Jeri Jacquin

Coming from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment and Focus Features is a collection of classic stories with FOCUS FEATURES 10-Movie Spotlight Collection.

Focus Features has always brought some of the most intense and compelling films and this collection gives you only ten good reasons for that. In 2013, Bill Murray plays Bob Harris, a movie star that is not as popular as he once was taking a job pushing whiskey in LOST IN TRANSLATION. At his hotel in Tokyo, he meets Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson) is a university graduate who is in Japan with celebrity photographer husband John (Giovanni Ribisi). Bob and Charlotte strike up a friendship and share their hearts and stories in a night out in Tokyo. The next morning there is a misunderstanding and it can possibly ruin a wonderful friendship.

ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND brings Joel (Jim Carrey) and Clementine (Kate Winslet) together in this 2004 story of a couple who meet on a train. What they do not yet realize is that they have met before, but Clementine had her memory of their relationship erased and later, so does Joel. Going on with their new lives, there is something that has brought them back together and that does not make Clementine’s new man Patrick (Elijah Wood) very happy. These two are not the only ones who visited the company Lacuna, Inc. Can their memories keep them apart?

Taking a step back in time, the 2005 PRIDE & PREJUDICE brings the Jane Austen novel to the screen telling the story of Elizabeth Bennet (Keira Knightley) and her family. Mrs. Bennet (Brenda Blethyn) wants to find good husbands for her daughters. Introduced to Mr. Darcy (Matthew Macfadyen), Elizabeth finds herself uninterested and even irritated with him. As the family goes through their struggles, what is clear is that Mr. Darcy seems to be the person they can rely on. Not everyone is exactly who they seem.

In 2005, BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN became the must-see film of the year. The film tells story of Ennis (Heath Ledger) and Jack (Jake Gyllenhaal) who are hired sheep herders in Wyoming during the season. Spending time together, they become close and find themselves attracted to one another. After the season, Ennis marries Alma (Michelle Williams) and Jack moves to Texas and marries Lureen (Anne Hathaway). Time passes and the two meet up once again and people begin to notice their relationship. Trying to keep their friendship as much as they can, both their marriages are not going so well. Ennis becomes frustrated that they cannot spend more time together and when tragedy happens, Ennis must come to terms with the life that he is left with.

In 1935 England, Briony (Saoirse Ronan) is a young girl who likes to spy on her sister Cecilia (Kiera Knightley) in the 2007 film ATONEMENT. Seeing an accident at the home front fountain, Briony sees Robbie (James McAvoy) deal with her sister and later sends her a note. Asking Briony to deliver it, she reads it and tells Cousin Robbie something she should not. Later Briony sees something that shocks her and is convinced that Robbie should be arrested for attacking her sister. It is not until later in her life does Briony write in a book about what really happened.

In this do-not-miss-a-minute film, BURN AFTER READING is the 2008 story of Ozzie (John Malkovich), a CIA analyst who quits his job while wife Katie (Tilda Swinton) decides it’s time to get a divorce and continue the affair with U.S. Marshal Pfarrer (George Clooney). Copying files onto a CD for her lawyer, it is found by Chad (Brad Pitt) and Linda (Frances McDormand) who think they have found some credibly money worthy secret government information. Now the game begins as the Russian become involved, private detectives, divorces and missing persons. It is confusing until it’s not!

Sam (Jared Gilman) is a 12-year-old kid who is attending Khaki Scout camp with Master Randy Ward (Edward Norton) in the 2012 film MOONRISE KINGDOM. Suzy (Kara Hayward) lives near the camp at Summer’s End and they become friends. Determined to get away, they plan to run off together and spend their time doing everything together in the hopes of reaching a secret cove. When Ward finds out that Sam is missing, a search party is sent out and when they are found, Sam and Suzy defend themselves. Hiding inside the cave they name Moonrise Kingdom, and when they are confronted by mother nature, it brings about changes in just about everyone which is perhaps the magic of Moonrise Kingdom.

THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING is the 2014 story of the incredible astrophysicist Stephen Hawking (Eddie Redmayne) and his life with wife Jane Hawking (Felicity Jones). Early in their relationship, Stephen is diagnosed with motor neuron disease and he is not expected to live more than a few years. That is when he puts it into high gear with mathematics and physics and his theory of black holes which became his thesis. They have a family together as Jane now deals with family and Stephen making it hard to write her own thesis. As each year passes, so do the needs of Stephen and Jane as they decide to live their separate lives but always do things as a family, just as they started out.

One of the most iconic women in our history, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, recently passed which is why is it even more important for everyone to see the 2018 film ON THE BASIS OF SEX. The film follows Ginsburg (Felicity Jones) in 1956 as she enters Harvard Law School. Husband Martin (Armie Hammer) is also a student who is diagnosed with cancer and Ruth takes care of him and her school by attending his courses and taking care of daughter Jane. Graduating, Ginsburg finds it difficult to find a job with a law firm because she is a woman. Instead, she takes a job as a professor at Rugers Law School. In the years that follow, Ginsburg would find cases that she felt needed her attention because of discrimination on the basis of sex. After the landmark case, Ginsburg continued her work being a voice of the people and her own voice on the law.

In the 2019 film HARRIET, it is the 1800’s as Minty (Cynthia Erivo) marries freedman John Tubman. Still a slave on a farm, her father speaks with owner Mr. Brodess showing that Minty’s mother Harriet should be free. When that causes Brodess to become angry, the papers are torn up. Not long after, Brodess passes leaving son Gideon (Joe Alwyn) to take over and he has no intention of letting Minty go. That is when she decides to run after telling husband John that it would be easier for one of them to go. Gideon is furious and goes after her and when cornered on a bridge, she does what she must to be free. Arriving in Philadelphia through the Underground Railroad, she is told by abolitionist William Still to immediately change her name which she does to Harriet. After a time, she returns home to find everything changed. It leads her to become ‘Moses’, a person who helps other slaves escape. Once discovered she has no choice but to go further north to Canada and continue her work. She has one more thing to do, get her family and take on Brodess one final time.

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment has just added an amazing film to their library and making it available for us to all experience and re-experience in our own home theaters. There are films of every genre available from scary to drama to family films. For more of what they have to offer please visit www.uphe.com.

MOVIES ANYWHERE gives viewers the ability to download the Movies Anywhere App. With that you can view films by downloading or streaming to your favorite device using a Digital Code. For more information on Movies Anywhere please visit www.MoviesAnywhere.com.

Bonus Features include Filmmaker Feature Commentary, Cast Interviews, Featurettes, Deleted Scenes and more!

Directors of these classic films include Sofia Coppola, Michel Gondry, Joe Wright, Ang Lee, Joel Coen, Ethan Coen, Wes Anderson, James Marsh, Mimi Leder and Kasi Lemmons.

These ten films bring about love, family, painful decisions, emotions, story of the lives of iconic people and everything that makes us human. Focus Features chose these amazing stories that needed telling and brought to the big screen throughout the years. Now, having all ten films in one collection is a gift that, for film lovers, is a must-have.

I am a huge fan of period-piece films because of the characters each of them brings, the costuming, cinematography and direction that simply make them more than enjoyable. These are stunning pieces of filmmaking that are worthy of watching again and again, as I already have and

will continue to do.

In the end – they are stories of love, hope and resilience! 

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About the Author

Jeri Jacquin

Jeri Jacquin covers film, television, DVD/Bluray releases, celebrity interviews, festivals and all things entertainment.