Home entertainment for couch potatoes

There will be blood
Cast: Daniel Day-Lewis, Paul Dano and Dillon Freasier
A period epic, set in the early days of California's oil boom, There Will Be Blood has been hailed as a masterpiece, fetching Day-Lewis the Academy and Bafta Best Actor Awards. Written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, the story is based on the book Oil! by Upton Sinclair.

The movie begins in 1898, revealing a lone prospector Daniel Plainview (Day-Lewis) desperately trying to find an ore of silver in a pit. It so happens that Plainview strikes oil, triggering in him a passion to acquire more oilfields.

By 1911, Plainview is a moderately successful oilman. But the likeable character has metamorphosed into a calculating opportunist who will go to any lengths to accumulate as much wealth as possible.

Tipped by Paul Sunday (Paul Dano) that his family ranch in Little Boston sits on one of the biggest oil reservoirs, Plainview and H.W., his 11-year-old "son and partner" (Freasier), head for the arid farm.

Plainview glibly persuades the Sunday family to lease him the land, but the deal is reached only after Eli Sunday (also played by Dano) figures out that it could fulfil his dream of building a church.

Finally Plainview does become a tycoon to be envied, but is it worth the price he has to pay?

Day-Lewis' intense performance eclipses the parts of the rest of the cast, but Dano manages to create an impact as an obsessed preacher.

This is a DVD you've got to watch.

Rated: 15

The game plan
Cast: Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson and Madison Pettis
Joe Kingman is a quarterback in the NFL team The Rebels, a committed teamplayer who has always steered his side to victory. So what if he's got an ego as big as a football? So what if all he wants to do is rave about himself? It's a privilege that a celeb is entitled to.

A single guy, he has a large peaceful personalised pad with all the creature comforts. His photos are positioned at key places and there's a room reserved for awards and trophies. If he ever grows tired of admiring his likeness, there are images of Elvis Presley he could turn to.

One day, a young girl lands on his doorstep, claiming to be his daughter. No it's not a joke, she has a birth certificate that has his name on it. Nine years ago Kingman had been attached to someone so it's difficult to deny paternity. And anyway, the eight-year-old Peyton (Pettis) is seeking shelter for a month only, as her mother has gone on a short charity trip to Africa. Kingman will have to make temporary adjustments.

The Game Plan is a family-friendly comedy, with the charismatic wrestler-turned-actor and the cute, confident Pettis good at their turns.

It ends predictably but you'll enjoy the movie.

Rated: G