derekw's - Favourites List

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Inspired by the student revolts of 1968, Ulrike Meinhof and Fusako Shigenobu left Germany and Japan in the early seventies in search of world revolution.

They trained with Palestinian freedom fighters and became the most notorious "terrorists" of their time, as leaders of the Baader Meinhof Group and the Japanese Red Army. Packed with extraordinary archive footage, Children of the Revolution sees journalists Bettina Rdhl and May Shigenobu explore the lives of their mothers, Ulrike and Fusako. Bettina was kidnapped when her mother went underground. May spent her first 28 years without a name, living incognito in constant fear of assassination. With capitalism once more in crisis and revolution sweeping the Arab world, we ask: what were they fighting for and what have we learned?

Based on a true story, 'The Great Revival' is the epic re-telling of the revolutionary army who rose against the tyranny of an empire to take back their land. This is a star studded heroic journey for freedom against all the odds.

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It's the landmark series that inspired an entire genre. Now, television's greatest detective, Columbo, comes to video for the first time in this deluxe collector's set.

Starring Peter Falk in his 4-time Emmy-winning role as the cigar-chomping, trench coat-wearing police lieutenant, this collection includes every fascinating episode from the series' first season.

Super sleuth, Inspector Morse (John Thaw) has an ear for music, a taste for beer and a nose for crime. He sets out with Sergeant Lewis (Kevin Whatley) to solve each intriguing case.

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In the spring of 1942 German troops advance deep into the Soviet Union, en route to Stalingrad. Hitler, seriously misjudging the 1 tenacity of the Red Army, is convinced that the city can be conquered before winter.

Inadequately clothed and without sufficient food, the Nazi troops literally freeze and starve to death, largely abandoned by their leaders. For the soldiers Fritz, Hans, Rollo and GeGe the struggle for life has just begun. Gunfire and bombs are only one part of this hell; most of the soldiers will lose the battle against hunger and cold. The film presents this turning point in World War II as a vast tableau of horror in which the average German soldier was as much a victim of Nazi evil as were the Soviet people.

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Deep within this remote landscape, facing the most hostile conditions on earth, 300 people inhabit the small village of Bakhtia. There are only two ways to reach this outpost, by helicopter and by boat. In this wilderness there are no phones, running water or medical aid.

The people live according to their own values and cultural traditions which have remained unchanged for centuries. With his wonderfully evocative narration accompanying the breath-taking imagery, Werner Herzog brings us another remarkable encounter.

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From acclaimed director Feng Xiaogang comes this breathtaking war epic which revisits one of the most catastrophic periods of twentieth century Chinese history: the famine in Henan Province during the 1942 Sino-Japanese War, which claimed three million lives.

Zhang Guoli stars as Master Fan, a wealthy landlord who loses everything when he and his family flee their famine-stricken hometown. Academy Award winner Adrien Brody co-stars as a courageous American journalist who encounters the horrors of the famine first-hand and endeavours to enlist relief-aid from the Chinese government and expose the plight of the Henan refugees.

Inspired by true events, The Founding of a Republic weaves a rousing tale of a fight against tyranny, where one man would lead his people into battle in the ultimate sacrifice for his country.

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The last days of the American icon Walt Disney form a powerful and poignant subject for Philip Glass's latest opera, which was filmed at its first performances in Madrid in January 2013.

Phelim McDermott's spectacular production is worthy of Disney's own visual imagination and its definitive influence on American culture, while in the pit is the conductor Dennis Russell Davies, an experienced and authoritative champion of the composer's hypnotically beautiful music, which gives wings to Rudy Wurlitzer's operatic transformation of Peter Stephan Jungk's novel, using both fact and fiction to peer into Disney's troubled psyche as illness forces him to confront his mortality.

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Mark Williams stars as Father Brown, the crime-solving, mild mannered, intuitive, Roman Catholic Priest, in this acclaimed drama series based on the stories by GK Chesterton.

Featuring all 10 episodes from the second series, Williams plays Father Brown wonderfully and is joined by a superb supporting cast...in this glorious and rich production.

The Ghost in the Machine
Father Brown is sceptical when a parishioner believes she's being haunted by her sister who went missing years ago. However when she herself vanishes, he must investigate both disappearances.
The Maddest of All
When an ex-serviceman drops dead in the street, Father Brown investigates the facility where he was a patient. Could something sinister lie beneath the surface at Danvers Retreat?
The Pride of Prydes
The grand opening of Pryde Castle ends in disaster when a guide is struck by an arrow. Contrary to Inspector Sullivan, Father Brown becomes convinced that the motive lies buried in the family's past.
The Shadow of the Scaffold
When convicted killer Violet is given a temporary reprieve from the gallows, she begs Father Brown to prove her innocence. With only three days in hand, can he find the real culprit before it's too late?
The Mysteries of the Rosary
The mysterious disappearance of an old friend sends Father Brown and Sid on a quest to find the mythical Lannington Rosary. However can an old adversary, back from the dead, be trusted to help?
The Daughters of Jerusalem
Father Brown finds himself immobilised with a broken leg when a member of Kembleford's Wl dies in mysterious circumstances. Can he crack the case armed only with a telescope and the gang to help?
The Three Tools of Death
When a troubled young woman's father is killed just weeks after her mother's death, Father Brown must help her deal with her grief while solving the father's inexplicable murder by one of three weapons.
The Prize of Colonel Gerard
Father Brown is unconvinced when a recently returned prisoner of war is suspected of the killing of his tyrannical uncle. And it seems that someone will stop at nothing to keep the priest from the truth...
The Grim Reaper
A gruesome death on a local farm is blamed on the Kembleford physician through a series of poison pen letters. Father Brown must figure out who sent them in order to save his friend from the gallows.
The Laws of Motion
A day out at a local hill climb track ends with one of the drivers killed in a car crash. When Father Brown will not stop investigating, an infuriated Sullivan resolves to put an end to his meddling for good.

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Inga (Arndís Hrönn Egilsdóttir) runs a dairy farm with her husband in a remote valley of Iceland where they work long hours for a tight income due to their buyers, a money-grubbing monopoly known as the co-op.

However, when Inga's husband tragically dies she learns her debts are even greater than she thought and takes it upon herself not to repay them but to expose the co-op's greed and corruption by any means necessary.

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Murder Most English contains four terrific tales of detective sleuthing based on the Flaxborough novels of Colin Watson.

Starring Anton Rodgers as Detective Inspector Purbright and Christopher Timothy as Detective Sergeant Love, the series was filmed in 1977 and is a glowing tribute to an England long-gone of heavy tweed jackets, dial telephones, typewriter ribbons and old-fashioned investigation and deduction. Told over 7 episodes: Hopjoy Was Here, Lonelyheart 4122, The Flaxborough Crab and Coffin Scarcely Used tell tales of mysterious murders, dire disappearances and conniving conspiracy that are designed to keep the local investigators at bay, but their layers of intrigue simply draw the detectives in deeper. One surprising and prescient tale considers the effects of an early variation on Viagra that sets the small town astir in some most unexpected ways. But whatever the crime and whoever the culprit, one thing you can be sure of is a case or two of Murder Most English.

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Tony Palmer directs this documentary exploring the life and work of the celebrated English composer, conductor and pianist. Britten is particularly well known for his operas, which include 'Peter Grimes' and 'Death in Venice'.

Palmer discusses the life experiences that influenced Britten's work, such as the turmoil of World War II, which horrified his pacifistic nature, and reflects on the role of an artist in such troubled times.

Music Includes:
- The Nocturne
- War Requiem
- Ballad of Heroes
- Cello Symphony
- Owen Wingrave
- Death in Venice
- 3rd String Quartet
- Phaedra
- Our Hunting Fathers
- The Turn of the Screw
- Ceremony of Carols
- Peter Crimes
- Frank Bridge Variations
- Simple Symphony
- Noye's Fludde
- Gloriana
- St Nicolas. Symphony No.14 by Shostakovich