Being a kid in the early 80s was tough. Thatcher’s Britain was like an amusement park that had failed a safety test -- it looked fun, but was really a potential death trap. Heroin “screwed you...
December 4th - 6th at Butlins in Minehead. The rumble begins somewhere around my front teeth. The rattle in my mouth is the kind of sensation I imagine I'd get if I held myself up during an...
Dr. Brooke Magnanti has revealed her dual identity as Belle de Jour, the £300-per-hour London call girl whose life in the sex work industry has documented in four books, a television series on...
Michael Caine is Harry Brown. The opening credits tell us so. No fanfare, no explosion, just simple fact: Michael Caine is Harry Brown. This is a statement of intent from the filmmakers. They know...
With the recent release of "Harry Brown" in the UK, Mark Farnsworth is taking a look back at the classic Michael Caine revenge film: "Get Carter." Launched like a British Rail heat-seeking missile,...
The subtle beauty of “Nowhere Boy” has to do with how it works on so many levels at once. Are you a Beatles or a Stones fan? Who was your favourite Beatle, John or Paul? Do you think John was a...
ZTT Records, Out Now. It is a disco at the dawn of the eighties. Pop, bombast and synths are swamping stereos and “Blue Monday” has already happened. GRID has been reclassified as AIDS – it's...
I’m going to break my golden rule and write this in first person. I figured I owe Bill Hicks this much. I’d been a massive fan since I saw him on Channel 4 years ago. I loved him the same way I...
Mark Farnsworth is currently reviewing selected films from the London Film Festival. As a child, British director Stephen Poliakoff would drive around with his father at night, looking into rich...
Kyiv's Gogolfest has both grown and remained distinctly itself - not the easiest feat to pull off. Combining theater, music, visual art and workshops, the festival is the brainchild of Vlad Troitsky,...