"Actor: James X"

• When The Boat Comes In - Series 1 - Part 3 | DVD | (08/09/2003) from £11.45   |  Saving you £8.54 (74.59%)   |  RRP £19.99

  King for a Day. Sir Horatio Manners offers Jack a job which he can't afford to turn down. Meanwhile Bella is concerned about where Tom is getting his money from. Episode titles include: 'King For A Day' 'Happy New Year - Some Say' 'Heads You Win - Tails I Lose' 'Kind-hearted at With A Lifebelt'.

• The Russia House | DVD | (29/04/2002) from £8.96   |  Saving you £4.03 (44.98%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Intelligent casting, strong performances and the persuasive chemistry between Sean Connery and Michelle Pfeiffer prove the virtues in director Fred Schepisi's well-intended but problematic screen realization of this John Le Carré espionage thriller. At its best, The Russia House depicts the bittersweet nuances of the pivotal affair between a weary, alcoholic London publisher (Connery) and the mysterious Russian beauty (Pfeiffer) who sends him a fateful manuscript exposing the weaknesses beneath Soviet defence technology. Connery's Barley is a gritty, all-too-human figure who's palpably revived by his awakening feelings for Pfeiffer's wan, vulnerable Katya, whose own reciprocal emotions are equally convincing. Together, they weave a poignant romantic duet. The problems, meanwhile, emanate from the story line that brings these opposites together. Le Carré's novels are absorbing but typically internal odysseys that seldom offer the level of straightforward action or simple arcs of plot that the big screen thrives on. For The Russia House, written as glasnost eclipsed the cold war's overt rivalries, Le Carré means to measure how old adversaries must calibrate their battle to a more subtle, subdued match of wits. Barley himself becomes enmeshed in the mystery of the manuscript because British intelligence chooses to use him as cat's paw rather than become directly involved. Such subtlety may be a more realistic take on the spy games of the recent past but it makes for an often tedious, talky alternative to taut heroics that Connery codified in his most celebrated early espionage role. If the suspense thus suffers, we're still left with an affecting love story, as well as some convincing sniping between British and US intelligence operatives, beautifully cast with James Fox, Roy Scheider and John Mahoney. Veteran playwright Tom Stoppard brings considerable style to the dialogue, without solving the problem of giving us more than those verbal exchanges to sustain dramatic interest. --Sam Sutherland

• Rise of the Planet of the Apes - Triple Play (Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy) | Blu Ray | (12/12/2011) from £12.13   |  Saving you £12.86 (106.02%)   |  RRP £24.99

  RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES combines fantastic storytelling with the next leap in Visual Effects for an emotional and action-packed motion picture experience unlike any other.

• White Palace | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Glenn Savan's depressing and self-loathing novel about a 27-year-old upper-class Jewish widower mired in self-pity after his beloved wife dies, and who finds love and sexual rebirth with a trailer-trash older woman, was brought to the big screen by the competent director Luis Mandoki (When a Man Loves a Woman, Message in a Bottle). But the savage irony in Savan's book has been face-lifted by screenwriters Ted Tally (The Silence of the Lambs) and Alvin Sargent (Ordinary People) into something else entirely: what passes for low-rent "slumming" in Hollywood means hiring sexy Susan Sarandon to play Nora Baker, the poor, uneducated 43-year-old waitress in a White Palace burger joint who strikes up an unlikely relationship with sad Max Baron (James Spader). Widower Max attends a bachelor party for best pal Neil (Jason Alexander) and discovers that the local White Palace has stiffed the boys a whopping six burgers. Max barges into the joint, bent on getting his money back, and meets a testy Nora, who is bemused at the young man's insolence. While driving home, Max stops abruptly at a bar for a drink. Inside, Nora is nursing a vodka and takes a shine to the tuxedo-clad, handsome, and morose younger man. He gives her a lift, she seduces him, and the rest of the movie examines how two such opposites in manners and morals can find happiness. The only common bond they have is great sex and a private tragedy. White Palace nudges at the dark journey and the smashing of illusion that was at the heart of the novel, but there is still a fairy-tale element to the film that negates the earthy essence that distinguished the book. In Mandoki's vision, White Palace is about overcoming class, family, and outside opinion to find true love. In Savan's book, Max wastes into decline while Nora ultimately thrives in the quest for truth, redemption, and self-forgiveness. She becomes his salvation only after he stops hating himself. But mainstream Hollywood shuns making "protagonists" so mad, bad, or sad, and as such, too much glitter is tossed on Spader, while Sarandon, as usual, is the only one who seems to embody and understand her character's angst. She deserved her Oscar for Nora, not the nun in Dead Man Walking. --Paula Nechak

• The Postman | DVD | (25/09/1998) from £14.98   |  Saving you £-0.99 (N/A%)   |  RRP £13.99

  Falling from the Oscar-winning glory of Dances with Wolves to the opposite end of the critical and box-office scale, Kevin Costner must have been deeply humbled when this three-hour postapocalyptic tale--his sophomore effort as a director--was greeted with a critical thrashing and tepid audience response. One of the most conspicuous flops of its decade, the 1997 release must have seemed like a sure thing on paper: a kind of futurist Western starring Costner as a charismatic drifter-turned-hero who leads the resistance against a military tyrant (Will Patton) by reviving the long-dormant postal system to reunite isolated communities in their fight for freedom. The movie bombed, but, like many audacious failures, it's got qualities that make it at least partially endearing, and its earnestness (although bordering on corny) keeps it from being entirely silly. Faint praise, perhaps, but Costner's ode to patriotism is occasionally stirring and visually impressive. --Jeff Shannon

• BOLT 3D BD (SONY BUNDLE) | Blu Ray | (13/09/2010) from £3.55   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• The Definitive Ealing Studios Collection | DVD | (16/10/2006) from £109.99   |  Saving you £-69.99 (N/A%)   |  RRP £40.00

  A box set featuring 16 of the finest efforts from the house of Ealing. 1. Champagne Charlie (Dir. Alberto Cavalcanti 1944) 2. Dead of Night (Dirs. Alberto Cavalcanti & Charles Crichton 1945) 3. Hue & Cry (Dir. Charles Crichton 1947) 4. It Always Rains on Sunday (Dir. Robert Hamer 1947) 5. Kind Hearts and Coronets (Dir. Robert Hamer 1949) 6. The Ladykillers (Dir. Alexander Mackendrick 1955) 7. The Lavender Hill Mob (Dir. Charles Crichton 1951) 8. The Maggie (Dir. Alexander Mackendrick 1954) 9. The Magnet (Dir. Charles Frend 1950) 10. The Man in The White Suit (Dir. Alexander Mackendrick 1951) 11. Nicholas Nickelby (Dir. Alberto Cavalcanti 1947) 12. Passport To Pimlico (Dir. Henry Cornelius 1949) 13. Scott of The Antarctic (Dir. Charles Frend 1948) 14. The Titfield Thunderbolt (Dir. Charles Crichton 1953) 15. Went The Day Well? (Dir. Alberto Cavalcanti 1942) 16. Whisky Galore (Dir. Alexander Mackendrick 1949)

• Tommy and Tuppence - Partners in Crime | DVD | (20/07/2015) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

• Pixels | Blu Ray | (15/07/2019) from £6.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  When aliens misinterpret video-feeds of classic arcade games as a declaration of war against them, they attack the Earth, using the games like PAC-MAN, Donkey Kong, Galaga, Centipede and Space Invaders as models for their various assaults. President Will Cooper (Kevin James) has to call on his childhood best friend, '80s video game champion Sam Brenner (Adam Sandler) to lead a team of old-school arcaders (Peter Dinklage and Josh Gad) to defeat the aliens and save the planet. Special Features: The Creator of the Machine The Space Invader PAC-MAN Donkey Kong Centipede Galaga Q*Bert Dojo Quest Game On Music Video by Waka Flocka Flame ft. Good Charlotte

• The Nanny | DVD | (15/01/2007) from £9.79   |  Saving you £3.20 (32.69%)   |  RRP £12.99

  A Nanny anxious to remain head of a household will go to any lengths to maintain her station....

• Mulan 1 & 2 Duopack | Blu Ray | (29/10/2018) from £7.43   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Mulan: Celebrate the critically-acclaimed masterpiece Mulan -on Blu-ray™ High Definition. Mulan's triumphant tale of honour, courage and family pride shines brighter than ever with new digitally mastered picture and sound! Disney's original animated classic magically transforms an ancient Chinese legend into a spectaluar motion picture event. Relive all the wonder and excitement as Mulan breaks tradition by joining the Imperial Army accompanied by her hilarious guardian dragon, Mushu. Mulan's adventures lead her to a climactic battle, where her family's honour and the fate of her entire country rest in her hands! Experience the magic and the majesty of Mulan on Blu-ray! Mulan 2: The beautiful and courageous heroine is back - along with her hilarious guardian dragon Mushu and some great new friends - for more fun in the spectacular sequel to Disney's original classic. The spirited Mulan gets the thrill of her life when General Shang asks for her hand in marriage, but the surprises are just beginning. Throwing a wrench into their plans is the mischievous Mushu, who tried to keep the happy couple apart as long as possible in order to retain his job as her guardian dragon. Adding to their adventure is the fact that Mulan and Shang must escort three princesses across China to thier own arranged marriages. When she discovers that these three women aren't looking forward to their upcoming weddings, Mulan makes a bold decision that will change the course of history. Experience the laughs and excitement of Mulan 2, featuring irresistible music, great comedy, and a heartwarming story of courage and friendship. Features: Audio Commentary Deleted Scenes Classic Backstage Disney Artists' Journey: Storyboard To Film Design, Production Matchmaker Meets Mulan Classic Mulan & More

• Dawn of the Planet of the Apes / Rise of the Planet of the Apes | DVD | (24/11/2014) from £4.58   |  Saving you £2.38 (51.97%)   |  RRP £6.96

  Rise of the Planet of the ApesDirector Rupert Wyatt brings this action-packed blockbuster standing as a prequel to the popular Planet of the Apes series starring Brian Cox (Manhunter) John Lithgow (3rd Rock from the Sun Shrek) and Oscar nominee James Franco (Spider-man 127 Hours). Father and Son Charles and Will Rodman (Lithgow Franco) are two ambitious and extremely intellectual scientists from San Francisco. Their lives revolve around their work and all of their time is spent in the laboratory. Their latest experiment involving a chimp named Caesar (Andy Serkis) has seen the two spend many years in the lab and they finally think that the hard work is about to pay off. With Caesar becoming more and more advanced by the day there is a great risk that their genetic engineering has gone too far and Caesar is growing too intelligent. Realising his own incredible strength physically and psychologically Caesar now sets out on a mission to lead an uprising of apes to take over mankind. Being the only people that truly know Caesar and what he's capable of can Charles and Will put a stop to Caesar's reign of terror before it's too late? Dawn of the Planet of the ApesA growing nation of genetically evolved apes led by Caesar is threatened by a band of human survivors of the devastating virus unleashed a decade earlier. They reach a fragile peace but it proves short-lived as both sides are brought to the brink of a war that will determine who will emerge as Earth's dominant species.

• 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.

• Baby Driver | Blu Ray | (15/07/2019) from £6.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Baby (ANSEL ELGORT) a talented, young getaway driver relies on the beat of his personal soundtrack to be the best in the game. When he meets the girl of his dreams (LILY JAMES), Baby sees a chance to ditch his criminal life and make a clean getaway. But after being coerced into working for a crime boss (KEVIN SPACEY), he must face the music when a doomed heist threatens his life, love and freedom. Blu-ray Special Features: Over 20 Minutes of Extended & Deleted Scenes Mozart In A Go-Kart: Ansel Drives Animatics That's My Baby: Edgar Wright Find Something Funky on There: The Choreography I Need A Killer Track: The Music And much more!

• Amazing Grace | Blu Ray | (02/09/2019) from £9.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  In 1972, Aretha Franklin, the undisputed Queen of Soul, recorded an album of gospel music at The New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles, before an ecstatic live audience. The result, Amazing Grace, went on to become one of the biggest albums of Aretha Franklin's career and one of her most beloved works. But even as the album gained fans around the world, few realised that the inspirational sessions had not only been recorded, they had been filmed by a camera crew led by Oscar winning filmmaker Sydney Pollack. However, due to technical problems, the film has never been seen. Until now. Music lovers won't want to miss this thrilling film, which is both an extraordinary look at a key moment in American musical and social history, and an invaluable record of one of America's greatest artists doing what she did best. One of the great music films New York Times Pure, soaring joy James King, BBC Radio 2

• Donnie Darko | DVD | (19/05/2003) from £5.67   |  Saving you £15.58 (353.29%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Highschooler Donnie is plagued by visions of a giant evil rabbit who orders him to commit acts of violence and predicts the impending end of the world.

• Cross Of Iron | DVD | (18/04/2005) from £6.94   |  Saving you £10.05 (144.81%)   |  RRP £16.99

  In Cross of Iron Sam Peckinpah weighs in on World War II from the German point of view. The result is as bleak, if not quite as bloody, as one expects from the director of The Wild Bunch, in part because this 1977 film was cut to ribbons by nervous studio executives. The assorted excerpts that remain don't constitute an exhilarating or even an especially thrilling battle epic. The war is grinding to a close, and veterans like James Coburn's Steiner are grimly aware that it's a lost cause. The battlefield is a death trap of sucking mud and barbed wire, and the German generals (viz., the martinet played by James Mason) seem to pose a bigger threat to the life and limbs of Steiner's men than the inexorable enemy. Not even Peckinpah's famous sensuous exuberance when shooting violence is much in evidence; the picture is a depressive, claustrophobically overcast experience. The bloody high (or low) point isn't a shooting; it's a wince-inducing de-penis-tration during oral sex. For a fun time with the men in (Nazi) uniform, try Das Boot instead. --David Chute, Amazon.com

• The Wicked Lady | DVD | (15/03/2004) from £4.49   |  Saving you £5.50 (122.49%)   |  RRP £9.99

  An extraordinarily racy movie for its time, The Wicked Lady was and still is as notable for its acres of heaving bosom as for its radical challenge to female stereotypes. This bodice-ripper about a bored aristocratic woman who turns highwayman just for kicks became a huge box-office success in post-war Britain, but Margaret Lockwood's eloquent bust proved a bit too expressive for Hollywood, so the film was expensively reshot for a sanitised US release. (From 1945 right up to Janet Jackson at the 2004 Superbowl, American audiences apparently have an enduring problem with those prominent parts of the female anatomy). This is the definitive Gainsborough picture, a period romp crammed with cads, in which the camera gazes lasciviously down (it's all shot from a male eyelevel) at the low-cut ladies' dresses. But this time the female anti-heroine gives as good as she gets... and then some. Lockwood's Lady Barbara Skelton is quite gleefully amoral--more so even than Thackeray's arch-manipulator Becky Sharp from Vanity Fair--failing even to pay lip service to the moral standards of the 1940s, let alone those of the 17th century. It is she who wears the trousers (quite literally, in her highwayman guise) while the weak-chinned and weak-willed men around her crumble under the weight of their conventionality. Only James Mason's handsome dandy highwayman can keep up with her, but even he has to draw the line somewhere. Ultimately, social mores reassert their grip and Lady Barbara gets her comeuppance, but not before she's overturned every contemporary movie convention about femininity. "She was the wickedest woman ever seen on the screen", trumpets the original theatrical trailer on this otherwise bare-bones DVD release: it's still probably true even today. --Mark Walker

• Live and Let Die | DVD | (03/11/2003) from £3.75   |  Saving you £17.50 (702.81%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Roger Moore was introduced as James Bond in this 1973 action movie featuring secret agent 007. More self-consciously suave and formal than predecessor Sean Connery, he immediately re-established Bond as an uncomplicated and wooden fellow for the '70s. This film also marks a deviation from the more character-driven stories of the Connery years, a deliberate shift to plastic action (multiple chases, bravura stunts) that made the franchise more of a comic book or machine. If that's not depressing enough, there's even a good British director on board, Guy Hamilton (Force 10 from Navarone). The story finds Bond taking on an international drug dealer (Yaphet Kotto), and while that may be superficially relevant, it isn't exactly the same as fighting super-villains on the order of Goldfinger. --Tom Keogh, Amazon.comOn the DVD: Anyone old enough to remember the old milk marketing board commercials will relish the sight of James Bond exhorting everyone to "drink a pinta milka day" in one of the TV spots included here. Elsewhere in the special features, the characteristically in-depth "making of" featurette has a mixture of both contemporary and new interviews plus behind-the-scenes footage (the alligator-jumping sequence is positively hair-raising). The first of two audio commentaries is hosted by John Quark of the Ian Fleming Foundation and features a variety of cast and crew members, notably director Guy Hamilton; the second has writer Tom Mankiewicz on his own, who in between pauses has the occasional interesting thing to say. Overall another good package of features to accompany another excellent anamorphic print. --Mark Walker

• Ncis: Seasons 1-13 | DVD | (11/12/2017) from £89.99   |  Saving you £-17.73 (N/A%)   |  RRP £72.26

  All episodes from the first 13 seasons of the JAG spin-off series NCIS, centering on the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, a crack team of government agents who operate outside the military chain of command. These special agents traverse the globe, investigating crimes linked to the Navy or Marine Corps from murder and espionage, to terrorism and stolen submarines. More than just an action-packed drama, NCIS shows the sometimes complex, always amusing dynamics of a team forced to work together under high-stress situations.