The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus

The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus

This is the second DVD I chose in the offer, along with “the infidel” and immediately like many other I was drawn in by 2 things:

The Imaginarium Of Dr Parnassus Poster

1.       The ensemble cast. Christopher Plummer, Andrew Garfield, Heath Ledger, Colin Farrell, Jude Law and of course Johnny Depp.

2.       The death of Heath Ledger. Like many people it was upsetting to see one of the worlds finest young actors die, however I wanted to see his performance post Dark Knight, to see if he was as good as he was in the Dark Knight.

When I first saw the trailer I didn’t think very much of it, however my fiancée persuaded me to watch it, unfortunately I was right with my first instincts, the ensemble cast are excellent and the acting that they provide for the viewer is nothing short of excellent, however this is where the positives stop.

I will start with a basic statement which popped into my head within the first 30 seconds:

“OH MY GOD!, THIS IS SO WEIRD”

I looked at my fiancée, she looked at me and we both mouthed

“WHAAAAAAAT THE HELL!”

Now, I know I said I was going to stop with the positives however, the one more positive I will say is that the film is beautiful on a high definition TV (I can’t speak for a standard television). The film is excellently shot and is one of the real stand out things about the movie.

The film isn’t bad, its just weird…………very weird. I think this distracts from the story itself, you are so overwhelmed by what is happening that you completely forget what the story is about.

Basically its about a travelling troupe including Christopher Plummer (Dr Parnassus), Lily Cole (Valentina), Andrew Garfield (Anton) and Vern Troyer (Percy), they each have their own roles, and initially I didn’t understand as to why they were doing what they were doing, until I realised that the characters are in fact portraying God (Christopher Plummer) and his disciples, then the devil pops up in to the story which changes the dynamic, he keeps an eye on this troupe, because God is trying to put together 12 disciples again to what I could gather end the war between good and evil. However Heath Ledger is found hanging from a bridge and God believes he could be a good disciple, however Heath’s character can’t remember anything, thus is useless, until the Devil proposes a game in which the first to 5 souls wins the war, from then on, all different manor of things happen.

It just gets weirder and weirder and weirder. There’s so much weird that its hard to follow.

Unfortunately it had no redeeming qualities, and to be quite honest I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone, because it will just have you asking yourself questions, one of them being:

“Why!”

The Infidel

The Infidel DVD Case

I have wanted to watch this film for quite some time but never got round to it, and as there was nothing new out at my rental store, so I decided to pick up this in a offer, 5 Films for £5, this was the first one I picked up, I didn’t expect much from this film, however I was pleasantly surprised.

Omid Dajlili is the main character in this light hearted tale, of believing that your someone that your actually not, this time in a literal sense, all his life   he has been brought up to be a Muslim, however when his mother dies, he starts to pack her things up and keep the things that he wants, meanwhile his son is due to marry a beautiful woman in which the woman’s mother is about to marry also…….to a Muslim extremist, Omid Dajlili’s son tries to persuade his dad to try and be a “good” Muslim, however while removing the things from his mothers house, he comes across an Adoption certificate in which it shows that he is adopted after 2 Weeks of being born. It turns out that his biological parents are actually “Jewish”.

Unfortunately in the midst of this his wife starts to think that he is cheating, and basically it brings about many hilarious moments, with Omid trying to toil with being Jewish, pleasing the new father-in-law, pleasing his loving and maybe not so supporting family and finally trying to find his biological parents if they are still alive.

The cast is chosen very well, and although the acting doesn’t need to be amazing, it is very well executed and the characters are funny especially, the father and son relationship in the beginning and the relationship between the father and the father-in-law bring some colourful situations to the front of the film.

The film itself I really enjoyed, liked the actors and actresses chosen for the roles, and Omid Dajlili is just as funny as he is in his stand up comedy, its definitely a film you can just relax and watch and like I said I think it will put a smile on your face and you will be glad to have watched it.                                                                                                                                                

New Page COMING SOON!

Have you seen films in the past that you wish you could have an up to date review on, well, I have decided to open up a new page called "Wet Wednesdays", this will show films I have watched lately, but are not new releases.

Im excited about this page opening, due to it allowing more writing time and to gain more confidence in my writing ability, I hope you will share the same enthusiasm.

I have been inspired by "Orange Wednesdays" so I have decided to call it "Wet Wednesdays" for people that dont have the money to go to the cinema or go to the cinema in the rain.

Switchfoot - Vice Verses

 "Vice Verses" Album Cover

So after what I thought was a slight disappointment of an album, “Hello Hurricane”. The next instalment in the band’s career is “Vice Verses”, I was expecting a lot from this album, maybe a little too much. Some of their earlier work are some of my favourite albums of all time, such as, The Beautiful Letdown, it had many stand out songs like I Dare You To Move, Ammunition etc.

So with previous instalments a bit hit and miss, I was hoping for something new and brilliant, however I am disappointed with this album, I have listened to it twice through, and have struggled to find any stand out songs apart from one, “Blinding Light” and maybe “Dark Horse”.

Jon Foreman’s voice is brilliant as ever, and lyrically it is excellent, but there is something missing that I cannot quite put my finger on. The album relies heavily on the bass guitar to carry it through the allotted time, which has changed their normal method of executing the albums in which they have produced.

I can’t quite tell what it is lacking, but its something that is integral to the album being successfully, maybe if I listen to it a few more times it may grow on me but for the time being, I cant see it redeeming itself any time soon unfortunately.



Switchfoot



Like I said, I don’t think there is enough stand out qualities for this album to be successfully, however it won’t stop me from buying their future albums because, before this album they have made some amazing ones, maybe they are going through a transitional stage.

Vice Verses Track Listing

1. "Afterlife"
2. "The Original"
3. "The War Inside"
4. "Restless"
5. "Blinding Light"
6. "Selling the News"
7. "Thrive"
8. "Dark Horses"
9. "Souvenirs"
10. "Rise Above It"
11. "Vice Verses" 
12. "Where I Belong"

Gears of War 3

So here we are……..the end of the road for Delta Squad. This time out Marcus is looking for his dad, Santiago has grown a full blown hobo beard, Cole has shaved his head and Baird, well he is still good ol’ cocky Baird.  Delta Squad has a few new additions as well, Anya, Jace, and yet another Carmine. These new additions really help you to understand what the characters are going through and that the COG forces are really stretched and are struggling to save humanity itself.

The lambent have taken over from the horde, but for how long Im not too sure, I have a funny feeling the horde are back somewhere in the game, I’ve yet to see them yet. (Im only on Act I Chapter 4). This time it’s even longer with each act consisting of 6 Chapters and there are 5 Acts.

Delta Squad

Anyway, so what has been improved on this year? Well funnily enough the graphics look 10 times sharper than usual, the visuals in the videos are excellent and some of the best on 360 and in game visuals are top notch too. After playing LA Noire with EA’s new technique of making sure the characters say the words with its mouth rather than just making there mouth move, no game has really touched the same ground as it stands on, although GOW this year isn’t using the same technique, it doesn’t fall to short from it, the lip sync is very good and its nice to see EPIC giving it a good bash and trying to make the characters seem more real. The expressions on their faces are excellent and you can truly tell how they feel and what they are going through.

Marcus Fenix

One of the largest features they have improved on and it may sound mundane from the start, however it really helps your experience, there is now a new menu system in which you can look at what level you are depending on how well you have done in previous campaigns (GOW 1 & 2) and depending on how well you have/are done/doing in GOW 3’s Campaign and Multiplayer depends on how much XP you have, (the Highest Level being 100 an d lowest level 1). Not only does it hold this feature but you can see how far you have progressed to getting your achievements, you can see the Medals and Ribbons you have attained in doing certain things in multiplayer (i.e. Get 2 Quick Kills : The Double!). This feature is an excellent addition and pops up on the screen when you have completed a particular task. As an added incentive players that have completed certain achievements and previous campaigns in GOW 1 & 2 are rewarded very well, I personally love this feature as it shows to other players what you have done, without looking at your achievements (I.E. complete campaign on highest difficulty and receive a particular Gun Skin or even a costume such as Cole wearing his thrashball uniform instead of cog uniform). Also in the menu system is the ability to quickly track where you are in the leader boards for all those people that want to game competitively. All in all there is something for everyone.

There are some new guns in the game, some of them I have no idea what they do as I have had no experience in wielding them:

Retro Lancer (with a Charging Bayonet)

Sawn-Off Shotgun

One Shot (The Ultimate Sniper Rifle)

Incendiary Grenade

The Digger Launcher

The Multi-Turret

Xbox 360 Cover

The multiplayer part of the game has continued on its brilliant route of being some of the best online experience in gaming. A few old maps have returned with great relief, one of my favourite maps of all time has returned; Gridlock except with a twist, it’s at night.

 There are now 6 game modes online:

-          Team Deathmatch

-          Warzone

-          Capture The Leader

-          King Of The Hill

-          Wingman

-          Execution

EPIC have also brought back casual mode for people to get used to the way GOW is played online.

Another mode has been added for online which is called Beast mode, which requires you to team up as the Horde/Lambent to take on Waves of COG Soldiers and heroes, so essentially it’s the same as the returning Horde mode except you are the horde rather than the COG, which I think is a nice twist to the mode.

I won’t be speaking much about the campaign as everyone knows what the campaign is about and what it has to offer, however I will say one thing and that is, from what I have seen it is ironically EPIC.



Anya



So overall, so far from what I have seen, it is an excellent addition and easily the best from the GOW Series, hopefully the ending will be as epic as the beginning. The graphics are outstanding and the new additions to the game modes and weapons are excellent and welcomed with great respect. I am really looking forward to playing the rest of the campaign and getting some good hours online.

Graphics: 9/10
Storyline: 10/10
Sound: 10/10
Replayability: 10/10
Overall: 9.5/10

Dead Island



I have kept an eye on this game for a very long time, so I was highly relieved when it was finally released last week, with it, I know came a lot of exposure and hype, just like another big title coming out on Tuesday (20/09/2011). Unfortunately commercial reviews have been none to good as to what the game has to offer (Eurogamer = 3/10), however, I am here to say otherwise.



After many shops, I was finally able to find a copy of this game, which is a story in itself. Going into gamestation was highly entertaining finding out that they had got their hands on 4 copies that morning but had sold out with in 30 minutes. I then travelled to CEX (a copycat of Cash Converters) and found a special edition copy, stood up on the shelf. All. On. Its. Lonesome. My luck was in, because straight after, a couple walked in behind me, the young girl said to her partner:

 “Well Dead Island is gonna be in the D section so lets try there first”



Im going to be completely honest and say, I’ve never kept hold of a game that tight to the side of my body in my whole entire life, it paid dividends because I didn’t get robbed or shot for it.

Cinematic Trailer (one of the best trailers EVER!)

So, I got home and unwrapped the game and put it into the disk tray, at first you are introduced to a first person trailer in which they show that you are a drunken individual, when you clamber upon a stage with a rapper chanting:

“Voodoo your hoodoo, B****”

Believe me this is the most entertaining song I have come across in a game, you will find yourself bobbing along to it as it is very catchy (I’m singing it now as I write this) . Eventually you end up in your hotel room after seeing very and I mean very small glimpses of the virus already taking over that night, for instance you witness a woman dying on the floor In the toilet with what will be one of the main characters in the game and you also see a woman jump on a mans back and bite his neck, but obviously your character isn’t bothered because he/she are drunk.

From your hotel room, you are left to survive on your own with what ever is around, you can literally pick up anything that remotely looks like a weapon, for instance my first weapon was an oar from a kayak or canoe (your choice).

What Your Up Against!!

Now this is when some of the reviews started flooding my brain, I remember saying that the indoor graphics are awful, maybe I was playing a different game because the graphics I was seeing were pretty decent considering how large the map is with no loading times, better than Deus Ex in some parts, especially the lights when they flash on and off giving that horror effect.

So my first encounter with the undead was pretty much straight after getting out of a lift, all I saw was them feasting on some poor corpse on the floor, then unfortunately they heard my foot steps and all I here over my radio is, “RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN” (there is a guy watching you on the CCTV in an office helping you for the first five minutes).

What are the undead like? Well put it this way, if you don’t have a weapon with runners (Zombies that sprint) then say good bye, and I must admit they are a little scarier than the ones in “Left 4 Dead” partly because rather than having an LMG, I had a wooden stick which really isn’t going to do much, which in turn gives you a sense of urgency rather than the idea of just mowing everything down in your path. You have to survive. I would say that the zombies are much better than the ones in “Left 4 Dead” and are much scarier on this factor.

One of the ugly Horde!

So back to the graphics department, you walk outside and it literally is a paradise, the water is beautiful, the palm trees look wonderful and the hotel, well it looks like you have just walked out into Dubai. Quite simply it is a beautiful map, so where these reviewers got off with saying that the graphics aren’t good I do not know, maybe they had cataracts, or even a rubbish TV.

Eventually you find your way towards a small building until you are attacked by a female zombie in a bikini, yes there are zombies in bikinis, and there are a lot of them. You wake up with the people in the stronghold, patching you up and also ready to smash your face in with a baseball bat, luckily you are immune to infection. From here you have to missions, or just go around killing zombies on the island and survive against the hordes, it’s entirely up to you.

The free roaming aspect of the game Is my favourite part, I like the fact your not confined to a particular mission, you can just be free to kill zombies and explore the landscape, which is highly intractable, there are people that you can help save from cars or blocked door ways, down to finding someone’s teddy bear (that is one annoying mission, considering the girl is 25 or thereabouts). I have heard there are day-night cycles in the game but I have not witnessed this personally, however I am intrigued to find out. You can also have the option to drive round the island in a vehicle, but you have to find spart plugs for the car in which Hank the mechanic can fix.

Part of Paradise!

The way the missions are set out is extremely clever. After listening to the individual giving you the mission, your player holds up a bit of paper with the objectives, amount of XP you can earn and the difficulty of the mission (Very Easy, Easy, Medium, Hard, Very Hard), you can say yes or no to these missions too, you can also see all of the missions available and completed by pressing the back/select button depending on which console.

In the back/select menu you can also see a full map of the island (darkened space = space you HAVEN’T explored, lightened space = space you HAVE explored), an inventory of all the things you can trade with online partners and particular NPC’s (Wayne and others), your weapons: how damaged they are, if they can be upgraded, what special attacks they can do etc. and finally abilities that you can upgrade by gaining XP from killing zombies in particular ways (i.e. Decapitation). The skills range from picking locks faster and breaking doors down to hitting things harder with more damage and accuracy, this is a large aspect of the game in which you need to use, because as you level up you fight against zombies of the same level and higher (i.e. You = Level 4, Zombie = Level 4) all of the info is located above the enemies head when attacking.



Barbed Wire 2 x4



Another great aspect about this game is that you can join another persons game at any time, so if another player is in the vicinity of your player or story mode then the game will let you know and you can opt to join there game (same way as they can opt to join you), I love this aspect as if you are finding a particular part of the game hard you can just find someone to help you out it’s a very interesting part of the game as it changes the dynamic completely, all of a sudden fighting zombies becomes fun as you find different ways to handle with them.

3 Favourite Moments (So Far):

1. Cutting someone’s head off with a meat cleaver and seeing there head flying off their neck and roll in the air with their body squirting blood.

2. Throwing a meat cleaver at a massive zombie it impaling him, then him looking at me and screaming and then him preceding to run at me while the cleaver is in his chest. Not Good!

3. Kicking a zombie to death or punching a zombie so hard you break its neck for the first time and the game tells you you’ve broken it.

As you can see from above, the game is full of fun moments and so far, I cant think of anything wrong with the game, even the soundtrack is spot on, I can completely understand as too why it is sold out everywhere, and I tell you now, find a copy as soon as you can because they is a lot of fun to be had. It’s finally good to see that word of mouth has completely crushed all the critic’s views, because for not the first time in history, they are completely wrong about this game. GET YOUR COPY NOOOW!

Graphics:  8/10

Storyline: 9/10

Sounds: 9/10

Replayability: 9/10

Overall: 9/10

Next game reviews: Gears of War 3 or FIFA 12

Insidious

Like a lot of people, I love everything about the horror genre from the violence right down to the bare bones of the soundtrack, however I was unsure whether I would enjoy this film, and still since watching it I am unsure of what my overall opinion is. There are blindingly scary moments in this film, and there are some down right hilarious moment’s as well (non-intentional).



He Looks............Hungry!!



I will start with the basics, the films starts with the introduction of Renai and Josh the main protagonists of the story and also parents too 3 “angelic”, well at least 2 of them are angelic, I personally cannot speak for the 3^rd child, I will leave that assumption to you, the viewer. They have recently moved to this new “beautiful house” in what seems a really quiet town. There is no real back story to why they have moved, but we are told that they have come for a fresh start.

The beginning of the film starts off slow and suspenseful (not in a bad way either) always keeping you on the toes waiting for something to happen. Renai plays a creepy and creaky piano with sheet music which is where the first layers of the film are produced, she starts to look for this particular box that they have moved with, but cannot seem to find it anywhere until she finds it in the dark and dingy attic.

Then things start to get extremely creepy, as the viewer you start wondering if Renai herself is going crazy or something is actually going on in this Haunted House of ridiculously scary “being”. The “old school” baby monitor plays a major part in this film and is where the first creepy incident happens, Renai listens to the monitor as she hears her daughter crying, she also hears a creepy voice along side her child, which freezes her to the ground and you to the seat. Even as I type I have goose bumps even thinking about this scene. The “being” scowls something along the lines of:

         “I want”, “I want him”, “I WANT him”, “I….I…. WANT…………NOOOOOW”

Followed by Renai sprinting up the stairs (at the rate of a snail might I add considering her baby is in the presence of something extremely sinister) however poor Renai hasn’t made it in time and only finds the baby stood up crying.



Insidious Poster



A few more things happen to unsettle the viewer through out, and like I said will have you on the edge of your seat. I won’t tell you too much buts that’s the first half of the film, its all about the suspense and the not knowing what is in the dark corner.

In the second half you finally come to learn what these “beings” are, which is when the film starts to ruin itself unfortunately, now don’t get me wrong the make up is extremely good for a low budget film ($1,500,000). One particular “being” will have you wondering whether or not to ever turn the light off again. However the camera shows rather too much of these “beings” in the light and in your face, and after a while it becomes quite mundane, as you keep seeing the same thing over and over again.



Towards the end of the film it becomes quite out of this world literally, which is where some people find that they might lose there imagination a little bit, due to the use of “Astral Projection” in the film, the film tries to make it all to real, but that and the showing of the beings too much becomes a little……..silly. Never the less, the film has a massive twist towards the end, which will make you think,“Okaaaaaaaaay then”.

James Wan has done a very good job of putting this on the big screen, just like the 1^st SAW (one of my all time favourite films), but may upset a lot of people in the second half of the film, and unfortunately it ruined it for me as it just turned into “just another horror film” which is unfortunate, because this could have been an excellent horror.

One of the main things that keeps this film a float is the amazing soundtrack, the creepy orchestra in the background keeps you on your toes and with out a doubt truly makes the film scary, without this the film would struggle in being scary.

The Visitor

The acting isn’t particularly amazing, probably due to the lack of depth in the script but it is believable, in some scenarios, you just feel like shouting at the screen “WHAT ARE YOU DOING”.

I wouldn’t say to anyone, don’t rent/buy this film. But it does have its faults. Just be prepared to be very, very scared in the first half.

Storyline: (First Half) 8/10 (Second Half) 3/10

Characters: 7/10

Soundtrack: 9/10

Overall:  7/10

FIFA 12 (DEMO) Review



So, its that time of the year that all football-loving-console-loving men and women come together to play the new edition of FIFA that the ever present Electronic Arts (EA) produce, Last year‘s edition I felt was an excellent add on for the ever popular series, however a few small faults stopped it from being the best football game ever created, I am sure you all know exactly what I am talking about.

So, FIFA 12 hits our shelves on September 30^th however, Xbox 360 and PS3 Users have been able to get their hands on the demo, which is what I am about to review.

New Menu In FIFA 12!

Is it any good?………..Well you will notice straight away, the new and improved menu system, rather than being and up and down menu which has been present I believe since 2008 or 2009, they have installed a new side scrolling menu which straight away seems much more responsive than the original, no more waiting to go into career mode forever, because its trying to connect to the EA “Servers”(if you can really call them “servers”, as they are never available).



They have changed the choosing teams screen ever so slightly, with massive 3D HD badges in place of the old 2D badges, although a nice touch is seeing the players in the actual kit of their teams and the kit selection, the hilarity of seeing Manchester City’s Aleksandar Kolarov tower over the likes of Borussia Dortmund’s Shinji Kagawa is incomparable.



Xbox 360 Cover Ft. Wayne Rooney & Jack Wilshere



To the actual game itself then, well straight from kick-off you notice something massive is missing, whether or not it is good or bad is another question though, the continuous holding of the B/Circle buttons has been removed , (I can hear a lot of OH NO’s) but fear not, all is not lost, it immediately make s you think about what you are doing, no longer can you pull a player out of position, if you do prepare to be punished, like  I was , playing as Manchester City Vs Borussia Dortmund (on world class).

 In this year’s edition you have to work for the ball, and boy does it feel like it. At the end of the game I think the possession was 90%to Borussia Dortmund, 10%to Manchester City.

 I had one maybe 2 touches of the ball the whole game, one of them I managed to take it past 2 defenders with a low drive across goal and into the back of the net, that’s what Sergio Aguero can do. It was a sweet hit and it actually felt like I had scored a proper goal, the same way when you went from FIFA 09 to 10 and you scored, a feeling of“Thank god , I scored that, cause Im not gonna get another chance” came over you.

Another great addition to this years FIFA, is the new commentator, yes like everyone else, I breathed a sigh of relief as I heard the beautiful voice of Alan Smith, instead of the boring overused and biased Andy Gray, THANK GOD he has gone, he has absolute no idea on what football is, which is why he like Richard Keys has been relegated to talk sport(Not the fact that he is a sexist idiot). I also know that there will be 2 different teams of commentators like a couple of editions ago this time you don’t have to download the (I think).

Unfortunately, I cannot make a remark on the new physics engine that they have put that allows players to react to their surroundings (I.e. Tackling players) as the teams I played against were particularly quick and good at passing the ball around either that or world class is just rather harder in this years outing.

What else is new………. well the Etihad Stadium (Manchester City’s Home Ground) looks very sparkly and very modern, the graphics are top notch on that side of the game, I haven’t had a chance to take a look at the crowd yet to see if they are still 2D (Most Probably).

So to wrap things up, the demo was a good insight into this years game, I think it was a positive release, however will take some time getting used to, having to be more tactical than all out attack, I personally love the new tactical style and it will definitely make the attackers think about what they are doing, with teams like Barcelona who can counter attack lightening quick they will destroy lower teams, like real life to be honest. Try it out ASAP and see what you think.

Tricorn



I have been waiting for this album for what seems like a millennia, I have heard lots and I mean lots of positive reviews for this self-titled album from “Tricorn”, however I have unfortunately not been able to get my hands on a copy……………Until now!

Simon On Drums!

The band consists of 4 members, Nero – Lead Vocals, Constantine – Lead Guitar, Paxo –Vocals and Rhythm Guitar and finally Simon – Drums, From what I have seen personally they are an extremely close band, a band of brothers you could say, and it shows in their debut album, each one complimenting the other, from Nero’s hard and gravelly vocals, to Paxo and Constantine’s electrifying riffs continuing on with Simon’s pace setting drums. Astonishingly this album took 6 Days to record on tour in Greece, in such a short space of time they have managed to create a solid rock album, in which a lot of bands should take notice of what they have done.



The album itself consists of 8 tracks, in which the pace doesn’t stop, one of the first things I noticed about this album when listening to it, is that they have taken part of modern rock with the vocals and gone back to old school rock with the Riffs and Drumming, My first thought was, “I could really see myself head bang to this”, its one of those albums that you can just let loose and listen to, no over the top vocals with screaming which is incomprehensible, just Pure Stoner Rock, with fantastic accompaniment  from the drumming and real deep, low guitars, it really gives  a gritty feel to the album, Simply put this album is the way rock should be.





Tricorn Album Cover

The track listing goes as follows:

1. Step Outside

2. Give Me Some More

3. Therapist

4. Where Did It Go

5. Life Again

6. Crawl

7. Girl Lets Ride

8. Momentum

My favourite tracks and the ones I think stand out the most are “Step Outside” and “Give Me Some More” and “Girl Lets Ride”. The main reason for this is I believe that  these songs set the tone for the rest of the album and like I said , you get a real good head banging vibe and a let loose feeling come over you when listening to not only these 2 songs, but all of the others too. With some of the songs I felt parts of it were reminiscent with bands like “Queens of the Stone Age” and Legends “Motorhead”, which in turn showed me, that the band has confidence in their own ability and song writing skills.




Mikkey D (Motorhead) with Tricorn Album

 



Overall I believe that this is an excellent start to, hopefully what will prove to be a very long and fruitful career for the quartet, this band is definitely one to watch. I have a funny feeling this could be the start of something very special, especially with a debut as strong as this.



If you feel like contacting the band or even going to one of their shows then feel free to look at their website:

http://www.tricornband.com/

                                                  Tricorn - Give Me Some More (Video)

The Inbetweeners Movie

Will, Simon, Jay & Neil
(From Left to Right)

So the 4 rapscallions that are: Will, Simon, Jay and Neil are back on our screens, this time of the 180” kind. After seeing this advertised for quite some time, I managed to pucker up the courage to watch the 3 series “straight” with my fiancée. Just before I started watching the first series I had reservations of what it was going to be like, for some reason I had the idea that it would be an awful attempt at comedy, however I was pleasantly surprised and what I thought would be a whim actually turned into something addictive. Although childish, I found the 3 Series, somewhat refreshing as it was something I could relate to from when I was at school, (I sound like a right old man there).

With Will being Brainy and Sarcastic, Simon falling haplessly in love with every girl he sees and being extremely horrible to his loving mother, Jay being the crude one and Neil being the dumb lovable rogue type with his possibly gay father. The mix of cast is excellent and its nice to see some up and coming talent, which unfortunately our TVs are not used to due to being covered with crap like the “Only Way Is Essex”, and the sad excuse for a show they call “Big Brother”, it goes from bad to worse when our media will brand them with names like “Famous” and “Reality Star”, but that’s a whole other story/blog and the rest they say is history.

So back to the Inbetweeners. I enjoyed the first 3 series, I was disappointed with the fact that there were only 6 episodes per series but grew to understand that they must have had the movie in their minds the whole time filming, so in order for the characters to grow they had to slow the amount of time that each series took up (in terms of in front of camera time).

Anyway, one of the first things you notice about the film is that it has a good budget for a TV series, firstly showing off the camera work (which could possibly be CGI too) buzzing round the town that they all live in and secondly with the setting of most of the film being in Malia, apart from that its pretty much just like the TV series, accept with a lot more punch lines and many, many more embarrassing moments.

The basic premise of the film is basically for 5 whole weeks the lads have been living their lives as normal apart from the fact that Simon has finally managed to bag the love of his life Carly Di Marco, that is until 30 seconds into the film, she suggests that they break up as they are both going to universities, so with some highly comedic moments the lads decide to take Simon to Malia to find someone that could help him to get over her, however there are many problems in the way, One of them being Carly also being in Malia at the same time, something Neil forgot to mention.
So, once the film had ended I was gutted to remember that this would be the final thing they did together as a group, as there is no Series 4, hopefully they will change their mind as the film is an excellent addition to the already funny series, and you get to know the characters even more. If you have ever been on a lads holiday or a ladies holiday (if that’s the right wording) then you can completely understand what they go through as a group, you can’t help but laugh and feel sorry for them at the same time.

The soundtrack is awesome with many classic songs from club nights and some golden oldies in there too, I would definitely like to see if they release an official soundtrack, it would definitely sell well.

In the end its one of those films I would definitely recommend to everyone apart from the grandparents, they might find quite a few scenes offensive. I would even go to far as to say you could watch the film on its own and not worry about the series, but they both compliment each other extremely well. On the whole an excellent film, one of those Friday night films with a beer (or rose for the young lady) and some pizza.

Storyline: 8/10

Soundtrack: 9/10

Characters: 10/10

Overall Rating: 9/10

Josh BRCB

Next Movie Review: ?????????(Coming Soon)

An Old Review: Linkin Park - A Thousand Suns

A Thousand Suns

Before I start this review, I want everyone to know that I am a hardcore supporter of Linkin Park; they are my all time favourite band.

When I first got this album I was expecting something similar to Hybrid Theory for some peculiar reason, especially how "Minutes to Minute" was in some places a very slow album, however Linkin Park have changed their tune and have evolved in to something more powerful and greater.

Their song writing skills have absolutely hit the heights in this album, when I heard this album for the first time i didnt enjoy it because it wasn't the linkin park i was used to, after some deliberation i decided to relisten to it, after listening to it for a 2nd, 3rd and 4th time, each time it descended upon my ears, i realised something incredible, something i have never realised with an album, THIS IS ART!

From the melodic and deep "Robot Boy" to the more upbeat "Waiting for the End" through to the electrifying and outstanding performance of "Blackout" then to the rapping "Wretches and Kings" all the way to the end with the excellent closing of "The Catalyst", the album is just unbelievable.

The opening speech by Oppenheimer and the haunting voice of the girl that sings about a thousand suns really add to the depth of this album and really give a feel to the album that other has ever had in my opinion.

I really commend linkin park for not being a sell out and commercial band. they have handed us what i truly believe to be, a piece of modern art, this is something that should be praised by critics.

Do not buy this album if you want Nu Metal like their original stuff, its nothing like that, its nothing like anything done before, believe me if you want to take the leap of faith alongside Linkin Park, go ahead because you will be brought into something so surprising, it will just make you happy and smile.

Well Done Linkin Park :-)

First Review: Deus Ex: Human Revolution

Hello World Wide Web, this is my first review on the masterpiece that is:

Deus Ex: Human Revolution

Right from the beginning of this game, you could tell that the developers have put a massive amount of effort in to making this game a force to be reckoned with, I had watched as many trailers as I possibly could to gain all the inside info I needed to get a head start in playing this game.

The first thing I noticed about the trailers was that the graphics were first rate and really set the standards for FMVs in and outside of games, So when I put the disc in, I was thoroughly disappointed to say the least that the graphics weren’t even half as good as they were in the trailer, now I know that the trailers weren’t real gameplay but I had the unusual thought process of thinking;



Adam Jensen = Badass!



"WOW if they can spend the money on the trailers to make the graphics look that good then I really cannot wait for the real thing."

However, do not, I repeat, DO NOT let this deter you from this game what so ever, this is where the disappointment stops, Right from the get go you are thrust in to the life of the protagonist, "Adam Jensen", straight away you can see after all the years of playing shoot em ups and other first person games, that this is the way you wanted the character to look in all of the other games you have played, to put it bluntly, HE......IS......BADAAAAAAASSSSS!

So you’re going along doing your day to day duties of being Chief of Security when the company you are employed by (Sarif Industries) is attacked by unknown assailants. I wont go into much more detail about the story line, as its not a predictable storyline, and although I believe to be just past the half way line myself, I believe that the story manages to keep you on the edge the whole way through, you don’t know who to trust and who to kill and not to kill, which is a massive feature of this game.

Xbox 360 Front Cover

One of the first things I recognised about the gameplay was that with each action there is a consequence, Cause and Effect, its a fantastic feature which implies that you are living in the shoes of Adam for real, One of the prime examples of these feature happens within the first five minutes of the game being turned on, I am called to my bosses office to go over the outlines of the mission I am about to embark on(something about augmented people taking a office block hostage), but instead I decide to look round the building see what I can find and see whose office I can hack into, well game time and real time pass, then I get this angry message from my boss saying in short, "Damn it Adam, the police are angry you took to long and now they are all dead, we need you to go in there to help one of our people out, NOW GET IN THERE!" So I thought to myself, damn I better get going, I arrive 2 mins later by air craft and the first police officer I see, is hacked off because I took to long, I eventually get into the office block after being grilled by the force and there they are all the hostages, dead. Another good example is I helped someone out of a sticky situation, by giving this person a gun, later on while I am escaping from a building he wires 2000 credits to my account, Happy Days!

Another fantastic feature in the game is also the ability to upgrade specific limbs, to help with particular situations, whether it be being able to withstand the effects of a Gas Grenade or the ability to turn invisible, it is all there, Like the other parts of the game I wont go into to much detail, but, to upgrade you have to buy, find, steal or complete missions to gain something called a Praxis Point, this is the currency you need to improve your bodily functions. So make sure you look through all the desks.

There is also an XP system in place, which doesn’t so much allow you to level up but it rewards you with Praxis Points to upgrade, its a really neat system, you can be rewarded by going into an area of the game which is off the beat and track, like in an air vent or secret room, for not killing someone but incapacitating them, so on and so forth.

A couple more things, the game has been laid out so you can either go crazy with guns and your augments or you can go the whole game without killing or incapacitating a single enemy, hence the100G achievement on Xbox 360 for not killing a single person (apart from the boss battles). The inventory system is a nice addition to the game however has been used several other times by Resident Evil and other games. (You maybe familiar with this particular system). The soundtrack is amazing and nothing short of mesmerising, it really captures the moments throughout.

So to wrap things up on my first review,Deus Ex: Human Revolution, like a lot of high budget games with a monumental amount of history, brought with it, a massive pile of hype, and thankfully it lived up to it and by some peoples standards excelled it. Thank you for reading my first review and I hope you have enjoyed it.

Graphics: 8/10
Storyline: 9/10
Sound: 10/10
Replayability: 9/10
Overall: 9/10

Josh BRCB

Next Game Review: Dead Island or FIFA 12