"Actor: Rose Gregorio"

• The Swimmer | DVD | (26/05/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Burt Lancaster gives one of his most daringly complex performances in The Swimmer, a fascinating adaptation of John Cheever's celebrated short story. At first it seems that middle-aged businessman Ned Merrill (Lancaster) is merely enjoying a spontaneous adventure, swimming from pool to pool among the well-tended estates of his affluent Connecticut neighbourhood. But as Ned encounters a variety of neighbours, we see from their reactions that he's on an entirely different kind of journey, balanced on the edge of some mysterious psychosis that we can't fully understand until the film's final, devastating image. A compelling portrait of loss, refracted memories, and deep-rooted emotional denial, The Swimmer sprung from the same late-60s soil that yielded similarly ground-breaking literary films such as The Graduate and Goodbye, Columbus. It's an egotistical showcase for the physical prowess of its 55-year-old star, but Lancaster turns it into something deeper, more disturbing, and completely unforgettable. --Jeff Shannon

• Eyes of Laura Mars (Standard Edition) | Blu Ray | (16/09/2019) from £8.19   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Irvin Kershner's stylish, violent cult thriller from an original screenplay by John Carpenter stars iconic star Faye Dunaway as glamorous fashion photographer Laura Mars, who begins to experience horrific visions when she ˜sees' a series of brutal murders as they happen. Extras: High Definition remaster Original mono audio Audio commentary with director Irvin Kershner The Eyes Have It (2017, 14 mins): an appreciation by critic Kat Ellinger Visions (1978, 7 mins): original 'making of' documentary Eyes on Laura Mars (1999, 8 mins): on-set photography with commentary Original theatrical trailer David DeCoteau trailer commentary (2013, 4 mins): a short critical appreciation Image gallery: on-set and promotional photography New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing

• The Deep End Of The Ocean | DVD | (28/02/2000) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Beth Cappadora (Michelle Pfeiffer) is at her high school reunion when her three-year-old son disappears from his brother's care. The little boy never turns up, and the family has to deal with the devastating guilt and grief that goes along with it. Nine years later, the family has relocated to Chicago. By a sheer fluke, the kid turns up, living no more than two blocks away. The authorities swoop down and return the kid to his biological parents, but things are far from being that simple. The boy grew up around what he has called his father, while his new family are strangers to him; the older son, now a teenager, has brushes with the law and behavioural problems. His adjustment to his lost brother is complicated by normal teenage churlishness, and the dad (Treat Williams) seems to expect everything to fall into place as though the family had been intact all along. It's a tightrope routine for actors in a story like this, being careful not to chew the scenery while at the same time not being too flaccid or understated. For the most part, the members of the cast deal well with the emotional complexity of their roles. Though the story stretches credulity, weirder things do happen in the real world. The family's pain for the first half of the film is certainly credible, though the second half almost seems like a different movie. Whoopi Goldberg plays the detective assigned to the case; casting her is a bit of a stretch, but she makes it work. All in all, a decent three-hanky movie in the vein of Ordinary People. --Jerry Renshaw, Amazon.com

• Eyes Of Laura Mars | DVD | (08/03/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  The Eyes of Laura Mars put an original spin on the "women in peril" plot staple by giving us Faye Dunaway as a fashion photographer disturbed by visions of real violence echoed in her flashy, S&M-influenced work. The visions start coming closer to home as her woman friends are butchered and their copies of her work vandalised. Good-looking cop Neville (Tommy Lee Jones) argues that her art is responsible, but nonetheless starts an affair with her. Hints are dropped that the killer might be someone close to her, like obsessive ex-con driver Tommy (Brad Dourif) or her possessive ex-husband Michael (Raul Julia). Evocative scenes of 70s' New York nightclub excess, and the strikingly perverse photographs of Helmut Newton, now create a period 70s' flavour to this flawed psychic thriller. Dunaway's performance is suitably overwrought and the young, slimline Jones is at once attractive and off-key. On the DVD: The DVD comes with subtitles, director's commentary, a publicity short made at the time and an interesting lecturette illustrated with yet more photographs. --Roz Kaveney

• True Confessions | DVD | (21/07/2003) from £6.45   |  Saving you £6.54 (101.40%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Oscar winners Robert De Niro Robert Duvall play brothers the Reverend Desmond Spellacy and Tommy Spellacy who are drawn together after many years apart in this tale of murder and sibling rivalry...

• Robert De Niro - Triple - Raging Bull / Ronin / True Confessions | DVD | (06/06/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  This is a box set featuring three of Robert De Niro's most renowned films from the MGM stable. Raging Bull: Based on the life and career of boxer Jake LaMotta Raging Bull focuses on Jake's rage and violence that makes him virtually unstoppable in the ring. The same anger also drives Jake to beat his wife and his brother Joey and sends Jake down a self-destructive spiral of paranoia and rage. Ronin: A woman assembles a team of professional killers from all over the world to get a hold on a certain case with some mysterious content. The case is in the hands of some ex-KGB spies and there are many people and organizations that will do anything to get their hands on it. True Confessions: De Niro (a Catholic Priest) and Duvall (a homicide Detective) play brothers drawn together after many years apart in the aftermath of the brutal murder of a young prostitute.

• Eyes Of Laura Mars, The / 8MM / Bitter Moon | DVD | (06/09/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  8mm: Nicholas Cage is Tom Welles a surveillance specialist with a modest home-based business. Respected but still waiting for the big break that will improve his professional status Welles spends most of his time on routine cases. Nothing too dangerous nor too threatening - until a case involving a small innocuous-looking plastic reel of film turns Welles' life upside down sending him down a sordid and terrifying path into society's deepest corners. Drifting away from his family life Welles is aided by streetwise Max California (Joaquin Phoenix) as he pursues a bizarre trail of graphic and disturbing evidence to determine the fate of a complete stranger. As his obsession with the case grows Welles enters the seedy world of pornography and sees things beyond his worst nightmares - coming to realise how far-reaching and deadly a small reel of 8mm film can be. Bitter Moon: Roman Polanksi explores the uttermost depths of sexual perversion and experimentation in this erotic drama with more than a hint of black comedy. Nigel (Hugh Grant) and Fiona (Kristin Scott-Thomas) a repressed English couple eager to rekindle their fading marriage by taking a luxury cruise get more than they bargained for. Enroute they meet Oscar (Peter Coyote) a crippled American and his beautiful wife Mimi (Emmanuelle Seigner) who both enthral and appal Nigel with rivetting accounts of their wildly sensuous exploits. Before they reach their journey's end Nigel and Fiona become the unwitting participants in a tragedy with the most extraordinary outcome... Eyes Of Laura Mars: Fashion Photographer Laura Mars (Faye Dunaway) world-renowned for her erotic portraits of transparently-gowned models in settings of urban violence becomes the focal point for a series of bizarre murders. The victims are witnessed by Laura in her mind's eye - as if through the lens of her camera. These terrifying experiences bring Laura together in an intimate relationship with homicide detective John Neville (Tommy Lee Jones) who while unraveling the mystery makes a shocking discovery.