"Actor: Kathleen Freeman"

• Shrek - Special Edition | DVD | (16/09/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Full of verve and wit Shrek is a computer-animated adaptation of William Steig's delightfully fractured fairy tale. Our title character (voiced by Mike Myers) is an agreeable enough ogre who wants to live his days in peace. When the diminutive Lord Farquaad (John Lithgow) evicts local fairy tale creatures (including the now-famous Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio and the Gingerbread Man), they settle in the ogre's swamp and Shrek wants answers from Farquaad. A quest of sorts starts for Shrek and his new pal, a talking donkey (Eddie Murphy), where battles have to be won and a princess (Cameron Diaz) must be rescued from a dragon lair in a thrilling action sequence. The story is stronger than most animated fare but it's the jokes that make Shrek a winner. The PG rating is stretched when Murphy and Myers hit their strides. The mild potty humour is fun enough for the 10-year-old but will never embarrass their parents. Shrek is never as warm and inspired as the Toy Story films, but the realistic computer animation and a rollicking soundtrack keeps the entertainment in fine form. Produced by DreamWorks, the film also takes several delicious stabs at its cross-town rival, Disney. --Doug Thomas, Amazon.com On the DVD: DVD could have been invented to showcase Shrek's stunning computer animation--admirably served here by 16:9 anamorphic widescreen presentation--while the exuberant soundtrack comes alive in 5.1 Dolby Digital. There are plenty of extras to choose from on this DVD, from The Tech of Shrek and fake Character Interviews to the amusing Swamp Karaoke Dance Party featuring the whole cast. However, none of these features have much depth, nor do they last long and it would be easy to feel slightly disappointed--were it not for the excellent Shrek's ReVoice Studio. This first-of-its-kind feature requires a computer running Microsoft Windows 98SE or higher, Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher, an Internet connection and a DVD-ROM drive. However, once the DVD-ROM is up and running, the instructions could not be clearer and within minutes the whole family will be dubbing their voices over favourite characters and scenes--rendering the other extras almost irrelevant.--Helen Baker

• Disorderly Orderly | DVD | (04/06/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Poor Jerome Littlefield (Jerry Lewis). He wants to be a doctor - but that's not exactly the perfect career choice when you're hopelessly squeamish. So he settles for the job of orderly at the Whitestone Sanitarium a career move that's guaranteed to keep the patients - and viewers - in stitches! The fun begins with Sammy Davis Jr.'s rendition of the film's title song and continues as the bumbling Jerome a one-man disaster area triggers chaos every time he tries to lend a helping hand. From causing the patients more trauma to a high-speed ambulance chase Lewis and his healthy does of comic mishaps are the perfect prescription for all that ails you.

• Dragnet | DVD | (01/07/2002) from £11.13   |  Saving you £1.86 (16.71%)   |  RRP £12.99

  In 1987 moviegoers had yet to be crushed under the weight of the 1990s TV remake mania, and Dragnet comes off as fresh and funny. The line between parody and tribute can be hard to draw, but any marginally hip baby boomer who has ever watched Jack Webb's straight-laced Detective Joe Friday caught a glimmer of the comedic vein waiting to be mined beneath Dragnet's gritty Los Angeles streets. Dan Aykroyd plays Joe Friday, the straight-arrow nephew of Webb's iconic cop. This part was made for him (in fact, he's given top writing credit), and under his steely exterior you can tell he's having a ball delivering those rapid-fire recitations of regulations and deadpan expressions of moral outrage. Tom Hanks plays Pep Streebek, the laissez-faire narco agent who is Friday's new partner. Their assignment: bust the Pagans, a wild-and-woolly gang of dope fiends, deadbeats, and beatniks behind a bewildering array of bizarre robberies. Hilarity ensues. Friday and Streebek outfox a corrupt televangelist (Christopher Plummer), bicker over chili dogs and cigarettes, alternately revile and fawn over a porn millionaire (Dabney Coleman), wrestle a 30-foot-long anaconda, and rescue the virgin Connie Swail--the only girl capable of stealing Friday's heart. --Grant Balfour, Amazon.com