Almost the entire film is set in the Brooklyn apartment of Penelope and Michael Longstreet (Jodie Foster and John C. Reilly), parents of Ethan, an eleven year-old who was recently hit in the face with a stick by his classmate, Zachary Cowan. Zachary’s parents, Nancy (Kate Winslet) and Alan (Christoph Waltz) come to the Longstreet’s apartment to calmly discuss the altercation between their sons, in the hope of reaching some sort of civilised solution.

Of course, it doesn’t quite go to plan. The tension rises and keeps on rising; remarks about their sons become insinuations of poor parenting; petty differences become big issues; the husbands turn on their wives, the wives turn on their husbands. Try as they might to keep the proceedings proper, they can’t help losing their temper, vomiting, getting drunk, and degenerating into, well, not quite carnage, but certainly pretty uncivilised behaviour.

Being an adaptation from the work of a successful playwright, it’s natural that the script is seen as the film’s centre. But, in actual fact, it’s a little overdone and clunky, and really not all it’s cracked up to be. Despite this, though, the film as a whole just about works. And it’s largely down to two things.

Firstly, the pace. A runtime of 79 minutes is just right. Carnage may touch on some pretty grand themes, but it’s by no means a grand film. The short length goes some way towards giving it the frenzy it needs; any longer and people start looking at their watches. After all, the whole thing’s pretty much set in one room, with only four characters, none of whom are really that interesting.

Secondly, the acting. For the most part, it’s first-rate, and to a large extent makes up for the inanity of the characters. Reilly and Waltz, as the two fathers, are excellent. Reilly gets a lucky break, playing the only character with any depth, or who undergoes any real change, and his transition from calm, jumper-wearing, peaceful Everyman to drunken ‘short-tempered son of a bitch’ is incredibly well-executed.

And Waltz, despite playing a stereotype – smug, suit-wearing big shot, always on his mobile – gives his character a depth that transcends the thinness of the writing. Winslet, as Waltz’s prim investment-broker wife is fine, too, but she’s unremarkable; her character’s so thinly-drawn there’s only so much she can do. Jodie Foster, though, in stark contrast with the others, is pretty dreadful.

Playing another stereotype, this time the high-minded Africa-loving liberal with fancy recipes and art books, she has only two settings: very tense and vein-poppingly tense. But luckily she’s the exception.

Overall, it’s not the kind of thing that’s going to change the face of cinema, but it’s a small, fairly well-made, and very well-acted film that’s worth a look. Just don’t expect too much. And try to forget that it’s Polanski, because, compared with films like Chinatown, Rosemary’s Baby and The Pianist, it’s hard to see this as anything other than a trifle.

Carnage
FACT, out now

Kristian Doyle

In the week Kraftwerk celebrate the 30th anniversary of The Model reaching No1, it seems fitting that Al’s dark, analogue explorations of old school drum machines, loops and synths is finally seeing the light. With vocals from Jeff Jepson, Dom Veron, Kate Smith, AL_X sounds equal parts Moloko (Here Before), Radiohead (Roadkill) and Depeche Mode (Failed).

Ultimately, though, it’s Al’s DNA that makes AL_X such a rewarding experience: and one that fits a lazy Sunday morning vibe perfectly.

“I’d given up on ever getting it released,” Al tells us. “Then, out of the blue, a great label (Fluttery recordings) got in touch with me and wanted to release it…so I re-worked nearly everything…re-recorded things, remixed it and, finally, it’s all rather official!”

It’s a gorgeous and assured set, and, like all good things, well worth the wait. We recommend you go take a listen.

You can try, and buy AL_X here

New set, Future This, is an ambitious leap forward from their dark debut, packed with shiny pop gems – notably the hip-hop skirmish, complete with Ann Peebles vocal, Give It Up – and a statement of intent that shows that, sometimes, album number two can be an intensely liberating experience. Go see.

The Big Pink
February 12
O2 Academy, Liverpool

Imagine if The Inbetweeners (the second time we’ve referenced the hilarious Channel 4 show this week in a review) got stuck in a departure lounge after a week of beery mayhem in Malaga.

That’s a little bit what Departure Lounge is like. Only it’s a musical. And everyone has a hidden secret or angst in their lives. At least one of these can be spotted within about five minutes, but we’ll not spoil it.

Suffice to say that all of the four lads go experience the kind of rapid crisis and subsequent catharsis that only theatrical productions can offer. Along the way there are dance routines, songs about the frequent use of ‘gay’ among lads as an insult and Brits abroad, fighting, shouting and talking about shagging.

It’s frequently rather stagey as people do the ‘background banter’ thing that only people in theatre productions do – and all the rough-and-tumbling around the set seems similarly affected, and rather distracting, but all told Departure Lounge is a remarkably compact and tight little production.

It’s amusing and well-acted – Michael Fletcher as slightly dopey, foul-mouthed Pete and Hayley Roberts as well-observed scouse slag Sophie were particularly good – and the catchy, witty songs are well delivered; as are the energetic and creative dance routines.

All told it was a remarkably confident production by In Step Theatre, all of whom are currently finishing up being creative types at the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts.

70 minutes in the company of lads-holiday goons never seemed so attractive.

Departure Lounge runs until Saturday 4 February

What’s the best way to walk to work? Through a sea of foaming Cains Best Bitter? Possibly, but then again, we bet it doesn’t do your Uggs any favours. Thanks to the unseasonably bitterly cold weather (see what we did there) Cains’ beer tanks overflowed and showered foamy, loamy, hoppy happiness all over Stanhope Street. If only we carried a tankard in our man bag instead of some lip balm and Touche Eclat. That’ll teach us.

Thanks to Richard McDonald for the pic.

Expect all the good stuff you’ve come to, er, expect from the Edils stable. More specifically, the hazy textures of summer courtesy of Elk (straight outta Liverpool, London and Grimsby), with support from Cavalier Song and FightFightFight, oh, and did we mention free cake? It’s Edil’s first birthday celebrations – so go show your support. They’re doing good things.

Edils Records, 4 February, £3
8pm, The Caledonia

Have you heard of them? They offer free books to read. You can pop round there on your way to, say, The Asda, or to get your tags fitted, and, quick as you like, you could have an armful of Barbra Taylor Bradford, or enough blood lust Vampire novellas to dampen any teenager’s duvet.

No, really. We do love libraries, from the old (Upton, above) to the shiny and new (and civic award-winning MBLA designed Huyton, right). And we love North Liverpool. One of us is from here.

It being National Library Day this weekend we’ve been driving round the ‘burbs, Library crawling. And we have to say: we’re blessed with some mighty fine buildings: yeah, they’re home to Dan Brown, after-school classes, internet access and book groups, but as symbols of civic intent, they’re among the most impressive – and diverse – collection of buildings we’ve got.

While Austin-Smith:Lord’s plans for a 21st century Library take shape along William Brown Street, our suburban libraries are taking the strain, and are stepping into the spotlight. So it’s time they dusted down their dust covers, as we judge our libraries by their covers.

The Lord Byron: Walton Library

It’s all neo-Greek columns, semi-circular porticoes, a central dome allowing light to flood into the reading rooms and pedimented windows. With its ornamental stonework, its pilasters and its sturdy stone orbs, this is civic neoclassical at its most democratic and restrained. Although the library was constructed 100 years ago, it harks back to earlier, more romantic times. Lyrical flourishes, and proud socialist roots? It would make a romantic poet go weak at the knees.

The Agatha Christie: Upton Library

With its geometric symmetry, clean cliffs of regimented brick, sleek curves and savagely delineated window tracings, the handsome Upton library is  straight out of Vintage period Poirot. This pocket-sized Art Deco treasure was built in 1936, the same year that Poirot and Inspector Japp were hot on the heels of the ABC Murders (main pic).

The Bram Stoker: Wavertree Library

There’s something of the night about Wavertree Library (pic above). Maybe its the Library’s jagged outline, its castellated balconies and mullioned windows. Maye its the sandstone masonry and oversized Gothic arches that lend a whiff of a Whitby abbey. Or maybe it’s the curious, one tonne glacial boulder, dropped off at the library sometime around the last ice age. Some say it’s a meteorite. And by some, we mean George Harrison. He mentions it – and the library – in his autobiography. It’s weird in Wavertree.

The Plato: Norris Green Library

Yes, we have our own Elgin Marbles. But they’re made of sterner, more Soviet stuff, and they’re in Norris Green. Still, they’re a nice touch and reveal the library’s mission to celebrate the arts: through images of boys deeply engrossed in a novel, a girl with fabulous 1930s hair engrossed in drawing, and a young Cecil B DeMille directing a new blockbuster. Plato – founder of the first institute of learning and the arts – would be pleased to know his work lives on, just off the East Lancs Road, in Broadway.

The J G Ballard: Irby Library

You want dystopian modernity? How about a library that looks for all the world like it’s a model kit for a Hornby railway set, then throw in a soupcon of terror by way of a casually placed set of stocks by the bike rack. Yep, that’s the way they roll in West Wirral. If you’re so much as a day late with your Terry Pratchett, public humiliation and rotten fruit await.

The Dickens: Everton Library

Sadly no longer dispensing words of wisdom, Everton’s stunning library is something of a sorry tale. A Miss Haversham on the Hill, this library tells you all you need to know about this corner of the city, and its rapidly changing fortunes over the years. Everton Library opened 1896. At the opening ceremony talk was of how, where the township’s beacon had once guided ships on the river, the library would similarly guide Evertonians to knowledge. Half of the city, feel free to insert you own gag here.

The Alan Sillitoe: Allerton Library

You want a bit of stark sixties realism? Allerton’s intellectual cognoscenti would steer you in the direction of this consistent, principled and class-conscious stand against the Greek Gods of Norris Green, or the Rococo flourishes of Walton. No, in South Liverpool, it’s all about the word. Sillitoe called his autobiogrpahy ‘A Life Without Armour’ – well, this is a library without elaboration. Sadly, it’s not open Saturday nights, nor Sunday mornings. But it’s a striking, light filled slab of 60s functionalism -

If you’re out and about this weekend, check out your local library. Most are holding events for National Libraries Day. In Maghull Library, Zoe Lambert reads about science and literature: distilling science’s love of narrative and delving into the life of experimenters as they stood on the brink of momentous discoveries. In Birkenhead’s central library, as part of Dickens Bicentennial there’ll be readings of the great man’s work by the Friends of Birkenhead Library, and at West Kirby Library, Gladys Coles talks about her vivid novel, Clay, set in the First World War in Liverpool and the Wirral. All these events are on Sunday, 4 February. We asked Liverpool libraries for events details – none were forthcoming. Let’s assume they’re engrossed in something unputdownable, eh?

National Libraries Day
4th February

Theatre group What We Did Next are holding a singalong event with a difference this week. For one, they’re doing away with a karaoke machine and have an actual, real-life pianist to accompany you. Brilliant. Second – and most importantly – your song choices can only be from musicals. Even brillianterer.

On the whole, songs lifted from musical theatre aren’t the type of thing you can get away with at normal open mic or karaoke events. Nobody wants to hear you wail through an 8 minute epic from Les Miserables on your staff night out. Nobody. So this sacred sanctum of open mic musical theatre, in the cosy confines of the View Two, sounds like the most fun way you could spend a Friday night. Put us down for something from West Side Story, yeah?

Anything Goes… A Musical Theatre Open Mic Night!
View Two Gallery, Mathew St
3rd February
7-11pm, £4

This year’s first batch of acts have just been announced, and it’s a typically strong handful. Most surprising is one of the festival’s headliners – pop heavyweight Professor Green (we wouldn’t dare ask to see evidence of his PHD), who sold out his own gig at Mountford Hall but a few weeks ago.

Joining him on the bill are ultra-hyped new pop starlet Charlie XCX, Texan punk favourites White Denim (pictured), scrappy upstarts Cloud Nothings, and legendary electro-rock duo Death In Vegas, who make a welcome return to the city.

In addition, Sound City have announced they’re to host the UK Student Music Awards at the Echo Arena, and they’re also set to run a new music and tech expo during the festival. All rather exciting. More announcements heading your way over the next couple of months.

Liverpool Sound City 2012
17th – 19th May, Various venues
www.liverpoolsoundcity.co.uk

‘Everything has its time’ says King as he looks upon his ancestors land in Hawaii. With the awards season upon us, Clooney’s time may have come for his touching portrayal of King, an unkempt workaholic lawyer and descendant of the Hawaiian Royal family who is forced to face up to his choices and responsibilities.

Based on the Kaui Hart Hemming novel of the same name, The Descendants is set on the Hawaiian Islands and as sole trustee of his family’s unspoilt inheritance, King knows that his decision to sell could change the islands forever.

This superbly executed and assured film begins when King’s wife Elizabeth (Patricia Hastie) is left in a coma following a water sports accident. Clooney shows real emotional depth and pathos as the estranged King as he comes to terms with his wife’s accident whilst trying to look after his two strong willed daughters.

Amara Miller steals most scenes as King’s younger daughter Scottie. She challenges her father at every opportunity with her innocent indifference, which is both hilarious and endearing. It’s hard to believe it’s her first feature especially after a truly heart-breaking scene at the hospital. Not knowing how to handle Scottie, King asks his rebellious angst-ridden teenage daughter Alexandra, fabulously played by Shailene Woodley, to help. Alexandra in turn insists that her friend Sid, played by Nick Krause, joins them; his slow-witted interludes are a light-hearted respite to Kings stoic humour.

The story takes a turn when King discovers a secret about his wife. Unable to comprehend what has happened he sets out on a mission with the help of his oldest daughter to learn the truth. In the hands of anyone else this could have been a thoughtless caper but co-writer and director Alexander Payne adds credibility to King’s tormented journey of discovery.

The Descendants is a multi-layered and profound study of people, relationships and their motivations. Filmed in the low season, the islands offer the perfect backdrop with their atmospheric low clouds adding a real sense of foreboding.

As with his movie Sideways, Payne puts his trust in his characters to produce a touching bitter sweet view of life with all its indecision, pain, humour, anguish and joy but also asks bigger questions about rights, responsibilities and duty we all have to live with.

The Descendants
FACT, out now
Wood Street