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The first part of a trilogy, NIGHT WATCH is an old-fashioned good vs. evil parable that relies on some thoroughly modern special effects to ensnare its audience. Set in present-day Moscow, the movie begins with a quick skip back through the centuries to inform us how a delicate truce was struck between the forces of Light and Dark. These forces still exist in Moscow, with both sides keeping a close eye on each other as they attempt to disguise themselves from the earth's mere mortals. NIGHT WATCH's central character is Anton Gorodetsky (Konstantin Khabensky), who is defined as an "Other" by the legions of Light and Dark. Anton and his cohorts live as vampires, and await the arrival of a virgin who will announce the resumption of hostilities between the forces of Light and Dark; as the film progresses, it becomes apparent that an epic battle is just around the corner. One of the biggest films of all time in its native Russia, director Timur Bekmambetov's NIGHT WATCH positions itself somewhere in between THE MATRIX and BLADE in the pantheon of CGI-fueled sci-fi flicks. Although the plot is mind-boggling and occasionally verges on the incomprehensible, Bekmambetov is presumably using this first part of the trilogy to lure viewers into his wild cinematic world. Impressively, Bekmambetov's film was shot on a tiny budget, but it belies its meager origins. Even the English subtitles are integrated into several scenes, with words zipping across the screen and melting into the action as a heavy-metal soundtrack thumps away. Knowing he is set to film two sequels, Bekmambetov leaves his audience hanging as NIGHT WATCH nears its climax, with his second installment (DAY WATCH) promising further FX-laden feuding, and, in an intriguing twist, an English-language climax to the trilogy with DUSK WATCH.

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UN DIA SIN SEXO is a day in the life of four Peruvian couples of varying ages and backgrounds as they struggle over issues between the sheets. This is a lighthearted comic look at the pitfalls of sex in relationships, whether the couples are young and hot to trot, or a little bit older and less full of fire. Either way, these lovers find themselves in all sorts of hilarious scenarios that speak to the voyeurs among us.

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The first part of a trilogy, NIGHT WATCH is an old-fashioned good vs. evil parable that relies on some thoroughly modern special effects to ensnare its audience. Set in present-day Moscow, the movie begins with a quick skip back through the centuries to inform us how a delicate truce was struck between the forces of Light and Dark. These forces still exist in Moscow, with both sides keeping a close eye on each other as they attempt to disguise themselves from the earth's mere mortals. NIGHT WATCH's central character is Anton Gorodetsky (Konstantin Khabensky), who is defined as an "Other" by the legions of Light and Dark. Anton and his cohorts live as vampires, and await the arrival of a virgin who will announce the resumption of hostilities between the forces of Light and Dark; as the film progresses, it becomes apparent that an epic battle is just around the corner. One of the biggest films of all time in its native Russia, director Timur Bekmambetov's NIGHT WATCH positions itself somewhere in between THE MATRIX and BLADE in the pantheon of CGI-fueled sci-fi flicks. Although the plot is mind-boggling and occasionally verges on the incomprehensible, Bekmambetov is presumably using this first part of the trilogy to lure viewers into his wild cinematic world. Impressively, Bekmambetov's film was shot on a tiny budget, but it belies its meager origins. Even the English subtitles are integrated into several scenes, with words zipping across the screen and melting into the action as a heavy-metal soundtrack thumps away. Knowing he is set to film two sequels, Bekmambetov leaves his audience hanging as NIGHT WATCH nears its climax, with his second installment (DAY WATCH) promising further FX-laden feuding, and, in an intriguing twist, an English-language climax to the trilogy with DUSK WATCH.

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Young and in love, newlyweds Helene (Mary Johnson) and Sommer (William Dieterle, who also directed) endure an enforced separation when the accidental death of a nightclub owner--who was harassing Helene and incurred her husband's wrath--lands Sommer in jail. There his sexual longing finds other outlets in the absence of women, namely with a handsome young cellmate. Meanwhile, Helene aches for the comfort of her husband's embrace, and she finds solace in the arms of her kind employer. Exemplary of the creative freedom and unfettered cultural mores of Germany's Weimar period, this gem of the silent period was later banned under Nazi law. Dieterle's treatment of his subject matter is remarkable both for its lack of inhibition and its mixture of melodrama and eroticism with genuine tenderness. The stunning photography, craft, and restrained, subtle performances make this film an enduring masterpiece.

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A frank, graphic erotic drama about a very proper Provincial society wife who rejects the limitations of her social role and instigates an affair with an earthy lower-class man. Special Jury Prize, Venice Film Festival.

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Spanish actress turned director Laura Mana delivers an enchanting fable, by turns funny and achingly poignant, and seasoned with a bit of magical realism. Opening in black-and-white and set in a dull, drab Mexican town, the inhabitants of the film are beset by a bad case of the doldrums: the kids are taciturn, the adults are listless, and the elderly are afflicted. Among them, Dolores (Elisabeth Margoni, LOVE, ACTUALLY) stands out as a pious, big-hearted, and lovable woman, but her husband leaves her because he finds her undiluted goodness difficult to stomach. Shocked, hurt and angry, Dolores goes to bed with the first man who asks her, and soon she is providing all of the love-starved men of the town with the intimacy they have been missing. The changes are immeasurable and color is brought back into the lives of all the villagers, until problems arise in the form of the local prostitutes whose business has been hurt. Dolores's husband also returns and demands a stop to her behavior, forcing Delores to make a difficult decision. Mana delivers a beautiful, life-affirming, feminist take on the conservative mores of small-town life.

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In Federico Fellini's seminal film LA DOLCE VITA, a three-hour masterpiece that shows one man's descent into "the sweet life" of debauchery, Marcello Mastroianni stars as eccentric journalist Marcello Rubini. On assignment to chronicle the lives of the rich and famous Italian aristocracy in a gossip column for a Roman newspaper, Marcello floats from one fabulous party to the next, meeting all varieties of beautiful, extravagant people. While he would never protest this seemingly ideal job, it makes him feel lonely and empty, and he stays up drinking and dancing night after night only to wake up each morning unbalanced and unfocused. The film follows Marcello's ups and downs in an episodic pattern in which each evening is a new story, a new adventure, a new dare, a new woman with whom to fall helplessly in love--but only for that night. Each morning the slate is wiped clean, and Fellini resets Marcello's score to zero. Sprinkled with religious images and gestures at salvation, LA DOLCE VITA is supreme in the beauty of its all-encompassing symbolism that is expressed through lavish sets, an alluring script, overemphasized physical movements, roller-coaster jazz music, and helpless emotions.

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$19
 

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A lusty school headmaster, joined by his perverted nephews, recruits 12 female teachers to become their sex slaves. Whether the women will comply willingly remains to be seen!

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Ricardo (Marco Filiberti) is the son of an affluent Italian upper-crust family; he is also, unbeknownst to them, a very popular and flamboyant gay porn star who goes by the name of Riki Kandinsky. When he is forced to attend his father's funeral, he causes waves with his perfect hair and mascara. He endeavors to keep his identity from those in attendance, and is for the most part successful However, when his brother Federico visits Riki's Rome apartment to work out the details of the will, as well as to reconnect with his estranged brother, things take a decidedly different turn. Riki is forced to confess his lifestyle to his brother, and Federico is at first shocked, but moves on to acceptance. The two rekindle their relationship when Federico helps Riki adopt a young boy who has recently come into his life.

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In this Mexican comedy classic, Tin-Tan and El Zorrillo are the same person and Lupe has fallen in love with the latter. But when Don Martin and his workers are jailed by the evil Don Gaspar, it's up to El Zorrillo to save the day.

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THE SISSI COLLECTION includes the trilogy of romantic films about the Austrian princess: SISSI, THE YOUNG EMPRESS, and SISSI: THE FATEFUL YEARS OF THE EMPRESS. The three movies follow the adventures of Sissi and her husband Kaiser Franz Josef (Karl Heinz Böhm). Romy Schneider (WHAT'S NEW PUSSYCAT, TRIPLE CROSS), stars as the young princess, who has to endure the frustrations of court life in Vienna and a difficult mother-in-law. This popular series of costume dramas was directed by Ernst Marischka (SEASON IN SALZBURG), and this collection also includes two of his other movies, THE STORY OF VICKI and FOREVER MY LOVE.

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An epic tale of the Spanish Civil War, LIBERTARIAS focuses on the role that women played in the conflict. Maria (Ariadna Gil, known in Spain for her success with roles deemed impossible for other actresses) is a nun forced to flee her convent when the war brings troops to Barcelona. She hides in a brothel, where she meets and unites with a women's organization to assist with the war effort against Franco's fascists, and thereby secures the rights for their sex. Through her experiences Maria encounters many women from various social groups and occupations, and learns that they are all united in being oppressed merely because of their gender. LIBERTARIAS concentrates on how the struggle for freedom and civil rights during the Spanish Civil War took on special meaning for women. The film was nominated for six Goya Awards in 1996, and director Vicente Aranda (best know internationally for his film AMANTES aka LOVERS) took home the Special Jury Prize at the Tokyo Film Festival.

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In the midst of World War II, as the tide turns against the Axis, a German U-boat crew is sent out to patrol the Atlantic and fire at Allied ships bringing supplies to England. The submarine also carries a press correspondent, there to report from the front lines of nautical warfare. Meanwhile, the crew's captain (Jürgen Prochnow) is becoming disillusioned with the Nazi regime and with war in general. What starts out as a routine mission is soon livened up beyond the crew's expectations when their boat's surprise attack on a convoy is thwarted by a fast-moving destroyer. Battered by depth charges, the crew must pull together to survive the attacks of their unseen enemy. Widely considered to be director Wolfgang Petersen's best film and one of the finest German films ever made, DAS BOOT is stunningly realistic in its portrayal of the cramped conditions aboard a German submarine. Based on a novel by Lothar G. Buchheim, it is a striking example of an intelligent antiwar film clothed in the guise of a military thriller.

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In his final collaboration with Akira Kurosawa, Toshirô Mifune portrays Dr. Kyojio "Red Beard" Niide, a gruff but caring head doctor at a 19th-century clinic for the poor. Sorely in need of competent assistance, Red Beard takes on a new intern, the ambitious Noboru Yasumoto (Yuzo Kayama). However, Yasumoto isn't made aware of his appointment until after he's visited the facility and seen its grim conditions and impoverished patients. Initially, the brash young physician rebels against the wise elder and declines his duties, but gradually Yasumoto begins to respect Red Beard and his difficult yet essential work. As Yasumoto slowly acclimates to the clinic, the story also follows the lives (and deaths) of various patients. Truly the end of an era, RED BEARD marks the dissolution of the Kurosawa/Mifune partnership and also Kurosawa's last black-and-white production. Although surprisingly little has been written about the rift between Mifune and Kurosawa, it's likely that tensions were largely due to the film's grueling two-year shoot. Despite the drama behind the camera, RED BEARD remains one of Kurosawa's underrated classics. Although Mifune is best known for his earlier roles as an impetuous youth, here he gives a mature, though no less vital, performance, echoing the mentor character Takashi Shimura played in STRAY DOG, SEVEN SAMURAI, and other Kurosawa movies. (However, Mifune does get one action-packed, YOJIMBO-worthy fight scene.) In turn, Kayama admirably fills the role of the headstrong young intern. A sort of period-piece MASH or ER, RED BEARD is a moving drama that uses doctors and patients to address the timeless notion of trying to be a good person in an often cruel world.

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CUATRO NOCHES CON TIGO: When Rafael and Elsa arrive in Mexico City they are running from the misfortune that has blighted their lives. Fortunately they discover one another, and begin a rocky affair that is tainted by Elsa's father, who is trying to force her to marry a man she doesn't love. UNA AVENTURA EN LA NOCHE: A mystery unravels as two young men enjoy brief romances with two women who they then discover had officially died years before.

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Set in 16th Century Japan, Akira Kurosawa's epic SEVEN SAMURAI follows the plight of a defenseless farming village that lives in constant fear of marauding bandits. The farmers know that when their crops are harvested, the thugs will attack, so four men go to town in hopes of employing samurai to fight for them. However, the poor villagers can merely offer payment in the form of shelter and a daily bowl of rice, and initially only Kambei (Takashi Shimura), a brave elder samurai, and his eager young apprentice, Katsushiro (Isao Kimura), take up their cause. Encountering various nomadic warriors on the streets, they slowly put together his team of swordsmen, recruiting Shichiroji (Daisuke Katô), Gorobei (Yoshio Inaba), Heihachi (Minoru Chiaki), and Kyuzo (Seiji Miyaguchi). Finally, Kikuchiyo (Toshirô Mifune), a scruffy wanderer who has been trailing them, completes the small band of ronin. However, upon reaching the village, the samurai learn that the farmers fear them as much the enemy. Despite the tensions, Kambei and his men slowly train the peasants to defend their village. Eventually the warriors launch a preemptive strike against the bandits, and begin a series of intense conflicts that culminates in a rain-soaked final battle--without a doubt, one of the most stunning sequences in cinema history. Widely considered to be the greatest Japanese film ever made, Kurosawa's SEVEN SAMURAI is also credited with pioneering the modern action movie. This notion is especially evident in thrilling scenes such as Kambei's rescue of a kidnapped child, Kyuzo's duel, and Kikuchiyo's intensive theft of an enemy gun. Although the film clocks in at more than three hours, the story remains consistently engaging and slowly heightens the tension while providing action, drama, comic relief, and character development. Gleefully running amuck, Mifune gives one of his most renowned performances, imbuing the often comical Kikuchiyo with a surprising streak of melancholy and introspection. However, it is Shimura that anchors the entire film as the thoughtful and courageous Kambei, who stoically takes on the leadership of an almost impossible task. A monumental achievement in filmmaking, Kurosawa's SEVEN SAMURAI is cinematic perfection in nearly every aspect, giving the production its much-deserved status as one of the best films ever created.

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Amélie Poulain (Audrey Tautou) is a young woman who glides through the streets of Paris as quietly as a mouse. With wide eyes and a tiny grin, she sees the world in a magical light, discovering minor miracles every day. A shy and reserved person whose favorite moments are spent alone skimming stones into the water, Amélie was raised by a pair of eccentrics who falsely diagnosed her with a heart problem at the age of six and so limited her exposure to the outside world. Now a free and independent woman, Amélie wears a bob that curls in every direction and dresses in red. With a job in a café and an aptitude for spying on her neighbors, Amélie entertains herself by enacting a series of homemade, kindhearted practical jokes. She returns a long-forgotten box of childhood knickknacks to its proper owner, she sends her father's garden troll on a trip around the world, and she creates a love connection at the café between the hypochondriac druggist and a beer-drinking old grouch. But when the day is done, Amélie finds one stone unturned, and decides to work her magic on the quirky object of her affections, Nino Quincampoix (Matthieu Kassovitz), whom she has never met. Director Jean-Pierre Jeunet (who codirected DELICATESSEN and THE CITY OF LOST CHILDREN with Marc Caro) presents AMÉLIE, an aesthetically gorgeous and inventive film. The rich, glowing color scheme is offset by flashbacks in black and white archival footage that give short biographies of each character. A soft-spoken narrator guides viewers through this enlightening fairy tale, which sometimes speeds through the streets and other times drifts in slow motion. AMÉLIE is humorous, questioning, and strange, and it will change the lives of all who watch it, if only for a short while after leaving Amélie's world.

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MI QUERIDO VIEJO: Real-life father and son Vicente and Alejandro Fernandez team up in this tear-filled drama about a father's wish to have his son follow in his successful footsteps. ACORRALADO: The rebellious Reynaldo Beltran (Vicente Fernandez) kidnaps the daughter-in-law of a wealthy landowner who has been oppressing his people for years. As he and the beautiful woman hide out in the dangerous mountains, they must come to grips with each other's attitudes and views in order to survive. UNA PURA Y DOS CON SAL: A carefree singing cowboy (Vicente Fernandez) is living the good life with lots of wine, women, and song--and no responsibilities. One day he gets a visit from his attractive teenage daughter who is on a quest to get her parents back together, and that's when his troubles begin. EL HIJO DEL PUEBLO: One of the best interpreters of Mexican folklore, Vicente Fernandez, this time along with beautiful Lucia Mendez, sings the last songs of Jose Alfredo Jimenez.

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Acclaimed Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki adapts British writer Diana Wynne Jones's popular fantasy tale for this animated feature, adding his own unique and celebrated dreamlike spin. A young hat-maker named Sophie (voiced by Emily Mortimer) is turned into an old woman by the dreaded Witch of the Waste (Lauren Bacall) when she attracts the notice of Howl (Christian Bale), a young wizard whom the witch desires for herself. As the old woman, (voiced by Jean Simmons), Sophie finds refuge as a cleaning lady in Howl's magical castle, an impressively realized mishmash of anthropomorphic shafts and gears, where she meets, among other wonders, a cantankerous fire demon named Calcifer (Billy Crystal). Howl's courage inspires her to seek a cure for her curse, and vice versa, and the two work together to prevent a major war as the castle roams the countryside on its mechanical legs. There's lots of magic afoot as well, including travel through barriers of space and time, and shape-shifting, requiring full viewer attention to keep track of who, where, and when, but this how dreams really are and the film engages on that same subconscious level. As with Miyazaki's previous work (SPIRITED AWAY, KIKI'S DELIVERY SERVICE), the emphasis here is on creating a beautiful alternate reality, where anything can happen, and every frame is a breathtaking work of art. See it on the big screen if the chance presents itself; the elaborate intricacies and patiently realized alternate realities of Miyazaki's work makes him a true treasure.

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Foreign DVDs & Videos calling your name? Find all of the top DVDs & Video gear that you want at BizRate. Compare prices from top brands like as well as . Browse ratings from merchants that sell Foreign DVDs & Videos and other DVDs & Videos. Narrow your choices down by price range, brand, merchant, and more. Find the product that's right for you: Night Watch (Checkpoint; Sensormatic; Widescreen) [Blu-ray Disc] - Un Dia Sin Sexo [DVD].