Skins 1 & 2 Box Set [DVD] [2006

Skins: the critically acclaimed drama about a group of pill popping, dope smoking, off the rails 17-year-olds, that’s a mixture of humorous, heartbreaking and sometimes shocking stories.
Tony, the most popular boy in town, a born leader, he likes a laugh and always at someone else’s expense – that was until he got hit by a bus and ended up in intensive care for six months.
Sid, forever lusting after his best mate Tony’s gorgeous girlfriend and even when he does fall for the total nutty but adorable and single Cassie, she moves to Scotland.
Michelle, quick witted and stunning she keeps everyone on their toes, except for Tony who runs rings around her, but would she really have it any other way?
Chris, the original party animal, always game for a laugh, he doesn’t need a family or a home as long as he has something to smoke, pop, screw and rob.
Super bright and sharp Jal, Michelle’s best friend, and talented classical clarinet player. But does that make her boring? Maybe it’s time she let her hair down.
Maxxie, the school sweetheart, can have any boy he wants and he wants most of them. He dreams of escaping Bristol to follow his passion of dancing.
Anwar’s family want him to study the Koran. Anwar likes tequila, dope, pills and breasts. End of.
Tony’s little sister Effy tends to keep her mouth shut, but gets up to more than anyone would care to know about, and she knows how to get what she wants too.
Dead posh, pretty and pumped full of prescription medication, Abigail, Michelle’s nemesis, lives in a world of imported carpets, private school and constant therapy.
Posh Kenneth offers us a rare mix of upper crust elocution and street bangin' language. What no-one knows is that the Big K is a big hit with the ladies too.
Sketch dreams only of Maxxie and in her world dreams do come true. Even if you have to force them a little.

Casino Royale (Deluxe Edition) [Blu-ray] [2006]

The most successful invigoration of a cinematic franchise since Batman Begins, Casino Royale offers a new Bond identity. Based on the Ian Fleming novel that introduced Agent 007 into a Cold War world, Casino Royale is the most brutal and viscerally exciting James Bond film since Sean Connery left Her Majesty's Secret Service. Meet the new Bond; not the same as the old Bond. Daniel Craig gives a galvanising performance as the freshly minted double-0 agent. Suave, yes, but also a "blunt instrument," reckless and possessed with an ego that compromises his judgment during his first mission to root out the mastermind behind an operation that funds international terrorists. In classic Bond film tradition, his global itinerary takes him to far-flung locales, including Uganda, Madagascar, the Bahamas (that's more like it) and Montenegro, where he is pitted against his nemesis in a poker game, with hundreds of millions in the pot. The stakes get even higher when Bond lets down his armour by falling in love with Vesper (Eva Green), the ravishing banker's representative fronting him the money.
For longtime fans of the franchise, Casino Royale offers some retro kicks. Bond wins his iconic Aston Martin at the gaming table, and when a bartender asks if he wants his martini "shaken or stirred," he disdainfully replies, "Do I look like I give a damn?". There's no Moneypenny or "Q," but Dame Judi Dench is back as the exasperated M who, one senses, admires Bond's "bloody cheek." A Bond film is only as good as its villain, and Mads Mikkelsen as Le Chiffre, who weeps blood, is a sinister dandy. From its punishing violence and virtuoso action sequences to its romance, Casino Royale is a Bond film that, in the words of one character, 'makes you feel it', particularly during an excruciating torture sequence. Double-0s, Bond observes early on, "have a short life expectancy". But with Craig, there is new life in the old franchise yet, as well as genuine anticipation for the next one when, at last, the signature James Bond theme kicks in following the best last line ever in any Bond film. To quote Goldie Hawn in Private Benjamin, "now I know what I've been faking all these years". --Donald Liebenson

Leonard Cohen - Live In London [DVD] [2008]

For over four decades, Leonard Cohen has been one of the most important and influential songwriters of our time, a figure whose body of work achieves greater depths of mystery and meaning as time goes on. In 2008 Leonard Cohen embarked on his first tour in 15 years. Quickly recognised as musical folklore in the making, 29 of the original dates sold out almost immediately, leaving fans and critics alike hailing the show as a once in a lifetime experience. By popular demand, the tour was extended and by the end of that year it had reached 84 markets worldwide, selling more than 700,000 tickets. Live In London, his first new recording since 2004’s Dear Heather, was recorded live on July 17, 2008 at London’s 02 Arena.

Tracklisting Dance Me To The End Of Love / The Future / Ain’t No Cure For Love / Bird On The Wire / Everybody Knows / In My Secret Life / Who By Fire / Hey, That’s No Way To Say Goodbye / Anthem / Introduction / Tower Of Song / Suzanne / The Gypsy’s Wife / Boogie Street /Hallelujah / Democracy / I’m Your Man / Recitation w/ N.L. / Take This Waltz / So Long, Marianne / First We Take Manhattan / Sisters Of Mercy / If It Be Your Will / Closing Time / I Tried To Leave You / Whither Thou Goest

The Jane Austen Book Club [DVD] [2007]

Lest there be any doubts about the ongoing relevance of the novels of Jane Austen, the charming Jane Austen Book Club will lay them to rest--with wit, sharp insight, and a wicked chuckle or three. Directed by the talented Robin Swicord, who adapted the book by Karen Joy Fowler (and also wrote the crackling screenplay for the 1994 version of Little Women), the film is a modern-day comedy of manners, with deeply felt emotions, repressed feelings, unquenched desire and embarrassing relatives--all staples of Austen works. The film centres on a group of six friends in Sacramento, California, who gather to distract themselves from loss (a newly dumped Sylvia, played with grace and quiet pain by Amy Brenneman), repressed disappointment (the prissy teacher Prudie, played by Emily Blunt), or a life of unrealised dreams (Jocelyn, played by Maria Bello, whose acting skills have gained great nuance, both in comedy and drama). All are devoted Austen fans, except the lone man, Grigg (Hugh Dancy, adorable and available, ladies), who has an ulterior motive for joining the chick-lit gang. As the months unfold, we learn about the relationships of all the members, and watch as elements of Austen's novels and characters pop up with enchanting regularity.
There's plenty of pride (Prudie), prejudice (Jocelyn), sense (Sylvia), and sensibility (Sylvia's daughter Allegra, headstrong and reckless in life and love, played by Maggie Grace)--and a fair amount of persuasion (Grigg and Sylvia's caddish ex, Daniel, a smooth Jimmy Smits). As the minuet of relationships and alliances unfolds over the months, the emotions are real and the leavening humour spot-on. About the only thing that doesn't ring true is seeing all these Sacramento women bundled up in shawls, blankets, thick sweaters and extra layers--even in July(!). Still, the film will engage even reluctant Austen readers (if there is such a thing). As Kathy Baker's Bernadette says gaily, "Jane Austen is the perfect antidote to life!" Elizabeth Bennett couldn't have put it better. --A.T. Hurley

Monty Python - The Movies (6 Disc Box Set) [DVD] [1971]

Contains the films Monty Python and the Holy Grail (two-disc special edition), Life of Brian, The Meaning of Life (two disc special edition), as well as And Now for Something Completely Different. In Monty Python and the Holy Grail, the complete Python troupe is cast in a parody of the legend of the Holy Grail. The Knights of the Round Table battle dismembering foes and killer rabbits on their perilous quest. Life of Brian is a daring satire about a blundering prophet in New Testament times, called Brian Cohen, who is mistaken for the Messiah. In The Meaning of Life, the Pythons explain it all in an episodic, bawdy adventure as they satirise religion, birth control, British politics, Americans, hospitals and, of course, sex. Amongst the highlights are the 'Every Sperm Is Sacred' episode that starts off the film; the grim reaper visiting a bourgeois dinner party where there are some fishy goings on, and the gross Mr Creosote. And Now for Something Completely Different revolves around a collection of sketches from the Pythons' successful TV series, and includes 'Self Defence Against Soft Fruit', 'Blackmail', 'Hell's Grannies', 'The Townswomen's Guild's Reconstruction Of Pearl Harbour' and more.

10 Minute Solution - Blast Off Belly Fat [DVD]

No time to exercise? We have the solution for you the 10 Minute Solution! Everyone can find at least ten minutes in their day and we ve developed 5 dynamic workouts that are just 10 minutes each. The workouts were specifically designed to attack your midsection from every angle for optimum results. These compact, ultra-efficient workouts fit into even the busiest of schedules. Split them into 5 separate workouts or do them all together for one amazing, belly-fat-blasting workout!

Wallace And Gromit - A Matter Of Loaf And Death [DVD] [2008]

Wallace and Gromit have opened a new bakery – Top Bun – and business is booming, not least because a deadly Cereal Killer has murdered all the other bakers in town. Gromit is worried that they may be the next victims, but Wallace couldn’t care – he’s fallen head over heels in love with Piella Bakewell, former star of the Bake-O-Lite bread commercials. So Gromit is left to run things on his own, when he’d much rather be getting better acquainted with Piella’s lovely pet poodle Fluffles. But then Gromit makes a shocking discovery which points to the killer's true identity. Can he save his master from becoming the next baker to be butchered? And does Fluffles know more than she is saying? It’s a classic 'who-doughnut' mystery, as four-time Academy Award winning director Nick Park creates a hilarious new masterpiece in the tradition of 'master of suspense' Alfred Hitchcock.

The Complete Yes Minister & Yes Prime Minister - Collector's Boxset [DVD]

Yes Minister series 1:The first series of the elegant sitcom-cum-farce-cum-sophisticated political satire Yes Minister, sets off Paul Eddington's Jim Hacker, Minister for Administrative Affairs, against Nigel Hawthorne's discreetly obstructive civil servant Sir Humphrey. It features the pilot episode, 'Open Government', curious in that it contains different and distinctly inferior opening and closing credits to the rest of the series. You also sense that Mrs Hacker was originally intended to have a larger role, with comedy focussing on the clash between political and domestic commitments, until the writers wisely decided to focus on the stand-off between Jim and Sir Humphrey, with Derek Fowlds' mousy private secretary Bernard making occasional interjections. While Sir Humphrey is at times a little too sinister for sitcom consumption, all the classic features quickly show up. Hacker's occasional Churchillian bombast, followed by panicky blank double-takes when flummoxed, Sir Humphrey's unflappable verbosity as he brings the dead weight of civil service bureaucracy to bear against Hacker's naively optimistic schemes for open government, Quangos and slashing red tape in episodes like 'The Economy Drive'. Ironic, that when this was first screened in the 80s, it was during the rampages of early Thatcherism in which Government had never been less like the ineffectual politicking satirised here. --David Stubbs
Yes Prime Minister series 2:Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn's superb sitcom Yes Prime Minister entered 10 Downing Street with Jim Hacker now Prime Minister of Britain, following a campaign to 'Save the British Sausage'. Whether tackling defence ('The Grand Design'), local government ('Power to the People') or the National Education Service, all of Jim Hacker's bold plans for reform generally come to nothing, thanks to the machinations of Nigel Hawthorne's complacent Cabinet Secretary Sir Humphrey (Jeeves to Hacker's Wooster) who opposes any action of any sort on the part of the PM altogether. This is usually achieved by discreet horse-trading. In 'One of Us', for instance, Hacker relents from implementing defence cuts when he is presented with the embarrassingly large bill he ran up in a vote-catching mission to rescue a stray dog on an army firing range. Only in 'The Tangled Web', the final episode of Series 2, does the PM at last turn the tables on Sir Humphrey. Paul Eddington is a joy as Hacker, whether in mock-Churchillian mode or visibly cowering whenever he is congratulated on a "courageous" idea. Jay and Lynn's script, meanwhile, is a dazzlingly Byzantine exercise in wordplay, wittily reflecting the verbiage-to-substance ratio of politics. Ironically, Yes Prime Minister is an accurate depiction of practically all political eras except its own, the 1980s, when Thatcher successfully carried out a radical programme regardless of harrumphing senior civil servants. --David Stubbs

Cranford : Complete BBC Series [2007] [DVD]

Based on a trio of novels by Elizabeth Gaskell, Cranford is the latest in a long line of sumptuous costume dramas from the BBC. And it’s a fine addition to the BBC’s heritage too, pulling together a stellar cast for an involving, highly enjoyable series that’s well worth picking up on DVD.
The key asset Cranford has in its corner is that aforementioned cast. It’s lead by the marvellous Dame Judi Dench, and she’s in fine company alongside Dame Eileen Atkins, Francesca Annis, Michael Gambon, Julia Sawalha and Imelda Staunton. They’re just some of the residents of Cranford in the 1840s, a town in the north of England on the verge of potentially dramatic changes.
In the midst of the general feeling of unrest comes a new Doctor, Frank Harrison (played by Simon Woods). His presence further unsettles matters, thanks to his appeal to the town’s female contingent, and also his differing methods. From here, Cranford goes on to deliver an engrossing cocktail of humour, emotion and raw drama that’s quite brilliantly put together.
Cranford is, ultimately, the kind of lavish production that we’ve come to know and admire from the BBC. It’s a very good drama, spread across five episodes, that simply leaves you thirsting for the next time the corporation unlocks the costume cupboard. That time can’t come soon enough. --Jon Foster

Doctor Who : Complete BBC Series 4 [2008] [DVD]

Kicking off with a jam-packed Christmas special and ending with a blockbuster extended closing instalment, Doctor Who?s fourth series since it was revived is a breathless, exciting one, that also boasts some exceptional episodes.
You get fourteen episodes for your money here, and the ones in particular to watch out for are the outstanding Silence In The Library/Forest Of The Dead double header, the almost single-location creepfest that is Midnight, and the trio of Turn Left, The Stolen Earth and Journey?s End that round off the series. In the midst of those is also one of the very best cliffhangers that Doctor Who has ever employed in its long and glorious history.
This is also the series of Doctor Who that introduces Catherine Tate as full-time companion Donna Noble, working alongside David Tennant?s Doctor across time and space. And it?s--against initial expectations--arguably the best combination since the show returned. Here, there?s no hint of romance between the pair, as they instead knuckle down to business, occasionally helped by the likes of Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman), Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) and Jack Harkness (John Barrowman).
Let?s not forget too the collection of monsters we meet this time round. The daleks and Davros are the main attractions in Doctor Who Series 4, while the return of the Sontarans proves to be a bit of a disappointment. But, after viewing the series, chances are you?ll be counting shadows around you, and wary of getting on the wrong side of the Ood.
As with most series of Doctor Who, there are one or two bumpy episodes and missteps, but this is still unmatched at what it does, and finds the show in even more confident form than last time round. That, along with the immense rewatch value, is what makes this terrific piece of family entertainment such a compelling buy. --Simon Brew

The Kite Runner [DVD] [2007]

Like the bestselling book upon which it's based, The Kite Runner will haunt the viewer long after the film is over. A tale of childhood betrayal, innocence, harsh reality, and dreamy memory, The Kite Runner faces good and evil--and the path between them, though often blurry and sorrowfully relative. Director Marc Forster (Monster's Ball, Finding Neverland) presents a painterly vision of Afghanistan before the Soviet tanks, before the Taliban--lush, verdant, fertile--in its landscape and in its people and their history and hopes. The story follows two young boys' friendship, tested beyond endurance, and the haunting of their adult selves by what happened in their youth--and what horrors befall their country in the meantime. The performances of the two boys--Zekeria Ebrahimi (Amir) and Ahmad Khan Mahmidzada (Hassan)--are the film's strongest, unforced and gently evocative. The penance paid by their adult selves is foreshadowed, but never predictable--and the metaphor of innocence lost, a common theme in Forster's work, keeps the film, like the title kites, truly aloft. --A.T. Hurley

Easy Virtue [DVD] [2008]

Set in the twilight of the roaring twenties and at the cusp of the next decade, EASY VIRTUE is the story of John Whittaker, a young Englishman who, after falling head-over-heels in love with glitzy American Larita, finds himself getting married rather promptly. Returning to the family home, Larita's newfound mother-in-law develops an instant allergic reaction to the Whitakers' newest family member. While accommodating to Mrs Whittaker's prickly personality at first, Larita quickly discovers that in order to make her marriage work, she must play her mother-in-law at her own game, and a battle of wits ensue...

Sense & Sensibility : Complete BBC Series [2008] [DVD]

Sense & Sensibility

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

Outnumbered Series 1 [DVD] [2007]

Outnumbered follows the daily chaos of family life with two parents and three young children locked in an unequal contest. Containing strong elements of improvisation, this comedy is an honest portrayal of the well meaning parental incompetence that happens in most homes, as Mum and Dad attempt to raise their kids with the minimum of emotional damage for all concerned.
From the creators of Drop The Dead Donkey, Andy Hamilton & Guy Jenkin, Outnumbered is quite unlike any other family comedy seen before.

Merlin Vol.1 [DVD] [2008]

The latest classic tale to be dragged up to date by the BBC, the decision to revive Merlin as primetime entertainment was just about rewarded, even if it does manage to ride roughshod over history in the process.
For just as it did with its updating of Robin Hood for Saturday nights, the legend of Merlin has undergone something of an overhaul here, and sticklers for authenticity will have plenty to pick at. The occasional narrative bumps don’t help, either, and the special effects clearly leave it thirsting for a Doctor Who-like budget.
And yet, warts and all, Merlin really is quite good fun. The BBC has wisely wheeled in some experienced thesps to work alongside the likes of Colin Morgan in the title role, with Richard Wilson and Anthony Head happy to join in the fun. Don’t knock the aforementioned Morgan, though: he carries the show well on his young shoulders, and has a blossoming career ahead of him.
This DVD pack contains the first six episodes of Merlin, and they gradually introduce us to the land of Camelot, and the mysterious characters that lie within. They also offer a solid amount of rounded family entertainment, that sets the scene for an intriguing second half of the series. What’s more, there’s just enough here to suggest that young Merlin may have further adventures even beyond then. --Jon Foster