Reviews

Smart, educational survey of two decades of alt.country

Shorts compilation from international auteurs

OPENS OCTOBER 24, CERT U, 67 MINS Scooby Doo, you've gone all blue. And trippy, Daft Punk, the French techno-pop duo who've consistently worked with cutting-edge directors (Spike Jonze, Michel Gondry, Roman Coppola), have collaborated with their lifelong Manga animation heroes Leiji Matsumoto and Kazuhisa Takenouchi to produce this 'musical', loosely accompanying their 2001 album Discovery. It's fun, and sweet rather than radical. If you're a Manga buff you'll enjoy the quaint sci-fi plotline and imagery, and stare at the female bassist's lovingly-drawn arse.

Second serving of highlights and blunders from seminal TV rock slot as it catches up with punk

One of the most revered of Krzysztof Kieslowski's "10 commandments" series, the late director's determinedly bleak parable investigates a pointless murder and a lawyer's subsequent near-existential defence. Out the same year ('88) as A Short Film About Love, its intensity made the Polish maestro a global name.

Axeman of distinction returns with 14th solo album

Tin Pan Alley revisited by Mr Diana Krall

Given the parlous state of contemporary jazz singing (Diana Krall? Elvis, how could you?), Lea DeLaria, a butch dyke from St Louis with a dirty mouth and a deliciously wicked sense of humour, is all the more remarkable. Growing up with jazz in her veins, she was previously best known as a comic (she's also been a Broadway star), but singing is clearly her vocation.

Brilliant third album produced by Marius deVries

Not a film many people outside the Jackie Chan Completists Society will be urging you to see, but a nifty set of British '60s sounds, avoiding the usual chestnuts and instead dredging up memories you never knew you had, like "Winchester Cathedral" by The New Vaudeville Band, possibly the oddest pop song ever conceived. Although it's given a run for its pottiness by Roger Miller's "England Swings".