"Actor: Michael Pa"

• Michael Jackson - History On Film - Volume II | DVD | (28/04/2015) from £15.24   |  Saving you £3.01 (21.53%)   |  RRP £16.99

  Side One Programme Start Teaser Billie Jean Beat It Liberian Girl Smooth Criminal 1995 MTV Video Music Awards Performance Thriller Side Two Scream Childhood You Are Not Alone Earth Song They Don't Care About Us Stranger in Moscow Blood on the Dance Floor Brace Yourself

• The Howling III | Blu Ray | (07/10/2019) from £10.75   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  A strange race of human-like marsupials appear suddenly in Australia, and a sociologist who studies these creatures falls in love with a female one. Is this a dangerous combination?

• The Day the Earth Stood Still | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £6.99   |  Saving you £3.00 (42.92%)   |  RRP £9.99

  The very epitome of a cult SF classic, The Day the Earth Stood Still is more often referenced than seen, which is a pity since it remains even now one of the most thought-provoking examples of the genre. The title is a misnomer, a mere tease to entice 1950s audiences into the cinema in the expectation of seeing another sensationalist B-movie about murderous aliens (i.e. Communists). In fact, Robert Wise's film of Edmund North's screenplay is a thoughtful Cold War allegory about a Christ-like visitor (Michael Rennie) who comes to Earth preaching a message of salvation for mankind, only to be spurned, killed then finally resurrected (significantly, Rennie's character Klaatu adopts the pseudonym "Mr Carpenter" while on the run from the authorities). Aside from its philosophical message, the film also boasts memorable imagery--notably the giant robot Gort--a much-quoted catchphrase in "Klaatu barada nikto", and one of composer Bernard Herrmann's most admired scores, featuring the theremin and other electronic instruments that must have sounded very otherworldly back in 1951. The result is a bona fide landmark in cinema SF with a central message about "weapons of mass destruction" that's still uncannily relevant today. On the DVD: The Day the Earth Stood Still has been splendidly restored for its DVD incarnation from the original 35 mm print, and the results are demonstrated in the "Restoration Comparison" feature. Also included is a fascinating 1951 newsreel showing Klaatu receiving a certificate of merit amid stories of Communist threats, the Korean war and beauty pageants ("Pomp and pulchritude on parade in Atlantic City"). Best of all is an absorbing commentary track with director Robert Wise in conversation with Nicholas Meyer (both men have Star Trek movies on their CV). --Mark Walker

• Almost Famous | DVD | (10/04/2002) from £9.90   |  Saving you £19.08 (276.12%)   |  RRP £25.99

  Inspired by director Cameron Crowe's own experiences and set in the 1970s, the film follows a fifteen year old wannabe journalist who gets the opportunity to interview and go on the road with a hard living rock band.

• Shining Through | DVD | (30/06/2003) from £9.95   |  Saving you £-3.96 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Based on a novel by Susan Isaacs, Shining Through is uncomfortably close to Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious. This World War II drama concerns a love affair between a spy (Michael Douglas) and a secretary (Melanie Griffith) that goes south when duty turns him cold and pushes her into dangerous, behind-the-lines intelligence work. Liam Neeson plays the gentleman Nazi unwittingly providing Griffith with cover as domestic help. The best parts of the film are the twists and turns in the romance (Douglas is very good at playing a character who can turn off all feeling at will) at the beginning; the German scenes are less compelling despite such high stakes for the heroine. The climax--taking us back to Notorious whether it wants to or not--is quite gripping, largely due to Douglas's performance.--Tom Keogh

• Worzel Gummidge | DVD | (06/04/2020) from £4.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Children's series about the adventures of Worzel Gummidge (Mackenzie Crook), a scarecrow who comes to life. Two orphans arrive at a farm who meet Worzel and join him in the adventures.

• Where Eagles Dare | Blu Ray | (17/04/2019) from £8.75   |  Saving you £9.24 (105.60%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Scorned by reviewers when it came out, Where Eagles Dare has acquired a cult following over the years for its unashamed and highly concentrated dose of commando death-dealing to legions of Nazi machine-gun fodder. In 1968 Clint Eastwood was just getting used to the notion that he might be a world-class movie star; Richard Burton, whose image had been shaped equally by classical theatre and his headline-making romance with Elizabeth Taylor, was eager to try his hand at the action genre. Author Alistair MacLean's novel The Guns of Navarone had inspired the film that started the 1960s vogue for World War II military capers, so he was prevailed upon to write the screenplay (his first). The central location, an impregnable Alpine stronghold locked in ice and snow, is surpassing cool, but the plot and action are ultra-mechanical, and the switcheroo gamesmanship of just who is the undercover double (triple?) agent on the mission becomes aggressively silly. --Richard T Jameson

• Lovecraft Country: Season 1 | DVD | (22/02/2021) from £7.79   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  A young African-American travels across the U.S. in the 1950s in search of his missing father.

• The Founder | DVD | (12/06/2017) from £7.05   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  The incredible true story of how Ray Kroc (Academy Award nominee Michael Keaton, Spotlight, Birdman), a salesman from Illinois, met Mac (John Carroll Lynch, Jackie) and Dick McDonald (Nick Offerman, 22 Jump Street), who were running a burger operation in 1950s Southern California. So impressed by the brothers' 'speedy system' Kroc risked his marriage, bankruptcy and his reputation to create a billion-dollar empire that revolutionised the world. From director John Lee Hancock (Saving Mr. Banks, The Blind Side) and writer Robert D. Siegel (The Wrestler) comes a stunning and shocking portrayal of the man whose hunger for the American Dream ate away everything he knew.

• Streets Of Fire | DVD | (03/08/2009) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  The Bombers motorcycle gang headed by the vicious Raven Shaddock kidnap diva Ellen Aim. Her hope for rescue lies with unlikely heroes: soldier of fortune Tom Cody and his sidekick the two-fisted beer-guzzling McCoy. Joined by Ellen's manager Billy Fish the trio plunge headfirst into a world of rain-splattered streets hot cars and deadly assassins.

• Hanover Street | DVD | (16/09/2002) from £10.85   |  Saving you £2.14 (19.72%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Written and directed by Peter Hyams 'Hanover Street' stars Harrison Ford as David a WWII American bomber pilot who meets and falls in love with a beautiful nurse during an air raid in London. Unbeknownst to him she is married. David is then shot down behind enemy lines while accompanying a British agent into France. In the midst of danger David comes to realise that the agent is his lover's husband...

• The Rutles - All You Need Is Cash | DVD | (25/04/2005) from £16.92   |  Saving you £-10.93 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  First screened on BBC2 in 1978, at a time when the standing of The Beatles was at its lowest, The Rutles--All You Need is Cash is the original and (pace This is Spinal Tap) best "rockumentary" spoof. Codirector Eric Idle was then enjoying success with Rutland Weekend Television, while his script displays the same feeling for the inane non-sequitur evident in his Monty Python work. The band's progress from "penniless, untalented nobodies" to "rich, untalented somebodies" is vividly brought to life--with dialogue adapted from actual Beatles interviews and newsreels, and a roster of songs sounding uncannily close to Beatles originals thanks to "Nasty" Neil Innes' genius for pastiche. Interviews with a suitably primed Mick Jagger and Paul Simon give added realism, as do cameos from George Harrison (one-time Beach Boy Rikki Fataar plays his Rutles double Stig) and Stones guitarist Ron Wood. Dan Ackroyd and John Belushi make characterful, pre-Blues Brothers appearances. On the DVD: The Rutles--All You Need is Cash has come up well in this DVD transfer. The fullscreen 4:3 ratio picture and mono sound wear their age well, enhanced by the extra scenes included. There's further interview material with Jagger and Simon, and a specially recorded, though wholly unfunny, DVD introduction from Idle, who also contributes a running commentary. All in all, this is an ideal way to get to know, or renew acquaintance with, a film that brings the swinging 60s back down to earth. --Richard Whitehouse

• Spider-Man Homecoming | Blu Ray | (20/11/2017) from £6.75   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• The Missionary | DVD | (29/07/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Fallen women? Does it mean they've hurt their knees? After a decade of soul-saving in Africa Charles Fortescue is asked to minister to the ladies of the night in 1906 London. So Fortescue feeds them shelters them and not infrequently provides them a bed: his! A naive man of the cloth becomes a man of the sheets in this playfully naughty yet always tasteful comedy that stars Monty Python's Michael Palin (who also wrote the script) as Fortescue and features a colourful array of cockeyed characters: a blissful airhead (Phoebe Nicholls) a lusty mission sponsor (Maggie Smith) a bewildered butler (Michael Hordern) an earthy bishop (Denholm Elliott) a cantankerous John Bull (Trevor Howard) and more. Jolly good fun!

• Time Bandits | DVD | (12/10/2015) from £7.99   |  Saving you £9.00 (150.25%)   |  RRP £14.99

  From a script cowritten with his fellow Monty Python veteran Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam pulled out all the stops on his prodigious imagination for this comedy-fantasy from 1981. Film critic Pauline Kael was right when she wrote, "This may be one of those rare pictures that suffers from a surfeit of good ideas," because there's not enough plot to keep pace with the sheer inventiveness of Gilliam's filmmaking. That hasn't stopped Time Bandits from becoming a classic, of sorts, attracting a cult following as a semi-reunion of the Python gang (with Palin and John Cleese making splendid appearances) and a rousing adventure of near-epic proportions. It's about a kid named Kevin (Craig Warnock) who joins a band of mischievous dwarves on a jaunt through various eras and epochs. They've stolen a map to holes in the space-time continuum that belongs to the Supreme Being (suitably played by Sir Ralph Richardson), and as Kevin survives a variety of heroic adventures, including an encounter with King Agamemnon (Sean Connery) and an Evil Genius (David Warner) who pursues the coveted map using his nefarious magical powers. As a warm-up for Gilliam's later, even more ambitious fantasies, Brazil and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, this is a dazzling dose of cinematic whimsy, and Gilliam doesn't compromise the darkness of his tale with an artificially upbeat ending. There's as much menace in Time Bandits as there is an awesome sense of wonder, and that gives the movie an extra kick of timeless appeal. --Jeff Shannon

• They Came Together | DVD | (27/10/2014) from £4.53   |  Saving you £12.72 (388.99%)   |  RRP £15.99

  From the director of Wanderlust and Role Models comes a hilarious and irreverent subversion of the romantic comedy genre. The stellar comedy cast includes Paul Rudd (This is 40 Anchorman) and Amy Poehler (Parks and Recreation Saturday Night Live).

• Six Feet Under - The Complete Fourth Season | DVD | (09/05/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £50.99

  There's a new pecking order at the Fisher & Diaz funeral home but Nate Ruth David and Claire still try to make every day above ground a good one. Death and dysfunction are par for the course in The Complete Fourth Season of Six Feet Under. Episodes comprise: 1. Falling Into Place 2. In Case Of Rapture 3. Parallel Play 4. Can I Come Up Now 5. That's My Dog 6. Terror Starts At Home 7. The Dare 8. Coming And Going 9. Grinding The Corn 10. The Black Forest 11. The Bomb Shelter

• The Challenge | DVD | (16/02/2004) from £5.38   |  Saving you £8.61 (160.04%)   |  RRP £13.99

  Estranged teen sisters who live on opposite sides of the country are brought together as teammates in the TV show ""The Challenge"" much to their surprise. In order to win the grand prize - college scholarships - they'll need to reconcile their differences work together and keep their romances a secret from the producers all at the same time!

• Cradle 2 the Grave | DVD | (15/09/2003) from £6.09   |  Saving you £7.90 (129.72%)   |  RRP £13.99

  Master thief DMX and Taiwanese government agent Jet Li become unlikely partners in search of a ruthless crime lord.

• N.C.I.S. - Naval Criminal Investigative Service - Series 4 - Complete | DVD | (19/05/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £10.49

  NCIS: Season 4 continues the thrilling adventures of a cutting-edge crew of special agents who operate outside the government's chain of command. Led by Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon) a former Marine whose skills as an investigator are unmatched this highly trained tight-knit team travels the world investigating murder espionage and terrorism.