Reviews

The Great Gatsby

Written by Coppola but directed painfully slowly by Jack Clayton, this expensive adaptation of Fitzgerald's novel looks lovely but doesn't understand real tragedy (quite important re: Fitzgerald). Robert Redford fails to suggest any depth of broodiness, while Mia Farrow is almost laughably dotty, and the passion is limp. Still, a Nelson Riddle score, some nice shirts, and top vintage cars. READ OUR REVIEW OF THE 2013 FILM ADAPTATION OF THE GREAT GATSBY HERE.

Dragonflies

Norwegian psychological thriller which starts slowly but soon has its hooks in you so deep you daren't move. With shades of Harry, He's Here To Help, it involves a couple rediscovering an old friend, but after lust rears its head, death follows close behind. Harrowingly acted by the three leads, unknowns who remind you how clichéd the big names are.

This Month We’re Being Buried In Blues And Roots

Probably the best blues album in the world...ever! Martin Scorsese's seven-part TV series on the blues has had mixed reviews in America. But it's impossible to fault the accompanying five-CD box set, which must qualify as the most comprehensive blues compilation ever released. With 116 tracks chronologically sequenced and expertly annotated, there's hardly a big name in the genre who isn't represented. Nevertheless, the set raises fundamental questions about why anybody should still bother listening to the blues.

Josh Ritter – Golden Age Of Radio

Released to acclaim in the US early last year, 26-year-old Ritter's debut earned him support slots with Dylan and the admiration of Joan Baez. Now available in the UK, this is softly rolling roots-folk with the warmth of John Prine and a twist of Richard Buckner. Townes Van Zandt and Nick Drake ("You've Got The Moon"; "Drive Away") are obvious touchstones, too, but ldaho-born Ritter's lugubrious stealth is rooted in his own earth, addressing the paradox between the allure of the road and the pull of tradition.

Donna Summer And Ove-Naxx – Donna Summer Vs

Psycho-electronica-nothing to do with the other Donna

Cas McCombs – Not The Way

Enterprising debut from lo-fi New York singer-songwriter

Pearls Before Swine – Jewels Were The Stars

Lavishly annotated four-disc box collates albums 3-6 from Tom Rapp's gently stoned psych-folk collective

The Free Design

First and third LPs from contemporaries of The Association and The 5th Dimension

Bigger Than Life

Fifties classic revived for NFT's James Mason season

Flashback

Dennis Hopper is Huey Walker, a '60s radical who's been wanted by the Feds for decades. When he's captured in the late '80s, repressed, clean-cut young FBI man Kiefer Sutherland lands the job of escorting him to trial through Reagan-era America, but Hopper turns the tables, and teaches him how to drop out. Your average, idealistic, pan-generational odd-couple road movie, but Hopper, spoofing his Easy Rider persona, is a howl.
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