DVD Find the Perfect Gift    Send a Gift Certificate
Search 
Home › Drama
Review 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment / Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid [1969]
Actors & Directors
  • Robert Redford
  • Strother Martin
  • Katharine Ross
  • Paul Newman
  • George Roy Hill
  • Henry Jones
Release date: 2001-08-27
Run time: 106 min.
Creator: William Goldman
RRP: £19.99
Price: £2.99

Review Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid [1969] / 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment:

Dating from 1969, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid has never lost its popularity or its unusual appeal as a star-driven Western that tinkers with the genre's conventions and comes up with something both terrifically entertaining and-typical of its period-a tad paranoid. Paul Newman plays the legendary outlaw Butch Cassidy as an eternal optimist and self-styled visionary, conjuring dreams of banks just ripe for the picking all over the world. Robert Redford is his more level-headed partner, the sharp-shooting Sundance Kid. The film, written by William Goldman (The Princess Bride) and directed by George Roy Hill (The Sting), basically begins as a freewheeling story about robbing trains but soon becomes a chase as a relentless posse-always seen at a great distance like some remote authority-forces Butch and Sundance into the hills and, finally, Bolivia. Weakened a little by feel-good inclinations (a scene involving bicycle tricks and the song "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" is sort of Hollywood flower power), the film maintains an interesting tautness, and the chemistry between Redford and Newman is rare. (A factoid: Newman first offered the Sundance part to Jack Lemmon. ) -Tom Keogh, Amazon. com On the DVD: This anamorphic widescreen print of the 2. 35:1 Panavision original looks marvellously crisp, highlighting the sepia tinting and washed-out, over-exposed look of the film nicely and making the best of the deep focus cinematography. The mono soundtrack sounds clean and clear in Dolby 2. [+]
0. The commentary track is hosted by documentary-maker Robert Crawford with contributions from George Roy Hill, cinematographer Conrad Hall, and lyricist Hal David (who chips in during the "Raindrops" sequence). The 40-minute documentary dates from 1968 and is narrated by director Hill, who talks in detail about the making-of process, comments on his relationship with the three principals (Katharine Ross was the difficult one apparently), and adds little nuggets such as how they sprayed the bull's testicles to make him charge at the end of the bicycle scene. Also included are a series of absorbing 1994 interviews with all the main players: Newman, Redford, Ross, writer William Goldman, and composer Burt Bacharach. Trailers, Production Notes and an Alternate Credit Roll complete an attractive package. -Mark Walker.

Review Optimum Home Entertainment / Pan's Labyrinth [2006]
Actors & Directors
  • Ariadna Gil
  • Ivana Baquero
  • Maribel Verdú
  • Doug Jones
  • Guillermo del Toro
  • Sergi López
Release date: 2007-05-21
Run time: 119 min.
Creator: Frida Torresblanco
RRP: £15.99
Price: £3.00

Review Pan's Labyrinth [2006] / Optimum Home Entertainment:

Inspired by the Brothers Grimm, Jorge Luis Borges, and Guillermo del Toro's own unlimited imagination, Pan's Labyrinth is a fairytale for adults. Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) may only be 12, but the worlds she inhabits, both above and below ground, are dark as anything del Toro has conjured. Set in rural Spain, circa 1944, Ofelia and her widowed mother, Carmen (Ariadna Gil, Belle Epoque), have just moved into an abandoned mill with Carmen's new husband, Captain Vidal (Sergi López, With a Friend like Harry). Carmen is pregnant with his son. Other than her sickly mother and kindly housekeeper Mercedes (Maribel Verdú, Y Tu Mamá También), the dreamy Ofelia is on her own. Vidal, an exceedingly cruel man, couldn't be bothered. He has informers to torture. Ofelia soon finds that an entire universe exists below the mill. Her guide is the persuasive Faun (Doug Jones, Mimic). As her mother grows weaker, Ofelia spends more and more time in the satyr's labyrinth. [+]
He offers to help her out of her predicament if she'll complete three treacherous tasks. Ofelia is willing to try, but does this alternate reality really exist or is it all in her head? Del Toro leaves that up to the viewer to decide in a beautiful, yet brutal twin to The Devil's Backbone, which was also haunted by the ghost of Franco. Though it lacks the humour of Hellboy, Pan's Labyrinth represents Guillermo Del Toro at the top of his considerable game. -Kathleen C. Fennessy.

Review MGM Entertainment / Some Like It Hot - Special Edition [1959]
Actors & Directors
  • Tony Curtis
  • Billy Wilder
  • Jack Lemmon
  • George Raft
  • Marilyn Monroe
  • Pat O'Brien
Release date: 2001-11-26
Run time: 117 min.
Creator: Robert Thoeren
RRP: £19.99
Price: £2.85

Review Some Like It Hot - Special Edition [1959] / MGM Entertainment:

Maybe "nobody's perfect", as one character in this masterpiece suggests. But some movies are perfect, and Some Like It Hot is one of them. In Chicago, during the Prohibition era, two skirt-chasing musicians, Joe and Jerry (Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon), inadvertently witness the St Valentine's Day Massacre. In order to escape the wrath of gangland chief Spats Colombo (George Raft), the boys, in drag, join an all-woman band headed for Florida. They vie for the attention of the lead singer, Sugar Kane (Marilyn Monroe), a much-disappointed songbird who warbles "I'm Through with Love" but remains vulnerable to yet another unreliable saxophone player. (When Curtis courts her without his dress, he adopts the voice of Cary Grant-a spot-on impersonation. ) The script by director Billy Wilder and I. A. L. Diamond is beautifully measured; everything works, like a flawless clock. [+]
Aspiring screenwriters would be well advised to throw away the how-to books and simply study this film. The bulk of the slapstick is handled by an unhinged Lemmon and the razor-sharp Joe E. Brown, who plays a horny retiree smitten by Jerry's feminine charms. For all the gags, the film is also wonderfully romantic, as Wilder indulges in just the right amounts of moonlight and the lilting melody of "Park Avenue Fantasy". Some Like It Hot is so delightfully fizzy, it's hard to believe the shooting of the film was a headache, with an unhappy Monroe on her worst behaviour. The results, however, are sublime. -Robert Horton.

Review Icon Home Entertainment / Once [2007]
Actors & Directors
  • Bill Hodnett
  • John Carney
  • Marketa Irglova
  • Glen Hansard
  • Danuse Ktrestova
Release date: 2008-02-25
Run time: 84 min.
RRP: £19.99
Price: £4.98

Review Once [2007] / Icon Home Entertainment:

Winner of the World Audience Award at Sundance, Once starts out as a small-scale romance, like Before Sunrise, before arriving somewhere unexpected. An Irish busker (Glen Hansard, the Frames and The Commitments) meets a Czech flower seller (Markéta Irglová) while singing on the streets of Dublin. (In the credits, they're listed as Guy and Girl. ) She likes what she hears and lets him know. Turns out she's a musician, too. They work on a few songs together and a friendship is forged. She lives with her widowed mother, who doesn't speak English. He lives with his widowed father, who owns a repair shop. Since he broke up with his girlfriend, the guy has been drifting, unable and unwilling to get his life in order. The girl encourages him to pursue a record deal, and the guy emerges from his funk. [+]
Then he makes a move on the girl, who rejects his advances. He's confused, but as he comes to find, there's a reason she's keeping her distance. Though Once is filled with appealing folk-pop by Hansard and Irglová (released on CD as The Swell Season), the movie isn't a traditional musical, but rather a more optimistic Brief Encounter. Filmmaker John Carney, Hansard's former bandmate, captures the real city-in all its affluence and poverty-rather than the picture postcard version. His beautifully shot film serves as a heartfelt ballad about all the underclass Guys and Girls swept aside amidst Ireland's economic miracle. -Kathleen C. Fennessy.

Review Universal Pictures Video / House - Season 3 (Hugh Laurie) [2006]
Actors & Directors
  • Hugh Laurie
Release date: 2007-11-19
Run time: 1008 min.
RRP: £34.99
Price: £12.13

Review House - Season 3 (Hugh Laurie) [2006] / Universal Pictures Video:

The award-winning House simply gets better and better, as its third season again delivers entertainment to a consistently high standard. Powered by Hugh Laurie in the title role-and his performance is worthy of every plaudit it's attracted-this is a medical mix of drama and highly sarcastic comedy, that's proven to be a considerable commercial and critical success. The thinking behind the show is simple. Laurie's Dr House is as reluctant, snide and miserable a medical practitioner as you're likely to find, although he happens to be a genius at solving the unsolvable cases. Along with his small team of doctors, each episode generally sees House as a medical mystery, with said team scrabbling to find the answers to devilishly complicated illnesses and diseases. But House's skill is its characters as well as its at-times ingenious plotlines. Hugh Laurie aside, Omar Epps, Jesse Spencer and Jennifer Morrison are terrific as House's long-suffering staff, while Robert Sean Leonard's Dr Wilson and Lisa Edelstein's Dr Cuddy are equally strong as his only friend and boss respectively. The third season of House shakes things up quite a lot though. A good chunk of it, for instance, is concerned with Laurie's Doctor coming under investigation from a detective who takes a dislike to House's methods. Plus there's also a superb episode set mid-flight, and plenty of character issues to deal with too. [+]
No plot spoilers here, though! In short, House is, and remains a triumph, by turns funny, dramatic and moving. And Laurie, surely in the role of a lifetime, is simply brilliant. Series four can't come quickly enough. -Simon Brew.

Review Revolver Entertainment / Kidulthood [2006]
Actors & Directors
  • Red Madrell
  • Aml Ameen
  • Noel Clarke
  • Adam Deacon
  • Menhaj Huda
  • Jamie Winstone
Release date: 2008-06-02
Run time: 92 min.
RRP: £9.99
Price: £3.74

Review Kidulthood [2006] / Revolver Entertainment:


Review Sony Pictures Home Ent. UK / Hancock [Blu-ray] [2008]
Actors & Directors
  • Will Smith
  • Jason Bateman
  • Charlize Theron
  • Peter Berg
Release date: 2008-12-01
Run time: 98 min.
Creator: Vince Gilligan
RRP: £24.99
Price: £15.98

Review Hancock [Blu-ray] [2008] / Sony Pictures Home Ent. UK:

Hancock turns the standard superhero movie inside-out. The titular character, played by Will Smith, can fly, has super strength and is invulnerable. But he's also a sloppy, arrogant alcoholic who causes millions of dollars in property damage whenever he bothers to fight crime. When he saves the life of a PR agent named Ray (Jason Bateman, Arrested Development), Ray decides to improve Hancock's image-starting by having Hancock surrender himself to the authorities and go to prison for his lawless behaviour. The idea is that once he's in prison, the crime rate will go up and people will start realising Hancock might be of value after all. This is only the first act of Hancock though-from there, the film takes several surprising turns that shouldn't be revealed. Hancock isn't a great movie, but it is an extremely entertaining one. The script, which holds together far better than most superhero movies, has a propulsive plot, good dialogue, some compassion for its characters, and even an actual idea or two. The spectacular action at least gestures towards obeying the laws of physics, which actually makes the special effects more vivid. The three leads (Smith, Bateman, and Charlize Theron as Ray's wife, Mary) deftly balance the movie's mixture of comedy, action, and drama. [+]
All in all, a smart subversive twist on a genre that all too often takes itself all too seriously. -Bret Fetzer.

Review Paramount Home Entertainment / The Godfather Trilogy : Remastered Collection - Limited Edition Steelbook Metal Packaging (Exclusive To Amazon.co.uk) [1971]
Actors & Directors
  • Diane Keaton
  • Francis Ford Coppola
  • Al Pacino
  • Marlon Brando
  • Robert Duvall
  • Robert De Niro
Release date: 2008-06-02
RRP: £29.99
Price: £19.97

Review The Godfather Trilogy : Remastered Collection - Limited Edition Steelbook Metal Packaging (Exclusive To Amazon.co.uk) [1971] / Paramount Home Entertainment:

Throughout his long, wandering, often distinguished career Francis Ford Coppola has made many films that are good and fine, many more that are flawed but undeniably interesting, and a handful of duds that are worth viewing if only because his personality is so flagrantly absent. Yet he is and always shall be known as the man who directed the Godfather films, a series that has dominated and defined their creator in a way perhaps no other director can understand. Coppola has never been able to leave them alone, whether returning after 15 years to make a trilogy of the diptych, or re-editing the first two films into chronological order for a separate video release as The Godfather Saga. The films are America's very own Shakespearean cycle: they tell a tale of a vicious mobster and his extended personal and professional families (once the stuff of righteous moral comeuppance), and they dared to present themselves with an epic sweep and an unapologetically tragic tone. Murder, it turned out, was a serious business. The first film remains a towering achievement, brilliantly cast and conceived. The entry of Michael Corleone into the family business, the transition of power from his father, the ruthless dispatch of his enemies-all this is told with an assurance that is breathtaking to behold. And it turned out to be merely prologue; two years later The Godfather, Part II balanced Michael's ever-greater acquisition of power and influence during the fall of Cuba with the story of his father's own youthful rise from immigrant slums. The stakes were higher, the story's construction more elaborate, and the isolated despair at the end wholly earned. (Has there ever been a cinematic performance greater than Al Pacino's Michael, so smart and ambitious, marching through the years into what he knows is his own doom with eyes open and hungry?) The Godfather, Part III was mostly written off as an attempted cash-in, but it is a wholly worthy conclusion, less slow than autumnally patient and almost merciless in the way it brings Michael's past sins crashing down around him even as he tries to redeem himself. [+]
-Bruce Reid, Amazon. com.

Review MGM Entertainment / Twelve Angry Men [1957]
Actors & Directors
  • Martin Balsam
  • E.G. Marshall
  • Lee J. Cobb
  • Sidney Lumet
  • John Fiedler
  • Henry Fonda
Release date: 2001-03-19
Run time: 112 min.
Creator: Reginald Rose
RRP: £12.99
Price: £2.96

Review Twelve Angry Men [1957] / MGM Entertainment:

Sidney Lumet's directorial debut Twelve Angry Men remains a tense, atmospheric (though slightly manipulative and stagey) courtroom thriller, in which the viewer never sees a trial and the only action is verbal. As he does in his later corruption commentaries such as Serpico or Q & A, Lumet focuses on the lonely one-man battles of a protagonist whose ethics alienate him from the rest of jaded society. As the film opens, the seemingly open-and-shut trial of a young Puerto Rican accused of murdering his father with a knife has just concluded and the 12-man jury retires to their microscopic, sweltering quarters to decide the verdict. When the votes are counted, 11 men rule guilty, while one-played by Henry Fonda, again typecast as another liberal, truth-seeking hero-doubts the obvious. Stressing the idea of "reasonable doubt", Fonda slowly chips away at the jury, who represent a microcosm of white, male society-exposing the prejudices and preconceptions that directly influence the other jurors' snap judgments. The tight script by Reginald Rose (based on his own teleplay) presents each juror vividly using detailed soliloquies, all which are expertly performed by the film's flawless cast. Still, it's Lumet's claustrophobic direction-all sweaty close-ups and cramped compositions within a one-room setting-that really transforms this contrived story into an explosive and compelling nail-biter. -Dave McCoy, Amazon. com.

Review Buena Vista Home Entertainment / Lost - The Complete Second Season [2005]
Actors & Directors
  • Eric Laneuville
  • Alan Taylor
  • Matthew Fox
  • Jack Bender
  • Adam Davidson
  • Naveen Andrews
  • Deran Sarafian
  • Jorge Garcia
  • Emilie de Ravin
  • Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
Release date: 2006-10-02
Run time: 1056 min.
RRP: £59.99
Price: £17.99

Review Lost - The Complete Second Season [2005] / Buena Vista Home Entertainment:

Season two of the television phenomenon that is Lost is where the questions, in many senses, started to be asked. Picking up directly after that first season cliffhanger, it sets off at a belting pace, continuing the adventures of a group of people stranded on a desert island following a place crash. Only, as becomes increasingly clear, the island is a mysterious place, and the survivors appear not to be alone. In true Lost fashion, the second season of the show is far better at firing out fresh questions than resolving previous ones, although again, it delights in throwing out clues that the web-inclines can research across the legion of unofficial fan websites. For the viewer of the second series of Lost though, there's plenty to like, and plenty to tear their hair out over. On the downside, after an intriguing beginning, too much of the second series settles into a comfortable rhythm, conforming too rigidly to a recipe of plenty of backstory, and not too much advancement of the main narrative. It's a device that worked first time round, but becomes tiring during the saggy middle episodes. It's a fair argument too that things move far too slowly and for little good reason. The upsides? Again, quite a few. There's little doubt that the premise still holds intrigue, and the top and tail of season two are excellent. [+]
The last quarter, for instance, is both meaty and very entertaining, even offering clues to how the whole show may eventually end. So while even the Lost purest will surely conclude that season two is an uneven dish, there's still much to feast on, albeit with the hope that season three gets round to answering a few more question. Please. -Simon Brew.

Review Pathe Distribution / Michael Clayton [2007]
Actors & Directors
  • George Clooney
  • Sydney Pollack
  • Tilda Swinton
  • Tom Wilkinson
  • 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 Momentum Pictures Home Entertainment / CSI: Crime Scene Investigation - Las Vegas - Season 8 Part 1
Actors & Directors
  • Paris Barclay
  • Jorja Fox
  • Jeffrey G. Hunt
  • Gary Dourdan
  • Marg Helgenberger
  • Kenneth Fink
  • Alec Smight
  • William L. Petersen
  • George Eads
  • Richard J. Lewis
Release date: 2008-09-22
RRP: £34.99
Price: £10.01

Review CSI: Crime Scene Investigation - Las Vegas - Season 8 Part 1 / Momentum Pictures Home Entertainment:


Review 2 Entertain Video / Sense & Sensibility : Complete BBC Series [2008]
Actors & Directors
  • Hattie Morahan
  • David Morrissey
  • Charity Wakefield
Release date: 2008-01-14
RRP: £19.99
Price: £7.01

Review Sense & Sensibility : Complete BBC Series [2008] / 2 Entertain Video:

From the pen of Andrew Davies, the man who's brought some of the finest literary adaptations to the small screen in recent years, comes the BBC's new take on Jane Austen's Sense & Sensibility. Running across three episodes, it proves to be as much as a sumptuous treat as much of Davies' previous endeavours. Austen's story of the Dashwood sisters and a romance with John Willoughby is a familiar one (and it was realised quite brilliantly in Ang Lee's film adaptation in 1996), and so it's left to the super cast and terrific production values to convince audiences to dip into Sense & Sensibility again. Fortunately, the production delivers with consummate ease. Much of the credit for Sense & Sensibility's success lies in its excellent cast. David Morrissey, Mark Williams, Janet McTeer and Charity Wakefield are among the many strong performers, and they're matched by equally impressive work behind the camera too. There's an argument whether it manages to eclipse the 1996 filmed version (for which Emma Thompson took home an Oscar), but it's perhaps to best see them as companion pieces. And truthfully, you're not going to be disappointed with either. Because once again, the BBC has brought further life to a tale told many times before, and its production of Sense & Sensibility is set to be enjoyed for many years to come. -Jon Foster.

Review Momentum Pictures Home Ent / Amazing Grace [2007]
Actors & Directors
  • Albert Finney
  • Michael Apted
  • Youssou N'Dour
  • Ioan Gruffudd
  • Michael Gambon
  • Rufus Sewell
Release date: 2007-08-06
Run time: 112 min.
Creator: Steven Knight
RRP: £19.99
Price: £4.93

Review Amazing Grace [2007] / Momentum Pictures Home Ent:

In this inspirational costume drama, Michael Apted (49 Up) recounts a important period in British history. Unsurprisingly, however, his eye-opening biography of 18th century abolitionist William Wilberforce (Ioan Gruffudd) is likely to come as a revelation to many Britons. After all, despite the presence of his wife, Barbara (Romola Garai), this isn't a particularly "sexy" story, but it is a powerful one. The title comes from John Newton's hymn "Amazing Grace" ("I once was lost but now am found"). Newton (Albert Finney) was a former slaveholder, who became a clergyman and spent his days repenting. While America had John Brown, England had Wilberforce, and Newton is one of many who helped the MP to abolish slavery in the UK. The story begins towards the end of Wilberforce's mission when he's sick with colitis and addicted to laudanum. Apted continues to alternate between 1797 and 1789, when Wilberforce was fitter and more idealistic, and ends in 1807 as his efforts come to fruition. Apted and writer Steven Knight (Dirty Pretty Things) do right by their hero. Unlike Amistad, however, slaves are largely off-screen, with the exception of author Equiano (Senegalese vocalist Youssou N'Dour). [+]
Amazing Grace reserves its focus for the politicians who risked their reps for the greater good, like Wilberforce and Prime Minister Pitt (an excellent Benedict Cumberbatch), and those more concerned with the income slavery provided their constituents, like Lord Tarleton (Ciarán Hinds) and the Duke of Clarence (Toby Jones). -Kathleen C. Fennessy.

Review 2 Entertain Video / Jonathan Creek - Complete Series 1-4 Boxset [1997]
Release date: 2004-11-29
Run time: 1500 min.
Creator: Matthew Hamilton
RRP: £75.99
Price: £24.97

Review Jonathan Creek - Complete Series 1-4 Boxset [1997] / 2 Entertain Video:


Review Momentum Pictures Home Entertainment / Happy-Go-Lucky [2008]
Actors & Directors
  • Alexis Zegerman
  • Andrea Riseborough
  • Sally Hawkins
  • Mike Leigh
  • Samuel Roukin
  • Sinead Matthews
Release date: 2008-08-18
Run time: 114 min.
RRP: £19.99
Price: £4.98

Review Happy-Go-Lucky [2008] / Momentum Pictures Home Entertainment:

A more upbeat movie than you might expect from Mike Leigh, yet one that finds one of Britain's finest film directors still on good form. Happy-Go-Lucky follows a primary school teacher, Poppy, played by Sally Hawkins, who has an infectious, positive manner about her. She's the shining core of the film, an upbeat, happy, yet absolutely three dimensional character. Poppy's nature is, inevitably, somewhat tested in Happy-Go-Lucky, not least by driving instructor Scott. Superbly played by Eddie Marsan, it's fair to say that Scott doesn't share Poppy's positivity, yet once more, he's a frighteningly real character, and at times extremely unsettling to watch. There are layers to Happy-Go-Lucky, with plenty bubbling on under the surface, yet that there's no escaping the fact that it is a cheerier movie than Leigh usually delivers. It's fuelled particularly by Sally Hawkins, who is quite brilliant in the central role, and it's potentially a career-making performance from her. Yet, once again, the hidden star of Happy-Go-Lucky is Mike Leigh himself, who has shaped an often very funny film, but not one without some gravitas to it. The man remains a national treasure, and Happy-Go-Lucky is but the latest reason why. An easy film to recommend. [+]
-Jon Foster.

Review Buena Vista Home Entertainment / Scrubs: Complete Season 5 [2006]
Actors & Directors
  • Zach Braff
Release date: 2007-06-18
Run time: 509 min.
RRP: £34.99
Price: £10.47

Review Scrubs: Complete Season 5 [2006] / Buena Vista Home Entertainment:

"I'm gonna have a good year, aren't I?" J. D. (Zach Braff), now an attending physician at Sacred Heart Hospital, asks in the fifth season's opening episode. All vital signs are good (the series did receive an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Comedy), but longtime Scrubs fans may be forgiven a sense of déjà vu, from J. D. 's whimsical reveries to Dr. Cox's (John C. McGinley) increasingly tiresome rants. The series itself acknowledges the palpable sense of been there, seen that with the clever episode "Déjà vu, Déjà vu. " But don't pronounce Scrubs dead just yet. [+]
Directed by Braff, "My Way Home," the series' 100th episode, is a brilliantly conceived homage to The Wizard of Oz with J. D. and company finding their hearts, brains, and courage. Another powerful episode that shows a welcome maturity is "My Lunch," in which J. D. at last has lunch with his reluctant mentor, Dr. Cox, in the wake of a patient's death (happily, the music rights were secured for the DVD release so that the Fray's "How to Save a Life" is playing on the soundtrack when Dr. Cox has his own tragic setback), and the follow-up episode, "My Fallen Idol. " While Scrubs has a tendency this season to get "more ridiculous" (in one episode, Neil Flynn's Janitor defies Ken Jenkins' Dr. Kelso to secretly keep a crow in the hospital), the scalpel-sharp writing affords Braff moments that are, in his character's own words, "classic Dorian. " In the episode "My Half Acre," he mixes his sports analogies to tell Elliot (Sarah Chalke), "What's waiting for me in my room is what's known, in football terms, as a slam dunk," as he mimes hitting a tennis ball. Mandy Moore, displaying a surprising knack for physical comedy, follows Tara Reid and Heather Graham as a fleeting love interest for J. D. Other character milestones include pregnancies for Carla (Judy Reyes) and two other characters best left a surprise. Good for whatever ails season 5 are this set's extras, including an entertaining series retrospective, featuring interviews with the cast and creators, as well as commentary by Braff for an extended cut of "My Way Home. " -Donald Liebenson.

Review Marion Cotillard / La Vie En Rose [2007]
Actors & Directors
  • Marion Cotillard
Release date: 2007-11-26
Run time: 135 min.
RRP: £19.99
Price: £4.72

Review La Vie En Rose [2007] / Marion Cotillard:


Review 2 Entertain Video / Doctor Who - The Complete BBC Series 1 Box Set [2005]
Actors & Directors
  • Christopher Eccleston
  • Billie Piper
  • John Barrowman
  • Camille Coduri
  • Noel Clarke
Release date: 2005-11-21
Run time: 585 min.
RRP: £69.99
Price: £22.00

Review Doctor Who - The Complete BBC Series 1 Box Set [2005] / 2 Entertain Video:

It was always going to be a risk for the BBC to revamp Doctor Who-few television programmes inspire as much rabid and cultish adoration. With the 2005 series, however, the BBC have really outdone themselves. Their updated Doctor Who is a revelation: a cult science fiction series that has real mass appeal, and works for both children and their parents. Christopher Eccleston is an inspired and charismatic Doctor-he leaps around the sets with an unrestrained glee, like he's a child running amok in a toy shop. His enthusiasm in downright infectious. His sidekick Rose (Billie Piper) adds a real human touch, particularly as she gradually and believably matures from in-over-her-head city kid to tough-minded interplanetary hero. Much of the credit must go to writer Russell Davies, who has a much-practiced knack for finding popular appeal without dumbing-down his ideas, and who appears to have let his imagination run riot. Even the special effects, whilst not of a big-budget cinematic quality, still manage to strike a balance between cheesiness and realism. Thrilling, funny and thoroughly entertaining, this Doctor Who is a hero for the new millennium. -Robert Burrow.

Review Warner Home Video / The Matrix/Matrix Reloaded/Matrix Revolutions [Blu-ray] [1999]
Actors & Directors
  • Laurence Fishburne
  • Carrie-Anne Moss
  • Andy Wachowski
  • Larry Wachowski
  • Joe Pantoliano
  • Hugo Weaving
  • Keanu Reeves
Release date: 2008-11-24
Run time: 457 min.
RRP: £44.99
Price: £29.98

Review The Matrix/Matrix Reloaded/Matrix Revolutions [Blu-ray] [1999] / Warner Home Video:


Browse Drama:

Models & Brands:
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid [1969], Pan's Labyrinth [2006], Some Like It Hot - Special Edition [1959], Once [2007], House - Season 3 (Hugh Laurie) [2006], Kidulthood [2006], Hancock [Blu-ray] [2008], The Godfather Trilogy : Remastered Collection - Limited Edition Steelbook Metal Packaging (Exclusive To Amazon.co.uk) [1971], Twelve Angry Men [1957], Lost - The Complete Second Season [2005], Michael Clayton [2007], CSI: Crime Scene Investigation - Las Vegas - Season 8 Part 1, Sense & Sensibility : Complete BBC Series [2008], Amazing Grace [2007], Jonathan Creek - Complete Series 1-4 Boxset [1997], Happy-Go-Lucky [2008], Scrubs: Complete Season 5 [2006], La Vie En Rose [2007], Doctor Who - The Complete BBC Series 1 Box Set [2005], The Matrix/Matrix Reloaded/Matrix Revolutions [Blu-ray] [1999]

Top headlines:
Search 
DVD Rental: try it for free