1.CASINO ROYALE - 2006 ($9.99)
PG13 144 min - Action | Adventure | Crime 17 November 2006 (USA) In his first mission, James Bond must stop Le Chiffre, a banker to the world's terrorist organizations, from winning a high-stakes poker tournament at Casino Royale in Montenegro.2. TROY ($9.99)
An adaptation of Homer's great epic, the film follows the assault on Troy by the united Greek forces and chronicles the fates of the men involved.
Director: Wolfgang PetersenWriters: Homer (poem), David Benioff (screenplay) Stars: Brad Pitt, Eric Bana and Orlando Bloom | |
3.GLADIATOR (2000 film) $11.99 US
Maximus realizes the truth about Marcus' death, but is betrayed by his friend, General Quintus (Tomas Arana), who reluctantly instructs the Praetorian guards to carry out Commodus' order to execute Maximus and his wife (Giannina Facio) and son (Giorgio Cantarini). Maximus manages to escape, and races home only to find he was too late to save his family. After burying them, Maximus is found unconscious by slave traders and taken to Zucchabar, a Roman city in North Africa. There, he is bought by Proximo (Oliver Reed), and forced to fight for his life as a gladiator in arena tournaments. During this time, he befriends gladiators Juba (Djimon Hounsou), and Hagen (Ralf Möeller). Juba tells Maximus to have faith that he will be reunited with his family in the afterlife.Maximus proves a fierce gladiator; with nothing left to live for, he is fearless in the arena. He ultimately reaches the prestigious Roman Colosseum, where his group is contracted to fight in a tribute to the Battle of Carthage. Concealing his identity with a helmet, he skillfully leads a band of gladiators to defeat an opposing chariot and archer force, earning the crowd's praise. Forced to reveal himself to a stunned Commodus in the arena afterward, the crowd votes to spare his life, and Commodus appeases them by doing so. Maximus later wins against the undefeated gladiator Tigris, as well as tigers released into the arena, yet refuses to obey Commodus' command to perform the coup de grâce. As a result, he is declared "Maximus the Merciful" by the crowd, increasing his popularity and further frustrating Commodus, who cannot kill Maximus without making him a martyr.
Following the fight, Maximus is told by his former servant Cicero (Tommy Flanagan) that his army is still loyal to him. Maximus then conspires with Commodus' sister Lucilla (Connie Nielsen) and the senator Gracchus (Derek Jacobi) to rejoin with his army and topple Commodus by force. Commodus, however, suspects his sister of betrayal and forces her to reveal the plot using veiled threats against her young son Lucius (Spencer Treat Clark). During Maximus's attempted escape, Commodus' guards attack Proximo's gladiator school, killing Hagen and Proximo. Juba and the survivors are imprisoned, but Maximus makes it to the city walls, where he is captured after a failed attempt to save Cicero.
Desperate to get Maximus out of the way and prove his own greatness, Commodus arranges a duel with him in the arena. Unknown to the crowd, Commodus stabs a restrained Maximus with a stiletto before they enter the arena. During the fight, Maximus manages to disarm Commodus, while Quintus disobeys the emperor's demand for his sword and commands his soldiers to do the same. Commodus then produces the hidden stiletto, but Maximus plunges the blade into Commodus' throat, killing him.
With his dying words, Maximus carries out Marcus Aurelius' wishes, calling for Gracchus to be reinstated, the slaves to be freed, and power to be restored to the Senate. As he dies, Maximus reunites with his family in the afterlife. Lucilla then reiterates his wishes and honors his memory. Some time later, Juba buries Maximus' two small figurines of his wife and son in the ground where his friend Maximus died, promising to see him in the afterlife, "but not yet".
Agent Flynn contacts FBI Special Agent Hank Harris on the ground who gets in touch with ophiologist Dr. Steven Price (Louiso). With pictures of the reptiles emailed to him via a mobile phone, Price believes a Los Angeles snake dealer to be responsible. After a shootout with the dealer, he reveals that Kim hired him to obtain the snakes. His supply of anti-venom is commandeered for the plane's victims, and Harris gives orders to have Eddie Kim arrested.
Rick is attacked and the plane starts to dip downwards, causing a food trolley to crash through the luggage blockade. The passengers flee to the upstairs first class cabin before blocking the stairwell with an inflatable liferaft. Agent Flynn and Flight Attendant Claire regain control of the plane. Rick retakes the controls and has Flynn go into the cargo hold to restore the air conditioning/ventilation system.
Harris contacts Flynn telling him that anti-venom will be ready for the passengers when they land. However, Flynn discovers that the cockpit is filled with snakes and Rick is dead. After a brief discussion, Troy, Three Gs' bodyguard, agrees to land the plane based on prior experience. After everybody gets prepared, Flynn shoots out two windows with his pistol, causing the plane to depressurize. The snakes are blown out of the cockpit and the lower floor of the plane.
Flynn and Troy take the controls of the plane and Troy reveals that his flight experience was from a video game flight simulator. After an emergency landing, the plane makes it to the terminal. The passengers leave the plane and anti-venom is given to those who need it. Just as Flynn and Sean are about to disembark the plane, a final snake jumps out and bites Sean in the chest. Flynn draws his gun and shoots the snake, and paramedics rush to Sean, who is unharmed due to a bulletproof vest. Sean later takes Flynn to Bali and teaches him how to surf.
5.HEAT ($9.99)
Heat is a 1995 American action film written and directed by Michael Mann. It stars Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, and Val Kilmer. De Niro plays Neil McCauley, a professional thief, while Pacino plays Lt. Vincent Hanna, veteran LAPD homicide detective tracking down McCauley's crew. The central conflict was based on the experiences of former Chicago police officer Chuck Adamson and his pursuit in the 1960s of a criminal named McCauley, after whom De Niro's character is named.6. THE DEPARTED ($9.99)
The Departed is a 2006 American crime thriller film directed by Martin Scorsese. The screenplay by William Monahan was based on the 2002 Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, Ray Winstone, Vera Farmiga, Anthony Anderson and Alec Baldwin.
It won several awards, including four Oscars at the 79th Academy Awards; Best Picture, Best Director (Scorsese), Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Film Editing. Wahlberg was nominated for Best Supporting Actor.
The film takes place in Boston, Massachusetts, where Irish Mob boss Francis "Frank" Costello plants Colin Sullivan as an informant within the Massachusetts State Police. Simultaneously, the police assign undercover cop William "Billy" Costigan to infiltrate Costello's crew. When both sides realize the situation, each man attempts to discover the other's true identity before his own cover is blown
7. THE ITALIAN JOB ($9.99)
A team of high-class thieves avenge their mentor's death -- with the help of his own daughter -- in this big-budget remake of the 1969 British caper classic. The Italian Job stars Mark Wahlberg as Charlie, the mastermind of a daring Venice heist overseen by John (Donald Sutherland), a lifelong criminal who plans to retire from the fold with the earnings from his most recent take. Basking in the glow of a job well done at a secluded retreat in the Alps, the thieves -- including the aptly-named Handsome Rob (Jason Statham), tech-geek Lyle (Seth Green), and hearing-impaired quipster Left Ear (Mos Def) -- are ruthlessly double-crossed by one of their own, the taciturn, calculating Steve Frezelli (Edward Norton). Time passes and each member of the group finds himself pursuing other opportunities in the States, until Charlie rallies them together for a revenge-motivated scheme designed to bilk Steve of all his misbegotten earnings. In order to cinch the deal, he even enlists John's reluctant safecracking-prodigy daughter, Stella (Charlize Theron), for an elaborate, incognito Los Angeles heist. But the paranoid Steve proves himself to be one step ahead of them at just about every turn, and Charlie finds that he'll have to make some daring last-minute changes to their plan if the team is to succeed. The Italian Job marked director F. Gary Gray's second 2003 release after the Vin Diesel vehicle A Man Apart. ~ Michael Hastings, Rovi 
8) LE SAMOURAI ($9.99)
| Directed by | Jean-Pierre Melville |
|---|---|
| Produced by | Raymond Borderie Eugène Lépicier |
| Written by | Joan McLeod's novel The Ronin (uncredited) Jean-Pierre Melville Georges Pellegrin |
| Starring | Alain Delon François Périer |
| Music by | François de Roubaix |
| Cinematography | Henri Decaë |
| Editing by | Monique Bonnot Yolande Maurette |
| Release date(s) | October 25, 1967 |
| Running time | 105 min |
| Language | French, English |
The story follows a perfectionist free-agent hitman, Jef Costello (Delon), who religiously adheres to a strict code of duty. He lives in a spartan apartment whose interior contains a neatly arranged line of mineral water bottles, cigarettes on a bookcase, as well as a little bird in a grey cage in the middle of the room. He is taciturn and goes about his tasks like clockwork. The film opens with a fairly long take of the protagonist lying awake on his bed, smoking, when the following text appears on-screen, attributed to an ancient samurai writing entitled Bushido (Book of the Samurai) (but actually written by Melville):There is no greater solitude than that of the samurai unless it is that of the tiger in the jungle... Perhaps...
9. THE SICILIAN ($7.99)
Egocentric bandit Salvatore Guiliano fights the Church, the Mafia, and the landed gentry while leading a populist movement for Sicilian independence.
Director: Michael Cimino
Writers: Mario Puzo (novel), Steve Shagan, and 1 more credit »
Stars: Christopher Lambert, Terence Stamp and Joss Ackland
10) Les Miserables ($7.99)
Writers: Victor Hugo (novel), Rafael Yglesias (screenplay)
Stars: Liam Neeson, Geoffrey Rush and Uma Thurman
