"Actor: Patti LaBelle"

• Richard Pryor - Live in concert | DVD | (31/05/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Though Richard Pryor: Live in Concert was recorded (and released) in 1979, it took 25 years for the DVD to finally get a UK release. And, while it's tempting to look for a conspiracy involving Chris Rock and Eddie Murphy, who could have used their influence to delay this release for fear of the world realising where they got their schtick, the reality is this DVD was worth the wait. Not only has the entire concert been restored and remastered, they've also included a whole heap of extras. There's some footage of some of Pryor's early stand-up (hard to believe that the potty-mouthed comic started out as tame as Bill Cosby), footage from Pryor's doomed-from-the-start television show (an ill-thought-out prospect, really, considering the conservative nature of American TV) and a biographical booklet. So, it's definitely a value-for-money DVD (especially when you consider the relatively short running-time of the main feature). Of course, the star of this show is the original feature: Richard Pryor's full stand-up routine, recorded live in the 1970s. With his star firmly in the ascendant, Pryor was on fire, and his performance soon became a comedic legend. His style is casual and conversational--fundamentally, he's an excellent storyteller, and he has a knack for finding comedy inside of tragedy. At the time, his raunchy subject matter and use (some said "overuse") of, ahem, naughty words came as quite a shock to audiences, but Pryor went on to influence dozens of comedians to follow (in the process, becoming the highest ever paid comedian by the end of the 1970s). Richard Pryor: Live in Concert is a legendary performance by a legendary comedian, and an essential touchstone for modern comedy. --Robert Burrow

• A Soldier's Story | DVD | (04/10/2010) from £6.73   |  Saving you £-0.74 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Charles Fuller adapted his Pulitzer Prize-winning A Soldier's Play for the big screen in 1984. The film version, A Soldier's Story is essentially a murder mystery, played out against a background of inter and intra-racial conflict at a Second World War training camp. To the consternation of his white opposite number at the camp, a black captain (Howard W Rollins) arrives to investigate the death of a black sergeant (Adolph Caesar). Suspicion immediately falls on a pair of bigoted white officers but as the tale unfolds in a series of flashbacks, it soon becomes clear that a different kind of prejudice is also at work. Assisted by some excellent performances, director Norman Jewison opens the story out from its stage roots. There's a wonderful baseball scene (filmed on location at Little Rock) in which the double standards of Dennis Lipscomb's fidgety white captain are exposed with neat irony; he'll cheer his successful black team all the way home in the name of sport. His gradual, forced liberalisation provides the film with an important comic element. A Soldier's Story wears its heart on its sleeve without being superficial in any way. It's a compelling tale, well told and often highly entertaining, in which nobody gets off lightly, least of all the good guy. On the DVD: The widescreen presentation helps give an epic feel to what could, in other hands, have been a claustrophobic production. The picture quality is fine. But the monaural sound track is often rather muffled, leaving you straining to catch some of the dialogue. This is also a shame because the blues music--an inspired job by Herbie Hancock, assisted by Patti Labelle singing her lungs out as bar owner Big Mary--is an important element of the film's underlying theme and deserves to be better heard. The extras are valuable. Norman Jewison's commentary is detailed and sensitive. As he says, the film deals with "ideas in racism never seen on screen before", and he acknowledges the strength of his actors in getting those ideas across. "March to Freedom" is an excellent short documentary which features the moving testimonies of black servicemen on the insufferable prejudices they encountered while attempting to defend their country during the Second World War; A Soldier's Story is thus put sharply into context. --Piers Ford

• The Who - Tommy Live With Special Guests | DVD | (05/06/2006) from £17.69   |  Saving you £-4.70 (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  1989 live performance of Tommy filmed at the Universal Amphitheatre in LA during the band's 25th Anniversary Tour. Tracklist: 1. Overture 2. It's A Boy 3. 1921 4. Amazing Journey 5. Sparks 6. Eyesight To The Blind 7. Christmas 8. Cousin Kevin 9. The Acid Queen 10. Pinball Wizard 11. Do You Think It's Alright? 12. Fiddle About 13. There's A Doctor 14. Go To The Mirror! 15. Smash The Mirror 16. Tommy Can You Hear Me? 17. I'm Free 18. Extra Extra/ Miracle Cure 19. Sally Simpson

• Michael McDonald - A Gathering Of Friends | DVD | (25/08/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £6.99

  Michael McDonald a Doobie Brother and a successful and popular purveyor of blue eyed soul in his own right is the honored performer at Los Angeles' Shrine Auditorium for this tribute concert. Featuring a slew of celebrity guests who sing Michael's signature tunes with him 'A Gathering Of Friends' is a fitting tribute to one of pop's best loved singers.

• A Soldier's Story | DVD | (17/08/2009) from £9.98   |  Saving you £-3.99 (-66.60%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Charles Fuller adapted his Pulitzer Prize-winning A Soldier's Play for the big screen in 1984. The film version, A Soldier's Story is essentially a murder mystery, played out against a background of inter and intra-racial conflict at a Second World War training camp. To the consternation of his white opposite number at the camp, a black captain (Howard W Rollins) arrives to investigate the death of a black sergeant (Adolph Caesar). Suspicion immediately falls on a pair of bigoted white officers but as the tale unfolds in a series of flashbacks, it soon becomes clear that a different kind of prejudice is also at work. Assisted by some excellent performances, director Norman Jewison opens the story out from its stage roots. There's a wonderful baseball scene (filmed on location at Little Rock) in which the double standards of Dennis Lipscomb's fidgety white captain are exposed with neat irony; he'll cheer his successful black team all the way home in the name of sport. His gradual, forced liberalisation provides the film with an important comic element. A Soldier's Story wears its heart on its sleeve without being superficial in any way. It's a compelling tale, well told and often highly entertaining, in which nobody gets off lightly, least of all the good guy. On the DVD: The widescreen presentation helps give an epic feel to what could, in other hands, have been a claustrophobic production. The picture quality is fine. But the monaural sound track is often rather muffled, leaving you straining to catch some of the dialogue. This is also a shame because the blues music--an inspired job by Herbie Hancock, assisted by Patti Labelle singing her lungs out as bar owner Big Mary--is an important element of the film's underlying theme and deserves to be better heard. The extras are valuable. Norman Jewison's commentary is detailed and sensitive. As he says, the film deals with "ideas in racism never seen on screen before", and he acknowledges the strength of his actors in getting those ideas across. "March to Freedom" is an excellent short documentary which features the moving testimonies of black servicemen on the insufferable prejudices they encountered while attempting to defend their country during the Second World War; A Soldier's Story is thus put sharply into context. --Piers Ford

• Millennium DVD Budget 5 Track | DVD | (08/06/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £6.99

  Millennium DVD Budget 5 Track [Australian Import]