In comparison to the band’s previous records, Alex Turner’s vocals are different on Humbug, lower, more restrained. His more mature tones suit the feel of Humbug, and rely more on melody than lyrics. The highlights of the album are the lead single ‘Crying Lightening,’ the slower ‘Secret Door’ and ‘Pretty Visitors.’ The new direction is a pleasant surprise for fans of the Arctic Monkeys, and is bound to pick up some new fans along the way.

The BIG GIG – Saturday 17 April

Brown’s Mart doors open 3pm – FREE ENTRY

New band, Black Market Rhythm Co.  are coming up for Darwin Youth week. They have a nice bluesy feel, with a heavy bass line and captivating guitar riffs.

Black Market Rhythm Co. do their best to get the crowd involved with their music and to keep everyone up beat with their funky Ozzy songs and lively feel. The fact that they’re coming up to Darwin to play at our youth festival is awesome. The up-and-coming band is just what the Darwin youth need because of their upbeat tunes on life. Even though they’re stuck behind microphones their stage presence is just as charismatic as their music. From watching their YouTube videos of live performances you can tell that the band love their songs and the crowd does as well. One of my particular favourites is “loving life”, an acoustic masterpiece with haunting vocals.

Their beats and bass are much like The Neo; with bluesy vocals and a deep feeling of emotion in the lead singer’s voice. They also have a great sense of humour; I watched one of their videos on what appears to be a tour on YouTube, they seem to have a great time on and off the bus.

You can feel the emotion and energy that they put into writing their music and they do it in a way that many modern bands can’t.

visit their website at www.blackmarketrhythmco.com

they also have an awesome facebook page with heaps of Live Photos!

“We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold.”

These are the first lines in Terry Gilliam’s adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson’s gonzo piece, ‘Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas’, and you pretty much get the idea from the get go. The plot revolves around Raoul Duke (Johnny Depp), his attorney Dr. Gonzo (Benicio Del Toro) and their trip to Las Vegas in a red convertible to cover the Mint 400 whilst in a drug induced haze.

When it was first released it was considered a box office flop after grossing only $10,600,000 with a budget of $18,500,000. Despite this, it has gone on to achieve a cult following.

The movie contains the surrealistic details of Terry Gilliam’s work which is what made the movie work. He was not the first choice as director however, but after creative differences between Alex Cox (the original director) and Thompson, Cox was fired and replaced by Gilliam. Thompson admitted that nobody could project his thoughts onto the screen as well as Gilliam could.

The acting was brilliant from both Depp and Toro. Both hardly recognizable with a bald Depp and a large Toro who gained 40 pounds for the role. He was seen 3 years earlier in the role of the tall and skinny Fenster in ‘The Usual Suspects’. Depp was great as always and his narration really held the the movie together well, but it was Toro who stole the show as the frightening 220 pound Samoan equipped with a hunting knife and under the influence of raw ether, mescaline and countless other drugs. Just like the director, Depp and Toro were not the first choice. The first choice duo were Jack Nicholson as Duke and Marlon Brando as Dr. Gonzo. How’s that for a compliment?

Fans of Hunter S. Thompson must have already seen this, and probably enjoyed it as much as the next fan. From the minute the book hit the shelves it was called unfilmable, but Gilliam has done a terrific job, has stayed true to the book and is extremely accurate from chapter to chapter.

**** 1/ 2

RATED: R

In a post-apocalyptic America (Zombieland) over-run with zombies, four survivors team up to help each other survive. The unlikely foursome include the timid white virgin, Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg; the main cast members are named after towns which relate to them); the gun-totting cowboy on his personal quest for the final Twinkies, Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson); and ‘matchstick sisters’ Wichita (Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin) who con their way to survive.

An ongoing joke throughout the movie are Columbus’ simple set of rules to survive the zombie quagmire. These rules, and fear, have kept an unlikely hero like Columbus alive. He presents it in a quirky narrative form, followed by a hilarious example. Some of these rules include ‘cardio’, ‘checking the backseat’ and ‘limbering up’.

The main purpose of Zombieland is to display creative ways of killing zombies; dropping a piano on an unsuspecting undead is just one of a few. Zombieland is the funnest time I’ve had watching a movie all year. I was somewhat disappointed though, that it was too funny. There simply wasn’t enough scares for it to fall strictly under a horror comedy. I fear (ironically) that this factor will disqualify it as legendary horror/comedy like American Werewolf in London and the Evil Dead trilogy.

The opening credits ranks as one of the best of 2009 along with Watchmen. The slow-mo depictions of the world being transformed to zombieland; one of my favourite slow-mo scenes was a father-son three legged competitor being chased down by the other zombie father-son combos.

This was one of my most anticipated movies of 2009 and my expectations were fulfilled. Everything needed for a fun film was there; witty humour, streets of blood, realistic makeup and a brilliant cherry-on-top cameo from Bill Murray. Like I said, this is simply not a pure horror/comedy and don’t expect anything like formula as Drag me to Hell (the best horror movie of 2009). If you’re up for some fun and a visual rollercoaster, this has to be on top of your must-watch list.

I give it 3 and a half toasters.

Rated MA

Can you introduce us to the band ‘Sawa’?

SAWA is a band, trying to dig out something “unique” but still very “catchy”.  We are a Japanese indie band formed in Tokyo (Japan). We strongly believe that reaching out and opening up  to each other and the world is the 1st step to move forward as a band.  My father runs a traditional Japanese public bath (sento) in his own way. Usually, Japanese public baths won’t welcome people with Tattoos, Yakuza (Japanese Mafia), elderly people who can’t take a bath without help. But my father accepts almost everyone, including those people. Only if they can keep the ethos to share the sento space together with each other.  SAWA would love to share the space, and to have space where anybody can come and enjoy, share their thoughts, time and smiles together.

Tell us! How did SAWA come to be what it is today?

SAWA started taking action in ‘07 when the vocalist Sawa had decided to sing.  (That’s me! lol)

At the beginning I was a solo singer/song writer, but when I met Hizmi through making the soundtrack to the well known Nintendo DS game The World Ends With You, we decided to create something original together; that was the beginning of  Sawa.  After writing several songs, we decided to form a Band pushed by our eagerness and supports from our fans and that’s how we are today.

What are the instruments used in your band?

For the gigs, we use the usual guitars, electric, acoustic and bass, drum, and…. microphone!! lol)

My main instrument is my voice, but I also play the tambourine and blues harp depending on the situation.

Sometimes we share the stage with our friends who play keyboard, violin and/or flute.

In future gigs, we might add or subtract instruments to have more experimental sounds on stage!!

How do you describe your music to people?

Something experimental and alternative based on rock sounds.

Who writes the lyrics?

I do

Most of Sawa’s songs lyrics are in English, Why is that?

Because, we are eager to go over the boundaries and borders created by stereotypes. We don’t want to have you hear us with the first impression, “Oh! It’s a band from Japan!!”.  It’d rather you be surprised after listening to our songs and say, “Oh! They were Japanese band?” lol.

We love to surprise people!  That’s one of the biggest reasons why most of our songs are written in English.

Although, it doesn’t mean I don’t like writing songs in Japanese.  To tell the truth, we are working on some Japanese songs right now!

What are your favorite songs and why?

My favorite songs … it’s hard to pick a few… I love all of my songs! lol

hm…. if I need to pick some, I’d start to say with…

“One Thing“.  It was the song that I sent to  Hizmi as my self-introduction before our first meeting.  From this song, we decided to create songs together, and without this song the current Sawa wouldn’t even exist!  “Stay Away“, this was the first song I created together with Hizmi and that was the beginning of this Sawa project. We felt some sort of chemistry between us while listening its demo. From our current EP,  I adore “Fly High” and “Figure and Shadow“.  “Fly High” is filled with messages and words from my past.  I wanted to collect those heartfelt empowerment words in one song, and share it with my fans and friends!!  “Figure and Shadow” is one of our newest sounds, and while creating this song I felt that our new experiments on sounds are going to start from here!!

Who are your musical influences?

I used to listen lots of Canzone and Chanson music, influenced by my father in my childhood. I still love those passionate voices and emotional essence of the singers such as, Milva and Edith Piaf.  The 1st CD I ever bought was The Beatles, when I was around 10 years old. I listen to Punk, Heavy Rock, and some other sorts of music too, but when I met Nirvana around 16, I was totally soaked into the grunge world.  Later on, Mixture, Core, Metal sounds were also fun to listen but my interest was suddenly caught by some old sounds, such as Chet Baker and Tom Waits.  From the current artist, I’m a big fan of Muse.

If you could cover any song in the world, which one would you choose?

It’s hard to pick one

Okay, I’d say…

“In Un Fiore“, “Que sera“, “Milord” from Canzone.

“But Not For Me” from Chet Baker (I wish I could play trumpet like him)

I’m sure there are some more … but can’t remember now … sorry.

Do you remember your first show? How did you feel?

Yes! Of course I do.

It was at a cultural festival during High School in Virginia as an exchange student.

I was very nervous back stage, but once I started to sing, it was a great fun.  I sang 2 songs, and that was the moment I strongly felt that cultural difference didn’t matter, while we spoke through the language of music.

Can you explain how a band rehearsal goes for you?

The groove won’t come out on stage,  when our hearts are looking at different directions.  So, rehearsal becomes a genuine communication between the band members, I think.

What is the best moment you have experienced so far?

As a band Sawa, our communication between fans and friends are based on MySpace.  So, when we have a moment to see our fans and/or friends face to face and have a tight hug with each other, that’s the best moment ever.  In ‘09, many of our friends came to see us in Tokyo from everywhere, overseas and in many different areas around Japan. We really want to tour the world in the year ‘10 (Of course! including Australia).

How do you see SAWA in the future?

Well… I have no idea!

Maybe I’m trying not to have a detailed image of the future of Sawa, trying not to bind myself by my image.

My ambition is huge.  I want to become friends with people all around the world, and enjoy our future together.

I hope Sawa will be an inspiration for the positive power of your life.  That’s the only thing  I have always wished and I strongly believe this is the most important element when I think about the future Sawa.

Would you come play for us in Australia?

Why not.

We’ll definitely come whenever we could get the chance to come.

If you came to Australia, what would you want to see and do first?

First, I’d like to thank you for letting us step on to the land of your country, and then breath in the fresh Australian air and fill up my lungs.  One of my first Australian fans have sent me a photo a few months ago, writing Sawa (+ BIG heart message on the beach) … and that’ll be the place I personally want to visit the most!  Is it legal to sing one or two songs by the sea shore in Australia?

We hope to perform more than 1 gig at an Australian showcase in our near future.

Have you ever heard of Vegemite or tried it?

Yes! I tried it when my little sister came back from 3 month home stay in Australia.  That was a great souvenir!

Nice experience, but I just had it once!  My sister loves it but I heard it’s not easy to find it in Japan.

and, Any last words to say or advice?

As long as we won’t throw out our hope, we’ll never get lost.  I’ll declare here today, that Sawa won’t give up until our dream comes true.  I hope you can tell us the same

Thank you very much. Domo Arigato

Based on the Maurice Sendak’s children’s book of the same name, Spike Jonze directs a fascinating, captivating and touching; yet also a depressing and unstructured film. Max (Max Records) is a child with a vivid imagination – his imagination often being utilised to escape his childhood issues, such as his parent’s divorce, his sister’s neglect and the pain of alienation. One night, his mother, Connie (Catherine Keener) brings her boyfriend (Mark Ruffalo in a brief appearance) over the house for dinner. Max wears a a wolf costume and his imagination runs wild, demanding his mother to feed him meat and eventually biting her shoulder. After a verbal lashing from his mother, Max runs away from home to where the wild things are.

The movie starts off well enough and introduces Max and his many juvenile issues, growing emotional pains and being old enough to feel complex emotions, but too young to express them healthily. From here on in, Max is on his journey of self discovery with several of these ‘wild things’; monstrous, gravity defying and emotional beasts. Each one of them almost represents different aspects of Max’s personality; credit due to Jonze for expanding on the plot. Max Records first lead role was promising, had presence and a certain charm when on screen. With this charisma, more lead roles are sure to come. I have to say though, that this is definitely not a film for children; but a film about childhood. It has it’s light-hearted scenes but as the movie goes on, it feels darker and more depressing when certain emotionally unhealthy ‘wild things’ run rampant. The desolate look on the ‘wild things’ don’t help. What really impressed me though was the use of animatronics and CGI on the monsters. From the intricate details of their faces, capturing every tear and smile; or the wide scaled physically demanding pile-up scenes, Where The Wild Things Are is a possible candidate for one of the technical Academy Awards.

I got a glimpse of this trailer a while back and was eagerly anticipating the release. The soundtrack sounded promising and the use of frames caused me to believe that there were going to be transitions between Max’s fantasy world and the real world, in a similar brand to that of Guillermo Del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth. My unfulfilled expectations on this may have caused me to under-appreciate this. So if you are going to see this, don’t go in with any expectations and just digest every beautiful scene as it comes. An adorable story, great indie soundtrack and visually exquisite CGI makes this more than worth watching.

3 and a half stars.

As soon as I turned the MacBook on, I could see the difference. The LED screen is fantastically glossy, looking brighter and more colourful than any other laptop I have used, including the earlier MacBook versions. My pet peeve here unfortunately is the 13” doesn’t have the option of a matte finish, which means it’s reflective like you wouldn’t believe. Luckily, I enjoy looking at my reflection, but in bright conditions – a sunny day for example – it can be a bit of a drag. This can be lessened by fiddling with the screen brightness, but overall it’s not really a big issue for me.

The design of the MacBook is very sleek and has none of the staining problems that I have noticed on the white plastic model MacBooks.  Carved from a solid block of aluminum, the MacBook Pro is much stronger and sturdier, and is unlikely to crack from being carted around. Apple has decided to reintroduce the Firewire port, which was suspiciously missing from the previous models, and there is also an SD card reader, which is a first, even though most pro photographers so not use SD cards anymore.

If you’ve been contemplating the MacBook, you’ll already know about the multi-touch track pad, which isn’t all that new, and the backlit keyboard, which is new for this size. But in reality, what pushed me to the MacBook Pro was the battery life and the graphics card. Reviews on the Nvida GeForce 9400M are impressive, and while I’m not a gamer, the advantages of this for any photographers are obvious. The battery life on this new MacBook is much better than any PC I’ve used, but with my minimal experience in Macs, I don’t really have anything to compare it to.

Overall? I have to say that I’m sold. This is one PC user who is more than happily a Mac convert.

N.B. If you liked the little sticker, you can get one for yourself here (http://www.gelaskins.com/)

Why it’s the best and worst thing you will ever let into your life.

You’ve heard about it, you’ve seen it on your mate’s computer. A little button at the top of their screen that simply says ‘Stumble!’. The StumbleUpon toolbar is a mysterious and powerful tool, whose mystery is only exceeded by its power.

Be aware, for you have been warned. If you have the StumbleUpon toolbar on your computer, two things are likely to happen. One, you will discover total radical and awesome sites that will blow you away. Two, you will never sleep again. I’m telling you, it’s addictive.

“Just one more Stumble,” you say to yourself over and over and over, as the clock hands drift. Then you look and it’s three in the morning, and you haven’t moved in six or seven hours. “Oh no! I’ve got school/work tomorrow!” you think, “I’ll just have one more…”

So it goes, on and on. Yet, I have no regrets about Stumble. Since I signed up for a (free) account, I have seen areas of the internet that I would never have found. I have learned random and useless facts. I have seen amazing photos of events I would never have known about. The concept is so easy! All you do is go to www.stumbleupon.com, and sign up for an account. You tick a heap of boxes so Stumble (in all its mystery and power) knows which sites to drop you at, and then you put your like it, or  you don’t. After that it’s even easier. You can write a review of the site, you can friend and connect to people who like the same stuff you do, or you can sit for hours in front of your computer like a mindless drone… Or if you’re looking for a more positive spin, a sponge eager for information. So in a nutshell, Stumble is like channel surfing on the internet.

I know you want to know more, so go and check it out. And remember, Stumbling is less awkward on the internet.

“Open up your mind”

Imagination can be defined as ‘The formation of a mental image of something that is neither perceived as real nor present to the senses.’

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is a sporadic drama about good and evil. The enchanting scenes open up our mind to possibilities.

The film is rather bizarre but this is no surprise considering it is directed by Terry Gilliam who has produced such films as Monty Python and the Holy Grail and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

Dr Parnassus (Christopher Plummer) the God-like protagonist makes a deal with the devil (Tom Waits) which guarantees him mortality and later eternal life in exchange for his adolescent offspring. He thoughtlessly agrees but regrets this later when his daughter Valentina (Lily Cole) is born. He realises that Valentina will soon be taken by the devil, Parnassus pleads for him to reconsider so the devil agrees on a new gamble. Whoever collects 5 souls first keeps Valentina. Parnassus and the entourage guide people to positive, uplifting thoughts whilst the devil tempts his victims into selling their souls for evil. Tony (Heath Ledger) tries strenuously to help Parnassus by attracting people into a mirror which leads to a world of imagination, every time he leads them through the world his face changes, Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell convey this superbly. Each face represents an aspect of Tony’s imagination. Heath Ledger, who plays Tony, died half way through the shooting of the film forcing Terry Gilliam to improvise this alternate ending. The film is unique, there is a contrast between contemporary culture and olden day circus themes, this is portrayed throughout the movie by presenting small, plain black and white settings and colourful panorama. The best part of this film was the concept which in essence described that we all have a choice to do wrong or right, good or evil and that our actions have consequences. I went into the cinema expecting a structured, heart warming movie; instead I came out feeling violated by the erratic story line. However shortly after I felt enlightened by the spontaneous flash backs of mysterious locations and imaginative costumes. On the whole the movie was different; the highlight for me was watching the strong performance of Heath Ledger and Tom Waits.

Rated PG

A hybrid between a sports movie, a chick flick and a feel good comedy, Whip It treads delicately on the boundaries of a cliche coming-of-age film; yet somehow Barrymore knows this and embraces it just enough without going too far over-board.

The movie explores different relationships consequently fractured by Babe’s endeavours in the skating rink. Foremost of these associations is the mother-daughter relationship between Bliss and Brooke. A crucial moment in the movie is the confrontation between the two (a cliche; I know) where the acting ability of Page and Harden alight the screen. This mother-daughter theme may also be a reflection on Barrymore’s own estranged relationship with her mother.

Ellen Page is taking one step closer to winning an Oscar and she does herself no harm with another dazzling performance (she did all her own stunts and skating). Marcia Gay Harden, as always, doesn’t disappoint, displaying great chemistry with Page. A strong supporting cast really complements the two actresses. Juliette Lewis as Iron Maven from the rival team plays her character with a grungy look that demands respect; Andrew Wilson, the lesser known older brother of Luke and Owen, plays a hilarious role as the jean shorts wearing coach and Kristen Wiig as Maggie Mayhem, Babe’s mentor, pleasantly surprised me with a role much unlike her small cameos in comedies as the socially inept lout. Barrymore herself plays the role of Smashley Simpson, Babe’s accident prone team-mate. To top it all off, Jimmy Fallon makes a humorous appearance as the try hard womaniser Master of Ceremonies, Johnny ‘Hot Tub’ Rocket.

However, Landon Pigg (Oliver, Babe’s love interest) does not do his character any justice and I couldn’t see the chemistry between the two actors. Babe and Oliver’s ‘young love’ appeared too contrived for my liking and was very hard to believe. This makes it harder to swallow whenever he’s on screen.

Barrymore’s direction is a success! She’s assembled a great all-star cast and has obviously picked a few tricks from her godfather, Steven Spielberg. She directs the film with as much energy and rapture as her own personality. This could be the first of many films to come from Barrymore. Forget the cliches for two hours and sit back and enjoy this joyous and infectious movie about teen defiance, friendship, familial love and ‘being your own hero’.

Rated: M

3 and a half stars