The Metropolitan Opera: Aida (2012)

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A hitman is tasked to take out ex-mobsters when he suddenly hears a voice that questions his morality.

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The Stievenart family decides to spend their vacation far away and puts an ad on the internet. The Mailon family responds by offering to exchange homes. But the Stievenart family has an environmentally friendly house, while the Mailons consume a lot of energy.

Without Family

Released from the orphanage at the age of thirty, a man dreams of finding his mother.

The Girl from Nowhere

Michel, a retired math teacher, has lived alone since his wife’s death and occupies his time writing an essay about the beliefs that shape daily life. One day he comes across Dora, a young homeless woman, who shows up injured on his doorstep, and puts her up until she recovers. Her presence brings something new to Michel’s life, but gradually the apartment becomes the site of mysterious happenings.

Don't Make Eye Contact

Two friends go to relax after a long day, when one gets the feeling that he's being watched by another man across the room from him, leading into an intense staring contest between the two.

The Bat Whispers

Infamous burglar "The Bat" commits a daring jewelry theft despite heavy police presence. Soon after, a bank theft occurs, which may be the work of the criminal as well. Meanwhile, Cornelia Van Gorder has various people arrive at her old mansion, including her niece, Dale, a bank employee, and police detective Anderson. When guests start turning up dead, Cornelia begins to suspect that The Bat may be lurking around the estate.

Arabesque for Kenneth Anger

Filmed at the Alhambra in Spain in just one day, according to Marie Menken. Arabesque for Kenneth Anger concentrates on visual details found in Moorish architecture and in ancient Spanish tile. The date 1961 refers to the addition of Teiji Ito's soundtrack and its subsequent completion, but the film was likely shot in 1960 or earlier. - David Lewis

Wheely

In an imaginary world where vehicles are the citizens, one underdog cabbie attempts to become king of the road in his hometown, Gasket City. He soon discovers that staying true to oneself is a greater pursuit than personal glory. When threatened by elitist attitudes and mobster trucks, can one unglamorous black and yellow ‘local zero’ rise to the challenge and become a ‘global hero’?

No Trace

In a near future, a callous smuggler hardened by life guides a pious young woman and her child across the border to safety, unaware that their destinies are inescapably linked in this inhospitable land.

Life of a Mutt

Through seven scenes, the film follows the life and destinies of stray dogs from the margins of our society, leading us to reconsider our attitude towards them. Through the seven “wandering” characters that we follow at different ages, from birth to old age, we witness their dignified struggle for survival. At the cemetery, in an abandoned factory, in an asylum, in a landfill, in places full of sorrow, our heroes search for love and togetherness. By combining documentary material, animation and acting interpretation of the thoughts of our heroes, we get to know lives between disappointment and hope, quite similar to ours.

Angel Terminators 2

Bullet, a female triad member, is recently released from prison. Bullet hooks up with her old gang rather quickly, although she is being closely watched by her policeman father and his gritty female partner Big Aunt . Bullet steals some jewels belonging to triad gangster Chin Bo while helping her friend May, who has been forced into prostitution. Chin Bo, also known as Brother Mad, kidnaps May and another of Bullet's friends to secure the return of his fortune, but the exchange goes wrong and a furious gun battle erupts.

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An unknown girl breaks out of her daily grind by undergoing an intense audio-visual trip.

Joyful Mystery

The fortunes of three impoverished friends and their families abruptly change after an airplane crashes in a nearby mountain. They rush to the crash site along with all the villagers, not to help the victims but to plunder their valuables. A dead American passenger carried a large amount of money in his briefcase which Mesiong, Ponsoy, and Jamin find and avariciously keep for themselves. But the town mayor gets greedy and with his hirelings abducts the three to divest them of their booty.

Bob Marley - Live in Concert

1. Trenchtown Rock 2. Them Belly Full 3. I Shot The Sheriff 4. Rebel Music 5. Lively Up Yourself 6. Crazy Baldhead/ Running Away 7. War/No More Trouble 8. The Heathen 9. No Woman, No Cry 10. Jamming 11. Get Up, Stand Up! 12. Exodus

Dans le piège de la dette

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Darkness Reigns

A film crew is ravaged by a demon, who is hell bent on cashing in on a deal he made with someone on set who was seeking fame and fortune.

Terminal Basement

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Scipio Africanus: The Defeat of Hannibal

A story of the Second Punic Wars, beginning with Scipio's futile pleas to the Roman Senate to build an army to battle Hannibal, that climaxes with the battle of Zama.

Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes and Watson are on the trail of a criminal and scientific mastermind who seems to control monsters and creations which defy belief.

Jethro Tull: Living With The Past

A veritable feast awaits fans of Ian Anderson's Jethro Tull on this elaborate DVD package, which boasts extensive concert footage and a load of extras. The focal point is nearly two hours of performances, filmed in late 2001 (primarily in London, with additional material from several other locations) and featuring material from the band's entire lengthy career, including such staples as "Aqualung" and "Bouree." The current Tull incarnation (featuring, as always, Anderson on vocals, flute, and sundry other instruments) takes center stage; there are also a couple of numbers with a string quartet, and even a small-club reunion of the lineup that made the group's very first album back in 1968. Interviews with band members, testimonials from rabid fans, photos, and even an option for viewing a Tull performance from three different audience points of view are among the generous helping of extra features.

Nullarbor

An animated road-movie set across the vast and barren landscape of Australia's Nullarbor Plain.

Massenet: Thaïs

When the most voluptuous, sought-after courtesan in the world meets an ascetic monk whose life is devoted to God, you know erotic sparks are going to fly. And when the clash takes place in a glorious, but rarely performed, opera by Massenet, it’s a delight to the ear just as much as to the eye. Renée Fleming is every inch the glamorous Thaïs, swathed in elegant gowns designed by Christian Lacroix. Thomas Hampson is Athanaël, the tortured man of God. This production by John Cox, which premiered in December 2008, brilliantly sets the stage for a confrontation as old as civilization itself.

Die Walküre

The gorgeous and evocative Otto Schenk/Günther Schneider-Siemssen production continues with this second opera in Wagner’s Ring cycle. Hildegard Behrens brings deep empathy to Brünnhilde, the favorite daughter of the god Wotan (James Morris) who nevertheless defies him. Morris’s portrayal of Wotan is deservedly legendary, as is Christa Ludwig, as Fricka. Jessye Norman and Gary Lakes are Sieglinde and Siegmund, and Kurt Moll is the threatening Hunding. James Levine and the Met orchestra provide astonishing color and drama. (Performed April 8, 1989)

Siegfried

Siegfried is the third of the four operas that constitute Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung), by Richard Wagner.

Acis a Galatea

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Carmen (Opéra de Lyon)

Live performance from the Opéra de Lyon, July 1 2012. Controversial production by Olivier Py.

Prince Igor

Live performance from the Metropolitan Opera, March 1, 2014. Absent from the Met stage since 1917, Borodin’s masterwork about an introspective prince’s military campaign against the invading Polovtsians returned in 2014 with a first-rate cast and an astonishing production by Dmitri Tcherniakov. Well worth the wait, the sets feature visually striking projections interlaced with lush flowering fields, and the first act delivers one of opera’s most exciting dance medleys, a portion of which went mainstream in the 1950s when Tony Bennett recorded “Stranger in Paradise.”

Don Pasquale

This John Dexter production, designed by Desmond Heeley, was a parting gift to the great American soprano Beverly Sills, who bid farewell to the Met as Norina, the smart young widow at the center of Donizetti’s comedy. The sensational Alfredo Kraus sings her beloved Ernesto. Håkan Hagegård, in his Met debut role and season, is Dr. Malatesta, the man who helps the young couple trick the crusty old bachelor of the title (Gabriel Bacquier at his comical best) into a fake marriage. This being a Donizetti comedy, it all turns out perfectly well at the end—and getting there is pure operatic fun.

The Metropolitan Opera: Boris Godunov

Stephen Wadsworth’s production of Mussorgsky’s epic masterpiece brilliantly captures the suffering and ambition of the Russian people at a critical time in their nation’s history. René Pape is riveting as the Tsar of the title, giving a commanding and charismatic performance of one of the greatest bass roles in the repertoire—his Boris is dominating, tortured, flawed and utterly unforgettable. The extraordinary cast and the Met Orchestra and Chorus are led by Russian maestro Valery Gergiev, the foremost Mussorgsky interpreter of our time.

Offenbach: Les Contes d'Hoffmann

Live from the Metropolitan Opera 19 December 2009.

Benvenuto Cellini

Live performance from Salzburg Festival Opera, August 2007. The story tells of Cellini's love for Teresa, daughter of the Papal Treasurer Balducci. His rival, the Papal Sculptor Fieramosca, overhears Cellini plotting to run away with Teresa during the carnival.

Mozart: Die Entführung aus dem Serail

The prestigious Gran Teatre del Liceu from Barcelona presents Mozart's beloved opera in an elegant, dramatic twist with a sparkling cast of world-class stars, led by coloratura soprano Diana Damrau as Constance and rising star Olga Peretyatko as Blonda. Director Christophe Loy has created a thought-provoking and surprisingly original script in which both Constance and Blonda feel respect, admiration and even deep love for their captors. As a result of this tantalizing, torturous approach, traditional norms and concepts of good and evil were turned upside down.

Die Zauberflöte

Live performance from the Salzburg Festival, 6 August 2012.

The Metropolitan Opera: Un Ballo in Maschera

David Alden’s elegant 2012 production moves Verdi’s thrilling drama to a timeless setting inspired by film noir. Marcelo Álvarez is Gustavo III, the Swedish king in love with Amelia (Sondra Radvanovsky), the wife of his best friend and counselor, Count Anckarström (Dmitri Hvorostovsky). When Anckarström joins a conspiracy to murder the king, tragedy ensues. Stephanie Blythe is the fortuneteller Madame Ulrica Arvidsson and Kathleen Kim sings the page Oscar. Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi is on the podium.

Rossini: Il Barbiere di Siviglia

Audiences went wild for Bartlett Sher’s dynamic production, which found fresh and surprising ways to bring Rossini’s effervescent comedy closer to them than ever before. The stellar cast leapt to the challenge with irresistible energy and bravura vocalism. Juan Diego Flórez is Count Almaviva, who fires off showstopping coloratura as he woos Joyce DiDonato’s spirited Rosina—with assistance from Peter Mattei as the one and only Figaro, Seville’s beloved barber and man-about-town.

Rossini: Armida

It is a rare opera indeed that calls for one soprano diva and no fewer than six tenors. Mary Zimmerman’s fanciful production of Rossini’s drama, designed by Richard Hudson and with choreography by Graciela Daniele, provides the perfect setting for superstar Renée Fleming’s captivating performance of the title role. A beautiful but evil sorceress in the times of the Crusades, Armida sets out to regain the love of the Frankish knight Rinaldo (Lawrence Brownlee) by putting her magical spells on him. She at first succeeds to draw him into her web of sorcery, but ultimately divine intervention—and his fellow soldiers—free Rinaldo from his enchantment—much to the vengeful fury of Armida and her demons.

Notre Dame de Paris - Live Arena di Verona

Notre Dame de Paris tells the story of Quasimodo, the hunchbacked bell-ringer of the cathedral of Notre-Dame and of his impossible and tragic love for Esmeralda, a beautiful gypsy. A love condemned by injustice and hypocrisy. Quasimodo forced by his ugliness to look at the world from the top of a tower one day he falls madly in love with Esmeralda who sees dancing and singing on the square in front of the cathedral. But Esmeralda is in love with Febo, the handsome captain of the King's guards. Febo is fiancé of Fiordaliso, a young and rich bourgeois, but the exotic and sensual beauty of the gypsy does not leave indifferent the man who immediately falls in love with her. Even Frollo, the archdeacon of the cathedral, is attracted by the gypsy and spying on the moves of the two lovers in a raptus of jealousy and repressed carnal desire to get rid of the rival stabbing Febo behind.

Les Contes D'Hoffmann

Among DVDs of "Hoffmann" currently available, this is the only one that even begins to stand comparison with the superlative Powell and Pressburger film (whose ideas it occasionally borrows). Olivier Py's baroque imagination, which sometimes leads him into self-indulgence and incoherence, is well suited to bringing out this opera's darkness and he does an excellent job

Tchaikovsky: Iolanta / Bartók: Bluebeard's Castle

Valery Gergiev conducts Mariusz Trelinski’s thrilling new production of these rarely heard one-act operas. Anna Netrebko stars as the blind princess of the title in Tchaikovsky’s lyrical work, opposite Piotr Beczala as Vaudémont, the man who wins her love—and wakes her desire to be able to see. Nadja Michael and Mikhail Petrenko are Judith and Bluebeard in Bartók’s gripping psychological thriller about a woman discovering her new husband’s murderous past.