Helen mirren on the queen : AOL Video feed

Caligula: R-Rated Edition (1979)

Wed, 21 Nov 2007 17:00:06 -0500

Before Rome. Before Gladiator. The most controversial film of all time as you’ve never experienced it before! Combining lavish spectacle and top award-winning stars, this landmark production will startle and amaze you like no other film ever made! From the moment he ascends to the throne as Emperor, Caligula enforces a reign like no other as power and corruption transform him into a deranged beast whose deeds still live on as some of the most depraved in history. This is the censored, R-Rated edition.

The Pledge

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:28:12 -0500

Sean Penn directed this tense drama of loyalty, honor, and obsession, based on a novel by Friedrich Durrenmatt. Jerry Black (Jack Nicholson) is a veteran police detective who lives and works in a small Nevada town. On the day of his retirement, it falls to Jerry to handle an especially unpleasant assignment — a seven-year-old girl has been brutally murdered, and Jerry has to check out the crime scene, and then tell the girl’s parents the awful news. The girl's mother (Patricia Clarkson), understandably distraught, demands to know if the killer will be brought to justice, and Jerry promises her that he will personally see to it, "on my soul's salvation." A younger detective also on the case, Stan Krolak (Aaron Eckhart), thinks he's traced the crime to Toby Jay Wadeneh (Benicio Del Toro), a mentally retarded man who confesses to the murder shortly before killing himself. Stan considers the case closed, but Jerry can't shake his belief that Toby Jay wasn't actually the murderer, and Jerry begins to investigate the case on his own time, over the objections of his former boss, Eric Pollack (Sam Shepard), who reminds Jerry that he's no longer an official member of the police force. Before long, Jerry's personal investigation has taken over his life, and he uncovers evidence that suggests the girl's murder was just one in a series of killings involving young girls and a mysterious man called "the Wizard." When Jerry becomes close to a young single mother, Lori (Robin Wright-Penn), he feels he has reason to believe the murderer may be targeting her eight-year-old daughter, and finds himself using her as a decoy in order to bring the killer to justice. The Pledge marked Jack Nicholson's second starring role in a film directed by Sean Penn following 1995's The Crossing Guard; The Pledge's stellar supporting cast includes Vanessa Redgrave, Helen Mirren, Harry Dean Stanton, and Mickey Rourke. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

CALIGULA - Trailer

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 07:34:37 -0500

TRAILER for the daring classic CALIGULA starring Malcolm McDowell, Helen Mirren and Peter OToole.

Caligula

Mon, 11 May 2009 00:22:11 -0400

This lavish big-budget epic was the pinnacle of a uniquely Italian subgenre, the historical hardcore gore/porn extravaganza. The star-studded cast, perhaps lured by the high-profile involvement of producer Bob Guccione and screenwriter Gore Vidal, includes such luminaries as John Gielgud, Peter O’Toole, and Helen Mirren. Director Tinto Brass, whose similar treatment of Nazi Germany in Salon Kitty won him the job, did his best with the mammoth enterprise, but numerous production problems and re-edits took their toll on the finished product. When Caligula works best, it works because of Malcolm McDowell, whose crazed portrayal of the title Emperor is the embodiment of villainous corruption. McDowell raises his performance level to match the gaudy spectacle around him, which led to charges of overacting, but there are moments when he is absolutely riveting. Some of the cast doesn't fare as well, as O'Toole makes a particularly unsubtle Tiberius. The sex is graphic and steamy, particularly a feverish lesbian interlude between Penthouse Pets Lori Wagner and Marjorie Thorsen (using the pseudonym "Anneka di Lorenzo"), and the various carnival freaks used as atmosphere imbue the film with a grotesque, Fellini-like opulence. There are many memorable scenes and a magnificent score by Paul Clemente, but the heady brew of historical epic, hardcore sex, and gory violence proved overwhelming to many viewers. Still, Gore Vidal's script is surprisingly accurate, and manages to be entertainingly vulgar while bringing a rather loathsome slice of human history to vivid life, warts and all. The more explicit scenes were directed by Bob Guccione and Giancarlo Lui, causing both Vidal and Brass to remove their names from the credits. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu (1980)

Fri, 03 Aug 2007 06:31:15 -0400

Best known for his role as the 'Pink Panther'; this was Peter Sellers last film. Sellers plays two roles - the evil Fu Manchu and his nemesis, Scotland Yard's Nayland Smith. Manchu is celebrating his 168th birthday when one of his assistants spills the last of his anti-aging potion. He sends his assistants out to gather the materials needed to make more potion - including the Star of Leningrad Diamond. This alerts the authorities who set up a plan to get Manchu to kidnap a decoy Queen of England.

The Last Station Trailer

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 18:15:42 -0500

After almost fifty years of marriage, the Countess Sofya, Leo Tolstoy’s devoted wife, passionate lover, muse and secretary—she’s copied out War and Peace six times…by hand—suddenly finds her entire world turned upside down. In the name of his newly created religion, the great Russian novelist has renounced his noble title, his property and even his family in favor of poverty, vegetarianism and even celibacy. After she’s born him thirteen children! When Sofya then discovers that Tolstoy’s trusted disciple, Chertkov —whom she despises—may have secretly convinced her husband to sign a new will, leaving the rights to his iconic novels to the Russian people rather than his very own family, she is consumed by righteous outrage. This is the last straw. Using every bit of cunning, every trick of seduction in her considerable arsenal, she fights fiercely for what she believes is rightfully hers.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs - Trailer 2001

Sat, 13 Aug 2005 02:42:55 -0400

Fleeing from the queen, her vain and wicked stepmother, Snow White, seeks refuge in the forest with a group of singing dwarves. Enamoured by Snow White, the dwarves adopt her as family, but even they can't protect her from the evil queen's wrath. Disney's first feature length animated film, SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARVES, combines song and mirth with vivid and attractive characters, creating a film alluring to both children and adults.

The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland

Mon, 11 May 2009 14:29:12 -0400

One of the most popular characters on Sesame Street gets his own movie in this family comedy. Playful Elmo (voice of Kevin Clash) loves his blue blanket and would never want to lose it. So when it gets spirited off to parts unknown in the midst of a tug-of-war with one of his friends, Elmo sets out to find it and ends up in the grumpy kingdom of Grouchland, where Huxley (Mandy Patinkin) and the Queen of Trash (Vanessa Williams) rule over a dark and ill-mannered domain. Along with Elmo, several other favorite Sesame Street characters appear, including Oscar the Grouch (Carroll Spinney), Ernie (Steve Whitmire), and Bert (Frank Oz). ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide