Drama

• A One and a Two (Yi Yi) | DVD | (24/06/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £21.99

  A subtitled three-hour saga of an ordinary middle-class urban family in modern-day Taiwan, at first glance, A One and a Two might not seem the most appealing of prospects. But don't be misled: this is a film that draws you in with all the warmth and density of a good novel, and once you are past the surface unfamiliarity of Taipei society, there's nothing in this tale of a troubled family that would seem alien anywhere in the world. Romantic stories often end with a wedding. Realistic stories are as likely to begin with one. Writer-director Edward Yang's film starts in a mass of floaty white dresses and heart-shaped pink balloons, but the smiles seem a little too effusive, the jollity feels forced. And sure enough, disaster is lurking. The seeming simplicity of Yang's narrative style conceals a subtle, intricate design. His camera moves obliquely, often holding its distance from the action, letting us take in all the elements of a scene and draw our own conclusions. Wider social implications--about modern society, about international business ethics--are hinted at, but never rammed home. By the end we realise we've been watching a microcosm of human life, with all its humour and tragedy. For all the apparent narrowness of its canvas, A One and a Two makes most British and American films feel hopelessly parochial. The Best Director Prize at Cannes was rarely more richly deserved. On the DVD: A One and a Two comes to disc with a generous helping of extras. The original theatrical trailer, wordless and intriguing; numerous cast and crew biographies; a brief stills gallery; and, best of all, a full three-hour commentary track of Edward Yang in conversation with Tony Rayns, UK expert on Chinese-language cinema. Their discussion is relaxed and illuminating. The print, and the SR Dolby Digital sound, are clean and crisp, and we get the full 1.85:1 ratio of the original release. --Philip Kemp

• In The Mood For Love | DVD | (29/10/2001) from £25.99   |  Saving you £-2.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £23.99

  This Special Edition 2-disc set of 'In The Mood For Love' presents a vast and sumptuous array of the very best of director Wong Kar-Wai's selected additional features. The special bonus features will satisfy the longings for audiences who have been seduced by 'In The Mood For Love' and its timeless beauty style and sensuality. Hong Kong 1962. Chow (Tony Leung) is a junior newspaper editor with an elusive wife. His new neighbour Li-zhen (Maggie Cheung) is a secretary whose husband s

• The Electric Horseman | DVD | (16/02/2004) from £5.38   |  Saving you £0.61 (10.20%)   |  RRP £5.99

  This rousing romantic adventure Robert Redford plays ex-world champion cowboy reduced to huckstering breakfast food in a suit studded with flash lights. Jane Fonda is a chic sharp member of the electronic media a TV newswoman who'll do anything to get a good story. When Redford rides out of Las Vegas casino into the desert astride his sponsor's living symbol a multi-million dollar racehorse Jane is determined to discover why. She does one step ahead of a posse of pursuing police. But by the time they reach a remote rendezvous high in the Utah mountains she is in love with both the Cowboy and his convictions...

• James Dean - The TV Years | DVD | (19/09/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £4.99

  Before he ever made the movies like Rebel Without A Cause that would forever burn his name into the collective consciousness fifties legend James Dean appeared in numerous television programmes. Here on one remarkable DVD are complete live dramas from that Golden Age of television starring the one and only James Dean: The Bells Of Cockaigne (1953) featuring Dean as a man who comes to the rescue of a sickly child; and I Am A Fool (1954) with Dean as a poor boy who

• Burnt | Blu Ray | (30/10/2016) from £8.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Adam Jones had it all -- and lost it. A two-star Michelin rockstar with the bad habits to match, the former enfant terrible of the Paris restaurant scene did everything different every time, and only cared about the thrill of creating explosions of taste.

• NYPD Blue - Season 2 | DVD | (06/10/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £39.99

  Originally broadcast in 1994, the second series of NYPD Blue was disrupted by the departure of star David Caruso (Detective John Kelly) after just four episodes--apparently under less than amicable circumstances. He was ably replaced as Detective Sipowicz's partner by Jimmy Smits as the smoother Detective Bobby Simone, and the series managed not to miss a beat. More streamlined and downbeat than its predecessor Hill Street Blues (also created by Steven Bochco), NYPD Blue continued second time around to mix near-the-knuckle detective work in pursuit of New York's scummiest with more character and relationship-based drama. Although it's regrettable that its ethnic-minority characters such as Lieutenant Fancy are increasingly marginalised here, the series is more comfortable, and even has fun with, regular characters such as the nervy Detective Medavoy and his on-off paramour Donna Abandando. Andy Sipowicz's simmering, tough-nosed recovering alcoholic is increasingly and amusingly put to the test in a number of situations, including a murder investigation in a gay bar; being sung to at his own wedding by Nic Turturro's Detective Martinez; and a love scene in the shower in which we experience the dubious pleasure of seeing his bare bum. New female introductions, such as the strong but sympathetic Detective Lesniak, also helped to shake up the series with a much-needed oestrogen boost. There's also fun to be had in spotting a number of guest appearances by up-and-coming actors destined to make it in their own right such as Richard Schiff and Bradley Whitford (The West Wing) and Debra Messing (Will and Grace). On the DVD: NYPD Blue, Series 2 DVD box set contains a number of extras, primarily a one-hour documentary in which the cast and programme-makers discuss the series episode by episode, the self-congratulatory mood only broken by some subtle digs at departing star David Caruso (apparently, he walked straight off the set following his final take into a waiting limo without any farewells). There's also a small piece paying tribute to the music of theme-writer Mike Post and an item covering the relationship between Sipowicz and Assistant DA Sylvia Costas, in whose marriage this series culminates. --David Stubbs

• Bad Timing | DVD | (07/05/2007) from £11.18   |  Saving you £3.81 (34.08%)   |  RRP £14.99

  His terrifying obsession took them to the brink of death and beyond Amid the decaying elegance of cold-war Vienna psychoanalyst Dr. Alex Linden (Art Garfunkel) becomes mired in an erotically charged affair with the elusive Milena Flaherty (Theresa Russell). When their all consuming passion takes a life-threatening turn Inspector Netusil (Harvey Keitel) is assigned to piece together the sordid details. Acclaimed for its innovative editing raw performances and stirring musical score - featuring Tom Waits The Who and Billie Holiday Nicolas Roegs Bad Timing is a masterful deeply disturbing foray into the dark world of sexual obsession.

• A Hologram For The King | Blu Ray | (19/09/2016) from £5.98   |  Saving you £12.01 (200.84%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Light-hearted comedy drama starring Tom Hanks as struggling American businessman Alan Clay. Desperate to recoup lost earnings and pay for his daughter's tuition fees, Clay travels to Saudi Arabia in an attempt to secure a lucrative IT contract with a wealthy Saudi king. After discovering on arrival that the king hasn't visited the development in 18 months and, facing the sack, Clay must find the money and willpower to make his project a success and turn his fortunes around. The cast also includes Ben Whishaw, Sarita Choudhury, Tom Skerritt and Sidse Babett Knudsen.

• Alamar | DVD | (28/02/2011) from £8.98   |  Saving you £7.01 (43.80%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Jorge and Roberta have been separated for several years. They simply come from opposite worlds: he likes an uncomplicated life in the jungle, while she prefers a more urban existence.

• The Brute | DVD | (28/02/2011) from £11.59   |  Saving you £6.40 (55.22%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Two of Mexicos finest actors star in this fiery melodrama by master director Luis Buuel. Pedro Armendariz (Maria Candelaria; Three Godfathers) plays a physically strong but simple-minded slaughterhouse worker who is hired by a brutal landlord to evict unwanted tenants. His life is complicated when he falls for the slumlords seductive wife played by Ariel-winner Katy Jurado (Broken Lance; High Noon). Bold brutal and blistering THE BRUTE is a highlight of Buuels Mexican period in which he fit his themes and ideas into the popular Mexican melodrama.

• Computer Chess (Masters of Cinema) (DVD & BLU-RAY DUAL FORMAT) | Blu Ray | (20/01/2014) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £13.99

  The fourth feature film from the brilliant and maverick American filmmaker Andrew Bujalski whose previous works include Funny Ha Ha (the early '00s film that arguably kicked-off the so-called 'mumblecore' movement of American independent cinema) Mutual Appreciation (an acclaimed comic portrait of love and longing in the Brooklyn indie music scene) and Beeswax (which among its principals starred Alex Karpovsky the filmmaker and actor who has gone on to renown for his own comedy features and his role in Lena Dunham's Girls). A boldly intelligent ensemble comedy with a feel and atmosphere that surpass easy comparison Computer Chess takes place in the early-1980s over the course of a weekend conference where a group of obsessive software programmers have convened to pit their latest refinements in machine-chess and the still-developing field of artificial intelligence (AI) against an assembly of human chess masters. Computer Chess is a portrait not only of the crazy and surreal relationships that come to pass between the abundance of characters who participate in the weekend event (and among whose ranks include Wiley Wiggins the revered indie-game developer and star of Richard Linklater's classic Dazed and Confused) but of the very era of early computing itself - and of the first rudimentary video games - and (if that weren't enough) of the hopes and insecurities that persisted through the film's 'retro' digital age into the present-day - that semi-virtual hyper-social maybe-kind-of-dehumanised landscape that let's face it is our very own era. If that still weren't enough: it's also one of the wittiest most shift-and-cringe-in-your-seat and entirely LOL-hilarious movies of recent times. With its radical retro video aesthetic and wry rumination on digitality and where-we-are-today Computer Chess is a far-reaching and ambitious benchmark for the modern American cinema. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present Andrew Bujalski's Computer Chess in its UK home-viewing debut in a Dual Format (Blu-ray + DVD) release. Special Features: 1080p presentation of the feature film on the Blu-ray Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing Two trailers for the film Andrew Bujalski's short 2013 film Analog Goose New and exclusive video interviews with Bujalski actor Wiley Wiggins and producer Alex Lipschultz 56-Page Full-Colour Booklet Featuring: A new essay by Craig Keller A discussion on retro gaming with Wiley Wiggins A profile on cover artist (and original Atari 2600 packaging artist) Cliff Spohn A plethora of full-colour photography from the set

• Witchhammer | Blu Ray | (13/11/2017) from £17.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Otakar Vávra's Witchhammer, co-written by Ester Krumbachová (Daisies, Fruit of Paradise) from Václav Kaplický s 1963 novel, chronicles the series of notorious 17th Century Czech witch trials, undertaken using the infamous Malleus Maleficarum (the Witchhammer of the title), the Catholic treatise on witchcraft which endorses the extermination of witches and developed a detailed legal and theological theory for this purpose. Using genuine court transcripts from the forced confessions of those accused of sorcery and collusion with the Devil, it is a powerful and often shocking allegory of life under totalitarian rule. With echoes of Bergman and Franti ek Vlá il, and with literary antecedents in Arthur s Miller s The Crucible and Aldous Huxley s The Devils of Loudon, it is a disturbing political fable; and like Ken Russell's controversial, expressionistic adaptation of Huxley s text, The Devils (1971) and other films of the period such as Michael Reeves' Witchfinder General (1968) and Michael Armstrong's Mark of the Devil (1970), it serves as both grim genre film and compelling historical drama.

• A Marine Story | DVD | (11/04/2011) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  A decorated Marine officer unexpectedly returns home from the war and is quickly recruited to help a troubled teen prepare for boot camp but when the true reasons for her return become known it threatens the future for both of them. Dealing with an issue that has polarized the American people for almost two decades A Marine Story highlights the absurdity of the recently repealed military ban on homosexuals serving openly through the personal story of one courageous woman.

• Fences | Blu Ray | (12/06/2017) from £8.95   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  An African-American father struggles with race relations in the United States while trying to raise his family in the 1950s and coming to terms with the events of his life. Click Images to Enlarge

• Lucky / Chances | DVD | (22/09/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Jackie Collins' sweeping story of passion power greed and betrayal spans over 40 years from the tough streets of depression bit New York to the glitz and glamour of Hollywood and Las Vegas.

• Without Pity | DVD | (08/06/2015) from £7.98   |  Saving you £4.00 (66.78%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Co-written by a young Federico Fellini and directed by Alberto Lattuada, this award-winning film from the earlier years of Italian Neo-realist cinema stars John Kitzmiller as a black G.I. who vows to escape both the chaos of post-War Italy and an enforced return to a racially segregated U.S. after falling in love with an impoverished local girl. While its groundbreaking theme of inter-racial love made Without Pity one of the most significant and daring films of the immediate post-War period, it was banned in the United States and, as such, has never received wider recognition for its frank, sensitive handling of a subject that for many years was still controversial. A film that helped launch Fellini's career yet little seen throughout the decades since its initial release, Without Pity (Senza Pieta) is featured here in a brand-new transfer from the best remaining film elements.

• Baise-Moi | DVD | (14/04/2003) from £9.98   |  Saving you £6.01 (60.22%)   |  RRP £15.99

  When it comes to on-screen sex and violence it takes a lot to unnerve the French authorities, but Baise-Moi managed it. Three days after the film opened it was pulled from over 60 cinemas across the country, causing a major rumpus, and only allowed back after it had been reclassified X, a category normally reserved for hard-core porn. The title translates literally as "Fuck me", which pretty well sums up the brash, in-your-face style of the film. The classification was not inappropriate, given that the film features plenty of genuine, unsimulated sex. Anyone hoping for arousal, though, might do better to look elsewhere. Baise-Moi is written and directed by Virginie Despentes and Coralie Trinh Thi, working from Despentes' novel, and stars Karen Bach and Rafaella Anderson. Despentes is an ex-prostitute, while Trinh Thi, Bach and Anderson have all acted in porno movies, and what they give us here is sex as female vengeance, a screwing-and-killing rampage that turns the tables on a violent male world. The movie's been compared to Thelma and Louise, but a closer comparison might be with Henry, Portrait of a Serial Killer. As in most porno movies, the plot is the merest pretext. Nadine (Bach) is a part-time prostitute, Manu (Anderson) is a rape victim. When they meet up both have just killed, more by chance than design. On a whim they link up and take off across country, screwing and killing almost every man they meet. They kill a few women, too, just to even things up. The film's shot on crude digital video; technique is minimal and the acting is rudimentary. There's a certain raw energy that prevents the film from becoming totally depressing but the brief running time (77 minutes) comes as something of a relief. --Philip Kemp

• Catherine Cookson - The Mallen Girls | DVD | (05/12/2008) from £5.99   |  Saving you £-1.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £4.99

  The Squire of High Banks Hall has to move to a cottage with his two wards Barbara and Constance. The Squire's two bastard sons become regular visitors there and eventually Constance agrees to marry Donald. Then one night Barbara is savagely raped...

• Testament of Youth | DVD | (10/05/2010) from £19.98   |  Saving you £0.01 (0.05%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Cheryl Campbell stars in this enriching and award-winning adaptation of Vera Brittain's autobiography set between 1913 and 1925. At the outbreak of the First World War a young Vera finds herself torn between her studies at Oxford and the decision she will take to enrol as a volunteer nurse caring for casualties from the Front. Little does she realise that the faces passing before her will include those closest to her. Devastating in its portrayal of the impact of war on a whole generation Testament of Youth is a passionate powerful and personal record Vera Brittain's experiences during the First World War and serves as a moving memorial to a lost generation.

• Gone Baby Gone | DVD | (02/05/2011) from £8.97   |  Saving you £11.02 (122.85%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Based on the Dennis Lehane novel about two Boston area detectives investigating a little girl's kidnapping, which ultimately turns into a crisis both professionally and personally.