Fuse. The Art of GamingTheme ParkWreck-It Ralph

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FUSE Sparks.

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We’ve been listening to the new Postal Service track (see Now Playing on p.12) on re-peat in the media hub, but our esteemed editor has insisted we do our work, so this editorial is being hastily written instead.

It’s our first issue back, and we’re excited to be in print again, not least because it gives us a reason to get up in the morning.

In this issue, Arts and Games climb into bed together to dis-cuss whether videogames are art. Music, meanwhile, go on a wild ride with upcoming Lon-doners Theme Park.

Screen have been jammy bastards and gone to London for a Wreck-It Ralph press event. We hear the film’s good.

If you haven’t written for Fuse before, fear not! It’s never too late to get involved, and a new semester is as good a reason as any to try something different.

Now, if you’ll excuse us, ‘A Tattered Line of String’ isn’t go-ing to listen to itself.

Arnie BennettCoral Williamson

This issue’s front cover was made by - who else - Manuel Andres Fuentes Zapeda. We missed him over Christmas.

Editorial

Put simply, Sony are in trou-ble. Sony aren’t the Sony they were a decade ago.

Sony are a huge elec-tronics company with many dif-ferent divisions, a good number of which are operating at sub-stantial financial losses. In early 2012 Sony reported total yearly losses of $2.9 billion, its fourth year led slumped in the red, a company in severe ill health.

When Kaz Hirai was subse-quently promoted to Sony CEO, he famously said:

“I thought turning around the PlayStation business was going to be the toughest challenge of my career, but I guess not. It’s one issue after another. I feel like ‘Holy s***, now what?’”

It may not seem like it when you’re in the moment watch-ing Olly Murs, We Are Scien-tists or 65daysofstatic for free,

but Sheffield’s Tramlines festival does have some grounding in the real world.

The totally free, totally won-derful event in July that spreads music across the city’s nooks and crannies like a beautiful rash is facing deep funding cuts from the council, and organisers are mulling over ways to keep the thing going without downsizing or screwing over the common folk.

Unfortunately, most of them do involve you and me spending a little more cash.

No official announcements have been made yet, but chanc-es are we’ll have to pay to ac-cess certain aspects or areas of the urban wonderland this year.

Organisers must tread care-fully; you can’t put a price on the golden atmosphere that the city enjoys over that weekend in July, and it would be the biggest mis-take of all to compromise that.

Charging to watch the week-end’s biggest acts would be rea-sonable – and may even facili-

God forbid we be willing to pay for our music

Picture the familiar scene: it’s Sunday afternoon, you’re trawling through what seems like thousands of TV

channels, each programme more trashy than the last.

You eventually settle on Come Swinging With Me, Don’t Tell the Big Fat Gypsy Bargain Hunter, or some similarly mind-numbing rubbish.

Well, the end of such TV hell may be in sight. The increasingly popular Netflix potentially an-swers the population’s bid for constant, on-demand quality programming.

Netflix has decided to exclu-

Netflix have made a huge mistake (maybe)sively release American dramas such as House of Cards and Ar-rested Development online as an entire series at once, rather than one episode a week – a pretty exciting prospect for TV view-ing. The million-dollar question, though, is this: is this new way of presenting TV programmes go-ing to overtake traditional net-works with scheduled time-slots? Is Netflix the future of television? This viewer is not so sure.

Yes, the release of an entire series at once has its plus points. It caters to the rapidly growing trend of what has been termed ‘binge viewing’, where users

watch an entire series in a back-to-back marathon over a single weekend, or even in only one night – a concept that many of us students in particular will be all too familiar with.

It means no more intervals, no more counting down the agonis-ing days until the next episode is on. You are free to watch as many episodes as you like when you like. At £5.99 a month, it currently works out significantly cheaper than a TV licence. Not too shabby, right?

Still, it’s missed the point of such fascinating TV dramas. Part of the whole experience is the wait.

It sparks up talk of theories and speculations, creates a communal excitement, an anticipation which makes us savour the next episode together. This precious, social di-mension is lost if you gorge on episode after episode in front of the laptop screen.

Netflix presents many pro-grammes as fast food to be de-voured, rather than a fine-dining experience to be savoured. It will leave the viewer feeling bloated and sort of guilty, rather than ful-filled – a sensation that will not catch on long-term.

Lisa Lee

Whilst the Playstation business has turned around, it’s all rela-tive. In the latest financial report released last week, Sony’s Play-station division posted an 86 percent slump in profits from the previous quarter, citing the re-cently released Playstation Vita as an ‘ongoing problem’. They’re still a long way from security.

And here lies the issue: Sony as a company are dangling from a precipice, Playstation software and hardware is not selling as the company expects (and needs), yet still, on February 20, in New York, they will reveal their latest big money gamble, the Playsta-tion 4, to the world’s media.

People knew it was coming, an inevitability, but given the long-

standing financial woes within Sony, and the disastrous per-formance of their latest hard-ware release (Vita), putting the company’s stability over a hot flame by gambling on a new, big money console still appears rid-dled with risk.

Sony announced the PS2 from a position of privilege. Now, however, things are different. They won’t survive another fail-ure of similar proportions; if the Playstation 4 falls, they may well fall with it into the unforgiving abyss.

Sony aren’t the Sony they were a decade ago, we should all hope that the Playstation 4 be-gins to change this.

Arnold Bennett

tate much bigger names coming to Sheffield – but putting gates around Endcliffe Park or impos-ing ticket checks on the doors of venues like the Bowery or the wonderfully atmospheric Shef-field Cathedral would risk stifling the weekend’s inclusive charac-ter.

It would take a real ungrate-ful piece of work to doubt that Team Tramlines can get some-thing done though, considering the improbability of them pulling their idea off in the first place.

This is one of the finest urban festivals in the country, host to

over 900 bands and artists last year and a glorious advertise-ment for the city of Sheffield and its investment in culture. It couldn’t stay free forever.

If you so strongly oppose the principle of paying for it, then I suggest you stay away from fi-nancially viable entertainment and pop into your local HMV to see what’s new in the world of covering your ears and scream-ing.

Duncan Geddes

Sony prepares the new Playstation whilst dangling from a precipice

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Tickets: £2.50Available from the SU box office

Film Unit

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Sunday March 3: Seven Psycho-paths: 3.30pm, 7.30pm

Mixing dark humour, self-reference, sharp dialogue and killer performances, Seven

Psychopaths sees writer/director Martin McDonagh assemble his greatest cast ever.

Colin Farrell plays an Irish screenwriter struggling to com-plete the script for his new film Seven Psychopaths while his friend Billy attempts to offer help but instead drags Marty into the criminal underworld when he kid-naps the Shih Tzu of a psychotic gangster (Woody Harrelson).

Friday March 1: Ghostbusters: 7.20pm

One of the greatest comedy classics of all time, Ghostbusters saw extraordinary success

upon its release in 1984 and is still as funny and fantastic today.

Comedy legend Bill Murray and writers Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis star as three para-psychology professors who set up The Ghostbusters and, after initial success, find their biggest challenge in an army of spirits channelled by one of their clients (Sigourney Weaver). This is a film that stands the test of time.

Friday February 22: Untouchable: 7.20pm

Breaking box office records in France and across Eu-rope, Untouchable is an uplifting comedy brimming

with charm and humour. Hailed as one of the most

heartfelt yet accessible French films of recent years, it follows a quadriplegic millionaire who hires an ex-con from the projects to be his carer.

Despite having almost nothing in common, the two men’s friend-ship grows as they discover they have a lot to teach each other.

Wed February 20, 2pm ‘til 5pm at ELTC, 78 Hoyle Street (off Netherthorpe Rd), S3 7LG, tickets are £7.50

So graduation is ap-proaching, jobs are in short supply, and the prospect of returning to

your home is depressing. One option at your disposal

is learning to teach English in a foreign country, to foreigners, for a wage paid in foreign cur-rency. You don’t need to know a foreign language, either, rather just a basic grasp of charades.

Give it a Go is running a TEFL taster session offering a brief understanding of how some les-son types are staged, and ex-ploring various online resources and jobs sites.

The session, upon completion, entitles participants to a £50 discount on a full Cambridge CELTA TEFL certification course.

GIAG: Teach English (TEFL)

FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND Q&A.M

onday February 18 2013

Ellie McCaldin talks to Funeral For A Friend’s new drummer Pat Lun-dy about Derren Brown, Conduit Road, and their new old sound.

From listening to the online al-bum sampler it seems like you guys have really returned to your post-hardcore influences?

I’d say that’s quite on the money overall. The album sounds more like the earlier EPs than any of the other records. But it does sound different again. I’d say it sounds quite original for Funeral.

Do you feel that was a con-scious decision or did it just oc-cur naturally during the process

of making the album?

I think it happened naturally for the guys, they’re all at an age now where they don’t feel the need to put out the record for a certain type of person anymore. I think they just wanna do what they wanna do. I mean, I came in slightly later to the writing process but it was very much like they were hell-bent on putting out the record that they wanted to do and just making a slightly more current effort. You do music because you love it and then all of a sudden you start putting out records that your label wants you to put out and not what you want to put out, and then music becomes no longer fun, it just ends up a job like anyone else’s.

For most University of Sheffield students the album title is go-ing to be a reminder of Conduit Road, but what was the actual

inspiration behind the album ti-tle and the album itself?

I think Conduit for Matty (Davies, vocalist) and all of us was going back to basics and going back to the venues that we started with. We just wanted to make the al-bum for ‘us and them’ you know? That will show up again in the concept for the video that’s com-ing out for the next single. It was something that we wanted to focus on; the intimacy and the fact that there doesn’t need to be all the bullshit that there is now between fans and the band. It’s a personal album, it’s on a re-ally personal level.

I don’t know what you think about this, but I was watching your video for ‘Best Friends and Hospital Beds’ and it’s similar to the post-apocalyptic world that Derren Brown created for his programme Apocalypse...

What?! The guy that puts people to sleep? I’ll have to get my law-yer on the phone! Well, we actually meant to shoot it in another place but we ended up getting there and it was being

knocked down or something. So we had to drive around for miles until we found somewhere that kind of worked. It was loads of fun, we were just mucking about and eventually we just found that set and got the lighting right and thought, ‘Right, let’s have some fun’.

How involved are the band in the creative decisions such as album art?

Well Matt (Evans) did the art for the album. We didn’t need management weighing in and deciding things. It pretty much just matches what Matty (Dav-ies) wanted to put through lyri-cally. Matt (Evans) was the origi-nal singer for the band so it was kind of a case of if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Read the full Q&A online at forgetoday.com/music

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USIC Feature. THEME PARK

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Lianne Williams had a chat with Theme Park’s Oscar about casualties during recording, rollercoasters and how they are all chefs in the making

London dance pop four-piece Theme Park have been rather busy of late. Their self-titled debut album has been in the works for a long time. It is finally going to be released this month on

February 25, and shortly afterwards the boys will be embarking on a full-length UK tour, including a show at the Harley on March 19. I caught up with guitarist Oscar, who is full of excitement about the upcoming release date and was more than happy to have a chat, stating cheerfully, “I’m ready for you!” after initially missing my call because he was dancing around his kitchen making American pancakes with his headphones in.

Starting off by discussing the release of their new album, Oscar is clearly anticipating the day just as much the band’s fans are.

“We are super excited. It is something that kinda started a year ago, and writing started over a year ago. We hit the studio last March and we spent about three months recording the core of it. It feels like we’ve been sitting with these songs for so long and we can’t wait to get them out there. I feel like we’ve kept them away for too long now.”

We move on to discuss the long recording process which took place with producer Luke Smith, who has also worked with the likes of Foals and the Macca-bees. Oscar remembers a low point during recording where an accident in the studio caused vocalist and guitarist Marcus to end up in hospital. He recalls the events dramatically.

“I was cycling back to the studio with fish and chips and there was just no one there apart from Luke, who turned to me and said: ‘Look, I don’t want you to wor-ry but Marcus has gone to hospital.’ It turned out that he’d somehow managed to hit himself over the head with a bit of equipment while recording and got a pretty bad cut on his head. He was really dazed and stuff, he looked all confused.

“I didn’t really know what to do. We discussed do-ing a few extra guitar parts but it didn’t really work out, but yeah he was fine in the end. I’d almost for-gotten that there was a casualty during recording!”

Discussing their upcoming tour, Oscar tells me about some of the best shows they’ve played so far and how amazed he’s been at how much people care about giving new music a chance.

“The first show I can remember when we came off stage and were all really thrilled was at a place called La Maroquinerie in Paris, because we played a show with Citizens! and Zulu Winter and it was quite early on. It was the kinda show where peo-ple were like full on dancing. It was exactly what we wanted to achieve, and seeing it happen was great.

“Another one that was really good was a second show we played at Leeds Festival. We played early in the morning and quite a few people came, and it was great. Then we played the second one at like

10 or something. We were clashing with Kasabian and loads of other massive bands, and we didn’t tell anyone we were playing. I mean, I don’t even know why we did it. Like 30 to 40 people came into one of these huge tents. It was just such a fun show.

“Everyone who was there was either there because they wanted to see us more than anyone else, or they were drunk enough to just stumble into the tent to look for a party. It was just so much fun, nobody re-ally cared what was going on. It’s really nice how supportive people are of new music.”

Theme Park have been on the music radar for the last couple of years and have gained a lot of atten-tion from the music press. Their vibrant and fun dance pop style has been commended for being an inter-esting, new take on indie-pop. I asked Oscar how media attention has had an effect on Theme Park’s success, praises and criticisms helping to hone the band’s sound and help them grow.

Discussing a piece from the Guardian in particu-lar, Oscar says: “It’s a funny one, because with that Guardian ‘Band of the Day’ piece, when it came up it was great to be in it. But he actually had a couple of points of criticism as well, that you take on board.If that early on someone’s got something that they wanna point out that maybe we could improve on, then that’s quite helpful.

“We were just starting out, and if people start per-ceiving you as a band that the media are quite inter-ested in then they are more likely to check you out. It’s a circular kinda thing. It just takes one thing and then someone will think they’ll go check us out, and then it just keeps on rolling. People have always been really supportive, like journalists that we’ve chatted to. They’ve always been really friendly.

“If you’re not ready for criticism, you shouldn’t be doing anything creative. You’re never going to float everyone’s boat. For instance, I’m not a big fan of U2 and they are notoriously hated on, but they are one of the most successful bands of all time. Even Celine Dion, she’s seen as like this awful thing, but she’s so popular.”

We move on to talking about Theme Park’s name. I ask Oscar about his favourite fairground attractions, and we come up with a brilliant new idea for an in-terview with the band, which in hindsight would have been amazing.

Life is a rollercoaster

“If you’re not ready for criticism then you shouldn’t be doing anything creative”

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“Miles and Marcus, the other guys in the band, ac-tually don’t really like theme parks at all. If they are to go on one ride then the log flume is their thing. They don’t wanna push themselves too far out. I don’t know though, I’m a big fan of mind-alteringly crazy, kinda physically challenging rollercoasters.

“I haven’t actually been to a theme park since I was 13 or something, I’ve been kinda holding out for an interviewer to be like, ‘We’ll take Theme Park out for the day to a theme park’. I think its gotta happen at some point, it’s so cheesy, it’s just got to happen.”

Well, it looks like we missed the boat on this idea but any other interviewers out there reading this should definitely go for it, Oscar would be thrilled at the very least, even if the other band members aren’t so keen.

Theme Park are a relatively new band on the scene so we discussed a few of Oscar’s favourite new artists that he’s met whilst out on the road.

“We’ve been coming through with a lot of people that we see around all the time and we’ve done loads of gigs with. Citizens! are one that we’ve played with and they are really nice. They’re a good band. Peace we’ve seen a lot and they’re really good, they seem a good bunch. I think they are going to do very well. Same for Swim Deep, we have a good connec-tion with them.”

The band don’t just enjoy making music. They have a lot of outside interests and plenty of things they like to do when they just need some time to relax. From cooking to writing screenplays, Theme Park have it covered.

“We do lots of stuff I guess, Miles for instance is writing a screenplay and Marcus is like the manager of the band, he’s very organised and he is always on top of the practical things. He’s always whipping us into shape. I mean we do have a manager who works very hard for us, but Marcus is definitely a logistical man.

“I do a lot of classical guitar and we all do as much reading and film watching as we can. We like to keep ourselves mentally stimulated. And cooking, we do a lot of cooking. I actually just cooked myself some American pancakes. I’ve recently perfected the recipe. Marcus also makes a mean Chicken Marbella.”

We get back to talking about the new album again, and Oscar gives a good picture of what fans of the band can expect. “I don’t think any of our fans will be like ‘Oh my god, what have they done?’ I don’t think our sound has changed when compared to the singles. I think people will maybe be a bit sur-prised by the different colours of the album, theres a couple of darker tracks on there but essentially it is a groove-based dance, pop album.”

Their video for new single ‘Tonight’ came out re-cently and is all quite glamorous. It looks like every-one is having loads of fun. Oscar says: “It was super

fun making the video. We went to this place just out-side London and rented out two massive tour buses, and we just kitted them out with loads of fun stuff like smoke, crazy lights, and we even had champagne. There were hundreds of extras around and everyone was so friendly and in a good mood.

“The video looks fun because it was fun, it was ba-sically just a day of us hanging out, being stupid and having a bit of a party.”

In the video and recent press shots of the band, they all look snappily dressed and well-put togeth-er. I asked Oscar if he feels that the band’s style has changed since they first started out. “We have definitely tried to perk up our image a little bit. At the beginning, we were maybe a little casual and we decided we needed to start dressing like real people. Marcus looks really cool and has always been sort of embarrassed by not dressing well but I wouldn’t say we’ve really changed the way we dress that much. We just make sure that our shirts are ironed. We don’t want Marcus to look like the only one who gives a crap!”

Running out of time, we quickly get on to the sub-ject of festivals, and what this summer is looking like for the band. Theme Park played Tramlines last year and Oscar nostalgically recalls their experiences at the festival.

“Tramlines was really fun. My perception of Shef-field is now just of these people running around, checking out new music. It was so crazy and had all this energy. It was a really packed out show, you could see that people were there to have a good time and they were lovers of music and lovers of fun.”

When it comes to festivals this summer, Oscar is really not giving anything away. “We’ve announced two festivals this year so far, but apart from that it is pretty under-wraps. Our management haven’t re-ally told us anything yet, I think they just want us to focus on the tour for the time being and not look too far into the future. I’m sure it will be a busy summer though but yeah, nothing to tell you yet.”

With only a few days until their album release and a non-stop tour in March, the band are being kept constantly busy. It looks like Oscar could be right, and that we will be hearing a lot more from Theme Park throughout the course of this year.

Life is a rollercoaster

“It was clear that the people at Tramlines were lovers of music and lovers of fun”

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Fuse travelled down to London for a screening of Disney’s Wreck-It Ralph, and to hear director Rich Moore and actress

Sarah Silverman talk about 3D, bedwetting and Goldeneye 64

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Feature. WRECK-IT RALPH

Actor John C. Reilly (left) and director Rich Moore (right) Sarah Silverman

Fuse.SC

REENIf there’s one thing that Disney seems to be renowned

for, it’s taking a leap of faith. After all, this is the com-pany that turned a mouse into a cultural icon, and has spent over half a century making great films.

Small wonder, then, that Wreck-It Ralph has been nomi-nated for the best animated film award at the 2013 Os-cars. It seems to embody the philosophy that any idea can be a great one if the people bringing it to life truly believe in it.

Take Sarah Silverman; as the normally edgy stand-up comedian takes her seat in the Soho Hotel alongside di-rector Rich Moore, it’s hard to believe that this is the voice of the film’s sweet, innocent go-kart racer Vanellope Von Schweetz. But for Moore, she was the perfect choice.

“I thought she was perfect for the part. I was inspired by her autobiography (The Bedwetter: Stories of Cour-age, Redemption and Pee). I would listen to it on my iPod, and I loved when you talked about your childhood, and I thought ‘that is a great character’, to have this kid who can stand her ground. Not just the idea of the character, but of Sarah playing that character, just seemed perfect to me.”

For Silverman, too, the whole job feels ever so slightly surreal, but she’s relished the opportunity to turn her rep-utation on its head.

“I grew up with Disney movies, I love Disney movies, but I never imagined that I would get to be a part of one… It seemed like an odd fit at first, but the dirtiest comic when I was growing up was Eddie Murphy, and he plays the donkey in Shrek!

“It’s often remarkable to me, the lack of imagination that people in showbusiness have, and when people like Rich Moore can imagine someone like me in a wholesome movie like this I have a lot of gratitude.

“I felt very close to this character, I related to her very much. I felt like she was some convergence of the inner child I never dealt with, and the child I completely forgot to have. I related to her a lot from when I was a kid, this girl who is obnoxious and tough and of course, like anyone who’s obnoxious and tough, is protecting this soft inner core.”

And it’s not just in casting Silverman that Moore has put his faith in his cast. Rather than each actor recording their lines individually as with traditional animated movies, the cast of Wreck-It Ralph worked in pairs; a move which resulted in a lot of improvisation.

“The script was perfectly written,” says Silverman. “But Rich was so supportive. We would do the lines as script-ed, and then we’d improvise off of them and take left turns, and bits of those probably made it on there.”

Moore explains: “We would always try to channel it back towards the scene at the end. I always thought of it in three steps: first the page, then the plain – and kind of going off the reservation – and then we would try to pull it back into the scene, and I really enjoyed it.

“Nobody was precious with the material. We were al-ways trying to make the scene as funny or as touching or as emotional as it could be, and it was a case of the best idea winning.”

Though John C. Reilly, who gives voice to the eponymous Ralph, was taken ill on the day of the Q&A session, Sil-verman was full of praise for his work.

“We are acting and using our whole bodies the way any-body else would. There are cameras on us for the anima-tors to use for reference, and [John] was very animated. He’s such a beautiful actor and so generous, and it was nice to be able to have him.”

It wasn’t just the actors who were encouraged to “go off the reservation”. Rich Moore is an old hand in the anima-tion world, having won Emmy Awards for his work on The Simpsons and Futurama, but Wreck-It Ralph brings with it a whole new set of challenges, including animating 3D versions of 8-bit arcade characters, and the animators were encouraged to step far outside their comfort zones.

“It was interesting to share that idea with [the animators] that the movements of these 8-bit characters should be limited,” says Moore. “That is not a note that Disney ani-mators get that often. They’re used to making the anima-tion look as beautiful and realistic and full as they can.

“But as they stuck with it they started to see what it was that I was talking about; one by one, lightbulbs would go off. But it really took them taking that chance on an idea that they didn’t see at first.”

Of course, it’s not just 8-bit characters that dominate the screen. Wreck-It Ralph has nearly 190 unique charac-ters, from original creations like Ralph and Vanellope to huge icons of gaming like Q*Bert, Sonic the Hedgehog and Bowser. So how did the animators take on the mam-moth task of deciding who got a cameo and who didn’t?

“You’d be surprised that in an animation studio there are a lot of fans of videogames, I know that seems strange,” Moore laughs. “So we put up a big board in our common area, and we had a big pool of ideas, and a group of us went through and went ‘Oh, we have to have him, we have to have her’, and it was a studio-wide effort.”

Rich Moore confesses a love for the arcade games of the Pac-Man era, while Sarah Silverman reveals one of her favourite games; Goldeneye 007 for the Nintendo 64.

“I love it! I know every room, I know every nook and cranny of it!”

One crew member whom Moore speaks espe-cially highly of is Henry Jackman, the film’s com-poser, who pre-viously worked for Disney on 2011’s Winnie the Pooh.

“He can do clas-sic scoring, he can do contemporary, he can do anything. I really enjoyed speaking with him, right from the start. He said ‘This is a dream come true for me, because the first paying job that I had in music was writing scores for old Commodore 64 videogames. I still have the keyboards I used to write those tunes’. And I said: You are perfect for this movie!”

It’s clear that Wreck-It Ralph has been a labour of love right from the start, but as the Q&A draws to a close we get one final reminder, as Moore is asked to give his stance on the current 3D argument. It turns out that, despite starting as a sceptic, the director was eventually won over.

“I knew the question would come up, and it just seemed like, if not this film, what film would be as perfect for 3D? So very early on I decided ‘OK, I’m going to embrace this technology’. I wanted to meet with [the stereoscopic group] early and talk to them about what helps make 3D good, what I could do throughout the proc-ess to make their life easier and give them material that best took advantage of 3D.

“It blew me away, the things that they could do with the technology. This group has cracked the technology and is more concerned with the artistry of it now, using it in supporting the story and the emotion of the film.

“And now at the end, I look at it and I think the 3D version is the definitive version of the movie, they really changed my mind. When done right, the art can be el-evated by using this technology.”

And of course, being a comedian, it’s Sarah Silverman who has the last line. “I don’t like the idea of the plastic glasses that they re-use, it’s gross. It’s like putting bowling shoes on your face!”

To read our review of Wreck-It Ralph, turn to p.14

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Monday February 18 2013

“Nobody was precious with the material”

“It’s often remarkable... the lack of imagination people in showbusiness

have”

Words: Phil BaylesImages: Disney

“I think the 3D version is the definitive version of

the movie”

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Phil Bayles explores the debate surrounding gaming as an art form

Feature. THE ART OF GAMING

Are video games art?

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It’s a question that’s been kicking around ever since a small Italian man in a boiler suit had to jump over bar-

rels to save his girlfriend from a big monkey, and it’s a ques-tion worth asking - every time someone tries to say “yes” or “no”, there always seems to be a “but” that needs addressing.

As an avid gamer, I’ve al-ways been of the opinion that videogames are as valid an art form as literature, film, music, or even the more traditional forms like painting and sculpture. But – and this is a big ‘but’ – it should go without saying that some games deserve that title more than others.

There can be no doubt that, as a visual medium, videog-ames are deserving of recogni-tion as art; in fact, it’s possible to look at the progression of videogame graphics like the progression of modern cinema.

The first time gamers stared, open-mouthed, as Pac-Man ran around a maze, they probably felt the same as those cinephiles in Paris who ran screaming as a train thundered towards the screen. The first 3D platform-ers like Mario 64 were prob-

ably as revolutionary as films like Tron and Toy Story that at-tempted to use CGI for the first time – even if the results have aged horribly.

And now, game technology is becoming closer and closer to staggering photorealism; although admittedly no game developer is anywhere near producing something like Gol-lum yet.

Worlds are becoming more and more sophisticated too, games like Skyrim and Red Dead Redemption are part of a growing number of games which take place in environ-ments that are not only pic-turesque and about the size of Yorkshire, but which feel genuinely alive and constantly changing. Look at the epic style of the Final Fantasy games; the fact that we can create some-thing so visually striking out of thin air has to be a testament to the artistic talent of the de-velopers.

And it’s not just in the visuals that games are becoming more sophisticated. Whereas in the past, story was just something on a checklist that you had to get out of the way before your

game could be made, now gamers are getting more and more used to scripts that could rival some film and television scripts in terms of quality – The Walking Dead was a prime ex-ample of this that brought more than a few people to tears.

Gaming is even starting to get its own bona fide celebri-ties now – Nolan North, the man behind Uncharted’s treas-ure-hunting protagonist Nathan Drake, is fast becoming the Hollywood heartthrob of gam-ing, while genuine film stars like Susan Sarandon, Chloe Grace Moretz and Michael Madsen appeared in stealth ‘em up Dis-honored last year.

Meanwhile, behind the scenes faces are starting to gain noto-riety too; game developers like Hideo Kojima, Hironobu Sak-aguchi and David Cage are starting to be seen as equiva-lent to directors like Stanley Kubrick or artists like Damien Hirst; each with their own, in-stantly recognisable style that can attract love and hatred in equal measure.

But perhaps the most im-portant aspect of why video games can (and should) be

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described as art is that, in the end, they share the same goal as all art – to get an emotional response from the player.

Whether it’s the dark satire of Grand Theft Auto IV, the ter-ror of the Silent Hill games or the raw emotion of Heavy Rain, videogames are beginning to have a lasting emotional reac-tion on the people who play them.

Perhaps the best example of this is Californian developer thatgamecompany, the crea-tive minds behind Flow, Flower and Journey – proof that, as in most art forms, the best work is sometimes the low-budget, in-dependent stuff.

Journey, their latest game, follows a tiny pilgrim who treks through a barren desert to reach a solitary mountain peak, singing to get small pieces of sentient cloth to help.

It can be completed in a cou-ple of hours and it’s incredibly basic, but everything about it – the visuals, the minimalist story, the haunting soundtrack – are all jaw-droppingly beautiful, and will have gamers asking just what it’s all about for years to come.

And the effort is not going unnoticed. Apart from receiv-ing rave reviews from critics, Journey is getting much more prestigious accolades. Austin Wintory, the composer be-hind Journey’s sublime sound-track, has been nominated for

a Grammy Award in 2013 alongside legendary compos-ers like John Williams and Hans Zimmer; the first time a vid-eogame’s soundtrack has been nominated for the prestigious award.

It’s a great achievement, and hopefully it’s a sign that games as a medium are starting to be taken more seriously.

Obviously, it’s worth point-ing out that, just as not every film, book or painting is a masterpiece, there are a lot of videogames that are utter garbage. For every brainless action movie by Michael Bay there’s a generic, first-person shooter or yet another FIFA game designed with no other motive than to make hideous amounts of money for what is essentially an expansion pack.

But just as the Transformers movies don’t diminish the works of more artistic directors, the whole of the gaming indus-try shouldn’t be judged by the standards of the people who make Call of Duty.

With the right idea, in the right hands, videogames have the potential to be as revolu-tionary as any other form of expression, and it’s about time that we gave those games the attention and acclaim they de-serve.

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Early interpretations of Prince of Persia 2008 judged it to be a risky venture from the previous

beloved mechanics of Sands of Time and Warrior Within. Namely: the ability to manipu-late time being infused within the story and gameplay. In fact, there this little besides the still present acrobatic plat-forming and abundance of sand, to sug-gest that this is even a Prince of Persia game at all.

For starters, while playing, you do not actually assume the role of a prince. You instead play as a narcissistic (though eternally charming) tomb robber, who’s initial ambitions do not reach beyond finding his lost, treasure-laden donkey, Farah. Throughout the plot, the “prince” aspect of the game is implemented and

perpetuated solely through met-aphor.

In brief: the plot sees you (the Prince) traveling across the land of the Aura, accompanied by the equally noble and naive Princess Elika, in a bid to cleanse the land from Corruption, effec-tively visualized as a gelatinous, tar-like muck which clings to the environment. The primary an-tagonist of the story is the dark god, Aruman, a direct parallel to “Angra Mainyu” of Zoroastri-anism, a religion of Ancient Per-sia which is essentially founded on the principle of Good vs Evil.

The environment, coupled with a noticeably witty narrative, and with moments of genuine emo-tion, sets the stage for what is a fantastic story which, at it’s most superficial, may be boiled down to “saving the princess”. How-ever, with extra consideration, the plot consciously attempts to address elements of philosophy, morality and dedication, cater-ing to players looking for either the former or latter.

In terms of gameplay, the acrobatic plat-forming that we are all familiar with is still pre-

set with the added dynamic of a plated gauntlet on the Prince’s left arm, allowing him to “Grip fall” down cliff-faces or cling to the ceiling in places. This abil-ity is infused with the acrobatic gameplay masterfully by devel-opers Ubisoft Montreal.

The visuals of Prince of Persia 2008 are what players tend to remember. Ubisoft Monreal made the decision to present the game as though it were a watercolour painting, with eve-ry frame of gameplay looking visually marvelous. The result is a frankly beautiful, timeless-looking game with visuals that still look competitive almost five years after release.

Andrew Smith

DOTCOM

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Reviews.

XCOM: Enemy Unknown has you take up the role of the nameless faceless supreme commander of

XCOM, an international agency set up to defend against al-iens. Earths getting all smashed up and it’s up to you to save it. XCOM: Enemy Unknown is a reimagining of two games from the 90s: UFO: Enemy Unknown and XCOM: UFO Defence.

The two main aspects of game play in XCOM: Enemy Unknown are tactical turn based shooting and resource and base man-agement. Ok, not the most ex-citing sounding gameplay but both complement each other beautifully. Neither feels like a gimmick; both are well designed and thought out, actually requir-ing skill and foresight to be used strategically.

You spend your time in the field, stopping aliens from de-stroying cities, abducting people and other unpleasant alien pas-times. Then take the resources you gained back to base, sort your squad, choose research and build equipment and facili-ties.

However, the alien attacks, and other missions, happen at random; but are the only way to gain resources. Randomness in a core gameplay mechanic is an-noying, but at the same time it gives the game an almost end-less replay value.

There aren’t really any main characters in XCOM: Enemy Unknown, there are only three characters in the entire game with names and faces. Yet, with the ability to name and cus-tomise the appearance of your soldiers you can make your own drama. I opted to name my soldiers after friends, watching them die en mass becomes a lot more absorbing.

XCOM: Enemy Unknown is hard, and not for those who are new to the strategy genre. With the reliance on resources being spent well and your experienced soldiers not dying, one wrong move will rip out the foundations of everything you’ve built.

The graphics aren’t mind blowing; they’re cartoony, but it gives the aliens a rich visual style. Combined with the sci-fi soundtrack it gives XCOM: En-emy Unknown a unique feel.

If you like strategy games, you’ll love this game. If not, I wouldn’t recommend this is where you start, as the game can be unforgiving, it’s still one of the best games of 2012, it’s a classic game, from a classic genre, that’s been streamlined for the current generation.

Niall Bird

XCOM: ENEMY UNkNOWNXbox 360/PS3/PC8/10

In typical Ubisoft style, Far Cry 3 features stunning land-scapes in the distance and flu-id enough movement, but lacks

detail up close, with glitchy body movement and a near-impossible combat mode. Similar to the COD p a r a -

dox, you’re expected to fire ran-domly in the rough direction of an enemy cursor, hoping to get a hit – when instead, when you sneak up behind an enemy, the knife has much more of an effect than any pistol.

As with any franchise release, the de-

signers will

inevitably have to create some

sort of tutorial stage that ex-plains enough for a newbie

gamer, but isn’t a total insult to veterans. The initial hunter-gatherer mis-sion sucks a bit, but is an

excuse to try out the beau-tiful water-

s c a p e v i ews ,

which have improved massive-ly since the likes of Far Cry: Vengeance.

In an early mission, where you have to dive down to a hidden underwater cave in search of medicinal mushrooms, stepping in a patch that releases a hal-lucinogenic green gas sends you off on the weirdest trip you’ve ever experienced on a video game. Floating upwards, hear-ing voices and seeing bright, distorted colours, compliment a house appearing in the middle of an underground cave system, then teasing you forward as you stumble along. This game offers many beautiful visual experi-ences, not to mention imaginative ones. You can even loot bags of cocaine from dead pirates.

Far Cry 3 is one of the few games in the series to not

feature Carver as the protagonist.

Instead, you play as Ja-

son Brody, a party

ani-m a l on holi-day with f a m i l y and friends in Bangkok. A sky-diving stunt finds the group kid-napped by a band of pirates on a mysterious island, lead by some dude who looks like Phil Anselmo and seems to like Forrest Gump quotations. You get saved

by a hipster voodoo witch doc-tor who gives you a mysterious ‘tatau’. These tattoos, a sign of The Warrior, are gained through the game as you progress and unlock abilities, which is a nice touch.

Dying in this game is made even more annoying by the lengthy load times, but this is probably due to the immense world map you’ll be traversing. In a similar fashion to Skyrim and the likes, you can either fast trav-el to known destinations, or work your way through the island by foot, zip line, jet ski or car to your objective location. When you fancy training up a few lev-els, gaining craft ‘ingredients’ and animal pelts, or tending to some troublesome pirates as a side-mission, you can flit around the various regions and explore to your heart’s content.

Ubisoft have done pretty well in keeping all the good from previous siblings, and adding just enough to get away with the slight lack of imagination. It’s on-line-compatible, multiplayer and has downloadable content. You could quite easily play this game for months on end without getting bored, assuming you learn how to wield weapons properly.

Will Ross

FAR CRY 3 Xbox 360/PS3/PC7/10

“This game offers many

beautiful visual experiences, not

to mention imaginative

ones”

PRINCE OF PERSIA (2008)Xbox 360/PS3/PC/Mac

Cult Corner.

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Fuse.ARTS

Entering the Millenium Gal-lery’s latest exhibition, Force of Nature: Picturing Ruskin’s Landscape, you are

greeted, if you wish, by a ‘dis-covery trail’ instructing you to ‘tick the box when you spot a landscape with a mountain’. Sur-prisingly, this approach seems to mirror John Ruskin’s early opin-ions about landscape art.

The exhibition shows us the changing views of the celebrat-ed critic and writer as we travel from the accuracy of his nature drawings to more abstract inter-

pretations of his ideas. The exhibition deals with

Ruskin’s own work, but is more predominantly focused on the way that his observations and ideas have influenced the works of others, both modern and tra-ditional.

The Victorian critic believed that artists must strive to repre-sent the ‘truth of nature’. How-ever, this somewhat limited view is expanded throughout the ex-hibition.

From traditional oil on canvas works to computer animation art, one piece that stands out is ‘Ear-ly Light on the Breithorn’ by Eliot O’Hara. This watercolour shows the transition of the exhibition from traditional realistic land-scape painting to an increas-ingly abstract style.

With some impressive Turn-ers and a less impressive sculp-tural installation, this exhibition, like any other, has its highlights and its flaws. However, if you’re looking for your monthly culture fix, or just appreciate the Pre-

Raphaelites, then Ruskin’s view is worth a look in.

Force of Nature: Picturing Ruskin’s Landscape will be run-ning until Sunday June 23.

Lizzie Hyland

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Monday February 18 2013

Reviews.

Love it or hate it, Valentine’s Day is unavoidable at this time of year. Through this new exhibition, held in Jes-

sop West’s versatile Exhibition Space, students from a range of academic subject areas have come together to explore some of the themes surrounding Feb-ruary 14.

The exhibition, organised by Dr. Karen Harvey from the uni-versity’s Department of History, along with third year student Natasha Gould, centres largely around artwork. Students from different departments entered their creations into a competi-tion inspired by the Valentine’s Day theme.

Psychology student Jessica Forshaw produced the winning piece, a surreal three-part de-piction of the love that results in pregnancy. From a paint-ing which evokes the conflicting

emotions surrounding a mother’s first ultrasound scan, to a 3D model of a pregnant woman and a painting of the eventual child, the work is undoubtedly original.

Other items on display include a babydoll nightdress - bed-room fashion from a bygone era - and a range of original sourc-es including books and vintage Valentine’s cards. History PhD student Lucy Brown’s exhibit fea-tures some genuine 1960s love letters sent to her grandmother by her grandfather while he was serving in the RAF.

The Department of Biblical Studies’ piece explores romance in the Bible, and an interactive ‘love line’ allows visitors to leave their own messages for those they secretly admire.

The exhibition embraces all aspects of February 14, from the saccharine, to the raunchy, to the historically significant. The informative, multidisciplinary displays and interesting range of artwork mean that even a Valentine’s Day sceptic may well be won over.

Lizzie Palmer

Mike Bartlett’s fierce new play Bull has smashed into the Stu-dio Theatre like, well,

a bull, and is asking its audience whether the bullying that takes place in the office is just banter in a dog-eat-dog business envi-ronment, or something far more sinister.

The play takes place within a contemporary office environ-ment and presents a team of three people that are competing for two available spaces to con-tinue working for their company

As they are waiting for their boss Carter (Adrian Lukis) to arrive, we see that two of the employees, Isobel (Eleanor Mat-suura) and Tony (Adam James) are tidy, attractive and strik-ingly confident. Thomas (Sam Troughton), however, is not quite so impressive.

It quickly becomes appar-ent that this one room is Tho-mas’s bullring in which he will be

poked, prodded and pushed by his two colleagues until breaking point.

One may assume that a play which takes place in a single room of an office, with few props and a tiny cast of four might not be very interesting.

However the combination of Bartlett’s razor sharp writing, Clare Lizzimore’s effective di-rection and the candid acting

creates a thoroughly thought-provoking portrayal of not only modern work environments, but human social behaviour.

The atmosphere is constantly changing throughout the play, which keeps it engaging for all 55 minutes.

The mood swings between un-comfortable moments, where we see Thomas being tormented by his manipulative colleagues, and

moments of far more relaxed, playful banter.

Here, we as the audience, who are instinctively on Thomas’s side, wonder whether we are being too sensitive to their jokes.

This all comes to a climax in the final scene where we see Thomas snap and the stage flooded, both literally and figuratively, with emotion (and water).

The only criticism of this pro-

duction is the depth to which we can believe certain parts of the play.

For example, there is a mo-ment where Isobel suddenly ad-mits she was abused as a child; why you would admit that to your work colleagues at the of-fice is beyond comprehension!

However, the genuine mo-ments of panic and struggle we see from Thomas, mixed with the funny moments of the play, more than make up for it.

There is one last thing to say - if you ever end up working in an office environment, you should cross your fingers and hope it isn’t anything like this one!

Abbey Bursack

BULLStudio Theatre8/10

FORCE OF NATURE: PicTuring ruSkin’S lanDScaPeMillenium Gallery5/10

VALENTINE’S DAY: lOVe, cOurTSHiP anD SEXUALITYJessop West Exhibition Space8/10

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USIC

highlight, listed first on the album and featuring jaunty accordion instrumentals that make it the anticipated fast-paced party piece.

The subtleties of pitch and pace in other songs like ‘New Cajun Waltz’ and ‘Arcadia’ make them just as deserving of notice, particularly the latter. It ends the album on a dream-like quality, projected by both the song title and melodic guitar accompani-ment.

Talbot’s voice is well balanced by an interesting and diverse use of accompanying instruments, which often come across as spon-taneous, most likely because the album was recorded live in Glas-gow’s Gorbals Sound Studios.

As well as the staple acoustic guitar, which features heavily in ‘Dearest Johnny’, the violin can be heard in ‘When the Roses

Come Again’, and ‘Will I Ever get to Sleep?.

The song titles themselves, whilst not terribly original or at-tention-grabbing, give a flavour of each song’s focus and seem to intend to capture the folk musi-cality that pervades the entire album.

Although not the sort of album that would work as dance music at a party, Talbot’s lyrical voice makes it the kind of easy listen-ing that could be set on repeat the morning after the party, and left to fill up the room with gentle duets.

Kate Lovatt

Reviews. RELEASES

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12

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2013

With the abundance of new releases each week it can be difficult to sift

through the shit in search of the gold, so Fuse has handpicked some of the musical highlights for you.

The new year sees the re-turn of James Blake and we couldn’t be happier to have his unique take on electronic music back in our lives. His new track ‘Retrograde’ has all the usual falsetto harmonies and rhyth-mic drumming machines we’ve come to expect, but his sound has developed into something much more soulful, a step away from the melancholic feel of his last record. It is the first single to be taken from his second al-bum Overgrown which is to be released later this year.

We can’t get enough of Ch-vrches at the moment. Their enthralling electro-pop has re-ally grabbed our attention and we are completely in love with lead singer Lauren Mayberry’s stunningly sweet vocals. Their new track ‘Recover’ is incred-ibly catchy, especially when the two-part melodies just explode when it gets to the chorus. Ch-vrches Recover EP is out March

3. They are definitely a band to watch out for this year.

Monday saw the unveiling of the Postal Service’s first new track in 10 years, the delecta-ble ‘A Tattered Line of String’. Considering we’ve been wait-ing a decade for this, it has been well worth the wait; it’s a beautiful accumulation of the chilled, almost electro sound that the Postal Service do so well. Catch the track on the re-issue of their 2003 album, Get Up.

So everyone went through that emo-phase right, when you considered Fall Out Boy to be one of the greatest things to ever happen to music? Well, even if you didn’t, I’m sure at some point you’ve found your-self singing along to ‘Sugar, We’re Goin Down’ and secretly loving it. After a three year hia-tus they’re now back with a new single ‘My Songs Know What You Did You Did In The Dark (Light Em Up)’, sticking with the theme of ridiculously long song titles and a sound that is mostly the same, just slightly darker and more theatrical.

LW & AH

Now Playing

Foals are quite an enigma to most of us. With Antidotes in 2007 showing a mathy, sporadic techno style with

an indie twist, the music industry was just not ready for them.

Then with the sudden rise of the indie band, the boys’ sec-ond offering Total Life Forever seemed far more on track with an innovative and cool style, as it merged electronic, indie and lounge into a smooth cocktail that was more chilled than a penguin in an ice bucket. Now we are presented with their third album, Holy Fire, which comes atop a wave of success and prominence.

Unfortunately, this album is most certainly hit and miss.

Whilst the four minute long opening track ‘Prelude’ is com-plex in its composition, it just all feels a bit predictable and drawn-out. For a an electro-in-spired indie-rock band to have synths and quiet backing vocals opening an album is about as original as hearing ‘I Don’t Want To Miss a Thing’ by Aerosmith at a wedding reception.

Despite this uninspired predict-ability, the album does progress to some great experimentation on tracks such as ‘Inhaler’ and the classic Foals sound is very much there on ‘Late Night’.

The exciting experimentation however, does not make up for the fact that there are some truly forgettable tracks on this album.

‘Milk and Black Spiders’ and ‘Everytime’ are both highly re-petitive and just fade into the background, whilst ‘Stepson’ and ‘Moon’ end the album on a

low dejected note of repetitive synth loops and computerised drum beats.

Putting these negative points aside, there are still some stellar tracks on this album. The vocals of Yannis Philippakis on ‘Bad Habit’ have been left clean, with no electronic editing, and it shows that maybe Foals have enough skill to not over-produce every track.

Similarly the slightly heavier sounds on ‘Providence’ really change the pace of the album, and show case another aspect of Foals sound which it would be great to hear more of.

Let’s hope the future of Foals rests in these rare gems, as it would allow the band to really mature and progress as a band instead of relying too much on over-production and tiresome synths.

Lewis Colson

FOALSHoly FireTransgressive Records5/10

NICK CAvE & THE BAD SEEDSPush The Sky Away Bad Seed Ltd9/10

highlight on the record and proves that, if given a clever ar-rangement, a very simple musi-cal idea can become a thing of pure majesty. The song is based on a short, simple and perhaps unremarkable chord sequence, but the gradual layering of the band’s numerous instruments is simply glorious.

Anybody hoping for some of the unbridled energy of 2004’s Abattoir Blues is likely to be dis-appointed, but a token fast song would be entirely out of place on Push the Sky Away, and would spoil its meditative tone and in-timacy.

Cave’s lyrics have always been a thing of intrigue, and those on Push the Sky Away are no differ-ent. They range from the grand themes of love, sex, mythology and vice, down to the trivial. On ‘We Real Cool’ Cave proclaims that “Wikipedia is heaven” after fact-checking the distances be

some stars.Things take a bluesy turn in ‘Fin-

ishing Jubilee Street’ and ‘Higgs Boson Blues’, the latter of which is an eight minute-long testament to the eclectic mix of sources from which Cave draws inspiration. As well as taking its title from the name of a subatomic particle, it references Lucifer and Miley Cyrus, and there’s even a line about Hannah Montana crying with dolphins and cursing Zulus. Honestly, it’s on there.

The album’s final track, after which the record is named, is also worth singling out. The organ ac-companiment, along with the cold choral backing vocals gives it an almost hymn-like character.

It is clear both from his striking appearance and his music that Nick Cave likes to do things his own way. Well, amen to that.

Richard Walker

HEIDI TALBOTAngels Without WingsNavigator Records6/10

Irish folk singer Heidi Talbot’s sixth solo album, Angels With-out Wings boasts an eclectic range of slower ballads and

more jovial numbers, including the feature song ‘My Sister the Moon’ from the EP released in October last year.

Talbot’s delicate tones are complimented by various collab-orators on this folk and country album, including Mark Knopfler, Jerry Douglas, Tim O’Brien and others, who complement her mu-sic by adding mellow harmonies that suit the emotional tone of each song.

The title song, ‘Angels Without Wings’ is clearly the intended

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds’ latest offering is a far more subdued af-fair than most of their

previous work, but what it lacks in raw punch it makes up for with a gorgeous, contemplative and brooding beauty.

Cave himself has said that if his albums were to be likened to children then Push the Sky Away, the band’s 15th, would be the “ghost-baby in the incubator.”

The eerily beautiful, spectral guitar which haunts the sublime opening track, and others, makes it immediately obvious what he means.

‘Jubilee Street’ is another

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With the quality of Sheffield’s un-derground dance scene being as high

as it is, the creators of the city’s newest dance event, Ohm Sweet Ohm, brought out the big guns on their opening night by debut-ing Maya Jane Coles; the lady of the moment on the house music scene.

Supported by up-and-coming producers Eli & Fur, Squarehead, and resident DJ LJ, tickets sold out in a matter of weeks and an-ticipation was running high.

Ohm Sweet Ohm promised big things, and undoubtedly lived up to expectations.

The venue is intimate; with the night residing in Plug’s smaller room, but at same time boasted the audio and visual equipment that has helped Plug become one of the best live music venues in the city; the result was an incred-ible mixture or lights, acoustics and atmosphere.

Maya Jane Cole’s catchy house tunes took the roof off the place, and the calibre of all the DJs that took to the decks was second to none.

Both Eli & Fur and Square-

head maintained the up-tempo beat that dominated Maya Jane Cole’s set, with the resident DJ LJ ensuring that everyone remained on their feet until the early hours.

However, as the night wore on however, it was clear that full capacity had been reached and the venue got increasingly more hot and crowded.

Although Ohm Sweet Ohm un-derstandably wanted to open the night to as many people as possible, quality will always win over quantity, and it’s not bril-liant for your night to be affect-ed by jostling crowds and long queues.

There is no doubt that Ohm Sweet Ohm will have a bright fu-ture in Sheffield.

It has promised to showcase the biggest artists on the scene, and with Eats Everything and Maceo Plex performing in the upcoming months, they are undoubtedly fulfilling that promise.

This night is a must for anyone wanting to experience the very best of the city’s underground music scene.

Becky Gladstone

People like to compare fresh musical talent to old gen-ius. They say: “They’ve got the spark of Buddy Holly,”

and: “she sounds like Franklins’ early work,” or in the case of 18-year-old Jake Bugg: “He’s the new Bob Dylan; God knows we need one.”

There’s certainly a lot of pres-sure resting on the bony shoul-ders of the Nottingham lad. Just a few years after picking up a guitar he caught the attention of Mercury Records.

Since then, he has toured with Noel Gallagher and the Stone Roses, his self titled debut album was made number one in the charts and he has appeared on Jools Holland and The Jonathan

Ross Show. He is the envy of every clos-

eted teenage musician.So as Bugg arrives on stage

with his vintage Eric Roche gui-tar and Adidas trainers, to the packed hall of the O2 Academy in Sheffield, there is a delicious scent of expectation in the air.

The support acts, Dublin-based bands Hudson Taylor and Lit-tle Green Cars, have already set the crowd swaying with their clever lyricism and hauntingly powerful vocals.

But as Bugg strums the opening riff of ‘Fire’ the surge of elated bodies is almost suffocating.

In his delectably rusty voice, Bugg sings tales of love and heartbreak that one would ex-pect from someone of a more mature age: “Someone told me a girl I like, fell in love and all I did was cry.”

The crowd are held entranced

in sounds one would have heard at a time when Johnny Cash was king, and the electric drum kit only existed in Frank Sinatra’s nightmares.

Bugg’s most famous hits, ‘Light-ning Bolt’ and ‘Two Fingers’ re-gale tales of life in Nottingham’s largest housing estate: “Smoke until our eyes would bleed.”

The crowd sings along, eerily tuneful and enraptured, hands in the air and feet stamping in con-tagious delight.

He doesn’t smile and barely moves, but with his Alex Turner haircut and charmed fingers, it seems he doesn’t need to. His wit and irrepressible talent says it all. He sings, “I’m here to stay.” No one would doubt it for a sec-ond.

Eve Betts

LIVE Reviews. M

onday February 18 2013

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JAkE BuGGSaturday February 2O2 Academy OHM SwEET OHM:

MAyA JANE COLESFriday February 1Plug

DOTCOM

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Jake Bugg: Eve Betts

up and coming psych-folk trio Stealing Sheep pro-vide outstanding support and their genre-crossing

sound and three-part harmonies charm the audience.

Hailing from Liverpool, the multi-talented Stealing Sheep have a truly unique style and all three girls are faultless vocally. Their short set really warms the crowd up and it clearly helps them gain a few new devotees.

Villagers open with the first track from their new album {Awayland}, ‘My Lighthouse’ which shows off Conor O’Brien’s voice to its full potential. The au-dience is eerily quiet, hanging on to his every word.

His powerful voice exceeds his small stature and the lights on stage become dimmer as his tone deepens, setting the spirit-

ual atmosphere that is presence for the entirety of the perform-ance.

The set takes an energetic turn and the vibrant, upbeat newer tracks bring an incredible ener-gy to Villagers usual tranquillity. After announcing that this is their first show of the tour, they erupt into ‘Judgement Call’ which is a definite highlight of the new al-bum and has a nostalgic sound of influences from another era. It even features a stunning two-part harmony with O’Brien’s voice markedly deeper.

The electronic direction of {Awayland} benefits Villagers live performance and has dis-tinguished Conor O’Brien as not just a creative and intelligent singer-songwriter, but as an in-novative and inventive musician who isn’t afraid to experiment.

‘The waves’ shows their pro-gression perfectly and O’Brien states “this one’s for grinding” before bursting into the mes-merising echoic, electronic intro,

portraying how the band has evolved and take influence from many genres.

The melancholic pop of ‘Noth-ing Arrived’ is warm and heart-felt, the lyrics telling a sadden-ing story, with the poignant line “I waited for something and something died, so I waited for nothing and nothing arrived”.

The poetic lyrics, combined with uplifting guitars and a catchy pop melody makes this Villagers’ best song yet.

The band mixed up the show with a good balance between old and new, the more lively tracks from the first album be-ing spiced up with added har-monies and pace changes and a performance of brand new unreleased material made the show incomparable. They finish on ‘Ship of Promises’ – bringing the set to an enigmatic end.

Lianne Williams

Villagers (Conor J. O’Brien): darkmavis/Flickr

VILLAGERSFriday February 8The Leadmill

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Walt Disney Anima-tion Studios have gone from strength to strength in recent

years, with films like Bolt and Tangled proving that their partic-ular brand of magic can survive even in the era of CGI.

And happily their newest fea-ture, Wreck-It Ralph, carries on that reputation with style.

In an arcade where videog-ame characters are sentient be-ings, the most popular game is Donkey Kong pastiche Fix-It Felix Jr., but the bad guy, Wreck-It Ralph (John C. Reilly), is sick and tired of being viewed as a mon-ster for essentially doing his job for 30 years.

One day he decides to aban-don his post and go searching for the recognition he feels he deserves, travelling to Gears of War rip-off Hero’s Duty and saccharine go-kart racer Sugar Rush.

But in doing so he sets in motion a series of events that threaten to destroy the entire arcade.

The voice casting here is pretty much perfect: John C. Reilly has built a career out of playing oafish but lovable figures with surprising amounts of depth, so Ralph fits him like a glove.

Jack McBrayer gets some great laughs as Felix, playing the gallant hero to its ridiculous yet logical conclusion, and Jane

Lynch’s Sergeant Calhoun (a piss-take of Marcus Fenix and his tes-tosterone-fuelled ilk) provides an unconventional love interest.

But undoubtedly the most inter-esting player is Sarah Silverman as the ridiculously cute-looking Vanellope Von Schweetz – it’s a million miles away from her pre-vious roles but she makes it work beautifully, channelling her edgy, inappropriate stage persona into a mischievous little imp, while still managing to disarm the au-dience when the film becomes more emotional.

By far the movie’s greatest strength is the richness of the world in which it takes place; from the Grand Central Station inspired hub where the char-acters congregate to the wildly varied game worlds and the pleasingly 8-bit score, there’s a huge amount of creativity on show here.

There’s also a lot of love and nostalgia to the medium as a whole, as real-life game charac-ters are peppered throughout the world; Sonic the Hedgehog gives out safety announcements, Clyde (the orange ghost from Pac-Man) hosts a weekly ‘Bad-Anon’ meet-ing, and for gamers of a certain age few things this year will be sadder than the sight of a home-

less Q*Bert panhandling.But thankfully, it never gets

in the way of the story. Direc-tor Rich Moore worked on The Simpsons during its so-called ‘golden years’, and the pop-cul-ture references come thick and fast without feeling overdone – we’re here to see Disney’s char-acters, not Nintendo’s.

If there is a complaint, it’s the film’s brevity; the story is well-paced and nicely rounded, but it mostly takes place in the Sugar Rush world, and consequently we’re left wishing there was more time to explore some of the other game worlds. Still, that’s probably what the now inevita-ble sequel will be for.

Wreck-It Ralph is a typically brilliant Disney film. It never reaches the lofty genius of Pixar at their best, but it’s a charming and fun movie with a great story and even better characters.

Hopefully if we insert enough coins, the studio will give it an-other life.

Phil Bayles

DOTCOM

More reviews onlineRead more reviews online at Forge Today

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“Wreck-It Ralph is a typically

brilliant Disney film”

I was 11 when the story of a cyclist, his grandmother and their dog made me fall irre-versibly in love with cinema.Belleville Rendez-vous (Les

triplettes de Belleville) uses gor-geous, detailed animation and jarring music to tell the tale of Madame Souza: a little old lady with a fiery temper who sets off with her dog Bruno to find her grandson – who was kidnapped whilst racing in the Tour De France.

The film is endearing and ee-rie in equal measure. Sketchy, noir aesthetics breathe life into a harrowing tale of corruption and loneliness. And yet Belleville Rendez-vous is a testament to the pursuit of greatness and the strength of familial bonds. It cannot help but enchant its audi-ence.

It is difficult to compare Bel-leville Rendez-vous to any other film. There is nothing else quite

like it. The artwork is beauti-ful, haunting and other-worldly. It possesses a quality entirely different to that of any other school of animation.

It’s also entirely bizarre. Some bits of it make very little sense. And yet every moment appears carefully considered and con-structed. In a sense, it is Burton-esque with elements of Studio Ghibli. It is reminiscent of all sorts of films and yet directly similar to none at all.

Described by the New York Times as “the sensation of the Cannes film festival,” Belleville Rendez-vous was critically well-received and yet nobody I talk to seems to have heard of it, let alone want to discuss it.

And yet there are so many reasons to watch it. Despite having always loved films there were so many things about Belleville Rendez-vous that did – and still do – excite me. The overwhelming lack of dialogue, the ethereal explo-sions of metaphor and director Sylvain Chomet’s dedication to what he termed the “magic” of animation all serve to create a mesmerising dedication to life’s beauty and hardships.

BeLLeVILLe ReNDez-VOuSDir: Sylvain Chomet2003

Cult Corner.

Just as it was starting to look like internet viewing could go no further, Netflix has upped the ante with a revo-

lutionary new concept.House of Cards has bypassed

our television sets and shot straight onto laptops, PCs, and almost any other device able to stream video.

Not only that, but instead of forcing us to wait a week between instalments all thir-teen episodes of the first series were launched simultaneously. It bodes well for the impatient, but if you become gripped then you’re in for 13 gruelling hours of TV.

Fronted by the legendary Kevin Spacey and with a star studded cast of acting talent,

from the very first episode the new series feels distinctly cin-ematic which, in a time when we’re being inundated with high quality American dramas, is no bad thing.

House of Cards delves into the dark world of American politics. Our guide is Francis underwood (Spacey) chief majority whip for the new president elect. As a veteran of Capitol Hill and the House of Representatives, underwood’s thirst for the presi-dency is the crux of the narra-tive.

Driven by an equally ambi-tious wife (Robin Wright), un-derwood is willing to use the dirtiest of tricks to guide him to the top of the ladder.

Despite a slow yet stylish be-ginning, we are soon immersed in underwood’s conniving plans, which are revealed by the snip-pets of fourth-wall breaking narration from underwood him-self.

Yet in spite of Kevin Spacey’s

captivating soliloquy, reminiscent of Verbal Kint’s famed story-telling in The Usual Suspects, the audience is never truly involved, yet tempted to watch more as a result of the unknown ace up Un-derwood’s sleeve.

But the distinctly slow pace twinned with some enigmatically placed clichés can seem a bit frustrating.

A plot thread involving leaked documents to an aspiring politics correspondent (Kate Mara) is more an inevitability than a pos-sibility for example. The music can also feel a little onerous at times, acting as space filler and detracting from the tone.

Nevertheless, the pieces are all knitted together incred-ibly neatly and the refreshingly smooth narrative makes this a joy to watch.

House of Cards is a gripping watch, and long may it continue in this vein.

Ben Brunton

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Reviews. WReCK-IT RAlpHDir: Rich Moore8/10

Small Screen. HoUSe oF CARDSNetflixAvailable Now

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It’s all a matter of expectations. Were you expecting the zom-bie equivalent to The Twilight Saga, or perhaps something

akin to a gratuitous gore-fest spawn of George A. Romero? ei-ther way, you’d be dead wrong.

This zom-rom-com is very much an inverted Zombieland: a quirky tale reminiscent of 500 Days of Summer which is sure to warm the coldest of hearts.

Based on Isaac Marion’s 2011 novel of the same name, the story is told from the unorthodox perspective of the zombie pro-tagonist, R (Nicholas Hoult). An unusual twist on this predictable horror genre, R is a conflicted zombie who yearns to make a

connection with people, but can-not fight his compulsion for eating human flesh.

laced with subtle humour, Hoult gives an earnest interior mono-logue throughout. This inventive point of view begins lightly with clever in-jokes, but quickly shifts into poignant introspection as R unwittingly falls in love with a survivor, Julie (Teresa Palmer), albeit after consuming her boy-friend.

This is where the film takes all expectations and turns them entirely on their head. Direc-tor Jonathan Levine’s previous directorial endeavour, the dark comedy-drama 50/50, defied expectations by intertwining such tragedy with sincere human emo-tion, and Warm Bodies is a simi-lar amalgamation.

What will take most audiences by surprise is the gravity of the pre-apocalyptic memories, which

give glimpses into the former lives of the dead (and undead).

Most notable is the tragic story of Julie’s boyfriend Perry Kelvin (Dave Franco), whose short-lived appearance gives the film a much needed emotional under-tow, transcending this particular zombie romance from cutesy into a moving affair.

Alas, the film is not without its fair share of drawbacks. John Malkovich is not given nearly enough room to stretch his usual acting prowess, delivering a

somewhat restrained perform-ance as the father of Hoult’s love interest. Also attracting criticism is the mediocre use of special effects to create the skeletal Bonies: the antagonistic zombies which are said to have lost all sense of humanity.

The questionable CGI, howev-er, can easily be overlooked. The frequent pop-culture references and deadpan one-liners almost inevitably ensures Warm Bodies’ status as future cult classic.

And unlike the living dead, the film moves at breakneck pace as Hoult imbues charisma into an otherwise two-dimensional char-acter, bouncing off palmer (think Kristen Stewart, but upbeat) with great chemistry, giving credence to this charming ‘horror’ story.

I guess it’s true what they say: romance is dead.

Graham Wardle

Set during the filming of Psycho, Sacha Gervasi’s Hitchcock follows the trou-bled relationship between

the director Alfred Hitchcock (Anthony Hopkins) and his wife Alma Reville (Helen Mirren).

Following the success of North By Northwest Hitchcock becomes impatient in finding the inspira-tion for his next motion picture until he comes across the new novel Psycho and instantly be-comes enthralled by it.

After failing to get financial backing from paramount pic-tures, leading Hitchcock to fund the film out of his own pocket, the Hollywood industry, his col-leagues and even his wife begin to doubt the capabilities of the so called ‘Master of Suspense’.

Anthony Hopkins’ perform-ance could not have been more like Hitchcock, proving that act-ing talent can supersede like-ness. From the small twitches of his lips to the reserved stance and the folding of his hands into one another he seems to em-body the great director.

Helen Mirren is equally bril-liant playing Alma Reville, the successful screenwriter who becomes tired living in her hus-band’s shadow and seeks fun and excitement in writing with another man.

Together Hopkins and Mirren create a chemistry between Al-fred and Alma that could only be matched by the real life re-lationship it is based upon.

But although the acting and the story are done well there seems to be something missing from the overall experience.

The fact that the film only focuses on a snapshot of Hitch-cock’s career means it feels somewhat underwhelming, even if you are watching the making of arguably one of the greatest horror films of all time.

Having said that, one of the film’s strongest points is that it doesn’t shy away from Hitch-cock’s dark side and obsessive character. His control over his films and his leading ladies cre-ates frightening parallels be-tween Hitchcock and ed Gein,

the real life serial killer who in-spired Psycho.

Throughout the film Hitchcock’s dream sequences and conversa-tions with Gein become increas-ingly uncomfortable to watch, which helps build something like the suspense that Hitchcock was known for.

It also brilliantly demonstrates Hitchcock’s genius as a filmmak-er. Arguments with the censors over the infamous shower scene show just how skilled he was; as he calmly explains, we never see the knife stabbing Janet leigh, and yet with mere suggestions of violence Psycho still resonates as a terrifying film even by to-day’s standards.

Hitchcock is a decent film which will be remembered for the superb acting talents of the main actors, but the shallowness of its subject matter makes it feel more like something made for TV.

Rhiannon Pickin

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Monday February 18 2013

Reviews.WARM BoDIeSDir: Jonathan Levine8/10

HITCHCoCKDir: Sacha Gervasi7/10

Six years on from Die Hard 4.0: Live Free or Die Hard, the people in charge of the franchise haven’t

learnt from their mistakes. In this fifth instalment of the

iconic action series, John Mc-Clane (Bruce Willis) goes to Rus-sia for some reason where he runs into his estranged son Jack (Jai Courtney). They become em-broiled in a formulaic terrorist plot involving nuclear weapons. Chaos ensues.

Any hopes that Die Hard 5, as it should have been called, would recapture the brilliance of the series’ early instalments is dashed by the writing, with a script that is largely humourless and unoriginal. The dry witticisms of the first three films, which are the franchise’s main selling point, are few and far between here, and the film is the worse for it.

What the first and second Die Hard films did well was combine a likeable, believable character

with first rate action and light humour, making you sympathise with McClane without become schmaltzy or boring. While this latest offering certainly isn’t ei-ther of these things, there are several awkwardly sentimental scenes which don’t sit well and make you wish the action was lit-erally, rather than proverbially, non-stop.

It never quite lives up to the anarchic fun implied by the ear-lier instalments, or even its over-the-top trailer, title and tagline (‘like Father. like Son. like Hell.’).

There’s also a sense that this is Jack’s adventure and John is just along for the ride to keep the fans, and box office gross, happy, when the truth is that John McClane stopped being an in-teresting or believable charac-ter somewhere around Die Hard With a Vengeance.

In spite of oversentimentality and poor writing, the chemistry between McClanes junior and senior is well acted and believ-able.

Jack easily surpasses John’s forgettable sidekick Matt (Jus-tin Long) from Die Hard 4.0, al-though he remains in the shadow of Samuel l Jackson’s Zeus from

Die Hard With a Vengeance, but perhaps that’s setting the bar a little too high. Courtney fits well into the film and is a likeable presence onscreen.

The one area A Good Day to Die Hard stands out in is the qual-ity of the action. The car chas-es, fighting and explosions are crammed in, and brilliantly ex-ecuted, meaning that even if this part of the Die Hard franchise is doomed to be a footnote in the shadow of its predecessors, it’s never boring.

A similar standard to 2007’s disappointing Die Hard 4.0, it may have been a good idea to let sleeping dogs lie hard. This lacklustre sequel is average as an action film, but poor as a Die Hard film as it fails to recapture what made the franchise great.

A formula that once seemed so fresh and original has been repeated on increasingly larger scales to the point where it’s just a bloated mountain of staleness.

A Good Day to Die Hard is proof the franchise has nothing more to offer, and should prob-ably be allowed to die. Any day now is good.

Alex Chafey

A GOOD DAY TO DIe HARDDir: John Moore6/10

“This zom-rom-com is very much an inverted Zombieland”

@MiniMeier

#shortestfuse

“Russell Kane is doing a dJ set at

PRoPaganda, that can only be funnieR than his stand-uP.”