Drama

• The Camomile Lawn | DVD | (14/04/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Adapted from the novel by Mary Wesley, The Camomile Lawn proved one of Channel Four's most successful dramas, telling an intricate story set during World War II and over two days in 1984. In this portrait of the Home Front in Cornwall and London in the Blitz, the titular lawn becomes a symbol for halcyon pre-war days, and also for a lost innocence on a personal level. For this is very much about growing up and sex, including rape and child abuse (both handled tactfully, mainly in dialogue), adulatory, ménage á trois, bisexuality and rampant promiscuity. The attitudes, from the war-damaged, nihilistic Oliver, (a powerfully charismatic Toby Stephens) to the mercenary Calypso (an incendiary Jennifer Ehle), and some individual scenes, shock in their very matter-of-factness. What could be salacious soap is leavened by a comic touch, intensified by tragedy and elevated to intensely moving drama during its final half hour set around a funeral in 1984. Generally excellent production values make the best of the television budget, and there are outstanding performances by a large cast including Felicity Kendal and Paul Eddington (reunited from The Good Life), Tara Fitzgerald in her first starring role, and especially Rebecca Hall as Sophy. On the DVD: The four episodes are presented on two discs, with a total running time of approximately four hours 22 minutes. There are no special features of any sort. The picture is standard television 4:3, and while marginally better than VHS has a slight softness, with occasional after-images to shots with moving lights betraying that the series was made on video rather than film. Some scenes are rather grainy and there is the occasion brief instance of MPEG artifacting. The sound is stereo and appears to have been remixed from mono, some elements such as the music remaining in mono, while some sound effects are stereo. --Gary S Dalkin

• Much Ado About Nothing | DVD | (07/10/2013) from £4.95   |  Saving you £13.04 (263.43%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Leonato (Clark Gregg) the governor of Messina is visited by his friend Don Pedro (Reed Diamond) who is returning from a victorious campaign against his rebellious brother Don John (Sean Maher). Accompanying Don Pedro are two of his officers: Benedick (Alexis Denisof) and Claudio (Fran Kranz). While in Messina Claudio falls for Leonato's daughter Hero (Jillian Morgese) while Benedick verbally spars with Beatrice (Amy Acker) the governor's niece. The budding love between Claudio and Hero prompts Don Pedro to arrange with Leonato for marriage. In the days leading up to the ceremony Don Pedro with the help of Leonato Claudia and Hero attempts to sport with Benedick and Beatrice in an effort to trick the two falling in love. Meanwhile the villainous Don John with the help of his comrade (Riki Lindhome) and Borachio (Spencer Treat Clark) plots against the happy couple using his own form of trickery to try to destroy the marriage before it begins. A series of comic and tragic events may continue to keep the two couples from truly finding happiness but then again perhaps love may prevail.

• Yield to the Night | Blu Ray | (12/10/2020) from £10.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  The powerful story of salesgirl Mary Hilton (Diana Dors) who, after being convicted of murder and sentenced to hang, spends her final weeks in a condemned cell remembering the events that led to her crime. She met and fell hopelessly in love with impoverished musician Jim Lancaster (Michael Craig), and left her neglectful husband for him, only to find his attraction to her deflected by his involvement with rich socialite Lucy Carpenter (Mercia Shaw). When Jim's relationship with Lucy takes a tragic turn, Mary is heartbroken and snaps - transforming her love for him into a murderous hatred for her rival. Alone, imprisoned and desperately afraid; as each day the end grows closer and she attempts to settle matters with her family as she awaits her final sentencing, or a possible reprieve. Extras: New: Interview with Michael Craig New: Interview with Melanie Williams, film historian and author Film Fanfare - no 19 - Diana Dors interview(1956) Film Fanfare - no 12 - Yield to the Night Premiere (1957) Behind the Scenes stills gallery

• This Happy Breed | Blu Ray | (18/06/2012) from £16.98   |  Saving you £5.00 (33.36%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Noel Coward's celebration of the strength and humour of the British working class in times of crisis struck a resounding impact with viewing audiences when first released, and still does to this day. Chronicling the trials and tribulations of the Gibbons family from the end of World War One, Coward's anthem to British resilience became the most successful film of 1944.This Happy Breed was David Lean's first credit as a solo director and was the first in a succession of worldwide hits for him and his distinctive visual style. Both Robert Newton and Celia Johnson preside over the ups and downs of their family with great humour and patience, ably supported by John Mills and Stanley Holloway. This is a High Definition digital restoration from the original film elements.

• JFK | DVD | (01/06/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £13.99

  Not a John F Kennedy biopic, but a film of New Orleans' attorney Jim Garrison's investigation into the President's assassination, JFK is that rarest of things, a modern Hollywood drama which credits the audience with serious intelligence and ultimately proves itself a great film. Oliver Stone's film has the archetypal story, visual scale and substance to match; not just a gripping real-life conspiracy thriller, but a fable for the fall of the American dream (a theme further explored by the director in Nixon and Any Given Sunday). JFK doesn't reveal exactly what happened in Dallas on 22 November 1963--those who knew generally took their secrets to the grave--but marshals a vast wealth of facts and plausible theories, trusting the audience to draw its own conclusions. Following less than a year after Dances With Wolves (1990), these two epics mark the high point of Kevin Costner's career and the vast supporting cast here, including Gary Oldman, Kevin Bacon, Sissy Spacek and Donald Sutherland, is superb. Quite simply the best American political film ever made. --Gary S Dalkin

• Cold Blood - Complete Series | DVD | (14/01/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Wicklow was jailed after a killing spree so macabre that he has become one of Britain's most notorious murderers vilified by the popular press and despised by fellow inmates. His notoriety is compounded by the fact that detectives investigating his crimes have never found the body of his last victim. However no one is safe with Wicklow behind bars

• Jackie Brown - 2 Disc Collector's Edition | DVD | (16/09/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £17.99

  The curiosity of Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown is Robert Forster's worldly wise bail bondsman Max Cherry, the most alive character in this adaptation of Elmore Leonard's Rum Punch. The film is more "rum" than "punch", though, with a slow, decaffeinated story of six characters glued to a half million dollars brought illegally into the country. The money belongs to Ordell (Samuel L Jackson), a gunrunner just bright enough to control his universe and do his own dirty work. His just-paroled friend Louis (Robert De Niro) is just taking up space and could be interested in the money. However, his loyalties are in question between his old partner and Ordell's doped-up girl (Bridget Fonda). Certainly Federal Agent Ray Nicolette (Michael Keaton) wants to arrest Ordell with the illegal money. The key is the title character, a late-40-ish flight-attendant (Pam Grier) who can pull her own weight and soon has both sides believing she's working for them. Tarantino changed the race of Jackie and Ordell, a move that means little except that it allows him to heap on black culture and language, something he has a gift and passion for, though the film is not a salute to Grier's blaxploitation films beyond the soundtrack. Unexpectedly the most fascinating scenes are between Grier and Forster: glowing in the limelight of their first major Hollywood film after decades of work. --Doug Thomas

• Family Business | DVD | (04/10/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Connery Hoffman and Broderick star as three generations of a family formerly linked to organized crime. Grandfather Jesse has been in and out of jail and his son Vito has decided to leave a life of crime in order to become a respectable family man but when grandson Adam comes up with a can't-miss heist plan the intergenerational sparks begin to fly.

• Separate Tables (DVD + Blu-ray) | Blu Ray | (20/08/2018) from £11.48   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Delbert Mann's 1958 classic MGM drama Separate Tables, based on a Terence Rattigan play and co-scripted by Rattigan himself, is a star-studded character study of a group of residents at a small British seaside town. Lovely but vulnerable Anne Shankland (Rita Hayworth) travels to the hotel in hopes of starting over with her ex-husband, John (Burt Lancaster), but she does not know that he is already engaged to Pat Cooper (Wendy Hiller), the manager of the hotel. Meanwhile, Mrs Railton-bell (Gladys Cooper) discovers the hidden truth about war veteran Major Pollack (David Niven). Considered daring in its day due to its frank discussions of sexual topics, Separate Tables was nominated for seven Academy Awards, and won for Best Actor (David Niven) and Best Supporting Actress (Wendy Hiller). Special features: Other extras TBC Fully illustrated booklet with new writing on the film and full film credits

• Topkapi | DVD | (04/10/2004) from £9.43   |  Saving you £6.56 (69.57%)   |  RRP £15.99

  This wonderful caper film manages to balance the right amount of intrigue suspense and humour created by the stellar cast including the extremely sexy and seductive Melina Mercouri and the wonderfully talented Peter Ustinov who was awarded the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role. A small-time con-man (Ustinov) with passport problems gets mixed up with a gang of world-class jewellery thieves plotting to rob the Topkapi museum in Istanbul. Turkish intelligence suspecting a

• Green for Danger | Blu Ray | (28/10/2019) from £14.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Alastair Sim gives one of his most memorable performances as a whimsically complacent police inspector investigating a series of murders at a wartime emergency hospital in this masterful comedy thriller from Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat. Deftly subverting the conventions of the standard whodunit , Green for Danger features atmospheric cinematography from Wilkie Cooper and strong supporting performances from Trevor Howard, Sally Gray and Rosamund John. This classic post-war feature is now presented in a brand-new transfer from original film elements and in its original theatrical aspect ratio. When an air raid casualty dies on the operating table a theatre sister stumbles upon evidence suggesting his death was no accident. When she in turn is killed, Inspector Cockrill realising that each remaining suspect has a strong motive for the murders must reconstruct the crime to reveal the killer's true identity

• Being Human: Complete Series 1 | DVD | (20/04/2009) from £5.36   |  Saving you £19.63 (366.23%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Russell Tovey plays the lovable George battling with his double identity as a mild-mannered and geeky hospital porter who for one night a month is transformed into a flesh-hungry predatory werewolf. Aidan Turner plays the good-looking and laid-back Mitchell who in contrast to George has the gift of the gab and an easy confidence with the ladies. But he is also a blood-sucking vampire struggling with going cold-turkey from the blood he craves. Completing the flat-share trio is Annie played by Lenora Crichlow a talkative ghost lacking in self-confidence and desperate for company. Annie is still pining after her fianc'' whom she was due to marry before the fatal accident that left her with her ghostly affliction - and who happens to be the landlord of their flat. The series follows the trio as they do their best to live their lives as normally as possible despite their strange and dark secrets. But with unwelcome intruders into their world rumblings about an impending revolution from the vampire underworld and constant threats of exposure - on top of the usual issues faced by young people surrounding love work and mates - the only thing they may be able to rely on in their heightened world is each other.

• Wonderstruck | DVD | (30/07/2018) from £5.89   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  From visionary director of Far From Heaven and Carol, (based on the critically acclaimed book by Brian Selznick), Wonderstruck stars long-time Haynes collaborator Julianne Moore, Michelle Williams and newcomers Oakes Fegley and Millicient Simmonds. Set fifty years apart, in the 1920's and 1970's, Wonderstruck is a tender and nostaligic study of two children trying to find their place in the world, weaved with mesmerising symmetry of the two eras and a enchanting soundtrack from Carter Burwell.

• Frances Ha | DVD | (06/01/2014) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £17.99

  A story that follows a New York woman (who doesn't really have an apartment), apprentices for a dance company (though she's not really a dancer), and throws herself headlong into her dreams, even as their possible reality dwindles.

• Great Rift | Blu Ray | (08/03/2010) from £10.65   |  Saving you £14.34 (134.65%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Journey through this amazing geographical feature - seeing how the forces of nature have shaped the landscape creating a hotbed of evolution and the cradle of mankind. Visible from space the Great Rift runs for thousands of miles. It creates connects and defines the wildest most charismatic landscape in the world. From the majestic snow-capped mountains of the Kilimanjaro to the hustle and bustle of the Red Sea's coral reefs; the dry open savannahs of the Serengeti to the rain-soaked forests of the Mountains of the Moon. Journey through this amazing geographical feature - seeing how the forces of nature have shaped the landscape creating a hotbed of evolution and the cradle of mankind.

• Stephen Poliakoff | DVD | (27/02/2006) from £28.23   |  Saving you £33.52 (126.63%)   |  RRP £59.99

  Anne, a budding young actress, stumbles across secret recordings of a sinister Nazi appeasement plot that will stop at nothing to achieve its aims.

• The Greatest | DVD | (12/04/2010) from £5.60   |  Saving you £7.39 (131.96%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Pierce Brosnan and Susan Sarandon star as the Brewers an affluent couple whose well-ordered life is shattered when their oldest son is killed in a car crash. It's nothing that anyone can prepare for and this pair with their happily calibrated life are particularly susceptible to disaster. The mother becomes obsessed with the minutiae of her son's last moments most severely by trying to rouse the driver of the other car out of a deep coma. The father tries to remain strong seeking sanctuary in the recesses of his professorial mathematical mind. The horrible accident further exacerbates their younger son's feelings of alienation and inadequacy. Further upsetting the Brewers a young woman played by Carey Mulligan appears and rightfully claims that she is carrying their late idealized son's baby.

• The Cinematic Works | DVD | (24/04/2006) from £16.79   |  Saving you £3.20 (19.06%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Eija-Liisa Ahtila's films and cinematic installations explore and experiment with storytelling creating extraordinary tales out of ordinary human experiences. Dealing with teenage sexuality family relations mental disintegration and death the films also investigate the processes of preception and attribution of meaning. By mixing and subverting the filmic rules of commercials cinema verite pop promos trailers and documentaries with a lyrical dose of Nordic supernaturalism the

• Murder She Wrote - Season 3 | DVD | (31/07/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £13.55

  The complete third season of the Emmy award-winning detective drama. Angela Lansbury stars as everyone's favourite super-sleuth Jessica Fletcher a famous mystery writer who has a knack for solving murders on and off the page. Murder seems to follow Jessica Fletcher; a former English teacher and a mystery writer full of charm and a zest for life. She always happens to become ""the investigator"" when traveling around the country to promote her series of novels. Murder always s

• The Bang Bang Club | DVD | (03/10/2011) from £6.00   |  Saving you £6.99 (116.50%)   |  RRP £12.99

  The Bang Bang Club was the name given to four young photographers; Greg Marinovich (Ryan Phillippe), Kevin Carter (Taylor Kitsch), Ken Oosterbroek and Joao Silva, whose photographs captured the final bloody days of white rule in South Africa. Two were awarded Pulitzer Prizes for their acclaimed work. The film tells the remarkable and sometimes harrowing story of these young men - and the extraordinary extremes they went to in order to capture their pictures. Anna (Malin Akerman) is their photo-editor, who looked out for them, protected them and made sure their photographs were seen across the world.Based on the book by Marinovich and Silva, The Bang Bang Club tells the true story of these four young men, recounting their relationships with each other and the stresses, tensions and moral dilemmas of working in situations of extreme violence, pain and suffering.