DVD, Blu-ray and TV

The Agronomist

A labour of love for Jonathan Demme who spent seven years following Haitian human rights activist and broadcaster Jean Dominique. An agronomist by background on an island run by bandits, Dominique's struggle to bring justice to his homeland ended in a hail of bullets outside Radio Haiti in 2000. For all Demme's efforts, you never feel the film quite cracks its subject, but it does throw a grim spotlight on Haiti's interminable agonies.

Venom

Enjoyably hammy sub-Hitchcock suspense thriller from 1982 in which Klaus Kinski's plan to kidnap the grandson of a wealthy American explorer is thrown into chaos, placing him and co-conspirators Oliver Reed and Susan George under siege by a black mamba. Kinski is suitably unpleasant, as is the wince-inducing moment when Ollie receives a fatal snake bite where no bloke wants to be bitten.

Comandante

It was inevitable that Oliver Stone's trip to Havana to shoot 30 hours of interview with Fidel Castro would unleash a storm of controversy. Hawkish US commentators couldn't miss a chance to condemn Stone, and HBO, having bought the film, then decided not to show it. There's no doubt the director, who shares centre stage with Fidel himself, looks a little too pleased with himself for landing this coup, and as he develops a chummy camaraderie with his host, issues like Castro's human rights record and his laughable claim that Cuba is in some way democratic go without scrutiny.

A Mani Splendid Thing

Two-disc set celebrating Manchesters baggy-trousered dance-rock primates

The Wonderful Horrible Life Of Leni Riefenstahl

Made in 1993 and directed by Ray Müller, this three-hour documentary features extensive interviews with Hitler's favourite director (then a sprightly 90), responsible for such brilliant but pernicious propaganda as 1934's Triumph Of The Will. Wonderful, horrible stuff, especially watching her squirm at Müller's inquisitions regarding her enthusiasm for Nazism.

The Missing

When her daughter's kidnapped by murderous types in this odd, grisly gothic western, frontierswoman Cate Blanchett saddles up and gives chase, accompanied by estranged father Tommy Lee Jones. A tiresomely grim offering from Ron Howard, whose fussy, pointlessly tricksy direction is a consistently irritating distraction. Very poor.

Jimi Hendrix – The Last 24 Hours

Using dodgy reconstructions, minimal footage and recently released FBI files, conspiracy theorist Alex Constantine suggests that Hendrix may have been taken down to Brian Jones' swimming pool and force-fed red wine by Elvis till he croaked. No, not really, but the theories aired in this sensationalist barrel-scraping pile of docu-dross are no less preposterous.

Dogville

After pushing Emily Watson and Björk through relentless pain and suffering in previous films, Lars Von Trier mercilessly harasses glutton-for-punishment Nicole Kidman in another sprawling, love-it-or-hate-it lo-fi epic. She's a mystery woman on the run who shelters with a curious community, only for the comfort to sour. Paul Bettany, Lauren Bacall and Chloë Sevigny look puzzled

Carandiru

In October 1992, Brazil's notorious São Paulo Detention Centre—aka Carandiru—erupted in a full-scale riot which left 111 inmates brutally slaughtered by trigger-happy military police. Director Hector Babenco's movie charts the events that led to the uprising, using the arrival, some 12 years earlier, of Drauzio Varella, a doctor employed by the authorities to quell the rapidly rising AIDS epidemic in the facility, as our entry point into the story of this hellish, overcrowded facility.

Seal – Live At The Point

Back in the early 1990s, Seal had edge, dreadlocks and songs. Shot on tour after his debut album had just won him a clutch of Brit awards, he looks armed and dangerous during an explosive set that includes a positively homicidal version of "Hey Joe". What on earth went wrong?
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