Before kicking off this review, I should perhaps throw in the disclaimer that I discovered MG & The Juggernaut due to Simon Miller’s other job as a truth knowing games journalist. I’m a big fan of what he does at VideoGamer and I am a supporter of their Patreon. Of course, that makes no difference to my opinion on the EP and I’m more likely to be swayed by the fact he’s a big dude who could easily kick my arse if I ever met him.
Headliners
Where is the next Metallica? Where is the next Iron Maiden? Where is the next (insert big rock and roll band here)? They are questions that pop up at least once a year. Usually around the time that Download announces a batch of headliners who are near identical to the ones announced a couple of years before. But the question is, do we need a new Metallica? Do we need Iron Maiden? Or is this obsession with bands needing to sell out arenas preventing the next generation of metal bands making the step up to festival headliners?
Coheed and Cambria
Coheed and Cambria are one of those bands who are often taken for granted. Having been an active since 1995 and been releasing albums since 2002, they have almost always been there and it’s sometimes easy to forget just how good they are. A couple of middling albums haven’t helped their cause and bring us to the here and now with The Color Before the Sun, their first album to move away from The Amory Wars storyline. Instead, it finds lead singer and guitarist Claudio Sanchez facing fatherhood and the whole world of responsibilities that come with that. It just happens to also be the best thing they’ve done in years.
Crimson Peak (2015)
Beauty and horror, in theory, they are at opposite ends of the spectrum. And yet Guillermo Del Toro has made a career out of weaving these unlikely bedfellows together. Crimson Peak is him indulging his own whims and if nothing else can be said of it, this is a stunning looking film.
Download 2016
Festival season is a long way off, but that hasn’t stopped it kicking into a lower gear already, with both Download and Bloodstock having named their first bands. Last night’s announcement that Iron Maiden will once again grace Donnington’s hallowed turf is sure to send some all a flutter and leave others calling Andy Copping a cunt. It’s the internet after all. I could, of course, choose to stay well away from such situations, but where is the fun in that? So here’s some thoughts about Downloads first headliner.
Sicario (2015)
Sicario is at it’s best when, like it’s protagonist Kate Macer (Emily Blunt), you are in the dark as to exactly what is happening. It is a film which moves in the shadows, both in terms of the characters that inhabit it and how it slowly eeks out its plot to the watching audience. While this leads to some gripping cinema, it doesn’t exactly lend itself to writing up a comprehensive review.
Star Wars Battlefront Beta
I’ve never really gotten along with online first person shooters. For one thing, being someone who is not actually that good at video games, I tend to spend more time dying than anything else. While the hook of levelling up that made Call of Duty what it is, has never gotten its claws into me. However, I do love Star Wars and therefore I was more than willing to forget me misgivings and download the Star Wars Battlefront Beta when it became available last week.
The Walk
A quarter of a mile up in the air is where The Walk does its best work. The story of Philippe Petit’s death-defying walk between the Twin Towers, it’s both a love letter to those towers and a look at a man whose passion takes him to the most ludicrous of places.
Macbeth
The story of Macbeth needs no introduction. One of Shakespeare’s most famous works, it’s a story that only seems to grow with time. Putting it on the big screen in 2015 is a tough task for that very reason. The list of names who have filled the roles of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth reads like an introduction to acting royalty. From Kenneth Branagh to James McAvoy. From Judi Dench to Alex Kingston. Whether on stage or screen, they are large shoes to step into. So how do you make an adaptation of the Scottish Play stand out?
No Devotion – Permanance
Like it or not, Lostprophets were an important band. They were one of the big players in a movement that saw British rock reassert itself. What happened after was obviously disgusting, but there were other people in that band and they lost everything due to the actions of one cunt. Which brings us to No Devotion, the moment where those men wipe themselves down and start again. Now with Geoff Rickly on vocal duties.
Ramblings About Wrestling 