"Actor: Robert Ari"

• The Commitments | Blu Ray | (02/09/2024) from £9.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Out Of Africa | DVD | (21/01/2002) from £6.90   |  Saving you £9.09 (131.74%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Winner of seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Out of Africa seems to have slipped more readily from public memory than other comparably lauded films. Yet Sidney Pollack's panoramic treatment of Karen Blixen's novel has retained its atmosphere and slow-burning emotion, and deserves reassessment. Meryl Streep is in her possibly most involving starring role as Baroness Karen Blixen, Danish free spirit whose ill-fated venture at the beginning of World War One to run a coffee plantation in Kenya is overlaid by her intimate yet distant relationship with adventurer and idealist Denys Finch Hatton, unselfconsciously portrayed by Robert Redford. Klaus Maria Brandauer puts in a rare and convincing English-language appearance as the amoral but charming womaniser Baron Bror Blixen. The film is tellingly held together by Kurt Luedke's finely honed screenplay, and John Barry's sumptuously expressive score. On the DVD: The anamorphic 1.85:1 widescreen format reproduces superbly, as does the 4.1 discrete audio. 18 access points are provided, with printed and aural subtitles in English only. Pollack's feature commentary is amusing enough on a single run-through, but an on-location documentary would have been preferable. Production notes and biographies are very adequate, though the theatrical trailer reproduction is notably inferior. No matter, this is a major film, well worth the transfer to DVD.--Richard Whitehouse

• Spider-Man Homecoming | DVD | (20/11/2017) from £3.99   |  Saving you £3.00 (75.19%)   |  RRP £6.99

  A young Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Tom Holland), who made his sensational debut in Captain American: Civil War, begins to naviagate his newfound identity as the web-slinging super hero in Spider-Man: Homecoming. Thrilled by his experience with the Avengers, Peter returns home, where he lives with his Aunt May (Marisa Tomei), under the watchful eye of his new mentor Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.). Peter tries to fall back into his normal daily routine - distracted by thoughts of proving himself to be more than just your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man - but when the Vulture (Michael Keaton) emerges as a new villain, everything that Peter holds most important will be threatened. Click Images to Enlarge

• Party Girl | Blu Ray | (26/02/2024) from £14.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  When Nicolas Ray (Johnny Guitar, Rebel Without a Cause) turns his talents to a gangster movie, a familiar genre becomes startling and new. Set in 1930s Chicago, Party Girl follows a bum-legged mouthpiece for the mob (Robert Taylor) and a gorgeous, wised-up vamp (Cyd Charisse) who fall in love, try to go straight...and head straight for trouble. Ray deepens the drama and heightens the violence with filmmaking artistry that has given Party Girl cult status: a screen painted in sinister ebony and blood red, an urban landscape of shattered glass and shattered bodies, and a scene where a Jean Harlow-besotted mobster learns his idol has married - and shreds her photo with a rat-a-tat of lead.

• Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £7.11   |  Saving you £4.88 (68.64%)   |  RRP £11.99

  Dating from 1969, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid has never lost its popularity or its unusual appeal as a star-driven Western that tinkers with the genre's conventions and comes up with something both terrifically entertaining and--typical of its period--a tad paranoid. Paul Newman plays the legendary outlaw Butch Cassidy as an eternal optimist and self-styled visionary, conjuring dreams of banks just ripe for the picking all over the world. Robert Redford is his more level-headed partner, the sharp-shooting Sundance Kid. The film, written by William Goldman (The Princess Bride) and directed by George Roy Hill (The Sting), basically begins as a freewheeling story about robbing trains but soon becomes a chase as a relentless posse--always seen at a great distance like some remote authority--forces Butch and Sundance into the hills and, finally, Bolivia. Weakened a little by feel-good inclinations (a scene involving bicycle tricks and the song "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" is sort of Hollywood flower power), the film maintains an interesting tautness, and the chemistry between Redford and Newman is rare. (A factoid: Newman first offered the Sundance part to Jack Lemmon.) --Tom Keogh, Amazon.com On the DVD: This anamorphic widescreen print of the 2.35:1 Panavision original looks marvellously crisp, highlighting the sepia tinting and washed-out, over-exposed look of the film nicely and making the best of the deep focus cinematography. The mono soundtrack sounds clean and clear in Dolby 2.0. The commentary track is hosted by documentary-maker Robert Crawford with contributions from George Roy Hill, cinematographer Conrad Hall, and lyricist Hal David (who chips in during the "Raindrops" sequence). The 40-minute documentary dates from 1968 and is narrated by director Hill, who talks in detail about the making-of process, comments on his relationship with the three principals (Katharine Ross was the difficult one apparently), and adds little nuggets such as how they sprayed the bull's testicles to make him charge at the end of the bicycle scene. Also included are a series of absorbing 1994 interviews with all the main players: Newman, Redford, Ross, writer William Goldman, and composer Burt Bacharach. Trailers, Production Notes and an Alternate Credit Roll complete an attractive package. --Mark Walker

• Spider-Man Homecoming | DVD | (20/11/2017) from £7.89   |  Saving you £5.10 (64.64%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Limited Comic Book, Only Whilst Stocks Last. A young Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Tom Holland), who made his sensational debut in Captain American: Civil War, begins to naviagate his newfound identity as the web-slinging super hero in Spider-Man: Homecoming. Thrilled by his experience with the Avengers, Peter returns home, where he lives with his Aunt May (Marisa Tomei), under the watchful eye of his new mentor Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.). Peter tries to fall back into his normal daily routine - distracted by thoughts of proving himself to be more than just your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man - but when the Vulture (Michael Keaton) emerges as a new villain, everything that Peter holds most important will be threatened. Click Images to Enlarge

• mulholland Drive | Blu Ray | (31/01/2022) from £19.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Brand new restoration of David Lynch's iconic surrealist mystery-drama. Celebrating its 20th anniversary, MULHOLLAND DRIVE is considered by many as one of the greatest films of the 21st century. Los Angeles, city of angels. Amnesiac and wounded, a mysterious femme fatale wanders on the sinuous road of Mulholland Drive. She finds shelter at Betty's house (Naomi Watts),an aspiring actress just arrived from her hometown and in search of stardom in Hollywood. Initially intrigued by the stranger who calls herself Rita (Laura Elena Harring), Betty discovers that her handbag is full of dollar bundles. The two women get to know each other better and decide to investigate in order to discover Rita's true identity... This slick, sinister, psycho-sexual thriller comes from the darkest recesses of Hollywood, a Los Angeles of strange dreams, unrequited love and a jealous burning rage. Special Features: Back to Mulholland Drive On the Road to Mulholland Drive Interview with Laura Harring Interview with Mary Sweeney Interview with Angelo Badalamenti Introduction by Thierry Jousse In the Blue Box

• An American In Paris | DVD | (02/06/2003) from £6.04   |  Saving you £7.95 (131.62%)   |  RRP £13.99

  Jerry Mulligan, a struggling American painter in Paris, is "discovered" by an influential heiress with an interest in more than Jerry's art.

• A Matter Of Life & Death Blu-Ray | Blu Ray | (22/04/2019) from £7.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  NOTICE: Polish Release, cover may contain Polish text/markings. The disk has English audio.

• Spider-man Homecoming | Blu Ray | (20/11/2017) from £7.29   |  Saving you £2.70 (37.04%)   |  RRP £9.99

  For devoted fans and nonfans alike, Spider-Man offers nothing less--and nothing more--than what you'd expect from a superhero blockbuster. Having proven his comic-book savvy with the original Darkman, director Sam Raimi brings ample energy and enthusiasm to Spidey's origin story, nicely establishing high-school nebbish Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) as a brainy outcast who reacts with appropriate euphoria--and well-tempered maturity--when a "super-spider" bite transforms him into the amazingly agile, web-shooting Spider-Man. That's all well and good, and so is Kirsten Dunst as Parker's girl-next-door sweetheart. Where Spider-Man falls short is in its hyperactive CGI action sequences, which play like a video game instead of the gravity-defying exploits of a flesh-and-blood superhero. Willem Dafoe is perfectly cast as Spidey's schizoid nemesis, the Green Goblin, and the movie's a lot of fun overall. It's no match for Superman and Batman in bringing a beloved character to the screen, but it places a respectable third. --Jeff Shannon

• The Commitments | DVD | (28/07/2003) from £6.95   |  Saving you £6.04 (86.91%)   |  RRP £12.99

  An irresistible, comic drama from director Alan Parker (Evita, Mississippi Burning), overflowing and alive with passion, humor and music, The Commitments showcases some old R&B standards in a new light. A headstrong, fast-talking, ambitious young Dubliner (Robert Arkins) fancies himself a promoter of talent, and sets about assembling and packaging a local Irish R&B band. His group of self-absorbed, backbiting, but stunningly talented individuals begin to succeed beyond his wildest dreams, until petty jealousies and recrimination threaten to scuttle the whole deal. A moody, vivid and soulful exploration of the Dublin club scene as well as a showcase for some wonderful unknown actors, the film (and its wonderful soundtrack) also features the actual band covering classic soul tunes from the likes of Otis Redding and Sam and Dave. It's that combination of soul and soul music that makes The Commitments a special little film. --Robert Lane, Amazon.com --This text refers to the VHS edition of this video

• Mulholland Drive (Digitally Restored) | Blu Ray | (22/05/2017) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  After a car wreck, an amnesiac woman sets out to learn what happened to her with the help of a wannabee actress.

• Big Fish | DVD | (07/06/2004) from £5.90   |  Saving you £14.09 (238.81%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Tim Burton brings his inimitable imagination to a story about an adventurous story-telling father and his estranged son.

• Austin Powers - International Man Of Mystery / Austin Powers - The Spy Who Shagged Me / Austin Powers - Goldmember | DVD | (07/11/2005) from £29.99   |  Saving you £-5.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  If you don't think Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997) is one of the funniest movies of the 1990s, maybe you should be packed into a cryogenic time chamber and sent back to the decade whence you came. Perhaps it was the 1960s - the shagadelic decade when London hipster Austin Powers scored with gorgeous chicks as a fashion photographer by day, crime-fighting international man of mystery by night. Yeah, baby, yeah! But when Powers's arch nemesis, Dr. Evil, puts himself into a deepfreeze and travels via time machine to the late 1990s, Powers must follow him and foil Evil's nefarious scheme of global domination. Mike Myers plays dual roles as Powers and Dr. Evil, with Elizabeth Hurley as his present-day sidekick and karate-kicking paramour. A hilarious spoof of '60s spy movies, this colourful comedy actually gets funnier with successive viewings, making it a perfect home video for gloomy days and randy nights. Oh, behave! "I put the grrr in swinger, baby!" a deliciously randy Powers coos near the beginning of The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999), and if the imagination of Austin creator Mike Myers seems to have sagged a bit, his energy surely hasn't. This friendly, go-for-broke sequel finds our man Austin heading back to the '60s to keep perennial nemesis Dr. Evil (Myers again) from blowing up the world - and, more importantly, to get back his mojo, that man-juice that turns Austin into irresistible catnip for women, especially American spygirl Felicity Shagwell (a pretty but vacant Heather Graham). The plot may be irreverent and illogical, the jokes may be bad, and the scenes may run on too long, but it's all delivered sunnily and with tongue firmly in cheek. Myers teams Dr. Evil with a diminutive clone, Mini-Me (Verne J. Troyer), then pulls a hat trick by playing a third character, the obese and disgusting Scottish assassin Fat Bastard. Despite symptoms of sequelitis, Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002) is must-see lunacy for devoted fans of the shagadelic franchise. Unfortunately, the law of diminishing returns is in full effect: for every big-name cameo and raunchy double-entendre, there's an equal share of redundant shtick, juvenile scatology, and pop-cultural spoofery. All is forgiven when the hilarity level is consistently high, and Mike Myers -returning here as randy Brit spy Austin, his nemesis Dr. Evil, the bloated Scottish henchman Fat Bastard, and new Dutch disco-villain Goldmember - thrives by favouring comedic chaos over coherent plotting. Once they've tossed Austin into the disco fever of 1975 (where he's sent to rescue his father, gamely played by Michael Caine), Myers and director Jay Roach seem vaguely adrift with old and new characters, including Verne Troyer's Mini-Me and pop star Beyoncé Knowles as Pam Grier-ish blaxpo-babe Foxxy Cleopatra. A bit tired, perhaps, but Powers hasn't lost his mojo.

• Raging Bull (Wide Screen) | DVD | (01/02/2000) from £4.43   |  Saving you £11.56 (260.95%)   |  RRP £15.99

  "Raging Bull" is arguably the finest work from the Scorsese and De Niro partnership. De Niro gives an amazing portrayal of a man whose animal side lurks just beneath the surface, ever ready to erupt.

• Rififi | DVD | (21/04/2003) from £12.98   |  Saving you £5.01 (38.60%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Jules Dassin's 1954 film 'Rififi' was an instant success. Based on the novel of the same title 'Du Rififi Chez Les Hommes' by Auguste le Breton the film's use of hard-boiled slang and the gangster garb of trench coats top hats and a cigarette dangling from one corner of the mouth went on to become the emblems of Humphrey Bogart-style noir classics. Jean Servais is Tony le Stephanois a master thief with a battered face and a tubercular cough souvenirs of a recent stint in the pe

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

  RIFIFI (ri-f -fi) n. French argot. 1. Quarrel, rumble, free-for-all, open hostilities between individuals or gangs, rough and tumble confrontation between two or more individuals. 2. A tense and chaotic situation involving violent confrontations between parties. A seminal work of crime filmmaking that lead the young critic François Truffaut to declare the best Film Noir I have ever seen , Jules Dassin s Rififi [Du rififi chez les hommes] has influenced films as diverse as Reservoir Dogs and Ocean s Eleven since its release. Following Tony, le Stéphanois (Jean Servais), a master thief fresh out of jail, wearing a harried look and suffering ill health he refuses to be involved with crime, until he finds his girlfriend shacked up with a rival gangster. With little reason to keep living he plans a final job. Tony sets about finding his crew and meticulously planning the job; a robbery of the jewellery store Mappin & Webb. Rififi revolves around the central heist, famed for its finite detail and incredible tension, but the drama does not end at the heist like so many other crime films. Dassin s film is a humanist tale that hinges on the loyalty among thieves and draws on the fatalistic, doom laden lives common to crooks and thieves in pulp literature. An instant commercial success in Paris and worldwide, the film was also very well received by the critics with Jules Dassin being awarded the best director prize at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival.

• Mulholland Drive (Digitally Restored) | DVD | (22/05/2017) from £5.94   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  After a car wreck, an amnesiac woman sets out to learn what happened to her with the help of a wannabee actress.

• Madama Butterfly - Puccini | DVD | (09/05/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £13.99

  Of all Puccini's major operas, the intimate tragedy of Madama Butterfly is least in need of elaborate staging and might therefore benefit most from the close scrutiny of film. The story is domestic, the setting Spartan, the incidental characters kept to a minimum. This 1974 version, however, demonstrates that Butterfly still needs a healthy injection of proscenium arch melodrama. Director Jean-Pierre Ponelle's production strives for realism but remains unfortunately studio-bound, having neither the benefit of location filming nor the heightened reality of an opera stage. The exterior is a perpetually fog-shrouded heath of indeterminate locale; the interior is cramped and unadorned. The setting is just too prosaic to contain the epic emotions of grand opera. Thankfully, the cast is superb, headed by Placido Domingo's rakish Pinkerton and Mirella Freni's rubicund Butterfly. Their singing is incomparable, as is Herbert von Karajan's musical direction of the Vienna Phil. The singers mime to pre-recorded music, which is occasionally disconcerting since when film demands close-ups opera provides broad gestures. Musically, this Butterfly is impeccable. Visually it adds nothing that could not be seen to better effect in a stage version. On the DVD: Madama Butterfly is presented disappointingly on disc in a poor NTSC transfer full of distracting graininess that makes every scene, both inside and out, look like it takes place in an omnipresent drizzle. Sound is reasonable stereo and adequate 5.0 surround. There are subtitles in the major European languages as well as Chinese, and the booklet contains a background essay plus synopsis. --Mark Walker

• Spy Game | DVD | (13/05/2002) from £5.50   |  Saving you £6.49 (118.00%)   |  RRP £11.99

  Robert Redford and Brad Pitt star in this thriller set in 1991, the dying days of the Cold War. Redford is the veteran agent who discovers, on the day of his retirement, that his young protege has been taken prisoner by the Chinese.