WORDS: MATT KENNEDy, MATT HILL, TOM CULLEN, BEN MyERS PHOTOGRAPHS: PA PHOTO
shortlist reviews
The
PlayList
Only the finest entertainment
releases make the grade
DvD
heroes: seAson 2
OK, OK, so it starts poorly. But This
second series of the ‘real X-Men’ show
sorts itself out in style. It starts four
months after the last season and, where
Season 1 focused on adrenaline, this
actually begins to offer some answers.
Why is The Company so keen on killing
everyone? Ever wondered what the
world would be like with 93 per cent of
the population dead? Quieter, it seems.
GAMe
BooK
AquAmArine
by Peter Pessl
First published in Germany, this
refreshing slice of fiction is subtitled
‘Final Tales Of The Revolution’ – the
revolution in question being that of
storytelling itself. Seven separate
strands collide in a dream-like Mexican
landscape in a setting that’s part road
movie, part existentialism. An absorbing
story that twists and turns at will.
AlBUM
siren: blood curse
— ePisodes 1-3 (Ps3)
Just as the wait for Resident Evil 5 was
becoming unbearable, Sony fills the
zombie void with this downloadable
gem. Fans of the Forbidden Siren games
on PS2 will recognise the plot: a ragtag
group arrive in a deserted ghost town
only to find they’re not alone. But this
PS3 overhaul splits the story into 12
individual episodes. Happy haunting.
nine inch nAils:
the sliP
We had a bet going in the ShortList
office on which would come first: a Nine
Inch Nails CD that didn’t feature the
line “down on your knees” or one that
wasn’t “very good”. The former won,
but then Nails main man Trent Reznor
spoiled the game by releasing an instrumental album. The Slip,
previously only available to download, is the most enjoyably
aggressive set he’s delivered since 1992’s Broken.
AlBUM
Primal Scream: Beautiful Future
From Haçienda-hailing acid-pop to Rolling Stones clones, Primal Scream had always flitted about
stylistically with significant swagger before they dropped the ball with 2006’s Riot City Blues. Still,
even by their past genre-hopping standards, Beautiful Future is brimming with identities. Scorching
first single Can’t Go Back is the greatest tune The Dandy Warhols never wrote, and subsequent soul
double-whammy Uptown and The Glory Of Love break your heart. Yet frontman Bobby Gillespie
immediately scotches thoughts of perfection, re-igniting his penchant for clever but clumsy lyrics in Suicide Bomb and Zombie
Man. The conclusion, however, is as baffling as it is intriguing, comprising collaborations with CSS siren Lovefoxxx and Queens
Of The Stone Age’s Josh Homme. Yet two duds aside, sufficient magic shines on to suggest the titular dream rings true.
DvD
Funny GAmes
Remade scene-forscene
by Michael
Haneke from his 1997
Austrian original,
Hollywood hasn’t
stripped the creepy
core. Instead, Haneke
raises guilty pleasures
as psychopaths
terrorise a US family.
And if Tim Roth
occasionally has you
rooting for the baddies,
wife Ann (Naomi
Watts, pictured)
reminds you where
your allegiances lie.
Kong ended
up providing nearly an
entire wardrobe for Naomi
“Avon Lady?
No, we’re here about
some unpaid bills”
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