An awesome and ridiculous film that leaves you thrilled beyond the point of your natural endurance
2012
Theatre
The show has suddenly become quite wonderful, and the galvanising factor is the terrific stage debut of Melanie C
Blood Brothers
Music
The British pop music industry may be eating itself but if Muse are the pick of what it can offer the world in 2010 then British music is in rude health indeed
Muse
I was smitten by both Gilberts enormous luxuriant moustache and the intelligence and nuance of this highly entertaining play
I totally recommend Babbo to anyone who is looking for really good and traditional Italian food
Always been a fan but never seen them live. I was ecstatic to be part of this epic event. WOW!
London,
Whizz-bang: Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix
Infectious: The Jungle Book
Busy: Jimmy Carr is a joke robot
Endearing: Golden Door
Fun: Little Britain Abroad
DVD OF THE WEEK
Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix:
Two-Disc Special Edition
Warner Home Video, 12, £25.99
*****
HP5 was definitely the dreariest book in the series. Dumbledore is blanking Harry; thumpable politicians are hell-bent on denying the now obvious threat of doom; and our teenage hero spends most of the book as a horny, and unbecomingly stroppy, isolated victim of a smear campaign. So, many wizard points to director David Yates for turning JK Rowling's gloomfest into the best film in the series. This is escapism of the highest order, putting whizz-bang special effects and exciting battle on an equal footing with plotting, atmosphere and superb characterisation. Imelda Staunton's fabulous Dolores Umbridge - a cutesy/evil new teacher who owns a purring collection of decorative kitten plates and makes students write lines in their own blood - is simply the icing on the cake.
Extras: Uninspiring featurette called The Hidden Secrets Of Harry Potter (basically a 44min trailer), a slightly irritating behind-the-scenes look with wizard Tonks, plus an interesting editing doc. Sharon Lougher
The Jungle Book:
40th Anniversary Two-Disc Special Edition
Buena Vista Home Entertainment, U, £21.99
*****
'I want it to be a fun adventure: none of this mysterious and heavy stuff. And I want it to have a little heart, too... we're gonna make our own Jungle Book.' That was Walt Disney's simple vision for his last, infectiously upbeat feature.
Certainly Mowgli's 1967 antics in an unforgettably jazzed-up jungle bear little relation to Rudyard Kipling's darker original stories. Indeed, Walt's version uses a very simple story: baby boy Mowgli is raised in the jungle, makes friends with some creatures, avoids getting eaten by others and makes a beautifully bittersweet return to the 'Man Village'.
The focus here is on the unforgettably strong, expressively drawn characters - like Mowgli's buddy Baloo the Bear, described by Pixar director Brad Bird (Ratatouille/The Incredibles) as 'one of the greatest characters Disney ever created'. With some of the most memorable, paw-tapping ditties in the House of Mouse songbook, here's betting you'll be humming 'I wanna be like you-hoo-hoo' for the rest of the day.
Extras: Top banana. Commentary, games and more. But what makes this all-new digital restoration (available for a limited time only) a bare necessity for adults is the 'Man Village' segment, containing a fascinating making-of doc, deleted songs and 'meet the long-lost character Rocky the Rhino'. LI-Z
Jimmy Carr: Comedian
4DVD, 18, £19.99
***
When Jimmy Carr first gave up his job in marketing, he rapidly made a name for himself as a workaholic, cramming in more gigs in a year than most people have had hot dinners. This latest DVD is further evidence that his graft is both a blessing and a curse. For, while Carr's material is strong and satisfyingly, gleefully contentious, this is a clinical 98 minutes.
One-liners and heckle ripostes pour out of the Cambridge-educated lapsed Catholic as though he has an enormous filing cabinet of gags in his brain; it ticks the audience interaction box; and he varies the pace by interrupting the quickfire stream with some fun advice on writing greeting cards messages and filling in application forms.
About a third of the way through, he even reminds punters of the make-up of a joke: feedline, punchline, laugh (or roar with disapproval - which you may well do if gags about fat kids, paedophilia, religion and homosexuality make you bristle). Carr's basically a joke robot - but one that works very well.
Extras: Include an exclusive half-hour sketch show, coverage of Carr's Second Life gig, radio interviews. SL
The Golden Door
Optimum Home Entertainment, PG, £17.99
***
Writer/director Emanuele Crialese's Italian film about the journey from the Old World to the US is an endearing oddity. In 1913, Salvatore (Vincenzo Amato), a Sicilian peasant, gathers his grown sons, puts on his first pair of shoes and begins the trek to the New World. Salvatore is beguiled by images of a land full of giant chickens and rivers of milk.
His belief in the miraculous receives a boost when he encounters beautiful, Englishspeaking Lucy (Charlotte Gainsbourg) in the boat queue. She can't quite be the proper pre-war maiden she appears, or what is she doing travelling thirdclass and unaccompanied? But this is Salvatore's film: already, the US is proving to be the promised land and he hasn't even arrived yet.
Crialese, like Salvatore, starts with themes of superstition and moves gently through a foggy sea to the harsh questions and cold corridors of Ellis Island. There's minimal dialogue but beautiful visuals (by Claire Denis's director of photography, Agnès Godard), but the film meanders rather, and the use of Nina Simone - born in 1933, for goodness sake - on the soundtrack is a grave error.
Extras: Making-of. Nina Caplan
Little Britain Abroad
BBC DVD, 15, £15.99
***
One hour of precisely what you'd expect from this 2006 BBC special, with a few good cameos (including Dawn French and Ronnie Corbett) thrown in for good measure. So Vicki Pollard is in the nick in Thailand, Dafydd is now the only gay in Mykonos, and 'Computer Says No' holiday rep Carole is being epically unhelpful to a coach tour group in Palma ('If you look to your left, you'll see Spain. If you look to your right, you'll see Spain.') It's fun, though - worth bunging in the Christmas stocking.
Extras: Deleted scenes, Comic Relief shenanigans, behind the scenes of the Australian tour dates. SL
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
Morning:
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