The event- issue 101- 22 September 1999

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how to be ... an it - girl

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punk: the story of the sell out

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small talk: cay

ocru~o~DuuB 06 07

08 10 10 11 12

blair witch project the story behind the hype corduroy: the return of the loose fit brigade battle droids: the event speaks to their master keep on moving: those tricky band line up changes

art restaurants: an over cooked phenomenon? war films: the evolution of big screen combat hollywood heights: who will be the superstars of the future?

14 _music: supergrass, gomez, the llama farmers, bowie, chemical brothers, everything but the girl, iggy pop, idlewild, clinton

15 16

film: drop dead gorgeous, a midsummer night's dream, tarzan previewed arts: iain banks, alex garland, norwich arts preview

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food: the ha! ha! bar & canteen

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video: the simpsons, fear and loathing, mercury rising, american independence competition

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television: mark thomas, the hip hop years, disclosure, second world war in colour cinema: your guide to whats on the big screen

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listings: the comprehensive guide to all that's happening in norwich over the next two weeks ;JC"::(O J'

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editor-in-chief: james tapsfield editor: Iuke turner arts editor: alex mcgregor music editor: darcy hurford screen editor: adam chapman dtp: Iuke turner dtp assistant: mark edwards contributing writers: martin brock, katy o'flynn , stuart dredge, andrew goodson , caroline jeater, caesar bazlinton, paul miller, mark edwards, alexander house thanks to: stuart the muse man, spud, clare, the fiihrer, m.gauffan

;JCffl©@~, the event is produced fortnightly by concrete: po box 410, norwlch, nr4 7tb tel: 01603 250558 fax : 01603 506822 e-mall: su.concrete@uea.ac.uk and printed by: eastern counties newspapers, rouen road , norwlch nr11rb

THE EVENT, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1999

WIN!. WIN! WIN! We all know that at the beginning of the year you'll all be spending lots of money on !important things like joining societies and booze, so we've got hold of a special promo copy of Gomez' new album Liquid Skin to give away. As well as that you'll get a copy of forthcoming not-yet-In-the-shops s1ngle Rythm & Blues Alibi and a poster. Runners up will all get a very attractive Liquid Skin poster to adorn their walls. All you have to do to to win th is truly fantastic prize is answer the following question: What, exactly, is a 'Gomez'?

The funniest answer wins, entries in the Concrete competition box in the Hive.

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loose tal . - - - - - -- - -- -- -- -- -- --

chris evans: git

---, There are few people who can be genuinely called a comic genius, possessing a talent that can transcend the generation gap, and acid wit that extends into old age; they keep their bile when most of their contemporaries have opted for pipe and slippers respectability. Sadly it seems that now there are few such personalities left alive; Peter Cook was consumed by years of excess, as was Bill Hicks, one of the few American comics who managed to escape the cloying nature of 'right on' artistic politics to say exactly what he wanted, when he wanted. While these men have passed on, there is perhaps one remaining who can still summon up a mental energy that belies his years; who can still achieve a standard of comedy that many young pretenders cou ld only dream of.

That man is the legendary Spike Milligan , star of the Goon Show, the first comedy programme to truly challenge the accepted norms of what was funny. Sadly dear old Spike is probably soon going to pass on to that great improv club in the sky, so it was doubly refreshing to see him still on top form on Paul Merton's Room 101 series.

This brings me to my point.

One of Milligans cho1ces to be cons1gned to oblivion was that ch1rpy ginger chappy, Channel Four's Chris Evans, whose TFI series recently returned for yet another series. lt was on the subject of Chns Evans that Milligan showed that he still possessed the venom of his heyday, saying that he would

like to wish the former "an early death." Merton was uncharactenstically taken aback, suggesting that instead Spike could choose something n1ce, a pleasant birthday perhaps? Milligan compromised with "leprosy."

OK, you could argue that this is tasteless and offensive, but surely we must respect Mllligan for

down the lavvy at the first hmt of a (possibly rolled) tenner.

If only when Sp1ke Milligan lies on his deathbed we could take the l1fe force of Evans and plant it mto the body of the former. But these are dreams, my friends; mere dreams. We'll just have to take the leprosy.

Luke Turner

milligan wished evans an "early death" ... but compromised with "leprosy" attacking a person whose shows are symptomatic of the decline in television quality? When TFI Friday began back in 1995 Evans seemed to have an edge, attracting major list celebrities and high profile bands onto the show. Bu t he soon lost that spark, inviting those who were formerly targets of his rants such as Anthea Turner to sycophantic chats behind his autographed desks. Since then the show has fallen even further, as Evans ' ego has risen; guests now seem to be asked only about money, money and a bit more money, while the audience that fi ll the upstairs bar area whoop and woo at the most pathetic quip from their affable host.

Unlike his detractor Spike Milligan, Evans is now only concerned about whether or not he can make himself seem more important that his guests, who for some unknown reason seem content to kowtow to and giggle along to h1s witicisms.

Even bands who espouse credibi lity in interview are prepared to be persuaded by their record company to go and play in front of the sheep that make up Evans' studio audience. lt is truly a shame that wh1le creat1ve people of yesteryear have held onto credibi lity AND kept a high 'profile ' wh1le saps like Evans sell everything

the tickler: Here's a thing to T E H 0 U S E VEWWH E A F C R T A E E Y 0 R E R keep you amused, R U N G 0 H R L Y J I R U I find the words AFR I ENDSTAVOBD using the clues!

D R J R S Y I A N S E I S N The first person to USVVWHSOFKZTTE bring a completed CROOMWI THAV I EW copy of this most K E Q L B L K N Y V E V P 0 taxing of puzzles WDZYLUWZGQRASR to the Concrete ONMI POOCXPANCC office in Union REMFCARKNNOIAW House wins a T T I R T E L E V I S I 0 N promo copy of the H S L I Y J Q L E N N S N H new album by PAAEROTANIMRET Everything But The EXNELADREMMEC Girl.

1: 2: 3: 4: 5: 6: 7: 8: 9:

Beth Orton 's nicked on of these [3] Primal Scream album [9,5] EM Forster Novel [4,4,1,4] The road of lain Banks' novel. Caw. [4] She's still alive? Corrie character [ 4, 9] Who want's to be one? [11] He'll be back [10] Exterminate!, exterminate! [5] Tragic pop band put a foot into the charts (5] 10: AA Milne character who lost his tail.

[6]

11: Northern soap that smells of manure [9]

12: An experience enjoyed by Mary who?

[10]

13: Digital's the future of this medium [10]

14: 15: 16: 17:

Phil and Grant are these [10] Chummy American sitcom [7] Doctor Who 's form of transport [6] Island uncovered on 4 [5]

THE EVENT, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1999

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so you want to be an: DU

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lt- girls are a media sensation, apparently. would you like to be one? here's how ...

WHAT DO THEY DO? Um, not too sure about that one. Being an it-Girl is a taxing profession though. You need to be impossibly glamorous, have famous friends and boyfriends, be photographed constantly and, hardest of all, talk posh. ~=~---::s':"7'a ::::-""".:":'==~::--1

WHAT DO THEY WEAR? We're talking the 'classy tart' look here. Teeny little tops and short skirts by all means, but for God's sake buy them on Bond Street, or at least somewhere designer and posh. Top Shop will not do, girls.

An essential accessory though , is a double-barrelled surname.

Palmer - Tompkinson, Legge Bourke, you know the sort of thing

WHERE DO THEY GO? Straight into the gossip pages of The Telegraph and Harper's and Queen, daahling. And then into the rehab clinic, no sorry, only joking. That and parties on friends' yachts and exclusive gatherings in London that the Event is too plebeian to know about, we only have the LCR.

WHERE WILl THEY GO? Into marriage with an eligible young bachelor, one assumes.

Sooner or later, the it-Girl will fade into obscurity as journalists rea lise that being something - an actress, a musician , a model - is what gets you famous these days, as opposed to er, being wellconnected and doing precisely bugger all.

no punk was arguably the single most important cultural and musical movement of the past 20 years. but where did it all go wrong? darcy hurford investigates ... he term 'punk' used to be derogatory. The original meaning, according to Johnson's dictionary of 1805, was "a whore ; a common prostitute; a strumpet.· Now, I don't actually know what a 'strumpet' is, but it does sound fairly unfriendly. Charmingly, Johnson follows this with quotations from Shakespeare and Dryden . From then on it just got worse; Webster's Third International Dictionary (1961) gives umpteen meanings for 'punk'.

These included "someone or something worthless or inferior·, a "young inexperienced man , ruffian or gangster", a "youth used as a homosexual partner" or even a "young untrained circus elephant". Not a nice word, as you can see. Imagine how the poor elephant must have felt, being referred to as a 'punk' all the time like

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that.

But then PUNK happened! In an explosive reaction against lazy hippy ideals that had just allowed the world to get worse with no one bothering, 1976 and 1977 saw young people sticking safety pins through their noses, forming bands and getting unwise haircuts. They were misfits and they didn't care.

They were punks and they were cool. Because of this, you will find that young and spry dictionaries list punk as "loud rock music originating in the 70s", or a fan of that music.

But enough of dictionaries.

Dictionaries aren't punk, never have been, never will be. As someone says in Jon Savage's punk history, England's Dreaming; "The threat posed by earlier punk was that intelligent young working-class people would throw off the shackles of oppression! And step into history! · The Sex Pistols were THE punk band. They had the titles for one thing. Anarchy in the UK is a great idea for a title. And they did seem threatening to a

forget anything the 'pistols said about britain, forget any of the anger towards almighty institutions, it had all been a bit of a joke lot of people.

Then it all went off the rails with the death of Sid Vicious in February 1978, after the suspicious demise of his girlfriend Nancy. John Lydon left and formed PIL, and the 'Pistols were sunk. But they left an impeccable image behind them for the next two decades.

Then the Pistols did something unforgivable; they made a comeback. They played Finsbury Park in 1996 with Sid Vicious now replaced by Glen Matlock, who they'd originally thrown out for liking the Beatles. Apparently he didn't mind a bit these days. 'In it for the Money' was the slogan, and what an appropriate one it was. Forget anything the Pistols said about Britain in the Seventies, forget any of the anger they showed towards almighty institutions like the Royal Family (long before it became 'cool ' to do this), it had all been a bit of a cynical joke. The reason for reforming, Lydon claimed, was profit, and all the tie-in merchandise that followed in the wake of the In lt For The Money' tour (God Save The Queen mugs, bottles of Here's the Bollocks beer) did sort of indicate that was the case. Sincerity? You what?

When they did The Great Rock & Roll Swin~ they weren 't lying. For all that everyone goes on about the genuine punk ethic, the Sex Pistols were pretty much an invention of Malcolm Mclaren, the evil genius also responsible, we must remember, for Bow Wow Wow. Their short career was marked by clever marketing and promotional strategies; signing to Virgin in front of the press, customising the Queen's photo, and a series of quasi • Situationist slogans. "Be reasonable - demand the impossi ble", "Keep wa rm this winter - Make

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eroes? trouble" and "Only Anarchists are Pretty".

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ho actually benefited from punk? As an idea, it's inspired mi llions of bands ever since, from Mogwai to Nirvana, but it seems that the bands who made punk and the fans who listened to it didn't benefit quite as much as moguls like Mclaren, whose entire career ever since has been based on the fact that he managed the Sex Pistols. Similarly, the people who write great novels, screenplays or come up with fashion ideas seldom make as much money as the businesses that pick up on thei r ideas. Take hip-hop. Rapping, breakdancing and graffittiing were invented on the streets of black America, but how many of the original protagonists get any credit?

The reason this is so offensive is that punk introduced the whole idea of 路selling out". it depleted the relationship between label and act as one involving corruption, and it was the punk ethic that

1976 and 1977 saw young people sticking safety pins through their noses, forming bands and getting unwise haircuts led to the setting up of small indie labels, which 1n turn were essen tial to the development of music ever since. The Sex Pistols made themselves out to be protesting against things; against government, against other bands, against holidays in other peoples' misery, against everything really. And other punk bands were doing exactly the same thing, as you can tell by looking at Clash lyrics, among others. Although when punk started in the USA in the earlier seventies with bands like Talking Heads, Patti Smith Group and the Ramones, it had been more about artyness and self expression, it was a decidedly political animal when it hit Britain. This despite Malcolm Mcl aren's creative leanings as an ex-art school student who liked Dadaism, and his efforts to manufacture the 'Pistols as a group, to the extent of trying to keep the band going after Lydon had left in disgust.

On the other hand, maybe a Sex Pistols reunion would always be about being in it for the money. After all, back in the Seventies they made a point of not giving a toss about anything, so the myth was probably ripe for deflating.

They'd shown disrespect towards most things, so why not their own image? They certainly trashed their cool in style one glance at Lydon's oversized black and white checked ensemble told you that here was a man unafraid to look stupid.

Maybe that is the whole poi nt, that nothing lasts forever, and that nostalgia for the Sex Pistols is no more.ifvolutionary than nostalgia for Elvis or anyone else, because rock & roll is no longer a revolutionary movement for the young.

The whole punk ethiC itself is a bit dubious, m1nd you . The whole 'do it yourself, be a bit strangely dressed and ~ unconventional' idea has given rise to

people like Richard Branson , Janet Street Porter and the Offspring, none of whom were really that necessary. And they aren't exactly alternative either.

He may wear unwise jumpers and wedding dresses, but Richard Branson is st1ll your average tycoon.

Just because his label signed the Sex Pistols does not mean he is cool. Yet people talk about people like him as if they're some rad1cal development. Th1s is all punk 's fault. it's about time the word was reclaimed to its anginal negative use 1f you ask me.

Janet Street Porter - you're a STRUMPET!

WIN! WIN! WIN! SATELLITE

SEX PISTOLS

small talk: cay the event: where are you at the moment?

Tom (bass): Mark (drums) and I are here in London. The other two (Anet-vocalslgu itar, Nick-guitar)have gone to Spam, but we're on holiday m Lo ndon.

you 've been compared to hole quite a lot, haven 't you?

Yeah , we usually t1me interv1ews to see how long it takes for that question to come up. You're the fastest so far. thought I'd get it over and done wi~h ...

Yeah, well I can sort of see how, but it's quite lazy really. There's other bands that probably sound more like Hole. I think they 're a totally different scene. what other bands do you like?

We're all quite different, but there's stuff we share m common, like Sonic Youth. Mark likes more hardcore punk, whereas Nick prefers more jazz things. when do you go on tour?

We're go1ng 1n October [w1th Feeder). for about 15 dates. it's quite spread out, lots of gaps between dates. I th1nk Feeder must need a lot of rest. are you looking forward to it?

It'll be bnlilant. We've done two headline tours, one on our own and one with Muse, so It'll be n1ce just to be the support band again. what sort of fans do you have?

At gigs you get older people standing around at the back, and then you get the moshpit in the front and that tends to be, you know, 16 to 20s. Young punks. it's qu1te a good mixture, but you definitely get the energy from the younger ones down the front.

PAUL BURGESS AND ALAN PARKER

After reading all about punk and the evil concept known as 'selling out' why not participate yourself by entering our delightful competition to win a very nice hard back copy of Abstract Sounds Publishing's Satellite: Sex Pistols complete with fascinating colour photos, discography and information on all the key players in the Sex Pistols saga. Published on September 24 it normally costs 拢19.95, but you can have it for free upon answering this simple question: What was was Sid Viscious' girlfriends' surname?

Answers on a card in the Concrete competition box in the Hive.

have you met any other bands through touring?

Yes. So far we 've got on with all of them. Three Colours Red were great, unfortunately they're gone now, Muse were really nice, and there's a few bands in Camden we know from g1ggmg around, like Monkey Boy, we all get on really well. it"s a good crowd. are you pleased with the success you've had so far?

Yeah, it's been amaz1ng. Very fast. Perhaps we 've been thrust into things bands shouldn't even be thrust into. the public eye. But it hasn't done us any harm.

rex pJS.' 1

THE EVENT, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1999

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blair witch project has made cinematic history by being the most scary film ever, and all on a tiny budget, adam chapman asks whether it will live up to the hype doubt that it has been one of the most profitable, well on its way past the $130 million mark. You might think th is is small cl1ange considenng that the summers major disappointment (courtesy Mr Lucas and his ego) is predicted to gross close to $1

f there 's one th ing you can't 11ave escaped this summer 1t'll be the advan::e word on The Blair Witch Project. Whether it lives up to it's publiCity as one of the scanest mov1es ever made remams to be seen, though there is no

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• billion. Not so! Blair W1tch cost a mere £40,00 to make, thanks largely to the overdraft limits of the director's credit cards.

We, the audience, follow the progress of three film students making a documentary about the legendary Blair Witch said to haunt the Black Hills Forest. As they make the film they find themselves alone, lost and hunted. As the openmg minutes reveal, the three never returned and 1t wasn't unt1l a year later that their footage was found.

In order to achieve a mix of realism and genu1ne fear, writer-directors Dan1el Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez adopted a rather unorthodox approach to method act1ng. The three principals were left in the woods with little contact w1th the filmmakers who proceeded to track them through the wi lderness. As a result they had to stay 1n character for much of the time, as one of the stars Joshua Leonard expla1ns, "General frustration was as Important as the v1scera l fear, so in order to make the fi lm realistiC, we had to be in character even when nothmg was happenmg."

The cast were g1ven checkpoints w1th1n the woods where the directors gave them small amounts of food and dnnk as well as notes on their character and mot1vat1on, the effect be1ng that they were able to steer the actors 1n a part1cular d1rect1on while ma1ntain1ng a distance. Th1s created an atmosphere on the shoot whereby t11e actors were distanced from each other. Accord1ng to Heather Donahue. another of the stars, "We didn't get to know each other on the sl1oot, as crazy as that sounds ... they didn't get to know Heather Donahue. they got to know Heather, really amateunsh documentary filmmaker and paranoid camper. ..

In the meant1me the stars of the fi lm have graced the front cover of Time magazine and are currently do1ng the chat show circuit, busy publicising a film they made almost two yea rs ago. Both directors have recently s1gned a two year deal with Fox TV and Joshua Leonard has landed a much coveted role in a San Francisco based indie movie with none other than Robert DeNiro. While the previously

inhabitants of burkitsville, have found their small town beseiged by anoraks in search of the legendary blair witch unknown stars and directors have been thrown 1nto the l1mel1ght, the film has found widespread accla1m from all but a small minonty. Inhabitants of Burkitsvlile, Maryland, where the film IS set, have found their small town bes1eged by anoraks in search of the legendary Blair Witch (Fiction, people! it's a wonderful thmg!l ). Following ·mc1dents' such as the town s1gn bemg stolen and the graveyard bemg covered 1n graffiti, town authontles have become so hacked off with the unwanted attent1on that the local cmema has refused to screen the film, much to the amusement of the rest of the U.S .. The Bla1r W1tch phenomenon IS set to hit the UK on 29th October -JUSt 1n t1me for Halloween.

WELCOME TO ALL NEW UEA POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS This year's committee would like to extend a warm welcome t o you all We would also like to invite you to YOUR ICEBREAKER PARTY!!!

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 8th, 1999 ,. ICEBREAKER PARTY IN THE~ GRADUATE STUDENTS CLUB IN UNION HOUSE 7pm ONWARDS ,. LIVE MUSIC, CHEAP BEER, FREE BUFFET!!!~ MEMBERS AND REGISTERED POSTGRADS ONLY For future notice, every Friday there is a happy hour between 7·8pm, every Tuesday there is either a pub quiz or a pool t ournament and Fridays are the live music nights. Membership for the GSC is by application form, which is in your handbook or the forms can be obtained at the bar, postgraduate membership is free and there are some associate memberships available too at a cost of £3.

So we hope to see you over the coming weeks.

Jack, Stephen, Chris, Guido, Gareth THE EVENT, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1999 •

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corduroy were the acid jazz outfit that never made it, overhauled by the jamiroquai juggernaught. martin brock finds out where they've been ... o you remember being a kid in the Eighties? Knight Rider, My Uttle Pony and Uverpool as a decent football team. And as you ran around in the playground, what would have been covering your legs? Unless you had a penchant for leggings, it would probably have been corduroy trousers. I was no exception. I had a hideous light brown pair which became more and more ragged and patched until my Mum finally threw them out. I cut off the button in memory and still have it to this day. Now cords seem to be making a comeback thanks to Gap (think the advertisement with gorgeous models singing Donovan's Mellow Ye/low).

Coincidentally also on the return are acid-jazz fourpiece Corduroy. In 1994, Mini, from their album Out of Here, was getting daytime airplay on Radio One,

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phats & small owe everything to zoe ball then they just seemed to disappear. So, what happened?

"Unfortunately financing for our plugger stopped abruptly and inexplicably so he took a walk, the whole campaign fell down on its feet and ever since we've been labelled as 'The band who never made it'", lead singer Ben explains: "it took us two years to get out of our label Acid Jazz. The new album has ultimately been three years in the making. We put together a producer wish list and eventually we chose Rob Playford [Goldie) because we thought we'd get the most interesting results with him, and we're immensely happy with what he did. • For those of you not familiar with Corduroy's work, they were a bit like Jamiroquai, but more laid back, and, some would say, far better. Not anymore though. There is a wide diversity of sounds on the new album Clik!. Future High Street, for example, could easily be heard at Cream or Ministry of Sound: "That's one of the biggest departures for us and it's partly because it was originally intendeq as an advert for Sky Digital [the one with television sets gathering at the cliffs of Dover). Playford was asked to come up with a minute and a half jingle. He asked us to be involved so we put these lyrics and parts together and effectively that's the end result.

Unfortunately they used something else in the end so we stretched it into a seven minute monster."

The communication theme extends into the title of Corduroy's new single Moshi Moshi,

which apparently is "what the Japanese say when they pick up the phone. it technically means: 'Hello, I am ready to receive information.' I think that it could be a phrase which potel)tially could go all around the world.· If Corduroy seem to wish to spread their message over the world it's perhaps because they're rather disillusioned with the British charts: "The nature of the charts is that they're just spiralling ever inwards, it's rarer that even one track will be interesting.

They're full of people who've been placed there.

Phats and Small owe everything to Zoe Ball." This has created problems for Corduroy themselves, as Ben says: "Radio's kind of worried about us simply because we haven't had a hit, something which is always perceived as the act's fault. Without that sort of leg up, you don't get the airplay which means most people don't hear the best music. • He even feels that this problem could prevent the band touring, as "the label keep going on about radio and they don't want to tour unless there is some sort of tickle, as it were. it all sounds rather bleak but that's how every label is thinking now unless you're a band whose had some top five albums down the line" Do Corduroy not feel bitter towards the likes of Blur who don't bother touring, instead just playing oneoff gigs here and there? Apparently not, as Blur and Corduroy have a relationship that goes back a long way: "I've actually got a lot of respect for Blur because they asked us to play with them at Alexandra Palace with Supergrass and Pulp. The first incarnation of Blur [Seymour) did some shows with Boy's Wonder [former rock group of three Corduroy members], and Blur used a Corduroy track as an intro tape for a couple of years. I think they're coming to an end though, it's a vibe I pick up. I think they want to do different things to each other. it's the same with so many groups. You reach the stage when separating is the most refreshing thing that can happen to them.· This is perhaps less likely to happen to Corduroy than most bands, though as Ben's twin brother is in the band. I'm a twin as well so we chat for a while longer about that, then he's off. A thorough ly nice chap and with a cracking new album under his belt to boot. "lt'd be a crying shame if nothing happens with the album" says Ben and I can't help but agree. So, on October 4th, go out and get Clik! because as The Tamperer (probably not a Corduroy favourite) say: "If you buy this record, your life will be better."

Cof8Bor

on Sunday, October 3rd It's 1.30pm for £1.30 beers all day!

T e ood ews! A FREE funnel of Carling to the first 150 Freshers to ·ve mpress your new found friends with your drinking skills)

Th G t N ews •' 'Welcomt"toSIII\GT~G e rea It's a SHAGTAG party! s seen in I iz this sum

Welcomelo~HACTAG To:ll2 ~mm:lll

Messa~e: Take me to

To:lll Fmm:ll2 M""agt·: Alright tht>n

Top Tunes being mixed by Jazzy Jay and his crew An all day B.B.Q (Weather permitting) Carlin Rock : Labatts Ice Rolling Rock - Stella

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All at £1.30 All day long

mer Avenue, Norwich

------------Tel765512 -----------THE EVENT, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1999

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with the phantom menace still going strong in the cinema, stuart dredge chats to one of the film's lead computer animators

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adly, the evil Battle Droids in The Phantom Menace never swig Newky Brown, don't have beer bellies and certainly aren't seen sporting a pair of comedy rubber tits. Still, if they had done, it wouldn't have been that surprising: the man responsible for bringing them to the big screen is a Geordie born and bred.

Paul Kavanagh was brought up in his native Newcastle, and made a name for himself working in computer animation at various facilities around the UK. Three years ago, he swapped the grime of central London for the sun-kissed state of California , when he started work at Industrial Light and Magic (ILM). the post production and special effects facility that's closely affiliated with Lucasfilm. His first project? The new Star Wars movie.

Kavanagh was one of Phantom Menace's lead animators, working on cutting-edge computer animation software to create the Battle Droids - the movie's equivalent to the Stormtroopers in the

when you look at the movie, even i don't know sometimes what's real and what's not original trilogy.

The movie has come in for quite a kicking from certain critics, who think it contained too many special effects and not enough plot, decent dialogue and characterisation. Whatever your views on that, there's no doubt that the quality of the effects work in the film easily surpassed anything that had gone before, and the Droids have been praised far more than some of the other computer-generated (CG) characters - Jar Jar Sinks in particular.

Working on Phantom Menace meant Kavanagh got the chance to work closely with George Lucas himself, and he claims the experience was an inspiring one. "He's great to work with, because although he knows what he wants, he likes it when you're creative as well. You can come up with your own ideas, and if he li kes it, it'll go in to the movie."

According to Kavanagh, the process of creating the animation for the movie left a lot of room for creativity. The animators would be given a brief - to get a character from A to B, for example - but the way it looked would be up to them. it's a very personal thing. "'When you're animating, you've got your own idea on how the character would move," he says. "You're acting it out in you r head, and you put bits of yourself in the animation."

The resu lt is CG characters with bags of personality, and it's easy to understand how the film's animators felt close to their creations. Th us, although doing the Battle Droids was rewarding, it had its downside.

"My guys got shot and blown up loads, especially in the ground battle scene," he says. "I remember getting very upset in the planning meetings when every shot had them getting killed! " lt wasn't all bad. In some of the battle scenes, hand-to-hand combat between the

Droids and the Gunguns took place, giving Kavanagh the chance to create some animations where the droids kicked arse.

Apparently, if you look carefully during -~~'lf11'if' the battles, there are ,._ _.,... ..,__, some gruesome struggles involving droids and enormous mallets. Ouch.

So what about these criticisms that the special effects and CG animation ruin Phantom Menace as a film? Unsurprisingly, Kavanagh prefers to look on the bright side, praising the technical bri lliance behind the work done IJ."!a•• by his colleagues.

"When you look at the movie, even I don't know sometimes what's real and what's not," he says. "Then you've got the CG characters like Jar Jar and the Droids, which interact with live actors in a way that hasn't rea lly been done in this depth before."

With more than 2000 effects shots in the movie compared to the average of 400 for other films - it was always likely that Phantom Menace would anger film purists but enthral younger cinemagoers.

Kavanagh believes that special effects alone are never responsible for a film being deficient in other areas .

H

e uses The English Patient as an example.

Although few would label that film as an 'effects movie', in fact it used lots of digital manipulation.

The point is that it was backed up by good writing, acting and production. Okay, so you could criticise Phantom Menace for lacking all three - and many people have - but Kavanagh has a point. Perhaps the next Star Wars movie will be better.

With Phantom Menace having broken every single box office record all over the world, it's interesting to get an insider's view of the whole kaboodle.

Kavanagh didn't actually get to see the finished film until just before it went on general release in the US, but he says it was a thrilling experience .

K

M

c "During the making of the film, all I saw were my bits, without music, dialogue, or even real actors a lot of the time! When you actually see the finished product with all those bits mixed together, it's amazing. What made it even more special was seeing my shots on-screen, with the theatre packed out with people enjoying it."

This was a special s9reening for ILM employees only, but once the film came out, Kavanagh went to see it three times at his local cinema with "a real crowd". lt might sound like a strange thing to do, but then again, he's hardly likely to buy a pirate copy to watch it at home. Besides, the chance to hear what 'normal' people thought of it was impossible to resist. "All around you in the queue, people are talking about the fi lm, and they don't know that you worked on it, " he says. "You can't exactly jump in and tell them, so you just have to stand there listening to it!"

There's more. Kavanagh gleefully relates the tale of the man

sitting next to him at one showing. The two got talking, as you do, but it soon turned into a sticky situation. "He asked me what I did for a living,"

my guys got shot and blown up loads, especially in the ground battle scene

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remembers Kavanagh. Let me guess, you told him, and had to put up with him babbling nonsense at you for the rest of the movie, right? "Er, no, actually. I just couldn't face that, so I told him I was a plumber or something."

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some bands seem to change their personnel more often than they actually release records. katy o'flynn investigates this peculiar harlem shuffle ...

Chipperfield for a bit, then some bloke joined to keep Justin company, then Annie came back and Donna Matthews left, at least, I think that's what happened, and these days there's about six of them.

Whether this has made them better will probably not be revealed until their album comes out (it's due in January). lt certainly hasn't made them more prolific, seeing as the only thing they've released since their debut in 1995 is one measly, if good, EP. But at least Elastica are still together and functioning, which is more than can be said for those kings of !990s band changes, splits and 'difficult' second albums, our late friends the Stone

Roses.

The fact that it took them AVE BLOODY YEARS to do The Second Coming ought to have been an indication that something more than mere laziness

post - bernard suede are going downhill faster than a big red lahndan bus t happens in all wa lks of life. Governments have them and call them cabinet reshuffles.

Businesses deal them out to employees and call it streamlining the worl<force. Or sometimes they call it 'developing a new company image'.

And all our favouri te jolly pop groups do it too.

Whether you say someone is leaving a band due to 'musical differences' or 'an amicable split', it all comes down to the same thing, which is that something's gone a bit awry and we're in for a change of faces.

How did you feel when you heard that Bonehead had left Oasis? Be honest, you weren't that upset, were you.

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is this really the music we're going to enter a new millennium with? oasis and cast and ocean colour scene and travis and gomez?

Admittedly the man has a great nickname, but he was only the rhythm guitarist after all. And Guigsy?

Sad, but yes, he was but a bassist and hardly a major force on the good ship Oasis.

Losing two members is unlikely to change Oas1s much.

Noel Gallagher was widely quoted at the t1me as saying, "it's not exactly Paul McCartney leaving the Beatles", and basically, he's right.

Bonehead and Guigsy never wrote the music at all, let alone come up with anything the calibre of Helter Skelter or Eleanor Rigby, did they? Come to think of it, neither have the rest of the band.

Their leaving will make little difference, just like T'Jny McCarroll leaving a few years ago had precisely no effect on their sound.

To all intents and purposes, Oasis is Uam and Noel Gallagher plus backing musicians, in the same way that the Rolling Stones are Mick & Keef plus backing musicians.

The only other Stone whose name I can immediately call to mind is Bill Wyman, and that's only because he once married someone less than half his age, which isn't exactly a good reason, is it now?

So, anyway, despite all the media hype, a change in the Oasis line up isn't that important, and doesn't automatically mean they'll split.

Maybe we should be asking ourselves whether we actually care about Oasis any more. True, they have made some incredible records. Supersonic, Uve Forever and, oh go on then, Wonderwa/1 are amazing songs.

Definitely Maybe was the highlight of 1994. Honest.

But that's the point - that was 1994.

If you can think of any more recent Oasis releases that don't sound like antiquated Beatles-esque pub rock with an exaggerated Mane accent, then your ears must be a lot keener than mine.

I mean, is this really the music we're going to enter a new millennium with? Oasis and Cast and 0**** C***** S**** and Travis and Gomez? Armageddon sounds _quite exciting by comparison.

And at least it'll have its own tunes. nyway, back to bands and their line up changes. Sometimes they can be good things, like when Mani joined Primal Scream, helping them lose their greasy haired RAWK leanings and make them cool once more with Vanishing Point. And the Sneaker Pimps are a dam sight better now they've shed their original female singer and got another male one, and PJ Harvey did the reverse when she got rid of the blokes at the back and improved in the process.

Somet1mes though, parting company 1sn't a great idea for either side. Just look at Suede.

Once they had a God - like gu1tarist who wrote beautiful music and was quite nice - looking as well.

Then he left, went solo, and was replaced by a 17 year old, and things were never quite the same.

Bemard's career hasn't seen him enjoying the success he had when in Suede, and, despite the addition of Neil Codling, Suede are going downhill faster than a big red Lahndan bus.

And all because they replaced a God with a little Dick (sorry Richard).

Elastica seem to have had more line up changes than I've had haircuts recently.

Rrst Annie Holland left and they went to the circus to replace her with Sheila

A

was the problem.

That the album was dominated by the twiddly, Led Zepplin-like guitar of John Squire showed how the balance within the band had changed, and, soon enough, drummer Reni left, depriving the Roses of the only member who could hold a tune, to be shortly followed by Squire.

Replacements were brought in, but to no avail, and when Mani jumped ship to Primal Scream lan Brown ended up trying to play festivals with a band that had lost 75% of its original line up.

Needless to say, it didn't work, and so Brown gave up and turned into Monkey Man and started threatening flight stewards, which wasn't much of a path to success. Neither was John Squire's inspired plan of gathering a couple of buskers and getting them to be in a new band called the Seahorses, who wrote mediocre songs and had no chance of recaptunng the populanty of the Stone Roses. And one of them left too. Damn,eh?

I could go on, I could write about Take That and how Gary wrote the songs but now only Robbie has the h1ts, or Guns n' Roses and all their little disagreements, or even the disputes that once raged in the Kenickie camp.

But I haven't got the space, so just remember; if you 're in a band, watch your fellow members closely.

Or go solo. it's probably simpler.

what's the big fuss then?

He was a fey and melancholy type who managed to be cool even though he went to boarding school, was born in Burma and grew up in Warwickshire. In a short career he made some of the best fey and melancholy folk-type music to ever grace Our Lord's earth. And loads of people like Nick Drake. People like Michael Stipe, like Kurt Cobain. People like your dad and the local greengrocer too, no doubt. He's that good. A folk-classical blend may not sound that great, but believe me, this is the thing for late nights and romantic Sunday afternoons.

who did what?

As well as writing his material, the man Drake sang and strummed his guitar on his records, helped by such illustrious friends as Danny and Richard Thompson and John Cafe, also known as the talented one out of the Velvet Underground whose name wasn't Lou Reed.

sold a few records then?

Erm, no, not really. He was a bit of a cult figure, our Nick, which basically means that his records were only bought by a few in the know, while everyone else ignored them, until years later, when they realised their mistake and snapped them up at car boots or something.

which Is the best?

He only did three albums; Ftve leaves Left, Bryter Layter, and Pink Moon. They are all great. Buy them all. Alternatively, you could procure a copy of the compilation released this year on Island (see below).

he wasn't very happy, was he?

He had a depressive streak which got worse as time went on, until he refused to play live and became a virtual recluse. He had problems coping with record company pressure and settling in London. Eventually it all got too much and, tragically, he overdosed on anti depressants in November 197 4.

so what does the future hold?

This year saw the release of a compilation, Way to Blue, and a BBC documentary on Nick Drake, proof that his fame is growing with time, even if he can't appreciate it personally. His cult status can only grow.

In retrospect ...

"I never felt magic crazy as this ....•

THE EVENT, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1999

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in recent years art and food have come closer together with the opening of trendy Iondon restaurants adorned with works by the likes of damien hirst. but now the metaphorical souffle has collapsed , and a/ex mcgregor finds out why ood food and fine art have gone hand in hand together for as long as George Lucas has been mad. Actually, longer.

However the honeymoon, as it were, is drawing to an abrupt end, and divorce proceedings are being readied. lt seemed not so long ago that one could journey along to a top London restaurant such as Quo Vadis in Soho and munch upon the foody goodness suppl ied cou rtesy of "celebrity" chef Marco Pierre White while basking in the creative glow of Damien Hirst's art. The collaboration was much hyped a few short yea rs ago when using the phrase Cool Britannia was all the rage; it seemed that this melange of food and fancy painting was the perfect example of that most over used of Tony's terms.

However recently the whole th ing has gone the shape of a pear. Now Hirst wants to take back his

G

wo rk and sever his ties with the restaurant while Whi te prefers to focus his energies upon his new baby Titanic.

Part of the problem is the volatile personalities of

hopefully the damien hirst designed wine bottles won't be filled with formaldehyde and foetus. those involved. Both consider themselves genii and this has created some kind of ego pile up, or as Mil house Van Houten would say "they're like two positively charged ions" . Another reason for th e

restaurant's apparent downfall is that with the emphasis on art and personali ty someone along the line neglected to men tion the customer and their main reason for visiti ng a restaurant; namely: Food.

But this is to forget that the relationship between celebrity chef and celebri ty patron has always been one of backbiting, bitching and downright hatred.

For example, Marco Pierre White has trave lled th e same path before when he and none other than Michael Cai ne co llaborated on a restaurant call ed The Canteen. However White backed away when Michael Caine suggested putting fish and chips on the menu. That was not a joke.

Despite the fac t that any restau rant that aims for a high class clientele must supply fabulous surroundings for their customers to bask in , some believe that the whole restaurant come art gal lery idea has outstayed its we lcome. "Passe" on e leading critic called it, with a spark of creativity. But how true can this be? After all Antonio Carl uccio's Neal Street restaurant features Pop Art from the sixties, and The Ivy shows the work of older British artists such as Howard Hodgkin. Meanwhile Oliver Peyton 's Atlantic Bar and Grill has been exh ibiting work by contemporary artists such as, once again, Damien Hirst , who incidentally designed th e wine bottles - though hopefully they shouldn't be fil led with formaldehyde and foetu s.

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he con nections between these two mighty beasts of creativity do not end here . In Mayfair's Green Street restau rant, the former owner Orlando Campbel l revived the great tradition of offering food and wi ne in exchange for works of art. Campbell was following in the tradition of Europe's most famous art restaurant, the Colombe d'Or in the south of France. The Colombe ' is famed for both its art and its prices, wi th work by Pi casso and Matisse adorning the walls - legend has it they paid for their bill by bunging the owner the odd masterpiece.

Such a method of payment is of course unlikely to work for most of us, seeing as the open sewer that

THE EVENT, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1999

is the general public has about as much artistic talent as a diseased wa rth og, and the average punter's attempt at a still life is probably only going to earn them a tomato hurled by an irate restauranteur. At the very most. The hypothetical reverse scenario would be another matter entirely.

"So sir, how will you be paying the five million pound s you just bid at auction for th is unique Picasso?" "Well, I don't have any actual money but I did make you this nice lasagne." lt is still unknown whether this approach will work or not.

Of cou rse the art displayed for the enjoyment of the clientele does not necessarily have to come from the hands of a world renowned artist. Indeed owning a restaurant is a great means to indulge in a little light patronage; fo r exam ple, when actor and method man Robert De Niro opened his TriBeCa Bar and Gri ll he wasted li ttle to no ti me in displaying the work of his painter father, Bobby Senior.

This seems to be somewhat of a worrying scenario; do we face the prospect of the walls of the worlds' top eateries being adorned by the school time splodges of the owners toddler sprag? Brian Sewell wou ld have a field day.

The key question seems to be what matters the most? The food or the art?

In conclusion please indulge me as I allow myself to personalise this feature by only the tiniest degree.

The finest meal I ever did have was in the elegant Spanish town of Nerja, which is located on the Mediterranean coast. lt was a meal for five cooked by the part Spanish, part Hungarian, part Scottish chef Count Carlos McCwen. We ate on a candle lit tabl e on a balcony over looking the sea and all this for the low, low price of five pounds per person.

On the other hand the finest restaura nt I have ever dined in, in terms of its artistic opulence, is London's uber - trendy Quaglino's. Quaglino's is located about five minutes walk from the Ritz Hotel and greets its patrons with a staggeringly impressive sunken dinning area. The walls of this fine establishment are decorated with minimalist modernist art and strategically placed mirrors. This is the kind of restaurant where havi ng the surname McGregor can prove helpful when trying to obtain a reservation . Other such popu lar names to use include Cruise and Clooney. You get the picture. it is clearly a gorgeous restaurant but what about the food and the prices, 'eh? Well it is incredibly expensive , abou t forty fi ve pounds per head. With reference to the food it was all rather impressively titled and presented. But when it came to the duck which I had ordered all the glorious art surrounding me, the skyscraping prices , the superb presentation all became irrelevant as cack handed old me couldn 't get the hang of getting into the thing; much to the amusement of the cheeky young lady for whose meal I was paying.

When the two meals are compared the Spanish al fresco wins hands down; the flowing lines of the art of nature easily beating the hard , modern art of Quaglino's.

So perha ps at the end of the day the whole art restaurant co ncept is a bit of a cheeky wind up, already going off in the metaphorical freezer of concept eating. Let's keep the art in the galleries and the food in the restaurants and avoid a potentially nasty mess.

top: the atlantic bar and grill. right: damien hirst designed wine bottle

K M

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from being only slightly removed from glory mongering propoganda, the war film has now claimed a position as one of the most important genres of modern cinema, writes alexander house unday afternoons. Dull time really.

Nothing to do except wait for that roast dinner to be digested and read the umpteen sections of the Sunday Papers. And, of course, watch the obligatory Sunday Afternoon War Film.

Most of the films shown in the Sunday afternoon slot were made in the decades immediately following the Second World War, before the genre died out in the 1980's. Most of these films dealt , with heroics and British victories - you never really saw much devoted to the German conquest of ' Western Europe in the spring of 1940. The films never really showed the true gruesome horror of conflict; civilians were rarely in evidence, the destruction was exciting rather than horrific, with seemingly unmanned pieces of military hardware going up in choreographed explosions. If people were killed it was in a clinical, emotionless fashion; hit by a bullet they fell over and still had the time to mutter something profound about Bligtlty.

On top of all this the typical War film had as its key flaw the stereotyping of characters; you could guarantee there would always be an upper class officer, a cheeky cor blimey love a duck cockney sergeant, the farm boy who just wanted to go home to marry his school sweetheart and an invariably leather clad and ever so teenzy veenzy bit sadistic German officer. Then you always knew that any character who got married or engaged towards the beginning of the film would be dead by the end, and that somewhere along the line someone else would beg to be left behind to die a "hero's" death. "Leave me, I slow you down. • When Hollywood took over from Britain as the movie manufacturing capital of the world the emphasis

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changed, and gradually films about Britain's involvement in the war disappeared. In fact a new American controlled film is being made about the recovery of the code breaking Enigma machine, which was obtained by a British sub with a British crew. However the film has done away with any British involvement in the affair, replacing the British with a Yank sub and crew. Ap~arently Matthew McConnehey won the war.

However in the main the stiff upper lipped British war film has been replaced by Hollywood with the more American concern of that cock up in Vietnam.

This was when there occurred a profound change in

the way in which war was depicted at the cinema.

Through the burgeoning mass media the public became more and more aware of the suffering caused by war, and particularly the destruction and terror caused to the native Vietnamese by often brutal US tactics. The fact that America was not being territorially threatened in the war meant that

there would always be an upper class officer, a cheeky cor blimey cockney and an ever so teenzy veenzy bit sadistic german officer the government could not justify blanket censorship, and coupled with the press coverage there ~ew a sizeable anti war movement. However it would be erroneus to believe that it was really Vietnam itself which caused such outrage. True the method of fighting, namely search and destroy was somewhat ill advised but it was the fact that this was the first war fought on television that manifested such anti war sentiment. After all, if film cameras had been present at Gaudalcanal during World War 2 there probably would have been several impassioned demonstrations. his anti war movement was in turn reflected in the kinds of films that Hollywood produced.

There was still the odd gung ho AII-American flick, such as the awful Flight of the Intruder, but Platoon, Apocalypse Now et al reflected a strong criticism of the pro war movement. The final notable Vietnam film came in 1987 with the tragically late Stanley Kubrick's superlative Full Metal Jacket, a work which many see as the best of the genre.

Mainly because it was the first ever war film to truly present to the public that, cliche aside, war is hell, all war is hell.

War is dehumanising and life is lost for no reason.

The infantry man's life or death will not win the war, any war, no matter where it is fought or when. Take the finale where an entire squadron of highly trained Gl's are wiped out almost entirely by a single female sniper in a desolate, non stategic building, merely because they got lost. No ground war gained, no enemy ammunition supplies destroyed. lt was then, perhaps because the demons of Vietnam were being laid to rest, that American cinema began to tum its attention back to World War Two. First Spielberg's Schindler's Ust, and then 1998's Saving Private Ryan, with its horrific opening sequence of the D-Day landings.

The Thin Red Une quickly followed, and went much further than the loss of limbs or physical brutality that the first twenty eight minutes of SPR displayed. The Thin Red Une through its lyricism and elegance showed the loss of ones soul.

The infantry men hold on in their minds to aboslutely anything,

however tenous, to keep them alive. Ben Chaplin, who plays Private Bell thinks only of his wife, through the fighting and through the long moments of waiting to fight. He creates in his mind some kind of fantasy marriage.

This increased psychological element in the war film genre is reflected in The Trench, the first major British war film to be released for some years. The film concerns the fate of a group of ordinary British soldiers in the 48 hours before the Battle of the Somme in 1916, and ends with the inevitable, futile advance into the face of enemy fire.

In the claustrophobic trench and the horror of 'going

over the top' there is no room for heroics; perhaps The Trench will be an even more honest portrayal of war than Saving Private Ryan, which could not resist a bit of Uncle Sa m flag flapping. lhis development of the war film, from British stiff upper lipped neo - propaganda to an expression of anti Vietnam sentiment to the 1990's take on the psychological effects of combat undoubtedly reflects the public's changing attitude towards conflict.

Now the genre has moved on it can even serve an educational purpose; to demonstrate the full terror of violence between sovereign states to a generation that will hopefully never have to fight.

T

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ricks

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which of these women will be heading for major league stardom in the next millenium? adam chapman assesses their chances.

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clare danes april12, 1979 the mod squad, 1999 les miserables, 1998 the rainmaker, 1997 u-turn, 1997 romeo & juliet, 1996

~Du® ®~@~ ®@ g@[)'~ Danes found herself on the way to the big time when she landed the role of Angela Chase in My So Called Life in 1994. Despite the series being cancelled at the end of the fi rst season, the actress received much praise for her role as well as an Emmy award for her troubles. Such acclaim, and Jodi Foster as a mentor, did open doors. Her early film career saw a preference for (excuse my sexism) chick flicks. Nonetheless she was working with the best: Susan Sarandon ,Winona Ryder, Michelle Pfeiffer, and a small role in Jodi Foster's Home for the Holidays to name but a few. While most were modest successes, it wasn't until she landed the coveted role of Juliet in Baz Luhrman's adaptation of Romeo and Juliet that her rise was set to become meteoric.

Except it didn't... while Mr. DiCaprio sold out to a large sinking boat and a Celine Dion soundtrack, Danes has floundered in a number of ill-advised roles, which, although admirably complex, were neither box-office gold, or critical successes. Her latest release, The Mod Squad, sank without a trace in America.

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march 22, 1976 election, 1999 ctuel intentions, 1999 pleasantville, 1998 best laid plans, 1998 a far off place, 1993

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~Du® ®~@~ ®® lfciD[)'~ Playing a girlfriend terrorised by Mark Wahlberg (he of the prosthetic penis in Boogie Nights) in so-so film Fear was Witherspoon's first attempt to make the critics stand up and notice. However, it wasn't until 1998 that some plum roles gained her the attention her talent deserved. Back to back releases in low-budget indie film Best Laid Plans (sadly one of the most overlooked films of 1998) and Pleasantville (opposite Joan Alien and William H Macy) earned widespread praise for her refreshing screen presence. Bankability, however, was another th1ng. That is until this year's Dangerous Uaisons remake, Cruel Intentions. Despite a flawed screenplay, the film was a huge success, especially in the Important teen market.

Witherspoon delivered a sympathetic performance in a slightly more subtle role than either o1 her eo-stars (Ryan Phillippe and Sarah M1chelle Gellar rubb1ng LP agamst each other). Sadly, her next film, Election, was not as wel~received by the movie-going public, despite almost universal praise from the critics. Satire, after all, is an unknown quantity where Americans are concerned, especially when you give them the choice of seeing an overblown sci-fi film and Will Smith fighting a giant mechanic tarantula. Brains versus crap? You be the judge.

The story so far...With small performances in New York Stories (1989) and the lamentable Bonfire of the Vanities (1990), Dunst broke onto the Hollywood scene in 1994 with her portrayal of Claudia, the child vampire, in the screen adaptation of Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire, the kind of role most actresses would kill for (especially as she started out as a small chocolate treat in an M&M commercial!). Starring opposite Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt, Dunst was thrust into the limelight. However, at only 12, she still had to negotiate the tricky transfer from child star to serious actress. With a seeming preference for the early teen market, in films such as Jumanji and Small Soldiers, as well as lucrative television work (including a much praised recurring role in ER), there has not yet been a sustained period of unemployment for Dunst. This year sees the release of two comedies, Drop Dead Gorgeous (reviewed Page 15) and Dick (a comedy about what else but the Watergate Crisis). Sadly, both failed to make a dent in the U.S.

~liD® @JH~~

Her films have been banned in Manila. The reason? She slagged off the city in an interview and is quoted as saying "The city just f..... g smelled of cockroaches. There's no sewage system in Manila, and people have nothing there. People with no arms, no legs, no eyes, no teeth. Rats were everywhere." Tact? What's that?.

Sadly not much to tell. Romance with pretty-boy eo-star of Cruel Intentions, Ryan Phillipe led to pregnancy and then marriage (or was it the other way rou1d? Who can tell?). Perhaps her lack of headline grabbing antics may account for her low profile.

Dunst is apparently the toast of the teeny magazine brigade in the U.S., something that boosts her profile, but maintains a rather fresh-faced, dare I say it, virginal, "Oh shucks, golly gosh" persona. Not much dirt here I'm afraid. She is, after all, only 17.

What do you expect? Crack whore?

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With a string of well-intentioned flops under her belt Danes badly needs a hit. Brokedown Palace, to be released next year stars Kate Beckinsale and Bill Pullman, and sees Danes as a young woman arrested for smuggling in Thailand. Also landed a part on Robert Altman's next project with Richard Gere, the ominously titled Or T and the Women.

With Election reaching oor shores on the 24th of September and a starring role in Morgan Freeman's directorial debut Desert Blue, alongside Christina Ricci, things look busy to say the least. Also, with all the nappy chan~ng and baby sick she's going to find her schedule pretty jam-packed in the coming years.

A crop of darker roles coming up, in The The Virgin Suicides alongside Danny DeVito, The Faculty's Josh Hartnett and James Woods as well as cheerleading satire Cheer Fever and the lead in The Crow: Salvation. Hopefully, she'll be able to develop more of an edge, shying away from the more saccharine "Gee whizz, golly gosh" roles that have become somewhat of a trademark.

®liD® ®<IDW®~ (on boyfriend, musician, Ben Lee) "Since he played at night, we both became really fond of these sleeping pills. We were like two little crackheads in the back, sleeping and kicking each other for room on the seat while his manager drove us around the country."

®!ID® ®®W®~ "The most important thing about acting to me is t hat I'm in it for the long haul. I don't want to be one of those overnight sensations that just climbs to the top and falls right down. •

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Having worked with some of the most acclaimed directors in the business, Danes has been very unlucky in picking some of their less successful work. She has the reputation, the name and the talent but someone really should sack her agent. Likely to fade into obscurity if she doesn't get a hit soon.

The poor performance o1 Election at the American box-office perhaps indicates that her name is not yet enough to carry a film (her Election eo-star Matthew Broderick's certainly isn't!), despite the fact that it is actualo/ a very accomplished film. That said, a string of strong performances and a striking screen presence (i.e. she's hasn't exactly falle1 out of the ugly tree!) make her a shoe-in for future critical success if not commercially. Election opens at UK cinemas on 24th Septenber.

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®!ID® ®®W®~ "I don't get to read my fan mail because I have so many psycho fans sometimes! My manager's like, 'You're not reading this stuff."'

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katie holmes december 18, 1978 dawson's creek, 1998go,1999 the ice storm, 1997

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~Du® ®~@~ ®@ lfciD[)'~ The story so far... Dawson's Creek. Love it or hate it, there's no denying the impact it has had. Thrusting it's four principals into the international limelight, all have made the first few steps into establishing movie careers. After a small part in The Ice Storm, Holmes continued at high school until Kevin Williamson asked her to screen test for Dawson's Creek. Perhaps, naively she asked him to reschedule the meeting, as she was, at the time, starring in a school production of Damn Yankees and didn't want to let the rest of the cast down. Williamson agreed, and the role of Joey was hers! Yet, while eo-stars Michelle Williams (Jen) chose the screen-queen route in Halloween: H20, James Van der Beek (emotionally retarded and let's face it bloody annoying Dawson) chose high school jock in Varsity Blues, and Joshua Jackson bravely opted for a little bit of fellatio with the captain of the football team in Cruel Intentions, Katie Holmes was lucky enough to be cast in the trendiest film of the summer, Go. Now, landed with the usually vacant title of "Next Big Thing" she is tipped for bigger ventures.

~liD®@!~~~ Hmmm. A bit difficult here. Alleged romance with Joshua Jackson (Pacey in Dawson's Creek), but after extensive undercover reporting it seems Miss Holmes is a paragon of virtue (sadly), or maybe just very good at hiding it. All round nice girl it seems. How dull!

~Du® gl1fl~Q!J[)'@~ A third season of Dawson's Creek, set to hit Channel 4 next year, sees her on-off (and not to mention tiresome) romance with Dawson continue (Oh goody, more soul-searching and big words to look forward to.) Scream-scribe and 'Creek creator Kevin Williamson's directorial debut Teaching Mrs. Tingle, with '80s has-been Molly Ringworm, flopped in the U.S., but is set to hit U.K. screens later this yea r.

®!ID® ®®W®~ "All of us were so clueless about sex. I remember my friend Mary saying, 'What's the point? I don't get "pulling out".' And everyone was making fun of her - and I was, too, but I was like, 'Mary, I don't get it either."'

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sarah michelle gellar april14, 1977 simply irresistible, 1999 cruel intentions, 1999 small soldiers, 1998 i know what you.. , 1997 scream 2 , 1997

christina ricci !ID©fi'[li)~ ©fi'®@IH~®g

february 12, 1980 sleepy hollow, 1999 opposite of sex, 1999 pecker, 1998 the ice storm, 1997 addams family, 1991

~liD® @~@~ @@ 11®fi'~ ~llll® ®~®fi'W ®® lfciD[)'~ Starting her "acting career" at the age of 4 in a Burger King commercial, her debut resulted in a now infamous disparagement lawsuit with McDonalds. Like many a struggling actor Gellar relied on modelling and commercials to make ends meet, appearing in over 100 TV adverts, that is until she landed small roles in soap operas and TV mini-series. lt wasn't until she was given the role of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, a television remake of the dismal 1980s Kitrsy Swanson and Luke Perry movie that her career took off.

Buffy the TV show, with it's mix of arse whipping, post-Scream irony and a female star providing the action, gained the Warner network it's highest audience for 1996. Appealing to both teenage girls (something to do with feminism I suppose) and males of all ages (Gellar was recently voted Sexiest Woman in the World by FHM), Gellar's popularity was compounded this year by her role inCruel Intentions.

Making her break as Char's aquatic daughter in Mermaids and as the goulish Wednesday Addams, Ricci delighted critics with a deadpan cynicism that immediately set her at odds with her counterparts. While Elijah Wood and Macauley Culkin had perfected the cute but vulnerable act, we were left in no doubt as to the acidity of this girl's persona, and all the better because of it! Realising early that this would not carve her out a long term career she picked some slightly more palatable roles, in kiddie fare such as Now and Then and Gasper, raising her profile, if not her credibility. Her coming-of-age came in 1997 in Ang Lee's The Ice Storm. Both a critical and commercial success, Ricci's performance as a teenager coming to terms with her growing sexuality in the mid-70s, was singled out for it's maturity and depth, though still Hollywood didn't know where to pigeon-hole her. Not that this has proved a problem if this year's The Opposite of Sex is anything to go by, as even an often unsympathetic role gained her instant recognition and critical plaudits.

~llll® @]~~~ Warner TV were reportedly outraged by her change of direction as Catherine in Cruel Intentions. A role involving cocaine abuse, bulimia and a certain 'looseness' was deemed not compatible with aii-American girl Buffy. Which is funny, as most American girls I know don't tend to go around kicking people in the face, well, not unless provoked on talk shows.

~llll® {fuo~QJJ[)'@~ While her foray into romantic comedy, Simply Irresistible, flopped at the U.S. box-office, it is set to be released here in October.

The new series of Buffy continues on Sky One (Fridays at 8pm).

There is also talk of a movie version of her hit series, which, if the show is ahything to go by, should be one to look out for.

®llll® ®®W®~ "Buffy has a lot that I can really understand. You want to go to the prom but, at the same time, you have work obligations. Do you have a date, or do you go sit in a cemetery all night?" (A clear sign that spontaneous humour is not one of her strong points.)

She was diagnosed as anorexic in 1995, around the same time as she started'burning herself on the arm with lit cigarettes. She dismissed it as "something I did when I was 15. When you're younger you try all these different things .. .it wasn't really for selfmutilation. I just wanted to see if I could actually take it."

~llll® lffifl~Q!J[)'@~ With 200 Cigarettes (eo-starring Courtney Love) and Tim Burton's reworking of the myth of the Headless Horseman in Sleepy Hollow (alongside Johnny Depp), it doesn't look like Christina Ricci will be claiming her benefit cheque quite yet.

®OD® ®®W®g "I always thought I was going to die when I was little. Now I feel like I'm already dead. When you're a child and stop being a child, part of you dies. So now that part of me is dead. I think that's why I move house so much and change things around. To find something that's going to wake me up again. I think it's working."

On incest: "They share the same genes as you but they're just other people. lt's such a natural thing to have sex with them.''

With many years in the business, there's no denying the girl's got experience. Only time will tell whether she can complete the transition from child-star to mature actress. Things look good, though. Landing a role in Sofia Coppola's acclaimed The Virgin Suicides is somewhat of a coup. Advance word is little less than fantastic. With a packed schedule, Dunst looks fairly well set for the coming year.

Go was a cool film and Holmes was refreshingly unaffected in her role, but the girl doesn't exactly scream STAR, does she?

Decidedly one noted in her performances, this girl brings girl next door onto a whole new level so a bit of versatility wouldn't go amiss. Come to think of it, who ever lived next door to a girl like that? I lived next door to a rather large girl who didn't seem to know what razors were for! Time will tell whether she can successfully make it away from the 'Creek.

The prospect of a Buffy movie is good news for Gellar's career, especially if it mirrors the success of the television series. She has already shown that she can make the transition from TV to movies, but is not likely to be an actress who grabs the awards in coming years. Having said that, who gives a toss about Oscars, as long as the money keeps rolling in?

With a healthily cynical approach to Hollywood, and talent to boot this is the one actress The Event would place money on to be the future shape of Hollywood. Forget the American pie wholesomeness of Buffy and the Dawson crew, this is hopefully the direction Hollywood is heading towards. Fingers crossed!

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THE EVENT, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1999

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kirsten dunst april 12, 1982 dick, 1999 dropf deadf gor.., 1999 small soldiers, 1998 jumanji, 1995 little women, 1994

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gomez Uo<Ql(IJ]fi(Q] ~~~Oil If you try really hard, you can be anything you want, or so the idea goes. But is that right? If this outpouring from Gomez is anything to go by, it seems that if you're a bunch of prosaically featured and rather scruffy Eng1ishmen, you will never convince anyone you're virile blues men from the Deep South of the USA, even if you give your songs titles like Las vegas Deafer, Rhythm and Blues Alibi or even California.

Let's face it though, calling songs things like Chippenham Car Salesman or Sussex would have been more risible, would it not?

And as Sleeper once taught us, tunes about going

down the indie disco on Saturday night do tend to be dull and parochial, so bless Gomez for trying to be different.

Even if Uquid Skin won't get them another Mercury, it does conjure up an atmosphere of Jack Daniels, palm trees and people in gingham shirts chewing straw in the midday sun very, very well.

Katy O'Fiynn

supergrass ~{Jll[p)@IJ'ti!J'®~~ Supergrass return with their eponymous third album after the two much hyped singles Pumping on Your Stereo and Moving. The fruit of the 'Grass' labour is to finally push themselves beyond the mark of a good sing1es band· famed for the likes of Alright and Going Out towards the Holy Grail of also being able to produce superb albums, Supergrass without

doubt being their most accomplished piece to date;

it is a true album, one piece of music with several different movements. The bands' musicianship is flawless, and the production is layered and seductive, with not a single filler track on the album.

However, the only drawback seems to be that neither is there anything near as .individually charged and compelling as say, Richard Ill, or Caught by the

Fuzz.

All of which means that the album reaches an early plateau and can never find that indescribable moment that knocks good albums into great ones.

A/ex McGregor

everything but the girl ~®Wil o®IJ'~Wil®IJil~®O In the t hree years since Everything But The Girl's acclaimed album, Walking Wounded, Ben Watt and Tracey Thom have created an overproduced and underinspired album.

Temperamental is not completely without appeal as Ben Watt's synths and samples are occasionally sublime. However, if the beats are sweet, the vocals are sickly.

Thorn's hollow paintstripping voice summons choruses of "Please, anything but the girl. • The repeated use of synthesised sax conjures up visions of Kenny G at his most insipid.

The brief highlights o(_Temperamentaf occur on the third track, Blame, with a bassline sampled from Metalheadz' 3 Majik.

Instead of the trite house of the first two track, Blame edges towards drum & bass. The next song, Hatfiefd 1980, is pmmising for almost long enough to ignore lyrics as inane as "I'm not immune, I love this tune" and • you're like an empty cup, but I can't fill you up." The rest of the album, sadly, is a slow sterile descent into spineless shopping music.

Andrew Goodson

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norwich arts centre The respected press are always going on in their earnest manner about the chronic shortages of raw material that apparently are going to send our lovely little planet spinning into oblivion any time soon. Oil, coal, gas; you name it - even the paper on which this g1orious publication appears is apparently in • short supply. Judging by the crowd at the Uama Farmers recent Arts Centre gig, we'll soon be seeing a catastrophic plunge in the availability of clothing material and, mysteriously, old fashioned toilet flush chains. The reason for this disaster could be the predilection amongst teenage fans of faux grunge bands such as these Farmers of Uama's to wear unfeasably baggy trousers replete with ridiculous toilet chain type appendage dangling down to their knees. These people belong to the breed of The Skater Dude, and boy do they wish that a. they were American and b. that they were actually at the legendary Nirvana Arts Centre gig. The trouble is, it seems as if the band are thinking exactly the same thing, with their brand of sub - Bush grungery. And if your music's 'sub Bush', it's got to be bad. When · Kurt Cobain blew his head away in April 1994 he

effeCtively ended the already stale grunge movement, of which Nirvana were realfy the only decent band. That in 1999 these young rapscallions are trying to pull off the same trick is really quite remarkable, especially as most of the audience and possibly the band, by the look of them - must only have been about ten when grunge was at its peak.

The set seems to consist entirely of the same tired chord changes, repeated over and over at a variety of speeds to add a bit of variety between songs.

Apparently the 'Farmers have songs by the name of When We Were Friends and Jessica, not that you'd be able to tell through the muddled roar of guitar and drums.

Still, the crowd seemed to love it, creating what I believe is still known as a "mosh pit" down at the front, and a foul teenage sweat smell to pollute the Arts Centre's fine interior. And the Uama Farmers themselves? Well, at the about the same age as myself they're touring the country in front of legions of adoring fans. And I'm sitting at home writing this.

Luke Turner Bugger.

cean rnfLe .J=afLt:e "A hundred thousand welcomes" ----••FREEHOUSE~•••---­

ST PATRICKS DAY 17TH MARCH 1999

Come and join us for a great day of celebration - open all day.

Jt.t Have lunch on us - free Irish Stew 12pm-2pm* Jt.t Jamesous whiskey promotions with prizes* (Starts Friday 26th Feb)

Jt.t Reduced prices on Guine88, Kilkenny, Caff'reys and Harp Lager* Jf.t Spot prizes for almost anything* (Depending on seamns's mood at the time) • while stocks last

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01603 626627

THE EVENT; WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1999

Clinton is as memorable a name as Brimful of Asha is a tune, and the men behind that number one make a return to the record stores with this funkY long player designed to tide Comershop fans over until their next offering hits the shops.

Does it sound like Bill Clinton, seeing as they've pinched his name?

Well of course not. He only plays the sax, and any'way, he's far too busy to make records.

Does it sound like Cornershop then, you ask?

Inevitably a couple of songs do, albeit with even bigger beats.

Tracks like Hip-Hop Bricks and the aptly titled Mr President (ho ho) could easily be taken from the Beastie Boys' Hello Nasty, which has got to be a good thing. Meanwhile, first single Buttoned Down Disco is Superfly with scratching and sexy female vocals.

Prepare to be blown (away).

Martin Brock

01 02

SHANIA TWAIN

come on over

david bowie ~[fu[ll)~@l®Jt ~ ©rruHOilll 11

Mr. Nasal returns for his first release since the drum & bass Stylee Earthling era. Surprising1y, he hasn't tried to continue his 'innovating' path by making a record of speed garage played through Tibetan nose flutes. Instead Thursday's Child is a beautiful, haunting love song, with even a hint of The Tindersticks about it. And yes, that is a Luke Turner compliment.

ann lee ~W® ~HWil®~ The press release describes it as 'as catchy and infectious as a pop record can get.· Your critic describes it as 'a Vengaboys song without the chorus.' Who cares if it was number one in Denmark, Italy and Spain, cos it's only going on my Martin Brock stereo once.

iggy pop @@[J'[J'(IJ][p)~~@IJil Scrawny has- been rocker, trying hard to be young comes back for more. Obviously our lggy is suffering from a lack of vocabulaty, as he can only repeat the word 'corruption' over and over again while a tuneless dirge drones in the background. The only corruption here is you bribing your record company to release this, matey. carotine Jeater

the chemical brothers ®(IJ]~ ®g ©®@~0'®0 The third release from Surrender sees them going away from the crass commercialism of Hey Girl, Hey Boy, and back to those all familiar block, rockin' beats.

And the Brothers have roped in more of their celebrity type mates with Bemard Sumner and Bobby Gillespie both doing guest vocals on the track. The combination is an awesome single which keeps you hooked until the last beat.

Mark Edwards

GOMEZ

liquid skin

idlewild

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MARTINE McCUTCHEON

A tune so catchy it has the potential to irritate. ldlewild are back, and this time it sounds like · they're going to get some airplay. Even if it displays pronounced tendencies towards standard shouty guitar rock that really shouldn't be allowed this side of Symposium, ldlewild remain a cut above the rest.

you, me and us

Katy O'Fiynn

the man who one from the modern

ANDREA BOCELLI

sogno ANOTHER LEVEL

nexus THE BEATLES

yellow submarine soundtrack STEREOPHONICS

performance & cocktails

1O

BOYZONE

by request

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~event

Released: Playing: S~rring:

September 17 ABC Norwich Kirsten Dunst Kirstie Alley Ellen Barkin Denise Richards

Set in Mount Rose, Minnesota, the heart of the Midwest, Drop Dead Gorgeous follows a documentary crew reporting on the Mount Rose Teen Princess Pageant. The competition has two clear favourites, rich-bitch Becky Leeman (Richards) and mortician Amber Atkins (Dunst). When potential winners start dropping like flies (during a particularly funny tractor explosion), Amber begins to receive death threats warning her to quit the contest. lt becomes clear that someone is very keen to win.

The mockurnentary styling of the film does not always work, leaving many characters as unbelievable parodies with no depth to them. This rnay also be because middle America proves too easy a target for ridicule. As a result there is little or no humanity behind many of the cast. Whereas in Fargo the small -town mentality was treated more sympathetically, Drop Dead Gorgeous ends up playing the cast for cheap laughs. Some of this succeeds (Richards dancing with a home-made Christ on the cross at the pageant is one of the highlights), but on other occaisions I found it rather disturbing (an anorexic reigning Teen Princess doing a wheelchair dance with her nurse on stage .. .need I say rnore! )

Dunst, having already established a varied career playing child vampires {Interview With The Vampire), a little woman (Little Women ) and a teenage prostitute路 (ER), establishes herself as a sympathetic lead as the only genuinely talented competitor.

However, I have never been able to understand the appeal of Denise Richards, graduate of TV's Me/rose Place, and more famous for a threesome with Neve Campbell and Matt Dillon in Wild Things than any semblance of acting ability. Frightening eyebrows to match! lt is left up to the likes of Kirstie Alley and Ellen Barkin (as Amber's trailer-trash mother) to save the film from complete mediocrity, injecting life and genuine humour into memorable performances.

Alley, in a finely judged role, is notable as pageant organiser Gladys Leernan, getting the rnix of Godfearing Lutheran and over-ambitious mother just right.

Both are, however, completely outshone by character actress Alltson Janney (the porn - book writing guidance counsellor from 10 Things I Hate About You) as man-eater Loretta who manages to steal every scene she is in . The film is worth seeing for her alone.

However, what could have worked as a biting satire in the hands of a rnore experienced director unfortunately ends up being rather ham-fisted and obvious, takmg pot -shots at anyone from retards to sufferers from eating dtsorders. The comedy ends up more off-white than black and suffers because of it.

Adam Chapman A bit better than average.

9

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September 24 ABC, Norwich Michelle Pfeiffer Rupert Everett Anna Friel Kevin Kl ine

A little GCSE English time now! Doomed lovers Hermia (Friel) and Lysander (Dominc West), elope into the forest. Demetrius (Christian Bale), Hermia 's suitor, pursues them, having been warned by Helena, Hermia's best friend, of their plans. Helena, (are you following?), just happens to be in love with Demetrius. Meanwhile, in another part of the forest, a troop of working men practice the play of Pyramus and Thisbe for the forthcoming wedding of Theseus and Hippolyta. Unknown to both sets of characters the forest is the home of the Faerie King, Oberon (Everett), estranged from his wife ntania (Pfeiffer).

Oberon and his minion Puck (a surprising, but successful casting of Stanley Tucci) set about trying to pair the lover's together but with mixed results, as well as tricking ntania into fa lling in love with aspiring thesp, Bottom (Kline), having tur.ned him into a donkey! Boasting big name stars like Michelle Pfeiffer, Rupert Everett and Kevin Kline A Midsummer Night 's Dream could simply have been an opportunity to add some CV boosting material to the various thesps' resumes. This is most definitely

not the case. While you can 't help but think that Pfeiffer in her opening scene doesn 't have a clue what she 's talking about, her love scenes with Bottom are wonderfully played . Everett is typically assured as Oberon, bringing usually ignored charm and warmth to the part. Similarly Kline, as Bottom, strikes a chord of humanity in a character sometimes lost amidst the buffoonery.

The four lovers are similarly successful. Singled out amongst these must be Calista Rockhart as Helena.

I had never noticed this before but the character of Helena is strikingly similar to TV's Ally McBeal; single woman, can 't hold down a decent relationship, spurned by the man she loves. What wonderful casting, therefore, to hire the same actress for the part.

Despite being annoyingly prefixed with the title "Wil/iam Shakepseare's ... " (well , duh!), the film succeeds in being a sumptuous adaptation. And with such a stellar cast, it's no wonder really! One minor quibble, however; many of the fairy costumes look like they've been put together for a nonspeaking part in a school play. You could be forgiven for expecting something a little more impressive. That aside, the Tuscan countryside has never looked more exquisite, and with an adept comedic touch A Midsummer Night's Dream proves to be a charming and worthy interpretation of the Bard's most famous comedy.

Adam Chapman

~[fo@ WO~ [g)~@W0@W~ {t(ID [(~CID UTI Released: Voices by:

October 22 Minnie Driver Glenn Close Brian Blessed

The House of Mouse is back! Disney seem to have found a new lease of life since the phenomenal success of subsidiary Pixar with Toy Story and A Bug's Ufe, and the company's latest release is tipped to be no exception. With a return to a more cartoony style of animation, Disney have pioneered the use of a process called "deep canvas". lt has allowed animators the luxury of a deeper picture, especially important in the construction of the jungle scenes that dominate the film, as well as making the characters more integrated into the environment that surrounds them. As a result, Disney have created one of the most beautiful landscapes in

their long history.

If that wasn 't enough, they have managed to recruit a typically starry cast to bring the characters to life; with Minnie Driver (voicing Jane), Glenn Close (as the gorilla who raises Tarzan) and our very own Brian Blessed as a typically British (is there any other kind?) baddie. The jury rematns out on the involvement of Phil Collins on song-writing duties, that is unless Disney were intending on restricting the audience to middle-aged mothers!

However, as seems de rigeur with any Disney release nowadays, Tarzan has already been criticised for being immoral by Israelis, who have suggested that publicity posters be edited . Wh'{?

Well, it seems fundamentalists are offended by pictures of Tarzan 's semi-naked body swinging trough the JUngle. Their solution? Paint a pair of trousers on him! Kind of missing the pomt I think.

THE EVENT, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1999

....

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iain banks ·~-:.I@ ::b:JcYJ~J[it@~~ Whereas many of Banks' previous wo rks, such as the superb Complicity and his last novel Song of Stone seemed to be concerned with the position of the ind ividual in their given si tuation , the impression one gets reading The Business is of Banks attem pting to write a pol itical polemic; an attack on late Twentieth Century capita lism.

The Business of the books' title is a sprawling and mysterious multina tional corporation , around since the days of Rome, demanding tota l subservience of its employees; even stipulating that they renounce religion and put up their fi nancia l affairs to scrutiny by their coll eagues and supe riors.

The Business is planning to take over a mountainous Eastern state in order to obtain the power denied to commercial interests so far - the power of statehood, diplomatic immunity and a seat at the UN. Chosen as thei r representative is a certain Ms. Telman , brought up from a young age by a member of The Business, and fu lly indoctrinated in its ru les and operations.

The problem wi th Th e Business is th at it is not entirely clear what Banks is trying to do. His characters are la rgely based on stereotype; the

eccentric aristocrat in a huge castle, the gun collecting American exec who delights in firing a 20mm cannon at fi lm of Saddam Hussein; Ms. Telman even has an American fri en d obsessed with going into therapy. Coupled with these cha racte risations is th e way in which Banks tries to fix his story chronologica lly; the narrative contains umpteen clumsy refe rences to contemporary popular cu ltu re. For example, one of Ms. Telman's friends is given the bill at a restaurant. This friend is called Penny. Ms. Telman exclaims "Oh my God, they've bill ed Penny." Ha Ha. On top of this is th e feeling that th e narrative is as wandering as Ms. Te lman as she flies arou nd the wo rld in a succession of private jets; you never rea lly quite know what's going on, and the co nclusion is to say the least half hearted and disappointing when contrasted with the grim cl imaxes to the likes of Complicity and Song of Stone .

The only real certainty is this uncharacteristic lack of subtlety, which unfortunately does th e opposite from what Banks intended, and de tracts from his va lid theme of the dangers of capitalism and big business run riot.

Caesar Bazlinton

alex garland ~Du® ~@~~®l?CID©'ll: A hype rcube is a cube wi th fou r dimensions.

A tesseract IS an unfolded hypercube.

This may sound frighteningly mathematical, but it's not really. Like a tesseract, Garland's second novel (and fo llow- up to the international bestseller The Beach ) is several small pieces that form part of one, lmked constructi on. Like Th e Beach, which was set in exotic Asian surroundings, The Tesseract is also played out in fore ign parts, th is time in the Philippines.

Set in the oppressive heat of Manila, the central story is that of a man attempting to fight hi s way out of a meeting with gangsters, and his subsequent flight through the city. The rest of the narrative concerns the people whose paths cross his that

night, their lives and their part in the events that follow. lt opens with Sean , the hunted man, sittin g in a dilapidated hotel room waiting for Don Pepe's arrival. it's not a welcoming place.

"Sean had noticed the quiet with growing confusion.

He'd also seen open doors, and through tr.em rooms without beds. Sometimes rooms without walls. Only a few wooden slats, the guts of the wa lls, or th e bones. And past the bones, the neighbouring room, equa lly ba re and broken."

However The Tesseract is much more than a mundane crime story.

There is Jojo, the hitman who 's afraid of using a gun and just wants to get home to his wife; Cente, the street ki d who can recall his dreams in perfect detail, and Rosa, who left the countryside to become a doctor but can 't escape her mother, as well as Sean, the Englisllman on the run.

There are several images that recu r in The Tesseract.

Red mists hang1 ng over people, black dogs, hands bemg cut off. and deform1t1es come up at severa l po1nts in th e story. ThiS g1ves cohesion to wha t could potentially have been a very confused story, as well as g1ving the reader the 1mpress1on t11at tillS IS a violent. but mela ncholy novel.

On a more pos1t1ve note. 1t's n1ce to see that Alex Garland has expanded h1s educa tio n and learnt some Tagalog, the F1l1p1 no language. wh1ch occurs regula rly m Th e Tesseract and acid s an exot1c touch even if he g1ves lit lie Indication of what phrases like .. Mah 1rap buhay" or "H1nd1 ba" actua lly mean.

Heavens man. we read novels to acqu 1re knowledge . so tel l us what you're on about 1nstead of JUSt si10w1ng how cu ltured you are.

But that's a m1n1scule crit1c1sm of an extremely good novel . T/1e Tesserac t 1s a skilfully woven story t11a t l1eeps you nveted un til the end .

Darcy Hurford

minotaur & silhouette, UEA drama societies UEA IS privileged to count among 1ts ranks no less than two student theatre compan1es.

The Mmotaur Theatre Company IS the official company for UEA's drama student population, whereby in addition to their studies, our budding Ol1viers and Denchs can present a variety of plays, from originally devised pieces to some of theatre's greatest sc ri pts. Al l of th ese productions are performed in the award winning UEA studio, and last yea r included a spirited ve rsion of Dario Fa 's Accidental Death of an Anarchist. a tn logy of Caryl Churchill plays and th e ou tstandmg Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead .

Although non drama studen ts can be made honoury Minotaur meml)ers those wl1o wish to pursue drama as an extra curricula r act1v1ty would probably find a better home with UEA's other thea tre company, Silhouette. Si lhouette is run by th e Drama Society

and anyone can JOin for a small membership fee .

Equally comm1tted to mounting productions of dare and repute as Minotaur. Silhouette have performed their work in as vaned su rround ings as a church, the Norwich Arts Centre, and the UEA Studio once aga1n.

Recent scripts perform ed include Sam Sheppard's The Tooth of Crime,the late, grea t Dennis Potter's Blue Remembered Hills and everyone 's favourite ALevel text, A Streetcar Named Desire.

Both theatre compan1es are promising an exc1tmg line-up for the au tumn and offer healthy student concessions on tic ket prices.

To find ou t what IS play1ng and when, cast your eye over The Event's listings pages. To find out about JOinmg up, see the stands at Soc Mart, or contact t11em through the pi geon lloles in Un1on House .

A/ex McGregor

THE EVENT, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1999

theatre royal The Theatre Roya l is Norwich City's premier establishment for board treading. Located on, approp riately enough, Theatre Street wh1ch is adjacent to St Stephen's street, the Theatre Roya l is the place to go t o see high ren t West End shows either on tou r or prep ari ng to debu t in London's Theatreland. Productions of that ilk have in the past included the acclaimed Amadeus, and following in that tradition th is semester is a brand new version of One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest.

This begins in November and featu res Mike McShane of A Bug's Life and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves fame as Chief Bromd en, and Danny Webb, Morse in Alien3, as McMurphy; the role made famous by Jack Nicholson.

In addition to ·cuckoo's Nest the Theatre Royal are preparing for a lusty, contemporary retelling of the opera Carmen scheduled for October. Also of a mus1cal persuas1on 1s A Tribute To Th e Blues

Brothers wh ich is heading eastbound at the end of the month, and Annie, starring Leslie Joseph.

However if one is looking for something a little more elegant then book a ticket for the St Petersburg Ball et Theatre's lavish producti on of Tcha ikovsky's Swan Lake, wh ich fea tures a staggerin g fifty piece orchestra.

With the yea r 2000 welcomed in the Theatre Royal have secured a true coup for us in the shape of Hollywood A list actress Minnie (Grosse Point Blank.

Good Will Hunting) Driver starring in Romeo and Juliet. which is directed by stage legend Sir Peter Hall. Yet as if all that were not enough the Theatre Royal also have planned a number of one-off shows.

These include within their number the star of Never Mind Th e Buzzcocks, Pllil Jupitus, performing an evening of award winning stand up comedy JUSt for you 111 m1d October. See the next issue of The Even t for an 111 depth mterview with Mr. Jupi tus.

norwich arts life The Maddermarket Theatre has produced another lme up worthy of 1ts reputation. Th1s Includes an eve n1ng of Mozart performed by professionals in penod costumes by candlelight. On a completely different ton e the Maddermarket has convi nced London's top comedy club Jongleur's to bring a n1ght of comedians from th e London wcuit to little ol' Norwich.

One to mark 111 the diary IS the Tate Gal lery Tour wh1ch is bnngmg an exhibition of Su rrea list art featuring the work of Dali and Magritte to name but two to the Norwich Castle Museum. This exhibit concludes on November 21 and is titled The Untamed Eye. More qua lity stand up comedy can be found at the r~orwich Arts Centre, which is housed in a converted church. For two nights at the beginning of October the Fast Show's Simon Day will bring his many characters to life . The Arts Centre also plays host to a regu lar poetry reading n1ght 1nside their cafe bar.

Also un ti l the 11th of October the Arts Centre is exhibiting diverse photographic work from the Norwich School of Art and Design. They are also very proud to present a maJor retrospective of work

by Edward Weston , the American photographer who over a time span of forty years produced a body of work which established h1m as one of the world's great masters of modernist photography. Th is ru ns from October 24 to November 20.

However one does not even have to leave the campus to be enlightened. In addition to their permanent displays of work by Henry Moore and Francis Bacon Til e Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts present Asylum by James Casebere. Casebere's

photographs create a world of sta rkly beautifu l 1ntenors offenng a darkly elegant and unnerv1ng v1ew of rea lity.

A/ex M cGregor

Cevenf) 11

11

adam chapman finds himself amused by norwich's latest trendy 'canteen ' the ha! ha! bar no old school dinner jokes please ... efore I begin I feel it necessary to warn you that I am fantastically shallow and aesthetics are somewhat of a priority when it comes to places where I intend to be seen for more than an hour.

Considering Norwich has been devoid, nay scared, of anywhere remotely resembling the decade we live in, it comes as somewhat of a relief to have

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considering norwich has been devoid, nay scared, of anywhere remotely resembling the decade we live in, it comes as a relief to have ha! ha! bar discovered Ha! Ha! Bar & canteen. Situated in Tombland, just up from the cathedral, it comes across as a Habitat showroom cum London cafebar. If you like places that look like they've actually made an effort, then this is the place for you.

Spacious and accommodating and not entirely dissimilar in design to London chain All-Bar-One, we're talking cosmopolitan chic. With comfy leather chairs, big tables and wooden floors this is the perfect place to spend an hour or two any time of the day.

We went for our meal on a Sunday evening when it wasn't very busy. However, if it's atmosphere you want then Friday and Saturday evenings are the time to go, as the bar is incredibly popular. The

emptiness of the restaurant wasn't a problem, though, as a rather eclectic mix of music made up for the lack of customers.

Now, regarding the menu, I usually put things to the Hickman Test, based on the ordering habits of my dinner companion Clare. This is how it works: if she takes longer than ten minutes to decide what to have, then the menu is varied and tempting. They also gain extra points for the amount of times we have to tell the waitress to come back.

Clare told our waitress to come back once, so points for the place there. Add this to the 15 minutes she took to decide what to have and we can safely assume that the menu was of sufficient quality to appease even her tastes. She (finally) opted for the chargrilled lamb cutlets with spring vegetables and rosemary jelly while I had the fresh chargrilled tuna nicoise. Our order arrived fairly quickly, and was impeccably presented.

Portions are satisfyingly sized; that is not enough to leave you bloated and ready to fall off your chair by the end of the meal. The tuna was cooked just right.

The trouble with fresh tuna is that if you cook it too

.. .... ... .....

much then there is little difference with the tinned stuff. This was ideal. While the dressing was a bit sweet for me, the side-order of spring vegetables was a perfect accompaniment; baby corn, green beans, leaks and more carrots than I have ever eaten in my life.

Clare received three lamb cutlets, "enough," I was told, "to leave room for dessert". While she found the rosemary jelly rather sweet, the meat was perfectly cooked. We also made a breakthrough at food therapy: Clare, an avid green bean hater from an early age found they were, actually, quite pleasant!

After a short break, our tea (Earl Grey and peppermint) arrived in some pretty nifty tea pots, followed by the most gorgeous chocolate cake.

Made on the premises without flour, it is less a cake than a big crumbly piece of chocolate.

Accompanied by some delicious espresso ice cream dessert, it was a delight, and was enough for both of us!

This, in itself, is an ,____ _ _ _ __. accomplishment

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- Clare has the biggest appetite of any size eight person I have ever met. With it comes the amazing ability to eat as much as she wants and yet still remain remarkably svelte.

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ith a new menu combining both canteen food and more substantial meals being introduced around the 18th of October, look forward to even more quality dining at the Ha! Ha! Bar. There will also be more student orientated meals (posh cheese on toast and egg and chips are but two) plus new additions to the already impressive menu; salmon and cream cheese wrap,

if you can manage to crawl out of your bed, there is no better place to make the world seem more hospitable to your headache chicken casserole and tortellini to name but a few.

If, however, you aren't up for a meal, go to brunch on Saturdays or Sundays. lt is the perfect place to sit with the weekend newspapers, drink first-class coffee and sample the various meals on offer in the brunch menu (the bacon butty is very tasty, and only ÂŁ3.00). If you can manage to crawt out of your bed and into the city, there is no better place to make the world seem more hospitable to your headache. Ha! Ha! Bar acts as a coffee house, bar and food place in one, and all for a surprisingly reasonable price. Don't get fooled by the decor, you can afford it! Dinner came to ÂŁ27.50 with drinks.

Trust me, you won't be disappointed!

Ha! Ha! Bar & Canteen: (01603-621223) 29 Tombland, 1 Upper King's Street, Norwich, NR3 1RE Monday to Friday: 11:00-23:00 Saturday: 10:00-23.00 Sunday: 10:00-20:30

THE EVENT, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1999

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mark hamill~~takes 路 a break from shining shoes路 for some serious acting . ' - . .

October 11, 1999 Mark Hamill Bart Homer Marge Usa

The kind hearted suits at Twentieth Century Fox have once agian been good enough to release another collection of the smartest, funniest, sweetest and most sat1ncal programme on television.

Despite its decade of circulation and recent competition from newer adult animation such as King Of The Hill and Eddie Murphy's The DJ, The Simpsons still stands alone and unequalled due to the textured writing, multi-layered stones and subtelty after subtelty. This collection, entitled Bart Wars, is no exception, featuring four episodes from the last four seasons, mcluding one not yet shown on terrestrial television. it's guaranteed to raise a smile upon the gloomiest of days.

The first episode on the cassette IS Mayored To The Mob and concerns Homer becoming Mayor Qu1mby's bodyguard after he saves both 'Diamond' Joe and Mark Hamill from a group of rioting dweebs at the bi-monthly Springfield sc1ence fict1on convent1on, or bi-mon-sci-fi-con. Th1s episode also features the vocal talents of Simpsons regular Joe Montegna as resident mobster Fat Tony. There are more laugh out loud moments in th1s episode than

in the entire last series of Fr1ends.

The second episode is Day Of Death where, after the Simpsons' beloved pet Santa's Little Helper runs away, he is brainwashed in an utterly inspired Clockwork Orange homage, into becoming a brutal hound for Mr Burns.

The third episode 1n this collection IS The Secret War Of Lisa Simpson. After Bart destroys Springfield he is finally sent to military academy to learn some discipline. But upon touring the school Lisa, so unchallenged at Springfield Elementary, decides to enrol as well. After all eventually a girl would have to attend a military academy as her drill sergeant, voiced by Willem Dafoe, says, "There are even women motorists these days."

The final episode is Marge Be Not Proud, and concerns Bart desperately try1ng to w1n back his mater's love, which he feels he has thrown away after being caught shop -lifting in a moment of madness.

This may not be the funn1est of the bunch, but Illustrates what The Simpsons acheives so easily that other shows cannot even comprehend: 1t transcends its animated ongins and its sitcom genre to give characters to truly care about, and displays emotions first. Of course, it all ends happily, leaving you feeling warm inside and well disposed to the world.

"All Hai l King Homer" indeed. As a footnote though, next time five episodes would be nicer.

Alex McGregor

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released: starring

t bc Johnny Depp Benicio Del Toro A ea Lyle Lovett

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is a movie about the drug-fuelled journey of journalist Raoul Duke (Johnny Depp) and sidekick Dr. Gonzo (Benicio Del Toro) . Based on the allegedly classic 1971 novel by Hunter S.Thompson, this film is as weird as any other I have watched in my life.路 The star studded cast also includes cameo appearances by Cameron Diaz, Christina Ricci and Gary Busey to name but a few. Why they appeared to be lining up to do this film is beyond me, as it goes beyond being unconventional and innovative into the realm of stupidity. Terry Gilliam (Twelve Monkey's and Monty Python) has directed hi s fa ir share of bizarre movies and he has certainly succeeded in creating another.

Gilliam stated "My guess is that today's audience

released: starring:

tbc Bruce Willis Alec Baldwin Miko Hughes Kim Dickens

Mercury Rising is a police th riller film staring Bruce Willis as Art Jefferies, a renegade FBI agent who

wants this film desperately. I think they need it." Not this member of the audience!

I fee l that to enjoy this film you must be drugged up to the eyeballs with every drug imaginable and seeing as I was not I found it pathetic.

Perhaps the films' one redeeming feature is the quality of the acting, which is generally very good. How the actors kept a straight face whi le acting this trash is remarkable.

To be quite honest about the film, I just don't get the point due to the ompletely absurd nature of the fil ming. Much of the dialogue is incom prehensible gibberish! only hope that the so-called classic book is much better!

Paul Miller

takes it upon himself to protect the life of Simon , a nine year old autistic boy. Simon's crime is that he cracked the Mercury, the US government's new "unbreakable" encryption code. Now Simon posseses a national secu rity threat and so the programme chief Nick Kudrow orders the "security,threat' to be elimi nated.

This is not an original idea for a film and it contains - - - - - - - - - - , everything you wou ld expect from a Bruce Will is flick - guns, guns and the n a grand fina le with lots more guns! I found my mind wandering many times in the fil m -usua lly between the gun scenes- as the plot is flimsy and unfeasible.

Why filmmakers insist on keep producing films of such blatant mediocrity is beyond me. This is-the sort of mindless tedium that you won't even remember a month after viewing. Avoid this movie at all cost.

Paul Miller

THE EVENT, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 199 9

WIN! WIN! WIN! Here at The Event we like to keep you, well supplied with all sorts of nice free things. Well, this issue we've a treat for all you people sick of the massive . Hollywood blockbusters that thunder through our cinema's. On October 1 VCI/ Feature Film release a range of videos entitled American Independence 11. We 've got hold of three films from the series; Schizopolis, Eye of God, and Four Little Girls.

Eye of God is a challenging examination of the dangers of religious fanatacism , Schizopolis a tale of pre-millenial tension, and finally Four Little Giris is Spike Lee's telling of a racist bom b attack that killed four small children.

All you have to do to win these three films is to answer the following question:

What was the title of Spike Lee 's first feature film?

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mark thomas product

disclosure

channel four tuesday, september 28 tuesday, october 5 23:05

frlday , september 24 21:00

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Despite receiving a censure from the Independent Television Comiss1on over an episode concerning

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lottery fundmg, the establishment-batmg comed1an is back. Highlights of the last senes included people suffering from chron1c pain sparking up pretend JOints in front of Home Secretary Jack Straw and the trapping of a high level lndones1an diplomat in the UK. Unlike many satirists who attack the1 r subjects from the safety of a TV studio or stage, Thomas follows in the vein of Brass Eye by confronting those he sees as wrongdoers face to face.

This confrontational style stems from Thomas' left wing views, which make his comedy so much more challenging than the more middle of the road comics such as Rory Bremner. Indeed, one of his heroes was the Commun1st com1c Bob Boyton , who Thomas recalls as say1ng that "He thought that football wasn't the sport for the proletanat. it was motor rac1ng because you s1t on the grass w1th a beer and a picnic and hopefully get to see some posh bloke burn to death. I knew I was a fan Instantly!"

Mark has set h1s s1ghts on Jeffrey Archer, but as yet has fa1led to find any substantial ev1dence to use aga1nst h1m. All th1s could change, though, as the show IS recorded only a short wh1le before broadcast, so make sure you tune m to (hopefully) see the Tory Jester and D1ck Wh1tt1ngton wannabe get n1cely stewed.

Michael Crichton's bank account expanded by several megatons with th1s film adaptation of h1s best seller of the same title. Disclosure is based on an 1nterestmg prem1se - that 1t IS not only men who are capable of sexual harassment. Demi Moore plays a high-powered business exec who attempts to seduce her male colleague Tom Sanders (Michael Douglas). He spurns her amorous advances, but in revenge she accuses him of harassment, and sues.

During the ensuing court case Sanders threatens a proposed merger between the h1 tech software

company that he and his would be seductress work for, and finds himself increasingly isolated as his friends desert him.

This allows the plot to develop beyond the mitial sexual harassment theme to bring in Cnchton's pet interests in virtual reality and high technology.

Neither Moore nor Douglas are regarded as the greatest talents in their profession, but in Disclosure they perform to the best of their abilities, with Moore perfect as the sultry boss and Douglas challenging as the man whose world collapses around him. A superb film.

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the hip hop years

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channel four thursday, september 23 23:00 Nowadays, of course, we all know hip-hop as a mult1-m1111on squ1d 1ndustry that's known worldwide.

But that wasn 't always the case, as th1s three part senes shows. Ton1ght IS the first programme m the senes, wh1ch charts the development of hip hop from 1ts humble ongins on the streets of black Amenca's urban ghettos to its current status as a

multi tentacled global business that manages to 1nnuence contemporary fash1on, art and film.

Among the contnbutors are such key figures as Grandmaster Flash, Ice T, Afnka Bambaata and Run DMC. Watch th1s programme and you too w111 be able to use such words as '1llin' and 'fly' with complete panache. Maybe.

ITV

thursday, september 23 22:00 The third and final 1nstallment of th1s documentary covers the closmg penod of the war. and the Allies ' hard path to v1ctory. Narrated by John Thaw (better known as Inspector Morse). 1t features the D-Day landmgs, the surrender of the German and Japanese governments, and probably most hornfic of all, the conditions 1n the Naz1 death camps.

Prev1ously most of the war footage our generat1on has been able to see was 1n black and white. Th1s made the war seem as someth1ng that happened a long t1me ago, that was far removed from our sophisticated, supposedly civ111sed late Twentieth Century secunty. The colour footage makes the war

seem far more real to a modern generation used to the h1gh quality visuals of multi media expenence.

Some of the resulting p1ctures are extremely mov1ng; H1t1er s1ttmg 1n a su1t dnnk1ng tea 1s m some ways even more disturbing than H1tler the screammg fanat1c on the black and white footage of Nuremberg. The 1ncred1ble footage 1s supplemented by the use of letters and d1ary extracts form those who were Involved m the conn1ct, creating some un1que and compelling wartime footage. Okay, so th1s 1sn't exactly fun party v1ewmg, but th1s has so far been a gripping series that is well worth watch1ng. Not JUSt for history students.

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it's a knockout c5 frlday, september 24 frlday, october, 01 20:00 it was nubbish the first time round, yet the lack of new ideas from TV bosses means that Channel 5, that bastion of quality television entertainment, have brought back the masterpiece that defined the Seventies, lt 's a Knockout.

This time round however you get the delight of watching Keith 'Chegger's' Chegwin prance around dressed up as a chicken, giant penguin or whatever else was left around in the wardrobe department from last years' Christmas Panto while_attempting to compere the whole event.

Cheggers is ideally suited to this kind of of budget nonsense with a career that has encompassed such treats as ... well ,as a child he did star in Roman

Polanski's Macbeth. But since then the alcoholism has really been the only Interesting career move.

And if that wasn't enough the great British boxing loser, Frank Bnuno is on hand to referee. Wh1le we all hoped that the comedy gunk1ng of members of the public or C list celebrities was over with the scrapping of Noel 's house party, you can be rest assured that lt's a Knockout will continue in these fine traditions. Still if you don't mind a bit of unchallenging TV, then this could be the choice for you.

And the programmers have even given it the same time slot it used to have all those years ago to add to the authenticity of the show.

~event)

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hilary and jackie Wednesday, September 22, 14 :30 The troubled l1fe of cellist Jacquellne Du Pre (played

by Em1ly Watson ), seen through tl1e eyes of her s1ster, who as you may have guessed from the title, is called H1lary. all about my mother Wednesday, September 22, 17:45; Thursday, September 23, 14:30 and 17:45.

Spanish director Almodovar returns to the screen with the story of Manuela (Cecilia Roth) who searches for her son's estranged father after the former is killed in an accident. Melodramatic but mtriguing. cookie 's fortune Wednesday, September 22; Thursday, September 23 at 20:15 A comedy set in Mississ1ppi starring Uv Tyler, Glen Close and Chris O'Donnell, Cookie's Fortune is about a murder in the small town of Holly Springs wh ich affects all its Inhabitants. jean de florette Friday, September 24; Saturday, September 25; Monday 27 September 17:45; Tuesday, September 28, 14:30 and 20:15; Wednesday, September 29 and Thursday, September 30, 20:15.

Most French films feature Gerard Depardieu and this is no exception. He plays Jean, a tax collector who retires to a farm he's inherited in Provence, only for his plotting neighbours to spoil it all. existenz Friday, September 24, 23:15 David Cronenberg's latest creepy fi lm gets another airing. Jennifer Jason Leigh and Jude Law are a cou ple involved in a vi rtual reality computer game that gets a bit too realistic for comfort .. . manon des sources Friday, September 24, Saturday, September 23, 20: 15; Monday, September 27 , 20:15; Tuesday, September 28, Wednesday, September 29 and Thu rsday, September 30, 1 7:45; also Thursday, September 30 , 14:30.

The sequel to Jean de Florette (see above), in which his daughter (played by Emmanuel/e Beart) retu rns anonymously to the farm to wrea k vengeance on the villagers. The beautiful southern French summer contrasts vividly with the villager's mysterious illness that follows . the lady vanishes Sund ay, September 26, 17:00 Classic Hitchcoc k mystery, centring on the mysterious disappearance of an elderly woman on a tra in. No one except one acqua intance believes she ever existed.

saboteur Sunday, September 26, 20:15 Another H1tchcock film, and h1s first contribution to Amencan wart1me propaganda. A factory worker is wrongfully accused of murder and sabotage, and flees across the country 1n search of the real · culpnts. an ideal husband Wednesday, September 29, 14:30 A new version of Oscar Wilde's comedy, in which a womaniser has to change his ways when he helps a li fe long friend. Stars Rupert Everett, Min nie Driver and Cate Blanchett. t he debt collect or Friday, October 1, Saturday, October 2 and Monday, October 4, 17:45; Tuesday, October 5, 20: 1 5 With Billy Connolly in a distinctly un-comic role, this is a grim, misogynistic drama about a policeman whose refusal to accept that one time hard man Connolly has reformed leads to a bloody showdown. place vendome Friday, October 1 , Saturday, October 2 and Monday, October 4, 20: 15; Tuesday, October 5, Wednesday, October 6 and Th ursday, October 7, 17:45.

Catherine Deneuve is a recent widow who, upon finding her late husband 's stash of diamonds, is drawn into a web of intrigue where she has to struggle for her own survival. Gripping and suspense fi lled thriller. silent Shakespeare Sunday, October 3, 19:30 A trip le bill with piano accompaniment, with silent versions of Shakespeare adaptations. These are King John (1899), Princess Hamlet (1920), and Othello (1922). The latter are two German classics fro m the silent era. celebrity Friday, October 1, 23:15 Woody Alien's latest offering is a meditation on the wei rd and insecure world of the famous , featuring an all star cast that includes Melanie Griffi th, Kenneth Branagh, and Leonardo Di Caprio whom we all love · don' t we? ten things i hate about you Saturday, October 2, 14 :30 Shakespeare's The Taming Of The Shrew gets a 90 's twist. The battle of wi lls between Katanna and Patrick is set against the background of an American high school. farewell my lovely Sunday, October 3 , 1 7:00 A classic slice of 1940's fi lm noir, with expressionistic touches. A tough private eye is on the search for an ex-convict' s girlfrien d.

shakespeare in love Thursday, September 30 Our Gwyn dons a bloke's clothes in order to seduce Joseph Fiennes. Strange gi rl. A romantic comedy which those of you who've read the plays will appreciate most. Still, this won Oscars, so it's worth seeing.

Smm Friday, October 1 Nicholas Cage as a private investigator in a dark an d unsettling piece of fil m noir. Cage fi nds a snu ff movie in the belongings of a dead businessman, and it all goes awry from there. doberman Monday, October 4, back ba r A fine film from the so-ca lled French Tarantino, with more than a soup11on of violence. jackie brown Tuesday, October 5 And here's the Ameri can Tarantino. Jackie Brown is,

by Tarantino standards, a sensitive and unviolent film about Jackie's attempt to foil the underworld (pl ayed by a suitably scary Samuel L. Jackson) and musings on ageing, romance and women that you wou ldn't rea lly expect from the director of Reservoir Dogs.

@@l@@:TIJ the general 's daughter A military th emed who du nnit starring John Travolta as a CID investigator called in after General Campbell's beautiful daughter, Elisabeth is horribly murdered in Fort MacCallu m, Georgia. The motive is uncl ear and the suspects are many, and Travolta has his work cut out. eyes wide shut Does this need an in troduction?, I hear you ask.

Yes, well this is Kubrick's last film , the much talked about adapta tion of Austrian Arthur Schnitzler's

st ar wars · episode one Hmm, yes I think we all know about th1s one too.

The first episode, featuring Darth Vader in cute small boy shocker, this is worth seeing if only for Queen Amidala's silly hairstyles and Ewan McGregor's risible attempt at an Alec Guinness accent south park · the movie A mordant satire of modern America , with lots of added swearing and flatulence jokes. Terrence and Phillip's new fil m corrupts the (sweet, innocent) child ren of South Park so badly that war has to be declared on Canada. And Kenny takes his hood off!

Nice singing too.

ravenous A darkly humorous tale of cannibalism in a distant outpost of 1 9th centu ry America, sta rring Robert Carlyle and Guy Pierce, fondly remembered as Mike from Neighbours .

The soundtrack's by Damon Al barn, and the ending is one of the most brutal in cinematic history. go Three sets of characters collide on a weekend to Los Ange les, with catastrophic consequences.

Drugs, threesomes, and burning hotels all feature in this film, which is structured rather like Pulp Fiction, only '-":ith a less exoti c cast. drop dead gorgeous A pseudo-documentary about a Midwest beauty pageant whose entrants want to win by any means necessary, even if they have to kill each other to get there.

Kirsten Dunst is the likeable one, Denise Richards th e spoilt nasty on e. Blackly humorous with a sizeable helping of bad taste. thomas crown affair Remake of the 1968 fi lm, this time with the debonair Pierce Brosnan in the lead role as a playboy tu rned art thi ef. The Thomas Crown Affair has been compared to Out of Sigh t an d is defi nitely a pi ece of stylish cin ematic viewing. star wars · episode one You know all about this one. Is Jar-Jar Sinks a racist ca rica ture or merely annoyi ng?

How can Anakin Skywalker's mother not know how her son was conceived? So many questions, sti ll time to go and see this summer's most talkedabout films.

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Despite the short and uninviting title, Go is the story of three different nights out by th ree different groups of people that end up converging on one another a la Pulp Fiction . They're all young, they're all intent on having a wild weekend (i n Las Vegas and Los Angeles) and they all end up in trou ble, pursued by

•

arlington road Tuesday, September 28 Do you really know what your neighbours are like?

Jeff Bridges stars as the wholesome American suburbanite whose FB I wife was murdered by extremists. Then he meets a charming couple who aren't all they seem and it al l gets a bit disturbing.

You'll never trust your neighbours again.

Traumnovelle, starring Tom Cru1se and Nicole Kidman as the couple whose passion for one another leads to all manner of interesting how's your father. Does it live up to the hype? You'll have to watch it...

sout h park: bigger, longer, uncut

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out of sight Sunday, September 26 George Clooney casts aside his white coat to play an escaped bank robber who wins over Jennifer Lopez. One problem · she's a police detective. A sophisticated crime story with touc hes of humour.

angry gunmen before emerging dazed into the next morning. Director Uman has clearly been watching his Tarantino fi lms but th is is no bad thing. This pleasingly amoral fil m features supermarkets, drug dealing and a subtitled conversation with a cat.

Wha t more cou ld you wish for?

THE EVENT, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1999

According to creator Matt Stone, you could say this film "is about the struggle for basic inalienable freedoms in the face of oppression, but you'd sound like a jerk. " And he's right. Whether you 'll like this depends on wheth er you're a fan of the TV series, but assuming you are this could be one of the

funniest fi lms you 'll see in along while . Appalled by the language their chi ldren have picked up from Canadia n TV stars Terrance an d Phi llip, the good mothers of South Park start a movement to declare war on Canada. Winona Ryder does strange things with golf balls, and loads of people swea r. Great, eh?

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~even" wednesday: @®rn§®ITITDIID®U' ~~ welcome disco LCR This is where UEA says hello to you the freshers with your very own disco. Admission with wristband only. Arrive early as capacity is limited. If the weather's good, i.e., not pouring down like it has been so far, there'll be a live band in the Square too.

20:30 - 23:30 superfly mojo's Seventies grooves and funk all night long at this enduringly successful club night. idlewild waterfront They're idle and they're wi ld, they like thei r guitars LOUD and they're playing here to promote their next single. £8 advance shang a lang theatre royal A comedy about three women who live 1t up at a Glam rock revival at, of all places, Butllns. This contains language, behaviour and clothing that might be considered offens1ve. You have been warned!

14:30 and 19:30 £3- £16 bouncy house and baleraic beats liquid Come large it at Liquid for some lbiza-esque clubbing fun, innit. lair strangers hall museum A photographic exhibition by Hilary Kneale, depicting free standing images of chairs, emphasising the chair's links with the human form. Runs until September 28. girl of the week hy's Hmm, not sure what that's all about, but 1t's 'legendary' apparently. £1, happy hour 0:00 • 0 1:00 rammed ikon Cheap and cheerful With lots of retro tunes. Pints are 80p, everything else is £1. 20 £1 admission B4 23:30 with discount ticket. pure swing manhattan's Uplifting swing for the people of Norwich.

21:00 · 2:00 FREE

thursday: @@[ID~®ITITD[~X~U' ~~ ticket bonanza! box office, union house, 9am Th1s mormng is your only chance to get a ticket for that phenomenon known as the first LCR. Arrive very early to avoid disappointment. Also on sale will be a limited number of tickets for James and Faithless. fresher's fair Lots of companies gather in the LCR to ply their wares. Banks, supermarkets, insurance, you name it, it's here.

10:00 . 16:00

happened at it, tends to be a conversation piece for days afterwards. £2.75 21:00 • 02:00 in the city waterfront lndie and alternative night for those who can't face the above. Free buses from UEA. £2 .75 advance, £3 on door 22:00 . 02:00 in the mix mojos An enticing mixture of trance, techno and house, made even more attractive by the offer of cheap drink.

Free B4 00:00 ricks place club night Chart h1ts and party tunes all n1ght.

Free for NUS 21:00 . 02:00 charty handbaggy the loft Long running and popular gay n1ght. £3/£4 loose changes norwich arts centre Jazz is, well, niiice, and this sextet present a m1xture of jazz funk and older anthems. £2/£1.50

friday: @®rg§®ITITDIID®U' ~~

rick's place club night Dance music, plus more commercial stuff. And Carling is 99p.

Free B4 23:00 or with a flyer, otherwise £2. shang a lang theatre royal See Wednesday, September 22 19:30

tfi MOJOS Celebrate Saturday with a mixture of music shang a lang theatre royal See Wednesday, September 22.

14:30 and 19:30 dance club manhattan's Come and dance to a very late hour indeed.

21:00 • 04:00

saturday: ®®rn§®ITITDIID®U' ~~ meltdown waterfront Be not afraid, 1ndie kids, for tonight is your night for dancing. Top guitar music from this decade and beyond, plus r&b and 60's soul upstairs in the studio.

22:00 • 02:00 £3/£3.50

rick's place club night Dress smartly and come round to Rick's for some party music and hits. £3 B4 23:00, £6 after.

sunday: ®®@~®ITITDLb'J®U' ~@

re :fresh ikon Club anthems and h1ts, With regular guest DJs as a feature. £2 B4 22 :30 and free dnnk B4 23:00 with a ticket.

international club mojos Feel really cosmopolitan as you dance to music from here there and everywhere in the nightclub version of Andy Kershaw's Radio One show. £2 non members

miss moneypenny's LCR Popular club n1ght returns, featunng acts such as Smokin' Joe, Charlotte Birch and more.

21:00 . 02:00 £8 SU advance pnce

sunday service manhattan's For all of you who can't bear to wait until next weekend for some more dancing, Manhattan's hold this house night every Sunday evening.

20:00 · 02:00 FREE

satisfaction hys House and sw~ng, that's the thing. I'm a poet, now you know it. £4 B4 23:00, £5 after.

soc mart LCR This is your chance to see what UEA has to offer in terms of societ1es and spend loads of money JOining ones you never go to. Concrete's free to join, by the way.

11:30 • 15:30

extra smooth sunday upstairs, the garden house what better way could there be to wind down at the end of the weekend than with some fine quality • drum & bass, h1p · hop and live instrumentation.

FREE

Sunday 24th Oct, 7.30pm Prices: £3, £11 , £12 NORWICH

you're havin' a larff!

LCR Well, you will be when you see this. Comedy with Geoff Green, Richard Morton and others. Top flight entertainment.

20:00 £3. 50 SU price whamtastic SO's mojos As the name suggests, a night of 80s tunes where a double vodka costs but a mere £1.50. Free B4 23:30 the kitchen waterfront A night of drum & bass breakbeat and hard house from the likes of CJ, Dr Tonic and Vodka 22:00 . 06:00 £11/£9 NUS advance, more on door lunchtime concert St. Peter Mancroft How about some organ music, as played by George Parsons, more normally to be found in Wells Cathedral?

13:10 £3/£4

70's night hys Seventies grooves for the nineties. £2

gorgeous manhatten's Happy house club night tonight.

21:00 . 04:00 £5

shang a lang theatre royal See Wednesday, September 22.

19:30

elite ikon Chart music and fun at Ikon tonight. £2 B4 23:00 plus a free drink if you have a ticket.

LCR disco We 'll explain it here for once and all. Th1s is the weekly student d1sco, full of drunk people, sticky floors and all your favounte hits. The LCR, and what

hy times hys Thank goodness it's Fnday, that's what I say. £3

Special Offer:

Theatre Street Norwich NR2 1RL

£5 off top two prices {Just present this voucher at the time of booking to claim discount. Maximum of two tickets per purchase.

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~event) monday: ~®IW11®[iffi)@®U' ?{,{} posturing at the door and dance yourself knackered .

22:00 - 02:00 £4 before 23:00, £4.50 after.

sanctuary ikon Ikon 's popular student night, with discounted drinks and a variety of music. A Club 18 - 30 holiday is being given away each week for the next four weeks. .

Free 84 22:00, a free drink 84 23:00 with a ticket.

tess of the d'urbevilles THEATRE ROYAL See Tuesday, September 28.

19:30

underground mojos Lo-fi and indie night.

22:00 - 02:00 £3

superfly mojos Dig out those groovy threads and get on down to some great funky grooves. rammed ikon Lots of retro tunes, with 70's, 80's and 90's classics. 80p a pint too. £1 B4 23:30 with discount ticket 10pm- 2am

carwash liquid Seventies disco night. Dress in appropriately retro clothes and you get in free Otherwise £3.

tuesday:

bouncy house and balearic beats liquid Relive any Ibiza experi ences you may have here at Liquid tonight.

~®[g)11®[iffi)@@[[ ~@ slinky hys Hys' very own student night, with half price drinks all night.

Free with student ID, otherwise £1

magoo + support norwich arts centre A visit from pop experimentalists Magoo playing material from their thi rd album. £4 advance/ £5 door

live in the hive the hive, union house A free night of entertainment conveniently situated on campus, featuring Queen tribute, The Royal Family. Special drinks promotions - keep your eyes peeled.

pure swing manhattan's lt don 't mean a thing, if it ain't got that swing 21:00 - 02:00 FREE

thursday:

tess of the d'urbervilles theatre royal Musical adaptation of Thomas Hardy's well-known novel on tour before its first West End premier later this year.

19:30 £3-£17

~® [g)11®[iffi)@@[[ ~@ A + dog eat dog waterfront Lock away you r grandmothers, these shouty young bands may damage their hearing aids. You however, may enjoy jumping about in the moshpit. £7.50 advance

student night liquid Very popular student night out, Drinks £1.

Free B4 23:00 with UEA card.

tess of the d'urbevilles theatre royal See Tuesday, September 28 14:30

wednesday: ~®[W11®[iffi)@@[[ ~®

in the mix mojos Some trance, some techno and some house, lovingly mixed together with a few drinks offers.

Free 84 00:00

prophet waterfront studio bar Yes folks, Prophet returns to impress us once more with drum & bass, jungle and breakbeat. Leave your

rick's place club Commercial hits and party tunes here tonight.

Drinks are £1 all night.

Free to NUS. 21:30 - 02:00 charty handbaggy the loft Popular gay night. £3/£4 enjoy maddermarket theatre A witty comedy from the author of TV's Talking Heads, Alan Ben nett, offering lacerating jibes at such diverse matters as town planning, nostalgia and the generation gap. Runs until Oct ober 9.

19:30 £4- £6.50

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19 :00 gorgeous rnanhattan 's Happy house club night 21:00 - 04:00 £5

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the thatcher years waterfront A little bit retro this one. Eighties hits in the main room, with 60s and 70s nostalgia upstairs in the studio.

22:00 - 02:00 £3/£3.50/£4 norfolk and norwich festival fringe launch party boswells · This year bigger and more diverse than ever before The Fringe Festival kicks off tonight, with sets from Mysterio and other DJs. 20:00 - 02:00 £2 84 11prn, £3 after whamtastic SO's rnojos More 80's excitement in a different part of town, with cheap vodka. Take a brick, pretend it's a phone.

Free B4 23:00 tess· of the d'urbevilles theatre royal See Tuesday, September 28 19:30

sonic perfection all nighter fat pauly's Spectacular garage and house, courtesy of Flight FM DJs, as part of the Norfolk and Norwich Fringe Festival.

22:00- 06:00 £10 meltdown waterfront 'lndie hits'; the term contradicts itself but this is the Waterfront's popular indie night, with rock, hip-hop and metal upstairs. tess of the d'urbevilles theatre royal See Tuesday, September 28 14:30 re:fresh ikon Club anthems and top tunes, with regular guests to include DJs and chart acts. £2 B4 22:30, with a free drink 84 23:00 with ticket.

TFI rnojos Wahey! it's Saturday' Come celebrate this once a week phenomenon at Mojos with a mixture of music.

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elite ikon A busy party night to start off the weekend, with chart and party favourites. £2 B4 23:00 and a free drink 84 23:00 with a ticket.

saturday:

bjorn again LCR No introduction needed really, these AB8A impersonators are returning to their usual haunt for another gig. You are the dancing queen. Honest you are. £11.50 advance

~ breakbeat era

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rick's place club night More top chart tunes. Plus, Carling's only 99p!

Free B4 23:00 /with flyer, otherwise £2

bass, choosing to rely on live instrumentation rather than lots of very expensive computers with his first project, Reprazent. This was recognized by the winning of the Mercury Music prize in 1997, and our Roni became a favourite of the chattering classes Following the release of their debut album, his brand new project 8reakbeat Era hit Norwich with their own completely unique brand of drum & bass. They also feature Reprazent's major player DJ Die, a reason in itself for seeing them. But what makes them stand out from the crowd is voca list Lennie Laws, whose maverick and searing voca ls give 8reakbeat Era a presence and identity that other dance acts would sell their grandmothers for. By the way, Lennie recently told mus1c magazine Flipside that she once travelled around the south of England in a caravan. Not that that's got anyth1ng to do with the music. Just though you'd like to know.

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THE EVENT, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1999

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The acclaimed Northern Ballet Theatre appear with a modern version of Bizet's opera about Carmen , the gypsy girl. The original story was set in the 1870s, but the NBT have given the story a contemporary setting in the murkiest depths of criminal underworld.

Carmen is beautiful and dangerously seductive, and her passion leads to violence, ending in tragedy.

Bizet's score captures the characters' emotions vividly, underscoring the complex relationships within the story.

Choreographed by Didy Veldman, this story of fatal attraction provides a perfect showcase for the NBT's dancers. Carmen runs until Saturday, October 9.

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rick's place club night Smart dress tonight for some chart pop and club anthems. £3 B4 11pm, £6 after.

21:30- 02:00

oysterband waterfront Oysterband hit the Waterfront and play some pearls (oh, it's the way I tell them, really it is) of folk melodies for your delectation . £8.50 advance

enjoy maddermarket market See Thursday, September 30.

14:30, 19:30

polak + twist + farrah norwich arts centre If you fancy something more lively, however, come to the Arts Centre where Polak, containing not one but two ex-Adorable members are playing ably supported by punksters Twist and power poppers Farrah as part of the Fringe Festival. £4 advance, £5 door

dance club manhattan's I th ink the title is pretty self-explanatory.

2"1:00 - 04:00

sunday @@~@!ID@[? @~ international club mojos Nothing to do on Sunday? Come, listen and dance to music from around the world instead of watching Songs Of Praise. sunday service manhattan's House night if you don't want to stay in your own house.

20:00 - 02:00 FREE

mon day

sanctuary ikon Ikon's popular weekly student night, with current chart and retro classics. A Club 18 - 30 holiday is being given away. Discounted drinks.

Free B4 22:00, plus free drink with ticket B4 23:00 carwash liquid Carwash was the cat on Will o' the Wisp, wasn't he?

Anyway, this is a seventies night. £3 enjoy maddermarket theatre See Thursday, September 30 19:30

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tuesday:

underground mojos lndie and lo-fi night 22:00 - 02:00

breakbeat era waterfront Roni Size's latest drum & bass project comes to

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Norwich. Be prepared for much flailing of limbs.

See not to be missed, facing page. £7.50 advance carmen theatre royal Northern Ballet Theatre present their adaptation of Bizet's opera, given a modern setting, in the underworld, where Carmen uses seduction to devastating effect. Runs until Saturday, October 9.

See not to be missed, facing page £4.50 - £23 19:30 student night liquid Cheap and popular student night. Get there early to avoid the queues.

Free with UEA card B4 23:00. Drinks £1. enjoy maddermarket theatre See Thursday, September 30 19:30 buster james band + the two timers norwich arts centre A blues spectacular, with Norfolk bluesman Buster James and the Two Timers, featuring ex Or Feelgood members, as part of the Fringe Festival. £7 advance, £.8 door.

Usting,s written and compiled by Darcy Hurford. All details correct at time of going to press

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fHE EVENT, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1999

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·+-

THE HIVE The cheap student night out!

Live In the Hive Is an exceptional series of

Free events every Tuesday night linked with unbeatable drinks prices at the barl Most events start at 21.30 and end around 00.30 but some times laterl

Tues TH

IN THE c·ITY

REE BUSES FROM UEA :-Ht R 23 SEPT 9-2 £2.75 ADV offyerface presents

TH KITc

HARD HOUSE FUNKY TECHNO&U'GROUND GARAGE JODY(WAY OUT WEST)•OFFYERFACE CREW •PERVEE POSSE.UV BODY ART•MORE LL NIGHTER 10-6 AM FRI 24 SEPT tllADV

M E LT 0 w N ;~~}E RUO~YS lNO I E/ALT DANCE & NEWPOP 0

FREE BUSES FROM UEA SAT

25 SEPT !0-2AM £3+UEA ID DO OR

BREAKBEAT ERA NEWDATETll.f l i SEPf= £7 . 50 ADV WED27

IN 'THE ST1)0IO

PROPHET

·• JUNGL£ /DRUMNBASS/HIP-HOP

WED 29 SEPT £3 DOOR : o-2 AM

A+DOG EAT DOG THCR 30 SE?T £7.5 0

BJORN AGAIN CLUB RETRO XLR8 D'&B' Club OJAMES 3 FAITHLESS STRANGLERS SHED7 SUPER FURRY ANIMALS JOE STRUMMER the mescaleros £1 24 ILLEGAL EAGL-=-...,__,, .. £ 7 ........... ,....... 26 CAST £11 27 BETH ORTON & Shack £8.50..

29 GARY MOORE £

& Imagination

SAT 2 OCT £3+UEA ID DOOR

0 YSTc~L ~1 c~ AN0 MON 4 OCT £8.50 AD

PLANNING APARTY?

THE WA~ERFR ONT STUD IO ( WITH 2A BAR\ CAN BE HIRED MI DWF.E AT ERY SP ECIAL RATE ~ ~ UEA Sr:JO ENT S. HO E FOR DETAIL S

2 hours of unforgiveable postur· ing and unforgettable songs. drinks promotion Vodka & Red Bull £1.30

OCTOBER

5 SISTER SLEDGE +BANGERS&MOSH

AMILY

28 fREE Sept The ultimate Queen tribute band.

NOVEMBER

M E L T 0 w N INDIE/AlT DANCE & NEWPOP

ROYAL

7 THE AUSTRALIA PINK FLOYD 12 PERFECTO ON

£1 13 JOOLS HOLLAND Mediaeval Baebes £14.50 14 EVERYTHING BUT THE GIRL £11 19 BUSH £10.50 21 MORRISSEY £17 27 BRAND NEW HEAVIES £16 Oakenfold & Dope Smugglaz

Tue

s

KA AOK

NI HT

FREE

Oct

Your chance for 3 minutes of fame and to exercise the old ton· sils to the tune of £1 00 for the best rendition of the night. drinks promotion Bud & Reef £1

Tues 70 UNK NI HT 12 FREE Following the Blaxploitation Oct movie at 9pm. Live music from funksters The Superfly Allstars supported by hip and groovy DJs spinning 70s disco hits and dodgy TV and movie themes like Starsky and Hutch. Dress appro· priately • strictly flares, plat· forms and Afros. drinks promotion Vodka & Solstice £1.30

----------------------

Tue R'N' OUL CLU FREE 19 Playing cool &sensuous sounds Oct like TLC, Lauryn Hill & The

Fugees etc plus silky live music from new contenders "Contempo". drinks promotion Raw Spirit £1

Tues There's a concert in the LCR but from 11 pm its fun and frolics in 28 the Hive with inflatable games.

Oct drinks promotion WKD & Smirnoff Mule £1

HVPNOTIIT AND MINDRIAD R

Tues P T R Z N N R 2 £2 Returns to zap you into the cos· Nov mos • be there and be amazed.

This is a ticketed event, strictly UEA SU only, £2 or buy with a Carnival of the Bizarre ticket for the following night for just £5! drinks promotion V2 & Metz £1

Look out for the dedicated Live in the Hive noticeboard outside UH for more detailed information

---------------------.Every Thursday The legeendary

£2.7 adv £3.00o.t.door Tickets for Sept 23 go on sale 10a.m. on the day