
1975-12-18
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5.2When he is betrayed by a trusted friend, Mathayus must marshal all his strength and cunning to outwit a formidable opponent who will stop at nothing to unlock a supreme ancient power.
6.2The world's greatest blue sapphire, the "blue lapis fist", said to have sunk in a pirate ship in the late 19th century, on the coasts of Singapore. A local millionaire plots to retrieve it, and when it's exhibited in an exhibition at the Singaporean Marina Sands hotel, a murder takes place.
7.5Almost as soon as Jake and Cassie decide to get married on Christmas Eve, complications arise.
When Max (Eric Stoltz), urged on by "Risk Management," a self-help book for the hapless, decides to approach his fellow ferry-commuter Rory (Susanna Thompson), he hopes simply saying hello might change his life for the better. But Rory only accepts contact by contract. Max finds he can play along. As the two negotiate a whirlwind relationship on paper, Rory slowly lets down her guard; but when her unresolved personal life intervenes in the form of Donald (Kevin Tighe), Max must manage a little more risk than he bargained on.
6.1When the dinosaur families get trapped in a valley by an ice storm, one family of "spike tail" dinosaurs volunteers to leave since they consume more food than the others. Meanwhile, the young dinos and a new adult dinosaur named Mr. Thicknose, head out to bring back their friend Spike, who has left his friends to be with members of his own species.
6.2A bookshop renowned for its rare works is mysteriously and filled with copies of a book entitled 1, which doesn't appear to have a publisher or author. The strange almanac describes what happens to humanity in a minute. A police investigation begins and the bookshop staff are placed in solitary confinement by the Bureau for Paranormal Research. As the investigation progresses, the situation becomes more complex and the book becomes increasingly well-known, raising numerous controversies. Plagued by doubts, the protagonist has to face facts: reality only exists in the imagination of individuals.
7.0SNL alumnus and subversive master of late-night Seth Meyers comes out from behind the desk to share some lighthearted stories from his own life.
6.7Early morning silence is broken by screeching tires as a helicopter bears down on a speeding vehicle. Taking a quick corner, the team tumbles out into the woods as their car pulls away. Now they must make their way through the thick of nature and thick gunfire to accomplish their mission. Not a single word of dialogue is spoken throughout the entire film. Instead, the music, sounds, images and deeply truthful acting turn a simple plot into an intense experience. Passion and intrigue keep building to the very end.
6.9September, 1945. Sebastian impatiently waits for the return of his friend Angelina, whom he has not seen for two years. When the plane carrying the young woman to her small village in the Alps is reported to have crashed in the mountains, Sebastian is convinced that Angelina is still alive. Along with his faithful dog Belle, Sebastian embarks on the most dangerous adventure of his life.
6.4Looking for work, Aaron comes across a cryptic online ad: “$1,000 for the day. Filming service. Discretion is appreciated.” Low on cash and full of naiveté, he decides to go for it. He drives to a cabin in a remote mountain town where he meets Josef, his cinematic subject for the day. Josef is sincere and the project seems heartfelt, so Aaron begins to film. But as the day goes on, it becomes clear that Josef is not who he says, and his intentions are not at all pure.
7.1From an inauspicious beginning performing comedy routines in the back of a burger joint in New York, unorthodox stand-up star Zach Galifianakis has made a splash on the scene with his inimitable brand of humor. In this live show filmed at San Francisco's Purple Onion nightclub, the versatile funnyman serves up a healthy dose of his signature wit.
6.8Bombshell is a revealing look inside the most powerful and controversial media empire of all time; and the explosive story of the women who brought down the infamous man who created it.
5.4Several little boys run along a pier, then jump into the ocean.
7.3The second part of the Seventh Company adventures.
In the gray dawn of an October day, as the inhabitants of a village street in Tripoli are engaged in the enjoyment of their several pursuits of life, an Arab rushes upon the peaceful scene, announcing that Italy has declared war against Turkey and that the Italian warships are now in the harbor, shelling the city.
0.0The director, Roland Schwab, has created his version of Hell. The set is like a high iron walled hanger and the stage is continually occupied with people who look like fugitives from Mad Max and who interact with Mefistofele. The orchestra and choir are wonderful. Rene Pape gives a nuanced interpretation with a certain amount of sardonic humour under the evil. His singing and acting are first rate, as is that of Kristine Opolais and Joseph Calleja.
7.1The deformed Phantom who haunts the Paris Opera House causes murder and mayhem in an attempt to make the woman he loves a star.
0.0Here is a rare and exceptional example in which the director and costume designer amuse themselves with `silly' costumes, but it actually works. I usually loath the stupid concept of 'clever' producers' of dressing opera singers in an motley set of `modern' and bizarre costumes (mostly tasteless) to help the `stupid' spectators to understand the universality of the opera across time and place. However, in this particular production I enjoyed every moment of it. All my reservations withstanding, I found that the costumes have actually helped highlight the `buffa' aspects of this supposedly `siria' opera. This work may not be among Handel's greatest masterpieces, but the way it is presented and sung here makes it a thorough pleasure for the senses.
0.0Originally commissioned to celebrate the completion of the Suez Canal and the opening of Cairos new opera house, Verdis Egyptian epic Aida is here seen in a spectacular new staging in the Teatro Regio Torino by the Oscar-winning American film director William Friedkin, creator of such famous movies as The Exorcist and The French Connection. The cast features American soprano Kristin Lewis who has been heralded for her remarkable voice, which she uses with powerful dramatic instinct, and Georgian mezzo-soprano Anita Rachvelishvili, whose Amneris dominates the stage with her dark, rounded, irresistible voice and extraordinary stage presence. Gianandrea Noseda leading the Orchestra and Chorus Teatro Regio Torino received accolaides from all: he controls everything- orchestra, singers, chorus, dancers, acrobats- with an all-encompassing overview. He knows exactly when its time to linger over a timbre, a color, an expressive chord.
0.0A 2002 live performance of Mikel Rouse's Dennis Cleveland, a multimedia opera set entirely on a television talk show in the late 20th century.
0.0This May 2010 production of Massenet's 1910 opera "Don Quichotte" marked the opera's centenary and also Jose Van Dam's operatic farewell at the Theatre de la Monnaie, Brussels. It is beautiful in every way--vocally, scenically, sonically, and visually--and a worthy record of Van Dam's farewell. Van Dam is just shy of 70 in this production, but you would never guess it from his singing or stage movements--a consummate artist. His is a noble portrayal and deeply moving. The Act V death scene is a model of beautiful singing and acting.
0.0Opera in one act, libretto by G. Forzano based on Dante's Divine Comedy. Third part of his opera Triptych. The plot is based on canto XXX of "Inferno" from "The Divine Comedy", which are dedicated to the rogue and deceiver Gianni Schicchi, who was punished for his sins: he impersonated a dying rich man in order to make a forged will on his behalf. Gianni Schicchi is Puccini's only comic opera, a brilliant example of a modern opera buffa based on the tradition of Verdi's Falstaff. The most expressive recitative, bubbling melody, sharp character, impetuous tempo distinguish her music. Recorded live at Glyndebourne Opera House, Sussex, UK on 11 July 2004.
0.0There are elements of Eurotrash in this outdoor Aix-en-Provence summer opera production. Nevertheless, the splendid singing and acting transform the story, normally treated as farce, into something considerably more serious. As many other critics have noted, the young lovers have not yet sorted everything out as this performance ends. Act One begins with the principal characters running around in the outdoor theater -- while the audience takes it in as if they had been advised to sit back and enjoy the novelty. Very likely they were also asked to refrain from applauding at the end of arias and ensemble pieces, in which the three-hour opera abounds.
0.0Visually this is a gripping production which captures the drama of this opera perfectly. It's downright exciting! and I found the singing, acting, and orchestral playing reasonably fine. I found only one major problem with it, a problem that kept Puccini for quite a few years. Turandot has been looking for an opportunity to kill Calif and Calif has singlemindedly tried to get Turandot to love and wed him focusing on her and ignoring a better looking girl who loves him truly. The problem is how to get the audience to applaud the match once Calif gets his wish. Puccini couldn't figure out how to do it. The traditional quick ending doesn't do it, and Berio's attempt is longer , tries its best, but ends up making it plain this is one wierd couple.
The writer Dario Fo applies his inventive genius to Rossini's comic opera in its premiere DVD release. Recorded in 2005 under the musical direction of Maurizio Barbacini, Fo's production brings fresh vitality and colour to the story of Lisetta, and of her father Don Pomponio's increasingly ridiculous attempts to find a husband for her through an advertisement in the newspaper LA GAZZETTA. Filmed using high definition cameras with multitrack sound.
0.0Axel Kohler, the internationally renowned countertenor has brought Admeto into the modern era in timeless style by the skillful application of imaginative theatrical digressions. Köhler's production at the Halle Opernhaus revisits a work that encompasses comedy, tragedy and almost absurd grotesqueness, couching it in the convincing metaphor of a modern hospital.
0.0The many passionate, fiery or lyrical vocal pieces of Spanish zarzuela have continued to thrive in concert and recitals all over the world. One of the most renowned and ardent supporters of zarzuela melodies is Plácido Domingo. Belying his 66 years, the world-famous tenor sings these rousing, seductive melodies with the beguiling sweetness of a much younger man and tranports the enraptured listener to the calles and plazas of Madrid and Seville, Domingo is accompanied by Mozarteum Orchestra underJesús López Cobos and, above all, by his partner for the evening, sprano Ana Maria Martínez, "a beautiful woman with a fascinating voice, full of velvety mezzoish half-tints in the middle and bottom ranges, with a gleaming top." (London Times) Martínez and Domingo serve up an evening of infectious good spirits and exquisite vocal treats."The dazzle of genuine stars shone brightly over Salzburg!" (Die Welt)
0.0A group of merchants and vikings navigate dramatic events both within and without in this epic musical based on the Icelandic Vinland sagas. As secrets are exposed, two women (Freydís and Gudrid) have a reckoning.
0.0Francesco Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur was inspired by the real-life story of a celebrated actress at the Comédie-Française who was much admired by Voltaire. Hailed as a masterpiece, the opera was triumphantly staged in cities around the world after its premiere in 1902. The dramatically effective narrative is a passionate love triangle filled with intrigue and complicated plot twists set in the gallant 18th century. Its subtle ironies and gorgeous cantabile style of music provide a perfect vehicle for the star cast in this stunning production from the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino.
6.5Woody Allen's production of the Puccini comic opera at LA Opera in 2015
0.0The production was the Vienna State Opera debut for the young Swiss conductor Philippe Jordan – the Argentinian tenor Marcelo Álvarez, took the title role. His Charlotte on this occasion was the young Latvian mezzo-soprano Elīna Garanča. Her performances have been enthusiastically received and she has already been labelled as the new mezzo wonder. Staged by internationally sought-after Rumanian director, Andrei Serban, the apparently sentimental love story – normally presented in 18th century period costumes - reveals a study of personal relationships and a close observation of a woman, who comes of age too late. Serban’s aim was to rid the opera of the unjustified reputation of banality that clings to it despite its underlying tragic mood. By setting the production in the stiff, claustrophobic atmosphere of a small town in the 1950s, he aimed to make the audience more aware of its deeper levels of self-denial.
6.0Emmanuelle Haïm has established herself as one of the world’s leading performers, conductors and interpreters of Baroque repertoire, not only with Le Concert d’Astrée, the ensemble she founded in 2000, but with several of the world’s greatest orchestras. Known for her fresh and expressive approach to Baroque music, she has garnered critical acclaim and several international awards with her own ensemble, including Victoires de la Musique Classique, ECHOs, Gramophone Awards, and Grammy nominations.
7.0Diana Damrau’s reputation as the world’s leading coloratura soprano has been built on her extraordinary technical virtuosity, her sensitive musicianship and her acute psychological insight. In this DVD of Katie Mitchell’s sometimes radical production of Lucia di Lammermoor from London’s Royal Opera House, she is, as the Financial Times wrote, “brilliantly convincing”. The British award winning director Katie Mitchell – took a revisionist approach to the drama, updating the action to the mid-19th century and applying a feminist slant as she added new and unexpected elements. The Financial Times wrote: “Mitchell shows us on stage personal traumas that a self-respecting woman in the early 19th century was meant to keep to herself. It is a messy, bloody list — nocturnal sex trysts, a knife murder, a miscarriage, a suicide in the bath … In all this Damrau is brilliantly convincing. Her rebellious Lucia is a woman of modern attitudes stuck in a still feudal Victorian world.”