"Actor: Alan M"

• Firefly - The Complete Series (Exclusive to Amazon.co.uk) | Blu Ray | (19/09/2011) from £29.95   |  Saving you £-19.96 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Much praised and much missed after its premature cancellation, Firefly is the first SF TV series to be conceived by Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy and cocreator of Angel. Set five centuries in the future, it is a show where the mysterious personal pasts of the crew of the tramp spaceship Serenity continually surface. In fact, it's a Western in space where the losers in a Civil War are heading out to a barren frontier. Mal Reynolds is a man embittered by the war, yet whose love of his comrades perpetually dents his cynicism--even in the 14 episodes that exist we see him warm to the bubbly young mechanic Kaylee, the preacher Book, the idealistic doctor Simon, even to the often demented River, Simon's sister, the psychic result of malign experiments. Firefly is also about adult emotional relationships, for example Kaylee's crush on Simon, the happy marriage of Mal's second officer Zoe and the pilot Wash, the disastrous erotic stalemate between Mal and the courtesan Inara. Individual episodes deal with capers going vaguely wrong, or threats narrowly circumvented; character and plot arcs were starting to emerge when the show was cancelled. Fortunately, the spin-off movie Serenity ties up some of the ends; and in the meantime, what there is of Firefly is a show to marvel at, both for its tight writing and ensemble acting, and the idiocy of the executives who cancelled it. On the DVD: Firefly on DVD is presented in anamorphic 1.78:1 with Dolby Surround Sound. It includes commentaries on six episodes by various writers, directors, designers and cast members as well as featurettes on the conception of the show and the design of the spaceship Serenity, four deleted scenes, a gag reel, and Joss Whedon singing the show's theme tune, more or less. One of the things that emerges from all of this is how committed to the project everyone involved with it was, and is--unusually, you end up caring as much for the cast and crew as for the characters.

• Shane | DVD | (06/10/2003) from £8.16   |  Saving you £7.83 (95.96%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Consciously crafted by director George Stevens as a piece of American myth making, Shane is on nearly everyone's shortlist of great movie Westerns. A buckskin knight, Shane (Alan Ladd) rides into the middle of a range war between farmers and cattlemen, quickly siding with the "sod-busters". While helping a kindly farmer (Van Heflin), Shane falls platonically in love with the man's wife (Jean Arthur, in the last screen performance of a marvellous career). Though the showdowns are exciting, and the story simple but involving, what most people will remember about this movie is the friendship between the stoical Shane and the young son of the farmers. The kid is played by Brandon De Wilde, an amazing child performer; his parting scene with Shane is guaranteed to draw tears from even the most stony-hearted moviegoer. And speaking of stony hearts, Jack Palance made a sensational impression as the evil gunslinger sent to clean house--he has fewer lines of dialogue than he has lines in his magnificently craggy face, but he makes them count. The photography, highlighting the landscape near Jackson Hole, Wyoming, won an Oscar. --Robert Horton

• Ferris Bueller's Day Off | Blu Ray | (01/02/2010) from £13.48   |  Saving you £6.51 (48.29%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Ferris Bueller. Larger than life. Blessed with a magical sense of serendipity. He's a model for all those who take themselves too seriously. A guy who knows the value of a day off. Ferris Bueller's Day Off chronicles the events in the day of a rather magical young man Ferris (Matthew Broderick). One spring day toward the end of his senior year Ferris gives in to an overwhelming urge to cut school and head for downtown Chicago with his girl (Mia Sara) and his best friend (Alan Ruck) to see the sights experience a day of freedom and show that with a little ingenuity a bit of courage and a red Ferrari life at 17 can be a joy!

• 28 Days | DVD | (12/04/2004) from £4.72   |  Saving you £1.27 (26.91%)   |  RRP £5.99

  28 DAYS, the story of Gwen Cummings (Sandra Bullock), a successful New York writer living in the fast lane and everyone's favorite party girl.

• Tweenies - Music is Pop-A-Rooney | DVD | (14/07/2003) from £14.95   |  Saving you £-9.96 (N/A%)   |  RRP £4.99

  The fabarooney five perform on Top Of The Pops with their favourite songs plus videos of their best selling singles...

• Far From The Madding Crowd | DVD | (25/08/2008) from £13.47   |  Saving you £-0.48 (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  An adaptation of Thomas Hardy's classic novel set in the 19th century of Bathsheba Everdene and the three very different men who come to love her...

• The Taming Of The Shrew | DVD | (19/03/2001) from £11.38   |  Saving you £8.61 (75.66%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The 1967 Franco Zeffirelli film of The Taming of the Shrew had all the ingredients to make it a high point in Shakespearian cinema. In Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor it starred the most bankable couple in Hollywood history as the sparring leads in the Bard's quick-firing comic battle of the sexes; and in Zeffirelli, it had a director with a Shakespearian pedigree second to none. But the reality is that this is Burton's picture all the way. His Petruchio is a weighty performance of such intelligence that the whole film is thrown off-kilter whenever he is on screen and the other performers just can't keep up. Apart from Michael Hordern's wonderfully distracted Baptista, Burton is the only actor in total, effortless command of the language. Taylor's bosomy glamour and fiery spirit are ample compensations for her occasionally murderous treatment of Katharina's verse. Whether or not she is really tamed by the end is another matter: those legendary violet eyes suggest otherwise. Ultimately it's a rich, bawdy and colourful romp, with Burton at the peak of his powers. The DVD includes the theatrical trailer, a "making-of" featurette and filmographies. --Piers Ford

• Truly, Madly, Deeply BD | Blu Ray | (05/03/2018) from £8.97   |  Saving you £1.12 (12.49%)   |  RRP £10.09

  Truly Madly Deeply is an intelligent, moving, and deeply funny story about love and death. Nina (Juliet Stevenson), a scatterbrained professional translator, has lost the love of her life, Jamie (Alan Rickman). As her life (and her flat) slowly falls to pieces, she is inundated with an endless stream of repairmen and eligible suitors. But rather than go on with life, Nina dwells on her dead love, slumped at her piano, endlessly playing half of a Bach duet. Then, in a truly magical sequence, his cello suddenly joins her melody... and Jamie's back from the dead. At first it's bliss--think of the superficially similar blockbuster Ghost, only with real people instead of pretty faces Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze. But Nina gradually realises it's a thoroughly real Jamie who's back; complete with every annoying, argumentative fault she'd conveniently forgotten. (He might be dead, he explains, but he still attends political meetings.) Moreover, he has to hide whenever any of the living are around. And he's constantly ice-cold. And he invites his dead pals to her place at all hours. What's a living woman to do? Director Anthony Minghella went on to create the melodramatic period piece The English Patient--but in this film, he shows a far more sensitive, subtle touch. The photography is brilliant, capturing the simple beauties of suburban London. And the wonderfully acted characters, quirky and all too real, will keep you laughing--and always guessing what will happen next.--Grant Balfour, Amazon.com

• Rocketeer | DVD | (05/02/2001) from £4.97   |  Saving you £10.02 (201.61%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Based on a retro-styled comic book hit of the 80s, this Disney film was meant to launch a whole line of Rocketeer films--but the series began and ended with this one. That's too bad because this underrated Joe Johnston film has a certain loopy charm. The story centres on a pre-World War II stunt pilot (Bill Campbell) who accidentally comes into possession of a rocket-propelled backpack much coveted by the Nazis. With the aid of his mechanic pal (Alan Arkin), he gets it up and running, then uses it to foil a plot by a gang of vicious Nazi spies (is there any other kind?) led by Timothy Dalton. Jennifer Connelly is on hand as the love interest but the real fun here is when the Rocketeer takes off. There's also a nifty battle atop an airborne blimp. --Marshall Fine

• Kinvig - The Complete Series | DVD | (26/06/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The titular electrical repairman (Tony Haygarth) has a simple life and a fertile imagination. Running his own business from a rundown street corner in Bingleton he's more than happy with his scatty wife Netta (Patsy Rowlands) and their beloved dog Cuddly. However a chance encounter with the divine Miss Griffin (Prunella Gee) opens up Des Kinvig's life to a world far beyond that of his daydreaming imagination. Soon he's whisked away from his mundane life for regular trips to the

• 1966 World Cup Final: England v West Germany (In Colour) | DVD | (31/10/2022) from £9.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• X-Men 2 Special Edition DVD (Two Disc Set) | DVD | (10/11/2003) from £4.90   |  Saving you £18.09 (369.18%)   |  RRP £22.99

  X-Men 2 picks up almost directly where X-Men left off: misguided super-villain Magneto (Ian McKellen) is still a prisoner of the US government, heroic bad-boy Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) is up in Canada investigating his mysterious origin, and the events at Liberty Island (which occurred at the conclusion of X-Men) have prompted a rethink in official policy towards mutants--the proposed Mutant Registration Act has been shelved by US Congress. Into this scenario pops wealthy former army commander William Stryker, a man with the President's ear and a personal vendetta against all mutant-kind in general, and the X-Men's leader Professor X (Patrick Stewart) in particular. Once he sets his plans in motion, the X-Men must team-up with their former enemies Magneto and Mystique (Rebecca Romjin-Stamos), as well as some new allies (including Alan Cumming's gregarious, blue-skinned German mutant, Nightcrawler). The phenomenal global success of X-Men meant that director Bryan Singer had even more money to spend on its sequel, and it shows. Not only is the script better (there's significantly less cheesy dialogue than the original), but the action and effects are also even more stupendous--from Nightcrawler's teleportation sequence through the White House to a thrilling aerial dogfight featuring mutants-vs-missiles to a military assault on the X-Men's school/headquarters to the final showdown at Stryker's sub-Arctic headquarters. Yet at no point do the effects overtake the film or the characters. Moreso than the original, this is an ensemble piece, allowing each character in its even-bigger cast at least one moment in the spotlight (in fact, the cast credits don't even run until the end of the film). And that, perhaps, is part of its problem (though it's a slight one): with so much going on, and nary a recap of what's come before, it's a film that could prove baffling to anyone who missed the first instalment. But that's just a minor quibble--X-Men 2 is that rare thing, a sequel that's actually superior to its predecessor. --Robert Burrow

• Galaxy Quest 4K UHD Steelbook | Blu Ray | (02/12/2024) from £34.59   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  NEVER GIVE UP! NEVER SURRENDER! Celebrating 25 years, GALAXY QUEST comes to 4K Ultra-HD for the first time in spectacular HDR-10 and Dolby Vision and dynamic Dolby Atmos sound, a new Filmmaker Focus with director Dean Parisot, and hours of legacy special features. Years after cancellation, the stars of the television series Galaxy Quest cling to their careers. When a distressed interstellar race mistakes the show for historical documents, lead actor Jason Nesmith (Tim Allen) and his crew of has-beens are unwittingly recruited to save the alien race from a genocidal warlord. Featuring an all-star ensemble, including Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman, Tony Shalhoub, Sam Rockwell, Daryl Mitchell, Justin Long and Rainn Wilson, GALAXY QUEST is a hilarious adventure that boldly goes where no comedy has gone before.

• The Shout | DVD | (22/10/2007) from £7.75   |  Saving you £2.24 (28.90%)   |  RRP £9.99

  It's a gorgeous Summer's day and two teams play a cricket game with a difference. It's the annual match between the local mental asylum and the villagers and in the scoring hut patients Crossley and Graves sit side-by-side recording every run over and fallen wicket. To keep themselves entertained Crossley recounts a terrifying story of how he came to possess supernatural powers that enable him to kill with a shout. It was he claims an ancient magic he learnt from spending many years with the Australian Aborigines. Although Graves dismisses the tale as an insane fantasy as the match continues the proceedings take on an emphatically sinister turn...

• Ferris Bueller's Day Off / Planes, Trains And Automobiles | DVD | (21/10/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Ferris Bueller's Day Off:Ferris Bueller. Larger than life. Blessed with a magical sense of serendipity. He's a model for all those who take themselves too seriously. A guy who knows the value of a day off. Ferris Bueller's Day Off chronicles the events in the day of a rather magical young man Ferris (Matthew Broderick). One spring day toward the end of his senior year Ferris gives in to an overwhelming urge to cut school and head for downtown Chicago with his girl (Mia Sar

• The Runaway | DVD | (09/05/2011) from £9.39   |  Saving you £15.60 (166.13%)   |  RRP £24.99

  From the makers of the hit series The Take the latest tale of crime and corruption from best-selling crime writer Martina Cole follows the lives of two childhood sweethearts. Cathy Connor and Eamonn Docherty are brought up together in the East End. As the daughter of a prostitute Madge Cathy's life is difficult especially when everyone assumes that she will be following in her mother's footsteps. But when Cathy is forced to protect Madge from a violent attack by a punter it changes her life forever. Cathy is taken into care but she suffers institutional abuse which leaves her with no choice but to run away. She ends up destitute on the streets of Soho when Desrae a transvestite unexpectedly comes to her rescue. Meanwhile Eamonn is rising up the ranks of the East End criminal underworld.

• The Last Unicorn | DVD | (17/02/2003) from £8.62   |  Saving you £4.37 (50.70%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Weary of being alone in the vast forest unicorn Amalthea (Mia Farrow) begins to wonder if she's the last of her kind. Following a rumor she joins forces with feeblish wizard Schmendrick (Alan Arkin) and wayward barmaid Molly (Tammy Grimes) to look for the mystical Red Bull a creature known to hunt and imprison unicorns. In order to walk unnoticed among men Schmendrick magically transforms Amalthea into a beautiful woman. Together the three embark on a adventurous journey into the dark land of King Haggard the man rumored to control the Red Bull.

• The Car Man | DVD | (24/12/2001) from £12.96   |  Saving you £5.03 (38.81%)   |  RRP £17.99

  This latest dance version of Carmen comes courtesy of choreographer Matthew Bourne, who has devised his own scenario of Bizet’s opera set in a garage-diner in the American mid-West, circa 1960. The Car Man toured the UK in 2000 finishing with a four-month run to packed houses at the Old Vic. This film treatment details all the excitement of the occasion. The cinematography assists in capturing the atmosphere of Bourne’s treatment--film noir with allusions to Hitchcock--through employment of chiaroscuro. The use of the split-screen technique also enhances the cinematic feel. The music sounds seductive and full-bodied, befitting the new story line (Bourne calls it an “auto-erotic thriller”) in which an enigmatic stranger, Luca, walks into town seducing both Lana (Carmen) and Angelo (Don Jose). A swarthy individual, Luca looks an unlikely dancer until his first solo galvanises the company. The single stage set adapts into eight different permutations, taking us from diner through nightclub and prison and then out on the road in a cinematic finale where the Chevrolet cars of the period are destroyed in a pile up. The period look is further enhanced with the girls in tight-waisted colourful frocks and the men in Brando-esque T-shirts and jeans. The dance ensembles are an extraordinarily versatile group: classical, jazz, modern and flamenco seem natural expressions of their body movements. Will Kemp deserves a special mention for his sensitivite portrayal of Angelo. On the DVD: the soundtrack comes in a choice of stereo or 5.1. surround sound where the subtle employment of percussion instruments in the orchestration makes a telling effect. A picture gallery of 25 stills from the production and a 14-minute interview with Bourne expressing his initial doubt about doing another version of Carmen are further assets. He needn’t have had a qualm. This Car Man is destined to give much pleasure. --Adrian Edwards

• The Temptations - The True Story | DVD | (04/02/2002) from £18.99   |  Saving you £-15.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £3.99

  They started with street corner harmonising and became slick stage performers destined to become rhythm and blues royalty. This film tells the true story of the pressure that goes with one of the most successful Motown singing-groups in history The Temptations from their personal battles with drug and alcohol abuse to their bitter break up...

• The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas | DVD | (06/07/2009) from £7.65   |  Saving you £9.60 (150.23%)   |  RRP £15.99

  The Flintstones in Rock Vegas sees best pals Fred (Mark Addy) and Barney (Stephen Baldwin) downing tools at Bedrock Mining Company to woo Wilma (Kristen Johnston) and Betty (Jane Krakowski) during a long vacation in Rock Vegas. All goes well until Fred's gambling addiction gets the better of him and he is framed for stealing Wilma's prized pearl necklace by love rival Chip Rockerfeller (Thomas Gibson) who oozes malice out of every prehistoric pore. Meanwhile Wilma's high fallutin mother Pearl (Joan Collins taking over from Elizabeth Taylor) thinks that Fred is too downmarket for her daughter and does everything within her power to push Wilma and Chip together...