stiff upper lips ( 1998 ) is a broad parody of british period films , especially the lavish merchant-ivory productions of the 1980s and early 1990s .

although it specifically targets a room with a view , chariots of fire , maurice , a passage to india , and many other films , in a more general way stiff upper lips satirises popular perceptions of certain edwardian traits : propriety , sexual repression , xenophobia , and class snobbery .

the film was directed by gary sinyor and stars sean pertwee , georgina cates , robert portal , samuel west , prunella scales , and peter ustinov .

it was filmed on location in italy , india , and on the isle of man .

stiff upper lips

stiff upper lips <EOT> source : nightingale , benedict . “upper lips stiff and wooden . ” the times , london ( 8 march 1995 ) : 28 .

rattigan ' s last play is enjoying an emotional revival—with a 1990s slant on the british stiff upper lip .

movies : the misadventures of peter ustinov : his latest film , ' stiff upper lips , ' lets him poke fun at the staid english stereotype that so many people wrongly think he embodies .

movies : the misadventures of peter ustinov : his latest film , ' stiff upper lips , ' lets him poke fun at the staid english stereotype that so many people wrongly think he embodies . - latimes

all the sinclairs are rich , athletic and beautiful . they have servants , money and stiff upper lips . they go to the right schools , play excellent tennis and are as brittle as porcelain , ready to shatter into a million pieces under the strain of rivalry , silence and greed .

stiff upper lips takes a great idea - make a spoof of english costume dramas like room with a view - and ruins it by adding a steady stream of strong but stupid sexual innuendoes and puns , plus some blasphemy . cedric and edward , two upper - class twits from cambridge with latent homosexual desires , try to prevent edward ' s sister , emily , from marrying a lower - class man who ' s gotten emily pregnant .

reminiscent of mel brooks ' recent offerings . stiff upper lips trades in lame comedy by recognition ; while the extended sideswipes are aimed at merchant ivory , sinyor specifically targets chariots of fire , ghandi , brideshead revisited and , bizarrely , visconti ' s death in venice , yet does little to imbue the parodies with real wit and invention .

when the plane is damaged and they have to bail out behind enemy lines , we see more of the real characters behind their stiff upper lips . pursued by soldiers and dogs , they make their escape by leaping on board a train . unfortunately , it’s reserved for gravely wounded ss men on their way home from the eastern front .

" stiff uppe . . . " this video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by gary sinyor .

without giving too much away , i can say that doom threatens as the play winds down . but just when all seems hopeless , these plucky british journalists decide to drop their stiff upper lips and fatalism about their futures and take things into their own hands . it’s enough to make a gloom - marinated journalist of today get all misty - eyed .

the time for puncturing that nostalgic dream world has long been overdue . and now , better late than never , comes ' ' stiff upper lips , ' ' a movie that sends up the merchant - ivory ethos in much the same spirit that ' ' airplane ' ' and ' ' the naked gun ' ' series have spoofed hollywood genres . if only it were funnier .

cliches can attach themselves like the proverbial burrs to a playwright whose work dips out of fashion , and sometimes they continue to cling to him even when his work is climbing back into popularity . terence rattigan ' s reputation is still firmly linked to the idea of the stiff upper lip , where tongue - tied upper - middle - class characters find themselves unable to express what grieves them to similarly tongue - tied upper - middle - class characters . there is the element of truth in . . .

so " stiff upper lips ' " uncle horace , replete with deep - seated class prejudices and randy desires , provided a welcome change of pace for the actor . it was also a chance to counter the merchant ivory image of staid olde england - - and have a few good laughs along the way . he believes that the victorians constructed a kind of reformed , false englishman . the film opened in los angeles on friday .

london — having stacked up more than five decades of distinguished credits on stage and screen , peter ustinov certainly qualifies as an elder statesman among british actors . yet his latest film role , that of an eccentric tea plantation owner during the british raj in india in " stiff upper lips , " intrigued him exactly because , he says , " i ' ve never played that kind of character before . i ' ve never played an englishman . "

and so you would be forgiven for thinking that the stiff upper lip – the complete refusal of lachrymosity , no matter what disaster befalls us – has been paralysing the faces of britishers since stonehenge was raised on salisbury plain . but , as thomas dixon shows in his erudite and entertaining book

but there’s no solution to the human puzzle – thank goodness . in 1950 , mass observation sent out 300 questionnaires to its correspondents , asking whether they ever wept in the cinema . many did and a great deal of the weeping went on at screenings of david lean’s 1945 stiff - upper - lip classic

new year’s eve 1899 saw reid leave the theatre early , upset at the inclusion in the programme of one of mary kelly ' s favourite songs . as the camera faded to black he was seated alone , poring over old ripper files . it was a beautifully melancholy conclusion , a slow comedown after five seasons of pulpy escapism and top - rank derring do . a show that celebrated stiff upper lips and manly adventure had come perilously close to bringing a tear to the eye .

when they are matter - of - factly cruel to " hot lips " hoolihan , we cannot quite separate that from the matter - of - fact way they ' ve got to put wounded bodies back together again . " hot lips , " who is all army professionalism and objectivity , is less human because the suffering doesn ' t reach her .

' ' stiff upper lips , ' ' which is set in 1908 , is divided into chapters , each introduced by ridiculously ornate titles . the opening scenes find the major characters gathered at ivory hall , an english manor presided over by the stuffy aunt agnes ( prunella scales vaguely mimicking joan plowright ) , who is desperately conniving to marry off her attractive niece emily ( georgina cates ) . leading the list of candidates is cedric ( robert portal ) , the pompous bosom buddy of emily ' s dimwitted brother edward ( samuel west ) .

gary sinyor , director and co - writer of " lips , " parodies those stuffy british period pieces that have gained favor with american audiences . having been weaned on the british fare of masterpiece theatre or films such as " a room with a view , " " passage to india " and " howard ' s end , " american audiences may be surprised by the playfulness of ' lips . '

theoretically , a merchant - ivory sendup should be a piece of cake . but as ' ' stiff upper lips ' ' stumbles along , its humor is so scattershot , its tone so wobbly and its casting so uneven that the movie never coheres . far too often it takes the low road with bathroom humor that reminds you that yes , these genteel english sylphs had lusts and bodily functions , too . a typical joke has the disgruntled but oh - so - proper chief steward ( named hudson , of course ) of a fancy estate surreptitiously urinating in the soup .

if ' ' stiff under lips , ' ' directed by gary sinyor , wanted to be a lowdown farce , it should have gone much further . but perhaps the only way a merchant - ivory spoof could have worked would have been to take this high - toned genre on its own terms , exaggerate its idiosyncrasies , puff up its ralph lauren imagery of ultimate good breeding and be the snootiest movie ever made .

one of the most welcome theatrical trends of recent years has been the rediscovery of terence rattigan . outstanding productions of the browning version and the deep blue sea have revealed this once derided dramatist to be a writer of exceptional insight and sympathy , a poet of the british stiff upper lip . in praise of love features many of his humane strengths without achieving the overwhelming depth of emotion of his greatest . . .

stiff upper lips takes a great idea – make a spoof of english costume dramas like room with a view – and ruins it by adding a steady stream of strong but stupid sexual innuendoes and puns , plus some blasphemy . cedric and edward are two rich classmates from cambridge who have “feelings” for one another . edward introduces cedric to his 22 - year - old sister , emily , but emily falls in love with george , a lower - class hunter whom the family matriarch , aunt agnes , hires as a servant for a trip to italy and india . cedric and edward , jealous of george , commit arson and falsely accuse george , who escapes from prison in order to stop emily’s impending marriage to cedric .

this is a book that surprises and delights . i won’t give away its biggest surprise , which is the origin of the phrase “stiff upper lip” . dixon notes that , particularly after the first world war , women never did well with their weeping . they were urged not to cry ( “modern girls don’t cry , even if they feel like it , ” said the actress dorothy brunton ) – but if they didn’t , they might be judged “hard - faced hussies” .

in one of his last plays terence rattigan wrote : “do you know what le vice anglais really is ? not flagellation , not pederasty . it ' s our refusal to admit to our emotions . ” but this english reserve , the determination to keep a stiff upper lip in the face of an unbearable depth of feeling , is what makes his masterpiece , the deep blue sea ( 1952 ) , such an overwhelming dramatic experience . it is a play . . .

ever since the much - loved television series ' ' upstairs downstairs ' ' enticed an american mass audience to inhabit vicariously the decorous upper - class world of edwardian england , millions have embraced the dubious pleasures of couch - potato snobbery .

once again we have this fantasy that tv stations can simply pull up their socks adjust their stiff upper lips and produce a string of hit shows that will ensure they never again have anything less than 6m viewers for any primetime show . it ' s not a question of what they ' ought ' to be comfortable with . it ' s an entirely pragmatic issue ; what can they live with ? you cannot force people to watch television at all let alone your own particular brand of television . for itv it ' s a failure if , and only if , it costs more to put on than it returns in advertising income and sales . for bbc it ' s a matter of critical reception . 2m overnights are not automatically flops much as most contributors to this thread seem to be incapable of understanding that .

this irresistibly sexy comedy tells the outrageous story of a beautiful girl and her unlikely romantic awakening ! pretty young emily has just reached the ripe old marrying age of 22 , and her obnoxious family have already matched her with an upper - crust stiff . emily , of course , feels nothing . . . until she happens upon a strapping young peasant who unleashes all kinds of strange new feelings within her body ! as this funny , clever and endlessly entertaining motion picture unfolds , a comedy of events are set into motion that force everyone to deal with some decidedly lusty new emotions !

those qualities , as well as a chilly , dark - hued look that cinematographer pierre milon gets just right , go a long way toward making up for the film’s shortcomings—which include an overly familiar foreboding piano score and an uneven script . while the confinement scenes are effectively succinct and harsh , with belvaux making purposeful use of close - ups to show an increasingly haggard attal , the lengthier paris - set sections are not as assured . belvaux shoots graff’s family members in medium and long shots , nearly dwarfing them amid the dauntingly high ceilings and ornate furnishings of their spacious , sumptuous home ; he’s illustrating their isolation—the fact that money can’t buy happiness—but it’s an obvious point , and one the filmmaker belabors through the distractingly stilted way these characters talk to one another . the fine french actress anne consigny overdoes the uptight wealthy wife bit , and she and her daughters suffer with such stiff upper lips that it’s a relief to see françoise fabian telling people off and cracking withering jokes as graff’s knowing mother .

the way they do that , in " mash , " is to be almost metaphysically cruel . there is something about war that inspires practical jokes and the heroes ( donald sutherland , elliott gould , and cronies ) are inspired and utterly heartless . they sneak a microphone under the bed of major " hot lips " hoolihan , and broadcast her lovemaking to the entire camp . they drug a general and photograph him in a brothel .

an edwardian upper - class twit plots to marry off his sister to his equally dim friend , but she is far more interested in the family ' s working - class gamekeeper . the siblings ' eccentric aunt tries to resolve the crisis by leading the whole family on a tour of italy and india in the misguided hope that romance will blossom . comedy , starring peter ustinov , prunella scales , sean pertwee , georgina cates and samuel west .

georgina eventually gets her awakening from george in a silly chasing - each - other - through - the - groves sequence . but because of their class difference , she decides that marriage is out of the question . meanwhile , cedric and edward admit they have ' ' strange feelings ' ' for each other . remaining true to their repressed upper - class backgrounds , however , it takes the rest of the movie for them to recognize exactly what those feelings are .

young upper - class fellow edward arrives with his friend cedric at the family manse , ivory hall . he plans to pair off cedric with his sister emily . emily , on the other hand , falls in love with a son of local peasant , george . old aunt agnes sends all the bunch off , first to italy and then to india , so emily would forget george , who is an undesirable partner for her because of class differences , and choose cedric .

this basic plot synopsis sounds innocent enough , but the filmmakers load this scenario with a constant barrage of obscene sex jokes about oral sex , sexual arousal , homosexuality , masturbation , and other lewd matters . one of the sex scenes indulges in outright blasphemy . finally , instead of just attacking the upper - class , imperialistic excesses of victorian and edwardian england , the movie has a politically correct subtext that attacks the very premises of traditional western civilization , which were founded , for the most part , on the gospel of jesus christ and his moral teachings .

but the performances infuse the mechanics with a lively freshness . mr . windsor - cunningham , the only british actor in the cast , delivers a lovable turn as the avuncular geoffrey , who is the first to lament quietly the end of the party when lesley’s strictures dampen the formerly woolly atmosphere in the room . mr . connell oozes self - mocking charm as the slumming upper - cruster , while mr . bellamy exudes a funny torpor as the nearly sleepwalking arnold . ms . reed is adorably hassled and generous - hearted as lucy , around whom the circus spins until lesley puts an end to the merry chaos .

i think perhaps that ' s what the movie is about . gould and sutherland and the members of their merry band of pranksters are offended because the army regulars don ' t feel deeply enough . " hot lips " is concerned with protocol , but not with war . and so the surgeons , dancing on the brink of crack - ups , dedicate themselves to making her feel something . her façade offends them ; no one could be unaffected by the work of this hospital , but she is . and so if they can crack her defenses and reduce her to their own level of dedicated cynicism , the number of suffering human beings in the camp will go up by one . and even if they fail , they can have a hell of a lot of fun trying . also , of course , it ' s a distraction .

emily is now 22 and ripe for marriage . her idiotic brother edward decides , in cahoots with aunt agnes , to pair her off with his upper - class twit friend cedric trilling . emily has already had and refused a proposal of marriage from the local vicar mr . tweeb on the eminently sensible grounds that his eyebrows were too bushy ! an accident at the family lake brings emily very closely into contact with the naked , handsome , muscular , lower - class peasant george and she is instantly attracted to his ripping unmentionables ! seeing the undesirability of the match aunt agnes takes the family first to italy and then to india to try to separate the lusty , ill - matched couple but george accompanies them as a servant . will lust prevail or will emily be forced into a loveless marriage with the extremely dull and boring cedric ?

pagan worldview with pro - homosexual theme & jokes , preoccupation with ( & validation of ) sexual immorality that includes blasphemy & a politically correct statement about " progress " in sexual relationships ; 15 mostly mild obscenities & 11 mostly mild but blasphemous profanities plus butler urinates in family ' s food & many strong sexual innuendoes , puns & references ; mild violence such as men fight in bar , man escapes from prison & father headbutts adult son & ties him up ; implied fornication & depicted sexual foreplay , plus many strong sexual innuendoes , puns & references about oral sex , sexual arousal , homosexuality , masturbation , & other lewd matters ; rear male nudity in natural context , upper male nudity in sexual context , women in underwear , & statue & drawing of male private parts ; alcohol use ; smoking ; and , bearing false witness ( eventually confessed ) , false imprisonment , jokes about racism , & joke about anti - semitism .

rattigan was born june 10 , 1911 , in london to an upper - class family . his father , frank , was a diplomat , serving as acting high commissioner in turkey and british minister in rumania . rattigan was educated at sandroyd school and at the harrow school . as a youngster , he became enamored with the stage and resolved to become a playwright . he was influenced by the work of anton chekhov , bernard shaw , and john galsworthy . in 1930 he attended oxford ' s trinity college as a history scholar , earning his b . a . in 1933 . he began to write plays , and his first work , first episode , was produced in london in 1933 . the play had brief and poorly received runs in london and new york city . a few years later , french without tears ( 1936 ) became a smash hit in london and cemented rattigan ' s reputation as a successful playwright . he served in the coastal command of the royal air force during world war ii , yet continued to write plays . in 1948 he was awarded a new york drama critics circle award , and the title of commander of the british empire in 1958 . in his later years , rattigan adapted many of his plays to the screen and wrote several radio and television scripts . he was knighted in 1971 . he died november 30 , 1977 , in hamilton , bermuda .

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long ago he played the prince of wales in " beau brummell " ( 1954 ) , but in reviewing his long filmography , this man we think of as british an actor as alec guinness or laurence olivier has surprisingly played mostly non - british parts - - the roman nero in " quo vadis ? , " the belgian hercule poirot in " death on the nile " and other poirot features , plus a slew of films in which he was called upon to be italian , french , bavarian or something closer to his own ethnic background , slavic .

at 78 , he ' s mentally spry but physically more fragile than he used to be . carefully easing himself into an armchair in his suite at the berkeley , a discreetly classic london hotel , he politely answers questions about his long , accomplished life . he and his wife have just returned from a very british pastime , the finals at wimbledon , but they are soon to leave for the place they call home , the countryside outside geneva .

it is suggested that with his shock of white hair he looks more english now than before . " everyone at my age can look english , " ustinov ripostes in his well - spoken voice full of well - spoken words .

" the british originally were impulsive , romantic and disreputable , " he says , words that could describe uncle horace . " the industrial revolution and queen victoria ' s personal attitude toward the things she found not amusing perverted the whole sense of what england was . i think england is much closer to shakespeare than walter scott . "

the film is set in 1908 when the " veddy " proper aunt agnes ( prunella scales ) wants desperately to marry off her niece emily ( georgina cates ) . the likeliest prospect is cedric trilling ( robert portal ) , a cambridge classmate of her nephew edward ( and emily ' s brother ) - - thus , the right age , the right class , the right deportment . what does it matter that he is a pompous bore endlessly quoting homer ( " as the poet homer says , ' the rosy - fingered dawn . . . . ' " ) ? and what does it matter that emily hates him , instead loving george , the working - class bloke ?

to spark some romance , aunt agnes takes them first to italy , then to india to visit cedric ' s great - uncle horace ( ustinov ) . though in a supporting role , ustinov plays horace to the hilt ; he ' s the quintessential british expat , a crotchety empire functionary bullying his indian servants and blindingly ignorant of indigenous culture .

so great is ustinov ' s gift for gab that sinyor let him improvise during shooting . " when i first met him , he kept me entertained for two hours , just talking and talking , " sinyor recalls . " the man has a brain the size of mars ! so in one scene where he ' s telling george how to behave like an indian servant , i just wrote , ' horace continues to ramble . ' "

ustinov also made up a scene , one of the funniest in the film , in which he teaches george to roll his head and sing - song , " if it be pleasing to you , i am bringing you a gin and tonic . . . . "

it ' s easy to see how sinyor was captivated . ustinov is a born raconteur . every question sends him off on an anecdote or a recollection . in a split second he changes his voice to imitate a jowly american politician or an indignant english lady . he plays for laughs , but he insists that his purposes are fundamentally serious .

born and raised in london , ustinov was trained to be a british gentleman , in the victorian sense . to escape his russian background , his father tried to adopt a tone more british than the british and put his son in westminster , one of the exclusive private schools where boys were expected to wear top hats and tail coats .

young peter grew up with a gift for mimicry , precociously copying his parent ' s friends in speech and manner . " i think it happened largely because i ' m an only child , " he observes , " and only children have to learn to amuse themselves as much as possible . "

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helen maria williams observed the french revolution at first hand . a poet , essayist and novelist known for her support of radical causes , she entertained the likes of thomas paine and mary wollstonecraft in her salons . among the things she perceived , in her accounts of political turmoil across the english channel , were differences in national character when it came to expressing emotion .

“you will see frenchmen bathed in tears at a tragedy , ” she wrote in 1792 . “an englishman has quite as much sensibility to a generous or tender sentiment ; but he thinks it would be unmanly to weep ; and , though half choaked with emotion , he scorns to be overcome , contrives to gain the victory over his feelings , and throws into his countenance as much apathy as he can well wish . ”

, you would be wrong . once upon a time and not so very long ago , this nation was given to paroxysms of sobbing at almost any opportunity . dixon , a historian of emotions , philosophy , science and religion ( phew ! ) at queen mary , university of london , asks what dried our tears and wonders whether the death of diana , princess of wales , in 1997 unlocked the floodgates again .

, offer a reminder that “emotion” is a pretty novel idea . for centuries , the theory of bodily “humours” – blood , phlegm , yellow bile and black bile – held sway ; personality was determined by the balance of these . robert burton , in

, understood tears as part of this balance . “to these humours , ” he wrote in 1621 , “you may add serum , which is the matter of urine , and those excrementitious humours of the third concoction , sweat and tears . ” ( dixon opines that his favourite phrase for tears is “excrementitious humours of the third concoction” and it is hard to disagree . )

emotion only appeared on the scene in the 19th century . smith credits the scottish philosopher thomas brown for introducing the term , which blended physiognomy with feeling : “the coinage indicated a novel approach to the life of feelings , one which used experiments and anatomical investigations to focus on observable phenomena : clenched teeth ; rolling tears ; shudders ; wide eyes . ”

that afflicted devout christians in the early centuries of the religion and then vanished nearly without trace .

both of these books demonstrate the way in which emotions are social constructs , arising not only from our physical selves but also from culture and chronology . dixon moves from the middle ages to the present day in charting the shifting meanings of tears and british attitudes towards them ; i write “british” advisedly , for there are plenty of examples in which the nations that make up this sceptred isle disagree on the matter . the

, observing david lloyd george speak in 1909 to his constituency of carnarvon boroughs – a meeting at which both the then chancellor of the exchequer and his audience wept – despaired of this “display of fulsome feeling” as revealing of a “flowery and fervid national character” . in “hard - headed and self - possessed yorkshire , such an exhibition would have been enough to empty the hall” . the

dixon’s examples are largely english . he begins with margery kempe , the 15th - century mystic whose autobiography of her spiritual journey was rediscovered in the 1930s . dixon calls her “the

dixon traces a line through the reformation , the french revolution and the building of the british empire to show how the nation gradually renounced its tears but , for much of the intervening centuries , the british and even the english were happy to keep their feelings to the fore . queen victoria wept when she learned that she was to be queen . charles dickens was a master of pathos ; at the death of little nell in

, “the world mourned” , one of the author’s obituaries noted . as for oscar wilde’s reported acerbic quip – that one would have to have a heart of stone to read the death of little nell without laughing – dixon does well to remind us that wilde was the author of “the happy prince” , one of the greatest sob - fests ever set down on paper .

, last summer’s hit pixar film , in which five emotions – joy , sadness , fear , anger and disgust – belonging to a little girl called riley battle it out for control of her personality . how fortunate that the animators didn’t get hold of smith’s book ; the movie would have been a mess .

is published in association with the wellcome collection , an organisation that is always trying to bridge the gap between science and art . the result is a kind of very high - class book to keep on a shelf in the lav .

smith’s most entertaining entries are – somewhat by default – those that concern those unfamiliar , culturally specific emotions .

, since you were wondering , is the need to be coddled and comforted by a loved one .

is a melancholic yearning for someone or some place far distant or lost – it was thought to have been named in the 13th century and popularised during the portuguese age of discovery . some of smith’s choices are hard to quantify as emotions , however : does emily dickinson’s “formal feeling” really qualify ? “postal , going” ? i’m not so sure .

“i try so hard not to cry , ” one respondent wrote . “i’m furious with myself for crying and yet the tears do come . ”

the book of human emotions : an encyclopaedia of feeling from anger to wanderlust by tiffany watt smith is published by profile books ( 208pp , £14 . 99 )

erica wagner is a new statesman contributing writer . a former literary editor of the times , she has twice judged the man booker prize . her books include ariel ' s gift : ted hughes , sylvia plath and the story of “birthday letters” , the novel seizure and , most recently , chief engineer : the man who built the brooklyn bridge .

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for those who became addicted to that series , ' ' brideshead revisited ' ' and a subsequent stream of merchant - ivory films delivered enough seductive fixes of anglophilia to instill a mass fantasy in the american imagination of english aristocrats as the ne plus ultra of western high society .

absurdly stuffy and pretentious , cedric , when talking about the weather , likes to quote homer , describing the ' ' rosy - fingered dawn , ' ' and often converses in latin . emily , of course , can ' t stand him . her mr . right appears in the person of george ( sean pertwee ) , a working - class bloke who saves her from drowning one afternoon and during the rescue gives her her first tantalizing glimpse of the male anatomy . when aunt agnes goes searching for george in a local pub called scum of the earth , she brings along a nude drawing of george that emily has sketched from memory .

everybody soon repairs to italy ( george is dragged along as a servant ) , where emily and cedric have their moment of truth . stealing into cedric ' s bedroom one night , emily demands , ' ' i want my sexual awakening , and i want it now . ' ' when cedric proves unresponsive , she bombards him with a list of erotically provocative words of which only one , ' ' eton , ' ' seems to have an effect .

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the farther the film moves from england , the more ramshackle it becomes , and once the travelers reach india , it pretty much falls apart . the farcical jokes lampooning british imperialism are too obvious and sloppily executed to be funny . peter ustinov is wasted in the laugh - free role of cedric ' s uncle horace , their eccentric indian host , who develops an improbable passion for dear aunt agnes .

directed by gary sinyor ; written by paul simpkin and mr . sinyor ; director of photography , simon archer ; edited by peter hollywood ; music by david a . hughes and john murphy ; production designer , mike grant ; produced by jeremy bolt and mr . sinyor ; released by cowboy booking international . running time : 85 minutes . this film is not rated .

with : samuel west ( edward ) , robert portal ( cedric ) , prunella scales ( aunt agnes ) , georgina cates ( emily ) , sean pertwee ( george ) and peter ustinov ( horace ) .

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( yes , you did read that write folks ) will stay with me for a long time . it was one of those beautiful days that you simply just didn’t want to end , and to top it all off , thatchers gold on friggin tap all night . . . . . amazing ! we love you guys , huge congratulations to the both of you . lee & danny xx

last night was a belter ! what a lovely couple we had the great pleasure to play for and a lovely choice of venue too . the temperature was soaring on that dance - floor , hats off to your friends and family . congratulations jess and george ! x

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aunt agnes vainly tries to force emily to marry boring cedric by taking them to italy and india hoping that emily will forget about the handsome george .

what must have seemed a great idea in the pub , sending up all those worthy but dull british costume dramas in the style of airplane ! lacks the verve and inspired lunacy of the zuckers at their best , but at least displays a keen eye for the genre it is satirising .

set at the height of the british empire , gary ( leon the pig farmer ) sinyor ' s film has matriarch aunt agnes ( scales ) inviting stuffy toff cedric trilling ( robert portal ) to ivory hall , viewing him as a potential suitor for her virginal niece emily ( cates ) . yet , during a skinnydip , emily is rescued from drowning by hunky pleb george ( pertwee ) who is subsequently hired as butler for the family ' s expedition ; first to italy , then to india where , enjoying the hospitality of a randy plantation owner ( ustinov ) , george is framed and put on trial for setting fire to the family ' s pride and joy ; the lawn he has slavishly carried from england .

indeed , the film often falls wearily back on puerile britcom staples to up a flagging chuckle ante . still , the milieu is evocatively recreated , a strong cast works hard to enliven the proceedings and , as is often the case with such spoofathons , some of the smaller throwaway gags prove much funnier than the overblown set pieces ( i . e . corset tightening via a galloping horse ) . however , you can ' t escape the feeling it ' s all been done before , but much better and shorter .

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journalists feeling beleaguered — that is to say , journalists — might find a wry glimmer of hope in the michael frayn play “alphabetical order , ” which is having its new york premiere courtesy of the keen company . the play , which opened on tuesday night at the harold clurman theater on theater row , depicts the frantic antics at a withering daily newspaper in the british provinces .

no , withering is not a cheering adjective to apply to a newspaper . ( or a fresh one , for that matter . ) but this modest , tidy comedy dates from 1975 . if newspapers have been shriveling since the distant predisco days , perhaps they can look forward to a twilight as long as that of the theater itself , which was declared to be dying long before the internet was a twinkle in anybody’s eye .

“alphabetical order” is a minor early work from mr . frayn , the english writer who would go on to dazzle and delight with his peerless backstage farce “noises off” and more lately his brow - furrowing “copenhagen” and “democracy . ” but the play proves a zippy little vehicle for a delightful cast under the fine direction of the keen leader , carl forsman . nobody’s a name , and everybody’s terrific , a heartening reminder of the city’s deep , too often underused field of fine character actors . that they all manage to field creditable british accents is icing on the tea cake .

mr . frayn’s play seems deliberately modest , even as a comedy about journalists . instead of being set in the nerve center of the newsroom , where editors bark and belt back whiskey , and reporters crack wise and fight over scoops , “alphabetical order” takes place entirely in the pokey library of the paper in question .

a newspaper’s library , for those not conversant with the antediluvian ways of pre - web journalism , is where research materials were stored , and articles from the major papers were carefully clipped and sorted by subject , then filed neatly away in metal cabinets , to be dug up — by hand , imagine — when reporters were looking for background on a piece .

the cast of “alphabetical order , ” from left : william connell , paul molnar , john windsor - cunningham , brad bellamy and margaret daly ; center , angela reed ; and right , audrey lynn weston , in the keen company production of michael frayn ' s 1975 newspaper comedy at the harold clurman theater .

as the play opens , chaos reigns in the dingy domain of the paper’s librarian , lucy ( angela reed ) , who has hired a new assistant , lesley ( audrey lynn weston ) , to help her restore some order to the dangerously engorged cabinets and vagrant piles of yellowing newsprint . ms . weston’s prim gait and gape of astonishment signal effectively how appalled lesley is at lucy’s carefree attitude toward both her job and her life .

this allergy to disorder will soon find lesley taming both the chaos in the room and the unruly romances of those who pass through it . these include the affable , cambridge - educated reporter john ( william connell ) , who has been conducting an on - again , off - again affair with lucy ; the bewhiskered wally ( paul molnar ) , another reporter and john’s rival for lucy’s distracted favors ; arnold ( brad bellamy ) , who communicates in monosyllables and has both a dying wife and a drinking problem ; the cockney messenger geoffrey ( john windsor - cunningham ) , who’s got a wink and a friendly joke for everybody ; and the features editor , nora ( margaret daly ) , who has a tender eye for arnold .

mr . frayn , who began his career as a journalist , portrays the roistering atmosphere in the room with obvious affection , although “alphabetical order” reveals a playwright still coloring inside the lines . the plot is mathematically tidy , with each strand almost too carefully drawn . the jokes occasionally fall dead on the air , leaving little puffs of dust behind . ( with its groovy , well - observed 1970s costumes , by jennifer paar , the play sometimes reminded me of the endearing london department store sitcom of the era , “are you being served ? ” )

by michael frayn ; directed by carl forsman ; stage manager , justin scribner ; sets by nathan heverin ; costumes by jennifer paar ; lighting by josh bradford ; sound by jill b . c . duboff ; technical director , marshall miller . presented by the keen company , mr . forsman , artistic director ; wayne kelton , executive director . at the harold clurman theater , 412 west 42nd street , clinton ; ( 212 ) 239 - 6200 , urltoken . through oct . 26 . running time : 1 hour 45 minutes .

with : audrey lynn weston ( lesley ) , john windsor - cunningham ( geoffrey ) , brad bellamy ( arnold ) , william connell ( john ) , angela reed ( lucy ) , margaret daly ( nora ) and paul molnar ( wally ) .

with the headline : the withering heights and depths of a dying british paper .

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a patrician new england clan decamps to their private island off martha’s vineyard for the summer . of the dozen or so sinclair family members in residence , “no one is a criminal . no one is an addict . no one is a failure . ” three lies , the first of many , provide an irresistible premise for this ticking bomb of a novel by e . lockhart .

overtones of the brothers grimm and “king lear” abound in this quasi - fable about the powerful patriarch and his three beautiful , useless daughters , all of whom drink too much and feud over who will get the biggest slice of the family fortune . meanwhile the next generation — lear’s grandchildren , as it were — raises the moral ante by falling inappropriately in love , fomenting revolution and refusing to participate in the traditional sinclair game of vying for granddad’s money .

the liars of the title are three teenage cousins — johnny , mirren and our narrator , cadence — together with an outsider by the name of gat patil . gat is handsome , dark - skinned and charismatic , with passionately held political beliefs such as : “not everyone has private islands . some people work on them . some work in factories . some don’t have work . some don’t have food . ” cadence’s grandfather cannot even bring himself to address the interloper by name , but for cadence it is love at first sight .

while the sinclair mothers bicker over tablecloths , earrings and trust funds , the liars dream of college and freedom and true love . lockhart admirably captures the erotic intensity of shadowy summer nights when the grown - ups either are drunk or elsewhere , or both , leaving the liars — tanned and barefoot and desperate for intimacy — to kiss and shiver and swear eternal allegiance on the beach .

years pass ; the troubles in paradise intensify . money is tight . drinkers become drunks . sexual jealousies surface . and then , during the summer of her 15th year , cadence suffers a catastrophic accident that leaves her with crippling migraines and total amnesia . but what actually happened ? was it really just an accident ?

amnesia is not an easy literary row to hoe . beloved by cheap tv drama , it’s a device certain to cue groans and eye - rolls from jaded readers . yet lockhart just about manages to pull it off , thanks to the freshness of the writing and the razor - sharp metaphor amnesia provides for the sinclair family habit of denial .

cadence returns to the island after two years to try to reconstruct what happened on the night of the accident . for reasons that frustrate her ( and the reader ) , but which will eventually be explained , not a single witness will talk . the story jumps back and forth in time , interspersing her edgy , idiomatic narrative with a series of powerful twisted fairy tales . slowly , painstakingly , cadence pieces together the events of that terrible night . despite a final chapter that hints at redemption , it is not the sort of disaster from which she will ever recover .

i enjoyed lockhart’s pithy observations , the intimate shorthand , the snappy characterizations of wasp families . they populated my youth on martha’s vineyard and at harvard , flawlessly confident , angst - free and clean in their izod shirts and lily pulitzer dresses , inspiring curiosity and wonder in generations of messy , overemotional jews . who are they ? what are they really like ?

the flaw in “we were liars” is that we never find out . cadence’s story emerges from deep within this troubled family — and yet the aunts , teenagers , littles and golden retrievers form a largely undifferentiated mass . careless , grasping and obsessed with keeping up appearances , they casually wreck one another’s lives , but we never discover why . even the liars are a featureless bunch . cadence repeatedly announces that johnny is “bounce , effort and snark , ” that mirren is “sugar , curiosity and rain , ” that gat is “contemplation and enthusiasm . ambition and strong coffee . ” these are nice descriptions , but some genuine characterization wouldn’t go amiss . their fates seem as distant as the fates of the princesses in cadence’s fairy tales . they are there to offer a moral , not to elicit sympathy or understanding .

this is an ambitious novel with an engaging voice , a clever plot and some terrific writing . in the end , however , its portrayal of a shattered family and the desperate consequences of silence and greed , feels oddly flat . i couldn’t help thinking that the terrible fate of the sinclair family might as well be happening to a collection of fairy tale characters . or to those preppy models in the ralph lauren ads . did i care how they lived or died ? probably not as much as i should have .

meg rosoff is the author of “how i live now , ” the 2005 winner of the michael l . printz award , and , most recently , of “picture me gone , ” a 2013 national book award finalist .

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he last ever episode of ripper street blended bravura action and full - steam sentimentality . a multitude of loose ends requiring tying off , the victorian thriller having woven a typically intricate web of dark deeds through

. but , as the end approached , there was also an obligation to give a respectful farewell to its beloved ensemble of coppers and crooks . this wasn ' t a temporary sign - off – it was a final curtain bow .

one of our favourite characters , inspector bennet drake ( jerome flynn ) , had already met his maker at the conclusion of series four during a run - in with a throat - ripping maniac . now he was back for a delightful encore as , in an extended flashback , di edmund reid ( matthew macfadyen ) reflected on his and drake’s failed investigation , a decade previously , into the ( real life ) murder by jack the ripper of mary kelly .

eid’s obsession with the killer from whom the series took its name was rekindled midway though the 75 - minute finale . the opening half had been spent bringing to a hasty conclusion the taciturn hero’s struggle with villainous scotland yard bigwig augustus dove ( killian scott ) . the jig was finally up for the dastardly dove as he was found to have murdered young robin sumner . the damning evidence was riddled across his chest in the scarlet fever he had contracted from his victim .

a hasty cover - up ensued . dove was bundled off to prison under an assumed name , while his cannibal brother nathaniel ( the sweeter of the pair , it turned out ) was dispatched to the hangman . joining him at the gallows was former brothel keeper “long " susan hart ( myanna buring ) , finally held to account for her crimes across previous seasons .

er husband , captain homer jackson ( adam rothenberg ) , was permitted to return to america with their son , though this proved temporary relief as he was subsequently killed off camera in a drowning accident . with much - loved characters dropping like fruit - flies , reid ' s future suddenly seemed in question too .


ice men is a 2005 canadian film written by michael maclennan and directed by thom best .

the film stars david hewlett as bryan , martin cummins as vaughn , greg spottiswood as jon , james thomas as steve and ian tracey as trevor .

the movie gained considerable recognition through gay and lesbian film festivals .

ice men ( film )

ice men ( film ) <EOT> looking for movie tickets ? enter your location to see which movie theaters are playing ice men near you .

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' ice men ' engages , but ultimately is too sketchy for a meaty character study and the dialogue too hedging for any o ' neilean verity .

the 20th century fox cinemacon presentation took place at caesar palace ‘s colosseum on thursday , opening with a montage celebrating the studio’s massively - successful ice age franchise . set to a parody cover of vanilla ice ‘s “ice ice baby” ( changed to “ice age baby” ) , the studio then welcomed the rapper to the stage for a live performance . you can check it out in the player at the bottom of this page .

the latest documentary in espn films’ 30 for 30 series , “of miracles and men , ” looks at the miracle on ice from the soviet point of view .

if you don ' t set your sights too high , ice men is an okay movie . the tension between john and steve is a major highlight .  michael klemm

lunar cheesecake ice cream and agent 31 sundaes are among the themed - treats set for release on may 1 to promote the sci - fi film .

will smith and tommy lee jones return for men in black 3 in theaters may 25 .

pink surprise cake is among the new menu items . named after a scene from the upcoming film , the new treat features triple layer ice cream cake made of oreo cookies ‘n cream ice cream sandwiched between two layers of devil’s food cake and topped with pink frosting roses .

ice men , a film by queer as folk director thom best , also examines male bonding . i thought that it failed as a drama but on a second viewing i realized that it must be a comedy , or more accurately , a satire , spoofing silly hetero male rituals in the most obvious of settings : a snowy weekend in a cabin .

due to the nature of the film , it was open to interpretation that the whole film might have been the dream of either cobb , or someone else .

in the film ' s second epilogue and final scene , nikki was back home in her living room with many characters from the film . she seemed at peace .

“this highly anticipated film is a great way to kick off the busy baskin - robbins summer ice cream season , ” costello added . “we’re delighted to work with sony pictures on this endeavor and celebrate the movie in fun and delicious ways . ”

another reveal that should have x - men fans excited is evan peters’ quicksilver revealing that he now knows michael fassbender’s magneto is his biological father .

lunar cheesecake also serves as the may flavor of the month , loaded with cheesecake bits in green and white cheesecake ice cream and wrapped up in a graham cracker ribbon .

plot : arnold schwarzenegger and his men are recruited by the cia to fight an enemy in a latin american jungle that is not of this earth .

one scene towards the beginning of the film features lorraine taking on several corrupt cops . caught off guard and without a gun , lorraine gets creative . she uses a long rope twisted around her body to choke multiple men by sneaking up behind them .

baskin - robbins and sony pictures have teamed up for the release of several men in black 3 - themed flavors , which will hit stores on may 1 .

plot : disturbingly frightening film about humans being taken over by cold , emotionless pods from outer space .

of miracles and men is more about the men than it is the miracle . the first 45 minutes are spent setting up the upset as fetisov makes his way to lake placid with his daughter anastasia , and the last half hour is all about the struggles he faced in his attempt to play in the nhl with the new jersey devils and the stanley cup he won with the detroit red wings in 1997 as part of the russian five . only the 30 minutes in between are dedicated to the miracle on ice itself .

this was lynch ' s first entire digital video film , shot on a handheld sony pd150 recorder . this three hour mystery - horror film was no different than most of lynch ' s other works , although there were general outlines to follow about a doomed film project , adultery , and a possibility of pregnancy :

emotions run hot but story blows cold in “ice men . ” tale of five buddies whose lives change during a winter weekend avoids most of the obvious cliches , yet never generates enough tension or rooting interest . privately financed helming debut from d . p . thom best ( “ginger snaps , ” the american version of “queer as folk” ) sports impressive production [ … ]

and it’s true . in “atomic blonde , ” lorraine doesn’t kill her soviet adversaries by punching them in the face one time and being done with it . and the film doesn’t pretend that a woman of theron’s size would be able to defeat similarly trained , large men with brute force alone .

in one of the film’s first scenes , lorraine takes an ice bath in a swanky white marble bathroom . usually a naked woman in a beautiful bathtub signals sexiness and the male gaze . but in “atomic blonde , ” as lorraine emerges from the ice bath and her body comes into view , the audience sees that her arms and back are covered in bruises , her eye socket is beaten black , and her lips are cracked and bloodied . she fills a glass with vodka on the rocks and takes a swig . there’s nothing sexual about this nude scene .

plot : a film in the travel - to - a - planet - of - scantily - clad - women subgenre .

plot : a terrifying film based on science - fiction author whitley strieber ' s alleged real - life encounter with aliens .

for every underdog story , however , there is the favorite’s tragedy . of miracles and men , the latest documentary in espn films’ 30 for 30 series , takes the miracle on ice tale and tells it from the other side . like the recently released red army , it humanizes the supposed robots of the big red machine that were upset by a group of college kids on a friday night in february some 35 years ago .

the tomatometer score — based on the opinions of hundreds of film and television critics — is a trusted measurement of critical recommendation for millions of fans . it represents the percentage of professional critic reviews that are positive for a given film or television show .

the film ' s open - ended conclusion let the viewer decide whether trent was insane or whether what he experienced was actually reality .

as with any david lynch film , making sense of the surrealistic images , unconventional and non - linear plot , overlapping storylines , alternate worlds , hyperlinked events , and changing identities ( doubling of characters as doppelgangers ) can be dubious . even the title of the film was ambiguous , not referring to a region in socal , but something more interior to the psyche . the film ' s main clue was its tagline :

emotions run hot but story blows cold in “ice men . ” tale of five buddies whose lives change during a winter weekend avoids most of the obvious cliches , yet never generates enough tension or rooting interest . privately financed helming debut from d . p . thom best ( “ginger snaps , ” the american version of “queer as folk” ) sports impressive production values , but will quickly skate to cable and homevid after something less than a championship season at undemanding fests and in limited domestic play .

plot : a remake of the 1953 film , where a boy battles martians who have taken over his parents and threaten to destroy the world .

during one of the first run - throughs of the script , a disturbance was heard backstage in the studio - when devon investigated , he saw nikki ' s lurking double seeing herself ( at a later point in the film when she entered an alleyway and a door marked axxon n ) . nikki ran away , into the plain suburban home of another film character named smithy ( character sue ' s husband in the film ? ) .

the film’s plot was fairly convoluted , but by far the coolest part of the whole film ― the part that has stuck with me days after leaving the theater ― was watching a woman fight , not like a man , but like a ( highly - skilled , highly - trained ) woman would .

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stable . it is more like a survivalist thriller than a superhero film , and signals its wintry quality with the title itself . it’s like seeing a film entitled banner or parker or kent . with the approach of death , maybe super identity is cast off . superpowers start to fade along with ordinary powers .

“this is a wonderful opportunity to bring the buzz and excitement of men in black 3 to baskin - robbins guests , ” said john costello , chief global marketing and innovation officer at dunkin’ brands , parent company of baskin - robbins , in a statement .

film , in which simian roddy mcdowall attempts to peacefully coexist with conquered humanity . but not everyone goes along with the plan , especially with an impending nuclear threat .

“since men are generally stronger than women , how does a woman go about overcoming male attackers ? using her brains , mental toughness and the environment , ” hargrave explained . “use elbows , knees and other techniques that use the attacker’s strength and momentum against them . ”

director spike lee ' s r - rated film was a typical hollywood retreaded heist - thriller flick , specifically a tense hostage drama . it reflected elements found in serpico ( 1973 ) , dog day afternoon ( 1975 ) , the comedy heist film quick change ( 1990 ) , and die hard : with a vengeance ( 1995 ) .

this classic science fiction film by director don siegel involved the fear of a small town doctor that many of his patients , friends and relatives were experiencing fearful paranoia and delusions that their acquaintances were imposters - and were possibly being replaced by doppelgangers . the film was an effective metaphor for the fear of communist infiltration during the cold war 1950s .

the fox cinemacon presentation then led immediately into a new look at next month’s x - men : apocalypse with a special extended trailer , said to be created specifically for the event . among the footage’s highlights were new looks at apocalypse’s ( oscar isaac ) origins in ancient egypt , a cage match fight between kodi smit - mcphee’s nightcrawler and ben hardy’s angel , and an overall focus on jennifer lawrence’s mystique . it looks like a good portion of the story involves mystique leading the x - men when james mcavoy’s professor charles xavier is out of commission .

the film opened with cunning leader dalton russell ( clive owen ) and his gang committing the " perfect bank robbery " at the manhattan trust bank in the wall street district .

this is a film about brotherly love and male bonding like you ' ve never seen before . many film critics have discussed the underlying homoeroticism in buddy films and westerns . as vito russo wrote in the celluloid closet : who remembers katherine ross in butch cassidy and the sundance kid ? this is a hot topic again due to the recent success of brokeback mountain . three dancing slaves takes these themes to unprecedented levels . most of the film celebrates male camaraderie , and the homoeroticism is up front and center where no one could possibly miss it .

for the remainder of the film , simon ' s mind was in a confused state regarding the actual year , alarming events with his brother and wife , and his own existence .

director jane campion ' s dark feminist sex film was considered a pretentious rip - off of richard brooks ' looking for mr . goodbar ( 1977 ) . it featured the tagline :

writer / director chris d . ' s ( chris desjardins ) first feature - length film was this direct - to - dvd / video low - budget , independent horror film . the over - used plot twist in this film was also seen in carnival of souls ( 1962 ) , siesta ( 1987 ) , jacob ' s ladder ( 1990 ) , a pure formality ( 1994 ) , the sixth sense ( 1999 ) , the others ( 2001 ) , soul survivors ( 2001 ) , stay ( 2005 ) , and many other films .

it ' s " just the guys " when vaughn invites his childhood friends up to the family cabin for a winter weekend . as they break out the cards and plan the next day ' s hunting trip , it becomes obvious that time and separation has altered the men . kan købes hos urltoken

dazed , she then returned ( drenched in blood ) to malloy where she had handcuffed him earlier , and laid down next to him in a spooning position , as the film ended .

the film opened with a scene revisited much later in the film - cobb was lying on a beach where he was found delirious . he envisioned his children playing near him . he was taken by an armed guard to a beachside fortress where he was faced by wealthy , aged corporate executive saito ( ken watanabe ) . the japanese businessman had been cobb ' s latest employer .

plot : a television series based on the explorations of colonel ed mccauley . the show attempted to show the real qualities of space , instead of the typical characteristics of a science fiction film .

was everything in the film a dream of her ideal and righteous life - a " blue tomorrow " ? during the cheerful end credits , nina simone delivered a strong rendition of " sinnerman . "

then , she realized he was dead ( " miles ? miles ! miles ! oh ! oh , no . " ) . sobbing , she leaned over and kissed him , as the film ended .

is it prurient and self - indulgent or is it art ? i ' ll be the first to admit that this film isn ' t for everyone . even with all its carnal energy , it requires patience - or at least the willingness to just go with the film ' s flow . think of it as taking a european vacation ; one to be savored . go take a walk on the wild side .

in the film ' s first epilogue , the lost girl ran into smithy ' s house where she happily embraced her estranged husband and child ( a symbol of nikki ' s own restored marriage ! ) .

plot : semi - sequel to the 1956 film . this one is set in san francisco , where the " seeds " from outer space are duplicating and destroying the bay area residents at an alarming rate .

nikki had auditioned and received the part of sue blue , playing opposite womanizing actor devon berk as billy slide ( justin theroux ) . the film was an adaptation of a polish gypsy tale ( an adulterous love story ) - with a plot about marriage and murder . it was directed by high - profile , pompous kingsley stewart ( jeremy irons ) , with assistance from a broke freddie howard ( harry dean stanton ) . production on the previously - cursed remake ( titled vier - sieben : 47 ) of the film was never finished when the two leads were murdered . there were intimations that the current film would also be cursed .

amusingly , these people have made contact with logan through an x - men comic book , and the movie finesses the existence of these in the superhero world as rumourmongering pulp fiction . they infuriate logan , who says that the world’s bad stuff can’t be tackled by an “asshole in a leotard” and says that comic books are “ice cream for bedwetters” . harsh . as far as other mythologies go , laura , xavier and logan find themselves holed up in a hotel - room watching the old western classic shane on tv , which professor xavier says he remembers watching as a kid at the essoldo . did stewart improvise that line ? or do screenwriters james mangold , michael green and scott frank have a connoisseur knowledge of defunct brit cinema chains ?

the film ' s last line was uhl ' s memory of eisenheim saying : " everything you have seen is an illusion . it ' s a trick , " as he laughed to himself at the recollection .

when the film ended with a slaughter at the asylum by monstrous creatures , trent wandered out into the world that was alarmingly empty after a bloody slaughter and civilization had seemingly been destroyed by cane ' s creatures .

the film opened with a view of a creepy old woman ( philip friedman ) through a window , holding a candle - a major hint , and then the title screen in pulsating , blood - red lettering .

for film time information and ticket booking please call cineworld on 0871 200 2000 mon - sun 09 : 00 - 22 : 00 . calls to this number cost 12 pence per minute plus your company’s access charge .

written by chow and directed by the legendary tsui hark , it concerns palaces , slums , royal figures , bums , monkeys , ice men , and , yes , demons , all of which are either the setting for or focus of huge - scale , cgi - assisted action sequences that , in most cases , would look like far too much . but the noise ( visual and aural ) is promising when it emanates from these voices — and sometimes you need a giant , gold hand harnessing the powers of the earth , or whatever in the hell happens in those final few seconds . ( again : maybe too much ! but who cares ! ) here’s a brand of kitchen - sink blockbuster filmmaking i can look upon with anticipation .

director john carpenter paid convoluted , warped homage to stephen king and h . p . lovecraft in this film that blurred the boundaries of fantasy and reality , fact and fiction , sanity and insanity , and reality and cine - reality .

simon ' s ' death ' in his dream of the year 2000 was mirrored or paralleled with his death in 2002 . the film returned to the car accident scene - also shown in the film ' s opening - when simon was being treated by emergency personnel . peter told him : " it ' s your choice , simon , where you go . it ' s your choice . " a time stamp clock showed the time of his death : 20 : 02 .

ariadne and fischer fell off the building as their " kick " to get back . cobb woke up again on the shores of saito ' s beach house - the film ' s opening scene . for cobb ' s successful efforts at inception with fischer , saito made a phone call to clear away cobb ' s legal troubles with immigration at lax , enter the us , be freed of his guilt , and be reunited with his children - at the film ' s conclusion .

director roland suso richter ' s enigmatic psychological thriller ( direct to video / dvd ) was based upon screenwriter michael cooney ' s own play " point of death " - a title that gave away the film ' s entire plot twist premise .

director jack clayton ' s scary , supernatural - psychological horror film was adapted from henry james ' novella , the turn of the screw . the setting was in the 19th century in victorian england , at a gothic , bleak english country estate .

viewers really do feel every punch to lorraine’s face , every kick to her knees , every jab to her ribs . it’s excruciating ― and it’s realistic . it gives more depth to theron’s character , forcing the audience to feel her pain , and making it clear that as a woman consistently fighting men she has to be even more steely - eyed and unrelenting than the guy across from her .

along the way , the film shows the development of the soviet program , which began under anatoli tarasov , whose unorthodox , artistic and heartwarming philosophy of hockey is contrasted with the bureaucratic , hardline and heartless approach of the late viktor tikhonov , his successor .

timmy then took control of malcolm ' s personality and strangled psychiatrist dr . malick in the front seat of the van as the vehicle lurched to the side of the road . timmy whispered the nursery rhyme ( in voice - over ) as the film ended :

now on digital hd urltoken now on blu - ray & dvd urltoken cast : hugh jackman , patrick stewart , richard e . grant , boyd holbrook , stephen merchant , dafne keen directed by james mangold subscribe : urltoken connect with logan online : visit logan on our website : urltoken like logan on facebook : urltoken fb follow logan on twitter : urltoken tw follow logan on instagram : urltoken about 20th century fox : official youtube channel for 20th century fox movies . home of avatar , aliens , x - men , die hard , deadpool , ice age , alvin and the chipmunks , rio , peanuts , maze runner , planet of the apes , wolverine and many more . connect with 20th century fox online : visit the 20th century fox website : urltoken like 20th century fox on facebook : urltoken follow 20th century fox on twitter : urltoken logan | official trailer [ hd ] | 20th century fox urltoken

but the heart of the movie is the unexpectedly poignant relationship between xavier and logan : i’d be tempted to call them the steptoe and son of the mutant world , although in fact logan goes into basil fawlty mode at one stage with his own pickup truck , attempting to trash it – perhaps to teach it a lesson . logan is a forthright , muscular movie which preserves the x - men’s strange , exotic idealism .

writer / director neil labute ' s disturbing drama ( his debut film , a low - budget independent film ) had as its thematic premise : " let ' s hurt somebody " - a line spoken by corporate ex frat - boy chad ( aaron eckhart ) out to seek premeditated , retributive revenge on women , after he claimed he had broken up with steady girlfriend suzanne ( emily cline ) - and she had packed up , leaving him only a futon and his american gigolo poster . chad expressed his vile hatred of the fair sex :

plot : considered to be the worst film ever made . hilariously bad , it attempts to deliver an antiwar message as well as thrills and chills , but does not succeed . i watched the whole thing , and i ' m still not sure what the plot is .

at each stage , one member of the team who was creating the dream remained behind while the others fell asleep to travel to the next level . so - called " kicks " would propel the dreamers out of the dream and back toward reality step by step ( for example : yusuf driving the van off a bridge and hitting the water , arthur detonating an elevator carrying the entire team to fall down the shaft and simulating free - fall , and the ice - fortress being detonated and collapsing ) :

attending hospital physician dr . newman [ revealed as mr . cable - the father of the two sons ] matter - of - factly delivered the news to simon in the film ' s final line - with an added final sentence - " you died , mr . cable . "

the film concluded by being folded back upon itself - trent entered an abandoned movie theatre that was showing the latest movie adaptation of sutter cane ' s book - and slowly changed into a crazed , mutant creature that laughed maniacally as he sat down and watched himself on the silver screen .

director james wan and writer leigh whannell , creators of the " saw " film franchise , created this exceptionally - suspenseful horror film . it was derived from elements of typical haunted house tales , the exorcist ( 1973 ) , the shining ( 1980 ) , poltergeist ( 1982 ) , the cell ( 2000 ) , and paranormal activity ( 2007 ) . the supernatural flick posited the existence of an unseen shadowy world known as " the further " ( known in many such films as the " other side " ) , inhabited by creatures ready to possess the souls of humans .

plot : the most highly regarded sci - fi film of the 1950s . a futuristic space mission lands on the planet altair - 4 and finds a doctor and his daughter , who are all that remain from a previous colonization attempt , and an unseen force that does not welcome them .

uperpowers are one thing , but no - one said they were immortal . what happens when superheroes get old ? actually , what happens when , like many non - superheroes , they arrive at late middle - age without a partner , in ill health , and with an ageing parent to look after ? or parent - figure anyway . you find yourself asking these questions watching this surprisingly engaging , but downbeat – and also violent – x - men movie from the

plot : the third film in the alien trilogy . ripley ( sigourney weaver ) crash - lands on a planet where an old mining facility is used as a penal colony for madmen and rapists . the evil alien has once again stowed away on ripley ' s ship , and battles ensues .

at the same time , billy ' s crazed wife doris ( julia ormond ) in the film was interrogated by a detective , when she confessed she was hypnotized by the phantom ( krzysztof majchrzak ) to murder someone with a screwdriver ( although the screwdriver was stuck in her own bloody side ) .

it’s difficult to see the bonds of friendship among these generally self - absorbed men , which may be best’s point . but , absent genre cliches along the lines of an accidental death or deranged killer , there’s no deliverance from two hours of five unpleasant guys drinking and yelling at each other . of the quintet , david hewlett ( who had a recurring role on “stargate atlantis” ) is best as the eccentric bryan . the cold menace with which tracey plays trevor suggests a plot path never taken .

“atomic blonde” is a highly stylized action film , complete with non - stop fighting , classic bad guys and ’80s music . but putting the merits of its storytelling aside , the charlize theron vehicle got one thing right : if a woman was an ass - kicking international spy , she would fight exactly like this .

just before a movie audition for a remake of a film titled on high in blue tomorrows , aging yet privileged la actress nikki grace ( laura dern ) , hoping for a comeback role , was visited in her luxury home by a heavily - accented polish neighbor lady ( grace zabriskie ) . she related two old world folktales about an evil and lost girl . like a bizarre flash - forward , nikki was abruptly told that there was a " brutal f - - king murder " in the film ' s plot , and prophetically told she would get the part in the film : " i definitely hear that you have it . . . actions do have consequences and yet there is the magic . " nikki also was told some hinted foreshadowings about things being non - linear : " i can ' t seem to remember if it ' s today , two days from now , or yesterday , " and " evil was born . "

the first three quarters of the film was basically a flashback to explain events occurring before the opening scene . it was narrated ( in voice - over ) by the dogged and determined chief police inspector walter uhl ( paul giamatti ) to describe why he was arresting stage performer eisenheim ( edward norton ) ( aka eduard abramovich ) .

dr . newman : " simon , this is the 29th of july . the year is 2002 . and your wife , whose name is anna , is waiting outside . " ( the doctor left off four crucial additional words , revealed in the film ' s ending . ) ( spoiler : simon had died and was not resuscitated ! )

the film ' s plot , told in flashback , was about insurance fraud investigator john trent ( sam neill ) - now a violent and delusional asylum inmate in a padded cell ( " i am not insane " ) , who had been institutionalized after axe - murdering a reader of a popular horror novel , in the mouth of madness .

the film revealed that the charming eisenheim and the serenely - beautiful duchess , who was increasingly reluctant to marry , had again reignited their love for each other during a secret love - making rendezvous . when the duchess determinedly told the drunken and jealous prince that she wouldn ' t marry him and was leaving permanently , it appeared that she was murdered .

director james mangold ' s psychological thriller was similar to a popular concept of many plot twisters , a combination of fight club ( 1999 ) and agatha christie ' s novel and then there were none , adapted into many film versions . in the familiar thematic plot , a group of individuals in a remote location were being killed off , one by one .

the film ended ambiguously , however . as cobb tested out his top ' s spinning on a table top , to see whether it would topple or not ( and to find out whether he was dreaming or not ) , the screen turned to black . what was clear was that cobb walked away from the top in order to be with his children .

crew : camera ( color , widescreen ) , gavin smith ; editor , mike munn ; music , michael shields , russell broom ; production designer , melanie gordon , michael turner ; sound ( dolby digital ) . reviewed at montreal world film festival ( cinema of the americas - - panorama canada ) , aug . 29 , 2004 . running time : 108 min .

the fox cinemacon presentation then delivered a first look at the studio’s christmas day comedy release , why him , introduced by stars bryan cranston and james franco ( showing off a fantastic chemistry that looks like it could really make the film something special ) . the plot is fairly straightforward and plays sort of like meet the parents meets what about bob ? , told from the father’s ( cranston ) perspective . in the film , his daughter ( played by zoey deutch ) is getting ready to marry franco’s character , an eccentric but well - meaning man of wealth who goes out of his way to please his financee’s family in some strange ways . in one scene , franco has had tattooed on his back the family’s most recent christmas card .

a few weeks later , after they returned to their hometown , a sickened howard visited chad at about 1 am , and learned that chad had no regrets about his actions , and that girlfriend suzanne had never left him ( " she never left . she ' s always been right there " ) - the film ' s plot twist . he boldly and amorally declared why he had devised the game : " because i could . " it seemed that all along , the motivation of the venomous and controlling chad was a subtle hatred of the submissive and vulnerable howard , who was appointed ineffectual team leader ( in retrospect , chad had cleverly sabotaged howard ' s work throughout the film ) . when howard left the building , he vomited on the staircase .

nikki ' s possessively jealous and intimidating husband piotrek ( peter j . lucas ) warned devon that his wife was out - of - bounds for an affair . however , as the film was being made , nikki did begin an affair with devon , in the role of her character - simultaneously , her loss of identity and its fragmentation started when she paranoically feared she would be discovered .

in the persona of nikki ( now dead as sue and reborn ) , she escaped from the trap of the film ( after the shooting was completed ) . she entered into a nearby cinema , where she viewed on high in blue tomorrows , and some of the events of the film . she entered the theater ' s projection room - and found herself in the " axxon n " apartment building . she shot and killed the phantom with a gun in a hotel hallway ( as he died , his face displayed a hideous view of nikki ' s own clown - face ) . she eventually wandered into hotel room 47 ( which held the anthropomorphic rabbits in the tv sitcom ) , where she kissed the lost girl and freed her . nikki and the rabbits faded away .

the film follows slava fetisov as he retraces his steps to the sight of where one of the most famous silver medals in sports history was won . fetisov isn’t quite as candid and colorful as he is in red army , but his moments of reflection and recollection reveal a man in his mid - 50s still stung by a loss suffered as a 21 - year - old soviet prodigy .

the host is vaughn , a macho but anal felix unger type who makes everyone remove their wet shoes and provides knitted booties for their cold feet . amongst the guests are john , a closeted gay man , and steve , a hunky gym instructor whom john pines after . when the two men share a bed , john finally gets his wish - with predictable results ( " we were drunk last night ! " ) . this only adds to the already tense vibes caused by the unexpected arrival of vaughn ' s estranged brother . secrets are told , betrayals are made , and there ' s horseplay in an outdoor hot tub .

everything in the film then became very stylistic , hallucinatory ' alice down the rabbit hole ' images , seemingly - unrelated . nikki , as a white - trash , hardened , abused working - class housewife who confessed her hatred of men to a glasses - wearing psychiatrist , also spoke to a gaggle of lascivious prostitutes ( fragments of her own shattered ego ? ) . she presumably was a prostitute herself ( allegorically ) for allowing sex with her co - star . one of the prostitutes salli ( wendy rhodes ) pulled up her black t - shirt to show off her breasts - after one of the others was told : " there ' s always a chance with tits like yours , kari . " salli bragged : " these are gonna bring up ' in - like - flynn ' . " she was complimented about her shapely chest : " they ' re pretty , baby . nice . sweet . " suddenly , the group , functioning as a greek chorus , burst into a choreographed version of " the loco - motion . "

the serial killer also murdered and mutilated a medical student co - ed whose body parts were found in the school ' s laundry room , and toward the film ' s end , frannie ' s half - sister pauline ( jennifer jason leigh ) who worked as a stripper / go - go girl at the baby doll lounge , was also found bloodied and decapitated in her apartment ' s bathroom .

in this high - concept film with a well - constructed plot twist , each of the strangers that was being murdered , one - by - one ( each victim had a room key placed on or near their body , with each room number connected to the order of the deaths ) , was not a real person . they were specific personalities of the ' host ' malcolm rivers ( pruitt taylor vince ) .

[ the method of entering a dream state was by injection , using portable technology cases . one of the film ' s major premises was that each person was required to have a totem - to help identify if one was in the dream world or in the real world . cobb ' s totem was his wife ' s spinning top , which would keep spinning around if he was in a dream world . ]

in the film ' s frenzied conclusion , first in the hot and humid greenhouse , she kept urging and suspecting that the ghost of quint was causing miles to frighten his schoolmates with vulgar language and behavior , and was teaching him to do and say things . behind miles , she saw an apparition of quint reflected in a window . but miles denied her assertions , screamed at her , and accused her of being mad :

although fetisov is the centerpiece of the film , the supporting cast is its true stars . tretiak , boris mikhailov , vladimir petrov , sergei makarov , alexei kasatonov and vladimir myshkin ( tretiak’s replacement ) all shine in their honesty . not to be missed among the interviews are russian journalists vitali melik - karamov and , especially , vsevolod kukushkin whose ho - hum account of the game dismisses the disney fairytale in stereotypical soviet style .

european cinema often travels the roads where american films fear to tread . submitted for your approval is three dancing slaves , a new film by french actor - turned - auteur gael morel . while not a household name in the states , he starred opposite stephane rideau in wild reeds , andre techine ' s 1994 gay coming - of - age classic set against the french - algerian conflict , before turning his gaze behind the camera .

the second ― and by far the most violent fight scene of the film ― takes place toward the end of the movie . lorraine is trying to sneak an informant and his family into west berlin when she finds herself up against two huge soviet dudes . so , what does she do ? she uses her elbows , knees , fingers , legs and whatever else she can find to kick the living shit out of the bad guys .

the film ' s twist was an illusion all its own - in the concluding sequence , uhl was given a book with eisenheim ' s detailed drawings of the solution to the " orange tree " trick , signifying that eisenheim ' s magic was completely illusionary . at the same time , the locket in uhl ' s possession was pickpocketed by a disguised eisenheim , who hurriedly boarded a train for the country , to cheerfully reunite with sophie .

sexuality is no mere subtext here , it is the driving force behind the film and director morel has outdone bertolucci with his loving images . look for the moment , pastoral in its innocence , where the three brothers all lay nude and intertwined , sleeping peacefully in the same bed . this is not incest ; they simply connect in ways that defy convention . such images , rather than words , make it easier to understand why these three young men tolerate each other despite the drama each brings to the mix . though beautifully filmed and acted , this is nonetheless a very unconventional movie . the fractured narrative demands the viewer ' s full attention . there are three acts , each titled after a different brother and a different season . gaps in the storyline are often left unexplained ; one gets lost in their aimless lives and i think this was the point . three dancing slaves is hypnotic , like a dream . occasionally the dream erupts into nightmare - the fate of marc ' s beloved dog will haunt me forever , there is heartbreak and there is euphoria . for joy , look to olivier and hichon , wildly in love , windsailing against a backdrop of the alps .

the film ' s main plot was about the murder of a prominent and wealthy industrialist from chicago named philip colbert ( uncredited jack teter ) who was found beaten to death ( a massive head wound ) in a town alleyway . colbert had come to sparta from the north to build a new factory . his surviving widow leslie ( lee grant ) insisted that detective tibbs stay on the case to find her husband ' s killer , causing ripples of racism in the small town .

if you like drama , you came to the right place because this will give it to you . no the acting is not great but not awful either . characters are easy to identify with but story can be a little weird at times . worth the time . left me wanting to know more . without ruining anything the main character has a bug up his but about the past . his brother ignores the past . two people get it on that should have but didn ' t want to - two people who shouldn ' t have didn ' t and wanted to . the weaknesses and fears of men are exposed and stomped on in this movie . it reminded me of my straight brothers and how weak they can be when they proclaim toughness . drama , drama , drama

the exciting premise of the film was that the cop , a possible murderer , might kill her next , and she was mugged on the street and roughed up . with sexual tension building , she became engaged in a torrid , risky sexual liaison with the married ( but estranged ) cop after a date , although she was nervous about malloy being the killer of angela ( and others ) , thinking that he was lying about the basement - sex incident and other aspects of his life .

director michael bay ' s futuristic action - adventure thriller faced major legal problems when the producers of the low - budget independent film parts : the clonus horror ( 1979 ) filed a legal suit in 2005 ( settled out of court in 2006 ) claiming that the dreamworks / warner bros . production was an unauthorized , cloned , scene - by - scene remake . it also combined elements of thx 1138 ( 1971 ) , logan ' s run ( 1976 ) , and blade runner ( 1982 ) .

the trailer begins with fassbender’s character , callum lynch , waking up in some kind of a cell . marion cotillard’s character is there and tells him that he was executed yesterday and , officially , no longer exists . then we see lynch enter the animus which , in the film , features a large mechanical arm that holds its user in place and seems to move as lynch does allowing his body to go through the same jumps , flips and other parkour moves that he utilizes while in the past .

one of the more touching moments in the film is when fetisov and his daughter first walk into the dressing room the soviets were in for their game against team usa . with her father standing in the middle of the room , anastasia randomly selects a stall to sit down in . it just happens to be the one fetisov dressed in all those years ago . she’s 21 years old , the same age as her father when he lost to one of the most underdog teams of all - time .

what was this about ? ? ? ? ? too many characters running in too many different directions to follow and all held together with a rather weak premise . lots of hints of drama but nothing developed . most of these guys cannot act and most likely were selected because they would act in this film . i had no idea who the direction thom what his name is is as i have never watched queer as folk but knew the film was in trouble when it was revealed he also wrote it and produced it ( i do believe ) . a man is 30 + years old and never had a girlfriend and no one suspects he ' s gay ? who when he finally scores needs to discuss it with his trick ? ? please . and anal retentive brother versus the drifter brother ? another cliché . the closeted gym bunny ? ! did anyone notice brian brings an assortment of liquours but they only drink glenfiddich and beer ? perhaps if i had been drinking glenfiddich and beer i might have enjoyed this .

say we were to find some gal . . . this person ' s just vulnerable as hell . you know , young thing , wallflower type , or whatever . or like , disfigured in some way . just some woman who is pretty sure that life , and i mean a full , healthy sexual life , romance , stuff like that , is lost to her forever . . . anyhow , we take a girl of that type , just some corn - fed bitch who ' d practically mess her pants if you sharpen a pencil for her , and we both hit her . small talk , a dinner date , flowers . . . we just do it , you know , you and me , upping the ante all the time . and suddenly she ' s got two men . she ' s calling her mom . she ' s wearing makeup again . and on we play , and on and on . and then one day , out goes the rug , and us pulling it hard , and jill - she just comes tumbling after . . . trust me , she ' ll be reaching for the sleeping pills within a week , and we will laugh about this until we are very old men . . . . is that not ideal ? restore a little dignity to our lives ? . . . it ' s really just the same crap we used to play in school , only it ' s better because we get a little payback on all this messy relationship s - - t we ' re dealing with . . . i think it would be refreshing . i really do . and very therapeutic coming off the women we just have .

the most controversial portion of the film was its adult - like , intimately passionate , unsettling on - the - lips kiss between miss giddens and the wise - beyond - his - years miles after she escorted him to bed . she was horrified that miles was keeping a pigeon with a broken neck under his pillow ( " yes , poor thing , i ' ll bury it tomorrow " ) . and then he suddenly sat up and put his arms around her neck , asking : " kiss me goodnight , miss giddens . "

from there , the fox cinemacon presentation moved on to dreamworks animation and , specifically , their november 4 release , trolls . star anna kendrick introduced the world of the film , explaining that the characters live in a happy society with special watches that go off every hour on the hour , reminding them to hug each other . the only trouble is that there’s another race of creatues , the bergens , who like to eat trolls and who wind up forcing kendrick’s bubbly troll poppy to have to work alongside justin timberlake’s pessimistic troll , branch .

the mind - warping film opened with a hospital patient simon cable ( ryan phillippe ) awakening in a hospital with little knowledge ( amnesia perhaps ? ) of what had happened , and why he was there , etc . he was told by attending dr . jeremy newman ( stephen rea ) that it was july 29 , 2002 ( simon thought it was the year 2000 - he was confused - he heard a doctor say 20 : 00 hours ! ) and that he had died for two minutes from cardiac arrest following the near - fatal accident - - but he had been revived ( " you ' re as good as new " ) .

stephen chow ‘s journey to the west : conquering the demons quickly took off upon its international release in early 2013 , earning praise for and winning audiences with its ( typical of the multi - hyphenate ) inventive action sequences , soon going on to become the highest - grossing chinese - language film of all - time . it has since been surpassed by chow’s follow - up feature , the mermaid , and , if the trailer for journey ‘s sequel , subtitled the demons strike back — that’s how life works : first you conquer the demons , then they strike back — is indicative of what we’re to get , he may hit the seemingly impossible three - peat .

and then in the film ' s most memorable and frightening moment , he took her in his arms to kiss her , and then drew away from her unresponsive lips . in a tight closeup shot of her face , he looked into the blank , dark , expressionless and staring eyes of his fiancée , realizing with a look of utter fright , shock , and fear that she was now one of " them " - her body had been invaded and snatched by the clones . he knew instantly that this was not becky , his sweetheart of a moment ago , but a treacherous imposter and victim . she confirmed the truth , and traitorously screamed to the pod - people searchers :

sue wandered the streets and found herself as a battered and tawdry prostitute on hollywood boulevard and vine , where she was stabbed with a screwdriver in the stomach ( and creating a hole from her intestine into her vaginal wall ) - thereby killing her baby . she slowly perished on a sidewalk next to a black homeless woman ( helena chase ) and a japanese girl ( nae ) who talked about taking a bus from hollywood to pomona to visit a friend named niko . niko represented the archetypal fallen victim of the film itself - a woman who aspired to be an actress , but failed and became a hard drugs - taking prostitute with a blonde wig ( " she looks very good in her blonde wig just like a movie star " ) .