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Age of Innocence, The
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Starring: Day-Lewis, Daniel Pfeiffer, Michelle Ryder, Winona Chaplin, Geraldine Pfeiffer, Michelle Leonard, Robert Sean Margolyes, Miriam Day-Lewis, Daniel Day-Lewis, Daniel Leonard, Robert Sean
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Director: Scorsese, Martin	Rating: PG	Running Time: 2 Hours 18 Minutes
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Category: Period	User Rating: 7.1/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com essential video Martin Scorsese does not sound like the logical choice to direct an adaptation of Edith Wharton's novel about manners and morals in New York society in the 1870s. But these are mean streets, too, and the psychological violence inflicted between characters is at least as damaging as the physical violence perpetrated by Scorsese's usual gangsters. At the center of the tale is Newland Archer (Daniel Day-Lewis), a somewhat diffident young man engaged to marry the very respectable May Welland (Winona Ryder). But Archer is distracted by May's cousin, the Countess Olenska (a radiant Michelle Pfeiffer), recently returned from Europe. As a married woman seeking a divorce, the countess is an embarrassment to all of New York society. But Archer is fascinated by her quick intelligence and worldly ways. Scorsese closely observes the tiny details of this world and this impossible situation; this is a movie in which the shift of someone's eyes can be as significant as the firing of a gun. The director's sense of color has never been keener, and his work with the actors is subtle. That's Joanne Woodward narrating, telling us only as much as we need to know--which is one reason why the climax comes as such a surprise.--Robert Horton --This text refers to the VHS Tape edition.

Anthony Trollope's The Way We Live Now
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Starring: Suchet, David MacFadyen, Matthew Baeza, Paloma Campbell, Cheryl Henderson, Shirley Hodge, Douglas Murphy, Cillian Otto, Miranda Otto, Miranda Britton, Tony
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Director: (II), David Yates	Rating: NR	Running Time: 5 Hours
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Category: Period	User Rating: 8.4/10 (IMDB)	Color Stereo

Amazon.com First screened on BBC in 2001, The Way We Live Now will surprise those who know Anthony Trollope through the subtleties of his Barsetshire novels. This story of ambition centers around Augustus Melmotte, an Austrian Jewish financier who takes the London money markets and social scene by storm in his efforts to become an "English country gentleman." His rise and fall is followed with remorseless logic by Trollope, and David Yates's direction keeps this in focus against a wealth of subplots and character interaction. The cast is a strong one, with David Suchet's Melmotte gripping in his recklessness, climaxing in the theatrical magnificence of his departure in disgrace from the House of Commons. Shirley Henderson is magnetic as his put-upon daughter Marie, courted by the cream-of-society bachelors for her dowry rather than her person. Cheryl Campbell gives a good account of the feckless Lady Carbury, writing vacuous novels to support her family, with Matthew MacFadyen relishing the part of her rakish son, Felix. Paloma Baeza is sympathetic as her daughter, Hetta, whose on-off relationship with entrepreneur Paul Montague, ably taken by Cillian Murphy, provides the main love interest. Douglas Hodge impresses as the loyal and sincere but insipid Roger Carbury. The series consists of four generous episodes, each lasting 75 minutes. This is an absorbing production of what isn't the most subtle of Victorian novels, but which surely remains among the most relevant. --Richard Whitehouse Video Description The Way We Live Now captures the turmoil as the old order is swept aside by the brash new forces of business and finance. Based on the novel by Anthony Trollope, this satire of Victorian society contains all the dynamic elements that made him one of the most celebrated and popular novelists of his day--the trials and tribulations of young love, the pettiness of the upper class life, the raw energy and excitement of the most powerful city the world had ever seen, and the greed and corruption that lay just below its glittering surface. Episode 1: When infamous financier Augustus Melmotte (David Suchet) mysteriously appears in London, the city's impoverished aristocrats greedily court his favor. Felix Carbury, a charming but lazy young baronet, is one of the many gentlemen swarming around Melmotte's rich heiress daughter, Marie. Meanwhile, Felix's independently minded sister, Hetta, falls in love with a bright young engineer, Paul Montague, who is in town to approach Melmotte with an ambitious business propostion. Complications soon arise in business and love. Episode 2: While Paul Montague throws himself into the booming railway business with Melmotte, the presence of his mysterious American friend in London threatens to jeopardize his chances with Hetta. Felix is forced to desperate measures to secure his future with Marie when he learns that her father is planning her marriage to a rival suitor. Episode 3: Paul visits Mexico to have his worst fears about the railway construction confirmed. Returning to London he decides to confront Melmotte and resolve his romantic situation. Melmotte involves himself in increasingly ambitious business schemes while Felix gets himself into further trouble and Hetta recieves some devastating news. Episode 4: Melmotte reaches the highest echelons of London society but the wolves are beginning to gather at his door. Paul takes his chance to act and Felix comes face to face with some tough opposition, while Hetta contemplates settling for second best. Climaxing in love lost, love gained, a death and some just desserts.

Austen Country - The Life & Times of Jane Austen
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Starring: Austen, Jane
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Director:	Rating: NR	Running Time: 55 Minutes
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Category: Period	User Rating:	Color Mono

All Movie Guide One of the most revered and well-known authors of the early 19th century, Jane Austen was the woman behind such beloved works as Emma, Pride and Prejudice, and Sense and Sensibility. In Austen Country, viewers are invited along for a tour through the life of the renowned writer. The program blends anecdotal historical information with contemporary footage of the places that were a part of Austen's life. Matthew Tobey PRODUCTION AND TECHNICAL NOTES: Aspect Ratio: Pre-1954 Standard (1.33.1) Features: [None specified] Language: English Time: 55 Minutes

Barry Lyndon
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Starring: O'Neal, Ryan Berenson, Marisa Magee, Patrick Kruger, Hardy Berkoff, Steven Hamilton, Gay Kean, Marie Melvin, Murray Melvin, Murray Rossiter, Leonard
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Director: Kubrick, Stanley	Rating: PG	Running Time: 185 minutes
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Category: Period	User Rating: 7.9/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com In 1975 the world was at Stanley Kubrick's feet. His films Dr. Strangelove, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and A Clockwork Orange, released in the previous dozen years, had provoked rapture and consternation--not merely in the film community, but in the culture at large. On the basis of that smashing hat trick, Kubrick was almost certainly the most famous film director of his generation, and absolutely the one most likely to rewire the collective mind of the movie audience. And what did this radical, at-least-20-years-ahead-of-his-time filmmaker give the world in 1975? A stately, three-hour costume drama based on an obscure Thackeray novel from 1844. A picaresque story about an Irish lad (Ryan O'Neal, then a major star) who climbs his way into high society, Barry Lyndon bewildered some critics (Pauline Kael called it "an ice-pack of a movie") and did only middling business with patient audiences. The film was clearly a technical advance, with its unique camerawork (incorporating the use of prototype Zeiss lenses capable of filming by actual candlelight) and sumptuous production design. But its hero is a distinctly underwhelming, even unsympathetic fellow, and Kubrick does not try to engage the audience's emotions in anything like the usual way. Why, then, is Barry Lyndon a masterpiece? Because it uncannily captures the shape and rhythm of a human life in a way few other films have; because Kubrick's command of design and landscape is never decorative but always apiece with his hero's journey; and because every last detail counts. Even the film's chilly style is thawed by the warm narration of the great English actor Michael Hordern and the Irish songs of the Chieftains. Poor Barry's life doesn't matter much in the end, yet the care Kubrick brings to the telling of it is perhaps the director's most compassionate gesture toward that most peculiar species of animal called man. And the final, wry title card provides the perfect Kubrickian sendoff--a sentiment that is even more poignant since Kubrick's premature death. --Robert Horton --This text refers to the DVD edition. Additional Features EDITOR'S NOTE: According to a Warner Home Video technician involved in the production of The Stanley Kubrick Collection, Kubrick authorized all aspects of the Collection, from the use of Digital Component Video (or "D-1") masters originally approved in 1989, to the use of minimalist screen menus, chapter stops, and (in the case of 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Shining on DVD) supplementary materials. Full-screen presentation of The Shining and Full Metal Jacket was also approved by Kubrick, who... read more

Bostonians, The
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Starring: Reeve, Christopher Redgrave, Vanessa Potter, Madeleine Tandy, Jessica Marchand, Nancy Addy, Wesley Bryne, Barbara Hunt, Linda Hunt, Linda New, Nancy
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Director: Ivory, James	Rating: NR	Running Time: 2 Hours
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Category: Period	User Rating: 5.6/10 (IMDB)	Color Stereo

Amazon.com Before their breakthrough successes with A Room with a View, Howards End, and The Remains of the Day, the Merchant-Ivory filmmaking team refined their literary adaptation skills with this 1984 drama, adapted from the classic novel by Henry James. Although the film can only begin to approximate the internal dialogues that make up much of James's fascinating fiction, it retains the central conflict of the post-Civil War drama, which takes place just as women are beginning their struggle for equality. The story involves a triangle of conflicting relationships, in which a repressed lesbian (Vanessa Redgrave) engages in a subtle, unspoken tug-of-war with a Southern lawyer (Christopher Reeve) for the affections of a young woman (Madeleine Potter) who is just coming into her own as a young suffragette. Although the film is slow and dry compared to Merchant-Ivory's later efforts, it's eminently respectable (as you might expect) and is highlighted by Redgrave's superb, Oscar-nominated performance as the story's feminist heroine. The supporting cast is equally impressive, and includes Jessica Tandy, Linda Hunt, Wallace Shawn, and Wesley Addy. --Jeff Shannon

Bounty, The
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Starring: Gibson, Mel Hopkins, Anthony Olivier, Laurence Day Lewis, Daniel Day-Lewis, Daniel Fox, Edward Olivier, Laurence Neeson, Liam Neeson, Liam Vernette, Tevaite
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Director: Donaldson, Roger	Rating: PG	Running Time: 2 Hours 10 Minutes
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Category: Period	User Rating: 6.8/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com Director Roger Donaldson (Thirteen Days) has breathed vibrant new life into the classic story of the mutiny on the Bounty. With a dream cast--Mel Gibson, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Sir Laurence Olivier, Liam Neeson, and Daniel Day-Lewis--and a script by Robert Bolt (Doctor Zhivago, Lawrence of Arabia), The Bounty takes a revisionist tack through the well-charted waters of an oft-told tale. Hopkins's Captain Bligh is no raving sadist in the Charles Laughton mode. (Laughton played Bligh in the first Mutiny on the Bounty, 1935.) Instead, Sir Anthony plays Bligh as a hard-nosed imperialist explorer simply trying to get the job done in the time-honored manner: on the backs of the poor gobs under his command. Still, when Bligh's suppressed powder keg of rage finally blows, Hopkins is formidable indeed. Mel Gibson gives one of the most soulful performances of his career as mutiny leader Fletcher Christian. He's also at the height of his blue-eyed, buff good looks, and his romance with Tahitian maiden Mauatua (lovely Tevaite Vernette) is decidedly erotic. Liam Neeson is a veritable force of nature as the scrappy seaman Charles Churchill, and Daniel Day-Lewis is sublimely hateful as Master John Fryer, a pompous toady. With special effects to rival those of The Perfect Storm, the alluring eye candy of a tall-masted schooner under full sail, lush tropical greenery, and bevies of bodacious South Sea Islands babes, plus a gripping story line, The Bounty deserves a rescue from undeserved obscurity. --Laura Mirsky

Camille Claudel
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Starring: Adjani, Isabelle Depardieu, G�rard Gr�vill, Laurent Boorman, Katrine Cuny, Alan Grevill, Laurent Robinson, Madeleine Doazan, Aurelle Doazan, Aurelle Leroux, Maxime
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Director: Nuytten, Bruno	Rating: R	Running Time: 2 Hours 39 Minutes
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Category: Period	User Rating: 7.0/10 (IMDB)	Color Stereo

Amazon.com "Miss Claudel has become a master." "She has the talent of a man." "She's a witch." And so Auguste Rodin and friends neatly sum up the sad trajectory of Camille Claudel's career. We first meet the sculptor as she digs clay with bare fingers from a frozen ditch, in the winter of 1885. By the time the film leaves her, in 1913, she's an acclaimed, if socially scorned, artist who's been committed to an asylum. In the interim, Claudel (Isabelle Adjani) falls in love with the famous, older, womanizing Rodin (G�rard Depardieu). Claudel abandons her work to assist the creatively bankrupt Rodin, filling in as his muse, assistant, and lover. When pregnancy forces Claudel to ask him to choose between her and his longtime mistress, he won't, she leaves, and their alliance ends. This proves to be the turning point for Claudel's mental health; when her affair with Rodin ends, she begins her intimacy with insanity. As her madness blooms, so do her long-neglected sculptures, which seem to come to life in her hands and arms. Not only a potent love story, Camille Claudel is also an account of art and its wellsprings, and this is where it excels, especially when we witness Claudel's manic genius at work, driven by the necessity to externalize her emotions in the forms of her sculptures. In the end, the viewer wonders about the causes of Claudel's madness: was it genes, or her reaction against society's mores, or the product of Rodin's persecution? Or, as one exasperated family member terms it, was it "the madness of mud"? --Stefanie Durbin --This text refers to the VHS Tape edition.

Count of Monte Cristo, The
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Starring: Caviezel, James Pearce, Guy Dominczyk, Dagmara Harris, Richard Guzman, Luis Frain, James Dominczyk, Dagmara Wincott, Michael Wincott, Michael Carleton, Guy
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Director: Reynolds, Kevin	Rating: PG-13	Running Time: 2 Hours 11 Minutes
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Category: Period	User Rating: 7.4/10 (IMDB)	Color Stereo

Amazon.com Revenge rarely gets sweeter than it does in The Count of Monte Cristo, a rousing, impeccably crafted adaptation of Alexandre Dumas p�re's literary classic. Filmed countless times before, the story is revitalized by director Kevin Reynolds (rallying after Waterworld) and screenwriter Jay Wolpert, who wisely avoid the action-movie anachronisms that plagued 2001's dubious Dumas-inspired The Musketeer. Leading a superior cast, Jim Caviezel (Frequency) expresses a delicate balance of obsession and nobility as Dantes, the wrongly accused Frenchman who endures 13 years of prison and torment, then uses a hidden treasure to finance elaborate vengeance on those who wronged him. Memento's Guy Pearce is equally effective as Dantes's betraying nemesis, and Richard Harris tops his Harry Potter wizardry with a humorous turn as Dantes's fellow prisoner and mentor. Filmed on stunning locations in Ireland and Malta, The Count of Monte Cristo easily matches Rob Roy for intelligent swashbuckling entertainment. --Jeff Shannon --This text refers to the Theatrical Release edition.

Dangerous Liaisons
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Starring: Close, Glenn Malkovich, John Pfeiffer, Michelle Reeves, Keanu Thurman, Uma Natwick, Mildred Thurman, Uma Capaldi, Peter Capaldi, Peter Gogan, Valerie
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Director: Frears, Stephen	Rating: R	Running Time: 2 Hours
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Category: Period	User Rating: 7.6/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com essential video A sumptuously mounted and photographed celebration of artful wickedness, betrayal, and sexual intrigue among depraved 18th-century French aristocrats, Dangerous Liaisons (based on Christopher Hampton's Les Liaisons Dangereuses) is seductively decadent fun. The villainous heroes are the Marquise De Merteuil (Glenn Close) and the Vicomte De Valmont (John Malkovich), who have cultivated their mutual cynicism into a highly developed and exquisitely mannered form of (in-)human expression. Former lovers, they now fancy themselves rather like demigods whose mutual desires have evolved beyond the crudeness of sex or emotion. They ritualistically act out their twisted affections by engaging in elaborate conspiracies to destroy the lives of their less calculating acquaintances, daring each other to ever-more-dastardly acts of manipulation and betrayal. Why? Just because they can; it's their perverted way of getting get their kicks in a dead-end, pre-Revolutionary culture. Among their voluptuous and virtuous prey are fair-haired angels played by Michelle Pfeiffer and Uma Thurman, who have never looked more ripe for ravishing. When the Vicomte finds himself beset by bewilderingly genuine emotions for one of his victims, the Marquise considers it the ultimate betrayal and plots her heartless revenge. Dangerous Liaisons is a high-mannered revel for the actors, who also include Swoosie Kurtz, Mildred Natwick, and Keanu Reeves. --Jim Emerson

Daniel Deronda
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Starring: Hershey, Barbara Scacchi, Greta Dancy, Hugh May, Jodhi Fox, Edward Root, Amanda Bamber, David Scacchi, Greta Scacchi, Greta Imrie, Celia
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Director: (II), Tom Hooper	Rating: NR	Running Time: 3 Hours 30 Minutes
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Category: Period	User Rating: 7.4/10 (IMDB)	Color Stereo

Amazon.com George Eliot's accomplished but underrated last novel is effectively, often stirringly, adapted for this 2002 BBC production, which was scripted by old pro Andrew Davies (Middlemarch) and directed with wit and subtlety by Tom Hooper (Cold Feet). Set in the 1870s, Eliot's story concerns two strong-willed young people whose self-determination is under attack by legal constraints on their rights to an inheritance. The noble Daniel (Hugh Dancy) is of dubious birth; the fiery Gwendolen (Romola Garai) can't possess her late father's estate because she's a woman. They are sympathetic to one another, but not lovers: Gwendolen is obliged to marry into wealth and becomes an unhappy bride of the scoundrel Grandcourt (Hugh Bonneville), while Daniel must sort out his feelings about the much-maligned "Jewess," the beautiful Mirah. Despite Garai's somewhat questionable casting, this lengthy drama--evenly divided between the two leads--never lags in insight or passion. --Tom Keogh Description Daniel Deronda is a sensitive, intelligent young man, the illegitimate son of an aristocrat, haunted by the secrets that shroud his birth. Beautiful, vivacious Gwendolen Harleth is a gambler and short on cash. When they meet at the roulette table, sparks fly. But Gwendolen needs money more than passion, and the self-centered aristocrat Henleigh Grandcourt is happy to provide. As her situation becomes more and more oppressive, she turns to Daniel for help, only to discover his involvement with the young Jewish singer Mirah Lapidoth.Torn between his devotion to Gwendolen and his passion for Mirah and the plight of her people, Daniel is forced to look at his own mysterious past and find out who he really is...and who he wants to be.

Elizabeth
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Starring: Blanchett, Cate Rush, Geoffrey Dench, Judi Deayton, Angus O'Hea, Brendan Eccleston, Christopher Craig, Daniel Hardwicke, Edward Hardwicke, Edward Cantona, Eric
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Director: Kapur, Shekhar	Rating: R	Running Time: 124 minutes
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Category: Period	User Rating: 7.6/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com essential video One of the big Elizabethan-era films of 1998, Shekhar Kapur's Elizabeth serves up a brimming goblet of religious tension, political conspiracy, sex, violence, and war. England in 1554 is in financial and religious turmoil as the ailing Queen "Bloody" Mary attempts to restore Catholicism as the national faith. She has no heir, and her greatest fear--that her Protestant half-sister Elizabeth will assume the throne after her death--is realized. Still, the late Queen Mary has her loyalists. The newly crowned Elizabeth finds herself knee-deep in dethroning schemes while also dodging assassination attempts. Her advisers (including Sir William Cecil, superbly played by Richard Attenborough) beg her to marry any one of her would-be suitors to stabilize England's empire. No matter that she already has a lover. The passionate Robert Dudley (Joseph Fiennes) is married, however, and shows he cannot stand up to the growing strength of the Queen. With the help of her aide Walsingham (Geoffrey Rush), Elizabeth strikes against her enemies before they get to her first. But her rise ultimately entails rejecting love and marriage to redefine herself as the indisputable Virgin Queen. Cate Blanchett's Oscar-nominated performance as the naive and vibrant princess who becomes the stubborn and knowing queen is both severe and sympathetic. Her ethereal, pale beauty is equal parts fire and ice, her delivery of such lines as "There will be only one mistress here and no master!" expressed with command rather than hysterics. As striking as Blanchett's performance is the film's lavish and dramatic production design. The cold, dark sets paired with the lush costuming show the golden age of England's monarchy emerging from the Middle Ages. Rich velvet brushes over the dank stones while power is achieved at any price, and with such attention to physical detail, Elizabeth fully immerses you into its compelling chronicle of pioneering feminism and revisionist history. --Shannon Gee

Emma (BBC)
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Starring: Adamson, Raymond Adamson, Raymond Atkyns, Norman Bowen, Debbie Carson, John Chapman, Constance Dryden, Ellen East, Robert East, Robert Fenemore, Hilda
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Director: Glenister, John	Rating: NR	Running Time: 4 Hours 30 Minutes
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Category: Period	User Rating: 6.7/10 (IMDB)	Color Mono

PRODUCTION AND TECHNICAL NOTES: Aspect Ratio: Pre-1954 Standard (1.33.1) Features: [None specified] Time: 4 Hours 30 Minutes

Ever After - A Cinderella Story
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Starring: Barrymore, Drew Huston, Anjelica Scott, Dougray Moreau, Jeanne Huston, Anjelica Lynskey, Melanie Scott, Dougray Dodds, Megan Dodds, Megan Ingleby, Lee
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Director: Tennant, Andy	Rating: PG	Running Time: 1 Hour 40 Minutes
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Category: Period	User Rating: 7.0/10 (IMDB)	Color Stereo

Amazon.com Take away the Fairy Godmother, and what have you got left from the Cinderella fable? The story of a girl for whom a bad stroke of luck is no match for her internal strength and purity of heart. Drew Barrymore plays Cinderella's alleged inspiration, Danielle, in this romantic drama that purports to tell the "facts" behind the Grimm brothers' story. One of three daughters of a man (Jeroen Krabb�) who dies and leaves her fate in the hands of a conniving stepmother (Anjelica Huston), Danielle is cast into the lowly role of a servant. Meanwhile, her sisters are evaluated as possible mates for a French prince (Dougray Scott), but he's far more intrigued with Danielle's intelligence and beauty--not to mention her way with a sword and fist. Directed by Andy Tennant (who directed Barrymore in TV's The Amy Fisher Story), Ever After has that rare ability to win the heart and mind of a viewer simply by being committed to its own innocence, particularly where Barrymore's luminous performance is concerned. A contemporary take on an old, virtually forgotten Hollywood convention--the costume adventure with middling artistic ambition but real audience appeal--Ever After is a surprisingly delightful film. --Tom Keogh --This text refers to the VHS Tape edition.

First Knight
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Starring: Connery, Sean Gere, Richard Ormond, Julia Ormond, Julia Cross, Ben Gielgud, John Gielgud, Sir John McCormack, Colin McCormack, Colin Gielgud, John
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Director: Zucker, Jerry	Rating: PG-13	Running Time: 2 Hours 13 Minutes
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Category: Period	User Rating: 5.6/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com 1995 had already seen the box-office success of sword-wielding heroes in Rob Roy and Braveheart when along came this glossy revision of the Arthurian legend, in which Lady Guinevere (Julia Ormond) is torn between her love for the noble King Arthur (Sean Connery) and the passionate knight Sir Lancelot (Richard Gere). As the story opens, Guinevere's lands are under attack by the evil knight Malagant (Ben Cross), and she must choose between marriage to Arthur and the security of Camelot, or encouraging the affections of Lancelot, who has heroically rescued her from a potentially lethal attack. Anyone looking for meticulous medieval authenticity won't find it here, but director Jerry Zucker (Ghost) keeps the action moving with exuberant spirit and glorious production values. Even if you don't completely believe Richard Gere as a somewhat too-contemporary Lancelot, the performances of Ormond and especially Connery are effortlessly appealing. --Jeff Shannon

Gangs of New York
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Starring: DiCaprio, Leonardo Day-Lewis, Daniel Diaz, Cameron Hemmings, David Neeson, Liam Broadbent, Jim Postlethwaite, Pete Day-Lewis, Daniel Day-Lewis, Daniel Gleeson, Brendan
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Director: Scorsese, Martin	Rating: R	Running Time: 2 Hours 47 Minutes
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Category: Period	User Rating: 7.3/10 (IMDB)	Color DTS Surround Sound

Amazon.com Gangs of New York may achieve greatness with the passage of time. Mixed reviews were inevitable for a production this grand (and this troubled behind the scenes), but it's as distinguished as any of director Martin Scorsese's more celebrated New York stories. From its astonishing 1846 prologue to the city's infernal draft riots of 1863, the film aspires to erase the decorum of textbooks and chronicle 19th-century New York as a cauldron of street warfare. The hostility is embodied in a tale of primal vengeance between Irish American son Amsterdam Vallon (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his father's ruthless killer and "Nativist" gang leader Bill "the Butcher" Cutting (Daniel Day-Lewis, brutally inspired), so named for his lethal talent with knives. Vallon's vengeance is only marginally compelling; DiCaprio is arguably miscast, and Cameron Diaz (as Vallon's pickpocket lover) is adrift in a film with little use for women. Despite these weaknesses, Scorsese's mastery blossoms in his expert melding of personal and political trajectories; this is American history written in blood, unflinching, authentic, and utterly spectacular. --Jeff Shannon --This text refers to the Theatrical Release edition. DVD features The plethora of extras on this two-disc set are worth your time. There are several well-produced segments on the physical aspects of the film highlighted by a tour of the vast Cinecitt� Studio sets with director Martin Scorsese and production designer Dante Ferretti (with a 360-degree-view feature to boot). Historian Luc Sante introduces you to the Five Corners area in New York circa the mid-19th century, and there's a vintage vocabulary guide (from the 1859 edition of The Rogue's Lexicon).... read more

Girl With a Pearl Earring
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Starring: Firth, Colin Johansson, Scarlett
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Director: Webber, Peter	Rating: PG-13	Running Time:
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Category: Period	User Rating:	Color Dolby

Amazon.com You wouldn't think a movie could look like a Vermeer painting, but Girl with a Pearl Earring is filmed with an amazing range of luminous glows that evoke the Dutch artist's masterworks. Of course, it helps that much of the movie centers on Scarlett Johansson (Lost in Translation, Ghost World), whose creamy skin and full lips have a luminosity of their own. Johansson plays Griet, a maid in the household of Johannes Vermeer (Colin Firth, Bridget Jones' Diary, Fever Pitch), who finds herself in a web of jealousy, artistic inspiration, and social machinations. Though the pace is slow, Girl with a Pearl Earring genuinely conveys some sense of an artist's process, as well as offering many chaste yet sensual moments between Firth and Johansson. Also featuring Essie Davis as Vermeer's bitter wife and Tom Wilkinson (In the Bedroom) as a wealthy patron with eyes for Griet. --Bret Fetzer --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Good Wife, The
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Starring: Ward, Rachel Brown, Bryan Neill, Sam Vidler, Steven Claire, Jennifer Barry, Bruce Cummins, Peter Skinner, Carole Skinner, Carole Hill, Barry
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Director: (II), Ken Cameron	Rating: R	Running Time: 1 Hour 38 Minutes
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Category: Period	User Rating: 5.6/10 (IMDB)	Color Stereo

From All Movie Guide Originally titled The Umbrella Woman, The Good Wife is set in an Australian lumber town in 1939. Marge Hills (Rachel Ward), the bored wife of kindly-but-dull Sonny Hills (Bryan Brown) begins dreaming of outside romances. She unexpectedly gets her wish in the form of Sonny's much-younger brother Sugar (Steven Vidler), whom Sonny cheerfully offers to his wife as a surrogate bedmate. Given this curious arrangement, one wonders why Marge is so upset when she is propositioned by handsome stranger Neville Gifford (Sam Neill). Eventually, Gifford sleeps with every other woman in town but Marge. Fed up with the unimaginative lovers in her own house, Marge finally gives in to Gifford, arousing the jealousy not of the cloddish Sonny, but of the immature Sugar. Hal Erickson

Gosford Park - Collector's Edition
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Starring: Smith, Maggie Phillippe, Ryan Thomas, Kristin Scott Atkins, Eileen Balaban, Bob Bates, Alan Dance, Charles Fry, Stephen Fry, Stephen Hollander, Tom
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Director: Altman, Robert	Rating: R	Running Time: 2 Hours 18 Minutes
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Category: Period	User Rating: 7.3/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com essential video Gosford Park finds director Robert Altman in sumptuously fine form indeed. From the opening shots, as the camera peers through the trees at an opulent English country estate, Altman exploits the 1930s period setting and whodunit formula of the film expertly. Aristocrats gather together for a weekend shooting party with their dutiful servants in tow, and the upstairs/downstairs division of the classes is perfectly tailored to Altman's method (as employed in Nashville and Short Cuts) of overlapping bits of dialogue and numerous subplots in order to betray underlying motives and the sins that propel them. Greed, vengeance, snobbery, and lust stir comic unrest as the near dizzying effect of brisk script turns is allayed by perhaps Altman's strongest ensemble to date. First and foremost, Maggie Smith is marvelous as Constance, a dependent countess with a quip for every occasion; Michael Gambon, as the ill-fated host, Sir William McCordle, is one of the most palpably salacious characters ever on screen; Kristin Scott Thomas is perfectly cold yet sexy as Lady Sylvia, Sir William's wife; and Helen Mirren, Emily Watson, and Clive Owen are equally memorable as key characters from the bustling servants' quarters below. Gosford Park manages to be fabulously entertaining while exposing human shortcomings, compromises, and our endless need for confession. --Fionn Meade --This text refers to the Theatrical Release edition.

Importance of Being Earnest, The
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Starring: Everett, Rupert Firth, Colin O'Connor, Frances Witherspoon, Reese O'Connor, Frances Dench, Judi Witherspoon, Reese Wilkinson, Tom Wilkinson, Tom Kay, Charles
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Director: Parker, Oliver	Rating: PG	Running Time: 1 Hour 34 Minutes
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Category: Period	User Rating: 6.9/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com Splendidly adapted from the wittiest play in the English language, The Importance of Being Earnest stars Colin Firth as an English gentleman who pretends to be his own brother, named Ernest, so he can enjoy himself in the city without besmirching his reputation at his country estate. Unfortunately, he's just fallen in love with a young woman (Frances O'Connor) who insists that she can only marry a man named Ernest--and when Firth's best friend (Rupert Everett) goes to Firth's country estate pretending to be this same brother Ernest, he falls in love with Firth's ward (Reese Witherspoon), who similarly feels that Ernest is the perfect name for a husband... The absurdity of the plot is matched by the exquisite cleverness of the dialogue, and the performances--particularly Dame Judi Dench as Everett's fearsome aunt--are excellent. --Bret Fetzer --This text refers to the Theatrical Release edition.

Ivanhoe
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Starring: Waddington, Steven Smurfit, Victoria Lee, Christopher Lynch, Susan Smurfit, Victoria Brown, Ralph Chisholm, Jimmy Cooper, Trevor Cooper, Trevor Donachie, Ron
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Director: Orme, Stuart	Rating: NR	Running Time: 5 Hours
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Category: Period	User Rating: 8.2/10 (IMDB)	Color Stereo

Amazon.com This grand six-part adaptation of Sir Walter Scott's rousing adventure of the Middle Ages makes the most of its generous running time. In the course of five hours, director Stuart Orme tells the epic tale of the idealistic young knight Ivanhoe (Steven Waddington) and his battle against the evil Templar Bois-Guilbert (Ciar�n Hinds, whose thoughtful performance gives his dark character a compelling dimension). Caught between the rivalries and religious struggles are Ivanhoe's betrothed Rowena (Victoria Smurfit) and the brave, beautiful Jewess healer Rebecca (Susan Lynch), who wins Ivanhoe's heart with her courage. Set against the historical backdrop of a Britain straining under the corrupt rule of Prince John while Richard the Lionhearted fights in the Crusades, director Stuart Orme makes up for a small budget (the crowd scenes are somewhat skimpy) with sweep, scale, and the lush green British countryside of verdant forests and rolling hills, where ancient castles still stand. While this production can't compete with the majesty of the gorgeous 1952 Hollywood production, Orme creates his own vision in which Merrye Olde England is grounded in earthy colors, creating a country of both sunny fields and dark, dangerous timberlands, open sunlit courts, and cramped candlelit inns. The uniformly superb cast etches vivid characters and the length allows the novel's rich array of subplots to play out (including appearances by Robin Hood and his men and the Black Knight) and slowly wind together for the exciting conclusion. --Sean Axmaker --This text refers to the VHS Tape edition.

Jane Austen Life Society Works
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Starring: Austen, Jane
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Director:	Rating: NR	Running Time: 2 Hours 36 Minutes
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Category: Period	User Rating:	Color Dolby Digital

PRODUCTION AND TECHNICAL NOTES: Sound: Dolby Digital Features: [None specified] Language: English Time: 2 Hours 36 Minutes

Jane Austen's Emma
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Starring: Beckinsale, Kate Williams, Olivia Scales, Prunella Morton, Samantha Hepton, Bernard Coulthard, Raymond Rowan, Dominic Robinson, Lucy Robinson, Lucy Hazeldine, James
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Director: Lawrence, Diarmuid	Rating: NR	Running Time: 1 Hour 47 Minutes
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Category: Period	User Rating: 7.8/10 (IMDB)	Color Stereo

Amazon.com Similar to the equally excellent Valmont, this version of Jane Austen's classic novel had the misfortune of following a sumptuous big-star version with Gwyneth Paltrow, which was released the summer before. And, just as 1989's Valmont suffered comparisons with Dangerous Liaisons, inevitably these Emmas were held up next to one another. This delicious Emma concerns a young woman of financial substance (Kate Beckinsale), who fancies herself a matchmaker, especially with shy Miss Harriet Smith (Samantha Morton, who also appears in A&E's Jane Eyre). In Emma's swirling world of social activity and social consciousness, one's position and stature is a constant preoccupation. But to her credit, Emma, albeit a busybody, has compassion for all classes, and for her kindly but hypochondriacal father (Bernard Hepton). This miniseries is more subtle than the grand theatrical release, is truer to the novel, and gives a richer explanation of the relationship between Emma associates Jane Fairfax (beautiful Olivia Williams of Rushmore) and the duplicitous Frank Churchill (Raymond Coulthard). Of course, at the center, as in all Austen stories, is the romance between the unsuspecting leading lady and an unlikely, but wholly suitable gentleman. In this case, it's Emma and her brother-in-law, the righteous (as played here) Mr. Knightley (Mark Strong). Strong's Mr. Knightley is more reserved, less coy than Jeremy Northam's; he plays Knightley more like Mr. Darcy (the leading man in Austen's Pride and Prejudice, which A&E also offers in a wonderful miniseries). Beckinsale proves to be utterly delightful and in no way should this excellent adaptation be ignored. --N.F. Mendoza --This text refers to the VHS Tape edition.

Jane Eyre
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Starring: Morton, Samantha Hinds, Ciaran Jones, Gemma Hawley, Richard Cruttenden, Abigail Berthome, Timia Mitchell, Ruth Keogh, Barbara Keogh, Barbara Scanlan, Joanna
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Director: (III), Robert Young	Rating: NR	Running Time: 1 Hour 48 Minutes
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Category: Period	User Rating: 7.5/10 (IMDB)	Color Stereo

Amazon.com The fascinating British actress Samantha Morton stars as the titular heroine in this provocative version of Jane Eyre, based on Charlotte Bronte's oft-filmed, 1847 novel. The familiar contours of Bronte's story are all here: Jane, the unhappy orphan, grows up to become governess at Thornfield, a gloomy estate owned by the imperious and worldly, but curiously desperate, Mr. Rochester (Ciar�n Hinds). While the latter's grasping attentions stir the inexperienced young woman, the gothic goings-on at Thornfield suggest layers of unwholesome secrecy in Rochester's life. Most productions of Jane Eyre carefully reflect Bronte's absorbing balance between romance, horror, and Jane's psychological passage to adulthood. But this 1997 television movie is interesting for its near-reckless emphasis on Jane and Rochester's mutual obsession and galloping jealousies. The dramatic strategy throws off the story's overall tone, but such problems are worth it to see Morton and Hinds explore Jane Eyre's darkest possibilities. --Tom Keogh

Little Women - Collector's Edition
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Starring: Ryder, Winona Dunst, Kirsten Alvarado, Trini Danes, Claire Stoltz, Eric McDormand, Frances Byrne, Gabriel Jones, Hatty Jones, Hatty Wickes, Mary
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Director: Armstrong, Gillian	Rating: PG	Running Time: 1 Hour 58 Minutes
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Category: Period	User Rating: 7.1/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com essential video The flaws are easily forgiven in this beautiful version of Louisa May Alcott's novel. A stirring look at life in New England during the Civil War, Little Women is a triumph for all involved. We follow one family as they split into the world, ending up with the most independent, the outspoken Jo (Winona Ryder). This time around, the dramatics and conclusions fall into place a little too well, instead of finding life's little accidents along the way. Everyone now looks a bit too cute and oh, so nice. As the matron, Marmee, Susan Sarandon kicks the film into a modern tone, creating a movie alive with a great feminine sprit. Kirsten Dunst (Interview with the Vampire) has another showy role. The young ensemble cast cannot be faulted, with Ryder beginning the movie in a role akin to light comedy and crescendoing to a triumphant end worthy of an Oscar. --Doug Thomas DVD features Based on the feature commentary for her film, Gillian Armstrong must be a pretty delightful person to spend an evening with. The Australian director takes us all the way through the lovely 1994 film, "whispering in our ear" with deft clarity. Armstrong engages us while talking about casting (much influenced by star Winona Ryder), locale (mostly Vancouver, B.C.), the modernization of the characters, and the task of bringing the intricate design of the 19th-century piece to life. Armstrong also... read more

Mansfield Park (BBC)
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Starring: Massey, Anna Pleasence, Angela Hepton, Bernard Buck, David Burbage, Robert Crowther, Liz Prowles, Paul Davies Doust, Paul Doust, Paul Edmonstone, Susan
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Director: Giles, David	Rating: NR	Running Time: 5 Hours 12 Minutes
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Category: Period	User Rating: 7.3/10 (IMDB)	Color Mono

All Movie Guide Adapted from the novel by Jane Austen, the British miniseries Mansfield Park starred Sylvestra La Touzel as Fanny Price, a "poor relation" deposited at the doorstep of the titular country estate at age ten. Raised by her cynical uncle, Sir Thomas Bertram (Bernard Hepton), the ugly-duckling Fanny was ignored or rebuffed by everyone on the estate except for her cousin, Edmund (Nicholas Farrell). Eventually blossoming into a beautiful woman, Fanny found herself the romantic bone of contention between Edmund and neighboring aristocrat Henry Crawford (Robert Burbage). Though fond of both men, Fanny was not about to make an impulsive choice between them; both Edward and Henry would have to prove their mettle to her before either man could claim her hand in marriage. Telecast in six hour-long installments by the BBC in 1986, Mansfield Park was remade 13 years later as a theatrical feature film. Hal Erickson PRODUCTION AND TECHNICAL NOTES: Aspect Ratio: Full Frame Features: [None specified] Language: English Editions: Remastered Time: 5 Hours 12 Minutes

Mayor of Casterbridge, The
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Starring: Hinds, Ciaran Purefoy, James May, Jodhi Purefoy, James Aubrey, Juliet Bunnage, Avis Marsh, Jean Beint, Michael Beint, Michael Surman, John
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Director: Thacker, David	Rating: NR	Running Time: 3 Hours 20 Minutes
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Category: Period	User Rating: 9.3/10 (IMDB)	Color Stereo

Amazon.com Common sense suggests that no good can come of auctioning off your wife in a drunken fit, but Thomas Hardy's classic novel The Mayor of Casterbridge turns this dark story, set in rural England in the mid-1800s, into a compelling, compulsive ride. The discarded wife (Juliet Aubrey) returns after 19 years with her daughter (Jodhi May) in tow, only to discover that her former husband, Michael Henchard (Ciar�n Hinds) has risen as a merchant and a politician. But though he welcomes her back and arranges to renew their bond without public shame, Henchard's pride and fear remain intractable; the struggle for love and happiness collides with shame and secrets as Hardy's complex tale unfolds. While the 1978 miniseries with Alan Bates is much less abridged and gives a fuller immersion into the novel and life at the time, the swiftness of this two-part adaptation makes it more immediately emotionally engaging, and the superb, compact performances by the entire cast (including Polly Walker and James Purefoy) give this version a potent punch. --Bret Fetzer

Nicholas Nickleby
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Starring: Hunnam, Charlie Plummer, Christopher Courtenay, Tom Lane, Nathan Stevenson, Juliet Plummer, Christopher Fox, Edward Cumming, Alan Cumming, Alan Broadbent, James
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Director: McGrath, Douglas	Rating: PG	Running Time: 2 Hours 12 Minutes
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Category: Period	User Rating: 7.4/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com While it necessarily streamlines the Charles Dickens classic, this delightful adaptation of Nicholas Nickelby captures the essence of Dickens in all of its Victorian splendor and squalor. With Charlie Hunnam (the U.K. Queer as Folk) doing noble work in the title role, this quintessentially Dickensian tale begins with the death of Nicholas's father, and the subsequent scheme by his cruel uncle (Christopher Plummer, perfectly cast) to separate Nicholas from his now penniless sister and mother. Stuck in a squalid school run by the evil Mr. and Mrs. Squeers (Jim Broadbent, Juliet Stevenson), Nicholas escapes with his loyal friend Smike (Billy Elliott's Jamie Bell), whose lineage will determine the greedy uncle's fate. As he did with Jane Austen's Emma, writer-director Douglas McGrath has crafted a prestigious production that shifts effortlessly between comedy and tragedy without compromising its warm, inviting tone. His dialogue rings true throughout, inspiring a stellar cast including Nathan Lane, Alan Cumming, Edward Fox, and Timothy Spall. Dickens himself would almost certainly have approved. --Jeff Shannon --This text refers to the Theatrical Release edition. DVD features The Nicholas Nickleby DVD offers a choice of superb anamorphically enhanced widescreen or full-screen format. The Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack is involving and atmospheric and makes the most of Rachel Portman's score. Also included is a very thoughtful and engaging commentary by director Douglas McGrath, which adds a whole new level of appreciation to the film. Another substantial extra is a solid 29-minute "making of" documentary featuring all the main cast and production personnel. The Life of... read more

Northanger Abbey (BBC)
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Starring: Firth, Peter
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Director: Foster, Giles	Rating: NR	Running Time:
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Category: Period	User Rating:	Color Stereo

Customer Reviews

Persuasion
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Starring: Root, Amanda Hinds, Ciar�n Fleetwood, Susan George, Sally Acton, David Cornwell, Judy Collings, David Hamilton, Victoria Hamilton, Victoria Roberts, Emma
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Director: Michell, Roger	Rating: PG	Running Time: 1 Hour 44 Minutes
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Category: Period	User Rating: 7.3/10 (IMDB)	Color Stereo

Amazon.com Movie adaptations of Jane Austen's classic novels were all the rage (relatively speaking) in the mid-1990s. Clueless updated Austen's Emma, which was more conventionally adapted in another version (Emma) starring Gwyneth Paltrow. Emma was produced yet again, this time for British television, as were a celebrated miniseries of Pride and Prejudice and this splendid film of Austen's Persuasion. Persuasion is the story of a love that survives eight years of dormancy and the frustrating obstacles of class prejudice in 19th century England. Anne (Amanda Root) is captivated when she meets the dignified naval officer Capt. Wentworth (Ciar�n Hinds), but she is advised to discourage his romantic overtures because he has no fortune. They meet again eight years later, but now Capt. Wentworth has become wealthy while Anne's father is in reduced circumstances in the wake of reckless extravagance. A series of circumstances ensue which prevent Anne and Wentworth from expressing their mutual and inevitable love. The film's success depends entirely on the subtle, superb performances of Root and Hinds. The film builds slowly, occasionally leaving you wondering if anything at all is going to happen. When it does, you realize how carefully crafted a film this is, and the final result is grandly rewarding. --Jeff Shannon --This text refers to the VHS Tape edition.

Persuasion (BBC)
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Starring: Firbank, Ann Marshall, Bryan Dignam, Basil Redgrave, Corin Shaw, Fiona Woodvine, John Nicholls, Phoebe West, Samuel West, Samuel Cornwell, Judy
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Director: Baker, Howard	Rating: NR	Running Time: 3 Hours 45 Minutes
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Category: Period	User Rating: 7.2/10 (IMDB)	Color Mono

All Movie Guide Adapted from Jane Austen's final novel, the five-part British drama series Persuasion starred Anne Firbank as Anne Elliot, a young woman dangerously close to becoming an "old maid." Seven years earlier, Anne had allowed her opinions to be swayed by others (local busybody Lady Russell [Marian Spencer] in particular) and had spurned the advances of dashing Captain Wentworth (Bryan Marshall). Regretting her rashness, Anne could only stand aside in quiet desperation as the now-affluent and well-connected Wentworth ardently pursued the much-younger Louise Musgrove (Zhivila Roche). But though Anne might have been too proud to admit that she still harbored affection for Wentworth, her pride could easily be cast aside should she perceive an opportunity to win the Captain back. This TV version of Persuasion made its British TV bow on April 18, 1971. Hal Erickson PRODUCTION AND TECHNICAL NOTES: Aspect Ratio: Full Frame Features: [None specified] Language: English Editions: Remastered Time: 3 Hours 45 Minutes

Pride and Prejudice (BBC)
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Starring: Garvie, Elizabeth Rintoul, David Bullock, Osmund Cain, Shirley Davies, Janet Fitzalan, Marsha Franklyn, Sabina Garvie, Elizabeth Garvie, Elizabeth Higgins, Clare
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Director: Coke, Cyril	Rating: NR	Running Time: 4 Hours 25 Minutes
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Category: Period	User Rating: 8.1/10 (IMDB)	Color Mono

All Movie Guide Fay Weldon wrote the teleplay for this 5-part BBC TV adaptation of Jane Austen's 1812 novel Pride and Prejudice. Class-obsessed Mrs. Bennett (Priscilla Morgan) is dead set upon marrying off her five daughters to wealthy and influential young men. Headstrong Elizabeth Bennett (Elizabeth Garvie), the family's second daughter, resists her mother's plan. She is the "pride" that is "prejudiced" against snobbery and pomposity. Elizabeth is particularly incensed by the vain, aristocratic Fitzwilliam Darcy (David Rintoul)--at least until she realizes that Darcy is as prejudiced against high-toned class distinctions as she is. Telecast in the US on PBS' Masterpiece Theatre in the fall of 1980, Pride and Prejudice was later released to video in an uninterrupted, 226-minute single serving. Hal Erickson PRODUCTION AND TECHNICAL NOTES: Aspect Ratio: Full Frame Features: [None specified] Language: English Editions: Remastered Time: 4 Hours 25 Minutes

Pride and Prejudice - The Special Edition
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Starring: Firth, Colin Ehle, Jennifer Ehle, Jennifer Whitrow, Benjamin Harker, Susannah Bonham-Carter, Crispin Bamber, David Sawalha, Julia Sawalha, Julia Lukis, Adrian
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Director: Langton, Simon	Rating: NR	Running Time: 5 Hours
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Category: Period	User Rating: 9.2/10 (IMDB)	Color Stereo

Amazon.com essential video Jane Austen's classic novel of 1813, Pride and Prejudice, still wins the hearts of countless schoolgirls with its romantic story of Elizabeth Bennet and her Mr. Darcy. Now, the 1996 BBC miniseries is winning over adults, with its faithful adaptation, gorgeous scenery, and superb acting. The essence of the story is the antagonism between Mr. Darcy, a wealthy single man who believes Elizabeth to be beneath him, and Elizabeth, who upon being insulted at a dance by the aloof Darcy refuses to associate with him in any manner. Austen evokes incredible tension with the wit and flirtation of the two characters, and director Simon Langton (who also directed Upstairs Downstairs) successfully translates the repartee and conflict in this six-hour miniseries. Dialogue, for the most part, is painstakingly replicated, except when fleshing out and smoothing for modern sensibilities was necessary. Darcy, for instance, is drawn out, giving his personality significantly more depth. The acting sweeps you away to Regency England: Jennifer Ehle (of Wilde) is convincing as the obstinate Elizabeth, who, despite her mother's attempts to marry her off, spurs the attentions of Darcy. And Colin Firth (of The English Patient) will have women everywhere longing for a Mr. Darcy of their own. For those who have been on an Austen binge--enjoying such excellent adaptations as Sense and Sensibility and Persuasion--this miniseries will round out the ultimate Austen video library. For those new to these romantic period pieces, this version of Pride and Prejudice will have you hooked and longing for more. One caveat, however: plan to watch it in an entire day, because very few have the self-control to not watch all six hours in a single sitting. --Jenny Brown --This text refers to the DVD edition.

Room with a View (Two-Disc Special Edition), A
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Starring: Smith, Maggie Carter, Helena Bonham Elliott, Denholm Godfrey, Patrick Sands, Julian Carter, Helena Bonham Elliott, Denholm Graves, Rupert Graves, Rupert Drake, Fabia
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Director: Ivory, James	Rating: Unrated	Running Time: 1 Hour 57 Minutes
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Category: Period	User Rating: 7.4/10 (IMDB)	Color Stereo

Amazon.com essential video The prestigious filmmaking trio of producer Ismail Merchant, director James Ivory, and screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala had made other critically acclaimed films before A Room with a View was released in 1985, but it was this popular film that made them art-house superstars. Splendidly adapted from the novel by E.M. Forster, it's a comedy of the heart, a passionate romance and a study of repression within the British class system of manners and mores. It's that system of rigid behavior that prevents young Lucy Honeychurch (Helena Bonham Carter) from accepting the loving advances of a free-spirited suitor (Julian Sands), who fears that she will follow through with her engagement to a priggish intellectual (Daniel Day-Lewis) whose capacity for passion is virtually nonexistent. During and after a trip to Italy with her protective companion (Maggie Smith), Lucy gradually gets in touch with her true emotions. The fun of watching A Room with a View comes from seeing how Lucy's thoughts and feelings finally arrive at the same romantic conclusion. Through an abundance of humor both subtle and overt, this crowd-pleasing "art movie" rose to an unexpected level of popular appeal. The Merchant-Ivory team received eight Academy Award nominations for their efforts, and won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay, Art Direction, and Costume Design. --Jeff Shannon --This text refers to the VHS Tape edition. Description Nominated for eight Oscars in 1986, including Best Picture, and winner of three (Costumes, Art Direction and Adapted Screenplay), A Room with a View is the film that defined Merchant-Ivory as the masters of the romantic period piece. A brilliant adaptation of E.M. Forster?s novel, A Room with a View tells the story of the coming of age of Lucy Honeychurch (Helena Bonham-Carter). Longing to burst free from the repression of British upper class manners and mores, she must wrestle with her inner romantic longings to choose between the passionate George (Julian Sands) and the priggish but socially suitable Cecil (Daniel Day-Lewis). Boasting a brilliant supporting cast, A Room with a View is one of the most romantic of romantic comedies ever filmed.

Sense and Sensibility
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Starring: Winslet, Kate Thompson, Emma Winslet, Kate Grant, Hugh Jones, Gemma Walter, Harriet Wise, Greg Stubbs, Imogen Stubbs, Imogen Hardy, Robert
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Director: Lee, Ang	Rating: PG	Running Time: 2 Hours 16 Minutes
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Category: Period	User Rating: 7.7/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com essential video Emma Thompson scores a double bull's-eye with this marvelous adaptation of Jane Austen's novel. Not only does Thompson turn in a strong (and gently humorous) performance as one of the Dashwood sisters--the one with "sense"--she also wrote the witty, wise screenplay. Austen's tale of 19th-century manners and morals provides a large cast with a feast of possibilities, notably Kate Winslet, in her pre-Titanic flowering, as Thompson's deeply romantic sister. Winslet attracts the wooing of shy Alan Rickman (a nice change of pace from his bad-guy roles) and dashing Greg Wise, while Thompson must endure an incredibly roundabout courtship with Hugh Grant, here in fine and funny form. All of this is doled out with the usual eye-filling English countryside and handsome costumes, yet the film always seems to be about the careful interior lives of its characters. The director, an inspired choice, is Taiwan-born Ang Lee, who brings the same exquisite taste and discreet touch he displayed in his previous Asian films (such as Eat Drink Man Woman). Thompson's script won an Oscar, and 1995 was a fine year for Jane Austen all around: Persuasion was made into an excellent picture, and Emma became the spritzy high school comedy Clueless. --Robert Horton --This text refers to the VHS Tape edition.

Sense and Sensibility (BBC)
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Starring: Richard, Irene Childa, Tracey Fairfax, Diana Woodward, Peter Hogan, Bosco Swann, Robert Douglas, Donald Leon, Annie Leon, Annie Boxer, Amanda
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Director: Bennett, Rodney	Rating: NR	Running Time: 2 Hours 54 Minutes
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Category: Period	User Rating: 7.5/10 (IMDB)	Color Mono

All Movie Guide Ten years before Jane Austen's novel Sense and Sensibility was transformed into a lavish theatrical feature by director Ang Lee, the property was adapted as a rather less lavish but no less entertaining British TV miniseries. Irene Richard and Tracy Childs starred as Elinor and Marianne Dashwood, two attractive sisters from a prominent British family. When the Dashwoods go broke after the death of their father, the flighty Marianne and the more reserved (and, need we add, more intelligent) Elinor go on an exhaustive search for proper, and properly wealthy, husbands. Sense and Sensibility was served up in three 60-minute portions by the BBC. Hal Erickson PRODUCTION AND TECHNICAL NOTES: Aspect Ratio: Pre-1954 Standard (1.33.1) Features: [None specified] Time: 2 Hours 54 Minutes

Shakespeare in Love
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Starring: Rush, Geoffrey Fiennes, Joseph Rush, Geoffrey Affleck, Ben Dench, Judi Dench, Dame Judi Firth, Colin Callow, Simon Callow, Simon Clunes, Martin
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Director: Madden, John	Rating: R	Running Time: 123 minutes
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Category: Period	User Rating: 7.5/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com One of the most winning and intelligent romantic comedies of the '90s, Shakespeare in Love is filled with such good will, sunny romance, snappy one-liners, and devilish cleverness that it's absolutely irresistible. At the 1999 Academy Awards, this dark-horse costume comedy sneaked off with seven Oscars, besting the highly favored Saving Private Ryan for Best Picture. With tongue placed firmly in cheek, at its outset the film tracks young Will Shakespeare's overwrought battle with writer's block and the efforts of theater owner Philip Henslowe (Geoffrey Rush, in rare form) to stage Will's latest comedy, Romeo and Ethel, the Pirate's Daughter. Most of the jokes in the first one-third of the film are along these lines: Will's anachronistic therapist session, a mug inscribed "A Souvenir from Stratford-Upon-Avon," Henslowe's battles to pay off his debts, and the backstage high jinks of pre-production. However, once Will sets his eyes on the beautiful Viola De Lesseps (Gwyneth Paltrow), joking takes a backseat to ravishing romance. Well, almost--turns out Viola wants to break into the world of male-only theater, and disguises herself as a young man to wangle herself an audition. She wins the part of Romeo and, after much misunderstanding, the playwright's heart. Soon enough, Will's pirate comedy becomes a beautiful, tragic romance, and Ethel is shoved aside for a woman named Juliet. Will and Viola's romance, however, is equal parts comedy and tragedy--he's married, and she's betrothed to the slimy Lord Wessex (Colin Firth), and it doesn't take an English major to figure out that it's not all's well that ends well. Like Shakespeare's work itself, the film is instantly accessible to everyone, from the raucous groundlings looking for low comedy to the aesthetes hankering for some intellectual bite behind their entertainment. The way that Oscar-winning screenwriters Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard enfold their story within the parameters of Romeo and Juliet (and even Twelfth Night) is nothing short of brilliant--it would take a Shakespearean scholar to dissect the innumerable parallels, oft-quoted lines, plot developments, and thematic borrowings. And most amazingly, Norman and Stoppard haven't forgotten to entertain their audience in addition to riding a Shakespearean roller coaster. Director John Madden (Mrs. Brown) reigns in his huge ensemble with a rollicking energy that keeps the film's momentum going at top speed for its entire two hours. Along the way there are small gems to be found: Ben Affleck's riotous egotistical actor, Imelda Staunton's nimble nurse, and of course Judi Dench's eight-minute, Oscar-winning turn as a truly regal Queen Elizabeth. However, the key element of Shakespeare in Love's success rests on the milky-white shoulders of its two stars. Fiennes, inexplicably overlooked at Oscar time, is a dashing Will as we might expect him at the early stage of his career, bundled full of comedy and tragedy but unsure of how to harness his talent. And as for Best Actress winner Paltrow... well, nothing she'd done before could have prepared viewers for how amazing she is here. Breathtakingly beautiful, fiercely intelligent, strong-willed, and lovestruck--it's a performance worthy of Shakespeare in more ways than one. By the film's end, you'll be thoroughly won over--and brushing up your Shakespeare with newfound ardor. --Mark Englehart

Somewhere in Time
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Starring: Reeve, Christopher Seymour, Jane Plummer, Christopher Wright, Teresa Wright, Muriel Teresa Voskovec, George French, Susan Alvin, John Alvin, John Bennett, Audrey
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Director: Szwarc, Jeannot	Rating: PG	Running Time: 104 Minutes
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Category: Period	User Rating: 6.8/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com It's silly, it's superficial, it's so desperately earnest about its tale of time-spanning love that you almost wish for a cheap flatulence gag just to break the solemn mood. But there's something so unabashedly gushy and entertaining about Somewhere in Time that you can't begrudge its enduring popularity. The film has become a staple of romantic-movie lovers since its release in 1980, and endless showings on cable TV have turned it into a dubious classic of sorts--a three-hanky weeper that anyone can enjoy as a guilty pleasure or a beloved favorite, with no apologies necessary. In his first film after the star-making success of Superman, Christopher Reeve stars as a contemporary playwright who visits a posh hotel and sees the portrait of an actress (Jane Seymour) who had performed there in 1912. He becomes obsessed with this beautiful woman and learns all he can about her, and then discovers a method of hypnotically transporting himself backward in time to meet her. "Is it ... you?" she says upon seeing the lovestruck playwright, and it's clearly a mutual attraction. But even the slightest reminder of the playwright's modern time can jar him from his seemingly real existence in the past, so his wonderful love affair is constantly just a step from being stolen away. Based on Richard Matheson's novel Bid Time Return, this flaky film may strain one's tolerance for plot holes and corny romance, but it's hard to deny its lasting appeal--and let's face it, guys, it'll make wives and girlfriends swoon if they're in a tearjerker mood. --Jeff Shannon --This text refers to the VHS Tape edition.

Somewhere in Time - Collector's Edition
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Starring: Reeve, Christopher Seymour, Jane Plummer, Christopher Wright, Teresa Plummer, Christopher Voskovec, George French, Susan Alvin, John Alvin, John Bennett, Audrey
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Director: Szwarc, Jeannot	Rating: PG	Running Time: 1 Hour 44 Minutes
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Category: Period	User Rating: 6.8/10 (IMDB)	Color Stereo

Spartacus - Criterion Collection
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Starring: Douglas, Kirk Olivier, Laurence Gavin, John Ustinov, Peter Olivier, Laurence Douglas, Kirk Laughton, Charles Foch, Nina Foch, Nina Olivier, Sir Laurence
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Director: Kubrick, Stanley	Rating: PG-13	Running Time: 3 Hours 16 Minutes
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Category: Period	User Rating: 8.0/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com essential video Stanley Kubrick was only 31 years old when Kirk Douglas (star of Kubrick's classic Paths of Glory) recruited the young director to pilot this epic saga, in which the rebellious slave Spartacus (played by Douglas) leads a freedom revolt against the decadent Roman Empire. Kubrick would later disown the film because it was not a personal project--he was merely a director-for-hire--but Spartacus remains one of the best of Hollywood's grand historical epics. With an intelligent screenplay by then-blacklisted writer Dalton Trumbo (from a novel by Howard Fast), its message of moral integrity and courageous conviction is still quite powerful, and the all-star cast (including Charles Laughton in full toga) is full of entertaining surprises. Fully restored in 1991 to include scenes deleted from the original 1960 release, the full-length Spartacus is a grand-scale cinematic marvel, offering some of the most awesome battles ever filmed and a central performance by Douglas that's as sensitively emotional as it is intensely heroic. Jean Simmons plays the slave woman who becomes Spartacus's wife, and Peter Ustinov steals the show with his frequently hilarious, Oscar-winning performance as a slave trader who shamelessly curries favor with his Roman superiors. The restored version also includes a formerly deleted bathhouse scene in which Laurence Olivier plays a bisexual Roman senator (with restored dialogue dubbed by Anthony Hopkins) who gets hot and bothered over a slave servant played by Tony Curtis. These and other restored scenes expand the film to just over three hours in length. Despite some forgivable lulls, this is a rousing and substantial drama that grabs and holds your attention. Breaking tradition with sophisticated themes and a downbeat (yet eminently noble) conclusion, Spartacus is a thinking person's epic, rising above mere spectacle with a story as impressive as its widescreen action and Oscar-winning sets. --Jeff Shannon --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. Description Stanley Kubrick directed a cast of screen legends-including Kirk Douglas as the indomitable gladiator that led a Roman slave revolt-in the sweeping epic that defined a genre and ushered in a new Hollywood era. The assured acting, lush Technicolor cinematography, bold costumes and visceral fight sequences won Spartacus four Oscars�; the blend of politics and sexual suggestion scandalized audiences. Today Kubrick's controversial classic, the first film to openly defy Hollywood's blacklist, remains a landmark of cinematic artistry and history.

Tess of the D'Urbervilles
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Starring: Waddell, Justine Milburn, Oliver Flemyng, Jason McEnery, John Dunlop, Lesley Knight, Rosalind O'Donnell, Anthony Moore, Christine Moore, Christine Chazen, Debbie
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Director: Sharp, Ian	Rating: NR	Running Time: 3 Hours
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Category: Period	User Rating: 7.8/10 (IMDB)	Color Stereo

Amazon.com No one does tragedies as well as Thomas Hardy, and this new BBC production of his 1891 novel is a peach. Tess is a teenager captured between happiness with an educated man (Oliver Milburn) and a dreadful existence with a scheming aristocrat (Jason Flemyng). Compared to Roman Polanski's 1980 Oscar-winning film Tess, the BBC version is far more interested in Hardy's text than in directorial exportations. Hence, the famous strawberry scene in which the aristocrat seduces the young Tess is just long enough to plumb the emotions; Polanski's version made the scene into a miniature classic of innocence and seduction. Both versions are worth seeing. Star Justine Waddell gives Tess more pluck and less innocence than Natassja Kinski does. She makes Tess a character to root for, which can lead to your own tragedy when working through Hardy's tale. The film doesn't have the drop-dead gorgeousness of Polanski's version but is quite beautiful. Director Ian Sharp keeps in line with Hardy's affection for rural settings and vistas. Flemyng is such a great cad it leads one to wonder what he might have done with Billy Zane's role in Titanic. Another winning adaptation of a classic from the BBC. --Doug Thomas

Triumph of Love
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Starring: Sorvino, Mira Kingsley, Ben Shaw, Fiona Rodan, Jay Stirling, Rachael Stirling, Rachael Molteni, Luis
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Director: Peploe, Clare	Rating: PG-13	Running Time: 1 Hour 48 Minutes
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Category: Period	User Rating: 5.5/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com Mira Sorvino is adorable in this lovely adaptation of the 17th-century comedy Triumph of Love. When a princess (Sorvino) sets out to return her throne to its rightful heir, the rightful heir turns out to be a handsome young man (Jay Rodan). Of course, the princess falls madly in love with him. Unfortunately, he's been trained by his mentor, an angry philosopher (Ben Kingsley), to hate the princess (he even practices archery using her picture as the target). To set things right and win her heart's desire, the princess dresses herself as a man and--switching from one disguise to another--begins wooing everyone in the philosopher's household, starting with his spinster sister (Fiona Shaw). Though the transformation from the stage to the screen is pretty straightforward, the costumes and sets are beautiful. Sorvino holds her own against British stage vets Kingsley and Shaw. --Bret Fetzer --This text refers to the Theatrical Release edition.

Valmont
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Starring: Firth, Colin Bening, Annette Tilly, Meg Tilly, Meg Balk, Fairuza Bening, Annette Firth, Colin Drake, Fabia Drake, Fabia Blair, Isla
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Director: Forman, Milos	Rating: R	Running Time: 2 Hours 17 Minutes
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Category: Period	User Rating: 6.7/10 (IMDB)	Color Stereo

Amazon.com Talk about too little, too late. A year after Stephen Frears's marvelous Dangerous Liaisons, Milos Forman released this film, based on the same material: the novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses. Shot at the same time but held so as not to compete, it suffered by comparison. The story--about a pair of aristocrats, former lovers, who wager that the man cannot seduce a particularly chaste woman--is still awash in lust and intrigue. But, while Forman's craft was exceptional, his cast couldn't match the power of its predecessor. In particular, Colin Firth, as the game-playing title character, lacked the snaky charm of John Malkovich, and Meg Tilly couldn't compare to the tragic beauty of Michelle Pfeiffer. Annette Bening, though born to play a vixen, seemed callow and insubstantial next to the sinister depths of Glenn Close. --Marshall Fine --This text refers to the VHS Tape edition.

Vanity Fair
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Starring: Little, Natasha Parker, Nathaniel Glenister, Philip Grey, Frances Little, Natasha Woodward, Tim Ward, Tom Swift, Jeremy Swift, Jeremy
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Director: Munden, Marc	Rating: NR	Running Time: 5 Hours
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Category: Period	User Rating: 7.8/10 (IMDB)	Color Stereo

Amazon.com Becky Sharp is "poor and put-upon." She's also "a sharp little minx," a "treacherous little trollop," and "a heartless mother and faithless wife." Yes, there's something about Becky in this impeccable BBC production based on William Makepeace Thackeray's classic novel. It speaks volumes about Thackeray's indomitable heroine and Natasha Little's seductively ingratiating performance that our hearts go out to her even as we eagerly await her comeuppance. Becky is scorned for her lack of breeding, but as one admirer notes, "she's got pluck." Poised to begin her new job as a governess, Becky's calculated social climbing begins in the home of her friend, the naive Amelia Sedley (Frances Grey), whose father is a wealthy merchant. She immediately makes a play for Amelia's doofus brother, but their budding romance is sabotaged by Amelia's fianc� George Osborne (Tom Ward), an "interfering, officious snob" who doesn't fancy a governess for a sister-in-law. And so it's out into the world, where Becky works her wiles on a gallery of memorable characters, including her lecherous new employer Sir Pitt; his imperious rich sister Miss Crawley (Miriam Margolyes), who takes Becky under her wing; and Pitt's dashing son Rawdon (Nathanial Perker), the first of Becky's misguided sexual entanglements. Vanity Fair charts in lavish detail Becky's rise in London society and her scandalous downfall. Her story is counterpoint to that of the fair Amelia, who is clueless that her husband is a rake and that his best friend, the loyal, long-suffering Dobbin (Philip Glenistar), is in love with her and is her secret benefactor when times get bad for her bankrupt father. Adapted for the screen by Andrew Davies, who did the honors for the phenomenally successful Pride and Prejudice, Vanity Fair is another addictive miniseries that is the video equivalent of a compulsive page-turner. As yet another fancier remarks, "Well done, Becky Sharp." --Donald Liebenson --This text refers to the VHS Tape edition.

Wuthering Heights
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Starring: Binoche, Juliette Fiennes, Ralph McTeer, Janet McTeer, Janet Riddington, Jason Daniel, Jennifer Northam, Jeremy Woodvine, John Woodvine, John Demeger, Robert
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Director: Kosminsky, Peter	Rating: PG	Running Time: 1 Hour 46 Minutes
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Category: Period	User Rating: 6.5/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com Peter Kosminsky's 1992 adaptation of Emily Bront�'s Wuthering Heights goes to the extreme of casting Sin�ad O'Connor in a brief bit as Bront� herself, but the film still doesn't approach the accomplishment of William Wyler's classic 1939 production (with Laurence Olivier and Merle Oberon) or subsequent versions by Luis Buñuel and Robert Fuest. That doesn't make it unwatchable, however: it still offers The English Patient costars Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche as doomed lovers Heathcliff and Cathy. Binoche is a bit washed-out, but Fiennes makes a strong impression as the rejected laborer who makes his fortune and exacts a vengeance. Unlike Wyler's film, this one covers all the chapters of Bront�'s book, but it is sodden with misery and lacks all grace. --Tom Keogh --This text refers to the VHS Tape edition.