"Actor: John C"

• 20 Million Miles To Earth | DVD | (24/06/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Notable neither for its director nor its stars, 20 Million Miles to Earth has been given the widescreen spit 'n' polish treatment because of its special-effects man, the legendary Ray Harryhausen. And it's his work here that makes this daft slice of hokum so watchable. When a group of Italian boat fishermen investigate a crash-landed space rocket returned from a trip to Venus, they find one surviving all-American hero and an alien in aspic: the Emere, a tiny homunculus hungry for sulphur and growing faster than a teenager on steroids. Cue man-vs-alien mayhem, screenfuls of avuncular patriarchs and the gratuitous destruction of Rome. A by-numbers B-movie, Harryhausen's sixth feature isn't a patch on his later Technicolor masterpieces, but the unusual Italian setting ("I wanted a trip to Europe") adds an exotic quality and his effects are as solid and convincing as ever. The film only really begins to crackle when his stop-motion creation is onscreen. Like a scaly King Kong, he's as likely to engender sympathy as fear: surely anyone who's been bombed, blasted, burnt, electrocuted, shot at by trigger-happy squaddies and involved in a punch-up with a pachyderm is entitled to lose their rag a little. And fans will enjoy spotting in the Emere the flowerings of Harryhausen's later and greater creations, Sinbad's Cyclops and The Titans' Calibos and Kraken. The denouement, with the creature atop the Colosseum, is as effective as that of Kong's. It wasn't beauty who killed the beast here, however, it was bombs. On the DVD: 20 Million Miles to Earth's black and white picture is clean and crisp in this anamorphic 1.85:1 widescreen transfer, and the Dolby digital mono soundtrack is clear enough. The theatrical trailer will please fans of kitsch, as will the featurette "This Is Dynamation" produced at the same time as the first Sinbad movie. The real corker here, though, is the generously lengthed documentary "The Harryhausen Chronicles". Narrated by Leonard Nimoy, this features a stellar cast of devotees (George Lucas among them) waxing lyrical about the influence of Harryhausen's films, and allows the man himself to ramble fascinatingly over clips of his filmic canon. The claw-slash menu marker is a nice touch, too. If you're a fan, this disc is Harryhausen heaven. --Paul Eisinger

• You Made Me Love You | DVD | (21/09/2015) from £7.98   |  Saving you £4.00 (66.78%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Monkey business abounds in this spirited musical comedy updating Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew to 1930s London, with Stanley Lupino as the young man attempting to tame his formidably feisty bride leading Hollywood comedienne Thelma Todd. You Made Me Love You is featured in a brand-new transfer from the original film elements, in its as-exhibited theatrical aspect ratio. Encountering a captivatingly beautiful young woman in a traffic jam, besotted songwriter Tom Daly is inspired to pen a successful new song, 'What's Her Name?' When Tom tracks down his mystery blonde he finds she's none other Pamela Berne, a horribly spoilt, fear-inspiring heiress who remains violently opposed to the idea of marriage!

• Wuthering Heights/Romeo And Juliet | DVD | (06/10/2008) from £8.08   |  Saving you £-0.09 (N/A%)   |  RRP £7.99

  Wuthering Heights: Emily Bronte's timeless tale of love and passion comes alive in this stirring film version starring Juliette Binoche and Ralph Fiennes. Show on location in Yorkshire this is the first screen adaptation to present Bronte's complete story of two generations of the Earnshaw and Linton families as their lives and fortunes intertwine in a complex web dominated by the passionate relationship between doomed lovers Heathcliff and Cathy. Fiennes gives a dynamic performance as Heathcliff and Binoche dazzles in the dual roles of Cathy Earnshaw and Catherine Linton in a movie that captures all the powers of the classic novel. Romeo And Juliet: Italian director Franco Zaffirelli stunned the screen world when he cast two young unknowns to portray the star-crossed lovers in Romeo and Juliet but it was a gamble that resulted in one of the most popular motion pictures of all time winning international acclaim and four Academy Award nominations. Shakespeare's classic romance comes to stunning visual life in a refreshingly modern interpretation bringing new vitality and insight to the most enduring love story ever written.

• The Terror Inside | DVD | (16/01/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  A woman bravely battles schizophrenia in this thought-provoking drama starring Heather Locklear.

• Alan Bleasdale Presents - Self-Catering - Ch4 | DVD | (04/06/2018) from £5.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Based on the play by Jim Morris. Blood on the Dole follows the lives of four teenagers, two boys and two girls, struggling to cope after being thrust into the real world for the first time after leaving school. Living in deprived Merseyside, the four youths' bright-eyed optimism for their futures and new-found freedom is soon crushed by the realities of unemployment, poverty, and the brutal reality of living and trying to find work in a city in decline. They all soon find themselves in the hopeless situation of facing complete dependence on state handouts, the dole . The four teenagers instead find themselves turning to each other to find the strength to survive. An impressively fresh social commentary and portrayal of teenage love set within a disturbingly authentic account of disenfranchised youth. With austerity still very much a part of our political climate, and recent films such as I, Daniel Blake continuing to challenge such government policy, Blood on the Dole is still a hugely relevant watch today. Produced by BAFTA-winner Alan Bleasdale as a part of the Alan Bleasdale Presents series, a Channel 4 anthology showcasing and given a platform to new, up-and-coming talent young writers. After his successes in landmark dramas including Boys from the Black Stuff, The Monocled Mutineer and GBH, in 1994 Channel 4 gave Alan Bleasdale the opportunity to find and mentor new TV writers. Four big-budget, standalone films were made as a result, with top casts and experimental storylines.

• Danger Diabolik | DVD | (13/08/2007) from £13.48   |  Saving you £-3.49 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  The suave psychedelic-era thief called Diabolik (John Philip Law) can't get enough of life's good - or glittery - things. Not when there are currency shipments to steal from under the noses of snooty government officials and priceless jewels to lift from the boudoirs of the superrich. The elusive scoundrel finds plenty of ways to live up to his name in this tongue-in-cheek live-action caper inspired by Europe's popular Diabolik comics. He clambers up walls zaps a press conference w

• Kavanagh Q.C. - The Complete Series 5 | DVD | (16/08/2004) from £8.97   |  Saving you £14.01 (234.28%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Coming from a working class northern background Kavanagh has risen to the top of an elite profession. However his dedication to justice has taken its toll on his private life... Episode comprise: 1. Previous Convictions 2. The More Loving One 3. Time Of Need 4. Endgames 5. The End Of Law (2 hour special episode)

• Stripes | DVD | (15/08/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  The story of a man who wanted to keep the world safe for democracy...and meet girls. When John Winger (Bill Murray) loses his job his car his apartment and his girlfriend-all in one day-he decides he only has one option: volunteer for Uncle Sam. Way over their head they eventually learn the ropes and manage to take a top-secret U.S. recreational vehicle behind the Iron Curtain on a road trip...

• A Walk In The Sun: The Definitive Restoration (2 Disc Collector's Set) | Blu Ray | (21/01/2022) from £17.22   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Midsomer Murders: Christmas Collection | DVD | (04/09/2017) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.95

  Based on Caroline Graham's novels and featuring the stolid crime-solving skills of Detective Chief Inspector Barnaby, Midsomer Murders made their television debut in 1997 and continue to keep viewers happy with that potent whodunnit ingredient: spectacularly bloody murders in the most tranquil rural settings the Shires have to offer. Midsomer is a vaguely defined area of villages and hamlets with charming names like Badger's Drift and Goodman's Land. It also has the highest number of violent deaths per capita outside the average war zone. Serial killings abound to test the nerve of Barnaby (John Nettles) and his sidekick Sergeant Troy (Daniel Casey), a dullard easily perplexed by a world which refuses to stick to his black and white view of things. Nettles is excellent; there's a hint of Bergerac still, now heavier of jowl and broader of beam, though the chasing is necessarily limited and the DCI enjoys the home comforts of an understanding wife and a spirited daughter. "Every time I go into any Midsomer village, it's always the same thing", he huffs. "Blackmail, sexual deviancy, suicide and murder." Ain't it the truth? The murders are astonishing. Family feuds, jealousy, incest, industrial espionage, all erupt at regular intervals leaving a trail of bodies with throats slashed, limbs dismembered and blood absolutely everywhere. Rivers of sheer nastiness run deep beneath the superficially pastoral perfection of Midsomer. Thank goodness there are still men like dependable Barnaby to get to the bottom of things. Eventually. Sure of Barnaby’s eventual success, Midsomer Murders make for a cosy, even comforting, couple of hours curled up in front of the television. And they make a great showcase for star turns from the great stable of British character actors, too, from Celia Imrie and Elizabeth Spriggs to Imelda Staunton and Duncan Preston, who invariably turn this whimsical stuff into the tastiest possible ham.--Piers Ford

• Attack Force Z | DVD | (01/09/2008) from £12.39   |  Saving you £-2.40 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Mel Gibson co-stars with Sam Neill in this action-packed World War II adventure story. An elite Australian military team is dispatched to rescue survivors of a shot-down plane stranded on a South Pacific island occupied by the Japanese. One of the castaways may hold the secret to ending the war and must be saved at all costs...

• Lords Of Dogtown / Dogtown And Z-Boys | DVD | (16/01/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Lords Of Dogtown: Anyone who grew up in Southern California will talk with both nostalgia and frustration about the periodic summers of drought in which the oppressive heat is exacerbated by a shortage of its antidote--fresh water. In 1975 a clan of scruffy rebellious teens found a way to turn this dearth to their advantage using the sloping bowl of empty suburban swimming pools to create a new underground sport - skateboarding. The development explosion and corporate co-

• Phenomenon - The Lost Archives - Vol. 6 | DVD | (23/07/2001) from £9.99   |  Saving you £3.00 (30.03%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Governments multinational corporations and religious organisations have secretly wielded tremendous power by holding back critical data or spreading misinformation to further their own aims. This program exposes the almost inconceivable stories of deceit conspiracy sanctioned piracy and scientific knowledge hidden from the world for far too long! American Midnight: This shocking power-packed indictment brings into sharp focus the Iran/Contra conspiracy through the least likely of events: the slaying of two innocent high school students. Out for a night of fun near a local airstrip these unassuming local boys witness an airdrop of drugs by the infamous international drug smuggler and CIA operative Barry Seal. Though some of the drug smugglers are jailed and others pay with thier lives the remaining victims - the boy's parents and the American people - have yet to achieve justice. H.A.A.R.P.: Holes In Heaven?: High-Frequency Active Aural Research Project or H.A.A.R.P. is a top-secret combined effort of the Air Force and Navy designed ostensibly to influence the weather. Consisting of large fields of high-energy projectors this brainchild of the controversial inventor Nikola Tesla has been associated with everything from the breakdown of the ozone layer to particle beam weapons. H.A.A.R.P. has achieved long-range undersea communications but its clandestine applications are what make it controversial as scientists research the system's potential use as a long-range particle beam weapon with the ability to alter the electrical impulses of the human brain. Narrated by Martin Sheen.

• Fellini's Casanova | DVD | (31/10/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Eschewing the path of glorification Fellini's Casanova seeks to humanize the man behind the myth by presenting him as just a normal human being swept up by extraordinairy circumstances. Rather than depict the great lover as a romantic compassionate man Fellini sought to present him as a pompous sex machine therefore stripping the character of his literary majesty. For his tremendous efforts Danilo Donati won an Oscar for Best Costume Design and the film just missed

• The The Marriage Of Maria Braun | DVD | (07/08/2006) from £22.82   |  Saving you £-2.83 (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Maria (Hanna Schygulla) marries Hermann Braun in the last days of World War II only for him to disappear in the war. Alone Maria uses her beauty and ambition to prosper in Germany's ""economic miracle"" of the 1950s. Fassbinder's biggest international box-office success and the first part of his 'postwar trilogy' (along with Veronica Voss and Lola) The Marriage of Maria Braun is a heartbreaking study of a woman picking herself up from the ruins of her own life as well as a pointed metaphorical attack on a society determined to forget its past.

• Inspector Morse - Disc 23 And 24 - The Death Of The Self / Absolute Conviction | DVD | (12/08/2002) from £5.38   |  Saving you £9.61 (178.62%)   |  RRP £14.99

  When Inspector Morse first appeared on television in 1987, nobody could have predicted that it would run into the next century, maintaining throughout a quality of scripts and story lines that raised the genre of the detective series to a new level. Much of its success can be attributed to John Thaw's total immersion in the role. Morse is a prickly character and not obviously easy to like. As a detective in Oxford with unfulfilled academic propensities, he is permanently excluded from a world of which he would dearly love to be a part. He is at odds with that world--and with his colleagues in the police force--most of the time. Passionate about opera and "proper beer", he is a cultural snob for whom vulgarity causes almost physical pain. As a result, he lives from one disillusionment to another. And he is scarred--more deeply than he would ever admit--by past relationships. But he also has a naïve streak and, deep-down sensitivity, which makes him a fascinating challenge for women. At the heart of Morse's professional life is his awkward partnership with Detective Sergeant Lewis, the resolutely ordinary, worldly sidekick who manages to keep his boss in an almost permanent state of exasperation while retaining his grudging respect. It's a testament to Kevin Whateley's consistently excellent performance that from such unpromising material, Lewis becomes as indispensable to the series as Barrington Pheloung's hypnotic, classic theme music. Morse's investigations do occasionally take him abroad to more exotic locations, but throughout 14 successful years of often gruesome murders, the city of Oxford itself became a central character in these brooding two-hour dramas: creator Colin Dexter stating he finally had to kill Morse off because he was giving Oxford a bad reputation as a dangerous place! --Piers Ford

• Cunningham | DVD | (06/07/2020) from £5.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Cunningham traces Merce Cunningham's artistic evolution over three decades of risk and discovery (1944 1972), from his early years as a struggling dancer in postwar New York to his emergence as one of the world s most visionary choreographers. The 3D technology weaves together Merce's philosophies and stories, creating a visceral journey into his innovative work. A breathtaking explosion of dance, music, and never-before-seen archival material, Cunningham is a timely tribute to one of the world s greatest modern dance artists.

• Lady Macbeth Of Mtsensk - Shostakovich | DVD | (01/09/2004) from £12.82   |  Saving you £3.17 (19.80%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Filmed in Barcelona at the Gran Teatro Del Liceu this new production of the 'Lady Macbeth Of Mtsensk' by composer Dimitry Shostakovitch features the Symphony Orchestra of the Gran Teatro Del Liceu; conducted by Alexander Anissimov.

• Wwe: The Best Of Raw And Smackdown 2013 | DVD | (10/03/2014) from £6.99   |  Saving you £23.00 (329.04%)   |  RRP £29.99

  WWE's landmark 50th year of Sports Entertainment proved to be one of the greatest in its illustrious history. A year that began with The Great One's return for one last championship run concluded with WWE's most prestigious prizes hanging in the balance awaiting the ascension of a true Champion of Champions. Along the way a scrappy bearded underdog challenged the status quo and captured the hearts of the WWE Universe much to the chagrin of the malicious Authority an evil genius concocted a new stable of minions a giant faced an uphill battle for respect and several new faces burst onto the scene looking to leave their mark in WWE. Relive all this and more as WWE presents The Best of Raw and SmackDown 2013.

• Gold | DVD | (06/08/2001) from £9.77   |  Saving you £-3.78 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Featuring a score by Elmer Bernstein unique opening credits by Bond optical effects veteran Maurice Binder and gritty performances by Roger Moore and Ray Milland 'Gold' is a superb adaptation of Wilbur Smith's acclaimed novel concerning a group of greed-driven businessmen conspiring to flood a South African gold mine... ....spectacular underground sequences and a rousing finale - Halliwell's Film And Video Guide 1999.