DVD, Blu-ray and TV

X-Men 2 Special Edition

Full of incident and introducing a slate of new characters, including Alan Cummings' edge-of-camp Nightcrawler, this workmanlike sequel plays less thrillingly second time round on a small screen. In addition to the expected commentaries, the second disc has more info about the film's making, the comic's history and what Ian McKellen had for tea on Day 28 of shooting than even a diehard fan could possibly want.

Suspicious River

The controversial director of Kissed, Lynne Stopkewich, throws the fearlessly versatile Molly Parker into another harrowing role. Here she's running a seedy Nowheresville motel, selling her body to guests and drifters. She wants out, and the latest stranger may have the ticket. But in this director's world, nothing's tender and most things are brutal. Mesmeric and coldly Lynch-like.

Short Cuts

The seemingly ageless Chrissie Hynde storms her way through 26 songs on Pretenders Loose in LA EAGLE VISIONRating Star , recorded at the Wiltern Theater in February this year. The run-in is particularly impressive as she turns the clock back almost a quarter of a century to the band's spectacular debut album with a sequence that includes "Tattooed Love Boys", "Precious", "Mystery Achievement" and the mighty "Brass In Pocket".

Where Eagles Dare

Released as part of an Eastwood box set, this finds Clint and Richard Burton breaking into a Nazi-held Alpine fortress to rescue a US general, then spectacularly blazing their way out. With bombings, knifings, shootings and that famous fracas atop a cable car, the body count is gratifyingly high. One wonders, given the bloody duo's amazing strike-rate, why they didn't ride their luck and continue straight on to Berlin.

Castle In The Sky

Magic spells, a crystal pendant and eco-friendly robots all figure in this animated new age fable from Hayao Miyazaki (creator of Spirited Away) as two children search for a legendary flying city. Not a patch on the director's later work, and the comedy material is tiresome; still, it's streets ahead of Disney, and the flying sequences are just incredible.

Method Madness

Brando stars in and directs whopping, overlooked 1961 western that cries out for iconic status

The Hours

The cross-cutting is seamless—'20s England, '50s California and presentday New York feeding off each other, resonating, as our disaffected heroines, played impeccably by Nicole Kidman, Julianne Moore and Meryl Streep, flirt with total internal breakdown. And still, it's all about that nose. Kidman's prosthetic nose. Bumpy, spongy, and slightly off-colour. You either buy it, or you don't.

The Recruit

Al Pacino is in workaday Mad Mentor mode (see Donnie Brasco and Devil's Advocate) as the CIA talent scout who lures the brooding, intense™ Colin Farrell into the fold while director Roger Donaldson tries to rekindle memories of his definitive '80s paranoia thriller No Way Out by inserting a screamingly obvious twist into a 'mole in the agency' finale.

Russian Ark

Already a by-word for meaningfully ambitious technical accomplishment, Alexander Sokurov's epic was shot in St Petersburg's Hermitage Museum in one unbroken steadicam shot. Moving through the rooms, we're tossed across history, from Peter the Great to Catherine the Great. And it IS great: saying much about Mother Russia then and now, but also visually gorgeous.

Historias Minimas

Low-key Argentinian road movie of sorts from director Carlos Sorin. A lost dog provides the impetus for an old man to amble off on a slow journey: he's not really looking for doggie, he's hunting meaning and a decent way to die. New friends shuffle about and there's much sentiment which would be panned if this was a Hollywood flick.
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