Reviews

New York imprint's bumper pack of freestyle punk-funk

SPIDER-MAN 2 IS THE best movie adaptation of a superhero comic since Superman 2—one each to Marvel and DC, then. Like that 1980 Christopher Reeve (R.I.P.) super-vehicle, here the eponymous character, played by Tobey Maguire with muscular sensitivity, is torn between saving the world and giving it all up for The Girl (Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane). This sets things up quite nicely for Peter Parker's biblical abdication of responsibility when the prospect of losing MJ becomes too great and inevitable return when he realises his true calling.

Abel Ferrara's slick 1993 adaptation of Jack Finney's páranoid sci-fi novel about human beings being replaced in their sleep by alien duplicates is the third screen version, and surprisingly good considering the director was compromised by the studio's desperation for a hit. Ferrara relocates the action to a military base, and Gabrielle Anwar and Meg Tilly are among those being menaced. The SFX are gross but impressive.

Intense take on lan McEwan's psych chiller

Evergreen hipster's tasteful remixes compiled

Shelved second album from recently rediscovered singer-songwriter

Mad Gregorian astral-rock from 1971

Awkward genre-bending from Glaswegian grunge trio

Sophomore offering by Portland pop-folkies is a concept album of sorts

Welsh punk tykes enjoy a nice scream