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Absolutely Fabulous - Series 1 - Complete
Comedy Benjamin Soames Tristram Shapeero, Dewi Humphreys, Bob Spiers
"Absolutely Fabulous" was first broadcast in 1992 and became an instant hit. Originally a sketch on the "French and Saunders Show", Jennifer Saunders saw its potential and created one of the most ground-breaking and debauched comedies on British TV. Centred around the hip London fashion scene the series follows Edina (Saunders) and Patsy (Joanna Lumley), two women who refuse to grow up and are constantly on a mission to lose weight, gorging themselves with cocaine and/or champagne, endlessly throwing parties (or throwing up at parties), and sporting outrageous outfits which were the height of fashion at the time--honestly sweetie! The superb comic performances offered star status to Julia Sawalha as Edina's straight-laced daughter and Jane Horrocks as the sublimely dippy Bubble, and re-invented the careers of Joanna Lumley and June Whitfield. Saunders meanwhile secured her status as one of the top female comedians Britain has ever produced. Although its consciously chic clothing looks a little dated now, its mad characterisations endure and the jokes remain as hilariously slick and apt as ever.
"Ab Fab" remains a landmark in TV since it was the first time that female comedians and writers had had the freedom and exposure to satirise problems close to their own heart, from their own perspective. With Feminist writers claiming that the ideals of feminism were dead in the 1990s and that female concerns were moving in the wrong direction--towards the "Laddette Culture"--and reports claiming that careers were taking a central role, forcing motherhood onto the back-burner, the series sought to embody and satirise these new supposedly "female" characteristics. As the show continued to grow in popularity both in Britain and the States, plans were made to transfer the formula to America. However, as with many other great British series, the content was considered too risky for American audiences due to the amount of sex and drug references. Thus domestic audiences breathed a sigh of release that their beloved "Ab Fab" would forever stay British to the core. --"Nikki Disney"

Absolutely Fabulous - Series 2 - Complete
Comedy Benjamin Soames Tristram Shapeero, Dewi Humphreys, Bob Spiers
"Absolutely Fabulous" was first broadcast in 1992 and became an instant hit. Originally a sketch on the "French and Saunders Show", Jennifer Saunders saw its potential and created one of the most ground-breaking and debauched comedies on British TV. Centred around the hip London fashion scene the series follows Edina (Saunders) and Patsy (Joanna Lumley), two women who refuse to grow up and are constantly on a mission to lose weight, gorging themselves with cocaine and/or champagne, endlessly throwing parties (or throwing up at parties), and sporting outrageous outfits which were the height of fashion at the time--honestly sweetie! The superb comic performances offered star status to Julia Sawalha as Edina's straight-laced daughter and Jane Horrocks as the sublimely dippy Bubble, and re-invented the careers of Joanna Lumley and June Whitfield. Saunders meanwhile secured her status as one of the top female comedians Britain has ever produced. Although its consciously chic clothing looks a little dated now, its mad characterisations endure and the jokes remain as hilariously slick and apt as ever.
"Ab Fab" remains a landmark in TV since it was the first time that female comedians and writers had had the freedom and exposure to satirise problems close to their own heart, from their own perspective. With Feminist writers claiming that the ideals of feminism were dead in the 1990s and that female concerns were moving in the wrong direction--towards the "Laddette Culture"--and reports claiming that careers were taking a central role, forcing motherhood onto the back-burner, the series sought to embody and satirise these new supposedly "female" characteristics. As the show continued to grow in popularity both in Britain and the States, plans were made to transfer the formula to America. However, as with many other great British series, the content was considered too risky for American audiences due to the amount of sex and drug references. Thus domestic audiences breathed a sigh of release that their beloved "Ab Fab" would forever stay British to the core. --"Nikki Disney"

Absolutely Fabulous - Series 4 - Complete
Comedy Benjamin Soames Tristram Shapeero, Dewi Humphreys, Bob Spiers
"Absolutely Fabulous" was first broadcast in 1992 and became an instant hit. Originally a sketch on the "French and Saunders Show", Jennifer Saunders saw its potential and created one of the most ground-breaking and debauched comedies on British TV. Centred around the hip London fashion scene the series follows Edina (Saunders) and Patsy (Joanna Lumley), two women who refuse to grow up and are constantly on a mission to lose weight, gorging themselves with cocaine and/or champagne, endlessly throwing parties (or throwing up at parties), and sporting outrageous outfits which were the height of fashion at the time--honestly sweetie! The superb comic performances offered star status to Julia Sawalha as Edina's strait-laced daughter and Jane Horrocks as the sublimely dippy Bubble, and re-invented the careers of Joanna Lumley and June Whitfield. Saunders meanwhile secured her status as one of the top female comedians Britain has ever produced. Although its consciously chic clothing looks a little dated now, its mad characterisations endure and the jokes remain as hilariously slick and apt as ever.
"Ab Fab" remains a landmark in TV since it was the first time that female comedians and writers had had the freedom and exposure to satirise problems close to their own heart, from their own perspective. With feminist writers claiming that the ideals of feminism were dead in the 1990s and that female concerns were moving in the wrong direction--towards the "Laddette Culture"--and reports claiming that careers were taking a central role, forcing motherhood onto the back-burner, the series sought to embody and satirise these new supposedly "female" characteristics. As the show continued to grow in popularity both in Britain and the States, plans were made to transfer the formula to America. However, as with many other great British series, the content was considered too risky for American audiences due to the amount of sex and drug references. Thus domestic audiences breathed a sigh of relief that their beloved "Ab Fab" would forever stay British to the core. --"Nikki Disney"

Absolutely Fabulous - The Last Shout
Comedy Benjamin Soames Tristram Shapeero, Dewi Humphreys, Bob Spiers
"Absolutely Fabulous" was first broadcast in 1992 and became an instant hit. Originally a sketch on the "French and Saunders Show", Jennifer Saunders saw its potential and created one of the most ground-breaking and debauched comedies on British TV. Centred around the hip London fashion scene the series follows Edina (Saunders) and Patsy (Joanna Lumley), two women who refuse to grow up and are constantly on a mission to lose weight, gorging themselves with cocaine and/or champagne, endlessly throwing parties (or throwing up at parties), and sporting outrageous outfits which were the height of fashion at the time--honestly sweetie! The superb comic performances offered star status to Julia Sawalha as Edina's straight-laced daughter and Jane Horrocks as the sublimely dippy Bubble, and re-invented the careers of Joanna Lumley and June Whitfield. Saunders meanwhile secured her status as one of the top female comedians Britain has ever produced. Although its consciously chic clothing looks a little dated now, its mad characterisations endure and the jokes remain as hilariously slick and apt as ever.
"Ab Fab" remains a landmark in TV since it was the first time that female comedians and writers had had the freedom and exposure to satirise problems close to their own heart, from their own perspective. With Feminist writers claiming that the ideals of feminism were dead in the 1990s and that female concerns were moving in the wrong direction--towards the "Laddette Culture"--and reports claiming that careers were taking a central role, forcing motherhood onto the back-burner, the series sought to embody and satirise these new supposedly "female" characteristics. As the show continued to grow in popularity both in Britain and the States, plans were made to transfer the formula to America. However, as with many other great British series, the content was considered too risky for American audiences due to the amount of sex and drug references. Thus domestic audiences breathed a sigh of release that their beloved "Ab Fab" would forever stay British to the core. --"Nikki Disney"

The Adam And Joe Show
Comedy Adam Buxton, Joe Cornish Adam Buxton, Joe Cornish
Adam and Joe give us their first DVD and claim somewhat on the title menu that it is badly put together and such..but it really isn't. I may be a sad geek but the series' menu screens are the best ones i've ever seen! aside from it looking fab and sounding fab (instead of the same loop of sound rotating every 30 seconds you get different loops and i found myself sitting there waiting to see what else would happen) the things that made Ad&Joe so well known are all on here, all the toy film spoofs are present and also available to see seperately in their own menu thingy (it goes on!) and all the Star Wars figure sketches are here too. Altogether this is a very well put together DVD that feeds nostalgia and is very funny too, of course not everything i remember from the series is on here but i live in hope for the best of Adam and Joe - Part 2.
which would be just like them :p

The Adventures Of Priscilla Queen Of The Desert
Comedy Terence Stamp, Hugo Weaving, Guy Pearce, Bill Hunter Stephan Elliott
If you are looking for that pick-me-up and that all important film that no collection should be without, then this is your film. Stirling performances from all the cast with humourous twists and rip roaring turns, this is and rightly one of the best films ever. This not so much of a feel good film more of a how can I stop my face from hurting after laughinh so much, all of my family loved it and I am sure they will do in years to come.

Alien
Science Fiction & Fantasy Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt, Ian Holm, Yaphet Kotto, Bolaji Badejo, Helen Horton, Eddie Powell Ridley Scott
By transplanting the classic haunted house scenario into space, Ridley Scott, together with screenwriters Dan O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett, produced a work of genuinely original cinematic sci-fi with "Alien" that, despite the passage of years and countless inferior imitations, remains shockingly fresh even after repeated viewing. Scott's legendary obsession with detail ensures that the setting is thoroughly conceived, while the Gothic production design and Jerry Goldsmith's wonderfully unsettling score produce a sense of disquiet from the outset: everything about the spaceship "Nostromo"--from Tupperware to toolboxes-seems oddly familiar yet disconcertingly ... well, alien.
Nothing much to speak of happens for at least the first 30 minutes, and that in a way is the secret of the film's success: the audience has been nervously peering round every corner for so long that by the time the eponymous beast claims its first victim, the release of pent-up anxiety is all the more effective. Although Sigourney Weaver ultimately takes centre-stage, the ensemble cast is uniformly excellent. The remarkably low-tech effects still look good (better in many places than the CGI of the sequels), while the nightmarish quality of H.R. Giger's bio-mechanical creature and set design is enhanced by camerawork that tantalises by what it doesn't reveal.
On the DVD: The director, audibly pausing to puff on his cigar at regular intervals, provides an insightful commentary which, in tandem with superior sound and picture, sheds light into some previously unexplored dark recesses of this much-analysed, much-discussed movie (why the crew eat muesli, for example, or where the "rain" in the engine room is coming from). Deleted scenes include the famous "cocoon" sequence, the completion of the creature's insect-like life-cycle for which cinema audiences had to wait until 1986 and James Cameron's "Aliens". Isolated audio tracks, a picture gallery of production artwork and a "making of" documentary complete a highly attractive DVD package. --"Mark Walker"

Alien 3 - The Director's Cut
Science Fiction & Fantasy Sigourney Weaver, Charles S. Dutton, Charles Dance, Paul McGann, Brian Glover, Ralph Brown, Danny Webb, Christopher John Fields, Holt McCallany, Lance Henriksen, Christopher Fairbank, Carl Chase, Leon Herbert, Vincenzo Nicoli, Pete Postlethwaite David Fincher
The third entry in the Alien series is famous more for its script re-writes, disputes and problems rather than anything that happens in the movie, and has since been slated by fans and critics who expected much more. On the DVD documentaires we can see all these problems, the ideas that were thrown out, and how different the film could have been. On this purchase we see a different cut of the film, one which is superior to the theatrical edition we know, featuring a few cut scenes which did not deserve to be cut. Eventually Fincher got the director's job and did everything he could to make an entertaining and coherent film which would stand well with the others in the series, all the while looking over his shoulders as ravenous producers repeatedly stepped in to make changes. What is left is a disappointment from one perspective, but a thoroughly good movie from another. Hicks and Newt, surviving characters from Aliens are killed off, rendering their escape from that movie nearly pointless, and setting the gloomy tone for the movie. Bishop is destroyed and has no wish of being remade as a second grade model. After the excitement of the previous film, here we have one alien, and lots of talking. In this way it disappoints. However, watching it as the story of Ripley, of her never-ending nightmare, of a triumph of lighting, atmosphere and darkness, it works well. The tunnel chase scene is also one of the best horror movie moments of the decade. Therefore it is nowhere near as bad as many say it is, but it had the potential of being much better.

Ripley's escape pod crashes on a prison planet, Fury 101. She is the only survivor, human survivor, and is brought into the prison causing much disruption. The inmates are all men, most murderers and rapists, sentenced to life, but they have adopted religion to get them through each day. There is no way off the planet, no weapons, and it seems a certain creature is loose. The Corporation hears of her survival and prepares to come 'rescue' her, but Ripley is more worried about survival as the Alien begins to pick off the inmates. However, a twist reveals that the Alien may let her live.

Weaver is again very good, as are the rest of the cast, particularly Charles S. Dutton and the late Brian Glover. Unfortunately the rest of the cast all look identical, and most are killed without emotion. The score is good, the sets are impressive, and everything is dark and shadowy. The alien itself has changed, but the CG is poor. Many complained the film is too depressing, and if you like your films bright and with a happy ending then this is not for you. For fans of the series, most are split over its merits. I only really enjoyed it after a few watches.

Alien Resurrection
Science Fiction & Fantasy Sigourney Weaver, Dominique Pinon, Steven Gilborn, Gary Dourdan, David Rowe, Leland Orser, David St. James, Robert Bastens, Rico Bueno, Marlene Bush, Carolyn Campbell, Winona Ryder, Rod Damer, Robert Faltisco, Garrett House

The inclusion of quality actors such as Ryder, Perlman and Wincott add to the film's strengths, but the whole thing seems hollow, lacking both the excitement of Aliens and the scares of Alien. There are twists, lots of gore, some good effects and ideas, but perhaps it tries to be too clever for one movie. Mostly the performances are good, though most of the characters are not given a chance to grow or get our sympathy. Weaver is again good as the new Ripley, but one of the main good points of the other entries was that she was human, mortal, weak but when in danger would fight. Now we cannot relate to her and none of the other characters really draw our attention as they are all cold and hardened smugglers. Only Ryder gets some emotional value, but then again she has a twist in store for the viewer. It seems to be a film which tries to blend all of the past films into one, and therefore does not excel in any one place. The visuals are very good, as are the sets etc, but with this series we have come to want excellence.

This Special Edition offers many worthwhile features, the main selling point being the extended version of the film. This is not much different from the original version, but is still interesting for fans. All the usuaul documentaries and trailers are tagged on, and for the price, you can't go wrong

Aliens
Science Fiction & Fantasy Sigourney Weaver, Jenette Goldstein, Colette Hiller, William Hope, Carrie Henn, Michael Biehn, Paul Reiser, Lance Henriksen, Al Matthews, Bill Paxton, Mark Rolston, Ricco Ross

Alistair McGowan's Biggest Impressions
Comedy Alistair McGowan
The mountain to climb in producing a series based solely on impressions is that not only must the quality of the impressions themselves be perfect, but there must also be a wealth of well-scripted and inventive material to perform "in character". "Alistair McGowan's Biggest Impressions" is a triumph in both respects. Supported by the superb Ronni Ancona, McGowan takes his inspiration chiefly from popular culture and loathsome TV celebrities: successfully sending up "The Royle Family", the "Ground Force" and "Changing Rooms" teams, "Stars In Your Eyes" with Matthew Kelly, Woody Allen, David Beckham and Posh Spice, as well as the ubiquitous Alan Davies, a touchy-feely Kilroy and an indecipherable and disinterested Parkinson. The fact that some of these characters have never been mimicked before may make this series seem more innovative than it really is, but it is refreshing to see how entertaining a modern impressionist act can be by taking material from sources other than the world of politics or simply "doing" Mavis from "Coronation Street". Everyone will have their favourites, but the overall quality is so high that the only people that will fail to find this funny are the celebrities that are being lampooned. --"Paul Philpott"

All About My Mother
Foreign Penelope Cruz, Cecilia Roth, Marisa Paredes, Candela Pena, Rosa Maria Sarda, Antonia San Juan, Eloy Azorin, Toni Canto Pedro Almodovar
After her son is killed in an accident, Manuela (Cecilia Roth) leaves Madrid for her old haunts in Barcelona. She reconnects with an old friend, a pre-op transsexual prostitute named La Agrado (Antonia San Juan), who introduces her to Rosa (Penélope Cruz), a young nun who turns out to be pregnant. Meanwhile, Manuela becomes a personal assistant for Huma Rojo (Marisa Paredes), an actress currently playing Blanche DuBois in a production of "A Streetcar Named Desire". "All About My Mother"traces the delicate web of friendship and loss that binds these women together. The movie is dedicated to the actresses of the world, so it's not surprising that all the performances are superb. Roth in particular anchors "All About My Mother" with compassion and generosity. But fans of writer-director Pedro Almodóvar needn't fret--as always, Almodóvar's work undermines conventional notions of sexual identity and embraces all human possibilities with bright colours and melodramatic plotting. However,"All About My Mother" approaches its twists and turns with a broader emotional scope than most of Almodóvar's work; even the more extravagant aspects of the story are presented quietly, to allow the sadness of life to be as present as the irrepressible vitality of the characters. Almodóvar embraces pettiness, jealousy and grief as much as kindness, courage and outrageousness, and the movie is the richer for it. "--Bret Fetzer"

Ally McBeal - Season 4 Part 1
Television Calista Flockhart, Lisa Nicole Carson, Greg Germann, Jane Krakowski, Peter MacNicol, Courtney Thorne-Smith
The first half of "Ally McBeal"'s fourth season starts with that all important question, the one Ally has been waiting for from day one: "Ally will you... move in with me?". As always Ally's romantic dreams never quite become a reality and the series continues within the Grimm Fairy Tale world of Ally's love (and quirky work) life. The most important twist this season occurs in the first episode "Sex, Lies and Second Thoughts"--the departure of Tracy Ullman and Ally's current beau, Brian, to be replaced by the series' new heart-throb Larry (Robert Downey Jr). Initially dating both father and son ("Two's a Crowd") Ally cannot help but become besotted by Larry's charisma; he being a fellow lawyer further seals their bond, that is until Larry's past comes back to haunt him.
Other highlights include a quirky romance for John ("Reason to Belive"), a charity auction leading to an all male fan-club for John ("Love on Holiday") and a romantic connection for Mark--though the recipient of his affection may have hidden more than he bargained for. Unfortunately the series was outshone by the real-life drama of Calista Flockhart's and Downey's rocky relationship along with Downey's drugs convictions. Even though he won a Golden Globe for his performance, he ultimately had to be dropped from the series.
On the DVD: Not much on offer here for Ally's début into the DVD market. The individual episode menu does offer a language selection of French and English and the subtitles for the Netherlands and French. You also have the option to select chapters from the specific episodes, along with a "previously on "Ally McBeal"..." for that little reminder of whom Ally is dating now. Although standard for a TV DVD release, the 1.33:1 aspect ratio and 2.0 Dolby sound is disappointing for a television series which offers ground-breaking use of special effects. --"Nikki Disney"

The Almodovar Collection
World Cinema

The Almodovar Collection
World Cinema

Almost Famous
Drama Billy Crudup, Zooey Deschanel, Patrick Fugit, Jimmy Fallon, John Fedevich, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Mark Kozelek, Kate Hudson, Frances McDormand, Jason Lee, Noah Taylor, Fairuza Balk, Anna Paquin, Bijou Phillips Cameron Crowe
As I was born in the 1980s, I can only check out the era of blossoming rock'n'roll (Rolling Stones, the Doors, the Beatles, Led Zeppelin) through books and movies. And here's the ideal movie: "Almost Famous," a semi-autobiographical movie about the 1970s rock scene, gives a glimpse of the life of a young reporter, based on Crowe himself.
When William's sister (Zooey Deschanel) left home, she gave him her collection of records: the Who, Cream, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, and many others. When William (Patrick Fugit) is fifteen he manages to get a writing assignment with Creem, and then with Rolling Stone magazine to write about the rising band Stillwater. William falls in with the Stillwater guys and their circle of adoring groupies, including an effervescent blonde, Penny Lane (Kate Hudson).
Despite the displeasure of his controlling but loving mom (she claims adolescence is a marketing ploy), William accompanies Stillwater across the country. He keeps trying to get an interview with guitarist Russell Hammond (Billy Crudup), but Russell is too busy shagging Penny and diving off rooftops. But after Penny attempts suicide, William realizes the drugs, sex and rock'n'roll are only a veneer for what really matters.
"Almost Famous" is a fantastic mixture of expose and tribute -- there's music, there's romance, there's comedy. We get to see inter-band conflict (who's the star?), groupies, rock journalism, and the unfortunate aftereffects for groupies. Yet the sort-of-romance between Penny and William is very sweet, rooted in genuine affection.
Both the glamour and the grit is shown here. The dialogue sparkles -- "Last words: I dig music... I'M ON DRUGS!", "Forgive me Father, for I may sin tonight," "I'm about to boldly go where... many men have gone before." A few of the lines border on silliness, but never go over that elusive border.
And the direction is superb -- it cuts forward just when it needs to; the camera follows people out onto the dizzying stage and then zooms in for intimate close-ups. Nowhere else could a stomach-pumping scene actually contain an element of romance. And Crowe even throws in some well-timed pratfall humor, like Anna Paquin running into a cement wall.
The heart and soul of this film are wide-eyed Patrick Fugit and Kate Hudson, one as a naive young boy who is swimming with rock'n'roll sharks, and the other as a fragile groupie who falls in love despite herself. Billy Crudup and Frances McDormand back them up as a lovable yet hateable rocker, and William's weird yet loving mother, who just wants her son back.
Music lovers and rock aficionados will love "Almost Famous," a bittersweet coming-of-age comedy/drama/music movie. A rare treat. When and where does this "real world" occur?

Amores Perros
World Cinema Emilio Echevarría, Gael García Bernal, Goya Toledo, Álvaro Guerrero, Vanessa Bauche, Jorge Salinas, Marco Pérez, Rodrigo Murray, Humberto Busto, Gerardo Campbell, Rosa María Bianchi, Dunia Saldívar, Adriana Barraza, José Sefami, Lourdes Echevarría Alejandro González Iñárritu
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's striking "Amores Perros" is the film "Pulp Fiction" might have been if Quentin Tarantino were as interested in people as movies. A car crash in Mexico City entwines three stories: in one car is Octavio, who has been entering his dog in fights to get enough money run off with his sister-in-law Susana; in the other car is Valeria, a supermodel who's just moved in with her lover Daniel, who has left his wife for her. As Valeria struggles to recover from her injuries her beloved dog is lost under the floor of the new apartment. Professor-turned-revolutionary El Chivo, who has been living as a derelict/assassin after a long prison sentence, rescues Octavio's injured dog from the crash. All three learn lessons about their lives from the dogs.
"Amores Perros" opens with chaos, as Octavio and a friend drive away from the latest dogfight with the injured canine on the back seat and enemies in hot pursuit, then hops back, forward and sideways in time. It's a risky device, delaying crucial plot information for over an hour, but the individual stories, which weave in and out of each other with true-life untidiness, are so gripping you'll be happy to go along with them before everything becomes clear. Inarritu is a real find, a distinctive and subtle voice who upends all your expectations of Mexican filmmaking by shifting confidently from raw, on-the-streets violent emotion to cool, upper-middle-class desperation. A uniformly impressive cast create a gallery of unforgettable characters, some with only brief snippet-like scenes, others--such as Emilio Echevarria as the shaggy tramp with hidden depths--by sheer presence.
On the DVD: The anamorphic presentation, augmented for 16:9 TV, is of a pristine print and shows off the imaginative cinematography (with non-removable yellow English sub-titles). The soundtrack is Dolby Digital 5.1 and there are 15-minutes' worth of additional scenes with commentary by Inarritu and writer Guillermo Arriaga (evidently the surviving trace of an entire feature commentary available on a Mexican DVD release), explaining why they were cut. With a behind-the-scenes featurette, a poster gallery, three related pop videos (two by Inarritu) and the trailer (and trailers for other Optimum releases) the special features offer a more than adequate addition to "Amores Perros". --"Kim Newman"

Angel: Complete Season 1
Action & Adventure Joss Whedon
Taking the Spin-off genre to the extreme, "Angel" attempts to replicate the success of "Buffy" by taking the heartthrob as the lead. Spin-off shows rarely match the success of their parent programmes, especially in the superhero/fantasy genre (cf. "The Girl From UNCLE", "The Bionic Woman", "The Green Hornet"--"Frasier" being the notable exception). Characters who were perfectly useful as supporting figures dwindle when forced in the spotlight, and "Angel" takes a special risk by building an entire series around a character who is: (a) supposed to be a mystery man; (b) a vampire who once spent half a season of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" as a dastardly villain who killed without remorse; and (c) played by David Boreanaz, who is well up on handsome and broody but still can't do an Irish accent to save his life and is visibly learning this acting lark as the series progresses.
The premise is that Angel, the vampire with a soul, has finally admitted he'll never get it together with Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar), unless a reunion crossover episode or two are scheduled. He moves to Los Angeles, a city haunted not only by demons and vampires but lawyers and agents. Angel sets up as a private investigator and solves cases with a supernatural aspect, partnered with Doyle (Glenn Quinn), a half-demon with a proper Irish accent and the useful psychic ability to know when someone is in trouble (thereby predicting any given week's plot), and Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter), another "Buffy" refugee here trying to reinvent herself as a struggling big-city single girl.
Far less consistent than its parent show, but also not saddled with quite so much of a continuing story arc, "Angel" has a very different feel, cued by its effective semi-Goth violin theme tune and lots of film noir-ish LA street scenes, with a dose of cynical inside-the-entertainment-industry stuff. It has its share of familiar ideas (such as a "Fight Club" episode) and simply daft premises (a demon-centred show which allegorises the debate about female circumcision , for example). "Angel" alienated a lot of initial fans by killing off its most appealing regular a third of the way into the run, dusting off hideous English comic stereotype Wesley the Watcher (Alex Denisof) as a replacement. However, it also comes up with some ingenious moments: in a two-parter guest-starring sometime "Buffy" villainess Faith (Eliza Dushku), the show finally delivers something scary and emotionally powerful as Angel proves he can solve cases his ex-girlfriend can't. Meanwhile, the last couple of episodes--which beef up a satanic law firm as regular foes and resurrect a long-dead character as a major troublemaker for the future--go from promising to delivering. --"Kim Newman"
On the DVD: the DVD set is only moderately generous with features, compared to the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" series DVDs. There are two episodes with commentaries--creators Joss Whedon and David Greenwalt discussing the series' genesis and "City Of ". Added to this Jane Espenson, the resident queen of farce, talks us through the haunted apartment episode "Rm w/a Vu". Also included are four featurettes--introductions to the characters of Angel and Cordelia, a series one overview and a discussion of the show's demons--scripts for the two Faith episodes, cast biographies and a gallery of stills and blue-prints. Most importantly, given the way "Angel" was butchered by Channel 4 for an inappropriately early time slot, the show's violence and strong language are offered uncut. Presented in English and French Dolby Surround Sound 2.0 and with an aspect ratio of approx 1.33:1 --"Roz Kaveney"

Angel: Complete Season 2
Action & Adventure Joss Whedon
It is with this second series that "Angel", the darker Los Angeles mean-streets spin-off from "Buffy", comes entirely into its own. Angel, the vampire with a soul and rather too much hair gel, is driven partly by his need for atonement and partly by his anger at the manipulations of the satanic law firm Wolfram and Hart, especially the morally equivocal Lindsey (Christian Kane). At the end of the previous season, they set his emotional destruction in motion by bringing back from hell Darla, the vampire who turned him, whom he loved for centuries and then killed to save Buffy. Julie Benz's soft-voiced passion--"God doesn't want you, but I still do"--makes her a perfect tragic foil for David Boreanaz's "billowy coat King of Pain" hero and mid-season offers further cause for Angel's despairing rage at his failure to save Darla from being turned vampire again.
There is a nice balance of comedy, horror and the starkly tragic here--fake swamis, accursed shrouds, sexually abused telekinetic assassins all come into the mix along with Angel's gang of sidekicks--pedantic Wesley, abrasive Gunn, flighty clairvoyant Cordelia--and a new and wonderfully improbable character who starts as a running joke and becomes so much more--the Host (Andy Hallett), a green demon with red horns, eyes and hair, who sees into the souls of those who sing karaoke at his bar. And in a four-part finale, the group's friendship with the green karaoke demon Lorne sends them off to his home dimension to rescue Cordelia, right wrongs and acquire an important new character.
On the DVD: "Angel, Season 2" on disc presents all the episodes in their original 16x9 widescreen format (2.35:1), which enables viewers to see shots as they were originally conceived, for example in impressive moments like the march of the four vampires through a burning Shanghai or the climaxes of the mediaeval Pylea sequence. The sound is a sumptuous Dolby Surround 2.0. The first Pylea episode, "Over the Rainbow", has a commentary by its director Fred Keller; the 1959 flashback episode "Are You Now or Have You Ever Been?" has a commentary by writer Tim Minnear. There are also featurettes on the set designs--specifically concentrating on the huge hotel set which dominates Season 2. --"Roz Kaveney"

Angel: Complete Season 3
Action & Adventure Joss Whedon
In the third series of "Angel" the titular vampire with a soul was forced to stand alone thanks to the (temporary) death of his beloved Buffy and her show's move to a new network, with no crossover between the two allowed. He returns from seeking peace in a demon-haunted monastery to find the LA Angel Investigations team fighting supernatural crime in his absence. Fred is still haunted by the nightmare dimension from which they rescued her; Cordelia's visions get ever more painful and debilitating. The schemes of the evil law firm Wolfram and Hart become every more imaginative and dragon lady Lilah Morgan becomes even more of an enemy when lusting after Angel. Unbelievably, Darla, Angel's vampire sire and lover, turns up, pregnant with his child and is tortured by inexplicable motherly feelings as well as a raging thirst for human blood.
For a few episodes things go pretty well--but Angel's enemies, both those he has made in his quest for redemption and those he made when he was unadulterated evil, are still out there. Stephanie Romanov comes into her silky own in this series, making Lilah Morgan all the more seductively evil because she is clear about the choices she has made; the satanic law-firm of Wolfram and Hart are this show's most inspired creation. As the series moves to its close, Wesley (Alexis Denisof) has hard choices to make. The devastating climax is compulsive viewing and this series also contains one of the most impressive single episodes of the entire show: in "Waiting in the Wings" writer, director and creator Joss Whedon comes up with a classic ghost story as Angel and his crew go to the ballet and find a performance that is literally timeless.
On the DVD: "Angel, Series 3" DVD box set is generously stocked with extra features--a season overview, commentaries on three episodes, a documentary on the way scripts are transferred to screen, and an overview of the story of the doomed vampire Darla. Of especial interest to fans are two deleted scenes--one from the ballet episode "Waiting in the Wings", in which Amy Acker (Fred) and Alexis Denisof (Wesley) dance a "pas de deux" at once touching and hilarious, and the other a hilarious scene from "Cordy", the cute situation comedy in which Cordelia stars in an alternate universe. --"Roz Kaveney"

Angel: Complete Season 4
Action & Adventure Joss Whedon
As the fourth series of "Angel" starts, everything is still as we left it: Angel has been sunk to the bottom of the sea in an iron box by his inexplicable and vindictive son Connor and Cordelia has been summoned to higher realms to await orders. Gunn and Fred are left in the Hyperion Hotel, unsure about what has happened to their friends, and Lilah is working hard to seduce Wesley to the dark side. In the first few episodes, some of this is resolved but it's almost immediately replaced by far worse crises: prophesies of doom accumulate more rapidly even than usual in this wonderfully gloomy show and a horned rock-like Beast rains fire on Los Angeles. This last year is "Angel"'s most tightly dramatic season yet--with a story arc of surprising intensity punctuated by the show's usual wit and sexiness.
On the DVD: "Angel, Series 4" is presented on disc in Dolby 2.0 Surround Sound with a visual aspect ratio of 16:9. It comes with insightful, and often hilarious, commentaries on seven of the 22 episodes as well as featurettes--a series overview, profiles of the characters of Jasmine and the Beast, a farewell to the Hyperion Hotel (the characters' base for three seasons) and a discussion of the apocalypse that Angel has to deal with from episode seven onwards). It has subtitles in English, French, Dutch, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish and has the option of the soundtrack dubbed into French. --"Roz Kaveney"

Angels In America
Drama Al Pacino, Meryl Streep, Emma Thompson, Mary-Louise Parker, Justin Kirk, Jeffrey Wright, Ben Shenkman (II), Patrick Wilson, Brian Markinson, James Cromwell, Melissa Wilder, Fatima Da Silva, Florence Kastriner, Howard Pinhasik, David Zayas Mike Nichols
Tony Kushner's prize-winning play "Angels in America" became the defining US theatrical event of the 1990s, an astonishing mix of philosophy, politics, and vibrant gay soap opera that summed up the Reagan era for an entire generation of theatre-goers. Post-9/11 would seem to be too late for a film version--philosophy and politics don't always age well--but this 2003 HBO adaptation, ably directed by Mike Nichols, provides a time capsule of the '80s and reveals the deep emotional subcurrents that will give the play lasting power.
The story centers around Prior Walter (Justin Kirk) and Louis Ironson (Ben Shenkman), a gay couple that falls apart when Prior grows ill as a result of AIDS. But cancer is not the only thing invading Prior's life: He begins to have religious visions of an angel (Emma Thompson) announcing that he is a prophet. Louis, who doesn't cope well with disease and suggestions of mortality, leaves and starts a relationship with Joe Pitt (Patrick Wilson), a closeted Mormon who works for Roy Cohn (Al Pacino)--the real-life right-wing lawyer, notorious for his ruthless behind-the-scenes machinations. Add in Joe's depressed and hallucinating wife Harper (Mary Louise Parker), his determined but open-minded mother Hannah (Meryl Streep), a fierce drag queen/nurse named Belize (Jeffrey Wright, reprising his celebrated performance from the Broadway production), and you've still only begun to discover the wealth of characters and storylines in Kushner's ambitious work.
The powerhouse cast (also featuring James Cromwell, Michael Gambon, and Simon Callow) is uniformly superb. The script has its weaknesses--some of the fantastic elements, including Prior's journey to Heaven towards the end, fall flat--but even what doesn't work is bristling with ideas and a ferocious desire to capture human existence in this time and place. --"Bret Fetzer"

Apt Pupil
Thriller Brad Renfro, Ian McKellen, Joshua Jackson, Mickey Cottrell, Michael Reid MacKay, Ann Dowd, Bruce Davison, James Karen, Marjorie Lovett, David Cooley (II), Blake Anthony Tibbetts, Heather McComb, Katherine Malone, Grace Sinden, David Schwimmer Bryan Singer
Bryan Singer's follow-up to his post-modern caper-thriller "The Usual Suspects" trades in the flamboyant narrative flourish of that film for a moody meditation on the allure of evil. Based on the Stephen King novella (featured in the collection "Different Seasons"), "Apt Pupil" follows the disturbing downward spiral of a bright young schoolboy, Todd (Brad Renfro), who discovers a wanted Nazi war criminal is living in his town and then blackmails him into telling stories ("everything they're afraid to show us in school") of the horrors of the Holocaust. The old man, Dussander (a terrifying performance by Ian McKellen), comes alive while telling his tales and is soon reliving his past glories in a SS Halloween ordered byTodd. It's not long before Dussander's homicidal streak is unleashed and he is pulling Todd along with him. Although set against a backdrop of Holocaust history, the issues raised in the stories are ignored in favour of shocks and suspense and the film ultimately sacrifices the opportunity to be a fascinating psychological thriller about the seductive power of evil for a trip into Stephen King territory. Despite such limitations, Singer delivers a stylish and sometimes unsettling horror picture, which is largely due to McKellen's chilling portrait of a slumbering sadist awakened. "--Sean Axmaker"

Arrested Development - Season 2
Comedy Jeffrey Tambor, Jason Bateman, David Cross, Portia De Rossi, Jessica Walter, Henry Winkler Steven Wishnoff
This is such an amazing show. Following a once-wealthy family, the Bluth's, as they descend into chaos following head of the family George Sr's arrest for building houses in Iraq, it reveals itself to have everything. Episodes only run for 20 minutes but it rivals the Simpson's for the amount of gags the fit in that time. From running jokes (so many you catch most on repeat viewings) to amateur magicians, the Fonz as a inept lawyer, to a teenager becoming a movie executive and an accidental recruitment to Iraq, Arrested Development Season Two and the equally brilliant Season One have it all!

Roll on season three...

Arrested Development: Season 1
Comedy Jason Bateman, Portia De Rossi, Will Arnett, Michael Cera, Alia Shawkat Steven Wishnoff

A while ago a friend recommended that watched this when it arrived in the UK on BBC2. I didn't do this for three reasons, I thought it was going to be another terrible sitcom (and an assumed British one at that), the BBC had it on at a silly time and I'd missed the beginning and I hate that.

Anyway, while travelling on plane I saw episode 5 which made me laugh out loud, then go home and eat humble pie while talking to friend who recommended it.

Currently in the process of renting season one and thoroughly enjoying each episode. I don't think I'm being controversial when I say that this is "Seinfeld funny".

Ash - Tokyo Blitz
Concerts Prem Nazir P.A. Bakkar
Recorded during their sixth visit to Japan in the autumn of 2001, "Tokyo Blitz" finds Ash on a high. Having pulled off a nifty career resurrection with the superb power pop of their "Free All Angels" album, the four piece from Northern Ireland (via London, courtesy of guitarist Charlotte) were ready to have fun after two years away from their dedicated fanbase in Tokyo. And judging by the jostling moshpit (well, bouncepit, but still a rarity at Japanese gigs), their fans were itching to enjoy themselves as well. There's even a bout of crowd surfing during "Kung Fu", which seems entirely fitting given the setting. Ash themselves are on fine live form, with drummer Rick dribbling his way through a typically frenetic performance (one close up you wish you'd been spared!). The direction, though, is a little sluggish, with shots from a balcony dissolving into darkness and the perspective from the photo pit failing to capture the full energy fizzing around onstage. That said, you do get right in the faces of the devotees in the front row, and for fans of buzzsaw melodic indie played with suss and confidence, there's no better place to be.
On the DVD: It's extra features a-go-go on this DVD. A handful of mini documentaries follow the band as they tour radio stations, go shopping, visit an acupuncturist, go for a meal, hit the clubs and drink as if it's the night before global prohibition. Four one on one interviews give some insight into what it's like being in an affable indie pop band and there's a good segment shot by two fans who get ready at home to see the foursome, travel to the gig, and then bounce up and down with glee. --"Ian Watson"

Audrey Hepburn Collection Box Set
Classics Audrey Hepburn, George Peppard, Patricia Neal, Buddy Ebsen, Martin Balsam, José Luis de Villalonga, John McGiver, Alan Reed, Dorothy Whitney, Beverly Powers, Stanley Adams, Claude Stroud, Elvia Allman, Orangey, Mickey Rooney Blake Edwards, Billy Wilder, Richard Quine, William Wyler, Stanley Donen
This "Audrey Hepburn Collection" box set contains the following films: "Breakfast at Tiffany's", "Sabrina", "Funny Face", "Paris When It Sizzles" and "Roman Holiday".

Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
Comedy Mike Myers, Elizabeth Hurley, Michael York, Mimi Rogers, Robert Wagner, Seth Green, Fabiana Udenio, Mindy Sterling, Paul Dillon, Charles Napier, Will Ferrell, Joann Richter, Anastasia Sakelaris, Afifi Alaouie, Monet Mazur Jay Roach
If you don't think "Austin Powers" is one of the funniest movies of the 1990s, maybe you should be packed into a cryogenic time chamber and sent back to the decade whence you came. Perhaps it was the 1960s--the shagadelic decade when London hipster Austin Powers scored with gorgeous chicks as a fashion photographer by day, crime-fighting international man of mystery by night. Yeah, baby, yeah! But when Powers' arch nemesis, Dr. Evil, puts himself into a deep-freeze and travels via time machine to the late 1990s, Powers must follow him and foil Evil's nefarious scheme of global domination. Mike Myers plays dual roles as Powers and Dr. Evil, with Elizabeth Hurley as his present-day sidekick and karate-kicking paramour. A hilarious spoof of 60s spy movies, this colourful comedy actually gets funnier with successive viewings, making it a perfect home video for gloomy days and randy nights. Oh, be"have"! "--Jeff Shannon"



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