"Actor: Kenneth Branagh"

• How To Kill Your Neighbor's Dog | DVD | (01/01/1980) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £3.99

  Life Is All About Making A Scene. In the midst of writing a new play Peter McGowen's world is one crazy scene after another. He has a wife who desperately wants to start a family a stalker who's assuming his identity and a crisis which is a scribe's worst nightmare: writer's block. To top it all off he's pushed to the edge by the barking dog next door. Peter only has time for his writing until a special new neighbour teaches the cynical playwright that life is a work in progress.

• The Woody Allen Library | DVD | (07/07/2014) from £43.18   |  Saving you £6.81 (15.77%)   |  RRP £49.99

  A 7-disc boxset selection of Woody Allen's feature films. The boxset includes: Bullets Over Broadway, Celebrity, Sweet and Lowdown, Small Time Crooks, Mighty Aphrodite, Everyone Says I Love You and Deconstructing Harry.

• Walking With Dinosaurs - Ballad Of Big Al | DVD | (04/06/2001) from £6.95   |  Saving you £6.04 (86.91%)   |  RRP £12.99

  The Ballad of Big Al manages the tricky feat of making the viewer feel concern--even sympathy--for a 10m-long, razor-fanged carnivorous predator, an Allosaurus from 145,000,000 years ago. That it does so without resorting to Disney tactics makes its achievement all the more admirable--despite the title, these creatures thankfully don't even speak, let alone sing. In fact, Big Al scores precisely because it takes a resolutely low-key, restrained and intelligent approach to a subject that can all too often end up being sentimentalised. The programme contains two separate half-hour segments originally transmitted as Walking With Dinosaurs "specials" The first is a biopic of Big Al, the allosaurus whose remarkably complete skeleton, found in Wyoming in 1991, allowed scientists to piece together an accurate picture of the creature's life. We follow Al from his hatching out of an egg, then at regular stages through his development into an almost fully grown adult. Almost being the operative word since, since after suffering a series of injuries Al becomes too ill to hunt and suffers an arbitrary, unspectacular demise (all the more believable and touching for it) in late adolescence. The second programme is a "making of" documentary, showing how scientists analysed Al's bones and came up with a plausible series of adventures for him. It's easy to forget that these recreations can only be educated supposition--the camerawork and narration (by Kenneth Branagh) exactly mimic actual wildlife documentaries about living species, while the computer-generated depiction of the dinosaurs is never less than utterly convincing. We're in danger of taking this kind of dazzling FX work for granted, but Big Al freshens it up by putting it at the service of a well-structured, very specific narrative. The programme doesn't hold back on realities of the Jurassic period's harsh, kill-or-be-killed ecosystem, but while it carries an official warning about "mild wildlife horror", Big Al sensibly never dwells on the gory stuff. The most graphic section is also, strangely, the most alluring, as a hungry pack of Allosaurs patiently stalk a herd of colossal Diplodocus across a dry salt lake. The images of these enormous creatures trotting and lumbering along against a stark white background have a surreal, dreamy beauty--the spell abruptly broken when an ailing Diplodocus collapses, exhausted, and the ravenous Allosaurs quickly move in for their bloody feast. --Neil Young

• Celebrity | DVD | (04/02/2002) from £5.74   |  Saving you £9.25 (161.15%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Woody Allen's Celebrity--a portrait of the celebrity life as seen through the eyes of a newly divorced couple--is a black-and-white, New York-style La Dolce Vita that's a chillier flip side to Allen's earlier New York valentine, Manhattan. Despite a few missteps, though, it's an admirable (if dark) and worthy addition to the Allen pantheon. Kenneth Branagh and Judy Davis (both boasting American accents) star as the ex-couple, each struggling to build new, separate lives in a media-saturated, celebrity-driven world. Branagh tries his hand at celebrity profiles (while peddling a screenplay to any star that will listen) and falls into the lap of a bosomy starlet (Melanie Griffith), the first in a long line of briefly attainable women. Davis runs into a producer (Joe Mantegna) who offers her a job as a TV personality as well as a loving relationship. This seemingly simple double plot is punctuated with twists and turns in the form of flashbacks and innumerable side trips, all ravishingly photographed in black and white by the legendary Sven Nykvist, and populated by one of Allen's largest casts ever; if you blink you'll miss countless cameos by Isaac Mizrahi, Donald Trump, Hank Azaria, Leonardo DiCaprio and a host of others. While Davis is splendid as usual (aside from the requisite nervous breakdown scene she's done one too many times), somebody should have told Branagh to put a kibosh on his Woody Allen imitation. His failure in the role, however, isn't entirely his fault, as it's another in a long line of unlikable male protagonists which Allen has created, as if daring audiences to hate his main characters after loving them in such movies as Manhattan and Annie Hall. Far more enjoyable misadventures with Branagh include Charlise Theron in the film's best performance as a libidinous supermodel with a penchant for Echinacea; a stunning Famke Janssen as a successful book editor; and Winona Ryder, acting like an adult for the first time, as an aspiring actress. But they all manage to slip through Branagh's fingers by the end of the film. --Mark Englehart, Amazon.com

• A Month In The Country | DVD | (09/08/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Based on J L Carr's novel two young soldiers fresh from the trauma of World War I meet in a tranquil Yorkshire village and form an unusual bond. Birkin has come to spend a month restoring a church mural whilst Moon who is still suffering nightmares from the horrors of war has come to excavate a forgotten chapel. Set against the background of an idyllic summer passion and forbidden love are uncovered as Birkin falls for the rector's beautiful wife and Moon has to face his own inner desires. As the men become drawn into their work they find reassurance and escape from their experiences and can begin a personal journey to recovery.

• Wallander - Series 3 | Blu Ray | (23/07/2012) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Kenneth Branagh returns to his BAFTA award-winning role as Inspector Kurt Wallander in three new feature length episodes of the acclaimed detective drama based on Henning Mankell's best-selling novels. Having relocated to the Swedish countryside, Wallander's fresh start is crushed when the remains of a young woman are found buried in his back garden in An Event in Autumn. In The Dogs of Riga Wallander travels to Latvia to assist the Rigan police in the hunt for killers but soon finds himself entangled in a web of corruption with no one to trust. Before the Frost finds Wallander fearing for the safety of his daughter's childhood friend when it appears she has become involved with a religious fanatic.

• The Game/The Gingerbread Man | DVD | (26/02/2007) from £14.83   |  Saving you £-1.84 (-14.20%)   |  RRP £12.99

  The Game (Dir. David Fincher 1997): Nicholas Van Orton (Michael Douglas) is a shrewdly successful businessman who is accustomed to being in control of each facet of his investments and relationships. His well-ordered life undergoes a profound change however when his brother Conrad (Sean Penn) gives him an unexpected birthday gift that soon has devastating consequences. There are no rules in The Game. The Gingerbread Man (Dir. Robert Altman 1997): Successful Savannah lawyer Rick Magruder (Kenneth Branagh) becomes obsessed with a mysterious seductive waitress Mallory Doss (Embeth Davidtz) who is being stalked by her fundamentalist father Dixon Doss (Robert Duvall). When Magruder tries to protect Mallory he is drawn into a web of deceit and danger his life falling apart as he peels away the layers of intrigue and mystery that surround her.

• Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994) / The Raven (2011) / Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) - Triple Pack | DVD | (08/10/2012) from £19.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Titles Comprise:Mary Shelley's Frankenstein: It is the late 18th Century. After the death of his beloved mother, young Victor Frankenstein leaves his father and Elizabeth, the adopted sister he passionately loves, to attend university. Here he becomes obsessed with the teachings of Professor Walman who believes that living creatures can actually be created from dead matter.One electrifying night, Frankenstein's efforts are rewarded as his Creature struggles to life. Alone, despised and driven by a rage of emotional agony, it sets off to find its maker. And so begins the nightmare that will engulf Victor Frankenstein...The Raven: In this gritty thriller, Edgar Allan Poe (John Cusack, Being John Malkovich) joins forces with a young Baltimore detective (Luke Evans, Immortals) to hunt down a mad serial killer who's using Poe's own works as the basis in a string of brutal murders. Directed by James McTeigue (V for Vendetta, Ninja Assassin), the film also stars Alice Eve (Sex and the City 2), Brendan Gleeson (In Bruges) and Oliver Jackson-Cohen (Faster).When a mother and daughter are found brutally murdered in 19th century Baltimore, Detective Emmett Fields (Luke Evans) makes a startling discovery: the crime resembles a fictional murder described in gory detail in the local newspaper--part of a collection of stories penned by struggling writer and social pariah Edgar Allan Poe. But even as Poe is questioned by police, another grisly murder occurs, also inspired by a popular Poe story.Realizing a serial killer is on the loose using Poe's writings as the backdrop for his bloody rampage, Fields enlists the author's help in stopping the attacks. But when it appears someone close to Poe may become the murderer's next victim, the stakes become even higher and the inventor of the detective story calls on his own powers of deduction to try to solve the case before it's too late.Bram Stoker's Dracula: Gary Oldman, Winona Ryder and Anthony Hopkins star in director Francis Ford Coppola's visually stunning, passionately seductive version of the classic Dracula legend. In Bram Stoker's Dracula, Coppola returns to the original source of the Dracula myth, and from that gothic romance, he creates a modern masterpiece.Gary Oldman's metamorphosis as Dracula who grows from old to young, from man to beast is nothing short of amazing. Winona Ryder brings equal intensity to the role of a young beauty who becomes the object of Dracula's devastating desire. Anthony Hopkins co-stars as the famed doctor who dares to believe in Dracula, and then dares to confront him. Opulent, dazzling and utterly irresistible, this is Dracula as you've never seen him. And once you've seen Bram Stoker's Dracula, you'll never forget it.

• Gingerbread Man, The | DVD | (15/08/2016) from £9.98   |  Saving you £3.00 (42.92%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Kenneth Branagh plays cocky Savannah lawyer Rick Magruder, who makes the mistake of falling for the sultry charms of waitress Mallory Doss (Embeth Davidtz). Mallory feels threatened by her father Dixon (Robert Duvall), a member of a cult, and Rick agrees to take on her case. With help from private eye Clyde Pell (a scene-stealing Robert Downey Jr), his acerbic PA Lois Harlan (Daryl Hannah) and Mallory's ex-husband Pete Randle (Tom Berenger), Rick succeeds in getting Dixon institutionalised. But Dixon escapes and the threats begin against both Rick and his young children, which brings him into direct conflict with his estranged wife Leeanne (Famke Janssen). With both a trumped-up murder charge looming over him and a hurricane closing in on the Deep South, Rick is forced to go on the run as he fights to clear his name - and save his life. But just who can he trust? And has the legal hotshot been played for a fool?

• Great Composers - Mozart | DVD | (28/08/2006) from £14.83   |  Saving you £-1.84 (-14.20%)   |  RRP £12.99

  This programme presents the lives and works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart as featured in the BBC series Great Composers. It examines the backgrounds influences and relationships that make this composer part of the very fabric of the history of western music. The composer's life and work is presented through extensive performance sequences and through interviews and comments from some of today's greatest artists and most respected authorities.

• Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets | Blu Ray | (12/11/2007) from £12.98   |  Saving you £5.01 (27.80%)   |  RRP £17.99

  The latest instalment in the Harry Potter series finds young wizard Harry and his friends Ron and Hermoine facing new challenges during their second year at Hogwarts as they try to uncover a dark force that is terrorising the school.

• Alan Plater at ITV | DVD | (25/04/2011) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Jarrow-born Alan Plater was one of Britain's most cherished playwrights. Equally at home either adapting existing works or crafting his own stories the pinnacle of his prolific output is arguably the highly successful Beiderbecke trilogy starring James Bolam and Barbara Flynn. Plater excelled in the creation of credible engagingly ordinary characters embroiled in drama and intrigue (exemplified in Beiderbecke's jazz-loving Geordie woodwork teacher Trevor Chaplin); with a dry humour class consciousness and frequent acknowledgement of the north-south divide his skilful dialogue has been described as combining 'The voice of Coronation Street with the spirit of Chekhov'. The winner of three BAFTA Awards he received a CBE in 2005 and the Writers' Guild of Great Britain Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007. This anthology celebrates the diversity of Alan Plater's work for ITV with a collection of single plays and classic episodes featuring outstanding performances by Helen Mirren Kenneth Branagh James Bolam Alison Steadman Michael Gambon Dennis Waterman and Ray Brooks among many others. The Beiderbecke Affair: What I Don't Understand Is This... Jazz fan Trevor Chaplin wants only one thing: a set of Bix Beiderbecke records. Oranges and Lemons: Brotherly Love An ex-docker is grieved that his two sons seem irreconcilable. Play for Love: The Party of the First Part Peter makes sure his eighteenth birthday party is one that his guests won't forget. The Loner: Dawson's Complaint Dawson is a man who aims is to change the world. This is the story of his failure. Coming Through Two plays set in different eras examine polarised attitudes towards D.H. Lawrence. Flambards: Christina Orphan Christina learns - painfully - the art of living among men. Shades of Darkness: The Intercessor A writer lodging in a 'quiet' house is disturbed by the sound of a child crying.

• Warm Springs | DVD | (03/04/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £8.99

  He was the only president to be re-elected three times and is admired for his leadership during some of this nation's most challenging times most notably World War II and the Great Depression. Despite these historic accomplishments many Americans have never known of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's greatest achievement...until now. Starring Kenneth Branagh and Cynthia Nixon (Sex and the City) this inspiring true story reveals one man's secret quest for hope during his darkest

• Dracula/Frankenstein | DVD | (30/04/2007) from £8.08   |  Saving you £1.91 (23.64%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Bram Stoker's Dracula (Dir. Francis Ford Coppola 1992): Francis Ford Coppola returns to the original source of the Dracula to create a modern masterpiece. It follows the tortured journey of the devastatingly seductive Transylvanian Prince (Gary Oldman) as he moves from Eastern Europe to 19th century London in search of his long lost Elisabeta who is reincarnated as the beautiful Mina (Winona Ryder)... Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (Dir. Kenneth Branagh 1994): It is the late 18th Century. After the death of his beloved mother young Victor Frankenstein leaves his father and Elizabeth the adopted sister he passionately loves to attend university. Here he becomes obsessed with the teachings of Professor Walman who believes that living creatures can actually be created from dead matter. One electrifying night Frankenstein's efforts are rewarded as his Creature struggles to life. Alone despised and driven by a rage of emotional agony it sets off to find its maker. And so begins the nightmare that will engulf Victor Frankenstein...

• Van Helsing / Bram Stoker's Dracula / Mary Shelley's Frankenstein | DVD | (03/10/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Van Helsing (Dir. Stephen Sommers 2004): Hunted as a murderer by those who do not understand his calling Van Helsing (Hugh Jackman) travels the globe as a fugitive. Accompanied only by Carl (David Wenham) a friar entrusted with providing Van Helsing's safety and a weapons arsenal to rival James Bond Van Helsing is despatched to the shadowy world of Transylvania. Home to the ravishing Anna Valerious (Kate Beckinsale) one of the last remaining descendents of a powerful royal family Van Helsing has been sent to terminate the evil and undefeatable Count Dracula (Richard Roxburgh) and his alluring bloodthirsty vampire brides. Herself a fearless hunter Anna joins forces with Van Helsing to confront her family's life long adversary and avenge the deaths of her predecessors. In a stunning showdown Van Helsing comes face to face with his mortal enemy but is also forced to confront his past... Bram Stoker's Dracula (Dir. Francis Ford Coppola 1992): Francis Ford Coppola returns to the original source of the Dracula to create a modern masterpiece. It follows the tortured journey of the devastatingly seductive Transylvanian Prince (Gary Oldman) as he moves from Eastern Europe to 19th century London in search of his long lost Elisabeta who is reincarnated as the beautiful Mina (Winona Ryder)... Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (Dir. Kenneth Branagh 1994): It is the late 18th Century. After the death of his beloved mother young Victor Frankenstein leaves his father and Elizabeth the adopted sister he passionately loves to attend university. Here he becomes obsessed with the teachings of Professor Walman who believes that living creatures can actually be created from dead matter. One electrifying night Frankenstein's efforts are rewarded as his Creature struggles to life. Alone despised and driven by a rage of emotional agony it sets off to find its maker. And so begins the nightmare that will engulf Victor Frankenstein...

• Great Composers - Bach / Mozart | DVD | (01/07/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £17.99

  The BBC TV series Great Composers, broadcast in 1997, takes an introductory look at key figures of European classical music. Bach (1685-1750) is a difficult composer to survey historically, partly because his life as a professional musician was restricted to several provincial German towns. Yet the vast body of music he produced is well covered, with a representative sample performed mainly on instruments of Bach's day. There's also consideration of his cultural importance as the effective progenitor of modern European music and enough anecdotal evidence to suggest a lively, combative personality in his own right. The life of Mozart (1756-1791) is easier to document, with his years as a child prodigy travelling the European cultural circuit, the difficult adolescent years in Salzburg and Paris and the rise and fall of his freelance career in Vienna all amply illustrated here. Again, a well-chosen selection of music, accompanied by thought-provoking comments from a range of musicians and historians, gently exploding the myth of the Amadeus film in the process. This is informal, informing, and worth acquiring. On the DVD: The disc offers crisp Dolby 2.0 stereo and 4:3 ratio, with generous and well-chosen access points--13 for Bach, 16 for Mozart. Subtitles are offered in five languages, and you'll need to select the English option so that the German and Italian speaking contributors come with translation. Those with DVD-ROM can additionally access up-to-date articles on these composers. --Richard Whitehouse

• Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets | Blu Ray | (12/11/2007) from £12.89   |  Saving you £12.10 (93.87%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Cars fly trees fight back and a mysterious elf comes to warn Harry Potter at the start of the second year of his amazing journey into the world of wizardry. This year at Hogwarts spiders talk letters scold and Harry's own unsettling ability to speak to snakes turns his friends against him. From dueling clubs to rogue Bludgers it's a year of adventure and danger when bloody writing on a wall announces: The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. To save Hogwarts will require all of Harry Ron and Hermione's magical abilities and courage in this spellbinding adaptation of J.K. Rowling's second book. Get ready to be amused and petrified as Harry Potter shows he's more than a wizard he's a hero! Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets the second installment in the Harry Potter series follows Harry Ron and Hermione through their second year at Hogwarts School. The DVD delivers another adventure with more magic more laughs and more thrills. It has 19 additional/extended scenes self-guided tours including background characters an exclusive interview with author J.K. Rowling and screenwriter Steve Kloves and all-new interactive challenges.

• Shakespeare Box Set | DVD | (23/07/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £27.99

  Titles Comprise: Romeo & Juliet: (Dir.Baz Luhrmann 1996) Baz Luhrmann's dazzling and unconventional adaptation of William Shakespeare's classic love story is spellbinding. Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes portray Romeo and Juliet the youthful star-crossed lovers of the past. But the setting has been moved from its Elizabethan origins to the futuristic urban backdrop of Verona beach. A Midsummer Night's Dream: (Dir.Michael Hoffman 1999) A stellar cast brings S

• High Season | DVD | (15/09/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  On the Island of Rhodes Katherine is an expatriate English photographer living with her daughter. In an attempt to encourage tourism a sculpture is commissioned for the Town Square only the sculptor turns out to be Kath's ex-husband. The events that follow ensure that Katherine's dreams of an idyllic escape are well and truly shattered!

• Look Back In Anger | DVD | (19/04/2004) from £20.00   |  Saving you £-0.01 (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The Rennaissance Theatre Company bring the classic John Osborne play to screen. As a child Jimmy Porter watched his father die alone and in poverty. He is now an 'angry young man' who despises the establishment and its smug callousness. Bitter and frustrated he turns his ferocious aggression on his wife Alison and her upper class background...