"Actor: James Va"

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

  The Water Babies tells the story of Tom, a chimney sweep who gets framed for theft in 1850s England. Even though a young girl named Ellie knows the real thieves' identities and tries to clear Tom's name, Tom's desperate escape run lands him right in the middle of Dead Man's Pool. Assumed to have met certain death, Tom gets sucked into a magical underwater world. Tom befriends the creatures he meets beneath the sea, and they accompany him on a journey to the land of Water Babies, where he intends to ask the all-powerful Cracken to help him return to the world above the water. However, when Tom finally does manage to return to land, life is far from idyllic as he must set out clear his name and trap the real thieves. Many adults possess fond memories of seeing this 1978 movie as children. The land portions of this musical feature live-action footage, while the water sequence is fully animated. To a fresh, modern audience, the abrupt change from one format to the other is somewhat disconcerting, as is the choppy, older animation style. The story, based on the classic children's book of the same name by Charles Kingsley, is an intriguing look at both Victorian culture and the fantasy world. (Ages 4-8) --Tami Horiuchi, Amazon.com

• The Sopranos: Series 2 (Vols. 1-3) | DVD | (23/07/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £32.99

  The second series of The Sopranos, David Chase's ultra-cool and ultra-modern take on New Jersey gangster life, matches the brilliance of the first, although it's marginally less violent, with more emphasis given to the stories and obsessions of supporting characters. Sadly, the programme makers were forced to throttle back on the appalling struggle between gang boss Tony Soprano and his Gorgon-like Mother Livia, the very stuff of Greek theatre, following actress Nancy Marchand's unsuccessful battle against cancer. Taking up her slack, however, is Tony's big sister Janice, a New Age victim and arrant schemer and sponger, who takes up with the twitchy, Scarface-wannabe Richie Aprile, brother of former boss Jackie, out of prison and a minor pain in Tony's ass. Other running sub-plots include soldier Chris (Michael Imperioli) hapless efforts to sell his real-life Mafia story to Hollywood, the return and treachery of Big Pussy and Tony's wife Carmela's ruthlessness in placing daughter Meadow in the right college. Even with the action so dispersed, however, James Gandofini is still toweringly dominant as Tony. The genius of his performance, and of the programme makers, is that, despite Tony being a whoring, unscrupulous, sexist boor, a crime boss and a murderer, we somehow end up feeling and rooting for him, because he's also a family man with a bratty brood to feed, who's getting his balls busted on all sides, to say nothing of keeping the Government off his back. He's the kind of crime boss we'd like to feel we would be. Tony's decent Italian-American therapist Dr Melfi's (Loraine Bracco) perverse attraction with her gangster-patient reflects our own and, in her case, causes her to lose her first series cool and turn to drink this time around. Effortlessly multi-dimensional, funny and frightening, devoid of the sentimentality that afflicts even great American TV like The West Wing, The Sopranos is boss of bosses in its televisual era. --David Stubbs

• Spider-Man / Hellboy / Hulk | DVD | (03/10/2005) from £5.99   |  Saving you £14.00 (233.72%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Spider-Man (Dir. Sam Raimi 2002): Peter Parker (Maguire) was a shy quite nerdy teenager...until he was bitten by a genetically altered spider. Now with the heightened senses and incredible strengths and abilities of a spider Parker has become the amazing Spider-Man! Hellboy (Dir. Guillermo del Toro 2004): In the final days of World War II the Nazis attempt to use black magic to aid their dying cause. The Allies raid the camp where an occult ceremony is taking place but not before a demon Hellboy has already been conjured. Joining the Allied forces Hellboy (Perlman) eventually grows to adulthood under the supervision of his adopted 'father' Trevor Bruttenholm (Hurt) serving the cause of good rather than evil. When the powerful and evil Nazi figure who unleashed Hellboy suddenly reappears in modern times he discovers that Hellboy is now working as a paranormal investigator at a secret U.S. government agency dedicated to protecting humanity from the forces of darkness. Now Hellboy must fight to prevent the destruction of mankind... Dark Horse Comic's popular cult superhero Hellboy makes the leap from the comic book pages to the big screen with Ron Perlman the only actor considered charismatic enough to carry the role of the blood-red demon cutting a cigar-chomping dash aided by the prosthetic work of 6-time Oscar winning make-up artist Rick Baker. The Hulk (Dir. Ang Lee 2003): Scientist Bruce Banner (Eric Bana) has to put it mildly anger management issues. His quiet life as a brilliant researcher working with cutting edge genetic technology conceals a nearly forgotten and painful past. His ex-girlfriend and equally brilliant fellow researcher Betty Ross (Jennifer Connelly) has tired of Bruce's cordoned off emotional terrain and resigns herself to remaining an interested onlooker to his quiet life. Which is exactly where Betty finds herself during one of the early trials in Banner's groundbreaking research. A simple oversight leads to an explosive situation and Bruce makes a split-second decision; his heroic impulse saves a life and leaves him apparently unscathed-his body absorbing a normally deadly dose of gamma radiation. Acclaimed Oscar-winning filmmaker Ang Lee turns his masterful eye to adapting the classic Marvel Comics character for the big screen. Setting out to faithfully transfer the Hulk comic book character from four-color paneled page to motion picture screen Lee combines all the elements of a blockbuster visual effects-intensive superhero movie with the brooding romance and tragedy of Universal's classic horror films. Staying true to the early subversive spirit of the Hulk as envisioned by its creators (Stan Lee and Jack Kirby) while also tuning the tale to current dangerous times Lee presents a portrait of a man at war with himself and the world both a superhero and a monster a means of wish fulfillment and a nightmare...

• Two Men Went To War | DVD | (05/05/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  This comedy drama is the story of two Army dentists Sergeant Peter King (Kenneth Cranham) and Private Leslie Cuthbertson (Leo Bill) who, in 1942 stole a bag of hand grenades, two revolvers and a set of the best dental equipment that money could buy and went off to invade occupied France on their own - without permission!
  Two Men Went To War tells their outrageously irresponsible, yet eccentrically heroic story for the first time. With an all star cast in a sumptuous, funny and moving drama...

• The Sopranos: Series 2 (Vol. 1) | DVD | (21/05/2001) from £6.03   |  Saving you £6.96 (115.42%)   |  RRP £12.99

  The second series of The Sopranos, David Chase's ultra-cool and ultra-modern take on New Jersey gangster life, matches the brilliance of the first, although it's marginally less violent, with more emphasis given to the stories and obsessions of supporting characters. Sadly, the programme makers were forced to throttle back on the appalling struggle between gang boss Tony Soprano and his Gorgon-like Mother Livia, the very stuff of Greek theatre, following actress Nancy Marchand's unsuccessful battle against cancer. Taking up her slack, however, is Tony's big sister Janice, a New Age victim and arrant schemer and sponger, who takes up with the twitchy, Scarface-wannabe Richie Aprile, brother of former boss Jackie, out of prison and a minor pain in Tony's ass. Other running sub-plots include soldier Chris (Michael Imperioli) hapless efforts to sell his real-life Mafia story to Hollywood, the return and treachery of Big Pussy and Tony's wife Carmela's ruthlessness in placing daughter Meadow in the right college. Even with the action so dispersed, however, James Gandofini is still toweringly dominant as Tony. The genius of his performance, and of the programme makers, is that, despite Tony being a whoring, unscrupulous, sexist boor, a crime boss and a murderer, we somehow end up feeling and rooting for him, because he's also a family man with a bratty brood to feed, who's getting his balls busted on all sides, to say nothing of keeping the Government off his back. He's the kind of crime boss we'd like to feel we would be. Tony's decent Italian-American therapist Dr Melfi's (Loraine Bracco) perverse attraction with her gangster-patient reflects our own and, in her case, causes her to lose her first series cool and turn to drink this time around. Effortlessly multi-dimensional, funny and frightening, devoid of the sentimentality that afflicts even great American TV like The West Wing, The Sopranos is boss of bosses in its televisual era. --David Stubbs

• Resident Evil / The Punisher / Hellboy | DVD | (03/10/2005) from £11.89   |  Saving you £8.10 (68.12%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Resident Evil - Apocalypse (Dir. Alexander Witt 2004): The sequel to the 0 million hit Resident Evil: Apocalypse is again based on the wildly popular video game series and picks up where the first film ended. The zombies are back and so is Alice (Jovovich). Since being captured by the notorious Umbrella Corporation she has been subjected to biogenetic experimentation and has become genetically altered with super-human strengths senses and dexterity. Now she has teamed with other survivors of Earth ready to destroy any zombie in their path. After escaping from the Racoon City Medical Facility Alice searches for answers to the T-Virus and how to contain it. On the other side of town a woman named Jill Valentine plots her own escape while battling the undead and Matt Adison now transformed into a monster called The Nemesis who is bent on destroying all who live. Punisher (Dir. Jonathan Hensleigh 2004): Marvel Comics presents a second big-screen version of The Punisher with this action-packed adaptation from screenwriter-turned-director Jonathan Hensleigh. Frank Castle (Tom Jane) is a retired F.B.I. agent spurred into action after the merciless slaying of his wife father and son. Adopting the superhero guise of The Punisher Castle aims to wreak vengeance for his dead family by tracking down the culprits responsible for their demise. All clues point to Howard Saint (John Travolta) a ruthless businessman and nightclub owner whose son was mistakenly killed by Castle in a botched undercover operation back in his F.B.I. days. Unique amongst Marvel superheroes The Punisher possesses no special powers just remarkable strength parried with a blind determination to avenge his family. As he hunts down Saint Castle surrounds himself with three fellow societal outcasts to get the job done namely Joan (Rebecca Romijn-Stamos) Bumpo (John Pinette) and Dave (Ben Foster). Hellboy (Dir. Guillermo del Toro 2004): In the final days of World War II the Nazis attempt to use black magic to aid their dying cause. The Allies raid the camp where an occult ceremony is taking place but not before a demon Hellboy has already been conjured. Joining the Allied forces Hellboy eventually grows to adulthood under the supervision of his adopted 'father' Trevor Bruttenholm serving the cause of good rather than evil. When the powerful and evil Nazi figure who unleashed Hellboy suddenly reappears in modern times he discovers that Hellboy is now working as a paranormal investigator at a secret U.S. government agency dedicated to protecting humanity from the forces of darkness. Now Hellboy must fight to solve the riddle of his own existence and prevent the destruction of mankind... Dark Horse Comics' popular cult superhero Hellboy makes the leap from the comic book pages to the big screen with Ron Perlman the only actor considered charismatic enough to convey the blood-red demon anti-hero cutting a cigar-chomping dash in the title role as Hellboy assisted by prosthetics from 6-time Oscar winning makeup artist Rick Baker.

• Classic Cuts Collection - Funny Ladies | DVD | (26/03/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Bell Brook And Candle (Dir. Richard Quine): A New York Greenwich Village self-proclaimed witch puts spell on her neighbor's girlfriend in order to obtain his affection... His Girl Friday (Dir. Howard Hawks): This hilarious re-working of The Front Page by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur sees Grant as the savage editor and in a switch the reporter played by scheming Rosalind Russell. This version adds the twin lures of sex and romance. The film moves at whirlwind speed as Director Howard Hawks instructed his actors to overlap their lines so much so that at times everyone seems to be talking at once. Hawks also had his cast move at twice the normal speed so the screen looks frantic from scene to scene thus conveying the urgency of the news world he was depicting. It's undoubtedly Cary Grant's greatest comedic role proving once again the amazing versatility of this Hollywood legend. Pillow Talk (Dir. Michael Gordon): Day is an uptight interior decorator forced to share a party line with an amorous playboy who ties up the line with his exploits while she is trying to conduct business. When the two accidentally meet he's taken with her beauty and pretending to be a wealthy Texan begins to court her mercilessly. Though flattered by this stranger's attention it's not long before she discovers his true identity. Now it's her turn to have a little fun...at his expense! Bringing Up Baby (Dir. Howard Hawks): A dog belonging to an eccentric heiress (Hepburn) steals a dinosaur bone from David (Grant) an absent-minded Zoology professor. David follows the heiress to her home and all hell breaks loose when he loses his pet leopard known as 'Baby'. Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn give fantastic performances in one of Hollywood's finest screwball comedies superbly directed by Howard Hawks.

• The Twilight Zone - Vol. 6 | DVD | (31/07/2000) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

• Cinderella - Special Edition/Cinderella - A Twist In Time (Disney) | DVD | (12/02/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £27.99

  Cinderella: This version of Cinderella is the original 1950 Walt Disney animated classic. Based upon Charles Perrault's 17th-century fable about a poor stepdaughter transformed into a vision of beauty sent to the royal ball by her Fairy Godmother to meet her Prince Charming and live happily ever after. The kind and beautiful Cinderella dreams of romance and a better life while serving the selfish needs of her wicked stepmother and two jealous stepsisters. With the help of her mischievous mice friends Gus and Jaq and a little ""Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo"" from the magical wand of her Fairy Godmother Cinderella meets the handsome Prince Charming at the Royal Ball. But as she flees the castle before the stroke of midnight breaks the spell Cinderella leaves behind a single glass slipper... leading to the ultimate fairy tale ending! Cinderella 3 - A Twist In Time: Disney's classic fairytale continues in this all-new animated movie. A stepmother's revenge reveals the glass slipper did not fit Cinderella after all in this spell-binding story about magic falling into the wrong hands. Prince Charming along with best friends Jaq and Gus join Cinderella in this all-new feature with enchanting songs spectacular animation and more wonder and suspense than ever before!

• The Saint Francisville Experiment | DVD | (10/03/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  1832 a fire breaks out in a New Orleans mansion. Firemen make a grim discovery - the bodies of slaves in chains tortured and mutilated. Over a century later four paranormal experts equipped with cameras and sound recording equipment agree to be locked in the house for one night. Reality TV equals Real terror! This film is done in the documentary style to heighten the suspense.

• The Sopranos: Series 1 (Vol. 2) | DVD | (16/04/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £13.99

  The Sopranos, writer-producer-director David Chase's extraordinary television series, is nominally an urban gangster drama, but its true impact strikes closer to home: This ambitious TV series chronicles a dysfunctional, suburban American family in bold relief. And for protagonist Tony Soprano, there is the added complexity posed by heading twin families, his collegial mob clan and his own, nouveau riche brood.The series' brilliant first season is built around what Tony learns when, whipsawed between those two worlds, he finds himself plunged into depression and seeks psychotherapy--a gesture at odds with his mid-level capo's machismo, yet instantly recognisable as a modern emotional test. With analysis built into the very spine of the show's elaborate episodic structure, creator Chase and his formidable corps of directors, writers and actors weave an unpredictable series of parallel and intersecting plot arcs that twist from tragedy to farce to social realism. While creating for a smaller screen, they enjoy a far larger canvas than a single movie would afford, and the results, like the very best episodic television, attain a richness and scope far closer to a novel than movies normally get.Unlike Francis Coppola's operatic dramatisation of Mario Puzo's Godfather epic, The Sopranos sustains a poignant, even mundane intimacy in its focus on Tony, brought to vivid life by James Gandolfini's mercurial performance. Alternately seductive, exasperated, fearful and murderous, Gandolfini is utterly convincing even when executing brutal shifts between domestic comedy and dramatic violence. Both he and the superb team of Italian-American actors recruited as his loyal (and, sometimes, not-so-loyal) henchman and their various "associates" make this mob as credible as the evocative Bronx and New Jersey locations where the episodes were filmed.The first season's other life force is Livia Soprano, Tony's monstrous, meddlesome mother. As Livia, the late Nancy Marchand eclipses her long career of patrician performances to create an indelibly earthy, calculating matriarch who shakes up both families; Livia also serves as foil and rival to Tony's loyal, usually level-headed wife, Carmela (Edie Falco). Lorraine Bracco makes Tony's therapist, Dr Melfi, a convincing confidante, by turns "professional", perceptive and sexy; the duo's therapeutic relationship is also depicted with uncommon accuracy. Such grace notes only enrich what is not merely an aesthetic high point for commercial television, but an absorbing film masterwork that deepens with subsequent screenings. --Sam Sutherland, Amazon.com

• Unshackled | DVD | (28/06/2004) from £5.54   |  Saving you £7.45 (134.48%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Unshackled is the unforgettable story of two men. One Harold Morris was white - a sharecroppers son from South Carolina. The other Marcus 'Doc' Odomes was black - raised by his mother in inner city New York. Both were doing life sentences in Georgia State Penitentiary when the prison was forced to integrate under federal mandate. It was the last prison in America to do so. They were thrown into an 8ft by 10 ft cell and the door was slammed shut. This is their story.

• 976 Evil II | DVD | (05/09/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Robin (Debbie James) finds herself visited by an astral spirit. She soon becomes the only witness through her visions to the murders that the spirit commits in his astral form. Robin's only hope is a handsome stranger named Spike Johnson (Patrick O'Bryan). Through his past experiences with the horrorscope Spike's acquired his own psychic strength. Together they discover that the only way to save themselves from the vicious revenge of the astral spirit is to fight him on his own turf...

• Cop Triple - Big Bang/Bad Cop/Operation Endgame | DVD | (07/10/2013) from £2.79   |  Saving you £5.20 (186.38%)   |  RRP £7.99

  Operation: EndgameMiles beneath the streets of Los Angeles lies the heavily fortified headquarters of 'The Factory' an elite espionage cell unacknowledged by the U.S. government stuffed with files on shocking covert actions and balanced by competing teams of lethal operatives. But when a rogue agent murders their boss the facility's lockdown self-destruct mechanism is instantly activated. Now the clock is ticking the only escape route is unknown and our nation's most eccentric assassins have been given their final order: Terminate each other on sight. Zach Galifianakis (The Hangover) Rob Corddry (Hot Tub Time Machine) Ellen Barkin (Ocean's Thirteen) Ving Rhames (Pulp Fiction) Emilie de Ravin (Lost) Maggie Q (Mission: Impossible III) Adam Scott (Party Down) and Jeffrey Tambor (Arrested Development) star in this savage action comedy about issues of national security violent uses for office supplies and the explosive mission codenamed Operation: Endgame. Bad CopJohnny Strong of The Fast and the Furious and Black Hawk Down stars as New Orleans Police Detective Sean Riley a tough cop investigating a series of brutal murders. But when a clue leads Riley to a troubled buddy he'll uncover a shocking military conspiracy that triggers a war between local gangs and an international team of mercenaries. And in a city set to explode nothing is more dangerous than a man with nothing to lose. Kevin Phillips (Notorious) Costas Mandylor (Saw 3D) Sean Patrick Flanery (The Boondock Saints) Clifford 'Method Man' Smith Jolene Blalock (Star Trek: Enterprise) Jürgen Prochnow (24) MMA legend Bas Rutten and Oscar nominee Tom Berenger (Platoon) co-star in this action-packed thriller about loss and redemption. The Big BangLate one night Los Angeles private investigator Ned Cruz (Antonio Banderas) gets a visit from a recently paroled Russian boxer with an intriguing job offer: find Lexie his missing girlfriend - and the 30-million dollar stash of diamonds she's hiding. As Detective Cruz sets out to find her the clues send him into the city's seediest corners from a Hollywood action star with a dirty little secret (James Van Der Beek) to an enterprising porn producer who takes a personal interest in his own work (Snoop Dogg) and a kinky waitress with an unusual fetish for particle physics (Autumn Reeser). Lexie proves to be as elusive as she is beautiful and Cruz becomes obsessed with finding her. With time running out Cruz discovers the trail leads to reclusive billionaire (Sam Elliott) and his physicist (Jimmi Simpson) intent on recreating The Big Bang underneath the New Mexico desert. Tailed by a trio of cops also looking to find the missing diamonds and with the body count piling up Cruz soon realizes that what appeared to be a standard missing person's case is anything but and could quite possibly bring about the end of the world as we know it.

• Mozart: Don Giovanni -- Cologne/Conlon | DVD | (15/05/2000) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Conlon conducts a skittishly dynamic performance of Don Giovanni that suits the promiscuous protagonist's restless energy more than some more ponderous and serious productions. He relies on Thomas Allen's tough Don to give the work much of its dark menace and on Holle's terrifying Commendatore to provide the moral outrage--his job is to keep things moving, and he does. The exteriors--blank city spaces reminiscent of the paintings of Giorgio De Chirico--and moodily claustrophobic interiors mirror effectively the anguish of the orphaned Anna and the abandoned Elvira; this is a performance in which the two women victims of the Don function effectively as correctives to his libertine charm. Andrea Rost as Zerlina brings real delicacy to her role, reminding us that "La ci darem la mano" is a duet about her flirtation with Don Giovanni and not just a famous stand-alone moment. This is an admirable presentation of a fine performance. The only special features of the DVD are subtitles in the standard languages. --Roz Kaveney

• Kevin And Perry Go Large / South Park The Movie / Ace Ventura - Pet Detective | DVD | (27/09/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £20.99

  Kevin & Perry Go Large: Kevin and Perry the two gormless teenagers from the Harry Enfield Show go feature-length. This film tells the complete story of Kevin and Perry's adventure in Ibiza. It's the summer holidays and Kevin and Perry know that there is only one place where the DJ reigns supreme and girls will shag anyone - Ibiza. The boys are ready to set out armed with top gear and a suitcase full of condoms. The only problem is Mr. and Mrs. Patterson are coming too. On arrival the boys spy the girls of their dreams - Candice and Gemma - superstar DJ Eye Ball Paul. It looks like Kevin and Perry may have the best summer ever. South Park - Bigger Longer Uncut: If you're male or female or of any particular ethnic sexual religious or national persuasion you may be offended by this movie. Or perhaps this movie may make you laugh more than any other recent comedy. Fame. Authority. Show tunes. The military. Race. Sex. Religion. The way to a woman's heart. The creators of TV's South Park skewer all in a feature-length story that plunges an outraged U.S. into war with Canada after South Park schoolkids sneak into a restricted Canadian-made film and emerge their fragile little minds warped spouting expletives that would make a sex-shop proprietor blush. What? Your mind is already warped? Well friend looks like this movie is perfect for you. Stan Kyle Kenny and Cartman sneak into an R-Rated movie and it warps their fragile little minds. Soon their indignant parents declare war on Canada and our young heroes are America's last hope to stop armageddon. Ace Ventura Pet Detective: He's the best there is. In fact he's the only one there is! He's Ace Ventura Pet Detective. Jim Carrey is on the case to find the Miami Dolphins' missing mascot and quarterback Dan Marino. He goes eyeball to eyeball with a man-eating shark stakes out the Miami Dolphins and woos and wows the ladies. Whether he's undercover under fire or underwater he's always gets his man..or beast!

• Children's Classic Adventures | DVD | (04/10/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Jungle Book Rudyard Kipling's classic tale of the little boy who lives in the animal kingdom is a well-loved and enchanting tale that teaches honour and respect for all creatures. The Adventures Of Moby Dick There is nothing fishy about this tale - it's pure excitement from start to finish. A classic story with some new characters and some great sea songs too. Black Beauty This time-honoured tale follows a beautiful ebony horse on his journey through the ro

• Atonement | HD DVD | (10/03/2008) from £11.24   |  Saving you £13.75 (122.33%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Keira Knightley and James McAvoy star in the adaptation of Atonement based on the novel by Ian McEwan. On the hottest day of the summer of 1935 thirteen-year-old Briony Tallis sees her older sister Cecilia (Kiera Knightley) strip off her clothes and plunge into the fountain in the garden of their country house. Watching Cecilia is their housekeeper's son Robbie Turner (James McAvoy) a childhood friend who along with Briony's sister has recently graduated from Cambridge. By the end of that day the lives of all three will have been changed forever. Robbie and Cecilia will have crossed a boundary they had never before dared to approach and will have become victims of the younger girl's scheming imagination and Briony will have committed a dreadful crime the guilt for which will colour her entire life.

• The Sopranos: Series 2 (Vols. 4-6) | DVD | (25/06/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £33.99

  The second series of The Sopranos, David Chase's ultra-cool and ultra-modern take on New Jersey gangster life, matches the brilliance of the first, although it's marginally less violent, with more emphasis given to the stories and obsessions of supporting characters. Sadly, the programme makers were forced to throttle back on the appalling struggle between gang boss Tony Soprano and his Gorgon-like Mother Livia, the very stuff of Greek theatre, following actress Nancy Marchand's unsuccessful battle against cancer. Taking up her slack, however, is Tony's big sister Janice, a New Age victim and arrant schemer and sponger, who takes up with the twitchy, Scarface-wannabe Richie Aprile, brother of former boss Jackie, out of prison and a minor pain in Tony's ass. Other running sub-plots include soldier Chris (Michael Imperioli) hapless efforts to sell his real-life Mafia story to Hollywood, the return and treachery of Big Pussy and Tony's wife Carmela's ruthlessness in placing daughter Meadow in the right college. Even with the action so dispersed, however, James Gandofini is still toweringly dominant as Tony. The genius of his performance, and of the programme makers, is that, despite Tony being a whoring, unscrupulous, sexist boor, a crime boss and a murderer, we somehow end up feeling and rooting for him, because he's also a family man with a bratty brood to feed, who's getting his balls busted on all sides, to say nothing of keeping the Government off his back. He's the kind of crime boss we'd like to feel we would be. Tony's decent Italian-American therapist Dr Melfi's (Loraine Bracco) perverse attraction with her gangster-patient reflects our own and, in her case, causes her to lose her first series cool and turn to drink this time around. Effortlessly multi-dimensional, funny and frightening, devoid of the sentimentality that afflicts even great American TV like The West Wing, The Sopranos is boss of bosses in its televisual era. --David Stubbs

• The Making Of Grand Prix | DVD | (27/10/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  A behind the scenes look at the making of John Frankenheimers 1966 classic Grand Prix. Filmed on location in Monaco this DVD gives the viewer an inside look at the complexities of filming in the midst of one of racings biggest competitions.