"Actor: April Grace"

• Magnolia | Blu Ray | (29/06/2015) from £8.75   |  Saving you £9.24 (105.60%)   |  RRP £17.99

  A handful of people in California's San Fernando Valley are having one hell of a day. TV mogul Earl Partridge (Jason Robards) is on his deathbed and his trophy wife (Julianne Moore) is stockpiling tranquilliser prescriptions all over town with alarming determination. Earl's nurse (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is trying desperately to get in touch with Earl's only son, sex-guru Frank TJ Mackey (Tom Cruise), who's about to have his carefully constructed past blown by a TV reporter (April Grace). Whiz kid Stanley (Jeremy Blackman) is being goaded by his selfish dad into breaking the record for the game show What Do Kids Know? Meanwhile, Stanley's predecessor, the grown-up quiz kid Donnie Smith (William H. Macy) has lost his job and is nursing a severe case of unrequited love. And the host of What Do Kids Know?, the affable Jimmy Gator (Philip Baker Hall), like Earl, is dying of cancer, and his attempt to reconcile with his cokehead daughter (Melora Walters) fails miserably. She, meanwhile, is running hot and cold with a cop (John C. Reilly) who would love to date her, if she can sit still for long enough. And over it all, a foreboding sky threatens to pour something more than just rain. This third feature from Paul Thomas Anderson (Boogie Nights) is a maddening, magnificent piece of film-making, and an ensemble film to rank with the best of Robert Altman (Short Cuts, Nashville)--every little piece of the film means something, solidly placed for a reason. Deftly juggling a breathtaking ensemble of actors, Anderson crafts a tale of neglectful parents, resentful children, and love-starved souls that's amazing in scope, both thematically and emotionally. Part of the charge of Magnolia is seeing exactly how many characters Anderson can juggle, and can he keep all those balls in the air (indeed he can, even if it means throwing frogs into the mix). And it's been far too long since we've seen a film-maker whose love of making movies is so purely joyful. This electric energy is reflected in the actors, from Cruise's revelatory performance to Reilly's quietly powerful turn as the moral centre of the story. While at three hours it's definitely not suited to everyone's taste, Magnolia is a compelling, heartbreaking, ultimately hopeful meditation on the accidents of chance that make up our lives. The soundtrack features eight wonderful songs by Aimee Mann, including "Save Me", around which Anderson built the script. --Mark Englehart

• Finding Forrester | DVD | (06/03/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Sean Connery and Rob Brown star as an eccentric, reclusive novelist and a talented young scholar & athlete. As the young man gets to know his mentor he must face up to a tough decision about his dreams to write and play sport.

• A.I. Artificial Intelligence | DVD | (18/03/2002) from £5.49   |  Saving you £8.50 (154.83%)   |  RRP £13.99

  History will place an asterisk next to A.I. as the film Stanley Kubrick might have directed. But let the record also show that Kubrick--after developing this project for some 15 years--wanted Steven Spielberg to helm this astonishing sci-fi rendition of Pinocchio, claiming (with good reason) that it veered closer to Spielberg's kinder, gentler sensibilities. Spielberg inherited the project (based on the Brain Aldiss short story "Supertoys Last All Summer Long") after Kubrick's death in 1999, and the result is an astounding directorial hybrid. A flawed masterpiece of sorts, in which Spielberg's gift for wondrous enchantment often clashes (and sometimes melds) with Kubrick's harsher vision of humanity, the film spans near and distant futures with the fairy-tale adventures of an artificial boy named David (Haley Joel Osment), a marvel of cybernetic progress who wants only to be a real boy, loved by his mother in that happy place called home. Echoes of Spielberg's Empire of the Sun are evident as young David, shunned by his trial parents and tossed into an unfriendly world, is joined by fellow "mecha" Gigolo Joe (played with a dancer's agility by Jude Law) in his quest for a mother-and-child reunion. Parallels to Pinocchio intensify as David reaches "the end of the world" (a Manhattan flooded by melted polar ice caps), and a far-future epilogue propels A.I. into even deeper realms of wonder, just as it pulls Spielberg back to his comfort zone of sweetness and soothing sentiment. Some may lament the diffusion of Kubrick's original vision, but this is Spielberg's A.I., a film of astonishing technical wizardry that spans the spectrum of human emotions and offers just enough Kubrick to suggest that humanity's future is anything but guaranteed. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com On the DVD: A perfect movie for the digital age, A.I. finds a natural home on DVD. The purity of the picture, its carefully composed colour schemes and the multifarious sound effects are accorded the pin-point sharpness they deserve with the anamorphic 1.85:1 picture and Dolby 5.1 sound, as is John Williams's thoughtful music score. On the first disc there's a short yet revealing documentary, "Creating A.I.", but the meat of the extras appears on disc two. Here there are good, well-made featurettes on acting, set design, costumes, lighting, sound design, music and various aspects of the special effects: Stan Winston's remarkable robots (including Teddy, of course) and ILM's flawless CGI work. In addition there are storyboards, photographs and trailers. Finally, Steven Spielberg provides some rather sententious closing remarks ("I think that we have to be very careful about how we as a species use our genius"), but no director's commentary. --Mark Walker

• I Am Legend | 4K UHD | (12/12/2016) from £19.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Will Smith stars in the third adaptation of Richard Matheson’s classic science-fiction novel about a lone human survivor in a post-apocalyptic world dominated by vampires. This new version somewhat alters Matheson’s central hook, i.e., the startling idea that an ordinary man, Robert Neville, spends his days roaming a desolated city and his nights in a house sealed off from longtime neighbours who have become bloodsucking fiends. In the new film, Smith’s Neville is a military scientist charged with finding a cure for a virus that turns people into crazed, hairless, flesh-eating zombies. Failing to complete his work in time, and after enduring a personal tragedy, Neville finds himself alone in Manhattan, his natural immunity to the virus keeping him alive. With an expressive German shepherd, his only companion, Neville is a hunter-gatherer in sunlight, hiding from the mutants at night in his Washington Square town house and methodically conducting experiments in his ceaseless quest to conquer the disease. The film’s first half almost suggests that I Am Legend could be one of the finest movies of 2007. Director Francis Lawrence’s extraordinary, computer-generated images of a decaying New York City reveal weeds growing through the cracks of familiar streets that are also overrun by deer and prowled by lions. It’s impossible not to be fascinated by such a realistically altered cityscape, reverting to a natural environment, through which Smith moves with a weirdly enviable freedom, offset by his wariness over whatever is lurking in the dark of bank vaults and parking garages. Lawrence and screenwriters Mark Protosevich and Akiva Goldsman wisely build suspense by withholding images of the monsters until a peak scene of horror well into the story. It must be said, however, that the computer-enhanced creatures don’t look half as interesting as they might have had the filmmakers adhered more to Matheson’s vampire-nightmare vision. I Am Legend is ultimately noteworthy for Smith’s remarkable performance as a man so lonely he talks to mannequins in the shops he frequents. The film’s latter half goes too far in portraying Smith’s Neville as a pitiable man with a messianic mission, but this lapse into pathos does nothing to take away from the visual and dramatic accomplishments of its first hour. --Tom Keogh

• Finding Forrester | DVD | (20/08/2001) from £10.96   |  Saving you £-4.97 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Sean Connery and Rob Brown star as an eccentric, reclusive novelist and a talented young scholar & athlete. As the young man gets to know his mentor he must face up to a tough decision about his dreams to write and play sport.

• Safe | DVD | (27/10/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  A typically bored affluent Californian housewife's world of domestic oblivion careers off its axis when she develops a mystery illness that puts her at odds with every aspect of the world around her - cars dry cleaners hair perms and even the new couch! Gradually she develops nosebleeds vomiting and breathing problems and finally collapses. In a desperate search for what is 'safe' she opts for virtual isolation in a porcelain igloo in the Texas desert where the inhabitants drag round oxygen cylinders and the therapists act like evangelical preachers. Injected with horror comic touches and psychological suspense Safe is a visionary tale of the future. Has Carol brought her sickness upon herself or is she made vulnerable by a world that is more dangerous than we or she understands?

• Finding Forrester (Dual Format) (Blu-ray & DVD) | Blu Ray | (27/02/2017) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Finding Forrester is a very accomplished example of the sentimental melodrama that Gus Von Sant has made his own--issues like integrity and snobbery are presented with just enough simplification to the set pieces that no-one feels challenged. Brilliant baseball player Jamal gets the chance to move from a sink school in the Bronx to a private academy where his real intellectual and artistic talent will be nurtured along with his sporting skills. This is an American film about class and race, but one that makes the real issue Jamal's unsuspecting need to defend himself against accusations of plagiarism. His artistic mentor is a reclusive novelist, whose whereabouts he keeps secret even when he stands to lose everything. Rob Brown is extraordinary as the boy, conveying the sensitivity, genius, obstinacy and physicality of a character written as a paragon; Sean Connery turns in a predictably fine performance as Forrester, using his authority to make the part credible; F Murray Abrahams is, as always, an effective villain--he brings an observed creepy snobbery to the film; Anna Paquin makes a good impression in the minor part of Jamal's white schoolfellow and supporter. On the DVD: The disc includes two powerful deleted scenes of school choirs, a "making-of" documentary and a short film about the auditions process which found Rob Brown. It has fine sound--Dolby Digital 5.1--that brings out the film's jazz score perfectly. The anamorphic 2.35:1 aspect ratio, enhanced for 16:9 TVs, looks just fine. --Roz Kaveny

• The Assassination Of Richard Nixon | DVD | (05/09/2005) from £5.99   |  Saving you £14.00 (233.72%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Sean Penn and Don Cheadle star in this drama that follows the life of a disillusioned salesman who takes extraordinary measures to make his presence felt.

• Safe | DVD | (14/02/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  A typically bored affluent Californian housewife's world of domestic oblivion careers off its axis when she develops a mystery illness that puts her at odds with every aspect of the world around her - cars dry cleaners hair perms and even the new couch! Gradually she develops nosebleeds vomiting and breathing problems and finally collapses. In a desperate search for what is 'safe' she opts for virtual isolation in a porcelain igloo in the Texas desert where the inhabitants drag round oxygen cylinders and the therapists act like evangelical preachers. Injected with horror comic touches and psychological suspense Safe is a visionary tale of the future. Has Carol brought her sickness upon herself or is she made vulnerable by a world that is more dangerous than we or she understands?

• Magnolia | DVD | (25/01/2010) from £20.23   |  Saving you £-5.24 (-35.00%)   |  RRP £14.99

  24 hours in L.A.; it's raining cats and dogs. Two parallel and intercut stories dramatize a man about to die: both men are estranged from a grown child, both want to make contact, and neither child wants anything to do with dad.

• The Witches Sabbath | DVD | (30/01/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  A coven of witches mask their true identity by operating the ""Sin and Skin"" strip club in The Witch's Sabbath. To keep the coven as one they must behead 666 victims before the arrival of their Dark Lord on Halloween. Unsuspecting victims are carefully chosen at the strip club and find themselves invited to feast at a sinister mansion where the ladies of ""Sin and Skin"" offer their victims one final meal. With their deadline fast approaching the head witch Auriana (Syn

• American Mavericks - Fight the Power | DVD | (21/08/2006) from £19.80   |  Saving you £0.19 (1.00%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Assasination Of Richard Nixon The mad story of a true man. A chilling drama that explores and exposes the dark side of the American Dream The Assassination of Richard Nixon focuses on the tragic true story of Sam Bicke (Sean Penn) a disillusioned everyman who in 1974 was driven to plot the assassination of the 37th president of the United States. Despite the fact that his marriage is breaking up and that he is trapped in a sales job he finds demeaning Sam tries desperately to succeed both at home and at work; all he wants is to win his family back and to start a business of his own. However in a society worn down by political corruption and the Vietnam War there is not much room left for dreamers. Sam's world unravels against the backdrop of the Watergate scandal which exposes culpability at the highest levels of society. With images of Nixon - ""the greatest salesman of them all"" - flooding the airwaves Sam believes he has found the person responsible for his and America's problems and makes his appointment with destiny. (Dir. Niels Mueller 2004) The Corporation A fascinating feature length documentary expose that dissects the concept of the corporation throughout recent history up to its present-day global dominance. 150 years ago the corporation was a relatively insignificant entity. Today it is a vivid dramatic and pervasive presence in all our lives. The the church the monarchy and the communist party in other times and places the corporation is today's dominant institution. But history humbles dominant institutions. All have been crushed belittled or absorbed into some new order. The corporation is unlikely to be the first to defy history. In this complex and highly entertaining documentary Mark Achbar teams up with co-director Jennifer Abbott and writer Joel Bakan to examine the far-reaching repercussions of the corporation's increasing preeminence. Based on Bakan's book The Corporation: The Pursuit Of Profit And Power the film is a timely critical inquiry that invites CEOs whistle blowers brokers gurus spies players pawns and pundits on a graphic and engaging quest to reveal the corporation's inner workings curious history controversial impacts and possible futures. Featuring illuminating interviews with Noam Chomsky Michael Moore Howard Zinn and many others The Corporation charts the spectacular rise of an institution aimed at achieving specific economic goals as it also recounts victories against this apparently invincible force.... (Dir. Jennifer Abbott Mark Achbar 2003) Manic A troubled young man (Gordon-Levitt) is committed to a juvenile mental institution where he's forced by his counselor (Cheadle) to confront the source of his rage or face the grim prospect of a life behind bars... (Dir. Jordan Melamed 2001)

• Headless Body in a Topless Bar | DVD | (19/12/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £8.99

  Headless Body In Topless Bar