Hello Paddy.

I hope you are having a pleasant day.

I don’t want to spoil your fun, but, I have come for your soul.

Happy Birthday, Paddy.

Have some presents.

Merry Christmas too, you dirty, filthy scumbag.

This is a gift; I hope you like it.

If not prepare to die you ungrateful ass.

I’ll clucking kill you.

Yeah.

Understand you are going to die.

Tonight.

I am in The Shadows.

I am in The Mist.

I am what the insane fear.

I am

Behind you.

Hi I’m Stacey.

I am singing very badly.

I’m dressing up as Lara Croft, mummy!

I like to spend my time in the toilets;

Andrew calls them traps.

I hope I get to play Street Fighter tonight, yes yes.

I am Ryu!

Hadouken baby!

Flawless victory.

I bet you are laughing cos I’m a clever, funny boy.

Oh yes.

This song is now over, thankfully as I’m bored of it.

Have you finished your supper?

Link to the past it up!

You may hear laughter and wonder from where it comes.

It is you.

Laughing at yourself from an asylum you will soon inhabit.

Anyways, I’m sure if you’ve seen Jaws (or it’s other remake, King Qwong) you’ll know the basic storyboard. Humans have been living on the moon for a few weeks now, but for some reason they are all trapped in the 80s, or possibly the 60s. Drilling for precious moon oil has awoken an ancient beast known as Qod (basically God with a Q) and he ain’t happy! He ain’t happy, but he ain’t not hungry! Q is a giant dragaon type feature, roughly the size of a large squirrel, and he can fly. He can’t breath fire, but he ain’t not hungry! He feasts on space tramps and rocks and takes off towards the main city- Earth Part Two. Soon it is a race against time for the spacemen to work together and bring down this awesome foe.

I like the graphics in this film- they are some of the best I have ever scene, and I like the fact that they filmed on the moon, with Neil Armstrong’s permission. There is plenty of gore and killings, and the excitements are kept high on the scale- about 340lbs worth, give or take. What the film really needed was a big monster fight- they should have dug up another alien and had a smackdown rumble fest where they both smelled what the other had cookin’. This is a lovely piece of filming, Michael Douglas should be proud.

Best Scene: Patrick Moore’s cameo. He is discussing the possibility of life on other planets at the start of the show, then it cuts to him going to his dressing room. Later when his director goes to pick him up for his next shoot, and spins his chair round he is dead and Q has crawled out of his eye! You know which one.

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

The award winning The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is ‘a feast for the eyes as well as the heart’, as the DVD blurb claims. Wonderful animation, brilliantly drawn characters and backdrops, time travel, action, lots of touching and funny parts- what’s not to like?

Makoto is a school girl who, after an accident, discovers that she can travel in time. The first part of the film deals with her discovery of this and using it to her own gain- correcting minor mistakes and mishaps in her past. She never comes close to joining the dark side with such power, but finds that her changes however small can have a greater and harmful effect for the future/present and her friends. However, there is another leaper and her leaps are limited, and soon her choices become extremely important.

This much adapted version of the Japanese novel (there has been other series and movies since the novel was written in the sixties) is one of the best, perfectly suited to the medium and today’s generation. There are questions raised about power, friendship, choice, and love, but the film never becomes preachy or sentimental. One of the best anime of the year.

As Always, feel free to leave your comments on the movie- where does it rank in your recent anime list?

I did a few checks online for similar lists- critics top picks are mostly the same- with songs like Billie Jean, Rock With You, and Thriller always coming out on top. Most critics look at cultural impact and chart success when writing these lists- I look at the love I feel for each song, and those tracks that I sang along to in bed on my Walkman while my parents shouted up the stairs for me to shut up- those are the ones which make the higher places on my list.

Ok!

53. Workin Day And Night (Off The Wall): Even though I’m a huge Michael Jackson fan and even though Off The Wall was the first album I ever bought, I’m not a huge fan of the album, at least when compared with his other stuff. Some of the disco themed tracks are more miss than hit, but this one is suitably high paced and is liable to have you spinning around the kitchen in your socks while your dog/cat stares on, bewildered. It’s less well known than the previous tracks on the album and thus doesn’t suffer as much for me from the overplayed disease.

52. She’s Out Of My Life (Off The Wall): As for the slower tracks on the album, this is the stand out. It’s The Falling In Love and Girfriend are fine songs, of course, but they remind me too much of the theme tune of Kids TV show Simon And The Witch. The video may be terrible but the sentiment isn’t, and though it may be seen as incredibly twee now, it comes off more agreeably than some of his later similar tracks due to his youth and relative innocence here. A very simple, subtle arrangement lets the emotion of the lyrics and vocals shine through.

51. Rockin Robin (Got To Be There): Performed by Michael, if my memory serves me well, when he was roughly 5 months old, Rockin Robin is a classic pop tune. Again, at first appearances it may seem twee and silly, but it really does rock like a 50s Berry/Holly hit- nice guitar work, fast paced, nonsensical lyrics, but with a timeless energy which will pull you onto your feet and have you embarassing yourself in no time

50. If You Don’t Love Me (Rare): This is quite a strange one from Michael as those opening notes don’t really sound like any other song he has ever done. It was recorded in the Dangerous era but sounds like a forgotten Supremes track given some serious rock thump. Michael belts out the vocals with a growl and there is a nice leading guitar riff. The verses are catchy, but holy heavens that chorus will be in your head all day so be prepared for an ass-kicking on the train home by disgruntled commuters who don’t want to hear you whistling it for 45 minutes. Note- this has not happened to me.

49. Farewell, My Summer Love (FMSL): An undeservedly forgotten Jacko track which has beautifully realsied lyrics and an emotional performance. It’s a sentiment most of us will recognise and will likely cause you to reminisce about that Summer romance you had. Again it showcases a turning point in Michael’s vocals, wavering somewhere between childhood and adulthood. A big chorus and emotive verses- what more would you want?

48. Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’ (Thriller): Well, it’s just awesome really. The way the song builds in force and volume, with new sounds and instruments being thrown in more and is a testament to Quincy’s genius and a perfect example of the wonderful results when two artists who are at the top of their game collaberate. That would be enough for a great song, but through in those superb funky riffs and rhythms, bizarre lyrics, weird noises, and the fact that the song continues to grow whilst passing through various stages. Michael’s voice has suddenly matured from Off The Wall and now he sounds like a God. There are so many quality individual moments to mention here. If this was played at any picnic, funeral, work meeting, police interview, it would, without excepetion, have everyone dancing like a maniac and uttering mamma say mombassa and such. If they were drunk.

47. We’re Almost There (Forever Michael): This one still retains a Motown feel even though the world was going disco at the time; it has a large string section backing for the intro and chorus but it’s mainly about the power of the vocals and melodies. Michael is sounding older now, moving through his awkward teen phase, but he has no problem reaching some high notes here effortlessly.

46. We’ve Got A Good Thing Going (Ben): Going right back to his first solo album, Michael tackles quite a few mature love songs. Surprisingly most of them work well, and again that is largely down to his amazing vocals- both the sound, control, power, and his understanding of using his voice to get the correct emotions from the lyrics. It’s one of the more gentle tracks on Ben due to a mellow production but it still has a funky undertone and a hoppidy rhythm. Pleasant verses give way to a strong chorus with great backing vocal parts.

Teen

45. Morning Glow (Music And Me): Opening with a classic Motown style guitar tone on a summery riff the song starts of gently with backing pianos and a very feminine sounding Jacko. With each new verse though the vocals become stronger to give the recurring melody new depth, whilst the chorus is more like an extension than a separate entitiy. It does have a warm, snug, welcoming feel to it evoking images which the title suggests. The slower, choir backed ending is quite beautiful too.

44. I’ll Come To You (FM): A teen Michael introduces this with a spoken part which isn’t as cringe-worthy as some of the others, but it leads into one of the most gorgeous verses you’ll ever hear. Sumptious arrangements in the verses lead to a booming chorus tinged with sadness and regret which Michael blasts out on the verge of tears. The vocals are interesting as you can clearly hear that he is between his child and adult stages, with moments of both styles coming through.

43. This Time Around (HIStory): Even though HIStory sold about 50 billion copies and had countless worldwide hit singles, many critics and even some fans have rubbished it away. Rubbish. Aside from the aforementioned singles there are some forgotten gems, including this. Michael is wonderfully angry here, spitting out the vocals with venom which is unsusual for him but happens quite a bit on the album. Both the verse and chorus melodies are excellent and while it may not have the dense layering of some of his better known work there are great moments here and it will get your feet stomping.

42. Ben (Ben): People forget that this was an Oscar nominated song, due in part to the strong writing, but I tend to say that it is the emotive vocal performance from the young Jacko which turns a decent pop tune into something greater. The backing is fairly quiet and simple with a lonely string and vocal part echoing the sentiment of the lyrics and the movie it was written for. Indeed it goes further and hints and Michael’s whole life as the lonely megastar searches for a soul mate.

41. Is It Scary? (Blood On The Dancefloor): Ghosts saw Michael revisiting the horror genre a la Thriller, giving us both a song and a short film based on the supernatural. However, it was Is It Scary rather than the track Ghosts which stood out. Taking basically the same lyrics from Ghosts, Is It Scary gets rid of much of the electro noise and replaces it with strings, vocal ticks, and big melodies. While the verses are haunting and fitting given the lyrics, it is the belter of a chorus which you will remember. This is a sadly forgotten track which deserves to be mentioned along side his most famous singles.

40. Speechless (Invincible): Invincible was too long in the making and suffered greatly from expectation, too many average tracks, and a very dated production. The great moments are few and far between and largely the best tracks are the most simple ones. Speechless may be the most gentle song he had written and though it does veer awfully close to being too saccharine for it’s own good, the melodies and performance pull it back from the brink. A basic expression of love and being left speechless by the feelings, much of the song is Michael singing unaccompanied. Eventually some quiet guitars come in and as the song progresses we get added instruments and backing vocals growing to a crescendo. The central melody will easily get stuck in your head like many of the songs on this list.

39. Don’t Walk Away (I)

Off The Wall

38. The Lost Children (I)

37. History (H)

36. Whatever Happens (I)

35. People Make The World Go Round (Ben)

34. Morphine (BOTD)

33. Music And Me (MAM)

32. Human Nature (T)

Thriller

31. Will You Be There (Dangerous)

30. Love Is Here And Now You’re Gone (GTBT)

29. In Our Small Way (GTBT)

28. Bad (Bad)

27. Billie Jean (T)

26. Who Is It (D)

25. In The Closet (D)

Smooth

24. Happy (MAM)

23. What Goes Around Comes Around (Ben)

22. Liberian Girl (B)

21. Remember The Time (D)

20. Dirty Diana (B)

19. Scream (H)

Dangerous

18. Take Me Back (FM)

17. Girl Don’t Take Your Love From Me (Anthology)

16. Got To Be There (GTBT)

15. Earth Song (H)

14. They Don’t Care About Us (H)

13. Baby Be Mine (T)

Scream

12. Black Or White  (D)

11. Speed Demon (B)

10. Lady In My Life (T)

9. Give In To Me (D)

8. Heal The World (D)

7. Thriller (T)

Invincible

6. I Just Can’t Stop Loving You (B)

5. One Day In Your Life (ODIYL)

4. Another Part Of Me (B)

3. Beat It (T)

2. Man In The Mirror (B)

1. Smooth Criminal (B)

This Is It

The Devouring focuses on Regina, an adolescent girl and avid horror fan (her references to movies and texts may get kids into the classics of the genre), her eight year old brother Henry, and her friend Aaron- nerd and love of serial killer histories. Other characters come and go, but the central trio are interesting and loveable enough to help the pages turn. Reggie and Henry live with their father after their mum left without saying goodbye, and Reggie acts as surrogate. On a night before Christmas Reggie reads a strange horror journal she recently found in the bookstore she works in to Henry, and of course it terrifies him. The book tells of creatures called Vours who (Body Snatchers style) take over your body and send your sould off to a hell made up of your own fears. They only come one night a year, and only attack those most scared. Of course, it’s only a story, and of course Sorry Night comes and bring the Vours to Henry (Evil Dead style) after reading the book. A race to save Henry begins, but there may be a larger threat on the horizon.

The Devouring is a quick read which should leave readers thirsty for more. There are plenty of the usual horror cliches but hopefully most readers will not have encountered them before and there are plenty of other surprises and shocks to keep us enthralled. The plot and characters are interesting, the bad guys seem genuinely evil and threatening, and the scary parts come thick and fast. Part 2 will definately be one to look forward to and Simon Holt may well be writing scarier stories than the more established Darren Shan- judge for yourself.

The Mask

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 42,000 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 16 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

So, I went for Redline- an anime set in the near future about some sort of car racing. I’m not the biggest anime fan but I like to keep an eye on some of the bigger releases and prettier films.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Redline-DVD-Takuya-Kimura/dp/B004WDZR1S/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1324396085&sr=8-3

Don’t forget to check out all the other wonderful free stuff I’ve been given in the Amazon Vine section.

`Two of Us’ is a McCartney song which can either be seen as a tribute to himself and Linda, or himself and John. Beginning with the famous Lennon quote it breaks down into a catchy acoustic ditty. The harmonies hark back to the good old days, the guitar is a gentle folk style, the lyrics speak of happier times, freedom, and nostalgia and features a nice bridge section without a chorus. The easy tone and whistling end suggest that everything in the group was fine, contrary to what we know. It is a good first song let down by a few fillers later.

`Dig a Pony’ is Lennon’s nonsense tribute to Yoko full of pointless lyrics culminating in the chorus where he pours his heart out to his soon to be wife. The false start is famous, the verse and chorus melodies are catchy enough, the guitars are good and Lennon sings in a rough fashion. Again it is not the sound the band falling apart, but definitely shows signs of weariness.

`Across The Universe’ may be the best song the Beatles ever recorded, and it is probably my favourite. Beautiful poetic lyrics which fit the sound perfectly, other-wordly guitars, wonderful simple melodies, an effortless meter for the words to float along, and sumptious production. The Eastern influence is stronger here in theme than in music, yet it is full of strange and foreign instruments. This is the song to play to people who do not yet consider themselves fans of The Beatles.

`I Me Mine’ is Harrisons take on both the egotistical problems of the band and his more personal feelings on wealth, personal gains and rejecting all notions of self for the greater good. The song has a bluesy waltz feel with it’s trumpets and guitars, but bursts into a heavy, rocking chorus.

`Dig It’ is a jam of ideas, words thrown in on the spur of the moment, instruments all jangling together- the sort of thing a band does when warming up or severely intoxicated. The version included here isn’t the best, and again it is throwaway filler.

`Let It Be’ is the most famous song on the album, McCartney’s follow up to Yesterday and superior in my opinion. It isn’t as dreary as it’s predecessor and has more emotion. Again the melodies stand out, full of cadences, the piano suits the sound perfectly and the guitar solo stands out; while it is a rather heavy effect for the song it doesn’t grate or sound out of place.

`Maggie Mae’ is a filler piece, a childhood Liverpudlian rhyme based on a modern folk tale about a prostitute. The tune is ok but it’s entirely pointless and should really have been replaced with something better.

`I’ve got a Feeling’ is another McCartney tribute to Linda, a sign that for him at least things were getting better. Of course there were darker truths as John had divorced Cynthia and Yoko had suffered a miscarriage and no-one was really happy within the band. It continues the blues rock feeling and is more hard edged than most of the back catalogue despite aiming to sound light and optimistic.

`One after 909′ is an early Blues attempt by McCartney brought back to fit in with the overall feel of this album. Written around 10 years prior to this release it shows the American influences on the young songwriters, but also exposes the adolescent songwriting. With all their experience since writing it they managed to turn it into a decent tune, adding plenty of extra riffs and instruments to make it a dance favourite.

`The Long and Winding Road’ is the last classic on the album, a wonderful epic from McCartney which is better due to the production. McCartney’s earlier, simpler version is strong but sounds a bit empty after hearing this. Some say it is over produced, but it is nice for the group to have a song such as this which sounds as if it is backed by an entire orchestra. The lyrics were based on the tensions between the band and a hope that they would all get through it.

`For You Blue’ continues the blues influence with the reference to Elmore James and slide guitar. Harrison’s vocals are perhaps too high for him, and I can’t stand the spoken parts. If it had had a few extra guitar parts or an underlying piano part I think I would like this more but for me it is too light.

`Get Back’ closes the album in rocking style, a good song but another one where McCartney’s vocals annoy me. He creates a story about a couple of lovers, the lyrics are fine, the music is suitably bluesy but it just isn’t a personal favourite.

And so the story came to an end, for a while at least; each member’s solo work features many great songs proving that even if the band was no more the spirit would live on. Record companies would continue to churn out re-issues and greatest hits, but it isn’t until the Anthologies, Blue, Red, and Love that fans had anything new to be excited about. Let It Be ends almost as an opposite to Please Please Me, with four older, more tired, more cynical worn out men belting out some great songs with a more weighed down enthusiasm. If you’re only getting into the band now, start at the beginning and work your way through. You’ll be smiling by the end.

Hippies

Normally i am not a fan of romantic comedies, but i am a big fan of Audrey Tautou. She is versatile, always charming, always entertaining, always managing to lift what would otherwise be average films. Here she plays to her most popular strentghs- her cute smile and sparkle in her eye meaning she is concocting some mischevious scheme, her dialogue delivery letting her character be at the same time strong willed and vulnerable. She is given a clever script to work with, and her character is an opportunistic schemer. Elmaleh is on familiar territory here, and he does his best Basil Fawlty routine, though he is a more likeable character. He gets to perform some Buster Keaton-esque scenes, all the time enamouring the audience to him. We root for him because he is a loser. He want him to succeed because he has thrown away what little he had on an unlikey chance at love. The chemistry between the two is strong, and it is almost an inversion of Tautou and Kassovitz from Amelie. With the surprises in the script alongside these performances, the film already rises above the rubbish that is usual in the genre.

Salvadori, as well as getting the best from the film’s stars, gets to show off the scenary of Southern France and gives everything the gleam of wealth and beauty. Of course, all of this is hollow and ultimately all we want is for the characters to get away together. Although the film has little depth, the script fills the holes and it takes a talent to turn a character who is little more than a hooker and thief into someone we can care about. With moments reminiscent of Heartbreakers, Priceless is above all a heart warming film like Amelie that will make even the most cynical hermit believe in romance.

As always, feel free to leave any comments on the movie and the review: I this up there with Amelie, or should we stop making such comparisons?

Oh Yeah

As i am a fan of animals and animal tv shows (and am known to have had the odd lemur on my shoulder) I caught most of this when it was originally aired. The first episode introduces to most of the characters and background before launching us Hollywood style into a full scale battle as the Tornadoes invade the Graveyard Gang for food. From here in every other episode we follow the back and forth action between the two groups, entwined by softer family moments such as grooming and playing- this is the way of nature, that we are all ultimately the same albeit separated by mere parts, meaning that we will defend our own to the death. Of course it is survival of the fittest, and these leads to a few genuine tear jerker moments- anyone who followed the story of Toto on Big Cat Diary will know what i mean. This may mean some parents will be wary of showing their children one particular episode, but the majority of the series is joyful and uplifting. Any show which teaches children about the animal kingdom is a must in my view.

Overall this is one of the best TV shows of its kind, and one of the best things shown on TV last year. If you’re an animal lover, or even have a passing interest in lemurs or animal documentaries then you will find a lot to love here. It is not remotely as bloody as some series- lemurs are herbivores and there isn’t too much predatory action so those who shy away from these types of show when an animal is killed will be able to watch. Entertaining throughout, hopefully the success of this show will lead to more of the same.

Lemur Street