"Actor: Robert Hughes"

• Sister Act / Sister Act 2: Back In The Habit | DVD | (01/09/2008) from £9.89   |  Saving you £8.10 (81.90%)   |  RRP £17.99

  In Sister Act, Whoopi Goldberg plays a Reno lounge singer who hides out as a nun when her villainous boyfriend (Harvey Keitel) goes gunning for her. Maggie Smith is the mother superior who has to cope with Whoopi's unorthodox behaviour, but the cute script turns the tables and shows the latter energising the stodgy convent with song and attitude. A real crowd-pleaser and a perfect vehicle for Goldberg, this is a happy experience all around. --Tom Keogh, Amazon.com Whoopi Goldberg returns in Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit, a gratuitous, poorly written sequel that contrives a reason to get her character back into Maggie Smith's convent. The "socially conscious" plot finds Goldberg being asked to relate to a bunch of street kids and pull them together into a choir. Since a bad guy is needed, the script grabs that old chestnut about a rich guy (James Coburn) preparing to close down the convent's school, and runs with it. The film is slow and unconvincing from start to finish, although co-stars Mary Wickes and Kathy Najimy get some good laughs, and the music is pretty spirited. --Tom Keogh, Amazon.com

• The Great Gatsby | DVD | (08/12/2003) from £11.19   |  Saving you £7.79 (95.00%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Perhaps no movie could capture F Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby in its entirety, but this adaptation, scripted by Francis Ford Coppola, is certainly a handsome try, putting costume design and art direction above the intricacies of character. Robert Redford is an interesting casting choice as Gatsby, the millionaire isolated in his mansion, still dreaming of the woman he lost. And Sam Waterston is perfect as the narrator, Nick, who brings the dream girl Daisy Buchanan back to Gatsby. The problem seems to be that director Jack Clayton fell in love with the flapper dresses and the party scenes and the jazz age tunes, ending up with a Classics Illustrated version of a great book rather than a fresh, organic take on the text. While Redford grows more quietly intriguing in the film, Mia Farrow's pallid performance as Daisy leaves you wondering why Gatsby, or anyone else, should care so much about his grand passion. The effective supporting cast includes Bruce Dern as Daisy's husband, and Scott Wilson and Karen Black as the low-rent couple whose destinies cross the sun-drenched protagonists. (That's future star Patsy Kensit as Daisy's little daughter.) The film won two Oscars--not surprisingly, for costumes and musical score. --Robert Horton

• Crumb | DVD | (24/05/2004) from £21.58   |  Saving you £-1.59 (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Robert Crumb is known for his disturbing, yet compelling, underground cartoons: his most famous works made counter-cultural icons out of Mr. Natural ("Keep on Truckin'...") and Fritz the Cat. Terry Zwigoff delves into the odd world of the cartoonist in his documentary film Crumb, and the picture that emerges is not always pretty--at moments, it's almost repellent--but it's a fascinating glimpse into a very strange mind. Interviewing immediate family--Crumb has one suicidal brother, one semi-psychopathic brother, two sisters who declined to be interviewed and a tyrannical mother--Crumb begins to look a bit saner. Given his surroundings, it's remarkable that he has survived so well. His hostilities toward women may turn some viewers off but his wife, Aline, seems to be a grounding point and she provides a solid counterbalance to the man. No one shies away from discussing incredibly intimate things (namely, sex!), which explains much of R. Crumb's cartoons. This documentary can definitely be considered a masterpiece for the cult crowd and, as for the rest of us, it's sure to make us feel a little better about our own lives! --Jenny Brown

• Wes Craven's New Nightmare | DVD | (10/09/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Halfway through A New Nightmare Heather Langenkamp goes to visit Wes Craven to discuss resurrecting the Freddy Krueger series for one last film. Craven's script focuses on a malevolent demon that has escaped from the stories in which he was trapped because they have lost their power to scare. Sound familiar? This script-within-a-film refers, of course, to the real-life fate of the Nightmare on Elm Street series, and is an idea typical of this intelligent movie which successfully blurs the line between this horror film and its real-life production context. Langenkamp plays herself, in virtually her own life: a D-list actress unable to match the success she found in the original Nightmare on Elm Street films. She, like the rest of the cast and crew of the original films (also played by themselves--most notably Craven and Robert Englund, camping himself up as an adored celebrity and part-time "artist"), is haunted by dreams of the Freddy Krueger character. Craven's script reveals that if Freddy is not trapped within a story more powerful than the Elm Street sequels--i.e. this film--he will become real.New Nightmare is an interesting precursor to the Scream series, and it attempts to capitalise on its self-reflexivity in a similar way. The idea is that, having openly revealed that the rest of the Elm Street series were "only films", New Nightmare can then set about scaring your pants off. The biggest hindrance, however, is the Freddy character himself. Despite the fact that we are told that this is the "real" Freddy, rather than the cinematic incarnation we've seen many times before it is still difficult to shake off a persistent sensation of déja-vu. Freddy just isn't scary any more: his face looks a lot less gnarled than it used to be and even the once-terrifying claw seems to have lost its edge. Similarly, having hammered home the fact that this movie is real, those elements of the film which require a little more imagination--such as Freddy's body-stretching, the surreal scare sequences and the Gothic-fantasy finale--appear absurd. Thus, if certainly not as good as the original, New Nightmare is at least an intelligent, fresh and occasionally scary film: which makes it head and shoulders above most of its genre and certainly better than most of this series. --Paul Philpott

• Jack The Bear | DVD | (15/08/2005) from £11.30   |  Saving you £1.69 (13.00%)   |  RRP £12.99

  As the monster-host of a late night horror show John (Danny DeVito) delights the neighborhood kids with his silly ghoulish antics - but his embarrassed 12-year-old son Jack the Bear is not amused. The other dysfunctional lunatics on the block - and his monster crush on the cute girl at school (Reese Witherspoon) - don't make things any easier for Jack. But when a family crisis hits will Jack's dad be able to lift the grownup burden from his young son's shoulders? Oscar nominee G

• Adolf Hitler - My Part In His Downfall | DVD | (07/02/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  London 1940: aspiring jazz musician and future comedy legend Terence ""Spike"" Milligan reluctantly obeys his call-up papers and sets out on an Army career filled with adventures that'll bring a smile to the face and a tear to the eye! Based on Spikie Milligan's own best-selling book.

• Wes Craven's New Nightmare | DVD | (25/10/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  In the town where movies go over schedule and directors go over budget something far more evil is about to go out of control! In a frightening new twist in the terror on Elm street Wes Craven (director of the original film) finds that his dreams have begun to dictate real-life horrors for the stars of the film!

• Just Jim | DVD | (04/01/2016) from £8.09   |  Saving you £9.90 (122.37%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Life sucks for Jim. His best friend Michael is now hanging with the cool kids and Jim's only companion is his dog. He's stuck in a small town where nothing ever exciting happens, until Dean, a mysterious American, moves in to the house next door. Dean is older, good-looking, and in Jim's eyes the coolest guy he's ever met. Jim can't believe his luck. Dean offers him friendship, helps him win the girl of his dreams and he soon becomes the most popular boy in school. But when it turns out Dean is hiding a dark secret, Jim is forced to question if his newfound popularity is worth it.

• The Commitments (Special Edition) | DVD | (14/03/2005) from £12.99   |  Saving you £-3.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

• The Incident | DVD | (30/07/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £2.99

  The Incident

• The Lake Poets - William Wordsworth | DVD | (04/10/2004) from £7.29   |  Saving you £10.70 (146.78%)   |  RRP £17.99

  An examination of the relationship between Wordsworth and Coleridge and other literary figures. The works of Wordsworth are read by poet laureate Ted Hughes ; set against the picturesque back drop of the lake district where Wordsworth composed many of his works.

• Horror Films (Box Set) | DVD | (21/10/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  This box set contains the following four titles: Pariah: Steve and Sam are attacked by Neo-Nazis. Steve decides to go undercover as a skinhead to learn more about them. With this accomplished he can kill them... The Stendhal Syndrome: On the trial of a serial rapist and killer a detective hides her own secret. She suffers from a mental condition which makes her retreat into frightening hallucinations.... The Stendhal Syndrome. The Class Of Nuke'em High: Meet the students of Tromaville High School as they transform into horrifying mutants due to their location near the nuclear power plant. Howling VI The Freaks: A mysterious drifter wanders into a desolate desert town in search of the man who put a curse on him to become a werewolf every full moon.

• The Commitments (Special Edition) | DVD | (08/02/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  This is based on the first story of Roddy Doyle's 'Barrytown Trilogy'. Dubliner Jimmy Rabbitte is a man with a vision - to bring soul music to Dublin. His friends Derek and Outspan ask him to manage their band and Jimmy agrees but only on his terms. He places an ad in the local paper which simply reads have you got soul? If so the World's Hardest Working Band is looking for you. And so were born The Commitments... However all does not go smoothly and soon their success on stage is overshadowed by their off-stage rivalry. This is one of the best Irish feel-good movies of the early 1990's it is guaranteed to have you laughing cringing and singing along. Watch out for the bit parts and cameos by Andrea and Jim Corr and the man himself Alan Parker. Strong soul music soundtrack.

• No End In Sight | DVD | (03/11/2008) from £24.28   |  Saving you £-6.29 (-35.00%)   |  RRP £17.99

  The first film of its kind to chronicle the reasons behind Iraq's descent into guerilla war warlord rule criminality and anarchy No End In Sight is a jaw-dropping insider's tale of wholesale incompetence recklessness and venality. Based on over 200 hours of footage the film provides a candid retelling of the events following the fall of Baghdad in 2003 by high ranking officials such as former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage Ambassador Barbara Bodine Lawrence Wilkerson former Chief of Staff to Colin Powell and General Jay Garner as well as Iraqi civilians American soldiers and prominent analysts. No End In Sight examines the manner in which the principal errors of U.S. policy - the use of insufficient troop levels allowing the looting of Baghdad the purging of professionals from the Iraqi government and the disbanding of the Iraqi military - largely created the insurgency and chaos that engulf Iraq today. How did a group of men with little or no military experience knowledge of the Arab world or personal experience in Iraq come to make such flagrantly debilitating decisions? No End In Sight dissects the people issues and facts behind the Bush Administration's decisions and their consequences on the ground to provide a powerful look into how arrogance and ignorance turned a military victory into a seemingly endless and deepening nightmare of a war.

• Goya - Crazy Like A Genius | DVD | (27/08/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Written and presented by renowned art critic Robert Hughes Crazy Like A Genius explores the world of Francisco Goya: charting his achievements as a court painter satirist and war reporter as well as a topographer of the inner self - of madness fear and despair. The programme offers a detailed visual and intellectual analysis of Goya masterpieces including 'Witches in the Air' 'The Third of May' and 'The Dream of Reason' as well as examples of his early work and portraiture such as 'The Duchess of Alba' as well as 'The Nude Maja' and 'The Clothed Maja'. Hughes gives an insight into the enormous changes that took place in Goya's work in the course of his life: the shift from light to dark. In Spain he travels to Goya's native Aragon and in Madrid he is seen visiting the galleries palaces and churches where Goya's works are on display. In New York Hughes calls on the American painter Leon Golub who shares his fascination for Goya and elicits a contemporary artist's perspective on the Spanish master's work.

• The Commitments | DVD | (31/10/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  This is based on the first story of Roddy Doyle's 'Barrytown Trilogy'. Dubliner Jimmy Rabbitte is a man with a vision - to bring soul music to Dublin. His friends Derek and Outspan ask him to manage their band and Jimmy agrees but only on his terms. He places an ad in the local paper which simply reads have you got soul? If so the World's Hardest Working Band is looking for you. And so were born The Commitments... However all does not go smoothly and soon their success on stage is overshadowed by their off-stage rivalry. This is one of the best Irish feel-good movies of the early 1990's it is guaranteed to have you laughing cringing and singing along. Watch out for the bit parts and cameos by Andrea and Jim Corr and the man himself Alan Parker. Bonus CD Tracklisting: 1. Mustang Sally - Andrew Strong 2. Take Me to the River - Andrew Strong 3. Chain of Fools - Angeline Ball 4. Dark End of the Street - Andrew Strong 5. Destination: Anywhere - Niamh Kavanagh 6. I Can't Stand the Rain - Angeline Ball 7. Try a Little Tenderness - Andrew Strong 8. Treat Her Right 9. Do Right Woman Do Right Man - Niamh Kavanagh 10. Mr. Pitiful - Andrew Strong 11. I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You) - Maria Doyle 12. In the Midnight Hour - Andrew Strong 13. Bye Bye Baby - Maria Doyle 14. Slip Away