, Gaston Modot, Edmond T. Greville
IMAX - Survival Island (DVD)
Along the Scotia Arc of the South Atlantic Ocean, South Georgia Island is home to some of the most populated animal cities on the globe. This IMAX production visits this area, made famous by Ernest Shackleton and his Antarctic voyage, films these stunning animal gatherings during the high seasons of spring and summer. Narrated by David Attenborough (BLUE PLANET).NR"
