"Actor: Ren"

• Tristan Und Isolde - Wagner | DVD | (08/03/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £21.99

  A performance of Richard Wagner's opera 'Tristan Und Isolde'....

• Audition | DVD | (31/07/2017) from £11.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Much of the controversy surrounding Takashi Miike's Audition centres on the disturbing nature of the later part of the film--understandable when you consider the imprint these admittedly horrific images leave on the viewer--but fails to note the intricate social satire of the rest. This is a film that offers insight into the changing culture of Japan and the generation gap between young and old. Shigeharu Aoyama is looking for an obedient and virtuous woman to love and asks, "Where are all the good girls?"--a comment that seals his fate. A fake audition is organised to find Aoyama a wife. Asami Yamazaki is introduced as the virtuous woman he is looking for, dressing for the majority of the film in white and behaving with the courtesy of an angel, especially when juxtaposed against the brash stupidity of the other girls at the audition. Although his friend takes an immediate "chemical" dislike to her, Aoyama begins a love affair to end all love affairs. But as Asami's history unfolds we see her pain and torture and slowly understand that the tortured in this instance holds the power to become the torturer. Aoyama is slowly drawn away from his white, metallic and homely environment into the vivid- red and dirty-dark environment of Asami's sadistic world. Audition can be viewed on a number of levels, with important feminist, social and human rights issues to be drawn from the story. However, the real power of this film is its descent into the subconscious, to a point where reality is blurred and the audience is unable to decide whether the disturbing images on screen are real or surreal. This refined, hard-hitting and essentially Japanese style of horror is ultimately much more powerful than anything offered by Hollywood. This is a film that will get under your skin and infect your consciousness with a blend of fearless gore and unimaginable torture. It is not for the faint-hearted. --Nikki Disney

• Wagner: Tannhauser | DVD | (28/09/2000) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  In Richard Wagner's obsessive drama Tannhauser--with its themes of sin and repentance, cultural inhibition and artistic spontaneity, sexual excess and lost innocence--symbols sprout as profusely as dandelions on summer lawns. A lot of the symbols were put there by the composer (who also wrote the libretto), but for this production director David Alden has decided to add many more--notably in the first scene: an orgy in the love nest of the goddess Venus. The sadomasochistic visuals, reminiscent of the feverish inventions of Hieronymus Bosch, may help to explain Tannhauser's decision that he wants to go home. Like the scenery, the costumes are eclectic, ranging from modern formal evening gowns to medieval suits of armour and even, in a few choice instances, nothing at all. The director may be trying to say too many things at once. The profusion of visual symbols shows a rich imagination, but a more clearly defined focus would have been helpful. That kind of focus is found in the acting, partly because Alden is a good director but also because he is working with seasoned performers. René Kollo as Tannhauser and Bernd Weikl as Wolfram von Eschenbach have made specialties of these roles, and even when the story strains credibility or when the music strains their voices, they give convincing portrayals, as do Waltraud Meier and Nadine Secunde and the supporting cast. Zubin Mehta's conducting is opulent if not subtle. This is an intriguing though sometimes disturbing production. --Joe McLellan, Amazon.com

• Brother | DVD | (13/01/2003) from £11.07   |  Saving you £-3.09 (N/A%)   |  RRP £4.99

  Written, directed by and starring Takeshi Kitano, Brother is the story of a displaced yakuza gangster (Takeshi Kitano), whose crime family is annihilated in a Tokyo gang war, and who flies to LA in search of his brother.

• Bridget Jones 1 & 2 (Box Set) | DVD | (25/02/2005) from £12.99   |  Saving you £17.00 (130.87%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Bridget Jones' Diary: In the screen adaptation of 'Bridget Jones Diary' Helen Fielding's international best-selling phenomenon documentary filmmaker Sharon Maguire has managed a rare feat: a film as captivating as the novel! Bridget Jones (Renee Zellweger) is a pretty and neurotic thirtysomething singleton (in her vernacular) who vows to take control of her life after being humiliated by handsome standoffish barrister Mark Darcy (Colin Firth) at her parents' New Year's party. Determined to lose weight and cut back on vices like wine cigarettes and workaholic-alcoholic-misogynistic men Bridget begins a diary to chart her progress. Unfortunately the P.R. executive hits a snag when her boss gorgeous cad Daniel (Hugh Grant) instigates a sexy e-mail flirtation. Despite her tendency to bungle book launch parties and any situation involving the ever-disapproving Mark Darcy Bridget's winning combination of charm vulnerability and wit intrigues not only the seductively dangerous Daniel but also the arrogant barrister. Featuring a note-perfect performance by Zellweger a devilish one by Grant and the inspired casting of Firth (the object of Bridget's lusty fantasies in the book) 'Bridget Jones Diary' is a clever delightful romantic comedy guaranteed to please old fans and win new ones. Bridget Jones's Diary 2 - The Edge Of Reason: She's back! The perfect boyfriend the perfect life what could possibly go wrong? Four weeks into her relationship with Mark Darcy (Colin Firth) Bridget Jones (Renee Zellweger) is already becoming uncomfortable. With the reappearance of old flame daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant) things are about to get very complicated...

• The Sorrow and the Pity | DVD | (18/10/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Hailed as one of the most moving and influential films of our time this Oscar nominated classic by director Marcel Ophus has continued to garner international acclaim since its release in 1969. A documentary covering the period of France's Vichy government which collaborated with Nazi Germany between 1940 and 1944. Includes interviews from 1969 with a German officer and with collaborators and resistance fighters who comment on the nature details and reasons for their actions.

• Fidelio - Beethoven | DVD | (19/01/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £16.99

  A performance of the Beethoven's Fidelio. James Levine conducts the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus.

• Danielle Steel's Changes | DVD | (24/02/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Cheryl Ladd and Michael Nouri star in this highly-charged romantic drama about two successful single parents who fall in love and have to confront many new and traumatic changes in their lives. Melanie is a top TV news reporter living in New York with her two teenage daughters. Peter is a handsome divorced heart surgeon working at an LA hospital with three children of his own. A chance meeting leads to instant romance and eventual marriage bringing out the drastic changes in their lives... Not all of them good ones. The clash of their careers is nothing compared to the storm of emotions that is unleashed when all five children have to share the same home and a whole new set of ground rules. The family disharmony is more than Melanie can cope with and she finally quits the home pregnant and feeling desperately hurt and alone. Can the children come to their senses and bury their differences? And can Peter finally let go of his past and make the necessary compromises or risk losing Melanie forever?

• Verdi: La Traviata -- Venice | DVD | (10/04/2000) from £14.19   |  Saving you £3.80 (26.78%)   |  RRP £17.99

  This performance of Verdi's La Traviata comes from the Gran Teatro La Fenice, Venice in 1992. The intimacy and social realism of the story make it one of the most dramatically successful of all operas, while the score contains some of the finest music of the 19th century. Despite the strong production values and well-staged party scenes, any production of La Traviata stands or falls on the performers in the vital roles of the lovers Violetta and Alfredo, and that of Alfredo's father, Giorgio. Here Giorgio Zancanaro is suitably decent and morally serious as Giorgio, and Neil Shicoff makes a strong impression as an ordinary man suddenly overwhelmed by love. The drawback is that--and there is no polite way to say this--Edita Gruberova is not only too old to play the sparkling young society girl, Violetta, but she is a much better singer than she is an actress. She comes into her own in the tragic last act, but is otherwise awkward and uncomfortable when the part requires her to demonstrate confidence and sensuality. This remains a production with considerable merits, but overall a more dramatically, not to say visually, compelling version is that originally broadcast world-wide live from Paris in 2000 starring Eteri Gvazava and José Cura.On the DVD: The production is presented at 4:3 with above average picture quality for a live opera DVD, and with excellent PCM stereo sound. The disc and booklet both offer a synopsis, but other than the option to watch with or without subtitles there are no special features. --Gary S. Dalkin

• DC Legends of Tomorrow S1-2 | Blu Ray | (14/08/2017) from £27.55   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Every episode from the first two seasons of the US action drama based on the DC Comics heroes. Having witnessed immortal dictator Vandal Savage (Casper Crump) lay waste to the world in the year 2166, rogue time traveller Rip Hunter (Arthur Darvill) returns to 2016 to assemble a team of superheroes and villains to protect the Earth from an impending apocalypse. Having united Atom (Brandon Routh), White Canary (Caity Lotz), Jefferson Jackson (Franz Drameh) and Professor Martin Stein (Victor Garber) aka Firestorm, Heatwave (Dominic Purcell), Captain Cold (Wentworth Miller), Hawkman (Falk Hentschel) and Hawkgirl (Ciara Renée), Rip and his team embark upon a continued mission to protect the timeline. Season 1 episodes are: 'Pilot: Part 1', 'Pilot: Part 2', 'Blood Ties', 'White Knights', 'Fail-Safe', 'Star City 2046', 'Marooned', 'Night of the Hawk', 'Left Behind', 'Progeny', 'The Magnificent Eight', 'Last Refuge', 'Leviathan', 'River of Time', 'Destiny' and 'Legendary'. Season 2 episodes are: 'Out of Time', 'The Justice Society of America', 'Shogun', 'Abominations', 'Compromised', 'Outlaw Country', 'Invasion!', 'The Chicago Way', 'Raiders of the Lost Art', 'The Legion of Doom', 'Turncoat', 'Camelot/3000', 'Land of the Lost', 'Moonshot', 'Fellowship of the Spear', 'Doomworld' and 'Aruba'.

• Falstaff - Giuseppe Verdi | DVD | (12/01/2005) from £3.78   |  Saving you £11.21 (296.56%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Verdi's opera based on Shakespeare's character Falstaff who attempts to woo two wealthy married women in an attempt to avoid bankruptcy....

• Legendary Amazons | DVD | (14/05/2012) from £5.16   |  Saving you £15.82 (729.03%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Produced by The King of Action Cinema, Jackie Chan, Legendary Amazons is an epic martial arts adventure set during the brutal wars between the Song and Xia Dynasties of Ancient China.Paying homage to the 1972 Shaw Brothers classic The 14 Amazons, this action-packed blockbuster recounts the adventures of the legendary Yang Clan, a courageous and patriotic attack force of warrior women. Each a master of a unique style of martial arts, they are called to fight their greatest ever battle, when an overwhelming army of barbarian invaders threatens to overrun their homeland.Packed with blockbuster thrills, Legendary Amazons delivers more action in one movie than you might possibly expect in five!

• Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday The 13th | DVD | (16/09/2002) from £9.19   |  Saving you £3.79 (61.13%)   |  RRP £9.99

  In every horror movie there is a phone waiting to ring... a victim waiting to scream... a killer waiting to strike. And the only way to survive is to keep one thing in mind: stay one step ahead of the killer... even if the killer is a klutz! Now a sexy reporter (Tiffani-Amber Thiessen) with a knack for getting into a tight place has teamed up with a bumbling mall cop (Tom Arnold) to track a killer intent on killing off the most popular kids at Bulemia Falls High School. Prepare to die laughing!

• Seefood | DVD | (28/05/2012) from £2.89   |  Saving you £10.10 (77.80%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Come and join sharks - Pup and Julius - on a fun-filled adventure to a place filled with colourful characters and marvellous mystery! When poachers steal dozens of egg sacks from Pup's reef, he makes it his duty to rescue his brothers and sisters. His mission becomes more difficult when he realises that he must venture above water and tackle a landscape filled with both beauty and danger. Afraid for Pup's safety, his best friend Julius follows him, attempting to bring him home. Wearing an amazing fish-suit which allows him to walk on land, Julius will also discover that sharks may not be the most frightening creatures in the world.

• Jerry Maguire / Rain Man / Few Good Men | DVD | (03/10/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Jerry Maguire (Dir. Barry Levinson 1996): Jerry Maguire (Tom Cruise) is a man who knows the score. As a top agent at Sports Management International Jerry is unquestionably master of his universe - until that is he gets a sudden attack of morals and is unceremoniously fired! Hanging on by a thread Jerry is forced to start from scratch supported only be three very unlikely allies- single mother Dorothy Boyd (Renee Zellweger ) her cheeky young son Ray and Rod Tidwell (Cuba Gooding Jr.) a second rank player for the Arizona Cardinals - and Jerry's sole remaining client. Rain Man (Dir. Cameron Crowe 1988): Dustin Hoffman joins Tom Cruise to bring a funny and moving tale of brotherly love to the screen. Heartless Charlie Babbitt expects a vast inheritance after his estranged father dies. But Raymond his institutionalised older brother someone he's been totally unaware of is willed the entire fortune instead. Raymond is an 'autistic Savant' with severely limited mental abilities in some areas but with genius gifts in others. When Charlie kidnaps Raymond the crazy cross-country drive back to Los Angeles teaches them both a few lessons in life. For as they overcome their mutual distrust of each other a deep bond is forged as they painfully share past memories present problems and a possible shining future together. A Few Good Men (Dir. Rob Reiner 1992): One man is dead. Two men are accused of his murder. The entire Marines Corps is on trial. And 'A Few Good Men' are about to ignite the most explosive episode in US military history. Universally acclaimed A Few Good Men unites the big screen's biggest stars as Hollywood heavyweights Jack Nicholson Tom Cruise and Demi Moore lead an all star cast in director Rob Reiner's powerful account of corruption cover-up and a relentless quest for justice within the sacred corridors of the US Navy. With powerful performances from Kevin Bacon and Kiefer Sutherland A Few Good Men makes its mark as one of the best courtroom dramas of the '90s..

• Dolls | DVD | (24/11/2003) from £9.32   |  Saving you £10.67 (114.48%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Dolls is a film of extraordinary beauty and tenderness from a filmmaker chiefly associated with grave mayhem and deadpan humor. That is to say, this is not one more Takeshi Kitano movie focused on stoical cops or gangsters. The title refers most directly, but not exclusively, to the theatrical tradition of Bunraku, enacted by half-life-size dolls and their visible but shrouded onstage manipulators. Such a performance--a drama of doomed lovers--occupies the first five minutes of the film, striking a keynote that resonates as flesh-and-blood characters take up the action. The film-proper is dominated by the all-but-wordless odyssey of a susceptible yuppie and the jilted fiancée driven mad by his desertion to marry the boss's daughter. Bound by a blood-red cord, they move hypnotically through a landscape variously urban and natural, stylized only by the breathtaking purity of light, angle, color, and formal movement imposed by Kitano's compositional eye and rigorous, fragmentary editing. Along the way we also pick up the story of an elderly gangster, haunted by memories of the lover he deserted three decades earlier and generations of "brothers" for whose deaths he was, in the accepted order of things, responsible. Another strand is added to the imagistic weave via a doll-like pop singer and a groupie blinded by devotion to her. This is a film in which character, morality, metaphysics, and destiny are all expressed through visual rhyme and startling adjustments of perspective. It sounds abstract--and it is--but it's also heartbreaking and thrilling to behold. Kitano isn't in it, but as an artist he's all over it. His finest film, and for all its exoticism, his most accessible. --Richard T. Jameson

• Mallrats | DVD | (24/12/2001) from £9.42   |  Saving you £6.56 (102.02%)   |  RRP £12.99

  The "sophmore jinx" hit hard for this second film by Kevin Smith, whose debut Clerks transcended the limits of its setting and budget to become memorably funny and a cult classic. (Smith followed Mallrats with the wonderful Chasing Amy, only to be cursed again with the appalling Dogma. Clearly he's settling into the same one-off rhythm that afflicts the Star Trek movies.) A ramshackle comedy set in a mall, Mallrats follows several storylines involving lovers, enemies, friends, goofballs, and Smith's own character "Silent Bob", who also appeared in all the other Smith films. A heavy self-consciousness weighs on everything, as if Smith forgot how to make obscenity funny instead of tedious. Still, it's nice to see some of the director's film family on screen, among them Ben Affleck before he was famous, Jason Lee and Joey Lauren Adams. --Sally Chatsworth

• Coming Out | DVD | (12/02/2007) from £18.93   |  Saving you £-0.95 (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  A gay teacher who dates a female colleague for appearances' sake falls in love with a man he meets in a gay bar... 'One of the best gay films I have ever seen. I only wish that there were more films like this..' Stephen Bourne London Gay Times.

• Otello - Verdi | DVD | (12/04/2004) from £15.85   |  Saving you £1.14 (7.19%)   |  RRP £16.99

  Filmed at the Metropolitan Opera House in 1995 this rendition of Verdi's 'Otello' is beautifully crafted by leading stars Placido Domingo and Renee Fleming. This was the first major success for Fleming at the Met and as this release illustrates she tackled the character of Desdemona wonderfully.

• Texas Chainsaw Massacre - The Next Generation | DVD | (23/10/2000) from £14.98   |  Saving you £-8.99 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99