"Director: David"

• American Hustle | DVD | (08/01/2014) from £6.98   |  Saving you £15.00 (300.60%)   |  RRP £19.99

  A fictional film set in the seductive world of one of the most stunning scandals to rock the United States American Hustle tells the story of brilliant con man Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale) who along with his equally cunning British partner and lover Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams) is forced to work for a wild unhinged FBI agent Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper). DiMaso pushes them into a world of Jersey powerbrokers and mafia that's as dangerous as it is enchanting. Jeremy Renner is Carmine Polito the passionate volatile New Jersey political operator caught between the con-artists and Feds. Irving's unpredictable wife Rosalyn (Jennifer Lawrence) could be the one to pull the thread that brings the entire world crashing down. Like David O. Russell's previous films American Hustle defies genre hinging on raw emotion and life and death stakes.

• Twin Peaks | DVD | (05/11/2002) from £9.95   |  Saving you £40.04 (402.41%)   |  RRP £49.99

  One of the most influential TV shows of the 1990s, the first series of Twin Peaks has lost none of its quirky and queasy power to get under your skin and haunt your dreams. Without its groundbreaking mix of convoluted plotting, complex character interactions, surreal fantasy sequences and a continuous story arc, we would probably not have had The X-Files, The Sopranos, Six Feet Under or even The League of Gentlemen. So brew up a pot of some "damn fine coffee", dig into some cherry pie, and lose yourself in David Lynch and Mark Frost's murder mystery-soap opera, which unfolds, in one character's words, "like a beautiful dream and terrible nightmare all at once". Twin Peaks was a pop culture phenomenon, for this first series at least, until the increasingly bizarre twists and maddening teases so confounded audiences that they lost interest in just who killed Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee). This series was also a career peak for most of its eclectic ensemble cast, including Kyle MacLachlan as straight-arrow FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper, Michael Ontkean as local Sheriff Harry S Truman, Sherilyn Fenn as bad girl Audrey Horne, Peggy Lipton as waitress Norma Jennings and Catherine Coulson as the Log Lady. On the DVD: Twin Peak, Series 1 comes as a four-disc set that contains the original pilot plus the first season's seven episodes (inexplicably, the pilot episode was omitted on the American Region 1 DVD release, but is reinstated here). Special features include episode introductions by the Log Lady, commentaries by assorted episode directors (but not Lynch), and features from the archives of the fanzine Wrapped in Plastic. The 4:3 picture has been digitally remastered, and is now accompanied by a Dolby 5.1 soundtrack. --Donald Liebenson

• The Elephant Man | DVD | (14/05/2001) from £6.29   |  Saving you £11.70 (186.01%)   |  RRP £17.99

  You could only see his eyes behind the layers of makeup in The Elephant Man but those expressive orbs earned John Hurt a well-deserved Oscar nomination for his moving portrayal of John Merrick, the grotesquely deformed Victorian man. Inarticulate and abused, Merrick is the virtual slave of a carnival barker (Freddie Jones) until dedicated London doctor Frederick Treves (Anthony Hopkins in a powerfully understated performance) rescues him and offers him an existence with dignity. Anne Bancroft co-stars as the actress whose visit to Merrick makes him a social curiosity, with John Gielgud and Wendy Hiller as dubious hospital staffers won over by Merrick. David Lynch earned his only Oscar nominations as director and co-writer of this sombre drama, which he shot in a rich black-and-white palette, a sometimes stark, sometimes dreamy visual style that at times recalls the offbeat expressionism of his first film, Eraserhead. It remains a perfect marriage between traditional Hollywood historical drama and Lynch's unique cinematic eye, a compassionate human tale delivered in a gothic vein. The film earned eight Oscar nominations in all and though it left the Oscar ceremony empty-handed, its dramatic power and handsome yet haunting imagery remain just as strong today. --Sean Axmaker, Amazon.com On the DVD: Being black and white, it's easier to judge the digital transfer in terms of shade and thankfully this print looks just fine. There's a little confusion over the sound, however, which is advertised as Stereo on the box but says Mono on the Audio Menu. It certainly seems to be a basic Dolby stereo but it's a shame Lynch hasn't given it the personal touch since he's obsessed with mixing his films' sound himself. From the nicely thought-out animated menus there's a gallery of 20 photos and a misguiding, dramatic theatrical trailer. The only other extra is a 64-page book of which only 10 pages relate directly to the film (the rest re-tell Lynch's career and the real Elephant Man's life). --Paul Tonks

• Fantastic Beasts 2-Film Collection | DVD | (18/03/2019) from £5.98   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them takes us to a new era of J.K. Rowling's Wizarding World, decades before Harry Potter and half a world away. Academy Award winner Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything, The Danish Girl) stars in the central role of Magizoologist Newt Scamander, under the direction of David Yates, who helmed the last four Harry Potter blockbusters. There are growing dangers in the wizarding world of 1926 New York. Something mysterious is leaving a path of destruction in the streets, threatening to expose the wizarding community to the No-Majs (American for Muggles), including the Second Salemers, a fanatical faction bent on eradicating them. And the powerful, dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald, after wreaking havoc in Europe, has slipped away and is now nowhere to be found. Unaware of the rising tensions, Newt Scamander arrives in the city nearing the end of a global excursion to research and rescue magical creatures, some of which are safeguarded in the magical hidden dimensions of his deceptively nondescript leather case. But potential disaster strikes when unsuspecting No-Maj Jacob Kowalski inadvertently lets some of Newt's beasts loose in a city already on edgea serious breach of the Statute of Secrecy that former Auror Tina Goldstein jumps on, seeing her chance to regain her post as an investigator. However, things take an ominous turn when Percival Graves, the enigmatic Director of Magical Security at MACUSA (Magical Congress of the United States of America), casts his suspicions on both Newt and Tina. Now allied, Newt and Tina, together with Tina's sister, Queenie, and their new No-Maj friend, Jacob, form a band of unlikely heroes, who must recover Newt's missing beasts before they come to harm. But the stakes are higher than these four outsidersnow branded fugitivesever imagined, as their mission puts them on a collision course with dark forces that could push the wizarding and No-Maj worlds to the brink of war. Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald: At the end of the first film, the powerful Dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald (Johnny Depp) was captured by MACUSA (Magical Congress of the United States of America), with the help of Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne). But, making good on his threat, Grindelwald escaped custody and has set about gathering followers, most unsuspecting of his true agenda: to raise pure-blood wizards up to rule over all non-magical beings. In an effort to thwart Grindelwald's plans, Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law) enlists his former student Newt Scamander, who agrees to help, unaware of the dangers that lie ahead. Lines are drawn as love and loyalty are tested, even among the truest friends and family, in an increasingly divided wizarding world.

• John Pilger: Heroes 2015 Edition | DVD | (05/10/2015) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £99.99

  Definitive collection of ground-breaking documentaries from award-winning journalist, John Pilger. Specialising in drawing attention to issues that our leaders would rather keep hidden, Pilger charts the plight of oppressed peoples around the globe. His documentaries, scathing attacks on the injustices of the day, have centred on the major social and political issues of the past 40 years.Technical Specs: Languages(s): EnglishInteractive Menu

• True Stories (1986) | Blu Ray | (28/01/2019) from £16.15   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  David Byrne's exuberant musical road trip through Texas, in a Bluray edition featuring the complete soundtrack on CD. Music icon David Byrne was inspired by tabloid headlines to make this sole foray into feature film directing, an ode to the extraordinariness of ordinary American life and a distillation of what was in his own idiosyncratic mind. Byrne plays a visitor to Virgil, Texas, who introduces us to the citizens of the town during preparations for its Celebration of Specialness. As shot by cinematographer Ed Lachman, Texas becomes a hyperrealistic latecapitalist landscape of endless vistas, shopping malls, and prefab metal buildings. In True Stories, Byrne uses his songs to stitch together pop iconography, voodoo rituals, and a singular variety showall in the service of uncovering the rich mysteries that lurk under the surface of everyday experience. DIRECTORAPPROVED SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES: New, restored 4K digital transfer, supervised by director David Byrne and cinematographer Ed Lachman, with 5.1 surround DTSHD Master Audio soundtrack, supervised by Byrne New documentary about the film's production, featuring members of the cast and crew CD with 23 songs, containing the film's complete soundtrack, compiled here for the first time Real Life (1986), a short documentary by Pamela Yates and Newton Thomas Sigel made on the set of the film No Time to Look Back, a new homage to Virgil, Texas, the fictional town where True Stories is set New programme about designer Tibor Kalman and his influence on Byrne and role in the film, featuring Byrne and Kalman's wife, artist Maira Kalman Deleted scenes Trailer PLUS: An essay by critic Rebecca Bengal, along with new pieces by journalist and author Joe Nick Patoski and Byrne, a 1986 piece by actor Spalding Gray on the film's production, some of the tabloid stories that inspired the film, and a selection of Byrne's preproduction photography and writing about the film's visual motifs

• Foyle's War - Series 1 Complete | DVD | (07/03/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Michael Kitchen stars as the enigmatic Detective Chief Superintendent Christopher Foyle who longs to join the war effort but is left frustrated when his application for transfer is refused. To his surprise however he finds the turmoil of conflict means his skills are in demand on the home front. As WW2 rages over Europe one man fights his own battle against murder mystery and betrayal on the south coast of England - in Foyle's War. Contains the Complete First Series On DVD

• Hannay: The Complete Series | DVD | (12/09/2016) from £20.98   |  Saving you £21.00 (110.58%)   |  RRP £39.99

  Robert Powell reprises one of his most famous roles, that of Edwardian adventurer Richard Hannay, in this hit drama series spinning out of John Buchan's thrilling tales of derring-do most famously, the classic novel The Thirty-Nine Steps. This release comprises both action-packed series, with guest appearances from Martin Clunes, Alex Kingston, Charles Gray, Oliver Cotton, Phyllis Logan, Iain Cuthbertson and Anthony Valentine. Having forged a successful career as a mining engineer, prospector and military intelligence officer in South Africa, Richard Hannay returns to Britain amid the mounting tensions of pre-First World War Europe. His plans to settle down are dashed, however, when the naval arms race between Britain and Imperial Germany enters a dangerous new phase and his ingenuity is stretched to its limit by the ever-inventive schemes of his ruthless arch-enemy, Count Otto von Schwabing...

• Starred Up | Blu Ray | (04/08/2014) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  David Mackenzie's 'Starred Up' stars Jack O'Connell as a troubled and explosively violent teenager transferred to adult prison where he finally meets his match - a man who also happens to be his father. Eric (Jack O'Connell) is a violent young offender prematurely thrown into the dark world of an adult prison. As he struggles to assert himself against the prison officers and the other inmates he has to confront his own father Nev (Ben Mendelsohn); a man who has spent most of his life in jail. As Eric forges allegiances with other prisoners he learns that his rage can be overcome and discovers the new rules of survival. But there are forces at work which threaten to destroy him.

• State Of Play - Series 1 | DVD | (25/04/2005) from £6.39   |  Saving you £13.60 (212.83%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Stephen Collins is an ambitious politician. Cal McAffrey is a well-respected investigative journalist and Stephen's ex-campaign manager. En route to work one morning Stephen's research assistant mysteriously falls to her death on the London Underground. It's not long before revelations of their affair hit the headlines. Meanwhile a suspected teenage drug dealer is found shot dead. These (apparently unconnected) events expose a dangerous habit within modern government of dancing too

• Curb Your Enthusiasm - Series 4 | DVD | (26/09/2005) from £10.87   |  Saving you £15.12 (139.10%)   |  RRP £25.99

  Larry David has it all - money security famous friends a nurturing wife a devoted agent a new oceanfront home. So why is he still so intent on making a mess out of his life? Just because you've made it doesn't mean you've got it made. Curb Your Enthusiasm folks - it's the HBO comedy series starring Larry David...as Larry David! Episodes comprise: 1. Mel's Offer 2. Ben's Birthday Party 3. The Blind Date 4. The Weatherman 5. The 5 Wood 6. The Car Pool Lane 7. The S

• Elton John - Greatest Hits Live | DVD | (19/05/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  One of the biggest musical legends in pop music today Elton John performs one of his most memorable concerts ever at the world famous Madison Square Garden in New York City. This stunningly visual concert special was filmed over two nights in October 2000 and Elton and his band play some of his greatest hits from over four decades including ""Your Song"" ""Crocodile Rock"" ""Candle In The Wind"" and ""Rocket Man"". Elton also invites some special guest to share the microphone on stage wi

• The Game | Blu Ray | (25/10/2010) from £9.59   |  Saving you £8.40 (87.59%)   |  RRP £17.99

  It's not quite as clever as it tries to be, but The Game does a tremendous job of presenting the story of a rigid control freak trapped in circumstances that are increasingly beyond his control. Michael Douglas plays a rich, divorced, and dreadful investment banker whose 48th birthday reminds him of his father's suicide at the same age. He's locked in the cage of his own misery until his rebellious younger brother (Sean Penn) presents him with a birthday invitation to play "The Game" (described as "an experiential Book of the Month Club")--a mysterious offering from a company called Consumer Recreation Services. Before he knows the game has even begun, Douglas is caught up in a series of unexplained events designed to strip him of his tenuous security and cast him into a maelstrom of chaos. How do you play a game that hasn't any rules? That's what Douglas has to figure out, and he can't always rely on his intelligence to form logic out of what's happening to him. Seemingly cast as the fall guy in a conspiracy thriller, he encounters a waitress (Deborah Unger) who may or may not be trustworthy, and nothing can be taken at face value in a world turned upside down. Douglas is great at conveying the sheer panic of his character's dilemma, and despite some lapses in credibility and an anticlimactic ending, The Game remains a thinking person's thriller that grabs and holds your attention. Thematic resonance abounds between this and Seven and Fight Club, two of the other films by The Game 's director David Fincher. -- Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com

• Shining Through | DVD | (30/06/2003) from £9.97   |  Saving you £-3.98 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Based on a novel by Susan Isaacs, Shining Through is uncomfortably close to Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious. This World War II drama concerns a love affair between a spy (Michael Douglas) and a secretary (Melanie Griffith) that goes south when duty turns him cold and pushes her into dangerous, behind-the-lines intelligence work. Liam Neeson plays the gentleman Nazi unwittingly providing Griffith with cover as domestic help. The best parts of the film are the twists and turns in the romance (Douglas is very good at playing a character who can turn off all feeling at will) at the beginning; the German scenes are less compelling despite such high stakes for the heroine. The climax--taking us back to Notorious whether it wants to or not--is quite gripping, largely due to Douglas's performance.--Tom Keogh

• Fight Club - Single Disc Edition | DVD | (05/07/2004) from £7.99   |  Saving you £10.00 (125.16%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Every weekend in the basements and car parks of bars across the country, young men with good white-collar jobs and absent fathers take off their shoes and shirts and fight each other barehanded just as long as they have to.

• The Crimson Field | DVD | (19/05/2014) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  In a British base hospital near the front a team of doctors nurses and VADs are working together to heal the bodies and souls of the men in their care. This hospital on the coast of France is a frontier between two worlds: between the trenches and the home front between the old rules regulations hierarchies class distinctions and a new way of thinking. Written by Sarah Phelps (Great Expectations Oliver Twist) and starring Oona Chaplin (The Hour) Hermione Norris (Spooks) Suranne Jones (Scott and Bailey) Kevin Doyle (Downton Abbey) Kerry Fox (Shallow Grave) and Marianne Oldham (WPC 56) this is the story of World War One's front line medics - their love affairs professional triumphs personal tragedies fears and hopes as they fight for the future.

• Judge John Deed - Series 2 | DVD | (12/02/2007) from £6.80   |  Saving you £13.19 (193.97%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Deed is a high-court judge who's made it to the top through sheer determination and character without the help of the old boys network. Hating all things archaic and bureaucratic his passion for justice and his maverick approach attract as many supporters as they do detractors. His humanity and success in and out of court make him a hero figure to some but an enemy to others... Episodes Comprise: 1. Rough Justice 2. Duty Of Care 3. Appropriate Response 4. Hidden Agenda

• Dark Angel: Complete Season 1 | DVD | (24/02/2003) from £19.99   |  Saving you £20.00 (100.05%)   |  RRP £39.99

  One of TV's more interesting tough-girl action shows, Dark Angel is a distinctive blend of the personal, the adventurous and the politically aware. Cocreators James Cameron (yes, that James Cameron) and Charles Eglee present a complex scenario of biological super-science and social collapse in which their gene-manipulated heroine and hacker/journalist hero can genuinely make a difference. In this first series they also provide an adversary who is a lot more than just a conventional villain. Jessica Alba is impressive as Max, bred and trained as a super-soldier but reclaiming her individual humanity; Michael Weatherly is scruffily attractive as Eyes Only, who sits semi-paralysed in his eyrie above Seattle uncovering crime, corruption and other skulduggeries and sending the woman whom he hopelessly loves out on deadly errands. Jon Savage has real authority as Lydeker, a man who has stretched his conscience to breaking point, but is not personally corrupt. Some of the best episodes here--"Prodigy" for example--are ones in which Lydeker and Max are forced into temporary alliance. Early on the relationship between Max and the other workers at Jam Pony--the courier firm that provides her with a cover identity--is a little forced, but later on the two parts of Max's life are more successfully integrated: "Shorties in Love", for example, is a genuinely touching tale about Diamond, the doomed criminal ex-lover of Max's lesbian roommate. Dark Angel was never a perfect show, but at its occasional best it manages to be simultaneously funny and dramatic. On the DVD: Dark Angel, Series 1's Region 2 DVD is ungenerous with special features, providing only short interviews with James Cameron and Charles Eglee and with the stars, and giving us a preview of the Dark Angel computer game. The episodes are presented in widescreen and have excellent Dolby Digital sound which gives vivid presence to both the dialogue and the hard-driving contemporary rock score that is part of the show's style. --Roz Kaveney

• A Christmas Carol | DVD | (28/09/2015) from £9.69   |  Saving you £3.30 (34.06%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Standing out in the crowded field of screen adaptations of the classic Dickens novel A Christmas Carol is hard to do, but this version pulls it off. When a transparent Jacob Marley walks through Ebenezer Scrooge's apartment door, you know you're seeing something both timeless and contemporary. Other strategically placed special effects--a funnel cloud that transports Scrooge and the ghost of Christmas present, the hollow spectre of Christmas future--keep you riveted without slipping into anachronism. But, as good as the technology is, the performances are what really power this 93-minute television interpretation. Patrick Stewart brings a depth to Scrooge that allows the character to go beyond the cartoonish qualities that have made him a Christmas mainstay. That doesn't mean he's any less heartless with his hapless employee Bob Cratchit (Richard E. Grant) or any less dismissive of his well-meaning nephew. A frail-looking Joel Grey makes an excellent ghost of Christmas past, and a superb cast ably fill the remaining roles. Director David Jones, shooting on location in England and at Ealing Studios, has achieved a balance of science and sentiment that will help this version hold up for many years to come. --Kimberly Heinrichs

• The Change-Up | DVD | (23/01/2012) from £3.85   |  Saving you £16.14 (419.22%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Growing up together, Mitch (Ryan Reynolds) and Dave (Jason Bateman) were inseparable best friends, but as the years have passed they've slowly drifted apart. While Dave is an overworked lawyer, husband and father of three, Mitch has remained a single, quasi-employed man-child who has never met a responsibility he liked. To Mitch, Dave has it all: beautiful wife Jamie (Leslie Mann), kids who adore him and a high-paying job at a prestigious law firm. To Dave, living Mitch's stress free life without obligation or consequence would be a dream come true.Following a drunken night out together, Mitch and Dave's worlds are turned upside down when they wake up in each other's bodies and proceed to freak the &*#@ out.