"Actor: M"

• Con Air | DVD | (02/07/2001) from £8.79   |  Saving you £3.20 (36.41%)   |  RRP £11.99

  Con Air is proof that the slick, absurdly overblown action formula of Hollywood mega-producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer (Top Gun, Days of Thunder, The Rock, Crimson Tide) lives on, even after Simpson's druggy death. (Read Charles Fleming's exposé, High Concept: Don Simpson and the Hollywood Culture of Excess, for more about that). Nicolas Cage, sporting a disconcerting mane of hair, is a wrongly convicted prisoner on a transport plane with a bunch of infamously psychopathic criminals, including head creep Cyrus the Virus (John Malkovich), black militant Diamond Dog (Ving Rhames), and serial killer Garland Greene (Steve Buscemi, making the most of his pallid, rodent-like qualities). Naturally, the convicts take over the plane; meanwhile, on the ground, a US marshal (John Cusack)and a DEA agent (Colm Meaney), try to figure out what to do. As is the postmodern way, the movie displays a self-consciously ironic awareness that its story and characters are really just excuses for a high-tech cinematic thrill ride. Best idea: the filmmakers persuaded the owners of the legendary Sands Hotel in Las Vegas to let them help out with the structure's demolition by crashing their plane into it.--Jim Emerson

• ABBA - The Definitive Collection | DVD | (29/07/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  ABBA were one of the first pop groups to exploit the promotional video as a vehicle for publicising their music across the globe. ABBA--The Definitive Collection provides an audio-visual timeline of how their promos developed over a 10-year period from the mid-1970s to the early 80s. The first ABBA videos were simple recordings of the band miming to their songs in a studio ("Waterloo" and "Ring Ring"); then, for "Mamma Mia" and "SOS", the style was replaced by something more adventurous, focusing on the four grouped together in rival pairs. As technology and the group evolved so did their promo films, with more recent examples shot on videotape and incorporating post-production special effects and outdoor locations ("One Of Us" and "Head over Heels"). Director Lasse Hallstrom has since made the transition from these relatively low-budget vehicles to Hollywood success with Chocolat and The Shipping News. If ABBA’s early efforts look a little primitive compared to big-budget modern music promos, the songs themselves now sound even better than ever, having been digitally re-mastered in 24-bit format. As well as featuring the digitally re-mastered promos for the majority of their single releases, exclusive previously unreleased material is also incorporated here, such as the extended original mix of "On and On and On". On the DVD: ABBA--The Definitive Collection on DVD squeezes in all 30 videos, plus five bonus tracks which include the promos for the Spanish-language versions of "I Have a Dream", "Happy New Year" and "When All is Said and Done". The video for the never released "When I Kissed the Teacher" is also included, too, as is a camp recording of "Dancing Queen" filmed at a gala tribute for Sweden’s King and Queen. The 20-minute picture gallery is an excellent and comprehensive photographic record of the group through the years. Background information about all of the material, is discussed in the accompanying biographical booklet.--John Galilee

• Twin Peaks: A Limited Event Series (Slipcase Version) | Blu Ray | (11/12/2017) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £29.99

  A quarter century after revolutionizing television, Twin Peaks returns. Expanding the world you thought you knew, this limited event series takes you places wonderful, strange and farther out. This Blu-ray collection includes all 18 parts of the Showtime series, plus a wealth of exclusive, behind-the-scenes special features that will show you what's behind the red curtain and the making of this extraordinary television event. Bonus Features Series Promos Twin Peaks: Phenomenon (Featurettes) Comic-Con 2017: Twin Peaks Panel A Very Lovely Dream: One Week in Twin Peaks Richard Beymer Films Rancho Rosa Logos Behind-the-Scenes Photo Gallery The Man with the Gray Elevated Hair Tell It Martin Two Blue Balls The Number of Completion Bad Binoculars See You On The Other Side Dear Friend Do Not Pick Up Hitchhikers A Bloody Finger In Your Mouth The Polish Accountant A Pot of Boiling Oil

• Seabiscuit | DVD | (23/02/2004) from £8.25   |  Saving you £9.74 (118.06%)   |  RRP £17.99

  A half-blind ex-prizefighter and millionaire team up to take an undersized horse called Seabiscuit to the big time in this movie based on a true story.

• XXX - 15th Anniversary Edition | Blu Ray | (09/01/2017) from £11.26   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  For a movie that would like to think of itself as the future of the action / espionage picture, xXx uses a surprising number of jokes and stunts lifted directly from the Roger Moore Bond era while the actual premise resembles a sex-change for Nikita. Vin Diesel's Xander Cage--an extreme sports daredevil recruited by spymaster Samuel L Jackson for a covert mission in Prague--may be Blofeld-bald, pumped-up with testosterone, tattooed like a graffiti-covered wall and given to driving sports cars off bridges for fun, but he turns out to be a disappointingly square goodie-goodie when the quips and bullets are flying. Even the slinky heroine (Asia Argento), a double agent within a mad ex-Soviet gang called Anarchy 99, laughs at the idea that a walking cue ball with three Xs tattooed on his neck could ever be a secret agent. There's one stunt scene that will be remembered as a classic, as xXx triggers an avalanche and snowboards ahead of the fall. But there's too much of the falling-out-of-planes, straddling-and-defusing-jet-propelled-germ-bombs, blasting-every-baddie-in-the-place business that makes it too familiar. Enough material for several great trailers, but next time they'll need a script. --Kim Newman On the DVD: xXx comes loud and proud to DVD, with Dolby 5.1 sound and the kind of sharp screen transfer you'd expect for a movie of this magnitude. From beautiful scrolling menus based on the tattoo artwork to the brash music, this disc epitomises everything an extreme sports release should be: special features are offered in the "Zander Zone" and include a whole host of behind-the-scenes action and commentaries, made all the more interesting by Rob Cohen's reluctance to use CGI and Vin Diesel's willingness to be thrown in at the deep end. If there's one thing you should avoid, though, it's the Gavin Rossdale music video--unless of course you want to see a grown man's vanity on screen. --Nikki Disney

• Au Hasard Balthazar (1966) | Blu Ray | (29/04/2019) from £21.98   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Bresson achieves the pinnacle of his art in the tale of a gentle creature's journey through a cruel world. A profound masterpiece from one of the most revered filmmakers in the history of cinema, Au hasard Balthazar, directed by Robert Bresson (Pickpocket), follows the donkey Balthazar as he is passed from owner to owner, some kind and some cruel but all with motivations outside of his understanding. Balthazar, whose life parallels that of his first keeper, Marie, is truly a beast of burden, suffering the sins of humankind. But despite his powerlessness, he accepts his fate nobly. Through Bresson's unconventional approach to composition, sound, and narrative, this simple story becomes a moving parable about purity and transcendence. Special Edition Features: New 2K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack Interview from 2005 with film scholar Donald Richie Un metteur en ordre: Robert Bresson, a 1966 French television programme about the film, featuring Bresson, filmmakers JeanLuc Godard and Louis Malle, and members of Balthazar's cast and crew Original theatrical trailer Plus: An essay by film scholar James Quandt

• Northwest Frontier | DVD | (17/05/2004) from £5.49   |  Saving you £4.50 (81.97%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Captain Scott (More) is sent by the British Governor in India to rescue a five year old Hindu prince and his American governess (Bacall) when a rebellion breaks out among the tribesmen. Pursued by the abductors the trio commandeer a derelict steam train to take them 300 miles through the mountains to safety...

• Snow Dogs | DVD | (18/11/2002) from £4.20   |  Saving you £13.79 (328.33%)   |  RRP £17.99

  In this new Disney comedy Miami dentist Ted Brooks (Cuba Gooding Jr) finds out he's been named in a will and travels to Alaska to claim his mystery inheritance: a mischievous team of sled dogs!

• Glass | Blu Ray | (20/05/2019) from £13.79   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  M. Night Shyamalan brings together the narratives of two of his stand-out originalsUnbreakable and Splitin one explosive comic-book thriller. Following the conclusion of Split, David Dunn (Bruce Willis) pursues Kevin Wendell Crumb's superhuman figure of The Beast (James McAvoy) in a series of escalating encounters. But the shadowy presence of Elijah Price (Samuel L. Jackson)known also by his pseudonym, Mr. Glassemerges as an orchestrator who holds secrets critical to both men, in this riveting culmination of Shyamalan's worldwide blockbusters!

• My Best Friend's Wedding | DVD | (27/01/2003) from £7.20   |  Saving you £5.79 (80.42%)   |  RRP £12.99

  One of the best romantic comedies of the 1990s, My Best Friend's Wedding not only gave Julia Roberts a delightful vehicle for her crowd-pleasing comeback, but it further distinguished itself by avoiding the conventional plotting of the genre. Julia plays a prominent Chicago restaurant critic whose best friend (Dermot Mulroney) is a former lover from her college days with whom she'd made a binding pact: if neither of them were married by the age of 28, they'd marry each other. Just when they're about to reach the deadline of their agreement, Mulroney arrives in Chicago to introduce Roberts to his seemingly perfect fiancée (Cameron Diaz) and announce their wedding in just three days. That leaves the shocked Julia with just three short days to sabotage the wedding and marry the man she now realises she's loved all along. With potential heartbreak waiting in the wings, she'll either get what she wants or pay the price for her selfish behaviour, and Ronald Bass's cleverly constructed screenplay keeps us guessing to the very end. Rupert Everett scored rave reviews for his scene-stealing performance as Robert's gay friend who goes along with her scheming (but only so far), and even as she makes her character's needy desperation disarmingly appealing, Roberts wisely allows Diaz to capitalise on her charming time in the spotlight. As the romantic outcome remains uncertain, the viewer is held in a state of giddy suspense, and director PJ Hogan pulls off some hilarious scenes (like a restaurant full of people singing the Dionne Warwick hit "I Say a Little Prayer") that could easily have fallen flat in the hands of a less talented filmmaker. It's no surprise that this was one of the box-office smashes of 1997. --Jeff Shannon

• My Cousin Rachel | DVD | (30/10/2017) from £9.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Based on the best-selling novel by Daphne du Maurier (author of The Peerless Rebecca), My Cousin Rachel (1952) weaves an eerie tale of Gothic romance, set against the backdrop of the wild, rock-ribbed Cornish coast. Richard Burton, in his first American film role, stars as an anguished young Englishman, torn between dark suspicion and an uncontrollable passion for his guardian's widow, the alluring and mysterious Rachel (Olivia de Havilland). With atmospheric direction by Henry Koster (The Robe) and a darkly romantic score by Franz Waxman (Sunset Boulevard), My Cousin Rachel is a seductive entry in the annals of cinematic ambiguity. Features: This release of Daphne Du Maurier 1952 Gothic film adaptation coincides with the new 2017 release 4 time Oscar nominated and Golden Globe winner Stars Olivia De Havilland (The Adventures of Robin Hood & Gone With the Wind) and Richard Burton (Where Eagles Dare)

• Skyscraper (Blu-ray + Digital Download) | Blu Ray | (19/11/2018) from £3.69   |  Saving you £11.30 (306.23%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Global icon Dwayne Johnson leads the cast of Legendary's Skyscraper as former FBI Hostage Rescue Team leader and U.S. war veteran Will Sawyer, who now assesses security for skyscrapers. On assignment in China he finds the tallest, safest building in the world suddenly ablaze, and he's been framed for it. A wanted man on the run, Will must find those responsible, clear his name and somehow rescue his family who is trapped inside the building...above the fire line.

• The Hitcher (Special Edition) | DVD | (14/07/2003) from £17.92   |  Saving you £2.07 (11.55%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Made in 1984, The Hitcher is an update--in spirit at least--of Steven Spielberg's first feature film, 1971's Duel. Here C Thomas Howell plays a guy taking a drive-away car from Chicago to San Diego. On a whim, in the rain, and against his better judgment, he picks up a hitchhiker (Rutger Hauer). The hitcher quickly admits to being a murdering psychopath and once Howell finally gets him out of his car, he is pursued with all the vengeance of the ancient furies. We're never sure if the hitcher is a figment of his imagination, making Howell a schizophrenic killer, or if he's real and Howell is the random victim of a wandering madman, which is how his potential new girlfriend (Jennifer Jason Leigh) thinks of him. Either way, The Hitcher is great fun, kinda scary and teetering on the brink of "must see". --Andy Spletzer

• Love & Death: The Films of Jörg Buttgereit | Blu Ray | (12/10/2020) from £24.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Controversial, crazy, shocking, disturbing Using any of those words to describe horror director Jörg Buttgereit's output would be putting it mildly! Over the years, the Berlin based filmmaker has created some of the genre's most graphic and twisted films and cemented his reputation as one of cult cinema's grisliest auteurs. Arrow Video invites you to feast your eyes upon four of Buttgereit's most infamous works: Nekromantik, Der Todesking, Nekromantik 2 and Schramm. 4-DISC SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS High Definition Blu-rayTM (1080p) presentation of four films by Jörg Buttgereit: Nekromantik, Der Todesking, Nekromantik 2 and Schramm Uncompressed PCM Stereo 2.0 audio for all films and additional Mono audio option for Nekromantik Optional English subtitles Special Edition packaging featuring new artwork by Gilles Vranckx and reversible sleeves featuring artwork by Godmachine and Gilles Vranckx DISC ONE: NEKROMANTIK Two additional short films by Jörg Buttgereit: Hot Love (1985) [29 mins] and J.B.'s Horror Heaven (1984) [23 mins] with optional English subtitles Nekromantik audio commentary with Jörg Buttgereit and co-writer Franz Rodenkirchen Hot Love audio commentary with Buttgereit Horror Heaven audio commentary with Buttgereit Director's Introduction to Nekromantik Alternative Grindhouse version of Nekromantik, transferred from the only existing 35mm print In Conversation with The Death King an interview with Buttgereit Morbid Fascination: The Nekromantik Legacy a documentary looking at the impact of the film on the horror scene both in the UK and abroad, featuring interviews with Buttgereit, genre critic Alan Jones, Buttgereit biographer David Kerekes and others Q&A with Jörg Buttgereit recorded at Glasgow's Centre for Contemporary Arts The Making of Nekromantik a vintage documentary featuring a wealth of behind-the-scenes footage, viewable with two different audio tracks: an English commentary with Buttgereit, Rodenkirchen and Kerekes, and a German-language audio track featuring radio interviews with Buttgereit, Rodenkirchen and producer Manfred Jelinski Nekromantik Featurette a look back at the film's production, featuring interviews with Buttgereit and Jelinski, produced for the film's 10-year anniversary German VHS release Nekromantik Premiere a short featurette comprising footage from the film's premiere in Berlin, January 1988 Das Letzte a short featurette comprising footage from the 1985 premiere of Hot Love Two Buttgereit-directed music videos: ˜I Can't Let Go' by Shock Therapy (1995) and ˜Lemmy I'm a Feminist' by Half Girl (2013) Complete collection of Buttgereit film trailers: Nekromantik, Der Todesking, Nekromantik 2 and Schramm Extensive image gallery including behind-the-scenes stills and the rare, surrealist German-language Nekromantik comic by Berlin artist Fil, reproduced in its entirety DISC TWO: DER TODESKING Audio commentary by Jörg Buttgereit and co-writer Franz Rodenkirchen From Bundy to Lautréamont Jörg Buttgereit in conversation with journalist Graham Rae at the 2016 Manchester Festival of Fantastic Films Todesmusik composer Hermann Kopp on his numerous collaborations with Jörg Buttgereit Skeleton Under the Skin journalist and Buttgereit fan Graham Rae on Todesking tattoo culture The Making of Der Todesking a vintage documentary viewable with both an English-language and a German-language audio track with English subtitles Eating the Corpse footage from the original 1990 Berlin premiere The Letter alternate English-language chain letter insert used for the original UK VHS release Corpse Fucking Art 1992 documentary comprising the making of Nekromantik, Der Todesking and Nekromantik 2 Two short films by producer Manfred O. Jelinski: Die Reise ins Licht (1972, 27 mins) viewable with optional audio commentary, and Geliebter Wahnsinn (1973, 7 mins) Der Gollob (1983, 25 mins) a short film by Jörg Buttgereit, viewable with optional director's audio commentary Extensive Image Gallery Jörg Buttgereit Trailer Gallery DISC THREE: NEKROMANTIK 2 Audio commentary with Buttgereit, co-writer Franz Rodenkirchen and actors Monika M. and Mark Reeder Introduction to the film with Buttgereit, Reeder, Monika M. and producer Manfred Jelinski Masters of Life and Death a documentary looking at the film's production and release history, featuring interviews with Buttgereit, Reeder, Monika M. and Jelinski City of the Loving Dead a walking tour of some of the original Berlin locations with Reeder and Jelinski Necropolis: Jörg Buttgereit's Berlin film scholar Dr. Marcus Stiglegger on the significance of the German capital as the backdrop for Nekromantik 2 The Making of Nekromantik 2 a vintage documentary viewable with two different audio tracks: an English track comprising audio interviews with Buttgereit, Rodenkirchen and Monika M., and a German track featuring radio interviews with Buttgereit and Rodenkirchen, with optional English subtitles Nekro Waltz: The Music of Nekromantik 2 actor and composer Reeder discusses his work on the film's score Outtakes Reel Nekromantik 2 Livekonzert footage from the 20th anniversary Nekromantik 2 concert, with Monika M. and friends performing the live score Nekromantik 2 Livekonzert the complete 20-track audio recording of the concert [BD-ROM content] Two Buttgereit short films: Bloody Excess in the Leader's Bunker (Blutige Exzesse im Führerbunker, 1982) and A Moment of Silence at the Grave of Ed Gein (2012) Two Buttgereit-directed music videos: ˜Rise Up' by Die Krupps (1997), starring Monika M., and ˜Die Frau in der Musik' by Stereo Total (2007) Complete collection of Buttgereit feature film trailers Extensive image gallery DISC FOUR: SCHRAMM Archival audio commentary with director/co-writer Jörg Buttgereit and co-writer Franz Rodenkirchen Archival audio commentary with actors Florian Koerner Von Gustorf and Monika M. The Making of Schramm archival behind-the-scenes documentary Q&A with Jörg Buttgereit, producer/cinematographer Manfred Jelinski, Monika M. and David Kerekes, author of Sex Murder Art: The Films of Jörg Buttgereit, filmed at a 1994 UK screening of Schramm Tomorrow I Will Be Dirt (2019, 8 mins) animated short film sequel to Schramm made by award-winning filmmaker and stop-motion artist Robert Morgan Making Tomorrow I Will Be Dirt a brief look behind the making of the short film Tomorrow I Will Be Dirt premiere featurette Schramm: Redux option to watch Schramm and its sequel Tomorrow I Will Be Dirt as a single, continuous feature Take My Body: The Journey of a Blow-up Doll author Kier-La Janisse on the strange and fascinating story behind one of Schramm's most memorable props Buttgereit: Into the Mind of a Cult Filmmaker Jörg Buttgereit in conversation with Ewan Cant at the 2019 Offscreen Film Festival Mein Papi (1981-95, 8 mins) short film by Jörg Buttgereit offering a highly personal account of the life and death of his father, viewable with optional director commentary Jesus Der Film (1986, 1 min) a short piece directed by Jörg Buttgereit as part of a 1986 experimental movie of the same name by German filmmaker Michael Bynntrup Two short films by Manfred Jelinski: Orpheus in der Oberwelt (1970, 31 mins) and Ein Ku'ze' Film übe' Hambu'g (1990, 5 mins) Extensive image gallery Jörg Buttgereit Trailer Gallery

• Breakdown | DVD | (30/06/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Tautly directed and superbly photographed, this crowd-pleasing thriller from 1997 is indebted to Steven Spielberg's Duel but more closely resembles Dead Calm in its strengths and weaknesses. Kurt Russell plays a stressed-out husband whose wife (Kathleen Quinlan) disappears after their car breaks down in the desert. Tracking down her whereabouts leads to an interstate theft and kidnapping ring, and as Russell pursues--and is pursued by--a vicious redneck played to perfection by J T Walsh (in one of his final film roles), the movie succumbs to several tense but utterly conventional action sequences. That doesn't stop the movie from being an above-average nail-biter. It is so effectively directed by co-writer Jonathan Mostow that even the more surreal situations seem plausible and altogether unsettling. Russell's performance is key to the film's success--he's smart enough to be admirable and we can readily identify with his frustration, confusion and torment. Through him, Breakdown takes on the edgy quality of a wide-awake nightmare. --Jeff Shannon

• The Dukes of Hazzard | DVD | (09/01/2006) from £7.98   |  Saving you £11.01 (137.97%)   |  RRP £18.99

  Bo and Luke Duke, with a little help from Daisy and Uncle Jesse egg on the authorities of Hazzard County.

• Harry and the Hendersons | Blu Ray | (22/02/2021) from £10.35   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  The Henderson family adopt a friendly Sasquatch but have a hard time trying to keep the legend of 'Bigfoot' a secret.

• Aliens Of The Deep | DVD | (12/09/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £17.99

  James Cameron heads back into the depths for this underwater IMAX extravaganza.

• Still Crazy | DVD | (11/10/1999) from £12.12   |  Saving you £2.13 (19.61%)   |  RRP £12.99

  This gently satirical British comedy chronicles the quixotic reunion of a late, arguably not-so-great and unlamented 70s rock band, Strange Fruit, with a winning mix of humour and poignancy. The "Fruits", as the survivors call themselves without irony, had disbanded after the tragic loss of one member, the mysterious disappearance of another and the aftershocks of internal rivalries, but 20 years later they warily reassemble for a Dutch club tour, a warm-up for a proposed festival appearance. Between that seemingly hare-brained proposal and the fateful festival, director Brian Gibson, working from a sharp script by Dick Clement and Ian LaFrenais, captures the absurdities of middle-aged rockers trying to recapture that lost cockiness.Breathing life into the band is a terrific cast, including Stephen Rea, Jimmy Nail, Timothy Spall and Bill Nighy, each managing to juggle deft archetype with believable character traits: Spall's cheerfully crass, flatulent drummer and Nighy's preening, slow-witted lead singer exemplify the approach, grabbing chuckles yet making you actually care about them. Equally impressive is Billy Connolly as the wily roadie, Hughie, at once pragmatic and devoted to his charges. All are well-served by production details and script points that get the group's lost world of late 60s and early 70s rock exactly right, from costuming and stage moves to the long-forgotten bands they name-check--Blodwyn Pig, anybody?The band's music likewise benefits from inspired insiders, cowriters Mick Jones (Spooky Tooth, Foreigner) and Chris Difford (Squeeze), who hit a nifty combination of bombast (for the silly scenes) and earnestness. When Gibson and his cast risk the story's amiable glow on a darker, more dramatic final act, the music rises to the challenge and the whole project, like its fictional subject, achieves an unexpectedly touching victory. --Sam Sutherland

• A Star Is Born | Blu Ray | (21/01/2019) from £9.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  The evergreen Oscar winner ablaze with music and stardust. // The fire of Barbra Steisand. The magnetism of Kris Kristofferson. The Reckless world of big-time rock 'n' roll. All three bring a new passion and timeliness to A Star is Born, one of the screen's classic love stories (previously filmed in 1937 and 1954) and winner of five Golden Globe Awards, including Best Picture, Actress and Actor (Musical/Comedy). // Paul Williams, Kenny Loggins, Leon Russel and others worked with Steisand on one of the most popular song scores ever, topped by the Streisand / Williams Evergreen winning the Academy Award and Golden Globe Award as 1976's Best Original Song. Their teamwork resulted in a box-office triumph as well as a considerable achievement (Clive Hirschhorn, The Hollywood Musical). Features: Commentary by Barbra Steisand, Additional Scenes, wardrobe Tests, Soundtrack Remastered in Dolby Digital 5.1, A Star Is Born Trailer Gallery.