"Actor: Bob S"

• The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne (Limited Edition) | Blu Ray | (24/06/2019) from £21.98   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Based on the acclaimed novel by Brian Moore, The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne was the final feature film to be made by celebrated filmmaker Jack Clayton (The Innocents, The Pumpkin Eater), and boasts a truly outstanding performance by multi-award-winning actor Maggie Smith. In 1950s Belfast, penniless spinster Judith Hearne (Smith) falls for charismatic James (Bob Hoskins). Succumbing to his attentions, Judith makes a series of profound changes to her life, including re-evaluating her deep relationship with her church, to enable the love for which she so desperately yearns. Poignant and powerful, The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne was the recipient of a BAFTA award for Smith, but has since become somewhat overlooked. Now finally available on Blu-ray for the very first time, one of the finest British films of the 1980s is presented in a brand new 2K restoration from the original negatives, supervised and approved by cinematographer Peter Hannan. Limited Edition Features: New 2K restoration by Powerhouse Films from the original negative, supervised and approved by cinematographer Peter Hannan Original stereo audio Remembering Judith Hearne (2019): featuring new and exclusive interviews with actors Maggie Smith and Ian McNeice Remembering Mary (2019): new and exclusive interview with actor Rudi Davies Selected scenes commentary with film historian Neil Sinyard Original theatrical trailer Image gallery: on-set and promotional photography New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing Limited edition exclusive booklet featuring Pauline Kael's appraisal of the film, an overview of contemporary critical responses, archival articles, and film credits World premiere on Blu-ray Limited Edition of 3,000 copies All extras subject to change

• Standing In The Shadows Of Motown | DVD | (26/01/2004) from £10.09   |  Saving you £9.90 (98.12%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Based on Allan Slutsky's award-winning book of the same name 'Standing In The Shadows Of Motown' tells the Funk Brothers' story for the first time by combining exclusive interviews archival footage and re-enactments. Completing this fantastic musical and social journey is a live concert which saw the Funk Brothers reunited on stage in Detroit with the help of contemporary vocalists Ben Harper Joan Osborne Meshell Ndegeocello and Montell Jordan and R&B greats Chaka Khan Gerald L

• The Man Who Wasn't There (2001) | DVD | (22/04/2002) from £11.25   |  Saving you £8.74 (77.69%)   |  RRP £19.99

  With The Man Who Wasn't There the Coen brothers--those ironic geniuses of left-field bizarre--have pulled off another side-swerve into the unexpected. A movie "about a hairdresser who wants to become a dry-cleaner" as the brothers gleefully claim to have pitched it, it's set in 1949 in the small Northern California town of Santa Rosa (venue for Hitchcock's 1943 classic Shadow of a Doubt) and filmed in lustrous, deep-shadowy black-and-white--an affectionate, though never slavish, tribute to the great era of film noir. Not only in its austere monochrome but in its tone, it comes as a total contrast to the Coens' previous film, the cheerfully picaresque O Brother, Where Art Thou?. Though they toss in plenty of surreal gags, including a whole running thread about flying saucers (this is Roswell-era America, after all), the overall mood is quiet, reflective and even--something quite new for the Coens--compassionate. Their protagonist, barber Ed Crane (Billy Bob Thornton, proving himself one of the great chameleon actors of our time), is a man trapped by his own impassivity--inside him, a seething mass of emotion that he's utterly unable to express. In true Coen style, his frustration leads him into a fatal move that spirals disastrously out of control. Thornton is ably supported by a whole gallery of Coen regulars--Frances McDormand, Jon Polito, Tony Shalhoub--plus James Gandolfini (The Sopranos) and an amazingly assured turn from Scarlett Johansson (Ghost World). The dialogue, as you'd expect, is masterly, while the brothers' regular collaborators Director of Photography Roger Deakins and production designer Dennis Gassner work wonders of period evocation, and Carter Burwell contributes a haunting score. On the DVD: The Man Who Wasn't There comes to DVD in a sharp, clean 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer that captures all the depth and subtlety of Deakins' superb photography, impeccably matched by the crystal-clear Dolby 5.1 Surround Sound. A lavish helping of extras includes a trailer and two TV spots, stills photo gallery, filmographies, a 16-minute "making of" featurette, an overlong (47 minutes) interview with Deakins, a batch of deleted scenes, and best of all, the voice-over commentary. This gives us not just Joel and Ethan, but Billy Bob as well, chatting and chortling and clearly enjoying every second of the movie they've made. Their enthusiasm is irresistible. –-Philip Kemp

• The Best Of Superstars | DVD | (03/11/2003) from £7.92   |  Saving you £5.07 (64.02%)   |  RRP £12.99

  The best of the cult BBC TV sport series which began in 1973 in which top sportsmen and women past and present compete in a variety of different sporting disciplines. The events tested the stars' abilities at running swimming shooting canoeing cycling and their strengths in the gym. Presented each week by David Vine and Ron Pickering the nation tuned in to see the chosen few do battle for the famous Superstars trophy. The winner of each show would meet at the end of the series in the final to decide who was the Superstar. This documentary will feature highlights from nearly a decade of Superstars and will feature contributions from some of Superstars most famous participants such as Kevin Keegan Daley Thompson and David Vine.

• Cribbins: The Complete Series | DVD | (10/09/2018) from £13.70   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Comedy legend Bernard Cribbins had been a key presence in British film and television comedy for over a decade before he landed his own headlining television series at the tail-end of the 1960s. An off-beat revue of quickfire sketches in the Cribbins style , this fast-moving mixture of comedy and song (including chart hits Hole in the Ground, Gossip Calypso and Right, Said Fred) featured a gallery of outrageous characters in a myriad of seemingly inexhaustible situations! Bank clerk, burglar, tramp, librarian, cowboy and even spaceman Cribbins is these, and much more! With comic support from Sheila Steafel, The Benny Hill Show's Bob Todd and the always glamorous Maddie Smith, this zany mix of fun and music also guest stars Patrick Cargill, Dennis Price and Dad's Army's Bill Pertwee. Written by sitcom legends Johnnie Mortimer and Brian Cooke (then riding high on the success of Father Dear Father), this set features all twelve editions from both series of Cribbins.

• Seven | DVD | (01/10/1999) from £4.98   |  Saving you £13.01 (261.24%)   |  RRP £17.99

  The most viscerally frightening and disturbing homicidal maniac picture since The Silence of the Lambs, Seven is based on an idea that's both gruesome and ingenious. A serial killer forces each of his victims to die by acting out one of the seven deadly sins. The murder scene is then artfully arranged into a grotesque tableau, a graphic illustration of each mortal vice. From the jittery opening credits to the horrifying (and seemingly inescapable) concluding twist, director David Fincher immerses us in a murky urban twilight where everything seems to be rotting, rusting, or moulding; the air is cold and heavy with dread. Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt are the detectives who skillfully track down the killer--all the while unaware that he has been closing in on them, as well. Gwyneth Paltrow and Kevin Spacey are also featured, but it is director Fincher and the ominous, overwhelmingly oppressive atmosphere of doom that he creates that are the real stars of the film. It's a terrific date movie--for vampires. --Jim Emerson

• Matewan | DVD | (02/04/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  A little-known chapter of American labour history is brought vividly to life in this period drama from writer-director John Sayles. It's a fictional story about labour wars among West Virginia coal miners during the 1920s, but every detail is so right that the film has the unmistakable ring of truth. The tension begins when the Stone Mountain Coal Company of Matewan, West Virginia, announces a lower pay rate for miners, who respond by calling a strike under the leadership of a United Mine Workers representative (Chris Cooper). Proving strength in numbers, the miners are joined by black and Italian miners who initially resist the strike, and a fateful battle ensues when detectives hired by the coal company attempt to evict miners from company housing. Violence erupts in a sequence of astonishing, cathartic intensity, and Matewan achieves a rare degree of moral complexity combined with gut-wrenching tragedy. The film salutes a pacifist ideal while recognising that personal and political convictions often must be defended with violence. To illustrate this point, Sayles enlisted master cinematographer Haskell Wexler, who creates the film's authentic visual texture--a triumph of artistry over limited resources. The result is a milestone of independent filmmaking, and Matewan remains one of Sayles's finest achievements. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com

• Waking Up In Reno | DVD | (13/02/2012) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Not long after Roy (Swayze) and Candy (Theron) and Lonnie Earl (Thornton) and Darlene (Richardson) arrive in Reno for their dream vacation together at the Monster Truck Show, these Arkansas natives learn they're sharing more than a two-bedroom suite! With side-splitting laughs and a sizzling cast, let yourself go because you're sure to enjoy this fun-filled guilty pleasure!

• The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby | DVD | (24/11/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £39.99

  This Nicholas Nickleby is not one of Hollywood's condensed versions, it's the Royal Shakespeare Company's epic eight-and-a-half-hour adaptation of the life and times of the eponymous school-teacher. The 1982 production (originally staged in two parts) won worldwide acclaim and was such a success that Britain's then-newest TV station, Channel 4, launched a joint venture with independent production company Primetime to bring Nicholas Nickleby to a television audience. The result is this wonderfully theatrical version, filmed at the Old Vic and starring much of the original stage cast. It manages to stay true to Trevor Nunn's original artistic vision of Dickens's damning incitement of England's educational system. The ensemble cast are superb: Roger Rees as Nicholas is a bright-eyed idealist, every inch the young romantic hero whose principles are often his downfall, but ultimately his salvation; Fulton Mackay's twisted, embittered Squeers is every inch the Dickensian villain; and David Threlfall is transformed as Smike, Squeers' piteously subjugated, crippled servant and gives the most moving performances of his career. This enthralling TV adaptation recreates the magic of the stage version for all those who were unable to catch it on its pitifully short run. It doesn't pull any punches as the humour and inspiring storyline are tempered with real dark and tragic episodes. Forget the Hollywood fluff, this is the version you should watch if you want a faithful retelling of Dickens's story. --Kristen Bowditch

• House Of Fools: Series 1 And 2 | DVD | (18/01/2016) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £29.99

  SERIES ONE Comedy legends Vic Reeves & Bob Mortimer proudly present their first sitcom House of Fools! The show is set in Bob's flat which he reluctantly shares with his Norwegian son Erik, Vic and his wayward brother Bosh. They are constantly interrupted and surprised by the antics of saucy neighbour Julie and by the misadventures of Beef. Packed with special effects and visual treats from start to finish, this series is unmissable. SERIES TWO Step once more into the wonderfully surreal world of Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer, with the return of this critically acclaimed sitcom and its eccentric cast of characters. Jampacked with ridiculous stunts, hilarious misunderstandings, outlandish performances and laugh-out- loud jokes, House of Fools sees Vic causing more headaches for Bob, who'd like nothing more than a quiet life.

• Better Call Saul: Seasons 1-3 | DVD | (27/11/2017) from £34.55   |  Saving you £-9.56 (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  The trials and tribulations of criminal lawyer, Jimmy McGill, in the time leading up to establishing his strip-mall law office in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Click Images to Enlarge

• On The Buses / Mutiny On The Buses / Holiday On The Buses | DVD | (04/08/2003) from £24.56   |  Saving you £-7.57 (N/A%)   |  RRP £16.99

  On The Buses: Stan's job is secure as bus drivers are hard to come by and his overtime prospects are good until the bus company decide to revoke a long standing rule and employ women bus drivers. Aghast at the thought of no overtime and therefore less wages he joins forces with his long time work colleague Jack to sabotage the new female employees. Mutiny On The Buses: Bus driver Stan Butler agrees to marry Suzy much to the anguish of Mum her son-in-law Arthur and her daughter Olive. How they wonder will they ever manage without Stan's money coming in? Arthur learns to drive a bus and Stan blackmails the Depot Manager into giving him the job of driver on the new money-making Special Tours Bus. A great idea if only the inspector hadn't taken Stan on his trial run to Windsor Safari Park! Holiday On The Buses: A small matter of three crashed buses one piece of mutilated council property and a written off car belonging to the Bus Depot Manager adds up to instant dismissal for Stan Jack and Inspector Blakey. Jack and Stan think that all is saved when they find work in a Welsh holiday camp running the camps transport. Then they discover that Blakey has been installed as Camp Security Inspector!

• Blood Simple | DVD | (30/10/2017) from £5.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  The debut film of director Joel Coen and his brother-producer Ethan Coen, 1983's Blood Simple is grisly comic noir that marries the feverish toughness of pulp thrillers with the ghoulishness of even pulpier horror. (Imagine the novels of Jim Thompson somehow fused with the comic tabloid Weird Tales and you get the idea.) The story concerns a Texas bar owner (Dan Hedaya) who hires a seedy private detective (M Emmett Walsh) to follow his cheating wife (Frances McDormand in her first film appearance) and then kill her and her lover (John Getz). The gumshoe turns the tables on his client and suddenly a bad situation gets much, much worse, with some violent goings-on that are as elemental as they are shocking. (A scene in which a character who has been buried alive suddenly emerges from his own grave instantly becomes an archetypal nightmare.) Shot by Barry Sonnenfeld before he became an A-list director in Hollywood, Blood Simple established the hyperreal look and feel of the Coens' productions (undoubtedly inspired a bit by filmmaker Sam Raimi, whose The Evil Dead had just been coedited by Joel). Sections of the film have proved to be an endurance test for art-house movie fans, particularly an extended climax that involves one shock after another but ends with a laugh at the absurdity of criminal ambition. This is definitely one of the triumphs of the 1980s and the American independent film scene in general. --Tom Keogh, Amazon.com

• U-Turn | DVD | (01/10/1999) from £8.42   |  Saving you £-2.43 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Oliver Stone used such words as "liberating" and "fun" to talk about U-Turn's relatively quick production schedule of 42 days. Stone's ideas of film fun, however, are something older generations would call sick. This film is a Southwestern noir tale about Bobby Cooper (Sean Penn), a hotshot who is stuck in the tight confines of Superior, Arizona, when his car breaks down. His subsequent adventure is a meatball comedy--loud, obnoxious and violent, and stuffed with diffused light, a hot cast and a no-fat Ennio Morricone score. This film has plenty of odd characters but you never really find out much about them. Bobby's first encounters include a repulsive mechanic (Billy Bob Thornton under the grease) and a blind Indian (Jon Voight under the makeup). Then there's Grace McKenna (a sizzling Jennifer Lopez), who is as dangerous as the curves of her red sundress. Bobby's got time to kill and Grace seems more than willing. Unfortunately, it seems that Bobby has never seen a movie such as A Touch of Evil; if he had, he would know it can only get worse. About the time Grace's husband, Jake (Nick Nolte), shows up, Bobby is knee-deep in murder plots and double-crosses. The first 40 minutes or so are "fun" to a point. Penn is the perfect near-creep to root for and as he wanders back into town after meeting Grace, the eclectic characters pile up. But soon it gets monotonous, tiring and just plain ugly. And when incest and bloody fights begin, the fun is gone. If Penn wasn't so solid an actor and able to be empathetic in the most morose situations, the movie would be unwatchable in stretches. Lopez makes another good impression but this is not a performance that stands out. Nolte, raspy and ill-looking, is the Lee Marvin of the 90s. Before U-Turn is over, you are already wondering if Oliver Stone will do something else, something more important, soon. --Doug Thomas

• Mexican, The | DVD | (02/07/2006) from £4.98   |  Saving you £15.01 (301.41%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Part road film, part romantic comedy, part thriller, and a whole lotta fun, The Mexican could get by on star power alone, but it offers Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts and a clever plot full of delightful surprises. It's a thoroughly enjoyable shaggy-dog story in which the downtrodden Jerry Welbach (Pitt) copes with a dual dilemma: his girlfriend Samantha (Roberts) has just dumped him to pursue solo ambitions in Las Vegas, and a manipulative mobster has ordered Jerry to Mexico to retrieve a coveted antique pistol (the "Mexican" of the title) that carries a legacy of legend, death and danger. Jerry soon has his hands full with bandits, bloodshed and a grizzly hound dog that vanishes and reappears with amusing regularity. En route to Vegas, Samantha's taken hostage by a burly assassin (James Gandolfini) who's attached to the gun-fetching scheme and is, in more ways than one, not who he seems to be. Like a good magic act, JH Wyman's original screenplay distracts you from its gaps of logic using unexpected revelations to fuel its strategic vitality. It also provides a wealth of character development, director Gore Verbinski (Mouse Hunt) giving his stellar cast equal time to shine. It hardly matters that Pitt and Roberts spend most of the film apart; their time together is worth waiting for, and the machinations that separate them play out like a cross between vintage Peckinpah and Romancing the Stone. And why is the accursed pistola so valuable? That's just another surprise, setting the stage for the arrival of yet another big-name star, whose motivations are pure in a film full of double-crosses and darkly shaded humour. With a giddy plot such as this, star power is just icing on the cake. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.co.uk

• The Honorary Consul | Blu Ray | (22/04/2019) from £10.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  To all appearances the two men had nothing in common, but for the fact they were both residents of the Argentine outpost of Corrientes and shared an English background. Eduardo Plarr was a diligent, hardworking man of medicine; Charley Fortnum an alcoholic, good-for-nothing Honorary Consul. Taken captive when a terrorist plan to kidnap an American diplomat backfires, they both become prey to some very unwholesome revelations. For some time, both men have been sharing the favours of, and an obsession with the same woman. Only one has the capacity to love her.

• Peckinpah Collection | DVD | (14/08/2006) from £69.99   |  Saving you £-40.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £29.99

  The Wild Bunch: Nine men who came too late and stayed too long! The year is 1913 just one year short of World War 1. Disguised as U.S. soldiers a gang rides into a Texas border town. Silently they enter and rob the railroad company but an ambush lies in wait. When the gang emerges the company's hired gunmen open fire. Men women and children are caught in the crossfire. The gang escape to their hideout in the desert where they find that the loot they fought so hard is

• Randall & Hopkirk (deceased) | DVD | (06/07/2015) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  This is the entire first series of Reeves and Mortimer's long-awaited take on the cult classic Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) and it's surely the most re-watchable of television series, not least because of its improbable plots. The anticipation which preceded the show was a drama in itself. How will it compare with the original? Would Reeves and Mortimer be able to cut it in acting roles? Will the cast be upstaged by her wardrobe? The answers were, of course, "perfectly", "no problem" and "probably not, but the BBC wardrobe department certainly excelled themselves for this series". In fact, the premise of this humorous supernatural detective fantasy (a genre which probably contains nothing other than this series and the original)--a dead private detective comes back as a ghost to assist his partner, who is the only mortal who can see him--could easily have occurred as one of those surreal narratives from the duo's comedy shows. A must-see. On the DVD: the DVD includes a lively behind-the-scenes documentary (broadcast at the beginning of the series), an unfunny collection of outtakes and a rather better music video which comes on like Blue Velvet "re-imagined" by Cubby Broccoli.--Roger Thomas

• Mothman Prophecies | DVD | (21/10/2002) from £5.49   |  Saving you £8.50 (154.83%)   |  RRP £13.99

  This true life tale tells of a reporter drawn to a small West Virginia town to investigate a series of strange events, including psychic visions and the appearance of bizarre entities.

• Bob Monkhouse - Exposes Himself - Comedy Gold 2010 | DVD | (18/10/2010) from £9.43   |  Saving you £-1.44 (N/A%)   |  RRP £7.99

  Comedy Gold: Bob Monkhouse - Exposes Himself