|
|
|
The Thorn Birds - The Complete Miniseries
: essential video:The second most-watched miniseries (after Roots) of all time, The Thorn Birds was originally broadcast in 1983 and captivated viewers with its story of a lifelong conflict between the spirit and the flesh. Adapted from the bestselling novel by Colleen McCullough, the production stars Richard Chamberlain as a Catholic priest named Ralph de Bricassart, whose life in Australia between 1920 and 1962 is one long torment as he pines for his lover, Meggie Carson (Rachel Ward), while seeking advancement in his clergyman career. The passion and the guilt make for compelling ...
|
|
|
Everything That Rises
:Description:A realistic portrayal of the struggles of today's American farmer. Each family member must make their own sacrifices - as they are able. Inspiration for all Americans.
|
|
|
Young Pioneers Christmas
:Description:A realistic portrayal of the struggles of today's American farmer. Each family member must make their own sacrifices - as they are able. Inspiration for all Americans.
|
|
|
Boys Next Door (1996)
:Description:A realistic portrayal of the struggles of today's American farmer. Each family member must make their own sacrifices - as they are able. Inspiration for all Americans.
|
|
|
Shy People
:Description:A journalist and her teenage daughter journey to the swamps of the Louisiana bayou to write a story about a long lost branch of their family.
|
|
|
Turner & Hooch
: :Much better than your average cop-and-dog movie (e.g., K-9), Turner and Hooch is really a love story about a control freak (Tom Hanks) who gradually resigns to the messy chaos of a sweet hulk of a pooch named Hooch. The excuse for this relationship is that the dog can identify a murderer and Hanks needs him, but the film is really about such hilarious moments as Hanks bathing Hooch with a long brush, and a wild chase through the streets when the sharp-eyed mutt spots his suspect. Layered over this is a healthy ...
|
|
|
George Wallace
: :Based on the book by Marshall Frady, this epic bio by John Frankenheimer stars Gary Sinise as one of the century's best candidates for true Aristotelian tragic status. The Aristotelian tragic protagonist is not an entirely bad man, but he has a fatal flaw. Wallace's flaw was not (originally) racism. It was lust for power and status, a lust so all-consuming that it turned Wallace into a fellow traveler with racists, and made of him one of the most destructive and most hated American politicians of his time. Sinise, who seems doomed to ...
|
|
|
Wyatt Earp
: :This massive, in-depth study of the dark Western icon comes off with mixed results. Trying to capture the whole life, (warts and all) of the lawman-criminal-brother-fortune hunter, director Lawrence Kasdan gains points for sheer scale, giving us a rich epic painted in dark colors with gritty settings. But the visual poetry and extensive foreshadowing ruin the dramatic drive. Some scenes have as much impact as stalker movies; you're just waiting for someone to get knocked off. As Earp, Kevin Costner is not afraid to look rumpled and play colorlessly (as in The Bodyguard), ...
|
|
|
St Elmo's Fire
: :A collective vanity piece for the so-called Brat Pack of the 1980s, this coming-of-age movie--written and directed by Joel Schumacher (A Time to Kill)--is a largely unbelievable ensemble piece about college grads having trouble getting a lift-off into adulthood. As in John Hughes's Breakfast Club--which has a lot of casting overlap with this film--each actor plays a rather narrow type with problems common to his or her classification. Some (as with Rob Lowe's seemingly doomstruck character) are more absurd than others. But absurdity isn't the issue in this movie; a general sense of ...
|
|
|
Young Pioneer's Christmas
: :A collective vanity piece for the so-called Brat Pack of the 1980s, this coming-of-age movie--written and directed by Joel Schumacher (A Time to Kill)--is a largely unbelievable ensemble piece about college grads having trouble getting a lift-off into adulthood. As in John Hughes's Breakfast Club--which has a lot of casting overlap with this film--each actor plays a rather narrow type with problems common to his or her classification. Some (as with Rob Lowe's seemingly doomstruck character) are more absurd than others. But absurdity isn't the issue in this movie; a general sense of ...
|
|