"Actor: Neil Brand"

• The Jazz Singer | DVD | (02/10/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £16.99

  Back in 1927, The Jazz Singer entered the history books as the first true, sound-on-film talking picture, with Al Jolson uttering the immortal words, "You ain't heard nothing yet!" But even then it was a creakingly sentimental old yarn. By the time this second remake showed up in 1980 (there was a previous one in 1953) it looked as ludicrously dated as a chaperone in a strip club. Our young hero, played by pop singer Neil Diamond in a doomed bid for movie stardom, is the latest in a long line of Jewish cantors, but secretly moonlights with a Harlem soul group. When his strictly Orthodox father (Laurence Olivier, complete with painfully hammy "oya-veh" accent) finds out, the expected ructions follow. Though the lad makes it big in showbiz, it all means nothing while he's cut off from family and roots. But in the end--well, you can guess, can't you? Diamond comes across as likeable enough in a bland way, but unencumbered by acting talent, and the music business has never looked so squeaky clean--nary a trace of drugs, and precious little sex or rock 'n' roll. As for anything sounding remotely like jazz, forget it. This is one story that should have been left to slumber in the archives. --Philip Kemp

• Underground | Blu Ray | (17/06/2013) from £17.98   |  Saving you £4.00 (25.02%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The BFI Archive's acclaimed restoration of Anthony Asquith's subterranean tale of love, jealousy and murder is finally made available in this stunning Dual Format Edition. This classic British film from the silent era features Neil Brand's new orchestral score, recorded live in 2012, which perfectly complements the film's richly detailed evocation of 1920s London. From his own screenplay Anthony Asquith balances the light and dark sides of London life, aided by a superb cast of Brian Aherne and Elissa Landi as the nice young lovers and Norah Baring and Cyril McLaglen as their unhappy counterparts. More than any other film from Britain's silent canon, Underground evokes the life of the ordinary Londoner with its scenes of the bustling underground and the capital's parks, double-decker buses, pubs and shabby bedsits. Special Features: New score by celebrated silent film composer Neil Brand Alternative audio track by the UK's leading sound recordist Chris Watson A selection of early transport films from the Archive

• On The Road | DVD | (27/08/2007) from £9.15   |  Saving you £10.84 (118.47%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Filmed between 1924 and 1926 The Open Road is a travelogue following a motor journey between Land's End and John O'Groats.