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Day: 16 October 2017

Koreana: a quiet background murmur of the British dining scene

Written by Mancunion on . Posted in Food & Drink.

So, another year, another edition of the Michelin guide and Manchester is still starless. Does anyone care? Must we all worship at the pillowy shrine of the Michelin man? The kind of atmosphere and price range of Michelin restaurants is not what keeps me excited about food in Manchester.

I’m in it for the small places, the old places, the fill you up and send you on your way with a glow places. Nothing too heavy on the wallet, and if possible, I like a little narrative with my food. Some history, some background.

Koreana is Manchester’s oldest Korean restaurant. It lies on King Street West, just down the road from San Carlo, the city’s Italian titan. On first appearance, Koreana is everything  San Carlo is not. The former you descend into down little flight of steps, the later is a bright and loud affair that screams its name.

Koreana is unpretentious and has a fantastically accommodating front of house. I was dining with the Redhead, and despite her asking what everything on the menu tasted like, attempting to hustle free pickled cucumbers and generally talking the waitress’s ear off, the waiters remained kind and calm.

They opened in 1985 and for a restaurant to keep its doors open for three decades is no small feat.  Restaurant years are like dog years. Restaurants come and go with the ebb and flow of taste and trend, but by consistently cooking unambiguously tasty food, and having a front of house team that really give a shit, Koreana has remained a heritage classic of the Manchester restaurant scene.

Their prawn spring roll is a testament to the enduring success of Koreana. Everyone has eaten a thousand spring rolls in their life, one bad Chinese takeaway blurring into another. The spring roll rarely stands out or is memorable. But this particular prawn spring roll made me pause, it was delicious, there were tangible chunks of prawn nestled amongst the pastry, where so often can be found unidentifiable homogeneous mush.

One thing that’s definitely worth mentioning is the value for money. In a time were restaurant goers are spoilt for choice, perhaps more so than ever, price-point becomes an increasingly competitive issue. Monday to Friday you can get a bulgogi or a bibimbap with a side, for £12-14.00. We opted for the kimchi pancake and aforementioned spring roll.

Bibimbap and bulgogi are two staples of Korean cuisine. The former is a rice bowl adorned with a choice of fish, meat, and vegetables. A raw egg gets placed in the middle and we were encouraged to start gently stirring the dish, that way the hot ingredients begin o to cook the egg. Bulgogi translates to ‘fire meat’, and is thinly sliced and marinated meats cooked over a barbecue or in a pan.

So many dining fads come and go, Korean has always been a quiet murmur in the background of the British dining scene. Never shouting particularly loudly about its presence, Korean food is probably alien to the majority of Brits. But in Manchester, ignorance is no excuse, we’ve got Koreana, Ban Di Bul and Seoul Kimchi. Eat up.
Koreana40A King Street West

40A King Street West

Manchester

Greater Manchester

M3 2WY

Volunteering opportunities for students to be showcased at fair

Written by Cameron Broome on . Posted in News.

The University is hosting its annual Volunteering and Social Justice Fair on Tuesday the 17th of October in Academy one.

Open from 11AM to 3PM, the fair is an opportunity for students to talk to a diverse range of charities and not-for-profit organisations and find volunteering opportunities to get involved with during your time at university.

One of the charities at the event will be Barnabus who work to improve the lives of people with experience of rough sleeping and homelessness. The charity have a drop-in centre, shop, allotment and furniture up-cycling project.

Given the visibility of homelessness in and around Manchester, Barnabus volunteering opportunities are likely to be of interest to many students passionate about social justice, however up to 100 different volunteering organisations will be at the fair from a wide range of sectors including health, environment, sport, culture and social inclusion.

In relation to the event, Tammy Goldfeld, Head of the Careers Service, said: “We strongly encourage all our students to attend this important event. It may not strictly be a careers fair, but by taking part, our students will boost their career prospects.

“Employers value student volunteering because they look for rounded graduates who have developed a range of skills outside of their degrees. Also, many companies place high importance on social responsibility and seek graduates who are socially and community-minded.”

The fair will also present the new Social Justice Challenge, the second strand of the University’s Ethical Grand Challenges programme.

Second year undergraduates can take part in the Social Justice Challenge which launches on the 17th of October and will be delivered via Blackboard.

This online Challenge explores four themes from a social justice perspective; Higher Education, Mental Health, Trade and Energy, and is the second step towards achieving the Manchester Leadership Award.

Dogs all over the shop at West Didsbury & Chorlton

Written by Arthur Salisbury on . Posted in Sport.

The truly great ideas combine the ingenious with the obvious, the ideas you discover rather than invent. We’ve all looked at a Jackson Pollock and thought ‘I could do that’, but the fact is you didn’t, and he did. Their beauty is their simplicity and their blatancy, that he was the first to do what now seems so axiomatic. In such a category we can place the latest initiative from our friends over at Brookburn Road: Non-League Dog Day.

Of course! Of course Non-League Dog Day! Free entry with a mutt or a pooch at West Didsbury & Chorlton AFC. The post-punk indie miserablists Half Man Half Biscuit once noted that “even men with steel hearts love to see a dog on the pitch”. But how about 30, Nige? Some big, some small, some with scarves, some singing along and some just wanting to watch the game.

Of course the Sky Sports cameras were there to patronise the hell out of you, and their video report of the day is so very revealing. “Just another day in non-league football…”, the sequence opens with a clip of a man laying down corner flags while walking a dog, the voice over inviting you to chuckle at the old-timey ways of these humble, simple creatures from a bygone age. We are then asked to appreciate that it is “an initiative to bring much-needed funds to a club run mainly by its volunteers.” Ah, yes, those much-needed funds. If only Sky Sports could help at all, but alas, the company spunked all its money on a consultancy firm to tell them what a football supporter is and wants — the answer of course being a man in a bar scarf playing a one-two with his hatted son on the way to the match, thoughts full of 4-4-2s and 4-3-3s, and definitely content with the 40-odd quid he’s paying for the privilege of a late defeat at West Brom.

West Didsbury & Chorlton are a club with personality. It’s becoming a very valuable commodity in non-league football, with what I suspect will be an ever-rising deluge to the regional divisions of Premier League supporters who can’t stand anymore because they can’t stand anymore. The average Mancunian can already visit Salford City or FC United of Manchester, clubs with very strong and very distinct identity, if he or she wishes to remind themselves how fun football is. They’ve also got Stockport down the road if they want the opposite experience. It’s a credit to West that they have been able to get themselves noticed, with a supporter culture perhaps closer to Dulwich Hamlet in South London rather that any of the local non-league big boys.

West are a ‘trendy’ club. Now. I would like to make clear at this point that I am not Rod Liddle. I do not think that football supporters forming a progressive political climate around a non-league club is anything other than a positive for the game. I do not think that it is alienating to the long-standing, semi-mythical, Bovril-supping traditional supporter — any long-standing fans of clubs with a recent surge in attendance figures that I have spoken to have been delighted at the effect of atmosphere and revenue. I also do not think that it is a middle-class phenomenon, a lazy accusation often thrown at clubs successfully engaging their communities, as if one could infallibly infer a person’s economic relation from choice of flag, drink, nail colour, whatever. Hats off to West Dids. and all that follow them.

Excepting the Northern League (whose declination to become a feeder league to the Alliance Premier in 1979 for parochial reasons left it at a level that it was, and is too strong for – eight of the nine most recent winners of the FA Vase have been of the Northern League), the North West Counties Football League is arguably the strongest at Step 5. I’m used to Essex Senior stuff and the step up, though actually a step across, is undeniable.

Squires Gate were the visitors on Saturday, 22nd in a division of 23 and having lost 14 of their previous 16 fixtures. West, on the other hand, sitting in 8th, were eyeing up that ambiguous second promotion place, a place that, due to another year’s restructuring, no-one I spoke to quite understood. But, there it is on the table, a second dotted line that bisects the Runcorn Town / Runcorn Linnets duopoly and separates them from the rest.

West play a very attractive attacking style, perhaps accentuated by some flimsy defence, but not greatly so. Steve Settle’s side had scored four goals in each of their last four games before Saturday and, on the evidence of the first 20 minutes you’d have bet on them doing so again. You’d have been right. It took only three to take the lead, Ben Steers with an awkward cross that no-one, including ‘keeper Mike Hall, was able to get on the end of. Squires Gate really needed to weather the following 20 minutes to keep the game alive but lasted only another 15 before Steer finished for two, Tom Bailey putting him through with a ball that humbled the Gate’s centre halves.

It wasn’t a pathetic performance from Squires Gate. They didn’t wilt, even with a canine collective on their backs, but the quality wasn’t there. In some noticeable rain they dug in, seeing it through to half-time just the two down. 2-0 down after twenty minutes is just as bad as 2-0 down after an hour, but somehow it doesn’t seem so. West remained on top but Gate were beginning to sneak up the pitch, so it was with some relief for home supporters when Matty Kay headed home from Steer on 73 minutes. Another Steer classic ten minutes later found Tom Bailey, who took the score to a more accurate 4-0.

West may have scored 24 goals in their previous six games, but they also conceded 18. Their defence was caught complacent and, perhaps, cold, when a late rally brought two goals back for Gate. The first, a beautiful post-clipping drive from 25 yards out from Jack Williams, the second an equally beautiful (in a different way) goalmouth scramble resulting in an own goal.

4-2 might have slightly flattered the visitors but hey, who’s counting? A highly entertaining day out in the Hallmark Security League, and a shame that the Sky Sports cameras pissed off after ten minutes. West move up to 7th in the league, and if they do push on to promotion into the giddy heights of the Northern Premier League Division One North, they’ll miss afternoons like this.

An Ode to Bon Iver: 22, A Million

Written by Millie Nettleton on . Posted in Music.

I cried when tickets for the 22, A Million album tour sold out.

As an angsty, anxiety-filled adolescent, it was Bon Iver that nurtured me through my uncertain early teenage years. Those first, stripped bare tracks from For Emma, Forever Ago pacified me on early morning drives to school, and the subtle electronic elements of tracks like ‘Holocene’ had the ability to force emotions into me when it felt like I’d forgotten how to feel (thank-you, teenage hormones).

So, colour me happy when I hear that Bon Iver cancelled the European part of their tour due to “personal reasons.” Don’t get me wrong, it was probably something difficult or devastating and I felt sorry for whichever band member was effected and all — but it suddenly felt like I had magic powers. Out of sheer force of will, I had manifested Bon Iver tickets into availability. So, the night before my 19th, I nabbed myself some. Happy birthday me.

I first heard Bon Iver at Latitude Festival in 2012. It was my second festival, after Leeds fest 2011, which was just as cold and damp. As I sat, 14 years old, in shorts, a wet jumper and a not-so-waterproof waterproof, struggling to read my kindle as the day got darker, you can probably guess that I wasn’t a very happy camper. But as the ethereal vocal harmonies at the beginning of ‘Perth’ sailed into my earlobes, I distinctly remember looking up. The blend and timbre of those voices, reminiscent of the kind of echoes you hear in swimming baths, transported me instantly to a state of calm bliss.

While the sound of 22, A Million is radically different, the beguiling presence of Bon Iver is just as compelling as ever. In contrast to his early more acoustic works, such as the infamous ‘Skinny Love’, the new album features sounds described by the Guardian’s Kitty Empire as “hyper-modern balladeering.” The captivating vocoder isn’t exactly the background track for your next dinner party. Rather, balladeering in it’s true, poetic sense; it demands to be listened to, it deserves to be deciphered. When asked about the sonic makeover at the album’s press conference, Justin Vernon, the group’s front man, explained his search for new “sparks”; and he was successful. 22, A Million, with its audio distortions, indeed crackles with excitement and novelty — an excitement which couldn’t translate better to stage.

Bon Iver chose the somewhat surprising venue of the Opera House at Blackpool’s Winter Gardens for their show in northern England. The hall itself, plastered in a pastel-hued rainbows, not unlike the sampled snippets in his album, is just the kind of secret gem you’d expect Vernon to pick out. The stage was set on three raised circles, nothing special, until the band walked on, when bulbs around their bases began to glow, the tolling loop of opening track ’22 (OVER S∞∞N’)’ chiming out the speakers. The fresh and regenerative sound was a theme for the entirety of the concert, where no track was performed as you might have heard on the album. Take the layered saxophones of ‘8 (circle)’ for example; pared down for stage and only one saxophone available, each part was sung vocally by the band members. Even the old greats like ‘Blood Bank’ were transformed anew with a gritty electric guitar backing. Bon Iver’s sound was evolving further, and watching it live was breathtaking.

The concert closed with what Vernon described as “the best song ever written”: ‘A Song for You by Donny Hathaway’, just Vernon and keys. Since the gig, it feels like I’ve been floating around in a strange, sad state of transgression, something I was struggling to explain until my dad, or musical dietician, phoned and described it perfectly: “I miss being in his aura.” Bon Iver, live, feels like having a spell cast on you, and until it wears off, reality seems suspended. A small price to pay for one of the most profound musical experiences of my life.

Tickets for the London dates in late February are on sale now. I’ve already got mine.

UoM creates new test that could help prevent breast cancer

Written by Shivani Kaura on . Posted in News, Science & Tech.

A genetic test, planned to enter clinical practice within the next six months, has been set up at the Manchester University NHS Foundation (MFT).

Women in the 21st century are more likely to be affected by breast cancer than any other type of cancer and having a parent or sibling who has had the disease could make women twice as more likely to suffer from breast cancer too.

Becky Measures, speaking to the University of Manchester, carries the BRCA1 gene mutation. Measures, who had a mastectomy at Wythenshawe Hospital this year, expressed, “When they find that they have the BRCA1/2 gene many women fear that they have to take action immediately.  The new test will give women more options and help them to make a more informed decision.”

Researchers at the university have developed a genetic examination which will accurately determine breast cancer risk in women who do not test positive for BRCA1/2 gene mutations.

The BRCA1/2 gene mutation has been found to cause hereditary cancer, however, only around 15 to 20 per cent of the “underlying inherited genetic trigger for the condition” as stated by the university.

The identification of the mutated gene in an individual could lead to scientists being able to refine the breast cancer risk, according to research published in The Journal of Medical Genetics, which has been funded by the NHR and Prevent Breast Cancer programmes.

When trialled on 451 women, the genetic test was found to assess breast cancer risk based on genetic variations – single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in one’s DNA – leading to researchers discovering that mutations of 18 SNPs were an indication of breast cancer risk of women who did not carry the BRCA1/2 mutations in their genes. However, these genes were shown to have minimal effect in isolation, but when integrated could easily increase or decrease breast cancer risk considerably.

The women that were used in the trial were a mixture of those who had a family history of breast cancer and those who did not. It was found that 112 women had the BRCA1/2 mutation which led to comparison of a control group of 1,605 women being examined who were diagnosed with invasive breast cancer. Out of the 1,605 women, 691 had the BRCA1/2 mutation, suggesting that this information could save millions of lives if the genes are modified.

Researchers predicted an overall risk estimate, using the blood samples of each participant to find their genetic make-up which was then considered alongside other risk factors. These included: age at first assessment; family history of first and second-degree relatives; age at first child; first period and menopause; height and weight; and history of prior non-cancerous disease.

Professor Gareth Evans, speaking to the University said, “This new test will help women at risk of familial breast cancer to make more informed decisions about their care.

“BRCA1 and BRCA2 are just part of what we should be looking for when assessing risk and in Manchester we plan to incorporate screening for these new genetic markers in clinical practice within the next six months.

“We are committed to improving cancer prevention through research and, with funding from the NIHR Manchester Biomedical Research Centre, we plan to develop new screening strategies and biomarkers for other common cancers, including womb, bowel, ovarian and prostate.”

The study gave evidence that suggested that “women with the BRCA1/2 mutations who currently choose to have a mastectomy could reduce their risk by a third – from 50 to about 36 per cent.” Prevent Breast Cancer, a programme which worked very closely with the university, did a Predicting Risk of Cancer at Screening SNP study on 10,000 women were 455 went on to develop breast cancer, affirming the results of Professor Gareth Evans’ research.

Lester Barr, chairman of Prevent Breast Cancer has stated that, “With more accurate genetic testing, we can better predict a woman’s risk of developing the disease and therefore offer the appropriate advice and support, rather than a ‘one size fits all’ approach.

“It’s so exciting to see this additional test go into clinical practice, as it’s this more tailored method that will help us on our mission to protect future generations from breast cancer.”

The University of Manchester focuses much of its research on cancer preventing development. It uses interdisciplinary collaboration and cross-sector partnerships, as well as using state funds to tackle the disease that millions of people suffer from.

Fashion player of the week: Petra Collins

Written by Sophie Walsh on . Posted in Fashion & Beauty, Uncategorised.

Name: Petra Collins

Birth: 21 December 1992, Toronto, Canada

Occupation: Fashion photographer, artist, artistic director, fashion model

At the age of eighteen Petra Collins failed her senior year of high school.

Six years later, she’s shot major campaigns for Gucci, Adidas and Calvin Klein to name a few. She’s photographed Kim Kardashian for Wonderland magazine, Bella Hadid for Vogue and Samuel L. Jackson for The New York Times. Most recently, she has made a name for herself in the music industry, directing the hazy, suburban dystopia that is Selena Gomez’s music video “Fetish”. The IRL best friends collaborated to create a horror based love child where a dazed Gomez chews on glass and writhes in a giant freezer full of peaches. No stranger to the opposite side of the camera herself, she has also modelled for the Gucci Bloom perfume campaign.

Her dreamy photography is a siren amongst a sea of crisp, largely male powered fashion images. From hyper-intense neon’s reminiscent of buzzing electric diner signs to the pastel haze of lazy summers in Lolita-like Suburbia, her work can be described as nostalgic. Often favouring a film camera instead of digital, her shots have the vintage look of golden era film stills. Inspiration comes from the amalgamation of old school, Hitchcock style voyeurism and Lovelace era pornography (she owns a collection of vintage lad’s mags for colour research).

However, what makes her work so unique is that it is told entirely from the perspective of the female gaze. Her photography is part of today’s third wave feminism; no longer afraid to visually display female sexual empowerment or to challenge gender stereotypes. For example, with an Instagram following of 634K, she has pioneered a hyper-feminine aesthetic now echoed across the platform. Girls are embracing traditional ideas of womanhood like associations with natures flora and fauna, and the colour pink. But at the same time openly celebrating the female body, for example, rejecting the stigma around body hair and periods.

From high school dropout, she has built up a sparkling career purely through hard work and an adolescent vision of what fashion photography could be. Struggling academically at school, she took refuge in creating instead. Starting in her home, taking pictures of her younger sister, after a series of breaks in an industry that recognised a need for a refreshing new perspective, she is now a recognised talent. Petra Collins is no doubt a name we will be hearing a lot more of in the future.

Review: Don Giovanni

Written by Millie Nettleton on . Posted in Food & Drink.

Now a second year at Manchester, I have walked past Don Giovanni many a time. Whenever I do, I struggle not to salivate at the beautiful dishes and stylish people I can see through the big glassy windows. “One day, I will eat there.” I say to myself. “Are you talking to yourself?” My housemate says back.

Lucky enough for me, Don Giovanni decided to grace us mere mortals — students with heftily overdrawn bank accounts — with a 50 per cent discount throughout September, even when eating à la carte. This was a deal running through August, which was extended by popular demand. Finding out that I had a shot at dining in the Manchester Italian of my dreams on the 27th of September, just three days before the deal closed, had me instantly booking a table. The website was as stylish as the restaurant itself, and the booking system was practical and efficient, especially since I could do it all online; my battered phone’s dysfunctional speakers and microphone tends to lead to conversations that go something like “pardon?” “Sorry?” “Yes — oh wait no, I said.” You get the idea.

A benefit of the deal was that, aesthetically speaking, Don Giovanni was at it’s finest. Thriving with people at the tables and the bar, even on a Thursday at 6:30 pm it felt like I was in one of those New York bars popularised by the Sex and the City Girls. I felt so cool to be sitting at their marble topped bar, sipping on orange and cranberry juice — a combination of hangover and freshers flu had left me not in the mood for alcohol, though it should be noted that the bar at Don Giovanni is one of the best stocked I’ve ever seen, and according to their cocktail menu, they’re willing to fix you whatever your heart desires.

The interior is a combination of warm orange tones, cool marble, and cream, bare walls. The windows are great for people watching and the booths could fit a host of people. Cool, Latin jazz was filtering out of the speakers and the hum of conversation had a way of making your own conversation seem more intimate. No surprise then, that Don Giovanni has been voted most romantic restaurant.

After splitting a very tasty, fresh bruschetta for starters, my housemate and myself, of course, ordered the lobster risotto — with the intention of choosing something I couldn’t normally afford/cook myself/just eat anywhere. Normally £19.95, it cost us £12, which was pretty bloody great. One of the things I liked most was, although it was a swanky restaurant, they certainly didn’t do the swanky restaurant thing where they serve you just two mouthfuls. Oh, boy, no — I received a whopping big plate of risotto, perhaps enough to defeat your average man, but it was, nevertheless no match for me. In terms of bang-for-your buck, if I was earning, I would consider the prices pretty reasonable — and they were particularly so when sweetened by the deal.

It was perfectly scrummy, but I do consider myself a bit of a risotto connoisseur, and it was a little watery. The lobster was de-shelled and mixed in to the risotto, which was nice because I hate the faff and have a habit of cutting or burning my fingers when left to DIY. The slight downside to this was that the lobster was a little chewy, maybe due to cooking a little further in the risotto, which was nice and hot. But all of this, is really fine tuning, I still thought it was delicious.

There was only one real let down of the whole evening, and to gastronomes out there, it’s the famous struggle; pistachio ice cream. Myself, and my flatmate have both been hunting for Manchester’s best pistachio ice-cream since we both bonded over memories of the real stuff found in Italy itself.

If you’re a foodie, and not allergic to nuts, you’ll know that proper pistachio ice-cream is a somewhat muddy green colour with a thick texture, and if you’re really lucky, actual chunks of nut in it. Then there’s the imposter stuff; basically, vanilla ice-cream dyed pastel green with food colouring and a bit of amaretto mixed in to imitate a nut like taste. The imposter has the texture of soft scoop. With the impression that this was an Italian restaurant with quality of ingredients at the heart of it’s principles, I assumed that I couldn’t go wrong; it had to be the legitimate stuff, right? Nope.

For £4.50, I received 4 scoops of pistachio imposter ice cream. Now, the quantity was fine, great even, for the price, and there was one of those little chocolate wafer cigarillos in the top, which was pretty tasty. But it was the wrong damn ice-cream! I ended up eating it because I’d paid for it, not because I was actually enjoying it, which is something I never thought I’d say eating in one of Manchester’s award-winning restaurants.

I can only assume, that these little refinements of quality, the over cooked lobster and slightly watery risotto were the result of a restaurant rushed off it’s feet, all concessions I’m willing to make due to the sacrifice of cost. But the ice cream palaver left me wondering, perhaps I had built up preconceived ideas in my head. With the service oh so polite and efficient, and an aesthetic that would make your date really impressed, DG screams ‘high quality.’ Unfortunately, food wise, that’s just not quite what I got.

3/5

Review: Sara (2015)

Written by Sana Ditta on . Posted in Film.

From the onset, Yau does not disappoint, choosing to open Sara with a vivid depiction of the titular character being sexually abused by her stepfather as her mother does nothing to stop him. This results in a rather naïve 14-year-old Sara Ho (Charlene Choi) running away from home and finding refuge in parks or 24-hour food joints. At this point, she meets the good-natured Kam Ho-yin (Simon Yam) and embarks on a rather unconventional and predictably destructive relationship.

Cut to present day and Sara is now a journalist working on an exposé piece. Betrayed by her boyfriend, she leaves for Chiang Mai. Here, she meets Dok-my (Sunadcha Tadrabiab) and becomes increasingly interested in her story; that of a young girl selling herself for money to provide for her family – a harsh yet cruel reality for many.

The film is based on Yau’s personal observations in Thailand — a country infamous for its sex industry. He states that he wanted to shed more light on the age-old industry but wanted Sara to be more of a commentary on real issues that will hopefully raise the audience’s awareness; it’s no wonder then that Dok-my’s character is from Thailand.

Yau manages to successfully bring the two narratives together by paralleling Dok-my’s story of underage prostitution with the abuse that Sara suffered with during her childhood. Both are characters that essentially sell themselves in the hopes of pursuing a better life but one is painted as much“glossier” than the other. Sara pays Dok-my to reveal her story for an article before going on to help Dok-my escape her life; perhaps, this is Sara’s way of facing her own past but it is evident that the naivety of teenage Sara resurfaces in assuming that she could protect Dok-my. This is made abundantly clear when Dok-my runs away from her new home.

Sara and Ho-yin’s relationship is one that is problematic from the beginning. The teenage Sara exchanges sex for a spot in a grade 1 school. Whilst it’s easy to empathize with Sara’s story, Ho-yin – a middle-aged man – is a character I feel ambivalent about; it is unclear if he truly does have feelings for Sara or just using her for sex. This is further emphasized by the fact that he never makes their relationship public and is good at keeping his personal life private; Sara spies on him briefly only to discover he is a married man with a family and a devout Christian.

The relationship is a clear abuse of power on Ho-yin’s behalf but Yau is excellent at making you forget the morality of this by portraying the two as having genuine feelings for each other. At times, you find yourself wanting the relationship to work out despite the foundations upon which it was built on. Still, the film is not merely a simplistic portrayal of Sara being a victim, as she then exploits Dok-my for her story.

Despite the hard-hitting storylines of both Sara and Dok-my, Yau chooses to end the film optimistically, showing that there is a way of getting information out into the world without it being filtered through corrupted institutions. However, this does little to gloss over the fact that the film does not tell you a lot about the industry itself, which possibly stops it from being a much more memorable and poignant film. My main concern is that the little that is portrayed is somewhat overshadowed by Sara’s and Ho-yins unconventional relationship.

Sara is a compelling film highlighting the true exploitation faced by many around the world with remarkable characters and great acting by Choi but just falls short of being unforgettable.

3.5/5

Protest: Stories of Resistance – an afternoon with Maxine Peake

Written by Megan Moore on . Posted in Books.

On Sunday the 6th of October, the Manchester Literature Festival welcomed Manchester’s very own activist and actress, Maxine Peake, to The Dancehouse; as the Patron for Comma Press, where she presented a new collection of short stories aptly named Protest: Stories of Resistance.

The book contains fictional accounts of individuals involved in, or affected by, protests in the UK, whilst remaining true to the history of democratic statements between 1381 and 2003. The stories range from accounts based on the Suffragettes on hunger strike to mixed race couples and their inspirations from Malcolm X’s visit to Smethwick in 1965.

The anthology heavily focuses on the emotional impact that politics and protest has had on the lives of those that history has seemingly chosen to forget.

Peake introduced herself and the collection, describing its focus as one that is “re-imagining the history of British protest through fiction,” and the blurred lines between riot and revolution. The collection touched upon the Suffrage movement, beginning at home in Manchester and how it was initially being treated as radical and delusional.

We were often reminded of how attempts to make political, social, and even humanitarian progress through acts of protest are received with dismissal throughout the afternoon, and it became very apparent that the speakers’ pieces were very emotionally charged.

Guest speakers Michelle Green, Kit de Waal, and Courttia Newland read extracts from the short stories that they had submitted to the collection. The group stressed the way that the different relationships of their characters were affected either by their inspiration from or involvement in protests.

Newland focused upon the poll tax riot that occurred in March 1990 — specifically the way in which the relationship between the two central characters is shifted due to their involvement in the riot — when it begins to become physical, rather than peaceful. Newland himself recounted how he was tempted to get involved in the march when attending University and hearing of it, but concluded against going.

Michelle Green’s piece focused on the Suffrage movement, but I found it interesting that she commented on how, very often in history we only remember the figure heads of movements, such as Pankhurst or Davison, rather than the thousands of working class women that upheld the cause and fought for their rights with desperation and vigour.

It made me question whether the way in which we are taught history is still relevant. The things that are overlooked, more often than not, are incidents that are deeply controversial, painful, and clearly adhere to less commonly held views.

Titled ‘There Are Five Ways Out of this Room,’ Green’s short story draws a lens on the practice of force feeding imprisoned activists due to their going on hunger strikes, and exposes in graphic detail the brutality of the practice. Green confirmed that the narrator of her short story was initially based on Annie Kenny, but wanted to give a voice to the unsung heroes of the Suffrage movement — Green’s passion for the forgotten women of the Suffragette movement and the gravity of their ordeals was very moving.

In the Q&A session after the readings of all three authors, the expression of concern and hesitancy when embarking upon the task of fictionalising history became apparent.

I suppose one way of approaching the issue is that, where acts of protest and resistance have been rendered ‘radical’ and have been largely opposed, it is no wonder that throughout history they themselves are suspended and become a sort of fiction. Consequently, these lessons were not taught for a while.

Tales of irrevocable trauma and heavily scarred personal narratives are at times so unsettling that it is no wonder that history can become fictionalised.

As part of the project the writers worked with historical experts in order to ensure the accuracy and attention to detail of their piece. Those covering more recent protests managed to talk to individuals who had either attended or been affected by the protests. Waal commented on the difficulty in trying to balance fiction with fact, ensuring that critical details weren’t “glossed over” or dismissed as to remain true to history.

Waal’s contribution to the anthology documents the struggle of a mixed-race couple living in the West Midlands during 1965, surrounded by conservative opinion towards people of colour and keeping their affair secret as to avoid the public scandal that they knew it would inevitably evoke.

Speaking of her own experience as a child, Waal recounted how she had awareness of her “difference” in coming from a mixed-race family, disclosing how her and her mother would frequently be spat at on the street, and that “there are still lots of brick walls that have to come down”.

Newland also discussed his experiences with racism as a child, facing slurs and hurtful comments at school and his mother facing the same harassment when she would come to pick him up. The visit of Malcolm X in Smethwick was seen as a bold statement at the time. Walking through the predominantly white areas and receiving verbal abuse from the inhabitants. The outward presence of activism against this vicious hatred was inspiring to many. “I think it’s almost impossible to write without being political,” Waal says.

 

In her closing speech, Peake recited Carl Sandburg’s ‘I Am the People, the Mob’, a poem that perfectly summed up the topics discussed throughout the afternoon and the aim of the open discussion following the Q&A session.

I am the people—the mob—the crowd—the mass.

Do you know that all the great work of the world is done through me?

I am the workingman, the inventor, the maker of the world’s food and clothes.

I am the audience that witnesses history.  – Carl Sandburg

 

With a strong message of revolution and rising against injustice, the crowd’s applause and hum of feet pounding the floor shook The Dancehouse.

The power of the people was a prominent theme throughout the afternoon, we have the power to make our voices heard and impose real change on the issues that we are concerned with. Literature forever remains a strong medium for political and social commentary and forever remains a vehicle for change.

Peake and her guests highlighted to me both the progress that we have made as a society to get to where we are, but also how much more needs to be done to achieve equality for all regardless of gender, religion, sexuality, or race.

So what’s stopping us? As the next generation, we can make the biggest difference of all. Never settle. Never endure. Protest.

Health Secretary announces more places for student nurses

Written by tabitha hanks on . Posted in News.

Earlier this month, at the Conservative party conference, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt revealed new plans to increase the number of nurse training places by 25 per cent. Last week he made a further speech announcing the cap on nurses’ wages would finally be lifted this year, allowing for a rise above the current 1% limit.

The new plans will increase the number of university places for nursing degrees, as well as introducing a new scheme to train nursing associates into registered nurses via a four-year apprenticeship.

These plans represent the biggest increase in nurse training the NHS has ever seen and will bring the total number of new student nurses up to 25,850 in 2018, with 5,000 new places on offer across the UK.

The new Nursing associate apprenticeship will take place “on the job” within the NHS. It will take 4 years to qualify as a registered nurse via this pathway. The apprenticeship will allow trainees to earn as they learn, as well as skipping the £9,250 per year fees of a regular nursing degree. However, the new role of nursing associate was only announced last year and has yet to see any nurses qualify from the two-year training course

While Hunt’s new plans may provide a higher volume of staff,  many have questioned why the funding of these new training places since NHS nursing bursaries were revoked this year. Medical and dental student are eligible for NHS bursaries to help with the cost of living and tuition fees, whereas nursing students must rely solely on funding from the student loans company.

A second-year student nurse at the University of Manchester said “I think that it will help with the lack of nurses…[and] the pay cap needed to be lifted.” However, she went on to add  “[I] think it’s unfair that someone will eventually be able to have the same role as me after being in a paid apprenticeship for a few years… whilst I have to do a degree alongside working full time with no wage.”

Hunt recently announced a similar promise to medical students, pledging to increase the numbers of places at medical schools by 25 per cent to 6,500 each year, in order to increase the number of Junior doctors entering the NHS in the wake of Brexit.

The NHS is under a great threat of staff shortages as the UK approaches Brexit in 2019. Over 150,000 staff in the NHS are European. Changes to the freedom of movement of citizens throughout the EU and UK may jeopardise the jobs of many of these workers.

The new plans revealed by the conservatives are an attempt to counteract the anticipated drop in staff numbers and equip the NHS to handle the transition.

Review: The Sleep Curse

Written by Esmee Samsworth on . Posted in Film.

The Sleep Curse (2017) sees director, Herman Yau, and Anthony Wong reunite in collaboration after they found success in the early 1990s with cult horror films The Untold Story (1993) and Ebola Syndrome (1996). Their partnership was when it began, a happy one, one that promised well-crafted, interesting stories as well as scares and about as much gore as any horror fan could wish for.

However, one can’t help but question if this partnership which used to provoke audiences, has gone the way of other creative relationships like Johny Depp and Tim Burton; has familiarity and ease lead to a loss of objectivity about what makes a film truly entertaining?

The premise of The Sleep Curse, is an interesting one. Wong plays neurologist Lam Sing who is drawn into his families past when an old love interest, Monique (Jojo Goh) comes to him for help concerning her brother’s extreme insomnia that has turned him into something of a deranged psychopath. We later finds out that the curse threatens to effect everyone within the families. The beginning of the film starts off strongly, (indeed, this is probably one of Yau’s most masterfully produced films) with grainy found footage from the 1990s featuring Monique’s brother as he succumbs to the curse. It’s eery and powerful, the kind of scary that leaves you walking out of the cinema feeling like someone is following you.

However, from there the film descends into chaos. Part of what makes good horror, is the suspense, the growing anxiety you feel as you watch. It’s the unknown that leaves the lasting sense of fear lingering with long after a films ended. With The Sleep Curse, Yau forgoes this subtle build of fear by revealing the entirety of the plot within the first hour, in favour of shock body horror and copious amounts gore.

The middle section of the film drags as we are transported from the present day and taken back in time to World War Two in a series of flashbacks. The past actions of the characters’ fathers are to blame for the curse, and whilst Wong who also plays Lam Sr. does alright, he doesn’t plumb the depths of his horror skills with either role. What made his performances in The Untold Story and Ebola Syndrome so terrifying and consequentially brilliant, was his ability to make you truly believe he was on the edge of madness at all times. In The Sleep Curse, I’m just not sure I believe it.

In the attempt to make The Sleep Curse frightening it’s almost as though screenwriters, Erica Li and Lee Sing have flung as many elements of the horror genre as they could think of at a wall and hoped that a few stuck. The result is a film full of jump scares and gratuitous violence and gore — including full body mutilation, and graphic torture and rape scenes. Yes, there are moments that will make you jump with fright, but they do not linger.

The ending does manage to make sense of the chaos and more. It is grotesque in it’s violence, to the point of being a little ludicrous, but it works. The underlying fear is there as well as the body horror that makes the Saw franchise look like Child’s Play.

If you’re a fan of slashers and don’t mind too much about plot, then The Sleep Curse is something you’ll want to watch, however if you’re after something with a little suspense and eeriness then maybe give this one a miss.

2.5/5

Antwerp Mansion forced to reduce capacity

Written by Will Phillips on . Posted in News.

The Manchester Fire Brigade forced Antwerp Mansion to temporarily reduce its capacity last week for an event hosted by Regression Sessions.

Regression Sessions issued a statement and apology on Facebook to those who had purchased tickets for the ‘Space Safari’ event via Skiddle: “Due to an order set by the Manchester fire brigade the capacity at Antwerp Mansion has been temporarily reduced. We were notified about this only today.”

As compensation, Skiddle ticket holders are to have their costs refunded and will be given free tickets to Regression Sessions’ Halloween event at the O2 Ritz Manchester.

Since the decision, Antwerp Mansion have yet to release a statement on Facebook or Twitter but did speak to The Tab Manchester. Referring to the decision, a representative for the venue said: “Unfortunately this is correct and we have had to reduce our capacity by around 15 per cent. We are extremely sorry that this will disappoint some people who would have wanted to attend our events this week, especially Regression Sessions [on Saturday night].

“This has happened very suddenly and although we have been working hard with the authorities in the last 48 hours the problem was not able to be solved in time, although a solution has now been agreed.

“We absolutely will resolve the problem next week as we have been working very closely with the authorities to deal with the issue they raised. This is only a temporary problem.”

Capacity problems persisted at the event, with attendees taking to social media to voice their complaints as the club reportedly introduced a one-in-one out policy for the night.

Temporary restrictions have continued since the event, with MotherFunkers having to limit ticket sales for its event on the 12th of October in accordance with the reduced capacity.

As of yet there has been no further information for when and if the temporary restriction will be lifted.

UoM Women fall to late defeat

Written by Sam Cooper on . Posted in Sport.

On the first day of the Northern 2A 2017-18 season, UoM faced the visiting Liverpool John Moores at a wet and windy Armitage.

With the rain temporarily halting, the game got underway and Liverpool were the side who started strongest. Lining up in a 4-1-4-1 formation, Liverpool hoped to get in behind the back four of Manchester and were routinely looking for space in the channels.

It was the away side that registered the first attempted goal, a looping effort that went over the bar. Liverpool were enjoying more of the possession but were looking unable to create anything with it, while Manchester were dangerous on the counter.

After absorbing the Liverpool pressure well, Manchester looked to spring a quick counterattack with Daisy Stewart managing to break clear, but her shot was wide of the post.

Despite Liverpool’s retention of the ball in the opening stages, it was Manchester who had the better chances. Stewart’s wide effort was followed by a blocked shot as the hosts looked to get ahead.

These efforts resulted in corners and UoM were finding some joy in these set plays. Aiming for captain Megan Clarkson resulted in a chance for Liv Abbott as Clarkson managed to head the ball towards goal, but Abbott was just unable to reach it before the keeper smothered it.

The first half progressed and the possession stats equalled out as UoM shook off any pre-season lag. They grew into the game and were creating more chances than the visitors. The corner count was rising as they continued to look for Clarkson but a well-timed tackle from Evie Foster stopped a dangerous Liverpool counterattack.

With 26 minutes on the clock, the away side registered their first shot on goal. It was a tame effort that was easily saved, but the away manager was pleased with the build-up play.

Back at the other end, UoM were inches away from being awarded a penalty. The foul was deemed to be just outside of the box and Stewart stepped up. Her effort hit hard but the power on the ball caused it to rise up and over the bar.

The half-hour mark passed and the Liverpool manager decided to swap his wingers in the hope of getting more joy. This was not to be though, as the sides ended the first half level.

The opening of the second half was markedly different for the hosts as they started on the front foot. With more dynamism to their play, they were looking to hurt Liverpool, and four minutes after the restart they got the game’s opening goal.

A beautifully weighted diagonal pass met the run of Elise Scalding who proceeded to calmly take the ball around the keeper and slot the ball into the empty net. It was a goal that UoM deserved in the opening periods of the second half.

A minute later, Manchester had a good chance to double their lead. The ball fell kindly to Stewart who found herself inside the Liverpool box but after controlling the bouncing ball well, she fired the shot over the bar.

After 15 minutes of Manchester being on top, Liverpool clawed their way back into it. The game passed the 65-minute mark with it once again being an even contest between the two sides despite Manchester’s goal advantage.

With it being the first game of the season, there was understandably some fatigue in the players of both sides.

Searching for that two-goal safety cushion, Clarkson looked to find Ester Guerzoni with a great lobbed pass but Guerzoni couldn’t make anything of it.

If Manchester were to get their second goal it was looking like it would come through the work of Guerzoni. A last-ditch tackle was required to stop a counterattack from her and after a questionable offside decision, the referee deemed Guerzoni’s attempt to be a miss rather than a save despite the Liverpool keeper clearly palming the ball away.

With 80 minutes on the clock, Liverpool got their equaliser. A corner not being cleared properly resulted in a goalmouth scramble and number 38 of Liverpool managed to prod the ball into the net to tie the game at 1-1.

The Liverpool pressure was building as they decided whether to go for the win or stick with the one point they had.

Their pushing forward resulted in a very soft penalty going their way. More a tangle of legs than a foul but the referee, after much dubitation, pointed to the spot. Liverpool’s number ten set the ball down but saw her effort saved. A centrally hit low effort was grasped by keeper Caroline Strasenburgh as she saved her side from going 2-1 down.

The full time was drawing nearer but there was just time for UoM to be victims to a cruel slice of luck. A tame effort deflected off Katie Newton on its way to the net. The original effort was going to the bottom right of the goal but the deflection saw it change path to the bottom left and resulted in Strasenburgh being completely wrong-footed.

The goal was almost the last touch of the game, and UoM can count themselves hard done by with a 2-1 defeat.

After the game team captain Megan Clarkson said: “It was a difficult one as it was the first game back from summer. Standard wise, I think we’re up to it. It’s just getting to know each other as a team, knowing how each other play. That’s going to take time obviously.”

When asked about the difficult start, Clarkson explained it, saying “it was the first 10, 20 minutes that was really difficult. Just getting on our feet because a lot of the girls, as I said, haven’t played football with each other. It’s just figuring out how each other play and that came quite quickly I thought. Towards the end of the game, fatigue kicked in more than anything else.”

Despite the late defeat, Clarkson was keen to focus on the positives “I wanted to cry, it was really upsetting, but you learn from it. You don’t focus too much on the negatives, just on what you need to improve.”

Being called a Brat has never felt so good

Written by Nicole Lloyd on . Posted in Fashion & Beauty.

We can now say that our childhood fashion icons are now back, and have taken social media by storm. Bratz are no longer just an inspiration to tiny tots, but to the youngwomen of tomorrow. The brand with the mantra “It’s good to be yourself; It’s good to be Bratz” is back by popular demand, inspiring young girl’s wardrobes everywhere.

The #Bratzchallenge is trending across Instagram and Twitter, girls are trying their hardest to pay homage to the fantastic five-some. The new trend involves girls doing their makeup in the style of Bratz with dramatic eyebrows, full eyelashes, lip liner, glossy lips, and edgy clothing. Even celebrities have been compared to Bratz dolls over the years with the likes of people like kylie Jenner, Rihanna, The Spice Girls etc. Just a bunch of Bratz really. Looking like a doll is no longer just for Halloween.

Bratz is an American product line of fashion dolls and merchandise by MGA, originally consisting of four but later expanding to five dolls in 2015 (Cloe, Yasmin, Sasha, Raya, Jade), they took over 40 per cent of the fashion doll market. The dolls rock fashion-forward clothing, always following pop culture trends closely.

The team behind the dolls are real-life fashion designers. They have designed for real people, including many famous faces, such as Cher. They’re commonly associated with big chunky platform boots, flared trousers, glitter and more glitter. Anything trending in fashion pop culture; you name it, Bratz have worn it.

It’s possible to get the Bratz look whilst keeping on the student budget. Brands such as NYX offer an array of high quality pigmented palettes, from Smokey eye to bright popping eyeshadow. Morphes 35 c and 35 b palette offer bright bold colours from greens to pinks if you’re looking to stand out, not to mention Morphe is in the holy grail of makeup bloggers eyeshadow palettes. You can’t forget the glossy lip accompanied by lip liner.

Brands such as Fenty Beauty, NYX, kiko, L.A. colors or even a £1 lip gloss, can get the job done. Glitter, glitter and more glitter cannot be forgotten, that blinding highlight is calling for you. Makeup revolution, Primark, kiko are examples of cheap but dazzling highlighters perfect for that bratz look. Just remember be inventive, be you, just put a little Bratz on it.

Balenciaga’s new meme: the CROC

Written by Ella Searle on . Posted in Fashion & Beauty.

It appears that Balenciaga’s desires to create the ultimate ‘ugly’ shoe were not fulfilled by the most recent unveiling of the ‘Triple S’ sneaker, and as a result, renegade creative director Demna Gvasalia has since delved further into the mass of forgotten fashion horrors to revive footwear’s equivalent of marmite: the Croc.

For his Spring/Summer 2018 collection, the Vetements creative sent 10cm platform reconfigurations of the rubber clogs in hot pink and canary yellow, paired with Balenciaga branded Jibbitz in various designs and vibrant colours including European flags, butterflies, and rubber copies of the house’s own logo.

Following a collection Gvasalia admitted he envisioned to be ‘More Demna, less Cristóbal this time’ (Cristóbal Balenciaga being the original founder of the Spanish fashion house). It is apparent that this Balenciaga collection is one that lays much closer to the practices and designs which skyrocketed his own brand Vetements to global popularity, through use of mutilations of archetypal garments and tongue and cheek humour by use of nomcore objects. Yet this season doesn’t only share aesthetical similarities between the two brands, but rather Gvasalia’s use of ‘click bait’ or ‘meme bait’ is prevalent in this Balenciaga collection more than ever.

This isn’t the first time that Crocs have been paraded down the runway to create intentional outrage and ridicule. Christopher Kane collaborated with Crocs for two seasons in 2016. Both owned by the luxury Kering group, one may say that rather than sharing a love for the rubber clog, both houses’ collaborations encapsulate the current shift in fashion where social engagement and shares arguably take precedence to actual design.

Being dubbed ‘a blatant play for social reactions’ by HighSnobiety’s Alex Rakestraw, it is easy to see why this brash ‘ironic’ Croc move by Balenciaga has caused mass frustration throughout the fashion world. The need to create a social stir is for many, turning the design process on its head, trivializing it by making a final product ‘reverse engineered’ from its desired social media reaction and therefore making it ultimately meaningless.

In a fashion age driven by Instagram, ostentatious style drives the need to document it rather than a need to wear it. After uploading an Instagram of a hyped product, there lies its end purpose. There is no after thought to the legacy of such designs. Thus for many, the Balenciaga Croc marks a nail in the coffin for this stagnant street wear aesthetic, and sees a classic house morphing further into a sister of Vetements that subjugate actual products to the mass social hysteria which surrounds it.

On the other hand, Gvasalia is a genius who is challenging what consumers understand as ‘luxury’ in such a capricious industry. But the only thing that can be objectively said about the Balenciaga Croc and Gvasalia’s reimagination of the Balenciaga house is that the conversation fails to die, and by doing so, adds to the mysterious allure that has seen him become a central force in fashion within the last 3 years. Whatever your opinion, it is clear that Gvasalia’s ‘meme bait’ is here to stay.

Top Five: Neo-Noir Films

Written by Lucas Hill-Paul on . Posted in Film.

5. Bugsy Malone (1976)

A surprising entry, yes, but this neo-noir ditches the nihilism of more traditional detective features in favour of an erratic, immature and charming gangster musical with a cast of brilliant kids. Bugsy Malone has to be the best noir comedy readily available, and though Shane Black’s Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is arguably funnier, the authentic setting, costumes and accents of Prohibition-era are just too picture perfect to ignore.

Featuring iconic songs that encapsulate the sleazy jazz of speakeasies, gangsters with peculiar quirks (who could forget Fat Sam or Knuckles?) and female characters that somehow embody the femme fatales of the best noirs without it ever becoming creepy.

4. Pulp Fiction (1994)

Bugsy Malone tributes the texture and setting of noirs, while Pulp Fiction perfects the style of its dialogue, whilst adapting the innuendos and verbal jousting for a modern tone. Though Jackie Brown may be more traditionally noir, taking the Blaxploitation genre so maligned in the 1970s and legitimising it, Tarantino has yet to top his acerbic, narratively complex and darkly hilarious love letter to, well, pulp fiction.

Samuel L Jackson truly emerges as a star during the infamous breakfast scene, but it is Uma Thurman who shines through as a deconstruction of the self-destructive femme fatale. Its direct references to Kiss Me Deadly and classic Hollywood in Jack Rabbit Slim’s only further cement Pulp Fiction as the ideal modern counterpart to traditional film noir.

3. Blue Velvet (1986)

David Lynch loves Hollywood just as much as Tarantino, and, while this is never more obvious in the forever debated Mulholland Drive, it’s hard to argue with Kyle Machlachlan and Laura Dern playing kid detectives (undoubtedly an influence on Rian Johnson’s Brick), a sultry, tragic performance from Isabella Rossellini and Dennis Hopper’s career-defining performance as the chilling, psycho-sexual Frank Booth.

Whilst other films in the genre manage to emulate the noir style authentically, Lynch manages to bring neo-noir back to its German Expressionist roots. Mad lighting and eccentric colour make for challenging viewing, and Lynch’s signature surrealism is at its best and most restrained.

David Lynch’s Twin Peaks: The Return will be released on DVD and Blu-Ray on 5th December 2017.

2. Se7en (1995)

David Fincher has become the king of the modern noir. Though Zodiac and Gone Girl’s places on the list would be well-earned, they lose points for their glossiness and the fact that they’re based on previously existing material. Though I can’t help but notice a similarity between it and The Abominable Dr Phibes, Se7en is wholly original and still just as shocking now as it was 22 years ago.

Despite it leaning less heavily on traditional noir tropes, it’s all the more brave for abandoning its reliance on a conventional Hollywood narrative, taking the classic detectives of the seedy 30s and 40s into an even more bleak modern setting. A neo-noir for sure, but also an evolution of the genre.

The David Fincher produced Mindhunter is now available on Netflix.

1. Oldboy (2003)

If Se7en is the evolution of noir, Oldboy is the culmination. In stark contrast to Bugsy Malone, Park Chan-Wook embraces the nihilism central to the post-war film noir movement and spins it into a twisting and enthralling mystery. Oh Dae-Su becomes a reluctant detective thrust into hopeless entanglement and violence, revealing dark secrets and horrific crime.

Playing out like a deeply cynical and disturbed hardboiled mystery novel, Oldboy features all the elements a noir film should yet relies solely on its own vision, only subtly referring back to the aesthetic, dialogue and tropes of the classic genre. Solidifying South Korea as a hot property for darkly subversive and disturbing cinema, Oldboy defined its era by dragging it through the mud. Troubling and unrelenting, it feels only natural that noir would come to this.

Park Chan-Wook’s The Handmaiden is now available on DVD and Blu-Ray.

Stop trying to sell me feminism

Written by Jacklin Kwan on . Posted in Opinion.

Walk into Harvey Nichols and you will see that Dior has recently released a new line of t-shirts that have the bold slogan: “We Should All Be Feminist” — the t-shirt retails for around £500. Turn on the television and you will see commercials for tampons that make them sound like the new symbols of female liberation. Do a quick search on Google and you will find endless results by Buzzfeed that list “Feminist Items You Need For Your Home Immediately.”

When did things become so ludicrously absurd?

There’s been a dramatic shift in the cultural attitude towards the feminist movement since its first-wave conception in the late 1800s. What used to be a deeply offensive idea, the idea of women being owed political, economic, and social equality, has now taken a spotlight in mainstream consumerist society.

Any product that has any relation to women whatsoever, such as make-up, high heels, household decor, or clothing, is angled and sold as ‘feminist’. It is interesting to note that many of these goods were seen in the late 90s to be tools of patriarchy that were all meant to channel the attention, esteem, and hard-earned capital of women into frivolous hobbies that distracted them from challenging male superiority.

It is clear that the products themselves have not changed, but in a brilliant marketing move, our perceptions of them have.

These consumer products are incredibly problematic in many ways. Firstly, they tend to dilute the feminist message into depoliticised slogans that emphasise individual spiritual liberation rather than structural reform. You will never see advertisements for makeup that depict women being harassed on the street or even in the workplace on the basis of their image.

Instead, makeup advertisements are geared towards messages of ‘feeling confident and empowered’. It boils feminism down from a harsh protest against institutionalised gender discrimination to trivial and patronising affirmations of self-improvement. Sexism goes from being a wide social problem to one centred around the self-esteem of individuals.

This deep misrepresentation of obstacles facing women causes people to trivialise and dismiss the feminist message. And women are taught that their feelings of isolation and alienation from their society are caused by their own shortcomings rather than centuries of exclusion.

Furthermore, this distortion causes an anxiety that can only be solved through consumption. Commercials tell women to realise their desire for equality by buying products, otherwise their empowerment may not be valid. People are told that the most meaningful way they can express their support for feminism is through buying a t-shirt with a slogan on it.

This trend of ‘conspicuous consumption’, i.e. consumption meant to be seen and validated by other people, capitalises on our anxieties to be socially recognised as morally progressive without demanding any profound, impacting change. Every second spent engaging in this spectacle would be a second spent broadcasting reductionist pseudo-feminist values and not demanding deeper reforms.

Also, let us not forget that this feminist re-branding often veil deeply misogynistic institutions. Dove launched a ‘Real Body’ campaign that aimed to increase body positivity amongst women, but Dove is owned Unilever which also objectifies women to sell pubescent boys Axe deodorant.

When this hypocrisy is allowed to exist, there is no pressure for the system of gender inequality to change. Corporations will continue to superficially subvert gender roles with one hand whilst perpetuating those same prejudices with the other simply to turn a profit. The hypocrisy makes it harder to recognise and thus dismantle harmful establishments.

Whilst I am sure that the individual people working at these corporations are not malicious in any way, issues as complex and as insidiously damaging as sexism just do not belong in a 40-second ad that also has the goal of selling you denim jeans.

It is not just feminism that has been affected by unavoidable commodification. Other civil rights groups like the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement rightly condemned a Pepsi ad that starred Kylie Jenner apparently solving centuries of state violence against minorities by giving the police a can of soda. The question then becomes why corporations are allowed to treat female victim-hood in the same condescending and grossly reductionist tone.

It is time that we fiercely reject the watered-down, depoliticised versions of feminism being fed to not only our generation, but to the ones even younger.

Young boys must be taught the gravity of suffering their counterparts encounter, and how to best support the women in their lives. Young girls must be taught that the greatest response to the bigotry of the systematic discrimination they will face is not through what they buy but through who they are, what they want, what they’ve done, and most importantly, what they will do.

 

HOME Cinema Preview: 13th October

Written by James Gill on . Posted in Film.

Films opening at HOME this week:

Happiness

Directed by Aleksandr Medvedkin – Rated 12A

Happiness comes in a variety of strange forms; here a peasant dreams of becoming Czar, eating his fill and spending his time doing nothing. With its bizarre satirical slapstick, Medvedkin’s film offers an unforgettable antidote to the socialist realist style that was developing within Soviet cinema at the time.

Click here to book tickets

The Snowman

Directed by Tomas Alfredson – Rated 15

When an elite crime squad’s lead detective (Fassbender) investigates the disappearance of a victim on the first snow of winter, he fears an elusive serial killer may be active again. With the help of a brilliant recruit, the policeman must connect decades-old cold cases to the brutal new one if he hopes to outwit this unthinkable evil before the next snowfall. The latest thriller from Tomas Alfredson (Let the Right One In, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy), The Snowman is based on Jo Nesbø’s global bestseller.

Click here to book tickets

The Party

Directed by Sally Potter – Rated 15

Sally Potter’s (Orlando) latest feature is a comedy wrapped around a tragedy which unfolds in real time in an upmarket London house. Janet is hosting an intimate gathering of friends to celebrate her promotion to Shadow Minister of Health in the party of opposition. Her husband, Bill, seems preoccupied. As their friends arrive, the soirée gradually unravels. As people’s illusions about themselves and each other go up in smoke, along with the canapés, The Party becomes a night that began with champagne but ends with blood on the floor.

Click here to book tickets

Loving Vincent

Directed by Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman – Rated 12A

Co-directors Kobiela and Welchman explore Vincent van Gogh’s most inspirational paintings to tell the story of his remarkable work, career and his untimely and controversial demise. A synthesis of painting and cinema, this is a lovingly crafted, intelligent and informative work.

Loving Vincent will also be screening as part of Manchester Animation Festival on 15 Nov 20:15.

Click here to book tickets

Films continuing this week:

Blade Runner 2049

Directed by Denis Villeneuve – Rated 15

Thirty years after the events in Ridley Scott’s seminal sci-fi, a new Blade Runner, LAPD Officer K (Gosling), unearths a long-buried secret that has the potential to plunge what’s left of society into chaos. K’s discovery leads him on a quest to find Deckard (Ford) who has been missing for 30 years. Acclaimed director Denis Villeneuve (Sicario) delivers perhaps the most eagerly anticipated film of the year.

Click here to book tickets

 

Daphne

Directed by Peter Mackie Burns – Rated 15

Scottish filmmaker Peter Mackie Burns marks his transition into features with this tightly focused, remarkably authentic character study of brittle 31-year-old Londoner Daphne (Beecham). Daphne has ‘sort of given up on people’ as she goes through the motions of her busy life, working as a cook in a London restaurant and through a series of drug-fuelled hook-ups. She resists genuine intimacy in her few friendships and rejects her mother attempts to engage. When she witnesses a violent robbery, she’s thrown into chaos and finally begins to confront the person she’s become.

Cut from the same explicit, ironic, confessional cloth as Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s internationally successful BBC TV series Fleabag, Daphne offers us a female protagonist who can be as fiercely unlikeable as she is compelling to watch.

Click here to book tickets

In Between

Directed by Maysaloun Hamoud — Rated 15

In director Maysaloun Hamoud’s remarkable feature debut, three Palestinian women sharing an apartment in the vibrant heart of Tel Aviv find themselves doing the same balancing act between tradition and modernity and citizenship and culture.

Click here to book tickets

God’s Own Country

Directed by Francis Lee — Rated 15

Johnny, a young sheep farmer from Yorkshire, has sacrificed his own life choices to run the family farm. As lambing season approaches, much to Johnny’s initial resentment, migrant worker Gheorghe is hired to assist. Gheorghe proves he not only understands this farming life but more importantly, he understands Johnny.

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Special Events:

October 14th – Tsar to Lenin

Directed by Herman Axelbank – Rated 15

First released in 1937, Tsar to Lenin ranks among the twentieth century’s greatest film documentaries. Using archive footage assembled over more than a decade, Tsar to Lenin presents an extraordinary cinematic account of the Russian Revolution – from the mass uprising which overthrew the Tsarist regime in February 1917, to the Bolshevik-led insurrection eight months later that established the first socialist workers’ state, and the final victory in 1921 of the new Soviet regime over counter-revolutionary forces after a three-year-long civil war. Tsar to Lenin bears witness to a moment in history when socialist ideals inspired the greatest twentieth century revolutionary movement.

This screening will be introduced by Chris Marsden, National Secretary of the Socialist Equality Party and writer for the World Socialist Web Site.

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October 14th – The Overcoat

Rated 12A

Based on the work of Gogol and directed by Kozintsev and Trauberg, leading lights in FEKS (The Factory of the Eccentric Actor), The Overcoat is a great example of the creative spirit present in 1920s Soviet cinema and fantastically showcases its directors’ delight in revelling in the grotesque.

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October 14th – New Babylon

Rated U

Another strikingly original film from the FEKS duo of Kozintsev and Trauberg, New Babylon – named after the department store where its central character works – is a love story set amongst the events of the Paris Commune of 1871.  Jay Leyda called it a ‘consistently magnificent climax to the silent films of Kozintsev and Trauberg’.

Please note, this print has no soundtrack.

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October 15th – The End of St. Petersburg + Live Accompaniment

Directed by Vsevolod Pudovkin, Mikhail Doller – Rated PG

The End of St. Petersburg was planned to grace the 10th anniversary of the Revolution. The director’s plans were ambitious: Pudovkin wanted it to cover the two centuries of the city’s history. In the end, the film is a boots level narrative about a naïve youth who is forced to seek work in the city.

HarmonieBand have an international reputation for presenting specially composed scores for silent films. Paul Robinson’s score for this silent classic was presented in September in Eindhoven’s Plaza Futura and the Amsterdam ‘Eye’.

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October 15th – Chapayev

Directed by Georgi Vasilyev, Sergey Vasilyev – Rated PG

Produced by the Lenfilm studio, this legendary account of the heroics of a Red Army Chapayev is both an intense story of sacrifice and a clear example of Soviet propaganda. Upon its release it became something of a cultural phenomenon and was described as a ‘genuine and very fruitful experiment in film art’ by the critic Roger Manvell.

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October 16th – The Night of Truth

Directed by Fanta Regina Nacro – Rated 18

In her poetic and visually stunning feature debut, director Fanta Régina Nacro has no qualms about portraying extreme violence while leading her story to an unexpected bid for peace. Set in an unnamed country racked by a decade-long genocidal civil war, The Night of Truth tells the story of the efforts of the opposing community leaders to overcome their differences.

Come the Revolution is a collective of curators, programmers and creatives from Bristol and Birmingham committed to exploring and challenging black life, experience and cultural expression through cinema.

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October 17th – Made in Hong Kong

Directed by Fruit Chan – Rated 15

This sensitive remastering of writer and director Fruit Chan’s landmark 1997 Hong Kong independent film retains all of its style and impact. With a career-making central performance from Sam Lee as Moon, a down on his luck teenager trying to make ends meet in the marginalised neighbourhoods of a Hong Kong on the cusp of great change, Made in Hong Kong offers a sobering alternative to the slick genre films the city was renowned for.  Winner of Best film at the Hong Kong film awards.

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October 18th/19th – My Pure Land

Directed by Sarmad Masud – Rated 15

This impressive first feature from Sarmad Masud is based on a remarkable true story. Told in told in partial flashbacks it reveals how a mother and her two daughters try to protect their remote Pakistan home, picking up machine guns to fight off a virtual army of armed men.

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October 19th – Ordinary Heroes

Directed by Ann Hui – Rated 15

One of the most original voices to emerge from the Hong Kong new wave of the late the 1970s, Ann Hui is now a major figure in global cinema. Ordinary Heroes is one of her most engaging works, utilising a challenging formal style to explore the history of Hong Kong’s political activists since 1970s. Winner of Best Film at the Hong Kong film awards and at Taiwan’s Golden Horse awards.

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Album Review: Liam Gallagher – As You Were

Written by Yasmin Duggal on . Posted in Music.

The first listen of Liam Gallagher’s album feels more like a highly anticipated cultural event than an album release. Social media has magnified speculation and excelled expectation, heightened by the Britpop star’s curious Twitter ramblings. There was much anticipation as to whether the album would be a half-arsed, rehashed Oasis or a replica of less successful Beady Eye material.

Good news: it’s neither.

People may have expected the ‘Rock’n’Roll Star’, larger-than-life Liam to dominate the record with brazen lyrics, and a hard-faced attitude. The 90’s lad-about-town persona does saturate the undertones of the album, though this record does more than cling onto the audacity of Definitely Maybe. Rather, it reflects upon this, demonstrating maturity and nostalgia, sometimes reminiscent of 90’s neo-psychedelia.

‘Wall of Glass’ and ‘Greedy Soul’ show off Liam’s raspy tones, a nod to his former self but a breath of fresh air on the album, in amongst ‘Champagne Supernova’ – esque apologies in the form of the beautifully sentimental ‘For What It’s Worth’. On first reflection it seems to be an expression of regret to Noel and their relationship, but when read deeper seems to address two decades of apologies for being Liam Gallagher.

“Look for the girl, the world is surreal” begins ‘Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds’ style track, ‘When I’m In Need’, as Liam himself strums away on the acoustic. It’s a sign of the latter half of the album which draws upon country, Rolling Stonesy blues elements, like the upbeat ‘You Better Run’ and ‘I Get By’, the originality of which compliment the brilliant Gallagher-ness of other tracks.

Lyrics are questionable at times, despite Liam seeking help for the record — we don’t blame you Liam — you never claimed to be the brains behind Wonderwall. ‘Chinatown’, though drawing us into Liam’s captivating world, borders on the ridiculous with rhymes including ‘Telephonic doses, eliminate neurosis’. There’s a few instances of reusing age-old Oasis metaphors usually relating to the sun and sky, but the music is spot on and the vocals cannot be faulted.

As a cohesive piece of listening it flows remarkably well, the tracks arranged in a form which undulates between mellow acoustic and rumbling electric, experimenting with genres and dabbling in unexplored forms. Credit to you Liam Gallagher — you’ve lived up to your ‘Bold’ roots, whilst appealing to more than niche Oasis fans with thought-provoking tracks.

We love you Liam. Don’t ever change.

 

8/10

Live: The Howl and The Hum at NBHD Festival

Written by Olivia White on . Posted in Music.

The Howl & The Hum are a York-based alt-rock quartet who opened Neighbourhood Festival 2017. They were the first performers at the Deaf Institute, and I genuinely could not have chosen a better band to begin the day myself.

I find it very difficult to compare the Hum to any other modern band that I have seen, as their live performances are second to none. Intense, compelling, and atmospheric are the three words that I would use to describe this potent quartet. Frontman Sam Griffith’s vocals ooze warmth and safety yet are underpinned by a curious element of insanity which comes to light in songs such as ‘Manea’ and ‘Murder’ coupled with his impulsive and impassioned body flinches.

Griffiths is accompanied by the musical efforts of his fellow band members, fusing together to create a spine-tingling and extremely emotive composition. Given the intimacy of the gig, this resounded off each wall to create a thick sweeping blanket of emotion, infusing the air with what I can only describe as electrifying nostalgia. T

he unfeigned lyrical style of The Howl and the Hum accompanied with the progressive structure of their songs is really where the treasures of this band can be found. The 4-piece utterly submerged themselves in the pure, raw and gritty ambience that radiated from their combined efforts and this could be seen in their perfectly synchronised movements which filled the stage. To quote a friend I met there, “I can’t tell whether the pounding in my chest is from the drums or if it’s my own heartbeat.”

This leads me onto their single ‘Godmanchester Chinese Bridge’, Which features on their newest EP (also named after the single). Honestly, I could have written my entire review on The Howl and the Hum’s performance of this song alone as it will always hold a special place in my heart.

I will never forget the day I stumbled across them and heard it for the first time, with lyrics that parallel a heart to heart exchanged between two old lovers. Sam guided the audience through an intensely profound journey of heartbreak and sentimentality before dropping an explosion of guitar laced with Sam’s eerie repetition of “and if you’re lost, I will be waiting.” ‘Godmanchester Chinese Bridge’ is an incredibly evocative, nostalgic and melancholic song that leaves you missing someone you’ve never even met.

Words can’t begin to convey just how special The Howl and the Hum are live, don’t miss out on the next big upcoming modern band.

 

9/10