"Actor: Charlotte"

• Britten: Owen Wingrave - Berlin/Nagano | DVD | (22/12/2003) from £24.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Owen Wingrave is perhaps Britten's most radical opera, both politically and artistically. Originally written for television, and here presented in a 2001 Channel 4 version, the 1970 score is based, like The Turn of the Screw, on a Henry James ghost story. Britten, though, is more in tune than James with the pacifism into which Owen revolts from a long family tradition of military service. The fluid, impassioned, often declamatory music given Owen makes him one of the most sympathetic of Britten's outsider protagonists, though he has a streak of self-centredness, which stops him being an implausible paragon. Gerald Finley is quite admirable in the part, conveying fully the sense that by losing and dying at the hands of family ghosts, Owen demonstrates the integrity which is central to his character. The other parts are admirably filled here, notably Martyn Hill as Owen's harsh General grandfather, Josephine Barstow as his aunt and Charlotte Hellekant as the fiancee who unknowingly sends him to his death. They and Elizabeth Gale are quite extraordinary in the first act quartet of recrimination and condemnation. This excellent performance compares vocally with the original on almost entirely equal terms--modern technology means that the ghost scenes are far more dramatic and plausible. Kent Nagano and the Berlin Orchestra do full subtle justice to the chamber orchestra sonorities of one of Britten's most interesting scores, never overstressing its complex musical architecture at the expense of the drama. On the DVD: Owen Wingrave is presented in a widescreen 16:9 visual aspect ratio with PCM stereo sound. It is accompanied by The Tender Heart, a documentary about Britten's career full of personal reminiscences by his surviving friends, colleagues and family, that concentrates on Peter Grimes, the War Requiem and Death in Venice, the three popular masterpieces of his early, middle and late career. It has menus and subtitles in English, French, German and Spanish. --Roz Kaveney

• Zero Patience | DVD | (05/07/2004) from £24.99   |  Saving you £-5.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  In this wacky musical with a message the ghost of Patient Zero the French-Canadian flight attendant who allegedly first brought AIDS to Canada materialises and tries to contact old friends... A timely and eccentric musical that serves up water baller dancing jungle animals and singing butt puppets to explore the politics of AIDS scapegoating!

• Embrace Of The Vampire | DVD | (17/04/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  The innocence is over. Martin Kemp Alyssa Milano Charlotte Lewis and Jennifer Tilly head the star-studded cast of this gripping and eerily gothic feast of blood sex and seduction. Infected with the curse of the undead a tortured vampire has been condemned to a lonely search through the centuries for the reincarnation of his long-lost love Charlotte. With only days left before being damned to eternal sleep the love-struck nosferatu discovers his beloved's soul living in the virginal body of a young college student. But before he can suck her into his world of all-consuming darkness and passion he must first regain Charlotte's affections. Seducing her with demonic dream images of sensuality he sows evil seeds of doubt to reap his harvest of salvation. Transforming her from a shy virgin into a wild promiscuous woman hungry for sex with anyone - men and women - the vampire will destroy anyone who threatens his race for unholy matrimony...

• Verdi: Falstaff -- Aix-en-Provence/Mazzola | DVD | (20/09/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  With Willard White in the title role, this very well-sung production of Falstaff from the Aix-en-Provence festival, set in the 1950s, makes for a radical yet plausibly alternative view to the traditional setting in "Merrie England". By casting Jamaican-born baritone White in the title role, director Herbert Wernicke has emphasised Falstaff's role as an outsider, spurned by the community on account of his success as a local businessman and here with the added burden of being black. White engages our sympathy for Falstaff's plight, notably in the last act where he finally turns the table on his adversary, Ford. Yet in his world-weary sophisticated persona this Falstaff seems at odds with the farce unfolding about him; he's been there, done that. There are, nevertheless, key moments to relish: his flicker of the eye as he dismisses Pistol and Bardolph with his letters to the Misses Ford and Page; the duet he shares with Ford on the trials and tribulations of love; and the return of his self-esteem as he pulls himself up to full height following his ducking in the Thames. His face in the final act, shot in close-up, white beard illuminated by moonlight, framed by Herne's horns, is unforgettable. The supporting cast are uniformly excellent as singers and actors, a joy to watch and hear. The main set consists of a polished wooden floor with walls of wooden slatted flaps that open and shut as characters drop in and out of the action. White linen on washing lines, sheets tumbling out of drawers, or, somewhat incongruously, neatly folded on the bed that Falstaff rolls out of after his dip in the Thames, make welcome visual diversions. The Orchestre de Paris play brilliantly under maestro Enrique Mazzola who captures the ebb and flow of Verdi's fast moving score to perfection. On the DVD: Falstaff on disc has subtitles in Italian, English, German, French and Spanish. The picture quality has a real three-dimensional feel to it and the soundtrack likewise. --Adrian Edwards

• Karate Kill | DVD | (09/04/2001) from £16.16   |  Saving you £-3.17 (-24.40%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Martial Arts champion Steve Chase is lured to a desert fortress to compete in what he thinks will be an Olympic-style contest between Martial Arts champions with a prize of a fortune in diamonds. In reality the competition is a revenge scheme planned by a madman. With the woman he loves imprisoned. Chase has only one choice – to face an army of Karate Gladiators single-handed...

• Dream Street - Jumping Jack | DVD | (12/02/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £3.99

  Pre-school entertainment following the adventures of Buddy the loveable breakdown truck. Join Magic Time Buddy Daisy the police car and friends in six fast wheeling adventures in Dream Street! Developed with Dr Loretta Long of Sesame Street fame Dream Street was created to encourage children's understanding of themes such as bullying sharing and telling right from wrong. So watch out for Hot Rodney those naughty traffic cones the Wild Bunch and Jumping Jack Hammer as they get in and out of scrapes saved by our hero Buddy. Watch the magic come alive!

• Never Had It So Good: Life In The 1950s Part Two | DVD | (14/05/2012) from £8.56   |  Saving you £4.43 (34.10%)   |  RRP £12.99

  With the war years a more distant memory, Harold Macmillan coins his famous 'never had it so good' phrase. As rationing comes to an end, the country enjoys stable, full employment and a well performing economy. However that period of calm does not last for long as the end of the decade sees the advent of the teenager and the new phenomenon that is rock and roll. Told through the eyes of the nation's capital this engaging film takes you through a time of amazing change for Britain.

• Hellraiser 4 | DVD | (16/05/2011) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Spanning three generations this horrifying story chronicles the struggle of one family who unknowingly created the puzzle box that opened the doors of Hell - setting the diabolical Pinhead free to spread evil here on earth! Now the family must fight to slam those doors shut again... but not before Pinhead wages one of his fiercest and most frightening battles ever!

• Range Of Motion | DVD | (05/07/2005) from £11.46   |  Saving you £-7.47 (-187.20%)   |  RRP £3.99

  Lainey finds that the strength of love has the power to touch both the heart and the head when she loses all hope her husband will recover from a coma...

• Dune (4K UHD) | Blu Ray | (23/12/2021) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• The Price of Victory: Life In The 1950s Part One | DVD | (14/05/2012) from £10.95   |  Saving you £2.04 (15.70%)   |  RRP £12.99

  The War may have been won but there are no spoils of victory in Britain. Rationing is in place, cities are still in ruins thanks to the Blitz and the nation is almost broke. Using unseen footage, and told through the eyes of the nation's capital, this film tells the story of hope and growth that was born in adversity.

• Bearskin | DVD | (01/09/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Johnny Fortune is no good to anyone not mean but just no good. To escape Casino bosses who want him for stealing money he flees to England. He gets a job dressed as a bear for Punch & Judy shows which is an effective disguise. But when the Casino thugs track him down it's up to his two resourceful bosses to help him.

• The Adventurer's Guide to Britain | DVD | (26/12/2011) from £14.98   |  Saving you £7.00 (53.89%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The Adventurer's Guide To Britain strays from the beaten track to uncover the mysteries and secret wonders of the British Isles. From lost gold mines and inaccessible cliffs to drowned villages and watery caverns, naturalist Charlotte Uhlenbroek and TV presenter Gethin Jones discover the incredible but dangerous places less intrepid explorers avoid. The adventurer duo need all their strength and stamina as they trek, climb, kayak and fly their way around the country, investigating history and geography in stunning visual detail. On behalf of the armchair explorer in all of us, The Adventurer's Guide To Britain reveals the spectacular, hidden side of Britain which only few dare to seek out.

• Edge of Tomorrow Ultimate Collector's Edition | Blu Ray | (28/11/2022) from £16.98   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Limited to 800 unitsAn alien race, undefeated by any existing military unit, has launched a relentless attack on Earth, and Major William Cage (Tom Cruise) finds himself dropped into a suicide mission. Killed within minutes, Cage is thrown into a time loop, forced to live out the same brutal combat over and over, fighting and dying again and again. Training alongside warrior Rita Vrataski (Emily Blunt), his skills slowly evolve, and each battle moves them one step closer to defeating the enemy in this intense action thriller.Bonus FeaturesStorming the Beach: Dive into the trenches for a gritty look at creating the film's epic sci-fi battle.Weapons of the Future: Watch Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt tackles the challenges of strapping on exo-suits to become super soliders.One the Edge with Doug Liman: Follow the passion-fuelled director as he confronts the pressures of making a futuristic war film look real.Deleted Scenes and more!

• Big Boys Gone Bananas | DVD | (03/12/2012) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  What is a big corporation capable of doing in order to protect its brand? Recently, Swedish documentary filmmaker Fredrik Gertten experienced this personally. His previous film Bananas! recounts the lawsuit that 12 Nicaraguan plantation workers successfully brought against the fruit giant Dole Food Company. That film was selected for competition by the 2009 Los Angeles Film Festival. Nothing wrong so far, right? But then just before leaving Sweden to attend the Los Angeles world premiere of h...

• Jane By Charlotte | Blu Ray | (27/12/2022) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Augustus : The First Emperor | DVD | (20/09/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Augustus is equal parts history lesson and soap opera, and thoroughly engaging at all levels. Peter O'Toole plays Octavius/Augustus, heir to his doomed uncle Julius Caesar's command of the far-flung Roman empire. Surviving an assassination attempt and struck by news of the death of his old friend and ally, Agrippa (Ken Duken), in the same day, Octavius waxes nostalgic about his youthful exploits in Caesar's army (Benjamin Sadler plays the young Augustus in flashbacks) and his unprepared immersion in the deadly politics of the Mark Antony (Massimo Ghini) era. More immediate are Octavius' problems trying to stave off conspiracies by his wife Livia (Charlotte Rampling) to set up the emperor's stepson, Tiberius (Michele Bevilacqua), as heir, and talk his dutiful daughter Julia (Vittoria Belvedere) into a marriage she doesn't want. Roger Young directs this highly watchable costume drama, and O'Toole's golden presence makes the ancient intrigues tragically human. --Tom Keogh

• Laurel And Hardy - March Of The Wooden Soldiers | DVD | (10/06/2002) from £13.21   |  Saving you £3.78 (22.20%)   |  RRP £16.99

  Stannie Dum (Stan Laurel) and Ollie Dee (Oliver hardy) are well-meaning but brainless toymakers in Toyland. They misinterpret an order from Santa Claus for 600 one foot high toy soldiers and come up instead with 100 6 foot high soldiers. But their toy army comes in handy when the evil Barnaby (Henry Brandon) and his furry Bogeymen invade Toyland and the boys end up as heroes when they save the Widow Peep's daughter Bo (Charlotte Henry) from his clutches. This priceless nine inch r

• Blood Reaper | DVD | (01/08/2005) from £6.75   |  Saving you £9.24 (57.80%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Drawn by the lure of fresh air hiking and rafting six city friends escape to the mountains and become prey to a serial killer in 'Blood Reaper'. According to local lore a blade-wielding psycho appears on a full moon during leap year. These untimely mountaineers must try to outwit a killer intent on slaughtering them all.

• The Subjects | DVD | (22/08/2016) from £8.98   |  Saving you £6.00 (85.84%)   |  RRP £12.99

  SunSkye, a global technology and pharmaceutical corporation, have created an all new revolutionary drug that is now ready for human testing. They recruit a group of eight strangers for the trial offering a large sum of money. The conditions are simple, they are locked in an observation room, required to take a pill, and be observed for eight hours. The subjects begin to feel their bodies change. The effects are unlike anything a human has ever experienced; they are developing superpowers. Can they control their new found abilities and work together to escape the room? Or are superpowers not for everyone? Extras: Behind-The-Scenes Featurette Audio Commentary Music Video Image Gallery Concept Art