Sting Movies

The harsh realities of life on the street merge with the universal themes of youthful pain and exhilaration in director Dito Montiel's telling tale of one boy's struggle to escape the grim fate that awaits his aimless, trouble-minded peers. For most of Montiel's friends, the only means of escaping their bleak surroundings were drugs, prison, or death. In breaking the cycle and making a name for himself as a filmmaker, Montiel showed that there are ways to overcome the urban malaise that consumed the majority of his friends. He couldn't have done it alone, though, and with this film Montiel pays tribute to those he left behind by bringing their story to the screen so that their struggles may give others in similar situations the courage to pursue a more positive, creative means of overcoming their anger. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

The 'Very Special Christmas' albums began appearing in the late 1980s. A series of yuletide-themed compilations that featured contemporary rock stars performing beloved Christmas songs (some secular, some not) the albums were recorded and issued to raise money for the Special Olympics. Volume One emerged in 1989, and by the holiday season of 2001-2, four sequels had been produced and issued. Now, the home video release A Very Special Christmas compiles some of the most memorable music videos and live performances of songs from those initial albums, with additional renditions of holiday tunes culled from the 1998 and 2000 Christmas at the White House specials. Performers include Eric Clapton, Sheryl Crow, Wyclef Jean, Tracy Chapman, Jon Bon Jovi and many others. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Barry B. Benson (voice of Jerry Seinfeld) is your average honeybee. Despite having recently received his diploma from bee college and being virtually guaranteed a bright future in honey, Barry feels he has the skills to pursue a number of different career paths and resents the fact that his employment opportunities are strictly limited to producing the sweet nectar. Upon breaking away from the hive and developing a friendship with an insect-loving New York florist (voice of Renée Zellweger), Barry makes the shocking discovery that human beings eat honey in mass quantities. Having finally found his calling in life, the infuriated Barry decides to sue the human race for stealing all of the honey that his fellow bees work so hard to produce. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

The arrival of a mysterious stranger disrupts the lives of the members of a British family in this dark, psychological thriller. The stranger is one Martin Taylor (Sting), a dangerous charmer who ingratiates himself with the Bateses, a dignified, older couple (Denholm Elliott and Joan Plowright). The couple becomes especially fond of Martin after he demonstrates a strong, caring rapport with their daughter, a disabled invalid. It is only when he has become a part of the household, unofficially serving as the daughter's caretaker, that Martin's true, potentially demonic nature begins to show itself. Based on a script by Dennis Potter, the creator of the brilliant British television miniseries Pennies from Heaven and The Singing Detective, the film layers its already charged situation with hints of the supernatural, aspiring to be both disturbing family drama and provocatively ambiguous morality play. Some moments of MTV-like stylization threaten to diminish the mood of slow suspense and unhealthy obsession, but Potter's distinctly warped sensibility and the solid performances generally carry the film over its rough patches. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

Trumpeter Chris Botti shows off his trademark blend of jazz grooves and pop melodies in this live concert video, recorded during an appearance at the El Ray Theater in Los Angeles, California. Making guest appearances with Botti for this show are Sting and Shawn Colvin. Selections include "Streets Ahead", "Miami Overnight", "The Facts About Jimmy", "Alone In The City", and "In The Wee Small Hours". ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The plot of this action film begins in 1996, with Los Angeles in a violence-crazed conflagration. One of the LAPD's most notorious cops, John Spartan (Sylvester Stallone), known as "the demolition man," is in hot pursuit of blonde-haired psychopath Simon Phoenix (Wesley Snipes), who is so nasty he even kills sometimes just because he feels cranky. John captures Simon, but not before Simon kills innocent hostages. John is blamed for the deaths of the hostages, and both he and Simon are cryogenically frozen to remove their brand of ultra-violence from a society that is simply just too violent. The film shifts to the future world of 2032, where Los Angeles has become a megalopolis called San Angeles. There is no poverty, Arnold Schwarzenegger was (at one time) president of the United States, and Taco Bell is the sole survivor of the Franchise Wars. Into this peaceful and bland society, Simon is summarily defrosted by reigning benevolent dictator Dr. Cocteau (Nigel Hawthorne) to have Simon murder Edgar Friendly (Denis Leary), the leader of a group of underground rebels. But Cocteau bites off more than he can chew when the melted-down Simon proceeds to go on a murder-and-looting spree. Reluctantly, Cocteau defrosts John to hunt down his old adversary. As John adjusts to self-driving cars and having sex wearing helmets, he pairs up with Lenina Huxley (Sandra Bullock), a bored cop with a nostalgic fascination for 20th-century culture. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

David Lynch wades through dark waters in his adaptation of Frank Herbert's cult science fiction novel. In condensing Herbert's rambling and complex book by eliminating characters and compacting events, Lynch succeeds in rendering the story incomprehensible to those unfamiliar with the novel and making the film look like a sketchy greatest hits collection of the book for Herbert fans. The story takes place in the year 10,191. The universe is governed through a system of feudal rule, presided over by Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV (José Ferrer), who appears to take his marching orders from something that resembles a talking vagina. In the kingdom are two rival houses -- the House of Atreides and the House of Harkonnen. Each house is trying to gain dominion over the universe, but that dominion can only be gained by the house that controls the Spice, a special substance that permits the folding of time. The Spice is only available on the desert world of Arrakis, or Dune. Shaddam, tired of the feuding between the two houses, permits the Atreides to take over the Spice production on Dune, while secretly working with the Harkonnens to launch a sneak attack on the Atreides and destroy them. The leader of the Atreides is Duke Leto (Jürgen Prochnow), who rules with the help of his concubine Jessica (Francesca Annis) and son Paul (Kyle MacLachlan). The rival Harkonnens are headed by the pus-oozing degenerate Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (Kenneth McMillan, in a thoroughly through-the-roof performance) and his two unsavory nephews, Rabban (Paul L. Smith) and Feyd (Sting). When his father is murdered by the Harkonnens, Paul escapes to Dune, where he is greeted by the Fremen (the desert dwellers on Dune who prepare the Spice) as the messiah foretold in Fremen legend. Paul assumes the mantle of messiah and leads the Fremen in a revolt that topples the balance of power in the universe. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide