"Actor: James"

• The Jewel In The Crown - The Complete Series | DVD | (18/04/2005) from £18.91   |  Saving you £21.08 (111.48%)   |  RRP £39.99

  Available for the first time on DVD. A lavish 21st Anniversary edition of the seminal 'Jewel In The Crown' TV miniseries adapted from Paul Scott's Booker-winning 'Raj Quartet' novels. The British Raj: though their position outwardly seems secure the perceptive among the English nationals in India know that with impending moves towards independence ""their"" time in the sub-continent is coming to an end...

• 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

• Star Trek V: The Final Frontier 4K UHD | Blu Ray | (05/09/2022) from £19.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  ! The crew of the Federation starship Enterprise is called to Nimbus III, the Planet of Intergalactic Peace. They are to negotiate in a case of kidnapping only to find out that the kidnapper is a relative of Spock. This man is possessed by his life long search for the planet Shaka-Ri which is supposed to be the source of all life. Together they begin to search for this mysterious planet.

• Milk | DVD | (08/06/2009) from £7.55   |  Saving you £10.44 (138.28%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Gay Rights Activist. Friend. Lover. Unifier. Politician. Fighter. Icon. Inspiration. Hero. His life changed history, and his courage changed lives.

• To Kill a King | DVD | (01/09/2008) from £8.98   |  Saving you £9.00 (128.76%)   |  RRP £15.99

  With Tim Roth as Oliver Cromwell and Dougray Scott as Sir Thomas Fairfax, the film explores how the love and loyalty between two of the most fasicnating figures of the English Civil War turned to betrayal and political intrigue.

• That'll Be The Day / Stardust | DVD | (25/08/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £16.99

  That'll Be The Day: Abandoned by his father at an early age Jim MacLaine seems to have inherited the old man's restlessness. Despite his apparent intelligence Jim decides not to take the exams that would pave his way to university; he begins to think that the life of a pop musician might be the thing for him... Stardust: Jim is now enjoying the nomadic gigs and groupies' life of The Stray Cats. When he achieves all his wildest dreams of international stardom the sweet taste of success begins to turn sour...

• The Fall Of The Roman Empire | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £15.99   |  Saving you £-6.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  The second and last of Anthony Mann's historical epics is a smart, handsome spectacle of the decadence, corruption, and intrigue that tore apart the greatest empire the world has seen. The sprawling story spreads itself thin over a number of characters and stories. At the centre are handsome but stiff Stephen Boyd as Livius, the loyal soldier and symbolic son of the ageing emperor Marcus Aurelius(Alec Guinness), and Christopher Plummer as Commodus, the corrupt heir to the throne. They are boyhood friends turned enemies when the latter accedes to the throne and sells out the values of his father for greed and hedonistic pleasures. The three-hour running time is filled out with the tales of Sophia Loren (as the beautiful Lucilla in love with Livius but coveted by greedy Commodus) and a gallery of heroes and villains that includes James Mason, Mel Ferrer, Anthony Quayle, John Ireland, Omar Sharif, and Eric Porter. The film is highlighted with spectacular scenes--a grandiose funeral fit for an emperor, brutal battles in the provinces as the barbarians threaten the empire, and a climactic duel to decide the destiny of Rome--which Mann weaves into the shadowy intrigue of the halls of power. Like his previous epic El Cid, The Fall of the Roman Empire remains one of the best of the 1960s epics: well written (and historically accurate up to a point) with strong performances and a consistently elegant style, It lacks a central core and the magnetic hero of its superior predecessor. Ridley Scott's Gladiator (2000) tackles the same story with an updated action-adventure slant. --Sean Axmaker

• The Birdcage | DVD | (01/02/2000) from £11.26   |  Saving you £4.73 (42.01%)   |  RRP £15.99

  The great improvisational comedy team of Mike Nichols and Elaine May reunited to (respectively) direct and write this update of the French comedy La Cage Aux Folles. Robin Williams stars as a gay Miami nightclub owner who is forced to play it straight and ask his drag-queen partner (Nathan Lane) to hide out when Williams's son invites his prospective--and highly conservative--in-laws and fiancée to a meet-and-greet dinner party. Gene Hackman and Dianne Wiest play the straight-laced senator and his wife, and Calista Flockhart (from television's Ally McBeal) plays their daughter in a culture-clash with outrageous consequences. May's witty screenplay incorporates some pointed observations about the political landscape of the 1990s and takes a sensitive approach to the comedy's underlying drama. Topping off the action is Hank Azaria in a scene-stealing role as Williams's and Lane's flamboyant housekeeper, "Agador Spartacus." --Jeff Shannon

• Jimmy Carr - Live Stand Up 2 | DVD | (17/11/2005) from £5.52   |  Saving you £14.47 (262.14%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Following the huge success of Jimmy Carr Live the multi award-winning and critically acclaimed comedian Jimmy Carr returns with a brand new live stand-up DVD. As the face of Channel 4 Jimmy has risen to become one of the most original and distinctive stars of British Comedy developing the unique brand of perfectly timed one-liners and deadpan delivery for which he has become so well known. Recorded live at London's Bloomsbury theatre Jimmy unleashes brand new mate

• The Virtues | DVD | (12/08/2019) from £14.29   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Stephen Graham stars as Joseph, a moral yet troubled man who's lost everything he ever held dear. Joseph finds himself compelled to travel to Ireland to confront the demons that continue to haunt him from a childhood spent in the care system, a journey that will have savage and brutal consequences. His path soon crosses with that of Dinah, played by Niamh Algar. She's fiery and more than able to stand up for herself, but like Joseph she's also deeply guarded, holding close a secret she's hiding from all those around her. Joseph and Dinah's lives spiral intensely in and out of control as they both try to ground themselves, torn between morality and self-indulgence, defined by drug-induced self destruction, traumatised by their own harrowing histories, and yet enlightened by their dual faith in companionship. Survival instincts kick in as they pave their way to an unnerving and tormented future. Neither of them thought their lives would ever tangle into a delicate love story.

• Carry On Abroad | DVD | (17/02/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  One of the last decent Carry On movies, Carry On Abroad is a 1972 venture into the world of package holidays. After this, the series descended into unfunny coarseness as opposed to camply laboured double entendre, culminating in the dreadful Carry On Emanuelle. Here, publican Sid James and dutiful mother's son turned sex maniac Charles Hawtrey are among a brace of Brits heading for the "paradise island" of Elsbels. Kenneth Williams is the out-of-his-depth tour operator, reverting to the sort of effete types he played in the 1950s, Peter Butterworth a pre-Manuel-style manager of a half-built hotel. A series of disasters ensue, with the entire gang landing up in jail following a fracas in a brothel at one point, but everyone finds romantic and sexual fulfilment in a quaint disco finale. This includes a gay character who is "dissuaded" from his homosexuality in a typical example of the thoroughly reactionary subtext that constitutes the really naughty bit of most Carry On films. Nonetheless, this throwback to an imaginary time when the lewdest innuendo of a dirty old man was greeted by young females with a flirty "Ooh, saucy!" is enjoyable on condition that you enter into its seaside-postcard spirit. June Whitfield is fine as a sexually uptight wife, Kenneth Connor a model of red-faced frustration as her wimpish husband. On the DVD: Sadly, no extra features except scene selection. The picture is a 4:3 ratio full-screen presentation. --David Stubbs

• Buffy The Vampire Slayer - Season 6 | DVD | (08/05/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £34.99

  Season six of Buffy's exciting vampire vanquishing adventures. Episodes Comprise: 1. Bargaining - Part 1 2. Bargaining - Part 2 3. After Life 4. Flooded 5. Life Serial 6. All The Way 7. Once More With Feeling 8. Tabula Rasa 9. Smashed 10. Wrecked 11. Gone 12. Doublemeat Palace 13. Dead Things 14. Older And Far Away 15. As You Were 16. Hell's Bells 17. Normal Again 18. Entropy 19. Seeing Red 20. Villains 21. Two To Go 22. Grave

• Casino - 20th Anniversary Edition | Blu Ray | (04/05/2015) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £26.99

  Director Martin Scorsese reunites with members of his GoodFellas gang (writer Nicholas Pileggi; actors Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, and Frank Vincent) for a three-hour epic about the rise and fall of mobster Sam "Ace" Rothstein (De Niro), a character based on real-life gangster Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal. (It's modeled after on Wiseguy and GoodFellas and Pileggi's true crime book Casino: Love and Honor in Las Vegas.) Through Rothstein, the picture tells the story of how the Mafia seized, and finally lost control of, Las Vegas gambling. The first hour plays like a fascinating documentary, intricately detailing the inner workings of Vegas casinos. Sharon Stone is the stand out among the actors; she nabbed an Oscar nomination for her role as the voracious Ginger, the glitzy call girl who becomes Rothstein's wife. The film is not as fast paced or gripping as Scorsese's earlier gangster pictures (Mean Streets and GoodFellas), but it's still absorbing. And, hey--it's Scorsese! --Jim Emerson

• Trainspotting | DVD | (01/10/1999) from £6.18   |  Saving you £15.07 (306.30%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The film that effectively launched the star careers of Robert Carlyle, Ewan McGregor and Jonny Lee Miller is a hard, barbed picaresque, culled from the bestseller by Irvine Welsh and thrown down against the heroin hinterlands of Edinburgh. Directed with abandon by Danny Boyle, Trainspotting conspires to be at once a hip youth flick and a grim cautionary fable. Released on an unsuspecting public in 1996, the picture struck a chord with audiences worldwide and became adopted as an instant symbol of a booming British rave culture (an irony, given the characters' main drug of choice is heroin not ecstasy).McGregor, Lee Miller and Ewen Bremner play a slouching trio of Scottish junkies; Carlyle their narcotic-eschewing but hard-drinking and generally psychotic mate Begbie. In Boyle's hands, their lives unfold in a rush of euphoric highs, blow-out overdoses and agonising withdrawals (all cued to a vogueish pop soundtrack). Throughout it all, John Hodge's screenplay strikes a delicate balance between acknowledging the inherent pleasures of drug use and spotlighting its eventual consequences. In Trainspotting's world view, it all comes down to a question of choices--between the dangerous Day-Glo highs of the addict and the grey, grinding consumerism of the everyday Joe. "Choose life", quips the film's narrator (McGregor) in a monologue that was to become a mantra. "Choose a job, choose a starter home... But why would anyone want to do a thing like that?" Ultimately, Trainspotting's wised-up, dead-beat inhabitants reject mainstream society in favour of a headlong rush to destruction. It makes for an exhilarating, energised and frequently terrifying trip that blazes with more energy and passion than a thousand more ostensibly life-embracing movies. --Xan Brooks

• The Breed | DVD | (09/10/2003) from £6.98   |  Saving you £-0.99 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  With a hot cast and a sexy look 'The Breed' puts a stylish twist on the classic vampire tale. FBI Agent Steven Grant (Woodbine) is reluctantly assigned to track a renegade bloodsucker that is bent on exposing a government plan to integrate vampires into society. Along with his new partner 'good' vampire cop Aaron Grey (Paul) Grant follows the clues and the bodies to the lair of the stunningly beautiful Lucy (Ling). Trusting any vampire is difficult for Grant but when he finds hi

• Destry Rides Again | DVD | (04/06/2007) from £6.39   |  Saving you £3.60 (56.34%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Destry Rides Again will forever be remembered for Marlene Dietrich's performance as Frenchy a crooked saloon waitress with a heart of gold. Her rendition of ""See What the Boys in the Back Room Will Have"" is one of the highlights of her career. But Destry Rides Again has much more to offer than just Dietrich's performance. This hilarious satire carries Jimmy Stewart in the lead as Tom Destry a supposedly tough law enforcement man who doesn't like guns. Stewart's comic touches are brilliant as he eagerly gives out educational anecdotes anytime an opportunity affords itself. The plot concerns the efforts of a saloon owner and a corrupt Mayor to rob the local cowpokes blind. Frenchy's on the payroll of the bad guys but when sparks fly between her and Destry her loyalty becomes a deciding factor in whether it's Destry or the bad guys who will ride off into the sunset.

• The Aquabats Complete Season 1 (CITV) | DVD | (22/07/2013) from £16.16   |  Saving you £-3.17 (-24.40%)   |  RRP £12.99

• Warship: Series 1 | DVD | (15/09/2014) from £15.57   |  Saving you £14.42 (92.61%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Warship is the hugely popular naval drama series produced by the BBC in close collaboration with the Royal Navy, examining the working lives of Royal Marines at sea. The HMS Hero is captained by Commander Nialls (Donald Burton) and features David Savile and James Cosmo amongst the crew. The series focuses on the professional and personal lives of all crew members, from Captain right down to the lower decks, as they travel the world on tours of duty and tackle dangerous seafaring missions. Lau.

• Lord of the Flies (The Criterion Collection) | Blu Ray | (28/08/2017) from £17.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  In this classic 1963 adaptation of William Golding's novel Lord of the Flies, a planeload of schoolboys are stranded on a tropical island. They've got food and water; all that's left is to govern themselves peacefully until they are rescued. "After all", says choir leader Jack, "We're English. We're the best in the world at everything!" Unfortunately, living peacefully is not as easy as it seems. Though Ralph is named chief, Jack and the choristers quickly form a clique of their own, using the ever-effective political promise of fun rather than responsibility to draw converts. Director Peter Brook draws some excellent performances out of his young cast: the moment when Ralph realises that even if he blows the conch for a meeting people might not come is an excruciating one. Well acted and faithfully executed, Lord of the Flies is as compelling today as when first released. --Ali Davis

• The X Files: Season 2 | DVD | (11/10/2004) from £14.93   |  Saving you £20.06 (134.36%)   |  RRP £34.99

  Season Two, the 1994-95 run, of The X Files was the one where creator Chris Carter, having had a surprise hit when he expected a one-season wonder, started trying to make sense of all the storylines he had thrown into the pile in the first year. Moreover, he had to cope with Gillian Anderson's maternity leave by having Scully get abducted by aliens (back then, a pretty fresh device) for a few episodes and come back strangely altered. The season also inaugurated the tradition of opening ("Little Green Men") and closing ("Anasazi") with the show's worst episodes, both pot-boiling attempts to keep the alien infiltration/government conspiracy balls up in the air while seeming to offer narrative forward-thrusts or revelations. But it's also a show noticeably surer of itself than Season One, with its stars reading from the same page in terms of their characters' relationship and attitudes to the wondrous. Scully's no-longer-workable scepticism finally starts to erode in the face of Mulder's increasingly cracked belief. There are fewer marking-time leftover-monster-of-the-week shows--although we do get a human fluke ("The Host"), vampires ("3"), an invisible rapist ("Excelsius Dei") voodoo ("Fresh Bones")--and the flying-saucer stories at last seem to be going somewhere. The powerful two-episode run ("Duane Barry", "Ascension") features Steve Railsback as Mulder's possible future, an FBI agent burned out after a UFO abduction who has become a hostage-taking terrorist, which climaxes with Scully's disappearance into the light. The standout episode is also a stand-alone--"Humbug"--the first and still most successful of the show's self-parodies (written by Darin Morgan, who had played the Flukeman in "The Host"), in which the agents investigate a murder in a circus freakshow, allowing the actors to make fun of the mannerisms they have earnestly built up in a run of solemn, even somnolent, explorations of the murk. Other worthy efforts: "Aubrey", about genetic memory; "Irresistible", a rare (and creepy) straight psycho-chiller with little paranormal content; and "The Calusari", a good ghost/mystery. Rising deputy characters include Nicholas Lea as the perfidious Krycek and Brian Thompson as the shapeshifting alien bounty hunters. Notable guest stars: Charles Martin Smith, C.C.H. Pounder, Leland Orser, Terry O'Quinn, Bruce Weitz, Daniel Benzali, John Savage, Vincent Schiavelli, Tony Shalhoub. --Kim Newman