Latest Video/DVD releases reviewed
KILL BILL VOL 2 ****
Directed by Quentin Tarantino. Starring Uma Thurman, David Carradine, Daryl Hannah, Michael Madsen, Chai Hui Liu 18 cert
By now you will probably have decided whether you love or hate Tarantino's revenge epic, which, in its ability to either delight or revolt viewers, has something of the quality of Marmite about it. Those who, like this writer, love every second may wish to hang back before buying the under-appointed DVD release. A deluxe package of both parts will surely come our way before long. Donald Clarke
THE FOG OF WAR ****
Directed by Errol Morris PG cert
As the Fahrenheit 9/11 controversy continues to simmer, it is a pleasure to sink into Morris's much more sober documentary focussing on the career of the former US secretary of defence, Robert McNamara. Without diminishing the dubiousness of many of his decisions, McNamara, who ran the Pentagon during Vietnam, helps us to understand the pressures that come with massaging the realpolitik year in, year out. Donald Clarke
HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG ***
Directed by Vadim Perelman. Starring Jennifer Connelly, Ben Kingsley, Shohreh Aghdashloo 18 cert
Boozy Jennifer Connelly has a shock when the bailiffs break down her door and mistakenly seize her house. Iranian émigré Ben Kingsley then buys the pad at an auction and tragedy for all results. There is much to enjoy in this superbly acted film, but it does eventually get a bit weighed down by its solemn portentousness. Donald Clarke
THE CAT IN THE HAT *
Directed by Bo Welch. Starring Mike Myers, Alec Baldwin, Kelly Preston PG cert
As the Cat, Myers delivers a strident one-man show in this shrill treatment of the Dr Seuss book, a garish mélange of tacky live action and special effects. Michael Dwyer
THE HUMAN STAIN **
Directed by Robert Benton. Starring Anthony Hopkins, Nicole Kidman, Ed Harris, Gary Sinise, Wentworth Miller 18 cert
Philip Roth's angry, multi-layered novel makes a timid and bland film. Hopkins is miscast as a mixed-race US college professor who has lived a lie throughout his adult life, as is Kidman as the volatile, much younger woman with whom he gets involved. Michael Dwyer
