Reviews
it liilt 1 ER HEROIC DUO (18) 98min
(Tartan Asia Extreme DVD retail) 0..
A loose cannon cop investigating a crime committed under hypnosis. A brilliant psychologist With a shady past and a predilection for mind games. Only by working together can they hope to stop a brilliant Criminal mastermind. So far. so formulaic. but sparkling chemistry between the cop. Ken (Ekin Chengl and p<_;ychologist Jack (pop star Leon tail. and a COuple of engaging action set-pieces featuring the famous roof-tops of llong Kong should be 3nough to keep the attention focused. at least until the final third when a mawkish climax threatens to undo all of the prevrous good work.
Ls. H E” Dun
The tagline of 'Hard beiled and hard targets!‘ evokes .John Woo. but the slick production is more reminiscent of Chan-wook Park's superior thriller JSA — combining sadistic Violence With moments of perverse wrt.
Extras include a making-of featurette and short but insightful inteh/iews with director Benny Chan and stunt coordinator Stephen Tung. (Dave Martin)
Sit t-N i (ll ASSIC PEOPLE ON SUNDAY
(E) 73min
iBFI DVD retail) 0...
A tale of five yeting Berliners (Enjoying their day off. People on Sunday casts non professionals in leading roles to capture an authenticin that predates nee-realism by more than 155 years. Directed by Robert
Siodmak and Edgar (3 Ulmer. and photographed by Fiugen Shufftan. and With Billy Wilder and Fred Zinnemann also on the credits. this is of both cinematic and socially historical importance.
PEOPLE N SUNDAY
“Mimi”
It‘s sig: ilI|\.iIllI cinematically because of the careers it launched. and socially because it captures well the feel of Sundays in late 1920s Germany; check out the way it delineates sexual mores of the time. wrth none of the fussy morality we would expect from Hollywood films made shortly afterwards With the introduction of the l lays code. DVD extras include a 12 page booklet and a 25) minute film about shoe factory workers on holiday. (Tony McKibbini
DOCtJMl NiAliY UNCOVERED: THE WAR ON IRAQ
(PG) 83min
(Blue Dolphin i‘lllll and Videol .00.
this is an allArirerican documentary that nevertheless takes apart the Bush administration. We could say Robert Greenwald's film. and the experts he lllIOl/VIOV‘JS Within. do protest too much. they are at pains to point out their patriotic nature. though determined to dismiss a phoney administration. But it's as though the film was very usefully made as an antidote to the
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Slit/)U(,Il.t}.(1.ir;.LI.)I£1I [ah/enheit 9"] l \.‘.ill(,‘il was never going to conxert anyone to the side of the f(3lll()i('|y leftish if they weren't already there. Here tl.e insistent patriotism on the one hantl. and the disdain for the neo cons on the other, VJ“ make many sit up an:l take notice. Containing numerous flittil‘.’l(}‘.'/S ‘.‘.’|iil ex CIA members of staff. mth [)eiiiocrats and Republicans alike. Greenwald's film looks at the way the B rsh adiriiiiistration created the reasons for going to war. igiioreil exg’iei‘ts' opi..:oi.s antl rode roiighshed oxer ci'iticisiiis, (,iairi.i. g tl.r; anti-war eleii‘iei its .veie uiipatiiotic. l'heexpeits beg to differ, claimnig Bush was be.ng tlll(It)llt()(ft(til(,. i xtias include the dociiiiieittary
t /nprecedentr.x Me 2000 Pres/i fenti. i’ [-/ec!ion_
i'lony htthilibin)
Hit INC/)1. i)l?.‘..' t-\ LA CHINOISE (PG) 92min r(')ptiriium Releasing DVD retail) 0...
,iean l uc Godards meditation before the event. Marie Ill 1967 and ‘.‘.liil May 1068 round the corner. this astute look at a stride: .t protest nioyemeiit holiiig up in a Parisian flat spouting Maoist slogans seems to predict many of the problems the lllt’).'(}ll.t;ir[ -.'."()ll|(I turnout tohaye. Some would iiiiderstant the slogans. ollrers would iiiisinteipret them. some wouldn't have the education to absorb them and still others would (techie that petitical action in the long term ~.'.ras detrimental to immediate personal freedom. But of course if (Sortaiil seems so prescient. this isn't a capacity for prophec,
DOCt lMi N iARY
PARADISE LOST: THE CHILD MURDERS AT ROBIN HOOD HILLS/ REVELATIONS: PARADISE LOST 2
(E) 150/130min one
Of all the shocking miscarriages of justice in America, the case of the ‘West Memphis Three’ has to rate amongst the most heinous. 0n 5 May 1993, the naked, bound and mutilated bodies of three eight-year-old boys were discovered on a muddy riverbank in the Robin Hood Hills area of West Memphis, Arkansas. Three weeks later local police interviewed 17-year-old Jessie Lloyd Misskelley, and, having extracted a confession from the mentally disturbed teenager (Misskelley has an IQ of 72), arrested two more local boys, 18-year-old Damien Echols and 16-year-old Jason Baldwin. Despite Misskelley subsequently retracting his confession, and with no other evidence linking the suspects to the crimes, the three boys were branded satanists (they were Goths who listened to metal music), tried within six months, found guilty of conducting a satanic murder ritual and given multiple life sentences, and in Echols’ case the death sentence. Despite the mounting evidence of the boys’ innocence, retrials have so far been denied. And so almost a decade later, Misskelley and Baldwin remain in prison and Echols on death row.
Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky's two documentary film investigations (made in 1996 and 2000 and collected on this double-disc set for the first time) examine with unprecedented access and in unflinching detail the crimes and arrests, the ensuing hysteria (or satanic panic) in the Robin Hood Hills community, the trials and their aftermath. The second film even goes as far as presenting the case for investigating the (patently nutso) father of one of the murder victims.
There’s something quite trashy about the aesthetic of the films (not least the use of Metallica on the soundtrack), but that’s a minor quibble considering the startling (and scary) insights afforded by the rural community, the judicial process and the accused. And of course, Berlinger and Sinofsky (who are rumoured to be working on a third film) are a major part of the ongoing efforts to free the West Memphis Three. (Miles Fielder)
Just the aliilit, to see r'eyolutionan/ possibilities contained by the complexities of different motives in life. How many of us really have a mindset capable of revolutionary change? Perhaps not even Godard, but hrs films. ‘.’.'ltil their constant play wrth sound. image and our expectations, area move iii the right direction. They still feel fresher than most of today's cinema.
(tony McKibbini
/‘~t\llt.tr\ilt)il
THE SIMPSONS CLASSICS
(PG) 88min (each disc) li’tith Century Fox Home l‘ ritertainment DVD retail) 0..
[Luerybody 's favourite dysfunctional yellow
famzly makes a return to DVD with a collection of five themed discs. each comprising four episodes.
The Last Ternptat/on of Homer sees everybody's favourite character developing a crush on a country lounge singer and haying a near death experience after eating blow fish. Raiders of the Lost Fridge is made up of food-themed shows involvrng Homer. Crime and Punishrrient involves a cat burglar. Krusty as a tax cheat. Marge in prison and an international terrorist. Viva Los Simpsons sees Springfield going gambling mad.
8; )1 ll igfie/r J' Murder Mister/es contains two Sideshow Bob episodes including the fantastic Cape Fear and also the
overrated Who Shot Mr Burns?
Though enjoyable. there are better collections of this animated series out there. This set is being released as part of a two-for—YQO offer. but many retailers are offering the season box sets. which include 25 episodes and several extras for the same price. Minimai extras. lPaal Logani
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