New Releases

• Goodfellas | Blu Ray | (07/05/2013) from £26.98   |  Saving you £-12.22 (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.77

  Martin Scorsese's 1990 masterpiece GoodFellas immortalises the hilarious, horrifying life of actual gangster Henry Hill (Ray Liotta), from his teen years on the streets of New York to his anonymous exile under the Witness Protection Program. The director's kinetic style is perfect for recounting Hill's ruthless rise to power in the 1950s as well as his drugged-out fall in the late 1970s; in fact, no one has ever rendered the mental dislocation of cocaine better than Scorsese. Scorsese uses period music perfectly, not just to summon a particular time but to set a precise mood. GoodFellas is at least as good as The Godfather without being in the least derivative of it. Joe Pesci's psycho improvisation of Mobster Tommy DeVito ignited Pesci as a star, Lorraine Bracco scores the performance of her life as the love of Hill's life, and every supporting role, from Paul Sorvino to Robert De Niro, is a miracle.

• Hello Kitty and Friends - Heidi and Two Other Stories | DVD | (28/05/2013) from £4.05   |  Saving you £1.94 (47.90%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Hello Kitty: Heidi Hello Kitty stars in the classic story, Heidi. Heidi's grandfather looked after her since she was young. She meets a boy, Peter, who lives in a very old house. Will her grandfather help him to repair the house? Hello Kitty: Mum Loves Me After All Hello Kitty and Mimi's mother loves them very much. Everything changes when Mrs. Scott's baby Julianna appears. Kitty decides to leave home. What will happen after she leaves? Kerokerokeroppi: The Adventures Of The Coward Prince ...

• Dulhan Hum Le Jayenge | DVD | (20/05/2013) from £16.18   |  Saving you £-3.19 (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Dulhan Hum Le Jayenge pairs Salman Khan opposite Karishma Kapoor in this fun Hindi comedy. The characters played by Kahn and Kapoor fall in love whilst on holiday in Europe but in order for them to marry Khan has first to convince Kapoor's three somewhat eccentric uncles that he is worthy of her hand.

• True Grit | Blu Ray | (07/05/2013) from £26.98   |  Saving you £-12.22 (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.77

  John Wayne hams it up as a one-eyed, broken-down marshal in this 1969 adaptation of Charles Portis's bestselling novel. Kim Darby plays the formal-speaking adolescent who goes to Wayne for help tracking down her father's killer, and singer Glen Campbell straps on his guns to join the quest. Directed by old lion Henry Hathaway (Rawhide), True Grit is largely a showcase for Wayne (who finally won an Oscar), but it is also a decent Western with a particularly stirring final act. --Tom Keogh

• Battle of Britain | DVD | (20/05/2013) from £5.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  The Battle of France is over. I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin. Sir Winston Churchill A powerful Second World War documentary from the Emmy AwardTM winning team behind the PBS Series Battlefield and Discovery Channel s Weapons of War The Battle of Britain was the World War II air campaign waged by Hitler s Luftwaffe against the United Kingdom during the summer and autumn of 1940. The objective of the campaign was to gain superiority over the Royal Air Force,specifically F...

• Learn To Speak: Animals | DVD | (27/05/2013) from £8.08   |  Saving you £1.91 (19.10%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Learn To Speak - Animals

• 300 | Blu Ray | (07/05/2013) from £24.99   |  Saving you £-12.22 (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.77

  Like Sin City before it, 300 brings Frank Miller and Lynn Varley's graphic novel vividly to life. Gerard Butler (Beowulf and Grendel, The Phantom of the Opera) radiates pure power and charisma as Leonidas, the Grecian king who leads 300 of his fellow Spartans (including David Wenham of The Lord of the Rings, Michael Fassbender, and Andrew Pleavin) into a battle against the overwhelming force of Persian invaders. Their only hope is to neutralise the numerical advantage by confronting the Persians, led by King Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro), at the narrow strait of Thermopylae. More engaging than Troy, the tepid and somewhat similar epic of ancient Greece, 300 is also comparable to Sin City in that the actors were shot on green screen, then added to digitally created backgrounds. The effort pays off in a strikingly stylised look and huge, sweeping battle scenes. However, it's not as to-the-letter faithful to Miller's source material as Sin City was. The plot is the same, and many of the book's images are represented just about perfectly. But some extra material has been added, including new villains (who would be considered "bosses" if this were a video game, and it often feels like one) and a political subplot involving new characters and a significantly expanded role for the Queen of Sparta (Lena Headey). While this subplot by director Zack Snyder (Dawn of the Dead) and his fellow co-writers does break up the violence, most fans would probably dismiss it as filler if it didn't involve the sexy Headey. Other viewers, of course, will be turned off by the waves of spurting blood, flying body parts, and surging testosterone. (The six-pack abs are also relentless, and the movie has more and less nudity--more female, less male--than the graphic novel.) Still, as a representation of Miller's work and as an ancient-themed action flick with a modern edge, 300 delivers. --David Horiuchi

• Shawshank Redemption | Blu Ray | (07/05/2013) from £24.99   |  Saving you £-12.22 (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.77

  When The Shawshank Redemption was released in 1994, some critics complained that this popular prison drama was too long (142 minutes) to sustain its plot. Those complaints miss the point, because the passage of time is crucial to this story about patience, the squeaky wheels of justice and the growth of a life-long friendship. Only when the film reaches its final, emotionally satisfying scene do you fully understand why writer-director Frank Darabont (adapting a novella by Stephen King) allows the story to unfold at its necessary pace. Tim Robbins plays a banker named Andy who is sent to Shawshank Prison on a murder charge, but as he gets to know a life-term prisoner named Red (Morgan Freeman), we soon realise his claims of innocence are credible. We also realise that Andy's calm, quiet exterior hides a great reserve of patience and fortitude, and Red comes to admire this mild-mannered man who first struck him as weak and unfit for prison life. So it is that The Shawshank Redemption builds considerable impact as a prison drama that defies the conventions of the genre (violence, brutality, riots) to illustrate its theme of faith, friendship and survival. Nominated for seven Academy Awards including Best Picture, Actor and Screenplay, it's a remarkable film (which many movie lovers count among their all-time favourites) that signalled the arrival of a promising new filmmaker. --Jeff Shannon

• Hello Kitty and Friends - The Wonderful Sisters and Two Other Stories | DVD | (28/05/2013) from £3.65   |  Saving you £2.34 (64.11%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Hello Kitty: The Wonderful Sisters A new student called Robert has joined Hello Kitty & Mimi's school. Mimi wants to make friends with him, but she is very shy. Kitty decides to help her... Hello Kitty: Snow White Hello Kitty stars in the legendary fairy tale about a beautiful girl who escapes from a jealous Queen, finding refuge at the home of seven dwarves. Kerokerokeroppi: The Frog's Secret House Kerokerokeroppi and his friends built the Frog's House when they were young. As they have no...

• Hangover | Blu Ray | (07/05/2013) from £26.98   |  Saving you £-14.21 (-111.30%)   |  RRP £12.77

  If you like your humour broadside up, hold the subtlety, you'll want to nurse this Hangover with your best mates. The ensemble cast meshes perfectly--it's like a super-R-rated episode of Friends: silly, slapstick, and completely in the viewer's face. When four pals go to Vegas to celebrate the imminent nuptials of one of them, they partake in a rooftop toast to "a night we'll never forget." But they're in for a big surprise: their celebration drinks were laced with date-rape drugs, so when they awake in their hotel room 12 hours later, not only are they hung over, but they can't remember what they did all night long. Oh, and they're missing the groom-to-be. The film is so cheerfully raunchy, so fiercely crude, that the humour becomes as intoxicating as the mind-altering substances. The standout in the ensemble is Zach Galifianakis, who is alternately creepy and hilarious. Ed Helm (The Office), in addition to his memory, loses a tooth in uncomfortably realistic fashion, and Bradley Cooper (He's Just Not That into You) has deadpan comic timing that whips along at the speed of light. "Ma'am, you have an incredible rack," he blares to a pedestrian from the squad car the guys have "borrowed." "I should have been a [bleeping] cop," he tells himself approvingly. Director Todd Phillips brings back his deft handling of the actors and the dude humour that worked so well in Old School, as well as the unctuous Dan Finnerty, memorable as a lounge/wedding singer in both films. But it's the nonstop volley of jokes--most cheerily politically incorrect--that grabs the audience and thrashes it around the hotel room. Just watch out for the tiger in the bathroom. --A.T. Hurley

• Chronicle Of A Summer | DVD | (27/05/2013) from £16.16   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  The first time on DVD or Blu-ray in the UK for this hugely influential and ground-breaking documentary film from leading French documentarist Jean Rouch. Shot in Paris during 1960, Chronicle of a Summer is a fascinating result of collaboration between filmmaker-anthropologist Jean Rouch and sociologist Edgar Morin. Through a series of interviews with real-life individuals the filmmakers produce a compelling film that questions the level of reality and truth in documentary filmmaking, as well as being a fascinating insight into 1960's Parisian society. With its use of handheld cameras and observational techniques, Chronicle of a Summer was a seminal influence of the cinema-verite movement of the 1960s and on many filmmakers since. Special Features: Un t + 50 (2011): documentary with new interviews from participants and co-director Edgar Morin, as well as outtakes from Chronicle of a Summer Illustrated booklet with newly commissioned essays and notes on the film

• Wrath of the Titans | Blu Ray | (07/05/2013) from £26.98   |  Saving you £-14.21 (-111.30%)   |  RRP £12.77

  Sam Worthington, Ralph Fiennes and Liam Neeson star once again as gods at war in 'Wrath of the Titans', under the direction of Johnathan Liebesman. A decade after his heroic defeat of the monstrous Kaken, Perseus (Worthington) the demigod son of Zeus (Neeson) is attempting to live a quieter life as a village fisherman and the sole parent to his 10-year old son, Helius. Meanwhile, a struggle for supremacy rages between the gods and the Titans. Dangerously weakened by humanity's lack of devotio.

• Gran Torino | Blu Ray | (07/05/2013) from £26.98   |  Saving you £-14.21 (-111.30%)   |  RRP £12.77

  A disgruntled Korean War vet, Walt Kowalski (Eastwood), sets out to reform his neighbor, a young Hmong teenager, who tried to steal Kowalski's prized possession: his 1972 Gran Torino

• V for Vendetta | Blu Ray | (07/05/2013) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.77

  "Remember, remember the fifth of November," for on this day, in 2020, the minds of the masses shall be set free. So says code-name V (Hugo Weaving), a man on a mission to shake society out of its blank complacent stares in the film V For Vendetta. His tactics, however, are a bit revolutionary to say the least. The world in which V lives is very similar to Orwell's totalitarian dystopia in 1984: after years of various wars, England is now under "big brother" Chancellor Adam Sutler (played by John Hurt, who ironically played Winston Smith in the movie 1984) whose party uses force and fear to run the nation. After gaining power, minorities and political dissenters were rounded up and removed; artistic and unacceptable religious works were confiscated. Cameras and microphones are littered throughout the land, and the people are perpetually sedated through the governmentally controlled media. Taking inspiration from Guy Fawkes, the 17th century co-conspirator of a failed attempt to blow up Parliament on November 5, 1605, V dons a Fawkes mask and costume and sets off to wake the masses by destroying the symbols of their oppressors, literally and figuratively. At the beginning of his vendetta, V rescues Evey (Natalie Portman) from a group of police officers and has her live with him in his underworld lair. It is through their relationship where we learn how V became V, the extremities of the party's corruption, the problems of an oppressive government, V's revenge plot and his philosophy on how to induce change. Based on the popular graphic novel by Alan Moore, V For Vendetta's screenplay was written by the Wachowski Brothers (of The Matrix fame) and directed by their protégé James McTeigue. Controversy and criticism followed the film since its inception, from the hyper-stylized use of anarchistic terrorism to overthrow a corrupt government and the blatant jabs at the current US political arena, to graphic novel fans complaining about the reconstruction of Alan Moore's original vision (Moore himself has dismissed the film). Many are valid critiques and opinions, but there's no hiding the message the film is trying to express: Radical and drastic events often need to occur in order to shake people out of their state of indifference in order to bring about real change. Unfortunately, the movie only offers a means with no ends, and those looking for answers may find the film stylish, but a bit empty. --Rob Bracco

• Concorde The Final Flight | DVD | (27/05/2013) from £12.09   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• World War II | DVD | (27/05/2013) from £24.02   |  Saving you £-0.03 (-0.10%)   |  RRP £23.99

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• Town | Blu Ray | (07/05/2013) from £24.99   |  Saving you £-12.69 (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.30

  Ben Affleck worked triple-time on The Town, in which he directs, stars, and co-adapts Chuck Hogan's Prince of Thieves. Affleck's Doug MacRay comes from a line of Boston bank robbers. With his father (Chris Cooper) behind bars, he spent most of his childhood in Charlestown with loyal hothead Jem (The Hurt Locker's Jeremy Renner). Doug had a chance to go legit as a pro hockey player, but he threw it away on drugs and bad behavior. After the armed robbery that opens the film, Jem becomes convinced that bank manager Claire (Vicki Cristina Barcelona's Rebecca Hall) saw something, so Doug, who wore a disguise at the time, sets out to make sure she doesn't tell FBI agent Frawley (Mad Men's Jon Hamm) anything incriminating (Titus Welliver plays Frawley's partner). Doug starts by asking Claire out, and finds she's more shaken than stirred--and that he likes her better than Jem's oxy-addicted sister, Krista (Gossip Girl's Blake Lively), his sometime girlfriend. Unfortunately, neither Jem nor vicious enforcer Fergie (Pete Postlethwaite) will cut him loose until he orchestrates two more scores--the last to take place at Fenway Park. If The Town offers fewer surprises than Affleck's directorial debut, Gone Baby Gone, he raises the stakes with well-planned heists, nerve-jangling car chases, and deadly shootouts. Though Affleck looks too clean-cut to portray a thug, he gives a nicely understated performance, while Hall proves an inspired choice as a woman who could make a bad guy turn good--or die trying. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

• Book of Eli | Blu Ray | (07/05/2013) from £26.98   |  Saving you £-14.21 (-111.30%)   |  RRP £12.77

  Eli walks alone in post-apocalyptic America. He heads west along the Highway of Death on a mission he doesn't fully understand but knows he must complete. In his backpack is the last copy of a book that could become the wellspring of a revived society. Or in the wrong hands, the hammer of a despot. Denzel Washington is Eli, who keeps his blade sharp and his survival instincts sharper as his quest thrusts him into a savage wasteland. and into explosive conflict with a resourceful warlord (Gar.

• Hangover Part II | Blu Ray | (07/05/2013) from £26.98   |  Saving you £-14.21 (-111.30%)   |  RRP £12.77

  Just when you were starting to sober up after The Hangover… along comes The Hangover Part II--a deft dose of hair of the dog that will keep fans of the original screaming with laughter once again. Director Todd Phillips brings back his great cast--Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis, Justin Bartha, and Ed Helms for another splendid exercise in debauchery--and its painful aftermath. And perhaps surprisingly, The Hangover Part II keeps the laugh levels high. While the element of surprise is not here in the sequel, writer Craig Mazin, Scot Armstrong, and Phillips have upped the shock factor, resulting in humor that's sometimes not exactly politically correct, but is fall-down funny anyway. In The Hangover Part II, Stu (Helms) is marrying a Thai-American woman (Jamie Chung), and the entire wedding party is flying to Thailand for the ceremony. Quicker than you can say "bachelor brunch," the boys are off on some kind of mystery adventure that results in some pretty serious, and pretty hilarious repercussions. (There's an unfortunate tattoo incident, one not easily covered up; there's an unexplained monkey--in a Rolling Stones shirt--now added to the entourage; and one of the group is missing.) The setup is familiar, but the ensemble of actors is so confident, their chemistry so easy, that the viewer enjoys their long, strange trip with bust-out-loud laughs. And you can't ask for much more in a buddy comedy. --A.T. Hurley

• Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King | Blu Ray | (07/05/2013) from £26.98   |  Saving you £-12.22 (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.77

  Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy, triumphantly completed by the 11-Oscar-winning The Return of the King, sets out to show that Tolkien's epic work, once derided as mere adolescent escapism, is not just fodder for the best mass entertainment spectacle ever seen on the big screen, but is also replete with emotionally satisfying meditations on the human condition. What is the nature of true friendship? What constitutes real courage? Why is it important for us to care about people living beyond our borders? What does it mean to live in harmony with the environment and what are the consequences when we do not? When is war justifiable and when is it not? What things are really worth fighting for? These are the questions that resonate with a contemporary audience: to see our current social and political concerns mirrored--and here finally resolved--in Middle-earth is to recognise that Jackson's Lord of the Rings is both a parable for our times and magical cinematic escapism. As before, in this concluding part of the trilogy the spectacle never dwarfs (sic) the characters, even during Shelob the spider's pitiless assault, for example, or the unparalleled Battle of the Pelennor Fields, where the white towers of Minas Tirith come under ferocious attack from Troll-powered siege weapons and--in a sequence reminiscent of the Imperial Walkers in The Empire Strikes Back--Mammoth-like Mumakil. The people and their feelings always remain in focus, as emphasised by Jackson's sensitive small touches: Gandalf reassuring a terrified Pippin in the midst of battle that death is not to be feared; Frodo's blazing anger at Sam's apparent betrayal; Faramir's desire to win the approval of his megalomaniac father; Gollum's tragic cupidity and his final, heartbreaking glee. And at the very epicentre of the film is the pure heart of Samwise Gamgee--the real hero of the story. At over three hours, there are almost inevitably some lulls, and the film still feels as if some key scenes are missing: a problem doubtless to be rectified in the extended DVD edition. But the end, when it does finally arrive--set to Howard Shore's Wagnerian music score--brings us full circle, leaving the departing audience to wonder if they will ever find within themselves even a fraction of the courage of a hobbit. --Mark Walker