DVD/BLU-RAY DVD OF THE WEEK

Calvary

Cert 15, 101 mins, Entertainment One, Thriller/Drama/Comedy/Romance, also available to buy DVD £17.99/Blu-ray £19.99

Starring: Brendan Gleeson, Kelly Reilly, Dylan Moran, Chris O'Dowd, Orla O'Rourke, Isaach De Bankole, Aiden Gillen, M Emmet Walsh.

Father James Lavelle (Brendan Gleeson) sits quietly in the confession booth as an anonymous male parishioner confides that he intends to exact revenge for abuse suffered in childhood at the hands of a holy man.

"There's no point in killing a bad priest," the confessor observes. "I'm going to kill you because you're innocent."

Thus, Father James is instructed to put his affairs in order before his date with destiny on the local beach.

"Killing a priest on a Sunday - that'll be a good one," concludes the parishioner.

With the clock ticking, Father Lavelle searches for glimmers of hope in the eyes of his wayward flock including the scheming laird (Dylan Moran), the butcher (Chris O'Dowd) whose adulterous wife (Orla O'Rourke) is engaged in a violent tryst with a garage mechanic (Isaach De Bankole), and his own daughter (Kelly Reilly).

Calvary is a wicked black comedy that contrives a murder mystery before the heinous crime has been committed.

Building on incendiary themes in his 2011 debut The Guard, writer-director John Michael McDonagh delivers an accomplished portrait of an insular world marinading in depravity and regret.

He populates the wind-swept locations with a memorable band of misfits and degenerates.

Gleeson delivers a towering performance as a vessel of God, who may pay the ultimate price for another man's sins.

He relishes the meaty dialogue and enjoys some fractious exchanges with the locals.

Tension cranks up, reaching a crescendo as Father James takes the lonely walk down to the beach to discover his destiny as angry waves crash onto golden sands.

Rating: ****

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Divergent

Cert 12, 139 mins, Entertainment One, Sci-Fi/Action/Thriller/Romance, also available to buy DVD £17.99/Blu-ray £19.99

Starring: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Kate Winslet, Miles Teller, Zoe Kravitz, Christian Madsen, Ben Lloyd-Hughes, Ansel Elgort, Maggie Q, Tony Goldwyn, Ashley Judd.

Futuristic Chicago is divided into five factions - Abnegation, Amity, Candor, Dauntless and Erudite - which exemplify positive aspects of the human personality: selflessness, cordiality, honesty, intelligence and courage.

On a specific day each year, sixteen-year-olds undergo an aptitude test that reveals their destiny.

Beatrice Prior (Shailene Woodley) takes that test but the results are inconclusive. Tori (Maggie Q), who administers the procedure behind closed doors, tells the teenager that she is a Divergent.

Beatrice must hide her status because Divergents threaten the finely balanced system and are being hunted by Jeanine Matthews (Kate Winslet), strident leader of Erudite.

When the time comes to choose her destiny, Beatrice opts for Dauntless and begins rigorous training under hunky instructor Four (Theo James), flanked by three new friends: Christina (Zoe Kravitz), Al (Christian Madsen) and Will (Ben Lloyd-Hughes).

Adapted from the opening book of Veronica Roth's bestselling trilogy for young adults, Divergent is a rites of passage story baked to a similar recipe as The Hunger Games.

Neil Burger's film feels a smidgen light on exposition and character development but Woodley is terrific and she catalyses smouldering on-screen chemistry with James. Winslet sinks her pearly whites into her first villainous role with gusto.

Dutch music producer Junkie XL is an inspired choice to compose the soundtrack and provides the film with a strong, electronic pulse that perfectly fits the futuristic setting.

A slow-burning romantic subplot ensures teenage viewers will swoon as the heroine suffers exquisite pangs of first love, while a tub-thumping denouement sets the scene for the next two instalments in the story.

Rating: ****

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Muppets Most Wanted

Cert U, 113 mins, Disney DVD, Family/Comedy/Musical/Romance, also available to buy DVD £15.99/6-Movie Collection DVD Box Set £34.99/Blu-ray £20.99/6-Movie Collection Blu-ray Box Set £39.99

Starring: Ricky Gervais, Tina Fey, Ty Burrell and the voices of Steve Whitmire, Eric Jacobson, Dave Goelz, Matt Vogel, Peter Linz.

The world's most deadly criminal, Constantine (voiced by Matt Vogel), who bears an uncanny resemblance to Kermit (Steve Whitmire) except for a facial mole and strong eastern European accent, escapes from Gulag 38B in Siberia.

Commander Nadya (Tina Fey) and her men give chase and mistakenly apprehend Kermit, believing him to be the amphibian mastermind.

While Kermit languishes behind bars, Constantine poses as The Muppets' leader to orchestrate a series of daring robberies with the help of his second in command, Dominic Badguy (Ricky Gervais).

Miss Piggy (Eric Jacobson), Gonzo (Dave Goelz), Fozzie Bear (Jacobson again) and the gang don't notice their beloved green ringmaster has been replaced by an impostor.

They embark on a world tour that takes them from Berlin to Madrid, Dublin and London ("home of the Crown Jewels... and good manners").

Thankfully, Kermit has a daring plan to escape and expose the diabolical doppelganger.

Muppets Most Wanted doesn't quite scale the dizzy comedic heights of the first film but the sequel harnesses some of the same zany energy including original compositions by Bret McKenzie from Flight Of The Conchords.

The New Zealand-born comedian and musician delights with his pithy wordsmithery including a rousing opening number featuring Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga that declares, "We're doing a sequel, the studio wants more/While they wait for Tom Hanks to do Toy Story 4!"

Director James Bobin doesn't tarry on gaping holes in the narrative or flimsy sub-plots like Miss Piggy's desire to make an honest frog out of Kermit, and hopes we'll do the same with grins on our faces.

A six-disc box set comprising The Muppet Movie, The Great Muppet Caper, The Muppet Christmas Carol, Muppet Treasure Island, The Muppets and Muppets Most Wanted is also available.

Rating: ***

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The Raid 2

Cert 18, 150 mins, Entertainment One, Action/Thriller, also available to buy DVD £17.99/2 Film Collection DVD Box Set £19.99/Blu-ray £19.99

Starring: Iko Uwais, Arifin Putra, Alex Abbad, Tio Pakusadewo, Cok Simbara, Julie Estelle, Very Tri Yulisman, Cecep Arif Rahman.

Rookie cop Rama (Iko Uwais) barely survives the ascent of a 15-storey Jakarta tower block riddled with criminals and degenerates.

Before he can catch his breath, Rama is interrogated by Bunawar (Cok Simbara), head of an anti-corruption task force, which is dedicated to weeding out bad apples in the force.

"There's no such thing as a clean war in this world," explains Bunawar before he outlines his master plan: to send Rama deep undercover in prison to befriend Uco (Arifin Putra), the son of local kingpin Bangun (Tio Pakusadewo).

If Rama can get close to Uco, he can infiltrate Bangun's criminal network and bring it down from the inside.

Thus Rama cuts himself off from his wife and child and adopts a new guise behind bars to impress his target.

Meanwhile, power-hungry rival Bejo (Alex Abbad) sets in motion a cunning plan to take control of the city.

The Raid 2 unfolds in the immediate aftermath of the first film, bludgeoning us into exhausted submission with its action sequences including some ferocious interludes involving the aptly named Hammer Girl (Julie Estelle) and Baseball Bat Man (Very Tri Yulisman), and a wince-inducing fight in a mud-slathered prison yard.

You quickly lose count of the number of crushed craniums as Uwais cuts a swathe through crowds of heavily armed henchmen and meets his match in a lethal assassin (Cecep Arif Rahman).

The violence and sadism are unrelenting and the body count is astronomical.

Regrettably, the twists and turns of the somewhat impenetrable plot are even more dizzying than writer-director Gareth Evans' camerawork.

A two-disc DVD set comprising The Raid and the sequel is also available.

Rating: ***

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NEW TO BUY ON DVD/BLU-RAY

Batman: Assault On Arkham

Cert 15, 76 mins, Warner Home Video, DVD £9.99/Blu-ray £15.99, Animation/Action

The Caped Crusader swings into action to face some of his classic adversaries in this feature-length animated adventure directed by Jay Olivia and Ethan Spaulding.

Amanda Waller (voiced by CCH Pounder) joins forces with Harley Quinn (Hynden Walch) to form the Suicide Squad.

They intend to gather vital information from the Riddler (Matthew Gray Gubler) by breaking into Arkham Asylum.

In the process, Amanda and Harley accidentally release Joker (Troy Baker) back into Gotham and the maniacal madman goes on the rampage.

Batman (Kevin Conroy) races against time to repair the damage.

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Railways Of The Great War With Michael Portillo

Cert E, 150 mins, Fremantle Home Entertainment, DVD £15.99, Documentary

In this fascinating five-part BBC Two documentary, former Conservative politician Michael Portillo visits railway locations in Belgium, France, Great Britain and Luxembourg, which played a pivotal role in the outcome of the First World War.

During each programme, Portillo discusses the importance of railways in moving soldiers, guns and machinery to the frontlines and he evaluates this contribution in the context of the Allied victory.

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Chinese Zodiac

Cert 12, 118 mins, Universal Pictures (UK) Ltd, DVD £12.99/Blu-ray £15.99, Action/Adventure

A martial arts expert embarks on a globe-trotting adventure in this action-packed romp directed by and starring Jackie Chan, who also co-wrote the script.

Wealthy entrepreneurial art dealer Lawrence (Oliver Platt) hires professional thief Asian Hawk (Chan) to track down 12 mythical bronze heads that were pilfered from China during the 19th-century Opium Wars.

Hawk accepts the perilous mission, which takes him from France to the South Pacific.

En route, he faces cunning and gymnastic rivals, who have hidden the bronze heads from prying eyes for generations.

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The Unknown Known

Cert E, 103 mins, Dogwoof, DVD £14.99, Documentary

Academy Award-winning director Errol Morris is well known for his meticulous portraits of men behind the headlines including The Fog Of War: Eleven Lessons From The Life Of Robert S McNamara and Mr Death: The Rise And Fall Of Fred A Leuchter, Jr.

In this latest documentary, Morris shines the spotlight on Donald Rumsfeld, who served as George W Bush's secretary of defence and was instrumental in the Iraq War.

The film delves into almost 50 years of memos written by Rumsfeld during his years of service in Congress, the White House, in business and at the Pentagon, examining pivotal moments in history from a unique perspective.

As Rumsfeld discusses this vast paper trail, he takes the audience behind the web of words to discuss his fears and concerns as the man who transformed America and changed the course of his country's history.

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The Cabin

Cert 18, 84 mins, Lace DVD, DVD £15.99, Horror/Thriller

Brett Ethos (Matt Thompson is a priest-in-training, who seriously questions his faith after he learns his bloodline has close connections to the forces of evil.

To clear his head and escape the pressures of his studies, Brett heads into the wilderness to a cabin that belongs to his family.

In his absence, Brett's friends make a chilling discovery about his heritage and they come to the blood-curdling conclusion that the aspiring holy man might have unwittingly walked into a trap.

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Soulmate

Cert 15, 104 mins, Soda Pictures, DVD £15.99, Thriller/Drama)

Audrey (Anna Waltontragically loses her husband and struggles to keep her spirits up.

So she decides to move far away from painful memories of the past to a new life in the countryside. Audrey moves into a cosy cottage in the middle of nowhere and quickly senses that she might not be alone.

In fact, the cottage is haunted and Anna strikes up an unlikely and unusual friendship with the resident ghost, who helps her to come to terms with her heartbreak in this supernatural mystery written and directed by Axelle Carolyn.

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The 400 Blows

Cert PG, 95 mins, Artificial Eye, DVD £15.99/Blu-ray £19.99, Drama

Re-release of Francois Truffaut's 1959 New Wave classic revolving around alienated 12-year-old Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Leaud), who feels unloved by his mother and stepfather and unduly terrorised by his teacher at school.

So he bunks off lessons with a friend and seeks fulfilment in cinemas and at the fairground.

Eventually, Antoine is expelled and the tyke must learn to survive on the streets, trapped in a vicious circle of crime and punishment that will carry him all the way to a juvenile detention centre.

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Dawn Of The Dragonslayer II

Cert 15, 88 mins, Starz, DVD £12.99/2 Film DVD Set £15.99/Blu-ray £15.99, Fantasy/Action/Adventure/Romance

Anne K Black directs this straight-to-DVD sequel to her 2011 fantasy set in a time of fire-breathing beasts and valiant warriors.

Young noblewoman Ellen Barethon (Amy De Bhrun) is protected from the harsh reality of life outside her castle walls until her aunt is murdered en route to a secret rendezvous with their deposed King.

The monarch entreats Ellen to locate a priceless relic that could restore the kingdom to its former glory.

Money-grabbing smuggler Aedin (David Haydn) is Ellen's unlikely ally on this life-or-death mission, which pits the noblewoman against the diabolical Corvus (Tim Treloar), who needs the relic to plunge the land into eternal darkness.

A two-disc set comprising the original Dawn Of The Dragonslayer and the sequel is also available.

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Perez Hilton Access All Areas: Enrique Iglesias

Cert E, 45 mins, IMC Vision, DVD £11.99, Documentary

Following tributes to Lady Gaga and Kelly Rowlands, renowned blogger and gossip columnist Hilton gains a unique insight to the life and career of Spanish singer-songwriter Enrique Iglesias in this episode of his ITV2 reality show.

Perez travels with the showman to the iconic Staples Center in Los Angeles, where Iglesias will perform for 20,000 people.

En route, the presenter delves into his subject's past, gaining a better understanding of the trials and tribulations of a life conducted largely in the glare of the media spotlight.

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Wax

Cert 15, 88 mins, Metrodome Distribution, DVD £12.99, Horror/Thriller

A tenacious journalist gets more than he bargained for when he accepts a spooky assignment in this horror directed by Victor Matellano.

Mike (Jimmy Shaw) agrees to spend a night alone in a popular waxwork museum in Barcelona, which includes a chamber of horrors that houses the figure of convicted murderer Dr Knox.

To document his night in the building, Mike sets up cameras in each room.

The assignment takes a sinister turn when Jimmy hears the real Dr Knox (Jack Taylor) has escaped from prison and is on the loose.

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TOP 10 DVD RETAIL

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9. Sunshine On Leith 

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Chart supplied by Amazon.co.uk/DVD

TOP 10 DVD RENTAL

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8. Guardians Of The Galaxy

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Chart supplied by Amazon.co.uk/DVD

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Chart supplied by Amazon.co.uk/DVD