Ivanhoe

• Stand and pledge loyalty -- or prepare to lie cold beneath your shields. Chivalrous knight Wilfrid of Ivanhoe is determined to restore Richard the Lionhearted to England's throne. Gallantry and costumed pageantry combine in this crowd-pleasing nominee for 3 Academy Awards including Best Picture. Robert Taylor plays the title role and Elizabeth Taylor and Joan Fontaine also star in a rousing adapta

Overlooked by critics on its initial release in 2006, this erotically charged mystery has nonetheless continued to develop such a following among booksellers that Melville House has decided to re-release it in a stunning new package.

As for the story that's earning such loyalty: it's a whip-smart conversation between Stella, a vivacious, aspiring writer and Bohemian eco-activist, and Edward Prain, a refined connoisseur of the rare books on hand in Stella's fusty London bookstall.

Whi! le Prain is mysteriously aloof about his background, Stella finds his insights into art more and more stimulating, until one rainy afternoon she makes a surprising discovery: Prain is the head of England's most prestigious publishing house and a leading collector of art. And now, he would like her to come to tea at his country estate . . . to discuss her writing.

Stella is too intrigued to say no. Yet their cat-and-mouse game only intensifies at his sumptuous estate, where she finds herself engaged in an increasingly devilish conversation on the making of art, the selling of art, and the protection of self until Prain reveals that he knows more about her past than he has ever let on. . . .Debbie Reynolds's daughter--Carrie Fisher, a noted Hollywood script doctor--cowrote this television movie as a sort of Grumpy Old Women, so the story goes. Viewed in that light, this 91-minute lark is entertaining, if frequently inane. It's the story of the professional reun! ion of three feuding costars (Reynolds, Shirley MacLaine, Joan! Collins ) after their '60s musical becomes a cult hit decades later. The fun part is the skewering of their real lives that these actresses good-humoredly allow. Reynolds plays a Vegas casino-owning diva who showcases her own talent and allows her dolt of a husband to run the business side of things--a state of affairs not too different from her real Vegas days. MacLaine offers a comic version of her legendary spiritual persona with such zingers as "My inner child is having such a tantrum." And Joan Collins makes fun of her choice of men with a mobster boyfriend instead of that litigious young husband of some years back. Elizabeth Taylor makes a goofy cameo appearance as the actresses' agent, and Fisher has a lot of fun staging a verbal catfight between the agent and Reynolds over a man named Freddie. (In real life Liz infamously stole Carrie's dad, Eddie Fisher, from then wife Debbie.) All pretty good. But why the framing with MacLaine's "adopted" son, inhabited by the unfunny Jona! than Silverman; and why the too-broadly caricatured producer? Only the daughter knows. --Kimberly HeinrichsIVANHOE - DVD MovieAmong the most exciting of MGM swashbucklers, Richard Thorpe's 1952 Ivanhoe stars Robert Taylor as the medieval hero of Sir Walter Scott's novel. Returning to England from the Third Crusades, Ivanhoe is steadfast in his determination to raise the ransom for the captured King Richard (Norman Wooland), but the effort is full of peril. First is Ivanhoe's reunion with his estranged father (Finlay Currie), a Saxon who hates the Norman king and refuses to give his son the money. Then there's Ivanhoe's unpopular rescue of a wealthy Jew, Isaac (Felix Aylmer), from anti-Semites, and the subsequent decision by Isaac's beautiful daughter, Rebecca (Elizabeth Taylor), to pay Ivanhoe's entry fee in a tournament. (The strapped knight seeks the tourney's cash prize.) Wait, it gets worse: two of Ivanhoe's closest associates (played by George Sanders and! Robert Douglas) collude with Richard's evil brother, Prince J! ohn (Guy Rolfe), to discredit their friend and steal away Rebecca and another woman, Rowena (Joan Fontaine)--who also fancies Ivanhoe--for themselves. Yes, the situation looks grim, but surprise appearances by a couple of legendary hero types toward the end help level the playing field. Nonstop adventure to make one swoon, Ivanhoe is a gorgeous treat and reasonably faithful to the Age of Chivalry. Things worked out so well for this film, Thorpe and Taylor got together the next year to make Knights of the Round Table. --Tom Keogh

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Holiday Switch

• HOLIDAY SWITCH (DVD MOVIE)

It s a week before Christmas, and Paula (Nicole Eggert) is struggling with bills, life with her blue-collar husband Gary and her two daughters. So when Nick, her high school boyfriend, returns to town a wealthy art gallery owner, Paula begins to wonder where she would be if she had stayed with him and not Gary. When Paula makes a holiday wish to see what life would have been like had she made another choice, she is magically transported through her washer/dryer to a parallel life where she is Nick s wife. At first, this other life seems the answer to her dreams, as she shops and dines out with her newfound wealth. But she soon realizes that the grass is NOT always greener on the other side. Her relationship with Nick is in shambles, and she misses her real husband Gary and her two girls. When she sees Gary and her kids living a happy life with another woman, she wis! hes for just one more Christmas gift--to have back the life she didn t appreciate.Is the grass really greener along the road not taken? Holiday Switch, a charming and well-acted TV film, examines that question through the life of Paula (Nicole Eggert), a harried housewife whose sweet husband, Gary (Bret Anthony), is struggling to make ends meet for his family. Paula is never caught up on her laundry, she has the worst haircut ever given to a human person, and she longs for an easier life, a little pampering, a husband with money and influence. Is that so wrong? When she bumps into her high-school boyfriend, Nick (Brett Le Bourveau), a successful art dealer, her fantasies run wild. The next thing Paula knows, she wakes up in a different reality--in a much ritzier zip code. In the manner of It's a Wonderful Life or Sliding Doors, Paula is suddenly plopped into a parallel universe--the luxe life with Nick that she thinks she's always wanted. The first day ! is fun--Paula gets to play dress-up and drench herself in jewe! lry, fur s, great designer clothes, and every luxury she can imagine (though, oddly, she is still stuck with that bad haircut). But before long she realizes the dangers of wanting something just beyond one's reach--and not being grateful for what really matters. Eggert throws herself enthusiastically into the role of both Paulas, and her gradual realization of what she loves and misses about sweet old blue-collar Gary is conveyed with subtlety and nuance. But Paula's new, fractured life doesn't seem to be a dream she can awaken from--and Paula's heartache is palpable. Holiday Switch is set at Christmastime, so that the themes of family, gratitude, and the value of love over material possessions ring even more true. You see, Paula? You really have had a wonderful life. --A.T. Hurley

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House of Flying Daggers [Blu-ray]

• Condition: New
• Format: Blu-ray
• AC-3; Color; Dolby; Dubbed; Subtitled; Widescreen

(Action) A cross between Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Tarantino’s Kill Bill, scheming royals and other officials attempt to consolidate power in a empire in chaos. Packed with deadly plots, sweeping camerawork, and elaborate fight choreography.Tackling William Shakespeare's Hamlet, director Xiaogang Feng presents a unique take on the bard's famous play with the action drama Legend of the Black Scorpion, which is beautifully filmed and well acted. Ziyi Zhang stars as Empress Wan, a conniving woman whose beauty is equaled by her taste for power. She lustfully longs for her stepson Wu Lan (Daniel Wu). But when the Emperor dies, it is Wu Lan's younger brother who ascends to the throne, setting off a chain of events that are tragic. Though the story is familiar, the presentation is anyt! hing but; just as Hamlet captivated readers with its tale of lust, greed, and betrayal, Legend of the Black Scorpion draws viewers in with a story that is both fascinating and repulsive, but shot so beautifully that the eyes are drawn to the screen. Legendary fight choreographer Woo-ping Yuen (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, the Matrix trilogy) orchestrates some beautifully fierce aerial battles that while no longer novel are still thrilling to watch. We are used to seeing Zhang in the wide-eyed ingénue roles. As the cold-hearted matriarch, she more than proves her abilities as an actress who is ready to move onto meatier roles that aren't driven by her beauty. --Jae-Ha KimThe story of a man's parents' courtship unfolds when he comes home to bury his father.
Genre: Foreign Film - Chinese
Rating: G
Release Date: 27-NOV-2001
Media Type: DVDAt the start of the most recent film from Chinese director Zha! ng Yimou (Raise the Red Lantern, Ju Dou, Shan! ghai Tri ad), a young man returns to his native village after the death of his father, the village's schoolteacher, who died while trying to raise money for a new schoolhouse. His body is in a neighboring town; the young man's mother insists that it be brought back on foot, lest his spirit not find his way home. From this starting point, the young man recounts the tale of his parents' courtship, which involved a red banner, mushroom dumplings, a colorful barrette, and a broken bowl. The Road Home is beautifully filmed, particularly the luminous face of Zhang Ziyi (from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), whose performance is a heartrending portrait of hope and yearning. A simple but deeply emotional film. --Bret Fetzer"Prepare your eyes for popping," in this "martial-arts fireball that throws in a lyrical love story, head spinning fights and dazzling surprises" (Rolling Stone). "A gorgeous entertainment" (A.O. Scott, New York Times). Mei is an exotic, beautiful ! blind dancer, associated with a dangerous revolutionary gang, known as the House of Flying Daggers. Captured by officers of the decadent Tang Dynasty, Mei finds herself both threatened - and attracted - to the most unusual circumstances. Here, her heart and loyalties battle each other, amid warriors in the treetops and dazzling combat - the likes of which have never before been seen!No one uses color like Chinese director Zhang Yimou--movies like Raise the Red Lantern or Hero, though different in tone and subject matter, are drenched in rich, luscious shades of red, blue, yellow, and green. House of Flying Daggers is no exception; if they weren't choreographed with such vigorous imagination, the spectacular action sequences would seem little more than an excuse for vivid hues rippling across the screen. Government officers Leo and Jin (Asian superstars Andy Lau and Takeshi Kaneshiro) set out to destroy an underground rebellion called the House of Flying! Daggers (named for their weapon of choice, a curved blade tha! t swoops through the air like a boomerang). Their only chance to find the rebels is a blind women named Mei (Ziyi Zhang, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) who has some lethal kung fu moves of her own. In the guise of an aspiring rebel, Jin escorts Mei through gorgeous forests and fields that become bloody battlegrounds as soldiers try to kill them both. While arrows and spears of bamboo fly through the air, Mei, Jin, and Leo turn against each other in surprising ways, driven by passion and honor. Zhang's previous action/art film, Hero, sometimes sacrificed momentum for sheer visual beauty; House of Flying Daggers finds a more muscular balance of aesthetic splendor and dazzling swordplay. --Bret Fetzer

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