"Actor: Stephen Irvine"

• The Acid House | DVD | (07/06/2004) from £7.10   |  Saving you £2.89 (40.70%)   |  RRP £9.99

  In The Acid House director Paul McGuigan adapts three Irvine Welsh short stories. These are set in an unflinchingly depicted world of grey, breeze block tenements, wiry psychos, short leather skirts, beer, fags and drugs, kinky sex in badly wallpapered lounges, random violence, hideous-looking babies, raves, footy, discarded crisp packets and barely intelligible dialogue featuring the occasional use of non-profanity."The Granton Star Clause" tells the unhappy tale of wee, pasty-faced Boab Doyle, who in one long, unhappy sequence loses his place in the football team, his girlfriend, his job and gets kicked out of the house by his parents, before an encounter with God (here, a hard-bitten, lager-quaffing Maurice Roeves) leads to a surreal, Kafka-esque conclusion. The second tale, "A Soft Touch", is gruellingly and well portrayed but pointlessly depressing. Kevin McKidd plays Johnny, a supermarket employee with an appalling slag-hag of a girlfriend who takes up with his new, violently psychotic and parasitical neighbour Larry. Will he stand up for himself? The answer will leave you thoroughly unsatisfied. Finally, there's "The Acid House", the funniest but silliest of the three tales in which Ewan Bremner plays an obnoxiously livewire Hibs fan who takes one too many tabs and ends up being transported into the mind of stereotypically middle-class couple's--Martin Clunes and Jemma Redgrave--baby. The Acid House is compulsive but bleak, exhilarating but ambivalent. The viewer is asked to bring their own moral compass to these stylised yet non-judgemental episodes. Fans of Trainspotting, however, will certainly find much of the scintillating same here.On the DVD: disappointingly, only the trailer is featured here. However, the DVD transfer in letterbox format is impeccable, used to its best advantage in the more surreal, fast-cut music video-style sequences, while the soundtrack, featuring The Verve and Primal Scream among others, also benefits. --David Stubbs

• BLAKE'S SEVEN - 7 STARS LIBERATED FROM THE CLASSIC TV SERIES!(Multi Region DVD) | DVD | (03/09/2018) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  BLAKE S SEVEN 7 STARS LIBERATED FROM THE CLASSIC TV SERIES! To celebrate its 40th Anniversary, this is the definitive set of interviews with six of the team of actors who brought BLAKE S 7 to life ... plus a bonus interview with SFX creator MAT IRVINE! These seven documentaries are the best in-depth interviews with GARETH THOMAS (Blake), JAN CHAPPELL (Cally), MICHAEL KEATING (Vila), JACQUELINE PEARCE (Servalan), STEPHEN GREIF (Travis), PETER TUDDENHAM (Zen, Orac & Slave) and MAT IRVINE (SFX) ever undertaken. Presented by voice of the Daleks NICHOLAS BRIGGS. For all BLAKE S 7 fans, this 2 DISC special collector s edition is 6 hours of pure nostalgia, which will give you a whole new insight into the making of your favourite science fiction series! SPECIAL FEATURE: Introduction by NICHOLAS BRIGGS & Producer KEITH BARNFATHER.

• Lloyd Cole And The Commotions - Live At The Marquee | DVD | (01/09/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £8.99

  Formed in 1982 and signed to their first big record deal in 1984 Lloyd Cole & The Commotions were one of the most successful indie acts in the UK and oft-quoted as influences to many other subsequently famous bands. Their knowingly pretentious lyrics and namedropping in songs endeared them to a generation of students - and for some time had the band vying with The Smiths in terms of popularity. Recorded in 1986 at The Marquee London and interspersed with pastiche band shots this excellent live concert was produced and directed by Mike Mansfield. Tracklist: 1. Rattlesnakes 2. Are You Ready To Be Heartbroken 3. Glory 4. Andy's Babies 5. Charlotte Street 6. Patience 7. Speedboat 8. Beautiful City 9. Perfect Skin 10. Forest Fire 11. Glory (reprise)