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Review Pathe Distribution / Michael Clayton [2007]
Actors & Directors
  • George Clooney
  • Sydney Pollack
  • Tom Wilkinson
  • Tilda Swinton
  • Tony Gilroy
Release date: 2008-02-18
Run time: 115 min.
RRP: £19.99
Price: £3.99

Review Michael Clayton [2007] / Pathe Distribution:

George Clooney already has one acting Oscar to his name, and it's unsurprising that immediately after the release of Michael Clayton, there were many arguing he was deserving of a second. For without a doubt, as impressive as the film is, it's very much Clooney who powers this one forward. Written and directed by Tony Gilroy, who previously adapted the Bourne movies for the big screen, Clooney takes the title role as a lawyer who goes in to do the jobs that, bluntly, nobody else wants to know about. And before long, Clooney discovers a cover-up that proves to be a mighty challenge to uncover, and one the inevitably conflicts him as a result. Aided by a superb supporting cast that includes the likes of Sydney Pollack, Tom Wilkinson and Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton at its best is a tense and effective thriller, written and directed steadfastly well by Gilroy. It's not without a few problems, most notably a comparably weak conclusion and one or two underdeveloped characters. But it's still a worthwhile film, and very much worth seeking out to simply enjoy a terrific performance from a Hollywood leading man who absolutely refuses to shy away from edgier roles. Long may he continue to do so. -Jon Foster.

Review Entertainment in Video / Sex and the City: The Movie [2008]
Actors & Directors
  • Chris Noth
  • Cynthia Nixon
  • Kristin Davis
  • Michael Patrick King
  • Kim Catrall
  • Sarah Jessica Parker
Release date: 2008-09-22
Run time: 139 min.
Creator: Candace Bushnell
RRP: £22.99
Price: £12.98

Review Sex and the City: The Movie [2008] / Entertainment in Video:

As light and frothy as the Vivienne Westwood wedding gown that's an unofficial fifth star, the film version of Sex and the City is both captivatingly stylish and sweetly sentimental. Viewers who loved hanging with Carrie Bradshaw and her three pals during the series' TV run will feel as though no time has passed. Except that it has: Carrie and Big are poised to make a Big Commitment; Miranda and Steve are facing the breakup of their wonderful family; Charlotte and Harry have added to their brood; and Samantha (are we sitting down?) has been devoted to hunky Smith for five full years. Still, in all that time, the women's style, conviviality, and appetite for bons mots have only grown. When practical attorney Miranda learns that Carrie is considering moving in with Big (in possibly the coolest apartment in Manhattan), she can't help but frown in that but-you-might-lose-everything way. Carrie's retort: "For once, can't you feel what I want you to feel-jealous?!" The cast is spot-on, as always. Sarah Jessica Parker is effortless as the angst-ridden yet practical, stylish yet vulnerable Carrie. Kim Cattrall is deliciously decadent as Samantha, but she's wiser now and knows herself and her needs for a real relationship. Kristin Davis, as Charlotte, has quietly become the most gorgeous among the beauties, her sleek presence both winsome and sophisticated. And Cynthia Nixon (Miranda) shows nuance as a woman torn between betrayal and grudging hope. [+]
Supporting roles include Candice Bergen as the Vogue editor who anoints Carrie "The Last Single Girl in New York," and Jennifer Hudson, as a starry-eyed, ambitious romantic who represents the new generation of SATC women. Through it all, New York is a benevolent cocoon that envelopes and nurtures the women and their friendships and careers. No matter that none of them appears to have any semblance of "real" family; as long as they have each other, and Manhattan, all will be right with their world. -A. T. Hurley.

Review Universal Pictures UK / Step Up 2 The Streets [2008]
Actors & Directors
  • Robert Hoffman
  • Briana Evigan
  • Will Kemp
  • Channing Tatum
  • Jon M. Chu
Release date: 2008-07-14
Run time: 93 min.
RRP: £19.99
Price: £10.69

Review Step Up 2 The Streets [2008] / Universal Pictures UK:

When life throws you curveballs, lemons, or closed doors, there's just one solution: Dance! Step Up 2 The Streets is a worthy entry into the inspirational dance-it-out film lexicon, with moves, choreography, and music that sometimes seem to defy even gravity. The spunky young heroine is Andie, played with sass and amazing dance talent by Briana Evigan (daughter of hardworking TV actor Greg Evigan). Andie is from one of Baltimore's grittiest neighborhoods, but her dance ability-forged in fire on the streets of Baltimore-lands her in a prestigious performing arts school, where she struggles to fit in even as her schoolmates are awed by her talent. With a nod to Love Story, our working-class heroine catches the eye of a privileged boy, Chase (Robert Hoffman), who's captivated by Andie's dance chops and genuine heart. Andie's fierce sense of self helps ground the film. At one point she lectures Chase, "Look, the streets is about where you're from. It's not some school talent show. There's no spring floors. There's no spotlights!" But the true star of the film is its amazing dance sequences and the talented cast works the moves for all they're worth. The supercharged soundtrack features Plies (with Akon) and a couple of excellent Missy Elliott tracks. [+]
Ready? Hit it! -A. T. Hurley.

Review Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainm / There Will Be Blood (2 disc Special Edition) [2007]
Actors & Directors
  • Paul Thomas Anderson
  • Dillon Freasier
  • Barry Del Sherman
  • Ciarán Hinds
  • Kevin J. O'Connor
  • Daniel Day-Lewis
Release date: 2008-07-07
Run time: 152 min.
RRP: £19.99
Price: £12.98

Review There Will Be Blood (2 disc Special Edition) [2007] / Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainm:

If there's a screen performance in 2008 that comes anywhere near to matching Daniel Day-Lewis' Oscar-winning turn in There Will Be Blood, then we've come nowhere near to seeing it. A tour-de-force of acting and a career high for Day-Lewis, it's the highlight of an extraordinary, really quite daring piece of cinema. That said, we've come to expect nothing less from writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson, the man who previously brought us Boogie Nights, Magnolia and Punch Drunk Love. However, he's really topped himself in terms of ambition with There Will Be Blood, an adaptation of Upton Sinclair's book, Oil! It follows Daniel Plainview (Day-Lewis) who, when we first meet him in the film's silent opening is attempting to mine silver, before he discovers oil and slowly builds up an empire off the back of it. There Will Be Blood then follows his rise to power, given the vast riches that his oil brings him, concurrently exploring his relationship with his son. It proves to be a long, complex, stunning piece of work. There's little room in There Will Be Blood for much more than the sheer power of Day-Lewis' performance, but credit Paul Dano (last seen saying an awful lot less in Little Miss Sunshine) for attempting to go toe-to-toe with the leading man. He's a foil of sorts for Plainview, playing a man as troubled and torn as Day-Lewis' character, and it's a career high to date for the young actor. The film, too, is a match for anything Paul Thomas Anderson has done to date, and that's some achievement. With no easy resolution, and a degree of complexity in its characters that we all-too-rarely see from modern American films, There Will Be Blood is a challenging, at times breathtaking piece of cinema. [+]
It won't be to all tastes, and it adamantly refuses to give easy answers, but it's as daring as anything you'll see on screen all year. And Day-Lewis' performance ranks next to any of the all-time greats that you'd care to mention. -Simon Brew.

Review 2 Entertain Video / Gavin And Stacey : Complete BBC Series 1 [2007]
Actors & Directors
  • Ruth Jones
  • Rob Brydon
  • James Corden
  • Joanna Page
  • Mathew Horne
Release date: 2007-10-29
Run time: 168 min.
RRP: £19.99
Price: £6.86

Review Gavin And Stacey : Complete BBC Series 1 [2007] / 2 Entertain Video:


Review Lions Gate Home Entertainment / Mad Men
Actors & Directors
  • Candice Cunningham
  • Alan Taylor
  • Kiernan Shipka
  • Emelle
  • January Jones
Release date: 2008-06-30
Run time: 592 min.
RRP: £29.99
Price: £17.95

Review Mad Men / Lions Gate Home Entertainment:


Review Universal Pictures UK / Atonement [2007]
Actors & Directors
  • Saoirse Ronan
  • Romola Garai
  • Vanessa Redgrave
  • James McAvoy
  • Keira Knightley
  • Joe Wright
Release date: 2008-02-04
Run time: 118 min.
RRP: £19.99
Price: £4.98

Review Atonement [2007] / Universal Pictures UK:

Atonement reunites Keira Knightley with her Pride & Prejudice director, Joe Wright, for the movie based on Ian McEwan's book of the same name. The result? Once of the most widely acclaimed pictures of 2007. Atonement tells the story of Cecilia Tallis (Knightley), and the housekeeper's son, Robbie Turner (played by the increasingly prevalent James McAvoy). Set during the heat of 1935, their coming together and the ensuing drama brings in Cecilia's thirteen-year old sister, Briony, whose actions prove to have far-reaching repercussions. With a terrific cast and superb direction from the aforementioned Wright, it's utterly understandable as to how Atonement has earned itself such praise. Diligently told, with some superb photography, Wright is blessed by terrific central performances by Knightley and McAvoy, both of whom have never been better. His trick also is to get the pacing of the film bang-on, taking his time to build up and layer events before he looks for any kind of pay off. As a result, as Atonement heads into its latter stages, it proves itself as a top quality drama, with a real emotional punch. Furthermore, it's one of the increasingly rare breed of films that sticks in your head for days after. As a result, for once, it really is worth seeing what critics the world over have been raving about: Atonement really is something very special indeed. [+]
-Jon Foster.

Review Momentum Pictures Home Ent / Miss Potter [2006]
Actors & Directors
  • Ewan McGregor
  • Renee Zellweger
  • Lucy Boynton
  • Chris Noonan
Release date: 2007-04-23
Run time: 88 min.
RRP: £19.99
Price: £6.12

Review Miss Potter [2006] / Momentum Pictures Home Ent:

Miss Potter walks that fine line between charming and cloying with pleasing sure-footedness. Apple-cheeked Renee Zellweger (Bridget Jones' Diary) once again slips into a British accent to play writer/illustrator Beatrix Potter, the creator of Peter Rabbit. Potter, born into wealth, fought the disapproval of her high society mother to do something as crass as publish a book. and to fall in love with her publisher, Norman Warne (Ewan McGregor, previously teamed with Zellweger in Down With Love). Unfortunately, their love runs into something worse than upper-class stuffiness. Miss Potter skips through Potter's life a bit too briskly at times, but Zellweger's thankfully restrained performance, McGregor's infinite charm, and some beautiful shots of the English landscape keep the movie grounded and engaging. Also featuring a crackling supporting performance by Emily Watson (Breaking the Waves) as Warne's sister Millie. -Bret Fetzer.

Review Warner Home Video / The Wire : Complete HBO Season 1
Actors & Directors
  • Sonja Sohn
  • Dominic West
Release date: 2005-04-18
Run time: 720 min.
RRP: £50.99
Price: £14.98

Review The Wire : Complete HBO Season 1 / Warner Home Video:

Television really doesn't come much better than this. Criminally ignored by far, far too many people, The Wire has proven itself to be that rarest of things: an intelligent, clever, character-driven show, that's lasted more than one season. This boxset brings together all the episodes from the maiden series of The Wire, spread across thirteen episodes. Yet those episodes, unlike many in the police genre where the show spends a good deal of its time, are dedicated to just one case. Furthermore, it follows both sides of the case. Thus, there's the Baltimore police department, with its statistics to manage, its internal politics to manage and its chain of command to respect, set against a highly organised drug gang, who too have more than their fair share of problems. The Wire is a slow burn show, taking time to delicate put its pieces in place. Rarely do you get a dramatic end to an episode, and it's not afraid to humanise and blur the lines between good and bad. But, bluntly, there's nothing-not even The Sopranos-that US TV has broadcast in the last ten years that can hold a torch to it. This first series is genuinely outstanding television, and really deserves your attention. [+]
And the good news? Excellent as it is, this first series isn't even the best that The Wire has to offer…-Simon Brew.

Review 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment / Prison Break - Season 3 - Complete [2007]
Actors & Directors
  • Dominic Purcell
  • Wentworth Miller
  • William Fichtner
  • Greg Yaitanes
  • Kevin Hooks
  • Michael Switzer
  • Wade Williams
  • Amaury Nolasco
Release date: 2008-05-19
Run time: 543 min.
RRP: £39.99
Price: £27.49

Review Prison Break - Season 3 - Complete [2007] / 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment:

It was always going to be a challenge to move a show whose premise effectively fitted comfortably inside a single series to a third season. And so perhaps inevitably, Prison Break moves the action back to the slammer, this time in Panama. It proves to be a wise choice, as, while plausibility has long since been thrown out of the window, it's a more natural setting for the show. Prison Break still follows brothers Lincoln and Michael Burrows, but this time there's a far tougher prison that needs to be broken out of. It's a little less claustrophobic than the last one, but more dangerous. And along with the usual terrific supporting cast of characters, the tension, twists and violence that underpin the show are all very much present and correct. Powering Prison Break forwards, of course, is the pin-up star Wentworth Miller, who owns his role as Michael, and grounds many of the show's extremities. And while it's a shorter season than the first two, this third run still manages to cram in some strong entertainment. Perhaps season three isn't Prison Break's finest hour, and perhaps the concept has diluted somewhat since the show first began. But this is still really good, assured entertainment, that knows what it wants to do and simply gets on with it. [+]
For that alone, it remains a show hard to resist. -Jon Foster.

Review Momentum Pictures / P.S. I Love You [2008]
Actors & Directors
  • Hilary Swank
  • Gina Gershon
  • Gerard Butler
  • Richard LaGravenese
  • Jeffery Dean Morgan
  • Lisa Kudrow
Release date: 2008-05-12
Run time: 122 min.
RRP: £19.99
Price: £9.49

Review P.S. I Love You [2008] / Momentum Pictures:

Based on the best-selling novel from Cecelia Ahern, P. S. I Love You is far more than the standard chick flick that it may first appear to be. Relocating the novel from Ireland to America, multiple Oscar-winner Hilary Swank stars as the young woman who has recently lost her husband. And yet amidst her grief, she discovers a series of letters that he's written to help. These letters give her certain things she has to do, to help her move on with her life. It's not a completely clean adaptation of the book, and yet P. S. I Love You has more than enough in its tank to qualify as a good, quality bona fide weepy. Swank in particular is a terrific actress, and delivers another worthy performance here. [+]
Credit too to Gerard Butler (Phantom Of The Opera, 300) for his work as her late husband. The film does have a few problems. It meanders a little, and its running time could use a little pruning. Yet nonetheless P. S. I Love You is a well made, engaging drama, and likely to be responsible for a fair bit of blubbing among its target audience by the time the credits roll. Worth a look. -Jon Foster.

Review Paramount Home Entertainment / No Country For Old Men [2008]
Actors & Directors
  • Ethan Coen
  • Tommy Lee Jones
  • Josh Brolin
  • Kelly MacDonald
  • Stephen Root
  • Javier Bardem
  • Joel Coen
Release date: 2008-06-02
Run time: 117 min.
RRP: £19.99
Price: £11.79

Review No Country For Old Men [2008] / Paramount Home Entertainment:

The Coen brothers make their finest thriller since Fargo with a restrained adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's novel. Not that there aren't moments of intense violence, but No Country for Old Men is their quietest, most existential film yet. In this modern-day Western, Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) is a Vietnam veteran who needs a break. One morning while hunting antelope, he spies several trucks surrounded by dead bodies (both human and canine). In examining the site, he finds a case filled with $2 million. Moss takes it with him, tells his wife (Kelly Macdonald) he's going away for awhile, and hits the road until he can determine his next move. On the way from El Paso to Mexico, he discovers he's being followed by ex-special ops agent Chigurh (an eerily calm Javier Bardem). Chigurh's weapon of choice is a cattle gun, and he uses it on everyone who gets in his way-or loses a coin toss (as far as he's concerned, bad luck is grounds for death). Just as Sheriff Bell (Tommy Lee Jones), a World War II veteran, is on Moss's trail, Chigurh's former colleague, Wells (Woody Harrelson), is on his. For most of the movie, Moss remains one step ahead of his nemesis. [+]
Both men are clever and resourceful-except Moss has a conscious, Chigurh does not (he is, as McCarthy puts it, "a prophet of destruction"). At times, the film plays like an old horror movie, with Chigurh as its lumbering Frankenstein monster. Like the taciturn terminator, No Country for Old Men doesn't move quickly, but the tension never dissipates. This minimalist masterwork represents Joel and Ethan Coen and their entire cast, particularly Brolin and Jones, at the peak of their powers. -Kathleen C. Fennessy.

Review 2 Entertain Video / Pride And Prejudice : Complete BBC Series - 10th Anniversary Edition [1995]
Actors & Directors
  • David Bamber
  • Anna Chancellor
  • Jennifer Ehle
  • Crispin Bonham-Carter
  • Colin Firth
Release date: 2005-09-12
Run time: 327 min.
RRP: £19.99
Price: £6.50

Review Pride And Prejudice : Complete BBC Series - 10th Anniversary Edition [1995] / 2 Entertain Video:

In spite of the quality of the more recent Keira Knightley-starring big-screen interpretation, it's the mid-90s BBC mini-series of Pride and Prejudice that's still regarding by many as the definitive telling of Jane Austen's classic. Featuring, as many swooning admirers will already know, Colin Firth in a career-topping performance as Mr Darcy, Pride and Prejudice is the timeless tale of seemingly impossible romance. On one hand, there's the wealthy, single Mr Darcy, and on the other is Elizabeth, a woman Darcy believes is beneath him. Across six sumptuous hours of this classic mini-series, their story then slowly bubbles, aided by some excellent supporting performances. Nods must go to the likes of Jennifer Ehle, Susannah Harker, Anna Chancellor and Julia Sawalha, to highlight but a handful. It's not just in front of the camera where Pride and Prejudice scores, though. The production values are absolutely outstanding, with this really a watermark for BBC costume drama production. Add in Simon Langton's diligent direction, and this is one of those rare occasions where everything seemingly effortlessly falls into place, with outstanding end results. Over ten years since it was first broadcast, the particular take on Pride and Prejudice remains as vital, moving and compelling as it was first time round. And if it's ever topped, it's going to take something really, really special to do it… -Jon Foster.

Review Buena Vista / Lost - The Complete Fourth Season
Actors & Directors
  • Evangeline Lilly
  • Dominic Monaghan
Release date: 2008-10-20
RRP: £39.99
Price: £29.99

Review Lost - The Complete Fourth Season / Buena Vista:


Review Warner Home Video / The Wire: Complete HBO Season 3
Actors & Directors
  • Idris Elba
  • Dominic West
  • Michael K. Williams
  • Sonja Sohn
Release date: 2007-02-05
Run time: 780 min.
RRP: £40.99
Price: £13.99

Review The Wire: Complete HBO Season 3 / Warner Home Video:

Corruption is rife throughout The Wire: The Complete Third Season, which picks up the further adventures of the Baltimore Major Crimes Unit as they continue to wage war on drugs. Only as this is The Wire, that's just the beginnings of their problems. Once again, the show that's rightly being acclaimed as one of America's finest and most intelligent dramas covers the story from all areas. There's the investigating cops on one hand, their targets on the other, and the small matter of heavy political influence both with the Police Department itself, and from the Mayor's Office too. Cleverly sowing the seeds for the series that'll follow, while lacing the narrative with a wealth of challenging ideas to deal with there and then, season three isn't perhaps the finest of The Wire to date, but it sure does run things close. From its willingness to explore a solution of tolerance to the problem in hand, through to the political ambitions of one man determined to make a name for himself, and the small matter of a drugs operation riddled with in-fighting, it's compelling drama. It's also unequalled in recent times, courtesy of its outstanding writing, measured performances and willingness to take some bold gambles. Put bluntly, The Wire: The Complete Third Season is a quite brilliant piece of television drama, and easily rewards a purchase. -Simon Brew.

Review Warner Home Video / The Wire: Complete HBO Season 2
Actors & Directors
  • Wendell Pierce
  • Dominic West
  • Idris Elba
  • Lance Reddick
  • Amy Ryder
Release date: 2005-10-10
Run time: 780 min.
RRP: £50.99
Price: £14.98

Review The Wire: Complete HBO Season 2 / Warner Home Video:

Picking up after the dramatic events of its maiden season, the second series of The Wire achieves something really rather special: it even manages to outclass the first. For those fresh to the show, surely the best, most intelligent piece of scripted drama to emerge from America in the last decade, the actual premise is fairly simple. Across the thirteen episodes of its season, it charts one case, and the numerous influences upon it. So it devotes roughly equal time to those committing the crimes as it does to those chasing them. This time, the Baltimore Police Department have twin worries. There's the continuing, festering narrative of events from the season before, along with a new problem when a container of dead bodies turns up at the nearby docks. After initial battles over whose statistics the bodies will be attributed to, a fresh case begins for the embattled officers of the Major Crimes Unit. Yet season two is about much more than the case itself. Bubbling under the surface are characters with real problems, that take their toll on the day-to-day, while at the docks themselves there are union struggles underway, which also have a part to play. Thanks to, frankly, superb scripting, these various narrative threads are woven together quite brilliantly, and the result is perhaps the finest series of The Wire to date. [+]
And that's no small feat. If you're one of the many who have let The Wire fly under their radar thus far, then you're urged to rectify that. Clearly season one is the logical starting point, but begin your adventure in the knowledge that this second series is simple exceptional. For the rest of the US television industry, this is the standard to aim for. -Simon Brew.

Review Lions Gate Home Entertainment / The Lives Of Others [2007]
Actors & Directors
  • Hans Bauer
  • Ulrich Muehe
  • Sebastian Koch
  • Martina Gedeck
  • Florian Henckel Von Donnersmarck
  • Ulrich Tukur
Release date: 2007-09-17
Run time: 132 min.
RRP: £19.99
Price: £4.89

Review The Lives Of Others [2007] / Lions Gate Home Entertainment:

In the former East Germany, no-one was above suspicion. Like George Orwell's vision of the future come to life, art and people and relationships were monitored obsessively; The Lives Of Others captures not only the paranoia and danger inherent in such a world, but also expresses hope that even in the most desperate situations, people can make a difference. The story of The Lives Of Others unfolds mostly through the eyes of a secret service agent who's been given the task of spying on an artistic couple who've attracted the attention of the Minister of Culture. Little by little, he's drawn into their lives even as we're drawn into his; and as he loses his faith in the government, he must decide whether or not to try to hide the transgressions of those he's watching. As the physical danger and emotional cost mounts, it's impossible not to become utterly engrossed; intelligent and well-written, The Lives Of Others is also deeply moving. It's rare to find a film that really deserves its rave reviews, and considering The Lives Of Others won a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, it's got a lot to live up to. Happily, it's more than just up to scratch-it's absolutely brilliant. -Sarah Dobbs.

Review Warner Home Video / The Wire: Complete HBO Season 4
Actors & Directors
  • Dominic West
  • Michael K. Williams
  • Sonja Sohn
Release date: 2008-03-10
Run time: 749 min.
RRP: £40.99
Price: £24.98

Review The Wire: Complete HBO Season 4 / Warner Home Video:

Even if you missed the first three seasons (the character guides and thorough episode recaps on HBO's website are recommended), and with only one season left, it's not too late to get in under The Wire. In fact, season 4 is an accessible introduction for those who know The Wire only by its street cred as arguably the very best show on television. For them especially, this season will be, as befitting its theme, a real education. Without resorting to melodramatics that other ratings-challenged series employ to gain that frustratingly elusive audience, The Wire shakes things up this season in a way that is true to the series and its characters. A major character, Dominic West's McNulty, plays a minor role as a contented street cop and family man, while a former supporting player, Jim True-Frost's Roland Pryzbylewski, goes to the head of the class as a new eighth grade teacher at beleaguered Edward Tilghman Middle School. It may take a couple of episodes to orient yourself to the Baltimore backrooms, squad rooms, classrooms, and street corners where The Wire's intense dramas play out, and new viewers may miss something in character nuance, but they will easily grasp the big picture. A politically motivated shake-up sends Major Crimes detectives Freamon (Clarke Peters) and Greggs (Sonja Sohn) to Homicide. The gloves come off in the mayoral race between black incumbent Clarence Royce (Glynn Turman) and idealistic white challenger Tommy Carcetti (Aidan Gillen). Gang leader Marlo (Jamie Hector) quietly and deliberately becomes the city's new drug kingpin, managing to subvert all surveillance efforts. Meanwhile, while "Prez" tries to reach his students, four highly at-risk kids will be drawn into the drug trade. [+]
Mere synopsis does not do The Wire justice. The series deftly juggles its myriad storylines and characters, all of whom make an impression, from Marlo's cold-blooded enforcers, Snoop (Felicia Pearson) and Chris (Gbenga Akinnagbe), to boxing instructor "Cutty" (Chad L. Coleman), determined to keep his young charges off the corners. There is not a false note in the performances or the writing. Richard Price (Clockers) and Dennis Lehane (Mystic River) again contributed episodes. That this series has only been nominated for only one Emmy (for writing) is a travesty. As engrossing as the finest novels and in a class by itself, this isn't television; it's The Wire. -Donald Liebenson.

Review Sony Pictures Home Entertainment / The Tudors: Complete BBC Series 1 [2007]
Actors & Directors
  • Jonathan Rhys Meyers
  • Natalie Dormer
  • Sam Neill
  • Gabrielle Anwar
Release date: 2007-12-10
Run time: 514 min.
Creator: Michael Hirst
RRP: £29.99
Price: £8.28

Review The Tudors: Complete BBC Series 1 [2007] / Sony Pictures Home Entertainment:

Pulling few punches and garnering its fair share of headlines as a result, The Tudors is a controversial, yet compelling period piece, that dramatically tells the story of the early years of King Henry VIII. Not for nothing though has it attracted its fair share of awards attention. For The Tudors is a complex drama, and not one to simplify its storylines. The young Henry, for instance, is exploring his muddled romances and his insecurities, against the challenges his kingdom is facing. It's a plateful for him to deal with, and in the hands of a superb performance from Jonathan Rhys Meyers-a real revelation in the role-as the young Henry, it's all vividly and skillfully knitted together. But The Tudors isn't just about its central character, for there's a terrific supporting cast at work too. Sam Neill's Cardinal Wolsey, Jeremy Northam's Thomas More and Natalie Dormer's Ann Boleyn are just some who earn plaudits here. Behind the camera there's the pen of Elizabeth writer Michael Hirst at work, and he too deserves much credit, clearly getting his teeth into the fascinating subject matter. The Tudors is, undoubtedly, a graphic production, and earns its 15 certificate comfortably. It's also been knocked for the liberties it takes with its history when putting its story across, with some justification. [+]
But it's also most certainly terrific television, mixing in high production values with strong performances. In short, the ten episodes here will simply have you thirsting for the next series. Not before you've rewatched season one a few times, though. -Jon Foster.

Review Warner Home Video / The Bucket List [2008]
Actors & Directors
  • Beverly Todd
  • Morgan Freeman
  • Rob Reiner
  • Sean Hayes
  • Jack Nicholson
Release date: 2008-07-07
Run time: 93 min.
RRP: £15.99
Price: £9.97

Review The Bucket List [2008] / Warner Home Video:

"You measure yourself by the people who measure themselves by you," says the quietly wise Carter Chambers, played with gravitas and grace by a Morgan Freeman. In Rob Reiner's moving, often hilarious film The Bucket List, all sorts of people measure themselves against the two heroes, Chambers and his hospital suitemate, Edward Cole (Jack Nicholson). But as Cole finds, having spent his entire life building a Fortune 500 company, none of that much matters when cancer, the great equalizer, pays a visit. The film traces the adventures of the two unlikely friends, who meet in a hospital cancer ward, each given six months to live. The "bucket list" of the title refers to a lifelong list of goals that a teacher of Chambers once advised him to compile-and achieve-"before you kick the bucket. " Soon the two are off on what may be the last grand adventure of their life, vowing to tick off as many goals (skydiving, race-car driving, seeing the wonders of the world) as they can in the time they have left. What starts as a medical melodrama becomes a road trip, yet the men's mortality realities are never far from thought. The two leads give impressive performances, and remind the viewer of just how few American films focus on the lives and loves of senior citizens. Nicholson even manages to lose his persona in his character, much as he did in About Schmidt. There's a lovely John Mayer tune, "Say (What You Need to Say)," that's perfectly matched to the film's clear-eyed view of life: What does one person leave behind as his true legacy? -A. [+]
T. Hurley.

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Michael Clayton [2007], Sex and the City: The Movie [2008], Step Up 2 The Streets [2008], There Will Be Blood (2 disc Special Edition) [2007], Gavin And Stacey : Complete BBC Series 1 [2007], Mad Men, Atonement [2007], Miss Potter [2006], The Wire : Complete HBO Season 1, Prison Break - Season 3 - Complete [2007], P.S. I Love You [2008], No Country For Old Men [2008], Pride And Prejudice : Complete BBC Series - 10th Anniversary Edition [1995], Lost - The Complete Fourth Season, The Wire: Complete HBO Season 3, The Wire: Complete HBO Season 2, The Lives Of Others [2007], The Wire: Complete HBO Season 4, The Tudors: Complete BBC Series 1 [2007], The Bucket List [2008]

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