Reviews

Central Line – Loose Ends

Career round-ups for two of the brightest lights of '80s Britfunk

Mick Ronson – Hard Life

Casually packaged highlights compilation

Veronica Guerin

Competent Dublin crime drama on well-worn turf

The Lady Vanishes

A '70s remake of the Hitchcock classic, with Angela Lansbury as an English nanny kidnapped on a German train on the eve of WWII. Can dizzy US heiress Cybill Shepherd foil this Nazi plot with the aid of rugged news photographer Elliott Gould? It might have worked if they'd played it straight; instead, they go for screwball comedy, and it's a disaster.

Joni Mitchell—Woman Of Heart And Mind

It doesn't matter whether you're a fan. This study of Mitchell is a model of musical biography in DVD form. Over two hours we get her life story in perfectly matched words, music and images. The interviews with Mitchell are candid, the recollections from the likes of James Taylor, David Crosby and Graham Nash are fascinating, and the musical excerpts, which cover her entire career, are luminous.

Spider

Depressing study in madness, memory and murder from David Cronenberg, with Ralph Fiennes, recently released from a mental institution, setting up home in a halfway hostel in London's East End close to where he grew up, and the scene of a massive childhood trauma. Despite some typically creepy Cronenberg moments and universally impressive performances, the plot's predictable, and the relentless bleakness wears after a while.

Vega 4 – Satellites

Travis-lite trad-rockers' debut LP

Killing Joke

Apocalyptic comeback from post-punk doom lords featuring Foo Fighter Dave Grohl on drums

The Von Bondies – Raw And Rare

The best band in Detroit at the BBC

Knifehandchop – Bling The Noize

Compiled singles of Canadian laptop scamp
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