Drama

• Maitresse (DVD & Blu-ray) | Blu Ray | (05/11/2012) from £8.69   |  Saving you £11.30 (130.04%)   |  RRP £19.99

  World premiere on Blu-ray (as part of this BFI Dual Format Edition), this controversial film from director Barbet Schroeder (Barfly, Single White Female, The Valley) is both a conventional love story and a dark study of fetishism. Starring Gerard Depardieu as Olivier, the young innocent who falls for the mysterious maitresse Ariane (Bulle Ogier), a leather clad dominatrix. Based on an encounter with a real-life dominatrix, this story of a Paris prostitute specialising in bondage and sado-masochism was refused a certificate by the BBFC on its original release. The film features graphic scenes of torture and fetishism which the Board described as 'miles in excess of anything we have ever passed in this field in 1976.' Only released at the time in a handful of club cinemas in 1981, the film was cut by almost five minutes and finally awarded an X certificate. This fully uncut version was first passed in 2003 and is presented in new High Definition transfer for the very first time.

• The Aki Kaurismaki Collection - Vol. 3 | DVD | (22/10/2007) from £79.99   |  Saving you £-50.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Aki Kaurism''ki s deadpan ironic and idiosyncratic films have established him as one of modern European cinema's most accomplished filmmakers. This box set presents three of his remarkable and highly acclaimed features. Crime and Punishment: Kaurism''ki s first feature follows the descent into crime of Rahikainen a slaughterhouse worker and former law student who murders a businessman and then begins a tense game of cat and mouse with the police. Effectively updating Dostoevsky s great novel to 1980s Helsinki this remarkably assured debut offers a sharp critique of Finnish society. Calamari Union: A group of men all bar one called Frank abandon their downtrodden neighbourhood in search of Eira a near mythical district across town that promises a better life. Kaurism''ki s second features details their misadventures along the way with deadpan humour and rock and roll attitude. Hamlet Goes Buisness: In this wicked and hilarious satire of the corporate world Kaurism''ki liberally updates Shakespeare s tragedy as a hard-boiled noir B-movie. Finnish comic Pirkka-Pekka Petelius plays an irresponsible playboy who finds himself involved in a vicious boardroom power struggle with his uncle who plans to sell off his company s assets in order to corner the market on Swedish rubber ducks. La Vie de Boh''me: Freely adapted from Henri Murger s 1851 novel this is Kaurism''ki s highly individual take on the story of three bohemian artists a poet a painter and a composer set in a timeless Paris. Shifting between heartbreaking drama and black humour the fine cast features cameos from Jean-Pierre L''aud Sam Fuller and Louis Malle.

• Marlowe | Blu Ray | (18/09/2023) from £13.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Godland | Blu Ray | (03/07/2023) from £8.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  In the late 19th century, Denmark regards Iceland as its territory, which extends beyond matters of geography and governance to the spiritual health of the population. So Lucas, a Lutheran priest, is sent by the Church of Denmark to establish a parish. Ever an optimist, Lucas believes his faith will guide him, even when he is warned of the obstacles, including a people who may be less than welcoming. Godland makes the most of a breathtakingly austere Icelandic landscape in its story of a man on a singular mission.

• Cutting It - Complete Series 4 | DVD | (18/07/2005) from £9.84   |  Saving you £15.15 (153.96%)   |  RRP £24.99

  The Salon's thriving and Allie wants to expand and open her own hairdressing academy bringing on a new generation of hairdressers. The venture has financial backing from Liam Carney (James Murray) an ex-boy-band member who's trying to shake off the trappings of his past life with mixed success. Allie's dreams are the least of her concern when she finds out that she has Ovarian cancer but how will Gavin react? Featuring all the episodes of series 4.

• Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody | Blu Ray | (13/03/2023) from £9.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  From New Jersey choir girl to one of the best-selling and most awarded recording artists of all time, this triumphant celebration of the incomparable Whitney Houston is a no-holds-barred portrait of the complex and multifaceted woman behind the voice of a generation. Follow the inspirational, poignant-and so emotional-journey through Houston's trailblazing life and career, with show-stopping performances and a soundtrack of the icon's most beloved hits as you've never heard them before.

• Dance to the Music of Time | DVD | (19/07/2010) from £26.98   |  Saving you £-6.99 (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Anthony Powell's 12 volume novel sequence A Dance to the Music of Time dramatised for television.

• Take Shelter (Blu-Ray) | Blu Ray | (03/09/2018) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Curtis LaForche lives a happy family life in a small Ohio town with his wife Samantha and six-year-old daughter Hannah. When he begins to have nightmares of an impending apocalyptic storm he questions his sanity but prepares for the worst by building a storm shelter. As he becomes increasingly plagued by visions his behaviour grows ever more erratic, alienating friends and putting his livelihood and marriage in jeopardy. Is Curtis losing his mind or are the visions that plague him a forewarning? A haunting and powerful film by Jeff Nichols that features an intense and mesmerising performance by Michael Shannon. Features: An exclusive new interview with Jeff Nichols Jeff Nichols and Michael Shannon on-stage Q&A at Ebertfest 2012 DP/30 round table interview with Jeff Nichols, Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastain Archive interviews with Jeff Nichols, Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastain Jeff Nichols ˜Semaine de la Critique' interview 2011 Behind-the-scenes Deleted scenes English subtitles for the hearing impaired

• Cottage to Let | Blu Ray | (16/03/2020) from £14.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Leslie Banks stars alongside Alastair Sim, John Mills and a very young George Cole in this thrilling wartime espionage drama from award-winning director Anthony Asquith. Adapted from Geoffrey Kerr's smash West End play (which also starred Banks, Sim and Cole), Cottage to Let is presented here as a brand-new High Definition transfer from original film elements in its original theatrical aspect ratio. Working in secret for the Air Ministry at his remote country house laboratory, John Barrington is key to the ongoing war effort against the Nazis. Barrington's household, however, has been infiltrated by enemy agents - who plan to take him back to Berlin as prisoner. Special Features: Image gallery

• The Two Jakes | Blu Ray | (27/02/2023) from £9.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Jack Nicholson returns as private eye Jake Gittes in this atmospheric Chinatown follow-up that's hit upon the elusive sequel formula for somehow enhancing a great original (Mike Clark, USA Today ). Much has changed since we last saw Jake. The war has come and gone; 1948 Los Angeles teems with optimism and fast bucks. But there's one thing Jake knows hasn't changed:Nine times out of ten, if you follow the money you will get to the truth. And that's the trail he follows when a routine case of marital hanky panky explodes into a murder that's tied to a grab for oil and to Jake's own past.

• La Belle Et La Bete | DVD | (19/11/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  La Belle et La Bete is one of the all-time great movie fantasies, and one of the most gorgeous pictures ever made. It was the first feature film by French director Jean Cocteau, a writer, poet and painter with ties to the surrealists. (In fact, his first film, The Blood of a Poet, was delayed after the scandal caused by L'Age D'Or, made by his fellow surrealists Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dali.) The haunting, surreal visuals (candelabra made of human hands, for example) and a sensitive performance by Jean Marais as the Beast imbue the film with an indelible, mythical power. --Jim Emerson, Amazon.com

• Kramer vs Kramer | DVD | (02/05/2011) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  It might have started out as a small, rather arty divorce drama but Kramer vs Kramer was the biggest cinema hit of 1979. It confirmed Dustin Hoffman's status as a major star in a performance that combined his trademark twitchy intensity with deep sensitivity. And it provided Meryl Streep with a pivotal role in her rise to big-screen greatness. Both won Oscars, as did director Robert Benton and the film itself scooped the Best Picture award. Kramer vs Kramer has worn well into the 21st century. Although clearly of its time--by the late 1970s, microscopic relationship analysis had become the theme of commercial cinema--it stands on the strength of its central performances. Hoffman's Ted Kramer is a vision of the Graduate grown up: serious, focused and thrown by anything that threatens his upwardly mobile professional trajectory. The news that his wife, who he has failed to notice teetering on the edge of a breakdown, is leaving him and their son sends him into a tailspin. The film is as much about his resilience and fulfilment as it is the story of a divorce and custody battle. Justin Henry is extraordinary as Billy, the boy caught in the middle, and turns in a remarkably complex, thoughtful performance, which is light years from the archetypal all-American kid you might anticipate. And in just a handful of scenes, Streep is mesmerising as Joanna, the deserting wife and mother who you just can't bring yourself to hate. Yes, this is soap opera. But it belongs up there with all the finest cinematic human dramas. On the DVD: The widescreen presentation ensures a theatrically authentic experience, with some fantastic shots of New York city coming into their own. The mono sound is adequate for the relative intimacy of most of the dialogue. But the real bonus is the retrospective documentary in which director and writer Benton, producer Stanley Jaffe and the cast look back with touching satisfaction at a piece which clearly meant a great deal to them all. Hoffman's initial reluctance (he was going through a real-life divorce) to get involved, the process of working with a gifted child actor and Streep's desire to make Joanna understood are all recalled in fascinating detail. --Piers Ford

• The Bonfire Of The Vanities (1990) | DVD | (01/06/2006) from £7.09   |  Saving you £6.90 (97.32%)   |  RRP £13.99

  Is it time, after the anonymous disaster of Mission to Mars, to give Brian De Palma's famously doomed film of Tom Wolfe's bulky novel Bonfire of the Vanities another chance? The uproarious ins and outs of the film's troubled production have become well-known via Julie Salamon's account of its making, The Devil's Candy, and fans of that might want to flick between page and screen to see just when Melanie Griffith caused untold continuity problems by having her breasts inflated. Techno buffs will surely appreciate the pointless but somehow wonderful trickery of an extended tracking shot at the outset that exists only to last a few seconds longer than the one in Orson Welles Touch of Evil (1958). Tom Hanks was rather better cast than was generally allowed, as "master of the universe" Sherman McCoy, who comes a cropper after a hit-and-run accident, since his nice-guy act shows intriguing cracks. And even Bruce Willis does his best on a hiding to nothing as the drunken writer. It is funny in parts, agonising in others, and misses Wolfe's tone--but somehow its failures might make it as symptomatic of the long-gone excesses of the early 90s as the novel was of the 80s. --Kim Newman

• Sid And Nancy | DVD | (29/08/2016) from £7.99   |  Saving you £10.00 (125.16%)   |  RRP £17.99

  BRAND NEW RESTORATION TO CELEBRATE THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF PUNK, INLCUDES BRAND NEW BONUS FEATURES It's 1977 and The Sex Pistols have taken the music world by storm with lead singer Johnny Rotten (Andrew Schofield) and bass guitarist Sid Vicious (Gary Oldman) enjoying all the spoils that fame and money have to offer. Vicious embarks on a relationship with an American groupie Nancy (Chloe Webb) - who has come to London to pursue him but the couple's increasing drug use frays relationships with Johnny and the rest of the band. With Nancy in tow, The Sex Pistols embark on a chaotic tour US tour which ends in disaster with the band breaking up. Vicious attempts to start a solo career, with Nancy as his manager, but by now both are dangerously addicted to heroin. The two continue in a downward, destructive spiral until, in October 1978 at the Chelsea Hotel in New York, Nancy is found stabbed with Sid lying prostrate at her side. Arrested and accused of murder, he dies of an overdose before his trial.

• The Strange World Of Planet X | DVD | (03/04/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Man and alien unite to combat the most insidious peril the universe has ever known! Dr. Laird and his British team of scientists have been experimenting with ultra intense magnetic fields. Unbeknown to them though this has been affecting distant objects in the galaxy. After a freak storm something sinsiter and seemingly all powerful is discovered in the nearby Bryerly Woods and the full extent of the Doctor's experiments become apparent...

• Doctor Faustus | DVD | (04/10/2010) from £6.48   |  Saving you £9.51 (146.76%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Stage on Screen presents a Greenwich Theatre production of Dr Faustus by Christopher Marlowe. Using the unabridged A text version of the play, this lucid, stylish and energetic production captures perfectly both the horror and dark humour of Marlowe's tragic work. "Atmospheric... diabolically convincing...flashes of fiery poetry...directed with laudable clarity" Time Out. THE STAGE REVIEW I've never been very happy about films of plays shot in theatres during live performances because they are usually too static to make the best use of film and the sound is rarely satisfactory. Stage on Screen's DVD of Greenwich Theatre's November 2009 production of Doctor Faustus, however, confounded all my negative expectations because it is extremely watchable and really does give you the best of both worlds - the advantage of close-up shots and the sense of being at a live performance. Gareth Kennerley is magnificent in the huge role of Doctor Faustus, taking the character adeptly from casual, confident academic to the depths of manic despair. I loved Beatrice Curnew's gravelly, unequivocal delivery of the Chorus part and Tim Treloar gets the balance between disingenuous humour and ruthlessness just right in Mephistopheles. Guy Burgess is good value as Wagner and some of the ensemble work in depicting all those sins is very fine. The climax is compelling - even on a small screen. It was, evidently, impeccably directed by Elizabeth Freestone and imaginatively filmed by outside broadcaster Chris Cowey. And I need not have worried about the sound. It is well balanced and fully audible. Optional full-text subtitles (including simple stage directions such as 'Faustus shrieks') will help anyone new to the play as well as deaf and hard of hearing viewers. Susan Elkin, Education Editor

• Saving Mr Banks | Blu Ray | (24/03/2014) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £22.99

  Two-time Academy Award winner Emma Thompson and fellow double Oscar winner Tom Hanks star in Disney's Saving Mr. Banks inspired by the extraordinary untold tale of how one of the most beloved stories of all time Mary Poppins was brought to the big screen. The film is a poignant sharply funny and moving recounting of Walt Disney's (Tom Hanks) quest to fulfil a promise to his daughters to make a film of their favourite book and of its fiercely protective author PL Travers (Emma Thompson) who had no intention of letting her beloved nanny go to Hollywood. Saving Mr. Banks follows Walt as he has to pull out all the stops to change PL Travers' mind and is ultimately forced to reach back into his own childhood to discover the truth about the ghosts that haunt her. Together they set Mary Poppins free to become one of the most endearing films in cinematic history. Academy Award winner Paul Giamatti Colin Farrell Ruth Wilson and Jason Schwartzman round out the terrific cast.

• Sliding Doors | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £5.92   |  Saving you £0.07 (1.18%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Nice concept, shaky execution--that about sums up the mixed blessings of British actor Peter Howitt's intelligent but forgivably flawed debut as a writer-director. It's got more emotional depth than most frothy romantic comedies and its central idea--the parallel tracking of two possible destinies for a young London professional played by Gwyneth Paltrow--is full of involving possibilities. It's essentially a what-if scenario with Helen (Paltrow) at the centre of two slightly but significantly different romantic trajectories, one involving her two-timing boyfriend (John Lynch)and the other with an amiable chap (John Hannah) who represents a happier outcome. That's the film's basic problem, however: the two scenarios are so romantically unbalanced (one guy's a total cad, the other charmingly sincere) that Helen inadvertently comes off looking foolish and needlessly confused. Still, this remains a pleasant experiment and Howitt's dialogue is witty enough to keep things entertaining. It's also a treat for Paltrow fans; not only does the svelte actress handle a British accent without embarrassing herself but she gets to play two subtle variations of the same character, sporting different wardrobes and hairstyles in a role that plays into her glamorous off-screen persona. --Jeff Shannon

• Born And Bred - Series 1 | DVD | (07/04/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Set in the 1950's 'Born And Bred' proved to be a hugely popular ratings winner when it was broadcast at peak time on Sunday evenings in April 2002. GP Arthur Gilder has lived in the Lancashire village of Ormston all of his life. His son Tom who is also a doctor lives in Manchester. Arthur misses his family and is determined to hand the practice over to Tom. However following in his father's footsteps is the last thing on Tom's mind - until he retraces his steps to the picturesque

• The Lost World | DVD | (03/06/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Not the Steven Spielberg blockbuster, this Lost World is a splendid BBC TV dramatisation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famous adventure story. Bob Hoskins makes an unusually genial Professor Challenger, far less of a bully than Doyle's character, but his slightly stereotyped companions are nicely filled out by a solid cast. James Fox is Challenger's more timid but still covertly adventurous rival, Tom Ward is the moustachioed big game hunter who faces an Allosaurus with an elephant gun, and Matthew Rhys plays the tagalong reporter hoping to impress his faithless fiancée. As usual, the adaptation adds a woman--orphaned jungle girl Elaine Cassidy--to the expedition, and an interesting villain (religious fanatic Peter Falk) beefs up the travelogue by marooning Challenger's gang on the South American plateau where dinosaurs, cavemen and Indians coexist eventfully. The Walking with Dinosaurs-style effects work well for the TV frame, but the real success is in integrating the Boys' Own adventuring with subtle eco-awareness, complex character interplay and the reliable wonder of soaring Pteranodons and Carnosaur attacks. --Kim Newman