It's a hot summer's day in July 2005, two days after the bombings that took place on 7/7. Armed police spot a foreign man in a large coat jump over the barriers at a tube station. When they approach him, he runs, and the police give chase shouting multiple times for him to stop. Finally, as he is about to board a train, they open fire, killing the man.
It turns out the man was in fact not a suicide bomber as the police officers had feared, but an illegal immigrant from Brazil who didn't speak English and was afraid he was about to be deported. There was a public outcry, the man's family sued, and the officers involved were fired.
I'm not sure what the police were supposed to do here. Were they supposed to hold back because this man in the middle of July and wearing a huge coat that could easily conceal a bomb two days after the worst terrorist attacks the UK had seen in years might not be what they thought he was? Suppose they did this, and it turned out they were right and countless more people were killed in a bomb blast? The big scandal then would have been "police have bomber in sights but let him go".
Fast forward a few years. There are riots in London. Nowhere near as bad as the riots the country is experiencing right now, but riots nonetheless. Riot police hit a man over the head with their batons who unfortunately dies shortly afterwards. This is caught on video, and sent to newspapers. The man was not one of the rioters, but an innocent looking to escape the area. There is a public outcry. The police are sued. The officers involved are fired.
The public outcry over this one is a little more understandable, but I have been in the area during an admittedly small riot before. The one rule for everyone to follow, whether you're one of the rioters or not is do exactly what the police tell you to do. The police don't have time to assess every single person to see if they are involved in the riots or not, so they have to rely on instinct and training. If you don't do as you're told in this situation, you are going to get a baton to the face. End of story. It's unfortunate that an innocent man was killed, but the police were doing their jobs.
It's July 2010, and a man named Raoul Moat has gone on a rampage with a shotgun. He shoots two people, one of which dies, and the other - a police officer - is permanently blinded. He then threatens to shoot more people. After a frantic manhunt that lasts days, they finally track him down and enter into a standoff which ends in Raoul Moat's death. There is a public outcry. Raoul Moat's family appear on TV claiming that he was not dangerous. A police investigation not only results in lawsuits and disciplinary hearings for the officers involved, but gets the tasers that they had used to attempt to bring him in alive permanently decommissioned.
If you need an explanation about why that situation is ridiculous, then I don't know what to say... but one thing is clear. There was only one way that story was going to end.
It's August 2011, and police in London raid the home of a group of drug dealers. No one is sure who shot first, but the result is the death of Mark Duggan. The only fact that we know other than his death, is that he had a gun. The only people disputing this fact are his family. There are protests in Tottenham. I say 'protests' instead of 'riots', because as stupid as the protest was, it was peaceful and passed by largely without incident. It was when a bunch of mindless thugs heard that there was a protest nearby and decided to take advantage of the situation that this current situation arose.
I've seen a lot of people trying to intellectualise this current turn of events, and wax philosophical about the causes over the last couple of days. In short, their reasoning is that the youth of the country are not content with the way the UK is now, and after years of attempting to get things done peacefully, they have resorted to violence as the only way to voice their discontent.
I'm sorry to call you on this, but no. That is not the case. You can see it in their eyes. All of the other riots that have taken place around the world this year (people claim they are peaceful protests, but when you're burning buildings down in Cairo, that's anything but peaceful), you can tell that these were people unhappy with their situation rising against the powers that be. You can see on their faces that they are discontent, and things have got to change. Now look on the faces of the rioters all across the UK over the last four days. The only thing you can see on their faces is fun. They are enjoying themselves.
The people involved in the riots up and down the country have been a growing problem for many many years. More and more people who care for nothing and no one, terrorize their neighbours whilst walking around town in large groups, etc. have become commonplace. The riots are no different to the stealing and wanton destruction that these groups take part in in their hometowns on a nightly basis. The only difference is now they're doing it en masse. Why? Because they've realised that they outnumber the police by a frightening margin. It proves a major point about the human race... by and large people only abide by the law through fear of being caught. Take that fear out of the equation, and you get the chaos that has gripped the streets of London, Birmingham, Manchester, etc. These are not political riots by a disaffected youth by any means.
A lot of people on the news were asking where the police were. Well they were around, but they were holding back, which allowed the situation to get out of control. And the reason they were holding back? Because every time they do their job as they have been trained to do it, they face a huge internal inquiry, lawsuits and the possible loss of their jobs. If you don't let the police police, this is what you get. If the biggest threat to underage offenders is an ASBO that is waved around their social group like a status symbol, this is what you get. It is not the lack of "opportunities" in the country. It is not the severe lack of jobs... most of them don't even want jobs. Why would they when a combination of illegal activity and Jobseeker's Allowance gives them all they need to survive? And it's not because people are fed up with not being heard. How many of these people who are old enough to vote do you think actually did so at the last election? It is purely and simply a combination of vile people, and the lack of effective policing.
Wednesday, 10 August 2011
Friday, 8 July 2011
I Got Married!!!
Yep... that's me on the right, next to my new wife, Katy, taken at our wedding on July 1st 2011. I didn't get to take any photo's myself, so I was waiting until enough people had posted their photo's before posting this blog. The wedding took place at the Mansion House in Old Warden, Bedfordshire:
My brother Andy was the Best Man:
And the bridesmaids were Katy's best friend Mel, her sister Georgi, and my four nieces, Kacie, Ellie, Eloise and Jessica:
There were also some very special guests in attendance... our friends Alan, Sophia, Janean and Mary Beth both had a long way to travel, with Janean and Mary Beth both coming all the way from the United States:
There we all are... note Janean on the right in pose mode.
The girls and I have a very bipolar relationship... one minute it's all cuddles:
And the next, they're literally kicking my ass:
The cake (which to our specifications was not white, and did not feature any flowers) was made by Katy's mother, Sally, with assistance from Georgi.
Cutting it was both a shame, and far more difficult than I've ever imagined cutting a cake should be:
There was much fun which involved dancing, and alcohol:
Lot's of alcohol...
I thought I'd give people a very brief summary of what happened, but there's a complete album on my Facebook page at this location:
What we came up with was the kind of strict "can play/can't play" list that we wouldn't have even been able to attempt with anybody else, and whereas there was a bit of skepticism that our music tastes would work well for a party, Olli came up with a playlist that I think had a bit of something for everyone, and we didn't have to worry about whether or not the next song would be crap. Everybody else seems to have enjoyed themselves, so it couldn't have been a complete disaster. There were a few songs that weren't on the playlist that got played, but this was because there was less music on the finished playlist than Olli believed and we had to fill up time.
Ceremony
Howard Shore - Concerning Hobbits
Aerosmith - I Don't Want To Miss A Thing
Shigeru Umebayashi/Zhang Ziyi - Beauty Song
John Williams - Victory Celebration
First Dance
Savage Garden - Truly, Madly, Deeply
Reception
Alanis Morissette - Ironic
Dusty Springfield - Son Of A Preacher Man
Chuck Berry - You Never Can Tell
Chuck Berry - Johnny B. Goode
The Rolling Stones - Brown Sugar
Wild Cherry - Play That Funky Music
Stevie Wonder - Superstition
Michael Jackson - Don't Stop Till You Get Enough
Amy Winehouse - Rehab
Christina Aguilera - Candyman
Derek & The Domino's - Layla
Jimi Hendrix Experience - All Along The Watchtower
Aerosmith - Sweet Emotion
The Cure - Friday I'm In Love
Billie Piper - Walk Of Life (this was Katy's choice)
Sister Sledge - We Are Family (and this was my mum's choice)
Guns N' Roses - Welcome To The Jungle
Blur - Song 2
The Offspring - Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)
Aerosmith/Run D.M.C. - Walk This Way
Aerosmith - Dude (Look Like A Lady)
Foo Fighters - Learn To Fly
Green Day - Basket Case
Goldfinger - Superman
Blink 182 - All The Small Things
The Offspring - Want You Bad
The Chemical Brothers - Galvanize/Imperial March
Kanye West - Gold Digger (this one I chose despite Katy's protest)
Jay-Z/Rihanna/Kanye West - Run This Town
Christina Aguilera - Ain't No Other Man
Outkast - Hey Ya!
Beyonce - Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)
Duff McKagan's Loaded - We Win
Korn - Word Up!
Juliette & The Licks - Hot Kiss
Louis Prima - I Wanna Be Like You (from The Jungle Book)
Foo Fighters - Monkey Wrench
Blink 182 - First Date
Smash Mouth - All Star
Ash - Girl From Mars
Duff McKagan's Loaded - Superman
Foo Fighters - Long Road To Ruin
AC/DC - Back In Black
Tommy Stinson's Perfect - Thing I Call My Life
Bowling For Soup - 1985
Bon Jovi - Livin' On A Prayer
Tenacious D - Tribute
Guns N' Roses - Sweet Child O' Mine
Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
Florence & The Machine - You've Got The Love
The Presidents Of The United States Of America - Ladies And Gentlemen, Part 2
Here's one last photo of Katy, just because it's been a week and I'm still both very proud to be able to call her my wife, and bewildered as to why she'd want me for a husband..
Thursday, 16 June 2011
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Unless you've been living under a rock for the last few years, you'll know about a literary phenomenon from Sweden called The Millennium Trilogy. A posthumous release by left-wing journalist Stieg Larsson following the adventures of a character who would surely lose any Mary Sue Litmus Test... Mikael Blomkvist is - wait for it - a left-wing journalist who founded a whistleblowing magazine called Millennium that is quite blatantly based upon the real life magazine, Expo, which was founded by none other than Stieg Larsson. And that's not all... despite not being particularly good-looking and charming, Blomkvist is portrayed as a James Bond like figure who manages to get every female character in the book into bed with him. Not by any trickery... they just find him irresistable.
The other lead character is the one that the books have become famous for - Lisbeth Salander, a goth with a troubled past who also happens to be a brilliant computer hacker.
My description of Blomkvist may have led you to believe that I'm not a fan, but that's not the case. It's a fantastic story with some intriguing twists and turns, and one of the most powerful and iconic characters of recent years in Lisbeth. Last year (the year before in Sweden) it also produced three highly successful movie adaptations starring Michael Nyquist and the soon-to-be-international-superstar Noomi Rapace.
The movies have since become Sweden's biggest export since Ikea, so it isn't surprising that writers in Hollywood decided that they needed to make their own version. It's a move that I would have found questionable if it wasn't for the fact that last year's Let Me In proved that a Hollywood adaptation of a Swedish novel that already had a Swedish movie could not only be done, but be done well, and that David Fincher was on board to direct.
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is a gritty murder mystery set in a rural era of Sweden. Who better than the man who brought us the likes of Seven and Zodiac to bring it to a Hollywood audience?
The Hollywood version is due for release on Boxing Day this year, and features Daniel Craig as Mikael Blomkvist (who better to play a character who is basically the James Bond of activist journalism than James Bond himself, right?), and Rooney Mara - previously briefly seen in The Social Network - as Lisbeth Salander. A couple of weeks ago, a trailer and poster for the movie were released, and the purists decided to air their disgust. Apparently the fact that the poster features a naked Lisbeth with Mikael's protective arm around her is enough to prove that they've missed the entire point, and the movie is going to be terrible.
The first reason is the alleged "sexualisation" of the character of Lisbeth. Well, she's naked, I'll give you that. But she isn't in any kind of an erotic pose. If just being naked is enough to convey sexualisation, then we'd better stop letting children into art galleries. The people who say she'd never use her body like that? Well, she does have random casual sex with multiple people throughout the course of the books and movies, so she's obviously not entirely opposed to sexualisation.
The second reason given is the fact that Rooney Mara has breasts, when Lisbeth was clearly described as flat-chested in the books. I'm sorry people, but the reason she was flat-chested in the books is because she was also described as anorexic. If you're going to demand that the character looks exactly as described, then you'll practically be asking an actress to force herself into an unhealthy shape to fit your vision of the character... which when you are praising the character for her "liberated woman" portrayal sounds pretty hypocritical. Some actors - like Christian Bale - may be willing to go that far for a role, but it's not something I'd recommend to anybody.
The third and final reason is the fact that that poster makes her look vulnerable, with Mikael being the defender. I concede this is true, and this is not how she has been portrayed by any other media in the past... but you've got to remember this is only the promotional campaign. It's perfectly possible that this is an artistic representation of the mindset of one of the characters - ie: Mikael... the James Bond-style womaniser who thinks of himself as a champion of women's rights. It's made quite clear that his perception of his relationship with Lisbeth is that she is the weak and vulnerable damsel in distress that needs him to rescue her. The fact of the matter is that it's often the other way around, with him getting into scrapes that only she can get him out of. So yes, it's out of character if you take the poster literally, but if taken as a reflection of Mikael's viewpoint, it is completely in character.
Now why, I hear you ask, would the advertising campaign for a movie called The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo be from the viewpoint of Mikael and not the eponymous "Girl"? Well, here's the thing... the original title for the book and movie in Sweden was actually Men Who Hate Women. It was changed to The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo for its English language release, and this combined with the focal point of the movies being Noomi Rapace gives the impression that the trilogy is her story. It's not, though. It is Mikael's story. The books follow his investigations, his life... Lisbeth plays a major part in this story, because she becomes a major part of Mikael's life. Funnily enough, with all of the cries of sexism regarding the Hollywood movie daring to depict a nude Lisbeth in the promotional material, sexism appears to have been a part of why Noomi Rapace became the focal point for promotion of the movie in the first place.
Noomi is a fantastic actress, and without a doubt the best thing about the Swedish movies, but I'm not sure she would have dominated posters and press coverage as much if she also wasn't an extremely attractive woman. As a result of this refocusing of the story onto this character, when the originally planned TV miniseries was cut down to three movies, the cut of the movies also placed more emphasis on the scenes with Lisbeth. The full length TV versions of the films reinsert a lot of material that gives Mikael more screentime.
The moral of the story is, do not base your entire opinion of a movie on promotional material (one person I've seen even said the movie would be bad, it seems entirely because they didn't like Trent Reznor and Karen O's cover of Led Zeppelin's 'The Immigrant Song' - which, by the way, is amazing). Don't base your entire opinion of the movie on whether or not it's a remake of a movie you already like. You may just be surprised... after all, watch Infernal Affairs and The Departed back to back and tell me which is the far better movie. I'm sure 9 out of 10 of you will pick Martin Scorsese's version, and for good reason.
The other lead character is the one that the books have become famous for - Lisbeth Salander, a goth with a troubled past who also happens to be a brilliant computer hacker.
My description of Blomkvist may have led you to believe that I'm not a fan, but that's not the case. It's a fantastic story with some intriguing twists and turns, and one of the most powerful and iconic characters of recent years in Lisbeth. Last year (the year before in Sweden) it also produced three highly successful movie adaptations starring Michael Nyquist and the soon-to-be-international-superstar Noomi Rapace.
The movies have since become Sweden's biggest export since Ikea, so it isn't surprising that writers in Hollywood decided that they needed to make their own version. It's a move that I would have found questionable if it wasn't for the fact that last year's Let Me In proved that a Hollywood adaptation of a Swedish novel that already had a Swedish movie could not only be done, but be done well, and that David Fincher was on board to direct.
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is a gritty murder mystery set in a rural era of Sweden. Who better than the man who brought us the likes of Seven and Zodiac to bring it to a Hollywood audience?
The Hollywood version is due for release on Boxing Day this year, and features Daniel Craig as Mikael Blomkvist (who better to play a character who is basically the James Bond of activist journalism than James Bond himself, right?), and Rooney Mara - previously briefly seen in The Social Network - as Lisbeth Salander. A couple of weeks ago, a trailer and poster for the movie were released, and the purists decided to air their disgust. Apparently the fact that the poster features a naked Lisbeth with Mikael's protective arm around her is enough to prove that they've missed the entire point, and the movie is going to be terrible.
The first reason is the alleged "sexualisation" of the character of Lisbeth. Well, she's naked, I'll give you that. But she isn't in any kind of an erotic pose. If just being naked is enough to convey sexualisation, then we'd better stop letting children into art galleries. The people who say she'd never use her body like that? Well, she does have random casual sex with multiple people throughout the course of the books and movies, so she's obviously not entirely opposed to sexualisation.
The second reason given is the fact that Rooney Mara has breasts, when Lisbeth was clearly described as flat-chested in the books. I'm sorry people, but the reason she was flat-chested in the books is because she was also described as anorexic. If you're going to demand that the character looks exactly as described, then you'll practically be asking an actress to force herself into an unhealthy shape to fit your vision of the character... which when you are praising the character for her "liberated woman" portrayal sounds pretty hypocritical. Some actors - like Christian Bale - may be willing to go that far for a role, but it's not something I'd recommend to anybody.
The third and final reason is the fact that that poster makes her look vulnerable, with Mikael being the defender. I concede this is true, and this is not how she has been portrayed by any other media in the past... but you've got to remember this is only the promotional campaign. It's perfectly possible that this is an artistic representation of the mindset of one of the characters - ie: Mikael... the James Bond-style womaniser who thinks of himself as a champion of women's rights. It's made quite clear that his perception of his relationship with Lisbeth is that she is the weak and vulnerable damsel in distress that needs him to rescue her. The fact of the matter is that it's often the other way around, with him getting into scrapes that only she can get him out of. So yes, it's out of character if you take the poster literally, but if taken as a reflection of Mikael's viewpoint, it is completely in character.
Now why, I hear you ask, would the advertising campaign for a movie called The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo be from the viewpoint of Mikael and not the eponymous "Girl"? Well, here's the thing... the original title for the book and movie in Sweden was actually Men Who Hate Women. It was changed to The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo for its English language release, and this combined with the focal point of the movies being Noomi Rapace gives the impression that the trilogy is her story. It's not, though. It is Mikael's story. The books follow his investigations, his life... Lisbeth plays a major part in this story, because she becomes a major part of Mikael's life. Funnily enough, with all of the cries of sexism regarding the Hollywood movie daring to depict a nude Lisbeth in the promotional material, sexism appears to have been a part of why Noomi Rapace became the focal point for promotion of the movie in the first place.
Noomi is a fantastic actress, and without a doubt the best thing about the Swedish movies, but I'm not sure she would have dominated posters and press coverage as much if she also wasn't an extremely attractive woman. As a result of this refocusing of the story onto this character, when the originally planned TV miniseries was cut down to three movies, the cut of the movies also placed more emphasis on the scenes with Lisbeth. The full length TV versions of the films reinsert a lot of material that gives Mikael more screentime.
The moral of the story is, do not base your entire opinion of a movie on promotional material (one person I've seen even said the movie would be bad, it seems entirely because they didn't like Trent Reznor and Karen O's cover of Led Zeppelin's 'The Immigrant Song' - which, by the way, is amazing). Don't base your entire opinion of the movie on whether or not it's a remake of a movie you already like. You may just be surprised... after all, watch Infernal Affairs and The Departed back to back and tell me which is the far better movie. I'm sure 9 out of 10 of you will pick Martin Scorsese's version, and for good reason.
Tuesday, 19 April 2011
Duff McKagan's Loaded - The Taking
Back in 2001, when Loaded released their debut album 'Dark Days', it was always bizarrely referred to as a punk rock album. There were a few punkier songs on there, but they were mainly re-recordings of songs originally recorded for Duff McKagan's cancelled solo album 'Beautiful Disease'. The songs unique to 'Dark Days' were difficult to categorise, but with their dark themes and atmospherics they seemed closer to goth rock than punk rock. All in all, though, the album sounded like they were searching for a sound.
With 2008 and 2009's 'Wasted Heart EP', and full-length album 'Sick' a lot of the darker themes stayed but the dark atmospheric sound gave way to a commercial sheen. This isn't a criticism, as 'Sick' sounded more like a cohesive album, with a band that knew their strengths and had finally found the sound they were looking for before. It was ultimately my favourite album of 2009.
Just two years later, and with legendary producer Terry Date at the helm, Loaded have released their heaviest album yet. Duff has spoken about how people have remarked at this album sounding "more Seattle" than the previous ones, and they're right. This album sounds much more like what the world at large expects when they think of "Seattle music". Right off from the opening track 'Lords Of Abaddon', Duff, Mike, Jeff and Isaac make their mission perfectly clear. They are here to crush your skull. The riff is relentless, whilst Duff shouts down the microphone about the evils of corporate greed (explain that one on your corporate sponsored tour, guys).
The next song is a re-recording of 'Executioner's Song', previously only available on the 'Wasted Heart EP'. I didn't like the idea of them re-doing a song that's already available right up until the moment that I heard it. It was already the heaviest song in their catalogue, but this time with Isaac's incredible Grohl-esque drumming, and Terry Date's trademark production it bursts from the speakers in a way that it never has before. With no offence to Geoff Reading and Martin Feveyear, this is the definitive version of the song. This song leads into the single 'Dead Skin' and anthemic almost Foo Fighters-ish 'We Win' which serve to tone things down a little before three tracks - 'Easier Lying', 'She's An Anchor', and 'Indian Summer' - which revert back to the more commercial style of 'Sick'. Of these only 'She's An Anchor' is a misstep, not because of any songwriting, but because the vocals somehow manage to depower the guitars throughout. It's really strange that the album all seems to have a unified mix where the vocals and guitar are pretty much on equal footing, except this one song. It's a shame, because it could have been one of the highlights of the album.
'Wrecking Ball' segues from the more commercial sound of the previous songs back into a heavier bridge with Ozzy-alike backing vocals, which leads perfectly into the final four songs that remind you of the renewed vigour they opened the album with. 'King Of The World' is a fast-paced song that I feel in the verses is the closest to punk rock that Loaded have gotten since they re-recorded Duff's 'Seattlehead'. 'Cocaine' deals with familiar subject matter to all fans of the band - there has to be at least one song that deals with drug abuse on each album it seems. However whereas the others have been about near-death experiences suffered due to the drug abuse, this one seems to be about the effects going cold turkey has on your body, even after years clean.
'Your Name' begins as a slow-grind with a vocal in the verse that's reminiscent of Layne Staley, which becomes a full-on rock attack by the time you get the solo and leads into 'Follow Me To Hell'. This is perhaps the most aggressive song that the band have ever recorded, and closes the album on a charge of adrenaline... even if you could replace the vocals in the verses with those of 'Fight For Your Right To Party' by The Beastie Boys and not be able to hear the difference.
One of the nicest thing about this album is that as agressive and relentless as the music gets, Duff never manages to lose the art of a catchy chorus. The production by Terry is impeccable, and I feel should really introduce the band to the world stage in a serious way. I know that it's very possible that in two years time they could come out with something that sounds completely different, but I'm going to say it anyway... it appears that Loaded have found their sound!
Monday, 4 April 2011
Sucker Punch
On Saturday, I went to see 300 and Watchmen director Zack Snyder's newest movie, Sucker Punch. A movie that pushed all of the right geek buttons with its debut trailer, and had me excited to see how it turned out. However, early reviews of the movie seemed to be universally awful, so I went into the cinema preparing myself for the first major disappointment since Wolverine.
The absolutely stunning Emily Browning stars as Babydoll, a 20 year old girl who is framed for the murder of her little sister, and institutionalised by her stepfather in order to get his hands on the inheritance her mother left to them. The owner of the asylum (Oscar Isaac) forges the doctor's (Carla Gugino) signature in order to authorise a lobotomy and then that right there is where the story stops making sense.
Without either warning or explanation the movie changes locations to a brothel in which her and four other patients called Sweet Pea (Abbie Cornish), Rocket (Jena Malone), Blondie (a very un-blonde Vanessa Hudgens) and Amber (Jamie Chung) dance to impress potential clients. We're expected to believe that all of this is a figment of Baby's imagination, in order to escape the horrors of her reality, which strikes me as odd considering the entire point of this movie is that she was wrongly put into the asylum, so she shouldn't be suffering from delusional fantasies. Carla Gugino's character (now the brothel's madam) then forces Babydoll to dance, which seems to entrance everybody in the room and send Babydoll and the other girls into yet another set of delusions.
From here, the movie is basically a videogame that you have no control of. A "wise man" informs the girls that to escape the brothel/asylum they will need to collect five items - a map, fire, a knife, a key and a fifth mystery item. So the girls decide to use Babydoll's hypnotic dancing powers to distract people so that they can collect the items. Each dance transports them to the delusion in which all five girls have super powers, wield swords and heavy weaponry and fight swarms of robots, chaingun wielding samurai golems, dragons and steampunk zombie Prussian soldiers. This is where the main focus of Sucker Punch is... the completely over the top action set-pieces featuring sexy scantily clad girls in Snyder's trademark slow-motion/fast-motion. It's all visually stunning, exhilirating stuff that looks to be building up to an ultimate showdown.
But the actual ending is actually just confusing, messy and makes no sense whatsoever. Even in a film that stopped making sense about ten minutes in, the ending left me wondering what the fuck had just happened. And not in a cool Inception kind of way in which you know that that is what Christopher Nolan intended. More in a "look how clever I am" kind of way. A confusing ending is all well and good, but the difference between Christopher Nolan and Zack Snyder is that Nolan understands it's not that it's confusing that makes it clever, but that there is actually some level of sense in the narrative which makes extensive discussion of that confusion possible. Snyder thinks his closest narrative peer at the moment is Nolan, when in fact it is Michael Bay... tons of action-packed spectacle, which is tremendous fun when it's not trying to be anything more than it is.
But, despite these criticisms, the good news is that Sucker Punch isn't at all as bad as reviewers have led you to believe. Everyone who saw the trailer knew that what this movie promised was hot girls not wearing much taking part in over the top visually stunning action set-pieces. That is exactly what it delivered in spades, and anyone who expected anything more were obviously deluding themselves. Zack may have made the mistake of putting every single awesome idea he's ever had into one movie, forcing him to try to be clever in order to tie all of these pieces together to create some semblance of story in there, but he's not guilty of under-achieving when it comes to the action scenes. He may have been better served if he pitched the idea to Ninja Theory (developer of PS3 games like Heavenly Sword and Enslaved: Odyssey To The West) than to Warner Pictures... I'm sure as a game it would have been an incredibly fun, if not entirely original experience. The soundtrack was also a pleasant surprise, featuring Emily Browning's vocals on new takes of songs like Sweet Dreams and Where Is My Mind? (is there anything this girl can't do? I think I may be in love), as well as an incredible cover of The Stooges' Search And Destroy by Skunk Anansie.
SCORE: 6.5/10 - Imagine Japanese "heroic bloodshed" movies like Onechanabra which are basically just films about half naked girls with swords... but add in a $82 million budget and some actual actors, and you get one gorgeous-looking, expensive guilty pleasure that is perfect as brainless entertainment, but is severely flawed when it comes to plot and structure.
If this image alone doesn't make you want to see Sucker Punch, you're either female or there's something wrong with you.
Friday, 18 March 2011
Message To The People Of Japan
I haven't had much to talk about lately, but I thought I'd put this message out there quickly...
To the people of Japan... I've been hearing a lot about your calm and understanding in the face of a major crisis. Other places in the world would be like a war zone full of looters by now, but you've managed to hold yourselves together and keep your dignity. You should be proud of yourselves. I hope that people around the world see the beauty and humility in your culture that I have seen for a long time. I wish the best for you all and know that you'll pull through this like you have before, and hope that others will learn from your example.
To the people of Japan... I've been hearing a lot about your calm and understanding in the face of a major crisis. Other places in the world would be like a war zone full of looters by now, but you've managed to hold yourselves together and keep your dignity. You should be proud of yourselves. I hope that people around the world see the beauty and humility in your culture that I have seen for a long time. I wish the best for you all and know that you'll pull through this like you have before, and hope that others will learn from your example.
Friday, 4 March 2011
The Guns N' Roses Experience (via Aerosmith)
Believe it or not, I wasn't always the music-obsessive that I am now. In my early years, my music tastes included Michael Jackson and whatever I heard on the radio/TV that didn't include bass so low that I don't know which is more likely - my head exploding, or an involuntary bowel movement (I'm looking at you UK Garage and Drum N' Bass!).
Surprisingly, my first introduction into a larger musical world was watching the short live TV version of the Pepsi Chart Show on Channel 5 in the summer of 1998. That week featured the release of two big budget movies... Lost In Space, and Armageddon. I was strangely intrigued by Apollo 440's take on the Lost In Space theme, but the next song made me sit up and take notice. It was the video premiere for Aerosmith's I Don't Want To Miss A Thing, and by the end of the song my mind was blown. I began looking for anything related to Aerosmith, and talking about the band to everyone who would listen. I would since find out that many rock fans hate I Don't Want To Miss A Thing, but I still maintain that it's a great song, and it's still the song I credit with opening my mind to music that I had before not known existed. (Note: technically, I'd heard The End Is The Beginning Is The End by The Smashing Pumpkins the previous year, but as much as I liked the song, it for some reason didn't have the same effect on me).
A year passed, and thanks to recommendations from my brother and cousins, I'd started listening to bands like Nirvana and Iron Maiden, but my favourite band was still Aerosmith. This changed however, when a friend of mine who I had pulled kicking and screaming into the world of rock music with me came to my house with a new purchase that he had made. The cover featured five skulls wearing various forms of headgear placed evenly around a crucifix. Above and below the crucifix were two banners which said 'Guns N' Roses', and 'Appetite For Destruction'. "Put this on", my friend said, "I've heard it's quite good".
So, in the CD goes into the player, the play button is pressed and by the time the intro of the first song is over, I am already blown away. For the next fifty minutes or so, the two of us are mesmerised by the sounds coming out of the speakers - both very shocked when the ninth song plays and we recognise it. Everything about the album exuded a confidence that most bands ordinarily do not have when they're recording their debut album - Aerosmith certainly didn't show it on theirs, despite some standout tracks showing their potential - but the thing that stood out to me the most was that voice. How does someone sing like that? during 'Welcome To The Jungle', quickly gave way to that can't be the same guy during 'It's So Easy', but through every song you got the impression that this was a man who meant every word he sang, and a man for whom not saying what was on his mind was just not an option.
Over the years, I would buy every Guns N' Roses album and marvel at their refusal to be pigeon-holed. 'Use Your Illusion' went in so many directions over the course of two and a half hours that a lot of critics like to dismiss it as an unfocused mess, but they miss the point. By this time everybody in the band had matured as songwriters, resulting in a lot of the songs on those albums actually being better than the ones on 'Appetite For Destruction'. There were a few near misses, but overall the 'Use Your Illusion' albums are an epic masterpiece that take you on a rollercoaster ride of emotions that leave you exhausted by the time you end. I think the reason that these albums draw a bit of scorn from some people is that they are uncomfortable with "anyone or anything that cannot be programmed, categorized or easily referenced" (thanks to Fox Mulder for that quote).
It will probably seem strange to everyone now, but I didn't get a computer until the summer of 2000 with an internet connection following that October. One of the first searches I did on the internet was for 'Guns N' Roses', and what did I find? Axl Rose was the only person left in the band, and that the new line-up of the band will be making their live debut on December 31st of that year. This was my introduction to the saga that was the wait for 'Chinese Democracy'... I remember long long hours of downloading bootleg recordings on Napster of that performance and the one at Rock In Rio a couple of weeks later, being annoyed when the connection was cut off and I had to start again. The new tracks that they debuted at those shows were different, but I was excited. Even moreso when a European was announced. It was cancelled (twice!), but it didn't dip my enthusiasm.
It wasn't long after that that former Guns N' Roses members decided to form a band with each other, and went on a six month search for a lead singer. When the front-runner for the role was Sebastian Bach of the awful Skid Row, I decided that I'd completely lost interest in what these people were doing. And then I heard that they were actually teaming up with Scott Weiland from Stone Temple Pilots... this could actually be interesting! And interesting it was... 'Contraband' was released, and it featured the same kind of intensity that I remembered upon first hearing 'Appetite For Destruction'. This band were completely different to Guns N' Roses musically, but even so, the band came out with something to prove and they came out fighting, exactly as Guns did all those years ago. Even the frontman seemed to have the same attitude as Axl did back then, taking all of the anger he could muster and unleashing it in a way that made this album one of the most exciting rock albums in recent years.
Did I mention how much of a stereotypical emotional wreck of a teenager I was? The victim of all of the jokes at school, I was amongst the group of people who had to stick with each other because no one else was going to. That is really the point of the whole thing, because beyond the actual music, they were (and are) also the band that gave me the balls to carry on. I'm not an overly confident person still, but what little confidence I do have - the little bit that keeps me honest, and allows me to say what's on my mind and not give a shit what everyone else thinks - I at least partially need to credit to this band, who really don't give a shit what people think. All of them make decisions that I - and other people - don't like at times, but the refreshing thing is that these are the few musicians left who will say "I know you don't like this decision, but I don't care".
The last few years I have actually gotten to know Duff McKagan, thanks to his appearances at Music Live, as well as his tours in the UK (and Amsterdam) with his band, Loaded - who I spoke about in an earlier article. It's strange, because I didn't know whether or not to refer to him as a friend until this past saturday when we met at the Birmingham Guitar Show, and he introduced myself, my fiancee and a friend of ours as "my friends". Duff actually writes columns for the Seattle Weekly newspaper, and that day I found myself co-writing a column... if you told me twelve years ago that the bass player on the record that has just changed my life will a) give a shit about me, and b) let me co-write a feature with him, I would have said you were crazy. People may ask if this is a bizarre experience... honestly? No. Back in 2007 when I'd only met him once, it definitely would have been. But the man is so easy-going that to me he's no longer "Duff McKagan, former member of Guns N' Roses, and member of Velvet Revolver and Loaded" to me.... now he's just "Duff" - not Michael... NEVER Michael.
The column I wrote with him can be found here...
http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/reverb/2011/03/a_meeting_of_the_minds.php
P.S. - I have seen people suggest that Duff doesn't really write this column, and he hires a ghost-writer (the evidence basically being their own perception of his intelligence). Well, I can now say without a doubt... unless he credits anything to someone else, he writes every word himself.
Surprisingly, my first introduction into a larger musical world was watching the short live TV version of the Pepsi Chart Show on Channel 5 in the summer of 1998. That week featured the release of two big budget movies... Lost In Space, and Armageddon. I was strangely intrigued by Apollo 440's take on the Lost In Space theme, but the next song made me sit up and take notice. It was the video premiere for Aerosmith's I Don't Want To Miss A Thing, and by the end of the song my mind was blown. I began looking for anything related to Aerosmith, and talking about the band to everyone who would listen. I would since find out that many rock fans hate I Don't Want To Miss A Thing, but I still maintain that it's a great song, and it's still the song I credit with opening my mind to music that I had before not known existed. (Note: technically, I'd heard The End Is The Beginning Is The End by The Smashing Pumpkins the previous year, but as much as I liked the song, it for some reason didn't have the same effect on me).
A year passed, and thanks to recommendations from my brother and cousins, I'd started listening to bands like Nirvana and Iron Maiden, but my favourite band was still Aerosmith. This changed however, when a friend of mine who I had pulled kicking and screaming into the world of rock music with me came to my house with a new purchase that he had made. The cover featured five skulls wearing various forms of headgear placed evenly around a crucifix. Above and below the crucifix were two banners which said 'Guns N' Roses', and 'Appetite For Destruction'. "Put this on", my friend said, "I've heard it's quite good".
So, in the CD goes into the player, the play button is pressed and by the time the intro of the first song is over, I am already blown away. For the next fifty minutes or so, the two of us are mesmerised by the sounds coming out of the speakers - both very shocked when the ninth song plays and we recognise it. Everything about the album exuded a confidence that most bands ordinarily do not have when they're recording their debut album - Aerosmith certainly didn't show it on theirs, despite some standout tracks showing their potential - but the thing that stood out to me the most was that voice. How does someone sing like that? during 'Welcome To The Jungle', quickly gave way to that can't be the same guy during 'It's So Easy', but through every song you got the impression that this was a man who meant every word he sang, and a man for whom not saying what was on his mind was just not an option.
Over the years, I would buy every Guns N' Roses album and marvel at their refusal to be pigeon-holed. 'Use Your Illusion' went in so many directions over the course of two and a half hours that a lot of critics like to dismiss it as an unfocused mess, but they miss the point. By this time everybody in the band had matured as songwriters, resulting in a lot of the songs on those albums actually being better than the ones on 'Appetite For Destruction'. There were a few near misses, but overall the 'Use Your Illusion' albums are an epic masterpiece that take you on a rollercoaster ride of emotions that leave you exhausted by the time you end. I think the reason that these albums draw a bit of scorn from some people is that they are uncomfortable with "anyone or anything that cannot be programmed, categorized or easily referenced" (thanks to Fox Mulder for that quote).
It will probably seem strange to everyone now, but I didn't get a computer until the summer of 2000 with an internet connection following that October. One of the first searches I did on the internet was for 'Guns N' Roses', and what did I find? Axl Rose was the only person left in the band, and that the new line-up of the band will be making their live debut on December 31st of that year. This was my introduction to the saga that was the wait for 'Chinese Democracy'... I remember long long hours of downloading bootleg recordings on Napster of that performance and the one at Rock In Rio a couple of weeks later, being annoyed when the connection was cut off and I had to start again. The new tracks that they debuted at those shows were different, but I was excited. Even moreso when a European was announced. It was cancelled (twice!), but it didn't dip my enthusiasm.
It wasn't long after that that former Guns N' Roses members decided to form a band with each other, and went on a six month search for a lead singer. When the front-runner for the role was Sebastian Bach of the awful Skid Row, I decided that I'd completely lost interest in what these people were doing. And then I heard that they were actually teaming up with Scott Weiland from Stone Temple Pilots... this could actually be interesting! And interesting it was... 'Contraband' was released, and it featured the same kind of intensity that I remembered upon first hearing 'Appetite For Destruction'. This band were completely different to Guns N' Roses musically, but even so, the band came out with something to prove and they came out fighting, exactly as Guns did all those years ago. Even the frontman seemed to have the same attitude as Axl did back then, taking all of the anger he could muster and unleashing it in a way that made this album one of the most exciting rock albums in recent years.
Did I mention how much of a stereotypical emotional wreck of a teenager I was? The victim of all of the jokes at school, I was amongst the group of people who had to stick with each other because no one else was going to. That is really the point of the whole thing, because beyond the actual music, they were (and are) also the band that gave me the balls to carry on. I'm not an overly confident person still, but what little confidence I do have - the little bit that keeps me honest, and allows me to say what's on my mind and not give a shit what everyone else thinks - I at least partially need to credit to this band, who really don't give a shit what people think. All of them make decisions that I - and other people - don't like at times, but the refreshing thing is that these are the few musicians left who will say "I know you don't like this decision, but I don't care".
The last few years I have actually gotten to know Duff McKagan, thanks to his appearances at Music Live, as well as his tours in the UK (and Amsterdam) with his band, Loaded - who I spoke about in an earlier article. It's strange, because I didn't know whether or not to refer to him as a friend until this past saturday when we met at the Birmingham Guitar Show, and he introduced myself, my fiancee and a friend of ours as "my friends". Duff actually writes columns for the Seattle Weekly newspaper, and that day I found myself co-writing a column... if you told me twelve years ago that the bass player on the record that has just changed my life will a) give a shit about me, and b) let me co-write a feature with him, I would have said you were crazy. People may ask if this is a bizarre experience... honestly? No. Back in 2007 when I'd only met him once, it definitely would have been. But the man is so easy-going that to me he's no longer "Duff McKagan, former member of Guns N' Roses, and member of Velvet Revolver and Loaded" to me.... now he's just "Duff" - not Michael... NEVER Michael.
The column I wrote with him can be found here...
http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/reverb/2011/03/a_meeting_of_the_minds.php
P.S. - I have seen people suggest that Duff doesn't really write this column, and he hires a ghost-writer (the evidence basically being their own perception of his intelligence). Well, I can now say without a doubt... unless he credits anything to someone else, he writes every word himself.
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