The Jungle Book

Remastering is all the rage, and the latest classic to be redone is Disney's The Jungle Book, which is released onto DVD on the 5th. No theatrical release for this one, unfortunately; Disney wouldn't want to out compete with their own new release, Enchanted, which features their first hand-drawn animation in several years.

If you lose your love of music then the end can't be long...

Oh eck... where to begin? I have had too much Southern Comfort and too much Best of The Libertines: Time for Heroes and therefore I think that blithering on at you drunkenly is a good idea.

But that's what rock'n'roll is all about, innit?

See I love The Libertines. I love The Libertines so much it hurts, and getting a Best Of... album to review is all the excuse I need to drag out a few old bootlegs and reflect on how, legitimate song for legititmate song, I probably own more Libertines bootlegs than any other type of music at all. Maybe because they produced more, maybe just because they were just worth having more than anything else.

I should never have liked The Libertines. I was way into my 30s before I first discovered them, supporting Morrissey of all people, and before anyone knew it I was obsessed with young Mr Doherty and his long suffering pals, sending mates who worked in HMV off to find me obscure CD singles before they'd even heard of him. Oh how I laughed when he started to take over their celebrity magazines and popbitch column inches. The Libertines are so fucking good.

I watched the car crash of the Max Carlish documentaries with wonder, knowing that his obsession with Pete was not too far from mine. I read the Books of Albion, closed my eyes and dreamed the dream. I only saw The Libertines that once with Pete, although I saw them twice again without. I've lost count of the times I've seen Babyshambles and Dirty Pretty Things. Sometimes they touch the magic, but even when they do I wonder if it's half in my mind.

I have only crowd surfed once in my life, to Dirty Pretty Things at the Astoria, as they launched into I Get Along. In memory of The Libertines.

And what is this all about? Nothing really, except that since submitting my review of The Best of The Libertines this morning, I have done little else but listen to variations on Legs 11 and the Chicken Shack sessions all day. Beautiful, fragile versions of songs that would not become more familiar for years, such as Music When the Lights Go Out and Kill A Man For His Giro (not sic) plus those we have never been treated to officially.

I love The Libertines. The mark of a great album is one that leaves you wanting more, and this is what the Best Of... did this morning. If you don't already have more, go and find it, now. Download to your heart's content, because there's so much all over the internet that you'll never get it all.

They are the band of the century so far. I hope, oh God do I hope, that there will be others as good as them, but if not, at least we had them.

Jenni x

Placido Domingo

Every time I see Domingo (which is quite a few times over the last 25 years), I think it’ll be the last but somehow the now 66-year old keeps going. He was in good voice last night as Siegmund at Covent Garden in another  knock-out performance of Die Walkure.  He was joined by Susan Bullock as Brunnhilde (Lisa Gasteen being off with a bad cold) who was flown in from France at lunchtime.  It’s extraordinary how opera singers do that – give a terrific performance in an unknown production with virtually no rehearsal.  I have some insight into how you do that, having done some "original Shakespeare" practise in the past (where you learn your part and go on stage without having rehearsed with your fellow actors) but it’s incredibly impressive when a singer can do it with stuff of this magnitude. 

If this isn’t the last we’ve seen of Domingo, it has to be the last chance to see him sing this role in the UK (well,Sunday will be when he sings his second and final performance).  He is extraordinary but it has to end eventually and this is surely the final time for London audiences.

BBC Electric Proms

The second year of the Beeb's Electric Proms season is upon us and gets underway this evening in Camden.

Over the next five nights music and music-related films take over NW1. Here's our preview.

Amongst tonight's shows, Sigur Rós showcase their film Heima and its soundtrack album with an acoustic performance and a screening - a similar show is scheduled for the BFI at the start of November, and a nationwide release of the film is upcoming.

Meanwhile, Mark Ronson, the BBC Concert Orchestra and guests headline the Roundhouse, supported by The Coral and - we're reliably informed - Noel Gallagher is expected to make an appearance there.

And Siouxsie Sioux will be strutting her stuff at the Electric Ballroom.

We'll be covering the festival this year with a mix of reviews and blog entries from Camden.

But if you're not in London, the BBC has laid on an even wider range of viewing and listening options this year. Interactive TV, the web, TV and radio all offer the shows either live and/or on demand after the event. Full details of which can be found at the Electric Proms website.

Do let us know what your highlights are.

The band's visit

Call myself a film editor: on Monday, I attended my first ever screening at the London Film Festival.

The first thing to mention was the buzz. The venue was the one-screen independent the Phoenix in East Finchley (an excellent little place, that runs interesting screens all day every day and stays open, I think, by the skin of its teeth... well worth a look). It was packed - the foyer thick with people, and with a few more on the sides peering desperately into the crowd to find the people they were meant to be meeting. Having not planned my trip very carefully, I very nearly didn't get a seat - except the Phoenix has a wooden bench at the back for latecomers. (If you needed proof that they're great, then there it is).

The second thing to talk about is the film. A French-Israeli co-production entitled The Band's Visit, it was a bittersweet comedy about an Egyptian police orchestra that ends up in a nowhere's-ville town in Israel due to a pronunciation error. Arab-Jewish conflict provides a little background tension but it's never developed: instead, this is a film all about pride, and how difficult it is to be proud when you're wearing a spangly uniform and you're quite clearly lost. Forced to spend the night with locals, the orchestra find themselves on the awkward end of a host of lonely oddballs. The result was an expressive comedy that crossed language barriers without difficultly. Whereas a lot of comedy is firmly rooted in a cultural context, that of misfortune and pride seems to be universal.

The crowd, needless to say, loved it, and perhaps that's the point of the film festival. Pay your money, go in, and celebrate great, unusual, different films. Then come out and talk about them.

Only next time, I'm going to be early and book ahead...

Die Hard 4.0

When this came out over summer, we liked it, and it marked a definite upswing for the Die Hard franchise, for director Len Wiseman (of Underworld notoriety), and for summer action films in general. Now it's coming out on DVD, which is worth a mention. In addition, three fun-if-slightly-crass viral videos have been creating specially. You'll get the idea pretty fast.

http://www.clipfresh.com/van.wvx

http://www.clipfresh.com/car.wvx

http://www.clipfresh.com/roof.wvx

Enjoy. And be slightly appalled ... just like watching Die Hard, really.

The British Independent Filmmaker Awards

The nomination for the tenth annual British Independent Film Awards have been announced. It's been a good year for British cinema - in fact, musicOMH.com would go so far as to say it's been an excellent year, and the proof is just in looking at the list below.

Anton Corbijin’s Control leads with a BIFA first: a remarkable ten nominations. And When Did You Last See Your Father? receives seven nominations, Hallam Foe follows with six, followed by Eastern Promises (five nominations), Notes on a Scandal (four) and Garbage Warrior (three).  Other films to receive multiple nominations include Brick Lane, Black Gold, It’s A Free World, Sunshine, Exhibit A and 28 Weeks Later.

First time BIFA actor nominees include Anne Hathaway, Sam Riley, Kierston Wareing, Sophia Myles, Tannishtha Chatterjee, Imogen Poots, Matthew Beard, Bradley Cole, Armin Muehler Stahl and 2004 jury member Cate Blanchett. This year sees repeat nominations for actors Jamie Bell, Samantha Morton, Cillian Murphy and Toby Kebbell. Receiving nominations which must almost be habitual by now are Judi Dench and Jim Broadbent.

For more information and a full nominations list, visit the BIFA homepage.

 

The passion of the McFly fans

Last night, I wrote a review of the new McFly single, The Heart Never Lies. Have a read.

I wasn't that impressed with the single, despite the fact that I don't actually mind McFly. I think they've done some good pop songs, and as anyone who knows me will tell you, I'm a sucker for a good pop song. I'm far too old to worry about looking 'cool' and if I like a good pop song that'll stay number 1 for a while, I'm quite happy to say so.

Anyway, I gave The Heart Never Lies a negative review, which upset the McFly fans no end. All night I've been reading emails from the fans, berating me for my bad taste, demanding I retract the review or just calling me a 'hater'. While some were just abuse, there were also other articulate, well-written arguments - which made me wonder why these people weren't joining us as writers.

While I was quite surprised, I was also quite impressed. To have that much passion and enthusiasm for a band that you can mobilise an army of people online to track down the reviewer concerned and tell him exactly what you think of him (although ladies, check the spelling next time eh?) is an impressive achievement.

It made me think about myself in fact. I like to think I'm a pretty passionate music fan - which is one reason I write for this site. Yet if I read a negative review of a band that I like, then I just kind of shrug, think "huh, what do they know?" and get on with reading the rest of the site/magazine. I just don't have the energy or passion to mobilize my friends and war a campaign against the writer. It's not that important to me - but should it be? Maybe I'm just not as passionate or interested in music as I once was - maybe when I was 18 I would have sat down and scribbled a letter of protest, but nowadays, I just couldn't be bothered. The thought of not being passionate about music scares me, but maybe I'm not.

I can understand fans of unknown bands getting annoyed over bad reviews, as that could affect someone's decision whether to buy the record. Yet a band like McFly are critic proof anyway - The Heart Never Lies is going to be a massive hit, and nothing that I write about it could prove otherwise.

So what do you think? Do you take it personally when you read a negative review of someone you like? Or do you just think "ah what-eva", and buy the record regardless? If you're a fan, do you hate reading negative reviews?

Genuinely interested to know what other people think, and if you're one of the many McFly fans who were upset by the review, would love to hear your (well-reasoned) arguments too.

hitman

Now that Resident Evil has achieved trilogy-DVD-boxset status, despite being rubbish from start to finish, a new video-game franchise is stepping up to try out its concept. Sadly, it's not Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, which is still stuck in development hell. This gem is Hitman, based on the game Hitman, which is about a hitman.

In case this concept is too much for you, however, a short intro to the story is being produced. In graphic format it tells how this hitman came to become a hitman. Boggle your brain with it here.

eli roth

I might think he's a gratuitous talentless child of a director, obsessed by the most trivial of splattery visuals but there are plenty of people who liked Hostel and it's sequel, the terribly-inventively-titled Hostel II. Still, there can't be that many people, because otherwise Roth wouldn't be offering to sign copies of the DVD release himself.

So those of you who'd like to meet him (he's probably quite short and a little spotty), you can do, at Virgin Megastores, Oxford Street on Monday 22 October, 1pm. Perhaps you'd like to ask him about the morality of revelling in images of torture while Western governments commit similar acts on non-Western people. But he'll probably tell you he's doing something terribly important.