After their production “Princess Ida” meets with less-than-stunning reviews, the relationship between Gilbert and Sullivan is strained to breaking. Their friends and associates attempt to get the two to work together again, which opens the way to “The Mikado,” one of the duo’s greatest successes.
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Tag Archives: 1990s
A Brighter Summer Day / Gu ling jie shao nian sha ren shi jian (1991) Edward Yang, Chen Chang, Lisa Yang, Kuo-Chu Chang, Crime, Drama, Romance
Among the most praised and sought-after titles in all contemporary film, this singular masterpiece of Taiwanese cinema, directed by Edward Yang, finally comes to home video in the United States. Set in the early sixties in Taiwan, A Brighter Summer Day is based on the true story of a crime that rocked the nation. A film of both sprawling scope and tender intimacy, this novelistic, patiently observed epic centers on the gradual, inexorable fall of a young teenager (Chen Chang, in his first role) from innocence to juvenile delinquency, and is set against a simmering backdrop of restless youth, rock and roll, and political turmoil.
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A Brief History of Time (1991) Errol Morris, Stephen Hawking, Isobel Hawking, Janet Humphrey, Documentary, Biography
A documentary film based on the life of scientist Steven Hawking. The film explores the intimate life of Steven Hawking through him, his friends and his family, as he goes through school, is diagnosed with a degenerative disease, and discovers revolutionary theories about time, black holes, and the origin of the universe. A visually interesting and at times funny film about a extraordinary life.
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Il Segreto del Bosco Vecchio / The Secret of the Old Woods (1993) Ermanno Olmi, Paolo Villaggio, Giulio Brogi, Pietro Berton, Family, Fantasy
It tells the story of a general who is about to cut down an old forest for the sake of financial gain, but discovers that the forest is inhabited by invisible spirits.
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Unagi / The Eel (1997) Shôhei Imamura, Kôji Yakusho, Misa Shimizu, Mitsuko Baishô, Drama
White-collar worker Yamashita finds out that his wife has a lover visiting her when he’s away, suddenly returns home and kills her. After eight years in prison, he returns to live in a small village, opens a barber shop (he was trained as a barber in prison) and talks almost to no-one except for the eel he “befriended” in prison. One day he finds the unconscious body of Keiko, who attempted suicide and reminds him of his wife. She starts to work at his shop, but he doesn’t let her become close to him.
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The Third Page / Üçüncü Sayfa (1999) Zeki Demirkubuz, Basak Köklükaya, Ruhi Sari, Erol Babaoglu, Drama
Isa is beaten up after being accused of stealing $50. When his landlord demands the back rent, Isa gets angry and shoots him. The police round up the tenants, but are not suspicious of him. Back in his room, Isa collapses and is helped by his pretty neighbor Meryem, who also pays the $50 when the thugs return. Isa promises to do anything for her, and tells her about his job as a TV extra. Meryem’s husband has left her with her two young children, while he is away working. When her husband returns and beats Meryem up, she asks Isa to kill him.
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The Turning (1992) L.A. Puopolo, Karen Allen, Raymond J. Barry, Michael Dolan, Drama
After 4 years, Clifford Harnish returns to his hometown of Pocahontas, Virginia, hoping to save his family and make for himself the happy childhood he never had. Unfortunately, he has arrived just in time to see his parents’ divorce made final. He also gets to watch his mother sink into an alcoholic depression while his father builds a new life with a new woman. Soon Cliff decides to take matters into his own hands, using the methods he learned while traipsing the country with Neo-Nazis. Adapted from the play “Home Fires Burning.”
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The City of Lost Children (1995) Marc Caro, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Ron Perlman, Daniel Emilfork, Judith Vittet, Art-house, Fantasy, Sci-fi
With a mad scientist kidnapping children to steal their dreams, only brave young Miette (Judith Vittet) and a kindhearted circus strongman (Ron Perlman) can save them. Part fantasy, part nightmare, this production used more special effects than any other French film to date. Featuring stunning visuals from directors Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro, the sci-fi fairy tale was nominated for a Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival.
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Desire (1991) Andrew Blake, Zara Whites, Savannah, Racquel Darrian, Amber Lynn, Erotic
Le violon rouge / The Red Violin (1998) François Girard, Carlo Cecchi, Jean-Luc Bideau, Christoph Koncz, Drama, Romance, Mystery
Spans 300 years in the life of one famed musical instrument that winds up in present-day Montreal on the auction block. Crafted by the Italian master Bussotti (Cecchi) in 1681, the red violin derives its unusual color from the human blood mixed into the finish. With this legacy, the violin travels to Austria, England, China, and Canada, leaving both beauty and tragedy in its wake.
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L’arrière pays / Hinterland (1998) Mathilde Moné, Henri Gardey, Jacques Nolot, Drama
After ten years away, Jacques Pruez, an unmarried, 50-year-old, modestly successful actor, returns to his home village to comfort his dying mother. His father Yvan, a family barber who’s counting on his “successful” son to support him in his old age, refuses to believe that his wife is sick and insists that her doctors are killing her. She dies, and Jacques finds out that Yvan is not his real father. Besieged by memories of his childhood, the village and the past, Jacques wanders the streets at night, reliving the moments that set him apart from the rest…
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Amdaeng Muen kab nai Rid / Muen and Rid (1994) Cherd Songsri, Chintara Sukapatana, Ron Rittichai, Duangdao Jarujinda, Drama
Based upon a real case under the reign of King Rama II of Thailand, Muen and Rid are passionately in love. However, Muen’s father has promised his daughter to another man. Unable to accept this arranged marriage, Muen brings this matter to court, hoping that she will be able to marry Rid, her true love.
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Chinese Kamasutra (1993) Joe D’Amato, Giorgia Emerald, Leo Gamboa, Marc Gosálvez, Fantasy, Romance, Erotic
Joan Parker, an American scholar of Chinese lore, recently took on a job at a Chinese library. When she stumbles upon a volume of the Kamasutra, her sexual fantasies are unleashed, but she remains cold towards the advances of her fellow librarian. There seems to be a connection to a haunted house she passes by on her way home, and the strange man keeps watching her from a barred window above. Unknowingly, she stumbles into the clutches of the Kamasutra cult, and through a series of trials and orgies discovers her sexuality…and her true nature as a reincarnation of an unhappy lover.
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La metralleta (1990) Roberto Schlosser, Susana Dosamantes, Carlos Cardán, Juan Gallardo, Action
Diana González works for the police and successfully eliminates narco dealers. One of the narco bosses, Constantino, decides to punish her by making Diana’s sister to use drugs. This poor girl ends up dying in a S&M orgy. Now Diana is going to kill all those who wronged her with her Machinegun (La metralleta) while being pursued by drug dealers and the local police.
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Frankenstein Unbound (1990) Roger Corman, John Hurt, Raul Julia, Nick Brimble, Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
The ultimate weapon which was meant to be safe for the mankind produces global side effects including time slides and disappearances. The scientist behind the project and his car are zapped from the year 2031 to 1817’s Switzerland where he finds Dr Victor Frankenstein and his contemporaries.
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