DVD, Blu-ray and TV

The Ages Of Lulu

Bigas Luna's 1990 film deals with, yes, sex, but like most Spanish movies it does so unapologetically and flamboyantly. A teenager is corrupted by her brother's friend: later they marry, but by now the libido of Lulu (Francesca Neri) is out of control. Sounds like Channel 5 fare, sure, but as with Jamón, Jamón and Golden Balls, Luna lifts it higher. DVD EXTRAS: Filmographies, notes, trailer. Rating Star

Novocaine

Steve Martin is dentist Robert Sangster trapped in a too safe relationship with his hygienist (Laura Dern). When he takes a walk on the wild side with drug-dealing patient Susan Ivey (Helena Bonham Carter), Sangster's pharmaceutical supplies are pilfered and Ivey's psychopathic brother and the police send his life into tailspin. A laboured attempt to reinvigorate an increasingly tired-looking Martin.

Frankie & Johnny

Al Pacino and Michelle Pfeiffer are the short order cook and waitress in a New York diner in Garry Marshall's romantic drama. The stars ensure that it's at least watchable, but the chemistry between them is nowhere near as intense as it was in Scarface, a few years earlier.

Of Mice And Men

Gary Sinise directs John Steinbeck's fatalistic Depression-era fable of friendship and sacrifice with a reverence for the text and a painterly eye for period 1930s detail. Sinise also co-stars alongside Sherilyn Fenn and John Malkovich, who anchors this 1992 remake as mentally challenged gentle giant Lenny. A handsome American classic, even if the overrated Malky's twitchy mannerisms irritate as much as ever.

Sound And Vision

Definitive collection of Thin White Duke's pop videos

Singin’ In The Rain—Special Edition

If not, as it's perennially voted, one of the 10 greatest films ever made, 1952's Singin' In The Rain is at the very least the sharpest Hollywood musical bar none. Fifty years on, it's still as gooey a plot as they come but with a lethal dose of feel-good factor as sumptuous as its kaleidoscopic colours and Gene Kelly's ingenious choreography, who's complaining?

The Virgin Spring

More convincingly medieval than his breakthrough film The Seventh Seal, The Virgin Spring is a dark ballad of revenge balanced between Christianity and paganism. Max von Sydow's daughter is raped and murdered; he kills the culprits. On the surface a simple tale, but laden with intricate themes of guilt.

Vampires—Los Muertos

John Carpenter's 1998 Vampires was a triumph of gonzo monster-mashing with James Woods in full kick-ass mode. The sequel replaces Woods with Jon Bon Jovi, which may explain why Carpenter describes his exec-producer role as "me picking up a cheque". Nevertheless, we get a stake in the mouth, a chest slash, a tongue biting, various beheadings, a punched-off head and two heads bashed together.

The Caretaker

Clive Donner's 1963 version of Harold Pinter's debut is a faithful, relatively unaltered record of a trio of stunning stage performances from Alan Bates, Robert Shaw and particularly Donald Pleasence (as the splenetic tramp who takes advantage of the mentally crippled Shaw). Four decades on, you can see Mamet's starting point in the furious inarticulateness of Pinter's characters, each trapped in an unobtainable dream.

Resident Evil

After a biological warfare research lab goes tits up when a virus gets loose, plucky security guard Milla Jovovich has to fight off hordes of the living dead in this fast-paced adaptation of the video game. No faulting the SFX or the action, but all the dialogue here is irritatingly clunky exposition, and the plot lies somewhere between predictable and brain-dead.
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