"Director: Jonathan Demme"

• Something Wild | DVD | (06/01/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  That Jonathan Demme's Something Wild is compelling from first to last is down to the chemistry between Melanie Griffith (Lulu) and Jeff Daniels (Charlie). She's bad, trashy and into handcuffed sex with strangers in motel rooms: she even manages to look sexy in a black bobbed wig. He's Mr Ordinary, with suit and steady job and--apparently--a wife and kids. Lulu has him mesmerised from the very start, as she offers him a lift back to the office but instead drives to Pennsylvania for her high-school reunion, stealing from garages along the way. Passing Charlie off as her husband, they run into problems when she meets her real one--the greasy, violent Ray, recently out of jail (Liotta, superb here)--and Charlie bumps into a guy from his office. Ray is not about to give up Lulu and pursues the couple relentlessly back to New York, the chase culminating, inevitably, in violence. It's a most unlikely love story, but as Charlie discovers he's less of a grey man than we all first thought, and a softer side of Lulu is revealed, it seems possible that we could be looking at a happy ending. This is a film that seems as fresh today as when it first appeared and remains one of Demme's finest achievements. On the DVD: Something Wild is a pretty basic DVD package. There are no extras beyond the bog-standard trailer and scene-selection options. The picture quality itself is fine, though it's not as pristine as you'd find with more recent films. The spoken languages and subtitles are restricted to English and Spanish. --Harriet Smith

• The Silence Of The Lambs | DVD | (06/08/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Based on Thomas Harris's novel, Jonathan Demme's terrifying adaptation of Silence of the Lambs contains only a couple of genuinely shocking moments (one involving an autopsy, the other a prison break). The rest of the film is a splatter-free visual and psychological descent into the hell of madness, redeemed astonishingly by an unlikely connection between a monster and a haunted young woman. Anthony Hopkins is extraordinary as the cannibalistic psychiatrist Dr Hannibal Lecter, virtually entombed in a subterranean prison for the criminally insane. At the behest of the FBI, agent-in-training Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) approaches Lecter, requesting his insights into the identity and methods of a serial killer named Buffalo Bill (Ted Levine). In exchange, Lecter demands the right to penetrate Starling's most painful memories, creating a bizarre but palpable intimacy that liberates them both under separate but equally horrific circumstances. Demme, a filmmaker with a uniquely populist vision (Melvin and Howard, Something Wild), also spent his early years making pulp for Roger Corman (Caged Heat) and he hasn't forgotten the significance of tone, atmosphere and the unsettling nature of a crudely effective close-up. Much of the film, in fact, consists of actors staring straight into the camera (usually from Clarice's point of view), making every bridge between one set of eyes to another seem terribly dangerous. --Tom Keogh, Amazon.com On the DVD: On disc one, the film itself looks clinically sharp in a faultless widescreen (1.85:1) anamorphic transfer, while the Dolby 5.1 soundtrack makes the most of the chilling sound effects and Howard Shore's masterfully understated score. Unlike the Region 1 Criterion Collection, however, there is no audio commentary at all. On the second disc, the all-new hour-long "making-of" documentary features contributions from the screenwriter, producer, composer, costume designer, make-up effects people and even the moth wrangler ("There were no moths harmed in the filming!") as well as Ted Levine (Buffalo Bill) and Anthony Hopkins, who talks at length about creating Lecter. Conspicuous by their absence are Jonathan Demme and Jodie Foster. Aside from the usual trailers and stills gallery there are 21 deleted scenes, many of which are not whole scenes but deleted excerpts, a promotional featurette made in 1991 and an outtakes reel that proves the cast really did have fun making this scary picture. For those who want to scare all their friends, there's also an answerphone message from Anthony Hopkins "in character". --Mark Walker

• A Master Builder | DVD | (25/06/2018) from £4.85   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  A successful, ego-maniacal architect who has spent a lifetime bullying his wife, employees and mistresses wants to make peace as his life approaches its final act. A Master Builder unites Academy Award-winning director Jonathan Demme with two of American theatre and cinema's most ingenious provocateurs: Andre Gregory and Wallace Shawn. It is based on Gregory's near-legendary theatrical production of Shawn's adaptation of Ibsen's Master Builder Solness; a production that was worked on over a 14-year period. Intense, intimate and painful, A Master Builder is a witty, mystical and psychologically complex interpretation of Ibsen's masterpiece.

• Married To The Mob | DVD | (24/02/2003) from £8.92   |  Saving you £4.07 (45.63%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Angela de Marco (Michelle Pfeiffer) is fed up with her life Married to the Mob. As luck would have it, her hubby Frank (Alec Baldwin) is knocked off by head honcho Tony "the Tiger" Russo (an Oscar-nominated Dean Stockwell), which leaves her free to start a new life in the Big Apple. The only problem is that the FBI are desperate to nab Tony, and manage to send the one Agent (Matthew Modine) most likely to fall in love with her. Plot-wise, then, this is predictable fluff. The joys are in the details of Jonathan Demme's direction: New York's streets come alive under his hand-held camerawork; a lot of dialogue is comically delivered direct to camera (a device he used for dramatic effect later with The Silence of the Lambs); and background characters each leave their mark given memorable--often-hilarious--screen time. As a black comedy it isn't quite so memorable as Demme's explosive earlier work on Something Wild, but if there's one thing sure to stick with you here it's the sensationally colourful late-80s fashions and hairstyles. On the DVD: Married to the Mob is a bare-bones release that only adds a trailer. It is presented in its original widescreen ratio, however, and for the most part the transfer is pretty clean. --Paul Tonks

• Talking Heads - Stop Making Sense | DVD | (15/03/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Over the course of three nights at Hollywood's Pantages Theatre in December 1983, filmmaker Jonathan Demme joined creative forces with cinematographer Jordan Cronenweth and Talking Heads ... and miracles occurred. Following a staging concept by singer-guitarist David Byrne, this euphoric concert film transcends that all-too-limited genre to become the greatest film of its kind. A guaranteed cure for anyone's blues, it's a celebration of music that never grows old, fuelled by the polyrhythmic pop-funk precision that was a Talking Heads trademark, and lit from within by the geeky supernova that is David Byrne. The staging--and Demme's filming of it--builds toward an orgasmic release of music, rising from the bare-stage simplicity of Byrne, accompanied only by a boom box on "Psycho Killer" to the ecstatic crescendo of "Burning Down the House", by which time the Heads and additional personnel have all arrived on stage for a performance that seems channelled from heaven for the purpose of universal uplift. (God bless Demme for avoiding shots of the luckiest audience in 80s pop history; its presence is acknowledged but not at the viewer's expense.) With the deliriously eccentric Byrne as ringleader (pausing mid-concert to emerge in his now-legendary oversized suit), this circus of musical pleasure defies the futility of reductive description; it begs to be experienced, felt in the heart, head and bones, and held there the way we hold on to cherished memories. On those three nights in December 1983, Talking Heads gave love, life, and joy in generous amounts that years cannot erode, and Demme captured this act of creative goodwill on film with minimalist artistic perfection. Stop Making Sense is an invitation to pleasure that will never wear out its welcome. --Jeff Shannon

• Philadelphia | Blu Ray | (15/07/2019) from £29.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Hailed as a landmark film that dazzles with deep emotion and exceptional acting, PHILADELPHIA starsTom Hanks and Denzel Washington as two competing lawyers who join forces to sue a prestigious law firm for AIDS discrimination. And as their unlikely friendship develops, their courage overcomes the prejudice and corruption of their powerful adversaries. Special Features: One Foot on a Banana Peel, the Other Foot in the Grave Documentary Courthouse Protest Footage and Interviews Exclusive new documentary People Like Us: Making Philadelphia Original Making-of Featurette Deleted Scenes

• Philadelphia | DVD | (06/06/2011) from £5.38   |  Saving you £4.61 (85.69%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Up-and-coming young lawyer Andrew Beckett (Tom Hanks) has just been fired by his prestigious law firm. They say he hasn't got what it takes. Andrew knows it's because he's got AIDS. Determined to defend his professional reputation Andrew hires fierce brilliant personal-injury attorney Joe Miller (Denzel Washington) to sue his former employers for wrongful dismissal. Joe is initially reluctant to take on the case. Although he as grown up knowing the pain of prejudice he's never had to confront his own prejudices against homosexuality and AIDS...until now. One man is fighting for his reputation his life and for justice. The other is battling to overcome his own and society's ignorance and fear. Philadelphia is one of the most powerful and critically acclaimed movies of our time.

• The Last Embrace | Blu Ray | (26/10/2015) from £18.98   |  Saving you £3.00 (17.66%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Mr Majestyk (Bronson) is an ex-con and Vietnam vet whose efforts to run a normal life as a farmer are thwarted by narrow-minded locals and corrupts cops. When a Mafia hitman destroys Majestyk's crop, the farmer snaps. Taking his rifle in hand, he goes after the syndicate assassin, refusing to stop until his work is done. Written for the screen by Elmore Leonard (Out of Sight, Get Shorty), directed by Richard Fleischer (10 Rillington Place, Soylent Green) and starring cinema tough guy Charles Bronson (The Dirty Dozen, Death Wish), Mr Majestyk is a gritty action film full of car chases, shoot-outs and bare-knuckle brawls.

• Swimming To Cambodia | DVD | (16/03/2015) from £7.99   |  Saving you £5.00 (62.58%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Jonathan Demme directs this monologue delivered by actor Spalding Gray, describing his experiences of filming the 1984 Roland Joffé film 'The Killing Fields'.

• Jodie Foster Collection - Silence Of The Lambs/Nell/Little Man Tate/Foxes/Anna And The King | DVD | (19/02/2007) from £31.03   |  Saving you £3.96 (11.30%)   |  RRP £34.99

  Silence Of The Lambs: Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster deliver knockout Oscar-winning performances in this shocking powerful thriller. This terrifying masterpiece of suspense garnered five Adademy Awards including Best Director and the coveted Best Picture. A psychopath known only as Buffalo Bill is kidnapping and murdering young women across the midwest. Believing it takes one to know one the FBI send in Agent Clarice Starling to interview an insane prisoner who may provide psychological Dr. Hannibal Lecter. Brilliant yet psychotic with a taste for cannibalism Lecter will only help Starling in exchange for details and secrets about her own complicated life. This twisted relationship forces Starling not only to face her own inner demons but leads her face-to-face with a demented killer an incarnation of evil so overwhelming she may not have the courage or strength to stop him. Horrific disturbing spellbinding. This thriller set the standard by which all others are measured. Nell: A young woman (Foster) is found hiding in the rafters of her Blue Ridge Mountain home after the death of her mother. She has been totally cut off from the outside world and has developed her own impenetrable language. A local doctor (Neeson) attempts to hide her from the outside world's prying eyes but she may have to be locked up in an institution for her own safety from hostile locals... Little Man Tate: Fred Tate (Adam Hann-Byrd) is a gifted pianist a math genius an incredible artist... and he's only seven years old. But this child prodigy is also adrift. Shunned by his peers and bored by his schoolwork Fred is stifled by his environment. Desperate to encourage his potential yet afraid he'll miss out on a normal childhood his single mom Dede (Foster) reluctantly allows a psychologist (West) to enroll Fred in a school for exceptional children. But when he's rushed headlong into academia Dede's worst fears are realized - Fred is more isolated and alone than ever. And it's up to Dede to become what little Freddy's been looking for all along... a Mom. Foxes: A group of four teenage girls in the San Fernando Valley cope with the problems of being a teenager together. Diedre is fascinated by sex Madge is unhappily overweight Annie is into drugs and Jeanie has to take care of them all. They think that the school is crap their boyfriends immature and the grown-ups come from another planet... Anna And The King: Academy Award winner Jodie Foster and international sensation Chow Yun-Fat star in this epic retelling of a classic true-life story. When English schoolteacher Anna Leonowens arrives in the exotic land of Siam to teach the children of King Mongkut her Western sensibilities clash with the ruler's Eastern ways. The tension builds as Mongkut learns that outside forces are conspiring against his regime. With the political intrigue set to explode Anna and the King must become allies in a daring fight to save Siam from dangerous enemies bent on destruction.

• A Celebration Of Blockbusters | DVD | (28/05/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £79.99

  A box set bonanza of 20th Century Fox movies! Films Included: 1. X-Men The Last Stand 2. Fantastic Four 3. Kingdom Of Heaven 4. Walk The Line 5. House Of Flying Daggers 6. The Day After Tomorrow 7. I Robot 8. Master And Commander 9. Planet Of The Apes 10. Fight Club 11. There's Something About Mary 12. Independence Day 13. Romeo And Juliet 14. The Usual Suspects 15. Speed 16. Silence Of The Lambs 17. Dances With Wolves 18. Platoon 19. Raging Bull 20. Alien

• The Last Embrace | DVD | (26/10/2015) from £12.99   |  Saving you £7.00 (53.89%)   |  RRP £19.99

  This taught thriller, from the acclaimed director of Silence of the Lambs, stars Roy Scheider (Jaws, The French Connection) as Harry Hannan, an ex-government agent fearing for his life and unable to trust even his closest friends after the violent death of his wife. Infused with the spirit of Alfred Hitchcock, and featuring outstanding performances by John Glover, Christopher Walken and Charles Napier, Last Embrace is a stylish, edge-of-your-seat experience that you will never forget. Audio commentary with film expert David Thompson Original theatrical trailer

• Manchurian Candidate, The / Rules Of Engagement / The Sum Of All Fears | DVD | (03/10/2005) from £5.99   |  Saving you £18.00 (300.50%)   |  RRP £23.99

  The Manchurian Candidate (Dir. Jonathan Demme 2004): When his army unit was ambushed during the first Gulf War Sergeant Raymond Shaw (Liev Schreiber) saved his fellow soldiers just as his commanding officer Major Ben Marco (Denzel Washington) was knocked unconscious. Brokering the incident for political capital Shaw eventually becomes a vice-presidential nominee while Marco is haunted by dreams of what happened or indeed didn't happen in Iraq. Searching for peace from

• The Manchurian Candidate | Blu Ray | (19/01/2009) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Denzel Washington stars as a US Army Major who, growing suspicious about his experience during the Gulf War, uncovers a shocking secret at the heart of the White House.

• Apollo 13/Philidelphia/The Da Vinci Code | DVD | (19/11/2007) from £5.99   |  Saving you £19.00 (317.20%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Apollo 13 (Dir. Ron Howard) (1995): Stranded 205 000 miles from Earth in a crippled spacecraft astronauts Jim Lovell (Hanks) Fred Haise (Paxton) and Jack Swigert (Bacon) fight a desperate battle to survive. Meanwhile at Mission Control astronaut Ken Mattingly (Sinise) flight director Gene Kranz (Harris) and a heroic ground crew race against time and the odds to bring them home. Philadelphia (Dir. Jonathan Demme) (1993): Up-and-coming young lawyer Andrew Beckett (Tom Hanks) has just been fired by his prestigious law firm. They say he hasn't got what it takes. Andrew knows it's because he's got AIDS. Determined to defend his professional reputation Andrew hires fierce brilliant personal-injury attorney Joe Miller (Denzel Washington) to sue his former employers for wrongful dismissal. Joe is initially reluctant to take on the case. Although he as grown up knowing the pain of prejudice he's never had to confront his own prejudices against homosexuality and AIDS...until now. The Da Vinci Code (Dir. Ron Howard) (2006): Join symbologist Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) and cryptologist Sophie Neveu (Audrey Tautou) in their heart-racing quest to solve a bizarre murder mystery that will take them from France to England; and behind the veil of a mysterious ancient society where they discover a secret protected since the time of Christ.

• Rachel Getting Married | Blu Ray | (29/06/2009) from £3.99   |  Saving you £21.00 (84.00%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Anne Hathaway stars in this poignant and biting drama from acclaimed director Jonathan Demme.

• The Pretenders - Greatest Hits | DVD | (22/01/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  The Pretenders Greatest Hits is a selection of 20 songs and their variously successful videos. Chrissie Hynde arrived in the UK in 1973, and after a period as the "Loud Yank" NME journalist, she realised her dream of putting a band together. "Stop Your Sobbing" was a terrific first single for The Pretenders, debuting a voice that defied comparison or description. Naturally it's included here. Chrissie hated the early videos for her songs, especially "Brass in Pocket", which was one of the very first shown on MTV. She relays this sort of information to camera in the terrific documentary, "No Turn Left Unstoned", featured on this DVD. Comments come in from Rosanna Arquette, ex-managers, Elvis Costello, Bono, and her oldest friend. The overall opinion of the singer-writer that comes across in these interviews is one of an irreverent genius, not afraid to speak her mind (as in her passionate standing for animal rights through the organisation PETA ("People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals"). The band's turbulent history is chronicled through drug-related deaths, firing and re-hiring, motherhood, and the controversial use of the F word on stage, back when such things were shocking. There have been Pretenders greatest hits collections before, but this is expanded with "Human" and "Popstar" from the 1999 Viva El Amor album. --Paul Tonks

• Apollo 13/Philidelphia/The Da Vinci Code | DVD | (12/10/2009) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Apollo 13 (Dir. Ron Howard) (1995): Stranded 205 000 miles from Earth in a crippled spacecraft astronauts Jim Lovell (Hanks) Fred Haise (Paxton) and Jack Swigert (Bacon) fight a desperate battle to survive. Meanwhile at Mission Control astronaut Ken Mattingly (Sinise) flight director Gene Kranz (Harris) and a heroic ground crew race against time and the odds to bring them home. Philadelphia (Dir. Jonathan Demme) (1993): Up-and-coming young lawyer Andrew Beckett (Tom Hanks) has just been fired by his prestigious law firm. They say he hasn't got what it takes. Andrew knows it's because he's got AIDS. Determined to defend his professional reputation Andrew hires fierce brilliant personal-injury attorney Joe Miller (Denzel Washington) to sue his former employers for wrongful dismissal. Joe is initially reluctant to take on the case. Although he as grown up knowing the pain of prejudice he's never had to confront his own prejudices against homosexuality and AIDS...until now. The Da Vinci Code (Dir. Ron Howard) (2006): Join symbologist Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) and cryptologist Sophie Neveu (Audrey Tautou) in their heart-racing quest to solve a bizarre murder mystery that will take them from France to England; and behind the veil of a mysterious ancient society where they discover a secret protected since the time of Christ.

• Defintive Edition - Silence Of The Lambs | DVD | (05/03/2007) from £6.73   |  Saving you £6.26 (93.02%)   |  RRP £12.99

  As Hannibal The Cannibal Lecter Anthony Hopkins is the archetypical antihero--cultured quick-witted uncontainable--a portrait of the sharpest human faculties gone diabolically wrong. His performance marked him as a major star in America and the movie swept the 1991 Academy Awards--Best Picture Director (Jonathan Demme) Actor (Hopkins) Actress (Foster) and Screenplay Adaptation (Ted Tally from the novel by Thomas Harris).

• The Silence of the Lambs - Limited Edition Steelbook (Blu-ray + DVD) | Blu Ray | (01/04/2013) from £17.98   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  One of the most shocking, compelling and diabolical crime thrillers ever made is even more delectable on Blu-ray! Including in-depth documentaries about the film's journey from page to screen, director's commentary, generous servings of deleted scenes, still photos and outtakes – and much more, this powerful, five-time-Academy Award winner will chill you to the bone. When FBI Agent Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) is assigned a case involving a monstrous serial killer, she seeks counsel from an imprisoned cannibalistic psychiatrist – Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins), whose fascination with the young woman is as great as his hunger for murder. As their relationship develops, Starling must confront her own demons – and an evil so powerful that she may not have the courage or strength to stop it!