Vertigo

Vertigo VHS cover art. Movie starring James Stewart, Kim Novak. With Barbara Bel Geddes, Tom Helmore, Henry Jones. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. 1958.

Vertigo on VHS. Starring James Stewart, Kim Novak. With Barbara Bel Geddes, Tom Helmore, Henry Jones. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. 1958.

From the box:

The Alfred Hitchcock Collection

Critics have hailed Vertigo as legendary film director Alfred Hitchcock’s ultimate masterpiece. This haunting tale of obsession, fear and murder stars favorite Hitchcock leading man Jimmy Stewart as a troubled detective pathologically afraid of heights and obsessed with a lost love and her look-alike. Kim Novak gives the performance of her career as the bizarre heroine in what is felt to be “The Master’s” most humane yet frightening feature because it works on a psychological rather than emotional level.

DVD Upgrade: Vertigo

High Anxiety

High Anxiety VHS cover art. Movie starring Mel Brooks, Madeline Kahn, Cloris Leachman, Harvey Korman. With Dick Van Patten, Barry Levinson, Jack Riley, Charlie Callas. Directed by Mel Brooks. 1977.

High Anxiety on VHS. Starring Mel Brooks, Madeline Kahn, Cloris Leachman, Harvey Korman. With Dick Van Patten, Barry Levinson, Jack Riley, Charlie Callas. Directed by Mel Brooks. 1977.

From the box:

A Psycho-Comedy

Ray Berwick, the same man who trained thousands of birds for Alfred Hitchcock’s classic movie, “The Birds,” one of the actual pictures Brooks is spoofing, also trained the 200 pigeons who pursue and attack Mel in “High Anxiety.”

Mel Brooks’ renowned spoof of the most famous Hitchcockian classics — “Vertigo,” “The Birds,” “Psycho” and “Spellbound” — is one of his most outrageous comedy classics. After a Harvard psychiatrist (Brooks) takes over the Psycho-Neurotic Institute for the Very, Very Nervous, he realizes that his predecessor died under suspicious circumstances. When events take a murderous turn, he is accused of the crime and left with a full blown case of High Anxiety.

DVD Upgrade: High Anxiety

Bandits

Bandits VHS cover art. Movie starring Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton, Cate Blanchett. Directed by Barry Levinson. 2001.

Bandits on VHS. Starring Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton, Cate Blanchett. Directed by Barry Levinson. 2001.

From the box:

Busting out of prison, Joe (Bruce Willis) and Terry (Billy Bob Thornton) are on the run and out of money. That changes when they devise a scheme to place bank managers under house arrest the night before they rob their banks. But success as the infamous “sleepover bandits” isn’t the only change in store for them. As they cross state lines and federal laws, they meet Kate (Cate Blanchett), a sexy, eccentric housewife whose indecision as to which of the two bandits she wants could spoil their partnership for good!

DVD Upgrade: Bandits

Pulp Fiction

Pulp Fiction VHS cover art. Movie starring John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Samuel L. Jackson. With Bruce Willis, Tim Roth, Amanda Plummer, Eric Stoltz, Rosanna Arquette, Ving Rhames, Peter Greene, Christopher Walken, Harvey Keitel, Maria de Medeiros. Directed by Quentin Tarantino. 1994.

Pulp Fiction on VHS. Starring John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Samuel L. Jackson. With Bruce Willis, Tim Roth, Amanda Plummer, Eric Stoltz, Rosanna Arquette, Ving Rhames, Peter Greene, Christopher Walken, Harvey Keitel, Maria de Medeiros. Directed by Quentin Tarantino. 1994.

From the box:

Special Academy Edition

Letterbox Version

From imdb (box is Academy Awards Screener Copy with no description):

The lives of two mob hit men, a boxer, a gangster’s wife, and a pair of diner bandits intertwine in four tales of violence and redemption.

DVD Upgrade: Pulp Fiction

Read All About It: Pulp Fiction Hardcover by Jason Bailey

GoodFellas

GoodFellas VHS cover art. Movie starring Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci. With Lorraine Bracco, Paul Sorvino, Debi Mazar, Frank Sivero, Tony Darrow, Mike Starr, Frank Vincent, Michael Imperioli, Samuel L. Jackson, Vincent Gallo. Directed by Martin Scorsese. 1990.

GoodFellas on VHS. Starring Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci. With Lorraine Bracco, Paul Sorvino, Debi Mazar, Frank Sivero, Tony Darrow, Mike Starr, Frank Vincent, Michael Imperioli, Samuel L. Jackson, Vincent Gallo. Directed by Martin Scorsese. 1990.

From the box:

Three Decades Of Life In The Mafia.

When Martin Scorsese, one of the world’s most skillful and respected directors, reunited with two-time Oscar-winner Robert De Niro in GoodFellas, the result was one of the most powerful films of the year. Based on the true-life best seller Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi and backed by a dynamic pop/rock oldies soundtrack, critics and filmgoers alike declared GoodFellas great. It was named 1990’s best film by the New York, Los Angeles and National Society of Film Critics. And it earned six Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director.

Robert De Niro received wide recognition for his performance as veteran criminal Jimmy “The Gent” Conway. And as the volatile Tommy DeVito, Joe Pesci walked off with the Best Supporting Actor Oscar. Academy Award nominee Lorraine Bracco, Ray Liotta and Paul Sorvino also turned in electrifying performances.

You have to see it to believe it — then watch it again. GoodFellas explores the criminal life like no other movie.

DVD Upgrade: GoodFellas (Two-Disc Special Edition)

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Food Upgrade: The Wise Guy Cookbook: My Favorite Recipes From My Life as a Goodfella to Cooking on the Run Paperback by Henry Hill

Phoenix

Phoenix VHS cover art. Movie starring Ray Liotta, Anthony LaPaglia, Anjelica Huston. With Daniel Baldwin, Jeremy Piven, Royce D. Applegate, Xander Berkeley, Brittany Murphy, Kari Wuhrer, Giancarlo Esposito. Directed by Danny Cannon. 1998.

Phoenix on VHS. Starring Ray Liotta, Anthony LaPaglia, Anjelica Huston. With Daniel Baldwin, Jeremy Piven, Royce D. Applegate, Xander Berkeley, Brittany Murphy, Kari Wuhrer, Giancarlo Esposito. Directed by Danny Cannon. 1998.

From the box:

In This Town, The Heat Can Kill You.

These days it seems like everybody’s addicted to something, and for Detective Harry Collins (Ray Liotta) gambling is his “drug.” He’ll bet on anything, no matter the odds, just for the rush. But this time, he’s in over his head. Caught between a brutal bookie, a lethal loan shark and a murderous heist gone wrong, Harry has a daring plan to settle his debts, once and for all.

Back cover:

Continue reading “Phoenix”

Chinatown

Chinatown VHS cover art. Movie starring Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston. Directed by Roman Polanski. 1974.

Chinatown on VHS. Starring Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston. Directed by Roman Polanski. 1974.

From the box:

Jack Nicholson is private-eye Jake Gittes, living off the murky moral climate of sunbaked, pre-war Southern California. Hired by a beautiful socialite (Faye Dunaway), to investigate her husband’s extramarital affair, Gittes is swept into a maelstrom of double dealings and deadly deceits, uncovering a web of personal and political scandals that come crashing together for one, unforgettable night in Chinatown.

DVD Upgrade: Chinatown (Centennial Collection)

Blood Alley

Blood Alley VHS cover art. Movie starring John Wayne, Lauren Bacall. With Paul Fix, Joy Kim, Berry Kroeger, Mike Mazurki, Anita Ekberg. Directed by William A. Wellman, John Wayne. 1955.

Blood Alley on VHS. Starring John Wayne, Lauren Bacall. With Paul Fix, Joy Kim, Berry Kroeger, Mike Mazurki, Anita Ekberg. Directed by William A. Wellman, John Wayne. 1955.

From the box:

The Place — Chiku Shan, China!
The Time — Almost Too Late!
The Only Way Out — Blood Alley!

At his career prime John “Duke” Wayne stars as Tom Wilder. Big-hearted, iron-fisted and patriotic, Wilder braves dangerous waters and pursuing Red Chinese forces as he steers a boatload of Chinese refugees along the 300-mile waterway called Blood Alley to freedom’s shores. Joining Wayne is Lauren Bacall, who could burn holes in hearts with what Hollywood called “The Look”. For the first time ever, she plays a rough outdoor role, one she described as requiring “no tea drinking with the pinky uplifted”.

DVD Upgrade: Blood Alley

Dark City

Dark City VHS cover art. Movie starring Rufus Sewell, Kiefer Sutherland, Jennifer Connelly. With William Hurt, Richard O'Brien. Directed by Alex Proyas. 1998.

Dark City on VHS. Starring Rufus Sewell, Kiefer Sutherland, Jennifer Connelly. With William Hurt, Richard O’Brien. Directed by Alex Proyas. 1998.

From the box:

They built the city to see what makes us tick. Last night one of us went off.

When John Murdoch (Rufus Sewell, Dangerous Beauty) awakens in a strange hotel room, he finds that he is wanted for a series of brutal murders. The problem is he can’t remember a thing. Pursued by the police and haunted by the Strangers, mysterious beings who possess the ability to stop time and alter reality, he seeks to unravel the twisted riddle of his identity. But in a city where reality is the ultimate illusion, discovering the truth could be fatal.

DVD Upgrade: Dark City (Director’s Cut)

The Puppet Masters

The Puppet Masters VHS cover art. Movie starring Donald Sutherland, Eric Thal, Julie Warner. With Keith David, Will Patton, Yaphet Kotto. From a Robert A. Heinlein novel. Directed by Stuart Orme. 1994.

The Puppet Masters on VHS. Starring Donald Sutherland, Eric Thal, Julie Warner. With Keith David, Will Patton, Yaphet Kotto. From a Robert A. Heinlein novel. Directed by Stuart Orme. 1994.

From the box:

Donald Sutherland leads a team of top-level government agents who make a chilling discovery: extraterrestrial beings have landed and are quickly taking control of the residents of a small midwestern town — manipulating their bodies and minds like puppets! Forced with an escalating crisis as the creatures multiply and spread, the team must somehow eliminate the seemingly unstoppable aliens.

DVD Upgrade: The Puppet Masters

Read The Book The Movie Was Based Upon: The Puppet Masters (Baen Science Fiction) Mass Market Paperback by Robert A. Heinlein

Listen To The Book The Movie Was Based Upon: The Puppet Masters MP3 CD – Audiobook, Unabridged by Robert A. Heinlein (Author) , Lloyd James (Reader)