DVD Monthly

Reviewer: Tom Leins
Issue 103 May 2008
(4 votes, average: 7.25 out of 10)
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Review: Spurred on by the success of the BBC’s ‘Doctor Who’, ITV launched their own well-received Saturday teatime spectacular, Primeval, last year, to a generally positive response. Professor Nick Cutter (Douglas Henshall) and his intrepid team investigate time anomalies on behalf of the government and tangle with all sorts of weird and wonderful creatures along the way. Whether it’s a stray Deinonychus on the loose in a shopping centre, a sabre tooth cat killing at will or a Columbian mammoth rampaging across the M25, the team certainly have their hands full! This family-friendly package retails for a rather pricy £24.99, which seems a bit steep for just seven episodes. However, if you do feel compelled to take the plunge, the combined Series 1 and 2 box set costs just £34.99.

FILM: 6 EXTRAS: 6

DVD Info:
Certificate: PG
Starring: Douglas Henshall, Ben Miller
Directed By: Various, 2008
Distributor: 2entertain
Audio: Dolby Digital 2.0
Visuals: 16:9 Anamorphic Widescreen
Running Time: 315mins
Price: £24.99

Reviewer: Tom Leins
Issue 103 May 2008
(2 votes, average: 7 out of 10)
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Review: In recent years ex-‘Eastenders’ beefcake Ross Kemp has wowed audiences with his incendiary gangland exploration, ‘Ross Kemp On Gangs’. Kemp puts himself in the firing line once more with Ross Kemp In Afghanistan, where he journeys to Britain’s front line in Afghanistan to experience first hand the Army’s attempts at enforcing law and order in one of the world’s most dangerous war zones. Although sceptics would presume that Kemp is kept miles away from the action, such an assessment is badly wide of the mark, and after a gruelling training regime the TV star is literally dodging bullets alongside his father’s old army unit. Kemp eats, sleeps and swears with the troops leading to some hard-hitting scenes, both physically and emotionally. For every DVD sold, Kemp will make a donation to the Army Benevolent Fund.

FILM: 7 EXTRAS: 1

DVD Info:
Certificate: 15
Starring: Ross Kemp
Directed By: John Conroy, 2008
Distributor: 2entertain
Audio: Dolby Digital 2.0
Visuals: 16:9 Anamorphic Widescreen
Running Time:
Price: £19.99

Reviewer: Tom Leins
Issue 103 May 2008
(1 votes, average: 8 out of 10)
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See you in court!

The Lowdown: Patty Hewes (Glenn Close) is one of America’s most respected/feared litigators. Ellen Parsons (Rose Byrne) is one her ambitious new protégés. Together they become embroiled in a bitter lawsuit against one of the wealthiest, most corrupt CEOs in the country, on behalf of his wronged employees.

Review: Damages rumbles into life in arresting fashion, as a blood-soaked Ellen Parsons (Rose Byrne) stumbles out of a building and starts running panicked through the streets of New York, where she is promptly arrested. Six months earlier we see newly minted lawyer Ellen snapped up by ruthless lawyer Patty Hewes to work for her prestigious firm. So how did this bright, determined young lady end up disorientated and splattered in blood? That, as you might expect, is the crux of the matter. Despite her notoriety in legal circles, Patty Hewes is working on the biggest case of her career. She is hell-bent on destroying Arthur Frobisher (Ted Danson), the self-made billionaire who ripped off his employees, lying to them about the state of his company while simultaneously unloading his stock. This move bankrupted 5000 of Frobisher’s loyal employees. The CEO and his duplicitous Southern lawyer, Ray Fiske (Zeljko Ivanek), are adversaries to be reckoned with, but Patty loves a challenge and has more than enough dirty tricks up her sleeves. However, the battle quickly spills out of the courtroom and into the personal lives of everyone involved…

Whereas too many legal dramas prove to be dull, unimaginative affairs, Damages injects new life into the genre by fusing the courtroom procedural with a baffling whodunit-style murder mystery. This potentially clumsy blend is handled with aplomb by the assorted directors, who include, strangely enough, Mario Van Peebles. Naturally, Glenn Close is magnificent as the hard-nosed litigator who will stop at nothing to vanquish her courtroom nemesis. Rose Byrne is similarly impressive as the talented but naïve newcomer, and Ted Danson and Zelijko Ivanek both deliver the goods as the guilty party. The phrase ‘guilty party’ only tells half of the truth however, as Patty herself is more than happy to employ underhand tactics if it means securing victory. Morality is a grey area and comes firmly in second place where power is concerned.

The impressively constructed events unfold on a dual time-line (the past and the present), before events converge in the revelatory finale. This technique pays dividends and leaves you on entertainingly unpredictable footing.

Despite rave reviews in the US, the show could only muster relatively small audiences. In contrast, on BBC1 the show began strongly, actually managing to increase its audience share in subsequent weeks. Nevertheless, despite its American woes, the show has already been confirmed for an unprecedented further two series, largely due to the magnetic presence of Glenn Close.

The package is solidified by a respectable selection of special features, including deleted scenes, featurettes and audio commentaries. All in all, Damages is a hugely satisfying thriller that contains more than enough twists and turns to keep courtroom-wary viewers hooked.

FILM: 8 EXTRAS: 6

DVD Info:
Certificate: 15
Starring: Glenn Close, Ted Danson, Rose Byrne, Tate Donovan
Directed By: Various, 2007
Distributor: Sony Pictures
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
Visuals: 16:9 Anamorphic Widescreen
Running Time: 581mins
Price: £34.99

Special Features:
Episode Selection
Deleted Scenes
‘Wilful Acts: The Making of Damages’ Featurette
‘Trust No One: Insight From The Creators’ Featurette
‘Understanding Class Action’ 3-Part Interactive Guide
Audio Commentary on ‘Pilot’ with Creators/Writers Todd A. Kessler, Glenn Kessler and Daniel Zelman, Director Allen Coulter and Glenn Close
Audio Commentary on ‘I Hate These People’ with Creators/Writers Todd A. Kessler, Glenn Kessler and Daniel Zelman and Actor Zeljko Ivanek
‘The Shield’ Final Season Teaser

Reviewer: Jordan Brown
Issue 103 May 2008
(1 votes, average: 9 out of 10)
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Fame, fortune and fired agents.

The Lowdown: With the starring role in Medellin having slipped through Vince’s fingers and Ari subsequently given the boot, the gang turn to sexy new agent Amanda. Furious with himself for losing Hollywood’s hottest talent, Ari sets about finding a way to turn things around and get Vince back on the books.

Review: If you’re unfamiliar with the exploits of actor Vincent Chase and his buddies as they attempt to navigate the cutthroat Hollywood movie industry, allow me to enlighten you. To put it simply, to watch Entourage is to discover your new favourite TV show. Rammed to the rafters with celebrity cameos, snappy dialogue and amazingly well crafted and endearing characters, Entourage has been enthralling ITV2 viewers since it first appeared back in 2004. After three seasons though, you’d be forgiven for expecting the show to have lost its edge and suffer from a touch of repetition. Suffice to say, you’d be wrong.

Being a show that’s heavily reliant on the superb performances of its ensemble cast, Entourage naturally takes a turn for the better in this box set when the action sees a dramatic change in Vince’s ex-agent Ari. Having lost his biggest client to a rival agent, the abrasive, smart-mouthed shark goes through a metamorphosis of sorts. Showing compassion for a temporarily blind employee and treating those below him with uncharacteristic respect, it’s a situation that sees Jeremy Piven getting to have even more fun playing the show’s most entertaining character. With his performance reason enough to invest in the box set, it’ll come as a further delight to see that the rest of cast also bang out sound performances with the usual oomph. As such, Entourage remains one of the most consistently captivating shows on the box today. Terrific stuff.

FILM: 9 EXTRAS: 6

DVD Info:
Certificate: 15
Starring: Kevin Conolly, Adrian Grenier, Kevin Dillon, Jerry Ferrara, Jeremy Piven, Debi Mazar
Directed By: Various, 2006-2007
Distributor: HBO Video
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
Visuals: 16:9 Anamorphic Widescreen
Running Time: 281 mins
Price: £24.99

Special Features:
Episode Selection
Audio Commentary on ‘Manic Monday’ With Creator/Executive Producer Doug Ellin and Stars Kevin Dillon and Jerry Ferrara
Audio Commentary on ‘The Resurrection’ With Creator/Executive Producer Doug Ellin and Stars Kevin Dillon and Jerry Ferrara
Audio Commentary on ‘Adios Amigos’ With Creator/Executive Producer Doug Ellin and Stars Kevin Connolly, Kevin Dillon and Jerry Ferrara
Museum of Television & Radio Panel
‘Anatomy Of Entourage’ Featurette

Reviewer: Jordan Brown
Issue 103 May 2008
(1 votes, average: 8 out of 10)
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Get Carter.

The Lowdown: Ever since his girlfriend gave birth to their stillborn son, things haven’t been quite right for Dr. John Carter. Taking his troubles to work with him, his behaviour begins to have a drastic effect on the rest of the staff at County General Hospital, resulting in tension, personality clashes and resignations.

Review: You’ve got to give the producers of ER credit. Not only have they been able to keep the frantically-paced medical drama going for 14 years, they’ve also been able to keep it consistent and fresh – despite the main cast being changed more times than a hotel bedspread. Constantly surprising and always entertaining, the hectic lives of Chicago’s finest quacks have gripped us since their inception back in 1994. It’s therefore unsurprising that, like ‘The Simpsons’, ER has become a staple of television for which we may not tune in at every opportunity, but we’d sure as hell miss it if it went off the air. And that eventually will be happening soon, as the 15th Season, currently still in production, is due to be the last.

In this season, things get shaken up as John Carter returns to work a little down in the mouth after losing his son. Armed with a slightly haphazard approach to his job, his recklessness rubs off on Elizabeth Corday when he convinces her to perform an illegal operation that leads to her quitting. In the meantime, Lewis has become Chief of Emergency Medicine, Abby gets abducted by a gang and Neela finally lands a permanent job at the hospital. The highlight of the season, however, aside from the characteristically jaw-dropping ending, is the real-time episode in which the action follows Ray Liotta as he plays an alcoholic with moments left to live. It’s superbly played, gut-wrenchingly emotion stuff that rounds off a stellar season of a persistently superb show. Shame about the piddly extras though.

FILM: 8 EXTRAS: 4

DVD Info:
Certificate: 15
Starring: Noah Wyle, Sherry Stringfield, Goran Visnjic, Mekhi Phifer, Linda Cardellini, Laura Innes
Directed By: Various, 2004-2005
Distributor: Warner
Audio: Dolby Digital 2.0
Visuals: 16:9 Anamorphic Widescreen
Running Time: 930 mins
Price: £44.99

Special Features:
Episode Selection
Outpatient Outtakes
Additional Scenes

Reviewer: Tom Leins
Issue 103 May 2008
(1 votes, average: 7 out of 10)
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The con is (still) on!

The Lowdown: With leader Mickey Bricks departed for sunnier climes, the Hustle gang are cast adrift. Danny Blue yearns to step into Mickey’s imposing shoes, but the rest of the crew have other ideas. Despite the upheaval created by Mickey’s disappearance, do the gang still have what it takes to con their way to the top?

Review: The enjoyably flashy Hustle made its BBC debut back in 2004, proving equally popular with viewers and critics alike. Now on its 4th series, the show seems, if not stale, then certainly less inventive than the preceding three series. The first episode is very much a transition, as it marks the first episode without leading man Adrian Lester (Mickey Bricks). Despite a great, charismatic ensemble cast, Lester has left a gaping hole in his wake. Ashley ‘Bullet Boy’ Walters enters the breach in episode two (as cocky young upstart Billy Bond) but he can’t really compete with Lester in terms of stature. Nevertheless, Tony Jordan’s slick homegrown reworking of the Ocean’s 11-style con-man caper is still a dependably enjoyable show, and one that outclasses most BBC dramas.

With the show now insanely popular in the States, two of these six episodes actually take place in America (Los Angeles and then Las Vegas), bolstering the show’s Ocean-fixation even further. The British episodes feel more familiar with the gang ripping off a porn baron, a corrupt nursing home owner and an immoral fashionista. A fifth series is currently on the cards, with Adrian Lester rumoured to be reprising his role as Mickey Bricks. Although there’s probably enough mileage Stateside for the show to keep on going for another series, any more than that and the team will really be pushing their luck! Special features consist of a worthwhile two-part, 35-minute behind-the-scenes documentary entitled ‘The Hard Way’.

FILM: 7 EXTRAS: 6

DVD Info:
Certificate: 15
Starring: Jaime Murray, Robert Vaughn, Marc Warren, Ashley Walters
Directed By: Various, 2007
Distributor: Warner Home Video
Audio: Dolby Digital 2.0
Visuals: 16:9 Anamorphic Widescreen
Running Time: 340mins
Price: £30.99
Film supplied by: Premier PR

Special Features:
Episode Selection
‘The Hard Way’ Two-Part Documentary

Reviewer: Tom Leins
Issue 103 May 2008
(No Ratings Yet)
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How the West was won…

The Lowdown: Former Texas Rangers Gus McRae (Robert Duvall) and Woodrow Call (Tommy Lee Jones) have reached the age when they should be thinking about retirement. However, when long-time associate Jake Spoon returns home and tells them about the untouched plains of Montana, the duo and their ragged posse of friends head North…

Review: Prolific novelist-turned-screenwriter Larry McMurtry has had a rich and successful writing career over the years, but it was arguably Lonesome Dove, the hugely popular 1989 mini-series based on his epic, Pulitzer Prize-winning novel that garnered him the most attention. (Until he scooped an Oscar for his Brokeback Mountain screenplay, that is!) Now digitally re-mastered and re-released, the bittersweet Lonesome Dove comes under scrutiny once more. The ensuing years have seen the epic mini-series fade from view, to be replaced by the compulsive full-length TV drama, and revisiting any kind of mini-series nowadays is a decidedly odd experience. As such, Lonesome Dove feels uncomfortably stranded between epic movie and full-length serial status.

Compared to the brutal, foul-mouthed likes of ‘Deadwood’, Lonesome Dove feels too sentimental for its own good, and seems a lot like a traditional melodrama dressed up in cowboy clothing. Nevertheless, fans of McMurtry’s distinctive brand of down-home drama will find much to enjoy here. The episodic structure ensures that you can comfortably sample the series in four instalments, and each section is varied in tone and plot. However, Lonesome Dove really comes into its own with its stellar cast. Duvall is superb as the world-weary Gus, whilst Tommy Lee Jones is in one of his taciturn moods. Elsewhere, the supporting cast numbers Danny Glover, Chris Cooper, Anjelica Huston, Diane Lane and even a youthful Steve Buscemi. Although fans of recent brutal revisionist westerns may find Lonesome Dove too tame for their tastes, anyone who likes their epic cowboy capers slow and old-fashioned will find it to be a solid, worthwhile purchase.

FILM: 7 EXTRAS: 5

DVD Info:
Certificate: 15
Starring: Robert Duvall, Tommy Lee Jones, Danny Glover, Chris Cooper
Directed By: Simon Wincer, 1989
Distributor: Acorn Media
Audio: Dolby Digital 2.0
Visuals: 16:9 Anamorphic Widescreen
Running Time: 357mins
Price: £19.99

Special Features:
Episode Selection
‘A Conversation With Author Larry McMurtry’ Featurette
Interview With Executive Producer Suzanne De Passe
Image Gallery
‘Lonesome Dove Quiz’

Reviewer: Tom Leins
Issue 103 May 2008
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You should be ashamed of yourselves!

The Lowdown: As the new series opens, reckless patriarch Frank Gallagher seems to be on his last legs, but not even the thought of serious heart problems can curb his self-destructive lifestyle. Happily, it isn’t terminal, and Frank makes it through another series worth of chaos on the Chatsworth Estate.

Review: Shameless returned to our screens in January for its longest series yet. With 16 idiosyncratic episodes worth of highs and lows on offer, long-term fans will be savouring the prospect of this five-disc box set. Some fans have bemoaned Shameless’s gradual progression from cult comedy to Channel 4 mainstay, and whilst the shift is there for all to see, in all honesty the show hasn’t lost its sparkle in the way that these former fans seem to think. Believe me, it hasn’t quite slumped to the predictable depths of its fellow Mancunian TV institution, ‘Coronation Street’, just yet! The show may have lost some of its bigger-name stars in recent years (James McAvoy, Anne-Marie Duff, Maxine Peake, Dean Lennox Kelly), and although the transition was initially slightly jarring, the ensemble cast who have filled their boots have ensured that none of them are really missed anymore.

Series 5 is crammed with typically memorable storylines, many of which render claims of the shows demise rather premature. As in Series 4, ‘fantasy’ type sequences do figure fairly prominently, and the first episode alone sees Frank being taunted by hallucinations of his clean-cut childhood self! Elsewhere Ian starts dating a geography teacher, much to the consternation of his brother Carl, who is one of the man’s pupils! Monica’s Alzheimer’s-stricken mother also comes to stay with her and Frank, and the revelation that Frank impregnated his mother-in-law whilst inebriated isn’t even the most shocking secret that spills out…

It isn’t all to do with the Gallagher family though, and the increasingly prominent Maguire clan still figure heavily. In a new business venture Mickey Maguire invests in an outlandish pink stretch limo, and Dad Paddy coaxes Carl Gallagher into beginning amateur boxing. One thing’s for sure: Shameless certainly hasn’t gone soft!

To bulk out the package even further, the producers have included a moderate selection of special features. There are a pair of audio commentaries from Sean Gilder, who plays Paddy Maguire, a batch of outtakes and deleted scenes and a very brief look at the creation of the brand new Shameless set, in the old Umbro factory. Last but not least there is also a worthwhile behind-the-scene featurette about David ‘Frank Gallagher’ Threlfall and his stint behind the cameras as the director of episodes one and two. All in all, Series 5 of Shameless successfully maintains the quality control of the earlier series and also ups the ante with twice as many episodes as usual. As with the release of previous series, Shameless is also available as a cracking 16-disc five-series compendium, for the princely sum of £69.99.

FILM: 8 EXTRAS: 6

DVD Info:
Certificate: 18
Starring: David Threlfall, Sean Gilder, Rebecca Ryan, Annabelle Apsion
Directed By: Various, 2007
Distributor: 4DVD
Audio: Dolby Digital 2.0
Visuals: 16:9 Anamorphic Widescreen
Running Time: 800mins
Price: £34.99
Film supplied by: Taylor Herring

Special Features:
Episode Selection
‘Building The Shameless Estate’ Featurette
‘Behind The Scenes With David Threlfall’ Featurette
Audio Commentary With Sean Gilder (Paddy Maguire) On Episodes 9 & 11
Out-takes
Deleted Scenes

Reviewer: Tom Leins
Issue 103 May 2008
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Review: Epic movies are hot Hollywood currency at the moment thanks to the likes of 300, but anyone who has a hankering for an epic with a British flavour will have to be satisfied by this four-disc Arthur of the Britons complete package. As re-imaginings of the Arthurian legend go, this 1972 HTV series was certainly different! In the aftermath of the Roman withdrawal from Dark Ages Britain, Oliver Tobias’s Arthur isn’t a great king, merely the chieftain of a small Celtic tribe, who struggles to unify the surrounding kingdoms under one powerful military command. This box set gathers together both series of the show, and is crammed full of suitably action-packed storylines. Look out for an eye-opening early stint from a muscular Brian Blessed and the haunting score courtesy of Oscar-winning composer Elmer Bernstein.

FILM: 6 EXTRAS: 2

DVD Info:
Certificate: PG
Starring: Oliver Tobias, Brian Blessed
Directed By: Various, 1972
Distributor: Network
Audio: Mono
Visuals: 4:3 Fullscreen
Running Time: 600mins
Price: £39.99

Reviewer: Tom Leins
Issue 103 May 2008
(1 votes, average: 5 out of 10)
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Review: Fans of early 80s swashbuckling dramas will be overjoyed to learn of the release of this widely ignored Napoleonic romp! When Jack Vincent is kicked out of the navy, he turns to smuggling, living by his wits in a seaside cottage. When Vincent finds himself roughed up by the dangerous Kemble Gang in the first episode, he must rely on his petty thief chum Honesty Evans to get him out of a scrape. Elsewhere he assists elderly smuggler Rummy Culbert and then does his best to get hold of a quantity of sunken rum. Of course, it all seems hideously dated nowadays, especially when compared to the sophisticated likes of Pirates of Caribbean, but Smuggler is an engaging enough show that will doubtless appeal to retro TV fanatics.

FILM: 6 EXTRAS: 2

DVD Info:
Certificate: PG
Starring: Oliver Tobias, Lesley Dunlop
Directed By: Various, 1981
Distributor: Network
Audio: Mono
Visuals: 4:3 Fullscreen
Running Time: 325mins
Price: £19.99

Reviewer: Tom Leins
Issue 103 May 2008
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Review: After debuting on BBC4 back in 2007, Freezing aired on BBC2 earlier this year to mixed reviews. The show took a lot of flak in some quarters for its blatant ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ fixation, and whilst the parallels are obvious for all to see, it is still a worthwhile exercise in modern Brit-com. Publishing assistant Matt (Hugh Bonneville) and washed-up American actress Elizabeth (Elizabeth McGovern) realise that they are no longer young and desirable and do their best to repackage themselves as hip and trendy. There are star-studded cameos from Richard E. Grant, Anthony Head and many more, but with just three short episodes on offer, it may be wise to wait until the rather lofty £19.99 price tag is slashed to a more affordable figure…

FILM: 6 EXTRAS: 1

DVD Info:
Certificate: 15
Starring: Hugh Bonneville, Tom Hollander
Directed By: Simon Curtis, 2007
Distributor: 4DVD
Audio: Dolby Digital 2.0
Visuals: 16:9 Anamorphic Widescreen
Running Time: 90mins
Price: £19.99

Reviewer: Tom Leins
Issue 103 May 2008
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Review: Law and Order (not to be confused with the long-running American cop franchise of the same name) was a series of four 1978 television plays produced by Tony Garnett (the man behind everything from Cathy Come Home to ‘This Life’). Each episode focuses on a different aspect of the criminal justice system, presenting an investigation from the perspectives of the police force, the criminal, the solicitor and the prison system. The show caused a huge controversy with its uncompromising approach towards police and judicial corruption and perhaps as a result it has been unseen since its initial transmission. With a cast full of would-be ‘Eastenders’ stars (Pete Beale, Jim Branning, Charlie Slater), plenty of bent coppers, dodgy ‘grasses’ and a finely-tuned sense of righteous indignation, Law and Order is a fascinating TV time capsule.

FILM: 6 EXTRAS: 5

DVD Info:
Certificate: 15
Starring: John Bardon, P.H. Moriarty
Directed By: Les Blair, 1978
Distributor: 2entertain
Audio: Dolby Digital 2.0
Visuals: 4:3 Fullscreen
Running Time: 320mins
Price: £19.99