"Actor: Jane Hoffman"

• Batteries Not Included | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Five ordinary people needed a miracle. Then one night Faye Riley left the window open. When an unscrupulous real estate developer sends thugs into a deteriorating tenement to get rid of the last five tenants they need nothing short of a miracle to stay where they are. In this delightful fantasy presented by Steven Spielberg little stands between the brave holdouts and the street. But one night when all hope seems lost tiny visitors from outer space mysteriously glide th

• Happiness (Criterion Collection) - UK Only | Blu Ray | (30/09/2024) from £26.05   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  As disturbingly funny as it is audaciously empathetic, auteur of unease Todd Solondz's portrait of damaged souls reaching out for connection reveals the existential void underneath middle-class suburban normalcy. An extraordinary ensemble cast-including Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jane Adams, Lara Flynn Boyle, Ben Gazzara, and Dylan Baker-embodies an array of loosely connected New Jersey deviants, depressives, and misfits, among them a frustrated phone-sex pest, an all-American dad concealing his paedophilic urges, and a lonely woman with a grisly secret, all of whom want just one thing: to be loved. One of the most controversial films of the 1990s, the unflinching Happiness unnerves precisely because it dares to see the humanity in those most often denied it. FILM INFO- United States- 1998- 140 minutes- Colour- 1.85:1- English DIRECTOR-APPROVED BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES- New 4K digital restoration, supervised by director of photography Maryse Alberti, with 2.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack- New conversation between director Todd Solondz and filmmaker Charlotte Wells- New interview with actor Dylan Baker- Trailer- English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing- PLUS: An essay by novelist and screenwriter Bruce Wagner- New cover based on original poster art by Daniel Clowes

• Happiness | Blu Ray | (30/09/2024) from £29.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  As disturbingly funny as it is audaciously empathetic, auteur of unease Todd Solondz's portrait of damaged souls reaching out for connection reveals the existential void underneath middle-class suburban normalcy. An extraordinary ensemble cast-including Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jane Adams, Lara Flynn Boyle, Ben Gazzara, and Dylan Baker-embodies an array of loosely connected New Jersey deviants, depressives, and misfits, among them a frustrated phone-sex pest, an all-American dad concealing his paedophilic urges, and a lonely woman with a grisly secret, all of whom want just one thing: to be loved. One of the most controversial films of the 1990s, the unflinching Happiness unnerves precisely because it dares to see the humanity in those most often denied it. FILM INFO- United States- 1998- 140 minutes- Colour- 1.85:1- English DIRECTOR-APPROVED 4K UHD + BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES- New 4K digital restoration, supervised by director of photography Maryse Alberti, with 2.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack- One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and one Blu-ray with the film and special features- New conversation between director Todd Solondz and filmmaker Charlotte Wells- New interview with actor Dylan Baker- Trailer- English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing- PLUS: An essay by novelist and screenwriter Bruce Wagner- New cover based on original poster art by Daniel Clowes

• Happiness | DVD | (22/05/2000) from £8.49   |  Saving you £11.50 (135.45%)   |  RRP £19.99

  At times brilliant and insightful, at times repellent and false, Happiness is director Todd Solondz's multi-story tale of sex, perversion and loneliness. Plumbing depths of Crumb-like angst and rejection, Solondz won the Cannes International Critics Prize in 1998 and the film was a staple of nearly every critic's Top 10 list. Admirable, shocking, and hilarious for its sarcastic yet strangely empathetic look at consenting adults' confusion between lust and love, the film stares unflinchingly until the audience blinks. But it doesn't stop there. A word of strong caution to parents: One of the main characters, a suburban super dad (played by Dylan Baker), is really a predatory paedophile and there is more than an attempt to paint him as a sympathetic character. Children are used in this film as running gags or, worse, the means to an end. Whether that end is a humorous scene for Solondz or sexual gratification for the rapist becomes largely irrelevant. Happiness is an intelligent, sad film, revelatory and exact at moments. It's also abuse in the guise of art. That's nothing to celebrate. --Keith Simanton

• Deconstructing Harry | DVD | (04/02/2002) from £5.38   |  Saving you £9.61 (178.62%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Woody Allen roared back at his detractors with Deconstructing Harry, a bitterly funny treatise about the creative process. Known to mine his often tumultuous personal life for his movies, the embattled writer-director-star didn't bother to make his alter ego likable in this movie: Harry Block (Allen) pops pills, frequents prostitutes and cheats on the women in his life, then writes about their foibles in thinly disguised fiction. No wonder they're all furious with him. As Harry journeys to his alma mater with a hooker, ill pal and kidnapped son, a series of flashbacks unravel, juxtaposing Harry's relationships with their "slightly exaggerated" fictional counterparts. There are amusing cameos throughout, including a humorous turn by Demi Moore as a fictitious ex-wife who "became Jewish with a vengeance" and Billy Crystal as the devil who found Hollywood too nasty for his liking. The humour is dark and caustic but well worth it; Deconstructing Harry is a near-brilliant meditation on the sometimes queasy relationship between art, creator and critic.--Diane Garrett

• The Electric Horseman | DVD | (16/02/2004) from £5.38   |  Saving you £0.61 (10.20%)   |  RRP £5.99

  This rousing romantic adventure Robert Redford plays ex-world champion cowboy reduced to huckstering breakfast food in a suit studded with flash lights. Jane Fonda is a chic sharp member of the electronic media a TV newswoman who'll do anything to get a good story. When Redford rides out of Las Vegas casino into the desert astride his sponsor's living symbol a multi-million dollar racehorse Jane is determined to discover why. She does one step ahead of a posse of pursuing police. But by the time they reach a remote rendezvous high in the Utah mountains she is in love with both the Cowboy and his convictions...

• Agnes of God | DVD | (09/10/2003) from £15.57   |  Saving you £-9.58 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  This Broadway hit gets a solid film treatment by director Norman Jewison but that can't make up for the weaknesses of the script (which were as true onstage as they are here). Jane Fonda plays a chain-smoking shrink sent to a convent to do a psychological evaluation of a novice (Meg Tilly) who gave birth to a baby and then killed it in her little room. Was it a virgin birth? A miracle? And what of the bloody stigmata that seem to spontaneously appear on her hands? Fonda also finds herself clashing with the Mother Superior (Anne Bancroft) over the line between faith and science. But writer John Pielmeier can't flesh this out beyond an idea; in the end, the solution is a disappointingly earthbound one that even the strong acting in this film can't elevate. --Marshall Fine

• Comes A Horseman | DVD | (14/03/2005) from £3.43   |  Saving you £10.82 (498.62%)   |  RRP £12.99

  In an American West just coming to terms with the end of World War II Jane Fonda stars as a Colorado rancher struggling to keep her independence from ruthless local land mogul Ewing. Fonda teams up with another independent rancher and war veteran Frank and Frank's partner is killed. Frank and Ella develop a romantic relationship as they battle to save Ella's land but more than the land is at stake for Ewing. His desire to expand his ranching empire must come to terms with a force e

• Agnes Of God | DVD | (15/04/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  This Broadway hit gets a solid film treatment by director Norman Jewison but that can't make up for the weaknesses of the script (which were as true onstage as they are here). Jane Fonda plays a chain-smoking shrink sent to a convent to do a psychological evaluation of a novice (Meg Tilly) who gave birth to a baby and then killed it in her little room. Was it a virgin birth? A miracle? And what of the bloody stigmata that seem to spontaneously appear on her hands? Fonda also finds herself clashing with the Mother Superior (Anne Bancroft) over the line between faith and science. But writer John Pielmeier can't flesh this out beyond an idea; in the end, the solution is a disappointingly earthbound one that even the strong acting in this film can't elevate. --Marshall Fine

• The Electric Horseman | DVD | (24/12/2001) from £10.31   |  Saving you £2.68 (25.99%)   |  RRP £12.99

• Deep Blue Sea / Space Cowboys / Sphere | DVD | (08/10/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £30.99

  With a voracious trio of mako sharks wreaking havoc, Deep Blue Sea dares to up the ante on Jaws, but director Renny Harlin trades the nuanced suspense of Spielberg's 1975 blockbuster for the trickery of the digital age. In other words, why build genuine terror when you can show ill-fated humans getting torn into bloody chunks? It's inevitable that Saffron Burrows should end up in her underwear like Sigourney Weaver in Alien, but even then the movie offers a credible reason for the strip-down; that Deep Blue Sea can be simultaneously ridiculous and sensible is just another one of its shlocky charms. Space Cowboys is a slice of cornball Americana that's so much fun you'll be tempted to stand up and salute. Director and costar Clint Eastwood manages to turn what might have been ludicrous into a jubilant tribute to age and experience, and Space Cowboys succeeds as two movies in one--a comedy about retired pilots given one last shot at glory and an Apollo 13-like thriller with all the requisite heroics. Space Cowboys earns its wings, once again demonstrating Eastwood's comfort with any genre he chooses. From yet another derivative science fiction novel by Michael Crichton comes the equally derivative and flaccid movie Sphere, in which three top Hollywood stars struggle to squeeze tension and excitement out of material that doesn't match their talents. There are moments of high intensity and psychological suspense, and the stellar cast works hard to boost the talky screenplay. But it's clear that this was a hurried production (Hoffman and director Barry Levinson made Wag the Dog during an extended production delay), and as a result Sphere's look and feel is like a film that wasn't quite ready for the cameras. Though it's by no means a waste of time, it's undeniably disappointing. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com