"Actor: London"

• Dazed And Confused | DVD | (05/10/2009) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Director Richard Linklater turned his free-range verite sensibility on the 1970s in Dazed and Confused after changing the world with the generation-defining Slacker. As before, his all-seeing camera meanders across a landscape studded with goofy pop culture references and poignant glimpses of human nature. Only this time around, he's spreading a thick layer of nostalgia over the lens (and across the soundtrack). It's as if Fast Times at Ridgemont High was directed by Jean-Luc Godard. The story deals with a group of friends on the last day of high school, 1976. Good-natured football star Randall "Pink" Floyd navigates effortlessly between the warring worlds of jocks, stoners, wannabes and rockers with girlfriend and new-freshman buddy in tow. Surprisingly, it's not a coming-of-age movie, but a film that dares ask the eternal, overwhelming, adolescent question, "What happens next?". It's a little too honest to be a light comedy ("If I ever say these were the best years of my life, remind me to kill myself.") But it's also way too much fun to be just another existential-essay-on-celluloid. --Grant Balfour

• Old Joy | DVD | (27/09/2010) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Two old friends reunite for a weekend camping trip in the Cascade mountain range east of Portland, Oregon.

• False Arrest | DVD | (30/10/2006) from £7.26   |  Saving you £-1.27 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Accused of murders she did not commit a woman fights desperately to prove her innocence and hold her family together in this gripping true story of passion and betrayal. Joyce Lukesic seems to have it all: luxurious lifestyle loving husband terrific children. But a triple mafia-style murder brings this secure world of privilege to an abrupt end as an ambitious state investigator links Joyce to the crimess. Despite her pleas of innocence she is brought to trial. Her dream life now a living nightmare Joyce finds herself incarcerated alongside hardened criminals - and unable to trust even those closest to her. Somehow she must find the inner strength to survive the ordeal take on a hostile justice system and reunite her shattered family. Based on a true story...

• Man Of The West | DVD | (14/03/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  A rancher on his way to hire a schoolteacher is stranded miles from anywhere after the train he is on is robbed. Taking shelter with outlaw relatives he used to run with they all decide he can assist on one last bank job...

• All Roads Lead Home | DVD | (30/05/2011) from £6.46   |  Saving you £-1.47 (-29.50%)   |  RRP £4.99

  Inspired by a true story All Roads Lead Home is an award-winning drama for the entire family that will make you laugh and cry. Bell (Vivien Cardone) an animal loving 12 year old becomes sullen and withdrawn after her mother's death in a car accident. Rebelling against her father (Jason London) she is sent to live at the horse ranch of her gruff maternal grandfather (Peter Coyote). With the help of the animals Belle's work on the farm transforms the entire family. Life and death take on new meaning as the family makes some tough choices involving compassion trust and letting go of the past in order to find hope in the future. Animal lovers the world over will adore this film.

• R. Strauss: Arabella -- Glyndebourne/Haitink | DVD | (22/09/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Richard Strauss's elegantly playful opera Arabella (sometimes close to operetta in style) gets a polished, light-hearted, but also serious production at the Glyndebourne Festival. Ashley Putnam gives a glowing performance in the title role and she has a strong supporting cast. John Cox's stage direction and Julia Trevelyan Oman's design create a convincing atmosphere of 19th-century Vienna (not without a dark side to provoke dramatic interest) and Bernard Haitink's conducting of the London Philharmonic is splendidly idiomatic, in the dramatic music as well as the waltz and folk dance melodies that brighten the score. Arabella is the last libretto written for Strauss by Hugo von Hofmannsthal before his untimely death, and it has the high literary value found in all his work, although he did not live to revise Acts II and III. The story focuses on a Viennese family--Count Waldemar, his wife Adelaide and two daughters, Arabella and Zdenka. They are living in genteel poverty and hoping that Arabella, who has several suitors, will marry well and recoup their fortune. They are so poor that Zdenka has been raised as a boy because the family cannot afford to bring out two daughters in Viennese society. A properly rich suitor, Mandryka, shows up and it is love at first sight, until Zdenka confuses the situation. She is in love with one of Arabella's suitors, Matteo, sends him love letters under Arabella's name and seduces him in a darkened bedroom under the pretence that she is Arabella. Mandrkya learns of the seduction but not of Zdenka's deception, and breaks off his engagement to Arabella. There is, of course, a happy ending. Putnam is sweet and troubled in stage presence, silvery in tone and totally charming. John Brocheler is an ardent, impetuous Mandryka and Gianna Rolandi is convincing in the rather difficult role of Zdenka. Gwendolyn Bradley makes an impressive appearance as Fiakermilli, the belle of the coachmen's ball in Act II, one of the opera's favourite features with Viennese audiences. --Joe McLellan

• The Hound Of The Baskervilles | DVD | (24/02/2003) from £14.39   |  Saving you £-12.40 (N/A%)   |  RRP £1.99

  The mysterious and savage death of Sir Charles Baskerville on Dartmoor attracts the attention of the legendary private detective Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. Local folklore has it that there is a 200 hundred year old curse on the Baskervilles: that a monstrous hellhound roams the moors waiting to attack the heirs to the estate. Holmes and Watson meet Sir Henry the new heir who has recently arrived in London from abroad and after enigmatically quizzing him about a lost boot Holmes instructs Dr. Watson to accompany the man to Baskerville Hall. So begins the classic Conan Doyle mystery as Watson first encounters a number of intriguing characters living at the Hall each with a secret each with a hidden fear...

• Falstaff - Giuseppe Verdi | DVD | (12/01/2005) from £3.78   |  Saving you £11.21 (296.56%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Verdi's opera based on Shakespeare's character Falstaff who attempts to woo two wealthy married women in an attempt to avoid bankruptcy....

• Janacek: Kat'a Kabanova -- Glyndebourne | DVD | (26/01/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Kát'a Kabanová, Janácek's 1921 tragedy, is proof if any were needed that tales of personal oppression and turmoil will always make fine raw material for opera composers. Janácek took Ostrovsky's tumultuous drama of infidelity , The Storm, and created a compelling piece in which his music heightens the relationship between the troubled landscape of Kát'a's inner mind and the elements doing battle outside. In 1988, this Glyndebourne Festival production successfully distilled the heroine's wretched journey from put-upon wife and daughter-in-law to suicide via the ecstasy of a forbidden love affair into 100 minutes of intensely emotional operatic drama. At its heart, Janácek's unique tonal score underlines a powerful, almost naturalistic dialogue and exposes the impact of Kát'a's experiences on her escalating self-destruction. Felicity Palmer's Kabanicha--the mother-in-law from hell and the real instrument of Kát'a's downfall--is curiously remote and muted rather than the domineering figure of fear that we might expect. But the singing, particularly by Nancy Gustafson (tremendously affecting and emotionally convincing in the title role) and Ryland Davies as Kát'a's weak husband Tichon, is outstanding. Gustafson's performance alone makes this essential viewing for anybody with a passion for the great modern soprano roles. On the DVD: Sadly the only additional features are trailers for Seven Gates of Jersualem and The Damnation of Faust. The sound quality (PCM stereo) is more than fair, but inevitably the film of the production is constrained by the design: the stylised set is either very light or very dark and we don't get as close as we'd like to the characters in what is, after all, a disturbingly intimate piece. Arthaus Musik's booklet meets the expected high standards of information and background. --Piers Ford

• Mallrats | Blu Ray | (13/10/2020) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Mozart: The Mozart Glyndebourne Collection | DVD | (28/11/2005) from £51.39   |  Saving you £8.60 (16.73%)   |  RRP £59.99

  Six Mozart features: 'Cosi Fan Tutte (1975)' 'Don Giovani (1977)' 'Die Entfuhrung Aus Dem Serail (1980)' 'Idomeneo (1974)' 'Le Nozze Di Figaro (1973)' and 'Die Zauberflote (1978)'.

• Mallrats | DVD | (24/12/2001) from £9.42   |  Saving you £6.56 (102.02%)   |  RRP £12.99

  The "sophmore jinx" hit hard for this second film by Kevin Smith, whose debut Clerks transcended the limits of its setting and budget to become memorably funny and a cult classic. (Smith followed Mallrats with the wonderful Chasing Amy, only to be cursed again with the appalling Dogma. Clearly he's settling into the same one-off rhythm that afflicts the Star Trek movies.) A ramshackle comedy set in a mall, Mallrats follows several storylines involving lovers, enemies, friends, goofballs, and Smith's own character "Silent Bob", who also appeared in all the other Smith films. A heavy self-consciousness weighs on everything, as if Smith forgot how to make obscenity funny instead of tedious. Still, it's nice to see some of the director's film family on screen, among them Ben Affleck before he was famous, Jason Lee and Joey Lauren Adams. --Sally Chatsworth

• Kiri Te Kanawa - A Celebration - Live At The Royal Albert Hall | DVD | (11/06/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £16.99

  Join Kiri and friends for a very special musical celebration as she sings the greatest hits from her sensational international career: from favourite operatic arias by Mozart and Puccini to musical theatre classics by Rodgers and Hammerstein and Andrew Lloyd Webber. A traditional ensemble from New Zealand perform a Maori tribute, and special guests Andre Previn and his join trio Kiri for intimate performances of popular American songs.The evening culminates in spectacular style with the arrival of a huge birthday cake, celebrating the 50th birthday of a unique musical star.

• La Cenerentola | DVD | (30/01/2006) from £15.96   |  Saving you £14.03 (87.91%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Vladimir Jurowski and Sir Peter Hall are re-united for a fresh and vibrant but timelessly elegant production of Rossinin's much-loved setting of the Cinderella story with a fine cast led by Ruxandra Donose in the title role. Filmed in June 2005 with high definition cameras and recorded in multi-track 5.1 surround sound

• Fidelio | DVD | (28/11/2005) from £16.18   |  Saving you £-1.19 (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Fidelio - Recorded At The Glyndebourne Festival Opera 1979.

• Weather Wars | DVD | (29/10/2012) from £3.82   |  Saving you £9.17 (240.05%)   |  RRP £12.99

  EARTH UNDER SIEGE - A young scientist revels in his creation of a supercomputer that can stop the effects of climate change and catastrophic weather. When the computer's artificial intelligence advances, it creates deadly storms to stop the military from controlling it or shutting it down. It's up to the scientist to outsmart his own creation, survive the disasters unleashed upon him, and save the planet from devastation.

• If These Walls Could Talk | DVD | (30/06/2003) from £29.99   |  Saving you £-24.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Regardless of your opinion on the topic, If These Walls Could Talk is a bold and provocative examination of how the laws and attitudes about abortion in the United States have both changed drastically and remained so much the same. Three women, three time periods, one house: each finds herself in trouble and must face the overwhelming decision about what to do with the unwanted pregnancy. The first segment is the most powerful, featuring Demi Moore as a young, recently widowed nurse in 1952. With no-one to turn to and with limited financial means, her options are few. Catherine Keener costars as her harshly judgmental sister-in-law. The next piece occurs in 1974 as Sissy Spacek, a mother of four trying to earn a college degree, discovers she's pregnant with her fifth child. Her utterly modern feminist daughter encourages Spacek to get a newly legal abortion, but it's a complex decision. In the final segment, college student Anne Heche becomes pregnant by her married professor. Her best friend, played by Jada Pinkett, is resolutely against abortion and the two wrangle over right and wrong. As the young woman tries to learn about her options, she finds herself enmeshed in the pro-life demonstrations outside the abortion clinic. Cher, who directs this segment (the other two are directed by Nancy Savoca), costars as a doctor at the clinic. While trying to be even-handed and demonstrating the different choices different women make, the film does have a decidedly pro-choice leaning. Yet the power of the movie is undeniable and it raises significant questions on both sides of the abortion debate, making it an important film for women (and men) everywhere to watch and talk about. --Jenny Brown

• The Rake's Progress - Stravinsky | DVD | (01/08/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Recorded at the Glyndebourne Festival Opera 1975

• Party Of Five - Series 2 - Complete | DVD | (03/09/2007) from £18.00   |  Saving you £11.99 (66.61%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Five siblings are left to fend their own way in the world when their parents are killed by a drunk driver. The series revolves around the struggles of raising each other and the struggles of life in general. Episodes comprise: 1. Ready Or Not 2. Falsies 3. Dearly Beloved 4. Have No Fear 5. Change Partners...And Dance 6. Analogies 7. Where There's Smoke 8. Best Laid Plans 9. The Wedding 10. Grand Delusions 11. Unfair Advantage 12. Hold On Tight 13. Poor Substitutes 14. Strange

• Rossini: Il Barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville) -- Glyndebourne | DVD | (26/04/2004) from £6.59   |  Saving you £12.66 (237.52%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Funny fast and furious Rossini's masterpiece Il Barbiere di Siviglia is one of the most popular of comic operas with its sparkling and stylish score. John Cox's innovative production for Glyndebourne Festival Opera with good looking authentic designs by William Dudley put plenty of fizz into this old favourite and was a real hit with the critics. The usual Glyndebourne hallmarks of team work and extended rehersal paid handsome dividends in this production filmed in 1982.