An Education

(Cert 12, 96 mins, E1 Entertainment, DVD £19.99/Blu-ray £24.99)

Stars: Carey Mulligan, Peter Sarsgaard, Alfred Molina, Cara Seymour, Dominic Cooper, Rosamund Pike, Olivia Williams, Emma Thompson.

In Twickenham in 1961, 16-year-old schoolgirl Jenny (Mulligan) meets handsome stranger David (Sarsgaard) on the street and is flattered by the attentions of the older man. She nervously accepts an invitation to a classical music concert with David’s business partner Danny (Cooper) and his girlfriend Helen (Pike).

They gradually lead her astray with visits to late-night supper clubs and a trip to the country. As a consequence, Jenny’s grades slip and her teacher Miss Stubbs (Williams) fears her best student is throwing her future away. Consequently, Jenny is torn between the hopes of her parents (Molina, Seymour) and her burgeoning desires. Based on a memoir by journalist Lynn Barber, An Education is a rites of passage story blessed with a humorous script by Nick Hornby.

Taking Woodstock

(15, 115 mins, Universal Pictures, DVD £19.99/Blu-ray £24.99)

Stars: Demetri Martin, Henry Goodman, Imelda Staunton, Jonathan Groff, Eugene Levy, Liev Schreiber.

In the summer of 1969, Elliot (Martin) returns home to his hen-pecked father Jake (Goodman) and harridan mother Sonia (Staunton) to save the family’s ailing motel business. Learning that a music festival is looking for a suitable location, Elliot contacts organiser Michael Lang (Groff) and puts him in touch with neighbouring farmer Max Yasgur (Levy).

With money and contracts agreed, the Woodstock committee takes up residence at Elliot’s motel as a steady stream of hippies passes through the town, and the locals are horrified. It’s adapted from Elliot Tiber’s celebrated memoir Taking Woodstock: A True Story Of A Riot, A Concert And A Life.

Amelia

(PG, 106 mins, Twentieth Century Fox DVD £19.99)

Stars: Hilary Swank, Richard Gere, Ewan McGregor, Christopher Eccleston.

MIRA Nair directs this chocolate box biopic of plucky aviatrix Amelia Earhart, who soared to new heights in her trusty Lockhead L-10 Electra, only to disappear in 1937 during an attempt to fly around the world. Amelia (Swank) also becomes embroiled in a love triangle between her publisher husband George Putnan (Gere) and dashing aeronautics professor Gene Vidal (McGregor).