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Review Paramount Home Entertainment / Play It Again Sam [1972]
Actors & Directors
  • Woody Allen
  • Herbert Ross
  • Viva
  • Tony Roberts
  • Susan Anspach
  • Diane Keaton
Release date: 2002-11-18
Run time: 82 min.
RRP: £15.99
Price: £4.39

Review Play It Again Sam [1972] / Paramount Home Entertainment:


Review Universal Pictures UK / Bring It On - In It To Win It [2007]
Actors & Directors
  • Jennifer Tisdale
  • Ashley Benson
  • Steve Copon
  • Steve Rash
Release date: 2007-12-26
Run time: 86 min.
RRP: £15.99
Price: £8.66

Review Bring It On - In It To Win It [2007] / Universal Pictures UK:

The world of cheerleading crashes full-force into the world of young love ala Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story in this boy meets girl, Sharks versus Jets, cheerleading competition where the West-Coast Sharks cheerleading team takes on the reigning champion East-Coast Jets in a cheer camp championship that will culminate in a world-wide tour. Passion and attitude pervade both cheer squads and team leaders Carson (Ashley Benson) and Brooke (Cassie Scerbo) are intent on defeating one another by any means necessary. A chance encounter between Jet Penn (Michael Copon) and Shark Carson sparks a quick romance, but team rivalry and suspicion repeatedly put the two at odds with one another. When a rumble between the Sharks and Jets injures a significant number of cheerleaders from both teams, the rivals must either forfeit any chance of victory or find a way to work together to combine their strengths and defeat a host of significant challengers. The parallels to West Side Story are purposeful and strong, but the incessant snobbish, self-absorbed attitudes of the cheerleaders, the stereotypical actions and slang of many characters, and the surprising lack of actual cheer footage make this program unappealing and at times downright distasteful. Great music like "Get Me Bodied" by Beyoncé, "Never Stop" by Hilary Duff, "Division" by Aly and AJ Insomniatic and "He Said, She Said" by Ashley Tisdale permeates the entire show and the actual cheer footage is spectacular. Aptly rated PG 13 for language, suggestive content, and rude humour. -Tami Horiuchi.

Review ITV DVD / Carry On Up The Khyber [1968]
Actors & Directors
  • Kenneth Williams
  • Sid James
  • Joan Sims
  • Charles Hawtrey
  • Gerald Thomas
  • Roy Castle
Release date: 2003-05-12
Run time: 85 min.
RRP: £12.99
Price: £2.70

Review Carry On Up The Khyber [1968] / ITV DVD:

Filmed in 1968 and set in British India in 1895, Carry On Up the Khyber is one of the team's most memorable efforts. Sid James plays Sid James as ever, though nominally his role is that of Sir Sidney Ruff-Diamond, the unflappable British Governor who must deal with the snakelike, scheming Khasi of Khalabar, played by Kenneth Williams. A crisis occurs when the mystique of the "devils in skirts" of the 3rd Foot and Mouth regiment is exploded when one of their number, the sensitive-to-draughts Charles Hawtrey, is discovered by the natives to be wearing underpants. Revolt is in the offing, with Bernard Bresslaw once again playing a seething native warrior. Roy Castle neatly plays the sort of role normally assigned to Jim Dale, as the ineffectual young officer, Peter Butterworth is a splendid compromised evangelist, while Terry Scott puts his comedic all into the role of the gruff Sergeant. Most enduring, however, is the final dinner party sequence in which the British contingent, with the Burpas at the gates of the compound, and plaster falling all about them, demonstrate typical insouciance in the face of imminent peril. The "I'm Backing Britain" Union Jack hoist at the end, however, over-excitedly reveals the streak of reactionary patriotism that lurked beneath the bumbling double-entendres of most Carry On films. -David Stubbs.

Review Sony Pictures Home Entertainment / Still Crazy [1998]
Actors & Directors
  • Stephen Rea
  • Jimmy Nail
  • Brian Gibson
  • Billy Connolly
  • Timothy Spall
  • Bill Nighy
Release date: 1999-10-11
Run time: 90 min.
RRP: £12.99
Price: £4.02

Review Still Crazy [1998] / Sony Pictures Home Entertainment:

This gently satirical British comedy chronicles the quixotic reunion of a late, arguably not-so-great and unlamented 70s rock band, Strange Fruit, with a winning mix of humour and poignancy. The "Fruits", as the survivors call themselves without irony, had disbanded after the tragic loss of one member, the mysterious disappearance of another and the aftershocks of internal rivalries, but 20 years later they warily reassemble for a Dutch club tour, a warm-up for a proposed festival appearance. Between that seemingly hare-brained proposal and the fateful festival, director Brian Gibson, working from a sharp script by Dick Clement and Ian LaFrenais, captures the absurdities of middle-aged rockers trying to recapture that lost cockiness. Breathing life into the band is a terrific cast, including Stephen Rea, Jimmy Nail, Timothy Spall and Bill Nighy, each managing to juggle deft archetype with believable character traits: Spall's cheerfully crass, flatulent drummer and Nighy's preening, slow-witted lead singer exemplify the approach, grabbing chuckles yet making you actually care about them. Equally impressive is Billy Connolly as the wily roadie, Hughie, at once pragmatic and devoted to his charges. All are well-served by production details and script points that get the group's lost world of late 60s and early 70s rock exactly right, from costuming and stage moves to the long-forgotten bands they name-check-Blodwyn Pig, anybody?The band's music likewise benefits from inspired insiders, cowriters Mick Jones (Spooky Tooth, Foreigner) and Chris Difford (Squeeze), who hit a nifty combination of bombast (for the silly scenes) and earnestness. When Gibson and his cast risk the story's amiable glow on a darker, more dramatic final act, the music rises to the challenge and the whole project, like its fictional subject, achieves an unexpectedly touching victory. -Sam Sutherland.

Review Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainm / Splash [1984]
Actors & Directors
  • John Candy
  • Ron Howard
  • Daryl Hannah
  • Eugene Levy
  • Dody Goodman
  • Tom Hanks
Release date: 2006-06-15
Run time: 105 min.
RRP: £17.99
Price: £3.53

Review Splash [1984] / Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainm:

Tom Hanks was a relatively unknown TV actor with a sitcom as his biggest credit when relatively unknown director Ron Howard (best known for his own sitcom acting) cast him in this surprise hit. It made stars of Hanks, Daryl Hannah and John Candy and an A-list director out of Howard. Hannah is a mermaid who comes to Manhattan in search of Hanks, the guy she has twice saved from drowning. Hanks runs a business with his loveable, blowhard brother (Candy), whose goal in life is to have a letter published in Penthouse. When this perfect woman shows up, Hanks can't believe his luck and plunges into a dizzyingly romantic relationship, unaware of her sea-water secret. But the mermaid needs to soak and unfurl her tail from time to time, which leads to complications, including her capture by the government for scientific study (what else?). Hanks is winningly charming and Hannah is a perfect match in this enjoyably high-spirited comedy, though the biggest laughs belong to Candy. -Marshall Fine Splash was big news in 1984. It was the sole reason for a renewed Disney Studios forming its Touchstone Pictures subsidiary. This was so they could get away with displaying Daryl Hannah's nude bottom! It was also big news for launching the film career of Tom Hanks, who immediately became a massive box-office comedy draw in the 80s. [+]
For Ron Howard, it was the breakaway success that guaranteed he'd be able to pursue as diverse a directorial career path as he wanted to. It's a simple romance tale, spiced up by making the female lead a mermaid. The stroke of brilliance in the script was in making the comedy happen around the two leads, while letting them believably convey they are hopelessly lost in love. The comedy comes from the ever-reliable John Candy as a larger-than-life womanising older brother, and Eugene Levy as a scatty scientist. Although New York looks a little different today, the movie has hardly aged at all. Which is just as well since it boldly begins "This morning. " On the DVD: Splash offers a transfer that has some defects, but colours and dark areas seem just about right. We're spoiled for extras, with a warmly nostalgic Howard joining a key production crew commentary in reminiscing on how much fun they had making the movie. There's a half-hour documentary ("Making a Splash") interviewing everyone involved, including some archival footage of the late Candy. Best of all are the original Audition Tapes for Hanks and Hannah, which reveal the consummate professionals these once-hungry stars really are. -Paul Tonks.

Review Ed Byrne / Ed Byrne - Pedantic and Whimsical [2006]
Release date: 2006-08-21
Run time: 118 min.
RRP: £19.99
Price: £9.92

Review Ed Byrne - Pedantic and Whimsical [2006] / Ed Byrne:


Review Universal Pictures UK / Hi-De-Hi : Complete BBC Series 7
Actors & Directors
  • Ruth Madoc
Release date: 2008-05-05
Run time: 170 min.
RRP: £24.99
Price: £15.98

Review Hi-De-Hi : Complete BBC Series 7 / Universal Pictures UK:


Review 2 Entertain Video / Dad's Army : Complete BBC Series 9 [2007]
Actors & Directors
  • Graham McCann
  • Jimmy Perry
  • David Croft
  • Kevin Davies
  • Clive Dunn
  • Ian Lavender
Release date: 2007-05-21
Run time: 179 min.
RRP: £12.99
Price: £4.62

Review Dad's Army : Complete BBC Series 9 [2007] / 2 Entertain Video:


Review Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainm / Don't Be A Menace To South Central While Drinking Your Juice In The Hood [1996]
Actors & Directors
  • Paris Barclay
  • Shawn Wayans
  • Marlon Wayans
Release date: 2005-09-19
Run time: 85 min.
RRP: £19.99
Price: £3.82

Review Don't Be A Menace To South Central While Drinking Your Juice In The Hood [1996] / Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainm:


Review Columbia Tri-star Home Video / Seinfeld: Season 4
Actors & Directors
  • Julia Louis-Dreyfus
  • Jason Alexander
  • Michael Richards
  • Jerry Seinfeld
Release date: 2005-06-13
Run time: 529 min.
RRP: £34.99
Price: £10.65

Review Seinfeld: Season 4 / Columbia Tri-star Home Video:

It's hard to believe, but for the first three seasons nobody really knew that Seinfeld was about, well, you know. It wasn't until season 4-unleashed here in a four-disc set that's equal in scope, quality, and quantity of bonus material to its predecessors-that the show really became something. In a series which can claim every installment as classic, the two-parter on disc 1 titled "The Pitch/The Ticket" truly stands out as a defining episode and, in retrospect, marked Seinfeld 4 as the breakthrough season. It's the one where (fake) NBC executives express their interest in working with Jerry Seinfeld on a TV show, then moves to the who's-on-first shtick of George successfully pitching Jerry on creating "a show about nothing. " Scattered throughout the discs in commentaries by cast and creators and in numerous "Inside Look" documentaries, nearly everyone expresses some anxiety about the season having a story "arc" depicting Jerry and his "real" life becoming a sitcom. The show had been only marginally successful up to that point anyway, and with the edict, "no hugging, no learning," still in place, maybe messing with nothing was a bad idea. What makes the arc so arch is the self-reflexive way it details the reality of Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David coming up with the concept and pitching it to (real) NBC executives as a show that really was about, well, you know. In one of the many informally informative interview segments, Jerry remembers hitting a stride during this time when a lot of crazy ideas started to make sense. "Everything was just a wild guess," he says, "and it takes a while to get confident that you're guessing pretty good. I think sometime in season 4 we realized we were guessing pretty good. [+]
" Oh, that we could all be so good at nothing. Season 4 also gave us the episodes "The Bubble Boy" ("He lives in a bubble!"), "The Pick" ("There was no pick!"), and, perhaps most memorably, "The Contest. " Recalling how nervous he thought NBC might be about a show based on how long a person can remain-ahem-master of his domain, Larry David says that he kept the idea hidden for a long time. He may have had NBC sweating, but the episode goes by without anyone uttering the word that it's really about. The curmudgeonly David also observes that another famous season 4 episode, "The Outing," only made it on the air due to a network "note" about making sure it wouldn't be offensive to homosexuals. Hence we have the addition of another standard to the Seinfeld lexicon of American pop culture: "Not that there's anything wrong with that!" Not only wasn't there anything wrong with it, the episode won a GLAAD Media Award. Season 4 also brought Seinfeldits first Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series. Stay tuned for season 5 (and a move to the coveted Thursday-at-9 slot) when the volcano we now know was always brewing really blew its comedic top. -Ted Fry, Amazon. com.

Review Universal Pictures UK / Lee Evans - XL Tour - Live [2005]
Actors & Directors
  • Lee Evans
  • Tom Poole
Release date: 2005-11-28
Run time: 141 min.
RRP: £21.99
Price: £7.25

Review Lee Evans - XL Tour - Live [2005] / Universal Pictures UK:


Review MGM Entertainment / Jack And Sarah (1995)
Actors & Directors
  • Judi Dench
  • Samantha Mathis
  • Tim Sullivan (III)
  • Richard E. Grant
  • Cherie Lunghi
  • Eileen Atkins
Release date: 2001-07-23
Run time: 105 min.
RRP: £15.99
Price: £3.90

Review Jack And Sarah (1995) / MGM Entertainment:

The story of a father and baby daughter, 1995's Jack and Sarah is the best cinematic depiction of what came to be known as "the 90s man". No matter how bad things get we know Richard E Grant will eventually learn to get in touch with his feelings and express his emotions. Grant plays Jack, whose reaction to the loss of his wife during childbirth is initially complete rejection followed by an alcoholic binge. Jack's family coax fatherhood from him easily enough however and this is where the film's heart lies. Brushing away the bitter beginning, Grant's comedic performance in juggling life around newborn baby Sarah is often hilarious: the image of the child in a sock hat being carried in a padded envelope is priceless. Bouncing off Grant's acting are some terrific cameos from Judi Dench as his stuffy mum and Sir Ian McKellen as a convincingly inebriated butler. Samantha Mathis plays an American waitress who provides a twist to the tale. There's genuine chemistry between her and Grant, specifically when they are both around the outrageously cute baby Sarah. Written and directed by Tim Sullivan, this is clearly a very personal expression of the meaning of family. Although backed by lots of Simply Red songs, it hopefully won't be one that's too quickly outdated. [+]
On the DVD: The ratio is confusingly stated as "Widescreen 4:3". Effectively it's an anamorphic 1:66:1 presentation giving a tad more edge than its video predecessor. Sound is in Dolby surround. The minimal extras are four repetitive TV spots and two theatrical trailers. -Paul Tonks.

Review 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment / How To Steal A Million [1966]
Actors & Directors
  • Audrey Hepburn
  • Peter O'Toole
  • Eli Wallach
  • William Wyler
  • Charles Boyer
  • Hugh Griffith
Release date: 2005-04-18
Run time: 118 min.
RRP: £12.99
Price: £3.85

Review How To Steal A Million [1966] / 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment:


Review Entertainment in Video / The Family Man [2000]
Actors & Directors
  • Nicolas Cage
  • Jeremy Piven
  • Don Cheadle
  • Brett Ratner
  • Téa Leoni
  • Saul Rubinek
Release date: 2001-07-02
Run time: 125 min.
RRP: £19.99
Price: £3.75

Review The Family Man [2000] / Entertainment in Video:

Jack Campbell (Nicolas Cage) is a quintessential Wall Street shark, scoring killer deals by day and shallow escort sex by night in The Family Man. Carp all you want about this derivative premise, with its marginal stereotypes and biased embrace of domestic bliss and dirty nappies. The simple fact is, The Family Man works like a charm. Under the assured direction of Brett Ratner (Rush Hour), this holiday crowd-pleaser offers comedy and chemistry in equal measure, making the hilarity of Jack's predicament a smooth catalyst for that rarest of film romances: the marital love story. Leoni is Cage's perfect match as Jack's idealised but imperfect wife and the films's appeal largely derives from its awareness that any life has its pleasures and pains. While it only flirts with the dark desperation that makes It's a Wonderful Life a classic predecessor, The Family Man is an irresistible what-if fantasy and even its debatable ending rides on a wave of genuine warmth and sentiment. -Jeff Shannon, Amazon. com.

Review Cinema Club / Gregory's Girl [1981]
Actors & Directors
  • Bill Forsyth
  • Robert Buchanan (II)
  • John Gordon Sinclair
  • Jake D'Arcy
  • Dee Hepburn
  • Clare Grogan
Release date: 2004-06-07
Run time: 87 min.
RRP: £5.99
Price: £1.88

Review Gregory's Girl [1981] / Cinema Club:

There is something so utterly captivating about this Bill Forsyth film-whether it's the quaintly authentic Scottish accents (they had to be softened for its US release) or the wholly universal story of young love. But what really gives Gregory's Girl its evergreen appeal is the enchanting performance of young Gordon John Sinclair as the eponymous gangly lead. With his shock of red hair, he's all arms and legs-and inexperience. Gregory becomes infatuated with Dorothy (a lovely Dee Hepburn), who proves a heartier and better athlete than he is. Gregory's so clueless, he relies on advice from his wee sister. The story may be familiar, but Forsyth's astute and affectionate rendering gives the film its momentum (the film won best screenplay at the British Academy Awards). If American viewers at first struggle to understand the well-written banter, it is worth the effort because there's charm in nearly every line. It's curious that both Sinclair and Hepburn, seemingly poised on the brink of stardom here, either chose not to take advantage of the possible opportunity or weren't ever offered roles as wonderful as these. (Sinclair had a small role in Forsyth's Local Hero and starred in 1986's The Girl in the Picture and other small films. Hepburn appears to have worked only once post-Gregory, a brief stint in the British series Crossroads. [+]
) Forsyth completed a 1998 sequel, with Sinclair and Ever After's Dougray Scott. -N. F. Mendoza.

Review ITV DVD / Auf Wiedersehen Pet - The Complete Series 2 [1983]
Actors & Directors
  • Jimmy Nail
  • Tim Healy
  • Kevin Whately
  • Anthony Garner
  • Baz Taylor
  • Sandy Johnson
Release date: 2002-07-08
Run time: 650 min.
RRP: £44.99
Price: £17.99

Review Auf Wiedersehen Pet - The Complete Series 2 [1983] / ITV DVD:

First broadcast in 1983 with its second series airing in 1986, Auf Wiedersehen Pet was an unlikely comedy hit about a group of British labourers forced to work in Germany during the recession. Scripted by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, (previously responsible for Porridge and The Likely Lads) its main players are likeable stereotypes from all over England: Barry (Timothy Spall), the bumbling, haplessly pretentious Brummie; gentle West Country giant Bomber (Pat Roach); amiable Scouse Moxey (Christopher Fairbank); and the three Geordies, nervous Neville (Kevin Whately), loudmouth xenophobic lummox Oz (Jimmy Nail) and put-upon Dennis (Tim Healy), the reluctant gaffer of the mob. The second series saw the lads reunited to work for a dubious entrepreneur called Ally Fraser to whom Dennis owes money, and the location varying from Spain to Derbyshire. Gary Holton (cheeky cockney Wayne) died during the making of the series and Clement and La Frenais farmed out several episodes to other writers like Stan Hey, but the characters were well established by this point and the comedy held up. An episode in which the gang upset the locals of a stuffy country pub with their very presence is particularly memorable. A belated third series followed in 2002. -David Stubbs.

Review Contender Entertainment Group / Will and Grace: Complete Series 8
Actors & Directors
  • Debra Messing
  • Sean Hayes
  • Eric McCormack
  • Megan Mullally
Release date: 2006-08-07
Run time: 492 min.
RRP: £49.99
Price: £12.57

Review Will and Grace: Complete Series 8 / Contender Entertainment Group:


Review Uca / Snatch/Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels [1998]
Actors & Directors
  • Sting
  • Brad Pitt
  • Steven Mackintosh
  • Jason Flemyng
  • Guy Ritchie
  • Vinnie Jones
Release date: 2008-06-02
Run time: 205 min.
RRP: £12.99
Price: £10.45

Review Snatch/Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels [1998] / Uca:


Review Universal Pictures UK / The Vicar Of Dibley : BBC Series 1 & 2 Box Set
Actors & Directors
  • James Fleet
  • Dewi Humphreys
  • Dawn French
  • Emma Chambers
  • Roger Lloyd-Pack
  • Gary Waldhorn
Release date: 2007-05-07
RRP: £12.99
Price: £8.33

Review The Vicar Of Dibley : BBC Series 1 & 2 Box Set / Universal Pictures UK:


Review 2 Entertain Video / Red Dwarf : Complete BBC Series 5
Actors & Directors
  • Chris Barrie
  • Craig Charles
  • Hattie Hayridge
  • Rob Grant
  • Robert Llewelyn
  • Doug Naylor
  • Juliet May
  • Danny John-Jules
Release date: 2004-11-08
Run time: 180 min.
RRP: £19.99
Price: £5.36

Review Red Dwarf : Complete BBC Series 5 / 2 Entertain Video:

It's brown alert time all over again for Red Dwarf fans with the fifth season of the much-loved sci-fi/comedy series. Episode-wise, it's business as usual for the crew of the Red Dwarf-that is, if one considers encountering an alien squid that squirts a despair-inducing hallucinogen ("Back to Reality", later voted the best episode of the series by viewers and Stephen Hawking!), evil (and not particularly bright) versions of the crew ("Demons and Angels"), a virus that causes insanity ("Quarantine"), and a trip to a moon created entirely from the mind of the insufferable hologram Rimmer ("Terrorform") business as usual. In short, it's six hilarious episodes, highlighted by the typically terrific writing of creators Rob Grant and Doug Naylor (who also direct two episodes). As with the previous deluxe DVD releases, Series V features a wealth of supplemental features, the most intriguing of which is a look at the failed attempt to recreate the show in America (with U. K. cast member Robert Llewellyn and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's Terry Farrell as Cat). Also included are cast and fan commentaries, featurettes on the show's "science" and villains, special effects tests, blooper reels, and a sampling of Grant and Naylor's BBC 4 radio sketch "Dave Hollins, Space Cadet", which served as the inspiration for Red Dwarf. Dedicated DVD owners will also be rewarded by Easter eggs lurking throughout the menus. -Paul Gaita.

Browse Comedy:

Models & Brands:
Play It Again Sam [1972], Bring It On - In It To Win It [2007], Carry On Up The Khyber [1968], Still Crazy [1998], Splash [1984], Ed Byrne - Pedantic and Whimsical [2006], Hi-De-Hi : Complete BBC Series 7, Dad's Army : Complete BBC Series 9 [2007], Don't Be A Menace To South Central While Drinking Your Juice In The Hood [1996], Seinfeld: Season 4, Lee Evans - XL Tour - Live [2005], Jack And Sarah (1995), How To Steal A Million [1966], The Family Man [2000], Gregory's Girl [1981], Auf Wiedersehen Pet - The Complete Series 2 [1983], Will and Grace: Complete Series 8, Snatch/Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels [1998], The Vicar Of Dibley : BBC Series 1 & 2 Box Set, Red Dwarf : Complete BBC Series 5

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