Artists Without Borders is the
Monday 1 September 2008
Tuesday 12 August 2008
Mulan
In the rush to contrast the early-nineties Disney golden historic period (Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King) with the current craw of underperformers (Treasure Planet, Brother Bear, Home on the Range) that ingest resulted in Disney�s heady decision to jettison hand-drawn animation, some pretty adequate films have been missed in the shuffle. Disney�s Mulan, for example, is a beautifully drawn and exciting fiddling adventure picture show from 1998 (when it was a decent-sized strike, too). It�s no kind of classic, but world Health Organization says Disney Animation can�t put kO'd something minor now and again?
In their own slipway, the late-nineties Disney cartoons (which include the likewise mythical Hercules and Tarzan) take risks in stylization and topic matter. The semi-experiment here is to craft a story around a strong female protagonist who is not, on any level, a princess (even reasoning and bookish Belle in Beauty and the Beast is defined by a love story with a prince, handsome or not). The title character (voiced by Ming-Na (now sans the Wen)) masquerades as a man in order to take her aging father�s place in the Chinese army; it won�t cross your enjoyment to make out that she isn�t instantly killed and forgotten.
Nor does the motion picture break from formula in many other notable shipway; there�s quiet a politic, princely honey interest and a team of smooth, enthusiastic beast sidekicks � Mulan�s defender mini-dragon Mushu for one; her faithful steed for another; and her darling cricket for one likewise many. The action sequences, like a massive battleground avalanche, are so well that the patented Disney story beat generation � the protagonist�s declaration of precariousness; accusations of deception and/or betrayal; a cheery finale � feel like filler, not keystone. What could be a touching, personal story buckles under the weight of Disney�s patented team writing policy � good for gag-based films, but maybe not for a warrior�s tale.
This is most seeming when the characters from time to time sing: The death ring for the automatic musicalization of Disney films is sounded via four tremendous, half-hearted songs that have no place in a grand adventure. Still, the music is mostly out of the picture by the halfway mark, and Mulan return as a female-driven action movie � a relatively rare live for kids and regular their more seasoned moviegoing parents.
You can also credit Disney for getting to the Eddie Murphy Cartoon Sidekick well first � DreamWorks may have strike paydirt with his work as Donkey in the Shrek films, but Murphy practiced this routine in Mulan as the diminutive Mushu. His comic riffs are more than out of place here than in an rank comedy like Shrek, just on its own, Murphy�s part is a pointless but funny bit of comic relief.
So Mulan clay squarely in the kingdom of family unit entertainment, simply it�s exuberant and efficient as such (if a little more violent than usual). The animated plant design of Chinese palaces and landscapes is eye-catching, and the villain Shan-Yu (Miguel Ferrer) cuts a menacing figure. I�ll choose this swordplay and fireworks over Cinderella any day.
The new DVD release includes a deleted song and scenes, plus the usual kids' games and behind-the-scenes peeks.
The unexampled box set includes the Special Edition DVD and a transcript of Mulan II.
Wednesday 6 August 2008
'Twilight' Exclusive: Stars Kellan Lutz, Ashley Greene To Reunite For The Film 'Strife'
LOS ANGELES � Although their film doesn't tied come out for some other six months, the offspring stars of "Twilight" have already reached a point of asterisk status that most actors would kill for. And now, iI of the castmembers already have plans to reunite.
MTV News has exclusively well-read that Kellan Lutz and Ashley Greene have signed on to "Strife," a film set to begin production in a few weeks. The movie will arrive in theaters adjacent year, curtly after audiences will have seen Lutz and Greene as Cullen clan members Emmett and Alice, respectively.
Directed by film maker Omid Shabkhiz, "Strife" tells the news report of trinity friends struggling with day-to-day life in the drug and gang-infested streets of Los Angeles. Caught in a domain of wildness and tragedy, they fight to get wind the hope and love that canful help them persevere.
The husky, charismatic 23-year-old Lutz is set to play Jagger, a smooth-talking but riotous young man who gets caught in his possess game when he falls into debt. His desperate actions go under much of the film's plot into action.
Meanwhile, the sweet-smiling Greene has been cast as Trish, a well-educated girl who hits the streets of Los Angeles with the charles Herbert Best of intentions. Passionate around women's rights and social awareness, Greene will be a stark contrast to Lutz's character.
She'll also be the voice of rationality for the film's third lead, a man named Lorenzo, played by up-and-comer Kyle Schmid ("The Covenant," "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants"). Schmid's character is a privileged young
Tuesday 24 June 2008
Spokane
Artist: Spokane
Genre(s):
Alternative
Rock
Discography:
Measurement
Year: 2003
Tracks: 8
Able Bodies
Year: 2002
Tracks: 7
Close Quarters
Year: 2001
Tracks: 5
Spokane is a solo fomite for Drunk's Rick Alverson, a singer/songwriter world Health Organization gleans equal amounts of inspiration from Simon & Garfunkel and Galaxie five hundred. Though Alverson has written most of Drunk's material, the songs he writes for Spokane are more personal and not as collaborative. Signed to Jagjaguwar, Leisure and Other Songs was released in 2000, recruitment the services of his match in Drunk and aiding from the extensive help of Patrick Phelan. An EP for the Acuarela pronounce of Spain, Close Quarters, was issued in 2001, including a report of Bauhaus' "All We Ever Wanted Was Everything." The proper follow-up to Spokane's debut was released a couple of months later on. Like its predecessor, The Proud Graduates featured help from several of Alverson's friends. 2002's Able Bodies benefitted from string section courtesy of violoncellist Molly Kien and violinist Maggie Polk, while 2003's Measurement featured vocalizer Courtney Bowles. Lilliputian Hours, which was recorded in a Virginia bungalow, arrived in 2007.
Dominion3
Saturday 21 June 2008
J Majik vs Sarah Mclachlan
Artist: J Majik vs Sarah Mclachlan
Genre(s):
Drum & Bass
Discography:
Silence Vinyl
Year: 2003
Tracks: 1
Hawthorne Heights Talk Reconciliation With Victory Records, New Album Fragile Future
The Incredible Hulk
The Incredible Hulk
Publisher: Sega
Platforms: PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, Nintendo DS, PC
Reviewed on: Xbox 360
Rating: T � Teen
Game type: Action
Rating: *** 1/2 (out of five)
What�s the premise?
Trash, bash and crash your way through the world as Dr. Bruce Banner�s nightmarish alter ego, the Incredible Hulk, in a series of missions or take your time and explore and demolish the scenic open environment of New York City.
This game is most similar to�?
Spider-Man 3.
Is it suitable for younger gamers?
Hulk smash! Want to hear that coming from your kid as he clobbers you?
One player or more?
It�s just you and the not-so-jolly green giant.
The (not-so) secret to success is�?
Umm� Hulk smash? Like most fighting-based action games, you�ll need to master some combo moves to be able to get the better of some of your tougher enemies. You also need to remember that almost anything can be interacted with, so if you want to hurl a cement mixer at the bad guys � or funnier still, through one of the bad guys at each other � just go for it.
What�s missing?
Something other than Hulk smash? While the fully destructible environments make for some terrific sandbox fun, it does get a tad tedious after a while.
And in the end?
If you�re looking for some good old-fashioned chaos and destruction, with minimal plot complications, The Incredible Hulk is, well, a smash.
See Also
Mooch and Dead Earnest
Artist: Mooch and Dead Earnest
Genre(s):
Ambient
Discography:
Mooch In Search Of The Acid Metal Grille
Year: 1998
Tracks: 4
Rivers: 'I'm So Bleeping Sorry'
Latest: Comedienne Joan Rivers has issued a not-so-formal apology for her use of expletives during an appearance on live British television on Tuesday . The outspoken star sparked outrage in the U.K. after she called actor Russell Crowe a "f**king s**t" while speaking to co-hosts of daytime talk show Loose Women. The flustered presenters immediately apologised for Rivers' foul language while giggling about the slip-up, but show bosses weren't quite so light on their guest - they asked Rivers to leave the set during the commercial break. And now the star has publicly apologised for her offending words, according to People.com. A statement from Rivers reads: "Yes, I swore, and I'm so f***king sorry. "No one told me the TV show Loose Women was a reality show and that I would be voted off. "It's funny: offstage, I hardly ever use profanity. My favourite four-letter word is shop."
See Also
See Also
Death Angel - Killing Season
As the metal world waits to see if Metallica can deliver the goods with a new album - or if it's just Greatest Hits that will see them through to their old age - Death Angel show just how much the legends have lost their way in recent years.
Thrash metal's teen prodigies in the late 1980s, Death Angel reformed in 2001 and picked up exactly where they left off. Their comeback, 2004's 'The Art of Dying', showed they'd lost nothing in terms of intensity, and with Foo Fighters producer Nick Raskulinecz now at the controls, they sound colossal and powered by what's to come, not nostalgia.
If you need one of those 'In Case of Emergency...' aggressive and up-tempo records in your life, this is as good as anything else out there right now - brilliant drumming and riffing with the speed matched by catchiness.
The more you listen the more you wonder which you'll be listening to more in 12 months' time - this or James Hetfield & Co's make or break.
Harry Guerin
Thrash metal's teen prodigies in the late 1980s, Death Angel reformed in 2001 and picked up exactly where they left off. Their comeback, 2004's 'The Art of Dying', showed they'd lost nothing in terms of intensity, and with Foo Fighters producer Nick Raskulinecz now at the controls, they sound colossal and powered by what's to come, not nostalgia.
If you need one of those 'In Case of Emergency...' aggressive and up-tempo records in your life, this is as good as anything else out there right now - brilliant drumming and riffing with the speed matched by catchiness.
The more you listen the more you wonder which you'll be listening to more in 12 months' time - this or James Hetfield & Co's make or break.
Harry Guerin
Bram Stocker
Artist: Bram Stocker
Genre(s):
Other
Discography:
Shizo-Poltergeist
Year: 1972
Tracks: 8
Nas Unveils Spike Lee-Inspired Video, Cover Of Controversial New Album
The best films on the box: June 17-23
Film and television critic Philip Wakefield assesses the best movies on offer on the box this week, for Tuesday, June 17 to Monday, June 23.
Tuesday, June 17
How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
2003, AO, 8.30pm, TV2
Kate Hudson plays a women’s magazine writer whose latest assignment is to make a guy fall in love with her and then get him to dump her within 10 days of meeting her. Cue Matthew McConaughey as an ad executive who bets his boss he can make a woman fall in love with him in 10 days. Guess what? If you can’t, tune in; if you can, you’ll lose interest in 10 minutes.
Wednesday, June 18
The Big Hit
1998, AO, 8.30pm, Prime
Violence with verve sums up this over-the-top comedy/thriller about a team of hit men who are targeted by their gangland boss when they unwittingly kidnap his goddaughter while moonlighting. Mark Wahlberg plays the killer who compounds his complicated love life - he already has a fiancee and a lover - by falling for the sassy, saucy kidnappee (China Chow).
Thursday, June 19
Capote
2006, AO, 8.35pm, Sky Movies 2
On the eve of his death, Truman Capote told his biographer, “There’s the one and only TC. There’s never been anybody like me and there ain’t going to be anybody like me again.” However, the flamboyant literary icon didn’t reckon on Philip Seymour Hoffman proving otherwise, 21 years later, in this rich, troubling, complex dramatisation of how Capote researched In Cold Blood. The groundbreaking non-fiction novel about a Midwest murder made Capote “the most famous writer in the world” - but at what cost? Was Capote’s manipulation of the convicted killers as cold-blooded as their crime? And did his greatest success precipitate his prolonged decline?
Friday, June 20
Miama Vice
2006, AO, 8.30pm, Sky Movies
Michael Mann’s re-make of his iconic cop show for the MTV crowd owes just as much to his last TV series, the darker, moodier but dead on arrival Robbery Homicide Division. Twenty years on the beat still goes on but Crockett (Colin Farrell) and Tubbs (Jamie Foxx) have gone so deep undercover that fans may not recognise them. Miami Vice’s drug-trade globalisation plot feels even more synthetic than the alarming pastels of the original. The result is stylish and sporadically suspenseful but with none of the Heat of Mann’s last TV re-make.
Saturday, June 21
Freaky Friday
2003, PGR, 7.30pm, TV2
Jamie Lee Curtis reverts to adolescence in this familiar but funny re-make about a mother and a daughter who switch bodies. She plays a psychologist who literally winds up in her head-banging teenager’s shoes on the eve of remarrying. Droll one-liners help to transcend the movie’s choppy, sitcom-ish plotting but it’s Curtis’ gusto and goofiness that make Freaky Friday such a laugh-out-loud delight. Lindsay Lohan co-stars.
Big Momma's House
2000, PGR, 7.30pm, TV3
Gross, imbecilic undercover farce about an FBI agent (Martin Lawrence) who, to trap a brutal bank robber, impersonates the obese grandmother of his ex-girlfriend while she’s out of town. Think Stakeout meets The Nutty Professor but with laughs a lot smaller than Momma.
Mystic River
2003, AO, 8.30pm, TV One
Director Clint Eastwood’s relocates Unforgiven’s themes of manhood, retribution and the begetting of violence to modern-day Boston, where three friends are reunited as adults because of a murder that echoes a child abduction tragedy in their youth. It suffers from contrivances and an ending too ambiguous for its own good but boasts powerhouse writing, acting and directing. Sean Penn, Tim Robbins and Kevin Bacon star.
The Big Bounce
2004, AO, 9.30pm, TV2
Get Shorty fans get shortchanged with this fatally easy-going Elmore Leonard adaptation about an outlaw surfer (Owen Wilson) who does odd jobs for a judge (Morgan Freeman) while trying to rip off a crooked real estate tycoon (Gary Sinise) with the help of his mark's mistress (Sara Foster). Initial intrigue and goodwill soon fade as the meandering con-upmanship plot becomes more laboured than it is lame. Wilson and Foster are fun but more of Willie Nelson, Harry Dean Stanton and Vinnie Jones would have been better.
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
1991, AO, 9.30pm, TV3
The cyborg from Hell returns - but this time he’s sad to the bone. As the surrogate father of Sarah Connor's child - the future saviour of mankind - he's been humanised into an avenging angel with a terminal condition: a heart of gold. The cinematography and special effects are wondrous, especially the morphing, but the screenplay is routine, which is why, despite all its eye-popping, hi-tech trickery, T2 never rivals the original for suspense and excitement.
Sunday, June 22
The Brothers Grimm
2005, AO, 8.30pm, TV2
Director Terry Gilliam re-imagines 18th century academics Will and Jacob Grimm as con men who scam superstitious villagers with their tall tales - until they’re forced to take a walk on the wild side of the Enchanted Forest. Gilliam isn’t as smooth a storyteller as his mentors but his flair for atmospherically fusing fantasy with history is the stuff of fun and enthralling escapism. Matt Damon and Heath Ledger star.
Resident Evil: Apocalypse
2004, AO, 11pm, TV2
A predictably hi-tech, high-fatality fantasy starring leggy chicks with awesome arsenals under siege from ravenous hordes of the living dead spawned by corporate skulduggery. Milla Jovovich, Sienna Guillory and Oded Fehr star.
Out of Sight
1998, AO, 11.30pm, TV3
Sexy, suspenseful, stylish Elmore Leonard adaptation that's quintessential pulp noir with smarts. George Clooney plays a charming ex-con executing another scam while trying to dodge the feisty federal marshal (Jennifer Lopez) who's been on his trail ever since they shared a close encounter of the car boot kind. Samuel L Jackson, Ving Rhames, Michael Keaton and Dennis Farina co-star; Steven Soderbergh directs.
Monday, June 23
In & Out
1997, AO. 8.30pm, Sky Movies Greats
Clumsy Kevin Kline comedy about a small-town high school teacher who, on the eve of marriage, is outed on national television. Director Frank Oz (Death at a Funeral) squanders the scenario’s rich comic potential for feeble farce and sappy morality. If not for the top cast - Bob Newhart and Tom Selleck co-star - In & Out would be an out-and-out disaster.
See Also
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)