The Renegade Writers Recommend... Festive Film Releases by Jane Foster

JC In The Hood ( 18 ) The Nativity retold..as it really happened - in the real ghetto. JC, the son of God, is born on a dirty mattress to Mare E and Joes F, both crack addicts.

Mare E is about to sell him to feed her habit...but then discovers he has an amazing talent for rapping. He can also perform great miracles..magically making expensive gold jewellery appear on the fingers of his favourite homies...and turning their cheap Biblical threads into designer gear. JC goes on to become a big star ...the rest is Bible history. A heartwarming tale. Contains scenes of heavy designer label use.

Chitty Chitty Bling Bling ( 15 ) An uplifting tale of two young boys from the Bronx who save up enough money to buy their very own stolen car. It's a cut 'n' shunt job, but who cares? They've got each other.

Together they endure life's bumpy rides as they cruise their block - with hilarious consequences, and a few deaths on the way. Starring Dick van Murphy and Julie Handscrews. (Contains violence, swearing and scenes of gold jewellery that some may find offensive).

Seven Kids to Seven Fellas ( 15 ) A musical romp through the life of a single mother on a Hull council estate. Follow her trials as she sings, pole dances and pimps her way through life to buy her children Nike booties and stolen designer tracksuits.

Featuring the well known songs 'Rule Britannia House' 'Child Benefit Blues' and 'I'm Gonna take that Man to the CSA'. Contains scenes of cheap Argos earrings and snotty noses which some may find offensive.

When Addy met Saddy ( U ) This is a tale of two moustaches. A tale of two hardcore dictators, united in mutual follicular admiration. Adolf is a young dictator with a genetic disorder, which means that his moustache extends no further than his Cupid's bow. His secret wish is to own a large, bushy moustache.

Saddam, on the other hand, cannot control his moustache growth and longs for a neat little bristle. When fate brings these two together...it's love at first shave. A true story of how love can blossom between two people with different cultures, different ideologies, and different rates of hair growth along the upper lip. A must-see for all the family.

Review of 2003 - By Nick Quantrill
	In the festive tradition of polls, surveys and what have you that all the best magazines and websites carry at this time of the year, you'll have to settle for some things I liked in 2003 and some things I didn't.. 1 Gigolo Aunts - Pacific Ocean Blues 2 Jesse Malin - The Fine Art Of Self Destruction Read more...

Reviews, Films - "Love Actually" (15) by Shelly Dee
	Wednesday night I went to see Love Actually. It is a fantastic feel good movie. Yes, it is Richard Curtis of Four Weddings fame again doing English romantic comedy but it's really good. Hugh Grant, as the man at No 10, gave a typical Hugh Grantesque performance. However, his dance to "Jump" was a real eye opener and raised a laugh or two in the auditorium. Read more...

Reviews, Books - "A Man Named Dave" by Dave Pelzer
	By Darren Sant A Man Named Dave is the third and final book in the memoirs of Dave Pelzer. See this website for reviews of the first two books: A Child Called "It". and The Lost Boy. The first two books cover the authors early years and detail the abuse he suffered at the hands of his Mother. The third book details Dave's life from late teens to the present day. Read more...

Reviews, Books - "The Lost Boy" by Dave Pelzer
	By Darren Sant The memoirs of Dave Pelzer, see my review of the first book on this website. here The first book leaves you with a naïve feeling of satisfaction as Dave finally escapes his cruel mother. However, things are not as cut and dried, as we would like them to be. This second book deals with Dave's life from ages 12 to 18. Read more...

Reviews, Books - "A Child Called 'It'" by Dave Pelzer
	By Darren Sant What can I say about this book? Anyone that knows me well would perhaps describe me as a "sentimental bugger". I am therefore surprised that I did not cry buckets of tears after every page of this book. A Child Called 'It' is the first in a trilogy of books. The books are the memoirs of Dave Pelzer. This first book covers Dave's life from ages 4 to 12. Read more...

Reviews, Books - "Cradle Song" by Robert Edric
	By Nick Quantrill Being a bit of sucker for crime fiction, and more pertinently, hard-boiled private investigator stories, I picked up this book purely on the basis it fulfilled the above criteria and is set in Hull. Upon further investigation it turns out this is the first part of a trilogy set on the mean streets of Hull by Booker Prize nominated Robert Edric. Read more...

Reviews, Books - "A Drink With Shane MacGowan" by Victoria Mary Clarke and Shane MacGowan
	By Nickolas Boldock Shane MacGowan may just be a medical miracle. He is, of course, a chronic alcoholic, whose love affair with drink will likely never cease until he is six feet below. His consumption of other inebriants is now the stuff of legend. His hedonistic exploits are usually the first thing to come to mind at the mention of his name; the first subject covered in any interview; the introduction to any article (even this one). Forget that though. Read more...

Reviews, Books - A Friend of the Family by Lisa Jewell
	By Darren Sant This book is a tale of the trials and tribulations of three brothers. The brothers are suffering from differing problems and there lives are not at present on the right track. Jewell's novels are accurately described as pop fiction but don't let that put you off. The characters are believably written and there is a high degree of what I can only call emotional depth to them. Read more...

Reviews, Theatre - Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights
	Adapted by John Godber, Hull Truck Theatre 09/10/03 By E.M.X. Creek I went to this production with some apprehension. I am not a huge Brontë fan, and in addition had some doubts as to how well Wuthering Heights would adapt for our modest location. I am happy to say that the result was remarkably good. Read more...

People - Franks first night at Glastonbury Festival
	by Alfred Lawyer It all seemed to be looking up for Frank Malarky, Dance DJ extraordinaire and full-time Law Man - loved by the masses if only they had heard of him. At last a chance to strut his stuff, shake his (ample) booty and impress the young ladies at the festival he loved the most; Glastonbury. Read more...

Music Reviews - A Champion Night - Welly Club 16th January By Cilla and Greg
	One cold night in January (actually it was bloody freezing) my mate Greg and I went along to the Welly for a night with Champion Sound, the Reggae and Dancehall magicians who are currently gracing the Hull night club scene with their individual and blistering repertoire. We arrived early - about 10.15 and the club had a cold feel. There was a steady trickle of people arriving and after an hour or so, so the music began to build .. Read more...

Music Reviews - Pave - Promotional CD by Nick Quantrill
	It's often said that bands use the opportunity of recording as a means of 'capturing the live sound.' What a load of cack! It's an opportunity to sound better than you do live! Due to the pressures of working far faster than a signed band would be expected to, and in lower quality studios, the recording process must be incredibly difficult for your average Hull band. Read more...

Music Reviews - The Landau's - Sweet But True (single/ DAGALOST Records) By Steve Rudd
	Hull's something of a hotbed for cool indie-rock bands, and The Landau's - along with Still Life - are one of the freshest bands forging ahead within such a musical genre. An exclusively laddish quartet, this is the young band's first major release, and has been recorded at the city's famous Fairview Studios. The production qualities are fantastic, Read more...

Music Reviews - Pave - Linnet and Lark 05 February 2004 by Nick Quantrill
	2004 hasn't been the greatest years so far. It kicked off more than adequately in the Old Town Square of Prague but went rapidly down hill from there. Returning home I battled unsuccessfully against tonsillitis for a couple of weeks before slipping on the ice and breaking two fingers! Almost recovered, I decided to unleash myself upon Hull once again. The return of 'The Sesh' at Linnet and Lark seemed as good any place... Read more...