If there’s one place and time in history you wouldn’t pick to live, ever, it’s the Aussie outback circa 1880. It makes the American Wild West look like afternoon tea at the Ritz. John Wayne wouldn’t have lasted a minute, and you don’t hold out much hope for anyone in The Proposition, either. The premise is simple: three Irish brothers have been terrorising a small outback community, and Captain Stanley (Ray Winstone) has managed to catch the two younger ones. He offers Charlie (Guy Pearce) a proposition: track down and kill his psychotic elder brother (Danny Huston) to spare the lamblike younger one from the gallows. It turns into the best kind of goodies and baddies flick: the one where you want both sides to win, and know full well neither will. Guy Pearce is the tragi-heroic star, but the real reason to buy this is the cinematography. You feel the claustrophobic heat, the swarming flies, the need to turn to drink and violence. It is helped immensely by Nick Cave’s haunting score (he also wrote the screenplay), but not by the extras, which don’t add much extra. Matt Rudd
Tartan, 18, 100 mins; £19.99

A Cock and Bull Story
Film Three stars
Extras Two stars

The title is apt — this film never really gets anywhere. But confusion is sort of the point. Michael Winterbottom has come up with a winning way to film Laurence Sterne’s supposedly unfilmable novel The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy: he has chosen to make a film of the filming of it. Consequently, when Steve Coogan is not playing Tristram Shandy, he is playing “himself”, poorly attempting to hide his narcissism and ignoring all Alan Partridge banter. It is a generous performance by Coogan, and is set off perfectly by his buddy Rob Brydon, who plays Shandy’s uncle. Brydon’s impersonations of Coogan and their unscripted teasing are the comic high points. With the duo accompanied by a host of the usual crème of British comedy, the jokes come thick and fast, but get repetitive. An enjoyable postmodern spoof of the film-making process. Emma Barnett
Fox, 15, 94 mins; £19.99

Transamerica
Film Four stars
Extras Three stars

Given its spicy basic ingredients, Transamerica turns out to be an issue-lite road movie. Bree, an LA-based transsexual just one week away from the operation that will finally complete his transformation into a her, receives a phone call from a jailed 17-year-old who claims he is her son. In New York, she meets Toby, a drug-taking rent boy, and, pretending to be a Christian charity worker, bails him. Together they set off to drive across America. The focus of Duncan Tucker’s film is the development of the pair’s amusingly dysfunctional relationship. Sharply drawn minor characters provide colour and humour, but it is the growth of something like love between the two that gives this warmth and depth. You have to admire Felicity Huffman (of Desperate Housewives) for taking on the role of the buttoned-up, less than beautiful Bree. Kevin Zegers is wonderfully louche and insolent as Toby. Along with the usual extras, there is lively footage of Dolly Parton singing Travellin’ Thru’ , which she wrote for the film. Adrienne Connors
Pathé, 15, 103 mins; £19.99

The Matador
Film Four stars
Extras Four stars

Pierce Brosnan has so much fun playing the globetrotting, womanising hit man Julian Noble, you’d swear the role was written for him, with the character’s apparent nervous breakdown and hints of homosexuality just a strategic undercutting of his Bond persona. Not so. According to the director, Richard Shepard, in one of two excellent commentaries on this feature- packed disc, he’d imagined it would be a digital feature on a tiny budget — when Brosnan called, wanting to produce and star, it was completely unexpected. Fortunately for us, Shepard justifies Brosnan’s faith. With memorable support from Greg Kinnear and Hope Davis, striking locations, vibrant cinematography and art direction in a palette of primary colours, The Matador is a cinematic treat. Jeff Potter
Buena Vista, 15, 96 mins; £17.99