"Actor: Lisa Apple"

• Wonderland | DVD | (27/09/2004) from £9.23   |  Saving you £10.76 (116.58%)   |  RRP £19.99

  In the police investigation of a brutal crime scene, one man was at the center of it all: legendary porn star John Holmes.

• Wonderland | DVD | (06/02/2006) from £7.50   |  Saving you £-2.52 (N/A%)   |  RRP £1.99

  Los Angeles. The summer of 1981. John Holmes (Val Kilmer) is at the end of his extraordinarily prolific career as the world's biggest porn star. ln a state of financial and pharmaceutical ruin Holmes is now devoted to his teenage girlfriend Dawn (Kate Bosworth) while still married to his wife Sharon (Lisa Kudrow). Increasingly involved with a group of local drug dealers on Laurel Canyon's Wonderland Avenue Holmes finds himself unwittingly drawn into a dangerous world of gangland rivalry and violence. But after the home of a notorious crime boss becomes the target for their criminal activities members of the Wonderland gang are found brutally murdered and it is unclear who is implicated in the crime. Can a faded porn star turn into a calculating killer? Based on a true story Wonderland unflinchingly captures the shocking sights sounds and sensations of LA's sleazy underbelly in the 1980s.

• A Midsummer Night's Dream - Pacific Northwest Ballet | DVD | (26/06/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  This performance of George Balanchine's ballet A Midsummer Night's Dream was filmed live at Sadler's Wells Theatre, London, in February 1999 and won the award for "Best Television Realisation of a Stage Production" at IMZ Dance Screen. The music is from Mendelssohn's youthful overture plus later theatre music, and five other pieces by the composer all selected by the great Russian choreographer Balanchine in 1962. In a fine ensemble cast, Paul Gibson as Oberon and Patricia Barker as Titania are suitably aloof, at least until the latter dances with the ass Bottom (Timothy Lynch) in a highlight of touching comedy. After all the quarrelsome entanglements of the first act, the finale ensures celebration and richly deserved happy endings all round. The simple sets have a picturesque charm, the costumes a fairytale glamour and the large cast, including many children, dance with flair and enthusiasm; this is clearly one production where everyone was having a fine time. In fact it is rather more enjoyable than Hollywood's A Midsummer Night's Dream of the same year. Ballet aficionados may also want to explore the BBC's wonderful Coppélia (2000). On the DVD: There are no special features on the disc, but the 12-page booklet is entirely in English and is well presented, offering track and cast lists, a synopsis and notes on Balanchine, Mendelssohn and the creative talents and directors of the Pacific Northwest Ballet. The sound is atmospheric--Dolby Digital 5.0--and the anamorphically enhanced 16:9 image is good, though slightly soft, and does occasionally reveal some compression artefacting. In defiance of regional encoding regulations, not only is this DVD region free, but includes the normal PAL UK television system programme material on one side and on the reverse includes the same content in NTSC format, suitable for American playback. Anyone curious to see if one format is better will find that the UK PAL transfer contains just a little more picture detail. --Gary S Dalkin

• Friends - Series 9 - Vol. 2 - Eps 5-8 | DVD | (27/10/2003) from £5.59   |  Saving you £1.40 (20.00%)   |  RRP £6.99

  Nine years is a long time for any group of Friends to stick so closely together, but somehow the gang are still as daftly charming as ever. After the birth of Emma, Rachel comes to terms with being a mother surprisingly well. It's how everyone else deals with it that makes things interesting. Joey's accidental proposal creates weird friction between him and Ross, who breaks his finger throwing the show's first ever punch. Monica becomes desperately broody and attempts all manner of convoluted ways of persuading Chandler (unfortunately he inadvertently bankrupts them in a move to Tulsa). Phoebe, on the other hand, occupies herself in the dating game, holding on to Mike (Paul Rudd) in the longest guest star relationship anyone's ever had. Other surprise guests this year include Freddie Prinze Jr as an overly sensitive nanny (in the 200th episode), Christina Applegate as another of Rachel's sisters and Jeff Goldblum playing himself on the set of another movie on which Joey is trying to get a break. As always the sparks occasionally fly between Rachel and Ross, while the others manage to strain their own relationships to the max. The real reason for watching now is the one-off kooky scenarios in which they--or rather Joey--get into. His endless dating finally sees him stuck for remembering if he's already slept with a girl; he botches an attempt at eyebrow waxing; and he manages to make Chandler think that Monica wants a breast enhancement. A 10th series and potential movie spin-off were announced well before the year was over, meaning six very rich actors will be supplying the fun for some time yet to come. --Paul Tonks