Production Year: 1991 - Comedy - Director: John Landis - Original Language: English - Classification: Parental Guidance - Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Don Ameche, Tim Curry, Kirk Douglas more
Sylvester Stallone stars as famed mobster Angelo SnapsProvolone, who promises his dying father (Kirk Douglas) that he will hang up his tommy gun and lead a kinder, gentler life.... more
Oscar DVD
Available for the first time on DVD! It's a comedy of criminal proportions! After ... more
promising his dying father that he'll quit his life of crime Angelo 'Snaps' Provolone realizes it's an offer he should have refused! As the mobster tries to quit the ...
Oscar And Lucinda DVD
In mid-1800's England Oscar (Ralph Fiennes) is a young Anglican priest a misfit and an ... more
outcast but with the soul of an angel. As a boy even though from a strict Pentecostal family he felt God told him through a sign to leave his father and his faith and join the Church of England. Lucinda (Cate Blanchett) is a teenaged Australian heiress who has an almost desperate desire to liberate her sex from the confines of the male-dominated culture of the Australia of that time. She buys a glass factory and has a dream of building a church made almost entirely of glass and then transporting it to the Australian Outback. Oscar and Lucinda meet on a ship going to Australia; once there they are for different reasons ostracized from society and as a result "join forces" together. Oscar and Lucinda are both passionate gamblers and Lucinda bets Oscar her entire inheritance that he cannot transport the glass church to the Outback safely. Oscar accepts her wager and this leads to the events that will change both their lives forever.
Comedy - Director: John Howard-Davies, Bob Spiers - Original Language: English - Classification: Parental Guidance - Starring: Connie Booth, Andrew Sachs, Prunella Scales, John Cleese
Comedy - Director: Blake Edwards - Original Language: English - Classification: Parental Guidance - Starring: Capucine, David Niven, Herbert Lom, Peter Sellers
Comedy - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: Tessa Peake-Jones, Buster Merryfield, David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst
The Plot. -------------------- After promising his dying father that he will quit his life of crime, Angelo 'Snaps' Provolone realizes it is an offer he should have refused! As the mobster tries to quit the racket, everybody gets into the act...friends, family and even the Feds! As Snaps soon discovers, going straight is the toughest job he's ever pulled!
The Storyline. -------------------------- Set in the early thirties and the golden age of gangsters, Angelo 'Snaps' Provolone (Sylvester Stallone) is the head of one of many gangster mobs of the time. He rushes to see his Father Eduardo Provolone (Kirk Douglas) who is on his deathbed to try to make peace with hi before he passes away. Snaps Father has one dying wish, for his son to give up being a gangster and go straight and Snaps of course promises.
One month later and so far Snaps has kept his promise to his Father and this is his special day, the day he finally becomes an honest businessman. He is set to become a partner in a Banking Firm at 12 o'clock midday and knows once he does this he really is keeping the promise to his Father. It is not all as straight forward as he thinks it will be though as today turns out to be one of the most stressful days of his life and he soon learns that going straight is the hardest job he will ever have to try to pull off.
His big day begins when he is woke up earlier than planned by his accountant Anthony Rossano (Vincent Spano) who has come to ask for his daughters hand in marriage. This upsets Snaps and when he inquires as to how Anthony plans to financially care for his daughter, Anthony reveals he has been, skimming money from Snaps business's to fund the marriage. Snaps wants to kill Anthony but his henchmen hold him back in order for him to keep his promise to his Father, so Snaps goes to talk to his Daughter Lisa Provolone (Marisa Tomie) about this matter. Lisa tells her Father that she loves her man and Snaps tell her she is not allowed to marry him.
Then another young Lady called Theresa (Elizabeth Barondes) arrives at the home of Snaps, informs him she is in love with Anthony Rossano, and wants to marry him but she has lied to him and need Snaps help. Lisa then lies to her Father and tells him she is pregnant so as he will force her to marry the Father of the baby. If you think this is complicated it gets more complicated and intriguing as the film continues with Snaps tricking his money back from Anthony not once but twice and Doctor Thornton Poole (Tim Curry) who is Snaps speech therapist trying to be persuaded to marry Lisa. We also see Snaps have several run ins with his house cleaner and firing her then having to hire a new house cleaner only to discover she is an old friend. There is also great comedy moments as his thugs try to get the hang of being servants and learning not to use violence.
My Opinion. -------------------------- I must be honest I was a little dubious to say the least when I saw the read up for this film and could somehow not picture Stallone in a comedy/ gangster film. On saying that though, I have decided to review as many of Sylvester Stallone's films as I can and therefore it was one I had to watch. I am glad to say though now that I really enjoyed this film and found it very comical despite the complexity of the storyline. If you are looking for a light hearted comedy to entertain you then this is the film for you because although the storyline is complex this makes it all the more enjoyable as you find yourself not wanting to miss a minute in case you lose the plot.
John Landis who has also brought us other great comedy classics such as 'Beverley Hills Cop III', 'Blues Brothers 2000' and 'Coming to America', directs this film. He has done an excellent job with the directing of this film making it very entertain and enjoyable for us to watch. It has great humour and good effects and he certainly has the cast working there best to make an outstanding comedy with many classics scenes for our viewing.
Sylvester Stallone of whom I am a great fan as I am sure you are already aware gives a great performance as the gangster boss Angelo Provolone. He makes the character very entertaining and enjoyable to watch and gives Snaps a great and unique personality, which is very believable. Aldo (Peter Riegert) and Connie (Chazz Palminteri) give us great comedy entertainment in the roles as henchman trying to go straight. They contrast each other perfectly and really do give great comedy sequences to the film, which will have you chuckling your heart out.
There are a few very famous actors who also star in the film however there roles in this film seem very short which is a shame, but on saying that they give outstanding performances no matter how short there appearances. The great actors I am referring to are of course Kirk Douglas, Don Ameche, Tim Curry, Linda Gray and Richard Romanus. On saying that though all the cast give us great performances and really make this film very entertaining and funny.
I of course have to mention the performances of Marisa Tomie as Lisa Provolone, Ornella Muti as Sofia Provolone and Elizabeth Barondes as Theresa. What great performances they were from these three women. I think out of the three though the most enjoyable performance for me has to have been from Marisa Tomie as she gave her character true life and made her enjoyable and believable.
To be honest there are more rather well known actors in this film, that once you watch it you will no doubt recognise if you haven't already during the credits at the beginning. To list them and there performances here would be endless but I can say they all did an excellent job in there performances to make a very enjoyable film for us to view.
I have to finalise this review by saying that Stallone's performance was a very pleasant surprise as in this film not once did he use his muscular physic to add to his character, he actually had a chance to star in a film which he was cast for and not because of his muscles. He did a very good job of it too and I would recommend this film as a good family entertainment comedy for all to enjoy. I rate this film 9/10, but be warned the story takes some keeping up with but in a good way.
Cast. ---------- Sylvester Stallone Angelo 'Snaps' Provolone Marisa Tomie Lisa Provolone Ornella Muti Sofia Provolone Peter Riegert Aldo Chazz Palminteri Connie Don Ameche Father Clemente Vincent Spano Anthony Rossano Kirk Douglas Eduardo Provolone Linda Gray Roxanne Elizabeth Barondes Theresa Tim Curry Dr Thornton Poole
Director John Landis Certificate PG Year 1991 Widescreen 1.85:1 Languages English ; Spanish - Dolby Digital (5.1) Subtitles Danish ; English ; English for the hearing impaired ; Finnish ; Norwegian ; Spanish ; Swedish Duration 1 hour and 45 minutes (approx)
Advantages: The performances of the two leads and some excellent direction. Disadvantages: An ending that betrays the early convictions of the film.
...Whilst Training Day failed to make a significant impact at the UK Box Office, the acclaim induced by an Oscar winning performance by Denzel Washington ensured that it?s DVD sales have been much more impressive. I figured that it was about time that I found out what all the fuss was about and recently acquired a copy for a very reasonable £12.97 from Tescos.
The Film
Training Day is a cop movie, although it is a far cry from the succession of buddy movies that have flooded onto our screen lead by the genre defining Lethal Weapon. This is a hard-hitting story of the ugly, and no doubt infinitely more realistic, side of police life with corruption, brutality and betrayal taking the place of heroism, action and camaraderie. Director Alonzo Fuqua introduces us to a myriad of complex moral issues that face undercover police officers...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Advantages: Stephen Fry's performance Disadvantages: Not completely accurate
...I occasionally wonder if Oscar Wilde's life wasn't just a necessary preliminary so that Stephen Fry could get to play him. Fry clearly has a lot of sympathy with Wilde, and has little trouble placing himself in his shoes - something that I suspect he has done all his life.
The story is familiar by now - Oscar becomes one of the most popular playwrights and wits of his age, only to shoot himself down at the height of his fame due to his relationship with the horrible Alfred Lord Douglas, for which he finds himself sentenced to two years' hard labour. The film goes to some pains to be historically accurate (it even gets right the almost illegible message that Lord Queensberry pinned to the theatre door which sparked off his ill-fated libel trial) but makes one blunder in providing a happy reunion of the two lovers upon Wilde's final...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
...Winner of four oscars the DVD sleeve reads. Now, in my experience that has involved the most depressing, suicidal films ever made. But I had a good feeling about this film. Choregraphed by the bloke that did the stunts in The Matrix (Yuen Wo Ping), and starring several actors you probably won't recognise except the other girl from Tomorrow Never Dies.
The story centres around a 400-year old sword, 'The Green Destiny Sword', which is stolen after being donated by its owner to Sir Te (Lung Sihung), a respected leader who was a friend of Shu Lien's (Michelle Yeoh) father. Shu Lien is reluctant to take the sword until Li (Chow Yun Fat), explains that he is giving away the Green Destiny because, after years of fighting he wants to follow a new path in life.
To recover the sword, they must defeat the extremely skilled and talented Jen...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Plot: A gangster promises his dying father that he will go straight, but it proves harder than ever he imagined...
Release details
DVD Region: DVD
Studio(s): WALT DISNEY STUDIOS HOME ENTERTAINM; TECHNICOLOR DISTRIBUTION SERVICES
Release date: 28/02/2005
No of Discs: 1
Catalogue No: BED 881545
Barcode: 5017188815451
DVD Description
Sylvester Stallone stars as famed mobster Angelo SnapsProvolone, who promises his dying father (Kirk Douglas) that he will hang up his tommy gun and lead a kinder, gentler life. However, on the day Snaps is to start his legitimate career in banking, he gets derailed by a spate of family emergencies. It all begins when Snaps's accountant suddenly declares his intention to wed the ex-gangster's daughter (Marisa Tomei)--but he's not the only prospective husband banging at Snaps's door. Then, just to complicate matters, his daughter announces she's pregnant. Later, a young stranger arrives, claiming to be Snaps's daughter--which is news to him. And that's just the beginning of the confusion in this madcap farce from esteemed comedy director John Landis.
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