Chimpomatic

Jim James Solo Acoustic

The Enterprise, Camden

After September's DJ/My Morning Jacket/Jim James triple cancellation it was a pleasant surprise to see this re-scheduled solo gig pop up on the MMJ website, particularly as they were about to start a big US tour. Things only got weirder when the chimp contingent got to the venue - above The Enterprise pub in Camden. The room was tiny (around 100-150 max) and totally empty. Doors opened at 7 and we got seats at a Goodfellas-style table, literally right in front of the six inch high stage. The venue was totally empty for ages, and the rumour was that the record label had block booked most of the tickets - presumably for press purposes. That kind of sucked for all the people who kept coming up looking for tickets, but to be fair it did fill right up at nine on the dot, and a couple of desperate fans were invited in for free...

Jim James shuffled on with a keyboard/sample/drum machine type thing (apparantly called an Omnichord), and took off one shoe (making fists with his toes after a long haul flight?). The crowd was hushed instantly as he started off playing only the omnichord, building it up into a layered rhythm before unleashing his amazing voice. The small size of the room and the closeness of the stage meant that half the time he could be heard louder off the mic as he soared and reached all the high notes... always sounding like he should crack, but never even coming close. While the 90-odd minute set was made up of both old classics and a lot of songs from the forthcoming My Morning Jacket album Z there was never a moment when the crowd was less than mesmerised. Seeing one person create such a delicate sound, but still whip up a storming finale for tracks like The Bear, was unforgetable and the sound is still ringing through my mind several days later.

New track Dondante was a particular highlight, given extra poignancy by Jim's introductary explanation of waking from a dream with this song for a dead friend in his mind. The Bear and Bermuda Highway were awesome, as well as newer tracks like Anytime and Off The Record. Covers of Eels' 3 Speed, All The Best by John Prine and Dylan's You're A Big Girl Now finished things off.

After seeing a lot of gigs recently, this was far and a way one of the best. If you don't own any MMJ, please get some. If you do, keep an eye out for this gig as there were rumours of it being taped....

#Music
#Gig
#CSF

2nd Oct 2005 - 2 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang

(dir. Shane Black)

always been a sucker for films with good opening credits. the kind of opening where they've actually bothered to think about it, do some fun stuff with graphics, play around a bit before the film gets going - you know, saul bass, pink panther etc. add in a snappy plot, a film where they get away with smart-ass narration AND find something good for robert downey jr, and pack in as many raymond chandler references as they can, and you've got a small-scale winner.

plotwise, we follow low-level new york burglar RDJ as he bumbles his way into a screen test, gets packed off to LA, hooks up with gay PI/movie consultant val kilmer (probably the first time i've ever actually enjoyed one of his films) and then falls into a chandler-style murder thriller, that follows the general pomo big sleep noir conventions - double crossing, little sisters, sassy dames, mucho confusion and lots of great lines. it's written by shane black, who churned out much of the lethal weapon franchise, but it feels more like watching something like midnight run - 80s, but smart. and it also gets away with lots of "hey let's stop the movie to look at what just happened there" moments without being annoying. actually better than the trailer makes it out to be, for once.

#Film
#chimp71

26th Sep 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet

Stephen Malkmus

Koko, Camden

I made a few Pavement related errors as a younger music fan - most notably missing out on seeing them support Sonic Youth, due to a lack of train fare money. I've been totally loving Stephen Malkmus' solo albums, so I wasn't about to drop the ball and miss this show.

Support came from Clor, who've been causing a 'buzz' on the Chimp Towers 'should-get-round-to-checking them-out' list, and they were great. Malkmus and the Jicks then kicked off, unfortunately disproving the myth that support bands are deliberately mixed badly to make the headliners sound great. The kidney wobbling bass that was working well with Clor's disco groove just drowned out the witty lyrics etc that make Malkmus' songs tick. Dodgy cabling led to a few more sound problems, and while the band were pro enough to ride it out you did get the feeling that it was holding them back.... as they started to run out of banter and never really got on a roll. Moaning aside though, they did kick out some great tracks... notably long form chimp favourite No More Shoes.

3 stars and no grudges.

#Music
#Gig
#CSF

26th Sep 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet

Matthew Herbert: Plat Du Jour

Victoria Rooms, Bristol

Dr and Mrs Chimp were served a feast of tasty treats at the Matthew Herbert Plat du Jour gig in Bristol's Victoria Rooms last night. Loud and manic sounds, great visuals, intriguing smells, white wellies, fishy balloons, and crunchy Worcester apples were all cooked up into a real assault on the senses. Serving suggestions will never quite be the same again. Make reservations for next month's Barbican gig now. And as for Dani's constume: 'We're lovin' it'.

#Music
#Gig
#Dr.Chimp

5th Sep 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet

Queens Of The Stone Age

Brixton Academy

after al qaida stopped the rock earlier this summer (and another time before that when they cancelled for health reasons), it was good to finally catch josh homme's latest version of q.o.t.s.a. at the brixton academy: still kicking it out even without a large bald dude on bass. lots of ten minute jams, super heavy drums and real charisma from l'homme, plus a cool set that had room for all the hits, as well as things like that pj harvey desert sessions song i wanna make it with you, and lots more (early?) stuff i hadn't heard before. rocket chimp felt they could have done with slowing down on things like no-one knows, which is a fair point. but as a carnivore of rock, this chimp thought it was pretty beefy all round. recommended, would see them again.

#Music
#Gig
#chimp71

23rd Aug 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet

Primer

(dir. Shane Carruth)

"I haven't eaten since later this afternoon…" Always been a fan of time-travel films, but you've got to love one that really finds something new to do with the whole time-paradox conundrum. Shane Carruth apparently made this white-collar sci-fi for $7000, using Super 16 short-ends - bits of film stock left over from other shoots, filmed it mostly in his garage and with his friends. It shows - but not in the usual lo-fi excuse kind of way. This is one of the first films in ages where you're struggling to keep up, but in that great way where you're convinced that it will make sense if you do. We follow some geeky science buffs working on some new projects in their spare time, trying to hit on something they can license on. Two of them work on a box which is giving them some unusual results - somehow they've built a time machine. What follows is a series of increasingly paranoid scenes, a looping plot, and a lot of hanging out in hotel rooms all afternoon. It's like a less self-consciously cool Donnie Darko, that almost seems believable. Definitely one to watch again. and again… the best kind of small-scale project, where they've spent time on a great script and a smart story that holds together.

#Film
#chimp71

20th Aug 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet

The Island

(dir. Michael Bay)

In the future, two beautiful survivors of Earth's 'contamination' while away their days in a utopian paradise, hoping to win the lottery and move to another even more utopian paradise. Then they realise they're just clones of rich or famous people, being harvested for spare parts in a secret underground bunker.

Very nice of Michael Bay to 'tackle' the issue of cloning for us, as I wasn't really sure what to make of it. The whole set up to this movie is kind of dumb, and pretty derivative of THX1138 and Logan's Run, but once they get out into the real world things pick up. The fact that the 'real' Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson are characters not dissimilar to themselves (Scottish motorcycle riding hoon & Calvin Klein model) is a nice twist, and the whole thing is just so big, fast, slick and expensive that it's hard not to enjoy it.

#Film
#CSF

20th Aug 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet

Paycheck

(dir. John Woo)

After selling 3 years of his memory to an evil corporation, engineer Ben Affleck slowly discovers mysterious details of what happened in the missing years - thanks to a series of apparantly meaningless items he left in an envelope....

Pretty standard future-thriller, in the post-Minority Report world of action-is-better-than plot. Ben Affleck doesn't do anything to change his status of 'only in it for the money' and John Woo drops the ball as usual.

#Film
#CSF

6th Aug 2005 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

Subway

(dir. Luc Besson)

always intrigued by this film, commonly held to be a cult classic. well, the poster was a staple of 80s student decoration kits along with betty blue and the big blue. think i had in mind it was some existential sci-fi or something. what a pile of le merde. totally plotless. christopher lambert and isabelle adjani arse about in some cool subterranean world on le metro spouting le crap, avoiding les flics and drinking les coffees and vauguely falling in l'amour while jean reno droops around in the background with a dumb moustache drumming on everything. best thing is christopher lambert's uncanny resemblance to stewart copeland, but that's not really enough to keep you going.

#Film
#chimp71

24th Jul 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet

Wolfmother

Wolfmother E.P.

One of the hot tickets at this year's South By South-West music thing, Australia's Wolfmother are kicking out retro proto-metal - a la early Black Sabbath, with a tinge of Zeppelin and a psychadelic haze of Iron Butterfly. Like no-doubt every garage band of the late 70's was trying to do.

The first couple of tracks are properly proto-proto metal, with thumping riffs and not many lyrics. Apple Tree still has few lyrics, but is a bit more interesting and makes you realise how metal the White Stripes sometimes are. The White Unicorn is the stand-out track, which actually builds up a bit and changes pace - where the others are mainly one thundering wall of sound. Looking forward to more. Would like to see these guys live.

#Music
#CSF

21st Jul 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet

The Aviator

(dir. Martin Scorcese)

I didn't have a huge desire to see this film, as I'm not a particularly big DiCaprio fan. However, I kept hearing that it was good so stuck it on the rental list and am glad that I did.

I previously knew absolutely nothing about Howard Hughes - other than the fact he had been involved in filmmaking. This story charts the first half of his life - taking us through all the eclectic events of these years, from his massive expenditure pursuing his love of aviation and movies, a brief tip of the hat to his development of a new type of bra, his relationships with his leading ladies and most interestingly his struggle with inner demons and paranoia.

The casting and acting throughout are superb. DiCaprio is excellent, as is Cate Blanchet as Katherine Hepburn. But the supporting cast all add something to the film - Jude Law makes a brief appearance as Errol Flynn and Gwen Stefani as Jean Harlow.

The visual style of the film is big, in the same way that Hughes approached all his projects. Scorsese presents a very grand scope for everything and the (presumably cgi) moments with DiCaprio making the virgin flights of new aircraft are breathtaking. In contrast, the depiction of his mental health problems is also eloquently done as Hughes encamps in his private cinema.

This film is long and only covers the first half of Howard Hughes life, so presumably there is room for a sequel. The acting, directing and cinematography all add up to make this well worth watching.

#Film
#CJ

12th Jul 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet

CSI: Grave Danger

(dir. Quentin Tarantino)

While investigating a bogus crime scene, one of Las Vegas’ Crime Scene Investigators is kidnapped by a bad guy with a grudge and buried alive. Using what scraps of evidence they have, the rest of the team race against time to recover their colleague.

Since it first started, the original CSI series has been consistently good, slowly building up a loyal following. Five seasons in, and it’s really starting to reward the viewer - with strong characters that your feel like you know becoming more and more fleshed out.

The ratings are obviously paying-off too, as for this season finale the producer’s managed to draft in celebrity fan Quentin Tarantino – who came up with the story and directed this final episode. While that might seem like a dangerous move, Tarantino manages to direct the episode without stepping too hard on the established formula of the series. There are a couple of his trademark pop-culture snippets (such as two of the lab rats playing a Dukes of Hazzard board game), but generally he sticks to the program and uses the existing visual style - largely established by early director Danny Cannon.

The weight of having Tarantino on board injects an extra zap into the story, and the extended length of a double episode gives more room to build up the tension, suspense and sympathy - building up to a genuinely thrilling end.

Even Eckley comes out well in this one.

#Film
#CSF

6th Jul 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet

War of the Worlds

(dir. Steven Spielberg)

Across the gulf of space, minds immeasurably superior to ours regarded this earth with envious eyes.. and slowly and surely, they drew their plans against us.

The ultimate earth invasion story gets the big screen treatment from the Stephen Spielberg / Tom Cruise double whammy, with Tom Cruise playing a regular American hero forced to spring into action when Martians decide to pitch up on earth and start blasting everything with their heat ray.

Things start off pretty well, with a tense set-up as strange electrical storms sweep the globe (Independence Day anyone?), but Spielberg pretty much skips to the end from about 20 minutes in - once the Martians have appeared. After that it’s just one long finale, as walking machines decimate everything in their path and Tom races to Boston to drop off the kids with his wife. Houses are blown away, fly-overs are annihilated and cars flip over in an endless display of stuff-we-can-do-with-computers-these-days. It’s not rubbish, and in fact it even gets a bit tense and scary in places, but it suffers mainly from being an obviously rushed production - put on a fast-track after the collapse of MI:3 left Tom's summer tentpole a bit pint-sized. Somehow it just seems a bit hollow and totally forgettable.

Now, “if you’d read the book" on the other hand… you’d know that isn’t all that satisfactory either - particularly with the ending - but it does have a lot more suspense, some awesome set-pieces and a much more universal appeal.

#Film
#CSF

6th Jul 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet

Mr & Mrs Smith

(dir. Doug Liman)

A suburban couple live secret lives as assassins, until one day they realise they have been contracted to kill each other.

Doug Liman’s always been a chimp favourite, so we were always giving this film a chance. It’s well shot and directed, pretty snappy and quite funny, but essentially it’s nothing new. The gags are recycled – just done bigger and better, with Angelina and Brad on top form cat fighting their way around the house while working on their marriage problems.

Rating: Well worth watching on a dodgy pirate video.

#Film
#CSF

5th Jul 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet

Patti Smith's Meltdown: Songs of Experience

Royal Festival Hall, London

From the announcement of Patti Smith’s meltdown line-up this always seemed like one of the clear highlights. Jeff Beck, Flea, Tom Verlaine, John Frusciante and others joining Patti Smith for an evening of music celebrating Jimi Hendrix. John Frusciante does Hendrix? That sounds awesome, dude! Things started to go wrong shortly after that when Frusciante announced that he was not going to be able to make it, due to recording work on the new RHCP album.

The gig kicked off with Patti Smith and her band doing Are You Experienced? A pretty good start, but surely it would get better as more stars came on stage…. but then Patti Smith left the stage and the next act came on. Surely the logical format for an evening like this was Patti Singing with an ever changing line up of superstar backing band?!… but no, each act came on, did one or two songs and then left. There were some collaborations, like Robyn Hitchcock and Johnny Marr doing May This Be Love, but generally it was a stilted, atmosphere-free evening while people trudged on and off stage and roadies wired up new equipment.

No one really came close to hitting the high expectations: Squarepusher started OK, before twiddling and feedbacking his way into his usual freak-out-jazz-solo. Flea was a highpoint, with looping pedals repeating his parts while he built up to a trumpet final, and Jeff Beck was pretty good at matching Hendrix’s skill…. but essentially it was all a bit like watching a busker do a cover of Purple Haze by playing it on a washboard. The closest to getting the freak-out vibe of Hendrix’s playing were Finnish duo Kimmo Pohjonen and drummer Sami Kuoppamaki, who rocked out their accordian/drumkit tracks in true freak out style.

Things did end up in a kind-of jam finale, with Patti Smith back on stage, with Jeff Beck, Flea and Tom Verlaine… but Patti’s emotional recital was undermined by the fact she was reading the lyrics, and guitar-doofus Verlaine was busy tuning up as usual.

#Music
#Gig
#CSF

5th Jul 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet

U2

Cardiff Millennium Stadium

Dr Chimp's ears are still ringing after the U2 rockfest at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium last night. Very odd to be in a space that big, but with a roof overhead - a bit like being indoors and outdoors at the same time. U2 gave us two very loud hours of their greatest hits, plus about three-quarters of the latest album. Oddly, the songs from their very first album were played with far more energy than the newer material (apart from Vertigo, which we got twice). One guy standing near us seemed to have a 48-piece imaginary drum kit, which he gave a good thumping during Sunday, Bloody Sunday. And two other swaying dudes air-guitared themselves into a total frenzy during Bullet the Blue Sky. All in all, infinitely better than the limp Zooropa show that Dr Chimp and Chimp71 saw in Cardiff in 1993, but nowhere near the heights of the San Francisco ZooTV madness of '92. Very excited to see the convoy of U2 people carriers, under heavy police escort, racing past the grassy knoll by the castle on our way back to the car. But why does this feel like a farewell tour?

Dr Chimp

set list:
Vertigo
I Will Follow
Electric Co.
Elevation
New Year’s Day
Beautiful Day
I Still Haven’t Found
All I Want is You
City of Blinding Lights
Miracle Drug
Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own
Love and Peace
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Bullet The Blue Sky
Running to Standstill
Pride (in the name of love)
Where the Streets have no name
One

Zoo Station
The Fly
With or Without You

All Because of You
Yahweh
Vertigo

#Music
#Gig
#Dr.Chimp

30th Jun 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet

Patti Smith @ Meltdown 2005

Royal Festival Hall

patti smith totally rocked during her track-by-track 30th anniversary performance of Horses, from the stunning opening line "jesus died for somebody's sins, but not mine…" to the blow-out ending. flea on bass and trumpet for some of the songs, tom verlaine sitting on an amp at the side (possibly making up for the shoddy television performance on monday), and lenny kaye showing how it's really done. she was totally commanding, had real presence, dealt with all the hecklers "whatever you say, you're not going to impress me…" and proved that she's really the iconic figure you always read she is.

and it's the first time i've ever seen a standing ovation from the first song onwards… not surprising when it's her stunning version of gloria (wonder what van thinks?), but still pretty impressive.

oh and she had 2 pieces of advice: look after your teeth, and never wear new shoes to an important job. so she ended up dancing barefoot…

john cale's opening set, also w flea on bass, was pretty good too, even if neither dr chimp or i recognised any of the songs (ie no velvets nostalgia this time)

#Music
#Gig
#chimp71

26th Jun 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet

Television

Queen Elizabeth Hall, London

I got into Television through the copious "thanks" notes in the Minutemen's Ballot Result album, along with Creedence, Wire, X, Richard Hell and more. The chances of ever seeing them live were always pretty slim, so this gig at the Patti Smith curated Meltdown festival was a high priority. Richard Hell was also in the festival and for a brief moment I even thought he might be rejoining Television for the night. As it turns out he was wise to get out when he did, as this was one of the most dissapointing gigs I've ever been to.

Shows kick of pretty punctually at the QEH, and it's all seating - which never helps with the atmosphere of a rock concert. Television came on with no support, but to much adulation from the crowd. They then played for about 90 minutes, mainly focusing on their much lesser know 90's songs from the album Television, plus a few of the best tracks on Marquee Moon. They seemed very unrehearsed and totally at odds with each other on stage. Tom Verlaine's authority as band leader was sadly lacking... plus he couldn't get his guitar tuned properly (a chimp75 pet gripe), trying between almost every song. Guitarist Richard Lloyd held things together for a while with some guitar hero solos, before he also fell to tuning issues and started blowing a few clams. Most songs wandered of in 'interesting' directions before generally grinding to an abrupt halt. Even Marquee Moon itself was pretty lacklustre, and while the crowd were urging the gig to be great it just never took off.

The band cut off stage pretty abruptly, before returning for an encore with Patti Smith - which focused things a bit, with a version of You I Rate. That was followed by a rockin intro to a cover of the Count Five's Psychotic Reaction, before Verlaine seemed to realise he didn't know the rest of the lyrics. That final song just melted away... and it was over.

#Music
#Gig
#CSF

25th Jun 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet

Weezer

Brixton Academy

I’ve been a big Weezer fan since they started, and I’ve waited a long time to see them, so right off the bat you know they’re getting a good rating. Prejudices aside however, it was great to be seeing an actual functioning band five albums down the line – rather than these one-record upstarts (Ambulance), or reunion monsters (Pixies). Rivers Cuomo is truly the Woody Allen of rock – a few shakey moments here and there in the past, but live it’s all highlights.

Tired of Sex is a great opener on the Pinkerton album, and it made a great opener here. A quiet start, revving up to a rocking finale – with sound in Brixton sounding way better than usual.

After that it was crowd surfing and singalongs all the way. Undone and Say it Ain’t So sounding awesome, Buddy Holly kicking in after a disguised intro, Beverly Hills and We Are All On Drugs sounding great of the new album and then all the way through to a feedback finale with Hash Pipe for a as a second encore.

#Music
#Gig
#CSF

20th Jun 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet

The Magic Numbers

The Magic Numbers

in a world of skinny tie angular rock, it's a weird state of affairs when people singing nice songs with some cute harmonies seems like a "fresh new sound". but that's basically what seems to have happened with the magic numbers. mind you, it's catchy stuff, and you can imagine wanting to listen to this more in years to come than most of the other stuff that's around at the moment. personally i think it sounds a lot like martin stephenson and the daintees, but no-one remembers them, so hey! it is a fresh new sound. going to give it a 4 because it has on the whole lived up to most of the hype, with a proviso to maybe downgrade it in a year or so if we're not actually listening to it anymore...

#Music
#chimp71

16th Jun 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet

Ambulance Ltd.

The ICA, London

June 13th 2005

Possibly the first hot shit band I've actually seen ahead, or maybe on, the curve. These guys kicked off their set with instrumental chimp favourite "Yoga Means Union" building up to a powerful rockathon. 'Tight' is the adjective of the moment.

After that things moved along with a remarkably sequential set of the first 4 or 5 tracks off their album. Then a few new songs, which were more like the non-favourite tracks off the current album, but these new ones were good - so some re-appraisal is due. Straight A's and a few more to finish, then the fastest encore of all time - finishing with a homage to some Westcoast roots with a cover of Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere.

#Music
#Gig
#CSF

14th Jun 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet

The Evens

The Evens

I've had this album for a while now - a new project from Fugazi's Ian Mackaye, with Amy Farina on drums and vocals, and Ian on guitar and vocals.

I wasn't really sure what to make of this and after some deliberation I'm staying on the fence. A few tracks are like mellow Fugazi, with pared down drums, guitar and vocals working well. On the other hand, Amy's vocals, particularly when harmoized with Ian Mackaye, have a tendancy to sound a bit like a hipsters urban musical. The lyrics seem to only add to that scenario, and where Guy Piccioto singing them is one thing this is just another and it graaates. You Won't Feel A Thing, however totally rocks, as do several of the others.

Try before you buy.

#Music
#CSF

14th Jun 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet

Dinosaur Jr.

The Forum, Kentish Town, London

June 8th 2005

There’s been a lot of reunion style gigs recently… mostly with pre-Nirvana bands getting some praise that they maybe missed out on first time round. The original 3 Dinosaur Jr. albums have recently been given the full re-release-with-bonus-tracks treatment, and this mini tour is a kind of support for that. Lou Barlow and J Mascis fell out shortly after Bug, and it wasn’t until Lou climbed on stage for guest vocals at an Asheton+ Asheton+ Mascis+ Watt Stooges gig that they even really talked, so things have obviously gone far enough that they’re playing together... but not far enough that they’re actually communicating. Not that anyone could hear anything over their legenary thundering volume.

The set was an onslaught of very loud, very heavy, very fast classic Dinosaur tracks, pulled from a democratic balance of early favourites - with the post-Sebadoh Lou getting a few more vocals slots than he maybe would have first time round. He even commented that he hadn’t ever sung a couple of the tracks live, but that didn’t cause any problems. It’s kind of nostalgic for us and them really, knocking out the now-classic album tracks like The Lung, Freak Scene, Just Like Heaven, In A Jar, and getting the huge support that they always deserved.

Extra half star for old times sake.

#Music
#Gig
#CSF

14th Jun 2005 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

Batman Begins

(dir. Christopher Nolan)

As a lifelong Batman fan it's pretty much a given that you're setting yourself up for disappointment by getting excited about the prospect of a new film actually being any good. when the first michael keaton one finally came out (after being announced, oh, about 10 years before it did) i was kind of into it, but the more i went back to it, the more holes appeared and the more i thought "hang on, this just isn't the so-called dark vision that we'd been promised." basically it ended up being the first point at which i started to get annoyed with tim burton's sub-goth meanderings. anyhow. that's another point. quite liked the second one, thought val kilmer and george clooney totally sucked (obviously)...

so with that in mind, i was still kind of holding out for this one to be good - aranofsky sounded like a promising director, but actually i was happier with the idea of christopher nolan - loved memento, really enjoyed insomnia, and thought he was probably someone who would get it right. wasn't too sure about christian bale, but was happy to reserve judgement as he hasn't made too many real duffers.

in a bat-shell: it's as good as it looks in the trailers.

it sets up the bruce wayne mythology elegantly, without resorting to mindlessly mucking around with the established storyline too much: joe chill kills martha and thomas wayne (rather than the joker), young bruce is brought up by alfred (michael caine, remembering he can act).

his wilderness years are handled nicely - throwing himself into the criminal underworld to try and understand where they're coming from, then winding up training with the ninja-like league of shadows lead by the mysterious ra's al ghul. (ok, they're called the league of assassins in the comics, but never mind.)

don't want to get too much into the plot beyond that, as it unfolds in a really satisfactory way that seems to have avoided coming out in spoilers so far, so here's a brief list of other stuff that worked:

the batmobile. an urban tank that rocks.

the batcave. suitably low-tech - it actually is a cave, complete with lots of bats, water pouring down, mud, etc.

christian bale: seems like the right age to be suitably traumatised into thinking dressing up like a bat to fight crime might actually be a good idea. is a way more convincing bruce wayne than any of the other screen versions. also it feels like he's growing into batman, putting on a lower, more growly voice when he's got the costume on etc.

gary oldman. really looks like the jim aparo/ dick giordano version of jim gordon, and here he's a street cop too, so hopefully they'll work up the relationship between him and batman in the sequels (chimp75's got an inside source who says they're all signed up for 2 more...)

the scarecrow. a much less-obvious villain for batman's debut - not so well known, and also fits in with the overall "fight your fears" theme.

the city. actually looks like a living city, rather than some blue screen exercise/studio set. sort of a cross between new york and hk.

wayne enterprises. nicely handled boardroom b-plot.

the effects. very little overt CGI - none of that spiderman stuff where he looks like a computer game everytime he jumps around the city.

katie holmes. always a bonus.

#Film
#chimp71

4th Jun 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet

Magnolia Electric Co.

Bush Hall, London

June 2nd 2005

I was late getting to this gig, and heard someone say "he's onstage now" as I arrived, so I rushed in to see that the first song was underway and pushed down to the front. I got into this band via Songs Ohia and hadn't ever seen the main man (Jason Molina), so didn't know what to expect. This dude was young looking and thin, and it quickly transpired that he had zero stage presence. Half the crowd chatted through his set as the accoustic songs ambled into each other... and then it finished. Luckily I quickly realised this was only the support band.

Magnolia Electric Co. were on stage shortly after that, with grizzy beards, hair and lot more electric guitars. They were a powerful unit, effortless and tight, motoring through a selection of songs from the new album and older stuff, and totally captivating. Phew.

The crowd we're totally into the show, which made for a great atmosphere. Plus they covered Werewolves of London as an encore. Love it.

#Music
#Gig
#CSF

4th Jun 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet

Oasis

Don't Believe The Truth

This record sounds just about what you'd expect. It isn't crap, and for all you can tell it might well be "the best thing we've done since Definitely Maybe," but it's just sounds like old news. Led Zeppelin could re-form and make "the best record since Physical Graffiti," but it probably wouldn't work. Hiring Richard Fearless to produce was maybe a good idea. Sacking him probably wasn't. Most appropriate song title - "Keeping the Dream Alive".

#Music
#CSF

25th May 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet

Foo Fighters

There Is Nothing Left To Lose

I've been looking forward to the new Foo Fighters album due this summer, so thought I'd revisit this one - seeing how I never really got into it. Boy is it dull. It just never really gets going, and after the unpredictable goodness of Foo Fighters and The Colour and the Shape it's a real let down.

Learn to Fly is OK in a radio-friendly-single kind of way, and Generator is kind of post-Everlong, but generally the album is just pitched at the same solid level aaallll the waaay through. No fun. One by One was a proper return to form, so I'm still keeping fingers crossed on album 5.

#Music
#CSF

23rd May 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet

Hamlet

(dir. Michael Almereyda)

After the death of the head of New York's Denmark Corporation, wayward son Hamlet returns to his home to find his mum shacked up with his devious uncle.

Set in modern New York, this film is a strange remake of the Mel Gibson original. Although the setting is modern, the dialogue is still in the original form, meaning it takes a good 20 minutes to settle in and actually get a hold of what's being said. You're left recalling your English O level to keep up.

Once you get into the swing of things however it's a pretty good adaption. Ethan Hawke plays a good Hamlet, and while some of the actor's seem a bit like they're reading gibberish without knowing what it means, a few really let their screen persona come through - Bill Murray and Steve Zahn in particular.

Good music, good locations, nice pixelvision.

#Film
#CSF

23rd May 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet

The Sum Of All Fears

(dir. Phil Alden Robinson)

A Nazi extremist gets hold of a missing Israeli nuclear bomb and tries to use it to start war between the US and Russia. Only young CIA analyst Jack Ryan can see the truth and prevent all out war.

Unfortunatly that young CIA guy is Ben Affleck, not the Harrison Ford of previous Ryan films. Affleck is surprisingly undislikable, mainly due to the fact that this is a big film with a lot of character's - rather than a typical star-focused Hollywood blockbuster.

It's a pretty intelligent and engaging film, that holds back on the usual punch up action, and focuses instead on Nuclear armageddon. It's a weird cross of pre/post 9/11 paranoia - as the bad guys in the book were Islamic terrorists, but at the time of filming (2001) it seemed implausible that they would be able top get hold of a nuclear weapon. Things had to be re-jiggled a bit in the edit however, as things had changed...

It starts to unravel slightly towards the end, but generally it's pretty entertaining. Good cinematography too.

#Film
#CSF

23rd May 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet

Homefires

Conway Hall, London

mugison ruled as usual, pulling someone on stage to help with the projector for 2 birds, doing a rare live version of the night is limping, getting muddled after 2 hours sleep and a gig in iceland the night before… all great.

lau nau was ok, nice use of tape machines, but a bit meandering.

white magic spent the whole time looking pissed off and tuning their guitars before running through dylans' 4th time around in a fairly pointless fashion.

jesca hoop was a bit too ye olde folke for me.

hot chip were ok, but felt like they were playing everything too slow. and the singer sounds a bit like the housemartins.

really enjoyed king creosote, who had james yorkston, pictish trails and some other fence collective dude playing with him.

adem himself was great, and was probably too modest to headline the night, even though his set had the most up feel to it, with an all-star backing band featuring people from the other bands.

badly drawn boy showed off a new hat.

james yorkston finished the night, another v good set, if a little quieter to finish on maybe… he did get the crowd off their feet at the end though, with adem, kieran 4-Tet hebden, and other fence collectivees on stage with him. generally, a great day and it did feel like adem had hand-picked stuff he was into.

plus they had great sandwiches

#Music
#Gig
#chimp71

22nd May 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet

Copland

(dir. James Mangold)

A New Jersey sheriff tries to bring justice back to his town, which is almost entirely populated by a corrupt group of NYPD. After the wackness of Identity, I went back for a re-evaluation of Copland, and can still report it is an awesome movie. While the set up is a little contrived, that is quickly surpassed by the performances in this movie. Almost every actor in this movie puts in a great performance, from De Niro through to Janeane Garofalo. Sylvester Stallone is particulalry great, putting in a touching and sympathetic performance as the local hero left out of the loop... which only serves to remind us that he never followed this break into serious acting with anything else. It's awesome to see DeNiro and Keitel in a scene together again, with an instant history and presence to both character's. "I gave you a chance and you blew it!"

#Film
#CSF

16th May 2005 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

Basic

(dir. John McTiernan)

I had pretty low hopes for this, but the fact that John McTiernan was at the helm (Die Hard fans - you know who you are) swayed me into watching it. It actually started off pretty intriguingly, with a Agatha Christie style whodunnit set-up after drill Sergeant Samual Jackson is killed in the Panamanian jungle. As the story unfolds from different perspectives it is left to investigators John Travolta and Connie Nielsen to unravel who's telling the truth.

The bigest problem with the movie was that John Travolta was his typical over-acting-annoying self that he's been ever since Tarantino gave him the false belief that he wasn't just another David Hasselhoff. While I admit that the movie was slightly more twisty than I guessed, Travolta's manner just telegraphed from the start that there was going to be a big twist... meaning it's all no surprise.

#Film
#CSF

16th May 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet

The Good Girl

(dir. Miguel Arteta)

A grocery clerk in a small town embarks on an affair with a delusional younger man.

This is a pretty engaging movie, with Jennifer Aniston putting in a surprisingly watchable performance. Jake Gyllenhaal from Donnie Darko is good too, but there's something slightly fishy about the whole thing. It's seems to be have been pitched as a far more indie movie than it actually is somehow...

#Film
#CSF

16th May 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet

Identity

(dir. James Mangold)

Pretty tricky mystery/thriller/horror from Copland's James Mangold. A load of strangers get stranded at a motel, while a killer with multiple personalites has his execution debated. It's twisty with a couple of surprises, but you can kind of see it all coming.

#Film
#CSF

14th May 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet

Stephen Malkmus

Face The Truth

Malkmus is back with another awesome post-Pavement solo record. This time he's not even with the Jicks - he's strictly Lone Wolf.

Sounding totally assured and confident in his sound, this album is layered and complex - with long building songs (No More Shoes) and faster more immediate songs (Baby C'Mon). A demo of It Kills was already featured on the excellent Matador at Fifteen sampler, and that's now been finished off and is sounding great. Sounding tight, well produced and powerful doesn't mean that he's done away with the weird shit however, plus there's a funky lyric pinched from KISS, and a little keyboard tinkle from Rod Stewart. Malkmus is still operating on his own frequency and sounding totally original.

#Music
#CSF

13th May 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

(dir. George Lucas)

After several years of fighting, the Clone Wars are coming to an end. As Chancellor Palpatine's influence grows, the Jedi Council become suspicious of him and both sides enlist the help of Anakin Skywalker to keep things under control. Meanwhile, Amidala (or Padme, depending on your preference... ahem) is secretly carrying Anakin's child, and the promise of preventing her death draws Anakin towards the power of the dark side.

R.O.T.S. gets off to a spectacular start with the opening space battle, but that soon becomes waaayy to confusing, hectic and ultimately pointless. Once things settle down the story does thicken up a bit, with the council's lack of faith in Anakin slowly pushing him away and into the Emperor's grasp. As the relationship between Anakin and Padme develops there is some actual emotion and empathy for the characters, and there are even a couple of scenes that step back from the CGI and just let the characters briefly live within the world of the film.

The potential for a great movie is there, but the film is still 30% fluff, which a better director (David Fincher was rumored at one point) would have stripped away. Things get pretty mechanical as Lucas whacks his square shape into a round hole, and we see things like the Wookie planet (and Chewie) for no real reason. General Grevious is a stupid chain smoking bad-ass semi-droid character, who just slows the plot down, before eventually we end up on the volcanic planet that everyone has known about since they were kids. The final battle between Anakin and Obi-Wan is pretty ferocious and engaging and then things wrap up with a couple of quick Darth scenes.
"Where's me bird gone Palpatine?"
"Calm down Darth!"

The attempt to tie EVERYTHING up just serves to make the galaxy much smaller than it ever was in the old days, with much of this undermining the original films. Surely hiding Luke on Vader's home planet with Vader's only living relatives isn't very smart?

#Film
#CSF

10th May 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet

Weezer

Make Believe

After their last LP, Maladroit, Weezer seemed to be on a roll. Loads of demo's of forthcoming material were available to download over at weezer.com - supposedly destined for 'album 5'. The fact that Maladroit kind of sucked seemed to put a spanner in the works however and the band went quiet again, with Rivers Cuomo heading back to Harvard to finish the hiatus he started in 1995.

When I first heard this new LP it sounded like the band were back on track, particularly as Rick Rubin was drafted in for production duties. The album kicks off well, with rockin'-comedy single Beverly Hills and then Perfect Situation works Weezer's hard-rocking irony well, This Is Such A Pity is also good, using a funky disco keyboard.

After that, things start to follow the path of the last two Weezer albums. The tracks get bogged down and start plodding and the catchiness fades. I'll keep trying as I want this to be good... and maybe it's the hidden classic that Pinkerton is. Plus I shelled out £25 to see them in June.

#Music
#CSF

9th May 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet

Sin City

Robert Rodriguez, Frank Miller, Quentin Tarantino

Pretty spot-on adaptation of the Frank Miller super-noir graphic novels, packed with a great cast. Bruce Willis and Mickey Rourke are vying for "hardest bastard in town"; Jessica Alba, Rosario Dawson, Brittany Murphy, Devon Aoki and Jaime King as "hard dames not necessarily in need of saving"; Nick Stahl, Powers Booth, Elijiah Wood and Rutger Hauer as "evil bastards"…

If you've read the comics it's like they've come to life - it's basically a shot-for-shot translation, which works way better than most other comic-to-film adaptations. all that's missing is the words. If you're new to the stories, it's like they've taken the Raymond Chandler/Mickey Spillane aesthetic and beaten it into a bloody pulp. Even Clive Owen can't ruin this film.

#Film
#chimp71

5th May 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet

The Negotiator

(dir. F. Gary Gray)

When a rogue Police negotiator (Sam Jackson) goes off the rails to prove he is being set up, the Police call in another top negotiator (Kevin Spacey) to negotiate with the negotiator.

Not bad action/drama. About as tricky as it was to write the synopsis, but still somehow managing to be predictable.

#Film
#CSF

25th Jan 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet

The Keep

(dir. Michael Mann)

Possibly the dumbest film to be shown in the Chimp Towers screening room. Nazi fog, Ian McKellan with a floating American accent even though he's supposed to be some Romanian mystic dude, lots of glowing eyes, and Tangerine Dream testing out their new-fangled synths all over the soundtrack. Almost worth watching to the end to see how stupid it gets.

#Film
#chimp71

4th Jan 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet

Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind

(dir. Michel Gondry)

After realising that the love of his life has had him surically erased from her memory, Joel Barrish sets out to have his memories erased - before changing his mind and desperately racing to hold on them.

Finally, a film that lives up to it's hype. After the relative disappointment of Human Nature it was looking like this might be a hit or miss movie, but Gondry has managed to restrain the clever tricks to just the right level so they don't overpower the movie, while Jim Carrey in particular was excellent - swapping his typical role with Kate Winslet. Photography and editing were also superb, all adding up to one of the most engrossing and entertaining movies I have seen for a very long time.

Surely anyone who has been in any kind of relationship will relate to this movie. Even a stalker.

NOTE: I've found myself watching this film every month or so, so I'm upgrading it to 5 stars.

#Film
#CSF

11th Oct 2004 - Add Comment - Tweet

Happy, Texas

(dir. Mark Illsley)

Two bumbling convicts escape from prison and upon arriving in Happy, Texas are mistaken for a couple of gay pagent organisers. Slowly however their presence in the town begins to affect different people in different ways...

I don't even know why I watched this, or in fact why I taped in to begin with.... but it was allright. Kind of reminded me of the kind of movie I would have got out from Star Video in 1987, in a License to Drive kind of way. It was moderately amusing, I like Steve Zahn, Jeremy Northam, Illeana Douglas and of course William H. Macy. It wasn't too long either.

#Film
#CSF

29th Jul 2004 - Add Comment - Tweet

Ian Brown

Live at Claremont House

Thanks to the National Trust's push to update themselves, Ian Brown played this outdoor gig in the spectacular setting of a turf ampitheatre in the grounds of a stately home in Esher, Surrey. I like Ian Brown's solo stuff, so was happy to see him live. We'd discussed on the way down whether there would be any Stone Roses songs - as he has been so far reluctant to dwell on that particular back catalogue.

However, once permanently bitter and twisted support act Aziz Ibrahim was finished "Your parents saw Hendrix, you can tell your kids you saw me" it was a nice surprise to hear Ian Brown kick off with I Wanna Be Adored. Then Sally Cinnamon. Then about another hour of Stones Roses classics. "This is what you were expecting, yeah?" he said, as I upgraded my picnic position to front row. Thanks to a brief punch up, the crowd parted like the Red Sea and I cruised straight down to the front in time for I Am The Resurrection. The nostalgia set finished with Fool's Gold before he thanked the band (a tribute act called Fool's Gold apparently) and continued with a brief blast of his solo material - much of which has become classic in it's own right.

Great gig. Tick another one off the list.

#Music
#Gig
#CSF

27th Jul 2004 - Add Comment - Tweet

Goodfellas

(dir. Martin Scorsese)

Following the day-to-day lives of three gangsters from the 1960's through to the 1980's and their steady decline. Goodfellas is based on the real life memoirs of Irish-American mafioso Henry Hill, who eventually turned snitch and joined the witness protection programme.

One of several peaks in Scorsese's career, Goodfellas is a bonafide masterpiece and a regular in this chimp's top 5. Superb performances from Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci and De Niro amongst others, fantastic music and flawless camerawork and direction make this utterly watchable. Even though I have the DVD, I caught two minutes on TV the other night and ended up watching the whole thing. Again.

#Film
#CSF

20th Jun 2004 - Add Comment - Tweet

Vanilla Sky

(dir. Cameron Crowe)

A rich playboy is disfigured in a car crash shortly after meeting the girl of his dreams. Then is it a dream/it isn't a dream..? Who cares.

I'd heard this was bad, but I just didn't listen. I like Cameron Crowe, Jason Lee is always good (since Video Days) and even Tom Cruise is usually OK. It started off reasonably enough, once you get used to the fact that Tom Cruise and Jason Lee might be friends. The dream/reality thing was pretty student-film-like in a predictably-unpredictable kind of way, but then when you got to the 'twist' it was just shit, possibly deteriorating into the worst film I've seen since What Dreams May Come. And that was BAAAD.

#Film
#CSF

4th Jun 2004 - Add Comment - Tweet

Eraser

(dir. Chuck Russell)

Jesus christ, this was some of the most hair-brained shit I've ever seen in my life. The highlight had to be Arnie playing chicken with a Lear Jet (seemingly travelling at around 5mph) while parachuting down to New York.... although the kid where he landed did provide some light relief:

Arnie: "Where am I?"
Kid: "Earth. Welcome"

#Film
#CSF

22nd May 2004 - Add Comment - Tweet

Pearl Harbor

(dir. Michael Bay)

Two childhood friends and a plucky young nurse are drawn into the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, which drew America into World War II. Starring a big list of names: Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett, Kate Beckinsale, Jon Voight, Dan Ackroyd, Tom Sizemore and others.

Apparently this was the most expensive movie made at the time, costing a whopping $140+ million. It certainly looks good, with great cinematography and effects. Unfortunately that doesn't compensate for the terrible script and dire direction.... and Affleck and Hartnett are certainly lacking that Han Solo/Luke Skywalker chemistry.

Boy, do I have a problem with Ben Affleck.... how did he become such a star?
"Just get me up in a plane!"

#Film
#CSF

3rd May 2004 - Add Comment - Tweet

St. Elmo's Fire

(dir. Joel Schumacher)

A mixed bunch of University graduates find life in the real world much tougher than they thought.

Re-watching this movie recently, I slowly realised that this is really what I expected grown up 'real life' to be like. Crashing round people's 'pads' on the floor after a row with the wife, shooting vodka at random moments and playing the sax. Even casually smoking a fag while haphazardly cooking stir fry.

This movie is so John Hughes-esque it's unbelievable, even though he didn't have anything to do with it. It does however turn out on the DVD commentary that Joel Schumacher had an office just down the corridor from Hughes, so they no doubt had a crazy night out, ended up having a glass of brandy and smoking a fag together on the fire escape while mulling over ideas.

Part goofball, part genius. This movie works on many levels.

#Film
#CSF

23rd Jan 2004 - Add Comment - Tweet

Empire Records

(dir. Allan Moyle)

A bunch of wacky "Generation X" types working in a record store race to find $9000 to save the store from a corporate takeover.

I watched this hoping for some good soundtrack action in the vein of Pretty In Pink or High Fidelity. Instead I got a couple of shit covers and Gwar. The closest thing to cool was a Rhino Records sticker on the toilet wall.

Renee Zellweger, Maxwell Caulfield and Liv Tyler are amongst the cast members embarrassing themselves, plus Rory Cochrane from C.S.I. Miami (AKA ROn the stoner from Dazed and Confused) and Anthony LaPaglia from Without a Trace. Bruckheimer obviouly liked this movie.

#Film
#CSF

29th Dec 2003 - Add Comment - Tweet

The Castle

(dir. Rob Sitch)

"With Presets?"
"Yeah. And Megabass!"
"Wow! I can't wait to go to Bangkok"

For those who like their comedies simple of plot and rich in quotes, the Castle is going 'straight to the Pool Room' ('a special place for mementos and things that remind you of things' (See Below)). In a nutshell; the Kerrigan family are told to leave the family home, making way for a Big Corporation's plans to extend the nearby airport. Kerrigan Dad, Darryl, disagrees and takes on the Company in the courts.... that's it.

Family/Neighbourhood = good, Faceless Companies = bad and a sweet victory for the little man (no hidden twists here). But the jokes and one-liners are packed hard and fast and the characters, whilst simple souls, are there to be rooted for. In places it's a fast show school of gags - keep them simple, then repeat "two-fifty! For Jousting Sticks! Tell him he's Dreamin'!". Other lines are as inspired as they are dumb "Dad, I don't know what the opposite of letting someone down is, but you've done the opposite!" There's just too many of them - watch it a couple of times then annoy your friends by quoting upcoming lines..."Dad, I dug another Hole!" Also features an appearance by Eric 'The Hulk' Bana, as the Kickboxing Brother-in-Law - "The food was an absolute credit to the airline".

I'll give the quotes a rest now, before transcribing the whole script. Just watch it. Then Laugh.

#Film
#chimpovich

29th Oct 2003 - Add Comment - Tweet