"Director: Alan Parker"

• Pink Floyd - The Wall | DVD | (22/04/2005) from £9.99   |  Saving you £-2.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £7.99

  By any rational measure, Alan Parker's cinematic interpretation of Pink Floyd's The Wall is a glorious failure. Glorious because its imagery is hypnotically striking, frequently resonant and superbly photographed by the gifted cinematographer Peter Biziou. And a failure because the entire exercise is hopelessly dour, loyal to the bleak themes and psychological torment of Roger Waters' great musical opus, and yet utterly devoid of the humour that Waters certainly found in his own material. Any attempt to visualise The Wall would be fraught with artistic danger, and Parker succumbs to his own self-importance, creating a film that's as fascinating as it is flawed. The film is, for better and worse, the fruit of three artists in conflict--Parker indulging himself, and Waters in league with designer Gerald Scarfe, whose brilliant animated sequences suggest that he should have directed and animated this film in its entirety. Fortunately, this clash of talent and ego does not prevent The Wall from being a mesmerising film. Boomtown Rats frontman Bob Geldof (in his screen debut) is a fine choice to play Waters's alter ego--an alienated, "comfortably numb" rock star whose psychosis manifests itself as an emotional (and symbolically physical) wall between himself and the cold, cruel world. Weaving Waters's autobiographical details into his own jumbled vision, Parker ultimately fails to combine a narrative thread with experimental structure. It's a rich, bizarre, and often astonishing film that will continue to draw a following, but the real source of genius remains the music of Roger Waters. --Jeff Shannon

• Bugsy Malone | DVD | (23/03/2015) from £6.79   |  Saving you £3.20 (47.13%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Writer-director Alan Parker's feature debut Bugsy Malone is a pastiche of American movies, a musical gangster comedy set in 1929, featuring prohibition, showgirls, and gang warfare, with references to everything from Some Like It Hot to The Godfather. Uniquely, though, all the parts are played by children, including an excellent if underused Jodie Foster as platinum-blonde singer Tallulah, Scott Baio in the title role and a nine-year-old Dexter Fletcher wielding a baseball bat. Cream-firing "spluge guns" sidestep any real violence and the movie climaxes cheerfully with the biggest custard pie fight this side of Casino Royale (1967). Unfortunately for a musical, Paul Williams's score--part honky-tonk jazz homage, part 1970s Elton John-style pop--lets the side down with a lack of memorable tunes. Nevertheless, Parker's direction is spot on and the look of the film is superb, a fantasy movie-movie existing in the same parallel reality as The Cotton Club and Chicago. A rare British love letter to classic American cinema, Bugsy Malone remains a true original; in Parker's words "the work of a madman" and one of the strangest yet most stylish children's films ever made. --Gary S. Dalkin

• The Commitments | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £11.90   |  Saving you £-5.91 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Available for the first time ever on Blu-ray, from acclaimed director Alan Parker comes the award-winning film that took the world by storm. Jimmy Rabbitte (Robert Arkins) knows he's the world's greatest band manager.... now he just needs a band. Auditioning everyone he can find, Jimmy gathers ten of the most talented, least experienced musicians from the rough streets of working-class Dublin with a plan to launch the greatest Irish Soul band in the world. It s a joyful mixture of great characters, super dialogue and wonderful music (The Sun); foul-mouthed, fast-talking and very funny (Time Out); with a soundtrack from soul paradise (Daily Telegraph. One of the greatest films in the last 50 years (BBC Movie Connections), Ladies and Gentlemen, please put your working class hands together for the saviours of soul... The Commitments. 25th Anniversary Special Edition comes with a digital copy - yours to download, watch and own. SPECIAL FEATURES Digital Copy 25 Years Later: All-New Interviews with Alan Parker and Cast Audio Commentary with Alan Parker Four Behind-the-Scenes Featurettes Music Video Image Galleries Collectible Booklet

• Angela's Ashes | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £7.23   |  Saving you £10.02 (167.84%)   |  RRP £15.99

  In 1935, when it is more common for Irish families to leave their famine-stricken country for America, the impoverished McCourt family do the reverse.

• The Commitments - 25th Anniversary Blu-ray | Blu Ray | (19/09/2016) from £19.95   |  Saving you £5.04 (25.26%)   |  RRP £24.99

  As enjoyable now as it was when it was originally released at the start of the 90s, Alan Parker’s The Commitments is the tale of an Irish soul band, from start through to very messy finish. There are several reasons why it works so well. The first is a corking script by Roddy Doyle (who wrote the book the film is based on) in conjunction with British sitcom legends Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais (Dad’s Army, among many other credits). Extremely witty and the rock-solid foundation for the film, the script is then enhanced by a selection of super performances from then-unknown actors (most of whom have never enjoyed the same success again). And then there’s the factor that the film is most fondly remembered for, the quite brilliant music. Not for nothing did The Commitments generate two top-selling soundtrack albums, and the inspired choice of classic numbers are as enjoyable to hear now as they were then. From "Mustang Sally" and "Chain of Fools" through to the quite sublime take on "Try A Little Tenderness", you wouldn’t say the music makes the film, but it does significantly lift it. In short, The Commitments is a film that time has been kind to, and one that remains as downright entertaining and enjoyable as it always was. This Special Edition DVD is a great way to get into it all over again…--Simon Brew

• Evita | DVD | (01/10/1999) from £8.05   |  Saving you £11.94 (148.32%)   |  RRP £19.99

  After more than a decade of false starts and several potential directors, the popular Andrew Lloyd Webber-Tim Rice musical finally made it to the big screen with Alan Parker (The Commitments) at the helm and Madonna in the coveted title role of Argentina's first lady, Eva Perón. A triumph of production design, costuming, cinematography, and epic-scale pageantry, the film follows the rise of Eva Perón to the level of supreme social and political celebrity in the 1940s. Like Madonna, Perón was a material girl (she was only 33 when she died); she was instrumental in the political success of her husband, Juan Perón (Jonathan Pryce). But Eva was also a supremely tragic figure whose life was essentially hollow at its core despite the lavish benefits of her nearly goddess-like status. The film Evita has a similar quality--it's visually astonishing but emotionally distant, and benefits greatly from the singing commentary of Ché (Antonia Banderas), who serves as a passionate chorus to guide the viewer through the elaborate parade of history. --Jeff Shannon

• The Beiderbecke Trilogy | DVD | (27/11/2007) from £44.99   |  Saving you £-15.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £29.99

  The Beiderbecke Collection is a charming mix of comedy and drama that has all the hallmarks of a classic detective thriller. Follow the exploits of jazz fan Trevor and his long-suffering girlfriend Jill as they find themselves embroiled in various mysteries which follow them to Amsterdam and Edinburgh and include dodgy businessmen black economies refugees and much much more.... 'The Beiderbecke Affair' (1984) - Follow the exploits of Jazz nut Trevor Chaplin (James Bolam) and his long-suffering girlfriend Jill Swinburne (Barbara Flynn). Whilst trying to track down a set of missing records they encounter a mystery platinum blonde who weaves a complex web of intrigue that soon escalates to dealing with dodgy businessmen 'black economies' and council corruption. 'The Beiderbecke Tapes' (1987) - Feature length mystery with Trevor and Jill as they continue to embroil themselves in all sorts of clandestine meetings and intrigue. Nuclear waste in the Yorkshire Dales sinister conversations and a missing barman take Trevor and Jill on a whirlwind mystery from the Dales to Amsterdam and Edinburgh. 'The Beiderbecke Connection' (1988) - Trevor and Jill are now parents to a baby boy however their old pals Big Al and Little Norm prevail upon them to give sanctuary to a homeless refugee. It is not long however before they are again caught up in a complex deception of a musical kind featuring the music of jazz supremo Frank Ricotti.

• 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

• Jack Rosenthal at the BBC Collection | DVD | (04/04/2011) from £39.93   |  Saving you £-3.94 (N/A%)   |  RRP £35.99

  Jack Rosenthal's name stands high in the list of television's greatest dramatists. With a career that started on early episodes of Coronation Street he was well-advised to launch into writing plays and began by drawing on his own experiences in The Evacuees directed by a young Alan Parker. Jack Rosenthal brought to his writing knowledge of and love for the everyman; the man or woman in the street the worker labourer taxi driver parent and child. Witty insightful rich in irony and human observation even his villains reveal a human side he couldn't resist exploring. These five plays capture a playwright at his zenith in a range of work that speaks both to his experience and his empathy. Featuring Maureen Lipman Maria Charles Adrienne Posta Jonathan Lynn John Duttine Tom Wilkinson Anna Carteret and Laura Howard they are sure to be treasured by anyone who appreciates fine drama - or anyone who simply enjoys life.

• Fame | Blu Ray | (28/09/2009) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  If they really got what it takes it's going to take everything they got. Seven classes a day and a hot lunch. That's what New York City High School for the Performing Arts guarantees. Stardom? That's something the school's teenage musicians actors dancers and dreamers strive for.

• Fame | DVD | (22/09/2003) from £7.19   |  Saving you £6.80 (94.58%)   |  RRP £13.99

  This early effort by director Alan Parker is lively but jagged as it follows four students through their years in the New York City High School for the Performing Arts. Rather predictably, the kids fall into four clearly defined stereotypes: brazen, gay and hypersensitive, prickly, shy. Fame makes up for a disjointed presentation with a lot of heart and a great soundtrack (for which it won two Academy Awards). The hopes and disappointments, failures and successes of these teens are fodder for emotional scenes and exuberant dancing in the streets. It also turned out to be the first of many imitators and spawned a popular television series. (It was the breakout film for the short-lived feature-film career of Irene Cara, who sang the title song.) --Rochelle O'Gorman

• Mississippi Burning | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £6.99   |  Saving you £3.00 (42.92%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Prepare to be shaken and moved as three young men in the 1960s meet their violent and untimely deaths on a dark Mississippi highway in this powerful and poignant drama. Based on the real-life murder investigation of three civil rights activists and starring two-time Oscar winner Gene Hackman and Academy Award nominee Willem Dafoe, Mississippi Burning ranks as one of the most potent and insightful views of racial turmoil yet produced. Nominated for six Oscars and winner of the 1988 Academy Awa...

• Midnight Express | DVD | (04/02/2008) from £9.55   |  Saving you £3.44 (36.02%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Brad Davis (The Player) and John Hurt (Alien) star in this riveting true story of a young American's nightmarish experiences in a Turkish prison and his unforgettable journey to freedom.Busted for attempting to smuggle hashish out of Istanbul American college student Billy Hayes (Davies) is thrown into the city's most brutal jail. After suffering through four years of sadistic torture and inhuman conditions Billy is about to be released when his parole is denied. Only his inner courage and the support of a fellow inmate (Hurt) give him the strength to catch the Midnight Express (prison code for escape).

• Bugsy Malone - Sing-Along Edition | DVD | (26/03/2007) from £3.99   |  Saving you £12.00 (300.75%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Written and directed by Alan Parker Bugsy Malone is a gangster musical set in New York a world of would-be hoodlums showgirls and dreamers. A world where you never see an adult - kids play the entire film including Scott Biao as Bugsy and Jodie Foster as Tallulah. Bugsy Malone is totally unique: quite simply there has never ever been a movie like it!

• Bugsy Malone | DVD | (17/02/2003) from £6.48   |  Saving you £2.51 (38.73%)   |  RRP £8.99

  New York, 1929: a war rages between two rival gangsters, Fat Sam and Dandy Dan in Alan Parker's much-loved kiddie mob flick.

• Mississippi Burning | DVD | (17/09/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Gene Hackman and Willem Dafoe star in Mississippi Burning, a well-intentioned and largely successful civil-rights-era thriller. Using the real-life 1964 disappearance of three civil rights workers as its inspiration, the film tells the story of two FBI men (Hackman and Dafoe, entertainingly called "Hoover Boys" by the locals) who come in to try to solve the crime. Hackman is a former small-town Mississippi sheriff himself, while Dafoe is a by-the-numbers young hotshot. (Yes, there is some tension between the two.) The movie has an interesting fatalism, as all the FBI's best efforts simply incite more and more violence--the film's message, perhaps inadvertently, seems to be that vigilantism is the only real way to get things done. The brilliant Frances McDormand, here early in her career, is not given enough to do but still does it well enough to have racked up an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. (Hackman also received a nomination for Best Actor, and the film won an Academy Award for Cinematography). Mississippi Burning is ultimately unsatisfying--it is, after all, the story of white men coming in to rescue poor blacks--but it is beautifully shot and very watchable, featuring a terrific cast playing at the top of their games. --Ali Davis, Amazon.com

• Pink Floyd - The Wall | DVD | (05/06/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £13.99

  By any rational measure, Alan Parker's cinematic interpretation of Pink Floyd's The Wall is a glorious failure. Glorious because its imagery is hypnotically striking, frequently resonant and superbly photographed by the gifted cinematographer Peter Biziou. And a failure because the entire exercise is hopelessly dour, loyal to the bleak themes and psychological torment of Roger Waters' great musical opus, and yet utterly devoid of the humour that Waters certainly found in his own material. Any attempt to visualise The Wall would be fraught with artistic danger, and Parker succumbs to his own self-importance, creating a film that's as fascinating as it is flawed. The film is, for better and worse, the fruit of three artists in conflict--Parker indulging himself, and Waters in league with designer Gerald Scarfe, whose brilliant animated sequences suggest that he should have directed and animated this film in its entirety. Fortunately, this clash of talent and ego does not prevent The Wall from being a mesmerising film. Boomtown Rats frontman Bob Geldof (in his screen debut) is a fine choice to play Waters's alter ego--an alienated, "comfortably numb" rock star whose psychosis manifests itself as an emotional (and symbolically physical) wall between himself and the cold, cruel world. Weaving Waters's autobiographical details into his own jumbled vision, Parker ultimately fails to combine a narrative thread with experimental structure. It's a rich, bizarre, and often astonishing film that will continue to draw a following, but the real source of genius remains the music of Roger Waters. --Jeff Shannon

• Angel Heart 4K | Blu Ray | (14/10/2019) from £19.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  New York, 1955, Private Detective Harry Angel has a new case on his hands. Washed up crooner Johnny Favorite has gone missing. Anybody that might be holding clues is being killed. Informants and witnesses are being murdered one by one. The bodies are piling up, time is running out and Harry Angel is being kept awake at night by strange satanic visions. From the mean streets of New York to the backwoods of New Orleans, Harry suddenly finds himself being dragged into a world of sex, murder, voodoo and death. This is no ordinary case, and Harry is no ordinary detective. Directed by Alan Parker (Midnight Express, Mississippi Burning) and starring Mickey Rourke (Sin City, The Wrestler), Robert De Niro (Taxi Driver, Heat), Lisa Bonet (High Fidelity) and Charlotte Rampling (Red Sparrow), Angel Heart is a deeply disturbing film with an incredibly unsettling atmosphere. A prime example of late eighties neo-noir, it successfully manages to blend elements of detective fiction with dark horror. Brand new 4K restoration Extras: Alan Parker interview excerpt from Cinéastes des années 80 Audio Commentary with Alan Parker Introduction to Angel Heart by Alan Parker A Background in Voodoo Original EPK and Behind the Scenes Footage Behind the Scenes Gallery

• Status Quo - Hello Quo Collector's Edition | DVD | (29/10/2012) from £13.79   |  Saving you £11.20 (81.22%)   |  RRP £24.99

  With 128 million worldwide album sales already under their collective belts, two OBE awards, a million neon lit 'Sold Out' signs, a record 108 appearances on Top of the Pops, this will never be beaten or even equalled! You'd think that HRH Prince Charles favourite band had nothing more to prove in the field of entertainment... But, they've never in all their long and glorious history been seen on a cinema screen...

• Play for Today: Volume One (4-disc Blu-ray Boxset) | Blu Ray | (16/11/2020) from £40.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  50 years on from its first transmission, the BBC's Play for Today anthology series remains one of British television's most influential and celebrated achievements. Between 1970 and 1984, plays which combined some of the era's finest writing, acting and directing talents were broadcast direct to living rooms, regularly challenging viewers and pushing the boundaries of TV drama. Featuring plays by the likes of Ingmar Bergman, Julia Jones and Colin Welland and featuring a roster of eminent British actors, Play for Today: Volume One brings together seven iconic dramas on Bluray for the very first time, in a collection that exemplifies the breadth and brilliance of this groundbreaking series. The set includes five plays which have been restored from the original negatives held in the BBC archive. The Plays: The Lie (Written by Ingmar Bergman | Dir. Alan Bridges, 1970) Shakespeare or Bust (Written by Peter Terson | Dir. Brian Parker, 1973) Back of Beyond (Written by Julia Jones | Dir. Desmond Davis, 1974) Passage to England (Written by Leon Griffiths | Dir. John Mackenzie, 1975) Our Flesh and Blood (Written by Mike Stott | Dir. Pedr James, 1977) A Photograph (Written by John Bowen | Dir. John Glenister, 1977) Your Man from Six Counties (Written by Colin Welland | Dir. Barry Davis, 1976)