"Actor: James R"

• Carry On Cruising | DVD | (27/08/2001) from £9.99   |  Saving you £4.00 (40.04%)   |  RRP £13.99

  Well, the gang's all here, but Carry On Cruising isn't one of the classics of the series. This may be partly due to the film's well-intentioned stab at some sort of authenticity, being set as it is on a genuine cruise liner rather than in a studio full of cheap sets. It swiftly becomes apparent that the cramped environment isn't well suited to the kind of slapstick which is usually a key ingredient in any Carry On film. Veteran couch spuds will recall that the TV series Triangle was similarly disadvantaged, except that it wasn't supposed to be funny. As ever, though, the brilliant cast-in-residence manage to make the most of the situation. The plot, such as it is, deals with the tribulations which beset a world-weary captain (James) when he realises he's been saddled with a crew of misfits and incompetents (practically everybody else) on a cruise which is of course supposed to offer its passengers every comfort and convenience. If there's a single outstanding performance it has to be that of Lance Percival's chef, whose cheeriness as he presides over his various culinary experiments is extremely funny in a menacing sort of way. On the DVD: The DVD issue has no additional features. --Roger Thomas

• Coogan's Bluff | DVD | (06/06/2005) from £5.61   |  Saving you £0.38 (6.77%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Clint Eastwood is Walt Coogan, a deputy sheriff from Arizona on the loose in the urban jungle of New York. Searching for a violent prisoner he has let slip ("It's got kinda personal now"), Coogan, in Stetson and cowboy boots, runs up against hippies, social workers and a bluntly hostile New York police chief played by Lee J. Cobb. It's a key film in the Eastwood oeuvre, the one in which his definitive persona first emerges, marrying the cool, laid-back westerner of the Rawhide TV series and the Italian westerns to the street-wise, kick-ass toughness which would be further developed in the Dirty Harryfilms. Directed by Eastwood's mentor, Don Siegel, Coogan's Bluff has pace, style and its share of typical Eastwood one-liners (to a hoodlum: "You better drop that blade or you won't believe what happens next"). Like all Eastwood's successful movies, it cunningly plays it both ways. Coogan represents the old-fashioned conservatism of the west in conflict with the decadence of city life. Yet he's the perennial outsider, hostile to authority, a radical loner who gets the job done where bureaucracy and legal niceties fail. The film was to be the inspiration behind the TV series McCloud, in which Dennis Weaver took the Eastwood role. --Edward Buscombe

• The Vicar Of Dibley - The Best Of The Vicar Of Dibley | DVD | (25/11/2002) from £4.74   |  Saving you £11.25 (237.34%)   |  RRP £15.99

  If you're expecting a selection of your favourite episodes from The Vicar of Dibley, then you'll be in for a bit of a surprise. For what we have here instead is Dawn French in conversation with John Plowman, the show's producer. Together, they introduce and analyse the characters and relive key moments from the series, neatly categorised under such headings as "Chocolate", "The Nearly Wedding" and "Celebrity Appearances" (don't forget they enticed both Kylie and Darcey Bussell onto the show, as well as a host of other celebs). So, it's very much a selection for diehard fans who want to be reminded of the highlights (and there are plenty), ranging from Alice's Teletubby bridesmaids to the arrival of Geraldine's mega-freezer, packed to bursting with Haagen-Dazs. To watch this 90-minute film is to be reminded of just how brilliant--and topical--the concept was. The writing is as fresh as ever, as are the priceless group of characters who bring the scripts to life. From the very opening moments, when Geraldine turns up and jokes that they were expecting a man "beard, bible, bad breath; instead you got a babe with a bob cut and a magnificent bosom", you know you're in the presence of an enduring comic creation. On the DVD: The Best of the Vicar of Dibley offers pretty minimal extras--an entertaining feature on real-life women vicars, laconically but pertinently narrated by Jo Brand. --Harriet Smith

• Field Of Dreams | DVD | (24/09/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Field of Dreams is, in the words of its makers, a baseball film that "isn't about baseball". Rather, it's a magical film that works its spell on all but the most hard-boiled of viewers, an altogether superior slice of apple-pie sentimentality. Kevin Costner plays a young Iowa farmer who finds himself pestered by a whispering voice urging him, "If you build it, he will come". With the consent of an uncharacteristically supportive Hollywood wife (Amy Madigan) he sets about building a baseball diamond in the middle of his land. This action invites the prospect of bankruptcy--however, it also invites the spirit of "Shoeless" Joe Jackson, a baseball superstar disgraced following his role in the 1919 World Series scandal. The supernatural voices continue to urge Costner to "go the distance"--and he seeks out reclusive writer Thomas Mann (James Earl Jones) and "Doc" Graham (Burt Lancaster), impelled by purposes he is as yet unable to divine. Field of Dreams works because it touches so endearingly on themes of redemption, inner peace and the possibility of second chances--the "dreams" which elude most of us. It also cites baseball as an idyllic metaphor for all that is decent and constant about America. Costner gives immense plausibility to an utterly, deliberately implausible scenario. On the DVD: Presented in anamorphic 1.78:1, the vivid, almost unnaturally natural Iowa colours are depicted to vivid effect (much of the diamond grass had to be painted green when it died). Generous extras include a making-of feature, an interview with WP Kinsella, author of the novel on which the book is based, and Costner. Director/writer Phil Alden Robinson also provides a director's commentary in which he describes the logistical difficulties of assembling 1500 automobiles for the memorable final scene. --David Stubbs

• Secret Mission | DVD | (08/02/2010) from £6.17   |  Saving you £6.82 (110.53%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Classic British WW2 movie starring James Mason and Michael Wilding. A behind-the-lines adventure with four British Intelligence Officers parachuting into occupied France. The mission that follows takes them into the heart of the Nazi headquarters in France.

• Smiley | Blu Ray | (14/10/2013) from £6.99   |  Saving you £11.00 (157.37%)   |  RRP £17.99

  After discovering an urban legend of a demented serial killer, who has nothing but a carved 'smiley' on his face, a mentally fragile teen must decide whether she is going insane - or will be the next victim.

• Mapp And Lucia Collection - The Complete 1st & 2nd Series | DVD | (13/10/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Miss Emmeline Lucas (Geraldine McEwan) known universally to her friends as Lucia is a dreadful snob but in Miss Elizabeth Mapp (Prunella Scales) of Mallards Lucia meets her match. On the surface they are the most genteel of society ladies but beneath the veneer of politeness and etiquette lies a bitter and seething malice. There is no plan too devious no plot too cunning no depths to which they would not sink in order to win the battle for social supremacy. Using their deadly weapons of garden parties bridge evenings and charming teas the two combatants strive to outcharm each other as they vie for the position of toast of the town... This release features all ten episodes from both series of Mapp & Lucia adapted from the celebrated books by E.F. Benson. Episode titles: The Village Fete Battle Stations The Italian Connection Lobster Pots The Owl And The Pussycat Winner Takes All Change and Change About Lady Bountiful Worship Au Reservoir.

• My Friend Flicka | DVD | (28/07/2003) from £6.95   |  Saving you £6.04 (86.91%)   |  RRP £12.99

  In this touching family film based on the celebrated novel by Mary O'Hara ten-year-old Kenny McLaughlin a rancher's son deperately wants a horse of his own. When his father finally agrees to let him choose a foal Ken picks Flicka a beautiful but high-spirited filly who comes from a bloodline considered to be hopelessly wild. It is up to Ken to prove Flicka is tamable or risk losing her. Along the way Ken and his family learn some important lessons in this poignant tale of love

• The Return of the Living Dead | Blu Ray | (06/11/2013) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Return of the Living Dead is a parody-cum-sequel spin-off from George Romero's superior Night of the Living Dead films. A corpse-containing canister gets breached and releases an oily, loose-limbed, brain-eating zombie tatterdemalion and a gas that revives anything dead in the vicinity, even a bisected dog preserved as a vet's teaching specimen and a case of pinned butterflies. The dim-bulb leading characters--earnest Clu Gulager, goofy James Karen and Thom Matthews--burn up a mess of surplus living body parts, but the rains wash the ashes into the earth of a nearby cemetery and a whole crowd of brain-eating zombies claw their way out to terrorise a group of teens who sport the kind of 1985 fashions, hairdos, slang preferences and musical tastes that will never feature in a TV nostalgia programme. There are plenty of in-jokes at the expense of the Living Dead films (learning that shooting 'em in the brain doesn't work, the appalled Matthews gasps, "You mean the movie lied?"), and director Dan O'Bannon, the writer of Dark Star and Alien, hurries things along through some gruesome action and terror-by-zombie bits until the surprisingly cynical anti-government conclusion. It's not as wittily outrageous as Re-Animator or Braindead, but it has an amiable, drive-in-cum-home video grunge about it. Frequently naked exploitation regular Linnea Quigley makes an impression as the punkette zombie who goes on the rampage wearing nothing but leg-warmers and body make-up. The frill-free DVD is full-screen (boo hiss!) except for the titles, offers only the trailer and inadequate cast and crew notes as extras, but it looks okay. --Kim Newman

• The Trials of Cate McCall | DVD | (22/09/2014) from £6.98   |  Saving you £11.00 (220.44%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Cate McCall (Kate Beckinsale; Pearl Harbour Underworld Total Recall) was a hotshot lawyer with the world at her feet but as her career went from strength to strength her personal life began to fall apart she slipped into a spiral of alcoholism and depression that drove her family away and left her with nothing. Sometimes we find redemption in the darkest of places and fresh out of rehab Cate must take on the appeal of a woman wrongfully convicted of murder in order to be reinstated at the bar and regain custody of her daughter. But this is a case that will challenge everything she vowed to uphold; Cate will be thrown into a world of lies abuse and deception where fighting for what's right may mean fighting for her life. The Trials of Cate McCall is an intelligent and tense thriller with powerful supporting performances from Nick Nolte (Gangster Squad Warrior Cape Fear and 48 Hrs.) James Cromwell (The Green Mile The Artist and Spider-Man 3) and Anna Anishimowa (The Whistleblower).

• Twin Peaks - Fire Walk With Me | DVD | (08/08/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Meet Laura Palmer... In a town where nothing is as it seems... And everyone has something to hide. A young girl named Teresa Banks is found brutally murdered. The FBI agents leading the investigation are drawn into a bizarre and dangerous world and then disappear. The case is handed to Agent Dale Cooper. He knows it is only a matter of time before the killer strikes again. Welcome to Twin Peaks an idyllic part of small-town America one year later. A picture postcard settin

• Filth | Blu Ray | (10/02/2014) from £6.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  James McAvoy stars as a corrupt, sociopathic Edinburgh cop in director Jon S. Baird's fast-paced black comedy, adapted from the novel by Irvine Welsh. Bored with his duties as a Detective Sergeant in the Edinburgh police force, Bruce Robertson (McAvoy) gorges himself on a mixture of cocaine, alcohol, sexually abusive relationships and endless junk food, whilst plotting to get one over on his colleagues in his quest for a promotion. But although he nurses hopes of getting back together with his ex-wife Carole (Shauna MacDonald), Bruce soon finds his life spiralling out of control, when his drug addiction and unchecked psychological issues combine to test his grip on reality and push him over the edge.Based on: The novel by Irvine Welsh Technical Specs: Languages(s): EnglishInteractive Menu

• Frances | DVD | (09/08/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  The violent tragic but true story of a rebellious female star of the 1930s who fought the Hollywood system... and lost.

• Sharpe's Battle / Sharpe's Sword | DVD | (08/07/2002) from £6.54   |  Saving you £8.45 (56.40%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Based on the novels by Bernard Cornwell, Sharpe (1993-7) ran to 14 full-length television films that follow the adventures of the titular soldier through the later years of the Napoleonic Wars. The programmes are an outstanding achievement for the small screen, dominated by Sean Bean's central performance as the heroic, troubled outsider who turns out to be a resourceful and loyal leader. Bolstered by a strong supporting cast, particularly Daragh O'Malley as Harper and (in later episodes) Abigail Cruttenden as Jane, Sharpe is often visually striking, the action tense and gripping. Consistency is maintained by all 14 episodes being directed by Tom Clegg. On the DVD: Sharpe on DVD's sound is full-bodied stereo while the very "sharp" (pun intended) picture has been transferred slightly letterboxed at 14:9. Though looking much better than the original TV transmissions the occasionally cropped framing makes it apparent the films were shot in 16:9 widescreen, so it is regrettable they have not been transferred to DVD in that format. Otherwise these are first-rate releases. --Gary S Dalkin

• The Rules of Attraction | DVD | (29/09/2003) from £7.48   |  Saving you £9.50 (211.58%)   |  RRP £13.99

  James Van Der Beek is Sean Bateman, the younger brother of "American Psycho's" Patrick Bateman. Against a backdrop of 'Dressed to get screwed parties', drugs, casual sex and student excess we follow Sean through the doors of a New England arts college.

• Inspector Morse - Series 6 | DVD | (21/02/2005) from £25.63   |  Saving you £-0.64 (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  This box set features the entire sixth series of the classic British Television drama Inspector Morse. Episodes comprise: 1. Dead On Time: Morse becomes deeply involved when a Don apparently commits suicide. The man's wife Susan was once engaged to Morse who makes no secret of the fact that he is still in love with her... 2. Happy Families: A wealthy industrialist is murdered yet his family seem uninterested until a second murder occurs... 3. The Death

• It's A Wonderful Life (Colourised) | Blu Ray | (08/11/2010) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Hollywood's best-loved star teams up with America's favourite director to create one of the world's most popular films.

• Species 2 | DVD | (29/07/2005) from £6.98   |  Saving you £9.01 (129.08%)   |  RRP £15.99

  They could fuck the human race out of existence!" warns Michael Madsen in this inevitable--and inevitably contrived--sequel to 1995's surprise sci-fi hit. He's referring to a celebrated astronaut (Justin Lazard) infected with alien DNA from his history-making Mars landing, and the half-alien Eve (Natasha Henstridge), who was created from alien-human embryo splicing by biochemist Dr Laura Baker (Marg Helgenberger) in an effort to discover the alien species' vulnerabilities on Earth. While the astronaut sows his gruesomely wild oats with doomed women (resulting in a bevy of creepy kids in alien cocoons), Eve goes into heat until she and the astronaut can consummate their procreative lust. Sex and death are served up like money-shots in a porno flick, with an emphasis on gory flesh-regeneration, explosive pregnancies and slimy-tentacled intercourse. All of which makes this is the kind of derivative schlock that only a true fan could love, but it's boosted to a tolerable level of entertainment by the returning cast (Madsen, Henstridge and Helgenberger) from the previous film. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com

• John Carpenter's Vampires / John Carpenter's Vampires: Los Muertos / Vampires: The Turning | DVD | (27/06/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £22.99

  Vampires: ""Forget everything you've ever heard about vampires"" warns Jack Crow (James Woods) the leader of Team Crow a relentless group of mercenary vampire slayers. When master Vampire Valek (Thomas Ian Griffith) decimates Jack's entire team Crow and the sole team survivor Montoya (Daniel Baldwin) set out in pursuit. Breaking all the rules Crow and Montoya take one of Valek's victims hostage. The beautiful prostitute (Sheryl Lee) is their sole psychic link to Valek a

• Dumbo (Special Edition) | Blu Ray | (22/03/2010) from £10.47   |  Saving you £13.52 (129.13%)   |  RRP £23.99

  A Disney "classic" that actually is a classic, Dumbo should be part of your movie collection whether or not you have children. The storytelling was never as lean as in Dumbo, the songs rarely as haunting (or just plain weird), the characters rarely so well defined. The film pits the "cold, cruel, heartless" world that can't accept abnormality against a plucky, and mute, hero. Jumbo Jr. (Dumbo is a mean-spirited nickname) is ostracised from the circus pack shortly after his delivery by the stork because of his big ears. His mother sticks up for him and is shackled. He's jeered by children (an insightful scene has one boy poking fun at Dumbo's ears, even though the youngster's ears are also ungainly), used by the circus folk, and demoted to appearing with the clowns. Only the decent Timothy Q. Mouse looks out for the little guy. Concerns about the un-PC "Jim Crow" crows, who mock Dumbo with the wonderful "When I See an Elephant Fly", should be moderated by remembering that the crows are the only social group in the film who act kindly to the little outcast. If you don't mist up during the "Baby Mine" scene, you may be legally pronounced dead. --Keith Simanton