Never mind Virginia Woolf, she's a lightweight compared to "Martha" (Elizabeth Taylor) as "Nick" (George Segal) and his wife "Honey" (Sandy Dennis) are about to discover for themselves. They've already been at a faculty do with her and husband "George" (Richard Burton) and have gone round after for a nightcap. That's their first mistake as a vitriolic battle of sarcastic and venomous wits is just getting started between their hosts. Initially they are sympathetically embarrassed but then that morphs into something a little more participative as the brandy and the bourbon starts to take effect on everyone. In vino vertitas has never been more true as it emerges that the older couple have a son, the other bugger, and it's clear from early on that something on that front is not right. The younger couple are not immune from the prevailing toxicity and before long they are also starting to question some of what underpins their own relationship. As tempers flare, things become even more unpleasant - even violent, as there are no holds barred and psychological cruelty becomes the benchmark for just about all of them. I saw this on stage and loved it. On the big screen, Mike Nicholls has used his cinematic advantages to make it even more potent. By using the cast together, splitting them off into pairs, changing the location from their increasingly small living room, occasionally involving an innocent bystander to temporarily lessen the stress levels and even pouring some coffee into them, we tell a remarkably hard-hitting story of grief. A festering, poisonous emotion that when not dealt with can grow to throttle just about any relationship - especially if the vintner is on it, too. Taylor and Burton excel, there's no other word for it. Her performance makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up and is perfectly foiled by the more understated but just as brutal characterisation of "George" by a Burton rather benignly bedecked in his middle-aged cardigan - but don't be fooled. Though the plot doesn't focus so much on the others at the start, both Segal and a strong effort from Dennis come into their own too as the ghastliness of their new friends proves contagious and noxious. It's also directed as if we were watching from various points in the room, which adds extra impact as we see things from differing perspectives - but always with a horribly natural flow. It often comes across as a continuous stream of filming akin to how it would be presented live on a stage. This is cinema at it's most visceral with compelling characterisations and dialogue that really does hurt. Maybe don't watch if you've just had a row, or a few drinks, or both? No remakes, please.
A domineering,reclusive, and ostentatiously pious widow in a small Spanish town keeps such close watch on her daughters that they are unable to have normal social lives. However, the eldest is allowed to become engaged to an unprincipled young man, primarily for the financial advantages it will bring the mother, Bernarda. Jealousy and envy ensues among the other daughters.
Fiona and Grant have been married for nearly 50 years. They have to face the fact that Fiona’s absent-mindedness is a symptom of Alzheimer’s disease. She must go to a specialized nursing home, where she slowly forgets Grant and turns her affection to Aubrey, another patient in the home.
In a vibrant tapestry of love and longing, nine interconnected souls navigate romance and heartbreak in L.A., where passions collide and truths unfold, revealing that the heart's desires often lead us where we least expect.
In 1962 Hong Kong, two neighbors form a strong bond after both suspect extramarital activities of their spouses.
During a writing slump, playwright J.M. Barrie meets a widow and her four children, all young boys—who soon become an important part of Barrie’s life and the inspiration that lead him to create his masterpiece. Peter Pan.
A depiction of the conflict between King Henry VIII of England and his Lord Chancellor, Sir Thomas More, who refuses to swear the Oath of Supremacy declaring Henry Supreme Head of the Church in England.
After five (or six) years of vanilla-wedded bliss, ordinary suburbanites John and Jane Smith are stuck in a huge rut. Unbeknownst to each other, they are both coolly lethal, highly-paid assassins working for rival organisations. When they discover they're each other's next target, their secret lives collide in a spicy, explosive mix of wicked comedy, pent-up passion, nonstop action and high-tech weaponry.
The erotic mishaps of a family: the voyeur pervert father spies and harasses all the maids in the mansion and watch them have sex. The wife is a sex starved woman, who has sex with a young boy working in the house, then steals her daughter's boyfriend and the daughter finds a new one in the park immediately. And father watches all three group have sex in different rooms in the mansion.
In the slums of the upper West Side of Manhattan, tensions are high as a gang of Polish-Americans compete against a gang of recently immigrated Puerto Ricans, but this doesn't stop two romantics from each gang falling in love.
Erika Kohut, a sexually repressed piano teacher living with her domineering mother, meets a young man who starts romantically pursuing her.
This rock opera tells the story of one year in the life of a group of bohemians struggling in late 1980s East Village, New York, USA. The film centers around Mark and Roger, two roommates. While a tragedy has made Roger numb to new experiences, Mark begins capturing their world through his attempts to make a personal movie. In the year that follows, they and their friends deal with love, loss, and working together.