Max Payne (Cert 15, 94 mins, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, Acton/Thriller, also available to buy DVD £19.99/Blu-ray £27.99)

Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis, Olga Kurylenko, Beau Bridges, Donal Logue, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Amaury Nolasco, Marianthi Evans.

Police officer Max Payne (Wahlberg) returns home to find his wife Michelle (Evans) and baby daughter slain by an intruder. Unable to rest until he unmasks the killer, Max scours every open case file and draws inspiration from his mentor BB (Beau Bridges), who urges patience. A tip-off from a snitch leads to a nightclub where Max meets Natasha (Kurylenko) and her sister Mona (Kunis). The former dies in an alleyway and police units discover Max’s stolen wallet at the scene, fingering him for the crime. While the cop tries to clear his name and outrun Internal Affairs Detective Jim Bravura (Chris “Ludacris” Bridges), the real culprit – tormented soldier of war Jack Lupino (Nolasco) – seeks out the people closest to Max, determined to inflict more pain. John Moore’s tiresome video game-to-movie adaptation plods wearily through a plot that straddles reality and drug-induced fantasy on the crime-riddled streets of New York City. Fans of Max Payne will recognise characters and certain plot elements, like the conspiracy surrounding an experimental drug. The film also employs the slow motion bullet time effect, which was a key factor of the video game’s appeal. However, Moore’s vision is a poor substitute for the visceral thrill that comes from grabbing a game controller and taking charge of the hero. We don’t feel engaged with any of the characters, nor do we sense Max’s simmering rage. Wahlberg is inexpressive as the eponymous good cop on a mission, shooting first and thinking later, if at all, as Moore’s film builds to a lacklustre final showdown. The lack of dramatic momentum makes the 94-minute running time feel considerably longer. The DVD and Blu-ray include a harder cut of the film and an animated graphic novel detailing the story of Michelle Payne.

DVD Extras: none stated; Blu-ray: director, production designer and visual effects supervisor commentary, Picture in Picture option: “Walkthroughs & Cheats”, D-box capabilities, free digital copy of the film.

Rating: **

Mad Money (Cert 12, 99 mins, Lionsgate Home Entertainment UK Ltd, Comedy/Drama/Romance, also available to buy DVD £15.99)

Starring: Diane Keaton, Queen Latifah, Katie Holmes, Ted Danson, Roger Cross.

When her husband Don (Danson) loses his job, leading to the shocking possibility that they could lose the house, resourceful mother Bridget (Keaton) takes a mundane job as a cleaner at the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank. Here she is immediately intrigued by the banknotes, which are due to be taken out of circulation via the shredder. She hatches a hare-brained scheme to steal these old banknotes with the help of fellow employees Nina (Latifah) and Jackie (Holmes), who form two vital links in the money chain. The first theft goes as planned but the haul isn’t as large as the three women expected so they try again, gradually succumbing to greed. Don begs her wife to stop, but she and her accomplices refuse to listen, eventually attracting the attentions of the authorities. Debuting on DVD and deservedly so, Mad Money is a generic crime caper which squanders the potentially winning chemistry between the leads, albeit with Holmes woefully miscast as the ditz in the mix opposite an ever-solid Keaton and Latifah, who both possess the acting chops and comic timing to make something out of their two-dimensional heroines. Glenn Gers’s screenplay has neither the subtlety, nor the intelligence, to probe the (im)morality of the female protagonists’ actions, whiling away the blessedly brief running time with pointless romantic subplots. To rent or buy, Mad Money would be a crime.

DVD Extras: Interviews, gag reel.

Rating: **

NEW TO BUY ON DVD

Lewis – Series Three (Cert 12, 372 mins, ITV DVD, DVD £24.99, Thriller/Drama)

Four-disc box set comprising the latest cases for Detective Inspector Robbie Lewis (Kevin Whately) and his partner DS James Hathaway (Laurence Fox) as they follow in the footsteps of Lewis’s mentor Morse, solving tricky cases in and around Oxford. In this series, Lewis comes face-to-face with the man who killed his wife, Hathaway receives news of a surprise promotion and the cops probe murders connected with C.S. Lewis and Shakespeare’s The Merchant Of Venice.

DVD Extras: none stated.

The Red Riding Trilogy (Cert 18, 300 mins, Optimum Home Entertainment, DVD £29.99, Thriller/Drama)

Adapted from David Peace’s books, The Red Riding Trilogy is Channel 4’s ambitious, three-part drama, which unfolds in 1974, 1980 and 1983, with different directors at the helm of each instalment (Julian Jarrold, James Marsh, Anand Tucker). Dramatised from real-life events, the story opens with rookie Yorkshire Post journalist Eddie Dunford (Andrew Garfield) sifting the evidence from a series of child abductions in a time of suspicion and institutionalised police corruption. Moving forward six years, police officer Peter Hunter (Paddy Considine) reviews the case of the Yorkshire Ripper and continues to make enemies as he challenges conventional thinking. In the final segment, Detective Chief Superintendent Maurice Jobson (David Morrissey) is horrified when a young girl vanishes without trace, recognising similarities to the Ripper case. As the police come to terms with the possibility that they may have convicted the wrong man, solicitor John Piggott (Mark Addy) prepares to right a terrible judicial wrong. Sean Bean, Warren Clarke, Andrew Garfield, Rebecca Hall, Peter Mullan and Maxine Peake co-star.

DVD Extras: none stated.

Doctor Who – The Cybermen
Doctor Who – The Cybermen Collection (Cert PG, 180 mins, BBC DVD, DVD £15.65, Sci-Fi/Action/Thriller/Drama)

The Doctor (David Tennant) and companions Rose (Billie Piper) and Mickey (Noel Clarke) meet a terrible new incarnation of the metallic arch-nemeses in these four gripping episodes, in which the timelord must thwart a dastardly plot to meld human brains and mechanical bodies. However, in order to save Earth, the Doctor may have to sacrifice the one thing he values the most. The two-disc box set includes “Rise Of The Cybermen”, “The Age Of Steel”, “Army Of Ghosts” and “Doomsday”.

DVD Extras: Introduction by David Tennant, “The 25 Best Cybermen Moments” featurette.

Inkheart (Cert PG, 101 mins, Entertainment In Video, Family/Action/Drama, also available to buy DVD £19.99/Blu-ray £24.99)

Father and bookbinder Mo Folchart (Brendan Fraser) has kept a terrible secret from his daughter Meggie (Eliza Bennett) since she was three-years-old. He is a Silvertongue, who possesses the ability to bring a tome to life by simply reading it aloud and inadvertently sent his beloved wife Teresa (Sienna Guillory) into the pages of a book called Inkheart. In her place, various characters including the villainous Capricorn (Andy Serkis) and his henchmen escaped into this world. Stumbling upon a tatty, old copy of Inkheart, Mo finally believes he could be reunited with Teresa, only to embark on the greatest adventure of his life in the company of a stranger called Dustfinger (Paul Bettany) and the beautiful Elinor Loredan (Helen Mirren).

DVD Extras: “Eliza Read To Us” featurette, theatrical trailer.

The Thick Of It: The Specials (Cert 15, 118 mins, BBC DVD, DVD £19.56, Comedy)

Two hour-long specials – “Rise Of The Nutters” and “Spinners And Losers” – of Armando Iannucci’s award-winning satire. Foul-mouthed spin-doctor Malcolm Tucker (Peter Capaldi) stands on the brink of political oblivion when a scandal emerges at Watford Immigration Centre and the PM severs all lines of communication. Adding to his woes, immigration minister Ben Swain (Justin Edwards) makes a fool of himself on Newsnight. With just 24 hours to save his career and the party’s blushes, Tucker puts his gift of the gab to impeccable use, using blackmail and bullying to shape the news agenda for his own good.

DVD Extras: Deleted scenes, production stills gallery with commentary, behind the scenes gallery with commentary, Newsnight segments with Paxman and Crick, Opposition Extra, 15 minute sequence showing Spinners and Losers from the Opposition’s point of view.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Volume 1: A Galaxy Divided (Cert PG, 88 mins, Warner Home Video, DVD £12.99, Family/Sci-Fi/Action)

Anakin Skywalker (voiced by Matt Lanter) and young padawan Ahsoka Tano (Ashley Eckstein) seek guidance from Obi-Wan Kenobi (James Arnold Taylor) and Master Yoda (Tom Kane) to defeat General Grievous and the Separatist droid army in four episodes of the computer animated series, currently screening on The Cartoon Network and Sky Movies. The DVD includes “Ambush”, “Rising Malevolence”, “Shadow Malevolence” and “Destroy Malevolence”. A box set, comprising all of the episodes from the first series, is expected later this year.

DVD Extras: none stated.

– The Complete Fifth Season (Cert 15, 420 mins, Warner Home Video, DVD £24.99, Comedy)

Incorrigible ladies man Charlie Harper (Charlie Sheen) and his divorced brother Alan (Jon Cryer) pretend to be responsible adults for the benefit of Alan’s young son, Jake (Angus T Jones), in another 19 episodes of the popular American sit-com including “Fish In A Drawer”, a tongue-in-cheek cross-over with C.S.I.: Crime Scene Investigation featuring actor George Eads. Elsewhere during the series, Jake suffers the growing pains that invariably arise from trying to fit in at school while Charlie dates a judge (Ming-Na) and Alan has a fight with his sibling, forcing him to move out with his son in tow.

DVD Extras: none stated.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit – Season Eight (Cert 15, 901 mins, Universal Playback, DVD £44.99, Thriller/Drama)

Detective Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni) contends with some of their most shocking and unsettling cases yet in the gritty spin-off from the original Law & Order TV series. While Detective Olivia Benson (Mariska Hartigay) goes deep undercover for the FBI, Elliot welcomes a new partner, Detective Dani Beck (Connie Nielsen), to probe allegations of rape and murder. Personal relationships within the department threaten to cloud professional judgments, culminating in a cliffhanger finale “Screwed” which forces the detectives to atone for past sins in the glare of the media spotlight. The five-disc box set includes all 22 episodes.

DVD Extras: none stated.

– The Third Year (Cert 15, 854 mins, Universal Playback, DVD £44.99, Thriller/Drama)

Five-disc box set comprising 21 episodes of the spin-off series set in New York City, where quixotic Detective Robert Goren (Vincent D’Onofrio) and his partner Alex Eames (Kathryn Erbe) lead the charge of the Major Case Squad, unmasking devious perpetrators by getting inside the minds of their prime suspects under the leadership of Captain James Deakins (Jamey Sheridan). As the evidence piles up, Assistant District Attorney Ron Carver (Courtney B Vance) readies his prosecution, sometimes clashing with Goren and other members of the team.

DVD Extras: none stated.

Ideal – Series 4 (Cert 15, 232 mins, 2entertain, DVD £19.56, Comedy)

In the aftermath of a suspected heart attack, bumbling weed dealer Moz (Johnny Vegas) cannot keep his affair with Jenny (Sinead Matthews) secret for long, while girlfriend Nicki (Nicolas Reynolds) begins an affair with Tom aka PC (Tom Goodman-Hill). A birthday party ends in disaster just as a local turf war spirals out of control in eight episodes of the award-winning sitcom.

DVD Extras: Deleted scenes, out-takes, “Back To The 90s” behind the scenes featurette, music featurette.

Flashpoint – The Complete First Season (Cert 12, 533 mins, ITV DVD, DVD £24.99, Action/Thriller/Drama)

An elite team of sharp-shooting Toronto cops called the Strategic Response Unit (SRU) puts lives on the line to avert disaster in 13 episodes of the fast-paced Canadian TV series. Gregory ’Greg’ Parker (Enrico Colantoni) leads the SRU through each precarious mission, defusing explosive situations involving bombs, hostages and terrorists with cool detachment, until one member, Ed Lane (Hugh Dillon), exorcises the ghosts of the past, with unexpectedly tragic consequences.

DVD Extras: none stated.

Gonzo: The Life And Work Of Dr Hunter S. Thompson (Cert 15, 119 mins, Optimum Home Entertainment, DVD £17.99, Documentary)

Journalist Hunter S Thompson enjoyed life in the fast lane, indulging in alcohol and drugs as a creative spark for his febrile imagination to churn out seminal articles on the Hell’s Angels and the political establishment for Rolling Stone magazine. Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney (Taxi To The Dark Side) employs a patchwork of home movies, archive TV footage, audio recordings, still photographs and other material to delve into the mind of this iconic yet tragic figure, interspersed with narration from Johnny Depp, who also reads excerpts from Thompson’s work.

DVD Extras: Director commentary, extended interviews, extended and deleted scenes, Ralph Steadman drawings, exclusive director interview, “Wayward & Weary” featurette about Tift Merritt tribute song, photo gallery, theatrical trailer.

A Love To Hide (Cert 15, 102 mins, Peccadillo Pictures, DVD £19.99, Drama/Romance)

French filmmaker Christian Faure follows up Juste Une Question D’Amour with this romance set in wartime Paris. Jean (Jeremie Renier) is secretly involved in an affair with Philippe (Bruno Todeschini), but conceals their liaisons for fear of persecution. When Jewish, childhood friend Sara (Louise Monot) arrives in the French capital, Jean gladly helps her elude the Nazis only to be betrayed by someone close to home.

DVD Extras: none stated.
Clough

Clough (Cert E, 70 mins, ITV DVD, DVD £14.99, Documentary)

Timed nicely to coincide with the cinema release of The Damned United, this documentary celebrates the achievements of Brian Clough, following his wise through the divisions with Derby County, Leeds United and Nottingham Forest, becoming the only domestic football manager to date to win back-to-back European cups. Pete Postlethwaite narrates the archive footage, interspersed with interviews with his friends and family including his wife Barbara and son Nigel.

DVD Extras: none stated.

The Backyardigans: Tale Of The Mighty Knights (Cert U, 115 mins, Fremantle Home Entertainment, DVD £5.99, Children)

Pablo the penguin, Tyrone the moose, Austin the purple kangaroo, Tasha the hippo and the beautiful Uniqua search for a runaway egg, take a trip on the Orient Express and face a giant robot in five episodes of the Nick Jr computer animated series. The DVD includes “To The Centre Of The Earth”, “Front Page News”, “Tale Of The Mighty Knights Part 1”, “Tale Of The Mighty Knights Part 2” and “Le Masters Of Disguise”.

DVD Extras: none stated.

DVD RETAIL TOP 10

1 (1) Quantum Of Solace

2 (-) Changeling

3 (6) The Dark Knight

4 (-) Body Of Lies

5 (4) Green Street 2

6 (-) The Chronicles Of Narnia – Prince Caspian

7 (5) Mamma Mia – The Movie

8 (3) Wallace & Gromit – A Matter Of Loaf

9 (8) Casino Royale

10 (-) Knocked Up

Chart supplied by getcloser.com

UK RENTAL (VHS & DVD) TOP 10

1 (-) Zack And Miri Make A Porno

2 (2) Quantum Of Solace

3 (1) Changeling

4 (-) Lakeview Terrace

5 (3) Body Of Lies (DVD)

6 (4) Burn After Reading

7 (10) Eagle Eye

8 (6) Tropic Thunder

9 (7) Taken (2008)

10 (-) Ghost Town

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Featuring the voices of: Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith, Sacha Baron Cohen, Cedric The Entertainer, Bernie Mac, Sherri Shepherd, Alec Baldwin.

Alex the lion (voiced by Stiller), Marty the zebra (Rock), Melman the hypochondriac giraffe (Schwimmer) and Gloria the hippopotamus (Pinkett Smith) are finally ready to leave the exotic island of Madagascar and return to the plush surroundings of New York’s Central Park Zoo. Boarding a rickety plane with ring-tailed lemur King Julien the 13th (Cohen), his second-in-command Maurice (Cedric The Entertainer) and the kamikaze penguins – Private, Rico, Skipper and Kowalski – the animals crash-land on the plains of Africa where Alex is reunited with his long lost father Zuba (Mac) and doting mother (Shepherd), to the obvious chagrin of Zuba’s sworn rival, Makunga (Baldwin). Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa cheekily recycles the plot of The Lion King but Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath’s film is desperately short of animal magic. The sequel begins promisingly with a flashback to Alex’s abduction from the jungle and the flight back to New York, with Kowalski and his feathered friends at the controls of the plane. Once the story moves to Africa, the similarities to The Lion King are inescapable. Alas, Darnell and McGrath’s film pales next to the Disney masterpiece. The quality of the computer animation is undeniable – the visuals are crisp and finely detailed including animal hair that moves convincingly. However, without a compelling storyline to support all of the technical wizardry and artistic flourishes, Escape 2 Africa is pristine style and second-hand substance. Aside from Cohen’s attention-grabbing antics, vocal performances are unremarkable. The Complete Madagascar Collection, comprising the original animated film and sequel, is also available.

DVD Extras: Directors commentary, Penguins Sneak Peek, DWA Jukebox, “It’s A Family Affair: The Cast Of Escape 2 Africa” featurette, “The Making Of Escape 2 Africa” featurette, “Crash Landing” featurette, “African Adventure” featurette, Jambo Jambo: Swahili Speak, Test Flight of Air Penguin Game, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa Activision game, 4 MAD music videos (“Move It, Move It”, “Big And Chunky”, “She Loves Me”, “The Travelling Song” Sing Along), theatrical trailers; Blu-ray: Directors commentary, Penguins Sneak Peek, DWA Jukebox, “It’s A Family Affair: The Cast Of Escape 2 Africa” featurette, “The Making Of Escape 2 Africa” featurette, “Crash Landing” featurette, “African Adventure” featurette, Jambo Jambo: Swahili Speak, Test Flight of Air Penguin Game, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa Activision game, 4 MAD music videos (“Move It, Move It”, “Big And Chunky”, “She Loves Me”, “The Travelling Song” Sing Along, The Penguins Of Madagascar “Popcorn Panic” and “Gone In A Flash”, The Bronx Zoo: Madagascar, Alex’s Dance Off, The Heart Of A Lion), Easter Eggs (Move it, Move it, Hock Shop, Julien’s Birthday, Tug Of War, Fully Armed, No Thanks, I’m Stuffed), PiP commentary track, trivia track, theatrical trailers.

Rating: ***

Twilight (Cert 12, 116 mins, Contender Home Entertainment, Romance/Horror/Drama, also available to buy DVD £19.99/two-disc DVD £22.99/Blu-ray £24.99)

Starring: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Billy Burke, Ed Gathegi, Cam Gigandet, Rachelle Lefevre.

Teenage misfit Bella Swan (Stewart) moves to Forks, Washington, to live with her cop father, Charlie (Burke). As the mysterious new girl at school, Bella soon makes friends but the only person she wants to meet is alluring outsider Edward Cullen (Pattinson). In the parking lot, Bella is almost crushed to death in a freak accident, only to be saved in the nick of time by Edward. Under pressure, Edward eventually reveals that he is a vampire – an immortal – but unlike many of his kind, he does not drink human blood. When bloodthirsty predators Laurent (Gathegi), James (Gigandet) and Victoria (Lefevre) begin to feed on the unsuspecting Forks locals, Edward and his family close ranks to protect Bella from her immortal pursuers. Based on the first part of Stephenie Meyer’s best-selling novels, Twilight will hold teenage viewers spellbound as Bella and Edward spend the first hour orbiting one another before succumbing to their desires, including a laughable love scene. Violence takes place predominantly off screen until a fast-paced finale, during which the fake claret runneth over and fangs are bared. Pattinson looks far too old to pass for 17 but he generates smouldering screen chemistry with Stewart, who perfectly embodies her heroine’s naivety. Despite the stilted dialogue and a generous grating of cheesiness, Catherine Hardwicke’s film is a sprightly romantic yarn. The occasional zinging one-liner (“Your mood swings are giving me whiplash”) compensates for gushing declarations of love, which suggest the characters in Meyer’s imaginary world spend too much time with their noses in Mills & Boon.

DVD Extras: Two-disc DVD/Blu-ray: Director and actors commentary, “The Adventure Begins” featurette, A Conversation With Stephenie Meyer, “The Comic-Con Phenomenon” featurette, deleted scenes with director introduction, extended scenes with director introduction, UK premiere footage, “Becoming Edward” featurette, “Becoming Bella” featurette, “Catherine Hardwicke’s Vampire Kiss” montage, Edward’s Piano Concert, “Music: The Heartbeat Of Twilight” featurette, Catherine Hardwicke “Bella’s Lullaby Remix” music video, Muse “Supermassive Black Hole” music video, Paramore “Decode” music video, TV spots, theatrical trailer.

Rating: ***

Inkheart (Cert PG, 101 mins, Entertainment In Video, Family/Action/Drama, also available to buy DVD £19.99/Blu-ray £24.99)

Starring: Brendan Fraser, Eliza Bennett, Paul Bettany, Andy Serkis, Helen Mirren, Jim Broadbent, Sienna Guillory.

Father and bookbinder Mo Folchart (Fraser) has kept a terrible secret from his daughter Meggie (Bennett) since she was three-years-old. He is a Silvertongue, who possesses the ability to bring a tome to life by simply reading it aloud and inadvertently sent his beloved wife Teresa (Guillory) into the pages of a book called Inkheart. In her place, various characters including the villainous Capricorn (Serkis) and henchman Basta (Foreman) escaped into this world. Stumbling upon a tatty, old copy of Inkheart, Mo finally believes he could be reunited with Teresa, only to embark on the greatest adventure of his life in the company of a stranger called Dustfinger (Bettany) and the beautiful Elinor Loredan (Mirren). Inkheart is a fantastical family adventure based on the best-selling novel by Cornelia Funke about a secret class of people who possess a remarkable gift, which might just be a curse. Iain Softley’s film is a fun-filled journey between real and imaginary worlds, with a gentle mix of comedy and action, as Mo and his daughter use the gift they share to reunite their fractured family. The director marshals a largely British cast for his fast-paced and colourful adaptation, working from a screenplay by David Lindsay-Abaire. Serkis chews the scenery as the bad guy fascinated by everyday, 21st century objects (“I love duct tape!”) while Fraser resorts to his usual action hero routine, gelling nicely with Bennett’s plucky teen. Mirren demonstrates impeccable comic timing as a woman on the edge. Softley sustains our interest for 101 minutes before an orgy of computer-generated special effects vies for our attention.

DVD Extras: “Eliza Read To Us” featurette, theatrical trailer.

Rating: ***

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Changeling (Cert 15, 141 mins, Universal Pictures UK, Drama/Thriller, also available to buy DVD £19.99/Blu-ray £24.99)

Starring: Angelina Jolie, Jeffrey Donovan, John Malkovich, Devon Conti, Jason Butler Harner, Denis O’Hare, Gattlin Griffith.

Single mother Christine Collins (Jolie) raises her nine-year-old son Walter (Griffith) in ’20s Los Angeles by working long hours as a supervisor at the telephone exchange.

Unexpectedly called into work one weekend, Christine arrives home to find that Walter has disappeared without trace. After months of fearing the worst, Captain JJ Jones (Donovan) contacts Christine with incredible news: Walter has been found safe and well. Overcome with joy, the mother races to the train station to meet her son, except the boy (Conti) who claims to be Walter is an impostor. When Christine threatens to expose the lie, Captain Jones dispatches her to the mental asylum. Just as all hope seems lost, Reverend Gustav Briegleb (Malkovich) and his allies launch a campaign to release Christine from her cell and expose corruption in the LAPD. Elegantly adapted from the Los Angeles police files by J Michael Straczynski, Changeling is a cautionary tale about the abuse of power and the extraordinary influence of one individual on a corrupt system. Jolie was deservedly Oscar nominated as a woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown, who screams and shouts for justice, fearful that she might not get the answers she wants. We share her sense of outrage, shedding tears as the asylum’s insidious head doctor (O’Hare) threatens to destroy Christine’s resolve with electro-shock therapy. Donovan is equally compelling as a chauvinistic bully determined to restore his department’s tarnished reputation. Eastwood directs at a typically leisurely pace, underscoring Tom Stern’s flawless cinematography with his own mournful orchestral score.

DVD Extras: “Making Of” featurette, “The Common Thread: Angelina Jolie Becomes Christine Collins” featurette.
Rating: ****

Body Of Lies (Cert 15, 123 mins, Warner Home Video, Action/Thriller/Romance, also available to buy DVD £19.99/Blu-ray £26.99)

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe, Golshifteh Farahani, Mark Strong, Alon Aboutboul.

CIA supervisor Ed Hoffman (Crowe) is a key player in his country’s overseas operations to quash terrorist activities. From the comfort of his suburban home where he adopts the mantle of doting father, Ed co-ordinates the day-to-day activities of agent Roger Ferris (DiCaprio), who is on the trail of the elusive Al-Saleem (Aboutboul), the mastermind of numerous bombings across Europe. To achieve his goal, Roger aligns himself with Hani Salaam (Strong), the slippery head of the Jordanian General Intelligence Department (GID), but lets his guard down to spark a tentative romance with Jordanian-Iranian nurse Aisha (Farahani).

The relationship leaves Roger dangerously exposed and Al-Saleem seizes the opportunity to strike back against the infidels. Opening with a devastating explosion on British shores, Body Of Lies channels timely fears about the fight against terrorism into a routine spy caper, enlivened sporadically by the directorial brio of Ridley Scott. The British filmmaker grafts some impressively robust, adrenaline-pumping action sequences onto a disappointingly linear plot, including the bombing of a Dutch market place. DiCaprio is lacklustre in a predominately reactive role but Crowe impresses, carrying 50lbs gained specially for the role to portray a portly family man, who effortlessly juggles energetic children with decisions of national importance. The romantic subplot is a crude plot device to facilitate a pivotal torture scene, during which DiCaprio’s right hand is smashed to a pulp in gruesome close-up. Scott’s forte as an action director shines through, including a desert hideout fire fight and a thrilling helicopter chase. Marc Streitenfeld’s orchestral score keeps time with the erratic pacing, delivering bombast to accompany the pyrotechnics.

DVD Extras: Director commentary, “Actionable Intelligence: Deconstructing Body Of Lies” featurette; Blu-ray: Director commentary, “Behind The Story” featurette, “Actionable Intelligence: Deconstructing Body Of Lies” featurette, “Interactive Debriefing” featurette, additional footage, deleted scenes with optional director commentary including alternative ending, free digital copy of the film.
Rating: ***

The Secret Life Of Bees (Cert 12, 105 mins, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, Drama, also available to buy DVD £19.99)

Starring: Dakota Fanning, Jennifer Hudson, Queen Latifah, Sophie Okonedo, Alicia Keys, Paul Bettany, Nate Parker, Tristan Wilds.

When her nursemaid Rosaleen (Hudson) endures a beating at the hands of local bigots in ’60s South Carolina, plucky teenager Lily Owens (Fanning) vows to spirit her friend away to a safer place, leaving behind her hard-drinking father T Ray (Bettany).
The travellers seek refuge with the Boatwright sisters – August (Latifah), May (Okonedo) and June (Keys) – who produce some of the state’s finest honey. The sisters, it transpires, are directly linked to Lily’s dead mother and as the young woman explores her tortured past, she learns to harness the courage to stand up for what she believes in, and even stand up to T Ray. The Secret Life Of Bees is an affecting and well-crafted rites of passage story, adapted from Sue Monk Kidd’s acclaimed novel. Cinematographer Rogier Stoffers beautifully captures beatific scenes of sisterly solidarity and honey gathering in sun-dappled landscapes. These moments of pastoral splendour contrast starkly with occasional explosions of violence, including scenes of racial and child abuse, and the death of one character guaranteed to pluck the heartstrings of most viewers.
Fanning anchors the picture with another emotionally raw portrayal of tainted childhood, crying her heart out on cue as her brittle heroine comes to terms with the grief and guilt that forbid her from chasing her dreams. Latifah impresses as a clucky mother hen and Okonedo and Keys are excellent in wildly different roles. Bettany is poorly served as the film’s one clearly identifiable villain. Writer-director Gina Prince-Bythewood’s script is perhaps a little emotionally manipulative and sickly sweet – rather like the bees’ golden nectar.

DVD Extras: Director, producers, actors and editor commentaries, 8 deleted scenes with optional director and editor commentary, “Adaptation: Bringing The Secret Life Of Bees To The Big Screen” featurette, “The Women And Men Of The Secret Life Of Bees” featurette, “Inside The Pink House With Sue Monk Kidd” featurette, “A Day In The Life” featurette, The World Premiere.
Rating: ***

Lakeview Terrace (Cert 15, 106 mins, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Thriller, also available to buy DVD £17.99/Blu-ray £24.99)

Starring: Patrick Wilson, Kerry Washington, Samuel L Jackson, Jay Hernandez, Regine Nehy, Jaishon Fisher.

Loving couple Chris (Wilson) and Lisa Mattson (Washington) excitedly move into a new home and clash with LAPD officer Abe Turner (Jackson), who lives next door with his children Celia (Nehy) and Maurice (Fisher), and strongly disapproves of interracial marriage. Chris’ efforts to broker peace in the cul-de-sac fall on deaf ears and he becomes the butt of Abe’s mean-spirited pranks. “You scared the hell out of me!” shrieks the young husband after one startling, late night encounter. “How else are you going to learn?” retorts the cop menacingly. As cracks appear in the Mattsons’ relationship, Abe resorts to extreme tactics to scare Chris and Lisa out of their new home, with help from his buddies on the force, including partner Javier (Hernandez). Lakeview Terrace is a predictable game of cat and mouse between vulnerable newlyweds and a man in authority, who seems untouchable by dint of his badge.

LaBute strains credibility to crank up the suspense, abandoning common sense for the sake of narrative twists. Harsh words lead to bloodshed and a climactic showdown set against the backdrop of flash fires raging uncontrollably throughout the state – an obvious and somewhat heavy-handed metaphor for the fiery emotions pitting one homeowner against another. Jackson chews the scenery before it goes up in flames as the bigoted bully, while Wilson adopts a permanently furrowed brow.

The overwrought finale restores the LAPD’s image but not before Jackson has one final opportunity to bellow and bluster and roll those eyes wildly.

DVD Extras: Director commentary, behind the scenes featurettes, deleted scenes.
Rating: ***

The Children (Cert 15, 81 mins, Vertigo Films, Horror/Thriller, also available to buy DVD £15.99/Blu-ray £24.99)

Starring: , Stephen Campbell-Moore, Hannah Tointon, Rachel Shelley, Jeremy Sheffield, Eva Sayer, Jake Hathaway, Rafiella Brookes, William Howes.

The snow is deep and crisp as Elaine (Birthistle) and her husband Jonah (Campbell-Moore) travel by car with their kids – truculent teenager Casey (Tointon), Miranda (Sayer) and Paulie (Howes) – to spend Christmas with Chloe (Shelley), her beau Robbie (Sheffield) and their tearaways Nicky (Hathaway) and Leah (Brookes). One by one, the brats fall ill and experience disorienting visions of carnage and mayhem. As bloodlust takes hold, the urchins strike out at the adults with terrifying consequences.

The parents, and an increasingly distraught Casey, try to keep the demonic whippersnappers at bay, hastily planning an escape route from their remote, snowbound location. Yet, every way the uninfected turn, a possessed poppet waits to strike. Director Tom Shankland’s gruesome follow-up to WAZ conjures a hellish vision of the festive season, pitting two couples against the cherubic offspring they have raised their entire lives. The Children poses a thorny moral dilemma – in order to save your own life, would you harm the one thing in the world that is most precious to you? – but the film doesn’t deliberate in any real depth, erring on the side of campy as the zombified offspring start wielding sharp implements with ghoulish intent. Older cast members are immobilised in the order you expect with a sticky ending involving a sled for one unfortunate soul. A frenzied scene in a greenhouse culminates in a reflex, life or death decision guaranteed to have those of a nervous disposition covering their eyes.

DVD Extras: “The Making Of The Children” featurette, location featurette, “Paul Hyatt Talks Prosthetics” featurette, snow set design featurette, deleted scenes, Tom Shankland’s On-Set Lair, “Working With Children” featurette.
Rating: **

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Top ten sales at the LOVEFilM Shop this week:

Chart Title Format Release Date (pre-order)
1 Empire: Total War Game Out now
2 Quantum of Solace DVD 23rd March 2009
3 Killzone 2 Game Out now
4 Street Fighter IV Game Out now
5 Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X. Game Out now
6 Empire: Total War – Special Edition Game Out now
7 Resident Evil 5 Game Out now
8 The Lord Of The Rings: The Trilogy [Extended Ed.][12 Discs] DVD Boxset
9 Mamma Mia! DVD
10 The Bourne Ultimatum Blu-ray 30th March 2009

Top Deals this week

Up to 70% off Mother?s Day gifts

Triple film boxsets from £5.93

Blu-ray deals
Blu-ray for under £10

Blu-ray top titles 2 for £24 (includes Kill Bill 1 & 2

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Starring: Shia LaBeouf, Michelle Monaghan, Billy Thornton, Ethan Embry, Rosario Dawson, Cameron Boyce.

Jerry Shaw (LaBeouf) and single mother Rachel Holloman (Monaghan) have never met. He is grieving the death of his twin, she is concerned about her young son Sam (Boyce), who is travelling to Washington for an important musical recital. Both receive similar telephone calls informing them to follow explicit instructions or pay a terrible price.

When the mastermind behind the devious scheme reveals her ultimate goal – for Jerry and Rachel to commit murder – the would-be assassins find themselves on the run from FBI special agents Thomas Morgan (Thornton) and Toby Grant (Embry), and Air Force special agent Zoe Perez (Dawson). The people who could save Jerry and Rachel from their 21st century nightmare are now the very same people who want them dead.

Ludicrously overblown yet undeniably thrilling, Eagle Eye barely pauses for breath between slam-bang set pieces, intercutting the reluctant heroes’ mission with the efforts of authorities to second guess the next move of these two alleged terrorists. LaBeouf and Monaghan puff and pant for all their worth in the midst of eye-popping pyrotechnics, generating sparks of sexual tension that only ignite in the film’s mawkish epilogue. Thornton brings a spiky charm to his pursuer. DJ Caruso delivers a series of spectacular set pieces that begins with the arm of a construction crane scything through the side of a building. Viewers will have to play as dumb as the beleaguered heroes. As soon as you question the film’s twisted logic, you realise that survival relies too heavily on luck and coincidence.

DVD Extras: “Road Trip” featurette, 3 deleted scenes (Ethan’s Wake, Minuteman, Twins), alternative ending, gag reel, photo gallery; Blu-ray: “Road Trip” featurette, “Asymmetrical Warfare: The Making Of Eagle Eye” featurette, “Eagle Eye On Location: Washington DC” featurette, “Is My Cell Phone Spying On Me?” featurette, “Shall We Play A Game?” featurette, 3 deleted scenes (Ethan’s Wake, Minuteman, Twins), alternative ending, gag reel, photo gallery, theatrical trailer.
Rating: ***

How To Lose Friends & (Cert 15, 105 mins, Paramount Home Entertainment, Comedy/Romance, also available to buy DVD £19.99/Blu-ray £24.99)
Starring: Simon Pegg, Kirsten Dunst, Jeff Bridges, Megan Fox, Danny Huston, Gillian Anderson, Bill Paterson.

Sidney Young (Pegg), the snide editor of Post Modern Review, a sardonic rebuke to celebrity culture, is stunned when renowned American magazine editor Clayton Harding (Bridges) offers him a correspondent’s position on New York lifestyle bible Sharps.

Abandoning London for the hustle and bustle of the Big Apple, Sidney quickly realises his finely honed sarcasm doesn’t wash with the locals, not least department head Lawrence Maddox (Huston) and fellow writer Alison (Dunst).

Public relations doyenne Eleanor Johnson (Anderson) is equally unimpressed, and wards him off rising starlet Sophie Maes (Fox). Trying to survive in the city that never sleeps, Sidney finds himself torn between feisty Alison and beautiful yet dim Sophie, while attempting to woo the great and good of the film industry. Based on Toby Young’s celebrated memoir, How To Lose Friends & Alienate People is a dull, lifeless mess. Screenwriter Peter Straughan files down all of the barbs in Young’s confessional, shoehorning the characters into a generic fluffy romantic comedy, replete with outlandish set pieces including the protracted death of a pet Chihuahua.

Pegg is a most dislikable and unsympathetic anti-hero, grating from the very first smug grin, making Dunst’s undernourished love interest seem even more adorable by comparison. When Alison angrily defends her colleague – “Sidney Young has more going for him than anybody in this place!” – we’re tempted to give the film its first and only laugh, of derision. Bridges, Huston and co are wasted in thankless supporting roles, while Fox pouts and purrs in a succession of slinky, figure-hugging outfits.

DVD Extras: Director and actor commentaries, deleted scenes with optional director commentary, gag reel, Simon Pegg blogs.
Rating: **

The Women (Cert 12, 109 mins, Entertainment In Video, Comedy/Romance, also available to buy DVD £19.99/Blu-ray £24.99)

Starring: Meg Ryan, Annette Bening, Debra Messing, Jada Pinkett Smith, Eva Mendes, Debi Mazar, Candice Bergen, Carrie Fisher, India Ennenga, Cloris Leachman, Tilly Scott Pederson.

Mary Haines (Ryan) is a successful, part-time fashion designer with a handsome Wall Street husband Stephen, a 12-year-old daughter Molly (Ennenga) and a coterie of loyal friends: women’s magazine editor Sylvie (Bening), clucky mother hen Edie (Messing) and sassy lesbian author Alex (Smith).

When the pals learn from motor mouth manicurist Tanya (Mazar) that Stephen is having an affair with gold-digging salesgirl Crystal Allen (Mendes), they rally to the cuckolded wife’s side. Mary follows the advice of her mother Catherine (Bergen) and doesn’t confront her husband, preferring to lick her wounds at a summer cottage retreat in Maine. Meanwhile, Sylvie finds her allegiances torn when she tries to lure gossip columnist Bailey Smith (Fisher) to the magazine – and must dish the dirt about Mary and Stephen in return. The Women is a dull, contemporary remake of the 1939 George Cukor classic, which chronicled sisterly rivalry in the swankier nooks and crannies of Manhattan society.

As re-imagined by writer-director Diane English, this is an inoffensive clone of Sex And The City – minus the sex and with only fleeting glimpses of the distinctive New York City skyline. Touchstones from the original film – the showdown in a women’s hanging room, a climactic fashion show and “Jungle red” nail polish – remain intact. Sadly, the biting wit does not. Performances are strong though, particularly Bergen as the feisty matriarch who instructs her daughter, “Don’t be bitter, it leads to Botox!”
DVD Extras: “Behind The Women” featurette.
Rating: ***

The Duchess (Cert 12, 105 mins, Pathe Distribution Ltd, Drama/Romance, also available to buy DVD £19.99/Blu-ray £24.99)

Starring: Keira Knightley, Ralph Fiennes, Dominic Cooper, Hayley Atwell, Charlotte Rampling, Simon McBurney.

Seventeen-year-old social butterfly Georgiana Spencer (Knightley) must marry into money to ensure the social standing of her family in mid-18th century high society. The imperious Lady Spencer (Rampling) encourages her daughter to accept a proposal from the brutish and considerably older Duke of Devonshire (Fiennes).

The nobleman urgently needs a male heir and Georgiana will be paid handsomely to carry out her duties as a fertile, childbearing woman. When she gives birth to not one, but two daughters, his eye wanders and he takes Georgiana’s friend Bess Foster (Atwell) as his mistress. The infidelity drives the young wife ever closer to her one true love, Charles Grey (Cooper), ambitious protege of Whig Party leader Charles Fox (McBurney). Director Saul Dibb (Bullet Boy) ventures confidently into the realms of lavish costume drama with this well upholstered adaptation of Amanda Foreman’s best-selling biography Georgiana, Duchess Of Devonshire. The Duchess waltzes through the period with elan, recreating the giddy social whirl, courtesy of Michael Carlin’s meticulous production design, Michael O’Connor’s resplendent costumes and Jan Archibald’s voluminous, cascading wigs. It’s truly a feast for the senses but Jeffery Hatcher’s screenplay leaves us feeling emotionally undernourished. As history lessons go, this is a tad dry.

Knightley conceals her heroine’s emotions a little too well behind the powder and rouge, and Cooper doesn’t have sufficient screen time to convincingly establish Grey as the love of Georgiana’s life. However, Fiennes is impressive as a cold, repressed man, constrained by the traditions of his age, revealing the chinks of vulnerability and sadness behind the character’s cruel facade.

DVD Extras: “Making Of” featurette, deleted scenes with optional director commentary, photo gallery.
Rating: ***

Baby Mama (Cert 12, 99 mins, Universal Pictures UK, Comedy/Romance, also available to buy DVD £19.99/Blu-ray £24.99)

Starring: Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Greg Kinnear, Dax Shepard, Steve Martin, Sigourney Weaver.

Successful Philadelphia businesswoman Kate Holbrook (Fey) has sacrificed her dream of raising a child to climb the corporate ladder at an organic food chain run by self-styled hippie Barry (Martin). Cursed with a peculiarly shaped uterus, Kate turns to surrogacy doyenne Chaffee Bicknell (Weaver) to find her a healthy, walking womb. Dim-witted, yet lovable Angie Ostrowiski (Poehler), accepts the nine-month assignment in exchange for 100,000, to the delight of her scheming husband Carl (Shepard). After a fight with Carl, Angie turns up on Kate’s doorstep and the two women sow the seeds of a most unlikely yet touching friendship, while Kate pursues a romance with juice bar owner Rob (Kinnear).

Baby Mama is an entertaining comedy that provides plum roles for Saturday Night Live cohorts Fey and Poehler as the unlikely buddies in conception. Their quick-fire comic timing and wonderful rapport sparks the film to life, bringing a tear to the eye as the characters careen into the delivery room. The script is littered with polished one-liners and Fey and Poehler make a terrific double-act, the latter bringing the house down when she has to pretend to be Kate’s sister to pull the wool over Rob’s eyes.

By focusing so strongly on his female leads, writer-director Michael McCullers is forced to give Kinnear and Shepard disappointingly short shrift, weakening the parallel romantic subplots that come to a head at Kate’s baby shower. Martin and Weaver relish their quirky supporting roles, the latter milking a running joke about her fifty-something character’s fertility. Baby Mama, meanwhile, delivers an abundance of laughs.
DVD Extras: Deleted scenes.
Rating: ****

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Diabolical killer Jigsaw (Bell) continues his bloodthirsty reign of terror in the fifth installment of the horror franchise, full of more devilish booby traps and gruesome deaths worthy of that 18 certificate. At the end of the fourth film, Detective Hoffman (Mandylor) outwitted FBI profiler Strahm (Patterson) to continue Jigsaw’s grotesque and ghoulish plan. In Saw V, Hoffman revels in the applause of his colleagues for apparently outwitting Jigsaw, successfully concealing his involvement in the carnage. When this secret is threatened, Hoffman is forced to go on the offensive, targeting all of the loose ends including Strahm.

Meanwhile Jigsaw’s embittered ex-wife Jill (Russell), who is guardian to all of the killer’s secrets, receives a message from beyond the grave and five apparent strangers – Ashley (Gordon), Brit (Benz), Charles (Rota), Luba (Good) and Mallick (Bryk) – find themselves at the mercy of yet more diabolical inventions designed to severe their extremities. With Saw VI unfathomably in pre-production, this fifth installment isn’t the last after all, although it does neatly tie up Jigsaw’s back story via a patchwork of flashbacks that revisit key scenes from other sequels. Previous knowledge of the series is essential to follow the chronological mish mash, interspersed with the usual, gleeful torture of two-dimensional supporting cast who squeal and whimper before their grisly exit. As with earlier films, nothing is quite what it seems, and somebody has a final ace up their sleeve to ensure Saw V ends with an almighty… whimper. The Saw Gorology DVD box set, comprising all five films, is also available.

DVD Extras: Director, first assistant director, producers and executive producers commentaries, “The Coffin Trap” featurette, “The Pendulum Trap” featurette, “Slicing The Cube” featurette, “The Fatal Five” featurette, “Cube Trap” featurette.
Rating: *

(Cert 18, 85 mins, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Horror/Thriller/Action, also available to buy DVD £15.99/Blu-ray £24.99)

Starring: Jennifer Carpenter, Steve Harris, Jay Hernandez, Johnathon Schaech, Columbus Short, Greg Germann, Marin Hinkle, Joey King, Rade Serbedzija.

Television reporter Angela Vidal (Carpenter) is despatched to a Los Angeles fire station with her regular cameraman Scott (Harris) to make a behind the scenes segment on life for these brave men. The TV duo shadows Jake (Hernandez) and George (Schaech) through the night shift, including an apparently routine 911 call to rescue an old woman, who is barricaded inside her apartment. No sooner are the fire fighters, Angela and Scott inside the building than agents from the CDC (Centres for Disease Control and Prevention) seal off the exits.

The TV crew and the residents, including vet Lawrence (Germann), mother Kathy (Hinkle) and her daughter Briana (King) and building manager Yuri (Serbedzija), learn they are in the midst of an outbreak of a rabies-like contagion, which incites deadly aggression in victims.

Quarantine is the English language remake of the chilling Spanish horror film REC. Director John Erick Dowdle adheres closely to the template of Jaume Balaguero and Paco Plaza’s gory, suburban nightmare, employing the same faux documentary style a la Blair Witch Project. Indeed, sections of this film unfold almost shot for shot, word for word, scream for scream and splat for splat. Transplanting the carnage to Los Angeles necessitates some tweaks, such as the addition of a claustrophobic elevator to the apartment block: the perfect setting for a couple of breathless set pieces, one involving an unfortunate resident and a dog. Violence is more graphic, including a fire fighter with a repulsively gammy leg and a radical approach to tackling the building’s rat infestation.

DVD Extras: Director commentary, behind the scenes featurettes.
Rating: **

The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas (Cert 12, 90 mins, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, Drama, also available to buy DVD £17.99/DVD Gift Pack £20.99)
Starring: Asa Butterfield, Jack Scanlon, David Thewlis, Vera Farmiga, Amber Beattie, Rupert Friend.

Bruno (Butterfield) arrives home from school one day to discover that his Nazi commandant father (Thewlis) has been promoted and the entire family must relocate far from the city and their friends. While his mother (Farmiga) and older sister Gretel (Beattie) embrace the fresh start, Bruno is desperately lonely in the new house. Hungry for adventure, Bruno sneaks into the woods and stumbles upon what appears to be a farm and a young boy in striped pyjamas called Shmuel (Scanlon).

Separated by a barbed wire fence, the two boys become friends, until Bruno learns the truth: that Shmuel is a Jew and the farm is actually a concentration camp under the control of his father. Based on the best-selling novel by John Boyne, The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas refracts the unimaginable suffering and tragedy of the Holocaust through the prism of one family’s experiences. Writer-director Mark Herman tries to distance his characters from obvious Nazi cliches by having the Germans speak in clipped English, which is a little distracting at first.

However, the device ultimately brings us closer – whether we like it or not – to the family. Thewlis and Farmiga embody opposing voices in the conflict and Butterfield and Scanlon deliver remarkably natural performances as friends, who should be sworn enemies. Their scenes together at the wire fence, playing draughts or concocting hare-brained schemes, are sensitively handled by Herman, who lulls us into a false sense of security before a finale that doesn’t quite deliver the knockout blow. A DVD gift pack, including the film and the book, is also available.

DVD Extras: Director and author commentary, “Friendship Beyond The Fence” featurette, deleted scenes with option director and author commentary.
Rating: ***

(Cert 12, 127 mins, 2entertain, Drama/Romance, also available to buy DVD £19.99/Blu-ray £24.99)

Starring: Matthew Goode, Ben Whishaw, Hayley Atwell, Emma Thompson, Michael Gambon, Greta Scacchi.

Army officer Charles Ryder (Goode) reminisces about his turbulent past at Oxford University, where, as a shy, middle-class student, he meets Sebastian Flyte (Whishaw). Charles accepts an invitation to join the aristocrat’s inner circle, forging an intimate bond with the fey, fragile student, who describes himself as “the family shadow”. Sebastian invites his new friend to the childhood estate, Brideshead, where Charles meets the formidable Lady Marchmain (Thompson) and Sebastian’s sister Julia (Atwell). The two young men grow close, culminating in a brief kiss, but a trip to Italy to visit Sebastian and Julia’s father, Lord Marchmain (Gambon), and his mistress (Scacchi) kindles a betrayal that will drive apart Charles and the prodigal Flyte son forever. Brideshead Revisited never escapes the shadow of ITV’s lavish 1981 mini-series, condensing Evelyn Waugh’s text into a simplistic menage a trois, riven by Catholic guilt. Goode is too restrained as the tragically naive interloper, internalising Charles’s anguish so deeply it barely registers.

In contrast, Whishaw is terrific, powerfully conveying the emotional devastation as Sebastian succumbs to alcoholism and self-loathing. He tugs the heartstrings during a final meeting with Charles in Morocco, confiding sadly, “I asked too much of you. I knew it all along really. Only God can give you that kind of love.” Thompson imposes herself upon the role of Lady Marchmain, walking a fine line between icy and resolute as her matriarch sacrifices the children at the altar of her faith.

Visually, at least, this Brideshead Revisited takes the breath away. Alas, the script barely makes our hearts flutter let alone skip a beat. The Blu-ray also includes a director’s cut of the film in high definition.

DVD Extras: Director commentary, cast and crew interviews, “Creating Brideshead” featurette, four pivotal scene featurettes, picture gallery.
Rating: ***

The Rocker (Cert 12, 98 mins, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, Comedy/Romance, also available to buy DVD £19.99)

Starring: Rainn Wilson, Teddy Geiger, Emma Stone, Josh Gad, Christina Applegate, Samantha Weinstein.

Rising band A.D.D. loses its drummer to suspension on the eve of the high school prom. Singer-songwriter Curtis (Geiger) and bassist Amelia (Stone) resign themselves to cancelling the gig. However, keyboard player Matt (Gad) has a solution: recruit his slobbish uncle, Robert “Fish” Fishman (Wilson), one-time drummer of rock supergods Vesuvius, who was famously kicked out of the band and has been in an emotional tailspin ever since. Fish picks up his sticks and subsequently becomes an internet sensation with A.D.D. when footage of his naked antics hits Youtube, courtesy of Matt’s precocious sister Violet (Weinstein).

The band quickly gains popularity, compelling Curtis and Amelia to confront their feelings for one another and Fish to woo Curtis’ smokin’ hot mom Kim (Applegate). Strumming to the same beat as School Of Rock – albeit with a younger target audience – The Rocker hits most of the right notes but there’s nothing here we haven’t heard before. Screenwriters Maya Forbes and Wally Wolodarsky tease out some gentle laughs, from one musician’s strange pre-concert ritual of vomiting (“Some people carry a rabbit’s foot, I like to rock with a pocket of puke”) to an excruciating flirtation worthy of a slap in the face (“I would love to spend nine months inside of you.”) Wilson is a poor facsimile of Jack Black as the anarchic force of nature hoping to inspire his young charges to greatness. The Rocker builds to an inevitable grandstand finish at a concert where A.D.D. are asked to support Vesuvius. We know the outcome before Curtis belts out a single note.
DVD Extras: none stated.
Rating: ***

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Ghost Town (Cert 12, 98 mins, Paramount Home Entertainment, Comedy/Romance, also available to buy DVD £19.99/Blu-ray £24.99)

Starring: Ricky Gervais, Greg Kinnear, Tea Leoni, Aasif Mandvi, Billy Campbell.
During a routine colonoscopy, middle-aged, British dentist Bertram Pincus (Gervais) reacts badly to the anaesthetic and his heart stops beating. Thankfully, hospital staff revive him on the operating table but Bertram wakes with a strange gift. He can now see and hear the spirits of the recently departed, including Frank Herlihy (Kinnear), who entreats Bertram to speak to his widow, Gwen (Leoni). The misanthropic dentist unexpectedly feels an emotional connection to another human being and he wrestles with his growing attraction to Gwen. Alas, she is engaged to human rights lawyer Richard (Campbell), who works with homeless prostitutes in Bengal. With a different leading man, Ghost Town could have been a quirky and charming romantic comedy. Regrettably, with Gervais on board, the project becomes a limp one-man show and the award-winning star of The Office and Extras simply doesn’t have the charisma to carry an entire film, falling back on his usual repertoire of comic tics and mumbled asides. Sexual chemistry between Gervais and Leoni is completely inert, rendering Bertram’s romantic overtures horribly pathetic. He’s certainly no credible match for Campbell’s suave, charming do-gooder. Saturday Night Live regular Kristen Wiig is a blessed relief in a cameo as a litigation-shy surgeon, who tries to cover up for the unfortunate turn of events on the operating table. “You died… a little bit,” she eventually confesses. There’s every chance viewers will die of boredom well before the end of David Koepp’s film and the emotionally manipulative, mawkish denouement that recalls Scrooge’s transformation in A Christmas Carol. Bah humbug indeed.

DVD Extras: Director and actor commentary, “Making Ghost Town” featurette, “Ghostly Effects” featurette, “Some People Can Do It” featurette.
Rating: **

(Cert 15, 124 mins, Entertainment In Video, Thriller/Action, also available to buy DVD £19.99/Blu-ray £24.99)

Starring: Colin Farrell, Edward Norton, Jon Voight, Noah Emmerich, Jennifer Ehle, Ramon Rodriguez, Rick Gonzalez.

When four men from NYPD are ambushed and slain during a drug bust, Chief of Manhattan Detectives Francis Tierney Sr (Voight) assembles a crack task force to identify and capture the shooter. He implores his son, Detective Ray Tierney (Norton), to lead the investigation, working alongside brother Francis Jr (Emmerich), the dead men’s commanding officer, and brother-in-law Jimmy Egan (Farrell). Ray’s meticulous work
uncovers undeniable evidence of police involvement in the drug turf war between Angel Tezo (Rodriguez) and Eladio Casado (Gonzalez).

Consequently, the department becomes embroiled in a scandal that makes grim reading on the front page of the morning newspaper. Meanwhile, the entire Tierney clan prepares for the impending death of Francis Jr’s terminally ill wife Abby (Ehle). Pride And Glory pounds the beat with a band of brothers for whom intimidation, extortion and murder are badges of honour. Gavin O’Connor’s gritty thriller is shot predominantly on handheld cameras to maintain uncomfortable, close proximity to the action, shadowing detectives as they wander back and forth through a crime scene or hunkering down during a standoff with an armed man. The constant movement can be a little disorienting but is an apt reflection of the Tierneys, always searching for the next lead, the next link in the chain. Director of photography Declan Quinn opts for a grimy, colour-bleached palette that makes the city seem cold and foreboding. Norton and Farrell are solid in underwritten roles but both are out-gunned by Emmerich, whose scenes with his dying wife leave a lasting impression. His character’s hard fought and hard earned redemption comes at a terrible price.

DVD Extras: “Source Of Pride: The Making Of Pride And Glory” featurette.
Rating: ***

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Starring: Steve Carell, Anne Hathaway, Alan Arkin, Terence Stamp, Dwayne Johnson, Masi Oka, Nate Torrence, James Caan.

Maxwell Smart (Carell) is a surveillance expert for secret US agency CONTROL, monitoring and deciphering conversations between counterparts from the Russian agency KAOS. He is keen to prove his worth in the field but the Chief (Arkin) values Maxwell’s talents too much to let him stray from headquarters. When the secret identities of CONTROL’s operatives are compromised, the Chief has little choice but to promote Maxwell and to dispatch the new operative to Russia under the guidance of mentor Agent 99 (Hathaway). With geeks Bruce (Oka) and Lloyd (Torrence) providing technical backup and buff Agent 23 (Johnson) as additional muscle, Maxwell and Agent 99 uncover a dastardly plot hatched by Siegfried (Stamp) to kill the American president (Caan). Based on the madcap ’60s television series, Get Smart is a comic caper about an accident-prone yet sensitive secret agent who might just be mankind’s last, great hope. Peter Segal’s film incorporates many familiar characters and gizmos from the TV series including the shoe phone and so-called Cone Of Silence, but the director focuses too intently on big action sequences rather than slapstick, burdening the film with a split personality, which the screenwriters are unable to resolve. Carell embraces the film’s peculiar brand of unabashed silliness without restraint. He catalyses a pleasing screen chemistry with Hathaway, who has nothing to do apart from keep a straight face as her co-star goofs his way out of trouble. Supporting performances are largely forgettable and Bill Murray shines in a brief cameo as stir crazy Agent 13, who is stuck inside a tree.
DVD Extras: none stated.
Rating: ***

City Of Ember (Cert PG, 91 mins, Entertainment In Video, Family/Drama/Action, also available to buy DVD £19.99/Blu-ray £24.99)

Starring: Harry Treadaway, Saoirse Ronan, Bill Murray, Tim Robbins, Toby Jones, Mackenzie Crook, Martin Landau, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Liz Smith, Amy & Catherine Quinn.

For the past 200 years, the subterranean metropolis of Ember has survived with the help of its massive generator but as food stores dwindle and machinery fails, this microcosm of life threatens to slip into eternal darkness. Graduate student Doon Harrow (Treadaway), the son of noted inventor Loris (Robbins), and feisty classmate Lina Mayfleet (Ronan) resolve to find a solution to the nightmare. Lina stumbles upon the answer when she finds a metal box containing badly torn, cryptic instructions. With the help of greenhouse keeper Clary (Jean-Baptiste), Lina and Doon attempt to decipher the instructions while outwitting self-serving Mayor Cole (Murray) and his lackeys Barton (Jones) and Looper (Crook). Based on the novel by Jeanne DuPrau, City Of Ember feels a tad sluggish even at 91 minutes, with just two action set pieces (a close encounter with a giant tentacle-nosed rat at the midway point and a high speed, log flume finale) to quicken the pulse. Director Gil Kenan (Monster House) works closely with production designer Martin Laing and cinematographer Xavier Perez Grobet to realise DuPrau’s vision of an entire city, laid out in concentrate circles. Created in a hangar in Belfast and bathed in light from hundreds of bulbs to mimic the sun, the sets are truly spectacular. Digital effects are used sparingly, but are noticeable by their clumsiness against such impressive production design. Ronan and Treadaway are both endearing but we don’t spend enough time with either of their adventurous urchins to feel we know them before the grand adventure begins. Murray plays his corrupt official so low key, he’s almost lifeless.

DVD Extras: Behind the scenes featurettes, Making Of A Scene: City Of Ember.
Rating: ***

(Cert 15, 102 mins, Pathe Distribution Ltd, Drama, also available to buy DVD £19.99)
Starring: Michael Fassbender, Stuart Graham, Liam Cunningham, Brian Milligan, Liam McMahon.

Turner Prize-winning artist Steve McQueen recreates the hunger strikes of the early ’80s in the Maze Prison just outside of Belfast in this harrowing narrative feature film debut. The story begins with prison officer Raymond Lohan (Graham) who is part of the team in charge of the infamous H-Blocks. He arrives at work to welcome new inmate Davey Gillen (Milligan), who is flung into a cell with fellow non-conformer Gerry Campbell (McMahon).

At Sunday Mass, Davey is introduced to H-Block’s leader, Bobby Sands (Fassbender), to whom all the other inmates turn for guidance. Like his fellow prisoners, Bobby is brutalised by the guards and after one particularly vicious encounter that renders him conscious, he resolves to protest by starving to death. A confessional with priest Father Dominic Moran (Cunningham), captured in a bravura, 22-minute, single take conversation, poses difficult questions about the nature of sacrifice. “Putting my life on the line is not just the only thing I can do, it’s the right thing,” responds the prisoner defiantly. Hunger is a breathtaking, impressionistic portrait of a time in history when ten men effectively declared war on their bodies as the ultimate act of defiance against the Thatcher government.

It’s an immersive and disorienting piece of cinema, awash with haunting images, like the anguish of an inexperienced riot officer crying his eyes out to beg forgiveness for his part in the brutality. Fassbender is mesmerising, literally wasting away before our tear-filled eyes until every rib threatens to tear through his translucent, ulcerous skin. Violence begets more violence and nobody emerges from the melee with a clear conscience.
DVD Extras: “Making Of” featurette.
Rating: *****

Charlie Bartlett (Cert 15, 92 mins, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, Comedy/Romance, also available to buy DVD £19.99)

Starring: Anton Yelchin, Kat Dennings, Robert Downey Jr, Hope Davis, Tyler Hilton.
Deeply troubled teenager Charlie Bartlett (Yelchin) has no paternal influence to guide him (the old man is in prison for tax evasion) and a wealthy mother (Davis) who spends entire days in a drug-induced haze. Craving affection and attention, Charlie rebels against authority at his high school. At first, he is a prime target for bully Murphy Bivens (Hilton) but the new boy soon realises he can turn his outsider status to his advantage, doling out second-hand psychiatric advice and psychotropic drugs to fellow students from his ’office’ in a cubicle of the boys’ toilets. Charlie’s popularity soars and he woos classmate Susan (Dennings), whose father is Principal Gardner (Downey Jr). However, when the covert counselling service inspires students to rebel against Gardner and his edicts, the youngster realises he may have gone too far. Charlie Bartlett is a timely rites of passage story, sweetening the bitter pill of the laconic hero’s journey of self-discovery (“My family has a psychiatrist on call. How normal can that be?”) with droll humour and tender romance. Jon Poll’s film recalls Ferris Bueller’s Day Off but screenwriter Gustin Nash’s peculiar perspective on life sets this teen misfit apart from the self-absorbed crowd. Yelchin delivers a winning lead performance as the loner in charge of his own destiny. He forges wonderful screen chemistry with Downey Jr whose tour de force portrayal of a self-loathing alcoholic tugs the heartstrings. Beautifully scripted scenes, in which the two actors bare their characters’ damaged souls, are deeply moving.
DVD Extras:

Director and actors commentary, “Restroom Confessional” featurette, Spiral Beach “Voodoo” music video.
Rating: ****

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Starring: George Clooney, Richard Jenkins, John Malkovich, Frances McDormand, Brad Pitt, JK Simmons, Tilda Swinton.

CIA agent Osbourne Cox (Malkovich) loses his job and decides to bide his time, when he’s not drinking, by penning his memoirs.

An electronic copy of the manuscript ends up in the possession of gym employee Chad Feldheimer (Pitt) and co-worker Linda Litzke (McDormand), who attempt to blackmail Osbourne.
Unfortunately, the former agent refuses to accede to their demands so Chad and Linda head to the Russian embassy, intent on selling Osbourne’s insider secrets to the enemy.

Meanwhile, Osbourne’s hard-nosed wife Katie (Swinton) revels in an extra-marital affair with serial womaniser Harry Pfarrer (Clooney), who has also begun dating Linda.

Unbeknownst to all of them, the CIA is monitoring every twist and turn.

After the nerve-racking tension of the Oscar-winning No Country For Old Men, writer-directors Joel and Ethan Coen return to comedic territory with this pithy tale of espionage and infidelity.
Burn After Reading is peppered with colourful characters we love and loathe in equal measure.
Malkovich relishes his role as a hard-drinking curmudgeon, who cannot believe the incompetence of his would-be blackmailers.

Clooney essays another charming oddball, while Pitt steals every scene.
Whether Chad is dancing goofily to music from his MP3 player or attempting to conceal his identity on the telephone by adopting a risible, raspy voice, we cannot help but chuckle at his comical misadventures.
The unlikely double-act with McDormand’s cosmetic surgery-obsessed spinster is a joy to behold.
Not classic Coen brothers fare but there are enough flashes of insanity and brilliance here to keep us smirking for almost the entire 92 minutes.

DVD Extras: none stated.

Rating: ****

Taken (Cert 18, 89 mins, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, Action/Thriller, also available to buy DVD £19.99/Blu-ray £28.99)

Starring: Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Famke Janssen, Olivier Rabourdin, Katie Cassidy, Xander Berkeley, Holly Valance.

Former government operative Bryan Mills (Neeson) has turned his back on top-secret missions to work bodyguard detail instead for vulnerable celebrities.
Hoping to rebuild bridges with his spoilt, 17-year-old daughter Kim (Grace), Bryan reluctantly bows to pressure from ex-wife Lenore (Janssen) to allow the girl to visit Paris with best friend Amanda (Cassidy).
Midway through a telephone call to Kim, to check the girls have arrived safely, Bryan’s worst fears are confirmed.

Albanian thugs break into the girls’ city centre apartment and drag away Amanda and Kim while Bryan listens across the Atlantic.
Boarding the next available flight, the former operative seeks out old contact Jean Claude (Rabourdin) who impresses upon Bryan the severity of his mission: “You have a 96 hour window from when she was grabbed.to never finding her.

” Taken puts the pedal to the metal from the moment the girls are snatched, barely pausing for breath as Bryan wreaks havoc in the French capital, leaping through gaping plot holes against a backdrop of the Champs-Elysees and the Seine, where a climactic night-time boat trip goes overboard on wanton bloodshed.
Neeson is an unlikely choice for Pierre Morel’s adrenaline-pumping action thriller.
He is imposing in the thuggish and somewhat two-dimensional lead role, bludgeoning anyone or anything that dares to get in his way, including common sense.

Action set pieces are well choreographed including a breakneck car chase and some bone-crunching fist fights that recall Jason Bourne’s recent forays for ferocity and slick editing.
The skirmishes ultimately become rather repetitive, without any droll humour to leaven the relentless brutality.

DVD Extras: “Making Of ” featurette, “The Premier Launch” featurette, Inside Action segments (Peter Dies, Bryan Escapes Construction Site, Good Luck, The Interrogation, Bryan At St Clair’s, Boat Fight); Blu-ray: “Making Of ” featurette, “The Premier Launch” featurette, Inside Action segments (Peter Dies, Bryan Escapes Construction Site, Good Luck, The Interrogation, Bryan At St Clair’s, Boat Fight), Real Time Mission Intelligence BONUSVIEW mode.

Rating: ***

Nights In Rodanthe (Cert PG, 93 mins, Warner Home Video, Romance/Drama, also available to buy DVD £15.99/Blu-ray £26.99)

Starring: Diane Lane, Richard Gere, Viola Davis, Scott Glenn, Christopher Meloni, Mae Whitman, James Franco.

With her marriage in freefall, Adrienne Willis (Lane) takes time out from her wayward husband (Meloni) and resentful, teenage daughter (Whitman) to spend a weekend in the North Carolina coastal community of Rodanthe, looking after the beachside inn run by her good friend, Jean (Davis).
Only one guest has booked in for the weekend so Adrienne should have lots of time to contemplate her future.

The promise of peace and quiet is short-lived with the arrival of the inn’s solitary guest, Dr Paul Flanner (Gere), who has unfinished business with local resident Robert Torrelson (Glenn).
As a storm descends on Rodanthe and rocks Jean’s guesthouse to its foundations, Adrienne and Paul cling to one another for emotional and physical comfort, sparking a passionate dalliance that will change the course of their lives forever.

Adapted from the best-selling novel by Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook), Nights In Rodanthe is a slushy romance about two lost souls gifted a second chance at love.
Comparisons to The Bridges Of Madison County are inevitable but George C Wolfe’s love-in possesses none of that picture’s deep, emotional resonance, shamelessly tugging the heartstrings with its contrived tale of chance encounters.

Lane and Gere look beautifully windswept against the picture postcard locations, while Glenn delivers a memorable supporting turn as a husband scarred by grief.
James Franco is wasted in a minor role as Flanner’s son, who bathes in the glow of his old man’s newfound lust for life.

There’s an inevitability to the tears of the final act, accomplished with surprisingly little fanfare.

DVD Extras: none stated.

Rating: ***

The House Bunny (Cert 12, 93 mins, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Comedy/Romance, also available to buy DVD £19.99/Blu-ray £24.99)

Starring: Anna Faris, Emma Stone, Colin Hanks, Dana Goodman, Katharine McPhee, Rumer Willis, Kiely Williams, Kat Dennings, Kimberly Makkouk, Monet Mazur.

Playboy bunny Shelley Darlingson (Faris) is one of the most popular residents at Hugh Hefner’s mansion, winning the affections of all the other girls – except jealous rival Cassandra (Mazur), who schemes to get rid of Shelley so she can take her place at Hef’s side.

Made to believe that Hugh no longer requires her services, Shelley tearfully heads into the great unknown and lands a position as house mother to the Zeta Alpha Zeta sorority, which is threatened with closure unless it can attract 30 pledges by the end of the semester.

So Shelley inspires the dowdy house residents – Carrie Mae (Goodman), Harmony (McPhee), Joanne (Willis), Lilly (Williams), Mona (Dennings), Natalie (Stone) and Tanya (Makkouk) – to pull out all the stops to ensure Zeta Alpha Zeta doesn’t fall to the bulldozers.

Blessed with a tour-de-force performance from Faris, The House Bunny is a guilty pleasure – a harmless piece of comic fluff that tickles our fancy despite myriad, glaring shortcomings.

Screenwriters Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith’s use Legally Blonde as a framework for the ditzy heroine’s metamorphosis, even copying the grandstand finale, which falls a little flat here.
Director Fred Wolf relies on musical montages such as that old chestnut, the makeover, to pad out the running time.

Yet, whenever the leading lady totters merrily into shot on outrageously high heels, we can’t help but smile, falling head over heels in love with her bona fide innocent, who believes that “the eyes are the nipples of the face!” Now you know ladies!

DVD Extras: 12 behind the scenes featurettes (”House Bunny Style” “The Girls Of Zeta”, “Calendar Girls”, “Anna Faris: House Mom”, “The Girls Upstairs”, “Colin Hanks: Mr Nice Guy”, “House Bunny Memories”, “From Tour Bus To Trailer: Tyson Ritter”, “From Song To Set: Katherine McPhee”, “Look Who Dropped By”, “Zetas Transformed”, “Getting Ready For A Party”), Katherine McPhee “I Know What Boys Like” music video.

Rating: ***

The Escapist (Cert 15, 97 mins, Contender Home Entertainment, Thriller/Drama/Action, also available to buy DVD £15.99)

Starring: Brian Cox, Dominic Cooper, Liam Cunningham, Joseph Fiennes, Seu Jorge, Damian Lewis.

Frank Perry (Cox) is a lifer content to spend the rest of his days behind bars as punishment for his sins.
An unexpected piece of correspondence from his wife shocks Frank back to life.

“My first letter in 14 years telling me our little girl’s a junkie, her heart stopped twice.

“he confides in trusted friend Brodie (Cunningham).
“I’ve got to see her, I’ve got to make things right.
” So the lifer concocts a plan to break through the panelling at the back of the chapel confessional then descend into the bowels of the building, out-running the guards in the dark.
Brodie agrees to help and Frank enlists the services of bruiser Lenny (Fiennes), cellblock drug dealer Viv (Jorge) and new boy James (Cooper), who have vital roles to play if the group is to stay under the radar of effete top dog Rizza (Lewis) and his goons.

The Escapist is a prison break thriller that breathes new life into the well-worn genre.
Director Rupert Wyatt and co-writer Daniel Hardy have a narrative ace up their sleeve that they confidently play in the film’s dying moments.

It’s a daring though ultimately disappointing final flourish.
Director of photography Philipp Blaubach employs different colour palettes to distinguish between timeframes: cold grey/blue for the break out and a jaundiced tinge for flashbacks.
Cox brings a brooding intensity to his role but other members of the escape team aren’t sketched in any detail.

Fiennes in particular should be sent down for a woeful accent.

DVD Extras: Director and actor commentary, “The Making Of The Escapist” featurette, behind the scenes featurette, storyboard comparison, theatrical trailer.

Rating: ***

Blu-Ray RETAIL TOP 10

* Hancock
* Wanted
* Dark Knight
* Wall-E
* Hellboy 2 – The Golden Army
* Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull
* Iron Man
* Kung Fu Panda
* Tropic Thunder
* There Will Be Blood

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