"Actor: Steve Steen"

• Parenthood | DVD | (03/07/2006) from £6.22   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  The Buckmans are a modern-day family facing the age-old dilemma of trying to raise children the right way. At the centre of the storm is Gil (Steve Martin), who manages to keep his unique sense of humour while attempting to maintain a successful career and be a loving husband and parent, all at the same time. As Gil and the rest of the Buckmans discover, being the perfect parent often means just letting children be themselves.

• Armageddon | DVD | (20/08/2001) from £4.99   |  Saving you £13.00 (260.52%)   |  RRP £17.99

  This 1998 testosterone-saturated blow-'em-up from producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Michael Bay (The Rock, Bad Boys) continued Hollywood's millennium-fuelled fascination with the destruction of our planet. There's no arguing that the successful duo understand what mainstream audiences want in their blockbuster movies--loads of loud, eye-popping special effects, rapid-fire pacing, and patriotic flag waving. Bay's protagonists--the eight crude, lewd, oversexed (but, of course, lovable) oil drillers summoned to save the world from a Texas-sized meteor hurling toward the earth--are not flawless heroes, but common men with whom all can relate. In this huge Western-in-space soap opera, they're American cowboys turned astronauts. Sci-fi buffs will appreciate Bay's fetishising of technology, even though it's apparent he doesn't understand it as anything more than flashing lights and shiny gadgets. Smartly, the duo also try to lure the art-house crowd, raiding the local indie acting stable to populate the film with guys like Steve Buscemi, Billy Bob Thornton, Owen Wilson, and Michael Duncan, all adding needed touches of humour and charisma. When Bay applies his sledgehammer aesthetics to the action portions of the film, it's mindless fun; it's only when Armageddon tackles humanity that it becomes truly offensive. Not since Mississippi Burning have racial and cultural stereotypes been substituted for characters so blatantly--African Americans, Japanese, Chinese, Scottish, Samoans, Muslims, French ... if it's not white and American, Bay simplifies it. Or, make that white male America; the film features only three notable female characters--four if you count the meteor, who's constantly referred to as a "bitch that needs drillin'". Sadly, she's a hell of a lot more developed and unpredictable than all the other women characters combined. Sure, Bay's film creates some tension and contains some visceral moments, but if he can't create any redeemable characters outside of those in space, what's the point of saving the planet? --Dave McCoy

• Anytime Tales | DVD | (21/06/2004) from £7.50   |  Saving you £2.49 (33.20%)   |  RRP £9.99

  A selection of ten best-selling stories from two of Britain's most admired authors narrated by Johnny Morris Victoria Wood and Steven Steen. Tony Ross takes you on a journey through five wacky and amusing tales: I Want My Potty (the UK No.1 bestseller) I Want My Cat Super Dooper Jezebel Oscar Got The Blame I'm Coming To Get You. David McKee (creator of King Rollo and Mr Benn) entertains with five fantastical stories: Not Now Bernard Elmer The Sad Story Of Veronica Who Pl

• Parenthood | Blu Ray | (20/06/2016) from £5.99   |  Saving you £14.00 (233.72%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Ron Howard's 1989 hit, written by fellow family men Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel (Splash, A League of Their Own), is an original comedy about contemporary life and the eternal responsibilities of raising children. Steve Martin has never been better than as a dedicated husband and father trying (and inevitably failing, as do most of us) to balance the demands of his kids and his job. The actor, like his character, throws himself into the part quite touchingly, particularly in a scene where a hired clown fails to show up at a children's party and Martin's character unabashedly provides the entertainment. Good as Martin is, this is actually an ensemble piece with numerous actors playing members of the same family, with cross-generational joys and disappointments in the air--and parents in conflict, children in love and so on. Jason Robards is very good as a patriarch who finally accepts the reality that the son he adores (Tom Hulce) is a major screw-up. --Tom Keogh, Amazon.com

• Parenthood | DVD | (28/03/2016) from £4.99   |  Saving you £10.00 (200.40%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Ron Howard's 1989 hit, written by fellow family men Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel (Splash, A League of Their Own), is an original comedy about contemporary life and the eternal responsibilities of raising children. Steve Martin has never been better than as a dedicated husband and father trying (and inevitably failing, as do most of us) to balance the demands of his kids and his job. The actor, like his character, throws himself into the part quite touchingly, particularly in a scene where a hired clown fails to show up at a children's party and Martin's character unabashedly provides the entertainment. Good as Martin is, this is actually an ensemble piece with numerous actors playing members of the same family, with cross-generational joys and disappointments in the air--and parents in conflict, children in love and so on. Jason Robards is very good as a patriarch who finally accepts the reality that the son he adores (Tom Hulce) is a major screw-up. --Tom Keogh, Amazon.com