Reviews: Home Entertainment

CD
Odetta At Town Hall
4/5

You might struggle to find this one in store, but it’s worth searching for.

If you read all those column inches last week about the passing of Odetta with a blank look on your face, it’s time to seek out the woman Martin Luther King called “the queen of American folk music�.

Odetta was a powerful musical force in the US civil rights movement, with a booming and distinctive soulful voice.

While many that followed are more easily found on shop shelves, the Alabama native helped boost the folk movement in the US, marched with Dr King and performed for John F Kennedy.

Odetta At Town Hall provides a snapshot of her compelling live presence, recorded in New York at the start of the ’60s. Equipped with just an acoustic guitar, she hauntingly works her way through songs such as the piercing Another Man Done Gone and the bluesy Hound Dog.

The set-also includes I’m On My Way, the song she was due to sing at Barack Obama’s inauguration in January.
John Hill

DVD
The Dark Knight (12)
5/5

According to newspaper reports, Batman might be dead.

But while Bob Kane’s twisted crimefighter may have copped it in the comics world, his movie counterpart is clattering around Gotham with the vigour of a teenager.

Having escaped the clutches of director Joel Schumacher – a foe even more dangerous to Batman than the Joker – Gotham’s knight is enjoying a new lease of life under Christopher Nolan.

Nolan’s second film picks up where Batman Begins left off, pitting a tortured Bruce Wayne against his clown-faced arch-rival, an “agent of chaos� in crime-ridden Gotham.

While the performance of the late Heath Ledger has generated the most critical attention, this intelligent actioner is a beautifully-directed ensemble piece tarred with unremitting darkness.

Christian Bale is again excellent as Batman, while Aaron Eckhart and Gary Oldman add depth and humanity to the bleakness.
John Hill

GAME
Left 4 Dead
4/5

With so many shooters out, Left 4 Dead might be one you’d overlook.

But to ignore this stunning co-operative survival horror shooter from the Half Life team would be madness.

The point of the game is to take on the mantle of one of four survivors in a zombie apocalypse, and make it through one of four scenarios alive. But the infected come at you in fast-moving, 28 Days Later-style waves, with enemy types from Hunters to dreaded Tanks sure to create sheer dread.

The omnipresent AI director, meanwhile, alters the challenge according to how well you’re doing. The first time you see a witch sat in front of the level exit, you won’t know whether to run, shoot or simply cry.

There’s also an eight player vs mode where four humans take on four player-controlled infected. It’s arguably one of the high points of the entire gaming year – and indeed, L4D is the type of title you’ll be talking about for a long time to come.

Miss this, and you truly are dead inside.
Mark Scott, GAME