"Actor: Lynn Whitfield"

• Stepmom | DVD | (31/01/2011) from £9.98   |  Saving you £-3.99 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Although Stepmom was dismissed as a contender in the 1998 Oscar race, it's worth giving a second chance to this rather cogent, sharp-tongued look at second chances. Susan Sarandon's performance as a mum about to be replaced by her ex-husband's new girlfriend (played by Julia Roberts) has a lot of bite, and it's a shame the script opted to trivialise her plight in its final reel. Initially, the rancour that passes between divorced mum Jackie (Sarandon) and trendy fashion photographer Isabel (Roberts) rings true, aided by the sincerity of Jackie's ex-husband Luke (Ed Harris) and the emotional plight of their children, who have the most to lose in their parents' divorce. As the drama makes clear, the children are the real victims in the agony that ensues between old and new love. Director Chris Columbus, who is adept at showing familial chaos (he directed Mrs. Doubtfire and Home Alone) with a sanitised minimum of lingering emotional damage, actually manages to dig a trifle deeper than usual in exploring the jealousy and hurt that occur when the baton is passed between a birth mum and the younger wife who steps into her shoes. Stepmom fortunately manages to touch on that chord--showing how an ambitious woman might feel hampered by the responsibility of children just because she's fallen in love with their dad--as well as the haunting grief that it causes their birth mum. It's an issue that haunts millions of second wives everywhere, and while Roberts conveys the confusion of being taken for granted in the melee that follows, it's Sarandon who walks off with the film. She's relentless in her fury, and everyone else in the film--the generally excellent Harris included--is sideswiped. It's just a shame that Hollywood once again wimps out in the end, solving the problem by giving Sarandon a terminal illness. Instead of allowing Jackie and Isabel's relationship to unfold on something less than a high note, the movie has to quell its best thing with a false payoff because it doesn't know what to do with real life. --Paula Nechak, Amazon.com

• Erin Brockovich / Stepmom / Steel Magnolias | DVD | (03/10/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Erin Brockovich (Dir. Steven Soderbergh 2000): Erin Brockovich was never trained or indeed meant to work in a lawyers office. Circumstances take this down-on-her-luck twice-divorced mother of three into a legal practice. Here she discovers some legal files that don't add up... On investigation she discovers an injustice and decides against the odds to take on the bad guys on behalf of a poor and very ill community. Stepmom (Dir. Chris Columbus 1998): Jackie (Susan Sarandon) is a divorced mother of two. Isabel (Julia Roberts) is the career minded girlfriend of Jackie's ex-husband Luke (Ed Harris) forced into the role of unwelcome stepmother to their children. It is the universal dilemma of the 'non-traditional family' they all love the children but the complex interplay between parents step-parents step-children ex-spouses and significant others is decidedly tricky. But when Jackie discovers she is ill both women realise they must put aside their differences to find a common ground and celebrate life to the fullest while they have the chance. Steel Magnolias (Dir. Herbert Ross 1989): A beautiful bittersweet comedy set in deep south Louisiana Steel Magnolias unites talents of America's finest actresses as six very special friends bonded together by mutual triumphs and tragedies. Despite their differences beautiful Shelby (Julia Roberts) her strong-willed mother M'Lynn (Sally Field) beauty parlour owner Truvy (Dolly Parton) elegant wealthy widow Clairee (Olympia Dukakis) sharp tongued Ouiser (Shirley MacLaine) and mousey newcomer Anelle (Daryl Hannah) enjoy a friendship that spans the boundaries of age and status. Sharing each other's strength and loyalty they face their greatest fears and highest hopes with dry wit and a self-deprecating style...

• A Time For Dancing | DVD | (07/11/2005) from £21.58   |  Saving you £-5.59 (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Two teenage dancers - easily distracted Sam (Shiri Appleby) and driven Jules (Larisa Oleynik) - must examine their lives and take a closer look at their futures when Jules is diagnosed with cancer. Based on the popular book by Davida Wills Hurwin and directed by Hoop Dreams producer Peter Gilbert.

• Eve's Bayou (1997) (Criterion Collection) UK Only | Blu Ray | (31/10/2022) from £32.29   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  The summer I killed my father, I was ten years old . . . So begins this spellbinding feature debut by KASI LEMMONS (Harriet), an evocative journey into the maze of memory steeped in fragrant southern-gothic atmosphere. In 1960s Louisiana, a young girl (Friday Night Lights' JURNEE SMOLLETT) sees her well-to-do family unravel in the wake of the infidelities of her charming father (Pulp Fiction's SAMUEL L. JACKSON)setting in motion a series of deceptions and betrayals that will upend her world and challenge her understanding of reality. Rooted in Creole history, folklore, and mysticism, Eve's Bayou is a scintillating showcase for a powerhouse ensemble of Black actressesincluding LYNN WHITFIELD (Madea's Family Reunion), DEBBI MORGAN (Roots), and the legendary DIAHANN CARROLL (Claudine) as a voodoo priestess as well as a profoundly cathartic exploration of trauma, forgiveness, and the elusive nature of truth. Product Features New 4K digital restoration of the director's cut, supervised by director Kasi Lemmons and cinematographer Amy Vincent, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack Original 108-minute theatrical-release version Audio commentary on the director's cut featuring Lemmons, Vincent, producer Caldecot Chubb, and editor Terilyn A. Shropshire Dr. Hugo (1996), a short film Lemmons made as a proof of concept for Eve's Bayou, in a new 4K digital transfer New interview with Lemmons Cast reunion footage Interview with composer Terence Blanchard New program showcasing black-and-white Polaroids that Vincent took during production Cast and crew photographs by William Eggleston Trailer English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing PLUS: An essay by film scholar Kara Keeling

• Cheetah Girls Vol.1 | DVD | (26/03/2007) from £6.28   |  Saving you £7.71 (122.77%)   |  RRP £13.99

  They have one shot to show their spots Meet The Cheetah Girls: four New York teens who are facing the challenges of growing up as they dance and sing their way toward that elusive record deal. Raven (That's So Raven) stars alongside Adrienne Bailon Kiely Williams and Sabrina Bryan (The Bold And The Beautiful). As the girls gear up to rehearse for the school talent competition they're discovered by famous record producer Jackal Jackson. But the feisty foursome soon learns that their big break is not what they expected. Jackal wants to turn them into something theyre not. Ultimately the path to stardom challenges their friendship and the girls must find a way to come together in order to achieve their dreams. Packed with hot songs and cool moves these darling divas steal the show in this hit Disney Channel movie.

• Madea's Family Reunion | DVD | (23/08/2010) from £5.99   |  Saving you £4.00 (66.78%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Following the runaway success of Diary of a Mad Black Woman Perry thrilled fans old and new when he donned his wig glasses and super-size flowered housedresses to star as Madea in the screen adaptation of his play Madea's Family Reunion. Perry reprised two more DIARY characters: Uncle Joe Madea's not-entirely-beloved brother a flatulent curmudgeon with an eye for the ladies; and Brian Joe's level-headed attorney son. Madea's Family Reunion focuses on several related characters each engaged in a life-changing relationship: Madea struggles to forge a real bond with Nikki (Keke Palmer) a rebellious teenage runaway who has been ordered to her care; Lisa (Rochelle Aytes) Madea's niece is questioning her upcoming marriage to Carlos (Blair Underwood) her abusive fianc''; and Vanessa (Lisa Arrindell Anderson) Lisa's half-sister is grappling with her mother's (Lynn Whitfield) life-long animosity towards her while tentatively exploring a relationship with Frankie (Boris Kodjoe) a handsome bus driver. The film's emotional climax arrives at the family reunion when matriarchs Myrtle and May - played respectively by living legends Cicely Tyson and Dr. Maya Angelou -- address the clan's younger generations sounding a clarion call for responsibility renewal and pride.

• Gone Fishin' | DVD | (19/07/2004) from £5.38   |  Saving you £9.61 (178.62%)   |  RRP £14.99

  It's been called "the Ishtar of the 90s", but that's giving this film too much credit. Danny Glover and Joe Pesci (who could have used their Lethal Weapon series buddy Mel Gibson in here) star as slow-witted friends who take their dream fishing vacation in the Florida Everglades and end up having a series of disasters. The trouble is, director Christopher Cain can't get a handle on any of the comedy essentials for a project such as this. The result is a badly timed, badly toned, unfunny movie wasting a lot of great talent across the board. --Tom Keogh

• Thicker Than Blood | DVD | (05/11/2001) from £2.63   |  Saving you £-0.64 (N/A%)   |  RRP £1.99

  A man fights for custody of 'his child' even when a blood test proves that he isn't the father.

• Head Of State | DVD | (03/07/2006) from £5.45   |  Saving you £12.54 (230.09%)   |  RRP £17.99

• Head Of State | DVD | (03/07/2006) from £12.28   |  Saving you £5.71 (46.50%)   |  RRP £17.99

  When a presidential candidate is needed just a few weeks before the election Washington picks Mays Gilliam (Rock) a powerless politician they plan to use as their puppet certain he will lose. However Mays won't go out like that; if he's going to run he's going to have fun!

• Redemption | DVD | (16/05/2005) from £29.99   |  Saving you £-24.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Gangster. Death Row inmate Nobel Peace Prize nominee. The fearless reputation of Stan 'Tookie' Williams is transferred from the streets to Death Row. When a journalist is granted an interview with the prisoner however she discovers that he intends to use his criminal knowledge to firmly put his past behind him... Oscar winner Jamie Foxx gives a career-defining performance as the founder of the notorious Crips street gang in this riveting true story.

• Deep In My Heart | DVD | (13/03/2006) from £2.79   |  Saving you £3.20 (114.70%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Given up for adoption as a baby Barbara Ann (Gloria Reuben) a child of mixed race is facing a life of confusion prejudice and isolation. Raised by a loving foster mother in a black neighbourhood she is suddenly torn from this happy existence and placed in a world with no friends no joy and no sense of family. But she survives and grows up to become the mother of five children. And it is then that Barbara Ann finds the courage to face her past to meet with the woman who gave bir

• The Wedding | DVD | (24/02/2003) from £5.47   |  Saving you £0.52 (9.51%)   |  RRP £5.99

  She should marry for love not for the family. Halle Berry features as Shelley Coles a beautiful twenty-five year old woman from a black family of privilege. Shelby is engaged to marry Meade Howell a wonderful jazz musician but as she approaches her wedding day she begins to suffer misgivings brought on by a mixed heritage. Meade's parents will not be attending the marriage of their son because they do not approve of his bi-racial union. Shelby's parents do not object to the colour of Meade's skin but wanted their beautiful eligible daughter to marry a successful professional not a jazz musician. To further cloud Shelby's decision is the arrival of Lute McNeil a very handsome black man who has made it very clear that he considers Shelby to be the woman of his dreams and seeks to have her at any cost... This saga involves family secrets and heart-wrenching questions about love and duty as it relates to the tale of an upper-class African-American family whose ancestors experienced entirely diverse histories leaving the current members of the family with painful choices to make.

• The Women Of Brewster Place | DVD | (04/03/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £3.99

  The Women Of Brewster Place is a gripping and loving group portrait of seven women whose backs are literally against the wall: a surrounding wall whose brick facade has turned the address of Brewster Place into both a real and symbolic dead end. It is a street overflowing with tales of courage and anguish. For the women who call this home (played by Oprah Winfrey Robin Givens and Cicely Tyson among others) Brewster Place is a source of conflicts amid the dark and overcrowded tenements. Despite their different backgrounds these women are ultimately united in a single act of courage against the walls of racism sexism and violence in a stirring climax.

• Deep In My Heart | DVD | (20/08/2012) from £9.98   |  Saving you £-3.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £4.99

  She must face the future, heal the past and find that place in her heart called home. A trio of great actresses - Oscar-winner Anne Bancroft (The Elephant Man, The Graduate), Emmy Award-winner Lynn Whitfield (Stepmom) and Gloria Reuben (who received multiple Emmy Award nominations for her performance as Jeanie Boulet in TV's ER) - unite their talents for this powerful true story of one woman's search, against all the odds, for her emotional roots. Deep In My Heart starts in Boston in 1961, an era of very different racial and social attitudes. A white woman, Gerry Cummins (Bancroft, who won an Emmy Award for her performance) is raped by a black man - an attack that leaves her pregnant. The resulting child of mixed race, Barbara Ann (Reuben), now faces a life of confusion, prejudice and isolation. Given up for adoption and initially raised by Corrine Burrell (Whitfield), a loving foster mother in a black neighbourhood, Barbara Ann is suddenly torn from this happy existence and placed with Annalise Jurgenson (Alice Krige, Chariots Of Fire) and her husband, a white middle-class couple. Although Annalise has acted from the best of motives, her stance is hopelessly idealistic and for Barbara Ann it means a world with no friends, no joy and no sense of family. But Barbara Ann survives and grows up to marry a man she loves deeply and to become the mother of five children. Only then does she find the courage to face up to the hidden traumas of her past, meet with the woman who gave birth to her all those years ago - and find that place in her heart called home. Deep In My Heart is written by the award-winning Ronni Kern (Homeless to Harvard, Guinevere) and directed by Anita W. Addison (Sirens).

• Redemption | DVD | (30/10/2006) from £6.54   |  Saving you £-0.55 (-9.20%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Gangster. Death Row inmate Nobel Peace Prize nominee. The fearless reputation of Stan 'Tookie' Williams is transferred from the streets to Death Row. When a journalist is granted an interview with the prisoner however she discovers that he intends to use his criminal knowledge to firmly put his past behind him...Oscar winner Jamie Foxx gives a career-defining performance as the founder of the notorious Crips street gang in this riveting true story.

• Deep In My Heart | DVD | (30/06/2003) from £5.23   |  Saving you £3.75 (167.41%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Given up for adoption as a baby Barbara Ann (Gloria Reuben) a child of mixed race is facing a life of confusion prejudice and isolation. Raised by a loving foster mother in a black neighbourhood she is suddenly torn from this happy existence and placed in a world with no friends no joy and no sense of family. But she survives and grows up to become the mother of five children. And it is then that Barbara Ann finds the courage to face her past to meet with the woman who gave birth to her all those years ago and to find that place in her heart called home...

• Doctor Detroit | DVD | (08/06/2009) from £5.38   |  Saving you £7.61 (58.60%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Comedy superstar Dan Aykroyd stars as a mild-mannered professor of chivalry and infamous underworld pimp in the hilarious comic romp Doctor Detroit. When Professor Clifford Skridlow (Aykroyd) accidentally gets conned into taking on the persona of 'Doctor Detroit' he soon finds himself up to his neck in luscious ladies the Chicago Mob and a notorious crime czar called 'Mom' (Kate Murtagh). It's comedic chaos all the way as Aykroyd attempts to juggle two very different career paths without losing his life or his mind. From the producers of The Blues Brothers and co-starring Donna Dixon and Fran Drescher comes the laugh-out-loud film about a man committed to making the world safe for insanity.

• Jaws 4 - The Revenge | DVD | (03/04/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Lorraine Gary repeats her role of Ellen Brody widow of Chief Martin Brody in this suspenseful sequel starring Oscar-winner Michael Caine. After Deputy Sean Brody is killed by a shark off Amity Island she joins her other son Michael a marine biologist his wife Carla and their daughter Thea in the Bahamas. There she falls for Hoagie a carefree pilot and starts putting her life back together - until a Great White threatens Thea and Ellen knows she has no choice but to face her

• Silverado | Blu Ray | (15/04/2022) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Rambling man Emmett (Scott Glenn) assembles a group of misfit cowboys (Kevin Costner), (Kevin Kline, Danny Glover). After helping a group of settlers track down a pack of thieves, Emmett and his men descend on the troubled town of Silverado to seek their fortunes. Soon after arriving, they discover that the town has fallen into the grasp of greedy rancher Ethan McKendrick (Ray Baker) and corrupt Sheriff Cobb (Brian Dennehy) with whom many of Emmett's men have unfinished business.Audio commentary Along The Silverado Trail: A Western Historians , with Film Historian Frank Thompson, University of New Mexico professor Paul Hutton (Executive Director of the Western History Association), and UCLA history professor Steve Aaron (Executive Director of the Institute for the Study of the American West at the Autry National Center) A Return to Silverado with Kevin Costner interview The Making of Silverado documentary Theatrical Trailer