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Review 2 Entertain Video / The Catherine Tate : BBC Christmas Special
Actors & Directors
  • Kathy Burke
  • George Michael
  • Catherine Tate
Release date: 2007-12-26
Run time: 38 min.
RRP: £12.99
Price: £5.94

Review The Catherine Tate : BBC Christmas Special / 2 Entertain Video:


Review Universal Pictures UK / Extras - The Special [Blu-ray]
Actors & Directors
  • Stephen Merchant
  • Ricky Gervais
  • Ashley Jensen
  • Ricky Gervais
Release date: 2008-11-03
Run time: 84 min.
RRP: £24.99
Price: £17.98

Review Extras - The Special [Blu-ray] / Universal Pictures UK:

Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown of celebrity. Andy Millman (Ricky Gervais) is back and more miserable than ever in this darker and devastatingly funny finale to the Emmy-winning series. Though his sitcom When the Whistle Blows rates six million viewers, he is, as ever, mindful of the critics' barbs and jealous of colleagues landing the prestige film roles he covets. "I'm not proud of having Britain's No. 1 catchphrase," he grouses (actually, he has sunk to No. 3, now trailing "You are the weakest link, goodbye"). Worse, he has become a right bastard, arrogantly treating crewmembers and his one true friend, Maggie (a heartbreaking Ashley Jensen), like dirt. Andy finally drops his clueless and incompetent agent (series co-creator Stephen Merchant) and quits the show. "Don't worry about me," he proclaims. "The phone won't stop ringing. [+]
" Unlike the finale of The Office, this super-duper-sized episode really has no loose ends to tie up. In Andy's humiliating comeuppance (he sinks to portraying an alien on Dr. Who and joins the desperate housemates on Celebrity Big Brother), Gervais has the perfect vessel with which to rail against soul-sucking celebrity, degrading tabloid culture, and "the gutter press. " As for Andy and Maggie, those longing for some kind of Tim/Dawn hookup may not get exactly what they want, but they will get what they need in the lovely final scenes. A-listers having a laugh at their own images have always been one of Extras' special treats. The finale features jaw-dropping cameos by Clive Owen and George Michael, performing community service yet again. -Donald Liebenson.

Review MGM Entertainment / Theatre Of Blood [1973]
Actors & Directors
  • Diana Rigg
  • Harry Andrews
  • Douglas Hickox
  • Vincent Price
  • Coral Browne
  • Ian Hendry
Release date: 2002-10-21
Run time: 102 min.
Creator: William Shakespeare
RRP: £12.99
Price: £3.98

Review Theatre Of Blood [1973] / MGM Entertainment:

A brilliant, bizarre 1973 comedy-horror, Theatre of Blood pitches somewhere between a Hammer horror and the Ealing comedy Kind Hearts and Coronets. Vincent Price stars as the hammy, self-important and thoroughly psychotic Edward Lionheart, a veteran thespian who refuses to play anything other than Shakespeare. Piqued by a circle of critics, whom he feels were disrespectful in their notices and denied him his rightful Best Actor of the Year Award, he decides to murder them one by one in parodies of some of Shakespeare's grislier scenes. He's aided by his daughter Edwina (played by Diana Rigg, often in fake moustache and male drag) and a ghoulish company of dosshouse zombies. Some of the murders are quite extraordinarily gruesome, despite their camp, comedic overtones. Arthur Lowe's henpecked critic has his head sawn off while asleep (in a parody of Cymbeline) and Robert Morley's plumply effete dandy is force-fed a pie made from his beloved poodles, choking him to death (cf Titus Andronicus). Jack Hawkins and Michael Horden also meet unpleasant ends. Theatre of Blood is a genuine and underrated oddity in the annals of British cinema and especially uncomfortable for those who happen to be in the reviewing trade. On the DVD: Theatre of Blood on disc is not a triumph of digital enhancement, with sound blemishes unamended and hazy, faded visuals in places. The only extra is the original trailer. [+]
-David Stubbs.

Review Pathe Distribution / Love Etc. [1998]
Actors & Directors
  • Charles Berling
  • Thibault de Montalembert
  • Marion Vernoux
  • Yvan Attal
  • Charlotte Gainsbourg
  • Élodie Navarre
Release date: 2005-09-26
Run time: 105 min.
Creator: Julian Barnes
RRP: £15.99
Price: £3.19

Review Love Etc. [1998] / Pathe Distribution:


Review Pathe Distribution / Corrina, Corrina [1994]
Actors & Directors
  • Whoopi Goldberg
  • Tina Majorino
  • Noreen Hennessey
  • Ray Liotta
  • Lucy Webb
  • Jessie Nelson
Release date: 2003-06-30
Run time: 110 min.
Creator: Ruth Vitale
RRP: £5.99
Price: £2.68

Review Corrina, Corrina [1994] / Pathe Distribution:

In Corrina, Corrina Ray Liotta plays a 1950s jingle composer whose wife dies, leaving him to raise their grieving young daughter (Tina Majorino) alone. Dad hires an African-American housekeeper (Whoopi Goldberg), who helps fill the gap in the child's life-and then Dad's life. Soon an interracial relationship crossing the social mores of the era is underway. Written and directed by Jessie Nelson (The Story of Us), the film is a spot-on recreation of 1950s suburbia without gratuitous kitsch. Liotta is perfect as a working man of the day, given to white shirts and narrow ties; Goldberg gives one of her finest performances as the level-headed Corrina; and little Majorino is heartbreakingly effective. But the film entirely bears the stamp of one person, and that's Nelson, who has a wonderfully witty eye and a sophisticated but sensitive approach to the crosscurrents of emotion at play in this story. -Tom Keogh, Amazon. com.

Review 2 Entertain Video / Hyperdrive - Series 1 & 2 Box Set [2007]
Actors & Directors
  • John Henderson
  • Kevin Eldon
  • Nick Frost
  • Miranda Hart
  • Stephen Evans
  • Petra Massey
Release date: 2007-08-13
Run time: 350 min.
RRP: £29.99
Price: £16.75

Review Hyperdrive - Series 1 & 2 Box Set [2007] / 2 Entertain Video:


Review Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainm / Sister Act [1992]
Actors & Directors
  • Whoopi Goldberg
  • Emile Ardolino
  • Mary Wickes
  • Kathy Najimy
  • Maggie Smith
  • Wendy Makkena
Release date: 2006-06-15
Run time: 96 min.
Creator: Joseph Howard
RRP: £14.99
Price: £2.87

Review Sister Act [1992] / Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainm:

In Sister Act Whoopi Goldberg plays a Reno lounge singer who hides out as a nun when her villainous boyfriend (Harvey Keitel) goes gunning for her. Maggie Smith is the mother superior who has to cope with Whoopi's unorthodox behaviour, but the cute script turns the tables and shows the latter energising the stodgy convent with song and attitude. A real crowd-pleaser and a perfect vehicle for Goldberg, this is a happy experience all around. -Tom Keogh, Amazon. com.

Review Acorn Media / An Evening With Blowers [2008]
Actors & Directors
  • Henry Blofeld
Release date: 2008-09-01
Run time: 70 min.
RRP: £16.99
Price: £8.41

Review An Evening With Blowers [2008] / Acorn Media:


Review 2 Entertain Video / One Foot in the Grave - Series 5 & 1995 Christmas Special [1995]
Actors & Directors
  • Doreen Mantle
  • Annette Crosbie
  • Owen Brenman
  • Richard Wilson
Release date: 2006-08-21
Run time: 245 min.
RRP: £15.99
Price: £4.83

Review One Foot in the Grave - Series 5 & 1995 Christmas Special [1995] / 2 Entertain Video:


Review Network / Outside Edge - Series 1-3 - Complete Repackaged
Actors & Directors
  • Timothy Spall
  • Josie Lawrence
  • Brenda Blethyn
  • Robert Daws
  • Nick Hurran
Release date: 2008-04-07
Run time: 570 min.
RRP: £39.99
Price: £13.75

Review Outside Edge - Series 1-3 - Complete Repackaged / Network:


Review Vital Distribution / Futtock's End [1969]
Actors & Directors
  • Julian Orchard
  • Kika Markham
  • Roger Livesey
  • Bob Kellett
  • Michael Hordern
  • Ronnie Barker
Release date: 2006-06-26
Run time: 47 min.
RRP: £9.99
Price: £6.78

Review Futtock's End [1969] / Vital Distribution:


Review 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment / The Lone Gunmen - The Complete Series
Actors & Directors
  • Dean Haglund
  • Tom Braidwood
  • Zuleikha Robinson
  • Bruce Harwood
  • Stephen Sneddon
Release date: 2006-01-30
RRP: £39.99
Price: £13.98

Review The Lone Gunmen - The Complete Series / 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment:


Review Paramount Home Entertainment / Jackass - Number Two [2006]
Actors & Directors
  • Jeff Tremaine
Release date: 2007-03-26
Run time: 90 min.
RRP: £19.99
Price: £3.65

Review Jackass - Number Two [2006] / Paramount Home Entertainment:

Jackass Number Two could be alternately titled "From Bow Ties to Bunny Ears: What Will Chris Pontius Be Wearing Next?" Like the first Jackass movie, Johnny, Bam, Chris, Steve-O and the gang are all here. This "sequel" is full of stunts, pranks and one-liners, and contains more male nudity, more scream-worthy moments and of course more uncontrollable laughter. The film opens with a rather well directed cinematic piece: the entire Jackass gang running from a stampede of bulls. From there it takes off into the hysterically exhausting world of Jackass. The bulls are in quite a few stunts actually, one of which has "leader" Johnny Knoxville using himself as a red flag, and getting spearheaded by a charging bull. Ah, good times. Some of the stunts include: "Beehive Limo", "Fart Mask", "Red Rocket" and a fake terrorist plot which boasts the improve line, "Where I'm going, I don't need luggage. " Bam gets branded, they fish for sharks with Steve-O as bait, Johnny catches Anacondas with his bare hands, the list goes on. The gem in this collection of antics has to be the offensive interactions with the innocent people on the street by Johnny Knoxville and director/actor Spike Jonez, while disguised as a very old man and woman. Celebrity guests partaking in stunts include extreme sports legends Tony Hawk and Mat Hoffman. [+]
The movie culminates in a beautifully choreographed, fantastical and dangerous musical number not to be missed. Throughout the movie it is apparent that the Jackass gang is older and a little more worn, especially when Bam pleads, "Please God, don't let there be a "Jackass 3". For fans of the TV series and the films, a trilogy may be just what the doctor ordered. The DVD extras (deleted scenes, unrated material and two pretty funny music videos) are more of the same and worth the watch, though some of it is not for the faint hearted. -Rachel Moss.

Review Warner Home Video / The Barbra Streisand Collection - What's Up Doc / Up The Sandbox / Nuts / The Main Event (4 Disc Box Set)
Actors & Directors
  • Howard Zieff
  • Ryan O'Neal
  • Madeline Kahn
  • Martin Ritt
  • Irvin Kershner
  • Richard Dreyfuss
  • David Selby
  • Barbra Streisand
  • Peter Bogdanovich
Release date: 2003-08-25
Run time: 400 min.
Creator: Buck Henry
RRP: £35.99
Price: £6.50

Review The Barbra Streisand Collection - What's Up Doc / Up The Sandbox / Nuts / The Main Event (4 Disc Box Set) / Warner Home Video:

The Barbra Streisand Collection consists of four movies: What's Up, Doc? (1972), Up the Sandbox (1972), The Main Event (1979) and Nuts (1987) In What's Up, Doc?, director Peter Bogdanovich tipped his hat to the classic screwball comedies of the 1930s, and especially the most glorious of them all, Howard Hawks' Bringing Up Baby. Barbra Streisand plays a charming flake who distracts a self-absorbed musicologist (Ryan O'Neal). He's engaged to be married, but soon Streisand's character has him chasing after stolen jewellery and getting into one madcap fix after another. -Tom Keogh Up the Sandbox springs from the early 1970s, when Streisand's career was in full stride. She stars as Margaret, a stay-at-home mum in the middle of New York who's feeling the strain of her narrow life. Frustrated by her self-involved husband and the mentally unstimulating tasks of motherhood, she escapes into fantasies-such as being chatted up by a cross-gendered Fidel Castro, bombing the Statue of Liberty with black militants and having a furious catfight with her overbearing mother. The movie's strength lies in these fantasies' slippery nature; some are over the top, but others are so subtle you're not always sure where they start and stop, making the portrait of Margaret's psyche intriguingly complex. -Bret Fetzer The Main Event is a comedic misfire from the mid-1970s, a futile attempt to bottle the same lightning that struck when Streisand teamed with Ryan O'Neal in What's Up, Doc? Here, Streisand plays a spoiled rich girl, the head of a bankrupt cosmetics company, who discovers she's lost everything-except her ownership of the contract of a washed-up boxer (O'Neal). So she tries to rally this dispirited pug into a comeback that will earn the kinds of purses that will put her back on her feet. Naturally, in the process, romantic sparks are kindled. [+]
But despite a loud and energetic performance by Streisand, the comedy doesn't add up to much. -Marshall Fine In Nuts Streisand is a mad high-priced "escort" accused of murder, but whether she's mad as hell or mad as a hatter is the question in this courtroom drama, adapted from the play by Tom Topor. While her doting, wilfully uncomprehending mother (Maureen Stapleton) and stepdad with a secret (Karl Malden) try to have her judged incompetent and sent to an asylum, she fights for her day in court with the help of a hapless legal aid attorney (a refreshingly understated Richard Dreyfuss). James Whitmore presides over the hearing with a compassion and sense of justice that gives one faith in the system, and la Streisand (who developed and produced the project) sinks her teeth into the tempestuous role like a starving actress. The plot holds few surprises, but the drama lies in the characters; veteran director Martin Ritt brings out the best in a top-flight cast. -Sean Axmaker.

Review Vision Video Ltd. / Eddie Izzard : Circle [2000]
Actors & Directors
  • Eddie Izzard
Release date: 2002-11-18
Run time: 111 min.
RRP: £19.99
Price: £14.50

Review Eddie Izzard : Circle [2000] / Vision Video Ltd.:

Circle reminds us that, despite his less than successful dalliances with film and TV, Eddie Izzard's reputation rests securely on his genius for stand-up comedy. Circle comes on the back of an ever-growing global touring schedule, with this particular performance being recorded in New York. Always sensitive to his environment, the comedian throws in several local references to gratify his strongly partisan audience. Much of the delight of an Izzard performance is watching him weave from topic to topic, often painting himself into a corner, and Circle is no exception. A little slow to get started, once he finds his stride this is a veritable masterclass in live comedy, dealing with subjects ranging from the absurd to the everyday. Indeed, Izzard is almost a human equivalent of The Far Side cartoon series, weaving the worlds of the bizarre and the ordinary together to make fresh points: witness his show-stopping account of the Death Star canteen. This is a must for all fans, equally so for those yet to fall under his spell. -Phil Udell.

Review Entertainment in Video / Boat Trip [2002]
Actors & Directors
  • Maurice Godin
  • Horatio Sanz
  • Cuba Gooding Jr.
  • Roselyn Sanchez
  • Mort Nathan
  • Vivica A. Fox
Release date: 2003-07-28
Run time: 93 min.
Creator: William Bigelow
RRP: £19.99
Price: £3.55

Review Boat Trip [2002] / Entertainment in Video:


Review 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment / M*A*S*H - Season Nine (Collector's Edition) [1980]
Actors & Directors
  • David Ogden Stiers
  • Loretta Swit
  • Mike Farrell
  • Alan Alda
  • Harry Morgan
Release date: 2006-01-09
Run time: 600 min.
RRP: £29.99
Price: £15.93

Review M*A*S*H - Season Nine (Collector's Edition) [1980] / 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment:


Review Fox International / Dirty Sanchez [2006]
Actors & Directors
  • Kasumi Kitano
  • Dan Joyce
  • Lee Dainton
Release date: 2007-01-22
Run time: 94 min.
RRP: £19.99
Price: £2.41

Review Dirty Sanchez [2006] / Fox International:


Review 2 Entertain Video / Have I Got News For You - Best Of The Guests - Vol. 2 [1990]
Actors & Directors
  • Robert Llewellyn
  • Paul Merton
  • Jo Caulfield
  • John L. Spencer
  • Ian Hislop
  • Marcus Brigstocke
  • Ben Fuller
Release date: 2005-11-28
Run time: 311 min.
Creator: Nick Martin
RRP: £19.99
Price: £9.99

Review Have I Got News For You - Best Of The Guests - Vol. 2 [1990] / 2 Entertain Video:


Review ITV DVD / Carry On Matron [1972]
Actors & Directors
  • Charles Hawtrey
  • Gerald Thomas
  • Hattie Jacques
  • Joan Sims
  • Kenneth Williams
  • Sid James
Release date: 2003-07-07
Run time: 85 min.
Creator: Talbot Rothwell
RRP: £12.99
Price: £3.21

Review Carry On Matron [1972] / ITV DVD:

Hattie Jacques finally got to the play the title role in 1972 when Carry On Matron immortalised the character she had developed during several previous outings, most notably in Carry On Doctor. And she seized it with gusto. This is no one-dimensional performance, but a very human portrait of a woman doing her best to retain her authority in the face of mounting chaos-a raid planned by Sid James to steal the hospital's supply of contraceptive pills. Certainly, she's obsessed with regular bowel movements-this wouldn't be a Carry On film otherwise-but she remains a majestic figure of dignity with a touch of human warmth. Occasionally, too, a real hint of irony peeks through the slapstick and the innuendo. Surely scriptwriter Talbot Rothwell had his tongue lodged firmly in his cheek when he gave Barbara Windsor-then married to Ronnie Knight-the line, "I don't fancy being a gangster's moll!" Terry Scott makes a guest appearance and Sid James is at his most conniving and lecherous. Theatre impresario Bill Kenwright has a cameo role and there's an early appearance from Wendy Richard as a prototype Pauline Fowler. But it's the female stalwarts who shine. Joan Sims and Hattie Jacques were truly comic actresses of the highest order. -Piers Ford.

Browse Comedy:

Models & Brands:
The Catherine Tate : BBC Christmas Special, Extras - The Special [Blu-ray], Theatre Of Blood [1973], Love Etc. [1998], Corrina, Corrina [1994], Hyperdrive - Series 1 & 2 Box Set [2007], Sister Act [1992], An Evening With Blowers [2008], One Foot in the Grave - Series 5 & 1995 Christmas Special [1995], Outside Edge - Series 1-3 - Complete Repackaged, Futtock's End [1969], The Lone Gunmen - The Complete Series, Jackass - Number Two [2006], The Barbra Streisand Collection - What's Up Doc / Up The Sandbox / Nuts / The Main Event (4 Disc Box Set), Eddie Izzard : Circle [2000], Boat Trip [2002], M*A*S*H - Season Nine (Collector's Edition) [1980], Dirty Sanchez [2006], Have I Got News For You - Best Of The Guests - Vol. 2 [1990], Carry On Matron [1972]

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