Release date: 1995-05-29 Run time: 60 min. Price: £9.99
Review Thunderbirds - Great Disasters / Universal Pictures UK:
Release date: 1997-04-02 Run time: 42 min. RRP: £5.99 Price: £7.55
Review Pingu 3 - Hide And Seek [1991] / 2 Entertain Video:
Release date: 2005-02-11 Run time: 90 min. RRP: £14.99 Price: £0.85
Review Shark Tale [2004] / Universal Pictures Video:
Release date: 2003-08-11 Price: £12.99
Review Baby Einstein - Neighbourhood Animals / Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainm:When Baby Einstein started its "video board books" in 1997, the company was virtually alone in the field of baby development. By its sixth video, the field has become crowded with similar-sounding titles. Now scientists might be able to analyze what a baby will get out of a DVD like Baby Einstein - Neighbourhood Animals compared to Baby Van Gogh, but is it worth getting more baby videos? Absolutely-babies love variety as much as their adult counterparts. On that level, Neighbourhood Animals scores. Using a stimulating mix of brightly colored toys, whimsical puppets (including your host, Pavlov the Dog) and lots of pictures, Neighbourhood Animals takes the viewer on a 30-minute tour of commonly found animals. Help your little pal spot a pig on the farm or a dog in the house. Baby Einstein - Neighbourhood Animals uses animals' sounds, kids' drawings, and photography for each animal in four habitats. The natural settings and original, bright recordings of Beethoven, Rimsky-Korsakov, Vivaldi, and others should make this a favorite every time you want to visit Old MacDonald's Farm. Followed by a companion production, Baby Einstein: World Animals. -Doug Thomas.
Release date: 2002-10-14 Run time: 53 min. RRP: £9.99 Price: £9.99
Review Dream Street / Fremantle Home Entertainment:
Actors & Directors
- Donald Faison
- Amanda Bynes
- Paul Giamatti
- Shawn Levy
- Frankie Muniz
- Amanda Detmer
Release date: 2003-02-03 Run time: 84 min. Creator: Dan Schneider RRP: £12.99 Price: £7.74
Review Big Fat Liar [2002] / 4 Front Video:Pitting kids against grown-ups has always been a reliable source of comedy, and Big Fat Liar indulges the "smart kid vs dumb adult" fantasy with infectious enthusiasm. In this case it's Frankie Muniz from TV's Malcolm in the Middle, playing a Michigan eighth-grader whose penchant for lying results in parental scorn when he claims that a Hollywood movie mogul (ace character actor Paul Giamatti) has stolen the kid's hastily written English essay and turned it into his upcoming summer blockbuster. The kid only wants to prove his honesty and recruits his girlfriend (spunky TV star Amanda Bynes) to beat the honcho on his Hollywood turf. Elaborate practical jokes and slapstick gags turn this kid stuff (scripted and produced by two former child stars) into an enjoyable send-up of Hollywood absurdity. When combined with Giamatti's mastery of slow-burning megalomania, the show-biz in-jokes and Home Alone-style anarchy make this a harmless diversion for the young and young-at-heart. -Jeff Shannon.
Actors & Directors
- Ted Ross
- Sidney Lumet
- Michael Jackson
- Nipsey Russell
- Mabel King
- Diana Ross
Release date: 1999-07-01 Run time: 128 min. Creator: William F. Brown RRP: £10.99 Price: £5.40
Review The Wiz [1978] / Universal Pictures UK:Directed by Sidney Lumet (Serpico) and penned by Joel Schumacher (Batman and Robin), this lavish 1978 adaptation of the Broadway hit The Wiz was the biggest production filmed in New York City up to that point, utilising the newly revamped Astoria Studios and locations around the city. Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Nipsey Russell, and Ted Ross (reprising his Tony-winning role as the Lion) star in this Academy Award-nominated musical for the whole family. The Wiz is probably the grandest take on L. Frank Baum's classic tale The Wizard of Oz. The production team created sets with a sense of urban magic and spectacle: a New York subway station literally comes to life, and the massive plaza between the World Trade Center towers is transformed into the Emerald City, featuring nearly 400 dancers with three costume changes. Like all good musicals, the Quincy Jones arrangements are highly hummable long after viewing (especially the funky "Ease On Down the Road" and the inspirational "Brand New Day"). In an era before MTV, the camera stays nearly stationary as Ross and Lena Horne vocally soar through their numbers. Their stage-like performances successfully make the leap to film, making The Wiz a testament to their singing talents and star presence. The then-thirtysomething Ross raised some eyebrows playing the traditionally teenaged Dorothy, but she and her supporting cast (including Richard Pryor as the Wiz) carry the tunes with an infectious verve that will appeal to folks of all ages. -Shannon Gee.
Actors & Directors
- Jonathan Knight
- Joey McIntyre
- Donnie Wahlberg
- Jordan Knight
- Dominic Orlando
- Danny Wood
Release date: 1990-12-03 Run time: 44 min. RRP: £10.99 Price: £2.95
Review New Kids On The Block - The New Kid In The Class / Sheik Of My Dreams / Sony Bmg:
Release date: 1991-11-07 Run time: 30 min. Price: £7.99
Review Yogi Bear - Yogi Bear's All- Star Comedy Christmas Caper / Hanna Barbera (Defunct):
Release date: 1998-04-20 Run time: 50 min. Price: £9.99
Review Adventures Of Tintin - The Blue Lotus / Mollin Video:
Release date: 1992-02-10 Run time: 60 min. RRP: £9.99 Price: £9.78
Review Rosie And Jim - Washing / Cte Video:
Run time: 50 min. Creator: Robin Parkinson
Review Mice Play On Button Moon / Lollipop:Mice Play On Button Moon,The Scout's Garden Fete,Egbert Goes Camping,The New Canoe & The Little Red Hen.
Release date: 2003-11-24 Run time: 110 min. RRP: £13.99 Price: £0.01
Review Robbie Williams - What We Did Last Summer - Robbie Williams Live At Knebworth [2003] / EMI:What We Did Last Summer records the three August days in 2003 in which (it seemed) most of the Home Counties converged on rural Hertfordshire for Robbie Williams's record-breaking Knebworth gigs. For the 375,000 fans (or pilgrims) who endured the massive traffic jams and the sweltering heat to attend the concerts, Williams is their pop messiah-an image the star seems content to cultivate throughout the two-hour set. Opening the concert in the style of another who wowed the masses, the stage curtains fall to reveal Robbie hanging upside down like Houdini in an escapologist costume; and like that master showman, Williams manages to keep his audience spellbound too. Despite the tens of thousands at the gig, Robbie does his best to interact with the audience, utilising his charm in an almost impossible attempt to persuade the masses that he's performing individually to each and every one of them. Various items of Robbie's attire are thrown into the audience, and one good-looking female fan is pulled from the front row, an event that Mr Williams uses to his own benefit by consensually sticking his tongue down her throat. He also takes advantage of the size of the audience and the fading light, by requesting that those with cameras use them at the exact same moment. Like a galaxy of pulsating stars, the camera flashes look spectacular, an effect that could only have been witnessed at the time by those lucky enough to be on stage. Consisting mainly of greatest hits and tracks from Escapology, the show connects the familiar with the lesser-known songs. Nonetheless, despite this mix of old and new, there's a slight air of weariness about the gig. Maybe it's the plethora of other Robbie DVDs available, his sheer over-familiarity, or perhaps, as the star himself suggests, now that he's reached the pinnacle of his career he has nowhere else to go. [+]
Only time will tell whether the fans stay loyal, but this concert provides an excellent memento of Robbie on top. On the DVD: What We Did Last Summer has the two-hour gig on the first disc, presented with a choice of spectacular sound options: DTS 5. 1, Dolby Digital 5. 1 or Stereo. The second disc, frankly, has a paltry amount of bonus material that takes up a fraction of the potential space available. The DVD-ROM extras should also come with a health warning, particularly the PC sound effects/clips, which have the potential to test the patience of a saint. Luckily there are a number of hidden extras including Robbie's legendary live performance of "Back for Good" with former Take That bandmate Mark Owen. -John Galilee.
Actors & Directors
- GARY RUSSELL
- MARCUS HARRIS
- TODDY WOODGATE
- MICHELLE GALLAGHER
- JENNY THANISH
Run time: 97 min. Price: £7.99
Review Famous Five-Secret Trail / LONGMAN:FIVE ON A SECRET TRAIL - FIVE GO TO BILLCOCK HILL - FIVE ON FINNISTON FARM - FIVE ON A HIKE TOGETHER.
Actors & Directors
- Russi Taylor
- Bill Farmer
- Jamie Mitchell
- Tress MacNeille
- Rick Schneider
- Tony Anselmo
- Wayne Allwine
Release date: 2002-10-07 Run time: 65 min. Creator: Kevin Campbell RRP: £9.99 Price: £1.05
Review Mickey's House Of Villains / Walt Disney Home Video:Mickey's House of Mouse Villains seeks to do for Halloween what Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed In at the House of Mouse (2001) did for Yuletide. It's an anthology set on Halloween in the titular house, a nightclub where characters-including Donald Duck, Goofy, Jafar, Cruella de Vil, and Captain Hook-gather to watch Disney cartoons. There's a perfunctory framing plot with the villains taking over the House, but the 65 minutes is almost entirely filled by eight short cartoons. Five are very recent, with clinically clean computer animation, and three are vintage gems glowing with the warm detailed look of Golden Age Disney. These are Trick or Treat (1952), Donald Duck and the Gorilla (1944), and Lonesome Ghosts (1937), in which Mickey, Donald and Goofy star in what was surely the inspiration for Ghostbusters. The best of the new adventures is Mickey's Mechanical House, in which the mouse moves into a futuristic house which goes disastrously wrong. It's made all the more entertaining by a poetic rhyming narration delivered by John Cleese. Young children will love it all, while older fans may prefer a compilation of vintage Disney shorts. On the DVD: Mickey's House of Mouse Villains DVD contains a well-designed animated quiz game, "Wheel of Misfortune", that should entertain young fans for a while. Otherwise, the extras consist of three trailers and a "Fright Reel": a three-minute compilation of Disney clips with two Dolby Digital 5. [+]
1 soundtracks. The choice amounts to the same sound effects with or without music. The sound is good, except for the three vintage animations, which are in mono. The picture is 4:3 and is generally very sharp, though varies a little with the source material. -Gary S Dalkin.
Release date: 2001-12-03 Run time: 100 min. RRP: £15.99 Price: £2.99
Review Robbie Williams - Live At The Albert / EMI:For one night only the Robbie Williams showcase Live At The Albert is a fantastic testament to what was a very special evening. The concert offered tracks from his Rat Pack covers album Swing When You're Winning an album that finally gave him across the board appeal from nostalgic Grannies to hormonally imbalanced teenagers. With the average ticket price well into three figures and the likes of Tara Palmer-Tompkinson, Bob Geldof and Nicole Kidman in the stalls, this was no ordinary Robbie concert. Backed by a full swing band, accompanied by a slew of glamorous dancers, compered by Rupert Everett and featuring duets with John Lovitz, Jane Horrocks, the scene-stealing Jonathan Wilkes and even Old Blue Eyes himself Frank Sinatra (albeit in video form), Robbie takes centre stage and performs like never before. Classic track follows classic track-from "The Lady is a Tramp" (which Robbie dedicates to his last three girlfriends), to "Mr Bojangles" to "My Way", each and every one of them is instantly recognisable, even to most of the younger members of the audience. Directed by Hamish Hamilton (the man behind the spectacular U2 Elevation DVD) this is a great up close and personal view of an intimate gig. On the DVD: The disc is lovingly put together in glorious 5. 1 surround sound. The DVD also features the documentary "Well Swung" which follows Robbie all the way to Capitol Studios in Los Angeles, where he recorded some of the tracks for the album with members of Frank's original band. There is also a gallery of luscious shots of Robbie on location and at the Capitol Studios. [+]
At times it does tend towards the schmaltzy, with Robbie fighting back the tears when the video footage of Frank singing booms out across the Albert Hall, but this is scant criticism. All in all this is a fantastic performance from a legend in the making. -Helen Marquis.
Release date: 1999-05-04 Run time: 62 min. Price: £9.99
Review Toybox 5 Bumper Video / Toybox:
Release date: 2002-04-29 RRP: £9.99 Price: £3.00
Review X-Men - Vol. 1 / X-Men:
Actors & Directors
- Pascal Lamorisse
- André Gille
- Maurice Baquet
- Albert Lamorisse
- Jack Lemmon
Release date: 1995-01-16 Run time: 82 min. Creator: Pierre Gillette RRP: £10.99 Price: £29.99
Review Stowaway In The Sky [1962] / Universal Pictures UK:
Actors & Directors
- David Bowie
- The Rolling Stones
- Kenny Everett
- Cliff Richard
- David Essex
Run time: 104 min. Price: £9.99
Review Rosie & Jim-on Safari / Thames EVH26207:Quick-fire gags, outrageous characters, erotic dancers, stunning special effects and the best in rock music - that's the Kenny Everett Video Show. Kenny, Britains' leading disc jockey, hosts a show that seldom fails to surprise, often shocks but never, never slackens its pace. Great rock music from David Bowie, The Rolling Stones, Cliff Richard, David Essex, Roxy Music, Thin Lizzy, Kate Bush and many more.
| Browse Children's Videos:
Models & Brands: Thunderbirds - Great Disasters, Pingu 3 - Hide And Seek [1991], Shark Tale [2004], Baby Einstein - Neighbourhood Animals, Dream Street, Big Fat Liar [2002], The Wiz [1978], New Kids On The Block - The New Kid In The Class / Sheik Of My Dreams, Yogi Bear - Yogi Bear's All- Star Comedy Christmas Caper, Adventures Of Tintin - The Blue Lotus, Rosie And Jim - Washing, Mice Play On Button Moon, Robbie Williams - What We Did Last Summer - Robbie Williams Live At Knebworth [2003], Famous Five-Secret Trail, Mickey's House Of Villains, Robbie Williams - Live At The Albert, Toybox 5 Bumper Video, X-Men - Vol. 1, Stowaway In The Sky [1962], Rosie & Jim-on Safari |