Reviews

Ten-CD companion to last year's 24 Hours live CD box set

Directed by Peter Jackson Starring Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortensen Opened December 17, Cert 12A, 201 mins Now war is declared and battle come down. Armies are mustered, siege weapons unveiled and war elephants saddled. The forces of good line up for a mighty ruck, the outcome of which will dictate the fate of mankind. Hold the line chaps, and watch out for those elephants. The final part of Peter Jackson's Tolkien trilogy is already assured a record-breaking box office haul.

Roy Boulting's 1970 sex comedy, adapted from a then long-running stage play, carries an over-inflated reputation. The set-pieces now seem clunky, as Peter Sellers, looking distinctly uncomfortable, plays a smarmy, lascivious TV star who meets his nemesis in plucky Goldie Hawn. Watching their free love will cost you. Still, the marvellous Diana Dors lifts it briefly.

Don't expect John McTiernan's blustery military thriller to deliver the same buzzing chemistry between John Travolta and Samuel L Jackson as Pulp Fiction. The two stars barely even meet as Travolta's bad-ass investigator puzzles out the mystery of Jackson's missing Ranger instructor via a series of twist-heavy flashbacks. McTiernan delivers balls-out action, but he's a total hack, mauling all the subtlety out of a potentially intriguing yarn.

Two discs of promos and live footage remind us that while TSC remain Weller's most misunderstood period, it was by far his most visually creative. Also included is the infamous Jerusalem, where Weller dons a kilt and a Nazi stormtrooper helmet and fakes a northern accent. Brilliantly ridiculous, ridiculously brilliant. (SG)

Two CDs of psychedelic esoterica from the court of Julian Cope

Bonkers Brooklynites look set to go overground at last on their sixth LP

Given Escovedo's current fate (stricken with Hepatitis C), this 1996 reissue is particularly welcome. Remastered with an extra disc of live recordings from that year, With These Hands was a rocking departure from the ex-Rank And File man's solo predecessors. With Willie Nelson, brother Pete (ex-Santana) and niece Sheila E on board, it's a suitably raucous affair, though the full band tends to swamp Escovedo's dusky timbre occasionally. The spare "Pissed Off 2am" and "Tired Skin" (vox/piano only) are more affecting, as is the title track's percussive Latino snap.

Four-CD box of Fat Bob's bits and bobs

Grant Lee Phillips and Jeffrey Clark, natives of California's San Joaquim Valley, formed Shiva Burlesque in what is now Santa Clarita, 30 miles north of Los Angeles, in 1986. As you can hear from their eponymous debut album, released in 1988 to howls of approval from an enthusiastic fanbase at what used to be Melody Maker, Shiva were in thrall to the looming psychedelia of The Doors and Love.