READING, WATCHING, LISTENING TO

Find out what has been entertaining the Entertainment Manchester staff this week...

THE WRITER

READING: With the latest Indiana Jones film out next month (hurrah!), I'm going through a bit of a Steven Spielberg phase, so my entry into this edition will be slightly (well, very) 'Berg-centric. In terms of books, I'm currently reading Warren Buckland's 'Directed by Steven Spielberg', an in-depth analysis of Spielberg's directorial style (average shot length, camera position etc). I’m on the Jaws section at the moment and it’s very dry and serious stuff, but don’t let that put you off. Buckland really knows what he’s talking about and this (along with Joseph McBride’s stunning biography) is the first port of call for anyone studying Spielberg.

WATCHING: Close Encounters of the Third Kind. I tried to watch Duel the other day, but my elderly DVD player was having none of it, so the last film I watched was CE3K, which I haven't seen for a while but is still a masterpiece. It's the slow build-up that makes it work. What so many imitators of Spielberg's blockbusters fail to recognise is that you've got to tease the audience, make them want to see the mothership, the shark or the dinosaur, not just hand it to them on a plate. Spielberg does that brilliantly here and because of it he really allows you to become Roy Neary, rather than just passively observe him, as he desperately seeks the meaning of that mash potato Devil's Tower.

LISTENING TO: I've been listening to pretty much nothing but John Williams soundtracks in recent weeks, some of which have been the obvious ones (Indy, Close Encounters - especially his ethereal music for the mothership scenes), but mostly the lesser praised stuff such as Saving Private Ryan and War of the Worlds. It’s perhaps a shame that neither album has the immediacy of some of Williams’s more well-known work and that they don‘t quite play as well in isolation as a Raiders March or Flying, but both are full of reflective, haunting music which perfectly fits the sombre mood of the films.

THE EDITOR

READING: My Life by Fidel Castro. It's not exactly an autobiography but is still his life story, as told by him in a series of interviews with Spanish journalist Ignacio Ramonet. One of the most divisive political characters of the 20th Century, Castro certainly has a story to tell and it's not one that you often get to hear in a Western world where he is so demonised by America. I haven't got far enough into it to make any judgements myself, but he's clearly a charismatic, passionate and fiercely intelligent man, and having recently finally stepped down, it seems a perfect time to hear what he has to say for himself.

WATCHING: On Tv over the last few weeks I've watched a couple of new American imports, one very good, one not so good. The very good one is Mad Men, rather deceptively hailed as being from 'the writer of The Sopranos', when 'a writer of The Sopranos' would have been more accurate as it isn't by David Chase, but Matthew Weiner, who was quite heavily involved in the stunning last series of that classic TV show. Mad Men isn't quite at that level, but it's very classy stuff nonetheless. Dirty Sexy Money though, despite a cast featuring Peter Krause, Donald Sutherland and one of the Baldwins (William probably), didn't really seem to have anything below the glossy and shallow surface.

LISTENING TO: Dangerous Game by Mary Weiss, one of the most underappreciated and remarkable albums of last year. Weiss was the lead singer in legendary girl group The Shangri-Las, but pretty much retired from the music industry when they imploded in 1968. Astonishingly, she reemerged last year with an cracking debut solo album backed by garage rockers The Reigning Sound, and while her voice has aged, her attitude and energy remains intact. Also impressive and retro is Chris Rea's latest album-book, The Return Of The Fabulous Hofner Bluenotes, an immaculately-presented three-album set that tells the fictional story of a 60s guitar instrumental group called The Delmonts and their progression into blues-rockers The Hofner Bluenotes. If that sounds a bit pretentious, it isn't because the music is awesome.