Drama

• This Boy's Life | DVD | (21/07/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £13.99

  Robert De Niro gets top billing, but young Leonardo DiCaprio is the revelation of This Boy's Life, an astute, often painful drama of growing up in the 1950s Pacific Northwest, based on the autobiographical novel by Tobias Wolff. DiCaprio plays Tobias, a good kid with a bad boy streak but an unwavering love for his divorced mother (Ellen Barkin). "I want to be a better boy", he promises from under a greasy pompadour, and tries to prove it when she marries single father Dwight (DeNiro), a bully who parents through intimidation and humiliation. A pre-Titanic DiCaprio is magnetic in his first starring role, full of anger, hope and confusion as he drifts back to juvenile delinquency and his intensity gives the true story of survival and triumph its charge. DeNiro is frightening and pathetic as Dwight, and Dwight's youngest daughter is played by future star and vampire slayer Eliza Dushku. --Sean Axmaker

• Sam Fuller at Columbia 1937-1961 - Limited Edition Blu Ray | Blu Ray | (25/06/2018) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  The daring and provocative films of maverick American filmmaker Samuel Fuller (1912-1997) were some of the most hard-hitting, outspoken, politically progressive and visually audacious of the Hollywood studio era. This seven-film Blu-ray box set brings together Fuller's entire output as a writer and director for Columbia Pictures: IT HAPPENED IN HOLLYWOOD (1937), a witty satire on the movie-making business, co-written by Fuller; ADVENTURE IN SAHARA (1938), a gripping thriller based on a Fuller story; POWER OF THE PRESS (1943), a daring drama about a corrupt newspaper publisher, based on a Fuller story; SHOCKPROOF (1949), a brooding film noir written by Fuller and directed by the great Douglas Sirk; SCANDAL SHEET, a tense drama about a compromised newspaper editor, based on Fuller's acclaimed novel The Dark Page; THE CRIMSON KIMONO (1959), Fuller's frank and unsentimental detective thriller which attacked the prejudice, ignorance and bigotry that Fuller saw all around him; and UNDERWORLD U.S.A. (1961), Fuller's unflinching depiction of the brutal world of organised crime. This collectable four-disc box set also contains an array of new and archival extra features, limited edition booklets with newly commissioned essays, archival material, contemporary reviews, and full film credits, and is strictly limited to 6,000 numbered units. INDICATOR LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY BOX SET SPECIAL FEATURES: High Definition remasters of all seven films Original mono audio Sam Fuller in Conversation with Henry Chapier (1989): archival recording from the French TV series Le divan d'Henry Chapier Sam Fuller Storyteller (2009): Christa and Samantha Fuller, Martin Scorsese, Wim Wenders, Tim Robbins and Curtis Hanson on the life and work of Sam Fuller Sam Fuller's Search for Truth (2009): celebrated actor and director Tim Robbins discusses Fuller's philosophy of cinema The Culture of ˜The Crimson Kimono' (2009, 10 mins): filmmaker Curtis Hanson considers the impact of The Crimson Kimono Martin Scorsese on ˜Underworld U.S.A' (2009, 6 mins): the renowned filmmaker discusses one of his favourite Fuller works Barry Forshaw on 'Underworld U.S.A.' (2018, tbc mins): an appreciation by the author of American Noir Original theatrical trailers Limited Edition exclusive booklets containing newly commissioned essays by Pamela Hutchinson and Lindsay Ann Hallam, archival interviews with director Sam Fuller, historic articles, a critical anthology, and full film credits World Blu-ray premieres of It Happened in Hollywood, Adventure in Sahara, Power of the Press, Shockproof and Scandal Sheet UK Blu-ray premieres of The Crimson Kimono and Underworld U.S.A. Limited Edition Box Set of 6,000 numbered copies ...AND MORE All extras subject to change

• Elmer Gantry | DVD | (03/02/2003) from £15.29   |  Saving you £-2.30 (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Brothers and sisters, can we get a witness for Elmer Gantry, a woeful tale of saints and sinners? Burt Lancaster earned his only Oscar as the wide-smiling, glad-handing, soul-saving charlatan Gantry, a salesman who turns his gift for preaching into a career at the pulpit. Climbing on board the barnstorming evangelical tour of revivalist Sister Sharon Falconer (Jean Simmons), Gantry declaims, invokes, and sermonises his way to the top, until a former flame-turned-prostitute (Shirley Jones in an Oscar-winning performance) threatens to reveal his dark past as a womaniser and con man. Lancaster harnesses all his physical vigour and natural charisma for this role, literally throwing himself into his preaching with the suppleness of an acrobat and the sing-song delivery of a gospel singer--he even brays like a hound to show the Holy Spirit within him. Gantry is a showman, pure and simple, and while he doesn't fool true-believer Sister Sharon, he gives her a few object lessons in playing the crowd. Director Richard Brooks, who also took home an Oscar for his screenplay (adapted from the Sinclair Lewis novel), creates a rousing drama both on and off the pulpit, and provides fine roles for an excellent supporting cast, including Arthur Kennedy, Dean Jagger, John McIntire, and singer Patti Page. --Sean Axmaker

• Sling Blade | Blu Ray | (11/06/2012) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  A simple man. A difficult choice.25 years after commiting an unthinkable crime, quiet Karl is finally returning home. Once there, the mentally disabled man is befriended by a fatherless boy and his mother. But when his newfound peace is shattered by the mother's abusive boyfriend, Karl is suddenly placed on a collision course with his past...Winner of the 1997 Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for Billy Bob Thornton who was also nominated for the Best Actor award.

• Enemy At The Door - The Complete Series | DVD | (12/10/2009) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £49.99

  The only piece of British soil to be occupied by the Germans during World War II the Channel Islands are the setting for Enemy at the Door - a gripping and sometimes harrowing account of the Islanders living under German rule.

• The Grifters | Blu Ray | (02/11/2020) from £11.98   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  A small-time conman has torn loyalties between his estranged mother and new girlfriend--both of whom are high-stakes grifters with their own angles to play.

• Peak Practice - Series 2 - Complete | DVD | (07/04/2008) from £14.99   |  Saving you £5.00 (33.36%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The complete second series of the rural medical drama. Episodes comprise: 1. In Good Faith 2. Old Habits 3. Love Thy Neighbour 4. Act of Remembrance 5. Enemy Within 6. Long Weekend 7. Chance Encounter 8. Life Changes 9. A Brave Face 10. Abbey 11. Perfect Love 12. Power Games 13. Happy Ever After

• Contagion | DVD | (05/03/2012) from £4.96   |  Saving you £15.03 (303.02%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Steven Soderbergh alternates between films about individuals, like Erin Brockovich, and multi-character thrillers, like Contagion, which takes a Traffic-style approach to a deadly pandemic. It also represents a reunion for three actors from The Talented Mr. Ripley as Gwyneth Paltrow and Matt Damon play a suburban Minneapolis couple, while Jude Law (with unflattering dentures) plays a muckraking Bay Area blogger. When Beth (Paltrow) returns from a business trip to Hong Kong, she brings a virus with her that spreads across the world, attracting the attention of people at the Centers for Disease Control (Laurence Fishburne, Kate Winslet, and Jennifer Ehle) and the World Health Organization (Marion Cotillard). Just as virologists frantically try to track down the origins of the pathogen and to find a cure, it starts to mutate, foiling every move they make. Soderbergh, who serves as his own cinematographer, captures every development: false rumors, looting in the streets, and mass graves. Whenever he focuses on emptied-out offices and supermarkets, chillers like I Am Legend spring to mind, even if Contagion avoids most sci-fi/horror tropes, except for a stomach-churning autopsy sequence--one of his few real missteps. Mostly, he concentrates on cool heads dealing with life-and-death issues the best they can. The end result registers as more realistic than Outbreak, if less pulse pounding than Traffic, though the final sequence proves Soderbergh can find the grace notes even amidst an unbearable tragedy. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

• Screw | DVD | (21/03/2022) from £9.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Charters and Caldicott | DVD | (25/04/2016) from £39.99   |  Saving you £-15.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  It's more than 40 years since their classic crime capers in The Lady Vanishes, Night Train to Munich and It's Not Cricket. The gentlemen-sleuth duo may be retired but they still forgo their Friday lunch to investigate a new murder mystery. Caldicott (Michael Aldridge) lives in splendid luxury at Viceroy Court, Marylebone, while Charters (Robin Bailey) resides in leafy Reigate and as ever they meet at their posh Pall Mall club. When the body of an old friend's daughter is found in Caldicott's flat, the pair forgo their regular Friday lunch to solve the crime. The mystery deepens, though, when Charters receives a phone call from the supposedly dead girl! Over the six entertaining episodes the plot thickens as the case is linked to a cargo of gold on a sunken German WWII U-Boat. And from there the excitement builds to a thrilling climax at Lord's Cricket Ground both on and off the pitch!

• Joy | Blu Ray | (25/04/2016) from £6.96   |  Saving you £25.02 (630.23%)   |  RRP £28.99

  JOY is the wild story of a family across four generations centered on the girl who becomes the woman who founds a business dynasty and becomes a matriarch in her own right. Betrayal, treachery, the loss of innocence and the scars of love, pave the road in this intense emotional and human comedy about becoming a true boss of family and enterprise facing a world of unforgiving commerce. Allies become adversaries and adversaries become allies, both inside and outside the family, as Joy's inner life and fierce imagination carry her through the storm she faces. Jennifer Lawrence stars, with Robert De Niro, Bradley Cooper, Edgar Ramirez, Isabella Rossellini, Diane Ladd, Virginia Madsen, Elisabeth Röhm and Dascha Polanco. Like David O. Russell's previous films, Joy defies genre to tell a story of family, loyalty, and love.

• King Lear | DVD | (06/06/2005) from £16.00   |  Saving you £-10.01 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  There have been a number of notable cinematic versions of King Lear and Peter Brook's depiction of Shakespeare's epic tragedy is no exception. The majesticl Paul Scofield tackles the role of Lear with such aplomb that it is clear to see why many of his contemporaries consider him to be the finest Shakespearian actor to emerge from the RSC (Royal Shakespeare Company).

• Baby Love | Blu Ray | (22/06/2020) from £9.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Charting the implosion of a middle-class family in the presence of an emotionally deprived, sexually provocative teenage girl, this controversial feature marks the big-screen debut of both future Hammer and Confessions... star Linda Hayden and BAFTA- and Emmy award-winning director Alastair Reid. Co-starring Diana Dors and Keith Barron, Baby Love is featured here as a brand-new High Definition transfer from original film elements in its as-exhibited theatrical aspect ratio. Brought up in slums, fifteen-year-old Luci becomes orphaned and is taken in by an old friend of her mother's. While she quickly develops a taste for her new comfortable life, her resentment grows and, little by little, Luci seduces everyone around her as she sets out to destroy her adoptive family...

• Cass | Blu Ray | (29/12/2008) from £11.98   |  Saving you £16.00 (177.98%)   |  RRP £24.99

  The incredible true story of how an orphaned Jamaican baby, adopted by an elderly white couple and brought up in an all white area of London, became one of the most feared and respected men in Britain.

• Awaydays | DVD | (28/09/2009) from £3.99   |  Saving you £14.00 (350.88%)   |  RRP £17.99

  A gritty and hard-hitting coming-of-age story about one young man looking for answers in all the wrong places as he falls in with a violent gang

• The Sarah Jane Adventures - Invasion of the Bane | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £5.78   |  Saving you £-0.79 (N/A%)   |  RRP £4.99

  Sarah Jane Smith is a truly remarkable woman. She inhabits a world of mystery danger and wonder. A world where aliens are commonplace and the Earth is constantly under threat. A world that Maria Jackson - a seemingly ordinary girl - can only dream of until she moves in next door. Nothing will ever be ordinary again. In the first adventure there's a new drink taking the world by storm - Bubbleshock! Everyone's drinking it. When Maria's dragged along to the factory tour by her new friend Kelsey - a girl with an opinion on everything - she's plunged into the sinister world of Bubbleshock and the mysterious Mrs Wormwood. There's something terrible behind the hype - something Sarah Jane's interested in too... The Sarah Jane Adventures are thrilling stories for children. Big adventures superb effects wicked comedy.

• The Color Purple | Blu Ray | (04/12/2023) from £19.97   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Steven Spielberg's 1985 cinematic adaptation of Alice Walker's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Color Purple brings the unforgettable story and characters to life with a talented cast. Whoopi Goldberg delivers a remarkable debut performance as Celie, who defies cruelty with love and finds joy in a closed-off world. The film received 11 Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, and features captivating performances by Danny Glover, Oprah Winfrey, Margaret Avery, Adolph Caesar, Rae Dawn Chong, and Akosua Busia. This enduring classic remains beloved by fans worldwide. Product Features On-Disc Special Features Conversations with the Ancestors: The Color Purple from Book to Screen A Collaboration of Spirits: Casting and Acting The Color Purple Cultivating a Classic: The Making of The Color Purple, The Color Purple: The Musical Theatrical Trailers

• Tess Of The D'Urbervilles | DVD | (19/02/2007) from £9.98   |  Saving you £2.00 (25.03%)   |  RRP £9.99

  The powerful tale of a peasant girl whose life is torn apart by the love and jealousy of two men. Tess's journey from innocent country maiden to tragic ruined heroine is a story of love prejudice and hypocrisy in an era of Victorian values.

• Jesse Stone - The Complete Collection (Stone Cold / Night Passage / Death In Paradise / Sea Change / Thin Ice / No Remorse / Innocents Lost / Benefit Of The Doubt / Lost In Paradise) | DVD | (20/05/2019) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Postcards From The Edge | DVD | (08/03/2004) from £4.19   |  Saving you £1.80 (30.10%)   |  RRP £5.99

  A film by Mike Nichols of Carrie Fisher's semi-autobiographical novel, Postcards from the Edge is an intermittently hilarious, occasionally tear-stained account of an actress' struggle with addiction and with her competitive star mother. Meryl Streep turns in yet another flawlessly perfect performance as Suzanne, who is coping with cleaning up while making yet another idiot cop film. Shirley Maclaine is effective and overpowering as her hard-drinking Old Hollywood star mother perpetually trying to remould her daughter, singing Sondheim songs at parties, showing off her still-perfect legs and occasionally driving into trees. Among the many guest stars, Dennis Quaid is self-effacingly unpleasant as an unreliable boyfriend, Gene Hackman charismatic as a fatherly director and Annette Benning impressive in a cameo as a starlet rival. Nichols' standard slickness is very much on display here; this is perhaps too obviously manipulative a film in which the emotional detail is never quite as impressive as the central performances and script deserve. On the DVD: The DVD takes the rather subversive risk of giving the commentary role to Carrie Fisher, who discusses entertainingly how the screenplay evolved from her original novel, occasionally making clear that certain sentimentalisations of the characters were not her idea; she argues coherently that the film makes Meryl Streep's character a little too much the martyr. She also gives us a lot of faintly scurrilous Hollywood and family gossip. It also provides the theatrical trailer and filmographies for the director and major players. --Roz Kaveney