metro Arts & Entertainment Rodrigo Y Gabriela In Town Tonight The former Grafton Street buskers return from their native Mexico, combining Latin acoustica, proggy jams and blistering covers of Metallica and Led Zeppelin. And not a poodle perm in sight Tonight & tomorrow, The Academy, 57 Middle Abbey Street D1, 7.30pm, 33. Tel: 0818 719 300. www.rodgab.com The Theatre Machine Turns You On The next generation of theatre artists are taking over the Project Arts Centre this week with three experimental performances per night on zero budget and with zero boundaries Until Sat, Project Arts Centre, 39 East Essex Street D2, 6.30pm, 7.30pm & 8.30pm, 5 per show, 12 for all three. Tel: (01) 881 9613/4. www.project.ie Emilie Conway Sings Billie Holiday Acclaimed jazz vocalist Emilie Conway and live band pay tribute to the legendary Billie Holiday on the 50th anniversary of her death, interweaving song and anecdotes along the way Tonight, Bewleys Caf Theatre, 78/79 Grafton Street D2, 8.30pm, 15. Tel: 086 878 4001. www.myspace.com/ emilieconway life Book Now Lyle Lovett & John Hiatt Leaving behind the big band sound that defined his previous, sniggeringly-titled album Its Not Big, Its Large, Lovetts new record Natural Forces has a more pared back and pastoral disposition, an understated foray that likely spurred him towards partnering with veteran musician John Hiatt for a string of acoustic duo concerts. Certainly their alliance is more successful than Lovetts infamous (and short-lived) marriage to Julia Roberts in the 1990s Feb 17, 2010, Olympia Theatre, 72 Dame Street D2, 7pm, E44.20. Tel: 0818 719 300. www. lylelovett.com Arts & Entertainment The Big Interview Michael Keaton Batmans bleak mid- heres surely just one question to ask cinemas original Batman, Michael Keaton: what happened to your career? Hey, thats the first question President Obama asked me! Keaton grins unfazed, his devils eyebrows giving him the look of Jack Nicholsons younger, if oddly wrinkly, little brother. I was ready for Nice to meet you but he goes: Why dont you make more movies? Obama may have put it more diplomatically than me but a glance at Keatons CV reveals his recent box office hits have mainly been cartoons his next is Toy Story 3, in which he voices a Ken doll. Yet even in his 1980s heyday, the jittery, attention-deficient actor was as well known for the roles he (allegedly) turned down. Someone told me Id supposedly turned down Ghostbusters I was, like, 19 when Ghostbusters came out, he says. And I certainly never turned down the Johnny Depp role in Pirates Of The Caribbean. I will unabashedly tell you I wouldve been very good in that role. Thats not bragging. Its just fact. Hes probably right the actor who played Tim Burtons shock-haired, stripy- suited anarchist Beetlejuice would make a terrific Captain Jack. Yet aside from Beetlejuice and Batman both iconic if hardly typical roles Keaton (who was born Michael Douglas but changed his name to avoid obvious confusion) seems to have flitted through a catalogue of such perverse eclecticism, it has left studios unsure how to cast him. I thought it was being very clever and its definitely backfired, the 58-year-old answers with refreshingly un-Hollywood candour. Truth is, I couldnt do the other thing. You know, being the blank such- T and-such guy who everybody goes: Oh my God, I cant wait till he does that again. Id blow my brains out. Instead hes directed The Merry Gentleman, a stark, dark indie drama about a solitary hitman saved from suicide by Kelly Macdonalds equally lonely receptionist. Theyre trying to sell it as a Christmas movie thats kind of silly. It makes me laugh, says Keaton, who was cast as its lead, then decided to direct too. Weirdly, his debut feature hardly seems to be a passion project. Id been vaguely looking to direct something for years. Then this came up and I looked at my schedule because its a long time out of your life and its a big pay cut and I thought, I know how to tell this story, its manageable. I liked the script but it wasnt like: Oh my God, this is the story Ive been waiting for. A remarkably devil-may- care interviewee, Keaton is unusually open well, as open as you can be when youre wearing movie-star sunglasses. But you have to wonder if The Merry Gentlemans unusual bleakness is far more personal than he lets on, hinting at the same darkly obsessive personality that led Burton to consider him the only believable choice to embody the Batman. Still, he scoffs at my suggestion that he now spends his time brooding Someone told me Id supposedly turned down Ghostbusters I was, like, 19 when Ghostbusters came out The original Dark Knights directorial debut, The Merry Gentleman, is out this week, but dont call it a Christmas movie that would be silly, he tells Larushka Ivan-Zadeh DOWN THE DUMPER This weeks fickle finger of fame pokes Alex Reid 18 metrolife Wednesday, December 2, 2009 August 1975: Born! Nov 2000: Having competed in TV show Gladiators, Reid starts cage fighting, adopting the nickname The Reidernator (honestly). 2001: Plays a footballer in Hollyoaks. July 2009: Starts dating Katie Price two months after her split from Peter Andre. She reportedly buys him a 4,000 (4,400) Chanel watch for his birthday. August 4, 2009: Papped canoodling with Price in a swimming pool in Malaga. August 23: Shots from film Killer Bitch, presumably not aimed at the family market, emerge, showing Reid raping and strangling the leading lady. Crikey! September 20: Reid wins a cage fight. Price sticks two fingers up at the audience and chants F*** you. Amazingly, this may be the pinnacle of Reids celeb career. September 22: An ex- girlfriend claims Reid would visit her mums house, take all his clothes off and then sprawl naked over the familys new leather sofa. She adds, he never wears pants. October 8: Pictures of Reid in drag pop up in the papers. Reid confirms he dresses up as a woman but only on special occasions. He later wears one of Prices swimming costumes to her book launch. November 1: Attends Halloween party dressed in burlesque drag. A deranged cage-fighting The hoTTesT TickeTs in Town We have a pair of tickets to see LYLE LOVETT & JOHN HIATT Feb 17 at the Olympia, 7pm For a chance to win, e-mail your answer to the question below to life@metroireland.ie by noon today with Hot Tickets in the subject line. With your answer please include your name, address and a number where you can be contacted between 1pm and 3pm. Strictly one entry per person; entrants must be age 18+. Q. Which Robert Altman film did Lovett not star in? A A Prairie Home Companion B Prt--Porter index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html24.html25.html26.html27.html