Knight & Day has been one of the hardest films that I have ever had to review. It is not anything about the quality, but rather deals with the difficulty that all associated with the film had in getting the film to theaters in the first place. There were a number of cast shakeups and conflicting information about what the film itself was going to do – this home video…
Shirin’s single ‘Taking You Away’ is the first out of the blocks from a recording trip she made to LA in February 2010. It combines the musical genius of USA based Producer Marcus Bell of Bellringer Music, with Shirin’s prolific talent for song writing.
The world of free online first person shooters is a bleak place, full of oddly cartoonish games with slow paces, goofy weapons, and an overall feeling of awkwardness. As poorly as many of these games stack against their non-free competition, you have to give it to the developers for trying, and sometimes they make a gem. One of these few and far between beauties is called Urban Terror.
Following on the heels of her recent digital single “Is This Love,” GRAMMY®-winning artist Corinne Bailey Rae will release The Love EP on January 25th, 2011, on Capitol Records. The Love EP is a five-song collection of covers that Bailey Rae calls an “homage to some of my favorite musicians, as well as a conversation between some of my musical influences.” The Love EP opens with a cover of Prince’s…
To get fans in the holiday spirit, Rise Against is giving away all kinds of awesome swag including a signed copy of their brand new DVD, Another Station: Another Mile, signed posters, stickers, and custom messenger bags made out of recycled tour banners. The DVD, which is available in-stores now, gives fans an inside look at performances of 14 songs, including “Savior” and “Re-Education (Through Labor)” recorded in different locations…
For those about to rock… might want to pick up this bio/coffee table book on AC/DC. There have been few rock bands as polarizing as AC/DC that have managed to stay relevant across three decades. Call them juvenile, sophomoric, three-chord rock stars or see them as one of the last few torch barriers for unpretentious rock, but there is no denying that Australia’s biggest musical export knows how to write…
The bit of industrial and electronic music that comes issuing forth at the beginning of “Bullet Ride” primes listeners for what is to come. Fast, slow, intense, and more meandering sections all mesh to create a microcosm of the genre. While an instrumental concoction of Dylan, “War Parade” is nevertheless a track that has tremendous narrative qualities. Deftly integrating synthesizers, guitars, and drums into one coherent expression, Dylan gives listeners…
German atmospheric progressive metal enigmas, THE OCEAN, recently wrapped up two successful back-to-back European tours; one with math metallers The Dillinger Escape Plan and the other with legendary doom/atmospheric rockers Anathema. The tours coincided with the band’s latest opus, Anthropocentric, released via Metal Blade early last month. Said guitarist Robin Staps of the two treks: “Thanks to everyone who came out to see us during our recent European tours supporting…
To commemorate what would have been John Lennon’s 70th birthday there was a slew of re-releases (including updated versions of his solo records) and box sets last month. Among the barrage of remembrances to honor the former Beatles is the little-talked about documentary LennoNYC. The doc, just released on DVD, is a fascinating look at Lennon’s post Beatle life when he left behind his native England for New York in…
Despite the fact that many individuals only know Kevin Eubanks for the time that ey spent on The Tonight Show, ey is a pretty voluminous performer. This means, that since 1980, ey has been a considerable part of well over 20 distinct recordings. “Zen Food” represents eir latest work, the seven full-length ey has released in the 2000s. There is a sort of clarity present in this release, one in…
I love the fact that there are a number of North American companies that are falling over themselves to release all sorts of Asian films. Where the quality does tend to vary depending on the company that is releasing them, Well Go is one of the few that continually releases strong stuff. Case in point is Assault Girls, a 2009 film released by Mamoru Oshii (Ghost in the Shell, The…
It has been a number of years since there has been a good trail-based movie. It seemed almost as if the art form died out after the nineties, but The Trial looks to restore faith in the previously-fallen style. The Trial is based on a book by Robert Whitlow, a lawyer that is able to provide some realism to this flick that is sorely missing in many similar films.
It is interesting to see the evolution of Darius Rucker’s musical career. Where ey had a tremendous amount of success as the leader of Hootie and the Blowfish, many fans have not had the chance to pick up eir later works. From the forgotten-about 2002 release “Back To Then” out to 2008’s blockbuster “Learn to Live”, Rucker’s post-Hootie career has rapidly taken off. “Charleston, SC 1966” is an album that…
Gothic has been one of my favorite RPG series of all time. While Arcania 4 was developed by a different company (Trinigy) rather than Piranha Bytes, it seems as if the titles contains much in the way of cohesion. The biggest change to the title, in my opinion, has been a freeing from the mooring that Gothic 3 had. My biggest complaint about Gothic 3 was how players were introduced…
I feel that, after years of ignoring GLBT-positive imagery in films, that there has been an influx of American and British-based films in the last few years. One specific sub-segment of GLBT cinema has been ignored, though – those films with a more international focus. Water Bearer Films has ensured that there is a United States-based venue for these types of films, and that the films do not require an…
Recently some parts of the internet have been heralding the coming of a new browser that is about to enter into the Browser Wars. The saga began many years ago when the Jedi like minded people in the internet business decided that enough was enough, and Internet Explorer was going down. They had had enough of the tyrannical ways of the Sith-like Internet Explorer. First to answer the call, in…
Country music is a genre in which it seems tremendously hard to break through. The number of established acts that are on the charts at any one time are few, and consist largely of those performers that have been doing their thing for a number of years. However, this trend may yet change with the release of The Band Perry’s first, self-titled album. This album was able to practically reach…
Jim Beam Black is the latest release by Beam Global, and it showcases an extreme amount of casking (8 years) that actually doubles the amount of time that the white version of Jim Beam enjoys in wood. This results in one of the best bourbons that I’ve had the chance to sample, right down to the fragrant nose that immediately hits when one opens the bottle. While pushing the limits…
Prior to Starstruck, I think it’s safe to assume there had never been so much in depth research put into why Paris Hilton managed to become frighteningly famous when Tara Reed didn’t. On the surface they could almost be doppelgangers: blonde-haired party girls with extremely questionable talent, both thrust into the spotlight. But while Hilton has managed to thrive, building a mini-empire of realty shows and perfume, Reed has become…
Michael Madsen is one of cinema’s most slept-on actors. At least, that’s how ey typically looks when viewers first see eir in a film. Seriously though, Being Michael Madsen is a mocumentary that brings viewers into the hectic, crazy world that is Michael Madsen’s life. Expressing Madsen as the hottest movie star this side of The Rock, Being Michael Madsen showcases the creation and execution of a trap against a…