Nicolas Winding Refn's <em>Drive</em>--a pulp fairytale about a driver struggling to protect an optionless family--has deep cinematic roots that run through the canon of existential noir from the '60s onwards, borrowing the central characterization of Walter Hill's <em>The Driver</em>, the professional code of Jean-Pierre Melville's <em>The Samurai</em> and the palette and pace of Michael Mann's <em>Heat</em>. Ryan Gosling has formidable presence as the un-named hero: a classic celluloid stranger whose eyes give away everything his controlled dialogue tries to conceal. He makes fair money as an in-demand getaway driver with a legit career in stunt-driving and racing ahead of him. But when a protective relationship is struck with a coping mother (Carey Mulligan) and her young son (Kaden Leos) he breaks his own rules to help her backslider husband with one last heist. Sure enough, nothing goes according to plan--and the driver must lay down a trail of retribution, attitude and scorched rubber to shake off a brutal entanglement with the mob. Gosling's depiction of heroic cool is flawless, as are supporting performances from <em>Mad Men</em>'s Christina Hendricks as a trashy moll, Albert Brooks as a dangerous investor and Ron Perlman as the demonic gangster pulling the narrative strings. The cinematography of Newton Thomas Sigel (<em>The Usual Suspects</em>) also gives Los Angeles a hip starring role: the shots of Gosling racing his 1973 Chevrolet Malibu along LA's concrete riverbed--or just rolling it around the sodium-tinted backstreets--make franchise concepts like <em>The Fast and The Furious</em> look suspiciously like nerd territory. <em>--Leo Batchelor</em>

<strong>Please note this is a region B Blu-ray and will require a region B or region free Blu-ray player in order to play.</strong>



<strong>Please note this is a region 2 DVD and will require a region 2 or region free DVD player in order to play.</strong>



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<strong>Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy</strong> finds George Smiley (Gary Oldman), a recently retired MI6 agent, doing his best to adjust to a life outside the secret service. However, when a disgraced agent reappears with information concerning a mole at the heart of the service, Smiley is drawn back into the murky field of espionage. Tasked with investigating which of his trusted former colleagues has chosen to betray him and their country, Smiley narrows his search to four suspects - all experienced, skilled and successful agents - but past histories, rivalries and friendships make it far from easy to pinpoint the man who is eating away at the heart of the British establishment.<br /><br /> An acting masterclass from the crème de la crème of British film (Colin Firth, The King's Speech; Tom Hardy, Inception; Mark Strong, Kick Ass; Benedict Cumberbatch, Sherlock Holmes) and inspired direction from Let The Right One In's Tomas Alfredson make this gripping and tense adaptation of John le Carré's classic spy novel essential viewing.

It’s hard to see just where the Alien Anthology Blu-ray boxset could have been improved. Nominally a collection of the four main films in the franchise, what’s actually been bundled together here is one of the finest DVD or Blu-ray boxsets to date, boasting a series of features that genuinely go into a lot of depth about the movies themselves.

And what movies they are. Alien and Aliens are both exceptional pieces of cinema, and rightly regarded as classics in their own right. Alien 3 , meanwhile, has to be classed as an interesting and muddled failure, yet it’s still got a lot to like about it. Alien: Resurrection ? It’s perhaps the least ambitious of the four films, but in the early stages at least, it’s still with merit.

Each of the films is presently strongly, surprising given the variable DVD versions of each we’ve seen to date. But it’s the mammoth package of extras that set a template for pretty much every other Blu-ray boxset on the market. Spread across six discs, you not only get two cuts of each film, but you get extra features that are as impressive as they comprehensive. Presented brilliantly, it’s an unmissable box set, and you get at least two all-time classics as part of it. -- Jon Foster

<strong>Please note this is a region B Blu-ray and will require a region B or region free Blu-ray player in order to play.</strong>



<strong>Please note this is a region 2 DVD and will require a region 2 or region free DVD player in order to play.</strong>



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<strong>Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy</strong> finds George Smiley (Gary Oldman), a recently retired MI6 agent, doing his best to adjust to a life outside the secret service. However, when a disgraced agent reappears with information concerning a mole at the heart of the service, Smiley is drawn back into the murky field of espionage. Tasked with investigating which of his trusted former colleagues has chosen to betray him and their country, Smiley narrows his search to four suspects - all experienced, skilled and successful agents - but past histories, rivalries and friendships make it far from easy to pinpoint the man who is eating away at the heart of the British establishment.<br /><br /> An acting masterclass from the crème de la crème of British film (Colin Firth, The King's Speech; Tom Hardy, Inception; Mark Strong, Kick Ass; Benedict Cumberbatch, Sherlock Holmes) and inspired direction from Let The Right One In's Tomas Alfredson make this gripping and tense adaptation of John le Carré's classic spy novel essential viewing.

In the wake of Guy Ritchie's re-imagining, the BBC puts its own stamp on Arthur Conan Doyle's sleuth--and sets him in a London filled with cell phones and laptops. In the pilot, director Paul McGuigan (a keen visual stylist) introduces Sherlock Holmes (<em>Atonement</em>'s Benedict Cumberbatch) as a"high-functioning sociopath" and Dr. John Watson (<em>The Office</em>'s Martin Freeman) as an army veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder. Through a mutual friend, the two become flatmates at 221B Baker Street (Una Stubbs plays their landlady). Holmes, who consults with Scotland Yard inspector Lestrade (Rupert Graves) on his trickier cases, drafts Watson to assist him. <div class="productDescriptionWrapper">

In"Study in Pink," four people commit suicide by poison. When Holmes sets out to establish a link, he falls right into the culprit's clutches. Other cases concern a smuggling operation ("The Blind Banker") and a mad bomber ("The Great Game"). Though he doesn't make a formal entrance until episode 3, Sherlock's archenemy, Moriarty (Andrew Scott), has a hand in each mystery, while the detective's brother, Mycroft (co-creator Mark Gatiss), first appears when he tries to hire Watson as a spy, an offer the good doctor refuses. Through his job at a medical office, Watson also meets Sarah (Zoe Telford), who becomes his girlfriend.



Part of the fun of Jeremy Brett's Holmes (and <em>Agatha Christie's Poirot</em>) came from the period details, so this update takes a little getting used to--as does the occasional mumbled line--but Cumberbatch and Freeman share an enjoyable <em>Odd Couple</em> rapport, marked by flashes of deadpan wit, which compensates for the absence of deerstalker caps (Holmes favors scarves) and journals (Watson maintains a website). Extras include commentary on the finale, the original pilot, and a featurette, in which co-creator Steven Moffat (<em>Doctor Who</em>) notes that Cumberbatch was his only choice for the title role. <em>--Kathleen C. Fennessy</em>

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From the first spell to the final battle! The entire eight-film Harry Potter collection is now available for you to own.



<br /> Join Harry, Hermione and Ron from their first year at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone all the way through to Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2. In the epic finale, the battle between the good and evil forces of the wizarding world escalates into an all-out war. The stakes have never been higher and no one is safe. But it is Harry Potter who may be called upon to make the ultimate sacrifice as he draws closer to the climactic showdown with Lord Voldemort.<br /><br /> It all starts and ends here.<br /><br /> Titles Comprise:<br /><br /> Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone (2001)<br /> Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets (2002)<br /> Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban (2004)<br /> Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire (2005)<br /> Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix (2007)<br /> Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince (2009)<br /> Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010)<br /> Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)<br /><br /><strong>Special Features</strong>



<br /><strong>Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince</strong><br /> Create your own Picture-in-Picture commentary<br /> J.K. Rowling: A Year in the Life<br /> Cast members guide to moviemaking<br /> What's on your mind? - Q & A with cast/crew<br /> One-Minute Drills - Cast members sum up their characters



<br /><strong>Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1</strong><br /> The Last Days of Privet Drive - Maximum Movie Mode<br /> Hagrid's Motorbike - Maximum Movie Mode<br /> Death Eaters Attack Cafe - Maximum Movie Mode<br /> Creating Dobby and Kreacher - Maximum Movie Mode<br /> Magical Tents! - Maximum Movie Mode<br /> The Return of Griphook - Maximum

<em>The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1</em> delivers strongly for the rabid fan base who have catapulted the young adult novel series and subsequent movie adaptations to the worldwide phenomenon that it's become, but it alienates a broader audience with a lack of any real action. Similar to the tone of <em>Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1</em>, the first film of the two-part <em>Twilight</em> conclusion is heavy on romance, love, and turmoil but light on fight scenes and gruesome battles. The movie doesn't waste any time getting to the goods and opens with Bella and Edward's much-hyped wedding scene. It works--the vows are efficient and first-time franchise director Bill Condon (<em>Dreamgirls</em>) moves the party along quickly and amusingly with a well-edited toast scene and some surprisingly moving moments between Bella and her father, cast standout Billy Burke. The honeymoon plays as a slightly awkward soft-focus made-for-TV movie, with a lot of long moments spent staring in the mirror and some love scenes that feel at once overly intimate and completely passionless. It's a relief when Bella retches on a bite of chicken she's cooked herself and quickly concludes she's pregnant with a potentially demonic baby. From bliss to horror, the Cullens return to Forks, where Bella spends the second half of the movie wasting away and Edward and Jacob are aligned in their anger and frustration over her decision. Throw in some over-the-top scenes with Jacob and his pack--including a strange showdown where the wolves communicate in their canine form by having a passionate nonverbal fight in their minds (a plot point that works much better in print, it's portrayed in the film via aggressive voice-over)--and the film overshoots intensity and goes straight to silly. The birth scene is horrific, but not as gruesome as in the book, and by the end, Bella has of course survived, though is much altered. The final scene features a delightfully campy Michael Sheen as Volturi leader Aro and makes it clear that the action and fun in <em>Breaking Dawn - Part 1</em> is ready to start. Fans will just have to wait until <em>Part 2</em> to get it. --Kira Canny

The good news is, Dr. Watson does get married. The bad news is, Sherlock Holmes throws his bride off a moving train. Actually, there's even worse news than that--but all will be explained in <em>Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows</em>, the sequel to Guy Ritchie's 2009 hit. Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law return to their roles as Holmes and Watson, as the duo take on the world's greatest criminal mind, Professor Moriarty (Jared Harris), a man whose latest scheme has global implications. Sherlockians who prefer their consulting detective to remain in a traditional mode had best look the other way, for the sequel continues Ritchie's vision of Holmes as a hard-punching action hero hurtling through a barrage of special effects sequences. If you can go with that, <em>A Game of Shadows</em> actually improves on the first film: the story makes a little more sense (or possibly the whole thing moves so smoothly you don't notice the illogic), Harris is a delicious villain, and new cast members Noomi Rapace (from the Swedish <em>Girl with the Dragon Tattoo</em> series) and Stephen Fry (playing Sherlock's brother Mycroft, who calls his sibling"Sherlie") add appeal. It's all frivolous and superficial, but the film's playful attitude and breathless forward motion are skillfully managed--and the final note adds just the right punctuation. <em>--Robert Horton</em>

When Bryan Singer brought Marvel's X-Men to the big screen, Magneto and Professor X were elder statesmen, but Matthew Vaughn (<em>Kick-Ass</em>) travels back in time to present an origin story--and an alternate version of history. While Charles Xavier (Laurence Belcher) grows up privileged in New York, Erik Lehnsherr (Bill Milner) grows up underprivileged in Poland. As children, the mind-reading Charles finds a friend in the shape-shifting Raven (Jennifer Lawrence) and Erik finds an enemy in Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon), an energy-absorbing Nazi scientist who treats the metal-bending lad like a lab rat. By 1962, Charles (James McAvoy) has become a swaggering genetics professor and Erik (Michael Fassbender, McAvoy's <em>Band of Brothers</em> costar) has become a brooding agent of revenge. CIA agent Moira (Rose Byrne) brings the two together to work for Division X. With the help of MIB (Oliver Platt) and Hank (<em>A Single Man's </em>Nicholas Hoult), they seek out other mutants, while fending off Shaw and Emma Frost (<em>Mad Men's</em> January Jones), who try to recruit them for more nefarious ends, leading to a showdown in Cuba between the United States and the Soviet Union, the good and bad mutants, and Charles and Erik, whose goals have begun to diverge. Throughout, Vaughn crisscrosses the globe, piles on the visual effects, and juices the action with a rousing score, but it's the actors who make the biggest impression as McAvoy and Fassbender prove themselves worthy successors to Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen. The movie comes alive whenever they take centre stage, and dies a little when they don't. For the most part, though, Vaughn does right by playing up the James Bond parallels and acknowledging the debt to producer Bryan Singer through a couple of clever cameos. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Still the most expensive movie ever made, Cleopatra nearly bankrupted 20th Century Fox. It also scandalised the world with the very public affair of its two major stars, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. But Joseph L Mankiewicz's 1963 epic deserves to be remembered for more than its off-screen troubles. An extravagantly elaborate production, the sets and costumes alone are awe-inspiring; Mankiewicz's own literate screenplay draws heavily on the classics and Shakespeare; while the supporting cast, led by Rex Harrison as Caesar and Roddy McDowall as his nephew (and future emperor) Octavian, are all first-rate thespians and generally put in more convincing performances than either of the two leads.

Mankiewicz's original intention was to make two three-hour films: the first being Caesar and Cleopatra , the second Antony and Cleopatra . But before the film's completion, and following a boardroom coup worthy of Ancient Rome itself, legendary mogul Darryl F Zanuck took back control of Fox and insisted that Cleopatra be cut to a more economical length. A heartbroken Mankiewicz was forced to trim his six-hour vision down to four. This was the"roadshow" version shown at the film's premiere and now restored here for the first time. Then following adverse criticism and pressure from cinema chains Zanuck demanded more cuts, and the final released version ran a mere three hours--half the original length.

Capitalising on the feverish publicity surrounding Burton and Taylor, the shortened version played up both their on- and off-screen romance. This longer four-hour roadshow version allows for a broader view of the film, adding some depth to the politics and manipulation of the characters. But the director's original six-hour edit has been lost. Perhaps one day it will be rediscovered in the vaults and Mankiewicz's much-maligned movie will finally be seen the way it was meant to be. Until then, Cleopatra remains an epic curiosity rather than the complete spectacle it should be.

On the DVD: this handsome three-disc set spreads the restored four-hour print of the movie across two discs. The anamorphic widescreen print looks quite magnificent and Alex North's wondrous score comes up like new in Dolby 5.1 sound. There's a patchy and only intermittently revealing commentary from Chris Mankiewicz, Tom Mankiewicz, Martin Landau and Jack Brodsky. Much better is the comprehensive two-hour documentary that occupies disc three, which tells in hair-raising detail the extraordinary story of a film production that became totally out of control. This is accompanied by some short archival material, but the documentary alone is a compelling reason to acquire this set. -- Mark Walker