As the case seems to be with all the good films released the cinema lately, Water For Elephants is based on bestselling novel. We start with a now familiar scene of an old man telling his story before we transported back into his past and Robert Pattinson turns up on the screen looking very tanned and clean cut.

Casting the Twilight heartthrob is always a good move for getting his crazed fans to fill up the seats but Pattinson has to put in a performance to help make this film interesting to his tween crowd as well as attract respect from regular film goers. Luckily he does.

Set during the depression in 1931, R Patz plays a young veterinary student, Jacob Jankowski who is left orphaned after his parents die in a tragic car accident. Left with nothing and no family to turn, he stumbles upon a travelling circus and is lucky enough to get some work. His years studying veterinary prove useful as he becomes the circus vet but this then leds him to spend a lot of time with the boss’s wife Marlena (Reese Witherspoon). And as you would expect, feelings begin to grow and a forbidden romance starts to blossom.

So far since Twilight, R Patz has gone for roles that still have that ‘tortured vibe’ and I can understand why. He excels at them; if aint broke don’t fix it right? As Jacob he is very endearing, taking us along on the journey as he looks after some of the most talented animals you’ll ever see! The chemistry between him and Reese is believable and it grows nicely throughout the film.

Reese Witherspoon does what she needs to in this film, looks pretty and delicate while revealing a vulnerability that allows her to risk the wrath of her husband. As you watch you are willing for them to work out and scared of what the tragedy mentioned in the opening scene will be.

However, Christopher Waltz as the evil ringleader August is what really makes this film work. He switches from cheerful and charismatic to mean and threatening in seconds and he becomes a true villain who the audience can’t help but fear when he’s on screen because you don’t know who he’s going to attack next.

All in all, Water for Elephants is a sweet, touching film. The costumes and visual are perfectly done and the production is second to none. When the film was over the audience was silent for about 45 seconds because everyone in the room was just so moved by the beauty of it all.

But it has to be stated that the best part of this whole film was Rosie, the amazing elephant who everyone will fall in love with. I think a lot of people will be more appreciative of animal rights groups after watching this film.

Water for Elephants is released nationwide in the UK on 4th May 2011.

By Nola Ojomu

It felt like every girl in London had turned up to see Trey Songz perform at the Hammersmith Apollo. After watching impressive – and slightly long – opening acts by Luke Bingham and Talay Riley and enduring a further 30 minute wait, the crowd was in a frenzy when it finally looked like the man himself was going to grace the stage.

He came on looking exactly as you would expect. Rocking shades, a white leather jacket, a white vest and jeans, he oozed the confidence and sex appeal that has made him the sell out R’n’B star he has become.

As he belted out his hits such as I invented Sex and Say Ahh, he slowly began to strip. Merely taking off his shades and jacket caused a level of screaming that almost seemed ridiculous considering it was only his eyes and arms that were now visible. With power to create such reactions it’s no wonder why Trey – aka Tremaine Aldon Neverson – can be so cocky with his songs.

Looks aside, it’s his vocals that really shine as he serenades the crowd with his most popular songs. Naturally the knickers start to fly onto the stage and at one point a bra hits him in the face, but he takes in all in his stride saying ‘I think that’s the first time I’ve ever been hit in the face with a bra’ followed by his trademark smile.

Trey clearly loves to interact with the crowd, taking time out to point out fans with posters and specially made t-shirts. But his constant monologues about looking for a girl and asking who wanted to be his bed at the end of the night did get a bit tiring.

His closing performances of Love Face, Neighbours Know My Name and Bottoms Up was the most memorable part of the show. 1) After nearly 2 hours of teasing, he FINALLY took his shirt off. 2) He then picked to girls to bring on stage and proceeded to have a three way kiss (The boos from the crowd were almost deafening) and 3) He brought Chipmunk on stage before they sprayed Rose champagne into the crowd. It was a great moment when the crowd sang along to Nicki Minaj’s rap word for word, switching from Nicki to Barbie effortlessly.

At the last stop of his European leg of his tour, Trey proved that he has the talent and charisma to stay in the game and carve out a career as successful as Usher and those before. Pretty soon, your neighbours will know his name!

By Nola Ojomu

Opinion: Having watched the video clip of this years ‘Subu’ BGT hopeful Michael Collings singing a version of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car” am left wondering two things. The first is a little harsh but is one I will stick to, why does BGT allow singers in the show? And the second is if your unattractive and against type is your singing seen as a tallent?

Sitting with friends who watched the clip on Youtube and announced that it was ‘beautiful’ and ‘how could you knock that performance’ I found myself feeling as though I was alone in my analysis of the show. When did singing become a talent and why does the show accept singers when there is X-Factor?

Michael Collings himself produces nothing special and his version of Fast Car was a good effort but was nothing more. Cities up and down the UK boast hundreds and thousands of ‘singers’ who make the rounds of bars and clubs trying to get their music out there. Some of them are great, some good, and most are just average, which Collings falls into.

BGT – The ‘Drama’

Watching shows like this make me feel sick in that the production goes overboard to try and ‘get’ to judge the contestant. The story we get from him is dull though honest. In the fest few seconds of seeing his chat with the every annoying Ant & Dec we are giving yet more indications that this is going to be a flop…something they are overdoing to build up the so-called tension.

When he walks onto the stage the audience already have their faces set to stun, a few awkward seconds, then he sings, and long and behold he has a good voice. Cue wild applause and shots to Ant & Dec proclaiming what we can already hear in that he is a good singer, and a shot or two of the bemused judges and before the song is over we have the audience sheepishly getting to their feet to add further insult to the whole spectacle.

BGT has been desperate to try and reproduce the global success of Susan Boyle, and even I would not argue with what she has been able to achieve, mental breakdown and all. But she was a rare anomaly with her finding a market that was somewhat unique for her.

For Collings though there is a lot of competition from a great deal more artists in the UK and globally who are, I hate to say, a great deal better than he is, so it makes his inclusion in the show all the more confusing, and their reaction all the more fake.

This brings me to my second point, why is singing considered a ‘talent’ in shows like BGT when pop singing at best is all it is, singing. Boyle and even Paul Potts you could make the argument that perhaps they could be part of a show like this with their style of music ignored from shows like X-Factor, but for general singers, really?

BGT shows that there is little of any actual talent in the UK and they provide the usually set of character and same set of reactions from an incredibly lazy audience…

I was made a fan of The Airborne Toxic Event after seeing their documentary at the Raindance Film Festival “All I Ever Wanted’, a live film compilation of the last show on their 2 year long tour at The Walt Disney Concert Hall in LA. The film was a triumph and the band your introduced to are grounded and have something about them that few bands have today and that’s simply gratitude for being able to do what they do.

Monday’s show was a gift to fans old and new who got the chance to see a truly intimate set delivered with the same energy and passion as they always have. This was a mix of competition winners and press in the intimate Drill Hall in London and was the start of their 3 city residences, LA & New York being the other cities. The shows will vary in size which will depict the bands history of playing small to large shows.

After some delay a recording from the bands debut album came on and the show was about to start. The band came into the small hall all in black and started a 18 song set that was perfect from start to finish. You can only get this good when you have toured as much as they have and it shows.

Mikel started of the show by telling the crowd that most people don’t realise that a lot of the songs are autobiographical and are real, ‘they actually happened’, and throughout the show he would give us some insight into the history of the songs, what they mean, and where they where as a band when they where written. This made the even more like a very intimate MTV Uncovered but more connectable.

TATE have a unique stage presence which at times can be very subtle and subdued they have a real class when they come to the stage and when they start getting into their set, which doesn’t take them long. A few jokes from the other members of the band with Darren adding some gentle humour into the show. can be wild and fun.

There where some themes of the show notably a lot of the songs seemed to be about Mikel’s ex-girl friends yet besides the jokes there was a real heart to the show and to the bands willingness to put a lot more of themselves out there. As personal as the song are the band seem all to aware that once they are put out there they take on another life all together and that willingness they have to having their ownership of the music they create is a brave one, but seems to be an ethos they are happy with.

The Kids Are Ready To Die

One of the highlights of the set was a song off their new album “The Kids Are Ready To Die”. Mikel said that the song had gotten a lot of flack in the US for being Anti-American which is not their intention with the song. Powerful and thoughtful the song is one of the more emotional songs they have produced with the the mix of Mikel and band bringing the song to life in a way that guarantees you listen to ever word.

This song is yet further proof that TATE have much more to offer their fans and their new album, released on the 25th, is set to be another success for the band. And after Innocence the band left the hall only to come back to play my favourite song off their debut album “Missy” with their final song being off their new album “All at Once”.

The Airborne Toxic Event are a band that you either love or are not too sure about, something they themselves are all too willing to admit. The music press seems unsure how to pigeonhole them with some of the comparisons nothing more than laziness on the press’s part. The band are part of a new wave of American bands that are emerging as musicians willing to take the time to build their audience as well as making music that is meaningful and unique. TATE have paid the dues and them some.

Unlike the flurry of bands that get hand picked and pushed to the front early on TATE have played for 50 people and at one of the greatest music venues in the world, something that makes seeing them in this setting even more spectacular.

To understand the real pull of TATE you only have to hear what some of the fans had to say. In the queue to the show I got talking with one guy who had won a pair of tickets even though he had bought a ticket to see one of their other London shows, his friend where seeing them three times!