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• Donnie Brasco | DVD | (01/10/1999) from £5.94   |  Saving you £6.05 (101.85%)   |  RRP £11.99

  Based on a memoir by former undercover cop Joe Pistone (whose daring and unprecedented infiltration of the New York Mob scene earned him a place in the federal witness protection program), Donnie Brasco is like a de-romanticised, de-mythologised version of The Godfather. It offers an uncommonly detailed, privileged glimpse inside the world of organised crime from the perspective of the little guys at the bottom of Mafia hierarchy rather than from the kingpins at the top. Donnie Brasco is not only one of the great modern-day gangster movies to put in the company of The Godfather films and GoodFellas, but it is also one of the great undercover police movies--arguably surpassing Serpico and Prince of the City in richness of character, detail and moral complexity. Donnie (Johnny Depp, a splendid actor) is practically adopted by Lefty Ruggiero (Al Pacino), a gregarious, low-level "made" man who grows to love his young protégé like a son. (Pacino really sinks into this guy's skin and polyester slacks and creates his freshest, most fully realised character since his 1970s heyday.) As Donnie acclimates himself to Lefty's world, he distances himself from his wife (a terrific Anne Heche) and family for their own protection. Almost imperceptibly his sense of identity slips away from him. Questioning his own confused loyalties, unable to trust anybody else because he himself is an imposter, Donnie loses his way in a murky and treacherous no-man's land. The film is directed by Mike Newell, who also headed up Four Weddings and a Funeral and the gritty, true crime melodrama Dance with a Stranger. --Jim Emerson

• Countdown (2019) (STX) | DVD | (02/03/2020) from £10.98   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  A young nurse downloads an app that claims to predict exactly when a person is going to die. When it tells her she only has three days to live, she must find a way to save her life before time runs out, all while a mysterious figure haunts her. Click Images to Enlarge

• David Lean Centenary Collection | DVD | (11/08/2008) from £23.05   |  Saving you £-4.49 (N/A%)   |  RRP £18.56

  This Box Set includes: The Sound Barrier (1952): A tale of male courage and an adventure into the unknown but also the story of the women who wait at home. A self-made aircraft manufacturer is determined that his company will be the first to build a plane which flies faster than sound. Hobson's Choice (1954): The eldest daughter of an alcoholic self-important Lancashire bootmaker marries his boot-hand and sets up a rival business. Blithe Spirit (1945): A happily married author writing a novel on mediums invites one to supper one evening. After holding a seance the husband's deceased first wife appears and begins to cause chaos! Brief Encounter (1946): Noel Coward's sensitive portrayal of what happens when two happily married strangers played by Trevor Howard and Celia Johnson meet and their acquaintance deepens into affection and eventually into love. It is the story of two people thrown together by the chance meeting of the title helpless in the face of their emotions but redeemed by their moral courage. Over the years few films have equalled the compassion and the realism of Brief Encounter. Great Expectations (1946): A stylish film presentation of Charles Dickens' heart warming story of a young man befriending an escaped convict who becomes his unknown benefactor and of the consequences for the young man as he establishes himself in the world. Oliver Twist (1948): Oliver Twist orphaned at birth and raised in the workhouse is expelled for daring to ask the Beadle for more food. Unhappily apprenticed to an Undertaker Oliver escaped to London where he meets the cheeky Artful Dodger the villainous Fagin the aggressive Bill Sykesand the kindly but doomed Nancy. Torn constantly between the forces of good and evil Oliver eventually seals his fate by picking the pocket of a rich gentleman. Madeleine (1950) Lean's accomplished film of the famous Scottish Madeleine Smith case in which a woman from a wealthy family is accused of the murder of her lover. The Passionate Friends (1949): Through her marriage to a wealthy financier Mary Justin has the freedom and comfort she has always yearned for but her life is one that lacks emotional fulfilment. On a visit to Switzerland she runs into an old friend Steven Stratton with whom she once had a passionate love affair many years before her marriage. Her meeting with Steven rekindles old memories of a friendship of the most beautiful kind. If only they could begin again... This Happy Breed (1944): A splendidly acted classic portraying how an ordinary British family lived between the wars. Just after WWI the Gibbons family moves to a nice house in the suburbs. The inhabitants of 17 Sycamore Road are ordinary people with their irritable in-laws their just-plain-folks camaraderie and their unshakeable belief that no matter how hard the times are Mother England is forged of good stock and common sense

• K-19: The Widowmaker / Witness / Clear And Present Danger | DVD | (11/10/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  K-19 The Widowmaker (Dir. Kathryn Bigelow 2002): Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson star in a thrilling action-drama inspired by the true story of a Soviet submarine crew trying to save its vessel from a nuclear meltdown - and avert global war. Witness (Dir. Peter Weir 1985): When a young Amish woman (McGillis) and her son (Haas) are caught up in the murder of an undercover narcotics agent their unlikely savior proves to be the worldly and cynical Philadelphia detective J

• The Graduate | DVD | (26/03/2001) from £6.00   |  Saving you £11.99 (199.83%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Few films have defined a generation as much as The Graduate did. The alienation, the nonconformity, the intergenerational romance, the blissful Simon and Garfunkel soundtrack--they all served to lob a cultural grenade smack into the middle of 1967 America, ultimately making the film the third most profitable up to that time. Seen from a later perspective, its radical chic has dimmed a bit, yet it's still a joy to see Dustin Hoffman's bemused Benjamin and Anne Bancroft's deliciously decadent, sardonic Mrs Robinson. The script by Buck Henry and Calder Willingham is still offbeat and dryly funny and Mike Nichols, who won an Oscar for his direction, has just the right, light touch. --Anne Hurley, Amazon.com

• Kind Hearts And Coronets | DVD | (21/06/2004) from £7.18   |  Saving you £2.81 (39.14%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Set in Victorian England, Robert Hamer's 1949 masterpiece Kind Hearts and Coronets remains the most gracefully mordant of Ealing Comedies. Dennis Price plays Louis D'Ascoyne, the would-be Duke of Chalfont whose Mother was spurned by her noble family for marrying an Italian singer for love. Louis resolves to murder the several of his relatives ahead of him in line for the Dukedom, all of whom are played by Alec Guinness, in order to avenge his Mother--for, as Louis observes, " revenge is a dish which people of taste prefer to eat cold". He gets away with it, only to be arraigned for the one murder of which he is innocent. Guinness' virtuoso performances have been justly celebrated, ranging as they do from a youthful D'Ascoyne concealing his enthusiasm for public houses from his priggish wife ("she has views on such places") to a brace of doomed uncles and one aunt, ranging from the doddery to the peppery. Miles Malleson is a splendid doggerel-spouting hangman, while Valerie Hobson and Joan Greenwood take advantage of unusually strong female roles. But the great joy of Kind Hearts and Coronets is the way in which its appallingly black subject matter (considered beyond the pale by many critics at the time) is conveyed in such elegantly ironic turns of phrase by Dennis Price's narrator/anti-hero. Serial murder has never been conducted with such exquisite manners and discreet charm. --David Stubbs

• Shetland: Series 6 | DVD | (13/12/2021) from £14.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  All six episodes from the sixth series of the Scottish crime drama based on the novels by Ann Cleeves. Set in the Shetland Islands, the programme follows Detective Inspector Jimmy Perez (Douglas Henshall) as he works to solve a number of murder mysteries. He is assisted by Detective Sergeant Alison 'Tosh' Macintosh (Alison O'Donnell) and Detective Constable Sandy Wilson (Steven Robertson). In this series, Perez has very little time to mourn at his mother's funeral when news reaches him that an outspoken islander has been killed in broad daylight but finding answers proves more difficult than first expected.

• Blink 182 - Greatest Hits | DVD | (31/10/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  The tracklist includes: 'All The Small Things' 'Man Overboard' 'I Miss You' 'Stay Together For The Kids' 'First Date' 'What's My Age Again' 'Josie' 'Dammit' 'Feeling This' 'Down' 'Always' 'The Rock Show' and 'Adam's Song'. 13 Tracks in total

• On Chesil Beach | DVD | (17/09/2018) from £2.97   |  Saving you £4.03 (135.69%)   |  RRP £7.00

  It is summer 1962, and England is still a year away from huge social changes: Beatlemania, the sexual revolution and the Swinging Sixties. Florence (Ronan) and Edward (Howle) are just married and honeymooning on the dramatic coastline of Chesil Beach in Dorset. However, the hotel is old fashioned and stifling, and underlying tensions between the young couple surface and cast unexpected shadows over their long anticipated wedding night. From the precise depiction of two young lovers, to the touching story of how their unexpressed misunderstandings and fears shape the rest of their lives, ON CHESIL BEACH is a tender story which shows how the entire course of a life can be changed, by a gesture not made or a word not spoken.

• The Assassin | DVD | (24/05/1999) from £15.34   |  Saving you £-2.35 (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  This is one of those Hollywood remakes of a European hit in which one can visualize a committee of studio executives sitting around and saying, "Okay, we know what made the original film unique and different and fun. How can we make that same movie and do exactly the opposite?" For-hire director John Badham (Saturday Night Fever) took La Femme Nikita, Luc Besson's undeniably sexy, original, and kitschy French film about a female assassin, and translated it into The Assassin, a calculating, mechanistic American thriller with no distinctive style. Bridget Fonda gamely plays the willowy street punk who becomes a high-society killer, but once that provocative irony is in place, the movie is pretty much a series of by-the-numbers action set pieces. Until, that is, Dermot Mulroney shows up as a love interest; but even that twist can't save this film. You're much better off with the original, subtitles and all. The DVD release has optional full-screen and widescreen presentations, production notes, theatrical trailer, optional French and Spanish soundtracks, and optional English, French, and Spanish subtitles. --Tom Keogh, Amazon.com

• Raise the Titanic | Blu Ray | (17/04/2019) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  They've found the Titanic. There's just one thing left to do...A search by the American special services for a material vital to national security leads to the world's most infamous shipwreck - the Titanic. They believe the might 'unsinkable' ship was carrying a supply of a vital material that could be used to make the United States impregnable to atomic attack.The wreck lies too deep for divers to reach so the only solution is to raise it. But the Herculean project must be managed in absolute secrecy - this despite the extreme rigours of the climate the need to work with previously untested technology and deadly interference from a rival nation...

• Fatal Attraction | DVD | (02/09/2002) from £6.19   |  Saving you £9.80 (158.32%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Fatal Attraction was the most controversial hit of 1987, a film nominated for six Oscars that launched a whole up-market psycho sub-genre. In an elaboration of Play Misty for Me (1971), Michael Douglas plays a married middle-class everyman who has an opportunistic weekend affair with New York publishing executive, Glenn Close. The twist is that Close's Alex is a borderline psychotic. She won't let go, and the film moves from a study of modern sexual mores to an increasingly tense thriller about neurotic obsession. The performances are exceptional and two set-pieces, one which gave us the term "Bunny Boiler" and another in a fairground, provide metaphorical and literal rollercoaster rides. Only a laughable sex scene--in a sink, anyone?--and a melodramatic finale shamelessly ripping-off the 1955 French classic Les Diaboliques and Psycho (1960) prevent a good thriller being a great one. Even so, Fatal Attraction is still a film worth seeing again, even if it's hard to wonder what all the fuss was about in 1987. On the DVD: Fatal Attraction on disc has a new 28-minute documentary featuring the principal players explaining how wonderful each other are. More substantial is a 19-minute feature on creating the visual look, with sections on cinematography, costume and make-up design. A worthwhile 10-minute piece examines the social impact of the movie and the controversy it generated. Seven minutes of the three stars in rehearsal is intriguing, but more interesting is the opportunity to see the original, low-key ending, rejected after test screenings. Much of the best documentary material focuses on how the finally released ending came about, while Lyne's commentary is thoughtful and illuminating. The original trailer is included and there are 16 sets of subtitles, including English for the hard of hearing, as well as an alternative German dub. The sound has been remixed from stereo into a subtly involving Dolby Digital 5.1, and the 1.78:1 anamorphic transfer looks fine, though there is some very minor print damage. --Gary S Dalkin

• My Friend Dahmer | DVD | (30/07/2018) from £3.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  You only think you know this story. In 1991, the world discovered the chilling truth about Jeffrey Dahmer. But before the trial, the headlines and a spate of gruesome murders, Dahmer was a teenage loner. Conducting grisly experiments in a makeshift backyard lab, Jeff was invisible to most, until his increasingly outlandish behaviour unexpectedly attracted friends. Writer-director Marc Meyers has crafted a haunting and evocative look at one of history's most notorious serial killers. Shot on location and in Dahmer's childhood home, the film reveals his troubled family life, his increasingly bizarre attempts to make friends and his fascination with the macabre. Based on the critically acclaimed graphic novel by Jeff's classmate Derf Backderf, MY FRIEND DAHMER chronicles the origins of the man, the monster the high school senior.

• Forbidden Planet | Blu Ray | (04/10/2010) from £8.75   |  Saving you £9.24 (105.60%)   |  RRP £17.99

  This 1956 pop adaptation of Shakespeare's The Tempest is one of the best, most influential science fiction movies ever made. Its space explorers are the models for the crew of Star Trek's Enterprise, and the film's robot is clearly the prototype for Robby in Lost in Space. Walter Pidgeon is the Prospero figure, presiding over a paradisiacal world with his lovely young daughter and their servile droid. When the crew of a spaceship lands on the planet, they become aware of a sinister invisible force that threatens to destroy them. Great special effects and a bizarre electronic score help make Forbidden Planet as fresh, imaginative and fun as it was when first released.

• Wag The Dog | DVD | (01/10/1999) from £19.85   |  Saving you £0.14 (0.71%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Wag the Dog (1997) is a rarity: an intelligent, sophisticated and very funny film about American politics. Just before an election the President--in an uncanny anticipation of real life--gets sexually involved with a young woman, leaving spin-doctor Robert De Niro to think of something quick. He enlists Hollywood producer Dustin Hoffman to help him concoct a war against Albania to take the public's mind off the President's peccadilloes. Both stars are in top form, with Hoffman particularly funny as the larger than life producer. Scripted by David Mamet (House of Games, Glengarry Glen Ross) and directed by Barry Levinson, (whose previous comedies include Good Morning, Vietnam with Robin Williams and Tin Men with Danny De Vito) Wag the Dog manages to make you laugh even while you're thinking about how true the insights are, and how politics is getting more like the media every day. On the DVD: The so-called platinum DVD is packed with features. There is a series of production shots, assembled in no particular order, some showing the director watching filming on his monitor. There are interview clips with Hoffman, De Niro, Anne Heche, William H Macy and Barry Levinson talking about the film, plus scrolled filmographies. There's an audio commentary on the whole film by Levinson and Hoffman, occasionally rambling but with some interesting insights. In another feature, Macy talks at some length about David Mamet. There are extensive scroll-down production notes giving useful information (such as the film's budget), and finally a 50-minute documentary in which producer Jane Rosenthal talks about the relationship between the film and real-life politics. Her comments are supplemented by such luminaries as writer Budd Schulberg, director John Frankenheimer, newscaster Tom Brokaw and Dee Dee Myers, former White House press secretary. The Dolby Digital soundtrack is good quality, as is the image in 16:9 ratio. --Ed Buscombe

• Saturday Night, Sunday Morning | Blu Ray | (22/06/2015) from £14.99   |  Saving you £5.00 (33.36%)   |  RRP £19.99

  A key film of the British New Wave Saturday Night And Sunday Morning was a great box-office success - audiences were thrilled by its anti-establishment energy the gritty realism of its setting and most of all by a working-class hero of a fresh and outspoken kind. Based on Alan Sillitoe's largely autobiographical novel the film is set in the grim industrial streets and factories of Nottingham where Arthur Seaton spends his days at a factory bench his Saturday evenings in the local pubs and his Saturday nights with Brenda (Rachel Roberts) wife of a fellow factory worker. Played by Albert Finney with an irresistable animal vitality Arthur is anti-authority (Don't let the bastards grind you down) and unashamedly amoral (What I'm out for is a good time. All the rest is propoganda). With powerful central performances cracking dialogue by Sillitoe and a superb jazz score by Johnny Dankworth Saturday Night And Sunday Morning still stands as a vibrant modern classic.

• Dinnerladies - The Complete Second Series | DVD | (17/11/2003) from £9.99   |  Saving you £15.00 (150.15%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Created by written by and starring the one and only Victoria Wood 'Dinnerladies' chronicles the antics of a group of workers in a manky old canteen up in the north of England... Episodes comprise: 1. Catering 2. Trouble 3. Holidays 4. Fog 5. Gamble 6. Christmas 7. Minnellium 8. Christine 9. Gravy 10. Toast

• Wallace & Gromit: The Collection | DVD | (25/11/2024) from £14.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Shetland Series 1 -5 | DVD | (15/04/2019) from £32.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Originally created from the novels by award-winning writer Ann Cleeves (Vera) and set against a hauntingly beautiful landscape, Shetland follows DI Jimmy Perez (Douglas Henshall) and his team as they investigate complex crimes within a close-knit island community. In this isolated and sometimes inhospitable environment, the team must rely on a uniquely resourceful style of policing to unpick the truth. Series one and two are based on bestselling books Red Bones, Raven Black, Dead Water and Blue Lightning. Each subsequent instalment focuses on an original single mystery written for television, each told over six gripping episodes. Series three sees Perez tackling a conspiracy that takes him back to the Scottish mainland in a case that will exact a terrible personal toll on both him and his team. Perez faces murders from the past and present with unsettling similarities in series four, when an investigation leads him closer to home than he could have ever imagined. In the latest series, a gruesome discovery on a beach unleashes a disturbing case that reaches far beyond the island's shores.

• The Princess Diaries 2 - Royal Engagement | DVD | (21/02/2005) from £6.97   |  Saving you £11.02 (158.11%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Okay, sure, if you're a ten-year-old girl, this sequel to Disney's 2001 hit will completely transfix you. How could it not? Bubbly Mia (Anne Hathaway), the American teenager who in the first film learned she was actually European royalty, finishes college and--whoosh!--heads off to Genovia, where she’s given a closet full of fabulous clothes and jewelry in preparation to rule the kingdom under the tutelage of grandmother Julie Andrews. Throw in a horse and a volatile but innocent romantic attraction to the dreamy young stud (Chris Pine) who's also vying for the throne, and you have the kind of stuff that prepubescent girls rhapsodize about at slumber parties. Oh--and there's a slumber party here, too, featuring a bevy of cute, international young princesses mattress-surfing down a giant slide. Resistance is futile. For the rest of us, though, director Garry Marshall has managed to make his Laverne & Shirley days seem positively Shakespearean in comparison. The movie is precious, padded (two hours!), and pandering twaddle; Andrews, in her role as Queen Mother, is even shoehorned into a faux-hip-hop duet with Disney Channel favorite Raven (one of many, many grueling moments intended to sell the soundtrack). Then the film takes a maddening left turn three-quarters of the way into the plot and decides that, despite all the preceding consumption and connubial fantasies to the contrary, it's really about feminine emancipation. But don’t worry--what causes you to smack your forehead in frustration will go right over the heads of its hypnotized target market. --Steve Wiecking