"Actor: Kenneth C"

• Monty Python's Life Of Brian | DVD | (03/12/2001) from £5.02   |  Saving you £14.97 (298.21%)   |  RRP £19.99

  That rarest of rare treasures, Monty Python's Life of Brian is both achingly funny and seriously satirical without ever allowing one to overbalance the other. There is not a single joke, sight gag or one-liner that will not forever burn itself into the viewer's memory as being just as funny as it is possible to be, but, extraordinarily, almost every line and every indestructibly hilarious scene also serves a dual purpose, making this one of the most consistently sustained film satires ever made. Like all great satire, the Pythons not only attack and vilify their targets (the bigotry and hypocrisy of organised religion and politics) supremely well, they also propose an alternative: be an individual, think for yourself, don't be led by others. "You've all got to work it out for yourselves", cries Brian in a key moment. "Yes, we've all got to work it our for ourselves", the crowd reply en masse, "Tell us more". Two thousand years later, in a world still blighted by religious zealots, Brian's is still a lone voice crying in the wilderness. Aside from being a neat spoof on the Hollywood epic, it's also almost incidentally one of the most realistic on-screen depictions of the ancient world--instead of treating their characters as posturing historical stereotypes, the Pythons realised what no sword 'n' sandal epic ever has: that people are all the same, no matter what period of history they live in. People always have and always will bicker, lie, cheat, swear, conceal cowardice with bravado (like Reg, leader of the People's Front of Judea), abuse power (like Pontius Pilate), blindly follow the latest fads and giggle at silly things ("Biggus Dickus"). In the end, Life of Brian teaches us that the only way for a despairing individual to cope in a world of idiocy and hypocrisy is to always look on the bright side of life. --Mark Walker

• Carry On Cabby | DVD | (27/02/2017) from £6.21   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  A rare Carry On with more interest in having a proper plot than tossing off gags every line, Cabby is also one of the friendliest of the series, built around the relationship between a cackling but good-hearted Sid James and an unusually touching Hattie Jacques. Sid's so obsessed with his taxi business that he neglects his wife, spending their wedding anniversary driving expectant father Jim Dale to and from the maternity hospital on a false alarm that naturally pays off with a delivery in the back of the cab. This drives Hattie to set up her own rival firm ("Glam Cabs"), employing dolly birds in tailored uniforms to undercut the likes of Kenneth Connor and Charles Hawtrey. It ends happily, with a pair of hold-up men trapped in a ring of taxis and the marriage saved. Among the expected Carry On bits: Connor in drag, Amanda Barrie in a corset, Hawtrey in a leather jacket as a devout rambler ("We like to go as far as we can"), Liz Fraser as Connor's perky intended. Kenneth Williams is missed, but his role as the obnoxious shop steward (Carry On producer Peter Rogers never missed a chance to be nasty about the unions) is ably taken by Norman Chappell. Other familiar faces are Bill Owen, Peter Gilmore, Milo O'Shea, Renee Houston and Michael Ward as the tweedy businessman who has apparently left a pearl earring in the back of Connor's cab. On the DVD: No extras, but it's a smashing widescreen presentation of a pristine black and white print. --Kim Newman

• Hellraiser Puzzle Box | DVD | (27/09/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £34.99

  Welcome to the singular vision of Clive Barker and his landmark horror opus! Hellraiser In a place between pleasure and pain there is sensual experience beyond limits. And in a world between paradise andpurgatory there is a horror that feeds the souls of evil. When Frank Cotton solves the mystery of a Chinese puzzle box he enters the world of the Cenobites a world where the cruel sadists thrive on pain. Restored to life by the blood of his brother Larry Frank rises to fe

• Carry On - Doctors And Nurses Collection - Digi Stack 2 | DVD | (14/03/2005) from £17.28   |  Saving you £17.71 (50.60%)   |  RRP £34.99

  Carry On Camping (1969): Sid (Sid James) and his reluctant mate Bernie (Bernard Bresslaw) hit on the idea of a nudist camping holiday to spice things up with their girlfriends! The arrival of Dr Soaper (Kenneth Williams) headmaster of the Chayste Place Finishing School his matron Miss Haggard (Hattie Jacques) in charge of eleven nubile girls including star pupil Babs (Barbara Windsor) set the scene for one of the funniest frolics in the Carry On repertoire. Carry On Abroad (1972): The Carry On team take a package holiday that starts disastrously and rapidly goes downhill. The paradise island of Elsbels is not all it's cracked up to be.... The hotel isn't finished the staff are abit thin on the ground - in fact Pepe (Peter Butterworth) is the staff - and the locals are far from friendly! Carry On Follow That Camel (1967): Can fresh Foreign Legion recruits 'B.O.' West (Jim Dale) and his faithful manservant Simpson (Peter Butterworth) help defeat the ruthless Sheikh Abdul Abulbul (Bernard Bresslaw)? Find out in the hysterical historical spectacular featuring a host of harem beauties a bevy of blood thirsty Bedouins and a troupe of Legionnaires getting the hump! Carry On Girls (1973): You might think that a beauty contest would be the perfect place for the Carry On team to discover new heights of hilarity and new depths of depravity - well you'd be right! Sidney Fiddler brings a beauty contest to a quiet seaside resort. His problems start with two curvaceous Hells Angels Miss Easy Rider and Miss Dawn Brakes. There's Major Bumble Bernard Bresslaw as Britain's first drag beauty queen and last but not least Mrs Angel Prodworthy who is fighting on behalf of Women's Lib. Carry on Behind (1975): Archaelogists Professors Anna Vooshka (Elke Sommer) and Roland Crump (Kenneth Williams) are desparate to begin poking round the remains of a Roman encampment. Unfortunately the local caravan site has been built over the historic site. Holiday pals Ernie Bragg (Jack Douglas) and Fred Ramsden (Windsor Davies) have their sites set on the local beauty spots - campers Sandra (Carol Hawkins) and Carol (Sherrie Hewson)! Carry On At Your Convenience (1971): The Carry On team throw caution to the wind and present an hour and a half of good clean lavatorial humour. Kenneth Williams is WC Boggs the troubled owner of a small company trying to manufacture fine toiletware. Incompetent management and a bolshy union are just about the least of Bogg's problems as you'll soon discover in this hysterical comedy that tells you everything you always wanted to know about your home's most vital convenience.

• Carry On Teacher | DVD | (29/01/2007) from £6.39   |  Saving you £6.60 (103.29%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Prepare for Six of the Best as the Carry On team cause chaos in the school yard. When a well-loved headmaster decides to retire his scheming pupils have other ideas. The cunning boys unleash a campaign of practical jokes armed with gin itching power and bombs! No one is safe from the classroom havoc in this Carry On starring all the regulars including the immortal Kenneth Williams Charles Hawtrey Hattie Jacques Kenneth Connor and Joan Sims.

• Salome | DVD | (03/03/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £16.99

  A performance of Strauss's biblical 'Salome' at the Royal Opera House.

• Leaving | DVD | (16/06/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Set in 1960 in Greenock the hub of the Clyde's shipbuilding industry. Three friends are about to leave school - they are about to be released into a wilderness of a town that seems to offer them nothing. Wonderful acting witty dialogue nostalgic footage of Greenock Endearing characters and some hilarious classroom scenes combine to create a realistic gritty often harrowing and sometimes funny portrayal of school life in 1960's Scotland. Leaving is one of the prestigious films screened under the BBC2 Screen Two banner. Released for the first time on DVD it was originally broadcast in 1988. Written by Daniel Boyle who went on to write Hamish McBeth Inspector Morse Taggart Rebus and Lewis TV dramas.

• Shackleton | DVD | (14/04/2003) from £6.99   |  Saving you £3.00 (42.92%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Shackleton is not a biopic of the great Anglo-Irish explorer but a dramatisation of the failed trans-Antarctic expedition of 1914-16. As written and directed by Charles (Longtitude) Sturridge the production, filmed on real ice floes in Greenland, stays remarkably close to the facts, capturing the look of the surviving expedition photos of Frank Hurley (collected in the book South With Endurance) with great fidelity. Kenneth Branagh makes no attempt at an authentic accent but otherwise gives a powerful impression of a most commanding personality. When the expedition ship Endurance became locked in the Antarctic ice Shackleton vowed to bring every man home alive, and against virtually impossible odds, including a 700-mile journey in an open boat through some of the worst seas in the world, he did just that. This superlative mini-series realises the story with production values and cinematography which would not disgrace a big-budget feature (Hurley's own 1919 documentary film can be seen on video in South). Intense physical drama, strong performances and Adrian Johnston's fine score combine here to deeply moving effect, marred only a little by a rushed conclusion. With Roland Huntford, author of the definitive Shackleton biography, as production advisor, this easily stands as the benchmark for all future comparable films. --Gary S Dalkin

• Miracle | DVD | (28/02/2005) from £8.08   |  Saving you £6.91 (85.52%)   |  RRP £14.99

  If you believe in yourself anything can happen. In 1980 amidst the tense political climate of the Cold War Herb Brooks (Kurt Russell) took over as coach of the U.S. Olympic hockey team. With the help of affable assistant coach Craig Patrick (Noah Emmerich) Brooks selected a group of twenty amateur hockey players who faced the daunting task of bringing respectability to their country's floundering program. While Brooks was well aware that his team lacked the talent and expe

• Mary Shelley's Frankenstein | Blu Ray | (28/03/2022) from £16.71   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  BE WARNED IT'S ALIVE! Kenneth Branagh leads an all-star cast including Robert De Niro, Helena Bonham Carter, Tom Hulce, Ian Holm, John Cleese and Aidan Quinn in his definitive cinematic version of Mary Shelley's classic tale of gothic terror. At the turn of the 19th century, visionary scientist Victor Frankenstein (Kenneth Branagh) embarks on an obsessive quest to conquer the mysteries of human mortality. But his hubristic bid to create life out of death goes hideously wrong, and succeeds only in begetting a deformed monster (Robert De Niro). Horrified by what he has wrought, the scientist attempts to destroy his creation, but fails. Rejected by his creator and shunned by the world of man, the tormented creature swears vengeance against Frankenstein and his family. As the monster begins to enact his murderous revenge, Victor must face a terrible reckoning with the tragic consequences of attempting to play God. Mary Shelley's seminal novel is one of the most adapted books of all time, and this retelling faithfully goes back to the original source, lushly transforming the story's twin themes of love and death into a darkly operatic gothic romance. Unlike many versions of Shelley's novel, Branagh's adaptation understands that Frankenstein's misbegotten creation is as pitiable as he is monstrous, and never loses sight of the human tragedy lying at the core of its horrific tale. Filled with sweeping, atmospheric visuals and powerfully emotional performances from an award-winning ensemble of acting talent, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein stands as a landmark interpretation of this enduring masterpiece. Special Edition Contents New 4K restoration from the original camera negatives by Sony Pictures Entertainment High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation Original uncompressed stereo audio and DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround audio Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing Brand new audio commentary by film historians Michael Brooke and Johnny Mains Brand new interview with composer Patrick Doyle Brand new interview with costumer designer James Acheson Brand new interview with make-up designer Daniel Parker Mary Shelley and The Creation of a Monster, a brand new documentary featurette on the origins and evolution of the Frankenstein story, featuring Gothic specialists David Pirie, Jonathan Rigby and Stephen Volk Dissecting Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, a brand new featurette with David Pirie, Jonathan Rigby and Stephen Volk on the differences between the novel and Kenneth Branagh's screen adaptation Frankenstein: A Liberal Adaptation from Mrs. Shelley's Famous Story for Edison Production (1910): The first screen adaptation of Shelley's story in a 2K restoration by the Library of Congress, with music by Donald Sosin Original trailers Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Laz Marquez FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing by Jon Towlson and Amy C. Chambers

• Ragtime | DVD | (07/07/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  A portrait of America in the early part of the twentieth century based on a bestselling novel by E.L. Doctorow and directed by Oscar winning film maker Milos Forman.

• London 2012 Olympic Games | Blu Ray | (29/10/2012) from £19.94   |  Saving you £15.05 (75.48%)   |  RRP £34.99

  It was the Olympic Games we'll never forget and this Official London 2012 release will ensure we relive every golden memory. Featuring over nine hours of footage, it marks some of the best of the BBC's Olympic coverage including the amazing successes from Team GB, and the key moments from the rest of the games. In addition to this it will also include, highlights from Danny Boyle's unforgettable opening ceremony and the musical extravaganza of the closing ceremony.

• Flight Of The Intruder | DVD | (06/10/2003) from £20.00   |  Saving you £-4.01 (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Danny Glover plays Commander Frank Camparelli the battle-hardened sqaudron leader of an aircraft carrier during the Vietnam War. Brad Johnson is pilot Jake Grafton a disillusioned young renegade looking for payback. Willem Dafoe is Cole the cynical hell-bent bombadier Grafton recruits to fly an unauthorised mission behind enemy lines. The target: a missile depot in Hanoi. The plane: the A-6 Intruder a low-altitude bomber with no defensive weapons. The risk: court-martial at the h

• Lord Peter Wimsey - The Nine Tailors | DVD | (06/08/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Based on the series of novels written by Dorothy L Sayers in the 1920s and 30s, Lord Peter Wimsey was dramatised for TV by the BBC between 1972-5. Ian Carmichael, veteran of British film comedy, played the genial, aristocratic sleuth; Glyn Houston was his manservant Bunter. The pair are similar to PG Wodehouse's Jeeves and Bertie Wooster (whom Carmichael played in an earlier TV adaptation) though here the duo are equal in intelligence, breezing about the country together in Wimsey's Bentley and stumbling with morbid regularity upon baffling murder mysteries to test their wits. Those for whom this series forms hazy memories of childhood might be surprised at its somewhat stagy, lingering interior shots, the spartan paucity of music, the miserly attitude towards locations, especially foreign ones, and the rather genteel, leisurely pace of these programmes, besides which Inspector Morse seems like Quentin Tarantino in comparison. It seems that initially the BBC was reluctant to commission the series and ventured on production with a wary eye on the budget. The Britain depicted by Sayers is, by and large, populated by either the upper classes or heavily accented, rum-do-and-no-mistake lower orders, which some might find consoling. However, the acting is generally excellent and the murder mysteries are sophisticated parlour games, the televisual equivalent of a good, absorbing jigsaw puzzle. There were five feature-length adaptations in all. "The Nine Tailors" weaves an especially elaborate tale, involving jewel theft, campanology (the art of bell-ringing) and dual identity. --David Stubbs

• Stop Or My Mom Will Shoot | DVD | (04/05/2009) from £6.73   |  Saving you £3.26 (48.44%)   |  RRP £9.99

  A comedy about an overbearing mother who becomes her son's partner in crime-fighting. Tutti Bomowski's visit to her policeman son Joe is extended when she witnesses a drive-by shooting and is required by the cops to remain in the area. Soon she's helping Joe apprehend criminals - and still finding plenty of time to interfere in his romantic affairs.

• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets | DVD | (20/04/2020) from £4.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Harry returns for his second year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry along with his best friends Hermione and Ron. He ignores warning s not to go back to Hogwarts by a mysterious house elf named Dobby. Soon into the school year strange things start happening...

• Radio | DVD | (20/09/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The inspiring true-life story of the relationship between a high-school football coach and a mentally-challenged man nicknamed "Radio" who together transform their South Carolina community.

• Appointment With Venus | DVD | (23/03/2020) from £6.49   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Based on a true story, Appointment With Venus is a fine example of the indominable British spirit during World War 2 in the face of Nazi tyranny. The Nazis occupied the Channel Islands in 1940 and amongst the population on the tiny island of Amorel is Venus, a pedigree cow, whose ability to produce high quality milk is legendary. So well-known is Venus that she has even come to the attention of Hitler who wants to send her to Germany to breed with the Teutonic herds he claims are the best in the world. To deny Hitler and boost morale at home, British Special Forces, led by Major Moreland (David Niven) and ably assisted by Nicola Fallaize (Glynnis Johns) and the Islanders, mount a dangerous operation to rescue Venus and return her to England. A superb ensemble cast includes Kenneth More, Bernard Lee and Richard Wattis.

• Pelleas Et Melisande | DVD | (23/09/2002) from £17.29   |  Saving you £-2.30 (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  A performance of Debussy's beautiful opera recorded in France in 1987.

• Only Fools And Horses - The Complete Series 3 | DVD | (04/06/2001) from £10.78   |  Saving you £9.21 (85.44%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Regularly touted as one of the best British sitcoms ever, Only Fools and Horses kicked off in 1981 when mobile phones were the size of bricks and wine bars were the ultimate places to hang out. The formula was simple enough: Cockney wideboy Derek "Del Boy" Trotter (brilliantly played by David Jason) dreams of better things for himself while sharing a cramped council flat in the nicely named Peckham tower block Nelson Mandela House with his unworldly brother Rodney and his sweet but doddery old grandad. Trouble is, Del's endless money-making schemes (such as his attempt to flog a consignment of one-legged turkeys, or his plan to sell bottled tap water under the label "Peckham Spring") inevitably backfire, like the beat-up old Robin Reliant van he uses to cart around all this faulty gear in. Created by John Sullivan, who also sings the very catchy theme tune, Only Fools and Horses is a wonderful mix of dodgy but loveable characters (such as Del Boy's dimwit friend Trigger), knockabout slapstick (no-one falls down with as much comedic grace as Jason) and brilliantly crafted dialogue. Sadly, Leonard Pierce, who played Grandad, died in 1983 (his armchair in the Trotter household was filled in 1985 by Buster Merryfield as Uncle Albert, an old merchant seaman who used to bore Del and Rodney with tales of his war days). The show ran to seven series and ended with characteristic warmth in 1991, when Del Boy became a father; but the Trotters made occasional returns to the small screens with six hugely popular one-off Christmas specials. This, as Del Boy himself might say, is "lovely jubbly". --Edward Lawrenson