"Actor: James Va"

• Here Comes The Boom | DVD | (18/03/2013) from £3.09   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  A former collegiate wrestler is working as a biology teacher in a failing school. When cutbacks threaten to cancel the music lessons, Scott begins to raise money by moonlighting as a mixed martial arts fighter.

• James Taylor - Live At The Beacon Theatre | DVD | (15/12/2003) from £6.69   |  Saving you £-0.70 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Sensitive singer-songwriter, soft-rock poster boy, baby-boomer troubadour: James Taylor has outlived the stereotypes offered by fans and critics alike by simply staying his musical course and continuing to refine his familiar, deceptively mellifluous style. This 1998 concert displays Taylor's craftsmanship and easy rapport with both his band and his audience to satisfying effect, offering a repertoire that draws from his entire career while providing a generous selection of songs from his Grammy-winning 1997 set, Hourglass. Fans will love it, of course, but even jaded listeners can find fresh feeling and formidable expertise here.By now, Taylor's skill at low-key love songs is a given, making him an archetypal "sensitive New Age guy" on the strength of his canny mix of emotional vulnerability, romantic imagery, and understated delivery. Less obviously, Taylor has gradually transformed the shadows of disillusionment audible in his earliest songs into a nuanced acknowledgement of his own age. "Line 'Em Up," from Hourglass, typifies his skill at limning disarmingly lucid, frankly philosophical vignettes, here woven around a recollection of Richard Nixon's last hurrah, while "Jump Up Behind Me" affords a testament to self-determination ultimately as serious in theme as it is buoyant in its musical framework. Throughout, Taylor's stage band proves a thoroughbred, its accompaniment rock solid and delicately detailed, and perfectly matched to a crack backing chorus.Among the first video concerts produced with DVD in mind, Live at the Beacon Theatre has been in heavy rotation in home demonstration suites ever since its release, an achievement understandable after hearing the crystalline 5.1 mix engineered by Frank Filipetti, who shared a Grammy as co-producer on Hourglass and snagged a second award for his engineering of that album. --Sam Sutherland, Amazon.com

• The Truth About Cats And Dogs | DVD | (04/02/2002) from £5.02   |  Saving you £7.97 (158.76%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Charming and bittersweet this modern-day romantic comedy starring Uma Thurman Janeane Garofalo and Ben Chaplin explores the beguiling perils of mistaken identity. Abby a gutsy and witty veterinarian who hosts her own radio talk show is anything but confident when it comes to love. A petite brunette she describes herself as tall and blonde when Brian a caller who is smitten with her radio persona asks her on a date. She talks her tall blonde neighbour Noelle into assuming

• The Choir | DVD | (20/03/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  This mini-series based on Joanna Trollope's novel explores the internal politics and scandals of a British cathedral choir school. It features the singing voice of first-time actor and boy treble soloist Anthony Way a real-life student at the St. Paul's Cathedral Choral School in London.

• Arsenic and Old Lace (Criterion Collection) | Blu Ray | (11/10/2022) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• X-Men: Beginnings Trilogy | Blu Ray | (10/07/2017) from £5.98   |  Saving you £7.36 (184.46%)   |  RRP £11.35

  Although the superhero comic book has been a duopoly since the early 1960s, only DC's flagship characters, Superman and Batman (who originated in the late 1930s) have established themselves as big-screen franchises. Until now--this is the first runaway hit film version of the alternative superhero X-Men universe created for Marvel Comics by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and others. It's a rare comic-book movie that doesn't fall over its cape introducing all the characters, and this is the exception. X-Men drops us into a world that is closer to our own than Batman's Gotham City, but it's still home to super-powered goodies and baddies. Opening in high seriousness with paranormal activity in a WW2 concentration camp and a senatorial inquiry into the growing "mutant problem", Bryan Singer's film sets up a complex background with economy and establishes vivid, strange characters well before we get to the fun. There's Halle Berry flying and summoning snowstorms, James Marsden zapping people with his "optic beams", Rebecca Romijn-Stamos shape-shifting her blue naked form, and Ray Park lashing out with his Toad-tongue. The big conflict is between Patrick Stewart's Professor X and Ian McKellen's Magneto, super-powerful mutants who disagree about their relationship with ordinary humans, but the characters we're meant to identify with are Hugh Jackman's Wolverine (who has retractable claws and amnesia), and Anna Paquin's Rogue (who sucks the life and superpowers out of anyone she touches). The plot has to do with a big gizmo that will wreak havoc at a gathering of world leaders, but the film is more interested in setting up a tangle of bizarre relationships between even more bizarre people, with solid pros such as Stewart and McKellen relishing their sly dialogue and the newcomers strutting their stuff in cool leather outfits. There are in-jokes enough to keep comics' fans engaged, but it feels more like a science fiction movie than a superhero picture. --Kim Newman

• Fast & Furious 1-8 (4K + Blu-ray) | Blu Ray | (15/07/2019) from £82.98   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  ALL 8 FILMS ON 4K ULTRA HD, & BLU-RAY ™ PLUS BONUS DISC Buckle up for nonstop action and mind-blowing speed in the high-octane Fast & Furious 8-Movie Collection. Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez and an all-star cast put pedal to the metal in pursuit of justice and survival as they race from L.A. to Tokyo, Rio to London, and Cuba to New York City. Packed with full-throttle action and jaw-dropping stunts, these eight turbo-charged thrill rides place you behind the wheel of the most explosive film franchise in history! HOURS OF BONUS FEATURES Deleted Scenes Outtakes Behind-the-Scenes Featurettes Feature Commentaries And Much More!

• Sex, Lies And Videotape | DVD | (16/09/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Steven Soderbergh made a striking directorial debut with 1989's Sex, Lies and Videotape, a film that's intimate yet alienated, objective yet intense. James Spader is at one with the part of friendly yet distant Graham, returning to his home town for a reunion with school friend and now up-and-coming lawyer, John, and his sexually frustrated wife, Ann. The "special project" that Graham keeps close to his chest in his apartment gradually draws in the others, turning their emotional lives upside down and providing the catharsis that they sorely need. Soderbergh keeps the pacing taut, encouraging an ensemble-like interplay that evokes a theatre piece perfectly remade for film. Andie MacDowell gives one of her most convincing screen portrayals as Ann, with Peter Gallagher cynically self-righteous as John. Laura San Giacomo proves choice casting as nymphet sibling Cynthia. Cliff Martinez's sultry ambient score adds much to the aura of mystery and intrigue. On the DVD: Sex, Lies and Videotape's widescreen picture format captures much of the movie's claustrophobic tension. There are overdubs in five European languages and subtitles in 13 languages, but no other special features--not even the original theatrical trailer--which is a pity. Soderbergh is among the most inventive directors at work today, so a commentary would have been a welcome enhancement. Even so, this DVD reissue reinforces the claims of an absorbing and disturbing indie masterpiece. --Richard Whitehouse

• The Relic | DVD | (25/02/2002) from £10.33   |  Saving you £2.65 (36.10%)   |  RRP £9.99

  The Relic is the story of a monster that runs amok in a Chicago museum on the very day the institution is holding a glitzy reception. Naturally, the museum bosses want to go ahead with their public relations even as the creature is decapitating victims. Penelope Ann Miller plays a scientist on the run from the critter (which is at times computer generated and reminiscent of the raptors in Jurassic Park), and Tom Sizemore is a cop looking for his cold-blooded (in every sense) killer. Peter Hyams (Timecop) directs, and as always he excels at managing the plastic action at the cost of real feeling and logic. (Much of the story is pretty laughable.) --Tom Keogh

• Bad Girls - Series 3 | DVD | (25/03/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £49.99

  Separated from their homes children and lovers the female inmates of HMP Larkhalls continue to struggle with the harsh reality of life in this hidden world. Bad Girls Series 3 doesn't shy away from the cruelties and tense relationships inside the prison but also captures the warmth and humour the women need to survive the system. This DVD release features all 16 episodes across 5 discs.

• Dawson's Creek - Seasons 1 To 6 | DVD | (30/01/2006) from £102.99   |  Saving you £-72.80 (N/A%)   |  RRP £30.19

  Join Dawson Paecy Joey and the gang for all six seasons of Kevin Williamson's smash-hit television series about a group of teenagers on the cusp of becoming adults. Featuring all the episodes ever made! For individual episode listings please refer to the individual box sets.

• Vertigo | Blu Ray | (23/09/2013) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Dreamlike and nightmarishly surreal, Vertigo is Hitchcock's most personal film because it confronts many of the convoluted psychological issues that haunted and fascinated the director. The psychological complexity and the stark truthfulness of their rampant emotions keeps these strangely obsessive characters alive on screen, and Hitchcock understood better than most their barely repressed sexual compulsions, their fascination with death and their almost overwhelming desire for transcendent love. James Stewart finds profound and disturbing new depths in his psyche as Scotty, the tortured acrophobic detective on the trail of a suicidal woman apparently possessed by the ghost of someone long dead. Kim Novak is the classical Hitchcockian blonde whose icy exterior conceals a churning, volcanic emotional core. The agonised romance of Bernard Herrmann's score accompanies the two actors as a third and vitally important character, moving the film along to its culmination in an ecstasy of Wagnerian tragedy. Of course Hitch lavished especial care on every aspect of the production, from designer Edith Head's costumes (he, like Scotty, was most insistent on the grey dress), to the specific colour scheme of each location, to the famous reverse zoom "Vertigo" effect (much imitated, never bettered). The result is Hitch's greatest work and an undisputed landmark of cinema history. On the DVD: This disc presents the superb restored print of this film in a wonderful widescreen (1.85:1) anamorphic transfer, with remastered Dolby digital soundtrack. There's a half-hour documentary made in 1996 about the painstaking two-year restoration process, plus an informative commentary from the restorers Robert Harris and James Katz, who are joined by original producer Herbert Coleman. There are also text features on the production, cast and crew, plus a trailer for the theatrical release of the restoration. This is an undeniably essential requirement for every DVD collection. --Mark Walker

• Superman Returns - Single Disc | DVD | (04/12/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £18.99

  Following a mysterious absence of several years, the Man of Steel comes back to Earth in the epic action-adventure.

• The Deuce: Season 1 | Blu Ray | (12/02/2018) from £18.19   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  The Deuce chronicles the rise of the porn industry that began in New York City in 1971-72, driven by the gradual legalization of porn and a politically motivated effort to clean up Times Square. Seizing the chance to cash in on the nascent porn business (and sometimes being consumed by it) are a vivid assortment of characters, including: Vincent Martino (James Franco), a bartender with vision and connections; Frankie Martino, Vincent's identical twin, a dangerously freewheeling counterpart to his entrepreneurial brother; Candy (Maggie Gyllenhaal), a self-made, on-the-street sex worker eying a new career in porn filmmaking; pimps C.C. (Gary Carr) and Larry Brown (Gbenga Akinnagbe); young prostitutes Darlene (Dominique Fishback) and Lori (Emily Meade); midtown cop Chris Alston (Lawrence Gilliard, Jr.); newspaper reporter Sandra Washington (Natalie Paul); mob capo Rudy Pipilo (Michael Rispoli); disillusioned college student Abby Parker (Margarita Levieva); and others. Over the course of eight S1 episodes, viewers will get an up-close look at a gritty world of sex, crime, high times and sudden violence, as the porn business begins its climb to legitimacy, cultural permanence and billion-dollar profitability.

• That Mitchell And Webb Look: Series 2 | DVD | (04/04/2016) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  These bootcut jeans from Red Herring come in dark blue, inspired by classic denim style to complete your casual wardrobe.

• Leonardo (Italy) - Season 01 | Blu Ray | (18/10/2021) from £24.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  A compelling look at one of the most restlessly brilliant men of all time, Leonardo da Vinci, Leonardo gets inside the mind of the genius, showing the drama behind his art and exploring a tantalizing murder-mystery.

• Bottle Rocket | DVD | (05/04/2004) from £19.99   |  Saving you £-7.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Bottle Rocket is a quietly daffy comedy that should have been an indie hit, but ended up being ignored by audiences. Too bad; it's a wonderfully sustained caper movie about friends whose career choice is all wrong. Low-key Anthony (Luke Wilson) and high-strung Dignan (Owen C Wilson--the two actors are brothers) are brought into a life of crime by Dignan's ambition to be a small-time thief. After a few amusingly laid-back trial burglaries, they (and a third buddy) find themselves over their heads when they hook up with an experienced crime boss (James Caan). Because this movie is so relentlessly deadpan, you really have to be dialled in to its brand of humour--but you're once there, Bottle Rocket shoots off plenty of sparks. Above all, Owen Wilson's portrayal of Dignan is a terrifically original comic creation; Dignan is so sincerely focused on his goals that he can't see how completely absurd his ideas are. Owen Wilson, who has since made something of a trademark out of similarly knuckle-headed performances in everything from Armageddon to Starsky & Hutch, wrote the screenplay with director Wes Anderson. --Robert Horton

• The China Syndrome | DVD | (09/10/2003) from £13.42   |  Saving you £-7.43 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  In 1979 The China Syndrome was the movie everyone was talking about thanks to the enormous publicity generated by the real-life Three Mile Island accident that not only mirrored the events depicted in the film but occurred just twelve days after the movie's release. Nominated for four Academy Awards - Best Actor (Lemmon) Best Actress (Fonda) Best Original Screenplay Best Art Direction The CHina Syndrome remains ""as explosive as the metaphor of its title"" (Los Angeles Herald Exa

• Don't Trust the B in Apt 23: The Complete Series | DVD | (08/10/2013) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• The Gingerbread Man | DVD | (11/10/1999) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  When released in 1997, The Gingerbread Man was the only John Grisham movie that did not use one of the popular novelist's bestsellers as its inspiration. Rather, it's based on an original screenplay by Grisham that displays the author's familiar flair for Southern characters and settings within a labyrinthine plot propelled by his trademark narrative twists and turns. Sporting a spot-on Georgian accent, Kenneth Branagh plays a Savannah attorney who comes to the assistance of a troubled woman (Embeth Davidtz) and finds himself enmeshed in a scenario involving the woman's father (Robert Duvall) that grows increasingly complex and dangerous, where nothing, of course, is really as it seems. It's a totally absorbing movie made in the modern film noir tradition; what's most interesting here (and most underrated by critics at the time) is the combination of Grisham's mainstream mystery and the offbeat style of maverick director Robert Altman. Despite a battle with executives that nearly caused Altman to disown the film, The Gingerbread Man demonstrates the director's skill in bringing a fresh, characteristically offbeat approach to conventional material, especially in the use of a threatening hurricane to hold the plot in a state of dangerous urgency. Unfortunately overlooked during its theatrical release, this intelligent thriller provides a fine double bill with Francis Coppola's film of Grisham's The Rainmaker. --Jeff Shannon