A weekly round-up of the latest DVD releases.

By Damon Smith


New to rent on DVD/Blu-ray

Jack Reacher (Cert 15, 130 mins, Paramount Home Entertainment, Thriller/Action/Romance, also available to buy DVD £19.99/Blu-ray £26.99)

Starring: Tom Cruise, Rosamund Pike, David Oyelowo, Richard Jenkins, Robert Duvall, Jai Courtney, Werner Herzog, Joseph Sikora, Alexia Fast.

Emotionally unstable sniper James Barr (Joseph Sikora) is arrested for the murder of five innocent people outside PNC Park in Pennsylvania. Before Barr slips into a coma, he writes down three words - Get Jack Reacher. Soon after, former military officer Jack Reacher (Tom Cruise) makes contact with lead detective Emerson (David Oyelowo) and District Attorney Rodin (Richard Jenkins) to help put Barr behind bars. Rodin's daughter, defence attorney Helen Rodin (Rosamund Pike), isn't convinced her client is guilty so she hires Jack to check the forensics. A scattershot chain of evidence leads to criminal mastermind The Zec (Werner Herzog) and his sharp-shooting henchman (Jai Courtney). Based on the book One Shot by Lee Child, Jack Reacher is a robust thriller that barely stretches Cruise in the title role. He plays rough and tough, telling one bad guy: "I mean to beat you to death and drink your blood from a boot!" That seems slightly extreme. Pike is an appealing love interest but Herzog is woefully miscast as an ex-con who gnawed off his digits in prison, inspiring unintentional hilarity rather than fear with his utterances. Christopher McQuarrie's film is punctuated by smartly orchestrated action sequences, none more chilling than opening scenes of the sniper taking aim at innocent bystanders on a riverbank. Viewed through the gun man's high-powered rifle scope to the steady beat of his breathing, the massacre sends shivers down the spine as shots ring out and figures tumble like rag dolls to the ground. Nothing else in Jack Reacher comes close to this bravura sequence.

Rating: ***


Love Crime (Cert 15, 102 mins, Arrow Films, Thriller/Romance, also available to buy DVD £17.99/Blu-ray £19.99)

Starring: Kristin Scott Thomas, Ludivine Sagnier, Patrick Mille, Guillaume Marquet.

Ruthless business executive Christine (Kristin Scott Thomas) is ice queen of her kingdom - the French arm of an American multinational. She takes a close interest in talented junior executive Isabelle Guerin (Ludivine Sagnier), showering the talented protegee with gifts and toying with her emotions. The mind games escalate when Christine dispatches Isabelle to an important business deal with associate Philippe (Patrick Mille), who is also Christine's lover. Isabelle sleeps with Philippe and the one-up(wo)manship gathers momentum, culminating in Isabelle vowing to destroy Christine. Murderous glances preempt violent actions and the battle of the sexes accrues significant collateral damage. Love Crime is the last film completed by writer-director Alain Corneau before he lost his battle with cancer in 2010. Released posthumously, this erotically charged thriller never quite delivers on the promise of tense early exchanges between the two leads that smudge the boundaries of their relationship. Once Isabelle lashes out at her mentor and the 'crime; of the title becomes apparent, what remains is a rather pedestrian potboiler peppered with black-and-white flashbacks, revealing where truth ends and the little white lies begin. Thomas and Sagnier are better than the film deserves - they lift the derivative material in the second act, sustaining our interest when the plot leaves us cold. Brian De Palma's English-language remake entitled Passion, starring Rachel McAdams and Noomi Rapace, is due for release later this year. Hopefully it won't be a slavish retread.

Rating: **


Also released

The Final Rites (Cert 15, 98 mins, Metrodome Distribution, Thriller, also available to buy DVD £15.99 - see below)

The Lords Of Salem (Cert 18, 96 mins, Momentum Pictures Home Entertainment, Horror/Thriller, also available to buy DVD £12.99 - see below)


New to buy on DVD/Blu-ray

The Lords Of Salem (Cert 18, 96 mins, Momentum Pictures Home Entertainment, DVD £12.99, Horror/Thriller)

Rob Zombie writes and directs this blood-soaked horror movie about a radio station DJ plagued by horrifying visions of the past. Heidi Hawthorne (Sheri Moon Zombie) and her colleagues (Jeff Daniel Phillips, Ken Foree) form the close-knit team on Big H Radio which broadcasts to Salem, Massachusetts. A vinyl record in an old wooden box arrives for Heidi with a card that reads "a gift from the Lords". The DJ is convinced it must be a promo item for a new band and she listens to the record, which plays backwards and triggers unsettling flashbacks of the town's violent and inglorious past. When a second wooden box arrives containing tickets, posters and promotional items again from the Lords, Heidi and her colleagues anticipate a memorable gig but they are unprepared for the horrors that await them.


No Tell Motel (Cert 18, 92 mins, 4Digital Media Limited, DVD £15.99, Horror/Thriller)

Brett Donowho directs this supernatural horror about things that go bump in the night at a haunted motel. Megan (Chalie Howes) and her friends are travelling cross-country in a motor home when they break down. Stranded in the countryside far from emergency services, the pals stumble upon a rundown motel and decide to spend the night inside the ramshackle building rather than sleep rough under the stars. It's a bad decision because the property is home to the vengeful spirit of a young girl, Angela (Rileigh Chalmers). As Megan's friends disappear one by one, she investigates the circumstances surrounding Angela's demise in the hope of releasing the ghost from limbo.


The Final Rites (Cert 15, 98 mins, Metrodome Distribution, DVD £15.99, Thriller)

Anthropology student Nathan (Ryan Donowho) hopes to impress his teacher Professor Nash (Stephen Dorff) by inviting his classmates to his family's ranch, which is located close to a Chumash Indian tribe burial site. Many of the students intend to use the trip as a flimsy excuse to get uproariously drunk and party to excess. The upbeat mood turns deadly serious when students are killed one by one by a sick and twisted predator. Nathan's emotionally unstable brother Benny (Wes Bentley) and his new room-mate Delgado (Christian Slater) are the prime suspects, or could there be a psychopath lurking within the student body?


Louie - The Complete First Season (Cert 15, 273 mins, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, DVD £19.99, Comedy)

Ricky Gervais, Jay Leno and Sarah Silverman guest star in this award-winning comedy series written by and headlining stand-up comic Louis C.K. as a fictionalised version of himself. On screen, Louie is a struggling comedian undergoing a mid-life crisis while raising two young daughters, Lilly (Hadley Delany) and Jane (Ursula Parker). Live stand-up performances bookmark the amusing vignettes. The two-disc set includes the episodes Pilot, Poker/Divorce, Dr Ben/Nick, So Old/Playdate, Travel Day/South, Heckler/Cop Movie, Double Date/Mom, Dogpound, Bully, Dentist/Tarese, God, Gym and Night Out.


Putty Hill (Cert 15, 89 mins, Moviolla, DVD £15.99, Drama)

Indie director Matt Porterfield's second film blurs the lines between documentary and narrative drama, painting a vivid portrait of life in the titular community in working-class Baltimore. A young man called Cory has perished from a drugs overdose and his friends and family gather at a neighbourhood karaoke bar to celebrate his brief life. Through interviews with the mourners, it becomes clear that these so-called friends didn't know Cory very well and as secrets about the dead man's past are revealed, the residents of Putty Hill are compelled to reflect on their emotional separation from one another.


Two Greedy Italians - Complete Series Two: Still Hungry (Cert E, 240 mins, Fremantle Home Entertainment, DVD £15.99/Complete Series One & Two DVD Box Set £29.99, Special Interest)

Acclaimed chefs Gennaro Contaldo and Antonio Carluccio left their native Italy more than 40 years ago and are fascinated by how cooking in their homeland has changed in the intervening years. In this four-part series, they travel around the country sampling delicious cuisine, which incorporates the best locally sourced ingredients. A four-disc set comprising both series of the show, packaged with eight recipe cards, is also available.


David Bowie: Inside Out - A Retrospective (Cert E, 165 mins, Anvil Media, DVD £24.99, Documentary/Musical)

Coinciding with the David Bowie Is exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, this three-disc DVD set examines the career of the English singer-songwriter from his early days through to his rise to the top of the UK charts, including footage of his final Ziggy Stardust show in 1980. Bowie's ex-wife Angie Bowie and musicians Trevor Bolder, Mick Ronson and Woody Woodmansey provide personal insights about the singer and his influences, intercut with memorable performances. The set includes the films Up Close And Personal, Rock Milestones - Ziggy Stardust and The Bowie Chamber Suite.


Iron Man: Armoured Adventures - Season 2 Vol 1 (Cert U, 273 mins, Marvel, DVD £12.99, Animation/Sci-Fi/Action)

Timed neatly for the same week as Iron Man 3 opens in cinemas, these 13 episodes of the computer-animated series based on the heroic Marvel Comics character continue the story of industrialist Tony Stark (voiced by Adrian Petriw) and his friends Jim Rhodes (Daniel Bacon) and Pepper Potts (Anna Cummer) as they save the world from a menagerie of deranged criminal masterminds. The episodes are The Invincible Iron Man: Part 1 - Disassembled!, The Invincible Iron Man: Part 2 - Reborn!, Look Into The Light, Ghost In The Machine, Armour Wars, Line Of Fire, Titanium Vs Iron, The Might Of Doom, The Hawk And The Spider, Enter: Iron Monger, Fugitive Of S.H.I.E.L.D., All The Best People Are Mad and Heavy Mettle.


Ultraviolet - The Complete Series (Cert 15, 100 mins, Medium Rare, DVD £19.99, Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Thriller)

A re-release of the popular Channel 4 series about a police officer who stumbles into a secret world of bloodsucking fiends. Detective Sergeant Michael Colefield (Jack Davenport) holds a torch for Kirsty (Collette Brown), the fiancee of his partner Jack (Stephen Moyer). He is understandably conflicted about their forthcoming nuptials. Then it transpires that Jack has transformed into a fanged fiend - a prime target for a government-sanctioned squad of vampire hunters comprising priest Pearse J Harman (Philip Quast), scientist Angela March (Susannah Harker) and soldier Vaughn Rice (Idris Elba). Michael is welcomed into this covert fold and works alongside Pearse, Angela and Vaughn to fend off the vampire threat, which could mean driving a stake through the heart of his relationship with Kirsty.


DVD retail top 10

1 (1) The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

2 (4) Game Of Thrones - Season 2

3 (-) Tinker Bell And The Secret Of The Wings

4 (6) Jillian Michaels: 30 Day Shred

5 (3) Silver Linings Playbook

6 (-) The Iron Lady

7 (5) Skyfall

8 (7) The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2

9 (8) Argo

10 (9) Game Of Thrones - Season 1

Chart supplied by Amazon.co.uk


DVD rental top 10

1 (1) Silver Linings Playbook

2 (-) Taken 2

3 (-) Anna Karenina

4 (2) Sightseers

5 (6) The Campaign

6 (5) The Bourne Legacy

7 (4) End Of Watch

8 (3) Rise Of The Guardians

9 (10) Killing Them Softly

10 (8) The Watch

Chart supplied by www.LOVEFiLM.com


Film streaming top 10

1 (2) Life As We Know It

2 (1) Despicable Me

3 (5) The Adjustment Bureau

4 (3) Just Go With It

5 (7) Faster

6 (10) Rampage

7 (4) Paul

8 (8) The Ugly Duckling And Me

9 (6) How Do You Know

10 (-) Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World

Chart supplied by www.LOVEFiLM.com