Be Kind Rewind *****
French celluloid sorcerer Michel Gondry delivers his most playful, accessible and subtextually sparkling slice of bespoke whimsy to date in the follow-up to his stifling 2005 quirk-mire, The Science of Sleep. The magnitude of Gondry’s visual ingenuity is consistently jaw-dropping: with the aid of some washing machine innards and a white jump suit, he manages to reduce the iconic rotating space-station scene from 2001: A Space Odyssey to a kind of cinematic primordial ooze, at once presenting the infinite potential of the camera to create, subvert and renew reality while also screaming, ‘Yes, you can do this too!’
David Jenkins
In stores now (DVD $29.90, VCD $19.90)

The Bucket List **
Edward (Jack Nicholson) is a billionaire playboy with a playful sense of humour, a short fuse and a sarcastic turn of phrase. Carter (Morgan Freeman) is a blue-collar worker with a responsible work ethic, inherent wisdom, a talent for stating the obvious and a burning desire to narrate everything he does. Both are dying of cancer. Forced to share a hospital room, wealthy Edward is gradually and grudgingly won over by the gentler, more down-to-earth Carter, whom he decides must live a little before his time is up. Whisking him away from the hospital and his horribly one-dimensional, nagging wife, Edward takes Carter on the trip of a lifetime.
Anna Smith
In stores now (DVD $29.90, VCD $19.90)

Rize ****
‘The footage in this film has not been sped up in any way’, runs the opening caption – like Bruce Lee, whose moves required a similar disclaimer, these cats are fast as lightning. The film debut of fashion snapper David LaChapelle, Rize is a documentary on krumping, the South Central LA-based post-hip hop dance craze credited with offering thousands of kids an alternative to gang life. Founded in explosively energetic moves and played out in mockcombative tournaments, its superficially aggressive form by the end emerges as a remarkably expressive outlet for the frustrations of the ghetto.
Ben Walters
In stores now (DVD $29.90)