Music Round Up

As promised, three reviews of three albums from the last few months.

First, Coexist, the second album from the Mercury Prize winning The xx.

From the first strains of the echoey guitar strings, this album proves to be a case of more of the same. This isn't a bad thing; the eerie sounds of The xx still push them apart from many others on the scene. But, as with their first, arguably better self-titled album, the style of the music they play starts to make all the songs sound a little samey. While their lyrics are still hauntingly beautiful, towards the end you begin to yearn for something a little more. Then again, this is still perfect chillout music.

7/10

In terms of second albums, Ellie Goulding's Halcyon is a revelation.

While Lights, her first, was full of catchy tunes and hopeful optimism, this second album is very open and honest; there's a lot more of an electronic feel to this than in her previous work, yet her gorgeous soprano vocals still cut through and soar: perfect example being "Hanging On". It then towards the end of the album changes gears into a more ballad, piano led atmosphere; the song "I Know You Care" in particular is lovely.  It's a beautiful triumph that just gets better with every listen.

9/10

When it comes to defining a feel of an album, The 2nd Law by Muse proves difficult, for the simple, brilliant reason that every track sounds and feels different.

From the Bond theme-esque opening to the glorious, over the top "Survival"; the funky kick of "Panic Station" to the moody, magnificent "Madness". If ever there wasa showcase for the talents of this band, this album is it. Towards the end the songs are soaked in dubstep, but refreshingly this does not invade the majority of the rest of the album.Muse are the perfect hybridor even, if you want, lovechild, of Queen and Radiohead. Excellent.

9/10  

Election 2012

As the dust settles on the American election for 2012,  we breathe a sigh of relief,though by no means are we convinced that things will be easier this time round. In fact, President Obama now has the daunting and unenviable  task of trying to get his work done and push reforms through a senate that is dominated by a Republican party who have now been beaten twice by the Coolest Man In The World.

But for this blog, the most interesting factor in this election was the vote turnout. Barack Obama and the Democrats won through votes from Hispanics, Women, African Americans and, of course, the younger generation. The Democrats now seem to represent true diversity; they acknowledge the fact that the United States is just that - a mixture of race, colour and creed. The Republicans refuse to accept this (not all members of the party, just the party in general). But through diversity comes true culture, a true cooking pot of music,  dance, art, drama, literature and film that is going to infiltrate the mainstream now and go further than ever before. This blog applauds and supports this; it feels it is vital. Now it turns to its home country, to the UK.

Lets celebrate the diversity in Britain; lets celebrate the culture, the people, their stories. We have a potentially historic turning point coming up in the next two years where Scotland will  have the opportunity to vote whether or not they want to stay in Britain; it's their choice, but lets give them the opportunity to see how wonderful it would be to stay in the UK, and, if not, lets celebrate their culture, their traditions.

Even if you don't believe its true, that you think its all schmaltzy syrupy nonsense from one of the greatest modern speakers of our time, wouldn't it be wonderful for the UK to be truly somewhere that everyone Obama mentioned at the end of his speech last night could call home? This blog certainly does - bring on the diversity! Bring on the culture!

"Skyfall" Review

Bond is back. From the very first notes of the score to the last thrilling shot, the Bond franchise has made it through the murk of financial problems and, more importantly, the underwhelming and complicated Quantum Of Solace to deliver a superb mission.

That's not to say this is business as usual. Though old faces (human and vehicle) appear again after a notable absence, this is a film firmly set in two camps: Daniel Craig and Sam Mendes. The Craig Bond films have been and always will be gritty, dark, edgy affairs, the type to rival the competition of Bourne and other more realistic action films. With Mendes, the first Oscar winning director to helm a Bond film, we get perhaps the most beautiful looking Bond film there's ever been. A gorgeous looking neon set fight scene in China, for example, or the one long shot that heralds the arrival of the film's antagonist, Silva (a dazzling performance from another Oscar winner, Javier Bardem).This is a different kind of Bond film, one that may stand alongside On Her Majesty's Secret Service as a world apart from the usual Bond formula.

Though the film starts with a thrilling pre-credits sequence involving cars, bikes, trains and cranes, the story is very character driven. An important piece of technology has been stolen containing names of undercover agents throughout the world; M's job and soon her very life is on the line. M is the Bond Woman in this film - driven, determined and at times ballsy, Judi Dench proves in her biggest role to date of the franchise just why she is the head of Mi6. Being a Mendes film, there are other suitably brilliant performances too from other British names - Ralph Fienes, Ben Whishaw and Naomi Harris, plus an excellent cameo from Albert Finney.

The action, when it comes, is fast and furious, with as much work done for real as possible, something the Bond films should be commended for (and something that shows up when it isn't, case in point: Die Another Day). The final third becomes a kind of mixture of Bond stripped of everything but the essentials, Home Alone and Straw Dogs, a weird mix that actually works. When it's all over, you breathe a sigh of relief and, more importantly, you're already impatient for the next instalment.

Though excellent, it's not perfect; despite having the best Bond theme for ages from Adele, the score by Thomas Newman is probably something that will grow with time. You miss the Barry-esque qualities that David Arnold brought to the series. As for the Bond theme itself, it feels slightly underused, though fills you with a guilty pleasure when it does kick in. The film could also arguably have been cut a little shorter, but the time really flew by when watching.

Such a fantastic work and proof of Bond's hobby: "Ressurection".

9/10

Best Bond Films

Unless you've been hiding under a very large soundproof rock over the last couple of weeks, you will be very much aware that the long awaited 23rd film in the James Bond 007 franchise, Skyfall, will be released on Friday. Of course, this blog will deliver its verdict on the film in due time, but for now, here is the blog's list of all Bond films in what it believes to be the favourites. Not the greatest, mind. The favourites.

22. Die Another Day - the film that killed the franchise for a few years, and sadly ended Pierce Brosnan's decent run up till then.
21.  Moonraker - when Bond tries to jump on a band wagon, it generally gets it wrong. This is the case in this post Star Wars effort. An okay villain and lots of sexism.
20. Diamonds Are Forever - Sean Connery returned to the film that starts the tradition of Bond girls IQs been smaller than their bra sizes; Charles Grey's Blofeld, though amusing, should be a different character.
19. Quantum Of Solace - not as much of a mess as some would suggest, but a complicated plot doesn't help; the theme song is awful too.
18. The Man With The Golden Gun - a fantastic villain played by Christopher Lee is the only decent thing in this tired film, the last for the partnership of Albert Brocolli and Harry Saltzman.
17. A View To A Kill - A mixture of good and awful; Christopher Walken is blistering as the villain, and Grace Jones adds glamour, but Roger Moore looks very very old and the less said about the Bond girl in this one the better.
16. License To Kill - A dark, gritty, edgy film that tried too hard to be the same as the other action films around it; despite some great performances, the film is let down by the bandwagon curse again.
15. Octopussy - A colourful caper that should have been Moore's last; a good, old-fashioned romp from an author who knows how to write good, old fashioned romps.
14. For Your Eyes Only - the darkest of Moore's films, a Cold War flick that strips back the gadgets and throws away the meglomaniacs for once.
13. The Living Daylights - Timothy Dalton's debut is better than people remember, though it suffers from a lack of a strong villain.
12.Thunderball - The first Bond film to hit a bum note; though the underwater scenes would have been impressive back in the day,they are too long now and look slightly dated.
11. Live And Let Die - Moore's first Bond film is a fantastic adventure, filled with excellent bad guys and great class, though sadly not the greatest of Bond girls.
10.The World Is Not Enough - The most spy of Brosnan's Bond films, with a plot that twists and turns and a wonderful cast; shame about the nuclear scientist in hot pants
9.  You Only Live Twice - the larger than life film that introduced Blofeld  in all his bald glory, with some beautiful location shots in Japan
8. The Spy Who Loved Me - Moore's best; an exciting, engaging film that proved that Brocolli could produce on his own.
7. From Russia With Love - perhaps the most Cold War of all the Bonds; a faithful adaptation of a great novel with an excellent performance from Connery.
6. Casino Royale - Daniel Craig saves Bond; this is a great modern interpretation of the character that makes poker exciting.
5. On Her Majesty's Secret Service - the most misunderstood Bond film with the most misunderstood Bond; George Lazenby's only folly was himself. A wonderful film with a heartbreaking end
4. Goldfinger - summed up simply by the title. Big, bold, Bond. Glorious stuff.
3. GoldenEye - Brosnan's debut is fast, exciting, surprising and intelligent; a great way to show Bond could survive in the post Cold War world.
2. Dr No - the first Bond film is one of the best; it introduces so much into the cultural mainstream and establishes a formula that many try to copy and fail superbly.
1. Tomorrow Never Dies - not the greatest, but a hell of a lot of fun. Brosnan is very comfortable in the role, the storyline is topical even today, and the villain, sometimes mocked, is wonderfully psychopathic.

Culture Section Round Up

Every so often, this blog will take a step back and focus on some of the stories circulating the cultural world, a few tasty morsels for us all to chew on.

In the theatre world, the worst kept secret on Broadway is finally out; Tom Hanks is doing a play. If you're a multi-millionaire over there be sure to book your tickets. Us honest, hard working plebs may not stand a chance of even sniffing the box office, let alone going to see it. Ticket prices on Broadway are now higher than they've ever been before, making it even more of a financial and, yes, creative risk to put any kind of show on over there. Although the West End is still fairly affordable, it is, just like Off Broadway establishments, the little theatres and the touring companies that have become the true pioneers now. Just look at Betty Blue Eyes last year; a musical loved by the critics, but it never stood a chance because people weren't buying the tickets. That's not the show's fault; the blame sadly has to lie on the producers, an astonishing claim to make I know since one of them is Cameron Mackintosh. In the 1980s Mackintosh was incredibly savvy with the way he produced his mega-hits; start on the West End, then transfer to Broadway when you've got enough money from the West End show. All producers need to focus on now is exactly that step, but for Broadway read West End, for West End read little theatres.

Not that that's stopping new productions moving in there. The star of the new production of Charlie And The Chocolate Factory was announced yesterday; surprisingly, it wasn't Russel Brand. Perhaps he failed his audition at the Olympic Closing Ceremony. The star to play Willy Wonka is Douglas Hodge, a very good actor who's already had a success in musicals and won a string of awards recently for his performance in La Cage Aux Folles. He also seems more like the kind of actor that Sam Mendes, the show's director, would go for. And Sam Mendes directs good musicals: Cabaret, Company, etc. Hopes are high for this one, even if one could be cynical at another Dahl musical after the huge success of Matilda. That show is being put on soon on the Great White Way, while we're inheriting two of their success stories: this year's Tony award winning Once, based on the gorgeous film of the same name, and (finally) The Book of Mormon, the (again) Tony award winner from the creators of South Park and one part of Avenue Q's creative team. Both these shows will be hitting our shores next Spring. The money is on Mormon to last longer than Once, but maybe it will surprise us. After all it's going to the Phoenix which is showing the last few weeks of its hit Blood Brothers. Stranger things have happened.

****

The theme tune for the new Bond film, Skyfall, by Adele has been released; it is already ten times better than the last effort by Alicia Keys and Jack White. It retains the Barry-esque qualities of so many great themes that echoed throughout the franchise over the 50 years. Pressure now on Tomas Newman to compose a score worthy of not just John Barry but also David Arnold, whose work on the last six Bond films has been superb.

And on the subject of music, this blog will soon be submitting its reviews of three scorching new albums: The XX, Muse and Ellie Goulding.

****

This blog has stayed silent up to now on the still developing horror story that is the allegations of sexual abuse by the late Jimmy Saville towards young girls in the 60s and 70s; it will remain to do so, save for this piece here. Last night (Friday 12th October) the BBC television comedy panel show Have I Got News For You took a brave step and focused a large part of their new series opener on the story. There were few laughs (obviously) and some footage from an archived episode with Saville that was chilling with hindsight. This blog applauds the programme makers for taking this decision; it meant that the panel could have a proper discussion about the story and the treatment over the last few weeks of the BBC by the media. As one of the guests, Graham Linehan, pointed out, the media are as just as much to fault over the scandal as the BBC are, if any. And for someone whose work has only really appeared on Channel 4 to come to the defence of the BBC, that's pretty decent. It was a risky step and was taken wisely, and all of the makers should be congratulated.  

"Drive" Review

A Driver (Ryan Gosling) makes his money by Hollywood stunt work by day and the occasional get away job at night; he's good, the best of the best. He strikes up a friendship with a young mother (Carey Mulligan) whose husband, once released from prison, is targeted for protection money by vicious mobsters. The driver agrees to help him, but when things go wrong, he must go to darker lengths to protect his new friends...

Drive is an awesome film; powerful, brooding and at times shockingly violent, it is a slow crescendo of tension that ultimately comes to a satisfying, if slightly ambiguous conclusion. Nicolas Winding Refn has created an ode to the great movies of the mid-80s, noticeable by the titles of the film and the synthesised soundtrack by Cliff Martinez which never invades the atmosphere of the film.

Refn is aided by fabulous performances; Mulligan proves even further how good an actress she can be, while Bryan Cranston adds to his Breaking Bad persona with a crooked garage owner who makes more trouble than he realises. The film's protagonists are a wonderful mixture of brute force and bizarre, Ron Pearlman's more archetypal gangster matched by a unique performance from Albert Brooks, who shocks as a quiet psychopath.

But the film belongs to Gosling; his performance is quiet and thoughtful, rarely raising his voice or fists unless absolutely necessary. He oozes cool, particularly in the stunning first ten minutes of the film where we see him take part in a getaway job - the watch on the steering wheel,the police radio by his side, the streets of the city perfectly memorised. It's a wonderful job that shows just how versatile an actor he really is.

The film looks beautiful, wonderfully photographed and lit eerily with the lights of the city nightlife. The violence, when it happens, echos the violence in The Godfather - it is essential to the plot, no matter how sudden or shocking; one such example involving Christina Hendricks, who has a small but vital role in the failed robbery, a role that perhaps could have been a little bigger. But the violent acts move the story along, as the driver goes from helpful, potential love interest to Carey Mulligan's mother to the vengeful saviour we see at the end of the film. 

Drive is brilliant, evocative and stunning all in one; though it perhaps wastes a couple of the talents involved in it, and is a little too short (not often a criticism for a film), it is still a major production that needs to be seen.

8/10

"Ted" Review

Get ready for a smorgasbord of reviews coming from this blog over the next few days. We start with the first film from Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane...

A young boy makes a wish that his teddy bear could come to life and, as in all good fairy stories, it comes true. The trouble is, as the boy grows up into a thirty-something guy (Mark Whalberg) with a long suffering girlfriend (Mila Kunis) and dead end job to boot, so does the teddy bear, Ted (MacFarlane); into a cheeky, pot smoking layabout...

It's refreshing that, though his first feature film is primarily live action, MacFarlane has not strayed away from animation. The first striking feature of this movie is Ted himself, a wonderfully animated character who never looks that different from the stuffed inanimate object we see at the beginning of the film. Though his voice is eerily reminiscent of Peter Griffin, something Ted denies in one of the film's very funny in-jokes, he is a character that could have been very easily the stoner friend in any comedy.

He also doesn't overshadow the film's story as much as you would expect, given he's the title character and all. The one thing that MacFarlane shows is his heart within the storyline - this is a film about Whalberg and Kunis and their relationship. Though Kunis is never given a lot of time to shine as much as Black Swan showed us she could, their trials and tribulations are the back bone of the story.

The film never goes too far into mawkish sentiment though; a lot of Ted's one liners are often hilarious and occasionally border line offensive. A couple of fantastic cameos - Norah Jones and a surprise Hollywood A-lister whose presence should remain nameless just for the pure hilarity of it. Sam J Jones is the biggest laugh - an extended love letter to Flash Gordon filling a big set piece in the middle of the film that is more relevant than first appears.

Sadly the plot tries to cram a little too much in; Giovanni Ribsi is effective as a creepy Ted-stalker who serves as the film's villain of sorts, but is never given enough time on screen to make as much an impact on the plot. The film tries to add the element of peril in when it really works better as a romantic comedy.

Family Guy has in recent years been criticised for not being as good as it was in its early days, and that can be certainly true of many episodes, MacFarlane perhaps putting too much of himself into different projects. But Ted is a triumph for the director; and after all, The Simpsons made a film that was three levels above their input in their television series at the time. The same may soon be said of Stewie and the gang.

7/10