"Actor: Val de Vargas"

• To Live And Die In L.A. | DVD | (04/10/2004) from £35.37   |  Saving you £-19.38 (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Directed by William Friedkin this cult classic stars William Petersen as Chance the risk-seeking maverick Secret Service agent and Willem Dafoe as the slick and stylish yet truly psychopathic Rick Masters. Chance's partner Jack who is near to retirement is close to completing a case against Rick Masters a ruthless ex-con and expert counterfeiter who has been selling millions worth of almost undetectable fake currency to support his weird fetishes. Unfortunately Jack gets a l

• Hatari | DVD | (06/06/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  One man heads a highly skilled professional group of game hunters in Africa. Only they don't use bullets - they capture the ferocious big game with strong rope and cameras for zoos and circus attractions. It is an exciting business that pits man against beast. ""Hatari"" means danger in Swahili.

• Southern District | DVD | (26/01/2015) from £6.95   |  Saving you £12.03 (303.79%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Winner of the Best Director and Best Screenplay awards (World Cinema) at Sundance Film Festival 2010 Juan Carlos Valdivia's retelling of the last crumbling days of Bolivian apartheid is vividly captured through the portrait of an upper class family as their lives slowly begin to turn upside down in its wake.

• Touch Of Evil | DVD | (10/11/2003) from £7.63   |  Saving you £2.36 (30.93%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Considered by many to be the greatest B movie ever made, the original-release version of Orson Welles' film noir masterpiece Touch of Evil was, ironically, never intended as a B movie at all--it merely suffered that fate after it was taken away from writer-director Welles, then reedited and released in 1958 as the second half of a double feature. Time and critical acclaim would eventually elevate the film to classic status (and Welles' original vision was meticulously followed for the film's 1998 restoration), but for four decades this original version stood as a testament to Welles' directorial genius. From its astonishing, miraculously choreographed opening shot (lasting over three minutes) to Marlene Dietrich's classic final line of dialogue, this sordid tale of murder and police corruption is like a valentine for the cinematic medium, with Welles as its love-struck suitor. As the corpulent cop who may be involved in a border-town murder, Welles faces opposition from a narcotics officer (Charlton Heston) whose wife (Janet Leigh) is abducted and held as the pawn in a struggle between Heston's quest for truth and Welles' control of carefully hidden secrets. The twisting plot is wildly entertaining (even though it's harder to follow in this original version), but even greater pleasure is found in the pulpy dialogue and the sheer exuberance of the dazzling directorial style. --Jeff Shannon

• Monteverdi: L'Orfeo -- Savall | DVD | (31/10/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  For this production of L'Orfeo, stage director Gilbert Deflo attempts to recreate the atmosphere of the first performance of Monteverdi's 1607 opera in the plush 19th-century setting of Barcelona's Gran Teatre del Liceu. On the whole he's extremely successful: the scenery consists of painted flats which are used imaginatively (Caronte's cavern is a particular coup de theatre) and the delightful costumes look like ancient Hellenic robes viewed through a 17th century lens. What's most remarkable, though, is the sensitive level of recording, for the light orchestral textures and small voices only once, in the Caronte scene, seem to get swamped by the gilt and velvet. Jordi Savall, looking uncannily like Monteverdi himself, conducts with energy and draws some committed, focused playing from the band. Zanasi makes a fine Orfeo, but all the voices have all the graceful and limpid qualities that are standard now in early music, and the whole company gets the stylised acting manner demanded by the production just right without becoming too arch. On the DVD: L'Orfeo is presented in 16:9 anamorphic ratio, with a choice of Dolby Surround Sound or LPCM Stereo. Within the limitations of a live relay from a large theatre, the picture quality is excellent: the colours of the costumes seem particularly vivid. There are subtitles in English, French, German and Spanish. Special features include an interview with the stage director, an illustrated synopsis and a gallery of cast photos. --Warwick Thompson

• Touch of Evil | Blu Ray | (08/03/2022) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A