Latest video releases reviewed
MUNICH ****
Directed by Steven Spielberg. Starring Eric Bana, Daniel Craig, Ciarán Hinds, Mathieu Kassovitz, Geoffrey Rush, Michael Lonsdale 15 cert
Disappointing bare-bones DVD release for Spielberg's gripping, nauseatingly violent thriller following the Israeli secret service's response to the Black September attacks on the Munich Olympics. The film is, for the most part, impressively ambivalent about the rights and wrongs of the campaign of vengeance. But, in the final reel, Spielberg being Spielberg, a message is unveiled. Exciting, nonetheless. Donald Clarke
GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK ****
Directed by George Clooney. Starring David Strathairn, George Clooney, Jeff Daniels, Robert Downey Jr, Patricia Clarkson, Frank Langella PG cert
Clooney's accomplished second feature as director is consistently absorbing as it charts the tumultuous five-month period beginning in late 1953 when CBS TV journalist Edward R Murrow (impeccably played by Oscar-nominated Strathairn) took on the might of Senator Joe McCarthy. The film operates simultaneously as a cautionary tale in its unavoidable relevance for today's broadcast media. Michael Dwyer
THE PROPOSITION *****
Directed by John Hillcoat. Starring Ray Winstone, Guy Pearce, Emily Watson, Danny Huston, John Hurt 16 cert
An Australian bushranger (Pearce, brilliant) is compelled to hunt down his deranged brother (Huston, even better). Baked in searing heat and layered with flies, Hillcoat's biblically bleak western, based on a script by Nick Cave, powerfully demolishes the myth of civilisation. If you enjoyed the theatrical release then seek out the tasty two-disc set, featuring copious interviews and an interesting documentary. Donald Clarke
MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA **
Directed by Rob Marshall. Starring Ziyi Zhang, Ken Watanabe, Michelle Yeoh, Gong Li, Koji Yakusho, Youki Kudoh, 12A cert
Marshall's lumbering adaptation of Arthur Golden's novel concerning goings on in a Geisha house either side of the second World War is just the sort of film that, despite attracting few admirers, wins technical Oscars by the bushel. If you savour empty prettiness then the picture (and the DVD's predictably routine extras) should please well enough. Viewers in search of gripping narrative or cultural insight should, however, look elsewhere. Donald Clarke
TSOTSI ****
Directed by Gavin Hood. Starring Presley Chweneyagae, Terry Pheto, Kenneth Nkosi, Motushi Magano, Zenzo Ngqobe 15 cert
This year's Oscar winner for best foreign-language film is gritty, involving South African drama that takes its title from Soweto slang for a hoodlum, the only name by which the film's volatile 19-year-old protagonist is known. Unwittingly stealing a three-month-old baby during a carjacking, Tsotsi unexpectedly responds to the child in this tense, deeply affecting film. Michael Dwyer
MIRRORMASK ***
Directed by Dave McKean. Starring Stephanie Leonidas, Jason Barry, Rob Brydon, Gina McKee 12 cert
Neil Gaiman, near-legendary fantasy writer, and Dave McKean, one of Britain's best comic book artists, enlist the help of Jim Henson's Creature Shop to tell the tale of a young girl cast adrift in a dream world. The picture is successful in translating McKean's visual style into three dimensions, but some may yearn for a bit more humanity amid the wild fancy. The generous extras help explain how it was all done. Donald Clarke
NORTH COUNTRY **
Directed by Niki Caro. Starring Charlize Theron, Frances McDormand, Sissy Spacek, Richard Jenkins, Woody Harrelson, Sean Bean, Michelle Monaghan 18 cert
Whale Rider director Caro makes her US debut with the factually based story of a Minnesota miner (Theron) who filed the first class-action suit for sexual harassment. The film is worthy and sincere, and benefits from a strong cast, but a less heavy-handed treatment would have been more effective. Michael Dwyer
THE ADVENTURES OF GREYFRIARS BOBBY **
Directed by John Henderson. Starring James Cosmo, Gina McKee, Sean Pertwee, Ardal O'Hanlon, Christopher Lee PG cert
Boringly competent retelling of the legend of the wee dog which lay pining on its master's Edinburgh grave for many years after his death. Should you wish to punish children by subjecting them to an orgy of grey, rainy misery, then Bobby will do quite nicely. What any infant could have done to deserve such a grim fate I cannot imagine. Donald Clarke
FLESH FOR FRANKENSTEIN ***
BLOOD FOR DRACULA ****
Directed by Paul Morrissey. Starring Udo Kier 18 cert
"I wanted the ambivalence of serious and silly," Paul Morrissey says during his director's commentary for Tartan's beautifully packaged, generously appointed reissue of these essential oddities from 1974. Not quite art, not quite trash, the films are, nonetheless, delightfully revolting and surprisingly beautiful to look at. Donald Clarke
SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL****
Directed by Jean-Luc Godard. Starring The Rolling Stones 15 cert
Made as Godard was embarking on his journey from genius to holy lunatic, Sympathy began as a film on abortion before turning into, well, what exactly? Shots of the Stones recording Beggars Banquet are intercut with illustrations of social dissent to create a bewildering,fascinating, collage. Issued in a superb DVD featuring that alternative cut of the film known as One Plus One, this is the distilled essence of 1968. Donald Clarke
