The Voice

World Science Festival 2009: Bobby McFerrin Demonstrates the Power of the Pentatonic Scale from World Science Festival on Vimeo.

If you've never heard of Bobby McFerrin before, now is the time to check him out. I remember hearing his 'Flight of the Bumblebees' years ago and pretty much jizzed myself. He is a wonderfully skilled jazzman, and that's fun and great. Go listen to him on Spotify immediately! He does a pretty good 'Sunshine of your Love' cover which is always good news.

Moving on: I went to Latitude Festival fairly recently (as Lazy pointed out in his last post) with Richard Hayward (there you go, love; there's your mention) and I should really blog about that. Maybe I will! But I might not. Isn't the tension killing you? Oh how thrilling.
Following this escapade, I finally bought a Bat for Lashes album (because she was amazing) so my next recommedation for you today is 'Trophy'. Spotify that wonderful treat and eat it up like pancakes and bacon. Mmmm... I'm hungry.

- Tubs

So I'm pretty shit

Cus I keep forgetting to actually write about some of the films I've been watching. So here's a mega (or not-so-mega depending on how bored I get halfway through) post of what's been going on in film (and maybe some music thrown in for good measure.

Let's start with the good; Adventureland. F-to-the-UNTIMES. I really liked this film, there's just something about it thats so likeable. If you've seen the trailer, you might have thought, like me, that it was pitched as a very in your face comedy. Highlighting the fact that it's from director Greg Mottola (who directed Superbad and is set to direct Simon Pegg and Nick Frost's next creation, Paul) and features roles from the likes of Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig, Ryan Reynolds and Martin Starr, I was given the impression that this would be another rollercoaster ride of a comedy. What I actually saw was something even better, a film worth watching again and again. I'd put the style of the film somewhere between a low-profile indie flick and a Wes Anderson masterpiece. It's just quirky enough to not be too mainstream, but contains enough of the usual Hader/Wiig antics that'll make it so popular.

And now some bad:
Land of the Lost - I gave up about 20 minutes in. It made no sense at all. Not even Anna Friel can save this monstrosity
Dragonball Evolution - Just...what.

And some mildly average:
Van Wilder: Freshman Year - Not great, but not entirely bad either. I'm sure everyone who will watch it will completely disagree, but there are definitely some parts of this which are worthy of a chuckle or two.
Watchmen - Not having ready the comic books, this film would probably have made more sense. It was alrite and everything, there were just bits of it that were all like "meh" and stuff (You can tell i'm really trying here can't you?)
17 Again - Yeah, not bad. Obviously not great, cus frankly its been done before and better (Tom Hanks you legend). Although, one major flaw with the entire film is that the wife doesn't seem to realise that her husband is now a kid. Not just any kid, but the kid she went out with in high school and had a baby with (*SPOILER ALERT* that last bit was a spoiler...shit, i've done that wrong havn't I?). Frankly "oh, you look a bit like my husband used to" doesn't really cut it. You'd think you'd KNOW what they looked like and you'd be all "MIIIIIINDFUUUUUCK" or something.

And now for some more good stuff! YAY FOR GOODIES!

Well I haven't actually got any more goodies film-wise, but...ummm...Chappelle's Show is awesome! Couple of years old now, but you can't go wrong with a bit o' racist banter huh! I've also been watching Breaking Bad, havn't quite managed to finish the 2nd season yet as I've had work to do etc. But I will, don't you worry. There's also a long list of stuff that I should watch before the new series starts in September, but I'm not going to bore you with it (mostly cus it's all gay stuff like Grey's Anatomy)

In terms of music, the new Calvin Harris song, "Ready for the Weekend" has some pretty good remixes. Official ones too, good ol' Calvin Schmalvin got Fake Blood and High Contrast to do some pretty awesome mixes. I have yet to decide which is better, altho i'm leaning slightly towards the High Contrast remix. However I'm thinking that if I heard the Fake Blood mix on a fat bass system on a night at Custard, i'd still blow a load. (THAT IMAGE DOING ANYTHING FOR YA?!?!). You can find the tunes over at hypemachine, just do that thing with the search box and your keyboard.

I think that's it from me. I turn 21 on Saturday, which is nice and everything. I believe Tubs is over at Latitude for the weekend, so I'm sure she'll have some updates for you when she gets back.

~ Lazy

Danger! Love!

Hello kiddiewinks! How are we this glorious, greying day?
It is I, Tubs, appearing on your computer screens to talk about SCIENCE. No, wait... MUSIC.


I bought the new Decemberists' album Hazards of Love a while back and have been meaning to write about it ever since, but it's been sunny and I don't get paid to write this crap. However, now I venture...

Hazards of Love is a concept album inspired by an EP of the same name by an old folk singer called Anne Briggs, who Colin Meloy has mentioned before. She is proper, original folk; the kind of stuff your parents probably listened to when they were getting stoned around a fire. I imagine that's what all of your parents did, right? In any case, she's just one of those obvious influences if only because Meloy has regularly mentioned her. That's all you would need to know about that if necessity were a feature at all.
Just in case you're not clued in to The Decemberists, they can be simplified down to folk-rock that dips into 'progressive' now and then. Colin Meloy has a style that has been referred to as pretentious, but fuck that; he just tells good folk tales using wonderful wording. Also they have good timbre. Delicious. More accordions in music please!
Anyhoo, this is their fifth album but is different to their previous work and is my favourite as it is consistently great. It is also super-epic. It is a sort of rock-opera revolving around some chick named Margaret, but the narrative is vague enough to not get in the way of the music as it is. Meloy's wonderfully lyrical way with words isn't lost here despite my unusual disinterest in the content, and definitely gains new ground with Becky Stark as guest vocalist. It just sounds great. There's a brilliant use of dynamics, ranging from sweet and sensitive guitar to massive rock lurches that are almost obnoxious, and I feel I should note that I'm getting a big Pink Floyd vibe. That's not just because of the big kids chorus number near the end of the tale which, by the by, happens to be my favourite chapter of the album; in many ways it's incredibly eerie, but is somehow lovely as well. (Reminds me of Zelda: Ocarina of Time a bit for some reason...) It just feels ridiculously clever.
Hazards of Love is probably my favourite album of the year so far, because it is immediately heart-crushingly luxurious and dramatic. It's a wonderful piece of work and I urge you to purchase it post-haste! And then listen to it all in one go, since there is no divide between each 'single' - it must be appreciated wholly, like a good film. Don't spotify it because the adverts will ruin it and that will make me sad.

I'm going to go and drink lots of water for my hangover now. Good day to you!

-Tubs

Transformers: Revenge of the slo-mo

So I've been meaning to write this review for some time (it's been a week since I've seen the film), but am just getting round to it in my own good time. Mostly because, well, I was pretty disappointed.

Now if you've seen the film, or read any other real reviews, then you'll know why. It's just..."meh". There is no other way to describe it. It's not BAD but it's just not GREAT either. There was so much hype surrounding the film, and as amazing as the first film was, this one just doesn't even come close.

In my opinion, there's just too much in this film. Too much of everything. The first Transformers film was great, because it didn't really TRY too hard, and didn't take itself too seriously, so the jokes and the action seemed to intertwine almost seamlessly. However, Revenge of the Fallen fails at this on so many levels. The script at times was absolutely shocking, and certain scenes and characters were completely unnecessary. Obviously being a sequel means that you have to step it up, as people rarely want to see a carbon copy of the original (although in this case, maybe that would have been better?). Looking at past examples such as Spiderman 2, Terminator 2 and Toy Story 2 (yes that's right bitches, MOTHER-LOVING TOY STORY), these were all successful films that managed to continue the success of the franchise to no end. Transformers 2 however, seems to have gone the route of Spiderman 3, in just having way too much to it. Its far too meaty for what it is, and has too many large plot holes in order to stretch the film out (SPOILER: Why the hell didn't they just use the all-spark fragment to revive Optimus instead of that old English wanker who kept spunking fluids all over the places?) - at times it reminded me of that bit in Thank You For Smoking when Rob Lowe's character says "Thank God we invented the...you know, whatever device".

On the other hand, the action sequences were pretty great, and who doesn't want to see Megan Fox running around in slo-mo with a skimpy top on? If only Michael Bay could have cut all the crap from the script, maybe there could have been a decent film in there somewhere, but alas, it wasn't to be. Lets hope Ironman 2 doesn't go the same way when it comes out next year (Or Toy Story 3, but come on, that could never ever ever fail *crosses fingers*).

I'm not even going to talk about Skids and Mudflap, they fail all on their own merit.

~ Lazy

New 2012 trailer!

First we were given


This was long ago. Intrigued, I searched 2012 on the googlebox and then decided I was very excited for this film. Vexcited.

Now finally we've been given


and I was reminded that John Cusack is in it. This pleases me greatly.
2012 will be out in November and you can bet I'll actually fork out the money to see it as soon as it comes out, rather than hanging around waiting for the Prince Charles to show it.

In other news, I saw Drag Me To Hell a week or so ago and it is hilarious and great. See it! Also, I only found out after watching it that Sam Raimi is making the Evil Dead series a tetralogy! BIG news. But that baby isn't out 'til 2011 so we can forget about that for now and avoid stressing over whether it will disappoint or not.

Apologies to Lazy for repeatedly ruining our pleasant dynamic by insisting on crossing the board to talk about films! Music update soon I promise.

-Tubs

Lazy: It's fine, I don't mind, especially when it's as epic as this film. John Cusack you sly dog! I'd write some stuff about music, but we all know that I'm tone deaf, so my opinion really doesn't matter :)

She's come a long way since The Princess Diaries

So today I watched a film called Havoc, which was released back in 2005 as a straight-to-DVD film. As soon as I hear the words "straight-to-DVD" I assume the worst, as this right is usually reserved to less-than-par sequels and basic garbage that the studio couldn't really afford to have shown in cinemas. And to be frank, this one was pretty much the proof in the pudding.

I had seen a movie poster for the film a couple of weeks ago, but hadn't really considering checking it out, as the 2 names mentioned are "Anne Hathaway" (The Princess Diaries) and "Bijou Philips" (I'll be honest, I had to look her up. Apparently she's been in Almost Famous and Hostel Part 2. Oh and in GTA San Andreas as a character called "Helena Wankstein"). Not exactly entirely enticing, but if I tell you now that you see Hathaway's boobsicles at least twice, will you change your mind? Probably not, the Internet is littered with these things people call 'breasts'.

The reason I finally got round to watching it tho? Well honestly, in "researching" my last post, I looked on the wikipedia page for the new G.I. Joe movie, and was surprised to learn that Joseph Gordon-Levitt (3rd Rock from the Sun) was in it. Now I've been a fan of his for quite some time, probably spreading back to when he was on 3rd Rock, but since then he's done some pretty stellar low-key indie flicks such as Mysterious Skin, Brick, and The Lookout, all of which showcased his tremendous skills as an actor. Having seen he was in Havoc, I figured that he'd at least add some serious weight to the cast (which also includes Channing Tatum of Step Up fame), but alas, it was not to be.

Levitt's role is fairly small, and frankly, not that great, which didn't exactly give me hope for the rest of the film. The film itself depicts the life of so-called rich 'Wiggers' and the rebellious nature of upper-class teens becoming mixed up in a world unknown to them (which apparently is alllll the way from Beverly Hills down to East L.A.). Now the premise for the film is actually fairly intriguing, and could have potentially made something of itself. However, one can't exactly get over the fact that Anne Hathaway is playing the lead, who to me doesn't exactly strike me as someone who could really portray the angst that should have been felt by her character. To me, she seemed TOO Beverly Hills, and I couldn't connect with her representation of a character who is trying to fit in with an East L.A. Mexican gang.

If you're like me and you have nothing better to do (or are intrigued by the afforementioned Hathaway boobathon), then give it a watch and see what you think. Just don't go into it expecting miracles. What you should watch out for though is Levitt's upcoming movie 500 Days of Summer, which alongside Zooey Deschanel (You may have seen her in Yes Man or Elf , but I much prefer her roles in The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The Go-Getter, an excellent cameo in Weeds) is looking like a great film from the trailer. I like the fact it's being released on Fox Searchlight Pictures, which specialises in great Indie films, and according to wikipedia has brought us I ♥ Huckabees, Super Troopers, Thank You For Smoking, Garden State, Little Miss Sunshine, The Darjeeling Ltd, Juno, and is set to bring us the Arrested Development movie. There's no bias there, but I'm pretty certain thats one of the greatest collections of films I've ever seen :)

~Lazy

What's this I hear?

A re-make of the classic 80s TV show 'The A-Team'?

That's right folks, you heard me, another classic about to be completely butchered. Now when any franchise is 're-booted' persay, there comes issues. Firstly you get your die-hard fans (which i'm thinking with the A-Team is probably about 6 people?), who are absolutely opposed to any new changes and send death-threats and severed heads to whomever may be directing.

However, sometimes re-boots works. Just look at the new Star Trek. With JJ Abrams at the helm and a multi-million dollar budget, things went well. Not that I've seen it, but I heard it's kinda like Star Wars (http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1910892).

But what's really difficult in attempting to re-make a classic is the casting choices. The reason shows and old movies become classics is because of the people that portray them. They become the face (THATS RIGHT I SAID FACE, LIKE FROM OFF OF THE A-TEAM...) of the series and often become synonymous with that franchise.

Now from what I've gathered thus far, although this hasn't been confirmed, but Bradley Cooper (Wedding Crashers, The Hangover) is a potential to play the Faceman, and Liam Neeson (Taken) is in talks to play Hannibal. Now that's all very well and good, and I'm sure they'll do a tremendous job. But the real question is, who will get to play B.A. Baracus?! Obviously, you've got 2 options: 1. Have Mr. T reprise his role, knowing full well that people will go see the film just to see him say "I ain't gettin on no plane" with a glass of milk in his hand, or 2. Cast someone else, and have everyone sigh and say "Should have been Mr. T". The choice is obvious, right?! NO. IDIOT. As much as I'm sure everyone would love to see Mr. T back in the helm that made him famous, by bringing him back this film would become as much of a farce as the upcoming G.I. Joe reboot. That'd be admitting that the only real weight behind The A-Team is on the strength of a man who legally changed his name to include a full stop.

In other news, Breaking Bad is awesome. But I'm sure you're all aware of this, so there's probably no need to delve any further into this. ALSO, there was a show on the American network Starz called 'Party Down' which was really awesome and funny and I'll probably write a whole review, but for now I probably need to get dressed as I'm meant to leave the flat in about...3 minutes.

~Lazy