"Actor: John Smith"

• Are You Being Served? - The Movie | DVD | (22/04/2002) from £14.84   |  Saving you £-0.85 (N/A%)   |  RRP £13.99

  Writers Jeremy Lloyd and David Croft managed something quite clever with this, the film version of the 1970s sitcom Are You Being Served?. The idea of this cheery collection of comedy stereotypes--the pompous one, the vulgar one, the camp one, the shifty one and so on--being confined within a department store was a master stroke, as it allowed any kind of situation to arise without the plot having to exceed the restrictions imposed by the set. How, then, to keep the same theme for the big screen without just offering the television series writ large? Simple: send the whole cast on holiday together but make sure they can't leave their hotel, a state of affairs contrived easily enough by throwing a guerilla uprising into the plot. So it is, then, that the staff of Grace Bros. descend on the Costa Plonka while the store is closed for refurbishment. There are all the usual jokes involving knickers, boobs, toilets and gay sex (sometimes all at once), adding up to a good slice of nostalgic fun for anyone who was there when lapels really were that wide. Incidentally, this item is worth having just for the wonderful Frank Langford caricatures on the cover. On the DVD: Are You Being Served? comes to the digital format with just one extra item, a trailer.--Roger Thomas

• The Royle Family - The Complete First Series | DVD | (06/11/2000) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  On paper, The Royle Family doesn't sound that promising: a working-class family from Manchester sit in their cluttered living room, watch the telly and argue over domestic details (the arrival of a telephone bill, for instance, provides the big dramatic event of the first episode, which aired in September 1998). But from such small everyday incidents, Royle Family creators Caroline Aherne and Dave Best (who play young couple Denise and Dave) have crafted one of the most successful shows on British television: a comedy about the joys and frustrations of family life that's warm, honest and very, very funny--Britain's answer to The Simpsons, whose success the show rivalled when it started broadcasting on BBC2 (the programme jumped channels to BBC1 for its second series).The Royle Family marked an on-screen reunion for Brookside-actors Ricky Tomlinson (who plays bearded, big-hearted, banjo-playing Jim Royle) and Sue Johnston as his wife Barbara, the driving force behind the Royle household. It is smart casting because The Royle Family is as much a soap opera as a situation comedy. Now in its third series, The Royle Family has seen its characters develop like real folk. Denise and Dave got married and now have a little sprog; Barbara starts menopause (how many sitcoms are brave enough to use that for laughs?) and Denise's kid brother Anthony shakes off his surly adolescence when he turned 18 in series two. Unlike Oasis, who provide the shows theme song "Halfway Round the World", this programme just keeps getting better.But no soap--not even Brookside in its dafter moments--has one-liners as brilliantly crafted as The Royle Family. (The scripts from the series are available to buy.) Slouched in his armchair, Jim's dour running commentary on the TV shows that are on at the time are particularly priceless: Changing Rooms, for instance, boils down to "a Cockney knocking nails into plywood... Is this what its come to?" Not quite: because as long as the Royle Family are around, there is something worthwhile to watch. --Edward Lawrenson

• Danger Man - The Complete Series 1 | DVD | (05/04/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £49.99

  John Drake is a special agent in the deadly world of international espionage and intrigue. A master in his field he is free to go wherever duty calls. Danger Man does not simply attract danger he thrives on it. Episode titles: The Key View From the Villa Find and Return Time To Kill Under the Lake The Journey Ends Halfway Position of Trust The Sisters An Affair Of State Deadline Bury The Dead The Girl In Pink Pyjamas Sabotage The Traitor The Nurse The Blue Veil The Lovers The Sanctuary The Deputy Coyannis Story The Brothers Colonel Rodriguez The Relaxed Informer Find and Destroy The Prisoner The Lonely Chair Dead Man Walks The Contessa Josetta The Island The Conspirators Name Date and Place The Leak The Honeymooners The Girl Who Liked GI's Hired Assassin The Gallows Tree The Vacation The Trap The Actor.

• Horror Pack - 5 Films | DVD | (14/01/2008) from £8.99   |  Saving you £-3.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Titles Comprise: Curfew: After breaking her curfew yet another time a rebellious teenage girl hurries home only to find that her family have been taken hostage by two escaped convicts. Axe: They seem to have it all: fame fortune and the hottest club act across the USA. But the price of fame is about to cost them dearly.... When two members decide to quit the future of the band hangs in the balance. Emotions are running high as they are booked for a final gig into an old meat packing factory now the notorious Club 905. When the mutilated body of one of their groupies turns up in a meat locker the band start to panic. Is it possible that the envy and anger amongst the band have spawned an uncontrolled psychopath who won't be happy until he or she is playing solo? Bachelor Party Massacre: A group of friends decide to throw a bachelor party in the mountains; little do they know an escaped killer is on the loose ready to kill the party... Pieces: Thirty five years after the death of a young boy's mother mutilated corpses are discovered on a university campus. Each body forms part of a huge jigsaw puzzle that the police have to piece together. Sickle: Blood will flow... Marty Sickle was a loner who lived and worked in the old slaughterhouse where a young woman was once murdered. Marty was the prime suspect but a lack of evidence kept him free. However the girl's boyfriend and his friends broke into the old slaughterhouse and left Marty for dead. Little did they know that Marty didn't die..

• Constantine/V For Vendetta | DVD | (16/10/2006) from £11.45   |  Saving you £6.53 (77.19%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Constantine (Dir. Francis Lawrence 2005): Hell wants him. Heaven won't take him. Earth needs him! Supernatural detective John Constantine (Reeves) has literally been to Hell and back. When he teams up with skeptical policewoman Angela Dodson (Weisz) to solve the mysterious suicide of her twin sister their investigation takes them through the world of demons and angels that exists just beneath the landscape of contemporary Los Angeles... V For Vendetta (Dir. James McTeigue 2005): Set against the futuristic landscape of totalitarian Britain V For Vendetta tells the story of a young working-class woman named Evey who is rescued from a life-and-death situation by a masked man known only as 'V'. Profoundly complex V is at once literary flamboyant tender and intellectual a man dedicated to freeing his fellow citizens from those who have terrorized them into compliance... The Matrix Trilogy writing/directing team of Larry & And Wachowski adapt Alan Moore's seminal graphic novel into a thought-provoking blockbuster.

• I Didn't Know You Cared - The Complete Second Series | DVD | (22/05/2006) from £26.00   |  Saving you £-6.01 (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  From the books of Peter Tinniswood comes one of television's greatest comedy families The Brandons. There's miserable pessimist Uncle Mort his sharp-tongued sister Annie who is constantly arguing with husband Les their laid-back son Carter and his not so laid-back fianc Pat and finally old Uncle Stavely who carries his friend's ashes around his neck in a box and only enters the constant bickering with a cry of 'I 'eard that! Pardon?' Pat is desperately trying to turn reluctant C

• 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.

• Stolen Face | DVD | (04/04/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Skilled plastic surgeon Phillip Ritter meets and falls in love with concert pianist Alice Brent but he is devastated when she refuses his offer of marriage and goes away on a concert tour. Determined to recreate her beautiful image he seeks out a badly scarred prisoner Lilly operates on her and marries her. Now he has Alice back but he cannot change the criminal character behind the mask... With Jimmy Sangster as assistant director Fisher at the helm and Anthony Hind producing; this picture was a clear indication of what Hammer was set to achieve.

• Under Milk Wood | DVD | (28/05/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

• Left Behind - World At War | DVD | (03/04/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  This is the latest action-packed installment of the faith-based franchise based on the hugely popular 'Left Behind' series of books! In the prophesied world of the Book of Revelation global icon and world leader Nicolae Carpathia (Gordon Currie) has finally done the unimaginable - he has managed to unite the world in peace - and bring an end to the bloodshed that has ruled the world since the beginning of time. American President Gerald Fitzhugh (Lou Gossett Jr.) has shared th

• I Didn't Know You Cared - Third Series | DVD | (28/08/2006) from £8.74   |  Saving you £11.25 (56.30%)   |  RRP £19.99

  From the books of Peter Tinniswood comes one of television's greatest comedy families The Brandons. There's miserable pessimist Uncle Mort his sharp-tongued sister Annie who is constantly arguing with husband Les their laid-back son Carter and his not so laid-back fianc Pat and finally old Uncle Stavely who carries his friend's ashes around his neck in a box and only enters the constant bickering with a cry of ""I 'eard that! Pardon?"" Episodes comprise: 1. Men At Work 2. A Grave Decision 3. Party Games 4. A Bleak Day 5. Stout Deeds 6. Paradise Lost 7. The Last Tram

• This Happy Feeling | DVD | (08/08/2016) from £10.78   |  Saving you £2.21 (20.50%)   |  RRP £12.99

  To escape the attentions of her lecherous boss, spry dental receptionist Janet Blake (Debbie Reynolds) accepts a lift home from a rain-soaked society party in rural Connecticut from handsome upcoming actor Bill Tremaine (John Saxon). But when Bill also comes on a little too strong she takes flight, knocking on the door of Bill's neighbour, actor-turned-horse-rancher Preston ˜Mitch' Mitchell (Curd Jürgens). Short of options, Mitch and Janet agree she'll spend the night in his spare room. Mitch has chosen early retirement from theatrical life in the face of competition from a new tribe of wannabe Brandos: This is the age of dirty T-shirts and motorcycle jackets... If you don't know Method and how to mumble, slouch, and pick your nose, you haven't got a chance. But his worldy-wise on-off girlfriend Nita Holloway (Alexis Smith) is determined to drag him back onto the stage. Janet, now desperate for work, accepts a role as Mitch's secretary, and begins a playful flirtation with the older man, who in turn is seduced by her girlish charms. But Bill, right next door, is also smitten: cue a four-way tug-of-love between youth and experience, hope and wisdom from which all or none may emerge as victors. Adapted by Blake Edwards from the F. Hugh Herbert play For Love or Money, This Happy Feeling is a whimsical chronicle of romance, rivalry, true callings and contentment in art and life.

• Blacklight | Blu Ray | (03/05/2022) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• The Crossing Guard | DVD | (08/04/2002) from £10.43   |  Saving you £4.56 (43.72%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Sean Penn wrote and directed The Crossing Guard, a character-driven drama about a divorced couple (Jack Nicholson and Anjelica Huston) whose relationship never recovered following the death of their daughter at the hands of a drunk driver (David Morse). When the latter's character, a deeply regretful and changed man, gets out of jail, Nicholson, as the vengeful dad, decides to go after him. As a director, Penn is not so good with fluid storytelling and camera clichés, but he is amazing as an actor's director. The onscreen re-teaming of former real-life lovers Nicholson and Huston is more than just a voyeuristic exercise: Penn ingeniously uses the duo's palpable friction to bring a horrifying reality to the pain of a dead relationship. --Tom Keogh, Amazon.com

• The Street With No Name | DVD | (16/01/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  A classic film noir from the 1940's. The FBI files are filled with many lurid crime stories. One case in particular baffles FBI Inspector Briggs (Lloyd Nolan). It's the murders of a housewife and a bank guard with no connection between the victims - except the murder weapon. Determined to solve the case Briggs sends his best agent undercover to penetrate the inner circle of a notorious gang run by up-and-coming crime boss Stiles played by Richard Widmark in one of his most

• Men In Black (Special Limited 2 Disc Edition) | DVD | (29/07/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £26.99

  Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones return to save the world all over again in this eagerly awaited blockbusting sequel!

• What Planet Are You From ? | DVD | (15/01/2001) from £6.73   |  Saving you £13.26 (197.03%)   |  RRP £19.99

  What Planet Are You From? stars Garry Shandling whose hilarious TV series The Larry Sanders Show offered him a great vehicle to show his comic performance abilities; you could scarcely tell the difference between his smile and his grimace--he always looked as if Hollywood was giving him a bad case of gas. However in this shockingly unfunny film, which Shandling co-wrote, one can only imagine that the other writers severely diluted Shandling's original intentions--the wince, his only expression, seems real. Worse, you'll share his dismay. Shandling stars as an alien from a sterile race of clones who is sent to Earth to procreate with an Earth woman--exactly why this is necessary is left fuzzy. Ostensibly, given the title, this should lead to a raucous satire of dating mores. Instead, our space invader quickly takes up with a recovering alcoholic played by Annette Bening, and we chart their stridently bumpy but predictable relationship. Greg Kinnear co-stars as a slimy co-worker; Linda Fiorentino plays Kinnear's man-eating wife; John Goodman portrays an FAA official who's onto Shandling's secret; and Ben Kingsley appears as the humourless leader of the alien planet. The single recurring joke involves the alien's genitalia and its propensity, when excited, to buzz loudly, which it does at least 10 or 15 times--afterit ceases to be remotely amusing. Shandling plays his character as so stunningly obtuse that whenever he manages a genuinely clever line it practically seems out of character; the rest of the talented cast flounders, similarly lost. Director Mike Nichols has staged painfully awkward scenes with Elan in the (distant) past--think The Graduate or Carnal Knowledge--but What Planet Are You From? simply sits there, flailing desperately, seemingly aware of its own crushing tedium. Large chunks of the film appear to have been left on the editing room floor; it's hard to imagine material even more comically futile than what appears onscreen. --David Kronke, Amazon.com

• Atlantis, The Lost Continent | DVD | (23/11/2010) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Making Mr. Right | DVD | (06/09/2004) from £7.49   |  Saving you £5.50 (42.30%)   |  RRP £12.99

  For a long term space mission reclusive scientist Jeff Peters (Malkovich) builds his exact double in android form! However as Peters has no social skills he is unable to program Ulysses (also Malkovich) with a personality. Thus an eccentric woman is hired to educate the mechanical man on human behaviour and she is soon falling in love. However is she in love with Ulysses or Peters?

• Shattered Promises | DVD | (23/02/2004) from £12.95   |  Saving you £-6.96 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Alan Masters a brilliant criminal attorney involved with the mafia is chief suspect in his wife's murder investigation. Only one honest cop is determined to see justice done...