Video/ DVD
THRILLER THE PRIME GIG (15) 93 mins 00
rather than 90. Chatting to a telesales person
w0uld be a better use of yOur time than watching this. (Entertainment VHS
rental; DVD retail) (Louisa Pearson)
A taut thriller about telesales. Sounds like a contradiction. and it is. Vince Vaughn does his best as Penny. the nice guy with a talent for sales who gets lured into working a phone scam for Ed ‘edgy as ever' Harris. while Julia Ormond is thrown in as the love interest. Things seem to be going well. but guess what? Take part in a scam and you might find yourself being taken for a ride. What a Surprise. The performances are just about faultless. but the plot c0uld have run its course in nine minutes
THRILLER SWORDFISH (15) 95 mins 00.
For the first ten minutes you think this is gonna be the best action flick ever. Shame it goes downhill after a spectacular ballbearing- loaded explosion shot in a seamless 360 degree sweep. The rest is pure tack as slightly tubby criminal John Travolta masterminds the most audacious bank robbery of all time (we're talking
The Car Man
Released: 31st December 2001
The DVD includes a 14-minute interview with Matthew BOurne and a photo gallery.
Faust/Nosferatu
Released: 7th January 2002
Released two weeks early by HMV as an exclusive double pack with the special edition of Nosferatu.
Both are black 8. white silent films and are held as classics of their genre.
Cape Fear Double Pack
Released: 14th January 2002
3-DVD set including both versions of the noir thriller. The 1962 original stars Gregory Peck and Robert Mitcham with the more recent 1991 version starring Nick Nolte and Robert De Niro.
Dr Who - Tomb Of The Cybermen Released: 14th January 2002 Starring Patrick Troughton as Dr Who.
From Here To Eternity
Released: 14th January 2002
Oscar winning best film of 1953. telling the StOry of Pearl Harbour. Stars Burt Lancaster. Deborah Kerr. Montgomery Clift and Frank Sinatra.
Hitchiker’s Guide To The Galaxy
Released: 14th January 2002
A 2-disc set containing the complete series. with a running time of three hours plus extras.
Memento
Released: 14th January 2002
The DVD's extras include the film itself played in chronological order and an interview with Chris Norman.
Third Man
Released: 14th January 2002
Voted the greatest British film of all time and released for the first time on DVD.
92 THE LIST 1/ (ll Jan 200?
89.5bn here). He recruits computer hacker with a conscience Hugh Jackman. and Halle Berry also pops up to show us her breasts. Subtlety is not this film's speciality. It even has the cheek to have Travolta deliver a monologue on how unrealistic Hollywood movies are. though Jackman makes one cool action hero even in (admittedly hi- octane) trash like this. (Warner VHS and DVD rental) (Henry NOrthmore)
ACTION COMEDY TAXI 2 (12) 85 mins 00
This second Luc besson-produced venture has a mix of everything from comedy and farce to thrills and action. It follows taxi driver Daniel who manages to get himself into all sorts of predicaments, especially when trying to impress his girlfriend's father. The main scrape involves his policeman friend Emilien when they try and rescue the Japanese secretary of state for defence who has been kidnapped by Yakusa whilst visiting Paris. Cue mad high speed car chases and high kicking kung-fu ninjas. It's a bit of a laugh. but with too much happening to be able to fully enjoy the high speed romp. (Metrodome VHS rental; DVD retail)
(Jane Hamilton)
ALSO RELEASED Confidential Report AKA Mr Arkadin. Orson Welles' long unseen 1955 mystery melodra- ma. (Metrodome DVD retail)
High Heels And Low Lifes Awful Brit girls action comedy starring Minnie Driver. (Buena Vista VHS rental) Solaris Andrei Tarkovsky's extraOrdi- nary 708 sci-fi thriller. (Artificial Eye DVD retail) Sweet November Sickly romance starring Keanu Reeves and Charlize Theron. (Warner VHS and DVD rental) The Wages Of Fear/Les Diaboliques Two very different and very brilliant thrillers from French auteur Henri- Georges Clouzot. Must have for collectors. (Optimum DVD retail)
tv@list.co.uk COMEDY SERIES CRUBS
Sky One, Thu 17 Jan, 9pm 0000
Any programme that has been dubbed ‘ER with laughs' should naturally be avoided as you would a nasty contagious disease. Yet. Scrubs is actually the freshest American comedy since Seattle's airwaves were first being filled with bad advice.
A wry look at fresh- faced medics and cynically-crumpled docs probably Shouldn‘t be very good. And when you discover it's made by those responsible for Spin City. you‘ll take even more convincing. And yet. with a cast who were clearly first in the queue when the comic timing was handed out (especially Zach Braff as our Wonder Years type hero with a stuffed dog as a pet) and a writing team clearly gagging above themselves. Scrubs wipes the floor with every other current sitcom.
But even if you don't particularly rate the first half hour. don't pass judgement until episode two which has an ast0undingly funny joke involving Morgan Freeman. If you remain unconvinced then don't hesitate in returning to Gimme Gimme Gimme or whatever floats your shallow comedy boat. (Brian Donaldson)
DOCUMENTARY SERIES THE TRUST Channel 4, Thu 17 Jan, 9pm .00
Just in case anyone out there still thought working in a hospital was a cushy job characterised by Carry On-style innuendo and empty whitewashed wards. The Trust should
set you straight. The first part focuses on the intensive care ward in Queen's Medical Centre. Nottingham, a department that is overflowing with patients and understaffed to such a degree that every night brings a new crisis.
One 81 -year-old patient who cannot breathe without assistance is carted off to a hospital 30 miles away to free up a bed for a more urgent case. Most of those admitted to the ward are unconscious because of their injuries; some will never awake.
ln juggling these affecting narratives with the day-to-day struggles of the staff — many of whom seem decidedly out of their depth — the filmmakers certainly present a powerful case for increased health funding. but give us little we have not seen before on other equally worthy documentaries. (James Smart)
COMEDY SERIES CHEWIN’ THE FAT
BBC1, Fri 18 Jan, 10.35pm 00
To its acolytes. Chewin' The Fat is simply untouchable. For those who have experienced mild appreciation of its staggeringly quaint set-
ups. stock characters and hilarious cursing (usually utilised when no obvious punchline wants to arrive). the news that Hemphill, Dunbar and Kiernan have been awarded a fourth series will feel like a sick joke.
New characters you won't be laughing at this series include Freddie. who is unable to fit in and usually lands himself in it by saying something dumb (Surprisingly, his catchphrase isn't ‘ah'll get ma coat'): Greta. the boss with the moustache; Captain Nipplewhistle. a superhero who twists nipples; and Brenda the Drama Queen. who's just a drama queen.
Old non-fav0urites the Electrical Store Boys and Ronald Villiers remain and a new hysterical catchphrase that you won't be hearing at work or play is ‘milk, lemonade. chocolate'. It may have had its moments, but now Chewin' The Fat really sucks.
(Brian Donaldson)
FILM LAST RESORT 8802, Wed 23 Jan, 9pm 0000
News stories about immigrants and refugees haven't been off the front pages since Paul Pawlikowski's film premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in August 2000. PeOple in power. from Jack Straw to George Bush. have ignored their plight.
Last Resort begins with the arrival in Britain of a Russian woman, Tanya
Chewin’ The Fat sucks