Reviews

Danish duo's debut garage-rock blast

Ex-Smashing Pumpkin man teams up with David Pajo, formerly of Slint

Reissue of rarities, live stuff, Peel sessions, plus unreleased 1993 album

Introspective seasonal offering from black poet-singer and collaborating pianist

Essential purchase for fans of electro and German new wave

Nolte kicks smack in Monte Carlo

Seymour Hoffman tour de force as grieving loner

Action emperor John Woo raises hell in the Pacific for this noisy WWII epic, which is grounded in real events. The grand-canvas battle scenes rule, but Nic Cage's hammy turn as an emotionally scarred hero charged with guarding a Navajo code-talker lets the side down. Still, the battle sequences are up there with Sam Fuller's best. DVD EXTRAS: Several backstage documentaries, commentary by a genuine Navajo code-talker, shared chat between Cage and co-star Christian Slater.

An immaculate, determinedly unsentimental Marc Forster film, with breathtakingly honest performances from Halle Berry and, especially, Billy Bob Thornton. Death Row prison guard Thornton's family are traditionally racist; Berry's husband (Sean "Puffy" Combs) is executed. In a pit of despair, an unlikely, colour-blind love blooms between the two. One of 2002's best. DVD EXTRAS: Extra footage, cast and film-makers commentaries, isolated soundtrack.

Uplifting and elegiac organic electronica