Anchorman

Certain staff at Emipre magazine had been touting this as the best comedy for a decade on its release! I had seen the talented Will Ferrell in Elf two Christmases ago and found myself enjoying his performance if not the script so much, but other than that I hadn't thought too much about him. Well, there is no doubt anymore: the new King of Comedy is right here! Anchorman (subtitled The Legend Of Ron Burgundy) is - if you like your comedy silly - the most laughs per minute I've had in a long time. At one point I had to pause it to give my kidneys the chance to recover after my convulsions! Not only the man himself, but the supporting cast of characters too are so richly drawn and so preposterously strange that whip them all together with some great one-liners and some hilarious sight-gags and you have a movie even funnier than Dodgeball - and two months ago I wouldn't have thought that possible within the same year. Speaking of Ben Stiller, he pops up in another unforgettable cameo in the same scene as Tim Robbins and Luke Wilson to add even more juice to the coctail. I'm almost scared to watch it again so soon, as I may do myself some permanant damage! Several scences, especially those in the first half of the movie will surely go down in comedy history - not least of all the side-splitting "jazz flute" section (pictured). Ron Burgundy could easily return in more adventures, Austin Powers style, but whatever Ferrell does I will be first in the queue - he has a new biggest fan. 10/10 (for its genre) Kx

Hank Azaria

Hank Azaria made an appearance on Letterman last night to promote his new Broadway show, an all singing, all dancing Monty Python musical! And this got me thinking about what a great all round performer he is without necessarily getting the recognition he deserves. Most famous, arguably, without ever been seen as the voices of Apu, Chief Wiggum, etc. in The Simpsons, he has also been in a string of terrific films over the last decade - Pretty Woman, Quiz Show, Heat, Grosse Pointe Blank, Cradle Will Rock, Shattered Glass and Woody Allen's underrated Celebrity to name a handful. He was unlucky not to make the A-List with Godzilla a few years back, but lucky for us as he remains one of the most versatile and talented supporting actors in Hollywood - the kind of actor who's longevity never outstays their welcome, and who gives the impression of being a really nice guy to boot. The movie roles he plays, though, rarely seem to stretch him; he is often cast as the likable everyman and I'm certain he's capable of so much more. The Simpsons has proved he is a natural voice artist and impeccable mimic with a deadly sense of timing - I hope his career eventually gives him the chance to use these talents more overtly. Perhaps the Monty Python show does just that... Another reason for me to wish I lived in NYC. Kx

Hal

Drawn by some cheery album art I put this on as background music to a bit of work a few days ago - and I like it! It has been tough to find any meaty info on this new Irish band (formed in 2003, if that counts as new), but it seems they are brothers Dave and Paul Allen on vocals and guitars, with Stephen O'Brien on keyboards and Steve Hogan completing the four piece on drums. Their album is eponymous, but has been listed as Play The Hits, after one of their 3 singles to date. Stylistically it is up-tempo, soft-rock guitar with a lot of falsetto and not a lot of edge - you are reminded of The Beach Boys, or indeed any band who has tried to emmulate those 60's icons ever since; it is sunshine music, light, fluffy and pleasing, and if the day matches the mood you just might find yourself saying "let's listen to that again", like I did! Will they make it big? Well not on the evidence of this, but it also doesn't sound as if they tried to make a world-changing album, just a collection of sweet ditties to get you whistling. In this sense it is a complete success, with no song worthy of the Skip button and several songs worthy of the Repeat button. I'll definitely be looking out for them live, and looking for them to stamp their mark more vividly next time around, because you sense they may be capable of it. 8/10 Kx

Dead Man's Shoes

With A Room for Romeo Brass, director Shane Meadows introduced the world to a sublime talent by the name of Paddy Considine, who I have been heard to say, even before this release, is the best British actor of his agegroup at work today. Following appearances in low budget art films Last Resort and The Martins he was labelled The Robert De Niro of the North for his intensity and depth of performance. A major role in Jim Sheridan's Oscar nominated In America took him to the big-time to much acclaim, but it was back in Nottingham with his old pal Meadows that he really belonged. Dead Man's Shoes then is a step back to roots for both men, claiming joint screenwriting credits and making a film that you can see in every frame that they both believe in passionately. In my head I had hyped this up to be potentially the best British film ever made - the trailer left me with the hairs on the back of my neck standing up for days! well, its not quite everything I'd hoped for - some of the supporting cast leave something to be desired in the acting department and the levels of humour thrown in to the drama did not always ring true - but that is to take nothing away from a scintillating idea and a very decent script all wrapped up in Meadow's loving touch and attention to detail; his camera often finds astonishing images that linger in the mind and his use of music is, as ever, beautifully judged. Above all this though is the performance of Considine in a role that defies sympathy for its sheer brutality, but nevertheless leaves you in total empathy for an anti-hero worthy of the name. His choices and subtleties never cease to astonish and delight me: I could watch him eat a bag of crisps and be in tears by the end of it - so when it comes to the final showdown between Considine's character, Richard, and the one man who could have stopped the carnage I was left absolutely breathless and any faults that exist with the film melted away as the camera drifted above the Midland's council estates and into the dawn in the final shot. Next to be seen in The Cinderella Man with Russel Crowe, one day soon someone is going to give Considine the part of his life in a big budget hit, and when that happens there will be no one to touch him - if ever an actor was destined for legend then it's this guy! 9/10 Kx

Speed Of Sound

Monday saw the release of the first Coldplay single in many a moon in anticipation of their forthcoming album X & Y in May. It doesn't really matter whether it is any good because with the kudos Chris Martin has at the moment following two outstanding albums already and a high profile marriage to Gwynny the album will sell millions and millions and be at number one well into the Winter probably. And I'm not against the idea - Parachutes and A Rush Of Blood To The Head still get played from my collection at least once every couple of weeks, the tunes are just so damn good! But is it any good? Well as a single my first impression was, well, if this is the best song on the album it could spell trouble, but after several listens you realise that it has that ineffable catchyness that makes it a perfect Spring release: it's bright, bouncy and hooks you into endless humming after a while. The secret to this is Martin's childishly simplistic piano riff, that was seen to such effect on the last album. 4 notes played in a sequence of 16 that will stay in your brain even if you despise Coldplay (and I know many do - idiots!). As it stands, X & Y is the album I have been looking forward to most all year - and just think, if it is as big as the last two it has to go down as one of the best first 3 album releases in music history - not something to dismiss lightly, no matter what you may think of them. Altogether now: da da da da, da da da da.... Kx

Million Dollar Baby

To win a best picture Oscar doesn't always take the level of quality it used to in Tinseltown's hayday - take Titanic, of course, or Chicago and A Beautiful Mind more recently as examples of perfectly average films making it big! Million Dollar Baby, unfortunately, can also be added to the list. I missed it on it's original release, favouring other awards contenders on instinct - and I think I was right. Given a second lease of life on the big screen due to it's success I gave it a chance on a free afternoon. It feels very much like an Eastwood film right from the credits - no nonsense, clean images and edits and a simple, slightly sentimental style; it seemed like it was going to be a winner: Clint was on form, as was Morgan Freeman in the early scenes, and Hilary Swank was as natural and charming as usual in a role that fit her like a (ahem) glove. But somewhere in the middle it all went wrong... Freeman's voice-over became trite and most annoying in places, the scmaltz factor got cranked up to 11, and by the time the devastating final reel arrived I just didn't believe in it enough to get caught in the emotion, despite some beautifully restrained performances in key scenes. Ultimately it was the dialogue and (I hate to say it Clint) the directing that let it down. My biggest memory of it all were the terribly orchestrated crowd scenes, complete with embarrassingly choreographed chanting - and that's not a good sign. Like I say, not awful, just decidedly average for all the hype. 7/10 Kx

Training Day

Talk about being a little behind in keeping up with the latest releases! On sale for a very reasonable £4.99 at Blockbuster I couldn't resist the chance to finally see the Bad Cop drama that won Denzel his Oscar and also picked up a nomination for Hawke. Word of mouth had put me off prior to my bargain bin activities, saying that although it begins well it trails off into melodrama and camp OTT by the final 20 minutes. Erm, there is truth it that statement certainly, as neither the script nor the director seem to know where to take these interesting characters to find a satisfactory conclusion, and it chickens out from the potentially thought-provoking issues in favour of action scenes that dilute any real tension unnecessarily. Both leads are, however, on fine form, and some of their initial scenes sparkle with edge and posibility. Cinematically it also scores some good points with some eye-catching techniques on display and some pleasing colours on the filter. Ultimately you are left with a feeling of neither fulfillment or disappointment - there's nothing new here, that's safe to say, but as a popcorn flick it is a reasonable success and I will be watching it again before it gathers too much dust. The question, of course, is always going to be did Washington deserve that golden statue? Well, that depends how you feel about the man as an actor in general; he has sold out to an extent from his early potential in films like Glory, and personally I can take or leave him - the frustration being that you can tell he has a lot to give but chooses movies that don't challenge that talent. I would have preferred if he hadn't won and had been left with the thought that maybe he should try something of real merit with a decent director first. That said, which performance was better that year? Hard to say... 7/10 Kx

US Masters 2005

I don't play golf, nor do I imagine I ever will, but once a year I find myself gripped by the drama of (surely) the greatest tournament in the sport: The US Masters @ Augusta. Over the years it has thrown up so many fairytale comebacks and final round excitement that you just couldn't write it as well. This year the four day event followed hard upon a fantastic week of sport in general, most notably the Aintree Grand National meeting, at which I did quite well in the wager stakes! So I thought I'd double up with a few bob on the golf - my initial bet on Sergio Garcia went south when the Spaniard didn't even make the cut, so I dived in on last years' front runner Chris DiMarco @ 12/1 as he led the rain delayed first round at 5 under par. By the end of Saturday night and half way through the penultimate 18 he was 4 shots clear of a fast finishing Tiger Woods and it looked like a 2 man race to the line, with my fella seeming to have a decent advantage. By 10am on Sunday (EST) that had all changed as a seven shot turn around saw Tiger go 3 ahead teeing off for the final round. What happened then was fitting of the venue and the legend of the event as the two leaders accompanied each other from hole to hole, Tiger looked tense but scarily focused, DiMarco looked relaxed but never hopeful... until the 10th when each hole changed the picture and made it one of the most exciting finishes I can remember. Tiger's one in a million shot from off the 16th green and then his mini collapse to the line left it all square after 72 holes and over 550 shots between them! Innevitably, after pulling it back, DiMarco crumbled anti-climactically in the play off, leaving Tiger a very makable putt for his 4th green jacket. Disappointing, but after such a great contest, and a champion worthy of the name, you can't grumble - it was an honour just to witness it all. Kx

Stephen Fretwell

Have been into the mellow musings of a few singer / songwriters this past week - something about the nights being warmer and lighter in April seems to cry out for a singer and their acoustic guitar to bring a bit of angst tinged romance back into life. Damien Rice is everywhere at the moment, so as an alternative you could do worse than Manchester's Stephen Fretwell. He's been around the smaller venues for almost 3 years and last year took the best of his "8 Songs" debut release, mixed it up with some new tunes and came up with the wonderfully fresh sounding "Magpie". His lyrics are sweet yet bold, making good use of his native accent and the odd inherant profanity. His melodies edge towards gloomy but are always coloured with pop sensibilities. And the overall result gives you the depth of the best folk singers together with the toe-tap of a Simon and Garfunkle number. Basically, listening to him just makes me smile - there are themes and motifs that we all recognise here, presented with equal measures of joy and sadness, and the good thing is, as with most singer / songwriters, he is likely to be very prolific on the back of his successes and a 2nd (3rd?) album cannot be far behind. 8.5/10 Kx

Kaiser Chiefs

Have listened to this album on and off over the last month since its release, and, although it might sound funny, I still can't decide if I like it! OK - they are from Leeds and seem like affable lads who take themselves a bit less seriously than Franz Ferdinand (who they supported last year and now almost seem in danger of overshadowing), their sense of humour is apparent and very welcome; making the best use of ooh-oohs, laa laas and Naa Naa Nas in a lot of their melodies, but there just isn't a sense of variety or originality on their debut album to lift them out of the crowd. Granted, I predict a Riot and especially Oh My God are great pop songs, but after a few listens you say "right, got it, let's move on". I don't imagine it will linger in my playlist long into the Summer, but for some reason I do keep coming back to it enough for it to deserve a mention. There is a lot of chat about the British guitar band revival being a fad, and to an extent I agree with that: there are a lot of good singles coming from it, but no great acts as a whole. We'll know more when the sophomore albums come out I guess. meanwhile, good luck to all Yorkshire bands, that's what I say... 6/10 Kx

The Games

Reality TV has been scraping the bottom of the proverbial barrel for so long that when a third series of channel 4s The Games was announced it was almost too pathetic to be embarrassing - trouble is that you do end up watching it, saying to yourself "just another 5 minutes then I'll turn it off and read a book", but you never do. So, another year of celebrities (in the looseset sense of the term) battling it out in bizarre contests such as Ski-jumping, Sumo wrestling and trampoleneing, whilst simultaneously living together Big Brother style. The puzzling thing is just how seriously they all take it, as if their very careers depend on a winning performance - although I think I caught an insight into the phenomenon when overhearing a producer give Mel a bollocking for messing about during her gymnastics routine... does this mean the makers are encouraging drama for the purposes of ratings, surely not?! Anyway, the results were academic and the whole thing left me feeling slightly dirty for even sticking with it. Channel 4 - No fourth series, please... Kx