The Event - Issue 127 - 19 September 2001

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Wednesday, September 19, 2001

Plus: Lostprophets Interviewed Autumn Movies Previewed Mercury Music Prize Reviewed

During the day, Cafe style dining serving anything from cheese on toast to pot roasted knuckle of lamb MONDAY NIGHTS

70s pre-wash free entry and no queuin Wash party at Liquid n club

:&:", ...__

4 Bottles 4 a fiver Choose from a selection of oleopops and beers

TUESDAY NIGHTS

Student night Old skool dance with old skool prices ALL pints and bottles only £1 .50

Treble vodka and Red Bull only £3.99 WEDNESDAY NIGHTS

Shaken not Stirred with the best in soul and funk + two oleo shakes 4 the price of one

Picture: P J Harv ey, feat ured on pag es 09 and 15

The beginn i ng of the au t umn semester sees a new Event editor ial team, and a new look for the supplement. It has been cleaned up, dusted down and re - shaped for your enjoyment and perusal, so we

Inside:

Reviews:

03 Coffee Br eak

14 Al bu ms

Bit s from here and there: Norwich Fringe ; Habbo Hotel.· Quasi competition

04

'THURSDAY NIGHTS

Death to ...

Now t hat Melody Mak er and Select have gone. and the readership figures of Q and NME have fallen, The Event ta lks to several professional music journali st s about a c ri sis in the mdust ry .

Having a party?

Hire the beach bar for free

07

Lo s tprophet s Rising Nu-metal icons explain why Transformers was so Important

Cheese 'n' Choons With free entry and no queuing to the Ministry of Cheese at Liquid night club. Free shooter with every cocktail

Liv ewire UEA student rad1o announces the1r new schedule

08 Backstage at Reading Sex. drugs and rock' n'rol l? Not qu1 te ...

09 Mercury Music Pri ze The Event cha rt s the h1story of the highly-respected event

Enjoy a bottle of wine together with nachos and dips for only a fiver everyday 4-7pm

FRIDAY NIGHTS

Apres work party with DJ OTTS and more

SATURDAY NIGHTS

10 Al meida Theatre A rags to nches tale ...

Cine file

as Mr Chris James heats up the house with the best in chart and dance

No. 1 Farmers Avenue, Norwich Tel. 01603 765512

Charl at ans; Loui se; Gay Dad ; Mo Sol1d Guy

15 Si ngles PJ Harvey ; Root s Manuva; Deli rious?; Seafood

16 Fil m A ./.; The Cen tre Of Th e World; M oulm Rouge; Blood Simple

18

Vi deo Almost Famous; Antit rust ; M iss Congeniality; lnbetweeners

20 Arts West Side Story; Lama Sage; Alberta G1acometti: UEA Literary Festival

21 TV/Rad i o Bar Wars: Model Behaviour; Los Dos Bras; Essential Soaps

Listings: 22 Li s tings The best gu1de to what's on in Norwich. Ever.

Manhunter

11 Neighbour s The Event has a pmt with the soap's cast

Castle Rev ie w Tak1ng a look at the new. Improved. Castle Museum

12 Autumn Movi e Pr evie w lt's the Saturday Salsa

hope you li ke what you see.

Oh, and if you want to get involved with the paper then come see us at SocMa rt. or in the Concrete office (upstairs in Union House). Enjoy ...

An advanced peek at Ghost World, Apocalypse Now Redux. Jay and Silent Bob Stnke Back. The Others and Legally Blonde

The Knowledge Stev1e Wonder

13 Inquisitor Quas1

Editor-in-Chief · Adam Chapman • Editor · Markland Starkie • Arts Editor · Charlotte Ronalds • Rim Editor · Merek Cooper • Assistant Film Editor · Astrid Goldsmith Music Editor · Anthony Lovell • Assistant Music Editor · Kieren McSweeney • TV/ Radio Editor · Liz Hutchinson • Assistant TV/ Radio Editor · Gemma O'Donnell Thanks to · All Cif the above and below • Happy Birthday Liz! • Contributors · James Brown · Phil Colvin · James Goffin · Mo Grills · Luke Wright

The Event is published fortnightly by Concrete: Post: PO Box 410, Norwich, NR4 7TB Tel: 01603 250558 Fax: 01603 506822 E-mail: su.concrete@uea.ac.uk Printed by: Eastern Counties Newspapers, St Andrew's Business Park, Norwich

Coffee Break 03

Events: Norfolk and Norwich Fringe Festival When people hear the phrase 'Fringe festival' they automatically think of Edinburgh. What they don't realise is that Norwich has its own Fringe each year during the first two weeks of October. This is the third year of its running and features its strongest bill to date. Meaning that from September 28 to October 15, Norwich's many pubs, clubs and venues will be playing host to a large number of plays, comedians, authors and art exhibitions. The Fringe aims to provide greater affiliation in Norwich's cultural scene and create more community between its artistic movements. More practically it will place Norwich even more firmly on the Britain's cultural map and entice more of the top acts to perform here all year round.

A full programme of events is to be released soon and will be Of"'&:::rSo available free from shops, pubs and information centres around Norwich. For more information go to the Creative Luke Wrlght Writing Society stand at SocMart this Friday.

. w1n . w1n . w1n . w1n

. w1n . . . w1n w1n . w1n win win . . . w1n w1n w1n . . . w1n w1n w1n

w1n . w1n . w1n . w1n

Competition: and

Cyberspace Oddity: Habbo Hotel If you are ever stuck in the 24 hour computer centre with an essay to write or something equally time consuming, you might want to have a look around this website. Habbo Hotel is essentially a chat room but with a couple of basic differences: it's actually good and it's not inhabited by terminal losers.

Instead of a list of names scrolling up and down your screen, like in most chat rooms, the creators of the site have painstakingly produced an entire 3D world, around which you can wonder 'ti l your heart 's content, meeting other people doing the same thing along the way. Aesthetically, Habbo Hotel is very pleasing; a polished cartoon world full of trendy-looking 'toon kids. The best thing about it, though, is the ability to create your own character ... okay, I admit it. I am a terminal loser.

lndle pop rockers and Elllot Smith collaborators, Quasi (Inter· viewed on page 13) have recently released their fifth album, The Sword Of God. To celebrate Its launch their lovely record company have sent us three copies of the album to give away.

To win one just answer the following difficult question: Q. Who have Quasi collaborated with?

Answers should be put Into the Concrete competition box, located near the reception desk In Union House (or emall us at su.concrete@uea.ac.uk) with your name, phone number or emall address and favourite colour.

http://-.habbohotel.com/

Have you ever thought of joining the Territorial Army?

• Get paid around £28 pounds a day and earn an annual bonus • The opportunity to travel abroad • Develop personal and leadership skills • Help to gain your driving licence • Challenge and adventure - have some serious fun!

TO FIND OUT MORE VISIT OUR WEBSITE [·~, www.reserve-forces-anglia.org OR CALL 0845 603 3232 s~ rH~s; Wednesday. September 19. 2001

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Select, Melody Maker and Kingsize have all gone. 0 is cutting its staff. The NME's circulation is falling. Is the music magazine industry i crisis?

Text: Anthony Lovell

FESTIVAL MAYHEM! 1\r!ebwerth 01 The Big O!i

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Creamflelc!s Gig On The Gree:

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05 oes anyone remember Britpop? There was al golden age for the mllsic press. High sales for all of the mainstream music magazines, as stars like The Charlatans and James stared from their covers. As the so-called "war" between Oasis and Blur escalated, it was as much a battle fought on the news pages of the NME and Melody Maker as it was from the stages upon which the bands were performing. Controversy sold copies, and this was a time when the most outspoken band was king. Give the people what they want, and they will buy your paper.

Fast forward to the 21st century. How the circulations have fallen. Indeed, three magazines (two of them established, one very new) have ceased to exist entirely. But for some publications, this is boom time. Kerrang! and Mojo are enjoying hefty increases in their sales. Whilst it doesn't take a genius to work out that the rise of nu-metal has been responsible for Kerrang!'s popularity, the mystery of why long-standing magazines like Select and Melody Maker have folded, along with a new venture like Kingsize perhaps takes a little more explaining. Daniel 31, editor of about-to-be released music and fashion magazine Disorder, is critical of the powers which control the magazines. "I PC [publishers of Select] are going through a bit of a spring clean, it seems to me. it's the same as Melody Maker; they don't seem willing to try any more. lt seems like once the circulation starts to spiral, rather than put it right, they try a few cheap tricks. With Melody Maker, they made it a glossy. lt was cheaper for them to fold those magazines and start something else."

A reasonable suggestion. However, Paul Stokes, a freelance journalist and a Select writer at the time it folded is able to shed a bit more light upon its demise: "The official explanation which was given to us when we were folded was basically due to a piece of market research. lt said that we were basically irredeemably associated with Britpop and it didn't matter what we tried to deal with. When you took it to customers and asked what they

"The NME has lost sight of what people really want • • • they worry too much about advertising revenue and not enough about what people want to read" - Daniel 31, Editor of Disorder done before. For some reason Kingsize didn 't."

Luke obviously is not convinced that Kingsize was given a fair crack of the whip, although he quickly gives a convincing reason for its closure: "EMAP is a big multi-national company, and if they have various reasons-why they have to cut back money, then they're not so into publishing magazines. They're more into profit". However, this still doesn't explai~ why Kingsize didn't sell sufficient copies to warrant its retention. lt was intended as a blend of music and lifestyle, and Daniel 31 of Disorder has a suggestion as to why this could have counted against them, saying that, "lt seemed to me that they never knew what market they were aiming at."

Perhaps he's on to something here. Is it a coincidence that the magazines that are struggling, or have folded, are the ones that either include lifestyle and fashion within their pages (such as King size), or try to cover several different genres of music (such as Q, NME, and Melody Maker)? Whilst they struggle, the more specialist and focused magazines, such as Kerrang!, Mojo, Muztk and Mixmag are thriving. All three interviewees have things to say about this suggestion, and in particular the magazines which are having problems. Luke Turner is [n favour of the inclusion of fashion and lifestyle, saying "I think that it could be a strength for music magazines to put some fashion in and get people reading in that way."

Daniel is less convinced, somewhat surprisingly as his new venture is split 50/50 between music and fashion, with the emphasis (as he puts it) "on stuff people can actually afford", and "Bjork and Garbage, unsigned bands like Simian, all the way through to Muse". "At the same time," he says, "if there are bands who we don't think deserve the good press that they are getting, we'll get them in ourselves and ask them questions ourselves." But on the

suppose that's probably it". Similarly, none of the three are willing to put the NME's falling circulation down to its writing. In their view, it's far more likely to be a form of identity crisis. Luke thinks that the NME is still ·very aimed at their core 16 year-old readership". whilst Daniel thinks that "they've lost sight of what people really want. I think that they worry too much about advertising revenue, and not enough about what people want to read".

Perhaps this is due to their new owners being a huge corporation (AOL/Time Warner) and the NME being worried about going the same way as Select and Kingsize and being dropped.

Advertising revenue would be one of the ways in which the NME would be able to make money despite their circulation falling. Paul is slightly more verbose on the matter: "the NME is having an identity crisis. Its trouble is that it's not sure if it should chase the mainstream, or battle through."

But surely the NME, with its pride in writing about and promoting the "next big things" shouldn't need to chase the mainstream mar· ket if the bands that it puts on the cover every week excited enough people into buying it? Is the NME a victim of simply picking out bands with only limited appeal? Paul thinks that this is a genuine possibility. "A lot depends upon what's in vogue. Bands fall in and out of favour. The NME's core constituent of bands that make people excited is waning." Clearly the answer to the NME's problems is to find a genuinely new and exciting band that will not only crack the mainstream market, but will also come up with enough controversy week in, week out to sell a serious amount of copies.

As Paul Stokes says, there is at the moment a serious downturn in the magazine market, and it is affecting old and new titles alike. I would

certainly think it correct to assume that the popularity currently enjoyed by rock, punk and nu-metal is responsible for Kerrang!'s ascendancy, whilst the enduring appeal of clubbing accounts for Mixmag·s rise.

But there is a common strand running through the problem papers and the magazines missing in action. They are all being forced into becoming more profit and sales based by their publishers. Select and Melody Maker went because their publishing company was forced to cut their losses, and axed them regardless of the quality of writing and the changes which both had undergone. Kingsize was clearly expected to be an immediate success, and for the publishers to fold it after four issues is unfair. A fair period of time. which would have meant giving it a year at least, could have seen it find a niche. Daniel 31's comments about the NME being worried "too much about advertising revenue" have a definite ring of realistic thinking about them. In a very competitive market, magazines have to maintain their sales and keep their financial incomes high. lt could be construed that fashion and lifestyle could make or break a music magazine, but ultimately the problems that are being experienced in the industry are financial. With so many magazines now being owned by large media groups, all fighting to promote their titles, the view amongst media moguls is surely that there is no room for dead wood. it's a ruthless world, the publishing business. Which music title will be next to go?

If you would like to contribute an article to Disorder, please send your work to: dlsorder.lnfo@talk21.com -The first Issue will be out on September 27

"That was the reason we [Select] were folded. The name had become an albatross" - Paul Stokes, Freelance Journalist thought, they would read it and think it was great, but when told it was Select and asked if they would buy it, they would be like, 'oh no, that's all about Oasis, I'm not interested in that.' That was the reason we were told. The name had become an albatross." Official explanations are all very well though. Paul is cagey when pressed about whether he thought this was the truth: "I don't know. I don't think we were given quite the fighting chance we might have had. Our marketing budget was largely spent on a cover mounted CD, so there were no posters. it's quite expensive to market a magazine properly, but perhaps if that had happened, and people were aware it had changed, we'd have had more of a chance. They didn't tell anyone it had changed, so everybody assumed it was still the Brit pop bible." Of the magazine's publishers, he is terse: "it's money, and they had to cut their losses somewhere". it's certainly worth noting that Paul believes there is a "fairly large downturn in the magazine sector generally". lt could well be the case that Select was a victim of its own mid90s success to the extent that its name became tied to a dead genre. But then why should a new venture such as Kingsize, a magazine that dealt with such things as nu-metal, hip-hop, and their associated cultures (skateboarding for instance), fail after only a few issues? After all, its subject matter has rarel~ enjoyed such popularity and mainstream recognition. Luke Turner was a contributor to Kingsize, and he is as surprised as anyone. "lt seems quite strange. They were hyping it as a kind of grown-up Kerrang!, but they changed everything around every issue. it 's very odd closing it, because EMAP (King size's publishers] didn't really give it a chance to get going. lt seemed odd that it didn't do very well I because Kerrang/'s doing better than it's ever

fashion front, he says that whilst "it's definitely happening, it shouldn't be taken too far, because music's music and fashion's fashion.

To an extent though", he adds, "they're hand in hand". This is basically a cautious endorsement of fashion and lifestyle in music magazines. Paul Stokes is most sceptical of all and offers a more detailed critique: "Music magazines have always done that to varying degrees. lt isn't like they exist in a vacuum.

Look how men's magazines are done. The idea was to try and ape them a bit more. That was the thinking behind Kingsize, and what happened to Q a couple of years ago: tap into the men's market. Music is your selling point, but you're covering all the other things which people are interested in and want to buy magazines about. lt doesn't haven to be like that though; I don't think that including fashion will necessarily sell a magazine".

kay. The explanations and opinions expressed by the interviewees could account for the failure of Kingsize (music magazines with too much fashion and lifestyle in them will flop), but at the same time, none of them seem entirely willing to say that a magazine which is well balanced between the three things will be unsuccessful. Perhaps they will be more damning of the prospects of the more singularly minded music magazines, such as the NME and Q? When Daniel is asked about the cutbacks at Q he is unwilling to assign them to the contents and focus of the magazine. "I got the impression that a lot of people are streamlining, that a lot of people are trying to save money on staff by getting them to multi-task •.

0

becpuse it's cheaper. A lot of media companies J.._j~~~~ii~::::. employ two people to do very similar jobs. I b

We d nes d ay. Septem b er 19 , 2001

event the

WORK AROUND YOUR STUDIES FOOD PICKERS & PACKERS REQ~IRED

Shifts

Pay

10pm- 6am 6am- 6.30pm 6.30pm- 3am 7.30am- 4pm 7.45am- Spm

£4.75 - £5.00ph £4.25 - £4.50ph £4.75 - £5.00ph £4.10 - £4.50ph £4.1 Oph

TRANSPORT PROVIDED FROM NORWICH ALSO REQUIRED - CHEFS, KITCHEN ASSISTANTS, BAR STEWARDS, PLATE WAI-TERS, AND SILVER SERVICE STAFF FOR VACANCIES IN NORWICH. Basic food hygiene training can be provided free.

Please call Leonard, lan or Louise for details.

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Rising Prophets: Heroic rockers or evil Deceptacons? Kieren McSweeney quizzed Lostprophets on Roger Sanchez, nu-metal and Transformers "When you start a band, the furthest thing from your mind is winning awards," lan Watkins (vocals) admits. "But," Jamie (turntables) adds, "it's not about winning awards, you get satisfaction from people turning up at the shows enjoying themselves." Hotly tipped by Chester Bennington of Linkin Park, it has been a busy and successful year for the 'prophets. The band have won 'Best British Band' at the Kerrang! Awards, scored a major label deal and just finished work on a re-mastered version of their stunning debut, thefakesoundofprogress. "it's the album we intended to make last summer," enthuses Ian. "The songs on it are two years old but it's cool to put them out again just to see what the rest of the world think before we do our major album. it's out on the eighth of October, same as tucking Starsailor. Star-e *nt", the vocalist correG-ts himself, noticing an advert for Starsailor's new single. Due to popular demand from their fans, the album will contain the demo version of its title track. Ian feels that this will benefit the record. "We completely re-recorded that song. The demo version was really punky and upbeat but because it was our first time in the studio something happened, we did a click track and it lost a lot of energy."

With their turntables and detuned guitars, Lostprophets were easily pigeonholed into the nu-metal genre. Neither member is particularly bothered by this. "The whole nu-metal thing is such a vague and random genre; it doesn't really mean anything," Ian observes. "Incubus get called nu-metal but so do Slipknot and

Wednesdays 08.00-10.00 Little Chicken 10.00-12.00 lan and Joe Show

12.00-14.00 Slmon Wallwork 14.00-16.00 Groove Bus 16.00-18.00 Saf and RI 18.00-19.00 J'n'J 19.00-21.00 SNB Dance Show 21.00-23.00 Turntabllst

12.00-14.00 The Lunch Box 14.00-16.00 All 8 In The Afternoons

16.00-18.00 Vanishing Point 18.00-19.00 Punk 19.00-20.00 SBN 20.00-22.00 S'n'B Show 22.00-24.00 B.E.A.T.S.

Thursdays

Society

Sundays 11.00-13.00 News Team 13.00-15.00 Davld Hopley 15.00-17.00 New DT 17.00-19.00 Music Team 19.00-21.00 SBN Charts 21.00-23.00 Turntabllst Society

08.00-10.00 Little Chicken 10.00-12.00 lan and Joe Show

12.00-14.00 The Lunch Box 14.00-16.00 All 8 In The Afternoons 16.00-18.00 Vanishing Point 18.00-20.00 Shadow Cabinet 20.00-22.00 Rebel Uon Roots 22.00-24.00 Poetic Ucence

Fridays

Mondays 08.00-10.00 Little Chicken 10.00-12.00 lan and Joe Show

12.00-14.00 The Lunch Box 14.00-16.00 All 8 In The Afternoons

16.00-18.00 Vanishing Point 18.00-20.00 Shadow Cabinet 20.00-22.00 Utterly Butterworth

08.00-10.00 Little Chicken 10.00-12.00 lan and Joe Show

12.00-14.00 The Lunch Box 14.00-16.00 All 8 In The Afternoons

16.00-18.00 Vanishing Point 18.00-20.00 B.E.A.T.S. 20.00-22.00 Roots Rhymes etc.

22.00-24.00 Turntabllst Society

Saturdays 10.00-12.00 Terence Devane

22.00-24.00 D'n'B Show

Tuesdays 08.00-10.00 Uttle Chicken 10.00-12.00 lan and Joe Show

12.00-14.00 The Lunch Box 14.00-16.00 All 8 In The Afternoons Vanishing Point Davld H SBN Roots Rhymes etc.

22.00-24.00 We Funky Few

16.00-18.00 18.00-19.00 19.00-20.00 20.00-22.00

those two bands couldn't be further apart. Because of the press everybody thinks it must be an insult. So you get all these new up-and-coming bands that go out of their way to say they are not nu-metal. We write what we like. We don't really care what genre it fits into. I grew up on bands like the Police, Duran Duran, and Annihilator."

"When we were kids," Jamie finishes, "the fashion police were not out in full so you could quite easily have Duran Duran on one side of the tape and Annihilator on the other." Lostprophets have recently completed two high profile dates with similarly acclaimed nu-metal act Boyhitscar. Misbehaviour ensued, as lan confirms."Last night we were in Paris they asked us if we'd like to go for a meal. Turns out it was Roger Sanchez's label meal in

a stupidly posh French restaurant. We had just come off stage so we were sweating, stinking and pissed. We had a chat with him and he was really cool, although he did look uncannily like Ali G." lan's passion for Transformers toys has also earned the band some notoriety. "We've got people coming up to us saying I've never heard your music but I saw your Transformers logo and thought I'd check you out. I grew up on Transformers," he says. "He had Transformers as his parents," Jamie throws in.

"Prime was my father!", confirms lan. With the truth of lan's parentage uncovered we leave the band to consult the Autobot matrix and prepare for the night's gig at The Waterfront. For those who remain ignorant of these guys, make a musical investment, and see the 'prophets.

UEA student station, Livewire, 1• s Station PR broadcast on 1350AM. Officer, Mo Grills, explains a bit more about it • • • vewire is UEA's very own student radio station. Run entirely by students, the station broadcasts a wide variety of shows between 8.00 in the morning to midnight Monday to Friday, and then at slightly different times hroughout the weekend.

The station was set up in 1991, but it has had a troubled history including the very near death of the transmitter in the late nineties. However, it now has a brand new Low Powered AM transmitter which means that every student on campus can hear Livewire.

If you would like to get involved in your student radio, there is of course a large music team, who get to review all the latest singles and albums as well as grilling the bands that come to UEA and the Waterfront. However Livewire is not just about music, there are other aspects which are just as important and this year they are looking to expand their news team, sports team, entertainment team, sales and publicity team and the engineering team.

The news team broadcast four bulletins a day, concentrating on campus news and then any national news that may interest the students of UEA. Similarly, the sports team will focus on the many university sports teams that take part in national competitions, as well as reporting on Norwich City Football Club. As a member of the entertainment team, you would be watching the latest movies and theatre productions as well as attending a number of other events in Norwich. Other areas include sales and publicity, which deals with advertising on Livewire and the general promotion of the station around campus. The engineering team is for any one who is interested in the behind the scenes aspect of radio. A detailed knowledge of technology is not needed, just an interest in wires! Also this year, Livewire is looking for any budding web designers to inspire them to new heights on the Internet.

Livewire is a great place to start for anyone interested in broadcast journalism. But if you have a love for music and a passion for being a serious DJ then Livewire are looking for you.

Catch up with Livewire at SocMart on Friday, or email them at Livewireradiouk@yahoo.co.uk. You can also visit the studio on the upper level of Union House.

L

Wednesday, September 19,

08

Reading between the • lines • Backstage at a festival - bands, booze and blondes, right?

Not exactly, as Wi 7 7 Ha7sey found out. • • IP: Very Important Person , you might think? Try again. More like Virtually Insignificant, or perhaps in my case Vastly Ignorant. But nevertheless, there I was in the coveted Guest Area at the Reading festival on the Friday, looking forward to picking up a few interviews and generally grooving with rock stars. I mean. look at the line up: Travis, Green Day, lggy Pop, PJ Harvey, Ash pretty big names, huh? So did I sit around chatting with those at the pinnacle of rock? Did I bollocks.

The thing they don 't tell you about the whole guest area thing is the vast number of guests they invite, of which, admittedly, I was one. The other thing they don't mention is that rock stars look like normal people. They don't glow, or carry around neon signs, or perhaps wear a handy name tag for those part time journalists who have no clue about random

V

every week.

An example: I go to the Press Office, traditionally associated with helping members of the press get interviews, and they informed me that I should wander around and just grab bands as I see them.

"Right," I replied, not liking the idea of having to recognise anyone except Green Day and that nice bloke out of Travis.

"Hey, there's Mo Solid Gold over there," the helpful chap continued. "They'll be happy to speak to you." " Right ," I replied, when a more accurate response would have been 'Mo Solid Who?' Don't get me wrong, Mo Solid Gold may be fantastic and please let me take nothing away from them whatsoever, but if I've never heard of the band how am I supposed to interview them?

"Er, hi. What do you do then?" " Fuck off."

While that conversation didn't actually take place, the whole Mo Solid Gold debacle did signal my first and last visit to the press office. However, this was something of a blessing in disguise, because it left me at a loose end to explore backstage, and it was at that point I realised I had access to the free bar. Now , being the Carling Weekend, no prizes for guessing the beer they were dishing out, but you'd be surprised how good free Carling tastes ( ie. not great but slightly better than when you pay for it).

Anyway, this was the precursor to an incredibly exciting time

dressing rooms, and by that I mean looking at a load of buses. Yes, really.

You see, the coaches outside the LCR when a half-decent band are playing are where rock stars live, only at Reading the buses have a little sign saying 'Travis' on them so you can imagine the unattainable object of your adulation sitting around inside gett ing bored. Brill iant.

Out in front, as is ty pical at festivals, there was a huge stage with loads of people, and occasionally a decent

event Wednesday,

September 19,

2001

band up there. Sadly, Eels didn't fall into this category, with Mr E (as I believe he likes to be known) looking quite staggeringly pissed off up on the big screen. They did appear to have some technical problems, but that was no excuse whatsoever for the disgracefu l beard E was sporting. Think elderly badger then expand; we're talking seriously hirsute. However, this beard proved to be something of a godsend later as I patrolled backstage desperately trying to find someone to speak to. And then I saw him. he of the facial mole rat, and so I approached. And he agreed to a short chat. And it was probably the worst interview you've ever heard.

"What have you been up to with Eels this summer?" A positive start I thought- nice and open-ended, plenty of scope for an extensive answer from Mr E. "Rocking the world."

Great. Thanks mate. "At least, attempting to rock," he added, quite accurately considering their earlier performance. " How 're you enjoying Reading?" A poor question, I accept, but I was kinda banking on thinking up my next question while he was answering that last one. "I wasn't really enjoying it," E replied. "We had a lot of technical difficulties- John Parrish's amp blew up on the second song, but I've seen it on TV now and it sounded okay."

While I was very tempted to dispute that last point, I felt it may have brought a premature end to the interview. So next question: "What's up next for the Eels?" Another pretty standard enquiry, but by this time I was getting desperate. Fortunately , I was saved by a semi-naked PJ Harvey sauntering past, who got Mr E more than a little excited. " Did you see that?" he breathed. " PJ Harvey ... in a bra!"

Actually , I was facing the other direction but I nodded, smiled and tried another line of questioning- "Who do you want to see at Reading?" " PJ Harvey in a bra," he repeated , almost religiously. "John Parrish from our band is playing in her band too so I have to watch, or else he'll be crying on the bus tonight." (Conclusive proof, may I add, that rock stars, beard or no beard, live on buses.) E continued: "Well, we're leaving now so we don't get to see anyone else." Fantastic, and since I am now out of questions I'l l have to go back to a previous one. "What's next for the Eels?"

"Well, we've got a record coming out on September 24th," said E helpfully, showing that even with strange facial hair you can still be a whore to the industry. " it's called Souljacker. it's alright." And with that profundity, Mr E was off to comb the small animals out of his face, leaving me to try, and fail, to speak to someone else. Don't get me wrong, backstage is a lot of fun (I mean, come up with a scenario involving a free bar that isn't a lot of fun) but it's not the glamorous star-studded event it seems it should be. To be fair, I did witness an entertaining Green Day photoshoot later that evening, but did I actually get to speak to the band I idolised approximately seven years ago while in the throes of teenage life. that peculiar stage when you are prepared to mosh like a fool without an ounce of alcohol inside you. Did I fulfil a lifetime ambition and speak to Billie Joe Armstrong, the definit ive songwriter about masturbation (whatever Blink 182 might say) . Did I? Did I? Did I bollocks.

Picture (above ): Green Day

09

I

ercur

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1s1n

The Mercury Music Prize has become widely regarded as the paragon of music awards ceremonies; one that is not swayed by blindly sycophantic fans or temporary fashions. As this year's ceremony announces its winner, Anthony Lovell looks at the event's i 11 ustrious (and controversial) history. rain-dead and cliched lyrics, style over substance, naked commercialism, genuinely talented artists being ignored, charts are a fallacy, blah blah blah blah blah ... If you were to ask anyone who claims to like "proper" music what they think of pop artists and that particular scene in general, the above paragraph is a brief synopsis of the response you will probably get. Whilst abusing imbecilic chart toppers ("I'd love to go to the Cannes film festival. Where are they holding it this year?") can make for an amusing 10 minutes, it's now quite frankly a bit pa~ to ridicule such easy targets. Much better to concentrate on the good things rather than waiting for pop to eat itself. With that in mind, poise your superlatives for the Mercury Music Prize.

Unlike nearly every other awards ceremony in the music world, this is a victory for substance over style. A shortlist of 12 albums by artists of many genres within the British music scene is drawn up by a set of judges, all of whom are experienced critics, broadcasters, producers, etc. In short, this is decided upon by experts on music; people who know and recognise talent when they hear it. No chance of any besotted 10-year olds trying to influence the result by voting hundreds of times over the Internet, as happens in awards such as the Brits and MTV. The actual decision as to the winner is made through debate and discussion, and then announced on the same night at an awards ceremony which has seen many of the nominees perform prior to the announcement. A small trophy and a sizeable cheque is presented to the winner, who has the satisfaction of knowing that their work has been recognised by expert opinion.

Expert opinion counts for a lot in terms of sales too: last year, nominee Helicopter Girl saw her sales rocket ~fter being shortlisted, and Badly Drawn Boy's The Hour of Bewilderbeast went platinum after his win. Of course, opinion will always vary amongst those not on the judging panel about who should have been nominated, and on the big night, who should win. This year, the 12 talented artists that went forward (11 since the cartoon hip-hoppers Gorillaz withdrew their album from competition) could conceivably have been joined by JJ72, Muse, and Mark B and Blade amongst others. With differences of opinion in mind, it's worth looking at some of the highs and lows of previous competitions and shortlists.

Until 1998, there were only 10 albums entered every year, thus making lt an easier task to pick the winners. 1992 was a tentative start to the Mercury Music Prize, with the judges choosing Primal Scream's Screamade/ica as the winner. Was this Primal Scream's big break? Certainly they beat off decent and more popular competition from U2's Achtung Baby and er, Simply Red's Stars, but generally the standard of shortlist for the first two years was nowhere near as strong as it has been in subsequent years. 1993 saw PJ Harvey receive her first nomination, and the Stereo MC's enter their hibernation on a high with Connected being recognised as one of the top albums of the year. However, it was Suede who carried off the honour with

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their eponymously titled debut album. A worthy winner, but follow-up Dog Man Star remains arguably their best album to date. it's never easy to pick a winner from the strong shortlists.

1994's was probably the strongest one so far, the highlights being Blur's Britpop classic Parklife, Therapy?'s definition of teenage hell Troublegum, and topping the pile, The Prodigy's Music For The Jilted Generation. This record in particular, with the band performing an autopsy on the corpse of rave and giving it a muscled new frame, piercings and tattoos, before re-animating it with a charge of heavy metal, was a true genre-busting classic. A tour de force. Danger that you could dance to.

Madness for a new mosh-pit. With this in mind, the judges went for M People's Elegant Slumming. Could have been worse, I suppose- Take That were nominated that year.

Portishead's triumph the following year was probably most notable for Beth Gibbons' drunken behaviour upon receiving the award. The height of Britpop, 1995's list included Oasis, Supergrass and Elastica, along with the doyens of dark dance, Leftfield. That Pulp won the following year was no surpriseDifferent Class was a genre encapsulating record, and a weak field which included a compilation album (Artists for War Child) and D-Wing favourite Mark Morrison never stood much of a chance. However, probably the shock of the competition came in 1997, when the comparatively unknown drum 'n' bass act Roni SizejReprazent confounded all predictions and triumphed

over clear favourites Radiohead. The first drum 'n' bass album nominated, New Forms was an ingenious effort, but featured hardly any live instrumentation. Seeing as all the previous winners had been mostly (or entirely) based upon this, Radiohead's stunning OK Computer was the obvious choice. But technology triumphed, and suddenly the brown paper bag became more than just an alcoholic cliche.

The end of the '90's saw an explosion of talented Asian artists, and this emergence was recognised by the Mercury Music Prize judges. Asian Dub Foundation and Talvin Singh were the final two winners of the 20th century, and Cornershop and Black Star Liner were also contenders. As we all know, arch-scruffbag Damon Gough (AKA Badly Drawn Boy) shuffled off with last year's prize, leaving us with newly crowned champion PJ Harvey. it's very much a case of third time lucky for this 31-year old singer songwriter, as she received her hat-trick nomination for Stories from the City, Stories from the sea. Despite allegations of rigging being levelled as a result of a late surge of bets for Zero 7, the Mercury Music Prize remains the best and most genuine indicator of excellence in British artists. The standards of the shortlists may vary, but nearly all the nominees are well worth serious listening. Life on Mars? Probably not. But there is certainly talent on Mercury.

Pictures: 1. (above) This year's winner, PJ Harvey 2. (below) Last year's winner, Badly Drawn Boy

Wednesday. September 19. 2001

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Cinefile: • E d of era an ---------------------- no.

• 05

Manhunter

In the wake of the recently announced resignations of the Almeida's co-di rectors, Jame s Brown discusses why this once insignifica nt theatre has becom e one of the most respected in the country ..

he Scotland bound tnr ~ ~~ u ,, r·ot the only things to announce their timet 1l Pd ueoa.-t ure t o the general publrc from London' s " r gs cn,.,s recent ly . The Almeida Theatre Com pd.ly. with t heir unassuming temporary home at a 'arm"' coach depot at King 's Cross. broke the news that the eo di rer• flr ~.. Jonat han Kent and Ian McDiarmid , would be stepp ng rr• 1'1'1 i'l surw11er 2002. Their achievements, on comparat rly o• Ll urlgets. far outstrip the resO'Urces that they've had at :t1r·rr cJi:>9osal. S1nce the early '90s a total of 45 awards hav<· r orf"'lled t he quality that exists in the more unfashionable <rea l' London. Luckily, since the cultural rebirth of the capital , 101 r ·\8n' c:nd l\i1c Diarmrd have managed to capture some of th~ ··~ · ;erst o' the last five years.

By looking at the cast lists c p l•rs' 10·1; staged it reads like a Who's Wh o of Brrtish Conte m, c J y Drailla . Names such as Rigg, Fiennes. Spacey and ~ 1C hcJ r·cJsol1, JUm p out and are joined by more recent additions tr a• r I Jde the more aesthetically pleasing Anna Friel and Rar ht. \~ prsz. T'le fact that the eodirectors are capable of att ad g sJch names is a credit to the tireless work involved since arrrv 1g in Islington over 11 years ago. Many may class the al 101e po licv . alrgned with providing opportunities for establ ishej r lrl'. .vr ghts. as art istic opportunism. But this IS too simrt rs.rr . Kent rln d Mc Diarmid have established a formula , a fan 1, •11a: t1as taken the Almeida from a fringe operation to a fu ll trrne produ cing theatre.

In itself the establ ishmen t or d h1rn ula s po srtive providing that there is the dynamism to eo ''.t artly rcc<c h out and challenge the exrsting norms . This wc; s cc tai nly pro~sent with the restoration of Wedekrnd 's Lulu ancl Ch€kho1 s Pla tonov. For many it would seem a straight-forwa • <e;crpe to take a great writer and have his play adapted by a su; es stul and adept contem porary playwright. then place it wit ,1 a sTrCr'l/; cast and director in a world respected venue and r , tkP rt a success. No. In reference to the present production, C .~1· 10v i_, i 1famous in becoming masturbatory. David Hare, ir vre11 of lli<: trilogy of the early 90s. can lose sight of lucidity an. : ;>rod ucl' war that is more awe struck than inspiring. A stro •; ca st r iln wo rk well on screen but fall flatter than Eddie lzza: cl s recent materia l on stage. Yet this piece is an example tha ~.arks rrom st art to fin ish and ere-

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So what is it?

A thriller in which an FBI agent hunts for a serial killer. Along the way he consults with incarcerated psychopath Dr. Hannibal Lec ter who gives hi m clues which help him track down the killer.

Eh? Sounds familiar .. .

Indeed. Manhunter was an adaptation of Silenc e of the Lambs and Hannibal author Thomas Harris' first novel to feature Hannibal the Cann ibal. Red Dragon. Lecter plays a minor role rn both novel and f1lm. Tl1i s film IS really about FBI agent Will Graham (played by William Peterson ) whose know ledge of crim inal minds allows him great insight into the case . but is also driving him as insane as the killer he hunts.

Didn 't win five Oscars though, so it can 't be any good ...

Wrong. Arguably it's a much more satisfying film. For a st art, Peterson's tortured hero on the verge of insanity is a far more interesting character than Jodie Foster's wh ite-trash Clarice Starling. Despite the intelligence of Foster's character in 1990, there was never any disgusing the fact that she basically stumbled over that film's serial killer by pure chance .

Peterson, on the other hand, is in a more realistic pu rsuit whic h puts his sanity on the line .

How about Lecter? Anthony Hopkins slurping away nicely?

Not in 1986 he wasn't. Lecter here is played by Scottish actor Brian Cox (you'll have seen him in a kilt in Braveheart and Rob Ray) but whereas Hopkins turned the role into a cultura ll y int ell igent and w itty genius, Cox played him as a straight psychopath and Lecter was probably more scary for it. Admittedly the Peterson;Cox banter lacks the psycholgi cal core of t he Foster/ Hopkins re lationship, but this wasn't Lecter's film and as Hannibal demonstrated, that isn 't necessari ly a bad thing .

Sounds like a lost gem.

Lost but not forgotten. The success of Hannibal has convinced its producers to remake the first Lecter film (now given the novel's tit le, Red Dragon) re-adapted by Silence of the Lambs screenwriter Ted Tally. Early days yet, but rumours abound of Jude Law to star as Will Graham and Anthony Hopkins to return for some more slurping. Should Hopkins sign on , Lecter's role in the prequel will probably be enhanced to capital ise.

Damn right, too. A Hannlbal Lecter film without much Lecter must be rubbish. <sig h> Do say: Have you seen the blood in the moonlight, Will? lt appears quite black ...

Don 't say: Hello . Clarice.

Ph// Colvin

event Wednesday,

ates an experien ce that few will currently outstrip in London at this time.

The Almeida does have its weaknesses , weaknesses that arise due to the eo-directors originally being actors. Th is is not necessarily a negative thing but being actor drrven has deprived the theatre of new writ ing . Suc h w ri ters as Ravenh ill , who wrote Shopping & Fuck ing, will have to mature to put a production on at this venue. Hence . through the dynamism , the remit of the theatre is to remain pragmat ic and provide a haven for those . like Hare and Pinter, who require the creative freedom of their youth. Th erefore a formula is apparent, a formula that gives an insight into why both Kent and McDiarm id are leaving. Th e latter was once quoted say ing we "found a pattern for success, are repeating it, have got it categorised and should be moving on. " The more cerebral are try ing to link the two to the soon to be vacat ed vacuum at t he National Theatre. This is unfortunate because it gently brushes over the achievements at the Almeida and the legacy that will be left to the next director. They have raised the profi le of the venue to beyond national borders and 2003 will see the co mpany return to the ir fully refurbished Isli ngton base . Will they go to the Nati onal? lt doesn't matter.

McDiarmid recently stated, "the Almeida does the work of a national theatre , not the National Theat re, for a 26th of its subsidy." The development of this co mpany is unique and London lacks the creative space, at present, to allow for this to be replicated on the same sca le.

Lenny Bruce . the American stand-up comedian of the 1950s, once remarked about the attractrons in Las Vegas. lt was a two hander between himself and a Rotary Club member· the member cit ed the Passion Play, the Monet ex hibit and the New York City Ballet. Bruce respond s " Is th is the attraction that all t11e moralists. all the purists support in Las Vegas? No. What's the Attraction? ... Tits and ass ." This is precisel y what the Alme1da has achieved under its present directors. By attracting ·named ' actors and writers, tak ing challenging pieces of work, it has given the arts world the tits and ass t11at it needs.

Pictures (above, left to right): Cc-directors of the Almeida Theatre, Jonathan Kent and lan McDiarmid

by Anton Chekov and adapted by David Hare, 1s t~e latest production to be staged at the Alme ida rled t re . James Brown went to see i t ...

Platon ov, w

,tte~

he new adaptation of C l ·w s Pr 1 onov by David Hare is possibly the most adver 11. o ~''' e of work that has r L I s piece is seemingly been staged in qurte so ' more indulgent and richer th < " I • ~ork, such as Uncle Vanya and Th e Cherry Orcllar I ~' " ' rs • r,.. ain ly classical in its structure. This adaptati on ha r ,l gd nt ati ve, almost didactic feel , having Platonov wre " .g vnt'l e wo rld he inhabits; t unlike the somewhat ak in to Plato 's ·or 1 gues'.

'Dialogues' understanding is · l ·-·,rnal. Ct'l end state almost, as opposed to a process.

The immediate feeling of Plato"'"· olavc ' i)y an all-in-bla ck Pacino-esque Aidan Gillen , is e-re ot f:'l 1 disl ike. The character. for the first part, is biggH 'lan he act or and becomes somewhat irritating, almost f•l of piace Yet this is conque red by the latter stages. Plat onov lrke t 1·.e Great Gatsby , is an antihero, or an accidental hero. < 1arac· er 'ho has no contro l over the perception that othc ,, have of ll :m and so falls on this sword. Chekhov uses him to draw ou• the innate bile and inequity that exrsts in th e Russian Bourgeois consciousness of the time , writing once 'What t he aristocrat ic wri ters get free from nature, intellectuals of low er brrtll have to pay with their you t h.'

The Secret Rapture, al so by David Hare N ill be coming to The Maddermarket theatre in Norwrch later in the month.

T

September 19, 2001

11

Star

• Struck •

Ever wondered wr at i t woul d be li ke to bump i nt o your f avo ur i te soap star s whils t havin g a qui et dr1 nk , n a pub? We 11 it happened t o Li z Hutch1nson on a t r ip· Down Under . .

"'You know I once had to stop this one guy from grabbing Harold Bishop's crotch '" r Karl Kennedy - from perennial tea-time soap favourit e, Neighbours- saunters towards me. arm out stretched, his beautiful mole glistening in the soft light. He takes my hand, roughly pulls me towards him and kisses my cheek ... Okay, I exaggerate, but who wouldn't get a little carried away if they too met the man himself? As Karl sits down beside me, all those hours spent selling comfort pants to deaf pensioners in order to save for my t rip to Oz seemed worth it. "You' re from England! I love England, it's so beaut iful and every t ime I visit, 1 find the people to be utterly charming." I inform Karl that we too find him utterly c harming and notice that my accent has become very English indeed.

Abandoning sensible questioning, I ask about smarmy Darcy and beg Or K never to surrender his position as Ramsey Street's resident GP1 Brain surgeon; cancer specialist. He looked slightly concerned that I was blissfully unaware of his real name and seemingly unable to divorce fiction from reality but decided to play along. "Well, you know, Darcy is kinda spunky, isn't he?"

Slightly concerned, I decide to reinst ate some of his heterosexuality for my own peace of mind and ask about Susan. "Susan and I are great friends. we've worked together for many years, in fact before Neighbours, we used to be brother and sister... " Fearful of what he might choose to disclose next, I skip my planned questions about Susan and her extraordinary fringe, and resort to an old favourite. What's ahead for Dr K? Anymore affairs with receptionists that never actually go any further than a quick grope? I worried no longer about my unoriginal question since he promptly tapped his nose, "you'll have t o wait and see."

Hmm, I turn to probe his bodyguard. " Karl ' s a nice bloke," enthuses Mick, he of a magnificent mullet, "but I don't know much about him 'cause I normally look after Jan Smith who' s very popular." I look unimpressed and wonder whether this lan is some obscure ozzie celeb. "Harold Bishop?" he offers. Ah.

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"You know I once had to stop this one guy from grabbing Harold's crotch." Feeling slightly repulsed, I miss his next comment and just catch, • ... hotel balcony, all night, smoking spliffs." What, Harold and Karl? "Oh no, they stay in nice hotels." A-ha, so they don't have a bodyguard at night, I conc lude. Mick notes the maniacal glint in my eye and mumbles something about security measures. rtunately for him, some imposing leather clad shoulders istract me which belong to Tad, looking surprisingly less thirteen year oldish and really rat her sexy. Around the table, heated discussions immediately begin about the possibili· t ies of pulling said Neighbours star. I introduce myself and ask how old he is, in a roundabout way of course. He splutters what I take to be nineteen. I ask him what he thinks makes Neighbours so attractive to the average Briton. He coughs in my face. "Sorry, I've got the flu, I think I've overtired myself" I sympathise and ask if being a Neighbour is hard work. He coughs in my drink. Hmph, enough is enough. I ask him if him and Paul will ever be more than 'good friends'? Annoyingly he seems unfazed, "Yeah, Paul and I always seem to come out of the bedroom together, buttoning up our school shirts, so who knows?"

I try another tactical insult , this time comparing his character's nickname (Tadpole) with the size of his pride and j oy. Laughter, but again no answer. I take the hint and move on.

Mulleted bodyguard number t wo steps in, "He's not in high spirits tonight, he's normally chatty. it's a pit y Toady isn't here, he's always friendly, especially with young ladies like you, " He winks at me. I raise my eyebrows. But aren't you supposed to protect him from the clutches of us rampant English girls? "I normally just wait outsi de the t oilet door" Nice. I look at Tad 's snotty nose and decide to make a sharp exit, taking a detour pass t he t oilets just in case Karl is loitering around there ...

Picture (left): Jonathan Dutton, who plays Tad Reeves in Neighbours

Keep Ongoing: Situated on the highest point in Norfolk, the Castle Museum has recently had a multi-million pound overhaul. James Go f fin dis cusses i ts ill ustriou s history and its br1 ght f ut ure . . . ometi mes, living in Norwich, it's hard to believe that this fine city was once England's second town. Stuck out on a limb, labelled as a provincial backwater where inbreeding-is as natural as breathing, the reput ation shields t he truth behind Norwich's history, a history t hat is nov; beginning to be revealed at the city's Castle Museum. Closed 1.11roughout last year for a £11.8m refurbishment, the landmark building is itself a symbol of the rise and fall of the city . it had humble beginnings as a wooden shack , built up to keep watch over the rb,c r, before the castle was fort ified to become a defensive building. As the importance of Norwich grew , the Normans built the stone monolith we know ~oday for use as a royal palace; a place for the king to rest his weary head. it retained that status until the 14th century, when the city's fall in fortunes was reflected by a change in guest : the king gave way to prisoners, and the castle was used as a prison. Still a famous prison mind, and the site of many hangings · so many in fact, that Norwich developed hanging guidelines for the rest of the count ry . Too many fat murderers were breaking the ropes instead of breaking thei r necks, but Norwich got on its proverbial horse and rode to the rescue .

S

By 1894 though, the blood lust was waning, and the c astle t ook on its current and more genteel use as a museum. Which is where we are today - except for that minor £ 11.8m. The redevelopment of the castle has led t o the opening up of areas that have been inaccessible f or decades, and a complete redesign of t he Castle's exhibition spaces. Together w ith a reinvigorat ed

"Too many f at murdere rs were breaking the ropes instead of breaking their necks" partnership with the Tate, the Castle's fate is looking better.

The Castle's opening exhibit ion, Breaking t he Mould draws to a close on September 23, but heralds the quality of exhibition the new space should provide. Featuring work borrowed from t he Tate and elsewhere, artists represented include Jacob Epstein, Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth, Elisabeth Frink and Damien

Hirst, ali producing first c lass exhibits. It s successor, Frederick Sandys & The Pre-Raphaelites, opens on October 15 and focuses on the career of the Norwich-born artist, together with cont emporaries Rossetti, Holman Hunt, Millais and Burne-Jones, and also promises to be a good show . The permanent ex hibi· t ions of Norwich silverware, British ceramics, and paintings from the Norwich School , have all been re-hung in refurbished galleri es, offeri ng a wider range of exhibits than before, accompanied by a special explorat ion of the hist ory of the building itself. Here. you can walk across t he cast le keep fight ing gallery or explore ·the dungeons, seeing recreations of what life was like for King Henry I via computer-generated displays developed in part here, by the School of Information Systems. lt might not have the splendour of the Tower of London, or t he artistic riches of the National Gallery, but after a visit to Norwich Castle you 'll be hard pressed to th ink of the c ity as merely a provincial backwater again. Provincial? ,Yes. Backwater? Probably. But merely? Never. Norwich has always had a lot more to it t han that.

Picture (above): The Rent Collectors, by Pieter Breughel • one of t he pieces t o be found in the Castle M useum.

Wednesday, September 19, 2001

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13

Knowledge:

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--------------------------------------- no. 51

Stevie Wonder

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rev1ew

Inqui sto·r: on the up, in the chair

Everyone's heard about the Hobbits and Hogwarts that await us in the coming movie season, but what about the hidden gems? Merek Cooper spent the summer in Canada solely to give you the low-down on the top five films that don't feature elves or wizards.

Who got the funk?

Stevland Morris of course.

Who? Well, you probably know him better as Stevie Wonder.

Ah yes. The guy who sang Superstition.

That's very true. Although, as most people know, Wonder's musical career has far surpassed Liquids' 70s Night dancefloor favourite . Stevie Wonder began his career when Motown boss Berry Gordy heard the then 10-year-old local starlet singing in his church and signed him on the spot. The pairing resulted in a hit album, 12-Year-Oid Genius, and a hugely popular single, Fingertips (Pt 2).

Sold a few records then.

That would be an understatement. Stevie Wonder has had one of the longest and most successful music careers in pop history.

Which Is best?

Although he has been recording music now for 40 years, his most critically acclaimed work centres around a string of albums he released in the early 70s. Beginning with Music of my Mind (1972), and ending four albums later with Songs in the Key of Life (1976), Wonder not only redefined the sound of popular music with his advocating of the electronic synthesiser as a predominant instrument on record (something which had not been experimented with before), but lyrically he also managed to create a palatable yet powerful political standpoint, echoing his liberationist views and outlining the discrimination of the black population in Western society.

Sounds like quite an achievement. What happened next?

Well, three years after Songs in the Key... Wonder released Journey through the Secret Life of Plants. The album itself was as equally baffling as its title and was dismissed by critics and the general public as unfocused, over-ambitious and a huge drop in standard. Whilst his next release, Hotter than July, received very good reviews and won back many fans, Wonder never again achieved the cutting edge acclaim he had gained in the previous decade.

Oh dear.

Well there's no need to feel too sorry for the visionary (ahem) soul singer. Stevie Wonder has proved himself to be one of the most influential and well respected artists of all time, particularly in the worlds of r'n' b, funk and hip hop. He has won 21 Grammy Awards (in addition to a Lifetime Ach ievement Award in 1996), notched up 27 Top 10 hits on the American Billboard Chart, and he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989.

In retrospect...

Powers keep on lying; While your people keep on dying/ World keep on turning; Cause it won't be too long...

Malkland Stalkle

event Wednesday.

September . 19. 2001

Ghost World

The Others

Ghost World director Terry Zwigoff describes himself as a selfconfessed sad sack and as such must surely have provided most of the motivation for one of the film's main characters, the walking anachronism, Seymour, played by Steve Buscemi.

Like Seymour, Zwigoff confesses to loathing the modern world of strip malls and fast food franchises, instead preferring to cocoon himself In mid-century Americana, baby boomer memorabilia and obscure 78 records (ask your gran) by long dead bluesmen. This contemptuous outlook permeates through to the core of this low·key and suitably deadpan tale of teenage dislocation and indecision. Thora Birch and Scarlett Johansson give impressive performances as two girls lost in the post high schoolfpre-real life vacuum, neither wanting to commit to a McJob nor knowing what else they can do to avoid such drudgery. To fill their time they wander the dayglow wasteland sneering and sniggering at the ridiculousness they see. They root through garage sales, watch Hlndi movies (strictly ironical· ly, you understand) and play cruel practical jokes. lt is one such joke that leads them to the Steve Buscemi character, with whom Thora Birch's character forms an emotional bond. " He's the opposite of everything I hate, • she states at one point, a veritable complement from a girl who finds little good in anything. Adapted by Daniel Clowes from his own graphic novel, Ghost World is an independent gem that functions much in the same way as Douglas Coupland's Generation X did for our elders. Steve Buscemi must deserve special mention for such a heartbreakingly sad and sympathetic performance. From the moment he shuffles on screen, before he even utters a word he had almost summoned tears from my usually cynically dry eyes. High praise indeed.

Due out November 11

Judging from the current media climate surrounding Nicole Kidman and her vertically challenged ex-hustend, The Others will no doubt arrive on our shores in a flurry of media carping and salacious speculation. And that's no bad thing, for if ever a film deserved the extra push that this type of exposure provides, it's this one. One of the sleeper hits of the year in the States, complete with Psycho-like " Don't give away the secret ending· captions, The others comes on like a more elegant Sixth Sense but without the balding action hero. Set in the Channel islands during the Second World Wa·. Kidman stars as Grace, a mother of two cute little children who unfortunately have a rather severe allergy to sunlight. Kidman therefore watches over a house of almost relentless darkness and chilling hidden secrets. One of these secrets being that the fatherless family seems to have some unwanted guests of the supernatural variety. If this seems like a tired old take on the familiar haunted house genre, think again. Spanish director Alejandro Ameniibar is well known for his mind-bending plot twists and certainly here, in his first£nglish language fim, he really proves that at least for him, reality holds no constraints.

Due out November 02

Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back For any of those people lacking in experience of the strange and politically incorrect world of Kevin Smith, either steer well clear of this movie or else treat yourself to a marathon back catalogue cramming session at the video shop before November rolls around. Jay and Silent Bob, as anyone who has seen any of Kevin Smith's previous outings will know, are two long haired pot dealers with too much time on their hands and too little on their minds. The twosome spend most of their time propping up a wall outside a convenience store wall in New Jersey (the store that featured in Smith's first film, Clerks) and so when they are evicted from this site and slapped with a rest raining order not to return, they must find something else to fill their time.

When they discover that they are to be the subject of a big budget Hollywood movie (or, more accurately, their comic book alter egos Bluntman and Chronic), they hitchhike to Los Angeles to stop the production. Cue a wacky cross-country journey jam packed with tasteless gags and completely nonlinear plot twists. Smith takes aim at everyone in the film industry, even his own distribution company M!ramax, and there are plenty of self parodying cameos, not only from pretty much every character Smith has every used In the course of his four previous films, but also from contemporary stars. The cast of the American Pie films are especially present: Shannon Elizabeth plays Justice, a rubberclad Charlie's Angels style crusader, who draws Jay's amorous attention, and Seann William Scott as a guitar strumming animal rights activist. The funniest moment is supplied, however, by Jason Biggs who playing himself attempts to get public recognition by screaming "Look at me, don't you recognise me? I'm the Pie-fucker!" Like I said, not exactly highbrow.

Due out November 30

Pictures (Clockwise from top left): 1. Thora Birch in Ghost World 2. Alakina Mann, Nicole Kidman, James Bentley in The Others 3. Reese Witherspoon in Legally Blonde 4. Charlie Sheen in Apocalypse Now Redux 5 . Jason M ewes, Kevin Smith in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back

Legally Blonde Another film that had Americans flocking to the multiplex this summer, as this is at first glance a throwaway piece of collegiate rom-com fluff. However, anyone who witnessed 1999's Election will know that Reese Witherspoon can do malevolent cutesy better than anyone in Hollywood today. In Legally Blonde, the eponymous bombshell eases up on the malevolence, instead steering full throttle into annoyingly cute territory and by doing so she twink les like a solid gold peanut in a toothless tramp's plop. Okay, so the rest of Legally Blonde's cast and humdrum plot may reek to the heavens, but Witherspoon' s irresistible charm make the film somewhat worthy of attention. As Elle Woods, Witherspoon stars as a permapink sorority girl who somehow (don't ask me, this is the movies remember) enrols in Harvard law school, embarking on a voyage of discovery (as ever) to win back her ivy league boyfriend and prove that she is not just the vapid blonde she seems. And so it goes that Legally Blonde plays out like a twohour Clueless/Ciairol advertisement hybrid, with so much knowing hair flipping I'd be very surprised if some of the cast were not treated for whiplash at least once during the shoot. Tip for the lads out there: Take your girlfriend to see this movie, she'll think you're sooo sensitive as it apparently deals w ith female empowerment ... apparently.

Due out October 26

Apocalypse Now Redux One the most eagerly anticipated releases of the year, Francis Ford Coppola's 20-year-old tale of man's macness in the Vietnam War gets a complete overhaul. The alri-lost 60 minutes of previously unseen footage wowed audiences in Cannes earlier this year and put most contemporary films in this years competition to shame. Among the new goodies to savour are Captain Willard's theft of Kilgore's now infamous surfboard (Remember "You either surf or fight, soldier. And if I say it's safe to surf this beach then it's safe to surf this beach"), a sexual liaison with the playboy bunnies and a visit to a ghostly French plantation in Cambodia.

Unfortunately for the more impatient among us there is bad news: the additional footage takes the running time to a buttock testing three hours plus, an argument for the reprise of the intermission if there ever was one. But even if you leave after the first few minutes you will have been more than reward· ed for the admission fee. The introduction stands alone as one the most elegantly choreographed pieces of cinematography ever committed to celluloid. The choppers swoop in, the serpentine sound of The Doors surrounds and Agent Orange erupts in the treeline. The next three hours of your life will be spent in rapt wonderment. I guarantee it.

Due out November 23

In his spare time, guitarist Sam Coombes plays bass for Elliot Smith, whilst drummer Janet Weiss also plays in Sleater Kinney . Together , however, they are lo-fi rock band Quas i . The Event spoke to Sam to find out more ...

How did the band come Into being?

Well, we've been around for a long time and Janet and I actually played in a different band previous to this one. it was just a local band that we had in Portland, and we were called Motorgoat. We [Sam and Janet] were married at the time, but we've been divorced for six years now.

Did that affect the band at all?

Oh certainly. I mean, I don't think of it anymore and we've moved on. But at the time it was certainly on our minds.

How do your live shows compare to your recorded output?

Well, they're a lot louder, more stripped down, it's just the two of us playing. And we tend to throw in little improvisatory bits and so forth, so yeah it's fairly different. I would say that a live show is like a play, where you have to project to the audience and keep it fairly simple; whereas, a record is more like a movie - you can be more subtle and whatever. But, um, there's nothing really subtle about our live show.

What Is the Idea behind the title of your new album, The Sword Of God? lt is based on an experience I had where I was in a television studio just sitting around waiting to play a song on TV. The staff of this show were acting as if it was some huge privilege for me to be there and really it bothered me. I thought the TV show was idiotic and I despise television in general , at least 90% of what's on it. So anyway, I imagined this huge giant scimitar sword coming out of the clouds and destroying the studio and chopping off the heads of the studio executives and restoring some kind of balance, just get· ting rid of the whole showbiz extravagance. And there 's a few other places on the record where this idea of reacting against the idiotic showbiz world that we' re all supposed to subscribe to appears.

How much do you think that working with Elllot Smith Influences your own songwrltlng with Quasi?

I don't know if that has necessarily a direct influence as much as an inspiration. I mean, sometimes it's a difficult job to be a musician and I never made a dime off of it until the last couple of years, and it's always been a bit of a struggle, so it's good to be around other musicians who are having their own recognition and yet still doing their own thing.

You declare on the last song of the LP that Rock and Roll Can Never Die. What's the most rock and roll thing you've ever done?

I have a side-project band and play a show like once a year or something. lt's called Moustache and it's basically a hardcore punk band, but a bit stranger. We only take shows where we are quite sure that people will hate it and we actually played a fashion show a couple of years ago in a boutique clothes store. We set up right in front of the exit so people couldn't leave and then we started playing. The singer jumped on my back and drove me head first into the wall and I lay down on the floor with a huge cut down my head and we just kept playing, but it left an opening for people to get out and they were just jumping over me as I was lying there bleeding, still trying to play. At the end there was me with concussion, the rest of the band and about three people who were just freaking out. I guess that was pretty rock and roll .

Malkland Stalkle

Wednesday. September 19. 2001

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14 Al bums

The Charlatans ••

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Tim Burgess and his cronies return with their seventh album, an effort that is quite remarkable considering half the misfortunes that they have suffered. If you need any sort reminding, why are you reading this? But the significant events of their last album, Us And Us Only, where their accountant embezzled them out of half a million quid (and made them bankrupt) was a big driving force. As guitarist Mark Coli ins put it, "If you want to play on it, it'll tucking finish you." If it was about settling a score then they have certainly won.

While Us And Us Only was much of a Dylan affections album; Wonderland is a shimmering blend of rock-soul with a lush funky sound. If you attribute this to the fact that Tim Burgess has moved to LA, where the Beck comparisons are obvious, and is produced by Danny 5abre (of Black Grape, U2 and Bowie fame). it has driven them from their baggy contemporaries and made them a distinct ively different band. This Is by no means a bad thing. So, The Charlatans have returned to the party days. This is nowhere better demonstrated than opener You're So Pretty · We're So Pretty, a mad-for-it brash of Grandmaster Flash bass, soft keyboards and streaking guitars. Judas gives us more celebration of domestic bliss, as does first single Love is the Key, only with a soulful swagger, but it does get a bit too slushy - " I will sacrifice my soul to free you from misery" - for my liking.

This though, in the context of A Man Needs To Be Told, is as sexy as The Charlatans have sounded since Weirdo. This song with its trembly vocals and steel guitar is too overly " lovers rock " . The vibe continues with I Just Can't Get Over Losing You while The Bell And The Butterfly is a funky instrumental reminiscent of Black Grape, the "!'m-whizzing-my-tits-off-and-this-is-bangin" trip of pure dance.

Ballad Of The Band is the album's standout track. Make no mistake though, this is not maudlin or an epitaph. lt is a cocainefuelled odyssey. Touting " l am my own saviour". it is victorious, confident and redemptive, almost suggesting what the band think they have done with this album. Consequently, Right On just sounds like the comedown, as we get the fi rst serious guitar feast and a lot of reflection.

There is no doubt this has redefined the Charlatans. lt may freak many people out, as it did me (the truth is I hated Us And Us Only). This is a record that wants to sound like Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures and by attempting to has saved themselves in the process. This is a true happy party record.

Tim Burgess describes Wonderland as "free and fantastic and wild and great"; you will find it hard to disagree with him.

Mike Mllner

8/10

Louise:

Gay Dad:

Mo Solid Gold:

Greatest Hits

Transmission

Brand New Testament

While most people see Louise merely as a sex symbol married to an even more sexy footbal l player, let's not forget the Croydon chick's former band Eternal led the entourage of all.girl bands way back in the ' 90s.

She beat the likes of the Spice Girls and All Saints to pop stardom with her fellow band members way back in 1992 before she very publicly left in the same week as Robbie Williams left Take That.

But like Robbie, Loulse has been the only one from her band to have an even remotely successful solo career, and her new Greatest Hits album celebrates this.

The album features 16 of her best tracks from her ten years in the pop business- and they are certainly worth listening to.

Although most of them are a touch slow and ballady (and I might add, remind me of numerous t eenage crushes I had while I was at school), her more up-to-date ones are a little faster namely last year's hit Bitch. And, if you listen to the lyrics well enough, I think that the innocent Louise is talking about her former bandmates. with phrases like " I work too hard to make mistakes", "Stop your bitching 'cos you're so sad, bitching behind my back" and "I can make it on my own".

But the former Smash Hits Poll Winner for Best Female and winner of FHM's Britain's Sexiest Woman Alive award is without a doubt best known for her smoochy songs. Her debut solo sin- • gle, Light Of My Life ... reached number eight in the UK charts and was shortly followed by Naked.

And despite her scraps with Eternal, Louise has not forgotten the tracks they recorded together. She has selected Stay, Oh Baby/... and Just A Step From Heaven to run alongside her own work.

However. Louise's work could be described as a tad depressing, so listening to it whilst alone with a bottle of wine should almost certainly be avoided.

Kat/e Hind

Clever lad. that Ancly Bell. He knows when the game is up.

Whilst his underrated first band, Ride, were one of the less fortunate. but most respected of the pre-Britpop era, his decision to put the excruciating Hurricane #1 out of their misery can only be applauded. But less well known is that before he took the step up (down?) to join Oasis, he spent about five seconds in Gay Dad. Remember them? They had a heavily lauded hit with To Earth With Love in 1999, and got the NME excited for about four issues. Despite the obligatory record company problems and line-up changes, they've managed to produce a second album two years down the line. So come on· let's get it on.

First impressions are certainly favourable. The opening t ttle track sounds like a hot-wired version of Elastica's Connection, before some of the slightly above average electronic tricks plough you into the first single (released earlier this year), Now Always And Forever. On Harder Faster, however, it sounds like the band's wagon is slowing down, and there follows three desperately average mellow tracks which make you think that it has run out of petrol entirely. Dinosaur and Shoot Freak raise expectations of a late comeback, the latter track standing out as one of the albums' strongest. and when Keep lt Heavy bursts in with its rifflng peaks and acoustic troughs, we appear to be back on track. But the late momentum is spoilt by the rather lurching Everything Changes, and closer Promise Of A Miracle so desperately wants to break out of its tight production and be lo-fi it hurts. This isn't a bad record; far from it. lt's well performed and lyrically sound, but then. so many records are. This lacks a bite, an edge, a je ne sais quoi to lift it out of the "merely average" category. The fact that the band has cleverly chosen to release Transmission as the current single will mean that many an eager punter will snap this up hoping for more of the same, but will be left unsatisfied. Overall, frustratingly lacking.

Anthony Love//

They say that you can't judge a book by its cover and in the case of Mo Solid Gold this is certainly true. The image of platinum chains and fur coats created by the band's name Is as far from their mixture of rock ·n• soul as Mr T is from Gordor1 the Gopher. Hailed as the saviours of the British indie rock scene, MSG present a refreshing change from the mixture of wallet chains and designer labels that have saturated the current wave of ·popular music. Their debut album ~rand New Testament merges the best elements of rock ·n· roll and soul, from the sleazy blues rhythm of Solid Gold to the irresistible swing of Prince of the New Age. MSG's winning formula is completed by the charismatic K, whose velvet voice combines the rough edge of Mick Jagger with silky soul of James Brown.

Since last summer, the band have established a reputation through their infectious live shows and were recently chosen by James Brown as his support in the UK. The band's first single David's Soul showcases a blend of sound reminiscent of early 90s Black Crowes. Its eclectic gospel rock vibe is enhanced by a backing choir and Hammond organ, the latter moving effortlessly into a solo that would make Jon Lord proud. The new single, Personal Saviour, is a testimony to the phenomenon that is K, whose voice moves effortlessly from smooth soul to the volume and intensity of Tom Jones."the contrast creating a tangeable sense of excitement. The song features a contagious '70s bass groove that will have you hooked In seconds and making a fool of yourself on the dance floor. The band pay homage to their heroes most effectively in On My Mind, a song that carries the bass riff from Otis Redding's Can 't Turn You Loose, proving tharthe old formulas still work the best. The album may be called Brand New Testament, but don't let the rel igious content of the lyrics put you off. The only religion going on here is a celebration of music and its philosophy to have a good t ime. 24 carats!

Kleren McSweeney

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Singles 15

PJ Harvey •• This is Love lt's hard to avoid the lovely Polly Jean at the moment. After her revamp as a glossy-lipped, handbag-swinging rock babe, Miss Harvey graced the main stage at Reading Festival last month wearing little more than a few square inches of black PVC and a guitar.

Her gold-selling album was honoured last week by winning the prestigious Mercury Music Prize, which means that Thts Is Love, the third single from Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea, Is a bit of a big deal. But if this Is the music industry's test, PJ will pass with flying colours.

The one time wicked witch of the west- well, Somerset- seems to have taken a leaf out of Courtney Love's book of self-promotion: wear small amounts of glittery clothing and clean up your sound. As a result. This Is Love still has the trademark Harvey rock guitars, but IS so well produced it sounds less raw and more Celebrity Skin.

However, no amount of perfectly-formed, tinkly middle eights can detract from the sheer energy and power in Harvey's voice.

The chorus Is slow burnmg and se.xy. well suited to both her vocals and the sleeve image (P J showing off her waif-like figure in pink bra and full length black gloves). Make no m1stake, This Is Love still rocks, but it seems that PJ Harvey has decided to package herself with a little more polish.

Astrld Goldsmith

Roots Manuva:

Dreamy Days

The man commonly known as Rodney Smith returns with the second single from his outstanding second LP Run Come Save Me. Often touted as the guiding voice of UK hip-hop, Dreamy Days is a sublime mix of deep bass and bizarre confessional lyrics like "You don't believe me, you think I'm cheesy". From moaning about higher rates of council tax to how this record will help him pull his ideal woman, Roots gives humorous and heartfelt vent to his design for clean living wherein life stems from a healthy regime of chemical rushes and exercise. ·come what may/reveal no way/there's gunna be fun and lots of laughter", advises our Rodders. His fresh and distinctive edge bypasses his South London concerns and he admits he is just "living the love/living the dream". After all the rubbish from Enimem's offspring, this is a breath of fresh air. lt is a shame the Super Furry Animals mix Is not on their album; it is better Mike Mllner than half of what is.

Delirious?:

Alien

Still plugging away at getting a widespread audience for their own hybrid of U2 and Bon Jovi, the boys from Littlehampton have decided to try another track from their latest album Audio Lessonover? With Waiting For The Summer having flopped, and Take Me Away having been limited to mp3.com, they've gone for a track that harks back to their earlier album, King of Fools.

The rocking guitar of Stu Garrard Is blended in with some typical whiney Martin Smith singing and quiet sections that one guesses are supposed to give the track 'an atmosphere.'

Personally, I'm not convinced. Everything Is a bit too formulaic for my liking, and there are just too many formula groups that do it better than them. The now expected 'cryptic' lyrics about struggling through life are there, and they don't help at all. All in all, it's a generally disappointing display from the D? boys.

Alex Tborpe

Manics:

Let Robes on Sing

Those Blackwood Socialists return with another little political number - but this one is excellent. lt seems an eternity since the Manlcs released anything this good. James Dean Bradford's voice is only complemented by his guitar instead of being drowned out by those 'adrenaline bursting guitar riots', while the sample of Robeson- celebrated actor and singer and a black activist against apartheid - is actually worthwhile. The Manlcs had started to turn into typical 30-something middle class socialists (look at the hypocritical rubbish that was Masses against the Classes) but this is definitely a classy number even comparable to the legendary Generation Terrorists. • A voice so pure/a vision so clear"; for there is still a place for politics in music. "The common people of all nations are truly brothers In the great family of mankind ... The freedom train is here and running ... • (Robeson).

Mike Mllner

Sea food:

Splinter

Although they have one of the worst names In the history of modern rock (how rock and roll can a band be whose name conjures up Images of prawns In vinegar and crabsticks?), Seafood do the angsty guitar thing surprisingly well. They are one of the fastest rising bands of the moment, and deservedly so. Unlike pretty boy whlngers My Vitriol, Seafood can actually write a damn good bit of thundering guitar without sounding as if they wish they had enough issues to justifY suicide. Splinter might not be as aggressive and shouty as Cloaking, their last single, but it's still full of spunk. Their versefuls of hooks are only slightly let down by a chorus leaning towards the wally JJ72 school of songwriting. But we'll let them off, because Splinter is short and neat (it's so pleasing that somebody has gone back to writing three minute songs), with a fantastic drumroll moment leading into the last chorus.

Astrld Goldsmith

ycles Catalogue return cycles Cheap cycles and repairs Full range of ac sories and spares

Pictures: 1. (top) PJ Harvey 2. (above left) Manic Street Preachers 3. (above right) Seafood 4. (directly above) Delirious?

Wednesday, September 19, 2001

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A. I â&#x20AC;˘ Artificial Intelligence: Directed by Steven Spielberg Starring¡ Haley Joel Osment Jude Law, Frances O'Conner and Sam Robards A film project started by Kubrick, in which a cuter t han cute robot boy embarks on a ques t to f ind l ove I am sure that more than a few eyebrows were raised when news of a beyond the grave collaboration between two of the world 's biggest directors reached media ground zero. These two distinct figures of the film industry seemed so completely incongruous - on the one hand you have Stanley Kubrick , who during his lifetime proved himself to be a fiercely independent and cynical director, while on the other you have Steven Spielberg, a grown man who has made it his mission to make everything family sized and fluffy. Producer Jan Harlin, however, believes A./. to be a perfect choice for Spielberg and his cuddly style of filmmaking , dealing as it does with a doe-eyed techno Pinocchio named David, played by Osment. And this may have lead to a great film had Spielberg exercised a modicum of restraint. He doesn 't, and what we are left with is an overblown and excruc iatingly soppy mess whose reach exceeds its grasp. it seems insane that, throughout A./.'s duration , Spielberg seeks to expand the film 's subject matter when he can hardly cope with the story he is telling . In fact , one of the most annoying aspects of A./. is the glib and optimistic way in which Spielberg treats the whole film, playing for comedy situations I personally found horrifying and drowning in saccharine any moments of true sentiment and tenderness. As a Kubrick fan , this film just feels like necrophi lia dressed up as a carefree summer fling .

The film opens sometime in the near future and, seeing as man has completely wrecked the planet (polar ice caps have melted, third world war, etc), there must be new things to completely mess up, right? With no time to lose, up steps Professor Hobby, a cybertronics ex pert, who wishes to construct a robot with the ability to love. No one seems to really like this idea and dissent is clearly voiced . But nevertheless, two years later, Hobby has realised his ambition. And to top it all, he looks j ust

event Wednesday,

like that cute boy from The Sixth Sense - " How wonderful, isn't he just darling?" Well, yes, I suppose, but this perfect child still needs to be taken for a test run and what could be better than to give this walking talking freaky piece of plast ic to a couple who have lost their son to a seeming ly terminal coma. That wouldn 't be scary and rake up years of emotional scarring would it? Oh no.

Matters deteriorate when the couple, played by Frances O'Connor and Sam Robards, turn out to be the most shallow and irresponsible parents ever. No sooner has the mother been warned not to initiate young David's imprinting program (causing him to love her for all time) until she is truly sure she wants to keep him , is she in the bedroom secretly doing just that, only to abandon him a few weeks later when the real son surprisingly wakes from his coma . Stupid woman, didn't she realise he could have made them loads of money on the child acting circuit? Apparently not, and what follows is David's inevitably fruitless quest to rega in h1s mother's love in the maelstrom of Spielberg 's futuristic dystopia, which quite frankly looks like the crumbly old set from Mad Max dressed up with fairy lights and tinsel from last year's tree.

True, A./.' s central performance from the young and ever improving Osmer.t is solid enough, as is Jude Law as Gigolo Joe even though he spends most of the time behaving like Max Headroom 's randy brother. But these two can 't save A./. from being what it is: an absolute stinker. "Remember a Robo-boy is for life, not just for Christmas.'' Oh stick it Mister Spielberg, I hope that shark of yours bites it off.

Merek Cooper

5/10

September 19, 2001

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Fi 1m 17

Centre of the World:

Directed by Wayne Wang Starring: Molly Parker. Peter Sarsgaard and C rla Gu,.;..,o Disturbing thriller in which a bored, young, millionaire pays a stripper to spend a weekend with him. Think Pretty Woman without the Roberts factor.

Much has been made of film's new movement toward a more frank depiction of sexual relations in recent months. From Romance, through the British shot Intimacy to semi-exploitation flicks like Baise-moi, there has been much chin-scratching in the media, with journalists trying to decide whether this shift is a good thing, and up until now there have been as many championing cries as wagging fingers . But what was a heated debate has now cooled to mere embers and arriving lat e around the fire to warm its celluloid fingers is Centre of the World.

Wayne Wang 's film represents American independent cinema's contribution to what has up until now been purely a European movement. But it is not only in his portrayal of explicit sex that Wang allows himself to be influenced by the new European style. Centre of the World is part of an increasing dialogue between European and American independent cinema, a dialogue that has already been entered into by Harmony Korine and the Dogme Brotherhood of Von Trier and Vinterburg. Eschewing the smooth and polished look of traditional film stock and following directors like Korine, Wang has opted to shoot on digital video, giving Centre of the World a raw and intimate feel that sets it apart from most contemporary American movies. In short, Centre of the World feels like Wang's answer to Dogme filmmaking, at least in spirit. Shot on location ~n Vegas, with a small ensemble cast and focusing closely on its actors, it's a small triumph that thinks big.

Taking its name from how you feel when sitting at a computer terminal watching the information flow in, Centre of the World starts off like a film that explores the effect of technology upon our lives but actually ends up as a treatise on the skin trade and the problems of mixing sex with money. Sarsgaard plays Richard, a young e-millionaire who has little better to do with his time than play Doom, snack on junk food and wire himself with Jolt Cola. His social skills being as sharp as a rusty spoon , he pays a stripper he meets (Parker) to spend a weekend with

him In the city of sin . Unfortunately, the pair's blossoming friendship soon blurs the lines of their strictly financial relationship and leads them into a terminal spiral to a very dark place.

Both central performances are fantastic; Sarsgaard, last seen as a vicious hick in Boys Don't Cry, plays Richard, with a bedheaded starry innocence, while Parker, last seen as a homebody In Wonderland, gives Florence a dangerous hedonistic edge. In fact, it seems largely due to the principle characters that the film appeals as much as it does - with the immediacy and starkness of Digital Video there is no room left for bad acting and

Moulin Rouge:

Directed by Baz Luhrman Starring : Ni co l e Kidman , Ewan McGregor and John Leguizamo

Luhrman's bombastic musical extravaganza, charting the lives and loves of those who worked in Paris' Moulin Rouge 100 years ago

thankfully they don't put a foot wrong.

That's not to say that Centre of the World is a feel good movie, quite the opposite, but Wang credits the audience with having enough intelligence to take the issues raised home with them, and draw their own conclusions. In this way Centre of the World is a film that you will keep going back to again and again, at least in your head.

Merek Cooper

9/10

Blood Simple: Directed by Joel Coen Starring: Frances McDormand, M Emmett Walsh and John Getz Re-release of the Coen Brothers' 1984 classic, detailing a dark tale of adultery and murder in Smalltown America

Every critic under the sun has had their say about Moulin Rouge recently . it's the biggest musical love story made in years, and along with A./., the film event of the autumn. But , frankly , most of the reviews fit into that category of film criticism which I fondly refer to as 'stating the darn bleeding obvious.' People have talked about the extravagance in both set and costume design. And it hasn't escaped anyone's attention that, although taking place at a turn of the century Parisian night-spot, Moulin Rouge features music from over the past hundred years which , shock horror, the stars even sing! (Which makes me wonder why some critics even bother watching films anymore, if all they 're going to talk about Is what's in the trailer ... ) What hasn't been said, and what truly makes Moulin Rouge such an event, is how it has used music and dance to take a Hollywood love story and make it into a truly spectacula~ and passionate tale.

I it's 1899 and Ewan McGregor is an English writer who has travelled to the infamous Paris night-spot to see what it is about the can-can which is getting male Parisians so very hot and bothered. He finds his answer in the form of the dancing girls of the Moulin Rouge, but in particular the centrepiece of the show , as Nicole Kidman descends from on high quite literally looking like a diamond (Kidman throughout looks better than she ever has). McGregor, of course, Immediately falls for the supposedly unreachable Kidman. And, of course, manages to get her. Not that true love runs quite that smoothly, obvioJsly .

If this were many other love stories, it'd be about time to reach for the collective vomit bags. But not in this case because the hand on the reins is that of Australian director Baz Luhrman.

Who realises here, as he did in Romeo + Ju/iet, that the problem with the Hollywood love story is that nobody cares simply about the people involved: but the sheer spectacle of watching the passions rise on a backdrop of incredible sights and sounds.

And here the spectacle is even greater than Luhrman has managed before, simply due to the setting of the Moulin Rouge itself.

Kidman and McGregor can dance seamlessly from awe-inspiring sets to the rooftops of Paris (sure beats holding hands in the park). And by dispensing with any attempt at historical accuracy with the music, a hundred years of songs can be culled to form sequences which, although occasionally a little too bizarre, are never anything short of extraordinary .

Yes, everything about the film is extravagant. However, the list of films which are both extravagant and crap is as long as even Nicole Kidman's arm. The reason Moulin Rouge works is because it uses its extravagance for a purpose: to create passion. Although the tag-line claims Moulin Rouge is about truth, beauty and mostly love, a more accurate description would be that it really is about the passion. And there really isn't enough Ph/1 Cotvln of that in films, so enjoy it whilst it 's here. .J I

.1.

0

If you fell for the rustic quirkiness of 0 Brother Where Art Thou? but can 't wait for the upcoming The Man Who Wasn 't There, you are going to have to satisfy your Coen Brothers craving by making a trip to Cinema City to see this eerie murder mystery .

Blood Simple is the Coen Brothers' debut and a mighty fine one it is at that.

Written by Joel and Ethan, Blood Simple showcases the acting talents of a youthful Frances McDormand who would later make her big splash in the Oscar winning Fargo. set in a grimy Texas of backwood bars and endless desert highways, Blood Simple revolves around the consequences of a murderous extra marital affair between McDormand's character Abby and the slow-witted Ray (John Getz) . Understandably, the cuckolded husband Marty is a might peeved and hires a seedy pot-bellied private investigator (M . Emmett Walsh) to kill the cheating pair.

From there Blood Simple unravels in a tangle of double crosses and plot twists all played out in the languid and ironic style we have come to expect from the two brothers.

A note of caution is advised however for those whose only experience of the Coens is 0 Brother: their canon can be divided pretty evenly into two distinct types of film, light laugh-outloud comic fables such as Raising Arizona and 0 Brother, and dark hypnotic Film Noirs like Barton Fink and Millers Crossing.

Blood Simple definitely lies in the latter camp and as such is a very different beast from the slightly fluffier comedy 0 Brother.

However, those not familiar with the Coen Brothers' particular examination of the American underbelly should check this film out. it's crammed with dry humour, old movie references and exquisite camera angles. Watching Blood Simple you really get a sense of a great cinematic force finding it's feet and as such it makes for fascinating viewing especially if you have the knowledge of what was to come next.

Merek Cooper

7/10 1

Wednesday, September 19, 2001

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18 Video

Almost Famous ••

Directed by Cameron Crowe Starr i ng· Kate Hudson, Billy Crudup and J ason Lee

15 year old boy tr i cks Rol l ing Stone into s ending him on a trip of a lifetime, fo l lowing his favour i te band around the US. The usual rock and roll cliches ensue Remember the Wonder Years? That show in the 80s which looked back onto the 70s, where the sky was always bright, the folks were always friendly and little Fred Savage led an innocent life with the type of growing pains which make Dawson Leery look like a martyr to puberty. That was the life ...

Of course, it wasn't my life. And although I'm assured that the 70s were nothing like that in this country, I damn well wanted to live there for many of my early years.

Before I get all dewy eyed and go off to spend the evening sobbing, I should tell you a little about what Almost Famous has in common with an 80s TV show. The simpl e answer is not JUSt nostalgia, but nostalgta dispensed m the nght way. Despite what Hollywood tries to have us believe, we do not all get excited by the past just by seeing it on screen (case in point: the 30s American Deep South in The Legend of Bagger Vance.

And , yes, I know I should have gotten over my bitterness about that film by now) or just by hearing a collection of past rock hits. What makes something truly nostalgic is the human element. Seeing the experience of someone in the past which could make us honestly say we wanted to be him or her.

Almost Famous wants to make us wish we were Patrick Fugit.

He's a 15 year old desperate to escape from suburbia and overprotective mother, Frances McDormand. Fugit's once in a life· time chance comes when his amateur music journalism is noticed by Rolling Stone, who not on ly want him to write for them but also to do so by touring with rocksters Stillwater, including their hip lead singer Billy Crudup and devoted follower Kate Hudson. And he does so, following the band through their highs and their occasional lows . But never truly deviating from what is a nostalgia fest of the highest order.

Much has been made of the fact that the film mirrors writer/director Cameron Crowe's own experiences. Which it does, but then so do elements of earlier efforts such as Singles and Jerry M aguire. What marks Almost Famous apart and above from them is not accuracy so much as the fantasy of Fugit's journey. From the coming of age experiences he undergoes, to the pile of records he flips through at one point, Fugit ·s life is one completely Intertwined with music, to an extent which few could be at such an age , but which every viewer can relate to in some way. it's the lives of the perfectly realised cast of the characters and the music intertwined that make Almost Famous the film Crowe has t ried and failed to make for years. it's true nostalgia . And yes, in many ways it is a candy coated fantasy world . But that 's how to make the past appealing. Who knows? Maybe someone will even do that to the 80s one day.

Phi/ Cotvin

8/ J.O

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even t the

Antitrust:

Directed by Peter Howitt St a r r i ng : Ry a n Ph i l -~ i p e , Ti m Robbins and Claire Forlani

Inept cyber-drama in which Ryan Phillipe sells his soul to a big computer company and ends up in a world of conspiratorial badness I will not lie to you. The only reason I went to see this film is to drool over the godly form of Ryan Ph illipe . The curly blonde hai r, the pouting mout h (permanen tl y set in pensive-yet-sexy posit ion), t he ta ut torso ... ahh h. So you can imagine my delight , when , in the first scene after the tru ly dreadful title sequence (think Hackers-style 'hi tech' strobey teleprint), darling Ryan absent-mindedly scratches his tummy , lifting up his t-shirt to reveal toned stomach muscles and just a tantalising line of hair .. .. grrr .

However much he pouts and scowls and looks generally pretty, not even Ryan can save this film from the bin marked ·really rubbish.· The mildly confusing plot involves Phillipe and his gang of equally sexy mates as techno-whizzes, who want to create new programmes to help "the world's knowledge." The group are divided when money is involved: Mtlo (Phillipe) gets offered big bucks to work for Nurv (read Microsoft ) to develop revolutionary communications technology , Synapse; whtle his more principled fri ends decide to make it for themselves.

Things get slightly stick ier, when Gary Wtnston (Tim Robbins doing a very good impression of Btll Gates) turns out to be a lit-

Wednesday, September 19, 2001

tie more sinister tha n Mi lo first thought. People start dying all over t he shop, inc luding Milo's best friend, Teddy (the obvious choice out of t he gang to die, as he is the less att rac ti ve , nonAryan one).

The message which Antitrust keeps try ing to hammer home is that know ledge belongs to the world, and it shouldn't have a price on it - a big two fingers to companies like AOL and M icrosoft, who are raking in the billions. However, this sits a little awkwardly with the film's blatant product placement, especia lly the long, lingering shots of Pepsi machines and Pringles packets.

The fi nal word on the film rests with the script itself. The fist gnawi ngly embarrassing dialogue reached a peak with the confrontation between Milo and Gary. After stuffing as many confrontation scene cliches in as possible, Milo yells: "This isn't a game Gary! When you kill people, they die .·· I always thought they just fell down and pretended to be dead , like they do in Game Soc. Astrld Goldsmith

4/J.O

Video 19

Miss Congeniality: Directed by Donald ?etrie Starring: Sandra Bullock, Michael Caine.

Benjamin Bratt and William Shatner Rom-com about FBI agent Bullock in a beauty pageant

Ill conceived and poorly realised, Miss Congeniality is a madefor-TY movie that has inexplicably garnered a saleable box office status. Now out on video, I'm hoping that most people will ignore this trash. In fact, its list of crimes is so huge there seems hardly space for me to highlight its plot points, but I shall of course endeavour regardless to point out its myriad failings.

For a start, Miss Congeniality is one of those irksome "Isn't she lovely" films- an ISL film being a movie in which a reportably ugly nobody actually turns out to be an extremely attractive hottie. This being the film industry, the reportably ugly nobody is always a glaringly attractive Hollywood film star who just happens to be wearing glasses and hasn't brushed her hair today. And that's it! No hideous disfigurement, no unrelenting skin condition, just horn rimmed spectacles and morning hair. Consequently, the fact that most of the cast acts all surprised when the actual beauty is unveiled, riles me to my very core and undermines any chance that Miss Congeniality had of courting my favour. Not that this niggle IS the only reason my wrath has been incurred.

The completely flat plot involves Bullock as errant and clumsy FBI agent Gracie Hart, who is all tarted up and put in the Miss America pageant to investigate and hopefully foil a suspected bomb plot. Benjamin Bratt plays the shallow and greasy (no wonder Julia dumped him) love interest who only realises he likes Gracle after he sees her dressed up like a prostitute in the outdated pageant, when before he wouldn't even have poked her with a disinfected stick. it's this despicable attitude to women that the whole mov1e exudes. Miss Congeniality seems to say that you can be a successful and intelligent woman but unless you are beautiful as well, you can never realise any inner satisfaction and you certainly can't have a lasting relationship.

I hate to come off all last guy in girl town about this, but it's hardly a suitable message to send to this movie's PG-rated audience.

Merek Cooper

Inbetweeners:

Less than mediocre Brit-corn about life at university

Directed by Darren Paul Fisher Starring: Finlay Robertson. Kate Lousteau and Lynn Edmonstone Apparently life is one big cliche. Norfolk people are inbred. Gay men mmce. Students collect traffic cones and eat Pot Noodle. lt is the latter cliche that lnbetweeners seeks to expand on.

And by 'expand' I don't mean 'delve deeper to find a hitherto unseen truth'. By 'expand' I mean 'make worse and revel in until no one else is laughing·. For this comedy, set at the University of Great Britain (yes, really), is one of the greatest insults to student life ever created (and yes, there is a traffic cone scene- it's ever so amusing, hurhurhur).

Let's set the cliche aside for a minute and look at what passes for the bare bones of the story. Actually, as the film is one big summary anyway, let's see what the film's public relations people have to say: "Take six gorgeous guys and six gorgeous girls, place them together in halls of residence and watch the sparks fly!" There's a lot more excrement about love, sex, temptation and Pot Noodles but it's hard to disguise the fact that there isn't much going on. The performances are cartoons at the best, featuring actors whose previous resumes include

London's Burning, Neighbours and being Zo& Ball's father. Yes, lad1es and gentlemen, the mad scientist of our childhood has recreated himself as an actor. Mr Johnny Ball step right up ... and sit right down again. it's hardly a dazzling array of talent up there on the screen. And because of this it sometimes seems as if you are watching an episode of Hollyoaks rather than a film touted as being ·creative and fresh". (I don't think the PR for this film was intended to be used in this way, but if you try to sell something as good when it's actually really not then you're setting yourself up for a fall.) Having said all that, however, the first ten minutes or so are quite bearable. There are some nice observations about university life. They have been used time and time again, which is why, I suppose, they are regarded as cliches. But, like a joke you've heard several times before, the first time was funny but by the time you reach the Adam Chapman tenth your eye starts to twitch.

3/10

2/10

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Wednesday, September 19, 2001

event

20 Arts

Literary Festival

UEA ·s literary festival gets off to a superb start this Monday. bringing with it a plethora of talent.

First up is Jonathan Miller (Monday, September 24), who has directed plays and operas for both stage and television.

He is also author _of The Body in Question and On Reflection.

Next up is Melvyn Bragg. A man of all trades. he became editor and presenter of the South Bank Show in 1978 and Control of Arts at LWT in 1990. He is also an accomplished writer with The Soldier's Return winning the 1999 WH Smith Literary Award. And he 's set to grace our concrete walls on Monday, October 8 .

Joyce Carol Oat es (Mon day, October 22) is a novelist. critic, playwrigllt, poet and aut11or of short stories. Blonde was shortlisted for the National Book Award and her latest book .

Middle Age, is to be published in October.

Tom Courtenay (Monday, October 29) has appeared in numerous successful films including Or Zhivago and Billy Liar. He recently starred in the BBC adaptat ion of A Rather English Marriage but will be here to discuss his first book.

Dear Tom: Letters from Home.

·

John Mortimer (Tuesday, November 6 ) is author of the wellknown television series Rumpole of the Bailey. His television adaptations include Brideshead Revisited and his latest book is The Summer of a Dormouse.

Margaret Drabble (Wednesday, November 14) is the author of such novels as A Natural Curiosity. He most recent work rs The Peppered Moth and she is also the editor of the Oxford Companion to English Literature.

Muriel Spark has written novels, plays, poems, children's books and biographies. And she has still found the time to visit, com ing on Thursday, November 22 . Aiding and Abetting is her 21stt novel .

Clive James wraps up the Autumn's tou r (Monday, December 3) , and wi ll no doubt talk all abou t being a writer, lyric ist and broadcast er- for a long time. Non-stop. Known to some for spending a week wit h Me/ Gibson and smoking his illegal cigars. his more literary achievements include his latest book of essays . Even As We Speak, which appeared this year.

Compiled by Charlotte Ronalds

Best of the Rest: The Mystery of Charles Dickens Theatre Royal 25-29 September Written by Peter Ackroyd this one-man play st ars Simon Callow , of Four Wedding and a Funeral fame. it's designed to highlight the contradictions in Dickens' life. revealing how he drew his work from his own life pains. remember Bill Sykes? it wr/1 also incorporate some more of his most memorable characters.

Harlequin in Trouble Norwich Puppet Theatre 29 September Harlequin's in t rouble (obviously). He is in love with his employer's daughter, Colombine, but her father has arranged for her to marry the rich and ugly Punchinel/o.

Will Harlequin and Colombi ne ever get t ogether? Well you'll just have to pop on down and watch the rod, shadow and glove puppetry for yourself. Ha.

The Tempest Norwich Playhouse 1-2 October Shakespeare's farewell to the stage is brought to life with 'enchanti ng' music, mime and mask ing .

Prospero, exi led and disinherited, plots to reclaim his dukedom wi th t he aid of rough magic.

Whilst Ca liban, hi s sub-human slave, demands the restoration of his own birthright. With a cast of just two this play may co nfuse, but t hen don't all of Shakespeare's wo rk at some point?

Compiled by Charlotte Ronalds

event Wednesday,

• •

Theatre Review:

Theatre Royal West Side Story

From Riff's first finger click to Maria's last. impassioned speech, West Side Story is one of tile most fam ili ar and we llloved musicals ever written. Wh ilst the Jets and the Sharks (the two rival gangs) are undoubtedly issue-riddled teens of the 1950s , the story of doomed, fo rbidden love between two members of each gang (Tony the American Jet and M aria the Puerto Rican Shark) reaches far beyond the confines of a decade half a ce nt ury ago.

The two leads, Norman Bowman (Tony) and Celia Graham (Maria), are strong and handle the (occasionally somewhat tiresome) love songs and solos beautifully. However, it is Emma Clifford as Anita. M aria's feisty best friend , who really makes an impact. Her angry yet dignified handling of the powerful duet. A Boy Like That, in the second half is one of the highlights of the show. Indeed, it is t he shorter second half where the production picks up in general. The plot gathers momentum, as Tony and Maria are dragged further apart by the death of close gang members in a spectacularly staged rumble at the closing of the first half. The inevitable tragedy is enhanced further by the dreamy ballet sequence, in which the low-lit , dirty New York tenements are replaced by a brilliant Oklahoma! sty le backdrop, and Tony and M aria dance a wistful dance of hope for the future.

Although the cast's singing, acting and dancing skills cannot be faulted, there is something rather unnerving about watching . a production that has been so ent irel y influenced from the origi nal. There are times when rt almost feels like you are watching the 1959 film version (also fa ithfully recreated from the stage version). just in a theatre. And, wh ile Romeo and Juliet is a timeless tale , the 50s choreographed trappings may start to date a little after a while.

Astrid Golds mith Picture (right ): Emma Clifford as Anita . Steven-John Tokaya as Barnardo

Book Rev i ew:

Moments of Truth: Twelve Twentieth Cen tu ry Women Writers by Lo rn a Sage

Until her death in January of this year Lorna Sage, twice Dean of the fac ulty of UEA, was one of t he leading voices in modern literary criticism. Bad Blood, publi shed in the year before her death, was awarded the Whitbread Biography Award, and within rts pages divulge the beginnings of Sage·s gritty and passionate approach to reading literature. it is this much-celebrated sty le that makes this posthumous collect ion of essays, revi ews and introductions such a refreshing and engaging read.

The book beg ins wrth an author's introduction and is not. as many assume, an example of profitable opportunism on behalf of her publishers. Intended as a sequel to Sage's 1992 collection, Women in the House of Fiction , Moments of Truth focuses more deeply on the themes of realism and determinism whilst also dealing with tile creation of a female ego and the emergence of a new 'we· in women's literature. Whilst Virginia Woolfs modernist epiphany spoke of ·moments of being,' the

Preview:

Sainsbury Centre Alberta Giacometti in Postwar Paris

The Sainsbury Cent re has reason to boast t his Autumn, being the only gallery in Britain holding an exhibition of Alberta Giacometti's work in 2001. The Sainsbury Centre already feat ures some of his work, but the exhrbition is set to include over 120 of his most respected draw rngs, pa intings and sculptures to celebrate the centenary of his birth.

The exhibition focuses on Gi acometti's lrfe in Paris between 1945 and 1965, where he tried to encapsulate the people and objects of his everyday routrne . Gracometti was t ireless in his efforts to define the human figure. declaring much of his work incomplete , though his brother Diego and wife Annette, feature as two of his most cons istent models and are represented in many of his works. Also included in the exhibition are intimate personal portraits of friends and acquaintances, including Henri Matisse and George Braque.

Much of the work displayed has never been in the UK before and some of it even includes sections of the artist's studio walls. onto which his paintings and drawings spilled over. One of the main highlights of the exhrbition is the first ti me show ing of a portrai t of the late Sir Robert Sainsbury . wh ich was long believed abandoned and remained in Giacometti's studio until his death. it is Giacometti's sculptures. however, that really do steal the show, making the exhibition we ll worth a look . The most well known sculpture is probably his M an Pointing, which is on loan from the late Gallery.

The ex hi bit ion has been curated for the Sai nsbury Centre by the w rit er and art historian, Michae/ Peppi at t. He has also writt en a 160 page catalogue t o accompany the exhibition which includes the first full English trans lat ions of several key t exts

by Alberta Giacomet ti hi mself. Alberta Giacomett i in Post wa r Paris will be on show in bot h the Special Exhibiti on Area and Lower Gallery from Oct ober to December.

Charlotte Ronalds Picture (right): M an Pointing by Alberta Giacometti

September 19, 2001

essays in this collection are primarily concerned with the moments when these writers discovered . or indeed failed to realise , therr own voice or niche .

Ad am Phi/lips said recently that "today we valu e truthfulness, not truth," and Sage's experience of responding to the relatively new genre of 'l ife-writing· means that her attention is focused on both the art and lives of the authors. Unlike its prequel this collection's centre of gravity is with pre-war writers. However, there are also essays on the work of Lorna·s friends: Iris Murdoch, Christine Brooke-Rose. and her literary ally Angela Carter. it is perh aps the best testament to Lorn a Sage t hat these pioneers of modern women's writing valued and respected her work as much as she did thei rs. Her confidence in judgement and lack of academic bu ll shi t is inherent in her writing and Marina Warner perhaps sums it up best when she says that Sage had both "grammar and glamour."

Luke Wright

TV/Radio 21

Essential TVOl:

Bar Wars C4 23.10 Fridays

Take an idyllic Greek Island complete with white sand and turquoise sea, then fly over five girls and five boys from good old Blighty. Stick the boys in one bar, the girls in another, promise a large sum of money for the winner and bid them to do battle. Film and edit (a lot), then pray and hope that someone, somewhere will have nothing better to do ... Bar Wars is the latest reality TV show to hit our screens, manufactured to neatly fill the void in our lives left by Big Brother and Survivor.

Possibly in tribute to these shows, the producers have chosen to use a similar formula; boys versus girls, two groups of strangers left to survive on foreign shores, a weekly eviction and a big money prize for the winner. I only hope there are no pretenders to Brian's throne, because he will never be replaced in my heart. Thankfully, there are no gay air stewards listed in the team profiles but there is the standard 'singer'- Daniella, 25, from Manchester and Louise the Liverpudlian who has just completed a performing arts degree. Unusually there are no 'musicians' or 'actors' but rest assured, these career ambitions will undoubtedly be revealed when they start to sing at every opportunity and express their wishes to get a record contract when they get home. Their task is to run the most profitable beach bar in a busy tourist resort in the Medjterranean. They must attract the holidaymakers in any way they can by effective advertising, running promotions, and, if all else fails, just down right flirting. Some of their ideas throughout the series include beach Olympics (yawn). five-a-side fQOtball (double yawn) and battle of the DJ's (groan). So, lots of original ideas then, but they do seem to have forgotten the classic Only Fools and Horses theme night. Excitement, as usual, comes in the form of backstabbing and bitchiness, particularly in the girls' team, where one member has already walked out. At the end of the week the team who has made the most money gets a day off while the other team have to decide which of their kind is letting them down. By the end of eight weeks, the bar that has made the most money gets to keep the profits whilst the losing team goes home with nothing (except enough media exposure to guarantee some sort of deal with the News of the Worlcf).

So, all in all two months of pure quality entertainment and, if you are unfortunately out on a Friday night (though why you would be I just can't imagine), you can catch it on E4 or play interactive games on their website. A novel idea if ever I heard one.

Llz Hutchlnson

Essential TV02·

Model Behaviour C4 18.00 Fridays

With the advent of Popstars and more recently Soapstars, we bid farewell to the humble talent show a la Stars in Their Eyes, in which ordinary people get little more than their three minutes of fame and a camp "didn't she do well" from Matthew Kelly.

Now the pickings are much richer with lucrative offers and instant fame. In fact, time is pretty much up for the likes of Kelly, whose kind words have been replaced by the snipes of Nasty Nigel and peroxide mutts who would also rather be on the other side of the lens and so take out their fatness/ ugliness/ lack of talent on the wide eyed wannabes. Model Behaviour is the latest TV programme to chart the progress of five 'ordinary people' who are plucked from obscurity, fine tuned and prepared for potential stardom by an annoying prodl.ICtion taam and then flung into the unforgiving fashion industry. 'Narrated by mop haired Vernon Kay, a former model turned T4 presenter, this particular series follows five aspiring models who are sent to live together in an apartment in Docklands. Here fragile friendships are formed, since they are battling against each other for the final prize · a contract with Premier Model agency wqrth half a million pounds. The unlucky (or lucky depending on the way you look at it) girls are filmed as they undergo a punishing schedule

Essential TV03:

-

of manicures, gym sessions, hair appointments, facials and the hardship of meeting celebrities. When the poor girls would rather be at home watching a few videos, they are 'forced' to celebrity parties and film premieres in order to be 'seen'. Phew, sounds tough. To be fair however, we are shown the less glamorous aspects of the modelling business, as the girls are sent to over eight castings a day, often to be rejected at every one.

Over the course of the series, we are also shown how the girls' initial elation at being picked from four thousand applicants changes dramatically to disappointment as they are whittled down to just two by a panel of top fashion industry experts.

One of the main aims of series such as Popstars, etc is to show that anybody can do it and this programme is no exception.

Hopefully, a fairly intelligent person would realise that there are certain restrictions, such as some sort of talent and for modelling, well, one would expect that an ounce of attractiveness comes in handy. According to the producer however, this is not so: "Modelling isn't just about looks, it's about personality." A refreshing thought; perhaps this series isn't about six ft stunners moaning about getting paid for being attractive after all.

Llz Hutchlnson I'm not so sure, though.

Los Dos Bras, C4 22.40 · Fridays If you liked Trigger Happy TV and Smack the Pony, then you will probably enjoy the latest sketch series on Channel Four.

Featuring Darren Boyd (from Smack the Pony) and Calvin Clerk in, Los Dos Bros follows two half brothers who don't actually have names but just call each other what ever comes into their head at the t1me and, since they are often arguing, this is not usually very nice. In fact, their sibling rivalry is the basis for most of the JOkes. especially when they attend therapy together. Like Eddie and Ritchie from Bottom and quite a few other men I can think of, they are utterly incapable, particularly with the opposite sex. and as a result are destined to rema1n togeth· er for the rest of their lives. The first episode sees them take a monster truck for a test drive, somehow ending up on the M25, having developed an addiction to TicTacs. Warning; this is very silly, so it is probably best not to watch this with someone who strongly represses the 13 year-old inside them and refuses to laugh at any part of films l1ke American Pie. or you may also find this, and life. very dull and unfunny. Instead, find your tr-end with the we1rd laugh or the one who has just spent an entire summer with their 13 year-old brother or preferably both and then you w I probably enjoy it , unless you're the one who Llz Hutchlnson finds such humour sooo beneath them

Essential Soaps: I hate September. Every shop, including Ann Summers it seems, displaying huge 'Back to school' banners. 'Back to School' is not trips to Woolies to stock up on Westlife pencilcases and hole-punches; 'Back to School' means TV schedule changes.

Every autumn we are promised a dauling array of gritty dramas, 'hilarious' sitcoms and new comedy, and every autumn we watch the first few ep1sodes with a sort of enforced optimism, willing ourselves to enjoy the likes of Ross Kemp in army fatigues. Then in October we realise they are, and always have been, really crap. This IS why I urge you all to follow soap . operas, religiously, as they provide the only constant in our hectic student lifestyle. Soaps do not begin in April and end in September, soaps do not tax our addled brains and soaps are very, very funny.

Watch Eastenders thiS week and you'll soon find out. After last week's shocker when Peggy announce~ she was moving to Spain with 'Arry 'Boon' Slater, it's only a matter of time before the truth comes out about Zoe's real father. If you've avoided this plot line in willful anticipation I'll give you a little clue, her father IS not her father and her sister is not her sister. Bet that foxed you didn't it? Martin and Asif celebrate their GCSEs ("Free Cs! Aww Maaahtin, yer faaver would be praaahhhd") by going Up West and enjoymg naked ladies, only it soon becomes apparent that the 'lady' bit isn't a matter that would concern our Maaaahtin, as he meets a young gay chap called Craig and grills him about coming out. But the Square gets its share of hardmah act1on as our favourite antihero Steve makes a welcome return to the fray, JOining forces with Jan off the Kenco ads, and probably getting screwed out of his hard-conned cash, again. And while I'm on the subject of con-merchants, what the shipping t1ts IS Tony from Hollyoaks up to? Last week's Popstars pastiche was very funny, but that's still not an excuse to humiliate poor students and charge phenomenal rent. This week we are promised a televised freshers' ball, where poor Adam gets the brush-off. We should send them down to the LCR, they'd get a months supply of footage. Elsewhere, Mandy and Luke attend an awards ceremony together, Chloe and Theo have a close encounter of the carnal kind and Max ruins lzzy's play. Not that I care about lzzy's play, because I'd like to put her head in my gas oven and leave it there on slow-roast for 5 hours. I also really hate Laura. sh~ sounds like Gerry Adams and she's ugly, so look out for her hissy fit in the next few days because 1t prom1ses to be a blmder. And finally to Ramsey Street where Lyn's illegal home hairdressing salon is really tak· ing off, until the counc1 arrive. Flick and Joel fmally go their separate ways (oh, really?), and libby and Drew have stern words with their parents. probably to the effect of · rack off".

Gemma O'Donnell 4; "

..

22

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Film:

City

lS 1n Campus All films start at 8 .30 p.m. and are shown in Lecture Theatre One Meet the Parents Thursday 20th September Miss Congeniality Tuesday 25th September Bridget Jones Diary Thursday 27th September The Tailor of Panama Friday 28th September Microcosmos (with live soundtrack) Monday 1st October The Dish Tuesday 2nd October Captain Corelli's Mandolin Thursday 4th October The Mummy Returns Friday 5th October

A Knights Tale Ster Century Sat, Sun 11.00 Fri-Thu 14.20, 17 .00, 20.00 UC I Fri-Thu 15.30 18.15 21.00 Sat-Sun 12.45 15.30 18.15 21.00 (Sat Only) 23.45

A I'Attaque Cinema City lues 25-Thur 27 Thur 27

17.45 16.30

Artificial Intelligence Ster Cent ury Sun 16.00, 18.45, 21.30 UC I Sun 13.00 16.30 20.00 At the Height of Summer Cinema City Thur 20 14.30 20.15 Cats and Dogs Ster Century Fri-Thu 14 .45 Sat-Sun 10.45 UCI Mon-Fri 16.00 Sat-Sun 11.15

16.45 19.30 12.45 18.15 20.30 13.45 16.00 18.15 20.30

Crocodile Dundee (in LA) Ster Century Mon-Sun 15.30 18.00 (Mon-Thu Only) 20.40 Sat-Sun 13.15 UC I Fri-Tue 16.30 18.45 21.15 Fast and Furious Ster Cent ury Fri-Thu 14.15 16.15 18.30 20.45 Sat-Sun 11.15 UCI Mon-Fri 15.30 16.30 18.00 19.00 20.30 21.30 Sat-sun 12.45 14.00 15.30 16.30 18.00 19.00

Jitterbug I Jam Po Na Na Funky drum·n·bass I house Free b4 10pm, £2 after DJ Jam Hys Charts and Dance £1

5 .30 8.15

20.45 18.00 20.45

Sh rek Ster Century Mon-Sun 14. 10 Sat-Sun 11.45 UCI Mon Fn 16.15 Sat-Sun 11 .30 14.00 16.15 Th e Martins UCI Mon-Fri 17.00 19.15 21.30 Sat-Sun 14.45 17.00 19.15 21.30 (Sat only) 23.50

Septe mber 19 , 2001

Fi oc kin' Sheep Ikon Charts and Cheese £2 b4 11pm

20.30

Scary Movie 2 Ster Cent ury Fri-Thu 14.15 16.30 19.00 21.00 UCI Mon-Fri 17.15 19.15 21.45 Sat-Sun 12.30 14.45 17.15 19 .15 21.45 (Sat Onl y) 00.00

event Wedne sday,

Superfly Mojos Funk and hip-hop £3

Help! I am a fish UCI Sat-Sun 11.45 14.15

Planet of the Apes Ster Century Sat-Sun 12.15 Fri-Thu 15.00 17.40 20.15 UCI Mon-Fri 15.15 18.15 21.00 Sat-Sun 12.15 15.15 18.15 21.00 (Sat only) 23.45

- ~

Wednesdays

Meltln' Pot The Alibi Jazz, funk and soul

Moulin Rouge Cinema City Fri 21,Sat 22 , Mon 24 lues 25-Sat 29 Ster Century Sat-Sun 11.30 Fri -Thu 14.30 17.30 UCI Mon-Fri 15.00 18.00 Sat-Sun 12.00 15.00 (Sat Only) 23.30

.

Clubs

Heartbreakers UCI M on-Sat 18.30 21.15

Lucky Break UCI Mon- Su n 20 .45

_

Music:

WeRK Manhattans

Thursdays 70 's Night Hys Retro £2 (NUS) Isotonic Kafe Da Progressive trance and house Free Spank Time House £1 b4 11pm (NUS) Value for Money Liqu id House £2 b4 11pm Bassment Mojos R 'n'B and hip hop Twisted Skunk 1 Bottom Heavy Po Na Na Discofide Breakbeat I funky breaks and beats and Latin grooves.

Free b4 10pm, £2 after.

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

The LCR disco LCR (duh) £3

Refresh Ikon £5 b411pm

Charty Handbaggy The Loft Gay night

Saturday Rewind Mojos Chart , dance, garage

Fr idays Delirium The Concept House, garage and R n' B. Hy Times Hys Dance anthems £3 Hot Ikon Pop and commerical dance £4 b4 11pm lt's the Business Liquid £2 b411pm Marvel 1 Gas Station The Loft Hip hop, funk £3 b4 11pm, £4 after.

Gorgeous Manhattans Hardhouse and Trance £5 b4 11pm Elegance Mojos R n' B Parkslde Po Na Na House Free b4 9pm, £3 after.

Saturdays Meltdown The Waterfront lndie

£41£3

Butter Me Up y Underdog Po Na Na Funky house 1 jazz beats £3 after 9pm

Sundays Sunday Service Manhattans £2.50

Mondays Aockln' Sheep Ikon Charts and commercial dance £2 b411pm Funky Jam Carwash Liquid Ret ro £2 Underground Mojos Lo-fi and non-commerical lndie £2.50 (NUS) Play Po Na Na Disco, funk Free

Arts •• Theat-r e The Hollywood Live Theatre Hollywood cinemas Featuring Warren Mitchell of 'Til Death Us Do Part fame in The Thoughts of Chairman A/f.

September 19 West Side Story Theatre Royal See review in the arts section for more details.

September 19-22 The Secret Rapture Maddermarket Theatre

By David Hare. Set against a backdrop of Thatcher's Britain, lsobel has to deal with life after he beloved father's deat h...

September 27- October 6 The Mystery of Charles Dickens Theatre Royal With Simon Callow.

September 25-29 The Tempest The Playhouse October 1-2

Tuesdays Funk Friction Owens cafe Bar Slinky Hys Club ant hems Free with student ID.

Satisfaction Hys House and Swing

Student Night (Freshers' Ball Sept 25) Li quid Commerical dance £1 b4 11pm

Status The Concept Chart and ret ro £3 b4 11pm, £3.50 after.

Ufe Time Commercial dance £1 (NUS)

Mi se Far Too Happy?

Playhouse Six of Cambridge's finest comedians show the depressing side of happiness.

September 29 Arsthand Drama Studio UEA launches the latest anthology from the Creative Writing MA. Introduced by Andrew Motion.

October 2

-- -

GRADUATE MANAGEMENT TRAINING PROGRAMME BUSINESS MANAGEMENT IN SALES AND ARKETING Are you a competitive and highly self motivated team player, looking to progress as quickly as your talents and personality will let you?

If you answered Yes to this question, then a graduate career with Enterprise Rent-A-Car could be just what you are looking for. We are looking to recruit highly energetic sales orientated individuals who are willing to work hard, and have the same commitment to customer service that Enterprise has established over the years. We are looking for the Managers of our future. We offer a fast track into Management working for a privately held, multi-billion pound corporation; our need is to find individuals capable of continuing our phenomenal growth in the UK, repeating the success stories of North America and Canada. Your job will be to learn all aspects of our business from the ground floor up, dealing with all functions of running your own small business in the decentralised structure we operate. One of the great things about Enterprise is that its up to you how quickly you get to the top.

If you are a graduate, who thinks they can make the most of these opportunities, please send your CV with a covering letter to: Miss Joss Rutherford, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, HR Dep t 51/ UEA, Beechwood House, Depot Road, Newmarket, Suffolk, CBB OAL. jrutherford @erac.com Recruiting for the East England area www.erac.com

Picture: Celia Graham as Maria, Norman Bowman as Tony in West Side Story

We are an equal opportunity employer

Wednesday. September 19. 2001

ent

UNIOII FILMS Thursday 20 Meet the Parents

Tuesday 25 Miss Cong eniality

Thursday 27 Thurs 27 Smoove R'n'B and Rap with DJ Ess-Ay-E m and guests

Thurs

October Thurs 04 Oxygen DJ Ben locks'n'loads with House and Trance Thurs 11 Fruity Flava's DJ Hotwingz and guests plays the finest in UK Garage Thurs 18 xtreme Skate, metal, nu-rock, indie Thurs 25 Smoove R'n'B and Rap with DJ Ess-Ay-Em and ~ guests

Thurs Thurs

Thurs

DJ Ben locks'n'loads with House and Trance 08 Fruity Flava's DJ Hotwingz and guests plays the finest in UK Garage 15 xtreme Skate, metal, nu-rock, indie 22 Resist!

Guest DJs bring it on with Funky Breaks 'n' Hip Hop 29 Smoove R'n'B and Rap with DJ Ess guests

Bridget Jones' Diary

Friday 28 The Ta il or of Panam a OCTOBER

Monday 1 M icrocosmos w it h live soundtrack

Tuesday 2 The Dish

Thursday 4 Captain Correlli's Mandolin

Friday 5 Mummy Returns

Tuesday 9 Down to Earth

Thursda y 11 Shrek

November

Friday 12

01 Oxygen

Late Night Shopping

Tuesday 16 Blackboards

Thu rday 18 Toy Story/Toy Story 2

Friday 19

ane 22/09/01 Freshen Up 9pm, LCR) feat. Robbie Willi-s a ones tribute show, dod~ms, temp, tattoos, -\side stalls etc, VK Ice & Bud £1 a bottle 23/09101 Hypnotist Tony Lee (£3, 8pm, LCR) 'f: adult show!

24/09/01 Quiz (f ree, 7.30, LCR) ,...~.., f 1 cash prize 25/09/01 Bar Footsie and Karaoke (free, 8pm, LCR) 26/09/01 ' Em Out Jazz Cafe (£3, m, Hive) feat performance poetry and live jazz 27/09/01 LCR Disco (£3, 9pm) + Smoove (r'n'b, hip hop) in the Hive 28/09/01 Caramba! Latin party (£3, 9.30pm, LCR) feat Cache Live Salsa Band, salsa dance class in the Hive (8pm). Bacardi Breezer £1 a bottle, Bacardi + Splash £1 a shot 29/09/01 Club Retro (£3.50, 9.30pm, LCR/Hive) 3 Decades of Top Tunes Prices are advance, many events sell out in advance so we advise you to buy tickets from the Box Office in the Hive open 1Oam - 5pm. We charge more on the door!

1/10/01 Terrovision (£11) 0/01 Garage Nation (£1 2/£1 OSU) 0/01 Pam's House (£9/£7SU) 0/01 Chill 'Em Out Jazz Cafe (£3) 0/01 Super Furry Animals (£10) 0/01 Now That's What I Call the 90s f eat Whigfield (£4) 1 The C. arlatans (£17. 50 ~ 0/01 WKD Comedy Night ' .

CYD (£4) (£12.50) .......,,.....,._Active feat , nkeys (£5) Aussie Pink Floyd 1 eels (£13.50) Tues 0/01 Soft Cell (£1 Wed·t24/1 0/01 Chill 'Em sents Firstlight Feddy Fresh &

Evolution

Tuesday 23 Pi or Memento

Thursday 25 Spy Kids

Frid ay 26 Terminator

Tuesday 30 Best in Show NOVEMBER

Thursday 1 Peral Harbour

Fri day 2 W es Craven presents Dracula 200 1

Tuesday 6 The Croup ier (9pm start)

Thursday 8 Lara Croft Tomb Raider

Friday 9 Ginger Snaps

Tuesday 13 50) les .50/fSSU) . ...T:JIFC::llilor (£1 0.50) (£12 .50) Tues ut Jazz Cafe (£3) Wed 31 6.50/£12SU) Fri 02/1 (£16.50/£12SU) Sat 03/1 (£11.50) M on .03/1 of Sound (£6/£4SU) Sat 10/11 ds, Blues Band (£15) Sun 11/11 Mon 12/11/0 Ke arris and Orville (£7 .50/£4SU) Fri 16/11/01 Club Retro (£3.50) Sat 17/11/01 Pam's House (tbc) Sat 24/11/01 Now 90s feat Timmy Mallet (£ Mon 26/11/01 WKD medy Night feat Danial Kitson (£4)

Bread and Roses

Thursday 15 Breakfast at Tiffany's

Frid a y 16 Planet of the Apes

Tu esday 20 Timecode

Thursday 22 Swordfish (9pm start) Individual tickets cost £~.75 A term film p[ass is only £12.50 and covers all the films showing this term. That's less than 35p per film, making us the cheapest cinema in Norwich by far!AII films start at 8.30pm are in LT1 unless otherwise ed.

See film poster for full terms and conditions