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,
Neurotic: Jon (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and Wendy (Laura Linney)
Oscar-nominated: The Savages
Originally banned: Bandit Queen
Classics: Boyzone Live
Creative: The National
Shameful: Before The Devil Knows You're Dead
DVD OF THE WEEK
The Savages
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, 15, £19.99
*****
This was lavished with critical acclaim, including Oscar nominations for Best Original Screenplay and Best Actress, but there’s just as much to simply entertain and amuse as cerebrally appreciate about Tamara Jenkins’s savagely perceptive indie. That’s worth stressing because on the face of it, the subject is one we’d all rather flush away than dwell on: what do you do when your parent starts to lose their faculties? Particularly when you hate them? That’s the problem facing quarrelling, neurotic, middle-aged siblings Jon (Philip Seymour Hoffman – Golden Globe nominated for the role) and his needy little sister, Wendy (Laura Linney).
Through having to take care of the father who never took care of them, these two hilariously incapable yet intellectually precocious siblings are forced to finally grow up. Jenkins’s witty, wordy script is entirely powered by dangerously submerged inter-family cross-currents; it demands outstanding lead performances and gets them. Mortality ain’t normally a barrel of fun, so this coming-of-middle-age comedy is exceptional in more ways than one.
Extras: Featurette, two extended scenes, stills – though regrettably no commentary from Jenkins.
Larushka Ivan-Zadeh
Bandit Queen
Metrodome, 18, £17.99
****
Originally banned in its home country of India, where critics hailed it as one of the 20 greatest motion pictures the industry ever produced, Elizabeth director Shekhar Kapur’s controversial 1994 epic funally gets its first DVD release in Britain. Based on the prison diaries of real-life outlaw Phoolan Devi, it shows the lower-caste Indian married off aged 11 to a selfish, uncaring husband. Over the coming years, Phoolan, aka The Goddess of Flowers, is beaten up, alienated and repeatedly violated by many men. It’s hard to think of a film in which there are more rape scenes but they sadly feel entirely necessary in a story that aims to expose the brutal hostility such rebellious women faced. It also helps you understand Phoolan (powerfully played by Seema Biswas) as she rises up in bloody anger, although there’s little glorification of her murderous actions as she becomes the titular Bandit Queen.
A sad portrait of violence begetting violence, this is a deeply disturbing and thought-provoking watch. Not least when you consider its aftermath – Devi disputed the movie’s accuracy, settled a suit with the film-makers, became an MP and was assassinated in 2001. There’s a whole other film right there.
Extras: New director audio commentary, trailer.
Anna Smith
Boyzone: Live And Behind The Scenes
Universal, no cert, £24.99
***
This Friday, Irish pop quintet Boyzone kick of their first British tour in seven years, and this retrospective box set is released just in the nick of time (you can almost hear the scramble). Its three discs take in Live At The Point recorded in 2000, 1996 gig Live At Wembley and Said And Done – a sort of video diary of Boyzone’s early years.
Said And Done is the real standout here, following the eager-to-please boys killing time in hotels and on set making their videos. The recording of Love Me For A Reason, in particular, throws up a must-see scene where, in matching white knitwear, they mess around with a younger, leaner, far less TV-savvy Louis Walsh. The Wembley material is less appealing, suffering from grainy footage and a lack of razzle-dazzle on stage but their show at Dublin’s The Point makes up for it with plenty of cheesy moves, cover songs (including an interesting take on Blame It On The Boogie) and classics.
Extras: None.
Zena Alkayat
The National: A Skin, A Night
Beggars Banquet, no cert, £12.99
****
Released as a double disc set with their new Virginia EP, A Skin, A Night sees the autumnal Brooklyn indie rockers collaborate with French director Vincent Moon for an evocative film far removed from the conventional rockumentary.
Recorded in the wake of the band’s 2005 breakthrough album, Alligator, we’re given a keyhole view of the protracted birth pangs of the follow-up, Boxer. Moon’s film challenges the viewer with dreamy, impressionistic techniques that are often revealing, such as his soundless concert footage focusing on the response of fans. Just as his cryptic style suits this characteristically subtle band, Moon’s flickering shots of New York – mostly shot in the similarly stark monochrome of the band’s artwork – resonate with the lyrical imagery of frontman Matt Berninger.
This is really a film about the collective creative process and a band at a crossroads between underground obscurity and mainstream embrace.
Extras: None.
Nadine McBay
Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead
Entertainment in Video, 18, £19.99
*
Some heist movies work without focusing on the actual heist – Reservoir Dogs, for example. Taking a cue from Tarantino, esteemed director Sidney Lumet largely ignores the hold-up in Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead. This seems a clever move, especially with a talent such as Philip Seymour Hoffman on board, but like the robbery itself, the film goes horribly wrong.
Hoffman and Ethan Hawke play two greedy brothers who decide to knock off their parents’ jewellery store – a plan (and a plotline) so lame it would have been rejected by Wile E Coyote. An annoying time-shifting narrative merely rehashes the same excruciating scenes over again, while the dialogue grates. When a horny Hawke tells Marisa Tomei’s femme banale: ‘I want more,’ she replies: ‘So does Oliver Twist.’ How could the venerable Lumet make a film that will only be remembered for My Cousin Vinny’s girlfriend’s breasts? Shameful.
Extras: Making-of doc, trailer.
Ross McGuinness
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