"Actor: Van Williams"

• Candyman | Blu Ray | (29/11/2021) from £20.45   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  An artist unwittingly unleashes a wave of violence after learning the true history behind the urban legend of Candyman in this chilling film from Nia DaCosta and Jordan Peele. Note: Blu-ray Disc is Region B.

• The Defiant Ones | DVD | (15/04/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  This 1958 variation on Huck Finn's adventures with Jim finds a white convict (Tony Curtis) chained to a black convict (Sidney Poitier) as they both escape their captors. With each man literally stuck with the other, racial conflicts take a back seat to survival. Directed by Stanley Kramer (Guess Who's Coming to Dinner), the film's obvious consciousness-raising is mitigated by a pair of raw performances from the stars, memorable appearances by Lon Chaney Jr. and Cara Williams, and Kramer's strong storytelling abilities. The Defiant Ones' award-winning script was cowritten by blacklisted writer-actor Nedrick Young. --Tom Keogh

• Blood Simple | Blu Ray | (30/10/2017) from £7.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  The debut film of director Joel Coen and his brother-producer Ethan Coen, 1983's Blood Simple is grisly comic noir that marries the feverish toughness of pulp thrillers with the ghoulishness of even pulpier horror. (Imagine the novels of Jim Thompson somehow fused with the comic tabloid Weird Tales and you get the idea.) The story concerns a Texas bar owner (Dan Hedaya) who hires a seedy private detective (M Emmett Walsh) to follow his cheating wife (Frances McDormand in her first film appearance) and then kill her and her lover (John Getz). The gumshoe turns the tables on his client and suddenly a bad situation gets much, much worse, with some violent goings-on that are as elemental as they are shocking. (A scene in which a character who has been buried alive suddenly emerges from his own grave instantly becomes an archetypal nightmare.) Shot by Barry Sonnenfeld before he became an A-list director in Hollywood, Blood Simple established the hyperreal look and feel of the Coens' productions (undoubtedly inspired a bit by filmmaker Sam Raimi, whose The Evil Dead had just been coedited by Joel). Sections of the film have proved to be an endurance test for art-house movie fans, particularly an extended climax that involves one shock after another but ends with a laugh at the absurdity of criminal ambition. This is definitely one of the triumphs of the 1980s and the American independent film scene in general. --Tom Keogh, Amazon.com

• Candyman | Blu Ray | (29/11/2021) from £5.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  An artist unwittingly unleashes a wave of violence after learning the true history behind the urban legend of Candyman in this chilling film from Nia DaCosta and Jordan Peele.

• Strike: The Silkworm | DVD | (19/02/2018) from £9.75   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  The Silkworm is the two-part drama adapted from the second novel in JK Rowling's critically acclaimed Cormoran Strike series, published under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith. The story follows on from the events in the first drama of the series which received rave reviews, Strike: The Cuckoo's Calling. They successfully solved the murder of model Lula Landry now Cormoran Tom Burke) and his partner Robin Ellacott (Holliday Grainger) are hired to solve their next case.

• Brum - Kitten Rescue And Other Stories | DVD | (31/03/2003) from £14.49   |  Saving you £-1.50 (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Quietly tucked away in a car-collection garage, Brum is only conspicuous by his size. When the owner turns his back at the start of the day however, Brum blazes into action; ready to fight crime and do good deeds in the "big town". TV has tried lots of ideas with cars that think for themselves, but never managed to convey the charm that this series offers. Whether it's thwarting the escape of some naughty bank robbers, or saving a newlywed bride who inadvertently steps on a runaway skateboard, the little car with the big heart is always the perfect gentleman. Each episode sets up a crime to solve or dilemma to resolve, and by way of handy ramps and elevators, Brum is cheerily applauded and waved at by the town's residents. Every so often there's an outburst of song that will unite good guys and bad guys alike, and then there's always the sing-along at the end to look forward to. Warning to parents: expect a look of abject disappointment on the face of the tot who discovers their toy cars won't do any of the tricks on TV. --Paul Tonks

• Mutiny | DVD | (12/02/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £2.99

• Eraser | DVD | (29/03/1999) from £6.35   |  Saving you £7.64 (120.31%)   |  RRP £13.99

  If you're going to submit yourself to a dazzling example of mainstream action, this thriller is as good a choice as any. Eraser is a live-action cartoon, the kind of movie in which Arnold Schwarzenegger can survive nail bombs, hails of bullets, an attack by voracious alligators ("You're luggage," he says, after killing one of the beasts), and still emerge from the mayhem relatively intact. Arnold plays an "eraser" from the Federal Witness Protection Program, so named because he can virtually erase the existence of anyone he's been assigned to protect. His latest beneficiary is an FBI employee (Vanessa Williams) who stumbled across a secret government group involved in the sale and export of an advanced weapon capable of shooting rounds at nearly the speed of light. Fantastic action sequences are handled with flair by director Charles Russell (The Mask), so it's easy to forgive the fact that this movie is almost completely ridiculous. --Jeff Shannon

• Ugly Betty Season 4 | DVD | (28/03/2011) from £19.99   |  Saving you £11.00 (55.03%)   |  RRP £30.99

  Some TV series end too soon, leaving us panting for more, while others overstay their welcome, leaving a bad taste (and possibly a jumped shark or two) in their wake. Fortunately, ABC's Ugly Betty has done neither, bowing out just right with this fourth and final season (with 20 episodes, plus bonus material, on four discs) chronicling the adventures of young Betty Suarez (America Ferrera) as she navigates the world of high fashion in New York. When the third season concluded, one wondered if the show would continue to spotlight Betty's cutesy, quirky ways, including a fashion sense so extreme it could scare a blind person, and thus risk becoming redundant--or would we see her blossom into some version of grown-up normality? As it turns out, the answer is a bit of both. Betty is still well-meaning but often tactless and klutzy, someone who's adored by her family, pursued by boyfriends old and new, and, because she's honest and agenda-free, resented by her covetous, conniving colleagues at Mode, the magazine that employs her. But the character became steadily more confident and assertive through the years; she's an editor now, and by the end of season 4 she has made some major moves in her personal and professional lives. Other changes, though more superficial, are also more dramatic, including an extreme (and permanent) fashion makeover in the second episode and (warning: spoiler alert) the removal of her braces toward the end of the season. The people responsible for the show knew the end was coming, so while various story lines come and go in the course of this final season (as do guests stars like Shakira and Brooklyn Decker), most of the major characters' fates are resolved by the end, including the power struggle between Claire (Judith Light) and Wilhelmina (Vanessa Williams); the future of Mode and its editor, Daniel (Eric Mabius); the dispositions of Betty's "frenemies" Amanda (Becki Newton) and Marc (Michael Urie); the romantic lives of Betty's family members; and more. As before, virtually every aspect of Ugly Betty--the sets, the props, the lighting, the clothes (of course), even the writing--is almost cartoonishly bright and colourful, sometimes quite beautifully so. --Sam Graham

• Brum - Stopwatch Botch | DVD | (16/02/2004) from £19.50   |  Saving you £-6.51 (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Adventures with Brum with 5 new episodes! Episodes comprise: Brum And The Stopwatch Botch Brum And The Daring Gnome Rescue Brum And The Shop Window Dummy Brum The Basketball Star Brum And The Runaway Sofa.

• Thunderbirds Are Go: Series 3; Vol 1 | DVD | (09/09/2019) from £9.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  When disaster strikes... International Rescue answers the call!

• Candyman | DVD | (14/07/2000) from £5.86   |  Saving you £10.13 (172.87%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Based on a story by Clive Barker and skilfully written and directed by Bernard Rose, Candyman rises above most horror films by eerily suggesting that some urban legends--in this case a particularly frightening one--have a spooky basis in reality. The legend of the Candyman is a potent one around the high-rise tenements of Chicago's Cabrini-Green housing complex, where the residents speak of a dark, ominous figure who appears when his victims say his name five times in front of a mirror, then mercilessly slashes them to death. Upon learning that the Candyman is rumoured to live in one of the vacant tenements, a University of Illinois researcher (Virginia Madsen) investigates a recent murder at Cabrini-Green. She learns that the Candyman (played by Tony Todd) is both unreal and chillingly real--a supernatural force of evil empowered by those who believe in his legend. He is a killer made flesh by the belief of others, and the young researcher's investigation is a threat to his existence. What happens next? We wouldn't dare spoil the chills, but rest assured that writer-director Rose has tapped into a wellspring of urban angst and fear, and Candyman serves up its gruesome frights with a refreshing dose of intelligence. --Jeff Shannon

• Soul Food | DVD | (01/03/2004) from £13.82   |  Saving you £-0.83 (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Soul Food is the kind of movie that seems to have been blessed throughout its low-budget production and it has got a quality of warmth and charm that fits perfectly with its authentic drama about a large African-American family in Chicago. Twenty-eight-year-old writer-director George Tillman Jr. drew autobiographical inspiration from his upbringing in Milwaukee, and on a well-spent $6.5 million budget he succeeded where similar films (including Waiting to Exhale and How Stella Got Her Groove Back) fell short: he depicts his many characters with such depth and sympathy that, by the time they have weathered several family crises, we've come to care and feel for them and the powerful ties that bind them together. As seen through the eyes of Tillman's young alter ego Ahmad (Brandon Hammond), the film primarily focuses on the rivalries and affections that rise and fall among Ahmad's mother (Vivica A. Fox) and her two sisters (Vanessa L. Williams and Nia Long). Through them, and through the weekly Sunday dinners cooked with love by their mother, Big Mama (Irma P. Hall), we witness marital bliss and distress, infidelity, success, failure ... in short, the spices of life both bitter and sweet. But when Big Mama falls into a diabetic coma, Ahmad watches as his family begins to fall apart without the stability and love that Big Mama provided with every Sunday meal. Tillman's touch can be overly nostalgic, melodramatic and cloyingly sentimental, but never so much that the movie loses its firm grip on reality. As a universal portrait of family life, Soul Food ranks among the very best films of its kind--believable, funny, emotional and always approaching its characters (well-played by a uniformly excellent cast) with a generous spirit of forgiveness and understanding. As satisfying as one of Big Mama's delicious dinners, Soul Food is the kind of movie that keeps you coming back for more. --Jeff Shannon

• New Jack City | DVD | (01/06/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Some pundits called it a flawed, exploitative action film that glamorised drug dealing and the luxury of a lucrative criminal lifestyle, spawning a trend of films that attracted youth gangs and provoked violence in cinemas. Others hailed it as a breakthrough movie that depicted drug dealers as ruthless, corrupt, and evil, leading dead-end lives that no rational youth would want to emulate. However you interpret it, New Jack City is still one of the first and best films of the 1990s to crack open the underworld of cocaine and peer inside with its eyes wide open. It's also the film that established Wesley Snipes as an actor to watch, with enough charisma to bring an insidious quality of seduction to his role as coke-lord Nino Brown, and enough intelligence to portray a character deluded by his own sense of indestructible power. Director Mario Van Peebles stretched his otherwise-limited talent to bring vivid authenticity and urgency to this crime story, and subplots involving a pair of tenacious cops (Ice-T, Judd Nelson) and a recovering coke addict (Chris Rock) provide additional dramatic tension. Although some critics may hesitate to admit it, New Jack City deserves mention in any serious discussion about African American filmmakers and influential films. --Jeff Shannon

• The Odyssey | DVD | (30/05/2007) from £14.13   |  Saving you £-11.14 (N/A%)   |  RRP £2.99

  The Odyssey

• Brum - Airport And Other Stories | DVD | (15/10/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Quietly tucked away in a car-collection garage, Brum is only conspicuous by his size. When the owner turns his back at the start of the day however, Brum blazes into action; ready to fight crime and do good deeds in the "big town". TV has tried lots of ideas with cars that think for themselves, but never managed to convey the charm that this series offers. Whether it's thwarting the escape of some naughty bank robbers, or saving a newlywed bride who inadvertently steps on a runaway skateboard, the little car with the big heart is always the perfect gentleman. Each episode sets up a crime to solve or dilemma to resolve, and by way of handy ramps and elevators, Brum is cheerily applauded and waved at by the town's residents. Every so often there's an outburst of song that will unite good guys and bad guys alike, and then there's always the sing-along at the end to look forward to. Warning to parents: expect a look of abject disappointment on the face of the tot who discovers their toy cars won't do any of the tricks on TV. --Paul Tonks

• Murder One - Season 1 And 2 | DVD | (31/10/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £69.99

  The complete two seasons of the thrilling Murder One show in which a single but multi-faceted case is explored from opening trial arguments to final judgment over the course of many enthralling episodes.

• The Slipper And The Rose | DVD | (16/08/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  You know the story: Cinderella rides in a magical pumpkin to the ball, enchants the prince and flees at midnight. He finds her slipper and tracks her down, and they live happily ever after. But wait! In The Slipper and the Rose, it turns out there's more to the life of a prince than being charming. The king prefers to choose the prince's wife, one of proper social station who would provide a strong political alliance to ward off the kingdom's enemies. That's one of the twists in this 1976 British take on the classic fairy tale, one of a long line of musical versions. The disgruntled prince, who's as much of a focal point here as the lady with the footwear, is played by Richard Chamberlain, during the years when he was taking on the classics and had not yet been crowned king of the TV mini-series. He displays a pleasant voice opposite Gemma Craven as Cinderella, and veteran character actor Michael Hordern as the king leads the supporting ensemble. Add lavish sets and lush scenery (partially filmed in Austria), humour, fun choreography, and an Oscar-nominated score full of charming songs by Richard M. and Robert B. Sherman (veterans of such Disney movies as Mary Poppins and The Jungle Book, and who also co-wrote the script with director Bryan Forbes), and you have a grand, engaging family musical. The 143-minute running time and dreamy, deliberate pace might test the patience of antsy viewers, but The Slipper and the Rose's legion of fans wouldn't have it any other way. --David Horiuchi, Amazon.com

• Adventures Of Elmo In Grouchland | DVD | (08/03/2004) from £6.73   |  Saving you £-0.74 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Elmo loves his fuzzy well-worn blue blanket better than anything in the whole wide world. In fact, they are inseparable... a perfect team.

• Versailles Series Two | DVD | (26/06/2017) from £9.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  All ten episodes from the second series of the historical drama starring George Blagden as French monarch Louis XIV. In a bid to strengthen his weakening position among the country's elite, Louis decides to move the French court from Paris to Versailles. However, with the Parisian nobility deeply opposed to the move, Louis is faced with negotiating a dangerous cycle of lies, deceit and vicious political manoeuvrings as he attempts to exert his authority. In this series, a high-profile member of the court is found poisoned while Louis struggles to manage his paranoia as he continues to be haunted by events from the past.