Light and Dark Review and Competition (from Issue 10)

Veteran producer Lee Coombs has been one of the most prominent names in tech funk for nearly twenty years. His pioneering sounds and styles have influenced the likes of The Chemical Brothers and Groove Armada and is admired by heavyweights such as Tiesto and Carl Cox.

Light and Dark sees Coombs continuing to make what is often described as ‘big room music.’ His bass lines are typically heavy and thumping, the riffs are relentless and the synthesizers nothing short of hypnotic. The opening tracks, despite being infectious and groovy, don’t quite leave a lasting impression. The real party begins on the title track which is a very welcome throwback to the late 80s with its perfect mixture of retro synth and clean production qualities. The album features a respectable list of guest vocalist ranging from Katherine Ellis to Seasunz, whose rap performance on ‘Not A Game’ sits perfectly with Coombs’ experimentation with mid-tempo beats.

Throughout his career Coombs has successfully reworked hits by Moby and New Order and to close his latest LP, he has redone the 80s classic ‘Rescue’ by Echo and the Bunnymen and it is truly the highlight of the record. Light and Dark is not as groundbreaking as Coombs’ early work but it manages to maintain his status as one of the premier DJ’s in the world of tech funk.

Asif Ziffer

Win a copy of Light and Dark
Simply email grapeshotmq@gmail.com with your name and “Light and Dark Competition” in the subject line to go in the draw for one of three CDs. Winners will be contacted via email. Good luck!

Stone Bros. Review and Competition (from Issue 8)

We’re not black and white, we’re all different shades of green…that’s just one of the messages I took away from the very funny Stone Bros. Australia’s first Aboriginal comedy embraces stereotype, myth and tradition and pretty much sits on them – but in a very light-hearted, good-natured way – before directing you down paths you didn’t know exist.

Eddie, the straight guy of the piece is caught between two worlds. He looks pretty white, so not even the dog that hates black kids would chomp on him as a boy, but he wants to go back home to Kalgoorlie in the mining region of WA and prove he’s a real black fella. He has a special stone, imbued with mystical properties that he has to take with him, but it’s been lost and now Eddie has to find it before it’s gone forever. Always along for the ride (and for a major dose of hilarity) is Charlie, who gets all the girls because he’s as dark as yummy chocolate (my phrasing).

Stranded on the road is the worldly and wise Vincent, who they pick up because Charlie knows “a good looking woman when he sees one”, before coming across another cousin, Reg – now referred to as Regina – who dreams of stardom. I don’t want to give too much away, but the film has some generous moments of laugh-out-loud funniness, great one-liners and weird but wonderful quirks in the plot.

The film is crisp and clean – very Hollywood – and so much better than I was expecting. The play on culture and politics is extremely clever and the cinematography highlights and celebrates the Australian landscape (think Priscilla, Queen of the Desert).

Shall I watch it again? Yes. And I’ll still laugh at all the jokes. They won’t get old for a while. In fact, I can see at least one of those one-liners making a drunken appearance or twenty. I wonder if we can do a poll to see if you can all guess which one?

The movie will be released on September 24, and I highly recommend that you all watch it – not for the ‘post-sorry’ feel good factor, not just because the cast comprises of mainly indigenous people, but because it is genuinely and deadly funny.

By Therese Raft

Win a double pass to the exclusive special preview screening of Stone Bros.
Simply email grapeshotmq@gmail.com with your name and “Stone Bros. Competition” in the subject line to go in the draw for one of 30 double passes to the special preview of Stone Bros. The preview is on 21 September – stars from the movie will be in attendance, and lucky door prizes are up for grabs. Winners will be contacted via email.

DigiSPAA - Australia's Premier Digital Feature Film Competition

Are you an aspiring filmmaker? There is only a couple of weeks until the deadline for all feature films to be submitted to the DigiSPAA digital filmmaking competition. The prize consists of $15,000 cash, $20,000 worth of post-production, a guaranteed screening of their film on the Movie Extra channel, plus a return airfaire and free registration to the prestigious CineMart International Film Festival Rotterdam.

The competition acts as the launching pad for local directors, including Jason Byrne, 2008 winner for Little Deaths, and John L. Simpson, 2007 winner for Men's Group, who are making waves in the local and international film industry.

Four finalists will be screened at this year's SPAA Fringe conference on 16 and 17 October at Foxtel Television Centre, North Ryde, and judged by an expert industry panel including Antony I. Ginnane, President of IFM World Releasing Inc., Geoff Brown, Executive Director SPAA; Daniel Scharf, Producer of Geoffrey Wright's AFR Award-winning Romper Stomper; Colleen Meldrum, Program Director, Movie Network Channels and Stacey Edmonds, Producer/Director of I Know How Many Runs You Scored Last Summer.

Two finalists will then be selected and the winner announced at the annual SPAA Conference 17 - 20 November. All finalists will be made available to prominent international and local delegates, offering applicants ample exposure to the top dogs of the industry.

Applications close at 5pm on Friday 18 September 2009. Eligible films are feature length, with a running time of at least 70mins, digitally produced and completed to advanced post-production stage no earlier than 31 August 2008, and independently funded.

For full details, application form and guidelines go to http://www.spaa.org.au/

DigiSPAA is a creative project of the Screen Producers Association of Australia (SPAA) an industry body that represents Australian independent film and television producers on all issues affecting the business and creative aspects of screen production.