Music, Film, and Gaming
New Found Glory drummer Cyrus Bolooki hits his 30th birthday today. Lead vocalist Jordan Pundik hit the big three-zero back in October, and it’s hard to believe that it’s now been over a decade since the release of the band’s debut album ‘Nothing Gold Can Stay’.
Here’s to hoping that Cyrus Bolooki has a very happy 30th birthday, and Alt-UK wishes him all the best for 2010 and beyond.
UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.
Directed by Lawrence Gough, Brit horror film Salvage is due for cinematic release on March 19th, with the DVD then due out on March 22nd.
Classed as “a seriously shocking chiller for our times” by Frightfest’s Alan Jones, Salvage is a film that fans of fine British horror should definitely seek to see, and if you’re interested in getting an idea of the film the take a look at the trailer below:
UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.
Despite speculation that Wes Craven was definitely onboard to direct Scream 4, Wes Craven has brought an end to the rumour by stating the following on Twitter; “SCREAM 4 – LA Times has it wrong. I’m still in talks but nothing has been finalized.”
Hopefully soon there will indeed be confirmation that Wes Craven has signed on to direct the fourth film in the franchise, for the time being though the hugely popular horror director remains unattached.
UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.
Peter Stebbings’ Defendor is due for North American release on February 26th and looks to be a very funny film. Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group actually decided not to release the film theatrically in the US so Darius Films stepped in to do so (the producers of the film), providing Defendor with a limited US theatrical release.
No official UK release date has been set, hopefully though the film will at some point make its way to cinemas in the UK.
Here is the official trailer for the film:
UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.
Toy Story 3 is looking like it’s going to be an absolutely brilliant film, with the latest trailer doing absolutely nothing to suggest that it’s going to be anything but exceptional. It’s been over a decade since Toy Story 2, finally our favourite toys Buzz Lightyear and Woody are coming back to the big screen though, with Toy Story 3 all set to hit UK cinemas in July.
Feast your eyes on the following trailer and prepare to be impressed.
UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.
As a writer and producer Ryan Tedder has had great success, and even if you don’t know him by name there’s a very strong possibility that you’ve heard his work at some point or another (Leona Lewis’s hugely popular ‘Bleeding Love’ and Beyonce Knowles’ ‘Halo’ are two shining examples of tracks co-written by Tedder). In 2007 the band that Ryan Tedder has fronted since 2002 rose to fame when hip hop rapper/producer Timbaland remixed the single ‘Apologize’ and included it on his 2007 ‘Shock Value’ album; OneRepublic instantly became a household name and ‘Apologize’ was a massive hit all around the world. Following up with ‘Stop and Stare’ OneRepublic was once again able to show great strength as a band, with each additional release the band seemed to lose further popularity however, with singles ‘Say (All I Need)’ and ‘Mercy’ both failing to enter either the US Billboard Hot 100 or the Official UK Top 40. With fifth single ‘Come Home’ on which the band collaborated Sara Bareilles a return to the Billboard Hot 100 was finally in store, and a second album has now followed with the release of ‘Waking Up’ in November 2009.
‘All the Right Moves’ is the first single taken from the ‘Waking Up’ album and was released in the UK in January 2010. Featuring a fantastically catchy chorus, ‘All the Right Moves’ is an absolutely exceptional first single for OneRepublic to have released from the ‘Waking Up’ album, and with this track OneRepublic has once again shown fantastic strength and ability as a band. Ryan Tedder’s vocal lines are as sweetly sung out as ever, and combined with this there is also an absolutely phenomenal guitar sound that can here be heard. ‘All the Right Moves’ is no ‘Apologize’, and the chances are that OneRepublic never will release anything as good as that again, ‘All the Right Moves’ is certainly still a song that begs to be listened to however and once you’ve listened to the track once you’ll no doubt have the song stuck in your head for a long time to come.
‘All the Right Moves’ is undoubtedly repetitive, its simplistic composition and lyrical structure really does work well though, and despite being somewhat limited the track never seems to become tiresome. Ryan Tedder is a supremely talented singer and songwriter, and ‘All the Right Moves’ is a single that showcases this fantastically well; ‘All the Right Moves’ may not be OneRepublic’s best work, it’s still a very solid piece of music though and a track that truly is well worth listening to.
Label: Interscope
Release Date: January 11th 2010
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UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.
In celebration of 30 years of the BRIT Awards a 3CD compilation has this year been released, with the first two discs focusing on popular music from the last year whilst the third disc concentrates on some of the biggest BRIT hits from the past 30.
The first disc is quite pure pop focused, with artists such a Cheryl Cole, Robbie Williams, and Mika featuring here, the second disc meanwhile has more of a dance and rock edge about it with Dizzee Rascal, Calvin Harris, Biffy Clyro, U2, and Kasabian all included. Dependent upon your specific tastes in music you’ll probably have a favourite of these two discs; both CDs have their moments though, with both coming complete with some definite stand outs.
There’s a great deal of variety displayed on the BRIT Awards 2010 compilation, what has to be noted however is that some of these artists are not in line to win a BRIT Award this year and yet have been included on the CD, several others meanwhile are up for awards and have failed to make the cut. Whitney Houston and Jason Mraz are two prime examples of artists included on the album that have not been nominated for any Brit Awards; artists such as Eminem, Leona Lewis, and Bat for Lashes meanwhile are not included on the compilation even though they did receive BRIT Award nominations. The song selections don’t always make sense, despite this though it is still a decent compilation which does feature some of the most popular music to have been released in the last year (BRIT Award nominees or not).
Having been treated to some of the most popular tracks of 2009/early 2010 on the first two discs, this BRIT Awards compilation definitely provides a treat with the third disc as such tracks as Take That’s ‘Patience’, Oasis’ ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’, and Prince’s ‘Purple Rain’ are showcased. The CD actually kicks off with three lives tracks; Queen and 5ive’s ‘We Will Rock You’ from 2000, Seal and Adamski’s ‘Killer’ from 1991, and the Bee Gees ‘Medley’ from 1997. It’s straight after these three live classics that we’re boomed into Take That’s ‘Patience’, and from there we move on to Duffy’s ‘Warwick Avenue’ and Amy Winehouse’s ‘Rehab’; definitely a cracking way to kick off the CD, and we certainly finish on a high with the third and final disc of the compilation.
All in all there are 60 tracks on the BRIT Awards 2010 compilation (20 on each of the three discs), and regardless of your taste in music you’re sure to find something here that impresses. It’s unlikely that you’ll enjoy all 60, with so much to choose from there’s definitely much to keep you entertained though, and even if you don’t like a few tracks here then that still leaves you with plenty of others to listen to. The inclusion of a third disc this year makes the BRIT Awards annual compilation better value than ever in 2010, and if you’re looking to get your hands on a quality compilation then the BRIT Awards 2010 compilation is most definitely one that’s worth looking into.
Label: Rhino UK
Release Date: February 8th 2010
Rating:
UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.
Cited by the Toronto Film Festival as having “The most intense action sequences in recent history”, Kill Zone was the winner of the Best Action Choreography Award at the 2006 Hong Kong Film Awards and is considered to be one of the best Asian martial arts films of the last decade. Fist Of Legend meanwhile is often seen as Jet Li’s greatest pure martial arts film and was labelled as ‘Awe inspiring’ by the prestigious American newspaper The New York Times.
Both of these films are set for release as two-disc DVDs packed with a variety of special features, with Kill Zone set for release on March 8th, followed by Fist Of Legend on March 22nd.
Cine-Asia has done an excellent job so far, with the label having released titles such as Ichi the Killer, Ip Man, and The Beast Stalker, and now looks to continue with its fine tradition of releasing quality films with the addition of Kill Zone and Fist Of Legend to the Cine-Asia collection.
The following is a full list of the special features for both Kill Zone and Fist Of Legend:
Kill Zone Special Features include: audio commentary by Hong Kong Cinema expert Bey Logan; promotional gallery; ‘Kill Zone: The Making Of’ documentary; Behind The Scenes – Anatomy of a Scene; ‘Alleycats’ (with optional Bey Logan commentary); ‘Challenge of the Masters’ (with optional Bey Logan commentary; Interview Gallery (Sammo Hung, Donnie Yen, Simon Yam, Wilson Yip, Jacky Wu); Dolby Digital Cantonese and English 5.1 audio options (DVD); DTS HD MA Cantonese 5.1 and DTS HD MA English 5.1 audio options (Blu-ray); optional English subtitles.
Fist Of Legend Special Features include: audio commentary by Hong Kong Cinema expert Bey Logan; ‘The Man Behind The Legend’ – an exclusive interview with director Gordon Chan; ‘Brothers In Arms’ – an exclusive interview with kung fu impresario Chin Siu-ho; ‘The Way Of The Warrior’ – an exclusive interview with Japanese action legend Kurata Yasuaki; ‘The School Of Hard Knocks’ – a screen fighting seminar at the celebrated Kurata Action School; a look at ‘Fist Of Legend’ with director Brett Ratner and critic Elvis Mitchell; deleted scenes gallery; trailer gallery; DTS HD MA English 5.1 audio (Blu-ray); Dolby Digital Cantonese 2.0 Stereo, Mandarin 2.0 Stereo and English 5.1 audio options (DVD); optional English subtitles.
UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.
First time director Yosuke Fujita has done a very good job with Fine, Totally Fine, picking a strong cast of actors and putting together a rather impressive comedy. There’s something really very likeable about the film, with Yosiyosi Arakawa’s performance as Teruo particularly impressive.
Teruo is the son of a bookshop owner, whilst he works in his father’s shop he has dreams of creating the world’s scariest haunted house however, and is forever testing out scary pranks on his friends and family to see how they’ll react. When Akari (Yoshino Kimura) gets a job working at the bookshop, Teruo starts developing feelings for her but his good friend Hisanobu (Yoshinori Okada) also finds himself attracted to her and friction therefore develops between the two of them as they both look to win her love and affection.
Fine, Totally Fine has some great moments of comedy, and with some excellent central characters Yosuke Fujita manages to establish himself strongly as both a writer and director with this film. Yosiyosi Arakawa plays his awkward character to perfection here, and Yoshino Kimura as the incredibly clumsy Akari also works extremely well. Yoshinori Okada’s performance as Hisonobu is overshadowed a little by the excellence of both Yoshino Kimura and Yosiyosi Arakawa , he still plays his part well though, managing to put across a great sense of life in his character.
Whilst Fine, Totally Fine could be described as a romantic comedy, to label the film as such would almost certainly give people the wrong idea; Fine, Totally Fine is not your typical romantic comedy, and if you don’t generally enjoy romantic comedy films then that doesn’t necessarily means that you won’t like this one. With some great acting and fine quirky comedy, Fine, Totally Fine is a film that most people will probably enjoy; place your genre issues aside and watch Fine, Totally Fine with an open mind and a great deal of enjoyment is bound to be had.
There’s a very natural feel about Fine, Totally Fine, an excellent achievement for Yosuke Fujita with his writing and directorial debut. There’s not a single character introduced here that feels forced, just a great flow about the film and the way in which the plot line unfolds. Fine, Totally Fine is an absolutely brilliant debut effort from Yosuke Fujita, and having already gone on to write and direct the teleplay Saba since finishing this film; I’m sure that Yosuke Fujita is a Japanese director that we will be hearing plenty more from in the future.
Rating:
UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.
George A. Romero’s Day of the Dead is getting a Blu-Ray release through Arrow Video on March 29th, with the film all set to be made available as a two-disc release. A number of world exclusive extras are to be featured, including a restored presentation of the film, a new hi-def soundtrack (the original ‘uncensored dialogue’ version, completely restored), four alternate sleeves, a double-sided poster, a 24-page collector’s booklet ‘For Every Dawn There Is A Day’, plus a very special collector’s comic – ‘Day Of The Dead: Desertion’ – featuring a brand new ‘Bub’ storyline. Documentaries ‘Joe Of The Dead – Acting In A Romero Classic’ and ‘Travelogue Of The Dead’ are two further very exciting extras that are to be included in this double disc Blu-Ray release of the George A. Romero classic.
This Day of the Dead Blu-Ray will be priced at £24.99, and for big fans of George A. Romero’s zombie films it really is something that you should definitely be looking to invest in.
UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.