"Director: Mike Figgis"

• The Sopranos - Season 5 | DVD | (20/06/2005) from £17.99   |  Saving you £44.00 (244.58%)   |  RRP £61.99

  Facing an indeterminate sentence of weeks/months/years until new episodes, Sopranos fans are advised to take the fifth; season, that is. At this point, superlatives don't do The Sopranos justice, but justice was at last served to this benchmark series. For the first time, The Sopranos rubbed out The West Wing to take home its first Emmy for Outstanding Dramatic Series. Michael Imperioli and Drea de Matteo also earned Best Supporting Actor and Actress honors for some of their finest hours as Christopher and Adriana. From the moment a wayward bear lumbers into the Sopranos' yard in the season opener, it is clear that The Sopranos is in anything but a "stagmire." The series benefits from an infusion of new blood, the so-called "Class of 2004," imprisoned "family" members freshly released from jail. Most notable among these is Tony's cousin, Tony Blundetto (Steve Buscemi, who directed the pivotal season 3 episode "Pine Barrens"), who initially wants to go straight, but proves himself to be something of a "free agent," setting up a climactic stand-off between Tony and New York boss Johnny Sack. These 13 mostly riveting episodes unfold with a page-turning intensity with many rich subplots. Estranged couple Tony and Carmela (the incomparable James Gandolfini and Edie Falco) work toward a reconciliation (greased by Tony's purchase of a $600,000 piece of property for Carmela to develop). The Feds lean harder on an increasingly stressed-out and distraught Adriana to "snitch" with inevitable results. This season's hot-button episode is "The Test Dream," in which Tony is visited by some of the series' dear, and not-so-dearly, departed in a harrowing nightmare. With this set, fans can enjoy marathon viewings of an especially satisfying season, but considering the long wait ahead for season 6, best to take Tony's advice to his son, who, at one point, gulps down a champagne toast. "Slow down," Tony says. "You're supposed to savor it." --Donald Liebenson, Amazon.com

• Leaving Las Vegas | DVD | (31/01/2000) from £13.00   |  Saving you £2.99 (23.00%)   |  RRP £15.99

  One of the most critically acclaimed films of 1995, this wrenchingly sad but extraordinarily moving drama provides an authentic, superbly acted portrait of two people whose lives intersect just as they've reached their lowest depths of despair. Ben (Nicolas Cage, in an Oscar-winning performance) is a former movie executive who's lost his wife and family in a sea of alcoholic self-destruction. He's come to Las Vegas literally to drink himself to death, and that's when he meets Sera (Elisabeth Shue), a prostitute who falls in love with him--and he with her--despite their mutual dead-end existence. They accept each other as they are, with no attempts by one to change the other, and this unconditional love turns Leaving Las Vegas into a sombre yet quietly beautiful love story. Earning Oscar nominations for Best Director (Mike Figgis), Best Adapted Screenplay (Figgis, from John O'Brien's novel) and Best Actress (Shue), the film may strike some as relentlessly bleak and glacially paced, but attentive viewers will readily discover the richness of these tragic characters and the exceptional performances that bring them to life. (In a sad echo of his own fiction, novelist John O'Brien committed suicide while this film was in production.) --Jeff Shannon

• Internal Affairs | DVD | (05/03/2001) from £9.41   |  Saving you £3.58 (38.04%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Mike Figgis' Internal Affairs makes great play with some fairly obvious ironies--"Trust me, I'm a cop", Richard Gere says to a couple for whom he is arranging the death of their parents--but its real strength lies in a cluster of central performances. Gere has rarely been better than he is as the charismatic, self-righteous entirely corrupt and corrupting Dennis Peck, but Andy Garcia is at least as impressive as the "selfish yuppy bastard", the ambitious Internal Affairs cop Avila whose determination to bring Peck down is as much to do with massaging his own ego as with fighting the good fight, particularly after Peck starts making moves on Avila's gallery curator wife. This is a film about men destructively manipulating each other's self-love--the two men have more in common than they like to admit, a point sardonically made by Amy, the world-weary lesbian cop who is Avila's partner (an impressive performance by Figgis regular Laurie Metcalfe). Internal Affairs was the best thriller of 1990 and one of the decade's best. --Roz Kaveney

• Richard Gere - An Officer And A Gentleman / Internal Affairs / Primal Fear | DVD | (10/10/2005) from £18.15   |  Saving you £1.84 (10.14%)   |  RRP £19.99

  An Officer And A Gentleman (Dir. Taylor Hackford 1981): Zack Mayo is a young loner with a bad attitude. Tempted by the glamour and admiration of the life of a Navy pilot he decides to sign up for Officer Candidate School. After thirteen tortuous weeks under Gunnery Sergeant Emil Foley (Gossett Jnr.) he slowly begins to learn the importance of discipline love and friendship. Foley warns Zack about the local girls who will do anything to catch themselves a pilot for a husband

• One Night Stand | DVD | (20/03/2000) from £16.67   |  Saving you £-0.68 (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  On the surface Max Carlyle (Wesley Snipes) has it all: a happy marriage two healthy children and a successful career as a commercial director. Until one night while on a trip to New York City a chance encounter leads to a passionate and uncharacteristic affair with a beautiful seductive and very married woman named Karen (Nastassja Kinski). Each vows to forget the affair but when Max returns home he slowly begins to withdraw from the people closest to him. One year later M

• Hotel | DVD | (16/10/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Genius film-maker Mike Figgis brings together a dazzling all-star cast in this story of dark sexual intrigue where no one is quite what they seem. A film crew and actors arrive at the seemingly secure and beautiful Venetian hotel to film a version of the classic Jacobean tragedy ""The Duchess of Malfi"". Shadowing the production are two rival entertainment reporters (Salma Hayek and Lucy Liu) who immediately start a war of egos. When the director is put out of commission the producer (David Schwimmer) must take over the production and that's when the cannibals and vampires start picking off the film crew and guests... Figgis brings a fresh approach to film-making. Add this to the surplus of bizarre sexual activity and horrific cannibalistic images and Hotel becomes one place you will not want to check into alone...

• Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues: A Musical Journey | DVD | (12/12/2008) from £19.99   |  Saving you £3.00 (15.01%)   |  RRP £22.99

  It may have been underrated when first broadcast, but executive producer Martin Scorsese's homage to the blues is a truly significant, if imperfect, achievement. "Musical journey" is an apt description, as Scorsese and the six other directors responsible for these seven approximately 90-minute films follow the blues--the foundation of jazz, soul, R&B, and rock & roll--from its African roots to its Mississippi Delta origins, up the river to Memphis and Chicago, then to New York, the United Kingdom, and beyond. Some of the films (like Wim Wenders's The Soul of a Man and Charles Burnett's Warming by the Devil's Fire) use extensive fictional film sequences, generally to good effect. There's also plenty of documentary footage, interviews, and contemporary studio performances recorded especially for these films. The last are among the best aspects of the DVDs, as the bonus material features the set's only complete tunes. Lou Reed's "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean" and the ElektriK Mud Kats' (with Chuck D. of Public Enemy) hip-hop-cum-traditional updating of Muddy Waters's "Mannish Boy" are among the best of them; on the other hand, a rendition of "Cry Me a River" by Lulu (?!) is a curious choice, even with Jeff Beck on hand. The absence of lengthier vintage clips, meanwhile, is the principal drawback. For that reason alone, Clint Eastwood's Piano Blues is the best of the lot; a musician himself, Eastwood simply lets the players play, which means we get extensive file footage of the likes of Art Tatum, Oscar Peterson, and Nat "King" Cole, as well as new performances by Ray Charles, Dr. John, and others. Overall, this is a set to savor, a worthwhile investment guaranteed to grow on you over the course of repeated viewings. --Sam Graham

• Leaving Las Vegas - 20th Anniversary Edition | Blu Ray | (04/07/2016) from £14.99   |  Saving you £10.00 (76.98%)   |  RRP £22.99

  When Ben goes to Las Vegas, with the sole purpose of drinking himself to death, he meets a hooker, Sera, and one wild night of passion soon leads to a blowout love affair, with each vowing to not judge the others life. But when Sera asks Ben to see a doctor about his problem, Ben leaves Las Vegas. Going their separate ways, they both learn that they cannot live without each other after all. Directed by Mike Figgis (Timecode) and based on the poignant cult novel by John O'Brian, Leaving Las Vegas is an emotionally demanding and truly extraordinary film, starring Nicolas Cage and Elizabeth Shue in career defining roles.

• Leaving Las Vegas | DVD | (20/10/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Ben (Nicolas Cage) is an alcoholic whose life is falling apart. He goes to Las Vegas where the bars never close to drink himself to death. There he meets Sera (Elisabeth Shue) a hooker and asks her back to his motel. An extraordinary love affair develops between them. Ben promises to never ask Sera to give up prostitution and Sera vows never to ask Ben to stop drinking. But as Ben deteriorates Sera breaks her vow and begs him to see a doctor. Ben leaves. Apart and alone their lives quickly go downhill. They can no longer live without each other. At a cheap motel the lovers are re-united as their affair reaches a painful but beautiful climax...

• Mr Jones | DVD | (08/03/2004) from £6.73   |  Saving you £-0.74 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Richard Gere is pretty convincing as a severe manic-depressive whose episodes of euphoria sometimes find him dancing on a two-by-four far above the street or climbing onstage during a symphony performance to "conduct" the orchestra. When the pendulum swings the other way, he is practically catatonic. As a character study, this film by Mike Figgis (Leaving Las Vegas) has its truly compelling moments, but Mr. Jones isn't just a character study. Inexplicably, the film ushers in a preposterous romance between this poor fellow and his psychiatrist (Lena Olin). Delroy Lindo has a nice part as a sympathetic construction worker who tries to help Gere's character. --Tom Keogh

• Stormy Monday | Blu Ray | (10/07/2017) from £54.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  In 1988, Mike Figgis (Internal Affairs, Leaving Las Vegas) made his feature directorial debut with Stormy Monday, a taut, noir-influenced gangster movie that drew on his key formative influences, including his youth in the Newcastle of the late '50s and early '60s, and the city's vibrant jazz scene. Sean Bean (Ronin) plays Brendan, a young loafer taken under the wing of jazz club owner Finney (Sting, Quadrophenia), who's under pressure from American mobster Cosmo (Tommy Lee Jones, The Fugitive) to sell up in exchange for a cut of a local land development deal. Brendan just wants to earn an honest crust, but his burgeoning relationship with Cosmo's ex-lover Kate (Melanie Griffith, Body Double) threatens to drag him into the middle of the impending showdown A romantic crime thriller with genuine heart, Stormy Monday features striking, rain-drenched cinematography by Roger Deakins (The Big Lebowski, No Country for Old Men) and a seductive jazz score provided by the director himself. Presented here for the first time in high definition in the UK, there has never been a better time to discover one of this iconic filmmaker's most assured and uniquely haunting efforts. SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentations Original stereo audio (uncompressed on the Blu-ray Disc) Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing Audio commentary with Mike Figgis, moderated by critic Damon Wise New video appreciation by critic Neil Young, and a then and now tour of the film's Newcastle locations Theatrical trailer Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Jacey FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Booklet featuring new writing by critic Mark Cunliffe

• Cold Creek Manor | DVD | (12/07/2004) from £8.07   |  Saving you £8.18 (120.12%)   |  RRP £14.99

  A city family relocate to an old mansion in the sticks and soon discover what dark secrets are hidden inside.

• Timecode | DVD | (27/10/2003) from £6.59   |  Saving you £13.40 (203.34%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Director Mike Figgis' experimental movie was shot on digital video and uses a screen split in four to show us the events of the film happening simultaneously in four different locations.

• Stormy Monday | DVD | (10/04/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  The Most Dangerous Choices Are Made With The Heart. When guileless Irish drifter Brendan (Bean) arrives in town he befriends a shady nightclub owner Finney (Sting) locked in a power struggle over the fate of his bar with villainous developer Cosmo (Jones) and falls in love with a ill-used waitress Kate (Griffith) who just happens to be Cosmo's mistress...

• Hotel | DVD | (04/11/2002) from £12.93   |  Saving you £-2.94 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Genius filmmaker Mike Figgis (Leaving Las Vegas Timecode) brings together a dazzling all-star cast in this story of dark sexual intrigue where no one is quite what they seem and the staff are more in control than the guests. Figgis brings a fresh approach to film-making. Add this to the surplus of bizarre sexual activity and horrific cannibalistic images and Hotel becomes one place you will not want to check into alone...

• Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues: Red, White and Blues | DVD | (29/03/2004) from £11.63   |  Saving you £-1.64 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Director Mike Figgis joins musicians such as Van morrison Eric Clapton Jeff Beck and Tom Jones performing and talking about the British blues boom from the late 1950's onwards. A Thoughtful and musically uplifting analysis of the influence of the blues on British musicians and the re-export of the music to America.

• Richard Gere Collection | DVD | (09/03/2009) from £46.99   |  Saving you £-17.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Titles Comprise: An Officer And A Gentleman: Richard Gere stars as Navy recruit Zack Mayo while the stunning Debra Winger is his love interest. Lou Gossett Jnr. won an Academy Award for his brilliant portrayal of a tough drill instructor. David Keith plays Zack's struggling fellow candidate. Zack Mayo is a young loner with a bad attitude. Tempted by the glamour and admiration of the life of a Navy pilot he decides to sign up for Officer Candidate School. After thirteen tortuous weeks under Gunnery Sergeant Emil Foley (Gossett Jnr.) he slowly begins to learn the importance of discipline love and friendship. Foley warns Zack about the local girls who will do anything to catch themselves a pilot for a husband but despite this Zack finds himself falling in love with Paula (Winger). Days Of Heaven: Terrence Malick's second film is a lyrical visual poem about life in America at the turn of the century. When a Chicago steel-mill worker is fired after a fight with his supervisor he hops aboard a train for the Great Plains with his girlfriend and his younger sister. The trio join itinerant workers following the farming season and find a place with a quiet lonely landowner. As the year passes and the harvest nears a fateful love triangle develops with fiery consequences. The performances match the moody compositions in this elegy for the pre-modern prairie which now stands firmly as one of the most beautiful motion pictures of all time. Internal Affairs: Trust Him... He's A Cop. Dennis Peck knows his way around the law. He can launder money run a scam fix a bad rap. He can even for the right price arrange a murder. Trust me he says I'm a cop. Richard Gere is Peck and Andy Garcia is Raymond Avila the investigator determined to bring Peck to justice in this supercharged police thriller. Peck isn't going down without a fight. The slick cold-blooded manipulator intends to take Avila's career his marriage and even his sanity with him in 'Internal Affairs'. A fine tight script says Gary Franklin (KABC-TV). Two thumbs up! say Siskel & Ebert - Trust them. Intersection: Make every move as if it were your last. Richard Gere portrays Vincent Eastman an award-winning architect whose personal life is on shaky ground. Separated from his beautiful but aloof wife (Sharon Stone) Vincent has an affair with a joyful and passionate writer (Lolita Davidovich) whose love promises a new beginning. But Vincent remains emotionally torn between the two women leaving his future happiness - and that of his thirteen year-old daughter - hanging in the balance. As his relationships start to crumble Vincent hurtles on a collision course toward the one fateful moment when he must confront his true feelings and cross the Intersection. Primal Fear: Arrogant brilliant and successful criminal defense attorney Martin Vail loves a good fight and the media spotlight both of which he knowingly invites when he volunteers to represent a penniless bewildered altar boy accused of murdering the local archbishop. The defendant's guilt seems as evident as the blood found splattered on his clothes. But Vail doesn't concern himself with questions of guilt or innocence. All he cares about is creating and selling his version of the truth. American Gigolo: Julian Kay is on the prowl and looking for someone to please. Boyish and sensual he speaks five or six languages and is equally comfortable as a chauffeur for a wealthy middle-aged matron and as a translator/companion for the lonely wife of an executive. He is the 'American Gigolo'. But Julian's love-for-sale lifestyle turns deadly when a client is murdered and Julian became the prime suspect.

• Miss Julie | DVD | (30/04/2001) from £6.26   |  Saving you £9.73 (155.43%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Miss Julie is a claustrophobic class study set within a 19th-century Count's kitchen. It chronicles the events of one midsummer night when the housemistress--an obstinate and confused Julie (Saffron Burrows)--is beaten in a round of sexual gaming with footman Peter Mullan. Based on the play by August Strindberg, the film maintains a constant sense of theatre by only having three speaking parts (the other coming from Maria Doyle Kennedy as Christine, the long-suffering cook and fiancée), just one set and a penchant for hand-held camerawork by director Mike Figgis. Known for his experimental approach to storytelling, this is technically a predecessor to Figgis' Timecode, since the all-important rape scene is conveyed through a disorientating split-screen technique. He'd worked with fellow Brit Burrows before on The Loss of Sexual Innocence and One Night Stand, but gives the gal with the outsized cheekbones top billing here and is rewarded with a thoroughly rounded performance. Backed by the director's own musical score, this melodrama has a very personal feel to it. --Paul Tonks

• Love Live Long | DVD | (21/11/2011) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  When Oscar-nominated director Mike Figgis (Leaving Las Vegas) was invited to film the Gumball Rally, the famous high speed race in Istanbul, he decided instead to craft a raw and intimate film that exposes the effects of an unexpected sexual encounter and the high stakes of the race on two strangers. For seven days Figgis shot in his signature run-and-gun style - the result is a courageous new work that blurs fact and fiction and probes the unsettling consequences of infidelity, loneliness and life in the fast lane.

• Liebestraum | DVD | (02/02/2004) from £9.43   |  Saving you £3.56 (27.40%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Mike Figgis (Leaving Las Vegas) directs an incredibly sexy cast (Kevin Anderson Pamela Gidley and Kim Novak) in this tale of lust and murder -- one of the most visually stunning films of the '90s.