DVD & Blu-ray reviews

The Five-Year Engagement (15) Nicholas Stoller, DVD/Blu-ray (124mins) ****

Things are going swimmingly for Tom (Jason Segel), a flourishing San Francisco chef engaged to lovely Violet (Emily Blunt), until his fiancée is offered a place on a social psychology course in Michigan and loyal Tom has to drop his job, leave his pal (Chris Pratt) and endure icy hicksville. While Violet blossoms at university and flirts with her unctuous lecturer (Rhys Ifans), Tom ends up hunting deer and growing an unsightly beard. Their relationship duly unravels. This is that rare thing, an intelligent, engaging and funny romantic comedy. Alison Brie (below) co-stars.

Your Sister's Sister (15) Lynn Shelton DVD/Blu-ray (90mins) ***

("I'm emotionally allergic to butter," snaps vegan Hannah at her sister, Iris (Emily Blunt, again), in Lynn Shelton's verbose and witty three-hander. Iris has instructed her messed-up pal, Jack (Mark Duplass), to stay at her remote cottage. He promptly goes, meets Iris's sister Hannah (Rosemarie DeWitt), they sink a bottle of tequila together and have a very brief sexual liaison. The next morning Iris arrives and matters becoming a tad embarrassing. The drama benefits from two solid performances and an excellent one (DeWitt), and a sharp script.

ET on Blu-ray (PG) Steven Spielberg Blu-ray (110mins) *****

A lonely Californian boy strikes up a friendship with a botanist from out of town (space) in Spielberg's simplest, loveliest masterpiece (above). Henry Thomas plays the smart, alienated Elliott who unearths ET in the woods, takes him home, feeds him and connects with the warm-hearted creature. Every scene works here but the beautiful, and, yes, heartbreaking, ending takes some beating. "I don't know how to feel; I can't feel anything anymore. I love you, ET..." Blub.

The Uninvited (PG) Lewis Allen DVD/Blu-ray (95mins) ****

If it wasn't for the jaunty music and injections of humour, Lewis Allen's 1944 chiller would be markedly more terrifying. A brother (Ray Milland) and sister (Ruth Hussey) flee from London to a Cornish mansion, which is a steal at a knocked-down price. There's a reason for that. The previous owner met her demise of a clifftop at the end of the garden and continues to haunt the gaff. A hugely influential delight.

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