Reviews

Party-friendly assembly of Marvin's funkiest sides, and a repackaged edition of definitive four-disc box

Heartfelt story of human resilience from Georgia

This 1978 throwback to the all-star men-on-a-mission genre of the late '60s delivers a cracking carbine-load of ripe boys' own adventure, mainly thanks to the quartet of scenery-munching hambones (Richard Burton, Roger Moore, Richard Harris, Hardy Krüger) cast as the eponymous squad of cigar-chomping Africa-bound mercenaries.

Ted Turner's pet Civil War projects, both directed by Ronald F Maxwell. 1993's Gettysburg tells the tale of the bloodiest battle ever fought on American soil while its prequel, 2003's Gods And Generals, recounts three earlier battles (Manassas, Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville) through the eyes of Joshua Chamberlain (Jeff Daniels), Stonewall Jackson (Stephen Lang) and Robert E Lee (Robert Duvall). Solid, stirring stuff, if you can sit through the three hours-plus running times of both these films.

Considering the testosterone on display both in front of and behind the camera (Mickey Rourke stars, Michael Cimino directs, screenplay by Oliver Stone), this 1985 cop thriller, with Rourke's decorated Viet Vet turned NYPD cop taking on the Triads in Chinatown, is nowhere near as deranged as you'd hope. The two set pieces—a gun battle in a Chinese restaurant and the final shoot-out—barely compensate for a disappointingly muted feel.

An exuberant two-disc anniversary set includes all the videos—the sugar-buzz of "Alright", "Late In The Day"'s pogoing in the rain, the inspired foam-puppetry of "Pumping On Your Stereo" et al. There's also home movies, unseen material, TV appearances and fresh interviews with the lads, who emerge as that rarest of musical beasts: mates first, a band second.

Describing itself as "the evil twin to the ecstatically decadent Boogie Nights soundtrack", the merits of this collection dwarf even Val Kilmer's (it says here) 13-inch penis. Okay, so he was playing porn legend John Holmes. But we don't even want to think about the method acting. Instead, let's explain why this soundtrack is so excellent. It's very simple: most of the songs they've chosen are classics. As opposed to the tired drek clueless movie producers compiling soundtracks usually think are classics (Dido, The Troggs).

Hostile backwoods psychedelia from Massachusetts

Forceful first full album from intense rock trio

This month's great lost acoustic opus, retrieved and re-mastered courtesy of David Tibet's Durtro imprint