Internet Crime and What You Can Do to Protect Yourself

The internet has gone a long way to increasing opportunities for people with disabilities. Today, one does not even need to leave the home to purchase a television, furniture or even a wheelchair. Websites like eBay, Craigslist and Amazon have made it extremely easy for anyone to make a purchase over the internet. So easy in fact that many individuals do not consider the possibility of a fraudulent transaction. However, it does happen. According to the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), it received 206,884 complaint submissions for the year 2007. Just slightly lower (by 0.3%) than the year before, which was 207,492.

IC3 reports that 90,008 complaints of crime to federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies around the country for further consideration. The majority of cases referred alleged fraud and involved a financial loss on the part of the person making the complaint. The total dollar amount lost from these cases was $239.09 million with a median dollar loss of $680.00 per complaint. This was an increase from $198.44 million in total reported losses in 2006. Therefore, although the number of cases reported went down slightly, the actual cost to the person who suffers a lost went up.

The WC3 Statistical Breakdown
Perpetrators were predominantly male (75.8%) and half resided in one of the following states: California, Florida, New York, Texas, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Georgia. The majority of reported perpetrators were from the United States. However, a significant number of perpetrators also were located in United Kingdom, Nigeria, Canada, Romania, and Italy.

Among complainants, 57.6% were male, nearly half were between the ages of 30 and 50 and one-third resided in one of the four most populated states: California, Florida, Texas, and New York. While most were from the United States, IC3 received a number of complaints from Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, India, and Mexico.

Males complainants lost more money than females (ratio of $1.67 to every $1.00 lost per female). This may be a function of both online purchasing differences by gender and the type of fraudulent schemes by which the individuals were victimized.
Electronic mail (e-mail) (73.6%) and web pages (32.7%) were the two primary mechanisms by which the fraudulent contact took place.

The Agency claims that recent high activity scams in 2007 were those involving pets, checks, spam, and online dating sites, all of which have proven effective as criminal devices in the hands of fraudsters.

Who is WC3?
The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) is a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C), and the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA).

IC3's mission is to serve as a vehicle to receive, develop, and refer criminal complaints regarding the rapidly expanding arena of cyber crime. The IC3 gives the victims of cyber crime a convenient and easy-to-use reporting mechanism that alerts authorities of suspected criminal or civil violations. For law enforcement and regulatory agencies at the federal, state, local and international level, IC3 provides a central referral mechanism for complaints involving Internet related crimes

How do I file a complaint?

IC3 accepts online Internet crime complaints from either the person who believes they were defrauded or from a third party to the complainant. We can best process your complaint if we receive accurate and complete information from you. Therefore, we request that you provide the following information when filing a complaint:

- Your name
- Your mailing address
- Your telephone number
- The name, address, telephone number, and Web address, if available, of the individual or organization you believe defrauded you.

Specific details on how, why, and when you believe you were defrauded. Any other relevant information you believe is necessary to support your complaint.

File a Complaint at http://www.ic3.gov

Note The Following:

• Because IC3 is a partnership the proccesed complaints are forwarded to Federal, State, Local and International law enforcement agencies for action.
• It is at the discretion of receiving agency as to what type of action to take.
• Filing a complaint with IC3 does not mean that your credit card companies or banks have been notified of fradulent charges. It is your responsibility to notify your credit card company or bank directly.
• IC3 does not guarantee that information submitted to authorities on your behalf will remain confidential. The state that it depends on the State or Local laws.

Read the Companion Article to this one, "Tips to Avoiding Internet Scammers" on our home page http://www.thisabled.com

Javier Robles, J.D. is the founder and creator of ThisAbled, LLC and himself a person with a disability. A long time advocate of disability rights, he lobbied congress for passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. He is a graduate of Seton Hall Law School and during his school years started numerous college groups for people with disabilities at Rutgers University and at the Law School. Currently he works as Deputy Director of the New Jersey Division of Disability Services. As a C-5 Tetraplegic for 25 years Mr. Robles understands the need for a society that is inclusive of people with disabilities. For the past ten years he has been involved in New Jersey's efforts to change the employment infrastructure for people with disabilities. Through this national movement to change employment outcomes under the Work Incentives Act of 1999, Mr. Robles has guided statewide change to decrease unemployment. For more articles, comics, blogs, or podcast visit http://www.thisabled.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Javier_Roble


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The Hole [DVD]

The Hole [DVD] [2001] review

Amazon.co.uk Review
Despite copious swearing and a corporate rock soundtrack, The Hole might, more appropriately, have begun with a title sequence of silhouettes cavorting in front of a fiery backdrop; it owes far more to Tales of the Unexpected than the slick US teen movies (I Know What You Did Last Summer, The Faculty) it tries so hard to imitate. This British horror flick displays the same cheap production values as the 1970's series, but rather than staying within the confines of a half-hour TV slot, The Hole stretches its thin, but promising, premise over 90 minutes.

Based on Guy Burt’s novel, the story follows three rich kids from an exclusive English boarding school who avoid their school field trip by hiding out in an underground bunker. Liz (a suitably embarrassed Thora Birch) tags along for the ride in the hope that she may consummate her crush on Mike Steel (Desmond Harrington), the school's resident American hipster. They are then left imprisoned, which should be the cue for The Breakfast Club Goes Insane but isn’t, as director Nick Hamm eschews the straightforward in favour of clumsy flashbacks and contrived plot twists, robbing the film of any tension or shock and turning it into a tiresome stretch in the company of four very disagreeable stereotypes.

The Hole is a witless movie, entirely lacking the self-referential humour and technical skill of its better American counterparts. If you want classic British horror, try Peeping Tom or The Wicker Man instead. The Hole is a movie that may be set deep underground, but ultimately it’s a very shallow experience.

On the DVD: the extras add nothing to this movie. The theatrical trailer and widescreen 2.35:1 ratio come as standard. Of the nine deleted scenes the original coda for the end of the movie is the only one worth seeing purely because it is so ludicrous. Director Hamm's po-faced commentary sheds little illumination into this deep, dark hole. --Tom Nash

DVD Description
DVD Special Features:

Theatrical Trailer
Teaser Trailer
Deleted Scenes
Directors Commentary
Filmographies

Synopsis
This moody psychological thriller stars Thora Birch (AMERICAN BEAUTY, GHOST WORLD) as a lovelorn teenager whose obsession with the coolest guy in school leads to trouble. The film's strange events involve an ominous underground bunker.

The Hole [DVD] [2001] Directed by Nick Hamm Price: £4.93 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Delivery. Details Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk 56 new or used available from £0.38 Average customer review:

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The Hole [DVD]

The Hole [DVD] [2001] review

Amazon.co.uk Review
Despite copious swearing and a corporate rock soundtrack, The Hole might, more appropriately, have begun with a title sequence of silhouettes cavorting in front of a fiery backdrop; it owes far more to Tales of the Unexpected than the slick US teen movies (I Know What You Did Last Summer, The Faculty) it tries so hard to imitate. This British horror flick displays the same cheap production values as the 1970's series, but rather than staying within the confines of a half-hour TV slot, The Hole stretches its thin, but promising, premise over 90 minutes.

Based on Guy Burt’s novel, the story follows three rich kids from an exclusive English boarding school who avoid their school field trip by hiding out in an underground bunker. Liz (a suitably embarrassed Thora Birch) tags along for the ride in the hope that she may consummate her crush on Mike Steel (Desmond Harrington), the school's resident American hipster. They are then left imprisoned, which should be the cue for The Breakfast Club Goes Insane but isn’t, as director Nick Hamm eschews the straightforward in favour of clumsy flashbacks and contrived plot twists, robbing the film of any tension or shock and turning it into a tiresome stretch in the company of four very disagreeable stereotypes.

The Hole is a witless movie, entirely lacking the self-referential humour and technical skill of its better American counterparts. If you want classic British horror, try Peeping Tom or The Wicker Man instead. The Hole is a movie that may be set deep underground, but ultimately it’s a very shallow experience.

On the DVD: the extras add nothing to this movie. The theatrical trailer and widescreen 2.35:1 ratio come as standard. Of the nine deleted scenes the original coda for the end of the movie is the only one worth seeing purely because it is so ludicrous. Director Hamm's po-faced commentary sheds little illumination into this deep, dark hole. --Tom Nash

DVD Description
DVD Special Features:

Theatrical Trailer
Teaser Trailer
Deleted Scenes
Directors Commentary
Filmographies

Synopsis
This moody psychological thriller stars Thora Birch (AMERICAN BEAUTY, GHOST WORLD) as a lovelorn teenager whose obsession with the coolest guy in school leads to trouble. The film's strange events involve an ominous underground bunker.

The Hole [DVD] [2001] Directed by Nick Hamm Price: £4.93 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Delivery. Details Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk 56 new or used available from £0.38 Average customer review:

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Untraceable

Untraceable [DVD] [2008]

Amazon.co.uk Review
Untraceable fuses Saw with The Net in a perverse yet moralistic story about a psychopath who broadcasts acts of torture over the internet--all to better reveal the twisted underbelly of the American public, who hasten the victims' deaths simply by looking at the website. FBI agent Jennifer Marsh (Diane Lane, her mature-sexy mojo tamped down but still simmering in the corners of her eyes and the nape of her neck) launches a cyberhunt for the killer, only to find herself and her team caught up in his murderous scheme. It's hard to make tapping on a keyboard and staring at a computer screen exciting, but Untraceable does its best by making Marsh and her cybercrimebusting partner (Colin Hanks, King Kong) rattle off cascades of jaunty techno-jargon and do impressive bits of long-distance surveillance. The movie aims for the audience that flocked to see Ashley Judd in thrillers like Kiss the Girls and Double Jeopardy, but it's hard to say if fans of Lane's romantic fare like Under the Tuscan Sun or Must Like Dogs will enjoy the queasy violence. Nonetheless, the cast--including Mary Beth Hurt (The World According to Garp) as Marsh's mother--does a solid job and the movie clips along at an aggressive pace, maintaining tension throughout. --Bret Fetzer

Synopsis
Directed by Gregory Hoblit (Fracture, Primal Fear), Untraceable follows F.B.I. cybercrimes specialist Jennifer Marsh (Diane Lane) as she attempts to track down a serial killer who brazenly displays his murderous deeds on the internet. Aided by fellow agent Griffin Dowd (Colin Hanks) and local detective Eric Box (Billy Burke), Marsh tenaciously hunts for the elusive criminal but as she closes in on her target, he deviously finds ways to get closer to her, all the while killing his victims in increasingly faster fashion.
Untraceable clearly references a number of renowned thrillers, most notably the SAW films, Seven, and Silence of the Lambs. Lane's steely, smart, and beautiful heroine ably anchors the film, which also benefits from its appropriately gloomy Portland, Oregon, backdrop. As with any effective suspense movie, the thrill is in the chase, with the cold-blooded killer proving to be quite adept at disguising his real location, even as his disturbingly popular site remains prominently on the web.

---

Customer Reviews

Internet Terror
The plot behind Untraceable involves an FBI agent, Jennifer Marsh, who gets caught in a cat-and-mouse game with a serial killer who conducts his murders LIVE on the internet. Using an `untraceable' website the audience decide how quickly the victim dies....the more people who log on and enter the website, the quicker and more violently the victim dies.

I liked the idea of Untraceable as it wasn't quite as gory as the Saw movies of which I'm not a great fan. Where Untraceable lacks the gore I felt it made up for it in the plot which was both fast-paced and engaging. Don't get me wrong...there is gore...but its not over the top to the point where you look away.

All in all I thought Untraceable was a really good action-thriller which used the modern-technology being abused as its backdrop. If nothing else it'll probably make you question what kind of a society we live in when millions log on to the internet to watch such horror.

think twice before buying this!
not good at all. not even scary and has no story line
please dont waste your money like i did...!

Untraceable [DVD] [2008] From Universal Pictures UK Price: £2.99 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Delivery. Details Availability: Usually dispatched within 7 to 13 days Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk 71 new or used available from £0.01 Average customer review:

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The X Files Movie

The X Files Movie [1998] [DVD]

Amazon.co.uk Review
The definitive American television series of the 1990s. The X-Files comes to the big screen with an anticlimactic whimper. And how could it be otherwise? Why should material so perfectly realised in one medium necessarily translate well into another? The series is crisply and thoughtfully executed in just about every detail, but the heart of its appeal lies in the elegant handling of complicated and evolving ongoing story lines, which is not something movies are especially good at. The big-screen drive for closure cramps the creative style, though it may also help nonfans get a grip on the proceedings. We do get some invigorating thrills and chills, however, and a more satisfying sense of the scale of an all-enveloping human-alien conspiracy than ever before, but there's no more plot development here than in an average two-part season-ending. FBI black sheep Mulder and Scully have been temporarily transferred from the X-Files project to an anti-terrorist unit to investigate an Oklahoma City-style bombing. They uncover a new wrinkle in the Syndicate/Cancer Man conspiracy--basically an attempt to help one bunch of (benign?) aliens fight off another bunch who want to colonise Earth. A spectacular, ice-bound finale thrillingly staged by series-veteran director Rob Bowman offers Mulder (but not a conveniently unconscious Scully) his first clear look at a You Know What, which in some quarters qualifies as an epochal event. Martin Landau offers the agents some crucial clues, and several familiar TV faces (including the Lone Gunmen and Mitch Pileggi's indispensable Assistant Director Skinner) turn up briefly to wink knowingly at faithful fans. --David Chute

Special Features
2.40 Wide Screen
16:9 Wide Screen
DVD 9
English
Region 2
Dolby Digital 5.1 English
Dolby Digital 5.1
Interactive Menus
Scene Access
Original Theatrical Trailer
Audio Commentary From Chris Carter And Rob Bowman
Making Of X Files Fight The Future
Czech\Danish\English\Finnish\Hebrew\Hungarian\Icelandic\Norwegian\Polish\Portuguese\Swedish

Synopsis
The long-running sci-fi television series gets the big-screen treatment in this thrilling feature film. When a terrorist bomb destroys a building in Dallas, Texas, FBI agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) are drawn into a dangerous conspiracy surpassing anything they've ever encountered. With the dubious assistance of a paranoid doctor (Academy Award-winner Martin Landau), Mulder and Scully risk their careers and their lives to hunt down a deadly virus which may be alien in origin--and could destroy all life on earth. Their pursuit of the truth pits them against the Cigarette-Smoking Man (William B. Davis) and the mysterious Syndicate, powerful men who will stop at nothing to keep their secrets safe. The agents journey from a cave in Texas to the halls of the FBI and, finally, to a covert installation in Antarctica, where Mulder witnesses some shocking events.

The X Files Movie [1998] [DVD] Directed by Rob Bowman Price: £4.97 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Delivery. Details Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk 62 new or used available from £0.78 Average customer review:

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The X Files Movie

The X Files Movie [1998] [DVD]

Amazon.co.uk Review
The definitive American television series of the 1990s. The X-Files comes to the big screen with an anticlimactic whimper. And how could it be otherwise? Why should material so perfectly realised in one medium necessarily translate well into another? The series is crisply and thoughtfully executed in just about every detail, but the heart of its appeal lies in the elegant handling of complicated and evolving ongoing story lines, which is not something movies are especially good at. The big-screen drive for closure cramps the creative style, though it may also help nonfans get a grip on the proceedings. We do get some invigorating thrills and chills, however, and a more satisfying sense of the scale of an all-enveloping human-alien conspiracy than ever before, but there's no more plot development here than in an average two-part season-ending. FBI black sheep Mulder and Scully have been temporarily transferred from the X-Files project to an anti-terrorist unit to investigate an Oklahoma City-style bombing. They uncover a new wrinkle in the Syndicate/Cancer Man conspiracy--basically an attempt to help one bunch of (benign?) aliens fight off another bunch who want to colonise Earth. A spectacular, ice-bound finale thrillingly staged by series-veteran director Rob Bowman offers Mulder (but not a conveniently unconscious Scully) his first clear look at a You Know What, which in some quarters qualifies as an epochal event. Martin Landau offers the agents some crucial clues, and several familiar TV faces (including the Lone Gunmen and Mitch Pileggi's indispensable Assistant Director Skinner) turn up briefly to wink knowingly at faithful fans. --David Chute

Special Features
2.40 Wide Screen
16:9 Wide Screen
DVD 9
English
Region 2
Dolby Digital 5.1 English
Dolby Digital 5.1
Interactive Menus
Scene Access
Original Theatrical Trailer
Audio Commentary From Chris Carter And Rob Bowman
Making Of X Files Fight The Future
Czech\Danish\English\Finnish\Hebrew\Hungarian\Icelandic\Norwegian\Polish\Portuguese\Swedish

Synopsis
The long-running sci-fi television series gets the big-screen treatment in this thrilling feature film. When a terrorist bomb destroys a building in Dallas, Texas, FBI agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) are drawn into a dangerous conspiracy surpassing anything they've ever encountered. With the dubious assistance of a paranoid doctor (Academy Award-winner Martin Landau), Mulder and Scully risk their careers and their lives to hunt down a deadly virus which may be alien in origin--and could destroy all life on earth. Their pursuit of the truth pits them against the Cigarette-Smoking Man (William B. Davis) and the mysterious Syndicate, powerful men who will stop at nothing to keep their secrets safe. The agents journey from a cave in Texas to the halls of the FBI and, finally, to a covert installation in Antarctica, where Mulder witnesses some shocking events.

The X Files Movie [1998] [DVD] Directed by Rob Bowman Price: £4.97 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Delivery. Details Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk 62 new or used available from £0.78 Average customer review:

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Storage [DVD]

Storage [DVD] [2009] review

Edgy Australian horror-thriller set within an inner city storage facility. When 17 year-old Jimmy begins to work at a storage facility, it seems to have that nearly every customer has something to hide. But when he sees evidence being hidden inside a red drum, Jimmy soon finds that when you start down a dark road, it s impossible to turn back. A very atmospheric movie and setting that evokes the claustrophobic fear of The Descent and reminds of Freddy Krueger s famed Boiler Room in Nightmare on Elm Street.

Another Australian winner.
Australia seem to be consistently getting it right with their recent forays into the thriller / horror genre. This is an intelligent film with well crafted acting and superb dialogue: the twists and turns of the plot draw you right in and any attempts to second guess the plot are thwarted. At the heart of the success of this film is the location: the underground storage unit facility, isolated and repetitive is the perfect foil for the tension generated and sustained throughout. Matthew Scully as 17yr old Jimmy handles a complex role skilfully and convincingly throughout. A great film which does not rely on explicit gore for thrills as much of the horror/thriller genre seems to these days, but unstead offers something significantly more substantial and satisfying. Highly recommended for fans of what I term 'social horror' - horror set in the world we live in where the thing we have to fear most is our neighbour. Brilliant.

Storage [DVD] [2009] Directed by Michael Craft Price: £5.47 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Delivery. Details Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk 21 new or used available from £4.20 Average customer review:

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Cold Creek Manor

Cold Creek Manor [DVD] [2004]

Synopsis
After a succession of films boldly exploring the possibilities of digital video (TIMECODE, HOTEL), Mike Figgis returns to more traditional narrative terrain with this atmospheric thriller. Dennis Quaid and Sharon Stone star as Cooper and Leah Tilson, a New York City couple who decide to move to the country in order to provide their children with a safer life (Kristen Stewart and Ryan Wilson). But they get more than they bargained for when they purchase Cold Creek Manor, a gigantic, crumbling house that has a murky, dangerous past. That past shows up at their front door one day in the form of Dale Massie (Stephen Dorff), an ex-convict who lost the house while incarcerated. At first, Dale's presence is a comfort to the Tilsons, but Cooper begins to sense that something is amiss after studying home videos and photographs that were left behind. Sure enough, his attempts to keep Dale off his property only anger the bitter psychopath, triggering a relentless assault that endangers the lives of the entire Tilson family. Figgis' taut thriller features solid lead performances by Quaid and Stone, as well as standout supporting turns from Dorff, Juliette Lewis, and Christopher Plummer.

Nothing special, but not altogether worthless
I agree with the previous reviewer on a number of points, but not with his overall evaluation of "Cold Creek Manor":
(a) The story line is conventional and predictable. The 'false leads', a prime convention of the genre, are there, but they remain perfunctory and never succeed in creating 'alternative plots': the Pinskis appear suspicious in their normality, but their story is never developed. Even the guilty man himself fails to appear ambiguous, despite all the efforts.
(b) I also agree that for a film called after a house, you would expect the house to be a character in its own right. Again, there are gestures towards this direction, but they remain unvindicated. Nothing indeed derives from the house itself in terms of plot or theme. If one remembers the Shining, one sighs with exasperation.
The film, however, is saved by two things: first, the excellent performances by Dennis Quaid and Sharon Stone, and, of course their young co-stars. Second, the fine metacinematical invention of a protagonist being a director himself, even if this had a lot of potential which remained untapped into.
Overall, "Cold Creek Manor" is nothing special, but it not overall worthless.

Cold Creek Manor [DVD] [2004] Directed by Mike Figgis Price: £2.99 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Delivery. Details Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk 72 new or used available from £0.01 Average customer review:

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The Departed [Blu-ray]

The Departed [Blu-ray] [2006]
Directed by Martin Scorsese

Price:

£7.93 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Delivery. Details

Editorial Reviews

Synopsis
Director Martin Scorsese returns to his trademark style with the violent, bruised, and bloody feature THE DEPARTED. Scorsese filched the basic storyline from Wai Keung Lau and Siu Fai Mak's masterful 2002 Hong Kong action film, INFERNAL AFFAIRS, which saw a policeman going undercover as a mob member and a mob member infiltrating the police force. Scorsese transfers the action to Boston, positioning Leonardo DiCaprio as undercover cop William Costigan and Matt Damon as undercover mobster Colin Sullivan. While Costigan and Sullivan get into plenty of nail-biting situations that almost reveal their true identities, Scorsese gradually unravels his strong supporting cast, including Jack Nicholson as Sullivan's mob boss, Frank Costello; Ray Winstone as Costello's meat-headed muscle; Mark Wahlberg as a hot-headed police sergeant; and Vera Farmiga as a love interest for both Damon and Di Caprio's characters.

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Get Carter

Get Carter [1971] [DVD]
Directed by Mike Hodges

Price:

£3.20 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Delivery. Details

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
Released in 1971 (the same year Straw Dogs and A Clockwork Orange hit the screens, which must make 71 the annus mirabilis for violent films set in Britain), Get Carter opens with gangsters leering over pornographic slides and ends on a filthy, slag-stained beach in Newcastle. It's a low-down and dirty movie from beginning to end, and possibly the grittiest and best film of its kind to come out of Britain. The granddaddy of Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels and all its ilk, director Mike Hodges' Get Carter offers revenge tragedy swinging-60s style, all nicotine-stained cinematography, shabby locations and the kind of killer catchphrases Vinnie Jones would die for ("You're a big man, but you're in bad shape. With me, it's a full-time job. Now behave yourself", says Michael Caine's deadpan anti-hero Carter before inflicting a few choice punches on Brian Mosley, aka Coronation Street's Alf Roberts, to name but one example from Hodges and Ted Lewis' exquisitely laconic script).

Presenting the dark horse in his family of loveable Cockney geezer roles (Alfie, The Italian Job), Michael Caine plays the title role of Jack Carter, a man so hard he barely registers a flicker of regret watching a woman he's just had sex with plunge to her death. After taking the train up to Newcastle as the credits roll and Roy Budd's chunky bass-heavy theme tune plays, Carter returns to his hometown to attend his brother's funeral and investigate the circumstances of his death. Not that he's all that sentimental about family: he shaves nonchalantly over the open coffin, and shows affection to his niece Doreen (Petra Markham) by cramming a few notes in her hand and telling her to "be good and don't trust boys". Gradually, Carter unravels the skein of drugs, pornography and corruption tangled around his brother's death, which brings him up against supremely oleaginous kingpin Kinnear (played by the author of Look Back in Anger John Osborne) among others. A remake starring Sylvester Stallone is in the offing, but quite frankly it will be a 30-degree (Celsius) Christmas night in Newcastle before Hollywood could ever make something as assured, raw and immortal as this. --Leslie Felperin

Special Features
1.85 Wide Screen
DVD 9
English
English
Region 2
Mono English
Mono
Audio Commentary With Michael Caine
Director Commentary
Cinematographer Commentary
Music Only Soundtrack
3 Trailers
Chaptering
Interactive Menus
Arabic\Bulgarian\English\Romanian

Synopsis
A small-time street tough from London finds himself enmeshed in a web of deceit, blackmail, and murder when he investigates the circumstances surrounding the death of his brother in Newcastle. GET CARTER is a hard-as-nails crime movie, featuring a brutal performance by Michael Caine that stands as one of his best. The film is based on the novel JACK'S RETURN HOME by Ted Lewis. It was remade for a blaxploitation audience a year later as HIT MAN, and in 2000 Sylvester Stallone starred in a remake, with Caine making an appearance in the film as well.

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True Romance (1993) [DVD]

True Romance (1993) [DVD]
Directed by Tony Scott

Price:

£3.88 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Delivery. Details

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
It was directed with energetic skill by Top Gun Tony Scott, but this breathtaking 1993 thriller (think of it as an adolescent crime fantasy on steroids) has Quentin Tarantino written all over it. True Romance is really part of a loose trilogy that includes Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, with a crackling Tarantino screenplay that rides a fine line between raucous comedy and violent excess. Christian Slater plays Clarence, the comic-book lover who meets a beguiling prostitute named Alabama (Patricia Arquette), confronts her vicious pimp (Gary Oldman), and embarks on a cross-country odyssey with $5 million worth of Mafia cocaine. Mayhem ensues, culminating in a favourite Tarantino climax--the "Mexican standoff"--in which a roomful of guys are pointing guns at each other, waiting to see who shoots first. Brutal, profane, and totally outrageous, True Romance is not for everyone, but with a supporting cast that includes Dennis Hopper, Christopher Walken, Brad Pitt, and Val Kilmer (as the ghost of Elvis!), you can be sure this movie will never be boring. --Jeff Shannon

Amazon.co.uk Review
It was directed with energetic skill by Top Gun Tony Scott, but t his breathtaking 1993 thriller (think of it as an adolescent crime fantasy on steroids) has Quentin Tarantino written all over it. True Romance is really part of a loose trilogy that includes Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, with a crackling Tarantino screenplay that rides a fine line between raucous comedy and violent excess. Christian Slater plays Clarence, the comic-book lover who meets a beguiling prostitute named Alabama (Patricia Arquette), confronts her vicious pimp (Gary Oldman), and embarks on a cross-country odyssey with $5 million worth of Mafia cocaine. Mayhem ensues, culminating in a favourite Tarantino climax--the "Mexican standoff"--in which a roomful of guys are pointing guns at each other, waiting to see who shoots first. Brutal, profane, and totally outrageous, True Romance is not for everyone, but with a supporting cast that includes Dennis Hopper, Christopher Walken, Brad Pitt, and Val Kilmer (as the ghost of Elvis!), you can be sure this movie will never be boring. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com

Special Features
2.35 Wide Screen
DVD 5
English
English
Region 2
Dolby Digital 5.1 English
Dolby Digital 5.1
Interactive Menus
Scene Access
English

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Pandorum [Blu-ray]

Pandorum [Blu-ray] [2009]
Directed by Christian Alvart

Price:

£6.99 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Delivery. Details

Customer Reviews

Surprising- a new, totally original sci-fi / horror film4

Pandorum is ultimately a beautifully choreographed game of cat-and-mouse between human and monster around an enormous, abandoned space-ship. If I didn't know otherwise, I'd say that it's probably an adaptation of some kind of best-selling video game... But it's not. The best thing about Pandorum is that it's totally unique.

What begins with two characters awaking from cryogenic chambers, having completely lost their memories, soon turns into something I can only describe as a brilliantly tense cross between Neil Marshall's classic The Descent and Frank Vestiel's more recent Eden Log.

The reason I only half-heartedly tagged along to see Pandorum was due to the fact that the trailer boasts 'From the Producers of Resident Evil'... But there's nothing to worry about. Pandorum is quite a lot better than all the Resident Evil films put together.

Director Christian Alvart not only appears to be a master in tension-building, but has a fabulously witty sense of humor. Those tied up within the film's complex plot strings probably won't notice this, but there are definitely some sly jokes mixed in with all the scares.

To tie everything up, there's some very good acting on show here. There's the annoyingly underrated André Hennicke, plus everybody loves a bit of Dennis Quaid. Furthermore, with a great few twists waiting for you within the final 10 minutes, Pandorum is a complete winner.

Okay, so it's not the next Alien, but it's certainly a very good evening at the cinema.

Beautifully crafted space survival horror5
Pandorum is a science fiction horror set in space. Two crew members aboard the colonisation ship Elysium awake from statis to find themselves locked in their room and no one responding. Pandorum follows events as they find out that something else is aboard the ship with them.

On seeing this movie I was left with goosebumps, It scared me, intrigued me and left me in awe. I would encourage you to see this movie without reading to much into it and be surprised by it's twists, turns and breathtaking pace.

The Set design is a work of art with clearly a lot of thought gone into every item from shaving to weaponry.
The script is perfectly acted and casting is spot on with every character enhancing the feel of the movie.

Initially the film feels a little like aliens or event horizon, dark and lonely however as the film progresses it does lose a touch of this feeling of utter isolation and hopelessness as it moves faster.

I must admit the film does become a little confusing at the end however this is short lived and doesn't distract from the movie.

Summary: A great movie that will please the majority of film goer's. This film never lets up and leaves you talking about it.

Note: Don't listen to the 'expert' reviews that put this film down, whilst some of their points are valid (ie the fact it can be a little confusing in places) the movie is an enjoyable and worthwhile watch. One I'm sure you'd recommend.

Survival horror at last5
Survival horror games only have a few people actually trying to survive in them, and you usually end up alone for long periods to face the nightmares in the dark.
I like that alot and was very surprised that this movie did do that to a degree. It's intelligent, scary and dark. I like to follow the lead character and learn about things as he learns about his situation. I hate obvious markers in format horror movies, leaving you able to predict every damn thing in it!
This movie is nothing like that. A top class Sci fi horror not dwelling entirely on the big movie star they conned into being in it at all.
On me shelf and I give it 10/10 for being original and truly scary. How refreshing.

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The Business

The Business [DVD] [2005]
Directed by Nick Love

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£2.99 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Delivery. Details

Editorial Reviews

Synopsis
On the lam in 1980s England, Danny heads to the gangsters' paradise of Spain's Costa del Sol to make a delivery of cash to a noted ex-criminal, Charlie. There, Danny meets Charlie's nefarious inner circle and soon becomes embroiled in their outrageous outlaw lifestyle. Featuring a wall-to-wall '80s soundtrack, this comic gangster film serves up action-packed thrills with a touch of whimsy.

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Salo, Or The 120 Days Of Sodom

Salo, Or The 120 Days Of Sodom [DVD] [1975]
Directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini

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£7.93 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Delivery. Details

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
Pier Paolo Pasolini's Salò or the 120 Days of Sodom (known in Italian as Salò o le 120 giornate di Sodoma) provoked howls of outrage and execration on its original release in 1975, and the controversy rages to this day. Until the British Board of Film Classification finally ventured a certificate in 2000, the movie could only be shown at private cinema clubs, and even then in severely mutilated form. The relaxation of the censors' shears allows you to see for yourself what the fuss was about, but be warned--Salò will test the very limits of your endurance. Updating the Marquis de Sade's phantasmagorical novel of the same title from 18th-century France to fascist Italy at the end of World War II, writer-director Pasolini relates a bloodthirsty fable about how absolute power corrupts absolutely. Four upper-class libertines gather in an elegant palazzo to inflict the extremes of sexual perversion and cruelty upon a hand-picked collection of young men and women. Meanwhile, three ageing courtesans enflame the proceedings further by spinning tales of monstrous depravity. The most upsetting aspect of the film is the way Pasolini's coldly voyeuristic camera dehumanises the victims into lumps of random flesh. Though you may feel revulsion at the grisly details, you aren't expected to care much about what happens to either master or slave. In one notorious episode, the subjugated youths are forced to eat their own excrement--a scene almost impossible to watch, even if you know the meal was actually composed of chocolate and orange marmalade. (Pasolini mischievously claimed to be satirising our modern culture of junk food.) Salò is the ultimate vision of apocalypse--and as if in confirmation, the director was himself brutally murdered just before its premiere. You can reject the movie as the work of an evil-minded pornographer, but you won't easily forget it. --Peter Matthews

Synopsis
Pasolini's adaptation of the Marquis de Sade's 18th-century novel transfers the action to WWII Italy, where Fascist rulers brutalise and torture a group of adolescent girls and boys. Soundly condemned at the time of its release by Italian censors, SALO proffers an unflinching look at the horrors committed by totalitarian regimes and their dehumanising abuse of power.

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Untouchables, The - Special Edition

Untouchables, The - Special Edition [DVD] [1987]
Directed by Brian De Palma

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£3.93 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Delivery. Details

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Amazon.co.uk Review
The DVD extras follow the adage that if one has lemons, make lemonade. This "special" edition has no commentary track, and no new input from stars Kevin Costner, Sean Connery, and Andy Garcia or writer David Mamet. Yet DVD director Laurent Bouzereau has an ace up his sleeve that makes the four new featurettes (about 50 minutes of content) worth listening to: candid talk. The usual, stiff promotional take is jettisoned as producer Art Linson and director Brian De Palma honestly talk about the film's origins, the tricks of shooting, and the casting of Robert De Niro. These refreshing comments (plus insight from the cinematographer Stephen H. Burum and actor Charles Martin Smith), and better-than-average vintage interviews makes for valuable watching--even if the footage is intercut too often with film clips. To top it all off, there's a new Dolby Digital 5.1 EX soundtrack. --Doug Thomas

Special Features
• The Script, The Cast • Production Stories • Reinventing the Genre • The Classic • Original Featurette - The Men • Theatrical Trailer

Synopsis
Kevin Costner is idealistic federal agent Eliot Ness, whose assignment to clean up Prohibition-era Chicago leads to violence and manly questions about upholding the law. Initially powerless to stop the flow of booze into the city (the police force is corrupt and everyone in town seems to be on the mob's payroll), Ness finds guidance from an older streetwise cop (Sean Connery, who won an Academy Award for this role) who convinces him he'll need to break some rules if he wants to bring down head mobster Al Capone (Robert De Niro). Andy Garcia and Charles Martin Smith play Ness's other recruits, who together must stand tall against a city full of assassins. Director Brian De Palma (MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE) packs the film with violence and creative camera movements while David Mamet's intelligent script capably dodges cliche at every turn. There's a real sense of what's at stake for these characters on a personal level, which contrasts nicely with the futility inherent in enforcing Prohibition in the first place. The film is based on the autobiographical book by Ness (cowritten with Oscar Fraley) and the 1959-63 TV series; Ennio Morricone (THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY) composed the uninhibitedly bombastic score.

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Once Upon A Time In America

Once Upon A Time In America [DVD] [1984]
Directed by Sergio Leone

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£5.00 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Delivery. Details

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
Once Upon a Time in America has a chequered history, having been chopped from its original 229-minute director's cut to 139 minutes for its theatrical release. The longer edition presented here benefits from having the complete story (the short version has huge gaps) about turn-of-the-century Jewish immigrants in America finding their way into lives of crime, as told in flashback by an ageing Jewish gangster named Noodles (Robert De Niro). On the other hand, it's almost four hours long, and this sometimes-indulgent Sergio Leone film is no Godfather. Still, it is notable for the contrast between Leone's elegiac take on the gangster film and his occasional explosive action, as well as for the mix of the stoic, inexpressive De Niro and the hyperactive James Woods as his lifelong friend and rival. --Marshall Fine

Special Features
Two boyhood friends grow up to become the kingpins of a prohibition-era criminal empire until their own greed and ambition cause their downfall. Based on Larry Grey's novel, "The Hoods."

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