"Actor: Jo Gibb"

• Cats - Ultimate Edition | DVD | (06/05/2002) from £6.47   |  Saving you £13.52 (208.96%)   |  RRP £19.99

  A performance of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical 'Cats' filmed live at the Aldelphi Theatre.

• 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

• Ealing Comedy DVD Collection - The Ladykillers/Kind Hearts and Coronets/The Lavender Hill Mob/The Man in the White Suit | DVD | (02/09/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Four of the British film industry's best-loved comedies in one box set makes The Ealing Comedy Collection absolutely essential for anyone who has any passion at all for movies. The set contains Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949), The Lavender Hill Mob (1951), The Man in the White Suit (1951) and The Ladykillers (1955). Ealing's greatest comedies captured the essence of post-war Britain, both in their evocation of a land once blighted by war but now rising doggedly and optimistically again from the ashes, and in their mordant yet graceful humour. They portray a country with an antiquated class system whose crumbling conventions are being undermined by a new spirit of individual opportunism. In the delightfully wicked Kind Hearts and Coronets, a serial killer politely murders his way into the peerage; in The Lavender Hill Mob a put-upon bank clerk schemes to rob his employers; The Man in the White Suit is a harshly satirical depiction of idealism crushed by the status quo; while The Ladykillers mocks both the criminals and the authorities with its unlikely octogenarian heroine Mrs "lop-sided" Wilberforce. Many factors contribute to the success of these films--including fine music scores from composers such as Benjamin Frankel (Man in the White Suit) and Tristram Cary (The Ladykillers); positively symphonic sound effects (White Suit); marvellously evocative locations (the environs of King's Cross in Ladykillers, for example); and writing that always displays Ealing's unique perspective on British social mores ("All the exuberance of Chaucer without, happily, any of the concomitant crudities of his period")--yet arguably their greatest asset is Alec Guinness, whose multifaceted performances are the keystone upon which Ealing built its biting, often macabre, yet always elegant comedy. On the DVD: The Ealing Comedy Collection presents the four discs in a fold-out package with postcards of the original poster artwork for each. Aside from theatrical trailers on each disc there are no extra features, which is a pity given the importance of these films. The Ladykillers is in muted Technicolor and presented in 1.66:1 ratio, the three earlier films are all black and white 1.33:1. Sound is perfectly adequate mono throughout. --Mark Walker

• Oliver Twist -- Special Edition | DVD | (26/09/2008) from £12.98   |  Saving you £3.01 (23.19%)   |  RRP £15.99

  There have been many film and TV adaptations of Oliver Twist but this 1948 production from director David Lean remains the definitive screen interpretation of the Charles Dickens classic. From the ominous symbolism of its opening storm sequence (in which Oliver's pregnant, ill-fated mother struggles to reach shelter before childbirth) to the mob-scene climax that provokes Bill Sikes's dreadful comeuppance, this breathtaking black-and-white film remains loyal to Dickens while distilling the story into its purest cinematic essence.Every detail is perfect--Lean even includes a coffin-shaped snuffbox for the cruel Mr. Sowerberry--and as young Oliver, eight-year-old John Howard Davies (who would later produce Monty Python's Flying Circus for the BBC) perfectly expresses the orphan's boyish wonderment, stern determination and waifish vulnerability. Best of all is Alec Guinness as Fagin, so devious and yet so delightfully appealing under his beak-nosed (and, at the time, highly controversial) make-up. (Many complained that Fagin's huge nose and greedy demeanour presented an anti-Semitic stereotype, even though Lean never identifies Fagin as Jewish; for this reason, the film wasn't shown in the US until three years after its British release.) Likewise, young Anthony Newley is artfully dodgy as Fagin's loyal accomplice, the Artful Dodger. Guinness's performance would later provide strong inspiration for Ron Moody's equally splendid portrayal of Fagin in the Oscar-winning Oliver! and while that 1968 musical remains wonderfully entertaining, it is Lean's film that hews closest to Dickens' vision. The authentic recreation of 19th-century London is marvellous to behold; Guy Green's cinematography is so shadowy and stylised that it almost qualifies as Dickensian film noir. Lean is surprisingly blunt in conveying Dickens's theme of cruelty but his film never loses sight of the warmth and humanity that Oliver embodies. --Jeff Shannon

• Salvador--Special Edition | DVD | (10/09/2001) from £7.74   |  Saving you £5.25 (67.83%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Salvador recounts the conflict between the peasant revolution and the US-backed death squads in El Salvador in the early 1980s as seen through the eyes of American journalist Richard Boyle. Telling unpalatable truths condensed into intense fiction, Oliver Stone's film is typically confrontational, the real Boyle writing the source material for Stone's savage screenplay. The journalist is brought to life by James Woods in a brilliant hyper-kinetic performance: his powerful commitment to the truth balances his self-destructive, drink, drugs and danger-fuelled personality. Providing excellent support is James Belushi as partner in debauchery Dr Rock, while Stone delivers the most spectacular $4 million movie imaginable by conning the El Salvadorian military into lending tanks, planes and helicopters for a film which brands many of their leaders as war criminals. Genuinely radical cinema, Salvador blisters with moral fury, setting it beside The Killing Fields (1984) as a modern classic. On the DVD: Without spoiling the plot, the original trailer is so compelling it makes you want to watch the film again even if you've just seen it. The are four deleted/extended scenes which add a little more political background--unfortunately the legendary orgy/severed-ears seen is not among them. Parts, though not the whole of this scene, appear in the exceptionally good 62-minute retrospective documentary which covers the extraordinary making of the film and the horrors of the political background in depth (a technical advisor was shot dead on a tennis court). Oliver Stone delivers the best commentary tracks around and this is no exception as he presents a masterclass in gonzo-guerrilla filmmaking. There is also a gallery of 46 behind-the-scenes stills. Given the circumstances, Robert Richardson's cinematography is miraculously accomplished and, excepting some grain, transfers to DVD, anamorphically enhanced at 1.77:1, very well. The original low-budget sound has made the transition to three-channel Dolby Digital with style, George Delerue's machine-gun score having real urgency and the action being appropriately chaotic. --Gary S Dalkin

• All Creatures Great And Small - Series 2 - Part 2 | DVD | (15/09/2003) from £10.49   |  Saving you £14.50 (138.23%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Based on James Herriot's autobiographical best sellers 'If Only They Could Talk' and 'It Shouldn't Happen to a Vet' the long running TV series 'All Creatures Great and Small' continued to satisfy the Herriot hysteria of the British public. Episode titles: 'Tricks Of The Trade' 'Pride Of Possession' 'The Name Of The Game' 'Puppy Love' 'Ways And Means' 'Pups Pigs And Pickle' 'A Dog's Life' 'Merry Gentlemen'.

• All Creatures Great and Small - Series 1, Part 2 | DVD | (05/05/2003) from £8.25   |  Saving you £18.00 (257.51%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Based on James Herriot's autobiographical best sellers 'If Only They Could Talk' and 'It Shouldn't Happen to a Vet' the long running TV series 'All Creatures Great and Small' continued to satisfy the Herriot hysteria of the British public.

• The Bee Gees - One Night Only (DTS Version) | DVD | (29/05/2000) from £14.89   |  Saving you £0.10 (0.67%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Taped as a lavish cable television special in 1997, One Night Only trades on the Bee Gees' shape-shifting career as pop survivors. Over the course of 111 minutes, this straightforward concert, produced at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and groomed for both video and CD posterity, sprints through 31 songs from their past three decades. Even after the inevitable disco jokes are expended, and the jaundiced viewer contemplates the role hats, hairspray, and comb-overs now play in dressing the once stylishly long-haired troika, the Gibb brothers' signature vocal harmonies and hook-laden song craft beg respect.Casual listeners can't be blamed for equating the Bee Gees with the dance floor bonanza they reaped through 1978's Saturday Night Fever, yet that commercial zenith was actually the culmination of a comeback for a group that had seemed washed up by the early 1970s. One Night Only thankfully takes an even-handed view of both their original late 1960s hits ("Massachusetts", "To Love Somebody", "Lonely Days"), building from a cannily Beatle-browed vocal sound, and the 1970s blue-eyed soul ("Jive Talkin'", "Nights on Broadway") that led them naturally into disco. The Fever hits are here, as are Gibb originals that clicked for other acts; the family circle also widens for a posthumous duet with their late brother, Andy Gibb, while Celine Dion gets star billing in the collaborative "Immortality". --Sam Sutherland

• Cats - Ultimate Edition | DVD | (13/10/2000) from £20.49   |  Saving you £-14.50 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Cats is a pop-cultural phenomenon that has been performed on stage for more than 50 million patrons in 26 countries for almost 18 years, resulting in more than two billion dollars in ticket sales. Now that Cats has finally made it to the small screen, attention must be paid not just by fans of this critic-proof show, but also by those entertainment mavens who have somehow avoided it until now. This video version has been restaged but, alas, not really reconceived for its new medium. Most of the cast--assembled from London, Amsterdam and New York productions--are competent. Ken Page as Old Deuteronomy, Jacob Brent as Mr Mistoffelees and Elaine Paige--the original London Grizabella, the Glamour Cat well past her prime--are a great deal more than that. Paige has toned down her theatrical belting of her big number, "Memory", and allowed the faded ruin of her character's soul to prevail in close-up. For all the covers of her signature song, Paige's version remains definitive. The video is, by definition, more intimate, which is not always a good thing: costumes are even more Halloweeny in garish close-up, the cats less cuddly without that all-important interaction, the stage's appropriately midnight lighting transmuted to a Las Vegas neon. And the chorus of cats in production numbers is even clunkier and more amorphous in two- and three-shots. The one complete newcomer to the cast is the 90-year-old icon among English actors, John Mills, a delight as Gus the Theatrical Cat. Sir John and his character show the youngsters how it's done in close-up, largely behind the eyes, abetted by a heart-tugging delivery of his one song. Yet virtually all of the songs are lip-synched, further robbing the video Cats of its onstage spontaneity. It's clearer than ever that Lloyd Webber's music is mostly twaddle, with the important exception of "Memory", which instantly and rightly became one of the genuine theatre standards not dependent on context, in the vein of Stephen Sondheim's "Send in the Clowns". On the plus side, most of the characters and lyrics, from TS Eliot's 14-poem Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, are far better defined and understood from the video version. --Robert Windeler, Amazon.com

• All Creatures Great And Small - Series 2 - Part 1 | DVD | (07/07/2003) from £9.98   |  Saving you £17.00 (212.77%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Based on James Herriot's autobiographical best sellers 'If Only They Could Talk' and 'It Shouldn't Happen to a Vet' the long running TV series 'All Creatures Great and Small' continued to satisfy the Herriot hysteria of the British public.

• Just Another Saturday | DVD | (26/06/2006) from £17.99   |  Saving you £-8.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Originally broadcast as part of the BBC's 'Play for Today' series in 1975 this controversial tale is set in Glasgow during the Orange Walk parade and features appearances by Eileen McCallum Ken Hutchison and Billy Connolly. John Morrison stars as John McNeil a young man who is gradually coming to terms with the violent and unpleasant truth behind the marching and symbolic pageantry.

• Fame Academy | DVD | (13/01/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £2.99

  Fame Academy the Extended Remix tells the whole story of Fame Academy from the Auditions to final live showdown and the winner getting their amazing prize. See the students arrive at the Academy Carrie's first dressing down Kevin working them hard the first expulsion David's arrival. You'll see everything warts and all - the highs and lows the tears the romance and of course the amazing music. With footage of the live final including backstage stuff you won't have seen before the masterclasses singing for survival and the highlights of the fantastic live final this is an unmissable treat for all Fame Academy fanatics!!

• The Bee Gees - One Night Only | DVD | (09/10/2000) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Taped as a lavish cable television special in 1997, One Night Only trades on the Bee Gees' shape-shifting career as pop survivors. Over the course of 111 minutes, this straightforward concert, produced at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and groomed for both video and CD posterity, sprints through 31 songs from their past three decades. Even after the inevitable disco jokes are expended, and the jaundiced viewer contemplates the role hats, hairspray, and comb-overs now play in dressing the once stylishly long-haired troika, the Gibb brothers' signature vocal harmonies and hook-laden song craft beg respect.Casual listeners can't be blamed for equating the Bee Gees with the dance floor bonanza they reaped through 1978's Saturday Night Fever, yet that commercial zenith was actually the culmination of a comeback for a group that had seemed washed up by the early 1970s. One Night Only thankfully takes an even-handed view of both their original late 1960s hits ("Massachusetts", "To Love Somebody", "Lonely Days"), building from a cannily Beatle-browed vocal sound, and the 1970s blue-eyed soul ("Jive Talkin'", "Nights on Broadway") that led them naturally into disco. The Fever hits are here, as are Gibb originals that clicked for other acts; the family circle also widens for a posthumous duet with their late brother, Andy Gibb, while Celine Dion gets star billing in the collaborative "Immortality". --Sam Sutherland

• Oliver Twist | DVD | (11/10/1999) from £6.47   |  Saving you £3.52 (54.40%)   |  RRP £9.99

  There have been many film and TV adaptations of Oliver Twist but this 1948 production from director David Lean remains the definitive screen interpretation of the Charles Dickens classic. From the ominous symbolism of its opening storm sequence (in which Oliver's pregnant, ill-fated mother struggles to reach shelter before childbirth) to the mob-scene climax that provokes Bill Sikes's dreadful comeuppance, this breathtaking black-and-white film remains loyal to Dickens while distilling the story into its purest cinematic essence.Every detail is perfect--Lean even includes a coffin-shaped snuffbox for the cruel Mr. Sowerberry--and as young Oliver, eight-year-old John Howard Davies (who would later produce Monty Python's Flying Circus for the BBC) perfectly expresses the orphan's boyish wonderment, stern determination and waifish vulnerability. Best of all is Alec Guinness as Fagin, so devious and yet so delightfully appealing under his beak-nosed (and, at the time, highly controversial) make-up. (Many complained that Fagin's huge nose and greedy demeanour presented an anti-Semitic stereotype, even though Lean never identifies Fagin as Jewish; for this reason, the film wasn't shown in the US until three years after its British release.) Likewise, young Anthony Newley is artfully dodgy as Fagin's loyal accomplice, the Artful Dodger. Guinness's performance would later provide strong inspiration for Ron Moody's equally splendid portrayal of Fagin in the Oscar-winning Oliver! and while that 1968 musical remains wonderfully entertaining, it is Lean's film that hews closest to Dickens' vision. The authentic recreation of 19th-century London is marvellous to behold; Guy Green's cinematography is so shadowy and stylised that it almost qualifies as Dickensian film noir. Lean is surprisingly blunt in conveying Dickens's theme of cruelty but his film never loses sight of the warmth and humanity that Oliver embodies. --Jeff Shannon

• Detention | DVD | (06/12/2010) from £4.00   |  Saving you £8.99 (224.75%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Substitute teacher Mr Walmsley (John S. Davies) has just started his first day at a new school and it's been a baptism of fire. His class of unruly rude arrogant and spoilt students have turned the school into a place of fear and intimidation. But Mr Walmsley has a few unusual teaching techniques and his pupils are about to learn the hard way that not listening to teacher has very serious consequences.

• Fame Academy - Live | DVD | (22/09/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  All 12 Fame Academy students are featured in this live Wembley concert filmed in front of 10 000 screaming fans!

• Fame Academy - The Winner's Story | DVD | (20/01/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £2.99

  David Sneddon was the super talented winner of Fame Academy and this is the extraordinary story of his journey from obscurity to super stardom! David's story reveals the blossoming of an unknown talent and follows him from his very first audition right through to the final live showdown watched by over 8 million people. Packed with footage unseen on BBC1 live performances exclusive interviews rehearsals and acoustic sessions David's Story documents all the tears excitement and laughs that happened on his amazing journey.

• Third Down | DVD | (21/10/2002) from £12.89   |  Saving you £7.10 (55.08%)   |  RRP £19.99

  From the makers of the revolutionary films 'Down And Double Down' comes 'Third Down' a film that will change the direction of freeriding forever. 'Third Down' features the best riding the sickest terrain and of course a killer soundtrack! Follow V-Dub Krispy Gibb and others on adventures through France Scotland Utah Nevada and California.

• The Bee Gees - One Night Only / The Official Story Of The Bee Gees | DVD | (26/09/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Taped as a lavish cable television special in 1997, One Night Only trades on the Bee Gees' shape-shifting career as pop survivors. Over the course of 111 minutes, this straightforward concert, produced at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and groomed for both video and CD posterity, sprints through 31 songs from their past three decades. Even after the inevitable disco jokes are expended, and the jaundiced viewer contemplates the role hats, hairspray, and comb-overs now play in dressing the once stylishly long-haired troika, the Gibb brothers' signature vocal harmonies and hook-laden song craft beg respect.Casual listeners can't be blamed for equating the Bee Gees with the dance floor bonanza they reaped through 1978's Saturday Night Fever, yet that commercial zenith was actually the culmination of a comeback for a group that had seemed washed up by the early 1970s. One Night Only thankfully takes an even-handed view of both their original late 1960s hits ("Massachusetts", "To Love Somebody", "Lonely Days"), building from a cannily Beatle-browed vocal sound, and the 1970s blue-eyed soul ("Jive Talkin'", "Nights on Broadway") that led them naturally into disco. The Fever hits are here, as are Gibb originals that clicked for other acts; the family circle also widens for a posthumous duet with their late brother, Andy Gibb, while Celine Dion gets star billing in the collaborative "Immortality". --Sam Sutherland

• We're Back a Dinsoaur's Story/Ghostbusters/Short Circuit 2 | DVD | (12/11/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  We're Back: A Dinosaur's Story (1993): The voices of the above stars bring a handful of dinosaurs back to life in the modern day in this Steven Spielberg production. Lavish animation and imagination bring to life this delightful tale of dinosaurs in New York City. A group of very friendly very intelligent dinosaurs take a trip to Manhattan and brighten the lives of two very special lonely children. Ghostbusters (1984): Gaggles of little green ghosts spooks and a host of paranormal occurrences are on the rampage in New York. Can anyone save the world from these supernatural creatures? Only three unemployed and enterprising university parapsychologists when they go into the 'GHOSTBUSTERS' business. Bill Murray Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis star in the freelance crusaders who team up and the Ghostbusters squad. Armed with ectoplasmic swats and patented booby traps they walk a fine line between scientific genius and lunacy in their quest to rid the city of these slimey haunting monsters. The unique comic talents of Murray (Lost In Translation) Aykroyd (Evolution) and Ramis (Analyze This) together with Sigourney Weaver (Galaxy Quest) and Director Ivan Reitman create undoubtedly the most hilarious and successful comedy ever produced. Short Circuit 2 (1988): Number Five aka Johnny Five that incredible lovable robot form the smash hit Short Circuit is back and taking the big city by storm in this action-packed comedy adventure. Upbeat Johnny's out for some urban input but some street hoods a greedy banker and a gang of crooks see his naivete as their high-tech ticket to easy street. Will Johnny survive the big bad city and its big bad city slickers? Keep your wires crossed when you switch on this high voltage film. Batteries Not Included (1987): When an unscrupulous real estate developer sends thugs into a deteriorating tenement to get rid of the last five tenants they need nothing short of a miracle to stay where they are. In this delightful fantasy presented by Steven Spielberg little stands between the brave holdouts and the street. But one night when all hope seems lost tiny visitors from outer space mysteriously glide through their windows. As if in answer to their prayers the incredible creatures begin to turn the tide with their magical powers.