"Actor: Richard Carpenter"

• The Carpenters - Close To You: Remembering The Carpenters | DVD | (09/10/2000) from £16.24   |  Saving you £-0.25 (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  When Karen Carpenter died on February 4, 1983 at the age of 32, more than one generation mourned. Karen and her brother, Richard, had achieved monumental success as purveyors of soft-rock soulfulness, aided by their wholesome, wistful looks. After all, these were the hard-rocking, disco-throbbing 1970s, yet with classics like "Close to You", "Rainy Days and Mondays" and "We've Only Just Begun", the pair blurred the lines of musical class. But no one knew--or at least talked about--Karen's debilitating bouts of bulimia and ongoing battle against the ravaging effects of anorexia. Close to You: Remembering the Carpenters is more a gracious memento than a documentary and presents a rather biased view, heavily influenced by Richard's opinion and commentary. Beginning with the duo's early major success, winning a Battle of the Bands at the Hollywood Bowl, it's a quick trip through the salad years including the first record deal with Herb Alpert's A&M Records. Alpert calls his initial listen to the Carpenters' demo tape "love at first hear". That appears to be true for everyone who came into contact with them, as band members, songwriters Burt Bacharach and Paul Williams, and singer Petula Clark readily testify. The hits and the TV specials are reviewed, too, but something feels missing from this glimpse, which barely scratches the surface. It's obvious to anyone watching the film that Karen, who really wanted to be known as a drummer who sang, not the other way around, was in immense pain and terribly conflicted. Yet by the final credits, we know little more about her than we did before. She remains an enigma and this peek at her life--and Richard's--feels too protective of her memory to tell the whole truth. --Paula Nechak, Amazon.com

• H.M.S. Defiant | DVD | (18/03/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Set in 1797 at the beginning of the Napoleonic Wars, HMS Defiant is an enthralling British naval drama made to capitalise upon MGM's epic remake of Mutiny on the Bounty, also released in 1962. Based on the novel Mutiny by Frank Tilsey and starring Alex Guinness as a fair-minded captain locked in psychological conflict with Dirk Bogarde, his manipulative, coldly malicious first officer, the parallels with the famous true story are clear. However there were many naval mutinies at this period and this large-scale saga, which includes some spectacularly staged widescreen naval battles, offers a realistic depiction of life in the British navy at the time--from the press gangs and floggings, to the appalling food and living conditions. Director Lewis Gilbert--who previously helmed Sink the Bismarck! (1960)--strikes a good balance between the personal drama and sweeping maritime adventure. Guinness successfully varies his firm-but-fair officer from The Bridge on the River Kwai, Bogarde is chillingly hateful and Anthony Quayle gives strong support. ITV's recent Hornblower cumulatively offers a more detailed portrait of the British navy during the Napoleonic Wars, though the TV series cannot match the visual scale of this big-screen production. On the DVD: HMS Defiant is presented anamorphically enhanced at 2.35:1, though a little of the original CinemaScope frame is still cropped at the sides. The image is generally very good, though a handful of scenes near the end show considerable print damage and there is an inconstancy of colour grading between some shots. Grain is variable, but not generally a problem, though some unattractive "ringing" from edge enhancement is noticeable, particularly around Alex Guinness when he stands against a bright sky. The sound is in very clear mono with just occasional distortion on the music score. The disc offers the option of watching with dubbed French, German, Italian or Spanish soundtracks. The original trailer is included--under the American title of Damn the Defiant!--as are trailers for three other classic war films. The only other extra features are a small gallery of original publicity materials and three very basic filmographies. --Gary S Dalkin

• The Straight Story | DVD | (12/08/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  From director David Lynch comes a lyrical portrait of one man's real life journey across America's heartland.

• Come Dine with Me - Extra Spicy | DVD | (21/11/2011) from £11.98   |  Saving you £10.00 (100.10%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Come Dine With Me, the nation's favourite cooking show is back with a follow up to last year's hit DVD: It's Come Dine With Me - Extra Spicy! Packed with all new highlights the DVD is extra saucy, extra loud and extra shocking. It's weirder, it's funnier and it's loaded with even more never-before-seen material 100% exclusive to DVD and of course it's all narrated by Dave Lamb. Come Dine With Me - Extra Spicy, a must for all fans of the show!

• Knight Errant | DVD | (15/07/2013) from £8.99   |  Saving you £1.00 (11.12%)   |  RRP £9.99

  'Knight Errant '59. Quests undertaken, dragons defeated, damsels rescued. Anything, anywhere, for anyone, so long as it helps. Fees according to means.' Adam Knight is a young man who, having tried several jobs, decides to set up an agency, 'Knight Errant '59', to solve other people's problems - whatever they may be. There's plenty of scope and, assisted by former reporter Liz and idealistic young writer Peter, the latter-day Sir Lancelot is kept busy with a variety of curious and exciting c...

• One Of Them | DVD | (13/09/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  When five friends discover the old Marquez Academy they have enterded a mysterious world of terror a world where the line between reality and the supernatural is blurred... In this remote setting there exists a macabre world of ancient and terrifying rituals carried out to perpetuate evil and spread it to the living. A man searching for a missing relative is their only lifeline. He stubbornly tries to uncover the mystery of the 'chosen ones'... Together they must survive and