Some orchestral performances can be a bit bland. Beige, to use a funkier term. Sure, they might not be that bad. They’ve got string instruments, wind instruments, the whole shebang. But at the end of the day, it’s just not quite inspiring enough. If you passively listen to Classic FM enough, you’ll probably get tired of it. If you want to get out of that funk, you’ll probably be looking for something different. A bit extra. And not ‘extra’ in the bad sense of the word, but just something more.
Continue reading “Review: Hans Zimmer Live at the O2”Review: Across the Spiderverse
It’s difficult to get excited about superhero movies these days. They’re churned out at a quick pace with seemingly little regard to high quality or original plot structure (that old obligatory action-filled, yawn-inducing third act doesn’t seem to be going away any time soon). Sure, they’re usually part of a universe to create intrigue for viewers so they’ll spend more of their hard-earned cash to return for future viewings. Ultimately, it’s all a bit hollow and cynical.
Continue reading “Review: Across the Spiderverse”Travellin’ Tales/Tokyo Stories
In terms of travel, Japan’s been a pipe dream for quite a while. The initial appeal in primary school was most likely gaming, because….Nintendo. Pika pika, it’s a-me, Mario etc. You know. Some of the major video game BNOCs (big name on campus, for the uninitiated) were created within these hallowed grounds, and plenty of merchandise was produced to take advantage of this popularity. Heck, Japan had its own Pokémon Centres, albeit with no Nurse Joys. Although I’m kind of glad about that fact, because I discovered this apparent fetish in Japan with maid culture, which goes from cat toys dressed in maid outfits to events where you can hire maids for a certain amount of time, like a party. Odd. Very odd. Not to mention a generally strange dynamic between standard, fairly everyday items (in a large bookshop for example, books, children’s toys, clothes) that’s suddenly mixed with far less sanitary items (at the top floor, well…uh…all adult materials, materials which a child could feasibly access for a moment if unsupervised). Pretty creepy. Pretty weeny, as Patrick Star might say. Anyway, moving on.
Continue reading “Travellin’ Tales/Tokyo Stories”Re-Watch: The Fifth Element
At this point, most of my favourite films are pretty serious ones. Usually rather depressing, usually rather dark (often literally and metaphorically). A fair amount of those films fall into the science fiction genre. But The Fifth Element? It’s pretty darn goofy, and it’s not afraid about that fact. If you forgot what the film’s title was at the start of the movie, then don’t worry, it’s mentioned twice in the opening sequence, and several times after that. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, it’s just a bit expository. And the visual style is whacky as heck, in a good way. It doesn’t hide its Blade Runner influences (that cool flying sushi restaurant imitating Blade Runner’s noodle bar, the stylised vehicles), and that’s fine. It’s hard not to take some influence from one of the most influential science fiction films of the last several decades.
Continue reading “Re-Watch: The Fifth Element”Minimalist Moments: There Will Be Blood
It’s been a hard day, and you need something to eat. So you sit on a bench and eat whatever you’re eating on a bench while informing your friend that you’ve drilled his abbeys, and there’s no oil left. You try to explain this to your friend, but he doesn’t understand. So you have to go into a long-winded definition about drainage to make sure he knows what you’re talking about. And you have to keep eating what you’re eating, because you’re hungry. Your friend still isn’t understanding, so you feel compelled to fix him with a hard stare. The kind of hard stare that would send Paddington Bear running on his merry way.
Continue reading “Minimalist Moments: There Will Be Blood”