Frozen

Following last year’s Wreck it Ralph Disney have gone back to what they know best with their recent animation Frozen as it see’s them returning to the good old princess and prince story, but this time with a twist. Based, very loosely, off of Hans Christian Anderson’s Snow Queen the adaptation was directed by Chris Buck (Tarzan) and Jennifer Lee (who was a writer on Wreck it Ralph). It’s release has seen it break a collection of records in North America, all of which it has to be said are the kind of records that no one really cares about, but nevertheless has still made a nice sum of money and appears to be doing very well critically as well.

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16/12/2013 0

Carcass – Surgical Steel

Carcass, their very name screams pure bloody metal. The British grindcore legends were favourites of the brilliant John Peel and reigned supreme in their original run between 1985 and 1995. Their return in 2007 was therefore greeted with glee while the announcement they were to write and record an album, which was released earlier this year. induced full blown delirium. With Daniel Wildling (Trigger the Bloodshed) coming in on drums and Ben Ash (Pig Iron) on guitar to join original original members Jeff Walker and Bill Steer Surgical Steel was created.

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14/12/2013 1

Kill Your Darlings

Since the end of Harry Potter Daniel Radcliffe has shown himself to be a man who can pick a role. Obviously desperate to avoid being typecast, his films since the teen wizard hung up his wand have included roles in the ongoing revival of Hammer Films, with The Woman in Black, and now the decision to portray the talented Alan Ginsberg. Kill Your Darlings is the debut feature film from director John Krokidas and portrays the formation of the Beat movement and the murder of David Kammerer. I should warn you before I get into this review that I do have a personal attachment to many of the characters. The Beats is a literature movement that I have a lot of love for and I actually wrote about On the Road and Naked Lunch for my dissertation. With the former standing as my standard answer to the ‘what’s your favourite book?’ question.

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14/12/2013 1

John Terry – Captain, Leader, Hero

Last weekend John Terry made his 400th league appearance for Chelsea and scored his 34th league goal. This took his Chelsea tally up to 594 appearances and 57 goals. In that time he has won 3 EPL titles, 5 FA Cups, 2 League Cups, 2 Community Shields and has played a part, if not actually playing in the final, in a Champions League and a Europa League title. Yet there are still people who would argue with you whether John Terry is a world class player. Do you know why? Because he’s a cunt. There is no denying that fact, history proves it. However, right here right now, I am going to make the case that that doesn’t matter. And John Terry the footballer still deserves your respect and your admiration.

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07/12/2013 0

Dream Theater – Dream Theater

Dream Theater used to be so ingrained with the idea of Mike Portnoy that to have an album that doesn’t incorporate any of his ideas seems strange. However, that’s exactly what they’ve done and they’ve only gone and made it a self-titled release. With Mike Mangini in from the start this is the album that will represent exactly where a Portnoyless Dream Theater will be going in the future and their fans will be desperate for them to smash it out of the park.

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05/12/2013 0

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Image courtesy of Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Ben Stiller is a hard actor to like. When you look back over his filmography there is an awful lot of crap. Even his supposed good films, aren’t really that good. However, his latest effort seems to be outside his normal remit. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is an adaptation of a short story that was originally made into a film in 1947. In it’s current incarnation it has been around for a long time with it having been in line to be directed by everyone from Spielberg to Ron Howard. While Jim Carrey and Sacha Baron Cohen are just two of the actors who have been in line to play the central character. It has finally come to fruition however, with Stiller fulfilling both roles.

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04/12/2013 0

Children of Bodom – Halo of Blood

It wasn’t that long ago that Children of Bodom were one of the next big things in heavy metal. They perfected a melodic death metal sound that was winning them fans left right and centre. Sadly things begun to go a bit pear shaped, as personal problems and a few dud albums left quite a lot of people scratching their heads wondering what had happened to the Finnish maestro’s. With that in mind latest release Halo of Blood has a lot of pressure on it’s shoulders as it seeks to prove that Alexi Lahio and co still have it.

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02/12/2013 0

Hactivist w/ The Algorithm and Incyte at Electric Circus Edinburgh, 30/11/13

Hacktivist at Electric Circus. Credit: Stuart Iversen

Hacktivist are a band that have thrown themselves into the metal worlds conscience in the last couple of years and made one hell of a bang. Combining the down-tuned eight string guitars of the djent movement with grime and hip hop vocals is something that will make many traditional metal heads grind their teeth in anger and the truth is it appears to either inspire hatred or love from most that hear it.

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02/12/2013 0

Sonisphere announcement

So Sonisphere is back after their forced leave of absence in the last two years. It’s forty years since rock and roll first came to Knebworth and they are obviously pulling out all the stops to make sure this time they stick around. A very average Download line up might help them a little bit too.

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02/12/2013 0

Saving Mr Banks

Going near Mary Poppins should be a kiss of death to any film. Few films are so ingrained into the heart of the world than Robert Stevenson and Walt Disney’s blend of live action and animation. However, not many films can claim to have Emma Thompson and Tom Hanks on board and with John Lee Hancock (The Blind Side) manning the helm it may just be possible for Saving Mr Banks to do the impossible.

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02/12/2013 0