Week of 29 August
BLU-RAY: Farewell ???? (Stars Willem Dafoe, Diane Kruger, Fred Ward, Emir Kusturica; £24.99; UK Cert 15; Runtime 83 mins) In the early 1980s, a high-ranking KGB officer in Moscow, disillusioned with the Soviet regime, decided to pass Soviet secrets, including a list of spies, to the government of France, a move which undoubtedly hastened the collapse of the USSR. Christian Carion's dramatisation of the events surrounding the man French intelligent codenamed “Farewell” is a fascinating tale of life under the ice of the Cold War, and it harkens back to the dramas that were all around during the early to mid '80s. The film has a delicate feel running throughout; the naivety of the characters is carefully balanced against the very real danger they are in. As the tension mounts and the stakes rise, the film grabs you by the lapels and pulls you in. While bleak at times, it is most certainly emotionally engaging and a deeply satisfying watch. The stand out performance by Emir Kusturica, who plays the aforementioned KGB officer, is something to behold. His presence echoes throughout the film. Fred Ward is also on fine form playing Ronald Regan, though with the sound off you would suspect he is doing a Just for Men commercial, so black is his hair. All in all a brilliant old-school espionage tale with some excellent performances. No extras — John Rain
DVD: Beastly ?? (Stars Alex Pettyfer, Vanessa Hudgens, Mary-Kate Olsen, Peter Krause, Neil Patrick Harris; £19.99; UK cert 12; 110 mins) Beastly is a modern teen retelling of the classic fairy tale Beauty And The Beast, based itself on Alex Flinn's young adults novel of the same name. Kyle Kingson (Pettyfer) is the spoilt, arrogant High school pupil with daddy issues, who like his father, believes only appearance is important. After winning an election as president of the school Green Committee, he publicly dismisses goth-like fellow student Kendra (Olsen) who is really a witch. She curses him with an ugly spell, and, hidden away by his father with only his Jamaican housekeeper and blind tutor (Harris, wasted in this) he has one year to find someone to love him or the spell will be permanent. Alex, rather than turn into a walking carpet, instead looks like a bald, Emo Star Trek villain, covered in molten scars. The film is typical Holywood teenage fayre, hyper stylised and superficial, despite the underlying message. Performances and direction are average all round. Tweenage girls will love it. Extras: Alternative ending, deleted scenes, music video, making of. — Tim Pelan
DVD: Wrecked ??? (Stars Willem Dafoe, Diane Kruger, Fred Ward, Emir Kusturica; £24.99; UK Cert 15; Runtime 83 mins) Wrecked is a concept film in much the same way films like Memento and Unknown (2006) were before it. A man (Adrien Brody) wakes up in a wrecked car at the bottom of a ravine covered in blood and with a broken leg. A dead body is behind him and he has no memory of who he is or how he got there. We as the audience then join the man as he attempts to unravel his memories from his mind, which is equally as wrecked as the vehicle he wakes up in. Wrecked is a very interesting idea and the central performance by Brody is solid (as ever) and he really sells the anguish that his character is going through, mentally and physically. However, the film feels like a bit of a limp lettuce. while someone trying to discover how they got involved in a crash sounds interesting when written down, it simply isn't very gripping when committed to film. There is just not enough in this film to hold your attention for a prolonged period. This feels like an interesting short story stretched beyond it's own capabilities for 91 minutes. While not terrible, it is simply far too ponderous to sustain interest. Extras: The Making of Wrecked; A Day in the Life of George: a short featurette; Flight of the Chevy; The Woman's Perspective; trailer — John Rain
DVD: Love And Other Impossible Pursuits ?? (Stars Natalie Portman, Scott Cohan, Lisa Kudrow, Charlie Tahan; £9.99; UK cert 15; 90 mins) The cover of this DVD shows features an undeniably beautiful Portman beneath the words "Academy Award Winner" that are printed as large as the film title itself, and it’s a wise move, being the only selling point this dreary movie has going for it. Portman becomes pregnant with her boss Jack’s baby after an affair, and after a quick divorce and marriage life is going well, until the child dies from suspected cot death. Following this she struggles with the marriage, with Jack’s spiteful ex-wife who accuses her of home-wrecking, and with his young son who cannot accept her as a stepmother. Director Don Roos has previously produced fine work with The Opposite Of Sex and Happy Endings, but here loses his gritty edge, offering up a clichéd, weepy drama that feels like a TV movie. Made before her stunning turn in Black Swan and probably now getting released on the strength of her name, Portman struggles with a clumsy script that feels lifted straight from the novel it was based on. Only Kudrow, as the jealous ex with a vicious tongue, stands out. No extras — Rich Wilson
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Week of 22 August
DVD: Inside Nature's Giants ???? (Presented by Mark Evans; £19.99; UK cert PG; 200 mins) This is natural history as you have never seen it before. Veterinary scientist Mark Evans guides the viewer through computer reconstructions, field studies, and most especially, amazing autopsies of some of nature's most iconic large wild animals. Here you will discover how millions of years of evolution have enabled them to adapt and survive, and how fine a line they tread between adaption and extinction, for evolution does not produce perfect organisms. As well as the staff of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, Mark is assisted by evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins and comparative anatomist Dr Joy Reidenberg, who alarmingly at one point almost disappears down a beached whale's throat. The whale dissection is the standout episode, as the massive carcass, adrift on a sheltered Irish beach, is surrounded by curious onlookers, cut open and examined in a race against the tide in appalling weather conditions. The vets attempt to discover the sea going mammals latent limb, obviously undeveloped since its ancestors took to the sea. Other ashtonishing facts are uncoverd such as the extended lung capapcity of a crocodile, necessary for stealthily hiding in shallow pools for unsuspecting prey. Compressed air is blown by tube into it's exposed lung. Giraffes are witnessed in the wild, fighting like stags, using their incredibly strong necks to batter each other. This first series won a BAFTA. The second series recently started on Channel 4. No extras — Tim Pelan
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Week of 15 August
DVD: Quarantine 2: Terminal ?? (Stars Mercedes Masöhn, Josh Cooke, Mattie Liptak, Ignacio Serricchio, Noree Victoria, Bre Blair, Lamar Stewart, George Back; £14.99; UK Cert 18; Runtime 83 mins) It's always a worry when a sequel stars nobody you've ever heard of. The first Quarantine was a decent enough remake of the brilliant Spanish horror REC. But Quarantine 2 bears absolutely no resemblence to REC 2. It takes place on board an aircraft just as the events in the first film are unfolding on the ground. Pretty soon the virus takes hold of a passenger, the plane makes an emergency landing and the terminal building is quarantined. It's decent enough B-movie fare, but there are no real surprises here and events play out as you'd expect. No extras — Stuart O'Connor
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Week of 8 August
BLU-RAY: Whisky Galore! ???? (Stars Basil Radford, Joan Greenwood, James Robertson Justice, Catherine Lacey, Wylie Watson, Gordon Jackson; £19.99; UK Cert PG; Runtime 85 mins) Based on a true story, Whisky Galore is a charming British comedy that deserves its classic reputation. It’s based on Compton MacKenzie’s best-selling post war novel, itself based on a true story of canny Scottish islanders and their attempt to “liberate” some 50,000 cases of whisky from a stranded ship. It’s a whimsical little story, but much of its “dated” appearance comes from the fact that the eccentric villager format has been much copied since. Alexander Mackendrick’s Ealing Comedy is a gentle delight, that’s sweetly observed, well played – by the likes of Gordon Jackson, Joan Greenwood and Basil Radford - and still very funny. Extras: Audio commentary by John Ellis; Distilling!, an original TV documentary; The Real Whisky Galore!, with Angus Campbell; Hilary Mackendrick in conversation With Anthony Slide; Introduction by George Perry; and a photo gallery. — Neil Davey
BLU-RAY: The Lost Bladesman ??? (Stars Donnie Yen, Jiang Wen, Betty Sun; £19.99; UK Cert 12; Runtime 107 mins) The Lost Bladesman is the first period Chinese epic from directors Alan Mak and Felix Chong, the team behind Hong Kong police/gangster trilogy Infernal Affairs. It starts with tyrant Cao Cao (Jiang Wen) burying his former comrade and now enemy Guan Yu (Donnie Yen) with full honours, hoping to spark a war between his enemies. Flash back 20 years, and the defeated Guan assists his captor Cao against other warlords, while insisting he remains loyal to his sworn brother Liu Bei. Cao agrees and lets him leave, not before drugging him and trying to make it appear he has slept with Bei's betrothed, Qilan (Betty Sun). As Guan and Qilan travel the country to safety, Cao's generals, on the orders of the Emperor, thwart his passage, leading to many exciting battles and ambushes. It is quite tricky to keep track of the nuances of the plot, as there are many characters, and very small, quickly flashing subtitles. The performances are good, particularily the multi-layered Wen, portraying a more sympathetic character than just a straightforward villain. Donnie Yen plays an upstanding man of honour, beset on all sides by duplicitous foes. He choreographed many of the fight scenes, and they are inventive, fast and thrilling. A horseback chase and guan do spear fight in a confined alley is a highlight. Extras: A short making-of and trailers. — Tim Pelan