"Actor: Ann Dowd"

• All Over Me | DVD | (08/04/2002) from £12.98   |  Saving you £7.01 (54.01%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Coming-of-age themes are an obvious choice for movie-makers but All Over Me is far from being run of the mill. It follows the friendship and codependence of two 15-year-old New York girls, one (Claude) gradually coming to terms with the fact that she's gay, the other (Ellen), getting sucked into a world of boys, violence and drugs. It brilliantly and sympathetically realised by film-maker sisters Alex and Sylvia Sichel, with superb performances by the two leads, Alison Folland and Tara Subkoff. When the violent, homophobic murder of the girls' new-found friend, Jesse (Wilson Cruz) threatens to rip them apart, Ellen embarks on a trail of self-destruction while Claude finally seems able to come to terms with her own destiny, ultimately getting together with the pretty, magenta-haired punk musician, Lucy (a superbly empathetic performance from Leisha Hailey). It's a film that's saved from introspective self-indulgence by the brutal interruption of the outside world, and it's not just a thought-provoking hour-and-a-half, it's a compelling narrative experience. The only weakness is the two-dimensional characterization of Ellen's psychotic boyfriend, well enough played by Cole Hauser, but intrinsically limited in scope. Ann Dowd is superb as Claude's man-chasing mother and the film is topped off by a funky soundtrack. On the DVD: All over Me doesn't just offer the "usual theatrical trailer" for the film in question but instead offers trailers for two related films, Better than Chocolate and Trick, both of which deal truthfully with gay issues offering a light and often humorous touch. However, that's it as far as additional goodies are concerned, which is a shame, but the vibrant soundtrack is presented in a great Dolby Digital sound. --Harriet Smith

• Bushwacked | DVD | (07/10/2013) from £9.43   |  Saving you £0.56 (5.94%)   |  RRP £9.99

  On the run from authorities, a sleazy courier poses as a scout leader on a camping trip. But he has no idea what he's in for when he has to lead a group of kids.

• True Crime | DVD | (21/05/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Once in a while, studio heads actually make sensible decisions. Kudos to whoever at Trimark screened the embarrassing True Crime, an overwrought, under thought, "mystery" and decided, "You know, we really don't need to let the American public see this," and immediately sent it straight to video. Probably the one most pleased by the decision was Alicia Silverstone, who didn't need this type of thing getting a theatrical distribution and hurting her blossoming career. As for Kevin Dillon? Well, he was probably happy just to get paid. Silverstone plays the teen Nancy-Drew-meets-Encyclopedia-Brown protagonist who teams up with fresh-faced police cadet Dillon to try to bag a serial killer who's been butchering teenage girls at travelling carnivals in various cities. Writer-director Pat Verducci packs his thriller with implausible detective work and numerous plot twists, all visible 20 minutes away. The "shock" ending can pretty much be worked out within the first act, leaving viewers another hour to watch Verducci concoct several amateur dream sequences, and explore a disgusting sexual relationship between Silverstone and Dillon. By the end, the question isn't so much "Whodunit?" as "Who cares?" --Dave McCoy, Amazon.com