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BANANARAMA The Historical Collection - Remastered in Widescreen AI. 42 singles
Status
Released
Original Language
EN

Covering a 35-year period between 1985 and 2020, ‘SMASH – The Singles’ works chronologically through the duo’s classic output, opening with their debut hit West End Girls and journeying through 2020’s Monkey Business. Select physical editions of ‘SMASH’ collect the duo’s videos on Blu-Ray for the first time, with a second disc containing bonus clips and lyric videos (including songs not featured on the audio tracklist), with a bumper 66 visuals presented in total. The remastered videos especially are a treat to behold, particularly from an act like Pet Shop Boys, for whom the image has always gone hand-in-hand with the music and serves to enhance the overall experience.

This new version of Nagasaki's Yami utsu shinzô (1982) is neither a remake nor a sequel. It is both those things, and at the same time it is also a documentary, a portrait of the consequences of passing time, and an occasionally very funny reflection on what the hell the point is of all this filmmaking business anyway. Shigeru Muroi and Takashi Naito, back then young hopefuls willing to take chances, now among the most established and recognisable actors in Japan, return to play the roles they assumed in the 1982 film, each of their characters having gone their own way. Alongside, another young couple (Honda and the ever-brilliant Eguchi) find themselves in the exact same situation as their older counterparts 25 years earlier. Their paths cross, an opportunity arises: for the elder two to redeem part of their own lives, for the younger couple to find a helping hand in their darkest hour.