Readings.com.au: DVD Bargains

Lawrence Of Arabia

Director David Lean presents a heroic true-life adventure in this dramatic portrait of famed British officer T.E Lawrence. Assigned to Arabia during World War I, Lawrence (played by Peter O'Toole in the role that shot him to stardom) unites the warring Arab tribes and daringly leads them on to defeat the ruling Turkish Empire in brilliant victories waged under extreme desert conditions.

Special Features: * "Archives of Arabia" - a DVD Rom feature that uses behind the scenes photos and Production Notes to follow the story of the film
* "The Making of Lawrence of Arabia" - a new 60 minute behind the scenes documentary on the making of the movie
* "A Conversation with Steven Spielberg" - the acclaimed director talks about his love of the film, his involvement with its restoration and David Lean
* "Wind, Sand and Star: The Making of a Classic" - an original behind the scenes featurette that looks at the difficulties of filming on location
* "In Search of Lawrence" - an original behind the scenes featurette
* "The Camels are Cast" - an original behind the scenes featurette
* "Romance of Arabia" - an original behind the scenes featurette focusing on the land where the story took place
* News footage of the film's 1962 New York premiere
* The "Marketing Campaigns" - looks at the various marketing approaches and materials used for the film's release and re-issues over the years
* "Maps: Journey With Lawrence" - choose one of four journeys through Arabia that you'll take with pictures & narration
* "Archives of Arabia" - a DVD Rom feature that uses behind the scenes photos and Production Notes to follow the story of the film
* Talent Profiles

The West Wing: Season 7

The seventh season of the West Wing chronicles the transition between the administration of President Josiah 'Jed' Bartlet and the race for the new presidency between Congressman Mathew Vincente Santos of Houston, Texas and Senator Arnold Vinick of California. The season includes the live episode of "The Debate" and ends with a new administration in the West Wing.

Episodes: The Ticket; The Mommy Problem; Message of the Week; Mr. Frost; Here Today; The Al Smith Dinner; The Debate; Undecideds; The Wedding; Running Mates; Internal Displacement; Duck and Cover; The Cold; Two Weeks Out; Welcome to Wherever You Are; Election Day; Election Day: Pt. 2; Requiem; Transition; The Last Hurrah; Institutional Memory; Tomorrow

The West Wing: Season 6

Synopsis: During Season Six, the presidential race is on, with Senator Arnold Vinick (Alan Alda) as the Republican frontrunner and a Matthew Santos (Jimmy Smits) vying for the hotly contested Democratic presidential nomination.

During Season Six, the presidential race is on, with Senator Arnold Vinick (Alan Alda) as the Republican frontrunner and a Matthew Santos (Jimmy Smits) vying for the hotly contested Democratic presidential nomination.

Episodes: N.S.F. Thurmont; The Birnam Wood; Third Day Story; Liftoff; The Hubbert Peak; The Dover Test; A Change Is Gonna Come; In the Room; Impact Winter; Faith-Based Initiative; Opposition Research; 365 Days; King Corn; The Wake Up Call; Freedonia; Drought Conditions; A Good Day; La Palabra; Ninety Miles Away; In God We Trust; Things Fall Apart; 2162 Votes.

The West Wing: Season 4

Episodes: 20 Hours In America - Part 1, 20 Hours In America - Part 2, College Kids, The Red Mass, Debate Camp, Game On, Election Night, Process Stories, Swiss Diplomacy, Arctic Radar, Holy Night, Guns Not Butter, The Long Goodbye, Inauguration Day: Part I, Inauguration Day: Part II, California 47th, Red Haven's On Fire, Privateers, Angel Maintainence, Evidence Of Things Not Seen, Life On Mars, Commencement, Twenty Five.

The West Wing: Season 3

Features the entire 3rd series of The West Wing over 6 DVDs.

Episodes: Posse Comitatus, We Killed Yamamoto, The Black Vera Wang, Enemies Foreign and Domestic, Documentary Special, Stirred, The U.S. Poet Laureate, Dead Irish Writers, Hartsfield's Landing, Night Five, The Two Bartlets, 100,000 Airplanes, H.Con - 172, Bartlet for America, The Women of Qumar, The Indians in the Lobby, Gone Quiet, War Crimes, On The Day Before, Ways and Means, Manchester Parts One and Two.

The West Wing: Season 2

Features the entire second series of The West Wing over 6 DVDs.

Episodes: 1 - In the Shadow of Two Gunmen:Part I; In the Shadow of Two Gunmen: Part II; The Midterms; In This White House; And It's Surely to Their Credit; The Lame Duck Congress; The Portland Trip Shibboleth 2 - Galileo; Noel; The Leadership Breakfast; The Drop In; Bartlet's Third State of the Union; The War at Home; Ellie Somebody's Going to Emergency, Somebody's Going to Jail

The West Wing: Season 1

When the erudite Democrat Josiah "Jed" Bartlet is elected US president, he installs his administration. He places confidants from his electoral campaigns in the White House. Each of these people play a significant role in the Washington power game: the chief of staff (Leo McGarry), his deputy (Josh Lyman), Communications director (Toby Zeigler), deputy (Sam Seaborn, and later, Will Bailey), and press secretary (CJ Cregg). Also in key positions are the secretaries, or aids, of each of the power players. We follow these people through many political battles, as well as some personal ones. Also playing roles are the First Lady (Abigail Bartlet), the president's daughters (Elizabeth, Eleanor, and Zoey), and the personal aid to the president (Charlie Young). All make this series, which supposedly follows the political events (often paraphrasing historical reality) almost day by day, more then a political soap. The demands of office on each of them shows the personal sacrifice and the forced compromise of ideals and principles for tactical necessity, and allows some insights on many aspects of US society and international politics.

Pillars Of The Earth

Based on the novel by Ken Follett and set in 12th Century England in the fictional town of Kingsbridge, this epicstory revolves around the building of a cathedral and follows the lives of three men over 40 years as they each deal with politics, war, romance and personal ambition.

Special Features:

The Making of Pillars of the Earth
Visual Effects Progression
Main Titles Progression

Milk

Sean Penn's complex, finely wrought portrayal of the first openly gay man elected to major public office earned him his second Academy Award in Gus Van Sant's inspirational film, nominated for eight Oscars in 2009 including Best Picture and Director. Dustin Lance Black's Oscar-winning original script begins in 1972 as Harvey Milk and his boyfriend Scott (James Franco) move from New York to San Francisco, where Harvey discovers a talent for grass-roots activism, styling himself as the "Mayor of Castro." The story follows his early successes and eventual election to a seat as a city supervisor to his tragic confrontation with fellow supervisor Dan White (Josh Brolin).

Lust Caution

Ang Lee followed up his Oscar-winning direction of Brokeback Mountain with this 2007 Golden Globe–nominated effort, also about forbidden passion. Tang Wei plays a Shanghai actress and resistance fighter during the Japanese occupation whose mission is to befriend and assassinate a high-ranking collaborationist government official (Tony Leung) implicated in the torture and executions of Chinese partisans. As she immerses herself in her role as a cosmopolitan seductress, she becomes entangled in a dangerous game of emotional intrigue, love, and betrayal. This is the R-rated version of the film, in Mandarin with English subtitles.

Revolutionary Road

Sam Mendes’s 2008 adaptation of Richard Yates’ bestseller reunites Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet for the first time since Titanic. As Frank and April Wheeler, they feel trapped in the hollowness of their lives in a comfortable Connecticut suburb during the 1950s. Wishing to break free from their constricted existence, April persuades Frank to move to Paris. But the plan soon unravels along with their marriage. Winslet won a Golden Globe for her performance, and Michael Shannon, as a mentally troubled neighbor who sees through their facade, earned an Academy Award nomination.

The Time Traveller's Wife

Audrey Niffenegger's bestselling novel about a handsome librarian (Eric Bana) who travels involuntarily through time—and the woman (Rachel McAdams) who loves him—seemed to defy translation to the silver screen. But screenwriter Bruce Joel Ruben and director Robert Schwentke's 2009 film effectively illuminates the book's unique construct of loving someone at every phase of his or her life, while Bana and McAdams capture the haunting intensity of two lovers who know that they may be separated from each other at any moment. In supporting roles, Arliss Howard and Ron Livingston rise to the same high standard.

Pan's Labyrinth

Sometimes the only way to cope with horrific ugliness is to seek a beauty underneath. Guillermo del Toro's intense and powerfully realized vision of Fascist Spain through a young girl's eyes won three Academy Awards in 2007, earned Best Film of the Year kudos from Roger Ebert and many other critics, and received standing ovations at the Cannes and Toronto film festivals. Ivana Baquero turns in a heartbreaking performance as Ofelia, whose mother marries a vicious and sadistic army captain. As her life becomes increasingly brutal, Ofelia is visited by fairies and a strange, enigmatic faun, who tells her of an underground kingdom where she was once a princess. Director Guillermo del Toro wrote the English subtitles for this Spanish-language film, and the two-DVD edition includes numerous featurettes and much additional material, ranging from stories of the film's monsters, and pages of del Toro's sketch-filled notebooks, to his in-depth interview with Charlie Rose.

"An epic, poetic vision in which the grim realities of war are matched and mirrored by a descent into an underworld populated by fearsomely beautiful monsters."—Observer (London)

"A fairy tale of such potency and awesome beauty that it reconnects the adult imagination to the primal thrill and horror of the stories that held us spellbound as children."—Chicago Sun-Times

Changeling

Angelina Jolie received her second Academy Award nomination, in 2009, for her performance in this period drama about child abduction and police corruption, based on a true story. When single mother Christine Collins (Jolie) returns from work, she discovers that her nine-year-old son, Walter, has disappeared without a trace. Five months later, a child matching Walter's description turns up in Illinois and is returned to Christine. Except it's not Walter. When Christine insists that "Walter" is a fraud, she is committed to a mental institution. Director Clint Eastwood's meticulous recreation of 1928 Los Angeles brought the film Oscar nominations for Best Art Direction and Cinematography.

Das Boot Original Uncut Version R1

At the height of WWII, a young U-boat crew heads out to sea on a top-secret mission that all but ensures most will never make it home. Wolfgang Petersen's classic submarine drama was nominated for six Oscars in 1983. The original, uncut version, however, first aired on German TV in six parts. Those episodes have been seamlessly edited here into one nearly five-hour film that expands on the original's compelling depictions of the physical, psychological, and emotional effects of warfare and can be viewed in German with English subtitles or dubbed English. This special double-disc package also contains previews and a making-of Das Boot featurette.

Frost Nixon

When disgraced President Richard Nixon (Frank Langella) agrees to an interview with jet-setting TV personality David Frost (Michael Sheen), he thinks he’s found the key to saving his tarnished legacy. But, with a name to make and a reputation to overcome, Frost becomes one of Nixon’s most formidable adversaries in this battle of wits, adapted by Ron Howard from Peter Morgan's Tony-winning play. The 2008 film was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Director, and Actor (Langella). Bonus features include commentary from Howard, footage from the original interview, and a featurette on the Richard Nixon Library.

2001: A Space Odyssey

orty-two years later, this cinematic milestone's Academy Award–winning, painstakingly authentic visual effects are still pretty special, even by today's standards. So too, is its daring narrative structure: just 40 minutes of dialogue scattered throughout a dazzling 148-minute visual tone poem. Its enigmatic story, based on sci-fi legend Arthur C. Clarke's short story "The Sentinel," with its themes of evolution and immortality, and its climactic showdown between man and machine, remains compelling. And in this digitally restored and remastered version, the awe and mystery of Stanley Kubrick's singular cinematic vision is clearer than ever.

Elizabeth The Golden Age

Cate Blanchett received her second Oscar nomination for portraying Queen Elizabeth in this 2007 sequel to 1998's Elizabeth, with a big assist from costume designer Alexandra Byrne, whose recreations of late 16th-century finery earned her an Academy Award. This middle segment of a planned trilogy on the life of the storied monarch focuses on three of the greatest challenges of her reign: the pending invasion by Spain, the treachery of her Catholic cousin Mary Stuart (Samantha Morton), and the romantic attentions of New World explorer Sir Walter Raleigh (Clive Owen). Director Shekhar Kapur helms a sumptuous depiction of England's Golden Age and spectacular face-off with the Spanish Armada.

Cabaret R1 Dvd

Boasting a score by the legendary songwriting team of John Kander and Fred Ebb (creators of Chicago 30 years later) Cabaret won eight Academy Awards in 1972, including Best Director (Bob Fosse), Best Actress (Liza Minnelli), and Best Supporting Actor (Joel Grey). Inside the Kit Kat Club of 1931 Berlin, starry-eyed singer Sally Bowles (Liza Minnelli) and an impish emcee (Joel Grey) sound the clarion call to decadent fun, while outside, the Nazis consolidate their power with brutal efficiency. Few films before or since have balanced show-stopping entertainment and devastating drama to greater effect.