Unquestionably, Final Fantasy: The Spirit Within is a seminal film with respect to CGI technology. And while most people will undoubtedly find it worthwhile only as an intermittently entertaining high-tech Manga movie, there’s no doubt at all that it would be supreme if only we were all still twelve.
John Lennon is back but trust him to deflate the expectations that have been invested in his return. The message of Double Fantasy is that he and Yoko won't be anybody's heroes if they can't be each other's. This is a family album, Yoko's as much as his.
It’s a question that is asked in most relationships at one time or another. But what should you do when you get the feeling that the fantasy is more important than the reality – that you are just a surrogate for what someone else really wants?
BEING OUT of the country on holidays means I have yet to see the latest interpretation of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream (Gate Theatre) but one fellow journalist did describe it as "a menopausal sex fantasy".
Although they dipped their toes in the pop world with a cover of Visage’s ‘Fade To Grey’, Transparent Sound’s last album, Emotional Amputation, wasn’t exactly a barrel of laughs.
By dragging leprechauns into the new millennium, Wexford author EOIN COLFER has enraptured children and adults alike and given Harry Potter a right run for his money. FIONA REID meets the brains behind Artemis Fowl
While they may disagree about context and certain details, the two new television documentaries about Bloody Sunday, far from being the "bloody fantasy" alleged by critics, offer accurate and powerful recreations of the events of that tragic and pivotal day. EAMONN McCANN, an eye-witness on Bloody Sunday, reports
Her fantasy is out-qualifying Michael Schumacher, she once drove at 200 miles per hour and she'd "consider" sleeping with a fat, sweaty Italian if it meant getting a drive with Ferrari! She's sarah kavanagh, and her ambition is to take her place on the Forumula One grid by the year 2,000. Interview: barry glendenning.
Pix: clare kavanagh.
A Dublin singer writing about guns could have rather unfortunate connotations these days, but Lynch’s country rocker places his story firmly in the realms of Dylanesque fantasy. It’s a hard thing to pull off when your from East Coast Ireland as opposed to West Coast America but he makes a fair fist of it.
There is someone out there – well, maybe more than one – who knows how to get you horny with a simple text or email. So if you go all the way with them at a safe distance, are you being unfaithful to the man or woman you sleep with? And does it matter?
DUNGEONS & DRAGONS
Directed by Courtney Solomon. Starring Justin Whalan, Marlon Wayans, Thora Birch
The inevitable cinematic spin-off of the phenomenally successful ‘role-playing’ fantasy/adventure game of the same name, the only real surprise about Dungeons & Dragons is how long it took to become a movie, the game having been around since the late Seventies.
A highly entertaining band, from their fantasy-novel tackfest cover to the shamelessly swirly typeface on the back, the Worlds Apart album sleeve is an impishly over-designed comic-book of a thing.
The Irons are back with an album of overblown air-punchers which, as ever, scavenge the plots of wizards-and-goblin fantasy novels for their lyrical content, . . .
Excuse me? You can’t help but do a double take when you learn that Danny Dyer, wide boy idol of Human Traffic and Severance, has teamed up with Gillian Anderson for a sick vigilante fantasy.
M. Dercourt’s chilly, relatively bloodless revenge fantasy, selected for Un Certain Regard at Cannes this year, forms an elegant, focused drama with an important moral – never mess with a kid in the middle of her piano recital.
A feminist wish-fulfilment fantasy with a heart to match its slyly cerebral qualities, you’d need to be a fiercely impervious piece of work not to swoon for Waitress.
Film event of the year? This depends on you. The long-awaited fourth instalment of the Star Wars series has attracted such ridiculous reams of relentless hype that it can't help but obscure the project itself - we are, after all, talking about a simple two-hour adventure/fantasy film for kids from six to sixty, not the Second Coming of Christ.
Those were the final, prophetic words from STEPHEN GATELY on Twitter, as he planned to finish his children’s fantasy novel, The Tree of Seasons. Tragically, death was to intervene, bringing a sad and premature end to the career of a man who was much loved, warm and wonderfully likeable.
You may not be aware of this – but you, dear reader, are living in one of the most romantic places on earth. That’s according to countless writers and readers of romantic fiction, for whom Ireland and the Irish are bywords for commercial success. On St. Patrick’s Day, a US publishing company will publish Emerald Enchantment, an anthology of all things green, red-haired and romantic. New York-based tara mccarthy, seeking insight into the tragic history of her own romps in the hay with Irishmen, assesses its contents – and has little difficulty separating fact from fiction.
Illustration: MIKEY CROTTY
Tara McCarthy talks to Freres Jackman about their trip to not-so-far-away places where everybody loves music and bands actually make money playing gigs!
Bosnian ex-pat Aleksander Hemon has found modern resonances in the century-old tale of the murder of Jewish immigrant Lazarus Avenbach by the then Chicago chief of police.
"I've made another great movie, and the critics have already said it's a great summer hit," Arnold Schwarzenegger declared at Cannes recently, promoting his latest bid for world domination, "The Last Action Hero".
Purveyors of three-chord sci-fi punk metal, Coheed And Cambria certainly aren’t afraid of pushing the boundaries. But at its heart, their music is deeply personal, says frontman Claudio Sanchez.
They are chums with The Dandy Warhols and have been compared to Brian Jonestown Massacre. But Australia’s The Morning After Girls have patented a sound entirely their own.
Purveyors of high-IQ indie rock, We Are Scientists have built a reputation as incendiary live performers. But they won’t be satisfied until their shows include performing tigers.
Top international journalist and acclaimed stand-up comedian BARRY GLENDENNING pens this self-aggrandising subhead before continuing his countdown to the third Murphy s Cat Laughs Comedy Festival
Watching an Oscar Wilde play in full flight is one thing, right? As in Alan Stanford s meticulously directed version of An Ideal Husband, now running at Dublin s Gate Theatre.
Charlotte Hatherley doesn’t do stockings, but she would like to have it off in a thunderstorm. And she wears nothing in bed but a smile. Oh, sweet Jesus.
Joe Jackson talks to Arthur Riordan, author of Improbable Frequency, the hit musical comedy which examines Ireland’s neutrality during the Second World War in humorous and insightful fashion.
Joe Jackson talks to Arthur Riordan, author of Improbable Frequency, the hit musical comedy which examines Ireland’s neutrality during the Second World War in humorous and insightful fashion.
The new installment in the Narnia franchise, Prince Caspian, is burdened by huge commercial expectations. But the film's director, Andrew Adamson, is not letting the pressure get to him.
A graduate of art-house cinema and experimental theatre, Cork actor Cillian Murphy is set for the a-list following his chilling turn as Scarecrow in Batman Begins. Interview by Tara Brady.
It is every boy's wildest fantasy (bar, perhaps, Brett from Suede) to make a living playing with a fantastically successful football side. Craig Johnston was there, saw that and quit while he was ahead. But he has continued to make his dreams real. Gerry McGovern meets the kangaroo who won't be tied down, sport.
With the final countdown to Christmas already well underway, what’s on offer by way of music-related presents is on every rock’n’roll fan’s mind. We took Jerry Fish into HMV in Grafton St. and asked him to pick out the most desirable items on offer – including, of course, his own wonderful new record Live At The Spiegeltent.
With the final countdown to Christmas already well underway, what’s on offer by way of music-related presents is on every rock’n’roll fan’s mind. We took Jerry Fish into HMV in Grafton St. and asked him to pick out the most desirable items on offer – including, of course, his own wonderful new record Live At The Spiegeltent.
Which is a rather cryptic way of introducing an interview by Joe Jackson with Brian Kennedy on his distaste for the macho ethos of rock and his admiration for fellow Belfast troubadour Mr. Morrison.
Susanna Clarke’s debut novel, the epic Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, is putting new blood into new magic, not to mention proving something of a sensation on the bestseller charts.
As the son of horror writer Stephen King, Joe Hill has a great deal to live up to. Far from being over-shadowed by his father, however, Hill has crafted a chilling and original debut novel.
Grappling with weighty political themes is grist to the mill for Colin Meloy of Oregon art-rockers The Decemberists. He’s even written a song about the Shankill Butchers.
Taking time of from serving as wingman to Jack White, Brendan Benson is about to release a new solo album. He talks about his Irish roots – including a Youghal mother, no less – and getting used to life outside The Raconteurs.
PETER MURPHY meets GAVIN FRIDAY and discovers a fascination with Kurt Weill that has led to Friday and Maurice Seezer’s Ich Lieb Dich revue at the Tivoli Theatre
To the relief of countless Hot Press staff who bet that it would take less than six months, BARRY GLENDENNING completes his transformation from amiable Offaly muck savage into name-dropping London showbiz wanker in the nick of time. Read on . . .
Tara Brady talks to director Pete Docter about the latest Pixar mega-hit Up, which tells the story of an elderly widower who sets sail on an Amazonian adventure.
Falling snow, falling bodies and equipment, and music to fall in love with: it’s Australian mod-disco anarcho-samplers THE AVALANCHES. Text: KIM PORCELLI
They've sold albums by the truck-load and are about to embark on a sold-out four-night run in Dublin, but Brummy three-piece Ocean Colour Scene have plenty they'd like to complain about, including the press, the music industry, and – especially – ringtone ads appearing on their albums.
Visionary singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright has built up a loyal cult following for his epic tales of love, lost and unrequited. But as he admits himself, that’s only half the story. “Usually interviewers are obsessed with one thing or the other – whether it’s the gay thing or the drugs or the politics,” he tells an intrigued Phil Udell.
Some may scoff, but the experts suggest that compulsive sexual behaviour can prove just as destructive as other addictions. dr. claire boers-stoll, an American psychologist, defines the problem and the solution. Interview: paul o mahony.
Acclaimed Sandman creator Neil Gaiman has turned his dark imagination to children’s fiction with Coraline, a book whose subject matter is even more timely in the light of the tragic events in Soham
It was a night of mayhem, hysteria and high decibel screaming which left LIAM FAY psychologically, emotionally and aesthetically scarred. It was TAKE THAT’S Irish debut at The Point. This is his report from the front line.
When a police investigation was launched into Michael Jackson’s alleged activities with Jordan Chandler, the King of Pop’s media image went from Peter Pan into the fire. In his new biography christopher andersen becomes the spokesman for Wacko’s degeneration offering a damning portrait of the real man behind the mask. Report: Bill Graham.
Yes, it's the long-awaited return of the world's greatest politically incorrect headline. Michael Hutchence of Féile headliners INXS explains why he's flying a flag for the old-fashioned values and going back to his musical roots. All this plus: condoms, Mick Jagger at 50 and the best-hung member of INXS. Interview: Neil McCormick.
Spraycan and scaffolding at the ready, the culture jammers are going to work on a billboard near you. james kelleher (words and pictures) investigates the world of ad busting
Righteous, raging and hysterically funny, the late Bill Hicks was the comedian too hot even for Letterman. Paul Nolan on a new book that fills out the legend.
Colm O’Hare talks to Kerry King, guitarist with thrash-metal outfit Slayer, and discovers that under that murderous, violent exterior lies a great big pussy cat . . . almost.
For the final installment of London Calling, Barry Glendenning felt it would be appropriate to compose an emotional, heartfelt farewell to his legions of loyal readers. Sadly, he never got around to it and sent us the following copy instead.
Hong Kong director Stephen Chow is the closest thing to an auteur in the explosive and surreal world of Far East action cinema. His latest feature, Kung Fu Hustle, could be the one to finally break him in the West. But impending worldwide stardom hasn’t erased Chow’s modest streak, he reveals in an exclusive interview.
On the eve of his appearance in the Dublin Theatre Festival and with a nationwide Irish tour pending, Jimeoin, the award-winning Irish comedian, talks to Tony Clayton-Lea about his journey to fame, from his early jobs as a builder in London and a carpenter in Sydney to his current status as the funniest man in Australia. He may own ten Van Morrison albums but he's still the best man around to liven up a night on the town.
On the eve of his appearance in the Dublin Theatre Festival and with a nationwide Irish tour pending, Jimeoin, the award-winning Irish comedian, talks to Tony Clayton-Lea about his journey to fame, from his early jobs as a builder in London and a carpenter in Sydney to his current status as the funniest man in Australia. He may own ten Van Morrison albums but he's still the best man around to liven up a night on the town.
In a world exclusive interview, Morrissey sets the record straight on sex, religion, politics, David Bowie and his Irish heritage, and casts a Trinny & Susannah-esque eye over Brian Cowen
A recent survey revealed that highly sexed women are far more likely to want a bit of same sex action than highly sexed men. Anne Sexton- who falls effortlessly into the highly sexed category!- recalls that it was the feel of her girl lover's skin that was the most striking aspect of her first lesbian encounter. Once she relaxed, however, it was an experience to remember.
The authorities seem to be going way beyond the law in their campaign against head shops and sex shops. But because a pleasure-focussed sub-culture is involved, no one gives a damn that the rights of the owners of the shops are being trampled on.
Buffy creator Joss Whedon was devastated when his follow-up project, a Western-tinged space-opera, was cancelled without warning. Rather than sulking, Whedon brought the show back to life in movie forkm, as the sci-fi pulp extravaganza Serenity.
The rise and rise of the female singer/songwriter is fast achieving phenomenon status in Ireland - here,
Peter Murphy profiles an eclectic mix of new and distinctive talent
Managing to convince Shaz Oye that he’s not another Fianna Fail canvasser calling round to insult her, Jackie Hayden is allowed in to see where the singer-songwriter works, rests and plays.
British director Bernard Rose hit paydirt over decade ago with Candyman, but his uncompromising single-mindedness has made him a virtual Hollywood pariah. However, Snuff Movie looks like putting him back in the game.
Actress, writer, director, singer and not quite so archetypal French heroine Julie Delpy renders terms like ‘renaissance woman’ positively anaemic. Currently back on the map with Before Sunset, one of the cinematic highlights of the year, she talks art, sex romance and Gallic caricatures.
A surreal journey into the inner life of an Irish transvestite in ‘70s London is the basis of Breakfast On Pluto, the latest cinematic collaboration from writer Pat McCabe and director Neil Jordan.
Ex-Python turned film-maker Terry Gilliam watched his latest movie project the man who killed Don Quixote collapse after a succession of production disasters. Yet two young film-makers who accompanied the director on the shoot have released a documentary film about the making, and un-making, of Gilliam's epic
In the definitive life of two halves, GEORGE BEST has been both the supreme footballer and a raddled alcoholic . With a new paperback biography just published and a movie version of his life on the way, LIAM MACKEY reflects on the genie who got trapped by the bottle.
It may be that she will forever be associated with the Zipless Fuck, but if her new book, Of Blessed Memory, takes off like Fear Of Flying, erica jong could yet become synonymous with another hot erotic scenario, The Three Slipperies. Still creating controversy after all these years, the author talks feminism, Judaism, rock n roll, fashion and but, of course sex, with Joe Jackson.
Pix: cathal dawson
Andy Williams may have a reputation as a bland M.OR. crooner but beneath the squeaky clean showbiz facade lurks an interesting man indeed, who reveals a knowledge of modern art, a past laced with drug use and an unhealthy interest in Shirley Temple. Joe Jackson travels to Branson, Missouri to hear his confessions.
Following the lukewarm reception accorded Jackie Brown six years ago, Quentin Tarantino reached a crossroads in his career. now, following a prolonged retreat from the media spotlight, a rumoured struggle with writer’s block and his break-up with Mira Sorvino, the most influential film-maker of the nineties has made a stunning return to form with the explosive samurai thriller, Kill Bill. Craig Fitzsimons travelled to london to meet the director and discuss the film he describes as “the movie of my geek boy dreams.”
There are those who believe that the Downing St. Declaration offers the best hope of peace in Northern Ireland for twenty-five years. But as Sinn Féin’s consideration of the fine print drags on, Bill Graham accuses them of theological nitpicking and argues that their negotiating position makes impossible demands on reality.
After laying At The Drive-In to rest, two of their members have put together another outfit who are determined to push back the boundaries of modern music. In a far-ranging interview, Peter Murphy talks to The Mars Volta about reincarnation, hanging out with the Chili Peppers and their Hispanic roots.
Having amicably but firmly put the Cranberries behind her, Dolores O’Riordan found refuge in motherhood, but is now raring to get back on the road with her first solo album.
Or should that be Pub Stars? Either way, their debut album is soaked in the strong spirit - and stronger spirits - of their native city. Nick Kelly meets Dublin's JUBILEE ALLSTARS.
As editor of the Daily Mirror and News of The World Piers Morgan was one of the most powerful men in Fleet Street. He cultivated an influential circle of friends and enemies, among them Tony Blair, Naomi Campbell and -oh yes- Sinéad O'Connor.
Lee Dunne is reputed to be the most banned author in Europe and, by his own reckoning, has slept with over 1,000 women. You could says he’s got a story or two to tell.
There's another Belfast, an alternate dimension populated by C.S. Lewis, Van and your host and spirit guide, Duke Special, who's just released his latest album.
Sometimes it's hard to be a woman, especially when it involves piling on layers of latex, strapping on corsets, and getting to grips with false eyelashes. And yet, whether it's Kurt Cobain donning a scruffy frock, Robin Williams in full matronly guise for Mrs Doubtfire, or the 6'7 Ru Paul co-presenting The Brits, transvestism seems to have acquired a stronger multi-media allure than ever before. Andy Darlington examines the portrayal of TVs in cinema and the arts, and considers the sexual and social implications of the ancient art of cross-dressing.
One of the greatest penslingers in rockdom, he’s championed U2, Joy Division and Kylie and taken a critical scalpel to Oasis, The Strokes and their “miserably narrow mates”. he’s also locked horns with Germaine Greer, helped Frankie to relax and let The Frames slip through his fingers.
Having revolutionised television with Lost, wunderkind producer J.J. ABRAMS has now focused his sights on the ailing Star Trek franchise. But can a ‘Trek agnostic really breathe fresh life into the most famous brand in science fiction? And will his gamble of casting relative unknowns as the iconic Enterprise crew come off?
The Winner In Me - Don Baker's Story, by Jackie Hayden, is the painfully honest account of the private life of one of Ireland's best-known musicians, and describes his efforts, as an adult, to come to terms with an unhappy childhood and a past littered with violence, crime and alcoholism. In this exclusive extract, Don describes how he believes his troubled childhood relationship with his mother left him with an enduring fear of betrayal in his relationships with women.
Positivity is their mantra, classy is their byword and their mission is to become the biggest and best pop group on the plant. With their jam in the point date looming SYLVIA PATTERSON goes on the road with DESTINY'S CHILD and hears a tale of self-empowerment, vision and that collision between cleavage and christianity
In a remarkably honest interview, which directly preceded the death of his mother, Jonathan Rhys Meyers reflects on his spells in rehab and discusses life as one of Hollywood’s hottest young actors.
Or, Augusten Burroughs And The Art Of Magical Thinking. Peter Murphy talks to the bestselling author about his troubled upbringing in rural Massachusetts, the long and strange series of events that led to him becoming a writer, and why his current personal and professional happiness may just mean that his extraordinary story has a happy ending after all. Photography by Emily Quinn.
BLOODHOUND GANG might not be paragons of good taste, but they do live out the rock n roll lifestyle like no other band. JIMMY POP talks to STUART CLARK about swearing, drugs, porn stars and amusing Germans! Pop Pic-er: Declan English
If having your music featured on every TV programme from TFI Friday to England v Morocco is a measure of success, then CORNERSHOP are now one of the biggest bands in the world. Multi-instrumentalist BEN AYRES talks to STUART CLARK about Noel Gallagher collaborations, festivals, royalties, The Blind Boys Of Alabama and that Fatboy Slim remix.
Gosh. 2004. We came (almost literally when Quentin T. swaggered back into town), we saw, we felt gooey. An awesome, sweltering, overwhelming time was had by all – well, by movie buffs at any rate. Dead genres arose and appeared to many. Documentaries – long the bridesmaid of cinema history – got their groove back, thanks in part to that Moore fellow’s rants and raves.
PFM! Tolkien! Tales from Topographic Oceans! Myths and legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table! On ice!!! Yes, what fun we had back in the good old days of Prog Rock. GEORGE BYRNE outs himself as a recovered progster and recalls the glory days in the company of CHRIS SQUIRE from YES.
No, it's not the overworked Hot Press subs finally snapping beneath the strain of a hectic production schedule but a finely argued debate by our finest writers on the phenomenon of naff. What is naff? Are you naff and if so how do you go about rectifying matters? Read on and be saved . . .
From First Cuts to Latest Cuts, from the First Lady Of Immediate , recording with Phil Spector, Jimi Hendrix and the Small Faces, to the First Lady of Techno, scoring Top Ten hits with Altern-8 and the Beatmasters, to today with Primal Scream and Ocean Colour Scene
P.P. ARNOLD has always been there, wherever the beat is hottest.
Interview: andy darlington.
Three-minute love songs simply can't cope with all the intricacies of a complex relationship, and inevitably veer off into angst-ridden cliché or syrupy feelgood banality. Dr. Millar, however, attempts to tell it like it is, and explains how and why to John Farrell.
There s not a Keith Chegwin in sight as STUART CLARK visits L!VE TV, the station that could soon be introducing Ireland to the delights of Rusty the bouncing dwarf weatherman and the rabbit who wants to present Newsnight.
Whether with THE SMITHS, ELECTRONIC, THE PRETENDERS or in brown trouser mode sharing a stage with PAUL McCARTNEY, GEORGE MICHAEL and NEIL FINN, he remains, by his own admission, the best JOHNNY MARR-style guitar player around. GEORGE BYRNE meets the cat others like to copy.
From schlock kingpin to master of understated horror, auteur David Cronenberg has travelled a long way. His latest movie probes the underbelly of Russian criminals in London.
These days he may be more famous for his movies than his prose, but in conversation Neil Jordan remains linguistically precise as he dissects the Hollywood machine, reveals his love for Lord Of The Rings and discusses his latest movie The Good Thief, starring Nick Nolte.
While the senior team have been stumbling their way through the World Cup qualifiers, the Ireland Under-20s have been making back-page headlines for all the right reasons.
In an interview that's guaranteed to ruffle blazers in Merrion Square, youth supremo BRIAN KERR tells Jack Charlton exactly where he can stick his long-ball and outlines his masterplan for future international glory. Slight groin-strain: STUART CLARK.
“There doesn’t need to be any problems conjured for wrong interpretations,” says Clown aka Shawn Crahan. And while you’re chewing on the prime gibberish, here’s the Slipknot view on humanity (“filthy, disgusting, disease-ridden”), fans (“they’re all cows”), piss (“i like the way it smells”) and life in a band (“i’m so bored, so trapped”). Prepare to shake your head in disbelief
There is a serial killer on the loose in London, who has targeted the male gay community. But because of the spanner ruling, which has made a criminal offence of consenting SM sex practices, those who are most at risk are finding it impossible to talk to the police. And inevitably, the sensational distortions of the british media are only making matters worse. This year's Gay Pride March took place against that disturbing backdrop. Fay Wolftree reports. Pix: Leo Regan
“I grew up in a tough neighbourhood, and we used to say, ‘You can get further with a kind word and a gun than with just a kind word’.”
- Robert De Niro as Al Capone in The Untouchables
The outrageous diaries of the late Carry On star KENNETH WILLIAMS, are now in the bookshops - often unsavoury, irascible, candid and scurrilous, but seldom boring. Williams dishes the dirt on Tony Hancock, Joe Orton, Stanley Baxter, Barbara Windsor, and on his own tortured homosexuality. ANDREW DARLINGTON reports.
Robyn Hitchcock – wayward musical genius or fruitcake, depending on your point of view – is on the brink of even greater notoriety with the patronage of REM and the release of his strongest album to date. Andy Darlington does his best to uncover the man behind the mayhem.
American writer john horgan has earned the wrath of the scientific community and the unwelcome support of the fundamentalist Right for his provocative theories aimed at separating science fact from science fiction.
Interview: liam fay. Pix: CATHAL DAWSON
Twelve years since he retired his blood-stained Die Hard vest, Bruce Willis is back for another bite at the franchise. He talks about his see-saw acting career and why he and ex-wife Demi Moore will always be friends.
In a rare interview, Simpsons writer Mike Scully talks about the show’s A-list musical guests, his love for Ned Flanders and upsetting the entire population of Brazil. He also tells us what to expect from The Simpsons Movie, which blockbusters its way onto the big screen in the summer.
Liam Fay spends a day behind the counter of the Condom Power store in Dublin, Ireland’s only condomerie
and sex shop, and a place where there is no shortage of “realistic vibrating buttocks.”
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.
Even though he s just as acerbic and witty as he ever was, these days GRAHAM PARKER isn t what you d call the man of the moment. Which is a shame, because the veteran new-wave critics darling is currently writing some of the best material of his life, including last year s Acid Bubblegum album, which he describes as a fucking great record . And as if that wasn t enough to be going on with, he s also got plenty of short stories on the go.
Tape: Peter Murphy
...or was it? U2's recent Irish dates were greeted with everything from wide-eyed adoration to open hostility. BILL GRAHAM was in the crowd at Pairc Uí Caoimh and the RDS and puts the Zoo TV experience into perspective. Pix: COLM HENRY
Metallica are back with an album that recaptures their brain-frying '80s pomp. Frontman James Hetfield talks about the dark side of hedonism and his love of Thin Lizzy.
LAURYN HILL s debut album, The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill was the fastest selling album ever by a female artist in the United States. What s more it s just garnered her five Grammy Awards, confirming her status as one of American music s most important new icons. OLAF TYARANSEN went to London to hear the singer talk frankly about success, motherhood, the future of The Fugees and her father-in-law, Bob Marley.
Is Ireland really drowning in gargle? Is there no hope for the youth? and is ever more draconian legislation all we can do? Dermot Stokes sidesteps the hysteria to offer some sober reflection on the use and misuse of alcohol
ARDAL O'HANLON is back in anti-hero mode in a new BBC sit-com. But before that, there's more stand-up, a movie, another book and the small matter of football, football. NICK KELLY hears all about a busy life after Ted. Pix: Cathal Dawson.
ARDAL O'HANLON is back in anti-hero mode in a new BBC sit-com. But before that, there's more stand-up, a movie, another book and the small matter of football, football. NICK KELLY hears all about a busy life after Ted. Pix: Cathal Dawson.
London has long been recognised as one of the world's leading centres of entertainment and musical excitement - not to mention pleasure in all its multifarious manifestations. But when you really need it, do you know where to find it? Fay Wolftree brings you the insider's inside guide to Europe's premier rock 'n' roll metropolis.
Like many of his brethren in the world of comedy, David Baddiel has turned his hand to fiction in recent years. Although his previous efforts met with a lukewarm critical response, his new novel, The Secret Purposes – a skilfully rendered tale which draws heavily on Baddiel's grandparents' experience in wartime England – looks set to reverse that trend. Interview by Peter Murphy. Photography by Liam Sweeney
Making her solo debut, Andrea Corr has set about re-casting herself as a vampish singer with a taste for dark beats and sultry wordplay. In a forthright interview, she talks about her unexpected re-invention.
In the second and final part of an extensive interview, director Jim Sheridan discusses his troubles with Gabriel Byrne and Noel Pearson, explains why he could marry Daniel Day-Lewis but would fail to measure up against Richard Harris, and suggests the best way forward for the embattled Irish film industry. Plus: the ouija board prophecies which seem to have shaped his life. By Joe Jackson.
Dave Grohl looks back on 20 years of playing music and talks about the birth of his daughter, the trapped Beaconsfield Miners and why Neil Young is his hero.
Despite the controversies in which she has recently bee involved, when SINIAD O'CONNOR starts talking music it becomes evident why she ran away to join the rock'n'roll circus in the first place. Citing Bob Dylan, Bob Marley and Van Morrison as her ultimate trinity, she discusses the spiritual forces that drive and inspire. Interview: BILL GRAHAM
Ahead of the European Championships in Portugal, the England and Arsenal full back on another great year for the Gunners, discipline and indiscipline, football scandals, money and, of course, Roy Keane.
Since writing her book The Morning After: Sex, Fear And Feminism, author Katie Roiphe has been subjected to an unprecedented level of private and public vilification for her outspoken views on rape. Here, she talks to Liam Fay about the growing complexity of sexual politics in the States.
Pix: Cathal Dawson.
Contrary to the negative way in which it's so often portrayed by the national media, Limerick is a city that combines a rich sense of tradition with an eye for innovation and in recent years has developed into one of Ireland's leading cultural centres. Kevin Barry takes a look at the people - and the places - breathing new life into the mid-western capital.
Television s best-known wearer of colourful jumpers turned Conservative politician has reinvented himself yet again this time as a writer of credible fiction. PETER MURPHY hears the nice Tory s vice story. Pix: CATHAL DAWSON
Why are four Birmingham lads skulking through Barna Woods in Galway, and why is there a camera crew following them around? john walshe met up with ocean colour scene on the set of their new video, Traveller s Tune . Pix: AENGUS McMAHON.
Author and columnist Candace Bushnell, who has been dubbed the Sharon Stone of journalism , on love, sex, drugs, drink and the dark underbelly of high society from New
York to Dublin.
The author of the influential *AwopBopAlooBopAlopBamBoom*, Derryman NIK COHN has helped lay the foundations of serious rock criticism. Here, the author of the short story on which "Saturday Night Fever" was based talks about his latest book, "The Heart of The World". and tells JOE JACKSON why Elvis is King and Dylan is crap.
. . . who is the sexiest of them all? Helen MIRREN, apparently, at least according to readers of the Radio Times, who recently voted her the sexiest woman on TV. Which may be flattering but possibly also does a disservice to a gifted actress who has no qualms about speaking her mind whether on nudity, money, the stage, television or even the cowardly assholes who bomb for Ireland. Interview: Joe Jackson
Fourteen years after Richey Edwards disappeared without trace, THE MANIC STREET PREACHERS have summoned the courage to fashion an album from the lyrics he left behind.
The "youngest old fogey" in the country, at the tender age of 30, Ryan Tubridy has clambered halfway up the greasy pole of rte, having gone from making gerry ryan's coffee to presenting the rose of tralee in record time. as his Full Lounge album, a spin-off from his Full Irish breakfast show hits the stores, he talks personal and professional politics with Olaf Tyaransen.
Psychic and physical disintegration! Quacks, pulsars and Marshall amps! The sound of the end of space and time! And, oh yes, silly song titles too! Welcome to the world of WAYNE COYNE and The Flaming Lips. Interview: Peter Murphy.
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.
At the age of 20, kathryn harrison embarked on a full-blown sexual affair with her own father an incestuous relationship which the acclaimed author has now chronicled in detail in her latest book, The Kiss. joe jackson meets the woman who has been attacked as a mercenary slut wanting to capitalise on shock value .
Pix: colm henry.
30 years after the music was originally recorded, Led Zeppelin topped the record and DVD charts in 2003 with the sound and vision of the band in all their pomp and glory. The guitar hero’s guitar hero, Jimmy Page reflects on the passion for music which inspired him then – and now.
Many Irish holiday-makers will be heading for the United States this year. But there’s much more on offer in that vast playground than the dubious prospect of sweltering in the crushing heat of an Orlando football stadium in June. Jackie Hayden travelled with a bunch of media types to the small town of Lynchburg in Tennessee and visited the source of one of the world’s great spirits, Jack Daniels, making some musical connections along the way.
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
In 1991, five years after the death of Phil Lynott, the late Bill Graham wrote in Hot Press of Philo's enduring legacy. Over ten years later his words are as relevant as ever
Will genetic engineering be a force for good or for evil? And since the genie is already out of the bottle, is even that profound question becoming redundant? GERRY McGOVERN delves into the worrying, wonderful and definitely weird world of genetics. The future starts here.
A former drug dealer, he’s been shot at nine times and lived to tell the tale, emerging as one of the most controversial and uncompromising figures in rap. But there's more to 50 Cent than the popular legend suggests. For a start, there’s a new commercial edge to the music, as his US and Irish number one album The Massacre demonstrates. Plus, as one of the new faces of Reebok’s ‘I Am What I Am’ campaign, he’s taken to the role of cultural icon with considerable zest. Oh, and besides, he’s a bit of a wow with the ladies.
Credited with being a pioneer in the field of confessional singer-songwriting, it is only now, at the age of 55, that JONI MITCHELL is able to talk openly about the private trauma behind the songs on such classic albums as Blue. On the occasion of the release of a new album Both Sides Now, that sees her revisit some former glories, the legendary Mitchell takes JOE JACKSON on a journey through her personal, and professional history.
This is part one of an exclusive two-part interview
The "youngest old fogey" in the country, at the tender age of 30, Ryan Tubridy has clambered halfway up the greasy pole of rte, having gone from making gerry ryanÕs coffee to presenting the rose of tralee in record time. as his Full Lounge album, a spin-off from his Full Irish breakfast show hits the stores, he talks personal and professional politics with Olaf Tyaransen.
Inevitably, The Best Of Nick Cave ... The Bad Seeds can only hint at the scope of the band's back catalogue. But if one listens to the group's ten studio albums chronologically, there are no gear-grinding changes of direction or radical overhaulings of the sound, all the more remarkable considering the amount of personnel that passed through the line-up.
Over the hills and far away, Chumbawamba come out to play! They get knocked down. But they get up again. They get dropped by Indie One Little Indian, and then get signed up by Capitalist major EMI. Then the Tub-Thumpers Anonymous go on to score the most unlikely hit single of 1997. So what now for Alice Nutter and her chums? ANDY DARLINGTON reports.
Over the hills and far away, Chumbawamba come out to play! They get knocked down. But they get up again. They get dropped by Indie One Little Indian, and then get signed up by Capitalist major EMI. Then the Tub-Thumpers Anonymous go on to score the most unlikely hit single of 1997. So what now for Alice Nutter and her chums? ANDY DARLINGTON reports.
Funky Ceili, non-conformist politics and the approval of Bob Dylan, Robin Williams and Johnny Cash to name but a few. Larry Kirwan tells Liam Fay how Black 47 have become the hottest band in New York and one of 'The Ten Most Hated Things About America
MARTIN HAYES fiddles while dennis cahill burns on The Lonesome Touch, an exercise in purity that is not exclusive to the purists. Joining them on the road, siobhan long learns the finer points of a good reel, and discovers that in Irish traditional music there s no place for conflict between continuity and change.
When Nirvana exploded out of Seattle with the classic grunge album Nevermind, they were hailed as modern primitives, punk upstarts whose hard musical edge and authentic street style were the antithesis of the dominant ethos of corporate rock. Two years on however, their reputation as Rock 'n' Roll rebels is somewhat less secure. Bill Graham sifts through two new biographies of the band, and talks to Victoria clarke, the co-author of a third which has been effectively surpressed by the Nirvana 'corporation'.
ave Fanning: We just played "Wild Things Run Free" (sic) and as you say yourself you are "back in the harness". Now, except for the vocals would it be a fair assumption to call the music on the new album pop with a rock steady beat?
As his singular contribution to the birthday party, guest writer Elvis Costello offers a handful of stories from his ten years on the beat, which serve to illustrate why, in his own words, “I’d rather be a folk music fan than a teen idol.”
He was a midwife to grunge and has worked with artists as diverse as Marilyn Manson, Hole and Ozzy Osbourne. Far from being a studio boffin, though, Michael Beinhorn believes modern music is too often reliant on technology.
When Richard O' Brien put Dr. Frank' N' Furter into fishnets just over 20 years ago, few could have predicted the cult that would grow up around the Rocky Horror Show. Fay Wolftree genderbenders her way through a history of Transylvanian transvestism.
As the new leader of the SDLP and Deputy First Minister in Northern Ireland, MARK DURKAN will have plenty to occupy his mind in 2002. Here he talks about the early death of his father, politics and paramilitaries in the North, the Dublin/Monaghan bombings, his opposition to Sellafield and membership of Greenpeace – and what Mo Mowlam might have piped into the Good Friday talks!
Words: JOE JACKSON
ENTERTAINMENT OFFICERS FROM UCC, UCD, UNIVERSITY OF ULSTER, UCG, DCU AND THE UNIVERSITY OF LIMERICK GIVE AN ALTERNATIVE VIEW OF LIFE ON THEIR PARTICULAR CAMPUSES.
Or that's what the proponents of the phenomenon of Virtual Reality might want us to believe. GERRY McGOVERN enters this brave new world and discovers that its capacity to transform our lives - at work, rest and foreplay - is truly mindblowing. Now, put on your headset and start reading!
It's been ten years that's shaken a fair bit of the world and now, suddenly, OASIS are back. what better time for a reflective, confessional, candid and scandalous one-on-one with a man who always gives great quote, NOEL GALLAGHER. Interview: STUART CLARK
THE CORRS' public image is one of unblemished beauty and soaraway success. But beneath the pop sheen lurk the darker lyrical themes of Andrea
Corr.
JOE JACKSON talks to her about the inspiration behind some of the Corrs' biggest hits, hears her anger at recent critical reaction and finds out what "Ireland's sexiest woman" really thinks about love, sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll and the whole damn thing.
An overnight success story that was years in the making, The Strokes have been dismissed as flagrant hype and lauded as the saviours of rock 'n' roll. Eamon Sweeney, a journalist who has spent more time in their company than most, gets the fullest account yet of the rise and rise of New York's band of brothers. "Whatever happens, we'll be there together," they tell him. "we won’t let each other fall."
The legendary GRACE JONES is coming to Dublin.
OLAF TYARANSEN caught up with her in New York to talk about drugs, stalkers, her recent marriage and period pains.
Yup, we thought you'd like our stab at a tabloid headline. Thing is, there was a time when Danny Boy O'Connor looked inexorably set on a course for the California State Penitentiary. Then he discovered the therapeutic qualities of the House Of Pain and apart from the odd skirmish with the 2FM Roadcaster, there's been no looking back since. Crime reporter: Stuart Clark.
Bono, Adam and Larry. Not to mention the self-styled King Boogaloo himself, Mr B. P. Fallon, whose new book U2: Faraway So Close offers an intimate visual and verbal diary of the band’s world-record shattering ZOO TV tour. For good measure the, um, also self-styled Mr Ramalama talks about Jimi Hendrix and the Mafia connection, toting guns with Tone Loc, giving Little Richard a hard-on, and other little, um, side voyages into other territories, man. Er, tape recorder thingy: Joe Jackson.
Meet Larry Harvey, the man behind burning man, the world’s most extraordinary festival, in which a whole city, run as a gift economy, springs up in the arid nevada desert to celebrate creativity, non-conformism and the healing power of fire.
Known from the TV sitcom as the Man who Behaves Badly, actor Neil Morrissey is confounding the laddish caricature with his work for an anti-landmine charity. In this candid interview with Paul Nolan, he also reflects on childhood trauma, death in the family, that affair with Amanda Holden and his encounters with Olivier, Burton and Mel Gibson. main photography Cathal Dawson
Known from the TV sitcom as the man who behaves badly, actor Neil Morrissey is confounding the laddish caricature with his work for an anti-landmine charity. In this candid interview with Paul Nolan, he also reflects on childhood trauma, death in the family, that affair with Amanda Holden and his encounters with Olivier, Burton and Mel Gibson.
Until recently one of the ultimate indie cult bands, The Flaming Lips have survived the ravages of heroin, acid and a hunting trip with William Burroughs. Now, their new album At War With The Mystics finds them taking their funky psychedelia to strange new places – including the upper reaches of the charts for the first time. Could it be that their moment has finally come? Interviews: Craig Fitzsimons (now) and Peter Murphy (then). additional reporting: Stuart Clark, Ed Power and Jackie Hayden
John Walshe had a ringside seat for all the music, speeches, laughs and tears that made the 2002 hotpress Irish Music Awards in Belfast a night to remember.
Getting press accreditation for the world’s greatest cycling race seemed like a dream come true. Then the Tour de France turned into the Tour de Farce. SHANE STOKES recalls the death of innocence during three tumultuous weeks in July.
Greetings From LA
beck and tom petty get together in Los Angeles for an impassioned rap on songs, songwriting, showbiz, the Unplugged phenomenon and how too much music can boggle the mind. mark rowland listens in.
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?
Sci-fi revolutionary and reluctant cyberpunk, William Gibson marks the publication of his new novel pattern recognition by offering Peter Murphy a peek into the present and a brief history of the future.
Martin Sheen has starred in at least two of the greatest films ever made, survived a massive heart attack, found God, and campaigned tirelessly for social justice in the Third World. Now, he’s gone back to school, studying Philosophy and English at (of all places) the NUI in Galway. Jason O’Toole meets him for his only Irish print interview.
With her new volume of autobiography, AGNES BERNELLE has turned the spotlight away from the stage and onto her own life illuminating both the happier and dark chapters of a turbulent personal story. Interview: JOE JACKSON. Pix: COLM HENRY
At the time of writing indications are that Tori Amos’ ‘Cornflake Girls’ single will hit the No.1 spot in the British charts this week. Celebrations may indeed be in order – but for Tori right now there are far more burning issues to be talked through and dealt with. In an extraordinarily intimate, open and at times devastatingly honest interview, she talks about the horrific knife-point rape documented in ‘Me And A Gun’, the lingering wounds inflicted on her by the experience and the difficult healing process she has begun – including, she says, accepting the ‘prostitute’ in herself. Along the way she challenges a wide range of assumptions on love, sex, violence, religion, masturbation, feminishm, lesbianism and the main
man himself, Jesus Christ. By Joe Jackson.
He may well be RTE s only living intellectual but ANDY O MAHONY, host of The Sunday Show, will long be remembered by many as the man who asked Deirdre Purcell if she ever did the bold thing with Gay Byrne. JOE JACKSON gets the self-styled closet determinist to come out of the closet. Pix: Colm Henry
When the offer came to produce the new Rolling Stones album in Dublin what answer could Don Was give but a resounding ‘Yes’. Mick, Keef & Co. are the latest in a long and impressive list of the man’s studio credits which includes Bob Dylan, The B-52’s, Willie Nelson, Bonnie Raitt and Paula Abdu. But throw in the small matter of the career of Was (Not Was) and the musical rehabilitation of errant Beach Boys’ genius Brian Wilson and we’re talking major industry player here. Bill Graham takes up the story . . .
Are Bono and the boys just a really good rock band or have they succeeded where the priests and politicians have failed and unlocked the neuroses of our colonial past? Joe Jackson indulges in a spot of cultural sparring with John Waters and finds the author of Race of Angels: Ireland and the Genesis of U2 well able to maintain his guard.
EMINEM s Marshall Mathers LP has gone 12 times platinum in Ireland. He s been voted Time magazine s Man Of The Year. And, having broken through into the mainstream with the remarkable Stan , he s just been nominated for four Grammys. So why is the world suddenly falling at the feet of a venomous bottle-blonde rapper who s penned some of the most repugnant, hate-filled lyrics since the invention of the gramophone record? Peter Murphy tells one of pop music s most extraordinary stories ever
THE FINAL YEARS OF peter cook
The father of modern British comedy, peter cook s death in 1995 brought the strangest chapter of his life to a close. Ravaged by alcoholism, he dedicated his final years to sloth, drink, drugs, porn, daytime television and late-night radio phone-ins. But even in his darkest hours, the black humour and brilliant wit that marked him out as the towering comedy talent of his generation just kept on breaking through. liam fay reports.
THE FINAL YEARS OF peter cook
The father of modern British comedy, peter cook s death in 1995 brought the strangest chapter of his life to a close. Ravaged by alcoholism, he dedicated his final years to sloth, drink, drugs, porn, daytime television and late-night radio phone-ins. But even in his darkest hours, the black humour and brilliant wit that marked him out as the towering comedy talent of his generation just kept on breaking through. liam fay reports.
Prince may be content just to party but in a four-page special the Hot Press journalistic elite takes a look at everything 1999 has to offer. And then some.
In the second and final part of his exploration of the Secret Sexual History of Elvis Presley, joe jackson describes the king s prowess as a peak performer, reveals the great loves of his life, and charts his sordid, sad and ultimately tragic decline and fall.
In the second and final part of his exploration of the Secret Sexual History of Elvis Presley, joe jackson describes the king s prowess as a peak performer, reveals the great loves of his life, and charts his sordid, sad and ultimately tragic decline and fall.
The future is here. Well, somehow it always is. And, as usual, it is both familiar and strange. Nothing seems to change, but one day you turn around, it is 1995, and you are cybersurfing on the internet, summer seems to last all winter, ambient-acid-techno is bubbling away on the radio, your fax machine shows up on the Antiques Roadshow and papa’s got a brand new drug.
The Irish band of last year by some measure, the Blizzards’ ascent is most notable for how far they’ve come in such a short space of time. ‘Fantasy’ offers more of their spirited punk pop but it’s B-side ‘Sweet As Sound’ that proves just what they’re capable, a subtle little tune that builds to a harmony-filled conclusion and is an easy match to anything on the album. The only way, it would seem, is up.
The Dark Is Rising, an adaptation of Susan Cooper’s massively influential children’s classic, is a big, plodding dud that bares little or no resemblance to the book that inspired it.
They come unbidden, at any hour of the day or night. And they often involve us doing things that we wouldn’t even contemplate in real life. Then again, if we carefully select the horniest ones to try out with a willing partner, they can really blow your mind.
The Swell Season have confirmed the release of their new album, Strict Joy, which will hit racks here on September 25 – a few weeks later than originally mooted.
Check out our video interview with The Avalanches - those magpie-like Aussie geniuses, whose wondrous debut seamlessly assembled a glittery collection of forgotten gems, pretty ribbons of song and obscure sound snippets into one entire magical album, Since I Left You....
Iron Maiden's past few years have seen something of a creative rebirth, with the return of their prodigal lead vocalist and 2003’s impressive Dance Of Death, culminating in this, their 14th studio record, and one that easily matches up to their best work.
Though not bellowing as maniacally as has sometimes been his wont, Pacino still brings all the subtlety of a flying brick to the proceedings, while useful co-stars such as Jay Mohr and Catherine Keener are under-deployed
Waves of soldiers dressed in contrasting black and gold? Gilded corridors finished with crimson? Carpets of bright yellow chrysanthemums? Wow, this can only be a Zhang Yimou flick.
Fabulous, a. celebrated in fable; unhistorical, legendary, incredible, absurd, exaggerated; (colloq.)
marvellous, from fable, a story not founded on fact.
- Concise Oxford Dictionary
Regarded by many as The Beatles’ finest work, and coming a mere eight months after the superb Rubber Soul, their seventh album Revolver was light years further on in terms of musical innovation, paving the way for the acid- and meditation-fuelled psychedelia to come, and pioneering lyrical invention that thrashed the conventions of the pop song.
Yet another music festival, you say? Well, the new Indie-Pendence fest not only has some great acts lined up, but will have free admission to all events as part of the long-standing Mitchelstown Music & Arts Festival.
Superficially, director Olly Blackburn’s debut conforms to the morality play template - somewhere in the low budget murk, there’s a neat little boat thriller.
Toy, the debut album from Dubliner, Greg, is a curious, eccentric affair; a mixture of electronica and whispered vocals, surreal lyrics and experimental arrangements. It's music Jim, but not as we know it.
Possibly weirder than anything Cronenberg has done before (and we're talking about the man responsible for Crash and Naked Lunch here), Existenz is the most genuinely warped film I've seen in several years, and like most of the man's work, it leaves you quite unsure what to make of it.
This remake of Takashi Shimuzi’s creepy hit, The Grudge belongs firmly within this sub-genre’s successful tradition and happily, the project’s godfather, Sam Raimi has retained the services of the original director and the spooky Tokyo setting.
Even before the opening credit sequence, the zaniness of the presumptuously entitled Fun With Dick And Jane has become truly wearisome. And it’s all downhill from there.
In the new Hot Press, Star Trek movie director JJ Abrams – known for his work on Alias and Lost – makes the shocking admission that he's always preferred George Lucas' take on sci-fi.
Canadian director John Fawcett last dropped by with Ginger Snaps, a pleasing rush of lycanthropy, menstruation and goth angst in suburbia. Excluding the Nicole Kidman bits from Moulin Rouge, it was the best horror show of 2000. His delayed sophomore venture lacks the chic indie innovation of that earlier film, but it’s an intriguing knot of Celtic mythology, girl-ghosts and killer sheep just the same.
Having scored an arthouse goal with Pot Luck, director Cédric Klapish has reunited the same incredibly annoying characters for this equally sophomoric sequel.
If Barry White is the Walrus Of Love then LL’s the leader of the orang-tang clan, a knuckle-dragging braggart with a lucrative line in greasy pole-dancing steps.
There were no surprises here, apart from the fact that this veteran performer of 25 years twice killed the good-time atmosphere completely; with depressing ballads and obscure Elton John song covers.
Stepping – okay, perhaps “ tripping” is a better word – into Pop Levi’s phantasmagorically unhinged universe is, by turns, a thrilling and disorienting experience.
Always possessed of a more obviously childlike sensibility than almost any other director working in Hollywood – Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands and his take on Roald Dahl in James and the Giant Peach would prove the point - Tim Burton’s output has always been a twisted delight, like the grimmer tales of the brothers Grimm.
There is more information available than ever on sex. So all you have to do to become a good lover is to read all the books? Not so. In fact, there is a growing belief that technique is over-rated…
Earnestness may often represent stupidity gone to college, but heaven knows, it’s hard to be anything other than stern and rather dull when valiantly struggling against the monolithic might of the bourgeoisie. Situationists, however, are the pie-throwing loveable clowns of Revolutionary Marxism and in Hans Weingartner’s oddly enthralling entertainment, they make for endearingly passionate protagonists despite the dogma.
How you take toward the latest bit of aggro from Football Factory director Nick Love depends entirely on your tolerance for hearing phrases like “Oi, you cants”.
The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe is, primarily, an attempt to wrought a Harry Potter/ Lord Of The Rings style blockbuster franchise from C.S. Lewis’s Narnia adventure and Andrew Adamson isn’t taking any chances with the first of seven planned releases.
Once in a very long while – and only if you’ve been a very obedient, diligent sort of film critic – you find your just reward in a film that lunges off the screen, affects some kind of primal, Come To Daddy howl, slavers all over your face and leaves you stumbling into the daylight gasping for air and several stiff gins. In this manner, along lunges Park’s Tarantino-approved, Cannes conquering OldBoy, a dazzling blast of macabre fuselage from South Korea.
If you imagined that writer-director Guillermo del Toro couldn’t top the occultist Nazis, demon-spawn puppy love and super kitsch of the original film, then think again.
You might remember Aileen Wuornos (legendarily misnamed ‘the world’s first female serial killer’) – a lower-end-of-the-market prostitute with an extremely troubled background, whose loathing of males led her to kill a series of ill-starred punters in the early ’90s before the law caught up with her. She languished in Death Row for the guts of a decade before being executed in October 2002, but from beyond the grave, Wuornos – inevitably, when you consider her crimes – has now been immortalised in a full-scale feminist-avenger biopic.
IF, IN February 2000, you still don't believe that modern rock is on borrowed time as an art form, despite all the overwhelming evidence, then consider this.
There's a new star in the charts tonight, and throughout the land there is much rejoicing (especially in some of the more fashionable areas of London). One of punks more pathetic jokes, Adam Ant, forsakes his past of seedy night clubs.
One of those movies whose title instantly reveals everything there is to know about it – in the manner of Volcano, Violent Cop or Parisian Sex Kittens – the tiresome though accidentally amusing Under The Tuscan Sun serves up a typically bland, impeccably picturesque slice of scenic Europudding for those who lapped up such laxative-smooth delights as Malena, Tea With Mussolini and The Talented Mr Ripley.
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.
Having followed Kylie’s career throughout my Australian adolescence, it was with great excitement that I went along to the Point to be reunited with the diminutive singer for the Showgirl: Greatest Hits tour. On the final night of a five night run at the Point, I was intrigued, but not surprised, to see that Kylie had drawn such a cross-section of society.
THE WEIRDEST, most bizarrely-conceived movie in living memory – bar none – Being John Malkovich is practically impossible to get your head around on one viewing, and even harder to coherently explain.
Pedantic readers will know of this column’s fondness for love played out in strange displacements, and romance doesn’t come more twisted than the grand passions at the darksome heart of Kim Ki-Duk’s breakthrough film, re-issued (to excited yelps chez Brady) as part of the generally orgasmic Asia Extreme season at the UGC
Be prepared – indeed, be afraid – for Get Over It heralds the imminent resurrection of the rock musical (forthcoming summer attractions in a similar vein include A Knight’s Tale and Moulin Rouge).
Batman and the Joker seem to be battling for our very souls but, really, they're simply setting things up for supercharged action, as Christopher Nolan delivers the superhero film of the season.
This is not “the Indiana movie that you were dreading.” Though it’s not nearly as good as the trilogy that went before, Crystal Skull is, undeniably, quite good fun.
Seven hours and ten DJs later, it seems clear at this, the first Smirnoff Experience since the summer break, that dance music is in shockingly good health
The Beekeeper is like a whole new career in itself: 20 full-blown pocket symphonies, 79 minutes plus of dense, deftly orchestrated music. These days she doesn’t suffer the same burning in the gut that made ‘Cornflake Girl’ or ‘Precious Things’ so remarkable, and the band sound comfortable rather driven, but there’s something to be said for craft.
Y’know I never thought I’d say it, but either this hot hip-hop-chicks-shaking butt-flossed-booty-all-in-ya face routine is getting old, or I am. A nocturnal stroll through the blue neon urban R&B arcade leaves the accidental tourist peering in exhibitionistic windows with pupils dilated in incomprehension at the audacity of the latest acts on parade.
Only $12 million’s worth of box-office for Michael Bay’s latest opening weekend? Whither cinema? Surely people have been longing for another two hours plus of incoherent bangs and crashes and mind-numbingly long chase sequences?
I DID a shocking thing recently. I went out shopping with my boyfriend in a supermarket, decided what to cook for that night’s dinner, bought it, split the bill, and went home to cook it. We had a couple of friends over, enjoyed a pleasant meal with good company; they went home, and we went to bed.
THE OTHER day, I followed the advice of a witty pop-astrology column in a newspaper that a friend of mine sent to me from America. It was simply this: write down brief descriptions of the five most pleasurable moments in your life.
Reading a controversial article on “bug chasing” – gay men who deliberately have bareback sex with HIV positive men – inspired our columnist to go public for the first time about a traumatic episode in his own love life.
The glum view is easily stated: finally, after eight years, the Bay City Rollers revival. The dominant pop purveyors – Duran, Wham, Spandau, Culture Club, Young, Kershaw, and Jones – regressed to the most conservative models of teen exploitation.
While equality in the affairs of the world is essential, it is sometimes better to hand power over to your partner in the bedroom. That way lies bliss…
Not content with the several bizillion pounds already languishing in the (possibly spooky but undoubtedly large) bank vaults at Potter Inc., the franchise that felled a million trees continues its Great Leap Forward with a third big-screen outing for the lovable though disconcertingly popular miniature-magus.
Down in Sandino s, just back from the High Court in London where named Bloody Sunday Paras were looking for anonymity, I had my routine off to a T within hours of the Nato liberators going into Kosovo. But the Paras were too quick for me.
ADMIRING THE beautiful shorn features of Matthew Devereux on the cover of the last issue, mischievous, curiously boyish and teasing, I would like to know whether the skinhead image appeals erotically to women as much as it does to me.
Women, we are told, talk too much. This is an unfair criticism of my sex. We have a strong desire to communicate and share our thoughts and feelings – but not all of the time. Many women, particularly sexually inexperienced ones, find it hard to discuss their desires with their lovers. Instead they hope that their men will intuitively know what it is they want. This is a mistake.
Stand-up comedy ace Joe Rooney hopes he won’t fall down when he stars in this year’s Christmas On Ice event. And let’s hope it won’t feature anyone dressed as an animal.
It happens even to the best of us – we find suddenly that we have become attracted to someone who exists in the realm of the forbidden, the unattainable. Is this the real love that dare not speak its name? And might we be better to declare our love, no matter what the potential cost?
Far from leading to violence, studies show that the availability of hard core porn leads to a reduction in sex crimes. And besides, perfectly normal people enjoy it.
Convicted traffickers are being put behind bars for far longer than their crimes actually merit. Is this progressive policing - or a miscarriage of justice?
But only in the bedroom. There, a little bit of sexual stereotyping – from the hard man with the hard hat to the naughty schoolgirl – isn’t a bad thing at all.
THE INTERNET has already been utilised to flog every kind of consumer good imaginable, from cut-glass cutlery to left-handed monkey wrenches. Now, even portable commodes have got their own homepage, in the shape of the Bumper Dumper website.
The Bumper Dumper is a stand-alone toilet which can be taken on field trips such as hunting and fishing expeditions, or even on off-roading excursions.
"No more searching for the perfect bush to squat behind," says the on-site blurb. "No more squatting and finding out later it was poison ivy! No more falling off the unstable porta potty! No more concern for germs from public facilities!
"When you have to go . . . you CAN! And with the privacy curtain, you might forget that you are miles from home."
http://www.myfreeoffice.com/rsenterprises/ n
Galway’s Acid-Jazz weekend wasn’t without its problems, but the highlights made it all worthwhile. Stuart Clark reports and Aengus McMahon takes the pictures.
Why do so many gay men find it difficult to honestly express their feelings towards their partners? And would the introduction of gay marriage really change anything?
Female guppies are so sick of being pestered by their sex-crazed male counterparts, they often prefer to take their chances in dangerous predator-filled waters. Another Saturday night in Temple Bar then. Also: our columnist is mobbed by Boss-obsessed anoraks.
The media targeting of gay websites, following revelations that a 14-year-old boy had sex with men, is unhelpful, unjustified and contributes to an inaccurate picture of paedophiles ‘grooming’ young men for sex.
Why the musical legacy bequeathed by Michael Jackson will ultimately outlive and overshadow the huge morass of questions surrounding his life and death...
A very eminent British QC was passing through town recently so we finished up in the Dungloe Bar listening to the Jim Armstrong Band singeing the ceiling with John Lee Hooker, Eddie Boyd and Eric Clapton (eh?) numbers, and getting drunk. Us that is, not the band, necessarily.
Another one from the archives: in a feature from 1987 – as Michael Jackson releases Bad – Neil McCormick charts the phenomenal career of the enigmatic star.
Having made his reputation as gonzo journalist and memoirist with such books as Story Of O, Palace Of Wisdom and Sexlines, Olaf Tyaransen branches into short fiction in this Hot Press exclusive.
Q: Which top Irish quiz-masters’ pathological obsessions include Something Happens, Shamrock Rovers and the amount of shopping days left to the next Suede gig? A: George “You Started, So I’ll Finish” Byrne
This coming Saturday, Belgium play Sweden in the opening game of EURO 2000. But don t panic things will rapidly improve after that. In a Foul Play special, JONATHAN O BRIEN tells you all need to know about this year s crop of contenders
Colm O'Hare turns over a new leaf or two from the huge variety of publications on the shelves this Christmas, from rock biographies to more general Irish published works. So, for those of you who like your entertainment between the covers, read on . . .
Located in Dublin’s thriving Temple Bar area and owned by U2, The Kitchen is one of the hottest clubs in one of the most happening cities in Europe. Report: Colm O’Hare
For the average expat Irish criminal living in Spain, life is a blur of booze, prostitutes and drug deals with the threat of violence, and even death, never far away.
Neil McCormick, a friend of U2 in their earliest days, who, as a writer, has closely monitored their progress since then, analyses Eamon Dunphy's much-touted 'authorised' biography "Unforgettable Fire" – and can't quite believe what he reads
