"Actor: Shirley"

• Lolita | DVD | (01/06/2006) from £6.19   |  Saving you £7.80 (126.01%)   |  RRP £13.99

  Stanley Kubrick's 1961 version of Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov's notorious 1953 novel, prompted a scandal in its day: even to address the issue of paedophilia on screen was deemed to be as perverted as the hapless protagonist Humbert Humbert. James Mason plays Humbert, the suave English Professor whose gentlemanly exterior peels away as quickly as his scruples once exposed to Sue Lyons' well-developed teenage beauty. In order to be close to her, he marries her mother, the lonely and pathetically pretentious Charlotte (Shelley Winters) only for her to expire conveniently, leaving Humbert free to embark on a motel-to-motel trek across America with Lolita in tow, evading suspicions that theirs is more than a father-daughter relationship. Peter Sellers, meanwhile, gives a Dr Strangelove-type tour de force performance as Clare Quilty, a TV writer also in pursuit of Lolita, who harasses Humbert under several guises, including a psychiatrist. As a movie, Lolita is flawed, albeit interestingly so. The sexual innuendo (a summer camp called Camp Climax, for example) seems jarring and pointless, while Sellers' comic turn detracts from any sense of guilt, tension or tragedy. It's as if the real purpose of the film is to offer a sort of silent, mocking laughter at the wretched Humbert and systematically divest him of his dignity. By the end, he is a babbling wretch while Sue Lyons' Lolita is pragmatic and self-possessed. It's Mason and Lyons' performances, which lift the film from its mess of structural difficulties. Decades on, their central relationship still makes for pitifully compulsive viewing. On the DVD: Few extras, sadly, though the brief original trailer is excellent, built around the question, "How could they make a film out of Lolita?". The original black and white picture and mono sound are excellent. --David Stubbs

• Bridget Jones 2: The Edge of Reason | DVD | (25/02/2005) from £9.98   |  Saving you £17.00 (212.77%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Although it's been three years since we last saw Bridget (Renée Zellweger), only a few weeks have passed in her world. She is, as you'll remember, no longer a "singleton," having snagged stuffy but gallant Mark Darcy (Colin Firth) at the end of the 2001 film. Now she's fallen deeply in love and out of her neurotic mind with paranoia: Is Mark cheating on her with that slim, bright young thing from the law office? Will the reappearance of dashing cad Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant) further spell the end of her self-confidence when they're shoved off to Thailand together for a TV travel story? If such questions also seem pressing to you, this sequel will be fairly painless, but you shouldn't expect anything fresh. Director Beeban Kidron and her screenwriters--all four of them!--are content to sink matters into slapstick, with chunky Zellweger (who's unflatteringly photographed) the literal butt of all jokes. Though the star still has her charms, and some of Bridget's social gaffes are amusing, the film is mired in low comedy--a sequence in a Thai women's prison is more offensive than outrageous--with only Grant's rakish mischief to pull it out of the swamp. --Steve Wiecking

• Paul Blart - Mall Cop 1 And 2 | DVD | (17/08/2015) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £22.99

  Paul Blart: Mall Cop With a heart that won’t quit a stomach that won’t stop gurgling and a self-sworn oath to protect his turf he’s Paul Blart: Mall Cop. Mild-mannered Paul Blart (Kevin James I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry Hitch TV’s “The King of Queens”) has always had huge dreams of becoming a State Trooper. Until then he patrols the local mall as a security guard. With his closely cropped moustache personal transporter and gung-ho attitude only Blart seems to take his job seriously. All of that changes when a team of thugs raid the mall and take hostages. Untrained unarmed and a super-size target it’s up to Blart to save the day. Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 Paul Blart is headed to Las Vegas to attend a Security Guard Expo and inadvertently discovers a heist - and it's up to him to apprehend the criminals.

• The Secret Life of Walter Mitty | DVD | (21/04/2014) from £5.69   |  Saving you £14.30 (251.32%)   |  RRP £19.99

  In his secret life, Walter Mitty dreams big and there's no challenge beyond his grasp, but when he's not daydreaming, he's just a timid everyday guy. But when Walter faces his ultimate real-world test, he springs into action on a global adventure.

• Once Upon a Time in the Midlands | DVD | (12/05/2008) from £5.20   |  Saving you £12.05 (305.84%)   |  RRP £15.99

  When Jimmy sees Dek's failed marriage proposal on national TV he rides into town with only one thing on his mind: to win back the woman and child he left behind...

• Hitchcock Complete Boxset | DVD | (17/10/2005) from £34.95   |  Saving you £-1.29 (N/A%)   |  RRP £33.66

  From the 'Master of Suspense' this box set features many of his very best films. Titles comprise: 1. Vertigo 2. The Birds 3. Rear Window 4. Marnie 5. Frenzy 6. Topaz 7. The Trouble With Harry 8. Torn Curtain 9. Psycho: Special Edition (includes the Bonus disc the Hitchcock legacy) 10. Family Plot 11. Saboteur 12. Shadow Of A Doubt 13. The Man Who Knew Too Much 14. Rope For individual synopses please refer to the individual products.

• Carousel | DVD | (08/03/2004) from £6.20   |  Saving you £9.79 (157.90%)   |  RRP £15.99

  The 1956 screen adaptation of Carousel, like its immediate predecessor Oklahoma!, boasted then state-of-the-art widescreen cinematography, stereophonic sound, a starring romantic duo with on-screen chemistry, and the Rodgers & Hammerstein imprimatur. Adding to its promise was a source (the venerable Ferenc Molnar play Liliom) that had already been filmed three times. Contributing to the lustre are the coastal Maine locations where 20th Century Fox filmed principal photography. Yet unlike the original Broadway production, and despite evident craft, Carousel proved a box-office disappointment. Why? Hindsight argues that movie-goers of the 1950s may have been unprepared for its tragic narrative, the sometimes unsympathetic protagonist, and a spiritual subtext addressing life after death. Whatever the obstacle, Carousel may well be a revelation to first-time viewers. The score is among the composers' most affecting, from the glorious instrumental "Carousel Waltz" to a succession of exquisite love songs ("If I Loved You"), a heart-rending secular hymn ("You'll Never Walk Alone"), and the expectant father's poignant reverie, "Soliloquy". Top-line stars Shirley Jones (as factory worker Julie Jordan) and Gordon MacRae (as Billy Bigelow, the carnival barker who woos and weds her) achieve greater dramatic urgency here than in the more successful Oklahoma!. MacRae in particular attains a personal best as the conflicted Billy, whose anxiety and wounded pride after losing his job are crucial to the plot. It's Billy's impatience to support his new family that drives him to an ill-fated decision, which transforms the fable into a ghost story. --Sam Sutherland, Amazon.com

• Zombie Night | DVD | (21/04/2014) from £4.28   |  Saving you £3.71 (86.68%)   |  RRP £7.99

  From the director of Feast and Piranha 3DD and starring Daryl Hannah (Kill Bill: Vol. 1 and 2) and Anthony Michael Hall (The Dark Knight Edward Scissorhands) comes a zombie movie that doesn't take any prisoners. As darkness falls in small-town California the undead rise from the graves mausoleums and morgues and they're hungry! With an army of zombies thirsty human flesh pounding at their doors and windows can the townspeople survive till sunrise? It's time to lock the front door and get ready for the fright of your life.

• Heidi | DVD | (01/06/2009) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  The iconic children's tale gets an movie update in this version which stars Max Von Sydow.

• The Gruffalo's Child - Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler Collection | DVD | (11/02/2019) from £10.73   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  This collection brings together the much-loved family films based on the wonderful books written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler. The Gruffalo's Child is the tale of the brave little Gruffalo who ignores her father's warnings and tiptoes out into the snow in search of the Big Bad Mouse. She meets Snake, Owl and Fox but no sign of the fabled Mouse. He doesn't really exist... or does he? Featuring the voices of Helena Bonham Carter, Rob Brydon, Robbie Coltrane, James Corden, Shirley Henderson, John Hurt and Tom Wilkinson. Also available in the collection: The Gruffalo, Room On The Broom, Stick Man, The Highway Rat and Zog.

• Raven - The Complete Series | DVD | (03/09/2012) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Raven, a 15-year-old Borstal boy, is released on probation to live with Professor Young, an archaeologist immersed in research into Arthurian legend, and his wife, an amateur ornithologist. The professor is working in deep underground caves whose carved symbols suggest that King Arthur may have used them as a hiding place, and Raven is intrigued by his belief that Arthur was not one man, but a succession of chiefs.

• Oklahoma | DVD | (08/03/2004) from £8.77   |  Saving you £7.22 (82.33%)   |  RRP £15.99

  The hit Broadway musical from the 1940s gets a lavish if not always exciting workout in this 1955 film version directed by old lion Fred Zinnemann (High Noon). Gordon MacRae brings his sterling voice to the role of cowboy Curly and Shirley Jones plays Laurie, the object of his affection. The Rodgers and Hammerstein score includes "The Surrey with the Fringe on Top", "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" and "People Will Say We're in Love", and Agnes DeMille provides the buoyant choreography. Among the supporting cast, Gloria Grahame is memorable as Ado Annie, the "girl who cain't say no", and Rod Steiger overdoes it as the villainous Jud. --Tom Keogh

• Sweet Charity (Standard Edition) | Blu Ray | (27/09/2021) from £9.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  The feature debut of the great Bob Fosse based on the Broadway hit, Sweet Charity is a musical re-imagining of Federico Fellini's Nights of Cabiria, starring the wonderful Shirley MacLaine as a taxi dancer looking for love and escape in hippy-era New York. Special Features: 4K restoration Three presentations of the film: with original overture (150 mins); without overture (149 mins); and with alternative ending (145 mins) Alternative 2.0 stereo and 5.1 surround soundtrack options Audio commentary with film historians Lee Gambin, Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and Cara Mitchell (2020) The John Player Lecture with Shirley MacLaine (1971, 81 mins): archival audio recording of the celebrated actor in conversation at London's National Film Theatre From Stage to Screen: A Director's Dilemma (1969, 9 mins): original promotional film featuring interview material with Bob Fosse and rare behind-the-scenes footage The Art of Exaggeration (1969, 8 mins): original promotional film profiling the work of famed costume designer Edith Head Interview with Sonja Haney (2020, 70 mins): audio recording of the dance assistant in conversation with Lee Gambin Now and Then: Sammy Davis Jr (1968, 23 mins): archival interview featuring the actor and singer in conversation with broadcaster Bernard Braden Super 8 version: original cut-down home-cinema presentation Image gallery: publicity and promotional material Original theatrical trailer New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing

• 24 Hour Party People - Single Disc Edition | DVD | (19/07/2004) from £5.68   |  Saving you £7.31 (128.70%)   |  RRP £12.99

  The story of the Manchester music scene from 70s punk through to the early nineties, as seen from the perspective of Tony Wilson, musical entrepenuer who signed countless bands from Joy Division to the Happy Mondays to his legendary Factory Records label.

• Alfie | DVD | (26/08/2002) from £5.15   |  Saving you £10.84 (210.49%)   |  RRP £15.99

  What's it all about, Alfie?" asked the hit Burt Bacharach/Hal David title song, to which the less philosophical answer might be: an amoral young man comically seducing a succession of beautiful women in swinging-sixties London. Michael Caine was the titular anti-hero, here consolidating his new star status from Zulu (1964) and The Ipcress File (1965), his conquests including Shelley Winters, Jane Asher and Shirley Ann Field. Alfie was a huge success, bringing a new frankness about changing sexual attitudes to the screen, in which respect it was almost the male companion to Julie Christie's then shocking, Oscar-winning performance in Darling (1965). It was also a sort-of contemporary Tom Jones, which had swept the Oscars for 1963, however, Alfie was not only better made, but in Michael Caine's guilelessly amoral asides to camera, offered a groundbreaking illustration of a newly self-conscious cinema. It is a technique Caine would reprise as the middle-aged philanderer in Blame It On Rio (1983). With Blow Up also released in 1966, and Ken Russell's Women In Love following in 1969, British film-making was truly in the midst of a sexual revolution. Michael Caine would reunite with director Lewis Gilbert and meet his female match in Educating Rita (1983). --Gary S. Dalkin

• Being There (1979) | Blu Ray | (06/01/2020) from £17.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  In one of his most finely tuned performances, PETER SELLERS (The Pink Panther) plays the pure-hearted Chance, a gardener forced out of moneyed seclusion and into the urban wilds of Washington, D.C., after the death of his employer. Shocked to discover that the real world doesn't respond to the click of a remote, Chance stumbles haplessly into celebrity after being taken under the wing of a tycoon (Oscar winner MELVYN DOUGLAS), who mistakes his new protégé's mumbling about horticulture for sagacious pronouncements on life and politics, and whose wife (The Apartment's SHIRLEY MACLAINE) targets Chance as the object of her desire. Adapted from a novel by JERZY KOSINSKI, this hilarious, deeply melancholy satire marks the culmination a remarkable string of films by HAL ASHBY (Harold and Maude) in the 1970s, and serves as a carefully modulated examination of the ideals, anxieties, and media-fuelled delusions that shaped American culture during that decade. Special Edition Features New, restored 4K digital transfer, supervised by cinematographer Caleb Deschanel, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray New documentary on the making of the film, featuring interviews with members of the production team Excerpts from a 1980 American Film Institute seminar with director Hal Ashby Author Jerzy Kosinksi in a 1979 appearance on The Dick Cavett Show Appearances from 1980 by actor Peter Sellers on NBC's Today and The Don Lane Show Promo reel featuring Sellers and Ashby Trailer and TV spots Deleted scene, outtakes, and an alternate ending PLUS: An essay by critic Mark Harris

• The Deer Hunter: Special Edition (2 discs) | DVD | (04/08/2003) from £5.79   |  Saving you £11.20 (193.44%)   |  RRP £16.99

  The Deer Hunter is an expansive portrait of friendship in a Pennsylvania steel town, and of the effects of the Vietnam War. Led by the trio of Robert De Niro, John Savage and Christopher Walken (who won a supporting actor Oscar), the first hour is dominated by an engrossing Russian Orthodox wedding and reception. When the drama moves overseas it switches from anthropologically realistic documentation of a community's rituals to highly controversial and still shocking Russian Roulette scenes, symbolising the random horror of war. Unforgettable as they are, the Vietnam sequences occupy less than a third of the three-hour running time; defying movie convention The Deer Hunter is fundamentally a before-and-after ensemble character study anchored by De Niro's great performance. Although it was the first serious Hollywood feature to address the Vietnam War, the plausibility of some of the later plot developments raises awkward questions. But the film remains powerfully effective, its deliberate pace, naturalistic overlapping dialogue and unflinching seriousness marking it very much a product of the 1970s. With nine Oscar nominations and five wins, including Best Picture and Director, it's a cinematic landmark that stands the test time, almost incidentally setting Meryl Streep on the road to superstardom in her first leading role. On the DVD: The Deer Hunter: Special Edition has the film on the first disc with a serious yet amiable Region 2 exclusive discussion track between director Michael Cimino and critic SX Finnie. The picture is anamorphically enhanced at 2.35:1, and perfectly reproduces Vilmos Zsigmond's deliberately desaturated, necessarily grainy cinematography. The Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack clearly reveals the mono original, being largely focused on the centre speaker and while it does a good job, some of the choral music does sound harsh. Dialogue is sometimes indecipherable, but that's due to the naturalistic nature of the original sound recording and mixing. Disc 2 offers excellent new interviews with Jon Savage (15 mins), Vilmos Zsigmond (15 mins) and Michael Cimino (23 mins). Also included is the original trailer (anamorphically enhanced 2.35:1), a routine photo gallery and a DVD version of the original press brochure. There's no trace of the 40 minutes of deleted material referred to by Cimino, but this presentation is still an object lesson in how quality of extras triumphs over quantity. --Gary S Dalkin

• Terms Of Endearment | DVD | (05/11/2001) from £6.41   |  Saving you £6.58 (102.65%)   |  RRP £12.99

  When Terms of Endearment was released in 1983, director and writer James L Brooks was lauded for his depiction of a complex mother/daughter relationship. For his leading ladies he chose actresses with two of the strongest personalities in Hollywood, but armed with an exceptionally witty script and endless patience he eventually drew magnificent performances from Shirley Maclaine as Aurora and Debra Winger as her daugher Emma, assisted considerably by Jack Nicholson's considerate professionalism. As the philandering retired astronaut who beds Maclaine and then provides her with surprising support in the film's dark later moments, Nicholson shines with comic brilliance which earned him an Oscar. It was no secret that Maclaine and Winger could barely contain a mutual antipathy on set. Yet they strike sparks off each other on screen. When comedy turns to tragedy with the development of Emma's cancer, the laughs continue even while the tear ducts are being given a good work out. In the glory days of Hollywood, this would have been acknowledged a great "women's picture" and its weepy credentials are impeccable. It stands out as a warm, accessible work that admirably rejects sugary sentiment in favour of the realistic rough edges that characterise most human relationships. On the DVD: Presented in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen with a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, this DVD is ideal for home cinema viewing. The picture and sound quality are fine, benefiting Michael Gore's gentle, memorable music and bringing the best out of Andrzej Bartkowiak's luminous photography. In addition to the original theatrical trailer, the major extra is the director's commentary in which James L Brooks reminisces with coproducer Penney Finkelman and production designer Polly Platt. They look back at their impressive work with a touching degree of wonder and apprentice directors should take note when Brooks recalls his steep learning curve in managing his leading ladies. --Piers Ford

• James Bond - Goldfinger (Ultimate Edition 2 Disc Set) | DVD | (17/07/2006) from £3.99   |  Saving you £13.00 (325.82%)   |  RRP £16.99

  Heralded as the best Bond movie thus far Goldfinger features some of the most iconic moments in the series to-date. Who could forget Oddjob and his killer hat; Shirley Eaton doused in gold; Or one of the greatest comeback lines in history? James Bond: Do you expect me to talk?Auric Goldfinger: No Mr. Bond. I expect you to die! Special Agent 007 (Sean Connery) has just come face to face with one of the most notorious villains of all time. And now he'll have to outwit and outgun this powerful tycoon to prevent him form cashing in on a devious scheme to raid Fort Knox - and obliterate the world economy!

• Sleeping Beauty | DVD | (04/03/2002) from £6.77   |  Saving you £13.22 (195.27%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Disney's 1959 Sleeping Beauty was the studio's most ambitious effort to date, a lavish spectacle boasting a gorgeous waltz-filled score adapted from the music of Tchaikovsky. In the 14th century, the malevolent Maleficent (not dissimilar to the wicked queen in Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs) taunts a king that his infant Aurora will fatally prick her finger on a spinning wheel before sundown on her sixteenth birthday. This, of course, would deny her a happily-ever-after with her true love. Fortunately, some bubbly, bumbling fairies named Flora, Fauna and Merryweather are on hand to assist. It's not really all that much about the title character--how interesting can someone in the middle of a long nap be, anyway? Instead, those fairies carry the day, as well as, of course, good Prince Phillip, whose battle with the malevolent Maleficent in the guise of a dragon has been co-opted by any number of animated films since. See it in its original glory here, alongside Malificent's castle, which, filled with warthogs and demonic imps in a macabre dance celebrating their evil ways, manages a certain creepy grandeur. --David Kronke, Amazon.com