LIFESTYLE TUESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2013 Music37 & Movies Review Miley Cyrus’s new album shows promise or all the antics that Miley Cyrus (Bangerz)” and the Pharrell-produced has demonstrated in the last few “#GETITRIGHT” are addictive, feel- Fmonths - the wardrobe selec- good, up-tempo pop tunes; “FU” tions (or lack thereof), the outrageous - guess what it stands for - has Cyrus quotes, the awkward twerking and semi-angry over a dramatic beat, and the rest of her wild child behavior - it makes for an overall punchy and she could easily grab attention if she amazing track; and “4x4,” featuring did one thing: let her music speak Nelly, is a pop-twang adventure. Even for itself. Cyrus’ “Bangerz,” her fourth “Do My Thang” - where Cyrus isn’t too album, is a collection that marks the convincing as a rapper - sounds good thanks to the groovy hook that she 20-year-old’s musical breakthrough. sings, and will.i.am’s Southern hip- The former “Hannah Montana” star hop-flavored beat. kicks off the 13-track set with “Adore Cyrus’ outlandish behavior is You,” a downbeat song about love. helping her get attention. She’s Other tracks that follow with that en- become a social media queen, the talk ergy - “Wrecking Ball,” “My Darlin’” and of every news program and music’s “Somewhere Else” - capture a more “it” girl, even stealing thunder from mature, nuanced side of Cyrus that new releases by Perry and Lady Gaga. we haven’t seen much of - and that’s a It’s good for the Pop Star Cyrus, but welcome change. When she explores for Artist Cyrus? Not so much. Aside the different emotions of her character from everything that made headlines and doesn’t play the caricature that following her MTV Video Music Awards she’s become, you’re able to appreci- performance, vocally she was horrific ate Cyrus as an artist. (she should also learn some better If using the phrase “artist” and Cyrus dance moves). is shocking, it follows the theme of When less is happening onstage, “Bangerz” - which surprises you, in Cyrus sounds better - check out her a good way. When Cyrus teased the strong singing in a gritty rendition of album with the radio-friendly party “Wrecking Ball” on this past weekend’s anthem “We Can’t Stop” - a song “Saturday Night Live.” If Cyrus would originally created for Rihanna - and concentrate more on showcasing her said producers would include Pharrell, music than trying to become the latest Dr Luke and will.i.am, the album shock queen, perhaps we wouldn’t seemed like it was going to be a hit be shocked that “Bangerz” is a good machine in the vein of Rihanna or Katy album. She should focus less on the Perry. But Cyrus’ jams don’t sound antics and let her music do the talking like insta-hits; some tracks even feel - and keep that Sinead O’Connor letter in her back pocket (whenever her experimental as she blends elements Miley Cyrus performs on This CD cover image re- outfit allows it).—AP of alternative, upbeat pop, soft rock NBC’s “Today” at the NBC’s leased by RCA shows with hints of R&B and hip-hop. TODAY Show yesterday in “Bangerz,” the latest re- The Britney Spears-assisted “SMS New York.—AFP lease by Miley Cyrus.—AP Lebanon bans two films in setback for tolerant image ebanon has banned the screening of a film about homosexuality and another on short-term “pleasure Lmarriages” practiced in some Muslim communities, in a blow to its reputation as a bastion of tolerance in a deeply conservative region. The films, which had been due to be shown at the Beirut International Film Festival that opened last week, were blocked by a government censorship com- mittee, festival organizers said. Confirming the bans, an Interior Ministry spokes- man cited a Lebanese news report which attributed the decision to “obscene scenes of kissing between gay men, philandering, naked men and sexual intercourse between men” in one film and “sex scenes that offend public opinion and obscene language” in the other. Critics took to local media and the Internet over the weekend to denounce the bans but festival director Colette Naufal said they could only be overturned by the interior minister, a move she considered highly unlikely. Naufal said the decision represented a step backwards for Lebanon after several years when the festival had been permitted to show controversial films, including one about paedophilia. “Lebanon has one thing that stands out: its freedom of expression, freedom of thought, freedom of ev- erything,” she told Reuters. “That’s the difference between Lebanon and the whole of the Middle East.” One of the banned films is “L’Inconnu du Lac” (Stranger Hannah Espia of the Philippines, director of the movie “Transit”, and other by the Lake) from French director Alain Guiraudie, which new directors wave after a press conference at the 18th Busan International deals with a homosexual relationship between two men. It Film Festival (BIFF) in Busan yesterday.—AFP was screened this year at Cannes Film Festival. Homosexu- als face discrimination and alienation in Lebanon and have Philippines drama been prosecuted for years under a law forbidding “acts against nature”, which judges often interpret as criminalis- emerges as front-runner Pixies look for revival in ing sex between men. However, Beirut is also home to a large gay community new songs, tour and a gay tourism industry that includes bars and night- for Busan film prize clubs. Despite its relative liberalism by regional standards, s a young musician, Pixies frontman January 15. Lebanon has a history of banning films, plays and books n emotionally charged drama Awards, after it won the major prize Charles Thompson was determined The band deliberately kept the whole that touch on the taboo subjects of sex, religion and from the Philippines about at the influential Cinemalaya festival to make it past the velvet rope at affair low-key. The new songs didn’t leak in August, which celebrates the A politics. Amigrant families fighting to the mythical club that is rock stardom. “It online, there was no pre-release hype and stay together in Israel has emerged Philippines’ independent film. Espia inspired us even from the time before we no record label distribution. Pixies drummer said she was proud that the film ‘Pleasure marriage’ as a front-runner for the top prize at were rock musicians,” said Thompson, who David Lovering, who is also a magician, was receiving so much attention The second film is “I Offered You Pleasure,” a 15-minute Asia’s premier film festival this week. performs under the name Black Francis. “It’s likens the excitement that resulted to his and that she hoped this would lead short about temporary “pleasure marriages”, so named be- “Transit” from first-time director Han- how we became rock musicians ... the idea magic act. “As a magician the best thing to it finding a wider international is the element of surprise,” Lovering said. cause they are often used to circumvent Islamic proscrip- nah Espia has made it into the final of being in that club.” But even for a band as audience. The New Currents award “You want that wonderment ... kind of like tions on sex outside of marriage, including prostitution. field in the New Currents competition influential and revered as the Pixies, main- offers two prizes of $30,000 to first or Christmas coming.” at the 18th Busan International Film taining club membership means staying rel- Based on interviews with women from Lebanon, Iraq and second-time Asian filmmakers and The biggest surprise came two weeks Festival (BIFF). The film explores the evant. And that can be a tricky thing. Bahrain, the film tells the story of a middle-aged Shiite festival organisers said this year’s final before the release of “Bagboy,” when the stories of five migrant families who How many continual tours of only old Muslim woman named Iman who is coerced into agreeing field of 12 - drawn from 11 countries - band announced the departure of bass decide to hide their children from hits, after all, can a band embark on before to a “pleasure marriage” with her teenage neighbor, Wael. reflected the “realities of Asia”. player Kim Deal, who’d been with the Boston authorities in Israel rather than abide it starts drifting too close to nostalgia act Director Farah Shaer, 26, told Reuters the film tackles That is certainly the case for quartet since its inception in 1986. Her by a controversial law - introduced in territory? At what point must a band fire up issues of sexual discrimination and the oppression of Mongolian director Byamba Sakhya, breathy background vocals and endearing the country in 2011 - which forbids the songwriting engines again to reaffirm social traditions but does not contain any graphic sexual who has brought “Remote Control” stage presence provided a foil to Thompson’s itself to new generations of music listeners? images. She said she was surprised that it was banned. foreign workers from marrying or to Busan. As the first entrant from his aggressive delivery. Deal broke the news In the case of the Pixies, who disbanded in “We all know about pleasure marriage contracts and about having children while on contract in country to make the New Currents to Thompson and guitarist Joey Santiago 1993 and reunited in 2004, the last decade premarital sex,” she said. “So what if we talk about them in the country. short-list, Sakhya said he wanted midway through the recording sessions one has been marked by what Thompson films? Why should that be banned?” While the film focuses “I wanted to show the lives of to use the opportunity to turn the late morning in a coffee shop.—AP calls a “never-ending, it seemed, encore on the Shiite community, to which Shaer belongs, she said children born in foreign lands, spotlight on to Mongolia, and to and their struggles with identity,” performance of our repertoire” with only it is not intended to single out one religious sect, noting inspire young filmmakers to follow Espia told a press conference.