#Reviews

Want to buy an album but don't know if it's worth it? Want to watch a movie but not sure it's worth your time? You've come to the right place friend.

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The Interview (2014)

I don't really know how to feel about this one. After all the trouble Sony went through with the release of the film I personally had hoped for more. 

The Interview is most definitely a standard Rogan film - full of dick jokes, drug references, harmless but humorous jabs at numerous celebrities and crude humour that pushes the boundaries of what is funny and what is offensive. As seems to be the case more often than not lately, Rogan's performance is likeable and well acted and Franco's is unlikeable (although that's mostly his character) and kind of underwhelming, just like many of the jokes. 

Unfortunately the Interview really wasn't worth the whole issue of getting it out for public viewing with most of the jokes being barely worthy of a little chuckle and more worthy of eye rolling. Could've been better but was at least still fun entertainment that did not require much thinking, which lets be honest is perfect for a quiet Saturday evening.

Verdict: 5.5/10 - Good fun but not particularly a good film, keep it in mind for a bored Friday or Saturday evening though. 

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The Hobbit Trilogy - An Unexpected Journey, The Desolation of Smaug, The Battle of the Five Armies (2012-2014)

First things first, if you're after a faithful book to movie adaptation trilogy, then The Hobbit is not for you. In order to fill three movies worth of quality, Peter Jackson has had to expand the story of The Hobbit to include previously unheard of storylines that tie in to the Lord of the Rings trilogy and provide background for many of the famous trilogies storylines. 

For those of you who are avid fans of the Middle Earth universe, you'll already be more than familiar with the Lord of the Rings films and the articulate design of the sets, the stunning scenery and the beautifully arranged and perfectly complimentary music that Peter Jackson is equipped with to produce these movies. The Hobbit does not disappoint in any of those respects as Jackson picks up where he left off. 

9 years since the 2003 release of the truly epic masterpiece, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, An Unexpected Journey made it's way into theatres with the promise to re-immerse fans back into Middle Earth and begin the tale of how Bilbo Baggins came to find the ring of power, have a part in the slaying of a dragon and take part in an epic battle between orcs, dwarves, elves, men and one brilliant little hobbit. And boy, it did a bloody good job. 

Jackson's introduction of the new Orc Chief, known aptly as Azog the Defiler, provides a new threat that haunts the protagonists of the series for the first and third films in particular and allows Jackson to stretch the storyline far enough to allow quality content for three films. In order to further add detail to his new and improved interpretation on Tolkein's classic, Jackson allows the insertion of beloved characters from the Lord of the Rings trilogy, such as Legolas, Saruman, Galadriel and Elrond along with a more in depth storyline explaining the return of the dark lord Sauron and his Nazgul.

To excited lovers of the series, these introductions could be a daunting thought to process and can be seen as a brave move, however, the introduction of another antagonist to partner the dragon Smaug and the lowly nameless Orc legions allows for a greater intensity to the movies. It also provides a similar feel to the LoTR movies where the protagonists were constantly pitted against some kind of gruesome threat.

Overall the films are a masterpiece, while I'm not entirely certain they are better than the LoTR films, they are more than worthy of providing a prologue to the epic trilogy. The Hobbit trilogy is certainly a perfect reminder of the genius that is Peter Jackson and his team and the magic that is the universe of Middle Earth. 

Individual Verdicts:

An Unexpected Journey - 8.5/10 The Desolation of Smaug - 8.5/10 The Battle of the Five Armies - 9/10

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Evergreen - Broods (2014)

Tracklist: 1 - Mother & Father 2 - Everytime 3 - Killing You 4 - Bridges 5 - L.A.F. 6 - Never Gonna Change 7 - Sober 8 - Medicine 9 - Evergreen 10 - Four Walls 11 - Superstar

New Zealand just keeps on producing. For minimalistic indie fans it seems New Zealand is the place to be lately as they can boast Lorde and now Broods! 

Personally, I wasn't sure what to expect at first when I heard this album as I'd never even heard of the brother and sister duo, however, I was more than pleasantly surprised. I was thrilled! This album is honestly amazing!

A mix of indie-pop, electronica and synth-pop the duo makes an incredibly large sound that is seriously impressive for just two musicians. Georgia's vocals resemble a smoother Lorde, while her brother Caleb's instrumental parts are both calming and complimentary to his sisters wonderful vocals. 

I'm usually not a big fan of music that does not incorporate "proper" instruments but I have to say, the types of synths used by broods more than make up for the lack of instruments like a guitar for example. All in all I would most definitely recommend this album to anyone who enjoys calming indie music and well, even if you don't I would recommend giving this a go!

Verdict: 5/5 - Perfect album. 

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Maroon 5 - V (2014)

Tracklist: 1 - Maps 2 - Animals  3 - It Was Always You 4 - Unkiss Me 5 - Sugar 6 - Leaving California 7 - In Your Pocket 8 - New Love 9 - Coming Back For You 10 - Feelings 11 - My Heart Is Open 12 - Shoot Love 13 - Sex and Candy 14 - Lost Stars

You all know them for songs like She Will Be Loved, This Love and Won't Go Home Without You, all great songs... but lately... Well Maroon 5 have changed. More electronics have found their way into the backing of singer Adam Levine's crooning vocals and frankly... it just doesn't sound as good!

The album starts well, with Maps and Animals being classic Maroon 5, jazzy guitar licks and some pretty exciting and fun lyrics showcase the band at their best and the next track It Was Always You, while not groundbreaking, is a decent mix of the newer electronic elements and older elements but after that the album just doesn't carry itself. 

There are moments of decency throughout but in all honesty, this has to be the bands least consistently powerful album. A lot of the songs seem a little bit lost and the music has been over complicated for such seemingly simple songs. Personally I'm disappointed. I honestly love some of Maroon 5's older music but this time, they've just not reached the bar they've previously set so high.

Verdict: 3/5 - Maps, Animals and It Was Always You are enough for me to give it a 3, but nothing else is really worth the trouble of buying/downloading from iTunes.  

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My top 5 albums ever!

So a lot of people ask me what kind of music I personally listen to, so I thought I'd give you guys a quick summary of my five favourite albums out of all the many that i've ever listened to!

1) Black Holes and Revelations - Muse (2006)

My favourite ever album and the first Muse album I ever owned. Muse have been my favourite band since 2008, ever since I first heard Knights of Cydonia I was hooked! I instantly downloaded this album and it's been my favourite ever since. Heavy guitars, loud drums, big synths and a song that sounds like a mariachi band providing the soundtrack to a spaghetti western movie with a trumpet solo - what more could you want?? 

Standouts: Take a Bow, Map of the Problematique, Invincible, Knights of Cydonia. 

2) All This Bad Blood - Bastille (2013) 

I love this album so much. I loved Bad Blood but the extra tracks on this album just got me hooked even more. A different kind of band, Bastille mix electronica, with ballads, with pop, with rock and meld it all together to make the beautiful sound that they're now not only know for but famous for. This album has literally a song for everyone, no matter what kind of taste you have for music.

Standouts: Pompeii, Oblivion, What Would You Do, Laughter Lines.

3) This Is War - 30 Seconds to Mars (2009)

What an album. The album that got me into this band and the album that resulted in me meeting Jared Leto earlier this year. One of the few albums I can listen to from start to finish no matter what mood I'm in and where I am, this album is the result of the band never giving up and carrying on following their dreams no matter what their label threw at them. A fantastic album, I'd also suggest watching the documentary "Artifact" to find out about the amount of stress the band had to go through to make this outstanding record. 

Standouts: Kings and Queens, Closer to the Edge, Vox Populi, Alibi.

4) Opposites - Biffy Clyro (2013)

An album that i loved upon release and listened to for weeks on end and then forgot about, I only recently rediscovered how amazing Biffy Clyro are. Opposites is probably their most melodic and mainstream friendly album and for most heavier bands that can usually signal a travesty, not for Opposites though! This album is honestly incredible and I'd definitely recommend at least hearing the track Biblical!

Standouts: Black Chandelier, Biblical, Trumpet or Tap, Skylight. 

5) Night Visions - Imagine Dragons (2012)

I remember first hearing Radioactive on a Youtube video in early 2012 and thinking "they're gonna be big," and i was about as right as one can be. A little bit like Bastille, Imagine Dragons are a little strayed from your standard band of these days and mix rock elements and electronic elements very successfully. In short, this album is awesome and I'm still so upset I haven't had the chance to hear it live. I'm so excited for their follow up album coming next year, can't wait!

Standouts: It's Time, Demons, Nothing Left to Say, America.

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Gone Girl (2014)

Plot twist, after plot twist, after plot twist. That's how I'd describe this film in a sentence if asked. What starts as a potential murder mystery soon becomes a sinister tale of a woman tired of her husbands behaviour and psychotic enough to create a devious plot that twists and turns unexpectedly throughout the film. 

Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck) is a struggling writer. Jobless, lazy and a bit of an asshole, he returns home one day from his 10am drink to find his wife Amy (Rosamund Pike) missing and signs of a struggle evident. All clues point to a murder/kidnapping with Nick as the prime suspect but is it that straightforward? No. No it is not. 

This movie, while slightly unbelievable at times and very deranged is devious, clever and cunning. I enjoyed it a lot more second time round as I could appreciate the plot twists a little better without the initial confusion but if you follow along well enough, you'll be able to appreciate the movie for what it is the first time round. 

Rosamund Pike was honestly fantastic. Her performance as Amy was a brilliant mix of sinister and innocent and not to be understated and Affleck, while not as strong, also deserves a mention for his performance as Nick. Unfortunately, Neil Patrick Harris was kind of wasted in his role. While he played the character well, he is an actor much more deserving of bigger roles and better characters and it showed here. 

To sum it up, Gone Girl is clever, disturbing and quite scary in a real sense of the word. The storyline is gripping and the characters are played well, with the only place it falls down being a few issues in feasibility.

Verdict: 8/10 - Definitely worth a watch, not the best movie of the year but still very good. 

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Horrible Bosses 2 (2014)

I wasn't sure about this one to be honest at first. The opening to the movie really wasn't funny but the second half more than made up for it. The constant blunders of Dale (Charlie Day) in particular were very amusing. 

For those of you who don't know, this movie is not based around the attempted killings of the main characters bosses like the first one but rather the kidnapping of just one horrible bosses son. Whilst it seemed like it could've been the same movie, just with a slightly different concept, Horrible Bosses 2 did not feel like a cheap repetition of the first movie. 

There were laughs, there were plot twists, there were the same loveable and goofy characters and most of all, even though it started slow, it was just plain fun to watch by the end. 

Foxx's "cool" character "the motherf**ker" was a great contrast to the oafish, no idea what they're doing characters played by the other mains but unfortunately Jennifer Aniston's sex crazed dentist character was pointless this time round. It's almost like the writers/director just realised they needed a main female role so wrote her a few over the top sexual lines for some laughs. Unfortunately she didn't really provide any laughs but could've been a lot funnier if she'd had a bigger role!

Verdict: 7/10 - Good laughs throughout, especially during the second half. Kind of like the Hangover if it had been a kidnapping movie. 

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1989 - Taylor Swift (2014)

Tracklist: 1 - Welcome to New York 2 - Blank Space 3 - Style 4 - Out of the Woods 5 - All You Had to Do Was Stay 6 - Shake it Off 7 - I Wish You Would 8 - Bad Blood 9 - Wildest Dreams 10 - How You Get the Girl 11 - This Love 12 - I Know Places 13 - Clean

So, what comes to mind normally when we think Taylor Swift? Heartbreak, a sullen, reflective mood and a little bit of cringeworthy awards show dancing... and i guess cats? I'm not sure whether the dancing will disappear on her new tour but the sullen, reflective mood, while still sometimes present here has given way to a lot of fun. Now, while I'm not the biggest fan of Taylor, I have to admit, this album is damn catchy. 

The first song I heard off of "1989" was Shake It Off, Taylor's lead single for the album and I was honestly just confused. "What on earth is this?" was my initial reaction, especially when hearing her try to rap over "this sick beat." However, upon listening to the album properly last night I realised, Taylor doesn't care about what anyone thinks of her anymore and Shake It Off, as cringeworthy as that midsection is, is for the most part just fun. 

There are some more ballad like moments, the 7th track on the album I Wish You Would, is one of my favourite. Taylor takes on her personality of reeling after a meaningful relationship has ended but she does it well, the song is less of a depressing cry for love and more of an electro filled pop ballad and I definitely dig it! Bad Blood is another song written in that vain and while some might feel that this type of music just kind of being repeated 13 times might get a little boring, Taylor is clever enough and a good enough songwriter to keep it different and interesting right til the end. 

I'm not the biggest Taylor Swift fan but I can definitely say that this is a good album and that yes, I may be persuaded to willingly listen to a couple of these songs at times!

Verdict: 4/5

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Royal Blood - Royal Blood (2014)

Tracklist: 1 - Out of the Black 2 - Come on Over 3 - Figure It Out 4 - You Can Be So Cruel 5 - Blood Hands 6 - Little Monster 7 - Loose Change 8 - Careless 9 - Ten Tonne Skeleton 10 - Better Strangers

Royal Blood are what you'd get if you took The Black Keys, Queens of the Stone Age and Muse, put them in a centrifuge and let them fuse together, resulting in an awesome combination of heavy riffs, thumping drums and simplistic yet effective songs. 

The first thing that drew me to Royal Blood was surprisingly not the music. Being an avid guitar player I was very interested to learn that singer/bassist Mike Kerr was playing guitar on bass! Now most people will say, "yeah that's what bassists do.. duh!" but give them a listen and instantly you'll say, "wow, what an awesome three piece! guitar, bass, drums and vocals!" and you'd be wrong! There was not a single guitar used in the recording and all of those dirty, awesome guitar tones are actually played through bass!

Now I won't go through all the boring (to those of you who don't care anyway) ins and outs of this so let's get onto the album. 

Immediately within just 30 seconds of the first track "Out of the Black" we as the listener are hit with just how big this two piece from Brighton sounds. Intricate riffs are partnered with slightly animalistic but fitting drums and wailing vocals that sound like something right out of the Black Keys handbook. 

The third track "Figure It Out" is one of my favourites simply due to the fact that the final minute of the song is one long riff-fest that sounds like 5 guitars are playing in unison and creates an absolutely monstrous sound (again, only one bass, incredible!) A similar tone is taken on the song "Little Monster" which features a bass solo of epic heavy blues rock proportions, dance rock like riffs and a catchy as hell chorus!

Perhaps my favourite song on the album and the definite stand out is the second last track "Ten Tonne Skeleton" which sounds like it could've easily been written by Matt Bellamy of Muse. The song revolves mainly around just two riffs but both are heavy, catchy as hell and allow drummer Ben Thatcher to provide so absolutely awesome percussive work. 

Verdict: 5/5 - I Just cannot flaw this album, British rock does it again. 

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American Horror Story - Freak Show - Episode 9 "Tupperware Party Massacre"

*spoilers follow*

Well... That was interesting. I have to say, as annoying as he is, Dandy is starting to surprisingly become the focal point of the show. With, sadly, Jessica Lange's Elsa becoming the most stale character in comparison. I've said since the beginning of this season that it would be nice to see her play a character who isn't obsessed with fame, riches and wanting to be young again but we just haven't had it this season... such a shame really. Anyway, onto the episode!

The episode began strongly, with arguably one of the most disturbing moments of the season so far opening this weeks Freakshow in the form of Dandy's disturbed serial killing persona, a part of his character that really "shone" this week (see the episode title for a hint). However, the rest of the episode once again just seemed to be lacking something.

There were moments of horror (which unfortunately seem to be minimal these days) but for the most part this episode was just over the top dramatic drawl. Jimmy's an alcoholic with a fetish for the large lady, the twins want to be separated because Dot wants "the chance of love as a normal woman" but then all of a sudden change their minds and decide to offer Jimmy their "two mouths" *wink wink* and Elsa is standard wanna-be celebrity Elsa who will do whatever it takes to be famous. 

Once again the episode just seemed to be messy and as previously stated it was only really the, honestly surprising, ability of Dandy's disturbed storyline to hold the episode together. Whilst his "I am a god" speech was a cringeworthy moment, he has certainly shown the most character development over the season and whilst he's disturbing, creepy and downright nasty, it's nice to see something truly terrifying in the show again.

Verdict: 7/10 - One of the better episodes of this season and much better than the last two or three weeks. However, Freakshow still has a long way to go before it can reach the heights of Murder House.  

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Fury - 2014

The Saving Private Ryan of this decade, "Fury" is truly a modern war epic. Bound to one day go down as a classic, "Fury" highlights just how graphically horrific the second world war must have been without romanticising violence in a way that other war movies of this era seem to do. 

The cast at first glance seems a strange mixture, Brad Pitt, Logan Lerman and Shia LaBeouf don't seem to be the first names that come to mind when you're thinking of casting a crew to man a tank in the midst of the most horrific war of our time but they mesh together well. The acting is of top quality and the characters are shown to have been changed in a very dark way by the effects the war has had on each of them, allowing density and depth to the characters and not just portraying them as another person to eventually just kill off. 

That being said, "Fury" is still stocked high with battles, blood, gore and all the nasty parts of war, with one scene featuring a mans remains being hosed out of a tank springing to mind as being one of the more gruesome moments of the film. 

In short, Fury is a gruesome but effective portrayal of a heroic second World War story whilst also maintaining an effective storyline and allowing room for class moments of acting and character depth. Would be surprised if it doesn't receive an Oscar nomination in one category or another.

Verdict: 9/10 - Not light hearted by any stretch of the imagination but a truly wonderful piece of cinema

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Multi Song Review #1 - Music reviews asked for by you guys! I decided to take one of your recommended songs from each album and review it in order to get the reviews out a little quicker!

1) The Blue, The Green - Lonely The Brave Was my first time hearing of this band (as recommended by one of you awesome people) and I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it and ended up listening to the whole album! This is honestly in my opinion a great song. Clear vocals pave the way over the top of an almost indie take on a classic brit rock sound for much of the song with the definite highlight being an emotionally wailed bridge halfway through the track, featuring the line "I wanna know what it's like, so I can feel it inside" being repeated in an ascending heights manner. 

Verdict: 4/5

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2) One Day - Kodaline

A thoroughly emotional song, if you download/buy/youtube this one be prepared to live through a hailstorm of your own regrets and don't be surprised if a late night listen to this track spurs a reimagining of how your life is being lived. A great track and I'd easily recommend the album to anyone who asked. 

Verdict: 5/5

-------------- 3) Car Radio - Twenty One Pilots This was an interesting one and was not at all what I was expecting. Piano ballad, synth rock, rapping and screaming all in the one song was an interesting mix and the song definitely improved towards the second half. This is a song that will be loved by indie fans but maybe not so much by fans of more mainstream genres of music. 

Verdict: 3/5

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4) Ten Tonne Skeleton - Royal Blood

Hints of Queens of the Stone Age and Muse lie deep in this track by the British duo and when mixed with the bands signature slick sound something wonderful is created. The song is filled with heavy bass guitars (made to sound amazingly just like a distorted guitar would!) and a thumping drumbeat to accompany a simple and effective melody line. Admittedly the vocals seem a little tame for the type of music but the heaviness of the track is definitely unquestionable, will definitely look to review the whole album sometime soon! Verdict: 5/5

5) Blank Space - Taylor Swift

Taylor's sound seems to have diverted a long way from her country roots over the last couple of albums to the point where now on "1989" she's seemingly settled on more a pop sound and honestly, we dig it. An honestly more enjoyable sound than her previous work and a much more catchy sound to the music in general. Will probably have an album review out soon.

Verdict: 4/5

6) Albatraoz - AronChupa

The beat is catchy but what the f**k is up with those vocals? Would honestly probably enjoy the song a lot more as an instrumental while at a party or out clubbing but not the type of thing that well, anyone, would probably listen to willingly. 

Verdict: 2/5

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Guardians of the Galaxy - 2014

Chris Pratt, Bradley Cooper, an amazing soundtrack, a galactic setting and Groot, the walking, talking tree. Need I say anymore? 

I had been excited for this movie for months by the time I finally got to watch it just two weeks ago after having unfortunately missed it being in theatres and boy, did it deliver. Guardians of the Galaxy is everything it promised to be and more. The storyline is fun, the writing is tongue in cheek and brilliant without ever getting silly, the acting is spot on and the soundtrack is as fitting as you'll find in a Marvel movie. 

For those of you who don't know (and I assume, have actually been living in a cave for the last few months), Guardians of the Galaxy revolves around Chris Pratt's reckless adventurer Peter Quill, or, "Star Lord" as he prefers. Quill steals an orb of power from the main villain Ronan, a wacky blue dude with a big hammer, and originally intends to sell it, picking up a rag tag team featuring a green alien lady, a tree and a talking racoon. Eventually, however, the orb is identified to be incredibly powerful and this rag tag team of "guardians" must rally together in an effort to protect the universe. 

Yes. That is the storyline. Sounds stupid doesn't it? Well that's where you're wrong, the storyline is actually satisfying, fun and just plain brilliant with one of the best moments being Quill's attempt to initiate a dance off with our big bad blue guy. 

Verdict: 9/10 - If you don't enjoy this movie then I worry for your sanity

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Nightcrawler - 2014

This was an interesting one. I was drawn to this movie due to it being of a genre that still fascinates me. A dark, underground thriller that could one day become a cult classic, "Nightcrawler" for the most part did not disappoint! 

Firstly, none of this films main characters are particularly likeable. Jake Gyllenhaal plays Lou Bloom a man desperate to find work and driven to find his calling which soon turns out to be filming murders, car crashes and other devastating stories for a low end local news station. Lou falls into the dark world of being a "nightcrawler" seeing each wailing police siren as nothing more than the chance for a story which is then exchanged for cash.

Lou manipulates local TV News anchor Nina, (Rene Russo), to aid in his cause to move from rags to riches and recruits and takes advantage of the desperately in need of income Rick (Riz Ahmed) to aid in his nightcrawling crusade. Lou will stop at nothing to get the perfect story and will endanger and manipulate anyone in his way. 

Overall "Nightcrawler" is a dark, brooding movie that highlights the human races weakness for money and our habit for greed. It is fast paced, thrilling and provides a peephole into the dangerous and morbid world of nightcrawling journalism for its' viewers with the only downside being a slightly abrupt ending. It is acted well, and could one day, follow along the same lines as cult classics like "Fight Club" in being recognised as a masterpiece of dark cinema. 

Verdict: 8/10 - Storyline did not disappoint and the acting was fantastic. 

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The 1975 - The 1975

Tracklist: 1 - The 1975 2 - The City 3 - M.O.N.E.Y. 4 - Chocolate 5 - Sex 6 - Talk! 7 - An Encounter 8 - Heart Out 9 - Settle Down 10 - Robbers 11 - Girls 12 - 12 13 - She Way Out 14 - Menswear 15 - Pressure 16 - Is There Somebody Who Can Watch You

Right from the outset the 1975s' debut self titled release makes you wish your life was a 90s movie and that this album was the soundtrack. The bands musical style is reminiscent of 90s stoner rock mixed with mainstream elements of recent years and is coupled perfectly with singer Matt Healy's catchy and slightly irregular melodies. 

Pop ballads like Robbers, are mixed with fast paced rock songs like Sex and the weird but catchy synth rock M.O.N.E.Y. a balance that seems weird without listening but mixes perfectly when put together in the way it is. Other strong points on the album include the single Chocolate and the upbeat Settle Down that depicts a hidden sexual relationship. 

Overall the bands music tends to deal with sex, drugs and managing to find yourself through a sea of angst, trouble and possibly disastrous short lived relationships, themes that will resonate with most listeners, no matter what age, making it a very easily accessible album that rewards most listeners with at least one favourable song. 

Verdict: 4.5/5. 

Brilliant album, cannot wait to catch them in concert on January 16th and hear it played live. 

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The Babadook - 2014

Good Australian movies are, let's be honest, hard to come across, especially when it comes to horror movies so when I saw the trailer for "the Babadook" I was incredibly excited. The trailer was effective, featured decent enough acting and most importantly, was scary. Not just "oh that could be kinda tough to sit through and not hide a few times" scary but actual s**t your pants in terror scary.

Two weeks ago I finally got to sit down and watch this movie, I was excited and even chose to watch it at 5pm, a time when sunlight is prominent for another 2 hours, just to be safe. I was expecting to be scared out of my wits, even if it meant sitting through some less than mediocre acting (which often comes with horror movies) and to be left satisfied and wanting to rewatch it in the company of friends, in the dark for a horror movies marathon. 

However it seems all I actually got out of those things was the mediocre acting. The movie starts slowly, as most of these types of horror movies do and the acting was for the most part of the first 45 minutes a pleasant surprise. Yet, as the movie started to drag on I found myself getting a little agitated - and not in the way I had hoped when I had seen the trailer. Finally, after what seemed like an age of hearing the child whinge and annoy his mother, the storybook was read and I began to get into the movie. 

The first few instances of the Babadook haunting the family were clever. Atmospheric music, partnered with off screen horror is a tactic I find to be very effective in making you expect something awful, only to allow you to let your guard down when nothing happens. The issue with the Babadook however, was that these types of "scares" continued throughout the movie. With the only moment of true terror being the final confrontation between the child, mother and Babadook. 

I suppose the main issue I had with the movie wasn't that it just wasn't overly scary but that it had built itself up to be something it's not. It had built itself up to be a truly terrifying, atmospheric movie when in reality the most terrifying part, was the mothers treatment of her son. Unfortunately the small smattering of jump scares was not enough to make up for the rest of the movie being well, slightly dull. 

Verdict: 6.5/10 - One for a rainy day when you feel like a few cheap scares.

Trailer Link. 

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The Balcony - Catfish and the Bottlemen

Tracklist: 1 - Homesick 2 - Kathleen 3 - Cocoon 4 - Fallout 5 - Pacifier 6 - Hourglass 7 - Business 8 - 26 9 - Rango 10 - Sidewinder 11 - Tyrants

The Balcony is an album full of loud guitars, thumping drums and straining vocals that sounds like it could've been recorded by pre 2006 Arctic Monkeys. The album is a refreshing change from the synth filled pop music found on most albums released this year and at first seems to promise a positive new change in direction for the British music industry. However, as strong as the album starts, (the tracks Homesick, Cocoon and Fallout being my favourite songs on the album) it doesn't once provide any kind of change up. 

While sticking to a formula has worked for other pop punk bands previously, it is now a seemingly outdated genre of music and it seems on "The Balcony" that Catfish have failed to realise this. 

Final Verdict: 3/5.

While the album does have strong points, predominantly found in the first half of the album, listeners could easily just buy the first 5 songs and not need to invest in any others to have heard the best the album has to offer. A solid first effort by the Welsh group but definitely not a groundbreaking debut.