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THE SIMPSONS MOVIEAfter 18 seasons on TV, this movie was a long time coming. And with so much success there comes massive expectation. Despite this (and maybe because the overall quality of the show has been in decline over the years), I wasn’t expecting TOO much from the movie. But as it turns out, it’s a pretty decent comedy! Certainly not up to the heady standards the show once had back in the day, but still leagues ahead of most other movies that pass for “comedies” these days.The story (in typical Simpsons fashion) is wildly imaginative and completely over the top. But it also serves as a wry send up of a reactionary American government and a none-too-subtle warning about environmental pollution. The jokes (for the most part) really hit the mark, and show that the writers haven’t quite tapped out their comedic well JUST yet. What I was most impressed with was the emotional aspect of the movie. Bart has often looked elsewhere for a father figure on the regular show, but never before has it been handled in such a touching manner. And Marge’s plea to Homer (that he watches on videotape) actually made me well up a little!Some people have criticised it, saying that it’s nothing more than an extended episode of the show, but why is that such a bad thing? You have to remember just how large the scope of the their regular show can be. Over its 18 year run, the average Simpson’s episode has managed to squeeze in more emotion, drama, action and gags than most feature length movies. Trying to come up with a story that has a beginning middle and end and STILL fit it into 19 minutes means moving the plot along at a breakneck speed with little or no time to breathe. In fact, most episodes regularly have whole scenes cut out of them, just because of time constraints. But now the movie format has finally given the writers some breathing room to expand on their plots and jokes.Also, many people have lamented the short presence or even absence of the vast wealth of familiar characters that the show is best known for (Krusty, Apu, Mr. Burns etc), but I think the writers made the right decision to focus the bulk of the story on the Simpson’s family themselves. It is their first big movie outing, after all. I’m sure there’ll be countless sequels in which the additional cast can get more of a look in.I found that watching The Simpsons in the cinema was a WHOLE difference experience to watching it plonked on the sofa at home. After so many years of giggling quietly to myself, it was a bit strange to hear this massive response of laughter at the end of each joke. Though in saying that, it did make laughing out loud myself a whole lot easier :PEven if you feel like the show has grown stale these past few years, you owe it to yourself to give the movie a go. And I dare anyone to resist the hoggish charms of Spider-Pig :D
TRANSFORMERS Along with Thundercats, M.A.S.K. and He-Man, Transformers was one of my favourite cartoons when I was a wee lad. The toys were bloody fantastic and at some point I even got into the Transformers comics :P
It was inevitable that a movie would be made of it at SOME point, as soon as the special effects were up to the task. My initial excitement over the film version was quashed when I heard of Michael “The Devil” Bays involvement in it. So even before seeing the film, it already had a big black mark against it. His films are typically loud, brash, soulless affairs, heavy on the action and with characters playing second fiddle to some mind-bendingly complex chase scene. Even though this adage stays pretty much true for Transformers, his usual behaviour is somewhat tempered (possibly by the small involvement of a man named “Spielberg”). The main draw of the movie is of course the Transformers themselves, and in this respect, it doesn’t disappoint. The effects are incredible and you fully believe the robots exist in the real world. Even though die-hard fans cried fowl when the designs of the robots were altered, the liberties taken for the movie had to be allowed. The designers put a huge amount of effort into making sure that the transformation from vehicle to robot looked physically possible and the result is pleasingly convincing. Probably the most impressive and awe-inspiring scene was the first appearance of the Decepticons (in the form of a helicopter), when they invade the army base at the beginning of the movie. Besides the robots, the films smoking gun (in my humble opinion) was Shia Labeouf. He’s got a natural comic gift and his sense of timing and delivery was spot on. He also had a great down to earth manner that made his character very easy to empathise with. And his parents were an absolute howl! The rest of the cast were pretty bland and one dimensional, especially the soldiers (I’m sorry, but giving one of them a baby back home doesn’t make us automatically care about his well being or give the character himself any more emotional depth!). Of course none of that really matters, cause it’s a Bay movie and action comes first :P
It should also be said that getting Peter Cullen back to do the voice of Optimus Prime was a stroke of genius and really accentuated the sense nostalgia. The Transformers themselves got very little time to develop as characters, but again, I’m guessing that’s what the sequels will be for. From what little evidence was present in THIS movie, it seemed like most, if not all were kept true to their original incarnations, which fans should be thankful for. The plot was more or less irrelevant (some nonsense about a device called “The All-Spark”), but people didn’t flock to Transformers for its dense plot or complex characters. People wanted action and Bay delivered it in spades. The action scenes were technically impressive and raced along at a hyper-kinetic pace, which is typical of Bay. The only problem was that at times it was quite difficult to fully appreciate the intricacies of each scene, mainly because there was SO much was going on. Sometimes it was hard to tell which robots were fighting each other. But big, bold and brash is exactly what the Transformers are all about. The destruction and devastation caused by the battling giant robots really did bring back memories of the cartoon and comic. As with all Bay films, there is huge militaristic presence and SO much flag waving going on, that your likely to be seeing stars and stripes long after you leave the cinema. What I found quite surprising about a movie aimed mostly at kids (and kids who grew up in the 80s like myself!) was how insanely violent is was. While two robots kicking the crap out of each other is generally acceptable, no matter what the rating is, in this movie actual people get killed, some in shockingly disturbing ways. I honestly cant believe they away with the given rating. One slightly disappointing aspect of the movie (despite the numerous action scenes) was how small the scale of the whole thing felt. Far too often, it seemed as though the entire proceedings were taking place in some small isolated part of America, and that the world at large was never really in danger. Perhaps the larger scale threats will occur in the inevitable sequels :P
I also was very let down by the music in the film. I'd even go so far as to say I hated it! As with nearly ALL of Bays films, he chose a composer from the same stable of artists as he always does (Media Ventures). And just like the majority of action scores from this score house, they all sound the same. At times I felt like I was listening to music taken straight from “The Rock”. The most welcome surprise of the movie was just how funny it was in parts! Summer blockbusters tend to have a very limp and forced sense of humour, but this movie proves to be a pleasing exception and I found myself laughing out loud on more than one occasion! :D
I cant say I enjoyed the film all that much, but that’s probably cause my expectations were too high. A decent popcorn flick, but I think I’ve my left my love for the Transformers back in the 80s.
BECAUSE OF YOU ~ Ne-Yo Spurred on by the ridiculously infectious single “Because of You” (and the relatively low low price of €16.99 :P
), I decided to give Ne-Yos second album a whirl. I was pleasantly surprised by just how good it was! I was expecting a poor attempt at heavy thug-sounding hip-hop (Marques Houston, I’m looking in your direction!), but what I got was R&B-lite, more or less verging on Pop. Considering how he’s currently writing songs for almost every artist on the planet, I was worried I’d quickly bore of his trademark sound, but he manages to avoiding sounding too generic. On some tracks there’s echoes of Michael Jackson while on others he tries to sex things up a bit, at times channelling that pervy purple master of funk, Prince (or a PG version of him at least :P
). He has a few collaborators on the album, but the one that really stands out is Jennifer Hudson, who duets with him on the track “Leaving Tonight”. Despite having a massive voice, she doesn’t overshadow Ne-Yo and the two compliment each other surprisingly well. While his first single is still getting huge airplay on the radio, his follow-up “Do You” performed disastrously in the charts here, failing to even break the top 40, which is criminal! Though its not as instantly catchy as the first single, its still a very strong song and deserved to do much much better (even if the accompanying video is a snooze fest). Not revolutionary by any stretch of the imagination, “Because of You” is still a nice lil slice of pop nonetheless :D
Standout Tracks: - Because of You
- Do You
- Leaving Tonight
- Sex With My Ex
- Go On Girl
HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX ( WARNING : SPOILERS ) "Arry Potta", .........two words that never fail to make my skin crawl. I’ve made no secret of the fact that I’ve disliked all the previous Potter movies, so it was highly unlikely I was going to enjoy this one. Maybe if I read the books it would give me a greater appreciation of their big screen adaptations, but at any rate, movies should be able to stand by themselves. I’ve always disliked the plots of the Potter movies and this one is no exception. They are just so incoherent. And for a movie supposedly aimed at kids, I’ve often found them to be quite confusing and unnecessarily complicated. It could be that the film just suffers from huge portions from the book being expunged (due to time constraints), but that means it’s just been adapted poorly. An annoying trend that continues in this movie is the inconsistent behaviour of many of the characters. Every movie a new character pops up who appears to be shady, only to turn out to be good (in previous movies: Sirius Black, Professor Lupin, 'Mad-Eye' Moody, Severus Snape). Then at the end of the movie they give a feeble excuse for their unusual behaviour. This movie has an already-established character (Dumbledore) acting out of the ordinary, but his justification at the end is still weak and nonsensical. My big issue with the series has always been Daniel Radcliffe. He couldnt act his way out of a cardboard box. When the series started I was able to chock that up to his very young age, but now (four films later) I just can’t escape the fact that he is a brutal actor. With the burden of carrying these movies resting squarely on his shoulders, it’s proven far too much for someone of his limited ability to handle. The films one saving grace is that the adult cast is populated by some of the finest British character actors working today. This boon is something of a double-edged sword however, as it serves to highlight the poor acting skills of some of the younger cast. In my opinion, most of the big name cast are vastly overqualified for the shallow roles they are being given to play and they get little or no screen time to develop their characters. In this movie however, Imelda Staunton (who plays the character of Dolores Umbridge) does get a sizable chunk of the movie to herself and is an absolute joy to watch. She steals every scene she’s in. As always Alan Rickman is a delight to watch, but his role in this movie is somewhat limited. Maggie Smith gets barely a look-in and Emma Thompson and Robby Coltrane barely have cameos. The man I feel has been most wasted throughout the series is Gary Oldman. All the character does is fawn over Harry (same as most of the cast really). Another disappointing aspect of this movie (and all the movies to date) is the lack of imagination where magic is concerned. The extent of the students powers (and their teachers, for that matter) seems to be limited to knocking things out of the way with their wands. I’ve always found this VERY underwhelming, and figured that maybe as the series progressed, their range of powers and spells would too. This never came to pass, and any battle that involved magic was a bit pathetic. The climactic scene between Voldemort and Dumbledore was nothing more than the two wizards firing off different coloured streams of light at each other. As a counterpoint, I remember a scene from the old Disney “Sword in the Stone” animated movie from the 60s, where two wizards faced off against each other. In this duel of magic, they both tried to turn themselves into ever more menacing forms of creature and attack then each other. Are the wizards in the Potter universe simply too unadventurous to resort to such displays of power? But...... I digress :P The films one significant happening (the death of a major character) is handled in such a hurried and throwaway fashion as to make the whole event almost meaningless. And the way in which Harry eventually dispels Voldemort was SUCH a cop-out “I have friends, BEGONE foul demon!” etc. The whole film felt like it was building up to something, and then.........the credits rolled. I think it’s ironic that a film about wizards has so little magic or sense of wonder about it. It’s all pomp and no substance. For reasons beyond me, this movie will no doubt end up being one the top ten box-office draws of all time. *sigh* And can ANYONE explain to me how Draco Malfoy is still in Hogwarts when everyone knows his father is working for Voldemort?!?!
DIE HARD 4.0I’m not quite sure I get what they were going for with the “4.0” of the title, but lets just take that with a pinch of salt.Thankfully Brucie is also taking this movie with an equally large pinch of salt, hamming it up at every chance he gets. Despite being in his 50s, he still manages to cut it where the action is concerned. One thing that bothered me though, was that he’s turned into a bit of Arnie character, practically invincible and easily able to dispatch any of the multitudes of villains that are thrown at him. You never feel like he’s actually in any real jeopardy, so it’s hard to care when he gets into those inevitable tight spots.The main villain (a staple of all the Die Hard movies) was a supreme letdown, displaying none of the evil panache necessary for an adversary of now legendary John McClane. As a glorified hacker, Timothy Olyphant lacked any kind of menace or presence when on screen. His lackeys Cyril Raffaelli and Maggie Q are also wasted in their respective roles.What I did enjoy was Wisemans direction of the movie, which was fast and furious throughout. There really was never a dull moment on screen. It was also surprisingly violent for a 15A rated movie! The film was a little too long for my liking, but such is the nature of blockbusters these days.As far as squeals and summer flicks go, Die Hard 4.0 was pretty decent, but a far cry from the original. Still, there are certainly worse ways to waste away an afternoon :P
Behold! The character from which I draw my name :D
IT WONT BE SOON BEFORE LONG ~ Maroon 5 In 2003 Maroon 5 exploded onto the scene with “Harder to Breathe” and I’ve been a fan of theirs ever since. Their first album “Songs About Jane” was a superb debut. The songs were pure fluff yet catchy, the album had a perfect length and it still gets plenty of play on my stereo. Backed up by Adam Levines immediately recognisable voice, the band created a very distinct sound. The expectation that usually comes with a bands sophomore album was compounded by the fact that they made us wait a whole three years for new material (with two live albums sandwiched in-between). Sadly, “It Wont Be Soon Before Long” didn’t exactly rock my world. The album kicks off with a bang alright, and manages to keep the juices flowing for at least the first three tracks. But after that, it’s a bit of a mixed bag. A good few of the songs on the album COULD be great, but they lack that extra bit of “umph” to push them over the top. My mine gripe would be that a lot of the songs on the album are quite samey. Given that it’s their second album, I had hoped the band would make an attempt to evolve their established sound (or change it up completely) and maybe take a risk musically. Instead, many of the tracks feel rather bland and uninspired. A couple of the songs actually sound like cast offs that didn’t make their first album. I think the most disappointing aspect of the album is that very few of the songs really push Levine vocally, which is such a shame, since his voice is what makes the band that little bit unique. Certain tracks are just calling out for more adventurous notes to be sung. But each time they cop out and take the safer route instead. But I will admit that the album IS growing on me, albeit very slowly. There’s certainly some good singles to be found on it but it still feels a bit half-arsed :P
And whoever came up with the album title should be hung, drawn and quartered!Standout Tracks:- If I Never See Your Face Again
- Makes Me Wonder
- Little of Your Time
- Nothing Lasts Forever
- Kiwi
MUSIC CITY SOUL ~ Beverley Knight I showed up a lil late to the Beverley party, her 3rd album being my first foray into the whole Knight experience. I picked up her first two for completist sake, but I’ve yet to warm to them. Most people have criticised her for getting more and more commercial with each album (maybe that’s why I like them!), but no one can accuse of her of that with her latest cut “Music City Soul”, which I feel is her best work to date. Knights previous albums have shown her intent to contemporise the typical R&B sound (I’ve always found the British R&B scene to be far more musically adventurous than its more commercial US counterpart). But with “Music City Soul”, she’s decided to go back to where it all began and has made an album flavoured with the old time rhythm and blues of the american south. It’s the album she was born to record and shows a whole new side to the Brit diva. Everything from the production of the tracks right down to the design of the album sleeve is a throwback to a bygone soul era. The feel of the album is so relaxed you’d swear that it was nothing more than a live jamming session that had accidentally been recorded. It’s a uniformly strong disc, but I think Beverly is at her best when she’s going all out on a rollicking up-tempo number and the energy she infuses into these is nothing short of infectious. I can thoroughly recommend Music City Soul to anyone who fancies themselves a connoisseur of soul.Standout Tracks:- Every Time You See Me Smile
- Aint That A Lot Of Love
- No Mans Land
- The Queen of Starting Over
- Black Butta
- Why Me, Why You, Why Now
- Tell Me I’m Wrong
- Back To You
