"Actor: Peter Harvey"

• Double Platinum | DVD | (19/06/2000) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  A soapy backstage melodrama originally produced for network broadcast, Double Platinum downplays showbiz verisimilitude to turn on the tears. With 60s soul queen Diana Ross and 90s pop princess Brandy sharing production credit as well as billing, this formulaic tearjerker focuses on its stars' dramatic chops more than their musical prowess, a choice that won't deter their respective audiences, even as it disappoints less partisan music fans who might have hoped for a stronger musical component.Olivia King (Ross) is the former St. Louis housewife who abandoned her family for pop stardom, only to return 18 years later determined to meet, and reconcile with, her daughter, Kayla (Brandy), now nurturing her own footlight fantasies. But when the prodigal mom finally does reveal herself to the bright, feisty teen, Kayla is outraged and then hard-boiled. Olivia's offer to help the undeniably talented girl make industry contacts is accepted, with the bitter caveat that the superstar should abandon any hopes of a true maternal bond with her embittered daughter. The usually imperious Olivia meekly accepts those terms, while the secretly yearning Kayla keeps up her tough-cookie cover, but the plot telegraphs its ultimate destination, even as the tears flow.Both stars acquit themselves well in the story's stormier clashes, and the emotional tug of the story is well engineered to soak hankies. Less credulous viewers will be hampered by the original songs--when Ross steps on-stage, her regal demeanour and flashy (if occasionally silly) gowns support her supposed status as a legend, but the utterly forgettable, generic songs she mouths deflate that image. That said, viewers less interested in the actual music than the glitzy idea of the two characters may well be content to wallow in the waterworks of a story that could as easily have been titled Divas: The Next Generation. --Sam Sutherland, Amazon.com

• Soldier's Story, A / The Beast / Anzio | DVD | (06/09/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Anzio: Robert Mitchum Peter Falk and Arthur Kennedy star in the rivetting war drama Anzio a vivid portrait of one of the bloodiest WWII battles ever fought. After landing with Allied troops at Anzio Italy in 1944 war correspondent Dick Ennis (Mitchum) and buddy Corporal Rabinoff (Falk) tell Anzio commander General Lesley (Kennedy) that the road to Rome is wide open. But instead of heading to Rome Lesley attempts to build a coastal stronghold only to discover that the Germans have outflanked them by enclosing the Anzio beachhead. Four months and over 30 000 casualties later the Allied forces smash through the German lines and victoriously march to Rome. Directed by Edward Dmytryk (The Caine Mutiny Back To Bataan) Anzio is a powerful film and a symbol of heroic tenacity. The Beast: War brings out the beast in every man. Afghanistan 1981 and the Soviet Union is locked in a futile and bloody battle with the Mujahedeen guerillas. Separated from their patrol the crew of a Russian T-62 tank engages in a deadly game of cat and mouse with the local insurgents led by Taj (Steven Bauer). The tyrannical tank commander Daskal (George Dzundza) wreaks havoc on a peaceful Afghani village pushing the moral boundaries of the tank driver Koverchenko (Jason Patric) to the limits. Sensing mutiny the psychotic Daskal abandons the disenchanted tanker to die in the desert at the hand of rebels only to find he's sealed his own fate. A Soldiers Story: Tensions flare in this gripping film about a murder on a black army base near the end of World War II. Captain Davenport (Howard E. Rollins Jr.) a proud black army attorney is sent to Fort Neal Louisiana to investigate the ruthless shooting death of Sergeant Waters (Adolph Caesar). Through interviews with Waters' men Davenport learns that he was a vicious man who served the white world and despised his own roots. Was the killer a bigoted white officer? Or could he have been a black soldier embittered by Waters' constant race baiting? Directed by Norman Jewison from Charles Fuller's Pulitzer Prize-winning play A Soldier's Story is both a spellbinding mystery and a superb drama that transcends race.

• J.S. Bach: St. Matthew Passion (Amsterdam 2012) (Iván Fischer, Mark Padmore, Peter Harvey) (Arthaus: 108075) | Blu Ray | (11/03/2013) from £29.95   |  Saving you £0.04 (0.13%)   |  RRP £29.99

  ARTH 108075; ARTHAUS MUSIK - Germania; Classica vocale Sacra Messe

• The Lost World | DVD | (03/04/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Something has survived... Directed by Steven Spielberg the film picks up four years after the disaster at Jurassic Park. On a nearby island dinosaurs have secretly survived and been allowed to roam free but now there is a more ominous threat - a plan to capture and bring the dinosaurs to the mainland. John Hammond who has lost control of his InGen company sees a chance to redeem himself for his past mistakes and sends an expedition led by Ian Malcolm to reach the island before the mercenary team gets there. The two groups confront each other in the face of extreme danger and must team up for their own survival in a race against time. With more dinosaurs more action and more visual effects than the first record-breaking film The Lost World based on the thrilling bestseller by Michael Crichton with a screenplay by David Koepp also stars Julianne Moore Pete Postlethwaite Arliss Howard Vince Vaughn and Vanessa Lee Chester.

• Jurassic World Ultimate Collection | DVD | (26/09/2022) from £24.97   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Own the epic collection of all six films from the blockbuster franchise. Jurassic Park Jurassic Park takes you to a remote island where an amazing theme park with living dinosaurs is about to turn deadly, as five people must battle to survive among the prehistoric predators. The Lost World: Jurassic Park Four years since the disaster at Jurassic Park, two groups are in a race against time that will determine the fate of the remote island's prehistoric inhabitants. Jurassic Park III Adventure runs wild when renowned palaeontologist Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill) agrees to accompany a wealthy couple (William H. Macy and Téa Leoni) on an aerial tour of Isla Sorna, Dr. Grant soon discovers that his hosts are not what they seem, and the island's native inhabitants are smarter and more brutal than he ever imagined. Jurassic World 22 years ago, John Hammond envisioned a theme park where guests could experience the thrill of witnessing actual dinosaurs. Today, Jurassic World welcomes tens of thousands of visitors, but something sinister lurks behind the park's attractions: a genetically modified dinosaur with savage capabilities. Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom It's been three years since Jurassic World was destroyed by dinosaurs out of containment, but when the island's dormant volcano begins roaring to life, Owen (Chris Pratt) and Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) mount a campaign to rescue the remaining dinosaurs from this extinction-level event. Jurassic World Dominion Four years after Isla Nublar has been destroyed, dinosaurs now live - and hunt - alongside humans. This fragile balance will determine, once and for all, whether human beings are to remain the apex predators on a planet they now share with history's most fearsome creatures.

• Jurassic World Ultimate Collection | Blu Ray | (26/09/2022) from £43.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Own the epic collection of all six films from the blockbuster franchise. Jurassic Park Jurassic Park takes you to a remote island where an amazing theme park with living dinosaurs is about to turn deadly, as five people must battle to survive among the prehistoric predators. The Lost World: Jurassic Park Four years since the disaster at Jurassic Park, two groups are in a race against time that will determine the fate of the remote island's prehistoric inhabitants. Jurassic Park III Adventure runs wild when renowned palaeontologist Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill) agrees to accompany a wealthy couple (William H. Macy and Téa Leoni) on an aerial tour of Isla Sorna, Dr. Grant soon discovers that his hosts are not what they seem, and the island's native inhabitants are smarter and more brutal than he ever imagined. Jurassic World 22 years ago, John Hammond envisioned a theme park where guests could experience the thrill of witnessing actual dinosaurs. Today, Jurassic World welcomes tens of thousands of visitors, but something sinister lurks behind the park's attractions: a genetically modified dinosaur with savage capabilities. Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom It's been three years since Jurassic World was destroyed by dinosaurs out of containment, but when the island's dormant volcano begins roaring to life, Owen (Chris Pratt) and Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) mount a campaign to rescue the remaining dinosaurs from this extinction-level event. Jurassic World Dominion Four years after Isla Nublar has been destroyed, dinosaurs now live - and hunt - alongside humans. This fragile balance will determine, once and for all, whether human beings are to remain the apex predators on a planet they now share with history's most fearsome creatures.

• Jurassic World Ultimate Collection | Blu Ray | (26/09/2022) from £32.35   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Own the epic collection of all six films from the blockbuster franchise. Jurassic Park Jurassic Park takes you to a remote island where an amazing theme park with living dinosaurs is about to turn deadly, as five people must battle to survive among the prehistoric predators. The Lost World: Jurassic Park Four years since the disaster at Jurassic Park, two groups are in a race against time that will determine the fate of the remote island's prehistoric inhabitants. Jurassic Park III Adventure runs wild when renowned palaeontologist Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill) agrees to accompany a wealthy couple (William H. Macy and Téa Leoni) on an aerial tour of Isla Sorna, Dr. Grant soon discovers that his hosts are not what they seem, and the island's native inhabitants are smarter and more brutal than he ever imagined. Jurassic World 22 years ago, John Hammond envisioned a theme park where guests could experience the thrill of witnessing actual dinosaurs. Today, Jurassic World welcomes tens of thousands of visitors, but something sinister lurks behind the park's attractions: a genetically modified dinosaur with savage capabilities. Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom It's been three years since Jurassic World was destroyed by dinosaurs out of containment, but when the island's dormant volcano begins roaring to life, Owen (Chris Pratt) and Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) mount a campaign to rescue the remaining dinosaurs from this extinction-level event. Jurassic World Dominion Four years after Isla Nublar has been destroyed, dinosaurs now live - and hunt - alongside humans. This fragile balance will determine, once and for all, whether human beings are to remain the apex predators on a planet they now share with history's most fearsome creatures.