The Ephemeric

The Debbie End of Decade Awards 2009

James@the-Ephemeric.com (James) — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 00:01:00 +0000

Happy holidays all, I hope everyone is enjoying their holiday season, somewhere nice and warm like in front of a fire with family and loved ones.

It's easy to forget during all the tinsel and sparkliness of xmas that we are just a few short days away from the biggest party night of the year, New Year's eve. But before the festivities can get underway, we must reflect on the year that has passed and, in this particular year, the decade that has passed.

And so, before I head off to Paris, I will compile my massive review of the "best of" awards from the past year and the past decade in general. Each of these will then be divided into five categories: Cinema & TV, Music & Theatre, Videogames & Technology, Sports & Personal.

It's a massive undertaking, but I will follow it up with a list of the hottest tips for 2010 that you should look out for, as well as a retrospective look at my predictions from last year.

So without further ado, here are the 2009 Debbie Awards:

Best of 2009

Cinema & TV

1. The Debbie for TV Show of the Year
Winner: Entourage
Runner Up: Flight of the Conchords

Without a doubt the under appreciated gem of the television world, Entourage reminds us exactly why HBO is the best network out there. A kick ass blend of humor, drama, glamor and the good life, Entourage is back to its best after a shaky previous season. The show continues to follow a hollywood star and his buddies as they attempt to conquer hollywood, and features everything that a good tav show needs; smart writing, great cast and a top soundtrack. Now heading into its 7th season, Entourage is the best show on television.

Sadly this year's runner up, Flight of the Conchords, has come to an end. Vaguely reminiscent of Peep Show, Conchords was quite honestly the funniest thing I've seen for a long time, and at only two seasons of 8 episodes, it's far too short. Then again, considering they have to record a whole album of music for each season it's not entirely inexplicable.

2. The Debbie for Film of the Year
Winner: District 9
Runner Up: Avatar

2009 was the year of good sci-fi, with excellent films like Star Trek not even getting a look in ahead of the competition. Instead, the award goes to the brilliant District 9 which has received universal acclaim for giving us one of the freshest and most original films in years, with one of the best directorial debuts in recent history.

Meanwhile the runners up prize has to go to what is surely the biggest film of the year, James Cameron's latest, Avatar, a breakthrough in cinema technology and a cinematic event like few others.

Music & Theatre

3. The Debbie for Theatrical Production of the Year
Winner: Twelfth Night
Runners Up: A Doll's House

The Donmar followed up their astounding Ivanov production from the end of last year with an equally remarkable portrayal of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, featuring Derek Jacobi as Malvolio and a host of other fine actors.

Also from the Donmar, Gillian Anderson gave an excellent performance in A Doll's House.

4. The Debbie for Album of the Year
Winner: Manners - Passion Pit
Runner Up: Still Night Still Light - Au Revoir Simone

Passion Pit achieved something special this year with Manners, a hyped album that did not disappoint. In doing so, they produced one of the most infectious, catchy, euphoric and downright excellent albums you'll have heard in a long time, with tracks like Moth's Wings and To Kingdom Come. And this from a debut album as well.

Meanwhile, Au Revoir Simone's latest album reached a new high for the band. Elegant and charming, Still Night, Still Light is their most consistent album yet and one of the best of the year. This album runs the gamut from the classic pop of Another Likely Story to the dizzying Only you can Make you Happy and the laid back Take Me As I Am.

5. The Debbie for Debut Album of the Year
Winner: Manners - Passion Pit
Runner Up: XX - The XX

Passion Pit already won the best album of the year with their debut effort, so of course they're also going to win the best debut album of the year with their album Manners.

XX, meanwhile, is an album that I am sorry I didn't get around to reviewing on here, but man what an album. The XX bring a fresh, minimalist style that is frankly beautiful in a way that few songs are. In particular they have received acclaim for the single Islands, but VCR also demands a listen.

6. The Debbie for Song of the Year
Winner: Into the Clouds - Sound of Arrows
Runners Up: Snookered - Dan Deacon, Skeletons - Yeah Yeah Yeahs, I Gotta Feeling - Black Eyed Peas

It was a year that saw many more good songs than good albums, and it really took me a long time before deciding that Into the Clouds would be my song of the year. It's an ethereal, uplifting joy to listen to that sounds like it's being beamed down to Earth from some higher power, and it whets the appetite for what we can only hope is a full album next year.

Meanwhile close runners up included Dan Deacon's trippy Snookered, Yeah Yeah Yeahs' absolutely dreamy Skeletons and the club anthem of the year I Gotta Feeling, by the Black Eyed Peas, their best song by quite a distance.

Videogames & Technology

7. The Debbie for Technological Innovation of the Year
Winner: Amazon Kindle

A revelation, pure and simple. The day of having a library full of paper books and piles of old newspapers is now a thing of the past. You can have all your books and as many different newspapers as you want right here on a thin, handheld electronic device. As if that was not enough, the screen uses the absolutely fantastic e-ink technology which is effectively the same as printing something with real ink, requires no power to maintain an image and can be read in the exact same lighting conditions as real ink printed pages. Has to be seen to be believed.

8. The Debbie for Videogame of the Year
Winner: The Beatles: Rockband
Runner up: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

It was a pretty slow year for videogames, with Modern Warfare 2 the only release that was particularly hyped up, and most of my modest videogaming time was instead spent playing games from 2008 like Fallout 3, and your standard annual fare like Fifa and Football Manager.

One game, however, was impossible not to fall head over heels in love with, the Beatles: Rockband. This perfect celebration of the greatest band of all time was a joy for all the senses and definitely the game this year which above all others earned that pricey fee.

Meanwhile, Modern Warfare 2 is my runner up. It was, ultimately, a fun well made game, but full of technical bugs (on the PC version anyway) and was so brainless that I honestly felt stupider for having played it.

Sports & Personal

9. The Debbie for Party of the Year
Winner: New Years at the Crillon

Few things compare to a new years eve balcony party overlooking the Place de Concorde. Retro party masks and free vintage Veuve-Clicquot is the clincher here.

10. The Debbie for Restaurant of the Year
Winner: O Ya
Runners Up: Hakkasan, Vingt-Quatre

It was a very dark year for food, following the closure of my favorite restaurant in the world, Gallopapa. It turns out that having a restaurant in the lamp lit tunnels under a tiny town in Tuscany is not particularly lucrative, no matter how absurdly awesome and pretty it is.

However there is much great food to be had in this world of ours, and the pick of this year's selection is without a doubt O Ya, from Boston, Massachusetts in the US. This small, unassuming sushi place, located in an old firehouse, produces some of the most mindblowingly fantastic sushi you will ever taste. Honestly, to compare it to other sushi restaurants feels somehow fraudulent, because it is just so different, and so amazing. The highlight is the La Ratte potato chip with black truffle sushi, like a pure distillation of what heaven tastes like.

Meanwhile, Hakkasan is an old favorite that never disappoints, and Vingt-Quatre, the 24 hour bistro in Chelsea has been my saving grace so many times this year at 3am after a night of drinking that frankly it has to be mentioned (the food is fantastic too).

11. The Debbie for Douchebag of the Year
Winner: Digg
Runner Up: Ben Fitzgerald

Fast on their way to becoming the "Myspace" of social news websites, Digg continued its odd strategy of selling out to the unwashed masses whilst simultaneously giving all the actual power to a select few 'power users'. The final straw came with a series of incidents in which entire college dorms and people who logged in via public computers found their accounts mysteriously deleted without any official word.

And Ben… you're just a douchebag, seriously you're such a douchebag.

12. The Debbie for Footballer of the Year
Winner: Lionel Messi
Runner Up: Fernando Torres

Looking at the current crop of football players there is one that stands head and shoulders (not literally in this case) above the rest, in terms of both pure talent and consistency over the entire year. Lionel Messi, the little Argentinian wizard is the best of the "new Maradonas" that have popped up every few years, and even at his tender young age, the best player in the world right now.

Picking a runner up was very difficult, but in the end the award has to go to the man who, when fit, is simply the most unstoppable striker in Europe. Torres not only has the pace and the skills, but the immense strength that can batter through opposition defences.

13. The Debbie for Nightclub of the Year
Winner: Absolut Icebar
Runner Up: Grace Bar

It may be a bit of a gimmick, but no one can deny that the Absolut Icebar is damn fun, and a beautiful place to get hammered. Meanwhile Grace Bar needs to make the list after the great halfway dinner there.

14. The Debbie for Book of the Year
Winner: The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind - William Kamkwamba

An inspiring and hard to believe story that also happens to make a damn good read.

Best of the Decade

Cinema & TV

15. The Debbie for TV Show of the Decade
Winner: Arrested Development
Runner Up: Life on Mars (UK edition)

There really is just nothing that compares to Arrested Development as a TV show. The calibre of writing in this show has never even come close to being matched. And it's not just because it's extremely funny and extremely smart. It's the attention to detail with every single character, every single word of dialogue, with all the songs featured in the show having been written specially for the show, and it's the unique style with which it is done. But above all, it's that by the time you reach the end of the series you see that they clearly had every detail of the show mapped out from the start, with every episode peppered with injokes and omens of things that happen years later. It's brilliantly self referential and really a staggering accomplishment.

Frankly, most British TV shows are pure crap like Skins, however every once in a while they throw up a real gem, like Fawlty Towers or the Office, or in this case, Life on Mars which might just be the best of the bunch. This is one of those sublime shows in which everything is pretty much perfect; great cast, direction, awesome soundtrack, fantastic writing that mingles expertly between funny and serious, and also that intangible quality of genius that the best TV shows have.

16. The Debbie for Film of the Decade
Winner: Donnie Darko (2001)
Runner Up: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

Now this was a very difficult one to choose, but in the end in a decade with far too many wonderful films, I decided to give the grand prize to Donnie Darko. This is just one of those films that I can watch over and over. It has everything, humour, suspense great direction and top performances from the entire cast, from the star Jake Gyllenhal to the supporting cast of Maggie Gyllenhal, Drew Barrymore, Patrick Swayze, and the list goes on. The soundtrack is sublime and the whole package is just an incredible, darkly comic, trippy, and epic emotional experience.

The runner up is a film that is almost as good. Starring the always underrated Jim Carrey and oscar winner Kate Winslet, Eternal Sunshine is probably the trippiest film you will ever see, in a good way. But more than that it is intelligent and moving, touching viewers on a core level. Thought provoking, well made and well acted, Eternal Sunshine is an utterly beguiling journey with few equals.

Music & Theatre

17. The Debbie for Theatrical Production of the Decade
Winner: Frost/Nixon
Runner Up: Ivanov

The best thing I have ever seen in the theatre has got to be Frost/Nixon, as directed by Sam Mendes and starring the same cast as in the film, in its original Donmar production. Frost/Nixon tells the story of the David Frost interviews with Richard Nixon, one of history's great personal battles.

The close runner up, and this is very close indeed, is last year's Ivanov, a great play by Anton Chekov, made better by excellent performances by Kenneth Branagh, and the underrated Kevin McNally, and top direction from Michael Grandage.

18. The Debbie for Album of the Decade
Winner: By the Way - Red Hot Chili Peppers (2002)
Runner Up: Hot Fuss - The Killers (2004)

The Red Hot Chili Peppers surely hit their peak with By the Way, one of those rare albums where every single song is great, whether it is the titular By the Way, or the chilled tones of Dosed, or the funky rock of Can't Stop, there's something for everyone.

Meanwhile, The Killers have emerged as one of the biggest bands in the world in recent years, and it all kicked off with the impressive debut showing of Hot Fuss. Last year's Day & Age may have been musically superior in some ways, but Hot Fuss was really a revolution, and also contains two of the biggest and best songs of the decade in All These Things I've Done, and of course, Mr. Brightside.

19. The Debbie for Song of the Decade
Winner: Wham City - Dan Deacon (2007)
Runner Up: Mr. Brightside - The Killers (2004)

You either love it or hate it, but Wham City is a simply incomparable track. At 11 minutes long, this masterpiece sounds like information overload at first until you realise how perfectly placed each and every note in this song is. This is as close to the zen of pure musical bliss as anyone has ever gotten, an epic, trippy journey.

Mr. Brightside, on the other hand is a song that everyone loves. In fact there are few songs in existence that provoke such a universally positive reaction like this whenever you hear it being played at a club or a party, even now years after it was released. When this song plays, everyone in the house goes wild, and there's a reason for that.

Videogames & Technology

20. The Debbie for Technological Innovation of the Decade
Winner: Facebook (2004)
Runner Up: iPhone (2007)

Few things have changed the world in recent times as Facebook has. Suddenly the entire planet appears small, as friends and family everywhere can easily stay completely up to date with the details of each others' lives. But that's not even the end of it. With apps, gifts, events and the tendency to become reunited with old friends from as far back as pre-school, Facebook has become an integral part of many people's lives, for better or for worse, and now as important a part as brushing your teeth in the morning and eating breakfast is checking Facebook.

The iPhone, meanwhile, has made Star Trek style technology a reality. Versatile, handheld and with a big beautiful touch screen, there is not a single person anywhere who didn't say 'wow' when they first laid their hands on this.

21. The Debbie for Videogame of the Decade
Winner: Half Life 2 (2004)
Runners up: Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004), Rock Band 2 (2008)

On the other hand, it was a pretty damn incredible decade for videogames. The winner I have chosen (this was an easy one) Is Half Life 2. Valve really take their sweet time when making a game, but boy is it worth the wait. Half Life 2 is a technical marvel, with graphics which were way ahead of its time, and still look good today. It also gave the world a revolution in terms of game physics, and even made it a key part of the game's gameplay with the gravity gun. Most important of all though, is the fact that unlike every other game ever, this game is simply pure joy from the first minute to the last, thanks to expert pacing and the introduction of fresh new gameplay features right up until the last level, where most other games throw it all at the player in the first level. One of the best games of all time.

Choosing the runners up was difficult though, mostly because the best games were those which expanded upon innovations from earlier games. For example, Grand Theft Auto III was an amazing step forward in open world sandbox games, one which has inspired a whole genre of copycats, but Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas was the better game, and the absolute epitome of the genre so far. It was brilliant fun, but also gave us a game world so huge it has never since been equalled, with three huge cities and miles of countryside in between. Even more impressive was the level of customisation, letting you work out and eat, thus changing the physical dimensions of your character, as well as choosing the haircut, wardrobe, designing your own cars, etc. But the best thing about this game was the introduction of stats for absolutely everything. Drive around your car for a while and you become a better driver, use one gun a lot, and you become more proficient, it adds a whole new dimension to the sandbox genre.

Meanwhile my second runner up was Rock Band 2. As before, credit must go to Guitar Hero for being the real innovator, but Rock Band 2 is the most perfect realisation of this genre so far, with full band play and a huge, expandable song list that is larger than most people's music libraries.

Sports & Personal

22. The Debbie for Party of the Decade
Winner: James' 18th Birthday Party

Some nights have it all; people falling down the stairs, beds and doors coming off their hinges, 4am pasta cook offs, and all topped off with a rousing call to arms of Churchillian epicness, lest we forget to tango with "the Captain".

23. The Debbie for Restaurant of the Decade
Winner: Gallopapa
Runner Up: O Ya

Gallopapa is probably the best restaurant I have ever been to, the service, the location, the small appetisers and treats. But of course the most important thing is the food, there is no other restaurant that I will eat absolutely everything on the menu, no matter how weird it sounds, and it will be as awesome as it is here. Unfortunately it has now closed, but rest assured I am keeping tabs of the chef to find out where he reappears, and he will.

24. The Debbie for Douchebag of the Decade
Winner: George W. Bush
Runner Up: Guy who tried to steal $200 from me on eBay (and failed)

You really can't say enough about this absolute disgrace to the office of President, a man who almost destroyed the country, squandered the largest surplus in history, lied to and manipulated voters, effectively froze scientific progress with his luddite policies and led to the needless death of thousands. The undisputed most disastrous administration in history has resulted in what is widely known as "the lost decade" and now "the lost generation" who are unemployed and in debt because of this jackass. His name doesn't deserve to appear in this article in bold.

25. The Debbie for Footballer of the Decade
Winner: Zinedine Zidane
Runners Up: Ronaldinho, Frank Lampard

Not only was Zinedine Zidane a good player, he will go down as an all time great. This man had pace, skills, strength, absolutely everything. But more important than any of that is 'genius', pure and simple. Zidane was one of those players who was always 10 steps ahead of his opponents, knew the exact location of every player on the pitch at any one time, and had the technique to hit a pitch perfect pass from anywhere on the pitch. Top class.

Ronaldinho, on the other hand, was just a pure joy to watch during his peak. This man could pull off tricks, flicks and dummies that you simply could not believe, with some of the best technique you will ever have seen. As unpredictable as he was effective. What's more, he always played with a smile on his face, this was a player who epitomised "the beautiful game". Meanwhile Frank Lampard has to earn a place as a runner up simply for showing the kind of immense goal scoring ability that no midfielder has ever had before. Not just did he win the player of the year award for the English national team 4 years in a row, not only did he score more than 20 goals a season from midfield for 6 years in a row, not only has he been decorated with every domestic personal award, but this man pulled the strings in the Chelsea midfield, one of the most successful teams of the decade, and somehow managed to outshine each and every one of his teammates, even in a squad of 30 million pound world beaters.

26. The Debbie for Book of the Decade
Winner: The Wind-up Bird Chronicle - Haruki Murakami

Murakami is an absolutely fantastic author, whose power lies in the ability to convey deep meaning in subtle and deceptively simple language. An easy read and a good read, the Wind-up Bird Chronicle is probably the best of his numerous trippy and mind expanding books.

Well there you have it, it's been a pretty damn good decade, and a fairly mediocre 2009. I have a good feeling that 2010 is going to be something pretty special, read on to the next article to find out why.

Hotly Tipped for 2010

James@the-Ephemeric.com (James) — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Now it is time to look ahead at what the coming year has in store. Every year we like to briefly preview the biggest and best films, tv shows, music, anything that looks awesome, and this year will be no different. But first, let's look back for a minute at my predictions from the start of this year. My 2008 predictions were pretty much spot on, so I had a lot to live up to with my 2009 predictions, as you will see.

Perhaps my grandest prediction was regarding President Obama and the transformative effect he would have. An in depth review of his first year will come closer to the end of his first year at the end of January, but in short there is little doubt that he has made a lot of progress in a short amount of time, but perhaps much more slowly and incremental than one might have hoped.

Then I made a number of predictions of bands that would make it big this year, with a decidedly mixed success rate. For starters Kyte and Subliminal Girls didn't even release albums this year in the end, so the judge is still out there for a little while longer.

On the other hand, the Temper Trap had one of the most successful single releases of the year with Sweet Disposition, even if the album was mostly mediocre. Similarly White Lies' album turned out to be a big disappointment, even though it had one excellent song. Mind you, it still sold very well, so I'm counting that as a win. Empire of the Sun was also a bit of a hit this year, though once again I personally was disappointed.

When it comes to the film world, my predictions were a little better, but then that's the benefit of being such an obsessive cinema aficionado as I am. Avatar is one of the biggest movie releases of all time and a mega mega hit. Meanwhile, Watchmen was also a commercial success, and pretty good too. Revolutionary Road was sadly not as good as I had hoped, but went on to receive numerous Academy Awards anyway.

So all in all a pretty decent year of predictions, but not up to the standard I set the previous year. Nostradamus rating: B-

Music
- Delphic, definitely one of the most hyped up debut acts of next year, their album Acolyte comes out in January. A bit like a marriage of New Order and the Pet Shop Boys, these guys specialise in infectious indie hooks. Check out Doubt.

- Sound of Arrows produced my song of the year Into the Clouds, and a full album is hopefully not too far away. This duo hail from Sweden and produce majestic, ethereal music that, frankly, is hard not to love.

- Devlin. A London rapper who has recently become one of the hottest names on the underground scene. I'd be stunned if he doesn't make it big next year. I don't even like rap usually, but London City is just fantastic, with more than a hint of the streets about it.

In addition, look out for new albums from the likes of MGMT, Stars and Delays, all of which are great bands.

Cinema
- Inception. My most highly anticipated film of 2010, this film has "awesome" written all over it. Directed by the briliant Christopher Nolan (Memento, the Dark Knight) starring the excellent Leo DiCaprio (Catch Me if You Can, the Aviator) and with a star studded supporting cast that includes oscar winner Marion Cotillard, Ellen Page, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Cillian Murphy and Michael Caine. We know very little about this film so far, which has been described as "A contemporary science fiction action thriller set within the architecture of the mind." But it will be amazing.

- Shutter Island. The second on my list also stars DiCaprio, which is slightly worrying, but also comes with the heavyweight directing credit of the one and only Martin Scorsese. Due to be released in February, this film tells the story of two US marshals investigating the disappearance of a patient from mental hospital located on the Shutter Island. It is generating a hell of a lot of buzz right now and going by that trailer and the names attached, it's easy to see why.

- Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World. If you haven't read the original comic series, do so now. I was inspired to check it out myself having heard so much positive buzz, but even I did not expect it to be as excellent as it was. Brilliantly witty, original, and over brimming with wonderful geek culture. The film comes courtesy of British director Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) and stars Michael Cera. This could be pretty awesome indeed.

Television

The big news for television fans out there is the big series finale of Lost coming this January. Love it or hate it, Lost has been one of the biggest shows on TV and if, like me, you're a fan then you'll be absolutely chomping at the bit for this one.

Video Games
- Bioshock 2. Bioshock was one of the most stunning games of the decade and a smash hit. The sequel is nearing release, and while I personally have doubts that it could possibly live up to its predecessor, the first game was good enough that I have to at least give them a chance.

- Mass Effect 2. Another sequel, this time for one of the best storytelling video games in recent years. The genius of Mass Effect was the ability to make decisions that would have drastic consequences in the gameworld, really drawing you into the adventure and making sure that no two games are alike. With voice acting by Seth Green and Martin Sheen, this is not one to be missed, especially if you were a fan of the original.

So that's all then. Happy New Year everyone, see you in 2010!
-James

Weekly Roundup - 26th December 2009

James@the-Ephemeric.com (James) — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0000

song of the week: "Golden Phone" by "Micachu"

thing that makes me grimace today: Traveling all the way to Greenwich to see Avatar on IMAX 3D and then having to wait an hour before they finally let us into the cinema, late. Fuck Odeon.

pic of the day:
IN:
Avatar
Delphic
Paul Smith

OUT:
2012
Empire of the Sun
Ralph Lauren

"Avatar" Film Review

James@the-Ephemeric.com (James) — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Directed by James Cameron
Written by James Cameron
Starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver
Release date(s) Out Now
Running time 161 minutes

Avatar is the latest creation from world conquering director James Cameron, whose last film, Titanic, set all kinds of box office and award winning records, and whose other credits include the likes of Terminator, Aliens and the Abyss. His latest work finally hits the silver screen after suppoesduly 20 years of work, and amid probably the greatest hype storm of any film this decade, can it possibly live up to it?

Despite the simply unprecedented hype, I was actually not particularly psyched before going into this one. For the past few years stories had been surfacing detailing the extent to which James Cameron had been pouring his soul into this film, dreaming of it for decades, having to invent the technology required to film it, and hiring zoologists and bio-linguists in order to craft the most complete and believable alien world ever created, in the most stunningly photorealistic 3D graphics.

This was the promise, and so when the first images and trailers started to appear, they could not possibly live up to such hype. In fact it all looked extremely underwhelming. At the time we were assured it would look much better in motion, on the big screen and in 3D; and now having seen the film in 3D on an Imax screen, I can assure you that we were not misled.

First the basics. SPOILERS. This film follows Jake Sully played by Sam Worthington, a paraplegic marine who is recruited by 'the company' to take his dead brother's place in the Avatar program on newly discovered alien planet Pandora. This is basically a method by which humans can take control of bodies manufactured by a combination of human and alien DNA. These aliens are the natives from Pandora, the Na'vi. The 'company' basically wants to harvest a resource 'unobtanium' (which believe it or not is actually a correct scientific term in this context) which is the solution to all of mankind's energy woes back home. Along the way, Jake falls in love with this world and the Na'vi and decides to lead a resistance against the big evil company.

That's your basic exposition out of the way, the bulk of the film follows Jake's avatar as he explores the lush and beautiful world of Pandora. As already mentioned, Cameron went all out on designing this world, hiring zoologists to design all the animal and plant life so as to be totally believable and authentic. This is one of the film's main strengths, but at the same time it is also the first weakness I'm going to mention, albeit not a very important one.

You see, for all the talk there's been of effort that's been put into this side of the world, it's all a bit superficial, and you get the impression that these 'experts' pocketed a lot of money for not really doing a whole lot besides giving the thumbs up to some artist's wacky doodlings. Most of the creatures are imaginative, sure, but inexplicably designed. For example the six legged horses, watch them move and you will see them run just like regular horses, except with two completely redundant extra legs that in real life would have been removed by evolution. It's a small geeky point and one that is completely irrelevant for most people's enjoyment, but considering this film is trying so hard to claim kudos for such attention to detail, I feel it's worth pointing out that it fails in this regard.

The far bigger concern, however, lies with these Na'vi themselves. In a movie that strives to be fresh and original and believably alien, these aliens are inexplicably based on the most cartoony of native American stereotypes. You've got the chief, the warrior, the mother Earth, they look and talk like something out of Pocahontas (Now that I think about it, the plot of this film is pretty much an exact replica of Pocahontas). This is not the only example of cliché either, the entire 'company' and everyone who works for it are portrayed as such one dimensional 'bad guys' that it becomes a little trite to watch.

It doesn't help that the plot itself is full of Cameron's political soap box preaching, with a strong environmental message about how every living thing is connected and we evil humans are destroying our mother Earth and whatnot. This is buffeted with a secondary serving of post-colonial guilt as we watch the scary modern soldiers wipe out the poor indigenous natives (indeed this is the only reason I can see for the inclusion of native American stereotypes, they should have just skipped it). It's all very overwrought and feels forced. I don't think it's a bad thing for a film to have a deeper message, quite the opposite. But when done right it should integrate with the plot seamlessly, and it certainly does not in this case.

But these are the only complaints I can find for this film, and it is otherwise an excellent piece of cinema which more than makes up for any preachiness and cliché. The fact is that Cameron is simply a great film maker, and this film just oozes with confidence and accomplished story telling. The drama is fully engaging throughout, and paced expertly so as not to put off the casual movie goer, whilst still keeping your average sci-fi fan interested. And as always, Cameron knows exactly how to pull your heart strings; you will be excited when he wants you to be, you will laugh when he wants you to, and you will weep. In addition, he once again reminds us why he is the master of spectacle. Few other directors can pull off such grand set pieces whilst still keeping in touch with the viewer on a personal level. This is why Titanic was a success, and he does it again here in the climactic scenes of the film. He simply does not disappoint.

This is supported with strong performances, in particular from Sam Worthington who plays the lead, Jake, with a nuanced combination of heart and self interest, while Giovanni Ribisi also shines as the darkly comic company suit, Parker Selfridge.

But the real star here is the world of Pandora, and the technology which makes it all possible. For all the subtext and political statements, this film is on the surface a western set in space. The best bits are the ones where Jake is simply out there exploring the unknown. And it doesn't really matter if that world is not the masterpiece of realism we were told to expect, this film succeeds precisely because it pushes the boundaries of believability. The world is brimming with imagination and wonder; huge jungles, floating mountains, neon trees and flying jelly fish. It is so achingly beautiful to look at with damn near photorealistic graphics, and the Na'vi themselves are creepily lifelike when you see them up close. At times you honestly will not be able to believe your eyes, you'll feel like you're really there. Never before will you have felt so completely enveloped in such a strange and magical new world.

As for the 3D aspect, the jury is still out. The glasses are still bulky and annoying and really bug you for the first few minutes, but after that you won't even remember you're wearing them. The graphics themselves vary from some absolutely brilliant 3D work, to times when it just looks like a bunch of flat images placed at different distances from the camera. Overall this is the closest I have ever come to seeing a film that really justified the use of 3D technology to me, but I'm still not convinced that this is the way of the future.

In the end, this is just a real cinematic event, and a landmark film. There are annoyances and poor film making decisions, sure, but frankly you won't have trouble overlooking them when you're watching something as engrossing as this. Never before has cg and live action been so throughly and sublimely blended, and it's something you really have to see.

Loves:
Stunning photorealism
Evocative direction
Beautifully realised world

Hates:
Cliché
Preachy

Stalemate: Why a Republican win in 2010 might be a good thing

James@the-Ephemeric.com (James) — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0000

I imagine most people will read this headline and wonder if I have lost my mind. Aside from the fact that I lean Democrat, and that I'm far too well educated to ever vote for the current incarnation of the Republican party, there are very few people who have any sympathy for the group of political song and dance men that are currently preventing Americans from getting healthcare. But I have good reason for suggesting this, so bear with me.

So by now it should be clear to everyone that the current set up in Congress just doesn't work. Even very obvious, unobjectionable, common sense pieces of legislation that are vital to the wellbeing of the country, like the Stimulus and the health care reform bill, are proving very difficult, if not impossible, to push through.

The problem here is not policy, or the legislation itself; as a matter of fact Obama might just be one of the most conservative Democrat Presidents of all time, relative to his era. Looking at the major legislation, we have a stimulus made up mostly of tax cuts, something the Republicans usually love, whereas in health care he opted for the really quite conservative Public Option and medicare expansion (another thing that Republicans previously wanted) as opposed to a single payer model that most developed nations use. Similarly the Republicans recently voted unanimously not to extend the Bush era tax cuts. Democrat voters are using these, and other, examples to point out how the Republicans have abandoned their ideology and seemingly will say just about any old lie to gain support. Republican voters simply don't know any better, and they don't care.

In this case, they're both right. The sad truth is that in America (also in other nations, but played to a far greater extreme in America) politics is nothing more than a sport. It may be a very high stakes sport which plays with regular people's lives, but it's a sport nonetheless, and every politician in Congress ultimately sees it that way, with few exceptions. So am I condoning this behaviour? Absolutely not, but that's just the way it is.

Take health care reform as an example. No sane person could believe the absurd claims Republicans are making about the reform bill, with "death panels" and "rationing" and "Government takeovers". This isn't even a matter of "liberal" vs "conservative", there is nothing "liberal" about treating sick people. Hell, conservatives in the UK have been championing the NHS for decades. The CBO report quite clearly shows that the healthcare bill which recently passed the House would bring about deficit reduction and expand healthcare to almost all Americans, so who could possibly be against that? The answer is "no one" of course, unless you've been scared into believing a bunch of fairytales, which is exactly what is going on here.

So where am I going with this? Anyone living in the real world suspects that The Republicans don't really believe the ridiculous things they're saying, they're not stupid. And I don't buy into the excuse that they're just being paid off by Insurance companies either, frankly almost all politicians are taking cutbacks from lobbyists, that's not exclusive to Republicans. This is simply an example of jaded politicians "playing the game", and therein lies the problem. In the end, senators and congressmen have no term limits, the only thing they care about is winning and keeping their job. For this reason they will simply continue to play the political game.

The Democrats have an overwhelming control of both chambers of Congress. The Republicans effectively have no voice in the country anymore. There is no possible way that they could pass any conservative legislation as things currently stand. This is why being a minority can have such a strong unifying effect on a group. The Republicans want to have some influence, and they know they only way they can possibly achieve that is if they all put their differences aside and vote as a unit of one. They know that they can't win, so the aim here is to prevent anything useful from being passed while the Democrats are in charge, so that neither party wins. The resultant drop in approval of Democrats then allows the Republicans a way back in.

You should be able to see now what the problem is. The Republicans need to fight the Democrats, just so that they can hold some influence over the nation's politics. That is why the Republicans are opposing the healthcare legislation, no matter how good it is, and no matter how much they would have loved to support it in previous years. Obama could propose pure Republican policies (and in far too many cases he has) and they would still oppose it. These are "small party" tactics, and we see them time and time again when one party is in the ascendency over the other, that's just how the game is played. Make no mistake, this unbreakable Republican opposition to Obama has nothing to do with his policies whatsoever, it is just the only way that they can win back some control over the country. And they have to do this precisely because they are in such a small minority.

Simply put: when one party has an overwhelming majority, the majority party wants to get things done and take all the credit for it, and the minority doesn't. When congress is roughly equal, both parties want to get things done and take equal credit, and this is the optimum state of things.

It is for this reason that I suggest that the country would be better able to move forward if Congress was more evenly divided. If we had a 50/50 split in the House and Senate, for example, I have no doubts that we would be passing a more effective healthcare bill than the one we are likely to get now, and more quickly too. The Republicans would have had no need of small party tactics, realising that it would make them look good to pass effective legislation, and therefore they wouldn't have opposed so many of the Democrats' clever cost saving measures. Look back to the 90s in America, arguably the most prosperous period for any country in all of history, in which we had a Democrat President and a reasonably even Congress.

Really these congressmen and senators are all interchangeable chess pieces for their political parties, the only thing that really makes a difference is the balance of pieces. It should be clear that Congress works best when there is rough equilibrium. When one party gains too much power you reach a breaking point, which we are now at, where what little remains of the minority party just becomes dead weight, and prevents anything meaningful from getting done. There are two things that can happen now. Either the GOP disintegrates and just dies off (unlikely, unless a third party really gains momentum), or the system can balance itself out, as it is designed to do, which in the end is what will probably happen.

Looking ahead to the 2010 elections, most people assume that the Republicans will make some small gains, if for no other reason than that the Democrats have so many more seats to lose, it's just logical. This, however, is by no means certain for a number of reasons.

Most obvious is the success of the really quite good legislation that the Democrats have just managed to sneak through by the skin of their teeth this year in the face of such impenetrable obstacles. I will go into more detail on how effective their work has been (and how much more effective they would have been if not for the small party tactics of the GOP) at a later date, but for now all you need to be aware of is that the markets have recovered, employment has levelled off, and if jobs start coming back early next year as most people expect, this will go down on record as the fastest economic recovery in history, which paints a somewhat more negative picture for the GOP.

But equally important is the effect of the growing support for the conservative party. People may remember that at the start of the year I anticipated that there was a real possibility for the Republican party to split in the coming years, a prospect which seems even more likely now. At the time I imagined that the lunatics would keep sinking with the Republican party whilst all the sane conservatives would jump ship to a new party. As it so happens exactly the opposite has happened, with the hard right wingers switching their allegiance to the conservative party. This has had devastating consequences in the recent NY-23 congressional election, which Democrats won for the first time in over a hundred years as a result of this infighting amongst conservatives, and more recently Rasmussen polls (which typically poll about 10% to the right of the rest of America) have shown that the conservative party has more support than the GOP right now, a situation which gives the Democrats a majority of support on the most right wing pollster in the country.

So while it is entirely possible for 2010 to be the final nail in the coffin of the Republican party, I suspect that the two conservative factions will put their differences aside come election time, and that the majority of American voters will be too oblivious to base their vote on the state of the economy or jobs market. Ultimately next year's elections look like small gains for the GOP, and it may ultimately be a productive turn for the country.

So let's clarify here. Yes the Republicans pretty much single handedly destroyed America, but I think you will find that most of the calamitous decisions over the past eight years come from the sheer incompetence of the administration in charge, rather than congressional Republicans (something that I should expand upon, but that's another story for another article), after all the Democrats controlled Congress for the final two years of Bush, to little positive effect. Members of congress ultimately just want to impress their constituents by looking productive, the real direction and drive comes from the White House.

So a Republican President in 2012? Absolutely under no circumstances. But a Republican boost in 2010? That might actually make Obama's job easier rather than harder.

James Bobin, an Unsung Hero of the Entertainment Industry

James@the-Ephemeric.com (James) — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0000

While few people out there will have heard this name before, there's every chance that you're a fan of his work. James Bobin is a British writer/director/producer who has been behind some of the most successful pieces of comedy gold in the past few years.

Bobin began his career as a director and writer on the 11 O'clock show, noteworthy for being the launching point for the careers of both Ricky Gervais and Sacha Baron Cohen. He went on to co-create the now world famous Baron Cohen characters Ali G, Borat and Brüno, and wrote/directed all the episodes of Ali G in da USAiiiii.

Following on from these successes, Bobin joined forces with New Zealand duo Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement to create the highly successful Flight of the Conchords tv series. Indeed it would seem he has the midas touch at the moment.

As recognition for his work he has won awards from BAFTA and the WGA and received numerous Emmy nominations.

So what does the future hold for Bobin? Rumours suggest that he has signed on to direct his first feature films, Moon People and Jeff the Demon, the latter reportedly starring the always utterly brilliant Will Arnett.

Will these live up to his previous projects? Well clearly that's the problem with achieving such incredible success so early in your career. But whatever the case, if you haven't heard of him yet, you probably will soon enough.

Weekly Roundup - 12th December 2009

James@the-Ephemeric.com (James) — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 02:15:00 +0000

song of the week: "When You Walk in the Room" by "Fyfe Dangerfield"

thing that makes me happy today: You can now download Simon & Garfunkel's the Sound of Silence on Rock Band. Awesome.

pic of the day:
IN:
Ancelotti
Delays
Glee

OUT:
Scolari
30 Seconds to Mars
High School Musical (god how awful)

The Problem with Arsenal FC: a Risky Business

James@the-Ephemeric.com (James) — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 00:01:00 +0000

It is now almost halfway through the season, and the league table is starting to take shape, allowing us to see which clubs will be competing for honours in 6 months time, and which will be competing just to stay in the top flight.

So far it definitely seems my prediction of Chelsea failure this season was wrong. I think I can safely say that Carlo Ancelotti has proven himself as a capable manager, getting Chelsea to play football that is not only effective but exciting and beautiful to look at. Even more of a pleasant surprise has been his willingness to play youth players and give the kids a go, something that most Chelsea managers have not done. It is especially important this year with a looming transfer ban over us to bring up the young and inexperienced players so they can shoulder some of the responsibility from ageing players like Lampard and Drogba.

Yes, there is no doubt that Chelsea so far have been THE team to watch in world football. But it remains to be seen whether they can keep it up, and frankly I'm skeptical, as I have seen all too often how easily this team caves in to pressure, and not many teams in the world have the kind of media pressure and scrutiny upon them as Chelsea do. It's a good start, but now starts the real test for the reign of Carlo Ancelotti.

Meanwhile we saw all the usual hallmarks of a Premier League season; Liverpool underachieving, Man U getting off to a slowish start, small crappy teams playing excellently (Stoke) and of course my favourite tradition, the fantasy that maybe this year, finally, Arsenals forever-young team will come of age and win the league.

Every single season without fail, Arsenal string together a good run of results where they pound a few poor crappy teams into oblivion with their silky passing and everyone starts tipping them for the title. The BBC and the Daily Mail this year ran articles about how Wenger's "Young" team (seriously haven't they been saying that for about 12 years now?) has finally come of age and looks better than anyone else, only for the myth to come undone whenever they play against a decent team and find that their brand of one touch football can't penetrate a half decent defence. In particular, the Yahoo recently released this now infamously mocked article about how Fabregas is the best midfielder in the world, despite not even being in the Spanish national team. They have found this time and time again this season with defeats away to Man Utd and Man City, and a crushing 3-0 defeat to Chelsea at their home ground.

Honestly, any self respecting Arsenal fan would do well to simply ignore all the media hype that comes out. The media love a good 'david vs. goliath' story with young kids beating the old experienced legends, and they are clearly pretty desperate for someone to come along and replicate the feats of the young, early 1990s Man Utd team. But this is simply not going to happen with this Arsenal team in the near future, and I'll tell you why.

It's true that Arsenal do go and buy a lot of good young talent. And note, "buy" as opposed to "bring up" or words to that effect; they always go and spend cash on buying young players at around the age of 20 as opposed to teams like Barcelona who actually bring up their own youth through the academy. Arsene Wenger has pulled this trick time and time again during his Arsenal career, but the problem is that with the increased competition from big spending teams like Man Utd, Chelsea (and perhaps soon Man City), these teams of youngsters just aren't good enough, and since they never win anything, as soon as these players hit a certain age they just run off to bigger clubs. See Thierry Henry running off to Barca, Hleb running off to Barca, Adebayor, Touré, all running off to Man City. Flamini running off to Milan, Ashley Cole moving to Chelsea. They all leave eventually, in search of trophies. Indeed it seems likely that current captain Cesc Fabregas will soon leave.

The problem is that in this world of big money and high stakes, Arsenal don't have anything to incentivise players to stay at their club, and this is why people like Kroenke and Usmanov have recently started trying to buy out the club with promise of big money to spend. Indeed it seems increasingly clear that if Arsenal want to compete for honours again they will need the money to spend on players and wages.

Few Arsenal fans will admit this (only the resectable ones), but it has been more than 6 years since Arsenal have won anything, and frankly changes have to be made. It astonishes me to see fans blaming Wenger and calling for his sack, but there is a large contingent of fans demanding just that. It's amazing, because Wenger is the only thing keeping that team together right now, and yet certain fans have built up all these delusions, fuelled by the absurd media hype, that their players and squad really are the best in the league, even though in reality they are nothing even close, instead squeaking by on the merits of their genius manager.

But it's not all doom and gloom for Arsenal. The exposition I have given so far indicates that Arsenal are simply a lot cause, with behind the scenes directors who do not recognise the current state of football and have yet to get with the times. But this is not really the case. The Arsenal bosses know that money is the reason that they are falling behind, but rather than seeking a 'sugar daddy' to blow cash on them in a reckless manner as in the case of Man Utd, Chelsea, Man City, Real Madrid, Inter Milan, and many other clubs now, Arsenal have sought a different method.

FIFA has recently begun to express concerns over the state of the finances for these spendthrift clubs, worrying that this might simply be a bubble waiting to burst and result in bankruptcy of the world's biggest football clubs and potentially leagues. Indeed this seems entirely possible, if just by comparison with other similar money spending booms that we have seen in the past 50 years that have ended in disaster. See the dot-com boom and bust, and even the recent financial crisis, brought about by reckless spending and loans. In the end, this kind of spending is just not sustainable in the long run.

Even if this does not come to pass, it is still entirely possible that FIFA may seek to introduce restrictions on spending in order to balance out the unfair advantage that certain teams have. They have already introduced restrictions into foreign players that each team can have in an attempt to curb ridiculous spending on world stars by the top three or four teams, this seems a logical next step.

In this case it would seem that Arsenal is setting itself up quite nicely for the eventual crash of this current spending bubble we are in. Instead of seeking dubious Russian roubles or American dollars they have invested wisely in a new stadium, which they hope will pay itself off several times over in the coming years. If the worriers are right and the era of big big spending tycoons comes to an end, then Arsenal will be ideally set up to take advantage of this. It's a risky move, but one that might well pay off in the future for Arsenal.

"2012" Film Review

James@the-Ephemeric.com (James) — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Directed by Roland Emmerich
Written by Roland Emmerich, Harald Kloser
Starring John Cusack, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Amanda Peet, Thandie Newton
Release date(s) Out Now
Running time 158 minutes

Roland Emmerich, the man who brought us the epitome of blockbuster spectacle in Independence Day, and tried to pull a similar doomsday scenario trick in Day after Tomorrow, to mixed success, brings us yet another hypothesis for how we're all going to die horribly, in 2012.

This time, the focus of his fear mongering is the Mayan prophecies of how the world is going to end in 2012. Of course this is inaccurate as no Mayan has ever predicted the world ending in 2012, but rather the beginning of a new cycle, which was supposed to be a positive thing. But that's a discussion for another day, let's not detract from the money grubbing shisters who make a good living out of scaring ignorant middle American housewives.

Of course the bullshittiness of the concept put me off slightly, I mean really they might as well make "Dianetics: the Movie" next time, but in the end the important thing is whether Emmerich has pulled another engrossing blockbuster out of the hat that has produced nought but big screen gold in the past.

Unfortunately I think he has missed the mark this time. Emmerich received a good deal of criticism for Day after Tomorrow which was, in a word, a bit silly and extremely cavalier with regard to it's respect of the scientific grounding of his plot, not that the average movie going audience gives a fuck. But ultimately that was still an engaging and entertaining film. This however is something different.

Frankly it's stupid. And sure, I can see a lot of people saying "well hang on, this is just a mindless action flick, don't take it so seriously", well fuck you, you smug git. "Mindless fun" is a term that back in the day was applied to films like Independence Day and Armageddon, which frankly are like Shakespeare compared to this. Those films were silly and over the top, but they succeeded where most big action films fail because of strong character driven plots, a sense of moderate restraint, and clever writing filled with pithy observations on real life. This film has none of those things. The characters are thin and completely undeveloped, the action is so completely over the top that it looks somehow cheaper than it actually is, and the film is frankly far too long at three hours long, with about 20 minutes of dialogue and story in between all the ridiculous set pieces.

Again, I would like to clarify. These set pieces are not just ridiculous in the same way that most blockbusters feature over the top action, they are ridiculous in that they are actually retarded. They actually just look cartoony. It's over the top "over the top", it is to Independence Day what Hostel was to, say, Scream. And that is not a favourable comparison I make.

On the plus side, however, John Cusack does the best he can do with a weak script, and is innately likeable even when there is not much about his character to like (or dislike for that matter).

Ultimately however, I felt that this film was just a waste of three hours, and I wish I had gone to see A Serious Man instead. This film is worse than Transformers 2, and better than the Happening, which is not saying much.

"Pirate Radio/Boat that Rocked" Film Review

James@the-Ephemeric.com (James) — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Directed by Richard Curtis
Written by Richard Curtis
Produced by Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Hilary Bevan Jones
Starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bill Nighy, Rhys Ifans, Nick Frost, Kenneth Branagh
Release date(s) Out Now
Running time 135 minutes

This latest film from Richard Curtis, the man behind such British classics such as Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill, Bridget Jones and Love Actually, as well as sitcoms like Blackadder and Mr Bean, tells the story of how a pirate rock and roll music station from the 1960s rebelled against Government repression and changed the world.

In past reviews Richard Curtis has mentioned popular music to be his true passion, so it comes as little surprise to see him at the helm of Pirate Radio (titled "The Boat that Rocked" in the UK), essentially a love letter to rock and roll. Indeed it comes as a departure from his recent films of which almost all deal with the doomed romantic endeavours of a poor simple everyman, typical rom-com fare, and frankly I see this as a good thing.

On the surface this film has everything it needs to be an utter classic: a great setting aboard a rock and roll party boat in 1960s England, one of the best soundtracks ever created full of 1960s rock classics, a seasoned director (Curtis) who is simply best in show when it comes to the britcom genre, and an utterly fantastic ensemble cast featuring some of the funniest people on the planet. However, it manages to fall just short of 'absolute classic' status.

Pirate Radio is loosely based off of real life events, specifically the famous Radio Caroline which broadcast from the North Sea at a time when the BBC monopolised radio industry frowned upon such frivolities as rock music (then again I'm 21, so most of that comes from Wikipedia). This story follows "Young Carl", woodenly played by Tom Sturridge, who following expulsion from school is sent onto the Radio Rock boat owned by his godfather Quentin, played absolutely perfectly by the always criminally underrated Bill Nighy, in order to find himself. Fortunately we quickly learn that this film is a true ensemble piece, and that Carl only plays one of many central roles.

He is joined on the boat by "The Count", a big brash American rocker played by oscar winner Philip Seymour Hoffman, who as I'm sure many of you know is one of the finest actors alive right now. There is Gavin, the sexy superstar DJ played by Rhys Ifans, a fantastic comedian, and a top notch comedic actor as I can attest to as someone who has seen him perform on the London stage, probably best known in the cinema world for playing Spike in Notting Hill. We have Dr. Dave, played by the unmissable Nick Frost, who having initially launched himself onto the scene as Simon Pegg's cheeky partner in crime has now fully cemented his big screen cred with this role. And of course I've already mentioned Bill Nighy, playing his typical smarmy old bastard role to perfection.

Meanwhile stiff upper lip government types are looking to shut down Radio Rock for polluting the innocent minds of British kids with their filth, led by Kenneth Branagh flexing his considerable acting chops by playing a complete text book caricature of stiff authority types. Perhaps a bit too textbook though if you ask me. And he is supported ably by Mr. "Twatt", played with aplomb by Jack Davenport, who no doubt people will recognise as Commodore Norrington from the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, as well as more recently playing a key role on the tv show Flash Forward.

It speaks to the amazing strength of the cast that you also have smaller roles played by Rhys Darby, who many will recognise from Flight of the Conchords, as well as recent Jim Carrey film Yes Man. He's a fabulously talented comedian who is rightly starting to become a known entity in the business. Meanwhile Chris O'Dowd also deserves much acclaim for his performance as "simple" Simon, the breakfast DJ, who delivers one of the more multi dimensional and nuanced performances of the show and is really quite impressive.

I've been going on about the cast for a long time now, and really it's because they're all brilliant performances. The movie is absolutely a pleasure to watch with such an excellent cast, and especially with the rocking soundtrack and exuberant energy Curtis imbues the project with. The problem is that he doesn't do this quite enough.

The original British cut of this film is over 2 hours long (although this has now been cut down for Americans), and while there are a number of ball tighteningly fantastic bits, mostly at times when the music is playing and people are rocking out, there is a lot of filler which features few laughs and a severely depleted energy level. Most of these scenes can help you through simply on the charisma and awesomeness of the actors on screen, but by the end you'll be feeling a little tired, right when the big endgame setpiece starts to take place.

It's also a problem that while this is a very charming and enjoyable film, it's perhaps not consistently as laugh out loud funny as one might expect. This is ok by me as I enjoy a good character piece, but elsewhere in the film, Curtis makes the conscious decision to skirt over all serious subject matter. Major conflicts between characters are resolved in like 3 seconds with a pat on the back and a laugh, and for a movie that's all about rock and roll and piracy, edgy topics like drug abuse are only lightly touched on. Curtis holds back on the real belly laughs, and yet shies away from any form of deep thinking, and the result is that the movie feels slightly lightweight.

Ultimately though, none of this ruins a thoroughly enjoyable and easy watching film. What it lacks in straightforward laughs it makes up for with great characters, buckets of charm, and a heavy dose of awesome. It rocks, plain and simple, and you probably won't have more fun watching any other film this holiday season.

Weekly Roundup - 28th November 2009

James@the-Ephemeric.com (James) — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 13:44:00 +0000

song of the week: "Love Made Visible" by "The Delays"

thing that makes me happy today: Moved into my new flat, pretty sweet.

pic of the day:
IN:
Paranormal Activity
Virgin Media
V

OUT:
Blair Witch Project
Sky Digital
Flash Forward

Weekly Roundup - 21st November 2009

James@the-Ephemeric.com (James) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:04:00 +0000

song of the week: "Islands" by "The XX"

thing that makes me happy today: The Daily Show, keeps going from strength to strength.

pic of the day:
IN:
Redcliffe Gardens
Pirate Radio
Fringe

OUT:
Queens Club Gardens
Empire Records
Flash Forward

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Review

James@the-Ephemeric.com (James) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Developed by Infinity Ward
Published by Activision
Genre First Person Shooter
Platform PC, Xbox 360, PS3
Release date(s) Out Now

I seriously doubt there's anyone reading this who is not at least aware of this game. In the build up to release, it had been attracting attention for the wrong reasons. Controversial civilian killing levels have got the media and shrill housewives in an uproar, while unnecessary restrictions on multiplayer modes have been met by strong resistance from PC gamers. But frankly, I really couldn't give a crap about any of this. Read on to find out what really matters when it comes to this game.

First of all, I know it's taken me a long time to write this review, a fact which is completely unrelated to the amount of time I have spent playing this game in the past week, though clearly that didn't help. But before I talk about how awesome much of this game is, I'm going to tell you about the bad stuff. Note their will be spoilers.

Now anyone who has read my reviews in the past know how completely fed up I am with buggy games that get rushed out to meet deadlines with little or no testing, and sadly for those of you who are thinking of purchasing the PC version I tested, this is pretty much what you'll get.

In truth, I ended up spending the better part of a day just trying to get this to work, given the temperamental relationship between this game's PC port and ATI videocards. So if you have one, then beware. Even after this, my play-throughs (plural for reasons that will soon become clear) were frequented with random crashes, error messages, and occasional freezing. At one point the game crashed and, even though all my save data was intact, the ridiculous checkpoint save system the game employs is entirely dependent on a single settings file, which corrupted, therefore rendering all my save data useless and forcing me to start over from the beginning. Absolutely horrific, back up your user data folder. The multiplayer side of things was equally buggy, taking a significant amount of time and effort to connect to a friend for a simple game.

Once you get past the kinks and technical bugs however, this game is about as awesome as they come. It's incredibly well honed to the point of being as perfect a shooter as you'll find, with tried and tested mechanics that have made the Call of Duty series one of the most enduring in the industry. There are no major changes in that respect, but it is further refined to the point of excellence. Meanwhile the level design in this game is amongst the best I've ever seen in a shooter. Each one is memorable and absurdly good fun, whether you're fleeing across the rooftops of Rio de Janeiro, cliffhanging in the alps, or SPOILER fighting commies in central DC. It's all incredibly fun.

What's more, it is all absolutely beautiful to look at, with fantastically detailed environments and lifelike characters. If you have a powerful enough computer to run it, then you won't be disappointed. The overall experience is really something quite special, with a series of explosive, fun, and truly mesmerising levels to play through.

But there are still things that bug the hell out of me about this game. The first Modern Warfare was a really fantastic game, fun, pretty to look at, and featuring a truly gripping story to play through, that was fascinating precisely for its (relative) realism and believability. For this sequel, they've ramped up the fun factor, but completely thrown the believability out the window.

The plot of MW1 saw you hunting terrorists in Iraq and combatting Russian extremist groups in the Siberian wilderness. MW2 sees MORE MASSIVE SPOILERS a Russian mercenary perpetrating a terrorist attack on a Russian airport and framing the Americans, so as to provoke a full scale Russian invasion of America. The framing is completely unconvincing, the notion that poverty stricken Russia would respond to the discovery of an American terrorist with a full invasion of the most powerful nation on Earth is crazy, and then that they would somehow land a surprise invasion on both coasts of the United States without anyone noticing, not the Americans, not their allies in Europe or Asia, not the Intelligence agencies, is completely preposterous. But that's not the best part. It turns out one of the American generals, bitter about the cover up of the incident in MW1 that led to the death of 30,000 of his troops, is pulling the strings, because he wants to start world war 3 and then become a hero by stopping it. What one thing has to do with the other, or how this in any way avenges his fallen men, is simply never stated.

And yes, you can just say 'oh its just a videogame, a bit of mindless fun, stop analysing the plot', but no. This is not even mindless fun. Independence day is mindless fun, Halo and Mass Effect are mindless fun, but they at least achieve a semi reasonable level of coherency and immersion, such that the average viewer can suspend disbelief and enjoy. The same was true of MW1. But this, in MW2, is simply laughable, it's too ridiculous even for mindless fun, and it frequently ruins the sense of immersion and pulls you out of the experience. It feels like the developers of this game cared more about creating controversial and shocking images, like a war torn DC or a terrorist attack, than actually making any sense. Neither of these scenes land anywhere near as hard as the far more believable nuclear explosion in MW1 anyway.

There is, however, one thing that I do like about the plot of this game, and that is that for the first time in the series, they are actually trying to create and develop characters, with Soap and Price returning from the first game, and ending this game on a cliffhanger that will leave you wondering about their fate until MW3.

Ultimately it's a shame, because you have this beautiful and incredibly fun and well designed game, which then aspires to be an engaging and cinematic experience but fails miserably on account of seriously half assed and manipulative writing, and game breaking bugs and technical glitches. Admittedly the latter won't be a problem if you have this on a game console, so add on half a star to my final score in that case.

Loves:
Beautiful
FPS perfection
Proper characters

Hates:
Absurd and incoherent plot
Technical bugs

Weekly Roundup - 14th November 2009

James@the-Ephemeric.com (James) — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 15:50:00 +0000

song of the week: "Wake Up" by "Arcade Fire"

thing that makes me happy today: Job prospects.

pic of the day:
IN:
Modern Warfare 2
LSE
Tiger Tiger

OUT:
Modern Warfare 1
Imperial
On Anon

DJ Hero Review

James@the-Ephemeric.com (James) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:02:00 +0000

Developed by FreeStyleGames
Published by Activision
Genre Music/Rhythm
Platform Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, Wii
Release date(s) Out Now

It's an idea that has torn apart the music game community. Is it a logical next step in expanding the magic of guitar hero styled games to a new genre of music and a new fanbase? Or is it simply milking it? For better or for worse, DJ Hero is here, read on for the full low down.

So here we have DJ Hero, a bit like guitar hero, but for the clubbing crowd. Let's explain how this thing works then. You have your plastic turntable (or your much better quality, but overpriced turntable if you get the renegade edition) which has a turntable with three buttons on it, a crossfader over to the left, and a turnable knob with an extra button next to it.

Let's begin with the turntable itself, which is after all the core of the gameplay mechanic. Forgetting the middle red button for a minute, the left (green) and right (blue) ones are your main buttons. Each of these corresponds to one of the two tracks that is being mixed in your song. You press the corresponding button in time with the notes on the screen just like in guitar hero, and when you see a long bar note for one particular colour you hold the button while "scratching" the turntable. Then in addition you will crossfade between the tracks when you see the corresponding track shit out to the left or right on the screen as appropriate. Simple then.

The red button plays samples. For the most part playing the red notes will play a sample that has been pre-chosen by whoever mixed the song you're playing, but occasionally you get a long red bar note, which is essentially a "freestyle" zone, in which you can play samples from your sample set (which you choose before the song, and can switch between different samples using the knob) in any pattern you see fit. It's an interesting idea, but in reality you have like 5 sample sets to choose from and they inevitably won't really go with whatever song you're playing.

Meanwhile there is this turnable knob, which for most of the time will just allow you to select a sample to play during freestyle segments, but really what it's supposed to be is a low/high pass filter, but only actually works in designated segments of the song. The button next to this is how you trigger "euphoria" which is essentially the DJ Hero version of Guitar Hero's star power.

Great, so now you know how to play the game, but is it worth playing? Is it any good?

DJ Hero is a lot of fun for sure. The gameplay is addictive with a range of difficulty settings that run the gamut from absurdly piss easy to ridiculously anal and difficult, and the presentation is appropriately slick through out with lots of colour and flashing lights and (perhaps a bit too overdone) "attitude".

First of all, there is no failing on this game. Instead the game punishes you by forcing you to listen to how much you suck, and not being able to unlock more songs, DJs, decks, skins, etc, which you do by earning "stars" for beating songs. You continue in this fashion, playing through a series of set lists until you've unlocked everything, and of course there's the mandatory "custom set list" option.

You can also play along to certain songs with a guitar hero guitar, but frankly playing the same looped samples over and over gets old very quickly. Also for some reason when you're playing single player they still inexplicably feel the need to show the computer character's guitar note chart on the screen next to your's, meaning for those songs your turntable note chart is crammed into the tiny corner of the screen. Pretty stupid actually.

I can't help but feel that it's all a bit thin though. There are only a handful of venues to play in, and a really awful selection of characters to play as, with no custom character designer at all, which has become such a standard in this genre. To begin with you get to choose between a giant gorilla with a Mexican wrestling mask, an ugly midget, and a girl with too many piercings. Frankly I like to just play as someone who looks normal, or at least vaguely like me, and such a thing is not really possible in this game. Fortunately this is almost made up for by the large number of real life superstar DJs you can unlock, the undoubted highlight of which is none other than fucking Daft Punk.

But ultimately such superficial details are largely irrelevant, and what matters is how good the music is. I'm pleased to be able to say that as a whole the music in this game is of a VERY high quality, which some absolutely breathtaking mixes that frankly I wish they would release a compilation album for this game. As I mentioned, the highlight is definitely Daft Punk, who for this game have produced 11 mixes featuring a bunch of their songs and a few from other bands like Queen, Beastie Boys and err... Gary Numan (which is pretty awesome actually). There are a number of absolutely brilliant mixes aside from this as well, including Gorillaz mixed with Blondie, The Killers mixed with Eric Prydz, and Jackson 5 mixed with Third Eye Blind. The glory of this soundtrack is that you'll even enjoy songs that you otherwise wouldn't like because the vast majority of the mixes are so catchy and well done.

But the soundtrack is not perfect. Frankly there is a gross overemphasis on rap music with the likes of Eminem and Jay-Z, and not nearly enough trance or dance tunes. Seriously, bring on some Basement Jaxx, Avalanches, hell I'll even take Moby, it'd at least be something different. Oh and the Chemical Brothers, definitely. And while we're on that note, let's have some Girl Talk for the dlc, he's without a doubt the best mash up artist out there, so it seems like a waste to leave him out. If Girl Talk makes a few mixes for this game it would actually be the most epic thing ever.

In the end, this is a pretty fun game, with a decent soundtrack. However, a lack of certain pretty obvious features, a skewed list of songs in terms of genre appeal, and a few questionable gameplay design choices makes this feel slightly half baked. More a proof of concept rather than the genuine article. If you've been dying to get your hands on this game, go for it and you'll enjoy it. If not, then you might as well wait for DJ Hero 2, which will probably be a much more complete package.

Loves:
Awesome tunes
Addictive gameplay
Glitz and flashiness

Hates:
Too much rap
Those stupid play along guitar songs
Lack of a character designer, seriously what is this 2003?

GTA4: The Ballad of Gay Tony Review

James@the-Ephemeric.com (James) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:01:00 +0000

Developed by Rockstar North
Published by Rockstar Games
Genre Third Person action
Platform Xbox 360
Release date(s) Out Now

The latest DLC for GTA4 puts the fun right back into this most intricately designed of game worlds. Thank God!

GTA4 was one of the biggest games of last year, or of any year really, and while it may have been criminally overrated, it was still pretty good. Crucially, where many companies in recent years have made ambitious promises of vast reams of dlc to augment the longevity of their products, Rockstar games have actually managed to deliver on such boasts, whereas most companies have not.

Unfortunately, what they delivered was Lost & Damned, which, while being a decent enough game, was so completely uninteresting as a subject matter that it really didn't even begin to stack up next to the other fine products the developers have created. Fortunately they have more than made up for it with the Ballad of Gay Tony, which is not only the best GTA4 episode, but one of the finest GTA settings, period.

The Ballad of Gay Tony owes much of its success to the introduction of 'fun' which was sorely lacking from the last episode of dlc, and indeed had been scaled back for much of the original game in favour of a gritty realism. Clearly this latest episode is more Lethal Weapon than Mean streets, but all in all, it just works.

You play Luis Lopez, the business partner and bodyguard of the titular Gay Tony, who is the kingpin of the most successful chain of night clubs in Liberty City. Much of the game consists of you bouncing around clubs, partaking in champagne drinking competitions, scoring with the ladies and dancing the night away, so clearly this is my type of game. Frankly, it's just fun. It's an electric, flashy, energy filled setting which makes the proceedings all the more gripping, and for college students like myself, all the more relatable.

This new playful attitude comes through in the missions as well, which are far more reminiscent of the all action silliness of San Andreas, with plenty of helicopter based missions and base jumping from various tall buildings onto various moving vehicles. There's a lot more explosions and action, so anyone who felt that GTA4 until now had been too boring will find exactly what they're looking for in this episode.

It also helps that these missions are generally of a very high quality. You still get a few of the typical 'kill these guys', 'steal this car' boring missions, but then you also get the awesome 'blow up this yacht', 'hit golf balls in a driving range into a guys nuts to intimidate him', and the like, it's consistently entertaining and gripping stuff.

As is customary with the GTA universe, the characters and voice acting are impeccable, and simply better than most of what you see in videogames. The main character, Lopez, has a less dominating personality than recent GTA protagonists, but this works to his favour, as he comes across as much more of a relatable and sympathetic creation, making for a far more compelling character than we've seen yet.

Meanwhile, this episode contains a number of new side missions, including the simple, but fun cage fighting arena, and the club management missions. The latter consists basically of Luis walking around the club throwing out trouble makers, occasionally scoring with the slutty chick who works there, and having to tend to various spoilt celebrities in missions that involve tasks like helping them sneak out of the club, to driving them to pick up prostitutes, to stealing a firetruck to hose down paparazzi.

Aside from all this, though, the city is still the star of the game, and even a year later Liberty City in GTA4 remains one of the most spellbindingly amazing creations we've ever seen in a videogame. There simply has never been such a large, detailed, thoroughly unique game environment as the city in this game, and it is truly an amazing piece of work, even today.

Downloading this add on seems like a win-win. If you like GTA4, you'll love it. If you thought GTA4 was a bit dry, you'll love this. If you simply hate the very concept of a GTA game, well you've probably not read this far. So go download it, and enjoy some kick ass gaming while it lasts.

Loves:
Fun and clubbing
Relatable character
Glitz

Hates:
Too short
Some missions fall into cliché
That this is probably the last we'll see of Liberty City

Weekly Roundup - 7th November 2009

James@the-Ephemeric.com (James) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0000

song of the week: "Into the Clouds" by "the Sound of Arrows"

thing that makes me happy today: The club scene, and related videogames. Why not.

pic of the day:
IN:
Champagne Mailly
FM10
Jon Stewart, just on top of his game

OUT:
Water that's been left out too long
CM10
Glenn Beck, even conservatives don't take him seriously anymore

Election Day 2009 (and why it's pretty much meaningless)

James@the-Ephemeric.com (James) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:32:00 +0000

So recently, anyone who's been tuning into CNN or other mainstream American news networks will have been bombarded with hype about these super important special elections taking place this month. Clearly this has nothing to do with the fact that CNN reported record tv ratings during the 2008 election and everything to do with how incredibly important the gubernatorial elections in New Jersey and Virginia, and the 23rd congressional district in New York are.

But that's not all. That bloated old street-whore known as the mainstream media is also trying to bill these elections as some kind of 'test' for President Obama. In their view, if the Democrats lose these first post-2008 elections, particularly in Virginia which voted Democrat in 2008 for the first time since 1964, it will clearly be an indication of a dissatisfaction with Obama's performance as President so far.

It sounds reasonable enough to your average punter, but for anyone with any prior knowledge of politics, it's completely absurd, and I'm going to show you why.

This silly idea seems based upon two fallacies, first that these elections are in some way related to public opinion of Obama, and second that if it is, then it reflects negatively upon his presidency.

First it's important to note that Corzine (D-NJ) and Deeds (D-Va) were both incredibly unpopular before Obama was even elected to the office of President, so to claim that them losing is somehow unexpected and caused by Obama's performance is immediately quite an absurd claim.

Second there is the fact that for the past 20 years whoever has won the White House has lost the gubernatorial race in New Jersey the following year, and with the Virginia election that number is 36 years. Meanwhile no Democrat has won the 23rd district in New York in over a hundred years. So to somehow claim that losing these three elections is an aberration for a newly elected President is frankly appalling.

Third, and probably most important, it doesn't take a political scientist to see that there is very little correlation between how states vote in local elections and how they vote on the federal level. I draw to your attention the fact that we have a Republican governor in the ultra liberal state of California, or that the Democrats generally do very well in the local elections in Texas. So anyone who concludes that losing these gubernatorial elections will bode well for Republicans in 2012 or even 2010 is simply talking crap.

And of course, even if there was any relation between Obama's presidency and the outcome of these elections, it takes a very slanted perspective to claim that it reflects negatively upon him. The fact that the Democrats are actually competitive in a district they haven't won in a hundred years, that they are competitive in the New Jersey race, which no new President's party has managed to keep hold of in 20 years, a race in which the Democrat candidate has one of the lowest approval ratings of any Governor, if anything, bodes very very well for the Democrats, and very badly for the Republicans who still seem to be facing something of an image crisis. Or at least it would, if there was any relevance whatsoever.

Really this whole concept is just painfully wrong on a number of levels.

EDIT: In case you wanted more proof, exit polls showed that a large majority of voters did not factor Obama into their vote at all. Hasn't stopped the networks from running with this story though.

"Phrazes for the Young - Julian Casablancas" Review

James@the-Ephemeric.com (James) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:34:00 +0000

Genre Alternative
Label Rough Trade
Producer Jason Lader
Release Date November 3rd

Let me begin by saying that I've never been all that big a fan of the Strokes. Sure they have a few decent songs, and one or two seriously awesome ones, but most of those are from like 5 years ago. However, It's been a good year for Julian Casablancas, frontman for the Strokes.

First he reminded everyone how talented a songwriter he can be with his recent addition to Danger Mouse's latest album, and now he has come out with his debut solo album, and it's mostly pretty good.

What is particularly impressive about this album is how Casablancas tries to dabble in so many diverse genres of music. Whether it's the standard Strokes-fare alternative rock of Out of the Blue, or the Keane-alike (but far better) Glass. In fact, aside from the hard rock durge of River of Brakelights, Casablancas takes very few wrong turns in this album.

But the album, without a doubt, is at its best when it takes a turn towards electro-pop, with the excellent Left & Right in the Dark hooking you with ballsy riffs and vintage 80s textures. And of course then there's the euphorically happy 11th Dimension that has been driving fans on the internet crazy in anticipation for this album for the past few weeks.

Ultimately this is a very promising debut in a year where good albums have been few and far between, so you may as well give it a shot.

Must Listen:
11th Dimension

Left and Right in the Dark

Out of the Blue

Football Manager 2010 Review

James@the-Ephemeric.com (James) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Developed by Sports Interactive
Published by Sega
Genre Sports
Platform Mac, PC, PSP, Xbox 360
Release date(s) Out Now

The record breaking, best selling, grand daddy of all management simulation games is back, with Football Manager 2010. Last year's edition stuttered a bit in terms of critical response, will this one be a return to form? This series has reportedly been cited in numerous divorce cases in recent years, so get ready for another life consuming masterclass in addictive gaming.

Most notable in this year's edition is a complete interface redesign, with the sidebar removed and everything accessed now from tabs at the top of the screen. It takes some getting used to, but it definitely looks slicker, and once you play around with it for a bit you'll find it easier to navigate as well.

The next big addition is the retooling of the ingame tactics. The slider bars are a thing of the past (though you can get them back if you want), as are the movement arrows. Instead, you will assign 'roles' for players, each of which contains their own specific tactics and instructions (which you can tweak further in player instructions. Admittedly, you could pretty much do this beforehand with the preset player tactics in old games, but now it's much more in the forefront of how the game works, and with far more specific roles than were previously available amongst the presets you can now really get the team playing exactly as you want. You also now have a 'create tactics' wizard which lets you design your system from the ground up.

Quite awesomely, you now have the ability to give touchline instructions during a game, allowing you too instantly affect changes on the pitch withe phrases like 'push up' or 'get stuck in'. It's pretty revolutionary actually. All of the above makes this by far the most tactical football manager game ever. Now before every single game I find myself tweaking tactics, and constantly shifting them during a game to match the changing circumstances. And to help with this I have another new feature, backroom staff advice. Now every member of your coaching staff will offer you tactical advice before games, as well as tips on new training exercises and updates on how players are doing, and you can call these backroom staff meetings whenever you see fit. This is another major new addition which will see you carefully selecting your staff now, and connecting with them in ways you couldn't before.

On top of all this, there is now a much more detailed post match analysis screen with a wealth of information for you to dissect, as well as the expected improvements to the 3d match engine, which include better animations and a more realistic engine. It's not perfect, but It's definitely improved, and with regards to the match engine you will notice far fewer moments where you concede goals from absurd goalkeeper blunders or defenders ignoring the ball sitting right next to them or 50 yard strikes as were so often the case in last year's somewhat buggy edition.

Teams also appear to be better balanced than they ever have been in the past, with my games producing very realistic results and just the right level of difficulty. All in all, this game just felt right, and far more realistic than past entries into the series.

Meanwhile, there are issues. For example, I noted that it is still far too difficult to sell players, where often they will simply reject any contract from another club. Also, don't buy this game online through one of the digital download services. There have been numerous reports of it just not working, and in my case, using the abysmal eSellerate for the Mac download I still keep getting bugged by registration pop ups, and for some reason i keep getting a pop up that opens up at the shopping cart asking me to pay again... hmm.

Overall, this is easily the best Football Manager game yet, and provides a frighteningly realistic simulation of running a football club. Prepare to lose many weeks of your life, because this is the epitome of the genre.

Loves:
Improved tactics
Backroom staff
Less glitchy match engine

Hates:
Having to balance FM with my real life
It's still a little hard to sell players
Annoying digital download security

Weekly Round Up - 31st October 2009

James@the-Ephemeric.com (James) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 12:48:00 +0000

song of the week: "I Wonder Who We Are" by "the Clientele"

thing that makes me happy today: Epic Halloween parties and my kick ass costume.

pic of the day:
IN:
David Caruso
Julian Casablancas
Sergeant Pepper

OUT:
Badly faked accents
Trolls
The Kiss Army

"Life is a Dream" Theatre Review

James@the-Ephemeric.com (James) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:01:00 +0000

Directed by Jonathan Munby
Written by Pedro Calderon de la Barca, Helen Edmundson
Starring Dominic West, Rupert Evans, Kate Fleetwood
Production company The Donmar
Theatre The Donmar Warehouse

The Donmar pulls off another memorable production with Dominic West absolutely captivating as the lead role Segismundo.

The first thing that strikes you when you set your eyes on the stage is the minimalist nature of the production. Pretty much no stage props and only a minimal backdrop of peeling gold and wrought iron, enough to generate the impression of tainted grandeur.

It's a dark mirror image of the play that unfolds, telling the story of Segismundo, a Polish prince who is locked in a tower by his father the King because of a prophecy that ordains that Segismundo is a beast who will bring chaos to his Kingdom (anyone familiar with the oedipus story can probably see where this is going).

Meanwhile Kate Fleetwood, plays a ferocious Rosaura, a woman on a mission of revenge. Cinema patrons may recognise her from the Donmar's Hecuba production a few years ago where I first noticed her, and I am glad to say she even outshines this performance in her new role.

However the main plaudits must go to Dominic West, who many will recognise from TV's the Wire. He is excellent and brings a raw power to bear upon his characters deep torment in a way that is thoroughly convincing of West's total involvement in the role.

The acting is a joy to behold throughout the entire cast, with a superb comic turn from Lloyd Hutchinson and Rupert Evans striking a particularly absorbing balance between charming and slimy/unlikable.

If i had one criticism it would be that the writing sometimes seems to strain a bit. It's not clear if this is merely the result of some muddled rewriting by Helen Edmundston, or if something is getting lost in the translation from Calderon's original text, but the 'deep' moments of discussion with regards to the nature of reality and destiny often sound a bit contrived and hackhanded. Often I found that while there were interesting points raised by the story, a fair amount of the dialogue seemed to miss these intricacies out or not do them justice. That being said, one has to admire the script for the deft comedic touch that is present throughout, even in darker more serious scenes, and aside from these few weak moments the writing is of a high standard.

Another excellent production you would do well to go and see if you like real theatre.

"Wild Things" at the Royal Academy of Arts

James@the-Ephemeric.com (James) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0000

In addition to the uniquely interesting Anish Kapoor exhibition, the Royal Academy of Arts is also hosting "Wild Things", an exhibition bringing together the sculptures of three artists, Jacob Epstein, Eric Gill, and Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, who all come from very different backgrounds, but explore similar themes of sex, fertility and the human condition.

Jacob Epstein was a New York born Jewish artist who is recognised as a pioneer of modern sculpture, Eric Gill was a very religious man who strangely attempted to consolidate his faith with extremely explicit erotic sculptures, and Henri Gaudier-Brzeska was a French sculptor who moved to London and has a large body of work, despite dying at a tragically young age.

The three were linked during life, with Epstein having met both, and indeed heavily inspired the work of Gaudier. This exhibition largely explores the development of their work and the world's reaction to it. It makes for a strangely interesting narrative to follow through the exhibition and helps put each entry in a perspective beyond what meets the eye.

Even aside from this, the quality is pretty high throughout. I find myself less interested in Gill's vaguely uneven explorations of repressed sexuality, but Gaudier and especially Epstein were very talented sculptors. One can't help but feel that Gaudier would have amounted to even more had he lived longer.

However, the real centrepiece of the exhibition is "the Rock Drill" by Epstein (pictured), a striking piece of art that appears in two forms, with a reconstruction of how he originally put the sculpture together, and the torso that remains of the real thing (Epstein hacked off its limbs to make a statement about the horrors of World War I). This sculpture was pioneering, not only for its depiction of a mechanical man (way back in 1915 this was), but also for its integration of a real rock drill, the first time a sculptor had used a real ready made object as part of a larger sculpture.

A very interesting exhibition, but to be honest there are few pieces other than the Rock Drill that really demand to be seen, and all the interesting backstory about the artists can be found in books or online anyway.

One to Watch: Los Campesinos!

James@the-Ephemeric.com (James) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:28:00 +0000

As you know, I revel in finding the hot new bands out there and spreading the good word around. Well today I want to bring another of these bands to your attention, certainly one to watch for the future. (credit goes to Ben F for finding this one).

I am often sent emails here at the Ephemeric discussing various new bands I should look at/listen to, and while many of these border on the 'meh' side of things, I do occasionally get one in my inbox that is pretty damn good. This was recently the case when one of my more hapless amigoes sent me a few links telling me to check out Los Campesinos!.

Los Campesinos! are a seven piece indie band from Cardiff, and importantly, a recent addition to the lineup of awesome bands attached to the frankly awesome Arts & Crafts record label, which already holds the rights to excellent bands like Stars, Broken Social Scene, Feist, and Phoenix, it reads like a who's who of awesome and quirky indie rock.

It's hard to describe their sound as anything other than eclectic. At times I can almost describe them as sounding a bit like Stars, or Bloc Party or the Kooks, but ultimately they have a unique and quirky sound all their own. These guys definitely have something there, that unique and special quality that marks them out as something special to keep an eye on.

They have already released two albums, with a few good songs here and there, but this is a young band that is continuing to improve every day, and there are high hopes for their third album, Romance is Boring, coming out February 2010.

Key Songs:

We Throw Parties, you Throw Knives

Miserabilia

The Sea is a Good Place to Think of the Future

2007, the Year Punk Rock Broke my Heart

5 Great Movies to Watch on Halloween

James@the-Ephemeric.com (James) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0000

It's that magical time of year again. A time when all mankind can come together in harmony and fearitude. This week we will be celebrating my favourite of all religious holidays, Halloween.

As a film buff, I can riff off a list of brilliant movies for pretty much any occasion, and this day is no different. And besides, if there's any holiday that deserves it, it's this one. So turn off your lights and hold on to someone you trust, behold the ultimate list of movies to watch on Halloween:

5. Psycho

The classic horror film from Alfred Hitchcock scared a generation out of showering (at least that's their excuse). Often seen as a genre defining moment in cinema, Psycho created several of the horror movie conventions we now take for granted; creepy motels, tormented loners, inept cops getting sliced and diced, and of course there's the iconic shower scene.

Rating on the Freaky Pumpkin Meter:

4. Scream

It has become so passe to laugh at teen horror movies, it's really the ultimate cliché. Watch this film, however, and you can see exactly why everyone decided to copy it, with the only difference being that this one is actually pretty good. One of the only films of the genre to combine gratuitous horror with an oh so dark chocolate sense of humor makes for a winning formula.

Rating on the Freaky Pumpkin Meter:

3. Night of the Living Dead

No way I was going to make this list without some zombie film, so I might as well pick the grand daddy of them all. George Romero's 1968 classic created the modern 'zombie apocalypse' archetype and while, in terms of film quality, it may have been bettered recently by Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later, this is the one that started it. Where most zombie films are all about gratuitous gore, this one actually had meaning behind it, about the subversiveness of vietnam era society... and stuff... also, zombies!

Rating on the Freaky Pumpkin Meter:

2. The Nightmare Before Christmas

Maybe it's more of a Christmas film than a Halloween film, but it's damn good enough that I feel happy putting it on this list. Tim Burton's halloween musical was well received initially, but I don't think anyone anticipated how well it would stand the test of time and develop such a cult following. Striking and original visuals and great songs make this a holiday classic.

Rating on the Freaky Pumpkin Meter:

1. Young Frankenstein

Mel Brooks' classic takes horror stereotypes and turns them on their head in the way that only Mel Brooks can. Featuring the comedy stylings of Gene Wilder, Peter Boyle and a surprising cameo from Gene Hackman, this film is a pure joy for all fans and non-fans of the horror genre, and a must for your Halloween party.

Rating on the Freaky Pumpkin Meter:

Well that's all folks, farewell and happy Halloween!
I leave you with this, probably the most spooktacular song ever written: