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Once again, we look at a few titles in more detail which are due out soon. The prices listed are the current prices on Amazon.
The Guard Sergeant Gerry Boyle (Brendan Gleeson), a small-town Irish cop with a confrontational personality, joins forces with a strait-laced FBI agent (Don Cheadle) to take on an international drug smuggling gang in Ireland’s Connemara Gaeltacht.[1][2] A murder which appears to be the work of an occult serial killer is the first incident the relevance of which is then revealed by Boyle in a briefing by an FBI agent sent to liaise with the Gardai. A web of bribery, blackmail and killings ensues. Boyle and Everett form an unlikely alliance and with the unwitting help of the IRA bring about a bloody denouement. The film also stars Liam Cunningham and Mark Strong and it’s a comedy although from the description it doesn’t sound like one. However, the trailer certainly points it in the comedy direction and makes the film worth a look. The Guard is released on Blu-ray (£14.99) and DVD (£9.99). |
Hidden 
A taut and gripping four-part conspiracy thriller, HIDDEN is written by Ronan Bennett (PUBLIC ENEMIES, THE HAMBURG CELL) in collaboration with veteran Hollywood screenwriter Walter Bernstein (THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN, FAIL SAFE). Directed by Niall MacCormick (ALBATROSS, WALLANDER, THE LONG WALK TO FINCHLEY), the thriller is set across London and Paris at a time when Britain is in a state of political turmoil: there is rioting on the streets and the coalition government has collapsed. The drama centres on Harry Venn (Phil Glenister – ASHES TO ASHES, LIFE ON MARS), a high street solicitor who is forced to delve back into his murky past. When a mysterious lawyer, Gina Hawkes (Thekla Reuten THE AMERICAN, IN BRUGES) turns up asking Harry to find a missing alibi witness for her client, he agrees to take on the job but becomes unwittingly drawn into investigating the death of his brother twenty years ago. Harry quickly finds himself caught up in a much bigger and more complex conspiracy… The cast includes: Harry Venn played by Philip Glenister, Gina Hawkes played by Thekla Reuten, Sir Nigel Fountain played by David Suchet, Elspeth Verney played by Anna Chancellor, Paul Hillman played by Mark Flitton, Fenton Russell played by Thomas Craig, Frank Hanna played by Richard Dormer, Steve Quirke played by Paul Ritter, Alexander Wentworth played by Bertie Carvel. I saw this when it was broadcast, and reviewed it on here, too, and it was very complex and did tie itself in knots occasionally, but overall the gravitas of Glenister and the sultryness of Thekla Reuten really pulled it through. Hidden is released on DVD (£8.99). |
Doctor Who Christmas Special 2011: The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe 
Special Features:
3 x The Best of Doctor Who 45-minute features, commissioned by BBC America and only seen in the US. Showcasing the favourite moments of all the series that feature Matt Smith as the Doctor.
Best of the Monsters Best of the Companions Doctor Who Christmas Special 2011: The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe is released on Blu-ray (£8.99) and DVD (£6.49). |
Killer Elite
Based on a true story, Killer Elite pits two of the worlds’ most elite operatives – Danny, an ex-special ops agent (Jason Statham) and Hunter, his longtime mentor (Robert De Niro) – against the cunning leader of a secret military society (‘Clive Owen’ ). Covering the globe from Australia to Paris, London and the Middle East, Danny and Hunter are plunged into a highly dangerous game of cat and mouse – where the predators become the prey. The trailer is full of explosions and a rock soundtrack, showing us that it’s Jason Statham vs Clive Owen and Robert De Niro, and it looks like it certainly fills the criteria for an action blockbuster, so this is definitely a film I want to see. Killer Elite is released on Blu-ray (£14.99) and DVD (£10.99). |
The Whistleblower
When a brutally injured young woman lands in the UN s care, Kathryn risks her own safety as she unearths an organised and brutal underworld of sex trafficking. Despite attempts to thwart her investigation and threats on her life she fights to uncover the truth and traces the path of criminality to a shocking source. SPECIAL FEATURES: Cast/crew interviews The Whistleblower is released on Blu-ray (£11.99) and DVD (£7.99). |
Alien Anthology
Aliens: The terror continues as Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) returns to Earth after drifting through space in hypersleep for 57 years. Although her story about the alien encounter is met with skepticism, she agrees to accompany a team of high-tech marines back to LV-246… and this time it’s war. Alien 3: In the third chapter of the terrifying sci-fi saga, Ripley’s crippled spaceship crash-lands on Fiorina 161, a bleak wasteland inhabited by former inmates of the planet’s maximum security prison. But an alien was aboard her craft… and soon the body count begins to mount. Alien Resurrection: Terror is reborn in the stunning conclusion to the Alien sci-fi saga. Two hundred years have passed since Ripley made the ultimate sacrifice on Fiorina 161, but now a group of scientists has cloned her–along with the Alien queen inside her–hoping to breed the ultimate weapon. Alien Anthology is released on Blu-ray (£13.99). |
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.