This BBC adaptation of George Eliot's Middlemarch is so remarkable that after viewing it disaffected English Literature students may find themselves revisiting the once-dreaded novel with pleasurable anticipation. Over the course of six hours, we are immersed in the lives of Dorothea Brooke, Mr Ladislaw, Dr Lydgate and, by the end, you'll be wanting even more. Set in the fictional town of Middlemarch in the early 19th century, the stories of the townsfolk are woven seamlessly together, with strands of political fervour and social commentary subtly incorporated.

Dorothea (Juliet Aubrey) wants desperately to make something of her life; however, as a woman she is forbidden the study of Greek and Latin and no one takes her notions of societal improvement seriously. She chooses to marry the elderly Rev. Casaubon (Patrick Malahide), a scholarly man whom she can aid in his work. Meanwhile, new to Middlemarch is the handsome Dr Lydgate (Douglas Hodge), who has grand notions for running a free hospital and finding a cure for cholera. His plans are sidetracked, however, when the beautiful but materialistic Rosie Vincy (Trevyn McDowell) sets her sights on him. Other sub-plots run throughout, including Rev. Casaubon's dashing but disapproved-of cousin Will Ladislaw (Rufus Sewell), who has his eye on Dorothea; the scandals of banker Mr Bulstrode (Peter Jeffrey); and the prodigal son Fred Vincy (Jonathan Firth), who urgently wants the hand of Mary but can't find the money or an honest career to provide for her.

Each of the actors fully embodies his or her role, and none of the performances are standout because they are all wonderful. The locations are dark and fitting to the mood, and the costumes and set decorations are period perfect. For anyone who enjoys the BBC's adaptations of great novels or for those just looking for a great story to sink their teeth into, Middlemarch will not disappoint. --Jenny Brown, Amazon.com

Desperate to break her marriage with Alonso to accept the proposal from Alsemero, Valencia orders her servant to murder him. The plot takes an ugly turn, when the servant blackmails her into sleeping with him?

The first, and only, X-rated film to win a best picture Academy Award, John Schlesinger's Midnight Cowboy seems a lot less daring today (and has been reclassified as an R), but remains a fascinating time capsule of late-1960s sexual decadence in mainstream American cinema. In a career-making performance, Jon Voight plays Joe Buck, a naive Texas dishwasher who goes to the big city (New York) to make his fortune as a sexual hustler. Although enthusiastic about selling himself to rich ladies for stud services, he quickly finds it hard to make a living and eventually crashes in a seedy dump with a crippled petty thief named Ratzo Rizzo (Dustin Hoffman, doing one of his more effective "stupid acting tricks," with a limp and a high-pitch rasp of a voice). Schlesinger's quick-cut, semi-psychedelic style has dated severely, as has his ruthlessly cynical approach to almost everybody but the lead characters. But at its heart the movie is a sad tale of friendship between a couple of losers lost in the big city, and with an ending no studio would approve today. It's a bit like an urban Of Mice and Men, but where both guys are Lenny. --Jim Emerson

With a pounding, synthesised sound track, big-haired babes in bikinis and succession of increasingly incredible fight scenes and returns from the dead, Midnight Crossing takes some beating as an eminently watchable slab of 1980s schlock. Honesty is a premium in this torrid tale of a buried fortune, hot sex, deceit on the high seas and much extended suspense. Jeff Shub (John Laughlin), a six-packed hunk in tight shorts, lives for his yacht, inherited from his father. When his wife's boss Morley (married to a blind woman and played by Daniel J Travanti) charters the yacht for a birthday celebration, the two couples head off for the Bahamas. Then, Morley reveals his real agenda--the recovery of treasure he buried on a Cuban island in the pre-Castro years--and it soon becomes clear that nothing and nobody are what they seem.

Kim Cattrall, years before her emergence as a stylish television star in Sex and the City, pops up in a in a wet t-shirt. And at the film's centre is a knockout, beyond self-parody performance from Faye Dunaway. Here she plays Joan Crawford playing a blind woman who might not, in fact, be blind at all. Dunaway confirms the suspicion that she was an actress born 30 years too late for the kind of scripts that would have best served her unique brand of throbbing melodrama. The rest of the cast, particularly the usually reliable Travanti, soon follow her over the top. The result is a compulsive 90 minutes of hammy and thoroughly enjoyable action.

On the DVD: Presented in letterbox widescreen (1.85:1) format for maximum effect Midnight Crossing surfaces pretty much as it did in the cinema. Picture quality is fine. The daylight scenes on board the yacht certainly benefit but the interminable night-time struggles are less convincing. Were they shot in a tank? Probably, if the dull stereo sound quality at this point is anything to go by. Extras are limited to the original cinema trailer and filmographies of the leading players.--Piers Ford