"Actor: James L Brooks"

• The Man With Two Brains | DVD | (30/01/2006) from £6.99   |  Saving you £7.00 (100.14%)   |  RRP £13.99

  Recently widowed world-famous neurosurgeon Dr. Michael Hfuhruhurr (Steve Martin) falls for the charms of gold-digging Dolores Benedict (Kathleen Turner) after accidentally hitting her with his car. Following a life saving operation with his newly developed 'screw-top' brain surgery the pair are soon married but Michael finds himself trapped in a loveless marriage of convenience when he realises that Dolores is only after his money. However on a trip to Vienna to attend a medical

• Anatomy Of A Murder | DVD | (20/08/2001) from £9.98   |  Saving you £12.00 (150.19%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Anatomy of a Murder, Otto Preminger's 1959 film of the novel by Robert Traver (a pen name for a Michigan Supreme Court Justice), was controversial in its day for making frank on-screen use of then-unheard words such as "panties", "rape" and "spermatogenesis"--and it remains a trenchant, bitter, tough, witty dissection of the American legal system. With its striking Saul Bass title design and jazzy Duke Ellington score, Anatomy of a Murder takes a sophisticated approach unusual for a Hollywood film of its vintage. Most radically, it refuses to show the murder or any of the private scenes recounted in court, leaving it up to us to decide along with the jury whether the grumpy and unconcerned Lieutenant Frederick Manion (Ben Gazzara) was or was not subject to an "irresistible impulse" tantamount to insanity when he shot dead Barney Quill, the bear-like bar owner alleged to have raped Manion's teasing trailer-trash wife Laura (Lee Remick in unfeasibly tight trousers). James Stewart plays Paul "Polly" Biegler a former District Attorney keen to get back into court to clash with the political dullard who replaced him in office. Biegler is supported by the skills of his snide secretary (Eve Arden) and boozy-but-brilliant research partner (Arthur O'Connell). For the prosecution, the befuddled local DA hauls in Dancer (George C Scott), a prissy legal eagle from the local big city whose sharp-suited, sly elegance makes an interesting clash with Biegler's "aw-shucks" jimmy-stewartian conniving. This is simply the best trial movie ever made, with a real understanding of the way lawyers have to be not only great actors but stars, assuming personalities that exaggerate their inner selves and weighing every outburst and objection for the effect it has on the poor saps in the jury box. On the DVD: The print is letterboxed to 1.85:1, but it's a bit of a cheat since that seems to involve trimming the top and bottom of the image (losing the steps under and the clouds above the Columbia lady in the opening titles), though the film isn't seriously hurt by a tighter look at the action. Also included are: an Ellington-scored photo montage, soundtracks in English, French, German, Italian and Spanish with subtitles in ten languages, filmographies for director and principal cast, original advertising (highlighting Saul Bass' poster designs, a trailer and more trailers for more Columbia Jimmy Stewart or courtroom films. --Kim Newman

• The Reckless Moment (Standard Edition) | Blu Ray | (16/11/2020) from £13.79   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  The legendary Max Ophuls (Letter from an Unknown Woman, La Ronde) directs this tense and stylish 1949 film noir melodrama. Joan Bennett (Scarlet Street, Suspiria) stars as a suburban housewife who covers up a murder to protect her teenage daughter, only to find herself blackmailed by an immoral small-time crook, played by James Mason (North by Northwest, The Deadly Affair). Extras: High Definition remaster Original mono audio Making an American Movie (2010, 44 mins): an in-depth analysis by Lutz Bacher, author of Max Ophuls in the Hollywood Studios Maternal Overdrive (2006, 23 mins): award-winning writer-director Todd Haynes discusses one of his favourite films James Mason as Homme Fatal (2018, 27 mins): illustrated lecture by academic Adrian Garvey, recorded as part of the Focus on James Mason event held at Birkbeck, University of London Focus on James Mason: Audience Discussion (2018, 40 mins): Q&A session hosted by academics Adrian Garvey and Sarah Thomas following a screening of The Reckless Moment James Mason: Watching the Violence Unfold (2018, 33 mins): illustrated lecture by academic Sarah Thomas, recorded at Birkbeck, University of London Isolated music & effects track Image gallery: on-set and promotional photography New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing

• Planet Of The Apes - The Television Series | DVD | (18/08/2003) from £17.05   |  Saving you £-6.81 (N/A%)   |  RRP £10.24

  Set around a dozen years after the 1967 Charlton Heston-starring Oscar winner of the same name, this Planet of the Apes is a 1974 TV spin-off that attempts to recapture the appeal of the original apes films. A second spaceship arrives on the planet, the basic plot being the same as in 67, as two surviving humans go on the run with a renegade chimpanzee, Galen (Roddy McDowell essentially reprising his Cornelius character under another name). The actor provides the strongest lead, while Booth Colman as Zaius (replacing Maurice Evans from the original film), offers fine support. The humans Ron Harper and James Naughton are relatively bland, a buddy duo very much anticipating Starsky and Hutch, while the stories, in which our heroes have a new adventure each week and then move on, fall very much into the formula that dominated earlier shows such as The Fugitive, Star Trek and Alias Smith and Jones. This is a post-apocalyptic world where everyone has perfect hair and make-up. But if the action and effects are limited, at least that gives the stories room to concentrate on some moral debates about the nature of human violence. A show finally hamstrung by the tight limitations of its formula, Planet of the Apes: The Television Series lasted only 14 episodes and was cancelled so abruptly it lacks any resolution. Nevertheless its reappearance offers a welcome chance to reassess it in context with the classic movies it apes. On the DVD: Planet of the Apes: The Television Series is presented on four discs, including all 14 episodes. The sound is good mono and the 4:3 colour picture is excellent considering the show's age. Print damage is minor though occasionally quite noticeable, and there is some fading in a few shots. Otherwise this is the best these shows have ever looked. The only extras are trailers for the movie box set and for Tim Burton's 2001 cinema "reimagining". --Gary S Dalkin

• Chocky | DVD | (07/10/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  First transmitted in 1984, Chocky is a six-part TV adaptation of John Wyndham's clever novel. Matthew, an apparently normal 12-year-old boy, starts talking to an invisible presence called Chocky, who quizzes him on a wide variety of subjects as if unfamiliar with life on Earth. Over the course of the serial it is suggested that Chocky is an alternate personality or, after Matthew has been helped by Chocky to rescue his sister from drowning, a guardian angel. But we realise early on that this non-imaginary friend is in fact an alien who has made exploratory contact with the boy. Though Chocky manifests as a swirl of blue light, this is a rare piece of TV science fiction that sticks to the domestic arena, exploring ideas rather than playing with special effects. Wyndham's very 1950s-styled novel is updated by making the kids less well-spoken, and throwing in Rubik's cubes and space invaders video games, but adaptor Anthony Read's script preserves the virtues of the novel. Young Andrew Ellams is fine in a demanding role, and there's good-quality puzzled concern from dad James Hazeldine and 80s TV's resident sexy mum Carol Drinkwater. Apart from a few eye-abusing 1984 fashions--Jeremy Bulloch's huge glasses and blinding white jeans in a cameo as a psychiatrist--and the general leisurely pace, which is no bad thing in such a careful piece of drama, this has dated little. Those who remember its first broadcast will find it lives up to the memory, and those who weren't born then should still find it an entertaining watch. On the DVD: Chocky on disc can be accessed as a marathon two-and-a-half-hour watch or as six individual episodes (the latter is recommended). Print quality is fine given the techniques of its production. A nice extra is a 20-minute, in-depth chat with writer Anthony Read. --Kim Newman

• The Reckless Moment | DVD | (18/09/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  This Ophuls film noir classic is rich in suspense strikingly photographed and features career best performances from Joan Bennett and James Mason. Based on the story 'The Blank Wall' by Elisabeth Sanxay Holding.

• Modern Romance (Standard Edition) | Blu Ray | (30/08/2021) from £11.49   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Neurotic, self-obsessed Robert Cole (Albert Brooks) is a successful film editor who splits up with his on-off girlfriend (Kathryn Harrold), only to try and win her back when he finds he can't live without her. Considered by many to be one of America's greatest comic talents, and sought out by filmmakers including Martin Scorsese, Judd Apatow, Steven Soderbergh and Nicolas Winding Refn, actor-writer-director Brooks created what is perhaps his most caustic and excruciatingly honest film in Modern Romance. High Definition remaster Original mono audio Audio commentary with critic and film historian Nick Pinkerton (2018) Movie Love with Eric Saarinen (2018, 15 mins): the celebrated cinematographer and director discusses his work with Albert Brooks Theatrical trailer Image gallery: publicity stills and promotional material New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing

• Hunting Hitler | Complete Series | DVD | (07/09/2018) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Critical Care | DVD | (01/09/2003) from £12.98   |  Saving you £-6.99 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Werner Ernst is an overworked intern who only wants what is best for his elderly comatose patient--until he falls for the ailing man's beautiful daughter Felicia. The seductive Felicia has ten million reasons to let her father ""die with dignity "" while her deeply religious sister has her own motives for keeping him alive. Caught between passion and duty Werner descends into a moral mine field where the physician's god-like powers of life and death depend on knowing right from wrong-

• Cop | DVD | (12/09/2005) from £10.78   |  Saving you £2.21 (20.50%)   |  RRP £12.99

  He's a cop with the odds against him ... it's time to even the score James Woods stars as detective-sergeant Lloyd Hopkins an officer with the Los Angeles Police Department. A tough brash womaniser but also a dedicated cop Hopkins gets himself assigned to a murder case where he becomes totally obsessed with finding the killer even at the expense of his own family. Based on the novel ""Blood On The Moon"" by crime fiction write James Ellroy whose 'L.A. Noir' series fea

• Joseph - King Of Dreams / Prince Of Egypt | DVD | (01/09/2014) from £12.97   |  Saving you £10.01 (100.30%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Joseph - King Of Dreams (Dir. Robert C. Ramirez 2000): This animated charmer is the biblical story of Joseph retold in fascinating bright colors and the magic of song. Joseph's amazing talent of foretelling the future as revealed to him in dreams lands him a job with the pharaoh of Egypt whom he protects from disaster. Soon however he is cast back into the presence of his jealous brothers who threw him out in the first place. Prince Of Egypt (Dirs. Brenda Chapman / Steve Hickner / Simon Wells 1999): An epic adventure and a milestone in cinematic achievement 'The Prince Of Egypt' has captivated movie audiences the world over becoming one of the top animated films of all time. Unparalleled artistry and powerful Academy Award - winning music bringing this beloved story to life as never before with unforgettable characters voiced by a roster of stars impressive as any ever assembled for a future film. This is the extraordinary tale of two brothers one born of royal blood one an orphan with a secret past. Growing up the best of friends they share a strong bond of free-spirited youth and good-natured rivalry. But the truth will ultimately set them at odds as one becomes the ruler of the most powerful empire on earth the other the chosen leader of his people. Their final confrontation will forever change their lives - and the world.

• I Superbiker V: Split Second | DVD | (08/06/2015) from £9.98   |  Saving you £7.00 (87.61%)   |  RRP £14.99

  I Superbiker: Split Second captures the fantastic spectacle that is British Superbikes and turns it into a nail-biting epic of speed hardship spills injuries and the ecstasy of life on the edge for the superbike gladiators.

• Chocky's Challenge | DVD | (21/04/2003) from £26.15   |  Saving you £-10.16 (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  The final instalment in the trilogy of classic children's TV series from the 80's inspired by the original John Wyndham novel. Into the life of Matthew Gore has come an invisible being from another world who has much to teach him. Matthew has a friend Albertine and they are both eager to learn from their alien friend. However Chocky's powerful knowledge has aroused a great deal of interest from other quarters including the military and if they don't get what they want they are wil

• Chocky's Children | DVD | (24/03/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  A year has passed since Matthew said goodbye to his alien friend Chocky. With the arrival of the summer holidays Matthew goes to visit his aunt in the countryside. While exploring he meets Albertine a young mathematical prodigy. They soon become friends and discover they can communicate telepathically. One day Chocky returns to warn Matthew that they are both in danger. Matthew realises where the danger must lay - a scientist who wants to test Albertine's exceptional abilities. W