Life

DVDs and Downloads: Snatch, Castlevania and Shirkers

Snatch, the TV series based on the Guy Ritchie movie
Snatch, the TV series based on the Guy Ritchie movie Snatch, the TV series based on the Guy Ritchie movie

New to download, stream or buy on dvd/blu-ray:

SNATCH Season One (Cert 15, 450 mins, Spirit Entertainment, available on Amazon Video/iTunes and other download and streaming services; from October 29 on DVD £24.99/Blu-ray £29.99, Comedy/Drama/Thriller/Romance)

A group of 20-something chancers stumble upon the biggest score of their careers in this series based on the 2000 film directed by Guy Ritchie. Albert Hill (Luke Pasqualino) is the son of legendary bank robber Vic Hill (Dougray Scott), who manages a criminal empire from behind prison bars.

Aided by his well-heeled buddy Charlie Cavendish-Scott (Rupert Grint), Albert hopes to keep debtors at bay by wagering a small fortune on Traveller and boxer Billy Ayres (Lucien Laviscourt).

The plan brings Albert and Charlie to the attention of a corrupt cop who allows crime to flourish on his beat if it lines his own pockets.

CASTLEVANIA Season 2 (8 episodes, streaming and available to download from October 26 exclusively on Netflix, Animation/Horror/Thriller)

The animated medieval fantasy inspired by the hugely popular video game series returns for an extended second series. Castlevania chronicles the story of the noble Belmont clan as they courageously stand in the path of diabolical Vlad Dracula Tepe and his vampire legion.

In these eight instalments, Dracula (voiced by Grama McTavish) and his cohorts are poised to rid the world of humanity by any means necessary. Trevor Belmont (Richard Armitage), the last surviving member of the disgraced clan, is opposed to the slaughter.

He forges an alliance with mystic Sypha Belnades (Alejandra Reynoso) and Dracula's son Alucard (James Callis), who is determined to protect humanity from his merciless father.

SHIRKERS (Cert 12, 97 mins, streaming and available to download from October 26 exclusively on Netflix, Documentary)

In the early 1990s, Jasmine Ng, Sophie Siddique and Sandi Tan were three fun-loving teenagers with a mutual love for making zines. The girls collaborated with an American called Georges Cardona on a film entitled Shirkers, which had the potential to become a cult classic.

Alas, the film never saw the light of day because Cardona vanished with the 16mm footage, never to be seen again.

Twenty years after her brush with fame that never was, Tan is a novelist living in Los Angeles, who is still haunted by her memories of Shirkers. She returns to Singapore to unravel the mystery of the missing film and Cardona.