Hailing from the same US stable as The Mendoza Line, the Austin, Texas quartet Shearwater embrace a drowsier strain of melancholy on their second LP—all shuffling shades of piano, picked guitar and stings. Producer Brian (Daniel Johnston) Beattie filters just enough light to ward off any impending claustrophobia, while the contrast between ardent ornithology student Jonathan Meiburg's falsetto and Okkervil River moonlighter Will Robinson Sheff's upbeat crackle adds a subtle duality.
DIRECTED BY Gaspar Noé
STARRING Vincent Cassel, Monica Bellucci, Albert Dupontel
Opened January 31, Cert 18, 95 mins
You probably heard about this shock-rocking rape-and-revenge drama from the stir it caused on the festival circuit. And for once, controversy and PC posturing are not being orchestrated into a publicity stunt. Irréversible is as visceral, graphic and wrenchingly full-on as advance word suggests.
Pulp's early-'90s videos for "Babies" and "Lipgloss" perfectly capture that periods new optimism, while the promos for "Common People" and "Disco 2000" were Britpop's peak visual moments. But it's the extras on this three-hour DVD that provide evidence of Jarvis Cocker's surreal ubiquity back then: impersonations courtesy of Harry Hill, Chris Morris and Mr Blobby, appearances on This Morning With Richard & Judy and Da Ali G Show, and a take-off on Stars In Their Eyes.
Abel Ferrara's 1979 directorial debut achieved notoriety as a video nasty, but those seeking gore will be largely disappointed. It's an exceedingly bleak portrait of an artist (Ferrara) cracking up and relieving the stress by offing homeless bums with a hand drill. Doom-laden angst that's almost unbearable on any level.