"Actor: S"

• War Of The Roses | DVD | (20/08/2001) from £17.99   |  Saving you £-5.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner and Danny DeVito are reunited for a third time to fabulous effect in The War of the Roses. This is a dark, disturbing comedy of marital trauma and revenge, which couldn't be more different from their sunnier outings in Romancing the Stone and The Jewel of the Nile. Douglas and Turner, in career-best performances, are the materialistic, consumer-driven Roses of the title (Oliver and Barbara) whose seemingly perfect marriage has soured beyond repair; their only point of contact is their meticulously maintained dream house, which Douglas bought and Turner decorated to perfection. When Turner gets a taste of financial independence, she asks Douglas for a divorce--all she wants is the house and everything in it (aside from his clothes and shaving kit). He laughs at her and she punches him in the face. Things only get worse from there, as nasty divorce proceedings (with DeVito as Douglas's lawyer) give way to insults, threats, ruined dinner parties and pet abuse. And through it all, the Roses begin destroying their beloved home and its contents, just to spite each other. DeVito, who also directed, takes Michael Leeson's blacker-than-black screenplay and gives it a hyper-stylised spin, complete with skewed camera angles and wonderfully expressionistic cinematography (by Stephen Burum) as Douglas and Turner barricade themselves in their house, both refusing to give an inch. Shocking for a mainstream studio picture, with its unsympathetic protagonists, escalating bitterness and disturbing finale, Roses is a poisonously funny valentine to both marriage and 1980s materialism, tempered only by its framing device as a cautionary tale. --Mark Englehart, Amazon.com

• Mouse-Hunt | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.95

  What might have been a one-note family comedy becomes something more thanks to the comic brilliance of co-stars Nathan Lane and Lee Evans, as well as the distinctive, dark-fable look given the film by a little-known director named Gore Verbinksi (could he be the next Tim Burton?). Lane and Evans play idiotic brothers who inherit a house and all but destroy it in pursuit of one small, pesky mouse. The guys are always the butt of the sight gags--most of which are very funny--but their considerable powers as slapstick artists are also at play. The climactic scene at an auction was the funniest scene in any American movie in 1997, the year of Mouse Hunt's release. --Tom Keogh

• Top of the Pops: 40th Anniversary | DVD | (08/11/2004) from £5.98   |  Saving you £14.01 (234.28%)   |  RRP £19.99

  A special which showcases the greatest highlights of the show celebrating four decades since it began in January 1964. Featuring 40 songs one from every year of the show's history Ten title sequences Dance troupe montage Optional trivia track Photo gallery 6 songs with original presenter links Behind the scenes tour with Andi Peters TOTP time line.

• 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

• Northwest Frontier | DVD | (17/05/2004) from £5.49   |  Saving you £4.50 (81.97%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Captain Scott (More) is sent by the British Governor in India to rescue a five year old Hindu prince and his American governess (Bacall) when a rebellion breaks out among the tribesmen. Pursued by the abductors the trio commandeer a derelict steam train to take them 300 miles through the mountains to safety...

• The Cannibal Man | Blu Ray | (24/08/2021) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• The Killing Fields (30th Anniversary Steelbook Edition) | Blu Ray | (03/11/2014) from £7.00   |  Saving you £15.99 (228.43%)   |  RRP £22.99

  This harrowing but rewarding 1984 drama concerns the real-life relationship between New York Times reporter Sidney Schanberg and his Cambodian assistant Dith Pran (Haing S. Ngor), the latter left at the mercy of the Khmer Rouge after Schanberg--who chose to stay after American evacuation but was booted out--failed to get him safe passage. Filmmaker Roland Joffé, previously a documentarist, made his feature debut with this account of Dith's rocky survival in the ensuing madness of the Khmer Rouge's genocidal campaign. The script of The Killing Fields spends some time with Schanberg's feelings of guilt after the fact, but most of the movie is a shattering re-creation of hell on Earth. The late Haing S. Ngor--a real-life doctor who had never acted before and who lived through the events depicted by Joffé--is outstanding, and he won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar. Oscars also went to cinematographer Chris Menges and editor Jim Clark. --Tom Keogh

• Fun And Fancy Free (Disney) | DVD | (12/08/2002) from £4.99   |  Saving you £13.00 (260.52%)   |  RRP £17.99

  'Fun And Fancy Free' Walt Disney's 9th full-length animated masterpiece is a delightful gem that sparkles with charm and is rich in history-making Disney moments. It was the last animated feature starring Walt Disney as the voice of Mickey Mouse and the only film featuring all four of Walt Disney's most famous characters -- Mickey Mouse Donald Duck Goofy and Jiminy Cricket. Following Disney's classic tradition of great storytelling unforgettable characters music and adventur

• Casablanca | Blu Ray | (07/11/2022) from £19.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman light up the screen in one of the most enduring romances in movie history. At his Moroccan nightclub, cynic Rick Blaine (Bogart) turns a blind eye to the misery of WWII until his former lover, Ilsa Lund (Bergman), walks through the door, forcing Rick to choose between a life with the woman he loves or becoming the hero she needs. Special Features Introduction by Lauren Bacall Two Separate Commentaries: Roger Ebert and Film Historian Rudy Behlmer Also on Blu-ray: Michael Curtiz: The Greatest Director You Never Heard Of Casablanca: An Unlikely Classic Warner Night at the Movies Great Performances: Bacall on Bogart You Must Remember This: A Tribute to Casablanca As Time Goes By: The Children Remember Deleted Scenes Outtakes Cartoons Audio-Only Scoring Stage Sessions 19/11/47 Vox Pop Radio Broadcast Theatrical Trailers

• Cast Away | DVD | (02/07/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  From the director of "Forrest Gump" comes a contemporary drama about a man in isolation who is forced to transform himself both physically and emotionally in order to survive.

• King Arthur: Legend of the Sword | Blu Ray | (25/09/2017) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  When the child Arthur's father is murdered, Vortigern (Jude Law), Arthur's uncle, seizes the crown. Robbed of his birthright and with no idea who he truly is, Arthur comes up the hard way in the back alleys of the city. But once he pulls the sword from the stone, his life is turned upside down and he is forced to acknowledge his true legacy whether he likes it or not.

• D-Tox | Blu Ray | (06/03/2023) from £12.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  After his girlfriend is killed by the serial killer he's chasing, FBI agent Jake Malloy falls apart. That's why he's sent to a rehab centre in the middle of nowhere, a clinic for cops with problems burnt out cases, alcoholics and worse. But Malloy can't escape his demons: soon after he arrives, people start dying. They seem to be suicides but Jake isn't so sure. Has his serial killing nemesis followed him into the wilderness...? A change of pace for Sylvester Stallone (Rambo, Rocky), D-Tox is a psychological horror movie, with simmering tension courtesy of I Know What You Did Last Summer director Jim Gillespie and solid support from Kris Kristofferson (Convoy), Robert Patrick (Terminator 2: Judgement Day) and Jeffrey Wright (The Batman). 88 Films are proud to present this underrated thriller on Special Edition Blu-ray.

• The Wild Bunch | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £11.99   |  Saving you £3.00 (30.03%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Here's how director Sam Peckinpah described his motivation behind The Wild Bunch at the time of the film's 1969 release: "I was trying to tell a simple story about bad men in changing times. The Wild Bunch is simply what happens when killers go to Mexico. The strange thing is you feel a great sense of loss when these killers reach the end of the line." All of these statements are true, but they don't begin to cover the impact that Peckinpah's film had on the evolution of American movies. Now the film is most widely recognized as a milestone event in the escalation of screen violence, but that's a label of limited perspective. Of course, Peckinpah's bloody climactic gunfight became a masterfully directed, photographed, and edited ballet of graphic violence that transcended the conventional Western and moved into a slow-motion realm of pure cinematic intensity. But the film--surely one of the greatest Westerns ever made--is also a richly thematic tale of, as Peckinpah said, "bad men in changing times." The year is 1913 and the fading band of thieves known as the Wild Bunch (led by William Holden as Pike) decide to pull one last job before retirement. But an ambush foils their plans, and Peckinpah's film becomes an epic yet intimate tale of betrayed loyalties, tenacious rivalry, and the bunch's dogged determination to maintain their fading code of honor among thieves. The 144-minute director's cut enhances the theme of male bonding that recurs in many of Peckinpah's films, restoring deleted scenes to deepen the viewer's understanding of the friendship turned rivalry between Pike and his former friend Deke Thornton (Robert Ryan), who now leads a posse in pursuit of the bunch, a dimension that adds resonance to an already classic American film. The Wild Bunch is a masterpiece that should not be defined strictly in terms of its violence, but as a story of mythic proportion, brimming with rich characters and dialogue and the bittersweet irony of outlaw traditions on the wane. --Jeff Shannon

• Look Who's Talking/Look Who's Talking Too/Look Who's Talking Now! | DVD | (26/10/2015) from £7.99   |  Saving you £-2.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Look Who's Talking: If you've always wanted to know what a baby thinks of the world around him, you finally have your chance. With Bruce Willis supplying the voice of Mikey's thoughts, this is one baby who says exactly what's on his mind. Mollie (Kirstie Alley) is a single working mother who's out to find the perfect father for her child. Her baby, Mikey, prefers James (John Travolta), a cab driver turned babysitter who has what it takes to make them both happy. But Mollie won't even consider James. It's going to take all the tricks a baby can think of to bring them together before it's too late. Look Who's Talking Too: John Travolta and Kirstie Alley return in this charming sequel to the S100 million box-office smash. Also starring the voices of Bruce Willis as Mikey, Rosanne Barr as his new baby sister and Mel Brooks as the voice of Mr. Toilet Man. Look Who's Talking Now: Now that the kids finally know how to talk, this family is going to the dogs! Thanks to the unique voice talents of Danny DeVito and Diane Keaton as two canine comedians determined to turn the household upside down, LOOK WHO'S TALKING NOW is as fresh and funny as the original. John Travolta and Kirstie Alley return as the fun-loving parents whose marriage is put to the test when she loses a job and he finds one with a female boss who shows an over-active interest in merging. Loaded with one-liners and enough humour for kids and adults alike, LOOK WHO'S TALKING NOW proves that when it comes to comedy, it's a dog's life!

• The Apu Trilogy (Criterion Collection) UK Only | Blu Ray | (25/05/2020) from £59.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Two decades after its original negatives were burned in a fire, Satyajit Ray's breathtaking milestone of world cinema rises from the ashes in a meticulously reconstructed new restoration. The Apu Trilogy brought India into the golden age of international art-house film, following one indelible character, a free-spirited child in rural Bengal who matures into an adolescent urban student and finally a sensitive man of the world. These delicate masterworks- Pather Panchali (Song of the Little Road), Aparajito (The Unvanquished), and Apur Sansar (The World of Apu)-based on two books by Bibhutibhusan Banerjee, were shot over the course of five years, and each stands on its own as a tender, visually radiant journey. They are among the most achingly beautiful, richly humane movies ever made-essential works for any film lover. Pather Panchali The release in 1955 of Satyajit Ray's debut, Pather Panchali, introduced to the world an eloquent and important new cinematic voice. A depiction of rural Bengali life in a style inspired by Italian neorealism, this naturalistic but poetic evocation of a number of years in the life of a family introduces us to both little Apu and, just as essentially, the women who will help shape him: his independent older sister, Durga; his harried mother, Sarbajaya, who, with her husband away, must hold the family together; and his kindly and mischievous elderly auntie, Indir-vivid, multifaceted characters all. With resplendent photography informed by its young protagonist's perpetual sense of discovery, the Cannes-awarded Pather Panchali is an immersive cinematic experience and a film of elemental power. Aparajito Satyajit Ray had not planned to make a sequel to Pather Panchali, but after the film's international success, he decided to continue Apu's narrative. Aparajito picks up where the first film leaves off, with Apu and his family having moved away from the country to live in the bustling holy city of Varanasi (then known as Benares). As Apu progresses from wide-eyed child to intellectually curious teenager, eventually studying in Kolkata, we witness his academic and moral education, as well as the growing complexity of his relationship with his mother. This tenderly expressive, often heart-wrenching film, which won three top prizes at the Venice Film Festival, including the Golden Lion, not only extends but also spiritually deepens the tale of Apu. Apur Sansar By the time Apur Sansar was released, Satyajit Ray had directed not only the first two Apu films but also the masterpiece The Music Room, and was well on his way to becoming a legend. This extraordinary final chapter brings our protagonist's journey full circle. Apu is now in his early twenties, out of college, and hoping to live as a writer. Alongside his professional ambitions, the film charts his romantic awakening, which occurs as the result of a most unlikely turn of events, and his eventual, fraught fatherhood. Featuring soon to be Ray regulars Soumitra Chatterjee and Sharmila Tagore in star-making performances, and demonstrating Ray's ever more impressive skills as a crafter of pure cinematic imagery, Apur Sansar is a moving conclusion to this monumental trilogy. Special Features: New 4K digital restorations of all three films, undertaken in collaboration with the Academy Film Archive at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and L'Immagine Ritrovata, with uncompressed monaural soundtracks on the Blu-rays Audio recordings from 1958 of director Satyajit Ray reading his essay A Long Time on the Little Road and in conversation with film historian Gideon Bachmann New interviews with actors Soumitra Chatterjee, Shampa Srivastava, and Sharmila Tagore; camera assistant Soumendu Roy; and film writer Ujjal Chakraborty New video essay by Ray biographer Andrew Robinson on the trilogy's evolution and production The Apu Trilogy : A Closer Look, a new program featuring filmmaker, producer, and teacher Mamoun Hassan Excerpts from the 2003 documentary The Song of the Little Road, featuring composer Ravi Shankar The Creative Person: Satyajit Ray, a 1967 half-hour documentary by James Beveridge, featuring interviews with Ray, several of his actors, members of his creative team, and film critic Chidananda Das Gupta Footage of Ray receiving an honorary Oscar in 1992 New program on the restorations by filmmaker :: kogonada New English subtitle translations PLUS: A booklet featuring essays by critics Terrence Rafferty and Girish Shambu

• The Blair Witch Project | DVD | (30/06/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  In October of 1994, three student filmmakers disappeared in the woods near Burkittsville, Maryland while shooting a documentary. A year later the footage was found.

• Chicago Med - Season 9 | DVD | (18/11/2024) from £17.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• She Killed In Ecstasy | DVD | (27/12/2000) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Horror classic in which a young doctor commits suicide after a medical committee terminates his research into human embryos considering it too inhumane. His wife then seeks revenge on those who drove her husband to his death by luring each member of the committee into compromising situations and then killing them one by one... Also known as ""Mrs. Hyde"".

• Maniac Cop 2 | Blu Ray | (16/11/2021) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• The Red Baron | DVD | (05/10/2009) from £15.89   |  Saving you £2.10 (13.22%)   |  RRP £17.99

  "Red Baron" stars upcoming German actor Matthias Schweighofer ("Valkyrie") as the titular Red Baron, Manfred von Richthofen. Lena Headey and Joseph Fiennes complete the stellar cast for this wartime action/romance.