"Actor: Stephen Rea"

• Juliet Bravo - Series 4 | DVD | (22/05/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Inspector Kate Longton (Anna Carteret) takes up the mantel from Inspector Jean Darblay (Stephanie Turner) in the fourth series of Juliet Bravo Episodes Comprise: 1.Teamwork 2.Teacher's Pet 3.Retribution 4.Solvent Solution 5.Who's Your Friend 6.Mates 7.Bad Seed 8.Doors 9.Guilt 10.John The Lad 11.Who Says The War Is Over? 12.Off Duty 13.Simple Simon 14.Backtrack

• Hedwig And The Angry Inch | DVD | (21/01/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Adapted from the critically acclaimed off-Broadway rock theatre hit, Hedwig and The Angry Inch tells the story of an "internationally ignored" rock singer, Hedwig, and her search for stardom and love.

• The Bay: Series 1-2 | DVD | (01/03/2021) from £19.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Starring Morven Christie and written by the award-winning Daragh Carville, The Bay is a beautifully crafted crime drama rooted in the families and communities of a distinctive coastal town. In the debut season, Family Liaison Officer Lisa Armstrong (Christie) is assigned to a missing persons investigation that, at first, seems like any other tragic, but all too familiar. But there's something very different about this particular case. With horror, Lisa realises she has a personal connection with this frightened family one that could compromise her and the investigation. Season two begins with Lisa at a low ebb, forced to do menial police work. However, when a new case involving a shocking murder within a loving family emerges, Lisa is called upon once again. Facing huge challenges at work and at home, Lisa must get under the skin of this new family and prove her worth to her colleagues, to her family and to herself.

• Dame Elizabeth Taylor - A Musical Celebration | DVD | (21/06/2004) from £17.25   |  Saving you £-4.26 (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Like all the best celebrity tributes, Dame Elizabeth Taylor: A Musical Celebration (2001) combines the essence of its subject--in this case, charity work for HIV and AIDS research and a legendary career in movies, both meriting every ounce of recognition--with the fascination of a spectacular car smash. The highlights are the screenings of trailers for some of her best films, including Giant and Butterfield 8 (she won an Oscar but derided the picture) and an archive interview in which she memorably describes a tiresome gossip columnist as "a frustrated old biddy". The live entertainment is far shakier than the event's inspiration, though. Presented by David Frost and Stephen Fry--an uneasy, fawning partnership-- there is some real quality: Andrea Bocelli (sending the guest of honour into transports of delight), John Barry conducting a couple of his most symphonic Bond themes and Reba McEntire, the powerhouse country and western diva-turned-Broadway actress. On the down side, Marti Pellow's self-congratulatory posing would make Robbie Williams seem a model of modesty, Jay Kay's attempts to jazz up a standard are woeful and Ute Lemper is at her most pretentious for a cacophonic "Mack the Knife". Michael Jackson's mute presence at Taylor's side emphasises the hypnotic strangeness of the whole affair, though the Dame herself takes the entire marvellously lurid spectacle in her stride. On the DVD: Dame Elizabeth Taylor: A Musical Celebration comes to DVD with no extra features. A Taylor filmography would have been useful. Otherwise, the 4:3 video aspect ratio reproduces the television gala feel and for sound quality, you can choose between LPCM stereo, Dolby Digital 5.2 and DTS surround sound (best for that authentic, muddy Royal Albert Hall acoustic).--Piers Ford

• Jordan Peele 3-Movie Collection | DVD | (14/11/2022) from £9.49   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Get OutWhen Chris (Daniel Kaluuya), a young African-American man, visits his white girlfriend's (Allison Williams) family estate, he becomes ensnared in the more sinister, real reason for the invitation. At first, Chris reads the family's overly accommodating behaviour as nervous attempts to deal with their daughter's interracial relationship, but as the weekend progresses, a series of increasingly disturbing discoveries lead him to a truth that he could have never imagined.UsAfter spending a tense beach day with their friends, the Tylers, Adelaide and her family return to their vacation home. When darkness falls, the Wilsons discover the silhouette of four figures holding hands as they stand in the driveway. Us pits an endearing American family against a terrifying and uncanny opponent: doppelgängers of themselves.NopeNope reunites Jordan Peele with Oscar® winner Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out, Judas and the Black Messiah), who is joined by Keke Palmer (Hustlers, Alice) and Oscar® nominee Steven Yeun (Minari, Okja) as residents in a lonely gulch of inland California who bear witness to an uncanny and chilling discovery.

• The Crying Game | DVD | (16/09/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  An IRA film with a difference, Neil Jordan's The Crying Game takes the Anglo-Irish conflict as the starting point for a thoughtful, often poignant and sometimes humorous examination of gender and identity. Stephen Rea is the IRA volunteer who befriends a kidnapped British soldier (the gauche but likeable Forest Whitaker), then takes the questions of loyalty and instinct (the "frog and scorpion" fable) with him to London, where he falls for the dead man's girlfriend (the appealing Jaye Davidson). Love and terrorism are fused in a violent and suspenseful denouement, where truth manifests itself in an unexpected yet meaningful way. Miranda Richardson and Adrian Dunbar are persuasive as the IRA agents, and there are excellent cameos from Jim Broadbent as an East End barman and Tony Slattery as a property shark, all making the most of Jordan's stylish, Academy Award-winning script. Anne (Art of Noise) Dudley contributes a moodily atmospheric score, with three versions of "When a Man Loves a Woman" to point up the gender issue. On the DVD: The Crying Game comes to disc with a widescreen picture that reproduces adequately for an early 90s film. The soundtrack, though, has real presence. There are subtitles in English and Russian(!), though the theatrical trailer is hardly a major bonus. An interview or a commentary with Jordan, discussing the motivation behind the project, would really have benefited a film which cuts across genres so successfully as this. --Richard Whitehouse

• Babylon 5: Season 4 | DVD | (19/04/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £54.99

  The fourth series of Babylon 5 begins on a high point with Centauri Prime in the grip of the insane Emperor Cartagia (Wortham Krimmer) and a run of six shows leading to the climax of the war against the Shadows in "Into the Fire". If this colossal narrative is resolved a little too easily and the ultimate aim of the Shadows turns out to be a tad disappointing, it's still one of the most powerful slices of space opera ever to grace the small screen. In the aftermath the sheer scale drops back a little but the pace never slows as the rest of the year plays out in one relentless cycle of conspiracy, betrayal and conflict, Babylon 5 siding with the rebel Mars colony against the totalitarian Earth regime. Meanwhile, Delenn finds herself increasingly in conflict with her own people and, paralleling her relationship with Sheridan, Garibaldi becomes involved with his ex-fiancée Lise Hampton (Denise Gentile); in addition, an intense platonic love grows between Ivanova and Marcus Cole. On an unstoppable wave fuelled by roller-coaster plot twists and spectacular action shows from "No Surrender, No Retreat"--when Sheridan avows to overthrow EarthGov--to "Rising Star"--when the aim is realised--this series of Babylon 5 achieved a consistent excellence rare in television. Yet within that run "Intersections in Real Time" stands out as a bold experiment; essentially a two-hand drama taking place entirely within one dimly lit room. Then in "The Deconstruction of Falling Stars", a descendant of humanity one million years hence reviews excerpts from the history of Babylon 5. In one sequence set in 2762 a Brother is devoted to the preservation of history some time after the "Big Burn". In a homage to Walter M Miller's SF classic A Canticle for Leibowitz, Sheridan and Delenn have themselves become the stuff of legend. --Gary S DalkinOn the DVD: All 22 episodes of Season 4 of Babylon 5 are presented on six DVDs. Anamorphically enhanced for widescreen TV, the picture is significantly stronger than on the original TV broadcasts, if not up to blockbuster movie standards. The remixed Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack is punchy and richly impressive, if again not quite state-of-the-art. As with previous seasons the main extras are three commentaries. The first, by actors Bruce Boxleitner, Jerry Doyle, Peter Jurasik and Patricia Tallman, finds these leading cast members having a great time joshing around on Falling Towards Apotheosis and failing to say anything very interesting. Series creator and writer J Michael Straczynski and director Michael Vejar discuss The Face of the Enemy, the conversation tending towards a technical scene-by-scene analysis, while by far the most interesting commentary is J Michael Straczynski alone on The Deconstruction of Falling Stars. JMS covers many aspects of the show, going into depth explaining both his ideas behind the series and the practicalities of realising his vision. Celestial Sounds is an interesting but too-short five-minute look at the scoring process with composer Christopher Franke, complemented by a powerful six-minute musical suite. The package also includes a six-minute introduction, a three-minute gag reel and video data files of characters, organisations and places. An Easter egg offers a comparison between untextured and completed CGI models of Babylon 5 itself. There is an optional French soundtrack, plus English, English for Hearing Impaired, French and Netherlands subtitles. --Gary S Dalkin

• V for Vendetta Titans of Cult Steelbook | Blu Ray | (02/11/2020) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Who is the man who hides his scarred face behind a mask? Hero or madman? Liberator or oppressor? Who is V and who will join him in his daring plot to destroy the totalitarian regime that dominates his nation? From the creators of The Matrix trilogy comes V for Vendetta, an arresting and uncompromising vision of the future based on the powerfully subversive graphic novel. This Collector's Set Includes: V for Vendetta on 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray Two new pieces of EC on 4K disc (not in 4K Resolution) Collectable SteelBook Case Exclusive Acrylic Pin housed in a SteelBook Mini Case Special Features: NEW: Natalie Portman's Screen Test NEW: V for Vendetta Unmasked: Making-of with filmmakers and cast James McTeigue & Lana Wachowski in Conversation : Looking back on V for Vendetta Director's Notebook: Reimagining a Cult Classic for the 21st Century: Director James McTeigue (Joined by Stars Natalie Portman and Hugo Weaving and Other Creative Team Members) Traces in Detail the V Saga from Graphic Novel Origin Through the Movie's Execution. Designing the Near Future Remember, Remember: Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot England Prevails: V For Vendetta and the New Wave in Comics Freedom! Forever!: Making V For Vendetta Saturday Night Live Digital Short Cat Power Montage Theatrical Trailer

• Babylon 5 : In The Beginning | DVD | (08/04/2002) from £11.12   |  Saving you £8.87 (79.77%)   |  RRP £19.99

  In the gap between seasons four and five of Babylon 5, fans suffering withdrawal symptoms were sated by this first TV movie. As a prequel to the series' timeline, creator J. Michael Straczynski had an awful lot of continuity to consider. Amazingly, there's only one inconsistency throughout (a matter of who met whom and when), making this an essential part of the overall storyline. The tale is told cleverly from the future as the remembrances of Londo (Peter Jurasik), who is now Emperor of a dying Centauri homeworld. He looks back at the beginnings of the Earth-Minbari war and links together many clues strewn throughout the shows' early years. We see exactly how Delenn contributed to the first blows, the death of dignitary Dukhat, and most importantly what really happened to Sinclair (Michael O'Hare) at the Battle of the Line. The FX showcased by the battle are genuinely spectacular, but overshadowed by the make-up department which had the thankless task of making everyone look younger. Their best success is on an uncredited Claudia Christian who appears as an 18-year-old Susan Ivanova dealing with the death of her brother. Being a prequel there's little in the way of a surprise finale, but there's plenty of intrigue along the way. --Paul Tonks

• The Reaping | DVD | (20/08/2007) from £3.89   |  Saving you £14.10 (78.40%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Hilary Swank stars in this thriller which sees her trying to debunk what appear to be Biblical plagues in the Deep South.

• The Lady In The Van/A Street Cat Named Bob | DVD | (12/02/2018) from £5.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  The Lady In The Van Based on the true story of Miss Shepherd (played by the magnificent Maggie Smith), a woman of uncertain origins temporarily parks her van in Alan Bennett's (Alex Jennings) London driveway and proceeds to live there for 15 years. What begins as a begrudged favour becomes a relationship that will change both their lives. Acclaimed director Nicholas Hytner reunites with iconic writer Alan Bennett to create this rare and touching portrait. A Street Cat Named Bob Based on the true life story and international bestselling book, A STREET CAT NAMED BOB is a moving and uplifting film that will touch the heart of everyone. When London busker and recovering drug addict James Bowen (Luke Treadaway) finds injured ginger street cat Bob in his sheltered accommodation, he has no idea just how much his life is about to change. Features: The Lady In The Van The Making of The Lady In The Van featurette The Visual Effects featurette Playing the Lady: Maggie Smith as Miss Shepherd featurette Commentary with Nicholas Hytner Deleted Scenes A Street Cat Named Bob Behind the Scenes Featurette

• Tara Road | DVD | (12/03/2007) from £7.35   |  Saving you £8.64 (117.55%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Sometimes the best way to find yourself... is to lose yourself in someone else's life Tara Road tells the story of two women one Irish and one American - who swap houses one summer and change the course of their lives forever. An accidental phone call brings these two otherwise unrelated women together and in their mutual need for space and time alone they agree to a two-month house exchange. In swapping homes both women slowly find healing and strength through new surroundings and the kindness of others and gradually learn to accept the reality of their changed lives.

• Trojan Eddie | DVD | (11/08/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  A small time businessman on the make fancies himself for the big time but spends his days fetching and carrying for the local traveller community leader John Power who just happens to be a forceful and dangerous Godfather of the local travelling community. A tense story of violent retribution interwoven with wicked Irish humour.

• Episodes - Series 5 | DVD | (21/05/2018) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  The award-winning, critically acclaimed comedy Episodes returns for a much-anticipated fifth and final series. Sexy, rich and sophisticated, the final season of Episodes is the funniest one yet. Hearts are broken, egos are crushed, careers are ruined, sex tapes are revealed, and one very large pig is shot. Just another day in Hollywood.

• The End Of The Affair | DVD | (21/08/2000) from £7.98   |  Saving you £-1.99 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  THE END OF THE AFFAIR is a brilliant and powerful story of love, betrayal and sexual jealousy.

• I Didn't Know You Cared - The Complete Series | DVD | (25/09/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £59.99

  From the books of Peter Tinniswood comes one of television's greatest comedy families The Brandons. There's miserable pessimist Uncle Mort his sharp-tongued sister Annie who is constantly arguing with husband Les their laid-back son Carter and his not so laid-back fianc Pat and finally old Uncle Stavely who carries his friend's ashes around his neck in a box and only enters the constant bickering with a cry of ""I 'eard that! Pardon?"" Series 1: 1. Cause For Celebration 2. A Knitter In The Family 3. The Old Tin Trunk 4. After The Ball Was Over 5. Aye ... Well ... Mm ... 6. Large Or Small Big Or Tall 7. The Axe And Cleaver Series 2: 1. The Way My Wife Looks At Me 2. Chez Us 3. A Woman's Work 4. A Signal Disaster 5. You Should See Me Now 6. Good Wood God! Series 3: 1. Men At Work 2. A Grave Decision 3. Party Games 4. A Bleak Day 5. Stout Deeds 6. Paradise Lost 7. The Last Tram Series 4: 1. The Love Match 2. Love Is A Many Splendoured Thing 3. A Tip Top Day 4. Don't Answer That 5. The Great Escape 6. What's In A Name? 7. The Great Day

• V for Vendetta | DVD | (28/08/2006) from £7.71   |  Saving you £17.28 (224.12%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Set against the futuristic landscape of totalitarian Britain V For Vendetta tells the story of a young working-class woman named Evey who is rescued from a life-and-death situation by a masked man known only as 'V'. Profoundly complex V is at once literary flamboyant tender and intellectual a man dedicated to freeing his fellow citizens from those who have terrorized them into compliance... The Matrix Trilogy writing/directing team of Larry & Andy Wachowski adapt Alan Moore's seminal graphic novel into a thought-provoking blockbuster.

• Life Is Sweet | DVD | (11/02/2002) from £19.93   |  Saving you £-6.95 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Life is Sweet, Mike Leigh's 1990 snapshot of the suburban family condition at the tail end of the Thatcher era, is often depressing and occasionally harrowing. It is also ultimately joyous, not just for the sharpness of Leigh's satire--the script was improvised with and by the cast--but also for the real affection that binds the family together. Through a series of minor crises, channels of communication silted up by the daily grind and terminal self-absorption are gradually eased open and the film ends on a note of genuine hope. As parents Wendy and Andy, Alison Steadman and Jim Broadbent give virtuoso performances: two adults who use fantasy, mundane work and a stream of banal chatter to keep reality at bay before a freak kitchen accident forces them to stop and take stock. They have two daughters to perplex them: one a plumber (Claire Skinner) and the other an angry anorexic (Jane Horrocks, unsparing in a gut-wrenching bulimic scene). Timothy Spall is hilarious as family friend Aubrey, a would-be restaurateur whose efforts to establish a gourmet eatery in Enfield collapse in hopeless, drunken farce. This is not an overtly political film, but the sense of a stake being driven through the heart of the 1980s enterprise culture is unmistakeable. Inspiring. --Piers Ford

• Pret a Porter | DVD | (16/05/2011) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  At the world's hottest fashion show there's been a murder. Now everybody's a suspect including two guests (Julia Roberts and Tim Robbins) who end up sharing more than a hotel room! Sizzling Kim Basinger also stars as s hilariously inept TV reporter on the trail of her hottest interview yet. They're all caught up in the year's biggest see-and-be-seen event - where scintillating scandals and spectacular supermodels turn up the heat in a riotous show of high-fashion hilarity!

• Babylon 5: Season 5 | DVD | (17/01/2005) from £14.72   |  Saving you £40.27 (273.57%)   |  RRP £54.99

  A disappointment after the superb two previous seasons, the final run of Babylon 5 found Claudia Christian departed and Ivanova replaced by Captain Elizabeth Lochley (Tracy Scoggins), who in a soap-opera twist turned out to be Sheridan's first wife. Sheridan was promoted to President of the Interstellar Alliance and the action moved to a group of telepaths seeking sanctuary from the PSI-Corp on B5. Giving a prominent role to Patricia Tallman's Lyta Alexander, a love story for her was woven with the leader of the telepaths, Byron (Robin Atkin Downs). Meanwhile the aftermath of the Shadow War was explored as the origin of human telepaths became clear in "Secrets of the Soul," and the appearance of PSI-Corp's Bester (Walter Koenig) brought the plight of the refugees to a powerful close in "A Tragedy of Telepaths" and "Phoenix Rising." This was immediately followed by a rare episode not written by J. Michael Straczynski. Much was expected of "Day of the Dead," penned by Neil Gaiman, the British creator of DC's landmark Sandman comic and graphic novel series. Yet despite a change of tone including a guest appearance by Penn & Teller as 23rd-century comedy favorites Rebo & Zooty, the story proved an incongruous side trip into an unexplained twilight zone of fantasy. As usual the season picked up toward the end, with a string of fine political episodes leading to "The Fall of Centauri Prime" and the haunting "Objects at Rest," in which Sheridan and Delenn leave Babylon 5 for new quarters on Minbar. The final episode, "Sleeping in Light," was directed by J. Michael Straczynski and made an epilogue to the series. Set 20 years later, after all the sound and fury this quiet, elegiac tale is the apotheosis of the love story that proved the balance to the tragedy of the preceding darkness. A personal story resolved against a background of the epic, at once transcendent, deeply human, and profoundly optimistic, "Sleeping in Light" is as moving as any hour in the history of television drama and a thoroughly satisfying conclusion to one of the greatest series ever made. --Gary S. Dalkin