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Classic curveball detective thriller is re-released

A Kyoto skyscraper is contrasted with a crematorium chimney, gravestones abound, as do sinister black crows. And yet despite the lugubrious undertow of this, Yasujiro Ozu's penultimate movie (made two years before his death), there's a warmth to the tale of the Kohayagawa family, their ailing business and their eccentric patriarch that somehow transforms post-war angst into sublime acceptance.

Haunting, well-judged biopic of Plath and Hughes

DIRECTED BY Edward Zwick STARRING Tom Cruise, Ken Watanabe, Hiroyuki Sanada, Timothy Spall Opens January 9, Cert 15, 154 mins Very loosely based on the development of trade links between the US and Japan in the 1870s, signalling the end of Shogunate rule and the beginning of Japan's Meiji Restoration era, The Last Samurai details the exploits of fictional cavalry hero Captain Nathan Algren (Cruise). Dispirited by the violence he's inflicted on the Indian nation, Algren accepts a lucrative assignment to train Japanese riflemen.

Five-CD mid-'60s anthology of The Duke

First full review of 39-track follow-up to Stankonia from fractured hip hop duo

Born in Miami but weaned on the mid-'60's coffee house scene around Boston, Smither remains a strangely undiscovered talent. The 11th album of his 33-year recording career is a masterclass in deftly-picked country blues guitar, drawing on Lightnin' Hopkins and Mississippi John Hurt (a sunny-side-up cover of "Candy Man") alongside the more lugubrious Fred Neil. Smither's weathered old pipes are a joy as he tramples over melting chords like a bear with a migraine.

Self-explanatory collection of the love, hope and acceptance Tribe with a bonus DVD of videos from 1990 onwards

Probably the year's sexiest record. Mellow, who made it, are half-French and have links with Air. As if that wasn't enough crazy cosmic links, it's from top video director (Strokes, Moby) Roman (Sofia's brother) Coppola's debut, a cross between Barbarella and Breathless. This slinks and purrs like a baby tiger trying to work out if drowning in baby oil is an acceptable pastime. Hung up on '60s cheesiness and Gallic guile, it's like Moon Safari on a mission to Mars. Only it keeps getting caught in the bedroom. With Modesty Blaise. And a young Anna Karina. I'm projecting now. Anyway, stupendous.

Musical melodrama offers glimpse of Thai culture