I particularly like most of Mike Leigh’s movies, so it is surprising that I took so long to get around to watching Topsy Turvy. A few of his films are on my list of favorite films out there, but sadly this effort did not threaten to crack that list. Not that I didn’t enjoy it overall. It was entertaining and fun, though it hovered on minor scenes sometimes on its way to lasting two hours and forty minutes. And it was interesting to see how the Gilbert and Sullivan characters worked together, assuming it is somewhat accurate portrayal of the actual historical duo. Finally, it features four of my favorite British actors: Lesley Manville, Timothy Spall (who disappears into the role of the Mikado), Alison Steadman and Jim Broadbent. One element that kept me from enjoying the movie even more was the tendency for the characters to mutter to each other when conversing. I turned up the volume at those times, which not only failed to solve the problem completely, but then when the scene changed into one of the great choruses from the Mikado, it blasted me out of my seat. Then I’d turn it down, wait and repeat. So I cautiously recommend watching Topsy Turvy, especially if you like understated British movies, or for that matter, The Mikado.
A saga of class relations and changing times in an Edwardian England on the brink of modernity, the film centers on liberal Margaret Schlegel, who, along with her sister Helen, becomes involved with two couples: wealthy, conservative industrialist Henry Wilcox and his wife Ruth, and the downwardly mobile working-class Leonard Bast and his mistress Jackie.
Kingdom of Hungary, 17th century. As she gets older, powerful Countess Erzsébet Báthory (1560-1614), blinded by the passion that she feels for a younger man, succumbs to the mad delusion that blood will keep her young and beautiful forever.
When a impoverished widow’s family moves to the big city, two of her five sons become romantic rivals with deadly results.
"Do We Really Have to Give Up Our Day Jobs?" - A documentary about the making of the album Speak & Spell, featuring interviews with the group including former band member Vince Clarke and other relevant personnel such as Daniel Miller. It features various vintage footage, such as appearances on Top of the Pops and BBC Speak & Spell Tour recordings.
After the Cuban Revolution, Che is at the height of his fame and power. Then he disappears, re-emerging incognito in Bolivia, where he organizes a small group of Cuban comrades and Bolivian recruits to start the great Latin American Revolution. Through this story, we come to understand how Che remains a symbol of idealism and heroism that lives in the hearts of people around the world.
The Argentine, begins as Che and a band of Cuban exiles (led by Fidel Castro) reach the Cuban shore from Mexico in 1956. Within two years, they mobilized popular support and an army and toppled the U.S.-friendly regime of dictator Fulgencio Batista.
Set between the parallel worlds of contemporary London and the futuristic faith dominated metropolis of Meanwhile City, Franklyn weaves a tale of four souls, whose lives are intertwined by fate, romance and tragedy. As these worlds collide, a single bullet determines the destiny of these four characters.
A look at the life of legendary American pilot Amelia Earhart, who disappeared while flying over the Pacific Ocean in 1937 in an attempt to make a flight around the world.
Bill wants to join the Army, but he's 4F so he asks a wizard to help him, but the wizard has slight problems with his history knowlege, so he sends Bill everywhere in history, but not to WWII.