Wednesday, 26 March 2008
The Young Knives - Up all night.
This is the second single of The Young Knives third album "Superabundance"
A much more focused album than there first couple of albums, which may prove to disappoint a lot of there fans as it is nowhere near as crazy or unpredictable as their previous offerings. that is not to say that this album is a "normal" modern indie album, not at all as it delights with its kooky, catchy, geeky indie-pop anthems. Personally i think this propels the band forward in terms of song writing (music and lyrics.) The first two singles (TerraFirma and Up all night.) Show the progression of the band straight away and also the ability to retain there own distinctive style.
With so many bands trying to appear unknowing or uncaring about there image and style it is so fresh to see a band that you know were never the "in kids" refuse to bow to expectations from your average tight jean, hairspray wearing, sounding like there about to cry or spit in your face, and yet get so far in today's fickle music industry. So take a chance on the Young Knives, listen to there albums and embrace your inner geek.
Monday, 10 March 2008
The Watchmen.
The first released pictures and there original comic counter parts from the upcoming film by Zack Snyder of Alan Moore's classic comic of the same name.
Top 5 Up and coming directors
This is my first Top 5 list on my blog, but its something i plan to do more of on here. This Top 5 is dedicated to up and coming directors of film at the moment, now of course as I'm sure any one into there Visual/Audio entertainment enough to write up Top 5 lists will tell you that these lists are subject to change on a daily basis and therefor are presented in no particular order of best to worst but are just rather the top 5 i can think of on that particular day.
1. Michel Gondry- A genius french man who's Visual flair and imagination have made him one of the most original filmmakers in recent years. Best film in my opinion is Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind, but also see Science of sleep and Be Kind Rewind.
2. Jason Reitman- Son of the legendary Ivan Reitman, Jason is an exceptional talent and even got an Oscar nod for his second film Juno. But for me his best film to date was his first Thank you for not smoking. A smart and sarcastic look at political correctness in the States.
3. Zack Snyder- with two great movies to his name(Dawn of the dead and 300) The former being the remake of the George A. Romero classic that was part of the re sparking of the Zombie sub-genre and the latter a visual masterpiece even if he content was less than intelligent, but the film i am most looking forward to by this director is his upcoming film version of the classic Comic by Alan Moore, "The Watchmen" which i am willing to bet will be one of if not the Best comic book flick of all time.
4.Edgar Wright- Now this is a name that is a bit more well known over here in the UK, although he is making a name for himself with his two feature films since retiring from TV. See Spaced, if you like his films, as this show is similar in humour and between the two films almost all of the cast appear in the films at some point. both released films are outstanding getting world wide acclaim from critics and fans alike. The first of which is Shaun of the dead, a brilliant comedy homage to all films zombie, and Hot fuzz a similar concept but replacing the genre of zombies for American cop thrillers, the catch being its set in Somerset in the UK.
5. Neil Marshall- A British horror director who's first feature was the cult film Dog Soldiers a sort of horror comedy where a group of British army troops on a training mission in a remote forest come under attack from a group of werewolves the beauty of this film is its use of both humour and gore in just the right combination to ensure you will be entertained throughout. His second film The Descent was a claustrophobic horror centered around five girls on a caving holiday who get trapped and come into contact with the secret occupiers of this cave. Perhaps most interesting is his upcoming film Doomsday, which looks to be on a much larger scale to his previous films the basic plot is that Britain has quarantined Scotland to stop a deadly disease destroying the world. Then years later troops are sent in to try to reclaim the territory and i assume chaos ensues.
A quick word on the criteria of my choices, although some of the names on this list are fairly well known and maybe not seen as "Up and coming" but all of the listed directors have made less than 5 feature films and have yet to (in my opinion) finish making there mark on cinema.
1. Michel Gondry- A genius french man who's Visual flair and imagination have made him one of the most original filmmakers in recent years. Best film in my opinion is Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind, but also see Science of sleep and Be Kind Rewind.
2. Jason Reitman- Son of the legendary Ivan Reitman, Jason is an exceptional talent and even got an Oscar nod for his second film Juno. But for me his best film to date was his first Thank you for not smoking. A smart and sarcastic look at political correctness in the States.
3. Zack Snyder- with two great movies to his name(Dawn of the dead and 300) The former being the remake of the George A. Romero classic that was part of the re sparking of the Zombie sub-genre and the latter a visual masterpiece even if he content was less than intelligent, but the film i am most looking forward to by this director is his upcoming film version of the classic Comic by Alan Moore, "The Watchmen" which i am willing to bet will be one of if not the Best comic book flick of all time.
4.Edgar Wright- Now this is a name that is a bit more well known over here in the UK, although he is making a name for himself with his two feature films since retiring from TV. See Spaced, if you like his films, as this show is similar in humour and between the two films almost all of the cast appear in the films at some point. both released films are outstanding getting world wide acclaim from critics and fans alike. The first of which is Shaun of the dead, a brilliant comedy homage to all films zombie, and Hot fuzz a similar concept but replacing the genre of zombies for American cop thrillers, the catch being its set in Somerset in the UK.
5. Neil Marshall- A British horror director who's first feature was the cult film Dog Soldiers a sort of horror comedy where a group of British army troops on a training mission in a remote forest come under attack from a group of werewolves the beauty of this film is its use of both humour and gore in just the right combination to ensure you will be entertained throughout. His second film The Descent was a claustrophobic horror centered around five girls on a caving holiday who get trapped and come into contact with the secret occupiers of this cave. Perhaps most interesting is his upcoming film Doomsday, which looks to be on a much larger scale to his previous films the basic plot is that Britain has quarantined Scotland to stop a deadly disease destroying the world. Then years later troops are sent in to try to reclaim the territory and i assume chaos ensues.
A quick word on the criteria of my choices, although some of the names on this list are fairly well known and maybe not seen as "Up and coming" but all of the listed directors have made less than 5 feature films and have yet to (in my opinion) finish making there mark on cinema.
End of the Writers strike.
Finally the writers strike has come to an end, and although this is very good for all of us TV and Film fans, but did the writers get what they deserved?
The most important thing for the writers was to get paid for there work when it has been distributed on the net. (i.e Itunes type download services and Studio owned websites such as NBC or FOX) And this is exactly what they got, even if it wont kick in for a few years so that the Studios etc have the time to gauge exactly how popular and most importantly for them how much money they can make of it.
Some shows can now go into filming for the rest of there cut short season, shows like Lost will take a short break and return a few months later with the rest of the season, but some other shows have not been as lucky. Heroes for example has been pushed right back to the Fall TV schedule and 24 has been scrapped for this year altogether. (Although to me thats no bad thing as the show has not played to its full potential recently) While some shows that were sure to be big hits have been cancelled such as Reaper a show that im not too fond of, but deserved its slot on TV and im sure would have had a lot of people watching if they had just let the writeing and filming process get back into motion.
So overall its a good result for Fans, Studios and writers alike and now i will be counting the clock untill the actors go on strike or will the Studios actually be smart enough to settle before there contracts expire.. i doubt it.
The most important thing for the writers was to get paid for there work when it has been distributed on the net. (i.e Itunes type download services and Studio owned websites such as NBC or FOX) And this is exactly what they got, even if it wont kick in for a few years so that the Studios etc have the time to gauge exactly how popular and most importantly for them how much money they can make of it.
Some shows can now go into filming for the rest of there cut short season, shows like Lost will take a short break and return a few months later with the rest of the season, but some other shows have not been as lucky. Heroes for example has been pushed right back to the Fall TV schedule and 24 has been scrapped for this year altogether. (Although to me thats no bad thing as the show has not played to its full potential recently) While some shows that were sure to be big hits have been cancelled such as Reaper a show that im not too fond of, but deserved its slot on TV and im sure would have had a lot of people watching if they had just let the writeing and filming process get back into motion.
So overall its a good result for Fans, Studios and writers alike and now i will be counting the clock untill the actors go on strike or will the Studios actually be smart enough to settle before there contracts expire.. i doubt it.
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