Never let it be said that we at HI! neglect you. Here’s the trailer for the latest installment in the ever popular Superman franchise, starring Henry Cavill as mild-mannered reporter Clark Kent/you know who.

Man of Steel will be released on June 14th 2013

From “Gallifrey. A very long time ago…” and the First Doctor’s “borrowing” of the TARDIS to the battle-scarred world of Trenzalore and the final resting place of the Doctor, The Name of the Doctor is one of the most sweeping, ambitious and epic adventures that Doctor Who has attempted. For the most part it succeeds in atoning for the generally lacklustre Series 7b but there are still faults with the story that drag it down to a status of “pretty good” rather than “exceptional”.

For his third series finale Steven Moffat uses the same basic plot as he did for the previous two: a tale featuring River Song (Alex Kingston) revolving around the “wibbly wobbly time-y wimey” consequences of attempting to remove the Doctor from history. The Big Bang, The Wedding of River Song and now The Name of the Doctor all feature this basic trope to varying degrees. This time around it’s the Great Intelligence in the form of Dr Walter Simeon (Richard E Grant) that wants to mess up the Doctor’s place in the history of the universe by entering his time stream and rewriting it to remove him completely. The sight of the deceased Doctor as a pulsating column of light scarring space and time situated within a decaying TARDIS console room is a disquieting image that is representative of the funereal tone that pervades much of the episode.

Alongside the sneering Dr Simeon came the taut-faced Victorian gentleman-styled Whisper Men. Reminiscent of “The Gentlemen” from the classic Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode Hush, the Whisper Men are avatars for the non-corporeal Great Intelligence’s last human form of Dr Simeon. Created by Steven Moffat because he didn’t want to use old monsters for the finale after recent appearances by Ice Warriors and Cybermen these new creepy affectations fulfill the need to scare without being anywhere near as memorable as those classic Moffat creations the Weeping Angels and the Silent.

Unravelling the plans of the Great Intelligence was Clara Oswald (Jenna-Louise Coleman), the so-called “impossible girl” whose presence as multiple individuals at multiple points in the Eleventh Doctor’s time stream had been the underpinning mystery of Series 7b. Like all good mysteries it makes sense once the solution is revealed but better scripted seeding throughout the various episodes would have rendered it far more memorable. Clara scattering herself along the Doctor’s personal time stream in order to defeat the machinations of the Great Intelligence is a clever concept and rewatching episodes armed with this resolution might make them more memorable but everything should have been more intriguing to begin with. What won’t change with repeated viewing is the ineffectual acting of Jenna-Louise Coleman. A stronger actor could have shored up the underdeveloped material delivered by the scriptwriters but Coleman just doesn’t have the required acting ability. Time and time again she comes across as incredibly wooden, especially when ranged against more experienced actors like Richard E Grant, David Warner and Diana Rigg. Even when she lands in “hell” within the Doctor’s time stream it’s difficult to associate with her plight.

Far easier to associate with is the fantastic Matt Smith as he concludes his third series as the Doctor. After a few bumpy moments in recent stories Smith is once again at the peak of his powers in The Name of the Doctor. Whether it’s being childlike in a one-sided game of hide and seek with Clara’s charges, the tearful realisation of his own final demise or trying to forestall the pain of an ultimate farewell to River Song, Smith makes you feel each and every emotion he’s going through.

The doom-laden atmosphere of The Name of the Doctor even extends to the normally flirty, feisty and fun River Song. Granted this River is a projection from the Library where she died in her very first story and death may well take away some of the humour of life but Matt Smith and Alex Kingston just weren’t given the opportunity for the playful interaction that characterised previous encounters. A few ambers of the old River burnt brightly in moments such as when she turns her cup of tea into a glass of champagne but in the main it’s a subdued River on show. For all that it’s to be hoped that Alex Kingston graces Doctor Who for many years to come and she’s now clocked up as many episodes as Christopher Eccleston did.

Though they were given far less to do than had been the case in The Crimson Horror the trio of Madame Vastra (Neve McIntosh), Jenny Flint (Catrin Stewart) and Strax (Dan Starkey) were as entertaining as ever in their fourth appearance. It was interesting to see the change in their characters in the absence of the Doctor – in particular the comic relief version of Strax being replaced with a true warrior Sontaran. With the confirmation of an eighth series of Doctor Who it’s a fair bet that the enjoyable Paternoster Gang will be making further investigations come 2014.

In amongst the generally downbeat atmosphere of The Name of the Doctor came moments of innovative heartwarming nostalgia for long time fans of Doctor Who. Never before has there been such technically brilliant and prolonged interaction between classic and new series. With the assistance of CGI effects, body doubles and Back to the Future-style insertions into existing footage, the production team were brilliantly able to place both Clara and Dr Simeon within the past of the Doctor and bring back to life his first ten incarnations for a brief instance. The pièce de résistance came with the use of colourised archive footage of William Hartnell’s First Doctor in order to create the scene where he steals the TARDIS and flees Gallifrey with his granddaughter Susan. Nearly 50 years after he first appeared in the series and 38 years after Hartnell’s death it’s incredibly moving to see the original Doctor appear in a new scene so pivotal to the mythology of the series.

The Name of the Doctor was not about revealing the true identity of the Doctor but the actions this particular Time Lord undertakes under the title he has chosen for himself. As one previous script editor put it – “the Doctor is never cruel or cowardly”. And the almighty twist in the tail here was the possibility that there is a hidden incarnation of this Time Lord that has been wiped from the face of history because he didn’t live up to the worthiness of the self-chosen title. There’s no denying that the climatic credit of “Introducing John Hurt as the Doctor” had millions of jaws dropping and left viewers salivating for the 50th anniversary special.

“To be continued…November 23rd”.

You may have gathered that Stephen Soderbergh’s film Behind the Candelabra is one of the films HI! is most looking forward to this Summer. As well as being the esteemed film-maker’s last ever film (or so he says), the film also marks a return to screen of Michael Douglas, who seems to be having nothing less than the time of his life playing Liberace, an icon of glitter, camp and gay in a time when gay performers were forced to conceal their sexuality, lest they lose everything they had worked so hard for. Also present: Matt Damon as his eighteen-year-old lover, Rob Lowe as his plastic surgeon and real-life-friend-of-Lib, Debbie Reynolds as his mum.

We’ve said it before but, seriously, this movie is gonna be killer. Enjoy the “Making Of” featurette above while you plan what to wear while watching it.

I love books. I’ve loved books since I was tiny and I’ll love books when I’m old. I love the feel of them in my hand, I love the smell of them and I love the turning of the pages. I love knowing how far into the book I am by simply placing the bookmark between two sheets and opening it with a twist. So, my introduction to the Kindle was one of trepidation. How could this little screen, not unlike tablet computers or iPads, possibly hold a candle to a real book? This gimmick will never take off.

I decided, when it looked like the Kindle was going to stick around for longer than I thought, that I would man up. I received one as a present and it had sat under a pile of ‘real’ books for months until I thought, no, this will have to happen sometime. I turned it on, my interest piqued at the screen itself, so very like the pages of a paperback. The little forward/backward buttons on either side substituted for the turning of the page. I bought a few books to put on it and away I went.

Undeniably, the Kindle is an impressive piece of technology. I own a fourth generation Kindle – it has an on-screen keypad rather than a physical one and the buttons to turn the page sit on the side of the device. It has 2GB of memory and its battery can last for up to a month. Nifty.

However, despite these, I lost interest in each book about a third of the way through the first chapter. I just couldn’t get used to not knowing where in the book I was. It bothered me more than I thought it would, that feeling of not knowing how much left there was to go. The books I tried included Les Miserables and The Picture of Dorian Grey.

After a spell, I decided to change tack and move on to books that were definitely less ‘hi-brow’. One such book was The Animals of Farthing Wood by Colin Dann. I had read this book as a child and I had loved it, not to mention the accompanying cartoon. I felt that time was right to return to the Kindle and give it another chance. I purchased my copy of Farthing Wood and it downloaded.

This book is a throwback to childhood and I have read it before. So, approaching it on the Kindle was not so much about reacquainting myself with it – I was discovering it in an entirely new medium. The first surprise was that the book was now much lighter in my hands. The Kindle weighs only a fraction of a heavy paperback and is very easy to carry around. It’s a little library that you can put into your bag. With Farthing Wood, I was able to easily pick up the Kindle again, without the drudgery of the other volumes I mentioned.

So, should Colin Dann be required reading for anyone looking to take up the Kindle? I believe that when using something new to rediscover something old, starting with heavy tomes is the wrong approach. Take something light, an easy read. Remember, this technology is still so new to a lot of us – don’t begin by reading War and Peace, begin with a story about a group of animals running from danger.

Begin with something you can easily conceal from the nosy parkers on the bus who might judge you for the material you’re reading. Show off your flashy new toy to them. Show it off to yourself. I still find the uncertainty of knowing where in the novel you are a bit off putting, but I can reconcile with that. It may take Harry Potter or The Chronicles of Narnia to get me there, but I’m certainly game to try and I hope you will be too!

Simon Killer is the latest film from Antonio Campos, whose impressive and ever-growing resume includes many an art-house flick (examples include production credits on Martha, Marcy, May, Marlene and directorial credits on Afterschool). In the case of Simon Killer, Campos both co-wrote and directed the film, which revolves around college graduate Simon (Brady Corbet) who – after a recent and traumatic break-up – travels to Paris to take some time out. While in Paris, Simon becomes involved with a prostitute and the film charts their romantic involvement and its outcomes.

However, that summary is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of describing what the film is really about. Simon Killer is, in fact, a blunt, brutal and visceral portrayal of misogyny. It’s certainly not the kind of film that one wants to see at 10.30 in the morning but hey, I suffer for my reviews…

The film initially sets us up to feel somewhat sympathetic towards Simon. He seems lost, heartbroken and yes, admittedly a little pathetic (he continues to email his ex, who wants nothing to do with him and blathers on about his thesis). He appears socially awkward (he has a cringy encounter with some French women), and the heavy use of close-ups work to demonstrate his vulnerable side. It almost seems ok that he visits a brothel; he’s not sleezy, he’s just desperate.

When he falls for Victoria (Mati Diop) – the prostitute with whom he had a sexual encounter – he seems even more desperate; more deluded. However, when he tricks her into thinking that he was mugged and thus has no passport or money, we get our first glimpse of his manipulative side.

From that moment on, Simon is no longer worthy of sympathy as he manipulates and lies his way into Victoria’s life. Her back-story is tragic, and although she recounts it one night for Simon in French, he fails to grasp what she is saying.  It is as though the film dramatises the fact that women’s stories often go unheard, uncomprehended and until we listen to these stories, victims of domestic and sexual abuse like Victoria will continue to suffer in silence.

Just as Simon fails to understand Victoria, the film makes us feel that, as spectators, we have failed to understand Simon; to read the clues all along. In this sense, Simon Killer becomes a reflection on destructive relationships – the hidden depths of personality that often go unexamined, and the tragedy that ensues as a result.

Simon Killer is uncomfortable to watch and is explicit enough to warn you not to go and see it with a family member. However, it’s an important insight into violent and sexual abuse, and a revealing character study of the often innocent-looking perpetrator of such atrocious crimes against women.

Photo by Cambria Harkey

Hello all and welcome to another week of Prick Up Your Ears! An indie heavy episode that may or may not drag you back to the heady days of Arcade Fire and Elbow, or then again might have you running away screaming, depending on your taste.

1) First up is this unreleased, unheard version of Talking Head’s ‘Psycho Killer’, which was unleashed onto the Internet just yesterday. This version features cellist and composer Arthur Russell on the choruses and verses, jabbing and crashing away in his distinctive style. His cello work turns ‘Psycho Killer’ from an indie disco classic into a more frenetic, melancholic piece of music (note the change of lyrics in the second verse).

2) California’s Rogue Wave are back with a fifth album ‘Nightingale Floors’ on June 4th. ‘Siren’s Song’ is a breezy, reverby track bursting with varied melodies and bracing with its twists and turns.

3) Do you need any more evidence that ‘Like Clockwork’ will be amazing? Not really, but Queens Of The Stone Age keep hammering album tracks out anyway on their Youtube channel. ‘If I Had A Tail’ isn’t the children’s’ story about a bunny with a birth defect you’re looking for but is instead the typical sultry, smouldering rock we’ve come to expect from Josh Homme et al.

4) Pure X’s ‘Things In My Head’ sounds a bit like Mercury Rev, aka both distant and lucid at the same time. Good music to float around in space to (if you’re Chris Hadfield).

If I’m not working, these days are dedicated solely to eating, and endless scrolling on Tumblr.
But then…

And just like that I think I fell in love with a pair of trainers.

I think it took me a good three days to track them down; they’re one of those designs that Nike releases where once they’re gone, they’re gone. So you can only imagine my excitement when I found someone was selling a couple, brand new, still in the box, on a shop via eBay.
Here I feel it’s necessary to tell you all to do some background research on an eBay account if it seems to good to be true, or something doesn’t quite seem right, or even if everything seems perfect – it’s always worth double checking.
I read a lot of reviews from buyers who had bought this product, and similar. Another tip here is to read the middle reviews so you can be more certain that they aren’t fake.

They took a while to arrive as they were being shipped from a distant land far, far away, but it was so worth it.

They’re probably the most comfortable shoes and trainers that I’ve ever worn, which makes them perfect for the training that I’m doing to get in shape. If I don’t have the support my body needs then I could end up doing myself more damage than I’m doing good.
It’s just a bonus that they’re incredible to look at, so if you follow me on Instagram (which you should @bexxxknight), then expect to see them creep into some of my non-gym outfit posts! A definite 10/10.

Do we dig them?!

Twitter Music

Twitter Music launched recently and uses you and your followers’ activity to help you discover new music. It also features an “Emerging” chart of music mentioned by influential Twitter users, and a “Popular” chart of the most trending artists – so expect a lot of One Direction here. If your followers are using the service at the same time, you can see what they are listening too as well.
The most popular Twitter accounts belong to musicians (at the moment the top three are Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga and Katy Perry) and the hope is that fans will spread the love for their favourite music as they can tweet about new releases or follow artists directly from the app.
You can stream songs if you have an existing Spotify Premium or Rdio account (see below); otherwise you’re stuck with 30-second previews with the option to buy songs through iTunes, so it’s unclear how much of an impact Twitter Music will have when full tracks are out there on YouTube for free. But it’s still early days and the offering will no doubt grow in the same way as Facebook’s myriad features.
Cost: Free previews. Requires Spotify Premium or Rdio subscription for full tracks, or purchase via iTunes.
Mobile apps: Only iOS for now.

Spotify

The first music streaming program to have a big impact and still the most established. There are still some gaps in the catalogue, notably some major ‘legacy’ artists including the Beatles, Led Zeppelin and Metallica, but Spotify is fairly comprehensive for new releases.
For maximum convenience, Spotify integrates its own catalogue with any music already on your computer or phone. Users can subscribe to playlists by others (including your very own HI! Magazine) and create collaborative playlists. Any song can be used to create a radio ‘station’ of similar music.
The Free option now allowed unlimited playback of each song as the previous restriction of five plays per track has been lifted. There are still annoying adverts every few songs though, and so the £5 monthly upgrade to the Unlimited option is well worth it.
Cost: Free with adverts and play limits. £4.99/month for Unlimited (no ads or limits). £9.99/month for Premium (mobile and offline listening).
Mobile apps: iOS, Android, BlackBerry.

Rdio

A graduate of the Flickr/Tumblr school of missing vowels, Rdio is a growing rival to Spotify. Usefully, it runs within a web browser whereas Spotify requires you to download an application, and like Spotify, it integrates with Facebook and Twitter so you can show off your amazing music taste to your friends. However, Rdio can’t play your local files.
Its attractive interface has won praise from devotees, although Spotify’s recent redesign means there’s now not a huge difference between the two; for example, both feature large tiles to make album artwork clearer.
Rdio’s library is comprehensive and even includes some artists who you won’t hear on Spotify; conversely, some albums available in the US aren’t on the UK version of Rdio due to licensing issues. Rdio users can review music and your reviews are collated on a personal ‘homepage’ for your friends to read and vice versa.
Cost: Free trial with a limited amount of music per month. £4.99/month for web version. £9.99/month for web and mobile.
Mobile apps: iOS , Android, BlackBerry and Windows Phone.

Viggo Mortensen

“Drones manage to penetrate the hive because they are odorless and stingless but they are good for nothing, they only spread disease…” Rosa (beekepper, 21)

In the hive every bee has a specific plan, which is strictly enforced by the laws of nature. The film resorts to comparing the intricate web of relationships in the hive with the one of humans. Disguised as a “fluvial” thriller, Everybody has a plan is in essence a work of poetry (in an Aristotelian sense) which interrogates and reflects on two of the oldest human dichotomies, the one of good versus evil and the one of free will as opposite to fate. This is a film of silence, painful memories violence and lost. Is a film of tragic souls in purgatory and their yearning for some sort of resolution.

Augustin (Viggo Mortensen), is a successful doctor in Buenos Aires, married to the also successful writer Claudia (Soledad Villamil) and ultimately disgusted with the wrapped-in-cotton routinary life he is leading. But when his twin brother, Pedro, comes to visit, out of the blue, with a disturbing plan, he sees a way out. In a classical twins-tale-twist Agustin ends up supplanting his brother and returning to the Tigre Delta region, where the twins spent most of their childhood and Pedro was surviving as a beekeeper. Shortly after his return Augustin will be trapped in Pedro’s fluvial underworld of crime and abuse. With the intervention of Pedro’s young assistant Rosa ( Sofia Gala) and his alter ego Adrián (Daniel Fanego) Agustin will be now forced to confront a different kind of fate that the one of boredom.

With a very intriguing built up and an excellent cast, the story fails in leaving too many untied strings, for example Claudia’s plot (Soledad Villamill) which is suddenly cut short like if forgotten . Also many questions are left unanswered along the way, yet to be fair maybe that’s the intention, as this would be consistent with the philosophical background of the movie. The greatest asset of the film is the haunting atmosphere, the magnificent portrait of an inhospitable environment of outlaws, so away from civilization, so crude yet so humane, reminiscent of the one of Winter’s Bone.

Technically correct and visually beautiful, Piterberg’s debut feature has some flaws but it is also well worth to watch. This slow pace thriller can be distressing, unpredictable, brilliant and boring at times, won’t be everybody’s cup of tea but it offers some food for thought. The characters are very credible, interesting in their ambiguity and in their vulnerability. Viggo Mortensen with a more than solvent dual role is able to convey, with a great range of looks and contained expressions, resignation and sadness, frustration and hope or simply the feeling of being lost. Also the young actress Sofia Gala and Daniel Fanego, in his antagonistic role, are not left behind with their sound performances.

Everyone has a plan is a story of tricky second chances , a thriller full of metaphors and reflections, which for the most part delivers although it fails in the development of some plots in favor of trying to make a deeper analysis of its main character. As an audience you are left with the sensation of having seen a good movie that could have been better. It is a disturbing, pessimistic and tragic tale in which the direction and character creation give the emotional and human deepness to an otherwise slow pace and sometimes aimlessly course. The best: The atmosphere and the characters, the worse: the unfinished subplots.

Everyone has a plan is showing in IFI, in Dublin from Friday 24th May 2013

Why overload on cosmetics when you could be bringing cheap alcohol from duty free?

Taking advantage of a cheap airline deal is a great idea – you can get to most of Europe for under £50. The only downside is the miniscule allowance of cabin luggage. I own make-up cases bigger than the average cabin bag. So how on earth are you supposed to stay looking glamorous on your hollibobs?

The answer is, of course, by planning ahead and being versatile. Yu can get a multitude of looks for both day and night with the minimum of tools.

-       Foundation is unnecessary. If you’re going to warmer climes, the sun will dry up your spots and you’ll have glowing skin anyway. Why hide that? Grab some concealer if you must, but it’s just a waste of space and you’ll be sweating it off anyway.

-       Don’t forget the SPF moisturiser. You can get non-greasy up to SPF50 these days, meaning you get soft skin and avoid being known as Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer on your trip.

-       Mascara is also easy to sweat off. Take some Vaseline with you to darken your eyelashes, and you can slick it across your lips to avoid chapping too. For the evenings, take a sample-size mascara to open up your eyes for photos with no effort.

-       Eyeshadow, when properly applied, can be easy and effective. But you’re on holiday? Why bother? If you must, bring two colours – a shimmery highlight for under your brows and a darker colour to smoke out along your eyelashes.

-       Chuck a peach-toned nudey lipstick in your bag, but stick to Vaseline instead of gloss.

You don’t get sunsets like that in England.

Optional Extras, if you have slightly more room:

-       Whack your eyelash curler in there, it’ll do the job of an eyeshadow palette by opening those peepers up.

-       A red lipstick, for nights out and days when you want to stand out.

-       A tinted moisturiser if you want to cover up, but don’t forget that your natural skin tone might change as you tan!

There you go. Shove it all in a tiny bag with forty thousand hair-grips that you will lose within three days and don’t forget your swimsuit. Even if you’re not on the coast.