DVD Review - June 22

By Damon Smith

New to rent on DVD/Blu-ray

Hitchcock (Cert 12, 94 mins, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, Drama/Romance/Thriller, also available to buy DVD £19.99/Blu-ray £24.99) Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Helen Mirren, Scarlett Johansson, Danny Huston, Toni Collette, Jessica Biel, James D'Arcy, Ralph Macchio, Michael Stuhlbarg, Michael Wincott, Kurtwood Smith.

Film-maker Alfred Hitchcock (Anthony Hopkins) and his screenwriter wife Alma Reville (Helen Mirren) risk everything to self-finance "a nice, clean, nasty little piece of work" called Psycho. Studios bosses balk at distributing the film and the universally feared Motion Picture Production Code voices its concerns about the infamous shower scene. Alma remains a rock of support through the turmoil, and she offers valuable advice about killing off the heroine halfway through the film. "I think it's a huge mistake," she opines. "You shouldn't wait until halfway through... Kill her off after 30 minutes!" When principal photography eventually begins, Hitchcock nurtures an obsession with his blonde leading lady, Janet Leigh (Scarlett Johansson). In response, Alma entertains flattering overtures from fellow writer Whitfield Cook (Danny Huston), which fans the flames of her husband's jealousy. Adapted for the screen by John J McLaughlin from the book Alfred Hitchcock And The Making Of Psycho by Stephen Rebello, Sacha Gervasi's biopic is a handsomely crafted portrait of tortured genius, distinguished by scintillating performances. Mirren oozes determination and steely resolve as a trailblazer in an industry dominated by men, while Hopkins disappears beneath Oscar-nominated prosthetics. His mannerisms perfectly capture the awkwardness and insecurities of a visionary who struggled with his weight. Hopkins delivers the lip-smacking one-liners with obvious relish. "My murders are always models of taste and discretion!" grins Hitchcock at one point. Gervasi's picture is almost as delicious and elegant, paying tribute to an iconic film-maker with style.

Rating: ****

Warm Bodies (Cert 12, 93 mins, Entertainment One, Comedy/Action/Romance, also available to buy DVD £19.99/Blu-ray £24.99) Starring: Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer, Analeigh Tipton, Rob Corddry, John Malkovich, Dave Franco.

A terrible epidemic has reduced most of the population to shuffling corpses incapable of speech or feeling. Survivors of the disaster are crammed inside a high-walled metropolis patrolled by General Grigio (John Malkovich) and his gun-toting troops. The general's feisty teenager daughter, Julie (Teresa Palmer), ventures into the dead zone with her boyfriend Perry (Dave Franco) and best friend Nora (Analeigh Tipton), where they come under attack from zombie buddies R (Nicholas Hoult) and M (Rob Corddry). R kills Perry and devours the boyfriend's brain, which transfers memories of Julie. Something stirs within the zombie and he rebels against his carnivorous nature to protect the terrified girlfriend from the marauding hordes. Holed up in R's hideaway aboard an abandoned airplane, Julie slowly comes to trust her unlikely protector. Romance catalyses a remarkable physical transformation in R, suggesting there might be a cure to the plague. Warm Bodies is a surprisingly sweet post-apocalyptic romantic comedy, that offers a refreshing twist on Romeo And Juliet replete with brain-munching and an army of ravenous skeletons known as "bonies", who threaten the film's star-crossed lovers. Jonathan Levine's film is anchored by an endearing performance from Hoult as the shuffling predator, who hankers for the glory days of vinyl and his favourite 1980s power ballad, Missing You by John Waite. The actor's ashen face gradually registers emotion as R's feelings for Julie jump-start his cold heart. Screen chemistry with Palmer is believable, and the central romance is nuzzled by warm and colourful turns from Tipton, Corddry and Malkovich in slightly underwritten supporting roles.

Rating: ****

Beautiful Creatures (Cert 12, 118 mins, Entertainment In Video, Fantasy/Romance/Drama, also available to buy DVD £19.99/Blu-ray £24.99) Starring: Alden Ehrenreich, Alice Englert, Jeremy Irons, Viola Davis, Emmy Rossum, Thomas Mann, Emma Thompson, Eileen Atkins.

Seventeen-year-old Ethan Wate (Alden Ehrenreich) is itching to escape the backwater of Gatlin for the big city. His restlessness is soothed by the arrival of Lena Duchannes (Alice Englert), the enigmatic niece of reclusive landowner Macon Ravenwood (Jeremy Irons). She looks exactly like the girl who has been haunting Ethan's dreams and it takes no time for the love-struck lad to fall for her sullen charms. Alas, Lena is reluctant to let Ethan into her life because she is a witch and on her 16th birthday, she must take part in a ritual known as the Claiming, which will dictate whether she is destined for good or evil. A burgeoning attraction to Ethan - a mortal - is forbidden but Lena cannot resist his goofy grin, ignoring the dire warnings of Bible-bashing busybody Mrs Lincoln (Emma Thompson) and town librarian Amma (Viola Davis). Based on the first book in the Caster Chronicles series, Beautiful Creatures is a smart, sassy and entertainingly camp supernatural love story riddled with teen angst, mystical curses and ridiculous plot twists. Ehrenreich and Englert are an attractive central pairing, playing their roles straight while co-stars ham it up. Oscar winners Irons and Thompson engage in a private battle to determine who can chew the most scenery. The London-born actress triumphs, slinking like a wildcat as she whoops, cackles and tousles her hair with villainous glee. Subtlety packs its bags and heads out of town early in writer-director Richard LaGravenese's script, which labours heavily on the bogus hocus-pocus and hammers home every plot development with the subtlety of a stake through the heart.

Rating: ***

Mama (Cert 15, 100 mins, Universal Pictures (UK) Ltd, Horror/Thriller, also available to buy DVD £17.99/Blu-ray £22.99) Starring: Jessica Chastain, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Megan Charpentier, Isabelle Nelisse, Daniel Kash, Jane Moffat.

Businessman Jeffrey (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) kills his partners and his wife, then takes his young children Victoria (Megan Charpentier) and Lilly (Isabelle Nelisse) for a drive into the mountains. The car skids off the icy road and an injured Jeffrey seeks sanctuary with the girls in a rickety cabin. "Daddy, there's a woman outside. She's not touching the floor," Victoria ominously informs her father, shortly before he comes to a sticky end. Five years later, a tracker dog search party locates the two girls, who have been living wild in the cabin under the watchful gaze of an invisible presence they refer to as Mama. Jeffrey's twin brother Lucas (Coster-Waldau) is overjoyed that his nieces have been found safe and well, and he and rock guitarist girlfriend Annabel (Chastain) agree to provide a loving home to Victoria and Lilly, but Mama exerts a firm grip on the urchins. Mama is an unsettling ghost story, which explores the power of otherworldly forces through innocent eyes. Danger lurks in every dimly lit corner of Andy Muschietti's film and he punctuates uncomfortable silences with edge-of-seat jolts. Suspense builds nicely in the opening hour. Fear of the unknown is far more powerful than anything the special effects wizards can conjure, so for extended periods when we can only hear or sense the malevolent force off screen, our nerves are stretched to breaking point. Once the nefarious spirit emerges from the shadows in her gnarled, twisted glory, terror turns to incredulity in a half-baked denouement that is outlandish and peculiarly cathartic.

Rating: ***

Also released

The Fourth State (Cert 15, 115 mins, Koch Media, Thriller, also available to buy DVD £15.99/Blu-ray £19.99 - see below) Hick (Cert 15, 94 mins, 4Digitial Media, Comedy/Drama, also available to buy DVD £15.99 - see below) No (Cert 15, 112 mins, Network Releasing, Drama, also available to buy DVD £19.99 - see below) To The Wonder (Cert 12, 108 mins, Studio Canal, Drama/Romance, also available to buy DVD £15.99/Blu-ray £12.99 - see below) New to buy on DVD/Blu-ray The Fall (Cert 15, 300 mins, Acorn Media, DVD £19.99/Blu-ray £25.99, Thriller) Gillian Anderson delivers a tour-de-force performance as an emotionally conflicted police officer in this gripping five-part BBC crime drama. A puzzling murder case draws emotionally distant Metropolitan Police Detective Superintendent Stella Gibson (Anderson) to Belfast, where she quickly surmises that a diabolical serial killer is at work. Chief of Police Rob Breedlove (Michael McElhatton) and his fellow superiors fail to heed her advice. Meanwhile, the perpetrator, Paul Spector (Jamie Dornan), targets his next unsuspecting victim, a solicitor called Sarah Kay (Laura Donnelly), then returns home to his doting wife Sally Ann (Bronagh Waugh) and children, who are completely clueless about the killer in their midst. The two-disc set includes the episodes Dark Descent, Darkness Visible, Insolence And Wine, My Adventurous Song and The Vast Abyss.

To The Wonder (Cert 12, 108 mins, Studio Canal, DVD £17.99/Blu-ray £22.99, Drama/Romance) Ben Affleck enjoyed Oscar glory as one of the producers of the gripping hostage thriller Argo at this year's ceremony. He also returns to the big screen in front of the cameras as an American man in search of love in Terrence Malick's erotically charged drama. During a trip to Paris, American engineer Neil (Affleck) enjoys a passionate affair with free spirit Marina (Olga Kurylenko). They tour local regions and Neil forges a strong bond with Marina's 10-year-old daughter. He moves back to home soil and takes Marina and her child with him, certain that their relationship will flourish in his natural surroundings. Instead, cracks quickly appear and as Neil begins to doubt his choice, he acknowledges a spark of attraction to his friend Jane (Rachel McAdams). Meanwhile, priest Father Quintana (Javier Bardem) experiences a crisis of faith that calls into question everything he holds sacred.

No (Cert 15, 112 mins, Network Releasing, DVD £19.99, Drama) Shortlisted as Best Foreign Language Film at this year's Oscars, Pablo Larrain's fascinating drama relives the 1988 rebellion against the Pinochet regime through the eyes of the people who dared to stand up against the dictator. Larrain and his cinematographer Sergio Armstrong take the smart creative decision to shoot the picture on equipment and stock from the period, which allows them to seamlessly integrate archive news footage with the dramatisation. The unlikely hero is Rene Saavedra (Gael Garcia Bernal), one of the driving forces of a Chilean advertising agency run by Lucho Guzman (Alfredo Castro), a devoted acolyte of the president. Bowing to international pressure, Pinochet conducts a referendum on his rule, which everyone expects to deliver a rousing endorsement to the president. However, Socialists like Urrutia (Luis Gnecco) are determined to mount a deafening "No" vote and he approaches Rene to mastermind the advertising campaign. Despite the reservations of his estranged wife (Antonia Zegers), Rene becomes energised by the people around him and as support for the No campaign gathers momentum, Rene and his friends face physical threats and intimidation.

Parks And Recreation - Season Two (Cert 12, 518 mins, Fabulous Films, DVD £29.99/Seasons One & Two DVD Box Set £39.99, Comedy/Romance) Well-meaning bureaucrat Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) continues to wreak havoc in the fictional town of Pawnee, Indiana in 24 episodes of the Emmy-nominated sitcom. This series, nurse Ann Perkins (Rashida Jones) dates city planner Mark Brendanawicz (Paul Schneider), the one-time object of Leslie's affections, and as the relationship deepens, he prepares to propose. Elsewhere, Leslie's colleague Tom (Aziz Ansari) has a difficult meeting with his scheming ex-wife Wendy (Megan Mullally) and state auditors Chris (Rob Lowe) and Ben (Adam Scott) plan to plug the massive shortfall in the budget by temporarily shutting down the authorities in Pawnee, leaving Leslie without a job or a purpose. A five-disc box set comprising both series is also available.

The Job Lot (Cert 12, 136 mins, 2entertain, DVD £19.99, Comedy/Romance) Staff and patrons of a job centre in the West Midlands discover that life can be terribly cruel in six episodes of the sitcom, which recently broadcast on Monday nights on ITV1. Trish (Sarah Hadland) is armed to the teeth with the latest management tools and techniques to whip her colleagues at Brownall Job Centre into shape. Unfortunately, Karl (Russell Tovey) has lost his enthusiasm, Danielle (Tamla Kari) has forgotten how to bite her tongue and Angela (Jo Enright) is in no mood to be told what to do.

Hick (Cert 15, 94 mins, 4Digitial Media, DVD £15.99, Comedy/Drama) Derick Martini directs this comical road movie, adapted by Andrea Portes from her semi-biographical novel. Thirteen-year-old Luli McMullen (Chloe Moretz) grows tired of her self-destructive, alcoholic parents and she decides to leave her Nebraska home with a few belongings including the revolver she received as a birthday present. She hitchhikes from one town to the next, bringing her into contact with cowboy Eddie (Eddie Redmayne) and con artist Glenda (Blake Lively). Young, idealistic Luli is lured into a world of danger and retribution, but while all hell is breaking loose around her, the runaway feels certain that a brighter future is just over the horizon.

The Fourth State (Cert 15, 115 mins, Koch Media, DVD £15.99/Blu-ray £19.99, Thriller) Dennis Gansel directs and co-writes this political thriller about a journalist whose reputation is tarnished by a seemingly benevolent act. When his marriage in Berlin implodes, tabloid reporter Paul Jensen (Moritz Bleibtreu) flees to Moscow to escape the heartbreak and to plough his efforts into the magazine founded by his late father and current editor Alexei Onegin (Rade Serbedzija). Over time, Paul and Alexei restore the publication to its former glory and woo back readers. Then a romance with a political activist called Katja (Kasia Smutniak) leads Paul into the middle of a shadowy conspiracy, which could destroy him. Unsure where to turn, Paul realizes he can only count on himself as he looks for a way out of his predicament that won't completely destroy his magazine's newfound success.

East End Babylon (Cert E, 101 mins, Cadiz Music, DVD £12.99, Documentary/Musical) Formed in the late 1970s by brothers Jeff and Micky Geggus in the East End of London, punk rock band Cockney Rejects courted controversy for the violence depicted in their lyrics, which frequently spilled off the stage and incited brawls between members of the audience. They derided politicians and embraced their passion for West Ham United in Are You Ready To Ruck, Fighting In The Street, Police Car and War On The Terraces. Tensions exploded with devastating consequences after one gig in Birmingham, which led to criminal charges and the end to the group's touring commitments. Music producer Richard England makes his directorial debut with this documentary about the band, which expands into a rich history of the East End and a portrait of the generations who lived around the largest docks in the world and refused to be beaten down by their circumstances.

The Sleeper (Cert 18, 85 mins, Safecracker Pictures, DVD £15.99, Horror/Thriller) Members of a sorority are terrorized by a psychopath in Justin Russell's bloodthirsty 1980s-set slasher. A serial killer known as The Sleeper (Jason Jay Crabtree) creeps into the Alpha Gamma Theta sorority house during a party and kills Cindy (Jessica Cameron). Her boyfriend Bobby (Paul Moon) alerts the police and Detective Drake (E Ray Goodwin) investigates. He learns that another pledge Amy (Brittany Belland), was left a chilling voicemail by The Sleeper and could be the lunatic next's target. It's an invaluable lead and Drake attempts to track the source of the voicemail message, but as he edges closer to his prey the killer prepares to strike again.

The Vatican Exorcisms (Cert 15, 88 mins, Metrodome Distribution, DVD £15.99, Documentary) William Friedkin's seminal horror The Exorcist and the genre films that followed captured the imagination of cinemagoers, exposing a titanic battle between good and evil. American documentary filmmaker Joe Marino goes to the south of Italy, where demonic possession is firmly rooted in the region's cultural history, to explore the facts and fiction surrounding exorcism. Padre Luigi, a practicing exorcist, accompanies Marino on his grand adventure and provides invaluable insights to what both men witness.

A Stable Life - The Complete Series 1 & 2 (Cert E, 270 mins, Demand DVD, DVD £17.99, Special Interest) Located 14 miles from central London, Caldecote Farm is a renowned equestrian centre owned by show jumper Edward Brook and dressage rider Mandy Day, which is heavily involved with preparing horses for high profile showjumping events. Cameras go behind the scenes at the livery stables to follow staff members Ed and Nadia Brook as they help to run the stables. Professional stresses and strains often impact on the couple's relationship and the TV series captures some of the emotionally fallout as they struggle to reconcile their roles as spouses and co-workers.

Dora The Explorer: Dora's Rescue In The Mermaid Kingdom (Cert U, 69 mins, Paramount Home Entertainment, DVD £7.99, Children/Animation) The animated heroine (voiced by Kathleen Herles) and her monkey pal Boots (Harrison Chad) take a deep breath and head underwater to teach basic Spanish in three light-hearted episodes of the Nickelodeon series for pre-schoolers. The DVD includes Dora's Rescue In Mermaid Kingdom, Dora's Moonlight Adventure and Dora's Jack-In-The-Box DVD retail top 10 1 (4) Wreck-It-Ralph 2 (1) Les Misérables 3 (7) Breaking Bad - Season 5 4 (3) Jillian Michaels: 30 Day Shred 5 (10) Dexter - Season 7 6 (2) Django Unchained 7 (9) Game of Thrones - Season 1 8 (-) True Blood - Season 5 9 (6) The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey 10 (-) Lincoln Chart supplied by Amazon.co.uk DVD rental top 10 1 (1) Argo 2 (2) Impossible 3 (-) Last Stand 4 (3) Jack Reacher 5 (7) Silver Linings 6 (-) Flight 7 (-) Wreck-It Ralph 8 (8) Skyfall 9 (-) I Give It a Year 10 (6) Seven Psychopaths Chart supplied by www.LOVEFiLM.com Film streaming top 10 1 (1) Bad Teacher 2 (2) Despicable Me 3 (-) Fast Five 4 (9) Hanna 2011 5 (3) Just Go With It 2011 6 (-) Ratatouille 2007 7 (-) Hop 2011 8 (-) The Pacifier 2005 9 (-) High School Musical 3 2003 10 (-) Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen 2004 Chart supplied by www.LOVEFiLM.com