Drama

• La Belle Et La Bete | DVD | (19/11/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  La Belle et La Bete is one of the all-time great movie fantasies, and one of the most gorgeous pictures ever made. It was the first feature film by French director Jean Cocteau, a writer, poet and painter with ties to the surrealists. (In fact, his first film, The Blood of a Poet, was delayed after the scandal caused by L'Age D'Or, made by his fellow surrealists Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dali.) The haunting, surreal visuals (candelabra made of human hands, for example) and a sensitive performance by Jean Marais as the Beast imbue the film with an indelible, mythical power. --Jim Emerson, Amazon.com

• Kramer vs Kramer | DVD | (02/05/2011) from £4.38   |  Saving you £1.61 (36.76%)   |  RRP £5.99

  It might have started out as a small, rather arty divorce drama but Kramer vs Kramer was the biggest cinema hit of 1979. It confirmed Dustin Hoffman's status as a major star in a performance that combined his trademark twitchy intensity with deep sensitivity. And it provided Meryl Streep with a pivotal role in her rise to big-screen greatness. Both won Oscars, as did director Robert Benton and the film itself scooped the Best Picture award. Kramer vs Kramer has worn well into the 21st century. Although clearly of its time--by the late 1970s, microscopic relationship analysis had become the theme of commercial cinema--it stands on the strength of its central performances. Hoffman's Ted Kramer is a vision of the Graduate grown up: serious, focused and thrown by anything that threatens his upwardly mobile professional trajectory. The news that his wife, who he has failed to notice teetering on the edge of a breakdown, is leaving him and their son sends him into a tailspin. The film is as much about his resilience and fulfilment as it is the story of a divorce and custody battle. Justin Henry is extraordinary as Billy, the boy caught in the middle, and turns in a remarkably complex, thoughtful performance, which is light years from the archetypal all-American kid you might anticipate. And in just a handful of scenes, Streep is mesmerising as Joanna, the deserting wife and mother who you just can't bring yourself to hate. Yes, this is soap opera. But it belongs up there with all the finest cinematic human dramas. On the DVD: The widescreen presentation ensures a theatrically authentic experience, with some fantastic shots of New York city coming into their own. The mono sound is adequate for the relative intimacy of most of the dialogue. But the real bonus is the retrospective documentary in which director and writer Benton, producer Stanley Jaffe and the cast look back with touching satisfaction at a piece which clearly meant a great deal to them all. Hoffman's initial reluctance (he was going through a real-life divorce) to get involved, the process of working with a gifted child actor and Streep's desire to make Joanna understood are all recalled in fascinating detail. --Piers Ford

• The Bonfire Of The Vanities (1990) | DVD | (01/06/2006) from £6.50   |  Saving you £7.49 (115.23%)   |  RRP £13.99

  Is it time, after the anonymous disaster of Mission to Mars, to give Brian De Palma's famously doomed film of Tom Wolfe's bulky novel Bonfire of the Vanities another chance? The uproarious ins and outs of the film's troubled production have become well-known via Julie Salamon's account of its making, The Devil's Candy, and fans of that might want to flick between page and screen to see just when Melanie Griffith caused untold continuity problems by having her breasts inflated. Techno buffs will surely appreciate the pointless but somehow wonderful trickery of an extended tracking shot at the outset that exists only to last a few seconds longer than the one in Orson Welles Touch of Evil (1958). Tom Hanks was rather better cast than was generally allowed, as "master of the universe" Sherman McCoy, who comes a cropper after a hit-and-run accident, since his nice-guy act shows intriguing cracks. And even Bruce Willis does his best on a hiding to nothing as the drunken writer. It is funny in parts, agonising in others, and misses Wolfe's tone--but somehow its failures might make it as symptomatic of the long-gone excesses of the early 90s as the novel was of the 80s. --Kim Newman

• Sid And Nancy | DVD | (29/08/2016) from £7.99   |  Saving you £10.00 (125.16%)   |  RRP £17.99

  BRAND NEW RESTORATION TO CELEBRATE THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF PUNK, INLCUDES BRAND NEW BONUS FEATURES It's 1977 and The Sex Pistols have taken the music world by storm with lead singer Johnny Rotten (Andrew Schofield) and bass guitarist Sid Vicious (Gary Oldman) enjoying all the spoils that fame and money have to offer. Vicious embarks on a relationship with an American groupie Nancy (Chloe Webb) - who has come to London to pursue him but the couple's increasing drug use frays relationships with Johnny and the rest of the band. With Nancy in tow, The Sex Pistols embark on a chaotic tour US tour which ends in disaster with the band breaking up. Vicious attempts to start a solo career, with Nancy as his manager, but by now both are dangerously addicted to heroin. The two continue in a downward, destructive spiral until, in October 1978 at the Chelsea Hotel in New York, Nancy is found stabbed with Sid lying prostrate at her side. Arrested and accused of murder, he dies of an overdose before his trial.

• The Strange World Of Planet X | DVD | (03/04/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Man and alien unite to combat the most insidious peril the universe has ever known! Dr. Laird and his British team of scientists have been experimenting with ultra intense magnetic fields. Unbeknown to them though this has been affecting distant objects in the galaxy. After a freak storm something sinsiter and seemingly all powerful is discovered in the nearby Bryerly Woods and the full extent of the Doctor's experiments become apparent...

• Doctor Faustus | DVD | (04/10/2010) from £6.35   |  Saving you £9.64 (151.81%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Stage on Screen presents a Greenwich Theatre production of Dr Faustus by Christopher Marlowe. Using the unabridged A text version of the play, this lucid, stylish and energetic production captures perfectly both the horror and dark humour of Marlowe's tragic work. "Atmospheric... diabolically convincing...flashes of fiery poetry...directed with laudable clarity" Time Out. THE STAGE REVIEW I've never been very happy about films of plays shot in theatres during live performances because they are usually too static to make the best use of film and the sound is rarely satisfactory. Stage on Screen's DVD of Greenwich Theatre's November 2009 production of Doctor Faustus, however, confounded all my negative expectations because it is extremely watchable and really does give you the best of both worlds - the advantage of close-up shots and the sense of being at a live performance. Gareth Kennerley is magnificent in the huge role of Doctor Faustus, taking the character adeptly from casual, confident academic to the depths of manic despair. I loved Beatrice Curnew's gravelly, unequivocal delivery of the Chorus part and Tim Treloar gets the balance between disingenuous humour and ruthlessness just right in Mephistopheles. Guy Burgess is good value as Wagner and some of the ensemble work in depicting all those sins is very fine. The climax is compelling - even on a small screen. It was, evidently, impeccably directed by Elizabeth Freestone and imaginatively filmed by outside broadcaster Chris Cowey. And I need not have worried about the sound. It is well balanced and fully audible. Optional full-text subtitles (including simple stage directions such as 'Faustus shrieks') will help anyone new to the play as well as deaf and hard of hearing viewers. Susan Elkin, Education Editor

• Saving Mr Banks | Blu Ray | (24/03/2014) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £22.99

  Two-time Academy Award winner Emma Thompson and fellow double Oscar winner Tom Hanks star in Disney's Saving Mr. Banks inspired by the extraordinary untold tale of how one of the most beloved stories of all time Mary Poppins was brought to the big screen. The film is a poignant sharply funny and moving recounting of Walt Disney's (Tom Hanks) quest to fulfil a promise to his daughters to make a film of their favourite book and of its fiercely protective author PL Travers (Emma Thompson) who had no intention of letting her beloved nanny go to Hollywood. Saving Mr. Banks follows Walt as he has to pull out all the stops to change PL Travers' mind and is ultimately forced to reach back into his own childhood to discover the truth about the ghosts that haunt her. Together they set Mary Poppins free to become one of the most endearing films in cinematic history. Academy Award winner Paul Giamatti Colin Farrell Ruth Wilson and Jason Schwartzman round out the terrific cast.

• Sliding Doors | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £6.19   |  Saving you £-0.20 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Nice concept, shaky execution--that about sums up the mixed blessings of British actor Peter Howitt's intelligent but forgivably flawed debut as a writer-director. It's got more emotional depth than most frothy romantic comedies and its central idea--the parallel tracking of two possible destinies for a young London professional played by Gwyneth Paltrow--is full of involving possibilities. It's essentially a what-if scenario with Helen (Paltrow) at the centre of two slightly but significantly different romantic trajectories, one involving her two-timing boyfriend (John Lynch)and the other with an amiable chap (John Hannah) who represents a happier outcome. That's the film's basic problem, however: the two scenarios are so romantically unbalanced (one guy's a total cad, the other charmingly sincere) that Helen inadvertently comes off looking foolish and needlessly confused. Still, this remains a pleasant experiment and Howitt's dialogue is witty enough to keep things entertaining. It's also a treat for Paltrow fans; not only does the svelte actress handle a British accent without embarrassing herself but she gets to play two subtle variations of the same character, sporting different wardrobes and hairstyles in a role that plays into her glamorous off-screen persona. --Jeff Shannon

• Born And Bred - Series 1 | DVD | (07/04/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Set in the 1950's 'Born And Bred' proved to be a hugely popular ratings winner when it was broadcast at peak time on Sunday evenings in April 2002. GP Arthur Gilder has lived in the Lancashire village of Ormston all of his life. His son Tom who is also a doctor lives in Manchester. Arthur misses his family and is determined to hand the practice over to Tom. However following in his father's footsteps is the last thing on Tom's mind - until he retraces his steps to the picturesque

• The Lost World | DVD | (03/06/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Not the Steven Spielberg blockbuster, this Lost World is a splendid BBC TV dramatisation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famous adventure story. Bob Hoskins makes an unusually genial Professor Challenger, far less of a bully than Doyle's character, but his slightly stereotyped companions are nicely filled out by a solid cast. James Fox is Challenger's more timid but still covertly adventurous rival, Tom Ward is the moustachioed big game hunter who faces an Allosaurus with an elephant gun, and Matthew Rhys plays the tagalong reporter hoping to impress his faithless fiancée. As usual, the adaptation adds a woman--orphaned jungle girl Elaine Cassidy--to the expedition, and an interesting villain (religious fanatic Peter Falk) beefs up the travelogue by marooning Challenger's gang on the South American plateau where dinosaurs, cavemen and Indians coexist eventfully. The Walking with Dinosaurs-style effects work well for the TV frame, but the real success is in integrating the Boys' Own adventuring with subtle eco-awareness, complex character interplay and the reliable wonder of soaring Pteranodons and Carnosaur attacks. --Kim Newman

• The Last Seduction | DVD | (12/06/2006) from £10.85   |  Saving you £6.40 (66.74%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Bridget Gregory (Linda Fiorentino) is a woman who knows what she wants and will stop at nothing to get it: including murder. After a drug deal goes wrong she cons her ineffectual husband Harlan (Bill Pullman) out of seven hundred thousand dollars. She hides in a small town where she takes up with young dumb lover Swale (Peter Berg) but soon Harlan is on her trail and he means business. John Dahl's modern take on the classic film noir is packed full of double-crosses sexual tensi

• Romper Stomper | Blu Ray | (08/09/2025) from £18.98   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Featuring a young Russell Crowe in a knock out early performance, ROMPER STOMPER is a gritty Australian urban thriller highlighting the danger of scapegoating and racial prejudice. With its skinhead protagonists and violent motif, the movie walks in the shadow of productions such as Alan Clarke's MADE IN BRITAIN and acted as a precursor to later work like AMERICAN HISTORY X and THIS IS ENGLAND.Hando (Crowe), the psychotic leader of a gang of marauding neo-Nazi teenagers, begins a relationship with the epileptic Gabrielle, but though they at first make a good team the courtship soon turns abusive. Though Gabrielle has designs to take Hando away from his life of crime and destruction, his indoctrination into a racist world viewpoint seems all-consuming.Hard-hitting and at times cruel, this sadistic drama bleeds with unpalatable truths and difficult to face up to notions of culture, identity and working-class disintegration.Remastered HD Transfer at ITV StudiosHigh Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation5.1 DTS-HDMA Surround2.0 DTS-HD MA StereoAudio Commentary with Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and Josh NelsonAudio Commentary with Director Geoffrey WrightOptional English SDHArchive Interviews with Russell Crowe, Jacqueline McKenzie, Tony Lee, Geoffrey Wright, Paul McDonaldBehind the Scenes PhotoshootTheatrical Trailer

• Arbitrage | DVD | (15/07/2013) from £4.70   |  Saving you £11.29 (240.21%)   |  RRP £15.99

  A troubled hedge fund magnate desperate to complete the sale of his trading empire makes an error that forces him to turn to an unlikely person for help.

• Yardie | DVD | (26/12/2018) from £6.49   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Yardie is the fresh, compelling and remarkable directorial debut from Idris Elba. Set in '70s Kingston and '80s Hackney, D (Aml Ameen, The Maze Runner, Kidulthood), has never fully recovered from the murder of his older brother Jerry Dread. D grows up under the wing of a Kingston Don and music producer named King Fox (Sheldon Shepherd). When Fox dispatches him to London, D reconnects with his childhood sweetheart, Yvonne (Shantol Jackson), and his daughter who he's not seen since she was a baby. He also hooks up with a soundclash crew, called High Noon. But before he can be convinced to abandon his life of crime and follow the righteous path, he encounters the man who shot his brother 10 years earlier, and embarks on a bloody, explosive quest for retribution a quest which brings him into conflict with vicious London gangster Rico (Stephen Graham, This is England).

• Sixty Glorious Years | DVD | (25/03/2019) from £16.98   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  NOTICE: Polish Release, cover may contain Polish text/markings. The disk DOES NOT have English audio and subtitles.

• On the Rocks | DVD | (08/11/2021) from £7.55   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Laura (Rashida Jones) thinks she's happily hitched, but when her husband Dean (Marlon Wayans) starts logging late hours at the office with a new coworker, Laura begins to fear the worst. She turns to the one man she suspects may have insight: her charming, impulsive father Felix (Bill Murray), who insists they investigate the situation. As the two begin prowling New York at night, careening from uptown parties to downtown hotspots, they discover at the heart of their journey lies their own relationship.

• When the Wind Blows (DVD + Blu-ray) | Blu Ray | (22/01/2018) from £18.75   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Jim and Hilda Bloggs (Sir John Mills and Dame Peggy Ashcroft) are a middle-aged couple, who believe that the British government is in control as they prepare for Nuclear War. When the countdown begins they roll up their shirtsleeves and follow government guidelines that were actually distributed to households around Britain in the 1970s. They paint their windows white, build a fortress of doors and pillows, take the washing in and put away two packets of ginger nuts, one tin of pineapple chunks and a good supply of tea. This cautionary tale is both humorous and macabre in its consideration of one of the most horrific possibilities of modern life. When the Wind Blows is a story about love, tenderness, humanity and hope. Adapted by Raymond Briggs (The Snowman) from his best-selling book, When the Wind Blows features an original soundtrack by Roger Waters, and a title song by David Bowie. Extras: Presented in High Definition and Standard Definition Audio commentary with first assistant editor Joe Fordham and film historian Nick Redman Jimmy Murakami: Non-Alien (2010, 73 mins): feature-length documentary about the film's director Interview with Raymond Briggs (2005, 14 mins) The Wind and the Bomb (1986, 20 mins): the making-of When the Wind Blows Protect and Survive (1975, 51 mins): public information film about how to survive in the event of a nuclear attack Isolated music and effects track Fully illustrated booklet with a new introduction by Raymond Briggs, essays by Jez Stewart, Clare Kitson and Bella Todd and full film credits

• The Man Who Finally Died | Blu Ray | (21/02/2022) from £7.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  British cinema legend Stanley Baker's intense persona and rugged charm are brought to the fore in this gripping tale of Cold War espionage, where he plays a son in search of his missing father. Co-starring Peter Cushing, Mai Zetterling and Eric Portman, The Man Who Finally Died is featured here as a brand-new High Definition remaster from original film elements in its original theatrical aspect ratio. In London, jazz musician Joe Newman receives a startling telephone call from his German father, a man he believed long dead. At the same time, a funeral is taking place in a quiet Bavarian town - and the coffin bears the name of his father! Joe's search for the truth proves more disturbing than he could ever have imagined. Special Features Image gallery

• Staying Alive | DVD | (07/10/2002) from £25.90   |  Saving you £-9.91 (-62.00%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Sequel to 'Saturday Night Fever' where Tony Manero older but not much wiser pursues his search for stardom on the Broadway stage...

• Richard III | DVD | (15/11/2021) from £7.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Shakespeare's powerful tale of the wicked deformed King and his conquests, both on the battlefield and in the boudoir.