Reviews

The Agronomist

A labour of love for Jonathan Demme who spent seven years following Haitian human rights activist and broadcaster Jean Dominique. An agronomist by background on an island run by bandits, Dominique's struggle to bring justice to his homeland ended in a hail of bullets outside Radio Haiti in 2000. For all Demme's efforts, you never feel the film quite cracks its subject, but it does throw a grim spotlight on Haiti's interminable agonies.

The Dillards – Pickin’ And Fiddlin’

Bluegrass pioneers' LPs 3-5 on two CDs

Tindersticks

Early reissue programme for monarchs of mournfulness

Lamont Dozier – Reflections Of…

Tamla titan revisits his hallowed past

Bebel Gilberto

Fragrant second album from the new Girl From Ipanema

The Hives – Tyrannosaurus Hives

Swedish garage dandies return

Gozu

More weirdness from Japanese maverick

Venom

Enjoyably hammy sub-Hitchcock suspense thriller from 1982 in which Klaus Kinski's plan to kidnap the grandson of a wealthy American explorer is thrown into chaos, placing him and co-conspirators Oliver Reed and Susan George under siege by a black mamba. Kinski is suitably unpleasant, as is the wince-inducing moment when Ollie receives a fatal snake bite where no bloke wants to be bitten.

Comandante

It was inevitable that Oliver Stone's trip to Havana to shoot 30 hours of interview with Fidel Castro would unleash a storm of controversy. Hawkish US commentators couldn't miss a chance to condemn Stone, and HBO, having bought the film, then decided not to show it. There's no doubt the director, who shares centre stage with Fidel himself, looks a little too pleased with himself for landing this coup, and as he develops a chummy camaraderie with his host, issues like Castro's human rights record and his laughable claim that Cuba is in some way democratic go without scrutiny.

A Mani Splendid Thing

Two-disc set celebrating Manchesters baggy-trousered dance-rock primates
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