Yin-Yang Master

Cassavettes

Often hailed as the father of independent film, John Cassavetes's maverick approach to film-making captured some of the most honest and genuinely moving portrayals of human emotion ever committed to film. This boxed set contains five of his finest works: Shadows, Faces, A Woman Under The Influence, The Killing Of A Chinese Bookie and Opening Night. Determined to produce interesting and challenging films outside the Hollywood mainstream, Cassavetes funded many of his own films from his acting roles in TV and film (most notably Rosemary's Baby and The Dirty Dozen). Shadows marked his directorial debut in 1959 and was inspired by an improvised scene from an acting workshop he taught in New York. Made for $40, 000, it took Cassavetes and his team of actors three years to complete the film, which explores the dynamics of inter-racial relationships in a jazz infused 1950s New York. In Faces, Cassavetes follows the complicated lives of a group of middle class people living in LA and contains some startlingly raw performances from actors Lynn Carlin and John Marley as married couple Maria and Richard who both commit adultery to escape the misery of their loveless marriage. Richard begins an affair with high-class call girl Jeannie Rapp (Gena Rowlands, The Skeleton Key) and tells his wife that he wants a divorce. Maria, spurned by his rejection, falls into the arms of a carefree young drifter, Chet (Seymour Cassel, The Life Aquatic, In The Soup) but the affair only leaves her feeling suicidal. A brutally honest study of middle age disappointment and sexual power struggles, Faces brought Cassavetes an Oscar (R) nomination for Best Original Screenplay and takes on the subject of failed marriage with a brave and unflinching stare. Gena Rowlands (Cassavetes's wife) gives the performance of her career in A Woman Under The Influence as Mabel Longhetti, a suburban housewife struggling to keep her family together while dealing with the devastating effects of a nervous breakdown. Peter Falk (Columbo) plays Mabel's husband, Nick Longhetti, a construction worker who is deeply in love with his wife but has real difficulty understanding her emotional sensitivity and bohemian attitude. By looking closely at Mabel's stifling family life and her husband's violent outbursts, the film questions definitions of mental illness and the failure of people to communicate. An intense viewing experience, A Woman Under The Influence was Cassavetes's most commercially successful independent project, bringing him an Oscar (R) nomination for Best Director and Gena Rowlands one for Best Actress. Ben Gazarra (Dogville) plays Cosmo Vitelli in crime thriller The Killing Of A Chinese Bookie. Cosmo owns a run down LA strip club called The Crazy Horse West and is in danger of losing his beloved club when he gambles away $23, 000 one night. The mob offer to clear him of his debt if he agrees to kill a rival Chinese bookie for them. In a desperate effort to save the one thing th

Roots, The - A Sonic Event

Live performance from The Roots from Manhattan's Webster Hall, June 2004. Also includes other hip-hop acts at work today. Tracklist: Break You Off, The Next Movement, Proceed, Clones, Can't Stop Won't Stop (Young Gunz), NOD Factor (Skillz), Night (Young Gunz), What Would I Do (Jean Grae), Daily Bread (Martin Luther) and others.

Children Of The Corn 7 - Revelation

When calls to her eccentric grandmother go unanswered, Jamie Lowell is shocked to discover that her grandmother's last known address is a condemned tenement building overrun by uncontrollable children! As Jamie slowly uncovers the truth behind her grandmother's mysterious disappearance, she disturbs a powerful evil...

911 Commission Report, The

What if the attack could have been stopped? Director Leigh Scott's moving expose is both brilliant and devastating in its expose of the chilling investigation into the events leading up to 9/11.

Green For Danger

Alastair Sim stars as the eccentric and irreverent Inspector Cockrill of the Kent County Police alongside Trevor Howard and Rosamund John in this classic murder mystery from the acclaimed film-making partnership of Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat. August 1944. German flying bombs are raining down on London. Directly under their flight path is a small cottage hospital. Inside, the tension is almost unbearable for the dedicated team of surgeons and nurses - and not just because of the 'doodlebugs' and near misses. Their close-knit community is torn apart by jealousy, emotional turmoil, the horrors of war and terrible secrets. When the local postman is brought in, delirious but trying to impart an urgent message - the murders begin. Inspector Cockrill is called in to investigate a truly baffling case where everyone has secrets - but no-one appears to have a motive. Alastair Sim is at his best in this whodunit that will keep you guessing until the very last moment.