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Contents Features TV 4

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Reviews

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TV 14

Fashion 12 & 13

Art 15

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Event The

Hello The grand claims I made in last issue’s editorial seem even more foolish now than they did when I was making them. I’m afraid this little section will continue to be filled with the meandering of my mind rather than a well-crafted intellectual summary of this fortnight’s current events. Please check back in the next Event with the highest of hopes. I promise to sit down with a particularly strong espresso and pore over the broadsheets for inspiration before attempting any such writing in the future. Now, on to matters at hand. Concrete (and The Event) has seen its extended journo-family grow to never before dreamed of numbers. This is a happy occurence indeed and should be celebrated. As a reader of this fine publica- tion, you should think of yourself as an essential part of this acheivement. After all, nobody wants to write for a paper that no-one is going to read - it’s the long hours you spend dragging your already baggy eyes over line after line of our scribblings that makes things all worth while. Put an extra big spoon of sugar into your coffee for being so damned dedicated. You deserve it. If you want to earn yourself an even more sugary coffee you could let us know the thoughts that gurgle through your bonce and you read our pages. We’d just love to have some letters from you, even if the things they said weren’t all about how wonderful we were. Don’t feel unoriginal if that’s what you want to write though, after all, its the thought that counts - perhaps you could use a coloured envelope to individualise your efforts? To all of you who have already decided you want to take a more active role in Concrete, and signed yourself up - a warm handshake and a big smile for you. Please get involved in any way you can, even if it’s just coming up to the office and asking if there’s anything you can do. You see, there’s a rather nasty new presence in the office that I’m eager to be rid of. There would be no better way to forge yourself a special place in the hearts of all the editorial team than to help

us remove this problem. Some hideous person has made coffee in the Concrete coffee maker thing, and the remnants have been left to stew for some days now. Whilst at first cheerful remarks were made and funny faces were pulled, it has become a battle of wills, that could cause serious implications for the relaxed Concrete atmos. As new Concretins it is your purpose to aid us in this time of need, and I will personally purchase a drink of your choice (during happy hour) for you if thou art big enough to take on this duty. If you’ve happened upon this page whilst flicking through Concrete, then you’ll probably be reading these words at great speed as you fling the paper into the nearest recycle bin in your new found appreciation of all things green. Good for you! Although I hope you take the time to read our celebration of all things The Good Life in our Clas- sic Telly section on page 14. A true gem of British comedy. Please don’t think us superficial! All us at The Event are very green, and always remember to brush our teeth in a single cup of water and often take communal shows to conserve water. Before I say goodbye for another 14 long days, there’s my evergrowing list of thankyous to dish out whilst they’re still piping hot. Obviously the editorial staff have all earned more stripes than an especially stripey zebra this issue. Thumbs jutted skyward folks. There are also the tens of new faces milling around the office who have all written for The Event. Its a big and nervewracking achievement that they should all be proud of, if I had a gold star system going on in the office I’d have a very sparkly wall this week. Enjoy The Event,

Kate

Editor-in-chief 4BSBI &EXBSEFT

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Event The

Feature

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f you were to watch a single day’s programming for all of the channels available in the UK back to back in one sitting, you would be on your sofa more than a week. You’d be there ﬁ ve days just for the terrestrial channels. Into this static ocean of almost endless choice Channel 4 are releasing the only thing they possibly can – more. More 4 to be precise, a new digital channel much in the same mould as its daddy, with news, documentaries, comedy, drama and all the rest that you might expect. With a budget that equals BBC FOUR’s at its launch, a whopping £33 million-ish, £20 million of which has been allotted to original programming, this is not a project Channel 4 can afford to let slide off track. In fact with such a handsome slice of Channel 4’s cash being devoted to the new channel, it must be assumed that they have very special plans indeed for their new venture. The BBC, paddling in the shallow end of digital entertainment, has used its sprogs (BBCs THREE, FOUR and a number of other, more niche channels) to repeat its best bits and to test drive it’s more risky output. If something makes waves, it is sometimes upgraded to a shiny slot somewhere in BBC 2’s schedule, recent examples including The Smoking Room and Nighty Night;; but on the whole, if it’s good enough to get tongues wagging then it’ll be earmarked for the Beeb’s two big hitters. ITV made even more tentative steps with the creatively named ITV2, which lists The Xtra Factor amongst its most innovative original programming and can often be counted on to be showing repeats or some vacuous exposé on Jordan. The one common feature to all these channels is their constant sidelining in favour of their terrestrial alternatives. Although More 4 will also be a forum for repeating some of Channel 4’s most popular shows,

including the second series of David Starkey’s Monarchy, The Un- teachables and Jamie’s Great Escape, it will ultimately offer audiences an alternative array of programming all its own. It seems that More 4 is envisioned by Channel 4 as a partner channel rather than an underling, an earnest investment in multi-channel viewing that might just pay off. Part media suicide, part well calculated marketing tactic, Chan- nel 4 decided to kick off the advertising campaign for More 4 with ambiguous teasers, boasting of a new “Adult Entertainment Chan- nel” in racy neon writing. These were soon replaced with more il- lustrative ads featuring some of the channel’s mainstays including a rather presidential looking Martin Sheen. Nonetheless a moment in television history remained where a small number truly believed that Channel 4 was about to launch its very own pornography network. This may at ﬁ rst seem an unorthodox approach to attracting the discerning, high-brow, erudite audiences that Channel 4 likes to call its own, but now seems typical of the controversial, culturally aware spin More 4 likes to place on itself. You simply get the joke or you don’t. One of the most talked about shows premiering on More 4 is US import 30 Days, reality telly in which an individual lives 30 days immersed in a particular way of life and reﬂ ecting on its con- notations for American society as a whole. Hosted by Super Size Me’s Morgan Spurlock, the show operates on a similar basis to the Mcdocumentary, with each week’s participant having to obey certain rules to ensure they fully embrace their lifestyle shift. One episode focuses on Muslims in America and sees Dave Stacy, a de- vout Christian, spending 30 days living with a Muslim family. Dave must read the Qur’an every day and act at all times according to

Muslim traditions, which he seems decidedly awkward and wary about. Other episodes include a straight man plunged into a gay world and a mother living the life of a binge-drinking college student. The show veers from hilarious to enlightening, and is perhaps only comfortable viewing because it is set in the US, the prejudice it unearths at times would be difﬁ cult to swallow with a pinch of salt if they resided closer to home. Staying the other side of the pond, More 4 will be home to several other US imports. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, very

8JUI TVDI B IBOETPNF TMJDF PG $IBOOFM T DBTI CFJOH EFWPUFE UP UIF OFX DIBO OFM JU NVTU CF BTTVNFE UIBU UIFZ IBWF WFSZ TQFDJBM QMBOT JOEFFE GPS UIFJS OFX WFOUVSF much in the style of Chris Morris’ The Day Today but sticking rather more closely to real events, will be aired on a one day delay. Eagerly awaited new episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm, and fi rm favourites with many The West Wing and The Sopranos will also be played on More 4. New US drama The Closer will premiere on More 4 after a hugely successful fi rst series on American screens, a rather run-of- the-mill crime show produced by the same company as Nip/Tuck which follows a high-profi le murder squad in LA. Outside of this select few, More 4 is relatively short of US imports, Friends is thankfully nowhere in sight. With Film Four providing little for cinema fans to sink their teeth into, More 4 has promised a varied and engrossing range of documentaries and fi lms. The most surprising title amongst those promoted is Downfall, a bleak retelling of Hitler’s fi nal days in his Berlin bunker at the end of WWII. Critically acclaimed and undoubtedly a fi ne fi lm to screen, but surprisingly high on More 4’s promotional priorities yet again establishing it as a network aimed at the more refi ned viewer. As for the original programming that Channel 4 is devoting so much dosh to, talk show The Last Word will fi ll the late night slot in More 4’s schedule. The show will wheel on journalists, cultural commentators and comedians, all to wax lyrical about relevant hot topics. The result will probably fall into the same trap as much of Channel 4’s attempts to liven up its late evening slots (Balls of Steel being one of the most poorly executed attempts at entertainment in some decades) and fail to grab a loyal audience share. However, it holds great potential should More 4 manage to secure a suitable array of guests, and with its apparent dedication to the intellectually challenging it deepens the chasm between More 4 and Channel 4’s late evening programming. Much as More 4 has eagerly paraded its worth and value to audiences, boasting of original and ground-breaking programming, it cannot transcend its most basic character fl aw. More 4 does offer some top quality entertainment, that Channel 4 has sunken a great deal of cash into, yet this only ever adds to the ever-increas- ing barrage of choice that already exists. Channel 4 is keeping true to its role as the channel for the more open minded, but it has to be questioned whether investing so heavily in multi-channel viewing is smarter than simply following suit and launching a repeats channel.

Event The

Feature

Fighting in the Dark

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he benefi ciary of some canny marketing at the hands of Twentieth Century Fox, Night Watch looks to have secured a fairly big British audience for its cinema release on 7th October – a fairly big audience that may well express surprise at the presence of subtitles, distinctly dense plotting, and a narrative that deliberately puts a lid on its own most spectacular elements. Night Watch is a Russian fi lm, released as Nochnoy dozor in Russia in 2004. Following a mighty performance at the domestic box-offi ce (briefl y becoming Rus- sia’s all-time bestseller, until Turkish Gambit took over the record), picked up by Fox for international distribution. Its pre-release programme here has included prime-time trailers and special preview events framing the fi lm as the fi rst entry in an ‘epic horror trilogy’, with a general visual emphasis on Anton, the dark and moody hero of the piece, posed in Matrix-style black cloak and sunglasses. That Night Watch clearly does take inspiration from a whole range of high-octane US action-movie hits – from Star Wars to The Matrix to X-Men – is something that has, no doubt, greatly contributed to its crossover potential. But the fi lm’s infl uences range beyond blockbuster territory, and on into expressionist gothic horror (Nosferatu), and grungy sci-fi (Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s The City of Lost Children, for example). The whole concoction is run through an art fi lm mode which, despite making no immediate reference to the ‘Russian art cinema’ we recognise in The Return and Russian Ark. Night Watch is both non-Hollywood in style and specifi cally Russian in content, from the Moscow setting with its crumbling apartment blocks, to the Russian mafi a overtones that colour the underground activities of the fi lm. Our entry-point into the world of Night Watch is Anton (Kon- stantin Khabensky), who we fi rst meet as a civilian. Bitter and desperate, Anton is at the fl at of a witch, where he hopes to fi nd a way to recover his pregnant girlfriend from the clutches of another man: The witch tells him the only way is to take the unborn baby from her so that she will no longer need the other man as a father. Anton agrees to the terrible ‘assassination’, but as the witch begins a spell to induce the miscarriage (the spell is intercut with its effects, as the pregnant woman falls to the fl oor, writhing in agony), chaos erupts within the fl at as it fi lls with strange beings – these are the

Night Watch who arrest the witch as an evil ‘Dark Other’. Under- standably confused, Anton subsequently learns that Moscow is full of ‘Others’ – supernatural beings like vampires, shape-shifters, and witches – some of which belong to the good side of Light, others to the bad Dark side. The good guys form the Night Watch, who police behaviour of the bad guys at night;; the dark warriors form the Day Watch, who do the inverse during the day. As an Other himself, Anton chooses to sign up to the Night Watch, and so becomes the fi lm’s shady hero. Much of Night Watch’s peculiar storytelling technique is staked out in this scene. Characters are introduced but not delineated, action proceeds at a hectic and sometimes incomprehensible rate;; grimy domestic settings house powerful supernatural creatures and the camera glides, zooms, and swerves with a strange, rapid precision, one moment lurking quietly at the edge of dimly-lit room, another whooshing through an artifi cial web of blood-red fi bres and

(Night Watch is director Timur Bekmambetov’s debut feature, after a career in commercials and pop-videos), but the sheer density of effects can be quite startling. One pleasingly innovative formal feature sees the subtitles fade, jump around, and dissolve into trails of blood, sometimes seeming to mesh into the fi lm world itself. At the same time, the fi lm veils or elides elements within the story that other action and horror fi lms make their fetishistic centre-pieces. The shape-shifter characters, for example, represent a tantalising spectacle-in-waiting, and Tiger Cub does assume her animal shape for a moment in an early scene. But where a werewolf fi lm would eek maximum spectacle out of both the change and the new beast, and even an ensemble fi lm like X-Men takes advantage of a special fascination around the morphing body of Mystique, Night Watch allows almost no screen time to the transformation process. The absence is emphasised to almost comical effect when two shape-shifters, Bear and Tiger Cub, are approached by a child who – just like us – wants to see them change into their animal forms. They reluctantly agree, only to be distracted at the last with the spectacle left uncompleted. The conscious use of anti-climax, coupled with an intricate plot that weaves together a large number of characters and events, can make viewing Night Watch a diffi cult prospect at times. It also takes a while to settle into the mythical terminology, although the basics are sketched out via voice-over in a (slightly cheesy) opening battle sequence. But after a time it really does feel like an epic, a world where there are obviously far darker things afoot than simply the confl icts in front of us, and even an apocalypse seems like just the tip of the iceberg. The smallest of incidents help contribute to the intensifying air of doom. In one dazzling sequence, a plane is caught in a storm and we watch in close-up as a screw works loose and falls earthwards, through the rain, down onto a building, and into a vent. We follow the screw through the vent until it exits via a grate and fi nally plonks into a cup of coffee – held by Svetlana, the

rating visuals is pretty much unique in current action cinema, and though it occasionally threatens to indulge too heavily in the grave clichés of prophetic melodrama, there are also moments of touching – and frightening – human ordeal (credit for this to the bank of splendid Russian actors, particularly Maria Poroshina as Svetlana and Al- exander Samoilenko as Bear), and even a spot of humour. “What am I going to tell my Mum if she ﬁ nds you here?”, a young boy asks of his two hefty supernatural guardians, as they wait round the kitchen table. “Say we’re electricians”, comes the reply. It’s funny, and with

into another space entirely. The majority of the editing operations will be familiar to viewers from sci-ﬁ /action ﬁ lms and TV adverts

cursed woman who is unknowingly causing the storm above. Night Watch’s blend of ragged, demanding fantasy and exhila-

two sequels on the cards, who’s to say that Night Watch won’t soon add comedy to its brilliant horror-action-fantasy genre hybrid.

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Event 5 The

Listings

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Event The

Feature

What you CKY ain’t always what you get

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f*ckin’ hate England,” exclaims Chad Gins- burg, CKY’s guitarist. “You say that about everything and then you end up lovin’ it man,” replies his rather more sober headed band mate;; drummer Jess Margera. That name rings a bell, so CKY got big through the fame of Jess’ brother’s wild antics and skateboarding ﬂair, big deal. “Yeh, we missed out all that normal crap bands do,” Jess says, proud to have proved the shallowness of the music industry. In fact the successes of the CKY skating DVDs caught them a slot on the Warped Tour in 1999 and 2000. They were later hand picked by Axl himself to play with the reconstructed Guns and Roses, not bad at all. This popularity was certainly a far cry from Jess and Deron’s (guitar and vocals) “neo- technical death metal” band, Foreign Objects, but was of course welcomed by them all the same. These high regards of CKY have lead them into their third UK tour. The maze that is the backstage area of the LCR grounded a rise in anticipation;; stories of the band are few and far between, this was practically the unknown. The LCR labyrinth was also the cul- prit to give rise to Chad’s rather sweeping statement earlier. “It’s like playing a canteen,” adds Jess, the baseball clad Bam look-a- like. Of course this isn’t really an interview, sat there like roadies in the rather resonant changing room with a beer and a distinct lack of tape recorder or notepad, great journalism, or so lead singer and vocalist Deron Miller seemed to think [don’t try this at home budding writers]. It sparked a rather relaxed atmosphere, the band freely bantered and indeed abused each other, oh and then started downloading porn - rock and roll dude. A beer fridge, an ice bucket full of beer and a computer station where the band keep in contact with the devotees is basically the extent of CKY’s life on the road. What more could they need? So the American version of Pete Doherty perches there on the edge of a desk, swaying slightly, hurling his soggy chicken and chips towards the bin in disgust at that less attractive side of English cui- sine. Chad Ginsburg is of course one hell of a character, to the point that one wonders whether he’s just putting it on. Regardless of the stoned rocker stereotype he comes up with some gems of conversation and thankfully holds the proceedings together with his own unique style of grace. “F*ckin’ trendies” he says, “I hate school gigs”. Dramatic irony in all its glory, as he was later forced to admit. The chat had already strayed from the point with Chad searching through American idiosyncrasies for the Brit equivalent. Luckily Jess was eager to enlighten us on the true intentions of CKY as a band, their successes through the skateboarding industry with a cameo song slot on Tony Hawkes 3 and the sensation of the early DVDs has almost had a pigeon-holing affect on the group as skate rockers. The response is that the avant-garde nature of the skate scene entwines with the philosophy of the band. It becomes apparent that their disillusion with the music industry is what spawned CKY into the band that it is: “Ya’ know I’d rather hang around with people who skate and have fun than force myself into a phoney business just to make money”. In reality the impression is more that CKY hate being grouped in a genre and have a special hate for stereotypes and lack of desire for originality in the scene. Year after year the music corporations churn out another copy act which everyone recognises as just that, but what CKY do is to clear the smoke screen on all the other bands who claim to be ‘in it for the music and fans’. This is an underlining honesty, which at ﬁrst is very disconcerting, as Guitarist Chad Ginsburg yells of his discon- tent at playing in the UK. Hard to understand but this displeasure

isn’t so misplaced after all: “I hate these bigger venues, I think I’d much rather play in a basement that can only take a few hundred” he finally stated, a pity the band wasn’t at all familiar with the Wa- terfront. CKY do not lie about their fan base, it isn’t the biggest but their principles of honesty and rectitude don’t demand it to be. However, it is clear that the thrill of playing small venues can never be a reality for headlining bands from the US: Chad goes further to say that “every UK tour we go back broke”. Yet his concern only seems to be with the intentions of fans waiting outside (as he gazes out the window). Seeing this it becomes evident that this bands honesty stretches further than we first thought, they may have no message, no cares, no allegiances but this means they aren’t self- righteousness in any way. When a bands preach about their beliefs and influences there is always that air of self-assured smugness.

$,: DMFBS UIF TNPLF TDSFFO PO BMM UIF PUIFS CBOET XIP DMBJN UP CF AJO JU GPS UIF NV TJD BOE GBOT Deron claims that “the only good thing about music is playing it” and Chad’s utter contempt for everything that doesn’t impress him greatly shows the authority for his assumption that the majority of gig goers tonight don’t know the ﬁrst thing about CKY… The sound of classic American rock blasts into the dressing room as the second support act Clutch takes the stage following the motorhead-esque performance of loyal openers Viking Skull. Jess hand picked the supports himself;; “I’m thrilled at Clutch playing alongside us, I used to listen to them when I was ﬁfteen.

They’re from near West Chester so we’ve known them for years’. This band continues to surprise with their love for the music, albeit unad- mitted, yet it’s still clear for all to see. The gathering ends as diluted as it began, absolute attention focuses on the stage for the head- liners. Acknowledged for their feverish riffs and bass-treble sound it’s a shame that the fierce and overpowering rhythm section rules supreme over their live performance. Songs blend into one and as a result the popular tracks “96 Quite Bitter Beings” and “Triple Manic State” would be virtually indistinguishable if it weren’t for the lyrics and rhythm. There was no lack of energy however, the relatively short set was subsidised by an unyielding vigour as would be expected from the hype of the Jackass and CKY crew. As far as inadequacies are concerned, a heavy black shadow hung over the evening. Jess had previously expressed his disgust for Brit- ish rock venues “the security guys are mean, there’s no crowd surfing allowed, people get kicked out for jumping too hard, you just gotta pogo or something? It’s f*ckin’ stupid, people should be able to do what they want at our gigs”. Crowd surfers can be annoying but tonight the security staff were indeed somewhat harsh, predominantly in their selectiveness of whom they chose to eject without explana- tion from the venue. It’s both their duty and responsibility to ensure the safety of gig goers but Jess and Chad’s words of distaste for Brit- ish venues rang clear. Being only human, the doorman allowed all the 14 year old troublemakers to return for the encore, only to watch a veritable flood of adolescents stream over the barrier. But as CKY left the stage in a cacophony of piercing feed-back Chad I Ginsburg was at last forced to eat his words “I’ve been pleasantly surprised by you Norwich, thanks”. So maybe these university venues do look awfully big and unwelcoming but the warm and accommodating clientele proves Chad’s preconceptions wrong.

Event 7 The

Creative Writing A Poem

White Noise At Maximum Decibels

TAXI Cabby’s Corner

Cabby’s corner is a new addition to the creative writing section, it is dedicated to the taxi drivers of Norwich with their endless facts, stories and anecdotes. I had this couple in the other day from the States, nice and everything y’know but they....they were asking about the tube. I’m thinking ‘what do I know about the tube, I’ve lived in Costessey for the last thirty odd years, but I’m - what’s this bloke doing, in my ruddy blind spot - yeah I’m telling them about the delays and that. Anyway, they’re saying they don’t wanna go on it, but they’ve got to get to er Kings Cross the next morning. You from London? They’re asking me if I can drive them in the morning to Kings Cross so they can get to Devon. Nice down there, my brother and his kids live there. Gor- geous. Just think how much I’d get driving those two down to Kings Cross. Should’ve done it. Left here?

Sun-shine hidden and we sit in a bookstore: noses parallel, mouths opening and shutting to let in air, but eyes dart- ing from the street to the floor to an arm to the table to the eyes. recollections of the earlier freewaytraffic view from my resting spot (where I fit so nicely cupped in your arm’s pit) come and go, when you grew a second pair of eyes on your face when mine was too close. Lamely, I use my index and middle to finger the fabric of your trousers, as if to memorize the texture, and save for when I leave. You purse your lips onto my cheek so I don’t feel so foolish, at least recognized, not embarrassed of the other eyes in the room, not like how I get nervous in traffic. We look at an art book and I wonder if you’re trying to tell me something with a painting. The art book. You stole me.

Oh electrical Baby, fuzzy like a wrestler’s backside or the peaches in my brain, with which I am currently engaging in baguetelle and winning big.

All I need is your soundtrack. Crackling like a matchﬂame or a plastic bag or really anything plastic. Yeah. It all rustles like a dancer’s skirts. I need sex, not sleep. Need 600 bars of soap and something cumbersome, a grapefruit, maybe, to carry like a proud mother and guard like a pitbull. I need socks

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or maybe some more of whatever made me love you.

Embrace

In your eyes I see my soul, In your heart I found my voice, In your arms a loving embrace, For in your hands I place my life.

Crackle on, sweetness. I’m almost awake.

,JSTUZ *SWJOH

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The War of the Roses A theatrical ﬁction that reads blindly Into the prose of a rose at war.

With eyes wide shut along an opening of senses, Where the future reads into the three tenses. One eye outstares the oblivious dark, Whilst the other is outstared by a dark oblivion. A thorny third eye pricks my memory;; A bitter sweetness that sets me free. *NBO 4JE

Disappearing Act

The engine revs, The car jerks, The wheels spin, Look at it GO! You smell burning And you smirk, Your speed-greedy eyes aﬂame. And left And right, You swish And swerve. Streetlamps A yellow streak in your eye. “I’m the Showman!” “I’m the Ringmaster!” “The greatest magician!” Hear everyone cry. “More speed, MORE!” Foot to the ﬂoor. Out with a bang. There will be no encore. 1PMMZ -FXJT

HOROSCOPES Aquarius: Jan 20 - Feb 18

Sagittarius: Nov 22 - Dec 21

Several of your nearest and dearest will ask for favours. You can’t say ‘yes’ to everybody - instead take this as an opportunity to ﬁnd out what (and who) is really important to you.

A crisis of conﬁdence makes you question what you’re working so hard for. Weather this storm and things will look better in coming weeks.

Aries: Mar 21 - Apr 19

Leo: Jul 23 - Aug 22

Scorpio: Oct 24 - Nov 21

As the stress of uni life really kicks in during the next couple of weeks, you ﬁnd an inner strength you never knew you had. Beware of authority ﬁgures who want to be your pal.

A good deed you do this fortnight will pay off generously in the future. Keep an eye out for the chance to help others as much as possible, but don’t forget to put your heart into it.

Learning a new skill this fortnight will bring out the most competitive in you, and give new friends the wrong impression. Make an effort to show people the more caring you.

Cancer: Jun 22 - Jul 22

Libra: Sept 23 - Oct 23

Taurus: Apr 20 - May 20

A little faith goes a long way. Al- though you ﬁnd it hard to place trust in others, doing so this fortnight will really pay off - ﬁnacially and perhaps ro- mantically too.

Your recent apathy has led to friends and family thinking of you as a bro- ken record. Rather than wallow, over- come this rut by letting them bend your ear from time to time.

More haste and less speed this fortnight will help you to realise that your plate might not have been so full as you ﬁrst thought. Complaining won’t get things done any faster.

Pisces: Feb 19 - Mar 20

Virgo: Aug 23 - Sept 22

Old friends paying an unwanted visit make you realise how happy you are with your current lifestyle. Embrace this realisation, but be wary of old ﬂames

Horrendous memories of drunken nights will help you to bite your tongue when others act irresponsibly. Keep up this less judgemental attitude to

Capricorn: Dec 22 - Jan 19 Arguments that spring up unexpect- edly over trivial matters are really a sign that its time to move on. Take this chance to broaden your horizons and dont look back!

Gemini: May 21 - Jun 21

Event The

still ﬂickering.

Your hectic schedule has made you neglectful of your social duties. A movie and carefully timed trip to the pub will solve this problem, but may seem arduous at the time.

be let in on juicy secrets.

Feature

Christopher Hampton

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ere sits the man who was the youngest ever playwright to have one of his plays performed in the West End. At the tender age of twenty, two years into his Oxford degree, Christopher Hampton’s When Did You Last See My Moth- er? was snapped up by the Royal Court theatre in London, to an impressively successful run. So here he is, forty years on, having directed films, written numerous plays and screenplays, and still as successful and impressive as ever. Hampton’s early years are both interesting and vital in under- standing the man behind such plays as The Philanthropist, Total Eclipse, Savages, and Les Liasons Dangereueses. He spent his “formative years” in Aden in the Middle East, and from between the ages of five to ten he lived in Alexandria in Egypt. His father was a radio engineer and was posted to various exotic places, depending on where the work was. He says himself these early years influence much of his work: “First of all I’m very interested in the whole question of the émigré, exile, or outsider. Also, I’m interested in the thing which ended our stay in Egypt;; the Suez Crisis. It was very bewildering at the time, because we had suffered a sort of persecution at school in Egypt for being English. When we came back to England and I put forward the view which my father had felt very strongly that the Suez invasion was wrong, I got into terrible trouble in this country.” He admits that due to these early political influences he has always felt a little bit like an outsider. However, when he first began to be successful in this country with his writing, he was never in- timidated by the terrifying world of the theatre. “They were very nice to me;; I didn’t quite realize how extraor- dinary it was at the time. The really fortunate break was that they offered me a job at the Royal Court, straight out of Oxford. I was their resident dramatist. So I went there for two years after I finished at Oxford and that was really wonderful;; being on the staff of a very successful, very stimulating theatre was great.” Not a bad break if you can get it. Although Hampton is never unrealistic about his first job, deeming it essentially to be the work of a “dogsbody”, Hampton realizes that his job offer was extremely lucky, as when he started: “New plays were done by the Royal Court and Hampstead Theatre Club, and that’s that. Nowadays everywhere does them.” He does see that young people forty years on have almost a harder time staying at the top, as he believes: “In those days, if they picked you, they stuck by it and were good to you, and they helped you through. Nowadays, I think it’s much more ruthless.” The Philanthropist is currently being performed in London and Concrete asked him if he liked to be involved in the production of plays and scripts which he is not directing. He replied, “I like to be there, but I can see that it unsettles some directors. They have to be very confident, to collaborate all the way down the line”. It seems that he had problems of a sort when giving up his script of Total Eclipse, originally a play based on the lives of Arthur Rimbaud and Paul Verlaine, to be directed as a film by Agnieszka Holland: “She had directed David Thewlis to be mean and vicious. Ver- laine wasn’t a very nice character, but he was charming, and people liked him as he was amusing, and he got through being a terrible person on charm. I couldn’t somehow convey that to the director. Though that was the way she wanted to do it. It made it slightly bewildering as to why Rimbaud had to stay with this man. You couldn’t see why he was attracted to him.” Writing a play on the lives of two of the most interesting and complicated writers of the century is not a light task, especially when it comes to the romantic and idealistic character of Rimbaud.

Most see Rimbaud as a genius and, like Hampton, he started extremely early in his life, writing his most exceptional pieces before he was twenty-one. Hampton must have felt some sort of afﬁnity with Rimbaud’s success, being a person who also achieved much at a very early age. “I wrote the play to see what the implications of being a writer might be. One particular aspect of it which was interesting was that they were both such different sorts of writers. I started off identi- fying with Rimbaud, but by the time I had ﬁnished, it seemed to

Peace to somehow make a movie out of which is two hours long. It’s concision and compression;; working out what’s really at the heart of the book.” Hampton’s book is out at the moment, called Hampton on Hampton, and The Philanthropist is currently being shown at the Donmar Theatre in London. Deﬁnitely worth a look at, if only to wit- ness the work of a writer who has achieved a huge amount in the last forty years he has been writing, and who will undoubtedly go on to achieve a lot more.

i*U PDDVSSFE UP NF BT * DBNF PVU UIF PUIFS FOE PG UIF QMBZ UIBU UIBU JT XIBU ZPV IBE UP EP LFFQ XPSLJOH w me he was a sort of amateur because he had unrealistic notions of what his writing might achieve. When it didn’t achieve what he thought it might he said “Oh **** it” and gave the whole thing up. Verlaine, however, kept working. He didn’t necessarily do good work all the time but he did keep working. It occurred to me as I came out the other end of the play that that is what you had to do;; keep working.” Hampton’s success lies not only in his ability to write completely new plays but to be able to adapt novels into scripts as well. His adaptation of Les Liasons Dangereuses won him, amongst other awards, an Oscar for Best Writing for Screenplay Based on Another Medium, and a BAFTA for Best Adapted Screenplay. He finds it easier to adapt a novel to a film, rather than a play into a screenplay. “I think novels are closer to film form than plays are in some ways. Plays require more adaptation, because theatre is artificial in a way that cinema isn’t, and somehow if you take plays and make a movie out of them it always smells of the theatre. A novel is organ- ized more like a film. What you have to decide is how to retain the essence, and that might require some quite rad- ical changes or additions, but mostly it requires enormous cuts.” He adds however, that cutting can sometimes be the largest part of writing a screenplay, as he has just adapted a book for film called Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, by Susannah Clarke. “It’s 850 pages and I was hired to do the screenplay. Suddenly you’re con- fronted with a novel the size of War and

Event 9 The

Feature

Norwich International Animation Festival

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3FDJ 3FDJ 3FDJ .JDIBFMB 1BWMBUPWB Tim Macmillan, whose ‘time slice’ photography technique was lifted by brothers Wachowski for their Matrix opus. The symposium speakers take a look at the hybrid processes that join animation with sculpture and painting, and discuss whether fine art can ad- vance animation – or does it simply make it ‘not-animation’? Another special programme, ‘Illumina’, screens such art-animation films, under themed groups ranging from propaganda to interior architecture. Some of these films rarely see the light of day now, and any cinema where you can see work from Jan Lenica and Walerian Borowczyk is a good place to be. (The Polish directors’ joint work, House, a nightmarish film-collage from 1958, is playing at 10pm on October 19, as part of a collection of uncanny shorts from the likes of German animator Anja Struck and British animator George Barber.) As a reply to the common contention that animation is somehow ‘sealed’ in its own world of either art or juvenile entertainment, the ‘Obey! Propaganda in animation’ section looks at the long history of animation’s interaction with social and political policy-making, from WW1 ‘information’ films, to the Protect and Survive nuclear attack warning films made by the Central Office of Information. Alongside the themed programmes, the festival runs a mam- moth selection of the best films from the last year, divided into the In Competition collection of short, student, television, and commercial films, and the Out of Competition collections. The range of styles here is understandably great, and the preview material made available to The Event points to a disparate – though con- sistently engaging – assortment of colourful fantasy, deadpan gags, pointed allegory, and avant-garde provocation – with a recurring theme of the place of the individual in a community. Gaelle Denis’ City Paradise, for example, tells the enchanting tale of a Japanese girl, Tomoko, who arrives in the new and unfamiliar cityscape of London and must learn to cope with a new set of conventions and possibilities. London from this perspective is grey and rainy terrain punctuated by bright red buses and telephone boxes, where grey-

suited figures walk with a strange bandy motion, and all anyone talks about is the weather (the hilarious ‘English for beginners’ tape that Tomoko listens to offers useful phrases like ‘The wind blew off my hat’, and ‘Today the rain was torrential’). The film, with its expressive palette and exaggerated sense of ‘Englishness’, makes a wry comment on how stereotypes shape our perception of the world, but it is also a paean to the power of imagination, and To- moko’s swimming sequence, through an underground waterworld of giant jellyfish and tube trains, is the supreme example of the mix of fantasy and reality made possible by animation techniques. In contrast, Xavier Marquis’ Somebody Exceptional is a self- conscious doodle, drawn in simple wavy lines and blocked in with bright colours. Our hero here is what might be described as a yellow jellybean, and he is worried about mass conformity: a crowd of yellow beans follow him everywhere, copying him ‘without asking questions’ and making no effort to become individuals - they even blink in perfect synchronisation. Somebody Exceptional is short and fairly jokey (while the crowd tip a cow in time-honoured fashion, the hero-bean chooses to proceed in a ‘new way’, and kicks the cow in the shins), but it ends with a nicely playful reflection on the limits of social conformity. Flatlife by Jonas Geirnaert, running a similarly simple animation style, splits its action Timecode-style into four ‘screens’ – four rooms on the upper floors of an apartment block. The characters in

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Jan Svankmajer

roadly speaking, animation in cinema today is a three-faced presence: that of hyper-stylised anime, mostly originating from Japan, but also from South Korea in recent years;; that of CGI cartoon features, from Dream Works and Pixar;; and that of traditional, cell-drawn works that used to be the forte of Disney. However since the demise of the 2D animation wing there, these have been successfully produced only by Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki and a few others. Around all of these areas there is a feeling that certain limits have been reached, and animation is becoming more of a set template than a tool for innovation. Recent anime releases, though attempting to mix styles – cell drawings with CGI for example – have upped the visual flair without much thought for emotional or intellectual complexity (see Sky Blue, and Appleseed), and many recent American CGI films have come under fire for coasting in terms of narrative and thematics – Pix- ar’s The Incredibles being the honourable exception. Even Miyazaki himself, long seen as ‘the Japanese Disney’ and so recently hailed by

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'MBUMJGF +POBT (FJSOBFSU Westerners as the new way for animation-as-art with the release of Spirited Away, was at the centre of some criticism recently regard- ing Howl’s Moving Castle and its perceived lack of ‘clarity’ and plot failings. In television there has been nothing produced in recent years to match the creative revolution that The Simpsons represented in 1989, though a series of that tradition continue to air (and Family Guy has made the move into film format, with Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story). Cultier fare though, such as Stephen Hillenburg’s ‘SpongeBob Squarepants’ cartoons and John Kricfalusi’s Ren and Stimpy show, is often championed by animation fans as a true site of surreal, anarchic invention. Recent developments in digital art have also made a splash, and Channel 4’s six-year-old Mesh scheme, which proclaims to ‘nurture new talent within the field of computer-generated animation, with an emphasis on developing storytelling skills’, is currently delivering intriguing animated shorts in prime-time slots. This is a move in the (or a) right direction, in that it gets work shown that would otherwise remain underground, and should result in increased dialogue around different types of

animation. But TV has a limited amount of room for cutting-edge cartoons, and the best place to see a properly wide range of animated artwork is at a festival – one of which, the esteemed Norwich International Animation Festival, is running next week. Now in its fourth outing, and following a two-year break, the festival showcases a dizzying array of films from animators around the world, taking in work from 45 countries from Czechoslovakia to America to Israel to the UK, from students to multi-media artists to internationally acclaimed filmmakers, and from 2D cel animation to graphic cut-outs to puppet-work. Despite the spirit of inclusively, there is a distinctly confrontational flavour to events, with a series of debates to be held in the ‘Offscreen’ programme that pitch de- fenders of 2D animation against their 3D counterparts (under the right-down-to-it title of ‘Is 2D Dead?’), and ask whether new tech- nologies are helping the flow of creativity, or just fixing animation into a mechanical process (‘Straight Ahead’). However the main attraction comes in the form of a one-day symposium, which is graced by renowned animator-turned-painter Caroline Leaf, avant- garde short filmmaker Jerzy Kucia, and animator and photographer

Though more readily available than the films by Lenica and Borowc- zyk (both screened at the festival), Czech animator Jan Svanmajer’s similarly uncanny works make no concession to mainstream conven- tionality, featuring both live action and animated objects caught in a bizarre world of myth, fairytale, and urban modernity. Svankmajer, a self-confessed ‘militant Surrealist’, has long understood that animation can do things other art simply cannot, and while he continually finds inspiration in the writings of Edgar Allen Poe and Lewis Car- roll, the resulting films are vigorously visual, even in cinematic terms. Alice (1988), for example, his dark and macabre retelling of Alice in Wonderland, is largely silent, excepting one seemingly banal line that is repeated at steady intervals, to the bizarre image of Alice’s mouth in extreme close-up. The grand populace of Svankmajer’s wonderland include sock-monsters, lizard skeletons, and glistening hunks of meat – all animated in sinister jerky motion. Since Alice and the pre- ceding series of short films, Svankmajer’s features have turned to the Faust legend (in the puppet-epic Faust), and the Eastern European fairytale of Otesanek, or Greedyguts, whose giant living tree-stump monster provides the only instance of animation in Little Otik. Some viewers see the reduced use of stop-motion as a sad shift towards ‘pure’ film – but fans of the art-film-animation hybrid works on display at the festival may relish Svankmajer’s new approach.

sound, the short conjures a powerful fairytale atmosphere as it ex- plains the sad situation of a group of puppets – the Kermit creatures – whose maker has died. The Kermits desperately try to re-animate the old man, sitting him at the table as they eat, and screening old footage of him operating his creations. Finally, now moving the old man with puppeteers’ strings and sticks, they have him drink one last glass of wine and lay him to rest on a bed, gently closing his eyes. It’s an almost unbearably sad tale, haunted by the ghost of early Disney and Tim Burton – particularly in the magical orchestral score and eerie choir – and somehow both familiar and mysteriously alien. And the sight of row-upon-row of Kermits, decked out in 3D-glasses in order to watch a movie they’re projecting, is something to be treas- ured. For cinema and TV audiences, the Norwich International Ani- mation Festival offers a chance to see things that simply aren’t at- tempted by full-length features or ongoing series, where demands such as narrative and the need for a widely appealing aesthetic take precedent over experimentation, in form and in content. There will be a lot shown at the festival that you may never be able to see again, but there are also signs that innovative, personal animation is beginning to claim a space in mainstream culture. Channel 4 looks to be leading the way, and six new groundbreaking animated films, soon to be screened on Channel 4, will be premiered at the festival. The four days of animation programmed here will no doubt contain some luminaries-to-be, and the thrill of the new is to matched by a mag- nificent selection of rarely-screened and classic work. Animation fan, film buff, art enthusiast, cultural sceptic, bored civilian – whatever your temper on 19-22 October, see that you take advantage of a festival brimming with the most exciting animation around.

Diary

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Event 11 The

Fashion

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Charitable Shopping

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Although you’d never let her babysit your little sister or invite her to your birthday party, when it comes to outﬁ t balance, Kate Moss wrote the book. The ﬁ rst lady of fashion was at the forefront of style years ago, when she discovered that wearing two totally opposing pieces can look effortlessly stylish. Back in her nineties heyday, Kate was often seen in pretty, dainty dresses, cloaked in heavy denim jackets, or scruffy leather bombers. Her notion of style always created a far more eye catching look than it would if the two pieces were perfectly matched. Nowadays Kate’s still mixing her textures and fabrics, and her style is just as eclectically beautiful. Believe it or not, charity shops are the perfect place to emulate Kate’s contradictory concept of chic. The shops are stocked with styles as diverse and unusual as the togs Moss loves. But if your not keen on imitating Kate’s take, second hand shops are still the places to visit if you want a look that no one else will be wearing. Guaranteed.

Most charity shops divide their clothes categorically by colour. But before you charge in desperate for designer knock offs, think outside the box. First head to men’s wear. Look for old school ties in thick, wo- ven tweed. Take three or four and they can sit on your hips in an individual style belt to be paired with some well worn jeans. Or tie them through the loops of your bags Ties also add kitsch chic to a simple top, like a silky camisole (charity shops are perfect for these, you’ll ﬁ nd them in nightware, just give it a good wash before you wear it!). Check out the boys section, for tight tees with ironic slogans splashed across them (think Teenage Mutant Ninga turtles rather than Gap Kids) which also

3 I headed to my local charity shop, Break, on Colman Road. Break raises valuable funds for disabled people and those caring for them. The money made by the shops provides treats like holidays and days out for underprivileged children. Run by a group of mostly volunteers, Break is packed with exactly the sort of styles perfectly suited for this season. When it comes to clothing, I was not expecting to ﬁ nd items which were overtly autumn ‘05, and rather than tracing the latest looks, was

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keen to search for things which were individual and timeless in trend. However, I was pleasantly proved wrong. This month Break was having a “Velvet Event”, and the rails were overrun with gar- ments made of the sumptuous stuff, which is the fabric for Fall. I found hoards of fake fur coats, lots of pretty tops, some rounded toe heels, a pair of cowboy boots and ropes of pretty beads. The staff could not have been more helpful and every item was under £5 – which is very ethical indeed.

look great with ties. Wear your tie round your neck, with the knot looped low, schoolboy rebel style. Boys’ t-shirts can also be teamed with a slashed denim skirt, thick, opaque tights and funky boots. It’s even worth trying on some men’s jeans for a loose, laid back look. When adorning skater style, Gwen Stefani loves to wear her boyfriend’s jeans. Choose a baggy pair, which are long in the leg and weave a tight, elasticated belt through the hooks to keep them up. Then add something heavily feminine in lace or silk, if you want to maintain the much longed for Moss equilibrium.

Fashion

Fashion with a Clean Conscience

n a commonly accepted meaning, ethical goods or services should not have a negative environmental impact on the planet or be produced under conditions that harm animals. The reality is however, that cruelty exists in our very own make-up bags and wardrobes. Yes, the fashion industries are pressing its consumers to shop with an ethical conscience…as there really are skeletons hiding in those wardrobes! But can these la- bels that are all for fairly-traded organic materials and the importance of sustainable design turn our everyday clothing into statement-making fashion…and we all ask, look good? It is surprising that being more ethically conscious when shopping is a new concept to many fashion addicts. Many do not consider that the soles of their shoes they walk in everyday actually were living souls and that the make-up they apply in the morning actually means getting face to face with dead animals! But with cruelty-free versions of fabulously fashionable clothes and accessories there’s hope for us yet. Some would agree that ethical interest is the very essence of what it means to be ‘fashionable’. And with inspiration from fashion designer Gabriel Scarvelli, ethical products can be green and gorgeous. Although once homeless in the streets of Sydney with nothing but the clothes he was wearing, Scarvelli then survived the onset of liver cancer, suffering a 10% chance of recovering. No wonder he felt he had a second chance to improve his life and also eventually contribute to making fashion ethical. Scarvelli only uses natural ﬁbres and the dyes he uses to colour his fabrics are 98% organic. It seems Scarvelli’s naturally stylish beliefs are something to look up to in the fashion world. He is also setting up an independent organic cot- ton plantation, he recycles leftover resources as much as possible and employs 12 Indians in a small factory for two hours in Calcutta to do beadwork. His passionate drive and the effect he must have in protecting the environment is remarkable. The only drawback is that he uses nylon zippers, which is hardly anything to complain

about because there is not another option available yet it’s amazing how using fairly-traded organic materials, choosing positive environmental clothing and buying cosmetics that are against animal testing and mistreatment promises admiring glances, just like the high street contemporary fashion does. The fashion industries are beginning to offer a wider selection of clothes and cosmetics that are fashionable as well as ethical. The aim lies in raising awareness that it is not only the cruelties fun- damental to the fur and leather industries that fashion is battling against but also the way clothing ﬁbres and ingredients in many cosmetics actually involve harm to animals also. Charlie Lock, Dep- uty Manager of The Body Shop in Norwich says every one of their customers leaves an ethical footprint as they leave with a handful of products that will protect our planet and support Community Trade. The Body Shop, Charlie comments, gives you the chance to spend your money where it will make the most difference. By trad- ing with disadvantaged communities around the world, money is

The Body Shop claim to use alternatives, making the ingredients of their products ethical. The disappointing fact was that many consumers are unaware of the advantages of ethical shopping, which is why The Body Shop’s priority is promoting such values as Fair Trade and Against Animal Testing. The Body Shop, based globally, is considered to be one of the stronger leading ethical businesses in the trend towards maintaining positive social and environmental change. The fashion of wearing animal skins as clothes is actually rooted in history, when animal coats offered protection from the climate. But in modern times, we get the beneﬁt of freedom of choice because there is technology development of synthetics and a range of non-animal testing cosmetic methods to our advantage. For example, there is cell toxicological, test tube techniques and sophisticated computer and mathematical modelling which are at this minute helping to make tests more humane and therefore lessening the gap between fashion and an ethical conscience. Others, however, will be shocked to learn about the invention of alternative cosmetic ingredients. Although ethically-minded individuals can ease the damage to the environment and help reduce the risk to animals, their help cannot outweigh the suffering caused because of cosmetic testing. Only new ingredients need testing, and there are already 8-10,000 ingredients on the market. Likewise Scarvelli under- stands that while we probably will never be able to eliminate synthetics, we can pull back on how much we use and make clothes last better, helping to create an ethical conscience that can also impact positively on the wider scope of the world and our future. Therefore, there are still urgent measures to develop and validate alternatives as people are beginning to see sense in ethical and sustainable consumerism. Most believe that ethical buying will help in some way and that an ease in social and environmental damage, (although not a complete halt) is better than having no conscious at all. Scarvel- li’s labour of love proves that fashion and consumerism is not just about looking good but an opportunity for everyone to direct it into a more ethically-conscious future, where beauty can be more than skin deep.

8JUI DSVFMUZ GSFF WFSTJPOT PG GBCVMPVTMZ GBTIJPOBCMF DMPUIFT BOE BDDFTTPSJFT UIFSF T IPQF GPS VT ZFU put back into the community, where the aim is to change the lives of thousands of people. Charlie explained that the principles of The Body Shop are about supporting and aiming to meet wider community goals, and that we should not forget money once it is spent on a product, but think about how it goes on to affect the world, and people’s lives. We all want the freedom of choice, but Charlie explained choice over what you buy and where you shop is also a responsibility in improving ethical values and connections between customers and producers. Firmly against cosmetic animal testing,

Event 13 The

Primetime

Spoons $IBOOFM QN 'SJEBZ Spoons is a brand spanking new off the wall comedy sketch show from Channel 4. Created by the team responsible for Jimmy Carr’s quiz show ‘8 out of 10 cats’ and partially written by Charlie Brooker (responsible for Nathan Barley), it is an attempt at a comedy show to suit the twenty and thirty something love scene featuring the talents of Rob Rouse, Kevin Bishop and Josie D’arby to name a few of the many comedians in the programme. The basic premise is that it shows the viewer the lives and loves of a group of urbanites as they date, mate and ditch one another, providing a few laughs along the way. The opening episode introduced us to the woman who, at every inopportune moment, informs her partner in a very un-Brit- ish manner that all she wants is a ‘f***ing baby’, as well as the guy whose idea of an early night involves getting a few hours in on his Playstation and the husband who offers to cook dinner as a ‘one off treat’ after his wife has given birth. The fast pacing of the sketches holds the viewer’s attention by cutting from one scene to another without leaving time for jokes to get stale.

Suds

:PVS EPTF PG TPBQ OFXT )PMMZPBLT As another year begins, along with it comes a fresh new set of students to the village. They have not featured much so far, but Jessica and Olivia (who are living in the student flat) will be making a big impact - especially in the fresher’s week celebrations. The Hunters are all finally set to leave for Cyprus, leaving Lee and Bombhead behind and making way for the arrival of the new family. The Chester police force are out in their strength around the village with one officer permanently stationed outside Becca’s, causing much stress and gossip for all the residents. Steph tried a man-free phase of her life, but she begins a secret relationship with Cameron (of all people) this week after they wake up in each other’s arms. There are yet more arguments with Mandy and Tony over Dominic’s help with The Loft opening party, which is set to be a dramatic night as the new characters mix with the old and a series of surprising events unfold. #FDLZ 3VUU

/FJHICPVST Erinsborough hospital has certainly seen a lot of action recently, what with Darcy waking up from his coma with forged memory loss and a dodgy hair do, Paul having his leg amputated and Kayla giving birth to the Hoyland’s baby. This all occurred under the supervision of the only doctor in Australia, the trusty Karl Kennedy. However, instead of caring for all of Ramsay Street, perhaps Karl should have been waking up to smell the coffee at home as Izzy’s ﬁendish ways landed her in hot water when she was blackmailed into defending Darcy in court. Humour was added as Conner aka Father O’Neill who was roped into a meeting with Stuart, Sindi and Stuart’s ﬁercely religious aunt. However, Conner’s cover was blown when said aunt spotted him helping a busty blonde fasten the straps of her bikini in his and Toad- ie’s new swimwear shop. On top of this, Neighbours really heated up when Susan gave Izzy twenty four hours to tell Karl that he was not the father of her child. 3FCFDDB )VOU

Event The

Despite this rapid-ﬁre nature of the comedy, Spoons is hardly a breath of fresh air and fails to add anything original to the comedy arena. However, it does provide its audience with situations that most of us can relate to, such as having the ‘it’s not you it’s me’ talk with a uncooperative partner and the obligatory meet the par- ents session. Additionally, it is nice to have a completely new programme with fresh faces on Channel 4’s supposed Friday comedy night, which usually consists of ‘The Simpsons’ and ‘Friends’. It is also pleasing to see some home grown entertainment on a channel that is heavily dominated by huge budget American shows. Although the over-hyped Spoons is fairly amusing, it will not have you splitting your sides and you will most likely be left feeling disappointed that you have already seen most of the funny bits in the promotional adverts. Perhaps the urban relationship theme has proved too narrow for the writers or – more plausibly - maybe the show just lacks a certain spark. A good comparison to make is that it’s style is similar to Smack The Pony, but with none of that show’s comedy or brilliance.

The overall verdict is that Spoons is a good but not great comedy show. If you’re stuck in on a Friday night when everyone else has gone out, then there are far worse programmes to watch,but don’t bother to set the tape recorder if you’re joining them. A far better idea is to use your Friday night to take a trip to the real ‘Spoons’ and make your own relationship faux pas for your mates to laugh at. The potential for humour there is far greater and much closer to the mark than Spoons could ever hope to be. 3FCFDDB )VOU

TV DVD

/BUIBO #BSMFZ b 3FMFBTFE Nathan Barley is the media obsessed creator of the “out-there” website www.trashbat.co.uk. In his own words, the website is an “online urban culture dispatch,” which basically means it is filled with vacuous rubbish such as cheap animations of masturbating monkeys, strange anti-Bush videos and clips of Barley “pranking” his flat-mate Pingu by electrocuting him with car batteries. “Welcome to the age of stupidity,” states Dan Ashcroft in the introduction to episode one, “and hail the rise of the idiot”. Ash- croft is the scruffy looking champion of sense in Nathan Barley. He is a small time journalist who works for a similarly vacuous publica- tion called “Sugar Ape;;” a magazine containing highlights such as reducing its title to “Rape” to cause controversy for controversy’s sake. Ashcroft’s sister, Claire, also features. She is a serious filmmaker struggling to get her documentary made about the down and outs of London amidst the dross producing companies and publi- cations that surround her. She is lured into the world of Barley when he offers her all the editing facilities of the trashbat.co.ck office. Each episode features Dan Ashcroft attempting (in vain) to beat the dross wielding media junkies of the world of Nathan Bar- ley. In the first episode he writes an article titled “The Rise of the

Idiots” in which he attacks everyone he works with. This is soon turned around and used by these idiots, who are so blind as to not see that the article is aimed at them. By episode two, Ashcroft is dubbed the “preacher-man” by his colleagues;; a title that he desperately tries to shake off. He is pictured on the front cover of Sugar Ape “slaughtering the pigs of ignorance” and is forced to wear a full preacher man costume to a gig that Barley is hosting. Nathan Barley is directed and co-written by Chris Morris (of Brass Eye and The Day Today fame) and Charlie Brooker (writer of an acerbic TV column in the Guardian). It shares the same sharp satirical edge of Morris’ earlier programmes and is very funny in places. Where the series falls down, however, is the severe cringe- worthiness of its characters, who can be even more wince-inducing than David Brent. It also satirises a world which not many viewers will be familiar with;; a small-knit group of media-junkies in and around London. Despite these drawbacks, Nathan Barley takes a very funny and clever look at the pretentious side of the world of art and media. Though not as hard-hitting as Brass Eye, Morris fans will undoubtedly ﬁnd something here to enjoy. &XBO "OEFSTPO

Telly Classics 5IF (PPE -JGF Far more than just a telly classic, “The Good Life” highlighted the issues involved in becoming self-sufficient in suburbia whilst also emphasising the eccentricities of the middle class. Tom and Bar- bara Good (played excellently by Richard Briers and Felicity Kendal) give up their luxurious lifestyles in order to quit the rat race and shunning everything other families expect of a 20th Century society. This sacrifice is made clear by virtue of the Good’s neighbours, Mar- got and Jerry Leadbetter (Penelope Keith and Paul Eddington). This is especially true of Margot, who is the ultimate representation of middle class snobbery and cannot survive without home comforts. Although these two families almost certainly hold different values close to heart, their friendship is eminent and a focal point of the series;; their differing stances on life, instead of provoking conflict,

bind them closer together. Tom and Barbara’s efforts are fraught with difﬁculty and, despite there being times when they could easily give up, their persistence is well received by the audience as they resist the temptation to succumb to the pleasures put before them. “The Good Life” ran for 3 years, encompassing 28 half hour episodes and 2 specials and was one of the BBC’s most popular comedy series in the late 70s, with even the Queen being proud to be one of the series’ most dedicated fans. It has stood the test of time and deﬁed the anarchy of “alternative” comedies that emerged in the 1980s, such as “The Young Ones” which stepped away from the traditional family appeal in favour of the growing youth movement. #FO 4QBSTIPU

Art

Theatre

Bestsellers

Purgatory and Footfalls 1

+POBUIBO 4USBOHF BOE .S /PSSFMM

Susanna Clarke £7.99 Bloomsbury

6&" %SBNB 4UVEJP 'SJEBZ UI 4FQUFNCFS If you were looking for an evening of theatre designed to lift you out of your melancholy post-fresher’s week daze, you would have done well to steer clear of the double bill on offer at the UEA studio on Friday 30th September and Saturday 1st October. However, the Yeats/Beckett pairing of two equally morbid plays worked well, with the male dominated ‘Purgatory’ by Yeats proceeding a more feminine ‘Footfalls’. Both plays were directed by MA director Mhari Gallagher with an almost slavish attention to the text;; the words dictat- ing the actors’ physicality. The ability of Ben Henson (Boy), Ed Birch (Old Man), Suzie Edgeley (Voice) and Charlotte Slater (May), to give us each word almost on a plate allowed the audience to mull over each consonant and syllable as we were drawn into the characters’ dark worlds. Ed Birch gave a stunning performance as the Old Man in Yeats’ ‘Purgatory’ proving that he is a truly versatile actor. He was strongly supported by Ben Henson’s convincing performance as his bewildered and inquisitive son. The language in ‘Footfalls’ had a lyrical quality with Suzie Edgeley and Charlotte Slater giving wonderful and challenging vocal performances. Suzie Edgeley as the voice of the mother offstage was hauntingly sombre, each word echoing in the studio space with a kind of eerie constancy. As an introduction to Beckett’s abstract, discordant language, it

was both revealing and enchanting. Neither play demanded elaborate visual presentation, therefore the attention to the dress, hair and make-up of the character of May in ‘Footfalls’ seemed almost too carefully con- structed. The lighting lent a sense of limited space on an otherwise large and barren stage. The intricate detail in the costume design sometimes detracted from the character’s own words, which were few and far between. ‘Purgatory’ had a sparse but effective set consisting of a stylised barren tree and rock, however, it was the lighting design that truly contributed to the piece. The lights were made up of cold, eerie blues and greens, lending a macabre ambience to the play’s unsettling proceedings. Despite the two main characters being masculine, the repeated image of the crazed mother both at the start and again at the end of the play lent a sense of female domina- tion to Ed Birch’s obsessed and unstable character, ending ﬁnally in an act of desperation that seemed hopelessly futile against the eternal repetition of his mind’s hallucinations. Both pieces were ultimately successes, showcasing the talent of UEA’s drama students and the directing ability of its MA scholars. A wonderful way to start the year, and a prom- ising premiere for all involved! (MPSJB 4BOEFST BOE 1IJMJQQB 0 4IBVHIOFTTZ

2 5IF %B 7JODJ $PEF Dan Brown £6.99 Corgi Adult

3 4DPUMBOE 4USFFU Alexander McCall Smith £6.99 Abacus

4 5IF 8PSME "DDPSEJOH UP $MBSLTPO Jeremy Clarkson £6.99 Penguin

5 "OHFMT BOE %FNPOT Dan Brown £6.99 Corgi Adult

6 5IF 'JWF 1FPQMF :PV .FFU JO )FBWFO Mitch Alborn £7.99 Vintage

7 5IF 5JNF 5SBWFMMFS T 8JGF Audrey Niffeneger £6.99 Time Warner Paperbacks

8 "VTDIXJU[ Laurence Rees, £12.00 Ebury Press

9 %FDFQUJPO 1PJOU Dan Brown £7.99 Vintage

10 %JHJUBM 'PSUSFTT Dan Brown £8.99 BBC Books =

Books

-BVHIJOH .BUUFST 4UFWF +BDPCJ When you pick up a book there is usually something you want to gain from reading it, to learn more about a subject, to be entertained, to be made to think. Rarely do you read something you don’t want to. This thought presents itself almost immediately upon reading the back cover of Radio 4 contributor Steven Jacobi’s third book, which is a recent memoir of his three month foray into stand up comedy. He begins with a scanty justiﬁcation of his innate comedic abilities, using an old school report, dropping in a few funny anecdotes, and his father’s genetic inﬂuence to settle the case. The rest of the book then goes through his few gigs on the open mic circuit in Britain, and de- tails his travels to the states. It turns out that his gigs are not spectacular successes, probably because, as he sees it, his heart wasn’t in it, and rather than doing well he was merely

‘getting away with it’. These are hardly the musings of a comedic genius, but they don’t pretend to be. Jaco- bi’s idea was to see if he could turn a strong, though introverted, belief that laughter is important to people into a written act. Through- out the text are theoretical justiﬁcations of the cultural value of comedy used by Jacobi to jus- tify his actions, and the book. So the answer to the obvious question is that it is a demonstra- tion of the importance of comedy, especially in Britain. However, there is something troubling about an unknown comedian, who has only done stand-up rather dispassionately for three months, writing an account of the virtues of laughter. It is an interesting read, but there is no newness here, only repetition, although it is repetition that can be sympathised with. "MFY 'MVY

4NBTIFE ,PSFO ;BJMDLBT Koren Zailckas’ memoir will strike a chord with anyone who has woken up three-and-a- half minutes before a nine o’clock lecture con- vinced that they must have been drinking pure parafﬁn the previous night. The story charts Koren’s drinking from the tender age of fourteen, through to her eventual realisation at the age of twenty-three that her habit has evolved into abuse. Black- outs, vomiting, assaults and near death experiences are described with a brutal honesty and regularity that shocks. Although the recurrence of so many nights spent in the gutter grows tiring

after a while, the book serves as a moral warning and the repetition only serves to emphasise the excess. Koren’s drunken antics will be recognisable to many, especially during her time spent at university where the combination of cheap drink and no parental supervision rings true. At a time when female bing- ing is rivalling, if not equalling, male drinking, this book conveys the caution that it’s not just alco- holics who abuse alcohol. #SFOEBO "QQMFUPO

Event 15 The

Film

Main Feature

A History of Violence %JS %BWJE $SPOFOCFSH 3FMFBTFE %BUF

With its enthusiastic absorption and redeployment of the most American of film genres and motifs, from film noir to the lone Western renegade, A History of Violence sounds a ring of familiarity that Hollywood has been listening out for from David Cronenberg since the (relative) commercial success of his 1980s ‘body horror’ spectaculars, Scanners and The Fly. A History of Violence sports a $32 million budget, courtesy of New Line, and has certainly made a good opening here: after its first weekend it stood second only to Pride & Prejudice at the box office. But what kind of a Cronenberg film is it that comes face-to-face with mainstream audiences? One answer is, a film without car-crash sex-fetishes, without giant jism-secreting reptiles, and without the seductive throb of

newly opened abdominal slit;; another answer is a film that, at least superficially, takes place on one unchanging level of reality. After Spider and eXistenZ, A History of Violence does come as a kind of relief, a release from the claustrophobic and unstable mindscapes of the protagonists there, and into a recognisable world of small- town diners, high school, and good American coffee. The homeli- ness is of a disquieting, Lynchian nature though, and we sense that the idyllic rural life of Tom and his family is under threat, partly because it basks in a too-perfect light of contentment, and partly because there are bad men on the loose. Cronenberg’s film is about bad men, heroes, and the difference there might be between the two. After meeting two ruthless hitmen for whom violence is a day-to-day duty, we move into the Stall household, where decent working father Tom heads a loving family: wife Edie, teenage son Jack and six-year-old daughter Sarah. A cloud rolls over their domestic happiness when Tom is held up at his diner by the hitmen;; he dispatches them with suspicious and vicious ease, and his family-man identity is subsequently called into question by menacing gangster Ed Harris. The echoes of Hol- lywood Westerns sound through the early parts of the film, as Tom defends his territory with a mixture of upright gallantry and near- superhuman force. The violence itself, which allows for the odd flash of Cronen- bergian gloopy gore, acts as both a relief from the unbearable Cape Fear-inflected tension, and as a disturbing reminder of the pleasure

we take from violent movies. In one scene, Tom’s mild-mannered son Jack (Ashton Holmes) is being ribbed once again by the school bully;; when he snaps and delivers a retaliatory punch we cheer him on as a finally turned worm. But as his aggression escalates into a psychotic rage, all thoughts of heroic justice are forgotten, and the violence becomes its own alarming spectacle – with Jack lost in the centre. Elsewhere, A History of Violence plays on the inherent absurd- ity of screen violence, running sequences to the tune of Chaplin’s deadpan slapstick. Mortensen’s performance is riveting precisely because of his stonefaced restraint, and his ‘mutation’ from whole- some father to cold-blooded killer, with barely a change in expres- sion, is an astonishing thing to watch. Ashton Holmes’ Jack, as a sort of twinned extension of Tom, is a brilliantly intense study of a son at once betrayed and empowered by his newly violent father, and he also delivers the funniest lines, bitterly asking Tom, ‘if I went and told Sam [the town sheriff ] about you, would you have me whacked?’ In a film concerned with the human capacity for fantastic deception (of self as much as of others), the acting appropriately fine. And in a film centred on a two-level identity, Cronenberg’s narrative performs an apt double-act that includes both a superbly tense thriller and a disturbing fantasy of masculine superpower. 4FC .BOMFZ

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/JHIU 8BUDI %JS :JNVS #FLNBNCFUPW 3FMFBTFE

Normally, one wouldn’t expect much from a film based on a TV series, especially one cancelled in its first season. However, Joss Whedon’s sci-fi/western hybrid is fun, thrilling and exciting. We follow the crew of the Serenity as they are chased by the devious Alliance and canni- balistic (and scary) Reavers, and our affection for this motley bunch grows throughout. Of particular note is Captain Malcolm Reynolds (Nathan Fillion), a rugged, tough cowboy who commands genuine admiration. The middle section feels slightly lost, after the fast-paced beginning, and the story seems to wander. But it picks itself up for a climactic ending, which is infused with a constant feeling of peril. When Whedon brings out the CGI guns, the sense of awe builds, with no loss in story thanks to the witty dialogue and the cast, who give their parts everything. Even if you’re not a fan of sci-fi, come for the action, suspense and humour. This film really does have it all, and even has the promise of a sequel. "OEZ +VETPO

Heavy on the good-versus-evil vernacular but compelling nonetheless, Night Watch is a Russian gothic horror epic run through the twin filters of American sci-fi-action and European art cinema. The results are both familiar and startling – occasionally to the point of bewilder- ment. As part of an eventual trilogy (to be completed by Day Watch and Dusk Watch) some loose ends are par for the course, but most viewers will find the dense, bathetic narration and visual extravaganc- es – which include slow- and fast-motion, giddy camera movements, and a line in jumping, morphing subtitles – take some time to ease in to. A little patience is rewarded though, and the pleasures on offer are many and varied, from the ghoulish splendour of the evil ‘Dark Other’ ranks, to the teasingly allegorical plight of our hero Anton (a saviour? or a Russian Mafia boss?), to the fine performances, which steer clear of Matrix-style posturing in favour of a wry, mournful naturalism. 4FC .BOMFZ

(PBM %JS %BOOZ $BOOPO 3FMFBTFE

1SJEF 1SFKVEJDF %JS +PF 8SJHIU 3FMFBTFE

At a time when a whole raft of football related films are being produced on both sides of the Atlantic, Goal!, a classic rags-to-riches sporting fairytale, is the first to be released. The basic premise follows Los Angeles-based, Mexico-born Santiago Munez (Becker), and his rise from poverty stricken manual worker to Premiership star, thanks to a chance meeting with former professional Glen Foy (Stephen Dil- lane), Directed by Danny Cannon, the film gets no marks for originality, but this is not to discredit it. Historically the world’s premiere sport hasn’t made a smooth transition to the silver screen, but this is the rarest of things, a decent football movie. Despite the occasionally sloppy script, the film earns its stripes thanks to some excellent supporting performances, a quality soundtrack and some genuinely convincing on-pitch action scenes. Watch out too for some dubiously wooden cameos from Alan Shearer, David Beckham, Zinedine Zidane and Raul!

TV director Joe Wright’s retelling of Austen’s novel follows in well-re- garded footsteps, but this big-screen version holds its own gracefully against the 1995 BBC series, excepting the presence of a rather dopey Matthew Macfadyen (of Spooks fame) as Mr. Darcy. The sparkling jewel in a crown of first-rate actors is Kiera Knightly, whose jubilant Lizzy is a wonder to watch;; elsewhere, Brenda Blethyn turns in a perfectly hennish Mrs. Bennet, Rosamund Pike and Jena Malone (Gretch- en from Donnie Darko) make striking, smiley impressions from small roles, and Donald Sutherland’s white-haired patriarch leads a series of beautifully poignant scenes with his daughter. Indeed, the film’s final shot leaves us not with a climatic Lizzy/Mr. Darcy embrace, but an image of Mr. Bennet tearfully contemplating Lizzy’s departure. It’s a sincerely moving finale, and though some fans have bemoaned the absence of a kiss between the two suitors, there is no doubting Pride & Prejudice’s complex, near-Altmanesque ensemble scene-playing, grand landscape photography, and general good-humour.

#SZBO %BWJFT

4FC .BOMFZ

Event The

4FSFOJUZ

DVD Releases .POTUFS %JS 1BUUZ +FOLJOT 3FMFBTFE CZ 1SJTN -FJTVSF Up until now, it has been very difficult to take Charlize Theron se- riously. However, her intense and powerful performance as real-life prostitute turned serial killer Aileen Wuornos thoroughly deserves its Oscar. At the film’s beginning, we are sympathetic towards the desperate hooker, but when Wuornos hooks up with naive lesbian Selby the film takes a warm turn, as the affair plays out like a charming romance. Of special note is the scene where the pair dance awk- wardly at a roller-disco. But the sweetness becomes bitter as Wuor- nos turns to murder out of self-defence. The feeling of empowerment goes to her head, and the viewer will struggle with their feelings as we become increasingly sympathetic towards Wuornos’ victims, who change from violent thugs to honest men. The end is tragic, and this film certainly cannot be watched lightly. But Theron lives up to the hype, and if you can stomach the dark humour, then Monster is definitely worth a watch. "OEZ +VETPO

8JUIOBJM * %JS #SVDF 3PCJOTPO 3FMFBTFE CZ "ODIPS #BZ Budget release of the perennial student film, based on director Bruce Robinson’s experience of the sixties and best known for the highly quotable, highly uproarious script (“Scrubbers!”) Richard E. Grant and Paul McGann are two permanently pissed, unemployed actors who go on holiday by mistake and find themselves at the mercy of Richard Griffiths’ exhubarant, raving and pointedly gay Uncle Monty. Ralph Brown also makes an appearance as the inventor of the Cam- berwell Carrot, who believes that hair is used to pick up radio signals from the cosmos. Performances are all pleasingly manic, and the ending lends an air of gloomy poignancy to the otherwise entirely rumbunctious proceedings, as the fortunes of Withnail and Marwood deviate sharply from one another. The humour will not appeal to all, however, and those wanting a satisfying plot may be disappointed. +PO 4UPOF

&TDBQF 'SPN /FX :PSL 4QFDJBM &EJUJPO %JS +PIO $BSQFOUFS 3FMFBTFE CZ TUVEJP Trying to describe Escape From New York in so little space is a chal- lenge indeed, yet no amount of words would be enough for me to express the hatred this film deserves. Directed by celebrated hack John Carpenter, we are led into a world of double-cross, intrigue, and gaping holes in this excuse for a plot as Snake Pliskin (Kurt Russell) and his gun (roughly the size of Belgium) are sent into the maximum security island prison (which New York will become in the not-so- distant future) to rescue the President of the United States from the inmates of said establishment after his plane crash-lands. The acting and characters are two-dimensional without exception, the premise of the film itself is ridiculous, and the extras give singularly the worst performances ever witnessed, coupled with the fact they look like re- jects from a bizarre hybrid of Michael Jackson videos and the Disney version of Peter Pan. Please, do not watch this film. Please. (SBOU )PXJUU

"O "NFSJDBO 8FSFXPMG JO -POEPO %JS +PIO -BOEJT 3FMFBTFE CZ 6OJWFSTBM 1JDUVSFT

This lavish, full-blooded two-disc release of John Landis’ 1981 horror masterwork packs a splendid set of extras, including interviews with makeup effects supervisor Rick Baker and Landis, an actors commen- tary, and a technical effects featurette. The focus on special effects is understandable, given the remarkable nature of the wolf transformation scenes, but the film’s spectacular moments (which also include the talking, rotting corpse) form only part of a tense, unnervingly surreal psychological thriller. David’s horrific dreams – in which he finds himself and his hospital bed inexplicably moved to a forest, where he chases, catches, and gorges himself on a still-living deer – remain particularly vivid, drawing as they do on the visual language of art cinema, and putting it to nerve-jangling use within the horror genre. 4FC .BOMFZ

Special Feature Marilyn Monroe Screen Goddesses Boxset

Marilyn Monroe;; where to start with Marilyn Monroe? Both during her sad life, and after her shadowy death, Marilyn Monroe has meant very different things to different people. She has been defined alternately as a wife, a daughter, a pin-up favourite, a drug ad- dict, an alcoholic, an immensely talented screen actress, and finally a tragic example of the pitfalls of Hollywood super-stardom. Even a brief glance at the course of her life can tell you how she wasn’t cut out for the Hollywood machine of the 50s and 60s. She was an orphan for her first 7 years, and afterwards her relationship with her mother was unstable. She pushed the young Monroe to wear make- up and often took her to the movies, which may have been where she developed the fantasy of being a beautiful star. This dream, which created the Marilyn Monroe we know, ultimately destroyed her and her second, and most cherished marriage with Joe DiMag- gio, the man she was to marry two days after she eventually died. More recently Monroe has been looked at by sociologists and historians in terms of the political culture she represented. S. Paige Baty for instance claims that Monroe’s image endures because she characterised a media-driven America where identity was steeped in uncertainty and thus defined by popular imagery. Steinem, on the other hand, talks of Marilyn’s inability to integrate her personal image with her media one, and this conflicting identity resulted in her emotional instability. Apart from the lessons to be learned from her life, Monroe’s main legacy is her films. Over the course of a 16

year career she appeared in 29 films. The collection under discus- sion does not include all of these, but only four where she has the lead role. Ladies of the Chorus (1948) is an interesting work simply because of the innocence with which Marilyn acts, though the story itself is underdeveloped and unrewarding. The other films, Home Town Story (1951), Some Like it Hot (1959), and the immense The Misfits (1961), demonstrate the range, if not entirety of her acting capabilities. In The Misfits she plays a recently divorced young woman named Rosalyn, who has the gift of life and yearns to really live and be free. However, her naivety is at odds with the immoral and ever-changing world that she sees. She wants to be part of the world, but only according to her own ideal of it, and is thrown into crisis when she realises she can’t control other people’s actions. It is quite simply a fantastic film, regardless of whether it relates to Marilyn’s life;; it breathes on its own as a piece of art. The other discs contain three documentaries that remember Marilyn and her importance to the film industry. Overall, the collection, concise rather than comprehensive, serves as a valuable vehicle through which her memory is projected and made available. So that instead of trying to provide an overcomplicated picture of Marilyn through all her films, both aspects of her identity are made visible;; that is, her human side, as a conflicted and doomed Ameri- can woman, and her media self, as Marilyn. "MFY 'MVY

Film

Cinefile N o 100 La Haine .

-B )BJOF 5IBU NFBOT IBUF EPFTO U JU * N HPPE BU 'SFODI NF 8IZ IBUF *T JU B QBSUJDVMBSMZ WPMBUJMF mMN UIFO Yes and no. The picture is by no means overly violent or graphic, which was director Mathieu Kassovitz’s intention. The story focuses on a day in the life of three disillusioned Paris teenagers who live in a poverty stricken suburb torn apart by rioting and a fractious relationship between civilians and the police. The three friends had seen their friend brutally attacked by police in riots the night before. During the riots Vinz finds a policeman’s Smith & Wesson 44, and vows to use it to kill a cop if their critical friend doesn’t pull through. 4P UIF IBUF JT BMM TUPSFE VQ JO UIFTF UFFOBHFST Effectively, yes. Our lead protagonists, Vinz, Said and Hubert, are a representation of all the other kids on their council estates. These youths live a life of petty crime with little opportunity to further themselves. Feeling hard done by, they take out their angst on the overly zealous police force. The vicious attack of their friend Abdel is the eye of the storm, turning their home into a permanent battleground. %PFT 7JO[ VTF UIF HVO JO UIF FOE UIFO Well that would be telling, but the tension that builds and surrounds the will-he-won’t-he scenario is a key component of the film. Whilst violence and gun usage is marginalised within the film, the power of the gun and its potential is emphasised by the way it is glamorised by the three friends as an object of desire. The film fires a warning of the dangerous potential of disenchanted teens with access to weapons. 4P XBT UIF mMN JOEJDBUJWF PG QSPCMFNT JO 'SFODI DJUJFT BU UIF UJNF Yes. The film was an extremely important dramatisation of real problems the French police were facing. It was seen as an urgent wake up call to the authorities. Although the film offers no particular solu- tions, it raised awareness of the problems many were facing in their housing projects. Whilst much of the film is good humoured, the power of the message is not lost. It is interesting to consider that the most startling violence within the film comes in the form of the real life documentary footage of the Paris riots of 1994/95. Kassovitz shot in black and white to add to the documentary feel of the picture. "OE KVTU RVJDLMZ UIBU HVZ 7JO[ 7JODFOU $BTTFMM * TXFBS * WF TFFO IJN TPNFXIFSF SFDFOUMZ You most probably have. Cassell used the art house success of the film to boost his career. Contemporary audiences will recognise him as the ‘Night Fox’ from Ocean’s Twelve, and Marcus in the notorious Irreversible. #SZBO %BWJFT

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Music

New Order Golden Sounds The Singles /8"

4USBJHIU 0VUUB $PNQUPO If ever there were an album to be hailed as historical, as opposed to simply being ground breaking, it would be NWA’s Straight Outta Compton. The release in 1988 summed up the unapologetic, violent and sexist group’s career as simply the most notorious gangsta rap posse around. NWA grew into the revolutionary Public Enemy sound of social awareness with self consciously dangerous lyrics. The release of the single F*ck Tha Police in 1988, for instance, caused the FBI to send a warning letter to Eazy E’s record company Ruthless. The reputations and empires of NWA were rife with controversy and contradictions, as is typical of the ever-prevalent LA gang scene even now, but the consider- ably notable careers of Ice Cube, Dr Dre and MC Ren today highlight that their ﬁghts against social dissonance were as much a part of the music as the beats and lyrics themselves;; “we make music to p*ss you off so f*ck you if you don’t like it”.

$IBSMFT 3VNTFZ

Singles

In the late 70s, the English post-punk movement was formed and, while it incorporated bands such as The Fall and The Cure, was led by Joy Division. Their blend of mel- ancholic and alternative music, complete with haunting lyrics, is typiﬁed in the seminal release ‘Parallel Lines’ (which can be bought cheaply from any music shop now – if you don’t have it, go and buy it now). On the cusp of getting big, their singer Ian Curtis tragically killed himself. The three re- maining band members decided to carry on and, in 1981 (a year after that incident), they returned with comeback single ‘Ceremony’ and a new name – New Order. This singles compilation spreads 31 songs over two CDs – every single that the band has ever released. One thing noteworthy about the compilation is that the songs are in chronological order. This means that the listener can hear the band’s evolution;; from the ﬁrst few songs as the group tried to cope with Curtis’ absence (singer and guitarist Ber- nard Sumner sounds notably nervous on these songs), to singles from last year’s triumphant electro-rock hybrid album ‘Waiting for the Siren’s Call’. This way of organising the tracks is a great way for listeners to identify periods in the band’s development that sounded better than others, and more bands should do this on their ‘Best Of’ albums;; the only other bands that this reviewer can think of that did so is Pulp and Green Day. It features all the classic songs that everyone knows and loves (“Blue Monday”, “True Faith” and “World in Mo-

#PEZ 3PDLFST 3PVOE BOE 3PVOE

With the same formula which brought the Anglo-

1IBSSFMM GFBU (XFO 4UFGBOJ $BO * )BWF *U -JLF 5IBU Exactly how cool is Pharrell Williams? How can one man look that good, dance that well, and be everywhere all at the same time? How does Phar- rell manage to have his own band (N.E.R.D), his own production group (The Neptunes) and now ﬁnd time to produce a debut solo album - the forthcoming In My Mind? Maybe the man is a god. Perhaps his one or two of his A-list bossom buddies, Justin and Britney for instance, will tes- tify. Surely Ms Stefani will agree;; she guests on this single after all. But wait! Before every man reading this feels inad- equate - have no fear because his debut single is dreadful. It sticks in the head in the worst possible way, lodging in the same part of the brain that’s reserved for The Cheeky Girls or The Crazy Frog, or jingles from insurance adverts. The chorus repeats over and over, and just when you think your mind will melt the track ends and the b-side begins - but there’s no respite for the listener it’s an a-capella version of the same dreadful song! This man’s no god;; he’s the devil!

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tion”, for example), but the rest of the album is well worth checking out. ‘Here To Stay’, a collaboration with The Chem- ical Brothers, is a definite highlight, as is the recent duet with Ana Matronic (‘Jetstream’) and the brilliant ‘Tempta- tion’ stands out from the rest of the early tracks. The songs on here are truly memorable and with popular bands such as The Killers and The Bravery wearing their New Order influences proudly on their sleeves, this compilation serves as a timely reminder of who mixed synthesizers and guitars first, and best.

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Australian duo success with their ﬁrst release I Like The Way, Body Rockers herald us with another rhythmic pounding of pop. The acceptance they have already achieved, as well as the incorporation of a drummer and bassist in their performances suggests potential for progression. However, Round and Round nears a carbon copy of their debut, but for a transferral of the customary cli- chéd lyrics. However, considering the widespread approval of I Like The Way and the act’s swelling reputation as live performers, on tour around the world, it seems likely that this will also prove popular with club-goers.

Precious, the ﬁrst single to be released from the eagerly anticipated new album, Playing the Angel, due for release on 17th October, and the ﬁrst original work from the synth-pop band in over three years, has already been described by some as quintessential Depeche Mode, with many rating it among their best work since Violator, released in 1990. As he does in those well known classics such as Enjoy the Silence, Martin Gore manages to convey poignancy, largely the result of Dave Ga- han’s melancholy vocals, despite a very lively elec- tronic undercurrent and bouncy chorus. Depeche Mode has returned without a scratch, much to the merriment of fans across the nation.

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Frenetic and tight from the start, ‘Nobody’ is a sol- id composition. There is an interchange throughout between different paces, tempos and vocal styles, which gives the record its depth and quality. The vocal styles in fact vary so much as to create difﬁculty in assigning this music a genre (shades of Shaggy and Slipknot can be heard in places), but Skindred label themselves ragga punk metal artists. NME go so far as to describe the record as ‘righteous fury in a powerful new context’. Super- latives like this are perhaps rather over the top but put simply, ‘Nobody’ is fun and catchy. Skindred fans will certainly enjoy its intricacy, but it may not win the band new fans.

4BN #VUDIFS

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5IF -JUUM BOT GFBU 1FUF %PIFSUZ 5IFJS 8BZ Whilst Pete Doherty may have few fans left on the UEA campus after Babyshambles’ gig cancel- lation, it is worth remembering that between ar- rests the ex-Libertines vocalist has a voice worth listening to. On ‘Their Way’, Doherty’s distinctive vocals carry what is otherwise a modest offering and show that on his infrequent visits to planet earth, the man is a real talent. The track itself is gentle with some good hooks and if lacking in depth, could be good to relax to. Whilst buying the record might be inadvisable, especially on students’ budgets, it is certainly worth downloading a copy.

4BN #VUDIFS

&M 1SFTJEFOUF &M 1SFTJEFOUF It is not hard to see why El Presidente have been dubbed Scotland’s Scissor Sisters. Their self-titled debut EP boasts the same sleazy style of glam- rock combined with electro pop that has seen the New York five piece achieve international ac- claim. Lead singer Dante Gizzi is, at times, undis- tinguishable from Jake Shears in his high-pitched vocals, while the band’s dapper sense of dress is hardly original. However, their sound is certainly much funkier than that of their American prede- cessors, being largely founded on stomping beats and catchy melodies. The diversity of the album is perhaps best illustrated by a list of influences as long as your arm, ranging from Led Zeppelin to Doctor Dre, passing through The Bee Gees and Parliament on the way. The result, as you might expect is incredibly eclectic. Forthcoming single Rocket, due for re-release on 10th October, is not the explosive anthem you may expect from the name, but the epitome of El Presidente’s quirky disco-rock style, and is sure to have huge dance floor appeal. ,FMWJO ,OJHIU

Music

Live: A & Capdown

-$3

U.E.A is treated to a selection of the U.K’s ﬁnest live punk acts but My Awesome Compilation opens to a disappointingly not-so-full LCR tonight. They look serious “emo” business, but sadly end up being far too sugary. As musicians they play tight, and would be enjoyed if you were fourteen years old (fortunately for them, most of the audience is), but their songs aren’t particularly memorable. Capdown however come out hard, and send the toddler pit into a skanking horde. It’s not often a support band gets such a decent reception, and they deserve it. Whilst The Ordinary Boys are killing ska, Capdown continue to impress. It’s a shame their unusual ska-hardcore-punk music could never be marketed to the masses. “What’s up Norwich, we’re Babyshambles from London, thought we’d come and try again for you!” Thankfully it’s not, and we are treated to an on form A, with that statement being an example of the bands enjoy-

able onstage humour. The local (hailing from North Suffolk) veteran punk-poppers instantly get people moving with a near ﬂawless set. The newer, harder songs compliment the grooves and pop hooks of their existing hits, and edgy Capdown fans are won over. A’s songs are so infectious, many will need to go to the doctors for antibiotics in the morning (?!). Front-man Jason Perry signs off, saying, “Thanks for all the support over the years”, sadly a sign that rumours that the end for the band is im- minent might be true, despite singing in the new song Art Of Making Sense, “I’m gonna kick it till I’m 50!”. Afterwards a tired Jason replies to questions about the split, “I dunno man- it’s been a hard year”. If this is the last that we all hear from A, they should be thanked for years of great entertainment and the valuable lesson that East Anglians can make it! "OESFX 3JMFZ

Goldfrapp

-$3

Goldfrapp’s third eagerly awaited album finally arrived and with it the promise of an electro infected, glam injected live performance. Alison Goldfrapp strutted onto the scene, posing confidently on a stage coolly bathed in calm blue light and a strong beam eclipsing her silhouette. With her platinum blonde curls already dancing, the beat set in awaken- ing the crowd into an immediate groove. Alison’s voice is smooth and sexy yet intense and bewitching, definitely a Kate Bush of our time, she seems eccentric and definitely sexually charged. Unforgettably the other band members were all willing to buy

into the showpiece, some sporting billowing seventies outfits, Gold- frapp certainly put on a display but it was the music that reigned over this fine parade. They sounded crisp and fresh, every song held the audience captivated. Encore tunes ‘Strict machine’ and ‘Ooh la la’ were definite beauties and the album tracks were all engrossing enough to put rhythm into the spine of even the most pitiful of dance floor disas- ters. Goldfrapp were not merely a glitzy band in sparkly shoes, but an exhibition of some of this moment’s finest talent. &MMFZ 5BZMPS

Albums 4VHBCBCFT 5BMMFS *O .PSF 8BZT

4HE 3UGABABES ARE BETTER THAN 'IRLS !LOUD %VERY ONE KNOWS THAT 4HEY RE SEXIER TOO IN A STYLISH NON .UTS WORTHY KIND OF WAY "UT BEING BETTER THAN THE ATROCIOUS COMPETITION IS NOT NEARLY THE SAME AS BEING GREAT /N THIS THEIR FOURTH ALBUM 3UGABABES HAVE SIMPLY SETTLED FOR BEING GOOD AND TOO OFTEN NOT EVEN THAT 3URE THE GIRLS CUT A GOOD SINGLE THEY ALWAYS HAVE AND TRUE TO FORM THEIR LATEST 0USH 4HE "UTTON WENT STRAIGHT TO NUMBER ONE )T S ANOTHER SLICE OF COOL COMMERCIAL POP AND THERE S MORE WHERE THAT CAME FROM TOO 4RACKS SUCH AS "RUISED AND 2ED $RESS WILL MOST LIKELY BE BOTHERING THE RADIO WAVES RIGHT UP UN TIL #HRISTMAS 9ET FOR EVERY POTENTIAL SINGLE THERE S A TRACK SCREAMING OUT TO BE SKIPPED 4HE TRADEMARK SMOOTH VOCALS REMAIN BUT AS ON

5GLY THE GIRLS SOUND AS BORED AS THE LISTENER 4HEY SING hPEOPLE ARE ALL THE SAME WE ONLY GET JUDGED BY WHAT WE DOv )T S A BLAND SENTIMENT AND SURELY THE ANTITHESIS OF GREAT POP )F ONLY THE 3UGABABES REALISED THAT IT S THRILLING TO BE DIFFERENT AND THAT IT S GREAT TO TAKE RISKS MAYBE THEN THEY D REALISE THEIR POTENTIAL 5PN 4UFWFOT

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'LAM PUNK ROCK OUTlT THE "LACK 6ELVETS HAVE IN THEIR SELF TITLED DEBUT ALBUM MADE A #$ THAT ALL MUSIC COLLECTIONS SHOULD CONTAIN 3UMMER FESTIVAL GOERS INCLUDING THOSE WHO BRAVED THE MONSOON AT 'LASTON BURY WILL KNOW WHY THIS IS THEY ARE EXTREMELY GOOD 4HE lRST TRACK @) WON T LIE DOWN IS A REAL BELTER AND SETS THE TONE FOR AN ACCOMPLISHED AND DIVERSE COL LECTION OF TRACKS WITH @/NCE IN A WHILE AND THE EPIC @9OU RE NOT GIVING IT ALL PROVING THE PICK OF THE REST 4OGETHER WITH THE MUSICAL CONTENT OF THIS RECORD IS THE PRESENCE OF A COCKSURE SWAGGER AN ARROGANCE OF SORTS CAPTURED PARTICULARLY IN @'LAMSTAR 4HIS SELF CONlDENCE COMBINED WITH MUSICAL PROWESS MAKES FOR A DISTINCTIVE SOUND AND IDENTITY BUT MOST SIGNIl CANTLY COMMUNICATES THAT THE "LACK 6ELVETS ENJOY

MAKING MUSIC AN INFECTIOUS RECIPE FOR POPULARITY AND SUCCESS 4HE BAND S WEBSITE TELLS OF THE @DESIRE TO BE THE BIGGEST ROCK BAND IN THE WORLD 4HIS IS IM PROBABLE BUT THEY HAVE A STRONG lRST CHAPTER ON THEIR #6 AND THE "LACK 6ELVETS ARE CAPABLE OF A CLASSIC "UY THIS RECORD NOW 4BN #VUDIFS

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