"Actor: L 225"

• Boogie Nights | DVD | (01/10/1999) from £5.63   |  Saving you £14.36 (255.06%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Even if the notorious 1970s porn-filmmaking milieu doesn't exactly turn you on, don't let it turn you off to this movie's extraordinary virtues, either. Boogie Nights is one of the key movies of the 1990s and among the most ambitious and exuberantly alive American movies in years. It's also the breakthrough for an amazing new director, whose dazzling kaleidoscopic style here recalls the Robert Altman of Nashville and the Martin Scorsese of Good Fellas. Although loosely based on the sleazy life and times of real-life porn legend John Holmes, at heart it's a classic Hollywood rise-and-fall fable: a naive, good-looking young busboy is discovered in a San Fernando Valley disco by a famous motion picture producer, becomes a hotshot movie star, lives the high life and then loses everything when he gets too big for his britches, succumbs to insobriety and is left behind by new times and new technology. Of course, it isn't exactly A Star Is Born or Singin' in the Rain. Writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson (in only his second feature!) puts his own affectionately sardonic twist on the old showbiz biopic formula: the ambitious upstart changes his name and achieves stardom in porno films as "Dirk Diggler." Instead of drinking to excess, he snorts cocaine (the classic drug of 70s hedonism); and it's the coming of home video (rather than talkies) that helps to dash his big-screen dreams. As for the britches ... well, the controversial "money shot" explains everything. And the cast is one of the great ensembles of the 90s, including Oscar nominees Burt Reynolds and Julianne Moore, Mark Wahlberg (who really can act--from the waist up, too!), Heather Graham (as Rollergirl), William H. Macy, John C. Reilly and Ricky Jay. --Jim Emerson

• The Warriors | DVD | (02/07/2001) from £6.62   |  Saving you £6.37 (96.22%)   |  RRP £12.99

  In 1979, The Warriors seemed like a frighteningly realistic possible future for The Big Apple. The film's depiction of multiple street gangs no longer content with occupying their own territories was an uncomfortably real issue across New York City. A deceptively simple plot begins with a truce gathering representatives from all the gangs at a meeting. Would-be leader Cyrus has a vision. Unfortunately a member of the Rogues shoots him before we learn what it is, and then pins the blame on the Warriors. With anything up to 60,000 gang soldiers and 20,000 police on their trail, the seven Warrior members beat a hasty retreat any which way they can back to Coney Island. What's really going on, as per Sol Yurick's original novel, is a subtle examination of the seemingly contradictory traits of loyalty and nobility that occur in a close-knit group. Explosions of violence and a disregard for bystanders are secondary to what the characters mean to one another. All this brotherly love is presented with some truly amazing production design and cinematography: though dark, this is a world of colourful night-lights and even more colourful gang uniforms. Historically, this is a movie way past its sell-by date (it certainly won't instigate real life violence now as it did when released), but thematically it remains a worthy exploration of all those unspoken codes of honour. On the DVD: This is a good movie to test the dark end of the spectrum. It's in 1.78:1 and only in mono, but that somehow works for what's little more than a lot of running around in the dark. The only extra is the original trailer.--Paul Tonks

• G.I. Blues | DVD | (18/03/2002) from £7.05   |  Saving you £5.94 (84.26%)   |  RRP £12.99

  After Elvis Presley got out of the army in 1960, he was instantly ushered into G.I. Blues, a Paramount movie about an Oklahoma singer who (surprise) gets out of the army and wants to open a club. Making a potentially lucrative bet that he can seduce a cabaret singer (Juliet Prowse), Elvis instead falls in love. Leaving behind his rockabilly roots for a slicker image better suited to early 60s pop, the Elvis of this movie is the one who made almost 30 more just like it. The songs include "G.I. Blues", "It's Not Good Enough for You," "Tonight Is So Right for Love" and "Wooden Heart". It's directed by Norman Taurog, a studio veteran who made his first film in 1928 and worked many times with Presley. --Tom Keogh

• Breakdance - The Movie | DVD | (12/04/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Breakin': A struggling young jazz dancer Kelly (Lucinda Dickey) aspires to be a dancer and is working her way through dance school to make this happen. However she becomes increasingly bored by the dancing taught at the school and begins to look else where. When a friend introduces her to the breakdancing scene she realises she has found her calling.meets up with two break-dancers. Soon she becomes the sensation of the street crowds. Features ICE-T in his film debut as a club MC.

• Red Sparrow | DVD | (09/07/2018) from £7.01   |  Saving you £-0.02 (N/A%)   |  RRP £6.99

  Dominika Egorova (Jennifer Lawrence) is drafted against her will to become a "sparrow," a trained seductress in the Russian security service.

• Carlito's Way | DVD | (29/03/2004) from £2.99   |  Saving you £17.00 (568.56%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Al Pacino cuts a noble figure in this very enjoyable drama by director Brian De Palma (Scarface), based on a pair of books by Edwin Torres. Pacino plays a Puerto Rican ex-con trying hard to go straight, but his loyalty to his lowlife attorney (a virtually unrecognisable Sean Penn) and enemies on the street make that choice difficult. Penelope Ann Miller plays, somewhat unlikely, a stripper who has a romance with Pacino's character. The film finds De Palma tempering his more outlandish moves (think of Body Double or Snake Eyes) just as he did with the popular Untouchables and Mission: Impossible. But while Carlito's Way was not as commercially successful as those two movies, it is a genuinely compelling work graced with a fine performance by Pacino and a surprising one from Penn. --Tom Keogh

• Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown | DVD | (01/07/2002) from £13.16   |  Saving you £5.82 (57.23%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Creating 'one of the jauntiest of all war-of-the-sexes comedies' (Pauline Kael), Pedro Almodovar, Spain's premiere writer-director, creates an off-kilter universe of madness, mayhem and pure fun. Nominated for the 1988 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, and co-starring Antonio Banderas, Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown is 'a wild, wanton, wickedly witty farce' (People)!; ; High atop one of Spain's poshest penthouses, three women have come to the end of their mental ropes. ...

• The Punisher/The Punisher: War Zone | Blu Ray | (04/09/2017) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £6.95

  THE PUNISHER Special agent Frank Castle (Tom Jane) lives the good life with a devoted family and a job he loves. But his world falls apart when his last assignment pits him against ruthless businessman Howard Saint (John Travolta). Seeking the revenge of his murdered family, Castle becomes a merciless vigilante hell bent on destroying Saint and his band of underworld assassins on his mission of redemption: vindicating the common man with a brand of justice the law cannot provide. PUNISHER: WAR ZONE Waging his one-man war on the world of organised crime, ruthless vigilante-hero Frank Castle sets his sights on over-eager mob boss Billy Russoti. After Russoti is left horribly disfigured by Castle, he sets out for vengeance under his new alias: Jigsaw. With the Punisher Task Force hot on his trail and the FBI unable to take Jigsaw in, Frank must stand up to the formidable army that Jigsaw has recruited before more of his evil deeds go unpunished. BONUS FEATURES: THE PUNISHER Audio Commentary by Director Jonathan Hensleigh Alternate Opening Sequence War Journal Behind-the-Scenes featurette on the Making of the Movie Drawing Blood Bradstreet Style featurette Deleted Scenes with Optional Commentary Step Up Music Video performed by Drowning Pool PUNISHER: WAR ZONE The Making of Punisher: War Zone featurette Training for the Punisher featurette Weapons of the Punisher featurette Meet Jigsaw featurette Creating the Look of the Punisher featurette Audio Commentary with Director Lexi Alexander and Cinematographer Steve Gainer

• Kneecap | Blu Ray | (25/11/2024) from £14.98   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Of the 80,000 native Irish speakers, 6,000 live in the North of Ireland and three of them became a rap group called Kneecap. This is the real-life story of how this anarchic Belfast trio became the unlikely figureheads of a civil rights movement to save and reinvigorate their mother tongue. INCLUDES:- Interview with Kneecap and director Rich Peppiatt- Claymation Promo- Claymation Cinema Intro- Trailers Read our interview with the director (click) > here

• Rome - The Complete First Series | DVD | (24/07/2006) from £16.65   |  Saving you £34.34 (206.25%)   |  RRP £50.99

  The complete first season of the daring ground-breaking and controversial historical drama series. Think of The Sopranos in ancient Rome and you'll get a flavour... This six disc box set contains the 12 hour-long episodes of the first season: this features the HBO 'cut' which includes over an hour of footage not broadcast on the BBC! The year is 52 B.C. Four hundred years after the founding of the Republic Rome is the wealthiest city in the world a cosmopolitan metropolis

• El Topo | Blu Ray | (02/08/2021) from £16.39   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  A mind-blowing 'acid-western' which shocked and bedazzled audiences upon its controversial original release, El Topo single-handedly invented the American midnight movie phenomenon... Jodorowsky's most violent and notorious film sees the director play 'The Mole' of the title: a black-clad. master gunfighter. In the first half, El Topo journeys across the desert dreamscape with his young son (Brontis Jodorowsky) to duel with four sharp-shooting Zen masters, who each bestow a Great Lesson before they die. In the second half, El Topo becomes the guru of a subterranean tribe of deformed outcasts who he must liberate from depraved cultists in a neighbouring town. A countercultural masterpiece that ingeniously combines iconic Americana symbolism with Jodorowsky's own idiosyncratic surrealist aesthetic, El Topo is an incredible journey through nightmarish violence, mind-bending mysticism and awe-inspiring imagery. This era-defining film is now presented in a stunning new 4K restoration with a wealth of newly produced and archival extras. Special Features: New 4K restoration from the original 35mm camera negative approved by Alejandro Jodorowsky High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation in 1.85:1 and 1.37:1 original aspect ratios Uncompressed mono 1.0 LPCM audio and 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio Original Spanish and English soundtracks Newly translated English, Spanish and French subtitles Audio commentary by Alejandro Jodorowsky Jodorowsky remembers El Topo, newly filmed interview filmed in Paris A Conversation with The Son of El Topo, a newly filmed, extensive interview with Brontis Jodorowsky who stars in El Topo The Father of Midnight Movies, an archival interview with Jodorowsky filmed in 2007 Original trailer Image galleries

• The Specialist | DVD | (25/09/1998) from £19.99   |  Saving you £-6.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £13.99

  Just awful enough to qualify as someone's guilty pleasure, this convoluted thriller was supposed to cash in on the supposedly sexy teaming of Sylvester Stallone and Sharon Stone (then hot from her ample exposure in Basic Instinct), but their naked groping in a shower provides one of the film's unintentionally funny highlights. Ray Quick (Stallone) is a former CIA bomb expert whose former colleague (James Woods) is now in cahoots with a Miami drug cartel led by kingpin Joe Leon (Rod Steiger), who chews the scenery while his son Tomas (Eric Roberts) proceeds with a greedy hidden agenda. May Munro (Stone) hires Quick to kill off Roberts. The Specialist, featuring lots of explosions and redeemed by a dandy role for James Woods, is best suited for ardent Stallone and Stone fans. --Jeff Shannon

• Maze | DVD | (22/01/2018) from £4.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Based on the true story of the 1983 mass breakout of 38 IRA prisoners from HMP Maze high-security prison in Northern Ireland. As Larry Marley (Tom Vaughan-Lawlor), the chief architect of the escape, schemes his way towards pulling off this feat, he comes into contact with prison warder, Gordon Close (Barry Ward). Initially Larry and Gordon are confirmed enemies, born on opposite sides of Northern Ireland's political divide, but when Larry realises that Gordon may be unwittingly useful for his escape plan, a slow seduction begins. Larry intends to use and manipulate Gordon in order to get closer to his goal but what follows is a tense, and intriguing drama in which an unlikely relationship is forged between two enemies that will have far reaching consequences for both of them.

• The Punisher/The Punisher: War Zone | DVD | (04/09/2017) from £8.95   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  THE PUNISHER Special agent Frank Castle (Tom Jane) lives the good life with a devoted family and a job he loves. But his world falls apart when his last assignment pits him against ruthless businessman Howard Saint (John Travolta). Seeking the revenge of his murdered family, Castle becomes a merciless vigilante hell bent on destroying Saint and his band of underworld assassins on his mission of redemption: vindicating the common man with a brand of justice the law cannot provide. PUNISHER: WAR ZONE Waging his one-man war on the world of organised crime, ruthless vigilante-hero Frank Castle sets his sights on over-eager mob boss Billy Russoti. After Russoti is left horribly disfigured by Castle, he sets out for vengeance under his new alias: Jigsaw. With the Punisher Task Force hot on his trail and the FBI unable to take Jigsaw in, Frank must stand up to the formidable army that Jigsaw has recruited before more of his evil deeds go unpunished. BONUS FEATURES: THE PUNISHER Audio Commentary by Director Jonathan Hensleigh Alternate Opening Sequence War Journal Behind-the-Scenes featurette on the Making of the Movie Drawing Blood Bradstreet Style featurette Deleted Scenes with Optional Commentary Step Up Music Video performed by Drowning Pool PUNISHER: WAR ZONE The Making of Punisher: War Zone featurette Training for the Punisher featurette Weapons of the Punisher featurette Meet Jigsaw featurette Creating the Look of the Punisher featurette Audio Commentary with Director Lexi Alexander and Cinematographer Steve Gainer

• The Settlers | Blu Ray | (13/05/2024) from £10.00   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Out Of Sight | DVD | (22/09/2002) from £5.54   |  Saving you £10.45 (188.63%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Out of Sight was one of the best movies of 1998 but ironically this superior crime comedy was a box-office disappointment. Fortunately the movie can enjoy a long life on home video and DVD, where it can be savoured by anyone who missed its original release. Making one of his strongest films since his 1989 debut Sex, Lies, and Videotape and his recent hit Erin Brockovich, director Steven Soderbergh pays tribute to the signature wit and intricacy of Elmore Leonard's novel, brilliantly adapted by Scott Frank, the gifted screenwriter who previously adapted Leonard's Get Shorty. The movie is primarily a showcase for the talent and chemistry of George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez, respectively playing a career bank robber who has escaped from jail and the federal agent who falls for his charms while tracking him down. Soderbergh directs with confident visual flair, shifting timelines (à la Pulp Fiction) to weave together subplots and maintain vivid focus on Leonard's splendid characters and smooth-as-silk dialogue. While the sexy repartée between Clooney and Lopez recalls the vintage interplay of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, Ving Rhames and Steve Zahn add ample comic relief as Clooney's accomplices. Dennis Farina is memorable as Lopez's father and Albert Brooks is almost unrecognisable as a Wall Street crook whose mansion--and a cache of uncut diamonds--provides the setting for the film's climactic caper. As orchestrated by Soderbergh, the film offers a feast of plot twists and surprises but it never loses track of its delightful characters and the clever wit that brings them so vividly to life. --Jeff Shannon

• The Professionals | DVD | (16/06/2003) from £19.98   |  Saving you £-6.99 (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Director Richard Brooks' marvellous ode to friendship, loyalty and disillusionment The Professionals may not have the stylistic bravado or fatalistic doom of Sam Peckinpah's more famous The Wild Bunch, but Brooks' storytelling is simple and steady and just as insightful. The difference is that Brooks is a lot more optimistic. Lee Marvin and Burt Lancaster are buddies who have drifted into oblivion after fighting together in the Mexican Revolution. Marvin, the principled loyalist and munitions expert, lost his wife and his heart. Lancaster, the dynamite expert and unprincipled adventurer, keeps losing his pants. They team up with wrangler Robert Ryan and archer Woody Strode to rescue the beguiling Claudia Cardinale, who has been kidnapped by their old revolutionary buddie Jack Palance. So it's back into bloody Mexico they go on a "mission of mercy" for railroad tycoon Ralph Bellamy, who's paying handsomely for the return of his wife. But nothing is what it seems in this exciting, existential adventure, which was beautifully shot by Conrad Hall. Sarcastic quips, philosophical musings and heart-rending reversals underlie Brooks' humanistic sentiments. These are tired, world-weary men who somehow find the strength and the will to pull together for the sake of love and commitment. Through it all, Brooks seems to be lamenting a decline in professionalism much deeper than his story. He's decrying Hollywood and the society at large, anticipating Peckinpah's later strategy. --Bill Desowitz

• Highway Patrolman | DVD | (26/02/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Diminutive Highway Patrolman, Pedro Rojas (Roberto Soza) is small in stature but high on morals. While his Mexican traffic cop compadres are taking bribes left, right and centre he prefers the straight-and-narrow route to law and order. But life on the highway is not as clear-cut as Pedro would like to believe and he starts to stray off course. After stopping Griselda Marcos (Zaide Silvia Gutierrez) for a minor infraction, he accepts her offer of breakfast at the family home and is before he knows it is betrothed with a child on the way. After taking a kickback from a livestock carrier without the correct health and safety permits, Pedro drinks his guilt away in a border bar and ends up in the arms of Maribel (Vanessa Bauche), a beautiful prostitute strung-out on heroin. In the act of arresting two drunk drivers on a deserted road, Pedro is shot in the leg and left with a permanent limp. Soon after, when his fellow cop and close friend Anibal Morales (Bruno Bichir) is blasted to death by heavily armed drug traffickers, Pedro decides to walk tall and take the cartel on himself. Based on the experiences of a real highway patrolman and shot in a string of northern Mexican border towns, Alex Cox's Spanish-language road movie is flawlessly directed. Cinematographer Manuel Garzon's roaming camera floats like a mirage through the desert landscape, tracking the every move of Soza's scrawny but street tough cop. On the DVD: An audio commentary by Alex Cox and his collaborator on the film, writer/producer Lorenzo O'Brien, details the precarious ins and outs of shooting on location in Mexico and the series of real life dramas that trailed their wake. The feature appears in widescreen. --Chris Campion

• Oscar And Lucinda | DVD | (15/08/2005) from £12.70   |  Saving you £0.29 (2.28%)   |  RRP £12.99

  In mid-1800's England Oscar (Ralph Fiennes) is a young Anglican priest a misfit and an outcast but with the soul of an angel. As a boy even though from a strict Pentecostal family he felt God told him through a sign to leave his father and his faith and join the Church of England. Lucinda (Cate Blanchett) is a teenaged Australian heiress who has an almost desperate desire to liberate her sex from the confines of the male-dominated culture of the Australia of that time. She buys a

• Hidden Figures 4K UHD + BD + DHD | 4K UHD | (03/07/2017) from £49.99   |  Saving you £-30.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The incredible untold true story of Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer) & Mary Jackson (Janelle Monae)brilliant African-American women working at NASA, who served as the brains behind one of the greatest operations in history: the launch of astronaut John Glenn into orbit. This stunning achievement galvanized the world and inspired generations to dream big.