Pearl Harbor Rental Buena Vista Cert 12
**
A big, unwieldy look back at 1941 constructed in pub landlord style: a pint of heroism for the lads and a glass of romance for the ladies. Since the director is Michael Bay of The Rock and Armageddon fame, it goes without saying that the bang bang works much better than the kiss kiss. Sadly, there's 90 minutes of our future heroes (the unmemorably interchangeable Ben Affleck and Josh Hartnett) growing up and meeting nurse Kate Beckinsale (far too classy for both lads and script). Cliches rain down as relentlessly as the Japanese bombs. Wince at anachronisms like "She's totally buying it", and at the drippy love letters exchanged once Affleck goes to England to fight with the RAF. A love triangle develops but Jules et Jim it ain't. Eventually Bay unleashes the attack on us, and very impressive it is, with planes bearing down like angry hornets. There's a middle 40 minutes with real impact before a sickly, quasi-religious ending. It's all terribly last century.
The Slim Shady Show
Retail (£12.99) and DVD (£17.99)
MIA Cert 18
***
A routinely obscene and libellous collection of cartoon shorts by Eminem and his mates, The Slim Shady Show forms an almost seamless hour's worth of colourful silliness. It's a loose relative of South Park (whose characters appear briefly) but far less annoying. Eminem voices a number of the parts, and celebs getting a good kicking include Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, Christina Aguilera, George Michael and Haley Joel Osment. Perfect for the season-of-goodwill dissenter; though, as with Viz, the ideal audience for this brand of humour is below its official age limit.
Rashomon
Retail (£15.99) and DVD (£19.99)
BFI Cert 12
*****
A notch below Kurosawa's later masterpieces, The Seven Samurai and Yojimbo (both available from BFI), Rashomon was the first film to alert the west to both the Japanese director and his manic star, Toshiro Mifune. As usual, Mifune's unhinged acting style is offset against the quiet dignity of Takashi Shimura, the Seven Samurai's leader, here playing a humble woodchopper. All Kurosawa's trademarks are here - frantic action, pouring rain, no-nonsense wipes and a compositional skill. Rashomon's theme - that there is no such thing as objective truth - is wittily demonstrated. There was a US remake (The Outrage) but its real heir is The Usual Suspects, whose director Bryan Singer cited it as a prime influence. Throne of Blood, Kurosawa's striking take on Macbeth, is also released on DVD.
