"Actor: Catherine Tan"

• Sanctimony | DVD | (12/02/2001) from £9.97   |  Saving you £9.01 (129.08%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Sanctimony is a slick thriller from German director Uwe Boll in which Seven meets American Psycho. Caspar Van Dien plays Tom Gerrick, a phenomenally successful city trader who leads a double life. By day, he buys and sells stocks; by night he indulges a passion for perverted prurience, visiting the basement of a nightclub to watch the enactment of torture snuff scenarios. Meanwhile hard-ass cop Jim Renart (Streets Of Fire's Michael Pare) and his cynical, Scully-like partner Dorothy (Jennifer Rubin) sift city filth on the trail of a serial killer dubbed the "Monkey Maker" for his predilection, mutilating the eyes, ears and mouths of his victims. Given its similarity to the aforementioned films, Sanctimony's plot twists are all too predictable but nevertheless enjoyable as Boll cranks up the audience's appetite for sick thrills. After finding out that Renart's wife (played by Catherine Oxenberg) is heavily pregnant it's evident that something exceedingly nasty is planned for her several plot points down the line. But it's Van Dien's tight-lipped yuppie psycho that steals the show, throwing the whole shebang into high camp. On the DVD: The DVD features beautifully designed animated menus but extras are limited to a theatrical trailer and cast and crew filmographies. The main feature is a crystal-clear transfer presented in letterboxed widescreen format with Dolby 5.1 sound. --Chris Campion

• Tosca - Puccini/Terfel/Malfitano/Chailly | DVD | (16/07/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £16.99

  Riccardo Chailly conducts the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and an outstanding cast in Nikolaus Lehnhoff's sensational staging of Puccini's great operatic thriller. Stars Catherine Malfitano as Tosca Bryn Terfel as Scarpia and Richard Margison as Cavaradossi. Bryn Terfel plays the 'tough guy' in contrast to many of his other stage characters which makes this Tosca immediately stand out as unusual from others. Outstanding orchestral performance with Riccardo Chailly conducting the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam.

• Weill: Aufsteig und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny | DVD | (30/01/2001) from £33.73   |  Saving you £-8.74 (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Kurt Weill's complex score reigns supreme in Peter Zadek's 1998 Salzburg Festival staging of The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, the collaboration with Brecht which became a target for Nazi insurrection on its 1930 premiere. The city itself is suggested by the attitudes and personalities of the singers rather than by Richard Peduzzi's Spartan sets. It's bleak stuff in many ways, not least in its vision of the human state: squaring up to corruption is a lonely and fatal business. But thanks to Weill's musical eclecticism, which ranges from barbershop to lieder, there are moments of intense beauty, not least in the duets between lumberjack Jimmy Mahoney and prostitute Jenny. There are, too, flashes which anticipate Weill's American future on Broadway. The lilting "Alabama Song", that gift to every would-be cabaret artist in search of a Lotte Lenya moment, works wonderfully as an ensemble piece. Despite occasional inaudibility, the singing is often breathtaking. Gwyneth Jones is a majestic Begbick, Catherine Maltifano's voluptuous and earthy Jenny also has a rarely seen sweetness and Jerry Hadley's Jimmy Mahoney is ultimately almost unbearably moving. Food for thought, indeed. On the DVD: The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny is presented in 16:9 picture format, but would have benefited from the scale of a widescreen treatment. It can be difficult to keep track of everything that's going on. The cavernous stage is probably responsible for the acoustics which sometimes allow the orchestra to overwhelm the singing, otherwise well served by the PCM stereo sound. There are no DVD extras but the excellent booklet and production notes are welcome.--Piers Ford

• Perth | DVD | (28/05/2007) from £5.79   |  Saving you £9.20 (61.40%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Harry Lee a part-time security guard and taxi driver has dreams of retiring to a quieter life in Australia a long-cherished escape from the relentless pace of Singapore life When a friend offers him an opportunity to make more money driving up-market call girls to their clients he accepts. However he starts taking an obsessive interest in the welfare of an abused Vietnamese prostitute. It awakens painful memories from his past and leads to desire for personal redemption as an avenging angel.

• Verdi: Stiffelio | DVD | (29/10/2001) from £3.06   |  Saving you £30.19 (1,677.22%)   |  RRP £31.99

  A performance of Verdi's three-act opera recorded live at The Royal Opera House in Covent Garden. Celebrated tenor Carreras performs the title role as Verdi's cuckolded minister confronting his wife's adultery.

• Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World / Braveheart | DVD | (31/05/2005) from £11.30   |  Saving you £4.69 (29.30%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Master And Commander: Russell Crowe is Lucky Jack Aubrey the Navy's greatest fighting captain and Paul Bettany is ship's doctor Stephen Maturin. The ship the Surprise is suddenly attacked by a superior enemy. With the Surprise badly damaged and much of his crew injured Aubrey - the ""Master"" of the Surprise and ""Commander"" of his men - is torn between duty and friendship as he sets sail in a high-stakes chase across two oceans to the far side of the world to intercept and capture their foe. It's a mission that can decide the fate of a nation - or destroy Lucky Jack and his crew. The film is based on the narrative outline of the tenth book in Patrick O'Brien's legendary ""Aubrey/Maturin"" series of high seas novels about the British navy during the Napoleonic Wars. Braveheart: Mel Gibson stars on both sides of the camera playing the lead role plus directing and producing this brawling richly detailed saga of fierce combat tender love and the will to risk all that's precious: freedom. In an emotionally charged performance Gibson is William Wallace a bold Scotsman who used the steel of his blade and the fire of his intellect to rally his countrymen to liberation. Filled with sword-clanging spectacle Braveheart is a tumultuous tapestry of history come alive ""the most sumptuous and involving historical epic since Lawrence Of Arabia."" (Rod Lurie Los Angeles Magazine.)

• Clone Wars Season 6: The Lost Missions (UK only) DVD | DVD | (05/04/2021) from £4.72   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Against a backdrop of ever-shifting loyalties, uneasy alliances and ancient hostilities, the conflict between the Republic and the Separatists ramps up, setting the stage for Darth Sidious' ultimate act of treachery against the Jedi. In these uncertain times, some of the deepest mysteries of the light and dark sides of the Force are revealed as an intrepid clone trooper uncovers a shocking conspiracy, Anakin Skywalker's closest relationship is tested to its limits, and Master Yoda makes a discovery that could forever change the balance of power in the galaxy. Complete your collction and experience all the wonder, intrigue, action and suspenseas this thrilling chapter of the Star Wars sage comes home on DVD for the first time! Special Features The Clone Wars Declassified