• The Grafton Academy

  One of them started busking at four, another met Van Morrison while singing one of his songs, and all of them learned a few lessons at the unofficial music school that is the buskers patch. Some now-famous musicians tell Fiona McCann about their days on the streets

• I act therefore Hiam

  Hiam Abbass, one of the most respected Palestinian actors of our age, tells Donald Clarke about her new movie The Lemon Tree , in which she gets into a dispute with a neighbour who happens to be the Israeli defence minister

• The weekly movie quiz

  Questions: 1. Which country gives its title to an upcoming epic starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman?

Features

• The Grafton Academy One of them started busking at four, another met Van Morrison while singing one of his songs, and all of them learned a few lessons at the unofficial music school that is the buskers patch. Some now-famous musicians tell Fiona McCann about their days on the streets
• I act therefore Hiam Hiam Abbass, one of the most respected Palestinian actors of our age, tells Donald Clarke about her new movie The Lemon Tree , in which she gets into a dispute with a neighbour who happens to be the Israeli defence minister
• Still Keane as mustard Keane's latest album - a radical departure from their trademark "Coldplay-lite" sound - has given the band a new lease of life. As they prepare for Irish shows in January, their still-cherubic frontman Tom Chaplin tells Tony Clayton-Lea about fighting addiction, depression and fans' expectations
• "It's carnage out there. Some venues will close" The big names - Kings of Leon, Snow Patrol, Oasis - can still sell out Slane or the 02, but smaller venues are experiencing poor sales and low turnouts. A lot of bands could spend 2009 playing to half-empty rooms, writes Jim Carroll
• The weekly movie quiz Questions: 1. Which country gives its title to an upcoming epic starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman?

Film Reviews

• Changeling Angelina Jolie's towering performance dominates this finely layered drama, writes Michael Dwyer
• Flawless MAYBE IT'S to do with the arrival of the season of good will. Maybe I can't help but admire a film - particularly one starring Demi Moore - that has the chutzpah to call itself Flawless . But, for whatever reason, I found myself warming to this cheesy heist drama from the director of the drippy Il Postino.
• Four Christmases IT'S NEARLY Christmas. It's time to make room round your hearth for a jolly fat man. Hello, Vince Vaughn! Have a mince pie and a vat of mulled wine.
• The Nightmare before Christmas 3-D TIM Burton's 1993 stop-motion fantasy gets a third dimension in what seems to be becoming a holiday perennial.
• What just happened ROBERT DE NIRO was to the forefront of that adventurous new breed of actors and directors who emerged in the 1970s but who have appeared content to rest on their laurels in recent years, prioritising commerce over art, as is their prerogative.
• Niko the Way to the Stars MAGMA Pictures, an ambitious Galway-based outfit, has sold this animated Danish children's film to exhibitors all over the world. Good for them. You may, however, prefer to celebrate their achievement from some place other than the stalls.
• The Silence of Lorna/Le Silence de Lorna BELGIAN brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne have the distinction of winning the Palme d'Or, the major prize at Cannes, twice in the past 10 years, for Rosetta and L'Enfant ; only five other directors have received it twice in the history of the festival.
• Chocolate Five years ago Prachya Pinkaew, a rising force in Thai cinema, forced new energy into the martial arts film with his clamorous, violent, distinctly uncomfortable-looking Ong Bak.
• NEW DVDs Donald Clarke and Michael Dwyer review the latest DVDs

ReelNews

• French critics name their 100 greatest They don't make 'em like that anymore. That's the clear message from the poll by the influential journal Cahiers du Cinema , which invited 78 French critics and film historians to choose the all-time 100 best movies. All of the top 14 films on the chart were made before the 1960s.

Screenwriter

• Screen writer Lying Eyes, The Movie? Hardly, writes Donald Clarke

Revolver

• Leonard says Hallelujah for X Factor's Christmas cover So you've already choked on your muesli, phoned into Liveline and cried into your latte macchiato along with your other Proper Music Fan friends. But there's no getting away from the End Of The World As We Know It: this year's X Factor winner will release a cover of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah as a single. It will be number one at Christmas, it will sell gazillions of copies, and it will be the only song played on the radio until next August.

On The Record

• Priests and Killers duke it out for chart supremacy It's that time of year when you don't blink an eye at the sight of priests and rockers battling it out at the top of the Irish music charts.
• Bono takes the reins of subscription bandwagon Many music industry pundits have advocated subscription services as the way forward for the business, so Bono and his Red organisation may well be in the right place at the right time with (Red)Wire.
• Dubs making a Stand Unlike many of their peers, who were content to stay in the domestic comfort zone, Dublin band Stand - Neil Eurelle, Alan Doyle, David Walsh and Carl Dowling - headed to the US five years ago to boost their career.
• eTc yyy Garage rock fans rejoice: Billy Childish and the Musicians of the British Empire are at Dublin’s Whelan’s on January 16th.

CD Reviews

• Renaissance man CD CHOICE: OLIVIER MESSIAEN COMPLETE EDITION Various performers Deutsche Grammophon 480 1333 (32 CDs) *****
• Rock/pop Latest Rock/Pop CDs reviewed
• Electronica Latest Electronica CDs reviewed
• Classical Latest Classsical CDs reviewed
• Opera Latest opera CDs reviewed
• Soul Latest soul CDs reviewed
• Grime Latest grime CDs reviewed
• Soundtrack Latest Soundtracks reviewed
• Jazz Latest Jazz CDs reviewed
• Roots Latest Roots CDs reviewed
• Traditional Latest Traditional CDs reviewed
• Shuffle Eoin Butler's guide to singles, downloads and free audiostreams
• Music DVDS Latest Music DVDs reviewed