"Actor: Ann"

• Fosse | DVD | (04/08/2003) from £12.96   |  Saving you £5.02 (50.35%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Fosse was the Broadway hit of 1999, celebrating the genius of legendary film-and-stage choreographer Bob Fosse in a rich, fiery homage with the very best of his work. This performance, recorded towards the end of a run that lasted more than two years, captures perfectly the energy and commitment of the dancers in bringing the extraordinary shapes and angles of his choreography to life. The presence of Fosse's protégés, cochoreographer Ann Reinking and that most fluid of dancers Ben Vereen, ensures that the spirit and dedication at the heart of Fosse's work are preserved intact. This is no opportunist "best-of" compilation. The numbers merge seamlessly into a glorious patchwork of movements and moods. Fosse took up the reigns of musical theatre dance from Astaire, Kelly and Balanchine and, thanks to the changing times and material--Sweet Charity, Chicago and Cabaret loom large--was able to inject a new, raw sexuality which these dancers seize with relish. It's a resolutely ensemble piece. Musical buffs may be disappointed by the lack of big solo numbers--Vereen's poignant "Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries" aside--but in many ways this is also a long overdue celebration of the chorus line. Fosse treated his dancers as individuals, each with a contribution to make. That attention to detail makes for moments of terrific intensity amongst the full-blooded company numbers. On the DVD: Fosse makes a lavish televisual production, presented in 16:9 format--great for covering the width of the stage--and a choice of stereo or surround-sound audio. Some multiple viewing angles would have been nice, if only to get a different perspective on the complex moves. The only extra is a short interview with Ann Reinking, Ben Vereen and Dana Moore in which all three testify to the importance of Fosse both to their own careers and as an all-time giant talent of musical theatre. --Piers Ford

• Awakenings | DVD | (24/01/2000) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Based on the acclaimed book by neurologist Oliver Sacks, director Penny Marshall's hit 1990 drama Awakenings stars Robin Williams as Dr. Malcolm Sayer. Sayer is a neurologist who discovers that the drug L-Dopa can be used to "unlock" patients in a mental hospital from the mysterious sleeping sickness that has left them utterly immobilized. Leonard (Robert De Niro) is one such patient who awakens after being in a comatose state for 30 years, leaving Sayer to guide Leonard in adjusting to the world around him. Penelope Ann Miller costars as the daughter of another patient, with whom Leonard falls tenuously in love. Earning Oscar nominations for best picture, actor and screenplay, this moving fact-based drama was a hit with critics and audiences alike. --Jeff Shannon

• Hobson's Choice / The Sound Barrier | DVD | (14/04/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £16.99

  Hobson's Choice (1953) and The Sound Barrier (1952) is a double bill of cleverly juxtaposed films from David Lean's early canon, demonstrating that even without the landmark epics to come, British cinema would have been an infinitely poorer place without his tremendous contribution. Both films reflect his endlessly penetrating view of human behaviour and its perseverance through obstacles great and small. And both are effectively prisms that reflect all the aspects of that view, keeping the audience's sympathies constantly on the move. Hobson's Choice, based on Harold Brighouse's eternally popular 1916 comedy, boasts fine turns from Charles Laughton--at his brilliant, physical best--as the boot-shop owner with three troublesome daughters, and John Mills as the lowly boot maker, elevated and improved by the eldest daughter Maggie in a neat inversion of the Pygmalion fable. But both are kept in their place by Brenda de Banzie's portrayal of Maggie, a performance that glows with intelligence, truth and increasing warmth. The Sound Barrier is a drama about the race for a supersonic aeroplane. Superficially, its setting is quintessential post-World War II Britain: stiff upper lips, twin beds and clipped Rattigan dialogue. But it's prescient stuff. Ralph Richardson's aircraft manufacturer, sinister in his obsession, is an ominously skilful film performance. And Lean's take on the unthinkable cost of human achievement, interwoven with some spectacular cinematography, absorbs and unsettles. It's especially poignant now that the supersonic age has been summarily ended by Concorde's retirement. On the DVD: Hobson's Choice and The Sound Barrier are both black-and-white films presented in 4:3 picture format, from reasonable prints, and with a mono soundtrack of suitably robust quality for Malcolm Arnold's inventive scores. There are no extras, apart from scene indexes. --Piers Ford

• I'll Turn To You | DVD | (30/04/2014) from £9.31   |  Saving you £3.68 (28.30%)   |  RRP £12.99

  I'll Turn To You

• Planet Hulk | DVD | (15/02/2010) from £4.79   |  Saving you £8.20 (63.10%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Planet Hulk

• The Day Of The Triffids | DVD | (30/06/2003) from £13.58   |  Saving you £-3.59 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  All reports confirm that the world is witnessing an unprecedented shower of meteorites - a once in a lifetime spectacle that must be seen. And seen it is by most of the world's population. Bill Masen lies in his hospital bed in frustration with his eyes bandaged. When he finally gets to remove them the following morning he discovers the previous nights' light show has blinded all those who saw it. He is one of the few people to still have their sight. But worse is to come. With the meteorite shower has come the spores of a man-eating alien plant form Triffidus Celestus. The fate of mankind is in the hands of a few in this classic 1962 adaptation of the John Wyndham novel.

• Samhain | DVD | (24/10/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Evil roams the woods of Ireland... Two American tourists on a romantic camping trip are brutally murdered. A few days later during the ancient festival of 'Samhain' a group of American University students moves in a beautiful cottage surrounded by a lush forest and a majestic lake They are here to learn about the rituals of the Ancient Druids and other Celtic legends. But in the remains of an abandoned copper mine lives the ancestors of an incestuous clan of cannibals. Sta

• The Bridge On The River Kwai | Blu Ray | (04/12/2017) from £19.99   |  Saving you £3.00 (15.01%)   |  RRP £22.99

  Based on the true story of the building of a bridge on the Burma railway by British prisoners-of-war held under a savage Japanese regime in World War II, The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) is one of the greatest war films ever made. The film received seven Oscars, including Best Picture, Director, Performance (Alex Guinness), for Sir Malcolm Arnold's superb music, and for the screenplay from the novel by Pierre Boulle (who also wrote Monkey Planet, the inspiration for Planet of the Apes). The story does take considerable liberties with history, including the addition of an American saboteur played by William Holden, and an entirely fictitious but superbly constructed and thrilling finale. Made on a vast scale, the film reinvented the war movie as something truly epic, establishing the cinematic beachhead for The Longest Day (1962), Patton (1970) and A Bridge Too Far (1977). It also proved a turning-point in director David Lean's career. Before he made such classic but conventionally scaled films as In Which We Serve (1942) and Hobson's Choice (1953). Afterwards there would only be four more films, but their names are Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Dr Zhivago (1965), Ryan's Daughter (1970) and A Passage to India (1984). On the DVD: Too often the best extras come attached to films that don't really warrant them. Not so here, where a truly great film has been given the attention it deserves. The first disc presents the film in the original extra-wide CinemaScope ratio of 2.55:1, in an anamorphically enhanced transfer which does maximum justice to the film's superb cinematography. The sound has been transferred from the original six-track magnetic elements into 5.1 Dolby Digital and far surpasses what many would expect from a 1950s' feature. The main bonus on the first disc is an isolated presentation of Malcolm Arnold's great Oscar-winning music score, in addition to which there is a trivia game, and maps and historical information linked to appropriate clips. The second disc contains a new, specially produced 53-minute "making of" documentary featuring many of those involved in the production of the movie. This gives a rich insight into the physical problems of making such a complex epic on location in Ceylon. Also included are the original trailer and two short promotional films from the time of release, one of which is narrated by star William Holden. Finally there is an "appreciation" by director John Milius, an extensive archive of movie posters and artwork, and a booklet that reproduces the text of the film's original 1957 brochure. --Gary S Dalkin

• Awakenings | DVD | (10/12/2007) from £11.98   |  Saving you £-1.99 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  1969: Dr Malcolm Sayer (Robin Williams) takes up a post at Bainbridge Hospital New York. Among his patients he discovers a group of forgotten survivors of the 1916 Sleeping Sickness epidemic - a virus that turned its victims into living statues. He is particularly drawn to one of these victims Leonard Lowe (Robert de Niro). With a new experimental drug Dr Sayer discovers a vital key to awakening in himself long dormant capacities for love and friendship. Inspirational and critically acclaimed Awakenings is based on a true and haunting story.

• Narrow Margin - 12 Stunden Angst | Blu Ray | (08/04/2021) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• The War of the Worlds (1953) 4K UHD + When Worlds Collide BD Collector's edition | Blu Ray | (07/11/2022) from £36.98   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Two of the most iconic science fiction epics from Paramount Pictures come together in one out-of-this-world double feature from producer George Pal. Making its 4K UHD debut, THE WAR OF THE WORLDS is an Oscar®-winning* adaptation of the chilling H.G. Wells novel. Then, get ready for impending disaster when a runaway star signals the destruction of Earth in WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE, included on Blu-ray™ remastered from the original film elements. Both are essential Technicolor masterpieces from the Golden Age of Hollywood, delivering eye-popping visual effects. This collector's edition includes The War of the Worlds (1953) 4K UHD, When Worlds Collide Blu-ray, 8 photo cards, 5 art cards and 2 magnets. Product Features Commentary by Actors Ann Robinson and Gene Barry Commentary by Film Director Joe Dante, Film Historian Bob Burns, and Bill Warren, author of Keep Watching The Skies ! The Sky Is Falling: Making The War of the Worlds H.G. Wells: The Father of Science Fiction The Mercury Theatre On The Air presents The War of the Worlds Radio Broadcast Original Theatrical Trailer

• The Manitou | DVD | (24/10/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Evil does not die...it waits to be re-born! Karen Tandy possesses a growing tumour on her back and is admitted to San Fran Cisco hospital. The doctors believe that it's a living creature and that a foetus is being born inside the growth! What lays in wait for Karen is far more terrifying than she can possibly imagine: the growth is actually a demonic 3-foot tall 400-year-old Native American who has somehow managed to get inside Karen's upper body! A heroic medicine man mu

• Glitter | DVD | (09/10/2003) from £6.73   |  Saving you £-0.74 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Pop diva Mariah Carey plays a young young singer who is eager to become a big star who dates a DJ who helps her get into the music business.

• Under Lock And Key | DVD | (17/09/2001) from £20.00   |  Saving you £-14.01 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  A drug baron's former girlfriend is locked in a maximum security prison where she becomes highly desired for her secrets or her body...

• Bill Douglas Trilogy | Blu Ray | (27/02/2012) from £15.99   |  Saving you £7.00 (43.78%)   |  RRP £22.99

  Douglas's magnificent, award-winning Trilogy is the product of an assured, formidable artistic vision. These are some of the most compelling films about childhood ever made. Presented here in a High-Definition restoration, the Trilogy follows Jamie (played with heart-breaking conviction by Stephen Archibald) as he grows up in a poverty-stricken mining village in post-war Scotland. This is cinematic poetry: Douglas contracted his subject matter to the barest essentials - dialogue is kept to a minimum, and fields, slag heaps and cobbled streets are shot in bleak monochrome. Yet with its unexpected humour and warmth, the Trilogy brims with clear-eyed humanity, and affection for an ultimately triumphant young boy.

• Scalps (Slasher Classics 07) | Blu Ray | (04/04/2016) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £17.99

  A cut above many eighties slasher classics 1983 s SCALPS mixes splatter action with the supernatural when a group of college kids begin digging around an old Native American burial ground. Suffice to say a spirit by the name of Black Claw was enjoying his sleep and does not react well to being disturbed! A slaughter-thon that serves-up plenty of plasma-spillage and teen-trepanning set-pieces SCALPS has been unavailable in the UK since the days of rental shops. As such 88 Films is proud to bring back this low budget terror totem in a terrific new director-approved HD scan that will surely have tribes of horror fans hollering in happiness! Bonus Features: Director’s Commentary Original Trailer Reversible Sleeve Booklet Notes

• The Irish R.M. | DVD | (10/07/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £59.99

  This cracking box set contains every episode from all three series of the comedy drama The Irish RM. Peter Bowles stars in this comic drama series about a retired English army officer who becomes a resident magistrate in turn-of-the-century West Ireland. Living in a ramshackle house surrounded by the community's eccentric inhabitants Major Sinclair Yates struggles to apply judicial logic in a country where in the words of a former Lord Chief Justice ""The inevitable never ha

• Handel: Xerxes | DVD | (16/08/2000) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  The English National Opera has always had an attractively light touch in Handel; this classic production, designed by Nicholas Hytner (director of The Madness of King George and The Crucible), manages to preserve both the work's occasional passion and its undercutting of that passion into urbane absurdity. Anne Murray's Xerxes is a tyrant in love, who learns the hard way that he can neither play with, nor command, his subjects' affections; her forthright declamatory singing, not least in the famous "Larghetto", conveys both the petulance and the final grandeur of a man undergoing a sentimental education. Valerie Masterson and Christopher Hudson, as the principal pair of lovers, combine perfect singing with an attractive romantic ardour; Hudson in particular makes clear just how heroic a counter-tenor can sound, listened to without preconceptions. In the soubrette role of Atalanta, Lesley Garrett is a cute trouble-maker. Sir Charles Mackerras' conducting gives each of the genre arias of which the work consists both an appropriate intensity of emotion and an overall charm. The English libretto is by Hytner. The recording is decent PCM stereo and the picture, originally produced for TV broadcast, is in 4:3 ratio. --Roz Kaveney

• Der Ring Des Nibelungen: Highlights (La Fura Dels Baus) | Blu Ray | (22/11/2010) from £8.20   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Four in the Morning | DVD | (23/06/2008) from £19.98   |  Saving you £-6.99 (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  It is a moment before dawn and the river traffic on the Thames begins to ease its way through the fog. The River police find the body of a young girl left dry by the ebb tide. Her body is brought ashore and her possessions examined. Who is she? And what drove her to take her own life? For the young married couple (Judi Dench and Norman Rodway) love brought them together but now marriage and a child have driven them apart. Judi Dench's outstanding performance as the young mother gained her the British Film Academy's 1966 Award as the Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles.