Arctic Monkeys kicked off a new run of tour dates on Monday with a gig at Ashton Gate Stadium in Bristol, UK. At the very onset of the show, Alex Turner and co. surprised fans with a rare live performance of “Mardy Bum” from their beloved 2006 debut album, Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not.
According to Setlist.fm, it marked Arctic Monkeys’ first full-band performance of “Mardy Bum” since 2013, and the first time they played the “album version” since 2007.
That wasn’t the evening’s only surprise performance however. Arctic Monkeys also dusted off “My Propeller,” from 2009’s Humbug, for the first time since 2014.
See the full setlist and watch fan-captured footage below.
Arctic Monkeys have several more UK stadium shows on the schedule leading up to a headlining performance at this year’s Glastonbury Music Festival. Come August, they’ll visit North America for...
According to Setlist.fm, it marked Arctic Monkeys’ first full-band performance of “Mardy Bum” since 2013, and the first time they played the “album version” since 2007.
That wasn’t the evening’s only surprise performance however. Arctic Monkeys also dusted off “My Propeller,” from 2009’s Humbug, for the first time since 2014.
See the full setlist and watch fan-captured footage below.
Arctic Monkeys have several more UK stadium shows on the schedule leading up to a headlining performance at this year’s Glastonbury Music Festival. Come August, they’ll visit North America for...
- 5/30/2023
- by Scoop Harrison
- Consequence - Music
In-car film events are thriving, but unless you were a teen in the 50s you may not be familiar with their charms. Here are the the dos and don’ts
Modern Toss on drive-in cinemas
After a deeply weird year in which Andrex became more valuable per ounce than saffron and Jedward emerged as well-respected voices of scientific rigour, shops, gyms and beer gardens are now officially Open. You can even go and get a proper haircut, which has already had a marked effect on the number of people wandering the streets looking like John Cooper Clarke running a Tough Mudder. Without wanting to jinx it, things are – say it quietly – looking up.
Related: The Guide: Staying In – sign up for our home entertainment tips...
Modern Toss on drive-in cinemas
After a deeply weird year in which Andrex became more valuable per ounce than saffron and Jedward emerged as well-respected voices of scientific rigour, shops, gyms and beer gardens are now officially Open. You can even go and get a proper haircut, which has already had a marked effect on the number of people wandering the streets looking like John Cooper Clarke running a Tough Mudder. Without wanting to jinx it, things are – say it quietly – looking up.
Related: The Guide: Staying In – sign up for our home entertainment tips...
- 4/24/2021
- by Luke Holland
- The Guardian - Film News
"No one's ever seen him with his head off - that was the big thing." Altitude Films has revealed the official UK trailer for the documentary Being Frank: The Chris Sievey Story, from director Steve Sullivan. Remember that film Frank a few years ago starring Michael Fassbender as a wierdo musician who wore a giant paper mache head the entire film? This is the feature documentary about the real person who inspired that film - the eccentric Manchester-based comedian Frank Sidebottom, whose real name is Chris Sievey. Being Frank: The Chris Sievey Story includes archival excerpts from Chris' personal collection of hundreds of boxes of notebooks, home movies, art and music. Along with insights from Chris' family, friends, and colleagues, including Johnny Vegas, Jon Ronson, John Cooper Clarke, Ross Noble, Mark Radcliffe, which reveal the unknown story of Chris Sievey - songwriter, artist, comedian, husband, dad, and wayward genius. Here's...
- 2/27/2019
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Roses are red, violets are blue, If you think you’re funny...ok, forget poetry. Comedy is where it’s at with our month-long guide to getting on stage and making people laugh. Open Mic NIGHTSMonday nights are for open mic at Streetbeat Comedy held at The Old Crown, 33 Oxford Street. Call Alistair (07939 012231) for details. Every second Thursday of the month, spots are available for 5-10 minute sets at The Flying Dutchman Dutchie night in Camberwell. Call 07521 066512 for details. At The Constitution pub in Camden, every Thursday is Funny Feckers. Organisers promise a ‘friendly, supportive atmosphere’. For bookings email, bookings@funnyfeckers.co.uk. Gigs + Events Running from Feb. 7-25 is the Leicester Comedy Festival, one of the UK’s biggest and best festivals. With 830 shows in 69 venues across the city, it’ll feature top acts like Harry Hill, Sara Pascoe, Katherine Ryan, and Dr. John Cooper Clarke. (Ticket prices vary) Love them or hate them,...
- 2/1/2018
- backstage.com
Poet and filmmaker Greta Bellamacina has teamed up with journalist Davina Catt to document the history of British public libraries and their current decline. From their Scottish beginnings in the 18th century right up to present day, Catt and Bellamacina chart the history of UK libraries alongside interviews with the likes of Stephen Fry, Irvine Welsh, Amma Asante and John Cooper Clarke, who plead for libraries to be saved from relentless cuts
The Safe House premieres in London on Monday 23 May Continue reading...
The Safe House premieres in London on Monday 23 May Continue reading...
- 5/23/2016
- by Greta Bellamacina
- The Guardian - Film News
Victoria Coren Mitchell is taking a closer look at the history of bohemians for BBC Four.
Three-part documentary series How To Be Bohemian with Victoria Coren Mitchell will journey from 19th century Paris to '60s Soho and focus on influential bohemian figures like Oscar Wilde.
Stephen Fry, Grayson Perry, Will Self, A A Gill, John Cooper Clarke, Rev. Richard Coles, Maggi Hambling, Molly Parkin and performance artist Jonny Woo will all appear in the series.
Coren Mitchell said: "Bohemians confuse me tremendously. I don't know whether to find them exciting and inspiring, or annoying and threatening. Possibly all four at once. From these mixed feelings, I know I must be a bourgeois.
"But I've never been fully immersed in Bohemian circles before. I'll be interested to find out whether I end up running into their open-minded embrace, or running screaming away."
BBC Four's channel editor Cassian Harrison added:...
Three-part documentary series How To Be Bohemian with Victoria Coren Mitchell will journey from 19th century Paris to '60s Soho and focus on influential bohemian figures like Oscar Wilde.
Stephen Fry, Grayson Perry, Will Self, A A Gill, John Cooper Clarke, Rev. Richard Coles, Maggi Hambling, Molly Parkin and performance artist Jonny Woo will all appear in the series.
Coren Mitchell said: "Bohemians confuse me tremendously. I don't know whether to find them exciting and inspiring, or annoying and threatening. Possibly all four at once. From these mixed feelings, I know I must be a bourgeois.
"But I've never been fully immersed in Bohemian circles before. I'll be interested to find out whether I end up running into their open-minded embrace, or running screaming away."
BBC Four's channel editor Cassian Harrison added:...
- 4/29/2015
- Digital Spy
Shaun the Sheep Movie is like curling up underneath a big cosy duvet with a steaming cup of sugary tea. Everything is precision engineered to enchant and amuse, dragging us into a paradise Britain fuelled by pleasant whimsy and running to clockwork comedy timing. From pastoral dale to bustling metropolis, this plasticine world (literally) bears the fingerprints of its loving creators. And at the centre of it all is a resourceful, brave and cunning hero: Shaun the Sheep.
The moment Shaun innocently padded on screen in 1995’s Wallace & Gromit: A Close Shave, a woolly star was born. A breakout success, Britain clutched Shaun to their collective bosom and the sheep became a minor pop culture phenomenon. His lasting popularity led to a spinoff Cbbc TV show in 2007, which is now in its fourth season and has 130 episodes under its belt. It’s also broadcast in a whopping 180 countries and has even launched its own spinoff.
The moment Shaun innocently padded on screen in 1995’s Wallace & Gromit: A Close Shave, a woolly star was born. A breakout success, Britain clutched Shaun to their collective bosom and the sheep became a minor pop culture phenomenon. His lasting popularity led to a spinoff Cbbc TV show in 2007, which is now in its fourth season and has 130 episodes under its belt. It’s also broadcast in a whopping 180 countries and has even launched its own spinoff.
- 2/3/2015
- by David James
- We Got This Covered
Hole? As in holes. Chasms to caves, plugholes to sinkholes, mind your gap and fill this week's void with your nominations
Does a dark opening attract fear, surprise, disgust or excitement? And what is a hole? The void in the middle, what's around the outside of it, or both?
This year's latest phobia is the sinkhole, the sudden collapse of a ground's surface layer. They can be very deep and destructive, swallowing people, cars and houses. Perhaps like in the Kevin Bacon film – Tremors. Or a banker's salary. Only sinkholes are not caused by giant worms. And there has been a spate of them appearing the UK recently, brought about, some say, by the unseasonably wet weather. But it's best not to get paranoid or go on about this. That would be too embarrassing. So embarrassing you'd just want the ground to just open up and … oh hang on.
This week,...
Does a dark opening attract fear, surprise, disgust or excitement? And what is a hole? The void in the middle, what's around the outside of it, or both?
This year's latest phobia is the sinkhole, the sudden collapse of a ground's surface layer. They can be very deep and destructive, swallowing people, cars and houses. Perhaps like in the Kevin Bacon film – Tremors. Or a banker's salary. Only sinkholes are not caused by giant worms. And there has been a spate of them appearing the UK recently, brought about, some say, by the unseasonably wet weather. But it's best not to get paranoid or go on about this. That would be too embarrassing. So embarrassing you'd just want the ground to just open up and … oh hang on.
This week,...
- 2/27/2014
- by Peter Kimpton
- The Guardian - Film News
This week Arctic Monkeys made British Chart history by becoming the UK’s first ‘indie’ band to have five consecutive number 1 albums. A tremendous feat for an ‘indie’ band – the only problem being that the Arctic Monkeys are in no way ‘indie.’ Granted, they began as the MySpace sensation and the first number 1 single of the Digital Age, but the lads from Sheffield have managed, over the course of their near-decade long careers, to transcend the idea of genre. They have created their own crux in the music industry by striking a perfect balance between a signature sound and musical growth. 2006′s Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not provided a gritty, bombastic and raw slice of British youth that resonated, making it the fastest selling debut album in the UK.
Since then, each of the Monkeys’ albums have matured insound – going from a group of...
Since then, each of the Monkeys’ albums have matured insound – going from a group of...
- 9/20/2013
- by Ryan Kay
- Obsessed with Film
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
“Are there some aces up your sleeve?” is a curious sentence to hear from a group whose only obvious link between their five-strong discography is the daft name that appears on the sleeves. The only one playing tricks here is Arctic Monkeys, and they’ve pulled more than just an ace out of those sleeves this time – they’ve brought desert dune “wood groove” with lashings of Josh Homme and the spice of a Dr. Dre beat wrapped up in Sabbathy cellophane and T-Rex packaging. An album with inspirations and influences oozing from its very grooves, ‘Am’ (which could’ve been called ‘Tambourines and Falsettos’) should be a mess of cheap pastiche and imitation of the inimitable. And yet…
Even a million miles from home, in absence from the blue collar drudge and uninviting Sheffield nightlife that fuelled ‘Whatever People Say I Am…’s savvy wit,...
“Are there some aces up your sleeve?” is a curious sentence to hear from a group whose only obvious link between their five-strong discography is the daft name that appears on the sleeves. The only one playing tricks here is Arctic Monkeys, and they’ve pulled more than just an ace out of those sleeves this time – they’ve brought desert dune “wood groove” with lashings of Josh Homme and the spice of a Dr. Dre beat wrapped up in Sabbathy cellophane and T-Rex packaging. An album with inspirations and influences oozing from its very grooves, ‘Am’ (which could’ve been called ‘Tambourines and Falsettos’) should be a mess of cheap pastiche and imitation of the inimitable. And yet…
Even a million miles from home, in absence from the blue collar drudge and uninviting Sheffield nightlife that fuelled ‘Whatever People Say I Am…’s savvy wit,...
- 9/5/2013
- by Jack Haworth
- Obsessed with Film
In his first crack at screenwriting and directing, rapper Ben "Plan B" Drew makes everyone sit up with a bleak chronicle of crack addicts, pushers, pimps and - to lighten the tone - punk poet John Cooper Clarke. Four Lions' Riz Ahmed plays a small-time dealer and the only character scraping an illicit living in London's East End who seems to have a sliver of moral compassion. Around him seethes a vortex of despair, dysfunction and dead eyes.
- 3/22/2013
- Sky Movies
In his first crack at screenwriting and directing, rapper Ben "Plan B" Drew makes everyone sit up with a bleak chronicle of crack addicts, pushers, pimps and - to lighten the tone - punk poet John Cooper Clarke. Four Lions' Riz Ahmed plays a small-time dealer and the only character scraping an illicit living in London's East End who seems to have a sliver of moral compassion. Around him seethes a vortex of despair, dysfunction and dead eyes.
- 2/15/2013
- Sky Movies
New York -- After "The Sopranos" went black, David Chase's next move was never in question: He would make a movie.
In all Chase's time toiling as a writer in television before "The Sopranos" – decades ranging from "The Rockford Files" to "Northern Exposure" – the big screen had beckoned. It reached back to his days as a teenager taking stills of "8 1/2" and "Dr. Strangelove" (clear touchstones, still: one, Italian and surreal; the other, darkly comic).
After his first stab at writing a psychological thriller went begging, he turned to an idea of his since the `80s, one he occasionally kicked around in the "Sopranos" writers room.
"I love rock `n' roll so much that I really wanted to make a movie about the music, not about the personalities involved, not about the ups and downs or the rise and fall of it," says Chase. "I didn't want to do a biopic.
In all Chase's time toiling as a writer in television before "The Sopranos" – decades ranging from "The Rockford Files" to "Northern Exposure" – the big screen had beckoned. It reached back to his days as a teenager taking stills of "8 1/2" and "Dr. Strangelove" (clear touchstones, still: one, Italian and surreal; the other, darkly comic).
After his first stab at writing a psychological thriller went begging, he turned to an idea of his since the `80s, one he occasionally kicked around in the "Sopranos" writers room.
"I love rock `n' roll so much that I really wanted to make a movie about the music, not about the personalities involved, not about the ups and downs or the rise and fall of it," says Chase. "I didn't want to do a biopic.
- 12/17/2012
- by AP
- Huffington Post
New York -- After "The Sopranos" went black, David Chase's next move was never in question: He would make a movie.
In all Chase's time toiling as a writer in television before "The Sopranos" – decades ranging from "The Rockford Files" to "Northern Exposure" – the big screen had beckoned. It reached back to his days as a teenager taking stills of "8 1/2" and "Dr. Strangelove" (clear touchstones, still: one, Italian and surreal; the other, darkly comic).
After his first stab at writing a psychological thriller went begging, he turned to an idea of his since the `80s, one he occasionally kicked around in the "Sopranos" writers room.
"I love rock `n' roll so much that I really wanted to make a movie about the music, not about the personalities involved, not about the ups and downs or the rise and fall of it," says Chase. "I didn't want to do a biopic.
In all Chase's time toiling as a writer in television before "The Sopranos" – decades ranging from "The Rockford Files" to "Northern Exposure" – the big screen had beckoned. It reached back to his days as a teenager taking stills of "8 1/2" and "Dr. Strangelove" (clear touchstones, still: one, Italian and surreal; the other, darkly comic).
After his first stab at writing a psychological thriller went begging, he turned to an idea of his since the `80s, one he occasionally kicked around in the "Sopranos" writers room.
"I love rock `n' roll so much that I really wanted to make a movie about the music, not about the personalities involved, not about the ups and downs or the rise and fall of it," says Chase. "I didn't want to do a biopic.
- 12/17/2012
- by AP
- Aol TV.
The director of A Prophet reveals plans for a musical, a chance encounter with John Landis, and free G&Ts for Python fans
Audio Audiard
French director Jacques Audiard is set to surprise fans by making his next film a musical. The film-maker who, through films such as The Beat That My Heart Skipped and A Prophet, has become one of the most exciting talents in world cinema, told me he'd been working on the idea for some years. "Oh yes, it will have big dance numbers, choreography, the whole thing. I have always loved the MGM films and also Jacques Demy – my problem is I don't write lyrics or music, so I have to rely on others." Audiard was at the Lff with Rust and Bone in the official competition, a film featuring a terrific performance by Marion Cotillard and a score by Alexandre Desplat as well as some...
Audio Audiard
French director Jacques Audiard is set to surprise fans by making his next film a musical. The film-maker who, through films such as The Beat That My Heart Skipped and A Prophet, has become one of the most exciting talents in world cinema, told me he'd been working on the idea for some years. "Oh yes, it will have big dance numbers, choreography, the whole thing. I have always loved the MGM films and also Jacques Demy – my problem is I don't write lyrics or music, so I have to rely on others." Audiard was at the Lff with Rust and Bone in the official competition, a film featuring a terrific performance by Marion Cotillard and a score by Alexandre Desplat as well as some...
- 10/20/2012
- by Jason Solomons
- The Guardian - Film News
Ben Drew’s directorial debut kicked up an awful lot of column inches on release back in June. In taking us on what he often calls an ‘urban safari’ we got to look and gawp at the intimidating spectre of ‘Broken Britain’. Reviews were alight with the power of a million buzzwords and the film was lost amongst all the bloody politics of it all.
The film itself however is of note. It concerns a group who are seemingly isolated in a Britain all too foreign to many of us. A group of caged animals and the people who suffer for their unbridled and destructive ambition. Throughout the running time Drew will weave together a fair few short stories, running the gamut through prostitution, to drugs, to child abuse, to violence, whilst we (and they) have nothing but the vain hope that some sort of redemption will come. It rarely does.
The film itself however is of note. It concerns a group who are seemingly isolated in a Britain all too foreign to many of us. A group of caged animals and the people who suffer for their unbridled and destructive ambition. Throughout the running time Drew will weave together a fair few short stories, running the gamut through prostitution, to drugs, to child abuse, to violence, whilst we (and they) have nothing but the vain hope that some sort of redemption will come. It rarely does.
- 10/19/2012
- by Ross Jones-Morris
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Kate Nash has spoken out about the impact of punk and the Sex Pistols on modern culture and feminism. The singer-songwriter featured on a panel headed by Pat Gilbert at London's 100 Club last night (September 18) to launch the 35th anniversary box-set edition of the Pistols' debut Never Mind The b******* . She was joined by poet John Cooper Clarke, writers Zoe Howe and Fred Vermorel, ex-manager of The Clash Bernard Rhodes and filmmaker Julien Temple. Here's what she had to say. "I was working at River Island and I was a very frustrated teenager searching for a sense of identity, just like most teenagers are. And I came across the first two punk records I ever bought, which was Buzzcocks' Singles Going Steady and Never Mind The b******* by the Sex Pistols. "I was really attracted to the (more)...
- 9/19/2012
- by By Mayer Nissim
- Digital Spy
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
“…and Plan B, what kind of name is Plan B? How low has your self-esteem got to be that you can’t even call yourself Plan A?”
So went the drug addled rant of a friend at the tail end of one of our numerous-day binges. It was nothing personal, everyone came under his firing line that particular night. Including the floor layout of a Morrison’s back home.
His neglecting the fact that the B in Plan B stems from his real name aside, said rant couldn’t be more misdirected and further from the truth. You see, Benjamin Paul Ballance-Drew/Ben Drew/Plan B, has confidence in spades, always has. What has become clear though, as his career unfolds, is that it’s not just confidence and self-esteem that Plan B has in spades, but ambition too.
In the beginning Plan B was grime...
“…and Plan B, what kind of name is Plan B? How low has your self-esteem got to be that you can’t even call yourself Plan A?”
So went the drug addled rant of a friend at the tail end of one of our numerous-day binges. It was nothing personal, everyone came under his firing line that particular night. Including the floor layout of a Morrison’s back home.
His neglecting the fact that the B in Plan B stems from his real name aside, said rant couldn’t be more misdirected and further from the truth. You see, Benjamin Paul Ballance-Drew/Ben Drew/Plan B, has confidence in spades, always has. What has become clear though, as his career unfolds, is that it’s not just confidence and self-esteem that Plan B has in spades, but ambition too.
In the beginning Plan B was grime...
- 7/26/2012
- by Morgan Roberts
- Obsessed with Film
Plan B was joined on stage by Labrinth during his iLL Manors album launch gig in London. The singer and rapper performed at a car park in Southwark, South London to celebrate the release of his third LP. Plan B was joined on stage by Labrinth - who sings on album track 'Playing With Fire' - as well as Kano and famous punk poet John Cooper Clarke, who features on 'Pity The Plight'. The star's latest set also serves as a soundtrack to his directorial debut iLL Manors, which (more)...
- 7/24/2012
- by By Robert Copsey
- Digital Spy
Plan B has unveiled a new song from his forthcoming album. The rapper has uploaded ill Manors album track 'Playing With Fire' to his YouTube page ahead of its official release on July 23. Plan B will launch the new record with a secret gig in South London, where he will be joined by ill Manors collaborators Kano, Labrinth, John Cooper Clarke and Takura from Chase & Status. The special (more)...
- 7/17/2012
- by By Lewis Corner
- Digital Spy
Plan B has unveiled the tracklisting for his new album iLL Manors. The record, which serves as the soundtrack to the film of the same name, is released on July 23 through Atlantic Records.
The album features 11 tracks produced by Plan B and Al Shux, who has previously worked with Jay-z and Lana Del Rey. iLL Manors includes the lead single of the same name and second single 'Lost My Way', as well as collaborations with Labrinth, Kano, John Cooper Clarke and Takura Tendayi. Speaking of his next record Ballad of Belmarsh, Plan B recently said: "Ballad of Belmarsh is supposed to be the hip-hop instalment of the Strickland Banks saga. I tried to get it out before this film came (more)...
The album features 11 tracks produced by Plan B and Al Shux, who has previously worked with Jay-z and Lana Del Rey. iLL Manors includes the lead single of the same name and second single 'Lost My Way', as well as collaborations with Labrinth, Kano, John Cooper Clarke and Takura Tendayi. Speaking of his next record Ballad of Belmarsh, Plan B recently said: "Ballad of Belmarsh is supposed to be the hip-hop instalment of the Strickland Banks saga. I tried to get it out before this film came (more)...
- 7/4/2012
- by By Colin Daniels
- Digital Spy
Plan B's debut feature tries too hard to send a moral message
The American crime movie was established before the industry moved west to Hollywood and had its first golden age in the 1930s. Partly through our rigid censorship, partly because of middle-class domination, the British crime film didn't become established in our native cinema until the mid-1940s. This was the era of the corruptly alluring spiv, the postwar black market and the reaction against socialist austerity fostered by a combination of the rightwing press and the subversive Ealing Comedy.
At this point the working class emerged as a serious subject for moviemakers, and lower-class criminals began to embrace the ambivalent glamour they had in America and on the continent. A dramatis personae of underworld types was established and a geography of crime mapped out. Their main sphere of activity became London's East End. But a sleazily alluring...
The American crime movie was established before the industry moved west to Hollywood and had its first golden age in the 1930s. Partly through our rigid censorship, partly because of middle-class domination, the British crime film didn't become established in our native cinema until the mid-1940s. This was the era of the corruptly alluring spiv, the postwar black market and the reaction against socialist austerity fostered by a combination of the rightwing press and the subversive Ealing Comedy.
At this point the working class emerged as a serious subject for moviemakers, and lower-class criminals began to embrace the ambivalent glamour they had in America and on the continent. A dramatis personae of underworld types was established and a geography of crime mapped out. Their main sphere of activity became London's East End. But a sleazily alluring...
- 6/9/2012
- by Philip French
- The Guardian - Film News
Fantastic Films Weekend, Bradford
This horror and sci-fi festival would rather sift through the cultural debris for classic trash than scrabble for the latest offerings. There's a rare chance to see 1970's notorious rabid-hippy bloodbath I Drink Your Blood in its fullest grindhouse glory, for example, or neglected Dario Argento horror Four Flies On Grey Velvet (1971). Still too highbrow? Then how about 80s heroines like Grace Jones's Vamp or Brigitte Nielsen's Red Sonja? And a Troma triple bill? How low can you go?
National Media Museum, Fri to 17 Jun
Anthony Burgess And Cinema, Manchester
It's the 50th anniversary of the publication of A Clockwork Orange, and this celebration of Burgess's great dystopian (Mancunian?) novel spreads the net a little wider than simply Stanley Kubrick's legendary movie. There's a fine "making of" documentary, and a one-hour intro to the film on 29 Jun, plus Andy Warhol's lesser known (and altogether lesser,...
This horror and sci-fi festival would rather sift through the cultural debris for classic trash than scrabble for the latest offerings. There's a rare chance to see 1970's notorious rabid-hippy bloodbath I Drink Your Blood in its fullest grindhouse glory, for example, or neglected Dario Argento horror Four Flies On Grey Velvet (1971). Still too highbrow? Then how about 80s heroines like Grace Jones's Vamp or Brigitte Nielsen's Red Sonja? And a Troma triple bill? How low can you go?
National Media Museum, Fri to 17 Jun
Anthony Burgess And Cinema, Manchester
It's the 50th anniversary of the publication of A Clockwork Orange, and this celebration of Burgess's great dystopian (Mancunian?) novel spreads the net a little wider than simply Stanley Kubrick's legendary movie. There's a fine "making of" documentary, and a one-hour intro to the film on 29 Jun, plus Andy Warhol's lesser known (and altogether lesser,...
- 6/8/2012
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
Plan B's London riots-inspired directorial debut misses out on the opportunity to make a political statement
Ill Manors is a multi-stranded urban crime drama set in east London, the debut feature film from Ben Drew, otherwise known as singer-songwriter Plan B, and developed from his widely hailed song of the same name, all about the 2011 summer riots. The first half-hour of this movie is great: chaotic, inventive, energetic. But after this, the dynamism worryingly leaks out of the film; it turns out to be disappointingly and determinedly apolitical, while the lairy characters and situations look increasingly forced, derivative and unconvincing, with a touch of Guy Ritchie. By the time Natalie Press turns up, playing a woman forced to work as a prostitute by a sex-trafficking gang, the film has turned into a geezery Brit-Pulp Fiction knockoff. Riz Ahmed – so great in Chris Morris's Four Lions and Eran Creevy...
Ill Manors is a multi-stranded urban crime drama set in east London, the debut feature film from Ben Drew, otherwise known as singer-songwriter Plan B, and developed from his widely hailed song of the same name, all about the 2011 summer riots. The first half-hour of this movie is great: chaotic, inventive, energetic. But after this, the dynamism worryingly leaks out of the film; it turns out to be disappointingly and determinedly apolitical, while the lairy characters and situations look increasingly forced, derivative and unconvincing, with a touch of Guy Ritchie. By the time Natalie Press turns up, playing a woman forced to work as a prostitute by a sex-trafficking gang, the film has turned into a geezery Brit-Pulp Fiction knockoff. Riz Ahmed – so great in Chris Morris's Four Lions and Eran Creevy...
- 6/7/2012
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Films directed by musicians are a strange, unloved sub-genre. At best they are obscure oddities, like Daft Punk’s Electroma, but usually they tend to just be awful vanity projects – see Madonna’s recently slated W.E. or Ice Cube’s long-forgotten stripper-ploitation piece The Players Club. Rob Zombie is probably the only one who’s made a decent stab at it. So expectations for the behind the camera debut of Ben Drew, Aka British rapper Plan B, might not be the highest.
However, Plan B isn’t your run-of-the-mill shouty attention-seeking hoodie wearing UK urban star. His breakthrough record The Defamation Of Strickland Banks was a decidedly cinematic concept album, and he’s put in not-too-shabby acting roles in Harry Brown and Adulthood. He’s also spoken extensively in interviews about his celluloid dreams and filmic influences, and it’s almost enough to hope that this is going to be...
However, Plan B isn’t your run-of-the-mill shouty attention-seeking hoodie wearing UK urban star. His breakthrough record The Defamation Of Strickland Banks was a decidedly cinematic concept album, and he’s put in not-too-shabby acting roles in Harry Brown and Adulthood. He’s also spoken extensively in interviews about his celluloid dreams and filmic influences, and it’s almost enough to hope that this is going to be...
- 6/6/2012
- by Will Jones
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner has acknowledged that he is influenced by The Smiths. Many have compared Turner's vocals on latest album Suck It and See to Morrissey. Of the parallels, he told 6Music: "I love The Smiths. I don't know if I was listening to a great deal of it while I was writing this last record but I don't mind that coming through in our songs at all." The 'Don't Sit Down 'Cause I've Moved Your Chair' singer-songwriter also cited punk poet John Cooper Clarke, who he has previously admitted heavily influenced the band's first two LPs. "The other influence we have from Manchester, I suppose, is John Cooper Clarke," he continued. "And whilst I think his influence is really prevalent in that first record it also still hangs around in some (more)...
- 11/4/2011
- by By Paul Millar
- Digital Spy
Director to curate four night season at Cornish festival with Brunel viaduct providing backdrop to outdoor screenings
Even legendary Hollywood director Martin Scorsese has never had a set like this to play with – a giant screen by a river under the stars, with a backdrop of trains rumbling across a towering viaduct designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel.
Scorsese, who is curating The Director's Cut, a unique four-night film season at the Port Eliot Festival in Cornwall this June, clearly agonised over an opening film that would live up to the grandeur of the setting in 4,000 acres of Humphry Repton-designed parkland.
Trains and clouds of steam were obviously essential ingredients, and he considered both Shanghai Express (1932), with the luminous Marlene Dietrich and Anna May Wong, or Hitchcock's thriller The Lady Vanishes (1938).
His final choice may surprise devotees of Raging Bull or Gangs of New York: his opener is Murder on the Orient Express...
Even legendary Hollywood director Martin Scorsese has never had a set like this to play with – a giant screen by a river under the stars, with a backdrop of trains rumbling across a towering viaduct designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel.
Scorsese, who is curating The Director's Cut, a unique four-night film season at the Port Eliot Festival in Cornwall this June, clearly agonised over an opening film that would live up to the grandeur of the setting in 4,000 acres of Humphry Repton-designed parkland.
Trains and clouds of steam were obviously essential ingredients, and he considered both Shanghai Express (1932), with the luminous Marlene Dietrich and Anna May Wong, or Hitchcock's thriller The Lady Vanishes (1938).
His final choice may surprise devotees of Raging Bull or Gangs of New York: his opener is Murder on the Orient Express...
- 3/26/2011
- by Maev Kennedy
- The Guardian - Film News
The writer, comedian and original lad has moved in and out of the spotlight over the years. His controversial new comic movie will ensure he's centre stage once more
As cameras rolled on the set of the new film comedy The Infidel, the screenwriter could be spotted hunched over a state-of-the-art laptop in a dark corner. Director Josh Appignanesi was intrigued. "It is a bit late to alter the script," he called over. But far from refining comic dialogue for the actors working around him, David Baddiel was deep into his next project. "I am working on my depressing novel," came the reply.
For around 20 years now, the 45-year-old writer has darted in and out of popular consciousness like a restless moth. Here is a man who longs to shelter in obscurity just when he is faced with the glare of publicity and who, conversely, is never more keen to...
As cameras rolled on the set of the new film comedy The Infidel, the screenwriter could be spotted hunched over a state-of-the-art laptop in a dark corner. Director Josh Appignanesi was intrigued. "It is a bit late to alter the script," he called over. But far from refining comic dialogue for the actors working around him, David Baddiel was deep into his next project. "I am working on my depressing novel," came the reply.
For around 20 years now, the 45-year-old writer has darted in and out of popular consciousness like a restless moth. Here is a man who longs to shelter in obscurity just when he is faced with the glare of publicity and who, conversely, is never more keen to...
- 3/29/2010
- by Vanessa Thorpe
- The Guardian - Film News
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