The Month’s Top U.K. Releases: August 2010

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Released 2nd August:

Shelter:

Format: Blu-ray/DVD

Classification: 15

Stars: Julianne Moore (Chole), Jonathan Rhys Meyers (The Tudors), Jeffrey DeMunn (The Mist), Nathan Corddry (The Ugly Truth)

A supernatural psychodrama about a psychologist who doesn’t believe in multiple personality disorder, but comes face-to-face with a patient who’s behavior cannot be explained by any other means, and whose personalities perfectly mirror those of recent murder victims.

Shutter Island:

Format: Blu-ray/DVD

Classification: 15

Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio (Inception), Mark Ruffalo (Date Night), Ben Kingsley (Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time), Max Von Sydow (Robin Hood)

A United States Marshall enters the remote mental institute on Shutter Island to search for a missing patient; but gets more than he bargained for as every piece of information contradicts the last, and the staff are clearly hiding a truth that’s not only shocking, but may be better left hidden.

Read the Blu-ray review online here.

Released 9th August:

Psycho, and Psycho: 50th Anniversary Special Edition Steelbook

Format: Blu-ray

Classification: 15

Stars: Anthony Perkins (Murder on the Orient Express), Vera Miles (The Last Summer), John Gavin (Spartacus), Janet Leigh (The Manchurian Candidate, 1962)

Widely recognized as one of the most influential films in movie history, Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho tells the story of an unsuspecting victim who enters the Bates Motel, and instantly becomes the focus of one of cinema’s most notorious psychopaths; Norman Bates.

Released 16th August

Centurion

Format: Blu-ray/DVD

Classification: 15

Stars: Michael Fassbender (Inglorious Basterds), Dominic West (The Wire), Olga Kurylenko (Quantum of Solace), Noel Clarke (Dr. Who)

After being ordered into Scotland to defeat the Picts, the Roman Army’s Ninth Legion disappeared without a trace, and has never been fully explained, as not a single member of the three thousand troops returned alive. Centurion is the story of the battles the legion may have faced, and the trails that  may have led them to abandon their empire.

Whip It!

Format: Blu-ray/DVD

Classification: 12

Stars: Ellen Page (Juno), Drew Barrymore (Scream), Marcia Gay Harden (The Mist), Kristen Wiig (Forgetting Sarah Marshall)

Ex-beauty pageant contestant Bliss decides to leave behind her crowns and join a local roller-derby team; much to the dismay of her mother, who would rather she don a dress and step back in front of the judges; and seeks the wisdom of a rowdy mentor named Malice, who’s willing to teach her the tricks of the circuit track.

Sons of Anarchy: Season Two, and Seasons 1 & 2

Format: DVD

Classification: 15

Stars: Ron Perlman (Hellboy), Charlie Hunnam (Children of Men), Mark Boone Junior (Batman Begins), Katey Sagal (Married With Children)

After being stung by an ATF crackdown, and an unprovoked murder, the outlaws bikers that make up the Sons of Anarchy face a deadly threat from an enemy who will stop at nothing to drive them from their home town, and face a leadership struggle that threatens to split the group from the inside out.

Dexter: The Complete Third Season, and Dexter: Seasons One-Three

Format: DVD

Classification: 18

Stars: Michael C. Hall (Gamer), Jennifer Carpenter (The Exorcism of Emily Rose), Julie Benz (The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day), David Zayas (Oz)

Family man, and blood-spatter analyst Dexter Morgan moonlights as a serial killer; but only kills those who deserve punishment; but now his every-man facade is becoming more and more difficult to uphold, as he is drawn into a deadly game with a wannabe serial killer who’s just as dangerous as him.

That ‘70s Show: Complete Seasons 1-8 Box Set

Format: DVD

Classification: 12

Stars: Aston Kutcher (The Butterfly Effect), Mila Kunis (Family Guy), Danny Masterson (Yes Man), Topher Grace (Predators)

Set in the time of 8-tracks, Farrah Fawcett (Charlie’s Angels) posters, and flares, That ‘70s Show is the sitcom set in the decade that style and taste forgot; where Eric Forman is too cool for the Wisconsin suburbs in which he lives, and strives for some independence from his parents Red and Kitty.

Released 31st August

Hot Tub Time Machine

Format: Blu-ray/DVD

Classification: 15

Stars: John Cusack (2012), Clark Duke (Kick-Ass), Craig Robinson (The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard), Rob Corddry (Semi-Pro)

After a night of heavy drinking and partying in a ski-resort hot tub, four friends who are bored with their lives suddenly wake up with a giant hangover, only to find themselves in 1986; giving them the chance they’ve always wanted to change their lives, and their futures, for the better.

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Matt Wheeldon is the Founder, and Editor in Chief of Good Film Guide. He still refers to the cinema as "the pictures", and has what some would describe as a misguided appreciation for Waterworld.