Movie of the week: Slumdog Millionaire

Drama. With DEV PATEL, Anil Kapoor and FREIDA PINTO. Director: Danny Boyle. 13V. Opens 6 March.
Rating: 5/5
Reviewer: Leon van Nierop

WHAT’S IT ABOUT?
A teenage boy from the slums of Mumbai, India, becomes a contestant on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire - and makes it to the final question.

WHO WILL ENJOY IT?
Going to the movies hasn’t been this much open-minded, let-your-hair-down fun in years. Even if the last flick you saw was Mr Bones 2 this uplifting, inspiring, feel-good tale of love, honesty and determination will make you feel like a millionaire. It’s a tribute to a loser who becomes a winner despite many obstacles and it will make your heart spin and leave you feeling intoxicated. The style is optimistic, the characterisation is spot-on and the story will inspire anyone who has ever had a dream to reach even greater heights. The year’s best film.

WAIT FOR DVD?
Don’t be silly! It has been an Oscar sensation and with such a refreshing story there’s no way you can miss it. This small, introverted and soulful film is a good story that says bold courage can overcome anything. What’s more, it’s about a young guy’s love for a girl and the lengths he’d go to to make her notice him. A small masterpiece that will put your life in gear. Go see it!

POPCORN FACTS
- The actor whose autograph Jamal gets was the original presenter of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.

- No one was prepared to release the film until a distributor decided at the last moment to take a chance and showed it in just a few theatres.

- The three slum kids who appear in the film will receive their fees when they turn 16 - until then the money will be kept in a trust.

JoBros conquer the big screen

Picture (from left): Kevin, Joe and Nick Jonas

The Jonas Brothers are bringing their 2008 tour concert to the big screen. Add to your appreciation of the Grammy-nominated artists with these facts.

The film Jonas Brothers: The 3D Experience, based on their US tour Burning Up, will be the band’s second appearance on the big screen (the first was Camp Rock). It includes duets with Taylor Swift, Joe Jonas’ ex, and behind-the-scenes footage.

- They’ve completed five songs for their fourth studio album.

- With an increase in the fame-o-meter come more instruments! Their website www.jonasbrothers.com says brothers Kevin and Nick each have 12 guitars while Joe has five. That’s 29 in total.

- They’re recording a Disney Channel Original Series called J.O.N.A.S! about how they struggle to live normal lives in the limelight. “I’m very hard on myself when it comes to acting,” Nick says. “I’m trying to capture my own sense of humour in real life. Sometimes I can’t quite master that on camera.”

- They earn more than $10 million (R100 million) a year and donate 10 per cent to charity. They’ve started the Change for the Children Foundation which helps kids in hospital and provides support for musically talented youngsters who can’t make it big on their own.

- A sequel to Camp Rock, provisionally called Connect Three, is in its planning stage and filming is set to start later this year.

- There’s talk they’ll also star in a big-screen movie called Walter the Farting Dog, currently in pre-production.

BACKGROUND ON THE BROTHERS
- Paul Kevin Jonas was born on 5 November 1987. He plays the lead guitar and provides backing vocals.

- Joseph (Joe) Adam Jonas was born on 15 August 1989. He sings lead vocals and plays percussion and guitar. He initially had no intention of becoming a singer and wanted to be a comedian.

- Nicholas Jerry Jonas was born on 16 September 1992. He does lead vocals too and plays rhythm guitar and piano. In November 2005 he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.

- There’s another brother. Franklin Nathaniel Jonas, born on 28 September 2000, is known as the “Bonus Jonas” and will make his debut with his brothers on J.O.N.A.S! He might also make an appearance in the Camp Rock sequel.

- Jonas Brothers: The 3D Experience is in cinemas from 6 March.

Local music news

WHO’S PANIKING? NOT JAX!
His real name is Jacobus Johannes van Heerden but you probably know him by his other moniker, JAX PANIK. The Cape Town singer rose to fame last year thanks to the success of his quirky single Cigarettes & Cinnamon, which topped 5FM charts three weeks in a row.

The track was initially released independently and fans were soon buzzing about another of his songs, Russian Roulette. Now 26-year-old Jax, who wrote Cigarettes & Cinnamon three years ago, has released his first full album named after the song that put him on the map.

“I wrote the song during a low period in my life. I was fresh out of varsity after studying design. I had all these plans to be financially independent but it didn’t work out like that at all,” Jax recalls. “I was really depressed and felt my life was bland. The song is about being alone and hoping for excitement but not getting it.”

His upbeat style of music is “a bit of everything - rock, electro and hip-hop - but at its core it’s pop. When I write a song, if the chorus doesn’t get stuck in my head, it won’t work.”

Good news for Jax Panik fans is he’s working on a new album which he hopes will be out by the middle of the year. Oh, and ladies - he’s single!

LOCAL IS LEKKER ON THE WEB
If you want hot local content sent directly to your cellphone look no further than mtnxploaded.co.za. The site offers a variety of genres - rock, hip-hop, kwaito, dance, reggae, R&B, soul, Afrikaans and gospel. But artists and bands must be unsigned. It’s a fresh concept from MTN. Log on to the site and start downloading. Songs cost about R5 each.

CD reviews

ALBUM OF THE MONTH: INTUITION BY JAMIE FOXX
Rating: 4/5
Reviewer: Jared Orlin

R&B fans rejoice - the sultan of smooth, Jamie Foxx, is back with a follow-up to 2005’s Unpredictable. Jamie is better known as an Oscar-winning actor but his role as Ray Charles in the biopic Ray proved he has a mean set of pipes. He puts that silky voice to use on his latest effort, Intuition.

The songs are mostly about love and relationships and are guaranteed to put you in a romantic mood. Tracks to look out for are Just Like Me, She Got Her Own (a remix of Ne-Yo’s Miss Independent) and Blame It, which also features T-Pain.

MORE REVIEWS
FOLIE À DEUX by Fall Out Boy
Rating: 4/5
Reviewer: Alet van Zyl
On their fifth album Fall Out Boy provide the pop-rock fans love. They keep to the FOB recipe and create addictive tunes. The singles America’s Suitehearts, I Don’t Care and What a Catch, Donnie, are among their best ever. Listen for Travis McCoy of Gym Class Heroes and Brendon Urie of Panic at the Disco on What a Catch, Donnie.

GREATEST REMIXES by Good Charlotte
Rating: 3/5
Reviewer: Jared Orlin
With just three new tracks and kick-ass dance remixes this one may wind up only in Good Charlotte fans’ CD players. Which is a pity as the Maddens have put together a collection of popular tracks from their past four albums including I Just Wanna Live and The Anthem. The new songs are Los Angeles World Wide, Anxiety and Fight Song. Fab stuff.

THEATRE OF THE MIND by Ludacris
Rating: 3/5
Reviewer: Emma Liwela
This album will win over anyone who’s hesitant about taking Ludacris seriously. He’s a good actor but an even better musician. His latest offering is mindblowing and leaves his previous album, 2006’s Release Therapy, trailing far behind. We love Southern Gangsta, and What Them Girls Like featuring Chris Brown is likely to be a club anthem. Be warned - the lyrics are explicit and may offend.

Teens must-do

WATCH: Confessions of a Shopaholic (in cinemas from 13 March)
Rebecca Bloomwood (Isla Fisher) is like most girls - she loves to shop. Only problem is it has become an obsession and she even moves to New York to be closer to retail heaven. She lands a job as a columnist and while her career is a roaring success her shopping sprees get her into serious trouble with debt collectors. Will her life spiral out of control or will she find true happiness? You’ll have to watch it to see.

WIN!
Five readers will each win a Confessions of a Shopaholic hamper comprising a branded T-shirt, diary and make-up bag. Tell us what you think of our teen pages (good or bad). SMS the keyword CONFESS along with your comments, name, age and street address to 34923 before 12 March. Each SMS costs R2.

LISTEN TO: Kelly Clarkson
Pop rocker Kelly Clarkson will soon release her fourth album in South Africa - All I Ever Wanted. It has received lots of good reviews since its release in the US. The first single, My Life Would Suck without You, is already a major hit. It was produced by OneRepublic frontman Ryan Tedder. This girl sure has come a long way since winning American Idol in 2002.

VISIT: www.gradx.net/careerlist
Wondering what you’re going to do for a living one day? Check out this website which offers information on career options in South Africa. Even if you or your parents have an idea about which field you’d like to go into this site is useful because it details jobs you may not have considered - such as aquatic science for budding scientists or remedial teaching if you have a passion for education. It’s always good to think ahead especially about how you’re going to spend your working days.

GAME OF THE WEEK: Smackdown vs Raw 2009
PS3. 2008. 16+
Reviewer: Ryan Petersen
Wrestling WWE-style is back with a new game and it’s better than ever. It has mind-blowing graphics and crazy stunts so you’ll be on the edge of your seat watching the storylines unfold. A minor let-down about this title is that you’re allowed to choose from only six superstars when you start the game. Still, it remains one of the best games around and for fast and furious action there aren’t many better titles out there. A must for die-hard fans.

Meet The Killers’ leading man

Grammy nominees The Killers have released a new album, Day & Age. Here’s the lowdown on lead vocalist Brandon Flowers’ colourful life . . .

- He was born Brandon Richard Flowers on 21 June 1981 in Henderson, Nevada (near Las Vegas) and is the youngest of six children. His parents were supportive of his decision to become a rock singer.

- He was a youngster when he fell in love with music and particularly enjoyed the new wave genre (a mixture of rock ’n roll, electronic, disco and funk). “It was really weird because other kids were buying Nirvana and I was buying The Cars and the Psychedelic Furs. I was pretty alienated as a kid,” he says.

- He’s a member of the Mormon church. “Religion is very important in my life. I occasionally drink and smoke but I’m trying to stop. I’m human. I don’t think the make-up would go down so well at church though.”

- He’s known for saying strange things in interviews. For example, “Every day I change. One day I want to be dead serious and the next I just want to write great pop songs and have fun. I don’t have any kind of clear direction. I don’t know if I’d want to. I don’t even know why people want to talk to me.” Okay, then!

- His favourite bands are The White Stripes, The Strokes, Franz Ferdinand and Kings of Leon.

- He’s very close to his parents and siblings. “My dad was a produce man; he worked in grocery stores for 35 years. My mom babysat kids and raised us. “I have four sisters and one brother. I’m the baby. I learnt the difference between good girls and bad girls. I can tell the second I meet someone,” he says.

- In 2005 Brandon married Tana Brooke Mundkowsky in Hawaii. They’d dated for about four years. Their son, Ammon (after a missionary in the Book of Mormon), was born on 14 July 2007. “My parents have been together 50 years - it’s something I want to have with my family. It’s not very rock ’n roll, I know.”

- His biggest ambition? “To write the best song of all time.”

WIN!
Win one of 10 copies of The Killers’ new album. Tell us what you think of YOU’s teen pages (good or bad) in an SMS to 34923 before 5 March. Start with the word BRANDON and include your name, age and postal address. Each SMS costs R2.

Kelly Clarkson’s new song a hit

PLUS MORE MUSIC NEWS

MOST-DOWNLOADED TUNE: My Life Would Suck without You by KELLY CLARKSON (www.apple.com/itunes)
It’s great that this song from Kelly’s latest offering can be downloaded now as her album will hit South African shelves only in March. My Life Would Suck without You is the hit single from the pop-rock singer’s fourth album, All I Ever Wanted. The song made US Billboard Hot 100 history when it jumped from No 97 to No 1 in just one week. - Kim Van Reizig

THE ALESHA SHOW by Alesha Dixon
Rating: 3/5
Reviewer: Gilda van Schalkwyk
Alesha, former member of UK band Mis-Teeq, delivers an album that is worlds apart from her work with the band. The biggest hit on this 14-track album is The Boy Does Nothing, which says you should dump your boyfriend if he does nothing. It has a good mix of genres and a hip style. Songs include Breathe Slow, a great ballad, and the rap-pop song Hand It Over.

METRO STATION by Metro Station
Rating: 4/5
Reviewer: Jared Orlin
The four guys from Los Angeles released their debut album in September 2007 and it has recently been released in SA. Two singles, Kelsey and Control, garnered some attention but it wasn’t until Seventeen Forever and Shake It exploded onto the charts that the awesome foursome made waves here. The sound is pop meets rock with a mix of electro. All in all it lends an indie feel to the album.

PUTUMAYO PRESENTS WOMEN OF JAZZ by various artists
Rating: 3/5
Reviewer: Denver Fourie
This is an excellent compilation of 10 fine female jazz vocalists from North America. Favourites include Etta James whose classic Since I Fell for You is simply stunning. We also love Della Griffin with It Could Happen to You. Listen to Melody Gardot, Hope Waits, Sophie Milman and Cassandra Wilson. It’s a feel-good CD to have in your collection.

MUSIC MUST-HAVE
The Life of John Lennon by Philip Norman
If you’re a Beatles fan this book is a must-read. The author, who became famous when he wrote The Beatles biography Shout! in the early ’80s, focuses on John Lennon in the 800-pager hailed as “nothing less than thrilling” by the New York Times.

It takes a revealing look at John’s childhood and school years, his creative relationship with Paul McCartney and his experiments with meditation, primal scream therapy and drugs. The author interviewed among others McCartney, John’s son Sean Lennon and his widow, Yoko Ono.