Reviews

Dark, character-driven tale told from three angles

The 1961 multiple Oscar-winner may have stagey settings, Natalie Wood's singing dubbed, and a well-meant but muffed 'message', yet it crackles with wit and panache. The Jets fight The Sharks while pirouetting, Romeo and Juliet (Tony and Maria) coo amid the washing lines, and every Bernstein song's a humdinger with sizzling Sondheim lyrical gags. Cosily cool.

You can't move these days for quality American TV dramas—Six Feet Under, The Badge, Boomtown, 24, the increasingly amazing Alias—so it says a lot for the enduring genius of David Chase's Mob epic that it remains the most compelling of the current generation of TV imports. Series Four was as frightening and funny as anything that preceded it, and was especially notable for its treatment of the darkening relationship between James Gandolfini and Edie Falco. The episode where Tony snuffs Ralphy is unbelievable.

Pre-Star Wars, '70s Hollywood loved its post-apocalyptic sci-fi dystopias—think The Omega Man, Rollerball and Logan's Run. With a brilliant cast—Charlton Heston, Edward G Robinson in his final role—and a superbly ghoulish twist, few come bleaker or better than this.

Hollywood's favourite French actress takes unconvincing stab at musical stardom

Rough Trade bands celebrate the label's 25th birthday by covering songs from the catalogue

Art-rock doesn't, as far as we know, have a glorious reputation in the working men's clubs of South Yorkshire. Relaxed Muscle, however, suggest there's a captive market for electro duos in Doncaster, where the regulars suffer half an hour of performance art before bingo.

Scratch mix supremo and dub producer collaborate to fine debut effect

Typically wilful, valedictory double CD with new material, rarities and a 2002 live show from Dublin

First time on CD for Scots showman's final album