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Yet more drama in dangerous world of Pacific loggers 
TV Preview: Picks of the Day 20/11/09AXE MEN (five, 8pm)
This thrilling documentary follows the treacherous work of loggers in the Pacific Northwest. This week, Jay Browning gives his team a dressing down after a communication breakdown sees them leave work early, costing the...
Celebs queue up to humiliate themselves in name of charity
TV Preview: tvchoice 20/11/09CHILDREN IN NEED 2009 (BBC1, 7pm)
Yes, it’s that time of the year again, when must-see entertainment, emotional appeals and the feel-good factor of helping others in need come together for an evening that puts the fun into fundraising.
REVENGE OF THE PINK PANTHER (Channel 4, 1.30pm)
TV Preview: Moviechoice 20/11/09A French mobster decides to prove how powerful he is by assassinating Chief Inspector Jacques Clouseau. Unfortunately, he bumps off the wrong man allowing Clouseau and trusted sidekick Cato to go undercover to find the villain. Meanwhile, his former boss, Charles Dreyfus, feels strong enough to leave the mental hospital in...
RETRO SOUNDS
Music & celebrity GOSSIP 20/11/09Ministry of Sound, one of the most famous and influential clubs/labels in the have release a surprising and very interesting album as their latest compilation. Anthems – Electronic 80s is a superb selection of synthy eighties gems and features the likes of Yazoo's Don't Go, Girls On Film by Duran Duran, Promised You A Miracle by Simple Minds, OMD's Enola Gay, Being...
IN pole position
Scene and Heard 20/11/09A two-night stand in the hedonistic haven of Amsterdam will always sort the men from the boys. Especially when noted rock and roll mentalists Eagles of Death Metal are involved. “Amsterdam treated us too well last night,” says Arctic Monkeys’ frontman, Alex Turner, sounding rather worse for wear.
Are you serious?
Scene and Heard 20/11/09IF fortune truly favours the brave, it’s no surprise that the hen-pecked, mild-mannered mensch at the centre of Joel and Ethan Coen’s new black comedy is pummelled senseless by bad luck. Set in a Jewish community in mid-1960s Minneapolis reminiscent of the film-maker brothers’ own childhoods, A Serious Man is a...
Everyman lies
Scene and Heard 20/11/09THE INFORMANT!
WE all want to do the right thing, but few of us ever put ourselves on the line for the sake of a greater good. In the early 1990s, family man Mark Whiteacre decided to blow the whistle on a global price-fixing scam in the...
Also released...
Scene and Heard 20/11/09The Twilight Saga: New Moon
IN the second instalment of Stephenie Meyer’s best-selling Twilight novels, the love affair between teenage misfit Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and vampire Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) reaches a crossroads, and...
Remembering a hero of stage and screen
Cult MOVIE 20/11/09Ralph McLean salutes the great Edward Woodward, who died on Monday
WITH the sad passing of actor Edward Woodward this week the world of cultdom lost a key player on several fronts. For people for whom the eighties weren’t just a parade of bad hair, fashion disasters, greed and self-serving money...
Singles still going steady
Noise Annoys 20/11/09Ash have always had a reputation as a ‘singles band,’ thanks to short sharp indie classics such as Girl From Mars, Goldfinger, A Life Less Ordinary and Kung Fu. However, recently the Downpatrick trio have chosen to rely on their instinct for perfect pop even more heavily than usual.
Your essential guide to live music in the week ahead
Noise Annoys 20/11/09Today
LaFaro (pictured), Team Fresh, Strait Laces - The Stiff Kitten, Belfast.
Profound Sound Trio (Cyrille/Dunmall/Grimes) - Sonic Arts Research Centre, Belfast The Saw Doctors - The Spring & Airbrake, Belfast.
Road to nowhere
Scene and Heard 20/11/09Sufjan Stevens - The BQE (Rough Trade)
It’s three years now since Sufjan Stevens released his brilliant five-disc collection Songs For Christmas and anyone who owns it will be dusting down the box-set in a couple of weeks.
THE STONES LIVE ON AGAIN
Scene and Heard 20/11/09ISSUED between 1975 and 2002, the Stones’ live albums Love You Live, Still Life, Flashpoint, Stripped and Live Licks document one the greatest ever rock bands in their natural habitat. Recorded in stadiums and arenas, as well as more informal theatre and club shows, these albums feature...
Progressive affirmation
Entertainment 20/11/09Forty-one years and myriad line-up changes after they first formed, progressive rock legends Yes are currently back on the road and headed for Ireland. The present line-up features Yes stalwarts Steve Howe (guitar), Chris Squire (bass) and Alan...
Duke of Coleraine is ready for the road
Scene and Heard 20/11/09HE’S from Coleraine and lives in Belfast, but Anthony Toner’s new album is titled The Duke Of Oklahoma (And Other Stories). Anthony has supported Nanci Griffith, Cara Dillon and Juliet Turner on tour, but with his great songs and famous banter he’s certainly a headline...
Bargain basement sports for all the family
Games Scene 20/11/09Family Trainer: Extreme Challenge (Wii) By: Bandai
NOT many people remember the Power Pad peripheral released for the NES in 1986, but in its native Japan the plastic sheet with pressure sensors was known as the Family Trainer.
Bits and Bytes
Games Scene 20/11/09The most eagerly-anticipated title of 2009 finally hits the shelves this week, and Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 was well worth the wait. Ghostbusters, meanwhile, gives 360 gamers some ghoulish thrills and spills, while Singstar: Take That is a cracking collection from one...
no Foyling film festival
Entertainment 20/11/09THE Foyle Film Festival returns today, bringing a mix of screenings, workshops and competition to Derry until November 28. The festival is the flagship event of multi-media arts hub the Nerve Centre and takes place in...
Net worthlessness
Scene and Heard 20/11/09We Live In Public is directed by Ondi Timoner, who made the acclaimed rock doc DIG!. What made DIG! so compelling was that we came to care about its larger-than-life characters. By contrast, Josh Harris, the subject of Timoner’s new documentary We Live In Public, is just plain creepy. Timoner spent...
Life off the worldwide web
Scene and Heard 20/11/09NOWADAYS there is little chance of escaping the internet. The convenience and wealth of information it provides us lies directly at our fingertips, whether we are using an online dictionary, searching for a recipe or trying to find the nearest H&M.
Is marriage the right choice for Down’s syndrome couple?
TV Preview: Picks of the Day 19/11/09WONDERLAND: CAN WE GET MARRIED? (BBC2, 12.25am)
Emma Bishop and Ben Marshall are in their late 20s and have been together for six years but because they both have Down’s syndrome their decision to get married, ordinarily a simple enough choice, is far from...
Cracking way to warm up for Children in Need’s main event
TV Preview: tvchoice 19/11/09CHILDREN IN NEED ROCKS THE ROYAL ALBERT HALL (BBC1, 8pm)
Afew months back, Gary Barlow persuaded a bunch of showbiz mates to climb Mount Kilimanjaro for Comic Relief. By the time they reached the top bystanders could have been forgiven for assuming that the rag-tag bunch of...
THE PINK PANTHER STRIKES AGAIN (Channel 4, 1.20pm)
TV Preview: Moviechoice 19/11/09This is the one where a slightly unhinged former police commissioner attempts to take over the world with the help of a giant laser gun. Naturally, Inspector Clouseau has to stop him in his own unique way. The last of the great Pink Panther movies before director Blake...
Spooks suspicious of sinister fatcats’ summit
TV Preview: Picks of the Day 18/11/09SPOOKS (BBC1, 9pm)
It is more thrills with the MI5 team as this latest series of the espionage drama continues.
This week Section D are on the case when the powerful Bendorf group, made up of the eight richest men in the world, decide to...
THE PINK PANTHER (Channel 4, 1.15pm)
TV Preview: Moviechoice 18/11/09Inspector Clouseau, an inept French police detective, heads to Switzerland in search of a suave and successful jewel thief who has designs on a valuable gem. Unfortunately, the bumbling officer’s attempts to foil the crime leave a trail of chaos in his wake, while someone close to home is giving his foe...
Songs shine through as stars pay tribute to singing duo
TV Preview: tvchoice 18/11/09CELEBRATING THE CARPENTERS (UTV, 7.30pm)
It’s 40 years since Karen and Richard Carpenter released their debut LP and this musical spectacular revels in the sounds and successes of the influential duo, featuring some of the greatest pop stars of today.
Migrants will do anything to get slice of American dream
TV Preview: Picks of the Day 17/11/09TRUE STORIES: WHICH WAY HOME (More4, 10pm)
This compelling documentary, another triumph in the True Stories strand, follows unaccompanied child migrants as they journey through Mexico on a freight train they call The Beast, hoping to reach the US.
TWILIGHT (Sky Movies Premiere, 8pm)
TV Preview: Moviechoice 17/11/09Teenager Bella moves to a small town to live with her father and begins a passionate romance with the mysterious Edward, despite learning he is a vampire. However, when a number of trouble-rousing bloodsuckers stroll into town they are far from impressed that Edward is...
Later Live fans are in for a real treat in final show of the series
TV Preview: tvchoice 17/11/09LATER LIVE – WITH JOOLS HOLLAND (BBC2, 11.20pm)
Some experts have said that Annie Lennox has the best soul voice in Britain today. And who would argue with them?
Comedian investigates changing tastes in art
TV Preview - Picks Of The Day 16/11/09The art on your wall – with sue perkins (BBC2, 9pm)
Who says TV is dumbing down? Okay, so the new series of I’m a Celebrity is hardly going to be challenging viewing, but at least the Beeb has come up with a programme that should appeal to those who enjoy...
The day the earth stood still (Sky Movies Classics, 5.35pm)
TV Preview - Movie Choice 16/11/09An alien called Klaatu arrives in Washington to deliver an anti-nuclear warning. On landing, he offers the American city Gort a powerful robot which can put a stop to all wars by punishing aggressors. But, although many welcome these ideals, not everyone is in favour.
Unique royal review gives insight into 3D filming
TV Preview - TV Choice 16/11/09THE QUEEN IN 3D (Channel 4, 9pm)
Give a programme a title like that and the mind is immediately full of images of Queen Elizabeth in some sort of appalling B-movie, blown up to massive proportions by some alien space-ray...
Bad boy Tony Gordon finally turns himself in
Soap Watch 16/11/09Finally Corrie viewers will see Tony Gordon behind bars. Whilst he eventually gives himself up, bad boy Tony lives up to his title by giving Roy a scare along the way. Having lost Maria and realising he has nothing to lose Tony follows Roy to the canal and makes it clear he has...
PLOTLINES
Soap Watch 16/11/09CORONATION STREET
Ted is delighted when Gail asks if he will give her away at her wedding. However, her happiness is short lived when fearing there’s no way out, a desperate Joe admits his massive debts to Gail.
Notes on a Scandal
Entertainment 14/11/09
Russell Brand finished off his Scandalous tour in Belfast this week and now he wants to put the Andrew Sachs prank calls saga to bed once and for all. As well as being a stand-up comedian, Brand has written a bestselling book, is a TV host, has a new DVD out and has several film roles in the pipeline. He took time out of his hectic schedule to talk to Brian Campbell
Playing to the galleries
Entertainment 14/11/09While there is undoubtedly a serious dispute over the devolution of policing and justice, events have made it plain that both Sinn Fein and the DUP are playing to their respective galleries.
weekend choice
Entertainment 14/11/09In a photo withdrawn from public view, 10 young men wearing exquisitely made tailcoats stand in an Oxford quad, ready for a night of fine dining and drinking.
Jolly jungle japes are back with Ant and Dec
Entertainment 14/11/09I’M A CELEBRITY... GET ME OUT OF HERE! tomorrow, UTV, 9pm
Many people will be delighted to see famous faces perched in precarious positions or forced to endure unsavoury ordeals in the Australian jungle.
weekend movies
Entertainment 14/11/09Today
BIG FAT LIAR
(UTV, 11.25am)
This fun adventure comedy tells a story that could, in a way, be any wannabe film-maker’s dream come true.
Draining style
Entertainment 14/11/09Draining style
Monzu
701 Lisburn Road
Belfast
PLAYS often have the critics in on first nights or hold previews for them to get their take (hopefully good) out there and encourage the ticket buying public.
Gingerly encountering sushi
Entertainment 14/11/09The Ginger Tree
23 Donegall Pass
Belfast BT7 1 DQ
Telephone 028 9032 7151
Golfers gain from Celtic tiger’s loss
Entertainment 14/11/09While most lament our current economic situation Billy Foley – albeit apologetically – revels in the cheap golf and hotel breaks now on offer
Getting hot and spicy
Entertainment 14/11/09Curry favour at the dinner table this week with these India-inspired dishes
Still Walking on Sunshine
Entertainment 14/11/09He’s a musical leader in a number of genres and has even invented his own. Eddy Grant’s words and vision have stood the test of time and had a lasting influence on a range of musicians.
Jenny Lee chats to the Caribbean icon
Old Road Dogs learning Just The Way It Is
Entertainment 14/11/09William Scholes reviews some of the latest and upcoming fiction releases
Road Dogs
By Elmore Leonard
Published on November 19 by Weidenfeld & Nicolson, £18.99 (hardback)
Dark doyen of crime fiction
Entertainment 14/11/09He is nicknamed the Demon Dog of American literature and AP Maginness discovers that James Ellroy is as fearsome in person as his reputation suggests
Dapper Diarmaid looks a perfect fit for television
Entertainment 14/11/09Panorama
(Monday, BBC1, 8.30pm)
How would you feel if someone broke into your home and assaulted you, only to be given a caution by police when caught?
Hearing first hand makes the horror more real
Entertainment 14/11/09Behind Enemy Lines, Radio 2
“Ahostage is a man hanging by his fingernails over the edge of chaos.” These were Belfast man Brian Keenan’s words shortly after he was released following years of being held prisoner in Lebanon.
GOLDEN GIRL
Entertainment 13/11/09
Jenny Lee talks fame, fashion, acting and school with Oscar-nominated Irish teenager Saoirse Ronan
PICKS OF THE DAY
Entertainment 13/11/09THE WHAT IN THE world? quiz
(five, 7.30pm)
Science and humour are not exactly synonymous with one another but Marcus Brigstocke’s quiz show looks set to be the exception to the rule.
moviechoice
Entertainment 13/11/09ZOOLANDER
(Film4, 9pm)
Dim but well-meaning male model Derek Zoolander is ousted from his post as the world’s top model by newcomer Hansel.
tvchoice
Entertainment 13/11/09BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE
(BBC2, 10pm)
Cast your mind back to October 2008 and you’ll likely agree that for the most part it was a pretty grey affair in terms of TV output but at least Beautiful People added a splash of colour to the proceedings while it lasted.
Also released..
Entertainment 13/11/09Also released...
Harry Brown
BRITAIN is broken, almost beyond repair.
Knife crime has, shockingly, become part of everyone’s lives as teenagers take their arguments onto the streets.
Aviation flick fails to fly
Entertainment 13/11/09A FILM about the first woman of aviation – who recklessly inspired millions of women to break gender boundaries and whose life was cut short in enduringly mysterious circumstances – should be the stuff of studio executives’ dreams, right?
Thrill of disaster tale
Entertainment 13/11/09CANCEL the London Olympic Games! Our time on the third rock from the sun will come to a dramatic end on December 21 2012, when planets align as decreed by the Mayan calendar.
Thus no-one is going to care a jot about whether the stadia are finished on time, or which member of the cycling team breaks an individual pursuit world record.
Origins of screen gangster
Entertainment 13/11/09It set the mould for the modern gangster movie but Little Caesar was prophetic in more ways than one, says Ralph McLean
Coming next week...
Entertainment 13/11/09Edward (Robert Pattinson) and Jacob (Taylor Lautner, pictured) vie for the affections of Bella (Kristen Stewart) in The Twilight Saga: New Moon
BOX OFFICE Top 10
Entertainment 13/11/09BOX OFFICE Top 10
1 (1) Michael Jackson's This Is It
2 (-) A Christmas Carol 3D
3 (-) The Men Who Stare At Goats
4 (4) Up 2D
Great expectations
Entertainment 13/11/09Great Lake Swimmers released their fourth album this year and Lost Channels has rightly won rich praise from all quarters. Ahead of the Toronto band’s first dates in Ireland this weekend, singer Tony Dekker talks to Brian Campbell
Ready to bring the musical Remedy
Entertainment 13/11/09LITTLE Boots became a solo star on the back of her video cover versions of songs by everyone from Girls Aloud to Wham and she has also recorded a nifty cover of JLS hit Beat Again.
Travelling the world for her trade
Entertainment 13/11/09From the American mystery series Harper’s Island to a forthcoming Easter Rising film, Elaine Cassidy is much in demand. Jenny Lee talks to the Irish actress
Music & celebrity GOSSIP
Entertainment 13/11/09Big up Backstreet
Backstreet Boys’ new single Bigger is one of the best pop records you will hear this year and deserves to score yet another international hit for the guys.
Another strange victory for those with good taste
Entertainment 13/11/09There’s a whole bunch of good live music to look forward to next week, courtesy of Strange Victory promotions.
Hindsight is always 20/20
Entertainment 13/11/09NEXT week, Dangerfield’s singer, drummer and all-round head honcho Andrew ‘Griswold’ Johnston is throwing a wee bash to ‘celebrate’ two miserable decades of music making.
Underrated + overdue
Entertainment 13/11/09Nirvana’s debut album gets the deluxe re-issue treatment, alongside a belated DVD/CD release of the band’s headlining slot at the 1992 Reading Festival. Both make essential stocking fillers for Nirvana fans, as David Roy explains
ALBUM REVIEWS
Entertainment 13/11/09Slayer
World Painted Blood
(American)
By David Roy
Dude One: Hey dude, did you hear the new Slayer yet?
Classic Dickens tale gets its game on
Entertainment 13/11/09A Christmas Carol (DS)
By: Disney
ROBERT Zemeckis’s latest attempt to make CGI look as real as possible (why not use reality?) tarts up Dickens’s festive cockle-warmer about misery, crippled children and marauding spirits in bleeding-edge trickery.
Bits and Bytes
Entertainment 13/11/09You'll certainly be rocking around the Christmas tree this year, with this week's release of the superb Band Hero Bundle on PS3 giving you a showcase for your guitar, drum and vocal talents.
TOP 10 GAMES
Entertainment 13/11/09TOP 10 GAMES
1. Football Manager 2010
2. Wii Fit Plus
3. FIFA 10
4. Forza Motorsport 3
PICKS OF THE DAY
Entertainment 12/11/09WONDERLAND: SEVEN PUPS FOR SEVEN PEOPLE
(BBC2, 12.50am)
Staffordshire bull terrier crosses, the canines that tabloids sometimes call ‘devil dogs’ are both one of the most sought-after breeds and the most frequently abandoned – one in three of Battersea Dogs Home’s total intake is a Staffie cross.
moviechoice
Entertainment 12/11/09BRIDE AND PREJUDICE
(Film4, 6.50pm)
Jane Austen is everywhere at the moment and fans of the author will be pleased to see this refreshing adaptation of her classic novel Pride and Prejudice.
tvchoice
Entertainment 12/11/09RIVER COTTAGE
(Channel 4, 8pm)
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall is back to show us how we would all live if we had a massive farm, a TV deal and acres of prime
Devon land.
Greying man-child May builds a case for Meccano
TV Preview - Picks Of The Day 10/11/09JAMES MAY’S TOY STORIES (BBC2, 8pm)
Say what you like about boys and their toys but when James May sets out to prove a point he does it in style.
K-19: THE WIDOWMAKER (Channel 4, 1pm)
TV Preview - Movie Choice 10/11/09The captain of Russia’s first nuclear submarine finds himself getting a swift demotion after voicing his concerns that the vessel is unfit for commission. Unfortunately, his fears soon prove to be well-founded when the reactor malfunctions...
High-octane duo take up the baton on global relay race
TV Preview - TV Choice 10/11/09AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS (BBC1, 9pm)
Celebrities have been doing their bit for Children in Need ever since it began in 1980, but this year a handful of famous faces have gone to previously unseen lengths in a bid to raise more money that ever...
Digging up the traumatic secrets of Franco’s dictatorship
TV Preview - Picks Of The Day 09/11/09Michael Portillo: Digging Up the Dead (BBC4, 9pm)
In Digging Up The Dead, Michael Portillo looks beyond the familiar vision of picture-postcard Spain to show a nation in trauma.
The Money Pit (Channel 4, 12.40pm)
TV Preview - Movie Choice 09/11/09Walter Fielding and Anna Crowley are two up-and-coming professionals with lots of money behind them. When they stumble on a tumble-down abode that’s just ripe for doing up, they decide to buy it and plough their energies into making it the perfect home.
Miranda’s Joke Shop radio show hits the small screen
TV Preview - TV Choice 09/11/09MIRANDA (BBC2, 8.30pm)
Miranda Hart would like to be Ladies Tennis Champion at Wimbledon. Or the sixth Spice Girl.
She wants this so badly, she’d even be willing to accept the nickname ‘Enormous Spice’.
Reviews: Mumford & Sons - Little Lion Man
Unplugged 09/11/09ACAPTIVATING opening of banjos, cellos and guitars eclipse together to make this tranquil record. Little Lion Man is the leading single from the unusually named band Mumford and Sons debut album Signs No More.
In... Bin...
Unplugged 09/11/09IN
• Sugababes original
Rumours are spreading that original Sugababes are set to reunite. Will it happen?
Wedded bliss turns sour for Fiz
Soap Watch 09/11/09It’s John Stape’s release day from prison and the start of wedded bliss for Fiz, who celebrates his new found freedom with a picnic. However, the day soon turns sour. As John carries Fiz over the threshold, Sally storms over branding John a paedophile.
PLOTLINES
Soap Watch 09/11/09EASTENDERS
Ronnie tries to keep her relationship with Owen secret but Denise catches him leaving the Vic the next morning. However, their romance could be short-lived when Owen is arrested for breaching his licence.
