The Assassin (2016)

the-assassin-poster-banner — Even the posters are beautiful.

The Assassin has established itself as a bit of a critical darling. Sight & Sound went as far as naming it their film of 2015, which was a strange move for a British magazine since it had its commercial release this year in the UK. Yet that confidence boost obviously didn’t satisfy the marketing department as they made the decision to advertise it to UK audiences as a wuxia film while in reality it only bears slight resemblances to that genre. It is a combination that leaves you wondering whether this is going to be yet another example of a film beloved by critics, but not the general public.

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08/02/2016 0

Youth (2016)

17313930575_d353bd2a37_o — A perfect example of said pervy nature.

Youth is one of those films which makes me glad that I don’t assign star ratings to my reviews. On one hand I think Paolo Sorrentino’s film is a pretentious and pervy look at old age. On the other, it’s a touching tale of old friends and their relationship. So how do you get that across in stars?

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05/02/2016 0

Milk Teeth – Vile Child

Every now and then an album comes along that just hits a chord. It feels like it is made for you. Which actually makes it hard to review. It’s difficult talking about things you love, particularly if you are trying to avoid sounding like you have your face buried up their arse. So say hello to Milk Teeth, my (and hopefully your) favourite new band.

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03/02/2016 0

Spotlight (2016)

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Depicting journalism on screen is a tricky task. The truth is that it is rarely clandestine meetings with mysterious sources but is more often simple, long and boring fact-checking followed by bursts of excitement when a big story comes along. It’s this that Spotlight aims to capture. The tale of the Boston Globe’s Spotlight team’s investigation into the Catholic Church Abuse Scandal is lacking huge set pieces and dramatic gestures and instead features plain old journalism, but still manages to be gripping from start to finish.

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02/02/2016 1

Anselmo

I’m a bit behind the rest of the world but today I figured I’d throw my two pence into the whole Phil Anselmo debate. When I say debate, what I really mean is I am going to agree with everyone else. YES, Pantera are one of the greatest bands of all time. YES, Anselmo was a big part of that. YES, he has since gone on to be in some other brilliant bands. YES, he is also a massive racist cunt.

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01/02/2016 0

Creed (2016)

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Forty years ago Sly Stallone was nominated for an Oscar for playing the role of Rocky Balboa. At that point, you would have been insane if you’d chosen to bet on him getting a nomination for the same role in 2016. Here we are, though, and not only has Creed allowed Sly to rediscover his mojo, but it may have dragged the Rocky franchise back from the brink.

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29/01/2016 0

Panic! At the Disco – The Death of a Bachelor

There are a million albums out there that I don’t like or in which I take absolutely no interest. The number that I actively hate is a lot smaller. It takes something special to make me despise a band and the music that they create. Panic! At the Disco have pulled that off with Death of a Bachelor. Even more impressively, they’ve pulled it off while getting me to like some of the songs.

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28/01/2016 1

The Big Short (2016)

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If someone was to sit you down and request you write a list of directors whom you believed would be likely to direct a film on the 2008 financial crash, how many would you get through before you got to Adam McKay? The man who created Ron Burgundy may have included a small lecture at the end of The Other Guys about said financial crash, but he would still have been far down most people’s lists. And yet, here we sit. The Big Short not only exists but has five Oscar nominations, including Best Director for McKay. So how did he pull it off?

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27/01/2016 0

Weatherstate – Dumbstruck

Weatherstate is what happens when you merge pop-punk fuelled lyrics with garage rock and then chuck in a bit of Weezer. I’m sure I could come up with a fancy name for that but I think I’ll just stick to describing their latest EP, Dumbstruck, as punk rock. I’ll also throw in that is a combination that you need in your ears.

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26/01/2016 0

Where Next?

There is an unsettling feeling in the air right now, rock and metal heroes seem to be dropping like flies and for the first time, we are about to see an enforced changing of the guards. In the last few months, we have lost Lemmy, Scott Weiland, David Bowie and now today the sad news of Glenn Frey of Eagles fame. We are reaching an age where the rock and roll bands of yesteryear are getting old and their members are passing away. So the question is, what next?

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19/01/2016 0