Chimpomatic

She & Him

A Very She & Him Christmas

Zooey and M. Ward croon through the classics. There's one day this is good for.

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25th Dec 2011

Bird On A Wire

Misc alleyways were full of way more stuff to crash into in the 80s. Gets an extra star for the random chimp denouement.

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24th Dec 2011

Tamara Drewe

Middle class village life literary shagathon. Like a decent posh pub lunch.

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24th Dec 2011

ET: The Extra Terrestrial

Spielberg's flawless classic still hits hard, even if my bike still can't fly.

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24th Dec 2011

Finding Nemo

Charming animated aquatics from Pixar. Lacking the emotional sucker punch of their other efforts.

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23rd Dec 2011

Thelma and Louise

Stylish feminist road movie that saw a return to form for Ridley Scott. Feminists might disagree.

Halliwell says: Timely, exuberant and off-beat feminist road movie that manages to say something interesting about the relationship between the sexes.***

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18th Dec 2011

Wassail

Poole Lighthouse

This concert included some of Dorset’s finest musicians - The New Scorpion Band, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, the Purbeck Village Quire and the St. Osmund Singers. They blended magnificently to produce a great evening of everything that is traditional about Christmas.

The Scorpions are a group of musician/composers – several of whom regularly perform at the Globe Theatre - who sing and play unamplified music using a wide variety of historical instruments. However, amplification was hardly necessary with the full BSO behind them and they produced a varied and very enjoyable selection of music and verse. Highlights were Sans Day Carol and the Dorset Mummers’ Play whilst the BSO excelled with Warlock’s Bethlehem Down and Vaughan Williams’ English Folksong Suite.

This conceptual concert started at the Lighthouse in 2010 and returned by popular request, whilst now also expanding to a tour with new venues in Bristol and Portsmouth. Look out for further expansion in the years ahead.

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18th Dec 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet

Irreversible

Brutal, context-free trawl through a seedy underworld as reverse trauma unfolds. Get your sea legs on.

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17th Dec 2011

Good Will Hunting

Gus Van Zandt's absorbing drama still holds up. Beautifully written, acted, shot and directed.

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17th Dec 2011

Speed

Pop quiz asshole! Keanu's 90's runaway bus classic has not matured with age.

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16th Dec 2011

This Is England '88

Another classy, confident, gut-wrenching slice of foreboding urban drama from Shane Meadows.

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16th Dec 2011

The Russian Ark

An ambitious amble through Russian history - with a single tracking shot and a cast of thousands.

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15th Dec 2011

Norwegian Wood

Disappointingly dull and lifeless Murakami adaptation, despite the high calibre of talent involved.

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15th Dec 2011

Off!

- First Four EPs. Keith Morris' punk supergroup provide a welcome punch in the face for tired music.

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14th Dec 2011

The Bicycle Thief

Italian neo-realist classic, as area man struggles to find work and the necessary tools to do it.

Halliwell says: The epitome of Italian neo-realism, the slight human drama is developed so that it has all the force of King Lear, and both the acting and the backgrounds are vividly compelling.***

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14th Dec 2011

Despicable Me

Decent enough sub-Pixar evil genius adventure. Shrink ray included.

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12th Dec 2011

The Driver

Moody, but flat and dull original car chase movie with Ryan O'Neal. More influential than it is good.

Halliwell says: Noisy melodrama, very proficient in the screeching tyro department but extremely empty as a character.*

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11th Dec 2011

Season of the Witch

Surprisingly snappy hokus pokus with Nic Cage and Clay Morrow.

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10th Dec 2011

A Christmas Carol

Another lifeless motion capture animation from a flagging Robert Zemeckis.

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9th Dec 2011

Amazing Grace

Solid, unambitious, but occasionally rousing William Wilberforce biopic.

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7th Dec 2011

Morning Glory

Smarter rom-com, with a not-terrible turn from Harrison Ford.

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5th Dec 2011

Biutiful

Grim and uninspiring slice of life in the Barcelona underworld.

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5th Dec 2011

June Tabor & The Oyster Band

Ragged Kingdom

Check Bonny Bunch of Roses, Dark End of the Street and more. \#Puskas

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4th Dec 2011

The Dilemma

Mind boggling unambitious dramedy from the normally lofty Ron Howard.

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4th Dec 2011

Middle Men

Derivative, wanna-be Boogie Nights romp through the history of Internet porn.

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3rd Dec 2011

Che Part Two

Stylish, but dull and anti-climactic meander through Che's exploits in Bolivia.

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2nd Dec 2011

Life As We Know It

Unsurprising rom-com with a tragic edge, but none of the flair of 'Knocked Up'.

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1st Dec 2011

A$AP Rocky

LiveLoveA$AP Mixtape

Still bitches and money but spat with plodding intelligence. Totally fresh.

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#BC

28th Nov 2011

The Iron Lady

Spooky, Oscar-bothering turn from Meryl Streep as Thatcher, recalling No 10 life with a phantom Denis.

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24th Nov 2011

Up

Touching, magical animated adventure - with one of the most powerful openings of any film.

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18th Nov 2011

The Tourist

Gormless, tension free, big screen entry from The Lives of Others director. Misfiring on every level.

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17th Nov 2011

Made In Dagenham

Skimpy 1960's women's lib drama. Well acted, but woefully underwritten.

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14th Nov 2011

Rabbit Hole

Slight, small scale character study as Kidman and Eckhart deal with the loss of their son.

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14th Nov 2011

PJ20

Engaging, kaleidoscopic movie documenting the life and times of @PearlJam and the Seattle music explosion.

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12th Nov 2011

White Denim

Takes Place In Your Work Space EP

Don't ever accuse these productive boys of filler. All killer. Ish.

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10th Nov 2011

Kurt Vile

So Outta Reach EP

Another great set of tracks from the busy long hair. 'The Creature' is magnificent.

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10th Nov 2011

My Morning Jacket

Roundhouse

A near flawless set and perfect venue elevated this to more than just another MMJ show.

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8th Nov 2011

Top Boy

Utterly outstanding, multi-stranded British urban drama. Beautifully shot, written and acted. Catch it on 4OD.

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6th Nov 2011

Life In A Day

Touching, inspiring, crowd sourced documentary. Like a people-centric Koyannisqatsi.

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5th Nov 2011

Unstoppable

More unsubtle, pretentious action from Denzel and Tony Scott. Must have been inspired after Pelham 123.

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4th Nov 2011

At Close Range

Well handled, tense 80s angst classic, with Penn(s), Walken and Glover amongst the rogues gallery.

Halliwell says: Relentlessly brutal, dispiriting and quite pointless melodrama, even with the saving grace of a factual basis.

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4th Nov 2011

John Mayall

Poole Lighthouse

This was our second John Mayall concert - the first was in 1967 (UCL Union); so only a wait of 44 years in between. In that time John, who remains one of the godfathers of British blues, has made many albums, lived a life of constant touring and launched the careers of many rock & blues legends - Eric Clapton, Peter Green, Mick Taylor and John McVey to name but a few.

This was the 6th night of a 25 date British tour that ends 18th November. The band retains a traditional line up of Rocky Athas - lead guitar, Greg Rzab - bass guitar, Jay Davenport - drums. Remarkably, Mayall did all the vocals, played keyboard and/or harmonica on all numbers apart from one, when he played guitar - not bad for a 77 year old!

The programme consisted of many standard rhythm and blues pieces, which were all played at a high technical level with a lot of feeling. Particularly memorable were “All Your Love” and “Parchment Farm” from the Blues Breakers (the Beano) Album.

Supporting act was from the Oli Brown Band.

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3rd Nov 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet

Easy A

Cocky teenage comedy, featuring lots of people talking over the top of each other.

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1st Nov 2011

Due Date

Nicely costumed but otherwise unremarkable inflight entertainment. Planes, Trains meets Old School.

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31st Oct 2011

Wilco

The Roundhouse, London

Wilco albums come and go, but the live act remains strong and steady - well aware which songs have stood the test of time and which have dropped off into back catalogue. New album and show opener "Art of Almost" immediately scored itself a position as today's song of the year, setting the scene for a heavy set that wasn't afraid to bring a couple of extra guitars off the bench when neccessary.

Possibly slightly more truncated in length than previous shows and light on Tweedy-stand-up, it was still plenty for my ageing body support system - and with another show tomorrow probably drawing back many of the beard-heavy crowd no-one is likely to be complaining.

Never, ever disappointing. Set list over at Wilco World.

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29th Oct 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet

Easy A

Sparky high school riff on The Scarlet Letter, as Emma Stone fake-tramps her way to notoriety.

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26th Oct 2011

Route Irish

Uneven mash up of Iraq thriller and kitchen sink drama from Ken Loach.

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22nd Oct 2011

Che: Part One

Well crafted but unremarkable biography following the student hero's part in the Cuban Revolution.

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20th Oct 2011

Tintin

Plus: non-stop action, good gags, pace and functioning alcoholic hero. Minus: uncanny valley look hard to love.

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16th Oct 2011

The American

Dry, pretentious European-style thriller with Clooney in full Nescafé mode.

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15th Oct 2011