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Actress Emma Thompson both wrote and stars in this adaptation of Jane Austen's SENSE AND SENSIBILITY--a novel that perceptively examines the social manners and laws of early-19th-century Britain. Set in the English countryside the film follows the loves and heartaches of sisters Elinor Thompson and Marianne Dashwood Kate Winslet. The two have extremely divergent approaches to life: Elinor represents "sense" and believes in behaving with propriety and thoughtfulness while Marianne represents "sensibility" and basks in her own emotions. Both women however experience confusion when their lovers seemingly on the verge of proposing marriage spurn them. For director Ang Lee the film marks a break from his Father Knows Best trilogy which examined the problems of the contemporary Taiwanese family. Many people questioned whether an Asian director could handle an English period film. Lee answered those questions with a gorgeous film that both captures the nuances of Austen's novel and proves that Lee is a first-rate di

This classic Monty Python comedy directed by Pythons Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones is a hilarious send-up of the grim circumstances of the Middle Ages as told through the story of King Arthur and framed by a modern-day murder investigation. When the mythical king of the Britons leads his knights on a quest for the Holy Grail they face a wide array of horrors including a persistent Black Knight a three-headed giant a cadre of shrubbery-challenged knights the perilous Castle Anthrax a killer rabbit a house of virgins and a handful of rude Frenchmen. In addition to the set pieces the film also includes the same kind of surreal animation that Gilliam contributed to the television series. Throughout the irreverent adventures the Python crew eschews realism in favor of anachronistic social satire a recipe it later returned to in the 1979 biblical farce MONTY PYTHON'S LIFE OF BRIAN. Melding the ridiculous with the sublime the film quickly inspired a cult following generated a host of quotes and even inspired a compu

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Written and directed by Richard Curtis and produced by Duncan Kenworthy the team behind NOTTING HILL and FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL this zingy British comedy weaves a vivid crazy quilt of interlocking or unrelated vignettes all dealing with the subject of love over the Christmas holidays in London. The big name cast includes Hugh Grant as a prime minister who falls for a staff member Liam Neeson as a widower counseling his son in the ways of romance Laura Linney as a shy woman working up the nerve to ask out a coworker Emma Thompson and Alan Rickman as a couple faced with infidelity and Colin Firth as a writer who falls for his Portuguese maid. Additionally a pair of porn film stand-ins bond on the set an artist fantasizes about his friend's wife; and perhaps funniest of all an aging rock star Bill Nighy tries for his comeback with a Christmas novelty song. The likes of Billy Bob Thornton Rowan Atkinson and Denise Richards turn in cameos helping making this film a throwback to those all-star multi-plotted co

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When gallant Don Pedro Denzel Washington his nefarious brother Don John Keanu Reeves and close confidantes Claudio Robert Sean Leonard and Benedick Kenneth Branagh ride thunderously into the Sicilian village of Messina romance gaiety and suspicion abound. The men have returned safely from a war and soon everyone in the sun-drenched villa is abuzz with thoughts of love. Claudio enamored of the purity of the nubile Hero Kate Beckinsale entreats Don Pedro to woo the maiden on his behalf that evening at a masked ball. Once he's managed the successful betrothal of Hero to Claudio Don Pedro has another plot in mind: he plans to trick Hero's bantering cousin Beatrice Emma Thompson and sworn bachelor Benedick into acknowledging they've fallen in love. Meanwhile the villainous Don John driven by contempt for his compatriots has hatched a plot of his own: to fool Claudio and Don Pedro into believing Hero is unchaste. The plot works perfectly: sensitive but volatile Claudio denounces her publicly on their wedding day. A

In his second adaptation of an Oscar Wilde play writer-director Oliver Parker AN IDEAL HUSBAND assembles a peerless cast to engage in this witty comedy of manners and mistaken identity. In 1890s London rakish Algernon Montcrieff Rupert Everett who also starred in HUSBAND runs into his friend Jack Worthing Colin Firth who is in town to propose marriage to Algy's wildly romantic cousin Gwendolen Frances O'Connor. When returning a cigarette case to Jack Algy reads the inscription and discovers his friend has two secrets. Jack has created a devilish younger brotheralter ego called "Ernest" to hide his own misdeeds and has a beautiful young ward named Cecily Reese Witherspoon whom he wants to keep clear of the roguish Algy. While Jack deals with the large obstacle standing between him and Gwendolen--namely her mother the imposing Lady Bracknell a wonderfully imperious Judi Dench--Algy devises a way to meet Cecily. The confusion and hilarity come to a peak when Algy arrives at Jack's country manor posing as Ernest

A comedy about the inhabitants of Tulley More a small Irish town with a population of fifty-two and dwindling. When Jackie and Michael discover that someone in their town has won the national lottery they intend to uncover the lucky individual and talk him into sharing the jackpot with them. Trouble arises when they discover it's good old Ned Devine and no longer is he one of the living. The citizens must band together and fool the authorities into believing that Ned is still alive in order for them to receive the money and share it amongst themselves.