"Actor: Emma Reeve"

• Much Ado About Nothing | DVD | (01/10/1999) from £6.89   |  Saving you £9.10 (132.08%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Kenneth Branagh's 1993 production of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing is a vigorous and imaginative work, cheerful and accessible for everyone. Largely the story of Benedick (Branagh) and Beatrice (Emma Thompson)--adversaries who come to believe each is trying to woo the other--the film veers from arched wit to ironic romps, and the two leads don't mind looking a little silly at times. But the plot is also layered with darker matters that concern the ease with which men and women fall into mutual distrust. Branagh has rounded up a mixed cast of stage vets and Hollywood stars, among the latter Denzel Washington and Michael Keaton, the latter playing a rather seedy, Beetlejuice-like version of Dogberry, king of malapropisms.--Tom Keogh

• Much Ado About Nothing | DVD | (09/05/2018) from £8.99   |  Saving you £16.00 (177.98%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Kenneth Branagh's 1993 production of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing is a vigorous and imaginative work, cheerful and accessible for everyone. Largely the story of Benedick (Branagh) and Beatrice (Emma Thompson)--adversaries who come to believe each is trying to woo the other--the film veers from arched wit to ironic romps, and the two leads don't mind looking a little silly at times. But the plot is also layered with darker matters that concern the ease with which men and women fall into mutual distrust. Branagh has rounded up a mixed cast of stage vets and Hollywood stars, among the latter Denzel Washington and Michael Keaton, the latter playing a rather seedy, Beetlejuice-like version of Dogberry, king of malapropisms.--Tom Keogh

• The Remains Of The Day | DVD | (22/10/2001) from £6.98   |  Saving you £6.01 (86.10%)   |  RRP £12.99

  The Remains of the Day is one of Merchant-Ivory's most thought-provoking films. Anthony Hopkins is a model of restraint and propriety as Stevens, the butler who "knows his place"; Emma Thompson is the animated and sympathetic Miss Kenton, the housekeeper whose attraction to Stevens is doomed to disappointment. As Nazi appeaser Lord Darlington, James Fox clings to the notion of a gentleman's agreement in the ruthless political climate before World War Two. Hugh Grant is his journalist nephew all too aware of reality, while Christopher Reeves gives a spirited portrayal of an American senator, whose purchase of Darlington Hall 20 years on sends Stevens on a journey to right the mistake he made out of loyalty. As a period drama with an ever-relevant message, this 1993 film is absorbing viewing all the way. On the DVD: the letterbox widescreen format reproduces the 2.35:1 aspect ratio with absolute clarity. Subtitles are in French and German, with audio subtitles also in English, Italian and Spanish, and with 28 separate chapter selections. The "making-of" featurette and retrospective documentary complement each other with their "during and after" perspectives, while "Blind Loyalty, Hollow Honour" is an interesting short on the question of appeasement and war. The running commentary from Thompson, Merchant and Ivory is more of a once-only diversion. --Richard Whitehouse

• The Remains of the Day (Anniversary Edition) | Blu Ray | (07/10/2013) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Oscar winners Anthony Hopkins (The Silence of the Lambs) and Emma Thompson (Howards End) reunite with the acclaimed Merchant Ivory filmmaking team for this extraordinary and moving story of blind devotion and repressed love. Hopkins stars as Stevens the perfect English butler - an ideal carried by him to fanatical lengths - as he serves his master Lord Darlington beautifully played by James Fox (The Servant). Darlington like many other members of the British establishment in the 1930s is duped by the Nazis into trying to establish a rapport between themselves and the British government. Thompson stars as the estate's housekeeper a high-spirited strong-minded young woman who watches the goings-on upstairs with horror. Despite her apprehensions she and Stevens gradually fall in love though neither will admit it and only give vent to their charged feelings via fierce arguments. Marvellously acted by a supporting cast that includes Christopher Reeve and Hugh Grant.

• Shadow Run | DVD | (29/04/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £3.99

  Shadow Run ought to be considerably more interesting than it is--Geoffrey Reeve is an efficient director and both Michael Caine and James Fox turn in icy performances as, respectively, an almost completely ruthless thief and the renegade intelligence man who hires him for that one last big job. Caine in particular is convincing in the half-hearted attacks of compunction that never stop him killing obstacles. Many of the bit-players--Lesley Grantham, for example--do a lot with almost nonexistent parts. The film counterpoints the planning of the heist with the social embarrassments of the fat schoolboy who becomes, by a series of coincidences, too informed about it and, ultimately, Caine's secret sharer. Reeve is rather too in love with the cathedral school background of the subplot and skimps too much on the complicated technical business of getting a computerised security van into a radio blackout zone. Still, the boy is excellent, and Caine's affair with the doomed hooker Rae Baker has some much-needed moments of wit. On the DVD: Disappointingly, the DVD, whose Dolby surround sound does miracles for the scenes of schoolboy choristers, is presented in pan and scan 1.33:1, and has no extra features except for chapter selection and trailers for other films.--Roz Kaveney

• The Remains of the Day | DVD | (11/06/2012) from £7.40   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Stevens is the perfect English butler. Now employed by Mr Lewis, the new American owner of Darlington Hall, Stevens has spent the best part of his working life serving Lord Darlington, the host of many prestigious international conferences in the 1930s. It was only when war broke out in 1939, that Lord Darlington's involvement with the Nazi party was uncovered. Now, twenty years later, Stevens realizes that his unquestioning faith and dedication to duty were misplaced, and cost him dearly in his own personal life. Over several years, he carried on an intense relationship with the Estate's attractive young housekeeper, Miss Kenton. But his unwavering sense of duty led Stevens to deny his emotions and eventually drive away the one woman he loved. Now he wants to make amends...An extraordinary story of blind emotion and repressed love, The Remains Of The Day achieved an astounding 8 Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actor and Best Actress. Anthony Hopkins received the BAFTA Award for the Best Performance by an actor in a leading role.