"Actor: Ren"

• Love Actually / Bridget Jones's Diary / Notting Hill | DVD | (22/11/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £32.99

  Love Actually The story of a group of people who find themselves surrounded by love... There's the new Prime Minister who falls for his personal assistant the Prime Minister's sister Karan who realises that her husband is attracted to his secretary. Author Jamie who flees England to escape his unfaithful girlfriend and then falls for his housekeeper. Movie stand-ins John and Judy who become attracted to each other on the film set. Recently widowed Daniel who helps his stepson who is smitten with one of his class-mates and Billy Mack an ageing rock star who discovers that love can be found in the most unlikely of places... Bridget Jones Diary 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. Notting Hill A famous actress in disguise in London runs into a divorced bookstore owner. They strike up a friendship with each other as they each find something that was previously missing from their own lives...

• Les Troyens - Hector Berlioz | DVD | (20/08/2004) from £30.55   |  Saving you £4.44 (14.53%)   |  RRP £34.99

  Les Troyens - Hector Berlioz (1803 - 1869)Sir John Eliot Gardiner directs this authoritative performance of Berlioz's towering opera recorded in true surround sound. Susan and Gregory Kunde lead a strong cast in the powerful masterpiece wrought from Virgil's epic poem The Aeneid. A special attraction of this recording is that Sir John Eliot Gardiner managed to assemble a full set of the instruments envisaged by Berlioz for this opera.

• The Idealist | DVD | (13/02/2017) from £10.98   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Christina Rosendahl co-writes and directs this Danish thriller starring Peter Plaugborg. The film follows investigative journalist Poul Brink (Plaugborg) as he attempts to uncover the truth behind a nuclear accident in Greenland during the Cold War. When an American B-52 bomber carrying four hydrogen bombs crashed in Danish territory in 1968, only three of the devices were recovered and documented. Two decades later, and with a number of the recovery workers suffering with serious illnesses associated with radiation poisoning, Brink looks to find out what really happened in the aftermath of the crash. With both the Danish and US governments looking to cover up the existence of a fourth bomb, Brink faces a tough battle to find the truth. The cast also includes Arly Jover and Thomas Bo Larsen.

• Le Doulos | DVD | (26/04/2004) from £11.05   |  Saving you £8.94 (44.70%)   |  RRP £19.99

  One of Melville's own favourite films in which ambiguity is the name of the game as a convicted burglar completes his incarceration only to get himself straight back into trouble...

• Tenko - Series 1 - Part 1 | DVD | (05/05/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Stephanie Beacham Stephanie Cole Louise Jameson and Jean Anderson star as inmates of a gruelling Japanese prisoner-of-war camp during the second world war. It is 1941 and the terrors of war torn Europe seem a long way away for the small expatriate community living in Singapore. But their privileged lives are soon to be shattered when the Japanese Army launches a devastating surprise attack. This is the powerful story of women who are thrown together by the chaos of war. Fearing f

• Capriccio: Metropolitan Opera (Davis) | DVD | (07/11/2011) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• The Fourth Man | DVD | (24/02/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Only two years separate The Fourth Man, the final Dutch language movie by director Paul Verhoeven, and the explosive commencement of his Hollywood career. Controversy raged about violence in Flesh + Blood, RoboCop and everything else he made thereafter. Yet controversy has always been a part of the filmmaker's work. This savage comedy shocker could well be seen as a trial run for Basic Instinct, since it features an ice-cold seductress (Renee Soutendijk) with mysterious motivations and sexual preferences. The hallucinatory tale follows a novelist (Jeroen Krabbé) first falling for her, and then feverishly investigating whether she's a serial husband killer. The film is full of what would soon be recognised as Verhoeven trademarks: a little blasphemy, a lot of nudity, dispassionate characters and hidden agendas. One of the aspects that caught the eye of international audiences was the film's colourful lighting and camerawork. This was from Jan de Bont, who, thanks in large part to Verhoeven, would go on to direct Speed and others. Many prints of the movie were edited around the world, but it's presented here uncut. Full of symbolic flourishes and allegorical plot points, this is a dizzying display of the type of black comedy that not even Verhoeven can get away with in today's politically aware industry. --Paul Tonks

• Robbie Williams - Nobody Someday | DVD | (08/07/2002) from £10.13   |  Saving you £7.86 (43.70%)   |  RRP £17.99

  The rock-umentary Nobody Someday both challenges and reaffirms everything we know, love and hate about Robbie Williams. Directed and narrated by Brian Hill, the man behind the infamous early-90s Australian docu-soap Sylvania Waters, the film is a frank representation of Robbie's 2001 European tour, which isn't always that sympathetic towards the star. Although Williams' continuous discussion about his shortcomings is at times endearing, his obsessive chattering and self-pity about his alcohol and drug problems soon sounds like a worn-out old record. It's also not always apparent when Williams is playing the fool and when he is not: the infamous hotel room scene, when Robbie convincingly rants to the camera about the German Chancellor commandeering his hotel suite, is a case in point. Shot in both colour and black and white, the film is a mix of some stunning live concert performance material and revealing behind-the-scenes footage. Key events featured include an obsessed fan pushing Williams off stage in Stuttgart, and the comical technical problems at the Paris gig. Despite the production's attempts to demystify star, it actually generates many more questions than it answers, adding further complexities to the brand/man known as Robbie Williams. On the DVD: Nobody Someday on DVD has a bonus quiz presented by Andy Franks, which features questions about the film. Each correct answer results in exclusive clips from the tour which didn't make it to the final cut of the film. These include Robbie declaring his undying love for his housemate and life-long pal Jonathan Wilkes, and exclusive live performances from the tour. There's also a bonus photo gallery, which features some stunning photographs taken by Scarlet Page and Diana Scrimegeour. --John Galilee

• Ally McBeal - Season 4 Box Set 2 | DVD | (08/04/2002) from £10.87   |  Saving you £12.11 (153.68%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Too mainstream to be a cult, yet too odd to be totally conventional, Ally McBeal has become one of televisions curios. While its early days saw the show become something of a victim of its own self-conscious stylising, the episodes included on series 4 volume 2 are far stronger in terms of characterisation and plot and the storylines are easy to pick up. Not that the quirks have been exiled--the first programme features McBeal hallucinating about Barry Manilow--rather they have now become part of the overall feel of the show. Despite the attention lavished on both the lead character and the actress who plays her, the show is a real ensemble piece and works best when all the players are together. One of the collection's weakest moments is the episode that sends the usually excellent Richard and John off to LA on their own, an episode which lays threat to a dreaded spin off. While there are annoying moments--could they not have edited out the "previously on Ally McBeal" parts for retail release and why do they never go out with anyone other than work colleagues--with guest appearances from the likes of Sting this is a must for any fan of the series. On the DVD: Sadly, the DVD collection betrays very little thought or effort. The pace of the show is certainly brisk (especially when shorn of the adverts) and the picture quality is equally dynamic, instilling real depth to the many aerial shots of Boston itself. Given that music is such an integral part in the show, it is no surprise that the soundtrack has been given a boost by its recreation in Dolby digital stereo. The interactive menu, however, is clumsy to use and having to work back through the options at the end of each episode quickly becomes tiresome. The complete lack of any extras whatsoever is also a definite minus point.--Phil Udell

• Dead Or Alive 2 | DVD | (24/02/2003) from £8.49   |  Saving you £6.50 (43.40%)   |  RRP £14.99

  An off-the-cuff Japanese gangster movie with an absurdist streak that shades into surrealism, Dead or Alive 2 isn't thrown by its brief to sequelise a film that ended not only with the deaths of its lead characters but the destruction of Japan. Takashi Miike--the prolific auteur whose best-known film is the atypically considered Audition--brings back his lead actors in different roles and spins off another strange shaggy dog tale. The film starts out with a Yakuza vs Triads gang war in the offing, then sidesteps into "'Beat"' Miike territory as a couple of hit-men who meet when they turn up for the same assassination turn out to be childhood friends and enjoy a nostalgic wallow as they return to the orphanage where they met, re-encounter other old pals and even stand in for some injured actors putting on a play for the children. White-suited and terminally ill Sawada (Riki Takeuchi) and bleached blond and Hawaiian-shirted Otamoko (Sho Aikawa) get back to gunplay, committing contract murders and funnelling the profits into third world charities, which earns them occasional angel-wings or transformations back into innocent children. In constant danger of collapse, the film keeps pulling surprises: txt msg-addicted killers, an animated diagram of bullet trajectories through an unfortunate dwarf's brain. The first film blew up the country because it couldn't think of an ending, and this also has a lot of trouble signing off, with protracted deaths and redemptions for the heroes. Miike alternates clumsiness and confusion with exciting and powerful cinema. --Kim Newman

• Love Is All There Is | DVD | (12/04/2005) from £5.71   |  Saving you £0.28 (4.90%)   |  RRP £5.99

  A modern Italian-American reworking of William Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet' set in the Bronx.

• MPD - Psycho | DVD | (19/09/2005) from £17.53   |  Saving you £4.46 (25.44%)   |  RRP £21.99

  Detective Yousuke Kobayashi is on a case involving a series of brutal murders. When his very own girlfriend's dismembered body is mailed to him in a cooler he is pushed over the edge: eventually tracking down the murderer and savagely killing him. During his murder trial he declares that his name is not Yousuke Kobayashi but Kazuhiko Amamiya. Sentenced for murder he is eventually diagnosed as suffering from Multiple Personality Disorder... However it is only a matter of time until

• Sonatine | DVD | (11/05/2009) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Takeshi is Murakawa an established and ruthless Yakuza sent outside his usual turf to intervene in a gang war on the tropical island of Okinawa. Things go badly wrong and he and his gang get caught in the crossfire. Forced to retreat to a seaside hideaway they kill time and fool around on the beach but then their enemies start picking them off one by one. Murakawa decides to go on the offensive for a final and breathtaking showdown... Contrasting lyrical scenes with shocking bursts of violence laughter with gunfire 'Sonatine' is Takeshi at his best.

• Ally McBeal - Season 4 Part 1 | DVD | (11/02/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The first half of Ally McBeal's fourth season starts with that all important question, the one Ally has been waiting for from day one: "Ally will you... move in with me?". As always Ally's romantic dreams never quite become a reality and the series continues within the Grimm Fairy Tale world of Ally's love (and quirky work) life. The most important twist this season occurs in the first episode "Sex, Lies and Second Thoughts"--the departure of Tracy Ullman and Ally's current beau, Brian, to be replaced by the series' new heart-throb Larry (Robert Downey Jr). Initially dating both father and son ("Two's a Crowd") Ally cannot help but become besotted by Larry's charisma; he being a fellow lawyer further seals their bond, that is until Larry's past comes back to haunt him. Other highlights include a quirky romance for John ("Reason to Belive"), a charity auction leading to an all male fan-club for John ("Love on Holiday") and a romantic connection for Mark--though the recipient of his affection may have hidden more than he bargained for. Unfortunately the series was outshone by the real-life drama of Calista Flockhart's and Downey's rocky relationship along with Downey's drugs convictions. Even though he won a Golden Globe for his performance, he ultimately had to be dropped from the series. On the DVD: Not much on offer here for Ally's début into the DVD market. The individual episode menu does offer a language selection of French and English and the subtitles for the Netherlands and French. You also have the option to select chapters from the specific episodes, along with a "previously on Ally McBeal..." for that little reminder of whom Ally is dating now. Although standard for a TV DVD release, the 1.33:1 aspect ratio and 2.0 Dolby sound is disappointing for a television series which offers ground-breaking use of special effects. --Nikki Disney

• Love And A .45 | DVD | (07/06/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  The violent story of two young lovers on a doomed journey outside of the law, Love & a .45 is perhaps most notable for the appearance of a pre-fame Renee Zellweger. The premise is not particularly original but has spawned some great movies over the years, from Bonnie and Clyde to A Life Less Ordinary. CM Talkington's film, however, fails to break free of cliché--whether it be through its cinematic techniques (voice-over, Tom Verlaine's blasting rock score) or Texan white-trash characterisation. There is much inspiration to be drawn from such a background (witness Brad Pitt's brooding performance in Kalifornia) but Gil Bellows simply isn't given the raw materials to work with. As for Zellweger, she spends most of the film wearing very few clothes, waving a gun around and generally being a million miles away from Bridget Jones. For a much better example of the couple-on-the-road movie look to True Romance or Jonathan Demme's underrated classic Something Wild. As for Love & A .45, it misses the target. On the DVD: the DVD format does enhance Love & A .45 to some degree. The picture quality is as bold and brash as the movie itself, and Verlaine's score sounds fantastic in Dolby Digital. Other than this slight additional polish to the original product, there's little of substance here.--Phil Udell

• Ally McBeal - Season 1 Part 2 | DVD | (07/10/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Follow Ally's trials and tribulations in life through her eyes and caricaturises her personal thoughts and fantasies. Contains the second half of Season One's episodes. The episodes are: 'The Blame Game' 'Body Language' 'Once In A Lifetime' 'Forbidden Fruits' 'Theme Of Life' 'The Playing Field' 'Happy Birthday Baby' 'The Inmates' 'Being There' 'Alone Again' and 'These Are The Days'.

• Mariah Carey - Mariah Carey | DVD | (16/10/2006) from £63.34   |  Saving you £-55.35 (N/A%)   |  RRP £7.99

  Mariah Carey captured live at the legendary Proctor's Theatre in upstate New York. Tracklist: 1. Emotions 2. Hero 3. Someday 4. Without You 5. Make It Happen 6. Dreamlover 7. Love Takes Time 8. Anytime You Need A Friend 9. Vision Of Love 10. I'll Be There

• Tenko - Series 1 - Part 2 | DVD | (02/06/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  It is 1941 and the terrors of war torn Europe seem a long way away for the small expatriate community living in Singapore. But their privileged lives are soon to be shattered when the Japanese Army launches a devastating surprise attack. Tenko is the powerful story of women who are thrown together by the chaos of war. Fearing for their lives they must learn how to survive the harsh conditions and even harsher regime of the Prisoner of War camp. This release features the second half o

• Bodyguard Kiba | DVD | (22/08/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Bodyguard Kiba is another comic book adaptation by maverick director Takashi Miike. In addition to his karate dojo Tetsu daito runs God Hand a company through which his apprentice Naoto Kiba hires himself out as a bodyguard in order to earn money to support the dojo. Though Kiba has often heard his master say that no one would come to God Hand with a dangerous assignment he is constantly in danger. This time he agrees to guard a beautiful woman in Hong Kong think

• Shikoku | DVD | (24/01/2005) from £5.38   |  Saving you £10.61 (197.21%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Some things are better left dead... As an adult Hinako returns to the island of Shikoku which she left when her parents moved her to Tokyo as a child. Upon her return she learns that her childhood best friend Sayori (Chiaki Kuriyama the vicious Go-Go Yubari from Kill Bill Vol. 1) - whom she lost touch with after moving to the city -drowned in a lake at the age of 16. Hinako's other friend from childhood Fumiya was dating Sayori when she died and he claims to be haunted by her