"Director: Pat O Connor"

• A Month in the Country (DVD + Blu-ray) | Blu Ray | (20/06/2016) from £16.31   |  Saving you £3.68 (22.56%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Adapted from the novel of the same name by J L Carr, A Month in the Country, is set during a 1920s summer in rural Yorkshire. Tom Birkin (Colin Firth), a destitute World War I veteran coming to terms with the after-effects of the war, has been employed by a village church to carry out restoration work on a medieval mural. During his time in the slow-paced village, Birkin forms a close friendship with archaeologist James Moon (Kenneth Branagh), a fellow veteran who is also emotionally scarred following the conflict. The film follows Birkin as he settles into village life, forming romantic relationships and bonding with families and locals. Neglected after its initial 1987 cinema release, the film features a score by Howard Blake (The Snowman, The Avengers) and is notable for its strong British cast which also includes Natasha Richardson, Patrick Malahide and Jim Carter.

• Private Peaceful | DVD | (31/03/2014) from £3.99   |  Saving you £9.00 (225.56%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Private Peaceful is based on the brilliant bestselling novel by Michael Morpurgo. It is the story of the unbreakable bond between two brothers from the innocence of their childhood in the fields of Devon to the violence of the battlefields of Flanders. In the trenches they experience the brutal injustice of war far removed from rural family life and their rivalry for the love of the beautiful Molly Monks. Directed by Pat O'Connor (Dancing at Lughnasa) with an all-British cast Private Peaceful is a powerful and emotional tale of injustice love heroism and fierce family ties that will never be broken. Starring George MacKay (How I Live Now Sunshine on Leith) Jack O'Connell (300 Skins) Alexandra Roach (The Iron Lady One Chance) Maxine Peake (Silk Shameless) Frances de la Tour (Hugo Alice in Wonderland) John Lynch (Sliding Doors The Fall) and in his last film the incomparable Richard Griffiths (Harry Potter History Boys). Special Features: Bonus Features Interview With Award-Winning Author Michael Morpurgo On set with Jack O'Connell On wet with George MacKay On set 'Empire Day' With Richard Griffiths On Set 'The Dance' With Maxine Peake Fix Bayonets! On set with John Lynch Life in the trenches

• Dancing at Lughnasa | DVD | (01/09/2008) from £9.98   |  Saving you £8.00 (100.13%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Two-time Academy Award-winner Meryl Streep stars in this beautifully crafted ensemble drama from director Pat O'Connor (Circle Of Friends) adapted from the internationally acclaimed play by Brian Friel. Rural Ireland 1936. It's a pivotal time for the five unmarried Mundy sisters. Europe is on the brink of war their small village is on the verge of incredible change and the sisters have troubles of their own. The head of the household is the imperious eldest sister Kate (Streep) barely holding the family together with income from her teaching job. Her sisters saintly caretaker Agnes (Brid Brennan); the simple-minded Rose (Sophie Thompson); earthy Maggie (Kathy Burke) and the romantic Christina (Catherine McCormack) all do piecework and odd jobs to support themselves and Christina's beloved illegitimate young son Michael. Into their lives come two men who threaten to disrupt this delicate family union: Michael's errant father Gerry (Rhys Ifans) and the sisters...brother (Michael Gambon) a mentally unbalanced priest returning from decades of missionary work in remote Africa. Despite their hardships the sisters are able to embrace life and all its complexities and dance with joy in their hearts. Dancing At Lughnasa is a poignant drama featuring brilliant ensemble acting gorgeous photography and music by Grammy Award-winning composer Bill Whelan (Riverdance).

• Circle Of Friends | DVD | (19/02/2007) from £5.31   |  Saving you £4.68 (88.14%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Circle Of Friends is a story of first love first kisses and first betrayals. Three girlhood friends are re-united in college ready to experience life to the fullest. Eve an orphan quiet and observant; Nan socially and sexually precocious; and Benny (Minnie Driver) a modest self-conscious dreamer. It doesn't take long for them all in their exciting new world to meet men and fall in love. But Benny unsure of herself and scared of rejection follows her heart out on a limb for the brightest best-looking boy on the campus (Chris O'Donnell). Will her shyly adventurous spirit be rewarded? One thing is sure. Whatever happens in affairs of the heart Benny will always rely on the people she loves and the people who love her in her Circle Of Friends.

• Sweet November | DVD | (21/01/2002) from £6.49   |  Saving you £7.50 (115.56%)   |  RRP £13.99

  Charlize Theron stars as Sara Deever who, every month, takes a new lover. But her plans go awry in November after she meets Nelson Moss (Keanue Reeves) who hopes to win her heart for good.

• Circle Of Friends | DVD | (16/02/2004) from £5.56   |  Saving you £0.43 (7.73%)   |  RRP £5.99

  The same year as the BBC's Pride and Prejudice (1995) writer Andrew Davies and star Colin Firth were also hard at work on Circle of Friends, an Irish romance brought to the big screen by director Pat O'Connor (Dancing at Lughnasa). It's 1957 and three small-town friends Benny (Minnie Driver), Eve (Geraldine O'Rawe) and Nan (Saffron Burrows) arrive at university in Dublin, the scene set for an entertaining obstacle course along the path to true love. Jack, an excellent Chris O'Donnell, is the object of Benny's affections, and as the still unsure young woman beginning to find her way Driver gives an extremely engaging performance. Alan Cummings has a rather stereotyped role, which involves him in an attempted rape scene, one not only out-of-character with the rest of the film, but not even in the original novel. The transfer of 1990s mores onto 1950s Catholic Ireland jars a little towards the end, but whereas the cinema usually portrays Ireland as either a backdrop to "The Troubles", or--Angela's Ashes-style--as a land of hard working-class struggle, it's appealing to see it taking a look at the adventures of decent, ordinary middle-class people. The plot never springs any serious surprises, but makes for beautifully photographed Sunday-night TV-style nostalgia. --Gary S. Dalkin

• Inventing The Abbotts | DVD | (01/03/2004) from £9.43   |  Saving you £3.56 (27.40%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Forbidden love and impossible dreams intertwine when the handsome working class Holt brothers are drawn to the beautiful and wealthy Abbott sisters. Sparks fly passions flare and family loyalties are suddenly torn and tested against a small town backdrop of social boundaries and dark secrets...

• The January Man | DVD | (12/08/2002) from £20.00   |  Saving you £-7.01 (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  The January Man is an odd comedy-thriller about the hunt for a serial killer that could just be a case of too many stars spoil the movie. The screenplay is by John Patrick Shanley, who won an Oscar for Moonstruck. The plot goes like this: a serial killer is terrorising Manhattan, targeting one woman a month, much to the horror of the mayor (a rabid Rod Steiger, more foam than substance) and the police commissioner Frank Starkey (Harvey Keitel). There's only one man to save their bacon: enter Nick Starkey (Kevin Kline), brother of Frank, who had been a cop but was kicked out of the force for his unorthodox ways. Being a heroic kind of guy, his next career move was as a firefighter and we first see him leaping out of a burning building, carrying a child under his arm. Kline agrees to go back on one condition: that he cooks dinner for his brother's wife (the fantastically haughty Susan Sarandon), a former girlfriend for whom he still holds a candle. The pace hots up, Nick finds himself a new girlfriend, the mayor's daughter Bernadette (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio), whose main claim to fame is that her best friend was murdered by the serial killer. Oh, and of course he gets the guy, in the nick of time (literally). Confused? You won't be. The plot is an improbable potion of coincidences and divine inspiration but it's not complicated. Kline overcomes the shortcomings of the script with a charmer of a performance, but the real star is the funny, sly Alan Rickman. The January Man is worth seeing for some very fine individual turns (Sarandon is terrific), but in all honesty, it doesn't add up to a great movie, mainly because it can't quite decide what it wants to be, genre-wise, settling on an uneasy compromise of comedy and thriller. On the DVD: The January Man disc has absolutely no-frills. Picture and sound are perfectly adequate without being anything to write home about. And if you're looking for extra goodies, you'll be disappointed: there's the original theatrical trailer and a wide array of subtitle languages, but that's it. --Harriet Smith

• Private Peaceful | DVD | (05/11/2012) from £24.28   |  Saving you £-9.29 (-62.00%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Adapted from the best-selling novel by children's laureate and writer of 'War Horse' Michael Morpurgo, 'Private Peaceful' is an emotional and uplifting film about the journey of two devoted brothers through their childhood and adolescence in rural Devon to enlisting in the military for the First World War. On the home front, 'Private Peaceful' is a story of fierce family loyalties and brothers divided by their love for the same girl. At war, it encompasses heroism, cowardice, brutality and th...

• A Month In The Country | DVD | (09/08/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Based on J L Carr's novel two young soldiers fresh from the trauma of World War I meet in a tranquil Yorkshire village and form an unusual bond. Birkin has come to spend a month restoring a church mural whilst Moon who is still suffering nightmares from the horrors of war has come to excavate a forgotten chapel. Set against the background of an idyllic summer passion and forbidden love are uncovered as Birkin falls for the rector's beautiful wife and Moon has to face his own inner desires. As the men become drawn into their work they find reassurance and escape from their experiences and can begin a personal journey to recovery.

• Dancing At Lughnasa | DVD | (28/01/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  This affecting, bittersweet tale--adapted from Brian Friel's semi-autobiographical Tony Award-winning play--examines the emotional lives of the five unmarried Mundy sisters in 1936 rural Ireland. In their mutual care is eight-year-old Michael (sweetly understated Darrell Johnston), the illegitimate son of youngest sister Christina (Braveheart's Catherine McCormack). A voice-over from the adult Michael recalls that significant summer, in the month of August, during the feast of Lughnasa. The bolder townsfolk dance around a fire to Lugh, an ancient god of light. Yes, this is fiercely Roman Catholic Ireland and Lugh a pagan god, but that irony is at the core of the film: the hypocrisy of tradition. The dramatic change in the richly metaphoric movie comes with the arrival of two men: eldest sibling--and only Mundy brother--Jack (Michael Gambon), a priest returning from many years in Africa, now addled, and Christine's long-absent lover and Michael's father, the charmingly flighty Gerry (Rhys Ifans). Beautiful music and excellent performances highlight the film, which also features gorgeous cinematography of the Irish countryside. Meryl Streep is stern eldest sister Kate; Kathy Burke is lively Maggie; Brid Brennan (who appeared in the stage play) is thoughtful caretaker Agnes; and Sophie Thompson is simple sweet Rose. It's a quiet film, but one filled with ironic and haunting meaning. Directed by Pat O'Connor (Circle of Friends). --N.F. Mendoza, Amazon.com

• Steel Magnolias / Circle Of Friends / Legends OF The Fall | DVD | (06/09/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Legends Of The Fall: Colonel William Ludlow (Sir Anthony Hopkins) built a ranch in the remote foothills of the Montana Rockies where he brought up his three sons away from the carnage of the Indian wars. Alfred (Aidan Quinn) the eldest is dutiful and reserved Samuel (Henry Thomas) the beloved youngest is compassionate and idealistic while the middle brother Tristan (Brad Pitt) has a wild untameable spirit. Into this masculine world enters Susannah Finncannon (Julia Ormond) a beautiful intelligent woman who stirs a passion and rivalry in all three brothers that will change the course of their lives and shape their destinies forever. From the rugged prairie lands of 19th Century America to the trenches of World War I and the changing world beyond 'Legends of the Fall' is a sweeping star-studded epic - a passionate journey into the darkest secrets of love betrayal and the unbreakable bonds of blood. Steel Magnolias: A beautiful bittersweet comedy set in deep south Louisiana 'Steel Magnolias' unites talents of America's finest actresses as six very special friends bonded together by mutual triumphs and tragedies. Despite their differences beautiful Shelby (Julia Roberts) her strong-willed mother M'Lynn (Sally Field) beauty parlour owner Truvy (Dolly Parton) elegant wealthy widow Clairee (Olympia Dukakis) sharp tongued Ouiser (Shirley MacLaine) and mousey newcomer Anelle (Daryl Hannah) enjoy a friendship that spans the boundaries of age and status. Sharing each other's strength and loyalty they face their greatest fears and highest hopes with dry wit and a self-deprecating style... Circle Of Friends: Circle Of Friends is a story of first love first kisses and first betrayals. Three girlhood friends are re-united in college ready to experience life to the fullest. Eve an orphan quiet and observant; Nan socially and sexually precocious; and Benny (Minnie Driver) a modest self-conscious dreamer. It doesn't take long for them all in their exciting new world to meet men and fall in love. But Benny unsure of herself and scared of rejection follows her heart out on a limb for the brightest best-looking boy on the campus (Chris O'Donnell). Will her shyly adventurous spirit be rewarded? One thing is sure. Whatever happens in affairs of the heart Benny will always rely on the people she loves and the people who love her in her Circle Of Friends.

• Private Peaceful | Blu Ray | (05/11/2012) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Adapted from the best-selling novel by children's laureate and writer of 'War Horse' Michael Morpurgo, 'Private Peaceful' is an emotional and uplifting film about the journey of two devoted brothers through their childhood and adolescence in rural Devon to enlisting in the military for the First World War. On the home front, 'Private Peaceful' is a story of fierce family loyalties and brothers divided by their love for the same girl. At war, it encompasses heroism, cowardice, brutality and th...

• The Irish Collection | DVD | (09/03/2009) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £16.33

  Far And Away (1992): Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman star in this critically acclaimed romantic adventure from director Ron Howard. This breathtaking epic opens on the West Coast of Ireland 1892. Joseph Donelly (Cruise) a poor tenant farmer is determined to bring justice to an oppressive landlord. Instead he finds himself accompanying the landlord's daughter Shannon (Kidman) to America in a quest for land. Arriving in Boston Joseph finds a place for them to live while proving a natural at bare-fisted boxing. But his triumph is short-lived as he and Shannon are thrown out into the bitter cold. Joseph sets off for work on the railroad until a passing wagon train reminds him of his original goal to possess his own land. Preparing to stake his claim in the new territory he runs into Shannon who is unhappily reunited with her former fianc''e. In the excitement of the Oklahoma land rush they realise their dreams of land and life together in this satisfying grand-scale adventure that has been called a wondrous epic! The Boxer (1997): When Danny Flynn (Daniel Day-Lewis) returns to his Belfast neighbourhood after 14 years in prison all he wants is to find peace resume his career and reclaim the love of the woman who has remained etched in his mind. As they slowly embrace the possibilities of renewed romance they realise cultural taboos stand in the way and fighting for love could cost them their lives. Angela's Ashes (1999): Angela's Ashes the Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir comes to life in this stirring film from acclaimed director Alan Parker starring Academy Award-nominee Emily Watson and Robert Carlyle. Life in impoverished Depression-era Ireland holds little promise for young Frank McCourt the oldest son in a tightly knit family. Living by his wits cheered by his irrepressible spirit and sustained by his mother's fierce love Frank embarks on an inspiring journey to overcome the poverty of his childhood and reach the land of his dreams: America. Circle Of Friends is a story of first love first kisses and first betrayals. Three girlhood friends are re-united in college ready to experience life to the fullest. Eve an orphan quiet and observant; Nan socially and sexually precocious; and Benny (Minnie Driver) a modest self-conscious dreamer. It doesn't take long for them all in their exciting new world to meet men and fall in love. But Benny unsure of herself and scared of rejection follows her heart out on a limb for the brightest best-looking boy on the campus (Chris O'Donnell). Will her shyly adventurous spirit be rewarded? One thing is sure. Whatever happens in affairs of the heart Benny will always rely on the people she loves and the people who love her in her Circle Of Friends.

• Sacred Hearts | DVD | (29/06/2009) from £8.08   |  Saving you £-2.09 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  The emotional story of a teenage girl's fight to keep her family together as her world begins to fall a part. Like any 17 year old Elizabeth's future looked rosy and full of promise until her mother's mental health deteriorated and her father started to struggle with the consequences turning to the bottle. Now she must come of age in an effort to keep what she holds most dear from destroying them all.