Shorts

Thoughts on films that passed through theatres recently

Dark Shadows and the trailer deception:

That's how I felt

Film trailers have gradually morphed over time, now becoming mini features themselves, often revealing key moments to ensure movie-goers know what they’re getting themselves into before stepping into the dark of the theatre.  The best trailers still manage to reveal little detail, but capture the tone of the full picture.  Dark Shadows’ trailer is an altogether different beast; one of deceit.  The trailer provided glimpses of an offbeat comedy wrapped in Tim Burton styling; the film turned out to be a dull, badly written and well-dressed mess that I wish I hadn’t bothered with.

A bloody mess (not much of the red stuff though)

2/10

---

The Raid – Death by a thousand cuts/smashes/pummels/slices etc.

It's all fluffy really

Some great movies warrant multiple viewings and classics can be forever put on repeat because they are quality (cheese!).  However, very few great films demand only a single viewing.  That is however, exactly how I feel about the Raid.


Set almost exclusively in a run down, drug-ridden tower block and full of explosive martial art set-pieces, actual explosions and gruesome deaths by way of snapping, knifing, axing, shooting, bottling and more, The Raid is not easy viewing.  But it is worth experiencing at least once, particularly if you have a penchant for inventive death and destruction.


Spectacular to experience, but not easy to swallow – a gloriously bloody mess (lots of the red stuff)

8/10

 ---

Ted:

They didn't get the jokes either

Jokes about religion and social and racial groups are often only funny when produced by those from within; a true understanding and appreciation of the source matter usually keeps such comedy from being wholly offensive, not to mention far more intelligent (Rev. is an excellent example of this).  Unfortunately with Ted, Seth McFarlane writes as an outsider poking verbally offensive fun at everybody else, only occasionally demonstrating excellent socially aware humour.

While some of the jokes and physical humour made me laugh, I left the cinema feeling rather low.  Most of the audience fell about the floor laughing though, so what do I know?

4/10

Periphery II Review

This wont't be putting a djent in my wallet*

Even though I consider myself a metalhead, it always seems that certain bands and even genres pass by me until they’re established enough to be ‘in’.  Periphery and the ‘djent’ scene are a perfect example of this.  Their 2010 self-titled album won commentators over, despite some reservations about the vocals, a glut of vaguely similar bands appeared and moved forward apace – all passing me by until a few months ago.  Being a huge fan of Threat Signal’s maiden effort Under Reprisal, I came to read reviews of their self-titled album released late last year and found constant mentions of the ‘djent scene’.  Fast forward 6 months and I’m still only vaguely clued up on all things djent, but I have listened to Periphery II a number of times…so to my review!

As the opening song of Periphery II, Muramasa, builds with restrained electronic notes, vocals full of feel and liquid guitar melodies it feels as though you’re about to experience an album of epic proportions.  Unfortunately moments later the 7th-string high-attack riffs typical of the ‘djent’ sound come crashing in and crush the atmosphere, this fall then hastened by the introduction of singer Spencer Sotelo’s saccharine whine.  Not unlike Muramasa, second track Have a Blast follows a similar pattern, captivating with excellent angular guitar riffs and aggressive growls, only to break the mood with random ‘jazzy’ guitar noodling over a swooshing electronic haze 90 seconds in.  

The first two cuts set the tone for the following 60 odd minutes, as Periphery II’s strengths and weaknesses aren’t consistent.  Sometimes a stodgy riff or directionless guitar melody breaks the tone, while other songs are dragged down by pointless electronica.  It is such a shame because the sporadic sections that work really do ‘click’.  Singer Spencer Sotelo fits Periphery perfectly in this regard; his growls are sufficient, and his vocal leads really carry some songs when raised high in the mix, but that aforementioned poppy whine is employed just enough to really grate.

Periphery cannot be faulted for their range or technical skills, as they incorporate a number of styles into single songs across an entire album and maintain an individual sound.  Unfortunately, and unlike bands that can blend styles to perfection such as Scar Symmetry or Opeth, I just find that individual sound painfully inconsistent and as a result, not particualrly enjoyable.  It doesn’t help that such varied quality is also stretched out across the painfully long 70 minute album running time.

This is the first 5/10 review I will dish-out, and while Periphery are anything but averageness exemplified, most songs have almost unbearable elements that I cannot ignore.  If I could take out the rubbish bits my score would immediately inflate, as there are some great riffs and leads in places, and if you’re excellent at selective listening give Periphery II a try.

5/10

Favourite Track: Scarlet -  the most consistently enjoyable song
Worst track: Bits of every song in the rest of the album

*Feel free to tut at my poor pun

The Dark Knight Rises

While The Dark Knight Rises certainly deserves a very long gushing review on this blog, due to the huge number of reviews and analyses already in print, my comments are going to be short and sweet.  Bullet pointed, in fact:

• At 164 minutes it’s very long, but clips along at great pace and kept me hooked throughout.  I didn't care that I needed the loo way before the credits rolled.
• While the film is obviously lacking Heath Ledger’s Joker, my respect for Tom Hardy as a superb actor continues to grow.  His dedication to physical alteration in pursuit of playing scene stealing characters is only matched by Christian Bale.
• Cat Woman fits the story well, and Anne Hathaway is great in the role.
• The film deserves multiple viewings.
• Christopher Nolan deserves all the praise he’s received from the media.  Roll on more Nolan films.
• SPOILER(ish) - They could have been a little bit more subtle with one character’s reveal at the very end of the film.

9/10 - As a standalone film

10/10 - For the trilogy overall

Music Review: Meridian S/T EP

A Rare Find

It’s very rare to come across the early work of band and find it as seasoned, solid and enjoyable as Meridian’s self-titled release. Usually bands will display great promise, but need a lick of paint and better production, but Meridian show great aptitude for penning catchy songs and sound tight and polished to boot.



Opening song Children of Rust has echoes of Kalmah and Kiaus, employing groovy chug further enlivened by a very cool keyboard solo and is a cracker to open with, even if doesn’t sound particularly original. That’s my only (albeit minor) gripe with Meridian; even though they fuse a number of metal genres well, they don’t bring anything particularly new to the table. I’ve even heard ‘djent’ being applied to them; a fair label with a couple of passages here...shock horror as the metal ‘elite’ runs for the hills!



Sun raises the bar further, initially reminding me of In Flames circa 1999 (remember those halcyon days?) but with additional keyboard flourishes leading to another full-on key-tar solo. Meridian’s command of heavy, catchy and complete songs is already evident by the time their EP nears its halfway mark. Infectious riffs are then traded around with ease in Virocon and Let Go, and although these songs don’t quite have the driving energy of the first two, I couldn’t help but keep bobbing my head throughout.


The lack of a decent singer is often the fledgling or independent band’s downfall; without decent cleans to sing along to or quality growls to savour I find it very difficult to enjoy a band (Vindicator being a great example of this; great riffs but ugh vocals). Thankfully Max Ward has extremely competent pipes. His growls hit all the right buttons, and his sparsely employed cleans are muted and warm, particularly effective at the beginning of EP closer Empty Spaces where they are layered over delayed melody and building chug. 


Meridian is wrapped up in a very clean production, which lends itself well to their sound. I’d usually go for things a bit rawer, but here, with keyboards employed throughout the EP and a distinctly Scandinavian vibe going on, it fits like a glove. Their songs are also deftly mixed, giving each instrument room to shine, another misgiving of new bands well punched clean out. By now you’ve probably guessed that I like this…


Sounding like they’re heading into the peak of their career with 3 or 4 albums under their belt, Meridian are not a band to watch out for, they’re a band to listen to right now. Soak up this groovy melodic death metal for free (or send them some well-deserved cash) on Bandcamp – http://meridianbandaus.bandcamp.com/album/meridian

8/10 

Favourite Tracks/Sections: Hard to pick, but I do really enjoy the clean build up in EP closer Empty Spaces, and those early key-tar solos cannot be ignored!

Review: The Amazing Spiderman

Swinging again?

I recently had the misfortune of watching the new Conan the Barbarian (2011), and while it feels like nearly 2 hours that I won't get back, it did nothing to tarnish the brilliance of the '81 and '84 Schwarzenegger films.  In fact, it spurred me on to return to them in all their muscled masculine cheese, which is no bad thing.  However, The Amazing Spiderman is in new territory when it comes to reboots.  It is returning to the comic franchise after the last trilogy ended on a low note a mere 5 years ago, meaning they still feel new(ish), and the actual release weekends are relatively fresh in many a memory.  Furthermore, we all know Sony are doing this because of increasing Marvel film successes - they're in it for money, money and more money.  With that in mind, can another new Spiderman film/franchise hold up?


By casting Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker, Sony immediately set a different tone with Amazing.  His sharp wit and charisma are a far cry from the awkward geekiness of Tobey Maguire, and translate particularly well post web-slinging transformation.  Peter's maturing character and sense of responsibility also develop more organically than before.  Similarly, Emma Stone is well cast as Gwen Stacey - a far stronger supporting role than Kirsten Dunst's whining and despondent Mary Jane.  As you can probably guess, I prefer the characters in this film.  The supporting cast, including Martin Sheen, Sally Field, Dennis Leary and especially Rhys Ifans, are all excellent.  (Any extra character detail here would likely bring spoilers, and I'll assume you've avoided the copious trailerage and do not wish to be spoiled).


Being a superhero movie I expect a certain amount of action, and in this regard Amazing holds up well, but does little to truly enthrall or amaze.  The battles throughout the action-laden second half feel rather formulaic; with the comic book superhero film filling to saturation point, something has to be spectacular - or spectacularly different - to really grip nowadays.  However, previous investment in the characters does help here, and some small neat touches around Spiderman's web-slingers and movements keep things interesting enough.


Once the film reaches it's somewhat predictable but nevertheless satisfying conclusion, you are treated to that other superhero movie staple, the credits teaser.  Barring financial failure we'll be seeing more of this iteration of Spiderman, and given the promise this film holds that's no bad thing.

Many people find the constant rehashing, reinventing and rebooting in today's media world a bore, but so long as studios keep doing a decent job of it, I'm game.

7/10