"Actor: JOhn Goodman"

• Punchline | DVD | (14/06/2004) from £4.96   |  Saving you £1.03 (20.77%)   |  RRP £5.99

  At the height of the stand-up comedy boom of the 1980s, Punchline offered the revelation that many comedians were, in fact, rather psychologically unstable individuals for whom performing was an outlet for hostility and aggression. Wow--who would have guessed? This film focuses on two who meet and forge an unlikely friendship: Tom Hanks plays a caustic, self-destructive comic looking for his big break and Sally Field plays a more Roseanne-like comedian who begins neglecting her husband (John Goodman) and children because she gets such a kick out of performing. The offstage stuff is strictly soap opera, but Hanks and Field both develop solid comedic rhythms once they get behind a microphone. --Marshall Fine, Amazon.com

• Argo | 4K UHD | (12/12/2016) from £34.99   |  Saving you £-15.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Set against the Iranian hostage crisis of 1979 and 1980, Ben Affleck’s Argo is a nerve-jangling footnote to the birth of Ayatollah Khomeini’s Islamic Republic. The movie opens at the crest of the 1979 revolution--the storming of the US embassy in Tehran, and the escape of six diplomats to the precarious safety of the Canadian ambassador’s residence. To the rescue is Tony Mendez--a composed CIA agent whose heroism remained classified until 1997--and his state-approved plan to get the stranded embassy staff out of Iran under a brazen cover story: they’re an innocent film crew on a location hunt for the fake sci-fi blockbuster Argo. Hollywood is usually pressed into the service of the state in the name of comedy (either burying dictators in Team America: World Police or just bad news in Barry Levinson’s Wag the Dog), but Argo is a true story, and the tone of Affleck's Oscar-winning script is carefully split, switching between mounting tension in consular Tehran and a satire of the Hollywood machine as fronted by Alan Arkin and John Goodman--two raffish producers hired by Mendez to reverse-engineer some convincing buzz for the Argo movie. Affleck himself takes the role of Mendez, the steady-eyed agent betting everything on Hollywood’s age-old efficiency at creating a media circus for a project long before it exists. ‘History starts out as farce and ends up a tragedy’, remarks Goodman, but Argo ends on a patriotic upbeat, and doesn’t reflect much on history. It politely nods at the context of Iran’s attitude to the West, and we’re told about but not shown--bar the blank rage of the revolutionary mob--Iran’s anger at the Westerly flow of resources under Shah Pahlavi. Instead, Argo concentrates on the eggshell complexities of deception in plain sight, including a climactic set-piece in which Mendez’ team must fend their way through layers of suspicious Iranian airport security--with imminent capture, execution and political calamity only on the other side of their paper-thin pretext. It may have the ring of historical escapism, but Argo holds its nerve as a great Hollywood escape. --Leo Batchelor

• Treme - Season 1 (HBO) | Blu Ray | (30/05/2011) from £12.59   |  Saving you £37.40 (297.06%)   |  RRP £49.99

  As Treme opens, a group of New Orleans residents are celebrating their first "second-line parade" since Hurricane Katrina blew through the city and across the Gulf Coast just three months earlier. Folks are strutting and dancing, a brass band is blowing a joyful noise--it's a celebration of "NOLA's" resilience and proud spirit ("Won't bow--don't know how," as they say). But there's darkness just below this shiny surface, and anyone familiar with The Wire, cocreator-writer David Simon's last show, won't be a bit surprised to find that he and fellow Treme writer-producer Eric Overmyer aren't shy about going there. The New Orleans we see is a city barely starting to recover from what one character calls "a man-made catastrophe… of epic proportions and decades in the making." Many people's homes are gone, and insurance payments are a rumor. Other locals haven't come back, and still others are simply missing. The people have been betrayed by their own government, and New Orleans's reputation for corruption is hardly helped by the fact that the police force is in such disarray that the line between cop and criminal is sometimes so fine as to be nonexistent. Bad, but not all bad. NOLA still has its cuisine, its communities, and best of all its music, which permeates every chapter, from the Rebirth Brass Band's "I Feel Like Funkin' It Up" in episode 1 to Allen Toussaint and "Cha Dooky-Doo" in episode 10. There's Dixieland and zydeco, natch, but also hip-hop and rock; there are NOLA stalwarts like Dr. John, Ernie K-Doe, Lee Dorsey, and the Meters (as well as appearances by Elvis Costello, Steve Earle, and others), but plenty of younger, lesser knowns, too. Whether we hear it in the street, in a club or a recording studio, at home, or anywhere, music is the lifeblood of the city and this series, and it's handled brilliantly. Treme has a lot of characters and their stories to keep up with. There's trombonist Antoine Batiste (Wendell Pierce), a wonderful player but kind of a dog, especially to his current baby mama and his ex-wife, LaDonna (Khandi Alexander), a bar owner who's desperately searching for her missing brother. There's Creighton Bernette (John Goodman), a writer preoccupied with telling the world what's really going on in the city, and his wife Toni (Melissa Leo), a lawyer and thorn in the side of the authorities. There's Davis McAlary (Steve Zahn), a well-meaning but annoyingly clueless radio DJ, his occasional girlfriend Janette (Kim Dickens), who's struggling to keep her restaurant open, and Albert Lambreaux (Clarke Peters), who returns from Houston, finds his house in ruins, and sets about rebuilding it. You might not like all of them. Not all get through the series unscathed, or even alive. But that's part of the deal. The show feels authentic: dialogue (natural, plain, and profane), story lines, locations, camera work, the utter lack of gloss and glamour--this is no Chamber of Commerce travelogue. It's not a documentary either, but there are moments when it's just down and dirty enough to pass for one. --Sam Graham

• The Princess and the Frog Combi Pack (Blu-ray + DVD) | Blu Ray | (21/06/2010) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £23.99

  After the visual bombast of many contemporary CGI and motion-capture features, the drawn characters in The Princess and the Frog, Walt Disney Studio's eagerly awaited return to traditional animation, feel doubly welcome. Directed by John Musker and Ron Clements (The Little Mermaid, Aladdin), The Princess and the Frog moves the classic fairy tale to a snazzy version of 1920s New Orleans. Tiana (voice by Anika Noni Rose), the first African-American Disney heroine, is not a princess, but a young woman who hopes to fulfill her father's dream of opening a restaurant to serve food that will bring together people from all walks of life. Tiana may wish upon a star, but she believes that hard work is the way to fulfill your aspirations. Her dedication clashes with the cheerful idleness of the visiting prince Naveen (Bruno Campos). A voodoo spell cast by Dr. Facilier (Keith David) in a showstopping number by composer Randy Newman initiates the events that will bring the mismatched hero and heroine together. However, the animation of three supporting characters--Louis (Michael-Leon Wooley), a jazz-playing alligator; Ray (Jim Cummings), a Cajun firefly; and 197-year-old voodoo priestess Mama Odie (Jenifer Lewis)--is so outstanding, it nearly steals the film. Alternately funny, touching, and dramatic, The Princess and the Frog is an all-too-rare example of a movie a family can enjoy together, with the most and least sophisticated members appreciating different elements. The film is also a welcome sign that the beleaguered Disney Feature Animation Studio has turned away from such disasters as Home on the Range, Chicken Little, and Meet the Robinsons and is once again moving in the right direction. --Charles Solomon

• The Blues Brothers | DVD | (07/11/2005) from £12.02   |  Saving you £17.97 (149.50%)   |  RRP £29.99

  The Blues Brothers (Dir. John Landis 1980): They'll never get caught. They're on a mission from God. After the release of Jake Blues (John Belushi) from prison he and brother Elwood (Dan Aykroyd) go to visit the orphanage where they were raised by nuns. They learn that the church stopped its support and will sell the place unless the tax on the property is paid within 11 days. The brothers decide to raise the money by putting their blues band back together and stagin

• The Babe | DVD | (05/12/2005) from £7.55   |  Saving you £2.44 (32.32%)   |  RRP £9.99

  A Biographical film charting the life loves and losses of legendary baseball player George Herman ""Babe"" Ruth. The Babe begins with Ruth's days in a Baltimore boys' school where Brother Mathias takes Babe under his wing and teaches him to play baseball. The film then follows him through his phenomenal career and chaotic personal life.

• The Gambler | Blu Ray | (01/06/2015) from £11.98   |  Saving you £17.00 (170.17%)   |  RRP £26.99

  Jim Bennett (Academy Award®-nominee Mark Wahlberg) is a risk taker. Both an English professor and a high-stakes gambler Bennett bets it all when he borrows from a gangster (Michael Kenneth Williams) and offers his own life as collateral. Always one step ahead Bennett pits his creditor against the operator of a gambling ring (Alvin Ing) and leaves his dysfunctional relationship with his wealthy mother (Academy Award®-winner Jessica Lange) in his wake. He plays both sides immersing himself in an illicit underground world while garnering the attention of Frank (John Goodman) a loan shark with a paternal interest in Bennett’s future. As his relationship with a student (Brie Larson) deepens Bennett must take the ultimate risk for a second chance…

• The Tao Of Steve | DVD | (13/08/2001) from £25.00   |  Saving you £-5.01 (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Dex (Donal Logue) is a man who believes can charm any woman, with the help of quotes from his favourite philosophers. However when he meets his old college friend Syd he finds someone who doesn't respond well to his seductive techniques!

• Handel: The Messiah | DVD | (31/10/2000) from £20.00   |  Saving you £-0.01 (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The most popular and well-loved of all Handel's great oratorios, The Messiah here receives warm if not exactly passionate treatment under the direction of Stephen Cleobury. This is a period-instrument performance featuring Roy Goodman and his Brandenburg Consort, although not one that aims at any inflexible authenticism. The four soloists are all of the first rank, as are, of course, the choristers of King's College, Cambridge. So, musically the concert's credentials are impeccable. The setting is the Pieterskerk, Leiden, which at least boasts a sympathetic acoustic even though its visual beauties are hidden in candlelit gloom. It must have been a charming evening for the audience, but the film version doesn't really have anything more to offer the home viewer than a few close-ups of the soloists and the occasional cutaway shot of an appropriate painting. Hence, this disc will be of interest if you want to see musicians giving a delightful performance instead of just listening to them; but it's no substitute for a good audio recording. On the DVD: This is a non-anamorphic widescreen picture, not the 4:3 ratio claimed on the back cover. The sound is only PCM stereo, there are no extra features, and the disc only has the most basic of menus. Chapter access is restricted to just three points. If you wish to select a specific aria or chorus you have to refer to the inside of the booklet and work out which track you need to jump to. And would it be asking too much for the libretto, either on screen or in the booklet? Overall, a very disappointing DVD presentation of an otherwise enjoyable concert performance. --Mark Walker

• Punchline / Dragnet / The Money Pit | DVD | (04/07/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Dragnet (1987): A seemingly squeaky-clean TV reverend and a porno magazine king are suspected of operating a crime-ridden cult. Joe Friday's nephew (Aykroyd) and his 'hip' partner (Hanks) are given the task of proving these allegations armed with ""just the facts""... Punchline (1988): Sally Field and Tom Hanks star in a tender romantic and bittersweet comedy about the backstage world of stand-up comedians exposing the heartache behind the smiles of the laughter makers. The Money Pit (1986): A couple (Shelley Long Tom Hanks) buys their dream home only to find out that it's in horrible disrepair. Struggling to keep their relationship together as the house falls apart around them the two watch in horror as everything disappears - including the kitchen sink!

• Cloverfield 1-3 Collection (DVD) | DVD | (04/02/2019) from £12.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Producer J.J. Abrams takes you deeper into the Cloverfi eld universe than ever before with this mysterious sci-fi thriller. Orbiting Earth on the brink of a devastating energy war, scientists prepare to test a device that could provide unlimited power or trap them in a terrifying alternate reality. Starring Gugu Mbatha-Raw, David Oyelowo, Daniel Brühl and Chris O'Dowd, The Cloverfi eld Paradox is the ultimate journey into the unknown.

• Treme - Season 2 | Blu Ray | (30/04/2012) from £24.98   |  Saving you £27.00 (117.44%)   |  RRP £49.99

  You won't find many television series whose defining event occurred before the first episode of the first season. Then again, there aren't many, if any, series like HBO's Treme. Created by writer-producers David Simon (of The Wire) and Eric Overmyer, this show has as its driving force, its raison d'être, Katrina, the hurricane that decimated New Orleans and the Gulf Coast in 2005. The debut season began a couple of months after the storm passed through, leaving misery and chaos in its wake; the first of 11 episodes in this, the second season, starts about a year after that. Most of the action still centers around NOLA, where the locals are continuing to pick up the pieces and get on with their lives in a city now plagued with violence and disorder. Some of those who left are returning, but some may be gone for good (several scenes throughout the season take place in New York City). Some are trying to rebuild their homes (which means the endless wait for federal funds continues); others, hewing to a mantra that "no disaster should go to waste," include venal businessmen looking to capitalize on the city's pain by rebuilding New Orleans "properly." And as one character puts it, "Everybody is out of their minds." As before, there are numerous characters and story lines to keep track of. Trombonist Antoine Batiste (Wendell Pierce) takes a job teaching music to schoolkids while also putting together a hot new band, the Soul Apostles. His former wife, bar owner LaDonna (Khandi Alexander), spends much of the season suffering from the effects of a brutal assault. Chef Janette Desautel (Kim Dickens) now lives and plies her trade in Manhattan, while her former boyfriend, DJ and aspiring rapper-music exec Davis McAlary (Steve Zahn), has taken up with up-and-coming fiddler Annie Tee (Lucia Micarelli). Activist lawyer Toni Bernette (Oscar winner Melissa Leo) tries to get to the bottom of a killing that may have involved police misconduct, while daughter Sofia (India Ennenga) struggles to adapt to life without her dad, who died in the previous season. Part of the show's appeal is the fact that these folks and the others whose story lines we follow are not superheroes or world-beaters; they're just people dealing with life's daily, if not exactly ordinary, vicissitudes. But as before, it's the music that remains the show's soul and constant heartbeat, whether it's provided by regulars like Antoine, Annie, and trumpeter Delmond Lambreaux (Rob Brown), who's trying to simultaneously update and honor the traditional New Orleans sound, or guest artists including John Hiatt and Shawn Colvin. You might tune in for the writing and acting (both excellent), but in the end, it's the sounds of Treme that will keep you coming back. --Sam Graham

• The Borrowers/A Simple Wish | DVD | (26/03/2007) from £17.33   |  Saving you £-11.34 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  The Borrowers: Follows the adventures of the dauntless tiny Clock family parents Pod (Jim Broadbent) Homily (Celia Imrie) and their kids Peagreen and Arrietty - a family of tiny four inch tall people who live under the floorboards of a big house surviving by ""borrowing"" from the ""Human Bean"" family upstairs. The Borrowers turn dental floss into tightropes toaster handles into catapults socks into beds stamps into wall posters and when their world is facing extinction - in the form of Ocious P. Potter (John Goodman) their resourcefulness knows no bounds. A Simple Wish: tells the sweet-natured story of Murray a bumbling fairy godfather who has good intentions but not much else. Technically Murray is a fairy godmother--the only male member of the North American Fairy Godmother Association. After barely passing his godmother's exam he is sent to New York City to watch after Anabel a young girl who wishes that her father Oliver will land a part in a Broadway musical so that the family won't have to move to Nebraska. But when the district's previous godmother a nefarious spellcaster named Claudia arrives with her wacky sidekick Boots her plans to cripple Murray and Anabel's magical association and monopolize the wish market wreak havoc on the already unstable Murray. It's up to Murray and Anabel to pool their resources and get rid of Claudia and Boots once and for all. Director Michael Ritchie turns the fairytale knob up a notch with A Simple Wish also taking the time to poke fun at Broadway musicals. Featuring spectacular special effects and an extremely engaging performance by Wilson this is a children's fable with a fresh twist.

• The Emperor's New Groove - Collector's Edition | DVD | (05/11/2001) from £9.82   |  Saving you £15.17 (154.48%)   |  RRP £24.99

  This new Disney animated feature is set in a mythical South American land and tells of an arrogant emperor who learns a valuable lesson about life when an evil sorceress plots to take over his empire.

• Sea of Love | Blu Ray | (02/07/2012) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Al Pacino gives a powerful, critically acclaimed performance in this highly charged erotic thriller. Veteran New York City Police detective Frank Keller (Pacino) is a workaholic living on the edge. Joining forces with detective Sherman Touhey (John Goodman) to track down a bizarre serial killer, he encounters a beautiful suspect (Ellen Barkin). Convinced of her innocence, Keller enters into a passionate affair, despite hard evidence linking her to the murders. Mounting suspense leads to a surprising conclusion as Keller finds himself caught in an undercurrent of deception, seduction and betrayal.

• Born Yesterday | DVD | (10/08/2004) from £23.99   |  Saving you £-9.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  The story of a Las Vegas showgirl whose lack of sophistication worries her boyfriend. He fears her ignorance will ruin his business opportunities. He hires an intelligent journalist to educate her in the ways of the world but she soon learns there is more to life than mink coats and diamond rings.

• What Planet Are You From ? | DVD | (15/01/2001) from £6.73   |  Saving you £13.26 (197.03%)   |  RRP £19.99

  What Planet Are You From? stars Garry Shandling whose hilarious TV series The Larry Sanders Show offered him a great vehicle to show his comic performance abilities; you could scarcely tell the difference between his smile and his grimace--he always looked as if Hollywood was giving him a bad case of gas. However in this shockingly unfunny film, which Shandling co-wrote, one can only imagine that the other writers severely diluted Shandling's original intentions--the wince, his only expression, seems real. Worse, you'll share his dismay. Shandling stars as an alien from a sterile race of clones who is sent to Earth to procreate with an Earth woman--exactly why this is necessary is left fuzzy. Ostensibly, given the title, this should lead to a raucous satire of dating mores. Instead, our space invader quickly takes up with a recovering alcoholic played by Annette Bening, and we chart their stridently bumpy but predictable relationship. Greg Kinnear co-stars as a slimy co-worker; Linda Fiorentino plays Kinnear's man-eating wife; John Goodman portrays an FAA official who's onto Shandling's secret; and Ben Kingsley appears as the humourless leader of the alien planet. The single recurring joke involves the alien's genitalia and its propensity, when excited, to buzz loudly, which it does at least 10 or 15 times--afterit ceases to be remotely amusing. Shandling plays his character as so stunningly obtuse that whenever he manages a genuinely clever line it practically seems out of character; the rest of the talented cast flounders, similarly lost. Director Mike Nichols has staged painfully awkward scenes with Elan in the (distant) past--think The Graduate or Carnal Knowledge--but What Planet Are You From? simply sits there, flailing desperately, seemingly aware of its own crushing tedium. Large chunks of the film appear to have been left on the editing room floor; it's hard to imagine material even more comically futile than what appears onscreen. --David Kronke, Amazon.com

• The Blues Brothers 2000 | Blu Ray | (22/08/2011) from £8.00   |  Saving you £9.99 (55.50%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Eighteen years after the Brothers' original 'mission from God' Elwood Blues (Dan Aykroyd) is getting out of prison and discovering that much has changed in the time he's been away. His partner Jake is gone his band is no longer together and the orphanage where he grew up has been demolished. Elwood soon realises that he must embark on a whole new mission - to assemble the old band this time with the help of a soulful bartender (John Goodman) compete at Queen Moussette's (Erykah Badu) Battle of the Bands and set a wayward orphan named Buster on the path to redemption. Special appearances by B.B. King Aretha Franklin James Brown Johnny Lang Blues Traveler Eric Clapton and many more. It's an action-packed comedy with lots of Rhythm and Blues.

• Babe / The Borrowers / Casper | DVD | (03/10/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Babe (Dir. Chris Noonan 1995): Introducing a barnyard full of captivating characters unlike any you've ever met! There's Farmer Hoggett (James Cromwell); Fly the sheep dog; Rex her shepherding partner; Ferdinanad the quacky duck; Maa the elderly ewe; and the newest addition to Hoggett Farm Babe a most unusual Yorkshire piglet. It's a delightful story the whole family will love! The Borrowers (Dir. Peter Hewit 1998): Follows the adventures of the dauntless tiny Clock family parents Pod (Jim Broadbent) Homily (Celia Imrie) and their kids Peagreen and Arrietty - a family of tiny four inch tall people who live under the floorboards of a big house surviving by borrowing from the Human Bean family upstairs. The Borrowers turn dental floss into tightropes toaster handles into catapults socks into beds stamps into wall posters and when their world is facing extinction - in the form of Ocious P. Potter (John Goodman) their resourcefulness knows no bounds. Casper (Dir. Brad Silberling 1995): Ghost therapist Dr. James Harvey and his daughter Kat arrive at drafty old Whipstaff Manor. Its greedy owner Carrigan Crittendon has hired Dr. Harvey to exorcise the house's apparitions: a friendly but lonely young ghost named Casper who's just looking for a friend and his outrageous uncles Stretch Stinkie and Fatso. If the plan works she and Dibs her partner-in-slime can get their hands on the manor's fabled treasure. Meanwhile Casper has found a kindred spirit in Kat but The Ghostly Trio will not tolerate fleshies in their house. With hilarious antics and dazzling special effects Casper is a fun-packed adventure comedy for the whole family.

• Turn It Up | DVD | (25/02/2002) from £6.00   |  Saving you £13.99 (233.17%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Respect Is Something You Earn. Turn It Up is an explosive contemporary drama about a gifted musician's struggle to rise above the crime-plagued urban streets and realize his dream. Diamond (""Pras"" of the Fugees and Mystery Men) is unwittingly drawn into the world of drug-running by his childhood friend Gage (rapper Ja Rule Backstage). The sudden death of Diamond's mother and the untimely pregnancy of his girlfriend force Diamond to make hard choices about his life and the people