Phil Dixon gives full marks to the new Australian crime drama

Howl is something of an oddity to classify. Part biopic, part courtroom drama, part experimental animation, it becomes something of its own beast in the mixture of all three, all tied together by Allen Ginsberg’s titular, controversial poem.

TNS reviewer Phil Dixon reviews what could already be the film of 2011, Darren Aronofsky's latest effort Black Swan

TNS talks to Hollywood actress Natalie Portman about her challenging new role in Darren Aronofsky's new twisted, psychological thriller Black Swan.

The first part of the final Harry Potter film is here. Phil Dixon wasn't impressed. Cue the backlash!

Review of Jackie Chans new film Little Big Soldier

A review of the new Claymation Mary & Max

TNS reviews new movie Restrepo

Review of music industry satire The Story of F***

At first glance Wah Do Dem seems like a chore of a viewing experience - standard film school indie mumblecore fare, shot in self-aware shakey-cam style by amateurish Brooklynite self-actualising-media-nodes, stinking of nepotism and stunt casting of the filmmakers' hip friends from the music scene.

Review of rom-com The Switch

Punk rock brats Be Your Own Pet laid waste to venues around the UK in April promoting their stellar second album Get Awkward. Phil Dixon caught up with front-woman Jemina Pearl on the last night of the tour to talk about the bands manic live shows, US song cuts and the pit-falls of growing up.

Drive By Argument: formed as part of their music course in October 2004 without knowing each other previously, the disparate five-piece straight away found the right mix of backgrounds, influences and styles, and realised they should chase something bigger than merely a passing grade.

Producer of hit records by Lily Allen and Amy Winehouse, uber-cool fashionista DJ, and maker of that Radiohead cover, Mark Ronson was in London to chat about his new album Versions. TNS's Phil Dixon was there to listen...

Misty’s Big Adventure are an enigma... waging war on this ‘bland age’ with new album Funny Times. Phil Dixon took tea with the band’s Grandmaster Gareth and Erotic Volvo, the nicest monster in pop...

It’s hard to form an accurate theory on Miss Amy Eleanor Turnnidge, AKA Theoretical Girl. On one hand she is petite, doe-eyed and demure, producing the kind of delicious, melancholy-tinged pop tunes that bring about adjectives like ‘twee’ and ‘lovely’, and sublime acoustic tracks that will melt your heart. On the other, she also makes the kind of electro-post-punk stormers that invite arty muso mags to use words like ‘jagged’, ‘angular’ and ‘banging’.

Bloody Australians! Not content with consistently beating the Mother Country at sporting events or taking all our bar jobs, now they’re after our music scene, too.

It’s been twelve long years since we’ve heard anything from Arrested Development, one of the slew of important hip-hop outfits from the early nineties, who had more to talk about than weed, guns and biatches. Hip-hop’s done a lot of changing since then – and, some would say, not for the better.