"Actor: Ryan Jones"

• Anastasia | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £2.83   |  Saving you £3.16 (111.66%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Stomping out their usual cuteness and carbon copying Disney's grand animation style to a tee, directors Don Bluth and Gary Goldman (An American Tail) create a successful musical comedy from the story of the lost Russian princess. Adapting the story of imperialism and revolution is tricky, and subsequently the film's opening is weak. Once Anya (voiced by Meg Ryan, sung by Liz Callaway) is a teenager and on her own (suffering from some degree of amnesia), Anastasia is quite pleasing though never refreshingly new. 20th Century Fox's big-money gamble to horn in on Disney's realm is worthy. The songs, especially the recurrent "Once Upon a December" by Broadway team Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, are better than Disney's recent efforts. It's worth picking up the soundtrack. The mix of cell animation and computer work is vivid. The collection of vocal talent is also strong, from John Cusack (as Dimitri, who wants to earn the reward by bringing Anya to Paris) to Hank Azaria as an amusing albino bat. Kelsey Grammer helps turn a roly-poly sidekick into a warm and strong supporting character. The biggest drawback is Bluth/Goldman's insistence on having a typical villain. Surprisingly, the story would be strong enough without one and the undead corpse of Rasputin (Christopher Lloyd) is unneeded and unoriginal. --Doug Thomas

• Restless Natives | DVD | (18/04/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  They're bigger than the Loch Ness monster! Ronnie and Will two lads from Edinburgh embark on a non-violent spree of robberies. Dressing up in bizarre costumes the duo act as modern highwaymen robbing coach loads of tourists in the Highlands; eventually earning them the tag the Clown and the Wolfman. In the process they become folk heroes to the locals. Their adventures make for a whimsical and gentle comedy in the Bill Forsyth vein.

• The Wild Bunch | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £11.99   |  Saving you £3.00 (30.03%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Here's how director Sam Peckinpah described his motivation behind The Wild Bunch at the time of the film's 1969 release: "I was trying to tell a simple story about bad men in changing times. The Wild Bunch is simply what happens when killers go to Mexico. The strange thing is you feel a great sense of loss when these killers reach the end of the line." All of these statements are true, but they don't begin to cover the impact that Peckinpah's film had on the evolution of American movies. Now the film is most widely recognized as a milestone event in the escalation of screen violence, but that's a label of limited perspective. Of course, Peckinpah's bloody climactic gunfight became a masterfully directed, photographed, and edited ballet of graphic violence that transcended the conventional Western and moved into a slow-motion realm of pure cinematic intensity. But the film--surely one of the greatest Westerns ever made--is also a richly thematic tale of, as Peckinpah said, "bad men in changing times." The year is 1913 and the fading band of thieves known as the Wild Bunch (led by William Holden as Pike) decide to pull one last job before retirement. But an ambush foils their plans, and Peckinpah's film becomes an epic yet intimate tale of betrayed loyalties, tenacious rivalry, and the bunch's dogged determination to maintain their fading code of honor among thieves. The 144-minute director's cut enhances the theme of male bonding that recurs in many of Peckinpah's films, restoring deleted scenes to deepen the viewer's understanding of the friendship turned rivalry between Pike and his former friend Deke Thornton (Robert Ryan), who now leads a posse in pursuit of the bunch, a dimension that adds resonance to an already classic American film. The Wild Bunch is a masterpiece that should not be defined strictly in terms of its violence, but as a story of mythic proportion, brimming with rich characters and dialogue and the bittersweet irony of outlaw traditions on the wane. --Jeff Shannon

• Blue Sky | DVD | (20/01/2003) from £6.05   |  Saving you £6.94 (114.71%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Jessica Lange deserves three cheers for her performance in Blue Sky as an army wife in the early 1960s. Sensuous and unpredictable, Lange bridles at the restrictions in her life and is constantly seeking attention. Tommy Lee Jones is the nuclear engineer who adores her, but is just as passionate toward his career. Lange and Jones sizzle in spite of a weak plot tangent concerning the military cover-up of nuclear testing in the Nevada desert. The love story is everything as it bursts with undercurrents of passion, regret, sorrow and joy. Lange's sexy, high-strung performance earned her an Oscar. It was director Tony Richardson's last film. --Rochelle O'Gorman, Amazon.com

• Later With Jools Holland - Later - Giants | DVD | (20/10/2003) from £20.23   |  Saving you £-0.24 (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Later... with Jools Holland--Giants is a collection of classic live performances from a decade of the late-night BBC music show. Everyone will have their favourites and, no doubt, differing opinions on what constitutes a musical "giant". What is indisputable here is the sheer volume and variety of artists and styles on offer. The 32 performers range from Pete Towshend to Blondie; Paul Weller to Willie Nelson; Leonard Cohen to Jeff Beck; Page and Plant to Ronnie Spector and the Divine Comedy. The acts vary in quality--Brian Ferry's posturing, staccato rendition of "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?" and Georgie Fame's futile, asthmatic efforts to keep up with the beat on "Yeh! Yeh!" are notable low points--but thankfully the few weaker moments are more than compensated for by tour de force performances from the likes of Al Green, REM, Tony Bennett, Dusty Springfield and George Benson. Your enjoyment will obviously depend on a desire to see these greats play, but where else are you going to get both Robbie Williams belting out an impromptu performance of "Suspicious Minds" and Solomon Burke singing "Cry to Me" from an enormous golden throne? On the DVD: Later... with Jools Holland--Giants comes with a desirable selection of interviews with 10 of the featured performers. Sadly, they are tantalisingly short--never longer than three minutes, some little more than a minute--and never stretch beyond Holland's stock questions or brief, if entertaining, anecdotes. Also included are: a "playlist" feature, which allows you to select six of your favourite tracks and play them in an order of your choice, normal track selection, subtitles and a credit list. --Paul Philpott

• Blue Sky | DVD | (30/07/2001) from £80.37   |  Saving you £-59.12 (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Jessica Lange deserves three cheers for her performance in Blue Sky as an army wife in the early 1960s. Sensuous and unpredictable, Lange bridles at the restrictions in her life and is constantly seeking attention. Tommy Lee Jones is the nuclear engineer who adores her, but is just as passionate toward his career. Lange and Jones sizzle in spite of a weak plot tangent concerning the military cover-up of nuclear testing in the Nevada desert. The love story is everything as it bursts with undercurrents of passion, regret, sorrow and joy. Lange's sexy, high-strung performance earned her an Oscar. It was director Tony Richardson's last film. --Rochelle O'Gorman, Amazon.com

• Love Story | DVD | (04/02/2002) from £5.99   |  Saving you £7.00 (116.86%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Strife-torn America wanted a meat-and-potatoes romance in the late 1960s, and the country embraced Erich Segal's slim, generic-sounding novel in a big way. It did so again for the film adaptation of Love Story in 1970, starring Ryan O'Neal as a law student who defies his rich and powerful father (Ray Milland) on every issue, including the former's love for a music student (Ali MacGraw). The two marry, start life together ... and then the Grim Reaper turns up at the door. Directed by Arthur Hiller (The In-Laws), the film ends up lacking the kind of stylistic boost that might have made it a must-see for the ages. But its faithfulness to the book's uncomplicated and, yes, moving intentions is pretty solid. O'Neal is convincing as a nice guy who's as bullheaded in his own way as his steely father (a nice job by Milland), and MacGraw has a way of getting under one's skin. A viewer just has to try not laughing at the refrain, "Love means never having to say you're sorry". --Tom Keogh

• Superman: Man of Tomorrow | Blu Ray | (07/09/2020) from £10.29   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Meet Clark Kent. Sent to Earth as an infant from the dying planet Krypton, he arrived with as many questions as the number of light-years he traveled. Now a young man, he makes his living in Metropolis as an intern at the Daily Planet alongside reporter Lois Lane while secretly wielding his alien powers of flight, super-strength and x-ray vision in the battle for good. Follow the fledgling hero as he engages in bloody battles with intergalactic bounty hunter Lobo and before fighting for his life with the alien Parasite. The world will learn about Superman but first, Superman must save the world!

• The Who & Guests - Live at the Albert Hall | DVD | (28/07/2003) from £20.00   |  Saving you £-10.01 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Recorded live on November 27 2000 at the Royal Albert Hall London. Features the tracks 'Baba O'Riley' 'Won't Get Fooled Again' 'Pinball Wizard' 'Substitute' 'Behind Blue Eyes' 'So Sad About Us' 'I'm One' 'The Real Me' 'Who Are You' 'See Me Feel Me' 'You Better You Bet'.

• The Who And Special Guests - Live At The Royal Albert Hall | DVD | (24/09/2001) from £8.06   |  Saving you £1.93 (23.95%)   |  RRP £9.99

  The Who: Live at the Royal Albert Hall commemorates a remarkable charity gig in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust. Roger Daltrey does allow himself a smirk as he declaims his famous hope that he'll die before he gets old, but other than that, The Who are to be commended for playing their reunion entirely straight. Their souped-up rhythm'n'blues was always propelled by a self-belief as fervent as it was absolute; had any irony been allowed to impinge on proceedings here, the spectacle of three men well into their 50s delivering a set of what remain definitive hymns to youth and its attendant furies would have been wholly preposterous. As it is, the three surviving members of The Who (Daltrey, Pete Townshend, Jon Entwhistle) combine with keyboardist John Bundrick and drummer Zak Starkey (son of Ringo Starr) to altogether engaging effect. There is, obviously, nothing wrong with the songs "Pinball Wizard", "The Kids Are Alright", "You Better You Bet", and they all get the treatment they deserve here. In fact, the only downsides are the many guest performances, which are either redundant, like Noel Gallagher's rhythm guitar on "Won't Get Fooled Again", or actually detrimental, like Kelly Jones' dreadful braying of "Substitute".On the DVD: The widescreen DVD is enhanced for 16:9 TVs. The second disc of extras includes backstage and rehearsal footage, the option to watch the performance of "Pinball Wizard" from a variety of angles, and an interview with Roger Daltrey, which he devotes principally to his work for the Teenage Cancer Trust, who were the beneficiaries of the concert. Also included is a derisory booklet of hopeless out-of-focus photos of the show taken by Bryan Adams, who would be well advised, on this evidence, to stick with the day job. --Andrew Mueller

• Fantasy Island | Blu Ray | (13/07/2020) from £5.98   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  In Blumhouse's Fantasy Island, the enigmatic Mr. Roarke makes the secret dreams of his lucky quests come true at a luxurious but remote tropical resort. But when the fantasies turn into nightmares, the guests have to solve the island's mystery in order to escape with their lives.

• Superman: Man of Tomorrow | DVD | (07/09/2020) from £12.19   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Meet Clark Kent. Sent to Earth as an infant from the dying planet Krypton, he arrived with as many questions as the number of light-years he traveled. Now a young man, he makes his living in Metropolis as an intern at the Daily Planet alongside reporter Lois Lane while secretly wielding his alien powers of flight, super-strength and x-ray vision in the battle for good. Follow the fledgling hero as he engages in bloody battles with intergalactic bounty hunter Lobo and before fighting for his life with the alien Parasite. The world will learn about Superman but first, Superman must save the world!

• Fantasy Island | DVD | (13/07/2020) from £6.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  In Blumhouse's Fantasy Island, the enigmatic Mr. Roarke makes the secret dreams of his lucky quests come true at a luxurious but remote tropical resort. But when the fantasies turn into nightmares, the guests have to solve the island's mystery in order to escape with their lives.

• Devil's Own | DVD | (01/10/1999) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Any movie starring Brad Pitt and Harrison Ford has got to be worth seeing, right? That's as close to a guarantee as this well-meaning thriller ever gets, however, and the talents of Pitt and Ford are absolutely vital in making any sense out of this dramatically muddled scenario. Ostensibly the movie's about an IRA terrorist (Pitt) who escapes from British troops in Belfast and travels to New York City, where he stays in the home of a seasoned cop (Ford) who has no idea of the terrorist's true identity. (Why a veteran cop would host a complete stranger in his home is one of those shaky details you're better off not thinking about.) But while Pitt's passionate character waits to make an arms deal for his IRA compatriots back in Ireland, The Devil's Own conveniently avoids any detailed understanding of the Northern Ireland conflict, focusing instead on the cop's moral dilemma when he discovers that his young guest is a terrorist. The film is superbly acted, and overall it's quite worthwhile, but don't look to it for an abundance of plot logic or an in-depth understanding of Protestant-Catholic tensions in Northern Ireland. (For that, take a look at In the Name of the Father or the underrated historical biopic Michael Collins.) --Jeff Shannon.

• Doctor Dolittle / Doctor Dolittle 2 / Doctor Dolittle 3 | DVD | (01/05/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Dr Dolittle (Dir. Betty Thomas 1998): Treat yourself to a healthy dose of Eddie Murphy's untamed animal magnetism in the smash hit comedy that'll make you roar howl and hoot with laughter! A successful physician and devoted family man John Dolittle (Murphy) seems to have the world by the tail until a long-suppressed talent he possessed as a child - the ability to communicate with animals - is suddenly reawakened... with a vengeance! Now every creature within squawking distanc

• Criminal | Blu Ray | (15/08/2016) from £7.55   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  In a last-ditch effort to stop a diabolical plot, a dead CIA operative's memories, secrets, and skills are implanted into a death-row inmate in hopes that he will complete the operative's mission.

• Devil's Own | DVD | (19/12/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  One man trapped by destiny and another bound by duty. They're about to discover what they're willing to fight and to die for. From the director of Presumed Innocent and The Pelican Brief comes this suspense drama of two complex proud and passionate men. When New York cop Tom O'Meara (Harrison Ford) agrees to open his family home to Rory Devaney (Brad Pitt) he doesn't know that he is about to shelter a dangerous and wanted terrorist. Accepte

• Lovely Molly | DVD | (22/10/2012) from £2.29   |  Saving you £13.70 (85.70%)   |  RRP £15.99

  From the director of THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT comes Lovely Molly, a hauntingly terrifying account of one woman's struggle to overcome a dark presence that haunts her. When newlywed Molly returns to her long-abandoned family home, she is plagued by a series of disturbing events that leave her shaken and defenceless. Reminders of a nightmarish childhood lead her to the shocking conclusion that, somewhere in the house, lies an supernatural spirit that will pull Molly and all those around h...

• Finder's Fee | DVD | (27/02/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  The numbes don't lie but the players just might... After finding a wallet in the street Tepper (Erik Palladino) calls the owner the owner in order to return it. After making the call however he discovers that the lottery ticket inside is a $6 million winner. To add to things his friends are on their way over for their weekly poker night and the group tradition is to bet their lottery tickets. When the wallet's owner shows up and joins the game who will walk out as the wi

• Two And A Half Men: Season 12 | Blu Ray | (10/08/2015) from £69.19   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Emmy® winner Jon Cryer stars alongside the multitalented Ashton Kutcher in the Emmy®-nominated TWO AND A HALF MEN as the hit comedy series returns for its 12th season. The Malibu beach house has become an empty nest for billionaire entrepreneur Walden Schmidt (Kutcher) and his freeloading housemate Alan Harper (Cryer). But not for long. When Alan's previously unknown niece Jenny (Amber Tamblyn) staggers onto the scene with a parade of partying women in tow it's back to business as usual at the Harper/Schmidt house with hilarious new high jinks and hookups. After an on-again off-again wedding for Alan's mother Evelyn (Holland Taylor); an alter ego for Alan; temporary retirement for Berta (Conchata Ferrell); and a new job for Walden as an unpaid coder in a garage-tech startup prepare for another year of Walden Alan and Jenny as they develop affectionate bonds -- and occasional bondage -- in the long-running comedy that celebrates the opposite sex the same sex life love computer startups family dustups and ... oh men.