"Actor: Jo Martin"

• Marketa Lazarova | DVD | (03/12/2007) from £14.49   |  Saving you £-1.50 (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  A minor Czech clan falls afoul of the King in medieval times against the backdrop of Christianity replacing Paganism.

• Merlin | DVD | (30/05/2007) from £11.99   |  Saving you £-8.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £3.99

  In this classic tale of good and evil the wise old wizard Merlin (Sam Neill) recounts how he and Arthur (Paul Curran) fought to overcome wickedness and defeat Mab, the Queen of Darkness (Miranda Richardson). When King Constant (John Gielgud), Arthurs grandfather, was slain by the pagan Vortigern (Rutger Hauer), a civil war broke out. Merlin was created by the sorceress Mab so the Old Ways would not be forgotten. Merlin refused to be a leader of dark powers, for he was raised by Ambrosia, a be...

• Till the Clouds Roll By | DVD | (29/07/2003) from £6.24   |  Saving you £-3.25 (N/A%)   |  RRP £2.99

  Till the Clouds Roll By was the big MGM extravaganza of 1946, purporting to be a life of the first giant of the stage musical, Jerome Kern. Great chunks of Show Boat, Sweet Adeline and Sunny dominate while, in between excerpts, reliable Robert Walker does valiant work as Kern, lending a gentle credibility to even the most extravagant licenses taken by the writers. The liberties taken with Kern's story beggar belief, but what a fine excuse this is to sit back and enjoy a procession of gems from the great American songbook, performed by genuine legends. Judy Garland has two numbers as Marilyn Miller, both directed by husband Vincente Minnelli at the peak of their creative and personal relationships. Singing "Who?", she has to float down the proverbial staircase, obviously pregnant (Liza was born a short time later). Others to shine include Kathryn Grayson, June Allyson, Dinah Shore and, more bizarrely, a skinny young Sinatra drafted in at the last for a rousing "Old Man River". Most poignant of all is the presence of Lena Horne who, but for the racist values of Hollywood at the time, would have been a great film star. Ever confined to guest appearances, she here sings the songs of Show Boat's tragic half-caste Julie. When MGM filmed the musical in 1951, the same part went to Ava Gardner. On the DVD: Till the Clouds Roll By may boast digital remastering, but it could have done with a deal of restoration, too. Presented in 4:3 format, the picture quality is often pixellated and the soundtrack in "HiFi Stereo" is muffled and occasionally cracked. Considering its value as an archive of great performers, some rarely seen on film, this film deserves better DVD treatment. --Piers Ford

• Operation Pacific | DVD | (21/07/2003) from £6.59   |  Saving you £7.40 (112.29%)   |  RRP £13.99

  Submarine commander Duke Gifford feels guilty in the death of his former commanding officer, as well as about his failed marriage. These issues pull at him during a hazardous mission against the Japanese in World War II.

• Adventures Of Elmo In Grouchland | DVD | (08/03/2004) from £6.73   |  Saving you £-0.74 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Elmo loves his fuzzy well-worn blue blanket better than anything in the whole wide world. In fact, they are inseparable... a perfect team.

• One Night At McCool's | DVD | (22/10/2001) from £4.95   |  Saving you £15.04 (303.84%)   |  RRP £19.99

  It all started one night at McCool's: three unsuspecting men and one woman with a dream are brought together by lust, mayhem, DVDs, and the finer points of home decorating. Starring Liv TYler, Matt Dillon, John Goodman and Paul Reiser.

• Victoria Wood - At The Albert Hall - Live | DVD | (25/11/2002) from £11.52   |  Saving you £5.73 (55.85%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Victoria Wood Live at the Albert Hall provides proof, if any were needed, that after two decades at the top of her profession, Wood is one of a small handful of British comedians of either sex capable of filling the country's largest venues. For the consistently high quality of her penetrating observations of the mundane she has no equal. Recorded in 2001, this performance has all the hallmarks of her microscopic examinations of life's perplexing minutiae and trivia. From her recent hysterectomy to Paul Daniels, from the NHS help line to wheelie bin covers, from Americans in Disneyworld to the ageism of catalogue mailing lists, nothing escapes Wood's attention. Not even in-vogue authors: she refuses to read "Captain Corelli's friggin' Mandolin" as it sits reproachfully at her bedside. Wood even provides her own interval act: a devastatingly accurate parody of a vulgar, second-rate cabaret singer shot to stardom on the wings of a cruise ship docu-soap. Jane McDonald's sense of humour will never face a harder test. More poignant are Wood's observations on parenthood and marriage, with all the physical ailments of middle age ("We've only got one fully operating leg between us"). She has since separated from her husband, the magician Geoffrey Durham. Fans will await the impact of that on her stand-up material with some interest. --Piers Ford

• Hill Street Blues - Season 2 | DVD | (01/04/2013) from £9.99   |  Saving you £15.00 (150.15%)   |  RRP £24.99

  The multi award-winning Hill Street Blues is the critically acclaimed story of an overworked under-staffed police precinct in an anonymous inner city patterned after Chicago. This ground-breaking crime drama from acclaimed producer Steven Bochco follows one of the first truly ensemble casts on TV.The action centres on a chaotic police precinct torn by crime and racial tension providing a realistic view of the private and work lives of everyone from the beat cops to the police captain. In the second season the relentless barrage of crime continues beginning when an ex-gang leader returns and reclaims his place at the top of the Black Arrow gang. Hill Street Blues established the fast-paced gritty verite style that would spawn countless imitators such as NYPD Blue and L.A. Law. It is quite simply the most ground-breaking show in recent memory and is essential viewing for all lovers of quality entertainment.

• Curb Your Enthusiasm - Series 3 | DVD | (02/07/2005) from £10.99   |  Saving you £15.00 (136.49%)   |  RRP £25.99

  The third season of HBO's comedy sensation offers more of the same. "Not that there's anything wrong with that," to quote Larry David's other television series, a certain little sitcom called Seinfeld. Consequently, Curb Your Enthusiasm's junior year means more Larry (Larry David) and more of his hilariously embarrassing mishaps. It also means more of his patient spouse Cheryl (Cheryl Hines), avuncular manager Jeff (Jeff Garlin), Jeff’s foul-mouthed wife Susie (Susie Essman), and assorted celebrity pals, including Richard Lewis, Ted Danson, Wanda Sykes, Paul Reiser, and Martin Short, all playing themselves (or, like Larry, versions thereof). The theme that (loosely) ties these 10 episodes together is Larry's involvement in upscale eatery Bobo's, in which Danson and Michael York (yes, that Michael York) are co-investors. As expected, the restaurant will serve to complicate Larry's life in every conceivable way--and vice versa. But the funniest (and most profane) episode must surely be "Krazee-Eyez Killa," starring Chris Williams (Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story) as the fidelity-impaired gangster rapper to whom Wanda has become engaged. This riotous installment, which sends up Jewish, Italian, and African American gangsters alike, won an Emmy for Robert B. Weide's direction and features that old master-of-direction himself, Martin Scorsese, who first appeared in "The Special Section" (in which Larry bribes a gravedigger to relocate his mother’s gravesite). It's also the episode in which Larry gets a hair stuck in his throat. That hair, which once belonged to someone rather close to him, will remain lodged there for the next several episodes, until a "divine intervention" in "Mary, Joseph and Larry" dislodges it once and for all--along with the last of Larry's dignity. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

• Tess | DVD | (27/09/2004) from £8.82   |  Saving you £4.17 (47.28%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Roman Polanski adapted Thomas Hardy's novel Tess of the D'Urbervilles and came up with this moody, haunting film starring Nastassia Kinski as the farm girl who is misused by the aristocrat for whom she works and who is then caught in a marriage where her initial happiness soon turns to grief. Fans of the novel may feel unpersuaded by Polanski's effort to marry Hardy's Dorset vision with his own fascination with psychosexual impulses toward survival, but the film is an often stunning thing to see, and Kinski's sensitive, intelligent performance lingers in the memory. --Tom Keogh

• Spider-Man Triple: Home Coming, Far from Home & No Way Home (6 Discs - UHD & BD) | Blu Ray | (04/04/2022) from £59.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  For the first time in the cinematic history of Spider-Man, our friendly neighborhood hero's identity is revealed, bringing his Super Hero responsibilities into conflict with his normal life and putting those he cares about most at risk. When he enlists Doctor Strange's help to restore his secret, the spell tears a hole in their world, releasing the most powerful villains who've ever fought a Spider-Man in any universe. Now, Peter will have to overcome his greatest challenge yet, which will not only forever alter his own future but the future of the Multiverse.

• Satan Bug | Blu Ray | (22/09/2015) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• The Banana Splits Movie | Blu Ray | (26/08/2019) from £8.00   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  American horror comedy based on the 1968 Hanna-Barbera TV series. On his birthday, young Harley (Finlay Wojtak-Hissong) and his family attend a live recording of 'The Banana Splits' TV show. However, when it is announced that the show is going to be cancelled, the fun-filled afternoon turns to one of horror as the show's fuzzy robotic characters take over the studio and embark on a gruesome killing spree.

• Rio Bravo Steelbook | Blu Ray | (04/12/2023) from £20.98   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  On one side is an army of gunmen dead set on springing a murderous cohort from jail. On the other is Sheriff John T. Chance (John Wayne) and two deputies: a recovering drunkard (Dean Martin) and an old codger (Walter Brennan). Also in their ragtag ranks are a trigger-happy youth (Ricky Nelson) and a woman with a shady past (Angie Dickinson) - and her eye on Chance. Director Howard Hawks lifted the Western to new heights with Red River and does it again here. Included on 4K disc - Commentary by Director John Carpenter and Historian/Critic Richard Schickel

• Assault On Precinct 13 | DVD | (28/05/2001) from £19.50   |  Saving you £-1.51 (N/A%)   |  RRP £17.99

  John Carpenter's Assault On Precinct 13 is a riveting low-budget thriller from 1976, in which a nearly abandoned police station is held under siege by a heavily armed gang called Street Thunder. Inside the station, cut off from contact and isolated, convicts heading for death row and the cops must now join forces or die. That's the basic plot, but what Carpenter does with it is remarkable. Drawing specific inspiration from the classic Howard Hawks Western Rio Bravo (which included a similar siege on disadvantaged heroes), Carpenter used his simple setting for a tense, tightly constructed series of action sequences, emphasising low-key character development and escalating tension. Few who've seen the film can forget the "ice cream cone" scene in which a young girl is caught up in the action by patronising a seemingly harmless ice cream van. It's here, and in other equally memorable scenes, that Carpenter demonstrates his knack for injecting terror into the mundane details of daily life, propelling this potent thriller to cult favourite status and long-standing critical acclaim. From this Carpenter went on to make the original Halloween, one of the most profitable independent films of all time. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com

• Ghosted | DVD | (27/06/2011) from £6.69   |  Saving you £6.30 (94.17%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Jack (John Lynch) a model prisoner has kept his head down and done his time. After his wife leaves him on the anniversary of their son's death the only thing that keeps him from going under is the presence of a new prisoner Paul (Martin Compston). But when Paul falls under the influence of psychotic Baron Clay (Craig Parkinson) Jack soon finds he must risk his own life and sanity to help the newcomer. But can he save both himself and Paul in the process? A hard-hitting gritty prison drama starring a stellar cast of home-grown British talent and in your face violence Ghosted is a tough and powerful tale of loss survival salvation and life in a British prison.

• Rugby World Cup: The Final | DVD | (29/03/2004) from £18.01   |  Saving you £1.98 (10.99%)   |  RRP £19.99

  This is the thrilling Rugby World Cup 2003 Final (interestingly it is from the Australian perspective!) - in full from first whistle to last - culminating in the joyous moments when England became World Champions! Millions of viewers in England tuned in early in the morning to see Martin Johnson's team defeat rivals Australia and become the first northern hemisphere side to capture the world title. Jonny Wilkinson's breathtaking last-gasp effort was all that separated the sides

• Criterion Collection: Foreign Correspondent | Blu Ray | (07/10/2014) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• The Story Of Adele H | DVD | (04/08/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  The Story of Adele H is Francois Truffaut's dramatisation of the true story of Adele Hugo, the daughter of French author-in-exile Victor Hugo, and her romantic obsession with a young French officer. It's a cinematically beautiful and emotionally wrenching portrait of a headstrong but unstable young woman. Adele (Isabelle Adjani, whose pale face gives her the quality of a cameo portrait) travels under a false name and spins half-a-dozen false stories about herself and her relationship to Lieutenant Pinson (Bruce Robinson), the Hussar she follows to Halifax, Nova Scotia. Pinson no longer loves her, but she refuses to accept his rejection. Sinking further and further into her own internal world, she passes herself off as his wife and pours out her stormy emotions into a personal journal filled with delusional descriptions of her fantasy life. Beautifully shot by Nestor Almendros in vivid colour, Truffaut's re-creation of the 1860s is accomplished not merely in impressive sets and locations but in the very style of the film: narration and voiceovers, written journal entries and letters, journeys and locations established with map reproductions, and a judicious use of stills mixing old-fashioned cinematic technique with poetic flourishes. The result is one of Truffaut's most haunting portraits, all the more powerful because it's true. --Sean Axmaker

• Birds of a Feather 3 | DVD | (29/02/2016) from £4.75   |  Saving you £10.24 (215.58%)   |  RRP £14.99

  There are surprises, twists and revelations galore as Sharon, Tracey and their man-eating friend Dorien return for this hilarious third series - guest-starring Martin Kemp, Jamie Foreman and Kate Williams, and includes scripts by series creators Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran. The series begins with the discovery that Darryl, Tracey's ex-husband and father to Travis and Garth, has died doing what he loved burglary! Unfortunately his funeral brings the ladies into contact with some undesirable local characters... Further inappropriate adventures include a visit to an infamous drag club to recover Dorien's stolen clothes, Auntie Vera causing domestic unrest and Sharon and Dorien being temporarily turfed out of the nest when Tracey's patience finally snaps!