"Actor: Ben Blue"

• The Man Who Would Be King | DVD | (17/05/2010) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £8.99

  A grandly entertaining, old-fashioned adventure based on the Rudyard Kipling short story, The Man Who Would Be King is the kind of rousing epic about which people said, even in 1975, "Wow! They don't make 'em like that anymore". When director John Huston first started trying to make the film, with Gable and Bogart, the project was derailed by the latter's death. It was a few decades before Huston was finally able to realise his dream movie--and with an unimprovable cast. Sean Connery and Michael Caine are, respectively, Daniel Dravot and Peachy Carnahan, a pair of lovably roguish British soldiers who set out to make their fortunes by conning the priests of remote Kafiristan into making them kings. It's a rollicking tale, an epic satire of imperialism, and the good-natured repartee shared by Caine and Connery is pure gold. Huston lets the humour emerge naturally from the characters, for whom we wind up caring more deeply than we ever expected. --Jim Emerson

• The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming | DVD | (24/01/2005) from £25.00   |  Saving you £-12.01 (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  It's a plot! To make the world die laughing! Russian Lt. Rozanov (Arkin) and his crew hit the beaches of Massachusetts unaware of the panic they're about to start. Despite the Russians' harmless intentions the folks in town think a full-scale Soviet invasion has been launched! What's worse their police chief (Keith) has left his hysterical assistant (Winters) in charge and the one man who knows the truth (Reiner) is only stirring up more chaos!

• Party At The Palace | DVD | (01/07/2002) from £11.30   |  Saving you £8.69 (76.90%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Party At The Palace starts with Queen Guitarist Brian May--who looks more than ever like a haircut with a person growing from beneath it--playing "God Save The Queen" on the roof of Buckingham Palace; seemingly missing the point of his obvious inspiration, Jimi Hendrix's apocalyptic subversion of "The Star-Spangled Banner" at Woodstock. Unbelievably, and theoretically impossibly, it goes downhill from there. It can only be assumed that the bill for the Queen's Jubilee was assembled by an ardent republican. The concert is a motley assortment of has-beens and time-wasters, a curious number of whom felt it proper to celebrate the monarch's 50 years by singing old Motown songs badly. The concert also features an extended plug for Queen's (that's the Band) risible musical We Will Rock You and Lenny Henry shouting. Bewilderingly Party At The Palace is not only redeemed, but made worth owning, by the four-song set by Brian Wilson with his version of "God Only Knows"--accompanied by Andrea Corr—-offering a heartbreakingly earnest performance. The concert ends with a pantomime version of "All You Need Is Love". Party At The Palace is the night rock & roll gave up. On the DVD: Party at the Palace is presented in 16:9 format. Songs can be selected by title or by artist. There are subtitles in French, German and Spanish. Proceeds from the sale of the DVD, "after the deduction of costs and expenses in relation to its production and distribution", will be donated to the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Trust. --Andrew Muller

• Judy Garland Collection | DVD | (28/09/2009) from £36.25   |  Saving you £-21.26 (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Titles Comprise: A Star Is Born: A Star Is Born marked Judy Garland's return to movies after a four year absence director George Cukor's first musical and first colour film and a showcase for the great Harold Arlen/Ira Gershwin songs in state-of-the-art stereo. Garland is singer Esther Blodgett an undeniable talent on the rise. She catches the eye of Norman Maine (James Mason) an alcoholic actor in a career decline. Their intense love transforms them both. Only one will survive Hollywood's slings and arrows... For Me & My Gal: Gene Kelly and Judy Garland star as Jo and Harry two vaudeville artists. Harry deliberately injures himself to avoid being drafter into Word War I but he later makes amends. Harvey Girls: Vittles songs and dance are amply ladeled out when Judy Garland headlines The Harvey Girls a joyous musical slice of Americana celebrating the restaurants that brought extra helpings of civilization to Old West rail passengers. Highlights include Garland holding saloon patrons at jittery gunpoint to retrieve stolen beefsteaks Ray Bolger's loose-limbed comic hoofing. Virginia O'Brien's sure-shot comic timing Angela Landsbury stylish wickedness as a saloon singer and the On the Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe romp. All Board! In The Good Old Summertime: Starring Judy Garland and Van Johnson this musical remake of The Shop Around the Corner set in a Chicago music store finds a sales girl (Garland) corresponding through a dating service with a man (Johnson) who turns out to be the manager she detests. Love Finds Andy Hardy: Love Finds Andy Hardy is the fourth film in the series and finds Andy (Mickey Rooney) frantically trying to juggle two girlfriends (Ann Rutherford and Lana Turner) at the same time. It's the new kid next-door (Judy Garland in the first of three fondly remembered Andy Hardy appearances) who helps Andy out of his jam and sings such delightful songs as In Between It Never Rains But What It Pours and Meet the Beat of My Heart. Ziegfeld Girl: The greatest musical extravaganza of all time! An elevator operator a wife of a struggling concert violinist a born-in-the-trunk vaudevillian: they're three different women on three different paths of life yet they soon share one dream: to become a Ziegfeld Girl.

• Road To - The Complete Collection | DVD | (03/10/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £49.99

  The Road To Morocco: Two bumbling buffoons are shipwrecked on an island off the coast of North Africa. When the beautiful Princess Shalimar comes to their rescue Jim and Turkey think they've died and gone to heaven. But once her brawny jealous husband finds out what these clowns have been up to they're going to wish they had never left their island. The Road To Singapore: Josh Mallon and his best buddy Ace Lannigan are avowed playboys. They won't even consider getting married. But Josh's shipping magnate father is tired of his prodigal son's whimsical ways. So he forces him to settle down and get a job. Rebellious to the bone Josh puts and end to those plans when -- on the eve of his big engagement party -- he and Ace set sail for Singapore. They accidentally wind up in Kaigoon instead but these free-spirited bachelors couldn't care less. Unfettered by money or responsibility they're as happy as can be. Their trouble begins when they both fall in love with the same lovely native lass. The Road To Utopia: The irrepressible Chester and Duke are back on the road again. This time around the vaudevillians -- disguised as Alaskan bruisers -- are trekking to the Klondike with a newly-found map to a gold mine. A comedy of errors begins when the citizens of a rough and tumble miner's town mistake the boys for claim-jumpers. Saloon mistress Sal goes gunning for the luckless pair whose treasure map just happens to have been her late father's property. Eventually the three gold-hunters team up and begin searching for the mine together. The Road To Zanzibar: After Chucks and Fearless sell a phony diamond mine to a crook the two escape to Zanzibar where they meet comely Brooklyn gals Donna and Julia. Amid jokes and songs the foursome embark on a wacky safari but the women are only going along in hopes of finding Donna's missing brother. When the guys discover the true reason for the safari they decide to return to Zanzibar; that is until they encounter a band of wild cannibals -- who have their own plans for the duo. The Road To Rio: To avoid being charged with arson after burning down a circus Hot Lips Barton (Bob Hope) and Scat Sweeney (Bing Crosby) stow away on an ocean bound ship. Aboard the vessel the duo fall for Lucia Maria de Andrade (Dorothy Lamour) who is under the spell of her evil aunt (Gale Sondergaard) who has arranged a marriage for the young beauty. This film was in good hands since many of Hope's best collaborators worked on the picture. Director Norman Z. McLeod went on to direct Hope in four more features -- Alias Jesse James Casanova's Big Night My Favourite Spy and The Paleface. McLeod had a remarkable career behind the cameras working with such Hollywood greats as Danny Kaye (The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty) W.C. Fields (It's A Gift) and Cary Grant (Topper). Writer Edmund Beloin supplied the stories for both My Favorite Spy and The Lemon Drop Kid. His collaborator Jack Rose penned My Favourite Brunette The Great Lover Sorrowful Jones and The Seven Little Foys. This The Road To Bali: Hope and Crosby play George Cochran and Harold Gridley American vaudevillains on the run from some angry fathers in Australia. To avoid a dual shotgun wedding George and Harold end up on the island of Bali and sign on as deep sea divers for Prince Arok - and become smitten with the princess Lalah. The Road To Hong Kong: Vaudevillians Harry (Crosby) and Chester (Hope) travel to Tibet to search for a drug to restore Chester's memory. Once they find the cure Chester's memory becomes so good that he accidentally memorizes a secret formula for space navigation. Soon the two meet up with a beautiful spy (Collins) and get slightly sidetracked... to another planet!

• Battle Tanker | DVD | (23/04/2012) from £6.51   |  Saving you £6.48 (49.90%)   |  RRP £12.99

  At a top secret facility on Alaska's the North Shore, one of the darkest secrets of the Cold War remains in storage. A substance recovered from a meteor, it has the same properties of anti-matter. Called ICE-10 is a dooms day substance that if released would start a chain reaction destroying the world. Created as a weapon of last resort, it was kept in the far north where the cold helped keep it under control. The deadliness of this material becomes evident when a military plane is dispatched to bring back a small amount for testing. When the plane crashes, the material escapes and an entire town in Northern Canada is wiped out.

• YPF | DVD | (22/09/2008) from £15.35   |  Saving you £4.64 (30.23%)   |  RRP £19.99

  YPF is a scathingly honest and hilarious portrayal of four couples one threesome and a crazy night of sex. The Couple Abby and Andrew try to spice up their stale love life only to discover that things are worse than they thought. Matt and Kris are The Friends lifelong buddies one lovesick and the other sick of love. Their plan to sleep together goes off the rails when romance rears its ugly head. The Exes Mia and Eric hook up again for old time's sake while trying to hide the feelings they still have for each other. In The First Date world-class playboy Ken comes clean about his history to his naive young date Jamie learning some of her secrets in the process. The Roomates Dave and Gord are normally at each other's throats but set aside their differences for a threesome with Gord's girlfriend Inez. In each case the couples (and trio) discover that sex isn't always simple.