"Actor: Matthew Clarke"

• The Whole Nine Yards | DVD | (13/11/2000) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £13.99

  Have a little patience with The Whole Nine Yards, an agreeably convoluted caper, and in the end you'll find it a modestly entertaining yarn. But forbearance is necessary because, truthfully, the first half-hour of the movie promises a train wreck of epic proportions. Matthew Perry stars as a mild-mannered Montreal dentist, married to a French-Canadian shrew (Rosanna Arquette), whose new next-door neighbour (Bruce Willis) just happens to be a notorious mob hit-man out on parole. The wife, catching the whiff of easy money and probably just hoping to put hubby in harms way, orders her hen pecked spouse to rat out the gunman to his former employers, who have many compelling reasons to want him dead. Needless to say, complications--and plenty of them--ensue. Perry is serviceably harried as the beleaguered Everyman whom, as nice as everyone around him agrees that he is the person, just about everyone, wants to kill. Willis, much as he did in The Sixth Sense, gets better mileage out of not trying so hard; his irksome smirk is almost held in check. Amanda Peet has some funny scenes as a hit-man groupie—it's when her true role in the proceedings is revealed that the film finally kicks into comic gear. Michael Clarke Duncan is fine as yet another hit man to cross Perry's path; however, Arquette seems to be in a contest with Kevin Pollak (playing a mob boss) to see who can uncork both the most ludicrous accent and the most obvious performance. That kind of unevenness ensures that the pleasures that do exist within The Whole Nine Yards remain fairly minor. --David Kronke, Amazon.com

• Serenity (DVD) | DVD | (01/07/2019) from £4.24   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  From writer and director Steven Knight (Locke, Eastern Promises, Peaky Blinders) and starring Matthew McConaughey (Interstellar, Dallas Buyers Club) and Anne Hathaway (Interstellar, The Dark Knight Rises), comes a mysterious tale of a fishing boat captain whose past is about to crash up against his life on a small island in the Caribbean and ensnare him in a new reality that might not be all it seems.

• The Whole Nine Yards | DVD | (29/09/2008) from £4.49   |  Saving you £8.50 (65.40%)   |  RRP £12.99

  There goes the neighborhood - in a pine box. When hit man Jimmy The Tulip Tudeski moves into a comfy suburb everyone's suddenly in danger of pushing up daisies. And it's not all Jimmy's doing either. Jonathan Lynn directs and a top cast packs heat in this manic comedy about life love and plenty of ammo. Bruce Willis is Jimmy whose arrival sparks a chain reaction in which just about everybody wants to clip somebody else...

• Next of Kin Series 1 - 3 | DVD | (25/04/2016) from £24.98   |  Saving you £15.01 (60.09%)   |  RRP £39.99

  The Prentices are a middle-aged, middle-class couple who enjoy doing exactly what they want, pleasing no-one but themselves. Maggie (Penelope Keith) and Andrew (William Gaunt) are now looking forward to an idyllic retirement at their new French vineyard. But after their estranged son Graham and his wife ˜Bootface' get killed in a car crash, they're left to bring up their grandchildren. No great lovers of children at the best of times, they're forced to abandon their dreams and accept the nightmare of parenting three ungrateful, fussy and stroppy kids, aged 13, 11 and 7! One's a vegetarian, one only eats Spam and one won't eat anything that's round. As the days turn into months, it begins to dawn on Maggie and Andrew that the three monsters and their multitude of pets are there to stay. Will the reluctant grandparents gracefully take on their family duties as next of kin? Next of Kin is a hugely heart-warming comedy directed by BAFTA winner Gareth Gwenlan (Only Fools and Horses / Yes, Prime Minister).

• Stanley Kubrick | DVD | (10/09/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £99.99

  This superb nine-disc Stanley Kubrick Box Set contains all the late director's work from 1962's Lolita to Kubrick's final film, the highly controversial Eyes Wide Shut (1999). There's also the excellent and highly informative two-hour documentary: Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures, narrated (a little drably) by Tom Cruise. It isn't exactly a warts-and-all portrait of Stan the Man, which is not surprising, really, given that it's directed and produced by Kubrick's brother-in-law Jan Harlan, and that Kubrick's widow Christine was closely involved in the making of it. But it does give a detailed and revealing portrait of a brilliant, demanding and often infuriating man, airing rare footage that goes right back to his earliest years as a brash youngster in the Bronx, already playing to camera with a frightening degree of self-awareness. Six of the eight movies (all but Dr Strangelove and Eyes Wide Shut) have been digitally restored and remastered, and almost all (barring Strangelove again and Lolita) now boast Dolby Digital 5.1 stereo sound remixes. For some bizarre reason, Kubrick insisted on mono sound for the 1999 set, which he approved shortly before his death. Visually the improvement over the often grainy, scratchy prints previously on offer--The Shining (1980) was notoriously messy--is immense. All the features are presented in their original ratios, which in the case of Strangelove means the changing ratios in which it was originally shot, and for 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) the full glorious 2.21:1 expanse of the Cinerama screen.So what don't you get? Essentially, the early Kubrick--the work of the young, hungry director before he moved to England and started to gather all the controlling strings into his own hand: most notably the tough, taut thriller The Killing (1956) and the icily furious war film Paths of Glory (1957). Too bad Warners couldn't have negotiated the rights for those too. But what we have here is the culminating phase of Kubrick's filmmaking career--the final 27 years of one of the great masters of cinema. On the DVDs: Besides the visual and sonic improvements mentioned above, each of the eight features includes the original theatrical trailer and multiple-language subtitles. The DVD of Dr Strangelove also gives us filmographies of the principal players, plus theatrical posters and a photo gallery, while Eyes Wide Shut includes interviews (taped after Kubrick's death) with Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman and Steven Spielberg, plus a couple of 30-second TV spots. And with The Shining we get a fascinating 34-minute documentary made by Kubrick's then 17-year-old daughter Vivian, plus--just to add a further layer--Vivian's present-day voice-over commentary on her film. --Philip Kemp

• The Knot | DVD | (04/02/2013) from £3.80   |  Saving you £9.19 (241.84%)   |  RRP £12.99

  When Jeremy (Matthew McNulty) wakes from his stag-do with a transvestite in his bed and scant memory of the night before, Best Man Peter (Noel Clarke) and buddies Ralphus, Albert and Jack muddle through the fog of their hangovers to reach the church on time. Meanwhile, blushing bride Alexandra (Talulah Riley) wakes nervously from her hen night, which ended with sex-crazed Anisha bedding the male stripper. Fellow bridesmaids Sarah (Mena Suvari), Julie and Helen attempt to keep Alex sane as the moment arrives to walk down the aisle and say, I do. Both hilarious and heartfelt, The Knot is the perfect blend of British romantic comedy at its best. Special Features: Interviews with Noel Clarke, Mena Suvari and Brett Goldstein To Be an Actor with Brett Goldstein Volla Gala Screening with Cast and Crew Audio Commentary with Cast and Crew

• The Lion King II: Simba's Pride | DVD | (16/02/2001) from £20.00   |  Saving you £-0.01 (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The Lion King II: Simba's Pride is another made-for-video sequel to a Disney masterpiece. As with the Beauty and the Beast and Pocahontas sequels, most of the recognisable vocal talents return, creating a worthwhile successor to the highest-grossing animated film ever. We pick up the story as the lion king, Simba (voiced by Matthew Broderick) and Nala (Moira Kelly) have a new baby cub, a girl named Kiara (Neve Campbell). Like her father before, she seeks adventure and ends up outside the Pridelands, where lions loyal to the evil Scar (who died in the original) have lived with revenge in their hearts. The leader, Zira (a spunky turn from Suzanne Pleshette), schemes to use her son Kovu (Jason Marsden) to destroy Simba. As luck with have it, Kiara has bumped into Kovu and fallen in love. This all sounds familiar since all of Disney's straight-to-video sequels have played it very safe, nearly repeating the originals' story, tone, and pace. Perhaps there were too many cooks for this production. Besides the two screenplay credits, there are eight other writers credited for additional written material. The look of the film has none of the surprise of the original but is far superior to other animated videos. In fact, the film played in European cinemas. For children, the sequel will be a favourite. The comic antics of Timon (Nathan Lane) and Pumba (Ernie Sabella) are enjoyable, as is Andy Dick as Nuka, the mixed-up older son of Zira. And there's plenty of action. The best element is the music. Relying on more African-influenced music, the five songs featured are far superior to those in Disney's other sequels. Zira's song of revenge, "My Lullaby," was cowritten by Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon. The oustanding opening number, "He Lives in You", was created for the Lion King Broadway smash and now finds a whole new audience. --Doug Thomas

• The Knot | Blu Ray | (04/02/2013) from £7.00   |  Saving you £8.99 (56.20%)   |  RRP £15.99

  When Jeremy (Matthew McNulty) wakes from his stag-do with a transvestite in his bed and scant memory of the night before, Best Man Peter (Noel Clarke) and buddies Ralphus, Albert and Jack muddle through the fog of their hangovers to reach the church on time. Meanwhile, blushing bride Alexandra (Talulah Riley) wakes nervously from her hen night, which ended with sex-crazed Anisha bedding the male stripper. Fellow bridesmaids Sarah (Mena Suvari), Julie and Helen attempt to keep Alex sane as the moment arrives to walk down the aisle and say, I do. Both hilarious and heartfelt, The Knot is the perfect blend of British romantic comedy at its best. Special Features: Interviews with Noel Clarke, Mena Suvari and Brett Goldstein To Be an Actor with Brett Goldstein Volla Gala Screening with Cast and Crew Audio Commentary with Cast and Crew