"Actor: Frances McDormand"

• The Coen Brothers Collection | DVD | (29/08/2011) from £39.95   |  Saving you £-29.02 (N/A%)   |  RRP £10.93

  Academy Award Winners Joel and Ethan Coen have been writing directing editing and producing some of the most original films to come out of Hollywood. This box set contains six of their most unique and imaginative classics including their most recent hit A Serious Man. Titles Comprise: A Serious Man: Larry Nidus is a good man. He is a loving husband a committed father and a dedicated professor who always does the fair and just thing in the face of daily temptations. But one day everything starts to go wrong. His wife leaves him for reasons she can't explain and her smug new lover manages to convince Larry that he should be the one to move out of the house and into a cheap motel - all for the children's benefit of course. Burn After Reading: An outrageous spy comedy about murder blackmail sex addiction and physical fitness! When a disc filled with some of the CIA's most irrelevant secrets gets in the hands of two determined but dim-witted gym employees the duo are intent on exploiting their find. But since blackmail is a trade better left for the experts events soon spiral out of everyone's and anyone's control resulting in a non-stop series of hilarious encounters! The Big Lebowski: It takes guys as simple as the Dude and Walter to make a story this complicated... and they'd really rather be bowling. 'The Dude' Jeff Lebowski (Jeff Bridges) is unemployed and laid-back. That is until he becomes a victim of mistaken identity two thugs breaking into his apartment in the errant belief that they are accosting Jeff Lebowski the Pasadena millionaire. In hope of getting a replacement for his soiled carpet 'the Dude' visits his wealthy namesake and with buddy ex `Nam' vet. Walter Sobchak he is swept into a labyrinthine comedy/thriller of extortion embezzlement sex dope German Nihilists White Russians mysterious cowboys Shomer Shabbos bowling and sever The Hudsucker Proxy: Hudsucker Industries is flourishing. Profits are stupendous and stock is at an all-time high. So when their founder Waring Hudsucker leaps to his death from the 44th floor his board of directors is thrown into panic. Hudsucker has not left a will and his majority shareholding in the company must therefore soon be offered for sale to the public. But scheming Vice President Sidney J. Mussburger has a plan. He'll install a complete imbecile as Chairman and devalue the stock to a level where the rest of the board can acquire controlling interests for themselves. Barton Fink: Between Heaven and Hell There's Always Hollywood! John Turturro shines in the lead role in Barton Fink the Coen Brothers' hilarious satire set in the 1940s Hollywood. Fink is a New York playwright who reluctantly relocates to Hollywood to write screenplays. Ordered to write a low budget screenplay about wrestling Fink manages to type one sentence and then...nothing! Although his chatty insurance salesman neighbour Charlie helps out by teaching Fink about wrestling the clock ticks the temperature rises and Fink's life spins more and more out of control. Intolerable Cruelty: From the Coen brothers comes this witty sharp comedy about a man who wins in court and courts to win! Divorce attorney Miles Massey has got it all. Serial gold-digger Marilyn Rexroth wants it all. A hilarious battle of deceit and cunning ensues when Miles falls for Marilyn with each one trying to outsmart the other. Underhand tactics deceptions and an undeniable attraction escalate as Marilyn and Miles square off in this classic battle of the sexes...

• Wonder Boys | DVD | (03/09/2001) from £6.15   |  Saving you £3.84 (62.44%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Michael Douglas stars as a feckless middle aged literary professor struggling to live up to his own successful past and sort out his chaotic present in this ensemble comedy that also stars Tobey Maguire, Frances McDormand and Robert Downey Jr.

• Primal Fear | DVD | (02/07/2001) from £5.99   |  Saving you £7.00 (116.86%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Clever twists and a bona fide surprise ending make Primal Fear an above-average courtroom thriller. Tapping into the post-O J scrutiny of the American legal system in the case of a hotshot Chicago defence attorney (Richard Gere) whose latest client is an altar boy (Edward Norton) accused of murdering a Catholic archbishop. The film uses its own manipulation to tell a story about manipulation and when we finally discover who's been pulling the strings, the payoff is both convincing and pertinent to the ongoing debate over what constitutes truth in the American system of justice. Making an impressive screen debut that has since led to a stellar career, Norton gives a performance that rides on a razor's edge of schizophrenic pathology--his role is an actor's showcase and without crossing over the line of credibility, Norton milks it for all it's worth. Gere is equally effective in a role that capitalises on his shifty screen persona and Laura Linney and Frances McDormand give memorable performances in their intelligently written supporting roles. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com

• Mississippi Burning | DVD | (17/09/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Gene Hackman and Willem Dafoe star in Mississippi Burning, a well-intentioned and largely successful civil-rights-era thriller. Using the real-life 1964 disappearance of three civil rights workers as its inspiration, the film tells the story of two FBI men (Hackman and Dafoe, entertainingly called "Hoover Boys" by the locals) who come in to try to solve the crime. Hackman is a former small-town Mississippi sheriff himself, while Dafoe is a by-the-numbers young hotshot. (Yes, there is some tension between the two.) The movie has an interesting fatalism, as all the FBI's best efforts simply incite more and more violence--the film's message, perhaps inadvertently, seems to be that vigilantism is the only real way to get things done. The brilliant Frances McDormand, here early in her career, is not given enough to do but still does it well enough to have racked up an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. (Hackman also received a nomination for Best Actor, and the film won an Academy Award for Cinematography). Mississippi Burning is ultimately unsatisfying--it is, after all, the story of white men coming in to rescue poor blacks--but it is beautifully shot and very watchable, featuring a terrific cast playing at the top of their games. --Ali Davis, Amazon.com

• Burn After Reading | DVD | (09/02/2009) from £7.13   |  Saving you £14.12 (240.55%)   |  RRP £19.99

  An all-star cast, including George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton and John Malkovich, come together in this outrageous spy comedy about murder, blackmail, sex addiction and physical fitness!

• Laurel Canyon | DVD | (26/04/2004) from £5.66   |  Saving you £14.33 (253.18%)   |  RRP £19.99

  When an uptight young man and his fiancee move into the house of his wild music producer of a mother, the resulting clash shakes everyone up.

• Richard Gere - An Officer And A Gentleman / Internal Affairs / Primal Fear | DVD | (10/10/2005) from £18.15   |  Saving you £1.84 (10.14%)   |  RRP £19.99

  An Officer And A Gentleman (Dir. Taylor Hackford 1981): Zack Mayo is a young loner with a bad attitude. Tempted by the glamour and admiration of the life of a Navy pilot he decides to sign up for Officer Candidate School. After thirteen tortuous weeks under Gunnery Sergeant Emil Foley (Gossett Jnr.) he slowly begins to learn the importance of discipline love and friendship. Foley warns Zack about the local girls who will do anything to catch themselves a pilot for a husband

• Matilda/ Madeline Double Pack | DVD | (24/10/2011) from £12.99   |  Saving you £-3.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Titles Comprise:Matilda: Unfortunately for Matilda, her father Harry (Danny DeVito) is a used car salesman who bamboozles innocent customers and her mother Zinnia (Rhea Perlman) lives for bingo and soap operas. Far from noticing what a special child Matilda is, they barely notice her at all! They bundle Matilda off to Cruncham Hall, a bleak school where students cower before the whip hand and fist of a hulking monster, headmistress Miss Trunchball (Pam Ferris). But amid Crunchem's darkness, Matilda discovers remarkable skills - including a very special talent that allows her to turn the table on the wicked grown ups in her world!Madeline: Madeline and her eleven friends live at school run by Miss Clavel (Frances McDormand) in an old house in Paris. The smallest of the girls, Madeline, is also the most adventurous! She loses her appendix but gains an awesome scare, falls into the River Seine only to be rescued by a dog called Genevieve, and matches wits with Pepito, the devilish son of a Spanish Ambassador who moves in next door. However, when stuffy Lord Covington puts the future of the school in jeopardy, it's up to Madeline and her friends to save the day!

• MOONRISE KINGDOM (2012) (CRITERION COLLECTION) | Blu Ray | (18/11/2019) from £26.98   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Set on an island off the coast of New England in the 1960s, as a young boy and girl fall in love they are moved to run away together. Various factions of the town mobilize to search for them and the town is turned upside down.

• Blood Simple | Blu Ray | (30/10/2017) from £7.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  The debut film of director Joel Coen and his brother-producer Ethan Coen, 1983's Blood Simple is grisly comic noir that marries the feverish toughness of pulp thrillers with the ghoulishness of even pulpier horror. (Imagine the novels of Jim Thompson somehow fused with the comic tabloid Weird Tales and you get the idea.) The story concerns a Texas bar owner (Dan Hedaya) who hires a seedy private detective (M Emmett Walsh) to follow his cheating wife (Frances McDormand in her first film appearance) and then kill her and her lover (John Getz). The gumshoe turns the tables on his client and suddenly a bad situation gets much, much worse, with some violent goings-on that are as elemental as they are shocking. (A scene in which a character who has been buried alive suddenly emerges from his own grave instantly becomes an archetypal nightmare.) Shot by Barry Sonnenfeld before he became an A-list director in Hollywood, Blood Simple established the hyperreal look and feel of the Coens' productions (undoubtedly inspired a bit by filmmaker Sam Raimi, whose The Evil Dead had just been coedited by Joel). Sections of the film have proved to be an endurance test for art-house movie fans, particularly an extended climax that involves one shock after another but ends with a laugh at the absurdity of criminal ambition. This is definitely one of the triumphs of the 1980s and the American independent film scene in general. --Tom Keogh, Amazon.com

• Olive Kitteridge | DVD | (09/02/2015) from £11.98   |  Saving you £14.27 (133.12%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Based on Elizabeth Strout's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name Olive Kitteridge tells the poignantly sweet acerbically funny and devastatingly tragic story of a seemingly placid New England town wrought with illicit affairs crime and tragedy told through the lens of Olive (Frances McDormand) whose wicked wit and harsh demeanor mask a warm but troubled heart and staunch moral center. The story which spans 25 years focuses on Olive a middle-school math teacher and her relationships with her husband Henry (Richard Jenkins) the good-hearted town pharmacist and their son Christopher (John Gallagher Jr) who chafes at his mother's parenting style and other denizens of their community. Episodes: Pharmacy Incoming Tide A Different Road Security

• Aeon Flux 4K UHD Steelbook | Blu Ray | (20/10/2025) from £29.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  The gripping, action-packed thriller based on the groundbreaking MTV animated series comes to 4K Ultra HD for its 20th Anniversary in this limited edition SteelBook®. Charlize Theron stars as the titular underground operative, fighting against totalitarian rule in 25th-century Earth's last living city. She's the best hope of overthrowing the oppressively sterile, perfect society. But while on assignment to gun down the government's leader, she uncovers a web of startling secrets that could completely change the world. Co-starring Jonny Lee Miller, Sophie Okonedo and Frances McDormand, ÆON FLUX was brought to the big screen by acclaimed director Karyn Kusama (JENNIFER'S BODY, YELLOWJACKETS).Blu-ray Special Features:Commentary by Charlize Theron and Producer Gale Anne HurdCommentary by Co-Screenwriters Phil Hay and Matt ManfrediCreating a World: Aeon FluxThe Locations of Aeon FluxThe Stunts of Aeon FluxThe Costume Design Workshop of Aeon FluxThe Craft of the Set Photographer on Aeon Flux

• Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day | DVD | (09/03/2009) from £6.15   |  Saving you £11.84 (192.52%)   |  RRP £17.99

  In 1939 London middle-aged governess Miss Pettigrew has a glamorous change of career and life when she becomes social secretary for an actress and singer.

• Coen Brothers Collection - Fargo/Raising Arizona/Miller's Crossing | DVD | (09/07/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.89

  Titles Comprise: Fargo:William H. Macy plays Jerry Lundegaard a Minneapolis car salesman who is by all accounts a loser. He is desperately in debt so decides to hires two thugs (who are bigger losers than he is) to kidnap his wife in the hope that his wealthy father-in-law (who bullies him regularly) will pay the ransom. When one of the kidnappers goes off the rails and events career out of control it falls to Marge Gunderson Chief of the Brainerd Police Department to set things right. Raising Arizona:Ex-con Hi and ex-cop Ed meet marry and long for a child in the wilds of Arizona. When Ed discovers she's barren the God-given solution is presented: to snatch a baby from a set of quins. Thus begins a series of kidnappings capers and rum goings-on that revolve around the helpless yet universally-loveable child. Hi's convict friends his boss and even the Lone Biker Of The Apocalypse become involved in the ever-twisting plot in the quest to own the baby. Millers Crossing:The year is 1929. The place is an gangster-ridden American city run by Leo (Albert Finney). But the real power lies with Tom (Gabriel Byrne) the power behind the man. Their friendship is severed when they both fall in love with the same woman (Marcia Gay Harden) and a bloody gang war erupts...

• Fargo | Blu Ray | (07/04/2014) from £9.59   |  Saving you £6.40 (66.74%)   |  RRP £15.99

  William H. Macy plays Jerry Lundegaard, a Minneapolis car salesman who is, by all accounts, a loser. He is desperately in debt, so decides to hires two thugs (who are bigger losers than he is) to kidnap his wife in the hope that his wealthy father-in-law (who bullies him regularly) will pay the ransom. When one of the kidnappers goes off the rails and events career out of control, it falls to Marge Gunderson, Chief of the Brainerd Police Department, to set things right. Arguably the best of...

• North Country | DVD | (05/06/2006) from £22.94   |  Saving you £-4.95 (N/A%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Charlize Theron stars in this drama based on the first major successful sexual harassment case in the United States.

• The Man Who Wasn't There (2001) | DVD | (22/04/2002) from £9.99   |  Saving you £10.00 (100.10%)   |  RRP £19.99

  With The Man Who Wasn't There the Coen brothers--those ironic geniuses of left-field bizarre--have pulled off another side-swerve into the unexpected. A movie "about a hairdresser who wants to become a dry-cleaner" as the brothers gleefully claim to have pitched it, it's set in 1949 in the small Northern California town of Santa Rosa (venue for Hitchcock's 1943 classic Shadow of a Doubt) and filmed in lustrous, deep-shadowy black-and-white--an affectionate, though never slavish, tribute to the great era of film noir. Not only in its austere monochrome but in its tone, it comes as a total contrast to the Coens' previous film, the cheerfully picaresque O Brother, Where Art Thou?. Though they toss in plenty of surreal gags, including a whole running thread about flying saucers (this is Roswell-era America, after all), the overall mood is quiet, reflective and even--something quite new for the Coens--compassionate. Their protagonist, barber Ed Crane (Billy Bob Thornton, proving himself one of the great chameleon actors of our time), is a man trapped by his own impassivity--inside him, a seething mass of emotion that he's utterly unable to express. In true Coen style, his frustration leads him into a fatal move that spirals disastrously out of control. Thornton is ably supported by a whole gallery of Coen regulars--Frances McDormand, Jon Polito, Tony Shalhoub--plus James Gandolfini (The Sopranos) and an amazingly assured turn from Scarlett Johansson (Ghost World). The dialogue, as you'd expect, is masterly, while the brothers' regular collaborators Director of Photography Roger Deakins and production designer Dennis Gassner work wonders of period evocation, and Carter Burwell contributes a haunting score. On the DVD: The Man Who Wasn't There comes to DVD in a sharp, clean 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer that captures all the depth and subtlety of Deakins' superb photography, impeccably matched by the crystal-clear Dolby 5.1 Surround Sound. A lavish helping of extras includes a trailer and two TV spots, stills photo gallery, filmographies, a 16-minute "making of" featurette, an overlong (47 minutes) interview with Deakins, a batch of deleted scenes, and best of all, the voice-over commentary. This gives us not just Joel and Ethan, but Billy Bob as well, chatting and chortling and clearly enjoying every second of the movie they've made. Their enthusiasm is irresistible. –-Philip Kemp

• Almost Famous | Blu Ray | (11/02/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Inspired by director Cameron Crowe's own experiences and set in the 1970s, the film follows a fifteen year old wannabe journalist who gets the opportunity to interview and go on the road with a hard living rock band.

• Blood Simple | DVD | (30/10/2017) from £7.55   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  The debut film of director Joel Coen and his brother-producer Ethan Coen, 1983's Blood Simple is grisly comic noir that marries the feverish toughness of pulp thrillers with the ghoulishness of even pulpier horror. (Imagine the novels of Jim Thompson somehow fused with the comic tabloid Weird Tales and you get the idea.) The story concerns a Texas bar owner (Dan Hedaya) who hires a seedy private detective (M Emmett Walsh) to follow his cheating wife (Frances McDormand in her first film appearance) and then kill her and her lover (John Getz). The gumshoe turns the tables on his client and suddenly a bad situation gets much, much worse, with some violent goings-on that are as elemental as they are shocking. (A scene in which a character who has been buried alive suddenly emerges from his own grave instantly becomes an archetypal nightmare.) Shot by Barry Sonnenfeld before he became an A-list director in Hollywood, Blood Simple established the hyperreal look and feel of the Coens' productions (undoubtedly inspired a bit by filmmaker Sam Raimi, whose The Evil Dead had just been coedited by Joel). Sections of the film have proved to be an endurance test for art-house movie fans, particularly an extended climax that involves one shock after another but ends with a laugh at the absurdity of criminal ambition. This is definitely one of the triumphs of the 1980s and the American independent film scene in general. --Tom Keogh, Amazon.com

• Hidden Agenda | DVD | (28/04/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  American activists Paul Sullivan (Dourif) and his fiancee Ingrid Jessner (McDormand) journey to Belfast to probe allegations of brutal human rights abuses by British security forces. When Paul is killed under mysterious circumstances the official reports list him as an I.R.A. accomplice. But Ingrid and British policeman Paul Kerrigan (Cox) question the findings and begin to uncover a shocking high-level conspiracy. Now with their safety in jeopardy they must decide whether to risk