Generation Kill - TV SHOW REVIEW

Written by: David Simon, Ed Burns
Starring: Alexander Skarsgård, James Ransone, Stark Sands, Lee Tergesen

Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. Seven episode miniseries Generation Kill is television at it's finest.

I know it's been out for 4 years but bear with me... From the writers and producers of The Wire (the best television show EVER), comes a miniseries that follows the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion of the United States Marine Corps during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Based on the book written by Rolling Stone journo Evan Wright, who was embedded in the battalion with them, this show absolutely blew me away. Four episodes in I was already sad that it was almost over!

If you want to strip the plot down, it essentially follows a recon crew that lead the invasion into Iraq and killed a bunch of people, blew a bunch of shit up and seized a bunch of towns but it's obviously not the plot we watch for. People will always argue as to how accurate a portrayal of what going to war is like so I don't worry about that stuff, I'll just enjoy it for what it is. Over the course of this 7-hour long piece of work, you're thrown into the trenches with these guys and really get invested in them, their battalion and the Iraq invasion. It's so worthwhile, if not to see one aspect of the Iraq invasion, but just to watch a really good story... and it always helps that it's based on the truths in Wright's book.

Nominated for 11 Emmys (and winning 3), I'm kicking myself I didn't watch Generation Kill earlier. You will be too.

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (2012) - MOVIE REVIEW

Director: Timur Bekmambetov
Starring: Benjamin Walker, Dominic Cooper, Anthony Mackie, Mary Elizabeth Winstead

Produced by Tim Burton and Directed by the guy who did Wanted, we have ourselves a vampire movie that the vampire movie haters can enjoy. I'm one of them.

As if old Abe wasn't a great enough guy for freeing the slaves, the 2010 novel of the same name that this movie was based on, has re-written history to make this dude just a little bit more awesome. It's an enjoyable slasher (he uses an axe!) with some decent acting and a storyline that manages to stick to certain historical accuracies but in the end is just a down right fun thing to watch for a couple hours.

Nothing special, but fun. A lot of fun. Some great fight scenes... including an epic one on horses (no, not like your're picturing either)

Decoded (Jay-Z) - BOOK REVIEW

Jay-Z released his first book late last year and it's not your typical celebrity autobiography.

Written by Jay-Z himself, Decoded is the story of Sean Carter but also the story of his music, his lyrics, the rap game, rap history, the streets, the drugs, Brooklyn, New York, culture, good times, bad times and how it has all shaped one of the biggest selling artists of all time.

It's a really good read. A must for any hip-hop fan and still very interesting for anyone with at least a little bit of curiosity. At times this book doesn't even feel like it's about Jay-Z, it feels like it's so much more. The pages teach us so much about Jay-Z but even more about life in the streets of New York, the history of hip-hop out there and even the technical details about how some of that music is even pieced together. Very enlightening. A must read I think.

Ted (2012) - MOVIE REVIEW

 

Director: Seth MacFarlane
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis, Seth MacFarlane, Giovanni Ribisi

Ok... so, Ted is HILARIOUS.

Seth MacFarlane, the genius behind the Family Guy, directed, co-wrote and produced his first motion picture about a talking, take no shit, pot smoking, drinking teddy bear. As I said, it's hilarious. It's everything you ever wanted from a Seth MacFarlane film about a talking bear. Period.

There's no need to write anything else. Watch it. If you don't like Family Guy, don't watch it, take a good long hard look at yourself instead. Time to re-evaluate things.

Hunger Games and my Primo! stuff

Hey guys,
Sorry I've neglected you... I haven't been watching much TV lately or new movies but I just caught Hunger Games which I'll write very soon.

In the mean time, here's something I wrote for Primo! Magazine:
Converse Gorillaz Launch

and I also took some photos for this:
Levi's Waterless

Alter Bridge & Steel Panther ON PRIMO

Check out my gig review of the Alter Bridge and Steel Panther sideshow from Soundwave on Primo! Magazine here

Writing for Primo! now...

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

 

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

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

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