Reviews

The Jeff Tweedy-Jim O'Rourke love-in continues

A kinder, gentler Ryan Adams

Ace rapper/producer shows off his soundscapes

Strong across-the-board selection of soul classics

Lou live'n'loose, on CD for first time

Dangerous Liaisons director cuts through to the capital's underbelly

Multiple Oscar-winner (beating out Scorsese's Raging Bull) from 1980, directed calmly (and, for some, soporifically) by Robert Redford. It's a sombre, actorly affair in which wealthy Donald Sutherland and Mary Tyler Moore grieve for their son's death; his brother Timothy Hutton blames and shames. An early, earnest look at the dysfunctional family: American Beauty without the laughs.

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.

Nicholson brings havoc to a mental institution back in 1975. Five Oscars follow...

Big Ike's disco detour, first time on CD