Reviews

Made between 1930 and 1933, these four films (Horse Feathers, Animal Crackers, Duck Soup, Monkey Business) represent the Marx Brothers in their first flush, prior to moving to Hollywood. Although occasionally marred by musical routines and the over-familiarity of the zaniness, these outings are immortal—the missing link between the lost, tumbling traditions of vaudeville and the surrealist hipster comedy of the present day. Introducing quickfire Jewish wit and an anarchic insolence for authority into the mainstream, these seemingly slapdash movies are cinematic milestones.

The dark lord lightens up, relatively

Winsome Australian duo's third album

Postmodern country from balmy-voiced Lambchopper

Not so much a greatest hits as a musical autobiography, including new tracks and re-recorded B-sides

Twenty seasonal helpings of doo wop, country, blues and rockabilly

Formed around the original Ants, Bow Wow Wow were often dismissed as a cheap and nasty imitation of Adam's tribal formula. If anything, they were bolder, singing about tape piracy ("C30, C60, C90, Go!") and satanism ("Prince Of Darkness") while their Burundi-Drummers-meets-Ennio-Morricone interface often left the Ants trailing.

Oddball two-dimensional anti-hero Harvey Pekar comes to the big screen

OPENS DECEMBER 12, CERT 15, 106 MINS In 1985, British mountaineers Joe Simpson and Simon Yates made a bold assault on the west face of Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes. They became the first (and so far only) climbers to conquer it, but their triumph turned to purgatory as they tried to get down again. After Simpson broke his leg, Yates tried to lower him down the mountain by rope. They'd almost made it when Simpson slithered over a precipice, forcing Yates to cut the rope to save himself. Fantastically, Simpson survived and crawled back to base.

The wildly erratic Fred Schepisi (Fierce Creatures, Last Orders) here hits sludgy middle-ground with the outré screwball story of goofy garage mechanic Tim Robbins, who falls in love with quantum physicist, er, Meg Ryan and, with the aid of kindly Uncle Albert Einstein (Walter Matthau), manages to snare her away from her bloodless sociologist fiancé Stephen Fry. Tired and uninspired.