Film: The Bank Job

Hanging off the bones of the true story of the ‘Walkie Talkie Robbery’, The Bank Job covers the tale of a gang of petty thieves and their attempts to tunnel under a bank vault whilst a ham radio enthusiast listens in on their transceiver conversation with their trusty look-out.

Jason Statham stars and he plays to type stamping his own version of butch and cockney onto everything. Butch and cockney - that could sum the film up to be honest. I keep expecting Jack Regan or Gene Hunt to pop up and yell something about putting one’s knickers on. It’s ‘Ocean’s Eleven’ set in grimy seventies London. It’s a humourless ‘Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels’ and yet it drifts between a smack in the face and a friendly punch on the shoulder; from overwhelming seriousness to smiles and joshing. It’s confused about where it belongs - a visceral true portrayal of facts or a comedy crime caper - and, consequently, refuses to flow freely.

With the sub-plot of an implicated Royal Family, a desperate Whitehall, and a horde of bent coppers the film flounders between the various criminal activities leaving you lost about exactly who the good guys are. Yet, it’s not all bad. It’s well-acted with Daniel Mays, as gang-member Dave, and David Suchet, playing an extremely vindictive crime lord, both shining. Also director Roger Donaldson manages to create a good deal of tension by utilising a combination of clever angles, bleak settings and rapid cuts. Throw in an understated yet insistently pulsating soundtrack and a script full of deception and there are many reasons to keep watching. Ultimately that big pay-off arrives but there is quite a long sequence of frustration to endure. Watch it for the true story element and not just because it’s another heist movie.

© Johnskibeat

Commissioned by Local Secrets online magazine...

Film: Be Kind Rewind

A large percentage of cinema-goers who will see the Be Kind Rewind trailer before deciding to see the film will certainly be caught off-guard by this. What initially appears to be another plain old slapstick comedy turns into something far more interesting. Good old Michel Gondry, he’ll always keep you on your toes.

It’s all fairly straightforward. Mr. Fletcher (Danny Glover) owns a run-down video store and he leaves his loyal employee, Mike (Mos Def), in charge while he takes a few days off to work out how to fend off the threat of imminent closure. Mike’s error-prone friend, Jerry (Jack Black), subsequently manages to wipe every single videotape clean by magnetising himself whilst attempting to sabotage the local power-plant. The only way to keep the customers happy is for the hapless pair to film their own versions of the tapes with surprising results.

Sounds like a goof-a-thon, right? Well, partly. Certainly whenever Glover’s character is off-screen it’s a barrel of laughs. Mos Def and Jack Black surprisingly make quite the comic pairing. Cue the hilarity as a sudden horror-movie soundtrack plays with the duo pulling agonized faces as they realise the tapes are all blank. Throw in the neat effect of the whole cinema screen warping and fizzing with static as Black approaches and you’ve got comedy gold. Melonie Diaz’s character adds another dimension as they all set about shooting zero-budget remakes of ‘Ghostbusters’, ‘Rush Hour 2’, ‘King Kong’ - whatever the customers ask for. Director Michel Gondry refused to allow his stars to view the original films before they shot them which might explain why the subsequent mayhem has a particularly random flavour to it. Black, for instance, had never seen ‘Driving Miss Daisy’ and his dismal portrayal of the lead character leads to some clever on-the-spot scripting or possibly witty improvisation by his fellow actors. Each of their quick-fix films features ingenious ways of pulling off those famous scenes - the use of a cement-mixer to recreate the ‘Men In Black’ tunnel car-chase is a fine example of what’s on offer.

On Mr. Fletcher’s return, however, there’s a sudden lull in events. Glover’s character is the father figure embodying the gloom of the financial state of the store. It doesn’t appear to be intentional but his re-introduction effectively instantly changes the impetus of the film from comedy to sentimentality. Despite the anti-climactic feel to subsequent events it brings with it a change of pace, a chance to re-evaluate and inject warmth into the film. Suddenly the importance of the town, its heritage and its people are of higher importance and with the main characters established it gives us a different picture entirely.

In the final analysis there are parts of the plotline that remain undeveloped and there’s a patchy understanding of realism but then, like Gondry’s past films, those things have never been high priority. You could watch this bitter-sweet, and surprisingly quirky, film for many reasons but I feel, perversely, you may end up disappointed by the very reason for which you went.

This website is well worth a peek at. From here you can view trailers of all the film remakes the cast did: http://www.bekindmovie.com/


© Johnskibeat

Commissioned by Local Secrets online magazine...

Album Review: Thrice - The Alchemy Index, Vols. III & IV: Air & Earth

Here we have the much anticipated second installment of Thrice’s conceptual ‘The Alchemy Index’ recorded in the band’s own studio and engineered by guitarist Teppei Teranashi. “Although we wrote and recorded all four discs in the same time period, there was definitely a different approach to each one”, says singer Dustin Kensrue.

Starting with gently plucked guitar and softly spoken vocal ‘Broken Lungs’ brings to mind Funeral For A Friend’s recent sequence of downbeat releases. Yet it’s the hushed, wispy background noise of ‘A Song For Milly Michaelson’ that identifies these opening songs most effectively as the “Air” half of the album. There’s plenty of evidence that some sections have been pre-selected for inclusion with a finely-balanced dynamic structure obviously bent to include such intricate instrumentation. The drums remain fairly anonymous, happy to sit behind the star act of clean-cut guitars and soaring vocals.

“The Air disc is almost like a conglomeration of all four EP’s - it seems to be a bit more all over the place.” points out Teranishi. He turns his attention to the “Earth” disc explaining, “We knew that we wanted it very stripped down, with few electrified instruments or full drums. We recorded all of it in an empty wood room”. ‘Moving Mountains’ kicks off the “Earth” half and starts with echoed footsteps across this wooden floor as a raw banjo picks out a country jingle. Immediately a twangy generic vocal begins to jimmy out a rhythm but it‘s not upbeat enough to kick off a hoe-down. ‘Digging My Own Grave’ transports us to a saloon with jangling piano and a heartfelt song of love. ‘Child Of Dust’ brings proceedings to a close and is a sonnet composed by Kensrue, set to music, yet organised in the traditional English structure and rhythmic fashion. Humanity’s failings may be a fine subject matter to sing about, but I‘m sorry, in my disappointment I‘d dropped off to sleep by this point.

What is lacking here is one of Thrice’s trademark buccaneering, punchier tracks to inject some urgency, life and even bile. I understand why there isn’t one but it doesn’t make it okay to leave one out. The closest we get is the chorus of ‘Come All You Weary’ which is more of a hang-dog lament than a chance to bully-off. I’m sorry but this just doesn’t cut the mustard and serves notice of a move towards a band made weaker for being allowed to rattle off ambitious new ideas out in independent waters.

Album Review: Sylosis – The Supreme Oppressor

Brutal and yet also coyly melodic, Sylosis are so much more than their simple self-assessment as “Shredding from Reading”. This UK quintet are a mix of crunching guitars, ball-busting vocals and battering double-kick and snare combinations. Then just when you think you’ve got them pinned they throw in a long cyclical sequence of melodic guitars and softened vocal or a even a thread of hushed, sonic backwash. It’s Lamb Of God bitch-slapping Opeth while their backs are turned.

From the rolling thunder, falling rain and whispered guitar intro right through to the ricocheting, mesmeric guitars, on final track ’Blind Oppression’, this is an album with plenty of ideas. Take ‘Slowly Consumed’ – thickly-laden with feisty riffs and intense, pistoning drum kicks it pushes through into a repeating underscore of roared vocals which lend the track a rich, menacing darkness. Moving on, it’s followed by the surprising instrumental track ‘Silence From The Sky’ with it’s gentle, picked acoustic guitar and flighty waves of back-fill.

Sylosis pit the raw power of a bully against an uncanny ability to transform into best-friend at a whim with seemingly effortless mood-music. They nearly manage to pull it off but there are moments in the album when it’s just a step to far. It becomes busy, intrusive and just doesn‘t gel like it could or, even should. Perhaps they need to follow-through on their promise and extend their short melodic sections further. The sequences of punishing vocal and drums disintegrate when faced by a more restrictive structure. With a little more finesse the band’s bravery combined with their potential could really propel them into the big-time. Sylosis, remember the name.

Also online @TLOBF = http://www.thelineofbestfit.com/2008/03/sylosis-the-supreme-oppressor/

Interview: Ungdomskulen

Ungdomskulen, a Norwegian trio of uber-geeks, are currently melding rock and dance together to produce some staggeringly vibrant and compelling sounds. They can be found supporting The Young Knives up and down the UK on the back of their latest release, 'Cry Baby', and I managed to yank the band's Kristian Stockhaus away long enough to quiz him on his knowledge of his homeland and The Dark Knight.


Can you describe what life is like back in your home city of Bergen in Norway?
It’s like Fawlty Towers but without the old drunken general spinning around and lots of RAIN.

You’ve been through several band name changes before finally settling. What were they?
Standing Ovation, Goddamnit and Thundersome which we used for one concert only.

I liked the band name ‘Goddamnit’ by the way. Any reason why you changed?
We changed that name ‘cause we really wanted to crack the Christian-rock market.

As I understand it Ungdomskulen is Norwegian for ‘youth school’. Did you choose it because you have fond schoolboy memories?
We had very mixed feelings about school, but the vibe in "middle school" is intense and all over the place, and that’s what we wanna be as well.

Tell us about the song ‘Ungdomskulen’. Is it really a tribute to yourselves?
Yes, it’s a tribute to ourselves and the trials and tribulations that we have gone through over the years. It’s important to give the band a little carrot that a tribute-song can be, when they’ve/we’ve worked so hard.

You’ve been labelled as “math-rock” and “frantic dance-punk” before but how would you describe your sound?
Punk-prog covered in digital ketchup.

Your first album was called ‘Surf’s Up’. Do you enjoy riding the waves?
It’s about surfing porn and not about surfing waves. We wouldn’t last a minute on a surf-board.

You’re a trio of musicians and have likened yourself to a three-headed jungle animal. What would your mating call sound like?
It would sound like the voice of god laughing through a thick layer of flanger.

You keep a blog of your various exploits. Do you feel it’s important to provide a particularly personal insight into your world?
Yes and no. I think that band’s homepages can get a bit serious and anal. A blog is more vibrant and experimental and helps to keep things fresh. It’s not really newsworthy stuff we put on there but more of general vibe of the band as far as thoughts and art goes and if the common man is interested that’s a killer.

I understand you didn’t particularly enjoy our capital’s Underground system! What happened?
We do enjoy it. It’s only a bit confusing for the naive country-lads that we are. We are not used to metal-horses cruising the underworld but we are really for public transport. Save the planet!

Last time we interviewed you guys you’d just about to release ‘Cry Baby’. Has the extra media attention and increased audiences changed your daily routine much? It’s hard to keep any routine as we are on tour a lot, but I guess it’s healthy to break patterns and see things in a different perspective. As far as media goes they’re like fart, you know it’s out there but you pretend it’s not.

Have you any plans on how to top ‘Cry Baby’?
More sugar, less boogie, more underwater-love. We are gonna make it cool like a weekend-dad with a Harley.

We learnt last time that you quite like Batman. What makes him your particular favourite?
Batman really reflects our decay as a society by having it all and not being happy. He’s like a modern version of the character in “Citizen Kane”, looking for love in the body of a pricy object. He’s got a big heart but a lost soul, taking it out on the scum of the street as a total cleansing of his vendetta-fuelled mind. What’s not to love?

If you could have just one of the Dark Knight’s amazing gadgets which one would you choose and why?
I think having Alfred around would be pretty amazing. The geezer got heart!

You spent some time recently filming and editing your own video. How did you set about creating it?
For the ‘Batman’ video we got together one night and just filmed in Øyvind’s living room - he’s the only one in the band with a nice clean white wall. We collected a lot of sheets and clothes and stuff, and then we just got loose and improvised in front of the camera. It was a total free-jazz jam of the body.

Was it an enjoyable process?
Yes, we had a ton of fun, but it was also hard honest work. Not really for the weak spirited or lazy.

What music usually gets played on the tour bus? It’s a broad variety of stuff I’ll tell you. We are really into anything that doesn’t suck and sometimes we are even into that stuff as well. But we don’t like really sucky stuff.

You’re touring the UK in February and March. Which venue are you looking forward to playing the most?
We are looking forward to them all. It’s wrong to call favourites - some venues might end up getting jealous and we don’t want that now do we?

Finally, have you got anything special in store for us in your upcoming shows?
No, just the regular boring stuff.

Also online @ Subba-Cultcha = http://www.subba-cultcha.com/features/article.php?contentID=12921