BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN (2005)

Directed by Ang Lee

In the Summer of 1963 Wyoming, two young men, Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) a ranch hand and Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) an aspiring rodeo bull rider, are sent to work together herding sheep on Brokeback Mountain, and what had otherwise been anticipated to be a rather uneventful venture, will soon turn into an affair of love, of lust, and complications that will spand through 19 years of their lives. Through marriage, through children, and through the mighty grip of societal confines and the expectations of what it is to be a man.

The most talked about film of 2005

Nominated for 8 Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography and Best Original Score

Won 3, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Original Score

In what would always be a stain on the credibility of the Academy, Brokeback Mountain was denied the highest prize of the night despite winning 23 other major best picture awards.

DVD Special Features:

On being a Cowboy: Actors discuss their preparation for their roles

Directing from the Heart: Ang Lee

From Script to Screen: Interviews with Larry McMurty and Diana Ossana

Sharing The Story: The Making of Brokeback Mountain

ALL ABOUT EVE (1950)

WINNER OF THE ACADEMY AWARD FOR BEST PICTURE

Joseph L. Mankiewicz

The ambitious Eve Harrington (Anne Baxter) gets close to the great and temperamental stage artist Margo Channing (Bette Davis) and her friends Karen Richards (Celeste Holm) and her husband, the play-writer Lloyd Richards (Hugh Marlowe); her boyfriend and director Bill Sampson (Gary Marrow); and the producer Max Fabian (Gregory Ratoff). Everybody, except the cynical critic Addison DeWitt (George Sanders), believe that Eve is only a naive, humble and simple obsessed fan of Margo and they try to help her. However, Eve is indeed a cynical and manipulative snake that uses the lives of Margo and her friends to reach her objectives in the theater business.

Nominated for 14 Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress x 2, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress x 2, Best Writing (Screenplay), Best Cinematography (Black and White), Best Art/Set Decoration (Black and White), Best Film Editing, Best Score, Best Costume Design (Black and White) and Best Sound Recording

Won 6, Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, Best Writing (Screenplay), Best Sound Recording and Best Costume Design (Black and White)

Ranks as the Most Academy Award Nominated Film with 14 nominations, set a record which has been tied only by Titanic (1997)

Anne Baxter successfully pressured the powers that be to get her nominated for an Oscar in the Best Actress category rather than Best Supporting Actress. This is thought to have split the vote between herself and Davis. The winner for the 1950 Best Actress was Judy Holliday for BORN YESTERDAY(1950)

DVD Special Features:

Audio commentary by Celeste Holm, Christopher Mankiewicz and Kenneth Geist

Audio commentary by Sam Staggs

AMC Backstory episode: All about Eve

Original interviews

THE FALLEN IDOL (1948)

Directed by Carol Reed

Philippe, a diplomat's son (Bobby Henry) and good friend of Baines the butler (Ralph Richardson), is confused by the complexities and evasions of adult life. He tries to keep secrets but ends up telling them. He lies to protect his friends, even though he knows he should tell the truth. He resolves not to listen to adults' stories any more when Baines is suspected of murdering his wife and no-one will listen to Philippe's vital information.

Nominated for 2 Academy Awards, Best Director and Best Writing, Screenplay

DVD Special Features:

None

THE PRIVATE LIVES OF ELIZABETH AND ESSEX (1939)

Directed by Michael Curtiz

Period drama framing the tumultuous affair between Queen Elizabeth I (Bette Davis) and the man who would be King of England, Robert Devereux (Errol Flynn), the Earl of Essex. Ever the victor on the battlefield, Devereux returns to London after defeating Spanish forces at Cadiz. Middle-aged Elizabeth, so attracted to the younger Devereux but fearful of his influence and popularity, sends him on a new mission: a doomed campaign to Ireland. When he and his troops return in defeat, Devereux demands to share the throne with the heirless queen, and Elizabeth, at first, intends to marry. Ultimately sensing the marriage would prove disastrous for England, Elizabeth sets in motion a merciless plan to protect her people and preserve her throne.

Nominated for 5 Academy Awards, Best Cinematography (Colour), Best Art Direction, Best Special Effects, Best Music Score and Best Sound Recording

DVD Special Features:

Brief Documentary on making the movie

Warner Bros at the Movies including Newsreels and Shorts

THE LETTER (1940)

Directed by William Wyler

In Singapore, Leslie Crosbie (Bette Davis), the wife of the administrator of a plantation field of a rubber company, shoots Geoffrey Hammond and pleads self-defense to her husband Robert Crosbie (Herbert Marshall) and her lawyer, friend of the family Howard Joyce (James Stephenson). The case seems to be easy and simple, but a letter written by Leslie to Geoffrey and in the hand of the Hammond´s widow (Gale Sondergaard) may sentence Leslie to death by hanging. When the widow decides to sell the letter for US$10,000.00, Howard faces a dilemma between his friendship and his career.

Nominated for 7 Academy Awards, Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Cinematography (Black and White), Best Film Editing and Best Music (Original Score)

DVD Special Features:

Recently discovered Alternate Ending Sequence

2 Audio Bonuses, 1941 and 1944 LUX Theater Radio adaptations starring Davis, Marshall and Stephenson

BLACK NARCISSUS (1947)

Directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger

Five young British nuns are invited to move to a windy "palace", former house of the concubines of an old general, in the top of a mountain in Mopu, Himalaya, to raise the convent of Saint Faith Order, a school for children and girls, and an infirmary for the local dwellers. Sister Clodagh (Deborah Kerr) is assigned as the superior sister, and her liaison with civilization is the rude government agent Mr. Dean (David Farrar). The lonely and exotic place and the presence of Mr Dean awake the innermost desires in the flesh of the sisters, and Sister Ruth (Kathleen Byron) becomes mad with the temptation.

Winner of 2 Academy Awards, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration (Colour) and Best Cinematography (Colour)

DVD Special Features:

Audio Commentary with Martin Scorsese and the late director, Michael Powell

PAINTING WITH LIGHT, a documentary on Jack cardiff and BLACK NARCISSUS by Craig McCall