New Releases

New DVD & Blu-Ray releases on 28/05/2012

• Grey's Anatomy - Season 7 | DVD | (28/05/2012) from £12.45  |  Saving you £18.54 (59.80%)  |  RRP £30.99

  Let the healing begin. Primetime television's most beloved doctors return for an unprecedented season of emotional twists and turns. Relive every mesmerizing moment with ABC's Grey's Anatomy: Season 7. It's a year of new beginnings for the medical team of Seattle Grace Hospital as they slowly recover from the tragedy that hit too close to home.New relationships emerge and the strongest commitments are tested in this moving 6-disc set. From successes in the operating room to mistakes in the bedroom - and all the thrilling drama in between - the doctors find a way to survive as long as they lean on one another. Relive every heartbeat and get even more - including the extended version of the moving Musical Event and music videos featuring the doctors like you have never seen them before - only on DVD.

• Up All Night - The Live Tour | DVD | (28/05/2012) from £7.37  |  Saving you £4.62 (38.50%)  |  RRP £11.99

• A Queen is Crowned | DVD | (28/05/2012) from £6.25  |  Saving you £3.74 (37.40%)  |  RRP £9.99

  The only full length Technicolor film of the Queen's coronation.

• The Artist | DVD | (28/05/2012) from £4.84  |  Saving you £20.01 (80.10%)  |  RRP £24.99

  The Artist is a love letter and homage to classic black-and-white silent films. The film is enormously likable and is anchored by a charming performance from Jean Dujardin, as silent movie star George Valentin. In late-1920s Hollywood, as Valentin wonders if the arrival of talking pictures will cause him to fade into oblivion, he makes an intense connection with Peppy Miller, a young dancer set for a big break. As one career declines, another flourishes, and by channeling elements of A Star Is Born and Singing in the Rain, The Artist tells the engaging story with humour, melodrama, romance, and--most importantly--silence. As wonderful as the performances by Dujardin and Bérénice Bejo (Miller) are, the real star of The Artist is cinematographer Guillaume Schiffman. Visually, the film is stunning. Crisp and beautifully contrasted, each frame is so wonderfully constructed that this sweet and unique little movie is transformed from entertaining fluff to a profound cinematic achievement. --Kira Canny

• Treme - Season 2 | DVD | (28/05/2012) from £13.52  |  Saving you £26.47 (66.20%)  |  RRP £39.99

  You won't find many television series whose defining event occurred before the first episode of the first season. Then again, there aren't many, if any, series like HBO's Treme. Created by writer-producers David Simon (of The Wire) and Eric Overmyer, this show has as its driving force, its raison d'être, Katrina, the hurricane that decimated New Orleans and the Gulf Coast in 2005. The debut season began a couple of months after the storm passed through, leaving misery and chaos in its wake; the first of 11 episodes in this, the second season, starts about a year after that. Most of the action still centers around NOLA, where the locals are continuing to pick up the pieces and get on with their lives in a city now plagued with violence and disorder. Some of those who left are returning, but some may be gone for good (several scenes throughout the season take place in New York City). Some are trying to rebuild their homes (which means the endless wait for federal funds continues); others, hewing to a mantra that "no disaster should go to waste," include venal businessmen looking to capitalize on the city's pain by rebuilding New Orleans "properly." And as one character puts it, "Everybody is out of their minds." As before, there are numerous characters and story lines to keep track of. Trombonist Antoine Batiste (Wendell Pierce) takes a job teaching music to schoolkids while also putting together a hot new band, the Soul Apostles. His former wife, bar owner LaDonna (Khandi Alexander), spends much of the season suffering from the effects of a brutal assault. Chef Janette Desautel (Kim Dickens) now lives and plies her trade in Manhattan, while her former boyfriend, DJ and aspiring rapper-music exec Davis McAlary (Steve Zahn), has taken up with up-and-coming fiddler Annie Tee (Lucia Micarelli). Activist lawyer Toni Bernette (Oscar winner Melissa Leo) tries to get to the bottom of a killing that may have involved police misconduct, while daughter Sofia (India Ennenga) struggles to adapt to life without her dad, who died in the previous season. Part of the show's appeal is the fact that these folks and the others whose story lines we follow are not superheroes or world-beaters; they're just people dealing with life's daily, if not exactly ordinary, vicissitudes. But as before, it's the music that remains the show's soul and constant heartbeat, whether it's provided by regulars like Antoine, Annie, and trumpeter Delmond Lambreaux (Rob Brown), who's trying to simultaneously update and honor the traditional New Orleans sound, or guest artists including John Hiatt and Shawn Colvin. You might tune in for the writing and acting (both excellent), but in the end, it's the sounds of Treme that will keep you coming back. --Sam Graham

• Chronicle (Blu-ray + Digital Copy) | Blu Ray | (28/05/2012) from £7.95  |  Saving you £17.04 (68.20%)  |  RRP £24.99

  If you should come upon a glowing, possibly extraterrestrial object buried in a hole, go ahead and touch the thing--you might just get superpowers. Or so it goes for the three high-school buds in Chronicle, an inventive excursion into the teenage sci-fi world. Once affected by the power, the guys exercise the joys of telekinesis: shuffling cars around in parking lots, moving objects in grocery stores, that kind of thing. Oh yeah--they can fly, too: and here director Josh Trank takes wing, in the movie's giddiest sequence, as the trio zips around the clouds in a glorious wish-fulfillment. It goes without saying that there will be a shadow side to this gift, and that's where Chronicle, for all its early cleverness, begins to stumble. Broody misfit Andrew (Dane DeHaan), destined to be voted Least Likely to Handle Superpowers Well by his graduating class, is documenting all this with his video camera, which is driving him even crazier (the movie's in "found footage" style, so everything we see is from a camcorder or security camera, an approach that gets trippy when Andrew realises he can levitate his camera without having to hold it). Trank and screenwriter Max Landis (son of John) seem to lose inspiration when the last act rolls around, so the movie settles for weightless battles around the Space Needle and a smattering of mass destruction. Still, let's give Chronicle credit for an offbeat angle, and a handful of memorable scenes. --Robert Horton

• Keeping Up With The Kardashians - Season 3 | DVD | (28/05/2012) from £5.82  |  Saving you £7.17 (55.20%)  |  RRP £12.99

• Iron Sky | DVD | (28/05/2012) from £3.48  |  Saving you £12.51 (78.20%)  |  RRP £15.99

  In the last moments of World War II, a secret Nazi space programme evaded destruction by the Allies and made a daring escape to the Moon. In the intervening 70 years they have re-colonised, re-armed with devastating new weapons and silently plotted their revenge.When an American astronaut stumbles upon their secret Moon lair, the Fhrer (Udo Kier, Blade) decides to unleash their alien armada upon the unprepared Earth, to be led by ruthless army leader Klaus Alder (Gotz Otto, Schindler's List, Downfall). Now every man, woman and child must unite to repel the UFO Nazi invasion and save humanity!

• The Artist | Blu Ray | (28/05/2012) from £5.29  |  Saving you £24.70 (82.40%)  |  RRP £29.99

  The Artist is a love letter and homage to classic black-and-white silent films. The film is enormously likable and is anchored by a charming performance from Jean Dujardin, as silent movie star George Valentin. In late-1920s Hollywood, as Valentin wonders if the arrival of talking pictures will cause him to fade into oblivion, he makes an intense connection with Peppy Miller, a young dancer set for a big break. As one career declines, another flourishes, and by channeling elements of A Star Is Born and Singing in the Rain, The Artist tells the engaging story with humour, melodrama, romance, and--most importantly--silence. As wonderful as the performances by Dujardin and Bérénice Bejo (Miller) are, the real star of The Artist is cinematographer Guillaume Schiffman. Visually, the film is stunning. Crisp and beautifully contrasted, each frame is so wonderfully constructed that this sweet and unique little movie is transformed from entertaining fluff to a profound cinematic achievement. --Kira Canny

• Journey 2: The Mysterious Island | DVD | (28/05/2012) from £5.00  |  Saving you £14.99 (75.00%)  |  RRP £19.99

  The new 3D family adventure “Journey 2: The Mysterious Island” begins when seventeen-year-old Sean Anderson (Josh Hutcherson) receives a coded distress signal from a mysterious island where no island should exist. Unable to stop him from tracking the signal to its source, Sean's new stepfather, Hank (Dwayne Johnson), joins the quest that will take them first to the South Pacific, and then to a place few people have ever seen. Or lived to tell about. It's a place of stunning beauty, strange and threatening life forms, volcanoes, mountains of gold and more than one astonishing secret. Together with Gabato (Luis Guzmn), the only helicopter pilot willing to risk the trip, and Gabato’s beautiful, strong-willed daughter Kailani (Vanessa Hudgens), they set out to find the island, rescue its lone human inhabitant and escape before seismic shockwaves force the island underwater and bury its treasures forever, in this follow-up to the 2008 worldwide hit “Journey to the Center of the Earth.”

• Like Crazy | DVD | (28/05/2012) from £5.08  |  Saving you £14.91 (74.60%)  |  RRP £19.99

  Like Crazy beautifully illustrates how your first real love is as thrilling and blissful as it is fragile. When a British college student (Felicity Jones, National Board of Review Best Actress) falls for her American classmate (Anton Yelchin, Star Trek), they embark on a passionate and life-changing journey - only to be separated by circumstances beyond their control. Crazily inventive and totally irresistible, Like Crazy explores how a couple faces the real challenges of being together and of being apart.

• House of Tolerance | DVD | (28/05/2012) from £5.00  |  Saving you £7.99 (61.50%)  |  RRP £12.99

  Selected for official competition at Cannes 2011 and nominated for 7 French Csars du Cinema, Bertrand Bonello's House of Tolerance is a highly stylized look at the final days of a turn-of-the-century brothel in Paris bathed in languid beauty and sexuality.In the Nineteenth Century much of the Parisian sex trade was confined to 'maisons closes', populated by elegant madams and a vetted clientele. The ladies were provocatively dressed and, upstairs, occupied numerous boudoirs ready for carnal pleasures. However, even in such a controlled environment, dangers still lurked: disease was rampant and sometimes a gentleman might lose his temper and harm one of the women...

• The Black Panther (DVD & Blu-ray) | Blu Ray | (28/05/2012) from £7.69  |  Saving you £12.30 (61.50%)  |  RRP £19.99

  Directed by Ian Merrick, this intelligent crime drama charts the infamous killing spree which Donald Neilson, aka The Black Panther, perpetrated across England during the mid-70s, culminating in the kidnapping and murder of a 17-year old girl. Told with uncommon accuracy and refraining from any measure of sensationalism, this fascinating and disturbing film fell foul of a media-driven campaign upon its original cinema release which resulted in an effective ban. Now newly mastered from original film elements preserved at the BFI National Archive, this impressive and powerful film is at long last made available for new audiences. The Dual Format Edition also includes Bob Bentley's intelligent 1981 short film, Recluse, which is based on reports of another real life crime, as an extra, as well as an extensive booklet with contextualising essays, full credits and original promotional materials. Extra features: Presented in both High Definition and Standard Definition Director approved transfer Alternative French language soundtrack, with optional English subtitles Recluse (1981, 30 mins): Bob Bentley’s arresting short film based on real events, starring Maurice Denham and edited by David Gladwell (editor of If…. and O Lucky Man!) Comprehensive booklet with newly commissioned essays and contributions from James Oliver, Ian Merrick and Michael Armstrong; original promotional artwork; full credits

• Chronicle | DVD | (28/05/2012) from £3.00  |  Saving you £16.99 (85.00%)  |  RRP £19.99

  If you should come upon a glowing, possibly extraterrestrial object buried in a hole, go ahead and touch the thing--you might just get superpowers. Or so it goes for the three high-school buds in Chronicle, an inventive excursion into the teenage sci-fi world. Once affected by the power, the guys exercise the joys of telekinesis: shuffling cars around in parking lots, moving objects in grocery stores, that kind of thing. Oh yeah--they can fly, too: and here director Josh Trank takes wing, in the movie's giddiest sequence, as the trio zips around the clouds in a glorious wish-fulfillment. It goes without saying that there will be a shadow side to this gift, and that's where Chronicle, for all its early cleverness, begins to stumble. Broody misfit Andrew (Dane DeHaan), destined to be voted Least Likely to Handle Superpowers Well by his graduating class, is documenting all this with his video camera, which is driving him even crazier (the movie's in "found footage" style, so everything we see is from a camcorder or security camera, an approach that gets trippy when Andrew realises he can levitate his camera without having to hold it). Trank and screenwriter Max Landis (son of John) seem to lose inspiration when the last act rolls around, so the movie settles for weightless battles around the Space Needle and a smattering of mass destruction. Still, let's give Chronicle credit for an offbeat angle, and a handful of memorable scenes. --Robert Horton

• The Queen's Diamond Jubilee - Celebration Boxset | DVD | (28/05/2012) from £8.29  |  Saving you £21.70 (72.40%)  |  RRP £29.99

• Martha Marcy May Marlene | Blu Ray | (28/05/2012) from £7.95  |  Saving you £17.04 (68.20%)  |  RRP £24.99

  Martha Marcy May Marlene creates a sense of uneasy suspense within seconds of coming on screen: a young woman, who will be known by all the title names at various times in the movie, is escaping from a rural commune of some sort. And not just a commune, but by the looks of it, a cult--an impression that will grow as Martha flashes back to her experiences once she reaches the safety of her sister's antiseptic country place. It is part of director Sean Durkin's design that we experience the film as Martha's point of view, which means there may be some question about whether she's an emotionally unstable person to begin with or simply in a legitimate terror about the traumatising events that have unfolded for her in recent months. Although the film has one storytelling contrivance (Martha withholds her experiences from her sister, when a little exposition would help matters tremendously), in general Durkin keeps a lid on this simmering situation, and he's got a good compositional eye that only occasionally tips over into preciousness. Sarah Paulson and Hugh Dancy play Martha's complacent but concerned sister and brother-in-law, and John Hawkes (Winter's Bone) is a spellbinder as the commune leader, a manipulator of subtle skill. (With some stories like this, you have a hard time believing cult followers could fall for these creepy charismatics; in this one, Hawkes demonstrates how such things might happen.) The movie's most unexpected and alluring touch is the performance by Elizabeth Olsen, as Martha; this younger sister of the child-star Olsen twins brings a zonked-out centre of gravity to the part. She's got just a bit of blankness, too, which enhances the movie's well-wrought guessing game. --Robert Horton

• Martha Marcy May Marlene | DVD | (28/05/2012) from £6.95  |  Saving you £13.04 (65.20%)  |  RRP £19.99

  Martha Marcy May Marlene creates a sense of uneasy suspense within seconds of coming on screen: a young woman, who will be known by all the title names at various times in the movie, is escaping from a rural commune of some sort. And not just a commune, but by the looks of it, a cult--an impression that will grow as Martha flashes back to her experiences once she reaches the safety of her sister's antiseptic country place. It is part of director Sean Durkin's design that we experience the film as Martha's point of view, which means there may be some question about whether she's an emotionally unstable person to begin with or simply in a legitimate terror about the traumatising events that have unfolded for her in recent months. Although the film has one storytelling contrivance (Martha withholds her experiences from her sister, when a little exposition would help matters tremendously), in general Durkin keeps a lid on this simmering situation, and he's got a good compositional eye that only occasionally tips over into preciousness. Sarah Paulson and Hugh Dancy play Martha's complacent but concerned sister and brother-in-law, and John Hawkes (Winter's Bone) is a spellbinder as the commune leader, a manipulator of subtle skill. (With some stories like this, you have a hard time believing cult followers could fall for these creepy charismatics; in this one, Hawkes demonstrates how such things might happen.) The movie's most unexpected and alluring touch is the performance by Elizabeth Olsen, as Martha; this younger sister of the child-star Olsen twins brings a zonked-out centre of gravity to the part. She's got just a bit of blankness, too, which enhances the movie's well-wrought guessing game. --Robert Horton

• Spider-Man - The Animated Series | DVD | (28/05/2012) from £4.99  |  Saving you £11.00 (68.80%)  |  RRP £15.99

  When a nasty bite by an irradiated spider endows teenager Peter Parker with miraculous arachnid-like powers his death defying heroism wins him admiration from those in need. But being a superhero has its drawbacks...especially when you're in college! This double disc set contains the entire first season of the new animated series complete with all 13 episodes.

• Iron Sky (Blu-ray + Digital Copy) | Blu Ray | (28/05/2012) from £8.59  |  Saving you £11.40 (57.00%)  |  RRP £19.99

  In the last moments of World War II, a secret Nazi space programme evaded destruction by the Allies and made a daring escape to the Moon. In the intervening 70 years they have re-colonised, re-armed with devastating new weapons and silently plotted their revenge.When an American astronaut stumbles upon their secret Moon lair, the Fhrer (Udo Kier, Blade) decides to unleash their alien armada upon the unprepared Earth, to be led by ruthless army leader Klaus Alder (Gotz Otto, Schindler's List, Downfall). Now every man, woman and child must unite to repel the UFO Nazi invasion and save humanity!

• Grandma's House - Series 2 | DVD | (28/05/2012) from £6.50  |  Saving you £13.49 (67.50%)  |  RRP £19.99

  Grandpa is dead. Simon is living with Grandma. Having lost his presenting career and London flat Simon (Simon Amstell) is now set to act in an exciting low key BBC comedy. After the death of her husband, Grandma (Linda Bassett) is keen to suggest that everything is definitely fine, meanwhile Simon's mum, Tanya (BAFTA award winning Rebecca Front) and her sister Liz (Olivier award winning Samantha Spiro) haven't spoken since the funeral.We also see the return of recovering alcoholic Clive (James Smith), willing to do whatever it takes to win back Tanya. And Liz's son, Adam (Jamal Hadjkura) who is still odd. Simon Amstell and Dan Swimer's critically acclaimed BBC2 comedy brings their painfully honest writing together with one of the finest casts on television, including winner of the Best Female Newcomer at The British Comedy Awards, Samantha Spiro as Liz