"Actor: Eddie"

• Laurel And Hardy - March Of The Wooden Soldiers | DVD | (21/10/2002) from £7.98   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  The most lavish feature built around Laurel and Hardy, 1934's March of the Wooden Soldiers is also the most bizarre. Opening unpromisingly with one of several mawkish numbers derived from Victor Herbert's musical Babes in Toyland, the antics of toyshop labourers Stannie Dum and Ollie Dee are worked into a scenario midway between Lewis Carroll and The Brothers Grimm. Nursery-rhyme characters come and go in a surreal fantasy, with the evil Mr Barnaby threatening to evict Widow Peep from her shoe unless he receives her daughter Bo in marriage. The movie culminates in a full-scale invasion of Toyland by the yeti-ish Bogeymen and their defeat by the 100 six-foot wooden soldiers that Stan and Ollie have built by mistake. Henry Brandon gives a characterful performance, while 1930s child star Charlotte Henry is an appealing heroine. Directors Gus Meins and Charles R Rogers milk the slapstick to an increasingly unnerving degree. Reputedly Hardy's favourite among the double act's features, March of the Wooden Soldiers emerges now as their most audacious screen appearance. On the DVD: March of the Wooden Soldiers on disc reproduces the original black and white print in 4:3 ratio with pristine clarity; the mono soundtrack has similarly worn well. The potted biographies of Laurel and Hardy are too brief to be worthwhile, but the inclusion of the 1915 short Hustling for Health--among the earliest of Stan Laurel's film appearances--is a valuable bonus. --Richard Whitehouse

• Show Me The Father | DVD | (06/12/2021) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Doctor Dolittle / Doctor Dolittle 2 | DVD | (21/03/2005) from £9.43   |  Saving you £6.56 (69.57%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Doctor Dolittle Betty Thomas directs and Eddie Murphy stars in Doctor Dolittle, the 1998 hit film which, while ostensibly aimed at children, has a high quotient of hip and even mildly gross humour. Murphy stars as John Dolittle, whom we see as a child talking to a neighbourhood dog who explains that the reason mutts sniff each others' butts is to assess their characters when first meeting them. Little John promptly tries this out on being introduced to his school principal. Warned off such social eccentricity, Dolittle stops talking to animals and as an adult becomes a respectable doctor running his own medical practice--until a bump on the head revives his capacity to understand animals, whereupon mayhem, mortification and a menagerie of needy and freeloading creatures are heaped upon his ordered existence. Murphy plays it relatively straight. It's the animals, some of them vividly enhanced by Jim Henson's animating team, who provide the real laughs here, and a thoroughly worldly, wisecracking bunch of characters they prove to be. There's a couple of hard-boiled, squabbling rats, a pigeon who complains of impotence, Rocky the guinea pig (voiced by Chris Rock) with a neat line in hip backchat, while Albert Brooks voices the gruff, melancholy tiger whose life Dolittle must try to save. A sweet but by no means saccharine comedy. --David Stubbs Dr Dolittle 2It's only a marginal improvement, but Dr Dolittle 2 defies the odds by rising above its popular 1998 predecessor (and once again, let's not confuse these movies with the earlier Rex Harrison musical). Eddie Murphy plays the title role with ease and with the confident professionalism of a comedian who knows when to share the spotlight--especially when he's being upstaged by a bunch of animals who steal all the punch lines. And once again the film is aimed at a pre-teen audience: so many of those punch lines involve flatulence, bodily functions and frequent use of the word "butt". The difference this time is that Dr Dolittle has settled into his talk-to-the-animals routine; his 16-year-old daughter (Raven-Symone) is getting to be a feisty handful (it turns out she's coping with a hereditary gift); and his lawyer wife (Kristen Wilson) is representing him in a trial against corporate villains who want to clear-cut a local forest. Naturally, the local critter mafia (their Don is a beaver... fuggeddaboudit!) want Dolittle to fight for their cause, and this involves the successful mating of an endangered bear and a domesticated circus bear who's forgotten all the bear necessities of life in the wild. The bears are voiced by Lisa Kudrow and Steve Zahn and they almost steal the show, but the whole menagerie (with digitally animated "talking") is equally amusing. Adults might wish that the filmmakers had tried harder to make a truly memorable sequel, but this is a movie for kids, and they're going to love it without quibbling. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com

• Eddie Murphy Box Set - Trading Places / Coming To America | DVD | (20/10/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Eddie Murphy's 1988 vehicle Coming to America was probably the point at which his status as a mainstream big-screen comedian finally gelled, following the highly successful 48 Hours pairing with Nick Nolte. Never mind the hackneyed storyline: under John Landis's tight direction, he turns in a star performance (and several brilliant cameos) that is disciplined and extremely funny. Murphy plays an African prince who comes to New York officially to sow his wild oats. Privately, he is seeking a bride he can marry for love rather than one chosen by his parents. With his companion (Arsenio Hall, who pushes Murphy all the way in the comedy stakes), he settles in the borough of Queens and takes a job in a hamburger joint. A succession of hilarious satire-barbed adventures ensue, plus the required romantic conclusion. The script is crammed with ripe one-liners , but "Freeze, you diseased rhinoceros pizzle" has to be the most devastating hold-up line of all time. Film buffs will appreciate a brief appearance by Don Ameche as a down-and-out, but this is Murphy's film and he generates warmth enough to convert the most ambivalent viewer. On the DVD: The only--rather pointless--extra on offer is the original theatrical trailer which adds nothing apart from a rapid recap of the story. But the 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen presentation (the picture quality is diamond sharp) and Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack recreate the original authentic cinematic experience. The choreography of 1980s pop diva Paula Abdul in the lavish wedding scenes and Nile Rodgers' pounding musical score are the main beneficiaries. --Piers Ford

• Warehouse 13 - Season 3 | DVD | (17/09/2012) from £9.85   |  Saving you £20.14 (204.47%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Warehouse 13: Season 3 - the hit US show that doesn't exist arrives on DVD boxset September 17, 2012...confidentially of course!

• Croupier | DVD | (14/04/2003) from £5.41   |  Saving you £4.58 (84.66%)   |  RRP £9.99

  The Croupier sees Clive Owen suffering from a bad case of writer's block as author Jack Manfred. Sitting in his London flat staring at an empty computer screen, trying to find the words to narrate his meandering life, he reluctantly accepts a job from his absentee father (Nicholas Ball) in a second rate casino as a dealer, or croupier, a job he once held in South Africa. His immersion back into this world is intoxicating, thanks primarily to the power he holds over his nightly clientele. Jack is a straight arrow on the floor (unlike his co-workers) but the whisper of an inside-job robbery makes his life suddenly more intriguing, as do the women who begin to drift into his life: a fellow croupier (Kate Hardie) and an alluring gambler (Alex Kingston). Suddenly, Jack finds his own life is his best book material. There's something visceral about watching the world of gambling, and director Mike Hodges (the original Get Carter) taps into this allure; Jack's simple croupier tryout--handling cards and chips with skill and grace--is as captivating as most action scenes in big popcorn films. In the end, this little film, which went on to become an art-house hit, is as unpredictable as a roll of the dice. --Doug Thomas, Amazon.com

• Dreamgirls Collector's Edition | DVD | (28/05/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £22.99

  Based on the Broadway musical, a trio of black female soul singers cross over to the pop charts in the early 1960's.

• Holy Man | DVD | (22/01/2001) from £9.99   |  Saving you £5.00 (50.05%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Holy Man could have been a stellar satire in the tradition of Frank Capra, George Stevens, or Preston Sturges. Instead, this well-meaning romantic comedy was bluntly written by Tom Schulman (Dead Poets Society) and broadly directed by Stephen Herek, who fared better with his 1995 drama Mr. Holland's Opus. Their good intentions shine through, however, and while it's easy to appreciate Eddie Murphy's attempt to shift his career in a more substantial direction, Holy Man delivers some pointed criticism of commercialism and its deadening effect on spiritual well-being. Murphy plays an enlightened eccentric named "G" (for "guru" or "God"?) who rises to national celebrity when he's enlisted to host a TV shopping network. Jeff Goldblum and Kelly Preston play the show's producer and marketer, respectively, and their formulaic romance provides the movie's lackluster subplot. With skyrocketing ratings and a flurry of cameos by celebrity hucksters (Morgan Fairchild, Florence Henderson, Dan Marino, and even James Brown), G delivers preachy platitudes urging America to stop buying and embrace the finer values of life and love (a hollow message coming from Disney, the most conspicuously commercial of all major Hollywood studios). To its credit, Holy Man occasionally achieves a delicate balance of comedy and commentary, and receptive viewers will be grateful, at a time when crude comedies rule the box office, that someone bothered to try. For that reason, this flawed movie deserves to be seen. --Jeff Shannon

• The Great Locomotive Chase | DVD | (07/08/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  During the American Civil War a Union spy (Fess Parker) is asked to lead a band of Union soldiers into the South so that they could destroy the railway system. However things don't go as planned when the conductor of the train that they stole is on to them and is doing everything he can to stop them. Based on a true story. Available on DVD for the first time!

• Shrek Forever After - Double Play (Blu-ray + DVD) | Blu Ray | (06/12/2010) from £8.88   |  Saving you £16.11 (181.42%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Shrek Forever After delivers laughs, life lessons, and a striking picture of the realities of parenthood in this surprisingly good, fourth Shrek film. Like the original film, this fractured fairytale works because of the humour--it pokes fun at the whole fairytale genre on a multitude of intellectual levels while simultaneously offering visual humour that's appealing to all ages. After a frantic flip through a tongue-in-cheek fairytale book of the first three Shrek films, the scene opens on a beaming Shrek and Fiona as they awaken to a chorus of their noisy children standing at the foot of the bed, and it follows them through a typically hectic day of feeding, diapering, and caring for their children until they collapse into a satisfied heap at the end of the day. One of the funniest bits in the film, at least for adults, is how this scene repeats, faster and faster and in smaller and smaller excerpts, until Shrek's look of bliss slowly turns into a pained, midlife-crisis expression that screams "Help me, I'm trapped in this domestic purgatory and there's no escape in sight." As in any good fairytale, the protagonist's chance for escape comes in the form of a deal with the devil, in this case Rumpelstiltskin. Following in the footsteps of the classic film It's a Wonderful Life, Shrek is granted the opportunity to spend a day in an alternate reality in which he is the independent, terrifying ogre he once was. Of course, the deal carries some very serious, unintended consequences, and Shrek's day of freedom may just cost him Fiona, the children, and even his very existence. Mike Meyers and Cameron Diaz are once again stellar as the voices of Shrek and Fiona; Antonio Banderas is still all swagger despite Puss-in-Boots' now-portly figure and thoroughly domesticated ways; Eddie Murphy remains just as hilarious as in the first film as Donkey, who in this story doesn't recognize Shrek and can't fathom the possibility of a donkey and an ogre becoming friends; and Walt Dohrn is an extremely effective newcomer as the voice of Rumpelstiltskin. Other key players are the Pied Piper, with his new, tricked-out flute; a mob of broom-riding, jack-o'-lantern-throwing witches; an overgrown white goose; and a whole resistance movement of ogres under the command of a most unexpected leader. The battles are fierce and the lesson powerful: learn to appreciate what you've got. While 3-D digital is always nice, most viewers will completely forget that the film is in 3-D after the initial scene, and it will view just as well in the traditional format. --Tami Horiuchi

• How To Murder Your Wife | DVD | (24/01/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Bachelorhood is bliss for cartoonist Stanley Ford (Lemmon) - complete with an English butler (Terry Thomas) delectable dames and extra-dry martinis. But when he attends a bachelor party and meets an Italian beauty (Lisi) who pops out of a cake his fate is sealed. The next morning he discovers he's married to her even though she can barely speak English - and now the consummate bachelor will go to any lengths to untie the knot!

• Crash | DVD | (28/08/2006) from £17.25   |  Saving you £2.74 (15.88%)   |  RRP £19.99

  A provocative, unflinching look at the complexities of racial conflict in America.

• The Kid Stays In The Picture | DVD | (29/09/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Adapted from his own tell-all autobiography, this acclaimed documentary traces the meteoric rise, fall, and rise again of legendary Hollywood producer Robert Evans, and takes the audience on an intimate journey into the mind of this Hollywood legend.

• Invasion | DVD | (04/09/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £59.99

  For centuries man has searched the skies for signs of intelligent life.What if they were already here? For park ranger Russell Varon (Eddie Cibrian) a divorced father of two who is expecting a third child with his new wife a devastating hurricane proves to be merely the beginning of a long journey into the unknown. As the tiny town of Homestead Florida struggles to rebuild itself Sheriff Tom Underlay (William Fichtner) - who is married to Russell's ex-wife - suspicious

• Metro | DVD | (22/01/2001) from £7.48   |  Saving you £7.51 (100.40%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Another Eddie Murphy action vehicle that pales in comparison to hits like Beverly Hills Cop, this standard cop-movie fare still manages to be engaging on the strength of Murphy's ease in front of a camera. Murphy plays an unorthodox hostage negotiator for the San Francisco Police Department on the trail of the criminal who killed his partner. Paired up with a bright new trainee played by Michael Rapaport (Beautiful Girls, Mighty Aphrodite), Murphy uses both his skills and his anger to hunt down the killer. A competent action movie, there are some standout moments such as a car chase culminating in a cable car shoot-out on the streets of San Francisco, and Michael Wincott's (The Crow) frightening performance as the villain. Metro offers up a standard action vehicle for Murphy to showcase his charm, as well as a moderate entertainment with some memorable moments. --Robert Lane

• Miami Vice (Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx) | DVD | (27/11/2006) from £3.95   |  Saving you £16.04 (406.08%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Eighties icons Crockett and Tubbs come to the big screen in this Michael Mann-directed adventure.

• Jupiter Ascending (4K Ultra HD Blu-ray) | 4K UHD | (24/10/2016) from £15.29   |  Saving you £5.96 (42.48%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Channing Tatum and Mila Kunis star in Jupiter Ascending, an original science fiction action adventure from filmmakers Lana and Andy Wachowski. Jupiter Jones (Kunis) was born under a night sky, with signs predicting that she was destined for great things. Now grown, Jupiter dreams of the stars but wakes up to the cold reality of a job cleaning other people's houses and an endless run of bad breaks. Only when Caine (Tatum), a genetically engineered ex-military hunter, arrives on Earth to track her down does Jupiter begin to glimpse the fate that has been waiting for her all alongher genetic signature marks her as next in line for an extraordinary inheritance that could alter the balance of the cosmos. From the streets of Chicago to far flung galaxies whirling through space, Jupiter Ascending was written and directed by the Wachowskis. The film was produced by two-time Oscar® nominee Grant Hill (The Tree of Life, The Thin Red Line), together with Lana Wachowski and Andy Wachowski, continuing a collaboration the three began with The Matrix Trilogy. Roberto Malerba and Bruce Berman served as executive producers. Channing Tatum (Magic Mike) and Mila Kunis (Oz the Great and Powerful) lead a starring cast that includes Sean Bean (The Lord of the Rings Trilogy), Eddie Redmayne (Les Misérables), Douglas Booth (Noah) and Tuppence Middleton (BBC's The Lady Vanishes). Behind the scenes, Jupiter Ascending reunited the Wachowskis with many of their longstanding collaborators, who most recently worked with them on Cloud Atlas. They include Oscar®-winning director of photography John Toll (Braveheart, Legends of the Fall); production designer Hugh Bateup; editor Alexander Berner; costume designer Kym Barrett; and hair and makeup designer Jeremy Woodhead. The music was composed by Oscar® winner Michael Giacchino (Up). Jupiter Ascending showcases the kind of cutting-edge visual effects that have become the benchmarks of the Wachowskis' films. Dan Glass (Batman Begins, Cloud Atlas) was the visual effects supervisor, a post he has occupied for the Wachowskis since The Matrix Trilogy. Additionally, John Gaeta, the visual effects Oscar® winner behind The Matrix, contributed to the visual effects design. Warner Bros. Pictures presents, in association with Village Roadshow Pictures, in association with Anarchos Productions, Jupiter Ascending. The film will be distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company, and in select territories by Village Roadshow Pictures.

• The Root of Heaven | DVD | (23/04/2018) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  John Huston directs this 1950s drama starring Errol Flynn, Juliette Gréco, Trevor Howard, Eddie Albert and Orson Welles. Based on the novel by Romain Gary, the film follows crusading environmentalist Morel (Howard), who is determined to protect elephants from the threat of extinction. Though Morel initially struggles to gain traction for his project in French Equatorial Africa, he wins over Minna (Gréco), a local tavern worker, and Forsyth (Flynn), a former member of the British Army looking to correct past wrongs. Can the intrepid trio make a difference to the future of elephants?

• Def Comedy Jam - Box Set 1 - Volumes 1 To 6 | DVD | (31/05/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £59.99

  Too explosive for regular TV 'Def Comedy Jam' features today's hottest comedians at their wildest and funniest. Whether you're laughing for the first time or catching your raucous favorites this is the ultimate comedy experience - so outrageous that you'll definitely be back for more! This box set also includes a 'Too Raw For TV' bonus disc!

• Made For Each Other | DVD | (29/09/2003) from £5.79   |  Saving you £-0.80 (N/A%)   |  RRP £4.99

  This highly appealing comedy drama stars James Stewart and Carole Lombard as a young couple battling illness lack of money inept servants and interfering in-laws...