THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI (1957)

WINNER OF THE ACADEMY AWARD FOR BEST PICTURE

Directed by David Lean

British WW II prisoners of war are given the task, by their Japanese captors, of building a railway bridge in a harsh Asian jungle. Led by Col Nicholson (Alec Guinness), a stereotypical British officer, the prisoners score a moral victory over the Japanese in the person of the Commandant (Sessue Hayakawa) by not only building the bridge, but running the whole show. Unknown to Nicholson, an allied demolition team are planning a spectacular opening for the bridge.

Nominated for 8 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor. The other nominations were for Best Supporting Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing and Best Music Score

Won 7, Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing and Best Music Score

DVD Special Features:

Exclusive documentary: "The Making of the Bridge on the River Kwai"

Original featurette: "The Rise and Fall of a Jungle Giant"

USC short film narrated by 'William Holden'

An appreciation and discussion by filmmaker John Milius

MRS SKEFFINGTON (1944)

Directed by Vincent Sherman

Job Skeffington (Claude Raines) informs Fanny Trellis (Bette Davis) that her brother Trippy has embezzled from the Skeffington bank. She marries Job to save Trippy who, angry with her, goes to World War I and is killed. She divorces Job and sends her daughter to live with him in Europe. She now takes up with host of lovers. As World War II rolls around her daughter rejoins her. After a bout of diphtheria she loses her fabulous beauty and her daughter runs off with Fanny's most recent lover. Job is returning to America, penniless and fortunately also blind.

Nominated for 2 Academy Awards, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor

DVD Special Features:

Audio commentary by Vincent Sherman
Mr. Skeffington: The Big Picture of Strength" featurette

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE (2005)

Directed by Joe Wright

Based on Jane Austen's beloved novel, the classic tale of love and values unfolds in the class-conscious England of the late 18th century. The five Bennet sisters - including strong-willed Elizabeth (Keira Knightley) and young Lydia (Jena Malone) - have all been raised by their mother (Brenda Blethyn) with one purpose in life: finding a husband. When a wealthy bachelor takes up residence in a nearby mansion, the Bennets are abuzz. Amongst the man's sophisticated circle of friends, surely there will be no shortage of suitors for the Bennet sisters. But when Elizabeth meets up with the handsome and - it would seem - snobbish Mr. Darcy (Matthew Macfadyen), the battle of the sexes is joined.

Nominated for 4 Academy Awards including Best Actress, Best Original Score, Best Costume Design and Best Art Direction

DVD Special Features:

Short Documentaries - The Politics of Dating

The Life and Times of Jane Austen

The Stately Homes of Pride and Prejudice

The Bennets

THE PIANIST (2002)

Directed by Roman Polanski

The true story of Wladyslaw Szpilman(Adrien Brody) who, in the 1930s, was known as the most accomplished piano player in all of Poland, if not Europe. At the outbreak of the Second World War, however, Szpilman becomes subject to the anti-Jewish laws imposed by the conquering Germans. By the start of the 1940s, Szpilman has seen his world go from piano concert halls to the Jewish Ghetto of Warsaw and then must suffer the tragedy of his family deported to a death camp, while Szpilman is conscripted into a forced German Labor Compound. At last deciding to escape, Szpilman goes into hiding as a Jewish refugee where he is witness to the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in 1943 and the Warsaw City Revolt in August/October 1944.

Nominated for 7 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Cinematography and Best Costume Design

Won 3, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Adapted Screenplay

In Oscar's milestone 75th Year, THE PIANIST was the surprise winner in three of the major categories and almost toppled the seasonal frontrunner, CHICAGO

Adrien Brody won the Best Actor Oscar over favourites, Jack Nicholson (ABOUT SCHMIDT) and Daniel Day Lewis (GANGS OF NEW YORK)

DVD Special Features:

Insight into the Making of the film and its authenticity

Roman Polanski's own story of survival during WWII

Behind the scenes interviews with Roman Polanski, Adrien Brody and Ronald Harwood

CITIZEN KANE (1941)

Directed by Orson Welles

Multi-millionaire newspaper tycoon Charles Foster Kane(Orson Welles) dies alone in his extravagant mansion, Xanadu, speaking a single word: "Rosebud". In an attempt to figure out the meaning of this word, a reporter tracks down the people who worked and lived with Kane; they tell their stories in a series of flashbacks that reveal much about Kane's life but not enough to unlock the riddle of his dying breath.

Nominated for 9 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Original Screenplay, Best Art/Set Decoration(Black and White), Best Cinematography (Black and White), Film Editing, Best Dramatic Score and Best Sound Recording

Won 1, Best Original Screenplay

Most of the actors were from Welle's New York Mercury theater and were first time film actors

Citizen Kane has attained classic status as the Best American Film of all time

DVD Special Features:

The Battle Over Citizen kane (1995 Acadamy Award best documentary nominee) - A complete historical account of the making and attempted killing of the film - Orson Welles vs Press baron, William R Hearst

Interviews and newsreels by the major players involved in the project 60 years ago

Two Feature Length Commentaries by Director, Peter Bogdanovich and Critic, Roger Ebert illuminating the ground breaking film making style of using scratched newsreel indicating age/realistic look.

The innovative use of experimental cinematography, long shots, lights, handheld camera work, special use of light for the clear focus of fore and back ground shots during the entire film

Citizen Kane was one of the first film's to use innovative special effects which was very ground breaking and very far advanced for it's time

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD(1962)

Directed by Robert Mulligan

The place: a small town in the south of the United States in the early 20th century. A black man is accused of raping a woman, and an idealistic lawyer, Atticus Finch (Gregory Peck), gets to defend him. We start watching the reasons that make his defense far from easy; and that's mostly because nobody in this town seems determined to believe in the guiltlessness of an accused negro
Juxtaposed against the story of the trial is the childrens' hit and run relationship with Boo Radley (Robert Duvall), a shut-in who the children and neighbours suspect of insanity and who no one has seen in recent history.But fear keeps them at a distance until one night, in streetlight and shadows, the children confront an evil born of ignorance and blind hatred and must somehow find their way home.


Nominated for 8 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography (Black and White), Best Art/Set Decoration(Black and White) and Best Score

Won 3, Best Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Art/Set Direction (Black and White)

DVD Special features:

Fearful Symmetry (The Making of To Kill A MockingBird)

Feature Length Commentary by Director, Robert Mulligan and Producer, Alan J. Pakula