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DVD Reviews

30 Days Of Night (18) Apr 12 2008

SETTING a vampire movie in an Alaskan town enduring 30 days of darkness is a good idea. Josh Hartness plays a rather young-looking Sheriff Eben Oleson who stays behind when the sun disappears. The film is no classic, but director David Slade offers lashings of blood and a two-disc special edition DVD includes an exclusive 30 Days Of Night graphic novel. Out to buy for £19.99 (Blu-ray £24.99).Read

Alvin And The Chipmunks (u) Apr 12 2008

HAVING grossed more than $200 million in the US alone, Alvin... has been the biggest unexpected monster hit of the past 12 months. When three chipmunks find their home is chopped down for a Christmas tree in the lobby of Jett Records, they meet down-on-his-luck musician Dave Seville (Jason Lee). Alvin, Simon and Theodore combine their skills with Dave's and become superstars overnight. Elements of a furry version of The X Factor, with animated characters which youngsters love. Also out to buy for £19.99 (Blu-ray £24.99).Read

St Trinian's (12) Apr 12 2008

FORMER Doctors' star Jodie Whittaker plays sassy receptionist Beverly in this energetic update of the 1950s and 60s movies which starred Alastair Sim as headmistress Miss Fritton. Girls still just wanna have fun, but today they're likely to be making 100 per cent proof vodka in the biology lab or running a (tame) phone sex line and Rupert Everett is now the toothy headmistress with a doctrine of self-empowerment. As daft and insubstantial as Spice World a decade ago, this is one for teenagers only. Also available to buy for £19.99 (Blu-ray £24.99).Read

You Kill Me (15) Apr 12 2008

BEN Kingsley plays alcoholic assassin Frank Falenczyk, who seemingly can't put the bottle down for long enough to shoot straight. You Kill Me is always watchable with a cast including Luke Wilson, Dennis Farina, Philip Baker Hall and Bill Pullman but the therapy scenes are too long. Out to buy for £15.99.Read

Enchanted (pg) Apr 05 2008

DISNEY'S best film for years is a must-have for families everywhere. Opening as an animation, the multi-layered story is about a girl called Giselle (Amy Adams) who is sent into the unforgiving modern world of Manhattan by the evil Queen Narissa (Susan Sarandon). After meeting divorce attorney Robert Philip (Patrick Dempsey) who seems to be already spoken for, her animated intended Prince Edward (James Marsden) catches up with the two of them in the Big Apple. What will he want to do about Robert - and what plans will the evil Queen have for all of them? A thoroughly-modern classic with three Oscar-nominates songs, this will delight audiences of all ages. Also available to buy for 317.99 (Blu-ray £23.99) the extras include six deleted scenes.Read

Rescue Dawn (12) Apr 05 2008

THIS is a tough Vietnam thriller about a US fighter pilot trying to escape from a prison camp. After The Machinist, chameleon star Christian Bale again sheds weight post Batman Begins to play Dengler who is shot down on a mission over Laos. Having always dreamed of being a pilot, he refuses to give up on freedom, too. If you fancy a true story involving maggots, leeches and insect larva welded on to big screen escapism, Rescue Dawn does the job better than Rambo. Also available to buy for £19.99, the extras include seven deleted scenes and a featurette called 'Unfinished Business: Telling Dieter's Story'.Read

The Darjeeling Limited (15) Apr 05 2008

AN ADMIRABLY different sort of 'road' movie on rails. Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody and Jason Schwartzman play three brothers trying to recreate their love on a spiritual train journey across the Indian deserts of Rajasthan. Wes Anderson's most accessible film to date will features enough eccentricity to appeal to his fans, too. Also available to buy for £19.99, the DVD includes the tedious 13-minute short, Hotel Chevalier, a preface to events of The Darjeeling Limited, which explains the strained relationship between Jack and his ex-lover (Natalie Portman).Read

Black Sheep (15) Mar 29 2008

A NEW Zealand farm has been experimenting with 'Frankensheep'.Read

Breach (12) Mar 29 2008

CHRIS Cooper gives one of his finest performances to date as veteran FBI operative Robert Hanssen who is suspected of being an extremely dangerous mole. Trainee Eric O'Neill (played by Crash star Ryan Phillippe) is unwittingly promoted to try to quickly bring him down. Based on a true story, this low-octane thriller hums with fabulous, slow-burn tension. Out to buy for £19.99.Read

Hitman (15) Mar 29 2008

FRESH from starring opposite Bruce Willis in Die Hard 4.0, Timothy Olyphant is much better than the plot as Agent 47, a ruthless killer resembling a mutant cross between Keanu Reeves and a shaven-headed David Beckham. The gun-for-hire strays into the middle of a political coup and becomes a target for both Interpol and the Russian military, while Nika (Olga Kurylenko) offers her own temptations.Read

The Assassination Of Jesse James by The Coward Robert Ford (15) Mar 29 2008

NOT even poster boy Brad Pitt could turn this sprawling cowboy film into a big cinema hit. Pitt plays the famous outlaw and Torquay-born Roger Deakins' Oscar-nominated cinematography is brilliant throughout the overlong 153-minute running time. But this is Casey Affleck's film as Robert Ford, the nobody who ends up close enough to make his fatal mark as a somebody - before writer-director Andrew Dominik continues the story beyond its natural limit. Available to buy in various forms from £16.99.Read

Death At A Funeral (15) Mar 01 2008

HEREFORD-born actor-director Frank Oz in an old-fashioned farce featuring ensemble cast including Matthew Macfadyen, Rupert Graves, Jane Asher and Keeley Hawes.Read

Once (15) Mar 01 2008

HAVING raved about this microbudget Irish film's release in October, nobody was more pleased than me that it won the Oscar for best song this week. In beating three classically-crafted Disney nominations from Enchanted along the way, Once illustrates the timeless power of songs to cross all borders. Written and directed by John Carner, it's the story of a Dublin busker who also repairs vacuum cleaners. And of an Eastern European Big Issue seller who plays the violin and piano.Read

Rendition (15) Mar 01 2008

JAKE Gyllenhaal plays North Africa-based CIA analyst Douglas Freeman who is forced to question his principles when Anwar El-Ibrahimi (Omar Metwally) arrives for interrogation.Read

Eastern Promises (18) Feb 23 2008

HE'S got little chance of beating Daniel-Day Lewis to tomorrow's best actor Oscar, but don't miss fellow nominee Viggo Mortensen here. Especially as the script, about London's deadly Russian underworld, was written by Birmingham's own Steven Knight for back-on-form Canadian director David Cronenberg. The bathhouse fight sequence, featuring a stark-naked Mortensen, was one of the most astonishing cinematic highlights of 2007. Co-starring Naomi Watts, Vincent Cassel and Armin Mueller-Stahl and also available to buy for £19.99 (Blu-ray £24.99), the extras include a 'Secrets and Stories' featurette.Read

Elizabeth: The Golden Age (12) Feb 23 2008

BEST actress candidate Cate Blanchett is is on top form here - and her breadth of work elsewhere last year would make her my favoured choice for an Academy Award. Although director Shekhar Kapur seems to make up some of his own history here, Elizabeth's struggle to hold together a country split by the religious divide between Protestants and Catholics, is a still-relevant lesson in tolerance. Also available to buy for £19.99.Read

Stardust (pg) Feb 23 2008

BASED on producer Neil Gaiman's graphic novel, this engaging fantasy is for older children who fancy a fairy tale along the lines of The Princess Bride meets The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. Powered by a Pirates of the Caribbean-style score, Casanova star Charlie Cox plays the dashing Tristan who promises the prettiest girl in the village that he'll win her heart by fetching a fallen star. The star is actually Yvaine (Claire Danes), injured in a cosmic tumble. Now what's a man to do? Meanwhile, the wicked witch Lamia (a splendid Michelle Pfeiffer) also needs the star's powers for eternal youth.Read

Evening (12) Feb 16 2008

ANY woman who has lost, or is having to face up to losing, her mother, will find much comfort from having a good cry during this film which stars Claire Danes, Toni Collette, Vanessa Redgrave, Natasha Richardson, Meryl Streep and Glenn Close! After playing the older Briony in Atonement, Redgrave is again extraordinary as the bedridden, dying Ann. Her two daughters Constance (played by Vanessa's own girl, Natasha Richardson) and Nina (Toni Collette) are by her side when suddenly she calls out for the mysterious love of her life, 'Harris'. Ann's life is filled out in flashback as she continues to slowly weaken. Also out to buy from Monday for £19.99.Read

Michael Clayton (15) Feb 16 2008

THIS best picture Oscar contender also has deserved best supporting actor nominations for Tom Wilkinson and Tilda Swinton who play off a career-best Oscar-nominated George Clooney. Debut-directed by Tony Gilroy, who has also been nominated, Michael Clayton is a very complex thriller that doesn't make a lot of sense at first. Corporate fixer Clooney is never in control of everything in his chaotic life, but do persevere - it all begins to fall in to place and both the final showdown and the end-credit sequence are magnificent. Also available to buy for £19.99, the extras include deleted scenes.Read

Run Fat Boy Run (12) Feb 16 2008

SIMON Pegg's cult following made this rather tired marathon-running comedy a surprisingly-big cinema hit. Debut directed by Friends' star David Schwimmer, Pegg plays Dennis who can hardly run to save his life. Libby (Thandie Newton), whom he jilted on their wedding day while pregnant with son Jake (Matthew Fenton), now has a new American beefcake called Whit (Hank Azaria). Although Dennis continues to see their son, Libby accuses him of never being able to finish anything he's started Also available to buy for £19.99 (Blu-ray £24.99).Read

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