"Actor: S"

• Marlene Dietrich - Small Goddess | DVD | (28/08/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £49.99

  The Lady Is Willing (Dir. Mitchell Leisen 1942): Bold eccentric Broadway performer Lisa Madden befuddles her handlers by coming home with a baby she picked up on the street. She wants to keep the baby but has to find a husband to make adoption viable. Why not her new obstetrician Dr. McBain? She offers him help with his research on rabbits in exchange for marriage - and he accepts. The marriage of convenience turns into a marriage of real love but when Dr. McBain's ex-wife comes looking for money matters get complicated... Shanghai Express (Dir. Josef von Sternberg 1932): Many passengers on the Shanghai Express are more concerned that the notorious Shanghai Lil is on board than the fact that a civil war is going on that may make the trip take more than three days. The British Army doctor Donald Harvey knew Lil before she became a famous ""coaster."" A fellow passenger defines a coaster as ""a woman who lives by her wits along the China coast."" When Chinese guerillas stop the train Dr. Harvey is selected as the hostage. Lil saves him but can she make him believe that she really hasn't changed from the woman he loved five years before? Destry Rides Again (Dir. George Marshall 1939): Kent the unscrupulous boss of Bottleneck has Sheriff Keogh killed when he asks one too many questions about a rigged poker game that gives Kent a stranglehold over the local cattle rangers. The mayor who is in cahoots with Kent appoints the town drunk Washington Dimsdale as the new sheriff assuming that he'll be easy to control. But what the mayor doesn't know is that Dimsdale was a deputy under famous lawman Tom Destry and is able to call upon the equally formidable Tom Destry Jr to be his deputy. Foreign Affair (Dir. Billy Wilder 1948): In occupied Berlin an army captain is torn between an ex-Nazi cafe singer and the U.S. congresswoman investigating her. Blonde Venus (Dir. Josef von Sternberg): American chemist Ned Faraday marries a German entertainer and starts a family. However he becomes poisoned with Radium and needs an expensive treatment in Germany to have any chance of being cured. Wife Helen returns to night club work to attempt to raise the money and becomes popular as the Blonde Venus. In an effort to get enough money sooner she prostitutes herself to millionaire Nick Townsend. While Ned is away in Europe she continues with Nick but when Ned returns cured he discovers her infidelity. Now Ned despises Helen but she grabs son Johnny and lives on the run just one step ahead of the Missing Persons Bureau. When they do finally catch her she loses her son to Ned. Once again she returns to entertaining this time in Paris and her fame once again brings her and Townsend together. Helen and Nick return to America engaged but she is irresistibly drawn back to her son and Ned. In which life does she truly belong? Devil Is A Woman (Dir. Josef von Sternberg 1935): Told in flashbacks Devil Is A Woman is a tale of an older man's obsession for a woman who can belong to no-one but can frustrate everyone. The backdrop is Sternbergs surreal and fantastic Carnaval in Spain. In a cafe the older man details his encounters with the heartbreaker that his younger friend has only just met at the parade. Forewarned the young man swears he will avoid the fate of his friend but rushes all the same to his evening rendevous. A dreamlike story of frustrated lost romance spoken in the past tense never really resolved.

• Solas | DVD | (26/12/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Lauded in its native Spain on its release, Benito Zambrano's Solas is a touching portrayal of loneliness and redemption. At its centre is the strained relationship between Maria and her mother Rosa, brought together by Maria's estranged father's illness. Rosa (brilliantly played by Maria Galiana) not only discovers a world very different from her village existence but also finds her daughter's life in disarray--racked with frustration, bitterness and fuelled by alcohol. As the film develops, the two find their relationship not only beginning to grow but also influenced by the arrival of their elderly neighbour, played by Carlos Álvarez Novoa. All three find a new purpose to their lives and, while students of feminism may find Maria's path a little debatable, Ana Fernádez brings the audience on her journey in heart touching fashion. The darkness of tone throughout only makes the subsequent brightness all the more blinding and the result is without doubt a deeply moving piece of cinema. --Phil Udell

• International Magic Live At The O2 | Blu Ray | (15/10/2012) from £32.38   |  Saving you £-8.39 (N/A%)   |  RRP £23.99

  LIVE O2 ARENA LONDRA 26.02.2012

• Wonder Woman - Vol. 1 | DVD | (09/06/2003) from £5.45   |  Saving you £8.54 (156.70%)   |  RRP £13.99

  Taken from a long-running DC Comics strip, Wonder Woman was made into a popular television series between 1978 and 1981, starring former Miss America Lynda Carter. Capturing the hearts of TV audiences with her sexy outfit as much as her superheroine abilities, Wonder Woman quickly became a kitsch icon, battling the forces of evil with the unforgettably camp "garb of justice", including bullet-proof bangles, a golden lasso and the belt of strength built into her corset. She had an invisible plane, too. Originally Princess Diana of Paradise Island (an uncharted land of Amazon women in the Bermuda Triangle), Wonder Woman is sent as an emissary to the outside world to protect the human race from the forces of evil. And so she becomes Diana Prince, the geeky, bespectacled assistant to Steve Trevor of the Inter Agency Defense Command in Washington, whose father she assisted against the Nazis in the 1940s. In the 70-minute pilot, "The Return of Wonder Woman", our gal is sent in to prevent the nefarious Dr Solano from capturing a nuclear generating plant the Americans are flying into Latin America as a new source of energy. In "Anschluss 77", Steve and Diana are sent to investigate a former Gestapo agent now living in Latin America and have to battle a Nazi force that includes a cloned Adolf Hitler. Finally, in "The Man Who Could Move the World", Wonder Woman's adversary is a Japanese ex-intern from World War II who has developed telekinetic powers. Carter plays the role commendably straight, but just one listen to the theme tune ("in your satin tights, fighting for our rights") makes it clear this isn't meant to be taken seriously. Who else could save us from evil so stylishly? On the DVD: Wonder Woman, Volume 1 includes a gallery of memorabilia, a pretty extensive biography of Lynda Carter and the rest of the cast, and finally a short photo gallery for all you die-hard Wonder Woman fetishists. --Laura Bushell

• Deep Blues | DVD | (25/02/2022) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Handel: The Messiah | DVD | (31/10/2000) from £20.00   |  Saving you £-0.01 (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The most popular and well-loved of all Handel's great oratorios, The Messiah here receives warm if not exactly passionate treatment under the direction of Stephen Cleobury. This is a period-instrument performance featuring Roy Goodman and his Brandenburg Consort, although not one that aims at any inflexible authenticism. The four soloists are all of the first rank, as are, of course, the choristers of King's College, Cambridge. So, musically the concert's credentials are impeccable. The setting is the Pieterskerk, Leiden, which at least boasts a sympathetic acoustic even though its visual beauties are hidden in candlelit gloom. It must have been a charming evening for the audience, but the film version doesn't really have anything more to offer the home viewer than a few close-ups of the soloists and the occasional cutaway shot of an appropriate painting. Hence, this disc will be of interest if you want to see musicians giving a delightful performance instead of just listening to them; but it's no substitute for a good audio recording. On the DVD: This is a non-anamorphic widescreen picture, not the 4:3 ratio claimed on the back cover. The sound is only PCM stereo, there are no extra features, and the disc only has the most basic of menus. Chapter access is restricted to just three points. If you wish to select a specific aria or chorus you have to refer to the inside of the booklet and work out which track you need to jump to. And would it be asking too much for the libretto, either on screen or in the booklet? Overall, a very disappointing DVD presentation of an otherwise enjoyable concert performance. --Mark Walker

• Bagdad Cafe | DVD | (11/05/2002) from £20.00   |  Saving you £-4.01 (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  ""An adorable comic fable."" -Los Angeles Times. German writer-director Percy Adlon makes a ""remarkable"" (Boxoffice) American debut with his ""charming"" (Vogue) Bagdad Caf starring CCH Pounder (Face/Off) and Jack Palance (City Slickers). Injecting his bold and unique style into a sweet story about the common threads that connect disparate people Adlon succeeds in creating a cinematic jewel that is both ""hilarious and touching"" (Los Angeles Times). Drawn to a pair of lights in the

• Nazarin | DVD | (25/09/2006) from £24.99   |  Saving you £-5.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  From acclaimed director Luis Bunuel comes another tale about morality and the church. Nazarin is one of Brunuel's quartet of adaptations of the great 19th century Spanish writer Benito Perez Galdos and with Simon Of The Desert forms the best of his explorations of religion. The story told in the manner of a Christian parable is about a humble and unworldly priest who attempts to live by the precepts of Christianity but is despised for his pains. The film was ambiguous enough to win the International Catholic Cinema Office Award - a supreme irony for the cinema's most famous anti-Catholic atheist - and also won the Grand Prix Internationale at the 1959 Cannes film festival// The theme of the impossibility of leading a pure Christian life was further explored in Viridiana (1961).

• Surviving The Game | DVD | (28/06/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  The rules are simple: kill or be killed. Homeless man Mason (Ice-T) recruited by a band of wealthy hunters to lead an expedition into the Pacific Northwest. But on the first day of the hunt he discovers a lethal surprise: he's the prey! It's gut-wrenching action from start to finish as the game begins and the hunters learn a deadly lesson; never underestimate a man who's got nothing to lose...

• Echo in the Canyon | DVD | (10/09/2019) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Battlefield Earth - Take Back The Planet | DVD | (06/08/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £13.99

  In the 30th Century, when Battlefield Earth is uncovered in a mass grave for bad films by revisionist cineastes, it is more than likely that it will still be the worst science fiction film ever made. John Travolta's $73m pet sci-fi project--an adaptation of Scientology guru L Ron Hubbard's rambling pulp novel --is like the long lost sequel to Ed Wood's Plan Nine from Outer Space. Incompetent, incomprehensible and, at nearly two hours running time, way over long, Battlefield Earth is nothing more than a rehash of hackneyed post-Star Wars sci-fi clichés. It has the production values of Buck Rogers in the 21st Century and a sprawling plot that merges Planet of the Apes and the TV mini-series V.It is the year 3000 and the Psychlos, a race of dreadlocked aliens, are busy raping the Earth of its natural resources to revive their own dead planet. Peppy young turk Jonnie Goodboy Tyler decides to fight back: he speed-learns the Psychlo language, masters their alien technology and then rallies the beleaguered human race to victory. The Psychlos are at a distinct disadvantage since they persist in wearing ludicrously-stacked heels that make it hard to do anything but totter like stilt-walkers. Therefore, out of necessity, most of the action sequences in Battlefield Earth are shot in slow motion. John Travolta plays Terl, the blustering Psychlo chief of security on Earth, like a pantomime villain delivering leaden dialogue that elicits unintentional pathos. Forest Whitaker in the role of his oafish, double-crossing sidekick Ker erases all traces of screen credibility gained through his role in Jim Jarmusch's Ghost Dog. And as Tyler, pretty boy Barry Pepper has the charisma of a plastic action figure. Even the tagline for this film--"A saga for the year 3000"--is startlingly banal.On the DVD: At first glance, this DVD looks to be packed with extras. A director's commentary, two TV spots, trailer and three "making of" feaurettes--but once you've seen one of the featurettes, you've literally seen them all, as the other two simply recut the same footage. After watching this travesty of a film, it is unlikely you'll want to hear British director Roger Christian gushing over his own work on the audio commentary with production designer Patrick Tatopolous. One can only guess that the creative team got stranded on Planet Psychlo and lost all their critical faculties. The main feature is of good enough picture quality to accentuate the ghastly blue and orange hues that colour almost every scene. The film is presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic format with optional 5.1 Dolby Digital sound. --Chris Campion

• Pakistan v England - 2005 Tour | DVD | (03/04/2006) from £5.96   |  Saving you £12.03 (201.85%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Pakistan entered the 2005/6 season with a highly anticipated series against newly-crowned Ashes winners England. With an in-form skipper and a rejuvenated Shoaib Akhtar this incredible series matched the billing. 1st Test Multan Pakistan 1-0 England Pakistan were on the ropes after 193 from Marcus Trescothick left them 144 runs adrift after the first innings. However an excellent 122 from Salman Butt in Pakistan's second innings gave them hope and England a target of 198 to

• Jacknife | DVD | (13/10/2003) from £4.98   |  Saving you £1.01 (20.28%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Based on the acclaimed book by neurologist Oliver Sacks, director Penny Marshall's hit 1990 drama Awakenings stars Robin Williams as Dr. Malcolm Sayer. Sayer is a neurologist who discovers that the drug L-Dopa can be used to "unlock" patients in a mental hospital from the mysterious sleeping sickness that has left them utterly immobilized. Leonard (Robert De Niro) is one such patient who awakens after being in a comatose state for 30 years, leaving Sayer to guide Leonard in adjusting to the world around him. Penelope Ann Miller costars as the daughter of another patient, with whom Leonard falls tenuously in love. Earning Oscar nominations for best picture, actor and screenplay, this moving fact-based drama was a hit with critics and audiences alike. --Jeff Shannon

• Henry's Cat - Series 4 | DVD | (21/06/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  More feline fun from the wackiest cat around. He eats! He sleeps! He daydreams! He gets into trouble! Share Henry's Cat's adventures in Out For The Count The Birthday Caper The Funny Feeling Once Upon A Time The Jingle The Great Adventure. Contains chapter points for easy scene access.

• Mother's Finest | DVD | (31/01/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Formed in Chicago 1972 Mother's Finest led by vocalist Joyce ""Baby Jean"" Kennedy began to experiment with rock funk and soul to create the sound so well received by critics and fans. Unknown to Europeans they performed at the 2nd Rockpalast night in 1978 achieving cult status in the bargain. 25 years later in 2003 they once again performed at Rockpalast with almost entirely the same crew. This DVD features both gigs!

• What Have I Done To Deserve This? | DVD | (04/12/2006) from £8.57   |  Saving you £9.42 (109.92%)   |  RRP £17.99

  An erotic and bizarre black comedy which follows a typical Spanish housewife with rather atypical family problems! Nazis homosexuality drug dealing extra-marital affairs and a plot to forge Hitler's diaries: everything you'd expect from Spanish auteur Pedro Almodovar's fourth film!

• She's Gotta Have It | DVD | (22/05/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  A Seriously Sexy Comedy Nola Darling has three different men in her life. All three men want her to commit solely to them forcing her to make a choice. But is the choice she makes what she really wants?

• Melies - A Trip to the Moon (Restored) | DVD | (26/11/2012) from £29.95   |  Saving you £-13.96 (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Originally released in 1902, this legendary 16-minute film is widely considered to be one of the most important works in film history. Created just six years after the invention of cinema this is where narrative cinema truly began. George Melies masterpiece features six members of the Astronomers' Club, fired into space by a giant cannon, on a strange and wonderful journey to the moon to meet its inhabitants. The colour version of A Trip to the Moon, hand-painted frame by frame, was considered lost for many years, until a print, in a desperate condition, was found in Spain in 1993. It is this version which has been meticulously restored - one of the most sophisticated and expensive restorations in the history of cinema. The luminous resulting film is accompanied by a new original soundtrack by French duo AIR. Accompanying the film is a 60 minute documentary, The Extraordinary Voyage, detailing the restoration process and featuring words from esteemed directors such as Michel Gondry, Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Michel Hazanavicius.

• Law & Order - The First Seasons (L&O, L&O SVU, L&O CI) | DVD | (13/10/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £44.99

  Law & OrderFrom its gritty documentary look to its signature note-knocking "tching-tching" that signals scene changes, Law & Order was a groundbreaking cop show when it debuted in 1990. It has since earned Emmys for Best Dramatic Series and spun off satellite franchises, and reruns of the original series are as omnipresent in syndication as those of I Love Lucy. Law & Order is television's most resilient series. It has survived wholesale changes to its ensemble. One of the secrets of the show's durability: its compelling structure. The first half of each hour-long episode is classic police procedural in which "Law," personified in the first season by partners Greevey (George Dzundza--and be sure to catch the interview segment with series creator Dick Wolfe to learn how to pronounce his name) and Mike Logan (Christopher Noth, the future "Mr. Big" on Sex and the City) investigate a crime and make an arrest. The second half chronicles the ensuing trial, as prosecuted by assistant district attorneys Ben Stone (Michael Moriarty) and Paul Robinette (Richard Brooks) under the supervision of Steven Hill's Adam Schiff (more feisty and animated here than in later seasons). Law & Order is also distinguished by its superb writing. Several episodes take their inspiration from the headlines, including "By Hooker, By Crook" about a socialite-run call-girl ring, and "Indifference," which recalls the tragic Lisa Steinberg child abuse case. Others deal with such hot-button issues as abortion ("Life Choice") and AIDS ("The Reaper's Helper"). Another plus is the talent pool of character actors who lend their verisimilitude. Guest stars include Samuel L. Jackson and Philip Seymour Hoffman ("The Violence of Summer"), The West Wing's John Spencer ("Prescription for Death"), Sex and the City's Cynthia Nixon ("Subterranean Homeboy Blues"), and The Sopranos' Dominic Chianese ("Sonata for Stolen Organ"). --Donald LiebensonLaw & Order: Special Victims Unit Originally called Sex Crimes, executive producer Dick Wolf wisely opted for something less lurid when the second in the inexhaustible Law & Order franchise hit the air in 1999. Still, as the opening voiceover makes clear, the "sexually based offenses" investigated by New York's Special Victims Unit can be "especially heinous." Wolf penned series premier "Payback," which sets the scene, but not the tone. It's a lively, if uneasy mix between horror (rape) and comedy (risqué banter). As the show progressed, humour would be written out altogether (leaving Richard Belzer's Homicide-derived John Munch with increasingly less to do). Less emphasis would also be placed on the home lives of this "elite squad of dedicated detectives." Mostly, "Payback" introduces us to the unit, centering around partners Olivia Benton (Mariska Hargitay) and Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni). For two people with so little in common, they make a terrific team--arguably one of TV's best. Stabler is married with four children; Benton is single and her closest relationship is with her mother (Elizabeth Ashley). While Stabler can get a little rough with suspects, Benton tends to over-empathize with the victims. They report to the no-nonsense Captain Cragen (Law & Order vet Dann Florek). Like the parent program's Lenny Briscoe, he's a recovering alcoholic. Dean Winters and Michelle Hurd round out the rock-solid cast. As it would continue to do in successive years, SVU's first season proved that network TV could explore sex crimes without being salacious or exploitative. "Uncivilised," for instance, concerns a child murder that is automatically pinned on a local sex offender, when the actual perpetrator isn't quite so obvious. "Disrobed," in which Brian Cassidy (Winters) leaves the department and Benson (with whom he had a brief affair) shoots a suspect is another standout in a strong year. SVU features several guest appearances from Jerry Orbach (Briscoe) and Angie Harmon (Abbie Carmichael) from the original Law & Order. --Kathleen C. FennessyLaw & Order: Criminal Intent Dick Wolf (Law & Order) has claimed that Arthur Conan Doyle inspired him to create Criminal Intent. Indeed, the brilliant--if socially awkward--Robert "Bobby" Goren (Vincent D'Onofrio) and cool-headed partner Alexandra "Alex" Eames (Kathryn Erbe) do come across like a modern day Holmes and Watson. Rather than England, however, they're members of New York's major case squad. (Trivia buffs may find it of interest that D'Onofrio played Holmes's arch-nemesis Moriarty in the 2002 made-for-cable movie Case of Evil.) The show, which premiered in 2001, added "criminal" to the successful "law" and "order" equation. Each episode moves back and forth between the efforts of Goren and Eames to track down "the worst criminal offenders" and the efforts of the offenders to evade capture. The detectives report to plainspoken Captain Deakins (Jamey Sheridan) and work closely with urbane ADA Carter (Courtney B. Vance). Criminal Intent could hardly be mistaken for a comedy, but it can be lighter on its feet than Law & Order and Special Victims Unit--even if the crimes are just as grim. The fun comes from watching Goren and Eames do whatever it takes to catch the perps. As long as it's legal--they'll do it. Highlights of the first season include "Jones" with Griffin Dunne (An American Werewolf in London) as a philandering lawyer, "Badge" with Viola Davis (Solaris) as a corrupt ex-cop, and "Phantom" with Michael Emerson (The Practice) as a desperate family man. The last is based on the same real-life case that inspired the critically acclaimed French film Time Out (in the movie and teleplay, the protagonist pretends to work for the UN; in reality, Jean-Claude Romand pretended to be a doctor). Other cases, also often suggested by actual events, concern burglary, forgery, and money laundering--although murder is always mixed up in there somewhere. Featuring guest appearance from Law & Order detectives Green (Jesse L. Martin) and Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) in "Poison" and Lieutenant Van Buren (S. Epatha Merkerson) in "Badge." --Kathleen C. Fennessy

• Souvenir | DVD | (14/08/2017) from £19.52   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Isabelle Huppert and Kévin Azaïs star in this romantic drama co-written and directed by Bavo Defurne. The film follows Liliane Cheverny (Huppert), a former singer now working on an assembly line at a pâté factory. After coming runner-up in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1974, Liliane's career came to an abrupt end when she split from her manager and husband Tony (Johan Leysen). However, despite her attempts to leave her old showbiz life behind, Liliane soon attracts the attention of 21-year-old co-worker and aspiring boxer Jean (Azaïs), who seems determined to help her relaunch her career.