Over the last few years I've started to pay attention to animated short films. It's probably the perfect thing for a lazy person like me who can't seem to sit through a whole movie at home. For some reason a 90 minute movie can weirdly become a 3 hour chore.
For any Disney and/or Pixar fan you'll know that their shorts premiere before their feature films. Get a Horse played before Frozen, Paperman before Wreck-it Ralph, The Blue Umbrella before Monsters University etc. It's no different when it comes to Pixar's Lava (2015) and Walt Disney Animation's Feast (2014). Disney and Pixar shorts are known for their memorable characters and beautiful scores. I sometimes wonder how in the world they made me care so much for an umbrella of all things! Don't even get me started on how much I love the music in Paperman! Although these Feast and Lava are still relatively unknown and some time away, slowly and surely Disney and Pixar have been releasing little glimpses to tease us for what's to come.
I had originally planned to write on a completely different subject this week, however, Tokio Hotel just happened to release their new video for second single Girl Got a Gun from their long awaited album (I'm talking 5 years here!) Kings of Suburbia.
The boys have announced that they will be releasing three singles before the whole album becomes available in early October. The first single released was the very un-Tokio Hotel song, Run Run Run. Now I admit, upon hearing the song for the first time, I wasn't quite sure. My favourite TH songs had always had more of a rock feel and I loved the messages in the lyrics. It took a while for the song to grow on me but eventually I was able to accept that a lot can change in five years. They grew up in that time so naturally the music should be different.
I know a fair bit of TH fans were disappointed upon hearing Run Run Run as Georg and Gustav (the G's) seem to have been excluded. The music video released shortly after only featured the twins; Tom on the piano with a cigarette close by, and Bill sitting on a speaker wearing insanely high heels and sporting a short, blonde look - significantly different from the mohawk and lion's mane us fans were used to. The video is completely in black and white with a play on light. Bill's voice sounds quite different although it's probably the result of some auto-tune. The lyrics however did seem to have some resonance with the past TH but it still took some getting used to.
Now, onto Girl Got a Gun. The single was released last week and I was thrilled to have it pop up on my phone that morning. I was a bit disappointed at the song length (2mins 46? Really?) but in any case, having earlier accepted that TH have changed, I took to this song more easily. It certainly didn't sound like anything that they'd done before but it was catchy - especially considering the chorus only consists of the words "Girl got a gun, girl got gun gun gun, girl got a gun, girl got a gun, bang bang" repeated over an over. It's like some strange tongue twister! The rhythm and beat are pretty good so no complaints there.
Naturally, having taken to the song, I simply could not wait until the release of the video! In my head I was picturing the production that was Automatic or Monsoon. I had been obsessively checking YouTube and their website until they finally announced that it would be release on the 23rd of September.
My Everything is Ariana Grande's sophomore album following Yours Truly (2013). I'm not going to bring up another singer who is known for her crazy pipes because frankly I know a lot of people are pretty sick and tired of the comparisons. But alas, Ariana has some crazy vocals that many humans are incapable of. Her rise to fame was a result of appearing on Broadway, numerous Nickelodeon entities and a successful YouTube channel. I liked Yours Truly because of the throwback feel with doo-wops and beautiful harmonies so there were high expectations coming into My Everything. Keep reading for a track-by-track breakdown of the songs on the standard edition!
I've been on a bit of a concert spree it would seem although the two concerts could not have been more different! As many of you will have read, the week before last I attended the Queen + Adam Lambert concert and last Thursday I attended...Andrea Bocelli. I have a bit of a weird taste in music, I like pretty much everything including some good old fashioned classical and opera.
My mum and I attended the concert together as she quite likes her operatic pop (she's a big Il Divo fan). We got all dressed up in our nice clothes and, with hot chocolates in hand, climbed up in the dark to our seats which, though fairly high up, gave an amazing view of the stage. The first difference that struck me was the kind of crowd present. People were drinking wine instead of beer (not that really makes you any more sophisticated in all honesty) and dressed in formal wear instead of rocker gear. Most significantly though, there were no angry drunk people...a welcome change! When we entered the stage was lit with a reddish glow and an entire, fully fledged orchestra was seated with their instruments with the conductor in front and a large choir of approximately a hundred at the back. I found this quite surprising as I expected maybe a few musicians on stage, or even just a soundtrack! But nope, full orchestra. It was quite spectacular.
An "I Want" song is a monologue of sorts that defines what the character uhhh wants. For protagonists it's usually the start of the hero's journey and shows us what their main goal for the movie will be. Villains can have "I Want" songs too ahem HELLFIRE. But since I've already made a post about villain songs, we'll be focusing on our beloved heroes! As always, this is all my own opinion and just the order of songs that I prefer. Also, I had a hard time narrowing these down so I'm going to cheat a little bit and have my honourable mentions at the end.
10. One Jump Ahead (Reprise) - Aladdin
Aladdin wants people to find out that there's so much more to him! Unlike it's original, it's much slower and shorter. Part of me wishes it was a bit longer but I even though it's only a few lines long, it's incredibly effective and one of the most memorable scenes in the film. Fun fact, a song called Proud of Your Boy was deleted early on in the development of the movie and it would have made an amazing addition to this list. Fortunately, it made it into the Broadway production and it's pretty much amazing. You can check out Adam Jacobs (Aladdin on Broadway) singing Proud of Your Boy with the legendary Alan Menken on the piano HERE. (Prepare your tissues!)
The arena was packed to capacity. Young and old, everyone was there. My brother and I sat together in the right section of the arena, me in my darker-than-normal eyeliner, (p)leather jacket and with a bottle of coke in hand (as always), and my brother as expressionless as ever. The stage was bathed in a purplish glow with the Queen logo printed on the sheet that was hiding the stage from view.
Our view of the stage!
Despite being quite high up in the stands, the view was something (although I could have done without the speakers blocking some of the screen). With a crowd of uh...older...people who possibly haven't been to a concert since the 80s, there was some unrest at around 8pm when the band was supposed to grace the stage. They clearly aren't used to the waiting game artists like to play with us. We even had a delightful older gentleman (who was probably drunk before he got there) who began to shout very loudly "WHY ARE WE WAITING?"...stay tuned, this guy becomes important later.
by Daniela Check out Part 1 of The Legend of Korra Season Wrap-Up HERE
Deaths and Almost Deaths
I almost counted my almost death in this section because I
think my heart stopped about 50+ times in that finale.
Let’s start it off with the Earth Queen being left
breathless after Zaheer air bends the air out of her lungs. Insert Zaheer's monologue about the world entering into darkness here. This is the first
time we actually get to see air bending used in a deadly way. You could say
it’s the air equivalent to blood bending. It shows that Zaheer is definitely not messing about when it comes to taking out the world leaders! I never liked the Earth Queen. How
could you like her after finding out she ate Bosco and baby bison?! As
unlikeable as she was, I was still pretty shaken by her death.
by Daniela
First thing's first... WOAH! Daniela missed her Thursday post! My apologies dear readers, my personal life went a bit haywire and week 6 of university happened. You get the jist. But better late than never! This week I've come to you with a behemoth of a post that I've been planning on writing for a while. It's so big that I even had to split it into 2 posts! Look out for part 2 tomorrow!
After months and months of silence, Avatar fans finally got their third season of The Legend of Korra! I've tried to summarise my thoughts about key characters/plots below in an (un)organised fashion. I'd also like to mention that this was written in collaboration with my friend Rosie who helped me come up with some points and remember details that I completely missed.
*WARNING: The Legend of Korra - Book 3 spoilers ahead!*
I liked Book 1 but found that there was too much romance for my liking. Book 2 was alright but sometimes the plot
was just too confusing. Book 3 is by far the best season of The Legend of Korra
to date. It's darker, gritter and on par with the standard that its predecessor set. Although predictable, it has the best plot, characters and animation of any of the books.Team Avatar is back and up against Zaheer and the
Red Lotus. Since Book 2, Korra has lost her connection with her past lives and
is trying to keep the balance between the spirit and human worlds. She soon
learns about a group of benders lead by Zaheer who have been trying to kidnap
her since she was a child. Armed with his newfound ability to airbend, Zaheer
plans to bring the world into anarchy and end the Avatar cycle for once for
all.
It's no secret that I'm a HUGE Tarantino fan. The man knows how to make a good movie! After years of working as a clerk in a video rental store he certainly picked up a few things about what people like to see in cinema. I tend to see him as the informally educated version of Martin Scorsese. Thus far, Tarantino has yet to make movie I don't like. Admittedly, I was less impressed with Django Unchained than I had been with his other great works like Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction. That being said, you can imagine I was pretty excited when news came out of a possible new film, The Hateful Eight. Now, Tarantino has said that he plans to retire after 60 and for me this is absolutely daunting as he's 51 right now! He better step on that moviemaking lest he deprive us all of his genius.
There is no doubt that Tarantino makes a unique film. He's infamous for the violence and gore but he does so with a sufficient dose of irony to soften the blow (think Mr. Blonde cutting the policeman's ear off while dancing to the "sound of the seventies" on the radio). He also puts great twist on clichéd film plots. If we look at Pulp Fiction, it is completely a mish-mash of stereotypical mafia based story lines. The amazing thing is that even when playing to the stereotype, Tarantino still manages to make it different. I have to say though, one of my favourite things about Tarantino's work is his tendency to play to a non-linear storyline . Both Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs played around with the concept of time which I found very unique and interesting.
Now, onto The Hateful Eight. Much to Tarantino's dismay, an unauthorised copy of his script was published online in January this year. Disappointed and quite angry, it seemed he was scrapping the film for good. Fortunately for avid fans like myself, Tarantino recovered and decided he would make The Hateful Eight after all. So far, it appears the film will be about bounty hunters transporting prisoners in 19th century Wyoming. While I wasn't overly keen on his last western, I have a feeling Mr. Tarantino has something excellent in store for us. Already it has been likened to Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction.
Movie poster for "The Hateful Eight"
Always the showman, Tarantino organised a live read of the leaked script at the United Arts Theatre. He warned that this was only a first draft and was likely to be subject to change. Nonetheless, the audience was thrilled by a cast including Tarantino veteran Samuel L Jackson, Kurt Russel, Walton Goggins, James Remar, another veteran Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Amber Tamblyn and Bruce Dern. According to a review by The Guardian, the reading was something spectacular and with any luck the film would follow suit.
Late last month, the teaser trailer for the film leaked onto the internet. There is no footage as of yet as shooting has yet to commence but the film is set to be released in December of next year. From the trailer, the names of the 8 have been revealed:
1. Major Marquis Warren - "The Bounty Hunter"
2. John Ruth - "The Hangman"
3. Daisy Domergue - "The Prisoner"
4. Chris Mannix - "The Sheriff"
5. Bob - "The Mexican"
6. Oswald Mobray - "The Little Man"
7. Joe Gage - "The Cow Puncher"
8. General Sandy Smithers - "The Confederate"
Tarantino has also announced that the film will be shot in 70mm Super Cinemascope. In all honesty, this doesn't surprise me. Tarantino seems to have a deep distrust of the digital world instead embracing the old filmmaking technologies. I suppose it's an art.
So there we have it! I shall be awaiting December 2015 with great anticipation!
