Never mind Virginia Woolf, she's a lightweight compared to "Martha" (Elizabeth Taylor) as "Nick" (George Segal) and his wife "Honey" (Sandy Dennis) are about to discover for themselves. They've already been at a faculty do with her and husband "George" (Richard Burton) and have gone round after for a nightcap. That's their first mistake as a vitriolic battle of sarcastic and venomous wits is just getting started between their hosts. Initially they are sympathetically embarrassed but then that morphs into something a little more participative as the brandy and the bourbon starts to take effect on everyone. In vino vertitas has never been more true as it emerges that the older couple have a son, the other bugger, and it's clear from early on that something on that front is not right. The younger couple are not immune from the prevailing toxicity and before long they are also starting to question some of what underpins their own relationship. As tempers flare, things become even more unpleasant - even violent, as there are no holds barred and psychological cruelty becomes the benchmark for just about all of them. I saw this on stage and loved it. On the big screen, Mike Nicholls has used his cinematic advantages to make it even more potent. By using the cast together, splitting them off into pairs, changing the location from their increasingly small living room, occasionally involving an innocent bystander to temporarily lessen the stress levels and even pouring some coffee into them, we tell a remarkably hard-hitting story of grief. A festering, poisonous emotion that when not dealt with can grow to throttle just about any relationship - especially if the vintner is on it, too. Taylor and Burton excel, there's no other word for it. Her performance makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up and is perfectly foiled by the more understated but just as brutal characterisation of "George" by a Burton rather benignly bedecked in his middle-aged cardigan - but don't be fooled. Though the plot doesn't focus so much on the others at the start, both Segal and a strong effort from Dennis come into their own too as the ghastliness of their new friends proves contagious and noxious. It's also directed as if we were watching from various points in the room, which adds extra impact as we see things from differing perspectives - but always with a horribly natural flow. It often comes across as a continuous stream of filming akin to how it would be presented live on a stage. This is cinema at it's most visceral with compelling characterisations and dialogue that really does hurt. Maybe don't watch if you've just had a row, or a few drinks, or both? No remakes, please.
London, 1929. Frank Webber, a very busy Scotland Yard detective, seems to be more interested in his work than in Alice White, his girlfriend. Feeling herself ignored, Alice agrees to go out with an elegant and well-mannered artist who invites her to visit his fancy apartment.
Suzanne Stone wants to be a world-famous news anchor and she is willing to do anything to get what she wants. What she lacks in intelligence, she makes up for in cold determination and diabolical wiles. As she pursues her goal with relentless focus, she is forced to destroy anything and anyone that may stand in her way, regardless of the ultimate cost or means necessary.
Tells the life story of Danish author Karen Blixen, who at the beginning of the 20th century moved to Africa to build a new life for herself. The film is based on her 1937 autobiographical novel.
Crotchety retired doctor Isak Borg travels from Stockholm to Lund, Sweden, with his pregnant and unhappy daughter-in-law, Marianne, in order to receive an honorary degree from his alma mater. Along the way, they encounter a series of hitchhikers, each of whom causes the elderly doctor to muse upon the pleasures and failures of his own life. These include the vivacious young Sara, a dead ringer for the doctor's own first love.
A married farmer falls under the spell of a slatternly woman from the city, who tries to convince him to drown his wife.
It's a dreary Christmas 1944 for the American POWs in Stalag 17 and the men in Barracks 4, all sergeants, have to deal with a grave problem—there seems to be a security leak.
A touching story of an Italian book seller of Jewish ancestry who lives in his own little fairy tale. His creative and happy life would come to an abrupt halt when his entire family is deported to a concentration camp during World War II. While locked up he tries to convince his son that the whole thing is just a game.
Bored with the limited and tedious nature of provincial life in 19th-century France, the fierce and sensual Emma Bovary finds herself in calamitous debt and pursues scandalous sexual liaisons with absolute abandon. However, when her volatile lifestyle catches up to her, the lives of everyone around her are endangered.
An insurance investigator begins discovering the impact a horror writer's books has on his fans is more than inspirational.
A drama teacher's taboo relationship with an unstable student strikes a nerve in her jealous classmate, sparking a vengeful chain of events within their suburban high school that draws parallels to "The Crucible".
Pleasantly plump teenager Tracy Turnblad auditions to be on Baltimore's most popular dance show - The Corny Collins Show - and lands a prime spot. Through her newfound fame, she becomes determined to help her friends and end the racial segregation that has been a staple of the show.