Reviews

Once Upon A Time In The Midlands

With untenable Leone motifs and broad comedy caricatures, this final part of Shane Meadows' "Midlands Trilogy" (after Twenty-Four Seven and A Room For Romeo Brass) is a disappointment. Robert Carlyle is solid as the Glaswegian rogue determined to win back ex-partner Shirley Henderson. Yet, despite a re-shot 'dramatic' ending, it feels slight.

Igby Goes Down

Burr Steers' debut as writer-director is perhaps a little too self-consciously off-kilter, but the film's humour is satisfyingly sour and the performances of a large ensemble cast are impeccable. Pitched somewhere between the macabre and the merely eccentric, Igby stars a convincingly debauched Kieran Culkin as the film's eponymous rebellious teen.

The Desperate Hours

William Wyler's 1955 suspense classic, later remade by Michael Cimino, finds Humphrey Bogart frowning and sweating as only he can (in a role first played on stage by Paul Newman). Three on-the-run cons hold a family hostage in their home, but after plenty of mind games, the suburbanites outfox them. Humph had done it better in Key Largo, but it still crackles gamely.

This Month In Americana

Slow-burning second album from Toby Burke's equine three-piece

The Belle By The Horn

Hitman who provided lavish productions for Frankie and Tatu oversees cult Scots' fifth album proper

Rage Before Beauty

Second album of the year, recorded with just a four-track and a healthy dose of vitriol

Laptop – Don’t Try This At Home

Laptop's third album is a synthetic joy from beginning to end. Continuing in the arch electropop vein of Opening Credits and The Old Me Vs The New You, Jesse Hartman's latest illustrates his ability to transcend simple '80s pastiche armed with a world-weary baritone and a clutch of untouchably sexy tunes. With deadpan voiceover and deluded romanticism, the Oakey-cokey melodrama of "Let Yourself Go" is both funny and moving, while "Back In The Picture" and "Testimonial #6" display lurching, Bowie-esque brilliance.

Not So Different Strokes

Hotly-anticipated second album from New York's finest

Electric Dreams

When '80s Northern boys hooked up with a pair of disco and hip hop gods

Bright Young Things

Stephen Fry's take on Evelyn Waugh's Vile Bodies
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