Men In Black

Reissued as part of the Superbit series, Barry Sonnenfeld's witty and energetic spoof fields a wonderful tearning in sassy Will Smith and sardonic Tommy Lee Jones. "Searching for a handle on the moment?" asks the latter when the rookie alien investigator is first confronted with the tentacled weirdos from outer space. Fave moment: Noisy Cricket.

Blade Runner Special Edition Deluxe Box Set

Whoo hoo! Ridley Scott's timeless sci-fi noir classic gets handsomely packaged in an impressive box set along with lobby cards, original 35mm frame, script book and poster Definitely Harrison Ford's finest hour, tracking Rutger Hauer and his band of existential Replicants through a neon-and-rain-soaked future LA. Peerless.

The Wash

Hip hop's finest double-act, Dr Dre and Snoop Dogg, pay loose, improvisational homage to the 1976 comedy classic Car Wash with this amiably inert tale of two roommates scheming, scamming and "busting suds" at the local LA 'wash. There's a kidnapping subplot, consistent casual misogyny, and cameos from Ludacris, Eminem and Tommy Chong. Overall, patchy, but not entirely pointless.

Natural Born Killers: Director’s Cut

Oliver Stone in mind-fuck overdrive. Seven years after it provoked the most hysterical reactions to a movie since the '70s heyday of confrontational classics like A Clockwork Orange and Straw Dogs, NBK remains as violent, hilarious, unsettling, outrageous and awesome as ever. At the peak of his cinematic powers and throwing everything into an increasingly volatile mix, Stone reworks Tarantino's original plundering spin on the familiar Hollywood tradition of lovers on a killing spree and sheerly eviscerates it.

John Q

This'll be the one Denzel didn't win the Oscar for. His factory-worker Everyman holds up a hospital when the nasty insurance company won't help his dying son. Shades of Dog Day Afternoon, but an astounding cast (Robert Duvall, James Woods, Ray Liotta) can't stop director Nick (son of John) Cassavetes from descending into trite, teary sentimentality.

Monster’s Ball

Halle Berry's blubbing Oscar win shouldn't obscure the fact that this is a brave, harrowing film, echoing the intimacy of '70s cinema's heyday. Billy Bob Thornton is uncannily intense as a Death Row prison guard who cracks up when his son Heath Ledger can't handle his job. An odd coupling with convict's wife Berry may or may not redeem him. Inspirational.

Roberto Succo

French study of a true-life serial killer who habitually robbed, kidnapped and killed in the south of France during the 1980s. Stefano Cassetti brilliantly captures the unhinged Succo, and there's a steely intelligence throughout, but Cédric Kahn's overly detached approach drains Succo's demonic acts of real terror or impact. That aside, definitely worth investigating.

The Virgin Spring

More convincingly medieval than his breakthrough film The Seventh Seal, The Virgin Spring is a dark ballad of revenge balanced between Christianity and paganism. Max von Sydow's daughter is raped and murdered; he kills the culprits. On the surface a simple tale, but laden with intricate themes of guilt.

Hardball

Keanu Reeves stars in this dismally formulaic affair as an inveterate gambler given one last shot at personal redemption when he's asked to coach a baseball team made up of apathetic no-hoper inner-city hard nuts. Based on a true story.

Twin Peaks—Season One Box Set

David Lynch's TV series, which first aired in the UK in the early '90s, broke the mould on so many levels, arguably paving the way for everything from Northern Exposure and Wild Palms to The Sopranos and Six Feet Under. Ostensibly a whodunnit, this deeply unconventional show explores secrets and strangeness in a rural community. And boy, do we get strangeness, from Kyle MacLachlan's relentlessly chipper FBI agent to the Log Lady and the One-Armed Man. Genius
Advertisement

Editor's Picks

Advertisement