Reviews

Two years before GoodFellas, Jonathan Demme nailed the comical backstage soap opera element of modern-day mobsters and their brassy womenfolk in this cheery 1988 farce. Michelle Pfeiffer is the blousy Mafia wife who wants out, while Matthew Modine plays the FBI agent on her trail. It feels a little too clean and lightweight today, but the roots of The Sopranos are buried in here somewhere.

Jane Campion's second film (1990) tells the life story of Janet Frame, a New Zealand author who overcame poverty, chronic shyness and (misdiagnosed) schizophrenia to achieve international acclaim. Kerry Fox stars, while Campion hones her own stylistic match of trippy fantasy and gauche intimacy. Earnest, with detours into the ethereal. DVD EXTRAS: Three interviews with Campion, filmographies, trailer, biography of Janet Frame.

Second album from Italian-American enigmas, produced by Kevin Shields

Lou Barlow's 20th album, with new bandmates Imaad Wasif and Russell Pollard

Debut from NY noisepop quartet

London duo's decadent-pop debut

Midwestern siblings in Britpop homage

US chanteuse covers the songbook of lo-fi LA maverick

Southern boy recalls homesick-in-the-city salad days

A best-of thin on any real achievement