"Actor: Dean"

• Best Seller | DVD | (16/09/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  John Flynn has directed some good, tough, pacy thrillers and Best Seller, along with the 1973 The Outfit, can claim to be the best of them. It kicks off with not one but two slam-bang action sequences and then, having grabbed our attention, pitches us straight into its twisty plot premise. Brian Dennehy, reliably watchable as ever, plays an ageing cop-turned-novelist who has hit a writer's block since his wife died. James Woods at his most suavely sinister is a hitman with dirt to dish on the head of a big corporation. Woods proposes a Faustian pact. He provides Dennehy with the full crooked story on the mobster-turned-corporate boss and the cop writes it up. Dennehy gets a best seller; Woods gets his revenge and comes out looking like a hero. The dialogue, courtesy of screenwriter and horror-movie director Larry Cohen (It's Alive; Q--The Winged Serpent), is satisfyingly hard-boiled and slips in plenty of subversive sideswipes at rampant capitalism. ("It's the American Way, Dennis," says Woods, detailing how he helped his boss rise via robbery and murder. "I'm a businessman, an executive.") This certainly isn't the only movie to get mileage out of the symbiotic relationship between cop and crook (see Michael Mann's Heat), but it works several neat variations on the theme, with Dennehy and Woods both at the top of their respective forms. If the film never quite lives up to its potential--the required final confrontation between the two principals doesn't materialise and Victoria Tennant is thrown away as Dennehy's love-interest--it remains a way better than average thriller with its roots deep in the best B-movie traditions. On the DVD: Best Seller on disc has no extras apart from the theatrical trailer. The transfer is good and clean, and preserves the original's full-width framing. --Philip Kemp

• House! | DVD | (04/12/2000) from £7.45   |  Saving you £1.53 (34.30%)   |  RRP £5.99

  A whimsical fantasy, revolving around the world of Bingo, House (2000) was slipped innocuously into the UK’s staple cinematic diet of gangster movies and period dramas and emerged as a genuinely charismatic and immensely likeable film, blissfully content with its small-scale ambitions, not to mention lottery money well spent. Linda (Trainspotting’s Kelly MacDonald) is devoted to her job at the faltering La Scala Bingo Hall in rural Wales, which provides a welcome escape from her domineering aunt. Facing stiff competition from a rival hall, La Scala’s owner Mr. Alanzi (the wonderful Freddie Jones) is at a loss of how to save his beloved home, but Linda’s discovery of an unexpected gift could reverse their fortunes. Effortlessly charming and perfectly cast, House weaves its spirited feel-good tale with an eclectic set of characters (Jason Hughes’ flamboyant star number caller, Mossie Smith’s monstrous flirting colleague), while delivering a realistic glimpse of what makes a place special and memorable. Highly enjoyable, this is a small-scale gem.On the DVD: Director Julian Kemp delivers a competent, if sometimes rambling commentary that delivers the goods about a straightforward production. Other than six trailers, there’s the chance to glimpse Kemp’s short-film Suckers, a suitably wry and cynical look at the world of door-to-door salesmen. --Danny Graydon

• Life On Mars - Series 1 - Complete | DVD | (28/02/2011) from £16.18   |  Saving you £23.81 (59.50%)   |  RRP £39.99

  John Simm stars as Sam Tyler a driven and ambitious young detective determined to keep the streets of 21st Century Manchester safe. But after a near fatal car accident he wakes up dazed and confused in 1973. Has he gone back in time? Is he in a coma? Or has he simply gone insane? What follows is Sam's 21st century account of 1970s life where he feels like a fish out of water. He must come to terms with an unfamiliar environment and an archaic CID unit. There using his modern know-how he becomes integral to the unit. But he must adapt to their old-fashioned technologies and etiquettes. Sam works on some of the hardest cases he's ever been involved with. It's a world where witnesses are regularly intimidated it takes two weeks to process forensics and his colleagues will nail their suspect whether they have the evidence or not... Created and written by Mathew Graham Tony Jordan and Ashley Pharoah (who all worked on Hustle) directed by Bharat Nalluri (Spooks Hustle) John McKay (Canterbury Tales) John Alexander (Cutting It) and SJ Clarkson (Footballers' Wives).

• Doris Day Collection | DVD | (17/10/2006) from £27.27   |  Saving you £22.72 (83.31%)   |  RRP £49.99

  This fantastic box set brings together six of Doris Day's finest efforts. Billy Rose's Jumbo (Dir. Charles Walters 1962): Pop and Kitty Wonder are the owners of the Wonder Circus and because of Pop's addiction to gambling they are constantly in debt and the creditors are very close to foreclosing on them. Their main attraction is Jumbo the elephant and it seems that their competitor John Noble wants Jumbo and is luring away all of their acts leaving them with virtually nothing. Then all of a sudden a mysterious man named Sam Rawlins joins them as a wire walker and Kitty is taken with him what they don't know is that he's Noble's son. The Glass Bottom Boat (Dir. Frank Tashlin 1966): Jennifer Nelson and Bruce Templeton meet when Bruce reels in her mermaid suit leaving Jennifer bottomless in the waters of Catalina Island. She later discovers that Bruce is the big boss at her work (a research lab). Bruce hires Jennifer to be his biographer only to try and win her affections. There's a problem Bruce's friend General Wallace Bleeker believes she's a Russian spy and has her surveillanced. But when Jennifer catches on...Watch out! Love Me Or Leave Me (Dir. Charles Vidor 1955): Story of torch singer Ruth Etting's rise from 1920s taxi dancer to movie star simultaneously aided and frustrated by Chicago mobster Marty Sydney's headstrong ways and pressure tactics. Please Don't Eat The Daisies (Dir. Charles Walters 1960): Drama critic Larry McKay his wife Kay and their four sons move from their crowded Manhattan apartment to an old house in the country. While housewife Kay settles into suburban life Larry continues to enjoy the theater and party scene of New York. Kay soon begins to question Larry's fidelity when he mentions a flirtatious encounter with Broadway star Deborah Vaughn. Young Man With A Horn (Dir. Michael Curtiz 1950): Aimless youth Rick Martin learns he has a gift for music and falls in love with the trumpet. Legendary trumpeter Art Hazzard takes Rick under his wing and teaches him all he knows about playing. To the exclusion of anything else in life Rick becomes a star trumpeter but his volatile personality and desire to play jazz rather than the restricted tunes of the bands he works for lands him in trouble. Calamity Jane (Dir. David Butler 1953): Deadwood Dakota Territory is largely the abode of men where Indian scout Calamity Jane is as hard-riding boastful and handy with a gun as any; quite an overpowering personality. But the army lieutenant she favors doesn't really appreciate her finer qualities. One of Jane's boasts brings her to Chicago to recruit an actress for the Golden Garter stage. Arrived the lady in question appears (at first) to be a more feminine rival for the favors of Jane's male friends...including her friendly enemy Wild Bill Hickock.

• Gardens Of Stone | DVD | (03/10/2005) from £6.24   |  Saving you £-0.25 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  The subtext of Gardens of Stone, a grim, snail-paced Francis Ford Coppola film, is the death of Coppola's son Giancarlo in a boating accident. Coppola came back with this Vietnam-era military drama about the men assigned to patrol and serve at the funerals at Arlington National Cemetery. James Caan is the world-weary patrol leader with a fatherly interest in a gung-ho cadet (DB Sweeney). Caan tries to show Sweeney the potentially fatal future that awaits him if he volunteers for combat, but he can't break through his young charge's zealousness. The subplot involves crusty Caan's attempts at romance with Anjelica Huston, who can't quite fathom his contradictions. The story is all glum and lumbering, despite a warm, full-bodied performance by James Earl Jones as one of Caan's buddies.--Marshall Fine

• Beethoven/Beethoven's 2nd | DVD | (05/06/2006) from £9.99   |  Saving you £3.00 (30.03%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Beethoven: A St. Bernard puppy 'adopts' a new home after escaping from dog thieves. The Newton family just haven't realised the trouble that 185lbs of dog can get into... (Dir. Brian Levant 1992) Beethoven's 2nd: Beethoven has fallen in love with the fetching Missy and is ready to settle down with a family of his own. Like it or not George Newton his hapless owner is about to discover the meaning of chaos - times four! Tchaikovsky Chubby Dolly and Mo a quartet of irresistible puppies that have definitely inherited their father's talent for getting into mischief. Trouble ensues when Missy's evil owner Regina heartlessly severs Beethoven from his lady love and plots to steal the pups too. Will Beethoven and the puppies be reunited with Missy? Will Regina get her comeuppance? Will George Newton ever know peace and quiet again? (Dir. Rod Daniel 1993)

• Weill/Brecht-Rise & Fall of the City of Mahagonny | DVD | (26/11/2007) from £29.68   |  Saving you £-4.69 (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Weill:Rise And Fall Of The City Of Mahagonny

• Anger Management / Groundhog Day / So I Married An Axe Murderer | DVD | (11/10/2004) from £23.99   |  Saving you £-4.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Three side-splittingly funny comedies including Anger Management Groundhog Day and So I Married An Axe Murderer. Anger Management: Dave Buznik (Adam Sandler) is usually a mild-mannered non-confrontational guy. But after an altercation aboard an airplane he is remanded to the care of anger management therapist Dr. Buddy Rydell (Jack Nicholson) who could probably use some anger management himself. Now Dave is really mad! Groundhog Day: Bill Murray is at his wisecracking best in this riotous romantic comedy about a weatherman caught in a personal time warp on the worst day of his life! Teamed with a relentlessly cheery producer (Andie MacDowell) and a smart aleck cameraman TV weatherman Phil Connors (Bill Murray) is sent to Punxsutawney Pennsylvania to cover the annual Groundhog Day festivities. On his way out of town Phil is caught in a giant blizzard - which he himself actually failed to predict - and finds himself stuck in a small town hell. Just when things couldn't get worse they do! Phil wakes the next morning to find that it's Groundhog Day all over again. And again. And again. During the recurring 24 hour nightmare Phil starts to realise that he can also use it to his advantage; to re-write the events of his day and to generally have a whale of a time. But manipulating his day to capture the one woman he really wants is not quite so easy... So I Married An Axe Murderer: Charlie Mackenzie (Mike Myers) is a love-shy poet living in San Francisco who frequents neighborhood coffee houses reciting his tortured odes to unrequited love. Burned by a string of failed relationships Mackenzie's fear of commitment has intensified into outrageous extremes of paranoia. When he finds himself falling for the sweet-faced butcher (Nancy Travis) at his local meat shop he sees it as a final chance for love to overcome his painful cynicism. Feeling he has squelched his nagging fears Mackenzie marries the woman. But his anxiety quickly manifests itself in the conviction that his wife is actually an infamous axe murderer whose antics are described in juicy detail in each week's issue of the Weekly World News...

• The Boy With Green Hair | DVD | (07/02/2011) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Peter Fry (Dean Stockwell - Quantum Leap) is a boy with no hair who refuses to speak to child psychologist Dr Evans (Robert Ryan) as to why he has been found lost and completely bald. But when the doctor shares his hamburger with him Peter tells his incredible story expect doubting that the doctor will believe him. Peter a typical American boy is orphaned when his parents are caught in the London Blitz. With no one wishing to tell him of his parents' fate Peter is shuttled from one selfish relative to the next ending with Gramp (Pat O'Brien) a kindly ex-vaudevillian. Peter learns from his teacher Miss Brand (Barbara Hale) that he is a war orphan and the very next morning his hair turns green! But other kids jeer at him; adults are perturbed and even the kindly milkman turns against him. The absurd over-reactions of stupid people make his life a misery and drive him away. The Boy With Green Hair is Joseph Losey's film parable of tolerance and pacifism that was way ahead of its time.

• Wwe: Extreme Rules 2016 | DVD | (18/07/2016) from £12.98   |  Saving you £5.01 (38.60%)   |  RRP £17.99

  In a rematch from their epic encounter at WWE Payback, WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns puts the richest prize in sports entertainment on the line against The Phenomenal One AJ Styles in an Extreme Rules match! The family fuelled rivalry between The Flairs and The Harts writes another chapter as The Queen of Harts Natalya challenges for the WWE Women's Championship against Charlotte in a Submission Match. For the first time ever in WWE History, Chris Jericho and Dean Ambrose face each other in a match more twisted than The Lunatic Fringe himself an Asylum Match! The New Era takes competition to the extreme at Extreme Rules!

• Beat Street | DVD | (12/04/2005) from £21.88   |  Saving you £-15.89 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  A slightly dated but nonetheless fascinating snap shot of musical history, Beat Street is an urban musical detailing the roots of hip-hop. Set in early 1980s New York, the film focuses on the lives of a small group of young people setting their experiences against the larger backdrop of the city's burgeoning music scene. The story of up and coming DJ Kenny and his relationship with jazz musician Tracy may only be a device, but it's surprisingly effective, as is the ultimately tragic tale of graffiti artist Remo. The movie's real raison d'être, however, is to showcase the sounds of the street and thus is full of some of hip-hop's most influential names--Melle Mel, Doug E Fresh, Kool Moe Dee, The Rocksteady Crew, Jazzy Jeff and Arthur Baker--and while the combination of electro and rapping may sound a little crude to modern ears, there can be no doubt that Beat Street is the sight and sound of history being made. On the DVD: Beat Street on disc comes with pretty basic picture quality, but the soundtrack has benefited greatly from the digital remastering. The extras are limited to a collection of stills from the film and an amusing guide to break beats, which seems like a wasted opportunity. Given the nature of the movie, it's something of a shame that this disc doesn't go deeper into the subject matter. For a far more detailed examination of how the music of Kraftwerk blended with the sounds of American city streets, go to Volume 3 of the excellent BBC series Dancing in the Street. --Phil Udell

• Supernatural - Series 3 - Complete | Blu Ray | (17/04/2019) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £39.99

  Fear is a luxury Twenty-two years ago Sam and Dean Winchester lost their mother to a mysterious and demonic supernatural force. As a result their father John raised the brothers to be soldiers. He taught them about the paranormal evil that lives in the dark corners and on the back roads of America...and he taught them how to kill it. Sam however wanted nothing to do with this violent and dangerous life and he left it behind until the day Dean appeared on his doorstep with troubling news. Their father had gone missing on a hunting trip. Sam and Dean have spent the last year cruising the highways of the United States in their 1967 Chevy Impala searching for their lost father and encountering creatures that most people believe exist only in folklore superstition and nightmares. Along the way they have battled the various supernatural threats--and each other as well for their sibling rivalries and conflicts were never far from the surface. Finally they found their father just as he was closing in on the Demon who claimed their mother.

• Wwe: Wrestlemania 32 | Blu Ray | (06/06/2016) from £11.89   |  Saving you £13.10 (52.40%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Welcome to the biggest WrestleMania of them all! The Authority and The Roman Empire clash in the main event of WrestleMania when the 14-time WWE World Heavyweight Champion, Triple H, defends his coveted title against Roman Reigns. Shane McMahon risks it all for control of Monday Night Raw when he battles Undertaker in a Hell in a Cell Match that will decide both of their fates. The Divas Revolution comes full circle as Charlotte, Sasha Banks, and Becky Lynch compete against each other in a Triple Threat Match to become the inaugural WWE Women's Champion. The Lunatic Fringe Dean Ambrose faces his biggest challenge to date when he enters Suplex City to face The Beast Incarnate Brock Lesnar in a No Holds Barred Street Fight. On this night WWE Superstars become heroes, heroes become legends, and legends become immortal at WrestleMania! Includes the complete event, plus pre-show matches and the 2016 WWE Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony!

• Worst Week Of My Life - Series 1 And 2 | DVD | (09/10/2006) from £22.76   |  Saving you £7.23 (31.77%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Series 1: Getting married should be the best experience of your life but for publisher Howard Steel it becomes a nightmare of gargantuan proportions. Everything that possibly could go wrong does and unfortunately for Howard most of this transpires because of his utmost attempts to do the right thing. From evading Cassie - an office colleague with whom he had a one night stand at the christmas party two years ago and who is now hell bent on ruining the big day - to the charming of his in-laws (a High Court Judge and a society wife) Howard seems to fall from pit-fall to pit-fall. Through an unfortunate sequence of events Howard hospitalises Mel's granny accidentally gropes her mother loses the wedding ring (a family heirloom) and worst of all kills the family dog. Other disasters to plague Howard include his best man falling into a coma on the stag night (to be replaced by Howard's mate Dom) Cassie running over the vicar his wide-boy father taking his new girlfriend - a mouthy pole-dancer - to the wedding and getting arrested... Series 2: In series two Howard and Mel now married have a baby on the way. Unsurprisingly things are far from smooth going and Howard manages to make the Cook family hate him even more! Monday: Howard and mother-to-be Mel begin the week by moving into the cottage bequeathed to them in Granny's will but their upheaval coincides with the funeral. When one of the pallbearers is taken ill Dick finds it difficult to entrust the job to the new member of the family. Tuesday: Howard and Mel are staying with Mel's parents until the cottage is ready. Howard is also having a few problems at work and after giving Eve a lift home events spiral leaving Howard feeling the long arm of the law. Wednesday: Howard and Mel are staying with Mel's parents until the cottage is ready. Howard is also having a few problems at work and after giving Eve a lift home events spiral leaving Howard feeling the long arm of the law. Thursday: Davina is worried that her brother-in-law Roger is wanting to start an affair with her. It's only after the unexpected arrival of Roger's son Michael and the liberal use of a class C narcotic that the true nature of Roger's desires are revealed. Friday: Howard is busy doing his best to put a few things right but it is not easy. As progress is made on one thing yet another seems to be waiting to catch Howard out. After a tense meeting at work it seems that Mel's big day has arrived early! Is it time to meet Baby Steel? Saturday: It's the weekend at last and the day for Dick's celebration. Friends and relatives are arriving and Howard helps to get things ready. With the party in full swing and Dick's special gift finally secured the evening seems set for success but not before yet another interruption.

• Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me | DVD | (17/09/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Fire Walk With Me is a rare spin-off that refuses to repeat what worked on TV. Despite mannerisms and "draggy" spots, Twin Peaks emerged as one of the wonders of American TV: scary and funny, erotic and serious, offensive and freakish. It meandered in an always interesting but sometimes frustrating way through two seasons, then signed off with a cliff-hanger upon cancellation. When Lynch announced he would continue the saga with a theatrical movie, fans assumed he would: (a) pull out the stops to show what evils really lurked behind the pretty façade of that small town, and (b) wrap up a storyline which tailed off with Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) possessed by the evil spirit "Bob". As it happens, Lynch delivered on (a) but refrained from fulfilling clause (b), opting to do a prequel--adapted in part from The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer, a tie-in novel by Jennifer (Boxing Helena) Lynch--which sets up the series by following the last week in the life of the "prom queen from Hell". Fire Walk With Me assumes you will be familiar with the series (some bits are incomprehensible unless you paid attention while other bits are just incomprehensible), making it most accessible to Twin Peaks initiates though sometimes deliberately offensive to them. It then omits several of the show's stars (Michael Ontkean, Richard Beymer, Joan Chen, Sherilyn Fenn) and a great many of the "lovable" aspects (wry jokes, damn fine coffee), relegating MacLachlan to a walk-on since the story happens before Cooper was assigned to Twin Peaks. Some instances of joyless sex and violence exceed anything Lynch could do on television, but for the most part he creates an atmosphere of dread through edgy performances, unsettling lighting and sound effects and sheer grimness. Without the catchphrases and the quirky charm, the film never feels cuddly in the way the TV show did, but it is one of Lynch's finest works and, though deeply uncomfortable, a TV spin-off which ranks with the best in both media. On the DVD: The DVD is Region 0 with a widescreen print, augmented for 16x9 televisions. It holds a better-looking transfer than previous video or laserdisc releases and offers an eerie red room/blue rose menu. However the disc offers absolutely no notes, trailers, crib sheets, bios, or other extra features. --Kim Newman

• The Last Temptation of Christ | Blu Ray | (03/06/2013) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  It isn't difficult to imagine why this 1988 retelling of the Crucifixion story was picketed so vociferously on its release in the US--this Jesus bears little resemblance to the classical Christ, who was not, upon careful review of the Gospels, ever reported to have had sex with Barbara Hershey. Heavily informed by Gnostic reinterpretations of the Passion, The Last Temptation of Christ (based rather strictly on Nikos Kazantzakis's novel of the same name) is surely worth seeing for the controversy and blasphemous content alone. But the "last temptation" of the title is nothing overtly naughty--rather, it's the seduction of the commonplace; the desire to forgo following a "calling" in exchange for domestic security. Willem Dafoe interprets Jesus as spacey, indecisive and none too charismatic (though maybe that's just Dafoe himself), but his Sermon on the Mount is radiant with visionary fire; a bit less successful is method actor Harvey Keitel, who gives the internally conflicted Judas a noticeable Brooklyn accent, and doesn't bring much imagination to a role that demands a revisionist's approach. Despite director Martin Scorsese's penchant for stupid camera tricks, much of the desert footage is simply breathtaking, even on small screen. Ultimately, Last Temptation is not much more historically illuminating than Monty Python's Life of Brian, but hey, if it's authenticity you're after, try Gibbon's. --Miles Bethany

• Forty Guns | DVD | (23/08/2004) from £20.00   |  Saving you £-10.01 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  An authoritarian rancher (Stanwyck) rules an Arizona county with a private posse of her hired guns. However when a new lawman arrives to settle the disturbances in the State the cattle queen finds her emotions interfering with her business for the first time...

• Will Penny | DVD | (03/03/2003) from £17.74   |  Saving you £-4.75 (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  He's out of work out of money and staked out to die in the desert by a gang of ruthless outlaws. Moments before death Will Penny (Charlton Heston) is taken in by a beautiful young woman named Catherine (Joan Hackett) who is heading west with her young son to join her husband. As Catherine nurses Will back to health he catches a glimpse of a lifestyle he's never known. Suddenly Will has two more problems to deal with: he's madly in love with another man's wife and the outlaw gan

• Jimi Hendrix Story | DVD | (11/09/2000) from £5.17   |  Saving you £8.82 (170.60%)   |  RRP £13.99

  If any artist deserved a hagiography it was Hendrix, and Joe Boyd's 1973 "authorised" tribute The Jimi Hendrix Story adequately sanctifies the legend. Perversely for a documentary, it achieves this simply by well-chosen concert footage rather than through the insights of the various talking heads. Pete Townshend, Eric Clapton, Mick Jagger, Lou Reed and Germaine Greer are all wheeled out to wax lyrical about their days with Jimi--but nothing is more eloquent than watching and listening to him play. From "Hey Joe" in grainy black and white on Ready Steady Go, classic footage of Monterey, Woodstock (yes, "The Star-Spangled Banner") and the Isle of White festivals, to an acoustic 12-string rendition of "Hear My Train a' Comin'", Hendrix the musician speaks for himself. But if Hendrix the musician shines through, this is not the most insightful profile of Hendrix the man: the circumstances surrounding his death, for example, are hardly touched upon (girlfriend at the time Monika Dannemann gets only a few seconds screen time). Interview footage with Hendrix himself plus some occasionally rambling and incoherent comments from such intimates as his father, army buddies, ex-girlfriends (including Linda Keith, who "discovered" him in New York and brought him to England) and fellow musicians all take second place to the music itself. The most sensible quote comes from Little Richard, who proves once and for all that he's utterly bonkers, when he says of Jimi's music: "At times he made my big toes shoot up into my boot." On the DVD: This is a dual-layer disc, with a widescreen (1.85:1) print on one side and a standard (4:3) ratio version on the other--although watching in widescreen is redundant, as the film is shot in 4:3 anyway. There are no extras other than a theatrical trailer (despite being advertised as such a menu and scene access surely don't count as "special features": what use is a disc without them?) --Mark Walker

• The Walking Dead: The Complete Eleventh Season | DVD | (14/03/2023) from £33.28   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A