The Event - Issue 172

Event the

Nominated for Best Student Magazine 2003/04 at the Guardian Student Media Awards.

Issue: 121

26th January 2005

Neither desperate nor housewives

Life in the Suburbs

with the

Desperate Housewives

Plus: Kevin Loader Interviewed Dead Songwriters Unearthed Sherlock Holmes Investigated Bloc Party Questioned

Contents 03

Full Contents Features

Sections

Film Features: Enduring Music................................p. 12 & 13 Images.........................................p. 7 Albums..............................................p. 12 The Event gets an exclusive interview with Kevin Loader, producer of Enduring Love and Captain Corelli’s Mandolin...

Sherlock Holmes...........................p. 5 The Event straps on its deerstalker and explores the wonderful world of Sherlock Holmes. Indubitably...

TV Feature: Desperate Housewives..................................p. 6 As America’s favourite TV show comes to the UK, we take a glimpse into the heart of the suburbs

Music Features: Bloc Party.........p. 8

Chemical Brothers, Push the Button; The Others, The Others; Feeder, Pushing the Senses; Tristania, Ashes; Ciara, Goodies; Roots Manuva, Awfully Deep; LCD Soundsystem, LCD Soundsystem Side column: DJ Rico

Singles...............................................p. 13 Charlotte Hatherley, Bastardo; James Yorkston and the Athletes, Shipwreckers; HAL, What a Lovely Dance; Erasure, Breathe; yourcodenameis:milo, RAPT.DEPT; Lemon Jelly, The Shouty Track; Joya, You and Me; The Others, Lackey; The Killers, Somebody Told Me Live Reviews: Days Ago, Onslow, Pixelface

They’re 2005’s brightest hopes and one of them went to UEA. The Event speaks to Bloc Party about the NME tour

Film Cinema.........................................p. 14

Songs for the Dead.......................p. 4

Ocean’s Twelve, Closer, Mondovino

With Elvis at the top of the charts once more, it seems that being dead is no obstacle to having a hit single. The Event listens to some music from beyond the grave

Arts Features: Danny Buckler gives us a giggle..................................p. 9 The Event interviews MC, comedian, TV star and friend of Victoria Wood, Danny Buckler

DVD/VHS......................................p. 15 Switchblade Romance, Nathalie, Street Fighter Trilogy

Arts.........................................p. 16 Book Reviews: Robophobia, Pretext Theatre Reviews: Relative Values Exhibition: Norwich Gallery

Centre Spread: Housewives Vs TV & Digital............................p. 17 Career Women.......................p. 10-11 TV Preview: Shameless Who’s doing better for themselves, the housewives or the career women? The Event asks television for the answer...

Win! Win! Win! Win! Win! Win! Win! Win! Win!

DVD Reviews: Everybody Loves Raymond Series 1 Soap News: Hollyoaks and Neighbours Digital Stuff: Nintendo DS & Sony PSP

Sherlock Holmes

In this issue:

IS: concrete.editor@uea.ac.uk Philip Sainty concrete.event@uea.ac.uk Tim Barker & Sarah Edwardes concrete.eventeditorial@uea.ac.uk concrete.arts@uea.ac.uk Editor: Luke Roberts Assistant Editor: Niki Brown Writers: Gabrielle Barnes, Niki Brown, Emily Hamblin, Martha Hammond, Kim Howe, Anthony Jackson, Susan Vittary concrete.film@uea.ac.uk Editor: Dean Bowman Writers: Sebastian Manley, David McNaught, Luke Roberts, Paul Stevens concrete.music@uea.ac.uk Editors: James Banks & Ben Patashnik Writers: Miranda Bryant, Hayley Chappel, Mark Crawley, Suzie Curtis, Joe Dunthorne, Hannah Edney, Chris Hyde, Catherine Lansdown, Carol Ottley, Priya Patel, Suzanne Rickenback, Tom Souter concrete.tv/digital@uea.ac.uk Editor: Kate Bryant Writers: Sarah Edwardes, Martha Hammond, Kim Howe, Jassim Happa Creative Writing Editor: James Conway Writers: Jesse Kuiken, Bob Follop, Dan Magee, Andrea Tallarita, Jack Robson, Iman Sid, Robert Frost, Lucy Rhodes, Annie Ukleja, Naked Matt, Alan AshtonSmith, Zoë Neville-Smith, Luke Owen, Shiki Design Consultant Nathan ‘design consultant’ Hamilton The Event is published fortnightly by Concrete: Post: PO Box 410, Norwich, NR4 7TB Tel: 01603 250558

(Please send your answers to concrete.event@uea.ac.uk)

Fax: 01603 506822 E-mail: su.concrete@uea.ac.uk Printed by:

Nathalie

Archant

Pg. 7

Thanks again to Optimum we have one Sherlock Holmes Boxset to give away, (see feature on page 5) if you can answer this tricky question: What was Sherlock Homes never without? a) Digital watch b) Laptop c) Deerstalker

Pg. 4

Pg. 9 Thanks to the people at Optimum we have two copies of Nathalie to give away, (see review on page 15), if you can just answer this question: Who does not star in Nathalie? a) Emmanuelle Beart b) Gerard Depardieu c) Bill Cosby

Pg. 14 Dellacasa have another meal giveaway for all you none compettion entering students. Just answer this question again: How do you spell Dellacasa?

Pg. 14

Pg. 10-11

Pg. 15 26.01.05

04 Feature

Wanted: Dead or Alive The fact that dying rarely means the end of a music careeer is a cause for extreme concern to any devoted music fan. Jim Parker vents his considerable spleen and wonders whether there’s any point in carrying on...

T

upac Shakur and Nirvana. What do these artists have in common? The answer is, despite being dead for a decade they're all still making mountains of money and releasing albums full of new material. This Christmas both Tupac and Nirvana have conveniently released either a 'new' album or, in the case of Nirvana, a glossy, expensive and tasteful box-set that The Event is almost certain Kurt Cobain would have despised. But gosh!

It had "tracks we've never, ever heard before." These new tracks turned out to be dodgy home video recordings and live versions of familiar songs; forgive this cynicism but don't live songs sound oddly similar to the ones on the record, so surely the record company effectively labelling them as 'new' is, perhaps, bullshit?

But what can the music buying individual do? Due to the music scene today blindly walking into an abyss of mediocrity, fans of good authentic music (and these include vast legions of Tupac and Nirvana fans) are in a tricky situation; the quandary is, "Do we buy music which exclusively lines only the pockets of record executives?" It is made worse when quotes from the Guardian suggest that Coldplay and U2 are the "most rock and roll bands in the world". Wrong. Iggy Pop and the Stooges were, arguably, perhaps the most rock and roll band in the world.

This was because, unlike Coldplay and U2, they didn't conform or make laughing stocks out of themselves by trying to change the world in all the wrong ways unlike the pompous Chris Martin and the pretentious, "If I'm so rich, why don't I pay off third world debt?", Bono.

Our national radio stations aren't playing much, if any, good authentic music. This sense of betrayal is evoked through the playing of 'new and exclusive' R&B relentlessly in a tragic bid to get listener numbers up by being 'hip'; unsurprisingly, this has backfired. What was once made sacred through the voices of Marvin Gaye et al has become a

26.12.04

soulless and consistent dirge drifting listlessly through our airways.

Evidently, the devil already has all of the good tunes he needs. The truth of the situation is that fans of good music have to buy music made by dead people and line the already weighty pockets of record executives. The case of Nirvana is bleak if we consider the fact that the quite delightful Courtney Love will be making money from the latest box set.

It's not just the record companies, but also the artists on the labels themselves who are making money from using music made by dead people. This is done in two ways. The most flattering way is when said deceased artist is sampled. This mostly ends in success, with

his name first may be a folly. When future historians try to decide who was the genius in the Beatles based on their solo work, McCartney's The Frog Chorus will be no match for Lennon's endearingly populist Imagine.

H

“...despite an alarming case of death, Elvis still manages to shift a vast number of Best Of albums every Christmas...” (for argument's sake) The Avalanches being the more skilled in the art of taking something from a dead musician and making it alive and (sometimes) better.

The other way of musicians making money from fellow dead musicians leaves a sour taste in the mouth and The Manic Street Preachers are prime exponents of this. The albums after they ran out of old Richey Edwards lyrics are lyrically clumsy and toe-curlingly bombastic. The band wouldn't have even considered a coffers-swelling stadium tour before Richey disappeared - their 2002 trip to Cuba is testament to this silliness. One can imagine Edwards with a look of despair as the embarrassing arse-kissing charade continued unabated.

A more despicable example of not making money but enhancing ones reputation is Paul McCartney's changing of composer names to McCartney-Lennon for all of the Beatles songs they composed together. McCartney's effort in order to sustain his legend by having

He’s dead, but still far richer than you will ever be.

owever, it's not all bad when it comes to a musician dying. A popular musician dying is perhaps not a bad career move and Elvis is a master of the art. The constant reselling and re-imposing of his image throughout popular culture makes sure his legendary status never fades. This is shown by the fact that despite an alarming case of death (obsessive fans and popular mythology not withstanding) for over two decades, Elvis still manages to shift a vast number of 'Best of' albums every Christmas and effortlessly still gets to number 1 in the singles charts. Recent figures suggest the Elvis industry is still making £20million a year. He's probably in Heaven now kicking himself for not being able to spend the money on his favourite snack: deep fried banana sandwiches.

For rock musicians, the age of 27 represents a bonanza pay-day. When they inevitably die from some grisly and suspicious form of death, not only do they get a massive injection of cash into their bank accounts but their legend is

preserved because they died before their music made the inevitable descent into crapness. Who knows what damage they would have done to their reputations if they had continued to make music? An example of this would be Brian Jones from The Rolling Stones who drowned in his swimming pool while blitzed off his face on various narcotics just after the Stones had finished recording the consistently superb Beggar's Banquet. The next 24 Stones albums after Brian Jones died, apart from the slightly over-rated Exile on Main Street and Let it Bleed, don't come close to the heights of the heavily Jonesinfluenced Aftermath.

Other examples of rock musicians preserving their status through an ugly and tragically early demise at the age of 27 through heavy and constant use of drugs and booze would perhaps include Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison. Recently Jack White from The White Stripes was almost killed at the age of 27 when his tour bus crashed last year in the United States. He didn't die and sadly his arm is better now, allowing him to continue to rip off much better and dead musicians. Is there a light at the end of the tunnel? As long as rock stars keep hoovering up drugs and record company executives keep wanting bigger offices, it's hard to tell.

Feature 05

Ellimentary my Dear Viewer

Cinefile Le Corbeau

no. 51

With a new Sherlock Holmes box-set on the way Paul Stevens explores the phenomenon of Basil Rathbone.

T

here have been a great number of detectives over the years who have solved innumerous mysteries, from simple murder cases to elaborate enigmatic puzzles that baffle even the greatest of thinkers, but one name in the pantheon of sleuths, busybodies and other stereotypical foils of criminal plans stands above them all. The detective’s detective; Sherlock Holmes.

The many adventures that Holmes and his companion Dr Watson braved from their infamous lodgings at 32 Baker Street have been retold in a variety of cinematic adaptations. Best known of these were the series of films staring Basil Rathbone between the late 1930s and through-out the 1940s. They are most notable for bringing Holmes into a post war era and for leaning towards the horror and thriller aspects of his adventures. The films have gained a cult status in recent years amongst aficionados of classic Hollywood horror, which is synonymous with Universal at the time.

Basil Rathbone is often cited as the best of the actors who took on the role of Sherlock Holmes, his 14 films and 242 radio broad casts having set the link firmly in the public conscious. So much so that it took 13 years before the adventures of Holmes would once again be recast on the silver screen.

Originally, Rathbone was noted for his performances as film villains, making the switch to Holmes a considerable revision of self-image; the transition was a wise one for it established him as one of the biggest names of the era. But this fame became a double edged sword as, later on in his career, he was unable to distance himself from his legacy and ended up featuring in some more “questionable” movies. Most interestingly, perhaps, his final film was Disney’s Basil the Great Mouse Detective, which can be seen as a kind of self parody.

The other notable performance within the Sherlock Holmes films is that of Nigel Bruce as Dr Watson, played as c o m i c re l i e f

After the recent actors dispute Basil Rathbone examines his pay-checque.

to Holmes’s intellectual musings. The timing and dialogue between Watson and Holmes is what makes the pair work so well. Whilst purists may argue Watson’s characterisation detracts further from the original novels by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the juxtaposition does allow for the sometimes questionable plot developments to be justified, or at least disguised.

The extraordinary differences between the classic pre-war Holmes who Rathbone played for Twentieth Century Fox, The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and the more modern Holmes featured in the films made by Universal do require some major adjustment by the audience. This latter dapper, suit-wearing Holmes is far more like his modern counterparts and the transformation to more action based plots soon distinguish him from the more logical and deductive characterisation of earlier incarnations.

Watson I do believe you’ve neglected to use your cotton buds this morning.

T

he films manage to embody many features of the era, from the comedic pairing of Holmes the straight man and the bumbling Watson, through to the more thriller-noir aspects of national espionage and femme fatales, and even fleeting moments of romance and musical pieces. The broad spectrum of film conventions from which the films borrow are instantly recognisable despite being contained within the greater themes of the mystery as a whole. This hybridism is in essence what keeps the films both entertaining and accessible to all fans of the era.

The Rathbone Sherlock Holmes films are firmly part of the greater Hollywood studio system, with only minimal production costs they feature such characteristics as reused sets, spin of films featuring the more popular criminals and some diabolical plots such as the re-emerging of the already dead Moriarty. Whilst this demonstrates the lack of time and budg-

They are most notable for bringing Holmes into a post war era and for leaning towards the horror and thriller aspects of his adventures.

Rathbone’s performances as the Nazi fighting, enigma breaking, Watsonpitying detective is far more than a simple revamping of Doyle’s character, it is a reflection of the ideals of the post war Hollywood film industry. In a sense the later versions of Holmes’s adventures made in the eighties and staring Jeremy Brett (The return of Sherlock Holmes, The Hound of the Baskervilles) are far more faithful to the original stories, something that further serves to accenuate the historical specificity of the Rathbone Holmes. This link between Hollywood ideals and the later Rathbone films is very explicit; for example there are many ideological monologues that are interjected without concern or relevance to the film’s narratives. These blatant, direct appeals to the audience, in which Holmes addresses the many after-effects of the war, seem somewhat surreal from a modern perspective. Their inclusion is all the more significant considering the many anachronistic flourishes of the later films, in which Holmes finds himself face to face with a gallery of stereotypical German spies and dangerous criminals.

This is cinema from a time when films focused on events overseas and tried to sway popular opinion.

et of these productions compared to more modern films, it also shows the resourceful nature of the casts and production teams. Still remaining, despite the rough edges, is Holmes’s quick wit and intelligent if slightly sketchy deductions that made the character so likable in the first place.

Despite the questionable continuity between pre and post war Holmes, the ideological slants or the interpretation of Dr Watson as a bumbling fool the films still manage to be very entertaining.

Admittedly they can be a little off mark sometimes; such as The Scarlet Claw with its cheesy characterising of the killer, which, though ultimately enjoyable, is so for all the wrong reasons.What is probably the most important thing to remember while watching these films is the progression they make from simply being a placing of Holmes in a different period to actually integrating Holmes into that era.

Essentially the many films that span the seven years in which they were being produced is best seen in the way they were first intended, purely as entertainment. To sit and watch Holmes battle through the many foes he encounters and out-wit them every time is still rewarding to the audience who try to work out the many enigmatic puzzles confronted by Holmes. This is an award winning formula that has stood the crime and detection genre in good stead for decades, indeed it is hard to imagine such iconic figures as Poirot and Columbo without the Holmes films as a precursor.

The Sherlock Holmes box-set, which includes 14 films, is released on DVD by Optimum on 31st January. Alternatively you could win a copy by entering our competition on page 3.

The Raven, right? I knew my French GCSE would come in handy at some point. So is this a Poe adaptation?

No, though there are more than enough morbid events for any self respecting Poe fan. Le Corbeau is the second film of the sadly neglected French master of suspense Henri-Georges Clouzot, who was a huge influence on Hitchcock. Set in a backward provincial French village the film focuses on the character of doctor Remy Germain who becomes the main suspect during a spate of mysterious poison pen letters, which are signed Le Corbeau. It was made under the auspices of the Nazi controlled Continental studios during the occupation of France in 1942 and caused quite a scandal on its release.

Why was that then?

The poison pen letters accuse just about everyone in the village of just about everything and whip the populace up into a frenzy of suspicion, which leads to numerous suicides, mob violence and a grim atmosphere of denunciation.The film was marketed in the Third Reich as a demonstration of the weakness of the French character and, sadly, after the liberation the new Gaullist government took the same stance and banned Clouzot from filmmaking for life. Most of the people who worked on the film had similar restrictions or were thrown into jail.

Tough break. So that was the end of his career then?

Thankfully no. Four years later Jean-Paul Sartre and other influential intellectuals argued for the sentence to be dropped, insisting that the film was a critique of the occupation not a supporter of it, the atmosphere created by the letters being analogous with that of Vichy France. The film was belatedly recognized as the masterpiece of suspense and atmosphere that it is, but this is still not a universal stance. The French New Wave filmmakers of the 50s and 60s hated Clouzot and, somewhat arbitrarily, made him the embodiment of everything they resisted in the so called ‘cinema du papa’.

Its almost as though the French saw the director as the poison-pen letter writer. Who did write all the letters in the end?

That would be giving away a very good twist. In a film in which everyone is suspect, especially the protagonist, it ends up being the most unlikely character. The tense atmosphere of futility, high contrast lighting and clipped dialogue make Le Corbeau an excellent forerunner of the Film Noir genre as well as an incredibly complicated study of human morality under pressure.

What else did Clouzot make?

Despite these blows Clouzot went on to make two internationally renowned films; Les Diabolique, which is regarded as one of the greatest horror films ever made, and The Wages of Fear, a critique of human greed and American oil exploitation in South America in which two men are paid to drive trucks of nitro-glycerin across Brazil. The latter film, ironically given its subject matter, became the highest grossing foreign language film in the USA. Despite these successes Clouzot deserves to be better known than he is.

Dean Bowman

26.01.05

06 Feature

Sex and the Suburbs Katharine Clemow takes a look at the new TV phenomena that is Desperate Housewives...

B

y now the tears brought on by the final episodes of Friends, Sex And The City, Six Feet Under and The Sopranos should have dried up and there’s a new show on the block that will be consoling at least some of you bereft Channel Four addicts.

Desperate Housewives is already on its sassy saucy way achieving both popular and critical acclaim and picking up awards for Best Comedy and nominations for Marcia Cross (Bree Van De Kamp) and Felicity Huffman (Lynette Scavo) for Best Actress in a TV Comedy, with Teri Hatcher (Bond girl and sultry journalist Lois Lane in comic strip spinoff show Superman) winning it, at last week’s Golden Globes. Hatcher plays Susan, single mum to a precocious but sweet and very funny daughter, who’s desperately looking for a man to share her life with. The ‘desperate’ of the title rings true in various ways to all the characters and the show does deal in stereotypes, debunking them in theory but with dubious success, though this may change as the stories progress.

26.01.05

Lynette is the business woman turned full time mum who struggles to keep herself from killing her four children and them from killing each other or driving her permanently round the bend, while her husband complains of the trials of an office job. Bree is the Stepford wife of the bunch, her kids yearn for the bangers and mash feasted on by their friends instead of the three course Cordon Bleu meals she presents them with night after night. The picture of domestic bliss the Van De Kamp family appear is clearly far too good to be true and in the first episode her husband tells her he wants a divorce because she’s too perfect and is more like a robot than the fun spontaneous woman he married. He has a point: she is always uncannily immaculately attired and her hair literally doesn’t move. But, as their marriage therapist points out after she has demonstrated her range of domestic goddess-like skills by sewing on one of his loose jacket buttons, she works tirelessly and for no thanks or appreciation from her children or onion-allergic husband.

We’ll have to wait and see what happens with these two, it would be nice if they could sort out their differences and become the perfect couple they appear. But following the explosive memorial dinner party of last week’s episode where Bree blurted out that ‘Rex cries when he ejaculates’ and he leaves home for a motel it seems unlikely for the next few weeks at least….

Edie Britt is the devious, scantily clad, pneumatic blond man-eater who stands between sweet scatty Susan’s efforts at getting back in the dating game and nice new neighbour Mike. So far her house has burnt down, with a

little unwitting help from Susan who mistakenly thought the game was up and got clumsy with candles, underwear, and wine. While we’ve seen most of what there is to see of this peroxide piece of two bit trash (she really doesn’t wear many clothes and now her wardrobe’s gone the situation can only get worse) we don’t yet know much about her. She is merely a tart without a heart who we’re not meant to like and we’re all hoping Susan beats her to it and eventually gets some long awaited bedroom action.

Gabrielle is the youngest of the housewives on Wisteria Lane and is stuck in an unhappy marriage as the trophy wife to a man who showers her in jewels but is more interested in his business than her. Don’t feel too sorry

The glamour and the silliness of Sex And The City coupled with the dark humour and edge of the brilliant Six Feet Under for her, in her despair she’s taken to having a steamy affair with the very beautiful Jesse Metcalf who plays John, her gardener. One of the funniest scenes in the first episode saw her rushing home from a party to mow the lawn in a cocktail dress, stilettos and dripping in diamonds so her husband wouldn’t realise poor Gardener Rowland has been so busy attending to his wife he hasn’t had time to do the garden.

The show is made by ABC, now owned by Disney, but is in the model of HBO shows Sex And The City and Six Feet Under. It opened to an impressive 5.5million viewers in the UK and with only the forth episode airing this Wednesday (26th) its popularity is growing with word of mouth recommendations making it bigger than both the above Channel 4 favourites. In the US it is now the most successful show on any TV channel, with over 20 million viewers tuning in each week. These characters are definitely pushing the right buttons and finding absolutely tons of fans.

The irascible Sunday Times critic, AA Gill, wrote extensively on the Desperate Housewives last week

branding it ‘clichéd, parochial and selfregardingly predictable’. He also says there’s little difference between its plots and characters and the average Australian soap. If you’re not a fan of Australian soaps (and you’d be a fool to miss out on a daily dose of life Down Under) don’t be put off if you haven’t already sampled this new, intriguing and colourful comedy drama. Gill concedes that the premise of the main plot with the narrator being a woman who blows her brains out in the first episode has an ‘existential frisson’.

Don’t get caught up in any of this overly intellectual drivel – it’s a funny show and Mary Alice, the dead woman, is going to be posthumously rumbled for something bad which made her kill herself, kicked this whole thing off, and is going to be a fascinating storyline to watch unfurl. There are other sequences of events which will unravel, skeletons that will be uncovered and secrets that will be laid bare. Gabrielle has had two lucky escapes already so it won’t be long before hubby gets wise to the goings on between her and dishy John. Lynette’s husband is heading for a broken nose or worse if he persists in abandoning her with their spawn-of-the-devil children, Edie may yet find out that Susan was responsible for the inferno that decimated her home if the measuring jug isn’t recovered (if you didn’t watch that one seriously don’t ask, just accept it and watch with nervous anticipation), and the race for Mike is still on; though he has some secrets of his own….

Holding all these strands together is the girls’ search which takes them away from their mundane lives of cooking, cleaning, dating, getting dolled up, sex with the gardener (The Event is quite taken with this little bit of Latin loveliness) to discover what their friend did and why she topped herself.

Desperate Housewives, dubbed ‘Sex And The Suburbs’, might not be as popular as it is if the shows mentioned above were still on but it is good fun and goes where no other show has gone before: behind the scenes of the usually idealised, or sidelined, housewife. It has the glamour and the silliness of Sex And The City coupled with the dark humour and edge of the brilliant Six Feet Under as well as a dash of its own unique panache and it looks, with it’s enormous fan base in America and its growing army of viewers here, like it’s a formula that has worked.

Enduring Images

Feature 07

Kevin Loader, producer of Enduring Love, talks to Dean Bowman about love, literary adaptations and red balloons.

K

evin Loader is fast becoming one of Britain’s most interesting producers.

Starting off in television, where he will be best remembered for his serialisation of Hanif Kureishi’s Buddha of Suburbia, he then moved into film production and in the last few years has brought a number of popular and highly acclaimed films to the screen including Captain Corelli’s Mandolin and, last year, The Mother. The Event spoke to him whilst he visited Cinema City to introduce his latest film Enduring Love, which is based on former UEA graduate Ian McEwan’s bestselling novel.

“Both the difficulty and the attraction of Enduring Love is that it has one of the most arresting, breathtaking opening chapters you’re ever likely to read,” Kevin Loader replied when the Event asked him what first attracted him to the novel. “It’s a huge challenge to put it onto film but it makes it immediately interesting as a book to adapt into a movie. Also it’s a good old-fashioned genre stalker movie.”

Kevin Loader fondly refers to Enduring Love as a “two gasp movie”.

One of those gasps comes very early on during the scene with the dramatic ballooning accident, which opens the novel and provides the device whereby the characters are bought together. The image of a red balloon floating over a pastoral landscape with five men dangling from it is a stunningly bizarre image, so much so that it generally provokes nervous, inappropriate laughter amidst audiences. “But we soon wipe the smile off their face,” Kevin Loader laughs. “What that chapter does do very brilliantly is that it presents us with an image that is disturbing but also incredibly beautiful and lyrical.”

Although the film successfully manages to visualise this incredible piece of prose it does so at a high cost: “It took twenty percent of the schedule of the movie and probably twenty percent of the budget, just for four and a half minutes. The only thing we really did with computer was to take out a few wires, but there’s no green screen stuff, I mean there really was a bloke hanging off a balloon floating for ten miles over Oxfordshire and nobody called the police, which is slightly extraordinary.”

But if the opening chapter was difficult to film it also proved a challenge to balance filmic verisimilitude with the novelist’s poetic licence. “I phoned him [Ian McEwan] when we started to plan the sequence and asked him why it was a helium balloon,” Kevin Loader recalled. “It wouldn’t be a helium balloon, you know because they fly 30000 feet in the air, have pressurised cabins and are the kind of thing Richard Branson uses to try and fly around the world in; Grandfathers taking their grandchildren out for a Saturday afternoon jaunt wouldn’t use a helium balloon. He told us that he wanted ‘that speech that Joe

had about helium being one of the first atoms in the universe.’ That’s the difference between a novel and a film in a way. It’s much easier in the novel to deal with the kind of concepts and discussions about love that go on in the film, because you can just orbit them around the characters in this rather beautifully digressive way that novelists have.”

Kevin Loader has enjoyed a particularly fruitful collaboration with director Roger Michell, with whom he made Captain Corelli and The Mother, and the pair now own their own production company called Free Range Films. “My strategy has always been to be a creative producer to the fullest extent and when I’m working with Roger, because we’re regular collaborators, then we have a kind of shorthand about how we work. We approach everything as a team.”

Kevin Loader is no stranger to adapting literary sources, having worked previously with Loius d e

Bernier and Hanif Kureishi, the Event asked him what kind of material he is drawn to. “I read one book a year that I’d love to turn into a film and usually someone else has already bought it. These things

take seven or eight years to get to the screen and unless you really believe the book has got something magical and rich enough to become that much of an obsession then its crazy to embark upon it because you’ll get fed up with it before you get anything near to releasing it. Eight years ago I was running a film operation in London for Sony pictures and Philip Pullman had published two of those three books [His Dark Materials] and I thought they would make the most amazing films, before Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter, and I tried to get the rights. But you couldn’t persuade anyone then, Sony pictures looked at me as if I was a mad man or a person from another planet. Although anything’s possible, sometimes the time isn’t right.”

I

n order to translate a novel to the screen there has to be some changes to make the material more cinematic, as Kevin Loader points out “Samantha Morton’s character isn’t a Keats scholar anymore she’s a sculptress and that’s an obvious change to make her a visually intuitive person rather than a scholarly person, other wise you have a film about people who sit around and talk about Keats at dinner parties, we could make that film but it wouldn’t be as interesting.”

Another major change is the dramatic arch of the book. Instead of presenting Jed as immediately threatening, as the book does, that aspect of his character is kept back until the scene in which he appears in Joe’s lecture and sings the Beach Boys God Only Knows in front of his shocked students. Thus the film is more in keeping with Hitchcockian strategies of suspense, which successfully keep the audience on the edge of their seats. “You’re never quite sure whose on the edge of madness or violence between Rhys’ character and Daniel Craig’s character and that’s the central dramatic ambiguity that the film plays with.”

Any adaptation from a source text as popular as Ian McEwan’s novel is sure to run up against many people’s

Ian McEwan and Kevin Loader on the set of Enduring Love.

expectations, but Kevin Loader is adamant that the two works should be considered as separate entities. “We were doing a lot of Q&A sessions and they’ll be three or four people and all they’ll want to know about is why you have changed the book and it’s so bloody boring after a while, I mean what does it matter what the book says; the book and the film have to coexist as different things. When we were working on the screenplay with Joe Penhall we would show it to Ian every time we did a draft, and he was quite bemused for quite a long time about what we were up to. It’s only when Ian first saw the film in the cutting room, I think, that he really understood what we’d been trying to do, which was to make a version of his novel.”

Being quite a claustrophobic psychological thriller the casting was obviously vital to the film’s impact, The Event asked Kevin Loader about his casting choices.

“We worked with Daniel before on The Mother and I guess a lot of people expected us to cast him in the role of the stalker, rather than the straight guy, in-sofar as there is a straight guy, because Daniel’s habitually played outsiders and people on the edge. So we thought it would be interesting to put him in the Bourgeois centre of the movie and make him the person around which the whole thing revolves and I think that works well.

Rhys’ work was brilliant, you don’t realise whether his character is a harmless, lost, confused, slightly religious nutcase or whether he’s all those things and dangerous. There’s something about the way he flutters his eyelashes.”

Finally the Event asked Kevin Loader what his opinion was of the current state of the British film industry. “British cinema seems to be in a state of perpetual

“There really was a bloke hanging off a balloon floating for ten miles over Oxfordshire and nobody called the police, which is slightly extraordinary.” crisis, and yet if you look back over this year then there’s probably about eight films that are as good as any other country’s cinema in the last year, in terms of interesting non-generic films. I think we’re in pretty good health in terms of the creative community, we’ve got some brilliant directors and we’ve always had a pool of brilliant actors and crafts people.

I’d just like to see more interesting screenplays coming through and we need more people to go and support British films at the box office.”

The will is there, it seems, and Kevin Loader’s films demonstrate the potential of British Cinema when it breaks free of Hollywood formulas. “It’s very hard now in cinema distribution to make a mark with these small non-studio pictures and it’s important to help people like Cinema City who are showing repertory cinema.

We all know how precarious it can be with the lock of the Hollywood machine on distribution, which can lead to a diminishing of the choices we all have as audiences. I don’t think we should try and copy Hollywood because it only results in failure when we do.We should try and tell our own stories and try to connect them to audiences.”

26.01.05

08 Feature

Are you ready for a Bloc Party?

If you stare long enough, indie kids melt.

The LCR is soon to be lit up by the annual visit of the NME Awards Tour, featuring Bloc Party and The Killers.

Suzie Curtis spoke to Bloc Party’s drummer Matt Tong about playing in a band and about his return to UEA’s LCR.

T

he NME Tour is coming to UEA on 31 January and witnesses the return of one of UEA’s hottest exports. Matt Tong, drummer for Bloc Party, will return to the LCR, only this time gracing the stage. Matt has moved on from the days of playing the LCR with his university “would-be stadium grunge” band Interstate 71 and in 2003 joined what the NME has labelled “the next Most Important Band In Rock.

FACT.” Bloc Party are one of four acts on the NME Awards Tour 2005, ready to rock the UEA and definitely the most exciting for the quartet. With two top 40 hits under their belts (Little Thoughts and Helicopter) and a prospective third, So Here We Are, set for release on 31st January, Bloc Party have been hotly tipped to be the Franz phenomenon of 2005. It’s certain to be the gig of the year as far as Norwich is concerned.

Singer/guitarist Kele Okereke has a unique voice that is just as good live as it is on their recorded material. His vocals are well complemented by Russell Lisack, complete with arch-britpop asymmetric fringe, on lead guitar,

Gordon Moakes on bass and our very own Matt Tong, the provider of some ferociously energetic drum lines.

Altogether they produce a wholly original sound the band’s repertoire blends

“Bloc Party really are part of the new breed of bands that prove downloads will not be the death of music ” fast paced anthems with twisted and distorted ballads and has fast resulted in them attracting a loyal following, both on the UK student circuit and abroad.

It is difficult to draw parallels between Bloc Party and other bands, or even their influences. They’ve got the pre-requisite unique look in the bag, providing an almost caricature stab at the modern British multi-ethnic demographic. But whilst there are none out there who look like them, there’s also none out there who sound like them; a fact that has not been ignored by the media or the punters since they were named a respectable No. 2 in the BBC’s ‘Sound of 2005’ poll. And while not

wishing to overemphasise the UEA old boy’s contribution, it is (well, at least 25%) down to Matt whose drumming is noticeably more prominent than many of their peers. Ever stuck for an answer to the question, “Who’s your favourite drummer?” Not any more.

What is most refreshing about Bloc Party is that they are young and enthusiastic with a real passion for what they are doing. This was evident in June 2004 when they played the Carling Islington Academy to a relatively small crowd.

Even though the band was then still an unknown quantity for many, they managed to interact with the crowd who could not help but be moved by, and move to, the music. At their Christmas Bonanza last December the band were equally crowd pleasing. Their guitar tech, dressed as Santa, placed presents on the stage which was decorated with fairy lights and Christmas trees. The band emerged donning festive costumes to entertain a much larger audience in their one off Christmas show.

Kele, dressed as a cowboy, shouted “We are called Bloc Party and this is our Christmas spectacular” before ripping open the presents (which handily contained their instruments) and bursting into ‘The Marshalls Are Dead’. Acts of Christmas merriment are not often found at an indie gig, but Bloc Party know how to throw a party!

B

loc Party are a band who appreciate their fans, unlike the Gallagher brothers, Kele regularly responds generously to the crowd, whilst Gordon asks, ”Who’s downloaded this track?!”

And they seem genuinely overwhelmed by the admiration they are beginning to receive. Bloc Party really are part of the new breed of bands, who prove downloads will not be the death of music, and who positively embrace the fact that it’s how their fans have found them. The band’s fan base has grown significantly in the past six months. For a band that is yet to release a debut album, it’s pretty impressive how much they have already achieved.

In 2004 the band toured almost nonstop, laying for the foundations for what will inevitably be an even more hectic 2005. They supported Interpol on their European tour: an opportunity, Matt

They laugh now, but they’re about to be searched internally.

26.01.04

said, to “learn a little more about stagecraft from a seasoned and esteemed band.” Bloc Party also appeared on Later With Jools Holland, this time juxtaposed with Elton John and contributed a song to the Warchild effort. They gained a place on the Radio 1 stage at the Carling Reading and Leeds Festival, Kele has provided guest vocals on the forthcoming Chemical Brothers LP and the band have played a series of gigs overseas, including Japan and America.

The band didn’t even spend Christmas at home this year, choosing instead to return to Japan, Matt’s favourite experience so far, a country he describes as being ”enlightening, amusing and lifeaffirming”. Quite the opposite to how Matt found Los Angeles…”LA was a little odd … even some of the indie girls appeared to have breast implants”.

Bloc Party have built solid foundations for the year ahead. The release of their debut album Silent Alarm (released on 14 February – the ideal Valentine’s gift) is sure to cement their success, with some critics penning it as a contender for album of the year.

So, what does 2005 hold for the band? Bloc Party are already confirmed to play both Glastonbury and the Reading and Leeds weekend. They are also in talks with T In The Park and Oxygen. It’ll be hard to ignore Bloc Party this year. They’ll be appearing on more magazine covers and getting more mentions from their expanding celebrity fan base, as well as continuing to gig their way around the UK and stateside. Following the NME Awards Tour, Bloc Party will be touring at home and abroad until April.

Matt has gone a long way from his days at UEA, but fortunately has come back again. He says his memories of university basically revolve around “being a crappy little miserable stoner whose only motivation in life was locating chocolate hob nobs at half six in the morning and playing Championship Manager”, something which many UEA students can empathise with. Still, there’s hope for us all and The Event is sure that those attending the NME Tour will be inspired by what they see.

Bloc Party will be signing copies of their new single So Here We Are on Monday 31 January in HMV Norwich at 4:30pm.

Feature 09

Buckle your seat-belts and hold onto your funny bones Anthony Jackson gets a moment to speak to up and coming magician and comedian Danny Buckler about the circuit and his unusual audiences- from Bruce Willis to the Sultan of Brunei...

M

onday 17th of January saw the Banana Splitz comedy night host the comedy magician Danny Buckler; or rather Danny hosted the night as he acted as compere for the other three comedians. “Don’t judge me too much on tonight because it’s hard to get going when your compereing, you have to get the other acts on and off and you don’t get chance to get into it.” This did not seem to appear a problem for Danny as he swaggered on the stage and addressed all the audience as his friends. He quickly had them laughing and clapping as he performed various impossible tricks with rope whilst reminding everyone it had taken him thirteen years to perfect and he had no plans on leaving until he received a thorough round of applause.

The title of comedy magician conjures up v a r i e d expectations. In the past Tommy Cooper was the comedian of note to hybrid humour with magic in a bumbling buffoon performance. Today we have become accustomed to the separation of magic from comedy and enjoy the mystical qualities of David Blaine and Derren Brown away from the sharp wit of Peter Kay and Ricky Gervais. As a modern comedy magician Danny Buckler might create visions of a contemporary mix, possibly including jokes surrounding bread…garlic bread cleverly intertwined with mind reading. However on meeting Danny you quickly observe he is very different from the current crop of television entertainers. Although dressed in a debonair suit he does not possess the naturally brooding stare of Blaine and Brown and neither does he attempt to. Danny also lacks the comical façade of Gervais or Kay as he perches on the side with a cup of tea. Danny looks more like the cabaret entertainers of old with a large smile and theatrical voice.

This carries through onto stage as he happily sings his personal operatic score to the soundtrack of Star Wars. Danny is not old

fashioned in his thinking or his comedy. He simply does not appear to have attempted a distinct image in his act. He is happy to play the friendly performer through his dramatic gestures and wide-ranging facial expressions.

This performing approach may also be a result of his anecdotal style. Danny counts Billy Connolly and Bill Cosby as big influences due to their own story methods of humour. He is honest in his weakness to think up ‘the gag’ but is equally confident in his own brand of comedy, “I can’t write jokes and I’m not surreal but I have had a bloody odd life, weird things have happened and they’re funny.” Danny uses his personal adventures to entertain rather then observations or false tales “I tell true stories, but exaggerate them. Real life is funnier for me and I find these things that happen to me funnier.You have to try and a find a way to make an audience see that funny side which can be tough but fortunately one thing I can do is spin a yarn and make people laugh.” His comedy magic has lead him to perform for various audiences that include the Sultan of Brunei, Bruce Willis and Liam Gallagher, “I used to work for Harrods so I met a lot of people through that, and I did a command performance for Liam Gallagher and Patsy Kensit. But I had no part in the break-up of their marriage”.

Yet most people will be asking ‘who is Danny Buckler? This is a fair question as Danny has not been a regular in mainstream entertainment, although he has not been underground either, after all the comedy network is not exactly ‘8 mile’. Danny has had a special on Channel 4 called Danny Does Tricks as well as touring with Victoria Wood and starring in the popular theatre tour Uri Gellar Stopped My Clock. The latter received high accolade from the man himself who visited Danny afterwards “He turned up and came round the back and we thought, ‘here comes the law suit,’ but he said (Danny does a brilliant Uri Gellar voice here) I am so excited what you do because you bend the spoons and I bend the spoons too and I will show you. I thought what’s he going to do? He must know that we know.” On the back of

“I did a command performance for Liam Gallagher and Patsy Kensit. But I had no part in the break-up of their marriage.”

I am amused, honest.

these successes he will star in the primetime BBC 1 show Secrets of Magic that starts on the 21st January as well as feature on a magic panel in the Cable show Mind Games. It appears 2005 may be a year of fruition for Danny “I’m happy doing what I’m doing. The big goal was to get on telly and I’ve done that now. I’m not well known and I’m not famous by any stretch of the imagination, but the nice thing about becoming well known is the places you get to perform in get bigger and more people come to see you.”

D

espite these future shows that revolve around magic, Danny prefers the comedy aspect.

“It’s always going to be comedy over magic but there will always be a bit of magic in it somewhere as I do love it. But since I was a kid magician it has always been about the funny.”

There are certain stereotypes and values surrounding magicians that influence Danny’s preference of comedy.“One of the problems with magic is that there is an inherent smart ass quality to it, like you’ve got a secret that you won’t tell anyone.”

That is not to say Danny does not like magicians. He is friends with the mindblowing Derren Brown. “A truly beautiful

man and he wears velvet very well” and has also met the legend that is Paul Daniels and his wife Debbie McGee who is apparently “very fragrant.”

So how did Danny come to be playing the humble venue of the Hive Bar? Well he still performs in comedy shows when called. Despite the possibilities ahead, he is still realistic and enjoys performing, especially University gigs. “Uni audiences are up for it and pleasant. They listen and let you experiment and play with ideas. I was here a couple of years ago with Ian Cognito and it was a good bit of fun.”

So what aims does Danny have for his comedic career? “More telly, more chicks, more money. Comedians don’t have an MTV ‘Cribs’ lifestyle in Britain”. He makes his own way to shows from his Guildford base and will persist in the hope of fame and maybe one day releasing his very own quintessential Christmas DVD. Like most on the showbiz ladder Danny did not leave school a comedian “I did all sorts of crap to fund this.” This ranged from photocopying to selling magic tricks in Hamleys. Now he is in the position to entertain fulltime, he will continue to drive the country in his “battered white Ford Fiesta in search of adventures.”

26.01.05

10 Feature

Feature 11

HOUSEWIVES VS. CAREER GIRLS Armed with their impeccable women’s intuition and flawless parenting skills the housewife is back

They’re smart, sassy, independent and doing their best to make their way in a man’s world

with a bang. Kate Bryant takes a look at the houswife through the TV ages...

whilst trying to stay sexy at the same time. Kate Bryant profiles the career girl...

If the massive success of Desperate Housewives is anything to go by, it seems that we’ve heard enough about the dramas of the working world and are ready to marvel again at the endless task of being a housewife. After years of trying to shimmy her way into the glass ceilinged world of work, the modern woman can now feel just as accomplished if she’s at liberty to stay at home and still be affluent. For years TV has tried to bridge the gap between the world of work and the perfect family life but with little success to show for it, the truth of the matter is that if a woman really wants to be completely in charge of her surroundings then she’s got to stay in her suptuously decorated home…

Name: Roseanne Connor Show: Roseanne

P

The Connor clan

Name: Wilma Flintstone Show: The Flintstones

T

he instantly recognisable ginger barnet, the always present pebble necklace, the pristine white over-the-shoulder dress and the effortlessly perfect lipstick, all these factors go together to make the ultimate animated housewife that is Wilma Flintstone. Whilst many may mistakenly think that The Flintstones revolves around man of the house Fred, the sage words and prehistoric cooking skills of Wilma are irreplaceable.

Wilma is the architypal housewife, always the sage voice of wisdom but

with a rather shapely figure to boot. However, because she is such a pure model of the housewife she spends most of her time either vacuuming or uncovering Fred’s various follies which prove to be pretty tedious work and leave Wilma as something of a straightman to Fred’s enviable position as clown. Despite being animated The Flintstones are the perfect picture of familial paradise.

Name: Susan Mayer Show: Desperate Housewives

S

usan Mayer is just one of the women in Depserate Housewives who have managed to turn the sometimes dawdy image of the housewife presented by a number of shows into something stylish and elusive. Rather than occupy the home space, making it a tranquil and transparent place the women of Desperate Housewives leave us all thinking that more goes on in US suburban neighbourhoods than any high-powered board room.

Leaving, for a moment, the twists and turns of Desperate Housewives’ narrative it’s apparent that these women are all fit to grace the cover of glossy magazines. They aren’t frumpy, house

26.01.05

erhaps one of the most controversial TV housewives of all time, the eponymous Roseanne is most definitely large and in charge of her family. Far from being perfect, the Connors are rarely without some crisis or another. Roseanne sits at the center of the show being surly, crass and generally flying in the face of everything the housewife is assumed to be and even more importantly cracking jokes about it the whole time.

Roseanne is generally considred to be a gritty, realist take on the role of the housewife. The blissful family life of preceding sitcoms is discarded in favour of a figure that audiences feel a real

affinity with. Roseanne is the housewives’ housewife, tackling all the setbacks a working class family has to with an attitude that could grate cheese.

Roseanne never manages to stay entirely in control of her surroundings, but is undoubtedly the only character in the show who comes close to doing so.

Unfortunately the ultimate message of the show has a rather fatalistic view of the housewife, presenting her as the only one with any real sense or emotional strength in the family but not particularly pleased about that fact.

Roseanne is trapped in her role rather than devoted to it and so no matter how effectively she keeps the Connor family together she can never be an ideal figure for the modern woman to immitate despite being fun to watch.

Name: Samantha Stephens Show: Bewitched

F

orget Sabrina the Teenage Witch, the nose-waggling antics of Sam in Bewitched are the real deal when it comes to domestic witchcraft. The other housewives profiled may be able to work some degree of magic when it comes to meeting the emotional needs of their families, but ask them to levitate plates whilst bringing historical figures to life

coat wearing, still-haven’t-their-curlersout-by-noon mooses. The very notion that staying at home could be a fashion statement seems so novel today that its actually happened. These women aren’t trapped, they’re free to do as they wish.

The only drawback to this is that rather than becoming a development of other models of the housewife from previous shows these housewives ditch the devotion to family their predecessors had in favour of complete abandon.

Nonetheless, Desperate Housewives is going down a treat and even if they’re not housewives by nature, they are in name and they’re certainly making the Sam is shocked at the best of it. Its nigh on impossible to not antics of those Desperate Housewives get caught up in the chic of it all.

and they all fall dismally short. It’s just a shame that these supernatural powers always seem to bring about some form of disaster.

Sam was not the only housewife to have supernatural powers, which only highlights the high regard this role has had over the years. Although Bewitched is so sixties it might as well have The Beatles walking around in the background, its dated chic is making a big comeback with a film adaptation of the series on its way soon. This suggests that the sexy but houseproud image the show presents will more than likely find itself in vogue once more, with Sam being an iconic figure to be emulated.

Sam is also allowed to be the undbouted star of the show, with husband Darrin being left to constantly chase after her, picking up the pieces left by her latest exploits. In the show’s more concerning moments, Sam is told not to use her powers by Darrin in an attempt to get her to do things the mortal way.

However, not only does Darrin’s plan never end up being sucessful, it also cements his role as the unamusing adult to the young fresh and sexy housewife that Sam is allowed to become. If only all housewives could practise witchcraft.

The career girl wants it all, beautiful children, perfect job and husband to match. She can be effortlessly chic or charmingly faulted but at no time will she ever be in control of her life or acheive any of her goals. Doomed to constant misfortune, the working girl can never be the fountain of knowledge her stay at home counterpart manages to be. Despite her smarts, the career girl just can’t cope with life’s little trials. As the housewife takes to tumultuous times like a duck to water, the career girl often flounders in the shallow end.

However hapless she may be, the working girl conquers her obstacles, she might not be in control but she rolls with the punches...

Name: Cybill Sheridan Show: Cybill All rise!

The Verdict

T

he housewives seem to have it by a whisker! They might be confined largely to the kitchen but the Depserate Housewives have shown us all that doesn’t matter. The housewife may have had to trawl through show after show being nothing more than an undesirable nag or a mundane foil to more amusing characters, but finally she’s back on form - firm, fiesty and ready for action. There may have been a time

C

ybill is a floundering actress, with two failed marriages under her belt.

She manages to maintain a largely healthy relationship with her daughter who lives with her in her lavish pad. However, Cybill’s main aims in life revolve around acheiv-

when Roseanne in all her argumentative glory was the only way a housewife could be realistically presented on the box but that time is officially over.

Speaking of over, with the end of Sex and the City, the last of the truly successful career-girl shows the glitter and appeal have both disappeared. This may not be the ideal step forwards but it’s damn fine entertainment. So, let’s don pinnies and spend all day trying to bed the gardener!

ing onscreen success as an actress and trying to find Mr Right. This is never fully accomplished of course, but Cybill remains largely on top of any situation she tackles, even managing to salvage friendships out of both her divorces. On top of these successes, she bags all the funniest lines in the shows leaving no doubt that she’s entierly in charge.

Much of the show’s focus rests on Cybill’s home life, leaving the troublesome issues associated with working life for other shows to deal with. While she may be, strictly speaking, a careergirl, Cybill never has to contend with not having enough time with her family or being able to pay the bills. She demonstrates all the fashionable traits of the career-girl with none of the consequences. The very absence of these factors signals how fantastical Cybill is as a figure, and how worryingly insurmountable they are.

Name: Dr Kerry Weaver Show: ER

A

Desperate Housewife

lthough ER is filled with working women, Dr Kerry Weaver is the head honcho of the ER for a lot of the time.

Compared to many of the other charcters, little is shown of Kerry’s private life, except for brief periods in which she has relationships with women that are always highly problematic even before she attempts to balance them with her career.

Kerry’s character raises numerous questions about whether the ultimate career-girl is ultimately unable to have a life outside of her work. Although ER is based around a workplace rather than any single characters home life, the only relationships that are profiled in a positive light are those between colleagues.

While Kerry rarely struggles with any doubts as to how competent she is as a doctor, her personal life is often presented as empty or severly lacking. She’s not popular about the workplace and spends a lot of her time with a face like a spanked rear. If this is the life of the competent professional woman, the position of housewife is getting more attractive by the second.

Carrie in Paris, looking for the Eiffel Tower

Name: Carrie Bradshaw Show: Sex and the City

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arrie didn’t only manage to maintain her position as a star columist throughout Sex and the City, she also got to have lots and lots of sex with attractive men. However, there’s only so long that one woman can be the bastion of singledom before she has to dash everyone’s hopes and settle down.

Carrie really did have it all. She was the thinking girls idol and is the pin-up

for the golden age of TV career-girls.

For brief periods Carrie managed to juggle a job and functional relationship.

Yet, as often as we see Carrie tapping away on her little laptop, Sex and the City still doesn’t tackle the sticky territory of the workspace, as long as Carrie’s sitting in a fashionable bar and sipping a Manhattan she’s fine but perhaps a lot of this effortless panache would be lost if she was behind a desk for most of the day.

Name: Ally McBeal Show: Ally McBeal

S

he might not be the most together girl on the block, but Ally McBeal manages to be a proper presence in the office and have something of a social life to boot, albeit a rather bizarre one filled with dancing babies. Ally has all the typical foibles of the career girl, she just can’t keep all the plates spinning that she needs to and so they regularly come crashing down around her.

Although shes nothing of a role model, Ally McBeal is full of easy to identify with dilemas. Rather than

being the ideal, Ally is the achieveable negotiation of work and home. She places herself about as far away as possible from the stable knowingness of the housewife and firmly in the unpredictable hurdy-gurdy of modern living.

Whilst so many shows allow their female protagonists to be witty and amusing, Ally McBeal accomplishes the rare task of presenting a woman who doesn’t have to be slick and sharp to seem competent. Ally occupies space both sides of the work-home divide, and manages to stumble through both unscathed.

26.01.05

12 Music

Albums

Come, dancing?

The Event tracks down Rico,

Ratings:

Sunny

Fair

Stormy

Chemical Brothers

London’s top Latin DJ, before

Push The Button

his visit to our fine city

If they carry on like this, the Chems will soon be considered the Travis of British dance. Where, say, Leftfield never matched the dizzy heights of their debut, The Chemical Brothers arguably reached their apex with the Britrock-terrorising opus Surrender.

Trouble is, that was almost three years ago.

While Push The Button is indeed a good album, with sparks of genius and big-beat buffoonery (the marvellous Galvanise and Come Inside standing out), the enduring message is one of settling down. It’s as if instead of grimly pouring out the kerosene in preparation for a Surrender-style purge, they’ve set out to simply lubricate tomorrow’s car adverts. Listen to Close Your Eyes or Believe and wait for the drop – it never comes because Tom and Ed don’t need to change the world again, they’re content with background music.

And that’s the biggest shame – when Surrender came out it was dirty, sexy, messy and downright thrilling. But Push The Button (excepting Galvanise) is merely a soundtrack for people young enough not to know better. It’s good, but it’s not brilliant.

Yes, all Latin dancers take hallucinogens.

Ben Patashnik

London-based DJ Rico Casanova will be visiting Norwich on the 5th February 2005 as part of a Latin Dance evening at The Assembly Rooms. Rico, who spent Christmas in Brazil, knows how to whip up an authentic Latin party atmosphere.

Born in Callao, South America, Rico grew up with salsa. “I remember my grandfather used to play salsa music every day at home… the long plays (in those days) that my father and uncle used to send from New York,” he says.

Rico’s greatest musical influences are Latin classics from the golden years of salsa in the 60s and 70s, people like Richie Ray, Bobby Cruz, Hector Lavoe, Cheo Feliciano, the Lebron Brothers and Oscar d’Leon. The first piece of music he ever bought was El Raton by Cheo Feliciano. But Rico likes many other types of music and after living in Rio de Janieiro for four years he is definitely a Samba fan. “I also love Peru’s Musica Criolla, which has a strong Afro influence, but anything that has a good rhythm suits me. I like James Brown’s Sex Machine, for example.”

Another influence on Rico’s musical taste was his time spent in Miami. “Half my family live there and it is a real salsa hotbed. Apart from Salsa they play a lot of fantastic Merengue and Bachata. People tend to dance to Cuban or Columbian style salsa in Miami, you don’t see many people dancing New York style,” explains Rico. “Also the clubs in Miami tend only to be frequented by Latinos, very few Gringos, as we would say! It is very different in London where you get a real mix of people.”

“Some of the biggest Latin hits for 2005 will come out of the main salsa festivals like the Feria de Cali, which takes place in Columbia over Christmas and Miami’s Calle Ocho festival in March,” he tells us. Rico is currently based in London and loves the buzz of living in a big cosmopolitan city.

He was resident DJ at Bar Lorca, a top London salsa venue, until it was recently shut down (as the dancers did not drink enough) Lucky for us though - Rico is now free on Saturday nights!

When not dancing or DJing, one of Rico’s favourite pastimes is cooking. His speciality is Ceviche, a spicy raw fish dish marinated in lime. “Ceviche is one of the things I really miss about my country. I also like to BBQ in the summer,” he adds. Apart from cooking, Rico loves travelling, playing basketball and hanging out on the beach.

Rico will be sure to get everyone dancing with his fantastic music and exuberant personality. For those people who would like to be able to do some of the fab Latin dances there will be a series of taster classes in Salsa, Mambo, Bachata, Samba and Cha cha cha before Rico plays.

Call 07717 796 866 to book.

7-8.30pm Latin dance taster classes 8.30 till late party with Rico Casanova Tickets £6 but leaflets are available offering two for the price of one.

Ticket includes taster classes and dancing till late.

Carol Ottley

26.01.05

cate beauty, Pushing The Senses is merely a plod through the higher-end of epic rock. Feeder’s main appeal used to be their inimitable charm and disarming simplicity and their personality has been swamped by strings and sentiment.

Drinking myself to sleep suddenly sounds appealing.

Ben Patashnik

The Others The Others In an attempt to jump on the bandwagon of the recent trend of "I live in London and I have a guitar so here is my band", The Others are the latest in what seems to be a huge list of Cockneys. Well, it’s not the Cockney power that hits you first - the sound is not very good and ultimately a couple of the songs aren’t up to scratch. It takes a few listens in order to get into the mood of Dominic Masters and the singles Stan Bowles and This Is For The Poor are sadly the only standout songs. But hey, please don't track me down and try to paint me red. This is an album where you need a few digestives and a big mug of Guinness in order to be able to appreciate it in its full.

As an album I was expecting more.

James Banks

Feeder Pushing The Senses First things first – there isn’t a sniff of an Insomnia or even a hint of a Cement here. Feeder have shrugged off their ballsy rock and instead leapt (or rather meandered) through the door marked “Arena Purgatory”. Maybe that’s harsh. The title track and Feeling A Moment are both effortlessly gorgeous, with some of Grant Nicholas’s finest melodies drifting around the huge arrangements and could even sit calmly next to Descend or Yesterday Went To Soon. But that’s it, because where Comfort In Sound had moments of stunningly-constructed bombast and intri-

Tristania Ashes Think Amy Lee collaborating with Cradle of Filth and Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber and you might get close to the operatic, goth metal of Norwegian band Tristania.

Ashes is their new album and provides a near forty-five minute eclectic compilation of Norwegian metal.

Equilibrium, their next single, uses Kate Bush-esque vocals following from the vehement Rammstein-like opening of Libre. This kind of direct contrast between the tracks is apparent throughout the album and makes Tristania difficult to pigeon-hole. While not every track appeals, Tristania manage to create variety within a genre and leave you awaiting the next assault on your ears. The album, consisting of music that wouldn’t be out of place in Max Payne 2, precedes their upcoming European tour with Nightwish in February.

Obviously Norwegian but not your average goth metal; more than a little bit random.

Hayley Chappell

tracks in the shade, and this is only partly true here. The single is the most infectious track but there are plenty of hidden gems and growers. Move Ya Loin bounces electro-dub style. There’s also a refreshing (for hip-hop) seam of self-hate that runs through the lyrics. he looks at cocaine paranoia, money not making you happy and the more general feeling of being a bad person. On coke:“I’m feeling happy when I know I’m sad.”

Ciara Goodies Ciara has been hailed as “the new Beyonce”, and her debut single Goodies hit overnight success in America, but her album is, honestly, pretty awful. The title single is marginally catchy (produced by the same bloke as Usher’s hit Yeah!), but the rest of the album displays nothing more than the pop-r‘n’b formula of a couple of samey, un-complicated tracks followed by half an album of bland, uninspiring, soulless ballads. If r‘n’b is your thing, Ciara lacks the impressive vocals or class of Beyonce and sounds like a disinterested Brandy. It doesn’t stand out at all among recent r‘n’b albums, except that it is less interesting and holds no long-term attention at all. If you’ve heard the single and you like it, this album has other tracks that are very similar, but hits some extremely low points and loses interest by about the fourth track.

Hannah Edney

Roots Manuva Awfully Deep This is the fourth album from Roots Manuva. It’s not a massive departure in style from previous albums but it has expanded on his bleepy electro influences - see Chin High and the new single Colossal Insight with its Casio keyboard melody. As per usual, the unique Manuva production takes risks and, most of the time, they pay off. The fear with hip-hop albums is that the singles will put the album

Joe Dunthorne

LCD Soundsystem LCD Soundsystem James Murphy is the brains behind LCD Soundsystem.

This 2 disc set brings together his new material on the first C.D with previously released singles on the second disc.

This album is a varied mixture ranging from catchy pop tracks such as the opening track Daft Punk is Playing at My House to less mainstream tracks such as Tribulations, which wouldn’t sound out of place as the soundtrack for a Dom Joly stunt or a trendy phone ad. The quality of the tracks is, however, not entirely consistent. The album is somewhat let down in places by tracks such as the dreary Never as Tired as When I’m Waking up and the frankly irritating On Repeat. The standout tracks such as Give It Up and Daft Punk… show that although perhaps not the Saviour of Dance Music, LCD Soundsystem are sure to make an impact in 2005.

Mark Crawley

Music 13

Singles

Local Close Up

Charlotte Hatherley

Bastardo

Ash never recorded the same music after Charlotte Hatherley joined them. They went from recording the classic album 1977, to the – ahem – experimental album Nu-Clear Sounds, which should never be spoken of again. Bastardo is Charlotte’s attempt to leave the band that pole-vaulted her onto the wall of every lust-filled teenager who wanted an “indie girl idol” to admire. It’s a shame that no one has told her that her music is just shite. When she walked into the record company with her demo, there must have been an A5 photo of her to remind them why people will go out and buy this.

Bastardo is a story about meeting a bloke called Antonio who leaves her for a guitar. This is “sung” over a simplistic rhythm that never really goes anywhere. In fact after a minute you don’t really care about the story but you become more inclined to wonder where the ending is, since Antonio was probably taking the guitar to stop her from releasing this. This single lacks confidence, decent lyrics, and a voice. Charlotte Hatherley will be back on stage with Tim and the Irish gang soon. Mark my words.

The Event handpicks three local bands for your listening pleasure, so go and find them!

“This finger, that fret...”

James Banks

James Yorkston and the Athletes Shipwreckers A beautiful mix of accordion, banjo and soulful acoustics, James Yorkston and the Athletes have undoubtedly released the best single from their album, Just Beyond the River.

Shipwreckers is masterful piece of modern folk and is lyrically reminiscent of Nick Drake’s earlier creations.

James Yorkston and his band have managed to produce a truly magnificent ensemble of relaxing acoustics and lively tunes that go beyond any modern folk music that I’ve heard in the last few years. Yorkston is undeniably one of the best folk lyricists around right now and there is no doubt he will continue astounding us with his next album.

Erasure Breathe

Joya You and Me

The Others Lackey

Erasure have been around for a long time, and year after year they’ve produced some of the best electro pop music to reach the charts. They may not be terribly inventive, but if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.

Someone nearby when I was listening remarked this single sounded like elevator music, and to be truthful, it does, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. This is wonderful background music, and I’m looking forward to the inevitable waves of remixes that will spawn from this wonderful piece of happy, airy electro loveliness.

The name Joya seems appropriate for this rather ‘lovely’ band, although can’t help thinking it should be spelt “Joyeur”. It’s as if Coldplay had a collision with Badly Drawn Boy and stumbled into that genre of upper-classchill-out your mum loves.

There’s something warm and comforting about You and Me. It could be the soft brass, or the mellow piano, or simply the realisation that the word ‘musicianship’ didn’t go out with the dodo. This is a reassuring easy listen. It’s nothing new but it sure ain’t bad: it’ll look good next to your Katie Melua CD.

Whilst what The Others sing about is what every average adult is going through, this attempt at inciting rebellion falls on its arse. The man can't sing and Lackey, more often than not, sounds like a recorded session from a drunken night at the pub. The melody is simple, and quite often the desire to forcefully inject personality into them has to be fought. It's clear that they believe what they sing and that this is a relevant message, but with these vocals and their questionable playing ability it's doubtful anyone will listen.

Passionate indie music but without the talent needed.

Catherine Lansdown

Suzanne Rickenback

Tom Souter

Lemon Jelly The Shouty Track

Priya Patel

HAL What A Lovely Dance

yourcodenameis:milo RAPT. DEPT.

HAL’s line-up sounds like any other typical modern indie band. They have a singer with a guitar, a bassist, a drummer and a keyboard player.

However, this catchy single shows enough promise and intelligence to knock The Libertines and Razorlight et al from their throne. What A Lovely Dance is a fantastic song, with the mellow sounding instruments combining with Dave Allen’s gentle and emotional voice to create a unique harmony that will definitely relax you after a hard day’s lectures. Definitely a band to look out for this year!

With uninspired typically angst-filled lyrics like “but the town in my sight is a nuclear resistance/take out your eyes from the crow”, and a heavy, rhythm-based guitar riff ploughing its way through the song, this is typical Milo music. But as their new single, this isn’t going to do them any favours. The guitars are awkward, and the vocals, although surprisingly clear, lack any type of melody. This isn’t a tuneful masterpiece, and it just doesn’t work as head-banging rhythmic angst. Whatever they were going for, I think they missed it.

Chris Hyde

Tom Souter

Droney, slightly gutsy but very repetitive, The Shouty Track cannot compete with other releases currently erupting and permeating Britain's music scene. By no means exciting, groundbreaking or even particularly aurally pleasing - it's tough to work out quite what Lemon Jelly have tried to achieve with this release, since it seems to work more effectively as a radio bed than as a single. Lemon Jelly have a reasonably dull if slightly quirky back catalogue (see Nice Weather for Ducks) but The Shouty Track is repetitive, distinctly free of quirks and - above all - not true to its title. Not wholly unsuccessful, but still fairly indecipherable.

Miranda Bryant

Days Ago

Onslow www.onslowmusic.co.uk Beer plus Onslow equals a fantastic night out. Sometimes simple equations really can be applied to real life situations, as anyone who follows this one will find out. A melodic punk rock band with a huge command of singalong choruses, a night watching Onslow should always be followed by a hangover. With a live set perfected from months of playing gigs all over East Anglia, Onslow will be touring in February where they will be sure to make even more friends, spreading the punk rock love wherever they go. What makes them such a worthwhile band is the fact that they can make even the fastest of punk songs sound anthemic with their presence and comfort onstage, anchored by Alex Cooke's ever-impressive drumming and Greg Conn's Brett Gurewitz-esque vocals.

Onslow will be turning a lot more heads in the months to come, so get in early and beat the rush.

Pixelface The Killers Somebody Told Me Sometimes, hype is justified.

Even though the NME has been slathering them with lashings of fresh hyperbole, Las Vegas's The Killers are that most unexpected of media darlings - a genuinely good band capable of producing some utter gems. Nothing will stop this behemoth of melody from mounting the charts roughly from behind, giving a few peremptory thrusts and then strutting away proudly, so don't expect to be able to leave the house for the next year and not hear this. And with a single as good as this, that's not such a curse.

www.daysago.co.uk

Wayward drummers and absent guitarists aside, Days Ago have turned Norwich's underground on its head with their unique brand of progressive hardcore. Mixing technical brilliance with a more-than-healthy dose of pure, honest passion, the past year has seen Days Ago's latest EP Mantrap The Surveyors (And Kiss The Weather Girls) being picked up by BSM Records, a move that seems certain to bring them the acclaim they deserve. Combining the most brutally metallic of riffs with moments of contemplative beauty, Days Ago are that rarest of things - a band without any desire to fit into a particular genre, and are all the richer for it. Eschewing the traditionally vacuous scene politics that so often clouds the judgement of a relatively new band, Days Ago have managed to distil their youthful honesty into a particularly vibrant musical form, and anyone looking for something beyond the average run-of-the-mill output would be well advised to check them out.

www.pixelface.co.uk

The new boys of Norwich's live music scene, after being in existence for only one year Pixelface had already completed a UK tour, recorded their debut CD and headlined a packed Ferryboat Inn on their return to Norwich. Renowned for their onstage antics and frontman Owen Morgan's kinetic performances, Pixelface have received both critical and popular acclaim, with one reviewer calling them "intensely hard to dislike." Blending dirty punk rock with tinges of ska and even the odd funky bassline thrown in for good measure, they've played everywhere from an anarchist club in Bradford to a pub deep in Plymouth's red light district and come away with more satisfied punters every time. A constant blur while playing live, they've honed their set to a tightly-focused beam of insanity, ready to fire on any unsuspecting punter in the mood for a good time. Pixelface will soon be recording the follow up to their You Have Selected...No... EP, and will be showcasing tracks from it as they open Goodstock V at London's Highbury Garage on February 19th.

You can see both Onslow and Pixelface playing live at the Safe-As-Fuck Fest at the Norwich Ferryboat on 29th January, headlined by Sonic Boom Six. Doors are at 2pm, the first band is on at 3pm.

Ben Patashnik

Ben Patashnik

26.01.05

14 Cinema

The Other Screen

The Main feature

Mondovino

Ocean’s Twelve

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ine and those who take it seriously have a reputation for snobbery. But there’s more to wine than pontificating and searching for fruity adjectives. In Mondovino Jonathon Nossiter examines wine production from Bordeaux to Tuscany, California to Chile. Nossiter is a sophisticated American who is at home in a plethora of cultures. He speaks fluent Italian, French, Spanish and Portugese during the course of the film. The docufilm is essentially an investigation. It reveals issues of globalization, homogenization and the strangle-hold of a powerful circle of producers and critics juxta-posed to a scattering of independently run vineyards.

The film opens with ‘salt of the earth’ independent wine producer Guibert who resisted a takeover from the biggest player in the business- the Mondavi brothers- outside his home town of Aniane. This involved Guibert putting aside his conservative leanings and teaming up with the Communist mayor. To Guibert, wine is not merely a product. It is philosophy and poetry too. He also claims that “wine is dead” and will be contaminated by humanity’s lack of contact with the earth’s natural seasonal rhythms. Philip French, writing in The Observer states, “With some justice Nossiter compares his film to a Balzac novel.”

Hubert de Montville of Burgundy

The wine industry is a large one. Each vintage has been traditionally reliant on the climate, soil and methods of its producers. But this has been changing as corporate methods are applied to the wine business. The Mondavi brothers, who preside over an enormous estate in California, and have stakes in Italian and French vineyards, have close relationships with the influential Michel Rolland and Robert Parker.

Nossiter interviews all of these figures. He visits Robert Parker, an eminent critic who writes for the prestigious American publication Wine Spectator in his house in Maryland. It is acknowledged by the industry that Parker’s wine ratings can make or break a wine. Michel Rolland is a bluff giant who is chauffeured from winery to winery in a plush Mercedes. He is the most influential wine consultant living who advises on the wine making process. Parker admits to sharing very similar tastes with Michel Rolland.

Nossiter asks Rolland whether this is a problem.

Rolland replies, “There is my taste, and other people’s. This is what you call diversity. This is why there are so many bad wines in the world.”

The most colourful character is Hubert de Montville of Burgundy who prefers “chiseled” wines to “those whore wines which give their flavour away too easily.” He is the owner of ten hectares of vineyards which he runs like a benevolent dictator. His daughter left the family business to join a large wine firm nearby, but was forced to return to the fold when she found the company’s bottling techniques to be unethical. Other characters include Cristie’s wine director Michael Broadbent who claims wine hasn’t been the same since the British Empire controlled the world’s palate in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Everything is shot on hand-held DV in the standard mode of reality documentary makers.

Comparisons have been drawn to the Michael Moore style of film-making. However Nossiter is far less belligerent, and less oppositional in his approach. The camera frequently becomes interested in arbitrary objects, wandering from the faces of the interviewees to take in small details.

A recurring theme is dogs. Nossiter clearly loves them and devotes screen time to observing the different breeds running, lying around and scratching themselves on the vineyards, estates and houses of their masters around the world. Perhaps their diversity and ability to adapt to different environments reflects a similar quality in wine. This is an interesting portrait of wine as a way of life, family business, philosophy and form of colonialism.

Luke Roberts

26.01.05

A

s far as sequels go there are two distinct types: those that make you wonder why they even bothered and those that compliment and sometimes improve upon the original release, Oceans twelve fits firmly in to the later category. The film picks up three years after the casino heist that brought together the criminal elite in the first film, all of whom return to resume their illegal shenanigans. After Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia) turns up to settle old scores the group reform to and make their way to Europe where they pull off some more ingenious heists, but all goes awry when they find they are pitted against super thief Night Fox aka François Toulour (Vincent Cassel) who manages to always seem to be one step ahead. The arrival of the group in Amsterdam leads to detective Isabel Lahiri (Catherine Zeta-Jones) getting involved, who happens to be an old flame of Rusty Ryan (Brad Pitt).

When Danny Ocean (George Clooney) confronts François he finds out that they have been tricked into a contest of thieves and then things really get started.

The film’s main strength is the amazing cast and their ability to seem both a well integrated team while all still remaining unique characters. The outstanding bravado held between Rusty and Danny has become less of a focal point, but the tepid chemistry between rusty and Isabel partly makes up for this. The supporting cast mingle between their major scenes and whilst still remaining essential to the over all dynamic of the many elaborate schemes they seem to have been somewhat sidelined from the major events.

François is a classic example of over the top French stereotyping, which works very well against the more understated American team.

After two films Brad Pitt still hasn’t got the hang of parking The film itself is visually stunning, with both atmosphere and a tempo that keeps you engrossed scene after scene; its immense locations compliment the outlandish story. The build up to the main heist is well paced and complimented by the smaller jobs the team must do to try and relieve their debts.

However the film has a habit of becoming jumpy towards the end as it tries to wrap all the narrative strands that continue through out the film. With this in mind the ending is quite hard to follow as certain points are given less prominent discussion than others, but this is excusable as the film hardly needs to wrap up all the points (I doubt this is the last Oceans film we will see).

The music that accompanies the many feats of thieving ingenuity is both classic and modern at the same time.

With some inspired choices in terms of visual and audio matching the film makes a seamless use of the variety of music at hand with both original compositions and already established songs. However the fact that classic jazz tunes feature along side more modern

dance music demonstrates the main deficiency of the film, its lack of a coherent self image. The playing out of the themes of traditional thief vs. the modern high tech master minds is brought to a head in the sequence in which they dance through a set of alarm lasers. The suspension of disbelief the film would like to create is constantly at odds with the films self reflective injokes, which serve to make the audience constantly aware that the super star cast are in fact super stars.

Despite the film’s apparent lack of focus, questionable use of side characters and clumsy conclusion there is still much more to be enjoyed through the little gags and interplay of the main stars. The film makes clear from the out set that it knows it is cool and then repeatedly proves it to the audience, but after a while it just becomes bragging. But when has brash American cinema ever stopped us from enjoying what is essentially a good film?

Paul Stevens

B-Movie

Closer

Say cheese for Julia...

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loser is the film adaptation of Patrick Marber’s play of the same name. Directed by Mike Nichols (The Graduate), with a screenplay by Marber, it tells the story of four people, brought together by love and a desire for intimacy but driven apart by selfishness and jealousy. Jude Law

plays Dan, a wannabe author stuck writing obituaries, who meets Natalie Portman’s Alice, and soon they are together. A year or so later another American, Anna (Julia Roberts), is photographing Dan for his book and he falls for her, but inadvertently sets Anna up with Larry (Clive Owen). We then follow the mess these characters generate in their interwoven lives as they pursue intimacy and happiness.

Marber has made some changes from his play, for example Anna and Alice are no longer British and the film has been given a slightly more upbeat ending. Despite the casting of Roberts and Portman the film remains set in London. However, unlike films such as Wimbledon and Notting Hill, where shots of scenic London abound, largely to cater for American audiences, notable landmarks only pop-up occasionally. Closer focuses completely on the characters and the complexities of their personalities and relationships and Nichols keeps things intimate with his lighting and use of close-ups.

Furthermore, audiences used to the Julia Roberts of Notting Hill will be in for a shock. Whilst she is undeniably still very attractive, her performance and character is far from the loveable, glamorous leading lady roles she is best known for. What’s more, audiences whose only experience of Clive Owen is his wooden, completely uninspiring

performance as King Arthur, will be pleasantly surprised to find that in Closer he is a revelation and proves to be the best of a very talented bunch of actors. Larry is certainly the most compelling character and is brilliantly portrayed by Owen, who generates two of the film’s best scenes, one with Roberts and one with Portman, where we see Larry at his most angry and vile.

In Closer, Portman follows up her excellent performance in Garden State with a very different role. As Alice she takes on the role of a stripper and, whilst her dislike of nudity is well publicised (shots of her nude were left on the cutting room floor), under Nichols’ direction she looks at ease in the role.

This is yet another performance which reminds us that, free from the very restricting role of Queen Amidala in Star Wars, she is a very talented actor and if her performance in Leon remains her best then this comes close to equalling it. Finally Law brings his crazy run of films (six in the past few months alone) to an end with a fine performance as Dan. Though some may feel that Closer works better as a play, and others may be put off by the thoroughly unlikeable characters, it proves to be a thought-provoking piece which succeeds thanks to a decent script and the fine performances of the leads.

David McNaught

DVD/VHS 15

Play Movie

Director’s Commentary

Switchblade Romance

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he recent American slasher movies all agree: a recreational drive into rurality can come to no good. Wrong Turn, Cabin Fever, and the Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake all see their young heroes break for the countryside in search of quiet seclusion, only to run into the violent horrors hid amongst the trees, down the byroads, inside those lonely farmhouse shacks. There’s no help here and there’s no way out; horror is the unknown and the unknown is everywhere.

What hope then, for the two girls of Switchblade Romance, as they merrily halt their nighttime drive through the French countryside in order to investigate a strange noise in a cornfield? In fact, this and other well-worn contrivances don’t have the expected outcome; characters don’t wander into the woods and get lost, or come across isolated houses that are eerily silent but for a faint cry coming from the base-

ment. It all looks familiar, but things keep taking unexpected turns. Of course, not all of the quirky conventionflouting makes for rewarding viewing – one particular plot turn is an ‘innovation’ too far – but without doubt the horrific pleasures outweigh the irritations.

Storywise, Switchblade Romance plays it simple and high on tension.

Heroine Marie (Cecile de France), a guest at her friend Alex’s family home, must outwit a relentless killer who storms the house in a violent rampage and takes Alex captive. As the slimy kidnapper makes off with the girl in his van, Marie follows in hope of helping her friend escape. It’s a nerve-wracking set-up that means the three characters are almost constantly within clubbing distance of each other, and every movement brings a chance of both catastrophe (killer discovers Marie) and triumph (Marie catches killer unawares).

Director Alexandre Aja expertly cranks up these tense thrills from scene to scene, making smart use of the claustrophobic settings and a sinisterly quivering music score.

The more extravagant possibilities of the genre are not ignored.

Switchblade Romance’s most memorable moments are its goriest: a head bumped off its prone body by a rolling chest of drawers, a cut-throat razor put to literal use, the spray and spatter of blood in the wood-saw attack. Aja means to make the killings brutally real, and he does – no coy cut-aways or laughable special effects here – but he also sees the aesthetic potential in gory horror, and rarely passes up the opportunity to make his bodies into art objects or splash on the blood with a red-Expressionist flamboyance. These visual excesses are nicely compliment-

Nathalie athalie by Anne Fonatine follows the failing relationship between the middle-class professional Catherine (played by a still ravishing Fanny Ardant) and her philandering husband Bernard (Gerard Depardieu), who has been driven to seek sexual solace in a number of mistresses. On discovering his latest affair Catherine doesn’t descend into the kind of hysterics we have come to expect from such a situation but instead decides to investigate more deeply her husband’s private life by hiring a prostitute (superbly played by Emmanuelle Beart) to seduce him and report back to her with the details.

Focusing on the women’s erotic conversations Fontaine utilises an unconventional and inventive narrative form to express generically familiar material.

Nathalie joins the myriad of films that are about the cinematic medium itself (Peeping Tom, Rear window) and remind us specifically what a voyeuristic role that of being a spectator is. We are placed in the same position as Catherine to whom Nathalie relates her erotic tales, and though we are never shown visual

Sebastian Manley

corroboration of her verbal adventures, just like Catherine, they beguile us. Numerous erotic scenes showing Beart pole dancing in the club fill in the gaps in our perception, acting as substitutes for the scenes that we never see between Nathalie and Gerard. It is words and not images that drive this film; something that initially may seem anti-cinematic is however selfreflexive, because the film finally reveals the absent image as the vital aspect of cinematic truth.

As the film progresses it becomes apparent that Catherine has become dependant upon Nathalie as she begins to rediscover her dormant sexuality. For her part Beart begins to enjoy the power she exercises over Ardant, even so far as persuading her to rent an apartment for her. Their power struggle, and the class implications that underlie it, are particularly apparent in the scene in which Nathalie turns up unexpectedly at the surgery where Ardant works and is clearly uncomfortable in that unfamiliar mise-enscene. Ardant now takes control of the situation, assuming her position of social authority as she might in a doctor/patient interview. However the antithetical relationship between the two women slowly gives way to a kind of perverse friendship, so that Ardant even takes Nathalie to stay the night at her mothers, and underneath all of this there is a never fulfilled suggestion of sexual attraction between them complicating matters further.

The casting is very shrewd and indeed much of the enjoyment of the film comes from seeing two generations of beautiful French actresses fighting over Gerard Depardieu who, to put it bluntly, is not the most endearing of men. Depardieu has played this kind of clueless husband before and so his absence from the screen for much of the film, though surprising given his status as an actor, can be forgiven as it shifts the focus onto the complex relationship between the two women. Ardant is as big a star as ever and holds the screen with great confidence, but just like her character she has lost some of her charm to the youthful threat of Emmanuelle Beart who gives an incredibly vivid and erotic portrayal of Nathalie. But Beart is not just a pretty face, she is a highly insightful actress and here, as in all of her best roles, you can see her thinking her way into her character with great intelligence.

Nathalie is released by Momentum Pictures on 31st January.

Dean Bowman

Extra features

S

Street Fighter Trilogy

hinichi ‘Sonny’ Chiba is best known in the West for his role in Kill Bill: Volume 1 as the master sword maker Hattori Hanzo. Quentin Tarantino has constantly praised him and references him in his films. Q.T. has even gone as far to say that Chiba is “the greatest actor to ever work in martial arts films.” With such high status bestowed upon him,Western audiences finally get to see the films that made Chiba a martial arts legend in the East: The Street Fighter Trilogy.

Chiba stars in these ultra violent films as the sadistic/psychotic anti-hero Takuma Tsurugi. To call him a bastard is being kind. Tsurugi is an amoral contract killer who switches between working for the Mafia and killing them, depending on whether he has been paid or double-crossed. To further cement his villainous traits, he normally wears all black and his few friends normally wind up dead. He acts as bad, if not as worse, as his Mafia bosses and at times it is difficult to decide who you should be rooting for; if anybody. The reason for this anti-social and violent behaviour? As a child in Hong Kong, he saw his father publicly executed for being a spy. Before his death, his father tells him not to trust anyone and to develop his mind and body to look after, him at any cost.

Whilst watching these films, it is difficult not to compare Chiba to Bruce Lee. Whereas Lee’s characters would use violence as a last resort, Tsurugi is normally the first to start fighting. Lee

fights in a graceful, almost ballet-like, way that showcases his phenomenal athletic prowess. Chiba’s style of fighting is far more straightforward; brutally basic punches and kicks or just ripping out body parts. Whilst both actors are charismatic and carry their films, I would rather stick to the Lee films because of the lack of over-the-top violence and better choreography. The other main problem with the fight sequences from The Street Fighter Trilogy is that they are all nearly identical. Whilst I am not expecting all the fights to be different, they do lack the innovation that Jackie Chan incorporates in his films or the inventive and tight choreography of the Jet Li films.

As with other films in the action and martial arts genre, the narratives provide the backbone for the fight sequences and little else. The Street Fighter has the simplest but most violent narrative. Return of the Street Fighter’s narrative immediately follows up the previous film and effectively uses flashbacks and returning characters, but muddles them in an overly complicated plot. Finally, The Street Fighter’s Last Revenge has the best narrative with developed characters, a concise and suspenseful build-up, and less ultra violence. I believe that the last film is the best in the trilogy because of these features.

To say that I am disappointed with this trilogy is an understatement.

Tarantino has long been hyping these films as classics but I feel that he has

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ed by Maxim Alexandre’s delicate but edgy outdoor photography, a plain echo of the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre’s smudged sunset and moonlit woodlands.

Also, like Hooper’s Texas Chainsaw and quite unlike Marcus Nispel’s recent remake (and most other recent slashers), Switchblade Romance has a good line in naturalistic dialogue and convincing character emotion, making the girls’ ordeal a truly affecting one. Both the main actors give remarkable performances: de France tenacious and desperately brutal in her pursuit, Maiwenn (as Alex) a writhing face of fear and panic. On the evil side, Philippe Nahon lumbers and axes his way around with formidable foulness, and is also responsible for a couple of revolting gags that Sam Raimi would have been proud to put in The Evil Dead.

A shame then, about the ending. Aja and his co-scriptwriter Gregory Levasseur have (since the cinema release) drawn attention to things in the film that support their last-minute twist, but there are just as many things that don’t, and even if it can all be explained as a character’s projected reality, then it’s not a convincing projection. The psychodramatic elements don’t sit right with cleverly planned plot details, and both credibility and shock-value suffer as a result. If the film’s spectacularly wrong turn runs it into trouble though, the consequences are hardly fatal; Switchblade Romance is as vigorously gory and relentlessly scary a slasher as any in recent memory.

Switchblade Romance is released by Optimum on the 31st January.

overly praised them. Sonny Chiba plays the role of Tsurugi effectively but the character has no redeeming features. For those of you who like ultra violence and are huge QT fans, these films will suffice for a night in with plenty of beer. However, all others should steer clear of these and stick to other martial arts films.

The Street Fighter DVD Boxset will be released uncut by Optimum on January 24th.

Mark Simpson

26.01.05

16 Arts

Theatre Review Noël Coward’s Relative

Values is reviewed at the Maddermarket

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igel, Earl of Marshwood (Trevor Markworth), is set to bring home his actress fiancée, Miranda Frayle (Dawn Brindle), so that she can meet Nigel’s mother Felicity (Judi Daykin). The residents of Marshwood village are slightly more enthusiastic about the arrival of the famous actress than the inhabitants of Marshwood Hall, going as far as to hide girl guides in the shrubbery. Felicity and her compliment of house staff and friends have all decided that the actress is bound to be common and vulgar. She is practically American after all! However, Moxie (Sally Dixon), personal maid to Felicity, has good reason to object to the intended marriage as Miranda’s estranged sister she knows the less charming aspects of her personality.

Relative Values is one of Noël Coward’s lesser known plays and with good reason. The dialogue can be side-splittingly funny but occasionally misses the mark. However, the text has been handled well by most of the cast, and bitingly funny lines were delivered with poise and excellent timing. The casting of Crestwell the butler was wonderful. Actor Matthew Pinkerton was a credit to the acid wit and intelligence of Coward, seeming to completely understand the function and personality of his character. Nigel was also very good, and it was a pity that he only appeared in half of the play. His dry and horsy character was refreshing, contrasting well with the sarcastic, playful humour of Felicity. Director Judi Daykin was an unexpected and slightly unprepared stand-in for the leading lady. Although she coped well with the challenge of a very wordy script and difficult character, there were times when she lacked believability.

On the surface the play claims to be about social equality. However the action is more concerned with matriarchy and the differences between English aristocrats and American celebrities. The over the top Americaness, of Miranda Frayle and her lover Don Lucas (Evan Ryder), was bound to lose out to quintessential Kentish charm most notably provided by Crestwell and The Hon. Peter Ingleton (Hugh Roberts). The audience are encouraged to laugh at the Americans rather than with them and did so heartily.

However, there were brilliant one-liners that were thrown away, either due to nerves or poor blocking. The best laughs to be had were provided by the working class characters and the formidable mother figure. Sometimes the action dwelt too long on these characters and the momentum lost pace, which was a shame, considering how good the majority of the performance was.

Relative Values will run at the Madder Market Theatre until the 29th of January 2005 and is well worth seeing.

Martha Hammond & Kim Howe

26.01.05

Book Reviews

P

Pretext 10 – On The Market

Serial Television

S

retext is an anthology that samples experienced writers alongside debutants, combining poetry and fiction with literary criticism. An anthology from Pen & Inc Press is usually an innovative and enjoyable read, and this book proves no exception. Featured writers have only a few brief pages with which to stamp a lasting impression upon their readers, and they utilise this space admirably. The opening short story, How I Died by William Luvas, is a thoughtprovoking and wellexecuted tale, providing a highly appropriate introduction to the competent work of his fellow writers.

erial Television, by Glen Creeber, is packed full of interesting facts and history about some of the most celebrated serials of our time. Its theme is the claim that the soap opera has evolved into something magnificent. Serials are now in the form where viewers can just dip in and out of them: just watch individual episodes and still be able to follow the narrative and lives of the characters. The question is whether this affects the integrity of the narratives. Serial Television examines and provides detailed information about specific series such as The Sopranos and Sex and The City, along with more general information about serials and soap operas. The book is very informative and reads very much like a student textbook, however this is not just for students. Serial Television is a must read for anybody with an interest in television drama.

The anthology is crammed with concise and colourful imagery, intriguing arguments, and diverse subject matter. It is fantastic if your concentration span has been shattered due to a New Year’s Resolutions spurt of overuse – before your poor beleaguered mind can start creeping off in other directions, it’s awarded a brand new voice, style and topic to distract and engage it once again!

Niki Brown Gabrielle Barnes

Pretext is available from £7.99 (Pen and Inc.)

Serial Television is available from £15.99 (bfi Publishing)

Susan Vittary goes into the future with Robophobia by Richard Evans

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h a t happens when robots are designed to appear, think, and even feel in such a similar manner to humans that you can no longer tell the difference?

Even worse, what happens if you are not sure which race you belong to, or you think

you are sure and then learn otherwise? It is this dilemma that binds Evans’s futuristic thriller, and that gives it its (only) interest, although its importance is not fully realised until the second half of the book. In order to get there you have to plough through a slow first half in which there is not only one inciting incident to set the plot in action, but three almost identical ones. They are all described in detail and hence become somewhat predictable by the time you get to the third. Not only this but the futuristic setting is poorly imagined (except for the odd ‘palm top’ com-

puter there is little difference from the year 2005 … apart from the existence of a handful of near-human androids, of course. Worst of all, the book as a whole is over-written and every sentence strains for effect, with the net result that none of them achieves very much.

As already said, the sci-fi interest picks up in the second half (as does the romance, if android love is your thing) and the structure is cleverly worked out.

Robophobia is available from £7.99 from Figo Books

Exhibition Review Emily Hamblin reviews Ready to Shoot at Norwich Gallery

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nside Norwich Gallery black and white videos are playing on repeat. Muffled German drifts around the room and the screens show various unpredictable things: a man drawing chalk circles on a wall, another sloshing a bucket of water on the ground, a pair of hands pressing against an apparently invisible object.

This is a retrospective of the co-operative projects of Gerry Schum, a film-maker and gallery owner who made a significant contribution to conceptual video art during the 1960s and 70s. He was interested in new ways of producing art that could not be bought or carried home, and wanted to democratise the reception of art by broadcasting it on television.

The exhibition could do with a simple description of Schum and his projects for the benefit of those of us who weren’t around in 1970 and are unfamiliar with the man, the artform and the social context. Without one, it is inaccessible to much of the general public, who may be interested in art, but don’t necessarily know their van Elk from their elbow. For example, you might stare at John Baldessari’s thirty-minute video of a pair of hands folding and unfolding a hat, waiting for some sudden clarity. Nothing happens. You search for a paragraph of explanation but there are only names, dates and technicalities. You squirm, wondering if your blank expression betrays you as one too stupid to understand this brand

of art, too much of a philistine to grasp its inner meaning or meaninglessness.

Eventually you move on, baffled and slightly resentful. This sense of alienation could be prevented by a brief outline of why Schum was important and what this art aimed to achieve. Even if you don’t “get it”, there is no reason why you should not like this exhibition.

There are several pieces that are simply enjoyable to look at.

The sombre photographs of Keith Arnatt’s

Self Burial that flashed up on German TV screens in 1969, interrupting normal programming, are deliciously creepy. And the footballer-like face of Gino de Dominicis, who stared at a camera in order to immortalise himself, will make you chuckle.

Ready to Shoot: Fernsehgalerie Gerry Schum/videogalerie schum at Norwich Gallery, St George Street will run until 26th Feb.

Keith Arnatt, TV Project: Self Burial

TV/Digital 17

TV Preview: Shameless

TV DVD:

Everybody Loves Raymond

Tuesdays, 10pm, Channel 4

A

straw poll in The Event office reveals that this raucous comedy-drama is about as popular as Prince Harry at a synagogue, but Shameless is undoubtedly a taste worth acquiring. The first series of Paul Abbott’s comedy about the dysfunctional inhabitants of Manchester’s Chatsworth Estate was smothered with critical superlatives, and last month’s Christmas Special deftly captured the spirit of the season in the sight of an inebriated man passing out and wetting himself in a crisp pile of snow.

This was by way of introduction to Frank Gallagher, reluctant patriarch and walking definition of the word “feckless”. Amid the protests of eldest daughter and surrogate head-of-household Fiona, Frank leaves his crowd of kids (eight and counting) to fend for themselves with all the resourcefulness

they can manage – which, as it turns out, is quite a lot.

So, while Fiona is preoccupied with her too-good-to-be-true boyfriend Steve, fifteen year-old Ian is having a gay affair with his married shop-keeper boss Kash, Lip is living up to his reputation as a mouthy know-all, and little Debbie is out stealing children. That’s not counting newlywed neighbours Kev and Veronica, agoraphobic S&M fetishist Sheila, Veronica’s arsonist brother Marty, a host of corrupt cops and just a few concerned members of social services…

It might sound like a soap of the most preposterous proportions but in Paul Abbott, Shameless has one of the few dramatists who can write hysteria with genuine passion – and still claim it to be at least semi-autobiographical.

Buzzing with invention, the series juggles its enormous cast with ease, giving

Everybody Loves Raymond, Series 1 Released: Jan 17th

“Cheese!” affectionate screen-time to each and every character, and developing its labyrinthine plot through episodes that stand alone as complete stories. This is kitchen sink drama for the frenetic noughties, and it’s not too late to catch up.

Although it’s a firm favourite of US audiences, Everybody Loves Raymond doesn’t seem to be tickling that many funny bones this side of the Atlantic. Hopefully the release of its first series on DVD will drum up enough interest for the British comedy fans to discover that it’s actually quite good. Admitedly, this isn’t the highest praise a sitcom could be afforded but it was exactly the ridiculously high praise that accompanied Everybody Loves Raymond when it first hit our screens that

Sarah Edward

Soap News: Hollyoaks and Neighbours Everybody’s getting a bit hot under the collar this fortnight in soapland! Sky and Lana, Jack and Izzy, Max and Sophie...whew!

I

n Australia this fortnight things are getting interesting. There’s more heartbreak in store for Toady as Stuart declares his true feelings for Sindi. Hurt by the deceit of his former best friend Toady agrees to represent Travis in court, claiming that Stuart used ‘unnecessary’ force when arresting him. Across the street in the Bishop household Sky’s confusion over her feelings for Lana come to a head and she kisses her

Andy Pandy

friend. However this is not the beginning of a happy ending as Sky later claims that the kiss was a mistake. Boyd, needless to say, is unhappy about the kiss and finishes with Sky, unable to accept her apologies.

It’s been an emotional couple of weeks for ‘lovebirds’ Izzy and Karl. The drama of his marriage proposal, a near drowning and Izzy’s fall and subsequent miscarriage have left them shocked and devastated, but in the true tradition of soap there’s more upset in store for the turbulent couple. Unable to discuss their problems they both find solace in their past. Karl takes to the bottle, resorting to binge drinking and sleeping in his car (we’ve all been there!), whilst Izzy kisses ex-fling, Jack Scully on a crowded dance floor- nothing like privacy is there?

Love is in the air in Hollyoaks village this week, as Max and O.B. attempt to romance the twins Mel and Sophie.

Things look bad for the unlucky boys as both dates prove disastrous, but there’s light at the end of the tunnel when Max and Sophie later hit it off. Unfortunately, Max seems to be a little bit confused about which twin it is that he’s kissing.

Unlucky!

Things are going from bad to worse for Lisa. Not only has she fallen for her dead brother’s already attached best friend, but she now has the problem of intrepid reporter Zara, who is threatening to expose her and Jake’s affair.

Other Chester residents are also feeling desperate as Joe is attacked. He refuses to contact the police, despite pleas from family and friends, rousing Danni’s suspicions and provoking her to start a manhunt. In the university residences, Bella’s past is unveiled and her flatmates are left wondering where she has disappeared to.

made it such a disappointment. It might not be to everyone’s taste, but fans of US comedy should certainly try to catch it on the box before dismissing it entirely. The DVD has a pleasing array of special features including an episode commentary

by Ray Romano and his appearance on The David Letterman Show, but none of it will mean very much unless you’re a fan.

Nonetheless it’s worth a peek.

Martha Hammond and Kim Howe

Kate Bryant

Raymond and his adoring family

Digital Stuff: The Nintendo DS and Sony PSP Small but perfectly formed handheld fun from Nintendo and Sony...

W

ith the European release dates of the Nintendo DS (Dual Screen) and the Sony PSP (PlayStation Portable) drawing closer, European gamers wonder if they will be worth the wait. Both Sony and Nintendo claim their handheld will be the next big thing in the world of video games.

However, what do these new handhelds have to offer in the near future, and what makes them deserve the attention they already have?

The Nintendo DS includes many innovative ideas that have never been implemented before. These features

range from two playing screens on the same machine, one being a touch screen (that can also be used to display game maps), embedded microphone for voice recognition and wireless communication between machines, enabling the sending of data from one DS to another. With all this, the DS will certainly be the most interactive console of the two next-gen handhelds.The chief criticism of Nintendo has been that this innovation seems more like a gimmick to sell more units rather than being something original that is likely to become the next standard. Good news for Game Boy Advance players however: Even though the DS will be

using DS game cards, it will have an extra slot enabling backward compatibility for GBA games. Battery life is stated to last for circa 10 hours.

Sony on the other hand focuses more on the multimedia side of things.

The PSP will include a USB2 port, a Memory stick slot enabling abilities such as playing mp3s and MPEG-4 format video files. Save files will be saved onto the memory stick. With the PSP, Sony also intend on releasing the UMD (Universal Media Disc), an optical disc that can hold up to 1.8 gigabyte of data.

In practical terms, this would mean approximately as much data as 2 hours of DVD quality video. Not only will

games be available for PSP, but also UMD versions of films.

Graphics wise, the PSP is superior to the DS as they resemble that of PlayStation 2 rather than the N64.

This is also why the battery life is so short, at 90 minutes to 8 hours depending on how one uses the system. (i.e. some games use more process power than others).

Jassim Happa

26.01.05

18 Listings

Listings Film

Hellboy Friday 28th January Inside I'm Dancing Thursday 3rd February I, Robot Friday 4th February

Cinema Releases Friday 28th January

George who? In Ocean’s Twelve

Assault on Precinct 13 Creep Meet The Fockers Sideways

Cinema City@The Playhouse

Friday 4th February

Vera Drake Wednesday 26th January-Thursday 27th January My House in Umbria Wednesday 26th January-Thursday 27th January

The Killers, appearing at The LCR on Monday 31st January

Engie Benjy Makes Things Better Sunday 6th February

Oceans Twelve Racing Stripes

The Nutcracker & La Bayadere Monday 7th-Saturday 12th February

UEA LCR

Playhouse

Music

Lee Mack Saturday 29th January

Coffee and Cigarettes Sunday 30th - Monday 31st January

The Killers Monday 31st January

Merchant of Venice Sunday 30th - Monday 31st January

Killer Queen Friday 4th February

Lawrence Fishburne in Assault on Precinct 13, released on Friday 28th January

Punt & Dennis Friday 4th February

Mondovino Sunday 6th-Monday 7th February

The Waterfront

Mother Earth Saturday 5th February

Squit In The City 2 Saturday 5th February

KT Tunstall Monday 7th February

Tony Robinson Wednesday 9th February

Preston Reed Wednesday 9th February

Maddermarket

Napoleon Dynamite Sunday 6th-Monday 7th February Motorcycle Diaries Sunday 6th-Monday 7th February:

Union Films Open Water Thursday 27th January

Skinnyman/Blade Thursday 3rd February

Norwich Arts Centre Jesse Malin Thursday 27th January Ghostride Monday 31st January

The Boyfriend Wednesday 2nd-Thursday 3rd February

Arts Assembly Rooms

Relative Values Thursday 20th to Friday 29th January Tom Jones Thursday 3rd-Saturday 5th February

Come Latin Dancing Saturday 5th February

Theatre Royal Jesus Christ Superstar Monday 24th-Saturday 29th January Shakespeare 4 Kidz Macbeth Monday 31st January Shakespeare 4 Kidz The Tempest Tuesday 1st February Jethro Thursday 3rd-Friday 4th February The Meat Loaf Story Saturday 5th February

26.01.04

Tony Robinson appearing at The Playhouse on Wednesday 9th February

Creative Writing The Tragic History Of Kenny (continuation)

You, of course, are a rose-But were always a rose.

The sun shone over a strange day Whilst Kenny worked, his crops to yield.

A raven black like death in May, Reached wings flapping, Kenny's field.

Apples To my memory you'll still taste of apples Eyes, pale grey in life, will still flower As gloaming descends on your dark hair dappling the light there (please, memory, don't sour - ) I want to lie with your willow strong body Take shelter again in your yellow limbs You stole the gold shades of summer embodied in that reckless laugh (no, no, please don't dim - ) With rough hands grief's ache breaches my breastbone Nights we set in motion with hips and sweat I shatter and spill water like a seashell Stamped upon even as I cradle close our child. Leaning in to kiss and to babble I breathe baby's skin and the scent of apples - jesse kuiken

All cawing with a clacking beak, To Kenny ours he told a tale.

"In castle Black in mountain's peak A dame imprisoned sobs and wails.

At this our Kenny gaped in awe And taken was by disbelief.

"How could I rise to fight and go When swordless is my leather sheath And when I have no armour bright, No horse to ride, know not the road, And said in short I'm not a knight?"

At this the raven laughed or cawed.

- Andrea "He Knows!" Tallarita

I write without conviction breaking the silence by copying notes repeating quotes that have been said a thousand times before interrupted by a knock on the door distracted by anything and everything i look out of the window a lone shadow falls as the sky clouds over the sun disappears and everything loses clarity the last request for respect and social parity lost in outside thoughts this time i'm in a coastal paradise feeling that i just missed the boat asking 'What if?' but suddenly realising why unfulfilled childhood dreams and the pie in the sky

No Time Like Now (a happy one) The group sit.

They sit and as they sit they chat, And as they chat the world goes by.

Life goes on and on, The sun hangs heavy in the sky.

They have no cares, they have no fears, No work, no pain, no thought of tears.

'Cause now they sit, And now they lie, And conversation passes by, And grass is green, And care they not.

- Jack Robson

"Poetry E" Poetrymeaning condensed to fit elegantly within parameters designed to give a maximum effect, convey a profound erudition, enable the reader to better envision a concept, while being art, and essentially aesthetic.

- Dan "You best believe I've drawn the flush!" Magee

Don’t despair of the way we’ve become.

You must always be giving your most To the future, my dear, it will come!

Angels don't deserve to cry, And Truth should never fear, But Devils teach them how to lie And smile through every tear.

Let us dance to the beat of the drum, And with rhythm and rhyme we will boast There will always be this hymn to hum!

- Jim “It’s All Organic” Conway Time, Rhyme and Him Oh, there is just too much of you to love; Though time stands still, there's still not time enough To render you in prose or rhythmic rhyme So I've taken to filling fleeting time With tracing all your outlines with my lips, Defining them with questing fingertips, Sculpting your form in flesh with sweet soft sighs.

What written words better suggest your eyes, Shining with shades of sea-glass in the sun (Will their lustre fade, their colours run If taken from the sea?) than kisses pressed Against their smiling lids? No words expressed The curved red crescent of your mouth so well As kissing it. No songs or sonnets tell A tenth of what unspoken words may say Of all the joy you give me, every day.

Had we but time, I'd try to intersperse My constant kisses with some clever verse Detailing all your virtues one by one, Throwing in a jibe or two for fun.

But the long night is fading, comes the day When I'll have too much time in which to say Exactly what I'll miss when we're apart.

Ignore the seconds ticked out by your heart, Let time stand still; there's still not time enough For there is just too much of you to love.

Night Musings I dreamed of dark, intense despair which walks through halls of cool, clear light.

For what is worst will often wear the mask of what is right.

And those who offer sweet respite from that which walks the halls of night themselves must suffer from the pain of hope that cannot be regained.

And so I sleep, and so I dream...

And things are not what they would seem.

You live your life from day to day with love and laughter, hope and light.

Remember those of us, I pray, who live our lives from night to night.

- Anon “who?” Scribe

- Annie Ukleja

For they are young: the sun is hot.

i think i've just lost my appetite - Bob Follop

Angels

You can point the past back with your thumb, Put your fist on the present and toast To the future my dear it will come!

- Lucy “Stade Court” Rhodes. There will always be this hymn to hum.

She must be rescued by a knight Perforce, and within dying time.

If by this fall Black's arms still tight Around her are, then done's the crime."

Lost Conviction

To the future, my dear, it will come!

And they’ll always be futures to toast, There will always be this hymn to hum!

If the past has now poisoned you dumb And your words are as thin as a ghost - Robert Frost There will always be this hymn to hum.

So let us now in silence mourn The death of Happiness, 'Till Pity steals my empty soul My smile remains lifeless.

A noble princess, like a quarry Was imprisoned by King Black.

She'll be forced this brute to marry Unless at home she's rescued back.

To The Future My Dear - It Will Come!

Let us fix it with whisky and rum While we praise that the present’s our host – To the future, my dear, it will come!

In Association with d i t t o / Send contributions to: concrete.event@uea.ac.uk and/or concrete.turf@uea.ac.uk

Creative Writing 19

TSUNAMI

haikus...

The danger is real

Turn down the volume Of these murky drowning screams, Whose voices are silenced by a single shiver.

One touch and pain is certain.

Don't touch plug socket.

The bitter blood splatters the sodden wood, Scarring the tissues of both Nature's fleshes; Warm and cold.

Beautiful silence.

Not a flicker of movement.

Computer has crashed

- Naked "Art is simple" Matt - Luke Owen

The face of the Asian sea, So deceptive, so destructive; An untrustworthy beauty

Chasing the big bus

That sweeps you off your feet.

It's the park and ride

Ah, slow yourself, my darling

- Iman Sid

She sings in his ear, He laughs as he says to her

- Zoë Neville-Smith

Be quiet my love.

- Alex Mew

The Rose Family The rose is a rose, And was always a rose.

But the theory now goes That the apple's a rose, And the pear is, and so's The plum, I suppose.

The dear only know What will next prove a rose.

Melancholia

Chased by memories

Is like despondency but

Hidden from the conscious mind.

Lacks its sense of hope.

There you were, lost; found.

- Percival Mcwerter

- Alan 'Catch a Wiff" Ashton-Smith

26.01.05