Chatterbox: Elvish's greatest hits

Altogether now ... "O mor henion i dhu, Ely siriar, el sila, Ai! Aniron u Udomeil, Tiro! El eria e mor. I 'lir en el luitha 'uren. Ai! Aniron ... "

Yes it might lose something in the translation from the original ... er, sorry, we're not too sure if it's Gaelic or Elvish, and please excuse us for having left out some typographically difficult accents. But that's Aniron - the "theme for Aragorn and Arwen" from The Fellowship of the Ring as performed by Enya. It and her closing-credits theme May It Be are the film's best chance of spinning off a really big hit like those other great moments of pop-movie synergy such as My Heart Will Go On and Everything I Do I Do For You and ... yes, well. The even more ethereally voiced former Cocteau Twin Elizabeth Fraser also features on Lament for Gandalf, just one of the 18 tracks on Howard Shore's soundtrack for the first in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Already out a month before the film, the enhanced CD also allows you to do clever things on the net like find an "exclusive interview with Enya" (in English too). As for the music, our quick appraisal: The Omen-meets-Robin of Sherwood but good.

Meanwhile, the soundtrack to Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by John Williams is out too (and features such tracks as Fluffy's Harp and Mr Longbottom Flies). Instead of the crossover hit, the Potter soundtrack concentrates on the added-value of a CD-ROM featuring, well, a lot of advertisements really, including the film trailer in six different languages. And a quick appraisal of Williams' music: not as good as Star Wars.

I'D LIKE TO THANK: Last seen inspiring the Black Caps by taking his Oscar into their dressing room at the Gabba, Russell Crowe has won yet another award - only it's not one he's likely to be carrying about. At the "alternative" Australian music awards - titled the Mollys after local pop guru Ian "Molly" Meldrum - Crowe's band 30 Odd Foot of Grunt took away the worst album award for their Bastard Life Or Clarity. The awards' anti-accolade read: "Russell 'I only talk about the music' Crowe redefined musical mediocrity in 2001, his vainglorious and self-released d-grade pub-rock-band's record foisting a pile of musical merde on an indifferent public ... ably aided by their legendarily lame live shows, which enabled them to fight off a fine field of noted nominees." And worst single? Wee Nikki Webster's Strawberry Kisses.

RAIN'S SIXTH SENSE: Rain may have come away with just three acting prizes at the New Zealand Film Awards and had one of the smaller budgets among the Kiwi features of 2001.

But it looks as if Christine Jeffs' movie may well challenge Stickmen to be the best performing local feature at the NZ box office this year.

Since opening on October 18, it has grossed more than $380,000 and is still going strong on eight screens. It has maintained a steady sixth position in the NZ box office top 10 and its "screen average" - the figure which indicates how popular a film's sessions are - has been consistently higher than many of the Hollywood films above it on the chart.

The film's full-house opening at the Rialto Newmarket was the second biggest weekend take for a film at the cinema since Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon last year. Stickmen grossed $568,222 for its five-month run at the beginning of the year, while Snakeskin, which won the best film prize and opened a week ahead of Rain, has so far grossed just over $185,000.