"Actor: Dennis Liu"

• Ghost Dog: The Way Of The Samurai | DVD | (10/06/2002) from £12.00   |  Saving you £-2.01 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Forest Whitaker makes an unlikely modern samurai with his laser-sighted pistols, shabby street clothes, and oddly graceful gait--but then Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai is an unusual film. Quirky, contemplative and at times absurd, it is just the kind of offbeat vision we have come to expect from the fiercely independent Jim Jarmusch (Stranger than Paradise, Dead Man). Whitaker is Ghost Dog, a mysterious New York hit man who lives simply on a tenement rooftop and follows a code of behaviour outlined in : Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai (passages of this book are interspersed throughout the film). When the local mob marks him for death in a complicated code of Mafiosi-style honour, Ghost Dog sends a cryptic message to his foes. "That's poetry. The poetry of war", remarks mobster Henry Silva, with sudden respect upon reading the verse. He could be describing the ethereal beauty of Jarmusch's vision, full of wonderful imagery (a night drive across town seems to float in time) and off-centre humour. Though it briefly stalls in a series of assassinations (Jarmusch is no action director), it settles back into character-driven drama in a quietly epic showdown, equal parts samurai adventure, spaghetti western and existential crime movie. The film is likely too unconventional and offbeat for general audiences, but cult-movie buffs and Jarmusch fans will appreciate his idiosyncratic vision. He finds a strange sense of honour in the clash of Old World traditions, and salutes his heroes with a skewed but sincere respect. --Sean Axmaker

• Simon Sez | DVD | (09/10/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

• Easy Riders, Raging Bulls | DVD | (05/02/2007) from £8.21   |  Saving you £-0.96 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  How the sex drugs and rock 'n' roll generation saved Hollywood. This searing documentary traces the highs and lows the scandals and celebrations the tragedies and the triumphs that shaped this phenomenal period in cinema history. Adapted from Peter Biskind's literary phenomenon the book that blew the lid off both Hollywood and the lives of the infamous celebrated movie makers who came to be known as the 'movie brats'. Contains never before seen fotage shot by the legendary film makers themselves from parties premieres and film sets. Packed with clips from such seminal movies as 'Bonnie And Clyde' 'Jaws' 'The Deer Hunter' 'Star Wars' 'Easy Rider' 'Taxi Driver' 'Shampoo' and 'Chinatown' and featuring all-new interviews with Dennis Hopper Roger Corman Cybil Shepherd Richard Dreyfuss and Peter Fonda.

• Easy Riders, Raging Bulls | DVD | (17/11/2003) from £5.99   |  Saving you £14.00 (233.72%)   |  RRP £19.99

  How the sex drugs and rock 'n' roll generation saved Hollywood. This searing documentary traces the highs and lows the scandals and celebrations the tragedies and the triumphs that shaped this phenomenal period in cinema history. Adapted from Peter Biskind's literary phenomenon the book that blew the lid off both Hollywood and the lives of the infamous celebrated movie makers who came to be known as the 'movie brats'. Contains never before seen fotage shot by the legendary film makers themselves from parties premieres and film sets. Packed with clips from such seminal movies as 'Bonnie And Clyde' 'Jaws' 'The Deer Hunter' 'Star Wars' 'Easy Rider' 'Taxi Driver' 'Shampoo' and 'Chinatown' and featuring all-new interviews with Dennis Hopper Roger Corman Cybil Shepherd Richard Dreyfuss and Peter Fonda.

• Puccini: Turandot -- San Francisco | DVD | (18/07/2000) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Not only is Puccini's final opera Turandot among the composer's most popular works, but following The Three Tenors and a certain football contest, it has in "Nessun dorma!" what is almost certainly the best-loved aria in all opera. Written 20 years after Madame Butterfly (1904), Puccini's version of an 800-year-old fairy-tale is set in a legendary Peking and scored on a grand scale, incorporating not only Chinese musical techniques but a vast range of oriental percussion. Puccini draws heavily on the chorus, and as ever makes intense demands on his heroine, to which Eva Marton rises powerfully, very well complemented by the tenor Michael Sylvester as Calaf. However, what makes this 1994 San Francisco Opera version so enchanting as a visual experience is the realisation by David Hockney, who not only designed the sets and costumes but also directed the production. His vision is highly stylised, richly imagined, atmospheric and very beautiful, and it is a testament to how well this version is directed that much of the original magic is communicated through the confines of a TV screen. --Gary S. DalkinOn the DVD: Other than a well-appointed booklet, and the option to watch with or without subtitles, there are no special features. The 4:3 picture is a major improvement on video, though no doubt due to the original source materials, not as detailed as the best DVDs. The sound is powerful PCM stereo, with a slight tendency to become strident at especially dramatic moments. The layer change is particularly badly done, interrupting the choir in full flow, rather than being placed between tracks.

• Alambrista | DVD | (22/09/2008) from £25.90   |  Saving you £-9.91 (-62.00%)   |  RRP £15.99

  A young Mexican man slips across the border to America in the hope of finding work to support his new family back at hope. But instead of being the land of opportunities he finds America to be full of hardship and exploitation.

• American Mavericks - Driven by a Vision | DVD | (21/08/2006) from £32.37   |  Saving you £-12.38 (-61.90%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Donnie Darko - Director's Cut: October 1988 and small town USA is about to witness the end of the world. It's home to Donnie Darko a brilliant but troubled teenager plagued by terrifying visions of which he alone holds the key to the meaning. With his class mate and soul mate Gretchen and a mysterious ex teacher Grandma Death he must unravel the strange occurrences infecting his school his home and his life before a horrifying spectre known only as ""Frank"" can pull Donnie over the edge of his sanity. (Dir. Richard Kelly 2001) Easy Riders Raging Bulls: How the sex drugs and rock 'n' roll generation saved Hollywood. This searing documentary traces the highs and lows the scandals and celebrations the tragedies and the triumphs that shaped this phenomenal period in cinema history. Adapted from Peter Biskind's literary phenomenon the book that blew the lid off both Hollywood and the lives of the infamous celebrated movie makers who came to be known as the 'movie brats'. Contains never before seen fotage shot by the legendary film makers themselves from parties premieres and film sets. Packed with clips from such seminal movies as 'Bonnie And Clyde' 'Jaws' 'The Deer Hunter' 'Star Wars' 'Easy Rider' 'Taxi Driver' 'Shampoo' and 'Chinatown' and featuring all-new interviews with Dennis Hopper Roger Corman Cybil Shepherd Richard Dreyfuss and Peter Fonda. (Dir. Kenneth Bowser 2003) Overnight: There's more than one way to shoot yourself in Hollywood! Alternately hilarious and horrifying Overnight chronicles one man's misadventures of making a Hollywood movie. It starts out as a rags to riches story as Troy Duffy a Boston-bred bartender sells his first screenplay for The Boondock Saints. The deal includes a directing gig for Duffy a soundtrack gig for his band and at one point there's even an offer to purchase the bar he works at. Duffy uses his newfound good fortune as fuel to mistreat his associates friends and even his own brother. With his overwhelming arrogance he burns every bridge possible in both the music and film industries. Soon his calls go unreturned the studio drops the film and the picture ends up going into production with half the original budget. Duffy's rise and subsequent fall from Hollywood grace is something you won't believe unless you see it for yourself. (Dir. Tony Montana & Mark Brian Smith 2003)