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Reviews

Elling

Spacey favourite has plenty of low-key charm

I Am Sam

Sean Penn has done many good things, and none of them can be found in this sentimental guff. As Sam, he's an autistic who, with the help of saintly lawyer Michelle Pfeiffer, tries to prove he's a fit father to his daughter. It's manipulative, dishonest, and wreaks carnage on The Beatles' songbook. Penn was Oscar-nominated. You have to laugh.

Dinner Rush

Danny Aiello dominates this ensemble drama as the weary owner of an Italian restaurant in New York's Tribeca, caught between mobsters and his son's desire to transform the place into a chiceatery. Director (and restaurateur) Bob Giraldi keeps things hustling between tables, but cranks up the pace in the kitchens. A grittier companion to Stanley Tucci's gastro-porn classic Big Night. Tasty.

The spaghetti western was flagging by 1970 when Enzo Barboni gave it a spoof shot in the arm with this breezy global smash and its sequel—now a one-disc double bill. Terence Hill plays the eponymous drifter with a lightning draw and an appetite for beans; Bud Spencer is his bear-like half-brother, Bambino, who dispatches opponents by thumping them on the head; a laid-back but lethal Laurel & Hardy favouring slapstick over ultraviolence.

Hayden – Live At Convocation Hall

With Skyscraper National Park, the quiet ebb and flow of Paul Hayden Desser's cracked, sad-slow lullabies proved one of last year's more insidious treats. On record often hushed to the brink of fade, the Canadian's downbeat allure is set surprisingly aglow, however, before a pocket of punters.

Burning Brides – Fall Of The Plastic Empire

Remastered punk rock from The White Stripes' old touring partners

Beans – Tomorrow Right Now

Anti-Pop rapper goes solo

Paul McCartney – Back In The US: Live 2002

The Cute Beatle reminds America who the real Boss is

Fat Truckers

Sheffield synth-bloke trio's debut album

Ether Madness

Re-release of first four albums from missing link between Banshees and Valentines, remastered by Cocteaus' co-founder Robin Guthrie
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