A weekly round-up of the latest DVD releases.

By Damon Smith


New to rent on DVD/Blu-ray

Django Unchained (Cert 18, 158 mins, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Western/Action/Romance/Comedy, also available to buy DVD £19.99/Blu-ray £24.99/Steelbook Blu-ray £26.99)

Starring: Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington, Samuel L Jackson.

German bounty hunter Dr King Schultz (Christoph Waltz) kills two slave merchants, the Speck brothers, in order to release Django (Jamie Foxx) from his shackles. Django is valuable because he is the only man who can identify the murderous Brittle brothers, who have a price on their heads. Having been granted his freedom, Django agrees to help Schultz slay the siblings. "Kill white folks and get paid for it, what's not to like?" he quips. The former slave subsequently learns that his beloved wife Broomhilda (Kerry Washington) has fallen into the clutches of a slippery plantation owner, Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio), and Schultz pledges his assistance on a suicidal rescue mission. Inspired by Sergio Corbucci's 1966 thriller Django starring Franco Nero, this blood-soaked western energises a simple tale of redemption with writer-director Quentin Tarantino's characteristic flair behind the lens and on the page. Set in 1858, Django Unchained boasts some bravura sequences including slow-motion gun fights and snappy flashbacks. However, you can have too much of a good thing. Tarantino's vision runs to a buttock-numbing 158 minutes and hollers - unheard - for a judicious editor to prune the extraneous guff including swathes of the final act. Foxx is tightly wound as a vengeful husband, playing the straight man to larger-than-life performances from Waltz, DiCaprio and Samuel L Jackson as a fire and brimstone-spouting slave, who is even more racist than his white masters. The love story with Washington has some surprisingly tender moments but whenever it seems Tarantino might be going soft, his characters cock their pistols and unleash a blitzkrieg of expletives.

Rating: ****


The Sessions (Cert 15, 91 mins, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, Drama/Romance, also available to buy DVD £19.99/Blu-ray £24.99)

Starring: John Hawkes, Helen Hunt, William H Macy, Moon Bloodgood, Annika Marks, Adam Arkin.

Poet and journalist Mark O'Brien (John Hawkes) is paralysed from the neck down and requires an iron lung to breathe. He is completely reliant on no-nonsense nurse Vera (Moon Bloodgood), who wheels Mark around California with a breathing tube. When he is asked to pen a feature on Sex And The Disabled, Mark meets with sex surrogate Cheryl (Helen Hunt), who believes she can help him overcome his self-doubt and perceived limitations during intense one-to-one sessions. Cheryl slowly breaks down Mark's defences with body awareness exercises. An intense bond forms between the two, and after each meeting, Cheryl returns home to compile her notes before cuddling up to her husband Josh (Adam Arkin). Inspired by a true story, which was brilliantly immortalised in Jessica Yu's Oscar-winning 1996 documentary short Breathing Lessons, The Sessions is a deeply emotional character study that eschews smuttiness and mawkish sentiment, presenting Mark's condition with unflinching candour. William H Macy provides comic relief as the local priest who becomes Mark's confidant, while Hunt bares everything for the role, delivering her best performance since As Good As It Gets. Lying on gurneys and beds for almost the entire film, Hawkes effortlessly conveys his character's maelstrom of insecurities with fearlessness and tenderness. It's a virtuoso portrayal of a gentle spirit who refused to be overwhelmed by his disability, and recalls the tour-de-force theatrics of Daniel Day-Lewis in My Left Foot. Hawkes really is that good. His omission from this year's Best Actor nominations at the Academy Awards is bewildering.

Rating: ****


Trouble with the Curve (Cert 12, 106 mins, Warner Home Video, Drama/Romance, also available to buy DVD £15.99)

Starring: Clint Eastwood, Amy Adams, Justin Timberlake, John Goodman, Robert Patrick, Matthew Lillard, Joe Massingill.

Ageing, technophobic baseball scout Gus Lobel (Clint Eastwood) is considered old-fashioned and inflexible by management at the Atlanta Braves including general manager Vince Freeman (Robert Patrick) and his sidekick, Phillip Sanderson (Matthew Lillard). However, scouting chief Pete (John Goodman) trusts Gus implicitly and send the veteran to North Carolina to assess a hotly tipped slugger called Bo Gentry (Joe Massingill). Pete asks Gus's daughter, Mickey (Amy Adams), to accompany her father on the trip. She discovers that her father's eyesight is failing and helps to keep the old man's secret for fear the Braves will consign him to the scrapheap. On the road, Gus and Mickey cross paths with former pitcher Johnny 'The Flame' Flanagan (Justin Timberlake), who now works as a scout for the Red Sox. The young pretender takes a romantic interest in Mickey and threatens to distract her from the serious business of scouting. Trouble With The Curve is a beautifully crafted sports drama that is as every bit as old-fashioned as the leading man. Robert Lorenz's film is predictable and at times pat but there's an undeniable pleasure watching the stellar cast tease out the best in each other. Eastwood and Adams are a fiery double-act, wringing genuine tears from their characters' miscommunication, and the romantic sub-plot with Timberlake doesn't smear on too much gooey sentiment. Eastwood essays another short-tempered curmudgeon, grimacing and growling with aplomb as he struggles to overcome his character's physical frailties. Like a fine wine, the eighty-something screen icon gets better with age.

Rating: ***


Playing for Keeps (Cert 12, 101 mins, Lionsgate Home Entertainment UK Ltd, Comedy/Drama/Romance, also available to buy DVD £17.99/Blu-ray £21.99)

Starring: Gerard Butler, Jessica Biel, Noah Lomax, Dennis Quaid, Uma Thurman, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Judy Greer, James Tupper.

George Dryer (Gerard Butler) used to have the sporting world at his feet as a professional footballer, with a beautiful wife Stacie (Jessica Biel) and cherubic son Lewis (Noah Lomax). Unfortunately, George allowed celebrity to go to his head, and his roving eye eventually led to divorce. Years have passed and now George has retired from the beautiful game and relocated to Virginia to reconnect with nine-year-old Lewis and perhaps win back Stacie. Unfortunately, she has a handsome fiance, Matt (James Tupper), and still bears the scars of George's infidelity. So the former player ploughs his energy into coaching Lewis's little league team, and he instantly catches the eye of soccer moms like Patti (Uma Thurman) and Barb (Judy Greer). One interested parent, Denise (Catherine Zeta-Jones), knows that George wants to land a job as a TV commentator so she exploits her connections to ESPN to lure George between the sheets. However, he only has eyes for Stacie. Directed with a heavy touch by Gabriele Muccino, who helmed the 2006 Will Smith drama The Pursuit Of Happyness, Playing For Keeps is a frothy comedy of wounded hearts and longing glances that flags its feel-good intentions far in advance. Shifts in tone from tender soul-searching to raunchy comedy are far from smooth and performances are merely adequate, not least Butler, who retains his native accent as the one-time sporting hero who threw it all away. Disappointingly, there's no dramatic tension since it's abundantly clear from the outset whether George will rebuff his clucky coterie of admirers and win back Stacie.

Rating: **


Also released

Bullhead (Rundskop) (Cert 15, 129 mins, Soda Pictures, Thriller, also available to buy DVD £17.99/Blu-ray £24.99 - see below)

The Rise and Fall of a White Collar Hooligan 2: England Away (Cert 18, 93 mins, Momentum Pictures Home Entertainment, Drama/Romance, also available to buy DVD/Blu-ray £14.99 - see below)

Vehicle 19 (Cert 12, 82 mins, Studio Canal, Action/Thriller, also available to buy DVD £15.99/Blu-ray £19.99 - see below)

West of Memphis (Cert 15, 141 mins, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Documentary, also available to buy DVD £19.99 - see below)


New to buy on DVD/Blu-ray

Broadchurch (Cert 12, 480 mins, Acorn Media, DVD £24.99, Drama/Thriller)

A second series has already been commissioned of this gripping eight-part ITV1 drama, which concluded its run with more than 10 million viewers. Residents of the sleepy seaside community of Broadchurch are stunned when the body of 11-year-old Danny Latimer (Oskar McNamara) is found at the foot of the cliffs that dominate the Dorset town. Local cop DS Ellie Miller (Olivia Colman), who is a friend of the boy's distraught mother, Beth (Jodie Whittaker), treads carefully with her investigation as she gathers testimony from the chief suspects. DI Alex Hardy (David Tennant), who brings an outsider's eye to the case, doesn't care a jot about other people's emotions, foregoing pleasantries in order to unmask Danny's killer. The two cops pursue their differing approaches in order to solve the case but as tensions rise within Broadchurch and dark secrets are unearthed, DI Hardy and DS Miller discover they must work together to ensure justice prevails, and to stay alive.


True Blood - The Complete Fifth Season (Cert 18, 660 mins, Warner Home Video/HBO, DVD £39.99/Seasons One To Five DVD Box Set £89.99/Blu-ray £49.99/Seasons One To Five Blu-ray Box Set £109.99)

Based on the Southern Vampire Mysteries novels by Charlaine Harris, the fifth series of the Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning drama sees handsome bloodsuckers Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer) and Eric Northman (Alexander Skarsgard) face intense questioning by the Vampire Authority about the murder of Nan Flanagan. Meanwhile, telepathic waitress Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin) saves a badly injured Tara (Rutina Wesley) by forging a pact with vampire Pam (Kristin Bauer van Straten) but every act of sacrifice comes with strings attached. A 25-disc box set comprising all five series is also available.


Vehicle 19 (Cert 12, 82 mins, Studio Canal, DVD £15.99/Blu-ray £19.99, Action/Thriller)

Mukunda Michael Dewil writes and directs this action-thriller headlining Fast & Furious star Paul Walker as an ex-con, who gets more than he bargained for when he rents a car in South Africa. Michael Woods (Walker) is granted parole and he immediately jeopardises his future to fly abroad and broker a reconciliation with his ex-wife Angelica (Leyla Haidarian). At the airport, he collects a rental car and is irritated to discover than he has been allocated a minivan rather than a sedan. Rather than kick up a fuss, Michael takes the van and during the drive, he discovers a woman, Rachel (Naima McLean), bound and gagged behind the seats. It transpires that Rachel is the key witness in a forthcoming police corruption trial and the cops will do anything to silence her forever. Caught in the middle of a deadly conspiracy, Michael risks his life for a stranger to ensure Rachel doesn't fall into the clutches of the police and can testify against the corrupt upper echelons of power.


Shameless - Series 10 (Cert 18, 465 mins, 4DVD, DVD £24.99, Comedy/Drama/Romance)

The trials and tribulations of the dysfunctional Gallagher family on the fictional Chatsworth council estate in Manchester become ever more complicated in the penultimate series of the award-winning Channel 4 comedy drama. This three-disc set includes all 10 episodes in which scrounging patriarch Frank (David Threlfall) faces the prospect of losing all of his benefits by breaking the habit of a lifetime and landing himself honest employment. A position at World Of Burgers suits Frank better than expected and he is unexpectedly promoted to the lofty position of manager but power is intoxicating. Meanwhile, Shane Maguire (Nicky Evans) is involved in a tragic hit-and-run accident and Gloria (Angeline Ball) drowns her sorrows with a most unlikely bedfellow.


West of Memphis (Cert 15, 141 mins, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, DVD £19.99, Documentary)

In June 1993, teenagers Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley Jr and Jason Baldwin were arrested for the murders of three eight-year-old boys in West Memphis, Arkansas. The accused asserted their innocence but were found guilty and sentenced to death row or lifetime imprisonment. Friends, family and celebrities including Eddie Vedder, Johnny Depp, Henry Rollins and Patti Smith rallied to the men's cause, convinced that Echols, Misskelley Jr and Baldwin were the victims of a shocking miscarriage of justice. Amy J Berg's riveting documentary chronicles efforts to re-examine the evidence with the benefit of modern forensic science and to gather support for an appeal. The 141-minute running time flies by as the film constructs a compelling alternative narrative about what might have happened in West Memphis almost 20 years ago.


Bullhead (Rundskop) (Cert 15, 129 mins, Soda Pictures, DVD £17.99/Blu-ray £24.99, Thriller)

Belgium's official entry as Best Foreign Language Film at the 2012 Oscars is a slow-burning thriller about a cattle farmer, who becomes embroiled in murder and deceit. Jacky Vanmarsenille (Matthias Schoenaerts) enters into the shady world of illegal drug supplements for his cattle, injecting the beasts with steroids to rapidly increase their growth while avoiding detention by the authorities. The dodgy deal becomes increasingly complicated when Jacky learns one of the men involved in the scheme is his schooldays nemesis, Diederik (Jeroen Perceval), whose cruelty scarred the farmer for life. Memories of the past compel Jacky to seek out the people who tainted his childhood and forever lay to rest the ghosts of the past.


The Rise and Fall of a White Collar Hooligan 2: England Away (Cert 18, 93 mins, Momentum Pictures Home Entertainment, DVD/Blu-ray £14.99, Drama/Romance)

Paul Tanter directs this straight-to-DVD sequel to his own 2012 drama about a football hooligan, who is inducted into a life of crime. In the second film, Mike Jacobs (Nick Nevern) is a reformed man, safeguarded by the Witness Protection Programme in Spain having given evidence against members of his old guard, who now languish behind bars. It's a chance for Mike to start afresh with his beautiful friend Katie (Rita Ramnani), albeit under a veil of secrecy, but his unerring passion for the England football team lures him out of hiding. He is spotted at a match and dangerous men from Mike's past track him down, kidnap Katie and hold her hostage for a hefty two million pound ransom. With less than one week to gather the money, Mike has to return to old haunts and old ways in London to save the woman he adores. The Blu-ray version is packaged with the original film.


Friday Night Lights - The Fourth Season (Cert 12, 546 mins, Universal Playback, DVD £19.99, Drama)

Coach Eric Taylor (Kyle Chandler), who is charged with leading the East Dillon Lions to glory in the state American football championships, faces new challenges in the acclaimed sporting drama. Local re-zoning creates two high-school districts, which limits Taylor's reach when it comes to nurturing a new team of talented young men. Minimum funding and a lack of coaching staff also hamper Taylor's efforts but he persists, determined to empower the Lions and realise the dreams of the residents of their small rural town for whom football is a religion. The four-disc set comprises all 13 episodes.


Do Elephants Pray? (Cert 15, 105 mins, Bluebell Films, DVD £14.99, Drama)

Callum Cutter (Jonnie Hurn) runs an ailing advertising company that has just landed the account of an apparently unsellable product. With the help of his team including Marrlen (Marc Warren) and slacker Jode (John Last), Callum must conceive a brilliant campaign in a soulless world where money talks louder than creativity or morals. Out of the blue, Callum meets free-spirit Malika (Julie Dray), who challenges everything he holds dear and encourages the advertising head honcho to join her for a countryside retreat. Abandoning his employees at a critical juncture, Callum heads to France with Malika, where his perception of the world is warped beyond all recognition and he gains a refreshing insight to the advertising campaign.


Coast - Series 8 (Cert E, 360 mins, Acorn Media, DVD £19.99, Special Interest)

Neil Oliver, Miranda Krestovnikoff, Mark Horton and Nicholas Crane continue to explore all 9,000 miles of the British coastline and the rich history of these seaside communities in the BAFTA award-winning series. The two-disc set includes the episodes Invaders Of The Isles, The Workers' Coast, Joy Of The Coast, Rivers And Seas Collide, The Secret Life Of Sea Cliffs and All At Sea, which delve into the history of seaside entertainers and back-breaking struggles of shipyard workers.


RBS 6 Nations 2013 Champions: Wales (Cert E, 170 mins, Go Entertain, DVD £12.99, Special Interest)

Relive the drama and anticipation of the clash between Wales and England at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium, which ended with a landmark 30-3 victory for the home team and sealed their second 6 Nations trophy in a row. The DVD is laden with bonus material including behind the scenes footage from the crucial England match, which decided the fate of the trophy, and highlights of Wales' other matches against France, Ireland, Italy and Scotland.


Scooby-Doo: Mystery Incorporated - Volume 3 (Cert U, 88 mins, Warner Home Video, DVD £9.99, Animation/Family/Comedy)

Shaggy (voiced by Matthew Lillard) and his canine sidekick Scooby-Doo (Frank Welker) join Velma (Mindy Cohn), Daphne (Grey DeLisle) and Fred (Welker again) in their trusty van, the Mystery Machine, to solve four ghostly riddles from the popular animated series. The DVD includes the episodes Battle Of The Humungonauts, Howl Of The Fright Hound, The Secret Serum and The Shrieking Madness.


DVD retail top 10

1 (-) Les Miserables

2 (-) Quartet

3 (8) The Impossible

4 (1) Life of Pi

5 (2) The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

6 (10) Endeavour - Series 1

7 (4) Jillian Michaels: 30 Day Shred

8 (9) Game of Thrones - Season 2

9 (7) Jack Reacher

10 (-) Game of Thrones - Season 1-2

Chart supplied by Amazon.co.uk


DVD rental top 10

1 (-) Argo

2 (1) Jack Reacher

3 (2) Skyfall

4 (-) The Impossible

5 (3) Silver Linings Playbook

6 (5) Seven Psychopaths

7 (4) Taken 2

8 (-) Quartet

9 (6) Anna Karenina

10 (8) End of Watch

Chart supplied by www.LOVEFiLM.com


Film streaming top 10

1 (1) The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants

2 (2) Despicable Me

3 (4) Ironclad

4 (3) Life As We Know It

5 (8) The Ugly Duckling And Me

6 (7) The Adjustment Bureau

7 (6) Just Go With It

8 (5) Rampage

9 (-) Seeking a Friend for the End of the World

10 (9) Faster

Chart supplied by www.LOVEFiLM.com