FUSE Issue 38

Fuse.

Celluloid Screams Othello Wretch 32 FIFA or PES?

The Wreck Factor

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watch The X Factor. Now, before I lose all musical integrity allow me to clarify. I don’t watch it because I enjoy watching the talented group of individuals as they progress through a journey of musical development and self discovery.

Nor do I watch it for a sort of sadistic pleasure; laughing to myself as the overemotional wannabes do pretty much anything to get on telly. No; I watch it because until recently I’ve had no internet connection and my flatmates

like it. But on a serious note, something occurred to me as I watched the over-made-up teenage girls and chino-clad Topman models perform in front of the music industries finest: I accept that music is an industry and that branding etc is important, but the majority of what permeates the mainstream now, as a

result of shows like these, is bastardising the artistic side of said industry to a point where it may never recover. Look at the 60s and 70s. Bands like Led Zeppelin, The Beatles and The Who were at the top of their game, making astonishing music whilst a the same time being some of the hottest bands in the world.

All the while seeing impressive commercial success at a time when getting hold of music was a damn sight harder than it is now. Today, N-Dubz, JLS or One Direction or are the acts pulling in the pounds and frankly they pale in comparison to what used to top the charts.

Just to hammer this home – Led Zeppellin II, III, IV, Houses of the Holy, Physical Graffiti, Presence and In through the Out Door all peaked at number 1 in the UK Album Charts. Good luck getting 7 number 1 albums Dappy in your silly, silly hats.

Chicken Tikka calamity

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ince human beings learnt how to cook, we have been obsessed with it. Books have been written on it, entire TV series created about it and celebrities have been born from it.

Now another fun thing that cooking brought to humans is all you can eat contests, America loved them, and apparently Britain does as well.

An Indian restaurant in Edinburgh called ‘Kisnot’ recently held a hottest chile eating contest that left two people in hospital.

Contestants that entered the competitions sampled various chillies, which increased in temperature until they couldn’t go on.

Seems harmless, yes? But when contestants started to faint, vomit and roll around the floor in agony, amubu-

lances were called to make sure no one got seriously hurt.

Of the 20 contestants that signed up for the competition, 10 dropped out before it even started after witnessing, their opponents pass out.

Before taking part the contestants are required to sign a legal disclaimer so that they understand what they are letting themselves

Of course I’m generalising. Some fantastic musicians do well in the way of commercial and critical success, Ed Sheeran springs immediately to mind, but the charts today are clogged by the manufactured, unoriginal tat that is made specifically to sell to teenage girls.

If we’re not careful we could end up with an industry that always puts demographics before art or talent. Having said all this, you may one day see me having a royally fun time at any mainstream club night but I bet we won’t still be dancing to it in 40 years.

Sam Bolton

Win free tickets to all Plug gigs, all academic year To be in with a chance to win season tickets to Plug, that’s a ticket for you and a friend to EVERY live show at plug until the end of the academic year, all you need to do is answer this question: Which of these bands supported The Kate Jackson Group at her brilliant show at Plug on Monday September 12? (Hint: the answer is in the last issue) A) B) C) D)

Lords of Flatbush Mercury Rising Starlings Renegade Brass Band

To enter email competition@forgetoday.com with your name, answer and put ‘Plug Competition’ in the subject field. Closing date Friday October 21.

For more information about the amazing gigs coming up at Plug, including Kissy Sell Out on Saturday October 22, James Blake on Friday October 28, Scroobius Pip on November 2, Vintage Trouble on November 11, Battles on November 16 and Aloe Blacc on December, visit: www.the-plug.com

Inspired in for and the ambulance service was so unimpressed that they have asked the restaurant to review the competition.

It seems then that whilst we may have learnt how to cook we have yet to find the balance between an enjoyable meal and rolling on the floor dying, let’s pray we learn quick.

James Garrett

Thank you don’t come again

Fuse.

Friday October 7 2011

W

ho knew News Corps’ finances were running so low? You certainly couldn’t tell by the $200 talons on Rupert Murdoch’s girlfriend or the thousand-dollar suit he violently rams his excess skin into.

Either way, the media giant is the owner of Fox Television, the producers of The Simpsons; who have announced this week that either the show’s vocal stars take a 45% pay cut or the show (finally) gets scrapped.

Annoyingly for the show’s stars, The Simpsons still rakes in billions of dollars a year, though this is apparently not enough to keep producing the show at the rate the staff are currently getting paid- roughly £5 million a year.

After becoming the longest-running comedy series in American TV history and producing 23 seasons- does anyone really care?

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We all know the gags, the scenarios and the more they try to keep it on par with it’s glory days (somewhere circa. 1997) the more painful the whole process becomes.

The later seasons have been more concerned with keeping the show current, with as many ’politically relevant’ jokes as they can cram out of the mouths of the little yellow family, without anyone recognising that the show is not meant to be a casual political commentator, it’s meant to be witty, slapstick comedy at its’ best.

Naturally the show couldn’t continue without the globally recognised voices of Homer, Bart and co, or else they could

attempt a bizarre timemachine scenario (again) in which all characters adopt the voices of young, desperate Hollywood wannabees willing to perform for $20 a day and a packet of Oreos.

If the shows iconic voices refuse the huge pay cut, rather than spending our evenings watching hours of re-runs and crying into our pillows, we could all just accept the simple truthFuturama is better and the characters are weirdly attractive.

Alisha Rouse

F

use was saddened to hear that the inspirational Steve Jobs passed away, his leadership and drive took Apple from an idea in his garage to a billion dollar company, and his legacy will live on through the products he created

SHORT FUSE

Q&A: TONY GARNETT

Tony Garnett, acclaimed film producer and long time collaborator with Ken Loach, talks to Fuse about Kes, rifts with the BBC and caning actors.

How did your long time partnership with Ken Loach start?

We first got to know each other properly during filming of a series of television plays from the 60s We became friends then realised that, both aesthetically and politically, we had a lot in common. So we became comrades.

that grave, you do it eight times in a week. In a film, you have to create the moment.

There were some ethical issues during the filming of Kes, weren’t there?

I had met Barry Hinds about possibly writing a play for us. But he was releasing a book called A Kestrel for a Knave. As soon as I’d read it, I knew I had to make a film. The central metaphor of the hawk is so strong.

There was a rumour that exploded over the years about children threatening to strike over ethics. There is an ethical issue though.

If you cane somebody and cheat it, it will look like a cheat. It is the difference between being and doing that creates absolute realism. Understandably, one or two didn’t take to it and there were some protests.

They were paid more than a week’s wages though per hit. That, I think, took the sting out of it.

What did you expect from Ken Loach’s direction?

How did you choose David Bradley for the lead role?

There was never a doubt in my mind of what a lovely job Ken would make of it. He creates a unique atmosphere on set which allows the actors, whether professional or not, to relax and feel the truth. This lets them be more creative and less self conscious.

Well, if Barry Hinds had been from Dagenham and had written about a kid who goes into the Essex marshes, we’d have gone to the schools in Dagenham with an absolute conviction that we would have found our leading actor. The film is partly about how this country chose (and some would argue still chooses) to utterly discard it’s most important resource, each generation.

What was the inspiration behind Kes?

How much of the play is scripted and how much is improvised?

It is scripted, but we do allow the actors to explore.

After all, the past lives in the presence, and the future does not exist except in your expectations.

We always thought that making a film is the accretion of private moments.

If you’re playing Hamlet in the theatre. You know you’re going to jump in

So we picked two or three schools knowing not every boy could play the lead.

But it would be so full of talent that there would be one. And there was, and he was chosen. It’s a testament to how much talent there is if you only give it confidence

How does it feel looking back after all these years?

Looking back, when you’re trying to tell stories on the screen, when they really come off, they are documents. You must respect the community of the film setting and the people in it, and be truthful about what you see. In that sense, I suppose 50 years later, they are documents.

Did your relationship with the BBC improve over the years?

I had this row with the BBC in the 70s, they objected to the films I was producing. the current affairs department said: “The problem is people might believe them!” They didn’t want to know about it. So I said that the most accomplished fiction on the BBC was the 9 o’clock News.

That didn’t go down too well.

So what’s film making all about?

I’m from the Brian Clough school of management. He said: “Football is a simple game, why make it complicated?” And that’s how I feel about filming.

The ambition was to make people understand. But, as the great man said, the task is not to understand the world, but to change it.

Read our review of the newly restored print of Kes on Forgetoday.com

morons, all day, every day, and then put it on TV. The fact that the show somehow won a Bafta last year is depressing enough and if it does again this year, humanity may as well just give up.

rapper playing in the background, but we’re more interested in finding out how he managed to receive a down town Lester Brown while dancing.

Fuse is disgusted... by news that local band Bring Me the Horizon are releasing their own barbecue sauce. It’s going to be called – wait for it – ‘Bring Me The BBQ Sauce’. Let’s be honest, it’s never going to be better than Henderson’s Relish.

Fuse could not give less of a shit... about the new series of The Only Way is Essex. For some unknown reason, the geniuses down at ITV2 though it would be a great idea to film a bunch of morons, act like

Fuse is happy... to report that England have finally won a football competition. Admittedly it is only the ‘keepy-uppy’ world Championships, but still Andrew Henderson should be congratulated for his ability to kick a football up and down for hours.

Fuse.

Fuse is strangely aroused... by the news that Tupac Shakur’s long lost sex tape has been discovered by celebrity gossip site TMZ. Apparently it also features an unreleased song by the late

Friday October 7 2011

Fuse Musings

Fuse is heartbroken... about the loss of eyecandy that came with Scotland being knocked out of the Rugby World Cup, as the only UK team coming home. At least we can stalk Richie Gray now.

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MUSIC

Interview.WRETCH 32

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Fuse.

Friday October 7 2011

or someone with three top five singles, Wretch 32 (real name Jermaine Scott) is remarkably modest about his achievements. After first single ‘Traktor’ was released back in January, this year has been a real rollercoaster for the London-based hip hop artist, from the high point of getting his first number one, to the low of losing his Blackberry to a bathtub.

As if symbolic of his climbing success, each of Wretch’s singles have charted higher than the previous one – ‘Traktor’ got to number five, ‘Unorthodox’ to number two, and finally, ‘Don’t Go’ reached number one.

He acknowledges, “Yeah, I’ve always felt like there’s a lot of progression to it, which is a good thing because if it went the other way round, it wouldn’t have made as much impact as it has.

But I suppose, being in the top five period is a good result, so I’m just quite happy, and blessed that I was able to do that.”

And yet Wretch 32 is happy to talk about more than just the music; after explaining that first single ‘Traktor’ was “more about having fun”, conversation moves to the casual name-dropping of every student’s favourite daytime television host, Jeremy Kyle, in the lyric, “My lifestyle’s terribly wild / But you’ll never catch me on The Jeremy Kyle Show.”

He says, “Yeah, that’s just me.

Like sometimes I’d be partying eight days a week... don’t even ask me how that’s possible. But I think that’s pretty wild. I’m actually a big fan of that show; I watch it a lot, but every time I watch it I always think to myself, that’s never something I will go on.”

Whilst ‘Traktor’, he says, was released at a time when everything was “really going according to plan,” his reasons for appearing in the news more recently relate to “probably one of the worst things

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that’s happened to me this year.

“Basically my Blackberry ended up in the bath, and it was quite frustrating because I had quite a lot of stuff written on there. This was just before I finished the album. So, I had a few songs, I had a few like, freestyle lyrics.

Yeah, I suppose I learnt something in it, I learnt I should always keep backing up my phone.

“Like it’s something really small, like just losing a phone; it’s just what was in it. Not even necessarily the contacts, just the songs; some songs that will just never be heard due to the bathtub.”

He laughs at the word ‘bathtub’, fully aware of how silly it sounds. It’s refreshing to hear how positive he is about the whole thing; he could just as easily thrown a hissy fit at even being asked about it.

Wretch 32 is certainly not letting it get in the way of his plans to crack America, either. “It’s made me get back on my toes, because I needed to write a bit more, just to catch up to where I was. It’s all good, you know; America, that’s definitely

something that will happen... when the time’s right. We’ve had a few meetings out there, and they’ve all been positive, so we’ll see how it goes.”

Recording is currently on hold anyway: “At the moment I’m just getting ready for the tour. So there isn’t any sense of urgency. But I want to start recording the new album this year. So that’s really cool, and of course I’ll have some collaborations.”

Collaborations, of course, are a big part of Wretch 32’s success.

‘Unorthodox’, his second single, fea-

tured Example, and a large part of the success of his number one hit ‘Don’t Go’ was attributed to Josh Kumra’s soulful vocals in the chorus.

When asked about whether working with people is a good way to get newer acts out there, Wretch 32 is more than positive: “Yeah, 100 per cent, it really works.”

Some pairings are a little more unexpected than others. For example, those who only know Ed Sheeran from the popular delicate song, ‘The A Team’, may not expect him to have earlier this year self-released an album of collaborations with a variety of UK hip-hop and grime artists (Wretch 32 appears on the track ‘Nightmares’).

But it seems his connections with Wretch 32 go back quite far: “I think the first time we actually did something was three years ago. So, it was really natural; he’s a fan of my music and I’m a fan of his, so we naturally just connected and said, ‘you know what, let’s get something done.’”

As a result, Ed appears in Wretch 32’s debut

album Black and White, singing on the powerful, heartfelt track ‘Hush Little Baby’.

It seems that Wretch 32 is lucky to have so many friends whose music he genuinely enjoys. As he reels off a list of music he’s been listening to, he notes, “Ed’s album’s nice, Example’s album’s nice.

“Also I’ve been listening to a bit of James Drake; I’ve put that back in the car, it’s got a good vibe. What else... Oh yeah, Chipmunk’s mixtape – he’s put a new mixtape out, a free one, I’ve been listening to that. It’s called Spazzz.com, that’s pretty cool.”

Chipmunk is another long-time collaborator, appearing in the video for ‘Unorthodox’, and hailing from Tottenham, like Wretch 32. The two have released mixtapes together in the past, and Wretch 32 is a strong believer in the idea of free music.

“When you’re making an entry, when you’re first coming in, I think it’s the best way you can enter, because you’re offering someone something for free, and…they’ll automatically be on your side. And then the next time you put something out, they’ll make up their minds whether or not they’ll buy it. But some people, they just won’t part with their money if they don’t know what they’re buying. If that makes sense?”

It makes sense to us; people seem more than happy to part with their money for Wretch 32 though, given that a number of his gigs this month h a v e had their venues upgraded due to demand.

Catch him at Plug in Sheffield on the 21st.

‘You’ll never catch me on The Jeremy Kyle Show.’

Fuse talks to Wretch 32 about his recent success and that bathtub incident.

Words: Coral Williamson

ARTS

Interview. Dan Evans Sheffield Theatre’s Artistic Director talks about the challenges of bringing Othello to The Crucible stage.

Words: Tom Rooker

“

Photo: Craig Flemming

“They have a shared history and that feeds us”.

one of my favourite television series was almost by the by in a way.

“However, one of the reasons why it’s particularly exciting to have them both in the production is that they have a shared history and that feeds us in ways that are unseen.”

It is intended that this shared history will intensify the believability of the play’s back-story, fostering the sense of apparent camaraderie between Othello and Iago.

This point is particularly salient with regards to Iago as, more than with most of Shake-

“I also find the play very funny,” Evans states.

“I think people tend to think of these tragedies as heavy works but actually they’re very witty and full of great, great humour.”

His decision regarding casting, too, was something Evans was

“There is something about the Yorkshire accent that is down-to-earth, direct, and honest.” speare’s villains, it is vital that he is believed by an audience and, as Evans stresses, relished.

In order to ensure this West, a native of Sheffield himself, has decided to portray Iago as a Yorkshire-man.

Is it the director’s intention to bring the play away from Venice and Cyprus and closer to the audience’s home?

“Well, that’s a question about

Gilbreath.

It all seems to have contributed to a rather productive and enjoyable working atmosphere, and it is this which Evans has tried to develop thorough his own approach to directing, which, he hopes is “open” and “generous”.

Much more than a style, however, or a preconceived notion of how to approach his work,

convention”, he says.

“But for me the most important thing is that every character that encounters Iago throughout the play has to think that he’s the most honest person around, and there is something about the Yorkshire accent that is down-to-earth, direct, and honest.”

Yet West and Peters will not be the only ones delivering distinguished performances.

Evans is quick to list the score of theatrical talent he has been working with – from rising star Lily James to Royal Shakespeare Company favourite Alexandra

it is Evans’ passion that really shines though. This passion is apparent in the awe he admits to feeling for Shakespeare, in his considered, analytical speech, and in his inability to choose a high point from his career.

It is apparent most of all in his talk on the future of theatre in the wake of the cuts to arts funding; “I think what irks me is the ratio of cuts that are being foisted upon the arts world seem disproportionate to the others.

“There is an argument that’s less easily expressible to do with the value of the arts emotionally

and spiritually to a place, to cities, to people’s lives.”

And so in its 40th year, with Othello making its Crucible debut, there is the sense of the theatre moving forward into fresh ground.

On the other hand, however, the occasion of this anniversary also lends itself to retrospect and reflection, an idea that is particularly pertinent to this production.

This is because it is to feature, in the role Brabantio, the Crucible’s founding Artistic Director, Colin George, a man for whom Evans seems to have limitless admiration.

“Colin is not only the reason

that we’re all here, the reason this theatre exists, but he’s also one of the kindest, most supportive, most generous people I know.”

Evans himself, now in his second year in the position of Artistic Director, shows no desire to move on just yet. It is perhaps for this reason that he responds with a pinch of theatrical shock when I mention that Dominic West has said that he believes him to be an incipient National Theatre director.

Fuse.

eager to realise.

For in a move that has the majority of the theatre-going world talking, the actor-turneddirector has chosen to reunite Dominic West and Clarke Peters, two of the stars from David Simon’s television epic The Wire, in the roles of Iago and Othello respectively.

Having trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in the year above West, however, and having been persistently dazzled by Peters onstage, Evans’s decision to affect the reunion was informed by more than his regard for their most famous work.

“The fact that they were in

Friday October 7 2011

Ah, hello, we just passed each other outside.” Thus does Sheffield Theatres’ artistic director Daniel Evans greet me, as I meet him at a side table in the pleasant hubbub of Norfolk Street’s Crucible Corner bar.

It is an introduction representing a moment of misrecognition that seems an appropriate way to begin a talk with a man about to unveil his rendering of a play about the deceptive nature of exteriority, in which the central villain famously proclaims ‘I am not what I am.’

Othello is perhaps one of Shakespeare’s darkest pieces.

Not only does it constitute the dramatist’s only domestic tragedy, free of say the more spiritual inclinations of King Lear, but perhaps his only tragedy in which, as Evans says, “there is very little redemption, if any.”

In its depiction of the complete triumph of evil over good, it seems a strange choice of play with which to launch the Crucible Theatre’s 40th birthday season.

Yet there were “pragmatic reasons,” in Evans’s phrase, in bringing it to the Crucible stage: “The play’s never been done there before, so it’s making its Crucible debut. It’s also a play I love and one which I studied at school.”

There is also a sense in which Othello is not quite as cheerless as may first be imagined.

Indeed, one of its earliest critics labelled the play “a bloody farce”, and this same feeling of black humour is one of the things which Evans and his cast are eager to bring out.

Othello Review: Page 15

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GAMES

Feature. THE BEAUTIFUL GAME

Playground, pub, office and home; this debate divides millions of people each year.

Fuse.

Friday October 7 2011

FIFA or PES?

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Words: Arnold Bennett

GAMES

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he two most popular representations of the world’s most loved sport have clashed, competed and shifted over the last decade as a generation of football fans latched onto their incremental changes with all the zeal they could muster.

To many, football is a religion, and in that regard PES and FIFA are no different.

These two franchises represent not just their own interpretation of the beautiful game, but also a window into the opposing halves of the videogame industry who create them, especially in recent years.

FIFA, the EA Sports flagship, is created in Vancouver; not because of it’s storied footballing heritage but for the generous tax breaks offered to videogame developers by the Canadian government. It is also the epitome of Western development throughout the last decade.

What was once an accessible, shallow focus on flashy graphics is now a continuous pursuit of ultra realism, leveraged through the additional hardware power introduced by a new generation of consoles.

PES on the other hand is staunchly Japanese. Created in Konami’s Tokyo HQ by series producer Shingo “Seabass” Takatsuka and his team, the series has shifted in appreciation and attitude since its once impregnable reputation last generation.

Like the rest of the Japanese videogame industry the series has stagnated, unable to convert advances in hardware into improvements in software, struggling to convincingly advance the winning formula that stood it in such great stead during the PS2 era.

FIFA has always been popular. The financial clout of publisher EA guarantees that by affording them the opportunity to tie up exclusive licenses and subsequently starve PES of them, turning

customers away in the process. For many people, football games offer fans the opportunity to vicariously interact with the team they love and worship. Helping Liverpool to a last minute winner against Everton at the Kop end of Anfield is a much more attractive proposition than controlling Merseyside Red, against Merseyside Blue at Rose Park Stadium.

Despite this difference, Pro Evolution Soccer has maintained a loyal group of fans for a simple, charming reason: the way it plays.

Amidst a time when FIFA concentrated more on additional features designed to decorate the back of the box, the team in Tokyo were busy refining Pro Evolution Soccer’s pass and move gameplay.

FIFA games of the previous generation were remembered for additions like ‘Off the Ball Control’ and the ‘Trick Stick’, Pro Evolution Soccer titles are less

games of all time.

Konami had polished their craft and EA were so far behind in all the wrong places. For Konami (and much of the Japanese videogame industry) the new generation of hardware was an unnecessary distraction, for EA it was a lifeline.

With the Xbox 360 and the PS3, EA had a chance to adapt.

With new hardware vastly more capable than what was previously available they could create a game engine aimed at rivalling PES. For once they focused primarily on how the game played, rather than how it looked or sounded to create a football experience not previously possible.

With 08, the first FIFA game available on both new platforms, football game fans felt a peculiar sensation: a FIFA game that was truly fun.

That was simply the beginning. If the pendulum began to swing in 08, by 09 it was fair to say it’d made a full revolution.

Becoming a critical darling and fan favourite overnight, FIFA 09 was a tidal wave in what was a proverbial desert for PES fans, converting many loyalists with

It’s when you compare many of PESs off the field matters that you realise how good it had to be on the field

“If three out of of four mates in the playground are talking about FIFA, the fourth member of that group isn’t going to buy any other football game.” its simulated ball physics and realistic player weight.

FIFA 09 felt like a football game on the cusp of technological advancement, whereas PES was struggling with its own self image, failing to produce on a level half as impressive and in most cases a step backwards from where it had been just a few years prior.

Put simply, FIFA improved massively and PES appeared to regress. When the head of EA Sports, Peter Moore was

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ver the years there have been a number of unique additions to the FIFA franchise aimed to freshen up the experience for fans. Not all of them have lasted the test of time, some have been thankfully removed and others curiously omitted.

FIFA 2002 was first to bemuse. Using the R2 and L2 buttons it allowed players to individually tweak the level of curl

you could apply in a specific direction. A handy idea but the two shoulder buttons were a bit too important to give up for such a niche feature.

FIFA 2003 followed the trend. A free kick system which allowed players to choose the specific part of the ball they struck gave far too much freedom for players who learned to master the system.

Conceding a foul felt like conceding a

goal.

Finally there was the most ridiculous of all, FIFA 2004’s “Off the Ball Control”.

The idea being that players could control a second player with the right analogue stick and create their own runs. It’s just a shame asking players to do two things at once was a recipe for disaster. It was subsequently removed.

Fuse.

Cutting Room Floor : Odd FIFA features relegated to the past

Friday October 7 2011

definable by singular, superfluous differences, instead blending into nostalgic pieces of footballing bliss.

You don’t remember what specifically differentiated each yearly instalment, you just remember the level of joy you had playing it.

It’s when you compare many of PES’ off the field matters that you realise how good it had to be on the field to stay competitive.

FIFA consistently featured fantastic, licensed soundtracks as memorable as the games themselves, whereas PES featured orchestrated beeps and boops that lodged themselves in your brain out of frustrating repetition rather than choice.

It was a much more pleasurable experience tinkering your squad to “Fools Gold” by The Stone Roses than it was to the sound of an erratic Synthesiser solo.

Similarly, in game commentary represented the priorities of both studios.

EA spent the money to license authentic match commentators used during contemporary broadcasts to recreate the matchday experience, Konami hired an out of work commentator who hadn’t been remotely popular since the 1990s.

In fact, the absurd commentating partnership of Peter Brackley and Trevor Brooking was so bad it added to PESs uniquely Japanese charm.

There comes a point when something is so terrible it’s highly entertaining, and it must have frustrated EA immensely to see their hard work undermined by sheer incompetence.

As the PS2 era winded down, PES hit its stride, with PES 5 and 6 being renowned as some of the best football

asked about how this benefitted the franchise going forward he responded emphatically, and rightly so, ”It makes it even harder for the competition. If three out of of four mates in the playground are talking about FIFA, the fourth member of that group isn’t going to buy any other football game.”

Things had truly changed. And Konami knew it.

PES was a mess. As with most of the Japanese videogame industry they were struggling to convert raw power into an improved play experience, and they didn’t dedicate the resources into the right areas.

Sloppy visuals failed to mask the game’s outdated engine, especially when contrasted with that produced by FIFA. FIFA separated the ball from the players foot and turned it into an object with its own independent physics properties, PES hadn’t done anything of the sort.

FIFA allowed players to move in a 360 degree radius, PES restricted players to eight directions.

Such differences were symptomatic of the rate the two franchises were evolving, or failing to.

Each year Konami’s marketing department became pre-occupied with labelling the latest installment as a return to form, or a fresh start in a new era.

They even wheeled out the once reclusive yet revered producer “Seabass” to reassure fans on camera that the latest PES game would be back to a quality level they’d long since forgotten. And it never was.

Such desperation was saddening. A fallen King begging for redemption, with a new, once despised ruler sat firmly on the throne.

But things can change. As of last year PES has improved dramatically.

Passing is now crisp yet deep, dribbling is a constant balancing act of feints and momentum and shooting offers a variety of constantly surprising results which evokes a sense of anticipation around the penalty box.

FIFAs momentum has also stalled after a series of decent but unspectacular sequels.

The latest game, FIFA 12 will be reviewed fully in next issue, but early play has shown a solid but safe improvement which fails to feel fresh.

In the world of football games, allegiances change spontaneously.

As FIFA sleeps on the progress it made, a giant stirs with a taste for the glory it once received.

The king may yet return.

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SCREEN

Interview. ROB NEVITT

“But,” he says with a smile, “the real highlight is just finding great films.

With Celluloid Screams, Sheffield’s premier horror filmfestival,enteringitsthirdyear,Screensitsdownwith Festival Director Rob Nevitt to talk about deranged Argentinians, inbred Northerners, and the weirdest, wackiest, and most wonderful scary movies of 2011.

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ou’d think for a man whose bread and butter is blood and bowels that Rob Nevitt would be an imposing, scary figure, but he’s quite the opposite. Well-spoken, quiet, and reserved; his order of water at the bar doesn’t come with a grandiose Béla Lugosiesque “I… don’t drink… wine” as you might expect from a horror aficionado.

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duction to Horror, as a tester almost. We screened a wide range of films, from The House That Dripped Blood to Suspiria, to the Japanese film Pulse, to [REC].

“We got sell-outs every week and it made me think ‘maybe we’ve got an audience for this’ and we just carried on and that was October in 2008. We did a double bill that Halloween of An American Werewolf in London and The Thing and got a massive turnout. And by that point we decided to look towards the next year with the view of holding a festival.”

“This would be the best full time job in the world” “I absolutely love doing it,” he grins, “it would be the best full time job in the world.”

Nevitt, an amateur filmmaker who has lived and worked in Sheffield for the past twelve years and whose own films have taken him to festivals as far as Rio, started working with the Showroom cinema four years ago, which is where the seeds for Celluloid Screams were first laid.

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Friday October 7 2011

However, when he starts talking about his pet project Celluloid Screams, he becomes a man possessed with fiery enthusiasm.

Words: Tom Wardak

“We originally held a series of screenings; a kind of an Intro-

Celluloid Screams started in October 2009, but unlike the previous series of screenings that focussed solely on wellestablished classics, the festival was more about exhibiting the latest and greatest in horror cinema.

“The function of the festival is to show films to people for the first time. Some of these films have played other festivals but they haven’t garnered any massive widespread exposure. So it’s kind of a means of showing just the breadth of what there is out there,” Nevitt says.

“Some of these films might end up getting theatrical releases but the majority probably won’t.

That makes the festival even more important in allowing au-

diences to see these films on the big screen.

“My main aim is to show a snapshot of that particular year in how broad and dynamic the genre can be.”

“We screened an Australian film in 2009 called Lake Mungo which is kind of like a mock documentary, and I did feel a bit weird screening it the same year as Paranormal Activity because of the similarity in style.

“But it just blew me away the first time I saw it and it ended up winning the Audience Award for Best Feature. Finding films like that is the best thing.”

So what film is Nevitt looking forward to in this year’s programme?

“Cold Sweat is my discovery this year. It’s done a few festivals before, but this is the first time it has played in the UK.” The Argentinian Cold Sweat, directed by Spanish horror stalwart Adrián García Bogliano, follows a man searching for his girlfriend who has fallen foul of an online scam by two elderly ex-revolutionaries who lure women into a suitably creepy house where they coat their victims in highly unstable nitro-glycerine, as you do.

“I want to make people remember why they love horror.”

However, Nevitt is keen not to neglect the classics, and each year he chooses a few old gems – this year we have John Carpenter’s Halloween and Stuart Gordon’s Re-Animator – to, in Nevitt’s words, “make you remember why you love horror in the first place because it can be easy to forget when you’re having to sit through the reams of terrible, terrible films that there are out there.”

When asked for his personal highlights of the previous two years, Nevitt doesn’t even need a second to think. He quickly lists holding the UK premiere for Paranormal Activity in 2009 and having Catriona MacColl - star of Italian cult zombie classics The Beyond and City of the Living Dead - as 2010’s guest of honour.

“You think you know where it’s going initially,” Nevitt says, “you kind of get the idea that it might be going into Saw territory or something, but it just takes a U-turn and goes in another direction completely.”

And at the mention of the film’s wacky villain duo, Nevitt can only laugh. “They are the most ridiculous horror villains I’ve seen in a long, long time and the film never really takes itself too seriously.

It’s such a ridicu-

“My jaw was on the floor by the end of the screening.”

Another film Nevitt is excited to see his audience’s reaction to is Noboru Iguchi’s Tomie: Unlimited, another UK premiere and a reboot of the film franchise built on Junji Ito’s popular manga.

“It’s one of the films I saw at Cannes [film festival] where my jaw was on the floor by the end of the screening. I was drawn into it. And I noticed about ten minutes before the end that for the past half hour I’ve been sat there completely baffled by the whole thing. It’s completely insane. Those kind of movies we try and show in the evening after people have had a few drinks. It’ll be great.”

However, Celluloid Screams is more than just an exhibition of the best in new international horror cinema; it’s a showcase for more home-grown talent as well.

Nevitt explains: “One film I’m really excited about is Harold’s Going Stiff, because there’s a huge local connection; it was filmed in Penistone, just outside of Sheffield.

“It’s really, really low budget, but it’s really heartfelt. It’s just a really great story well told.

And whether it costs a 100 million or 50 grand, it doesn’t matter. The film works for what it is. I’m really excited to see what people think of that one.”

Another local film is gala opener Inbred, in which four young offenders and their care worker go to the suspiciously named Yorkshire village Mortlake for community service, only to find themselves running for their lives from the deranged locals.

“It’s great fun,” Nevitt says, barely able to contain his excitement, “and we’ve got a huge amount of the cast coming for a Q&A session after the film as well, including Jo Hartley [Cynth from This is England] who plays the lead. That will be a bit of a geek moment for me, personally.”

However, even though Celluloid Screams is going into what Nevitt believes to be its best programme yet – he singles out the short film selection as being particularly strong – organising the weekend is still fraught with difficulties.

“What I’m really trying to do is broaden our audience,” Nevitt says with a sigh, knowing full well how closed minded some people can be when it comes to horror, which – as he readily admits – is a genre saturated with schlocky, mindless, exploitative rubbish.

“I just like the idea of getting a load of horror fans in one room and scaring the crap out of them.”

With a plethora of guest appearances and yet-to-be-announced attractions – including the secret screening that closes the festival – Celluloid Screams seems to be all about these little geek moments and Nevitt, a self-avowed “die-hard horror fan and filmmaker”, wears this like a badge of honour.

“There’s nothing better than seeing these kind of films in a full cinema with a load of like-minded people and that’s the key to the festival. It’s basically a way for the audience to see the kind of films they love in the right environment in the way they were intended to be seen, on the big screen and not on an iPhone.”

He pauses for a second and then laughs. “I just like the idea of getting a load of horror fans in one room for an entire weekend and scaring the crap out of them.”

“We’ve got our hard-core local audience who come to every screening every month no matter what we’re showing, which is amazing. But what baffles me is that we don’t get a massive student or casual audience.

“The biggest challenge is getting people to understand what a horror festival is. Is it like the stage show, Circus of Horrors? No, it’s basically watching a bunch of amazing movies in a really short space of time and hopefully coming out of it not completely traumatised.”

And, with that, a somewhat sinister grin spreads across his face.

“Or maybe they should. I’m not sure…”

Celluloid Screams is held at the Showroom on October 21-23. For the full programme visit celluloidscreams.co.uk.

I

’m not going to do what every other “greatest horror film” list does and tell you to watch The Exorcist, The Omen, or The Shining (or any of the other masterpieces that seem to begin with “the”); instead, this piece is going to steer you in the direction of some lesser-known - but by no means lesser quality - horror classics that don’t always get the recognition they deserve.

Firstly, you can forget Twilight, The Vampire Diaries, and any of the other teeny-bopper vampire shite out there at the moment. If you like bloodsuckers, you’re best off going back to the original neck biter: Bram Stoker’s Count Dracula.

Each of his film incarnations (save a few of the latter Hammer duds like Dracula A.D. 1972) has something to like; whether it be Max Schreck’s unsettling and deformed Orlok in 1922’s unofficial silent adaptation Nosferatu or the venomous yet oddly sympathetic Gary Oldman in Francis Ford Coppola’s 1992 film, Dracula.

Other vampire classics are Near Dark, directed by Kathryn Bigelow, who would later go on to make Point Break and The Hurt Locker, The Lost Boys, ‘Salem’s Lot, and From Dusk Till Dawn.

And if that doesn’t sate your appetite for the living dead, George A. Romero’s original zombie trilogy - Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, and Day of the Dead – are still the best films to feature cannibalistic shambling corpses (for a taste of the original, non-flesh-eating voodoo zombies, check out 1932’s White Zombie and 1943’s I Walked With a Zombie). 28 Days Later, eat your brains out.

Even though Danny Boyle’s British zombie opus is credited for bringing the undead back into the mainstream, the best zombie film not directed by Romero is Braindead, helmed by none other than The Lord of the Rings’ Peter Jackson.

That’s right, before he was a champion of fantasy cinema, Jackson was a gore-hound who just loved filming bodies getting ripped to shreds.

The lawn mower scene is probably the bloodiest sequence in cinema history.

You’ll know it when you see it.

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lous premise and it’s such a lot of fun. It’s utterly ridiculous but a brilliant Sunday night film.”

Horror films to see before you die.

However, if the living dead don’t set your pulse quickening, there are still a lot of under-appreciated gems in the horror canon. Like David Cronenberg’s 1986 remake of The Fly, starring Jeff Goldblum. Not only is this film a master class in practical effects (much like John Carpenter’s The Thing), it is genuinely horrifying, and features the best performance in Goldbum’s career.

Another cult classic is Nicolas Roeg’s 1972 du Maurier adptation Don’t Look Now, which stars Donald Sutherland, Julie Christie, and the creepiest midget in a red coat you will ever see in a movie.

If you’re a sci-fi fan and are feeling slightly neglected, don’t worry, as Event Horizon (Paul W.S. Anderson’s only good film) is probably the scariest film I’ve ever seen. It’s certainly one to watch with the lights on.

But if you only watch one of my recommendations, make it the “terrifying” Plan 9 From Outer Space. It won’t give you nightmares, but you will probably laugh so much you’ll give yourself a heart attack.

Friday October 7 2011

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MUSIC

Reviews.RELEASES

Ben Howard Every Kingdom Island Records 8/10

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at comfortably between the acoustic, summer optimism of Jack Johnson and the bleaker intricacies of Damien Rice is Ben Howard’s debut album, Every Kingdom.

Thankfully, it’s a fresh sound that the Devonshire based singer-songwriter brings to the already oversaturated market.

Opening track ‘Old Pine’ begins delicately. Gorgeously simple guitar riffs and placid vocals float around with no complex production or unnecessary noise to distract from the

The Moth & The Mirror Honestly, This World Olive Grove Records 8/10

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laswegian band The Moth & The Mirror’s latest album is great compilation of indie rock and acoustic songs that range from chilled out tracks to toe-tapping tunes you can blast out at full volume. With Honestly, This World, the band take another step forwards in the UK music scene.

Lead vocalist Stacey Sievwright breathes life into the simple yet well-constructed lyrics, switching from a sweet and gentle voice to almost ominous in some cases, creating an air of siren-like seductiveness and mystery reminiscent of Editors.

‘Fire’ demands attention with some beautiful harmonies as the only track featuring Louis Abbot extensively on vocals. It stands out from the rest, the change to soulful lyrics, before reaching an energetic climax.

And this is what Howard does so perfectly throughout the record; he bounces between timid beauty and frenetic, stomping anthems with impressive confidence.

Early track ‘Diamonds’ is a perfect example of this as it builds from its brooding verses to the sing-along, radio friendly chorus.

It’s also one of the strongest examples of Howard’s folk influence, which permeates the entire record.

One of the greatest achievements is how Howard is able to give the album a strong sense of identity through his repeated use of choral backing, dexterous guitar playing and discrete percussion, without ever making it sound

Sam Bolton

Era Extraña

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ith the abundance of new releases each week it can be difficult to sift through the shit in search of the gold so Fuse has handpicked some of the musical highlights for you.

Bloc Party have been at the top of everyone’s agenda this week with rumours of their collapse; according to their website they are ‘still Bloc Party’, which is what matters. On the upside, all this hubbub has pointed us in the direction of Kele’s new EP The Hunter, and the first track to be taken from it, ‘What Did I Do?’. It carries on from the electronic house tones of The Boxer and features Lucy Taylor on vocals.

Elsewhere, we’re mourning the imminent split of Scottish rockers Dananananaykroyd after

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Friday October 7 2011

Bella Union 5/10

Now Playing

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Dominic Powell

dull or unoriginal.

To pick out any moment as a high point is near impossible on a record that rarely falters.

Recent single ‘Keep Your Head Up’, tells tales of dizzying optimism, accompanied by spiralling guitar melodies which erupt with stunning force, that deserve recognition.

‘Gracious’ and ‘Black Flies’ demonstrate the album’s more introverted side; Both tracks are so sparse and open that it’s easy empathise with the sense of isolation.

Every Kingdom is a stunning debut from the surf-loving southerner.

Neon Indian

Art: Nattalia Alonoso/DeviantArt their tour wraps up next month.

They’re releasing one more single from newest album There Is A Way, ‘Think & Feel’ next month, and the catchy, off-kilter track is a fitting way to say goodbye to one of the best live bands out there.

Last week we couldn’t escape the sounds of the newest gimmicky, yet undeniably enjoyable (yes, I do hate myself for writing that) dance track to take nightclubs by storm. We debated giving it a mention in Now Playing but finally ruled there was more exciting music we wanted to talk about. It would seem, though, that everyone else was talking about ‘Loca People’.

Dutch Unkles’debut album Cadenza is one that we’ve not been able to stop playing since we first heard it. Most recent single ‘The Ink’ has been doing the radio rounds and made it’s way on to the BBC 6 Music playlist.

male vocals giving it an entirely different dynamic.

The album juxtaposes gentle ballads with heavy riffs in a way that connects you to each song.

‘Boxes’ in particular lures you in to a false sense of security and calm before hitting hard and heavy bringing home the emotional gravitas of the song right where it needs to be.

The title track feels unsure of itself, and is one of the few cases where the sudden shift in tone and tempo doesn’t feel quite right.

Some tracks outshine others which is particularly noticeable when listening to the album as a whole and tracks like ‘Beautiful Creature’ and ‘Hope Is an Anchor’ can bring you down a little after hearing the more active songs that precede them.

That said, the talent really shines through. Honestly, This World may be a rough diamond but it’s worth taking a look and The Moth & The Mirror are certainly one to keep an eye on.

U

nderstandably, there was plenty of hype surrounding Neon Indian’s latest release Era Extraña after the critical success of 2009’s synth-pop chillwave debut, Psychic Chasms.

Publications clamoured to praise their first record, which Pitchfork named 14th best album of the year. No surprises then that critics held high expectations for the band’s latest effort.

What is certainly notable upon listening to Era Extraña is that the chilled vibes of its predecessor are gone, as are sounds of 80s nostalgia and the positive, funky synths.

Instead Era Extraña adopts a more serious air with its composition and perhaps this is where it falters.

High points come in songs such as ‘Polish Girl’, where Palomo’s dreamy, lilting vocals complement the nature of the song perfectly as he laments “But you, you fail to remember”, and ‘The Blindside Kiss’, which is driven forward by a filthily good, sludgy backing guitar riff before hitting a light,

fluffy chorus.

While ‘Halogen (I Could Be Your Shadow)’ has a beautifully soothing chorus, ‘Arcade Blues’ finishes the album on a funky note: “Take me from these arcade blues / I don’t know what to do,” as if Palomo wants to be dragged away from the earlier darker overtones of the record.

However, the hook of ‘Future Sick’ is so repetitive it becomes sickening.

Other songs are just ordinary, the instrumentals do little for the album as a whole and ultimately the downbeat tones of the record become too samey. The rest seems closed off to the listener.

Oliver Turner

Red Sky July Red Sky July Proper Records 7/10

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n September 2009, guitarist Ally McErlaine suffered a severe brain aneurysm which left him in a critical state for over a year.

The fact that there was a very real chance Red Sky July’s debut would never come to fruition means that after hearing the 12 tracks, filled with heart-wrenching melodies from the wonderful

voices of Charity Hair and Sally Poole as well as the intricate guitar work of McErlaine himself, music fans will breathe a collective sigh of relief.

It is the variety that Red Sky July offer the country/folk genre that is most exciting.

Their eponymous LP opens with the passionate lyrics of ‘Already Gone’ supported by incredible vocal range.

Before things can get too repetitive the tempo increases during ‘How To Get Your Love’; a perfect expression of romantic anxiety and desperation.

‘Evening Song’ and ‘Loving You’s Easy’ embody the musical potential of this unit, brilliantly juxtaposing the emptiness and depression associated with a flagging romance and the blissful breeziness of the phase before it.

There are some less adventurous efforts (‘The Gold Hour' and ‘Tables Turn’), and during ‘River’s Wild’ the thin line between raw emotion and cliché is crossed.

However, this is more than made up for later.

The fantastic ‘Green Country Lanes’ briefly allows McErlaine’s guitar to soar alongside the vocals.

Michael Friis

gANGLIANS The Harley

Monday September 26th

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alifornia is apparently sulking. After support bands Best Friends and Bhurgeist, Ganglians from Sacramento arrive on the Harley’s stage with the words “This is a sad, sad song / for all you sad, sad people”.

Lead singer Ryan Grubbs takes a last slug from the mug he has carefully positioned between two cans of Red Stripe, and they’re off to a dynamic start.

Although The Harley is nowhere near full capacity, everyone seems ready and willing to enter the kaleidoscopic sort of ambiance the band is famous for creating. It’s grungy, but elegant.

Lack of footwear and continuous strands of hair flying do nothing to deteriorate the tastefulness of the performance.

Ganglians are a well-mannered band and have a solid set of both skills and experience to back it up.

This live version of their second LP Still Living is somewhat heavier than the studio recording, but psychedelic surf remains

MUSIC

Reviews.LIVE an accurate description of the atmosphere they inspire. It’s obvious they come from somewhere rather warmer than Sheffield.

There’s something very fluid, almost aquarium-like about it; low rhythms and floating basslines mixed with higher notes from the singer’s synthesizer contribute to the underwater feel of the performance.

Beach Boys-style harmonies and a serious amount of reverb make their sound echo half way up Glossop Road.

Despite this beach-like atmosphere, Ganglians have made a clear decision to keep their music on the bleaker side, setting them apart from more run-of-the-mill surf bands.

That being said, slower and more mysterious songs have no effect on the amount of energy in the performance. They’re into what they’re doing, and so is the crowd.

A daze descends on the Harley, only to be lifted during the last song when Grubbs demonstrates that not only does he have a serious falsetto up his sleeve, but also some much heavier vocals.

Ganglians unfortunately do not grant us an encore but the night is short, sharp and definitely one to remember.

Talie Eigieland

Metronomy: Photo by Vince Kmeron/Flickr

Metronomy Leadmill

Thursday September 22nd

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he English Riviera is a sublime album, hence its nomination for the Mercury Prize, but it’d be fair to describe it as a timid affair. Live, however, Metronomy turn every track in to a swirling, synth-driven anthem.

Opening their set in the same vein as the LP with the brooding title track followed by ‘We Broke Free’, Gbenga Adelekan’s bass burst through the speakers and was followed by thunderous applause from the near-capacity Leadmill crowd.

The crowd made a change from last time they played the main room. “There were about five people here,” front man Joseph Mount laughs. “Any of them here tonight?” He questions

Ganglians: Photo by Talie Eigeland

Blessa

The Washington

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Emily Rust Follow us on Twitter @ForgePressMusic

Thursday September 29th

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our bands for £3.50 was too good to be turned down, as people crowded around the stage at The Foundry. In the line-up tonight was the Sheffield cast of Mabel Love, The Velotones and The Crookes, and for the big finale, the Mancunian trance-inducing brilliance that is The Whip.

Their recent album Wired Together is similar to their first; the state-of-the-art mechanical wizardry and manic dance interludes were certainly the climax of our evening.

Making a name for themselves, up next were The Crookes, who exuded a happy-go-lucky boyish charm, exemplified in the track ‘Backstreet Lovers’. Collar buttons done up and flopping their hair all over the place, these guys make Sheffield’s music scene proud.

Fuse.

hecking out Blessa on Myspace might give you the wrong idea of what to expect - an American hip hop group this ain’t. Made up from members of the University of Sheffield, Blessa’s stage presence was electric from the beginning.

Before they appeared as headliners though, we were treated to supports James Tait and Elephant, who started the evening well. James Tait’s haunting voice gave him a mesmerising aura on stage, whilst Elephant complemented the main attraction of the night with their indie rock.

The Washington was a suitably intimate venue, despite the

The Foundry

Soon after The Crookes, Foundry curiously emptied. Unperturbed, The Whip exploded straight in with the powerful hard and loud ‘Sister Siam’; a favourite from their older album, followed by their recent material.

However, the feeling of disappointment lingered in the air; the sparse audience greeted their songs with a half-hearted foottapping as opposed to an all-out rampage, which the electro-pop band demanded. The band was enjoyable, but the lack of personality, the simplicity of lyrics and school disco lights weren’t quite enough to energise the listeners.

It wasn’t until The Whip’s finishing song, their undeniably best single ‘Trash’ (you know, the one from the beer advert), that the crowd finally took to the floor, but by this point it almost seemed too little too late.

routines in front of huge caricatures of themselves. Mount and Adelekan took part to complete the oddball aesthetics, keyboardist and saxophonist Oscar Cash threw himself into the dancing with far more gusto, disappearing behind his equipment as the routine dictated.

Adelekan’s, the bands most recent addition who replaced Gabriel Stebbing (who left to work on another project produced by Mount after the release of Nights Out), swaggered around the stage, instantly taking control of the room. A simple hand in the air was impressively mimicked and any time he stepped towards the crowd he was met by loving cheers.

Rounding the show off with a brief encore it was clear that the best of their 12 year career had been on show tonight, and thankfully people had noticed.

Sam Bolton

Friday October 7 2011

Thursday September 29th

unusual use of disco balls as a background, which added a humorous element to the evening.

With songs such as ‘Hunter’s Hands’ that have an immediate sing a long ability, Blessa appeared to have good synergy, and were increasingly energetic with lead singer Olivia moving around on the stage and in front of the audience.

Her oaky voice, teamed with the soft tones of the drums and guitars, wasn’t drowned out in a sea of sound; it’s easy to see real potential in Blessa, and seeing them in the future in a bigger venue will only enhance their performance and give their songs the credit they deserve.

The Whip

as 30 hands are thrust into the air.

Thankfully, the Brighton based four-piece didn’t use their return to Sheffield as a showcase for the newest record. Picking the best tracks from their three album discography the crowd went as crazy for ‘Radio Ladio’ as they did for the ‘The Bay’.

‘Heartbreaker’ received one of the best reactions of the night, proving there’s more to Metronomy than a Mercury nomination.

They appeared emblazoned with large, round plastic broaches on their chest, which at first seemed a peculiar stylistic choice. As it turned out, the broaches were the jewel in the crown of their simple, but brilliant light show. They’d illuminate in turn, drawing attention around the stage or strobe to the most intense of Anna Prior’s beats.

Onstage the four-piece performed oddly staccato dance

Nicky Crane The Crookes: underclassrising.net/Flickr

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SCREEN

Reviews.

Melancholia Dir: Lars von Trier 7/10

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ars Von Trier is an eccentric. There are few who would deny it.

A combination of a crushing case of aerophobia and the desire to shoot all his films on location means that the entire filming for Melancholia took place in Sweden and Denmark.

For the first few days of filming, Von Trier insisted on operating the camera himself.

At the Cannes film festival, where Kirsten Dunst received her Best Actress award, Von Trier was pronounced persona non grata for saying that he sympathised with Hitler. There were no rehearsals.

Why is any of this relevant?

Because it puts in context quite how spectacular and yet flawed Melancholia is.

There are two different melancholias; one is a planet flying towards Earth at 60,000 miles per hour; the other is an infliction of laziness and depression for Justine (Dunst).

The first act follows Justine’s wedding to Michael (Alex Skarsgard), which begins to go awry as her condition alienates guests and, ultimately, Michael himself.

In the second act, Justine’s sister Claire (a superb Charlotte Gainsbourg) takes her turn to break down, despite the best efforts of husband John (Kiefer Sutherland) as Melancholia looms closer.

From the first unmissable 10 minutes of screen time, you know this will not be a film you forget in a hurry. An excruciating slow-motion close-up of Justine with dead birds falling behind her leads to a series of images that are as fantastic as they are confusing.

But this sequence also provides

Abduction 4/10

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ook, it’s that sexy werewolf from Twilight, but where are the others? Taylor Lautner is lead man this time, starring alongside Jason Isaacs and Sigourney Weaver in this autumn teen thriller.

Even if you thought this would be a performance of similar quality to the vampire/werewolf saga, you would be forgiven for avoiding this terribly puerile portrayal of a teenager discovering his childhood pictures on a missing person website.

Cue the slapdash chase scenes.

Cue the slick fight sequences. Cue those cheesy one-liners.

Nathan (Lautner) is your average high school teen, living in a sleepy suburb in Pennsylvania.

Call it a thriller if you want, but the clichés are on shameless display from the beginning.

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Friday October 7 2011

Dir: John Singleton

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the film with one of its biggest drawbacks – after seeing the two planets collide, the rest of the film is trivialised into a fairly poorly put together drama; you’re just waiting for the big crescendo.

As the wedding continues, some outstanding performances from a playful John Hurt (Dexter) and a devious Jack (Stellan Skarsgard - both fictional and actual father of the groom) just about manage to cover up the uneven, completely expositionfree script.

There are some genuinely funny characterisations, such as the prissy wedding planner (Udo Kier), but the film, at no point, helps you to love it, or, for that matter, understand.

Having said that, once you get past the mismanaged middle section, the film picks up the pace, with sci-fi starting to take precedence over drama. Shots of the incoming planet are truly breath-taking, accompanied by an exquisite classical score which picks out all the right moments.

The Tree of Life already pulled the “ooh, look at the pretty galaxies and stars” trick but Melancholia’s offering perhaps even surpasses Terrence Malick’s.

With possibly the best closing shot in the history of anything, you leave the cinema without any doubt as to the quality of the visual presentation.

Melancholia is a spectacular film, both held together and ultimately let down by Von Trier’s directorial oddities. Pretentious is a word that doesn’t quite describe Melancholia, but it gets close. It could have been great, but it just isn’t.

William Tait

Our handsome protagonist, who enjoys an active role in the school wrestling team, seeks cheap thrills ranging from riding truck bonnets, to passing out half-naked on a lawn after a drunken night of partying, all within the first 10 minutes.

Of course, when he’s not pining over his sexy neighbour Karen (Lily Collins), he’s confiding in his psychiatrist (Weaver) about his recurring dreams and suspicions of a life that isn’t his. When a sociology project on missing persons bears his childhood pictures, Nathan sets out to discover the truth.

While you might expect an audience consisting wholly of screaming girlies, reviews for Abduction have nonetheless been largely terrible. Despite the name, there are no indications of abduction anywhere in the film, and Lautner’s lack of experience in a lead role shows itself in a stale performance on-screen.

With direction from John Singleton, the man responsible for

2 Fast 2 Furious, the film makes little effort to keep the audience engaged. If it’s not the juvenile scripting or the blasé performances, it’s the constant shifts in an already-flawed plot and the wasted talents of a respectable supporting cast featuring the likes of Jason Isaacs and Sigourney Weaver.

While R-Patz has also been thrown his share of lead roles, it wouldn’t be fair to say that Lautner is a fish out of water; rather that he’s in the frying pan. Despite Lautner’s martial arts experience paired with some impressive choreographed fight scenes, the storyline and production fail to portray the young actor as anything other than a fledgling heartthrob who just happens to do his own stunts.

If you didn’t catch any of the Bourne trilogy and you’ve nothing better to do with 106 minutes, this might give you an idea of how not to do a forgottenidentity thriller.

Buzz Bond

Dir: John Madden 8/10

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mericans have an annoying habit of taking perfectly enjoyable films from all corners of the globe and injecting them with just enough crass humour or explosions to render them completely unwatchable.

The Debt, on the other hand, is a refreshing example of why this irritating practice was started: to bring great stories to an audience they would never normally reach.

Based on the 2007 Israeli film HaHov, The Debt is the story of three Mossad agents who are sent into East Berlin to capture Dieter Vogel (Jesper Christensen); whose horrific experiments during the Holocaust earned him the nickname of “The Surgeon of Birkenau”.

The film’s narrative jumps between the actual mission of 1965 and events in 1996, when the three retired agents uncover shocking information about the mission.

Though it may seem like an action film (and has certainly been portrayed as one in trailers) The Debt is very much a thriller of the psychological genre.

Very little action takes place at all, with director John Madden wisely leaving the spotlight on the characters, and the extremely talented actors who play them.

Tom Wilkinson, Ciarán Hinds and Helen Mirren are all on their usual winning form here as the ‘senior cast’, but it’s the younger actors who steal the show.

Marton Csokas injects a dark streak of humour into the role of Stefan Gold; Sam Worthington’s David Peretz proves he is more than just the action star that Avatar would have us believe, and Jessica Chastain provides great balance as Rachel Singer by visibly showing the fear and stress that all three are undoubtedly feeling.

What makes their performances so believable, and links them so closely to their older counterparts, is the sensation of immense weight on their shoulders. They are old

Editorial.

souls in young bodies, determined to avenge Israel’s loss but scarred by their own personal losses. As Stefan succinctly states at one point: “Maybe it’s not always a blessing to survive”.

The relationship between the three agents is also elaborated upon, and Vaughan and Goldman seem to have perfected the art of the awkward silence – the characters are capable of saying an incredible amount by saying very little.

The first and third acts, on the other hand, are somewhat hard-

er to follow. The timeline jumps erratically between 1965 and 1996, and while this is certainly done well from an artistic standpoint it’s hard to see exactly why it was done.

The Debt is not a perfect American retelling of someone else’s story. But it comes very close. Past experience would suggest that the original Israeli film is better than this one. For once, though, it won’t matter so much if this is the only version you see.

Phil Bayles

TV. Downton abbey ITV1

9/10

D

ownton Abbey has returned to Sunday nights with a bang (literally, it takes place in the middle of WWI) and the war is stretching its blackened tentacles into every corner of Downton life.

The award-winning show follows the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family and their servants, capturing a fascinating time and place.

The first series begins with the sinking of the Titanic and leaves the audience hanging on the outbreak of the First World War. We see Lady Edith Crawley (Laura Carmichael) spreading gossip about her sister, Lady Mary Crawley (Michelle Dockery), and generally being the object of dislike. The future looks bleak for Mary and Matthew Crawley (Dan Stevens), despite it being obvious

Cult Corner. serenity

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Downton Abbey is a diamond in ITV’s hands.

It might be clichéd and have too many commercial breaks, but with its stellar cast and stunning sets, Downton Abbey is a shining example of a British television period drama.

Stephanie Mullins

when it didn’t become The Next Big Thing.

Unlike most shows, however, it refused to lay down and die.

A frankly astronomical surge in DVD sales of the show led to a following of people who called themselves “Browncoats”, so called because of the coat worn

by Captain Malcolm Reynolds in the series.

After many years of fundraising and petitioning, Universal Studios finally relented, and in 2005 Serenity was born.

The film is a testament to what a small group of people can do if they believe hard enough, and it shows.

It may have a tiny budget but Serenity is packed with gorgeous special effects including dazzling planets and epic dogfights in space.

The script, like any of Whedon’s works, is packed with wit and capable of gut-wrenching emotion,

and the cast is one of the most under-rated ever seen on the silver screen.

“We have done the impossible,” says Captain Reynolds in an episode of the old Firefly series, “and that makes us mighty”.

And there’s no film that encapsulates the phrase “underdog story” like Serenity.

It’ll lift your heart before it’s even begun.

Phil Bayles

Also watch: The original Firefly series (all 14 episodes of it) is available on the internet for a pittance, and no sci-fi fan should be without it.

One of the most insulting of these changes came at the end of Return of the Jedi, in which a thoughtful Luke Skywalker sees Yoda, Obi-Wank Kenobi and, erm, Hayden Christensen, who replaces the original Anakin in the Endor Jungle; a shameless plug of his prequel trilogy indeed.

What’s more? Lucas opted to insert references to Jar-Jar Binks into the original trilogy, apparently ignorant of the unanimous hatred the world bears for the worst character in the history of cinema.

Never wanting to be outdone by his own idiocy though, Lucas has added even more careless jibberish to the original films to spoil their Blu-Ray release.

The most notable of these has even become an internet meme. Darth Vader’s umpteenth “Noooooo”, as he hurls the emperor down into the Death Star generator, comically demolishes the pivotal, climatic scene of Return of the Jedi.

Non-surprisingly, the films that are being continually brutalised by Lucas and his itchy CGI trigger finger are the ones that he did not direct.

Afterall, it would be difficult to ruin The Phantom Menace, wouldn’t it?

Tom Fletcher

Fuse.

erenity is not the kind of film that was ever going to make cinema history.

It was filmed on a shoestring, with no big stars to its name and a very difficult premise to envisage – the spaceWestern.

The publicity it received was limited, and its status in the great DVD collection of the ages can be described as ‘cult’ at best. But what a cult following it is.

Back in 2002, Joss Whedon (creator of Angel and Buffy the Vampire Slayer) created a TV series called Firefly, which followed the crew of the spaceship Serenity as they tried to eke out a living; all the while avoiding the totalitarian Alliance, whose government controls most of the new galaxy humanity has come to occupy.

Unfortunately, like many American TV shows, it was nipped in the bud by network executives

lovely but, naturally, the audience hates, having already invested themselves in the Mary-Matthew relationship.

Many of the men are fighting in France. The high-class women are learning to drive, or becoming nurses, and the costumes are as spectacular as ever.

eorge Lucas has been at it again it seems. Hand in hand with a newly re-mastered collection of all six Star Wars films for Blu-Ray, comes a freshly gratuitous and frankly embarrassing selection of changes to the saga that we all know and generally love half of.

This isn’t the first time George Lucas has taken liberties with the films that he created and caused a bit of a ruckus among the Star Wars faithful. The 2004 DVD release of the original trilogy saw an insurrection of tactless CGI objects, creatures and background characters cluttering our favourite scenes.

Friday October 7 2011

Dir: Joss Whedon Year: 2005

they belong together. It’s all very ‘Kathy and Heathcliff’ between head housemaid Anna Smith (Joanne Froggatt) and valet John Bates (Brendan Coyle).

The third sister, Lady Sybil Crawley (Jessica Brown-Findlay), is more concerned with the social and political position of women, one of the many historical moments wonderfully captured in the programme.

The second series rejoins the characters in 1916 in the mist of war.

There is blackmail, love interest, war and an incredible cast which is just as captivating as before.

The Dowager Countess (Maggie Smith) still steals a scene with comical one-liners and pointed looks, while the Earl of Grantham (Hugh Bonneville) remains the pillar of the show.

Meanwhile, times are changing in this shaken, war-torn world.

That’s why this series could be better than before.

Matthew has a fiancé who is

G

SCREEN

the debt

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GAMES

Reviews. gears of war 3 XBOX 360

9/10

W

hen the original Gears of War launched back in 2006, it was a resounding success, combining a compelling campaign with an excellent online experience. The second game whilst building on the blocks of the first, both graphically and in improving the core gameplay, let fans down badly with the online experience, leading to many gamers rejecting it entirely. Gears of War 3 had a lot to prove, and I can happily report that it doesn’t disappoint.

Firstly, the graphics are much improved - Gears of War 3 looks fantastic, excellent lighting and crisp textures help the game to stand head and shoulders above its predecessors. The core gameplay although remaining mostly the same has been tweaked and slightly sped up, meaning the action feels more frantic and intense.

Epic, the game’s producers, took the approach of ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it’, and applied it fantastically. The soundtrack has also been greatly improved, helping to

RESISTANCE 3 PS3

8/10

Fuse.

Thursday October 7 2011

I

t’s darker. It’s gorier. It’s better in every way. Insomniac Games managed to improve everything about the franchise, but still stay loyal to their genre and style.

Resistance 3, like its predecessors, is a first person shooter game. Situated in the 1950s-60s, you take the role of a man, bearing the burden of destroying a whole alien race on his own. It is a fast paced and intense shooter, where you need to carefully plan your strategy against the massive variety of enemies and different bosses thrown at you.

After only a few minutes, you have already encountered around 10 different enemies, each with unique qualities.

But what this franchise is famous for is the weapons’ system. Your arsenal consists of a mixture of human and alien technology and each weapon can be upgraded up to two times the more they are used.

Some old favourites have returned, like the Auger, which fires through walls and creates protective shields, but there are lots of new weapons as well. Having such a big variety allows for various tactics against the enemies, making it quite addictive.

The game also features a cooperative campaign mode, where two players can go through the main storyline working together. I strongly

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immerse the player in the game.

However great graphics and a good soundtrack don’t necessarily make a good game; the best games need a good story to drive them forward and Gears again succeeds here. The game takes place four years after the events of the first, and things have gone from bad to worse for Marcus Fenix, the game’s main character, and his three man squad known as ‘Delta’. After fighting the Locust in the first two games, they now find themselves up against an enemy far greater, known as the Lambent. Players of the first two games will be completely at home with these events and for those who have never played a Gears game, there is an optional cutscene which outlines the events of the first two games.

The campaign is one of the game’s strongest features, and without spoiling anything, fans will not be disappointed. The best way to experience it is with friends - Gears of War 3 can be played by four people co-operatively online. Epic has also introduced an arcade mode, meaning players can compete to get the highest score, adding a much needed competitive edge.

But to be classed as a great game you have to offer players

more than a good campaign, and this comes in the form of competitive multiplayer. Gears of War 3 had a lot to prove if it wanted to convince players it has the legs to carry a great multiplayer experience, especially after the second game where matchmaking was slow (if it ever worked) and the lag players experienced made most people cry.

Yet thankfully the introduction of dedicated servers means that lag is no longer an issue, the controls feel responsive and advanced techniques such as ‘wall bouncing’ are easy to do. Gears introduces a number of new weapons to the fray including a double barrelled sawn off shotgun which is the Gears equivalent of Marmite, you will love it or hate it. With new maps to play on and new game modes such as team deathmatch the online multiplayer experience is extremely satisfying.

It doesn’t stop there though; Gears of War 2 introduced gamers to ‘horde mode’ where players would face wave after wave of increasingly hard enemies. Gears 3 takes the concept and improves it with ‘Horde 2.0’. The aim of the game is survival, and players now receive in game money for defeating enemies, which in turn is used to buy barriers, turrets and decoys in an attempt to make surviving the relentless assault easier. Every 10th wave has been changed to include a boss battle, making Horde 2.0 challenging, a throw back to when gamers truly had to work together in order to succeed and proves to be a lot of fun.

Gears of War 3’s bag of treats continues to grow, introducing Beast Mode to the Gears of War community. Beast Mode is the opposite of Horde, where players

recommend this mode, as the game is quite challenging and might become frustrating otherwise. It also features an up to 16 player online multiplayer with the usual modes Capture the Flag, Deadmatch etc.

The plot is pretty much the same as the previous games: an alien race called the Chimera tries to obliterate the human race for who-knowswhat reason and it is up to you to stop it. However, you are no longer the mysterious gold eyed American Nathan Hale. Enter Joseph Capelli, a family man set on a suicidal mission to destroy the aliens essentially on his own, seeing this as the only way of securing his son a normal life. In contrast to Nathan, Joseph is a husband and a father first, a soldier second.

The game consists of four acts, each depicting the survival of different communities and their struggles in this new world order.

The story is fairly slow paced and a bit cliché in the first two acts, but all of this is compensated for by the amazing third act, which is by far the best in the game - it will make you yell at the screen. In addition the good graphics in the cut scenes and the notably strong voice acting add a great deal to the game.

This is one of the must play games of the year. Even though it is not evenly-paced or in a league on its own, Resistance 3 proves to be a really fun and enjoyable experience.

Yuliyan Uzunov

nintendo 3ds

Campus Event Overview

T

he hawk-eyed among you may have spotted the giant caravan that took up residence on the concourse last Tuesday, packed full of Nintendo 3DS goodness and demos. In case the experience has lured you into buying this shiny new toy, here are a couple of quick reviews of the flagship games on offer as tested by Games: Mario Kart - ‘If it ain’t broke don’t fix it… much.’ That seems to be the approach Nintendo are taking to the 7th outing of their popular Mario Kart series. As usual the game sees you racing through colourful scenery as your favourite Nintendo characters launch shells at each other. The biggest change though, comes in the form of the hang-glider; as your character flies off a jump the glider pops up and you slowly drop to the floor whilst still giving you the ability to control the kart. The 3D effect

Editorial.

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take control of the various creatures of the Locust horde, such as Berserkers and Corpsers, and fight against AI controlled human opponents. Whilst Horde mode goes up to 50 waves, Beast stops at 12, but whereas the former gives the player an unlimited amount of time to defeat their enemies, Beast only allows one minute each wave to defeat all opponents.

This is where the challenge comes in, trying to organise a team to defeat the increasing number of AI opponents within the time limit can be difficult.

Gears of War 3 is a terrific achievement combing the best elements of both previous games and managing to remove their errors at the same time. The campaign is fantastic, with great voice acting and a compelling story, but the real star of the show is the game’s multiplayer options. With dedicated services providing a smooth online experience, a new and improved Horde mode and the introduction of Beast mode, players will find themselves coming back to Gears of War 3 time and time again.

James Garrett is surprisingly good, adding enough depth to make it immersive but not gimmicky.

If you liked the other Mario Kart games then pick this one up.

Super Mario 3DS - This isn’t the first time Mario has made the jump to 3D. Super Mario 64 took the red and white plumber off the two dimensional plane, and Super Mario 3DS takes it even further. From the four demo levels on offer, SM3D appears to blend classic Mario with the three-dimensional jumps of later games thanks to the 3DS’s stereoscopic screen. Various hats return to enhance Mario’s abilities, such as Flower Power and Racoon, giving each level a unique flavour, although one most Mario fans have already tasted. The overriding sense with SM3D however is one of muted disappointment. When you played Super Mario 64 you experienced something completely new. It’s a shame Mario’s leap to actual 3D is far less impressive.

Sam Bolton Arnold Bennett

o in just one week Gears of War 3 has sold three million copies, becoming the best-selling game of the year and the “biggest platform exclusive” of 2011, boasted Microsoft’s corporate vice-president Phil Spencer.

But why, I can’t help but ask myself, should a game franchise of this scale and popularity be restricting itself to one platform only?

Yes, once upon a time there was great rivalry between consoles, with the potential for ridicule if you announce to a group of Xbox fanatics that you’re in camp PlayStation, but nowadays many households have both, and more besides, and the differences that previously created such staunch supporters for one side or another have homogenized into the centre, with few discernable differences between the two.

Both are almost equally powerful, capable of supporting wonderful graphics, allow for online stores and gaming, and even the controllers are more similar than they’ve ever been. Essentially, it comes down to personal preference over which of the minor differences swing it for you, or your leftover childhood hang ups.

Why, then, would a game designer limit their potential audience by restricting themselves to the one platform? Of course, many companies have had just this thought, with popular franchises previously aligned with only one console branching out to others, such as Final Fantasy XIII breaking the series’ previous exclusivity to PS to also include Xbox 360.

But others, such as the Gears of Wars series, not only refuse to expand but are proud of their exclusivity. And certainly in their case no damage has been done, with sales already climbing so high and showing no sign of slowing down. Even so, as a PS3 owner I can’t help but feel I’m missing out for no particularly good reason other than the console makers being unwilling to let go of an extra marketing tool.

Ellen Jurczak Arnold Bennett games@forgetoday.com

OTHELLO

Crucible Theatre 9/10

F

or its 40th birthday, Sheffield’s Crucible deserved something special. True to form artistic director Daniel Evans delivered.

Shakespearean tragedy meets psychological thriller in Evans’ traditional adaptation of Othello.

It is a script rich with prejudice, deception and human fallibility.

Seemingly perfect for leads Clarke Peters and Dominic West – fresh from the streets of Baltimore where they made their names in HBO’s cult TV series The Wire.

A lot of the focus has fallen on Evans’ casting of the two big-name leads.

It is easy to be cynical and dismiss it as a blatant ploy to shift tickets but, in the case of Peters and West, this is far from the case.

The two play off against each other brilliantly with the passion and gusto of seasoned stage actors.

Peters embodies Othello with

a moving emotion befitting for a character destroyed by his own misplaced jealousy.

We’re given a compelling hero – beginning the play standing proud, centre stage then and steadily sinking away into the shadows as the web of deception grows.

Dominic West very much steals the show as Iago.

His Yorkshire accent works surprisingly well as a façade of apparent trustworthiness.

West appears extremely comfortable in the role, whether alone on stage soliloquising or when trading lines with Peters’ Othello.

It is important to recognise that Evans hasn’t just plucked Peters and West of his TV screen, pin pointing them as potential money makers.

He has been well aware of their acting prowess for some time – West was in the year below him at Guildhall drama school.

It would be an enormous mistake to assume the show is just about the leads. Much credit must go to the supporting females.

Lily James as Desdemona

injects emotion into a part that could very easily become bland and void of any kind of feeling.

It is genuinely moving when, during the penultimate scene, she is undressed by Emelia (Alexander Gilbreath) in preparation for bed – aware of her impending fate, she falls to her knees and prays.

Special credit must also go to Gilbreath, who plays a cynical and dry Emelia whose downfall is her own loyalty.

I don’t think I’m alone in thinking much of Shakespeare’s work is tired and overused; some of it to the point that I find it difficult to still enjoy.

But this isn’t about Shakespeare.

In the hands of a well skilled cast his work can be brought to life – transformed into something of great depth and eloquence.

Daniel Evans’ cast achieve just that.

Rowan Ramsden Follow us on Twitter @ForgePressArts

Creatures, Characters and Communication APG Works 8/10

F

rom Topman tees to the Banksy phenomenon, graphic art has experienced something of a boom in popular culture.

However, this is not to say that it has been relegated to an accessory.

As this exhibition shows, graphic art still definitely holds a place in art galleries alongside more classic forms of art.

The APG Gallery sits quietly away from the bustling heart of the city, yet is easily within

Hamlet Lyceum 8/10

D

Studio Theatre 7/10

A

midst the hype surrounding Othello at The Crucible, there is a noisy set of neighbours making themselves heard.

One Monkey Don’t Stop No Show at The Crucible’s Studio Theatre won’t draw the crowds like Othello but offers a performance that merits it.

Don Evans’ 1982 comedy portrays the isolated state of the middle-class, AfricanAmerican c o m m u n i t y, while coating it with a layer of hilarious hypo c risy and sass.

T V ’ s Jocelyn Jee Esien (Little Miss Jocelyn) plays the delightfully flawed social

pens and crayons to depict well known cartoon characters such as the Simpsons, yet his use of such simple colouring actually adds a far more adult depth to the characters.

These works are contrasted

by Holly Wales’ use of blocks of black and yellow paint, layering the colours to create a bizarre fluidity.

This more unusual work shows the possibility of exploration and introspective development within graphic art itself.

The diversity of the works in the relatively small exhibition is impressive, so on top of very helpful staff and free entry it is definitely worth the short walk to the gallery.

Calum Douglas

climber Myra, wife of the upstanding yet sexually frustrated Reverend Avery Harrison (Roger Griffiths) superbly. Her physical comedy is incredible to behold and is accentuated by the theatre’s intimate setting.

Dovetailing with the talent of Griffiths’ velvet-smooth and equally hilarious performance.

Esien excels in connecting with her audience, sending them into joyous uproar as she reveals Myra’s hidden revelry in her husband’s menopausal passions.

Esien may add the star name to the show, but it is Ayesha Antoine’s depiction of Myra’s headstrong country niece, Beverley, which gives the evening its star turn. Antoine is short in stature but when it comes to comedy, she is a colossus.

Beverley’s southern roots demand a fearless character and Antoine delivers in spades. Raising up a raucous din at every moment possible she keeps the audience aching with laughter as the feistiest comic actress to don dungarees.

Antoine is not

alone in delivering a stellar performance.

Beverley’s guardian and love interest Caleb Johnson is played with experience by Daniel Francis, establishing the early comedy of the play and seamlessly raising and breaking the tensions of the inner-ethnic divide.

Mention must also go to The University of Sheffield’s own Isaac Ssebandeke who alongside Michelle Asante and Jacqueline Boatswain supports the leading cast with double measures of humour.

Played on Libby Watson’s intimately and craftily designed stage, the comedy provides a thoroughly entertaining evening and is more than worth the ticket.

An atmosphere of sophisticated merriment takes time out to critique the rise of the ‘bourgie niggah’ whilst being able to draw fun from it – ‘I said I didn’t like being with ‘em!’ I didn’t say I didn’t wantMto be one myself.’

As the first co-production between Eclipse Theatre Co. and Sheffield Theatres, One Monkey Don’t Stop No Show marks the start of what should be a long and fruitful relationship.

Fuse.

Rebecca Redden

One Monkey Don’t Stop No Show

walking distance and offers small but light gallery rooms as well as a working studio where several of the screen prints in this exhibition were made.

Focusing on Creatures, Characters and Communication, the exhibition presents a diverse fusion of fantastical creatures, faces, colour and words, and is a collection of works by various artists of both local and distant backgrounds.

In ‘Farm Yard’ James Nash explores the juxtaposition of sharp colours against black and white, often seen in graphic art but to interesting effect, while AustinvonNEW’s cartoon pieces are a highlight.

Here the artist uses what are normally perceived as the childlike mediums of felt-tip

Friday October 7 2011

irected by David Nixon this enchanting production cut straight to the heart of Hamlet’s pain after the loss of his father.

As the second outing of Nixon’s production, the ballet still felt fresh as it took to the Sheffield stage.

The story opens in a gloomy, steam-filled Gare de L’est, followed by our first view of Ashley Dixon’s Hamlet.

Dixon plays a cold and creepy Hamlet, yet the audience remained compassionate and after the final downfall of Hamlet there was a shocked silence that filled the auditorium, showing obvious fondness for the character.

As a relative new comer to Hamlet, it is credit to all members of the creative team and the dancers that a tragedy with so any twists and turns, translates into pure movement on the stage.

Those familiar with Hamlet would be surprised to see this new adaptation is set in The use of Nazi uniforms, not only adds impact to the piece but also helps a Shakespeare novice

to distinguish between characters.

Being set in 1940, the costumes have to be taken from the time.

For the male dancers, the military jackets and boots must have been uncomfortable and it is credit to a strong technique that they danced unfazed.

A key relationship of the play is translated into dance during the second act with the relationship between Hamlet and his mother Gertrude being defined by their pas-de-deux in the second act.

In the throes of passion and anger, Hamlet attempts to rape his mother.

It is during this pas-de-deux that Gertrude finally understands the full extent of Hamlet’s anger.

The highlight of the production for me was Ophelia descending into madness, played in this production by Pippa Moore. Ophelia, as a key love interest, helps us to see a lighter side of Hamlet.

The disappointment of this production was that Ophelia was murdered and did not drown, as depicted in one of my favourite paintings: Millais’ ‘Ophelia’.

The Northern Ballet tour of Hamlet continues.

ARTS

Reviews.

Tim Wood

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LISTINGS

Film Unit

Coming Up...

Katie Perry @ Motorpoint Arena; 7:30pm. £27.50

Katy Perry has taken the world by storm.

She has had three UK top ten singles and has become one the most talked about artists of the past two years.

Her singles ‘Teenage Dream’, ‘California Girls’ and ‘Firework’ have combined sales close to 1.4 million in the UK alone.

She has performed all over the world and now finds herself in the Steel City. The tour has been getting great reviews so audiences can expect a fantastic performance that is guaranteed to please, make sure to check it out.

All films are shown in the Students’ Union Auditorium.

Tickets cost £2.50 and can be bought from the Union Box Office or Union Shop.

Friday October 7: The Lincoln Lawyer; 7:30pm A lawyer conducts business from the back of his Lincoln town car while representing a high-profile client in Beverly Hills.

Saturday October 8: Submarine; 7:30pm A comedy which follows a 15-year-old boy with two objectives.

To lose his virginity before his next birthday, and to stop his

Tickets: £2.50

mother from leaving his father for her dance teacher.

Gondry combined forces to answer this very question.

Sunday October 9: Beginners; 7:30pm

Saturday October 15: Source Code; 7:30pm

When it comes to relationships, we’re all beginners.

A young man is rocked by two announcements from his elderly father: that he has terminal cancer, and that he has a young male lover.

Decorated soldier Captain Colter Stevens wakes up in the body of an unknown man discovering he’s involved in a mission to find the bomber of a Chicago commuter train.

Friday October 14: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind; 7:30pm What would happen if we could erase the worse expericnes and relationships form our memory?

Charlie Kaufman and Michel

Sunday October 16: Animal Kingdom; 7:30pm Following the death of his mother, J finds himself living with his estranged family, under the watchful eye of his doting grandmother.

Fuse’s four for the fortnight Grin Up North: Friday October 7 -30 @ City Hall; All Day; £30 Sheffield has long, proud comedy heritage. Within the University itself there are a number of comedy groups such as the Shrimps Comedy oozes out of the pores of the city, with the Last Laugh Comedy club being the longest running comedy clubs in the country. In 2005 The Last Laugh’s Toby Foster joined forces with Scott Barton, leader of Yellow Bus Events to form the Grin Up North festival, Sheffield’s own comedy festival.

The festival was an immediate success and has continued to grow over the years. With acts such as Alan Carr, Sarah Millican and Lee Evans this is one comedy show that should not be missed.

Friday October September 7 2011 16 2011

The Twang: Saturday October 15 @ Leadmill; 7:30pm; £12.50

Showrooms cinema’s collection of short films is back, and should not be missed. Short films tend to have a running time of about 40 minutes or less and so are perfect for killing some time in the afternoon.

This October the Showroom will feature William Mager’s mockumentary ‘Hands Solo,’ which tells the story of a deaf man who suddenly became an international porn star. As well as this the Showroom will be showing 10 other short films all for free. There will also be a raffle to win a Showroom Take Two Deal.

Fans of film should make sure to check this event out as should anyone who is interested in creating their own Short film.

Othello: Friday October 7-15 @ Crucible Theatre; 7:15pm; £12- £25 Shakespeare’s popular play comes to Sheffield, when a celebrated foreign general is sent to war on his wedding night, a secret plot to destroy him is set in motion by his best friend.

Othello ranks among Shakespeare’s greatest works and has been performed live for a number of years, however this marks the first time that it is being performed at Sheffield Theatres. Clarke Peters plays Othello and Dominic West plays Iago.

The play has gone down well with critics and audiences alike, with compelling stories and an accurate portrayal of Shakespeare’s characters. Anyone with an interest in modern theatre or Shakespeare himself should make sure to check it out, you won’t be disappointed.

Fuse.

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Showroom Shorts: Tuesday October 18th @ Showroom; 7:30pm; Free

The Twang are an indie rock band from Birmingham formed in 2001. The band have released two albums, which have both found spots in the UK’s top 20 album charts. The band generated national acclaim when NME magazine produced an article about them.

The Twang are known for looping intro’s, harmonious choruses and tight guitar noises. Their last show at Leadmilll was a sell out and no doubt the same is likely to happen again.

The Twang are an energetic band, who are guaranteed to put on a good show so make sure you get yourself down to Leadmill, bring a group of friends and have a great night.