"Actor: Gil"

• Berlin Philharmonic - New Year's Gala 1997 - A Tribute To Carmen | DVD | (15/05/2000) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Not to be confused with the more famous Vienna New Year's Day concerts, this is a recording of the Berlin Philharmonic's New Year's Gala from 31st December 1997. The concert was billed as "Dances of Life, Love and Death", a homage to Carmen. Beginning with six of the most famous selections from Bizet's opera, the all-star cast features mezzo-soprano Anne Sophie Von Otter, baritone Bryn Terfel and tenor Robert Alagna. Other than being passionately romantic there is no direct link between Carmen and Rachmaninov's Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini, but a warm-hearted performance by pianist Mikhail Pletnev requires no excuse. Delivered with fiery virtuosity by violinist Gil Shaham, Pablo de Sarasate's Carmen Fantasy then transforms Bizet's melodies into a concentrated instrumental extravaganza. The mood continues with Ravel's Rhapsodie Espagnole and De Falla's Ritual Fire Dance, with the closing Hungarian Dance No. 5 by Brahms maintaining the theme by gypsy association. This is a wonderfully sultry concert for a cold winter's day, conductor Claudio Abbado delivering pure romance, winning uplifting performances from his fabulous gallery of musicians and stellar soloists. On the DVD: The packaging mistakenly states a picture format of 4:3. The DVD is actually presented at 16:9, anamorphically enhanced for widescreen TVs. There is no option for standard 4:3 viewing. When viewed on a "standard" television the programme is squeezed and distorted, making everyone too tall and thin. On a widescreen TV the picture, while vastly superior to VHS, shows grain and is not always well focused. The sound, in both PCM and Dolby Digital stereo, is excellent. Unless one counts the well-appointed booklet there are no bonus features. However, the disc is Region 0, and should work in any DVD player. --Gary S. Dalkin

• Maurice Bejart's The Nutcracker | DVD | (03/12/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  This is a Nutcracker with a difference. Tchaikovsky's most popular ballet ("Dance of the sugar plum fairy", "Waltz of the flowers" etc.) undergoes a transformation, interpreted by the French choreographer Maurice Bejart, from Christmas fairy story into a tale of a boy who dreams he loves his dead mother. The boy erects an enormous statue to her that becomes the focus of the production in Act 1 rather than the traditional Christmas tree. Maurice Bejart's memoir of his early years includes Goethe's embodiment of evil, Mephisto, recalled from his father's books and the figure of Marius Petipa, the original choreographer of The Nutcracker (both are danced by Gil Roman). For in this interpretation the boy, after failing to bring the statue to life, decides to become a dancer. In Act 2 the Spanish dance becomes a vehicle for a toreador, another of Bejart's childhood passions, but most striking is the interpolation of a French dance in this sequence of national dances to the tune of "Under Paris Skies" played on the accordion by Yvette Horner. Bejart's new concept might seem a shade self indulgent on paper, but only in the scene where the boy hugs his mother's statue in an Oedipus-like embrace does a moment of excess intrude. His imaginative choreography, the superb dancing by his Ballet Lausanne and the rhythmically lilting playing of the Orchestra Colonne under Edmon Colomer all give undiluted pleasure. On the DVD: The picture quality from the Chatelet theatre in Paris is top-notch, catching the lighting effects and colourful costumes with excellent definition. Several high angle crane shots reveal the deft ensemble work of this company. In the accompanying special feature we go behind the scenes of the production to meet Bejart and his collaborators. The long service many of them have given offers testament to the corporate spirit manifested in the dancing. Those looking for an alternative view of the traditional rendition of Tchaikovsky's ballet will not be disappointed by the artistry on display here. --Adrian Edwards

• RMS In Concert With Special Guest Gil Evans | DVD | (21/01/2013) from £13.48   |  Saving you £-3.49 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Ray Russell Mo Foster and Simon Philips (aka RMS) flew in from London and Gil Evans flew in from New York. That evening further inspired by the beautiful music of Herbie Hancock who preceded them on stage the band played a wide ranging collection of titles. Everyone had a ball and as a the final chord died away Gil shook his clasped hands above his head his familiar gesture seeming to say 'we got there'. Tracklisting: 1. Broadway Rundown 2. First Love 3. The Whole Of Tomorrow 4

• Gil Scott Heron - Black Wax | DVD | (27/01/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Directed by acclaimed documentary filmmaker Robert Mugge Black Wax is a fascinating 79-minute portrait of Scott-Heron performing at the Wax Museum Nightclub D.C. in 1982 interspersed between scenes of him discussing political ironies as he wanders past national monuments and ghetto neighborhoods in Washington. Tracks include: Storm Music Waiting For The Axe To Fall Angel Dust Gun Winter In America Alien Johannesburg 'B' Movie.

• Gong - High Above the Subterrania Club 2000 | DVD | (24/05/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Featuring a unigue performance of the band's internet broadcast recorded at the Subterranea Club. It captures the exciting unpredictable nature of Gong's spacey yet tight improvisation the quality of their audience rapport their musical absurdity and even the essence of their strange 'mythical' element. Tracks include: Foolfare Radio Gnome Invisible Flute Salad Zeroid Goddess Invocation You Can't Kill Me Oily Way Mad Monk.

• Sleepless Nights | DVD | (24/10/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £6.99

  Those lips at your throat... might not be your lover's. Mankind is being attacked by a growing vampire population led by the powerful and ruthless Lord Malgaard. The sinister and blood thirsty villain has come up with an evil plan to transform humans into a race of blood donors. Dr. Jacob Slone who is the proud leader of the war against vampire rule is sidetracked when his trusty assistant is bitten by none other than his own wife. Christian Grey the doctor's protege has t

• Between Something And Nothing | DVD | (09/08/2010) from £8.98   |  Saving you £6.01 (40.10%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Based on filmmaker Todd Verow's experiences at Rhode Island School of Design. After being accepted into a prestigious New England art school sexy small-town Joe and townie mastermind Jennifer quickly join forces. They are determined to succeed on a campus over-populated with jaded mega-rich kids awash in trust funds abortions and drugs galore. Both are forced into work-study jobs to satisfy their tuition responsibilities - but soon discover more profitable ways to supplement their scholarships through Creative Shoplifting 101 and Remedial Male Prostitution. When Joe eventually falls for enigmatic hustler Ramon and Jennifer gets mistakenly caught up in a bad drug deal - their little world starts to spin too fast for them to continue to control. The gritty education they are receiving on the city streets is just as important as the intensely focused competitive training in their classrooms. The question is will they graduate from either?

• Yellowstone: Season 3 | DVD | (02/11/2021) from £26.23   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Gil Evans and Orchestra - Live in Lugano | DVD | (31/10/2005) from £6.87   |  Saving you £14.38 (256.33%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Recorded live at the Palazzo dei Congressi Lugano 27 January 1983.Tracklisting:Copenhagen SightsFriday The 13thVariation On The MiseryWaltzOrange Was The Colour Of Her Dress Then Blue SilkStone FreeHere Come De Honey ManGone Gone Gone

• Pan's Labyrinth | HD DVD | (21/01/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Innocence Has A Power Evil Cannot Imagine... Pan's Labyrinth is the story of a young girl that travels with her mother and adoptive father to a rural area up North in Spain 1944 - after Franco's victory. The girl lives in an imaginary world of her own creation and faces the real world with much chagrin. Post-war Fascist repression is at its height in rural Spain and the girl must come to terms with that through a fable of her own.

• Gades/ Saura: Carmen (Teatro Real: TR97004BD) | Blu Ray | (31/01/2012) from £32.38   |  Saving you £-2.39 (-8.00%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Created by Antonio Gades in collaboration with Carlos Saura, this matchless production shows how the explosive power and intensity of feeling in traditional Spanish flamenco can bring vividly to life the sultry passion, earthy emotion, love and rivalry that is Carmen. Filmed in High Definition at the Teatro Real, Madrid for the 75th anniversary celebration of Gades birth, the Compaa Antonio Gades performs Carmen to perfection. Antonio Gades is one of the most influential figures in Spanish flamenco. He played a decisive role in getting the genre recognized by the contemporary art world. Gades started performing his choreography for Georges Bizet's Carmen in the 1960s, taking it all the way to the Teatro alla Scala, Milan. This was one of his most successful ballets. It was also brought to the big screen by Carlos Saura in 1983, a film that received an Oscar nomination and won the Jury's Award at the Cannes Festival.

• Gil Scott Heron And His Amnesia Express - Tales Of Gil | DVD | (30/09/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Recorded live at London's Town & Country Club in 1990, Tales of Gil sees old-school funk's most congenial, but also political figure in full smooth effect, backed by a band of jazz-funk virtuosos. The word "virtuosos" is intended as much as a warning as a compliment: those with sensitive musical sensibilities might struggle through the lengthy bass solo interludes. Otherwise, this is Scott-Heron at his best, mixing polemic with rare jazzy groove and between-song patter. No one was able to sugar the political pill quite like Gil. "Three Miles Down", a tribute to the lives of coal miners, might come across as austere and hectoring in some hands but Scott-Heron delivers it sweet. Disappointingly, he doesn't perform his most famous song, "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised", his 1970 proto-rap against media airbrushing of the underprivileged, which establishes him as the missing link between 1960s black jazz radicalism and Public Enemy. However, he does perform "Johannesburg", bristling with new relevance with Nelson Mandela having been released from jail just weeks prior to this performance, and ends with the at once rousing and despairing "The Bottle", his lament for alcoholism, whose languorous, flute-driven funk earned him fresh popularity in the 80s. On the DVD: Tales of Gil is presented in 4:3 aspect ratio and the principal extra feature here is an introduction by British writer Kevin Le Gendre, who explains Gil Scott-Heron's contemporary relevance and role as Godfather of rap. --David Stubbs

• The Trip to Bountiful | DVD | (07/02/2005) from £20.23   |  Saving you £-5.24 (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Set in Houston Texas during the 1940's Carrie Watts lives with her hen-pecked son and his controlling wife. Entering the last years of her life she wishes that she could revisit the town of Bountiful the place where she grew up as a child. However her son and his wife are very reluctant to let her go for her health and financial reasons. Carrie decides that an escape attempt is due... Catching a bus to Bountiful she meets and strikes up a conversation with a young woman (Rebecca De Mornay) to whom she recounts the story of her life... Based on Horton Foote's Oscar-nominated screenplay this film features an Oscar-winning performance from Geraldine Page and is available for the first time on DVD!

• Mozart: Violin Sonatas | DVD | (29/05/2006) from £32.37   |  Saving you £-9.38 (-40.80%)   |  RRP £22.99

  Mozart: Violin Sonatas (Shaham)

• Buck Rogers In The 25th Century - Series 1 Vols 1-3 | DVD | (01/10/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  The year is 1987 and NASA launches the last of America's deep space probes. In a freak mishap Ranger 3 and its pilot Captain William 'Buck' Rogers (Gil Gerard) are blown out of their trajectory into an orbit which freezes his life support systems and returns Buck Rogers to earth 500 years later...

• Viramundo | DVD | (05/08/2013) from £5.19   |  Saving you £12.80 (246.63%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Legendary musician Gilberto Gil embarks on a new kind of world tour through the southern hemisphere. From Bahia he travels to the land of the Aborigines of Australia and the townships of South Africa ending in the Brazilian Amazon region. He continues the work he began as Brazil's first black Minister of Culture - promoting the power of cultural diversity in a globalized world and sharing his vision for our future: a diverse interconnected planet filled with hope exchange... and of course music!

• Steve Lacy - Lift the Bandstand | DVD | (04/12/2006) from £6.73   |  Saving you £2.26 (33.58%)   |  RRP £8.99

  This indispensable DVD offers one of the most interesting films ever made about a modern experimental jazz pioneering. The star is Steve Lacy the soprano sax innovator talking about his musical concepts and his major influences from Sidney Bechet to John Coltrane Cecil Taylor Gil Evans and Thelonious Monk who showed him the way to 'lift the bandstand'.The documentary film directed by Peter Bull presents clips of all these artists who underpin the human inspirations behind Lacy's processing of sly wit precise abstraction and mystical method. He's revealed as a sort of post-modern modernist whose music can sing it's laughing at itself crying.

• Billy Cobham's Glass Menagerie | DVD | (01/10/2005) from £23.12   |  Saving you £-1.87 (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Billy Cobham's Glass Menagerie - Live In Riazzino

• Spirit of Samba | DVD | (22/01/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

• Gil Scott Heron-Paris Concert | DVD | (14/05/2007) from £20.23   |  Saving you £-4.24 (-26.50%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Gil Scott-Heron proto-rapper and pianist prime influence on hip-hop creates a synthesis of soul jazz and poetry that is quite unlike anything else around. Invigorated by righteous anger and biting wit his recordings and concerts have lost none of their vividness urgency or excitement in his 30-year career. Captured on this DVD to the delight of the New Morning public in 2001 this rebellious storyteller overcame many twists of fate to become one of the greatest and most respected singers in the soul tradition. Tracklist: 1. Blue Collar 2. A Lovely Day 3. Three Miles Down 4. Work For Peace 5. Angel Dust 6. There's A War Going On 7. Did You Hear What They Said? 8. Your Daddy Loves You 9. Everybody Loves The Sunshine 10. Winter In America 11. 95 South 12. Johannesburg 13. The Bottle