Fall

Charmless Gallic prank-fest falls flat on its ass

Blustery rock by former chill-out heroes

After a timid first season, Smallville gets evil and horny—at least in a nice, family viewing kind of way. Young Clark Kent comes across red Kryptonite and turns moody; cue much pondering on whether he's been sent to Earth as saviour or destroyer. The love interest with Lana warms up, but in "Heat" Clark, like everyone, falls for a sexy new teacher. Educational.

Halifax, Nova Scotia's answer to The Beach Boys

Wong Kar-Wai's quirky, impressionistic Hong Kong masterpiece reissued

A landmark in the development of the doomed anti-hero, Julien Duvivier's timeless 1936 proto-noir made an icon of Jean Gabin, playing Pépé, the legendary French gangster exiled to the baroque, shadow-strewn purgatory of the Algerian casbah. Falling for a female tourist, he decides the time's come to break for home, but the cops are waiting. Still surprising, tough and casual, it sashays the line between cynicism and romance like few others.

Twenty-five international cuts of late-'60s underground mod beat

Sparse, subdued third solo album from Muses/Belly survivor

It was inevitable that Oliver Stone's trip to Havana to shoot 30 hours of interview with Fidel Castro would unleash a storm of controversy. Hawkish US commentators couldn't miss a chance to condemn Stone, and HBO, having bought the film, then decided not to show it. There's no doubt the director, who shares centre stage with Fidel himself, looks a little too pleased with himself for landing this coup, and as he develops a chummy camaraderie with his host, issues like Castro's human rights record and his laughable claim that Cuba is in some way democratic go without scrutiny.

Twelfth album from Canadian champions of alt.country misery