Issuu

WitH Concern for our kiddies' future ...

Plus: Razor.light Interviewed 11 Big Keith Interviewed 11 Dances With Wolves Explored lan Rankin Interviewed 11

DoNNIE D ARKO DIRECTOR'S CUT October 1988 and smaH town USA Is about to witness the end of the world. lt's home to Oonnle Darlco, a brilliant but troubled teenager, plagued by terrtfylng ~slons of which he alone holds the key to the meaning. With his doss mate and soul mc;rte Gretchen and a myster1ous ex teacher, Grandma Death. he must unravel the strange occunences Infecting his school, his home and his life before a horrifying spectre known rri( as "frann( can puH Donnle CN8f the edge of his sanity.

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Features

Sections

Film Features: Dances With Wolves ............................. ........... p. 4

Music ............................... p. 12 & 13

An analysis of the classic film and how the narrative PCJi1 has spawned an entire genre ethically aware west- ~ erns. Now that's worthy journalism for you ...

Peter Whitehead/The Great Yarm.outh Film. Festival ............ p. 9 Two for the price of one: Peter Whitehead, grandaddy of the pop promo makes an appearance at cinema city with some rare Libertines footage and gets us piqued. PLUS! Believe it or not, Great Yarmouth now has a Film Festival, we take a glance ...

Albums ............................................... p. 12 HIM, Love Said No; foss Stone, Mind Body and Soul; Happylife, Sweet Resort; Thirteen Senses, The Invitation; Gisli, How About That?; Beans, Shocked City Maverick; Billy Clyro, Infinity Land.

Singles .......................... ..................... p. 13 Sons and Daughters, Jonny Cash; Placebo, Twenty Years; The Libertines, What Became of the Likely Lads?; The Others, Stan Bowles.

Fihn

TV Feature: Big Keith ............... p. 8

Cinema .......................................... p. 14

We interview Big Keith from The Office before his arrival to thrill you all silly at the LCR.

Hero, Wimbledon and Cellular.

The Return, The Dreamers and The Producers.

During their visit to UEA, the four JitUe monkeys in Razorlight take time out to talk to us wise old men at The Event before a fantastic gig at the LCR.

Arts ........................................p. 16

How to buy music and contribute to a worthy cause. ~

Book Review: Chav!; Book Review: The Introducing Series; Book Review, Fifity Facts that Should Change the World; Theatre Review: The Importance of Being Earnest; Drawing Classes: The Big Draw at The Fringe.

Arts Feature: lan Rankin/Living Dust .... ........................................ p. 7

TV & Digital .......................... p. 17

Another two for one offer: An author and an exhibition.

1V Preview: Little Britain, Series TWO; 1V DVD Review: Roswell; Soap News: Hollyoaks and Neighbours; Digital Stuff: Sims 11.

Centre Spread...... ...... ..... pp. 10- 11

Rear AdJ:niral Funk (Last Year's and Acting Event Editor & Designer) Nathan --Bat Phone -- Hamilton concrete.event@uea.ac. uk (coming soon... ) Tim Barker & Sarah Edwardes concrete.eventeditorial@uea.ac. uk (The Steadfast) Tim Barker (The Great) Sarah Edwardes Proofreading: Rachel Jones concrete.arts@uea.ac. uk Editor: Luke Roberts Critics: Gabriel Barnes, Niki Brown, Alex Flux, Dan Richards

DVD ...............................................p. 15

Music Feature: Razorlight .................................. p. 5

Charity Downloads ................... p. 6

IS: concrete.editor@uea.ac. uk Philip Sainty

The Day after Tomorrow, Silent Running and Princess Mononoke g et two pages worth of analysis from our boys

concrete.film@uea.ac.uk Editor: Dean Bowman Assistant: Dan Chandler Critics: Henrietta Burgess, Natalie Lasance, David McNaught, Luke Owen, Dan Richards, Mark Simpson concrete.music@uea.ac.uk Editor: (The Great) Sarah Edwardes Assistant: Ben Patashnik Assistant: James Banks Critics: Hannah Edney, Alex Flux, Simon Griffiths, Laurence Guymer, Catherine Lansdown, Alistair Lawre nce, David Riley, Suzanne Rickenback, Charles Rumsey, Julie Therese concrete. tvI digital@uea. a c. uk Editor: Kate Bryant Critics: James Beanland, Martha Hammond, Kim Howe ·

in Film and Turf

It's the Fairtrade The Event! No slaving away for a pittance here. We do it for free! Hnunm...

Listings •••

The Event is published fortn ightly by Concrete: Post: PO Box 41 0 , Norwich, NR4 7TB Tel : 01603 250558 Fax: 01603 506822 E-mo il: su.concrete@uea .ac.uk Printed by: Archant

The Fringe Festival

Editorial

The Fri nge@ the Factory, Saturday 25 September- Saturday 17 October. The Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts is running a mini gallery with sculpture, animation, music, performance and worksh ops . For more information contact Sarah Cannell on 01603 218368. The Fringe p r esents The Big Draw, Friday 1-Sunday 17 October. See reviews p7. @ The Playhouse: Hard Times presented by Love and Madness Wednesday 6 &Thursday 7th October, 7.30pm @ The Maddermarket Theatre 'I Pagliacci,' Norfolk Opera Players, Friday 8 October & Saturday 9

October

@ Theatre Royal Haml et, Tuesday 12- Saturday 16 October, 7 .30pm & 2.30pm matinee Thurs & Sat @UEA, LTl Andre Brink, Wednesday 13 October, 7pm. David Leavitt, Monday 18 October, 7pm. The next two g u0sts of the Arthur Miller Literary Festival reading from n ew m aterial.

@ The Playhouse Natalie Hayne s- Still N ot Sorry, Saturday 16 October, 8pm

@ Puppet Theatre

Yankie comedian with a big following in England and Europe. Part of an impressive comedy line-up at the Playhouse.

Sorcerer's Apprentice , Saturday 9 October, 2.30pm, A blend of physical theatre, humour and technical magic. The sorcerer's apprentice is about to overstep his limits.

@Theatre Royal Norman W isdom, Sunday 17 October , 7. 30pm

@The Maddermarket Theatre The B'Eagles, Sunday October 10, @ Drama Studio UEA Concertina , Tuesday 12 October, 7pm,

aving munched my way through the now traditional Production Weekend Pizza-Fest, it has occurred to me that, much like the spatterings of garlic sauce and half-eaten olives adorning my otherwise pristeen woolen jumper, I am like a stubborn stain, hard to shift, despite Phil's efforts. However, Sarah Edwardes and Tim Barker will soon be administering the Vanish. I wish them luck and ask that you all play nice and treat them well, no mucking about... I'll still be hovering around the office, like a bad smell after too many chillies [belch] , as it's hard to leave Concrete once it's got you. Seriously, you wander into the office for what was supposed to be five minutes . chat and eventually leave, a little blearyeyed the next morning, with pages of text burned into your retinae, haunting your dreams .. . Hope you like this issue of The Event. Remember, all of you: get involved! And maybe you too, one fine day, will be chewing on free pizza bought with the office's petty cash. Mrnmm ...

Sir Norman Wisdom stars in a comedy and music show.

@ Theatre Royal Boogie Nights, Monday 18- Saturday 23 October, 9pm & 6pm Friday & Saturday

Concertina is the new anthology from UEA 's renowned Creative Writing and Life writing MA courses. Admission is free and complimentary drinks are offered. ·

For further listings, see p. 18

Nathan Hamilton

06.10.04

Cinefile hey Li

A Story for our Time

no. 45

Who lives? 'They ' do. The y are a specie s of intergalactic busine ss p eople controlling the ear th and th e human race to improve their own profit margins. They h ave taken control of the earth's m e dia and are using it to broadcast brainwashing signals that inte rfe re with the way humans p e rceive the world around the m . All of human culture is a sham , an im a ge create d by the se exp loita tive capitalists , and it takes Rowdy Roddy Piper a nd a p air of sunglasses to sort the m out. Sunglasses? Yes . You see, Rowdy Roddy Piper plays all American hero - as yo u would expect him to John Na d a who "still believe s in the American dream" , that is until one d ay he finds a set of sunglasses, which a llow h im to see Aliens among the people. But that's n ot all; the sunglasses b lock the TV transmission s th at are c ontrolling th e populous, allowing Joh n to see things for wh at th ey really are. With the sunglasses on, money bears the inscription 'THIS IS YOUR G OD' and billboards carry messages like ' GO TO SLEEP' and 'REPRODUCE' . It's all a huge conspiracy where the Aliens - and s ome cornplicit Humans- are controlling h uman activity to make a lot of money. As one of the characters says: "The Earth is their third world" So it's Sci-Fi, then? With some kind of moral a ttached? Yes , and No. The director, John C arpenter, is widely regarded as a propone n t of Sci-Fi, but h e's covered a wide range of genres throughout his career. Ma d e in 1988, Th ey Live is largely a cr itique on 80s capita lis m and the conse quences of the 'Wall Street' eth os. It turns th e tables on th e ideas of the time.

ertain stories h ave attaine d a privileged position within our culture; these stories exist not only in their own right but have b ecome arch etypes that emerge time and time again. Thes e storie s are retold a nd reworked so often because they reflect some thing fundame ntal about our world and us, they refle ct the philos ophical and psychologic al ideals of an e p och . Rorneo a nd Julie t is probably the m ost prominent of these story types and has forme d the narrative skeleton for endle ss love stories in which love goes h and in hand with sa crific e and tragedy. Dances with Wolves, directed by and starring Kevin Costne r and winne r of th ree Ac a demy awards and three Golden Glob es, is a nothe r such story and b e cause of this it has exercised an in cre dible influe nce on cinema in the last d e cade. Although it is itself influenced by the earlie r Lawrence of Arabia by David Le an, where it in particular inherits its e p ic qualities, it has c ome to replace that earlier film in the m od ern conscience, most likely because of its uncomp romising account of the Native

begins to empathise with them as he learns more about their culture and c ome s to see the pre judices of his own, until eventually he take s their side in the final b a ttle. At the beginning of the film Dunbar volunteers to take up a solitary position in a remote abandoned fro ntier p os t where he remains alone and forgotten by the war and the so-called civilise d world. Initially, the Indians are absent except for an almost supern atural sense and when they finally do enter the frame they are presented , as tradition dic tate s , as ruthless savag es who pepper a wag on driver with arrows . Howeve r this is the portray al th e film will slowly overturn and subvert throughout its beautifully m easure d three-h our d uration and s o ve ry soon we are tre ate d to an intim ate lo ok into the Siou.x e nc ampme nt. We are p rivilege d obse rve rs of a pow wow on the subjec t of wha t to d o with the white man and h ear a conve rsation marke d with p oignant irony as one warrior claims that the white race is weak and 'will all b e dead soon' . Th e pe r sisten ce of Dances with Wolves as an important cinematic event is evident in Torn C ruise's recent resetting of the film in Japan as The Last Samurai. In this film Torn Cruise play s a

The story of Dances with Wolves is as much about the modern politics of multi-culturalism as Tarzan is about the imperial policy of socialising the savage. Ame rican genocide, which is still a complex topic in American culture. Its narrative can be found reflected partially or fully in any number of film s the best e xamples of which are C on quest of Paradise , Last of th e Mohicans and, more recently, Torn Cr uise's Th e Last Sam urai. These films are so dis tinctive, and so

ethnographer/soldier who has learnt the culture of the Native Americans in order to infiltrate their ranks as a spy, something h e is racked with guilt over. He is sent to Japan to aid in the rounding up and d e struction of the last remnants of a samurai rebellion a gainst the invading Americ ans and the collaborationist

similar in m any ways , that they can be said to occupy a sub-ge nre of their own. D ances with Wolves is a nouveau Weste rn, on e of the many released over the past twenty years which have amongst othe r things complicate d the simple moral dialectic of the Cowboy and Indian. Se t during the American Civil War, itself a time of considerable moral ambiguity, the film focuses on a honourable soldier called John Dunbar, d utiful to the point of stupidity, played by Kevin Costner who enters the world of the Siou.x Indians. It is a world totally unlike his own and, according to the prejudices of his society their culture is d e emed inferior and barbaric. However throughout the course of the film h e

g overnment. Howeve r, he is s oon taken captive and he ld in the Samurai village in the m ount ains , which is made inacce s sible by sn ow during th e winte r months. In this isolated environment Cruise 's ch aracte r, like Dunbar, learns to appreciate the ways of his captives and wins their re spect by training himself in the martial arts. Th e Last Samurai is aware of its p e digree and the debt it owes Dan ces wi th Wolves. The very fact that the film begins in the American Western milie u and then follows Cruise to Japan isn't simply to create a powerful juxtaposition b e tween the two. cultures but to emphasise the historical progression between the two films .

But why a satire? Well it came at a time wh e n afflue nce was at an all-time high and so was political apathy. TV is an easy target wh en it com e s to cr itiques of apathy, but it also raises some interesting que stion s about oth er, more culturally ingrain ed, activitie s. It's by no mean s a subtle film, but it does have som e sub tle sug g estions . The exte nt of the control e xercise d by the system, and the general response of people to their lack of success, are b oth given some insight. Insight; in what sense? The fa ct remain s tha t 80s Ame rica (and the UK) was an e ntirely self-serving place to live. The thing about the Aliens and the ir accomplices is that they have no qualities to identify them as human. As soon a s you objectify any life form into its utility, then you lose the essential qualities of humanity; compassion, empathy, a nd other similar words that we don't hear much nowadays. Some times, we do discover that the people we know lack these. qualities , and that 's when they stop appearing human to us , like the lady in the closing shot who realises she's sleeping with an Alien. The film's biggest message, though, is that no conclusion is reached. All that is given to people is the information about what is happening; it 's up to them to do something about it.

06.10.04

h e story of Dances with Wol ves itself is a clever inversion of a m uch earlier narrative arche type the most famous e xample of which is Tarzan . Tarza n , a key film of the early part of the century, is about the socialisation of the aborigin e by the civilised west. It is telling that the condition on which the relationship between Tarzan and Jane is permitted is that Tarza n must b e cultured and westernised. Tarzan , therefore, reflects the ideals and values of th e imperial ruling p owers, a body of b eliefs that is explored in Rabb it Proof Fence. Here, it is inte re sting to note th at Australians only stopped classifying the Aborigines as flora and fauna in 1975. Rabbit Proof Fence cr itically returns to the imp erial age of Britain, a tim e that is often portrayed in the ro sy glow of n ostalgia. It openly attacks the mission arie s p ractice of forcin g British culture on the aborigines after ab ducting the m from their families and dramatises the true s tory of three children who escap e d and travelled an impossible distance b ack to their h omes. It is this cultural oppression that is also explored in The M ission, althou g h this film is m ore com p lex b e cause it su ggests that the missions o f e ighteenth century Spa nish South Amer ica acted as a sanctuary for the displaced native s wh o were treate d as slave s by their c onque rors . Despite th e fact that all the se films are set in the p ast, they seem to tell us m ore about ourselve s than mo st films se t in a conte mporary conte xt. The story of Dances wi th Wolves is as much about the modern politics of rnulti-culturalisrn as Tarzan is about the imperial policy of socialising the savage. Tarzan is a film of its age, and what better proof of this than the comedy George of th e jun g l e, which demonstrates that Tarzan in contemporary society is an object of ridicule that may only be lampooned, never repeated. However, with G!obalisation and the cultural homogenis ation it enacts by forcefully opening up developing countries markets to western businesses, we are perhaps entering a new epoch in which the story of Tarzan will be more relevant than that of Dances with Wolves. All the more reason why it is so important to honour this groundbreaking film and the values it embodies.

........-........................................................ Feature OS

'' ••• four monkeys onstage'' Is it possible that Razorlight are about more than just column inches and cheekbones? Ben Patashnik wanted to find out ... it like

stratos pheric? "At the beginning of this year I was completely fucked, I didn't know what I was going to do with my life." And now? "I have to invent new ambitions. Main Stage at Reading, 1bp of The Pops twice, CD:UK, T in The Park, sold out tours , the cover of the NME twice .. . " In amongst the blue glow of the Union Bar, Andy, Razorlight's drummer as of five months ago is considering life in one of Britain's fastest rising new bands. As he and bassist Carl nurse pints of Stella, they appear fairly content with life while considering what their personal definitions of success are. "Since I was 10 and started listening to music there hasn't been another option for what I want to do with my life," states Carl, softly spoken but with a disarming sense of focus and control in his voice. "Just being able to release an album and go on tour like this and .. : : Andy

you mean. I agree with Carl but I'm perfectly not bothered. It's the same as Blur - Darnon was always on the cover of the NME on his own, Robert Smith, Tim Burgess ... " And this doesn't bother you at all? "He's a really good songwriter and a fantastic frontman so you can't complain, but it doesn't reflect the work we all put in." Carl continues of Borrell: " 99% of what's written about the band is about Johnny." Which brings us nicely onto the subject of the music press. Even from their first tentative steps on the indie scene, the NME has been hailing Razorlight as the leaders of whatever trend they're trying to invent next, and it is the NME Student 1bur that has brought Razorlight to our fair campus. While some bands might feel beholden to such a widely-read and (in some quarters) trusted organ, it swiftly becomes clear that Carl and Andy do 'not want to fall into the trap of complete subservience to the notoriously fickle (hands up who has seen any recent features on Gay Dad?) music weekly. Carl is especially unimpressed. "We toured already and did the same venues before this tour when the

"We toured and did the same venues before NME g ot hold of us ... it's a bit dodgy, they're like the Hello Magazine of the indie world." jumps in; "Being able to live like this and do what we do, that was my ultimate ambition." The pair constantly finish each other's sentences, and throughout the course of the interview Andy and Carl debate whether Sony or Philips make the. best Dictaphones as well as offering The Event the chance to see them again at Wembley Arena. The only question that immediately springs to mind is this; where did Razorlight's 'difficult' reputation come from? "I spend all my waking time in thls band and no one notices," grins Carl, and it's not entirely clear whether or not he's joking. While it would be wholly inaccurate to say that he's whinging or throwing a rock-star tantrum he's got a point - before this article could you name any member of Razorlight that wasn't their media-savvy and limelightcourting frontman Johnny Borrell? Andy is more reticent on the matter, but not to the point of being submissive. "I think a lot of people notice us but I knew what

thi.; ir.terview), the band is trying to kee p t'lings m p e rsp active. "l ;'s really hard to judge what size vie are now. I mean, we're just four monkeys onstage. I only joined five months ago and it's not going in at all," smiles Andy. "People compare us to Keane or Franz Ferdinand or other big bands, but if we quit now no one would remember us." The words of a gobby, wannabe rock-star blinded by fame or simply a bloke in a genuinely promising band with his feet on the ground? The legacy of Razorlight will be decided in the next

year or so and whether they implode like The Libertines or explode like Muse is touch and go. It's certain that another impressive album is needed in order to cement their presence on the national consciousness and ensure that they don't "do a Gay Dad." What they do have in spades is ambition and when asked how much more there is to accomplish, Carl replies in measured tones, "the whole world." It's difficult not to take him at his word. All we need to do is keep them off crack and Razorlight could be something special. .

NME got hold of us. It's a bit dodgy, but anyway. NME is really behind us." It must

be said, you hardly seem ecstatic at such an endorsement. "It's like the Hello magazine of the indie world," laughs Andy. "But I like NME more than Hello." Are you sure, Carl? "Yes." u may be forgiven for thinking that Razorlight had already conquered the plant and enslaved us puny humans as they sit atop ivory plated thrones, living in a whirlwind of opulence from the astronomic sales of their seventeenth double album - such is their ubiquity on the indie scene and near-constant presence on radio and television. But the reality is that however much the quartet have achieved thus far, their sights are always set on what they can achieve in the future. Even with the news that their debut album has literally just reached the hallowed status of platinum (they found out on the day of

06.10 .04

Kind hearts and concerts

veryone can name either a fundraising single or a band that has been closely linked to a particular charity. The history books are littered with examples: John Lennon's bed-ins, festive favourite Do They Know It's Christmas, and the Live Aid concerts organised by Bob Geldof, to name just a few. Only last Wednesday U2 's Bono gave a speech at the Labour Party conference calling for Britain to "get real" and fight the problems of world poverty and AIDS, while in 2003 The Eurythrnics, Queen and Beyonce took part in the hugely successful 46664 concert hosted by Nelson Mandela. The

fact remains that while the music industry is hardly the most ethical business (and do not forget for even a second that it is a business), there is always an undercurrent of support for the odd worthy cause. Frankly, it's hard not to notice the efforts that Chris Martin and Coldplay have undertaken to promote Oxfam. Even though he's gone through a stationer's supply of b u os scrawling "Make Trade Fair" on the back of his hand, it is undeniable that Martin has helped to raise the campaign's profile. Every photo taken became unofficially sponsored by Oxfam, and during their world tour the band secured over three million signatures for the campaign. "We'd like to raise awareness about the ide a of

Phil Collins and Bob Geldof practise their catalogue model poses at Live Aid

more fair trade around the world," said Martin. It seemed that everywhere he went Martin was promoting what he believed in and if he could make even this cynical Event journo visit the site to try and understand what he was talking about then surely anything's possible. Alongside constantly using their own website to promote Oxfam's work, this time last year Chris and Coldplay guitarist Jonny Buckland travelled to Mexico to deliver their petition to the

The fact remains that while the music industry is hardly the most ethical business, th~re is always an undercurrent of support for the odd worthy cause. World Trade Organisation Summit. Coldplay's venture into the world of volunteer work is an important counterpoint to the celebrities who use the plights of the unfortunate to promote th~rnselves. No names will be mentioned, but they are easily spottable with a handy copy of Heat and a nice pair of reading glasses. o where does the music world stand today, in our environment of !-Pods, MP3s and file sharing? Using the internet you are now able to donate to your favourite charity without the embarrassment of having to actually go to Woolies and buy the Comic Relief Charidee Single of the Week. It is possible for you to stay huddled in your room, buy the latest (and often exclusive) tracks from your favourite bands and donate to charity at the same time without having to scroung e around in your pocket to see if you have any loose change. Oxfam's new Big Noise Music website [www.b ignoisernusic.corn] is one such source of guilt-free entertainment heaven, with 12,000 artists all competing for the money in your PayPal

Coldplay's Chris Martin.Hand slogan added digitally.

account. Those of you fluent in the language of ' Geek' may notice that the Big Noise site is being powered by OD2, the same company that powers HMV, Virgin , MSN, Coca-Cola and Wanadoo, but the major difference with the Big Noise jaunt is that you are not lining the pockets of the multi-national. In Oxfam's case, you are guaranteed that ten pence of every pound you sp,end goes into the Oxfam charity kitty. Bands like Coldplay and George Michael are linked with the venture, and the recent Embrace comeback single (written, funnily enough, by Chris 'ubiquitous' Martin) Gravity was released a week early on the site. Bands like Muse and Radiohead are also using the website to sell 'official' live tracks, meaning no more dodgy audience screams for your listening pleasure! The success of Big Noise Music has led to other charities using the internet's popularity to help their cause. The War Child Music website [www.warchildrnusic.corn] is a fantastic website that every month showcases exclusive tracks from bands like Torn Waits, Radiohead, Keane and Lucky Jirn. For the bargain price of £3.50 a month you are guaranteed at least five exclusive downloads and you can relax safe in the knowledge that for every track you download from the site War Child will receive about 70p. hrough the use of music and the interne!, charities are able to accrue a larger piggy bank so that they can continue doing their work . So if you have got nothing to do today, why not download some legal (and cheap) music today from one of ·the charitable sites? You drink fair-trade tea, so why not refresh your ears at the same time and listen to fair-trade music?

For further information on the bands and companies mentioned, visit: w;vw.coldplay.com www. ox[am. org. uk ww:bignoisemusic.com ww: warchildmusic.com Turn to page 13 of Concrete to read an interview with Bob Geldof.

06.10.04------------------------------------

.:.

lan Rankin

America, though the money actually came from Raymond Chandler's estate. Ten grand for a crime writer to go to the States, stay a minimum of six months and to do whatever you wanted, just because it was a Fullbright thing. I was supposed to hook-up with universities and give some talks ... but what I really wanted to do was drive around the country in an old VW bus and I thought, 'What would Raymond Chandler want me to do with the money?' So I got a bus. But, yes, I write about places to try and get my head around them. I wrote Watchmen, which is set in London, when I moved to London and all the Rebus books up until Black & Blue, which is

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t didn't take long for Ian Rankin to settle into talking about his career. "I started writing about Edinburgh to get a handle on the place really; I arrived there as an eighteen year old student and thought 'I don't understand this place.' I grew up in a really small coal mining town of seven thousand people where everybody knew everybody else, literally. My uncle and aunt were two doors away. Another uncle and aunt were over the back fence. It was a really claustrophobic place, but in a good way ... but then I got to Edinburgh, the big city, which seems ironic now when you look at places like London, Manchester, Birmingham... I mean its half the size of Glasgow, but Edinburgh seemed very big and complex to me so I started writing about it to try and make sense of it and a major part of that process was Muriel Spark; she once said that writers 'loiter with intent' and I think that's true. We're very much voyeurs, sipping coffee, taking notes, dipping into things, people's lives, take what we need and then move on to the next victim, eavesdropping on conversations, lifting characteristics ... In fact, the reason I chose Muriel

Spark as the subject of my PhD was incredibly venal; my undergraduate degree was American Lit, specialising in twentieth century authors. I wanted to do my PhD on Thomas Pinchen but my mind was changed by a supervisor who told me that I'd never get Scottish education department money to study an American writer in Edinburgh and I was desperate to get back into Uni so I said 'Who should I study then?" and he suggested Muriel Spark, you know? 'Who's she?' Miss Jean Brody. 'Oh, I've heard of that ... ' Yeah, and twenty two other novels .. . So I went and read all her books and cobbled together a proposal and got in. But the reason that I wanted back in wasn't to do a PhD on Muriel Spark, it was to write my own books. It was for the British tax-payer to give me enough money to live on to write, which I duly did, and when the PhD money ran out, I ran off. But I thought at the time, what would Muriel Spark want? Another unreadable PhD thesis sitting in a library, gathering dust or would she want me to write my own books? I've always felt that way ... I won a Fullbright scholarship to go to

he Norwich Gallery at the top of St. George Street has opened its new exhibition of drawings by different artists, simply called Living Dust, which is running throughout October. The man responsible for curating the exhibition, the British artist David Musgrave, mentioned in his opening speech that the drawings chosen all have a personal relevance to him. They should therefore be seen in the light of the man himself. However, the works on display do not entirely cc-rrelate with the intended makeup as shown in the exhibition catalogue. This is because for some reason, four works were withheld ,including one from the Sainsbury collection and two from the Tate. It's only important because the catalogue represents the ideal according to the concept from Musgrave, and is only noticeable if you buy a catalogue, so I think its best to talk about the works on show rather those intended. The name of the exhibition refers to the idea that all drawings are fundamentally lines of graphite or ink residue impressed onto a page. In his essay at the front of the catalogue, Musgrave talks about the problems associated with drawing as having been present for hundreds of years. His choices of drawings each present and treat these problems in different ways. All but three are post 1950's; a small Rembrandt etching,

a study of a rock by John Ruskin, and a nineteenth century print of an engraving by Durer. The naturalism of the masters is in direct contrast to the modern artists whose works range from the abstraction of Guston, the surrealism of Ernst and Tanguy, to the more modern artists such as · Hughes, LeWitt and Musgrave himself, whose works defy easy categorisation. There are common themes in many of the drawings which were specifically intended by Musgrave, whose own work ·is concerned with the indication of codes of language and meaning through visual media. Many relate to the rudimentary methods of creating a drawing, such as the use of line, shadow, foreshortening and perspective. E. H. Gombrich identified these methods as 'schema,' which are used according to artists' particular world views, and thus each artist represents a separate and unique view, which is shown in their drawing. However, when walking around The Norwich Gallery, the contexts for the drawings are not at hand, as the curators decided not to put explanatory placards next, to them in an attempt to let people think about the differences between the imageries rather than the societies the artists worked in. Although not comprehensive on the subject, the new exhibition does deal with the idea of drawing being central to the concern of artists in an interesting way. In an essay cited by Musgrave in the catalogue, written by John Berger, the distinction is made between 'working' and 'finished' drawings. Working drawings are said to be a kind of thinking on paper, a getting to grips with an event or subject, whilst finished drawings are events in themselves. I think part of Musgrave's intention then must have been to put across the message that working, or I suppose, living drawings can also be their own events.

~';J;

"Writers hate re-reading their stuff because they always want to change 1•t •"

seven books into the series, are pretty much apprentice works. I was still trying to get to grips with character, narrative, sense of place ... writers hate re-reading their stuff because they always want to change it. As soon as you finish it, you want to change it. When I'm reading bits out at readings, I'm tweaking ... but you can't go back into a paperback and keep making changes... very expensive, so my publishers tell me. But with Black & Blue everything just clicked, even thinking about planning the book; knowing that it was going to be a much bigger story; more plots taking Rebus out of Edinburgh - he goes to Glasgow, he goes to Aberdeen, he goes to the Shetland Islands, he goes to an oil rig in the North Sea; geographically and thematically it was bigger. I also used a real case for the first time too- a lesson I learnt from James Elroy, the American crime writeL It adds to the suspension of disbelief that we're always after as writers because if people know that one thing is real, they start to believe in everything else. Now I think I play that trick quite well, putting enough real stuff into the books that people forget they're reading a novel and so become much more involved in the story and that's one of the reasons I like to meet readers at signings; to find out what they like and don't like, if its worked, answering their questions ... because writing's a solitary profession. I can't do it when anybody else is around, or when I'm touring; I can only do it in my office with music playing in the background, usually Mogwai on repeat. I struggle with things with lyrics, though The Cure's Disintegration is Ok. I used to think that if I was writing a car chase, 'I'll stick on some Jesus & Mary Chain 'cos that's fast ,' but it doesn't really work like that."

•

Ewen Macintosh as Keith, or is it Keith as Ali G?

•

ICe student favorite. "It's good to work with loads of people" he reasons, and lists Matt Lucas among the most famous people he's met since working on Th e Office. Ewen is also due to make "another little cameo" as a bus conductor in the upcoming second series of Little Britain , which is due to go down a storm.

eith from The Office (also known as Ewen Macintosh) will be gracing the LCR with his presence on Thursday 7th Oct. walk-on walk-off minute guest appearance for Ewen, far from it. We're in for a two hour set of DJ-ing all performed by the man himself. Promising " cheesy numbers" aplenty, and with rumors of reviving the famed Ali G garb, Ewen is prepared to party. While most of us already associate Thursdays at the LCR with a distinct flavour of fromage, it seems we 're set for an evening spent doing nothing but embracing classics of the dance floor all to the beat of Keith's decks. "We got a lot of requests for R'n'B last time" Ewen recounts, requests that the song collection to hand just won't fulfill. "Its all about the cheese" is the theme of the night, so get a Babycham in hand and your best glam rags on. When looking back on The Office's finer moments it's easy to see why Keith has become such a cult figure, despite not even being named cast when the series started. His monotone responses when asked by David Brent (Ricky Gervais) to complete an employee assessment form underscore just how mundane such activities are and how pointless they can be. Verging on inanimate at times , Keith seems to have absorbed the excruciatingly tedious atmosphere that The Office presents, and personified it perfectly. He is the pinnacle of the many lifeless workers

that Brent desperately tries to win the admiration of, and Keith's impermeable nature proves how futile Brent's efforts are. Ewen recounts that the chance to be in The Office "just came out of nowhere, it was an amazing thing to do ". While on the show he managed to demonstrate the delicate balance of passivity and obliviousness that make Keith seem not only painfully real, but entirely unbelievable at the same time. The Office as a whole also depends on the same balance, making it some of the

"We're writing a sitcom for the BBC" Ewen reveals most cringe-worthy viewing on the market today. Ewen comments that he's often told how most people "found it painful to watch, which is weird for us because it was just fun". It's hard to believe that the tingling social awkwardness that dominates the audience's side of the camera doesn't pervade the set. Still, Ewen insists that behind the scenes was nothing like what was captured on camera and describes filming the series as one of the "highlights" of his career so far. Not bad for his "first real acting gig" . When questioned on whether he'd take part in another series of The Office, Ewen replies " I definitely would. I think everyone would". Although he makes it clear that this isn 't on the cards right now. As well as The Office, Ewen has appeared in Little Britain , yet another

owever, there's more to Ewen than came os a nd novelty DJ sets . "We're writing a sitcom for the BBC" he reveals in a tone that seems to c omprise an odd mix of nonchalance and excitement, without a hint of egoism. The "we're" re fe rs to Navelgazing, a comedy group that Ewen has been working with since before his career took off with The Office. The group also counts Jamie Deeks among its members , who can be seen milling around The Office too, as well as Jack Brough and Dan Johnston. Opting to "stick with the comedy", Ewen is as happy behind the camera as he is in front of it. This will probably be an important factor in Ewen moving on from being continually recast as variations on Keith from The Office, a danger at this stage in his career. After some gentle nudging from The Event, Ewen reveals the sitcom is going to be about the revival of an eighties band. "They were a child band, and they're reforming because one of their singles is being re-released", he explains. First impressions would suggest that the show will fit into the quirky comedy slot, with a hint of darkness similar to a lot of the BBC's best comedy offerings of the past few years. As The Event continues talking to Ewen the subject of television, that great leveler, creeps into the conversation. "There's a great show called Curb Your Enthusiasm " he beams, his tone e nthusiastic. Curb You Enthusiasm has a lot in c ommon with The Office , although the line between comedy and reality is far more difficult to identify. It seems tha t despite being at a pivotal p oint in his

own career, Ewen remains as big a comedy fan as any of us . He seems eager to talk about his own work, but just as eage r to discuss more general subjects and does so with a s much zeal. This is arguably one of the best credentials for being an effective comedy writer. None theless , Ewen remains modest about his own work. He 's good natured about being recognised in the street by fans of The Office , and insists that he doesn 't get hassled often. "People often shout 'Keith' at me , as though my name actually is Keith" being his only qualm, although he admits he does look a lot like him. This laid-back approach gives Ewen an aura of quiet confidence that's quite endearing. The LCR is just one of many tour dates for Ewen in his Keith persona. When asked about how the idea came about he points the finger squarely at Ricky Gervais, "he thought it would be hilarious". "He's just a funny bloke really" , Ewen continues, which is probably the best description ever heard of the comedian. "People should definitely come down, because it's going to be a really good night" he closes, and it's as good an invitation as any.

06.10.04------------------------------------

"Let it Roll Baby... '' he man who sits in front of us exudes a certain poise, filling the space he occupies with a tangible energy. His eyes are bright and, as he speaks, he surveys those assembled with a steely intensity. "Right," he begins with a wry smile, "lets take a vote. A fifteen minute lecture on semiotics ... or you can see The Libertines." If you were looking for somebody who embodies the principal of 'right place at the right time... a lot', you could do worse than inspect the CV of Peter Whitehead, a man who, by his own admission, accidentally became the first pioneer of the pop promo and, in doing so, captured some of the most candid footage of ihe Sixties' beautiful youn.g things ever shot. By the end of the screening the white haired man sitting onstage has revealed himself to be not only a superb judge of the mood of

years. Hosted by the ever adventurous Cinema City, this was an event, and as the house lights dim there was a palpable air of excitement and expectation. Now, it's no secret that The Rolling Stones were sexy young things in '66 but it's still amazing to see them acting up to the camera at their doe-eyed, sultry best. In the studio with Marianne Faithful they smoulder, but its Whitehead's footage of the promotional tour of NewYork that reveals ]agger and eo, at their raw best. Brian ]ones already looks bloated and wankered in eve.r y shot, adding credence to the view that, treading thin'ice as a tiresome passenger in his own band, dying was probably the smartest thing he could have done. · Some poor bugger has to come next and it's The Shadows, who armed to the teeth, good-naturedly gander about a beach in pursuit of a girl in a

"I've never listened to pop music but I always filmed what I liked, I liked the energy of those boys and they make a pleasing racket to my ears. the times - chronicling the pop explo- · sion of'6S and beyond, the burgeoning acid-fuelled psychodelia of swinging London - but an ability to recapture his muse via a dalliance with one of the most vital and hypnotic bands of the current generation. So it was that in mid-September those asynunetric of haircut, long in the tooth and 'hopeful The Pete makes it' gathered at Norwich's Playhouse Theatre to feast their eyes and ears on a treasure of music and film brought into being and into Norfolk by a man who's been a virtual recluse for the past 30

skimpy, feathery number - a recurring theme in Whitehead's work - which is all very nice but only goes to prove that Hank Marvin with a gun is in no way as threatening as Keith Richards in granny glasses. Next up, the three Small Faces who aren't Steve Marriot chase Steve Marriot and give him a good thwacking, dressed as coppers... bonkers and Hendrix frolics at the Marquee - he was small wasn't he!? Highlights such as these are interspersed with Easy Rider influenced whimsy ... and Nico in Docklands, but, groundbreaking as they·might have been at the time, most

of the pop vignettes feel dated - you can only see so ~any starlets cavorting in not much in the Thames estuary before the appeal begins to dwindle and the question of directorial motive raises its ugly head. Some of Whitehead's ideas however, can be traced right through Britpop to the present day. Supergrass could never have made the video for Alright without his short for Itchycoo Park and Suede's '94 documentary Love & Poison harks directly back to his shots of Alexandra Palace in '67. After the initial montage of short promo set pieces, we're shown footage from the first ever Pink Floyd rehearsal, spliced with shots from a performance the same year at London's UFO club. Whitehead introduces it with a short explanation of how he came to fund, lose and find the film, ending with the suggestion that it's "the best footage of Syd Barrett ever shot." Though the film is compelling and, yes, Syd is definitely having a whale of a time nursing strange and wyrd sounds from his guitar in the corner, the pervasive feeling is one of weighty sadness - like watching late footage of Elliot Smith, Kurt Cobain or Ian Curtis - but, yet again, the very fact that we have this record of such hapi?enings is impressive ... ut it is the final reel of film that has brought many of the· audience here tonight for word has spread that, after a self-imposed abstinence from his camera Peter Whitehead has just finished filming the making of the second, crunch album by The Libertines. "I didn't really want to show this stuff," he says ruefully, "but someone put word about that I would and I didn't want to disappoint anybody ... I've not cut it, all you're seeing is one reel joined onto the next. I hope we get

Great Yarmouth Film Festival t may be, that when confronted by the phrase 'The First Gt. Yarmouth Film Festival,' one might be forgiven for laughing cynically and retorting 'as if that's ever going to happen.' But it has, and from the looks of the four-day line up, it has the possibility of recurring for a good many more years. There is some variety here, even though there is perhaps a little too much tried and tested commercial film (such as The Lord of the· Rings' trilogy, Kill Bill 1 and 2 and Harry Potter) but that is something which will be easy to redress in the future and indeed could well ensure the triumph of this fledgling enterprise. Although Kat Downes, events coordinator of the festival which is being run through the Great Yarmouth Tourist Authority, hopes that in the future the festival will come to embody the 'multicultural strands that reflect the community that lives in Great Yarmouth,' this years festival seems a very British affair. The primary aim seems to be entertainment as Kat asserts, 'the main point is that people enjoy what we do,

as Great Yarmouth is a family seaside resort and we want that to continue.' The main attraction, or 'red carpet event' as it were, is the guest appearance of the Cinematographer Jack Cardiff, a pioneer of Technicolor and a native of Great Yarmouth. The presence of such an important figure was doubt.less a great boon to the festival, as Kat says, 'We tried to show films that had a connection to the town or the region to highlight all aspects of Great Yarmouth and the region and the role it has played in TV and Cinema over the years.' Cardiff has not only worked behind the camera on many highly successful films since the late nineteen twenties, but also directed and occasionally acted. At the age of ninety he is still working and his most recent project has been The Tell-Tale Heart (2004), a dramatisation of the Poe short story of the same name. At the festival he presided over a Cinematography master class and was presented with an award by none other than Norfolk's own Stephen Fry. There were also screenings of A Matter of Life

and Death (1946) and The Red Shoes

(1948), written and directed by the great but often overlooked geniuses of British Cinema Powell and Pressburger, for which Cardiff was director of photography. he Red Shoes was a revelation for me, not having ever been a devotee of ballet. It is a simple story in which a young dancer becomes a great ballet star, only to have her dreams

to see all of it, it's the last shot that I think will convince you, if you are still unconvinced, just how good they really are; just Pete and Carl with acoustic guitars, but they have the audience 'there'." The next 15 minutes reveal two things, well, they reveal more than two things but the 2 that really hit home are that Pete Doherty and Carl Baret share a rare bond of great and genuine affection and kinship, and that a band never lived so much in the moment as The Libertines. Whitehead's studio reels show a strange, endearingly ragged recording process devoid of the hostile tensions that would later split the band asunder. One shot of Pete Doherty lying prostrate on the studio floor particularly lingers ... "I've never li.s tened to pop music," Peter Whitehead muses at one point during the evening, "but I always filmed wha.t I liked. I liked the energy of those boys and they make a pleasing racket to my ears. lf I could advise anything it's to film what you like and let it roll, baby... "

dashed when she has to choose between love and her career. It is notable for its intimate perspective on life backstage and the full glory of a ballet production. The cinematography is outstanding (as one would expect of Jack Cardiff) and there is a sense of excitement that keeps the scenes surging in to the next. What is so wonderful is that a film, which could appear dated, has just as much energy in the twenty-first century as it did when it was first released. It is a fine testament to the fact that a strong plot, well-crafted narrative and powerful performances need rely on nothing else but themselves, something that should be remembered in the sea of C.G.I that is currently being produced. Amongst the other attractions was a Dad's Army night, involving appearances from surviving cast members, as well as screenings of two shows which were shot at Gt. Yarmouth. This should prove popular with both locals and visitors alike. And it wasn't just for those who enjoy watching film; there were workshops for budding screen and T.V writers too, as well as a children's animation workshop. It is encouraging to know that there is something out there in the depths of Norfolk which is attempting to pull all sorts of people in to one common interest and hasn't just been created for those who already know a great deal about film.

s:::=:==---===:....====================----==========================-.~ 06.10.04

10 Feature ~==========================================~~====~====================================================~======================~ Feature 11

With all the force of a Mega Tsunami, The Event's Film Section and Concrete's Turf Team combine their

ore

powers to bring you a look -at ~he concepts, scienc' b ,·:.~; l: _...... .. • ~

111111

o mark the release of Sign up to Kyoto, orNewYork gets it. Artist's impression .

The Day After 1bmorrow on DVD

Dean Bowman. !an Chandler and .I9m§§ ~muse upon the portrayal of environmental issues in cinema... Until now, environmental issues have been traditionally expressed in cinema solely within the cultish, fantasist genre of the Sci-fi (Silent Running) or the childhood domain of the animation (Ferngully and the work of Hayoa Miyazaki spring to mind). Despite the.i r many appeals these

•

• ....

'•'"'/

-·.- J

:..

...

and general impac~ .of ~nviro~mental films...

films have largely failed to impact to any great extent upon the wider social conscience. This is why Roland Emmerich's The Day After 1bmorrow is · such a signifcant cinematic event, for it is the first time such piirotal modern issues as Global Warming have bee.n explicitly addressed by a commercial Hollywood tlm, allowing a still under appreciated environmental issue access to a wider mainstream audience. It is tempting to say that The Day After 1bmorrow has done for the environment VThat Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9'll has done for politics. Whatever c:aims there are to the inaccuracy of both of these films at least they have succeeded in triggering significant debates around their subject>, which is arguably one of the most important functions of cinema as a ?Opular art form. There is a dialectic at work in our thinkin~ on the environment, which can generally be thought of as a conflict between a -

and a technological view. The green view argues that the environment has a right to exist for its own sake and should be preserved for future generations. At the very extreme of this logic is Lovelock's Gaia theory, which argues that the planet has a living consciousness. This view is imbedded in the narrative of Princess Mononoke, an award winning animation by Hayoa Miyazaki, in which the forest is presented as a supernatural entity full of animal gods and the Nightwalker, the benign guardian of the forest. The film focuses on

. ~-'-__ .;-:-.~~

nature. His destiny is to travel to the west and 'see with eyes unclouded by hate' how the humans there are in conflict with nature after he is cursed by an animal demon, itself a product of that battle. Once there he falls in love with Princess Mononoke, an orphan girl raised by wolves, who is leading the attack on the human settlement of Iron Town, where the inhabitants are strip mining the land's iron resources to make rifles. hough the western elease of Princess Mononoke by Miramax notoriously altered some f the dialogue and cut some of the original scenes to emphasise a more simple, Disney-esque moral dialectic between the two sides, the film remains incredibly morally ambiguous. Both sides are presented, often simultaneously, in positive and negative terms. Whilst the film embodies a very green attitude towards man's relationship to nature, containing, as all of Miyazaki's films do, an explicit environmental subtext, it complicates this view by shifting our sympathies from one side to another and back again. If we might suggest that the

best expressed in the realm of the animation then the technological side is clearly best explored in the ultra scientific world of the Sci-fi. A classic example from this genre is Silent Running, in which a man and his robot helpers tend the last remaining patch of rainforest in the artificial environment of a space station. The film is a product of the debates about the environment that emerged in the sixties. It explores the idea of the Technological Fix, the idea that the technology that is produced from the exploitation of the earth's resources can come to replace the necessity for a natural environment. The space station is presented to us as a kind of new Eden with the sole human caretaker, played by Bruce Dern, in the role of Adam. However, when he is told by Earth that all their problems have been solved and the forest, which was being kept as a back up, could be destroyed, he rebels against his orders. Presumably, the forest would only serve to represent a stark reminder to the Earth's guilty conscience, which is why it must be removed from sight The final sequence of the film sees the biosphere that houses the rainforest being cast adrift by Dern and floating off into space. It now truly exists for its own sake

impending doom, the individual plights of our stereotypical, pseudo-symbolic "everyman" characters, sexual innuendo, and people from all walks of life bonding together. We even get to see heroic acts of bravery so unbelievable that you have to laugh when the actors treat it seriously as they deliver hammy lines of dialogue that will make Shelley Winters and William Shatner jealous. It does not take a scientist to see through some of the absurdity of this film such as the scene in which, to save his son, Dennis Quaid swears to walk from DC to New York in the face of a hurricane-like blizzard that freezes everything in its path! Sadly these are the scenes that will live in your memory for years to come, not the political stuff you have been hearing about. Although Emmerich attempts to provide a political context, including a satire of the Bush administration, proenvironmentalist platitudes about how we are reaping what we sow, and a message telling us to be kind to the Third World, these dimensions ultimately jar with general tone of the film. After all, who wants that when Emmerich can show us the Hollywood sign getting blown away by a tornado? Any attempt to provide scientific discourse seems to

green side of the

outside of hwnan influence. However,

merely serve to pass the time between

dialectic

the film's final irony is that the robots remain with the rainforest to tend it, thus reintroducing the idea of natural and technological interdependence.

set pieces - tornadoes hit Los Angeles, New York is swallowed by the rising seas, the northern hemisphere freezes over and Americans have to sneak across the border to Mexico. Pure Hollywood, B-movie magic. In short, the film cannot resolve the paradox betwee.n providing information

ade to a budget of one hundred and twenty five million dollars, The Day After Thmorrow marks a clear departure from these smaller films. It stars Dennis Quaid as Jack - a climatologist stationed at a major Antarctic ice shelf when it gives way, and makes him start to worry about the ramifications for mother Earth. He believes that a massive climate shift, caused by global warming, could throw the earth into a new ice age and result in massive storms that will threaten the lives of every man, woman and child. While he thought this cataclysmic event would happen generations from now, and Jack has failed to . convince the current administration about the dangers the country is facing, his hypothesis has start~d to come true in shocking fashion. As the world is devastated by massive storms, everyone heads South, desperately seeking shelter from the impending ice age, but Jack heads north from Washington, DC to New York to save his son, Sam Qake Gyllenhaal), before the great city is swallowed up by water, snow and ice. Unfortunately, the first film to explicitly e.x plore the issue of potential environmental disaster in the mainstream also detracts from that message with its over exaggerated narrative and morally righteous tone. The Day After 1bmorrow comes off as a shallow special effects tour de force. All of the clicnes are here including the scientist warning us about

Screensh ot from Monoke , m an and nature in conflict.

change it also confused people with its excessively apocalyptical tone. After seeing the film people believed extreme climate change impacts would not happen in their lifetime, which suggests that the film may have had a negative impact on the issues it explores by making a mockery out of the whole subject. On a brighter note the same research demonstrated that people were more motivated to act on climate change after seeing the film, although few could say how they should act, which led the report to suggest that now was the time to begin an information drive on the subject by utilising the popularity of the film and the general awareness it has created. The Day After 1bmorrow certainly isn't a film tha,.t equips you to deal with the issues it confronts; in the place of apathy it merely installs a pessimistic sense of futility. he problem is that The Day After 1bmorrow is first

and foremost a disaster movie, which is a genre that depends on

1!Z(

_\.

soci a1 debate.

presenting -~--~!111 human survival in extreme conditions. Whilst the h

The Day After Tomorrow certainly isn.'t a film that equips you to deal with the issues it confronts; in the place of apathy it merely·installs a pessimistic sense of futility. and creating an inane piece of entertainment. Some movies are the place for making a political statement, but not The Day After 1bmorrow, which simultaneously strives to be summer fun and excels at creating the kind of blow-youaway special effects you might expect from that aim, while the writing team shows its weakness for political satire. The world renowned Tyndall Centre, a UEA based environmental research post, has recently conducted some research on the effect The Day After 7bmorrow has had on movie-goers, which may be published shortly..;iijniiii--lll prestigious • Nature. Surveys were performed Katrina Brown at UCJ and found that although in the short tenn the film did have an impact J railing peoples .u,qh u climate

in Twister create an appropriate milieu for the genre without departing too much from reality, an ice age approaching over a course of years will not be appropriate for the kind of breakneck pacing a film like The Day After 1bmorrow needs to satisfy the demands of its genre and the expectations of its audience. · Both Princess Mononoke and Silent Running explore their environmental issues in a complex manner, with the former using moral ambiguity and the latter utilising a final irony, to remind us of the complex manner in which we are bound up with our environments. However The Day After 1bmorrow in transcending the popularity of these films has over simplified the issues at stake,.presenting an uncomplicated and apocalyptic vision of our potential environmental destruction because of the generic conventions of the Disaster Movie. One thing is significant however, and that is the importance of opening out such issues into a wider

Another Al-Oaeda recruitment poster.. .

....'

12 Music

Live Revie·ws

Well, here it is, the day most Libe~ fans havoe been waiting for ... Mr Peter Doherty live in Noiwich. After reading about previous shows being cancelled for various reasons, there was a fear that the gig may never happen. After waiting through a trio of support acts, there he was, and not enough words can describe the energy and excitement that filled the room. Everyone had obviously waited for the same moment and chants of "leader, leader" overcame Pete. And what a leader he is. Pete Doherty has taken the anger of drug rehabilitation, seeing album he created being toured without him and an endless number of police accusations, and turned -them into one hell of a band. Babyshambles have more raw punk energy than anything aroW\d at the moment or since the Libertines shone through. He has taken every ~at I:fnd~m band and fused them into a nuclear explosion that Korea couldn't hide. Pete also showed his gentle side: every item thrown to him, from a harmonica to h ats, were affectionately played with then gently thrown back. But the music did the talking, and it was genius. You were quite clearly blown away. Someone like this only comes aroWld once every generation. Babyshambles demonstrate that Pete Doherty is a rock'n'roll legend, who should be here to atay.

]ames Banks

Albums Ever since Barn Margera (professional idiot, average skateboarder) brought HIM to the attention of a middle America desperate for some kind of outlet for their privileged angat, the Finnish quintet has been clogging up the airwaves and music channels with their goth-pop bombast and the ubi~tous image of frontman Ville 'sensitive, yet damaged'Valo. Constantly trading on their image to hordes of teenage girls s'IVa.mg_ed in mascara and clutching newly Tipp-Exed bags with cropped black fingernails, HIM will never supersede the sum of. their feeble parts because no arnoWlt of fancy arrangements or well-de signed tattoos can compensate for the fact that HIM are, 'at best, painfully average. If you strip away the arrogant and blustexy over-production what remains is shamefully dull yet embarrassingly selfimportant. Tile likes of The Sacrament and Poison Girl struggle to even make sense,lost amongst the frustrating pomp that dogs HIM at every st'p: what should be a swelling and ornate soW\d is shoehorned into sounding like a Pop Idol version of a Marilyn Manson song. This time next yearValo will be asking if you want fries with that. Ben Patasluaik

Joss Stone

in with the usual assortment of

Biffy Clyro

ly expressed - he describes

Mind, B ody an d Soul

clicks and beeps to form loops that squelch, bounce and shuffle to the point where you think that this should play itself onto a mainStream hiphop radio show to shake up and freak out the opposition. The final track, Diamond Halo Grenade, almost provides the hook you're · after, until it becomes apparent that the first verse is a cryptic description of anal sex that references old Sylvester Stallone movies along the way. Still, broadminded types should lube up their ears and dive in headfirst.

Inruaity Land

his inadequacy as making him

Blend a soulful voice, emotive se.lf-written lyrics, mix in a few legends, and you will come up with something like Mind Body and Soul, a powerful second album from the teenage prodigy Joss Stone. Collaborations with veteran hit makers including Lament Dozier and Desmond Child make up this second, stunning album. After her debut The Soul Sessions, it was hard to imagine exactly how it would be possible to match the unique purity that was Stone's first album. But Mind, Body and Soul is Wldeniably a masterpiece of heartwarming ballads fused with just the right amoW\t of more upbeat funky tracks. Although in the first half it seems she has been suppressed with more mediocre, popish melodies, by the second she performs in a way that might even challenge Aretha Franklin, with the gospel influenced KiJJing Time and spinetingling ballad Sleep Like a Child setting the standard for future generations of soul.

The streets of Norwich are entirely free of ageing, longhailed men in leather jackets, there is a rumbling on King Street and Boots is completely sold out of hair bleach: Magnum must be in town. After a six-year silence, Britain's veterans of heavy rock and hair metal have returned to tour with new album Brand New Morning. The 80s charm of Magnum makes you grin. Pint-sized frontman Bob, a miniature, bottle-blonde Heat.hcliff in front of his wind machine, has an action for every chord change, a series of punches and pulls that any judo instructor would be proud of. Embarrassingly onough, soon you'll be joining in with your own martial arts. Kingdom of Madness storms to the end of the set whereupon we get an WltJSually lengthy break before the encore. Fans try every chant they know to coax their heroes back on stage, presumably whilst the band sit backstage gargling pints of Oil of tnay and rubbing cod liver oil into their joints. Whatever their trick, they come back once more to prove that age is no barrier to great rock music. Catherine La~sdoWll

0 6.10.04

]ulie Th ,rese

Beans Shock City Maverick

When Beans supported DJ Shadow at UEA 18 months ago, his set was accompanied by a faulty backing tape, a dodgy microphone and the utter indifference of 1,000-odd people who simply didn't care. Shock City Maverick, his sec·ond solo album since the demise of old group the AntiPop Consortium, is unsurprisingly more impressive. Everything from xylophone riffs to church bells are mixed

-----!aiiZCIZ.MDiiB..

Alistair Lawrence

H appylife Sweet Resort Epic melody makers Happylife will be the next big thing spawned by the 90s indie explosion and, with that, there's no doubt that Colin and Edith will haemorrhage themselves glorifying these saviours of Britrock. Being honest, the mystique created - as on Paragon - is effective but I'd rather listen to Muse. Equally, the edgy vocals in Breathe for Me could shatter glass but Brian Molko does it better_ In one word Happylife are generic. Harsh but fair: they simply seem unable to bring anything new to Britain's music scene. lf you like your NME bands then Sweet Resort is ideal and you'll be this week's coolest indie-kid, but, like all the others, Happylife will fade away. Don't get me wrong, it's quality stuff, a blunderbuss of sensitivity; it's just been done before. Make me eat my words: buy their album and make them big. They deserve it as much as the rest.

Charles R um.s ey

This is unimpressive at the beginning, but luckily it's a grower and damn, does it grow well. The random screaming that breaks out during a couple of songs won't make any sense, but the ones that you're singing along to five hours after listening to them more than make up for it. The album becomes more important with each listen. None of the songs give off the dreaded impression of "filler" and there's a genuineness that you don't see in some of their contemporaries. Songs like The Atrocity let them down and fall by the wayside, but when you also have immense sound· ing tracks like Wave Upon Wave... and Only One Word Comes to Mind then it's excusable. Infinity Land is not going to change the world, nor is it a classic, but it's an album that Biffy shouldn't be ashamed of and is more endearing by its unpretentiousness.

~Suzanne Rick enback

Gisli How About That?

This angst-ridden Icelandic chap gives us a series of relatively uninspiring tracks, some of which have a nice, warm sound, but all of which remain lyrically wanting. His influences can clearly be heard, a couple of songs having Beckesque vocal harmonies and an Eels-like rapping monologue, with a title track that could have been plucked straight from Fountains Of Wayne's (remember them?) self-titled debut. Gisli's disillusionment with the world is often clumsi-

feel like "lesbian sex without the strap-on". The music flows well throughout, and the acoustic slowdown towards the end does not drag on for too long. How About That? would fit nicely onto an American teen-show soundtrack and, though not in any way original or challenging, this album at least avoids being monotonous or boring.

Hannah Edn ey

Thirteen Sen ses Th e Invitation

Not so much throwing them-

selves on the bandwagon as grabbing onto its wheels for dear life, Thirteen Senses are the latest soaring balladeers to challenge Coldplay for your cash. Their intentiQns couldn't be less subtle if The Invitation came with a free cigarette lighter for waving at the appropriate stadium-rock moments. Everything here is in its right place, from the towering majesty of Thru the Glass to the sweet romantic melody that crowns Do No Wrong. Opener Into the Fire is an obvious single, boasting a hook of dazzling simplicity and a chor\l.S that sounds as if it has always existed somewhere on the airwaves. It's a winning combination, and Thirteen Senses are industriously emotive on even the weakest tracks, but as the closing notes of Automatic fade to their (inevitably) heartwrenching conclusion, the only sense left aroused is the one detecting a distinct whiff of opportunism. Sarah Edwardes

IB!!BI:I:.;;::II/ii:iiii!I.BII!E!!!IIIC!!I'Imllllliiiii&Bii!!!!!:~=::li:lliliD_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __

Singles

Live Reviews

Taken from the mini-album Love the Cup, this is the debut single from Scotland's Sons and Daughters -not, as some had hoped, a radical musical departure for the erstwhile man in black. Their tribute to the much-missed country singer is a rattling. locomotive of a record, its brief running time dominated by a barrage of repetitive rhythms and bristling riffs . Singing duties are shared by Adele Bethel and Scott Paterson, whose boy/ girl call-response style provides the single with a vehement, rasping focal point. More than its namesake, johnny Cash owes a large debt of inspiration to The Stooges, whose brittle late-70s punk sound it sculpts into a pulsating folk melody. While the overall effect is a bit like being slapped repeatedly in the face with a scratched Proclaimers record, the results are ferociously addictive. 'Given that they have fans in famous places (particularly in the shape of quirky chart-toppers Franz Ferdinand) Sons and Daughters look set on the first step to success. With its spiky wit and infectious enthusiasm, johnny Cash should see them through nicely. Sarah Edwardes

Ella Guru

Sia

The Tokyo Dragons

Park Lake Speakers

Numb

Get 'Em Off

An interesting sound from an interesting band; this is, in the words of frontman John Yates, "A stream of consciousness about good times, bad times, good memories, bad ones." Park Lake Speakers is the kind of soulful, melodic ballad attempted by many but pulled off by few. Combined with this is an open minded, eclectic instrumental sound reminiscent of Jeff Buckley, Air and Radiohead. The delicious mix of guitar-based indie rock with more jazz/folk orientated harmonica and brass arrangements is truly refreshing. Ella Guru is a band well worth looking into.

According to her own account Sia lost the plot after gaining instant fame with her top-ten hit Taken for Granted and recording tracks with Zero 7. >ton top of that she also suffered the loss of her true love to a reckless London cabby. Apparently her new music has more feeling in comparison to her previous output (which is obvious with Numb) and pleasingly the lyrics are simple and consolatory, and performed with calming ease. This is a polished pop tune, and works as a chilled out track that shows just enough progression from her early work. AlexFlux

The joy of listening to Get 'Em Off is its enormous subtlety. "I'm handy! Randy! Horny! ... Let's get it on, so get, get, get, get em off!!" No, Mr Tokyo Dragon, speak your mind! It's a power-chord laden, driving rock onslaught topped with energetic guitar solos and an outrageously irresistible sing-a-long feast of riffery. For those who liked The Darkness but didn't "get it", this is modern-day cock-rock without the irony and it's coming for you behind a swathe of long hair, grinning madly beneath its enormous moustache. Headbang, baby, it's the only thing to do.

Sirnon Griffiths

The Others Stan Bowles We can now conclude that Britpop did not represent a resurrection of British popular music, and that it was a massively over-hyped attempt by the record industry t~ cash in on the legacy of The Smiths. Stan Bow/es is dedicated to Mr Peter Doherty, with Masters declaring "I'll always owe you son, gratitude my friend." You won't see The Others having tea with Mr Blair. Instead they'll hijack tube trains and play for free. They are devoted to their fans , and represent a new truth in British music. Keats said "beauty is truth," but Oscar Wilde warned, "to be natural is such a difficult pose to keep up"!

Tonight is perhaps the biggest gig ever to have been staged at the intimate Ferryboa t Inn, with two members of Reel Big Fish gracing the bathroom sized stage in their side project. Suburban Legends play before LMB but their hackneyed horn lines and average grasp of melody don't grab the audience as well they could. The fact that the showmanship is lost to all but the front row of punters doesn't help, but they carry off a solid if not spectacular performance. The abundance of Reel Big Fish t-shirts on display and the air of anticipation during the break makes it clear who the biggest draw is. The Littlest Man Band come as a surprise with a sound that can perhaps be described as power lounge-pop, slowing the pace down but unfortunately letting the momentum of the night slip away. While the reflective tunes are technically impressive, tonight's performance feels more like a support set rather than a headline. David Riley

Catherine Lansdown

The Libertines What Became Likely Lads?

Laurence Guymer

Sum41

This GIRL

Placebo

We 're All To Blame

Master Blaster

Twenty Years

Whisper it - Sum 41 are no longer the punk-lite pretenders they were once packaged as. Instead they've mutated into an astonishingly versatile band with We're All 7b Blame their new calling card. Swerving from monolithic metal riffs to soaring choruses in a flurry of bile and power chords with their bratty angst replaced by something akin to righteous fury, it's a thrilling three-minute slab of focussed aggression that becomes all the more impressive when placed next to their earlier output. This is the sound of a band growing up in the most exciting way possible.

ThisGIRL have developed since their respectable offering Short Strut to the Brassy Front, but they've managed to retain its danceability with new single Master Blaster. Unfortunately it doesn't last and gets repetitive after a while, despite a promising start and the enjoyable randomness of the first couple of minutes. It gradually backtracks into a tedium that makes whatever the person next to you is doing much more interesting than the track. It could be improved greatly (particularly the lyrics) to maintain interest, but whilst the effort is to be commended there just isn't enough.

Placebo may be better known for Brian Molko 's infamous tantrums and Nancy Boy, but what is ignored is that they also have an incredible knack for writing credible, memorable, poignant songs - and this is one of those. Twenty Years concentrates on regrets and I can safely say that if you're feeling down or selfpitying this won't make you feel any better and is probably best avoided. However it's songs such as this that prove Placebo 's worth as quality musicians. Mock Molko's nasal vocals as you wish, but his distinctive voice more than fits the melancholy atmosphere of this song.

Ben Patashnik

Suzanne Rickenback

Of The

You can always read too much into something. Listening to this makes you wonder about Pete and Carl's relationship. "I tried to make you see, but you don't wanna know." Does this sound like someone who has been mugged off by his best mate? Two years in a row, there was no Pete at Reading Festival, but we get "See I forgive you in a song I It's called 'The Likely Lads'." Is this Carl's way of saying he has forgiven Pete by releasing the most emotive song to grace Radio One's playlist for a very, very long time? Jarnes Banks

"We tried to attach the giant bear to the top of the building, but it floated away," announces Gruff Rhys, by way of introduction to the Super Furrj Animals ' one night spectacular at the Royal Festival Hall. Five hours later - after watching Howard Marks absolve the sins of reprobate audience members in his Confessional Booth and hearing interval entertainment Mr Methane apply his "controlled anal breathing" to the Furries back catalogue - this flu-ridden reporter will be left wondering if the entire night wasn't the product of a particularly fevered hallucination. As it happens, the main attraction comprises the least improbable part of the show. Celebrating their first Best Of... album, SFA have accumulated over a decade's worth of idiosyncratic, off-killer tunes with which to fill the ·venue's cavernous auditorium. The first of two sets gives the band an opportunity to indulge, showcasing their mellow side with songs from Welsh language album Mwng and intoxicating acoustic versions of Hometown Unicorn and Demons. Stripped of their cartoonish psychedelia, SFA reveal a heart - and a social conscience - that is all too easily hidden behind the inflatable animals. Gruff will later dedicate juxtapozed With U to an egalitarian future, remarking that "we wanted to rename it the People's Festival Hall, but they wouldn't let us." The concluding set is a flurry of Furry activity, as the band hurtle through their innumerable singles, from a rapturously received God! Show Me Magic to last year's rip-rollicking Golden Retriever. Never less than inspired, and generous to a fault, this is a gig as they should all be played. Sarah Edwardes

06.10.04

...

wo years after it was released in Asia , Quentin Tarantino finally presents, for western audiences Zhang Yimou's Hero. Miramax has held the film back for so long that Yimou's next fe ature, Ho'use of Flying Daggers, is ready for release. Hero was a surprise hit in America, reaching no I in the box office charts and is now the most fin an cially successful mainland Chine se movie ever made. Hero is ano ther film in the wushu (meaning 'heroic warrior') genre that includes Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and is a change of direction for Yimou , who until n ow is most famous for his art-house film Raise th e Red Lantern . Hero tells the story o f Nameless, a warrior who has killed three deadly assassins at a time when China is split into warring kingdoms . Name less is summoned by the king of Qin to te ll his s tory, but the truth is only revealed over a series of flashbacks , a style which has drawn comparisons with Kurosawa's Rash6mon . Jet Li is e ffective as Nameless, a role which has limited scope for any genuine acting ability, but gives Li ample opportunity to display his fighting skills . Ai ded by CGI, the actors are

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able to perform some of the most incredible stunts ever filmed. There is a genuine inve ntiveness about the fight scenes which is refreshing to see in a time when an over reliance on CGI is m aking some filmmakers lazy. The supporting cast is also excellent. Tony Leung and Maggie Che ung, famous ·to weste rn audiences for their roles in In the Mood for £,ove , play two of the assassins who are also lovers. Zhang Ziyi of Crouching Tiger fame has a supporting role but she wi ll take the lead in House of Flying Daggers.

The flashb ack device is interesting, but they become so frequent that it is possible you will lose your way a bit and some may find them tedious. That said, Hero is less about story and realism, and more about the visual impact of cinema; it 's a real treat for the senses. The film is beautiful and the fight scenes are nothing short of stunning; you will find yourself mesmerised to the point of not caring about plo t. Yimou uses various colours, textures and se ttings to keep things fe eling fre sh. Characters cross swords in a rain-soaked chess hall , across a mountain set lake and amids t tree tops and

he makers of Bridge! }ones Diar y, Four Weddings· and a Fun eral and Love A ctu ally have done it a g ain, boasts the official Wimbledon website gleefully. They have done it again, and again , and again. The lates t offering from Working Title films certainly doesn't break any rules , but with the success of sai d films, why would it? Director Richard Loncraine breaks from his past of more gritty TV dramas to create a Four Weddings clone, set in the quintessential British environment of Wimbledon. The pl o t follows underdog Peter C olt's (played by the gorgeous Paul Bettany) chances of escaping a future of teaching sexually frustrated, rich housewives to play tennis, forgetting his days as ! 17th ranked in the world, getting the girl and winning Wimbledon. A Brit win Wimbledon? The strengths of this film don 't exactly lie in its realism. The real selling point is Colt's love affair with feisty American Lizzy Bra d.bury (Kirstin Dunst) , whose character is more than similar to Andie Macdowell's. Dunst plays the tried and tested love inte rest she perfected in the Spide rman films and will probably draw in massive audiences. However after more promising recent performances , such as h er

role in the clever and different Etern al Sunshine of the Spo tless Mind, it's impossible not to feel a little disappointed in this rathei- simplistic role . Be ttany is the real s tar of Wimbledon. He has gradually built up status in films such as A Bea utiful Mind and Master and Commander but truly smolders in his p erformance in Wimbledon . Anyone calling him the new Hugh Grant would not be far off the mark. He's funny, he 's charming, and within a week he will be adored by the entire fema le population of Britain and possibly the world . This film is really not remarka-ble . It is a continuation of a genre that does not look close to d eclining. The new Bridge! }ones alone will ensure several m ore years of the same. As with the previous films of the genre, Wimbledon is fairly funny. There are several good old fashioned comedic mome nts s uch as Peter walking in on his parents 'making up ' in the kitchen. Above all though, this really is a chick flick, with more emphasis on romance than on comedy. The love story is perfectly done and will leave you fe e ling warm and gooey by the time you leave the cinema. Images of Peter and Lizzy frolicking in London and Brighton are matched with

he was dealing with cliche mate rial, Ellis quickly passes over characte riza tions and instead fo cuses on the action. Kim Basinger attracts the audience's sympathy by not being the d amselin-distress, but a pro-active character whose perseverance helps her overcom e seemingly impossible odds. The same can be said for William H. Macy wh o m akes his character not only likable but also believable . Regardless of the e ffective supporting cast, Cellular could have failed if newcomer Chris Evans could not convince as average Joe turned hero, but he does well and this could be the s tart of a successful career in action fi lms. Whilst there are a few moments of unbelievable heroics (like his driving skills and ingenuity), Evans comfortably leads the film and gets the a udience on his side. With phone-base d thrillers being the current trend for Hollywoo d thrillers, it would be no surprise if C ellular is compared to 2002's Phon e Boo th. Whilst the re is some common ground, it is not really surprising as both films were written by Larry Cohen and shoppe d around the studios at the sam e time. With Phone Booth being confined to one loca ti on, Cohen makes the most of the le ad character having a mobile phone and sends him all round Los Angeles.

The re are interesting plot developments that take place a t these loc ations and help the story ra ther than d e tra ct from it. Whilst not being a groundbreaking a ddition to Hollywood thriller genre, Cellul ar is still wor th watching. At a trim 94 minutes , Ellis keeps the pace fast and engages the audience in the both the s tory and

ot on the heels of Michael Mann's Collateral comes another Hollywood thrille r about the average man turned hero. Only this time , the hero is armed with a mobile phone. Whilst this could be seen as clever marketing to show the power of modern mobile phones, David R. Ellis ' Cellular is a slick and fast-paced thriller with e nough suspense to make up for the few moments of di sbelief. A regular high school science teacher (Kim Basinger) is kidriapped by a gang of thugs (including Jason Statham) for, apparently, no re ason. She is taken to a re mote location and left in a n a ttic with only a broken phone for company. Using her science knowledge, she manages to use the remains of the phone to randomly call the recently dumped Ryan (Chris Evans). He initially thinks that it is a h oax but soon realize s tha t n ot only her life is a t risk but also her husband's and son's. He tries to enlist the help of Police Officer Mooney (William H. Macy) but finds that he will near enough be on his own in a ttempting to save the Martin family 's life. Cellular gains the audience's attention by throwing the m headfirst into the action and not letting up for a second. Perhaps knowing that

06.10.04

falling leaves. The colours in e ach scene vary; from bright reds and yellows , to moody blues and greens to the much more omin ous and intimidating black of the Qin army. Sound is just as important a s colour. Take, for example , the dee ply unsettling sound of thousands of arrows flying towards the screen before hammering into the wooden buildings of one unlucky town. Critics are divided over whether Hero is jus t Yimou atte mpting Hollywood-esque commercial filrnrnaking in China, or a genuine Chinese

martial arts film born out of a distinct national culture, and whilst it b ears many of the hallmarks of a typical Hollywood blockbuster, it is certainly like nothing you will h ave seen before. Jt will be a hit with any fan of martial arts flicks , but also offers something different to anybody bored with the standard Hollywood fare . Don't be put off by the subtitles, its worth it for the visual treat served up. David McNauht

a beautiful soundtrack. Highlights include David Gray 's This Years Love which caused a collective sigh from the female audience. The ending is, of course, happy with the outcome visible from the start. This does not matter though. Wimbledon is a sweet, feel good movie that left more that one member of the audience in tears . If you didn 't enjoy previous Working Ti tle installments and want to see something with m ore substance, then this is d efinitely not for you . If you want some lighthearted e ntertainment, then grab some girl mates and g o see it now. Natalie Lasance

the action. Whilst the power of mobile phones is exaggerated, this should not distract you from watching an exciting, if disposable, Hollywood thrille r. Mark Sirnpson

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nal activities , indeed the film finally sugge sts the latter to b e the case though it ne ve r gives any clear conclusion. This is because of the way the film seemingly effortlessly place s us in a position of identification with the children, who are both exceptional actors for the ir age . At one point, for instance, !van witnesses his father buying something in a dock through a pair of binoculars; the scene is presented to us sinisterly through the eyes of !van in a particularly fine example of subjective filming. Our assumptions are, however, undermined when it is later revealed that the father's purchase is not the sinister object we have forme d in our imaginations, along with the boy, b ut a fairly banal and innocent one. Aside from the film's central theme of paternity, another subtext is an enquiry into the relationship between photography and film. Thus , when their father appears a t the beginning, the brothers must verify his identity by referring to a photograph, which is itself placed among the pages of a book full of illustrations of classical heroes , gods and other symbolic father figures . As one of Goddard's characters famously exclaims in La Petit Soldat: 'Photography is truth and cinema is truth twenty-four frames per sec-

and.' The older brother also takes pictures throughout their journey, which we see at the end of the film in a poignant slideshow, like frozen memories. Given its self conscious meditation on the filmic medium and its retrospective grasp of Russian film history, The Return is appropriately cinematic. The way it expertly utilises shot cornpositions to subtly express character relationships and psychologies, can b e seen· to form an

argument for film as a predominantly visual medium, an argument that finds its origin in the earliest days of Soviet cinema and in the work of Eisenstien and Dziga Vertov, who radically visualised film as completely divorced from literature, theatre and the other arts . The Return is released on 4th October by UGC films and Twentieth Century Fox.

et against the backdrop of the riots in 1968 - embark on a voyage of discovery together, Paris, The Dreamers is a tale oflove, experwhich may ultimately lead to their own destrucimentation and, above all, reluctance to tion. become a part of the real world. The majority of The editing is superb, splicing the main the film takes place in the apartment of lsabel story with scenes from French cinema, which (Eva Green) and Theo (Louis Garrel), identical parallel events or feelings at the time. As the twins with an almost incestuous bond. On meetthree become increasingly obsessed with each ing an American student (Michael Pitt) and other and begin to forget about what is happeninviting him to stay with them for a month, they ing outside of their rooms , they start to re-enact

moments from film in order to set forfeits for one another. This leads to some truly memorable scenes, although perhaps not for the prudish! 1968 was certainly a time of heightened passion, of change and indeed e nlightenment this film, whilst not acting as a mirror for these events, certainly conveys some of the high emotion, which over-spilled into rioting during that year, and attempts to show the conflict between those who believe in peace and those who considered violence as the only way to be heard. One particular criticism I do have of this film is its complete lack of effort in creating memorable, or even believable characters. They may be beautiful but their precocious intelligence seems a little contrived, their obsession with cinema is perhaps emphasised a little too much, instead of concentrating on their relationships and feelings . Whethe r this was symptomatic of the time, when Cinophilia was at its height in Paris I cannot say, but for an audience in 2004 it could prove a little bewildering.

'!'his does, however, seem to be a trait in Bertolucci - Last Tango in Paris being a particular case in point, in which the two characters have incredibly intimate sex, then leave without gaining any knowledge of one another. Other cri ticism's have stemmed from the film 's startling similarities to Cocteau's Les Enfant Terribles made in 1950, in which a brother and sister with an unusually close relationship are destroyed by their discovery of the outside world. In this there is less destruction and more eroticism - which does not necessarily make it a better film . There are, however, some excellent special features, including commentary by the director and an exploration in to the student riots in 1968, which go some way towards explaining and expanding upon the intentions of the film. The Dreamers is released as a 2 disc se t by Twentieth Century Fox on October 11th.

song from Springtime For Hitler had me singing it for days afterwards, for which I'd like to apologise to the people standing around me on the number twenty-seven bus this morning and later in the frozen vegetable section of Sornerfield.

The two-disc DVD set is due for release by Momentum Pictures on October 25th, and it's well worth the investment.

drei Zvyagintsev's directorial debut Th e eturn , which e xplores the relationship etween two brothers and their father, (Konstantin Lavronenko) who returns after a twelve-year absence, has lead to perhaps predictable comparisons to Tarkovsky. Although this comparison should not be taken too far, The Return is an easy film to place in Russian film history. Like Tarkovsky, the film is thematic rather than narratorial, its pacing is languid and it is shot through with mythological and sometimes religious symbolism. The film is an exploration of paternity and masculinity. On his return the father takes the two brothers, Andrey (Vladimir Garin) and !van (!van Dobronravov), on a fishing weekend that soon grows into a journey into the heart of the wilderness and away from any social concerns; a space where the paternal bonds can begin to form and where they are most tested. But the father is also a shady, enigmatic character and the destination of their trip is as mysterious as his past. The viewer may be forgiven for thinking, as the younger boy does , that the father is an impostor who plans to slit their throats or a gangster using their trip as a front for his crimi-

roadway. The name alone evokes scenes found nowhere else on Earth. The glitz. The glamour. The Third Reich. Wait...

what? The Nazi Party are a neglected bunch in the world of musical theatre. Yes, Cabaret and The Sound Of Music had some, and Cats probably should have, b ut the number of anti-Semites in the limelight has never been high. No produc~r. for example, would be crazy enough risk their investors ' money on a musical about a powercrazed, silly-moustached German dictator and his wife enjoying a gay romp at Berchtesgaden. Or would they? Me! Brooks' 1968 classic The Producers asks just that question . Max Bialystock (Zero Mostel) is a producer, once known as the king of Broadway, now past his prime and a toyboy for little old ladies who might be willing to invest a dollar or two-thousand in his latest theatrical flop. Leo Bloom (Gene Wilder) is a downtrodden accountant with a blanket obsession. Together they concoct perhaps the most bizarre scheme in theatr ical history, a p lan so ridiculous and yet so profitable it'd make Lloyd Webber himself explode with pride. All they have to do, they think, is raise one million dollars' worth of investments to finance a sure-fire flop so monstrously bad that it 'll be axed after only one per-

formance , thereby costing them only a few thousand dollars and leaving them a few hundred thousand dollars to pocket and enjoy. The pair decide on a musical adaptation of a Third Reich propaganda play called Springtime For Hitler, written by pigeon-loving former-Nazi soldier Franz Liebkind (Kenneth Mars) . They hire a transvestite director and a hippy Hitler and before they can say "achtung, baby" the show is a guaranteed disaster. Or so they think ... The Producers has recently fallen back into the· mainstream and is currently enjoying a Broadway adaptation, with a DVD release, West End adaptation and remake all in the pipeline. So what is it that makes this film such an enduring classic? And why, thirty-six years after its original release, has it become so popular? The answer, I think, is simple: it's silly. The characters, the dialogue, even the premise, it's all overwhelmingly silly - a trait sadly lacking from many modern comedies which, for all their gross-out and cringe-comedy, often lack the lighthearted fun of movies like this . As one might expect from Me! Brooks (also responsible for Spaceballs and Robin Hood: Men In Tights) the writing is superb, but it's the outlandish and over-the-top performances, particularly those by Mostel and Wilder, that make the film so memorable. The worryingly catchy title

Dean Bown1an

Henrietta Burgess

Luke Owen

06.10.04

16 Arts

Book Reviews "- ·

;s ":;

CHAVt A User's Guide- t~- Brlfa-in Ruling Class > : ......_: • ·_, ·. : Mla Wallace and Cllnt Spanner

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the Chav. There are beamers and shell-suits. Courtney, Jordan, Kyle and Little Chesney are all there. Don't Chesney's piercings look nice? 'E got 'e m for 'is second birfday. Let's do the 'istry thing. In December 2003 a web site called www.chavscum.co.uk was la unched. The creators weren't expecting much of a response, but within a few months the website was receiving hundreds of hits a day. Now, writing under the pseudonyms Mia Wallace and Clint Spanner, the creators have released a valuable guide to the habits, behaviour and spirituality of that most curious social group; the Chavs . I had the good fortune to conduc t a telephone interview with Mia last week. I wanted to know what drove her and Mr. Spanner. What induced them to delve so deeply into the enigma of the Chav? "You see these people in town, we'd seen them, and we thought they were real-

The Introducing Series,

Mark 11 member the 'revision tips' doled out uring secondary school? Most likely, ou will have · been informed that a drawing, when placed in association with a block of text, can significantly increase your ability to recollect that text at a later stage. Icon Books ' Introducing series e mploys this concept of learning to great e ffect. Titles as wide-ranging as Introducing Freud, Introducing Marxism and Introducing Logic tackle academic subject matter with a presentational flair that one would more commonly expect to find in a graphic novel than in an informative work of non-fiction. In each book, quirky drawings and occasional manipulated black and white photographs accompany tightly worded explanations and explorations of the book's topic. In Introducing Freud, Freud's theories of psychoanalysis certainly become easier to grasp when they are encapsulated in the engaging form of cartoon strips. In this particular Introducing title, Oscar Zarate's striking

e Big Draw is a series of ' out and about' drawing classes being run by the Norwich chool of Art and Design in collaboration with The Forum Trust, Norwich Fringe Festival and Norwich Puppet Theatre. The event takes place from the 1st October to the 17th October 2004. The pill-pose of The Big Draw is to offer p e ople the opportunity to learn new skills in a variety of unusual and interesting locations, whilst being guided by professional artists. The classes are free of charge and people of all leve ls are welcome to go along. There are sessions aimed towards beginners: children

06.10.04

ly funny. And we just started it for a joke really," she told me. But as to whether Chavs will see the funny side, Mia was hope ful , but still shielding herself b ehind a pseudonym. It seems there is more risk of readers getting the wrong e nd of the stick, and instead of cherishing the Chav, projecting hate and violence towards them. " We hope that it's taken in the spirit that it's meant ," says Mia. "Some people take this the wrong way. It depends on the readership. There have been readers who say things like 'shoot them all.' But it isn't supposed to be harmfuL We just want to laugh at these people.'' And laugh you most probably wilL Like any guidebook worth its team of researchers, the information is well presented, with pictures of Chavs, Chavish activities , fashion-a-bull items and plenty of facktual informa tion. Arguably, the most useful section of the guide is the Phrasebook. In a short introduction , the authors note the many different· Chav dialects around the country, but insist that a visitor can get by on 'Fuckwitspeak.' This umbre lla tongue is spoken chiefly in Lundon, East Anglia and the Home counties, but now spreading to other parts of Ingland. Undoubtedly understanding phrases like, "Faaackin' shaaarup Chesney! Ya muvaaas tawkin ' on 'er moby," will make your experience of Chavs all the richer. But it is equally important to learn about the Chav life-span, understand their complex breeding system and know how to spot a Chavling. Luke Roberts CHAV! will be published 7th October in hardback by Bantam Books, priced at £9.99.

stylised artwork acts effectively in conjunction with Richard Appignanesi's succinct account of Freud's life and work. This teaming of author an d artist is used successfully in each of the Introducing b ooks. They do only 'introduc e' you up to a certain level of understanding, and as such would perhaps not prove suitable for everyone. However, they provide useful and digestible outlines of often-difficult subject matter, and as such are incredibly handy as quick-fix study aids for those who desire a solid understanding that is delivered in a comprehensive format. In Sep tember, Icon Books released a reprinted version of the series, with each book boasting a vivid new cover illustration. Whilst the content of each remains unrevised, the new cover designs do a t least provide the books with a strong recognisable image as a series, which was lacking in previous versions . The adage warns us that we should not allow the cover of a book to fool us , but these bold, emphatic designs with their attractive artwork are a true reflection of the concise and appealing content within.

Gahrielle Bar n es

The Introducing series are out now in p aperback at £9 .99 each.

and adults, and also towards experienced artists who wish to improve upon their skills. The locations include the Factory, Hall Road , outside The Forum, Norwich Gallery and Norwich Puppet Theatre. The Forum will hold the Big Doodlebug, which will be a large collection of collage works. As the weeks go on, the Big Doodlebug will develop and evolve as people will be e ncouraged to draw anything they wish and make it part of a larger picture. One of the classes being held is the 'drawing for people who can't draw' class, which is a class for absolute beginners , designed to teach some of the basic skills and also to be fun. There are

you will find a c opy of this b ook and read it, then flick to the back, to the section that says 'ge tting involved and do just that '!

e title of this book says it all, 50 Facts th at hould change the World. And that is xactly what it give s you in this snappy, easy to read book, that takes you from the facts to the background and on to a whole host of information which is just a s unbelievable. For example; "Eve ry cow in the European Union is subsidized by $2. 50 a day. That's more than 75 per cent of Afric ans have to live on." This fact appears on the b ack cove r of the book and it draws you in but when you read the essay on this fact you fin d out that EU cows are not the wealthiest a s "Jap anese c ows are subsicfu:ed by $7.50 every d ay.'' They are subsidized to the extent that every EU cow can go on a round the world trip every year wi th £400 spending money. Some of the information is well known and indeed has b e en reported on from time to time in a slow news week. But they are all relevant fa cts about the world as it is today, and as this book shows, it is a very worrying place to be. As far as the author, Jessica Williams' style is concerned, she lets the facts do the talking for her and when we do see her character coming through it is clear that she truly wants to change the world, and that these facts can. As she says at the beginning of the book in a quote from the anthropologist Margaret Mead, "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed peop le can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.'' The best way to end this review is to leave you with some more of the facts, and hope that

Theatre Review "

·' · · The Importance of Being Earnest ~ .• : presented by Mlnot~ur ..· )..

\_ ... - .J

t is no secret that the Drama department has been struggling, facing a near shut down last year, so for every p lay the Studio hosts it is vital there are bums on seats. Minotaur kicked this year off with a sharp, well chosen and brilliantly funny rendition of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of being Earnest; a guaranteed crowd pleaser and, as such, a successful money spinner. The directors Alexander Maclean and Tristan Cass are infectiously e nthusiastic as they discuss the boundless merits of Wilde's heartwarming satire on Victorian manners and social prejudices . The play boasted a dedicated cast who spent the last 6 weeks of the holidays up to their eyeballs in cucumber sandwiches, muffins , fashion faux pas and, of course, handbags. The production can only be described as 'a labour of love' and the dedication to detail and the affection the cast and crew have for the play was immediately apparent. The folding screens, which formed the various backdrops and transported the action from Algi's London fla t to Jack's country garden and then the drawing room in which the final revelations are made , were a particularly effective touch. The black and white drawings were based on illus-

classes using poetry, language, performance and music where students are encouraged to draw what they see and feeL Drawing sequence classes , which specifically look at animated movement, structure and space classes, held outside the Forum, are designed to inspire students with the extraordinary architectural surroundings. There are drawing music classes, drawing and painting with monoprint and drypoint , figures and faces, a

* Black m e n born in the US today stand a one in three chance of going to jaiL * More people die each year from suicide than in all the world's armed conflicts . * C ars kill two people every minute. * The golfer Tiger Woods is the world's highest paid sportsman. He earns more $78 million a year- or $148 every second. * There are 44 million child laborers in India. * More than 12 ,000 women are killed in Russia as a result of domestic violence. * A kiwi fruit flown from New Zealand to Britain emits five times its own weight in greenhouse gases. * The US owes the United Nations more than $1 billion in unpaid dues . * Nearly 26 million people voted in the 200 I British General Ele ction . More than 32 million votes were cast in the first season of Pop IdoL * There are 27 million slaves in the world today. Tim. Barker

SO Facts that should change the World is on sale for

£9 .99 A famous posh cow

!rations from Punch magazine and provided a sense of the caricature and comic detachment from real life which perfectly m atched Wilde's take on the society of his time and the bubbling wit of the story. Alexander Maclean's Algernon and Sean Newport's Jack/Earnest walked from the pages of the script as Wilde created them and threw their all into the streams of banter that form the backbone of the play and make Earnest such a literary pleasure to get lost in. The exuberance of the p erforman ce became a little out of control .when the men indulged in a round of fencing in Jack's living room to settle their differences. The combina tion of clashing swords and Algi speaking while eating muffins only obscured any sense of wh at was b eing said. The writing is so witty, and the pace so fa st it was an unnecessary embellishment. But this was more a case of too much thought having gone into the performance and the various layers within the written text than not enough. For this production Minotaur had nonMinotaur members in the cast , marking a change that will make the company more like Drama Soc, where people who aren't on a drama degree program can take part. Future shows by the group will include the Dicken's favourite A Christmas Carol. If this boasts half the energy, talent, and inventiveness of Earnest, the drama department will be on its way to having left all of its troubles behind. Katharine Clemow

mask-making workshop and many more. There are also two 'out and about' projects'Engaging with the Elements' - being held on the Norfolk Coast and 'The Model on Location'life drawing outside the studio. However, spaces are limited on both of these, so bookings must be made for these events. Please contact Christina Wicks on 01603 756241. The majority of classes are just for either a morning or afternoon session. However, some may be extended. ~asic materials will be provided but bring your own if required. Anyone may come along to either take part or just watch although some classes are aimed more towards adults than children. Please see www.nsad.ac.uk for more information and a full list of classes. Niki Brown

BBC THREE, Oct 19th, 9.00pm

omewhere between Dawson s Creek and The X-Files lies the bizarre mix of teen drama and sci-fi that is Roswell. As the title . . . . .,. suggests, the series follows the upernatural goings on in Roswell and its uman and alien inhabitants. While fans f the more nerdy paranormal aspects of he show are entertained by the frequent dd occurrences, there's also plenty of omance and other emotional turmoil. The third season begins with Max ason Behr), inter-galactic pin-up, mbarking on the massive task of retrievng his son who has been taken back to is home planet by Tess (Emilie de avin). Meanwhile, Isabel (Katherine eigl) gets married. However, nothing oes exactly to plan and by the end of the eries she realises exactly how poor a atch she has made. The DVD itself has adequate special eatures, but nothing revolutionary. arious audio commentaries are given, hat provide a valuable insight for any evoted viewer. The bottom line here eing that only fans of the two previous eries with find it worthwhile shelling out

h e fantastically quirky Little Britain is returning to the small screen. However, it will only be available to those of us who have BBC THREE, a rarity amongst the student population. It's all an elaborate plan to sell more settop boxes. The only plan is to make quick friends with someone who has the luxury of more than five channels, because this is a series you don't want to miss. With the reappearance of favourite faces from the first series and a few new ones too, Little Britain is set to keep its

uncanny feel for the time being. Taking a celebratory but very, very different look at Britain as a nation, writers Matt Lucas and David Walliams create something of an alternative take on the ultimately everyday. When it comes down to it, we 're quite odd really. Characters seem troublingly familiar, but manage to be entirely fantasical a t the same time. With vicious school girls, crap transvestites and many other examples of very obvious drag, it's the stuff of comedy dreams. Perhaps that's why it's so darn funny.

Kate Bryant

Max and Steph are all set to tie the knot, while Abby and Lee hit a rocky patch in their long-distance relationship

Kate Bryant dding bells are in he air! That's right , he long awaited Hoyland-Scully nup Jals are finally upon us, so dig out your finest wedding headgear for what is sure to be an eventful day. Especially if Valda and Lyn have anything to do with it. Take note of the aurally delightful hooting horns of the Scully family convoy as they arrive at the church just in the nick of time to thoroughly emb arrass the bride. Adding to the overwhelming splendour of the occasion is the wedding guests' attire; Valda is sure to be a true visual sensation. However, in true Neighbours style, things do not manage to go entirely to plan. Elsewhere on Ramsey Street, Ex-Father Tom and Dr. 'I'm a G.P but can't tell the baby's not mine' Kennedy square off

over Karl's intentions to evict Susan from the Kennedy house, Izzy's influence no doubt! In the somewhat less sunny location of Cheshire, Hollyoaks heartthrob Dan is

gradually succumbing to the desperate charm of another blonde Steph. The delightful, if demented, Miss Dean's enduring seduction routine pays off on Tuesday when gullible Dan moves in for a kiss . Jake is the unfortunate witness to this disturbing development, and is, needless to say, unhappy. Soap fans will be wondering whether Dan is determined to keep all his love interests in the same family or whether Steph is merely a poor man's Debbie. Things are looking less rosy for Lee as he finally gets his driving license back ,enabling him to dash to Abby's side in Brighton, only to find that someone else has taken his place. It will be a hazardous drive back to Cheshire with tears in his eyes, pain in his h eart and Bombhead hallucinating in the passenger seat.

Martha Hanunond & Kim Howe

Play God for only £31.99 and force little people to do you bidding!

ans of The Sims will not be disappointed with its sequel, the creatively named The Sims 2. Players get the chance to take over the lives of the little people yet again, this time taking them through their entire existence- starting as a child and growing into old age. The dynamics of the game have not changed. The Sims 2 builds on the merits of the first game, giving you a very fast-paced, addictive experience. It's the little extras in this game that really make it stand out from its predecessor, and much of the competition. Although at times it can I more like another I pack than a sequel. Maxis have attempted to address the main criticism the first game, its lack of purpose.

•

Your Sims now have much more to worry about than merely getting a job and staying alive. Now they have five desires that will drive the course of their lives, wealth I knowledge I romance I family I popularity. This brilliant addition adds much needed structure to the game. You'll also get a lot more attached to your Sims over the course of their lives. Being able to design their clothes features exactly how you want, watching them mature from vomiting infants into adulthood gives a fantastic sense of achievement. Their more lifebehaviour also means see them get into even more ridiculous I painful I romantic situations (even all 3 at once!) . The Sims 2 really is a tool

to bring out the voyeur in all of us, who can watch over unsuspecting innocents and manipulate them at will. The game does feel a little empty though and it's obvious that expansions are planned to add extra scenarios and !'terns to fill the gap. It is a real shame that the initial game had to suffer in order to encourage people to upgrade, but then that always has been the curse of 'The Sims' . Even with the obvious gaps, there are enough new features injected into the game to make it a fresh experience for the most seasoned of Sim fans . The game also manages to retain all of the charm and playability that will engage the newcomer to the Sim genre. This game is a great success and is definately worth picking up.

}illnes Beanland

6.10.04

. 8 lOam HIVEWIRE

Livewire 1350AM, the hom e of new m usic,

With Christian O'Connell

W ith Mike Brand

lOam HIVEWIRE

12pm GREG AND MIKE

With Greg James

The la te st m usic and irreverent banter

12pm HOT ROCKS

2pm THE TOM & JERRY SHOW

New music plus tongue-in-cheek chat fro m

About as far as you can stretch the boundaries

Billy &Tom

of taste ...

2pm JAMES AND THE G IANT LEMON

p roudly presents its autumn schedule.

4pmTHE HOOK

Great tunes and irreverent b anter from James &

Every weekday morning at 10, we'll be broad-

If you like hip hop and r 'n' b, you will be

Lemmy

casting live in the Hive as well as around

6pm DANCEFLOOR DAMAGE

4pm CHARLIE ROHRER

Norwich a nd the world. Our d aily Hivewire

Rob Rider gets th e party started

From eclectic to mainstream, Char lie's got it all

sh ow will b ring you the latest tunes and some

Spm THE FUNK CONNECTION

6pm STARSKI AND DOCK

of the most talented young DJs in the country.

Chris Davis brings you a non-stop House mix

The world of fu ture house and new urban

We keep the new music comin g throughout the

lOpm DAYDREAM NATION

mus ic

day, an d switch to our awesom e specialist

Tom Buckham's unique blend of electronica

Bp m ALZ AND JAMES

shows from late afternoon. Specialist high-

andtechno

Music for clubbers (though they drink like

lights include your weekly Sunday dose of the

teeny-boppers)

best urban music in the world, our House and

WEDNESDAY

1Opm IN THE JUNGLE

electronica experience on Tuesdays, and the

6am THE XFM BREAKFAST SHOW

DJ Pe rfection takes us on safari

famous Starski and Dock on Fridays.

With Christian O'Connell SATURDAY

But it's not just about the music. Every

1Oam HIVEWIRE

Wednesday we brin g you Wireless World -

With Rob Rider

11 am RICHARD AND LOU!SE

UEA's forum for news and topical debate. And

12pm TRAIN WRECK

Great new music and chat to help you enjoy

Saturday brings the sports sh ow. It's your

More great new music with Andrew and Le on

your lie-in

source for all the latest news and scores - who-

2pm WIRELESS WORLD

!pm RICKY GERVAIS & STEPHEN MERCHANT

ever you support.

UEA's forum for news and topical debate

From XFM in London, two of the funniest men

As the flagship student station of XFM, we are

4pm THE BLONDE APPRECIATION SOCIETY

in Britain

also proud to present the Christian O 'Connell

Rhi brings you the b e st in emo, indie, rock and

3pm THE LIVEWIRE SPORTS SHOW

Breakfast Show every weekd ay m orning. We

britpop

The sports team talk rubbish as the la test

also bring you Ricky Gervais and Step hen

6pm CAR PARK ROCK

scores come in

Merchant on Saturday afternoons , and XFM

Awesome rock, from classics to unsigne d

5pm WATERFRONTWARMUP

through the night. Every night.

bands

Rich and Matt prepare you for a night by the

Ltvewire 1350AM: Broadcasting 2417 on

8pm GO GO GADGET MUSIC

river

1350MW in Norwich and live across the world

Bre tt and Eliot blend rock with m e tal, punk and

7p m THE ROCK SHOW

at www.livewire l 350.com.

emo

With Ant and Dan

lOpm EXHAUSTION

9pm WIND UP I WIND DOWN

La te night indie rock cla s sics

New musi c and classic hits with Neil Be swick

With Christian O'Connell

THURSDAY

SUNDAY

1Oam HIVEWIRE

6am THE XFM BREAKFAST SHOW

! l am LITTLE AND LARGE

With Simon Williams

With Christian O'Connell

Wake up and enjoy the la tes t music with Kate and Matt

MONDAY 6am THE XFM BREAKFAST SHOW

12pm NEIL AND ANNIE

lOam HIVEWIRE

Great new music and topical chat

With Dave Bradshaw

!pm L.O.U.D.

2pm EMERGENCY RADIO

12pm MARK AND SARAH

Great indie, alternative and film chat from the

Elena and Rachel keep the music coming

More new music and saucy chat

UK&US

4pm LA CUCARACHA

2pm ALEX AND MARK

3pm THE MARK AND JOE SHOW

South American vibes from the Latin Society

These two good pals keep the tunes coming

6pm RICH GETS RETRO

4pm THE ALTERNATIVE SLOT

Laid back Sunday afternoon sounds 5pm ALTERNATIVE AIRWAVES

A trip down memory lane with Richard Penguin

With Megan and Miranda

Urban , hip hop and reggae - plus news and

8pm SOUNDS OF THE MERRY-GO-ROUND

6pm THE LCR WARMUP SHOW

topical chat

Clas sic rock & retro - watch out for Pimms

Francis Harnlyn gets cheesy

7pm ROADBLOCK

o'clock!

8pm MUSICAL KNICK KNACKS

UK rap and hip hop

I Opm METAL TO MELLOW

As dug out by Karl Brown

9pm BEATS IN ABUNDANCE

Cont ain s frequen t appearances from Steve

lOpm THE HALYARD PUTTERIDGE ALLIANCE

Luke Baines takes his decks to the streets

lrwin!

Truly alternative - trust us, you've never heard this stuff. ..

TUESDAY 6am THE XFM BREAKFAST SHOW

FRIDAY

Union Film Society

With Christian O'Connell

6am THE XFM BREAKFAST SHOW

All films screening in LT! at 7.30 Harry Potter 3 07/ 10/ 04 The third installment of the infamous boy wizard series. Apparently the child actors have taken some acting lessons since the last film. Touching the Void 08110/ 04 Documentary based on Joe Simpson's astonishing survival aft e r falling off a peak in the Andes, with breathtaking cinematography. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotles s Mind 1411'0/ 04 A surreal masterpiece set in the memories of a jilted lover, played by Jim Carrey in his finest performance yet, and based on another original script by Ch arlie Kaufman . Shaun of the Dead 15/ 10/ 04 Self-consciously trashy Zombie film from the team that bought us Spaced.

Released this Week Bride a nd prejudice 08/ 10/ 04

06.1.0.04

...

Austin's classic love story given the Bollywood treatment. Man on fire 08/1 0/ 04 Denzel Washington stars in this revenge thriller se t in Me xi co City. ln;; ~ ie I'm Dancing 15/ 10/ 04 Heartwarming yet challenging Ir ish drama set in a h ome for the disabled. Shark tale 1511 0/ 04 CGI a nimation from the creator s of Shrek.

UEALCR Goldie Lookin ' Chain 06110/ 04 Jovial novelty rap from the Welsh collective. Mr Scruff 09110/ 04 Innovative dance , funk and jazz from the magpie DJ. The Wonder Stuff 10110/ 04 Early 90s legends play radio-friendly indie pop. Bowling for Soup 11110/ 04 The punk-pop pioneers return to UEA to promote their new album. Zutons + The Futureheads 13110/ 04 Expect an eclectic set from these Mercury nominated eccentrics. HIM 1911 0/ 04 Break out the eyeliner for a night of quality goth rock .

Waterfront Whole Lotta Led 07/ 10/04 A whole lotta rock from the Led Zeppe lin tribute b and . Pitchshifter 12110/ 04 The industrial rockers head out on their !mal tour. The Sele c ter 14/ 10/ 04 2-Tone and ska in The Sele c ter 's 25th anniversary show. The Bees +Aspects + Little B a rrie 1911 0/ 04 Quirky indie tunes from the Isle ofWight's finest.

Arts Centre The Angel Brothe rs : Forb idden Fruit 08/ 10/ 04 A fusion of Middle Eastern tradition with contemporary folk. The P istol as + Cortez + Lynchburg Te nn + Ror y McVic a r 11 / 10/ 04 Loud and glam rock musi c from The Pistolas . P e ddars Way- A Song line for Eas t Anglia 1211 0/ 04 Fringe Festival show celebrating the region in music and song. Songwriters in the Round: Michae l Cha pman, Pete r Br untne ll a nd Janis & G e off Have s 13110/ 04 A showcase of veteran songwriting talents. 10 ,000 Things+ The Asleep+ Rek 14110/ 04 Soul and blues from the Leeds sextet. . Wombatwombat presents Magoo (the) +We Vs Dea th + Pos taLowa 15/ 10/ 04 Local heroes Magoo headline a bill of international artists. Foundation Sound 16/ 10/ 04 Roots dub reggae with special guests Alpha & Omega. T he G a* Ga*S +Hurric ane Pa r ty + Johnny P a nic 18/ 10/ 04 Loud and lewd rockers ·Wlth Kerrang's New British Rock tour.

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