"Actor: David Vaughan"

• Our Mutual Friend | DVD | (20/08/2001) from £12.97   |  Saving you £12.02 (92.68%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Dickens was the master of Victorian social satire, ruthlessly exposing the cruelty and absurdity that supported the strictly hierarchical class-structure of the day. This superb production of Our Mutual Friend does full justice to his darkest, most complex novel, fleshing out the satirical bones of the plot with performances that eschew caricature in favour of psychological depth. Anna Friel's Bella is wonderfully complex, her innate goodness struggling with her love of money and desire for advancement. Paul McGann, as the lawyer Wrayburn, is also superb, wrestling with the implications of his feelings for Lizzie. And of course, this being Dickens and the BBC, there's a terrific supporting cast, including Timothy Spall as the melancholy articulator of skeletons, Mr Venus. As the fortunes of the characters rise and fall, the river Thames flows eternally on, the symbolic backbone of this remarkable story. At six hours, this version of Our Mutual Friend is a long production, but not a moment too long. A mystery, a love story, a critique of the pursuit of wealth and status, this is perhaps the best adaptation of Dickens ever to be committed to film. --Simon Leake, Amazon.com

• The Anthony Trollope Collection | DVD | (02/10/2006) from £15.95   |  Saving you £0.05 (0.31%)   |  RRP £16.00

  This collection features three of Anthony Trollope's highly regarded works brilliantly adapted for the small screen. With over 15 hours of timeless film from one of the nineteenth-century's greatest writers visit the fascinating world of Victorian England as the prolific and respected novelist illustrates the penetrating conflicts of the day. He Knew He Was Right: Louis Trevelyan's refusal to believe in his wife Emily's fidelity destroys a perfect marriage and drives him literally insane. Suspicious beyond reason that she is having an affair with Colonel Osbourne a man of dubious reputation he forces his wife out of their house hires the seedy private detective Bozzle to spy on her and organises the kidnapping of their son with devastating consequences. Throughout Emily's protestation of her innocence and the couple's enduring love for each other despite their estrangement render the story moving and tragic. The Way We Live Now: Set in the railway boom of the 1870s Anthony Trollope's epic tale of Victorian power and corruption captures the turmoil as the old order is swept aside by the brash new forces of business and finance. It is packed with the trials and tribulations of young love the enduring values of honourable men the raw energy of one of the most powerful cities in the world and the greed and corruption that lay below its glittering surface. The Barchester Chronicles: The acclaimed 1982 BBC adaptation of Anthony Trollope's novels. The community of Barchester is shaken from its cosy complacency when a newspaper's crusade against the Church of England's practice of self-enrichment misfires. Overnight Rev. Harding (Donald Pleasence) becomes a pawn in a battle between his younger daughter's beau John Bold (David Gwillim) and his older daughter's husband. Little do they realise that the worst is yet to come until a regime change delivers Barchester into the hands of a most unholy trinity: the weak-willed Bishop Proudie (Clive Swift) the domineering Mrs. Proudie (Geraldine McEwan) and the insufferable Rev. Obadiah Slope (Alan Rickman).

• Killer's Kiss | DVD | (15/07/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  An exercise in film noir fairytale, 1955's Killer's Kiss was Stanley Kubrick's second feature film (he had the first buried forever) and shows just how powerful a filmmaker he was right out of the gate. Followers of Kubrick's career will note the appearance of themes and images that recurred (a final axe-fight in a warehouse full of disembodied mannequin parts would not be out of place in The Shining), but this is also notably unlike later Kubrick films in its use of authentic locations and its 65-minute running time. The plot is a tiny anecdote about a washed-up boxer (Jamie Smith), a dance hall dame (Irene Kane) and a slimy hood (Frank Silvera) during one crowded weekend of brutality and romance. There's a sense of a young director playing games: the boxing match (a definite influence on Raging Bull) is all low-angle close-ups and subjective shots with plenty of thump and dazzle, and the traditional Expressionist look of noir is exaggerated with many a tricky shot or doomy plot twist. The three unfamiliar leads are all excellent as small-timers struggling with big passions, and there is already a potent use of raucous source music and subtle sound design to augment the stark, haunted black and white imagery. On the DVD Killer's Kiss on disc features no extras other than a blaring trailer ("a picture as brazen as the naked lights of Broadway, as hard as the New York streets in which it was shot!"). The black and white picture is 4:3, and comes with soundtracks in English, German, Italian and Spanish; subtitles in English, German, Italian, French, Dutch and Spanish. --Kim Newman

• Waking Ned | DVD | (12/06/2000) from £5.95   |  Saving you £7.04 (118.32%)   |  RRP £12.99

  When local wag Jackie O'Shea (Ian Bannen) discovers that one of his neighbours in the village of Tulaigh Mohr is a lottery winner he sees a chance to share in the wealth. Things get complicated when Jackie and his pal Michael O'Sullivan (David Kelly) discover that the winner, Ned Devine, died of shock at the very moment he learned of becoming a millionaire. Undaunted, Jackie and Michael dispose of the lucky stiff and hatch a plot to impersonate him and claim the prize. Soon the whole village is involved and the plot rapidly thickens. This film has been compared to The Full Monty, but it lacks the vein of desperation that added depth to that film. Instead, Waking Ned is closer in tone to classic British comedies like Whisky Galore!, with its cast of eccentrics gleefully conspiring to outwit the authorities. Those with a low tolerance for twinkly eyed Irish charm might be tempted to steer clear, although the movie is saved, for the most part, by its central performances. Bannen is superb as an old man who is clearly hungry for any excitement he can drum up and David Kelly is remarkable as his scrawny sidekick. Kelly has had a long career as a character actor in film and television, but here he has a chance to really let loose. His naked motorcycle ride is a marvellous set-piece and in all of his other scenes his twitchy, perfectly timed performance quite simply steals the movie. --Simon Leake, Amazon.com

• The Choir | DVD | (20/03/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  This mini-series based on Joanna Trollope's novel explores the internal politics and scandals of a British cathedral choir school. It features the singing voice of first-time actor and boy treble soloist Anthony Way a real-life student at the St. Paul's Cathedral Choral School in London.

• Time Bandits | DVD | (06/02/2006) from £13.98   |  Saving you £-7.99 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  All the dreams you've ever had.... and not just the good ones. The first of three Terry Gilliam films collectively referred to as his Trilogy of the Imagination (along with Brazil and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen) Time Bandits is a wonderfully inventive fantasy with a massive cult following and universal appeal. A sleeper hit in 1981 the film grossed well over eight times its million budget. Co-written by Gilliam and fellow Monty Python veteran Michael Palin (who also appears in the film) Time Bandits tells the story of Kevin (Craig Warnock) a young imaginative boy kidnapped by a band of mischievous dwarves who have stolen a map of the universe detailing the locations of holes in the space-time continuum from the Supreme Being (Ralph Richardson). The dwarves with Kevin in tow set off on a bizarre journey back and forth though time with the intention of looting the fortunes of history's rich and famous. Along the way they meet the likes of King Agamemnon (Sean Connery) Robin Hood (John Cleese) and Napoleon (Ian Holm) among others and even get to sail on the Titanic moments prior to its unfortunate encounter with an iceberg. Unknowingly the diminutive bandits are being watched by the spectre of Evil Genius (David Warner) who wants the map for his own typically wicked purposes...

• British Crime - Face/Mean Machine | DVD | (20/10/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Face: At thirty five Ray's learned the tricks and done the time. Now he's a face - a villain to be reckoned with and definitely not to be crossed - ready for the blag the big score that'll really set him and his team up. Although the job goes smooth and sweet the take doesn't scratch the three million the gang had it figured for. And when somebody starts thieving from the thieves and people start getting blown away Ray's got some serious thinking to do before the traitor -

• Sci-Fi - 10 movies | DVD | (07/12/2009) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £7.99

  Timecop Set in the year 2004 where time travel is a reality and a new breed of crime has emerged. It is now possible to alter history and the Time Enforcement Commission has ruled that no-one goes back in time. But someone has broken the rule and Timecop Max Walker must prevent a change in history - and prevent the murder of his wife... Cyborg 1 When a mysterious package arrives on his doorstep Jack Ryan a former member of the DEA immediately suspects that something is wrong. He discovers that the package contains a plea for help from his brother Phillip on a DEA assignment on the Caribbean Island of St. Keith. Cyborg 2 The new generation of Cyborgs are more lethal powerful dangerous and smarter than the computers that programmed them. So intelligent they are capable of regenerating themselves without human control - a chilling prospect for the civilized world. Cyborg 3 Enter the dark world of sythentic humanoids where ruthless recyclers scavenge cyborg parts and sell them to the highest bidder. Moon 44 The year is 2038. Giant intergalactic corporations have taken control of the universe locked in a ruthless battle for planets where men and robots mine the priceless chemicals that are now Earth's only source of fuel. Space pirates are systematically hijacking the vital space shuttle from the moon 44 mining base which is also the location of an experimental defence programme using highly advanced helicopter gunships. It is undercover investigator Felix Stone's task to hunt down the hijackers. But if Moon 44 base is attacked the orders are to sacrifice the men and save the robots. Apex Black Moon Rising Tommy Lee Jones is Quint a shrewd and tough professional thief working for the government. He has hidden a computer disc containing vital evidence in a sleek fast prototype automobile which is stolen by a sophisticated car theft ring in Los Angeles. Quint the owners of the car and the killers who want the disc back are forced into a high-risk raid on the impenetrable fortress of the car thieves in this taut action-filled suspense adventure. Earth Alien Salena Incident Roswell was just the beginning... During a routing transport exercise a group of prisoners overpower their guards and take them captive. But their well executed escape plan turns into something far more menacing. When they enter the supposedly peaceful town of Salena the prisoners and guards are faced with an alien threat far more powerful than anything imaginable! The Sender

• A Taste of Excitement | DVD | (24/01/2011) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  A man has been killed on the Dover/Boulogne car ferry. What is the connection between him and the attempts being made to kill Jane Kerrell (Eve Renzi) a young girl in her early twenties? As she speeds through the French countryside to the South of France several attempts are made on her life as she is deliberately forced off the road by another car. But when she reports these attempts the local Cap Ferrat Police Inspector and the sinister psychiatrist Dr. Forla (George Pravda) believe these attempts are in her imagination and Dr Forla concludes that Jane is mentally disturbed. At her wits end Jane finds an ally in the young English painter Paul Hedley (David Buck) who finally believes her life is in danger following an attempt to murder him. When Inspector Malling of Scotland Yard (Peter Vaughan) and Mr. Breese (Francis Matthews) arrive in Cap Ferrat trying to uncover the connection between Jane and the murdered man on the ferry this thrilling puzzle of international intrigue begins to unravel against the backdrop of the French Riviera