"Actor: Maria C"

• Dekalog - The Ten Commandments - Parts 6-10 | DVD | (27/05/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  The double-disc set Dekalog, Parts 6-10, contains the last five of Kieslowski's 10 one-hour modern morality tales, each one loosely linked to one of the 10 Commandments. All set in and around the same drab, high-rise Warsaw housing estate, they intriguingly explore moral dilemmas without ever coming to any glib conclusions. As always, Kieslowski is far more interested in posing questions than in supplying answers. The series was originally made for Polish television, and has since been shown on TV stations all round the world, though never in the cinema. While they can easily be watched separately, being individual stories, there's no question that they gain in impact from being taken in conjunction with each other. Kieslowski used a different cinematographer for each film (except Nos. 3 and 9, both photographed by Piotr Sobocinski) to give a distinct feel to each story. While none of them--as you might expect from this director--offer a barrel of laughs, some are decidedly lighter in tone. Indeed the series ends on an almost farcical note: Dekalog 10 tells the tale of two brothers seized with paranoia when their late father leaves them a valuable stamp collection. By contrast, Dekalog 6 is one of the most moving and compassionate in the collection: a woman who finds a young lad is obsessively spying on her inflicts an intolerable humiliation on him. This, like No. 5 in the series, was expanded by 25 minutes or so into a feature film, A Short Film about Love. Here too, it seems a pity that the longer version couldn't have been included in the set. On the DVDs: Dekalog, Parts 1-6 is slightly better served for extras than the first set; this includes a 50-minute interview with Kieslowski, one of the last he gave before his early death. As usual, he stonewalls all the questions with barely concealed impatience. The transfer captures the muted colours of the original, and the Dolby 1.0 sound is crisp and clear. --Philip Kemp

• Love On A Branch Line | DVD | (09/10/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Leslie Phillips and Michael Maloney star in this BBC adaptation of John Hadfield's 1959 comic novel Love On A Branch Line. The series concerns a civil servant Jasper Pye (Maloney) who is sent by the government to dismantle a forgotten research unit housed in an old country mansion Arcady Hall. The owner Lord Flamborough (Phillips) an eccentric double amputee lives in an old train on his own otherwise closed 'branch line' while the government pay for the upkeep of his ancestral home. Flamborough's equally eccentric family his wife and three daughters all live in Arcady Hall. When Pye arrives he is intent on producing an efficient report regarding the unit however within days he falls under the spell of the stately home and its inhabitants...

• Predator / Predator 2 | DVD | (05/01/2004) from £69.99   |  Saving you £-55.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  It sees the heat of their bodies. It smells the heat of their fear. It hunts for sport. It kills for pleasure. In a place without rules - the hunter has become the hunted. Predator: Deep inside the jungles of Latin America a team of elite commandos are being slaughtered by a mysterious predator. No longer are they the hunters they are the prey: of an alien whose only instinct is to kill. One by one it strikes with inhuman ferocity. Now to survive with the jungle as their

• Behind The Trees | DVD | (05/08/2024) from £7.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Gomorrah - Season 2 | DVD | (25/07/2016) from £11.85   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  The era of the Savastano clan, who once undisputedly reigned over north Naples, seems to be coming to an end. What lies ahead now is the largest ever power vacuum in the history of the Camorra a coalition of crime families in and around the urban backstreets of Naples. The king, Don Pietro Savastano (Fortunato Cerlino), has abdicated, only to be replaced by his son Genny Savastano (Salvatore Esposito) at least momentarily. Although still having loyal soldiers, the Savastano s see themselves opposed by their once loyal right-hand man Ciro the Immortal Di Marzio (Marco D Amore), who is not the only one working on ending their bloody reign. The sinister drug baron, Conte, is back in town building alliances and there are two new contenders for the throne of north Naples. The only certainty about the future nothing is certain. Gomorrah is based on the international bestselling book by Roberto Saviano who exposed the Camorra mafia syndicate based in and around Naples, and has been living under police protection for eight years.

• Predator 2 | Blu Ray | (03/11/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Last time it landed in the jungle. This time it's chosen Los Angeles. Ravaged by open warfare between rival drug gangs L.A. is the perfect killing ground for the Predator who is drawn by heat and conflict. When the police find mutilated bodies Lieutenant Mike Harrigan (Danny Glover) thinks it's the work of the feuding gangs. Then a mysterious government agent (Gary Busey) arrives and orders him to stay off the case. Instead Harrigan sets out to learn what is really going on and comes face to face with the savage alien in a climatic electrifying confrontation...

• Secret Window | DVD | (06/10/2008) from £5.12   |  Saving you £4.87 (95.12%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Mort Rainey (Johnny Depp) is a best-selling author with hundreds of fans. But one of his stories holds a secret that comes to life; a secret that even he can't imagine.

• Heimat: A Chronicle Of Germany (Blu-Ray) | Blu Ray | (30/04/2018) from £68.05   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Highly acclaimed eleven-part series directed by Edgar Reitz, originally produced for German television over a two-year period at the beginning of the 1980s. The series chronicles over 60 years of turbulent German history from 1919 to 1982, including the economic meltdown that followed World War 1, the rise and fall of the Nazis and World War 2, and the subsequent rebuilding of Germany in two halves, East and West. The tale unfolds in a small fictional rural village and follows the fortunes of a woman called Maria (Marita Breuer) who at the start of the series is a young girl, and by the end is an old woman who has lived to tell the tale of some of history's harshest moments. The series won the International Critics' Prize at the 1984 Venice Film Festival.

• A Fish Called Wanda | DVD | (09/08/2005) from £10.98   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £7.99

  A Fish Called Wanda was the blockbuster which proved that John Cleese could be a movie star in his own right. Directed by the Veteran Charles Crichton, who made the 1951 Ealing Comedies classic The Lavender Hill Mob, Wanda combined Ealing-comedy capers and Basil Fawlty-esque farce with contemporary big-screen swearing and black comedy. The plot develops in classic film noir style as Cleese's lawyer, Archie Leech, gets sucked into the double-crossing aftermath of a London diamond heist. For sound box-office reasons, British comedies often sport an American star and here Cleese delivers not only Jamie Lee Curtis as a smooth operating femme fatale, but Kevin Kline as her idiotic, and insanely jealous lover (for which he won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar). Pushing the limits of bad taste is Michael Palin's animal-loving Ken, who in the film's best running gag attempts to murder an old lady, only to slay her beloved pet dogs. Other highlights include Palin as a man with two chips up his nose and Cleese showing the world a different sort of "Full Monty". One of the funniest British films ever made, A Fish Called Wanda was followed by Fierce Creatures (1997), which reunited the lead cast and claimed to be an "equal" not a "sequel", but sadly wasn't. --Gary S Dalkin

• Outlander (2014) – Seasons 01- 05 | DVD | (21/09/2020) from £11.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Season 1 Based on Diana Gabaldon's best-selling book series and executive produced by Ronald D. Moore, OUTLANDER spans the genres of romance, science fiction, history and adventure as it follows Claire Randall, a married World War II combat nurse who mistakenly falls back in time to 1743. Forced by circumstance to marry Jamie Fraser, an outlawed Highlander, she finds herself falling in love and torn by her loyalties to two men in vastly different times. Claire must reconcile her modern mindset with this 18th-Century world amidst threats from ruthless redcoats, volatile clan politics and a brutal witch trial and ultimately discovers that there is a fate worse than death as she struggles to save Jamie's heart, as well as his soul. Season 2 Claire and Jamie arrive in France, hell-bent on infiltrating the Jacobite rebellion led by Prince Charles Stuart and stopping the battle of Culloden. With the help of Jamie's cousin, they are thrown into the lavish world of French society, where intrigue and parties are abundant but political gain proves far less fruitful. Altering the course of history presents challenges that begin to weigh on the very fabric of their relationship but, armed with the knowledge of what lies ahead, Claire and Jamie must race to prevent a doomed Highland uprising and the extinction of Scottish life as they know it. Season 3 The third season of OUTLANDER picks up right after Claire travels through the stones to return to her life in 1948. Now pregnant, she struggles with the fallout of her sudden reappearance and its effect on her marriage to her first husband, Frank. Meanwhile, in the 18th century, Jamie suffers from the aftermath of his doomed last stand at the historic battle of Culloden, as well as the loss of Claire. As the years pass, Jamie and Claire attempt to make lives apart from one another, each haunted by the memory of their lost love. Separated by continents and centuries, Claire and Jamie must find their way back to each other. As always, adversity, mystery and adventure await them, and the question remains: when they find each other, will they be the same people who parted at the standing stones all those years ago? Season 4 Season Four of Outlander continues the story of Claire and Jamie Fraser as they try to make a home for themselves in colonial America. The Frasers settle in North Carolina at yet another turning point in history the cusp of the American Revolution where they must negotiate a tenuous loyalty to the current British ruling class, despite Claire's knowledge of the bloody rebellion to come. Along the way, the Frasers cross paths with notorious pirate and smuggler Stephen Bonnet in a fateful meeting that will come back to haunt the Fraser family. Meanwhile Brianna Randall and Roger Wakefield grow closer in the 20th Century but make a shocking discovery that makes them consider following in Claire's footsteps. Season 5 The fifth season of Outlander sees a continuation of Claire and Jamie's fight to protect those they love, as they navigate the trials and tribulations of life in colonial America. Establishing a home in the New World is by no means an easy task, particularly in the wild backcountry of North Carolina and perhaps most significantly during a period of dramatic political upheaval. The Frasers strive to flourish within a society which, as Claire knows all too well, is unwittingly marching towards Revolution, as members of the elite ruling classes struggle to stifle an alarming undercurrent of unrest, trigged by the Regulator Movement, and to maintain order in the Province. Against this backdrop, which soon heralds the birth of the new American nation, Claire and Jamie have built a home together at Fraser's Ridge. Jamie must now defend this home established on land granted to him by the Crown despite the fact that this new mantle of responsibility sees him pitted against his godfather, Murtagh Fitzgibbons, a leader of the Regulator Rebellion. Jamie is forced to hide the true nature of his relationship with Murtagh from Governor Tryon, who has ordered Jamie to put an end to the unrest sweeping North Carolina. Claire, in turn, seeks to put her own skills and medical expertise to use in keeping her family together and safe from harm. Coupled with her knowledge of the future, she decides that she must be daring and have the courage to take risks, whatever the consequences may be Meanwhile, Brianna and Roger MacKenzie struggle to find their respective places in this world: striving to chase away the shadow cast over their lives by Stephen Bonnet, which continues to loom over them, as they raise their son in this brave new world. For the Frasers and their family, home is more than simply a site in which they live, it is the place in which they are laying the foundations for the rest of their lives.

• The Professor | DVD | (21/06/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Mafia thriller story of a man condemned to prison for murder where his coldblooded ruthlessness and brilliance earns him the nickname 'The Professor'. From his cell he sets out to take control of all the extortion rackets in Naples. The streets soon run red...

• McMafia | DVD | (05/03/2018) from £6.95   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Inspired by the insider interviews in Misha Glenny's bestselling book and featuring a star-studded international cast, this fast-paced thriller exposes the connections behind a global network of organised crime. McMafia unravels a complex web of connections that joins up money launderers in Dubai, cyber criminals in India, Russian oligarchs in London and Bedouin smugglers in the Negev desert. What starts out as a story of survival and revenge becomes a tale of one man's struggle against the lures of corruption.

• The Buddy Holly Story | DVD | (21/04/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Buddy Holly laid the foundations for a generation of popular music with his ground-breaking combination of country music and rhythm and blues. This film tells his story from it's explosive beginning to its tragic end with Gary Busey giving an electrifying Oscar nominated performance (Best Actor 1978) as the young genius from Lubbock Texas who changed the tune of rock 'n' roll history. Young Buddy's studious appearance gave no hint of the 'new music' which was about to take the worl

• Secret Window | DVD | (11/10/2004) from £4.94   |  Saving you £11.05 (223.68%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Mort Rainey (Johnny Depp) is a best-selling author with hundreds of fans. But one of his stories holds a secret that comes to life; a secret that even he can't imagine.

• Nomads (LE) | Blu Ray | (26/05/2025) from £26.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  They creep. They kill and no one knows who they are or where they came from. But when these rootless demonic spirits descend on a determined doctor, all hell breaks loose. Bitten by a dying madman named Jean Pommier (Pierce Brosnan Goldeneye, Mamma Mia - in his first leading role), Dr. Eileen Flax (Lesley-Anne Down Sphinx, From Beyond the Grave) becomes the vessel for his turbulent and insane thoughts. Thrust into his last days, she is shocked to discover the existence of mysterious and murderous demons on a quest for destruction and begins her own quest to somehow stop them before she joins Pommier in his horrifying fate! Special Features ¢ Newly scanned and restored in 2K from the original negative. ¢ Uncompressed English DTS-HD Master Audio 5:1 ¢ Optional English subtitles for the hard of hearing ¢ Audio Commentary with director John McTiernan moderated by film writer and author Eric Lichtenfeld ¢ Delightful Alchemy: Pierce Brosnan remembers Nomads - Exclusive new interview with star Brosnan on his first feature lead role ¢ A Fringe Genre Exercise: New video essay and appraisal of the film by writer, author and critic Kim Newman ¢ Paging Doctor Flax - Interview with star Lesley-Anne Down on Nomads ¢ Musical Nomads - Interview with composer Bill Conti ¢ Radio spot ¢ Image Gallery ¢ Archive Trailer ¢ Reversible Sleeve featuring two artwork choices

• Halloween VI: The Curse of Michael Myers | DVD | (27/10/2003) from £9.87   |  Saving you £5.12 (51.87%)   |  RRP £14.99

  For pulse pounding suspense and relentless thrills nothing can match this DVD one of the most frightening chapters in the chilling 'Halloween' series! In one single horrifying night Michael Myers' masked reign of terror changed Halloween forever! Now six years after he was presumed dead in a fire Myers has returned to kill again and this time there's no escape! As the homicidal fury builds to a spine-tingling climax the long hidden secrets of the screen's most maniacal murderer

• I Am Cuba (Soy Cuba) | DVD | (03/04/2006) from £11.59   |  Saving you £3.40 (29.34%)   |  RRP £14.99

  I Am Cuba is an epic poem to Communist kitsch - a dramatic journey though the decadence of Batista Havana set against the grinding poverty and oppression of the Cuban people. In the four short stories showing the rise of the revolution Kalatozov's astonishingly acrobatic and groundbreaking camera work takes the viewer on a sweeping ride encompassing bathing beauties landless peasants and student revolutionaries. The film was rediscovered and presented by directors Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorcese at the Sundance and Cannes film festivals to critical acclaim. I Am Cuba will change your view of cinema forever...

• Seance on a Wet Afternoon | Blu Ray | (13/01/2020) from £14.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Kim Stanley and Richard Attenborough give outstanding performances in this classy British thriller, with Attenborough winning a BAFTA for Best British Actor and Stanley scoring an Oscar nomination. Written and directed by Bryan Forbes - who also won a Writers Guild award, an Edgar and a BAFTA nomination - Seance on a Wet Afternoon is presented here as a brand-new transfer from original film elements in its original theatrical aspect ratio. Myra Savage, a highly-strung spiritual medium, convinces her weak-willed husband to fake a child kidnapping so she can offer her services to the parents when all seems lost. Though horrified at the prospect, he reluctantly goes along with the plan - but becomes more convinced than ever that Myra is losing her grip on reality

• Youth Without Youth | DVD | (21/04/2008) from £7.79   |  Saving you £12.20 (156.61%)   |  RRP £19.99

  A love story wrapped in a mystery. Set in Hungary prior to WWII, a timid professor is changed by a cataclysmic event and explores the mysteries of life.

• The Russia House | DVD | (29/04/2002) from £8.96   |  Saving you £4.03 (44.98%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Intelligent casting, strong performances and the persuasive chemistry between Sean Connery and Michelle Pfeiffer prove the virtues in director Fred Schepisi's well-intended but problematic screen realization of this John Le Carré espionage thriller. At its best, The Russia House depicts the bittersweet nuances of the pivotal affair between a weary, alcoholic London publisher (Connery) and the mysterious Russian beauty (Pfeiffer) who sends him a fateful manuscript exposing the weaknesses beneath Soviet defence technology. Connery's Barley is a gritty, all-too-human figure who's palpably revived by his awakening feelings for Pfeiffer's wan, vulnerable Katya, whose own reciprocal emotions are equally convincing. Together, they weave a poignant romantic duet. The problems, meanwhile, emanate from the story line that brings these opposites together. Le Carré's novels are absorbing but typically internal odysseys that seldom offer the level of straightforward action or simple arcs of plot that the big screen thrives on. For The Russia House, written as glasnost eclipsed the cold war's overt rivalries, Le Carré means to measure how old adversaries must calibrate their battle to a more subtle, subdued match of wits. Barley himself becomes enmeshed in the mystery of the manuscript because British intelligence chooses to use him as cat's paw rather than become directly involved. Such subtlety may be a more realistic take on the spy games of the recent past but it makes for an often tedious, talky alternative to taut heroics that Connery codified in his most celebrated early espionage role. If the suspense thus suffers, we're still left with an affecting love story, as well as some convincing sniping between British and US intelligence operatives, beautifully cast with James Fox, Roy Scheider and John Mahoney. Veteran playwright Tom Stoppard brings considerable style to the dialogue, without solving the problem of giving us more than those verbal exchanges to sustain dramatic interest. --Sam Sutherland