Drama

• One Tree Hill - Season 1 | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £61.99

  One Tree Hill: Season 1 marks the beginning of a genuinely engrossing series that maintains, for a long while, an unusual focus on a single, powerful conflict defining the destinies of two characters. Adolescent half-brothers Lucas (Chad Michael Murray) and Nathan (James Lafferty) Scott have lived parallel lives in One Tree, North Carolina. They share a common father, Dan Scott (Paul Johansson), who has disregarded the existence of Lucas, his son by a one-time flame, Karen (Moira Kelly), whom he dumped years before to accept a basketball scholarship to college. While neglecting Lucas, Dan--whose hoop dreams never materialized--has spent his time almost perversely micro-managing every one of Nathan's moves on and off the court at his old high school, where the lad is currently an arrogant superstar under gruff-but-wise coach Whitey Durham (Barry Corbin). Nathan (whose mother is separated from Dan) is a child of privilege and has been raised to disregard teamwork, compromise, or the feelings of others. He regards Lucas, a basketball sensation on neighborhood playgrounds, as trash, and his own girlfriend, Peyton (Hilarie Burton), as a pretty bauble he can abuse and dismiss at will. Still, he's sympathetic; one can see glimpses of the human being struggling to emerge from under Dan's control. Meanwhile, Lucas helps Karen run her café, hangs out with platonic best friend Haley (Bethany Joy Lenz), and pines for Peyton (herself a punky misfit at heart). He also turns to surrogate dad Keith Scott (Craig Sheffer)--actually his uncle and Dan's older brother--for support, and sees himself as a perpetual and doomed outsider in One Tree. All that changes when Whitey invites Lucas to join the b-ball team that Nathan dominates, a move that challenges the status quo of multiple relationships in a small community. For about a third of its episodes, this series from creator Mark Schwahn (who wrote the hit film Coach Carter) stays true to the suspense surrounding Lucas's and Nathan's changes in fortune. Then a bit of padding follows to the end of the season; there are 22 episodes to fill out, after all. But even as various distractions (a kidnapping subplot, a car accident and coma for a major character) and random events creep in (Dan, rather incredibly, takes over the team from Whitey at one point, thus coaching both his sons), One Tree Hill remains highly watchable. The writing is shaped well and organic, while performances are consistently excellent. (It's especially good to see Sheffer, perhaps best known for A River Runs Through It, again.) --Tom Keogh, Amazon.com

• Danton | DVD | (13/03/2006) from £19.95   |  Saving you £0.04 (0.20%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Danton (Gerard Depardieu) and Robespierre were close friends and fought in the French Revolution but by 1793 with the new Republic in place Robespierre heads the ""Committee For Public Safety"" and has begun his now infamous ""Reign Of Terror"" flushing out any dissenting voices and sending them without hesitation to Guillotine. Danton well known as a spokesman of the people returns to Paris after his self-imposed exile to call an end to the bloodshed but in doing so makes a dangerous

• Charlotte Gray | DVD | (17/09/2007) from £10.98   |  Saving you £7.00 (77.86%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Set in Nazi-occupied France at the height of World War Two the story centres on a young Scottish woman (Cate Blanchett) working with the French Resistance in the hope of rescuing her lover, a missing RAF pilot shot down behind enemy lines.

• The Bodyguard | DVD | (01/10/1999) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £18.99

  This 1992 crowd pleaser made almost as much money for Whitney Houston as its chart-busting soundtrack. A high-wattage star vehicle as only Hollywood can make, The Bodyguard stars Houston as a pop-music diva (now there's a stretch) and Kevin Costner as the stern bodyguard who is assigned to protect her after the singer receives some nasty death threats. Pop star and bodyguard don't hit it off at first, but they wear down each others' defenses, and before long Houston is baring her tonsils with a rousing rendition of the Dolly Parton chestnut "I Will Always Love You." The film, written by Lawrence Kasden, was originally intended for Steve McQueen, but the script languished for years before Houston took an interest in the project. A proposed sequel would potentially have starred Costner and Princess Diana, until Diana's tragic death precluded that possibility. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com

• To Kill a Mockingbird | Blu Ray | (10/09/2012) from £10.98   |  Saving you £19.01 (173.13%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Ranked 34 on the American Film Institute's list of the 100 Greatest American Films, To Kill a Mockingbird is quite simply one of the finest family-oriented dramas ever made. A beautiful and deeply affecting adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Harper Lee, the film retains a timeless quality that transcends its historically dated subject matter (racism in the Depression-era South) and remains powerfully resonant in present-day America with its advocacy of tolerance, justice, integrity and loving, responsible parenthood. It's tempting to call this an important "message" movie that should be required viewing for children and adults alike, but this riveting courtroom drama is anything but stodgy or pedantic. As Atticus Finch, the small-town Alabama lawyer and widower father of two, Gregory Peck gives one of his finest performances with his impassioned defence of a black man (Brock Peters) wrongfully accused of the rape and assault of a young white woman. While his children, Scout (Mary Badham) and Jem (Philip Alford), learn the realities of racial prejudice and irrational hatred, they also learn to overcome their fear of the unknown as personified by their mysterious, mostly unseen neighbour Boo Radley (Robert Duvall, in his brilliant, almost completely nonverbal screen debut). What emerges from this evocative, exquisitely filmed drama is a pure distillation of the themes of Harper Lee's enduring novel, a showcase for some of the finest American acting ever assembled in one film, and a rare quality of humanitarian artistry (including Horton Foote's splendid screenplay and Elmer Bernstein's outstanding score) that seems all but lost in the chaotic morass of modern cinema. --Jeff Shannon

• The Saint - The Monchrome Episodes | DVD | (25/09/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £99.99

  Roger Moore is Simon Templar better known as The Saint. The Saint out-swindles the swindlers for the good of the little guy: he's handsome charming suave and sophisticated! This is an 18 disc set containing all the monochrome adventures of The Saint!

• Rescue Me - Season 2 | DVD | (29/01/2007) from £20.00   |  Saving you £14.99 (74.95%)   |  RRP £34.99

  They save us... But who saves them? Recently divorced fireman Tommy Gavin is coping with the fear of his job and the unease he feels watching his ex-wife as she starts to date other men. To better keep tabs on his ex and stay closer to their three kids he moves across the street from them.

• All That Money Can Buy a.k.a The Devil and Daniel Webster (Criterion Collection) - UK Only | Blu Ray | (08/04/2024) from £22.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Jabez Stone is a hardworking farmer trying to make an honest living, but a streak of bad luck tempts him to do the unthinkable: bargain with the devil himself. In exchange for seven years of good fortune, Stone promises Mr. Scratch his soul. But when the troubled farmer begins to realize the error of his choice, he enlists the aid of the one man who might save him: the legendary orator and politician Daniel Webster. Directed with stylish flair by William Dieterle, All That Money Can Buy brings the classic short story by Stephen Vincent Benét to life with inspired visuals, an unforgettable, Oscar-winning score by Bernard Herrmann, and a truly diabolical performance from Walter Huston as the devil.Product Features New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack Audio commentary by film historian Bruce Eder and Steven C. Smith, biographer of composer Bernard Herrmann New restoration demonstration Reading by actor Alec Baldwin of the short story by Stephen Vincent Benét on which the film is based Episode of the Criterion Channel series Observations on Film Art about the film's editing Comparison of the differences between the July 1941 preview version of the film, Here Is a Man, and the film's 1943 rerelease as The Devil and Daniel Webster The Columbia Workshop's radio adaptations of Benét's short stories The Devil and Daniel Webster and Daniel Webster and the Sea Serpent, both featuring music by Herrmann Trailer English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing PLUS: An essay by author Tom Piazza and a 1941 article by Benét Illustration by Thomas Ott

• Monsignor Renard | DVD | (11/06/2007) from £9.93   |  Saving you £3.06 (30.82%)   |  RRP £12.99

  After going against the wishes of his family to join the Catholic Church twenty years earlier Monsignor Renard returns to the town where he was born. He finds confusion mainly caused by an ineffectual Mayor who is at pains to reassure the anxious populace that threats of occupation are premature. Renard is given a cool reception by his brother Yves resentful that Renard escaped the running of the family business and is accused of scaremongering when he disagrees with the Mayor.

• Animal Kingdom | DVD | (11/07/2011) from £5.99   |  Saving you £12.00 (200.33%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Following the death of his mother, seventeen year-old Joshua 'J' Cody (James Frecheville) moves in with his hitherto-estranged family, under the watchful eye of his doting grandmother, Janine 'Smurf' Cody (Jacki Weaver), and her three criminal sons.

• Ricki and the Flash | DVD | (28/12/2015) from £20.98   |  Saving you £1.00 (5.27%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Meryl Streep stars as Ricki, a guitar heroine who gave up everything for her dream of rock-and-roll stardom, but is now returning home to make things right with her family.

• The Rockford Files - Series 3 | DVD | (11/06/2007) from £39.35   |  Saving you £-4.36 (N/A%)   |  RRP £34.99

  ""This is Jim Rockford. At the tone leave your name and message and I'll get back to you"" Jim Rockford (James Garner) one of the most laid-back PI's in TV history returns to DVD in The Rockford Files - Season 2. In the spirit of James Garner's other famous small-screen character Bret Maverick Rockford is the kind of guy who'd rather avoid the fight and go fishing instead. An ex-con pardoned for an armed robbery he didn't commit Jim usually finds that the cases he takes on turn out to be must more serious than he first thought... Episodes Comprise: 1. The Fourth Man 2. The Oracle Wore a Cashmere Suit 3. The Family Hour 4. Feeding Frenzy 5. Drought at Indianhead River 6. Coulter City Wildcat 7. So Help Me God 8. Rattlers' Class of '63 9. Return to the 38th Parallel 10. Piece Work 11. The Trouble with Warren 12. There's One in Every Port 13. Sticks and Stones May Break Your Bones But Waterbury Will Bury You 14. The Trees the Bees and T.T. Flowers: Part 1 15. The Trees the Bees and T.T. Flowers: Part 2 16. The Becker Connection 17. Just Another Polish Wedding 18. New Life Old Dragons 19. To Protect and Serve: Part 1 20. To Protect and Serve: Part 2 21. Crack Back 22. Dirty Money Black Light

• The Erotic Films Of Peter De Rome | DVD | (26/03/2012) from £17.99   |  Saving you £4.00 (25.02%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Amateur filmmaker Peter De Rome first started shooting 8mm films in 1965 producing a set of painstakingly crafted, atmospheric sexual scenarios for the amusement of himself and his friends. Pioneering producer Jack Deveau saw one of these at a festival and convinced him to collect eight of the shorts, blow them up to 16mm, and release them commercially as The Erotic Films of Peter De Rome.The eight short films in the cycle take the viewer on a charged sexual expedition which exists at the intersection of artistry and eroticism. Here, de Rome explores the full experience of intimacy - the longing, the pursuit, the passion, the afterglow, and in some cases, the aftermath. From humorous to sardonic, de Rome truly pushes the boundaries of filmmaking as his characters find themselves in surreal scenarios ranging from a wondrous garden to an underground subway. The Erotic Films of Peter de Rome showcase some of the most highly regarded gay art films ever made.

• Shetland: Series 1-6 | DVD | (13/12/2021) from £29.77   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  All the episodes from the first six series of the Scottish crime drama based on the novels by Ann Cleeves, starring Douglas Henshall as Detective Inspector Jimmy Perez. Set in the Shetland Islands, the programme follows Perez as he works to solve a number of murder mysteries. He is assisted by Detective Sergeant Alison 'Tosh' Macintosh (Alison O'Donnell) and Detective Constable Sandy Wilson (Steven Robertson).

• And God Created Woman | DVD | (26/07/2004) from £8.27   |  Saving you £11.72 (141.72%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Roger Vadim's directorial debut And God Created Woman is more titillation than continental cool, but it broke box-office records and censorship taboos in its teasing display of sex and eroticism in the sunny vacation playground of the Saint-Tropez seashore. Vadim ushered in the era of continental attitudes toward sex and christened the voluptuous Brigitte Bardot (his wife) the world's original sex kitten: earthy, innocent, and all fleshy curves. Bardot is Juliette, a pouty child-woman orphan prone to nude sunbathing and playful flirting. Though pursued by a rich widower (Curt Jurgens) and attracted to the brawny fisherman Antoine (Christian Marquand), she marries Antoine's shy younger brother Michel (Jean-Louis Trintignant), an earnest, innocent kid hardly older than she but far less worldly. Despite her sincere efforts to "be good," Juliette gives in to Michel's advances, setting off a chain of events that ends in fraternal conflict. Vadim keeps the display of skin this side of an R rating, but only barely, teasing the male audience with skimpy outfits, barely concealing sheets, and often conveniently arranged scenery. Bohemian Bardot frolics through the film with nary a self-conscious moment, culminating in a passionate mambo, her pent-up frustration and sexual confusion exploding in a mad dance as bongos pound away on the soundtrack. Who needed Viagra in the '50s when Bardot was around? --Sean Axmaker

• Victoria | DVD | (23/05/2016) from £6.99   |  Saving you £9.00 (128.76%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Exhilarating and astonishingly ambitious, Victoria is an adrenaline-fuelled heist thriller set on the streets of nighttime Berlin that features the staggering technical feat of being shot in a single, unbroken take.

• Antwone Fisher | DVD | (15/03/2004) from £4.90   |  Saving you £13.09 (267.14%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Academy Award-winning actor Denzel Washington's directorial debut involves the touching story of a sailor (Derek Luke) who, prone to violent outbursts, is sent to a naval psychiatrist (Washington) for help.

• Blue Jasmine | DVD | (17/02/2014) from £4.90   |  Saving you £15.09 (307.96%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Woody Allen's new drama BLUE JASMINE is the story of the final stages of an acute crisis and a life of a fashionable New York housewife.

• Now Is Good (DVD + UV Copy) | DVD | (21/01/2013) from £4.79   |  Saving you £11.20 (233.82%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Tessa is seventeen and passionate about life. Diagnosed with a terminal illness, she determines to use every moment, compiling a catalogue of what a normal teenager would experience, including losing her virginity and taking drugs. With the help of her friend Zoey, she sets the list in motion. While her family deals with fear and grief, each in their own way, Tessa explores a whole new world. Falling in love with Adam, her new neighbour, wasn't on the list, but it proves to be the most exhilarating experience of them all.

• Lawrence of Arabia - Two Disc Set | DVD | (09/04/2001) from £5.99   |  Saving you £19.00 (317.20%)   |  RRP £24.99

  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