"Actor: Peter V"

• Sphere | DVD | (23/10/1998) from £2.87   |  Saving you £12.38 (768.94%)   |  RRP £13.99

  From yet another derivative science fiction novel by Michael Crichton comes Sphere, an equally derivative and flaccid movie, in which three top Hollywood stars struggle to squeeze tension and excitement out of material that doesn't match their talents. You're supposed to find awe and mystery in Crichton's story about a team of scientists and scholars who discover a 300-year-old alien spacecraft deep on the ocean floor, but mostly you feel that this is all much ado about nothing. The exploration team consists of a psychologist (Dustin Hoffman), mathematician (Samuel L Jackson), biochemist (Sharon Stone), and an astrophysicist (Live Schreiber), and when they enter the alien ship they discover a mysterious sphere inside. What they don't know is that the sphere has the power to manipulate their thoughts and perceptions, and before long the scientists' undersea habitat is a veritable haunted house of frightening visions and creeping paranoia. Who can be trusted? What is the sphere's purpose, and why is it on the ocean floor? Sphere makes some attempt to answer these questions, but the film is a mess, and it leads to one of the most anticlimactic endings of any science fiction film ever made. There are moments of high intensity and psychological suspense, and the stellar cast works hard to boost the talky screenplay. But it's clear that this was a hurried production (Hoffman and director Barry Levinson made Wag the Dog during an extended production delay), and as a result Sphere looks and feels like a film that wasn't quite ready for the cameras. Though it's by no means a waste of time, it's undeniably disappointing. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com

• Citizen Smith: Series 1 and 2 | DVD | (03/03/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Episodes: Crocodile Tears Guess Who's Coming to Dinner Abide with Me The Weekend The Hostage The Path of True Love But Is It Art? A Christmas Story Speed's Return Rebel Without a Pause The Tooting Connection Working Class Hero Spanish Fly Right to Work Rock Bottom.

• The Paper Lads - The Complete Series | DVD | (29/07/2013) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  This fondly remembered family series from Tyne Tees follows the adventures of J.G., Ian, Gog, Baz and Sam - teenagers on a paper round for their local newsagent, Jack Crawford. Retired policeman Jack always tells the lads (and lass) to keep their eyes open as they go about their rounds; as a result they often discover the news, as well as deliver it! Filmed among the terraced streets of Gateshead and featuring humorous, exciting scripts - several garnering a Writer's Guild Award (Best Childr...

• Boys On Film 18: Heroes | DVD | (30/04/2018) from £9.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  BOYS ON FILM comes of age with ten uplifting and powerful tales recounting the lives of everyday heroes fighting for their own identities and the right for us all to be ourselves. This selection includes the powerful docudrama The Colour Of His Hair starring Josh O Connor (God s Own Country), the breath-taking Egyptian animation Half A Life, An Evening, the touching sequel to An Afternoon (from Boys On Film 14), and Iris Prize 2017 winner, Mother Knows Best. TEN SHORT FILMS DANIEL (UK, 2015, 14 mins) Directed by Dean Loxton. Starring Henry Garrett (Poldark) BUDDY (The Netherlands, 2015, 12 mins) Directed by Niels Bourgonje HALF A LIFE (Egypt, Indonesia, USA, Netherlands, 2017, 12mins) Directed by Tamara Shogaolu UNDRESS ME (Sweden, 2013, 15 mins) Directed by Victor Lindgren. THE COLOUR OF HIS HAIR (UK, 2017, 23 mins) Directed by Sam Ashby. Starring BAFTA-nominated Josh O Connor (God s Own Country) SILLY GIRL (UK, 2016, 5 mins) Directed by Hope Dickson Leach (The Levelling). Starring Clara Baxendale (My Mad Fat Diary) and Jason Barker (A Deal with the Universe). AN EVENING (Denmark, 2016, 10 mins) Directed by Søren Green AIDS: DOCTORS AND NURSES TELL THEIR STORIES (UK, 2017, 26 mins) Directed by Alejandro Medina IT S CONSUMING ME (Germany, 2012, 3 mins) Directed by Kai Staenicke (B. Golden) MOTHER KNOWS BEST (Sweden, 2016, 13 mins) Directed by Mikael Bundsen

• Predator | DVD | (18/06/2001) from £12.96   |  Saving you £5.03 (28.00%)   |  RRP £17.99

  In Predator, Rambo meets Alien in a terrific science fiction thriller directed by John McTiernan just a year before Die Hard made him Hollywood's most sought-after director of action-packed blockbusters. Arnold Schwarzenegger leads an elite squad of US Army commandos to a remote region of South American jungle, where they've been assigned to search for South American officials who've been kidnapped by terrorists. Instead they find a bunch of skinned corpses hanging from the trees and realise that they're now facing a mysterious and much deadlier threat. As the squad is picked off one by one, Arnold finds himself pitted against a hideous alien creature that's heavily armed and wearing a spacesuit enabling the creature to render itself invisible. The title says it all in describing the relentless, escalating action that follows, maintained by McTiernan with an abundance of visual flair. The film's special effects are still impressive, and stunning locations in the Mexican jungles create a combined atmosphere of verdant beauty and imminent danger. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com

• T2 Trainspotting | 4K UHD | (05/06/2017) from £21.98   |  Saving you £-0.50 (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.49

  First there was an opportunity......then there was a betrayal.Twenty years have gone by. Much has changed but just as much remains the same.Mark Renton (Ewan McGregor) returns to the only place he can ever call home. They are waiting for him: Spud (Ewen Bremner), Sick Boy (Jonny Lee Miller), and Begbie (Robert Carlyle). Other old friends are waiting too: sorrow, loss, joy, vengeance, hatred, friendship, love, longing, fear, regret, diamorphine, self-destruction and mortal danger, they are all lined up to welcome him, ready to join the dance.Click Images to Enlarge

• The Man Who Knew Too Much | Blu Ray | (19/01/2015) from £12.98   |  Saving you £4.00 (36.40%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Alfred Hitchcock himself called this 1934 British edition of his famous kidnapping story "the work of a talented amateur", while his 1956 Hollywood remake was the consummate act of a professional director. Be that as it may, this earlier movie still has its intense admirers who prefer it over the Jimmy Stewart--Doris Day version, and for some sound reasons. Tighter, wittier, more visually outrageous (back-screen projections of Swiss mountains, a whirly-facsimile of a fainting spell), the film even has a female protagonist (Edna Best in the mom part) unafraid to go after the bad guys herself with a gun. (Did Doris Day do that that? Uh-uh.) While the 1956 film has an intriguing undercurrent of unspoken tensions in nuclear family politics, the 1934 original has a crisp air of British optimism glummed up a bit when a married couple (Best and Leslie Banks) witness the murder of a spy and discover their daughter stolen away by the culprits. The chase leads to London and ultimately to the site of one of Hitch's most extraordinary pieces of suspense (though on this count, it must be said, the later version is superior). Take away distracting comparisons to the remake, and this Man Who Knew Too Much is a milestone in Hitchcock's early career. Peter Lorre makes his British debut as a scarred, scary villain. --Tom Keogh

• Husbands (1970) (Criterion Collection) UK Only | Blu Ray | (08/06/2020) from £20.89   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  The trailblazing independent auteur JOHN CASSAVETES (Opening Night) pushes his raw, uncompromising emotional realism to its limit in this unflinching portrait of masculinity in crisis. Cassavetes joins BEN GAZZARA (Anatomy of a Murder) and PETER FALK (Mikey and Nicky)both of whom would become key collaborators of the director'splaying a trio of middle-aged Long Island family men who, following the sudden death of their best friend, channel their grief into an epic, multiday bender that takes them from Manhattan to London in a desperate, debauched quest to feel alive. By turns painfully funny and woundingly perceptive, this self-described comedy about life, death, and freedom stands as perhaps the most fearless, harrowingly honest deconstruction of American manhood ever committed to film. Special Features: New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack Audio commentary from 2009 featuring critic Marshall Fine New interviews with producer Al Ruban and actor Jenny Runacre New video essay featuring audio recordings of John Cassavetes in his own words exploring the actor director's spirited approach to acting The Story of HusbandsA Tribute to John Cassavetes (2009), a half-hour program featuring Ruban, actor Ben Gazzara, and cinematographer Victor J. Kemper Episode of The Dick Cavett Show from 1970 featuring Cassavetes, Gazzara, and actor Peter Falk Trailer PLUS: An essay by filmmaker Andrew Bujalski

• The Nun's Story | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £5.94   |  Saving you £10.05 (169.19%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Based on Kathryn C. Hulme's best selling novel The Nun's Story is an unforgettable revelation of the seldom-seen world behind convent walls. Audrey Hepburn portrays Sister Luke a nun whose life journey leads her to a much desired position as a surgical nurse in a Belgian Congo missionary hospital but who is tortured by self-doubt. After she returns to her native Belgium World War II breaks out and she finds her commitment seriously tested; torn between the pull of the Resistance and the church's neutrality. Directed by four-time Academy Award winner Fred Zinnemann The Nun's Story earned eight Oscar'' nominations including Best Picture Best Director and Best Actress.

• The Man Who Cried | DVD | (10/04/2003) from £7.98   |  Saving you £2.01 (25.19%)   |  RRP £9.99

  The story, set before World War II, tells of a young woman who has fled from Russia to Paris, but secretly desires to head to America

• Rescue Me - Season 1 | DVD | (20/02/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £39.99

  Tommy Gavin (Denis Leary) is a lifesaver. Whether he's pulling survivors from fiery high-rise infernos or the twisted steel of a subway collision Gavin takes great pride in leading the heroic but often overwhelmed firefighters of New York City's Truck Company 62. Gavin is also a man drifting between sorrow and anger over a recent separation from his wife (Andrea Roth) and three kids and recurring memories of comrades and other New Yorkers who fell victim to the tragedy of 9/11.

• Jeffrey Bernard Is Unwell | DVD | (02/10/2000) from £49.99   |  Saving you £-30.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Peter O'Toole is dazzling as Jeffrey Bernard: Spectator columnist raconteur hopeful lover hopeless husband heroic drinker and funniest man you are ever likely to meet. Recorded live at the Old Vic Theatre in London this video of Keith Waterhouse's brilliant play immortalises a host of insanely hilarious characters from the bitingly critical stagehand at the Royal Opera House to the mad genius who invented cat racing.

• Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Season 4 | DVD | (04/09/2017) from £4.48   |  Saving you £7.73 (172.54%)   |  RRP £12.21

  Captain Ray Holt (Andre Braugher) takes over Brooklyn's 99th precinct, which includes Detective Jake Peralta (Andy Samberg), a talented but carefree detective who's used to doing whatever he wants. The other employees of the 99th precinct include Detective Amy Santiago (Melissa Fumero), Jake's over achieving and competitive partner; Detective Rosa Diaz (Stephanie Beatriz), a tough and kept to herself coworker; Detective Charles Boyle (Joe Lo Truglio), Jake's best friend who also has crush on Rosa; Detective Sergeant Terry Jeffords (Terry Crews), was recently taken off the field after the birth of his twin girls; and Gina Linetti (Chelsea Peretti), the precinct's sarcastic administrator.

• Soft Beds, Hard Battles | DVD | (07/10/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  A genius he may have been, but Peter Sellers' film work often demonstrated appalling lapses of taste, as with the weak wartime farce Soft Beds, Hard Battles. Little more than a vehicle for a range of Sellers racial stereotypes and an excuse to feature a succession of scantily clad young women, the film centres on a Parisian brothel during the Second World War and its various clients from all the countries involved. Thus Sellers is given reign to trot out his comedy Frenchman, Englishman, German and Chinaman-—none of which come across as anything other than hugely dated. The plot is weak and the hopelessly erotic air gives a feel of Confessions of a Window Cleaner in uniform or "'Allo 'Allo: The Movie". With so many better examples of Sellers' work available, this must surely be close to the bottom of anyone's list. On the DVD: Soft Beds, Hard Battles's picture and sound are bright and bawdy, with some degree of digital remastering obviously having taken place. There is a 10-minute selection of material deleted from the original cinematic print but these are merely odds and sods that cannot save Soft Beds, Hard Battles from being little more than a woefully outdated curio. --Phil Udell

• The Bridge At Remagen | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £10.92   |  Saving you £1.07 (9.80%)   |  RRP £11.99

  Fine casting, rugged characters and authentic military detail make The Bridge at Remagen one of the best World War II action films of the 1960s. Based on actual incidents during the final Allied advance on Germany in March 1945, the story focuses on the US Army's exhausted 27th Armoured Infantry, assigned to seize the bridge at Remagen, on the Rhine river, to prevent 50,000 German troops from retreating to safety. Lt Hartman (George Segal) leads the mission, while a Nazi major (Robert Vaughn) defies orders by attempting to hold the bridge instead of blowing it up. With strong emphasis on war's harsher realities, the film's compelling characters illustrate the camaraderie of survivors and the heroism of mavericks in the thick of battle. Segal and Ben Gazzara effectively convey a hard-won friendship, and the film's dynamic action (filmed in Czechoslovakia and Italy) never overwhelms the story's emotional impact. This is highly recommended. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com

• Kidnapped | DVD | (28/09/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Cheated out of his rightful inheritance after being kidnapped young David Balfour joins forces with daring adventurer Alan Breck Stewart and together they flee across the Highlands to evade the King's redcoat forces...

• Catweazle: The Complete Series | DVD | (30/01/2013) from £11.99   |  Saving you £30.00 (300.30%)   |  RRP £39.99

  Unforgettable for Geoffrey Bayldon's entrancing performance as Catweazle the wizard, the series also boasted a superb regular cast, while guest appearances by some of Britain's finest actors of the period - including Hattie Jacques and Peter Sallis - ensured the quality status of the production. Catweazle is a magical dip into the past for those who saw these series originally, and a special treat for everyone who will experience this classic for the first time. Special Features: • Limited edition packaging • Exclusive postcards • Brand-new 40th anniversary introduction to the series by Geoffrey Bayldon • Brothers in Magic - Geoffrey Bayldon and Robin Davies are reunited after thirty years, at the Hexwood Farm location, to reminisce about the filming of Catweazle • Commentaries with Richard Carpenter, Geoffrey Bayldon, Joy Whitby and Robin Davies • Anglia News - Richard Carpenter interview, from 1970 • Extensive image gallery including behind the scenes and many previously unseen • Merchandise image gallery • PDF material including merchandise, magazines, annuals and scripts for all episodes, including an unfilmed episode, The Horned Dragon • Commemorative Booklet

• Doctor Who: The Time Meddler | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £5.94   |  Saving you £7.05 (118.69%)   |  RRP £12.99

  The TARDIS arrives on an English coastline in the year 1066. Exploring the Doctor discovers that one of his own people the Monk is conspiring to wipe out the Viking fleet and thus allow King Harold to face the forces of William of Normandy with a fresh army at the Battle of Hastings. The Doctor succeeds in thwarting the Monk's plans and leaves him trapped in England.

• Better Than Chocolate | DVD | (21/01/2002) from £19.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Many lesbian movies are long on charm and short on production values; Better Than Chocolate has a solid dose of both and steamy sex scenes to boot. Our heroine Maggie (Karyn Dwyer), a clerk at a lesbian bookshop, meets footloose butch Kim (Christina Cox) and, after Kim's van is towed away, they move in together. Unfortunately for their romantic bliss, Maggie's mother, Lila (Wendy Crewson), and teenage brother move in that very evening thanks to Lila's impending divorce. But what really complicates matters is that Maggie can't bring herself to come out to her mother. Even when she tries, Lila steamrollers through the conversation, as if she knows what's coming and doesn't want to hear it. Interwoven with this is the struggle of Judy (Peter Outerbridge), a male-to-female transsexual who's in love with the bookshop's owner, Frances (Ann-Marie MacDonald), who's freaking out because customs officers are holding a list of books at the border that they claim are obscene. The overlapping plots are deftly juggled, the personal and political are compellingly interwoven, and, most satisfying of all, the characters have problems that aren't going to be easily resolved. A handful of candy-coloured lip-synching musical numbers give the movie some flash and the sex scenes give it some heat, but it's the elements of sorrow and ambiguity that really make the joy in Better Than Chocolate something to savour. --Bret Fetzer, Amazon.com

• The Stepford Wives | DVD | (09/08/2004) from £23.97   |  Saving you £-10.98 (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Ira Levin's scary novel about forced conformity in a small Connecticut town made the Stepford Wives a compelling 1975 thriller. Katharine Ross stars as a city woman who moves with her husband to Stepford and is startled by how perpetually happy many of the local women seem to be. Her search for an answer reveals a plot to replace troublesome real wives with more accommodating fake ones (not unlike the alien takeover in The Invasion of the Body Snatchers). The closer she gets to the truth, the more danger she faces--not to mention the likelihood that the men in town intend to replace her as well. Screenwriter William Goldman (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid) and director Bryan Forbes (King Rat) made this a taut, tense semi-classic with a healthy dose of satiric wit. --Tom Keogh, Amazon.com