The event issue 173 09 02 2005

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1 free drink*

*for the 1st 250 people b4 1Opm with a flyer or a oopy of this advert

IS:

Features

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concrete.editor@uea.ac. uk Philip Sainty

Love Songs

concrete.event@uea.ac. uk TirnBarker

The Western

concrete.eventeditorial@uea.ac.uk · Sarah Edwardes Proof Reader: Hoffrnan Wolf

Kneehigh Interview

1.1 Eastern Cinema + Cinefile

concrete.arts@uea.ac. uk Editor: Luke Roberts Assistant Editors: Niki Brown, Roanna Bond Writers: Gabrielle Barnes, Sirnon Jackson, Sirnon Griffiths, Daisy Bowie-Sell

Arts Anatomy for Beginners ~

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concrete .film@ue a .ac.uk

Valentines Special

Editor: Dean Bowman Writers: Mark Sirnpson, Dan Peters, Priya Shah, Stan Goodspeed, Toby SleighJohnson, Claudia Webb, Stephen Sharrock

Reviews

concrete.music@uea.ac. uk

~ Music - Albums

Editors: Jarnes Banks & Ben Patashnik Writers: Charles Rurnsey, Matt Elliott, Joe Espiner, Catherine Lansdown, Victoria Holland, Nick Brookes, Jarnes Banks, Suzanne Rickenback, Hayley Chappel, Ben Patashnik, Chris Hyde, Sirnon Griffiths, Sophie Driscoll

~ Music - Singles

ll4l Film - Cinema il® Film- DVDs ® Arts ill? TV/Digital

concrete.tv/digital@uea.ac.uk Editor: Kate Bryant Writers: Martha Hanunond, Kim Howe, Stephen Sharrock

Creative 'Writing Editor: Merinne Whitton Writers: Zoe Neville-Smith, Wendy Cope, Luke Owen, Andrea Tllarita, Jarnes Conway, Dan Magee, Sir Waiter Raleigh, Ruth Gordon, Naked Matt, Patrick O'Read,'Ben Patashnik, Luke Roberts, Dean Bowmen, Peter Osthead

Cre ative Writing

® Listings

Design Consultant Nathan 'design consultant' Hamilton

Cube Zero Competition

Apologies

Hard Boiled Competition

The Event apologises for a mistake in the last issue. The competition for Nathalie was credited to Optimum rather than Mosaic, and we apologise for this mistake. Sorry!

The Event is published fortnightly by Concrete: Post: PO Box 41 0, Norwich, NR4 7TB Tel: 01603 250558 Fox: 01603 506822 E-moil: su.concrete@ueo.oc.uk Printed by: Archont

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Editorial

eek Five, half-way through this tenn and it already feels like time is slipping away from us here at The Event. No matter how much caffeine we pump into our slowly decaying bodies we can't seem to keep the hands of time from rushing past us in a blur of missed deadlines and drunken nights.

But at least you lot have The Event to anchor you temperally to the tenn every two weeks, with bucket loads of non'sense accompanied by mountains o witty interesting commrnent on the world of entertainment.

This issue is packed to the guns with stuff and we hope that you find it in your hearts to forgive us the few type-o's , blood stains and coffee cup marks that sometimes spill into The Event. We hope you enjoy it and don't read it all too quickly or it'll go straight to your head. · Yours, The Editors.

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Dellacasa Competition

Thanks to the people at Mosaic Entertainment we have three finished copies of the DVD Cube Zero, which is available to rent/buy from 14th February.

For the chance to win one of these • answer this tricky question: What was the original film in this series called? a)Cube . b) Sphere .{ _ c) Quadrahedron

Dellacasa have given us another meal competition this issue. If you can't wait for this however see their add on pg. 8 for their number. If anyone wants a free meal just answer this question: Who framed Roger Rabbit? a) Judge Doom b) Judge Judy c) Judge Dredd

We have three DVD's of Hard Boiled to give away, which is available for the great price of £5 .99 from 7th february, thanks to Prism Leisure. Just answer this question if you want it for free : Roughly how long does it take to hard boil an egg? a) 1 min b) 8- lSmins c) 1 hour Pleas send entries to: concrete.event@uea.ac. uk

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That Old Black Ma

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cultural phenomenon. •

ccording to William Shakespeare , "music is the food of love" , the delicious prerequisite of happiness. Music and love are inex___ ._.ricably linked, at once both yin and yang, dark and light, but why? What is it about a configuration of tones that can make people cry out in the shrill ecstasy of a stole n moment , or sink 'neath the choppy waves of se lfe ffacing misery?

Popular m usic was invented in 1765 when George Ill outlawed silence .

Groups of troubadours toured the country in horse and cart, playing for their supper and a roof over their heads.

Obviously, the live music scene left a lot to be desired for both performer and punter alike, since with the introduction and subsequent proliferation of poverty no one could really afford to sustain such an existence. So the few performers that did choose to eke out a living via music decided that they had to make their songs inspiring enough to be truly indispensable for anyone who encountered them. After the governmental edict of 1779 outlawing all mention of hope and aspiration for a better social climate, peasant musicians realised that they had to look internally for their in sp iration - thus giving b irth to the b alla d of love.

Songs about fair maide ns and dusky wenches became the main source of escape for England's troubled lowe r classes. Tony Blackburn became Blackpool's first compere in 1801 during a one-day festival that was only rela tively recently upstaged by the inaugural Isle OfWight Festival for the largest ever gathering of unkempt teenagers.

By far the largest cheer of the day was for The Wandering Lutes, a group based around Hull, with their original song Love Is A Warm Pike staff. The authorities allowed this new trend to flourish because of the alarming rise in peasant happiness - if music was the food of love, it also acted as the lubricant of lust.

What had become obvious was that music was a medium which allowed

scrawny youths with too much time on their hands to pour out their feelings to the subject of their affection, both avoiding embarrassment and calling attention to their ramblings. A brief baby boom followed as artists like Charles Rice, Rupert Smith and Hubert Carraba sowed their newly-coveted oats shamelessly. This provided the first known e xamples of Ironic Groupies a rtists tha t e xploit their suppose d se nsitivity and understated feelings in order to prey on impressionable young ladies, the sort of behaviour specifically contradicted in songs like Take My Love Away and For You I Plough

"If music was the food

of love, it also acted as the lubricant of lust."

Alone.

Victorian ideals provided the backdrop for much of the music of the early 19th century, with any mentions of love or lust having to be toned down so that they may be acceptable for all. The most notorious example of such censorship came when Molly Smythe had to perform her hit Place Your Hand 'pon My Rump without any apparently "offensive" content. The audience was preparing for an onslaught of sexual verbs and nouns , but Smythe was forced to perform the edited version, which lasted only 13 seconds. A riot b e gan wh e n sh e flashed her c alves a t the baying hord es.

This marke d a dry p a tch in the history of the love song, since any sentiment was squeezed out of the music in favour of prudish moralising. Historians have long considered this period as the the most barren, and the love song almost died out. In fact , Simon Schama described it as b e ing "effervescent with shitness" .

W ith the advent of the 20th century, the love song was able to flourish and reach unsurpasse d levels of blanket coverage. Just as cocaine signalled the advent of sleaze rock's dominance in the latter part of the century, alcohol (and more specifically beer) was the precursor to the same phenomenon in terms of sensitive, personal music being successful. With the illicit pleasures con-

tained by Speakeasies during Prohibition in the U.S. , domestic audiences caught onto the blues and rock scenes in time to consign skiffle to history's bargain bin of shame. As the music industry snowballed into the capitalistic behemoth machine we all know and d e plore, executives realised that by the homogenisation of love, they could m ake a lot of money. And so, wh at is now known as pop music starte d to tr ansfo rm art into comme rce. ck 'n' roll's e mergen ce as he biggest threat to the nation's youth since cholera sp arked a new burst of vitaliy for this form of music .

Squalling guitars and screamed lyrics substituted for poetry for a disaffected generation, and the only way to describe the psychedelia of the '60s was the musical manifestation of feelings that had hitherto been unsaid.

Swirling soundscapes collided with buzzsaw guitars in a million teenage bedrooms and encouraged a form of

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expression that is still being realised.

Love became both a language and a message that, despite Pete Waterman's bes t efforts , rem ains elusive enough to still drive a multi-million pound industry.

What has se emingly prevailed since the invention of love in the 14th century, through the discove ry of the amplifier in 1782,love being banned a s a feeling in the Thatcher years, to its use as a global marketing tool, is that people want to feel like they are in love, and the mos t effective way of doing that is to market love as much as possible. At once b o th public and private, the love song h as flourished in the MTV age as legions of lovestruck teenagers plaster their walls with pictures of their idols, continually ready to fall in love again. But, for The Event as for millions of others, the words of Sting provide a constant comfort: "Whoa baby, yeah baby yeah. Whoa, yeah, baby whoa."

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Way Out West

Cinefile Bullet in tH e 0

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Head

woman's husband who is trapped in a gold mine. The film examines the greed of the white man, and Cooper sums up the critique with the final line, "If the world was made of gold, I guess that men would die for a handful of dirt." lint Eastwood, after dazzling audiences with his cool portrayal of'The-Man-With-NoName' in Sergio Leone's Spaghetti Westerns, would continue this trend of violence and pessimism throughout the '70s and '80s, alternating between being Dirty Harry and the various mysterious strangers of his Westerns. In fact, his cop films are merely contemporary Westerns and his popularity shows how well Eastwood gauged his audience. His films held onto the graphic violence and cynicism of the early films, but also gave him a largerthan-life persona. He would use this to his advantage in one of the seminal films of the genre: Unforgiven. Eastwood had been given the script when he was younger but felt that he had to wait until he was older and world-weary. This savage tale of revenge, violence and corrupt morals in the West was unleashed on audiences in 1992 and would scoop four Oscars (Best Film, Editing, Director and Supporting Actor for Gene Hackman) .

The power of this film can still be felt , and many critics have seen it as the film to bring the genre to a close.

The '90s produced many Westerns, but they struggled to gain the level of success that had been seen in previous decades. Contemporary action films h ad taken over and it seemed that the Western had nowhere left to go. The early Westerns can be seen as Americans looking back on their immediate history and trying to justify their exploits. Has America changed too much for the Western to be relevant now? Do contemporary action films better reflect American society? Or is it simply that audiences simply got bored with them?

The genre has played a crucial part in twentieth century cinema and has influenced other important filmmakers, like Akira Kurosawa. It would be a great shame to lose it. I doubt that this will be the last that we will see of the Western, and all it needs is a little re-invention for twenty-first century audiences.

Optimum releases their six part classic

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rom Edwin S. Porter's 1903 classic The Great Train Robbery to Kevin Costner's 2003 film Open Range, the Western has been a dominant force throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. The genre has influenced numerous filmmakers and has provided the archetypal characters and narratives for many Hollywood action films. It can be considered the quintessential American genre.

Why has the Western become so successful? One of the most important reasons is the iconic scenery. Many of the classical Westerns have used Monument Valley in Utah to show audiences the vastness of the American wilderness. In this way, the landscape becomes a character in its own right and exemplifies the size of America.

Westerns made great use of technological innovations, especially wide-screen cinema and drive-ins. The landscape not only provides pretty scenery, but also one of the most important themes

Sergio Leone's the starring role in many of the classic use of Westerns made during the peak of the widescreen was classical period, such as The Searchers. a revelation However, Wayne was not the only Western star of the time. He was closely rivaled by strong-but-silent type Gary Cooper and eternal lawman Henry Fonda. These men showed how tough you had to be to survive in the west and can be seen as the pinnacles of masculinity. This is why it is refreshing to see nice guy Jimmy Stewart starring in 1950's Broken Arrow and to have his masculinity constantly come into question. His role as Captain Tom Jeffords shows him trying to gain peace between Americans and Apaches, while both sides challenge his manliness because he saves the life of a young Apache boy rather than scalping him and making money. Unlike Wayne, Stewart plays a hero who is reluctant to become viole nt and will only do so at a last resort. The film marks a welcome de parture from the usual level of violenc e shown by Western heroes.

However, this would soon change in the '60s.

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The landscape not only provides pretty scenery, hut also the most important theme of the genre: the battle for land ownership.

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the genre: the battle for land ownership.

Although it may not always be essential to the plot, the ownership of land is always hanging over the action.

However, this conflict over land is not only between Native Americans and white Americans, but also between westerners and easterners. One of the perfect examples of this is Edward Dmytryk's Broken Lance. This film shows how a cattle baron deals with an eastern copper plant invading his land; the copper plant is burnt down. The film aptly demonstrates the difference of opinions: the cattle baron doesn't want to give up the land that he has spent over twenty years cultivating, but the easterners feel that he should make way for westward expansion for the good of the country. While this problem is never truly solved, it shows that the Westerns are not only about barroom brawls and showdowns at twenty paces.

With the cinematic landscapes providing the backdrop and the reason for many conflicts, Westerns also flourished because of its leading men. The most famous and iconic of all is 'The Duke' John Wayne who dominated Westerns from the late '30s to the ' 70s. Whilst never fighting in a war himself, Wayne would become the All-American Hero and become a role model for many generations of American boys. He became so successful because of his portrayal of the average, hardworking man who fought for what he believed in. In a way, he represented an idealized America.

His dominance of the genre was greatly helped by director John Ford giving him

The violence in classical Westerns is tame compared to modern standards.

Yes, people were shot with guns and arrows, but there was little to no blood.

This was because of the " Hays Code" that the studios were enforced to abide by, which limited the amount of violence, sexuality and taboo subjects in films of the period. Resident nut-ball Howard Hughes pushed these limits as far as he could with The OuUaw and Rio Bravo, but it was not until after the success of the brutally bloody Bonnie and Clyde that the Western became graphically violent. The man to blame for this bloody realism invading the West? Sam Peckinpah and his 1969 film The Wild Bunch. The film is famously framed by two epic gunfights: the beginning with the bunch shooting up a town to escape a bank robbery and at the end with them taking on a small Mexican army.

The violence in this film was shocking not only because of the amount of claret and gore flying around but also because not even civilians are safe from the gunplay.

Whilst many audiences were turned off by the graphic violence, critics were impressed with its gritty portrayal of the west and how morality was not as simple as the 'white hats versus black hats' of the classical Westerns. However, this critique of the ethics of the Western can be seen as early as I954 with Henry Hathaway's Garden of Evil. Gary Cooper stars in a film about gold prospecting in the west in Indian Territory. He leads a small group of men in searching for a

Westerns collection on 21st February.

A guns-to-the-front action thriller?

Quite right- this is John Woo 's 1990 Hong Kong epic, strewn with bullets and home to a huge number of explosion-heavy mob battles.

Somehow, Woo manages to fuse an expansive epic Vietnam war genre with a claustrophobic gangster movie, and the points at which these two disparate forms converge are beautifully surre al.

Just the one bullet in the head though?

No no, a good number of such incidences; the title refers to a p articular event quite late on in the narrative that affects all of the main characters and begins a violent cycle of betrayal and revenge. The three heroes - Ah Bee (Tony Leung) , Fai (Jacky Cheung), and Little Wing (Waise Lee)- start off the film in Hong Kong as small-time criminals, hard-up but happy as close friends with dreams of making better lives for themselves. After accidentally killing a local gang member though, they are forced to flee the country in fear of their lives, and head for wartime Saigon (1967) with plans to play the black market and make their fortune.

That sounds like a plan waiting to go wrong ...

The trio run into trouble straight away when their smuggled cargo is blown up by the Vietcong, and things get more violent and desperate from there on in: police brutality is everywhere, gangs operate a sweeping network of prostitution and murder, and the friends' long-standing loyalty strains to breaking point as panic and fear take hold. Most shocking though is the horror-of-war ordeal experienced in a Deer Hunter-style prison camp, where people die for no other purpose than entertainment, and humanity deteriorates into madness.

Powerful stuff. Is this a different type of Woo fibn to tbe 1nerrily spectacular Broken Arrow and Mission Impossible 2 then?

Well, it certainly feels more personal and passionate than most of Woo's Hollywood output, but there's also no shortage of dizzying pyrotechnical wonders. Bullet in the Head rushes through a strange mix of pathos, irony, and overblown action - occasionally awkward but always dynamic, and quite unafraid to push scenes over into a kind of neurotic horror that most action films are unwilling or unable to show. The apocalyptic showdown - two duellers shining with wet blood as the flames lick the sky - is so affecting because it sustains a profound sense of regret and sadness even as the battle reaches its awful culmination: as the hero and villain, once friends, clash car-to-car with guns blazing, the chase is intercut with shared memories of a bike ride from happier times.

Sebastian Manley

09.02.05

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Knee high and

Rising ur first impression might be to gauge the "biggest unsigned band in Norwich" mantle up alongside " best Ukrainian center forward".

Andriy Shevchenko's never going to the World Cup, despite banging them in for AC Milan week in, week out. So, that Kneehigh habitually pack out the city's cult (read: shoebox-sized) underground music venue, The Ferryboat, for their own gigs and were last seen stealing the crowd from under p a st-it pop-punkers Sugarcult at the Waterfront at the tail end of last year, it certainly does not entail that The Big Time is just around the corner.

On ly this time, it just might be .

Having adopted a policy of selling their last 2 EPs for a paltry one pound sterling, the Thorpe (a suburb "abo ut a mile out of town", according to frontman Greg Hacket t) based quartet have ensured that they've been shifting the kind of units that rock A&Rs wish upon their fledgling acts, Kneehigh seem to have succeeded thus far by displayi ng a selfawareness and a shrewd precocious in managing themselves that instantly sees them stand apart from the rest of the local scene's end less procession of generic emo / screamo/ side-swept haircut-core acts.

Their origins are much more predictable. "We formed fo ur years ago, just as four friends from high school, " recalls Greg. "We started o ff p laying Blink 182 songs, the usual covers and

09.02.05

then gradually started writing our own s tuff. We got our first break by playing [now-defunct Norwich rock club) Fat Pauly's, supporting people like Reel Big Fish and Hundred Reasons . We were called No Comply back then," he chuckles, well-aware of the south coast skapunk sextet curre ntly taking the toilet circuit by storm with their kinetic live show "so one of the first things we did was change our name. " From then on in it was a question of the then-15 years olds piling into a van and playing whe reve r to whoever, which formed the start of their now-impressive word of mouth ne twork, which pre dates the economical boom provided by the interne! and its mp3s, band websites and Myspace profile pages . The inglorious nature of it all is still fresh in Greg's memory.

"We played places like

"We don't conside r ourselves to be punk or em.o ... we don't try and steer away from. anything, either" Greg surmises.

"We just write.''

Manchester and Sheffield relatively early on, but we were paying to play sometimes," he explains. "We'd pay our own petrol costs to play to nobody, on occasion. In contrast to those big city gigs there were also gigs like the time we played Banbury, where we didn't actually play because our van broke down by the side of the road on the way th ere." Turns out paying for your own petrol only gets you places if you're put-

ting it in a decent mode of transport.

Things are more civilised these days . Well, slightly "We've got a driver and soundman who works a t the Waterfront and he sorts us out, basically! " Why? Because they're very nice boys.

"We're just trying to make friends with everybody, " Greg confirms "fans, promoters ... rather than just emailing a load of people we don't know. It 's even harder work trying to get gigs that way. What we do is more DIY, which is the work ethic at the heart of this band." hat and friendship, apparently.

For our interview today Greg is joined by Kneehigh bassist Tim Swaby - the band's line-up is completed by absent second guitarist and Matthew Selfe and drummer Stuart Addison - who does less of the talking but is more prone to highlight specifics about Kneehigh evolving from fo ur skater kids writing makeshift pop-punk in his garage to the hard-touring local live scene darlings, well-regarded for their incredibly tight live show and proficient output since their Open Arms deb ut was followed up b y last year's aptly-titled Dignity Of Labour EP and another new EP, set to be m ade available at their epochal Waterfront gig later this month.

"From the summer of, er, '99," he casts back, bravely resisting the temp tation to lapse into a Bryan Adams a cappella, "where Greg's English was so bad that he'd literally make up words so that the lyrics rhymed, to now, it's become more career-driven for us , definitely, but it's still based on friendship . It sounds like a cliche, but really we are four best mates who love hanging out together."

"I've been through some shit in the past couple of years, " admits Gre g , when prodded on what specifically has matured Kneehigh's chief songwriter. "We all have, though . When you write about that the songs g e t bette r, as they're more tied in with real life. " Before he can disappe ar off too far down a cul-de-sac of emotional

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mopery, though, he's keen to point out that growing up does have its benefits. "! love Stevie Wonder now!" he grins, detailing how his and the b a nd's musical tastes have diversified recently. "We don't consider ourselves to be punk or emo ... " "But it's impossible not to be labelled as that , though , really" Tim cuts across him, keen to avoid piledriving into the first stock answer listed in the Musicians' Big Book Of Interview Cliches, aka the "we don't sound like anyone else" quote. "We don't try and steer away from anything, either" Greg surmises. "We just write."

It seems that , after choosing which label to shack up with for their next-but-one release (th ey're being courted by a number of names they refuse to drop), Kneehigh's next goal will be how to learn to harness the power of the soundbite.

C 'mon guys, enough of how you're all great mates on an earnest mission to make the best music you can where are the fights, the weirdos and the stalkers?

"Oh, you don't like to say ... " demurs Tim. "A drunk old man in Stoke told me 'I could get you in the charts"' offers Greg, more helpfully. "He said he needed to 'mellow us out' fi rst, though. " Probably best not to drink too much of those pints he bought you, then. "He was , like, 'Let my people become your people . .. "' adds Tim. "He wouldn't te ll us who his people were, though. It's always nice to get feedback, th ough, I suppose ... ". How about obsessive fans? Seen any Kneehigh tattoos yet? This question provokes some hastily suppressed smirks. "Not yet," says Greg, "but a girl did stalk us for about three shows- she travelled 70 miles to do it - and then went and got a Shuriken tattoo, who were the headline band we were touring with. So she might get us done next. " Phew, finally, a nutter to write about. "Oh no," objects Tim "her and her mate were really nice. " "Yeah, " concurs Greg, "really nic e girls."

Kn eehigh h ea dlin e Waterfront on 17th February

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Hong Kong Dean Bowman pays homage to the high-octane world of Hong Kong's hard-boiled Hollywood. artan has always had a very respected Asian label, but it seems that they are finally getting some competition with Tai Seng Entertainment, the USA's largest distributor of far Eastern cinema, set to open its UK distribution arm and Momentum entering the market with their new Momentum Asia offshoot. The latter has acquired much of the legendary Shaw Brothers back catalogue and will be releasing thirty of their classic martial arts films over the coming months. It seems the time is ripe for a reminder of why Hong Kong cinema is worth investigating.

Hong Kong is known as Dongfang Haolaiwu, "The Hollywood of the East" and in his book Hong Kong Baby/on Fredric Dannen calls it "the movie factoiy for all of Asia." Before reunification with China it was producing over 200 films a year and was second only to the USA for exports, despite being only the size of Rhode Island. Yet Hong Kong has a population of 6.8 million, making it one of the most densely populated places on Earth.

Given the limitations on space, it seems incredible that in 1957 the Shaw Brothers, Runme and Run-Run Shaw, were able to build their 'Movie Town', which rivalled MGM studios in scale.

Built on 46 acres in northern Kowloon, it consisted of 12 enormous sound stages and an array of permanent sets including a whole Qing Dynasty town. King Hu, most famous for his 1971 CanneswinningWire-fu masterpiece A 1buch of Zen, which inspired such recent hits as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and The House of Flying Daggers, started his career here by directing Come Drink with Me, as did John Woo. The Shaw brothers practically invented the Martial Arts genre, thus establishing

Hong Kong's national style, with films such as The Heroic Ones and Two Champions of Shaolin, making an impressive 760 films in their thirty-year existence. Quentin Tarantino recently paid homage to the Shaw Brothers by using the 'Shaw Scope' logo at the beginning of Kill Bill.

In 1970, the ambitious producer Raymond Chow broke away from the Shaw Brothers and set up his own company, Golden Harvest, which quickly signed the new talent Bruce Lee, who remains the most famous of Hong Kong's exports. His career, however, was tragically short and in 1973, after starring in the Warner Brothers/Golden Harvest eo-production Enter the Dragon, he died of a brain edema.

Golden Harvest also discovered Jackie Chan, who inherited Bruce Lee's fame and directed and acted in many films. Chan became such a star in Hong Kong, (and eventually in America) that he once said "in Asia I am jurassic Park.

I am E. T." His persona of charismatic comic and skilful fighter was massively endearing, especially to female fans, many of who were so obsessive that they regularly stalked him and one even attempted suicide outside his home after hearing a rumour that he planned to marry. Jackie Chan, like his key influence Buster Keaton, is renowned for performing all of his own insanely dangerous stunts and has injured himself more times than anyone can count, yet when it comes to his admirers he is not so fearless: "Some of these girls, they scare the shit out of you!"

The turnover of films in the Hong Kong film industry is incredibly quick, with one feature, Sexy and Dangerous, famously taken from conception to completion in just 20 days. Production, as a result, is often patchy. Fredric Dannen comments that "refinement is not a characteristic of the Cantonese

movie. Perhaps the best way to describe the Hong Kong genre is to speak of its comic book aesthetic: it is a cinema of incessant action, eye-popping effects, and cartoon-like violence." The contrast with mainland China's highly wrought films of the Fifth Generation filmmakers, such as Chen Kaige's Farewell my Concubine, is particularly striking. ithin this chaotic culture of filmmaking, two directors stand out as obsessive stylists and creators of high-quality works, John Woo and Wong Kar-Wai. John Woo found his artistic voice with Hong Kong's highest ever grossing film A Better 1bmorrow, the film that made Chow Yun-Fat famous and established Woo as the undisputed master of the 'Heroic Bloodshed' genre.

His follow-up, The Killer, is one of the most famous Hong Kong films in the west and firmly established Woo's key themes of chivalry and brotherhood.

Chow Yun-fat plays an ethical hit man who accidentally blinds a nightclub singer, falls in love with her and resolves to undertake one last job in order to pay for her cornea transplant.

Throughout the film he is tracked by a feckless cop (Danny Lee) who eventually befriends him, and together they face the Triad army. The final battle, set in an abandoned church, during which religious iconography is juxtaposed with extreme violence, is probably the greatest action sequence ever filmed.

John Woo followed up this hit with the astonishing Hard Boiled, which arguably has the highest body count in any film outside the war genre. The climactic scene is the assault on a hospital which the Triads are using as a headquarters , by Chow Yun-fat and Tony Leung (the most charismatic actor since Bogart). In one particularly daring three-minute long unedited shot, packed with shooting and special effects, Woo demonstrates his incredible ability at directing action, which has led many to dub him 'the poet of violence' . His kinetic editing and graceful camera movements give the bloody images a disturbing ballet-like beauty.

In 1997, amidst the backdrop of the uncertain reunification of Hong Kong with China, John Woo joined the largescale migration of actors and directors to Hollywood, where his output has been consistently disappointing. He has said that "in Hong Kong, I feel I work like a painter; in Hollywood I also work like a painter, but somehow my hand is [sic) tied by rope."

Even if John Woo's material is of a higher quality than most products from the Hong Kong film industry, it is still very generic. If there is one director who has broken out of the standard aesthetic and who can be considered an auteur and a one-off genius, it is '.l'long Kar-Wai. As a result of his visionary originality, he is ultimately more popular with international audiences than the domestic public. His film Chunking

Express, for instance, was the first film from Hong Kong to win at Cannes since A 1buch of Zen.

On the strength of his first more mainstream film, As Thars Go By, Wong was given free reign to direct Days of Being Wild, which established his penchant for jumbled impressionistic narratives. After seeing the finished product, his producers were said to have fainted in shock; the film was a flop at the box office but remains one of the most critically acclaimed of Hong Kong films. Wong bounced back with Ashes of Time, his most indulgent and enigmatic film, which demonstrates best his lengthy improvisational shooting style. As Fredric Dannen notes, "Wong took his all-star cast to the Yuri desert of China, shot hundreds of thousands of feet of film, and changed the script at liberty from day to day. After two years, the movie had run several million dollars over budget, and was still unfinished."

"Perhaps the hest way to describe the Hong Kong genre is to speak of its comic hook aesthetic: ·it is a cinema of incessant action, eye popping effects, and cartoon like violence." flow Wong Kar-Wai gets away with this in such an extreme film industry is incredible, but he now has sufficient international influence to have his own way. During the production of 2046, the recently released sequel to his masterpiece In the Mood for Love, his regular actor Tony Leung commented that he had been working on the film for four years and " still didn't know what it was about."

For his film Happy 1bgether, in which the late Leslie Cheung and Tony Leung play gay lovers, the plot (or what passes for one in a Wong Kar-Wai film; it may be better to say the order of the images) was apparently made up byWong in the editing room. Wong Kar-Wai always works with Christopher Doyle, who, despite Jacking formal t:raUUng and coming originally from Australia, is considered the best cinematographer in the industry and whose deep, rich images are vital to Wong's abstract aesthetic. Doyle says that he doesn't bother with Wong's script anymore: "I assume the film is going to be about time and space and identity and isolation. And probably it 's going to be in the spaces he says it'll be in- probably."

The first in a series of Shaw Brothers films, The Heroic Ones, Spiritual Boxer and Heroes 2 (reviews appear on the Concrete Website) will be released by Momentum Asia on the 21st February. Tai Seng kicks off its UK distribution arm with the release of Cop on a Mission also on 21st February. Hard Boiled is being rereleased by Prism Leisure on 7th February for a bargain price of £5.99.

Finally, Wong Kar-Wai's latest m asterp iece 2046 is currently showing in cinemas and is unmissable.

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08

Set in Stone ew aspiring writers have been published b y the age of twentyone, but The Event is here to meet one of them. Jon Stone is d resse d in a brown floor length trench coat, leather g loves and b lack h at , which makes a dram a ti c first imp ressio n.

Concerns a b o ut n ot b e ing a b le to recognise him wh e n he e nters the pub, in which The Even t awaits an inte rview, disappe ar imme di ately. Yet once he sits down , he is a ve ry softly-spoken, thoroughly inte llige nt and thought-provoking man. Having studied for a degree in English and Creative Writing here at UEA, where he was president of the creative writing society, he is now working as a temp in Norwich to earn enough to combat his s tudent debts . He has re ce ntly gained a place on next year 's prestigious creative writing MA, so he will soon be studying at the university again. Havin g just published his first book of poetry, I'll Show You Tyrants, he is here to discuss it in a little more detail.

The most pressing question Th e Event wishes to ask him is why on the back of his book he claims to have died in a car crash, whe n he is quite clearly alive , well and sitting here drinking a b eer? It turns out Stone feels that poets who h ave passed aw ay are "pre sente d b e tte r, as you are introduced to the poet b efore the p oetry c ollection and it makes the poe ms far more inte re sting to re ad ." His influe nces are as dive rse as Ted Hughes, Rarnbo and C atullus , wh o is, The Even t discovers, a Roman Poet.

He is currently working on a n ovel, Manley and I , and h as plans to release another collection of poetry soon. He has been writing "since the very beginning of mem-

09.02.05

ory" and likens his work to that of "Albert Carnus, Errol Flynn and Tintin."

Getting your first piece of writing published is never a simple task, but Stone seems to have managed this with surprising ease. He was initially writing for a publishing website called UKA, who then decided to set up a sm all p ublishing firm. By this time Stone had a fairly extensive b acklog of p oetry an d UICA's transition to publishing company provided a time ly opening for I'll Sh ow You Tyrants. It appear s that the harde r part came later, whe n trying to g e t the book a d e qu ately di stribute d and advertised. Amazon and Bertrarn Books have

"Getting your first piece of writing published is never a simple task, but Stone seems to have managed this with surprising ease." copies ready for order, and he is currently a ttempting to convince Wate rstones and Ottakers to stock the book as well.

The collection is separated into seve n se ctions. The poe m s are a feast of linguistic exploration and excitement.

Stone brings mome nts to the mind with such voracity and individualism that they transport the rea d e r into poignant, d ark a nd mysterious worlds . Most of these worlds seem to b e from within the p oe ts mind whilst some simp ly seem to be observation s o f his surroundings. As alway s with poe try, catchin g the explicit intent, effect and beauty can b e difficult at first and Stone's poetry is no exception. Poetry is inherently personal, both for the writer and for the reader.

No surprise then that at first glance confusion is lurking behind each page.

Howeve r, reading Stone's poems at a le1surely rate, taking time to enJOY the arnbigmtles Wlthin each poem lets the reader come away feeling like they have experi- .enced

beautiful and meaningful moments in life which could easily have passed them by.

Although the dense references Wlthin the poetry may not spring to mind immediately, they are written m such a way as to enable the reader to relax in the knowledge that essentially it doesn't matter. Not only that, but the references are made in such a way that if you d on't realise them a t the time of reading, you feel there is life just around the corner which will ope n d oors into the layers of Stone's poetry.

The langua ge, structure and irony behind the poems e nrich the ir reading.

The collection starts with the poe m Balcony, and the image s within it create a feeling of an encounter fue lled with quie t lust, invoking a s elf-recognition; a conscious bearing of Stone's a ttitude to himself as a poet. This is self-revealing and reflects the rest of the colle ction's intimate nature. The poems re-cre ate travelling, romantic escapade s and moments of beauty which are everyday.

Yet Stone decides to give them their true worth. His use of language is full of vitality and voluptuousness , crea ting a feast for the eyes and senses.

I'll Show You Tyrants could b e re comm e nde d to anyon e who is conte mplating trying to b e publishe d , purely b e cause Ston e 's use of his immediate surroundings re assure s any write r th at the b e nign can be made intense . As a firs t collection it is a worthwhile read , in order to witness new poe m s without the potential qualms o f firs t-time publishing. As a book of poe try without context, it is worthwhile for the pure e nj oym e nt.

It is clear th at Stone derives g reat pleasure from his writing, that the day job is simply a way of earning money, while his poetry is what he "goes home to". The poems he writes are infused with a sense of dislocation and loss, inspired by the fac t that he feels he "doesn't really come from anywhere in

England." He has moved around a fair bit in the course of his early life. You can sense a kind of uncertainty about him, in the way he glances away at frequent intervals. This makes h1m extremely endearing to talk to somehow, and is perhaps part of the mystery of what makes his poetry so invigorating to read.

When asked where he sees himself in a few years time, Stone's answer app ears at first surprisingly bleak. He explains that he's "not really a fan of goals, as you're no t satisfied until you g e t to it a nd the .:1 n ot satisfi ed when you're past it b ecause then it's over and

I'LL SHOWYOU1YRANTS Tile Selected

Poem.~

of ]on Stone

done with." Instead he prefers the idea of "the uncertainty the future offers."

Despite these reservatwns, Stone has now taken the first steps towards becoming an established wr1ter.

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09

aver . •• wonderful ·Ana·toni)•'for """

- -. ~...

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--

Beg1nners series .... · · .•

e all, squeamishness aside , tuned in t

0

Channel4 to watch Prof. Gunther Von Hagens don his Fedora and chop up a few of his nearest and dearest in Anatomy for Beginners.

If the name does not spark a knowing and wary 'mmm' from your lips, cast 'your mind back to 2002 and the furor over Prof. Von Hagens' Body Worlds exhibition. Corpses preserved by a plastination process, skinned and sometimes dissected but always striking, were all over the place as backpacked tourists wandered around gawping at the splayed out red and white matter. The Autopsy followed, as autopsies often do, and there could have been little more public disapproval of his actions if Prof. Von Hagens had come ot\Stage laughing manically with a huge drill in one hand and a half dnmlc bottle of whiskey in the other and proceeded to splatter his subject up the walls. Now with an entire series .at his disposa, Prof. Von Hagens has enlisted the help of Prof. John Lee, as official explainer of what on earth is going on, and is delving into torsos like nobody's business. Like a jazzed up version of a 4Learning programme for sofa-bound medical students, Anatomy for Beginners is the newest way to get your mortality-based kicks on the box.

However, the intrigue of the series lies not in the OU style illuminations of the miracles of the human body, but in the palpable 'realness' the shows have.

To say something is 'real', especially in the context of television, is problematic to say the least. For decades we've hankered after the constructed realism of quality fiction, the twists and turns of

r#

•

narratives acted out on glossy film.

The further shows would go to persuade us they weze 'real' with intricate plots, shaky cameras and regional accents, the more divorced from the inexplicable and rather tedious aspects of reality they became, and we loved it.

We didn't need reality when the pretend version was quite entertaining enough, thank you. There is an unquestionable sense of comfort that comes from the idea that for fNery dead body the cops come across on the filthy city streets, there is an explanation.

We have all grown to accept that every now and again the good doctors and nurses on Casualty or similar will lose a patient, but that's ok when we know exactly what has gone on. No matter if it's poorly done or incomplete, we are always given some story we can pin onto each fatality that makes it all a bit easier to digest.

Needle-eyed with more than a passing resemblance to a mad scientist, Prof. Von Hagens confronts us with the end, giving none of the lead-up that we have all grown so used to and reliant upon. There is no comforting explanation of the sallow, nude body residing on the steel slab. We're not even afforded a face to put the innards to, as there is a rather ominous white plaster mask shielding each body's face.

The.r e is nothing to Anatomy for Beginners but the rather visceral amusement of being able to marvel at the inner workings of a human body.

There is a bizarre moment of recognition that comes over anyone watching the programme as they realise that the jelly-like bits wobbling away inside each of Prof. Von Hagens' volunteers are also wobbling away inside of them.

The body on the telly that is being peeled back in layers reveals things we all know should be there, brain, heart, liver is also making us all a little too

aware of them pumping away inside ourselves. The body on the telly isn't somebody, it is a body, and it is reduced to the features we all hold in common.

For all the thought-provoking, dramatic moments held over operating tables in ER, there only needs to be a glimpse of a real pair of lungs inflating to have an impact on audiences. No debates about whether or not it looks fake, or if that's what they would do 'in real life' , we have no choice but to let Prof. Lee explain the intricacies of the respiratory system as we lift our jaws off the carpet. eaving for a moment the shows' place and function in the evolution of television, it · should be duly noted that they proved compelling viewing.

Ultimately it was a show that was intended to be viewer-friendly (hence Prof. Lee's words of wisdom) and this shouldn't be forgotten. It may be a little too dismissive to compare Anatomy

L

for Beginners directly with the contents of

the freaks' tent at a particularly gruesome Victorian circus, but there is definitely something macabre about the cold, clinical set all the action takes place on. The informative but overly-jolly voice of Prof.

Lee, Dr Jekyll to Prof. Von Hagens' Mr Hyde, only serves to truly disquiet the casual viewer who momentarily fiicks

.Anatomy for Beginners is the newest way to get your mortality based kicks on the box over from the News. The educational effects are undeniable, but hardly essential and arguably not the best reason to have tuned in. There is very little that can be done to dress up the idea of looking at dead bodies as useful, but its curiosityquenching qualities shonethrough and had us all tuning in.

The biggest drawback to all the tuttutting that has greeted the Anatomy for Beginners series (and Prof. Von Hagens' work in general) is that it will fNentually have to die down. Not fNen the most prim amongst us will be able to keep up such lfNels of disapproval, and fNentually the whole attraction of watching groundbreaking and controversial television will fade away and we'll all be used to seeing the contents of random people experiencing a rather odd fifteen minutes of fame. It might be exciting to marvel at the dead bodies Prof. Von Hagens and his buddies roll out, and pretend not to be eyeing up the live models as Prof. Lee doodles all over them, but once we're all used to it, they might as well just be the fake bodies ER uses - at least they've got good storylines going on too. Sadly, exciting as this series of Anatomy for Beginners has been, the shine will soon have worn off and there will be little but shock value grabbing viewers. Perhaps the next series could pep things up with a celebrity episode. No?

.

'

holding a in a manner that suggested he even seen the instrument before, who could fail love our Chesney? A consummate performer, he w:."•··•'flalso starred in the film Buddy's Song, for which he _...1 ..,a.u~ the theme-tune: Memorable Moment: Mostly memorable we hear it every week at the LCR, it has to hip-shaking crowd-pleasing self-aggrandising single The One and Only.

~.be•catlse

the other three were the boy-band all - ....uoo. .~~ envied. Backstreet Boys ~~~l everything: synchronised dance ~~~~~ moves, matching outfits and pop cho- !:'~ ruses big enough to reverberate ~H~~~ through sports centres and youth clubs across the land. But no matter how good they were, it was never enough . to forgive them the singing career of Nick Carter's pre-pubescent brother Aaron.

remembered whilst being defecated upon by various members of the animal kingdom, The Really Show's Michaela Strachan was the top pin-up kids' TV.

Most Memorable Moment: Hosting The Wide Awake Club with perennial ~~ student favourite, Timmy Mallett.

Most memorable moment: Backstreet's Back, alright!

perhaps only) as Shane in ome and Away, was the soap pin-up of 1994. He was a lone figure of cool in the eternal melodrama that was life in Summer Bay. Most memorable moment: The sun, the sea, the sand, the wetsuit. ..

more to said? Sultry of voice and pert of bottom, even in the dark, dungareed days of Neighbours we all knew there was more to the diminuitive Aussie than the soap let us see.

Most memorable moment: could forget the day Charlene and Scott finally said _their wedding vows?

Long split from her Eternal bandmates, Louise attempts to revive her singing career with a cover of Stuck in the Middle With Yo.u. A nation of· Reservoir Dogs fans

as excuses ...,,..,..,...,,,.., writhing on bouncy castles go, of the best. Remarkably, this show was re(l'at'Cied.as innocent family friendly entertainment.

.j I

!

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12 M

I

Busted Buster

Albums

Busted are no more. But wipe -

..

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John Frusciante

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away those tears as The Event -

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C~Jrtains

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Joe Ransom

Fabric Live ZO

--...their

ar.

09.02.05

.

eun.u. la the .mda ud llDal . - . . . m a liiz..alcah llllllllc muatbcm. flvm lted Hot ClliDl hppea guitariat JobD frnraiante.

Ub IDOIIt of hia IIOio wozk, lt'w terM, lo-1 aDd meJapc:l!ol)' with occaioDa1 snoments of ltUdlo tricbry, aach- the~ galtan OD 7Yme 'lblllgllt that ~*~• m. 1cmt of N- om. ud Radiobead. Lacldly enough, he does not fmget m. day job • lie ~ lOOM with a fluhbtg, He!ldrix-style I01o OD Alme that la eqaa1 to 1U1J of hia bMt guitar work.lfowoeyer,JIOne of thia c:liatniCt. falm the CON element8 of hia lbtc::hy acouatic guitar aDd qaaNriDg wtce, which la pitcMcl1101118Wbes8 betwMa the DMa1 bite oC lob Dylan Uld w.t Cout aow oe logK MOrinn, ud ita u.o temptm; to 1Nl ~ of hia IQICP ...oclaa, Jl.ldboDf Kiedla, iD the deliftry. Much of frnral....... i*filocw . . wodt hM - - Ul attempt to deal wtda tbe ..U docwmented hemiD addictloa M oace~UfleNcl falm, ad Oa1aiDr la no aceptioD, oa.m delcribiDg the ' - • ~bough lt .._. a loft dair goae awry. So ita a .-1 tnNit to heu tJD WDik, wldch diaplays a rea~ .... ofiDtegtltJ ud m. deep ob111lloa with muic.

looks bac~ ~ ~!l_~~~~~ ~evolution.

Whatevw you wem doing OD the 14th of January 2008, you probably felt it. Hanging out the wu!dng you would have lwazd the mullled cries of despair In the wind; 8Urling the 'net, .you would have had that cliatreuing pop-up: ''Need to talk about ifl Cliok here." Some wem tmm mported to have felt it in their 11Mp, waking up lhaking and in a cold nreat. That empty Bp&Ce in the pit of your stomach wu caused by the 8llockwa'9ell originating in a little SU!'Mf town.

We can't I&Y it wasn't on the cards. Busted were only pop becaue they 10 wanted to be rock, they were cmly mainablllllll becauM ..., -,-mecl for the 'llldeiga>GDCL Czitiga oalr - .... u 1IIICOOl bctcaa.e tiWJ . _ 110,., oool 8Dd IMNIMDJ WM 110 WilY out fmlll thiL Clwlle Jet beca1llle he bated the way Buted'• fan-bue of ~~C~Mmimg teeuge gida tied down hill dreaml. It wu tJ:u. cume that held tbem beet fmlll beiDq ~ed by other m'llllicialul iD the mal wozld all a roct bud wants la zespect. Maybe it'a Ulo a cune that hill ~ band Pightltar will have to cmm:ome too. It hall to be ~what wiD become of Pigldatar, wbeD the botlolll of ..,.., artk:Je proc1afmiDg the 8uted lplit adda that "CCwwle la aet to tU:ie hia MW band OD the J!OIId thia PrickJ. 'ftle bud debut EP, -n., UltwdYoa ..,Wlaa 1ba Mre DMd. cm~W~ru:ry It . . . . Jib the . . . . 1111111 ...., the lbaeHgbt that bmagbt Baatecl 110 . . . . . cliaoclmeld. Bat 0.. agaiD,iall't t1da tbe 1&1118 fate that~ had.l*llga..dlo pua oa. tbeir bowledge to lOaD9 gum Weatllle'P W1eec1, McFly ue alxeady takiDg the pop-zoc:klrock-poplpop-pmk thh\g a ltep furtheJ by appearing ID a biographical mcme.

Hang OD a minute ... cloel tJ:u. zemind anyone of S Club 71 Them la 110 doubt, however, that B1llted dkl atut aomeddng ~pedal. ThoM lrMh faced .,outha perriDg oa. IClbool teacben, air holtlllll and brtclel-to-be ooald DDt .... - mom iDnocent, but at the aame time dwf ....cl 110 ......._ PlaJiD.g tbek own i.DatrunwDis, 110t . , _ llliDIDig JtN - IMJ , . . . doing tbeir belt to lbaJre off the boJ bald .u.gdoow, maybe paferring the rumoun of drug abaae ucl debauchery. OK, 10 maybe they could have clone with a pzoper drammer, aDd maybe it would have helped if they did ectaally write their own 10ngs (we all believed they did, but appanmOy not).

Then again. they did equal tbe all-time teeom by aeDiDg out Wembley 11 tiznel, ucl got four lUDQber one .mgs.. ,_, alao WOD the 2004 Brit Awuda Beat~ Ad, &Dd of coune that that old chemmt Beat Pop Act. S.. their moet uaceptional acmg of all, ~ Are Go, was 1'0ted beat siJig1e of 2004. 80,000 IC1'N1DiDg teeDag8l'l can't be wroug, or 10 they AY· But 80,000 ~Creaming 12 year olda don't ltady at UEA, 10 iDatead The Bvwnt will pfttdict that In their aorry death Butecl wiD perMp. become u big u maybe Vincent Van Gogh. iD a lea dramatic aeue. Maybe they will eYeD ntleaae u nuury polthumoUI a1buml U 2 Pac. Everyone will look back in tbem in that "nttro cool" light that somehow makes the Clangen the coolelt tbiJig thia Bide of the moon.

They might have been a terrible rock group, but theze is 110 denying them the award of rock'• belt ever boy band.

Jame~ Boll!'M, Charlie Simpson and Matt Willis will nevw live Bulted dawn, but maybe they won't need to.

-

Following on from last month's excellent Freestylers compilation, the latest instalment from FabricLive is an equally entertaining effort. ]oe Ransom, one of the nightclub's most popular resident DJs, effortlessly mixes UK hip hop, electro, and dub to create a unique and catchy sound. The album features tunes by British rap stalwarts Rodney P, Ty, Seanie T, and The Nextmen, and even has room to include Dizzee Rascal's Stand Up Tall, plus some Drum 'n' Bass courtesy of Zinc. By having such a highcalibre roster, Ransom has ensured that his first Fabric album is as assured as the previous mixes made by John Peel and Hype for . the FabricLive project. Put simply, this is a strong mix album, which is equally suitable as background music as it is for partying hard.

] oeEspiner

But never mind, you get the feeling Clayhill are definitely not a band desperate for rampant commercial success. This record is all about artistic integrity by creating beautiful music for its own sake. If only more bands could lay claim to that. ..

~

Matt Elliot

Angra

Temple of Shadows

Clay hill

M oon I Hide Anyone who recognises the name Ali Friend, double bassist from the fantastic but sadly defunct Red Snapper, might be in for a surprise.

Clayhill are the antithesis of Red Snapper's jazz/drum 'n'bass fusion, and have a sound reminiscent of the desperately unsuccessful Hobotalk. Moon I Hide is a very chilled acoustic, folksybluesy affair, destined to fail.

Who dares inhabit the fantasy world of melodic concept metal? Meet Angra: Edu Falaschi, Kiko Loureiro, Rafael Bittencourt, Felipe Andreoli and Aqualis Priester. Look at the names, look at the hair.

Yes, you have joined a cult.

HoWever, their album is fun in a deviant society sort of way and they have a lot of talent (and speed, oh yes, can you say "frenetic"?). Amidst the C"onsistent epic guitar, Temple of Shadows has some interesting moments - the peaceful momentary release that begins No Pain For The Dead, the string interlude in Temple of Hate, the occasional opera singer... The boldly titled Sprouts of Time is an interesting song - a change of tone, where. the vocalist (can you say "Bruce Dickenson"?) suddenly takes on the voice of the Divine Comedy's Neil Hannon and the band turns into a sort of Spanish Yes. In general, it is chronically obscure, but executed with commendable vigour.

~~i Catherine Lansdown

Whole Sky Monitor

j ust Let M e TalJc To Her Following on from the wellreceived We Grow Up EP, the Leeds four-piece Whole Sky Monitor have released their debut album, consisting of 11 melancholy tracks with lyrics covering politics, death, religion and confusion. Although at times the sprawling guitars can sound a touch depressing and downbeat, the music and lyrics blend very well, creating real emotion. The Basic Rock Song is more experimental and has a deliberate unproduced feel to it, whereas The Chosen is musically reminiscent of Bends-era Radiohead, and contains references to the conflict in the Middle East.

Another standout track is Horizon with its playful chorus.

Some people may find this album a bit bland, but the harmonies have the power to instill a sense of calmness and tranquillity in the listener.

~

Victoria Holland

Electric Six

Senor Smok e Electric Six started their musical life in impressive fashion, with the fun dancefioor filler Danger High Voltage, which included shrieking backing vocals from (arguably, please don't sue) Jack White. But since then they seem to have descended into self parody and farce quicker than an episode of the Chuckle Brothers. Senor Smoke is full of the same rehashed Iron Maiden riffs and hyper camp humour, pretty much all of

which they've done before. It should send the serious music lover running a mile from this album before they've even risked pressing play.

Undoubtedly this is probably Electric Six's intention, but in my mind attempting to be crass, stupid, simple and repetitive is not ironic, just tiresome.. If you want uncomplicated punk rock, with lashings of humour and quality hooks, listen to The Ramones, not this.

Nick Brookes

Erasure

Nightbird As a follow up to their last, dire covers album, Erasure fans will be relieved to find on this re9ord that the band has returned to their classic format: catchy chill-out synthpop harking back to the '80s golden age. Which means, to anyone else, that the album sounds like the music from Disney's Aladdin with a Kylie Minogue backing track, but fans will find it a treat. As a Valentine's release it is emotional, with every song a timeless combination of love, lament and electronica. On first listen the tracks seem fairly similar, but in fact (annoying as it is), it's difficult not to find yourself humming along very quickly. This in itself is a sign of a good pop album. With The Killers having brought the '80s back into fashion, who knows, it might find a whole new audience but Nightbird remains Erasure and it certainly won't be to everyone's taste.

~~i Catherine Lansd~wn

13

Singles

Live Reviews

From the pounding drums of the intro, punctuated by a pulsating crash of guitars coupled with distorted piano riffs, it's clear that Doves are back on form. Very few bands manage to successfully marry rock with electronic experimentalism to such great effect, and this time Doves are promising to fulfil the p otential that The l..ast Broadcast suggested.

Coming nearly six years after their debut album Lost Souls, Doves' new single Black and White 1bwn is the first release from their forthcoming third album, Some Cities, and features more of what we've come to expect. No surprises there really - Doves seems to fill a niche of exigent yet also super-chilled, dreamy, and ambient (almost to the point of easy-listening) mus1c, which very few other bands pull off successfully.

The Mancunian trio are wearing their hearts on their sleeves, as Black and Whi te 1bwn demands to be listened to. Fraught with raw emotion, honesty, and a sense of pain and regret, somehow Doves continue to d eliver all this without sounding contrite or insincere.

The Doves' sound could face accusations of being so 1999, but on this eVIdence there ts definitely nothing wrong with that.

Matt Elliott Ambulance LTD Stay What You Are

Ramm.stein

Kleine Lust Quality 1s expected from the semmal German industrialists and quality 1s what you get.

Equally as shattering as their other offerings and better than their (already respectable) previous single Amerika, this one is fast paced and impossible to fight. Having continually established themselves at the forefront of modern industrial music, Rammstein have not Jet their music slip and are as funous as ever. Giving metal in 2005 a prom1smg start, this is filled with uncompromising guitars and vocals.

If this doesn't turn either you or a p acked dance floor into a frenzy, then there really is no JUStice. Buy this now.

Suzanne Rickenback New Found Glory I Don 't Wann a Kn ow New Found Glory's latest release I Don 't Wanna Know diminishes any promise that preVIous single All Downhill From Here had signalled for theu forthcoming album Catalyst. Presumably mtended for NFG's female teenybopper fans to devour teary-eyed during this romantically festive period, it ends up sounding more like a b aby 's lullaby stuck on re p eat. Why they chose a p laygr ound-chant melody is a mystery, and the incredibly inane lyrics that could be the work of a budding eight-year-old poet top the theme off nicely.

Prediction: not even thirteenyear-old-girls wearing studded belts will take to this one .

Sophie Driscoll

U2

Som etimes You Can 't Make It On Your Own The second release from U2 's number-one album, Sometimes ... is a beautiful monologue wntten by Bono to his father, who passed away during their last tour in 2001. A world away from Vertigo, Sometimes is a slower, more atmospheric song, building from a modest and mellow opening to an emotional climax, similar to past classics like With or With out You andAJ/ I Want is You. Bono's passionate vocals shine in this very personal song that'll have you accepting that U2 still have something special, making their current title "The Biggest Band in the World" a welldeserved one.

Amb ulance Ltd sound like nothing yo u've ever heard. In theu own words, they mix "Motown, 60s psychedelic rock and blues, 70s rock, 80s Britpop/ new wave and 90s shoegazmg", and what a combination! The song begins with a moody instrumental that clearly shows the shoegazing influence, after which the guitar and drum loops kick in.

The vocals don't begin until nearly one minute later, followed after another minute by fiercer drumming and exaggerated guitars . This constantly unpredictable change in the song's style makes it completely fresh and incredibly rewarding. Listen to this - you won't be disappointed .

Chris Hyde

Idlewild Love Steals Loneliness

Us

From

Well, haven't Roddy Woomble 's band of merry men changed in the last few years? Gone is the apoplectic bite of When I Argue I See Shapes or Little Discourage, m favour of a stadium-friendly sound that sounds like Michael Stipe on an off-day. REM already exists (and have made a fairly successful career out of b eing , well, REM) , so there's no need for what used to b e one of Britain's finest indie bands to try and b ring a little bit of Athens to Arbroath. Love ... is a relatively interesting h!ne that, to b e honest, p ales into mild insignificance when placed next to ldlewild's back catalogue and as such is a b it of a let down.

Another year, another load of bands that are currently the NME's darlings. I must admit that the only band that 1 was familiar with, and indeed wished to see, were The Killers. The other bands I had to suffer through in order to get the gold of The Killers were The Kaiser Chiefs, Bloc Party and The Futureheads. Neither of the previous bands lived up to the hype - the same formula prevailed throughout all of the support bands. There were people in the audience who loved them, but I have to admit that they were not really my cup of tea. In fact one of the few good thing s the Kaiser Chiefs had going for them was the cool light display.

Once the readies unveiled The Killers' lit-up back display - their name in lights - I knew that I was in for a treat. It was unfortunate that Brendon Flowers seemed to think that the LCR was not good enough for his band, saying "I was in a bad mood before I came out here. I guess bigger isn't always better". If that is good news for the Norwich fan base or the fact that at night the LCR looks better than Wembley, we don't really know. The Killers started off with the fantastic jenny Was a Friend of Mine which went down a storm. Right to the last chords of All These Things That I've Done The Killers played superbly. Even though The Killers are now a stadium band in the same light as their idols U2, they were able to make sure that the LCR really did turn into a stadium for a night. ] ames BaJJks

Ben Patashnik Akon Locked Up

Nick Brookes Ed Harcourt Loneliness

Steriogram Go

For a man whose name has b een synonymous w1th melody and tender emotion, this new single stands as something of a change of suit for the ivory tinkling songsmith. Harcourt is joined here by a backing arrangement that has depth and texture, but lacks emotion. More bluntly. the track has a streak of bland running through it; the uncharacteristically simplistic versechorus progression, catchy as 1t may be, fails entirely to mVIgorate. A pity, as Ed Harcourt has proven himself as a gtfted songwnter in the past, emulatmg the mag1c of the likes of Nick Drake and Leonard Cohen. This, unfortunately, le ts the s1d e d own.

"New Zealand 's sm ar tass retort to Sum 41"? If Stenogram happened to be hom egrown here m Bntain , they would have alrea d y achieved McFiy status and I would be sitting here slatmg them for being pop m rock's clothing. If they happened to be West Coast frat boys, they would already be in the long line waitmg to be sliced up with crackers. I've never actually known why people use "radio fr1endly" as a criticism, Go is radio fnendly, but it's a flawless song. In fact , the Vanilla Ice style vocals m the verse of a rock song are quite clever, but an "mstrumental" B-s1de for karaoke? Mayb e not.

Simon GriHiths

Charles Rurnsey

The sleeve m1ght sug g est another moody bad-b oy, but on playing there appears a pleasant surprise. Locked Up, taken from the album Trouble , details Akon 's feelings in prison. He moved to New Jersey from Senegal with his family at seven, and - although despising hip-hop - discovered the ability to communicate sens11lve 1ssue s through it. Refreshingly, he d oesn't use the genre to hype up his own trials. Instead, Akon tackles his songs m a way that softly draws the audience mto the mus1c. Locked Up is a cleverly crafted hip路 hop track that Will no doubt find its way into the Hive on a Thursday night.

The crowd grows in number and in excitement for The Others and at 10 pm they come on . .. and stand there. Folk bands with an average age of 60 are more energetic, and we're left with a band totally devoid of stage presence. Apart from the bassist who looks amusingly like Robert Smith, the singer is the only one who moves while performmg, albeit like a doped up monkey comple te with a blank stare. Drunk on NME fuelled hype and drugged up on their label's money, this is a b and that does not live up to it's reputation. They are devoid of passion and have a singer with a vo1ce that sounds like a p issed uncle singing Parklife into a microphone . There are no memorable songs as they jar into one another and ride on the same tune. They show no excitement or gratitude at filling the Arts Centre. I left early.

Suzanne Rickenback

The man is a le gend. In two and a h alf hours, the political areas we expect are covered, inlcuding Bush, Iraq and the WMD. All subjects are interchange d d eftly, and approached with a passionate self-d e precating humour. As topics range from sympathy fucks and new wave p unks to Barbra Streisand, his intense approach to life becomes infectious and his anger inspiring. Even more compelling is Rollins ' likeness to every loveable ass that you've ever known and the realization that he is still very down to earth. Damn interesting, he put on an eloquent show without any need for a break and left the audience not wanting one.

Suzanne Rick enback

09.02.05

A Very Long Engagement any people would have been happy with a sequel to Amelie. Even those who could almost feel the1r teeth being eaten away by the overwhelming sweetness of Jean-Pierre Jeunet's tale of a lonely woman 's quest for love left the cinema charmed a nd wanting more. With his follow-up film, Jeunet goes part way to fulfilling popular demand, but adds enough new, bitter ingredients to give A Very Long Engagement a flavour all its own. (And with that, the metaphor collapses wheezing to its knees.)

Once again, Audrey Tautou is called upon to play a quirky, lonely woman, searching for a man to love.

Indeed, perhaps to prevent confusion, Jeunet has seen 1t necessary to include a way to tell Amelie's Amelie and Engagement's Matilde apart, by giving the latter a limp. Where the two characters really differ is in circumstance. While Ame lie's brush with tra gedy was learning of Diana's dea th on the news, Matilde must c onte nd with the Great War. More specifically, Ma tilde 's fi ance is missing and presumed dead. In a stunning opening sequence, we are told of five soldiers, forced out into no man's land for trying to escape the trenches with self-inflicted wounds. Among them is Manech, Matilde's childhood sweetheart, now shell-shocked and lacking two fingers . But no sooner have the five cleared the barbed wire than the French army is ordered to attack. In the confusion, Manet is assumed to have perished; Matilde, however, has other ideas, and, once the war is over, sets out to discover the truth.

Engagement , then, is essentially a tale of detection. Each new person Matilde meets contributes another piece to the puzzle, with major revelations played out in sepia-tinted flashbacks. As with all his previous work (even Alien Resurrection , a movie cry-

The Sea Inside

M

t's that time of year again. For the last few weeks , and for a good few more yet, Jonathan Ross is hindered further in his pronunciation, as he simultaneously froths at the mouth and talks about nothing other than The Oscars.

Then again, if you could choose any-

thing to be saturated with, glitz and glamour 1s not a bad option. In addition, the event serves the useful function of highhghtmg the must-see films of the year. This 1s most valued in the Best Foreign Language Film category, where usually the hype that we often use to guide our cho1ces at the cmema is missing.

The favourite to win this award in 2005 is the Spanish film The Sea Inside (Mar Adentro). Directed by Alejandro Amemi.bar (The Others) and starring Javier Bardem (The Dancer Upstairs), the film tells the real-life story ofRamon Sampedro.

Paralysed from the neck downwards since an accident over 20 years ago, Ramon has decided that he would prefer to die than be dependent on his family and fri e nds any longer. As a quadriplegic, however, he cannot realise his wish on his own - someone else must break Spanish law so that he can 'die with dignity'.

The film superbly engages the key deba tes and moral issues surrounding the topical subject of euthanasia. It manages to tell an interesting and moving story while also being as informative as any documentary.

One naturally grows to sympathise with the main character and the film becomes generally pro-euthanasia.

However, differing views are expressed by other characters in the film (a visitor from the church gives the Christian perspective, while Raman's older brother

is passionately against euthan asia) .

Many people will be put off by the fact that The Sea Inside is a subtitled film. At the "surprise film" screening this reviewer went to see, many people immediately walked out based on this fact alone. However, if you are in the mood to see a foreign language film , this one is as good as any. Javier Bardem puts in a fantastic performance and is ably supporte d by the rest of the cast.

The Sea Inside could easily be a depressing film that sketches over the issues and adds nothing extra to a documentary on the topic. The audience, however, quickly grows to like the s traight-talking, witty Ramon. The script contains some great lines, ranging from the humorous to the profound (Padre Francisco: "Freedom without a life is not freedom". Ramon: "A life without freedom is not a life" ).

The topic of euthanasia is nothing but controversial. Having been legalised in the Netherlands, some have called for the same to happen in this country. It is certainly not an issue that will go away. Th e Sea Inside is a useful addition to the debate, not to mention a very good film. As Ramon says in the film, only time will tell if his request is reasonable. In the meantime, don't believe the hype of the big blockbusters and see this film instead!

D an Peters

Meet the Fockers ver the past year we have seen sequels such as Shrek 2, Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban. Bridget ]ones: The Edge of Reason and Spiderman 2 gracing our

ing out for reappra1sa!), the sensation that Jeunet's camera could go anywhere at any moment is central to the him's appeal. In the early stages, this lightness of touch may feel a little inappropriate for the subject matter, but as the story progresses, the consequences of war begin to we1gh more heaVlly. By the concluSIOn, Malllde's willfully whimsical approach to the horrors she discovers are enllrely JUStified.

Though hardly the film 's fault , the 1nit1ally hesitant tone IS not helped by a certaJ.n series of beer commercials. With its muted colours, subtitles and weathered-looking cast, it's a good half-hour before you feel absolutely secure Engagement won't suddenly try to sell you Stella Artois. This adm1ttedly mmor failing 1s mdicative of a more major problem, that Jeunet occasionally appears willing to sacnfice narrative progression to find new ways of presenting warfare. A scene set m an exploding aJ.rslup hanger is stunmng but utterly unnecessary, and too much time is spent m a beautifully rendered CGI Pans, circa 1919.

All in all , A Very Long Engagement never qmte conVInces as anytlung more than a series of astorushmg moments. While cast and crew are umformly excellent, dehvenng scenes that are alternately funny, touching and shockmg, the numerous distractwns on offer (hey look - 1t's Jodie Foster!) ultimately detract from the story at the him's centre. Jeunet has shown he can do light (Ame!Je) and dark (Delicatessen, The CJty of Lost Children) ; in trymg to comb me the two, he very nearly delivers the first disappointment of his career (ALIEN. RESURRECTION. WAS. GOOD. DAMN. IT.).

Stanley Goodspeed

screens and achieVIng box office success. Meet the Fockers, the eagerly awa1ted follow-up to Meet the Parents, 1s filled with sexual1nnuendo and to1let humour. This sequel follows Greg "Gaylord" Focker (Ben Sillier) and his fiancee Pam (Ton Polo) fmahsing arrangements for their upcoming marnage. However, both sides of the family meVltably have to meet, and this is where problems and personality clashes anse and escalate mto an amusmg comedy.

However, it is Berme Focker (Dustm Hoffman) who steals the show, with his eccentnc and laJ.d-back portrayal of father Focker. He is in top form as he delivers powerful lines with a fantastic comic energy, infecting the entire cast.

In her first acting film role m ten years Barbara Streisand plays Roz Focker, portraymg a canng mother, without bemg too overbearing. Barbara seems to enJOY this role, and her on-screen chemistry with Hoffman works well. A sex therapist to seruor cit1zens, Greg struggles to hide this from his m-laws with much comic value.

After grudgingly being accepted into his future in-laws' 'circle of trust ', the audience observes Greg strugglmg to keep himself there, and wishing his parents would tone their New Age hberalism down. We witness the differences between the two famil1es, the conservative middle class Byrnes and the happy-go-lucky, old fashwned Jewtsh hippies, the Fockers. The rehgwus differences are d1scovered when

Greg's foreskm flies into the fondue at dinner.

A surprisingly negative element was Robert De Niro m this sequel. His performance as Jack Byrnes was under par and even dreary m parts. In contrast, his role m Meet the Parents was entertammg and w1tty, as he constantly treated Greg wtth sheer condescension. In additiOn to that , Tori Polo has no screen presence whatsoever, and is very bland m her role.

A class1c moment comes when Greg manages to teach Jack Byrnes' treasured grandson h1s first word "ass ... hole". This has the aud1ence rollmg around uncontrollably m the1r seats - a pure geruus moment masterly accomphshed - crude yet comical.

However, the script 1s far from spectacular, w1th too much forced humour dependent on the family's moniker sounding like a certam naughty word.

Without the reinforcement of the prequel, some of the JOkes and the constant 'Fockerization' would not make so much sense to a general audience.

Although there were a few laughable moments , it's very difficult to claim this sequel was a good idea. There was potential for a good story here, and not the preventable same old gags and medwcre humour. Ben Stiller does throw lumself enthusiastically mto lus role ; he has had s1x films out in 2004 and could do wtth a sabbatical from roles like this one. However, for cheap laughs and a sm1le, 1ts worth g1V1ng a chance. It is by far the best antidote for beatmg those winter blues.

Priya Shah

09.02.05 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .

DVD 15

Wicker Park

W

icker Park is the story of soon-

to-be-wed investment banker Matthew, played by Josh Hartnett (Pearl Harbour) who, on the eve of a business trip to China, believes he has spotted a long lost love, Lisa (Diane Kruger, Troy), who walked out on him two years previously and whom he has not seen since. Instead of going on his trip Matthew lies to his fiancee and begins a relentless hunt for Lisa. The plot thickens when Matthew's trail ends mysteriously with a woman, also answering to the name of Lisa, who seems suspiciously like his lost girlfriend, and may just hold the key to what he is searching for. To complicate things further, Matthew's friend Luke begins dating this mysterious girl, unaware of the part she plays in his best friend's life. A story of betrayal, love, obsession and thrills is what ensues over the next couple of hours ... or so

they lead you to believe.

Wicker Park is based on the French fibn L'Appartement, written by Gilles Mimouni and is directed by Paul McGuigan's (of Gangster No. I and The Acid House fame), and has been described as having a Hitchcockian atmosphere. It is, in part, quite stylish with its creative use of split screen and the blending of shots as the different characters lives cross, but that is where the creativity stops. The fibn consists mainly of a number of crucial flashbacks to earlier events in the characters' history, but the way they are portrayed is uninspired and rather contrived. The characters spend a long time standing, thinking, while the flashbacks take place only to be jolted back to reality by a knock at the door or the infamous toot of New York taxi driver's horn. The flashbacks are all that really drive the storyline, pushing the plot for-

Cube Zero

ward methodically.

The fibn does have its fair share of twist and turns which keep you guessing, but the fibn lacks any real suspense and sets up extra characters, such as the ex-husband ofLisa, who later rather mysteriously disappears from the plot after fulfilling his role as a red-herring.

To care about these characters' mediocre plights would be as shallow and depthless as the characters themselves, who appear to have no history other than the predicament they are facing at this moment in time. One may find themselves creating new plots for the characters, most probably involving some sort of terrible accident or a time machine that accidentally wipes them out of existence. The film seems more interested in creating a twisty-turny plot line than character development, which is not necessarily a bad thing and would be in keeping with many Hitchcock storylines; however, the photography and acting are not really up to a high enough standard to justify such a plot-driven piece.

Though I would not want to spoil the ending for you, it is pretty clear from the start where this fibn is going, and if you happened to only catch the last couple of minutes you may be mistaken in thinking that you are, in fact, watching Love Actually and its similarly sickly airport finale. The fibn moves from a potentially thrilling mystery story with a Hitchcockian style and an off-beat soundtrack to a painfully slow fall into the realms of Hollywood pap, ending rather ominously with Coldplay's Scientist, whose lyrics sum up the art of making a good remake and may at least be some consolation to the filmmakers : "Nobody said it was easy ... " Wicker Park is released by

M

whole idea of Danny's obsessive determination to marry Anna is quite creepy and in some places a bit sinister. The fibn attempts to come across as a heartwarming story of love which has been destined from birth, but in fact there is not enough chemistry between the two main characters to keep the viewer even slightly invested in the outcome of their relationship.

Much more engaging are the relationships between the supporting characters who all have more interesting problems. Particularly compelling is the story of how Nina, Anna's blind sister, manages to reclaim her life from her overprotective family.

As for the casting of the film, Jude Law definitely outshines his fellow cast members. Although Danny is not one of his best-chosen roles, he adds some endearing naivety to the character; however, it isn't surprising that this is not one of the films he reels out when encountered with the question: 'what have you been in?' The film's main problem is that it seems to be trying to be something that it isn't. By adding elements of problems within a family the film attempts to cross the line of straightforward romantic comedy into pretentious social drama. In addition, the overuse of one particularly annoying Savage Garden song makes you at

y would anyone even dare to attempt a requel? They're often divisive, and are always tricky to pull off, often ending up more of a doorstopper than an Oscar winner. This, you would think, would seem to apply especially when you are following the good low-budget original Cube (1997), and the not so-excellent, literally overhyped sequel, Cube 2: Hypercube (2002); in the minds of most aficionados, all of this climbing about in a Cube nonsense was a jinxed franchise, a lost opportunity, if ever there was one.

Fortunately, Ernie Barbarash, the director of the prequel Cube Zero, has chosen to disregard most of the above, and has come up with a thoroughly watchable and enjoyable film. Gone is most of the pretentious dialogue and plot of the sequel, and the dominating philosophy seminar style of the original; introduced instead is a more than welcome well-handled return to the basics; emphasising plot, action and effects, as well as throwing in some amusing and wellmotivated characters to care about.

.. _

Momentum Pictures on 7th February.

Toby Sleigh-]ohnson

Music from Another .Room usic From Another Room is a romantic comedy which follows the story of Danny, played by a young and weedy looking Jude Law, a twenty-something who is obsessed with the idea of fate and the quest for true love.

The fibn begins by showing Danny as a young boy, and tells the story of how he bizarrely ends up helping to deliver a family friend's baby. On seeing the baby girl, Anna, who he has just helped to deliver, the young Danny proclaims that he is going to marry her when she is older. The fibn then skips forward twenty years and shows Danny, after growing up in England, returning home to the American town where he was born and where he helped deliver Anna. Danny then inevitably bumps into an adult Anna, played by Gretchen Mol, and he realises that he is in love with her, yet she is engaged to be married to the boring-but-rich Eric. Danny then proceeds to become entwined in the dysfunctional lives of Anna's family and they all end up depending on him in one way or another, while he determinedly attempts to convince Anna that they are destined to be together.

As romantic comedies go, Music From Another Room doesn't offer any novel ways of presenting the typical boy-meets-girl-story, and in fact the

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times wish the soundtrack music was actually coming from another room.

Music From Another Room is released by Optimum on 7th February.

Claudia Webb

The plot follows Wynn (Zachary Bennett), a technician analysing the prisoners from the cube's control room. He develops sympathy for one of the prisoners trapped inside the cube, Rains (Stephanie Moore) .

He's a questioning, conscientious type, and can't square this growing sympathy and love with his job; eventually he courageously enters the cube to try and rescue her, and what follows is an elaborate game of cat and mouse -his employers chase him, while he tries to find the exit and save the girl. Throughout this well-written adventure the inevitable deaths are dealt with elaborate CGI abandon - we see prisoners sliced, burned, spiked, electrocuted and infected; importantly though, these special effects never threaten to take over the story- are you listening, Lucas?!

There are other characters, apart from Wynn and Rains, to care about too; a small team of prisoners in the cube that slowly becomes smaller, a nerdy technician who annoys Wynn, and some smartly-dressed Agent Smith type characters who try to kill Wynn. The best of these supporting characters is an eccentric, faux-English aristocratic character named Jax, who is sent from 'on high' to the control room when Wynn enters the cube. He spends most of the fibn uttering witticisms, or else shaking his walking stick and monocle in rage at not being able to kill Wynn. In one scene, he even helpfully explains why the cube exists in the first place. All told, this strange mixture of characters actually fits well alongside each other, managing to be original and eccentric without diverting from the story.

Overall, Cube Zero is surprisingly involving; tapping in to the ambiguous nihilism that made Cube satisfying, while adding an extra layer to the original story that sets up Cube well. It is a well constructed fibn, containing just the right balance between interesting effects and interesting characters. As a prequel it deserves to be seen, as it more than matches the films that followed it. As a fibn in itself it is entertaining, as well as being heartening evidence that there is still room for great low-budget sci-fi fibns .

Cube Zero is released 14th february by Mosaic Entertainment.

Stephen Sharrock

16

rts

Theatre

Book Reviews ~ ~

he first inklings of romance are stirring in Neil Flack. At thirteen,

T

to win the heart of Adele: he must write her a poetic Valentine card. The young poet's early verse is stilted.

Strawberries are red Violets are blue You're tasty (yurnrny?) enough To put in a stew.

Jlci"'~.4.1.,;"' with the aid of_ his ...,_,..,,_,..,._.~ plot-hatching fr1end Brendan, Neil feels it

h _ ... __ __

his solo performance of textless theatre, combining elements of mime, clowning, puppetry, dance and music had its premiere in Brighton last April and has been touring around the country ever since. The show is written and performed by Nola Rae. The play starts with an abandoned campaign tent flapping in the wind. An army cook advances towards the tent blowing his rusty bugle, alone in the world except for a company of ghost comrades.

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1s time to leave the world of ogling girls from behind uprooted trees. He has fallen for Adele, a serious, pretty girl from the popular crowd at school. Brendan has his eyes on Adele's friend Gillian.

Cupid's window of opportunity is presented by drama classes, where the boys try everything to get into the same group as their heartthrobs. Neil and Brendan set the cogs in motion, but realise with horror that they will actually have to start talking to girls and appear interesting.

Neil decides there is only one way

But with a little help from e.e. cummings, Charles Baudelaire and Pablo Neruda, the young poet produces a potent Valentine which causes quite a stir at Denesgrove Secondary. Neil must overcome his growing reputation as a pervert and fight off the attentions of the school she-bully. There is the chance that the Valentine's card might just work some magic.

Neil's home life is shaky. His mum has left and his older brother Craig lounges around watching tv and cornparing his farts to gravy. Neil's dad copes with the marital breakdown by

his startling debut novel by Jon McGregor is the kind which inevitably provokes violent reactions in its readers. It is, undeniably, of the love-me-or-hate-me ilk. The introductory pages are, for those who delight in the poetic, utterly entrancing.

McGregor 's intimate observations of the sounds made by a city resound with a sing-song quality that is hypnotic. It is fair to say that some readers might be put off by the richly layered imagery, but it is that same tight, evocative language which will snare other readers in hopeless absorption.

The rest of the novel proceeds to explore two unfolding stories - one of a somewhat dilapidated street and its residents , and one following a resident a few years on; a young woman who lived on the street as a student. Both stories contain, buried within them, a deeply unnerving sense of the lurking

unknown. This ominous unde rcurrent pulses beneath McGregor's beautiful depictions of everyday occurrences,

using his army training to teach his sons to break the bones of potential attackers. One slightly over-zealous demonstration of commando technique rearranges the bones in Neil's leg. This inconveniences Neil's spying habits, as he can no longer withdraw himself from outside of keyholes quickly enough.

The action of the book takes place from the 8th- 25th February 1983. Neil looks back as an adult, twenty-years on, with a mixture of nostalgia and cringing embarrassment.

Saint Valentine is Nick Tornlinson's debut novel and is published by Transworld. It is a light, enjoyable read for teenagers and older and is a thoughtful portrayal of the tentative, and frequently confused manner in which adolescents begin expressing love and desire.

Saint Valentine is available from Amazon at £5.59

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T -

He doesn't know why he is walking through the tent, but something draws him. He sees signs of recent occupation, a tricorn hat, a French imperial flag, and a pair of boots with vicious spurs . The theme of the play is dangerous charisma.

This refers to various other dictators who all start as outsiders, yet manage to gain power and assert their flawed personalities onto those below them.

Simon Jackson

Exit Napoleon Pursued by Rabbits will be performed at the Norwich Playhouse, Saturday, 12th February, 7.30 pm.

Tickets £8 (£6.50 with student cards).

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such as an old married couple walking down a street, or a child playing on the pavement, and generally unsettles the

\

Comedy Preview ~\' EA plays host to jackson :S Way on Sunday 20th of February, an act preceded by praise of the highest order. As well as winning the Perrier Comedy Award in 2004, the set has been described as "Simply the best, funniest, cleverest miracle of make-believe" by The Scotsman, "Thrillingly, inventively, hilariously odd" by The Times and "A belly laugh of a gig" by the Evening Standard. But who is this mysterious figure they call Chris John Jackson, and what of the comic mastermind behind the character?

Chris John Jackson is, foremost , a

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loser. Furthermore, he is a loser with whom many of us can empathise - Chris is an over-zealous motivational speaker. Some may have had the misfortune to come into contact with such characters themselves, but for nearly everyone else , the deluded character of David Brent has become fondly engrained upon the mind, and Chris follows satirical suit as a walking parody, trapped in a world of corporate jargon and desperate futility.

What sets this work apart from the likes of Ricky Gervais is an element of first-hand sincerity, only truly attainable through stand-up. The comedian responsible is Will Adarnsdale, gradu-

ate of the Oxford School of Drama and former BBC actor. After several years of experience and numerous television roles, Adamsdale gave birth to Chris John Jackson in a pub cabaret act in his native London. · Soon, his talents were noticed by Kate McGrath, producer for the Battersea Arts Centre. jackson:S Way took up a residency at the BAC, appearing as part of the Scratch programme, a workshop for upcoming performers.

After a year or so of Scratch performances, Adamsdale was invited to take jackson:S Way to Edinburgh as part of the annual Fringe festival. This was the launch pad for Adamsdale and his

comic creation, and following press adulation and favourable word-of-mouth publicity, jackson :S Way hits the road for a 25 date tour around the UK and Ireland.

When Chris John Jackson takes the stage on Sunday, 20th Feb in the LCR, complete with compassionate smile and head-set microphone, I urge all UEA students to attend his infinitely helpful seminar.

Simon Griffiths

idea of the ordinary.

We are shown snatches of the private lives unfolding in every household on the street, yet most of the characters remain unnamed by the conclusion of the book. They are distinguished simply by the number of the house they live in, their age and their gender.

McGregor offers an incisive insight into their existences, and yet withholds the definitive identification brought by giving them names.

The result is that these stories , these loves and deaths , families and friendships, are immediately transferable to any place and to anyone. You find yourself casting a glance out of the window after you've finished the novel, with a strange heightened awareness of all the tragedies and comedies that are playing out all around you, screened behind brick walls.

Gahrielle Barnes

/Digital 17

TV Preview: Britain's Favourite Love Songs Channel 5 the runt of the litter, Channel 5 can often be left behind its four comparaively burly siblings in erms of quality, innovative programming.

True to form, for Valentine's Day they've dug deep, given it their best shot and have wound up with Britain's Favourite Love Songs.

That's right, a rundown of the nation's most loved schmoozy ditties for happy couples to snuggle up in front of. The most obvious problem with this reasoning is that most happy couples will be busy wining and dining one another and the singles amongst us will find little appeal in a syrupy sweet version of

A

1bp of the Pops.

In favour of Channel 5's valiant attempt at topical programming, the other channels seem to be doing little to

nothing to cater for the telly addict's craving for seasonal romance, leaving Britain's Favourite Love Songs as the top piece of Valentine's viewing so far.

Unfortunately, it may be a rather nippy day in hell before any self-respecting individual will accept their significant other planning their special evening of romance around what's on the telly.

The results Britain's Favourite Love Songs will chart have been voted for by the British public, so we can expect all the usual: Sonny and Cher, Whitney, and Bryan Adams. The show also tells the story behind some of the more intriguing entries. While many of us have never wondered where the inspiration for Britney's Baby One More Time comes from, there's no harm in learning.

You've got to love them for trying, haven't you?

Kate Bryant

TV DVD: Rocky and Bullwinkle ....::

en you thought 'caroons' and 'tough satire' were only brought ogether by the likes of The Simpsons and South Park, along comes this Rocky and Bullwinkle DVD box-set to remind you that isn't so. The first season was shown in 1959, during the height of the Cold War, and yet it still remains as funny and cutting today.

In these recently restored episodes, we follow the adventures of Rocket J. Squirrel and Bullwinkle J. Moose, both inhabitants of Frostbite Falls, Minnesota.

This fun, freewheeling pair get themselves involved in simenjoyable scrapes, and yet are never from satire. the

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Soap News: Hollyoaks and Neighbours

a rough ride over the next few days. Having managed to put Sindi and Stewart's betrayal behind him, he is faced with a whole new barrage of problems. Firstly, Stingray's embarrassing mother Janelle arrives on the street avec caravan and demands that her nephew help her sue for compensation after a car accident has left her in a neck brace. Toadie refuses to represent her, causing Stingray to go over the top defending his mother. As if a family debacle is not enough, his relationship with Sindi

We will leave you in breathless antiCipation as to how a wasp comes into one to one contact with 'little Max'- surely it will bring a tear to the eye.

In keeping with the romantic time of year, Hollyoaks has come over all hearts and flowers. Bombhead gets his first glimpse of true love but is sadly left broken hearted by the unfortunately named Cherry. The long running and often boring saga of Tony and Mandy takes a more interesting turn when the po-faced blonde jumps on a plane to Italy to win back her man. In the meantime, Tony has been getting cosy with bella donna Silvia and is checking out the sights of Rome. Will Mandy be too late in her quest to win back her true love? Will Tony swap the delights of Rome for Hollyoaks village? Why is it that women seem to fall at his feet? Oh, sweet mystery of life!

sian') spies chase them across the globe. Perhaps funniest of all is a segment in which Wall Disney and his over-aggressive marketing are parodied in a piece titled 'SleepingBeauty Land'.

Besides Rocky and Bullwinkle, we also have the fantastic 'Mr Peabody', a remake of Aesop's fables (Aesop and Son), and a 'Mr Know-it-All'. On top of this, we have a few added features, including a hilarious 'Dear Bullwinkle' Agony-Aunt segment, some fun TV trailers, and a rare, government-sponsored 'saving stamps' episode in which the foreign spies tell American viewers to buy 'wasting stamps' instead.

A firm favourite across the pond, this box set is well-timed to find new fans this side of the Atlantic, easily tapping into the tradition of clever, subversive, and popular North American cartoons we all know and love; just don't pre-judge it by the tame De Niro movie.

Martha Hammond and Kim Howe

Stephen Sharrock

Digital Stuff: Sonic Mega Collection A speedy, spiky wander down memory lane for the gaming connoisseur ... he Sonic Mega Collection Plus contains everything the diehard Sonic series fan needs.

You'll be able to relive all of those carefree days where your only objective was to get from the left-hand side of a linear course to the right hand side, and kUdos to those who grabbed some shiny gold rings along the way. In fact, playing the Sonic Mega Collection Plus is a much needed reminder of just how important playability is to a game, regardless of grap h: ics or elaborate narratives. This is exactly the element lacking in the latter efforts to update the Sonic franchise, and why that mustachioed Mario is still

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a star character for Nintendo.

The Sonic Mega Collection Plus is a spruced up version of the Sonic Mega Collection, but with a few added bonuses thrown in for good measure. The most notable of these features is the ability to save your game at any point.

Purists may turn their noses up at this, but it's a pleasant option to have and makes it a lot more enjoyable to spend time exploring the levels of these classics, which is one of the main appeals the collection sports.

The attraction of the collection is greatly diminished for those who didn't catch the Sonic trend at the right time.

Failing to move with the times and

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Hollyoaks, Mandy jets off to Rome in search of Tony ...

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Toadie is having a tough time of it on Ramsay Street, while in

becomes even more complicated when Stingray leads her to mistakenly believe that he is going to propose.

While this is quite enough for any one person to stand, the powers that be in soapland are inevitably fond of kicking a man when he is down. Toadie finds himself trapped in a bank with Stewart and Sindi during a robbery. Maybe it is the shock of his brush with armed crime that leads the lawyer to advise his best friend and housemate, Connor, to 'snatch' his daughter Maddy. The fact that kidnapping is illegal doesn't appear to enter his mind - perhaps he missed the lectures on that section of the law, let this be a lesson to us all.

Viewers should also spare a sympathetic thought for Max this fortnight as his already ailing male ego takes another downturn. Not only does he have to deal with a rather painful wasp sting to his nether regions but must contend with Lynn's ill disguised amusement.

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therefore falling out of favour with the average gamer, the word Sonic is no longer the familiar mark of quality it once was, and although its influence can be felt even now in new titles, the endearing faults of those in the Sonic Mega Collection Plus may not hoid much sway with newcomers. Being relegated to the 'best of' range of produce shows that the well known spiny critter is not planning to have any new hits in the near future. Nonetheless, the collection is a worthwhile and enjoyable buy.

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Creative

Writing~ t

The Incredible Adventures of Humphrey-Nose (A work of epic lunacy... ) Cumberbund Humphrey-nose Egbert the Third Lived till sixteen without saying a word.

Send contributions to: concrete.event@uea.ac.uk and/or concrete.turf@uea.ac.uk

Thinking him an incorrigible fool , hurt my aching head.

The South's alreday far too fat .

But so is Prescott, come to that.

3y - 19

=7x + 7

What must x be equal to if y

= 11?

Advice For Valentines

So she moves to question two.

(a cautionary tale)

She's clearly unaware that no, we haven't got a

I oft do wonder how ye live thy days

And most of us are bored to tears , not having

clue, When thou insists 'pon walking joined at lips

any fun

'Tis bad enough to know thy soul's ablaze

And of that group, I have to 'say that I, like x, am

Without you groping, grabbing at her tits.

one.

She seems to like his, slurping at your ear

- Luke Owen

And marches on in amorous parade And next her stoop to pat and pinch thy rear Is proof to all that ye are getting laid.

The Tragic History Of Kenny -

They oft bemoan this partnership, do friends,

(the saga continueth ... )

As victims of your love feel grave neglect.

)

I'd well advise you: seek to make amends

"There is in land of Autumn Queen,"

For friends are allies , worthy of respect

Was the feathered thing's reply,

I p ity much the insecure of heart

"A valley called the Thunder's Dream.

For whom the single life seems so unknown

A cave inhabited is nigh

But try and spend some time apart each day And t'is more sure you'll not end up alone

By an old being of the deep.

So wrong me not; I loathe scorn love in bloom

A being ancient more than we,

But heed my wisdom: get thyselves a room.

rule , He must be prepared, be made a tin hat, and

The spindly C hattam "gets that"

-

The Prime Minister cried that , according to

Shape d as a speaking sheep, And that being must you see.

- Zoe Neville -Smith All the armour, swords and shields,

- james "call that a sustainable corn unites plan immediately sent off to Mars with a cat. you twat?" Con way Prince Jeffrey of Perth, as the feline was known, Had been crowned for his daring adventures in Where The Sun Shineth Not From e. (ode to pubic hair... mm, romantic) He kept a small frog in a velveteen case And had sewed it a fine coat with ruffles of lace.

The hairs are curled like hooks, they catch and He brought to the spaceship a flask of Earl they cloy, Grey At one another locking locked bodies With marmalade rolls arranged on a tray.

Thick with juices and sweat together, refusing to let go.

So, Humphrey-nose, Froggy, and Jeffrey the They serve no function , harbingers of puberty, Royal, The unseen ornaments, misplaced manes of Entered the rocket, a-wrapped in tin-foil.

It sputtered and sparked and set off with a genitalia.

They are shaved and waxed. sploosh, Unsightly curved follicles begone, Trailing behind it a car and a bush.

You repulse me!

They set off towards the magnifice nt stars And before tea-time were arriving at Mars.

Until that moment when we disconnect And as I roll over, off of your body, Mars seemed a planet of unusual size I feel our hair, wet , curled and soft Inhabited by sheep wearing wellies and ties. intertwined and pulling apart like Humphrey-nose found with incredible glee little finge rs on little hands desperately Tha t they were all ra the r fond of truffles and grasping for each other. tea.

They danced the bole ro and tango till dawn - Dan "needs to get out more" Magee And feasted on turnips, well roasted, with corn.

The white horse and other needs ,

Bloody Men (since we 're on a romantic theme .. .)

Trust in me, that creature yields, And must you take the m for your deeds.

Wish es Of An Elderly Man A t A Garden

They stayed with the tribe for a year and a d ay Before plummeting home in hats made of hay.

P arty

The world, so in awe of their wonderful feat ,

Bloody men are like bloody busesThe creature's name is Mondolar,

I wish I loved the Human Race;

Pleaded for Humphrey to finally speak.

You wait for about a year

Go speak it now and live your fate."

I wish I loved its silly face ;

So he rose up before the multitudinous throng,

And as soon as one approache s your stop

Thus the raven spread afar Its death-black wings, to elevate

I wish I liked the way it walks; I wish I liked the way it talks;

And all of a sudden he burst into song, He warbled all of Duke Ellington's hits,

You look at them flashing their indicators,

And when I'm introduced to one,

Then promptly turned mauve and exploded in

Offering you a ride.

I wish i though What Jolly Fun!

bits! â&#x20AC;˘ -

Two or three others appear.

Its night-like body into the sky,

You're trying to read the destinations ,

Like a tear wept by a cloud:

You haven't much time to decide.

At that young Kenny sent a cry

If you make a mistake, there is no turning back.

Of joy so clear and loud,

Jump off, and you'll stand there and gaze While the cars and the taxis and lorries go by

And stamped on his crop-yielding tools

And the minutes, the hours , the days.

And scorned his shabby clothes.

- Sir Waiter Raleigh

- Ruth Gordon

"These are things for poor and fools ;

- Wendy Cope

I'll soon be wearing mightier robes ."

3y - 19 = 7x + 7

- Andrea "Th e Goose " Tallarita "Does eve rybody get that?"

Says Miss Chattam to us all.

We stare in baffled silence at the whiteboard on the wall ,

The Sonne t o f The Two Jaguars

Where algebraic functions scrawled in black

Poor Prescott's housing plans are wack

and blue and red

And all his schemes are way off track,

Twist and turn and solve themselves, and hurt my little h e ad.

All brownfields are for chavs on crack.

For quite despite the water lack

3y- 19 = 7x + 7

His plans are not sustainable ,

What must x be equal to if y = 11?

And London's not containable, His goals are unexplainable,

Of course, nobody "gets that", We're just to scared to say

And truly unnatainable.

That since we started algebra (a week ago today)

That man whom all of us detest Has quite ignored the great North-West.

It might as well be Arabic, or hieroglyphs

Demand may not be at its b est, But that is -why he should invest!

instead That twist and turn and solve themselves, and

09.02.05------------------------------------

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A Very Long Engagement Friday 18th-Thursday 24th February Sideways Friday 18th-Thursday 24th February

UEAArts 01.02 East Anglian Film Archive presents:

Bygones Wednesday 9th February, l-2prn

Forthcoming Releases Playhouse

Friday 11th February Bide And Seek Laura's Star Son of the Mask Sponge Bob Square Pants: The Movie The Sea Inside

Union Films (LTl, 7 .30pm) Inside I'm Dancing Thursday 3rd February i, robot Friday 4th February Alfie Thursday lOth February

Bad Education Friday 11th February

Beats in Abundance The Hive Tuesday 15th February Hip-hop, funk, reggae, drum + bass

UEALCR

Cinema City@The Playhouse

Pharcyde and Ty Saturday 12th February

Mondovino Sunday 6th-Monday 7th February

Biffy Clyro Saturday 19th February

Napoleon Dynamite Sunday 6th-Monday 7th February

Goldie Lookin Chain Wednesday 23rd February

The Motorcycle Diaries Sunday 6th-Monday 7th February

The Waterfront

The Corporation Sunday 13th-Monday 14th February

Rooster Tuesday 15th February

Garden State Sunday 13th-Monday 14th February

Kneehigh Thursday 17th February

The Incredibles Saturday 19th february 11 am

Norwich Arts Centre

Tony Robinson Wednesday 9th February

Preston Reed Wednesday 9th February

The Big Chris Barber Band Thursday lOth February

Deadstring Bros Thursday lOth February

EdByrne Friday 11th February

Aziz Wednesday 16th February

Thinknoyd Thursday 17th February

Glenn Tillbrook Tuesday 22nd February

Maddermarket

Drama Studio A Call from Broadway Friday 11th February

Theatre Royal The Nutcracker & La Bayadere Monday 7th-Saturday 12th February Johann Strauss Gala Sunday 13th February Postman Pat Monday 14th February-Wednesday 16th February All The World's A Circus Thursday 17th February Harry Bill Friday 18th february Errol Brown Saturday 19th February Scooby-Doo in Stagefright Monday 2lst-Saturday 26th February

Sleuth Thursday 17th-Saturday 26th February

IPEC.IAL OFFER:

TOP PRIC.E IEATr rem £6 AT 7.30PI4 PEJU'O C.U. JIJn PREIEHT THI/ AD AT Tl14£ Or BOOKtllc;, I4Alf 2 TlC.KET/ PER AD. SIJBJEC.T TO AVAILABILITY

,' f"'!"'~NiiifiiS

VI/\NW. theatreroyalnorwich. eo. uk

THEATRE STREET, NORWICH NR21RL