The Dream's has yet again delayed his upcoming album "Love VS Money". A supposed beefed up version of his previous album. The first single is planned to be "My love" is far from original. But with the finger-clicks and simple rhythms it makes for pleasurable listening. Reminescent to "Touch my Body" the collaboration features seductively spoken Mariah Carey. The pair talk about the love that they cherish, with an emphasis on the fact that no-one know's what they feel for each other. The song is sprinkled with a few cliches, but the light and airy backing creates a refreshed sound. The highlight of the song is, of course, Mariah. Her initially breathy vocals become a full out belting match (with a high note thrown in for good measure). This has the potential to be big... and it deserves to be. Could this be Mariah's 19th chart topper?
Real Reviewer Rating: 8/10
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Saturday, January 3, 2009
The Day The Earth Stood Still
Having seen the original version of The Day The Earth Stood Still in the mid 1970's as a young teenager & thoroughly enjoying it (it stands the test of time as a classic sci fi movie of the 1950s), I was looking forward to the new version. However, I was filled with a little trepidation, as the trailer was as limp & wooden as Keanu Reeves acting stye (even Ben Affleck could have done a better job,but only just!).
The movie started off slowly & carried on at the same speed 'till the end.What can I say,except the special effects,acting, & directing were average. Gort was a big disapointment - I expected more from it/him,and the swarm of black insects(?) - metaphorical of plagues that have blighted mankind in the past.
Probably the best thing about the film was the low key but intelligent performance by John Cleese as the Nobel winning professer who played the father of the heroine Jennifer Connelly. No over the top rantings & ravings of his previous roles in Clockwise,Fawlty Towers,A Fish Called Wanda,etc....
Another plus was updating the story by removing the threat posed by the Soviet Union in the 1950s regarding the fear of nuclear war, and replacing it with probably our biggest fear today,ie. the threat of an ecological disaster on a global scale such as global warming,extreme weather changes,pollution,etc.
All in all, a major disapointment. It just goes to show that nowadays film makers who think that making an expensive looking movie with special effects to maximise profits can replace one with a great story are way off the mark. Dumbing down audiences & appealing to kids & easily pleased adults is not always the way to go,thank god for films like..........
PS Maybe Keanu Reeves should try his hand at directing (like Ben Affleck did with Gone Baby Gone and/or script writing).He might do as good a job as BA!)
PPS When did the Earth stand still in this new version?!
Real Reviewer Rating: 6/10
The movie started off slowly & carried on at the same speed 'till the end.What can I say,except the special effects,acting, & directing were average. Gort was a big disapointment - I expected more from it/him,and the swarm of black insects(?) - metaphorical of plagues that have blighted mankind in the past.
Probably the best thing about the film was the low key but intelligent performance by John Cleese as the Nobel winning professer who played the father of the heroine Jennifer Connelly. No over the top rantings & ravings of his previous roles in Clockwise,Fawlty Towers,A Fish Called Wanda,etc....
Another plus was updating the story by removing the threat posed by the Soviet Union in the 1950s regarding the fear of nuclear war, and replacing it with probably our biggest fear today,ie. the threat of an ecological disaster on a global scale such as global warming,extreme weather changes,pollution,etc.
All in all, a major disapointment. It just goes to show that nowadays film makers who think that making an expensive looking movie with special effects to maximise profits can replace one with a great story are way off the mark. Dumbing down audiences & appealing to kids & easily pleased adults is not always the way to go,thank god for films like..........
PS Maybe Keanu Reeves should try his hand at directing (like Ben Affleck did with Gone Baby Gone and/or script writing).He might do as good a job as BA!)
PPS When did the Earth stand still in this new version?!
Real Reviewer Rating: 6/10
Saturday, December 27, 2008
What film are you most excited about?
2009 is going to be a very exciting for film fans everywhere. But which film can you not wait for?
Vote now and find out if others agree with you.
Plus if there are any films that I have left out let me know and I may just add it to the poll.
If I had to choose it would be between Transformers 2 and Watchmen.
I think Transformers is going to be the first film on crack basically. It won't need an introduction so there will be hell of a lot more action. Easily the family Blockbuster of the Summer.
Watchmen just looks very original and fresh. To me it looks like a cross between "The Dark Knight" and "Sin City" (two very great films by the way). It is obviously a very dark and serious movie that, to me, looks as if it is trying impose questions on how authority is dealt with in society, whilst being intergrated with a graphic novel twist.
Harry Potter could just be more of the same, or it could turn out to be a good sequel. After watching the fourth movie I couldn't wait for the fifth, but I was dissapointed by a boring drim movie. I hope "Half Blood" learns from its mistakes.
Wolverine will either be average or very good. I doubt it will be revolutionary or ground-breakingly different to anything "Marvel" has ever done before. It will be a more serious take on the X-men franchise, but as there are fewer characters to concentrate on, the focus on Wolverine should be a joy to watch.
Star Trek is the one that I'm not too sure about. J.J Abrams Cloverfield was so O.T.T. and predictable, but his creation of Lost is highly compelling and unique. I really cannot say whether the addition to the franchise will be rememberable or not.
Vote now and find out if others agree with you.
Plus if there are any films that I have left out let me know and I may just add it to the poll.
If I had to choose it would be between Transformers 2 and Watchmen.
I think Transformers is going to be the first film on crack basically. It won't need an introduction so there will be hell of a lot more action. Easily the family Blockbuster of the Summer.
Watchmen just looks very original and fresh. To me it looks like a cross between "The Dark Knight" and "Sin City" (two very great films by the way). It is obviously a very dark and serious movie that, to me, looks as if it is trying impose questions on how authority is dealt with in society, whilst being intergrated with a graphic novel twist.
Harry Potter could just be more of the same, or it could turn out to be a good sequel. After watching the fourth movie I couldn't wait for the fifth, but I was dissapointed by a boring drim movie. I hope "Half Blood" learns from its mistakes.
Wolverine will either be average or very good. I doubt it will be revolutionary or ground-breakingly different to anything "Marvel" has ever done before. It will be a more serious take on the X-men franchise, but as there are fewer characters to concentrate on, the focus on Wolverine should be a joy to watch.
Star Trek is the one that I'm not too sure about. J.J Abrams Cloverfield was so O.T.T. and predictable, but his creation of Lost is highly compelling and unique. I really cannot say whether the addition to the franchise will be rememberable or not.
Friday, December 19, 2008
I Stay In Love (just a short review)
I Stay in Love is Mariah's latest single. Its been compared to We Belong Together but just not as good. The fiddly piano rhythm mixed with Mariah's rapid fire lyrics do create a catchy contemporary ballad worthy of some recognition.
The chorus, of course, includes her famous adlibs. The song is very reminiscent of some of Mariah's vintage songs dating back a decade, before she did her R&B stuff. Mariah belts her heart out in the climax, which no-one in the industry can replicate. Due to lack of promotion and previous poor single choices it probably won't have much success.
Plus check out the video where Mariah dresses up as a Las Vegas Showgirl!
Real Reviewer Rating: 7.5/10
The chorus, of course, includes her famous adlibs. The song is very reminiscent of some of Mariah's vintage songs dating back a decade, before she did her R&B stuff. Mariah belts her heart out in the climax, which no-one in the industry can replicate. Due to lack of promotion and previous poor single choices it probably won't have much success.
Plus check out the video where Mariah dresses up as a Las Vegas Showgirl!
Real Reviewer Rating: 7.5/10
Need For Speed Undercover
Undercover is evidently a concoction of street racing (courtesy of the Underground games) with a dash of police evading (taken from Most Wanted and Carbon). This should have resulted in a near perfect racing game. Instead a pretty average game, with some major flaws, is the reality.
Everything in this game is done on a boastful scale. The 55 vehicles, the CGI cutscenes, the graphics are all extremely impressive, but the actual gameplay was all too repetitive and certainly not worthy what I expected. But nevertheless I'll focus first on the positives.
There are lots of cars available in the game. The first I chose was the Lotus Elise, I then quickly worked my way up to the Bugatti Veyron and the Audi R8 and other exotic cars. The handling of the cars are great although not entirely realistic, but this is not Project Gotham or Grand Turismo, and nor does it pretend to be.
The Cut-scenes do not add anything particular to the game. They are visually good to look at, and it does give a sort of glamorous effect to the game, but I feel that they were just added after the game was created to lenghten it.
At times the general graphics during the races are realistic, but the frame rate can ruin this at other times. This isn't too much of problem on the Xbox 360 but it is for the Playstation 3.
In terms of gameplay, the races are good but they become so repititive. Then I wasshocked as my two favourite game modes were missing from the game. These being the Drift and the Drag modes. If these two modes would have been incorporated into the game it would have been more varied and made it longer.
With this game think EA was trying to har to please. With Prostreet many complained that, whilst the gameplay was good, the lack of story and the change was not appreciated. So EA halfheartedly focused on the gameplay and paid most attention to the story and the cutscenes. Will the Need for Speed series ever reach the heights of Most Wanted again?
Real Reviewer Rating: 6.5/10
Everything in this game is done on a boastful scale. The 55 vehicles, the CGI cutscenes, the graphics are all extremely impressive, but the actual gameplay was all too repetitive and certainly not worthy what I expected. But nevertheless I'll focus first on the positives.
There are lots of cars available in the game. The first I chose was the Lotus Elise, I then quickly worked my way up to the Bugatti Veyron and the Audi R8 and other exotic cars. The handling of the cars are great although not entirely realistic, but this is not Project Gotham or Grand Turismo, and nor does it pretend to be.
The Cut-scenes do not add anything particular to the game. They are visually good to look at, and it does give a sort of glamorous effect to the game, but I feel that they were just added after the game was created to lenghten it.
At times the general graphics during the races are realistic, but the frame rate can ruin this at other times. This isn't too much of problem on the Xbox 360 but it is for the Playstation 3.
In terms of gameplay, the races are good but they become so repititive. Then I wasshocked as my two favourite game modes were missing from the game. These being the Drift and the Drag modes. If these two modes would have been incorporated into the game it would have been more varied and made it longer.
With this game think EA was trying to har to please. With Prostreet many complained that, whilst the gameplay was good, the lack of story and the change was not appreciated. So EA halfheartedly focused on the gameplay and paid most attention to the story and the cutscenes. Will the Need for Speed series ever reach the heights of Most Wanted again?
Real Reviewer Rating: 6.5/10
Thursday, November 6, 2008
James Bond: Quantum of Solace
Continuing barely an hour after Casino Royale, James Bond (Daniel Craig) is out for revenge.
Interrogating Mr White, Bond discovers the existence of the 'Quantum' organisation. With businessman Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric) as their legitimate front, Quantum are planning to take over Bolivia's water supply.
Alongside Russian agent Camille (Olga Kurylenko), Bond gets to work smashing Greene's megalomaniacal plans, satisfying his thirst for vengeance.
This is the most blatant re-invention of 007 so far. Casino Royale laid the groundwork for the grittiest interpretation of Ian Fleming's brutal and misogynist spy yet, but QOS establishes everything our new Bond will be. He will bleed, he will wield his physicality like a blunt instrument and he won't have a quip ready every time he offs someone. Though by the end of the story, which is more Casino Royale Part 2 than a separate film, this arc has largely been closed up.
The next time we meet Mr Bond he is probably going to be far closer to the man we know. Daniel Craig doesn't do silliness. His emergent Bond is freshness personified.
The pacing is probaby what has put some people off the film. It wizzes round so fast you can barely breathe to take it all in. It makes it look as if there is no story there at all. When in fact there is; albeit that it is masked in the high octane stunts and car chases it IS there.
Agent Camille is a very bland bond girl. The fact that she has to live up to the devious Vesper is a hard one. Olga Kurylenko plays an extremely stern and serious character the sucks the little happiness that the film has from it. Whether this seriousness is purposely placed or the fault of Olga is unclear, to me however.
A few familiarities, in what is an unfamiliar addition to the franchise, come in shape of Judy Dench (M). I must say that the character has become tiresome and unnecessary. Lady M is in dire need of retirement.
With all this taken into account, Bond has become Bourne. For someone like me, who has not seen man previous Bond films due to being quiet young, it doesn't matter. The gadgets are gone and the realism is here to stay. The glamour of Bond is also gone, the unique sense that was associated with the first 21 films with it. For me this is a good thing.
Real Reviewer Rating: 8/10
Interrogating Mr White, Bond discovers the existence of the 'Quantum' organisation. With businessman Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric) as their legitimate front, Quantum are planning to take over Bolivia's water supply.
Alongside Russian agent Camille (Olga Kurylenko), Bond gets to work smashing Greene's megalomaniacal plans, satisfying his thirst for vengeance.
This is the most blatant re-invention of 007 so far. Casino Royale laid the groundwork for the grittiest interpretation of Ian Fleming's brutal and misogynist spy yet, but QOS establishes everything our new Bond will be. He will bleed, he will wield his physicality like a blunt instrument and he won't have a quip ready every time he offs someone. Though by the end of the story, which is more Casino Royale Part 2 than a separate film, this arc has largely been closed up.
The next time we meet Mr Bond he is probably going to be far closer to the man we know. Daniel Craig doesn't do silliness. His emergent Bond is freshness personified.
The pacing is probaby what has put some people off the film. It wizzes round so fast you can barely breathe to take it all in. It makes it look as if there is no story there at all. When in fact there is; albeit that it is masked in the high octane stunts and car chases it IS there.
Agent Camille is a very bland bond girl. The fact that she has to live up to the devious Vesper is a hard one. Olga Kurylenko plays an extremely stern and serious character the sucks the little happiness that the film has from it. Whether this seriousness is purposely placed or the fault of Olga is unclear, to me however.
A few familiarities, in what is an unfamiliar addition to the franchise, come in shape of Judy Dench (M). I must say that the character has become tiresome and unnecessary. Lady M is in dire need of retirement.
With all this taken into account, Bond has become Bourne. For someone like me, who has not seen man previous Bond films due to being quiet young, it doesn't matter. The gadgets are gone and the realism is here to stay. The glamour of Bond is also gone, the unique sense that was associated with the first 21 films with it. For me this is a good thing.
Real Reviewer Rating: 8/10
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
Hellboy (Ron Perlman) is working with a covert US agency for the protection of mankind from paranormal threats. Hellboy is, however, a tad rebellious as he wants to be famous. He exposes himself to the world against the wishes of his boss and to his surprise isn't greeted with welcome arms by the people whose admiration he craves.
The Golden Army is a decent attempt at the superhero genre. It looks spectacular, and not only due to the CGI, the costumes and settings are very much in the mould of Del Toro's imagination. The characters are endearing and work well. I just can't help thinking that the action lacked a certain something. I definately expected more from the latter segments. This was the biggest, and only, let-down. Far too many a times a battle was hinted at, the hype about a huge war that I had believed could be a taster of what the Hobbit (Del Toro's upcoming project) will be like. But it failed at this.
There is much that is good with this movie. In fact I liked it. Hellboy 2 does not intend to depress the audience by being grim and dark. Instead the film employs the humour of Abe Sapien (a merman) and Johann Kraus (an ectoplasmic spirit). Their relationship with Hellboy is very pleasing to watch. The villain of the film is Prince Nuada (Luke Goss) who worked with Del Toro previously in Blade II. The character is a forgettable one. He posed a minimal threat to Hellboy, although his expertise in the martial arts field is a joy to witness.
It seems that a common trend has been set in the super-hero genre. Take Iron-man, or Fantastic Four, they have consisted of a decent build up to a pretty rushed and short climax. If this continues it could jeopardise the genre and turn audiences to a new one.
Real Reviewer Rating: 7.5/10
The Golden Army is a decent attempt at the superhero genre. It looks spectacular, and not only due to the CGI, the costumes and settings are very much in the mould of Del Toro's imagination. The characters are endearing and work well. I just can't help thinking that the action lacked a certain something. I definately expected more from the latter segments. This was the biggest, and only, let-down. Far too many a times a battle was hinted at, the hype about a huge war that I had believed could be a taster of what the Hobbit (Del Toro's upcoming project) will be like. But it failed at this.
There is much that is good with this movie. In fact I liked it. Hellboy 2 does not intend to depress the audience by being grim and dark. Instead the film employs the humour of Abe Sapien (a merman) and Johann Kraus (an ectoplasmic spirit). Their relationship with Hellboy is very pleasing to watch. The villain of the film is Prince Nuada (Luke Goss) who worked with Del Toro previously in Blade II. The character is a forgettable one. He posed a minimal threat to Hellboy, although his expertise in the martial arts field is a joy to witness.
It seems that a common trend has been set in the super-hero genre. Take Iron-man, or Fantastic Four, they have consisted of a decent build up to a pretty rushed and short climax. If this continues it could jeopardise the genre and turn audiences to a new one.
Real Reviewer Rating: 7.5/10
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