IBEN HJELJE, the female lead in the new film of Nick Hornby s acclaimed High Fidelity, is the best thing to come out of Denmark since Hamlet.
Interview: CRAIG FITZSIMONS
Gough’s score for the film adaptation of Nick Hornby’s boy-meets-dad novel, wholly charming as it is, is not quite of the calibre of his staggering debut
When it was first published, very few people would have predicted the extraordinary, best-selling success of Fever Pitch. Now, NICK HORNBY s winning story of a chronic football obsessive has been elevated to the big screen. But, in a world of bungs, bootboys, bandwagon-jumpers and the relentless hype of Sky Sports, is he still in love with the (sometimes not so) beautiful game? Interview: CRAIG FITZSIMONS.
When it was first published, very few people would have predicted the extraordinary, best-selling success of Fever Pitch. Now, NICK HORNBY s winning story of a chronic football obsessive has been elevated to the big screen. But, in a world of bungs, bootboys, bandwagon-jumpers and the relentless hype of Sky Sports, is he still in love with the (sometimes not so) beautiful game? Interview: CRAIG FITZSIMONS.
From the tragic death of Cliff the fish to turning Madonna down, praise from Nick Hornby and fanmail from Bono, Badly Drawn Boy ’s life is certainly bewildering.
and that’s before you consider his hellenic aspirations…
As wholly charming as it is, it's not quite of the calibre of Gough's staggering debut, and we quite miss the lowing cellos and doleful Northern brass of ex-backing band Alfie
If it wasn't for the attentions of the gutter press, NICK HORNBY's current lifestyle would be pretty much blemish-free. His new novel, About A Boy, is racking up the sales figures with Overmars-like speed; he's just sold the film rights for it to Robert De Niro for #1.8m; and to cap it all, his beloved Arsenal are poised to do the league and cup
double. Tape: STUART CLARK. Pix: Mick Quinn
Shatner’s more or less monotone drawl does mean that Has Been tends to grate after a while, but it will make you smile and there’s something refreshing about a camp acting icon who’s willing to be so vulnerable while also poking fun at himself.
An accomplished but uncontroversial second album that sticks rigidly to the template established by its predecessor. Not that adhering to form and formula is necessarily a bad thing. Shakespeare did it. So did Chuck Berry.
CADENCE WEAPON is that rarest of talents: an old school rapper worth getting excited about. Here he talks about his love of retro pop and explains why he quit music journalism for a career behind the mic.
Getting dreessed especially for sex is a great turn on. There's nothing like knowing that you are the object of someone else's desire - but isn't it time that men got in on the act?
The star of what s set to be the summer s hottest movie, High Fidelity, on love, obsession, movies, rock n roll, his pal Bruce Springsteen and the records he turns to when he s had his heart broken. With support from co-star Lisa Bonet and director Stephen Frears. Text: CRAIG FITZSIMONS
When indie godhead Frank Black hooked up with several veterans of the Nashville session scene the results were thrillingly different to his work with The Pixies
With his pounding third novel, The Rooms, Declan Lynch has written one of the books of the year – a driven story of love, lust and alcohol that introduces one of the great anti-heroes of contemporary fiction.
It’s been a hell of a year for The Thrills, propelled from rehearsal rooms in rainy Dublin to a number one album, sell-out shows and limo-driven tours of L.A. at night. Hotpress catches up with the band as they kick off an irish homecoming trek with an exclusive Dublin fan club gig.
With The Story Of O, poet and journalist OLAF TYARANSEN has written an Irish memoir like no other before, a remarkable, powerful, controversial and outrageously funny book that s set to catapult him into the literary
limelight and to the top of the best-sellers lists over the coming weeks. If you think that the accompanying pix tell the naked truth, just wait till you read the book. Ireland s first outlaw autobiography, it s an uncompromisingly confessional tale of literature, sex, drugs, rock n roll and rebellion. But it is also a beautifully-written tour-de-force, a love story that will entertain, shock and move readers. In this short extract, the author battered by the rigours of his pro-cannabis election campaign and broken-hearted by the apparent collapse of a long-term relationship goes completely off the rails. Nude portraits: MICK QUINN
One of the greatest penslingers in rockdom, he’s championed U2, Joy Division and Kylie and taken a critical scalpel to Oasis, The Strokes and their “miserably narrow mates”. he’s also locked horns with Germaine Greer, helped Frankie to relax and let The Frames slip through his fingers.
Scratch the skin of any Irish chick-lit queen and you’ll find a history of depression, alcoholism, low self-esteem and late blooming – especially if that novelist’s name is Marian Keyes. One of this country’s biggest selling fiction writers, Keyes talks about how she freed herself from poverty-stricken theocratic 1980s Ireland, took a leap of faith and found her voice in print. Not to mention M&M withdrawal, Cecelia Ahern, neo feminism and Anthony Kiedis. Interview: Tanya Sweeney. Photography: Cathal Dawson.
In his latest book, the high profile psychiatrist addresses the idea of masculinity in crisis. But is it fact or fiction? And how have his own experiences as husband, father and professional informed his views? Joe Jackson asks the questions. And, oh, is size really important. Doc Shots: MYLES CLAFFEY
Prince may be content just to party but in a four-page special the Hot Press journalistic elite takes a look at everything 1999 has to offer. And then some.
