Reviews

Career-spanning best-of for New Jersey's finest offers a generous helping of rarities

Dancing Dracula doesn't suck

Sequenced in reverse chronological order, these videos show Stipe in his element and Buck very much not in his, counting the seconds till he gets to go home. Still, thanks to Stipe, R.E.M. were always enhanced by video. The collection begins with "Bad Day", before Stipe's face de-wrinkles as we regress into the starkly exuberant "What's The Frequency, Kenneth?" and arresting "Everybody Hurts". Then Stipe regains his hair for "Losing My Religion".

This marks Tian Zhuangzhuang's return to directing after a nine-year ban by China's authorities. Zhichen visits old school friend Liyan in a bombed-out town in post-war China. Though welcomed by the household, Zhichen's relationships with the family break down when he rekindles a romance with his childhood sweetheart—now Liyan's wife. Exceptional cinematography and sensitive performances are let down by a clumsy screenplay and drawn-out pacing. Shame.

Self-styled "desert-surf-redneck" rawk from the other side of the tracks

Inordinately well-connected new rapper

One of pop's great female voices turns to standards, with starry guests

Modfather becomes third in celebrity compilation series

Five-CD mid-'60s anthology of The Duke

Greatest hits from their major-label years