"Actor: Michael"

• Monty Python's Life Of Brian | DVD | (14/04/2003) from £5.32   |  Saving you £7.67 (144.17%)   |  RRP £12.99

  There is not a single joke, sight-gag or one-liner in Monty Python's Life of Brian that will not forever burn itself into the viewer's memory as being just as funny as it is possible to be, but--extraordinarily--almost every indestructibly hilarious scene also serves a dual purpose, making this one of the most consistently sustained film satires ever made. Like all great satire, the Pythons not only attack and vilify their targets (the bigotry and hypocrisy of organised religion and politics) supremely well, they also propose an alternative: be an individual, think for yourself, don't be led by others. "You've all got to work it out for yourselves", cries Brian in a key moment. "Yes, we've all got to work it our for ourselves", the crowd reply en masse. Two thousand years later, in a world still blighted by religious zealots, Brian's is still a lone voice crying in the wilderness. Aside from being a neat spoof on the Hollywood epic, it's also almost incidentally one of the most realistic on-screen depictions of the ancient world--instead of treating their characters as posturing historical stereotypes, the Pythons realised what no sword 'n' sandal epic ever has: that people are all the same, no matter what period of history they live in. People always have and always will bicker, lie, cheat, swear, conceal cowardice with bravado (like Reg, leader of the People's Front of Judea), abuse power (like Pontius Pilate), blindly follow the latest fads and giggle at silly things ("Biggus Dickus"). In the end, Life of Brian teaches us that the only way for a despairing individual to cope in a world of idiocy and hypocrisy is to always look on the bright side of life. On the DVD: Life of Brian returns to Region 2 DVD in a decent widescreen anamorphic print with Dolby 5.1 sound--neither are exactly revelatory, but at least it's an improvement on the previous release, which was, shockingly, pan & scan. The 50-minute BBC documentary, "The Pythons", was filmed mainly on location in 1979 and isn't especially remarkable or insightful (a new retrospective would have been appreciated). There are trailers for this movie, as well as Holy Grail plus three other non-Python movies. There's no commentary track, sadly. --Mark Walker

• Conspiracy Theory | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £12.94   |  Saving you £1.05 (8.11%)   |  RRP £13.99

  What is it about director Richard Donner that Mel Gibson enjoys so much that he's appeared in five of Donner's films? Is it the on-set pranks? Could it be the big-budget perks and $20 million paychecks? Or is it just a well-stocked catering table? Whatever the case, the Lethal Weapon star and director teamed up again, along with fellow superstar Julia Roberts, for this typically glossy, entertaining but ultimately hokey thriller. Gibson plays New York cab driver Jerry Fletcher, whose wacky belief in conspiracies finally hits on a coincidental truth involving an evil figure named Jonas (Patrick Stewart) and a secret program of government-funded mind control. Roberts plays the Justice Department attorney who finally believes in Jerry's paranoid ramblings. With a plot (from LA Confidential co-writer Brian Helgeland) that's a lot of fun as long as you don't think about it too critically, Conspiracy Theory benefits immeasurably from the charisma of its high-magnitude stars. --Jeff Shannon

• Alien 1-6 Boxset | Blu Ray | (18/09/2017) from £28.55   |  Saving you £-12.88 (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.67

  All six films in the 'Alien' franchise. In Ridley Scott's 'Alien' (1979) the crew of the Nostromo starship are on their way back to Earth after completing a mission when they are diverted to a planetoid to investigate a cryptic message. While exploring an abandoned spacecraft on the planet, they come across a store of unhatched eggs. When one of the eggs releases a mysterious creature that leeches on to a crew member's face, the others bring him back on board to recover from the ordeal. Little do they know that they have also brought on board an alien lifeform that will kill anyone or anything that gets in its way. In James Cameron's sequel, 'Aliens' (1986), sole survivor from the Nostromo Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) awakens after 57 years in stasis, and with a team of Space Marines in tow she returns to the planetoid now named LV-426 to investigate the loss of contact with the terraforming colony in residence. In David Fincher's dark 'Alien 3' (1992), Ripley crash lands on an old prison planet used to house convicted murderers - but she's not alone. When Ripley discovers her body is being used to carry an alien queen she faces a difficult decision to save humanity and sacrifice herself. In Jean-Pierre Jeunet's 'Alien Resurrection' (1997), 200 years after Ripley died bearing the alien queen, a group of scientists successfully produce clones of both her and the alien. The United States Military, hoping to use the queen to breed aliens to study, fail to keep the clones locked up and they escape. It is not long before the new Ripley is forced to team up with a gang of smugglers to repel the alien clones that are set on destroying life on Earth. In 'Prometheus' (2012) Scott returns to direct a new cast of Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron and Guy Pearce. After finding fragments of alien DNA, a team of scientists known as The Company travel into space aboard the state-of-the-art Prometheus spacecraft to investigate the origins of human life on Earth. Their journey takes them into the darkest corners of the universe - but, to their horror, their inquisitive nature ends up posing a threat to the future existence of humankind. The scientists now find themselves tested to their mental and physical limits as they fight a desperate battle to preserve the future of the human race. Finally, in 'Alien: Covenant' (2017), set as a sequel to 'Prometheus' (2012), the crew of the Covenant discover a planet they believe to be paradise, but when they actually start to investigate they find a dark and dangerous world inhabited by a colony of creatures who are less than pleased to see the.

• Homeward Bound | DVD | (12/02/2001) from £8.25   |  Saving you £7.74 (93.82%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Walt Disney studios had previously adapted Sheila Burnford's classic animal-adventure novel The Incredible Journey in 1963, and the story proves just as durable in this popular 1993 version, Homeward Bound, in which the heroic trio of animals are given voices provided by Don Ameche, Michael J Fox, and Sally Field. They don't actually speak (like the clever critters in Babe), but we hear their "voices" as the lost household pets--Shadow the golden retriever, Chance the bulldog, and Sassy the cat--survive a harrowing series of adventures as they struggle to find their way home. Perfect entertainment for kids, this frequently clever movie offers an abundance of wildlife and beautiful location scenery, and the vocal performances by Ameche, Fox and Field are surprisingly effective. A hit with parents and children alike, the film was followed by a sequel in 1996. --Jeff Shannon

• Ninja Scroll Blu-ray | Blu Ray | (26/11/2012) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Manga is proud to present the anime classic, Ninja Scroll on Blu-ray for the first time ever! This new HD transfer of the classic action-anime from acclaimed director, Yoshiaki Kawajiri and Madhouse Studio (Summer Wars, Redline, Animatrix). A ninja-for-hire is forced into fighting an old nemesis who is bent on overthrowing the Japanese government. His nemesis is also the leader of a group of demons each with superhuman powers.

• Django Unchained | Blu Ray | (20/05/2019) from £7.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Written and directed by Quentin Tarantino and featuring an award-winning cast, Jamie Foxx stars as Django a slave who teams up with bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz) to seek out the South's most wanted criminals with the promise of Django's freedom. Honing vital hunting skills, his one goal is to find and rescue the wife (Kerry Washington) he lost to the slave trade long ago. When their search ultimately leads to Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio), the infamous and brutal proprietor of Candyland , they arouse the suspicion of Stephen (Samuel L. Jackson), Candie's trusted house slave. Now their moves are marked and Candie's treacherous organization closes in on them.

• Doctor Who - The Power of the Daleks | DVD | (21/11/2016) from £10.98   |  Saving you £-1.96 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.02

  50 years after its only UK broadcast on BBC One, one of Doctor Who's most celebrated, lost adventures is regenerated, with a brand new hand-drawn black and white animation, synchronised with a digitally remastered recording of the original 1966 audio. The six-part adventure takes place immediately after the first regeneration, as the Time Lord and his companions, Polly (Anneke Wills) and Ben (Michael Craze), do battle with an old foe on the mysterious planet Vulcan. How will Polly and Ben cope with a new Doctor? How will the Doctor take to his new body? And how will they ever overcome the power of the Daleks?

• The Sopranos - Series 1-6 - Complete | DVD | (08/03/2009) from £47.13   |  Saving you £2.86 (6.07%)   |  RRP £49.99

  This is the first time that all episodes of writer-producer-director David Chase's extraordinary US television series The Sopranos have been brought together in one box set which is a seminal event for any fan of the series. The Sopranos is nominally an urban gangster drama but its true impact strikes closer to home chronicling a dysfunctional suburban family in bold relief. And for protagonist Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) there's the added complexity posed by heading twin families his collegial mob clan and his own nouveau riche brood.

• Dumbo | DVD | (29/07/2019) from £3.95   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  From Disney and visionary director Tim Burton, the grand live-action adventure Dumbo expands on the beloved classic story where differences are celebrated, family is cherished and dreams take flight. Circus owner Max Medici (Danny DeVito) enlists former star Holt Farrier (Colin Farrell) and his children to care for a newborn elephant whose oversized ears make him a laughingstock in an already struggling circus. But when they discover that Dumbo can fly, the circus makes an incredible comeback, attracting persuasive entrepreneur V. A. Vandevere (Michael Keaton), who recruits the peculiar pachyderm for his newest, larger-than-life entertainment venture, Dreamland. Dumbo soars to new heights alongside the charming and spectacular aerial artist Colette Marchant (Eva Green)until Holt learns that beneath its shiny veneer, Dreamland is full of dark secrets.

• The Phoenician Scheme | Unknown | (01/09/2025) from £18.98   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Anatole Zsa-zsa Korda (Benicio del Toro)-ruthless, unscrupulous, one of the richest men in Europe -fights for his life in Wes Anderson's: The Phoenician Scheme. During the final stages of a vast, decades-long, career-defining business project, Korda survives a sixth assassination attempt and must appoint a successor: his long-estranged daughter Liesl (Mia Threapleton)-a nun. With personal tutor Bjorn (Michael Cera) in tow, the trio set off on a globetrotting adventure to achieve Korda's epic mission.

• Kingsman: The Secret Service | DVD | (08/06/2015) from £8.25   |  Saving you £11.74 (142.30%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Based upon the acclaimed comic book and directed by Matthew Vaughn (Kick Ass X-Men: First Class) KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE tells the story of a super-secret spy organization that recruits an unrefined but promising street kid into the agency’s ultra-competitive training program just as a global threat emerges from a twisted tech genius.

• Beetlejuice | DVD | (01/06/2006) from £4.99   |  Saving you £9.00 (180.36%)   |  RRP £13.99

  Before making Batman, director Tim Burton and star Michael Keaton teamed up for this popular black comedy about a young couple (Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin) whose premature death leads them to a series of wildly bizarre afterlife exploits. As ghosts in their own New England home, they're faced with the challenge of scaring off the pretentious new owners (Catherine O'Hara and Jeffrey Jones), whose daughter (Winona Ryder) has an affinity for all things morbid. Keaton plays the mischievous Beetlejuice, a freelance "bio-exorcist" who's got an evil agenda behind his plot to help the young undead newlyweds. The film is a perfect vehicle for Burton's visual style and twisted imagination, with clever ideas and gags packed into every scene. Beetlejuice is also a showcase for Keaton, who tackles his title role with maniacal relish and a dark edge of menace.--Jeff Shannon

• Lioness: Season Two | Unknown | (09/06/2025) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Murder On The Orient Express | DVD | (05/03/2018) from £3.71   |  Saving you £2.28 (61.46%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Kenneth Branagh directs and leads an all-star cast, including Johnny Depp, Penélope Cruz, Willem Dafoe and Judi Dench, in this stylish, suspenseful and thrilling mystery based on the best-selling novel by Agatha Christie. Everyone's a suspect when a murder is committed on a lavish train ride, and a brilliant detective must race against time to solve the puzzle before the killer strikes again.

• Back To The Future: The Ultimate Trilogy (DVD) | DVD | (12/10/2020) from £14.09   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Experience one of the most popular movie series of all time like never before with Back to the Future: The Ultimate Trilogy ! Join Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox), Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) and a time traveling DeLorean for the adventure of a lifetime as they travel to the past, present and future, setting off a time-shattering chain reaction that disrupts the space-time continuum! From filmmakers Steven Spielberg, Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale, this unforgettable collection features hours of bonus features and is an unrivalled trilogy that stands the test of time. BONUS FEATURES The Making Of Back To The Future Outtakes Making The Trilogy Deleted Scenes Story Boards to Final feature Comparisons And Much More!

• The Chronicles Of Narnia | DVD | (14/11/2005) from £10.99   |  Saving you £-2.89 (N/A%)   |  RRP £8.10

  The Lion The Witch And The Wardrobe (Dir. Marilyn Fox 1988): A production of C.S. Lewis' powerful fantasy for all ages using live action animation and special effects to recreate this most exciting and enchanting adventure in the magical world of Narnia; a land of dwarves nymphs and giants and also the land's arch-enemy the White Witch... Prince Caspian (Dir. Alex Kirby 1989): Evil King Miraz and his Queen Prunaprisma are making plans to take over the kingdom. Heir

• Truly, Madly, Deeply | DVD | (05/03/2018) from £5.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Truly Madly Deeply is an intelligent, moving, and deeply funny story about love and death. Nina (Juliet Stevenson), a scatterbrained professional translator, has lost the love of her life, Jamie (Alan Rickman). As her life (and her flat) slowly falls to pieces, she is inundated with an endless stream of repairmen and eligible suitors. But rather than go on with life, Nina dwells on her dead love, slumped at her piano, endlessly playing half of a Bach duet. Then, in a truly magical sequence, his cello suddenly joins her melody... and Jamie's back from the dead. At first it's bliss--think of the superficially similar blockbuster Ghost, only with real people instead of pretty faces Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze. But Nina gradually realises it's a thoroughly real Jamie who's back; complete with every annoying, argumentative fault she'd conveniently forgotten. (He might be dead, he explains, but he still attends political meetings.) Moreover, he has to hide whenever any of the living are around. And he's constantly ice-cold. And he invites his dead pals to her place at all hours. What's a living woman to do? Director Anthony Minghella went on to create the melodramatic period piece The English Patient--but in this film, he shows a far more sensitive, subtle touch. The photography is brilliant, capturing the simple beauties of suburban London. And the wonderfully acted characters, quirky and all too real, will keep you laughing--and always guessing what will happen next.--Grant Balfour, Amazon.com

• Withnail And I | DVD | (09/02/2015) from £8.99   |  Saving you £1.00 (11.12%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Set in 1969, the year in which the hippy dreams of so many young Englishmen went sour, 1986's Bruce Robinson's Withnail and I is an enduring British cult. Fellow enthusiasts cry immortal phrases from the endlessly brilliant script to one another like mating calls; "Scrubbers!", "We want the finest wines known to humanity and we want them now!" Withnail is played by the emaciated but defiantly effete Richard E Grant, "I" (i.e., Marwood) by Paul McGann. Out-of-work actors living in desperate penury in a rancid London flat, their lives are a continual struggle to keep warm, alive and in Marwood's case sane, until the pubs open. A sojourn in the country cottage of Withnail's gay Uncle Monty only redoubles their privations--they have to kill a live chicken to eat. The arrival of Monty spells further misery for Marwood as he must fend off his attentions. This borderline homophobic interlude apart, Withnail and I is a delight, enhanced by an aimless but appallingly eventful plot. Popular among students, it strikes a chord with anyone who has undergone a period of debauchery and impoverished squalor prior to finding their way onto life's straight and narrow.--David Stubbs

• Robin Hood Prince Of Thieves | DVD | (01/06/2006) from £10.73   |  Saving you £8.26 (76.98%)   |  RRP £18.99

  Kevin Costner's lousy English accent is a small obstacle in this often exciting version of the Robin Hood fable. That aside, it's refreshing to have a preface to the old story in which we meet the robber hero of Sherwood Forest as a soldier in King Richard's Crusades, coming home to find his people under siege from the cruelties of the Sheriff of Nottingham (Alan Rickman). After Robin and his community of outcasts and fighters take to the trees, director Kevin Reynolds (Fandango, 187) is on more familiar narrative ground, and he goes for the gusto with lots of original action (Robin shoots two arrows simultaneously from his bow in two directions). Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, as Marion, makes a convincing damsel in distress and Morgan Freeman brings dignity to his role as Robin's Moor friend. Alan Rickman, however, gets the most attention for his scene-chewing role as the rotten sheriff, an almost campy performance that is highly entertaining but perhaps a little out of sorts with the rest of the film. --Tom Keogh

• Gotham S5 | DVD | (29/07/2019) from £11.29   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  The origin story of the greatest DC Super-Villains and vigilantes, GOTHAM reveals an entirely new chapter that has never been told. The series follows the rise of GCPD Detective James Gordon (series star BEN McKENZIE) through a dangerously corrupt city teetering between good and evil, while also chronicling the birth of one of the most popular Super Heroes of our time. With fellow GCPD Detective Harvey Bullock (series star DONAL LOGUE), Jim Gordon stands at the forefront of the fight against the city's most depraved and unhinged villains Penguin (series star ROBIN LORD TAYLOR); Edward Nygma/The Riddler (series star CORY MICHAEL SMITH), Barbara Kean (series star ERIN RICHARDS), as well as the future Catwoman, Selina Kyle (series star CAMREN BICONDOVA). Meanwhile, a young Bruce Wayne (series star DAVID MAZOUZ) begins to assume responsibility for the city's well-being. With the help of his ever-faithful butler Alfred Pennyworth (series star SEAN PERTWEE) and quiet support of Lucius Fox (series star CHRIS CHALK), he will step forward toward his destiny. The fifth and final season premiere of GOTHAM wraps up the iconic series in a farewell event that focuses on Bruce Wayne's ultimate transformation into the Caped Crusader. Following the events of last season, GOTHAM: Legend of the Dark Knight picks up with Gotham City split amongst Jim Gordon and the GCPD, and some of the most notorious fan-favorite villains, as the heroes try to gain control and salvage what's left of the deteriorating city. This season also introduces new villains, including the iconic Bane (recurring guest star SHANE WEST).