Reviews

Tales of sleazy sex from young Canadian singer-songwriter

Sleazy balladeer's finest, with liner tributes from Beck

An exploration of rock'n'roll's roots, spanning 1926 to 1955

Tenth in the series exploring influences on modern dance music

DIRECTED BY Peter Mullan STARRING Nora-Jane Noone, Dorothy Duffy, Anne-Marie Duff Opens February 21, Cert 15, 119 mins The opening scene of Peter Mullan's award-winning social drama The Magdalene Sisters unfolds in a Dublin pub in 1964, where Guinness-stained granddads in cloth caps slap their thighs to fiddle-dee-diddle-dee music played by a lecherous priest who salivates suggestively over his bodhran while crucifixes are reflected in whisky glasses and a lusty Irish buck rapes his own cousin.

Comedy terrorist Chris Morris writes and directs this extended riff on what could have been one of his more unsettling TV sketches—think Kafka remixed by Chris Cunningham. Paddy Considine, a talking dog, a demonic baby and a nerve-jangling soundtrack blur the line between black humour and abstract art. More please. DVD EXTRAS: Runner's commentary, alternative 5.1 mix, original radio monologue, dog animation, remix of the film by Cartel. (SD)

Initially promising black comedy, acidly penned by Dan (Dead Man's Curve) Rosen, which follows a group of student types as their campaign for political correctness moves from right-on moaning to casually poisoning anyone whose views don't dovetail with their own. Even an early Cameron Diaz performance can't stop it losing momentum late on. DVD EXTRAS: None. (CR)

Savage Hollywood satire from 1950 retains its bleak, sardonic edge

Fourth LP from purveyors of Hispanic-Americana

Two EPs from modern-day Bob Dylan