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Review 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment / Nine Months [1995]
Actors & Directors
  • Hugh Grant
  • Chris Columbus
  • Julianne Moore
  • Joan Cusack
  • Jeff Goldblum
  • Tom Arnold
Release date: 1999-01-18
Run time: 99 min.
RRP: £5.99
Price: £0.75

Review Nine Months [1995] / 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment:

This film represents Hugh Grant's first big bid at Hollywood stardom, on the heels of the success of Four Weddings and a Funeral. But he stumbled twice: first with this mundane comedy and then by being arrested after soliciting a prostitute near downtown Hollywood, the week before the film opened. Directed by Chris Columbus (Mrs. Doubtfire), Nine Months was a weak reworking of a French film about an ageing bachelor (Grant) who can't decide whether to commit to the woman he loves (Julianne Moore). When she becomes pregnant, he still can't make up his mind and winds up blowing hot and cold on the subject of fatherhood, which causes tension in the relationship. There's a lot of low comedy involving Grant's best friend; Tom Arnold plays this ultra-married and child-ridden suburbanite, who makes fatherhood look like a living hell. Robin Williams has a funny cameo as a foreign doctor but in the end, the sentiment is ladled on and Grant doesn't have nearly enough funny material to work with. -Marshall Fine.

Review 2 Entertain Video / The Office Series 2 [2001]
Actors & Directors
  • Ricky Gervais
  • Stephen Merchant
Release date: 2003-10-27
Run time: 180 min.
RRP: £14.99
Price: £0.75

Review The Office Series 2 [2001] / 2 Entertain Video:

The second series of the award-winning BBC2 mockudrama The Office exceeded even the sky-high standards of the first. Indeed, it ventured beyond caricature and satire, touching on the very edge of darkness. Ricky Gervais was once again excruciatingly superb as David Brent, a subtly shaded modern English comic grotesque in the desperate and self-deluding tradition of Alan Partridge and Basil Fawlty. In this series, however, Brent's to-camera assertions concerning his man-management qualities and executive capabilities are seriously challenged when the Slough and Swindon branches are merged and his former Swindon equivalent Neil takes over as area manager. To compensate Brent cultivates his pathologically mistaken image of himself as an entertainer/motivator/comedian whose stage happens to be the workplace. This culminates in a comically disastrous motivational session ending with a sing-along of Tina Turner's "Simply the Best", which is greeted, typically, with stunned, appalled silence. Meanwhile, Tim, who can only maintain his sanity by teasing the priggish, puddingbowl-haired Gareth, continues to wrestle with his yearning for receptionist Dawn, a sympathetic character persisting with a relationship with a yobbish bloke about whom she still maintains unspoken reservations. As ever, it's the awkward, reality TV-style pauses and silences, the furtive, meaningful and unmet glances across the emotional gulf of the open-plan office, that say it all here. As for Brent, his own breakdown is prefaced by a moment of hideous hilarity-an impromptu office dance, a mixture of "Flashdance and MC Hammer" as Brent describes it, but in reality bad beyond description. Then, when his fate is sealed, he at last reveals himself as a humiliated and broken man in a memorable finale to perhaps the greatest British sitcom, besides Fawlty Towers, ever made. [+]
All this and Keith too. -David Stubbs On the DVD: The Office, Series 2 is a single-disc release unlike the more generous Series 1. Extra features are enjoyable nonetheless. Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant feature in a gleefully shambolic video diary-highlights of which include Gervais flicking elastic bands at his cowriter and taping their editor to his swivel chair. The ubiquitous Gervais also mockingly introduces some outtakes (mostly of him corpsing throughout dozens of takes) and a series of deleted scenes, notably of Gareth arriving in his horrendous cycle shorts. -Mark Walker.

Review 2 Entertain Video / Have I Got News For You - Vol. 1 [1993] [1990]
Actors & Directors
  • Angus Deayton|Ian Hislop|Paul Merton
Release date: 1993-09-27
Run time: 75 min.
Price: £12.99

Review Have I Got News For You - Vol. 1 [1993] [1990] / 2 Entertain Video:


Actors & Directors
  • Tom Poole
  • Steve Punt
  • Hugh Dennis
Release date: 1996-07-15
Run time: 103 min.
Price: £5.99

Review Punt And Dennis - The Milky Milky Tour - Live [1992] / 4 Front Video:


Review 4 Front Video / 1941 [1979]
Actors & Directors
  • Ned Beatty
  • Bobby Di Cicco
  • Steven Spielberg
  • Lorraine Gary
  • Dan Aykroyd
  • John Belushi
Release date: 2002-05-06
Run time: 114 min.
Price: £5.99

Review 1941 [1979] / 4 Front Video:


Review 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment / Baby's Day Out [1994]
Actors & Directors
  • Cynthia Nixon
  • Lara Flynn Boyle
  • Joe Pantoliano
  • Joe Mantegna
  • Brian Haley
  • Patrick Read Johnson
Release date: 1995-08-07
Run time: 94 min.
RRP: £5.99
Price: £9.50

Review Baby's Day Out [1994] / 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment:

Only a mother could love John Hughes' comedy Baby's Day Out. For anyone else, the nappy soon starts to stink. Baby Bink is kidnapped by three inept crooks, but the child escapes from their hideaway, leading to a chase through the city. Bink's journey follows the story line of his favourite bedtime book, Baby's Day Out: he goes to a zoo, a construction site, and a retirement home. Hughes, though, is following his accountant's favourite bedtime tale, "Let's rewrite Home Alone again", but with very little of the humour or impact of that smash. A number of scenes revolve around the crushing or incineration of Joe Mantegna's groin, not exactly average family fare. By way of small compensation there are some moments of levity with the crooks and a gorilla. -Keith Simanton, Amazon. com.

Actors & Directors
  • John Williams (XI)
  • Alan Bennett
  • Roger Graef
  • Clive James
  • Kenny Baker
  • Tom Robinson
Release date: 2002-03-18
Price: £12.99

Review The Secret Policeman's Ball - The Middle Years / Ilc Entertainment:


Review Cinema Club / New York Stories [1989]
Actors & Directors
  • Julie Kavner
  • Talia Shire
  • Mia Farrow
  • Nick Nolte
  • Francis Ford Coppola
  • Martin Scorsese
  • Giancarlo Giannini
  • Woody Allen
Release date: 2000-06-05
Run time: 119 min.
Price: £5.99

Review New York Stories [1989] / Cinema Club:

New York Stories comprises three views of life in the city of all cities, with segments directed by Woody Allen, Francis Coppola, and Martin Scorsese. The best of the three is Scorsese's "Life Lessons", about an artist (played by Nick Nolte) who uses his hyper-success to lure beautiful, young, aspiring artists to serve as his assistant/lovers. It's an astute portrait of the nature of the New York art world. In "Life Without Zoe", Coppola portrays the life of the privileged daughter of a world-renowned flautist, whose adventures on the Upper East Side (in the upper echelons of society) play like something approaching a cartoon. Woody Allen finishes up the film with his "Oedipus Wrecks", a typical Allen number about a successful New York lawyer who's still hounded by his mother-the title tells you all you need to know. Though stronger segments to complement Scorsese's would have made the movie as a whole much more interesting and enjoyable, it does at least provide an accurate glimpse of life in the Big Apple. -James McGrath, Amazon. com.

Review 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment / The Simpsons - Treehouse Of Horror
Actors & Directors
  • The Simpsons
Release date: 2002-10-28
Run time: 88 min.
RRP: £14.99
Price: £38.00

Review The Simpsons - Treehouse Of Horror / 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment:


Review Mosaic Movies / A Smile Like Yours
Actors & Directors
  • Joan Cusack
  • Lauren Holly
  • Jay Thomas
  • Keith Samples
  • Jill Hennessy
  • Greg Kinnear
Release date: 2003-03-24
Run time: 94 min.
RRP: £5.99
Price: £39.97

Review A Smile Like Yours / Mosaic Movies:


Actors & Directors
  • Virginia Mayo
  • Myrna Loy
  • Dana Andrews
  • William Wyler
  • Teresa Wright
  • Fredric March
Release date: 1996-12-30
Run time: 163 min.
RRP: £4.99
Price: £6.99

Review The Best Years Of Our Lives [1946] / 2 Entertain Video:


Actors & Directors
  • Jenny Eclair
Release date: 1995-11-13
Run time: 63 min.
Price: £12.99

Review Jenny Eclair - Top Bitch - Live At Her Majesty's Theatre [1995] / Pearson New Entertainment:


Actors & Directors
  • Michael Jayston
  • Chris Lang
  • Rosemary Martin
  • Nick Hurran
  • George Savvides
  • Roy Holder
Release date: 1996-02-19
Run time: 172 min.
Price: £10.99

Review Outside Edge - The Complete Series Two [1995] / Carlton Visual Entertainment Ltd:


Review Castle Home Video / Freddie Starr - Live [1993]
Actors & Directors
  • Freddie Starr
  • Rob Bromley (II)
  • John Mayes
Release date: 1999-09-27
Run time: 82 min.
RRP: £2.99
Price: £2.32

Review Freddie Starr - Live [1993] / Castle Home Video:


Review 2 Entertain Video / The League Of Gentlemen - Christmas Special [1999]
Actors & Directors
  • Corrie Greenop
Release date: 2002-11-25
RRP: £12.99
Price: £0.75

Review The League Of Gentlemen - Christmas Special [1999] / 2 Entertain Video:

A Gothic-comedy masterpiece, The League of Gentlemen Christmas Special is a horrific anthology of three related stories, all set in Royston Vasey, which takes its inspiration as much from the writings of MR James and Edgar Allan Poe as the low-budget Hammer and Amicus shockers that the team parody so affectionately. The stories are all linked by the Dickensian device of Reverend Bernice receiving unexpected guests on Christmas Eve: the first concerns troubled married couple Charlie and Stella becoming unwittingly involved in voodoo and witchcraft; the second features the horrendous Herr Lipp in a Nosferatu skit that reveals the terrible truth about what really goes on in Duisburg; while the third, and best, tells of the horrible hereditary curse that afflicted Dr Chinnery's great-grandfather. This one-off special distils all the League's penchant for disturbing, twisted characterisation and macabre humour into a single hour; the result is one of the most daring "comedies" ever seen on British TV. On the DVD: The League of Gentlemen Christmas Special on disc contains the hour-long main feature accompanied by a diverse and entertaining array of extras. There's another illuminating group commentary; a 20-minute documentary "Tales from Behind the Crypt", in which we get to see excerpts from the team's first ensemble effort, "Highgate House of Horror"; a chat with composer Jody Talbot; and the League themselves "In Conversation" with Paul Jackson in the complete Radio 4 broadcast. A selection of out-takes, extended scenes, character biographies and a photo gallery are all worthwhile, but best of all is a Jackanory special with Mark Gatiss as the Victorian Dr Chinnery telling the Gothic tale of "The Curse of the Karrit Poor", a spot-on Arthur Conan Doyle spoof. -Mark Walker.

Review Walt Disney Home Video / Honey, I Blew Up The Kid [1993]
Actors & Directors
  • Rick Moranis
  • Randal Kleiser
  • Joshua Shalikar
  • Marcia Strassman
  • Robert Oliveri
  • Daniel Shalikar
Release date: 1994-04-18
Run time: 85 min.
RRP: £10.99
Price: £7.57

Review Honey, I Blew Up The Kid [1993] / Walt Disney Home Video:


Review 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment / Super Troopers [2002]
Actors & Directors
  • Jay Chandrasekhar
  • Jay Chandrasekhar
  • Steve Lemme
  • Kevin Heffernan
  • Brian Cox
  • Paul Soter
Release date: 2003-04-21
Run time: 96 min.
RRP: £5.99
Price: £4.48

Review Super Troopers [2002] / 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment:

Super Troopers is a dumb-and-dumber cop comedy starring the members of comedy quintet Broken Lizard, which will no doubt be unfamiliar to the majority of audiences this side of the Atlantic. Although don't let that put you off what is a no-brainer, but often very funny cop caper. The bungling patrolmen are of course hopelessly inept at solving real police work and instead spend more time battling with their nasty rivals in another police force. But when budget cuts loom, the boys have to become real cops for once to prove their worth, not just to their frustrated and long suffering boss but to each other. The gags come thick and fast and the sheer enthusiasm and timing of the cast ensure that, although very old fashioned in its comedic sensibilities, it remains a consistently entertaining and stupid in equal measure. Watch out also for a small cameo by formers 70's super heroine Lynda Wonder Woman Carter as the mayor. On the DVD: Super Troopers is packed with extras that belie its limited run and modest success at the box office. There are two commentaries by cast and director, 17 outtakes with optional commentary that are as good as anything that made the final cut and a trailer. The Dolby 5. 1 mix is sharp and often loud, and the picture quality on the whole very good. [+]
-Jon Weir.

Review Warner Home Video / Friends - Series 1 - Episodes 21-24 [1995]
Actors & Directors
  • Robby Benson
  • Lisa Kudrow
  • Gail Mancuso
  • Kevin Bright
  • Matt Le Blanc
  • Courteney Cox
  • James Burrows
  • Matthew Perry
  • Jennifer Aniston
Release date: 2003-10-27
Run time: 86 min.
RRP: £14.99
Price: £0.43

Review Friends - Series 1 - Episodes 21-24 [1995] / Warner Home Video:

Season 1: When the first series of Friends debuted in September 1994, it was immediately obvious there would be no need for the show to find its feet. "The One Where Monica Gets a Roommate" was a confident introduction to the six lead characters, opening in the middle of an everyday conversation with the soon-to-be uncharacteristic line: "There's nothing to tell". In fact, the soap opera-style plot got complicated pretty quickly, with spoiled brat Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) moving on from her failed wedding to feelings toward nerdy/heartthrob Ross (David Schwimmer). However, no love life was more complicated than Joey's (Matt LeBlanc), with an endless stream of girlfriends that annoyed the hell out of wisecracking roommate Chandler (Matthew Perry), who only seemed to be able to connect with Janice (Maggie Wheeler), the shrillest voice in the city. Bouncing all manner of neuroses around them were Ross' obsessive sister Monica (Courteney Cox) and endearingly ditzy Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow). Premise established, Series 1 matured the characters by providing a monkey and a son for Ross. We met also meet Ross and Monica's parents Jack (Elliott Gould) and Judy (Christina Pickles), Chandler's mother (Morgan Fairchild) and Phoebe's twin sister Ursula (Kudrow, naturally). Fans loved cameos from George Clooney, Jay Leno and show creators Kevin Bright, Marta Kauffman and David Crane. But really the focus was on building to "T. O. [+]
W. Rachel Finds Out" that Ross is in love with her. -Paul Tonks.

Review Warner Home Video / Till Death Us Do Part [1969]
Actors & Directors
  • Anthony Booth
  • Una Stubbs
  • Dandy Nichols
  • Liam Redmond
  • Norman Cohen
  • Warren Mitchell
Release date: 1997-08-18
Run time: 96 min.
RRP: £5.99
Price: £5.55

Review Till Death Us Do Part [1969] / Warner Home Video:


Review Contender Entertainment Group / One Wedding And Lots Of Funerals [1994]
Actors & Directors
  • Sandy Baron
  • Adam Biesk
  • Warwick Davis
  • Shevonne Durkin
  • Charlie Heath
  • Rodman Flender
Release date: 1996-10-14
Run time: 81 min.
Price: £10.99

Review One Wedding And Lots Of Funerals [1994] / Contender Entertainment Group:


Models & Brands:
Nine Months [1995], The Office Series 2 [2001], Have I Got News For You - Vol. 1 [1993] [1990], Punt And Dennis - The Milky Milky Tour - Live [1992], 1941 [1979], Baby's Day Out [1994], The Secret Policeman's Ball - The Middle Years, New York Stories [1989], The Simpsons - Treehouse Of Horror, A Smile Like Yours, The Best Years Of Our Lives [1946], Jenny Eclair - Top Bitch - Live At Her Majesty's Theatre [1995], Outside Edge - The Complete Series Two [1995], Freddie Starr - Live [1993], The League Of Gentlemen - Christmas Special [1999], Honey, I Blew Up The Kid [1993], Super Troopers [2002], Friends - Series 1 - Episodes 21-24 [1995], Till Death Us Do Part [1969], One Wedding And Lots Of Funerals [1994]

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