DVD Round-up 4 October: The Brothers Bloom, Tears for Sale, Cover Girl Killer, Life in Danger, Pit of Darkness

Everyone loves a well made tale of roguish con-artists plying their trade on unsuspecting, usually rich, marks, their Robin Hood-like antics appealing when so much cinema is worthy or po-faced (unless it's the latest portrayal of Robin Hood, in which case po-faced is about as much fun as it gets).

Pity then the viewers of The Brothers Bloom (Optimum Home Entertainment), Rian Johnson's follow-up to 2005's Brick, which provides little of the fun expected from such a film.

The basic plot is promising enough: two successful con-artist brothers, Bloom (Adrien Brody) and Stephen (Mark Ruffalo), come to a crossroads in their careers when the former decides to give up the game. Just as the pair are about to part, they become embroiled in a new smuggling scheme, while Bloom meets and falls for Penelope (Rachel Wiesz) and the plan begins to get even more complicated.

The film may look sumptuous, with some impressive camerawork and an expensive looking gloss as we're taken from America to Greece and onto Prague and St Petersburg, but the problem here lies with the dull, lifeless and self-important script.

There's simply nothing in there for the cast to get their teeth into, leading to scenes happening because they get the characters to the next point in the story rather than there being a substantial narrative pulling them together.

While Brody and Wiesz diligently go through the motions, their romance is flimsy, and from the time they get together it's a slog to the finish. A missed opportunity all round.

A featurette, director interview and deleted scenes commentary completes the set.

Coming across like the lovechild of Terry Gilliam and Tarsem Singh, the Luc Besson-produced Tears for Sale (Icon Home Entertainment) is a feast for the eyes from Serbian director Uros Stojanovic.

Set in 1920s Serbia, the film introduces us to the village of Pokrp, where two beautiful sisters, Ognjenka (Katarina Radivojevic) and Little Boginja’s (Sonja Kolacaric), decide that they should feel the caress of a man for the first time.

Unfortunately the village is short of virile men, all of them having been killed in war or in the nearby minefield. When the pair accidentally kill the village elder, they find themselves on a search for a strong man who can satisfy the needs of the local women, though that turns out to be far more difficult than they'd expected.

Stunning visuals are the trademark of Tears for Sale, the digitally enhanced landscape a gorgeous concoction which helps to give the world depth rather than taking the focus away from the main plot.

Supercharged throughout, Kolacaric and Radivojevic seemingly having great fun as the bolshy sisters whose attempts to keep their spoils for themselves as the other women demand a share of them. Everyone seems to have their tongue in their cheeks here, but it doesn't stop there being moments of real emotion.

A satisfyingly fun film that is certainly one of the more unique DVDs to hit the market in recent months.

Also out this week are three new releases from Renown Pictures, purveyors of B-movies and archive features which time has cruelly forgotten.

First up we have a double bill of films from director Terry Bishop, both dating from 1959 and plucked from the “quota quickie” stockpile: Life in Danger and Cover Girl Killer. Clocking in at just an hour in length, these films were designed as support features for bigger A movies, though they both still have their merits.

Prime amongst Cover Girl Killer's is the presence of future Harold Steptoe, Harry H Corbett, just four years away from the role that would define him. Here, he's an unnamed psychopath with a penchant for killing, you guessed it, cover girls. He's now being chased by the coppers, led by the stoic Inspector Brunner (Victor Brooks).

Life in Danger stars the underrated Derren Nesbitt as a convict who has escaped from an asylum and who hides out in a local village. Hunted by the villagers, the man befriends a local girl, Hazel (Julie Hopkins) and tries to plan his escape.

With their short running times demanding that extraneous material be kept to a minimum, Bishop ensures they fairly zip along. While Corbett is always watchable, shining whenever he's given more than a few words to utter, the chance to see a young Nesbitt (and fellow  alumni from TV's The Prisoner, Peter Swanwick, as the asylum head) is welcome.

The third film, available on its own, is 1961's Pit of Darkness, starring the voice of 1000 adverts, William Franklyn, as a man who wakes up on a bomb site with no memory of the previous three weeks, but who has the nagging feeling something very bad has happened.

Franklyn may not be the typical square-jawed hero, but his confused pauses which result from flashbacks are well played, while support from Nanette Newman and a young Tony Booth makes it fun for celeb-spotters. The plot itself may get a little convoluted towards the end, but that's a minor point.

Visit www.renownpicturesltd.com for more on these films.