The latest DVD releases reviewed
X-MEN: THE LAST STAN **
Directed by Brett Ratner. Starring Ian McKellen, Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Patrick Stewart, Famke Janssen, Anna Paquin, Kelsey Grammer 12 cert
There are interesting things in the third film following Marvel Comics' mutants and their many discontents. Focusing on a "cure" for the X-Men, the picture, directed drably by the dread Ratner, alludes to gay issues and the politics of Bin Laden. But does it really say anything? The 2-disc edition features all the usual guff. Donald Clarke
THE MAGICIAN ***
Directed by Scott Ryan. Starring Scott Ryan, Massimiliano Andrighetto, Ben Walker 15 cert
A bluff Melbourne hitman allows a student to follow him round with a camera. Scott Ryan, actor, director, writer, producer, has created such an intriguingly ghastly protagonist that the low-budget film rapidly casts off the burden of such unavoidable influences as Chopper and Man Bites Dog. A cult waiting to happen. Donald Clarke
THE CAVE OF THE YELLOW DOG ***
Directed by Byambasuren Davaa. Starring Urjindorj Batchuluun, Buyandulam Daramdadi Batchuluun, Nansal Batchuluun G cert
Davaa's successor to The Story of the Weeping Camel follows a young Mongolian girl, the daughter of nomads, as she makes friends with a stray dog. We have seen many similar stories from Iran, but this remains a charming piece. Donald Clarke
ONCE IN A LIFETIME ****
Directed by Paul Crowder and John Dower 12 cert
Hugely entertaining documentary following the rapid rise and even more rapid fall of the New York Cosmos soccer team during the 1970s. Learn even more about Pele, the Cosmos' star player, in the passable DVD extras. Donald Clarke
UNKNOWN WHITE MALE ***
Directed by Rupert Murray PG cert
In 2002 a stockbroker named Doug Bruce woke up on the New York subway, all memory of his affluent life erased. Really? Since this British documentary's release, doubts have arisen concerning its veracity. Ironically, if it is, indeed, a hoax, it becomes a much more interesting film. Donald Clarke
TIME TO LEAVE/LE TEMPS QUI RESTE ****
Directed by François Ozon. Starring Melvil Poupaud, Jeanne Moreau, Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi, Daniel Duval 18 cert
Ozon's film is thoughtful, mature and unsentimental as it observes how a successful fashion photographer responds when he learns, at 31, that he has terminal cancer. Poupaud plays him as arrogant and temperamental in an admirably committed performance. Michael Dwyer
LOBO/THE WOLF ****
Directed by Miguel Courtois. Starring Eduardo Noriega, Jose Coronado, Patrick Cruel, Melanie Doutey 15 cert
This taut, factually based Spanish thriller is set in the mid-1970s, towards the end of the Franco era, when a construction worker is recruited to infiltrate the Basque separatist group, ETA. Noriega is aptly intense in the pivotal role. Michael Dwyer
