MEN OF HONOUR
Directed by George Tillman Jr. Starring Robert deNiro, Cuba Gooding Jr., Charlize Theron, Michael Rapaport
Lame, formulaic and just a teensy shade on the schmaltzy side, Men Of Honour is one of these excruciatingly dull, quasi-topical based-on-a-true-story affairs that the US public lap up so eagerly.
Playing a thief mistaken for an actor playing a detective (you’d have to be there), Downey Jr. hooks up with caustic gay detective Perry (Kilmer) and a hooker with a heart of gold (Monaghan) to discover why the corpses of beautiful women are turning up with alarming regularity.
In his heyday, Larry Hagman was the biggest television star in the world, portraying the manipulative and ruthless oil baron JR Ewing in the kitschy Dallas soap.
Albert Hammond Jr isn't just a pretty face. As well as his solo career and dayjob with The Strokes, he's also co-written a screenplay adaptation of Charles Bukowski's Pulp
They've had their share of troubles but now arch Hollywood bad boy Robert Downey Jr. and Val Kilmer are back on the A-list - and fronting a movie together.
Sparkling with a script that's nasty, witty and dark in equal measure, Wonder Boys is part college-comedy, part shaggy-dog tale and part Deconstructing Harry (without the flights of fancy and cheerfully constant use of the C-word).
Hollywood has been encroaching on the Marvel-verse since 1944 when children handed over jam-jars to catch the first serialised version of Captain America.
A mind-bogglingly sentimental ‘feelgood’ affair, in accordance with all the traditions of American sports movies, Radio stars Ed Harris (easily the film’s strongest link) as the grizzled old head coach of a high-school American-football team, way down in the deep heart of Southern redneck country.
Utilising the same phantasmagoric computer-rotoscoped animation he once employed for Waking Life, Richard Linklater has achieved something any sane, rational person would have thought impossible – he’s made a coherent film from Philip K. Dick’s labyrinthine A Scanner Darkly.
For those of you who haven’t been watching the outer recesses of the BBC2 schedules for many years, The Singing Detective is a none-too-cheerful romp through skin diseases and oedipal entanglements. Cert – 18, opens November 28th.
Movies based in American high schools are seldom noted for their originality, but the lack of imagination on display in She's All That still boggles the mind - next to this, the likes of Breakfast Club could qualify as masterpiece cinema.
JON TURTELTAUB might not be the worst film-maker in existence (step forward, Michael Winner) or the most boring (my vote: Renny Harlin) but in terms of pure undiluted sentimentality at its worst, no-one lays it on quite like Turteltaub.
I used to think that no movie with the word ‘gothic’ in the title – even one with questionable spelling – would be dafter than Ken Russell’s 1986 modern Prometheus, Gothic. I stand humbly corrected. It’s not that Gothika is all that bad. But mere words cannot convey just how risibly silly Mathieu Kassovitz’s supernatural thriller is.
It takes a mere few seconds of the first Dinosaur Jr record in God knows how long for the years to drop away. That familiar J Mascis whine, the desire to crowbar in a distorted guitar solo as soon as possible, and the feeling that, no matter how good this is (and it’s very good) they’ll never quite match glories of ‘Freak Scene’. Still, if this is anything to go by, it’ll be fun watching them try.
Artists of all musical hues are invited to apply for a place on the latest IMRO Songwriter Retreat, which takes place from February 12 to 15 in The Sandhouse Hotel & Marine Spa, Rossnowlagh, Donegal Bay, Co. Donegal
The world is a sunnier, brighter, downright more joyous place today for Dinosaur Jr. fans with Murph, J. Mascis and Lou Barlow reconvening for a visit to Dublin’s Temple Bar Music Centre.
Lou Barlow’s efforts with grunge-pioneers Dinosaur Jr generally took a back seat to frontman J Mascis, while his subsequent work with Sebadoh and Folk Implosion was often unhelpfully mired in no-fi under-production. So his first real solo album, much of it recorded at his home in LA (home-emoh, get it?) sees him crawl from under the noise to deliver a very personal selection of indie folk tracks that bear comparison with the introspection of more mainstream singer-songwriters like Neil Young or Jackson Browne.
No, The Strokes aren’t splitting up, insists guitarist Albert Hammond Jr. Still, he’s enjoying a rare taste of artistic freedom with his debut solo album.
The Killers wrapped up Oxegen for another year but not before the 80,000 music fans in attendance saw the likes of Arcade Fire (pictured), Kings Of Leon, The Gossip, Klaxons and Brian Wilson.
Moviehouse catches up with heartthrob superstar Leonardo Di Caprio, fresh from back to back movies and determined to better known as an actor than a celebrity.
COINCIDENTALLY during the week the CIA opened its files on the JFK assassination, Americans had another reason to flash back to 1963: the commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the March On Washington for Civil Rights led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In celebration of this milestone, initially made historic by the "I Have A Dream" speech, March On, an album focusing on the theme of civil rights, has been released.
SHORT CUTS (Directed by Robert Altman. Starring Andie McDowell, Bruce Davison, Julianne Moore, Mathew Modine, Anne Archer, Fred Ward, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Chris Penn, Lili Taylor, Robert Downey Jr., Madeleine Stowe, Tim Robbins, Lily Tomlin, Tom Waits, Frances McDormand, Peter Gallagher, Annie Ross, Lori Singer, Jack Lemmon, Lyle Lovett, Buck Henry, Huey Lewis)
Since taking a break from his day-job as Strokes guitarist Albert Hammond Jr has surprised and charmed with his plaintive indie-pop. Not that he likes to really compare the two experiences.
Limerick thrashmeisters Giveamanakick's third album Welcome To The Cusp is the product of ten days of cabin fever in Donegal. No wonder it sounds wet 'n' wild.
IN RAT Pack Confidential, his immensely entertaining analysis of the bacchanalian rites of Frank Sinatra s showbiz pals summit in early 60s Vegas, Shawn Levy tells a story about stand-up comedian Joey Bishop, one of the lesser known rodents on the famous Sands Hotel bill which comprised such showbiz luminaries as Ol Blue Eyes, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr and Peter Lawford.
IN RAT Pack Confidential, his immensely entertaining analysis of the bacchanalian rites of Frank Sinatra s showbiz pals summit in early 60s Vegas, Shawn Levy tells a story about stand-up comedian Joey Bishop, one of the lesser known rodents on the famous Sands Hotel bill which comprised such showbiz luminaries as Ol Blue Eyes, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr and Peter Lawford.
Whether feeding dubious cups of coffee to celebrity chefs or coercing Joe Strummer to dress up as an Indian on Top Of The Pops, Alex James is a man who knows how to squeeze every ounce of enjoyment out of life.
With that long awaited third album in the pipeline, and an imminent Electric Picnic slot, Franz Ferdinad's Alex Kapranos talks to us about utilizing the doppler effect.
Dublin is a shithole basically! that's the opinion of Kevin Shields, one of the two Irish members of My Bloody Valentine, who quit the fair city six years ago because of what they saw as the stifling atmosphere of the place. Since then they've lived and gigged all over Europe and their 1988 album Isn't Anything has put them on top of the critical approval lists and independent charts. Here, taking a break from their US tour, the band reflect on their art, their careers and what they see as the general awfulness of the Irish music scene. Interview: Helena Mulkearns
Nirvana - Ten years after. Peter Murphy talks to producer Butch Vig, musician Mark Lanegan and critic Greil Marcus, and gets the inside story of the making of Nevermind, the classic album that changed the face of music, unveiled the anthem 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' and brought the world face to face with a screaming soul called Kurt Cobain.
Hot on the heels of acquiring a controlling interest in Spain’s Benicassim Festival, former Mean Fiddler supremo Vince Power has opened a new “supper club” in the Piccadilly area of London.
This debut single from Dublin three-piece Crumb is a nicely zippy, hearty song that should set them apart from Ireland’s wave of indie contenders. While the bands around them lose their heads attempting to be big and clever, this band of merry men get down to the semi-serious business of writing three minute pop-rock gems.
Jeff Nichol’s remarkable directorial debut combines grand dynastic saga and Southern gothic for a compelling tale of fighting, feuding half-brothers in a depressed Southeast Arkansas town.
Nobody will mistake this with a great screen weepie, but Holly’s compellingly narcissistic, Oprah-fied ‘journey’ will surely do for right here, right now.
Eric Bana plays a pro-poker player hoping to buy into the World Series. When he meets waitress Drew Barrymore, it’s an excuse for a dreary tutorial on the devil’s picture book and a million poker-as-life metaphors.
By now, with any luck, the contents of that spinally intact copy of A Brief History Of Time languishing on your shelf have, through the magic of osmosis, passed into your brain. If however, you thought that really was Larry Flint on The Simpsons, then the modestly titled What The Bleep Do We Know? promises to provide cheat notes on quantum theory.
Hollywood's highest paid actress and the female star of Ocean's Eleven tells all about Bob Dylan, Anthony Hopkins, George Clooney, good hair, big bucks, greatest misconceptions and unfulfilled ambitions. Interview: Bruno Lester (additional quotes: Earl diTtman)
Donell Jones seems to be pushing all the right buttons. He's had a resounding success with his debut album, My Heart, notched up a Top 15 R 'n' B hit stateside with the single, 'Knocks Me Off My Feet', and now he's on the return trip with Where I Wanna Be.
The tabloids were aflutter earlier this week at the idea that Bono might be working on the forthcoming Spice Girls record. Unsurprisingly, it's not at all true...
It's nothing less than a joyous coincidence that Sufjan Stevens’ infinite ambition and incredible work ethic are easily matched by his talent. It now transpires that his 2005 masterpiece Illinoise - finally clocking in at a hefty 75 minutes - started life as a double set and was eventually whittled down to a 22-song album.
Yours To Keep is a warm, understated record that contrasts with the brashness and immediacy of The Strokes, the album meanders melodically through ten perfectly-formed pop tunes.
After years as son of Charles , ERIC MINGUS is forging his own musical identity. He talks to PETER MURPHY about jazz purists, hip-hop and playing bass with Nick Cave.
It’s early days for the band, and although right now, it seems unlikely that they’re going to topple any Premier League outfits, the world is still very much their oyster and I’d venture that they’ll swallow it whole at some point.
Released in May 1987, The Joshua Tree propelled the band out of arenas and into the stadia, topping the Billboard chart and spawning a triptych of monster singles, beginning with the bittersweet slow burner ‘With Or Without You’.
This is not a bad album, and if it was released three years ago it would have come across better, but now there is a lot of music like this around and it takes really good songs, and something very original, to make a band shine.
Why do people read magazines? An interesting poser in view of the last decade: the era that brought us multimedia and the Internet, the cultural idea of “dumbing down”, and that saw “content” production in the media – what we read, what we listen to, what we even hear about – fall conclusively into the hands of the profit-or-die multinationals. The question is in the news pages this month following reports that landmark American music and youth culture magazine Rolling Stone is breaking with its 35-year tradition of intelligent cultural and political journalism to move into the racy male-lifestyle-mag arena, under the stewardship of British editor Ed Needham, famous for giving the world “lad” magazine FHM.
Evan Dando may have very mixed memories of his days with the Lemonheads and hanging out with Kurt and Courtney but with the dark stuff consigned to the past, he’s much happier where he is today.
Although there's not much room for surprises, this biography of the life and times of current US President George W Bush offers an entertaining re-enactment.
As soon as you spot Terry Hooley – the man who released ‘Teenage Kicks’, kids – holding court at the bar, you know you’re in for a classic Belfast rock ‘n’ roll night.
The problem with Catch Me if You Can’s isn’t the acting, the script or anything inherent: its fluffy crowd-pleasing nature is OK in itself, but as is so often the case, it seems to have given rise to an urge to spell out every single plot-point and verbal nuance in excruciating retard-friendly detail.
Gen X race memory and The Devil And Daniel Johnston have ensured a full house at Vicar St, and in the foyer ‘Hi, How Are You?’ frog t-shirts are doing a brisk business in black and white.
Why do people read magazines? An interesting poser in view of the last decade: the era that brought us multimedia and the Internet, the cultural idea of “dumbing down”, and that saw “content” production in the media – what we read, what we listen to, what we even hear about – fall conclusively into the hands of the profit-or-die multinationals. The question is in the news pages this month following reports that landmark American music and youth culture magazine Rolling Stone is breaking with its 35-year tradition of intelligent cultural and political journalism to move into the racy male-lifestyle-mag arena, under the stewardship of British editor Ed Needham, famous for giving the world “lad” magazine FHM. …
Far from the miserable pessimist of lore, eels frontman Mark Everett, aka E, is in fact an upbeat, sanguine character with an engagingly wry sense of humour. He here talks to Paul Nolan about The Eels’ extraordinary new double album, Blinking Lights And Other Revelations, being inspired by Stanley Kubrick, collaborating with Tom Waits, why his dog couldn’t make it out on tour, and slapping Steve Jones’ backside.
The big news about Sufjan Stevens is that he plans to record a full album about each of the states of the USA. This is number two of 50, barring annexations, after 2003’s ode to his home patch Michigan
If you hate all the other Rocky films, humanity in general, cream-coloured ponies and crisp apple strudle, chances are, you may still find a special place in your heart for Sylvester Stallone’s sixth outing as the loveable Philadelphia lummox.
IN THE NEW DAVID MAMET COMEDY STATE AND MAIN, AS IN HER LIFE IN GENERAL, SARAH JESSICA PARKER COULD HARDLY BE FURTHER REMOVED FROM HER SEX AND THE CITY ALTER EGO. TARA BRADY REPORTS.
You think you have a basic understanding of someone, and then Hollywood goes and makes an incredible movie about them and puts your knowledge to shame. That's just what audiences experience with Director Bennet Miller's eye-opening Capote.
Marc Carroll is shouting to be heard above the din at the Falcon, a legendary dive in London s Camden Town, but I have the feeling that if the place was as hushed as a library he d be yelling anyway.
The Roisin Dubh has become one of Ireland's most prestigious music venues, hosting artists such as Violent Femmes, Josh Ritter and Republic Of Loose. Booker Gugai gives us the lowdown on the live scene way out west.
Taking the best – or at least, the most over-the-top – pieces of KLF, Slayer and Radiohead, Enter Shakarai are the hottest thing on eight legs at the moment.
The Mix-Up is billed as the Beastie Boys’ “first ever album of all-new instrumental material,” although the NYC trio have been playing around with wordless funk and jazz pieces throughout their career.
If you were to look up the meaning of the word weld in the Oxford English Dictionary you'd find: *Weld v. unite (pieces of esp. heated metal etc.) into solid mass by hammering or pressure*. There's more of course, but that basically wraps it up.
It also wraps up Neil Young ... Crazy Horses' new double live album. A merciless wall of noise, Weld is all about guitars. Very loud guitars. It's also about chaos, albeit chaos in perfect motion, chaos in full flights, majestic, marauding - Weld in chaos, in control.
Those who like a drag can at least take consolation from the fact that anti-smoking legislation goes completely unobserved in the afterlife. By Caught In The Net's guest writer Teddy de Bono.
Buckley was the original crazy mixed-up kid, a brilliant dilettante who could flit from jazz fusion to classic hard rock to vocal stylists like Nusrat and Nina to lo-fi garage rock to French chansons/chanteuse
Phuture are the creators of 'Acid Trax', and the people who introduced the Roland 303 'acid box' to the music world. They are arguably one of the most influential groups ever. So why are they still doing day jobs? Richard Brophy talks to original member Spanky and new addition Professor Trax, and reports on a travesty of justice in the dance world.
Ex-Desert Hearts drummer Chris Heaney has taken the front seat in his new buzz-saw noise-pop trio Escape Act. Parenthood, he says makes you work at double-speed.
Best known as the author of the modern noir classic LA Confidential, JAMES ELLROY is back in the spotlight with his new book The Cold 6000, a factional encounter with late 20th century America.
Here, the straight-talking Ellroy tells why JFK was second-rate and J. Edgar Hoover a fiend, why Bill Clinton is a horrible human being and George W. Bush not as bad as we think, and why Martin Luther King was the greatest American man of the last century
Words: DANNY ILEGEMS
Hot Press’ interview with Ian Paisley Jr is already causing a considerable storm, with his views on homosexuality being the main focus of the media’s attention.
Still most famous in this part of the world for ‘Gangsta’s Paradise’, la rapper Coolio has certainly kept himself busy in the eight years since that hit. Movies, charity work and an appearance on Open House are all in a day’s work for the artist formerly known as Artis Leon Ivey Jr.
A once high-flying solicitor who was jailed for fraud, David Elio Malocco is now a budget film-maker with a strong anti-establishment view, a man who says he has swapped a "disgraceful" materialistic lifestyle for a social conscience. Here, he talks about crime, punishment, Sinn Fein, Shelbourne, God and the movies
She may have a reputation as an actress who has a penchant for getting romantically involved with many of her leading men, but Julia Roberts is guarded about her personal life. She has been romantically linked to Matthew Perry, Daniel Day Lewis and Pat Manocchia, a friend of the late John F Kennedy Jr. among others, but she is constantly surrounded by a loyal staff, whose job it is to preserve her privacy. However, she has been involved in some very public liaisons,
as Stephen Robinson reports.
A few hours after Bono hoisted up Trimble and Hume s arms at the Yes show, I found myself trying to buy drinks at a city centre bar and having a strange conversation with a well known local politician. A prominent face during the pro-Agreement campaign, I d assumed that he d be delighted with the way that the gig had panned out. But no, he shrugged off the entire occasion as a bubbly inconsequence and said that the Yes camp would be lucky to get 68% of the vote. For someone convinced that his cause was on the cusp of a massive historical defeat, he didn t appear to be overly upset. In fact, he seemed happy enough showing off his Larry Mullan Jr autograph and blaming the Unionists.
The Hype are one of countless brave bands struggling to make headway with no money to spend on recording and saddled with a manager in a similar plight
New York blues prodigy JOE BONAMASSA is making a name as one of the hottest young guitar-slingers in the West. With a Dublin visit on the way, he's foaming at the mouth at the prospect of visiting Rory Gallagher's home country.
From revisionist war dramas, to wrenching documentaries to a musical starring that ginger bloke out of The Frames, the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival has something for everyone. Yes, even for you.
Ash guitarist Charlotte Hatherley impressed a lot of people here last year with the quirky guitar pop of her debut solo album Grey Will Fade. hotpress catches up with her as she wows the masses at Japan's Fuji Rock Festival.
Directed by Michael Moore. Featuring Michael Moore, George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Saddam Hussein, Osama Bin Laden, Britney Spears.
110mins. Cert 12pg. Out now.
With feelgood fables like Jerry McGuire and Almost Famous, Cameron Crowe has forged a reputation as one of the Good Guys of American cinema. His new film Elizabethtown does nothing to change that perception, no matter how much he protests. "I'm more caustic than you think," he tells Moviehouse.
They say that there are no
characters in snooker any more, but ronnie o sullivan is an exception. A true people s champion and natural talent in the mould of Alex Higgins and Jimmy White, he s made determined efforts to curb his own excessive tendencies and is now being tipped by many to claim the world title in Sheffield this month. Interview: Nick Kelly.
If not reinventing the wheel, Arctic Monkeys are certainly giving the spokes a good polish. Stuart Clark takes his place in the moshpit for their recent Dublin show.
‘When A Man Loves A Woman’ used to be a pretty good song before it became a fairly awful movie. Now it will be impossible to listen to Percy Sledge’s tremblingly emotive cry from the heart without thinking of Andy Garcia giving moist-eyed Meg Ryan that puppy dog on prozac look.
He might have been a young Einsten but instead MARK OLIVER EVERETT ended up as EELS aka a man called E aka the Souljacker. PETER MURPHY discovers how it all went horribly right
The High Priest of Soul, AL GREEN is one of the greatest singers this century has known. Coinciding with his recent trail of magnificent shows in Dublin, the mercurial Rev granted this exclusive interview to KARL TSIGDINOS.
Pics: Bernard Walsh.
Our columnist wasn’t exactly popping open the champagne at the news that Mark Thatcher had escaped with a suspended sentence for his part in the attempted coup in Equatorial Guinea. Plus: why Bono’s gushing endorsement at the Labour Party Conference has allowed Blair and Brown to continue to get away with murder.
RICHARD THOMPSON s new album Mock Tudor consolidates his position as one
of the most articulate and influential songwriters around. GEORGE BYRNE met him.
Since the release of their sophomore album Antics late last year, New York goth-rock quartet Interpol have risen to the pantheon of great contemporary bands. In a rare in-depth interview, the group’s erudite frontman Paul Banks here discusses the making of Antics, their upcoming support slot with U2, the band’s peers in the NYC indie scene, The Strokes, Nirvana and David Lynch - and where one of the most acclaimed groups of recent years go to from here. Interview by Paul Nolan.
Dance is dead, says Roisin Murphy, but if any act is going to raise it from the grave it’s Moloko, proud authors of the over the top and utterly sincere Statues, an album of tremendous pop songs that recapture the glory of classic disco.
From Taxi Driver and Raging Bull to The Last Temptation Of Christ and his latest leftfield masterpiece The Walker, Paul Schrader has gifted us a succession of Hollywood’s finest moments. Here he talks to Tara Brady about the changing face of film, lying to the FBI and his admiration for the late Ingmar Bergman.
You'd have thought that 12 consecutive top 40 hits would have earned them the key to the executive bathroom but, nope, before the ink was even dry on their Guinness Book Of Records entry, THE WEDDING PRESENT were shown the door by their record company. Unperturbed, everyone's favourite indie popsters found a new label, a new bass player and a new studio accomplice who's helped them produce their best album since the classic George Best. A slightly battered and bruised DAVE GEDGE gives a blow-by-blow account of the events to our ringside reporter STUART CLARK.
D UNBELIEVABLES are probably the most popular comics in Ireland. As preparations continue for the opening of their new show, Olaf Tyaransen talks to the duo about rural Ireland, negative press, and whether they have yet made their fortune.
TRACY CHAPMAN S eponymous debut album was one of the biggest sellers of last year more than ten years after its release.
She spoke to PETER MURPHY about her life before and after fame, that album and the race issue.
As the body double for Saddam Hussein's son, Latif Yahia suffered several assassination attempts. Having escaped to Offaly, the controversial figure is now seriously at odds with his adopted country.
Their debut Hot Fuss sold over 4 million copies and in the process set The Killers up as one of the brightest young hopes of the modern era. On the eve of the release of their second album Sam’s Town, the band look like settling for nothing less than U2-sized supremacy. Now, if only Brandon Flowers would shave off that, ahem, controversial face fuzz.
Although the acclaimed C Mon Kids was conspicuous by its absence from the
Best-Of-96 polls, The Boo Radleys sice and martin carr aren t bitter. As they prepare for an assault on the States, peter murphy gets the lowdown on their hatred of videos, their contempt for producers and their disapproval of outfits such as Dodgy, The Lightning Seeds and Everything But The Girl.
After 12 months which saw the group go from the indie B-division to rock’s premier league, Snow Patrol have had a more dramatic 2004 than most. In an in-depth interview, Gary Lightbody discusses a life-changing year, the Irish and British music scenes, friendships, relationships and where the band go to next.
As U2 gear up for the release of No Line On The Horizon, they meet HP to talk about the creation of their latest masterwork, meeting world leaders, the way they’re perceived in Ireland, the current state of the music business and their future plans.
Spike Lee is a firebrand film-maker and not one to mince his words. So what is the spiritual father of African-American cinema doing making an old fashioned heist flick?
Deep Throat was a smut blockbuster and pop-culture sensation. A new documentary, Inside Deep Throat, examines its impact on feminism, cinema and – oh yes – porn. It also sheds light on the tragic truth behind the movie, explains director Fenton Bailey.
Sex and sanctity, grit and glitter, penthouse and pavement, God and the Devil, and all conical points in between!
PETER MURPHY dials M for ADONNA, the pre-eminent pop icon of this and every other year
They were the coolest band on the planet – until the backlash started. Now The Strokes have released their most ambitious album yet. Can they leave their past behind?
A smart, savvy actress with a wry take on the vagaries of fame Sarah Michelle Gellar has her feet planted more firmly on terra firma than the average Hollywood starlet. In an exclusive interview with hotpress, the Buffy The Vampire Slayer star discusses her blood-curdling new movie The Grudge, being a teen icon, marriage, celebrity and much else besides. Just don’t mention the English coffee.
When the Be Here Now tour fell apart at the seams in 1997, the end seemed nigh for Britain’s biggest rock’n’roll band. Then Noel Gallagher gave up drugs and moved to the country. With a stunning new album on the way, the Oasis mainman tells Stuart Clark where it all went right.
Peter Murphy meets former Led Zeppelin bassist JOHN PAUL JONES as he releases his first solo album. On the agenda pacts with the Devil, Jones musical education, and thoughts on Eno, Nico and Charles Mingus.
So what happens when an indie band goes major league? how can you stay cool when your date’s a Charlie’s Angel? how important is the boy/girl song in a flag-waving time? and like Alexander The Great, do you weep when you have no more worlds to conquer? in addressing these and other pressing questions of the day, The Strokes salute John Lennon, Bob Dylan and their own undying band of brotherliness.
As the Bush-Gore election night morphed into pure strung-out political farce, a footloose hotpress writer found himself hunkered down in Amherst, Massachusetts, the place Emily Dickinson and Dinosaur Jnr have both called home. With smalltown American as his window on the world, this is the view that Peter Murphy got
Paul McCartney talks of life after linda, September 11th and the memories of his firefighter father, being 'lucky enough' to write with John Lennon and his new solo album, Driving Rain
The still vibrant 64-year-old on why Morrissey’s like Father Frank, why Iraq is like Vietnam, and on her meetings with Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, Bono, Phil Spector and a whole Oval Office full of presidents.
In 1993 she was broke, broken-hearted and reaching for a gun. Ten years on she’s a rich, famous, happily married author, celebrated worldwide as the creator of Sex And The City. Candace Bushnell tells Olaf Tyaransen how she got from there to here – even if she claims she still can’t write good sex!
From circus dwarves, incest and lesbian love affairs to severed organs and transvestite Indian brothels, John Irving’s novels are awash with enough tales of screwball sex and lurid violence to make even Quentin Tarantino blush. With his mammoth new 633-page novel A Son Of The Circus just published, the multi-million selling New Hampshire author indulges in a spot of verbal wrestling with liam fay, who discovers why he should keep this particular tête-à-tête purely literary. Pix: Cathal Dawson.
The first rule of interviewing LOU REED is that you don t: he interviews you. Peter Murphy survives the turning of the tables and is rewarded with thoughts on Joyce, Wilde, Dylan, Ginsberg and on becoming an elder stateman for the alternative thing .
It's Christmas, 1997 is drawing to a close and Noel Gallagher is in suitably reflective mood. "I can't be bothered writing music anymore", says the Oasis mainman before telling Stuart Clark precisely what he thinks of Liam, Meg, Sinéad O'Connor, that cunt Mick Jagger and England's chances of lifting the World Cup.
Ahead of his public interview in Dublin with Hot Press, Wire creator David Simon talks about the genesis of the series and about his controversial new Iraq-set show.
A new album, a new producer, a new sound and a new lease of life so where better to launch mary black s Shine than in New Orleans? Report and
interview: siobhAN LONG
A new album, a new producer, a new sound and a new lease of life so where better to launch mary black s Shine than in New Orleans? Report and
interview: siobhAN LONG
The first sci-fi cineplex
blockbuster of 1998
STARSHIP TROOPERS is directed by Paul Verhoeven from a book by noted sci-fi scribe Robert A. Heinlein. And it s either a mindlessly enjoyable special effects white-knuckle ride or dangerously subversive propaganda for right wing militarism. You decide: to Grok, or not to Grok?
Brushing shoulders with the likes of Bob Dylan, Van Morrison and Bertie Ahern is currently all in a day’s work for hugely acclaimed singer-songwriter, Juliet Turner. But, as she tells Hot Press, the singer’s Northern Methodist upbringing has left her with a distaste for the spotlight and an overwhelming desire for creative and personal independence.
He was a literary sensation, a writer with the outlaw charm of a rock star. But when rumours began to circulate that JT LeRoy was nothing more than a post-modern media prank, Peter Murphy, a friend and confidante, found himself caught up in an extraordinary story.
The relationship between drugs and creativity has always been a hotly debated subject. But narcotic indulgence has proven to be the downfall of many a gifted artist.
Senate leader Donie Cassidy, a reluctant interviewee, opens up about his rivalry with Fianna Fail colleague Mary O'Rourke and reminisces about his days in the show-band business.
He may have ranked among the biggest-selling artists in the world in 2002 – but the ambition that has driven Eminem to pop’s dizziest heights shows no sign of abating with the release of his own biopic, 8 Mile. On track to becoming Hollywood’s latest darling, with all the attendant pressures and provocations that entails, will his art survive?
A special report on the arts in Northern Ireland which is alive and rocking with the whole gamut of cultural activity. Here James Elliott and Margaret F. Grundy give the lowdown on the province’s artistic and creative hub.
All Write Now, we said. And boy did you follow instructions! The entries poured in from all over Ireland, and further afield, in their thousands. We were snowed under – but, as the song says: That’s the way, uh huh, uh huh, we like it…
