DVD, Blu-ray and TV

Les Égouts Du Paradis

This unintentionally funny French heist movie is mired by its late-'70s aesthetic. Francis Huster is the swaggering hero, all but popping out of super-tight beige slacks and ruefully mouthing lines that mention "the poetry of the cash balance". The earnest political radicalism seems dated and risible now, but the direction is competent and the bank heist itself is good fun.

Matchbox 20 – Show: A Night In The Life Of Matchbox 20

While Matchbox 20 have been a byword for AOR, director Hamish Hamilton's concert film has a sense of scale and occasion that makes Rob Thomas and friends look like a group with something almost thrilling to say. Caught in Atlanta during their 2003 tour, the band build a head of steam banging through hits like "Push", "3 AM" and "Bent".

Television Roundup

One of the best US TV shows around, a relentlessly kinetic, breathlessly filmed and edited conspiracy and counter-espionage drama starring Jennifer Garner as CIA agent Sydney Bristow, clandestinely placed within the sinister SD6, an organisation plotting global domination. The serial plot twists, constantly shifting allegiances, reckless narrative pace and relentless action make these 22 episodes essential viewing. Brilliant.

The Last Emperor: Special Edition

Bertolucci's epic tracing the life of Pu Yi, who became China's last Godlike emperor aged three and then, deposed by revolution, had to learn to live as a gardener. Contrasting the splendour of the Forbidden City with the greyness of Communism, it almost gets lost in surfaces, but Peter O'Toole excels as Pu Yi's tutor

Meet Me In St Louis

Vincente Minnelli's heart-breaking, life-affirming 1944 musical. It's 1903, and as the World's Fair unfolds in their rosy little town, young Judy Garland's family face moving to the Big Apple. One of the great musicals; and as a movie about childhood, it's up there with The Night Of The Hunter and, as a lament for changing times, ranks alongside The Magnificent Ambersons and... The Wild Bunch. Kind of.

Cinema 16: European Short Films

A stimulating and intriguing set of classic shorts from the directing Premier League. Early work from Godard, Von Trier, Moodysson, Kieslowski, Moretti and Leconte sits with maverick inspiration alongside Brits like Peter Mullan and one Chris Morris (the BAFTA-winning "My Wrongs"). Three hours plus in total, but each nugget boasts such energy that it flies by. Small is beautiful.

The Eagle Has Landed

This 1976 adaptation of Jack Higgins' best-selling WWII novel was a fitting late-'70s swan song for John Sturges. Michael Caine leads a band of principled, Nazi-hating German commandos off to invade Blighty on the sly. Robert Duvall, Donald Sutherland, Jenny Agutter and Donald Pleasance join the action.

Elvis Presley – The Last 24 Hours

A potentially tasteless cash-in (given that the makers can't even get the date of his death right on the back jacket), surprisingly this turns out to be an immensely watchable documentary detailing Elvis' tragic demise. The usual suspects from the "Memphis Mafia" line up to share tearjerking anecdotes about junk food and drugs ("he jurst ferkin' lurved 'em!"). Morbidly fascinating.

Death To Smoochy

When kiddie TV host Rainbow Randolph (Robin Williams) is convicted of corruption, the network demands that his replacement be squeaky clean and beyond reproach. Enter Smoochy the Rhino (Ed Norton), who's so 'PC' it hurts. Can Smoochy learn to cope with the sleazy world of TV, or will Randolph kill him first? Despite a strong cast and Danny DeVito in the director's chair, this fails to spark.

Betty Blue: Director’s Cut

In the late eighties that poster adorned every young man's wall, and not just because the French subtitle looked chic. However, those who sneer at Jean-Jacques Beineix's film (here available on DVD only through HMV shops), putting its charm down simply to Béatrice Dalle's deeply erotic mouth (and suchlike), miss the point. Yes, it's visually ravishing throughout (as the pinnacle of the Cinéma Du Look) but it also lives by the true definition of Romantic Art, which has tragic connotations.
Advertisement

Editor's Picks

Advertisement