Reviews

If you had Mötley Crüe down as vacuous poodle-rockers who never stumbled across an original idea in two decades, Nicky Sixx and Tommy Lee are here to put you straight on the interview section of this 21-track retrospective. What do you know? Turns out they were always punk visionaries who pushed the envelope of rock. Yeah, right. It should be funny, but the relentless sexism and homophobia eventually grates. Witless pricks.

Debut from London post-rockers named after H-bomb test island

The former Mrs Cobain emerges from rehab to release her debut solo album

Delicious ambient funk from slippery former Japan bassist

Nico steals the show at Velvets' short-lived reunion

Archive radio sessions and between song interview chat, 1964-1968.

The diabolical face of punk

Muddled mainstream chiller from Mike Figgis

Underrated late John Wayne vehicle, a bracing 1971 western with The Duke, in formidable form, in hot pursuit of Richard Boone's gang of colourfully villainous and cheerfully murderous kidnappers. Surprisingly brutal, with Boone a fearsome presence and several very bloody shoot-outs. Much enjoyed by John Carpenter, who appropriated the "I thought you were dead" catchline for Escape From New York.

This tender 1986 romance is generally considered one of Eric Rohmer's finest films, though you have to be in the mood: it's as slow as it is gently touching. A lonely secretary (Marie Rivière, who co-wrote) holidays alone, fails for a while to meet anyone special, then possibly does. Eventually, its charm and delicacy—and underneath them, realism—get you where it counts.