Listmania!
SLIPPED THRU THE NET 4 - DVDs You Haven't Seen, But Should!
Love Letter, The [DVD] [1999]Love Letter, The [DVD] [1999]
Buy used from: £1.82
Loblolly is a mellow New England town, until an unaddressed "love letter" is read by several inhabitants who all believe it to be from their local fancies. Has a wonderful twist in it's charming tail.
Death To Smoochy [DVD] [2002]Death To Smoochy [DVD] [2002]
Buy used from: £5.00
Robin Williams' anarchic genius is given full vent in this children's TV corruption tale. Wads of good one-liners, amazingly crude, honest, fresh & ball-breakingly funny to the end.
Mystery Alaska [DVD] [1999]Mystery Alaska [DVD] [1999]
Buy new: £3.98 / Used from: £3.11
Mystery in Alaska has an ice-skating team headed up by Crowe that's proud of its "never beaten on the pond" track record. Until someone brings in National TV & The Big League. A great little film.
Levity [DVD] [2003]Levity [DVD] [2003]
Buy used from: £3.99
Billy Bob Thornton is out on bail, having stared up at a picture of a young life he cut short. Morgan Freeman's snowy shelter offers him a bed. Real film about forgiveness, when it's hard to find any.
Prime Gig [DVD] [2000]Prime Gig [DVD] [2000]
Buy new: £4.98 / Used from: £1.09
Ed Harris heads up this clever film about phone sharks duping money from suckers; but maybe the sucker isn't the one receiving the call, but Vince Vaughan making it...
Thirteen Days [DVD] [2001]Thirteen Days [DVD] [2001]
Buy new: £3.98 / Used from: £2.38
Bruce Greenwood & Steven Culp could actually be mistaken for the Kennedy brothers in this Cuban Missile crisis re-enactment, and as global war looms, Costner shines as their level-headed advisor.
Matchstick Men [2003] [DVD]Matchstick Men [2003] [DVD]
Buy new: £3.88 / Used from: £0.94
Another stunning "is it a con/is it not a con" movie with Cage and Rockwell fantastic in the leads. A very clever story and Ridley Scott directing top material.
The House Of Mirth [DVD] [2000]The House Of Mirth [DVD] [2000]
Buy used from: £4.74
One must conform, one must not break social rules...Gillian Anderson is superb as the stiffled lady trying to get through the minefield of early century New York high society. Beautifully filmed too.
Under The Tuscan Sun [DVD] [2004]Under The Tuscan Sun [DVD] [2004]
Buy new: £4.98 / Used from: £3.75
Cliched, but it so works, mostly because of Diane Lane's loveliness & believability, the Italian views, the Euro male crumpet, Sandra Oh & Lindsay Duncan's "La Dolca Vita" scene stealing!
The Closet [DVD] [2001]The Closet [DVD] [2001]
Buy new: £5.98 / Used from: £4.47
Daniel Auteuil, nervous accountant for French condom-makers, hears that his job (and therefore life) are under threat. On advice, he starts saying he's gay to avoid redundancy. Not very good advice...
Identity [DVD] [2003]Identity [DVD] [2003]
Buy used from: £0.59
Ten unrelated people are holed up in a hotel & start to die one by one; whose the Norman Bates among them & why? Chilling and unnerving, with a crafty twist.
The Criminal [2001] [DVD] [2000]The Criminal [2001] [DVD] [2000]
Buy used from: £0.74
Superb British actor Stephen Mackintosh (Land Girls, Lock Stock) is caught up in murder and city ganglands, hampered by copper Bernard Hill & snitch Eddie Izzard. A very good but overlooked thriller.
HollywoodLand [DVD] [2006]HollywoodLand [DVD] [2006]
Buy new: £3.98 / Used from: £0.89
Brody, a jaundiced & weary gumshoe, investigates the apparent suicide of Ben Affleck, TV's beloved Superman. Diane Lane and Bob Hoskins keep their traps shut. Very LA Confidential, very, very good.
Murder In The First [DVD] [1995]Murder In The First [DVD] [1995]
Buy new: £2.98 / Used from: £1.80
Kevin Bacon is fantastic as the tortured prison inmate being interviewed by Christian Slater who is skeptical of Gary Oldman's kindness as a warden. An overlooked gem.
Indian Summer [DVD]Indian Summer [DVD]
Buy new: £3.98 / Used from: £1.99
A lovely and nostaligic look at "summer camps" and the great outdoors as 8 friends relive their teenage years. Some are happy, some screwed up. The reunion changes them all.
Session 9 [DVD] [2001]Session 9 [DVD] [2001]
Buy new: £6.98 / Used from: £5.49
A huge State Mental hospital is being cleaned by a crew who each hear voices from Session 9 telling them to commit unspeakable murders. I don't like horror flicks, but this was brilliant & unnerving.
The Score [DVD] [2001]The Score [DVD] [2001]
Buy new: £3.98 / Used from: £3.00
Clever-dick robber Edward Norton tells master-thief De Niro of a heist that is too sweet to be true. It is. Marlon Brando gives a rare but typically superb support performance.
The Majestic [DVD] [2002]The Majestic [DVD] [2002]
Buy new: £2.98 / Used from: £0.67
Carrey crashes his car and wakes in a small town not knowing how he is; they do, he's Landau's son, a soldier home from war. Together they rebuild the town's neon cinema "The Majestic". A lovely film.
The Replacements [DVD] [2000]The Replacements [DVD] [2000]
Buy new: £3.18 / Used from: £1.56
Embittered Keanu is given no option but to coach a losing football team; turns them around. Hardly original, but better than most sports-as-saviour films because Hackman & Co make you care about them.
Manchurian Candidate, The [DVD] [2004]Manchurian Candidate, The [DVD] [2004]
Buy new: £4.28 / Used from: £0.01
Schrieber as Presidential Candidate does pretty much what scheming ruthlessly ambitious mummy (brilliant Streep) tells him to do; or is it her voice that's in his head? Good remake of the '62 classic.
Beautiful Girls [DVD] [1996]Beautiful Girls [DVD] [1996]
Buy new: £3.98 / Used from: £2.98
Timothy Hutton's lippy but innocent chit-chats with an enamoured Natalie Portman (just 13) is one of the sweet & infectious highlights in this 'town-guys-&-gals-discuss-relationships-in-a-bar' movie.
The Insider [DVD] [2000]The Insider [DVD] [2000]
Buy new: £3.98 / Used from: £2.45
You've probably seen this and if you haven't you should! Crowe plays conscientious Wygand, a Tobacco Industry "insider" who can't stand their unethical practices & lies any more. The whole cast rocks.
Mean Machine [2001] [DVD]Mean Machine [2001] [DVD]
Buy new: £4.88 / Used from: £0.71
Disgraced footballer Vinnie Jones is told by Hemmings his prison governor to organise an inmates-vs-screws 'fair' football game. Jason Stratham, David Lynch - all great. A likeable & funny film.
This Year's Love [DVD] [1999]This Year's Love [DVD] [1999]
Buy new: £4.88 / Used from: £2.30
The fab Kathy Burke singing David Gray's "Shine" while Jamie Foreman looks adoringly on and Ian Hart watches time go backwards - is just one of the many highlights in this Camden relationships movie.
You Can Count On Me [DVD] [2001]You Can Count On Me [DVD] [2001]
Buy new: £3.98 / Used from: £1.75
Young Linney & Ruffalo are left orphans when a car crash takes away their beloved and steadying parents; now in their 30's their lives are co-dependent messes in different worlds. Such a good film.