DRIVING MISS DAISY (1989)

WINNER OF THE ACADEMY AWARD FOR BEST PICTURE

Directed by Bruce Beresford

An old Jewish lady, (Jessica Tandy) and her African-American chauffeur (Morgan Freeman) in the American South have a relationship that grows and improves over the years.The movie is directly taken from a stage play and it covers over twenty years of the pair's life together as they slowly build a relationship that transcends their differences.

Nominated for 9 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Film Editing, Best Makeup, Best Art Direction/Set Decoration and Best Costume Design

Won 4, Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Makeup

Jessica Tandy at 80, became the oldest winner of a competitive Academy Award

DVD Special Features:

Three peeks behind the scenes:

The All-New Miss Daisy's Journey
From Stage to Screen
Jessica Tandy: The Theater Legend

Feature Length Audio Commentary by Director Bruce Beresford, Writer Alfred Uhry and Producer Lili Fini Zanuck

GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER (1968)

Directed by Stanley Kramer

A wealthy white couple (Spencer Tracey and Katherine Hepburn) are informed that their daughter's intended is coming to meet them, and he's black (Sidney Poitier)
Scripted in the late 60s, the idea of a bi-racial marriage was still fairly shocking. To smooth this over, the son-in-law to be is a prince and a Doctor, who lives in Switzerland and intends to take their daughter there to live. Set in California, it's not quite a return to Selma, Alabama, but was controversial in its day

Nominated for 10 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Original Screenplay, Best Film Editing, Best Art/Set Decoration and Best Music (Scoring, Adaptation or Treatment of Music)

Won 2, Best Actress and Best Original Screenplay

Spencer Tracy died two weeks after the film was completed and was nominated in the Best Actor category Posthumously

The entire principal cast earned acting nominations

DVD Special Features:

None

BRAVEHEART (1995)

WINNER OF THE ACADEMY AWARD FOR BEST PICTURE

Directed by Mel Gibson

Partly historical, partly mythological, story of William Wallace (Mel Gibson), a Scottish common man who fights for his country's freedom against the cruel English ruler Edward the Longshanks (Patrick Mcgoohan), who wishes to inherit the crown of Scotland for himself around the end of the 13th century

Nominated for 10 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Dramatic Score, Best Sound Effects Editing, Best Makeup, Best Costume Design and Best Sound

Won 5, Best Picture, Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Makeup and Best Sound Effects Editing


DVD Special Features:

Feature length Audio Commentary by Director, Mel Gibson

OUT OF AFRICA (1985)

WINNER OF THE ACADEMY AWARD FOR BEST PICTURE

Directed by Sidney Pollack

Film based on the true story life of Karen Blixen (Meryl Streep), who establishes a coffee plantation in Africa. Her life is complicated by a philandering husband of convenience (Klaus Maria Brandauer), true love, Denys(Robert Redford), troubles on the plantation, schooling of the natives and World War 1

Nominated for 11 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor,Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Original Score, Best Art/Set Decoration, Best Film Editing, Best Costume Design and Best Sound

Won 7, Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Original Score, Best Art/Set Decoration and Best Sound

DVD Special Features:

Feature length commentary with Director, Sidney Pollack

THE FOG (1980)

Directed by John Carpenter

A Northern California fishing town, built 100 years ago over an old leper colony, is the target for revenge by a killer fog containing zombie-like ghosts seeking revenge for their deaths.

No Academy Award Nominations

DVD Special Features:

THE APARTMENT (1960)

Directed by Billy Wilder

WINNER OF THE ACADEMY AWARD FOR BEST PICTURE

Bud Baxter (Jack Lemmon) is a struggling clerk in a huge New York insurance company. He's discovered a quick way to climb the corporate ladder by lending out his apartment to the executives as a place to take their mistresses.
He often has to deal with the aftermath of their visits and one night he's left with a major problem to solve.

Nominated for 10 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography (Black/White), Best Film Editing, Best Art/Set Decoration (Black/White) and Best Sound

Won 5, Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Art/Set Decoration (Black/White) and Best Film Editing

DVD Special Features:

None

AMERICAN BEAUTY (1999)

WINNER OF THE ACADEMY AWARD FOR BEST PICTURE

Directed by Sam Mendes

Lester (Kevin Spacey) and Carolyn Burnham (Annette Bening) are on the outside, a perfect husband and wife, in a perfect house, in a perfect neighborhood. But inside, Lester is slipping deeper and deeper into a hopeless depression.
He finally snaps when he becomes infatuated with one of his daughters friends.
Meanwhile, his daughter Jane is developing a happy friendship with a shy boy-next-door named Ricky who lives with a homophobic father.

Nominated for 8 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Editing and Best Original Score

Won 5, Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Original Screenplay and Best Cinamatography

Sam Mendes received the Oscar for his debut film direction

Kevin Spacey joined the rank of only 5 other Actors in Academy history, to have won Oscars in the Actor and Supporting Actor categories.

And the director, Sam Mendes received the Oscar for his debut film direction

Another addition to the group was made in 2001, Denzel Washington (Training Day)


Academy Award wining actors in leading and supporting roles:

Jack Lemmon, 1955 (Best Supporting Actor, MISTER ROBERTS) and 1974 ( Best Actor, SAVE THE TIGER)

Robert De Niro, 1974 (Best Supporting Actor, THE GODFATHER PART 2) and 1980 (Best Actor, RAGING BULL)

Jack Nicholson, 1975 (Best Actor, ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST) and 1983 (Best Supporting Actor,TERMS OF ENDEARMENT)

Gene Hackman,1971 (Best Actor, THE FRENCH CONNECTION) and 1992 (Best Supporting Actor, UNFORGIVEN)

Kevin Spacey, 1995 (Best Supporting Actor, THE USUAL SUSPECTS) and 1999 (Best Actor, AMERICAN BEAUTY)

Denzel Washington, 1989 (Best Supporting Actor, GLORY) and 2001 (Best Actor, TRAINING DAY)


DVD Special Features:

Behind the Scenes Featurette - American Beauty, Look Closer

Feature Length Audio Commentary by Director, Sam Mendes and Screenwriter, Alan Ball

TITANIC (1997)

WINNER OF THE ACADEMY AWARD FOR BEST PICTURE

Directed by James Cameron

Fictional romantic tale of a rich girl, Rose DeWitt Bukater (Kate Winslet) and poor boy, Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio) who meet on the ill-fated voyage of the 'unsinkable' ship"

With 1 billion dollars in worldwide ticket sales, Titanic made the record books as the first film to make a billion and one of the top three of all time - to date

Nominated for 14 Academy Awards( the most by any film in Academy History - equaling the record held by All About Eve in 1950) including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Original Dramatic Score, Best Original Song, Best Art/Set Direction, Best Sound, Best Makeup, Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Effects Editing and Best Costume Design

Won 11, Best Picture, Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Original Dramatic Score, Best Original Song, Best Art/Set Decoration, Best Sound, Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Effects Editing and Best Costume Design

Equalled the record of 11 Academy Awards held by Ben Hur (1959)

Record was joined in 2004 by Lord of the Rings:The Return of the King

DVD Special Features:

None

The ROSE TATOO (1955)

Directed by Daniel Mann

An Italian-American neighborhood in Louisiana is disturbed when truck driver Rosario Delle Rose is killed by police while smuggling. His buxom widow Serafina miscarries, then over a period of 3years draws more and more into herself, tries to force her lovely teenage daughter, Rosa to do likewise

Nominated for 8 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Cinematography (black and white), Best Film Editing, Best Score (Comedy/Drama), Best Costume Design (Black and White) and Best Art/Set Decoration (Black and White)

Won 3, Best Actress, Best Art/Set Decoration (Black and White) and Best Cinematography (Black and White)

DVD Special Features:

None

GONE WITH THE WIND (1939)

WINNER OF THE ACADEMY AWARD FOR BEST PICTURE

Directed by Victor Fleming

(With uncredited directors - Sam Wood and George Cukor)

One of Hollywood's best loved "Golden Age" films which narrates the love between Scarlett O'Hara (Vivien Leigh) and Rhett Butler (Clark Gable) set against the American civil war. It is the history of a selfish woman who does not want to admit her feelings about the man she loves, and finally loses him.

Nominated for 13 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress(2), Best Writing(Screenplay), Best Cinematorgraphy (Color), Best Film Editing, Best Art Direction, Best Effects (Special Effects), Best Original Score and Best Sound Recording

Won 10, Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Writing (Screenplay), Best Film Editing, Best Art Direction and Best Cinematography (Color)

Two Special Awards - A technical award for use of coordinated use of equipment and a honorary award for the use of color in the production



DVD Special Features:


Discs 1 and 2 - The Movie + Audio Commentary with the film by Historian Rudy Behlmer


Disc 3 - About the Movie - The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind, narrated by Christopher Plummer

Restoring a Legend - Chronicles the Film/Video restoration Process

1939 and 1961 Atlanta Premiere Newreels

Prologue from International Release Version

Foreign Language Version Sample Scenes

Historical Short Subject - The Old South


Disc 4 - About the Cast - Melanie Remembers: Reflections by Olivia De Havilland - Exclusive 2004 Documentary

2 Insightful Profiles: Gable, The King Remembered and Vivien Leigh, Scarlett and Beyond

The Supporting Players: Cameo Portraits of an Unforgettable Ensemble