saw it as fitting to release the final recordings that he had worked on in the form of the White Boy EP. Of the six songs here, the title track is an abrasive number lifted from the recent Magic Dirt album Girl. The brooding Valley Of The Rose is a nice representation of the Geelong quartet’s less frenetic qualities and is a great foil for huge guitars on Deep In A Net Of Red. Turner’s punk rock spirit is also captured here in the riff heavy sludge of Future Fuck. There are two duets that Turner was in the production chair for. Summer High finds Rowland S Howard joining forces with Adalita for the downbeat rocker, while man of the moment Gareth Liddiard throws his distinctive drawl at Love Is The Armour. Magic Dirt and Dean Turner have made a massive contribution to the Australian music scene over the past couple of decades. Turner’s warmth and inspiration will be felt for a long time to come. _CHRIS HAVERCROFT
THE NOVOCAINES Cup Of Coffee Ampersonic MGM Distribution ‘One more cup of coffee before I go’ and something about a gramophone. It doesn’t even matter what the rest of the lyrics are about because the listener is already hooked in by sheer enthusiasm, exploding through impenetrable fuzz punk riffage and straight-ahead rock’n’roll vocal action in less than 1 minute 30 seconds. The Novocaines’ publicist, who should possibly be shot, suggests that the band are ‘at the cutting edge of the exploding rock revival that is happening all round the world’. Maybe, but this little 7” single smashes The Vines, Grinspoon, Jet, and all those other lame poser bands out of the park. B-side Like A Sunday Morning is a more chilled affair, all harmonica groove built on a solid acoustic rhythm base. ‘Won’t you come on over / we’ll be gettin’ high’ has all the homage enthusiasm and melodic ease Oasis were known for, without sounding anything like ’em. This is a neat little record, made all the more palatable by little touches like the analogue tape twang at the beginning of the title track and the closing unexpected tom hit. No new ground, but classic material nonetheless. _BEN WATSON
SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS: DIAMOND EDITION Disney Although DVD sales would have undoubtedly had to deal with similar ‘download’ issues that CD sales have, the film industry certainly has more of a budget to work with than the music industry, and judging by this package sent in by Disney, it’s a budget in the hands of people who know what to do with it. Presented in a beautiful red velvet box (or fabric equivalent at least) and containing not just the film and feature discs, but also some collectible pins, paper goods and whatnot; one of Disney’s most popular films has been given the royal treatment. A fairytale that will no doubt endure the ages (it’s still going strong 72 years on), Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs needs no synopsis or re-telling. A classic tale of good versus evil, the story – and more so Disney’s animated version of it – is almost essential viewing for any child… but the new Diamond Edition also provides hours of stuff for parents to enjoy as well. It’s unlikely a child would venture past the feature film itself, which is of course beautifully remastered, but parentals and film buffs in general will find plenty of fascinating stuff to watch in terms of featurettes and documentaries. Kids might too, of course, but www.xpressmag.com.au
it seems very much like Disney looked at this project from the perspective of the film’s place in pop culture and history, as well as how much kids dig it. To that end, they’ve got it right on every level. Even in a contemporary context, classic Disney films – made while Walt was still alive and well – are so distinct in their look and feel that it almost seems otherworldly now. There’s no razor-sharp CG characters, no embedded adult humour, and no modern day setting. Innocence is the name of the game. The simple story lines of all Grimm fairytales, and their deviations, are enough for Disney to have needed nothing more than to make them look pretty – and it is this combination of simplicity and elegance that set what most people would still regard as Disney’s standard… a world of bright, beautiful colours, where talking animals are as commonplace as castles and magic. An escape from reality. This Diamond Edition really hammers the legacy of this film home when you manage to absorb all of it. With hours of stuff to work your way through, this is no easy task, but it’s a great journey no matter which way you want to look at it. From an adult’s point of view this becomes particularly interesting when you factor in Walt Disney’s own reputation for being all sorts of dark things, and how impossibly huge the contrast is between what went on behindthe-scenes and the feature films themselves. If you’d rather not explore Snow White from that particular contextual angle, you can swap it with many others… such is the depth, influence and vastness of this film, the studio behind it, and everything that followed. An amazing tale, one of Disney’s best examples of animation, and a modern-day swag of extra information make this Diamond Edition a cracking package to have, and one that absolutely defines the very notion of ‘family entertainment’. Although it’s unclear as to how many various forms Disney will release this in, even as just the DVD set itself without all the fancy packaging, this is going to sell like hotcakes. _MIKE WAFER
THURSDAY October 22nd
FAME (2009) & PUSH (double feature)
7pm 9pm
FRIDAY October 23rd
FROM DUSK TILL DAWN & 9pm RESIDENT EVIL (double feature)
7pm
SATURDAY October 24th
FAME (2009) & PUSH (double feature)
7pm 9pm
SUNDAY October 25th
7pm
APOCALYPSE NOW: REDUX (R) THURSDAY October 29th Exclusive advance screening for Astorians of the
“BOYS ARE BACK” starring Clive Owen (Live at the Astor subscribers and their guests only)
SATURDAY October 31st
John Waters “trashy double”
7pm PINK FLAMINGOS & 9pm DIRTY SHAME Classic Ålms coming soon: Mad Max 1@2, Clockwork orange/full metal jacket, Life of brian/holy grail, Jaws and creatures from the black lagoon Brand new 35mm print of Once apon a time in the West
TOURING SOON TO THE ASTOR PRIDE COMEDY GALA - Friday 30th October SIA - Tuesday 24th November CAT POWER – Wednesday 6th January 659 Beaufort St, Mt Lawley / Ph: 9370 1777 / Em: contact@liveattheastor.com.au www.liveattheastor.com.au
UNE FEMME MARIÉE Madman Just watch the black turtleneck and beret brigade disappear up their own arses describing this one. The commoditisation of beauty, the subverting of genre conventions using genre clichés, the revelations of the life beneath the veneer of a civilised, sophisticated marriage… If this is your introduction to Jean-Luc Godard, you could do a lot worse. You might not realise from a first viewing, but it’s the story of 24 hours in the life of an attractive young Parisienne who’s apparently happily married to a pilot but is conducting an affair with an actor on the side. She spends the morning with her lover, the evening with her husband, there’s a visit by a doctor, lots of running around in taxis and it’s unmistakably French New Wave no matter how many genre conventions Godard subverts or cinema references he (apparently) includes. The film seems to be broken up into chapters, each new one marked by the pixie-ish voice of the hot young wife whispering a series of things that take her fancy, confuse her, frighten her or just looked all cool and avant garde in the script. The ‘narrative’ is also broken up by perfunctory glances of body parts in beds. The French New Wave wasn’t a storytelling style. In many cases it seems to have completely rejected the principle of telling a story altogether, instead favouring mood and tone. While A Married Woman isn’t so confusing it makes you want to switch it off half way through, you have to love this style to really get into it, despite a surprisingly heady sense of eroticism given the era. _DREW TURNEY
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