Drama

• The Stranger | Blu Ray | (29/06/2015) from £12.55   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  The legendary story that hovers over Orson Welles' The Stranger is that he wanted Agnes Moorehead to star as the dogged Nazi hunter who trails a war criminal to a sleepy New England town. The part went to Edward G. Robinson, who is marvellous, but it points out how many compromises Welles made on the film in an attempt to show Hollywood he could make a film on time, on budget and on their own terms. He accomplished all three, turning out a stylish if unambitious film noir thriller, his only Hollywood film to turn a profit on its original release. Welles stars as unreformed fascist Franz Kindler, hiding as a schoolteacher in a New England prep school for boys and newly married to the headmaster's lovely if naive daughter (Loretta Young). Welles, the director, is in fine form for the opening sequences, casting a moody tension as agents shadow a twitchy low-level Nazi official skulking through South American ports and building up to dramatic crescendo as Kindler murders this little man, the lovely woods becoming a maelstrom of swirling leaves that expose the body he furiously tries to bury. The rest of the film is a well designed but conventional cat-and-mouse game featuring an eye-rolling performance by Welles and a thrilling conclusion played out in the dark clock tower that looms over the little village. --Sean Axmaker

• Brideshead Revisited - The Complete Collection (Digitally Remastered) | DVD | (12/09/2011) from £9.94   |  Saving you £0.31 (3.12%)   |  RRP £10.25

  Digitally Re-mastered for the very first time! Based on Evelyn Waugh's classic novel Jeremy Irons stars as Charles Ryder a disillusioned army captain who is moved to reflect on his languid days in the enchanted castle that was Brideshead home of the aristocratic Marchmain family whose acquaintance Charles made in the company of Oxford classmate the charming wild-child Sebastian. Anthony Andrews co-stars as the doomed Sebastian. Sebastian takes Charles under his wing but vows early on that he is not going to let Charles get mixed up with his family. But mixed up Charles gets! He becomes a friend and confidante not to mention a lover to Sebastian's sister Julia (Diana Quick). Meanwhile the self-destructive Sebastian's life spirals out of control. Brideshead Revisited boasts a distinguished ensemble cast including Laurence Olivier in his Emmy Award-winning role as the exiled Lord Merchmain Claire Bloom as Lady Merchmain and the magnificent John Gielgud as Charle's estranged father. Grand locations and a haunting musical score make this a memorable revisit of an irretrievable bygone era. Episodes comprise: 1. Et In Arcadia Ego 2. Home And Abroad 3. The Bleak Light Of Day 4. Sebastian Against The World 5. A Blow Upon A Bruise 6. Julia 7. The Unseen Hook 8. Brideshead Deserted 9. Orphans Of The Storm 10. A Twitch Upon A Thread 11. Brideshead Revisited

• Ghost | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £5.91   |  Saving you £14.08 (238.24%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The biggest hit of 1990, Ghost is part comedy, part romance, part supernatural thriller. Patrick Swayze, previously best known for Dirty Dancing, stars as Sam, the banker who is killed following a mugging. Caught in a limbo between here and the afterlife, he uses Whoopi Goldberg's fake psychic as an intermediary to warn wife Molly (Demi Moore) that his death was no accident but a murder and that she is in danger too. Ghost's original popularity and notoriety originally arose not from its dealings with the supernatural but the scene involving Moore fondly astride her potter's wheel fashioning a somewhat phallic-shaped vase, with Swayze fondly astride her. So infamous did this scene become that it's now more likely to raise a chuckle than a sultry sigh. As for the rest of the movie, it still somehow manages to engage despite the awkward juxtaposition of lachrymose melodrama and zaniness. Demi Moore, whose massive Hollywood success was always a mystery to some, is a little flat as the tomboy-coiffed Molly, her tears occasionally seeming onion-induced. Swayze, however, delivers as Sam while Whoopi Goldberg turns in the best performance of her career, delivering the requisite zip and sass to what otherwise might have been a morose movie. On the DVD: Though well restored, DVD enhancement has only served to emphasise the slightly quaint feel of the special effects here--Ghost was made just prior to the digital era. Otherwise, this is a good package and an essential purchase for fans. There's a 22-minute featurette, "Remembering the Magic", in which scriptwriter Bruce Joel Rubin explains that the film was inspired by the scene in Hamlet in which the Prince meets his Father, and how initially appalled he was that his masterpiece of the supernatural was to be directed by Jerry Zucker, previously responsible for Airplane!. They also reveal that Tina Turner was originally cast for the Goldberg role. Zucker and Rubin team up for a funny commentary track. --David Stubbs

• Ladies In Lavender | DVD | (28/02/2005) from £5.98   |  Saving you £14.01 (234.28%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The story of two sisters who saved a stranger, and the stranger who stole their hearts.

• The Way | DVD | (31/10/2011) from £6.99   |  Saving you £9.00 (128.76%)   |  RRP £15.99

  An American father travels to France to recover the body of his estranged son who died while traveling El camino de Santiago from France to Santiago de Compostela (Spain).

• The Sopranos: Complete Series 2 | DVD | (24/11/2003) from £69.99   |  Saving you £-8.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £61.99

  The second series of The Sopranos, David Chase's ultra-cool and ultra-modern take on New Jersey gangster life, matches the brilliance of the first, although it's marginally less violent, with more emphasis given to the stories and obsessions of supporting characters. Sadly, the programme-makers were forced to throttle back on the appalling struggle between gang boss Tony Soprano and his Gorgon-like Mother Livia, the very stuff of Greek theatre, following actress Nancy Marchand's unsuccessful battle against cancer. Taking up her slack, however, is Tony's big sister Janice, a New Age victim and arrant schemer and sponger, who takes up with the twitchy, Scarface-wannabe Richie Aprile, brother of former boss Jackie, out of prison and a minor pain in Tony's ass. Other running sub-plots include the hapless efforts by Chris (Michael Imperioli) to sell his real-life Mafia story to Hollywood, the return and treachery of Big Pussy and Tony's wife Carmela's ruthlessness in placing daughter Meadow in the right college. Even with the action so dispersed, however, James Gandofini is still toweringly dominant as Tony. The genius of his performance, and of the programme-makers, is that, despite Tony being a whoring, unscrupulous, sexist boor, a crime boss and a murderer, we somehow end up feeling and rooting for him, because he's also a family man with a bratty brood to feed, who's getting his balls busted on all sides, to say nothing of keeping the government off his back. He's the kind of crime boss we'd like to feel we would be. Tony's decent Italian-American therapist Dr Melfi's (Loraine Bracco) perverse attraction with her gangster-patient reflects our own and, in her case, causes her to lose her first series cool and turn to drink this time around. Effortlessly multi-dimensional, funny and frightening, and devoid of the sentimentality that afflicts even great American TV like The West Wing, The Sopranos is boss of bosses in its televisual era. --David Stubbs

• Michael Collins | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £4.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Michael Collins tells the powerful, turbulent story of one of Ireland's most controversial patriots and revolutionary heroes, known as ˜The Lion Of Ireland', who leads his countrymen in their fight for independence. Set in the early 20th century, when a monumental history of oppression and bloodshed had divided Ireland and its people, the film covers the bloody 1916 Easter Uprising, when Irish revolutionaries surrendered to the overwhelming military power of the British forces and Collins was arrested. Upon his release, he takes leadership of the Irish independence movement and strives to create a free and peaceful country.

• Titanic | DVD | (25/08/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Re-released, James Cameron's Titanic is an epic, action-packed romance set against the ill-fated maiden voyage of the R.M.S. Titanic, the pride and joy of the White Star Line and, at the time, the largest moving object ever built.

• Talking Heads - The Complete Talking Heads | DVD | (03/10/2005) from £10.59   |  Saving you £0.41 (3.87%)   |  RRP £11.00

  Alan Bennett's Talking Heads was a major artistic breakthrough in the field of drama when the first series of monologues aired in 1987. Each tale gives us privileged access to the innermost thoughts of an individual who although we only hear his/her side of the story frequently reveals more about him/herself than intended. Often poignant sometimes sad and occasionally uplifting Bennett's gift for writing comedy is always apparent - and always inspired.

• A Sense Of Freedom | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £12.39   |  Saving you £0.60 (4.84%)   |  RRP £12.99

  David Hayman plays the lead role in this true prison story of Jimmy Boyle, Glasgow's toughest racketeer in the sixties. When Boyle was sentenced to life imprisonment his was known as ˜Scotland's Most Violent Man'. With nothing to lose Boyle sets about becoming the warders worst nightmare. A shocking true story about his fight against the system. Not for the faint-hearted. Written by Jimmy Boyle From his best-selling book Known great seller 2 disc set with original and ˜clean' versions

• William Tell | Blu Ray | (03/03/2025) from £14.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  As the nations of medieval Europe struggle for power, the ruthless Austrian Empire invades neighbouring Switzerland and a peaceful huntsman, William Tell, is thrust into the heart of their resistance.

• The Beach | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £4.89   |  Saving you £7.10 (145.19%)   |  RRP £11.99

  Not quite ready to surrender himself to responsibility or mainstream society, a young American travels to Asia and discovers he is not alone in his feelings

• The Bodyguard | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £6.35   |  Saving you £7.64 (120.31%)   |  RRP £13.99

  In her spectacular film debut Houston plays Rachel Marron a music and movie superstar at her peak. Fans want to see her touch her. But one wants to kill her - and that's where security expert Frank Farmer (Costner) comes in. Farmer is a professional who never lets his guard down. Rachel's glamorous life often puts her at risk. Each expects to be in charge. What they don't expect is to fall in love...

• Manchester By The Sea | DVD | (15/05/2017) from £5.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Oscar-nominee Casey Affleck* (Interstellar, Gone Baby Gone) stars as Lee, a man whose spare existence is suddenly ruptured when the death of his brother Joe (Kyle Chandler, Carol, The Wolf of Wall Street) forces him to return to the hometown he abandoned years before. Rocked by contact with his estranged ex-wife (Oscar-nominee** Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn) and the revelation that Joe has made him guardian of his teenage son (Lucas Hedges), Lee is forced to face up to painful memories and new-found levels of responsibility as he reconnects with his family. Nominee, Best Actor in a Supporting Role, The Assassination of Jessie James by the Coward Robert Ford, 2008 Nominee, Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role, My Week With Marilyn, 2012

• Coal Miner's Daughter | DVD | (01/02/2010) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  At eighteen the mother of four children and busy housewife Loretta Lynn (Sissy Spacek) still finds time to write and sing songs at small fairs and local honky-tonks. Recognizing her raw talent and huge potential her ambitious husband Mooney (Tommy Lee Jones) prods her into making a record and going to Nashville. After a performance at the Grand Ole Opry the record becomes a smash hit launching her career to super stardom and changing the sound and style of Country Music forever.

• 12 Years a Slave | DVD | (12/05/2014) from £3.69   |  Saving you £16.30 (441.73%)   |  RRP £19.99

  From acclaimed director Steve McQueen comes the incredible true story of one man's fight for survival and freedom. It is 1841 and Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery.

• Forrest Gump- 25th Anniversary Edition (Blu-ray) | Blu Ray | (03/06/2019) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Celebrate all the beloved moments, visual mastery, moving performances and captivating storytelling of Forrest Gump in this remarkable, remastered 25th Anniversary edition. Winner of six Oscars® including Best Picture, Actor (Tom Hanks) and Director (Robert Zemeckis), the generation-defining film is a stunning journey through some of the most memorable events and cultural touchstones of the later 20th century, courtesy of Forrest and the powerful cast of characters. Hanks, Sally Field, Robin Wright, Mykelti Williamson and Gary Sinise all shine their brightest. Then, now, always the world is simply never the same once you've seen it through the eyes of Forrest Gump. This 2 disc collection includes all new digitally remastered Blu-ray film Plus over 3 hours of bonus content! Featuring the complete originally released special features

• I, Tonya | Blu Ray | (25/06/2018) from £4.73   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Based on the unbelievable but true events, I, TONYA is a darkly comedic tale of American figure skater, Tonya Harding, and one of the most sensational scandals in sports history. Though Harding was the first American woman to complete a triple axel in competition, her legacy was forever defined by her association with an infamous, ill-conceived, and even more poorly executed attack on fellow Olympic competitor Nancy Kerrigan. Featuring an iconic turn by Margot Robbie as the fiery Harding I, TONYA is an absurd, irreverent, and piercing portrayal of Harding's life and career in all of its uncheckedand checkeredglory.

• They Shall Not Grow Old | DVD | (10/12/2018) from £4.85   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  A documentary about World War I with never-before-seen footage to commemorate the centennial of the end of the war

• The Big Short | Blu Ray | (23/05/2016) from £7.99   |  Saving you £1.99 (24.91%)   |  RRP £9.98

  The true story of several remarkable contrarian investors who, recognizing just how insane the housing bubble and subprime mortgage market had become, figured out how to short the market and make a killing during the financial collapse of 2008.