Chimpomatic

Moon

(dir. Duncan Jones)

Great debut from Duncan Jones. Sam Rockwell is coming to the end of a three year solo ops mission on the moon, looking after a Helium-3 mining operation that's supplying the earth with a safe and efficient fuel source. He's kept company by Gertey, a happy-faced robot voiced by Kevin Spacey (apt name for this role), and regular video messages from his family. Of course, there wouldn't be much of a film if we just watched him going about his daily routine for too long without something going wrong up there...

Feels like it's been a while since we had a decent indie sci-fi to enjoy and it's not hard to see why: thanks to juggernaut franchises like The Matrix, Star Wars and Terminator, the genre as a whole has become the preserve of multi-million $$$ operations, relying on huge FX budgets and ear-crushing Dolby to make you believe we're in the future or in a galaxy far, far away from the one that gave us films like Dark Star or Silent Running. Even the original Terminator was a relatively low-budget affair when you look back from the perspective of Terminator: Salvation.

From the start you can tell that Jones hasn't forgotten that sci-fi didn't always equal huge budgets. That's not to suggest that Moon is held together with bits of string. Far from it. Instead, this is a film that's used its bucks wisely - reviving the use of models and carefully constructed sets to create a satisfying, lived-in feel to the lunar base. They've used CGI where needed as well, and the combo is great. From the fonts they've used for Lunar Industries, the corporate space mining operation, to the ceiling tracks that Gertey runs around, you can tell that Jones has distilled a lifetime of space-love into the look and feel here - without forgetting to write an interesting - and relevant story.

This is a film about corporate greed and industrial cynicism as much as it is about personal revelation, loneliness and freaky space oddities - exactly the sort of depth and reach that's been missing from sci-fi for a long time. If you've seen the trailer ("The last place you'd expect to find yourself...") you'll have some idea of the arena its heading into - if you haven't, this would be an ideal film to watch cold; we won't go into the mechanics of the plot here other than to say that the ping-pong scene is a treat, and that Sam Rockwell does a really impressive job as the lunar lander here. Perfectly pitched trippy soundtrack too from Clint Mansell, ex-Pop Will Eat Itself singer. 

A highly enjoyable indie sci-fi that's more than the sum of its references - well worth a trip.

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3rd Jun 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet

Red Riding

(dir. Julian Jarrold)

Channel 4

Got a feeling this is going to be one of the TV highlights of the year. Taken from David Peace's quartet of cult novels, C4's trio of feature-length dramas covers life in Yorkshire during 1974, 1980 and 1983. It's a world infused with the dark spectre of the Yorkshire Ripper, a dark time in the UK's history when police corruption, a pervasive brutality and institutional misogyny all contributed to a background of paranoia while a serial killer ran loose.

It's an atmospheric, sophisticated work, beautifully shot, impeccably acted. Stories start in one, finish in another; loose ends abound, just like in real life. 

Andrew Garfield's a cocky young journo trying to convince his editor he's found a serial killer in the first film, 1974 - and then finding himself drawn into property magnate Sean Bean's dark world. The reliably great Paddy Considine plays a Manchester cop called in to investigate the Yorkshire force's casework in the second, 1980. David Morrissey returns in the third, 1984, to try and unravel the case. The excellent cast is filled out by Warren Clarke, Rebecca Hall, Gerard Kearns, Eddie Marsan, Maxine Peake and Peter Mullan - all working at the height of their game, with gruff take-no-prisoners dialogue like "this is Yorkshire - we do what we want around here" peppered through the terse script.

Peace also wrote The Damned United, which is getting a cinematic release as well Mar 27 - think he's going to be doing v well in 2009's end of year lists...

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21st Feb 2009 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

AC/DC: No Bull - The Director's Cut

(dir. David Mallet)

Sony

This 'legendary' concert from 1996 was shot on AC/DC's Ballbreaker tour, before a bull-ring full of adoring Spanish fans. A brief intro sees a giant polystyrene wrecking ball crash through a giant polysterene set, before Angus Young rushes through the rubble and the unforgettable chords of Back In Black deliver exactly whay you would want from this video.

Shoot To Thrill, Hell's Bells, Rock 'n Roll Ain't Noise Pollution..... all my Back In Black favourites are well represented, as well as a host of other classics (Thunderstruck, Girl Got Rhythm) and surprisingly few 'new' favourites. Some minor theatrics lead into Hells Bells, with Johnson swinging on a giant (polystyrene) bell, but otherwise it's pretty straight-up meat and potatoes from this great band.

The aged Angus (a mere 41 when this was shot) still pulls off the school boy shorts without a problem, often looking like the star of an 80's Peter Jackson horror movie - effortlessly Chuck Berry-ing around the stage with his casual style never dropping a note. Brian Johnson's smokey vocals sound forever stretched, but never quite crack - and while there's nothing spectacular about the filming of this concert, all the money is on the screen.

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3rd Oct 2008 - Add Comment - Tweet

Kings Of Leon

Only By The Night

Sony

With relatively little fanfare, Tennessee's London's favourite sons the Kings of Leon are back with Only By The Night - their fourth long player in 5 years, and a mere 18 months since the barn-storming Because Of The Times. I'm not sure why that merits a mention, but in a world where The Verve just ambled out number four it seems prolific - particularly when The Kings seem to have spend the last 18 months playing Brixton or Hammersmith every other week. However, next to The Doors (6 in 5 years), Led Zeppelin (8 for 10) or even The Beatles (13 for 7) that shouldn't really be something to write home about.

Moody opener Closer starts the album, before grungey lead 'free download' Crawl does little more than offer an introduction to the band's new fuzz-drenched sound. In contrast, actual single Sex On Fire provides the most obvious link to the band's previous successful formula, as Caleb Followill wails over great drums and moody guitars about being seemingly double-crossed by another Black Hearted Woman. As usual, it's a formula that works - producing perhaps the most succesful song on the album.

Although the band are claiming to be 'ready to tackle their southern roots again', this album is even more of a departure from their original sound - a transition mirrored perfectly with their beards getting shorter and jeans getting tighter. The lyrics and story-telling here seem more and more detached from the band's image - and stories of life on the wrong side of the tracks, ramblin' in the desert and calling 'shotgun' with some hot fresher just don't reconcile with the dude I've been seeing in the gossip columns, hanging out in VIP London hotspots with famous rock-star daughters.

17 starts off like it's their contribution to a Now Christmas! album, as Caleb croons "She's only 17...!" , while the cowbell heavy I Want You, or dragged out soft-rock anthem of Cold Desert seem to match the Hill Valley sentiment of "I'm gonna be somebody!" - with added 80's rock producton that would have graced a Bon Jovi ballad. Manhatten echoes the sentiment with "Gonna show this town!" and you start to feel like there's a confidence crisis going on somewhere. Surely they are somebody by now? Or maybe this is all about the band's still relative lack of success stateside - and NME hasn't made it to Tennessee yet.

With these guys, rather than having a new album's worth of great material it seems like perhaps a shift of branding might be the cause of the quick turnaround - as the band try and play the credibility card and crack the elusive US market, where they still only sell around 200,000 copies per album. The result is unfortunately a strange mix of too much effort and not trying hard enough.

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12th Sep 2008 - 4 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

Hancock

(dir. Peter Berg)

Sony Pictures

Easy sell for this: Will Smith = alcoholic superhero. Throw in another great exercise in comic timing from Jason "Arrested Development" Bateman and a slow-burner from Charlize Theron and you've got a winner. 

Bateman's a PR exec who takes on Hancock's case after being saved from a train wreck (Hancock does the train-wrecking), and tries to rework his image so LA starts seeing him as a hero, and not a super-strong bum. Theron is Bateman's homely wife, who doesn't want to see him get burned by a loser like Hancock.

Director Peter Berg proved he could pull off a smart thriller with The Kingdom and he expands on that here, pushing the d-runk flying, whale-chucking, city-trashing jokes as far as they'll go - and then flipping the movie into a whole other zone after the first act. Worked as a nice surprise for me after seeing the trailer - which gives zero hints about where it's heading - so we'll leave it at that here. It's enough to say: this is darker than it looks, and more interesting. The action works, but it's the smaller moments that makes this film so enjoyable - Hancock using his super-strength to shave, popping out bulletproof glass with a flick etc - it's a like a kitchen sink drama (where they occasionally chuck the kitchen sink out of the kitchen).

A few more points in its favour: 

*First ever on-screen cameo from Berg's mentor Michael Mann.

*One of the few big-budget films in recent years to come in at the chimp-approved 92 minute-mark. Apparently there was a two-hour cut which may appear on the eventual dvd, and there are a few moments where you wonder if they've chopped out some backstory (mainly with the film's designated Brit baddie Eddie Marsan) - but I'd take that over a bloated two-hour blahthon anyday. 

* The DFA mix of MIA's Paper Planes is playing when they hit one of LA's cool restaurants

*It's a drunk superhero - what's not to love?

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21st Jun 2008 - Add Comment - Tweet

My Morning Jacket

It Still Moves / Acoustic Citsouca / Z / Okonokos

ATO records

Following their seperation from major label backer Sony BMG, Dave Matthews' ATO records have taken the opportunity to re-release their exisiting My Morning Jacket catalogue, which not entirely by coincidence ties-in with the release of the latest MMJ record Evil Urges, due next week.

It Still Moves - 2003 - 4 Stars
It Still Moves was considered the major label debut for the band after the success of The Tennesse Fire and At Dawn. As an album it's not particulalry cohesive, but it plays out nicely as a collection of great songs - and is a logical major label sequel to the home-grown efforts of the earlier records. The record provides little evolution from those records, but it magnificently showcases everything that there is to like about the band, from the opener Magheeta, through the rolling guitars of Golden or Just One Thing to the pounding rock of Steam Engine.

While many of its charming songs have since been overshadowed by the tightly honed follow up Z, It Still Moves provides for a great listen and is home to many of MMJ's staple live songs like Run Thru and Golden - plus the epic One Big Holiday, which is nothing short of spectacular.

Acoustic Citsuoca Live! At The Startime Pavilion - 2004 - 3.5 Stars
The band bridged the gap between major releases with this 5 track 'acoustic' EP, which is actually less live than it implies - as the "Startime Pavillion" show mentioned never actually occured. The EP was recorded over three nights in Austin, but none the less provides a magical document of the bands shows - particularly Jim James' solo acoustic shows. James' haunting voice dominates the release on highlights like Golden and Bermuda Highway, but the gem here has got to be the unbeatable version of The Bear, from album The Tennessee Fire. The song has a magnificent slow-building power at the best of times, but here it showcases James' vocal talents, unquestionable power and passion as a performer, building to a spine-tingling frenzied finale.

Z - 2005 - 5 Stars
Things stepped up a gear with Z, where the band moving away from the self-produced template of their previous efforts, handing over production duties to John Leckie (The Stone Roses, The Verve, Radiohead). It's a move that paid off hugely, with Leckie tightening the band's sound to the point of breaking. The sprawl of previous releases is trimmed to perfection, while every song is well-honed and muscular, with highlights ranging from the note perfecd electronics of It Beats 4U through the long rocker Lay Low to the powerful finale of Dondante. Eclipsing much of the bands previous work, this album moved them up to another level, bringing in new sounds and ideas while retaining all of their inherant qualities. Brilliant. Read our original revew here.

Okonokos - 2006 - 3 Stars
Following the release of Z, My Morning Jacket embarked on an epic tour, which did eventually land in London - but not before this two night residency at the legendary Fillmore in San Franciso. This live record documents the tour and was released with an accompanying DVD. While live albums can often be a little disappointing, this one rounds up everything that is good about the band and serves almost as a live greatest hits - covering 8 of the 10 songs from Z as well as numerous beefed-up renditions from their extensive back catlogue. Without seeing this unmissable live band in the flesh, this is about as close to the experience as you are going to get. Read our original revew here.

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3rd Jun 2008 - Add Comment - Tweet

Vantage Point

(dir Pete Travis)

Presidential assassin thriller that rewinds the Spanish action several times until you get to see what’s really going on/get bored/realise it’s all totally ridiculous.

That said, it’s quite enjoyable. One of those dumb rides that thinks it’s a lot smarter than it it, but then finally gives in and rounds everything off with a big chase and one of the funniest mano y mano declarations of love you’ll see in a long time. And it’s only 90 minutes, which is a real plus in the chimp book of not wasting your life watching duff films.

Dennis Quaid is the Secret Service guy who took a bullet for President William Hurt a few years ago, and still Hasn’t Quite Got Over It.

Matthew Fox has got some time off the Lost island to play the Agent Who Vouches For Agent Quaid cos he’s an old buddy and still trusts him even though he’s a bit twitchy.

Forest Whitaker is a tourist filming stuff with his SONY handycam (coincidentally, it’s a Sony movie too, what are the odds?)

Sigourney Weaver plays a hard-nosed rolling news producer making some Tough Calls. But then they forget she’s in the film and she disappears.

Said Taghmaoui was much better in La Haine etc.

“8 Strangers. 8 Points of View. 1 Truth (the end sucks)”
 

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26th Feb 2008 - Add Comment - Tweet

Editors

An End Has A Start

Sony BMG

If my record collection was a sinking ship (which before the days of promo cd's and hooky downloads it was) this new album by Editors would be one of the first to go overboard. That's not to say it's bad, it's just totally unnecessary if you have their excellent debut. Very little progress has been made from their soaring musical arrangements that on The Back Room combined to great effect with Tom Smith's baritone strength as frontman.

It's the same story here but the highs are nowhere near as lofty. It's a shame because in their own right these are really solid songs. The title track is a driving tour de force but if you've got All Sparks you don't need it. Bones is the slow, rumbling track that gently builds to a powerful climax but then so did The Back Room's Fall and Camera.

Smith's voice has a booming depth that commands real power but his band provide a sound that we hear all too much these days. The restraint he showed on The Back Room was the source of the tension that held it all together but it's just a bit tiresome here and I just wish he'd let rip now and again. He comes close on The Racing Rats but still frustratingly manages to keep it together. Songs like this and Escape The Nest make the best bids for the peak but by taking the same rout as their predecessors they will be forever shackled.

I like this band, they swim in the same pool as the other NME-loving new comers but don't subscribe to all the pretension that comes with such company. I like the way they're called Editors and not The Editors, I really liked The Back Room and all the b-sides that came with it and really wanted to like this. I was primed and ready, I was an easy target, but they missed, and I'm sure they couldn't give a monkey's that they missed me but I do and that's all that counts.

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21st Jun 2007 - 5 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

The Big Sleep

Son Of The Tiger

French Kiss

The Big Sleep are a 3 piece band hailing from Brooklyn NY and they make a big rock noise. Sometimes it's psychedelic noise, sometimes straight up driving noise, but on the whole it means business. Son Of The Tiger opens with a musical eqivalent of a firm kick in the nuts. Brown Beauty is an instrumental sonic onslaught that holds you in its tight grasp as it steadily builds from dark and brooding to loud and heavy to louder and heavier. As you stand there, breathlessly exhausted, mouth open they hit you with a second wave with Murder. This is Electrelane after a music lesson with Wolfmother. Sonya Balchandani's vocals are sweet and subtle and are an effective contrast to the heavy riffs and crashing symbols around her.

Unfortunately, The Big Sleep are not able or willing to keep up this pace and the album takes a slight dive into no mans land as spacous, plodding stoner rock becomes the prefered method. This isn't necessarily a bad thing but after the power of the opening tracks the album seems to drift off into obscurity. Tracks like S.K.B and Menemy tend to start out fine but soon get lost in muddy cymbols and feedback and all to often lack the guitar structure of the earlier gems. However things pick up with Shima. It's jangly opening guitars are a welcome break from all the fuzzy, heavy riffs and the vocals are more audible becoming the focus that unites the song. It has more of an indie feel and builds more naturally to the familiar cymbal cacophony finale. This short break prepares you nicely for the moody title track that follows. It's a similar deal to earlier but seems to work better here and the screeching guitars and thudding rhythm really satisfy.

The Big Sleep have put together a very refreshing blend of dirty, shit kicking rock with dulcet female vocals and also seem to be in love with the entirely instrumental heavy jams of bands like The Longcut or Kinski. Put all this together and you get an album that isn't perfect but has guts and isn't afraid to grab you by the scruff of the neck and give you a darn good shaking.

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11th Dec 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet

My Morning Jacket: Okonokos - The Concert

(dir. Sam Erickson)

Sony BMG

As an accompaniment to their recent live album Okonokos, My Morning Jacket filmed their two night stint at San Francisco's legendary Fillmore as a DVD release, which also ran in limited cinemas.

Harking back to the classic days of the concert film, Okonokos is basically a straight live performance form the band, bookended with a mild narrative - the product of Jim James' wild imagination. While this doesn't really add much in terms of an actual narrative, it creates an atmosphere for the concert - which is clearly mirrored with the concept created for the show itself - a kind of victorian gentlemen's congregation in some bear infested wood. The crowd have generally entered into the swing of things, and they are rewarded with a stella performance from the band as usual.

The DVD's pitfall is the almost unavoidable trap set for all concert movies (yes, the Song Remains The Same included) where they rarely create the same atmosphere as actually being there. As far as these things go it is a good one - the bands' boundless enthusiasm is clear, and on mind blowing tracks like One Big Holiday and Lay Low, you do actually feel like you're there, on stage with the band in a guitar huddle. Plus you can watch animal-esqe drummer Patrick Hallahan doing his Steam Engine robotics in close-up.

The DVD is pretty much note for note the same as the CD (minus At Dawn, I Think I'm Going To Hell and Dancefloors), so really it's a case of one or another - and concert DVDs do work well as an audio-disc-with-visuals. There's no complaints on either format, and this live album and film serve their purpose well - as a (hopefully not too long) bridge between studio albums. Another well timed step from My Morning Jacket, as the band move on from there classic album Z hopefully onto bigger and better things.

Roll on 2007.

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14th Nov 2006 - 6 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

Jeremy Enigk

World Waits

Reincarnate/Sony BMG

First, a bit of back story: Jeremy Enigk used to be lead singer in Seattle band Sunny Day Real Estate, whose 1994 album Diary (released on Sub Pop) is quite rightly considered something of a classic. The success of Sunny Day Real Estate's sound lay in the combination of Enigk's incredible, almost angelic, voice and a rhythm section that gave the songs a harder/darker edge. When you take into account that William Goldsmith (drums) and Nate Mendel (bass) went onto join the first incarnation of Foo Fighters, then you get an idea of the calibre of personnel.

And herein lies the problem of an Enigk solo project. Stripped of the energy and aggression that a 'band' provides, it is left to his voice to carry the songs, the music barely putting up a fight in competition. But is singing alone going to make a good album? Meatloaf has a good voice right? A bit harsh maybe.

Things start off well, Been Here Before showcases the complete range of Enigk's talents, starting slow and introspective before getting BIG, so big, that it takes a church organ to provide the song's break. In fact, what goes on pre/post organ could neatly describe what does and doesn't work on the album. The better songs are the quieter, more acoustic songs, where the music assumes a bit of character, rather than being a bit-part vehicle for 'the voice'. Canons, Damien Dreams and Dare a Smile fall into this category. The latter of which could almost be a Guided By Voices song, that is if GBV's Bob Pollard was to put down the bourbon and beers for a moment.

It's when the songs get epic that things start to go awry, City Tonight being a fine example. Not content with a dodgy synth opening, it begins with the line "Am I Late to the Kingdom of Love", before POWER drumming and guitars kick down the door and take the song home. This is Simple Minds in all their 80s glory, it's a song that conjures up an image of Richard Gere in slow-motion - probably on horseback. But Simple Minds not only had massive songs, they also head massive success, so I suppose dues should be given.

Overall, genuine good points beat potential bad (depending on where you stand on Simple Minds). It's actually quite refreshing to hear an honest album by a singer/songwriter doing what he does best, without compromise, rather than the multitude of bands around at the moment simply aching to be cool.

As for a score. I'll start with a 2 and award an extra mark for being a nice alternative to those other Golden-voiced Juggernauts, Keane and Coldplay, (at least Enigk sings like he means every word). But I'm going to have to dock half a mark for Am I Late to the Kingdom of Love. I hate Richard Gere.

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13th Nov 2006 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

Casino Royale

(dir. Martin Campbell)

Had real misgivings about this James Blonde reboot when i saw the first trailer, started to think it might be alright when the second one came out, and actually really enjoyed most of it when i actually got to see the whole thing.

Won't go into too much detail here, as (unless you've read the book) the plot hasn't come out too much, and it's fun watching it unfold. suffice to say, for once, it's not about foiling some daft plan to TAKE OVER THE WORLD, more a small-scale operation (well, relatively - it's still Bond) involving terrorist funding, hitmen, slick boats, glammed-up women, men in tuxedos, guns, bombs, and lots of Texas hold 'em (007's caught on to the poker boom).

It's all pretty crunchy action, with a brutal couple of kills to get things rolling. Much less emphasis on the arched-eyebrows "hey, i'm delivering a line in a BOND FILM NOW" wink-wink lines that made the Brosnan era so uneven.

Daniel Craig steps into the tux with a thuggish style that seems to fit; he's not the suavest dude in town, but there's a weight to the way he flips between cold killer, and icy charmer working his "emotions? me?" lines on Eva Green.

Judi Dench is back as M, but moneypenny's only referenced in a throwaway line, and there's no Q, which works - there are some gadgets, but they're not really there to save the day as much as before - no "if only i had my magnetic belt on right now i could totally save this hot chick" moments.

Cameos to watch include Richard Branson and some VIRGIN planes, producer Michael G Wilson as a corrupt police official, and Jeffrey Wright in what could be a recurring role if he plays his cards right (ho ho). He's also recently found himself on the "him again?!" list at Chimp Towers, after popping up in The Manchurian Candidate (pretty lame really), Syriana, and Broken Flowers.

There's also a lot of product placement going on - not quite as much as the last few maybe, but still lots of totally unnecessary screen time looking at brand names. I'd like to thank VIRGIN, ROLEX, FORD, VERSACE, ASTON MARTIN, SONY ERICSSON etc for annoying me in this film.

BIt of an odd moment where some misc African guys manage to smuggle machetes into Montenegro; yup, that's what they all do…

The only other major downer is a truly awful nu-rock theme tune from Chris "Soundgarden" Cornell and David Arnold, which totally ruins a great animated opening sequence full of playing cards melting into each other with Daniel Craig looking generally louche. What a waste. Think the themes have been the worst things about the recent films; this one makes you think Madonna's effort was ok. It would be so easy to find something classy that would fit, rather than trying to get all modern and do that terrible processed rock sound.

film: ***.5 - solid effort, James Blond = Royale without the cheese, like to see more
soundtrack: * silence would be goldeneye next time
product placement: * we know you can afford some expensive toys James, stop showing us them all the time

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3rd Nov 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet