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DVD Catalog
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Outlaw BrothersGenre: Foreign Films Release Date: 10/30/2012 Rating NR Production Year: 1988 Run Time: 102 mins Released By: The Weinstein Company Cast: Yukari Oshima, Max Mok, Frankie Chan, Miu Kiu-Wai, Michiko Nishiwaki A detective forms an uneasy partnership with two smooth-talking car thieves in an attempt to infiltrate their criminal circle and bring down their leader, her archnemesis. A solid entry in the Hong Kong "policewoman" action subgenre. … more less -
First Squad: The Moment of TruthGenre: Foreign Films Release Date: 01/17/2012 Rating NR Production Year: 2009 Run Time: 90 mins Released By: Anchor Bay/Starz As helmed by Yoshiharu Ashino, the supernatural thriller FIRST SQUAD: THE MOMENT OF TRUTH unfurls at the outset of World War II, against the backdrop of the tumultuous Eastern Front. At the center of the action is a group of teenagers from the U.S.S.R., each of whom possesses a unique and highly specific gift. The young men have been tapped to take on a diabolically evil SS Officer who is trying to raise from the dead an army of 12th Century crusaders and enlist them in the Nazi cause. … more less -
Riki-Oh: The Story of RickyGenre: Foreign Films Release Date: 09/13/2011 Rating NR Production Year: 1991 Run Time: 91 mins Released By: Tokyo Shock Cast: Fan Siu-Wang, Yukari Oshima, Frankie Chin, Gloria Yip, Kuo Chui An excessively gory, over-the-top adaptation of the extreme manga "Riki Oh." When his drug-addled girlfriend commits suicide, the titular hero kills her dealer and finds himself locked up in a privatized prison where the accused have no rights. The other inmates torture Ricky with any available implement, but he fights back with a bloody vengeance. You know that head that gets smashed at the beginning of every episode of THE DAILY SHOW? That's from this movie. … more less -
Jackie Chan's The PrisonerGenre: Foreign Films Release Date: 08/02/2011 Rating R Production Year: 1990 Run Time: 96 mins Released By: Lionsgate Cast: Jackie Chan, Andy Lau, Sammo Hung, Tony Leung Ka Fai Jackie Chan plays a shrewd cop who goes undercover with a team of mercenaries when a man he put away two years before commits a murder. The film features the great Sammo Hung as well as the terrific Tony Leung Ka Fai. … more less -
Shaolin SoccerGenre: Foreign Films Release Date: 05/17/2011 Rating Production Year: 2002 Run Time: 201 mins Released By: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment Cast: Stephen Chow, Vicky Zhao Wei, Ng Man-Tat, Cecilia Cheung, Lau Kar-Ying Hong Kong satirist Stephen Chow wrote, directed, and stars in this hilarious spoof of sports and kung fu movie cliches. Chow plays "Mighty Steel Leg" Sing, who can kick soda cans through walls, and is a natural soccer star in the eyes of crippled coach Fung (Patrick Se Yin), who is looking to challenge his arch rival Hung, the captain of the aptly named Evil Team. Recruiting Sing and his goofy brothers who all have names like Steel Head, Hook Kick Leg, and Weight Vest (with qualities to match), Hung's team soon rises through the ranks via their supernatural Kung Fu soccer skills. There's also a love interest in the form of a shy girl (Vicki Zhao Wei) who uses martial arts magic in making steamed bread. MATRIX-style digital effects elevate the actor's martial arts skills to ludicrous heights, giving the clichéd story such a giddy, high-octane boost it soars into a comic class by itself. Soccer balls ripple through the air like slo-mo bullets, smashing through walls, and flying thousands of feet in the air. A box office smash in the East, SHAOLIN SOCCER should prove irresistible to open-minded Westerners looking for a laugh-out-loud experience. … more less -
Last Kiss, TheGenre: Foreign Films Release Date: 05/17/2011 Rating Production Year: 2002 Run Time: 118 mins Released By: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment Cast: Stefano Accorsi, Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Stefania Sandrelli, Marco Cocci, Pierfrancesco Favino This intricately woven story centers on four buddies who are all about 30 years old and who are starting to think about settling into a more serious phase of their lives. With rapid cuts from scene to scene, character to character, situation to situation, THE LAST KISS communicates the breathless anxiety of striving to hold on to the fleeting feeling of carefree youth. Carlo (Stefano Accorsi) is young, handsome, smart, and in love with Giulia (Giovanna Mezzogiorno), his girlfriend of five years who is three months pregnant. Carlo and Giulia are happy together, though they are still unmarried. But when Carlo meets blond, naive, 18-year-old Francesca (Martina Stella), he sees one last chance to sow his wild oats. Giulia has her own troubles to deal with, as her mother, Anna (Stefania Sandrelli), admits she is unhappily married to Giulia's father and is contemplating a divorce. Meanwhile, Carlo's friends encounter their own unique obstacles: Adriano (Giorgio Pasotti) constantly fights with his wife (Sabrina Impacciatore) ever since the birth of their infant son; Paolo (Claudio Santamaria), a dreadlocked Don Juan, sleeps with a different girl every night; and Alberto (Marco Cocci) accepts the death of his father, rejects his responsibility in the family business, and regroups after losing the love of his life. Particularly poignant are the repeated scenes of the four friends standing side by side in a waterfall where they gather for nighttime meetings. They pop open champagne bottles, spraying the bubbly liquid, and scream their wildest dreams into the black night sky above. In reality, these four men want nothing more than to settle down and live peacefully. They have all begun to lay down the roots of their future lives, but they hesitate to nourish them. Through various conflicts and solutions, testing limits and making choices, they each find a new maturity and a new direction. In a way, Gabriele Muccino's THE LAST KISS is a comedy about infidelity and fear of com … more less -
I'm Not ScaredGenre: Foreign Films Release Date: 05/17/2011 Rating Production Year: 2004 Run Time: 108 mins Released By: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment Cast: Giuseppe Cristiano, Aitana Sanchez-Gijon, Dino Abbrescia, Giorgio Careccia, Mattia Di Pierro Italian director Gabriele Salvatores (MEDITERRANEO) masterfully directs this eerie and engrossing suspense thriller involving a 10-year-old boy who lives in rural southern Italy. It is summertime and Michele (Guiseppe Cristiano) is free to spend the long sunny days riding his bike and running through the wheat fields. In fact, the wheat could be considered Michele's costar, as it often consumes the entire scope of the screen, showing how Michele plays, hides, and ponders life in the vast expanses of flowing yellow stalks. Because there are only a few other children in the village, Michele often plays alone, and one day he discovers a hole in the ground, obscured by wheat, where a boy his age is chained and imprisoned. The boy has clearly been starved and mistreated, yet Michele approaches him fearlessly and attempts to make friends with him. With the dreaminess that is a 10-year-old's truest treasure, Michele doesn't ask too many questions, nor does he draw conclusions about why the boy is in the hole, or who put him there. Through the expressions on young Michele's face, viewers can read his light questioning of human existence, human morality, and human rights. However, as the film draws on, subtly revealing shocking secrets about the adults in Michele's village, the beauty of this utterly simple yet deadly powerful plot come clear. I'M NOT SCARED is a moving film built on crystal-clear images of the Italian sun, sky, and wheat fields; strangely offset by its startling loss-of-innocence story. … more less -
KolyaGenre: Foreign Films Release Date: 05/17/2011 Rating Production Year: 1996 Run Time: 105 mins Released By: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment Cast: Zdenek Sverak, Andrej Chalimon, Libuse Safrankova, Ondrez Vetchy, Stella Zazvorkova When a financially strapped former symphony cellist, now making a meager living by playing at funerals, gets pressured into a paper marriage with a friend's single-mother niece, his roving-eye bachelor life is turned upside-down. The beautiful young woman immediately abandons her new husband and her five-year-old son, and the unlikely duo struggles to adjust to their new lives in Prague on the eve of 1989's Velvet Revolution. Winner of the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film. Academy Award: Best Foreign Language Film. … more less -
Infernal AffairsGenre: Foreign Films Release Date: 04/15/2011 Rating Production Year: 2003 Run Time: 101 mins Released By: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment Cast: Andy Lau, Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Anthony Wong, Eric Tsang, Sammi Cheng Directed by Andrew Lau and Alan Mak, INFERNAL AFFAIRS is a tense thriller featuring Hong Kong superstars Andy Lau and Tony Leung. The film follows the parallel lives of Ming (Lau), a cop who secretly reports to ruthless Triad crime boss Sam (Eric Tsang); and Yan (Leung), an undercover police officer who poses as a Triad member in Sam's gang. For Yan, the years of living in the criminal underworld have taken their toll, and he longs to return to regular police duty. However, the only person who knows Yan's true identity is his mentor Superintendent Wong (Anthony Wong), also the unsuspecting superior of Ming. When Wong's officers come face to face with Sam's gang, both leaders realize there are moles in their midst. Soon Yan and Ming must track each other down, leading to an inevitable confrontation. Unlike many contemporary Hong Kong films, INFERNAL AFFAIRS steers clear of over-the-top action in favor of a more stylized and subdued story that builds on emotional and psychological tension. Leung is riveting as the undercover cop who desperately wants a normal life, while Lau instills his corrupt character with confidence and charm that mask his deep inner conflict. These two stellar turns are ably supported by veteran actors Wong and Tsang, along with Sammi Cheng and Kelly Chen. A huge blockbluster in Asia, INFERNAL AFFAIRS is a landmark of Hong Kong cinema that deserves the same status abroad. … more less -
City of MenGenre: Foreign Films Release Date: 04/15/2011 Rating Production Year: 2008 Run Time: 106 mins Released By: Cast: Darlan Cunha, Douglas Silva, Jonathan Haagensen, Rodrigo Dos Santos, Camila Monteiro Director Fernando Meirelles scored an unexpected hit with his disquieting 2003 feature CITY OF GOD. Subsequent years saw plenty of similar fare emerging from Brazil, and Meirelles even lent a hand by contributing to the hit TV show CITY OF MEN. This big-screen adaptation of the show follows its two central characters, best friends Ace (Douglas Silva) and Wallace (Darlan Cunha), as they are unwittingly caught up in a vicious gang war in their dilapidated favela. Ace struggles with his newfound responsibilities as a young father while Wallace searches for his errant father. Meanwhile, a brutal turf war breaks out around them, and Ace is reluctantly swept up into one of the gangs after threats on his life leave him with little choice but to join in the mayhem. Paulo Morelli's film is a pacy, bloody thriller that pays warm tribute to a diverse cross-section of American directors including Quentin Tarantino and Michael Bay. Bullets zing across the screen, heavy artillery is deployed at all times, and Morelli makes great use of the twisty favela streets during some frantic chase sequence. Silva and Cunha, who both had roles in CITY OF GOD, carry the picture with impressive ease, and while CITY OF MEN isn't an official sequel to Meirelles's lauded picture, it does serve as a neat continuation of that film's unshakable portrayal of the violence that has beset so many young lives in the slums of Rio de Janeiro. … more less -
City of GodGenre: Foreign Films Release Date: 04/15/2011 Rating Production Year: 2003 Run Time: 130 mins Released By: Cast: Alexandre Rodrigues, Leandro Firmino da Hora, Matheus Nachtergaele, Seu Jorge, Gera Camilo Youth gangs took over the slums of Rio de Janiero during the 1960s and didn't relinquish their stronghold until the mid-1980s. Only a sucker wouldn't have turned to crime and this is exactly how naive teen Rocket (Alexandre Rodrigues) views himself. His attempts in illegal activity fail as he finds potential victims too friendly. Equally unsuccessful in love, he regularly fails to lose his virginity. Blood spills throughout the streets of the Ciudad de Deus as gang leader Li'l Ze (Leandro Firmino da Hora) is challenged by local druglords and a gang of pre-teens known as the Runts. Rocket shoots all of this action with his weapon of choice, a camera. Director Fernando Meirelles combines visual flashiness with dark history in telling the story of three decades of unrest in underground Rio de Janiero. Technically flawless, the Brazilian film uses a rapid-cutting style to flash back and forth in time. Cinematographer Cesar Charlone shoots with an overexposed glow in a film that may seem numb to violence, but reveres photography. Director Meirelles was assisted by Katia Lund, a filmmaker who had previously shot in the Rio ghettos. … more less -
Cinema ParadisoGenre: Foreign Films Release Date: 04/15/2011 Rating R Production Year: 1989 Run Time: 174 mins Released By: Miramax Lionsgate Cast: Antonella Attili, Salvatore Cascio, Marco Leonardi, Jacques Perrin, Pupella Maggio A nostalgic look at a young boy's coming-of-age in postwar Italy and his fascination with a small local cinema, CINEMA PARADISO from director Giuseppe Tornatore is a famed and beloved classic. "Alfredo is dying." Those words jolt the successful filmmaker Salvatore (played as a child by Salvatore Cascio, as a teen by Marco Leonardi, and as an adult by Jacques Perrin), into contemplating his childhood and the hours he spent in the projection booth of his adored local movie theater, Cinema Paradiso. Alfredo (Philippe Noiret), owner of the moviehouse, befriended and encouraged young Salvatore, known as "Toto" as he grew up in his small Sicilian home town, ravaged by the horrors of the war. The cinema offered escape and fantasy to the townspeople, including Toto's mother, a grieving war widow. In one breathtaking scene a popular comedy is projected onto the walls of the town square and the entire town glows in the dreamy light of projected celluloid, washing away the harsh realities of poverty and grief. As Toto grows to manhood, his friendship with his mentor deepens. With the love and guidance of the aging man, Toto navigates the trials of first love and builds on his ever-growing passion for the cinema. Ultimately, it is Alfredo who convinces Toto to leave his village to pursue his dreams of becoming a director. But as Salvatore thinks back on his youthful romances and his innocent love of movies, he comes to realize that perhaps his success has come at a very high price. A beautifully filmed tribute to the power of movies that captivated an entire generation of filmgoers, CINEMA PARADISO is an unforgettable masterpiece. … more less -
Iron MonkeyGenre: Foreign Films Release Date: 04/15/2011 Rating Production Year: 1993 Run Time: 85 mins Released By: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment Cast: Yu Rong Guang, Donnie Yen, Tsang Sze-Man, Jean Wang, Yuen Shun-Yee Yuen Woo-Ping's exhilarating martial arts film stars Yu Rong Guang as Dr. Yang, a kind family doctor who charitably provides medicine and care to impoverished villagers, along with his assistant, Orchid (the lovely Jean Wang). Yang, however, also masquerades as the crime-fighting Iron Monkey, who robs gold from the rich and gives to it the poor, much to the dismay of the corrupt local governor (James Wong). When famed fighter and physician Wong Kei-Ying (Donnie Yen) and his young son, Wong Fei-Hung (crossdressed actress Tsang Sze-Man), wander into town, the cowardly ruler captures the boy and pits his father against the elusive Iron Monkey. Eventually, the heroes must unite to face an even greater foe--a renegade Shaolin master (Yen Yee Kwan) and his treacherous lackeys. This Chinese variation on the legend of Robin Hood is a good-natured (and often funny) action movie that features numerous outstanding fight scenes (including a battle fought on poles over a raging fire) and a surprising amount of cooking (yes, cooking). The film is the prequel to Tsui Hark's ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA series, which follows the adventures of folk hero Wong Fei-Hung as an adult. IRON MONKEY is particularly revelatory due to the amazing action sequences directed by Woo-Ping, who went on to choreograph the intricate fights of THE MATRIX and CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON. … more less -
AmelieGenre: Foreign Films Release Date: 04/15/2011 Rating Production Year: 2001 Cast: Audrey Tautou, Mathieu Kassovitz, Rufus, Lorella Cravotta, Claire Maurier Amélie Poulain (Audrey Tautou) is a young woman who glides through the streets of Paris as quietly as a mouse. With wide eyes and a tiny grin, she sees the world in a magical light, discovering minor miracles every day. A shy and reserved person whose favorite moments are spent alone skimming stones into the water, Amélie was raised by a pair of eccentrics who falsely diagnosed her with a heart problem at the age of six and so limited her exposure to the outside world. Now a free and independent woman, Amélie wears a bob that curls in every direction and dresses in red. With a job in a café and an aptitude for spying on her neighbors, Amélie entertains herself by enacting a series of homemade, kindhearted practical jokes. She returns a long-forgotten box of childhood knickknacks to its proper owner, she sends her father's garden troll on a trip around the world, and she creates a love connection at the café between the hypochondriac druggist and a beer-drinking old grouch. But when the day is done, Amélie finds one stone unturned, and decides to work her magic on the quirky object of her affections, Nino Quincampoix (Matthieu Kassovitz), whom she has never met. Director Jean-Pierre Jeunet (who codirected DELICATESSEN and THE CITY OF LOST CHILDREN with Marc Caro) presents AMÉLIE, an aesthetically gorgeous and inventive film. The rich, glowing color scheme is offset by flashbacks in black and white archival footage that give short biographies of each character. A soft-spoken narrator guides viewers through this enlightening fairy tale, which sometimes speeds through the streets and other times drifts in slow motion. AMÉLIE is humorous, questioning, and strange, and it will change the lives of all who watch it, if only for a short while after leaving Amélie's world. … more less -
Day for NightGenre: Foreign Films Release Date: 08/10/2010 Rating NR Production Year: 1973 Run Time: 120 mins Released By: Warner Home Video Cast: Jacqueline Bisset, Jean-Pierre Aumont, François Truffaut, Valentina Cortese, Jean Champion François Truffaut's DAY FOR NIGHT is the French master's tender, humorous love letter to the cinema. Stepping in front of the camera, Truffaut plays Ferrand, a director who's embarking on his latest production, a melodrama entitled MEET PAMELA. As the cast and crew convene at the Victorine Studio in Nice, a family is formed, but unlike most families, this one is only temporary. There's the gorgeous American actress (Jacqueline Bisset), the love-struck young lead (Jean-Pierre Leaud), the aging alcoholic (Valentina Cortese), and the unheralded crew (grips, technicians, etc.). Along the way, those involved in the production start to feel as if the events in their real lives are coming straight out of the movies, filled with romance, tragedy, melodrama, and a dash of slapstick. As with the best works of art, Truffaut's film doesn't exist merely to provide viewers with a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the tumultuous craft of filmmaking. While Truffaut doesn't shy away from revealing some of cinema's most magical tricks--such as how action sequences are shot and how artificial snow is created--the film also works on a more universal level, addressing issues to which everyone can relate. But ultimately, the moviemaking sequences are what make DAY FOR NIGHT such an unforgettable experience. … more less -
Prophet, AGenre: Foreign Films Release Date: 08/03/2010 Rating R Production Year: 2009 Run Time: 155 mins Released By: Sony Pictures Home Cast: Tahar Rahim, Niels Arestrup, Adel Bencherif, Reda Kateb, Hichem Yacoubi At age 18, Malik El Djebena (Tahar Rahim) is just beginning a six-year prison sentence in this drama from THE BEAT THAT MY HEART SKIPPED director Jacques Audiard. Though he cannot read or write, Malik soon figures out the politics of the prison system, giving him a prime spot in the power struggle between two battling groups of prisoners. THE PROPHET reunites Audiard with two of his stars from THE BEAT THAT MY HEART SKIPPED, Niels Arestrup and Gilles Cohen, as well as that film’s director of photography, Stéphane Fontaine, and its composer, Alexandre Desplat. … more less -
Professional, LeGenre: Foreign Films Release Date: 07/20/2010 Rating NR Production Year: 1981 Run Time: 108 mins Released By: Lionsgate Cast: Jean Desailly, Jean-Louis Richard, Jean-Paul Belmondo Actor Jean-Paul Belmondo almost singlehandedly made it cool to be French when he starred in Jean-Luc Godard's new wave masterpiece BREATHLESS. Though significantly older in George Lautner's thrilling espionage film LE PROFESSIONAL, Belmondo is as cool as ever, turning in another effortlessly smoldering performance as spy Joss Baumont. An exhilarating score from the legendary Ennio Morricone (THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY) adds to the suspense in this tight story of political double-crossing. … more less -
Killer, TheGenre: Foreign Films Release Date: 03/30/2010 Rating NR Production Year: 1989 Run Time: 106 mins Released By: The Weinstein Company Cast: Yun-Fat Chow, Danny Lee, Sally Yeh, Chu Kong, Kenneth Tsang A hired killer accidentally blinds a beautiful nightclub singer during what was supposed to be his last murder. When he falls in love with her and accepts another contract in order to finance her cornea surgery, the stage is set for a long and bloody confrontation. A boisterous bullet opera from Woo, tempered as usual with his fascination with the notion of the honorable killer and with the doubling of similar men whom circumstances have placed on opposite sides of the law. Very heavy on the Catholic imagery and redemption motifs. … more less -
Lorna's SilenceGenre: Foreign Films Release Date: 01/05/2010 Rating R Production Year: 2009 Run Time: 105 mins Released By: Sony Pictures Home Cast: Arta Dobroshi, Jérémie Rénier, Fabrizio Rongione, Alban Ukaj, Morgan Marinne Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne (THE CHILD) direct this drama about an Albanian woman torn between connections to three men and her own dreams. Lorna (Arta Dobroshi) is an immigrant living in Belgium. Though she has a boyfriend, her involvement with the Mafia leads her to marry Claudy (Jérémy Renier) so she can get citizenship. But her life is further complicated when she is told to marry a Russian criminal, putting Claudy's life in danger. … more less -
Bad EducationGenre: Foreign Films Release Date: 11/03/2009 Rating NC-17 Production Year: 2004 Run Time: 105 mins Released By: Sony Pictures Home Cast: Gael Garcia Bernal, Fele Martinez, Javier Camara, Daniel Gimenez-Cacho, Lluis Homar In this powerful semi-autobiographical film, acclaimed Spanish director Pedro Almodovar (ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER, TALK TO HER) tracks the formative experiences of his coming of age in a Catholic boys school. While the film benefits from Almodovar's limitless range of color, beauty, and moving expression, the themes presented are dark and difficult. Pedophilia, lost love, mistaken identity, manipulation, drug addiction, and desperation prevail, giving this otherwise sexy and vibrant film a chilling subtext. Gael Garcia Bernal gives a jaw-dropping performance, playing two of the main characters. First, he plays a screenwriter named Ignacio, who reunites with his childhood friend, Enrique (Fele Martinez), a filmmaker, to sell him a script called "The Visit." He also plays the star of "The Visit"--a gorgeous cross-dresser and drug addict named Zahara. Enrique instantly realizes that the script is the story of their childhood, where they met and fell in love, only to be torn apart by a jealous pedophilic priest, Father Manolo (Daniel Gimenez-Cacho). However, Ignacio looks nothing like the boy that Enrique remembers as his best friend and first love. As the mystery of their past begins to unfold, layers of lies and deception are peeled away to reveal a delicate core of innocence lost. Almodovar's message is not one of hopelessness--it is rather a recognition of the inevitable hardening of the soul that is fundamental to survival in a less-than-perfect world. … more less
