The Killing Vol. 2, $42.95

At last, at last! And finally, for those of us who didn’t see it screened on SBS—the last 10 episodes of The Killing. Just who did kill Nana Birk Larsen? The politicians, her parents, her friends, the police? Was the whole of wonderful, wonderful Copenhagen involved?! At this point I’m prepared to believe Sarah Lund had a hand in it—you know the eery music that plays whenever she has an intuition, maybe that theme cues her psychotic second personality. I’ve watched the first 10 episodes twice now and I still have no clue. Sit back, ‘relax’, and grab your pillow for the last ten days of the investigation. If you haven’t seen The Killing yet, then, as Molly Meldrum use to say, ‘do yourself a favour’ and start watching the best TV show of 2010.

Peter Greenaway Collection, $76.95

A real bargain for lovers of the Greenaway oeuvre, this boxed set contains: The Pillow Book, Prospero’s Book, Drowning By numbers, 8 ½ Women, Draughtsman’s Contract, A Zed & Two Noughts, Baby Of Macon and Peter Greenaway: A Documentary (in which Greenaway discusses his films from his early shorts to Prospero’s Books.) This a must for any Greenaway fan, and an important release, in particular Prospero’s Books and Baby of Macon are unavailable on DVD anywhere else.

Morris: A Life With Bells On starring Derek Jacobi, $34.95

Derecq Twist is the leader of an avant-garde Morris team who are endeavouring to push the boundaries of Morris dancing. They incur the wrath of the Morris establishment and are banned from the Morris dancing establishment. Shattered, Derecq heads off to Southern California to help train The Southern Californian Morris Dancing Society. Shot in documentary style, this film may do for Morris dancing what Spinal Tap did for heavy metal, so don’t throw those white hankies out yet!

Tour of France 2010: The Complete Highlights

For the past decade or more Le Tour De France has been synonymous with the American rider Lance Armstrong. His professional career appeared to have ended when in 1996 he was diagnosed with testicular cancer, which had spread to his lungs & brain. After surgery and aggressive chemo-therapy he returned to professional cycling in 1998 and won the first of his seven le Tour titles in 1999. After winning for the seventh time in 2005 he retired, only to come back in 2008, and the 2010 tour is supposedly going to be his last. However the 2010 Tour will be remembered for more than being (possibly) Lance’s last race—it was in fact one of the most exciting le Tours in many years, with only 39 seconds separating first and second—seeing the beginning of what looks like it will be a long sporting rivalry between winner, Alberto Contado, and Andy Schleck who came in second. And Lance Armstrong? Overall he came 23rd but did end up on the winners’ rostrum as his team, Radio Shack, won the team event. This year’s DVD contains 3 discs of highlights from the race, plus some of the best landscape you’ll ever see. It still remains the best promo for le tourism de France. $42.95 (3 discs)

Taste Le Tour 2010 with Gabriel Gaté, $29.95

The SBS broadcast of le Tour would not be the same without Gabriel Gaté’s cooking tips. As in previous years Gabriel has called upon his friend, the talented chef Philippe Mouchel, to help in their Gastronomic Le Tour de France.

David Hockney: A Bigger Picture, $37.95

After over two decades of living in Los Angeles, David Hockney has returned to his home in South Yorkshire, where he is tackling what is to become the ‘largest painting to ever be created outdoors.’ At 70 years of age he has decided to re-invent his painting from scratch, working through the seasons and in all weathers out in the Yorkshire countryside. Filmed over 3 years, this BBC production is a fascinating portrait of an artist at work. The DVD’s extras consist of four new films, providing 55 minutes of additional behind-the-scenes material. They bring sharp and often startling insights to David Hockney’s creative and working methods.

Run Run Runaway Memories by Viki Dun—Edgeplay: A Documentary about the Runaways.

From the opening soundtrack, where you hear a young Joan Jett yelling at a rowdy crowd scratched into the echoing reverb of Suzi Quatro’s 2006 comeback hit Back to the Drive, you can tell that Vicki Tischler-Blue’s documentary about the Runaways isn’t going be a relaxed stroll down a well-lit memory lane. Quatro’s devilish laugh, an almost indecent expression of mirth worthy of The Joker, suggests it’s going to be more of a blind stumble across broken glass and used fits down multiple murky alleyways—the blurry recall of teenage years long gone, edges sharpened by hindsight. Rarely in agreement, lead guitarist Lita Ford, lead singer Cherie Curry, bass player Jackie Fox, drummer Sandy West, lyricist Kari Krome, and director and sometime bass player, Vicki Blue, are all filmed apart. (Joan Jett, the queen of cool, elected not to participate in the project). This is no celebratory get together. Their collective and conflicting reminiscences make for a fantastic film, not just about women in rock and roll, but about the construction of memory. As Kari Krome says early in the film: ‘Memory is like a thin gauzy veil that’s between me and the actual event...it’s all kind of distorted.’ Krome is pretty sanguine about what she remembers, having been an outsider to the torture practice sessions and the tedium of the drug-fueled tours, but the other interviewees all have unique methods of dealing with the pain incurred by dredging up the past. Cherie Currie is the consumate, ultra-femme performer and seductress, Jackie Fox is educated and analytical, Lita Ford full of ‘piss & vinegar’ and axeman agro, while Sandy West, utterly blind to the fact that the ‘good old days’ weren’t really that good, is heartbreakingly stuck on a ‘let’s reform the band’ riff. Exquisitely uncomfortable to watch, the film jump cuts all around the place like one of sleazy producer Kim Fowley’s rants—family super 8, publicity shots, performance footage—all flash by like distorted shards of memory. Who, after all, remembers exactly what happened in those heady teen years of absolute best friends and violent dreams of endless possibility. And how strange to have a public record of those dreams forever recorded on celluloid when you can’t, or don’t want to, remember any of the details. But I think the thing that surprised me the most when I first saw the film was how good all of the Runaways were—Dakota Fanning did a good imitation, but it’s nowhere near as disturbing as the rawness of Currie’s uncomfortably innocent jailbait, and her corset-framed grinding black crotch. For a group of girls who were basically on the edge of teen delinquency, they all had very developed individual performance styles. Perhaps Kim Fowley’s rock’n’roll ‘boot camp’ abuse helped shape it, but I reckon it was there already. This is a far more interesting set of narratives than the single strand, romanticised Runaways biopic recently released. Highly recommended. Viki