"Actor: Hall"

• Ally McBeal - Season 1 Part 1 | DVD | (07/10/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Much lighter in tone than creator, producer and writer David E Kelley's other forays into legal drama LA Law, and The Practice, the slick thirtysomething series Ally McBeal has never been out-and-out comedy but it spikes its exploration of emotional territory with sharp funny lines. Ally (Calista Flockhart) is a kookie cutie, a ditzy, skinny, single lawyer and we are privy to scenes from her overactive imagination (courtesy of CGI), surrounded by larger-than-life peripheral characters--almost grotesques--like outspoken boss Richard Fish (Greg Germann), nervy courtroom wizz John "The Biscuit" Cage (Peter MacNicol) and nosy secretary Elaine Vassal (Jane Krakowski). In later series these characters (including popular newcomers Lucy Lui and Portia de Rossi as frosty law babes Ling and Nelle) would edge towards one-dimensional caricatures as the same ground was retrodden relentlessly, but in this first series there is something compelling about the intrusive dynamics of this group of oddballs. The point is you don't have to like them to find them entertaining. Ally herself can be extremely irritating in a love-to-hate-her kind of a way. She is a curious dichotomy, a 1990s woman with a go-getting career and a penchant for her own way and yet with the romantic ideals of someone from another generation. Basically still hung up on ex-boyfriend Billy (Gil Bellows) who works for same Boston practice, alongside wife Georgia (Courtney Thorne-Smith), Ally is on the look out for her Prince Charming. The first series and its lead both garnered Golden Globes, a lot of gossip and a healthy audience for the Fox television network in America. Channel 4 snapped it up for British audiences who were intrigued, not least by the unisex toilets and sophisticated afterwork bar soirées where chanteuse Vonda Shepherd was always to be found crooning away in the corner. All in all, Ally McBeal leaves you with the conundrum of wanting more but not being able to say why. --Emma Perry

• CSI: Crime Scene Investigation - Season 1 Part 1 | DVD | (01/07/2002) from £5.88   |  Saving you £34.11 (580.10%)   |  RRP £39.99

  The latest in a long line of successful US police dramas, the forensic cop show Crime Scene Investigation varies the formula by focusing on a team of civilian scientists who work the night shift in Las Vegas, poring over crime scenes for fingerprints, blood spatters, DNA-laced mucus and (especially) maggots. Star William Petersen plays a variation of his role from Manhunter, the cool puzzle-solving genius who can rattle off mystifying speeches with aplomb, while his contrasting partner is Marg Helgenberger, cast as a single mother/ex-stripper who is as concerned with the emotional as well as the physical mess left by crime. While most US cop shows (witness NYPD Blue) tend towards soap, neglecting the cases in favour of personal crises, CSI gives its regulars enough life to make them human but is essentially puzzle-based, with individual episodes following two or three cases à la Homicide: Life on the Street. The occasional special focuses on a major job with the team investigating the slaughter of a whole family ("Blood Drops") or a death in first class on a plane over Vegas ("Unfriendly Skies"). A few continuing threads are laid down, with a recurrent villain who gets away, but will inevitably return, but on the whole these shows play pretty well as one-offs. Very high-tech in style, with lots of zooms into microscopic examinations of hair follicles or stomach contents and distinctive visualisations of the different stories told by witnesses and evidence, this is one of the best shows currently airing. On the DVD: CSI's first DVD box set contains the show's first 12 episodes: the pilot followed by "Cool Change", "Crate & Burial", "Pledging Mr Johnson"; "Friends and Lovers", "Who Are You?", "Blood Drops"; "Anonymous", "Unfriendly Skies", "Sex Lies and Larvae"; "The I-15 Murders" and "Fahrenheit 932". In addition to inventive menus, the three-disc set offers character profiles, a trailer, some B-roll on-set footage, a subtitle option, and snippet-like interviews with the cast and creatives. --Kim Newman

• C.S.I. Season 6 Part 1 | DVD | (26/02/2007) from £8.99   |  Saving you £26.00 (289.21%)   |  RRP £34.99

  C.S.I. is an acclaimed edgy fast-paced drama series about a passionate team of forensic investigators (among them William Petersen and Marg Helgenberger) who work the graveyard shift at the Las Vegas Criminalistics Bureau. Their job - to find the missing pieces at the scene that will help to solve the crime and vindicate those who often cannot speak for themselves - the victims. Between the hidden clues and the buried motives lies the trail to the truth because people lie... but the evidence never does. Following on from the explosive Season 5 finale which saw the kidnap of team member Nick Stokes Season 6 sees the once fractured team reunited. With Las Vegas's bright lights and glamour as the backdrop the Clark County CSI night shift once more takes on the task of cleaning up what lies beneath the neon and the money. In this 3-disc release we learn of Warrick taking a walk down the aisle Nick tries to cope with his near death experience and Grisson will begin to open up and engage with his emotions and people. Features Part 1 of Series 6 Episodes 1 - 12

• Ginger Rogers - Screen Goddess Collection | DVD | (28/08/2006) from £19.06   |  Saving you £30.93 (162.28%)   |  RRP £49.99

  Major And The Minor (Dir. Billy Wilder 1942): A woman disguises herself as a child to save on a train fare and is taken in charge by an army man who doesn't notice the truth. Bachelor Mother (Dir. Garson Kanin 1939): Ginger Rogers stars as a department store salesclerk about to be laid off after the Christmas holiday who happens to be passing an orphanage when a woman leaves a baby on the doorstep. The orphanage assumes that Rogers is the mother despite her protests; when they contact the department store the owner's son (David Niven) decides to restore her job so that she can take care of the child. Before long rumors are flying that Niven is the child's father... Top Hat (Mark Sandrich 1935): Following a case of mistaken identity dancer Jerry (Astaire) follows Dale (Rogers) the girl of his dreams to Europe and tries to win her heart through song and dance routines... This most lavish of musicals from Hollywood's golden era features lyrics and music by Irving Berlin. Gay Divorcee (Mark Sandrich 1934): In one of their best loved most charming song-and-dance comedies Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers demonstrate just how they became best known as America's greatest dance team. It Had To Be You (Dir. Don Hartman Rudloph Mate 1947): Victoria Stafford (Ginger Rogers) is a wealthy young woman who has been engaged three times and who has changed her mind at the last second at all three weddings. She is engaged again and is determined to wed her fourth fiance Oliver H.P. Harrington (Ron Randell) when she has a dream in which a man dressed like an Indian (Cornel Wilde) breaks up her fourth wedding. Upon awakening she is startled to find that the ""Indian"" from her dream is real... Tight Spot (Dir. Phil Karson 1955): Sherry Conley a street tough and cynical woman with an unhappy family background is taken from prison to a hotel where the DA tries to convince her to testify against a mobster. Sherry is reluctant because the last witness was murdered before he made it to the stand and why should she stick her neck out? At the hotel several attempts are made on her life and she falls for Vince the policemen guarding her...

• Christine | DVD | (27/02/2017) from £7.76   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Rebecca Hall stars in director Antonio Campos' third feature film, 'Christine', the story of a woman who finds herself caught in the crosshairs of a spiraling personal life and career crisis.

• Six Feet Under: Complete Series 2 | DVD | (21/06/2004) from £21.98   |  Saving you £31.00 (155.08%)   |  RRP £50.99

  In some ways, HBO's Six Feet Under plays kid brother to the Sopranos: it's spunkier, less refined, chancier and a bit of a punk. Nevertheless, the show, set in the southern California mortuary Fisher and Sons, deserves its place in the pantheon of great television series. The initial series was a showcase for the most original characters, including tight-lipped brother David (Michael C Hall) coming out of the closet, emotionally trippy mom Ruth (Frances Conroy) and the most complex girlfriend on the face of the planet, Brenda (Rachel Griffiths). Slowly, the major force in series two 2 is the unassuming lead, Peter Krause. Part of the long line of good-looking actors who never get respect because they make it look too easy, Krause finds the perfect blend of optimism and wonderful, bittersweet anguish as Nate, the prodigal son. The opening series' happy ending is forgotten as relationships change, the business is still under fire from the evil conglomerate Kroehner, and a lively dream sequence is just around the corner. As with the first series, creator Alan Ball lets many others direct and write the show, but his stamp is all over it. The eccentricities of the characters are shaped, and not always suddenly. Take daughter Claire (Lauren Ambrose), who sheds her bad boyfriend only to find more complex relationships on her road to discovering her own groove. One person in the mix is Ruth's beatnik sister (Patricia Clarkson, in an Emmy-winning role). She's a joyous embodiment of thriving--if ageing--counter-culture. Another new character is Nate's old girlfriend, the granola-loving Lisa (Lili Taylor). With Brenda heading down another destructive course, Nate is at more than one crossroads by series' end. For fans who groove with the wild, serio-comedic world of the Fishers (and let's face it, many didn't), the second series goes down like a fine meal of fusion cuisine. --Doug Thomas

• The Dead Zone - Season 1 | DVD | (30/01/2006) from £11.98   |  Saving you £35.00 (350.35%)   |  RRP £44.99

  Johnny Smith's life is interrupted by a near fatal car crash that leaves him in a deep coma for six years. When he regains consciousness he discovers that he now possesses amazing psychic powers; powers that allow him to see into the life of anyone he touches... Based on the characters and story from the best-selling book by Stephen King 'The Dead Zone' is a unique psychological thriller that combines a rich mix of action the paranormal and a continuing quest for peace. Episodes

• Rush Hour 1 And 2 | DVD | (27/09/2004) from £20.49   |  Saving you £-5.50 (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Rush Hour: Two cops from very different worlds must learn to trust each other before they can win a high-stakes battle against a ruthless enemy who threatens to demolish the fragile peace between their countries. The fastest hands in the east meets the loudest mouth in the west! Rush Hour 2: Chopsocky action star Jackie Chan reteams with motormouth Chris Tucker in this 'Rush Hour' sequel as the mismatched cop duo investigate several bombings in Hong Kong attributed

• Christine | Blu Ray | (27/02/2017) from £6.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Based on true events, Christine is the shocking story of a Florida news reporter who, in 1974, shocked the world by taking her own life live on air. Christine, always the smartest person in the room at a small town Florida news station, is relentless in her pursuit of an on-air position. As an aspiring newswoman with an eye for nuance and an interest in social justice, she finds herself constantly butting heads with her boss, who pushes for juicier stories that will drive up ratings. Plagued by self-doubt and a tumultuous home life, Christine's diminishing hope begins to rise when an on-air co-worker initiates a friendship which ultimately becomes yet another unrequited love. Disillusioned as her world continues to close in on her, Christine takes a dark and surprising turn.

• The Stuart Hall Project (DVD) | DVD | (20/01/2014) from £9.15   |  Saving you £10.84 (118.47%)   |  RRP £19.99

  This absorbing documentary from director John Akomfrah (The Nine Muses, Handsworth Songs) presents an intimate and engaging portrait of Stuart Hall, the Jamaican-born public intellectual and co-founder of the New Left Review, whose work in the field of cultural theory has profoundly influenced the academic landscape. Using extensive footage of Hall's appearances on radio and television, the film explores its themes of memory, race and identity through the juxtaposition of events from Hall's l...

• Six Feet Under: Complete Series 3 | DVD | (04/04/2005) from £21.40   |  Saving you £29.59 (138.27%)   |  RRP £50.99

  The complete third season of the quirky U.S. drama series created by 'American Beauty' writer Alan Ball. One of the most acclaimed shows on TV Six Feet Under takes a darkly comic look at a dysfunctional L.A. Family running an independent funeral home. This season thanks to the financial contributions of their mortician Frederico Fisher & Sons has become Fisher & Diaz and the Fisher family members face major adjustments as they open a new chapter in their professional and perso

• As Time Goes By Series 1 & 2 | DVD | (17/03/2003) from £10.58   |  Saving you £-0.59 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Long ago Lionel a dashing young British Army officer met Jean a lovely student nurse and fell deeply in love. When Lionel was shipped off to fight in the Korean war the two lost touch. Now they meet again and slowly begin to rekindle their romance. Episode titles: Series 1: 1. You Must Remember This 2. Getting To Know You - Again 3. The Copper Kettle 4. Surprise Surprise 5. Relationships 6. The Picnic Series 2: 1. White Hunter 2. A Weekend Away 3. Visiting Rocky 4. Why? 5. Misunderstandings 6. The Cruise 7. The Book Signing

• You Kill Me | DVD | (14/04/2008) from £4.24   |  Saving you £13.01 (436.58%)   |  RRP £15.99

  While drying out on the west coast, an alcoholic hitman befriends a sharp-tongued woman who might just come in handy when it's time for him to return to Buffalo and settle some old scores.

• Chicago Hope - Season 5 | DVD | (16/09/2013) from £14.92   |  Saving you £25.07 (168.03%)   |  RRP £39.99

  The penultimate season of David E. Kelley s acclaimed medical drama comes to DVD for the very first time in this 6 disc set. In Season Five of the award-winning show, there are accusations of racism when two of the doctors refuse to treat an African-American patient; Kate announces that she plans to fly with NASA, which could be more tricky than she thought; Diane puts herself at risk of contracting HIV when she cuts herself during surgery and the return of an old colleague causes mayhem wh...

• John Wayne - The Three Musketeers | DVD | (09/06/2008) from £9.92   |  Saving you £-3.93 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  'All for one and one for all' in this action-packed 12 part serial adaptation of Alexander Dumas's The Three Musketeers. Tom Wayne (John Wayne) is a fugitive from justice framed for a murder he did not commit. El Shaitan the mysterious and diabolical leader of the Devil's Circle a group who are plotting an Arab rebellion against the Foreign Legion is to blame. It's up to Tom's sweetheart Elaine (Ruth Hall) and the trustworthy Three Musketeers - Clancy (Jack Mulhall) Renard (Raymond Hatton) and Schmidt (Francis X. Bushman Jr.) - to put an end to his reign of terror and clear Tom's name.

• Fortress | DVD | (23/07/2012) from £3.82   |  Saving you £9.17 (240.05%)   |  RRP £12.99

  When the commander of the crew of a B-17 Flying Fortress bomber is killed in action in a raid over Sicily in 1943, his replacement, a young, naive pilot struggles to be accepted by the plane's already tight-knit Irish American crew.Ordered into a suicide mission, their only chance for survival is to band together as brothers in battle. With unparalleled aerial action, Fortress pays homage to the sacrifices of an entire generation during the most important war in history.

• Hells Angels | DVD | (13/06/2005) from £14.79   |  Saving you £-8.80 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  The eccentric Hollywood Billionaire Howard Hughes produced and directed Hell's Angels the most expensive film made at the time. Hughes spared no expense in capturing an exciting dogfight between R.A.F. and German fighter planes using 137 pilots in all. Hell's Angels is perhaps more notable for introducing Jean Harlow to the screen in her first major film role. Set during World War I Hell's Angels is the story of three Oxford buddies: two brothers (Ben Lyon and Jam

• Dexter - Season 1 | Blu Ray | (18/06/2012) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £39.99

  To all around him, Blood splatter analyst Dexter Morgan appears to be a perfect gentleman and respected member of the police force but, behind this convincing facade, Dexter harbours a terrifying secret. He is a serial killer.Orphaned at the age of four, Dexter (Michael C. Hall) was adopted by Miami police officer Harry Morgan (James Remar), after finding him abandoned at a particularly gruesome crime scene. Discovering that Dexter had murderous urges, Harry taught the natural born killer to channel his gruesome passion in a constructive way - to kill only those who 'deserve' it! By means of satisfying his interest in blood and to erase his own crimes, Dexter now works as a forensic expert in blood patterns for the Miami Dade Police Department: the department currently investigating a spate of victims fallen at the hands of an unknown murderer branded `The Ice Truck Killer'. Discovering that the city's slayer is provocatively leaving personal messages for him to pick up, Dexter begins to wonder if `The Ice Truck Killer' is closer to him than first thought.Emmy-Award winning screenwriter James Manos Jr. (The Sopranos) delivers a dark, engrossing, yet funny adaptation of Jeff Lyndsay's crime novel Darkly Dreaming Dexter. Forefront of its shining cast is Michael C. Hall who takes complete control of Dexter and provides us not only with a clear insight into the mind of a serial killer but also forces the audience to grapple with the wonderfully twisted moral ambiguity of having a serial killer as a likeable `hero'.

• Weekend at Bernie's | DVD | (10/09/2001) from £11.99   |  Saving you £-2.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Weekend at Bernie's starts when two lowly clerks at an insurance agency uncover a $2 million fraud and report it to their boss, Bernie (Terry Kiser). Unfortunately for them, Bernie is the one behind the fraud and he invites them to his island beach house for the weekend, where he intends to have them killed by his mob contacts. Unfortunately for Bernie, the mob decides to rub him out instead--that's when the clerks, Richard (Jonathan Silverman) and Larry (Andrew McCarthy), arrive and discover Bernie's body. At first they panic and start to call the police but when a party of islanders sweeps in, Richard and Larry also discover that the local residents are so self-absorbed they don't notice that Bernie is dead. So if our heroes can just convince everyone that Bernie is still alive for the weekend, they can have a splendid time. Unfortunately, they also convince the mob hitman, who keeps trying to take Bernie out. Weekend at Bernie's was made at the height of 1980s fashion and features many amusing outfits and hairstyles--often the styles are funnier than the dialogue and the characters are tissue-paper thin. Still, there's no denying that the movie chugs along from bit to bit and never takes itself more seriously than it should, which is a cheerful, disposable piece of fluff. --Bret Fetzer

• In a Stranger's Hand | DVD | (29/01/2007) from £4.98   |  Saving you £1.01 (20.28%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Wealthy Jack Bauer (Urich) comes to the aid of a mother Laura McKillin whose daughter has been abducted. Together to their horror they discover a dedicated ring of professional child snatchers...