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 Before I get into the main business of this
week's column, which is to spread the word about Blockbuster's
awesome new DVDs To Buy
section
offering ex-rental dvds for a pittance and free postage, I wanted to
first go way off subject and ask you a question: If you could only
watch the work of five actors for the rest of your life, who's
movies would you choose? As someone who enjoys talking about film
for hours on end to anyone who'll listen, this is the topic of my
dreams. Something that's going to keep me rattling on until at least
the end of the year.
Finding the perfect balance between
quality and quantity is essential. After all, these are the only
movies you'll be allowed to watch for the rest of your life (in that
desert island alternate reality we like to speculate about). Christopher
Lee has made more films than anyone else, well beyond 200, and
they'd keep you busy for a while. But are enough of them good enough
to hold your interest forever? They're not all Lord
of the Rings, you know. Maybe you'll decide instead to pick your
favourite actors, but then the question becomes, will you get enough
variety? In the case of someone like John
Wayne, you're looking at dozens of westerns and war movies but
not much else. Maybe the answer lies in picking character actors
like William
H Macy. Someone
who has played small but important parts in many more films than a
leading man could manage. And the chances are you're going to get a
bit of everything, from action to art house, so you have something
to suit every mood.
So here's the thing. I want to hear from
you about the five actors you'd pick to entertain yourself forever,
with a few words on why, if you're inclined to explain. I'm going to
give it some more thought as well, and make the results the subject
of a future column. We'll call it Desert Island Actors. Or maybe you
have a better name? Maybe there's something else entirely that you'd
rather talk about, or encourage me to write about. Whatever the
topic, whatever your reasons, it would be great to hear from you. 
Back
to Blockbuster then, with a few words on the site's latest and
(because it rhymes with latest) greatest feature yet: a new DVDs To
Buy section, offering ex-rental favourites for rock bottom prices.
Great disks with all the original packaging, and free post to boot.
Pick and choose your way through hundreds of different movies and
build up your own collection for as little as £4.50 a title. I gotta
tell ya, I didn't build up a personal dvd haul of more than 700
titles by paying full price. Buy your favourites, rent the rest.
Simple words maybe, but words I try to live by. Besides, obviously,
blag as much as you can for free.
Let's talk titles, then. I defy anyone to tell
me that £4.50 for Pirates
of the Caribbean is not an amazing deal. Likewise Kill
Bill Volume 2, X-Men
2 and Battle
Royale, a mind-blowing Japanese effort about students forced to
kill one another on a remote, deserted island. Best thing for them
if you ask me. Do them good to learn a little discipline. Before
they die, anyway. £4.50 will also get you the best Tom
Cruise movie ever made, The
Last Samurai, Vin
Diesel's cruelly underrated Bond wannabe XXX,
and the stunning second installment of Peter
Jackson's Lord
of the Rings trilogy, The
Two Towers, my favourite of the three.
For £6.50, which
barely buys a burger, fries and cola combo in your nearest fast food
grease shack, you can own The
Return of the King, which seems more than reasonable. You could
have Shrek
2 to watch with your kids a thousand times. Or 50
First Dates, when you fancy a laugh and a bit of a cuddle. £6.50
will also get you the creepy remake of Dawn
of the Dead, the best Harry
Potter movie to date - Harry
Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Spider-Man
2, one of the best six superhero movies ever made. The other
five being Superman:
The Movie, Blade
2, X-Men
2, Mystery
Men and The
Incredibles.
 Finally
for £8.50, which is still a lot less than a round of drinks, you
could own Steven
Spielberg's magical The
Terminal. Certainly it's a film that I've enjoyed more than
once. And then there's Bubba
Ho Tep, starring the wonderful Bruce
Campbell as an elderly Elvis battling a monstrous Mummy. Come to
think of it, Campbell may be one of my desert island actors. I'm not
going to commit to anyone just yet, though. My final pick of the
sales has to be The
Punisher, a
mad and violent film that may have passed you by on the big screen.
I urge you to give it a go at home though. There's a long, brutal
and bloody fight scene that's particular fun, between The Punisher
(Tom Jane) and a beefy Russian assassin. Whether or not The Punisher
is your particular cup of tea, though, there's bound to be
something, if not dozens of something's, that'll catch your eye at
Blockbuster Online.
Just don't forget your homework
assignments. I'm waiting to hear from you.
Marshall
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