As Amateur begins, Isabelle (Isabelle Huppert) is a nun, sat in a coffee shop, writing pornography on her laptop to earn a living, much to the annoyance of the cafe owner - not because of her choice of profession, but because she spends all day in there while drinking hardly any coffee.

Meanwhile, Martin Donovan plays a man who wakes up in the street, with an injury to his neck, and not knowing who he is or how he got there. He meets up with Isabelle as he walks into the beverage emporium and they immediately strike up a conversation, which begins with their current predicaments and continues, later, with her asking the mystery man if he'd make love to her, which illicits the response:

Him: "But you don't even know my name."
Isabelle: "*You* don't even know your name."

And before long, after declaring she's a nymphomaniac,

he asks: "Have you ever had sex?"
Isabelle: "No."
Him: "How can you be a nymphomaniac if you've never had sex?"
Isabelle: "I'm choosy."

Sofia (Elina Löwensohn) is an adult movie star who thinks she's killed the mystery man, although she, of course, knows him as Thomas, but what is her deal, exactly? The reasons to all of these questions will become clear as the movie progresses, and because of that, Amateur is a film you can't really go into detail about because most of the entertainment comes from just watching it play out and seeing where it leads as Thomas tries to piece together what's happened.

There's a very theatrical performance from the two leads which is partly balletic and partly hilarious. And I particularly love the visual style, throughout, when there's often a conversation between two people, but only one of them is in shot at the time and the camera stays on that person, only bringing the other one into it, or changing to them, when it's strictly necessary. That's something I haven't seen before (apart from in the days of 1980s television when a Cinemascope film would get cropped to 4:3 and you'd only see one person anyway).

Add to that the wonderful lighting and you have a film that's a treat to watch.

The film is presented in 16:9, even though the original theatrical ratio was the slightly less wide 1.66:1 - shame they didn't pillarbox this slightly to get it exactly spot-on. In 1080p high definition, there's a slight amount of grain to the picture but nothing to worry about and could well be just down to how long ago it was filmed, and the fact it's a low-budget movie.

Soundwise, my amp says DTS, but IMDB tells me it's just Dolby Stereo. I don't recognise anything in particular happening in the rears, anyway.

There are only two extras on this disc:

Interviews (14:51): Q&As - with silent boards being in position of the questions - with Hal Hartley, talking about his reasons for making the film and various aspects around it; Martin Donovan, on playing a character with amnesia, working with Hal Hartley and working in New York; plus producer Ted Hope and Isabelle Huppert, Elina Löwensohn and Damian Young.

These were filmed at the time of it being made, so the footage is in 4:3 and looking very much of the era. There's only two chapters for all five interviews, so someone hasn't done their maths properly.

Professional Amateurs: The Making of Hal Hartley's Amateur (13:56): More chat from the cast and crew with a slight amount of on-set filming - albeit nothing major to get stuck into. Sadly, a lot of the chat seems to be what we've already heard in the interviews section, which is disappointing.

The menu features a small section of the incidental music over and over and there are no subtitles whatsoever which is a ridiculous omission these days.

Film: 8
Picture: 9
Sound: 7
Extras: 1

Get Lucky shows that Nile Rodgers has the power, once again, to produce one of the most incredible tunes you'll hear all year. This tune makes you feel energised and alive. More please!

Set in the late 1990s, Snowtown begins with 16-year-old Jamie Vlassakis (Lucas Pittaway) living a very disatisfying home life. It's bad enough that his parents are no longer together, but the man his Mum is seeing now is... well, on the surface he may appear to look after her kids, but while she's out, he takes disturbing pictures of them in their underwear.

Before too long, she finds out what's going on and reports him to the police. Knowing how to pull the wrong sort, she then meets Austrlia's most notorious serial killer, John Bunting (Daniel Henshall), who helps the lads chase the paedophile out of town.

This is a brutal and an uncompromising look at life in a backward small town.

We see John turning Jamie into a shaven-headed homophobic bully, even encouraging him shoot John's own dog as an attempt to make him grow some balls. John goes to to describe the potential torture of a paedophile as an `Australian tradition', and relates it to Anzac Day, where they "applaud those who killed and tortured a bunch of men who deserved it."

Daniel Henshall is incredibly chilling as John Bunting, and there's stand-out performances from him and Lucas Pittaway as Jamie. It also has tinges of Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, as you might expect given the subject matter, but I can't really go into detail without giving spoilers, other than some murders are more grisly than others because some are played more for what you *don't* see than what you do...

Overall, this is a slow burner, but once it all comes together, this is certainly a film worth watching.

Presented in 16:9 (1.77:1), the picture has no problems and does have a gritty look to it, but that's an intentional one to get across just what a grim place in which the film is set.

Audio-wise, the film is presented in DTS 5.1 HD Master Audio and there's some Wonderful bass from time to time, but in addition, the dialogue's audio is woeful. Everyone mumbles their words together, talk over each other, and without subtitles it's impossible to follow a lot of what's going on. And there are no subtitles on this release. If there's any way you can watch this with subtitles, then do so, as when you can follow what's going on, it is an exceptional piece of film-making.

The extras are as follows:

Deleted Scenes with commentary (17:43): Three of them, and the commentary is not optional, which is an oddity.

There are several scenes included here, which are interesting to see in addition to the main film, even if they wouldn't fit in the film as a whole.

3 deleted and extended scenes here, but nothing that demands to be put back in the film.

Original casting footage (8:49): Footage of Daniel Henshall, Louise Harris (Jamie's mother) and Lucas Pittaway. The first and last segments are worth a look.

The Snowtown Crimes (5:03): Text information about the case played to slo-mo shots of residents of Snowtown and eerie music in the background, making for a very weird but engaging extra.

Q&A (8:48): Kim Newman interviews Lucas Pittaway and director Justin Kurzel, with Justin having grown up near where the murders happened, and Lucas having grown up in the town itself. For the last two minutes, Lucas is replaced by composer Jed Kurzel.

Trailer (1:59): A good introduction to the film.

The menu mixes some stills with the chilling incidental music playing over and over.

As described earlier, there are no subtitles which is inexcusable, especially since the dialogue isn't at all clear. The chaptering is equally lacking with just 12 over the 120-minute running time.

Film: 8
Picture: 8
Sound: 8
Extras: 3

When I first heard about Clone, I thought it was going to be heading for the cinema.

After all, Eva Green`s a big name in Hollywood with films such as Casino Royale and Dark Shadows, while Matt Smith is one of the biggest stars on UK television at the moment, thanks to Doctor Who.

So, imagine my surprise when I find a lovely Blu-ray of the film turning up on my doorstep, and further investigation leading to its only cinema releases being in film conventions and the like. Matt Smith in the lead role would've secured it a high mainstream cinema audience. Hence, one can only imagine that it's... not going to be very good....

As the film begins, two young children, Tommy and Rebecca meet on the beach while she is staying with her grandfather, but after just a few days, she is off to go and live with her Mum who's taken a job in Tokyo. Sometimes a childhood love, of sorts, can stay with us, and as life gets pedestrian, we want to reclaim that lost feeling, so she heads back.

It's odd that when they meet, Rebecca declares that it's been just 12 years since they last saw each other, even though they were supposedly around 9 or 10 originally, and now, Eva Green is just over 30 and Matt Smith is heading there later this year.

Tommy, as a child, showed Rebecca his snail (which is not a euphemism), and commented on how taking him out of the green grass and setting him on a table must look like a different planet. This coincides quite nicely with the way that the seaside location in which they reside, where no other man seems to go, could effectively also be a different planet.

When they meet again, he's a member of a militant environmental activist group, who are about to take action against an organisation who, amongst other things, are involved in the cloning of domestic animals. The plans are all prepared but... when Thomas meets his untimely death, can she bring herself to put him through the cloning process and deal with what happens next? After all, there has to be remifications of all this.

That said, why should she have to live without him again?

What follows is an intriguing idea, but at nearly two hours long it's needs a good 20-30 mins chopping out of it as it really does drag.

And I could also pick holes in it, such as the fact that for a film which covers a period of 20 years or so, once Thomas is killed, how come they never made Eva Green appear to age? And how is she still using teh same laptop at the end of that period? Mine's four years old and it's slow as a tortoise!

Matt Smith is pretty much the same as he is in Doctor Who, often talking non-stop albeit not quite as manic, while Eva Green is fine but constantly plays her part like a startled rabbit trapped in the headlights, even though her character often has good reason to be.

The best thing I can say is that throughout the film, director Benedek Fliegauf brings us fantastic panoramic views of the beach and surrounding areas, yet while the location isn't defined in the film, making you assume, with everyone speaking English, that it's filmed somewhere off the South coast if England, it was actually shot in Northsea, Germany, mostly around St Peter-Ording and the islands of Langeneß and Sylt.

Presented in the original 2.35:1 theatrical ratio and in 1080p high definition, the picture is fine, but never looks like it's outstanding, as it's mostly a grim, seaside town picture. There's no problems with the picture, though.

The sound is in 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, for which I got the 5.1 DTS version and it's mostly dialogue and the sound of the sea crashing against the shore.

The extras are pretty thin on the ground and are as follows:

Inside Clone (22:44): A making-of documentary featuring chat from the cast and crew.

Trailer (1:42): Presented in the original 2.35:1 theatrical ratio. Originally entitled Womb, you can see it here:

The menu features film clips placed amongst bizarre animation such as the cast adorning shooting gallery targets to a short piece of the theme. There are subtitles in English only and it could do with a few more chapters at 18 over the 111-minute running time. I go by the rule of thumb of one every five minutes, taking into account one each for the opening and closing credits.

These extras are okay, but for such a major release I would've thought we'd get many more, especially as the sticker on the front proclaims: "Packed with hours of special features", although the bulk of these are clearly based on the score and audio description. We're also missing around 20 minutes of footage used on the US release entitled, X Marks The Spot, a series of mini-featurettes used as a feature-length picture-in-picture track, although only filling around a sixth of that time.

The menu features clips of the film set against the movie's theme. There are subtitles in English and 10 other languages and, thankfully, 20th Century Fox are one of the few distributors still putting a decent number of chapters into their Blu-rays and DVDs. This one has 32 over the 132-minute running time.

Film: 4
Picture: 8
Sound: 7
Extras: 2

As The Sitter begins, we see Noah Griffith (Jonah Hill) in the lap of luxury, literally, by going down on Maris (Ari Graynor), and after being given plenty of praise, he's disappointed to learn that she won't return the favour.

The bad luck continues when he gets home to find that in order to still allow his mum to go out for the evening, he has to replace a babysitter who's just cancelled for the Pedulla family. Cue a close-up on the breasts of Mrs Pedulla (Erin Daniels), as he goes in for a hug.

The first child he meets is Slater (Max Records), who says with conviction that, at 13, he can't babysit his siblings because his doctor confirms he has severe anxiety issues and cannot handle responsibility. He's then introduced to Blithe (Landry Bender), who wears far too much make-up and then sprays perfume in his mouth, and Rodrigo (Landry Bender), who the Pedullas recently adopted from El Salvador and who is a closet arsonist.

All of the kids need locking up, but just as he starts his babysitting shift, Maris calls and says she wants him to come to a fantastic party where, if he does, she'll promise him sex. Meanwhile, due to being arrested a while back for driving under the influence, the Pedullas ban him from driving their car. Still, there's only one way for him to get there and that'll mean he has to take the kids on what he calls, "a field trip".

Along the way he inadvertently causes a security alert in a clothes store, gets accused of being a paedophile, he loses Rodrigo, he attracts the wrath of a drug dealer,

There's a lot of very clever writing, whether it's amongst the madcap situations that take place, or even with Noah's heartfelt moments with the kids, that make it probably the closest thing we'll ever get to a John Hughes/John Candy film without either of them being around. I know that's a bold statement to make, and I didn't think I'd be saying it myself, but at times it does feel like the new Uncle Buck. It's also good to see that despite being centred around children, it doesn't hold back on the strong language.

Presented in the original 1.85:1 theatrical ratio and in 1080p high definition, the quality of the print is superb throughout with bold colours and no defects on the print.
For the record, I'm watching on a Panasonic 37″ Plasma screen via a Samsung BD-P1500 Blu-ray player.

Audio-wise, the film is presented in DTS 5.1 HD Master Audio and there's nothing particularly out of the ordinary as it's not a special FX film, but it does the necessary without any issues.

The extras are as follows, and while it looks like there's a lot, only a couple of them have any substance:

Deleted/Alternate/Extended Scenes (25:54): Ten of them here, and some of the extended ones play the film-based content for so long that
whatever's extended in it just disappears into it and there's not much that's great to watch.

Out of the clips included, I'd keep the first one and that's all. Later on, I'm sure that the deleted scene "Kids on the curb" is actually included in the film.

Gag reel (2:37): The cast corpse during filming.

Sits-n-giggles (3:03): The cast ad lib a lot.

For your consideration (1:01): Just a lot of noise from Landry Bender (Blythe). Quite pointless.

The Making of The Sitter (15:23): Chat from key cast and crew, with on-set filming.

Jonah the producer (4:59): He's one of the executive producers on the film, although that title could actually mean anything.

Theatrical trailer (2:11): Presented in 1.85:1. You can see it here:

The menu features clips of the film set against the movie's theme. There are subtitles in English and more additional languages than I can count, or even work out as each one is stated in their original language and I don't have an actual box that lists them all in English. My Blu-ray player tells me there are 31 selections!

Thankfully, 20th Century Fox are one of the few distributors still putting a decent number of chapters into their Blu-rays and DVDs. This one has 24 over the 87-minute running time.

Sadly, there are trailers shobed *before* the main menu, like the old days of rental video, and as such, I will not be listing them here. They should be in the extras menu.

Film: 9
Picture: 10
Sound: 7
Extras: 4

NOTE THAT THIS REVIEW ASSUMES YOU HAVE SEEN ALL OF SEASON ONE.

As the second season of Braquo begins, everyone from the team has been captured except Theo (Nicolas Duvauchelle), who is on the run through the forest and being shot at by the baddies, but soon ends up in hospital.

Yes, the bad cops are not Eddy Caplan (Jean-Hugues Anglade, below) and his team, but Internal Affairs' Roland Vogel (Geoffroy Thiebaut) and those on his side, for they have made a deal with the devil... well, Serge Lemoine (Alain Figlarz, bottom pic), to get their way.

No-one will get time to sit back and relax with an espresso, since before long, World War 3 seemingly breaks out in a suburban street with semi-automatic rifles being used between two warring sides. The reason? 400kg in gold ingots and the controlling thereof.

For such a serious case as this, and one that can cause big problems for the head honchos if it doesn't get solved, despite the fact that Eddy, Theo, Roxanne (Karole Rocher) and Walter (Joseph Malerba) have either been demoted, struck off the force or jailed, will those at the top find the situation is so severe that they need to be brought back together and re-hired in their original jobs?

Key characters - and it's a credit to the writers that they can juggle so many and they ALL remain memorable - include Gaëtan Merks (Pascal Demolon), a member of a team called The Invisibles, but what exactly did go down when these soldiers were out in Angola? Early on, there's references made to it, but you're itching for the full story to come out; Yannis Fahad (Farid Elouardi) is a sleazy solicitor who is one of many who wants Lemoine dead, for killing someone important to him; there's the grim-looking Madame Arifa (Annie Mercier) who looks like she's ready for the retirement home but is not one to be underestimated, and has two loyal sons by her side.

Atom Paradjanov (Arsène Jiroyan) is an Armenian who has his fingers in way too many pies; on the side of the law are General Fevre (Yann Babilee Keogh), the Head of Intelligence and his Deputy, Antoine Bleuvenne (Dimitri Rataud); but my favourite baddie is Colonel Dantin (Francois Levantal, below with Hubert Kounde), who looks like a cartoon bad-guy with his grey hair, chiselled jaw and dark glasses, and he's backed up by henchmen Jonas Luanda (Hubert Kounde) and Werner Blitch (Martial Bezot).

Season 2 feels even more stylishly shot than season 1. There was a two-year gap between seasons, but I'm watching this within a matter of weeks, given the Blu-ray release dates.

And it's difficult to write a review of a TV series without giving any key points away, but it's safe to say that at times, it reminds me of '24′ when it had very tightly-written episodes, albeit without the time element. If you enjoyed season one, then you know you'll be coming back for more, and if you haven't seen it, then make sure you watch that first because the story arc continues into this one.

I will quote one of my favourite lines from this season, when one character asks a prostitute to describe herself over the phone. In reply, she asks him how big his `tool' is. He replies, "My tool? When it comes out, Rocco Siffredi hides his in shame."

Braquo Season 2 is, quite simply, perfection continued.

Presented in the original 16:9 ratio, the picture perfectly captures the filthy-looking police station and the grim local streets of Paris, with the latter also being made to look stylish at times, given the direction.

The sound is in Dolby ProLogic and is fine for what it does, getting across the dialogue (even though I need the subtitles to understand it), assorted gunfire and plenty of atmosphere.

Sadly, there are no extras on this release, so technically the overall score loses points for that, but realistically, click on the packshot and you'll see you are getting eight episodes of quality entertainment for around £15 on Blu-ray, so there's no argument. Just buy it today!

The menu features static links to the four episodes on each of two discs, with the theme playing in the background, oddly with a slightly higher pitch.

Naturally, there are subtitles in English, which are burnt into the print, so if you are French and have bought this, you'll find you can't switch them off. Chapters are thin on the ground with just 6 per 50-minute episode.

Programme: 10
Picture: 10
Sound: 7
Extras: none

As the first season of Braquo, aka `Heist', begins, Farid Benaissa (Adrien Saint-Joré) is a prisoner denying that he and his friend raped a pregnant woman. He also refuses to give up his friend's name, so cop Max Rossi (Olivier Rabourdin) takes it out on him by stabbing him in the eye with a pen... and that was just the start.

Meanwhile, armed gunmen want a high-up civil servant to find out and tell them when and where a mutual friend will be when he arrives in Paris, otherwise they'll just release the very compromising photos they've taken of him in a set-up.

The powers that be want to make an example of Max because the bosses have been after him for ages. In fact, they're pretty much all dirty, corrupt cops who'll bend the rules to get the job done, such as keeping some of the money they find on Serge Lemoine (Alain Figlarz) when they arrest him.

Max is now disgraced, his widow will not get any of his pension and Benaissa is unlikely to change his story, so how do Eddy Caplan (Jean-Hugues Anglade) and his team turn things around?

How far will they cross the line to solve cases in their own, maverick way? And how will those at the top, who sniff that they're not exactly on the level, try to take them down? That probably sounds like two completely clichéd sentences, but it's a simple way of defining the boundaries between the cops who really should be all on the same side, and it's a wholly priceless piece of entertainment.

In addition, the cops have complex private lives which spill over into the job and all the characters are nicely fleshed out, the more you get into it. Other gripping storylines include trying to pay off a couple of gangsters known as The Hoffman Brothers with money and a portion of cocaine which originally came from another bust, and a gang who are going round stealing cashpoint machines.

Braquo features sharp writing which makes you even care about characters you've only just `met' and who have an engaging tale to tell even if they only have a short time onscreen. There's fantastic acting from the entire cast who manage to combine looking tired, fed up, bored & simply cool-as-flip, all in one moment. Finally, credit goes to the expert direction which just oozes atmosphere.

Presented in the original 16:9 ratio, the picture perfectly captures the filthy-looking police station and the grim local streets of Paris, with the latter also being made to look stylish at times, given the direction.

The sound is in Dolby ProLogic and is fine for what it does, getting across the dialogue (even though I need the subtitles to understand it), assorted gunfire and plenty of atmosphere.

Sadly, there are no extras on this release, so technically the overall score loses points for that, but realistically, click on the packshot and you'll see you are getting eight episodes of quality entertainment for around £15 on Blu-ray, so there's no argument. Just buy it today!

The menu features static links to the four episodes on each of two discs, with the theme playing in the background, oddly with a slightly higher pitch.

Naturally, there are subtitles in English, which are burnt into the print, so if you are French and have bought this, you'll find you can't switch them off. Chapters are thin on the ground with just 6 per 52-minute episode.

Programme: 10
Picture: 10
Sound: 7
Extras: none

The Second World War was a long and arduous time for the whole world back between 1939 to 1945, and it's all about to happen again.

The year is 2018 and the Nazis are still alive and are living on the dark side of the moon, and they're now planning to take over the Earth once again.

Iron Sky begins with two astronauts touching down on the moon for the first successful landing in many decades. As they begin to explore the surface, one walks too far and discovers a huge crater... containing a secret underground facility. Before he can take it all in, a Nazi pops up in a gasmask and plants a bullet in his head. This leaves James Washington (Christopher Kirby) as the only, and also the first black astronaut, left on the moon.

Naturally, he's captured and taken to the man who wants to be the new Fuhrer, Klaus Adler (Götz Otto), who in turn is in a relationship with schoolteacher Renate Richter (played by French hottie, Julia Dietze). Yes, a French woman playing a German one, even though she has a German surname. Confused? You won't be until after this week's episode of Soap!. Ermm...

So, having captured Washington, they use his mobile phone to combine with their very outdated technology to perfect a weapon against the Earth. Yes, a mobile phone is going to defeat the Earth completely, or rather it would if it didn't run out of power. Hence, Klaus Adler assumes command, going above the head of the current Fuhrer, Wolfgang Kortzfleisch (Udo Kier), and heads for our blue/green planet, with a view to get more mobiles and inadvenrtently end up taking over the campaign to get the President (Stephanie Paul, acting very Sarah Palin-esque) re-elected.

A couple of observations about Iron Sky: 17 minutes in, as the female President's campaign is going down the pan and her campaign manager Vivian Wagner (Peta Sergeant) needs to scream out loud, we get a spoof of the famous scene from Downfall which was also spoofed in a zillion Youtube memes.

There's also a great line from the trailer which is brilliant there, but sadly due to dodgy editing, it loses its impact in the film proper. After the President is informed that the baddies are Nazis, and they're from the moon, she says in a well-framed moment in the trailer: "S***, this just keeps getting better and better!", but in the film, she says those words while a befuddled Secretary of Defence looks on, thus ruining the impact of a great line.

The cast all do a decent job, with Wagner's outfits getting more and more outlandish as the film continues, but overall, while Iron Sky is a movie with one of my favourite trailers of the year and it has a fantastic premise, it's one which sadly doesn't pan out as far as you'd like.

It's also one of those films which has come out in the cinema on a Friday and gone straight to Blu-ray and DVD the following Monday. Having watched it, I can see why. It passes 90 minutes, but that's about it.

Presented in 2.35:1, the picture is sharp and detailed and does great justice to the immense amount of CGI on view.

Audio-wise, the film is presented in DTS 5.1 HD Master Audio and does a decent job of gunfire, special effects, etc. without being any kind of demo disc.

The extras are as follows:

Making Of (16:28): Lots of on-set work in progress footage, prior to the CGI being added in. There's a large selection of scenes so that's worth a watch for those who really enjoyed the film.

Promos: Five short clips from the film of around two minutes each. Not quite sure what these are for, really. I'd rather have deleted scenes.

Phooto Gallery (4:04): Nicely detailed images set to atmospheric music.

Teaser (1:45): Well, it does what it says on the tin but it's not a patch on the main trailer for the film.

Unfortunately, the presentation of the disc leaves a lot to be desired. The main menu is fine, with the film's incidental music playing over clips, but there are no subtitles - bar English ones during German dialogue - and a worst-I've-ever-seen-number-of-chapters with just TEN! And barely any extras either.

Film: 6
Picture: 10
Sound: 8
Extras: 2

As the first episode of The Bridge begins, the lights on the Øresund Bridge go out, a lone car stops and, 45 seconds later, it's off again.

A body is found slap bang in the middle of the divide between Sweden and Denmark. To complicate matters further, the body is in two halves and they're each not from the same person. The top half is Kerstin Ekwall, the Chairman of Malmö City Council in Sweden, while the lower half belongs to a Danish prostitute.

As the first episode steadily comes together, we find Danish family man, Martin Rohde (Kim Bodnia, who reminds me a bit of George Galloway) and Swedish single woman, Saga Norén (Sofia Helin) end up assigned to the case and are instantly at loggerheads when they close the road going over the bridge and a woman, Charlotte Söringer (Ellen Hillingsø) really needs to get through because her husband is in an ambulance and is due a heart swap operation imminently. Without it, he'll die, but wouldn't it technically contamine the crime scene?

Elsewhere in the first episode, there's a journalist, Daniel Ferbé (Christian Hillborg), who becomes involuntarily in contact with the killer and finds himself trapped in his black 4×4 with a bomb about to go off - a scene in which the tension is unmatched compared to a great deal of recent drama I have seen, when his own main car was used to dump the two body halves on the bridge. So, why should he have to suffer when someone else used his vehicle? Either way, Saga wants to ask him about one of the deceased as the second tick down. Is there any chance she can get him to calm down and help in his dying seconds? You'd like to think so, but her methods are cold and she is an emotionless person, compared to Martin's personality being very warm and inviting.

In fact, watching Martin and Saga try and work together, when they clearly don't get on, is like watching David Cameron and Nick Clegg trying to form a coalition government. Saga is very aloof and doesn't want to invite Martin in to her world and her thought process. She also practically *lives* in her office, with a ready supply of changes of tops in her drawer. As the two attempt to get on, they talk about the minituae of their lives and there's some very engaging writing here as the two leads spark off each other.

Elsewhere, when it's announced to the Swedish team that Martin and Saga will work together, one worker says, "Does he know that she's.... a bit odd?", to which the one announcing replies, "If not, he'll soon find out."

And when the police do hear from the bomber, the message is recorded using a distorted voice, threatening "interesting times" ahead. He wants to point out five problems with the world, starting with the curious words, "Unequal before the law". But what does it mean? And what will be the next ones?

I love the interplay between the two leads and also the way in which the writers bring in new characters who seem to have absolutely nothing to do with the plot, but as the episodes progress, you eventually realise the reason for their inclusion. In addition to Charlotte and her husband, there's Stefan Lindberg (Magnus Krepper, sporting a very '70s haircut and `tache) looking for his sister, Sonja (Maria Sundbom) and young emo Anja Björk (Fanny Ketter) searching for any family member who'll give a damn about her.

Presented in the original 16:9 ratio, the picture perfectly captures the grim and grey-looking Danish and Swedish suburbs, almost feeling a part of the 1970s just like Stefan Lindberg's dress sense.

The sound is in Dolby ProLogic and is fine for what it does, getting across the dialogue (even though I need the subtitles to understand it), plus plenty of atmosphere.

Sadly, there are no extras on this release, so technically the overall score loses points for that, but overall this is another quality drama well worth seeing.

The menu features links to the five episodes on each of the two discs, with the theme playing in the background and subtle animation of clouds on the background against the image of the bridge itself.

And yes, there's two discs in the package. The packshot says three, but there's only two.

Naturally, there are subtitles in English, which are burnt into the print, so if you are Danish/Swedish and have bought this, you'll find you can't switch them off. Chapters are thin on the ground with just 6 per 60-minute episode.

Programme: 10
Picture: 10
Sound: 7
Extras: none

A film about five friends going to a remote cabin In The Woods where bad things are going to happen. sounds like a well-worn idea, but that is most definitely not the case with this film.

Of course, you won't think that at the start when we're greeted with the not-yet-famous five who seem like a group of clichés, with blonde cheerleader Jules (Anna Hutchison), her best friend, the innocent virgin Dana (Kristen Connolly), Jules' sporty boyfriend Curt (Chris Hemsworth), their hippy, pot-smoking friend Marty (Fran Kranz) and, tagging along as a blind date for Dana, another sporty lad, Holden (Jesse Williams). But what lies beneath all this is something you'll have to watch the film to find out.

As they head for the titular cabin in the woods, we see government workers Richard Sitterson (Richard Jenkins) and Steve Hadley (Bradley Whitford) chatting about their days and what they plan to do after the weekend as they have to work, but where exactly do they fit in to all this?

Yes, it's not an easy film to review this because I can't give away what's about to happen as that would rob the film of its surprises.

Things start off fairly predictably, with the youngsters stopping off along the way to get some gas - or petrol - at a seemingly disused station that's run by a bloke who looks more creepy than a room full of spiders. However, we know we're about to explore the bizarre when, as their trailer drives through an underground stretch of road, an eagle tailing them tries to cross to the other side and... disintegrates when it hits a force field. (that bit's in the trailer so I can mention it!)

The cabin has a room with a gross portrait of slaughtered animals that's hiding a one-way mirror. As Marty (Fran Kranz) tells them that in pioneer days they had to make their own interrogation rooms, the guys and girls set off to find out whether there's more of those in the cabin, but they have a different audience...

And what is the story of the Ancient Ones? And who are the Buckner family?

Well, like I said, I can't say a lot, but suffice to say that I like the way the spooky opening credits crash straight into the movie when you think they're going to go on for a few minutes more to list the main cast.

However, despite the twist in the idea, it does take almost half the movie before it actually starts to deliver the goods. That said, when it does, BOY, does it deliver the goods! It's just a shame it takes so long to get to that point. They could easily have cut 10 mins or so out, even if it does only have a slim 95-minute running time to begin with.

And it's the twist that makes some of the grossness work better than normal thesedays, as it throws a unique slant on the slasher genre.

If I had any downsides about the disc, I had an issue with my review copy where, about 10 times during the film, there was a lengthy pause between scenes or camera angles.

Presented in the original 2.35:1 theatrical ratio and in 1080p high definition, the picture is sharp and detailed with no problems whatsoever, delivering perfectly all that you are about to witness (which I can't reveal!) For the record, I'm watching on a Panasonic 37″ Plasma screen via a Samsung BD-P1500 Blu-ray player.

As for the sound, this is in 7.1 DTS HD Master Audio, or DTS 5.1 for those, like me, without the full technical dohickey. It's an absolute treat from start to finish, especially with Wonderful subwoofer effects in the last third.

The extras are as follows and, unfortunately, there are no subtitles on them. ONLY read this segment AFTER you've watched the film:

BonusView: It's Not What You Think: This is one of those extras about the film with picture-in-picture mode, rather like an audio commentary but with some extra content from time to time. Worth it if you really want to see more about it. However, while there are 20 of these, the chapters just follow the film itself rather than chaptering the extra scenes and, for some reason, when viewing the film through my amplifier, I can only get the sound of the film even though I have `BonusView' mode on.
However, if I mute my amp and put my TV's volume up, which is taking the HDMI cable from the Blu-ray player, then I hear the BonusView content. Bizarre!

We Are Not Who We Are: Making The Cabin in the Woods (28:33): Comment from the cast and crew, starting with writer/director Drew Goddard and writer/producer Joss Whedon, with on-set footage mixed in. Drew tells us that while there are elements in the film for horror movie fans, you don't have to have watched oodles of horror films to make the most of what's in the film.

It's a great segment that tells you a lot that you need to know about the behind the scenes of the movie.

The Secret Secret Stash (13:07): Two segments here. One from Fran Kranz (Marty), talking about what gets his character high, and one from Joss Whedon where he gives us a brief tour of the cabin.

An Army of Nightmares: Make-up and Animatronic EffectsF (12:10): All of your worst nightmares come true as the special effects team summarise how they put together the monsters that appear onscreen, a lot of which were not made using CGI. This is a wonderful supplemental for getting a proper look at some of the baddies that just flash by during the film proper.

Primal Terror Visual Effects (12:07): A segment about only using CGI when they really had to, to keep the horror as real as possible.

Wonder Con Q&A (27:30): Convention time and a Q&A featuring Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon.

DTS Sound Check: A way to check if all 7 speakers are functional... I have just five, though.

Audio commentary: with writer/director Drew Goddard and writer/producer Joss Whedon.

The menu mixes clips of film with a short piece of the theme.

There are subtitles in English only and the chaptering really isn't enough with a mere 16 over the 95-minute running time.

Film: 8
Picture: 10
Sound: 10
Extras: 7