Drama

• The Big Sleep | DVD | (06/11/2006) from £6.34   |  Saving you £0.65 (10.25%)   |  RRP £6.99

  Raymond Chandler's hard boiled novel is brought to the screen with sleuth Phillip Marlowe finding himself involved with murder blackmail and violence when hired to protect a General's young daughter.

• The Draughtsman's Contract (2-Blu-ray disc) | Blu Ray | (14/11/2022) from £19.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  !Peter Greenaway became a director of international status with this witty, stylised, erotic country house murder mystery. In an apparently idyllic 17th century Wiltshire, an ambitious draughtsman is commissioned by the wife of an aristocrat to produce twelve drawings of her husband's estate and negotiates terms to include sexual favours from his employer. But when a corpse is dragged from the moat, the draughtsman's drawings may reveal more than he realised. Extravagant costumes, a twisting plot, elegantly barbed dialogue and a mesmerising score by Michael Nyman make the film a treat for ear, eye and mind. Now newly remastered in 4K (from the original Super 16mm Eastmancolor negative and magnetic track master) by the BFI National Archive, experience Greenaway's intoxicating vision like never before. Extras Newly remastered by the BFI National Archive Limited edition 2-disc set The Greenaway Alphabet (2017, 68 mins): an intimate portrait of painter and filmmaker Peter Greenaway, directed by his wife Saskia Boddeke. Together with his daughter Pip, Greenaway formulates an alphabet that represents his personality and thoughts about art and life H Is for House (1973, 10 mins): experimental short film by Peter Greenaway Audio commentary by Peter Greenaway Introduction by Peter Greenaway Interview with Michael Nyman Behind-the-scenes footage Deleted scenes Trailers Stills gallery Newly created audio description track Other extras TBC

• Lawrence Of Arabia | DVD | (31/01/2011) from £9.98   |  Saving you £-2.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  In 1962 Lawrence of Arabia scooped another seven Oscars for David Lean and crew after his previous epic, The Bridge on the River Kwai, had performed exactly the same feat a few years earlier. Supported in this Great War desert adventure by a superb cast including Alex Guinness, Jack Hawkins and Omar Sharif, Peter O'Toole gives a complex, star-making performance as the enigmatic TE Lawrence. The magnificent action and vast desert panoramas were captured in luminous 70mm by Cinematographer Freddie Young, here beginning a partnership with Lean that continued through Dr Zhivago (1965) and Ryan's Daughter (1970). Yet what made the film truly outstanding was Robert (A Man For All Seasons) Bolt's literate screenplay, marking the beginning of yet another ongoing collaboration with Lean. The final partnership established was between director and French composer Maurice Jarre, who won one of the Oscars and scored all Lean's remaining films, up to and including A Passage to India in 1984. Fully restored in 1989, this complete version of Lean's masterpiece remains one of cinema's all-time classic visions. --Gary S Dalkin On the DVD: This vast movie is spread leisurely across two discs, with Maurice Jarre's overture standing in as intermission music for the first track of disc two. But the clarity of the anamorphic widescreen picture and Dolby 5.1 soundtrack justify the decision not to cram the whole thing onto one side of a disc. The movie has never looked nor sounded better than here: the desert landscapes are incredibly detailed, with the tiny nomadic figures in the far distance clearly visible on the small screen; the remastered soundtrack, too, is a joy. Thanks are due to Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg who supervised (and financed) the restoration of the picture in 1989; on disc two Spielberg chats about why David Lean is his favourite director, and why Lawrence had such a profound influence on him both as a child and as a filmmaker (he regularly re-watches the movie before starting any new project). Other features include an excellent and exhaustive "making-of" documentary with contributions from surviving cast and crew (an avuncular Omar Sharif is particularly entertaining as he reminisces about meeting the hawk-like Lean for the first time), some contemporary featurettes designed to promote the movie and a DVD-ROM facility. The extra features are good--especially the documentary--but the breathtaking quality of both anamorphic picture and digital sound are what make this DVD package a triumph. --Mark Walker

• Passion Of Anna | DVD | (02/08/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  On a windswept barren island Andreas lives simply and quietly until he becomes entangled with Anna a beautiful mysterious widow and a neighbouring couple harbouring their own sorrows and illusions. But soon secrets from Andreas and Anna's pasts threaten to destroy everything...

• Howard's End | DVD | (17/09/2007) from £7.77   |  Saving you £8.22 (105.79%)   |  RRP £15.99

  'Only connect.' This famous command is the catalyst which brings together two very different Edwardian families - the one passionate and progressive the other hidebound by wealth and social status - with irreversible and devastating consequences. A dying woman's impulsive wish marks a turning point in the relationship between the cosmopolitan Schlegel sisters Margaret and Helen and the wealthy Wilcox family when Ruth Wilcox bequeaths her idyllic country house Howards End to Marg

• Right At Your Door | DVD | (10/09/2007) from £8.70   |  Saving you £8.55 (114.92%)   |  RRP £15.99

  A husband and wife struggle to survive when multiple dirty bombs are detonated in Los Angeles.

• La La Land | Blu Ray | (15/05/2017) from £10.98   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  The UV copy is only available in the UK and Ireland. Written and directed by Academy Award® nominee Damien Chazelle, LA LA LAND tells the story of Mia [Emma Stone], an aspiring actress, and Sebastian [Ryan Gosling], a dedicated jazz musician, who are struggling to make ends meet in a city known for crushing hopes and breaking hearts. Set in modern day Los Angeles, this original musical about everyday life explores the joy and pain of pursuing your dreams.

• Grace - Series 3 | DVD | (22/05/2023) from £18.98   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Rogue Trader | DVD | (24/07/2000) from £17.99   |  Saving you £-5.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Leeson (Ewan McGregor) is rightly proud of himself: despite his humble beginnings, the Watford lad is now a trusted employee of Barings Merchant Bank, the City of London's oldest Banking House founded in 1763.

• The Duke | Blu Ray | (13/06/2022) from £7.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  In 1961, Kempton Bunton, a 60 year old taxi driver, stole Goya's portrait of the Duke of Wellington from the National Gallery in London. It was the first (and remains the only) theft in the Gallery's history. Kempton sent ransom notes saying that he would return the painting on condition that the government invested more in care for the elderly - he had long campaigned for pensioners to receive free television. What happened next became the stuff of legend. Only 50 years later did the full story emerge - Kempton had spun a web of lies. The only truth was that he was a good man, determined to change the world and save his marriage - how and why he used the Duke to achieve that is a wonderfully uplifting tale.

• Showgirls | Blu Ray | (11/12/2017) from £10.35   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Paul Verhoeven's attempt to couple the softcore sex film with the Hollywood musical stars Elizabeth Berkley as a Las Vegas stripper who lap-dances her way to the city's most prestigious chorus line. Vying with the show's established star for the leading role in a new erotic spectacular, Berkley gives the director (Kyle MacLachlan) a close-up demonstration of what she can do. Dave Stewart of Eurythmics provides the music for the steamy dance routines.

• His Dark Materials Series 1-3 | Blu Ray | (13/02/2023) from £39.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  A young girl is destined to liberate her world from the grip of the Magisterium which represses people's ties to magic and their animal spirits known as daemons.

• Shine | DVD | (22/01/2001) from £5.38   |  Saving you £9.61 (178.62%)   |  RRP £14.99

  This tearjerker by Australian filmmaker Scott Hicks is a surprising story about real-life classical pianist David Helfgott, an Australian who rose to international prominence at a very young age in the 1950s and 1960s, and suffered a psychological collapse after enduring years of abuse from his father (Armin Mueller-Stahl). Hicks has three very fine actors portraying Helfgott at different stages of his life, including the adorably wry and goofy Noah Taylor (Flirting), who takes up the character's teen years, and Oscar winner Geoffrey Rush, giving a great performance playing the musician as a schizophrenic adult. Despite the Helfgotts' compromised psychological health, Shine is hardly a depressing experience. If anything, the story is really about how long one person's life can take to make glorious sense of itself. Sir John Gielgud, in golden form, plays Helfgott's teacher. --Tom Keogh, Amazon.com

• Madame Bovary | DVD | (22/08/2005) from £5.92   |  Saving you £10.07 (170.10%)   |  RRP £15.99

  The complete 1975 BBC adaptation of Gustave Flaubert's novel of social climbing betrayal and illicit affairs. The young daughter of a farmer marries a dull doctor ten years her senior soon becoming bored and sexually frustrated. As a result she embarks on a series of affairs in her quest for real sexual fulfilment but in the process bankrupting her husband and sowing the seeds of her own self-destruction...

• The Long Firm | DVD | (30/08/2004) from £6.43   |  Saving you £13.56 (210.89%)   |  RRP £19.99

  During the swinging sixties in London there was only one crime boss in Soho that mattered: the indomitable Harry Starks. With a reputation for savagery and generosity in equal measure Starks ruled central London with a coercive fist and his favourite implement of torture: the red-hot poker. Based on Jake Arnott's best selling novel which combines fact with fiction this is a retrospective tale of criminality in the 1960s through to the 1980s; told from the view of four characters a

• Bad Girls - Series One | DVD | (18/06/2001) from £24.99   |  Saving you £15.00 (60.02%)   |  RRP £39.99

  If the concept of a TV drama set in a woman's prison was one potentially fraught with cliché, the critical and commercial success of Bad Girls is a testament to fine writing, performance and production. With no preamble or scene setting, Series 1 immediately plunges the viewer into the world of Larkhall Prison, its inmates and staff. This approach leaves the characters to reveal themselves at varying pace, with each episode bringing new details about their life on the outside. Given the nature of the setting, it is unsurprising that the show is an ensemble, female-dominated piece. Simone Lahbib, Mandana Jones and Debra Stephenson are all excellent in the three key roles, with impressive support throughout the cast. Male characters are generally relegated to the sidelines, with the exception of sleazy warden Jim Fenner (played with skin crawling accuracy by Jack Ellis). The sexual realities of the environment are handled realistically and sensitively, and not for nothing is the word "uncut" splashed across the cover: there are some quite disturbing scenes, especially in the earlier episodes. On the DVD: The DVD enhances the show's attempts to capture the atmosphere of prison, with sharp contrast between light and darkness and the constant barracking, cat-calling and snide asides sounding crisp, clear and suitably nasty. Of the impressive 70 minutes of extra features much will only be of real interest to absolute devotees. A documentary examining work on the forthcoming third series may go into admirable detail, but how much interest a costume truck can actually be is perhaps debatable. The footage itself is a little unpolished, but does provide the cast members with an opportunity to reveal themselves, as does the extensive interview section. Not only do the main actors give valuable insights into their characters, but it is also interesting to see how the process has influenced their opinions on the prison system. A feature on a book signing in London certainly puts the show into an audience context, but the collection of outtakes (presented in a, supposedly intentionally, amateurish and tacky manner by Lahbib) is at best superfluous. There is more than a hint of trying to find material to fill the space, but overall this is an impressive effort. --Phil Udell

• The Last Picture Show (Criterion Collection) UK Only | Blu Ray | (27/11/2023) from £22.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  One of the key films of the American seventies cinema renaissance The Last Picture Show is set in the early fifties, in the loneliest Texas nowheresville to ever dust up a movie screen. This aching portrait of a dying West, adapted from Larry McMurtrys novel, focuses on the daily shuffles of three futureless teens enigmatic Sonny (Timothy Bottoms), wayward jock Duane (Jeff Bridges), and desperate-to-be-adored rich girl Jacy (Cybill Shepherd)and the aging lost souls who bump up against them in the night like drifting tumbleweeds, including Cloris Leachman lonely housewife and Ben Johnson grizzled movie-house proprietor. Featuring evocative black-and-white imagery and profoundly felt performances, this hushed depiction of crumbling American values remains the pivotal work in the career of invaluable film historian and director Peter Bogdanovich. Product Features BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES 4K digital restoration of the directors cut, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack Two audio commentaries, featuring Bogdanovich and actors Cybill Shepherd, Randy Quaid, Cloris Leachman, and Frank Marshall Two documentaries about the making of the film QA with Bogdanovich from 2009 Screen tests and location footage Excerpts from a 1972 television interview with filmmaker Francois Truffaut about the New Hollywood Trailers English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing PLUS: An essay by film critic Graham Fuller Cover by F. Ron Miller

• Freefall | DVD | (09/09/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Directed by John Irvin this explosive action thriller stars karate and weapons expert Eric Roberts and Jeff Fahey. Roberts proves himself as one of the hottest action heroes of the decade in a movie that has it all: murder espionage passion and mind-blowing stunts - all shot against the incredible backdrop of locations spanning Africa America and Europe. With Freefall - you'd better hang on for your life!

• Enid | DVD | (30/11/2009) from £8.98   |  Saving you £9.01 (100.33%)   |  RRP £17.99

  The film explores how the orderly reassuringly clear worlds Enid Blyton created within her stories contrasted with the complexity of her own personal life. It sheds light on the ambitious and driven - but as yet unpublished - young woman from the development of her rich imagination against the adversity of an imperfect childhood two World Wars and a first marriage ending in divorce - to household name. One of the most recognised storytellers of all time Enid Blyton's charming characters and classic tales have enchanted countless generations of children for almost 80 years. Having sold over 500 million books in 40 countries this film follows the woman behind the enduring and compelling stories such as the beloved Famous Five Secret Seven Malory Towers and Noddy series.

• Reckless | DVD | (18/04/2016) from £8.99   |  Saving you £13.00 (185.98%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Robson Green, Francesca Annis and Michael Kitchen star in this award-winning drama series from Paul Abbott, the phenomenally successful creator Touching Evil and Shameless.One of three hit series for Abbott in 1997, Reckless charts the intense, turbulent affair between a young surgeon and the wife of his ruthless consultant boss. Winner of the National Television Award for Most Popular Drama, the complete series is featured here along with its movie-length sequel both of which earned BAFTA nominations for Francesca Annis.Travelling by train to Manchester to care for his ailing father, Owen Springer meets beautiful, forty-something Anna Fairley; unbeknown to Owen, she heads the management team overseeing his assessment for a new job at a Manchester hospital. Having successfully obtained the post, Owen discovers that Anna is married to his new boss, Richard Crane, only after realising he is falling in love with her. But is Anna's marriage as secure as she believes it to be?