This. Is. My. Jam!. Family Business has to be one of my
favourite Kanye songs, if not one of my favourite songs of all time. The beat,
the lyrics, the emotion – dude even admits he used to pee in the bed. And he
makes it sound cool. He makes it sound cool. Deep. Anyway, enjoy this throwback
to the early noughties, and if you know who “Stevie” is, please let me know.
Review by Reesh - Follow me on Twitter! I won't bite! Well, maybe a little - @MrReesh
Like any
non-Bonder, when I first heard of the movie Skyfall
I instantly thought “ENH? A FILM ABOUT RAIN?” but despite the weather right now
being rather... skyfally in that sense, Skyfall, Daniel Craig’s third (of an
alleged five as I hear) Bond film is an impressive action blockbuster with a
healthy dose of that slick “wanna see me shoot some bad guys in Armani?” Bond
attitude that has come to be a staple of the franchise, but yet not so much
that it becomes annoying.
Epic guerilla advertising!
After a
sufficiently dramatic and action packed opening scene, the film seamlessly
fades into what I can best describe as the colourful-shape-filled-thingamajig
opening credits sequence, much like those found in the last two films. Adele’s
voice takes centre stage with her song Skyfall,
though personally I did not like the song as much as Chris Cornell’s You Know My Name used in Casino Royale.
When we return we are greeted by a jaded M, whose past successes have now been
overshadowed of late by alleged poor decision making and proclamations that she
is now unfit for office. What follows is a somewhat convoluted yet easy to
follow story (even if you haven’t seen much Bond before) that goes heavy on the
action, strong on the coolness and surprisingly light on the romanticism. It
maintains a firm grip on interest from start to its climactic and emotional
finish with help from the often EPIC fighting set-pieces, and dialogue which is
largely interesting and clichéless – oh, and the occasional wise-guy Bond joke.
The film is
clearly conscious that this, the 23rd Bond film, marks the 50th
anniversary of Bond movies, and therefore has a healthy amount of previous Bond
references, each of which give you a small chuckle when some long dormant part
of your brain that remembers the reference comes to life with it. I felt so
amazingly clever when I caught the Goldeneye
reference, and even more of a genius when I spotted the Casino Royale one – admittedly
it may have been coincidental, but I found it damn it, I found it.
Acting-wise
Daniel Craig’s third Bond is... Bond, as helpful as that sentence may sound; he
is a cool, slick, rough edged man of excellence whose allure for the ladies can
only be matched by his skill in his profession – and he is very freakin’
skilled. Despite this you can’t help but feel as though he has become damaged
as a person, some deep pain within him that causes him to hate his job, yet feel
strangely drawn to it. He deals with that pain with a preferably shaken
cocktail of women, alcohol, and the occasional kill, which makes for an
entertaining character even if he can appear rather bland at times when mixing
with other stern characters in the film.
He looks scarier WITH a nose in my opinion
Other
performances range from average to amazing, with Dame Judi Dench again playing
a marvellous M, who fits so naturally into the role after so long it’s hard to remember
she’s acting. The real star of the movie though was Javier Bardem who put on an
absolutely spectacular performance as the film’s antagonist, whose jubilant
portrayal of a vengeful and hateful enemy gave him an strangely inviting
allure, despite an air of psychosis. His character’s interactions with Bond
were amongst the most interesting exchanges in the movie, as each brought out
the best of each other. Now having only seen a few Bond films myself, I don’t
know many villains in the franchise. However out of all Bond villains I know, I
find him, and his wondrous golden locks, the most memorable, with aspects of
his performance as such a vibrantly colourful villain in an otherwise serious
world drawing similarities to Heath Ledger’s Joker. Additionally Ralph Fiennes (a.k.a.
He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named) provides a great performance in Gareth Mallory, head
of the Intelligence and Security Committee, who felt respectable in his aims
yet sufficiently annoying to make your think “urgh, it’s Mallory” every time he came on screen. However Naomie Harris is surprisingly
dull here; I mean she’s alright, and
there are moments where we get a good bit of life from her, but ultimately it’s
not enough and she appears to fade into the grey of the Bond world upon which
Bardem sits with a rainbow crown and purple unicorn.
Locations
were used marvellously throughout the movie, with places including a busy
market in Turkey, a ridiculously fancy casino in Shanghai and of course –
London. As an incredibly proud Londoner, one thing I really loved about the
film was its use of prominent London locations and tube stations, it really
gave the film an edge of realism for me, as though if I had bothered to turn up
for a lecture at uni one morning I would have been in the background. They even
slide down an escalator! Do you know how long I’ve wanted to do that??? Now I
know all I’ve gotta do is get a job with the MI6, ascend the ranks and
participate in two movies worth of fights and stuff - simple enough. Of course
those overseas or not experienced in Central London’s geography won’t get the
same effect, though all of the locations are used well enough for you to still
get a sense of atmosphere, allowing you to get comfortably lost in the
experience.
Brooms typically make terrible marksmen
However
there are points where things just seem to go too well for Bond, to the point where you look at the film and
think “James, that wouldn’t happen” or “James, if you tried that in real life
you’d either be dead or incredibly dead”. There was even a point where Bond
pulls off a kill I’m pretty sure would be physically
impossible, assuming that we share the same planet as Bond if not the same
dimension. Additionally the film has the occasional outbreak of movie-shooting,
where people appear to miss very, very easy shots on significant characters, despite
them not aiming like a blind wombat with broomsticks for arms earlier in the
film. While it’s clear the character simply cannot die at this point, it would
have been better to avoid using such a frustratingly obvious tactic to allow him
to escape.
Skyfall is pretty much what you expect from
a modern Bond film, but done really
well. Some of the action sequences are actually amazing, while Bardem and Dench’s
performance could very much net the franchise’s first Oscar for acting. And I’m
saying this even though wouldn’t even say that I’m a Bond fan as such – but I still
highly enjoyed it, and highly recommend giving this one a watch even if hasn’t
crossed your mind to before. Now here I would insert a joke about the film
being shaken and not stirred or something clever like that, but it’s like 5am
as I’m writing this so I feel to just write something random like “potato”.
However I’ll leave you with a video of Coke Zero’s Skyfall ad campaign, which has to be one of the greatest I’ve ever
seen – enjoy.
Skyfall Official Teaser trailer (The full official trailer is available on SonyPictures' channel, though to me it gives away a bit too much):
Review by Reesh - Follow me on Twitter! I won't bite! Well, maybe a little @MrReesh
Cover art inspiration?
There will be thousands of them. Who? I’ll tell you who: children conceived to Kaleidoscope Dream, Miguel Pimentel’s sharp and sexy sophomore album, that’s who.
This time
around Miguel isn’t playing any games; he’s matured his content, settled on a
single distinct “Neo-RnB” sound that resonates through the whole album, and
even got a new hairstyle to waft at fans. While the cover may look vaguely like
what happens when your computer freezes and you move a window around, what lies
beneath is an album which is rich in quality, unique in sound and definitely
worth purchasing.
Kicking off
with Adorn, Miguel’s silken voice
manages to set a seductively steamy tone which he manages to maintain throughout
the entire LP, despite varying subjects and instrumentals. His vocal mastery is
becoming readily apparent; he appears to shift effortlessly between notes all
the while retaining a clean, jazzy, James Brown-esque voice in every track. Now
this brings me to a major point – Miguel is different.
Sure he falls into the lately emerging paradigm of “Neo-RnB”, however he
manages to carve his own little niche here, as he mixes a flawless falsetto
with cashmere vocals and edgy production to produce an album that sounds
rugged, imaginative, and soulful.
Though the
entire album is worth a listen, to me particular songs show off particular high
points. The Happy Perez (producer of Sure
Thing) & Miguel produced Don’t
Look Back features a powerful distorted drumline and enigmatic composition
that fits perfectly with the forboding lyrics and give it a tone which feels
almost criminal. Meanwhile in the far lighter How Many Drinks? Miguel’s falsetto seamlessly fuses with Salaam
Remi’s shiny rhodes-induced instrumental in such a beautiful way I could swear
I saw Bambi do a dougie on a rainbow as I listened to it. He also does a sly
rap here - nothing too fancy, but he manages to do it without causing the
slightest cringe. Additionally in Gravity
Miguel utilises a more classically RnB sound with just a hint of 80s to produce
an infectious head-bopper, which feels more fun against his backdrop of serious
songs.
The Codfather fears no man
Lyrics-wise
Mr Pimentel is also on point. He manages to add an inspiring degree of coolness
to some more obvious lines “I’m gonna do you like drugs tonight” and while some
topics may be a bit - how can I say this lightly - sextastic, he manages to keep it listenable by even some more
sensitive ears though a mental “lololol did he just say that” may just come through.
There are of course some very obvious puns made “When I’m there you treat a
n*gga real good, and that’s probably why I always come”, but nothing so bad
that it moves from the serious atmosphere of the album and into the realms of comedic
failure – however in All he does say
something that sounds a lot like “Tell me that you sell fish? BUT DO YOU SELL
FISH?” which makes me think he has a mind to take on the Codfather himself, £1 fish guy from Upton Park.
Most descriptive picture I could find
But of
course it’s not all sunshine and butterflies, as some tracks do appear to drift
off into some strange dimension of needless experimentation. For example the
ending of Don’t Look Back culminates
in a slow and bizarre alien bass-line instrumental which ends up mimicking The
Zombies’ Time of The Season for some
reason. Moreover while the titular song Kaleidoscope Dream attempts to cross
realms with its inherently dreamy sound and high pitch vocals, it doesn’t quite
gather the power or strength to make it there and sort of sits in a sonically
awkward position like a fat man on a particularly narrow bus seat. However as
the rest of the content is so well put together, these points provide mere fast
forward points to exercise your fingers as you move on to the next track.
Overall while Kaleidoscope Dream
may not be heralded by the planet as one of the greatest RnB albums of all
time, it is one of the greatest RnB albums of 2012, which especially in today’s
climate of 4x4 tempo insanity makes it an essential listen for anyone who loves
real RnB, or real music in general. The album is exciting, yet relaxing, and it
is in this oxymoronic realm that Miguel manages to craft something truly
wonderful even if it does have some minor flaws.
