Catherine the Great

• In this gripping, real-life fairy tale, a young German princess rises from relative obscurity to the Russian throne as one of the most remarkable monarchs in history--CATHERINE THE GREAT.A strange twist of fate in 1744 brings 15-year-old, foreign-born princess Sophia Fredericka (Catherine Zeta Jones) to the court of Empress Elizabeth of Russia (Jeanne Moreau) where she becomes Catherine II, the wi

A perfectionist chef addicted to her work struggles to adjust when her sister passes away leaving her with a little girl to raise and a new soup-chef threatens to take over her kitchen with his high-spirited and free-wheeling ways.Achieving balance in one's life can be a difficult process, but master chef Kate Armstrong (Catherine Zeta-Jones) leads a regimented, very ordered existence running the kitchen of an exclusive restaurant and revels in the sense of power and control her career affords. Whe! n Kate's sister is unexpectedly killed in an automobile accident and her 9-year old niece Zoe (Abigail Breslin) comes to live with Kate, Kate's life is turned completely upside down and she is suddenly forced to split her focus between work and family. Enter a newly hired, fun-loving, opera-singing sous chef Nick Palmer (Aaron Eckhart), whom Kate perceives as a serious rival, and thus begins an impassioned struggle on Kate's part to rein in Nick's exuberance and maintain control over her kitchen staff. Even as they clash, Kate is inexplicably drawn toward Nick, eventually coming to the realization that Nick offers something that she needs both in her restaurant kitchen and her new life with Zoe. Based on the screenplay for Mostly Martha, Catherine Zeta-Jones carries the lead well in this romantic comedy and there's a nice chemistry between herself and Aaron Eckhart as well as a poignant performance by Abigail Breslin. And, of course, and the food looks simply scr! umptious. --Tami HoriuchiA beautifully filmed drama abo! ut the r ise of russias empress catherine ii and her steely determination to revolutionize her country in the mid-18th century. Studio: A&e Home Video Release Date: 02/27/2001 Starring: Emily Bruni Run time: 100 minutes Rating: NrRussian history occurs on a sweeping scale, but that takes a bigger budget than A&E can muster. So instead the cable network keeps its treatment of Russian empress Catherine II indoors as much as possible. That allows the camera to linger over the impossibly lovely face of Catherine Zeta-Jones, and the plot to focus on the political machinations of 18th-century Russia. Catherine goes from a bookish teen bride (her husband is the crazy and possibly impotent nephew of Russia's Empress Elizabeth) to the legendary empress who successfully concluded the Seven Years' War with Prussia, conquered Turkey, and put down a rebellion led by a Cossack pretending to be her long-dead husband.

The movie stumbles a bit when it ventures outdoors--it's hard to! imagine Russia really conquered the Ottoman Turks with a 12-man army--but sizzles inside. Zeta-Jones conveys both passion and hard-edged ambition as her character transforms herself from manipulated to manipulator. Many of those manipulations occur in the bedroom, and the movie takes some liberties in portraying her union with military leader Grigory Potemkin (Paul McGann); here he's practically a saint, although history remembers him a bit less nobly.

The supporting cast includes Jeanne Moreau in a masterful portrayal of Empress Elizabeth, along with Ian Richardson, Mel Ferrer, and Omar Sharif. Although there's plenty of scenery for them to chew, they hold back, allowing Zeta-Jones her 100 minutes of greatness. --Kimberly Heinrichs

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The Sally Lockhart Mysteries - Shadow in the North

• Sally Lockhart (Billie Piper, Mansfield Park) has started her own financial consulting business. When her client loses a fortune from the unexpected collapse of a shipping line, Sally is determined to find out why so many of their ships have mysteriously vanished without a trace. She turns to her friends Jim and Frederick (JJ Feild, Northanger Abbey) for help, who have started up their own detecti

Billie Piper stars in the hit series SECRET DIARY OF A CALL GIRL, based on the real-life adventures of a high-class London escort. By day she's quiet and unassuming Hannah. But when night comes, she's Belle, the city's finest call girl. Juggling her own reality with her clients' fantasies can be difficult, but this savvy sweetheart knows every trick for doing it in style. Take a peek into SECRET DIARY OF A CALL GIRL, the witty and provocative original series from Showtime. It's a good time you won't! soon forget.Move over, Miley: There's another Hannah leading another, albeit way more provocative, double life. Her family and friends think she is a legal secretary, but this woman in the designer suit, known professionally to her clients as Belle, is, as she so delicately puts it, "a whore." Hannah/Belle isn't caught up in semantics. She's a very high-class London call girl who charges by the hour, and she charges a lot. "Be fabulous, but forgettable," she instructs early on about how to navigate hotel lobbies, but Billie Piper is anything but forgettable. Piper, best known as Rose Tyler, has gone from Dr. Who to Dr. Woo-Who! Based on an infamous blog and subsequent book, this British series is a cheeky insider's look at the world's oldest profession. It presents a much more glamorous picture than the grittier HBO reality series, Cat House, but like those happy hookers, Belle enjoys her work. "I love sex, and I love money," she directly tells viewers. But ! she does endeavor to keep her private and professional life se! parate. Not even her ex-boyfriend/now-best friend Ben (Iddo Goldberg) knows, which will change in episode five, and lead to an awkward close encounter when he insists on joining her on the job as part of a foursome. Piper's engaging presence and her posh-sounding British accent do take the edge off; the language is explicit, but the sex scenes are pure soft core. Several are played for laughs, but others do reach the desired hotness. Other than Hannah's conflicting feelings over Ben's impending marriage or her flirtation with taking her career to "the next step up the ladder" as a courtesan, there isn't too much drama in these eight episodes. But as a character study, Secret Diary of a Call Girl is of much more than prurient interest. --Donald Liebenson

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Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 08/09/2011 Run time: 187 minutesIn 1998 a 15 year old female singer named Billie Piper took the UK's music scene by storm with her hit single 'Because We Want To'. When the contagious pop song made it to the number one spot on the charts, it made Piper the youngest solo artist to ! reach that goal. This brand new collection is the only one av! ailable featuring all Billy's hits: 3 #1s, 3 Top Tens and a Top 30 chart hit. 15 tracks in all. EMI. 2005.The year is 1878, and Sally Lockhart (Billie Piper, Mansfield Park) has started her own financial consulting business. When her client, Miss Walsh, loses a fortune from the unexpected collapse of the Anglo-Baltic shipping line, Sally is determined to find out why so many of their ships have mysteriously vanished without trace. Hoping to recover her client s money, she turns for help to her friends, Frederick (JJ Feild, Northanger Abbey) and Jim, who have started up their own detective agency.

While pursuing their enquiries into the disappearance of the steamship Ingrid Linde, the three sleuths find themselves investigating stage magician Alistair MacKinnon who is being threatened by mysterious thugs, and a psychic medium who seems to be tapping into shady business secrets all of which draws them unwittingly into a dark and sinister plot fuelled by the dealings of the crue! l and heartless industrialist Axel Bellmann, whose business is built on a horrifying secret.

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