"Actor: Edie"

• The Sopranos - Series 1-6 - Complete | DVD | (08/03/2009) from £47.13   |  Saving you £2.86 (6.07%)   |  RRP £49.99

  This is the first time that all episodes of writer-producer-director David Chase's extraordinary US television series The Sopranos have been brought together in one box set which is a seminal event for any fan of the series. The Sopranos is nominally an urban gangster drama but its true impact strikes closer to home chronicling a dysfunctional suburban family in bold relief. And for protagonist Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) there's the added complexity posed by heading twin families his collegial mob clan and his own nouveau riche brood.

• Flubber | DVD | (05/02/2001) from £5.70   |  Saving you £12.29 (215.61%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Wacky Professor Philip Brainard (Robin Williams) has just invented a revolutionary new compound. Its green it flies and it looks like rubber. Its Flubber! And it has the ability to save his financially troubled college as well as his broken engagement to his girlfriend Sara. That is until the gooey substance is stolen right from under the nose of his beloved but jealous robot assistant Weebo! Now the professor's got to get the goo and the girl back where they belong. Mix one

• The Sopranos: Complete Series 2 | DVD | (24/11/2003) from £69.99   |  Saving you £-8.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £61.99

  The second series of The Sopranos, David Chase's ultra-cool and ultra-modern take on New Jersey gangster life, matches the brilliance of the first, although it's marginally less violent, with more emphasis given to the stories and obsessions of supporting characters. Sadly, the programme-makers were forced to throttle back on the appalling struggle between gang boss Tony Soprano and his Gorgon-like Mother Livia, the very stuff of Greek theatre, following actress Nancy Marchand's unsuccessful battle against cancer. Taking up her slack, however, is Tony's big sister Janice, a New Age victim and arrant schemer and sponger, who takes up with the twitchy, Scarface-wannabe Richie Aprile, brother of former boss Jackie, out of prison and a minor pain in Tony's ass. Other running sub-plots include the hapless efforts by Chris (Michael Imperioli) to sell his real-life Mafia story to Hollywood, the return and treachery of Big Pussy and Tony's wife Carmela's ruthlessness in placing daughter Meadow in the right college. Even with the action so dispersed, however, James Gandofini is still toweringly dominant as Tony. The genius of his performance, and of the programme-makers, is that, despite Tony being a whoring, unscrupulous, sexist boor, a crime boss and a murderer, we somehow end up feeling and rooting for him, because he's also a family man with a bratty brood to feed, who's getting his balls busted on all sides, to say nothing of keeping the government off his back. He's the kind of crime boss we'd like to feel we would be. Tony's decent Italian-American therapist Dr Melfi's (Loraine Bracco) perverse attraction with her gangster-patient reflects our own and, in her case, causes her to lose her first series cool and turn to drink this time around. Effortlessly multi-dimensional, funny and frightening, and devoid of the sentimentality that afflicts even great American TV like The West Wing, The Sopranos is boss of bosses in its televisual era. --David Stubbs

• The Matrix/Matrix Reloaded/Matrix Revolutions | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £5.95   |  Saving you £3.05 (51.26%)   |  RRP £9.00

  The Wachowski Brothers trilogy is brought together on this fantastic boxed set. The Matrix: Perception: The Everyday World is Real. Reality: That World is a hoax an elaborate deception spun by all-powerful machines of artificial intelligence that control us. Mind blowing stunts. Techno-slamming visuals. Megakick action. Keanu Reeves and Laurence Fishburne lead the fight to free humankind in The Matrix the cyber thriller that you will watch again and again. Written and Directed by the Wachowski brothers (Bound) the story sears the special effects stake out new movie-making territory - the movie leaves you breathless. The Matrix Reloaded: Neo and the leaders of the human resistance discover that Sentinels are burrowing their way towards Zion. Estimating they have perhaps just 72 hours until an all-out assault Neo must return back into the Matrix and find the keymaker to gain access to the mainframe to ensure human survival... The Matrix Revolutions: In this final explosive third installment of the Matrix trilogy the city of Zion last bastion of the human race defends itself against the massive invasion of the machines as Neo attempts to fulfill his prophecy as 'The One'. As the Machine Army wages devastation on Zion its citizens mount an aggressive defense - but can they stave off the relentless swarm of Sentinels long enough for Neo adrift in a no man's land between the Matrix and the Machine world to harness the full extent of his powers and end the war?

• The Sopranos: Complete Series 3 | DVD | (24/11/2003) from £9.99   |  Saving you £52.00 (520.52%)   |  RRP £61.99

  The Sopranos is more than just a suburban Godfather, it's a modern-day I, Claudius with all the consanguineous conflict of the Caesars translated to New Jersey. At the beginning of the third series--just as brilliant and compelling as the first two--the Soprano clan are under close surveillance from the FBI; but, as ever, that's the least of their problems. Anthony Jnr is getting into trouble at school, Meadow's romantic liaisons at college are a cause of friction, Carmela is having a crisis of conscience and Tony trades one dangerously neurotic mistress for another. Livia's death does nothing to help Tony's psychological problems, and his relationship with therapist Dr Melfi is increasingly strained, especially after she undergoes a shocking ordeal of her own. There's tension in Tony's other "family", too, as Christopher finally gets made but then chafes at the extra responsibility, much to Paulie's disgust. In one magnificent episode (directed by Steve Buscemi) the two become stranded in the snow-filled woods overnight where all their mutual resentment boils over even as they both freeze. But Tony's real problems emerge from the Aprile family: Jackie Jnr is becoming a dangerous loose cannon, actively encouraged by his borderline psychotic stepfather Ralphie (a marvellous Joe Pantoliano), whose erratic behaviour threatens to ignite a deadly feud ("He disrespected the Bing", says Tony after punching him). When Jackie Jnr and Meadow become an item, both of Tony's dysfunctional families collide with devastating consequences. On the DVD: The Sopranos, Series 3 arrives in a neat fold-out four-disc set, with four episodes on a double-sided first disc and three each on the remainder. The contents are an improvement on previous releases, with three separate episode commentaries, which are all informative and worthwhile: costar and sometime writer Michael Imperioli (Christopher) talks us through his own script for "The Telltale Moozadell"; Steve Buscemi appears on his directorial effort, "Pine Barrens"; and series creator David Chase chooses the penultimate episode, "Amour Fou". In addition there's a tiny three-minute backstage featurette. Picture and sound are up to par as ever. --Mark Walker

• It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World | Blu Ray | (04/09/2017) from £21.65   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  STANLEY KRAMER followed his Oscar-winning Judgment at Nuremberg with this sobering investigation of American greed. Ah, who are we kidding? It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, about a group of strangers fighting tooth and nail over buried treasure, is the most grandly hare-brained movie ever made, a pileup of slapstick and borscht-belt-y one-liners performed by a nonpareil cast, including MILTON BERLE, SID CAESAR, ETHEL MERMAN, MICKEY ROONEY, SPENCER TRACY, JONATHAN WINTERS, and a boatload of other playingto-the-rafters comedy legends. For sheer scale of silliness, Kramer's wildly uncharacteristic film is unlike any other, an exhilarating epic of tomfoolery. TWO BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES: Restored 4K digital film transfer of the general release version of the film, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack New high-definition digital transfer of a 197-minute extended version of the film, reconstructed and restored by Robert A. Harris using visual and audio material from the longer original road-show versionincluding some scenes that have been returned to the film here for the first time New audio commentary featuring It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World aficionados Mark Evanier, Michael Schlesinger, and Paul Scrabo New documentary on the film's visual and sound effects, featuring rare behind-thescenes footage of the crew at work and interviews with visual-effects specialist Craig Barron and sound designer Ben Burtt Talk show from 1974 hosted by director Stanley Kramer and featuring Mad World actors Sid Caesar, Buddy Hackett, and Jonathan Winters Press interview from 1963 featuring Kramer and members of the film's cast Interviews recorded for the 2000 AFI program 100 Years . . . 100 Laughs, featuring comedians and actors discussing the influence of the film Two-part 1963 episode of the CBC television program Telescope that follows the film's press junket and premiere The Last 70mm Film Festival, a program from 2012 featuring cast and crew members from Mad World at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, hosted by Billy Crystal Selection of humourist and voice-over artist Stan Freberg's original TV and radio advertisements for the film, with a new introduction by Freberg Original and re-release trailers, and re-release radio spots PLUS: An essay by film critic Lou Lumenick and illustrations by legendary cartoonist Jack Davis

• Natural Born Killers | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £8.11   |  Saving you £5.88 (72.50%)   |  RRP £13.99

  America has become a society steeped in violence and most decent ordinary people are sick of it. Or are they? From two of the world’s most controversial filmmakers Quentin Tarantino and Oliver Stone comes one of the most controversial films ever made. Meet Mickey (Woody Harrelson) and Mallory (Juliette Lewis) - the most terrifying and relentless cold-blooded killers imaginable. Rejected by society these two lost souls embark on a murderous rampage. But as the body count soa

• Rex | DVD | (19/03/2018) from £6.05   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Rex is based on the true life story of a young Marine Corporal named Megan Leavey (Kate Mara), whose unique discipline and bond with her military combat dog saved many lives during their deployment in Iraq. When she is assigned to clean up the K9 unit after a disciplinary hearing, Leavey identifies with a particularly aggressive dog, Rex, and is given the chance to train him. Over the course of their service, Megan and Rex completed more than 100 missions until an explosion injures them, putting their fate in jeopardy.

• It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World | DVD | (11/03/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Stanley Kramer's 1963 It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World is a sprawling comedy about a search for buried treasure by at least a dozen people--all played by well-known entertainers of their day--is the kind of mass comedy that has recently come back to the for-front of Hollywood with the film Rat Race. After a number of strangers (including Milton Berle, Jonathan Winters, Sid Caesar, Phil Silvers and others) witness a dying stranger (Jimmy Durante) identify the location of hidden money, a conflict-ridden hunt begins, watched over carefully by a suspicious cop (Spencer Tracy). The ensuing two and a half hours of mayhem has its ups and downs--some sketches and performers are certainly funnier than others. But Kramer, who is better known for socially conscious, serious cinema (Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?), is in a mood for broad comic characterization, and some of his jokes are so intentionally obvious (Durante literally kicks a bucket when he dies), they could have derived from the Airplane! reject bin. Watch for lots of cameo appearances, including Jerry Lewis. --Tom Keogh, Amazon.com

• Cheech And Chong's Up In Smoke | DVD | (06/05/2002) from £21.98   |  Saving you £-5.99 (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  There's nothing straight about this movie. But here's the dope anyway: Cheech and Chong make their film debut in this riotous rock 'n' roll comedy bringing with them the same madness lifestyles and sketches that sold over 10 million records in the early '70s. Cheech and Chong's marijuana-laced humor keeps their spirits high and leads them to an outrageous finale at L.A.'s Roxy Theater where Cheech performs in a pink tutu and Chong dresses as a large red quaalude. It will make you f

• Freedomland | DVD | (04/09/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  When her son disappears and is believed dead, a single mother blames an African-American man from the projects for the kidnapping.

• Ferris Bueller's Day Off | DVD | (29/05/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  One Man's Struggle To Take It Easy. Ferris Bueller. Larger than life. Blessed with a magical sense of serendipity. He's a model for all those who take themselves too seriously. A guy who knows the value of a day off. Ferris Bueller's Day Off chronicles the events in the day of a rather cheeky young man the titular teenage hero Ferris (Matthew Broderick). One spring day toward the end of his senior year Ferris gives in to an overwhelming urge to cut school and hea

• The Sopranos: Complete Series 1 | DVD | (24/11/2003) from £13.89   |  Saving you £48.10 (346.29%)   |  RRP £61.99

  Writer-producer-director David Chase's extraordinary television seriesThe Sopranos is nominally an urban gangster drama, but its true impact strikes closer to home. This ambitious TV series chronicles a dysfunctional, suburban American family in bold relief. And for protagonist Tony Soprano, there's the added complexity posed by heading twin families, his collegiate mob clan and his own nouveau-riche brood. The brilliant first series is built around what Tony learns when, whipsawed between those two worlds, he finds himself plunged into depression and seeks psychotherapy--a gesture at odds with his midlevel capo's machismo, yet instantly recognisable as a modern emotional test. With analysis built into the very spine of the show's elaborate episodic structure, creator Chase and his formidable corps of directors, writers and actors weave an unpredictable series of parallel and intersecting plot arcs that twist from tragedy to farce to social realism. While creating for a smaller screen, they enjoy a far larger canvas than a single movie would afford and the results, like the very best episodic television, attain a richness and scope far closer to a novel than movies normally get. Unlike Francis Coppola's operatic dramatisation of Mario Puzo's Godfather epic, The Sopranos sustains a poignant, even mundane intimacy in its focus on Tony, brought to vivid life by James Gandolfini's mercurial performance. Alternately seductive, exasperated, fearful and murderous, Gandolfini is utterly convincing even when executing brutal shifts between domestic comedy and dramatic violence. Both he and the superb team of Italian-American actors recruited as his loyal (and, sometimes, not-so-loyal) henchman and their various "associates" make this mob as credible as the evocative Bronx and New Jersey locations where the episodes were filmed. The first year's other life force is Livia Soprano, Tony's monstrous, meddlesome mother. As Livia, the late Nancy Marchand eclipses her long career of patrician performances to create an indelibly earthy, calculating matriarch who shakes up both families; Livia also serves as foil and rival to Tony's loyal, usually level-headed wife, Carmela (Edie Falco). Lorraine Bracco makes Tony's therapist, Dr Melfi, a convincing confidante, by turns "professional", perceptive and sexy; the duo's therapeutic relationship is also depicted with uncommon accuracy. Such grace notes only enrich what's not merely an aesthetic high point for commercial television, but an absorbing film masterwork that deepens with subsequent screenings. --Sam Sutherland

• The Sopranos - Season 5 | DVD | (20/06/2005) from £17.99   |  Saving you £44.00 (244.58%)   |  RRP £61.99

  Facing an indeterminate sentence of weeks/months/years until new episodes, Sopranos fans are advised to take the fifth; season, that is. At this point, superlatives don't do The Sopranos justice, but justice was at last served to this benchmark series. For the first time, The Sopranos rubbed out The West Wing to take home its first Emmy for Outstanding Dramatic Series. Michael Imperioli and Drea de Matteo also earned Best Supporting Actor and Actress honors for some of their finest hours as Christopher and Adriana. From the moment a wayward bear lumbers into the Sopranos' yard in the season opener, it is clear that The Sopranos is in anything but a "stagmire." The series benefits from an infusion of new blood, the so-called "Class of 2004," imprisoned "family" members freshly released from jail. Most notable among these is Tony's cousin, Tony Blundetto (Steve Buscemi, who directed the pivotal season 3 episode "Pine Barrens"), who initially wants to go straight, but proves himself to be something of a "free agent," setting up a climactic stand-off between Tony and New York boss Johnny Sack. These 13 mostly riveting episodes unfold with a page-turning intensity with many rich subplots. Estranged couple Tony and Carmela (the incomparable James Gandolfini and Edie Falco) work toward a reconciliation (greased by Tony's purchase of a $600,000 piece of property for Carmela to develop). The Feds lean harder on an increasingly stressed-out and distraught Adriana to "snitch" with inevitable results. This season's hot-button episode is "The Test Dream," in which Tony is visited by some of the series' dear, and not-so-dearly, departed in a harrowing nightmare. With this set, fans can enjoy marathon viewings of an especially satisfying season, but considering the long wait ahead for season 6, best to take Tony's advice to his son, who, at one point, gulps down a champagne toast. "Slow down," Tony says. "You're supposed to savor it." --Donald Liebenson, Amazon.com

• Up In Smoke | Blu Ray | (17/04/2023) from £9.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  WARNING: This film may have caused uncontrollable laughter, blurry vision, and a strange sense of euphoria. Here's the straight dope: legendary comedians Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong toke up with infamous Director/Producer Lou Adler to deliver high-larious hijinks in their outrageous film debut. Two buds travel from Mexico to Los Angeles, unaware that the van they are driving is made entirely of marijuana. With herb in the air and the police on their trail, it's a joint-effort adventure that sparks laughs, pushes boundaries and crosses borders. For a pipe dream come true, settle down with Up in Smoke. Product Features How Pedro Met the Man: Up in Smoke at 40 (includes interview with Cheech & Chong) Commentary by Cheech Marin & Director Lou Adler Roach Clips (Deleted Scenes) with Optional Commentary Lighting It Up: A Look Back At Up in Smoke Earache My Eye Featuring Alice Bowie: Animated Music Video Cheech & Chong's The Man Song Vintage Radio Spots

• The Sopranos - Complete Collection | Blu Ray | (08/09/2014) from £46.65   |  Saving you £12.85 (27.55%)   |  RRP £59.50

  Tony Soprano is the head of two families and sometimes the pressure is too much to bear. As head of the Sopranos crime family he deals with conniving underbosses rival families and the occasional dead body. As husband to his wife Carmela and father to his two children Meadow and Anthony Jr. he deals with financial difficulties infidelity and trying to keep his professional life from colliding with his family life. Episodes Comprise: Season 1 The Sopranos 46 Long Denial Anger Acceptance Meadowlands College Pax Soprana Down Neck The Legend of Tennessee Moltisanti Boca A Hit is a Hit Nobody Knows Anything Isabella I Dream of Jeannie Cusamano Season 2 Guy Walks Into A Psychiatrist's Office Do Not Resuscitate Toodle-F**king-Oo Commendatori Big Girls Don't Cry The Happy Wanderer D-Girl Full Leather Jacket From Where To Eternity Bust-Out 11. House Arrest The Knight In White Satin Armor Funhouse Season 3 Mr. Ruggerio's Neighborhood Proshai Livushka Fortunate Son Employee of the Month Another Toothpick University Second Opinion He Is Risen The Telltale Moozadell To Save Us All From Satan's Power Pine Barrens Amour Fou Army of One Season 4 For All Debts Public and Private No Show Christopher The Weight Pie-O-My Everybody Hurts Watching Too Much Television Mergers and Acquisitions Whoever Did This The Strong Silent Type Calling All Cars Eloise Whitecaps Season 5 Two Tony's Rat Pack Where's Johnny All Happy Families Irregular Around the Margins Sentimental Education In Camelot Marco Polo Unidentified Black Males Cold Cuts The Test Dream Long Term Parking All Due Respect Season 6 Members Only Join The Club Mayham The Fleshy Part of the Thigh Mr. and Mrs. John Sacrimoni Request Live Free or Die Luxury Lounge Johnny Cakes The Ride Moe n' Joe Cold Stones Kaisha Soprano Home Movies Stage 5 Remember When Chasing it Walk Like a Man Kennedy and Heidi The Second Coming The Blue Comet Made in America Special Features: Season 1 Audio Commentary with Creator/Writer/Director David Chase and Peter Bogdanovich David Chase Interview (77:30) Featurette #1 Family Life (4:12) Featurette #2 Meet Tony Soprano (3:30) Season 2 Audio Commentary with: Director Tim Van Patten Director Henry J. Bronchtein and Producer Ilene Landress Director Allen Coulter and Producer Ilene Landress Director John Patterson Behind-the-Scenes Featurette: The Real Deal (04:51) Behind-the-Scenes Featurette: A Sit-Down with The Sopranos (13:36 Season 3 Audio Commentary with: Writer/Cast Member Michael Imperioli Director Steve Buscemi Series Creator/Writer David Chase Behind-the-Scenes Featurette w/host Karen Duffy (3:46) Season 4 Audio Commentary with: Writer Terence Winter Writer/Cast Member Michael Imperioli Writers Robin Green and Mitchell Burgess Series Creator/Writer David Chase Season 5 Audio Commentary with: Director Rodrigo Garcia Director Peter Bogdanovich Director Steve Buscemi Director Mike Figgis Cast Member Drea de Mattteo Season 6A Audio Commentary with: Cast Members Edie Falco Robert Iler and Jamie-Lynn Sigler Writer Matthew Weiner Writer Terence Winter and Cast Members Michael Imperioli and Tony Sirico Series Creator/Writer David Chase Season 6B Audio Commentary with: Cast Member Steven R. Schirripa Cast Member Dominic Chianese Cast Member Robert Iler Cast Members Stevie Van Zandt and Arthur Nascarella Making Cleaver (7:50) The Music of the Sopranos (16:28) Sopranos Bonus Disc Special Features:: Supper with The Sopranos Part I (36:50) Supper with The Sopranos Part II (38:02) Lost Scenes (Season 1 Episode 1): Tony and Dr. Melfi discuss Gotti Guiliani and his Mother (01:33) Lost Scenes (Season 2 Episode 1): Meadow asks Carmela about Tony's feud with his mother. Carmela and Meadow go to see Livia in the hospital and are greeted by Janice and a bodyguard etc. (04:07) Lost Scenes (Season 2 Episode 1): Pussy Silvio Paulie and the guys discuss Tony's relationshiop with his mother. (01:02) Lost Scenes (Season 3 Episode 10): Pussy is cornered in a heroin bust. (02:17) Lost Scenes (Season 4 Episode 3): Tony and Melfi discuss prejudice against Italians. (01:59) Lost Scenes (Season 5 Episode 3): Paulie calls Tony to ask for a meeting. They meet and Paulie asks for a sit-down with Feech. (02:24) Lost Scenes (Season 6A Episode 1): Junior is paranoid about a car parked on the street. (00:36) Lost Scenes (Season 6A Episode 8): Tony tells Vito it's safe to come home. (02:22) Lost Scenes (Season 6A Episode 11): Phil stops by to visit Vito's house and check the place out. (01:45) Lost Scenes (Season 6B Episode 1): Tony and Bobby play with fireworks. Janice asks where her hat is. (00:47) Alec Baldwin Interviews David Chase: Cut to the Chase (21:13) Alec Baldwin Interviews David Chase: Anatomy of the Mob (22:02) Lost Scenes (Season 2 Episode 2): Janice tells Livia she's not going to be defeated that easily. (01:51) Lost Scenes (Season 2 Episode 6): Tony rants to his family about Richie being at the funeral. (00:51) Defining A Television Landmark (45:29)

• The Lavender Hill Mob | DVD | (21/06/2004) from £7.09   |  Saving you £9.90 (139.63%)   |  RRP £16.99

  Directed by Charles Crichton, who would much later direct John Cleese in A Fish Called Wanda (1988), 1951's The Lavender Hill Mob is the most ruefully thrilling of the Ealing Comedies. Alec Guinness plays a bowler-hatted escort of bullion to the refineries. His seeming timidity, weak 'r's and punctiliousness mask a typically Guinness-like patient cunning. "I was aware I was widiculed but that was pwecisely the effect I was stwiving to achieve". He's actually plotting a heist. With more conventionally cockney villains Sid James and Alfie Bass in tow, as well as the respectable but ruined Stanley Holloway, Guinness' perfect criminal plan works in exquisite detail, then unravels just as exquisitely, culminating in a nail-biting police car chase in which you can't help rooting for the villains. The Lavender Hill Mob depicts a London still up to its knees in rubble from World War II, a world of new hope but continued austerity, a budding new order in which everything seems up for grabs; as such it could be regarded as a lighter hearted cinematic cousin to Carol Reed's 1949 masterpiece The Third Man. The Lavender Hill Mob also sees the first, fleeting on-screen appearance of Audrey Hepburn in the opening sequence. --David Stubbs

• The Sopranos: HBO Season 6 (Part 2) | DVD | (19/11/2007) from £9.61   |  Saving you £35.38 (368.16%)   |  RRP £44.99

  Critically hailed as 'a modern masterpiece' (The Observer) the series is a darkly humorous and often violent look at a New Jersey family whose patriarch happens to be a mob boss. The pace is fast the conflict fierce and the humour bitterly dark The Sopranos takes hold and doesn't let go.

• The Sopranos: Complete Series 1 (Six Disc Set) | DVD | (29/10/2000) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £61.99

  The Sopranos, writer-producer-director David Chase's extraordinary television series, is nominally an urban gangster drama, but its true impact strikes closer to home: This ambitious TV series chronicles a dysfunctional, suburban American family in bold relief. And for protagonist Tony Soprano, there's the added complexity posed by heading twin families, his collegial mob clan and his own nouveau riche brood. The series' brilliant first season is built around what Tony learns when, whipsawed between those two worlds, he finds himself plunged into depression and seeks psychotherapy--a gesture at odds with his midlevel capo's machismo, yet instantly recognisable as a modern emotional test. With analysis built into the very spine of the show's elaborate episodic structure, creator Chase and his formidable corps of directors, writers, and actors weave an unpredictable series of parallel and intersecting plot arcs that twist from tragedy to farce to social realism. While creating for a smaller screen, they enjoy a far larger canvas than a single movie would afford, and the results, like the very best episodic television, attain a richness and scope far closer to a novel than movies normally get. Unlike Francis Coppola's operatic dramatisation of Mario Puzo's Godfather epic, The Sopranos sustains a poignant, even mundane intimacy in its focus on Tony, brought to vivid life by James Gandolfini's mercurial performance. Alternately seductive, exasperated, fearful, and murderous, Gandolfini is utterly convincing even when executing brutal shifts between domestic comedy and dramatic violence. Both he and the superb team of Italian-American actors recruited as his loyal (and, sometimes, not-so-loyal) henchman and their various "associates" make this mob as credible as the evocative Bronx and New Jersey locations where the episodes were filmed. The first season's other life force is Livia Soprano, Tony's monstrous, meddlesome mother. As Livia, the late Nancy Marchand eclipses her long career of patrician performances to create an indelibly earthy, calculating matriarch who shakes up both families; Livia also serves as foil and rival to Tony's loyal, usually level-headed wife, Carmela (Edie Falco). Lorraine Bracco makes Tony's therapist, Dr Melfi, a convincing confidante, by turns "professional", perceptive, and sexy; the duo's therapeutic relationship is also depicted with uncommon accuracy. Such grace notes only enrich what's not merely an aesthetic high point for commercial television, but an absorbing film masterwork that deepens with subsequent screenings. --Sam Sutherland, Amazon.com

• Ferris Bueller's Day Off | DVD | (31/07/2000) from £4.98   |  Saving you £11.01 (221.08%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Like a soda pop left open all night, Ferris Bueller's Day Off seems to have lost its effervescence over time. Sure, Matthew Broderick is still appealing as the perennial truant, Ferris, who takes one memorable day off from school. Jeffrey Jones is nasty and scheming as the principal who's out to catch him. Jennifer Grey is winning as Ferris' sister (who ends up making out in the police station with a prophetic vision of Charlie Sheen). But there's a definite sense that this film was of a particular time frame: the 80s. It's still fun, though. There's Ferris singing "Twist and Shout" during a Chicago parade, and a lovely sequence in the Art Institute. But don't get it and expect your kids to love it the way you did. Like it or not, it's yours alone. --Keith Simanton, Amazon.com