FILM
Only Lovers Left Alive | Opens April 17, Rated M, 123 min
This new, languorous vampire romance from Jim Jarmusch isn’t your usual fanged fare. There’s no love-struck teens or sparkly immortals. Instead, Adam (Tom Hiddleston) and Eve (Tilda Swinton) are a pair of estranged, ancient lovers, more or less enjoying a rarefied existence at the edges of the human world. In Adam’s case, he’s enjoying things decidedly less.
Despite living out some alienated rock-star dream in a haunted house, listening to old vinyl and recording gloomy post-rock music, Adam has bought a wooden bullet and plans to end it all.
There’s little more to the story than this, but you don’t come to a Jarmusch film for the plot. Only Lovers Left Alive has a seductive, somnambulant and post-apocalyptic air, heightened by the extended sequences in a nocturnal Detroit. As our anti-heroes bemoan humanity’s capacity for self-destruction, the evidence is rarely off-screen. This reimagining of the undead as moral superiors – killing victims is described as “so mediaeval” – is, perhaps, Jarmusch’s boldest stroke. He eschews campy mythology for science, Adam creating improbable electrical gadgets and feeding from hospital blood bags.
The lovers refer to humans as “zombies”, whereas they are truly romantic figures in every sense: glamorous philosophers, rubbing shoulders with the good and the great. The unearthly Swinton is perfect casting as an ageless thing, while Hiddleston remains charming throughout his melancholy. Like the film, they are clever, moody and quite genuinely cool.
TV
Wake In Fright | ABC2, Friday April 18, 9.30pm
This weekend serves up a three-course meal of Australian horror films. On Sunday, The Reef sees four backpackers stalked by a shark on the Great Barrier Reef (this 2010 film hailing from a time when Australia still had sharks and a Great Barrier Reef), whereas Saturday’s Black Water swaps Great Whites for killer crocs.
The first course is the best, however. Recently rediscovered and restored, “lost” Aussie classic Wake In Fright sees a holidaying school teacher trapped in an outback town, slowly driven mad by beer, boredom and brutality. It’s not a pretty portrait of our nation, laying bare a violent heart, in a stark landscape that has never looked more alien.
MUSIC
Adrian Edmondson and the Bad Shepherds \ Caravan Music Club, Sunday April 20, $50/$40+BF
What happens to young punks when they get old? It seems they put down the electric guitar and pick up a mandolin. British comedian Adrian Edmondson – still best known as the orange-haired and star-studded Vyv from The Young Ones – is in town this week, no longer kicking against the pricks, but instead folking up your favourite tracks. His folk-punk trio specialise in enjoyable, pastoral reworkings of classics by the likes of The Clash, Madness, The Jam and The Stranglers. It’s all great fun, for ageing punks and young folksters alike.
EVENT
Record Store Day | various venues, Saturday April 19
For some of us, Saturday marks a cultural event more important than any other this month. Record Store Day Australia is a reminder of the importance of a vanishing icon. For me, the best record shops have always been a mix of education and aspiration – discovering hidden gems, while trying to impress the taste shaper behind the counter. Amazon and iTunes might tell you what you could be listening to, but they’ll never be able to tell you whether you should be. This year’s in-store events include a set by local muso Dan Sultan at Readings on Acland Street, St Kilda.
FESTIVAL
Next Wave Festival | various venues, April 16-May 11, 2014
This biennial festival, running across the next 28 days, aims to celebrate the work of new and emerging artists. Work from every art form imaginable will be hosted in venues that range from the traditional to the surprising – galleries, theatres, private homes and, uh, bathrooms. Every work is a world premiere, having been crafted especially for this festival. Highlights include a gruelling 12-hour performance of the infamous Rachmaninoff Concerto No. 3, in which the score is played on sight by a group of failed pianists; seven new art projects by indigenous artists under the umbrella title Blak Wave; Article 14.1 by Phuong Ngo, and a political tour of the Yarra River, setting sail from Fairfield Park Boathouse
MUSIC
Badlove | Twin Beasts (Independent)
There’s a curious trend at the moment for record sleeves starring naked ladies. Alongside recent albums by Nick Cave, Harry Hookey and Sky Ferreira, we can now add the “second” debut from Melbourne’s Twin Beasts (previously known as The Toot Toot Toots). The leaping-gazelle nude on the cover might feel less sleazy if this wasn’t so definitely a bloke’s album. Even when singer Dan Hawkins is beating himself up, as on I’m No Good, it’s about some girl he “f–ked” and made cry. Still, there’s a lot to enjoy here. Tracks such as Sweet Marie and Together Lonely have a spaghetti-western vibe recalling the best work of Crooked Fingers. Throughout, there are echoes of the moody, grubby romance of Nick Cave and Tom Waits, welded to sturdy alt rock. Twin Beasts seem to specialise in poppy choruses that lift their gritty brand of indie out of the gutter and, if not quite towards the stars, then as far as the nearest decent bar.
MYKE’S SPACE
Watching | Orphan Black. (SBS2, Tuesday) Fast-tracked from the US, this American-British thriller promises more gripping, clone-based conspiracy drama.
Attending | The Dark Crystal. Returning to the Astor Theatre after 25 years, this Muppety kids’ classic is looking a bit creaky, but you can’t fault its ambition.
Listening | S. Carey’s Range of Light. Beautiful, panoramic soundscapes from Bon Iver’s bandmate.
