Five things on Friday #66

Things of note for the week ending April 4th, 2014

Moped . Christian Ward

1. Christian Ward
Good art, yo.

2. Gravity Deleted Scene
This is great (watch ’til the end)

3. Die Hard
I was watched Channel 5 last Sunday, and [the original] Die Hard was voted ‘The Best Action Film Ever Made’. I find it hard to disagree (it really is fantastic). To celebrate, here’s a picture of Bruce Willis.

Die Hard

4. Captain America: Old Shool
Last weekend I saw Captain America: The Winter Soldier (and wrote you a spoiler-free review too), I spotted this awesome old school poster for it not shortly after and just had to share it. It’s super cool.

cap-2-old-skool

Side note: I also caught The Grand Budapest Hotel and Under the Skin. You should see all three.

5. The Photography of Stanley Kubrick
Before Stanley Kubrick began to make his name in film, he tinkered around in the related medium of photography.

During the 1940s, Kubrick was employed as a photographer at Look Magazine in New York. It was during this time that he started studying film at the Museum of Modern Art. Fortunately for us, he also took a lot of photos and 1940s New York, through Kubrick’s eye, is fantastic.

kubrick bw

The whole set is amazing.

Go check it out.

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Bonus items this week –

  • 80s New York is gritty, strange, and moving.
  • This guy is too cool for school.
  • What’s the coolest thing you’ve seen this week? Do me a favour and tell me in the comments. Go on.

Until next time, stay frosty…

spidey

Review: Under the Skin

Lost for words.

Scarjo

Dark.

Twisted.

Unnerving.

Disturbing.

I left the cinema feeling sick to the pit of my stomach.

Under the Skin is magnificent.

scarjo2

There is much to say, but also too much.

Many other reviews give you tip offs, things like which characters are driven by what motivations, or where certain characters have come from and where they’re headed. I can’t do that. I can’t. I want you to see this knowing as little as possible.

In fact, I can’t recommend enough that you go into this completely cold (even if you can’t, even if you’ve seen a review that says ‘This is terrible!’ or if you’ve heard from someone that it’s completely rubbish. Ignore that person. Do not listen to their advice).

Just make sure you do go into it.

Go into it at the cinema.

Go into it alone.

Or with friends.

Just go into it.

And don’t look away.

Don’t look back.

Follow her in.

And let her under your skin.

…

 

Review: The Grand Budapest Hotel

Just beautiful.

The grand budapest hotel wallpaper

I think I am growing tired of the advice of ‘if you like things by X, then you’ll like the new thing from X’, never more do I see this offered when it comes to the films of Wes Anderson.

Some people enjoy his films, some people simply cannot stand them. But look, this isn’t going to be one of those reviews because, to put it simply, if you’re a Wes Anderson fan, you don’t need me to tell you to see this already.

For what it’s worth, I like most of his films. My favourite, to date, is The Royal Tenenbaums, however The Grand Budapest Hotel (TGBH) comes extremely close to knocking it from its perch and is quite easily , Anderson’s most accomplished film to date.

It is immediately Anderson, yet understated. It is symmetrical, yet imperfect. Anderson’s usual tricks and flares shine here, in this long-forgotten world and, most importantly, do not get in the way of  the story (which he has been guilty of in the past).

And that story, it is both at once absurd and sublime.

Gustave M

Ralph Fiennes is magnificent, as Gustave M, the prolific fancier of women, old and older. An appreciation of good manners, charm, and delightfully chosen swearing, he holds the film together wonderfully.

It would be prudent at this point to dive into a list of notable actors/characters from the film and reel off why it is they’re so good (or so bad) but there are two reasons why this will not be happening. First off, the cast for TGBH is incredible (and to list them all would take far too long).

Grand Budapest Hotel Cast

Second, I keep coming back to the story. It is not that it has texture, or that it shows such depth, nor even is it the wonderful characters that show up en route, it is simply in the telling that makes it such a fantastical journey. And the story has stayed with me.

This is the most heartfelt Anderson film since Tenenbaums, and it is a delight. Crafted with inception levels of story telling, ghastly creatures worthy of their own horror film, and locations suited to something from from a comic book, TGBH is superb.

I recommend it, heartily. I laughed, a lot. And, between you and me, I very nearly cried.

In short:

If you like ice cream, you should eat ice cream. If you like Wes Anderson, you should go see TGBH. If you like amusing and oddly romantic stories, soaked in whimsy and exquisitely told, then you should book your ticket now.

Review: Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Probably one of the best Marvel films ever made.

20140330-120905.jpg

Let’s get one thing absolutely clear: The Winter Soldier is a great film.

Yes, it’s Captain America film in title, but it’s more of a mini Avengers to be honest. Avengers 1.5, if you will. The most Avengers-like film you’ll see between 2012’s Avengers Assemble and next year’s Avengers: Age of Ultron. With, Nick Fury, Black Widow, Maria Hill, Falcon (team newbie), and of course, the Cap himself, Steve Rogers, they give you quite a line up. This is very much an ensemble piece.

A lot of what I had read leading up to seeing TWS had many saying that what happens in this particular Marvel adventure has (or will have) a lasting effect on the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and they’re not wrong. Big changes are afoot. And SHIELD is at the heart of it all.

Cap 2

First thing you notice about TWS however, is that Captain America is a more of a badass than ever before. The opening sequence, a rescue mission aboard a pirated ship somewhere in the Indian Ocean, felt like something straight out of a James Bond pre credits mission (and is something I’d like to see more of in the future).

You know that Cap has been on these kinds of missions before and, when he hits the ground running, you know that this is not his first rodeo. And of course, Chris Evans owns this role now and even though he’ll be hanging up the shield (no pun intended) by the end of Phase 3, in this, his third outing in the blue uniform, has got Rogers down. Seriously, he’s perfect.

Which is handy really, because the rest of the cast are pretty darn fantastic too, Scarlett Johansson leaves you wanting a Black Widow film more than an ever before (or maybe even a two-hander with Hawkeye), Samuel L Jackson is Nick Fury, and Antony Mackie, joining the team as Falcon, shows what it really means to be a valuable sidekick.

Captain-America-2-Falcon-Movie-Costume-Wings

Hurrah for team players.

If I could make one criticism it would be to have more of the heavily-billed baddie himself, the Winter Soldier. That said, I don’t want to go into it, or him, too much in fear of giving away any spoilers (some people know about him and who he is, some people don’t – so I’ll leave it there).

Screen Shot 2014-03-30 at 22.53.12

The thing that makes Cap 2 really sing though is that, while there obviously huge links to the rest of the MCU throughout, it works really well as a standalone film. It’s confident, smart, and grounded in a realism that has seemed missing from both Iron Man 3 and Thor 2. Yes, I know we’re dealing with superheroes here, but see the film and you’ll get my point.

That said, there’s no harm in, ahem, re-capping with The First Avenger and The Avengers before you go see it though; you’ll be rewarded for it. On a related note, there are a gazillion bunch of hidden nods in the film (and I’m half tempted to do another post later to cover them all off, but we’ll see on that one), so marvel fans will be pleased too.

Like I said at the start, The Winter Soldier really is a great film. I didn’t bother seeing it in 3D as I didn’t think it’d be worth it – I stand by that. However I do think it’s worth seeing in the cinema.

In closing, The last time we (officially) saw Cap he was a bit part player in Avengers Assemble, this time round he gets to show us what he’s really made of.

It’s simple –

  • Cap 1: intro story.
  • Avengers: bit part player.
  • Cap 2: BAMF.

And so you know, there are TWO post credits sequences. The first is a teaser for Avengers: Age of Ultron. And the second, I’d guess is a nod of things to come in the already announced Captain America 3.

Go see it.

Five things on Friday #65

Things of note for the week ending March 28th, 2014.

Kuratas

1. Kuratas is coming to get you
This is nuts.

Above photo via The Verge.

2. 8 bit Fight Club
Remarkably well done.

3. The Seven Best Games for Non-Gamers
I’m a gamer. I make no secret of that. From original Super Mario Bros on my NES, to games on my phone to my PlayStation 4, I’ve been a gamer for as long as I can remember. But not everyone else has. So, in fear of being told they’re ‘like a dog at the controls of a helicopter‘ what can those people play? Well, fortunately enough, Kotaku has put such a list together. Worth reading.

4. The second best Lorde cover EVER  [CLOWN KLAXON]
Last month I showed off a video of Puddles the Clown covering the Lorde hit ‘Royals’. And it was spectacular. Well, he’s back. This time covering ‘Team’ and it too is bloody fantastic.

5. The Instagram Bazaar
While we’re on a ‘Five things rewind!’ trip, back in Five things #56, I mentioned a nifty little trend in Middle Eastern e-commerce in the shape of using Instagram to sell sheep. Well, it would seem that this trend has gone global. Not the sheep-selling aspect, but the small-business-using-Instagram-as-a-shop-window element is taking off stateside, as this article from the New York Times reports –

Beverly Hames, owner of the shop [Fox & Fawn], said she began posting items on Instagram as an experiment a year and a half ago. Now, sales deriving from those postings make up 20 to 40 percent of the store’s daily revenue, she said, and they come from all over the country and occasionally from overseas.

Markets in everything indeed. When all the talk is about how the lack of paid budget will slowly push the little guy out, there are small businesses all across the world cutting corners and capitalising on any and every opportunity possible.

Fair play to them.

 

 

Review: Nokia Lumia 1520

Can you guess how this turns out?

About a month ago, those kind ladies and gents at Nokia Connects sent yours truly a loaner Nokia Lumia 1520 to review. I quite like that they did as, thanks to a ridiculous SIM card issue, I’d previously implied that didn’t really want one [to review].

I can count on one hand the amount of devices that require the uber-tiny and utterly ridiculous nano SIM (why one of the biggest phones known to man needs to have a smaller SIM card than say, I don’t know, the Galaxy S4 Mini, I’ve no idea but still) and I don’t own one of them.

I’m not about to go chopping up my existing SIM card (micro, like most people) and then have to use an adaptor for the rest of my mobile life either. The net result was that I had Lumia 1520 to review that I couldn’t actually use as a phone.

Perhaps sending me the device was an attempt at winning me over. On first impressions, this humongous phone very nearly did.

There is no denying it: the Lumia 1520 is gorgeous. The matte black colour that my device came in only further exaggerates the smooth contours of the design and it is a delight to hold. Throughout the three week trial period, I actually caught myself either just staring at it or on occasion, just stroking its smooth soft finish.

Read into that what you will but as soon as you have a 1520 in your hand, you’ll know exactly what I mean.

Something else you’ll notice when you have a 1520 in your hand: you might need more than one hand: this phone is massive.

That’s a full-size 3rd gen iPad on the right, by the way. Not an iPad mini.

I’m not a huge fan of the half phone/half tablet, or ‘Phablet’ (blergh), form factor. My podcast colleague, Stefan Constantinescu, swears by them but I remain unconvinced.

What I will say is however is that, after a particularly long afternoon where all I used the 1520 for was gaming (the 6″ screen is fantastic and Temple Run 2 was a particular highlight), going back to my not-exactly-small HTC One seemed weird.

Sticking with the hardware aspects of the device it almost goes without saying with flagship Nokia devices: the camera on the 1520 is excellent.

I’ve used it to take myriad photos. Several of which made it into my Empty Underground project – having a kick-ass camera for this made me very happy indeed. Also, the feature set of the camera is pretty darn good too.

Very. Cool. Feature. Indeed.

And then we come to Windows Phone…

I’ve tried with Windows Phone. Really I have. From the first time I played with Windows Phone 7 all the way through to the latest Lumia devices such as the staggeringly impressive [camera on the] 1020 (WP8 with the very latest update).

The OS has come a long way since the early days and the 1520 benefits from that. Windows Phone 8 is a little more malleable and the options presented to the user are better than ever before (and 8.1 isn’t far away either, bringing things like customisable wallpaper, for example), they’re still not great though.

The best thing I can report is that nearly all of the major apps that have been missing in the past are present and correct (albeit only ‘beta’ in some iterations) and some of the more unique-to-windows-phone apps are quite fun too.

If you didn’t have to navigate the clunky windows UI (beautiful to look at, difficult to use when you actually want to get things done) and if Google apps were to make an appearance, the 1520 would be close to perfect, and a clear leader in the phablet market.

But they aren’t, so it isn’t.

Saying that, I know some people who actually quite like Windows Phone. If you’re one of those people (if you are, you’re 1 in 10 of UK smartphone owners) and you’re looking for a bigger-screened upgrade, the 1520 is absolutely for you.

But if you’re like the rest of the smartphone-buying-nation, this review (and many others like it) can be summed up in a single tweet:

//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
So say we all.

NEW TRAILER: X-Men: Days of Future Past

Bring it.

Stop.

Before you carry on, watch it again, and then look at the poster below (which is also awesome).

XMen DOFP Poster

Days of Future Past (DofP) is the next instalment of the X-Men franchise and, as you can see from the trailer, combines the casts from both the original X-Men films (1, 2, and 3) and those from the rather excellent prequel (of sorts), First Class.

If you stayed past the end credits after watching The Wolverine, you would’ve already known that something else was in the works. Well, this is it. Based on the 1980s comic book of the same name and back in the extremely capable hands of original director Bryan Singer, DofP looks set to be amazing.

I am, somewhat unsurprisingly, extremely up for this. Yes the X-Men film hit rate has been patchy, but I’ve got a good feeling about this one.

Oh, and don’t think that’s it after this one either. X-Men: Apocalypse (yeah, you know) is being lined up after this with the third Wolverine film to drop straight after. So that’s three X-Men universe-based films (that we know about, X-Force has been rumoured for some time too) to look forward to.

What do you think? You in or out?

 

Related reading: Screenrant has a great trailer breakdown.

Five things on Friday #64

Things of note for the week ending March 21st, 2014.

Jaws

1. Retro Film Posters
I’m such a sucker for this kind of stuff. The Jaws one above is super-subtle but there’s a Die Hard one which rocks my face off and an Iron Giant one that makes my heart leap. Go look, and enjoy.

2. The Circle of Life
This National Geographic video of a jaguar taking out a crocodile has done the rounds a lot (so much so that by the time I saw it it was already an animated gif) but still, it’s so badass you just have to watch it again.

3. Eat Sleep Social

Eat Sleep Social

There aren’t that many social media blogs that I read regularly, let alone recommend. However Eat Sleep Social is one of the better ones I’ve come across. I do read it regularly and look at that, here I am recommending you do the same. Amazing.

Hop to it.

4. Batman vs Terminator
This is cool.

5. Life Improvement: Five Simple Emails
Every now and then, one of these ‘Improve your life in five easy steps!’ things actually makes sense. This is one of those times. Read it, and then do the hard part – make it happen.

And we’re done.

Well, nearly. Here’s three bonus things  –

Now we’re done.

 

Five things on Friday #63

Things of note for the week ending March 14th, 2014.

If last week was picture heavy, this week is about words. There really are some great reads this week. Starting off with…

1. A normal day in the unusual life of Michael Keaton

Michael Keaton

Esquire sent Tom Chiarella to Montana to meet, interview, and profile Michael Keaton. This is the result. If, like me, you think Keaton is one of the most under-rated actors of our generation, then go read. If not, read it anyway. I wish I could quote from it but I swear I am spoilt for choice. This is one of the best things I’ve read this year. Just. Mental.

“220, 221, whatever it takes”

2. ‘Augmentation’
The United Kingdom lost a big chunk of talent when Will McInnes upped sticks and left the well-respected agency he co-founded behind for the glamour of New York City (and the lofty heights of the rather awesome Brandwatch). The good news is however, weblogs are not bound by geographical restrictions and we’re still all able to keep up with dear Will while he spends his time in the US.

Which is just as well, because if we couldn’t then we would’ve missed this rather excellent musing on what it means to be ‘Augmented’, my favourite quote –

But what is perhaps most interesting and indicative of the way things will go is plugging my [UP] band into my phone and seeing them talk to one another about my movements – me, the fleshy host, hot, stupid and inconsistent; them the cold robotic collectors of data, computing my movements, ‘motivating’ with colourful charts and smiley faces.

Augmentation, by Will McInnes. Go read.

3. Paid, Owned, and Earned Media
I’ve been enjoying the insightful mutterings of Mat Morrison for a fair while now and, although his blog is quite the treasure trove of interesting reading, he occasionally makes a cameo appearance on his employer’s blog, Emerging Spaces.

This post, on paid, owned, and earned media is made up of the slides and scripts from the presentation Mat gave at Social Media Week London, 2013. I’ve only recently come across it and – almost staggeringly in the world of all things social – it hasn’t dated in the six months since it was written.

Even if you’ve only a passing interest in social media, client-side or agency, I can’t recommend this post enough.

4. The Wrestler
When Philip Seymour Hoffman died last month, you couldn’t move for articles trying to dissect the psyche behind one our generations most memorable and talented actors; I tried to read them all. This one ‘Remembering the fights that Hoffman won‘ stood out for me, and you should read it.

5. ‘Dear Internet’
This is from 2009, but I don’t care. Tina Fey is amazing.

___

Bonus item: I was in The Guardian again this week. Not just a quote this time but my first fully-published article – ‘Beware the Blind Preoccupation with Big Data‘. Aces.