"Actor: Barry"

• Green Mile, The / Pay It Forward / Proof Of Life | DVD | (08/10/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £40.99

  The book was better" has been the complaint of many a reader since the invention of movies. Frank Darabont's second adaptation of a Stephen King prison drama The Green Mile (The Shawshank Redemption was the first) is a very faithful adaptation of King's serial novel. In the middle of the Depression, Paul Edgecomb (Tom Hanks) runs death row at Cold Mountain Penitentiary. Into this dreary world walks a mammoth prisoner, John Coffey (Michael Duncan) who, very slowly, reveals a special gift that will change the men working and dying on the mile. With Darabont's superior storytelling abilities, his touch for perfect casting, and a leisurely 188-minute running time, his movie brings to life nearly every character and scene from the novel. Darabont even improves the novel's two endings, creating a more emotionally satisfying experience. --Doug Thomas, Amazon.comPay It Forward is a multi-level marketing scheme of the heart. Beginning as a seventh-grade class assignment to put into action an idea that could change the world, young Trevor McKinney (Haley Joel Osment) comes up with a plan to do good deeds for three people who then by way of payment each must do good turns for three other people. These nine people also must pay it forward and so on, ad infinitum. If successful, the resulting network of do-gooders ought to comprise the entire world. While this could have turned into unmitigated schmaltz, the acting elevates this film to mitigated schmaltz. By turns powerful and measured, the performances of Kevin Spacey, Helen Hunt, and Haley Joel Osment can't make up for the many missteps in a screenplay that sanitises the look of the lower-middle class and expects us to believe that homeless alcoholics and junkies speak in the elevated manner of grad students. One may wonder how it would have been handled by the likes of Frank Capra, who could balance sentiment with humour, clearly Capra would never have let the ending of his version to take the nosedive into cliché and pathos that director Mimi Leder has allowed in this film. --Jim Gay, Amazon.comWhen someone in Proof of Life says "Don't leave me hanging", you can bet they're going to be left hanging. There's little room for delicacy in Tony Gilroy's screenplay, adapted from an article by William Prochnau and the book Long March to Freedom by kidnapping survivor Thomas Hargrove. A hint of romance between Russell Crowe (the soldier-turned-"K&R") and Meg Ryan adds tension as the story shifts back and forth to David Morse's captivity. Avoiding that pitfall, director Taylor Hackford crafts the plot as a latter-day Casablanca that unfolds on a grander canvas (at stunning locations in Ecuador) while favouring an exciting rescue-mission climax over the tragedy of an ill-timed affair. It might have worked better as a straightforward macho action flick (with David Caruso doing lively work as Crowe's gung-ho K&R cohort), but Proof of Life effectively conveys the two-sided torment of a hostage crisis. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com

• Space: 1999 - Vol. 3 | DVD | (30/04/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  For the time, there had never been a more lavishly produced science fiction TV series than Space: 1999, which was British-made on a first-season budget of 3.25 million pounds--an astounding amount--and ran for two seasons from 1975 to 77. What keeps fans enthralled after all these years has only partly to do with the first-rate production values, the plausibly constructed spaceship models and expert special effects. The tone of the show is one of scientific dispassion, setting it apart from its TV SF predecessors such as Star Trek in which the mood is more generally convivial. Our heroes here are in dire circumstances that require cool heads as a survival trait. Those circumstances are: the moon and the 311 crew members of Moonbase Alpha experience a cataclysm that causes the moon to break away from its orbit and travel endlessly through space, making our heroes into unintentional explorers. No TV series has created a more palpable feel of hard science fiction than this. Of course the show is not without its detractors, having been soundly lambasted for its many scientific errors. No less august a figure than Isaac Asimov criticised the show for its premise in the opening episode "Breakaway", which had nuclear explosions on the "dark side of the moon" somehow propel it out of orbit and sent it flying through space without regard for any physical laws. In "Earthbound", aliens travelling to Earth state it will take them 75 years to reach their destination, making one wonder why it didn't take the moon that long to encounter the aliens. While these are serious complaints, fans tend to remember the scientific seriousness of the series and the sense of awe created by the many strange creatures and phenomena they encounter on their journey through the galaxy. --Jim Gay, Amazon.com

• The Maisie Collection: Volume 2 | DVD | (26/07/2012) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Gene Autry Collection | DVD | (14/04/2008) from £10.78   |  Saving you £-2.79 (N/A%)   |  RRP £7.99

  The Gene Autry Collection (3 Discs)

• American Beauty | DVD | (20/02/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Provoked by forbidden passions, Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) decides to make a few changes in his rut of a life

• Noose | DVD | (15/09/2003) from £10.23   |  Saving you £-4.24 (-70.80%)   |  RRP £5.99

  On the mean streets of Boston's Charlestown trouble is a way of life. It's home to Bobby O'Grady who makes his cash from thieving and gets his kicks from fighting gambling and hanging out with his buddies at the local bar. The neighbourhood's Mr. Big is Jackie O'Hara a ruthless gangster whose rule of terror guarantees that a wall of silence surrounds the robberies and murders he commits. No-one crosses Jackie and no-one ever talks to the cops. But when Bobby's cousin arrives from Dublin and is witness to a killing it triggers a chain of events that challenges the code of loyalty and threatens to tear Charlestown apart...

• What Comes Around | DVD | (27/08/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Discover the world of fast talking hustlers and whiskey hard singers. Joe Hawkins (Jerry Reed) is a successful country and western singer. His success however always ends up in his manager Leon's pocket. Joe's brother Tom (Bo Hopkins) watches in disbelief as Joe is worn down by breakneck tours and one night stands and fired up on booze and drugs. Desperate to save his brother from his brutal addiction Tom kidnaps Joe and holds him captive in a remote cabin. Leon is not about to lose

• UFO - Vol. 8 | DVD | (12/08/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Gerry Anderson's classic sci-fi series. The operatives of the secret Supreme Headquarters Alien Defence Organisation (S.H.A.D.O.) defend the earth from extra-terrestrials who are abducting humans to obtain their organs which can be transplanted into their own bodies... Episodes include: Reflections In The Water Timelash Mind Bender The Long Sleep

• Beat Club-Best of '72 | DVD | (03/12/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

• Elisha | DVD | (02/04/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £2.99

  Elisha

• Beat Club-Best of '73 | DVD | (03/12/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

• Risk | DVD | (16/07/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  The world of insurance hasn't exactly inspired a wealth of memorable cinema, but Australian film Risk is a feisty, funny, clever and, yes, insurance-related movie. Drawing on a range of cinematic themes (good cop/bad cop, the young newcomer and his guiding light, a love triangle) the film offers a fresh insight by virtue of its unusual setting. Ben Madigen (Tom Long) finds himself working in the business by default and is soon taken under the wing of the charismatic John Kreisky (Brown). While trying to undertake his job without compromising his principles, Madigen is unwittingly lured into a scam by Kreisky and his girlfriend, lawyer Louise Roncaldi (Claudia Karvan). The burgeoning and later unravelling relationship between the three is the film's key story, as Long finds himself torn between the other two. Brown is excellent as the scheming Kreisky, once again proving that his failure to move into a more major acting league is little short of baffling--but then, this type of imaginative film offers him more scope than Cocktail or FX ever could and serves as a welcome advertisement for the growing Australian movie industry. This is a highly intelligent film that keeps its plot-cards closely to its chest, keeping the viewer guessing throughout. On the DVD: the usual scene selection is coupled with the trailer, which presents the film (slightly misleadingly) in pulsating, high-action tones. The "making of" featurette offers the viewer an insight into not very much happening (look, there's a man pushing something) and gives the cast an opportunity to take themselves a little too seriously. --Phil Udell

• Dassin Noir: Three Film Noir Classics by Jules Dassin | DVD | (28/11/2011) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £34.99

  Three thrilling film noir classics from the masterful director of Rififi and Night and the City.Brute ForceAt overcrowded Westgate Penitentiary, violence and fear are the norm and the least contented prisoner is tough, single-minded Joe Collins (Burt Lancaster). Joe hates chief guard Captain Munsey, a petty dictator who glories in absolute power. After one infraction too many, Joe and his cell-mates are put on the dreaded drain pipe detail; prompting an escape scheme that has every chance of turning into a bloodbath.The Naked CityThe vicious murder of beautiful blonde Jean Dexter sends Detectives Dan Muldoon and young Jimmy Halloran (Barry Fitzgerald and Don Taylor) to work on a case with the classic twists and turns of hard boiled pulp fiction. This two time Oscar winner is notable for being as much noir crime as it is hard hitting realism with its stark documentary portrait of the Big Apple.RififiTony le Stephanois is a master thief fresh out of jail, wearing a harried look and suffering ill health he refuses to be involved with crime, until he finds his girlfriend shacked up with a rival gangster. With little reason to keep living he plans a final job. Rififi revolves around the central heist, famed for its finite detail and incredible tension, Dassin’s film is a humanist tale that hinges on the loyalty among thieves and draws on the fatalistic, doom laden lives common to crooks and thieves in pulp literature. The Special Features comprise of;Three original theatrical trailers and a critical analysis of Rififi by Ginette Vincendeau

• Divorce His, Divorce Hers | DVD | (16/08/2004) from £6.55   |  Saving you £-2.56 (N/A%)   |  RRP £3.99

  Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton draw on their personal experiences as real-life partners going through marraige difficulties for their performances in this story of the breakup of an 18-year matrimonial union as seen from the points of view of both the husband and the wife. The movie is told in two parts - first his side of the divorce then hers

• Walk Hard -The Dewey Cox Story | DVD | (03/05/2010) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  A wild and wicked send-up of every musical biopic ever made Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story stars John C. Reilly as one of the most iconic figures in rock history - Dewey Cox! America loves Cox! But behind the music is the up-and-down-and-up-again story of a musician whose songs would change a nation. On his rock 'n roll spiral Cox sleeps with 411 women marries three times has 22 kids and 14 stepkids stars in his own 70's TV show collects friends ranging from Elvis to the Beatles to a chimp and gets addicted to - and then kicks - every drug known to man... but despite it all Cox grows into a national icon and eventually earns the love of a good woman.

• Formula For Death | DVD | (29/01/2007) from £4.03   |  Saving you £1.96 (48.64%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Dr Marissa Blumenthal (Nicollette Sheridan) has just been promoted to investigator at the world-famous Center for Disease Control. Her first case: an outbreak at a clinic in Los Angeles. It should be simple - but Marissa finds that this is no isolated outbreak. Soon people are dying all over the USA. Moreover the virus could have only one source: a high-security medical lab. Marissa moves closer to the truth but each step she takes becomes more dangerous. Her home is vandalised top-level medics are warning her off - and someone is trying to kill her...

• Judgement Day (Ellie Nesler Story) | DVD | (01/04/2013) from £6.73   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Drama based on real events in which a mother takes the law into her own hands after her son suffers sexual abuse. When Ellie Nesler (Christine Lahti) finally discovers the cause of her son Brandon (Andrew Ducote)'s increasingly unbalanced behaviour - the abuse he endured at the hands of Daniel (Robert Bockstael) - she naturally takes matters to the police. However, when she learns that Daniel has previously been convicted of a similar offence, for which he received no sterner punishment than ...

• Assault Of Darkness | DVD | (14/06/2010) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  When the depths of an old swamp are inadvertently disturbed the body of a man who was murdered over 2 000 years ago is awakened and rises to brutally revenge his death. Now it's up to a group of strangers lead by a mysterious hunter (Vinnie Jones) to venture in to the dark wilderness to put an end to the rampaging evil.

• Jandek on Corwood | DVD | (06/12/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  25 years 35 albums and not a single live show or public appearance. The documentary film Jandek on Corwood definitively explores the most intriguing mystery in modern music. Featuring revealing interviews evocative imagery and one of the most bizarre and compelling soundtracks in film history Jandek on Corwood will challenge the viewer's conception of music Art and the nature of celebrity.

• Sugar, Sugar | DVD | (11/02/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £7.99

  Sugar (Sarah Manners) is a girl on the run from her family and a stranger who is intent on tracking her down. She meets an old friend who gets her a job as a stripper in London's West End and as the stalker closes in she turns to the underworld for protection...