Track of the Week: Justin Timberlake - "Suit & Tie"
After finally hearing our pleas for years for him to stop dicking around in mediocre movies (In Time, Friends with Benefits....although I do like him in the latter), Mr Timberlake has come back with Jay Z with Suit & Tie, the first single since 2006!
After teasing us fans with a cryptic tweet saying "I think I'm ready" with a vid showing him walking into a studio, Suit & Tie dropped today. Produced by Timberlake, it's already split fans on the response.
Personally it's taken three runs for me to really like it, but I'm sure it's going to do well regardless.
We're just happy to have JT back! Have a listen here...
Track of the Week: Michael Buble "Cold December Night"
OBVIOUSLY. Does this really need an explanation?
From the best selling Christmas album of all time, Michael Buble epitomises the spirit for me - so I've had this album on for weeks during the run up to the holiday season. I love Buble, Christmas or otherwise but this is my personal favourite because it's an original song.
This isnt the most regular of blogs anyway, but I'm not updating over the holiday period so Merry Christmas and Happy new Year!
You know when you happen upon a song or a voice so special that it literally blows your mind that they're not bigger? That's me at the moment with Jen Suki.
The track I've chosen right for Track of the Week is one of her originals: "Parables" which has actually become one of my "Singular Rotation" tracks (a track where I can't get enough so I'll listen to it on repeat for an entire day) - mainly for the absolute beauty of the self- production. A simple tune made up mainly of repeater vocals and effects from a VoiceLive Touch which shows that less is more sometimes.
Absolutely watch more of her here, follow her here or Tumblr her here
"The only verdict is vengence; a vendetta, held as a votive, not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous"
So the world has and will be holding its collective baited breath because the Superpower that is America will be electing their candidate for the next Presidential term. Now it seems unanimous outside of the US that the world wants Obama to stay in but it’s still anyone’s race right now and I will be following the coverage tonight.
Now because this political race has been so enthralling and so polarizing some calling Romney an extremist Right Winger and Obama a socialist AND it was the 5th of November, I last minute chose to watch V for Vendetta – a film seen by many political groups as an allegory of oppression by government as I found it quite fitting.
This is one of my favourite films ever. Its no everyone’s cup of tea –
Set in the early 2030’s, against the futuristic landscape of totalitarian Britain, V For Vendetta tells the story of a mild-mannered young woman named Evey who is rescued from a life-and-death situation by a masked vigilante known only as "V." Incomparably charismatic and ferociously skilled in the art of combat and deception, V ignites a revolution when he detonates two London landmarks and takes over the government-controlled airwaves, urging his fellow citizens to rise up against tyranny and oppression. As Evey uncovers the truth about V's mysterious background, she also discovers the truth about herself - and emerges as his unlikely ally in the culmination of his plot to bring freedom and justice back to a society fraught with cruelty and corruption.
Now not unlike other films I’ve chosen, the majority of the soundtrack features the by composer Dario Marianelli, however the few artists such as Julie London, Cat Power and Antony and the Johnsons – the three I have chosen were used in very smart and beautiful ways. A stand out song – Cry Me A River by Julie London is used in a scene where Evey wakes in V’s shadow gallery and is confronted by V. This song really compliments the scene as we’ve just witnessed some horrific violence before, then hear this soft mellow song. It really coincides with viewers confusion at that point with the ambiguity of V’s motives and if they consider him a terrorist or not.
I saw the film then read the comment, so I can completely understand the polarised views on this film. A lot has been stripped down, a lot has been skipped and there but bringing it to a wider audience, sometimes these things are necessary. I didn’t necessarily see anything wrong with it and I found it to be an immensely enjoyable film – Ok, so the message is in your face – like THROWN in your face and if you’ve lived in the real world and are over maybe 14, you’ll find it a bit much but I don’t think it makes the film that much worse as some have claimed.
The action scenes are awesome. The sliver-streaks of smoky shadows that are left behind in the wake of V's deadly knife, blood gushes out in a slow-motion orgy of violence is all very 300 style, but it works. Also there are some amazing explosive and realistic detonations ever seen on English soil and not for one moment does it look like some dodgy CGI work on display.
Hugo Weaving (from Lord of the Rings and The Matrix series) plays V and brings humanity and reason to the voice behind the mask. His performance brings a very charming presence to the role, at times purposely theatrical (so as to bring some kind of sanity to the real madness all around him), at other times he is sombre and feelings of regret and pain emerge from deep within his soul. All this and much more is made possible by using the most powerful tool in an actor's armory, the voice. At a time when "stars" are created on a regular basis in Hollywood, based purely on their appearances, it is refreshing to see this stripped-back approach of using the human voice to give a harmonious rhythm to a masked character.
Natalie Portman is brilliant too obviously, though her accent does let her down a little with it faltering here and there. Natalie is one of those actresses who can fully immerse herself in that character that you can forget any other role that she’s done. In a brave move, for a particular scene, she has her hair shaved off a number 2...dedication.
The support from the rest of the cast is also exemplary. John Hurt is all Orwellian as the Big Brother dictator, Stephen Rea brings some world-weary gravitas to his role as the police chief, and Stephen Fry is an inspired choice as the game-show host with a secret life.
Due to the success of his comics, a number of filmmakers have expressed a desire to make film adaptations over the years. However, Moore himself has consistently opposed such ventures, stating that “I wanted to give comics a special place when I was writing things like Watchmen. I wanted to show off just what the possibilities of the comic book medium were, and films are completely different."
In a 2012 interview with LeftLion magazine, Alan Moore was asked to put a figure on how much money he had turned down by refusing to be associated with these film adaptations. He estimated it to be 'at least a few million dollars' and said: "You can’t buy that kind of empowerment. To just know that as far as you are aware, you have not got a price; that there is not an amount of money large enough to make you compromise even a tiny bit of principle that, as it turned out, would make no practical difference anyway. I’d advise everyone to do it, otherwise you’re going to end up mastered by money and that’s not a thing you want ruling your life” Keeping true to the sentiments that he put across in the graphic novel, I have nothing but respect for the guy.
Although this turned out to be best of his adaptations, it’s not without its flaws, believe me. There are plot holes and a weaker sub plot and the ending is unsatisfactory for some but overall- however, I find it oddly jubilant to watch what happens all to the tune of Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture... it’s got a solid place in my DVD collection. Whatever level you’re willing to engage it at, V for Vendetta just doesn’t disappoint. Alarmingly verbose to begin with, it nonetheless evens out to be a well-written and intelligent piece of storytelling. A triumph of style and substance, V for Vendetta might not cause anarchy in the UK but it sure as hell isn’t afraid to hold the lighter under the blue touch paper in preparation. “People shouldn’t be afraid of their governments,” reasons the cloaked figure of V, who might as well be speaking directly to the audience, “Governments should be afraid of their people.”
This may just be a movie, but it contains within an idea, and as we are told, sometimes an idea is all you need to start a revolution.
Track of the Week: Me and My Drummer "Don't Be So Hot"
Sometimes a song gets under your skin so much you can’t stop pressing repeat. That’s what I've been doing with Don't Be So Hot by Berlin duo singer/keyboardist Charlotte Brandi and drummer Matze Pröllochs. It’s an ballad-y, folksy tune that starts off slowly and then builds to a swelling finale.
It’s from their debut album The Hawk, The Beak, The Prey and I expect that you’ll be hearing a lot from these guys.
Released at the beginning of this year, this song has been bubbling under the radar of a lot of indie/pop stations but never really cracked it over here but it’s such a tune, it’s definitely worthy of track of the week this week
Check them out if you can read German on their blogspot which is up on the Twitter right now…Me and My Drummer with You’re a Runner.
" Shaun: No, no, no, no, no, wait, we can't bring her back here.
Ed: Why not?
Shaun: Well, it's not really safe, is it"
Ed: Yeah...& look at the state of it. "
So because it’s Halloween, it would have been so easy to just choose a typical scary movie like Nightmare on Elm Street/ Halloween. Or even something like the newer Paranormal Activity movies or Insidious, which is to date the only film that has literally made my jump out of my seat. No, dismissing those, I've gone for my favourite zombie movie. Shaun of the Dead.
Although it's more of a comedy than a true horror movie, there's still enough blood, guts, and gore to turn your stomach and make you avert your eyes. It's also extremely violent -- zombies and humans try to kill each other in every way possible -- biting, shooting, stabbing, impaling, etc. There's almost non-stop profanity, drinking and smoking from the word "Go", but it’s the blinding one liners and jokes that when they hit, they hit hard which has made it such a great film.
So the premise is Shaun (Simon Pegg) is a loser-y kind of bloke. He is a twenty-nine year old sales clerk in an electrical store who still lives with his old college buddies; Ed (Nick Frost) the crude unemployed slob and Pete (Peter Serafinowicz) the uptight businessman. So out of touch with the world and self obsessed is Shaun that despite visiting the local convenience store, spending the day at work, getting dumped by his girlfriend after one too many let downs and going out and getting completely blind drunk he, through a staggering display of bad timing and mindless daydreaming, fails to notice as the world around him rapidly collapses into a zombie ridden apocalypse in time honoured tradition. When he and buddy Ed belatedly realize the predicament they are in, it is up to Shaun to try and rescue his friends and family from un-dead hell and prove himself worthy of the woman that he loves...
What separates Shaun of the Dead from the likes of Scary Movie and makes it twice as effective is the fact that it never resorts to cheap parody. Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg are people who genuinely have a love for the genre that George Romero and Lucio Fulchi created back in the 70s (look out for the blink-and-miss Fulchi’s Restaurant and Landis Supermarket references) and manage to poke fun at the absurdity of it all while still telling a story that is involving, surprisingly gory, at times very emotional.
One awesome thing that they do is create a world that revels in the absurdity of the zombie mythology and its clichés while never taking cheap shots at its source material.
The average British guy doesn’t have a shotgun in his tool shed, so when attacked by killer zombies he makes do with the only things available – a spade… a cricket bat- also I love that, how awfully British! And when our unlikely hero finally does get his hands on a gun, he doesn’t suddenly become a badass crack shot like Hollywood’s ranks of supposed “everyman” heroes. The dispatching of zombies is more often a happy accident than a genuine strike.
The acting is solid but that should be expected from a veteran cast of British actors, many of whom have cut their teeth on BBC comedies. Simon Pegg and Nick Frost both shine as the male leads, and many of the early situations mirror their real-life relationship (the two were roommates and have been best friends for years) with Pegg giving us the best kind of character we can all root for in Shaun; the likeable loser.
The guy who’s stuck in a rut but doesn’t seem to realize it enough to do anything about it; The guy who when finally given an opportunity to prove himself finds that nothing ever goes quite to plan.
Kate Ashfield also does a terrific job, portraying Liz as a strong woman who never loses her cool during the crisis. In many ways, she seems to be the most realistic character of the bunch, often functioning as the "straight man" for the rest of the group. And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the wonderful Bill Nighy.
It balances laugh-out-loud funny scenes (such as when Shaun is so self-absorbed he doesn't see the zombies wandering around his neighborhood and then misses the news warnings because he is channel-surfing) with some intense, suspenseful, and yes, very gory and bloody scenes (for example, the zombies attack a man and pull various bloody organs out of his stomach).
The script is chock full of hilarious one-liners and the expected amount of droll British humour. It’s a laugh from start to finish, and it’s equally enjoyable viewed alone or with a group of friends. Shaun of the Dead is the rare horror/comedy which can be enjoyed by everyone, despite his or her normal cinematic preferences.
So I've been banging out this little misses Boring Bitches since the summer, and Etta Bond has become one of my absolute favourite women to watch right now.
Since performing on Wretch32's "Forgiveness" and being backed by Labrinth by being the first signing to his Odd Child label, Etta Bond is finally being given the support her talent deserves. Emergency Room came out a while ago but just shows that it doesn't matter when you discover something if the quality is this high; and is a collaboration with sickeningly awesome producer Raf Reilly. But what do they give us that makes me willing to put this post up MONTHS after the EP was dropped?
Together they experiment with heavy bass, electronic and futuristic music and this is what takes songs into unexpected directions - particularly, my favourite track off the EP which is Ask Me To Stay.
Her lyrics are honest, raw and rebellious and As a first, complete project, I think the pair have gone some way to demonstrating they have something fresh and novel to offer, and it’ll be interesting to see the progression from here.
Track of the Week: Ellie Goulding "Anything Could Happen" - Blood Diamond's Remix
So maybe you have listened to fourteen remixes of Ellie Goulding‘s new single “Anything Could Happen” before this one, but I promise you this one’s good and worth a listen (or two, or three…)....
Blood Diamonds hops on this hit to crank out one dank remix. He works his magic, making this version insanely danceable and also a breath of fresh electronic air. Goulding’s timeless voice remains the same, but what stands out is the intense bass and harmonic undertones.
Simply said, it stands out and gets me even more pumped for Goulding’s new album, Halcyon, out today:
fSo the last time I did this, I chose a “so bad it’s good” movie in Glitter which my sisters weren't too pleased about so this week, I've done it again but less harshly with the Transformers trilogy.
Now, not to say that the Transformers movies individually make you want to tear your eyes out, but as a trilogy it just goes from good to bad to "OMG- I want my two and a half hours and £20 back".
Over the years watching each additional story has just made me wish for the old Hasbro 80’s cartoon version to erase the memory of the movies- mainly Dark of the Moon, the third part BUT for the sake of review purposes and awesome soundtrack goodness, I’m going to focus on the titular and first of the three movies in TRANSFORMERS.
So for me, growing up with two older brothers in the late 80’s, early 90’s (guess my age!), I was well aware of the cartoon and it’s significance so obviously, I was very excited yet apprehensive 6 years ago when Sam Witwicky & co came onto the silver screen...but.
So the story is fairly simple. It revolves around Joe Schmo Sam Witwicky (played by Shia LeBouf) and Mikaela Banes (Megan Fox), caught in the race to find a holy relic between two opposing sects of giant robots from the planet Cybertron, who have the ability to change into vehicles and are warring over said relic with Earth as their battleground.
On one side are the decent, human-protecting Autobots (Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Ironhide and Jazz); on the other the cruel, destructive Decepticons (with Megatron, Starscream and Barricade).
From the trailers and such, you could have thought it was going to be another CGI blast of rubbishness that Hollywood likes to churn out, but in perfect summer blockbuster style- it’s two hours of bombs, action, swirly cameras and shiny lights. Pretty awesome actually.
So what’s good about Transformers?
The CGI is bang on and lets be real- this is the main reason most of us wanted to see the movie. From the moment we hear the unmistakable noise of the alien robot about to transform, the unabashed visuals are so incredibly pulled-off that IT almost erases the concerns raised by the thought of Michael ‘Bad Boys’ Bay was adapting Transformers.
Think back for a moment to when you first saw the Matrix‘s bullet-time. You just knew immediately that the world of special effects had been forever changed. Well, Transformers grabs that same SFX bar lofted up by the Wachowski Brothers and launches it up.
Honestly, when first watching, I wasn't expecting very much from the human contingent of the cast, but on a whole they’re able to hold their own a midst the huge shadow of SFX and set-pieces.
LaBeouf’s performance as Sam is excellent. He’s really coming into his own as an action star and I expect we’ll see him in that guise a lot in the coming years. Fox as Mikaela Barnes is meh, but we all know she's there for eye candy so she does this well. Very well. Supremely well.
The supporting cast is solid enough, with Jon Voight as the hands-on Secretary of Defense, Josh Duhamel and Tyrese Gibson representing the enlisted military contingent with balls of titanium, John Tutorro as a low rent M.I.B. impersonator, and Anthony Anderson as ultra computer hacker/comic relief. All solid and there is some great eye candy for both guys and girls!
Turning a cartoon movie into a live action Action movie requires some tricky judgement on the tone and Michael Bay managed to capture the goofy cartoon quality that it’s animated predecessor had. It’s a film that’s willing to own up to its own silliness. Part teen comedy, part full action movie and while its script has rubbery legs the action is hard as nails.
Transformers is brimming with immense battle scenes. The fight sequences and set-pieces are so epic in scale and you realise that due to this, really the film can rest on them alone. They’re the kind of battles we dreamt up as kids made “real.”
Make no mistake though, this film is about the effects.
If you’re expecting to find deep philosophical meaning at the root of the robots’ war, you might need to re-evaluate your movie going priorities. And the further in you go with the Transformers trilogy, the faster you realize this. Where Transformers started so strong, Revenge of the Fallen is so Bay-ified (slow mo shots, bombs at sunsets and absolutely nauseating camera pans- not exaggerating, it actually does make you feel a bit seasick) and Dark of the Moon feels like a last stab at a cash cow….BUT it’s still worth a watch.
Watch it for nostalgia’s sake, for a Sunday afternoon action fest or just a brain numbing, sit down and veg session.
Transformers and it’s counterparts are perfect…but I’d stick to the first movie as there actually is, ahem, more than meets the eye here.
Bond turns 50 this year. Clearly he’s looking good for it.
Amid the celebrations for the film franchise’s half century — from two exhibitions and a new Blu-ray box set, to commemorative poker chips and countless other merchandise — the major excitement is being generated by the new film, once referred to as Bond 23, but now better known as Skyfall. Despite numerous magazines, radio and tv programmes touring the studio, interviewing the cast and watching a scenes being filmed, plot details are somehow still guarded with MI6-level vigilance.
We do know the story centres around MI6 coming under attack and, at this point, it’s safe to assume Silva is the man behind it. Specifically, the target is M (Judi Dench), whose past — somehow — comes back to haunt her. This propels 007 on a mission that takes in an abandoned Japanese city, Macau, Turkey, the Scottish Highlands and the tunnels of the London Underground.
Producer Barbara Broccoli, who’s worked on every Bond film since 1977’s The Spy Who Loved Me in some capacity, is even confident enough to say: “It’s extraordinary. We’re making the best Bond ever.” They’re big words, but one of the reasons she gives for being so positive is her Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes.
So, there are reasons to be confident that Skyfall can be all that we’re promised., and obviously to top it all off, the full Skyfall theme has emerged online, and it is everything that we hoped it would be. A gentle piano verse makes way for the sweeping strings and soaring vocals of the chorus, before kicking into the classic Bond horn motif. Adele's voice shows no sign of the strain of undergoing microsurgery last year for a vocal cord problem: suffice to say that her fans (and there are a few) will love this.
It seems like this could well be up there up with the all-time classic Bond themes - and this can only bode well for the movie - due at the end of this month.
So it’s time for my movie of the week, where each week for you I watch a film, tell you about it and then get my favourite tracks from the film. Films can range from old, new, good, bad, funny and sad but I always find the best gems of the soundtrack.
Now as an avid film watcher, I like seeing things for myself. If someone says something’s good or bad, I’d rather watch it and see. Now the film I've chosen this week….really is as bad as they say. It’s Mariah Carey’s first and only foray into acting- Glitter. I'm not even joking – it’s awful. But I love it.
“Why do you love it, Tasha?”- I will tell you, readers.
For me, Glitter has landed itself in the “so bad it’s good” classic category. But I’m in the minority- believe me, this still brings rage amongst many people I know at the fact they ever sat through this film and they’ll never get that time back. Most of the time when a movie is bad, you can get a kick out of it. Battlefield Earth, Roadhouse, Showgirls – but you do have to persevere with Glitter. This might sound harsh but it’s not in the IMDB bottom 100 MOVIES EVER for no reason – I can’t even defend it. I can’t really explain why I love it and have put myself through watching it more than once, but I'll try...
The story itself revolves around a young girl who is given up by her alcoholic mother. She forms, along with her best friends from a foster home, a musical group, starting out as back-up singers, and progressing to their own group quite rapidly, after being discovered by a DJ (Julian Dice, played by Beesley). Dice helps get them a record contract, and acts as their producer as well as Carey's boyfriend.
Sounds okay, right... WRONG.
For no apparent reason, he turns from a seemingly decent guy into an out-of-control control freak. To say much more would be giving away the entire plot and the "touching" ending, but suffice it to say, the storyline and script left a lot to be desired but more about that in a mo...
Now typically seeing as it stars Mariah, the soundtrack showcases her vocal stylings. Set in the 80’s, it has a great funky vibe with most of the songs with her collaborating with Eric Benet, Cameo and Rick James (I so almost did the Dave Chapelle “ I'm Rick James!”) and although it's in tune with the 80's feel, it just doesn't make up for the shoddyness of the film.
"Glitter" is an excellent example of a movie that deserved to go straight to video – if it was Monopoly, this would be sent straight to jail. do not pass go, do not collect £200.
This was infamous misstep for star Mariah Carey, who gets sucked up into the vacuum of this movie like a dust under the Hoover. It's not that Mariah is terrible, exactly. She doesn't seem like much of an actress, and she definitely doesn't have much screen presence. But the real problem is that she doesn't really do much except smile, sing, and look pretty. She simply exists. Her role is shallow and one-dimensional, despite the fact that the script tries to give her some depth by piling on the age-old "wayward childhood" cliché. The problem is we've seen all of this so often that it's very silly.
It only gets worse as the movie progresses. After Mariah's character, Billie, grows up, she meets an obnoxious club DJ who, much to our horror, turns out to be the movie's other main character. Carey and her co-star, inexplicably Hotel Babylon's Max Beesley, have next to zero screen chemistry, but for some reasons she falls in love with him.
There are some absurd and awful moments in the film that have nothing to do with Mariah, most notably her two obnoxious friends who are directed as complete caricatures and seem to be intended for some sort of comic relief (there's plenty of that in other places, all of it unintentional).
The dialog is unmemorable and nobody has any real acting to do in this film, except for one or two "emotional" moments. The drama is uninvolving, and it doesn't really spiral out of control until the conclusion of the movie, where it soars so far into the absurd that we finally get some good "bad movie" stuff (a big fight, a beating, a murder, a campy moment of triumph on stage). It's too little, too late though.
Overall, it really is rubbish. Like I said, I can’t even defend it. I've watched it over 5 times. Why- I haven’t got a clue.
I think if this had been released as a Lifetime special or just a bog standard made for TV movie, it wouldn't have been panned as much. I mean It must've seemed like a good idea: one of the biggest selling record artists of all time, a couple of good tunes, a familiar Star Is Born storyline and Bob's your uncle, right? Only the star didn't act, the music didn't spawn a hit and the film itself is stupefyingly dull and badly put together on every level from cinematography to plotting.
And that is the main reason for watching it. Bit like bungee jumping or drinking Absinthe….just for the bucket list of life, go and watch it.
"But what you probably don't know is that more often than not, the second highest paid player is, thanks to Lawrence Taylor, a left tackle. Because, as every housewife knows, the first check you write is for the mortgage, but the second is for the insurance. The left tackle's job is to protect the quarterback from what he can't see coming. To protect his blind side. " - Leigh Anne Touhy
So this week, I was really in the mood for something predictable, schmaltzy and uplifting and I could’ve gone with any multitude of films. Obviously that sounds like a film lovers nightmare and truthfully I’m not really a fan of formulaic, saccharine films but this week’s film, The Blind Side is more than that.
Don’t get me wrong, it IS everything you think it will be from the trailer...
The quality of The Blind Side comes from it being 100 percent in the little things. Bullock offers a pitch-perfect performance which she won six awards for, including a SAG, a Golden globe and an Oscar as the typical Southern mother and, she's aided considerably by McGraw as the charmingly supportive husband. The pair feel like a genuine couple, a relationship that is cemented by the high quality of the kid's performances.
But Quinton Aaron as Michael Oher is where the film ultimately lives or dies. This massive gentle-giant turns in a performance that'd be star-making were it not so specific. Oher is a character of limited intellect, but limitless compassion, and young actor Aaron is able to convey so much just through his thoughtful gaze and simple glances.
There's no excess of dialogue here, and yet the audience is left completely engrossed in Michael's future and always connected to what he's thinking and feeling. Also impressive is that Oher, as a character, has no real love of football when the movie begins. He's aimless, without an idea in the world of what his place should be, and it's only through the encouragement of the Touhy's that Michael eventually discovers his budding passion for something real.
Now call me soft, but having chosen films like Snatch, Donnie Darko and Boyz n the Hood as my films previously, it’s nice to have a break and watch a film where something good happens to good people. What’s great about this film is that yes, it’s sweet and yes its quite typical but it doesn’t go down the usual football movie route of having a “big final game” at the end with some pitfall that the main character has to get over. It is just a truthful retelling of an somewhat inspirational film and just allows the characters to move you rather than using unnecessary dramatic story arcs.
Overall, The Blind Side is an excellent movie that manages to be about football without ever being a "football movie." The performances are truthful and you're left fully invested not only in Michael, but in the Touhy's in general. It really does overcome all it could have been to be a subtler, smarter film than one might expect.
"Why is it that there is a gun shop on almost every corner in this community? I'll tell you why. For the same reason that there is a liquor store on almost every corner in the black community. Why? They want us to kill ourselves." - Furious Styles
So this week, due to the heat I realized I was listening to a lot of hip hop and real low-rider West coast 90’s old school tunes that the heat was made for and made me realllly want to watch Boyz n the Hood. So I did.
This is a film that I first watched when I was maybe 13 or 14 and what I realised straight away watching now as a 25year old is that it’s still as relevant as ever. The film spawned a legacy of films set in ghettos in America and around the world, yet it has seldom been bettered.
With the riots and the unrest that we’ve seen and still have on the streets over here, I wish that some of these youths could see this film now, and take something from this as Boyz N The Hood with its themes of race, gentrification, drug abuse and violence in South Central Los Angeles still feels relevant.
Boyz N The Hood is more of a coming of age tale than a gangster film, as many of the so-called ghetto films were that followed it. It’s a story about four friends growing up in South Central Los Angeles in the late 80s and early 90s. What gives the film such a punch is its backdrop – in any other setting, this would just be an average film about four young men growing up. The violent LA setting is terrifying because, at the time, this was what real young men in the area dealt with every day.
What Boyz N The Hood does best is capture the dread of inevitable violence. It isn’t a particularly violent film, but the threat of violence, which hangs over the film throughout, is really resonates and there’s no real “evil or bad guy” in it, so it hits home that its society as a whole and a great deal of things that allow this kind of reality to exist.
Boyz N The Hood was John Singleton’s debut feature. He was 23 when the film was released and 24 when the film was nominated for two Oscars, making Singleton the younger director to have ever been nominated. He had his fingers on the pulse of South Central at a time when it desperately needed help and captured what it would be like to grow up in LA in the early 90s, and he hasn’t made a better film since.
Boyz n the Hood remains quite a telling expose into the ‘situation back home’, but sadly it also appears to have messages which have largely gone unheard– history lessons ignored; tragedies destined to be repeated. Singleton may have had a downhill career ever since this but most still remember him for this career-defining debut writer/director effort, which garnered wholly unexpected critical acclaim and commercial success, and which has now earned the film a place to be preserved the National Film Registry, for being ‘culturally significant’. And you can see why. Boyz n the Hood told a story that either nobody had heard before, or nobody had listened to before; and it remains a timeless coming-of-age drama
**sung to Rita Ora- RIP**
“RVP to those goals we used to see, those days are over, Baby they’re over…. You decided to leave us for U.T.D- loyalty’s over but we got Cazorla… We’re ready for ya…”
Sad-ish times for Gooners as our Golden boy that we’ve nurtured and seen grow since 2004, Robin Van Persie has made a deal to transfer to rivals Manchester United.
God, him and Rooney are going to be an absolute force to reckon with.
The Arsenal board are laughing right now as he was sold for £24million and considering he was bought for £2.75m, that’s a pretty healthy profit.
Although its a sad time and this season was Van Persie’s worst, NO player is bigger than the team. He will be missed but we’ve just signed Giroud, Podolski and new boy Cozorla who are all champing at the bit to get started in north London… I think this season will be very interesting- hopefully one that will land us some silverware!
When a film opens with a shocking scene of an unremoseful character unprovoked attack on a member of Britain’s boys in blue, you can safely say that this film isnt going to be an easy ride.
Violence, corruption and misery within the lower urban classes - this is old hat to a lot of people right now and I had my doubts with this film, almost dismissing it to be another iLL Manors/Adulthood/Shank kind of film. However I was pleasantly surprised to see that this film not only held up under scrutiny, but showcased a lot of fresh new talent that were a delight to watch.
Offender is the debut film from director Ron Scapello and tells the story of Tommy Nix (Joe Cole) who - told through flashbacks, has landed himself in youth prison to exact vengance on the people responsible for certain atrocities (that are actually a little hard to watch) that have happened to him in his life. Cole is good, playing Tommy with a realistic hollow sadness that you can really feel and understand while he falls deeper into his rage and gets lost on his quest.
The film also showcases the acting debut of a few Brit Grime artists: English Frank, a sociopathic inmate, GFresh as Angel Face, one of his sidekicks who got one of the best lines in the movie... and Scorcher, whose acting is coming on on leaps and bounds as Essay, a rival dope dealer. All put on a commendable performance and although you can tell who has experience and doesn't - it doesn't really detract from the film.
As well as being a standard revenge flick, what makes Offender stand out is it’s look into the mindless and pointless violence that was shown in London a year ago during the riots and it’s depiction of the characters that were involved and affected by them.
Don’t get me wrong, the film isn’t perfect.
Some characters were a little too old to play their characters convincingly (Brit rapper English Frank) and you can see who is trained vs natural actors, however you can forgive these faults as the actors made up for it in passion and gusto.
Also the plot gets stretched a little thin with the corrupt C/O subplots, other plot holes appear (albeit small) and there are questions raised- the glaring one being is the main catalyst is enough of a reason for Nix to go off the deep end- but I guess this part of the reevaluation you go through while watching Nix's descent.
So overall as these urban thrillers go, this could've been a lot worse. Give it a shot, youll be surprised.
Popcorn Buckets: 3/5
ONE TO WATCH: Malachi Kirby. Playing a young offender with such sensitivity and tenderness, he’s practically steals every scene he’s in without even trying. I can’t wait to see what else he has to offer.
Trailer:
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Also, quick thanks to Revolver Ent (great pizza), Luke & Maurice at Soul2Streets and Marcus Bronzy.
I want to be Japanese in my next life. That way I can wear a straw boater, a green vest, a sheer peach shirt with boxer shorts underneath, tights and trainers; and someone will just go "Oh, she's so cool and edgy" or they'll just go "Whatevs, she's Japanese" and it'll be totally cool either way.
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