Posts Tagged ‘1890s’

The Time Machine (1960)

Thursday, May 7th, 2009
Genres: Adventure | Sci-Fi
Countries: USA
Actors: Rod Taylor | Alan Young | Yvette Mimieux | Sebastian Cabot | Tom Helmore | Whit Bissell | Doris Lloyd | Bob Barran | Paul Frees | James Skelly | Josephine Powell
Directors: George Pal
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From the book by H.G. Wells, a scientist and tinkerer builds a time machine and uses it to explore the distant future where there are two races, a mild gentle race, and a cannibalistic one living underground. His machine is stolen by the underground race and he must risk being captured (and eaten) to return to his own time.

Hello, Dolly! (1969)

Friday, December 19th, 2008
Genres: Comedy | Family | Musical | Romance
Countries: USA
Actors: Barbra Streisand | Walter Matthau | Michael Crawford | Marianne McAndrew | Danny Lockin | E.J. Peaker | Joyce Ames | Tommy Tune | Judy Knaiz | David Hurst | Fritz Feld | Richard Collier | J. Pat O'Malley | Louis Armstrong
Directors: Gene Kelly
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Film adaptation of the beloved Broadway musical. Concerns itself with Dolly Levi, a New York-based matchmaker who merrily arranges things… like furniture and daffodils and lives. A widow, she has found herself in love with a “half-a-millionaire” Yonkers merchant named Horace Vandergelder. So she proceeds to weave a web of romantic complications involving him, his two clerks, a pretty milliner and her assistant. Eventually, of course, all is sorted out, and everyone ends up with the right person.

Gandhi (1982)

Thursday, December 18th, 2008
Genres: Biography | Drama | History
Countries: India | UK
Actors: Ben Kingsley | Candice Bergen | Edward Fox | John Gielgud | Trevor Howard | John Mills | Martin Sheen | Ian Charleson | Athol Fugard | Günther Maria Halmer | Saeed Jaffrey | Geraldine James | Alyque Padamsee | Amrish Puri | Roshan Seth
Directors: Richard Attenborough
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When ‘Mahatma Gandhi’ (qv) first set foot in British India, he had already been to Britain and South Africa, and had created quite a stir for the betterment of the people. But in India, he realized that he had first to live the life of a peasant to understand what it is to be an Indian. This resolve will lead him to shed his westerners clothing, and don a simple loincloth, be subjected to racial slurs from none other than Winston Churchill (Half naked Indian Fakir); Mobilize awareness of local industry and less dependence on imported clothing and material; the historic dandee march for withdrawal of the salt tax; a fast unto death to stop the virtual slaughter of British troops by irate Indian mobs; and be imprisoned several times. His resolve was to work with stalwarts such as Mohammed Ali Jinnah, Sardar Valabhbhai Patel, Professor Gokhale, J.B. Kripalani, Maulana Azad, and Pandit Jawarharlal Nehru to ensure first of all to get the British to quit India, and then run an Indian Government under the Congress party. Gandhi will soon realize that it is not enough to be just an Indian, for India has many facets - Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, Jewish, and Christian. The British relied on these many facets as an excuse for their continuance as they wanted to ensure that the minorities are not oppressed by the Hindu majority. Concerned over the inroads made by Gandhi to unite the Hindus, Muslims, and all others under a common umbrella, the British invited Jinnah for talks, and it is here that a seed was laid for a separate country called Pakistan. When Gandhi came to know about this, he pleaded with Jinnah to unite the Muslims, even take over as the first Prime Minister with his choice of Muslim candidates for Parliament, but separatist Jinnah had already made his mind. The World Wars of 1914 and 1944 having taken it’s toll on Europe and Britain in particular, the weary British finally decided to leave India in 1947 - not the India they had conquered - but an India that was ready to be divided in East Pakistan and West Pakistan. Now after the much awaited independence was the real test for Gandhi - a test that will make him or break him - as he started a fast unto death to try and stop the violence that was threatening to break out into a civil war, not realizing that he had indirectly fanned Hindu extremism, which would later be called the Shiv Sena, into taking the matter directly in their hands to ensure that Muslims are kept out of their Hindustan forever.

The Haunting of M. (1981)

Wednesday, December 17th, 2008
Genres: Horror
Countries: USA
Actors: Sheelagh Gilbey | Nini Pitt | Evie Garratt | Alan Hay | Jo Scott Matthews | William Bryan | Peter Austin | Ernest Bale | Isolde Cazelet | Varvara Pepper | Peter Stenson | Jenny Greenaway | Gwen Williams | Ruby Melvin | Willie Payne
Directors: Anna Thomas
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This ghost story, set at the turn of the century, centers on the plight of elderly dowager Marianna (Sheelagh Gilbey), who is tormented by the alleged specter of a young man roaming the corridors of her mansion. After spotting a face in an old photograph that seems to match the old woman’s description of the “visitor”, Marianna’s sister (Nina Pitt) decides to check things out and see if any of this is for real.

Citizen Kane (1941)

Tuesday, December 16th, 2008
Genres: Drama | Mystery
Countries: USA
Actors: Joseph Cotten | Dorothy Comingore | Agnes Moorehead | Ruth Warrick | Ray Collins | Erskine Sanford | Everett Sloane | William Alland | Paul Stewart | George Coulouris | Fortunio Bonanova | Gus Schilling | Philip Van Zandt | Georgia Backus | Harry Shannon
Directors: Orson Welles
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Considered by many to be the best film ever made, this is the story of Charles Foster Kane. The film opens with a long shot of Xanadu - the private estate of one of the world’s richest men. In the middle of the estate is a castle. We see, inside the castle, a dying man examining a winter scene within a crystal ball. As he drops it, it smashes, and one word is heard - “Rosebud…” What follows are pieces of newsreel-like footage detailing how Kane amassed his fortune, and turning around full circle at the end.

The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)

Monday, December 15th, 2008
Genres: Drama
Countries: USA
Actors: Joseph Cotten | Dolores Costello | Anne Baxter | Tim Holt | Agnes Moorehead | Ray Collins | Erskine Sanford | Richard Bennett | Orson Welles | Edwin August | Jack Baxley | William Blees | Lyle Clement | Bobby Cooper | Don Dillaway
Directors: Fred Fleck
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The young, handsome, but somewhat wild Eugene Morgan wants to marry Isabel Amberson, daughter of a rich upper-class family, but she instead marries dull and steady Wilbur Minafer. Their only child, George, grows up a spoiled brat. Years later, Eugene comes back, now a mature widower and a successful automobile maker. After Wilbur dies, Eugene again asks Isabel to marry him, and she is receptive. But George resents the attentions paid to his mother, and he and his whacko aunt Fanny manage to sabotage the romance. A series of disasters befall the Ambersons and George, and he gets his come-uppance in the end.

The Prestige (2006)

Wednesday, December 10th, 2008
Genres: Drama | Fantasy | Thriller
Countries: UK | USA
Actors: Hugh Jackman | Christian Bale | Michael Caine | Piper Perabo | Rebecca Hall | Scarlett Johansson | Samantha Mahurin | David Bowie | Andy Serkis | Daniel Davis | Jim Piddock | Christopher Neame | Mark Ryan | Roger Rees | Jamie Harris
Directors: Christopher Nolan
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A mysterious story of two magicians whose intense rivalry leads them on a life-long battle for supremacy — full of obsession, deceit and jealousy with dangerous and deadly consequences. From the time that they first met as young magicians on the rise, Robert Angier and Alfred Borden were competitors. However, their friendly competition evolves into a bitter rivalry making them fierce enemies-for-life and consequently jeopardizing the lives of everyone around them. Set against the backdrop of turn-of-the-century London.

The Road to Wellville (1994)

Friday, March 28th, 2008
Genres: Comedy
Countries: USA
Actors: Anthony Hopkins | Bridget Fonda | Matthew Broderick | John Cusack | Dana Carvey | Michael Lerner | Colm Meaney | John Neville | Lara Flynn Boyle | Traci Lind | Camryn Manheim | Roy Brocksmith | Norbert Weisser | Monica Parker | Jacob Reynolds
Directors: Alan Parker
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In Welville, at Battle Creek, eccentric rich Dr. John Harvey Kellogg (a historical figure) runs a stylish health farm for the wealthy, an idea ahead of his time, based on extreme vegetarianism, neither sex, masturbation or even sensual stimulation, but laughing therapy and purging the ‘polluted’ body, mainly by exercises, often in open air, vicious diet, his invention corn flakes, laxatives, anal yogurt cure, enemas and brutal mechanical cleansing. Eleanor Lightbody drags her sickly, incredulous husband Will along to the therapy; the couple is almost immediately separated and getting horny for more available members of the opposite sex. Kellogs stubbornly willful adopted son (among over 30 kids) George is a filthy embarrassment, paid off just to stay away. Charles Ossining panics when arriving in Battle Creek he finds his aunt’s fortune made him partner in the empty shell- health food company Per-fo, not the planned corn-flakes factory; however with a former Welville-employee and George’s name they hope to get rich from their own cornflakes brand. When an electric therapy goes fatally wrong and several other patients die, Will’s incredulous reluctance turns to panic…

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)

Tuesday, February 19th, 2008
Genres: Biography | Crime | Drama | Western
Countries: USA
Actors: Brad Pitt | Mary-Louise Parker | Brooklynn Proulx | Dustin Bollinger | Casey Affleck | Sam Rockwell | Jeremy Renner | Sam Shepard | Garret Dillahunt | Paul Schneider | Joel McNichol | James Defelice | J.C. Roberts | Darrell Orydzuk | Jonathan Erich Drachenberg
Directors: Andrew Dominik
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Robert Ford, who’s idolized Jesse James since childhood, tries hard to join the reforming gang of the Missouri outlaw, but gradually becomes resentful of the bandit leader.

Transformers (2007)

Sunday, October 21st, 2007
Genres: Action | Adventure | Fantasy | Sci-Fi | Thriller
Countries: USA
Actors: Shia LaBeouf | Megan Fox | Josh Duhamel | Rachael Taylor | Tyrese Gibson | Jon Voight | Anthony Anderson | John Turturro | Michael O'Neill | Peter Cullen | Charlie Bodin | Andrew Caldwell | Bryan Cox | Keith David | Frederic Doss
Directors: Michael Bay
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A long time ago, far away on the planet of Cybertron, a war was being waged between the noble Autobots (led by the wise Optimus Prime) and the devious Decepticons (commanded by the dreaded Megatron) for control over the Allspark, a mystical talisman that would grant unlimited power to whoever possessed it. The Autobots managed to smuggle the Allspark off the planet, but Megatron blasted off in search of it. He eventually tracked it to the planet of Earth (circa 1850), but his reckless desire for power sent him right into the Arctic Ocean, and the sheer cold forced him into a paralyzed state. His body was later found by Captain Archibald Witwicky, and before going into a comatose state Megatron used the last of his energy to engrave a map, showing the location of the Allspark, into the Captain’s glasses, and send a transmission to Cybertron. He is then carted away by the Captain’s ship. A century later, Sam Witwicky, nicknamed Spike by his friends, buys his first car. To his shock, he discovers it to be Bumblebee, an Autobot in disguise who is to protect Spike, as he bears the Captain’s glasses and the map carved on them. But Bumblebee is not the only Transformer to have arrived on Earth - in the desert of Qatar, the Decepticons Blackout and Scorponok attack a U.S. military base, causing the Pentagon to send their special Sector Seven agents to capture all “specimens of this alien race,” and Spike and his girlfriend Mikaela find themselves in the middle of a grand battle between the Autobots and the Decepticons, stretching from Hoover Dam all the way to Los Angeles. Meanwhile, within the depths of Hoover Dam, the cryogenically stored form of Megatron awakens…

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)

Wednesday, October 3rd, 2007
Genres: Adventure | Biography | Crime | Western
Countries: USA
Actors: Paul Newman | Robert Redford | Katharine Ross | Strother Martin | Henry Jones | Jeff Corey | George Furth | Cloris Leachman | Ted Cassidy | Kenneth Mars | Donnelly Rhodes | Jody Gilbert | Timothy Scott | Don Keefer | Charles Dierkop
Directors: George Roy Hill
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Butch and Sundance are the two leaders of the Hole-in-the-Wall Gang. Butch is all ideas, Sundance is all action and skill. The west is becoming civilized and when Butch and Sundance rob a train once too often, a special posse begins trailing them no matter where they run. Over rock, through towns, across rivers, the group is always just behind them. When they finally escape through sheer luck, Butch has another idea, “Let’s go to Bolivia”. Based on the exploits of the historical characters.

Moulin Rouge! (2001)

Saturday, May 5th, 2007
Genres: Drama | Musical | Romance
Countries: Australia | USA
Actors: Nicole Kidman | Ewan McGregor | John Leguizamo | Jim Broadbent | Richard Roxburgh | Garry McDonald | Jacek Koman | Matthew Whittet | Kerry Walker | Caroline O'Connor | Christine Anu | Natalie Jackson Mendoza | Lara Mulcahy | David Wenham | Kylie Minogue
Directors: Baz Luhrmann
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Christian, a young wannabe Bohemian poet living in 1899 Paris, defies his father by joining the colorfully diverse clique inhabiting the dark, fantastical underworld of Paris’ now legendary Moulin Rouge. In this seedy but glamorous haven of sex, drugs and newly-discovered electricity, the poet-innocent finds himself plunged into a passionate but ultimately tragic love affair with Satine, the club’s highest paid star and the city’s most famous courtesan. Their romance is played out against the infamous club - a meeting place of high life and low, where slumming aristocrats and the fashionably rich mingled with workers, artists, Bohemians, actresses and courtesans.

The Village (2004)

Friday, May 4th, 2007
Genres: Drama | Mystery | Thriller
Countries: USA
Actors: Bryce Dallas Howard | Joaquin Phoenix | Adrien Brody | William Hurt | Sigourney Weaver | Brendan Gleeson | Cherry Jones | Celia Weston | John Christopher Jones | Frank Collison | Jayne Atkinson | Judy Greer | Fran Kranz | Michael Pitt | Jesse Eisenberg
Directors: M. Night Shyamalan
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In a quiet, isolated village in olde Pennsylvania, there lies a pact between the people of the village and the creatures who reside in the surrounding woods: the townspeople do not enter the woods, and the creatures do not enter the village. The pact stays true for many years, but when Lucius Hunt seeks medical supplies from the towns beyond the wood, the pact is challenged. Animal carcasses, devoid of fur, begin to appear around the village, causing the council of elders to fear for the safety of the village, the pact, and so much more.

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003)

Wednesday, February 14th, 2007
Genres: Action | Fantasy | Sci-Fi
Countries: Czech Republic | Germany | UK | USA
Actors: Sean Connery | Naseeruddin Shah | Peta Wilson | Tony Curran | Stuart Townsend | Shane West | Jason Flemyng | Richard Roxburgh | Max Ryan | Tom Goodman-Hill | David Hemmings | Terry O'Neill | Rudolf Pellar | Robert Willox | Robert Orr
Directors: Stephen Norrington
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Renowned adventurer Allan Quatermain (Connery) leads a team of extraordinary figures with legendary powers to battle the technological terror of a madman known as “The Fantom.” This “League” comprises seafarer/inventor Captain Nemo (Shah), vampiress Mina Harker (Wilson), an invisible man named Rodney Skinner (Curran), American secret service agent Tom Sawyer (West), the ageless and invincible Dorian Gray (Townsend), and the dangerous split personality of Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde (Flemyng).