Review: Weezer - Weezer (The Blue Album)

In 1994 Los Angeles power pop band Weezer release their seminal debut. The Blue Album specializes in hard hitting power chords and great pop song-writing.  While everyone in 1994 was busy trying to be the next Nirvana, Weezer front man Rivers Cuomo just wanted to make some fun rock pop.  But don't let the appearance of most of the Blue Album's songs fool you, although on the surface most songs sound as though all is well in Cuomo-land, there are much deeper meanings to songs like 'Say it Ain't So' and 'Buddy Holly'.  And mostly those meanings link to teenage angst, father issues and the like. Album highlights include the aforementioned  singles, 'In the Garage' and 'Undone - The Sweater Song'.  While not every song is pure pop genius, most have a red hot go at trying to be. In summary The Blue Album really was Cuomo's first chance at showing the world how good he was at pop song-writing and although modern day Weezer may not be half the band they once were, we can still revel in what was.

9/10

Tomm

Review: Ted

'Ted' is the début feature from Seth MacFarlane (of 'Family Guy' and 'American Dad' fame).  The film follows the story of a foul mouthed, bong smoking teddy bear (voiced by MacFarlane himself) and his owner John (Mark Wahlberg) and as things start to get serious with his girlfriend  Lori (Mila Kunis), John is forced to choose between his best friend and his lover.  It's a story we've all seen by now, but most people going into this film aren't going to expect a deep plot and complex characters, all they are looking for is the laughs which this film definitely delivers on.  The sense of humor in this film will definitely tailor to those who are fans of MacFarlane's television efforts and those who aren't will be left in the cold wondering why so many people are laughing at a talking teddy bear.  But being a fan of 'Family Guy' and 'American Dad' I had to laugh some of the at most of the absurd situations John and Ted got themselves into.  The acting is all fine with nothing too outstanding and you can tell MacFarlane is a geek at heart with a plethora of pop culture references and a massive 'Flash Gordon' homage.  Overall this movie succeeds in what it set out to do, and although it never quite reaches the hilarity of recent comedy greats it is still a good laugh.

7/10

Tomm

Review: The Amazing Spider-man

Spidey's back. Slinging webs, catching baddies and cracking wise once again. This time, it all starts with a six year old Peter Parker and his parents, Richard and Mary. When a rock finds its way through the office window of Richard's home office, it sends the parents on a panicked dash to get away. Peter is left with his Aunt May and Uncle Ben. Years later, Peter (Andrew Garfield) is going to highschool, where he is considered a nerd and has no friends. In an attempt to find out what his father was studying before he left, Peter intrudes an intern tour at Oscorp, where his father worked. This is where he is bitten by a genetically enhanced spider that gives him superpowers. Peter is misunderstood for a criminal and has the police after him. A problem arises and Peter feels obliged to help the city from destruction that is to be brought by The Lizard, a human-turned-giant lizard. And, of course, there has to be a girl. This time it's Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone), who just happens to be the Police Captain's daughter.

Although it seems a little early for a Spider-man reboot, this version feels new and refreshing. I found Andrew Garfield to be a much more relatable Peter Parker than Tobey MacGuire and Emma Stone plays Gwen Stacy well. There were also some other big names like Martin Sheen, Sally Field and Denis Leary, and watch out for another hilarious Stan Lee cameo. It might just be me, being a huge Spider-man fan, but I quite enjoyed this film and, although there are still some questions to be answered, I think Marc Webb did a good job.

8/10

The Awesominator

Review: M83 - Saturdays = Youth

Number five for French electro-pop outfit M83 and they were still yet to establish a widespread fanbase. They had not charted in most countries yet and this album was no different, although I found it quite enjoyable. Opening with the psychedelic and album-filler-esque "You, Appearing", it's the next song that makes a fairly large impact. "Kim & Jessie" just reeks of classic M83: unusual but no less cool synth lines , vocals that may be dull but take nothing away from the song, the sort of song found all over the place on Hurry Up, We're Dreaming. "We Own the Sky", "Skin of the Night" and "Graveyard Girl" are some other noteworthy songs. Also, "Up!", an R'n'B insprired single in which Morgan Kibby's soft, soothing vocals are used perfectly, but my album highlight was the 8 and a half minutes of dreamy, mysterious, synthy awesomeness that is "Couleurs". The album closes with the anti-climactic yet slightly amusing "Midnight Souls Still Remain", but I won't spoil anything for you. Saturdays = Youth is an enjoyable album filled with songs that, from start to relatively close to the finish, can be enjoyed by anyone.

8/10

The Awesominator

Review: Brave

Some would suggest that after 2010's magnificent 'Toy Story 3' the quality of feature films coming out of Pixar have been on the decline.  But to be honest I thoroughly enjoyed 'Cars 2'  and thought it didn't deserve anywhere near the amount of hate it received.  But unfortunately I do have to somewhat agree with the naysayers on Pixar's latest outing.  It follows the much worn tale of a Princess (Kelly McDonald) who accidentally curses her strict mother (Emma Thompson) in a bid for freedom.  Quirky characters are all throughout the film and the team do deserve credit for making use of a good cast of voices especially Billy Connolly as the king.  Also needed to be applauded here  is the absolutely beautiful animation,  artistic flourishes are everywhere and it would be possiblee to lose hours just staring into the Princess' curl red hair.  Where this movie does falter though is in its plot and often generic dialogue.  'Brave' is by no means a bad film and it does stand out in a lot of places,  but it just doesn't feel like it lives up to that Pixar name.

6/10

Tomm