"Actor: Paul"

• Wagner: Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg -- Australian Opera / Mackerras | DVD | (20/02/2004) from £32.38   |  Saving you £-2.39 (N/A%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg is Wagner's most life-affirming opera, a romantic comedy about life and love in 16th century Nürnberg with none of the mythological characters and settings of the composer's other operas. The story concerns a knight, Walther Von Stolzing (here sung by Paul Frey) who must win the hand of the woman he loves, Eva (Helena Doese) by competing in a competition to become the Master Singer of the city. Against him are various romantic rivals, while in the role of his eventual mentor is the shoemaker Hans Sachs (Donald McIntyre). Doese brings just the right innocent femininity to one of only two important female roles--the other is filled by Rosemary Gunn as her governess, Magdalene. Paul Frey is fine as the romantic young knight, but the opera belongs to the great New Zealand Wagnerian bass-baritone, Donald McIntyre. His performance is richly insightful as only one so steeped in the world of the composer could be. The staging is deliberately unspectacular, the colours muted to the natural earth tones of the Middle Ages, focusing all attention on the characters, drama and exhilarating music. Though running three-and-a-half hours, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg is an excellent introduction to Wagner's art; especially as presented in this 1990 performance in an engagingly direct and unpretentious style, one that draws the audience in and makes for highly effective small-screen viewing. On the DVD: Die Meistersinger is presented on two DVDs to maximise picture quality over the 227-minute playing time. The image is 4:3 and is typical of a 1990 live opera performance recorded on video, being perfectly acceptable while revealing all the faults of the medium. The stereo sound is very good without being exceptional. There are optional subtitles in English, German, French and Spanish but no extras. --Gary S Dalkin

• The Cuckoo Waltz - The Complete Fourth Series | DVD | (22/08/2011) from £8.98   |  Saving you £6.00 (85.84%)   |  RRP £12.99

  David Roper and Diane Keen return in this hit Granada sitcom which follows the fortunes of local news reporter Chris Hawthorne and his wife Fliss. The young couple have always enjoyed life's more modest pleasures but face an uphill struggle to make ends meet on Chris's meagre salary especially now the twins have reached school age and lodger Gavin Rumsey has left. Enter suave new lodger Adrian Lockett; Fliss and Chris have just lost a life-long friend and gained a total stranger!

• Treasure Island | DVD | (01/09/2003) from £12.99   |  Saving you £-7.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

• Stargate Atlantis - Series 3 - Vol. 2 | DVD | (24/09/2007) from £9.20   |  Saving you £10.79 (117.28%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Episodes Comprise: 1. Progeny 2. The Real World 3. Common Ground 4. McKay & Mrs. Miller

• Anarchism in America | DVD | (22/05/2006) from £16.12   |  Saving you £0.64 (4.46%)   |  RRP £15.00

  Two fascinating documentaries on one disc. Each tackles the politics and history of American anarchism in a unique engaging and often hilarious manner.For the first Anarchism in America filmmakers Steven Fischler and Joel Sucher took a rambling cross-country trip. Their mission was to search out evidence of anarchist activity in communities from rural Atkins Bay Maine to cosmopolitan San Francisco. A strange cast of characters emerged. Starting with the premise that Americans embody anarchist principles of freedom and independence the filmmakers were not disappointed. Along with archival footage of luminaries like Emma Goldman they introduce us to Mildred Loomis 80-years-old and still advocating back to the land individualism: beat poet Kenneth Rexroth: science fiction author Ursula Le Guin: long-distance trucker Li'l John: punk rockers the Dead Kennedys: and among many others AK Press author Murray Bookehin.The second film The Free Voice of Labor: The Jewish Anarchists traces the history of a Yiddish anarchist newspaper - publishing it's final issue after 87 years. Narrated by anarchist historian Paul Avrich the story is mostly told by the newspaper's now elderly but decidedly unbowed staff. It's the story of one of the largest radical movements among Jewish immigrant workers in the 19th and 20th centuries the conditions that led them to band together their fight to build trade unions their huge differences with the Communists their attitudes towards violence Yiddish culture and their loyalty to one another.Steven Fischler and Joel Sucher since studying with Martin Scorsese in 1969 have been making Emmy and Guggenheim award-winning non-fiction films that explore American social history.

• The Fast And The Furious Collection - The Fast And The Furious/2 Fast 2 Furious/The Fast And The Furious - Tokyo Drift | DVD | (07/01/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £29.99

  The Fast And The Furious (Dir. Rob Cohen 2001): Roaring along at breakneck speed Dom (Vin Diesel) and his crew meet on the streets of L.A. each night to show off their high-powered racers. When new guy Brian (Paul Walker) wants to add his fuel to the fire he can't getup the money to race but offers up his car as collateral. In their tiny jacked compacts Dom Brian and Edwin (Ja Rule) burst into a high-gear race with Brian nearly beating perennial champion Dom. But in the final moments he loses the race and his car. Brian's debt is quickly cleared however when he saves Dom both from the cops and from a potentially violent encounter with Johnny Tran (Rick Yune) a rival gang lord. Dom takes Brian under his wing - a decision that disgusts his gang but delights his sister Mia (Jordana Brewster). 2 Fast 2 Furious (Dir. John Singleton 2003): Now an ex-cop on the run Brian O'Connor (Paul Walker) hooks into outlaw street racing. When the Feds strong-arm him back O'Connor's no rules; win-or-die skills are unleashed against an international drug lord. With his velocity-addicted buddy (Tyrese) riding shotgun and a drop-dead gorgeous undercover agent (Eva Mendes) dialling up the heat 2 Fast 2 Furious accelerates the action into a desperate race for survival justice... and mind blowing jaw-dropping speed! The Fast And The Furious: Tokyo Drift (Dir. Justin Lin 2006): Shaun Boswell has always been an outsider. A loner at school his only connection to the indifferent world around him is through illegal street racing - which has made him particularly unpopular with the local authorities. To avoid jail time Shaun is sent out of the country to live with his uncle in the military in a cramped apartment in a low-rent section of Tokyo. In the land that gave birth to the majority of modified racers on the road the simple street race has been replaced by the ultimate pedal-to-the-metal gravity-defying automotive challenge... drift racing a deadly combination of brutal speed on heart stopping courses of hairpin turns and switchbacks. For his first unsuccessful foray in drift racing Shaun unknowingly takes on D.K. the ""Drift King "" with ties to the Yakuza the Japanese crime machine. The only way he can pay off the debt of his loss is to venture into the deadly realm of the Tokyo underworld where the stakes are life and death.

• The Ides of March / State of Play (Double Pack) | DVD | (01/10/2012) from £12.98   |  Saving you £0.01 (0.08%)   |  RRP £12.99

  The Ides of MarchWritten and directed by Academy Award winner George Clooney and starring Ryan Gosling, The Ides of March is an electrifying tale of ambition, betrayal and revenge. As up and coming press secretary Stephen Myers (Ryan Gosling) battles tirelessly for Governor Mike Morris (George Clooney) in a frantic election race he becomes distracted by sexy young intern Molly (Evan Rachel Wood). Whilst concealing their affair he agrees to meet the opposition's campaign manager (Paul Giamatti), who offers him a job on his staff. Stephen neglects to inform his boss of the meeting and as his silence is revealed he discovers a dirty personal secret that could sink Morris' political career. State of PlayOscar winner Russell Crowe leads an all-star cast in this blistering thriller about a rising congressman (Ben Affleck) and an investigative journalist, Cal McCaffrey (Crowe), embroiled in a case of seemingly unrelated, brutal murders. Congressman Collins is the rising star of his political party - until his mistress is murdered, and buried secrets come tumbling out. Having been assigned the story by his editor (Oscar winner Helen Mirren), Cal and his partner Della (Rachel McAdams) step into a cover-up that threatens to shake the nation's power structures, they discover one truth - when billions of dollars are at stake, no one's integrity, love or life is ever safe.

• Rigoletto | Blu Ray | (03/01/2012) from £32.38   |  Saving you £-2.39 (-8.00%)   |  RRP £29.99

• Space Precinct - Vol. 2 - Enforcer / Flash | DVD | (05/09/2002) from £27.99   |  Saving you £-13.00 (-86.70%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Enforcer: On Skall Street in Demeter City members of the infamous Hydra Gang are found dead - their hearts shredded but not a single mark in their bodies! Accompanied by an orphaned alien girl a new enforcer has taken over and the Skall Street traders soon discover that the Hydras have been replaced by something far worse. Flash: A new drug HE-11 (also known as Flash) has arrived on the street of Demeter causing spontaneous combustion in its users. While Brogan and Haldane visit Interchem the pharmaceutical company which originally developed the drug Orrin and Beezle run into trouble when Interchem's chief chemist Pola Vad Moonacki is kidnapped.

• The Longest Day (Special Edition) | DVD | (08/02/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £22.99

  On June 6 1944 the Allied Invasion of France marked the beginning of the end of Nazi domination over Europe. The attack involved 3 000 000 men 11 000 planes and 4 000 ships comprising the largest armada the world has ever seen. Presented in its original black & white version The Longest Day is a vivid hour-by-hour re-creation of this historic event. Featuring a stellar international cast and told from the perspectives of both sides it is a fascinating look at the massive preparations mistakes and random events that determined the outcome of one of the biggest battles in history. Winner of two Oscars (Special Effects and Cinematography) the Longest Day ranks as one of Hollywood's truly great war films.

• Beverly Hills Cop II | Blu Ray | (17/05/2022) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Van Der Valk - Series 1 - Part 4 Of 4 | DVD | (03/03/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Van der Valk - Series 1 (Part 4)

• Two Men Went To War | DVD | (05/05/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  This comedy drama is the story of two Army dentists Sergeant Peter King (Kenneth Cranham) and Private Leslie Cuthbertson (Leo Bill) who, in 1942 stole a bag of hand grenades, two revolvers and a set of the best dental equipment that money could buy and went off to invade occupied France on their own - without permission!
  Two Men Went To War tells their outrageously irresponsible, yet eccentrically heroic story for the first time. With an all star cast in a sumptuous, funny and moving drama...

• Hornblower - Mutiny | DVD | (03/02/2003) from £5.79   |  Saving you £4.20 (72.54%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Horatio Hornblower has been serving on the HMS Renown under Captain Sawyer. There is only one problem Sawyer appears to be going mad. His repeated unprovoked punishment of midshipman Wellard is not only unjust but also distracts him from the job in hand and endangers The Renown. Hornblower's ingenuity saves the ship from disaster but both the ship and Hornblower himself are in constant danger from Sawyer's irrational behaviour. The four lieutenants plan to remove Sawyer of command but despite a nasty accident Sawyer refuses to be budged. The Renown is once again endangered by Sawyer's actions when it comes under heavy fire from the Spanish fort. Once more Hornblower comes to the rescue in an act of astonishing bravery forcing Sawyer into the safety of his cabin. But now Hornblower finds himself languishing in a prison cell charged with mutiny facing an almost certain guilty verdict. The prospect: death...

• The Truth Game | DVD | (08/04/2002) from £8.03   |  Saving you £2.95 (58.53%)   |  RRP £7.99

  At a house in an unspecified London location six twenty-something friends gather for a dinner party. What should be a relaxing and pleasant evening for all concerned slowly turns into a night where each participant's self-perception trust and knowledge of his/her partner is challenged to the extreme limits of durability. As the night unfolds it turns out that everyone is lying to each other. The question is can the different relationship survive these lies and the night?

• Friends, Series 7 - Episodes 13-16 | DVD | (27/10/2003) from £4.79   |  Saving you £11.20 (233.82%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Lots happened behind the scenes between seasons and early on in the seventh year of the hit comedy, leaving audiences speculating that this might be the last. Perry became seriously ill again, and returned looking more emaciated than ever. Cox regained weight, but despite finishing Scream 3 happily, things were already rocky with David Arquette. Much was made in the press about Aniston marrying Brad Pitt, of course, but the real news (allaying fans' fears) was NBC's expensive renewal of the cast for two years at $750,000 per episode each (more than six times their previous increase). On-screen, at least there was Chandler and Monica's engagement lasting the whole year, despite predictable ups and downs (eg: "T.O.W. The Truth About London" revealing that Monica fancied Joey). By the time we finally get to "T.O.W. Chandler's Dad" (Kathleen Turner), it seems inevitable that the two-part finale will be an insane mess--but with a happy-ish ending. Sure enough, "T.O.W. Chandler and Monica's Wedding" features Gary Oldman joining in the chaos as Chandler repeatedly goes missing. Other star-turns in the year were Seinfeld's Jason Alexander as a suicidal Office Manager, Susan Sarandon as soap queen bitch Jessica Lockhart, Denise Richards as one of Ross and Monica's endless number of cousins and Winona Ryder as a surprise old friend, prompting "T.O.W. Rachel's Big Kiss". But perhaps the most telling instalment of this weirdly atmospheric year was "T.O.W. They All Turn Thirty". It suggested that maybe the Friends are all getting too old to carry on living their frivolous lives the same way after all. Paul Tonks

• The Manageress Complete Collection | DVD | (20/09/2010) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £39.99

  In 1989 a TV drama series hit the screens that rocked the world of football. Cherie Lunghi stars as Gabriella Benson a woman executive raised on the game by an often absent father. When her mother dies he reaches out to her - by cutting a deal with the faltering Blackburn Rovers to have her replace their current corrupt manager making her the first ever female manager of a football team. Rampant sexism political incorrectness corruption drugs fistfights and foul play. Nudity in the locker room is the least of Gabriella's worries as she comes up against fierce resistance from the team and their trainer up-front and the constant risk of Boardroom backstabbing from behind. But with astute business skills and a keen eye for the game she has loved all her life Gabriella Benson is about to show her team and the world that she's got what it takes to be The Manageress.

• Farscape 3.2 | DVD | (06/05/2002) from £12.97   |  Saving you £15.01 (150.40%)   |  RRP £24.99

  With the third season well under way, it's clear that Farscape has developed into a grown-up show. There's a new self-confidence and a new maturity here that's entirely welcome after the often wildly erratic tone of the second season. The production design and high-quality effects work remain true to the show's original quirky style, although both the look and the more adult-themed scripts have become progressively darker. This second box set of Season 3 features five of the nastiest, most shocking and incident-packed episodes to date. Things start badly when psychotic madman Kaarvok kills D'Argo and Chiana and sucks out their brains. Only later do we discover he's "twinned" them when the same fate befalls Crichton--though both Crichton "twins" survive. Life just gets more and more complicated thereafter. Crichton twin 1 stays on Moya with D'Argo, Chiana and Jool, while Crichton twin 2 transfers to Talyn with Aeryn, Crais, Rygel and Stark. Talyn is being pursued by a Peacekeeper retrieval squad led by Aeryn's mum, Xhalax Sun, and is then swallowed by a Budong (in the Ben Browder-penned episode "Green-Eyed Monster") before Mrs Sun catches up with her daughter and pals. Back on Moya a mysterious "Energy Rider" possesses the crew in turn. Meanwhile on Talyn, Aeryn and Crichton twin 2 have been blissfully having sex, while Crais lusts vainly for Aeryn. Just wait until Scorpius gets involved. On the DVD: This box set contains the usual "Info Pods" and other extras, plus the first Region 2 commentary, for the episode "Relativity", with actor Lani Tupu and director Peter Andrikidis; it's a shame that they don't have a lot to say. --Mark Walker

• Tenement - Game Of Survival | DVD | (27/03/2006) from £17.53   |  Saving you £-3.54 (-25.30%)   |  RRP £13.99

  When a bloodthirsty band of savages lays siege to an entire building and begins massacring tenants no one is spared (not even the viewer) from this torturous trail of graphic murder and mutilation. First a blind man and his seeing eye dog are slaughtered. Next a beautiful black woman is brutally beaten raped and slashed up -- then the grisly corpse is found by her 3 year old daughter. And that's just the beginning of the carnage... the Vietnam vet the drunken building superintend

• Doomwatch - The Plastic Eaters / Tomorrow, The Rat | DVD | (01/01/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Doomwatch is the nickname of a scientific group with the power to assess new technology and ban dangerous developments. It wasn't supposed to cause trouble but unfortunately for the government this watchdog insists on biting. This exciting '70s drama series is anchored in scientific fact and is frighteningly close to reality.... Two episodes from the gripping BBC TV series: 'The Plastic Eaters' and 'Tomorrow The Rat'.