Tony Roberts

• Play It Again Sam | DVD | (18/11/2002) from £3.97  |  Saving you £12.02 (75.20%)  |  RRP £15.99

  Neurotic New York film critic Allan Felix (Woody Allen) has just broken up with his wife Nancy (Susan Anspach) causing him to spiral into a deep depression and look for solace in the classic movies that he loves particularly the romantic saga 'Casablanca'. Allan begins to have conversations with the fantasy ghost of the film idol Humphrey Bogart (Jerry Lacy) who gives him advice on romance and masculinity. Allan's married friends Linda and Dick (Diane Keaton Tony Roberts)

• Thirteen Ghosts | DVD | (01/01/2008) from £4.00  |  Saving you £15.99 (80.00%)  |  RRP £19.99

  A by-the-numbers haunted house movie, albeit one with some neat twists, a couple of good performances and impressive design work, Thirteen Ghosts is a remake of the 1960 original by exploitation superstar William Castle. When ghost-hunter Cyrus (F Murray Abraham) dies his quietly decent widower nephew Arthur (Tony Shaloub) inherits his house. With almost infinite predictability, he, his teenage daughter (Shannon Elizabeth) and young son, as well as a rival ghost-hunter and Cyrus' untrustworthy tame psychic (Mathew Lillard), are trapped in the house, which is a glass labyrinth of sliding panels and shifting staircases. As the woman ghost-hunter Kalina helpfully explains, the house is "a machine designed by the devil and powered by the dead"--specifically by 12 ghosts, most of them murderously malevolent. Shaloub and Lillard manage to make us care about this farrago and Abraham lends his few scenes his usual malignant authority, but the real star is the inventively designed house itself and the outrageous horror-comic makeup of the ghosts. This is a knowingly trashy film enjoyable on its own level. On the DVD: Thirteen Ghosts comes with a short textual explanation of who Castle was and why he should get this sort of homage, a self-congratulatory making-of documentary and filmographies for cast and crew, as well as odd short featurettes explaining the imagined back-story for each of the ghosts. The disc has Dolby sound and is presented in a 1.85:1 widescreen ratio.--Roz Kaveney

• Annie Hall | DVD | (10/07/2000) from £3.81  |  Saving you £12.18 (76.20%)  |  RRP £15.99

  Annie Hall is one of the truest, most bittersweet romances on film. In it, Allen plays a thinly disguised version of himself: Alvy Singer, a successful--if neurotic--television comedian living in Manhattan. Annie (the wholesomely luminous Dianne Keaton) is a Midwestern transplant who dabbles in photography and sings in small clubs. When the two meet, the sparks are immediate--if repressed. Alone in her apartment for the first time, Alvy and Annie navigate a minefield of self-conscious "is-this-person-someone-I'd-want-to-get-involved-with?" conversation. As they speak, subtitles flash their unspoken thoughts: the likes of "I'm not smart enough for him" and "I sound like a jerk". Despite all their caution, they connect, and we're swept up in the flush of their new romance. Allen's antic sensibility shines here in a series of flashbacks to Alvy's childhood, growing up, quite literally, under a rumbling roller coaster. His boisterous Jewish family's dinner table shares a split screen with the WASP-y Hall's tight-lipped holiday table, one Alvy has joined for the first time. His position as outsider is incontestable when he looks down the table and sizes up Annie's "Grammy Hall" as "a classic Jew-hater".The relationship arcs, as does Annie's growing desire for independence. It quickly becomes clear that the two are on separate tracks, as what was once endearing becomes annoying. Annie Hall embraces Allen's central themes--his love affair with New York (and hatred of Los Angeles), how impossible relationships are, and his fear of death. But their balance is just right, the chemistry between Allen's worry-wart Alvy and Keaton's gangly, loopy Annie is one of the screen's best pairings. It couldn't be more engaging. --Susan Benson

• The Bill - Series 4 - Volume 1 | DVD | (30/06/2008) from £6.92  |  Saving you £13.04 (65.20%)  |  RRP £19.99

  The Bill went from strength to strength in 1988 when it was restructured into the half-hour format that stormed to the top of the ITV ratings and has remained a Top 10 UK drama ever since. Starring such fan favourites as Sgt. Cryer (Eric Richard) W.P.C. Ackland (Trudie Goodwin) Det. Sgt. Ted Roach (Tony Scannell) and Christopher Ellison as the irascible D.I. Burnside this two-disc set contains the first 13 episodes of the half-hour series. Episodes Comprise: 1. Light Duties 2. The Three Wise Monkeys 3. Good Will Visit 4. Home Sweet Home 5. All in Good Faith 6. Just Call Me Guv''-nor 7. Caught Red Handed 8. Homes and Gardens 9. Country Cousin 10. Alarms and Embarrassments 11. Stealing Cars and Nursery Rhymes 12. Hold Fire 13. Bad Faith

• A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy | DVD | (19/08/2002) from £2.99  |  Saving you £12.14 (75.90%)  |  RRP £15.99

  Woody Allen's 1982 homage to Bergman and Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy is a delight from start to finish and must rate as one of his most joyous films. The period setting--Edwardian up state New York--gives the whole thing a misty, elegiac quality. Part Midsummer Night's Dream (the magic supplied by visions through a spirit glass) and part Smiles of a Summer Night (Bergman's source material provides the basic plot and ensuing couplings), it's a gentle satire on male sexuality and frustration. Allen handles the angst with the lightest of touches. He plays a Wall Street broker who spends his holidays inventing flying machines (they work, with telling consequences). He and his wife (Mary Steenburgen) are increasingly depressed by their ailing sex life. Cue the arrival of weekend guests: crusty academic (Jose Ferrer) and beautiful blue-stocking fiancée previously in love with Allen (Mia Farrow, of course); and insatiable doctor (Tony Roberts) with his latest squeeze, a nurse (the excellent Julie Hagerty). Eighty minutes of unravelling, discovery and renewal follow, accompanied by a Mendelssohn sound track. This is one of Allen's most treasurable pictures. On the DVD: A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy is presented in widescreen that recaptures the pleasure which greeted the setting of this most pastoral of Allen's films on its first release; it really does glow with summery light. The standard stereo soundtrack is perfectly acceptable. Extras include the original theatrical trailer and multiple language soundtracks.--Piers Ford

• Stardust Memories | DVD | (16/07/2007) from £3.89  |  Saving you £6.10 (61.10%)  |  RRP £9.99

  Legendary comic filmmakers Sandy Bates (Allen) is tired of being funny. Teetering on the brink of a nervous breakdown Bates attends a weekend retrospective of his films only to confront the meaning of his work the memories of his great love Dorrie (Charlotte Rampling) and the merits of settling down with new girlfriends Isobel (Marie-Christine Barrault). Plagued by hallucinations alien visitations and the bloodless studio executives trying to re-cut his bleak new film Bates struggles to find a reason to go on living. But when he falls prey to a gun-wielding fanatic his zany brush with death reveals that there is value to his own existence and that often the best reason to go on living is life itself.

• Honeymoon Killers | DVD | (02/04/2007) from £2.99  |  Saving you £3.00 (50.10%)  |  RRP £5.99

  The Honeymoon Killers is based on the true story of American serial killers Raymond Fernandez and Martha Beck who went on a spree of murder and mayhem in the late 1940's.Posing as brother and sister the pair befriend and ultimately murder lonely women for their savings.This chilling movie is a cult classic and features fine performances from the two leads in the roles of the real life 'lonely hearts killers'.

• Amityville 3-D: The Demon (Collector's Edition) | DVD | (27/09/2004) from £4.99  |  Saving you £5.00 (50.10%)  |  RRP £9.99

  The story highlights an investigation which unleashes the evil in the basement of the world's most haunted house. A magazine writer's investigation into a s''ance turns to horror when an abandoned well beneath the basement floor turns out to be the gateway to Hell! Featuring Meg Ryan in an early screen role.

• The Honeymoon Killers | DVD | (06/12/2004) from £2.12  |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)  |  RRP £2.99

  Though it was pre-produced by Martin Scorsese, who left the project after arguments with the producers, The Honeymoon Killers wound up being written and directed by Leonard Kastle, one of cinema's great one-hit wonders. The Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer of 1969, The Honeymoon Killers follows hefty nurse Martha Beck (Shirley Stoler, who looks like a humourlessly malevolent Roseanne) and her low-rent gigolo lover Raymond Fernandez (Tony Lo Bianco) as they take up serial murder for profit and passion, luring middle-aged women into marriage through lonely-hearts ads, then killing them and raiding their savings. Based on a genuine crime case history, it is filmed in the candid-camera style of a Frederick Wiseman documentary. The intense scenes (such as the couple's frightening love-play: escalating arguments that end in awkward killings) unfold with a fly-on-the-wall dryness, showcasing the extraordinary acting of the leads and their cameo victims. A rare film in which genuine romantic love does not excuse the central couple's amoral behaviour, this still manages to generate some sympathy for the truly monstrous Martha. The washed-out black and white photography and sometimes scratchy soundtrack (the score is sampled from Mahler) have a deliberately amateurish feel which adds to the film's chilling power, lodging it into the memory. On the DVD: Along with a lurid trailer and gallery of images are filmographies for Stoler, Lo Bianco and (redundantly) Kastle. The widescreen transfer is excellent, representing perfectly the film's rough-hewn look but also bringing out a lot of detail--like Stoler's freckles, which have looked like grain on video releases. --Kim Newman

• Amityville 3 | DVD | (09/10/2000) from £4.00  |  Saving you £-0.00 (-0.00%)  |  RRP £5.99

  The story highlights an investigation which unleashes the evil in the basement of the world's most haunted house. A magazine writer's investigation into a s''ance turns to horror when an abandoned well beneath the basement floor turns out to be the gateway to Hell.

• Woody Allen Collection Vol. 3 - The Purple Rose Of Cairo/Hannah And Her Sisters/Radio Days/September/Another Woman | DVD | (22/01/2007) from £N/A  |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)  |  RRP £34.99

  The third installment of the fantastic Woody Allen Collection Films Comprise: 1. The Purple Rose Of Cairo (1984) 2. Hannah And Her Sisters (1986) 3. Radio Days (1986) 4. September (1987) 5. Another Woman (1988)

• Victor Victoria | DVD | (15/05/2006) from £11.79  |  Saving you £0.20 (1.70%)  |  RRP £11.99

  One of the world's most talented and best-lover performers Julie Andrews reaches new heights in the most challenging role of her career as a woman pretending to be a man impersonating a woman. Filmed on the Broadway stage the immensely popular 'Victor/Victoria' is a warm funny wildly energetic look at the nature of love gender perceptions and the battle of the sexes.

• Popcorn | DVD | (24/10/2005) from £2.23  |  Saving you £2.58 (43.10%)  |  RRP £5.99

  Buy a bag and go home in a box..... A group of teenagers preparing an old horror movie show in an abandoned theatre discover a recording made by an actual murderer who died long ago. Very soon a shadowy figure resembling the killer starts stalking them one by one.....

• My Favourite Broadway - The Leading Ladies | DVD | (15/05/2006) from £5.99  |  Saving you £-0.00 (-0.00%)  |  RRP £5.99

  Live At Carnegie Hall Tracklisting / Performer 1. Overture 2. 'The Beauty That Drives A Man Mad'- Robert Morse and Tony Roberts 3. Welcome - Tony Roberts Robert Morse & Julie Andrews 4. Monologue - Julie Andrews 5. 'Nowadays/Hot Honey Rag' - Karen Ziemba & Bebe Neuwirth 6. 'Bewitched Bothered and Bewildered' - Marin Mazzie 7. 'Man Of La Mancha' - Linda Eder 8. 'Look For The Silver Lining/Tomorrow' - Andrea McArdle 9. 'And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going' - Jennifer Ho

• Popcorn | DVD | (09/10/2006) from £2.99  |  Saving you £-0.00 (-0.00%)  |  RRP £5.99

  A psychotic murderer whose only pleasure is to wear the faces of his victims is on a ferocious rampage. Fifteen years ago this monster murdered his family on stage in the town theatre then burned it all down. Tonight he is back for an encore. Elsewhere a bunch of local film students are organizing an all night horror film festival complete with many surprises. Little do they know that Lanyard Gates the crazed killer has his own surprises in store for them. It's only a movie...

• Serpico - Paramount Originals (includes Limited Edition reproduction film poster) | DVD | (23/07/2007) from £9.49  |  Saving you £0.50 (5.00%)  |  RRP £9.99

  Al Pacino's classic portrayal of Frank Serpico established him as one of today's most versatile actors. Serpico was based on the true story of a New York policeman who discovers that honesty is not expected to be part of his job. He endures scorn and mistreatment from his fellow cops while attempting to perform his job with integrity. The character of Serpico combining the best elements of the Establishment and counter-culture is a tour-de-force for Pacino. The film is a brea

• The Honeymoon Killers | DVD | (01/09/2003) from £2.62  |  Saving you £2.14 (35.70%)  |  RRP £5.99

  Though it was pre-produced by Martin Scorsese, who left the project after arguments with the producers, The Honeymoon Killers wound up being written and directed by Leonard Kastle, one of cinema's great one-hit wonders. The Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer of 1969, The Honeymoon Killers follows hefty nurse Martha Beck (Shirley Stoler, who looks like a humourlessly malevolent Roseanne) and her low-rent gigolo lover Raymond Fernandez (Tony Lo Bianco) as they take up serial murder for profit and passion, luring middle-aged women into marriage through lonely-hearts ads, then killing them and raiding their savings. Based on a genuine crime case history, it is filmed in the candid-camera style of a Frederick Wiseman documentary. The intense scenes (such as the couple's frightening love-play: escalating arguments that end in awkward killings) unfold with a fly-on-the-wall dryness, showcasing the extraordinary acting of the leads and their cameo victims. A rare film in which genuine romantic love does not excuse the central couple's amoral behaviour, this still manages to generate some sympathy for the truly monstrous Martha. The washed-out black and white photography and sometimes scratchy soundtrack (the score is sampled from Mahler) have a deliberately amateurish feel which adds to the film's chilling power, lodging it into the memory. On the DVD: Along with a lurid trailer and gallery of images are filmographies for Stoler, Lo Bianco and (redundantly) Kastle. The widescreen transfer is excellent, representing perfectly the film's rough-hewn look but also bringing out a lot of detail--like Stoler's freckles, which have looked like grain on video releases. --Kim Newman

• Woody Allen (Annie Hall, Manhattan, Hannah & Her Sisters) | DVD | (12/03/2007) from £19.99  |  Saving you £-0.00 (-0.00%)  |  RRP £19.99

  Annie Hall: Winner of four Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director ""Annie Hall"" is Woody Allen's supreme masterpiece. Coming between such early slapstick farces as ""Sleeper"" and ""Love and Death"" and darker more reflective comedies like ""Manhattan"" and ""Hannah and Her Sisters "" this endearing semi-autobiographical film put Woody in the league with the best directors we have. Starring Allen as New York comedian Alvy Singer and Diane Keaton (in a Best Actress Oscar-winning role) as Annie the film weaves flashbacks flash forwards monologues a parade of classic Allen one-liners and even animation into an alternately uproarious and wistful comedy about a witty and wacky on-again off-again romance. Manhattan: Nominated for two Academy Awards in 1979 and considered one of Allen's most enduring accomplishments Manhattan is a wry touching and finely-rendered portrait of modern relationships against the backdrop of urban alienation. Sumptuously photographed in black and white (Allen's first film in that format) and accompanied by a magnificent Gershwin score Woody Allen's aesthetic triumph is a ""prismatic portrait of a time and place that may be studied decades hence"" (Time Magazine). 42-year-old Manhattan native Isaac Davis (Allen) has a job he hates a seventeen-year-old girlfriend (Mariel Hemingway) he doesn't love and a lesbian ex-wife Jill (Meryl Streep) who's writing a tell-all book about their marriage... and whom he'd like to strangle. But when he meets his best friend's sexy intellectual mistress Mary (Diane Keaton) Isaac falls head over heels in lust! Leaving Tracy bedding Mary and quitting his job are just the beginning of Isaac's quest for romance and fulfillment in a city where sex is as intimate as a handshake - and the gate to true love... is a revolving door. Hannah And Her Sisters: Brimming with laughter tears and subtle beauty Hannah And Her Sisters is a magnificent ""summation of (Woody Allen's) career to date"" (The New York Times). Winner of three Oscars and featuring a brilliant all-star cast Hannah And Her Sisters spins a tale of three unforgettable women and showcases Allen ""at his most emotionally expansive working on his broadest canvas with masterly ease"" (Newsweek)! The eldest daughter of show-biz parents Hannah (Mia Farrow) is a devoted wife loving mother and successful actress. A loyal supporter of her two aimless sisters (Barbara Hershey) and Holly (Dianne Wiest) she's also the emotional backbone of a family that seems to resent her stability almost as much as they depend on it. But when Hannah's perfect world is quietly sabotaged by sibling rivalry she finally begins to see that she's as lost as everyone else and in order to find herself she'll have to choose - between the independence her family can't live with... and the family she can't live without.