January 29th:

January 29th:Press releases for new games and DVDs…

New press releases are online now for the following:

• The Shinjuku Incident on Blu-ray and DVD
• Last King of Scotland, Crash & Michael Clayton on Blu-ray
• Most Haunted USA on DVD

The latest press releasesare online now.

New films at this cinema this weekend…

Stuck for something to do this weekend? The list of films showing atManchester Showcase Cinema can be found on this page, and won’t differmuch from what’s on in the rest of the country.

The new films out include: Edge of Darkness and a preview for Astro Boy.

January 27th:CHARTS: Owl City vs Girls Can’t Catch – Who got the new No.1…?

Check out themusic chart analysis pagewhich is online now.

The release dates for singles and albums go up until late March 2010.

January 25th:Whipping up a snowstorm in Whiteout on Blu-ray…

Released today:

Set in Antarctica at the Amundsen-Scott Base, a US Scientific Research Facility where the temperature is a bit nippyat -55C. Carrie Stetko (Kate Beckinsale) comes in from the cold and strips off. She doesn’t look like she needs ashower, but takes one anyway. Her appartment is surprisingly des-res as you’d presume they’d look more like somethingknocked up by Josef Fritzl.

Anyway, the staff change over periodically but winter is coming in slightly early (in the Antarctic? Who knew?) andso she’s on the first plane out of there along with “Doc” Dr John Fury (Tom Skerrit)… well, until they get wind ofa dead body out in the middle of nowhere. However, it’s not someone who’s been out there for 50 years, it’s one oftheir own, but what was he doing out there? Either way, a storm is brewing up outside, planes are being scrambled andsomeone’s just referenced Top Gun.

Whiteoutis online and out on Blu-ray and DVD now.

Rita Hosking brings up the sunrise on CD…

It’s her third album andDVDfever.co.uk reviewer Elly Robertsconfirms, it may well be early days in 2010, but you’re unlikely to hear a better country album all year.Californian Rita Hosking now releases her third album, which is set to raise the bar on the genre now explodingacross the states.

Rita Hosking: Come Sunriseis online and out on CD now.

Youtube highlight: Olivia Hallinan on GMTV…

Sugar Rush hottie Olivia Hallinan appeared on GMTV to talk about her new BBC1 drama, Lark Rise to Candleford.

CHARTS: Owl City vs Girls Can’t Catch – Who got the new No.1…?

Check back shortly for the latest charts on themusic chart analysis page.

New DVD highlights out this week…

Once again, we look at a few titles in more detail.

The titles of note are the following, but read on for further details about the highlights:

• Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs (19.99 DVD, 22.99 Blu-ray, Sony)
• Fame (19.99 DVD, 24.99 Blu-ray, EIV)
• Fish Tank (15.99 DVD, Artificial Eye)
• Magnolia Directors Cut (14.99 Blu-ray, EIV)
• Mesrine Parts 1 & 2 (24.99 DVD, 29.99 Blu-ray, Momentum)
• New Year’s Day Concert 2010 (15.99 DVD, Universal)
• Passchendaele (15.99 DVD, High Fliers)
• Robot Chicken Season 3 (19.99 DVD, 44.99 Season 1-3 DVD, Revolver)
• Smokin’ Aces 2: Assassin’s Ball (15.99 DVD, 19.99 Blu-ray, 29.99 Smokin Aces 1 & 2 Blu-ray, Universal)
• Thirst (19.99 DVD, 24.99 Blu-ray, Tartan)
• A Town Called Eureka: Season 3.0 (19.99 DVD, Universal)
• Whiteout (15.99 DVD, 19.99 Blu-ray, Optimum)
• XIII: The Conspiracy (15.99 DVD, Lionsgate)

Mesrine Parts 1 & 2

Featuring a career defining performance from Vincent Cassel, the two part saga follows the incredible series of hold-ups, prison breaks and kidnappings throughout the 70’s and 80’s across several continents.

Part 1: Mesrine: Killer Instinct introduces us to Jacques Mesrine (Vincent Cassel), a loyal son and dedicated soldier back home and living with his parents after serving in the Algerian war. handsome and charming, he is soon seduced by the neon glamour of sixties Paris and the easy money it presents. mentored by Guido (Gèrard Depardieu) Mesrine soon moves swiftly up the criminal ladder, choosing the high risk life of a gangster over the honest life of the hard working family. after pulling off an audacious heist he and his lover Jeanne (Cecile de France), flee to Canada where the opportunity of one big payout lures him out of hiding and propels him towards international notoriety.

part 2: Public Enemy Number 1 the incredible and brutal story of Jacques Mesrine (Vincent Cassel) continues in Mesrine: Public Enemy no 1. now back in France, Mesrine is finally in police custody and facing justice for his crimes but he is soon on the run once again. after escaping a courtroom and kidnapping the judge at gunpoint, Mesrine is declared public enemy number one and is eventually condemned to a maximum security prison where he writes his first memoirs, establishing himself as a household name and anti-hero across France. Mesrine stages another daring escape and disappears into the lawless underworld, taunting the police and reinventing himself as a celebrity criminal through his savvy manipulation of the media. after such a monumental rise, comes the inevitable fall as Broussard closes in, bringing the life of jacques Mesrine to full bloody circle.

Mesrine Parts 1 & 2

is out now on Blu-ray (£17.88) andDVD (£11.98).

Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs

Judi and Ron Barrett’s Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is a much-loved, whimsical book about a tiny island where food falls from the sky like rain. The book serves as a jumping-off point for Sony’s animated, digital 3-D Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs which is not so much a retelling of the book as an exploration of what makes food rain from the sky on a small island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Flint (Bill Hader), a clever young inventor with a reputation for creations gone awry, has recently completed a machine that he claims will turn water into food. Like his past failed inventions, Flint’s new food-converting machine doesn’t work as planned, and on its initial test run it ends up getting launched into the sky where clouds form and begin to rain cheeseburgers. The falling burgers destroy the Swallow Falls community’s latest attempt to bolster its failing, sardine-dependent economy, but the Mayor’s (Bruce Campbell) initial fury quickly turns to greedy anticipation as he begins to realize that food falling from the sky could serve as an innovative tourist draw.

As the entire town is caught up re-defining itself as “Chew and Swallow,” only Flint’s father (James Caan) remains skeptical of his son’s invention. Greed leads to some very strange weather events like spaghetti twisters and extra-giant food which, while providing a huge career opportunity for brainy weather intern Sam Sparks (Anna Faris) who’s masquerading as an air-headed television personality, also threaten to destroy the town and its inhabitants. In the end, only the collaborative efforts of Flint, his father, and Sam can save the town of Chew and Swallow from certain destruction by the out of control invention. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is a funny, imaginative film that’s well-animated and immensely entertaining for kids and adults.

Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs is out now on Blu-ray (£14.98) andDVD (£9.98).

Fame

This remake of Alan Parker’s unforgettable ’80s classic focuses on a group of young students attending a high school for the performing arts. Classmates study various aspects of performance, from dance to song writing to acting, all of them hoping for the chance to one day become stars. Debbie Allen (AMISTAD), Charles S. Dutton (MENACE II SOCIETY), Kelsey Grammer (TV’s FRASIER), Megan Mullally (REBOUND), and Bebe Neuwirth (SUMMER OF SAM) portray the instructors, with a host of newcomers top-lining the production as the students.

Fame is out now on Blu-ray (£16.98) andDVD (£11.68).

Magnolia Directors Cut

A handful of people in California’s San Fernando Valley are having one hell of a day. TV mogul Earl Partridge (Jason Robards) is on his deathbed; his trophy wife (Julianne Moore) is stockpiling tranquilliser prescriptions all over town with alarming determination. Earl’s nurse (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is trying desperately to get in touch with Earl’s only son, sex-guru Frank TJ Mackey (Tom Cruise), who’s about to have his carefully constructed past blown by a TV reporter (April Grace). Whiz kid Stanley (Jeremy Blackman) is being goaded by his selfish dad into breaking the record for the game show What Do Kids Know? Meanwhile, Stanley’s predecessor, the grown-up quiz kid Donnie Smith (William H. Macy) has lost his job and is nursing a severe case of unrequited love. And the host of What Do Kids Know?, the affable Jimmy Gator (Philip Baker Hall), like Earl, is dying of cancer, and his attempt to reconcile with his cokehead daughter (Melora Walters) fails miserably. She, meanwhile, is running hot and cold with a cop (John C. Reilly) who would love to date her, if she can sit still for long enough. And over it all, a foreboding sky threatens to pour something more than just rain.

This third feature from Paul Thomas Anderson (Boogie Nights) is a maddening, magnificent piece of film-making, and an ensemble film to rank with the best of Robert Altman (Short Cuts, Nashville)–every little piece of the film means something, solidly placed for a reason. Deftly juggling a breathtaking ensemble of actors, Anderson crafts a tale of neglectful parents, resentful children and love-starved souls that’s amazing in scope, both thematically and emotionally. Part of the charge of Magnolia is seeing exactly how may characters Anderson can juggle, and can he keep all those balls in air (indeed he can, even if it means throwing frogs into the mix). And it’s been far too long since we’ve seen a film-maker whose love of making movies is so purely joyful. This electric energy is reflected in the actors, from Cruise’s revelatory performance to Reilly’s quietly powerful turn as the moral centre of the story. While at three hours it’s definitely not suited to everyone’s taste, Magnolia is a compelling, heartbreaking, ultimately hopeful meditation on the accidents of chance that make up our lives. The soundtrack features eight wonderful songs by Aimee Mann, including “Save Me”, around which Anderson built the script.

Magnolia Directors Cut is out now on Blu-ray (£16.88) and

January 22nd:Press releases for new games and DVDs…

New press releases are online now for the following:

• The Firm on Blu-ray and DVD
• Creation on Blu-ray and DVD
• Feast II: Sloppy Seconds on DVD
• Paranormal Activity on Blu-ray and DVD
• New History Channel DVD/Blu-ray releases
• The Avengers Series 3 on DVD
• Robot Chicken Series 3 on DVD
• Halo Legends on Blu-ray and DVD
• Love Happens on Blu-ray and DVD

The latest press releasesare online now.

New films at this cinema this weekend…

Stuck for something to do this weekend? The list of films showing atManchester Showcase Cinema can be found on this page, and won’t differmuch from what’s on in the rest of the country.

The new films out include: Ninja Assassin and 44 Inch Chest.

January 21stSam & Ruby: A sumptuous debut from a Nashville duo…

This is a modern Americana album with deep country roots and lashings of soulfulness. What they’ve achieved is quiteremarkable, because this is one of the most beautiful albums you’ll ever hear and set to be one of the best from 2010.DVDfever.co.uk reviewer Elly Robertsreckons that few singers can compliment each other like this Nashville-based duo.

Sam & Ruby: The Here And The Nowis online and out on CD now.

January 19th:CHARTS: Owl City vs Iyaz – Who got the new No.1…?

Check out themusic chart analysis pagewhich is online now.

The release dates for singles and albums go up until late March 2010.

January 18th:Can Clive Owen restore faith in humanity in Children of Menu on HD-DVD…

Out now:

It’s 2027 and no baby has been born since 2009, and that lad, at the age of 18, has just been murdered.Theo (Clive Owen) is tasked with taking a young girl, Kee, across the border to a community called The Human Project.She has a something special about her… she is pregnant. Give this news up to the authorities and they’ll be all overher, so she needs to get out of the country.

Children of Menis online and out on HD-DVD now.

6 CDs of perfection with The Doors: Live In New York…

Live albums went out of fashion yonks ago, beginsDVDfever.co.uk reviewer Elly Roberts.Concert DVDs have taken their place. This album might just reignite your interest. You’ll need a fair bit of time tojudge it though, because of the six CDs. You won’t be disappointed, as Jim Morrison and three band mates Ray Manzarek,Robby Kreiger and John Densmore hit the Big Apple’s Felt Forum (a 5,000-seater venue within Madison Square Gardens)and blew the place apart.

The Doors: Live In New Yorkis online and out on CD now.

Youtube highlight: So You Think You Can Take Me Out to a Dance?…

I’ve started doing a few Screenwipe-style videos recently, and this latest one takes the piss out of So You Think YouCan Dance and Take Me Out. It originally also included Celebrity Big Brother, but thanks to Channel 4 automaticallyblocking the video in the UK, I’ve had to upload a ‘lite’ version with just the other two shows. If you’re outside theUK, then there’s a link from it and you can see the whole thing from there.

CHARTS: Owl City vs Iyaz – Who got the new No.1…?

Check back shortly for the latest charts on themusic chart analysis page.

New DVD highlights out this week…

Once again, we look at a few titles in more detail.

The titles of note are the following, but read on for further details about the highlights:

• (500) Days of Summer (19.99 DVD, 28.99 Blu-ray, Fox)
• Creation (17.99 DVD, 24.99 Blu-ray, Icon)
• Doctor Who: Peladon Tales (29.99 DVD, BBC)
• Dorian Gray (17.99 DVD, 24.99 Blu-ray, Momentum)
• Fame Season 2 (34.99 DVD, Fox)
• Fright (15.99 DVD, Optimum)
• Funny People (19.99 DVD, 24.99 Blu-ray, Universal)
• Gamer (19.99 DVD, 24.99 Blu-ray, EIV)
• In Plain Sight Season 1 (24.99 DVD, Universal)
• It Might Get Loud (19.99 DVD, 24.99 Blu-ray, Universal)
• New Year’s Day Concert 2010 (15.99 DVD, Universal)
• Night Of The Comet (15.99 DVD, Optimum)
• Nip/Tuck Season 5 (49.99 DVD, Warner)
• A Perfect Getaway (15.99 DVD, 19.99 Blu-ray, Momentum)
• Suspiria (19.99 Blu-ray, Nouveaux Pictures)

Dorian Gray

Set in Victorian London, DORIAN GRAY tells the story of a handsome young gentleman who remains eternally young while a portrait of him grows old. Dorian Gray (Ben Barnes, THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA – PRINCE CASPIAN) is a handsome and charming young man whose obsession with his own physical beauty leads him to do some very ugly things. Having just arrived in London, he is keen to experience the seedy pleasures the city has to offer. However, concerned about the effects a life of hedonism might have upon his youthful looks, he enlists a painter to capture his likeness on canvas, wishing that the portrait suffer the ravages of time, while he remains eternally young. Such is his vanity that Dorian is willing to sacrifice his very soul in order to pervert the course of nature. An orgy of sin and debauchery ensues, led by the nefarious Lord Henry Wotton (Colin Firth, BRIDGET JONES’S DIARY), in whom Dorian naively places all his trust. When true love enters the frame, Dorian struggles to hide the secret behind his eternal youth and is forced to look deep within himself, beyond the shimmering surface, to re-discover his own humanity. But is the love of a good woman enough to wipe clean his many transgressions or has he fallen too far to be saved?

Oliver Parker has carved an impressive career out of directing stylish adaptations of the Oscar Wilde plays THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST and AN IDEAL HUSBAND, and now he continues his work with the reading-list favourite, THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY.

Dorian Gray

is out now on Blu-ray (£14.98) andDVD (£10.88).

(500) Days of Summer

Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel star in director Marc Webb’s wry, nonlinear romantic comedy about a man who falls head over heels for a woman who doesn’t believe in love. Mark (Gordon-Levitt) is an aspiring architect who currently earns his living as a greeting card writer. Upon encountering his boss’ beautiful new secretary, Summer (Deschanel), Mark discovers that the pair have plenty in common despite the fact that she’s seemingly out of his league; for starters, they both love the Smiths, and they’re both fans of surrealist artist Magritte.

Before long Mark is smitten. All he can think about is Summer. Mark believes deeply in the concept of soul mates, and he’s finally found his. Unfortunately for Mark, Summer sees true love as the stuff of fairy tales, and isn’t looking for romance. Undaunted and undeterred by his breezy lover’s casual stance on relationships, Mark summons all of his might and courage to pursue Summer and convince her that their love is real.

(500) Days of Summer is out now on Blu-ray (£16.88) andDVD (£11.98).

Doctor Who: Peladon Tales

Originally broadcast in 1972, THE PELADON TALES is a doubill of Doctor Who Episodes featuring Jon Pertwee as the Timelord. Includes: ‘The Curse Of Peladon’ and ‘The Monster Of Peladon’.

Doctor Who: Peladon Tales is out now on DVD (£11.88).

Gamer

After directing the frenzied CRANK, Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor helm another adrenaline-fuelled film with this thriller. 300’s Gerard Butler stars as Kable, a man living in a near-future dystopia driven by online games. Kable is the world’s best player at its biggest game, where players take control of real people, but the competition really begins when he tries to fight the system itself.

Gamer is out now on Blu-ray (£16.88) andDVD (£11.98).

January 15th:Indulge in Euro Disco Discharge on CD…

Before people shrieked ‘Disco is Dead’ and started burning 7” singles on the streets of America, the genre virtuallyruled the airwaves and dominated the dance floors around the world with upbeat tempo beats and happy-go-lucky lyrics.DVDfever.co.uk reviewer Elly Robertsdeclares it’s Saturday night fever… all over again!

Disco Discharge: Euro Discois online and out on CD now.

New films at this cinema this weekend…

Stuck for something to do this weekend? The list of films showing atManchester Showcase Cinema can be found on this page, and won’t differmuch from what’s on in the rest of the country.

The new films out include: Up In The Air, Book of Eli and All About Steve.

January 14th:Them Crooked Vultures: What Dave Grohl did next, on CD…

If Jack White pulled-off a masterstroke forming supergroup The Raconteurs, then Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl has matchedit with Them Crooked Vultures. It was top secret stuff and amazingly the media didn’t get a whiff.DVDfever.co.uk reviewer Elly Robertslets you in on the secret.

Them Crooked Vultures: Them Crooked Vulturesis online and out on CD now.

January 13th:Celebrate The King’s life with Elvis 75 on CD…

It’s hard to imagine. Elvis at 75. Theoretically, he would have been drawing his old-age pension, if there is such athing in America for retired musicians. Anyway, his spirit lives on with this scintillating 3-CD collection with 75tracks covering an incomparable career both with life-time hits and posthumous ones, making it the first majorPresley retrospective to cover the artist’s biggest hits in the UK.DVDfever.co.uk reviewer Elly Robertstakes a listen.

Elvis Presley: Elvis 75is online and out on CD now.

January 12th:CHARTS: Lady Gaga vs Iyaz – who got the New Year No.1…?

Check out themusic chart analysis pagewhich is online now.

The release dates for singles and albums go up until February 2010.

January 11th:Just what is, and how will Kurt Russell defeat, The Thing, on HD-DVD…

Out now:

I’d never seen The Thing before, despite it being many years old. It’s the winter of 1982 in Antarctica and somethinghas crash-landed onto Earth, but the residents of the U.S. Antarctica Research Program outpost have got more to worryabout first as a Norwegian helicopter has just landed, after taking pot-shots at their dog along the way. Something’scaused them to go completely mental, but what can it be? You will find out… slowly.

The Thingis online and out on HD-DVD now.

A classic new album from Steeleye Span on CD…

The enduring success of Steeleye Span is one of the great stories in folk-rock history. 40 years, 21 albums and 1legend, and one massive Christmas hit All Around My Hat, is how they currently stand.DVDfever.co.uk reviewer Elly Robertsconfirms that continuing to grow from strength-to-strength with Maddy Prior’s singing remaining one of the band’sattractions still, at the age of 62, Cogs… is a full-on folk-rock delight from an outfit well versed in deliveringthe goods.

Steeleye Span: Cogs, Wheels And Loversis online and out on CD now.

Youtube highlight: Mark Selby is interrupted by a duff PA system at the Masters…

Yes, he was just cueing up to take a shot and… the silence was broken by a deafening noise. Oh dear. However, he stillwent on to beat Ding 6-1.

CHARTS: Lady Gaga vs Iyaz – Who got the new No.1…?

Check back shortly for the latest charts on themusic chart analysis page.

New DVD highlights out this week…

Once again, we look at a few titles in more detail.

The titles of note are the following, but read on for further details about the highlights:

• Antichrist (15.99 DVD, 19.99 Blu-ray, Artificial Eye)
• Doctor Who: The Complete Specials (39.99 DVD, 49.99 Blu-ray, BBC)
• The Taking of Pelham 123 (19.99 DVD, 24.99 Blu-ray, Sony)
• Sorority Row (19.99 DVD, 24.99 Blu-ray, E1)
• Hustle Series 5 (24.99 DVD, 59.99 DVD, Warner)
• Law & Order: UK Series 1 (19.99 DVD, Universal)
• Last Action Hero (19.99 Blu-ray, Sony)
• Messiah: The Rapture (15.99 DVD, BBC)
• Wrong Turn 3 (15.99 DVD, 19.99 Series 1-3 DVD, Fox)

Doctor Who: The Complete Specials

This releases includes all the Doctor Who Specials from 2009: The Next Doctor, Planet of the Dead, Waters of Mars &The End of Time Parts 1 & 2.

In special packaging, this box set contains the following special features; Commentary with Cast & Crew, DeletedScenes, Exclusive David Tennant Video Diary, BBC Proms, Doctor Who Confidential.

Doctor Who: The Complete Specials

is out now on Blu-ray (£33.48) andDVD (£26.98).

The Taking of Pelham 123

John Godey’s 1973 novel The Taking of Pelham One Two Three boasts a suspense situation so surefire that even the directorial bad habits of Tony Scott can’t ruin this latest movie version. Four armed men seize a New York City subway train, isolate one car, and threaten to start killing passengers if a ransom isn’t paid within the hour. The ransom was a million dollars in the book and also in Joseph Sargent’s solid 1974 movie, in which Robert Shaw played the mercenary leading the hostage takers and Walter Matthau was the growling transit cop trying to outsmart him. In 2009, the title has gone digital–The Taking of Pelham 123–and inflation has jumped the asking price to $10 million. Where Shaw’s menace was steely, John Travolta opts for manic, and shamelessly has a blast in the master villain role. His adversary, cagily underplayed by Denzel Washington, has been upgraded in civil-service rank but also demoted on suspicion of taking a bribe. This colors the dynamics of the dialogue between Washington at his control-center console and Travolta on the motorman’s microphone aboard the stalled train.

So far, so reasonably good. But the director’s trademark tactics keep getting between, well, everything. From the get-go, the visuals are subjected to pointless and irritating stutter effects, speeding-up/slowing-down, gratuitous camera movement, and the interposition of dirt- or light-smeared panes of glass between the camera and people we’d appreciate a clear look at. The 1974 movie settled for one police car being wrecked as the ransom is rushed uptown; Scott requires multiple collisions, each the occasion for police cruisers taking Lethal Weapon-style flight. The hostages in the earlier film were wittily individuated, a multicultural group portrait of the city at that mid-’70s moment; the ones on Scott’s train–and also Travolta’s fellow perpetrators, including that wonderful character actor Luis Guzmán–barely register. On the upside, John Turturro and James Gandolfini shine as two guys who (like the actors themselves) are very good at their jobs—respectively playing a hostage negotiator and His Honour, the mayor. The screenplay by Brian Helgeland (L.A. Confidential, Mystic River) strives intelligently, if formulaically, to add new dimensions to the main characters and to offer its own gloss on the current economic meltdown

The Taking of Pelham 123 is out now on Blu-ray (£15.98) andDVD (£11.98).

Sorority Row

A group of Sorority sisters are sworn to trust, secrecy and solidarity no matter what. But their loyalty is tested when a prank goes terribly wrong and ends a brutal murder. Rather than confess to the crime, the girls agree to hide the bloody corpse and keep their secret forever. A year later, as they prepare to say goodbye to the house and each, the girls are confident their dark secret will remain buried, but does it?

Sorority Row is out now on Blu-ray (£14.98) andDVD (£11.88).

Hustle Series 5

One of the BBC’s most enduring and rightly-popular drama series, it’s to the credit of the writing team of Hustle that they continue to generate so many intriguing set-ups for its team of confidence tricksters to tackle. But with only one episode slightly below form in an-otherwise excellent series, the show remains one of the best contemporary dramas that the BBC produce.

The core set-up of Hustle is the same as before. There’s a gang of con artists, who continually get tempted by new scams and tricks, and are willing to travel the world to tackle them. Led by the likes of Adrian Lester (who returns after missing series four), Robert Glenister, the wonderful Robert Vaughn and new addition Kelly Adams, the Hustle crew also attract some welcome guest stars this time round. Bill Bailey, Tim McInnerny and Patrick Bergin are among the familiar faces that pop up.

The real stars of Hustle, though, are the tightly-plotted scams themselves, and there are some corkers in series five. We get, for instance, some malarkey with an MP, a bullion heist, a spider’s web and the weaker entry, involving a diamond necklace. For the bulk of the series, though, it’s great fun waiting for the rug to be pulled, and the run ends on a terrific high to lead us neatly towards the already-commissioned sixth season. Given the standards that Hustle predominantly maintains for series five, of which all six episodes are on this disc, that’s a very good thing.

Hustle Series 5 is out now on DVD (£14.98) andSeries 1-5 Boxset (£39.48).

January 8th:Press releases for new games and DVDs…

New press releases are online now for the following:

• (500) Days of Summer on DVD and Blu-ray
• Seth MacFarlane’s Cavalcade Of Cartoon Comedy on DVD
• Fame Season 2 on DVD

The latest press releasesare online now.

New films at this cinema this weekend…

Stuck for something to do this weekend? The list of films showing atManchester Showcase Cinema can be found on this page, and won’t differmuch from what’s on in the rest of the country.

The new films out include: Daybreakers, It’s Complicated and Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll.

January 7th:A double dose of Disco Discharge on CD…

Before people shrieked ‘Disco is Dead’ and started burning 7” singles on the streets of America, the genre virtuallyruled the airwaves and dominated the dance floors around the world with upbeat tempo beats and happy-go-lucky lyrics.DVDfever.co.uk reviewer Elly Robertsdeclares it’s Saturday night fever… all over again!

Disco Discharge: Disco Ladies and Classic Discois online and out on CD now.

January 6th:CHARTS: Joe McNobody vs Lady Gaga – who got the New Year No.1…?

Check out themusic chart analysis pagewhich is online now.

The release dates for singles and albums go up until February 2010.

January 4th 2010:What we all need is some Love, Actually, on Blu-ray…

Out now:

Richard Curtis’ debut directorial feature, and a rather enjoyable one while you’re watching it, although I did have somereservations following it. A cast of thousands (well, quite a lot) includes Hugh Grant, Colin Firth, Liam Neeson,Emma Thompson and Alan Rickman.

Love Actuallyis online and out on Blu-ray now.

The Nowhere Boy soundtrack really goes places on CD…

Popping out to the flicks around now? Why not try the biopic about a teenage legend – John Lennon. Nowhere Boy wasreleased on Boxing Day andDVDfever.co.uk reviewer Elly Robertscertainly recommends this 33-song soundtrack album.

Nowhere Boy OST: Various Artistsis online and out on CD now.

Youtube highlight: Susie Dent talks about the new decade on Breakfast…

She’s prim, she’s proper and she appear on Breakfast to talk about what we should call this new decade. “It’s a filler item”, says QI Producer and Chief Question Wrangler Piers Fletcher, who also appeared alongside.

CHARTS: Joe McNobody vs Lady Gaga – Who got the new No.1…?

Check back shortly for the latest charts on themusic chart analysis page.

New DVD highlights out this week…

Once again, we look at a few titles in more detail.

The titles of note are the following, but read on for further details about the highlights:

• Above Suspicion (16.99 DVD, Acorn)
• Agatha Christie’s Marple Series 4 (24.99 DVD, ITV)
• Beautiful People Series 2 (19.99 DVD, BBC)
• Cinema Paradiso (22.99 Blu-ray, Arrow)
• The Cove (19.99 DVD, E1)
• Criminal Justice Series 2 (19.99 DVD, BBC)
• Garrow’s Law (19.99 DVD, Acorn)
• Hamlet (David Tennant, 2009) (19.99 DVD, BBC)
• Not Forgotten (24.99 Blu-ray, Anchor Bay)

Hamlet

David Tennant stars in this Royal Shakespeare Company production.

The titular prince of Denmark, returns home to his family’s castle of Elsinore after years of attending school in Germany to find out his father has died and his uncle Claudius is the new king. To make matters worse, Claudius has married Hamlet’s mother, Queen Gertrude, whom he has unusually strong feelings for. Hamlet is visited by his father’s ghost, who asks him to seek revenge for his murder.

Hamlet

is out now on DVD (£15.88).

Beautiful People Series 2

Simon’s life growing up in 90s Reading is as crazy as ever as he continues to endure the barmy fantasies of his mum, Debbie, the Greenham Common nostalgia of blind Aunty Hayley, school bullies and the jibes of his sister, Shaznay/Ashlene. Luckily for Simon, his best friend Kylie shares his mission to escape suburbia and live amongst the glitz & glamour of ‘the beautiful people’.

Starring Luke Ward-Wilkinson, Olivia Colman, Meera Syal, Aidan McArdle, Sophie Ash, Layton Williams, Sarah Niles, Tameka Empson and Samuel Barnett, this gloriously camp, award-winning comedy returns with more fabulous adventures from a “glass-half-full teenage mincing machine with his hands well and truly in the air”.

With a colourful cocktail of flashbacks, musical numbers and fantasy sequences, each episode turns back time to explain how Simon became “the Crown Prince, well Queen, of International Window Dressing”. The 1998 Eurovision Song Contest is reborn; a water feature becomes the talk of the town and Simon’s parents are involved in four weddings and a crime reconstruction. Along the way there are “Gaybours”, an Enya impersonator, Elaine Paige, new uses for the Eiffel tower, a psychotic Brit Artist, Dana International, a dead hairdresser reborn, a faux French shopkeeper, Dannii Minogue and Simon’s first real love interest. Maybe ‘the beautiful people’ were closer to home than he thought?

Beautiful People Series 2 is out now on DVD (£9.98).

Garrow’s Law

Set in the Old Bailey of Georgian London, GARROW’S LAW is a legal period drama inspired by the true story of progressive barrister William Garrow. In a time when corruption was rift in the legal system, over-zealous bounty hunters keen on an easy payday would often accuse innocent people. Garrow fought against such injustice by pioneered the rigorous cross-examination of prosecution.

Andrew Buchan (CRANFORD) stars as the legal maverick, with Alun Armstrong (NEW TRICKS, LITTLE DORRIT) as his mentor John Southouse and Lyndsey Marshal (ROME) as Lady Sarah Hill, his forbidden love interest. The lavish four-part series uses real cases from the period, which adds a fascinating authenticity to the entertaining drama.

Garrow’s Law is out now on DVD (£65.88).

Criminal Justice Series 2

CRIMINAL JUSTICE is an engrossing, gritty drama about a woman charged with stabbing her barrister husband as he lay in bed. The officials investigating the case are in no doubt as to her guilt, though her motives are called into question. As she passes through the British legal system under constant scrutiny, the terrible consequences of her action become clear.

Criminal Justice Series 2 is out now on DVD (£11.98).

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