"Actor: Robert Allen"

• Flawless | DVD | (04/06/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Robert DeNiro and Philip Seymour Hoffman star in this drama about a hardened cop who suffers a heart attack and undertakes singing lessons from his transvestite neighbour to aid his recovery.

• Searching for Bobby Fischer - Imprint Limited Edition Blu-Ray | Blu Ray | (08/09/2023) from £28.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• 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 Apostle | DVD | (06/07/2015) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

• The Rat Pack | DVD | (14/10/2002) from £17.66   |  Saving you £-7.67 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  An irresistible melange of showbiz and politics, The Rat Pack is a sprawling HBO TV movie about the late-50s axis between Frank Sinatra's cool-talking cronies and the White House-bound Kennedy clan. Ray Liotta, William L Petersen and Joe Mantegna manage to give real performances as opposed to impersonations as Frankie, JFK and Dean Martin, and there's a stand-out turn from Don Cheadle as Sammy Davis Jr, who fantasises a blazing, gunslinging rendition of "I've Got You Under My Skin" as delivered to the cross-burning Nazi pickets outside his hotel campaigning against his marriage to a white Swedish starlet. Naturally the story goes over a lot of familiar ground (Marilyn Monroe, and so on,) but the Hollywood-Vegas angle, with the obvious criminal tie-ins, lends it a freshness. Angus McFadyen remains typecast as real-life actors, following up his Orson Welles (Cradle Will Rock) and Richard Burton (Liz, the Elizabeth Taylor biopic) by doing a squirming, but funny take on Peter Lawford, caught between the White House and Sinatra's vast, demanding ego. Its general style is somewhere between a Scorsese gangland epic and made-for-TV muckraking biopic and a lot of material from Shawn Levy's fine book Rat Pack Confidential is worked into the weave. On the DVD: The Rat Pack is a no-frills disc presented in a good-looking 16:9 anamorphic transfer, though as it's a TV movie this means trimming the top and the bottom of the image. --Kim Newman

• Prom At The Palace | DVD | (01/07/2002) from £9.59   |  Saving you £10.40 (108.45%)   |  RRP £19.99

  One of the most remarkable things about this recording of the Queen's Golden Jubilee Prom at the Palace--quite apart from the musical goodies on offer--is the opportunity to glimpse inside the royal garden, and see what Her Majesty's principal home looks like from the back. Who would have guessed she had her own lake? Voyeurism aside, director Bob Coles also catches the palpable sense of occasion and excitement that surrounds the concert, with some swooping camera angles and shots of a very chuffed-looking crowd. The music, introduced by Michael Parkinson, is a mix of popular favourites (Zadok the Priest, "Jupiter" from The Planets, Handel's Music for the Royal Fireworks) and a few lesser-known items such as Malcolm Arnold's The Nation's Dances. The outdoor acoustic is generally handled pretty well with some sensitive microphone placement, and the soloists all sound wonderful; Angela Gheorghiu stops the show with a passionate account of "Vissi d'Arte" (from Tosca) and 13-year-old clarinettist Julian Bliss gives a remarkably assured performance of Messager's fluffy salon-piece Solo de Concours. Occasionally the BBC Symphony Orchestra loses concentration and plays somewhat scrappily--the accompaniment to Figaro's aria "Largo al Factotum" is not all it should be--but overall this is a fine souvenir of a historic concert. On the DVD: Prom at the Palace has no special features on DVD. The arias in French and Italian are all subtitled in English. All profit from the sale of the DVD will be donated to the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Trust. --Warwick Thomson

• Freddy's Nightmares - Vol. 1 | DVD | (09/06/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £13.99

  A trilogy of stories from Elm Street hosted by its' most famous inhabitant Freddy Krueger. No More Mr Nice Guy: The sinister Freddy Krueger recounts the horrific events that led to his burning and how he became a dream killer. When Freddy Kruger is acquitted on a technicality for the slayings of innocent children an enraged mob led by the parents of the victims seeks revenge against the fedora-donned razor-gloved janitor of the Springwood power plant. It's a Miserable Life: A moment becomes a lifetime between the pulling of the trigger and the impact of the bullet to an innocent victim of a drive-by shooting: while his girlfriend's fear of hospitals fiendishly materialise when she becomes a victim as well. Killer Instinct: A high school track star who's lost her competitive edge experiences the thrill of victory and the painful agony of defeat when her coach urges her to get the killer instinct. He provides her with a talisman to help her not only visualise winning but focus on the gruesome destruction of her opponents.

• House of 1,000 Corpses | Blu Ray | (11/04/2023) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• The Secrets Of Jonathan Sperry | DVD | (30/08/2010) from £16.52   |  Saving you £4.73 (31.00%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Dustin and his two best friends are twelve year olds just looking forward to a summer of fun in 1970. When Dustin mows the lawn of seventy-five-year-old Jonathan Sperry a local man he has seen at church a unique friendship develops. Plagued by a bully Dustin and his pals experience a lesson in faith endure the pain of losing their dear friend and witness incredible forgiveness deeper than any of them could ever have imagined.

• Hellraiser | DVD | (03/07/2017) from £8.85   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Having made his reputation as one of the most prolific and gifted horror writers of his generation (prompting Stephen King to call him "the future of horror"), Clive Barker made a natural transition to movies with this audacious directorial debut from 1987. Not only did Barker serve up a chilling tale of devilish originality, he also introduced new icons of horror that since have become as popular among genre connoisseurs as Frankenstein's monster and the Wolfman. Foremost among these frightful, Hellraiser visions is the sadomasochistic demon affectionately named Pinhead (so named because his pale, bald head is a geometric pincushion and a symbol of eternal pain). Pinhead is the leader of the Cenobites, agents of evil who appear only when someone successfully "solves" the exotic puzzle box called the Lamont Configuration--a mysterious device that opens the door to Hell. The puzzle's latest victim is Frank (Sean Chapman), who now lives in a gelatinous skeletal state in an upstairs room of the British home just purchased by his newlywed half-brother (Andrew Robinson, best known as the villain from Dirty Harry), who has married one of Frank's former lovers (Claire Higgins). The latter is recruited to supply the cannibalistic Frank with fresh victims, enabling him to reconstitute his own flesh--but will Frank succeed in restoring himself completely? Will Pinhead continue to demonstrate the flesh-ripping pleasures of absolute agony? Your reaction to this description should tell you if you've got the stomach for Barker's film, which has since spawned a number of interesting but inferior sequels. It's definitely not for everyone, but there's no denying that it's become a semiclassic of modern horror. --Jeff Shannon

• Dunkirk | DVD | (21/08/2006) from £5.74   |  Saving you £7.25 (126.31%)   |  RRP £12.99

  An easygoing British Corporal (John Mills) in France finds himself responsible for the lives of his men when their officer is killed. He has to get them back to Britain somehow. Meanwhile British civilians are being dragged into the war with Operation Dynamo the scheme to get the French and British forces back from the Dunkirk beaches. Some come forward to help others are less willing...

• The Owl And The Pussycat | DVD | (02/12/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Felix and Doris live in the same apartment building. His incessant typing bothers her and her stream of gentlemen callers bothers him. Felix informs their landlord of her activities so Doris then moves in on him. They both get thrown out and move in with a friend untill their antics drive him out! Doris and Felix then decide to put their theory into practise but do opposites attract?

• Black Mask 2 - City Of Masks | DVD | (07/04/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  In his time between adventures Black Mask has become very well known but his identity has always remained a secret. He must now work to prevent a group that intends to set off a DNA bomb that would turn the metro area's population into monstrous mutated beasts!

• The John Cassavetes Collection | DVD | (12/09/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £49.99

  A collection of films from famed actor and independent director John Cassavetes comprising: Shadows (1959): A depiction of the struggle of three black siblings to survive the mean streets of Manhattan 'Shadows' was Cassavetes' jazz-scored improvisational film exploring interracial friendships and relationships in Beat-Era (1950s) New York City made from a script entirely improvised by the talented cast heralding a vital new era in independent filmmaking. Faces (1968):

• Stripshow | DVD | (17/06/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £7.99

  Coming soon to a hotel pay channel near you, Stripshow, with its rednecks and top-heavy trailer-trash, is the American softcore equivalent of movies like Bridget Jones's Diary, which are more-or-less targeted at the kind of people who are in them. Tane McClure plays a stripper who acquires a suitcase full of money from an aged punter who expires during a show. She than attempts to track down an ex-lover, who eventually wanders off into the desert to die rather than risk appearing in the sequel. The end. Actually, there's rather a lot of wandering off into the desert in this movie. There's also some--but not much--of the usual faked bonking, but the closest thing to a genuinely erotic scene is the obligatory lipstick-lesbian encounter which takes place in a Native American teepee (although you can't help thinking that, somewhere off-camera, Fox Mulder is being distracted from communing with a shaman), and even that's a pretty truncated episode--after all, Billy-Bob, it just ain't natural. Anyone who'd like to see McClure in a real film may prefer to check out Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas instead. On the DVD: Stripshow has nothing extra on this 4:3 release other than a few cast biogs--not even subtitles, so listening to the dialogue is unfortunately compulsory. --Roger Thomas

• House of 1,000 Corpses | Blu Ray | (17/09/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Mad Love | DVD | (12/04/2004) from £12.93   |  Saving you £5.05 (50.80%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Soon after their first meeting Matt and Casey's relationship turns into a love affair. Under pressure from their parents to break up they decide to hit the road in a desperate attempt to stay together....

• Hellraiser / Hellraiser 2 | DVD | (03/02/2003) from £19.78   |  Saving you £-1.79 (N/A%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Having made his reputation as one of the most prolific and gifted horror writers of his generation (prompting Stephen King to call him "the future of horror"), Clive Barker made a natural transition to movies with this audacious directorial debut from 1987. Not only did Barker serve up a chilling tale of devilish originality, he also introduced new icons of horror that since have become as popular among genre connoisseurs as Frankenstein's monster and the Wolfman. Foremost among these frightful, Hellraiser visions is the sadomasochistic demon affectionately named Pinhead (so named because his pale, bald head is a geometric pincushion and a symbol of eternal pain). Pinhead is the leader of the Cenobites, agents of evil who appear only when someone successfully "solves" the exotic puzzle box called the Lamont Configuration--a mysterious device that opens the door to Hell. The puzzle's latest victim is Frank (Sean Chapman), who now lives in a gelatinous skeletal state in an upstairs room of the British home just purchased by his newlywed half-brother (Andrew Robinson, best known as the villain from Dirty Harry), who has married one of Frank's former lovers (Claire Higgins). The latter is recruited to supply the cannibalistic Frank with fresh victims, enabling him to reconstitute his own flesh--but will Frank succeed in restoring himself completely? Will Pinhead continue to demonstrate the flesh-ripping pleasures of absolute agony? Your reaction to this description should tell you if you've got the stomach for Barker's film, which has since spawned a number of interesting but inferior sequels. It's definitely not for everyone, but there's no denying that it's become a semiclassic of modern horror. --Jeff Shannon

• The Last Showing | DVD | (25/08/2014) from £4.63   |  Saving you £8.36 (180.56%)   |  RRP £12.99

  When projectionist Stuart Lloyd (Englund) is made redundant by the multiplex cinema he has given his life to he looks to exact vengeance on a generation that no longer requires his skills. Trapping an innocent young couple inside the cinema after a midnight screening of a horror movie he decides to create his own film using the CCTV cameras. As the pair struggle to escape his deadly plot Stuart’s movie has one final killer twist: he wants to become the hero.

• Kiss Toledo Goodbye | DVD | (29/07/2003) from £2.84   |  Saving you £-0.85 (N/A%)   |  RRP £1.99

  A combination of award-winning talent and some of Hollywood's hottest rising stars combine in this hilarious comedy thriller in the vein of 'Naked Gun' and 'Airplane'. Rising star Micheal Rappaport reveals his comedic talents as Kevin Gower who stands on the threshold of marriage to his childhood sweetheart Deeann Emory (Christine Taylor) when his life is thrown into turmoil when one quiet afternoon he is assisted into waiting limousine by a local wiseguy Max (Christopher Walken) for a meeting with local godfather Sal Fortuna (Robert Forster). Running or in Kevin's case tripping sliding collapsing and colliding for his life he faces cross and double-cross in his side-splitting escapades and we laugh and cry as we wait to see if Kevin will ultimately survive or discover if he will have to finally Kiss Toledo Goodbye.