Music, Film, and Gaming
Whilst browsing ComingSoon.net earlier I came across these rather fetching new Star Trek movie posters. Now, I’ve never been a fan of Star Trek and I probably never will be either; these posters just really impressed me though and I’m sure they’ll go down well with fans of the series.
To the left you can see Chris Pine as Kirk, and to the right Zachary Quinto as Spock.
UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.
It’s not long now until the Twilight movie hits cinemas all around the world. December 19th is the date set for the film to hit the UK, just 6 days before Christmas and at a time when all will be off school. Despite engaging fans of all ages, Stephenie Meyer’s romantic vampire novels are aimed mainly at a young teenage audience, the UK release date is well timed and well planned, and whilst there’ll be a lot of sad fans, glum that the film is out on November 21st in the USA and not until late December here in the UK; few will be complaining when the film hits, ripe at a time when all are enjoying themselves and getting into the festive spirit.
Will the film actually be any good though, will it pale in comparison to the novel of the same name? You can be the judge of that when you watch the trailer, personally though I find from this trailer that the performances look very wooden and that this Catherine Hardwicke directed movie adaptation will probably therefore disappoint. I enjoyed the Twilight novel, I’ve read better and don’t feel that the books are so special as many make out; they’re still quite good though, and I just don’t believe that this film will capture the magic of Stephenie Meyer’s written words. I really hope that I’m wrong, and when I watch the film I’ll be viewing it with an open mind; hoping that the Twilight movie is not such a disappointment as I’m really expecting it to be.
Here is the Official Twilight Trailer, see what you make of it, and take a look at how Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson play their parts in what little we see of them here. Will it be a huge box office success? Yes, undoubtedly. Will it be as excellent as the novel though? Only time shall tell.
UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.
Rumours regarding Jaden Smith as the new Karate Kid were not long ago said to be completely false. According to multiple sources today however; Jaden Smith will indeed be the next Karate Kid when the John G. Avildsen directed 1984 film is remade.
Jaden is of course the son of Will Smith, and made his acting debut in 2006 when he starred in The Pursuit of Happyness playing (rather fittingly) the son of his father. The film is to be produced by a team of four, consisting of Jerry Weintraub, James Lassiter, Ken Stovitz and Will Smith, with a script being written by Chris Murphy. It’ll be interesting to see what this team make of the film, and given the age of Jaden Smith (10); it looks as though The Karate Kid is to be completely reworked and retargeted for this remake, presumably with a much younger audience in mind.
Will the film actually work though? Well, that’s yet to be seen, it certainly seems as though it’ll be very different to the original though, and whether this will turn out to be a good thing or bad; we’ll just have to wait to find out.
Jaden Smith is a very talented actor and whether the film is a success or not; this should be the start of a very long and successful career for young Jaden. Jaden Smith is all set to appear in The Day the Earth Stood Still soon, a Scott Derrickson directed remake which also stars Keanu Reeves, Jennifer Connelly, and John Cleese amongst others; his career is really starting to take form right now and The Karate Kid should be the film to really send Jaden Smith into Hollywood’s A-list. He may only be 10 years old, but already he has much to offer as an actor and it’ll be interesting to see how he tackles this huge role of becoming the new Karate Kid, a part in which all eyes will be on him and expectation will be colossal.
UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.
Based on Stephenie Meyer’s popular Twilight novel, Catherine Hardwick’s film adaptation is all set to premiere on November 17th in Los Angeles. On November 23rd the film will then hit theatres all across the USA, at which point fans of all ages are bound to flock to see it.
The film is likely to be greeted with mixed reviews, there are many massive fans of the series and as such there are always likely to be discrepancies between the film and the novel which fans will not appreciate. Casting is also an issue, when you read a well written novel you often get a very clear picture in your mind of what you feel the characters should look like and how they’d likely behave; personal interpretation is key here and a film adaptation will therefore never please all. Ultimately there is huge hysteria amongst many however, and regardless of reviews a huge box office opening weekend is to be expected.
As the release date draws ever closer great excitement is building, Twilight fans all across the world are eager to see how it all pans out on film and excited to see the key protagonists in action. With the novels, Stephenie Meyer’s characterization of Bella Swan and Edward Cullen was always excellent; will Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson be able to put this across so strongly on film though? It’s not long now until we all find out.
UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.
If you’re as big a fan of the series as I am then I’m sure you’ll also be highly excited about the prospect of a Danny Boyle directed follow-up to the Juan Carlos Fresnadillo directed 28 Weeks Later. Danny Boyle has confirmed interest in directing 28 Months Later and had the following to say when he spoke with Sci-Fi.com:
I’d certainly like to, I feel the idea is quite a strong idea, and it could well involve directing it. Yeah, absolutely.
Danny Boyle did of course direct the first film 28 Days Later, and having produced 28 Weeks Later it now sounds as though he could well turn his hand back to directing for the third film in the series. Scripting for the film has not yet begun, having enjoyed the first two films however I’m sure that when the third film does emerge it’ll be brilliant.
Juan Carlos Fresnadillo did an excellent job with 28 Weeks Later, and whilst it had been previously rumoured that Paul Andrew Williams could direct the third, I definitely feel that Danny Boyle would be the best man for the job and the director from which we’d see the best film. As the man who started it all back in 2002, it’d be excellent to see him return to the fray, and assuming that ’28 Months Later’ would be the final film in the series; who better to direct it than the man that initially brought the series to life with the fantastic 28 Days Later.
It’s likely to be a long while yet before we learn any concrete news about 28 Months Later, this latest Danny Boyle rumour is a huge thing to hear however, and if it is confirmed that Danny Boyle is to direct 28 Months Later then we can surely expect an exquisitely fine threequel from him.
UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.
‘Practice Makes Perfect’ was the first single lifted from the Cute Is What We Aim For album ‘Rotation’. The album was released in June 2008 and consists of twelve tracks, ‘Practice Makes Perfect’ being the opening track of the album.
‘Practice Makes Perfect’ is an uplifting piece of powerpop and comes complete with the fantastic vocals of Shaant Hacikyan that we have all come to know and love over the past couple of years. It consists of a powerful melody and always a supremely strong vocal display. The track is instrumentally entertaining and vocally rewarding to listen to also. The track consists of a superbly strong construction; every element of the music coming across magnificently well and not a single quality of the sound disappointing here in the slightest.
For fans of cleanly sung out powerpop/pop punk music then Cute Is What We Aim For’s ‘Practice Makes Perfect’ is most definitely well worth listening to; it’s a fine musical creation and when it comes to powerpop you won’t find much greater than this. Faultless in every manner, ‘Practice Makes Perfect’ unfolds phenomenally and provides for a thrilling 3 minutes and 44 seconds of music. ‘Practice Makes Perfect’ comes highly recommended by myself and I definitely advise that the track be listened to by all. If you don’t listen to this track then you’ll be missing out on something truly very special.
Label: Fueled By Ramen
Release Date: June 23rd 2008
Rating:
UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.
‘Colour It In’ is the debut album from the Brighton based indie band that is The Maccabees; the album was released through Polydor Records in May 2007 and consists of a total of thirteen tracks. The band plays its own brand of indie pop and for fans of such bands as The Cribs, The Pigeon Detectives, and Mystery Jets then The Maccabees music is well worth listening to. The bands vocals are an acquired taste and I’d therefore recommend seeking out the band’s music at a source such as YouTube or MySpace before committing to buying this album; the vocals will not be appreciated by all, the instrumental side of things on the other hand is absolutely magnificent and I’m sure that everyone that listens to this album will take plenty of enjoyment from The Maccabees instrumental element.
‘Good Old Bill’ gets the album off to a decent enough start, it’s quite a pleasant track to listen to and the band here makes excellent use of guitar sound. Always the instrumental side of things is excellent here and from start to finish with this album in fact there’s never a dull instrumental moment. The drumbeats are brilliant and the guitar work also is simply stunning in its execution; the instrumental side of things reminds me a little of Razorlight at times here, the vocals are very different however and the uniqueness of the bands vocals is probably The Maccabees main selling point. It’s the bands vocal use which makes the music stand out, the vocals are different to most and the music therefore grabs your attention; even if you don’t like the bands vocals then there’s no denying that they’re different. The vocals are often very central to the band’s sound, for me it is the instrumental side of things that is most impressive here however and most markedly the band’s terrific use of guitar.
‘About Your Dress’ and ‘Precious Time’ are two of the bands best efforts from this album and come fifth and sixth on the album respectively. ‘Precious Time’ has an absolutely excellent chorus which really makes the music stand out, the music is hugely striking and the track is therefore highly enjoyable to listen to. ‘About Your Dress’ is similarly blessed in the chorus department and once more the instrumental side of things is absolutely brilliant here. The drumbeats are brilliant whilst some super guitar sounds also here are achieved. The track is intelligently constructed and although the vocals are a little irritating in the verse; the chorus is very cleanly sung out and absolutely excellent to sing along to.
‘Toothpaste Kisses’ is by far the best track from the album and is utilised here as the albums closing number. It’s a supremely laid back track and really does work well here. The music is soothing to listen to and it truly is an excellent track to sit back and unwind to. It’s largely instrumental and this I feel is why I perceive it to be the best track of the album; I’m not a huge fan of lead singer Orlando Weeks vocal tone and less is therefore more here. When the instruments are left to do the talking the end result is absolutely exceptional here and always the track is supremely soothing to listen to and packed full of positivity. Even the vocals are a lot better to listen to here, they lack the whininess that they have with the majority of the other tracks present on this album and instead are quite cleanly and superbly sung out. The Maccabees has here saved the best until last and it’s therefore worth bearing this in mind when listening to ‘Colour It In’ for the first time.
‘Colour It In’ is a pretty decent debut from The Maccabees, for me it loses appeal due to the nature of the vocals however although I can appreciate what the band has done here for being different and not just copying the trends that others have set beforehand. It takes guts to try out something different and for The Maccabees it has all paid off and the band has managed a decent degree of commercial success. I can understand the appeal of The Maccabees and as I’ve already stated; ‘Toothpaste Kisses’ is an absolutely magnificent track and one which I thoroughly recommend listening to. Even if you don’t listen to any of the other tracks from this album then ‘Toothpaste Kisses’ is most definitely one to give a spin; you’ll surely not be disappointed with what you hear and the instrumental succulence of The Maccabees music will almost definitely highly impress you. This is not the greatest indie pop album ever to have been released, it’s still pretty good though and if you appreciate the vocals of Orlando Weeks then that will obviously be an added bonus; listening to this album and not liking his vocals is a little grating, the instrumental side of things always is excellent however and if you love a good instrumental display then I’d definitely consider giving this ‘Colour It In’ album a go.
‘Colour It In’ is not an album that will ever change your life; it’s still pretty fun to listen to though and if the vocals float your boat then this combined with the supreme nature of the instrumental side of things should provide for an absolutely exceptional overall listening experience.
Label: Polydor Records
Release Date: May 14th 2007
Rating:
UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.
‘Deadly Passions’ is the second studio album from the Kentucky based rock band that is Hydrogyn. The band was formed in 2003 and as well as having released two studio albums the band has released a live album also. The band is fronted by Julie Westlake and it’s therefore her vocal tone which hits you throughout this album; she has a great voice and puts an awful lot of power behind it in order to belt out the ten tracks of this album. The guitar riffs also possess great strength and although not hugely exciting; the instrumental side of things is still quite pleasant to listen to here.
The album gets off to an explosive beginning with opening number ‘Rejection’, the track possesses a fast tempo and really kicks the album off with great power. Hyrogyn here storms through the track and executes it absolutely excellently. The vocals are brilliant and the guitar work also is really quite interesting to listen to. Although the guitar riffs are decent enough here however; throughout much of the album the band does seem to lack instrumental power a little and instrumentally the music therefore becomes quite tiresome quickly. The tracks are pleasant enough to listen to, there’s often a lack of energy and excitement in the instrumental sector however and the tracks have a tendency to all merge together as one. Julie Westlake is a hugely talented vocalist but the rest of the band perhaps lacks the instrumental talent to provide her with an impressive enough instrumental backdrop.
With tracks such as ‘Seroquil’, ‘Shadow’, and ‘On And On’; Julie Westlake shows herself to be a truly exceptional front woman; she has a great voice and always here her voice is absolutely excellent to listen to. ‘Seroquil’ for instance has an absolutely beautiful verse whilst ‘On And On’ on the other hand has a hugely hard hitting chorus. Westlake’s vocal range is absolutely magnificent and throughout this album it is her vocal influence which makes the music so impressive to listen to. Julie Westlake is without doubt one of the most talented female vocalists I’ve ever had the pleasure of hearing. If only the rest of the band had the instrumental talent to really do her voice justice then Hydrogyn would be an absolutely unstoppable furious force of a rock band.
Jeff Westlake is the bands guitarist, at times he pipes up with an impressive guitar solo; for the most part however his guitar work is fairly unexciting and really does hold back the overall quality of the album. The drumbeats are equally unexciting on the whole and the main failing of Hydrogyn is most definitely in its instrumental section. Near enough title track ‘Deadly Passion’ contains some super guitar work so it’s not as though the band can’t produce the goods when it wants to, for the most part the instrumental side of things is just nothing special though and given the excellence of Julie Westlake’s voice; she really deserves a lot more.
Were this album a little more instrumentally energetic and exciting then ‘Deadly Passions’ would be a far more enjoyable album to listen to. This is not a bad album; the vocals are absolutely amazing for instance, the instrumental side of things is definitely a little disappointing however and a little more innovation in the guitar playing department certainly wouldn’t go amiss. With the right songs Hydrogyn could easily be a successful commercial rock band; Julie Westlake has a great passionate and powerful voice, and it’s also really clean and approachable in its sound. I’d love to hear the band show a little more with its next album; all that is required here is a few instrumental tweaks and changes and the music would be far harder hitting and exciting to listen to. Hydrogyn is a decent enough band and the lead vocals are exceptional; instrumentally the music lacks edge though and this is most definitely something that is holding the band back a little at current.
If you’re a fan of female vocals then ‘Deadly Passions’ could be a decent album to listen to; for vocal ability you won’t find much better than Julie Westlake and for fans of vocalists such as Hayley Williams, Amy Lee, and Sharon Den Adel then her voice should most definitely be of great appeal. Instrumentally the album is always held back a bit, vocally there is no stopping Julie Westlake here however and ‘Deadly Passions’ is probably worth listening to just to hear how amazing her voice truly is. Give this album a go and see what you think, the vocal melodies are simply stunning and I’m sure you’ll be incredibly impressed with the range and passion that has here been achieved by Julie Westlake.
Label: DR2 Records
Release Date: June 23rd 2008
Rating:
UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.
‘Between Here and There’ is the twelve track debut album from the Hertfordshire based band that is Look See Proof. The album has seen its release through Weekender Records, and what we have here with Look See Proof is yet another Futureheads style post-punk revival/indie rock band. The band’s sound hints at a number of different bands such as Bloc Party, The Rapture, and of course the aforementioned Futureheads. This is not a particularly bad album, it’s incredibly unoriginal though and everything that has been accomplished by Look See Proof here has already been done better by others. The album is bland and treads no new ground whatsoever; the music of Look See Proof will no doubt be liked by many, it’s the commercial post-punk revival sound that a lot of bands are popularly producing at the moment; it doesn’t make the music any more original or exciting though and commercial success is by no means a measure of innovation.
The album begins with ‘You Don’t Get It’, a fairly interesting track with a decent enough chorus to boot. Were this album released a few years back then the band’s sound would probably be more exciting; as the genre has been done to death already though the music therefore lacks edge, energy, and excitement. As the album progresses the tracks have a horrible knack for blending together into one and never can you quite tell where one ends and the next begins. All twelve tracks sound incredibly similar and throughout all of them I’d say that the band that Look See Proof sounds most like here is most definitely The Futureheads. Half of the tracks present here do in fact sound like absolute carbon copies of The Futureheads music; no marks whatsoever for originality then and marks deducted in fact for pure bandwagon jumping factor.
The further you get through this album the less exciting the choruses begin to get. For a few tracks the choruses are quite catchy and you almost find yourself singing along; after a while you begin to notice that every track has the exact same echo effect in the chorus however and that there’s no telling the tracks apart even by their choruses. It’s a very irritating factor here that Look See Proof shows no obvious signs of any actual talent as a band; every quality of the music is stolen from others and every guitar riff, every vocal melody, and every drumbeat also; all is taken directly from the music of others. Look See Proof is not a bad band, as a Futureheads cover act I can imagine that they’d be brilliant; rehashing other people’s ideas is a lot less difficult to do and far less impressive however than creating music that is actually a little innovative and original.
Full credit must go to Look See Proof though for including at least one track that doesn’t sound like the musical lovechild of Bloc Party and The Futureheads. ‘Bishopsgate’ sound nothing like either of these bands; oh no, the band instead here chooses to take a little inspiration from Pete Doherty; brilliant. The track is dreadful and the bands singing of ‘I don’t wanna pay the rent’ in the chorus is completely out of tune. It’s painful to listen to and you have to wonder why the record label didn’t save the artist a little embarrassment here by using auto-tune; the track sounds rough and the vocals are completely dire. It’s a definite low point for the album and why the band/record label saw it fit to include this one I just don’t really know.
Closing track ‘Start Again’ is perhaps one of the better efforts from this album; it’s still very unoriginal but does work out quite well for Look See Proof here in that the track is reasonably interesting and exciting to listen to. It is as ever very Futureheads in its nature and if you like the music of The Futureheads then you’ll probably like this track as well. Despite this being my favourite Look See Proof attempt from this album I’d still rather listen to The Futureheads though; why accept an imitation when you can listen to the real thing.
If you listen to a lot of post-punk revival music then you may well find the time in your day to listen to Look See Proof; if however you’re looking for something a little new and different from the norm then Look See Proof is not the band to provide you with this. The Futureheads2 would be a much more apt name for the band than Look See Proof; perhaps the band could change their name to something like ‘Look and listen to See Proof that we sound exactly like The Futureheads’ in fact, or perhaps that’s already what the band’s name is short for anyway. Some of the music is fairly interesting here and this is not a terrible album; it’s very unoriginal though and it’s therefore difficult to listen without having that niggling annoyance in the back of your mind about the lack of creative innovation displayed by Look See Proof and the copycat nature of the band’s music. It’s all very well to take influence from other artists but to try and mimic their sound exactly is just taking it a step too far; Look See Proof is yet another sound-alike post-punk revival band and for most it’s probably for the best to avoid this ‘Between Here and There’ album.
Label: Weekender Records
Release Date: June 2nd 2008
Rating:
UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.
It was in 2004 that the American rock band Torche released its debut album; in 2007 the band followed it up with the release of 7 track mini-album ‘In Return’ through the Rock Action record label though and contained here is a grand total of 20 minutes of music. It’s a pretty interesting seven track release and if you like your rock music to be played hard and heavy then you should quite appreciate the sound of Torche.
This mini-album storms into action with ‘Warship’, it’s a great way to begin the release and Torche does here show itself to be an absolutely excellent band. Vocals are barely used in this track and the instrumental side of things is therefore left to do the vast majority of the talking. It’s an enjoyable track and if you like heavy instrumental rock music then the music should most definitely be of appeal.
With all of the tracks present on this release the music is at least 50% instrumental. Vocals do play a fairly large part in the sound at times, most of the time however it is the guitar work which makes the band’s music come across so strongly and the drumbeats also which sound so brilliant here. This is one incredibly talented bunch of musicians and the rock sounds which the band creates here really do require to be heard for their brilliance to be fully understood.
All seven of these tracks are intelligent and supremely strong in their composition; there is never a dull moment here and from first track ‘Warship’ right through to closing number ‘Hellion’ the music is always exceptionally well worked here. It’s hard to describe the tracks individually as all seven are so instrumental based and I feel I’d end up repeating myself to a tedious degree; what I can tell you about this mini-album however is that with every track there is a great deal of guitar distortion and a pummelling drum sound which has here been achieved.
If you’re someone that requires for vocals with your music then this will not be one for you; there are not many vocal parts present here but when they do come they are always roared out ferociously. The vocals are distorted in the same way that the guitar riffs are and this is something that really does work out incredibly well for Torche here; it really helps to add to the atmosphere and further the brilliance of this release.
For all rock fans of the world I’d definitely recommend giving ‘In Return’ a listen, you won’t find much in the way of vocals but what you will hear here is a lot of succulent instrumental play. All of the bands musicians are excellent and I really do feel that there is a huge degree of intelligence behind the music here. The music is always compelling to listen to and listening to this 20 minute mini-album is therefore an absolute treat. Give this seven track release a listen and prepare to be blown away by the bands heaviness and truly exquisite musicianship.
Label: Rock Action
Release Date: October 15th 2007
Rating:
UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.