"Actor: Halley Feiffer"

• The Squid and The Whale (Criterion Collection) Uk Only | Blu Ray | (05/12/2016) from £21.39   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  The Squid and the Whale follows the divorce of Joan (Laura Linney, You Can Count on Me) and Bernard Berkman (Jeff Daniels, The Purple Rose of Cairo) as it wreaks havoc on the emotional lives of their two sons, Walt (Jesse Eisenberg, Roger Dodger) and Frank (Owen Kline, The Anniversary Party). Though there's no plot in the usual sense, the movie progresses with growing emotional force from the separation into the bitter fighting between Joan and Bernard and the hapless, floundering behaviour of Walt and Frank, who act out through plagiarism, sexual acts and drinking. Some viewers may find the ending too diffuse; others will appreciate that writer/director Noah Baumbach (Mr. Jealousy) doesn't wrap up the messiness of life in a false cinematic package. Either way, viewers will appreciate how the specificity of the personalities makes The Squid and the Whale so compelling, as Baumbach has drawn the characters with such detail, both engaging and off-putting, that they leap off the screen. Naturally, he's greatly helped by the cast: Linney, Eisenberg, Kline and especially Daniels bite into these often unsympathetic portraits and give fearlessly honest performances, interlocked in both painful and funny ways--rarely have family dynamics been captured so vividly. If there was an ensemble Oscar, this cast would deserve it. --Bret Fetzer

• You Can Count On Me | DVD | (01/04/2002) from £12.93   |  Saving you £7.06 (54.60%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Two siblings from a small town must come to terms with their conflicting lives. Sammy, a single mother is forced to break out of her dull existence when her troubled brother comes to visit.

• Appropriate Behaviour (BD) | Blu Ray | (29/06/2015) from £24.28   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Appropriate Behaviour (DVD) | DVD | (29/06/2015) from £7.99   |  Saving you £8.00 (100.12%)   |  RRP £15.99

  For Shirin (Desiree Akhavan) being part of a perfect family isn’t easy. Acceptance eludes her from all sides: her family doesn’t know she’s bisexual and her ex-girlfriend Maxine (Rebecca Henderson) can’t understand why she doesn’t tell them. Even the six-year-old boys in her moviemaking class are too ADD to focus on her for more than a second. Following a family announcement of her brother’s betrothal to a parentally approved Iranian prize catch Shirin embarks on a private rebellion involving a series of escapades while trying to decipher what went wrong with Maxine. From writer/director/actress Desiree Akhavan (the unfathomable love-child of Woody Allen Lena Dunham and Tina Fey) comes an ironic Iranian hipster date movie; APPROPRIATE BEHAVIOUR is an achingly cool post-feminist comedy about what happens when a girl comes out and discovers that extraordinary is the new ordinary. Extras: Exclusive Director & Producer Interview & Behind The Scenes Featurette

• It Had to be You | DVD | (30/10/2017) from £3.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Sonia is a neurotic jingle writer who's always dreamt of a big and exciting life. Surprised by a sudden proposal and subsequent ultimatum from her easy-going boyfriend, Chris, Sonia has to decide whether she'll join the ranks of her married friends or take a leap and pursue her fantasies. A whimsical romantic comedy that's raunchy and yet gentle, 'It Had To Be You' explores the choices women face today while satirizing cultural expectations of gender and romance.