"Actor: John S"

• Agatha Christie: ABC Murders | DVD | (11/03/2019) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  1933. Hercule Poirot (John Malkovich), older and greyer, receives letters threatening murder. The sender signs themselves only as A.B.C. When he takes the letters to the police looking for help Hercule finds all his old friends have moved on. The new guard led by hot headed Inspector Crome (Rupert Grint) are not interested in his story. But soon there is a murder, and in order to have any hope of catching the killer, the once great detective must take matters into his own hands. In her fourth Agatha Christie adaptation, BAFTA® nominated writer Sarah Phelps (Ordeal By Innocence, And Then There Were None) brings Hercule Poirot and his little grey cells back onto our television screens in one of the most surprising and unusual appearances by one of literature's most iconic detectives.

• Blow Up | DVD | (12/04/2004) from £4.99   |  Saving you £9.00 (180.36%)   |  RRP £13.99

  Michelangelo Antonioni's close-up of Swinging Sixties London. David Hemmings plays a master photographer who explores the city twenty-four hours a day focusing in on the world's most beautiful models. One day he takes some photographs of a couple embracing in a park and suspects he has stumbled across a murder. Antonioni received Academy Award nominations for Best Writer and Best Director in 1966 for this his first English Language film.

• From Here To Eternity | DVD | (14/01/2002) from £4.94   |  Saving you £15.05 (304.66%)   |  RRP £19.99

  From Here to Eternity offers a much more heartfelt interpretation of the event that propelled the United States into World War II than any film made in recent years. Here there are no angst-ridden scenes where "true love" returns from the dead, no costly CGI and definitely no Hallmark happy ending. This is a film about illicit sex, military machismo and tragic loss of love, friendship and ultimately life. The filmmakers did, however, have to make some compromises when adapting James Jones's novel: Alma becomes a "hostess" rather than a prostitute and the very downbeat ending, where Captain Holmes is essentially rewarded for his brutality by the military, was replaced with the morally acceptable punishment of his actions by a more self-aware army. Although Private Robert E Lee Pruitt's story provides the meat of the film, there are other subplots woven into the narrative, including a couple of doomed love affairs, which explore themes of adultery and social acceptance. Sergeant Warden (Burt Lancaster) begins a torrid affair with the commander's wife Karen (Deborah Kerr) leading to one of the most famous moments in movie history--the "clinch in the surf". From then on everything is challenged. Love, honour and eventually whether you should conform or stand up for what you believe in. At the end the couples are left wondering about the future of their relationship, but fate decides for them as the Japanese launch their attack on Pearl Harbor, leaving us with one of the most dramatic and moving endings of any war film. On the DVD: The black and white film is not anamorphically enhanced but presented full frame in its original aspect ratio of 1.37:1, although the transfer is well done and the picture is pretty sharp. Sound is 2.0 mono rather than the standard 5.1 reworking of the audio track, and it works. The dialogue is clear without any noticeable hiss. There's a 22-minute "making of" documentary, which doesn't really do justice to the film and contains very little information of interest. Along with this is Fred Zinnemann's As I See It, an extract from the director's home video footage from the shoot. You also get the theatrical trailer, but the best feature is the audio commentary, by Fred Zinnemann's son Tim and screenwriter Alvin Sargent, which has some fantastic detail about the struggle between director and studio-head Harry Cohn over casting, along with the run-ins with the censor and US military over the "inflammatory nature" of the film.--Kristen Bowditch

• 2012 | DVD | (29/03/2010) from £3.91   |  Saving you £16.08 (411.25%)   |  RRP £19.99

  "2012" is an epic adventure about a global cataclysm that brings an end to the world and tells of the heroic struggle of the survivors.

• Richie Rich | DVD | (15/02/2021) from £6.49   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  His baseball coach is Reggie Jackson, his own personal McDonald's is inside the family mansion, and his array of gadgets like the Dadlink, the Smell-Master and RoboBee would astonish any techno-buff. You've never seen a world like Richie Rich's. But now the welcome mat is out for you to stay as long as you like. In a comedy adventure with lots of heart (Los Angeles Times), Macaulay Culkin portrays the world's wealthiest youngster, likable but isolated, who has everything except friends until he hits it off with some sandlot kids. He'll need their help when a scheming advisor (John Larroquette) plots to dispose of Richie's parents (Edward Herrmann and Christine Ebersole) and plunder the family vault. It's all such exciting fun even the world's richest kid can't afford to miss it!

• Klimt | DVD | (03/12/2007) from £19.85   |  Saving you £-3.86 (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  A portrait of the Austrian artist Gustav Klimt whose lavish sexual paintings came to symbolize the art nouveau style of the late 19th and early 20th century.

• Only You | DVD | (01/11/1999) from £3.99   |  Saving you £16.00 (401.00%)   |  RRP £19.99

  While director Norman Jewisons Moonstruck is a romantic cornerstone, this 1994 film is often overlooked. Its a sweet valentine about a young woman, aptly named Faith (Marisa Tomei, never cuter), who chases an unknown man to Europe because the name "Damon Bradley" was once spelled on a Ouija board as her true love. With her sister-in-law (Bonnie Hunt, whose own marriage seems to be falling apart), she travels the streets of Rome looking for Damon Bradley. And lo and behold, she literally runs into a man claiming to be Damon. Is this meant to be? Faith certainly thinks so. Robert Downey Jr. (also never cuter) plays Damon in a role that showcases his charms. He shows his quick wit in handing Faiths advances and his absolute devotion to her when the winds change. Despite the cuteness factor, this is a movie to fall in love with. Jewison and Sven Nykvist (Ingmar Bergmans cameraman) present a sun-kissed Italy so beautiful, you might be tempted to hop on a plane immediately after viewing the movie. --Doug Thomas

• The Fighting Temptations | DVD | (05/04/2004) from £7.19   |  Saving you £8.80 (122.39%)   |  RRP £15.99

  A New York advertising exec travels to a small Southern town to collect an inheritance but finds he must create a succcesful gospel choir before he can collect. Cuba Gooding Jr and Beyonce Knowles team up for a belting musical comedy.

• The Robe | DVD | (04/07/2005) from £11.11   |  Saving you £1.88 (16.92%)   |  RRP £12.99

  The first movie ever filmed in CinemaScope The Robe was nominated for five Academy Awards in 1953 including Best Picture and Best Actor for Richard Burton. Burton stars as Marcellus Gallio the Roman centurion charged with overseeing the crucifixion. But when he wins Christ's robe in a gambling game at the foot of the cross his life is changed forever. With its inspired story set to a spectacular score and featuring an all-star cast including Victor Mature and Jean Simmon

• Orange County | DVD | (07/07/2003) from £3.49   |  Saving you £12.50 (358.17%)   |  RRP £15.99

  A guidance counselor mistakenly sends out the wrong transcripts to Stanford University under the name of an over-achieving high schooler.

• Hot Metal - The Complete Series | DVD | (18/10/2010) from £9.21   |  Saving you £10.78 (117.05%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Satirical sitcom about life on the tabloid side of Fleet Street. Robert Hardy stars as muck-raking editor Russell Spam forever battling his superior Harold Stringer (Geoffrey Palmer) who tries but fails to maintain what he sees as the 'dignity' of the press.

• Sharpe's Mission / Sharpe's Revenge | DVD | (09/09/2002) from £5.50   |  Saving you £10.75 (253.54%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Based on the novels by Bernard Cornwell, Sharpe (1993-7) ran to 14 full-length television films that follow the adventures of the titular soldier through the later years of the Napoleonic Wars. The programmes are an outstanding achievement for the small screen, dominated by Sean Bean's central performance as the heroic, troubled outsider who turns out to be a resourceful and loyal leader. Bolstered by a strong supporting cast, particularly Daragh O'Malley as Harper and (in later episodes) Abigail Cruttenden as Jane, Sharpe is often visually striking, the action tense and gripping. Consistency is maintained by all 14 episodes being directed by Tom Clegg. --Gary S Dalkin

• Death In Paradise - Series 7 | DVD | (26/02/2018) from £7.99   |  Saving you £6.00 (75.09%)   |  RRP £13.99

  Jack Mooney is starting to settle in the sun-soaked island of Saint-Marie, and he has some impossible mysteries to solve. A champion poker player, apparently poisoned at the table in front of an astonished audience. A novelist, murdered in a plot more surprising than anything he's ever written. And a spiritual leader, strangled at a time when all the suspects were each other's alibis. Jack's laconic style belies a sharp mind and relentless determination. He's a brilliant detective, and he'll need all his instinctive genius to solve these perplexing murders.

• Message In A Bottle | DVD | (18/10/1999) from £7.19   |  Saving you £6.80 (94.58%)   |  RRP £13.99

  If, as they say, you're in a certain mood, Message in a Bottle can be just the ticket. Based on Nicholas Sparks' bestselling novel, this handsome but overly calculated romantic tale stars Robin Wright Penn as Theresa, a Chicago Tribune researcher who finds a note encased in a green bottle that has floated onto a Cape Cod shore. The message within is a heartfelt, yearning declaration of love to a woman named Catherine but the author is unknown until Theresa (rather improbably) tracks him down in North Carolina. He's Garret Blake (Kevin Costner), a taciturn builder of sailboats and a grieving widower whose late wife, poetically speaking, was the intended recipient of the seafaring note Theresa found. Theresa, a divorcée with a son, decides to meet Garret, only to find him as bottled-up as his message. Nevertheless, a romance blooms on the strength of quality time in a sailboat and lots of cuddling, though the script tosses in bits of conflict to keep their relationship spicy. Directed by Luis Mandoki (When a Man Loves a Woman), this love story is entirely by the numbers, with Costner inhabiting (rather than performing) a stock fantasy of a man perfect in every way save his broken heart. Penn brings more vibrancy to her equally predictable part but fortunately for all, Paul Newman, John Savage, Robbie Coltrane and Illeana Douglas are on hand in nicely textured character parts. Sometimes predictability is exactly what one wants when settling in for an evening of home video, and this movie fits the bill nicely. The appealing cinematography is by ace cameraman Caleb Deschanel. --Tom Keogh

• The Princess Diaries 2 - Royal Engagement | DVD | (21/02/2005) from £6.97   |  Saving you £11.02 (158.11%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Okay, sure, if you're a ten-year-old girl, this sequel to Disney's 2001 hit will completely transfix you. How could it not? Bubbly Mia (Anne Hathaway), the American teenager who in the first film learned she was actually European royalty, finishes college and--whoosh!--heads off to Genovia, where she’s given a closet full of fabulous clothes and jewelry in preparation to rule the kingdom under the tutelage of grandmother Julie Andrews. Throw in a horse and a volatile but innocent romantic attraction to the dreamy young stud (Chris Pine) who's also vying for the throne, and you have the kind of stuff that prepubescent girls rhapsodize about at slumber parties. Oh--and there's a slumber party here, too, featuring a bevy of cute, international young princesses mattress-surfing down a giant slide. Resistance is futile. For the rest of us, though, director Garry Marshall has managed to make his Laverne & Shirley days seem positively Shakespearean in comparison. The movie is precious, padded (two hours!), and pandering twaddle; Andrews, in her role as Queen Mother, is even shoehorned into a faux-hip-hop duet with Disney Channel favorite Raven (one of many, many grueling moments intended to sell the soundtrack). Then the film takes a maddening left turn three-quarters of the way into the plot and decides that, despite all the preceding consumption and connubial fantasies to the contrary, it's really about feminine emancipation. But don’t worry--what causes you to smack your forehead in frustration will go right over the heads of its hypnotized target market. --Steve Wiecking

• Star Wars: Clone Wars - Volume 2 | DVD | (05/12/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  ""Run Jedi run! You have only prolonged the inevitable."" All five 12-minute chapters of Volume 2 are included in this release chronicling Anakin's rise to Jedi Knight; as well as General Grievous' daring attack against the Republic capital leading directly into the events of Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith. As the Republic desperately fights back against the Separatist forces Anakin Skywalker is promoted to the status of Jedi Knight forgoing the

• Brannigan | DVD | (12/01/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  The story of Brannigan a tough unconventional Chicago cop who trails an international racketeer to London where he finds his methods contrast sharply with those of the stiff-upper-lipped British...

• The West Wing - Complete Season 4 | DVD | (27/09/2004) from £9.25   |  Saving you £54.00 (675.84%)   |  RRP £61.99

  The fourth season of intrigue within the Bartlet administration. 1. 20 Hours In America: Part I 2. 20 Hours In America: Part II 3. College Kids 4. The Red Mass 5. Debate Camp 6. Game On 7. Election Night 8. Process Stories 9. Swiss Diplomacy 10. Arctic Radar 11. Holy Night 12. Guns Not Butter 13. The Long Goodbye 14. Inauguration: Part I 15. Inauguration: Over There 16. The California 47th 17. Red Haven's On Fire 18. Privateers 19. Angel Maintenance 20. Evidence Of

• Wargames | DVD | (10/02/2014) from £6.45   |  Saving you £3.54 (54.88%)   |  RRP £9.99

  David Lightman (Matthew Broderick) is a young computer whizz who hacks into what he believes is a new line of video games, little knowing that it is in fact NORAD, America's defence program. He inadvertently creates a hostile global situation, placing the world on the brink of nuclear war. Together with his girlfriend Jennifer (Ally Sheedy) and a misanthropic computer expert (John Wood), David must fight to prevent an atomic meltdown.

• Ryan's Daughter | DVD | (13/02/2006) from £6.97   |  Saving you £10.02 (143.76%)   |  RRP £16.99

  World War I seems far away from Ireland's Dingle peninsula when Rosy Ryan Shaughnessy goes horseback riding on the beach with the young English officer. There was a magnetic attraction between them the day he was the only customer in her father's pub and Rosy was tending bar for the first time since her marriage to the village schoolmaster. Then one stormy night some Irish revolutionaries expecting a shipment of guns arrive at Ryan's pub. Is it Rosy who betrays them to the British? Wi