"Actor: Bernadette Pet"

• Impromptu | DVD | (01/03/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  There are Victorian country-house shenanigans aplenty in Impromptu: novelist George Sand (Judy Davis, affected but pretty charming) has eyes for Franz Liszt's young protégé Chopin (Hugh Grant, solid as always, but burdened by a silly Polish accent and a script that never lets him stretch out), but various lovers, jealous rivals, and Chopin's own overdeveloped sense of propriety conspire to confound her. Impromptu is witty but overlong--probably 20 minutes of hijinks and repartee, not to mention several completely gratuitous and redundant characters, could have been sliced from the film. Davis plays Sand as an impetuous, overgrown tomboy, outraging her genteel hosts by wearing pants, chomping cigars, and falling off horses; her coterie of artist-friends assure us, in a series of naked plot devices, that she nonetheless has a heart of gold. It's all good silly fun, and about as feminist as your average Def Leppard video--the other two developed female characters are ugly stereotypes: a featherbrained, feckless social climber (Emma Thompson, who once again proves she's up for anything) and a spiteful, back-stabbing shrew (the ever-capable Bernadette Peters). Director James Lapine clearly belongs to the Dr Quinn: Medicine Woman school of historical accuracy, so don't expect to learn anything about the period or the artists themselves. --Miles Bethany

• Beauty and the Beast/Belle's Magical World/ Enchanted Xmas Triple Pack | DVD | (31/10/2011) from £5.90   |  Saving you £18.09 (306.61%)   |  RRP £23.99

  Beauty and the Beast: One of the most acclaimed and treasured animated films of all time is about to sweep you off your feet. Follow the adventures of Belle, a bright young woman who finds herself in the castle of a prince who's been turned into a mysterious beast. With the help of the castle's enchanted staff, Belle soon learns the most important lesson of all - that true beauty comes from within. An all-new digital restoration makes this 2-Disc DVD more magical than ever. Be our guest and let the music you'll never forget and the characters who will fill your heart cast a shimmering spell like never before.Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas: Celebrate the most magical time of the year with this Special Edition of the irresistible holiday classic inspired by Disney's Academy Award-winning masterpiece, Beauty And The Beast (1991: Winner - Best Song, Best Original Score; nominated for Best Picture). Share the wonder as Mrs. Potts (Angela Lansbury) recounts another tale as old as time about a Christmas past that almost wasn't - thanks to the scheming of former court composer Forte (Tim Curry), now a gloomy, holiday-hating pipe organ, determined to keep Belle and Beast apart forever. Only a true Christmas miracle could possibly thwart his dastardly plans. Reuniting the original voice cast, this spectacular gem sparkles with exciting bonus features, delightful songs, spellbinding visuals, and enduring themes of hope, friendship and love. Your family will experience the spirit of the season all year long with the timeless magic of Beauty And The Beast: The Enchanted Christmas.Beauty and the Beast: Belle's Magical World: A lot happened before Belle and Beast lived happily ever after! Share the fun with one of Disney's most spirited Princesses and all her enchanted friends as their exciting adventures continue in this sparkling Special Edition of Belle's Magical World - inspired by Disney's beloved Academy Award-winning masterpiece, Beauty And The Beast (1991: Winner - Best Song, Best Original Score; nominated for Best Picture). Join Belle, Beast, Cogsworth, Lumiere, plus some charming new friends as they discover how love, teamwork, forgiveness and friendship can turn a once-gloomy castle into a dazzling palace fit for a princess! Adorned with delightful bonus features, your favourite characters and great songs, this fun-filled, modern-day classic proves that true beauty shines from within!

• Sondheim - Sunday in the Park with George | DVD | (23/03/1999) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.96

• Annie | DVD | (11/12/2000) from £8.74   |  Saving you £7.24 (125.91%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Though it's not in the same league as the classic screen musicals, Annie's heartwarming rags-to-riches storyline, social comment (shallow as it may be) and catchy songs make for an entertaining and unpretentious 90 minutes' viewing. Aileen Quinn is the irrepressible titular orphan, by no means as irritating as she looks in the cover picture; Albert Finney is Oliver Warbucks, the tyrannical tycoon (with a hidden heart of gold, of course) who adopts her for a week in the interests of good PR. The real show-stopper, though, is Carol Burnett as the gin-soaked harpy Miss Hannigan, ruling with an iron fist over an orphanage full of unruly girls, flirting with every man in sight and eventually scheming with her unscrupulous brother (Tim Curry) to kidnap Annie and reap a fat Warbucks reward cheque. While the songs--including "Tomorrow", "You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile" and "It's a Hard Knock Life"--are excellent, the kids' voices are shrill and the production pretty low-rent: Annie is very obviously a stage show brought to screen on a low budget. But while it lacks the polish that make the Rodgers and Hammerstein and Lerner and Loewe musicals so special, it's funny and sweet and has a rough charm all its own. On the DVD: The film is presented in widescreen, preserving its original 2.35:1 aspect, and is enhanced for 16:9 widescreen TVs; the soundtrack is Dolby surround, though as noted above the music score is relatively rough and ready so top-notch sound isn't actually as important as it would be in other musicals. The extras are pretty disappointing--an uninspired interactive menu features only the obligatory multi-language subtitles, (very) short biographies of the key cast members, a few publicity cards and posters, the theatrical trailer and--most interestingly--an isolated musical score. No commentary from director John Huston, no documentaries, nothing about the 1930s cartoon strip that was, apparently, one of the most popular of its day. There's actually more information in the accompanying booklet than there is on the disc. --Rikki Price

• Slaves Of New York | DVD | (15/08/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Based on Tama Janowitz's short story collection Slaves of New York is a comic portrait of Manhattan's bohemian art scene complete with an eclectic ensemble of artists struggling to succeed in their work and love lives. The film focuses on ditzy insecure hat designer Eleanor (Bernadette Peters); her uncaring painter boyfriend Stash (Adam Coleman Howard); and their oh-so-hip friends. Eleanor feels torn between keeping up the superficial image that wins approval from her avant

• The Jerk | DVD | (03/11/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

• Prince Charming | DVD | (07/05/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £3.99

  Prince Charming

• Stephen Sondheim - Into The Woods | DVD | (10/04/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  A masterful production of the Sondheim clasic this seamless fusion of fairy tales will strike at the child's heart in all of us. A baker and his wife journey into the woods and meet up with a beguiling cast of characters that will make you laugh and cry. Recorded in 1988 this production won three Tony Awards for Best Score Best Book and Best Actress (Joanna Gleason). Includes 'Children Will Listen' and 'No One Is Alone'.

• It Runs In The Family | DVD | (28/06/2004) from £4.98   |  Saving you £10.01 (201.00%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Intergenerational drama about a prominent, dysfunctional New York family busy wallowing in their separate lives.

• Into The Woods | DVD | (27/08/1997) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.96

• The Jerk/The Jerk Too | DVD | (07/05/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  The Jerk: That wild and crazy guy Steve Martin makes his acting debut in this wild and crazy comedy hit The Jerk. Steve portrays Navin Johnson adopted son of a poor black sharecropper family whose crazy inventions lead him from rags to riches and right back to rags. Along the way he's smitten with a lady motorcycle racer survives a series of screwball attacks by a deranged killer becomes a millionaire by inventing the ""opti-grab"" handle for eyeglasses - and shows why he's the hottest comic performer in America today. The Jerk Too: This TV movie sequel stars Mark Blankfield as Navin Johnson the eponymous 'hero'.

• Verdi - Falstaff / Graham Vick, Bernard Haitink, Royal Opera House | DVD | (10/10/2001) from £24.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  The Graham Vicks production of Falstaff opened the new Covent Garden Royal Opera House, and was not to everybody's taste; the garish primary colours of the costumes, especially Falstaff's unusually hideous get-ups, go several steps beyond the Breughelian effect Vicks intended. The staging is effective--the complicated counterpoint of the ensembles is reflected in unobtrusive blocking that keeps the vocal lines clear and separate, especially in the final fugue. Bryn Terfel's Falstaff is a memorable creation, self-mocking and self-aggrandising at the same time--so much so, in fact, that he almost does not need the vast prosthetic body he has to wear for the part. Desiree Rancatore is an admirably sweet-toned Nanetta; Bernadette Manca di Nissa an appropriately sardonic Mistress Quickly; Roberto Frontali as Ford, in his Act 2 scena, perfectly distils and parodies every jealousy aria ever written, including Verdi's own. Haitink's conducting is exemplary in the lyrical passages, gets almost everything out of the fast and furious comic sections. --Roz Kaveney On the DVD: The Dolby Digital 5.1 sound is powerful and filled with detail, capturing the excitement of the performance and the atmosphere of the Royal Opera House superbly. The anamorphically enhanced 1.77:1 widesceen image is very clear, and while given the source inevitably not up to the highest feature film standards, is among the best live classical titles yet released on DVD. The bold colours are particularly well realised, though the red lighting of the Garter Inn scenes causes the image to falter a little. There are optional subtitles in English, French and German. These are presented directly over the picture and would be easier to read had they been a little larger, or outlined in some way. The special features consist of a brief synopsis by James Naughtie, taken directly from the original television broadcast, a minute-long "comment" by conductor Bernard Haitink and short but interesting interviews with Bryn Terfel and director Graham Vick. Finally there is a nine-minute episode from the series of short BBC films, Covent Garden Tales on the 1999 modernisation of the Royal Opera House. --Gary S Dalkin

• Stephen Sondheim - Sunday In The Park With George | DVD | (10/04/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Stephen Sondheim's music and lyrics bring to life the world famous painting by George Seurat 'A Sunday Afternoon On The Island Of Grande Jette' to brilliant life. While the painting depicts people gathered on an island in the Seine the musical goes beyond simply describing their lives. This Production stars Broadway legends Mandy Patinkin and Bernadette Peters.

• Anastasia - Princess Edition | DVD | (04/09/2006) from £9.43   |  Saving you £3.56 (37.75%)   |  RRP £12.99

  The lost Russian Princess Anastasia and her incredible quest to find her true identity. When the shadow of revolution falls across Russia Anastasia the royal family's youngest daughter barely escapes with her life. Years later joined by a band of heroic companions Anastasia must battle the evil Rasputin his sidekick Bartok the bat and a host of ghostly minions in a headlong race to reach Paris reclaim her rightful destiny.... and solve the greatest mystery of the 20th century! Includes the feature length sequel Bartok The Magnificent!

• Steve Martin Collection - The Jerk/The Lonely Guy/Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid | DVD | (07/05/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  The Jerk (Dir. Carl Reiner 1979): That wild and crazy guy Steve Martin makes his acting debut in this wild and crazy comedy hit The Jerk. Steve portrays Navin Johnson adopted son of a poor black sharecropper family whose crazy inventions lead him from rags to riches and right back to rags. Along the way he's smitten with a lady motorcycle racer survives a series of screwball attacks by a deranged killer becomes a millionaire by inventing the ""opti-grab"" handle for eyeglasses - and shows why he's the hottest comic performer in America today. The Lonely Guy (Dir. Arthur Hiller 1984): The one and only Steve Martin stars along with Charles Grodin and Tony Award winner Judith Ivey in this funny and poignant romance inspired by Bruce Jay Friedman's tongue-in-cheek survival manual. The Lonely Guy follows the progress of Larry (Steve Martin) and his buddy Warren (Charles Grodin) as they attempt to eke out a successful social life in the Big Apple. They're losers until one day Larry writes a book that turns loneliness into the ultimate love potion and life is never the same! Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (Dir. Carl Reiner 1982): As the private eye of private eyes Steve Martin is Rigby Reardon. He's tough rough and ready to take on anything when Juliet Forrest appears on the scene with a case: her father a noted scientist philanthropist and cheesemaker has died mysteriously. Reardon immediately smells a rat and follows a complex maze of clues that lead to the 'Carlotta Lists'. With a little help from his 'friends' Alan Ladd Barbara Stanwyck Ray Milland Burt Lancaster Humphrey Bogart Charles Laughton and others Reardon gets his man. An exciting action-fun packed film the way 40's films used to be!

• Anastasia / Fern Gully - The Last Rainforest | DVD | (09/09/2002) from £20.00   |  Saving you £-5.01 (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Anastasia The lost Russian Princess Anastasia and her incredible quest to find her true identity. When the shadow of revolution falls across Russia Anastasia the royal family's youngest daughter barely escapes with her life. Years later joined by a band of heroic companions Anastasia must battle the evil Rasputin his sidekick Bartok the bat and a host of ghostly minions in a headlong race to reach Paris reclaim her rightful destiny and solve the greatest mystery of the 20th century! Fern Gully - The Last Rainforest An animated musical fantasy that takes a journey deep into the Australian rainforest where humans exist only in fairy tales...

• Annie / Matilda / Fly Away Home | DVD | (11/10/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Includes Annie Matilda and Fly Away Home. Annie: The irresistable orphan of comic-strip and box office fame comes to life in this acclaimed musical production. In her search for her true parents Annie has many adventures and encounters a number of colourful characters. Matilda: The hilarious story of Matilda based on the book by Roald Dahl. Once upon a time there lived a quite extraordinary little girl named Matilda but unfortunately her parents were so obsessed with their own lives they never noticed Matilda. They send her to Crunchem Hall a horrible boarding school run by a bossy headmistress Miss Trunchbull. There Matilda discovers remarkable skills which allow her to turn the tables on the wicked grown-ups in her world. Fly Away Home: Young Amy (Anna Paquin) is reunited with her father (Jeff Daniels) after a nine-year separation. One day Amy discovers a nest of orphaned goose eggs and decides to take them home and nurture them until they hatch. When the newly hatched goslings adopt her as their Mother Goose Amy and her father become airborne adventurers battling against bad weather and a host of other pitfalls in their efforts to teach the geese to fly...

• Bernadette Peters - In Concert | DVD | (06/08/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Live from London's Royal Festival Hall Bernadette Peters combines raw talent with alluring sophistication as she sings a selection of Broadway standards including “Broadway Baby” “Time Heals Everything” and “Some People”. She also performs songs from her illustrious stage and recording career including the Grammy-nominated “I'll Be Your Baby Tonight” and “Sondheim Etc: Bernadette Peters Live at Carnegie Hall”. This b

• Annie / Oliver | DVD | (03/11/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Annie: A plucky red-haired girl dreams of a life away outside her orphanage and its gin-soaked tyrant Miss Hannigan (played to perfection by Carol Burnett). One day Annie meets the famous billionaire ""Daddy"" Warbucks and the pair share spectacular times in 1930's New York City. But Miss Hannigan and her zany villainous colleagues are determined to spoil the fun for America's favourite orphan... Oliver!: Young Oliver Twist (Mark Lester) is an orphan who escapes th

• The Lonely Guy / Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid / The Jerk | DVD | (03/10/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The Lonely Guy (Dir. Arthur Hiller 1984): The one and only Steve Martin stars along with Charles Grodin and Tony Award winner Judith Ivey in this funny and poignant romance inspired by Bruce Jay Friedman's tongue-in-cheek survival manual. The Lonely Guy follows the progress of Larry (Steve Martin) and his buddy Warren (Charles Grodin) as they attempt to eke out a successful social life in the Big Apple. They're losers until one day Larry writes a book that turns loneliness into the ultimate love potion and life is never the same! Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (Dir. Carl Reiner 1982): As the private eye of private eyes Steve Martin is Rigby Reardon. He's tough rough and ready to take on anything when Juliet Forrest appears on the scene with a case: her father a noted scientist philanthropist and cheesemaker has died mysteriously. Reardon immediately smells a rat and follows a complex maze of clues that lead to the 'Carlotta Lists'. With a little help from his 'friends' Alan Ladd Barbara Stanwyck Ray Milland Burt Lancaster Humphrey Bogart Charles Laughton and others Reardon gets his man. An exciting action-fun packed film the way 40's films used to be! The Jerk (Dir. Carl Reiner 1979): That wild and crazy guy Steve Martin makes his acting debut in this wild and crazy comedy hit The Jerk. Steve portrays Navin Johnson adopted son of a poor black sharecropper family whose crazy inventions lead him from rags to riches and right back to rags. Along the way he's smitten with a lady motorcycle racer survives a series of screwball attacks by a deranged killer becomes a millionaire by inventing the opti-grab handle for eyeglasses - and shows why he's the hottest comic performer in America today.