How Many Stars For That

Writing for Primo! now...

2012-03-06T13:47:00.001+11:00

Cez Ceron from Primo! Magazine recently gave me a godfather offer. Write your concert reviews on Primo's website. They have a few more hits per day than I do so I couldn't resist. Going forward, you can find my shit on concerts there under the screen name 'Chuck Taylor'

www.primomag.com.au

Safe House (2012) - MOVIE REVIEW

2012-02-10T12:04:00.000+11:00

Director: Daniel Espinosa
Starring: Denzel Washington, Ryan Reynolds, Vera Farmiga

This is one of those movies where you see the trailer and you think DAMN! I did. I love Denzel and these days I'll watch pretty much anything with him in it. I'm also a big fan of Ryan Reynolds too. To top it off the trailer looked crazy, action-packed, intriguing and anchored by the wicked beats and lyrics off "No Church In The Wild" from Watch The Throne. I was immediately hooked. Then reality set it. From this trailer it was pretty clear although we knew what the movie was about, we didn't really know much. Who was Tobin Frost? I had a feeling this movie might not be so great. Also, despite how much I like Ryan Reynolds, he doesn't make great movies... but I held out hope this would turn around with the help of Denzel.

So I don't tell you too much and ruin the movie, instead I'll just say this. It was good, not great. The plot-line was half decent but the pay-off at the end just wasn't that great. It was a little disappointing. For me, because Denzel has made so many damn awesome movies it's almost a disappointment if his next film isn't always great, even if I try manage my expectations.

It's still an enjoyable movie though. Any Denzel fan or a fan of action should watch it. Although this seemed to be the first English-speaking film (i'm guessing) from little known director Daniel Espinosa, I thought it was really well put together and the non-stop action throughout was enthralling. Ryan Reynolds was solid, the CIA brass was as it is in all spy movies and Denzel was... Denzel. This movie and his character seemed to be shaped around him. It seemed like the movie was filmed, the script was written to play to Denzel's strengths as an actor and I thought he was great. I don't care if I'm a little biased but let me say this... replace Ryan Reynolds with anyone else? Same movie. Replace Denzel? Forgettabouttit...

Kanye West @ Sydney Entertainment Centre 27.1.2012

2012-01-28T10:42:00.000+11:00

Strangest thing happened... Leading up to the concert I wasn't very excited to see Kanye. Prior to this show I had seen him four times throughout his career at different times and I was kinda over it all. The second I walked into the arena last night I felt like a kid the night before Christmas. I was so pumped for him to get on stage I couldn't contain my excitement. Why? I love Dark Twisted Fantasy, big fan of Watch The Throne and I generally just thought, shit, I think Kanye IS BACK... and definitely because I couldn't wait to lose my shit to All of The Lights (see the video below, how could you not?). Yeezy split his show into 3 acts and the first act was by far the best, belting out some of his sickest tracks like Dark Fantasy, Power, Touch The Sky, Jesus Walks etc. I was losing it. Then Kanye lost me. Act 2 was all about his 808's and Heartbreak phase and it really fizzled. I like Heartless but that whole act was just depressing. Ye, you're not John Legend, stop singing about women like that. A real come down from Act 1. Act 3 picked it back up a little, I think that's when he played All of The Lights which was FUCKING UNREAL (again, see the video below!) but he killed me with his 3 hour rendition of Runaway. Good song but just played that shit way too long. Kanye, Imma let you finish, actually, no, just stop pressing that fuckin 'who got ya?' sample button on your drum machine. Fuck. (and no tracks from Watch the Throne! No N***as in Paris? FUCK!)

As a whole, I think three and half stars is a decent rating for the show but the highs were so fucking high that I've left this show ridiculously satisfied last night. Best three-and-a-half star performance ever.

All of the Lights

Dark Fantasy

Run this Town

Good Life

Odd Future @ Enmore Theatre Sydney 24.1.2012

2012-01-25T10:30:00.000+11:00

Ok so, I'm not a big Odd Future fan. Of all the stuff I've heard, I probably only really like about 4 songs and the rest is ok. Yet the minute I heard they were coming to town I was super excited to see them live. Not to hear my favourite songs but just because this group intrigues me so damn much. This is a group of kids, aged between 17 and 23 I think, that JUST DON'T GIVE A FUCK. They're weird, they're crazy and march to their own tune and they've built quite a following. Their live show is something else. They all get up there and perform their songs and seem to be having more fun than the crowd. Not in a bad way because the OFWGKTA crowds eat this shit up but these guys are just on another level and it's actually very satisfying to see these guys up on stage enjoying what they do. I've only given this three stars because I'm not a massive fan of their stuff so I didn't get fully into it but their stage performance was very good. Watch the videos below...

Favourite Odd Future character: Gotta be Hodgy Beats with Mike G a close second

Hodgy Beats - Turnt Down

Tyler, The Creator - Yonkers

Mike G - Everything That's Yours

Radicals

Homeland (The first 3 eps) - TV SHOW REVIEW

2012-01-24T15:30:00.000+11:00

When I review only the first few eps of something it's usually not a good thing. Homeland doesn't suck but it didn't manage to hook me after 3 eps and that's all the patience I can extend this one.

The premise and trailers made it sound/look like a good idea and that maybe the show won't suck. American P.O.W. returns to America but, uh oh, we think he may have turned and be working for Al Qaeda. A few years back there was a show called Sleeper Cell which last two short seasons, also about terrorism within the United States that I really liked so I thought I might like Homeland.

Unfortunately, after 3 painfully long and slow episodes that seemed to get nowhere I just couldn't be bothered anymore. Claire Danes' character is the CIA agent suspicious of the returning P.O.W. so she sets up unauthorised surveillance blah blah blah. I just couldn't get into her. I don't think she pulls that role off very well. There's just something off. Maybe that's just me. 3 eps in you're also no closer to finding out if the P.O.W. has in fact turned except for the fact that he now secretly prays to Allah every dawn. Somehow I wouldn't be surprised if by the end of the season, despite this, it turns out he's not the bad guy, he just converted faith. Because the show is a little weak, I need this guy to be the bad guy, it would piss me off if the rogue CIA agent was wrong.

and that's why I'm not risking it. Not gonna waste my time with this show. If the premise of this appeals, watch the first 3 eps for yourself, it's only a few hours. Besides, it's cold out.

The Dirt - The Motley Crue Bio - BOOK REVIEW

2012-01-23T16:20:00.000+11:00

In one word.... UNREAL.

This Motley Crue auto-bio is the craziest book I have ever read.

I haven't read a lot of books but I'm slowly chipping away at all the drug and alcohol fueled escapades I stomach. Prior to this, I thought it couldn't get as full on as Slash's auto-bio. Everyone always talked up Scar Tissue but I thought that paled in comparison to Slash's story. Steven Adler's? Probably the most effed up guy I've read about in terms of his drug abuse but the The Dirt, Motley Crue... UNREAL.

This book, this story has it ALL. To say that it's like the best bits of every rock star bio written put into one book would be underselling it (Not that I've read more than 7 book in my lifetime). You cannot script this shit. You cannot make it up. Not just the drugs and alcohol, the parties, the touring, the sex, the death... oh yes this book isn't light on death. Touring with Ozzy Osbourne, living around the corner from the Whiskey, being left for dead overdosing in a dumpster, manslaughter, degenerative bone diseases, make-ups, break-ups and plenty of make-up!!!

This is the book to read, this book, published back in 2002 paved the way for all these other rockers like Slash and Anthony Kiedis to open up.

READ IT!

Immortal Technique @ Metro Theatre Sydney 19.1.2012

2012-01-20T10:22:00.000+11:00

Prior to the announcement of Immortal Technique's tour, I had only heard his 2001 record Revolutionary Vol. 1 and it had been long time since I'd listened to it so my lasting impression/memory of it was that it was pretty political. I also remember Dance With The Devil so vividly despite giving it a lack of spins. Anyway, I bought the ticket and listened to his 3 other records in time for the show. Needless to say, Revolutionary Vol. 2, The 3rd World and The Martyr are all very good albums in there own right. I generally don't really like political-ish charged music with the exception of the likes of Public Enemy and KRS-One but there's just something about Immortal Technique. I always feel like other musicians are trying to force their political beliefs or agendas on you but Immortal Technique, just like P.E and KRS seem so genuine that you've got not choice but to listen and most importantly make up your own mind. Anyway, back to the show... It was a sell out crowd at the Metro and Immortal killed it. The crowd went fucking ape shit when he walked out. They had mad love for him. Backed up by three other rappers, two of which performed before him, he ripped through a large portion of his catalogue so effortlessly and had the crowd eating out of the palm of his hands throughout.

It was such a good show. Immortal Technique really engaged the crowd and talked to them and seemed to have a really genuine and fun personality, it was really refreshing to see. I'll definitely go see him again.

Peruvian Cocaine

The Martyr

Black Vikings

Point of No Return

Dexter - Season 6 - TV SHOW REVIEW

2012-01-10T21:00:00.000+11:00

Season 6 guest stars: Mos Def (Yasiin Bey), Colin Hanks, Edward James Olmos

It's no secret that Dexter is one of my favourite shows of all time. Each season was getting better and better and then season 4 absolutely rocked me. Season 5 was so so but it was always going to be hard to top the amazing season with John Lithgow. Season 6? It was better than 5 but still not up on 3 and 4. I thought the main villain plot of the season fizzled toward the end and there were a couple absurd plot lines that developed throughout. Still what really made this season for me was the introduction of Brother Same, played by one of my favourite rappers, Mos Def. Yes, he can act, so forget what you're thinking. He plays a relatively crucial role in Dexter's life and his dark passenger. Olmos, who plays one of the two villains really carries their plot line I thought but ultimately I just didn't love this season... oh and as per usual, it finished with a cliffhanger which was a bit of a let down too. That being said, it's still an enjoyable season so if you've watched past Dexters, watch this one

Check out the trailer...

Manu Chao La Ventura @ Enmore Theatre Sydney 9.01.2012

2012-01-10T02:00:00.000+11:00

MANU F**KING CHAO!!!

Yesterday afternoon the only thing I knew about Manu Chao was his name. After seeing him in concert last night with his band 'La Ventura' I'm almost upset with myself that I hadn't heard his stuff before... This was one of the best concerts I have seen in a long time. So much fire, so much energy from Manu, the band and the crowd. When they went off stage before the first encore, the crowd was so loud that it was distorting in my ears. Haven't heard a deafening crowd like that for years. It seemed like only 20% of the crowd were Aussies, the rest, South Americans and Spaniards etc. The second the band walked on stage, the crowd absolutely erupted and by the end of the first song I was hooked. Two and a half hours of Me, Manu and 2499 of my closest friends.

GZA (Wu-Tang Clan) and Pharoahe Monch @ Waves, Wollongong 8.01.2012

2012-01-09T15:56:00.000+11:00

Wow...
One day after playing to a packed out Metro Theatre in Sydney, Pharoahe Monch and GZA traveled down to little old Wollongong to play in front of 100 people. ONE HUNDRED. I was initially embarrassed for my home town when I got there but the poor turn out (due to late announcement of show when most probably already had Sydney tickets) was a blessing in disguise. The small crowd made it a very intimate couple sets from the guys from NYC and it was amazing. Pharoahe rocked with the same energy he did the night before and got the fans going. Simon Says goes off, regardless of how many people are around. Desire was much better than the night before as well because they used the original backing vocals of the singer that did the chorus. GZA? I didn't want to wait for him to come out an hour late but decided to stick around and boy was I glad. He came out and spat for a minute, then took a seat for a minute at the edge of the stage, got up and proceeded to perform his one hour show smack bang in the middle of the moshpit. It was unreal. It was special. The Genius. The Wu-Tang legend playing in front of 100 white kids in the Gong. Wow.

GZA (Wu-Tang Clan), Pharoahe Monch and Jean Grae @ The Metro Sydney 7.01.2012

2012-01-08T15:58:00.000+11:00

I'm always super excited to see Pharoahe Monch live and I'm also a fan of Jean Grae. While I'm not a big Wu-Tang guy it was a bonus to see GZA as well. This was the third time I've seen Jean Grae and probably the best. She came out with a fire and a bit of a mouth on her but that's Jean and it was pretty cool. Pharoahe was Pharoahe. Always gives it his all and thrives in front of an intense crowd. He absolutely rocked the sell out Metro crowd. The dude that sings the chorus to Desire wasn't there so some chick took over and it wasn't terrible but it just wasn't Desire. Oh well. How many concerts I've been to, for the first time ever, I saw a spectator rush the stage and DIDN'T have love for the act. During Pharoahe's "Fuck You" he got up on stage with his middle fingers in the air screaming "Fuck You" to Pharoahe, but not like a fan getting into the song but a scum bag. Pharoahe laughed it off but DJ BoogieBlind was having none of it. He came out from behind the 1's and 2's ready to deck that mutha f**ker but cooler heads prevailed... on with the show.

I didn't know what to expect from GZA because Wu-Tang are a little funny some times... So I wasn't fully disappointed when he came out and pretty much stood in one spot all night spitting Liquid Swords. At one point he did run into the crowd and do a song there which was pretty nuts though.

Aloe Blacc @ Enmore Theatre Sydney 4.01.2012

2012-01-05T16:04:00.000+11:00

Such a great night. Aloe Blacc is a very cool cat. So smooth. Kind of reminded me of the last time I saw Mos Def at the Enmore not too long ago. Had the audience captivated and it didn't matter if you didn't know half his stuff... "I need a dollar" was obviously great but "Momma Hold My Hand" was very moving

Sons of Anarchy Season 4 - TV SHOW REVIEW

2011-12-12T22:30:00.000+11:00

Creator: Kurt Sutter
Starring: Charlie Hunnam, Katey Sagal, Ron Perlman, Mark Boone Junior, Danny Trejo

Another epic season. Kurt Sutter and Co have delivered once again. If you haven't watched any Sons at all, check out my review on the first season then hop to it because four seasons on, this show is here to stay.

I'm not gonna waste my time talking about this season too much. If you enjoyed the first three seasons then you will will enjoy this one. While it starts off a little slow like last season, shit gets real crazy in season 4, true to SoA form and it is entertaining as hell. The injection of a Mexican cartel headed by legendary token Mexican actor Danny Trejo (who I'll never get sick of) and the alterior motives of Jax and Clay really just might spell the end of the MC.

I guarantee you will enjoy this season... or your money back.

Chali 2na @ Oxford Art Factory Sydney - December 11 2011 - GIG REVIEW

2011-12-12T16:08:00.000+11:00

It's the verbal Herman Munster!
I love J5, I love Chali 2na and I love the Oxford Art factory. Perfect venue for a hip-hop show. Chal 2na absolutely killed it last night. He played for 2 friggin hours!.. and he only played 3 J5 songs. The crowd didn't care though, he played a little bit of everything and even had the band just bust into a jam session while he moved the crowd. ("Move the crowd, that's what MC means" - KRS One).
Great night!

Foo Fighters @ Sydney Football Stadium - December 8 2011 - GIG REVIEW

2011-12-09T16:11:00.000+11:00

Foo Fighters are one of my favourite rock bands. Live? They are no joke. These guys are real entertainers. Dave Grohl is an entertainer. Last night was the fourth time seeing the Foo Fighters live and they played for two and a half hours in front of a packed out Sydney Football Stadium. It was a great show. I will watch these guys every single time I get a chance.

How To Make It In America - Seasons 1 & 2 - TV SHOW REVIEW

2011-11-24T10:48:00.000+11:00

Created by: Ian Edelman
Starring: Brian Greenberg, Victor Rasuk, Kid Cudi

From the crew that brought us Entourage, How To Make It In America is a show that can be explained as a sort of east coast Entourage. Though, instead of being famous, the people in this show are just trying to make it. Mainly set around two guys coming up in the fashion industry and the lives they have with their friends. It's marketed as a comedy-drama but other than some comic relief here and there it's not particularly funny. It's still a decent show though and it has the same spirit of Entourage so if you liked that you'll probably enjoy this. That being said I think there are a tonne of other shows I'd get you to watch first.

oh and Kid Cudi doesn't suck in this either... nice to see a rapper that actually can act.

The trailer from season one

A look back on Entourage

2011-11-23T13:36:00.000+11:00

SPOILER ALERT: I'll be looking back on all 8 seasons of Entourage and there will be spoilers. If you haven't watched it yet... why the fuck haven't you watched it yet?

Created by: Doug Ellin
Starring: C'mon... seriously?

and we're done... I can't believe Entourage is over. Even though it's not set in stone, yes, there'll be a movie eventually but really, Entourage is over. For 8 years, every June we were treated to a few months of great television and nine months of classic re-runs and now it's over. Sure, we'll find something else to fill the void but Entourage will always be there. I know I'll always be quoting it, things will remind me of it and every once in a while i'll catch up with someone or meet someone new that is also an Entourage fanatic so we'll proceed to spout off countless quotes and reminisce classic episodes.

I'll start with the finish. After 8 seasons, Entourage covered a lot of ground, it wasn't just one type of show. It was funny, really funny, dramatic, sad, at times a little repetive but always fun and always a good way to spend half an hour. It won awards and many fans. The thing about such a long running show with so many fans is that it is just impossible to keep everybody happy and you can forget about everybody loving the finale. Some people take the show for what it is, for whatever is given to us and other people want the show to be what they want it to be, only to be pissed off/disappointed when it goes somewhere else. Hey asshole, guess what, this isn't your show, it's Doug Ellin's show and the writers' show and the actors and so on... so just sit back and enjoy it.

Early on, people bitched about it being too much of a fairytale. 'It's unrealistic', something bad has to happen, people need to fail. Then, after a while, things got less rosy, movies failed, relationships failed, Vince spiralled out of control, all that. Then other people bitched about it not being funny anymore and blah blah blah. You know what I say, shut your mouth and enjoy the ride. Early on it was fun to watch everything go right for the boys. And it was funny. Then, whether you want to admit it or not, you get attached to all the characters, especially Ari, even though in real life you wouldn't be friends with a guy like that. So when the writers developed the characters some more and put them through tough times and all that stuff, I cared.

Back to the finish. I like the way Entourage finished. It all worked out. I'm ok with that because essentially, that was one of the underlying themes for 8 seasons. Like E and Vince would always say. "Don't worry. It'll all work out. Trust me". And it did. That's that's my quick little arguement supporting the finish. I do think that the last few episodes happened rather quick though. Although that was half the point of Vince meeting the girl of his dreams and instantly falling for her, I just couldn't buy it. The writers could have easily stretched a short 10 episode season into the regular 12. Not sure why they only did 10. Could be a network thing.

Sloan getting back together with E? I'll tell you what. I thought Adrian Grenier wasn't that special an actor in this show but he did the job. He didn't suck. Funny thing is, the scenes throughout the show that have him 'acting' in movies actually were fucking terrible. Especially in smoke jumpers. He sucked a bag of dicks. I'm on the crazy German director's side with that one. But still, Dana Gordon's boss 'loved what Vince did'. Are you kidding me? Anyway. I digress. Vince's little speech to Sloan which single handedly saved the E-Sloan love story was his best piece of work in the entire show. It was some moving shit. Sorry about all the profanity, Entourage brings it out in me.

My 5 star rating. After maybe 100 episodes of this show, it's impossible to not poke holes in Entourage, to not whinge about something, to not argue that it should have done this and not that. I agree. Certain things could have been different but, I'm not reviewing what the show could have been. I'm reviewing what it was. It was awesome and I loved every bit of it. It had everything. Countless one-liners that will live on through us. Beautiful women. Sex scenes. Parties. Glamour. An insight into Hollywood. Drama. Failures. Drug addictions. Betrayals. Lying. Cheating. Stealing. Suicides. Break-ups. Make-ups and you know what... it all worked out in the end and I wouldn't change a thing.

Favourite cameos:
Matt Damon: "One in six American kids are FOOD INSECURE!"
Andrew Dice Clay: "Nobody fucks Dice. Dice does the fuckin"

Worst cameo: Kanye West (so painful watching him onscreen)
"We goin to London. Jus chillin' for a second"

Favourite characters:
Drama: "nah bro, this shirt is mad-hetero"
Lloyd: "I always imagined a double teaming would be more fun than that"
Ari: "I didn’t go to the Lakers game because they were playing the fucking Bobcats… And I came here today because I thought this was a session on how my wife could learn to communicate, how to answer a question without a question, basic Humanity 101, which I thought, given your wall of fucking diplomas, you could easily fix, or if you couldn’t, you could give her a pill that would either fix it or make her a mute. But now, to turn around and gang up on me? I have work to do. I have hundreds of clients to deal with, and just so we’re clear, I don’t care about ANY OF THEM. They’re ALL just a number, like Wife #1 and Therapist #7… GOOD DAY!"

Favourite recurring characters:
Billy Walsh: "I don't make movies, I make FILMSSS"
Harvey: "Walk the other way David or else I'll pull out your f**king eyeballs"

Favourite minor character: Yayir Marks
"She will hang upside-down while you tickle her asshole"

Entourage on other shows...

a couple scenes from my favourite episode

probably my favourite cameo in the show would be Matt Damon... it's for the kids Vince!

My Appetite for Destruction: Sex, and Drugs, and Guns N' Roses by Steven Adler - BOOK REVIEW

2011-11-22T22:43:00.001+11:00

Title: My Appetite for Destruction: Sex, and Drugs, and Guns N' Roses
Genre: Autobiography

Besides the crap they make you read in high school, a couple years ago I read my first real book. Yes, at age 23. Anyway, it was Slash's Autobiography and to this day is the best book I've ever read. The story of his life and Guns N' Roses was absolutely unreal and is a book I'm constantly telling people to read. I'm a big Gunners fan but to be honest, I only read Steven Adler's autobiography for one reason. I wanted to see if Axl really was a bit of a prick. That was the picture that Slash painted with thinly veiled stabs at Axl in his autobiography so I thought I'd do what anyone in search of the truth would do. Find other sources. I turned to the original drummer from the band that did Appetite for Destruction and helped make Use Your Illusion before being kicked out ahead of recording. Plus, as much as I love their music, prior to these two books I didn't know too much about the history of GNR.

This was an interesting read. A must for any GNR fan. This cat Steven Adler has had one hell of a messed up life. I thought some of the stuff Slash and Anthony Kiedis got up to (The only other two rock-star bio's I've read) was absolutely insane but Steven Adler's substance abuse was on another level. Some fascinating stuff in there.

Check out this short interview with Adler where he talks about his book

Wilfred - TV SHOW REVIEW

2011-11-22T15:19:00.001+11:00

Ok so I'm gonna do something a little different and review both versions of this show together. The Australian version being the original version that inspired the American adaptation.

(Australian version - two seasons)

Created by: Jason Gann, Adam Zwar, Tony Rogers
Starring: Jason Gann, Adam Zwar, Cindy Waddingham

Adapted from the award winning short film in 2002, as per the poster above, yes, it's a guy in a dog suit... but in this reality, only the main character (the boofhead in the foreground) can see him as a grown man but everyone else just sees cute little Wilfred, the dog. There's really not too much else to explain about this show I guess. It's a comedy where Wilfred, part dog, part Russel Crowe on a bender, drinks and smokes and roots teddy bears all the while exploring what a part man/part dog character can do. Yes, I realise I really haven't explained anything there.

Anyway, the Australian version is pretty good. An entertaining watch but even before the U.S. version came along I couldn't help but think that it wasn't hitting it's full potential of what you could do with a character like Wilfred. I was kind of just going through the motions with season 2. It got a bit old.

(U.S. version - First season)

Created by: Jason Gann, Adam Zwar, Tony Rogers
Starring: Elijah Wood, Jason Gann, Fiona Gubelmann

When I heard the Yanks were giving this show a go I though it would be a disaster like the Kath & Kim remake but Jason Gann, the creator, writer and guy who plays Wilfred, signed on to continue in the same role for the U.S. version. Genius. Bloody genius. The U.S. version is everything I wanted the Australian version to be. Frodo, er, I mean Elijah Wood plays a solid part in this and to my surprise, not for a second do I picture him as the hobbit anymore so that's a good sign.

With continued creative input from Gann, the money of American network FX, direction by Randall Einhorn (The Office U.S, It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia) and writers with credits on Scrubs, Family Guy and Frasier, this show is exactly how you'd picture a comedy about a half dog/half man... and it's brilliant at times. I can't wait for season two.

A short promo for the U.S. version

and check out this anti-smoking spoof as part of the Wilfred promos in the U.S.

Game of Thrones - Season 1 - TV SHOW REVIEW

2011-11-21T22:27:00.001+11:00

Created by: David Benioff, D. B. Weiss
Starring: Sean Bean and a bunch of actors you probably never heard of.

A Medieval fantasy TV show called 'Game of Thrones'. No thanks, I thought. Besides the awesome looking throne in the poster above, I thought there'd be nothing really appealing for me. As the show went on I had more and more friends rave about it so I thought I might give it a shot. I'm really glad I did because this is actually a really good show. Based on A Song of Fire and Ice, the series of George R. R. Martin novels, Game of Thrones is probably the realest (if you will) fantasy show since maybe Lord of the Rings. What I mean by that is, since Lord of the Rings all other fantasy shows/movies have looked second rate to me. Clash of the Titans absolutely killed me. Hated the look of that movie. Game of Thrones? This show is legit. The costumes, the castles, the killings... perfect.

Stunning visuals aside, there is actually a very solid plot line to this show, not just the good old, good guys bad guys rivalry. It's actually pretty full on. There's the King of the seven Kingdoms, the devious family of the Queen, his best friend (Bean) the Lord of North Landing, The brotherhood of the Night's Watch who protect the Wall from crazy un-dead beasts, then there's the exiled Prince Viserys Targaryen, son of the previous King who is trying to recruit an army to win the throne back.... ugh, there's just so much happening in the 10 episode season and is absolutely enthralling.

This show has also received Emmy praise with multiple nominations and also a win to Peter Dinklage for Best supporting actor in a drama series. Don't be scared away by the lack of star power in this show. Sean Bean is excellent and so are the rest of his lesser known counterparts. The acting, along with the fascinating story line, brilliant costume design and straight up pimp iron throne for the king make this a very worthy show. Check it out.

Warrior (2011) - MOVIE REVIEW

2011-11-21T21:28:00.001+11:00

Director: Gavin O'Conner
Starring: Joel Edgerton, Tom Hardy, Nick Nolte

Not another boxing movie. Well, yes and no. There must be 7000 boxing movies made in the history of film and yes, this is actually MMA (Mixed Martial Arts - UFC type stuff), not boxing, but still... same same.

But this one is so damn good!

I was totally caught by surprise how good this film actually was. Aussie Joel Edgerton (Animal Kingdom, The Great Gatsby) and Tom Hardy (Inception, RocknRolla) star as two estranged brothers that grew up wrestling but were separated as their abusive father (Nolte) tore the family apart. An MMA competition with a multi-million dollar pay packet brings them both back into the ring (octagon actually) and they must deal with all the family baggage that resurfaces when the brothers and their father all get back in touch. Anyway, you learn this much from the trailer.

I absolutely loved this movie. Yes, I'm a sucker for great fight scenes but the plot to this movie, the plight of the broken family, the acting were all so special. Make no mistake, this movie can be fun if you just want to watch some good old fashion hollywood beat downs but Edgerton, Hardy and even Nolte make this movie so much more. Maybe I'm just a bit of a sap but there was a bit of a salty discharge from my eye balls on a couple of occasions. Every single aspect of this movie felt so real and so believable and even relatable.

I decided to watch this movie for 3 reasons. One, it was MMA, not boxing. I was curious to see how they'd make a movie about it. Two, Joel Edgerton. You pay attention when an Australian makes it hollywood. I do anyway. Three, Tom Hardy. I only know Tom Hardy from Inception and RocknRolla but in both outings I was impressed with his work. That being said, in Warrior he lifted the roof off of my expectations for him. Hardy, Edgerton and Nolte gave so much to this movie. It really was quite impressive that they actually hit the nail on the head with the casting of the three most important roles.

It's just such a shame that there will be a whole segment of audience that will miss out because they don't want to watch 'another boxing movie'.

THIS SPACE: Is normally where I add in the trailer but I'm not doing that this time. I'm leaving it out because it shows so much, it doesn't ruin the movie, heck you might even forget part of it, but I feel like it'll be just that little bit better if you haven't even seen the trailer. I just looked at the trailer for the first time right now and was glad that I didn't see it before hand because every little thing that happened in the movie was a surprise instead of knowing half the stuff that happened. Pros and Cons of see the trailer is a whole other story anyway... Just watch the movie :)

Suits - Season 1 - TV SHOW REVIEW

2011-09-12T20:43:00.001+10:00

Created By: Aaron Korsh
Starring: Gabriel Macht, Patrick J. Adams

A legal drama-comedy, yes. Another legal drama-comedy, no.

A show about a highly skilled, high powered lawyer that takes a gamble on an unproven, incredibly smart kid without a law degree as his associate, Suits isn't really like other legal dramas. In the mold of Boston Legal, Suits is a quirky-funny drama that's a little more conservative than Boston Legal but definitely a fun drama with some half decent acting and week-to-week story lines.

While there is the 'case-of-the-week' type episodes, there is a very interesting story arc throughout the first season about the kid and his background and all that business...

Suits is a good show. There's plenty ahead of it but it's got me hooked. The finale was very very good. This show won't be a waste of your time.

Horrible Bosses (2011) - MOVIE REVIEW

2011-09-12T19:31:00.000+10:00

Director: Seth Gordon

Starring: Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, Jason Sudeikis, Jennifer Aniston, Colin Farrell, Kevin Spacey, Jamie Foxx

An ensemble casts hits the big screen to deliver possibly one of the comedies of the year in Horrible Bosses. As you can assume from the poster, Jason Bateman, Charlie Day and Jason Sudeikis play the three employees and Kevin Spacey, Jennifer Aniston and Colin Farrell play the horrible bosses. The end game? To kill their bosses. That's where 'Murder Consultant', Motherfucker Jones (Jamie Foxx), steps in to help the hapless would-be killers.

While the plot is very simple and not particularly unique, Michael Markowitz's script and the acting by these 7 established stars make for a movie that was absolutely brilliant at times and at the least very funny at others... and there are some great one liners which is always the trademark for a hilarious film.

As per the poster, Spacey played the 'Psycho' boss, which was always going to be a solid performance from such a great actor. Jennifer Aniston played the 'Man eater', which was surprisingly good considering I've got no love for her. Colin Farrell absolutely nailed the role of the 'Douche Bag' boss. Very funny and a great compliment to Bateman, Day and Sudeikis. Welcome back Mr. Farrell.

Jason Bateman was Jason Bateman. That's a good thing though. You know what to expect from him and you get it and it's good. Jason Sudeikis and Charlie Day were hilarious. Sudeikis played a very similar role to what he's played in other movies and on skit show Saturday Night Live while Charlie Day had a very It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia-esque performance in which he regularly kills.

Great movie... if you watch one comedy this year... (you know how this sentence finishes)

Here's the trailer:

127 Hours (2011) - MOVIE REVIEW

2011-07-04T22:49:00.000+10:00

Director: Danny Boyle
Starring: James Franco

Based on the autobiography Between a Rock and a Hard Place, the true story of mountain climber Aron Ralston is played out by James Franco (Pineapple Express, Milk) on the big screen. The movie is about the 127 hours Aron Ralston spent with his hand stuck between a rock and a wall.

I won't say how it finishes but it can only end 3 ways... Death, survival with his arm or survival without his arm... Regardless, this is a truly intense film about what this guy went through in those grueling 5 days, hundreds of miles from another soul. Nominated for an Oscar, Franco produces one of his finest performances to date and really made you feel for this guy after 5 days of starvation, dehydration and hallucinations. The ending is even a bit of a tear jerker.

I did a bit of wikipedia-ing and was pleased to find this about the authenticity of the storyline:
The scenes early in the film of Ralston's encounter with the two hikers were altered to portray Ralston showing them a hidden pool, when in reality he just showed them some basic climbing moves. Despite these changes, with which he was initially uncomfortable, Ralston says the rest of the film is "so factually accurate it is as close to a documentary as you can get and still be a drama."

Don't let the plot fool you into thinking this would be a boring film. It really isn't. This is one of the better films of the year.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011) - MOVIE REVIEW

2011-06-30T11:49:00.001+10:00

Director: Michael Bay
Starring: Shia LeBeouf, Josh Duhamel, John Turturro, Tyrese Gibson, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Patrick Dempsey, John Malkovich

Preface:
Yes, I gave this four-and-a-half stars but hear me out. With a near perfect rating I'm not saying that this movie will be loved universally. If you're the type of person that cannot open your mind and just enjoy a movie about machines killing eachother, machines with feelings, a movie adapted from a line of toys or even up for a laugh with all the comic relief provided by this flick then you can just stop reading now. You can also stop taking yourself so seriously too.

More more more! Dark of the Moon is 150 minutes of more. More battles, more transformers, more destruction, more of a story line, more acting (not always a good thing in these movies), more dimensions (the 3D was surprisingly seamless) and more to talk about. Where to start?

The acting. Let's be honest, fans of this film series aren't too bothered with the acting but we don't exactly want it to suck either. It follows the same formula of comic relief coming from most of the characters except for the a-holes in charge. With the injection of cameo's by screen legend John Malkovich and The Hangover's Ken Jeong, this movie was much funnier. Megan Fox was pretty ordinary in the first two movies but that didn't really matter because she had such a meaningless role. Her replacement, Victoria Secret model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, did a better job in her first acting gig. While it wasn't really good, it was better than Fox's performances and yes, she smoking hot which helps tip the scale of bias.

The story. Solid. Not much else to say. The writers came up with some Transformers mythology, gave the bad guys a reason to come to earth and so they fought the autobots.

The battle scenes. This is where Dark of the Moon really excels. I was absolutely awestruck at the enormity and length of the battles. You can't complain about the final showdown being too short. You just can't. As I said before, so many machines, so much destruction. I watched this in IMAX 3D and it was clear what was happening in about 95% of the scenes. Only for a quick second here or there are you like "wait, what? who is that?"

The latest and likely final instalment of Michael Bay's Transformers is, in one word, epic. I was a big fan of the first two flicks but Dark of the Moon has absolutely blown them out of the water.

Limitless (2011) - MOVIE REVIEW

2011-04-06T11:36:00.000+10:00

Director: Neil Burger
Starring: Bradley Cooper, Abbie Cornish, Robert De Niro

So this is a movie about a guy that realises a fantasy most of us have thought about at least once. Bradley Cooper (The Hangover) plays Eddie Morra, the lucky fool that takes a tablet to unlock the full power of his brain as opposed to using just 20% of it. As you would expect and also see in the trailer, he becomes super smart which solves almost all his problems. Unfortunately it creates new ones, otherwise this movie would suck.

Based on Alan Glynn's novel, The Dark Fields, Limitless was never going to suck regardless of the acting and the story line. Why? Because the guy takes a tablet that makes him super smart and in turn successful and rich. Like I said, something we've all fantasised about. But the acting didn't suck, Cooper was actually pretty good and Robert De Niro (Do I need to name a movie he was in?) was a nice little addition to complement him. The story held up well too. It was a good mix of plot twists, action, drama, a little bit of love and a whole bunch of fun.

If you want to escape from reality for 100 minutes and immerse youself into a nice little fantasy, watch this movie. Be warned though, 5 minutes after it finishes you'll be a tiny bit depressed when you remember that you only use 20% of your brain and there isn't a magic tablet out there... yet.

Check out the trailer

The Adjustment Bureau (2011) - MOVIE REVIEW

2011-03-08T12:17:00.001+11:00

Director: George Nolfi
Starring: Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Anthony Mackie, John Slattery, Terrence Stamp

"Bourne meets Inception" was one of the review blurbs I saw on a poster promo for this movie. More like, "Let's be really vague in the 30 second preview and make people think this is gonna be a decent action flick with some Inception-like plot lines and effects". Well it's kind of my fault for being sold there instead of reading about the movie or watching the 3 minute preview which reveals more about the film. It reveals that it's a sort of love story that's a bit Bourne and Inception-esque.

Guys, don't be scared away by me calling it a love story. This is one of the better movies to take a girl to see in that you'll enjoy it too and not just her. She'll dig all the sappy stuff and you'll dig everything that fills the gaps.

I won't give away too much about what the people from the Adjustment Bureau do, since you'll pick that up in the preview and early in the film but needless to say, it's got a cool little premise about them being able to control the world's destiny and to control your fate. The movie gets all lovey-dovey because David Norris' (Damon) fate is to not be with the girl of his dreams and he'll do what he needs to do to be with her blah blah blah...

Back to the Bureau... Terrence Stamp, John Slattery (Roger Sterling in Mad Men) and Anthony Mackie (The Hurt Locker) are three members of The Adjustment Bureau that were probably the three best characters in the Movie. Don't get me wrong, Matt Damon's David Norris was very good and I didn't have a problem with Emily Blunt's performance either but these three guys sort of carried the movie for me. It was a mixture of intriguing and interesting characters and good acting that really made those three guys my favourites. Especially Anthony Mackie. I regrettably haven't seen The Hurt Locker yet but knowing that he is in it makes me want to watch it more.

Don't race out to the movies to watch this unless on a date or something but definitely get around to it eventually. Not a bad movie.

Check out the trailer

Lupe Fiasco @ The Enmore Theatre - 24/1/2011

2011-03-03T08:26:00.002+11:00

Lupe's baaaack!!!

We are back baby! We are f**king back! We are back! We are baaaaack! We are getting LUPE BACK!!!

I'm not high, there is a reason I've just quoted The Hangover. Not because Lupe Fiasco came back to Sydney but because LUPE IS BACK!

Ok, ok, I'll explain... January 24th marked the fourth time I've seen Lupe. First time I saw him was at the Metro in Sydney back in 2007 touring for Food & Liquor. It was a fantastic show. He lived up to the hype as a rising star, a "breath of fresh air for hip-hop". While he had his following back home, I think at that stage he was still sort of coming up and he played with so much energy, zest, passion and just straight up looked ecstatic to be there but at the same time had the professionalism of a veteran.

Visits two and three, after the release of The Cool were both at the Enmore Theatre and were both good but disappointing at the same time. It seemed like his jump to super-stardom between visits one and two really affected his attitude toward his shows (not commenting on his personality or his other shows). He kind of came across as having an attitude of "I am king, you're paying for the privilege to see me, I'll do my thing, you guys just watch". That's just what it felt like. He still put on good shows but I just saw a different Lupe these times around and it was dissapointing because it felt like he was turning into "just another rapper", not, hip-hop's saviour. Kind of like how basketball fans were all disappointed when LeBron chose to "Take his talents to South Beach" with his superfriends instead of becoming the air (ayr? Maybe Air is fitting in this example) to Michael Jordan's throne. That being said, I went to shows two and three with Lupe newbies who absolutely loved both shows, so...

Which brings me to visit four. LUPE IS BACK!
I saw the old Lupe that hot summer night in Sydney. The fun loving performer that was happy to be on stage, happy to be in Sydney and equally happy to see Sydney like Sydney was happy to see him. He wanted to be Lupe Fiasco for us. He was the guy I wanted him to be. He was to hip-hop that night, who I wanted LeBron to be in the NBA. He played a bunch of stuff from both albums, which rocked of course and also gave us a preview of his new LP that drops soon. Most musicians will play about three new tracks before an album is released but I think he knew that'd we'd be all over his new stuff so he hit us with five new tracks which the entire crowd was fired up to hear and bump to.

Truely impressed. Welcome back Lupe Fiasco.

Shining Down

Hip Hop Saved My Life

Superstar

Words I Never Said (Brand New)

The Show Goes On (Brand New)

Daydreamin

Mos Def @ The Enmore Theatre - 23/1/2011

2011-03-01T10:26:00.002+11:00

Almost 5 years after supporting DJ Shadow's Australian tour, Mos Def finally returned to our shores for his first and hopefully not last headlining tour. After so many of his peers, especially Talib Kweli had visited Australia on numerous occasions over the years, it was a surprise that it took him so long to grace us with his presence. It was well worth the wait though.

I can't remember too much about his set before DJ Shadow back in 2006 but I remember feeling that he was the smoothest cat I had seen on stage. That still holds true today. Playing to an absolute packed house at the Enmore Theatre in Sydney, Mos Def put on one of the more amazing hip-hop shows I've seen in a very long time, if ever. It seemed like he had the crowd eating out of the palm of his hand before he even got on stage. The second he strutted out I could feel and hear the entire crowd just become instantly mesmerised by him. Something you don't see often at a hip-hop show.

From the very first song that Mos punched out, he delivered it with such a swagger, a confidence, a smoothness (that should be a word if it isn't already) and a stage presence that I've never seen in a musician of the hip-hop genre. The crowd was in a collective wow for the entire set. Mos Def isn't the type of rapper that comes out, delivers his lyrics, smiles at the crowd, pays tribute to a dead rapper, says "I love you Sydney" and then walks off stage. I don't want to say I went to the Mos Def concert, I want to say I spent an evening with Mos Def, much like the Common show I caught as part of the New Yorker festival in Manhattan. Though, I didn't have to listen to a 40 minute interview with Mos Def, like I did Common, to feel like I got to know this guy. He came out and rapped, sang, danced, spoke to the crowd and he didn't have to even try to entertain us. It seemed like he was just being himself on the stage, a self portrait, not an airbrushed Sex and the City poster that shows us what we want to see.

I haven't been blown away by a performer like this since I saw Ben Harper on his Burn to Shine tour at the Hordern Pavillion back in 2000.

You're probably thinking how can I only give this show four and a half stars after describing it as one of the best shows I've ever been to but there were a couple flaws. Talib Kweli was billed to be a special guest but didn't make it so I was a little disappointed we didn't get to see Black Star together. Also, as much as I love his album, The Ecstatic, almost every single song he played that night was from that album and not much old stuff or any Black Star which we've become accustomed to at Talib Kweli shows and even when Mos opened for DJ shadow... So those things stopped this from being a 5 star show.

Life In Marvelous Times

The Other Guys (2010) - MOVIE REVIEW

2011-02-25T11:24:00.000+11:00

Directed and co-written by Adam McKay (Anchorman, Step Brothers)
Starring: Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, Michael Keaton, Eva Mendes

I'll try keep it brief because this flick has been out a while, everyone knows about it and lots have probably seen it so I thought I'd take this opportunity to put it back in the minds of those who haven't seen it yet.

The Other Guys is a buddy-cop comedy. Detective Allen Gamble (Will Ferrell) and Detective Terry Hoitz (Mark Wahlberg) are the buddy cops and Michael Keaton, I mean Batman, plays their Captain. Will Ferrell is Will Ferrell, you get what you expect and he was funny as ever in this one. Probably one of his better performances actually.

Mark Wahlberg and Michael Keaton were major surprises though. I expected this to be the sort of comedy where Ferrell would be awesome and Marl Wahlberg would just be making up the numbers. Who would of thought that old mate Dirk Diggler could be really funny. He was brilliant. Almost on par with Ferrell but in a totally different comedic style. He wasn't being a total weirdo like most of Will Ferrell's characters are, he was just a New York City cop pissed off with the world but his character was so tragic that it was funny. I was so impressed.

Now the Scottie Pippens to Wahlberg/Ferrell's Michael Jordans. Playing a minor role of Captain Gene Mauch, Keaton nailed the part of the quirky, crazy guy and Eva Mendes wasn't just easy on the eyes in her scenes as Gamble's 'plain' wife Sheila. She was great.

Yes, I haven't said a word about the story. Doesn't matter. Just watch the film.

Check out the trailer

a peek at one of my favourite clips (the full thing is twice as long and twice as funny)

True Grit (2011) - MOVIE REVIEW

2011-02-17T10:54:00.000+11:00

Rating:
Written and Directed by Joel & Ethan Coen
Starring: Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Josh Brolin, Hailee Steinfeld

Lovers of the classic western, feast your eyes on the second film adaptation of Charles Portis' 1968 novel of the same name. The first adaptation back in 1969 starred John Wayne who actually scored his only Oscar for his portrayal of U.S. Marshal Rooster Cogburn. I haven't seen that flick but with an Oscar worthy performance by John Wayne, I'm going to assume it was good.

The latest adaptation features Jeff Bridges taking on John Wayne's role as U.S. Marshal Cogburn with Matt Damon riding by his side as Texas Ranger LaBoeuf. Together they set of on a bounty hunt of Tom Chaney (Brolin) to bring justice for murdering the father of Mattie Ross (Steinfeld).

The trailer for this movie looks very cool but unfortunately a little misleading. I got the impression that there would be lots of gunslinging but that was not the case. Still, the movie that I actually saw was pretty good. It was a no-frills, relatively non-hollywood western and it didn't have any magic tricks or misdirection. It was a no-nonsense story about a 14 year old girl that hires a U.S Marshal and a Texas Ranger to capture the man that killed her father. As much as this movie is about catching the bad guy, it's also the story of Mattie Ross and U.S Marshal Cogburn and their long, difficult journey.

I was a little uncertain about Damon's casting to begin with but he fit in quite well. Jeff Bridges was great as the stubborn, drunken old Marshal struggling to deal with his own mortality and is in the running to win his second consecutive Oscar for best actor following his stirring performance in Crazy Heart. Hailee Steinfeld? Write that name down because it's not the last we'll hear from her. She was brilliant. Better than Bridges I dare to say. Not sure who her fellow Best Supporting Actress nominees are but, look out! The simple plot line of this movie is carried by some solid acting and characters across the board which makes the movie what it is.

True Grit is nominated for 10 Oscars, to be held on February 27, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted screenplay, Best Actor (Bridges) and Best Supporting Actress (Steinfeld). This is a good old fashined western. Take your dad and your grandfather to see it.

Check out the trailer

Cypress Hill @ Smokeout Festival, LA - 16/10/2010

2011-02-14T15:15:00.000+11:00

Rating:
It was actually billed as "Cypress Hill's Smokeout Festival". No surprise that the kings of kush would organise something like this. With Blink 182's Travis Barker on the drums, Cypress Hill banged out their entire debut album as the main event to the festival and it absolutely went off. I'm not gonna lie, I may have had a toke or two throughout the day but none the less, it was pretty cool to see a band play an album front to back. Of course it meant there were some songs that just didn't do it live.

Pigs (Ft. Travis Barker)

Insane In The Brain

Rise Up (Ft. Travis Barker)

Rock Superstar (Ft. Travis Barker)

How I Could Just Kill A Man (Ft. Travis Barker)

Nas and Damian Marley @ Smokeout Festival, LA - 16/10/2010

2011-02-14T09:49:00.000+11:00

Rating:
As I'm writing I just realised that I left out their album, Distant Relatives from my top 10 albums of 2010 list. Fuck. How the hell did I forget it? It's top 5 material. I'm a big fan of both these guys so it was a no brainer that I'd love their collabo. Back to the concert... It was a funny vibe around the Smokeout Festival because as per the name, it was all about smoking weed and promoting the legalisation of it in California (The vote was coming up soon). So, everyone was high and it seemed like the crowd lacked energy. Anyway, they put together a rather short set at 45 minutes that just didn't feel right. Possibly because of the mix of an ordinary crowd, big outdoor stage and being day time. They finished strong though, with Bob Marley's could you be loved. (Just saw them at Good Vibes on the weekend, so much better, my review and videos should be up next week)

Strong Will Continue

Welcome to Jamrock

Road to Zion

Could You Be Loved (Bob Marley Cover)

Common @ Le Poisson Rouge, NYC - 2/10/2010

2011-02-11T11:18:00.001+11:00

Rating:
Finally, having a twitter account payed off! Was in New York on holiday when Common tweeted about this show 2 days beforehand. Naturally I was on that! The show was part of the New Yorker (Magazine) festival so it wasn't strictly a gig. It began with an interview/chat with one of the editors from the New Yorker which went for about 40 minutes. They talked about a whole range of things from Common's life to hip hop to poltics to his acting, all sorts of things. I'm a big fan of Common's work so to see such an in depth interview with him was very cool. After the interview he banged out a tight 50 minute set with a live band to an intimate audience of about 100 people which was absolutely fantastic. The highlight of the New York leg of my trip.

Testify

Universal Mind Control

More concerts from the past

2011-02-11T10:04:00.005+11:00

Its been a busy time seeing 12 concerts in the last 6 months so I thought I'd compress some reviews.

The XX @ The Chicago Theatre - 28/9/2010
Rating:
I'm gonna be honest with you, I only saw these guys so I could get into the Chicago Theatre, which is beautiful by the way, and was pleasantly surprised by how good these guys were. The venue was fully seated so it wasn't about dancing around, it was pretty chilled out. We just sat back, drank some beer and enjoyed a very cool show... I can't even remember one of their songs but I gotta get their stuff soon because from memory they were very cool

(Photo via Microphenia @ flickr)

Ice Cube @ The Big Top, Luna Park - 22/10/2010
Rating:
One part of the legendary N.W.A, when Ice Cube comes to town. You go see him. He didn't let us down this time either. Although his new album sucks and except for Raw Footage (2008) most of his stuff from this decade has been lacking. But, being who he is, Cube brought the heat, playing stuff from every single album in his catalogue. Naturally, Check Yo Self absolutely ripped.

(Photo by Liza Moscatelli)

Pharoahe Monch @ The Metro Theatre - 26/11/2010
Rating:
If you've scanned through my blog in the past you'll see that Pharoahe is one of my favourite rappers and holds the title of best concert I've ever been to for his set at Good Vibes a few years ago. This was the 3rd time I saw him and while his gig at the Gaelic in 2009 seemed to lack a bit of fire, he absolutely tore the house down at The Metro. Everybody loves "Simon Says" and lose their collective shit when he plays that but I actually think his best song live these days is "Desire". If you know Pharoahe, you know what I mean.

(Photo by Hosking Industries)

Dropkick Murphys @ No Sleep Til Sydney, Entertainment Quarter - 18/12/2010
Rating:
Nothing too out of the ordinary for these guys, they bring that same energy and fight to every gig they play. Up there with one the best bands to see live and maybe even "They sound better live" status.

Linkin Park @ Acer Arena - 15/12/2010

2011-01-27T10:48:00.002+11:00

Rating:

Saw these guys back in 07 at the Sydney Entertainment Centre and was absolutely blown away. The most electric concert I had seen to date. They played every song I wanted to here and were supported by Chris Cornell who rocked some solo stuff, Audioslave and Soundgarden. Really good show that night.

So, by default I tried to lower my expectations because concerts are generally better the first time unless you've got highly talented performers that re-invent their shows for every tour. The two things that ultimately killed this show for me was that they played so much of their new stuff which, I'm not a big fan of and it's not like Linkin Park's old stuff. It lacks that fire and aggression we're used to. The two best parts of the show were the crowd singing the chorus to Shadow of the Day, which was mesmerising and the intro guitar work on No More Sorrow was epic. The second thing that killed it was the venue. I hate Acer Arena, not everyone can rock that mammoth venue. Linkin Park can't.

Sons of Anarchy Season 3 - TV SHOW REVIEW

2011-01-24T10:53:00.005+11:00

Rating:
Creator: Kurt Sutter
Starring: Charlie Hunnam, Katey Sagal, Ron Perlman, Mark Boone Junior

I managed to review Season 2 of this show without giving away details on Season 1 but I won't do that again. If you haven't seen Season 1 & 2 yet, read those reviews and go watch it. Seriously, if you haven't seen it yet why are you still reading this? This is one of the best dramas on TV right now.

Anyway... The 3rd season of Sons picks up right where it left off at the end of season 2. The Irishman (Cameron) had just kidnapped Jax's son Abel and Gemma Teller is on the run from the law after being framed by ATF agent Stahl for killing Cameron's son. While Gemma is on the run, the rest of the MC are left to pick up the pieces after Half-Sack's murder and try to find Cameron and Abel. The hunt eventually takes them all the way to Belfast. A long way from Charming. A long long way from Charming. For the first time, The Sons have to play by the rules of the law and aren't operating in their sheltered little Charming where they had free reign.

I'd just started my latest holiday in the USA so the idea was to watch it all when I got back but I found myself in a household with the FX channel on the night of the season Premiere. What do I do? I knew I'd likely not see anymore after this. I'd be giving myself Sons of Anarchy blue balls if I watched it!

Couldn't help myself. By the end of the first episode one of my feelings was anger. I was angry at the show for having such an awesome premiere. Not only was it like a season finale for me since I'd be on the road for two months but the way the episode ended actually was like a season finale. I'm not even going to hint at what happened. Just know this, if you thought episode 1 of season 2 where Gemma was raped was intense, wait til you see this one. It set the tone for the rest of the season. It set the tone for another amazing season.

I'm kind of at the point where I feel like a broken record talking about the great storyline, the great writing and the great acting. It's all true though. I could probably copy-paste my praises from the first two seasons and they would apply to season 3. Katey Sagal (Gemma) just won the Golden Globe for best actress in a drama. That's a good start right?

Season 2 was always going to be hard to beat because I've got such big wraps on Adam Arkin and Henry Rollins' performances as the villains of the season but season 3 still produced some fine performances by Titus Welliver (The Man in Black from LOST) as Jimmy O and my personal favourite, James Cosmo as Father Kellan Ashby.

While the season seemed to start very slowly (eps 2-6), things really gained momentum right before the MC went to Ireland to make the back half the season unbelievable. So much happening. So intense.

Season finale? Best season finale yet.

What are you looking at? Go watch Sons of Anarchy.

N.E.R.D @ The Hordern Pavillion - 7/01/2011

2011-01-21T11:41:00.000+11:00

Horrible photo, I know, but I only had my iPhone

Rating:

Pharell and the rest of the gang from N.E.R.D. rocked out Sydney a couple weeks ago in a mega bill along with Tinie Tempah, Chromeo and Boys Noize. At least they tried to make it a mega bill. I didn't see TT but I watched Chromeo, Boys Noize and N.E.R.D. all rock one hour sets.

Chromeo were pretty cool, I knew like two songs before I saw them but their style makes you feel like you've heard it before (in a good way) and immediately get into the show. Boys Noize did nothing for me. An hour straight of that electic/techno sound he has absolutely did my head in. Boys Noize would be perfect for a 20-30 minute set to get you amped before the main event. Regardless of what I thought, a capacity crowd was there to rock out to Chromeo and Boys Noize and not just for N.E.R.D.

N.E.R.D. was amazing. It exceeded my expectations with the type of stage presence that Pharell had during the set. Shay Haley did his bit but you really just felt like the stage and the show belonged to Pharell Williams. Even after listening to N.E.R.D. for years, only that night did I realise how amazing his flow is. He's such a talented rapper/singer and really came to life on stage. The entire band played with a lot of energy and the sound was almost flawless. The mic on Shay could have been better though.

I suppose they only played an hour because of the way the night was set up with the other acts but I could see these guys easily playing at least 90 minutes with that same energy and still keeping the crowd interested too. That was the difference between 4 stars and 3 and a half.

Public Enemy @ The Metro Theatre - 4/01/11

2011-01-19T11:47:00.001+11:00

Ok so I know I just posted about not having done anything for a while on here so I couldn't help but jump into a review already...

Rating:

"Harder than you think is a beautiful thing..."
I saw these guys a couple years back but Flava Flav actually missed his flight (thats the official story they're rolling with) so it was just Chuck D (The brother don't swear he's nice, he knows he's nice!). Didn't matter. Chuck D, the S1W's, DJ Lord and the band rocked it. A couple years later, celebrating the 20th anniversary of their album "Fear of a black planet", P.E. including, say it with me, FLA-VA FLAAAAVVV! came back to our shores, The Metro in Sydney more specifically for an epic performance.

Although scheduled to play 90 minutes, I suppose in an effort to make up for Flava Flav not making it last time and because Public Enemy are just awesome, they played for two and half hours, not just doing the entirity of "Fear..." but a whole bunch of other stuff too. Chuck D brought so much energy to the stage and Flava Flav showed (to the uninitiated) that he isnt just that crazy dude off that show "Flava Flav's flavour of love" with stints on the guitar and the drums and a truely inspiring speech at the end of the show about peace and togetherness and love and all that stuff made for a truely complete experience.

Favourite track of the concert? Harder Thank You Think
The horns on that song ripped the speakers to shreds. Truely an inbelievable song live.
Check out the music video for it and picture it 700 times better live.

My Top 10 Albums for 2010

2010-12-23T16:59:00.006+11:00

Ok, it's been a busy couple months so I was so behind in my music that I listened to about 8 albums in November and December to catch up on what I missed. 3 of my top 5 (Kanye, Kid Cudi and Cee Lo) only came out in November and saved what was probably a lackluster year in great albums.

Here's my top 10:
1 Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Don't try and tell me anything else is better
Check out: So Appalled, All of the lights

2 Kid Cudi - Man on the Moon II
Surprise of the year for me
Check out: Erase Me (Ft. Kanye), Mr Rager, These Worries

3 Big Boi - Sir Lucious Left Foot
Dominated my playlist for about 3 months when it came out
Check out: Shutterbug, For Yo Sorrows, Back Up Plan

4 Cypress Hill - Rise Up
One of their best
Check out: K.U.S.H, Armada Latina

5 Cee Lo - The Lady Killer
Didn't know what to expect with this one but I'm pretty sure I don't skip 2 songs when I'm bumping to this
Check out: Fuck You!, Bright Lights Bigger City, Wildflower

6 The Roots - How I Got Over
Classic Roots, nothing out of the ordinary but very solid
Check out: The Fire, Right On, How I Got Over

7 Reflection Eternal - Revolutions Per Minute
Talib hooks up with Hi-Tek for the first time since Blackstar for some wicked beats and lyrics
Check out: Ballad of the Black Gold, In This World

8 Slash - Slash
Some great tracks on this album. Good to hear from the world's greatest guitarist again
Check out: Ghost (Guitar riff of the year), Back From Cali

9 Lil Wayne - Rebirth
Haven't heard any of his other stuff but this album with a heavy rock presence especially some sick guitar work provides for a real fresh rap album
Check out: American Star, Prom Queen

10 Eminem - Recovery
Some very cool songs on this album but a bit patchy at times
Check out: Cinderella Man, Talkin to Myself, Almost Famous

Honourable mentions:
B.o.B - B.o.B Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray
Expected something too mainstream for my likeing but there are some real sick tracks
Check out: Ghost In The Machine, 5th Dimension, Don't Let Me Fall

Jimmy Eat World - Invented
Not a great album but has some good songs that keep true to Jimmy's style
Check out: My Best Theory, Heart Is Hard To Find

Alter Bridge - AB III
Just checked these guys out after I found out the lead singer was Myles Kennedy who sang for Slash on his world tour. Not bad

A few disappointments for the year
Linkin Park - A Thousand Suns
It didn't suck but it's so far removed from what I expected from Linkin Park that I'm quite disappointed. My expectations were higher than they should have been. Especially after I heard their first track, The Catalyst.

Nicki Minaj - Pink Friday
After hearing some sick verses on Kanye, Ludacris and Lil Wayne's albums I was hoping Nicki Minaj would be like a poor man's Jean Grae but I was sadly disappointed. One of the tracks might make one of my mix tapes.

Ludacris - Battle of the Sexes
I didn't think it would be great or anything but I was a fan of his last dig Theatre of the Mind but Battle of the Sexes sucked so hard that it made my disappointments list

Disclaimer:
I like all music but generally just nugg on hip-hop, rap and real rock n roll (Shout out to the legendary Slash, Metallica and Iron Maiden) so there's a lot of stuff I didn't give a listen to, namely the new Kings of Leon, I don't even know what other people think of it.

I've linked the youtube videos to the names of the songs I recommended above.

Merry Christmas!

Year One (2009) - MOVIE REVIEW

2010-12-07T09:04:00.000+11:00

Rating:
Director: Harold Ramis
Starring: Jack Black, Michael Cera

Produced by Judd Apatow, the go-to funny man for comedies these days, Year One is a pretty mindless, funny comedy. But, it's 4pm, I'm tired, I'm hungry and I'm feeling lazy so what I'm going to get you to do is watch the trailer below to see what it's about then come back to me.

Boiled down, this is a story about 2 guys, 2000 years ago, on a journey to free their fellow camp members from slavery but what makes this movie funny are the jokes. No shit. Jack Black (School of Rock) and Michael Cera (Superbad) spearhead this movie with plenty of cameos from hollywood funnymen, Hank Azaria, Christopher Mintz-Plasse (McLovin), Paul Rudd, Horatio Sanz, and Bill Hader (Superbad). Oliver Platt plays an unexpected role as the High Priest and almost steals the show. His character was hilarious.

As expected with movies set back in time, there were tonnes of pop-references to modern day events and plenty of lampooning of how life was back then.

Good for a laugh at two and half stars but there are better ones out there to watch at the moment.

Check out the trailer

For these shows, I'll say no

2010-11-29T16:28:00.000+11:00

I've just watched the first two episodes of the following three shows and they didn't cut it for me. Keep in mind this is my opinion without watching the whole season but enough for me not to waste my time.

Approach with caution the show billed as the replacement for LOST: The Event.
The show inspired by the twitter account: S#*! My Dad says.
Lastly, the modern day version of the 70's classic Hawaii Five-O.

The Event
Firstly, no show will replace LOST. Now that that is out of the way...
I cannot stress how incedibly bad the acting was in the pilot. It was painful. When a show billed as the one to fill the void in the lives of LOST fans has you wanting to switch it off 10 minutes in then chances are your show might suck. The only reason I watched the second episode was because the ending of ep one was really good. Really good in that there was a plane and something happened to it, which asked a whole bunch of questions. LOST fans, are you listening? Episode 2 answered one of the 10 questions asked at the end of the premiere and it was a damn good answer too. I really hope a month or two from now The Event is killing it and I need to give it another shot because I'm a sucker for shows that string you along for seasons on end. Until then, steer clear, the acting isn't good enough to keep you watching a show like this.

Since I'm comparing this to LOST...
(Don't blame me, the networks brought this on themselves)
Although LOST was nominated and won awards for acting, I think it was still an under-rated aspect of what made LOST so good. Locke, Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Ben... the list goes on. All great characters that draw polarising opinions from viewers. I just don't see that in The Event. That's a big fail... oh, having a president of Puerto Rican descent? Please nominate these guys for best original writing at the next emmy's.

S#*! My Dad Says
Since this show was born from some dude's twitter account where he posted funny things his dad said, it would pretty much be on life support from episode one. I decided to give it a chance since the dad is played by William Shatner, who I loved as Denny Crane in Boston Legal. Regardless of Captain Kirk's presence, I just couldn't handle the sub-par jokes and the acting by his son Henry (Jonathan Sadowski). I'm also growing to hate the laugh track in comedies these days. It kills me on Two and a Half Men but doesn't bother me too much on How I Met Your Mother... maybe because it's actually funny. Steer clear, there are too many shows funnier than this one.

Hawaii Five-O
Never watched the original but I do love the theme song. Remakes are usually ordinary or just plain suck but I check them out anyway. I had hope for this show as it has a LOST fan favourite in Daniel Dae Kim (Jin) and because it stars Scott Caan. Caan isn't neccesarily type cast in his Hollywood career but he seems to play a character of similar attitudes from Varsity Blues to Gone in 60 seconds to Ocean's 11, 12 and 13 and even his recurring role in season 7 of Entourage. So I watched, Caan was good, Kim was a decent super sub but, no. Steer clear, looks like just another crime show, except set in Hawaii instead of LA, Miami or New York.

Scar Tissue (2004) - BOOK REVIEW

2010-11-29T10:45:00.000+11:00

Rating:

Title: Scar Tissue

Genre: Autobiography

I heard so much hype about this book from all my friends but I only got around to reading this recently and I'd have to say it probably fell a bit short of my expectations. Most likely because I heard so many great things about it and the fact that the first rock star auto-bio I read was Slash's which was absolutely crazy.

Following what seems to be the blueprint of any rock star auto-bio, or any bio in general, Scar Tissue chronicles the life of Anthony Kiedis from kid to Californication. If you like music and enjoy a good read, this book provides an interesting insight into the Chili Peppers and their front man.

First 300 odd pages were great but then the final 150 seemed to just be about an endless cycle of... Drug binge, meet a girl like no other who is the love of his life, clean himself up, break up, drug binge, meet another girl like no other who is the love of his life, clean himself up, break up, drug binge... you get the picture.

Still a good read though. Glad I did it.

Bro' Town (TV Series)

2010-11-22T13:47:00.000+11:00

Rating:

One of the best things to come out of my trip to the States in '07 was discovering Bro' Town while recovering in an LA hostel. Not to say it was a bad trip, just that this show is so funny.

From New Zealand, this show is based around a group of young Kiwi kids from Morningside and the perennially drunk Father of two of the boys, Pepelo. In the group, those two boys, Vale and Valea, two regular kids, along with Mack the closet-homosexual, Sione the wannabe cool-kid and Geoff "Da Maori". Vale and Valea's dad is the owner of one of my top ten quotes ever. "I'm going to the pub, I may be some time."

Often rude and crude, especially Pepelo, Bro' Town is an outstanding Kiwi animation which should have gotten alot more press than it has to date. It's even hard to find this stuff on the net to download. I'm gonna go buy the last season on DVD soon. Check out the clips below... Just a taste.

Public Enemies (2009) - MOVIE REVIEW

2010-11-18T12:27:00.000+11:00

Rating:
Director: Michael Mann
Starring: Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Marion Cotillard

I know it's late but after all the bad reviews I was never in a rush to see this and despite Johnny Depp's best efforts, I'm giving Public Enemies a bad review as well.

Back during the great depression in the 30's, John Dillinger (Depp) was America's most notorious bank robber and the most wanted. The crime wave of robberies by Dillinger and his associates brought along the birth of the FBI. The 143 minutes dedicated to this movie are based around Dillinger's final years as he is hunted by the FBI and agent Melvin Purvis (Bale). It also explores his romantic relationship with Billie Frechette (Cotillard).

If I had to generalise I would probably say that this movie failed in almost every way possible.

The biggest let down for me was the lack of actual bank robberies. Usually something you look for in a movie about a bank robber in the height of a crime wave. What there was of the robberies were executed with some brilliant camera work by Michael Mann and a great soundtrack with "10 Million Slaves" by Otis Taylor.

Depp seems to be so cool that he could do anything but he didn't always look comfortable in his role. He never really owned it. The sexual chemistry between him and Cotillard just wasn't there and you didn't buy into the fact that he was on top of the world with all the money and infamy he reveled in. Nothing like the way Ray Liotta, Robert DeNiro and Joe Pesci did it in Goodfellas. Christian Bale didn't have a meaty role but he did quite well with what he was given. After Terminator: Salvation, I've been thinking he's a little overrated so I've lowered my expectations of him.

The final nail in the coffin was the length. At 143 minutes, I often found my mind wandering. You had this feeling the movie could break out at any moment but you knew it wouldn't.

If you're a Johnny Depp fan, it's ok to check it out, you won't hate yourself but otherwise forget it.

This actually isn't the trailer, it's fan made with "Ten Million Slaves" by Otis Taylor dubbed over which features heavily in the movie and is a great track. I wanted to share that with you more than the original trailer!

I Am America (And So Can You!) by Stephen Colbert - BOOK REVIEW

2010-11-12T18:46:00.001+11:00

Rating:
Author: Stephen Colbert

For those that don't know, Stephen Colbert is the host of The Colbert Report, 7:40pm nightly on ABC2. It's a satirical news program that makes fun of other American political news programs such as Fox News's The O'Reilly Factor. The character of Stephen Colbert is described as a "well-intentioned, poorly informed, high-status idiot". His show is hilarious and absolutely brilliant but you need to be one that is into this kind of humour. It isn't really mainstream.

Anyway, for those that do know the show, this book is almost like a stolen script from an episode. It's just him rambling on about things like he does every night. While its funny in places, it really highlights how good an actor this guy is because you'll find this book even funnier when you picture him saying this on his show in your head.

Its a good read for short trips to work etc but I don't think you could read this for hours on end. It just lacks the zest that comes with his TV delivery.

I own this book so I'll be happy to lend it to you if it's of any interest. Just hit me up.

Kick-Ass (2010) - MOVIE REVIEW

2010-10-22T14:58:00.001+11:00

Rating:
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Starring: Aaron Johnson, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Chloe Grace Moretz, Mark Strong, Nicholas Cage

Pretty sure co-writers Matthew Vaughn and Jane Goldman wrote this while high on something and simply poured their streams of consciousness onto a laptop at the local starbucks.

What the hell am I talking about?

So this kid, Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson), decides to become a super-hero to fight crime because he is dumbfounded that there has been none in real life. With a name like Kick-Ass, I'm sure everyone assumes it's going to be some crappy comedy. Crappy? Yes. Comedy? Sort of.

What absolutely killed this movie was how disjointed the story and writing was. It was a little funny, then it got a little dramatic, then slightly love story for just a second, then gorey Tarantino-inspired action movie (which had some pretty cool shoot em up scenes). This is the perfect example of how NOT to mix genres in a movie.

Just writing about this movie is pissing me off actually so I'm going to keep it short.

Villain, Frank D'Amico (played by Mark Strong) was a pretty vicious bad guy. Not crazy, just cold and calculating. Not a bad effort. Nicholas Cage (playing the hero "Big Daddy") put in another fairly ordinary performance as expected but Hit-Girl (Moretz) was actually pretty cool. She was pretty funny but she was also the centre of all the Tarantino-esque action sequences which were actually brilliant at times. All two of my stars go to Moretz and the action scenes in this movie.

Nobody else deserved anything.

Check out the trailer.

The Losers (2010) - MOVIE REVIEW

2010-09-02T05:49:00.003+10:00

Director: Sylvain White
Starring: Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Zoe Saldana, Chris Evans, Idris Elba, Jason Patric

Based on the Vertigo comic book series of the same name, The Losers is a film about a team of 5 ex-special forces members hunting down a man only known as Max (Jason Patric) who betrayed them and framed them into becoming enemies of the state. Max is also in possession of some high-tech equipment capable of destroying countries... blah blah blah you get the picture.

Jason Patric did the worst portrayal of a villain I have ever seen. It was so frickin painful to watch and it absolutely ruined this movie. He is what stood in between turning this into maybe a three and a half star movie. The "Losers" and Zoe Saldana (Avatar) played their parts well enough in an action movie where the fight scenes, explosions, special effects and comic relief make it what it is. The dynamic between Clay (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and Roque (Idris Elba) as leader and best friend was excellent. Both did really well with their parts. I'm a big fan of Idris Elba from his days on The Wire and Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Watchmen), who kind of reminds me of Javier Bardem was very cool.

I'm gonna finish with the villain again though. Jason Patric ruined this movie. I could think of 10 actors that would have done a better job and would have cost the studio the same amount of money. Mark Strong to name one.

If you can get past a douche bag performance from one guy, you'll enjoy this movie enough for it not to be a waste of time. Otherwise watch something else.

Check out the trailer

Breaking Bad Season 3 - TV SHOW REVIEW

2010-08-30T08:09:00.062+10:00

Rating:
Created By: Vince Gilligan
Starring: Bryan Cranston, Anna Gunn, Aaron Paul, Dean Norris, Giancarlo Esposito

This TV show is so friggin' whacked out.

What started as the dude cooking meth in a van to pay for cancer treatment has just escalated exponentially and turned into this show that gets into the head of this totally warped guy that has lost his mind yet he, his family and even the audience haven't even realised how effed up this guy really is.

This guy is so far beyond the line in so many ways that I don't think he can return. Things are only going to get much worse for Walter White before and if they get better. Season 3 has by far been the most intense, unpredictable and most intriguing.

I powered through this season in a wet weekend a while ago so I can't remember too much details in depth so instead of reviewing I'll just give you my impression since you wouldn't be reading this if you hadn't seen the show before...

The season follows the same blueprint as previous seasons except stuff escalates dangerously. Risks are higher. He's making drugs for the big boys, Jesse's life falls apart, again, but much worse, if that makes sense and worst of all, Walter is losing his family. The reason this all began.

Now that I think of it, you could put it easily like this, if you like seasons 1 or 2, you will also enjoy season 3. If you're tiring of it, it's still worth watching. It will only take you 2 or 3 eps to make up your mind.

A brilliant show that everyone should at least watch a bit of.

Check out the season 3 promo clips.

Modern Family Season 1 - TV SHOW REVIEW

2010-08-26T04:48:00.004+10:00

Rating:
Created by: Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan
Starring: Ed O'Neill, Sofía Vergara, Julie Bowen, Ty Burrell, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Eric Stonestreet

Ed O'Neill (Al Bundy in Married With Children) is back on the idiot box in a show about, you guessed it, the modern family. Jay Pritchett (O'Neill) has a modern family consisting of a young Columbian wife Gloria (Vergara), her son Manny, his daughter's family of 5, his gay son Mitchell (Ferguson), his gay son's partner Cameron (Stonestreet) and their adopted Asian baby.

I think this show is the surprise packet of 2010. I mean, no way I figured it would be four star material. It's even tipped to win the Emmy this year for best comedy series knocking off 30 Rock which has held the crown for 3 years. I tuned in to check out my man Bundy but was blown out of the water from the hilarity of this show. What works so well for this show is that Modern Family doesn't really have any weak links in its cast and has three insanely funny characters that could carry the show even if everyone else sucked.

Manny (Jay's step son), is brilliant in the same way as the kid from Two And A Half Men except he's really smart instead of really dumb. Jay's son-in-law Phil (Burrell) is a sort of Ross from Friends character as the goofy idiot except he's 10 times funnier and isn't anywhere as annoying as Ross is. Then there is Mitchell's partner Cameron. He's my favourite character in the show and is absolutely brilliant as the self-confessed queen. You can't help but laugh at everything he does.

This is one of the few shows I laugh out loud to as opposed to grunting through the nose. I hope season 2 is just as good.

It doesn't do the show much justice but check out the promo and imagine the show as 100 times funnier

Sons of Anarchy Season 2 - TV SHOW REVIEW

2010-08-23T14:10:00.002+10:00

Rating:
Creator: Kurt Sutter
Starring: Charlie Hunnam, Katey Sagal, Ron Perlman, Mark Boone Junior

This is the show. This is the show you have to watch.

You might have caught my review of season 1 last month and picked up on my praises for this show. I thoroughly enjoyed season 1 but held off giving it 4 stars because I thought I may be a little blinded by the coolness factor of a TV show about a motorcycle club. That being said, I had no trouble giving season two 4 stars this time around. It exceeded my expectations for this show in so many ways I was not expecting. It was absolutely brilliant.

Considering this show is still relatively unknown amongst my group of friends (the main audience for my blog), I'll refrain from saying things that will give away what happened in the first season. Never fear, plenty of sh*t went down in season 2 to let it slide...

As expected, the new year brought along new problems for "The Sons" and a new threat surfaces in Charming. A group of white supremacists that call themselves The League of American Nationalists (LOAN) move into Charming with plans to bring down The Sons for dealing guns to "colour" as they put it. The Sons seem to have met their match with, Ethan Zobelle (Adam Arkin), the brains of LOAN. Always one step ahead of The Sons, LOAN threatens to be the end of the motorcycle club. The LOAN enforcer, A.J Weston (played masterfully by Henry Rollins) is the muscle to Zobelle's brains and is this supremely intimidating bad guy that brings a lot of heat to the show. Together, they form the ultimate face of evil and bring a new level of excitement to an enthralling season of Sons of Anarchy.

The show also focuses on the after effects of what happened late in season 1. Without giving anything away to the people that haven't seen the show at all, The Sons face the prospect of being ripped apart by the events of the previous season. Both these two plot lines could have delivered a season each but together, along with outstanding performances by Katey Sagal (as we've come to expect), Ron Perlman, Adam Arkin and Henry Rollins, it's stocks have rocketed in my books and is the one I'm recommending above all else right now... except The Wire of course.

Also, I shouldn't leave out that ATF Agent Stahl, who we all love to hate, makes a comeback late in the season. Man I hate that b*tch. She was the perfect icing on the delicious cake that is Sons of Anarchy Season 2.

The first 40 minutes absolutely blew me away and set the tone for the entire season. You'll only need that episode to convince you to watch this show. If you don't like ep 1, don't bother... but you will.

Check out the trailer for season 2. It's pretty sweet.

Slash @ The Hordern Pavillion - 16/8/10

2010-08-17T11:37:00.001+10:00

Rating:

(If you don't care for my writing, there are 6 video clips below)

I watched an episode of Mythbusters recently where they wanted to see if you really could knock somebody's socks off. The Myth was confirmed, but I didn't need those guys to tell me because last night Slash knocked my socks right into the nosebleed section of the Hordern Pavillion.

The Rock n Roll God, Royalty, Legend, Pioneer, whatever you want to call him rocked the fuck out of a packed house at the Hordern Pavillion last night. Playing about 20 tracks from throughout his career with Guns N Roses, Velvet Revolver, Slash's Snakepit, this year's solo album and even a sneaky little cameo from Angry Anderson to cover Rose Tattoo's Nice Boys, this was the ultimate guitarist's concert. Oh, how could I forget, there was also a blistering 15 minute solo, the first 10 minutes without the backing of the rest of the band. Absolutely mesmerising.

On vocals for the touring band was Myles Kennedy, the front man for Alter Bridge, who also featured on two tracks from Slash's debut solo album. This guy was amazing. It was always going to be hard to satisfy hardcore Gunners fans with him taking Axl's place for the covers but the guy was brilliant. He didn't try to replicate Axl but when he sang the songs just felt right.

I actually hadn't heard any of Slash's stuff from his solo album before but what they played last night sounded absolutely sick, including By The Sword which featured Wolfmother's Andrew Stockdale. There wasn't one point in the night where I started to fidgit while waiting for the next song.

As expected, the house came down for the 5 Gunners tracks which were Night Train (Slash's favourite to play live), Rocket Queen (One of my fave tracks), Civil War, Sweet Child and Paradise City.

After being notoriously late starters with Guns N Roses due to the unpredictability of Axl Rose, it was no surprise that Slash came out on time and played an extra 15 minutes over his 2 hour alotted time slot. While I can't wait for Axl to get his shit together and reunite with Slash, Duff and Izzy to bring back the real Gunners, it was an absolute treat to see a concert the way Slash wanted it. To see him showcase his talent and play tracks from throughout his career that he wants to play and the crowd wants to hear. While he was obviously the top dog of the night, it was an excellent band effort last night and was great to see him up close because if the dream of a Guns N Roses reunion comes true, there's no way we see Slash like this at the Hordern again. Can't wait till Feb when he comes back for Soundwave.

By the way, I was actually gonna give this show four and a half stars because a perfect, five star concert for me would have included "You Could Be Mine" but it actually worked out well that he didn't play it because I got to blast it on my iPod while racing home like John Connner, except I was on my pansy 100cc scooter!

I recorded a bunch of songs as well. Some good quality shit.

Slash's Autobiography (2007) - BOOK REVIEW

2010-08-16T09:44:00.074+10:00

Rating:
Title: Slash
Genre: Autobiography

The tagline is "It seems excessive, but that doesn't mean it didn't happen". Man is that an understatement. Written by Slash himself and Anthony Bozza, comes the autobiography of rock legend and Ex-Guns N' Roses guitarist, Saul "Slash" Hudson.

I actually read this about a year ago so I'm sure I'm forgetting stuff but I figured I'd write something about it in anticipation of tonight's sold out show at The Hordern Pavillion in Sydney.

As expected, most of the book is written about Slash's time with Guns N' Roses which of course had plenty of stories about sex, drugs and yada yada yada... While he does cover his childhood and his post-Guns life, you go on a pretty in depth adventure into the life of Guns N' Roses from inception to break-up. From how they all met, how they formed, their early struggles, fame, success and the ultimate downfall of arguably the greatest rock n' roll band of all time... and I'd be one to argue that.

As most would know, Axl Rose still carried the Guns N' Roses band name with his release of the Chinese Democracy album except he was the only original member involved with it. I didn't really know much about what a band goes through when creating their sound and a pleasant surprise with the book is the detail Slash went into for the Guns N' Roses process. I must admit, prior to reading this book I was super excited to hear Chinese Democracy and didn't think much about the album not having Slash, Duff or Izzy on it. The book shows you just how much the band really means to the musical effort that goes into an album. Needless to say, Chinese Democracy didn't sound much like the original Guns and it sucked.

Slash and the band went through some really crazy shit. REALLY crazy shit. So many stories Slash tells about the shenanigans they got up to are just amazing. The drugs, the benders, the perils of fame, playing in front of 100,000 people in Brazil, touring with Metallica, the death of a close friend to drugs and the never ending sideshow that is Axl Rose.

I read this book while I was travelling through France and Spain. There where times where it absolutely killed me to put the book down and go see Europe! I must admit that this was the first book I ever read and I absolutely loved it. It blew me away.

When I tried to tell people about it, they all said "You'll love Scar Tissue then". Scar Tissue was really good, 3 stars, but it didn't come anywhere near this book.

Check out this quick little interview with Slash about the book

Hot Tub Time Machine (2010) - MOVIE REVIEW

2010-08-11T13:04:00.001+10:00

Rating:
Director: Steve Pink
Starring: John Cusack, Rob Corddry, Craig Robinson, Clark Duke, Chevy Chase

Back to the Future is back. Except, instead of a Delorean it's a... HOT TUB TIME MACHINE. Oh, and it's a whole lot more adult.

Adam, played by John Cusack (Con Air), his two buddies and his nephew go away on a ski trip for a weekend only to accidentally travel back in time to 1986 after a night on the sauce in their hot tub. The rest of the storyline is a no brainer. They spend the day in the 80's trying not to create too much of a butterfly effect before going home. Thing is, they go back in time to the weekend their young selves are there. They don't run into themselves because they are their young selves, everyone else sees them as the teenagers they were and not the old farts they are. Are you following? Because it's really not as complicated as I'm making it sound.

Despite the weak script, it's a pretty funny flick. Rob Corddry (What Happens In Vegas) plays a Stifler-like asshole-friend role and is hilarious. Craig Robinson (The Office) provides plenty of laughs but Corddry's frat-house humour carries the movie. Cusack, unsurprisingly, isn't that funny, but it's not a bad thing either. He has his moments but is generally Robinson and Corddry's Scottie Pippen.

The writers paid homage to Back to the Future many times in the movie from Lou (Corddry) using his knowledge of sports results to win bets to casting Chevy Chase into a Doc Brown type role as the crazy old man that can fix the hot tub. Crispin Glover (George McFly) even has a role in this.

Hot Tub is a stupid yet immensely funny comedy with an absolutely hilarious ending. A little long at 100 minutes but still fun to watch.

Check out the trailer

"Lungs" by Florence and the Machine (2009) - ALBUM REVIEW

2010-08-05T04:50:00.097+10:00

Rating:
Album: Lungs
Artist: Florence and the Machine

In anticipation of tonight's sold out Florence and the Machine concert at the Enmore Theatre, I thought I might do a short review on last year's debut album, Lungs.

All I can say is "WOW". Ok, maybe a little more than that... it really did take me by surprise.

This LP by pop-rock artist, Florence Welch, really is hard to define in terms of genre. It's kind of a combination of rock and epic soul music, maybe a bit of pop too. Her vocals are absolutely amazing and has incorporated a wide range of beats and instruments from pianos to harps to heavy drums. Wait, her vocals deserve a couple sentences to them selves. Maybe even a couple of paragraphs. While "the Machine", her band, provides the eclectic backing sound, the voice box on this chick is awe inspiring. No matter what instruments she is singing to, her voice takes over the song at all the right moments. It's truely a special talent and people are realising this including Florence taking home Best Breakthrough Act at the 2009 UK Festival Awards and also winning the best album award at this year's BRIT awards.

My musical taste generally hangs in the hip hop and rock departments but I first heard Florence on Triple J's live at the wireless. I heard You've got the love, and Dog Days Are Over and figured they'd be the only tracks I'd like on the album but gladly I was wrong. This album rocks. It's going to be hard to back this album up well with her next try. I hope she does though.

You might have heard this before but check out "You've got the love"

It's hard to choose but this is possibly my fave track at the moment, "Cosmic Love"

A few others on youtube:
Dog Days Are Over
Rabbit Heart
Drumming

She's Out of My League (2010) - MOVIE REVIEW

2010-08-02T14:32:00.000+10:00

Rating:
Director: Jim Field Smith
Starring: Jay Baruchel, Alice Eve, Nate Torrence, T.J. Miller

With a couple memorable scenes in Tropic Thunder and Knocked Up, Jay Baruchel has landed the lead role of Kirk Kettner in this flick about an average guy getting THE girl. When I say THE girl, I mean, THE girl. She's a "Hard 10" and he's a 5 or 6 depending on what mood you're in. This movie isn't about how to get the girl though. It's what to do when you have a 10 on your hands and you have a self-esteem that's lower than that of a Cleveland sports fan.

The trailer for this movie is absolutely hilarious. Although, with the lesser known director, actors, writers, and producers I was a little worried that the trailer had most of the funny bits. Nope. This expletive filled laugh-a-thon kept the jokes coming throughout the movie. While most comedies ride quietly into the night when they wrap things up at the end, there was a good balance of comedy in this one from go to whoa.

As with many comedies, such as American Pie and How I Met Your Mother, the lead role isn't as funny as it's supporting cast. Nate Torrence (Minor role in Get Smart) and T.J. Miller play two of Kirk's best friends and colleagues, Devon and "Stainer". These guys are brilliant and probably carry this movie. Miller especially.

They've classified it as a romantic comedy but really it's about as romantic as The American Pie Trilogy. It's almost as funny too. It's fallen short of the recent hits such as Superbad but they are big shoes to fill. They've tried to make this into the mold of a Judd Apatow film. It has it's moments but really it's hard to match the comedic brilliance of the man who brought us Anchorman, Superbad, Step Brothers, Forgetting Sarah Marshall and plenty others. While it's not as memorable as the movies from the Apatow dynasty, it's still a very funny movie. Good way to kill some time.

Check out the trailer

The Strokes @ The Hordern Pavillion - 29/7/10

2010-07-30T00:10:00.007+10:00

Rating:

Caught The Strokes at The Hordern Pavillion last night. Absolutely electric.

Being a long time fan it was awesome to finally get out and see these guys. Right from the get go the crowd were into it and so were they. Lead singer, Julian Casablancas, did a bit of talking but it was pretty much all business as they blasted out tune after tune and the crowd just ate it up. A very lively concert where the entire crowd knew every song made for a great atmosphere. The stage show as you can see in the photo above and the videos below was relatively simple but very cool... I'd see them again.

I recorded some snippets of the concert. Check em out.

Inception (2010) - MOVIE REVIEW

2010-07-26T11:57:00.001+10:00

Rating:
Director: Christopher Nolan
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen Page, Ken Watanabe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Cillian Murphy, Michael Caine

Believe the hype.

The teaser trailer and all the billboards plastered all over the world barely even tell you what the movie is about. "Your mind is the scene of the crime". Characters described as The Extractor, The Point Man, The Architect, The Forger, The Shade and The Mark. While it will in the end make some sort of sense, it's hard to slap one genre label on this movie. Psychological thriller, action, crime, Sci-Fi and even a love story.

Don't worry, I'm not going to give anything away... I'll keep the story telling to a minimum.

The Extractor, Dom Cobb (DiCaprio), is a professional thief that steals secrets from his victim's minds while in a shared dream state. These "secrets" are mostly highly sensitive information that rivals of the mark pay top dollar to acquire. What's really quite unique is the way this is done. Although, I'll leave that to you to see for yourself when you watch this movie.

While for Cobb this is his "last job", which I generally hate in a movie, it's a last job for a reason. He's been on the run around the world for years. A fugitive in his home country, wanted for a murder he didn't commit, he's offered a job that can wipe the slate clean and allow him to return home to his family.

While his main job is "Extraction", he is instead hired to perform "Inception". The process of planting an idea into someone's head. Again, what that idea is, I'll leave to the story tellers.

The casting in this movie was brilliant. Leonardo DiCaprio alone, was absolutely perfect for this role. He wasn't just playing the lead guy in an action movie. Dom Cobb is this extremely complicated, tortured soul that has endured alot in his personal and professional lives which quite often become one. Watching Leo in this movie and ones like Shutter Island and The Departed really show you how much of a class act this guy really is.

The rest of the cast were brilliant as well. Joseph Gordon-Levitt (500 Days of Summer) played a solid supporting role to DiCaprio as The Point Man. Keep an eye out for this guy because little Tommy from 3rd Rock from the Sun is hitting his stride and isn't too far from a starring role in a blockbuster movie. The Shade, Marion Cotillard (Public Enemies), plays Dom Cobb's wife and the ultimate "What's she gonna do next" character. Her performance was intense yet elegant at the same time. I was a little worried about the casting of Ellen Page (Juno) as The Architect but she actually did a really good job and was a key cog in this movie.

Mentioned on the posters as "The Director of The Dark Knight", Chistopher Nolan is the genius behind possibly the best movie of the year. Nolan is also the writer, director and producer of Batman Begins and The Prestige along with The Dark Knight. He wrote and produced this epic too. So he's more than just in control of the cameras in his films. Funnny thing, this movie was actually pitched years ago but Nolan decided to wait a few years and get some experience with big hollywood flicks first. Experience he gained with the reboot of the Batman franchise. It was experience with these movies and creative preference that has seen Nolan make his movies with minimum special effects to keep a sense of realism, only using them when absolutely necessary. For me, Christopher Nolan has made the list of movie makers that will get me to a cinema for whatever they make regardless. That list is made up of Martin Scorcese, Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez and M. Night Shyamalan. So it's short.

While Inception was never going to be as good as The Dark Knight, it wasn't far behind. This is an absolute mind f**k of a film with an original story, great cast, better acting and incedible action sequences. However, to truely apppreciate and even understand this film, it needs your full attention. If you are doing other things while watching Inception you won't enjoy it nearly as much as you should and probably won't even understand it.

Inception is the second best film of the year behind Shutter Island (Starring none other than Leo). Watch them both.

Check out the trailer

Mad Men Season 3 (and series summary) - TV SHOW REVIEW

2010-07-22T08:07:00.001+10:00

Rating:
Creator: Matthew Weiner
Starring: Jon Hamm, Elisabeth Moss, January Jones, Christina Hendricks, John Slattery

If you haven't yet watched Mad Men or at least heard of it, I'll give you a quick run down. Set in the early 60's, this show is about a fictional advertising agency, Sterling Cooper, based out of Madison Avenue in New York City. Hence the nickname these guys have. Mad Men. It's central character is Don Draper (Hamm), the creative director. He is the highly successful advertising genius that the company depends on to keep business. While Don Draper's life in and away from the office is the main plotline, the show also follows the drama surrounding the other employees of the company.

I wasn't too in love with the first season but for me, the novelty of a show set in the 60's where the guys sit around drinking scotch in the office was enough to keep me watching. That and because these cable dramas are only 13 episodes. I was ready to drop it after the first season because I knew the novelty had worn off but I heard a lot of good things about season two I decided to watch it. I wasn't disappointed. Things really picked up and it was quite a dramatic season. On to number three I said...

They lost me. Again. It was so painfully slow for all but the season finale. I remained optimistic after the first few episodes but things didn't really pick up. The season deals with the sale of the agency to a larger company and the way Don and the rest of the Mad Men deal with this change. For three seasons Don Draper has carelessly cheated on his wife and things finally begin to catch up with him. His wife, Betty Draper (Jones), also has a larger part as she begins to get bored with her life and gets up to a bit of trouble herself.

The sale of the company provided the only decent storyline in this season. The infidelity thing, January Jones' stale performance as Betty Draper and the decline in involvement of my two favourite supporting characters, Roger Sterling (Slattery) and Joan Holloway (Hendricks) provided for a very uninspired season.

The season finale absolutely kicked butt. By far the best episode of all three seasons. Had season one not been so ordinary I might have given them another shot next season. I won't, so, I'm done with this show.

Check out the trailer

Legion (2010) - MOVIE REVIEW

2010-07-19T04:48:00.011+10:00

Rating:
Director: Scott Stewart
Starring: Paul Bettany, Dennis Quaid, Lucas Black, Tyrese Gibson

Legion is an apocalyptic horror about God's plans to annihilate the human race. The first time, God sent a flood, this time he sent a legion of angels to perform the extermination. Paul Bettany (The Da Vinci Code) plays Archangel Michael who rebels against God's orders and goes to Earth to help protect the humans.

Sounds interesting right? Yep, this movie had a lot of potential but fell way short of what it could have been. The entire movie is set in a shitty little out-of-the-way diner in the middle of the desert where the unborn baby of a skanky waitress is the target of possessed humans trying to kill it. You see, this baby holds the key to humanity's future. That makes sense right?

Archangel Michael arrives just in time to help the patrons of the diner systematically wipe out thousands of these humans turned creatures which sets up the final battle where Michael must answer to Archangel Gabriel for disobeying God's orders. Unfortunately, that's pretty much all there is to this movie. There was more unanswered questions than an episode of Lost. Why is this baby so special? Why is it the key to saving humanity? Why is God so pissed off with the human race? What's the go with Dennis Quaid and Tyrese Gibson's characters? There were some interesting people in the diner that fateful day but none of the characters were developed. A waste of hired talent.

The battles they went through were pretty unimaginative as well. They pretty much just sat on top of the diner shooting up the creatures before they got a chance to rip some throats open.

Very ordinary movie. The only reason it didn't get less than two stars is because I'm a fan of Bettany and Quaid... Not that Quaid was given much of a role.

The trailer looks awesome. Don't let it fool you though, basically all the good bits are in it, including the scene with the old lady which is my favourite.

Sons of Anarchy Season 1 - TV SHOW REVIEW

2010-07-15T08:44:00.122+10:00

Rating:
Creator: Kurt Sutter
Starring: Charlie Hunnam, Katey Sagal, Ron Perlman, Mark Boone Junior

From the creator of the critically acclaimed TV series "The Shield" comes a show about an outlaw motorcycle gang called Sons of Anarchy. A group of bikies that make their living running guns out of their bike repair shop in a small Californian town called Charming. The show centers upon the Vice President of the club, Jax Teller (Hunnam), who is the son of one of the founders of the club.

For years, "The Sons" have run the small town of Charming. The town is rife withe corruption and they have the police, councils and other forms of authority all in their pocket. This allows them to go about their business without too much hassle from the law. Life seems good for Jax until his junkie ex-wife gives pre-mature birth to his son. This forces Jax to re-think his whole belief system, his values and the kind of life that he leads.

In other words, he grows a conscience.

Jax also finds some old journals his deceased father kept that indicated the path the club went down wasn't exactly what he envisioned. As he begins to second guess his actions, club president Clay Morrow (Perlman) begins to worry that this will be a problem. Not helping the cause, Jax's mother Gemma (Sagal), who is married to Morrow wants Jax to follow in the footsteps of the "right father" being Clay, his step-father.

While Jax goes through his personal transformation, the club runs into many problems of their own that he still needs to be apart of. While he is questioning his decisions he still has his loyalty to his club and fellow members. There is the blood feud with the Mayans, a hispanic rival motorcycle gang, deception and broken deals with the white supremecist Nords and trouble with their gun suppliers and buyers.

Basically, all kinds of shit goes wrong and goes down.

A mostly unknown cast, there are a few characters that you might remember from other things. Namely Ron Perlman as Hellboy. The biggest name would be Jax's mother Gemma played by Katey Sagal of Married With Children fame. While for the first few minutes you might be picturing her in MwC, you quickly get over that link and are totally immersed in her character. She is a very intimidating force in this show with a heavy influence over Jax and Clay. She does an amazing job selling this character. When I think Sagal, I no longer think of Peggy Bundy. I think of Gemma Teller Morrow.

A thoroughly riveting plot line and crazy twists keep you glued to this show. I watched the entire 13 episode season in one night. I was up till 5am so naturally a sickie was in order.

Season 2 has already aired and season 3 is on the way. Can't wait to get onto it.

Check out this fan made trailer for Season 1. It's actually pretty good

The Book of Eli (2010) - MOVIE REVIEW

2010-07-12T08:30:00.067+10:00

Rating:
Directors: The Hughes Brothers
Starring: Denzel Washington, Gary Oldman, Mila Kunis

This post-apocalyptic movie follows the story of Eli (Washington), walking across the devasted roads of America, 30 years after the final war. His purpose is to deliver something of great power to it's destination. The last remaining King James version of the Bible. A destiny Eli must fulfill to help humanity. Along his travels, Eli passes through a town overseen by a man named Carnegie (Oldman). Passing through this town was an unfortunate coincidence as Carnegie is looking for a book he believes will help him rule more towns and remaining people. Presumably, the same book.

This leads to a chunk of the movie being devoted to Carnegie's hunt of Eli for the book once it is made clear that he has it. Possessing extraordinary ablities in fighting and self defense, Eli has been able to, up to this point, survive all types of sticky situations the road has thrown at him but Carnegie proves a worthy adversary.

This film was enjoyable. As expected, Denzel Washington done a supreme job as the unlikely warrior and Oldman (The Dark Knight) played out a very interesting villain. Mila Kunis (Forgetting Sarah Marshall) had a somewhat supporting role to the movie and did her bit well. I think she has grown out of her '70s show' boots and started to really improve. I don't actually recall picturing her in That 70s Show once during the movie. I believed she was her character. For a movie with so few characters and plot twists, the acting really held it up and the Hughes Brothers (From Hell) seem to have really nailed it from a directing standpoint.

Still, I was disappointed with the questions unanswered and the what if's... There were some great scenes portraying the world after the war and what Eli had to do to survive but I can't help but think how much better the film would be if it covered bits of the war and how the Earth came to be in the shape it was. The "how did they get to this point?" question lingered in the back of my mind throughout the film. But then again, this movie is about this man's Journey and not the past.

I wouldn't rush out to see this but it isn't exactly a bust. Denzel and Gary Oldman are great at what they do but it just wasn't enough for this film.

Check out the trailer

Predators (2010) - MOVIE REVIEW

2010-07-09T13:48:00.002+10:00

Rating:
Director: Nimród Antal
Starring: Adrien Brody, Laurence Fishburne, Topher Grace, Alice Braga, Danny Trejo

"Run! Get to the chopper!"

That's right, you better run, because my favourite dreadlocked aliens are back in this modern day sequel to the 1987 Schwarzenegger classic, Predator. Only this time, running won't help because we aren't in Kansas anymore. We're on another freakin planet!

I suppose you could count Predator 2 (1990) as a sequel but it's just not the same when it's not in the jungle. Predators isn't a remake or a reboot of the series and it has nothing to do with those crappy crossover movies with the Alien franchise. It's about 8 humans that are dropped into a game preserve on a strange planet to be hunted for sport. The one thing these humans have in common? They are all predators in their own right, from different walks of life. Mercenary, Mexican drug cartel enforcer, Russian commando, Sierra Lonne death squad officer and so on...

Produced by Robert Rodriguez (Sin City, Desperado), I thought this film was surprisingly good. I was a little skeptical at first but giving the lead role of Royce to an Academy award winner in Adrien Brody, who you might know as the skinny guy from The Pianist, actually paid off in spades. Trying to get another Arnie for the main role would have been sequel suicide. Instead, the skinny man put on 25 pounds of muscle and they went for the more lean and mysterious angle with the Royce character. While he didn't have a particularly dominating on-screen presence, you always felt like he was the guy in control of the situation, but left plenty of room for the other actors to explore their characters.

One in particular, Alice Braga, (I Am Legend), who played an Israeli black ops sniper, Isabelle, was the surprise packet of this movie almost stealing the screen with her performance. Isabelle had prior knowledge of these predators by way of the report submitted by Dutch (Arnie) back in the 80's after his encounter with the original predator. Although you may not realise it, Royce and Isabelle form a subtle, unlikely partnership. No love story here though. Probably a good thing.

There isn't too much to say about the alien creatures in this one that you don't already know. They're just like the original except today's special effects look a lot cooler.

If I had to compare this movie to others, I'd say Predators is like Tears of the Sun meets, well... Predator.

Happy hunting!

Check out the trailer

Toy Story 3 (2010) - MOVIE REVIEW

2010-07-06T12:03:00.002+10:00

Rating:
Director: Lee Unkrich
Starring: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Don Rickles

"To infinity and beyond!"

I couldn't help myself. I just had to say it. It's been 11 years since I heard it in the last Toy Story. "To infinity and beyond!". Ok, it's out of my system now.

Toy Story is back in this 3D animation of epic proportions. Woody, Buzz and most of the other characters we love make a return to the big screen with the addition of some brilliant new characters such as a metrosexual Ken doll (Michael Keaton) and an old-timer bear named Lotso. Oh and the forever sad clown, Chuckles. Years down the track, little Andy is all grown up and about to head off to college. Meanwhile, the toys haven't been played with for years. Andy decides to store the guys in the attic but through a series of unfortunate circumstances, they end up in daycare. I'll stop with the story here because simply put, the toys go on an incredible journey surviving the perils of daycare and the evil plans of the criminal mastermind. (I won't say who that is but you'll see...)

The one worry that you might have is that the story could get stale being 3 movies into the franchise. You'd be wrong. Written by Michael Arndt (Little Miss Sunshine) and John Lasseter (co-wrote and directed the first one), you don't for a second feel like "We've been here already". They've gone beyond just making us laugh, they make us feel like this is a real movie, not just an animation.

For most people it's not a question of if they will watch this flick but when. As we've all grown to learn, the Toy Story series and Pixar movies in general will always deliver. This movie is hilarious. Non-stop laughs that are accompanied by amazing 3D effects. Perfect for all ages, both my 6 year-old neice and I were in stitches. It's such a complete movie that toward the end, after 15 years and 3 movies, it even tugs on the heart strings.

(Get to the cinema before starting time as the customary Pixar animation short that leads into the main event is brilliant in itself.)

Check out a snippet from the movie

"Distant Relatives" by Nas/Damian Marley (2010) - ALBUM REVIEW

2010-07-05T09:59:00.003+10:00

Rating:
Album: Distant Relatives
Artists: Nas and Damian Marley

New York rapper Nas has joined forces with Bob Marley's youngest son, Damian to produce this absolutely amazing album, Distant Relatives. It follows the same style as Damian Marley's grammy award winning album, Welcome to Jamrock but with a heavy presence from Nas. It follows themes of ancestry, poverty and ties to Africa delivered with a fusion of hip hop and reggae.

It's nothing like most of Nas' previous work centred around guns and gangster raps but more about positive themes like, family, friendship, leadership and African history and culture. Like I already said, this is an amazing album that you must check out. The lyrics aren't too preachy and the beats on the tracks are phenomenal at times.

If you liked Welcome To Jamrock you'll like this... If you don't like Nas you'll still like this... and if you like this, check out Welcome To Jamrock!!!

This is one of the albums of the year for me.

Two of my fave tracks: Strong Will Continue

Count your blessings

The A-Team (2010) - MOVIE REVIEW

2010-06-28T16:11:00.009+10:00

Rating:
Director: Joe Carnahan
Starring: Bradley Cooper, Liam Neeson, Sharlto Copley, Jessica Biel
In Cinemas: Now

"I love it when a plan comes together"

Yep, another movie adaptation of an 80's TV show. Producers, Ridley and Tony Scott, responsible for films such as Top Gun, Gladiator, Black Hawk Down, American Gangster and many more, have resurrected an absolute classic TV Show in The A-Team. They have teamed up with director Joe Carnahan (Smokin' Aces) for the unenviable task of making a smash hit out of the show that rocketed Mr. T to fame. Unfortunately for the studios, it has received mixed reviews and absolutely flopped at the U.S box office. Don't let that fool you though because this is a great movie. It is just so much fun.

My point of view is from an 80's baby that actually has not seen a full episode of the original series. Yes, I know, shame on me. I knew the characters and can hum the theme song but don't know enough about the show for me to compare it to the movie. That's probably a good thing because I just took this movie for what it was. A light hearted, action packed movie with so much comic relief its almost a comedy. There is so many explosions and action scenes that you could probably talk to your friend in the cinema for about 80% of the movie and nobody else will hear you. If I was the friend I'd probably punch you right in the mouth though.

The movie begins with the beginning... Less than 5 minutes in, we are thrust into the mission that brought the 4 together. Then, fast forward 8 years, the team goes on the mission that ultimately gets them thrown in Jail and discharged from the US Army. They become fugitives after they escape from prison. This follows the same basic premise of them being "soldiers of fortune" that act on the side of good and help the oppressed in the TV series.

Keeping in mind that I know only a little about the original characters, I thought the 4 guys in the reboot did a great job to hold up their end of the bargain. Copley (District 9) played an excellent "Mad Murdock". Liam Neeson (Taken) is brilliant in just about anything he does and same goes with his take on "Hannibal" Smith and Bradley Cooper (The Hangover) puts in an almost Hangover-esque performance as "Face". Smooth and funny yet not trying too hard. MMA champ, Quintin Jackson was always going to have a tough task filling Mr. T's shoes as "B.A" Baracus. He didn't fill them, but he was close. He wasn't as edgy as Mr. T or nearly as scary. He'd still beat the crap out of me, surely but he just wasn't Mr. T. Still though, he was good enough that I enjoyed his performance. "I'm BA, and you're gonna be unconcious".

Even if this is nothing like the TV Show, it is worth paying to see.

Check out the trailer

From Paris with Love (2010) - MOVIE REVIEW

2010-06-24T16:06:00.009+10:00

Rating:
Director: Pierre Morel
Starring: John Travolta, Jonathan Rhys Meyers

Our boy Travolta is back on the big screen as special agent Charlie Wax in this almost comedic shoot em up from the director of Taken, Pierre Morel. The plot isn't too complex so I won't say too much about it. Wax gets called into Paris on assignment and teams up with low-level CIA agent James Reese (Meyers). What ensues is a 90 minute action packed, expletive ridden tale about getting the bad guy. It's really not a heavy film like Taken. It has plenty of comic relief delivered by Travolta that is reminiscent of Mel Gibson's Martin Riggs in the Lethal Weapon series.

Overall, the cast isn't great, the acting isn't awe inspiring and just about any hollywood hack could come up with the story. That being said, it's fun seeing Travolta play this character. Probably wouldn't have been as fun with another actor.

No need to rush out and see it. If you have some time up your sleeve you wont hate yourself for spending 90 minutes on this.

Check out the trailer

Prince of Persia (2010) - MOVIE REVIEW

2010-06-03T12:23:00.017+10:00

Rating:
Director: Mike Newell
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Gemma Arterton, Ben Kingsley, Alfred Molina
In cinemas: Now

A story of betrayal, love, destiny and a whole lot of kick-ass fight scenes. It's the Jerry Bruckheimer produced video game turned movie - Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.

A story, set in sixth-century BC, of a young orphan boy, Dastan (Gyllenhaal), in the Persian Empire who became prince after being adopted by the King. "No royal blood and no eye for the throne."

Following the action sequences, stylings and storyline of the 2003 video game, the movie is about an ancient dagger that, with the use of the mystical 'Sands of Time', allows the person in possession to step back briefly in time and rewrite history by using the knowledge of what is about to happen.

The movie begins with the adoption scene, to put it simply, and then immediately goes forward 15 years to the day that Prince Dastan and his father's army invades the sacred city of Talmut under the assumption that they're there to stop them from selling weapons to their enemies. We soon find out that this isn't entirely true when Dastan comes into possession of the dagger, not knowing its powers. Soon after the invasion, Dastan is framed for his father's murder and is then on the run from his own people with an unlikely partner in Princess Tamina (Arterton), the guardian of the dagger. After she brings Dastan up to speed on the history of the dagger, they begin their journey to secure it and bring the villain to justice. I must say, I was quite disappointed that the writers didn't go to much effort to keep the villain a mystery. It was so obvious that they might as well have zoomed into his face and played the "Da da duh" tune associated with bad guys.

I think with comic book and video game movies these days, comic relief plays a big role. Most likely because the storyline and acting isn't exactly awe-inspiring. A few examples: The Fantastic 4 movies, the Spiderman Movies and the Hulk movies were missing decent comic relief and were pretty lacklustre. Thats right, I don't like Spiderman. Although the last two Batman movies had minimal comic relief, they had great storylines and exceptional acting. For me, the perfect combination of acting, story and comic relief came in the forms of Iron Man and Iron Man 2. The X-Men trilogy earns an honourable mention though. It's storylines, acting and comic relief weren't awesome but they combined well with the amazing special effects for a sort of synergy to produce some good movies.

Anyway, During their travels, they venture through "The deadly valley of slaves" and encounter an entrepreneur and funnily enough, ostrich racing organiser, Sheik Amar (Molina). Did I mention his deadly knife throwing partner in crime, Seso? Alfred Molina (Spider-Man 2) turned in an absolutely brilliant performance with the comic relief he provided as the Sheik. It was well written and supremely delivered. He doesn't have to try too hard to get you really liking the character, it was perfect. His role more than makes up for the slightly above average performance by both Gyllenhaal and Arterton. I'm not saying they were bad, it's just that it was difficult for them to put forward a really good performance since they played serious roles in a video game movie that centers around mimicking the gaming experience and also trying to get out from under the shadows of Molina and Ben Kingsley (Shutter Island, Lucky Number Slevin) who portrayed the King's brother, Nazim.

As expected, many of the fighting moves, effects and camera work from the game were incorporated into the movie. It was done quite well and early on which allowed the movie to do it's thing without having me waiting to see what I've seen in the game. I haven't read any other reviews but I imagine the fan boys will be happy on that front. I won't say too much about the ending except that it could have went a many ways and the way they did go wasn't too bad at all.

LOST Series Finale - REVIEW (Spoiler Alert!)

2010-05-26T12:11:00.109+10:00

It's over. Love it or hate it, 6 years of lost has come to an end.

SPOILER ALERT: I WILL BE DISCUSSING WHAT HAPPENED. IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW, READ SOMETHING ELSE I'VE REVIEWED!

As expected... questions were answered. Plenty of questions. But, unsurprisingly, plenty were left unanswered.

I'm not even going to sum up the actual events themselves that happened in the finale since you're either reading this because you've seen it and want my opinion or you're never gonna see it. If you're never gonna see it because you've stopped or won't start, Lost isn't a show you can explain to a non-viewer without looking like a crazy person and making them even more disinterested in the show.

Anyway, I'll try talk about the island events first and then the flash-sideways events and try not to go back and forth too much... I might end up just writing my stream of consciousness.

I gotta say, from the beginning of the show, I never really liked Jack. In fact, I grew to despise him over the years to the point that I was surprised that I enjoyed watching Matthew Fox (Jack) in his movie, Vantage Point with Forrest Whitaker. Through the years I felt you had to be either a Locke fan or a Jack fan. Almost like choosing sides when really they were both the good guys to a certain extent while there were bad guys elsewhere. I think Terry O'Quinn (Locke) is such a good actor and the character of Locke was so well written that I just felt drawn to him. I liked his belief system. Those of having a purpose, a destiny, faith. He immediately was drawn to the island and was at home. I didn't like Jack on the other hand because he was almost opposite. A man of science that wants nothing to do with the island. He just wants to go home. I probably wouldn't be able to understand a viewer not at least preferring one guy to the other. Anyway, I digress. I should have left that for my complete series review later on. I'll probably paste it in anyway... What I was getting at was that in season 6, especially toward the end I came to like Jack's character again. Looking back, the easiest way to explain it, and you'll understand if you've seen season 6, is that he has become more like Locke was before his death. He was accepting of his 'destiny', he began to feel that connection to the island and understood that he was there for a reason. That for me culminated with him telling the smoke monster that "Locke was right about everything, I just wish he was still alive to tell him". I loved that.

Because of what the flash-sideways turned out to be, you could almost rate this finale as two episodes. One brought to end the story on the island and the other brought to end the season long alternate universe story. From the island side, I really liked it. It was an interesting choice of characters that got to leave the island. Kate got what she came for, Claire, which sets up the mother reunites with daughter happy ending. Even if the mother is a little nuts. I'm a big fan of Sawyer and whether you hated him at the start I think most people liked him and I think he deserved to get off after all the crap he'd been through. I didn't really care much about Lipidis and Miles leaving but I thought it was a nice touch letting Richard off the island since he was no longer immortal after Jacob died. He had that great line, "I just realised I wanna live".

I must admit, I had really low expectations as to what the hell the 'light' at the heart of the island was going to be. Mostly because I didn't have the imagination to dream up something cool so I just thought I'd be let down. When revealed, I didn't mind the whole 'stone pillar' thing that Desmond pulled out of the ground, while it would be easy to pick at it, I just took it for what it was meant to be... Something that turns the light off, destroys the island and makes Smokey human again. After years of one guy's theory being wrong and another guy's theory being right on various things, it was good to see Jack and Smokey both right and wrong about what happens when the light goes out.

Then the final battle... considering Jack was human, it was fitting that it came down to a fist fight instead of Smokey just exploding when the light went out. That would have been too easy. My favourite part of the fight was when Jack tracked him down at the edge of the cliff and yells out "LOCKE!" and there is the wide angle of the two of them on this cliff followed by them running toward eachother and right before the commercial break, Jack jumps in the air with his legs split like Michael Jordan and arm cocked back ready to lay the smackdown on Smokey. That was cool. Then they fought for a bit, Jack was stabbed and also had his neck sliced a little (explaining the bleeding in the flash-sideways yet not really making sense as to why) and finally Kate smoked Smokey. "I saved a bullet for you". I really wish Sawyer shot Smokey. Kate started off the show as a bad-ass but got too 'damsel in distress' as the year's went on. Nobody could have delivered that line like James Ford could have. After they said their goodbyes I thought the scene at the light where Jack passes on the job of island protecter to Hurley was great. Probably Hugo's best acting. I must admit, had me a little choked up. For me, I thought the conversation Ben and Hurley had after they rescued Desmond was pretty important because lets be honest, what the hell do you do on an island with no bad guy to protect the light from? Ben's pep talk was great. Hurley was the leader now. He can run the island like he wants to. 'Nobody can leave the island' was one of Jacob's rules. It was also a nice touch that Ben got to be the number 2. A job he once had, but never really had.

The flash-sideways... Purgatory? I'm gonna go with purgatory. But I'll get back to that in a minute. For most of the season, the writers had us thinking that this was just some kind of universe that showed us what life would have been like had not only the plane not crashed but also Jacob and the island not come into play. It wasn't as simple as the plane just not crashing because the bomb they set off also affected other characters lives. The most obvious ones were that Desmond never crashed his yacht on the island and Daniel faraday wasn't pushed into a life of science by his mum because she wasn't gearing him up to go to the island. Then toward the end of the season, they started to have these visions or memories of their life on the island. It wasn't clear to us exactly what they thought they were, but I thought they'd be under the impression it was another life and they'd embrace those memories. In hindsight, after the church scene I realised that when Desmond and Hurley had helped people have their 'awakening', it seemed as though they knew they were dead and that in fact they were in some sort of purgatory. Other than Jack, not too many people seemed that upset about it. Anyway, some viewers may not have liked that Jack's dad had to spell it out for him, as if to say that the audience was too dumb to figure it out, but it actually makes sense that Jack would need it explained because he is this man of science that doesn't hold much belief in these things. So anyway, if you buy the purgatory theory, great, they all go to heaven, happy ending and it closes with island Jack dying in the bamboo field watching that Ajira plane fly away. I liked it.

Something you might consider to be a hole in the purgatory theory. Hurley, Ben, Kate, Claire, Aaron, Desmond, Penny, Rose, Bernard and maybe some others I've forgotten, aren't actually dead yet. Explanation, Jack's dad says that "Some died before you, some long after you" to which Jack replies "but why are they all here, now?"... "There is no now, here." I think that kind of says that this state of purgatory is timeless. They're all meeting here after death. Remember Hurley's conversation with Ben, "By the way, you were a really good number 2"... "and you were a great number 1, Hurley." To us, on island time, Ben and Hurley are just beginning this journey but in purgatory they're dead and thats all in the past.

I do have a few bones to pick though... Christian tells Jack that "these are the people that were important to you on the island" (or something like that). Does that make this Jack's purgatory? Why the hell was Penny there? She was never on the island. Did they even meet? Where was their son Charlie? All this back story about Sayid and his true love Nadia, yet he ends up spending eternity with Shannon? Didn't they have, like, one picnic together?

Despite the holes, I still think everything wrapped up well enough. I'm willing to forget all the unanswered 'island' questions because I think, even though sometimes it wasn't obvious, this show was about the characters. Not about the island. They all had their stories told, you got that connection with them and watched most of them die... The 'lets all move on to heaven now' storyline was perfect because these characters you've grown to love have moved on to a 'better' place and has you feeling better about them all. As a little side note, it was good that Ben chose to remain in purgatory because he still had some repenting to do. Wasn't quite ready for heaven.

I thoroughly enjoyed my LOST experience, but this leaves us with just one more question... Will there ever be a show like this again?

Ratings
Finale:
Season 6:
Entire series:

"Plastic Beach" by Gorillaz (2010) - ALBUM REVIEW

2010-05-10T09:38:00.007+10:00

Rating:
Album: Plastic Beach
Artist: Gorillaz

British virtual band, Gorillaz, are back after a 5 year stint on the sidelines since their breakout album, Demon Days. It was always going to be tough to make an album as good as Demon Days but Plastic Beach fell shorter than I thought it would.

Collaborating with artists such as Snoop Dogg, Bobby Womack, Mos Def, De La Soul and many more, Gorillaz have produced a very unique blend of music for this LP. They've left no genre untouched with tracks involving The Hypnotic Brass Ensemble to The Lebanese National Orchestra for Oriental Arabic Music to a bit of electronic work and a hint of hip-hop with Snoop Dogg and Mos Def.

All up, it came across as a bit unstructured. The album didn't seem to flow from track to track. It was almost like they made a bunch of songs they liked and just threw them on a CD. Sort of like a mix tape, except if you don't love these songs they can just seem out of place and hard to get into. I'm not a big fan of the style of singing their vocalist 2D has, it's almost monotone to me (and not a good style of monotone like Guru). I immediately got into track 4 though, Rhinestone Eyes, but other than that, none of the other songs really caught my eye. Although, Bobby Womack does do an amazing job on vocals for "Stylo". I listened to the album a few times, went away from it then listened to it again and I started to get into it a little more. I can put up with it now but I won't be in a rush to listen to it again.

Check out my favourite track Rhinestone Eyes

Also, check out their track "Stylo", it's a pretty cool clip.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9vAOzYz-Qs

"Rise Up" by Cypress Hill (2010) - ALBUM REVIEW

2010-05-03T10:50:00.007+10:00

Rating:

Album: Rise Up

Artist: Cypress Hill

"In 1991 an artist in Compton picked up Cypress Hill's debut album. What he heard blew him away. A futuristic funk, mixed with a die hard dedication to a certain herb. This is the story of Cypress Hill..."

That's the intro to the album, right before the beat drops from their single "It Ain't Nuthin"... 19 Years after their debut album, the same can still be said for Cypress Hill's new album, Rise Up.

It's been 6 years since their last album, Till Death Do Us Part, but they've picked up right where they left off.

Cypress Hill emcee B-Real said that for this album they wanted a more aggressive sound with more dynamics and to be more uptemo. He said "in terms of the live setting, whenever we do songs that are more uptempo and aggressive people do love them and it makes for a great show. So, while making this album, we definitely had the intention of making songs that would translate well to the live aspect of what Cypress Hill is about".

They've managed to achieve their goal quite successfully with the help of a diverse collection of guests such as Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park, Daron Malakian of System of a Down, Pitbull, Everlast, Evidence of Dilated Peoples, and Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave. Listening to this album can really pick you up, pump you up and get you enjoying your day. Even though a pick you up, pump you up type of album doesn't really sound like the most ideal LP to smoke weed to but as per Cypress Hill's previous albums, half of their material is "herb" related and I can definitely see pot heads getting down to it... and getting high.

I would probably rate this album as my favourite of all they've released and it has also received favourable reviews amongst many other critics. It has a bit of a mainstream sound that appeals to a wider audience but they haven't forgotten their rap history and have incorporated the rock sound really well. This is an album I will be recommending not just to my friends that are into hip-hop but also to those that are not. Whatever group you belong to, I think you should check this out.

Favourite lyric: "My steel is stainless, it will leave you brainless..." - Sen Dog

Album in stores now.

Check out "It Ain't Nothin"

More of my faves (they have links to youtube):
7. K.U.S.H.
1. It Ain't Nothin'
4. Get it Anyway
3. Rise Up (feat. Tom Morello)
15. Armada Latina (feat. Pitbull & Marc Anthony)

Iron Man 2 (2010) - MOVIE REVIEW

2010-04-29T10:19:00.018+10:00

Rating:
Director: Jon Favreau
Starring: Robert Downey Jr, Don Cheadle, Mickey Rourke, Gwyneth Paltrow, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson
DVD in stores October 27

Firstly, we all know what Iron Man looks like so I've posted a photo of War Machine, played by Don Cheadle. Awesome.

Anyway... Robert Downey Jr. is back as the narcissistic, eccentric, Tony Stark. Picking up about 6 months after the first movie, the sequel is about how Tony Stark and the rest of the world deals with this new found superhero. Life is peachy for Stark, he has stopped selling weapons to the government and he has "...successfully privatised world peace", as he puts it. Also loving the spotlight and fame that has come with his superhero status.

Unfortunately, this isn't good enough for the U.S government. They are constantly putting pressure on Stark to turn over the suit so they can use the technology. This push is spearheaded by Stark's old rival, Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell) from Hammer Industries. A weapons giant that is looking to use the technology from the Iron Man suit to create weapons for the government. At the same time, a new villain rises straight out of Russia. His name is Ivan Vanko a.k.a "Whiplash", played by Oscar nominee Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler). He has a family history with Stark and is out seeking revenge. With a knowledge of the arc reactor technology used in the Iron Man suit, Whiplash creates his own piece of destructive weaponry.

While the quality of an actors British accent doesn't really bother me, I hate a bad Russian accent when a character tries to speak English. Rourke does an excellent job portraying this tattooed Russian beast. He doesn't do too much talking but he plays one of the more intense comic book movie villains I've seen in a while. Nobody will reach the stratosphere of Heath Ledger's Joker but this was quite a terrifying villain.

Playing a bigger role in this sequel, Colonel James "Rhodey" Rhodes (Cheadle) gets his own suit and becomes "War Machine". Much to the despair of Iron Man fans, Terence Howard was replaced by Don Cheadle for the sequel. While he put forward a solid effort, he couldn't quite wear that army uniform like Howard could. Another new addition to the franchise, Scarlett Johansson plays the Black Widow. She played a small role and we didn't see her in action much but I'm thinking she'll be around for the next one and possibly the Avengers movie due out in a few years. After getting a sneak peek after the credits of the first movie, Samuel L. Jackson is back as Nick Fury, director of SHIELD. The big, mean, eye patch wearing recruiter of Avengers is an intimidating presence and just leaves you wanting to see more of him.

This franchise is very different to all your other superhero movies because everyone in the movie knows who Iron Man is. Because of this the character of Tony Stark is much more involved in the movie compared to others such as Batman or Superman. That makes this movie so fun to watch because Stark is so loveable because of his "coolness" factor that no other superhero has. Downey, once again portrays an excellent Stark and together with the help of the rest of the cast there is some great comic relief in this movie. It doesn't go over the top but it's around enough to keep this a light hearted affair.

While I would have liked the final showdown to go a little longer, I still thoroughly enjoyed this movie. It combines a good mix of both action and acting so it will appeal even to viewers that aren't big on superhero movies. Go check it out, it's a lot of fun.

Also, stick around after the movie, there is a little surprise appearance after all the credits... something to do with the Avengers.

Check out the two trailers

R.I.P Guru

2010-04-22T11:58:00.007+10:00

A sad day yesterday as it was announced that Guru, one half of the duo highly regarded as pioneers of hip-hop, Gangstarr, passed away after a long battle with cancer.

See the article from the associated press.

Check out this DJ Premier fan blog to see the statements by Guru's sister and DJ Premier.

In rememberance I've embedded some of his tracks below...

...REST IN PEACE TO THE MAN WHO FELT “SATISFACTION FROM THE STREET CROWD REACTION” … I LOVE YOU GOO…… - DJ PREMIER

Up In The Air (2009) - MOVIE REVIEW

2010-04-13T13:12:00.020+10:00

Rating:
Director: Jason Reitman
Starring: George Clooney, Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick
DVD in stores now

"Anybody who ever built an empire, or changed the world, sat where you are now. And it's *because* they sat there that they were able to do it." Says Ryan Bingham as he is firing the person in that chair.

Adapted from the Walter Kim novel of the same name, Up In The Air follows the life of Ryan Bingham (Clooney), a man that makes his living travelling from city to city around the country firing employees for bosses that don't have the balls to do it themselves. He actually works at a company that specialises in this kind of stuff.

Ryan looks like a bit of a loner, but he wants it that way. Spending a large chunk of the year on the road where his goal is to earn 10 million frequent flyer miles, thats where he feels at home, not back in Omaha. So satisfied with the way he lives, he also does motivational speeches titled "What's in your backpack" where he tries to sell the idea of freeing yourself from all your hang ups, material things and relationships with others. Basically trying to sell his type of lifestyle to others.

While on the road, he meets another frequent flyer, Alex (Farmiga), and starts a casual relationship. Called back to the office in Omaha, Ryan meets a young coworker named Natalie Keener (Kendrick) that proposes a system to fire employees with an online video conferencing tool. A change in business strategy that effectively grounds him. Trying to talk his boss (Jason Bateman) out of going down this path, Ryan and Natalie get sent on the road together so she can experience the layoff process first hand.

During their travels, the two of them meet up with Alex a few times which proceeds to them developing possibly something more than a casual relationship. Up to this point, I didn't think it was too bad a movie but it kind of lost the originality in it that the first half of the movie had. From here on it turned into another romance story.

Directed by Jason Reitman, (Thankyou For Smoking and Juno), he claimed to have written the parts for the main characters and a few of the supporting roles specifically for them. Even the cameo by The Hangover's Zach Galifianakis. True or not, everyone put forward good performances, portraying their characters well. George Clooney especially. I'd rate this as one of his best performances in film along with his 2007 drama, Michael Clayton.

Although it got nominated for 6 Oscars, I didn't love it, but I didn't mind watching it. At 109 minutes long, it's a good length for this type of film. I can see plenty of people enjoying it.

Check out the trailer

Talib Kweli & Jean Grae @ The Forum - 9/4/10

2010-04-12T11:29:00.010+10:00

Rating:
Last Friday I got out to The Forum to see Talib Kweli and Jean Grae play back to back.
I must say it was a really good concert that ended in a way I haven't seen before.

Talib and Jean were scheduled to play an hour each. Jean put together a solid set, with one back up singer, starting off wearing a dress and singing some slow stuff followed by a quick wardrobe change into some street gear to match the rhymes she was spitting. After her hour was up, Talib came on and really electrified the crowd when he played about 3 of his tracks with Jean. After those tracks, he kept the crowd moving with tracks from throughout his career including a little bit of Blackstar. He didn't do too much talking as he seemed to be just feeding off the crowd's energy and us off his.

He went way over his alloted time. His 1 hour slot turned into 80 minutes, finishing up with his classic 'Get By'. Then he popped back out for an unexpected encore and played another 20 minutes. After that, just when we thought he was really done he came back and said "F**k this, we goin have this after party right here, lets get all the girls and guys down in front up onto the stage" and then his DJ blasted Biggie's Hypnotize to the delight of the bumper crowd. Didn't seem like anyone left. A real party atmosphere. Kweli didn't leave the stage either, he just stood up next to his DJ sipping shampagne from the bottle and fist bumping fans on stage.

I've been to 72 concerts and counting... Haven't seen that before. Truely a good night and a good concert

Dexter - Season 4 - REVIEW

2010-04-08T16:43:00.023+10:00

Rating:

Without actually giving any details about the plot for season 4, I'd sell it to you like this. Season 4 just ensured that Dexter makes my all time favourite shows list. It's a short list. Dexter is just that good.

Season 4 picks up with Dexter (Michael C. Hall) married, the father of a child, Harrison, and living in suburbia with his wife Rita. Like season 1, the main story arc revolves around a serial killer. This time around it's the "Trinity Killer" played by John Lithgow which prompts the return of Special Agent Frank Lundy to help apprehend him.

Along with the serial killer story line, the show also focuses more on Dexter's life and his struggles in trying to be a model husband and father yet still find time to keep his "dark passenger" at bay (kill the bad guys). As the season goes on, Dexter begins to draw parallels between his life and that of the "Trinity Killer" and tries to learn from him instead of sticking to his fathers "code". As expected, this creates unwanted problems.

As always, the supporting cast puts forward a solid effort to fill the time when Dexter or the "Trinity Killer" are not featured. Especially Jennifer Carpenter (Dexter's sister Deb) who steps up this season when she gets caught in the middle of the whole thing and really holds her own.

As per previous seasons, the show earnt itself a few award nominations and took home golden globes for:
Best Actor (Drama) - Michael C. Hall and
Best Actor in a Supporting Role - John Lithgow

This show has kept me glued to my laptop for 4 seasons now. Do yourself a favour.

Alice In Wonderland (2010) - MOVIE REVIEW

2010-04-08T13:04:00.048+10:00

Rating:
Director: Tim Burton
Starring: Mia Wasikowska, Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway
DVD in stores now

To be honest with you, I don't really feel like wasting too much of your time or mine on an Alice in Wonderland review. Its ok I guess. The 3D is a nice little touch but really doesn't better your experience like I did for Avatar.

Set later than the original story, Alice (Wasikowska) is now all grown up and after an uninspired start to the movie where she gets proposed to, she runs off chasing a rabbit she is seeing and falls down the rabbit hole. Anyway, the Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter) has conquered Underland by stealing the crown from the White Queen (Hathaway). As expected Alice is somehow supposed to be the person to help restore order to Underland and return the crown to the White Queen. Not much of a story really. I guess you could say the same about Avatar.

I must admit, the CGI is really good. The Cheshire Cat was probably the best looking. Tweedledum and Tweedldee were hilariously round and probably the funniest characters in the movie. Depp's portrayal of the Mad Hatter was maybe just a little disappointing. It didn't help that he had little screen time. All your other Underland creatures are all there as well...

If you like CGI, 3D or just want to see it because it's Alice in Wonderland, go for it. Otherwise save your money or see something else. Maybe one of the following.

Green Zone - Rating: ⋆⋆⋆ and a HALF
My favourite Matt Damon flick. (Not including The Departed)

She's Out Of My League looks hilarious...

Then there is The Blind Side.
Sandra Bullock got the Oscar for best Actress and the movie was nominated for best movie.

Check out the trailer

Shutter Island (2010) - MOVIE REVIEW

2010-04-08T09:48:00.033+10:00

Rating:
Director: Martin Scorcese
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Ben Kingsley, Mark Ruffalo

I really really tried to write a great review for this movie because I loved it so much. I spent at least an hour on it but struggled to find the words to describe director Martin Scorcese's genius. This morning while killing time at work, I stumbled across a review by Peter Travers on the Rolling Stone website. It does the movie more justice than my dribble could have.

Check out his review here.

DVD in stores now.

Check out the trailer

AC/DC @ ANZ Stadium - 20/2/10

2010-04-07T11:29:00.023+10:00

Rating:

As you can see by the picture, it was a massive concert at ANZ stadium. They absolutely tore down the house. I was all the way up the back but it didn't for one second feel like I was too far away. Great to see them rock out the classics live. A good experience

Lyrics Born @ The Oxford Art Factory - 2/1/10

2010-04-06T13:48:00.027+10:00

Rating:

Great way to kick off the new year with a Lyrics Born concert. He played down at the Oxford Art Factory in Sydney to an audience of about 500. Total guess there but it's a pretty intimate venue. Didn't stop him from blowing the roof of it though. This is the 3rd time I've gone out to see LB, all at different venues (The Metro and The Forum) but it seems no cage can keep this guy. He is the Martin Scorcese of crowd participation. With his 3 piece band and partner in crime, Joyo Velarde, he makes you feel like you'll be letting him down if you don't lose your shit and try to sing louder than him. Another great night. Thanks LB.

(These are a couple of my pix. Forgot my super awesome camera in the shop so I used the one on my phone. The second one came out sick though. No filters!)

Inglourious Basterds (2009) - MOVIE REVIEW

2010-04-06T11:50:00.031+10:00

Rating:
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Starring: Brad Pitt, Eli Roth, Christoph Waltz
DVD in stores now.

Tarantino is back with his first film since his Kill Bill outings and has managed to produce his best film since Pulp Fiction. Now I love Kill Bill and Jackie Brown is nothing to sneeze at either but Inglourious Basterds might just be the film of the year. In any genre.

Set in Nazi-occupied france in the 1944, Lieutenant Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) leads a fearless crew of Nazi killers dubbed 'The Basterds'. Deep behind enemy lines, the Basterds take no prisoners killing as many Nazi officials they can get their hands on and leave no man un-scalped. Christoph Waltz earnt himself the best actor award at the Cannes film festival for his portrayal of Nazi Colonel Hans Landa aka "The Jew Hunter". The name pretty much sums up who the Colonel is in this flick, a smart, ruthless... Jew Hunter. He is the standout actor of the film and I have to give it to QT for casting the perfect actor. Tarantino said that he was willing to pull the plug on the whole movie if he didn't get the right guy for the job. Folks, he got the right guy.

After we see The Basterds Kill a few dozen Nazi soldiers, they get sent on the ultimate mission. They head to Paris to attend the premiere of a Nazi flick being attended by some of the highest ranking officials in the Nazi military. As Mike Myers said in his cameo as General Ed Fenech "We have all our rotten eggs in one basket. The objective - Blow up the basket".

Inglourious Basterds, like Tarantino's other films is funny, but it's not a mainstream obvious funny. It's in the acting and the dialogue and the story. I love it... and so will you.

Check out the trailer

Best Acts To See Live - Pharoahe Monch

2010-03-08T16:17:00.010+11:00

Rating:

I first saw Pharoahe Monch play live at the 2008 Good Vibrations Festival. It was awesome. The best hip-hop/rap concert I've ever been to. Hands down. Pharoahe brings a lot of energy and intensity to his shows and the crowd absolutely eats it up.

When Pharoahe says "Get the f**k up"... you listen. Add it to the list

Best Acts To See Live - Lyrics Born

2010-03-08T16:00:00.010+11:00

Rating:

A rapper from the Bay Area in California, Lyrics Born was one of the first acts I saw that ditched the DJ on the wheels of steel and switched over to a full live band. The result has been great. I love LB's old stuff but he just has a whole new swagger on the stage with a live band that brings it everytime I go to a gig.

His music has evolved over the years but no matter what he releases, his work ethic on stage doesn't waver. Budding musicians looking for ways to amp up the crowd need look no further than Lyrics Born. A common line he uses when on stage goes along the lines of... "If I don't lose my voice on stage tonight, god dammit I didn't do my job". He'll lose his voice. You probably will too. Add it to the list

Best Acts To See Live - oZomatli

2010-03-08T15:58:00.006+11:00

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Quite simply put, oZomatli are the funnest band you will ever see live. I have seen many bands and been to many festivals over the years but no outfit makes you feel as alive, as happy, as energetic and compells you to dance around like a looney toon quite like oZomatli does. Even if you haven't even heard one of their songs. It's very rare a band like this lasts so long. Next time they are in town, make sure you pay them a visit and get set for a great night.

Best Acts To See Live - Dropkick Murphys

2010-03-08T15:36:00.020+11:00

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I'd have to say that Dropkick Murphys are the second-funnest band I've ever seen, behind oZomatli. This 9 piece Celtic-Punk Rock band out of Boston really bring their unique sound to life when on stage. With a mixture of light hearted lyrics and the seemless integration of bagpipes and banjos along with their punk sound, they put on a very memorable performance. Add it to the list.

Best Acts To See Live - The Prodigy

2010-03-08T10:39:00.034+11:00

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I am a fan of The Prodigy. But not a massive fan. I have their latest album, Invaders Must Die, but don't have any of their others. Most of my knowledge comes from what I've heard on the radio over the years and what my mate plays in the car.

That being said, these guys are absolutely electric on stage. I've seen them twice at the Hordern Pavillion now and they were awesome gigs. From big fans to casual fans, they had the entire crowd on their feet and dancing around like fools (including myself) both times. It almost felt wrong to be standing still.

Best of all, even if you don't really like the music, it is a very good workout! I may or may not have done star jumps during their last concert. I know I at least thought about it.

These guys are on the list. The list of bands I'll see everytime they come to my neck of the woods... and that's a short list.

Best Acts To See Live - Kiss

2010-03-08T10:05:00.007+11:00

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A live Kiss show shoudn't really need to be sold to you. If you want to hear some of the greatest Rock N Roll music of all time and experience an amazing stage show, GO SEE KISS!!!

Unfortunately, only Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley have being doing the shows lately and they've lost some flair with age so I won't be shelling out hundreds of dollars to see them anymore.

If you haven't seen them, you will still love your first time. 3 times is plenty for me.

Entourage (TV Series)

2010-02-09T16:13:00.007+11:00

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Executive Producer: Mark Wahlberg
Starring: Jeremy Piven, Adrian Grenier, Kevin Dillon, Kevin Connelly, Jerry Ferrara, Rex Lee

I've heard a lot of people sum up Entourage as "Sex and the City for guys". At the core, I guess it is. 4 guys living it up in LA as opposed to 4 women living it up in NYC. Really though, it's much more than just 4 guys tearing it up in hollywood. I haven't watched too much Sex and the City but from what I've seen I think the show centers around Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) and with other 3 girls adding there own stories. Entourage on the other hand really has no lead character. They are all up in the business. Plus they have the X factor that is Ari Gold, played by Jeremy Piven (5 Emmy nominations and 4 wins for best supporting actor).

Yes it's about a hollywood actor and his "entourage" living the hollywood highlife with a (for lack of a more fun description) crazy a** agent, but really it's about brotherhood. It's about 4 guys who grew up together and the ups and downs they experience. You just don't realise it because of all the shenanigans the boys get up to, the pretty girls and expletive filled temper tantrums from their agent Ari.

It's a classic Comedy/Drama. I'm actually quite suprised how many girls I know that like it... but I shouldn't be. It's a great show

Seasons 1-5 are available on DVD now.

The Wire (TV Series)

2010-02-09T15:45:00.012+11:00

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Creator: David Simon
Starring: Dominic West, Idris Elba, Wood Harris, Wendell Pierce, Lance Reddick, Sonja Sohn, Clarke Peters,

If I was really lazy, I could just tell you that The Wire is a good cop drama set in Baltimore. It's true but it doesn't do the show justice. It's much more than just a good cop drama. The best, in fact. Better than the countless ones that have been on TV over the past two decades.

It's created, produced and written by David Simon, an author and former Baltimore police reporter. With his real life experiences, Simon has been able to produce a realistic portrayal of life on the streets of Baltimore. All the characters featured in the show have real depth and are well developed to a point where you feel like you know them quite well. It's not as simple as... We're the cops, they're the drug dealers, now lets catch them. It's very gritty.

While it ran for 5 seasons, the show explored various facets of the city of Baltimore including the drug trade, government, the school system, and more.

Simon described his show as "really about the American city, and about how we live together. It's about how institutions have an effect on individuals, and how whether you're a cop, a longshoreman, a drug dealer, a politician, a judge or a lawyer, you are ultimately compromised and must contend with whatever institution you've committed to."

This show is one of my favourite dramas on TV and couldn't recommend it any more.

All 5 seasons are available on DVD now.

Dexter (TV Series)

2010-02-09T08:30:00.019+11:00

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Starring: Michael C. Hall, James Remar, Jennifer Carpenter

How's this for a TV show: A Miami police department blood spatter analyst named Dexter (Michael C. Hall) that is a serial killer in his spare time. Except this killer only kills "bad people". Murderers, rapists etc.

I wasn't immediately sold on the show and in fact if my friend didn't want to watch it I was going to switch it off half way through the second episode of season 1. Glad I didn't. Season 4 just finished and it has made my all time favourite shows list.

Along with the regular drama that comes along with a cop/crime show, this show delves into who Dexter is, how and why he does what he does and how he got to be who he is. The stories are truely amazing. Very well written with a good supporting cast. By the end of the first few episodes you'll find yourself rooting for the serial killer... how often do you do that?

Seasons 1-3 are available on DVD now.

The Dark Knight (2008) - MOVIE REVIEW

2010-02-08T14:46:00.003+11:00

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Director: Christopher Nolan
Starring: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart
DVD in stores now.

This movie doesn't need much of an introduction as we all know what its about, who is in it, the back story etc. Most of you have already decided whether or not you want to watch it.

Instead I'll give you my unpolished opinion...

I FRICKIN LOVE THIS MOVIE.

While a two and a half hour flick might sound like a bit much, it is just perfect for this movie. It flies by. Unlike other long movies, this actually has enough stuff going on to fill the time. There is the story of the Joker, the story of Two Face and of course Bruce Wayne/Batman's never ending fight within himself. Trying to find an identity without Batman. Trying to ditch his alter ego to get back his true love, Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal).

I watched it at IMAX in Sydney and it was an absolutely phenomenal experience.

I went into the movie with high expectations, just like everyone else, mainly because of the hype Heath Ledger received for his performanance. I was worried it wouldn't reach those expectations. It reached them, broke through, broke the speed limit and jetted out to space.

After watching the movie multiple times, you begin to appreciate Ledger's portrayal of the Joker more and more to the point where you are almost waiting for the next scene that he is in. In this movie though, those "in between scenes" are filled by a decent performance by Christian Bale as Batman and a steller performance by Aaron Eckhart as the tortured Two Face.

There was only one thing I didn't like about Batman Begins. That was the performance of Katie Holmes (The original Rachel Dawes). I don't know why they replaced her with Maggie Gyllenhaal for The Dark Knight but I am so glad they did. Gyllenhaal played a much better Dawes than I could have hoped for.

Don't be a fool. Watch this movie!

Check out the trailer