"Actor: Mark Rydell"

• The Long Goodbye | DVD | (29/04/2013) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Detective Philip Marlowe tries to help a friend who is accused of murdering his wife.

• Havana | DVD | (07/02/2005) from £5.54   |  Saving you £0.45 (8.12%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Robert Redford and Lena Olin star in Oscar-winning director Sydney Pollack's passionate romantic adventure set in a place once called ""the sexiest city in the world."" High-rolling poker player Jack Weil (Redford) is trying to make one big score in 1958 Havana a pleasure-seeker's paradise on the verge of revolution. But his plan doesn't include falling for Roberta (Olin) the beautiful enigmatic wife of revolutionary Arturo Duran (Raul Julia). After Arturo is removed by the police Jack is drawn closer to Roberta who ignites a passion that threatens his last chance for the big score. Breathtaking cinematography a powerful story and a sensual score be Dave Grusin make Havana an unforgettable experience.

• The Long Goodbye | DVD | (02/02/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Raymond Chandler's cynically idealistic hero of The Long Goodbye, Philip Marlowe, has been played by everyone from Humphrey Bogart to James Garner--but no one gives him the kind of weirdly affect-less spin that Elliott Gould does in this terrific Robert Altman reimagining of Chandler's penultimate novel. Altman recasts Marlowe as an early 70s Los Angeles habitué, who gets involved in a couple of cases at once. The most interesting involves a suicidal writer (Sterling Hayden in a larger-than-life performance) whom Marlowe is supposed to keep away from malevolent New-Ageish guru Henry Gibson. A variety of wonderfully odd characters pop up, played by everyone from model Nina Van Pallandt to director Mark Rydell to ex-baseballer Jim Bouton. And yes, that is Arnold Schwarzenegger (in only his second movie) popping up as (what else?) a muscleman. Listen for the title song: it shows up in the strangest places. --Marshall Fine

• Punchline | DVD | (14/06/2004) from £5.40   |  Saving you £0.59 (10.93%)   |  RRP £5.99

  At the height of the stand-up comedy boom of the 1980s, Punchline offered the revelation that many comedians were, in fact, rather psychologically unstable individuals for whom performing was an outlet for hostility and aggression. Wow--who would have guessed? This film focuses on two who meet and forge an unlikely friendship: Tom Hanks plays a caustic, self-destructive comic looking for his big break and Sally Field plays a more Roseanne-like comedian who begins neglecting her husband (John Goodman) and children because she gets such a kick out of performing. The offstage stuff is strictly soap opera, but Hanks and Field both develop solid comedic rhythms once they get behind a microphone. --Marshall Fine, Amazon.com

• Punchline / Dragnet / The Money Pit | DVD | (04/07/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Dragnet (1987): A seemingly squeaky-clean TV reverend and a porno magazine king are suspected of operating a crime-ridden cult. Joe Friday's nephew (Aykroyd) and his 'hip' partner (Hanks) are given the task of proving these allegations armed with ""just the facts""... Punchline (1988): Sally Field and Tom Hanks star in a tender romantic and bittersweet comedy about the backstage world of stand-up comedians exposing the heartache behind the smiles of the laughter makers. The Money Pit (1986): A couple (Shelley Long Tom Hanks) buys their dream home only to find out that it's in horrible disrepair. Struggling to keep their relationship together as the house falls apart around them the two watch in horror as everything disappears - including the kitchen sink!

• James Dean | DVD | (21/03/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £13.99

  Set against the backdrop of 1950's Hollywood 'James Dean' explores the tragedies and insecurities that fueled Dean's burning ambition to succeed as an actor and ultimately led to his downfall. From the devastating loss of his mother at an early age and his fractured relationship with his father; through his astonishingly rapid rise as one of the world's most celebrated icons 'James Dean' tells the story behind the legend.

• Havana | DVD | (29/05/2000) from £9.98   |  Saving you £10.01 (100.30%)   |  RRP £19.99

  When Havana was released in 1990, a lot of reviewers unfavourably compared it to Casablanca, and those comparisons (in addition to audience indifference) turned the film into a box-office disaster. It deserved a better fate, because, while this is certainly no masterpiece, it's an intelligent and lavishly produced film about a chapter of history--the final days of Cuba under the collapsing Batista regime--that remains largely unfamiliar. It's a compelling political backdrop for the story of a high-stakes gambler (Robert Redford) who comes to Cuba seeking the big score in poker games, following his expectation that high rollers will bet wildly as the Cuban government crashes around their heads. In Havana, Redford meets the wife (Lena Olin) of a Communist revolutionary (Raul Julia) with ties to Fidel Castro, and their attraction becomes powerfully mutual after her husband is presumed killed by Cuban police. What follows, as Cuba falls and Redford's character is forced into a crisis of conscience, is a mini-epic love story with tragic overtones, handled with great skill (albeit lagging pace) by long-time Redford collaborator Sydney Pollack. True, it's not nearly as memorable as Casablanca, but this is a worthwhile film, especially if you are interested in the political upheavals in pre-Castro Cuba. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com