Lawrence Arabia is the alter ego of New Zealand songwriter James Milne, who has just released his third solo album The Sparrow. The album boasts a more nocturnal and orchestral feel than previous record Chant Darling, with the basic tracks for the sessions (recorded with Elroy Finn and Connan Mockasin) further adorned with strings and horns.
A special run of live shows around the country later this month will see The Sparrow performed in some stunning venues including St Michaels and All Angels in Christchurch, Sammy's in Dunedin, the Auckland Town Hall and Wellington's Opera House. Find out where to buy tickets and score a copy of The Sparrow at the Lawrence Arabia website.
"I suppose like many people of my age, it was Steven Spielberg's films that were my introduction to film, and also some of my first memories. The eerie images and those synth melodies in Close Encounters Of The Third Kind definitely stand out as an early memory. He had this thing of putting children in quite important roles so his child audience could gain access to more adult themes. Raiders of the Lost Ark and E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial were both pretty massive early on for me."
"Through the Coen brothers and Stanley Kubrick I entered a porthole of more deep thinking kind of films, which might feature in the 'Festival' section of the DVD store. I'm pretty into pretentious old-fashioned stuff, and like trying to pick up phrases from foreign language films. I really enjoy the insight films give you into different times and places. My favourite films are totally escapist for me in general – I'm not particularly attracted to tough films about child abuse or people dying of cancer. Anchorman is one of the finest pieces of cinema ever crafted."
5th July 2012 Steve Newall
1968
Sergio Leone's masterpiece, the greatest western ever made (and yet a flop at the box office).
"This is a very long film about extremely tanned men who ride horses and carry guns. There are languid, lingering shots of creased, craggy faces. There is a piece of slapstick involving a fly. There is 'The Man With The Harmonica', which is probably the coolest piece of film music ever. Claudia Cardinale is in it. She is an uber babe from the sixties."
1963
Fellini's Oscar-winning classic about filmmaking, the creative process and artistic courage.
"Claudia Cardinale is also in this film. So is Anouk Aimée. She plays the wife of film director Guido, who is unhappy in the self-indulgent and irritating way that artistic men often are. The film is confusing and funny and exotically stylish, making Italy in 1963 seem like some mythical realm of hipness."
1991
Another movie about movies, this one a piece of Coen brothers brilliance that swept Cannes.
"More writer's block and symbolism. Johns Goodman and Turturro are brought together, an odd couple in a hotel in 1940s LA. Goodman is cheery, Turturro is uptight. Goodman is a saleman, Turturro a screenwriter. The conflict of these characters manifests itself in increasingly paranoid and hallucinatory fashion within the mind of Turturro's character. It's the kind of film that lingers with you unsettlingly."
1993
Could the 70s really have been as fun as this mix of booze, bongs, babes and bitchin' tunes suggests?
"A coming of age film that became my own vicarious coming of age, and the template for my ideal life when I was seventeen. The reality was far less exciting. Richard Linklater's dialogue stuck with me beyond my teens and I've since enjoyed most of the other films of his I've seen. Slacker and School Of Rock are very different films, but they both rule. And Waking Life, like, blew my mind..."
1964
Stanley Kubrick's black comedy about nukes, Nazis, and other time-honoured sources of hilarity.
"Based on the number of times I've seen it, it must be my actual favourite film, just above The Big Lebowski, Wayne's World and This Is Spinal Tap. Such a magnificently silly film; General Ripper's obsession with 'precious bodily fluids' tickled me in the same way as Catch-22 and The Goon Show had, and Peter Sellers' Nazi possession as Dr Strangelove is one of the funniest movie performances of all time. Oh, and the mise-en-scène is just exquisite!"
