"Actor: Mary Michael"

• Where Eagles Dare | Blu Ray | (17/04/2019) from £8.75   |  Saving you £9.24 (105.60%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Scorned by reviewers when it came out, Where Eagles Dare has acquired a cult following over the years for its unashamed and highly concentrated dose of commando death-dealing to legions of Nazi machine-gun fodder. In 1968 Clint Eastwood was just getting used to the notion that he might be a world-class movie star; Richard Burton, whose image had been shaped equally by classical theatre and his headline-making romance with Elizabeth Taylor, was eager to try his hand at the action genre. Author Alistair MacLean's novel The Guns of Navarone had inspired the film that started the 1960s vogue for World War II military capers, so he was prevailed upon to write the screenplay (his first). The central location, an impregnable Alpine stronghold locked in ice and snow, is surpassing cool, but the plot and action are ultra-mechanical, and the switcheroo gamesmanship of just who is the undercover double (triple?) agent on the mission becomes aggressively silly. --Richard T Jameson

• The Challenge | DVD | (16/02/2004) from £5.38   |  Saving you £8.61 (160.04%)   |  RRP £13.99

  Estranged teen sisters who live on opposite sides of the country are brought together as teammates in the TV show ""The Challenge"" much to their surprise. In order to win the grand prize - college scholarships - they'll need to reconcile their differences work together and keep their romances a secret from the producers all at the same time!

• Angels In America | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £9.99   |  Saving you £4.00 (40.04%)   |  RRP £13.99

  Tony Kushner's prize-winning play Angels in America became the defining US theatrical event of the 1990s, an astonishing mix of philosophy, politics, and vibrant gay soap opera that summed up the Reagan era for an entire generation of theatre-goers. Post-9/11 would seem to be too late for a film version--philosophy and politics don't always age well--but this 2003 HBO adaptation, ably directed by Mike Nichols, provides a time capsule of the '80s and reveals the deep emotional subcurrents that will give the play lasting power. The story centers around Prior Walter (Justin Kirk) and Louis Ironson (Ben Shenkman), a gay couple that falls apart when Prior grows ill as a result of AIDS. But cancer is not the only thing invading Prior's life: He begins to have religious visions of an angel (Emma Thompson) announcing that he is a prophet. Louis, who doesn't cope well with disease and suggestions of mortality, leaves and starts a relationship with Joe Pitt (Patrick Wilson), a closeted Mormon who works for Roy Cohn (Al Pacino)--the real-life right-wing lawyer, notorious for his ruthless behind-the-scenes machinations. Add in Joe's depressed and hallucinating wife Harper (Mary Louise Parker), his determined but open-minded mother Hannah (Meryl Streep), a fierce drag queen/nurse named Belize (Jeffrey Wright, reprising his celebrated performance from the Broadway production), and you've still only begun to discover the wealth of characters and storylines in Kushner's ambitious work. The powerhouse cast (also featuring James Cromwell, Michael Gambon, and Simon Callow) is uniformly superb. The script has its weaknesses--some of the fantastic elements, including Prior's journey to Heaven towards the end, fall flat--but even what doesn't work is bristling with ideas and a ferocious desire to capture human existence in this time and place. --Bret Fetzer

• Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves - 2 disc Special Edition | DVD | (26/01/2004) from £13.99   |  Saving you £5.00 (35.74%)   |  RRP £18.99

  Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves reinvented the legend for contemporary cinema audiences, and in doing so far outstripped at the box office even Kevin Costner's own infinitely superior Dances with Wolves to become the biggest hit of 1991. It's an entertaining enough family adventure film, but plays like a big-budget TV movie with no distinctive flair for action or romance. (Director Kevin Reynolds would reunite with Costner four years later for the equally stodgy Waterworld). If the accents are all over the place, at least Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio makes a Maid Marion of ravishing Pre-Raphaelite beauty. Morgan Freeman is fine as Robin's Moorish sidekick, though, other than to expand the demographic, his character has no business being in the story. Realising that the whole enterprise has the credibility of a pantomime, Alan Rickman outrageously camps up his Sheriff of Nottingham, stealing the film in the process. Costner makes an acceptable hero, though he will never replace Errol Flynn in the definitive The Adventures of Robin Hood. If you can accept explosives in 13th-century England, that the approach to Sherwood Forest is a modern conifer plantation and that the 170 miles from Dover to Nottingham is a matter of a few hours ride via Northumberland, then you may find much to enjoy here. Otherwise an already overlong film has been extended to an excessive 148 minutes in this special edition, making far too much of a not very good thing. On the DVD: Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves is presented as a two-disc set, with a 1.78:1 anamorphic transfer that is generally good looking but with an occasionally soft picture and some evidence of dirt and minor print damage. The Dolby Digital 5.1 remix of the original stereo soundtrack is atmospheric and powerful and shows off Michael Kamen's score to its best. Though presented with 12 minutes of footage not seen in the cinema version, the film still suffers most of the cuts (amounting to 28 seconds) imposed by the BBFC over the years. The main extras are a pair of commentaries: Costner and Reynolds discuss the film in frank and enthusiastic detail, while on a second track Freeman, Slater, writer/producer Pen Densham and cowriter/producer John Watson offer a great deal of insight plus a fair bit of stating the obvious, backslapping and critic bashing. Robin Hood: The Myth, the Man, the Movie (31 mins) is a cut version of a 45-minute TV special originally broadcast in America the night before the premiere, and offers an interesting if brief look at the Robin Hood story plus some routine making-of material. Finally, there is a video of Bryan Adams performing "Everything I Do, I Do It for You" live at Slane Castle and 18 minutes worth of bland electronic presskit-style archive interviews with Costner, Freeman, Mastrantonio, Slater and Alan Rickman, plus the original American trailer, a stills gallery and cast and crew list. --Gary S Dalkin

• Alvin & the Chipmunks Meet the | DVD | (03/10/2011) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Titles Comprise:Alvin And The Chipmunks Meet Frankenstein: Alvin and the Chipmunks in a full-length feature! The Chipmunks are working at an amusement park but little do they know in the Frankentein's Castle is the real Frankenstein! One night they get trapped in the park after dark, with Frankenstein on the loose it's the start of a wild adventure! Alvin And The Chipmunks Meet The Wolfman: Alvin and the Chipmunks in another full-length feature! With the arrival of a creepy neighbour the Chipmunks must keep a look out so they don't get bitten in the night!

• Fargo: Season 3 | DVD | (16/10/2017) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.03

  From Creator Noah Hawley, the new installment of Fargo is an all-new true crime tale starring Ewan McGregor in dual roles as Emmit Stussy and his slightly younger brother Ray. Their sibling rivalry leads to a twisted path that begins with petty theft but soon leads to murder, mobsters and cutthroat competitive bridge.

• Elf | DVD | (29/08/2016) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Jeeves And Wooster - The Complete 1st Series | DVD | (23/10/2000) from £17.59   |  Saving you £7.40 (42.07%)   |  RRP £24.99

  PG Wodehouse's much-loved stories about Bertie Wooster and his brilliantly clever valet Jeeves were brought faithfully to life in Jeeves and Wooster, starring Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry as master and servant. Perfectly cast and with scripts that retain all the sparkling wit of Wodehouse's prose, it's hard to see how any future adaptation of his work could surpass this wonderfully funny series. This set contains the entire first season of Jeeves and Wooster. In "Jeeves Takes Charge" young man-about-town Bertie Wooster employs a new valet called Jeeves, and not a moment too soon. Thanks to his Aunt Agatha, Bertie faces the terrible prospect of marriage to the statuesque Honoria Glossop, and only Jeeves can save the day. "Tuppy and the Terrier" finds Bertie in trouble again when he loses Aunt Agatha's dog. Further aunt-related complications arise when Bertie's chum Tuppy falls for our hero's cousin Angela. Aunt Dahlia is not amused. An uncle in love with a waitress, a trip to the country, a speedy choirboy, and a secret betting syndicate all lead to trouble in "The Purity of the Turf". Jeeves, of course, is the only one who can put things right. Jeeves and Wooster really hits its stride in the final episodes of Series 1: "The Hunger Strike" and "Brinkley Manor". When Bertie visits Aunt Dahlia he is called upon to solve the romantic problems of his friends Tuppy Glossop (in love with Cousin Angela) and the delightful Gussy Fink-Nottle (in love with Madeleine Basset, a young lady who believes the stars to be God's daisy-chain.) Unwisely, Bertie decides to cook up his own plan and before long disaster strikes. Aunt Dahlia's superb chef Anatole gives his notice, and Bertram is to blame. Thank goodness for Jeeves. --Simon Leake, Amazon.com

• The Waltons - Season 1 | DVD | (01/11/2004) from £29.99   |  Saving you £11.00 (36.68%)   |  RRP £40.99

  The Walton' nearly 10-year run grew out of the popular, 1971 made-for-TV movie The Homecoming, which was derived from a Depression-era, rustic setting ("Walton's Mountain"), and characters based on Earl Hamner Jr.'s autobiographical novel Spencer's Mountain--itself the source for a very nice 1963 feature film starring Henry Fonda and Maureen O'Hara. That's a lot of entertainment sprouting from Hamner's prose. But something about his seminal story of family values, rugged independence, and big dreams amidst a hardscrabble existence captured the hearts of American audiences, many of whom personally recalled severe economic adversity in the 1930s. The Waltons: The Complete First Season collects those initial episodes from the series building on the strengths of the Homecoming pilot, which introduced the extended Walton clan led by a strong-willed mill owner, John (Andrew Duggan), and his equally resolute wife, Olivia (Patricia Neal). The Waltons recast those key roles (as well as a few others) with Ralph Waite and Michael Learned (yup, a female), but Richard Thomas carried over as oldest child John-Boy Walton, an aspiring writer whose cusp-of-manhood view informs the series. Will Geer (Seconds) replaced Edgar Bergen as Grandpa Walton, Ellen Corby remained as Grandma, and John and Olivia's large brood (seven kids in all) were filled out by largely unknown, young actors. The episodes, still delightful and touching, strong on production values and unusually tight and polished for primetime drama, tended to focus on creator Hamner's pet themes of self-sacrifice and heroic effort when the going got tough. Year 1 highlights include "The Carnival", in which the impoverished Waltons, who can't pay for tickets to see a circus performance, end up sheltering stranded carney folk. "The Typewriter" is a classic about John-Boy "borrowing" a museum's antique typewriter, only to have his sister Mary Ellen (Judy Norton) sell it as junk. "The Sinner" concerns the arrival of a fundamentalist minister on Walton's Mountain, finding comfort in the words of religious iconoclast John Walton after the clergyman makes a fool of himself with moonshine. That's Hamner himself providing touches of narration. During the long run of the multiple-award-winning The Waltons, there were many changes in casting and storylines. But this boxed set reveals a fine series in its pristine state. --Tom Keogh

• In Like Flint / Our Man Flint | DVD | (02/06/2003) from £14.35   |  Saving you £0.64 (4.46%)   |  RRP £14.99

  There's really been only one rival to James Bond: Derek Flint in the swinging-60s action-comedies Our Man Flint (1966) and In Like Flint (1967). That's because of James Coburn's special brand of American cool. He's so cool, in fact, that he doesn't care to save the world. That is, until he's personally threatened. He's a true libertarian, with more gadgets and girls than Bond, but with none of his stress or responsibility. Our Man Flint finds our unflappable hero thwarting mad scientists who control the weather--and an island of pleasure drones. Lee J Cobb costars as Flint's flustered superior, and Edward Mulhare plays a British nemesis with snob appeal. For fans of Austin Powers, incidentally, the funny-sounding phone comes from the Flint films. However, Our Man Flint's best gadget remains the watch that enables Flint to feign death. There's a great Jerry Goldsmith score, too. There was bound to be a sequel, and In Like Flint delivers the same kind of zany fun as its predecessor. Flint is recruited once again by Lee J Cobb to be the government's top secret agent, this time to solve a mishap involving the President. It turns out, the Chief Executive has been replaced by an evil duplicate. The new plan for world domination involves feminine aggression, and Flint, with his overpowering charisma, is just the man to turn the hostile forces around. In Like Flint is still over the top, but some of the novelty has worn off, and it doesn't have quite the same edge as the original. Even Jerry Goldsmith's score is a bit more subdued. But the film still has James Coburn and that funny phone. --Bill Desowitz

• Sister Act 2 - Back In The Habit | DVD | (08/04/2002) from £2.99   |  Saving you £12.00 (401.34%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Whoopi Goldberg returns in a gratuitous, poorly written sequel that contrives a reason to get her character back into Maggie Smith's convent. The "socially conscious" plot finds Goldberg being asked to relate to a bunch of street kids and pull them together into a choir. Since a bad guy is needed, the script grabs that old chestnut about a rich guy (James Coburn) preparing to close down the convent's school, and runs with it. The film is slow and unconvincing from start to finish, although co-stars Mary Wickes and Kathy Najimy get some good laughs, and the music is pretty spirited. --Tom Keogh

• The Abyss | DVD | (26/02/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £3.99

  James Cameron's 1989 aquatic epic The Abyss was, quite literally, a watershed in the annals of filmmaking: not only was it the first (and only) movie to be shot almost entirely underwater, in the largest tank ever used for a movie set, and to use live dialogue from specially designed headsets, it also pushed forward the boundaries of computer animation in one gigantic leap. The famous water tentacle sequence is now regarded as the defining moment when CGI came of age; ironically perhaps, its very success has ensured that the punishing realism of the setting, which is the best thing about the movie, is likely never to be attempted again. But the impressive technical aspects aside, is the movie any good? Granted it contains any number of striking moments, from forcing a rat to breathe liquid (it really works, apparently) to resurrecting a drowned Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio. But the story is a slim one for the running time, especially in the extended Special Edition version which plays almost half an hour longer than the theatrical cut and contains a completely excised subplot featuring much too much heavy-handed moralising: "How all the world can stop fighting and learn to get along with each other", by James Cameron esq. All you need is love, apparently. Here is one rare example of the theatrical cut being preferable to the director's. Now, if only he had cut the love story from Titanic too On the DVD: The Abyss Special Edition two-disc set has plenty of neat extra features, but is let down a little by the non-anamorphic 2.35:1 letterboxed picture. Sound, on the other hand, is vivid THX mastered Dolby 5.1. Happily, the first disc contains both the original theatrical cut and the extended special-edition version. There's a reasonably informative though inevitably rather dry text-only commentary. The principal extra on Disc 2 is a 60-minute documentary, "Under Pressure", with retrospective interviews in which cast and crew detail the extraordinary challenges involved in making the film, and more than one near-death experience. In addition there's the complete screenplay, various different pieces on the effects sequences, storyboards, artwork, DVD-ROM features--in short, plenty to keep even jaded DVD enthusiasts amused for hours. The menu interfaces for both discs are a treat and the set comes with a good 12-page booklet. --Mark Walker

• Department S - Series 1-2 - Complete | DVD | (21/04/2008) from £36.77   |  Saving you £23.22 (63.15%)   |  RRP £59.99

  Handling cases that are too baffling to be solved by normal police routine - It's all in a day's work for Department S - a shadowy Interpol department that specialises in the inexplicable and the illogical. Its small core of operatives include flamboyant novelist Jason King (Peter Wyngarde) who uses his overactive imagination and droll wit to help solve the most difficult of cases Stewart Sullivan (Joel Fabiani) a man of action who's not afraid to get his hands dirty and Annabelle Hurst (Rosemary Nicols) as the gorgeous computer expert with an eye for detail. This box set contains all 28 episodes.

• Sister Act / Sister Act 2: Back In The Habit | DVD | (26/09/2005) from £11.01   |  Saving you £8.98 (81.56%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Sister Act: A Hilariously Divine Comedy!"" -ABC Radio Network. Relive all the fun laughter and irresistible music of Sister Act - the inspired comedy hit that packed pews everywhere! Whoopi Goldberg stars as a sassy low-rent lounge singer forced to hide out from the mob in the last place anyone would ever look for her - a convent. While she's there her irreverent behavior attracts a flock of faithful followers and turns the nuns' tone-deaf choir into a soulful chorus of swin

• Murder One - Season 1 And 2 | DVD | (31/10/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £69.99

  The complete two seasons of the thrilling Murder One show in which a single but multi-faceted case is explored from opening trial arguments to final judgment over the course of many enthralling episodes.

• Blow Dry | DVD | (04/02/2002) from £25.94   |  Saving you £-9.95 (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  From the writer of "The Full Monty" comes an emotion packed comedy about one broken family's attempt to get things back together as they attempt to win the British Hairdressing competition!

• 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.

• 6 Degrees Of Separation | DVD | (22/09/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Paul a streetwise young black man talks his way into the home of Ouisa and Flan Kettredge claiming to be a friend of their children and the illegitimate son of Sidney Poitier. They soon learn that this is not the case but find getting rid of him a little difficult...

• Curb Your Enthusiasm - Series 1 To 5 | DVD | (11/09/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £79.99

  Larry David co-creator of Seinfeld stars in Curb Your Enthusiasm as himself! This hilarious award-winning HBO series follows Larry and his knack for getting himself into uncomfortable situations... Series 1: 1. The Pants Tent 2. Ted and Mary 3. Porno Gil 4. The Bracelet 5. Interior Decorator 6. The Wire 7. AAMCO 8. Beloved Aunt 9. Affirmative Action 10. The Group Series 2: 1. The Car Salesman 2. Thor 3. Trick Or Treat 4. The Shrimp Incident 5. The Thong 6. The Acupuncturist 7. The Doll 8. Shaq 9. The Baptism 10. The Massage Series 3: 1. Chet's Shirt 2. The Benadryl Brownie 3. Club Soda and Salt 4. The Nanny 5. The Terrorist Attack 6. The Special Section 7. The Corpse-Sniffing Dog 8. Crazy-Eyez Killah 9. Mary Joseph and Larry 10. The Grand Opening Series 4: 1. Mel's Offer 2. Ben's Birthday Party 3. The Blind Date 4. The Weatherman 5. The 5 Wood 6. The Car Pool Lane 7. The Surrogate 8. Wandering Bear 9. The Survivor 10. Opening Night Series 5: 1. The Larry David Sandwich 2. The Bowtie 3. The Christ Nail 4. Kamikaze Bingo 5. Lewis Needs A Kidney 6. The Smoking Jacket 7. The Seder 8. The Ski Lift 9. The Korean Bookie 10. The End

• The Brontes of Haworth - The Complete Series | DVD | (29/04/2013) from £12.75   |  Saving you £7.24 (56.78%)   |  RRP £19.99

  In their isolated world on the Yorkshire Moors, the Bronte sisters found an escape in the childhood fantasies that would help mould the novels now regarded as classics of world literature; the grey-stone parsonage at Haworth in which they spent much of their short lives has become a place of literary pilgrimage. In this acclaimed mini-series, distinguished playwright, author and critic Christopher Fry tells the extraordinary story of a troubled family of genius. Vickery Turner, Rosemary McHa...