London

• English and French language with subtitles in English and French
• Special Features
• Audio Commentary with Director Hunter Richards
• Deleted Scenes
• Behind the Scenes Featurette

On the gritty streets of LA, the destinies of four people desperate for connection and redemption are about to collide. Jessica Biel, Ray Liotta, Forest Whitaker and Eddie Redmayne lead a top-notch cast in this powerful thriller about an overwhelmed erotic dancer, a grieving husband who has lost his will to live, a terminally ill ex-con and a pathologically shy mortician. With Kris Kristofferson, Lisa Kudrow and Patrick Swayze in unforgettable supporting roles, this film movingly chronicles the imperfect lives of people teetering on the edge of despair and the miracles that bring them back.

Stills from Powder Blue (Click for larger image)

Jessica Biel, Colin Firth, Kristin Scott Thomas and Ben Barnes bring Noël Coward's witty comedy of manners magnificently to life in this "deliciously cheeky" (Ella Taylor, The Village Voice) adaptation from director Stephan Elliott (The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert). When British playboy John brings his new wife Larita - a race car-driving feminist from Detroit - home to meet! the family at their country estate, pretty much everyone's ex! pectatio ns are disappointed. His snooty mother is offended by Larita's carefree American ways, while Larita does everything she can to get her mother-in-law to loosen up, which only annoys her even more. John's sisters have diametrically opposed feelings about their new sister-in-law, but his father is intrigued to have finally found another who sees through the family's façade - and takes great perverse pleasure in watching his wife meet her match.A lighthearted adaptation of a Noel Coward play set in the late 1920s, Easy Virtue stars Jessica Biel as Larita, an adventurous American who marries John, the naive, British heir (Ben Barnes) to a crumbling family estate. Whisked into the less-than-receptive bosom of John's kin, Larita soon finds herself drawing the scorn of her mother-in-law (Kristin Scott Thomas), who would have preferred John marry a longtime sweetheart from his own genteel community rather than a brash Yankee. Eager to move to London, Larita knows the longer a! post-honeymoon John visits his family the harder it will be for the newlyweds to live on their own terms, and she's right. Giving up on any notion of fitting in, Larita suffers a few embarrassments before fighting back. But nothing can help her once a past scandal encroaches on her dream of happiness.

Co-writer and director Stephan Elliott (The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert) keeps everything breezy and fun, though the clashes between Larita and her malicious mother-in-law are keenly felt. Elliott's period sensibility is very strong, not least of all his appreciation of John's father (Colin Firth), a restless intellectual and member of the so-called Lost Generation of World War I veterans. Firth's performance as a man distanced from his family's preoccupations and material woes is a real highlight of Easy Virtue. When he dances a tango, late in the story, one can see years of repressed desire erupt in him. --Tom Keogh


Stills from Easy Virtue (Click for! larger image)

LONDON - DVD MovieLondon, a film written and directed by Hunter Richards, warns against the allure of cocaine as protagonist Sid (Chris Evans), loses his girlfriend, London, and also loses his mind from drug use. Set mostly in a bathroom at London's going away party, the film features Sid doing coke with various model-type chicks, while mustering up courage to go downstairs and make peace with his ex-girlfriend. London (Jessica Biel) ins! tigates their breakup after sleeping around and failing to hel! p Sid's depression, culminating in his suicide attempt. Sid's angst builds in the bathroom, as he gets higher, creating a tortured scenario reminiscent of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf. Finally, Sid faces London and starts a chaotic brawl. A side-plot involves Bateman (Jason Stathham), the coke dealer devoted to counseling Sid. Bateman soothes Sid's pain by describing the real frustration of impotency, manifesting itself in a love for S&M clubs. With such a simplistic plot, London is as devoid of logic as the lifestyle it glamorizes, making its pointlessness ingeniously vapid. Sid's quest for sanity is difficult to empathize with, since he’s an egotistical, drug-addled loser. Sid repeatedly questions the existence of God between scenes of his failed relationship with London, obviously linking his heartbreak and his loss of faith. At its worst, London portrays a shallow, juvenile couple's inability to resolve personal issues. At best, London cleverly pi! ts cocaine's sex appeal against the doomed fates of those who fall prey to it.--Trinie Dalton

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