Blu-ray

David Cronenberg steps away from the world of body horror for a more ‘classy’ and cerebral kind of cinema with this study of the formative years of psychoanalysis. While this may disappoint some fans, those with a more open mind will find a fascinating movie powered by Keira Knightley’s ferocious performance as the disturbed young woman who falls under the spell of Michael Fassbender’s Carl Jung.

While it’s hardly the next Slap Shot, there’s still plenty of fun to be had with this crass comedy about a good-natured, but dim-witted oaf (Seann William Scott) whose brawling skills land him a spot as an ‘enforcer’ on an ice hockey team.

This sequel to Guy Ritchie’s successful 2009 cinematic reinvention of Conan Doyle’s ‘consulting detective’ finds Holmes (Robert Downey Jr) and Watson (Jude Law) joining forces with Gypsy fortune-teller Simza (Noomi Rapace) to foil the nefarious plans of master criminal Professor Moriarty (Jared Harris).

Universal appears to be throttling back a little on its fondness for digital filtering if this latest catalogue release is any indication. While there are still signs of artificial smoothing in the AVC 1.85:1 1080p hi-def transfer, there’s also plenty of grain and fine detailing on show.

A century after he first appeared in print, Edgar Rice Burroughs’ sci-fi hero has finally made the leap to the silver screen. Unfortunately, despite all of its flashy CG wizardry, John Carter can’t help but feel vaguely old-fashioned.

New York cop John McClane (Bruce Willis) just doesn’t seem to be able to catch a break. He spent Christmas 1988 dealing with terrorists holding his wife and other workers hostage in an LA office. Two years later his Christmas was ruined by mercenaries taking control of Washington’s Dulles Airport. No wonder that by 1995 he’d become a washed-up alcoholic, coaxed back in to action by a nutter with a vendetta against him. And then in 2007 he quit swearing and turned into a virtual superhero, surfing on the back of a jet in his quest to foil a computer hacker.

The glory days of the film noir were long gone by the time director Roman Polanski joined forces with screenwriter Robert Towne in 1973 to craft a gripping thriller about corruption, deceit and murder in ‘30s Los Angeles. The film they concocted became one of the defining movies of the genre – a remarkable thriller powered by astonishing performances and themes that still resonate today. Cinema rarely gets much better than this.