The reboot of the Planet of the Apes franchise has proved something of an unexpected success story.
Set as 21st century prequels to the classic Charles Bronson sci-fi of the late 1960's (a remake of which is expected to follow this in two years time), the first film proved a critical and commercial success, which led to the arrival of this sequel.
The second film is oddly titled, given that Rise of the Planet of the Apes could equally be a title attributed to this one as well as Dawn, but instead this film takes the second moniker.
Title quibbles aside, the film begins in the same way the last one ended - by tracing the spread of a humanity-killing virus, nicknamed here as "Simian flu" from a research lab in San Francisco to civilisation killer, with airplanes the carriers and doomy news footage filing through until the lights go out on Earth.
This has left the human race in tatters, with expertly realised renderings of an abandoned San Francisco as the world clocks up to ten years following the virus' outbreak in 2018. But the film is less about the humans and moreso about the ape community, who were last seen fleeing their laboratory and conservation confines for woodland north of the Golden Gate Bridge, which for once was not fully destroyed in a sci-fi movie.
The apes have grown in numbers and have established their own community of over 2,000 apes in woods north of San Francisco, which allows the film to show off its arsenal of motion-capture technology. This is primarily led by go-to motion capture man Andy Serkis, who plays the apes' leader Caesar.
The impressive computer graphic realisation of the creatures even to the individually wet furs in the rain makes it seem almost like a post-human nature documentary. There is a clearly structured community perched in the middle of the forest, with even rudimentary education systems set up, while the intelligent apes now have battle plans, rudimentary language and even a morale code of conduct not to kill other apes.
It all seems idyllic for them, and almost as if they really are alone. So when a small band of humans walks in on two apes hunting for their tribe, it leads both sides to surprise and with it an unfolding chain of events.
The chain of events quickly leads to the apes contemplating an early invasion of San Francisco, where they reach the human compound and tell them not to come back.
The now-verbal Caesar is not cornily given pages and pages of dialogue, but is developing a nicely blunt, sketchy vocal tone with authority to it. By contrast, his second in command Koba (Toby Kebbell) is not so keen on the new human visitors, although the fact he spent most of his life in a research lab would explain why.
This stand-off within the ape community is exacerbated when a former power engineer called Malcolm (Jason Clarke) is sent back into the ape side of the Golden Gate strait. Near the ape compound lurks a hydro-electric dam, with the humans hoping to use it to provide electricity to San Francisco as a replacement for their finite diesel power.
Malcolm is sent back by command of the human leader Dreyfus (Gary Oldman), who takes the inverse position of Koba - that the apes are the untrustworthy side. Dreyfus is certainly cunningly malicious, but far too little is really done with his part.
In truth, barring Malcolm, not a lot is really done with the humans outright and one of the film's primary criticisms is that the humans are really underwritten and under-deployed. We do get a glimpse of their community in what appears to be an abandoned shopping centre at the bottom of a half-finished skyscraper in the middle of downtown San Francisco, and that they all have an immunity to the virus that claimed the lives of so many others, but that's about it. If anything, this is a film being made primarily more about the power struggle within a community of CG apes.
It also, as noted by other critics, sidelines its female characters of both species to cardboard cut-out roles of mothers and medics, which is something for number three to improve upon. By contrast, it is all males that are involved with the political plotting and the vengeful outbursts that characterise this movie.
The political plotting as it is comes in a very well crafted way that almost feels like a satire on contemporary diplomacy. There's even a very well baited use of gun control politics and the "false flag" principle so beloved of conspiracy theorists, with very ugly results for the characters on the screen.
Those ugly results are naturally the big battle between humans and apes that people presumably paid their ticket fees for, and the resulting showdown at the gates of the human's compound are beautifully realised. There's even one impressive sequence where Koba steals a tank, which is played on screen with focus on the battle for control of the tank while the world spins around the rudderless war machine's rotating turret.
Throughout, the film's look is always very superbly realised, and for once doesn't provide CGI fatigue, as many other recent films (i.e. Transformers) have provided. It also has impressive emotional layers, depth and motivation to the apes on screen, although enhancement of that is best layered if you had seen the previous movie.
As an exercise of film making in 2014, it is a very well realised piece and a welcome continuation of one of film's favourite franchises. Next step, naturally, is presumably the 21st century realising of the moment that made the film such a beloved franchise in days of yore
4/5
Tuesday, 29 July 2014
Friday, 25 July 2014
Is it now time to question Russia as World Cup hosts?
Since the award of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, one has attracted more attention than the other one.
The 2022 World Cup in Qatar has always looked like a tremendously awful idea, and four years on, still makes no sense. Be it the ban on alcohol, gays and Jews, the physically prohibitive climate, the slave labour and deaths in its construction, the idea of financial corruption and more, this has made it a strange decision.
There has been not quite so much written about the 2018 World Cup, which has been awarded to Russia. This is despite it hitting the news for some unedifying things in the run up to last year's World Athletics Championships, which saw a controversial and incoherent anti-gay bill introduced, and the subjugation of political opponents such as Pussy Riot.
This year's Winter Olympics were meant to be a great advert for modern Russia as a place for hosting international sporting events, yet it failed to convince. For starts, the Olympics that get less worldwide attention were the most expensive ever, with over $50billion splurged on stadia for the games.
There are allegations most of the money was creamed off by Vladimir Putin and his friends. The money also didn't seem to pay for much in the way of hotels, given journalists who arrived in Sochi ahead of the opening ceremony reported a hilarious wave of weirdness in their hotels.
While the games themselves served to be moderately entertaining, they played out at the same time as geo-political tension. Following the 2004 Orange Revolution, a pro-Russia government had been running things in neighbouring Ukraine, but another revolution that started in late 2013 saw the government toppled and a new one installed.
This led to a hotly-contested independence referendum in Crimea, which has now been absorbed by Russia. Since then, there has been further tension that was going on while the Winter Olympics were happening, and is still continuing in Eastern Ukraine.
Although not reported as much by many Western media outlets - indeed, only Vice and Polish newspapers appear to be that bothered - things have been barbaric in the region.
This is a criticism for both sides. People who supported Russia have been burned alive in villages earlier this year amid concerns of the neo-Nazi parties who make up the new Ukrainian government.
Then the game changed again. Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur had set off last Thursday with 298 people on board, and was ended in a destructive fireball over farmland in Eastern Ukraine after (most likely) being hit by a Russian-made missile.
The investigation by air travel authorities is still ongoing, but a lot of evidence is pointed that the pro-Russian rebels in Ukraine received missiles and mistakenly downed a civilian jet thinking it was a Ukrainian Air Force plane.
Since the MH17 crash, two more UAF fighter jets have been downed, while another two had been downed in the week before the crash. But there is obviously huge significance to MH17 being downed - this was one of 300 civilian air jets flying over Ukraine that day, and was indeed one of four in that area of Ukraine at the time. A Singapore Airlines flight heading for London, for example, was less than 20 miles away when the crash happened.
This tragedy is certainly at a bad time for Malaysian Airlines, which made sharp financial losses in 2013 and was still reeling from the disappearance of flight MH370 in March. There is speculation the airline could even go out of business before the end of the year, while a 16% drop in bookings has been reported.
As well as the economic strife for MH17, football is in a backseat position to the many tensions that have arisen in the past eight days. There is much sniping in the USA at increasing sanctions against Russian businessmen and corporations, while political arguing in Europe is rife after revelations that defence contractors based in the UK, France and Germany are still selling Russia weaponry.
There is also the tension between Russia and others. Russia continues to deny direct responsibility for the plane downing, even after angry phone calls from Barack Obama, David Cameron, Dutch PM Mark Rutte and Australian leader Tony Abbott.
Meanwhile, Ukraine and Russia's war continues, with video emerging this week of large volleys of missiles being fired from both sides.
In the wake of this, and without prompting, FIFA has pledged full support to Russia's continued hosting of the 2018 World Cup. Their argument is that boycotts and tournament reallocation would not work.
This presumably has nothing to do with the fact that Sepp Blatter and Vladimir Putin were sat next to one another during the World Cup final two weeks ago, with Russia already building and renovating stadiums. Indeed, at $40billion, the money spent so far makes Russia 2018 the most expensive World Cup ever, although Qatar is forecast to spend three times as much.
There is interesting talk first raised by members of the German government that it would hurt Putin more to lose the World Cup hosting rights than further economic sanctions, as the EU is currently drawing up.
Noted football fan and German chancellor Angela Merkel has opted not to go along with this - presumably as Germany and Russia have a big trade relationship, and sanctions would also harm the German economy.
But this is certainly another hard place for FIFA. After being the target of vitriolic anger for the year before the World Cup, and still facing more-than legitimate criticism for its still moronic Qatar decision, this is a tricky hot potato to mesh.
After all, football as a force for peace is something that hasn't exactly worked for Ukraine. Two summers ago, the Donbass Arena in Donetsk was hosting fixtures as part of Euro 2012, which was co-held in Ukraine and Poland. Back then, there was a peaceful tone, with the stadium host six fixtures and
Now, the stadium is abandoned as the city's championship-winning team Shakhtar is unable to safely use the city given the political fighting centered around it, while six of its players have refused to return home after a pre-season friendly in France.
Stripping Russia's World Cup hosting rights or boycotting the tournament as a whole would certainly make big political news, even if Russia remains more suitable to host the tournament than the comically inappropriate Qatar. It is certainly a discussion worth having, and one that has to be held in the sporting community in the wake of a monumental international tragedy. Whether it happens or not is one for the next four years to decide.
The 2022 World Cup in Qatar has always looked like a tremendously awful idea, and four years on, still makes no sense. Be it the ban on alcohol, gays and Jews, the physically prohibitive climate, the slave labour and deaths in its construction, the idea of financial corruption and more, this has made it a strange decision.
There has been not quite so much written about the 2018 World Cup, which has been awarded to Russia. This is despite it hitting the news for some unedifying things in the run up to last year's World Athletics Championships, which saw a controversial and incoherent anti-gay bill introduced, and the subjugation of political opponents such as Pussy Riot.
This year's Winter Olympics were meant to be a great advert for modern Russia as a place for hosting international sporting events, yet it failed to convince. For starts, the Olympics that get less worldwide attention were the most expensive ever, with over $50billion splurged on stadia for the games.
There are allegations most of the money was creamed off by Vladimir Putin and his friends. The money also didn't seem to pay for much in the way of hotels, given journalists who arrived in Sochi ahead of the opening ceremony reported a hilarious wave of weirdness in their hotels.
While the games themselves served to be moderately entertaining, they played out at the same time as geo-political tension. Following the 2004 Orange Revolution, a pro-Russia government had been running things in neighbouring Ukraine, but another revolution that started in late 2013 saw the government toppled and a new one installed.
This led to a hotly-contested independence referendum in Crimea, which has now been absorbed by Russia. Since then, there has been further tension that was going on while the Winter Olympics were happening, and is still continuing in Eastern Ukraine.
Although not reported as much by many Western media outlets - indeed, only Vice and Polish newspapers appear to be that bothered - things have been barbaric in the region.
This is a criticism for both sides. People who supported Russia have been burned alive in villages earlier this year amid concerns of the neo-Nazi parties who make up the new Ukrainian government.
Then the game changed again. Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur had set off last Thursday with 298 people on board, and was ended in a destructive fireball over farmland in Eastern Ukraine after (most likely) being hit by a Russian-made missile.
The investigation by air travel authorities is still ongoing, but a lot of evidence is pointed that the pro-Russian rebels in Ukraine received missiles and mistakenly downed a civilian jet thinking it was a Ukrainian Air Force plane.
Since the MH17 crash, two more UAF fighter jets have been downed, while another two had been downed in the week before the crash. But there is obviously huge significance to MH17 being downed - this was one of 300 civilian air jets flying over Ukraine that day, and was indeed one of four in that area of Ukraine at the time. A Singapore Airlines flight heading for London, for example, was less than 20 miles away when the crash happened.
This tragedy is certainly at a bad time for Malaysian Airlines, which made sharp financial losses in 2013 and was still reeling from the disappearance of flight MH370 in March. There is speculation the airline could even go out of business before the end of the year, while a 16% drop in bookings has been reported.
As well as the economic strife for MH17, football is in a backseat position to the many tensions that have arisen in the past eight days. There is much sniping in the USA at increasing sanctions against Russian businessmen and corporations, while political arguing in Europe is rife after revelations that defence contractors based in the UK, France and Germany are still selling Russia weaponry.
There is also the tension between Russia and others. Russia continues to deny direct responsibility for the plane downing, even after angry phone calls from Barack Obama, David Cameron, Dutch PM Mark Rutte and Australian leader Tony Abbott.
Meanwhile, Ukraine and Russia's war continues, with video emerging this week of large volleys of missiles being fired from both sides.
In the wake of this, and without prompting, FIFA has pledged full support to Russia's continued hosting of the 2018 World Cup. Their argument is that boycotts and tournament reallocation would not work.
This presumably has nothing to do with the fact that Sepp Blatter and Vladimir Putin were sat next to one another during the World Cup final two weeks ago, with Russia already building and renovating stadiums. Indeed, at $40billion, the money spent so far makes Russia 2018 the most expensive World Cup ever, although Qatar is forecast to spend three times as much.
There is interesting talk first raised by members of the German government that it would hurt Putin more to lose the World Cup hosting rights than further economic sanctions, as the EU is currently drawing up.
Noted football fan and German chancellor Angela Merkel has opted not to go along with this - presumably as Germany and Russia have a big trade relationship, and sanctions would also harm the German economy.
But this is certainly another hard place for FIFA. After being the target of vitriolic anger for the year before the World Cup, and still facing more-than legitimate criticism for its still moronic Qatar decision, this is a tricky hot potato to mesh.
After all, football as a force for peace is something that hasn't exactly worked for Ukraine. Two summers ago, the Donbass Arena in Donetsk was hosting fixtures as part of Euro 2012, which was co-held in Ukraine and Poland. Back then, there was a peaceful tone, with the stadium host six fixtures and
Now, the stadium is abandoned as the city's championship-winning team Shakhtar is unable to safely use the city given the political fighting centered around it, while six of its players have refused to return home after a pre-season friendly in France.
Stripping Russia's World Cup hosting rights or boycotting the tournament as a whole would certainly make big political news, even if Russia remains more suitable to host the tournament than the comically inappropriate Qatar. It is certainly a discussion worth having, and one that has to be held in the sporting community in the wake of a monumental international tragedy. Whether it happens or not is one for the next four years to decide.
Saturday, 19 July 2014
Why is total media monopoly being encouraged?
IN the 1950s, 90% of American media was controlled by 50 companies.
But following decades of media consolidation, by 2012, the 90% figure is now controlled by only six mega-media corporations. They are General Electric, News Corporation, Disney, Viacom, Time Warner and CBS. The fading of CBS as an entity means that the first five are still big dogs, and recent news from the world of media seems to signify a drop further.
Earlier this week, News Corporation - owned by billionaire Australian tyrant Rupert Murdoch and purveyors of the bibble that is Fox News - attempted to buy Time Warner. This initial bid was rebuffed, and sent Time Warner shares rising rapidly.
Murdoch clearly wants his hands on a media super-empire. Time Warner, which is currently significantly bigger than News Corp's US assets, is a major player. As well as the film studio that is more familiar to people in the UK as the purveyors of Harry Potter and Batman movies, it owns cable news channel CNN, cable subscription darling HBO, cable channels that show major sporting events and more.
One reason cited for this mega-merger is, ironically, a problem of Time Warner's own making. Time Warner spun out their cable company into its own firm, but that firm in the process of being gobbled up by Comcast, which is owned by General Electric. This would give Comcast/Time Warner a significant and almost unparalleled monopoly of its own in the media distribution market. 20 out of the 25 largest metropolitan areas in the USA would be exclusively controlled by their networks, and they would be the single largest internet, cable TV and phone provider in the USA.
This merger of distributors is an easy reason for alarm bells to ring in the office of media content makers reliant on their networks. After all, it was proven during negotiations between Comcast and Netflix that Comcast deliberately slowed down Netflix download speeds on their network to get them to sign to their terms.
Then there is also Rupert Murdoch's desire to be a planet-gobbling media monopoly. Disgraced in the UK after the phone hacking scandals of his newspapers, and facing potential criminal trials in the USA over it, he may be, but he is still a large presence in global media. He owns an obscene amount of media in Australia, which perhaps influenced people to vote for brain-lacking Prime Minister Tony Abbott in their last election, and is one of the American monopolies' biggest names.
The empire building thing is clearly not something dying in him. Hence this - not least given he's tried it before. He attempted to purchase Time Warner on more than one occasion, and both times, just like he was this week, Time Warner said no.
Many think the deal is motivated by Murdoch wishing to acquire HBO - the cable network that has been an outstanding revenue generator for Warner and makes critically acclaimed programming monoliths like Game of Thrones, Girls, True Detective and the like.
This deal would be a tricky one to seek to get past the monopoly regulators if this was anywhere else in the world. While noise has been made the Rupert Murdoch empire would sell off CNN if a takeover was to go through - a move that would prevent Fox News and its 24 hour news channel rival being under the same umbrella - the ownership of major TV firms and film studios under one roof is a major concern.
Time Warner believe they can go for more than $100billion - the first bid was $80billion - and certainly, any auction would see more players involved. There had speculation Google wants to buy Time Warner as well, which at the least would improve its own pitiful attempts at original programming.
But the combination of this and the Comcast/Time Warner Cable merger reeks of the fragrant disregard for competition, even though conservatives always argue for competition between things. While not relevant to the US market, conservatives in the UK always argue competition between private firms is somehow better than the public sector daring to do things without profiting from them. Granted, that methodology has its own limitations, but conservatives like Murdoch badger on about state-controlled monopolies being bad and competition among private sector companies being good
But clearly, its not a case they fully believe monopoly is bad, otherwise there would actually be competition. Murdoch and others like him in all manner of places clearly - in any business, not just media - just don't want to be on the outside of the empire business looking on in envy at either government or rivals, and instead want to be the ones controlling it. They want to control everything, in a similar way to how former CNN boss Ted Turner envied Rockerfeller and Standard Oil for merging, controlling everything from oil extraction to selling the finished petrol and diesel products.
Big monopolies in media, however, don't seem to have the work cut out. After all, Time Warner once merged with AOL in a major merger, but both companies suffered for it. The current Time Warner is also doing better than the one that also owned the cable company of the same name, and Time Magazine, and a merger of these two could be financially destructive for Murdoch.
Murdoch also hasn't exactly got form with this punt. His purchase of MySpace in 2006 is now legendary for ruining it as an entity, and any auction for Time Warner could price him out.
But it is still a big problem of how ready acceptance seems to be for the dwindling of choice. That figure of 50 media companies being reduced down to four in the space of sixty years despite the sprouting up of more outlets is a significant problem on the US market.
Its also a problem for us here in the UK, considering that it means the multiplex is controlled by those two, which may lead to more crap being churned out to keep out rivals from the Comcast-owned Universal Pictures. Admittedly that would be an achievement given how poor most cinema is nowadays.
This wanton allowance of monopoly, be it in media, electricity or whatever, is just a damaging principle that helps disprove the thesis competition is alive.
But following decades of media consolidation, by 2012, the 90% figure is now controlled by only six mega-media corporations. They are General Electric, News Corporation, Disney, Viacom, Time Warner and CBS. The fading of CBS as an entity means that the first five are still big dogs, and recent news from the world of media seems to signify a drop further.
Earlier this week, News Corporation - owned by billionaire Australian tyrant Rupert Murdoch and purveyors of the bibble that is Fox News - attempted to buy Time Warner. This initial bid was rebuffed, and sent Time Warner shares rising rapidly.
Murdoch clearly wants his hands on a media super-empire. Time Warner, which is currently significantly bigger than News Corp's US assets, is a major player. As well as the film studio that is more familiar to people in the UK as the purveyors of Harry Potter and Batman movies, it owns cable news channel CNN, cable subscription darling HBO, cable channels that show major sporting events and more.
One reason cited for this mega-merger is, ironically, a problem of Time Warner's own making. Time Warner spun out their cable company into its own firm, but that firm in the process of being gobbled up by Comcast, which is owned by General Electric. This would give Comcast/Time Warner a significant and almost unparalleled monopoly of its own in the media distribution market. 20 out of the 25 largest metropolitan areas in the USA would be exclusively controlled by their networks, and they would be the single largest internet, cable TV and phone provider in the USA.
This merger of distributors is an easy reason for alarm bells to ring in the office of media content makers reliant on their networks. After all, it was proven during negotiations between Comcast and Netflix that Comcast deliberately slowed down Netflix download speeds on their network to get them to sign to their terms.
Then there is also Rupert Murdoch's desire to be a planet-gobbling media monopoly. Disgraced in the UK after the phone hacking scandals of his newspapers, and facing potential criminal trials in the USA over it, he may be, but he is still a large presence in global media. He owns an obscene amount of media in Australia, which perhaps influenced people to vote for brain-lacking Prime Minister Tony Abbott in their last election, and is one of the American monopolies' biggest names.
The empire building thing is clearly not something dying in him. Hence this - not least given he's tried it before. He attempted to purchase Time Warner on more than one occasion, and both times, just like he was this week, Time Warner said no.
Many think the deal is motivated by Murdoch wishing to acquire HBO - the cable network that has been an outstanding revenue generator for Warner and makes critically acclaimed programming monoliths like Game of Thrones, Girls, True Detective and the like.
This deal would be a tricky one to seek to get past the monopoly regulators if this was anywhere else in the world. While noise has been made the Rupert Murdoch empire would sell off CNN if a takeover was to go through - a move that would prevent Fox News and its 24 hour news channel rival being under the same umbrella - the ownership of major TV firms and film studios under one roof is a major concern.
Time Warner believe they can go for more than $100billion - the first bid was $80billion - and certainly, any auction would see more players involved. There had speculation Google wants to buy Time Warner as well, which at the least would improve its own pitiful attempts at original programming.
But the combination of this and the Comcast/Time Warner Cable merger reeks of the fragrant disregard for competition, even though conservatives always argue for competition between things. While not relevant to the US market, conservatives in the UK always argue competition between private firms is somehow better than the public sector daring to do things without profiting from them. Granted, that methodology has its own limitations, but conservatives like Murdoch badger on about state-controlled monopolies being bad and competition among private sector companies being good
But clearly, its not a case they fully believe monopoly is bad, otherwise there would actually be competition. Murdoch and others like him in all manner of places clearly - in any business, not just media - just don't want to be on the outside of the empire business looking on in envy at either government or rivals, and instead want to be the ones controlling it. They want to control everything, in a similar way to how former CNN boss Ted Turner envied Rockerfeller and Standard Oil for merging, controlling everything from oil extraction to selling the finished petrol and diesel products.
Big monopolies in media, however, don't seem to have the work cut out. After all, Time Warner once merged with AOL in a major merger, but both companies suffered for it. The current Time Warner is also doing better than the one that also owned the cable company of the same name, and Time Magazine, and a merger of these two could be financially destructive for Murdoch.
Murdoch also hasn't exactly got form with this punt. His purchase of MySpace in 2006 is now legendary for ruining it as an entity, and any auction for Time Warner could price him out.
But it is still a big problem of how ready acceptance seems to be for the dwindling of choice. That figure of 50 media companies being reduced down to four in the space of sixty years despite the sprouting up of more outlets is a significant problem on the US market.
Its also a problem for us here in the UK, considering that it means the multiplex is controlled by those two, which may lead to more crap being churned out to keep out rivals from the Comcast-owned Universal Pictures. Admittedly that would be an achievement given how poor most cinema is nowadays.
This wanton allowance of monopoly, be it in media, electricity or whatever, is just a damaging principle that helps disprove the thesis competition is alive.
Thursday, 3 July 2014
Kaiser Chiefs at Silverstone Racetrack - Gig Review
IN recent years, Formula One races have developed from the sport to providing entertainment weekends.
This usually means the addition of major concerts. Take last year, for example. Race ticket holders for the Singapore Grand Prix got included free tickets to see The Killers and Rihanna – both major acts who sell out stadiums worldwide on their own. This was before Abu Dhabi later in the year, where Jay-Z, Muse and Depeche Mode – three of the world’s biggest live acts – did their own “free to race ticket holders” gigs after practices and the actual race.
Ahead of this weekend’s British Grand Prix, Silverstone has decided it fancies a go at this and this means that for the first time in its now-50 year history of hosting the race, there is a pre-race gig.
Some may view the organisers as doing it a bit cut-price by bringing in Kaiser Chiefs, although their hit potential is certainly there despite a recent rough patch. The West Yorkshire band did look in trouble when original songwriter and drummer Nick Hodgson left the band following a best-of tour in 201, yet the appearance of singer Ricky Wilson on The Voice as a judge, the drafting in of Adele writer Fraser T Smith for a few songs and the arrival of new drummer Vijay Mistry appears to have revitalised the band. Their 5th album was a number one on its release a few months ago and the band played two acclaimed slots at Glastonbury Festival last weekend.
After a bizarre interlude before the start where the band are interviewed by former Formula 1 racing driver Eddie Jordan, the band return to an intro of the classic Edwin Starr hit War, before breaking into 2005 oldie Everyday I Love You Less and Less.
Wilson remains an energetic presence as a frontman, and now thinner than before, he seems to run further and faster than ever before. Barely two songs in and Wilson is high-fiving the front row during Everything Is Average Nowadays, before bouncing around a tinier stage than usual for newie Ruffians on Parade. Later on he engages in more fun, such as borrowing the side-stage cameras for band close-ups, scaling the scaffolding and jumping from the drum kit.
In keeping with the F1 spirit, however, Jordan and his bright orange trousers re-emerge four songs in for a called for but fairly pointless cameo on additional drums during Na Na Na Naaa. This is slightly redeeemed, however, by an impressive one-two of Never Miss a Beat and Little Shocks – the two extremely impressive lead singles from their 3rd and 4th records, and indeed the only songs from those two aired in the whole concert.
This show is one of the first UK shows on the tour for fifth album Education, Education, Education & War, and there is naturally airings for the material on there. But as much as Wilson jokes, the nicely-crafted new tunes like Coming Home and Meanwhile Up in Heaven aren’t quite as big fan jumpers as the classics.
The classics are the nearest a largely sterile crowd gets to a classic mosh-pit. Ruby retains the classic pop song feel that made it a number one in 2007, while I Predict a Riot, now without the ubiquity it enjoyed in the mid-to-late-2000′s, is still brilliantly calibrated.
But the subtle danger to that one is not really prevalent here. The crowd do bounce a few times, but are largely tame by the standards of big gigs like this.
There was a concern over the sound, yet considering this is not a gig venue, the sound is surprisingly good and certainly the tunes are clear enough to be made out from the sound of the first riff.
But it certainly could be longer. After an hour or so, the band tear through Angry Mob and call in a rest for a little bit. They return for two more, culminating in an extended run-through of Oh My God that climaxes with Wilson doing the traditional F1 thing of spraying the crowd with champagne.
Despite the weak crowd, the gig was certainly impressively proportioned and did have more than a passing glimmer of the old days when the band were a legitimate challenger for the crown of Britain’s biggest bands.
It was also certainly a more than acceptable welcome to gigs at Silverstone, and hopefully this can be a tradition that continues.
3.75/5
Supporting Kaiser Chiefs were highly-tipped band The Dexters, who performed a brief 30 minute warm-up session before the main event and fresh from a tour that included a show in Milton Keynes back in March. But their slot wasn’t helped by poor acoustics that left the guitars almost gasping for air, and a lack of quality songs. The band do at least deliver a decent song near the end of their slot, in the form of the subtle yet impressively crafted Start to Run. But for the bulk of their stint, they fail to fire up a crowd of drunk race fans – something which should’ve been an easy win.
This usually means the addition of major concerts. Take last year, for example. Race ticket holders for the Singapore Grand Prix got included free tickets to see The Killers and Rihanna – both major acts who sell out stadiums worldwide on their own. This was before Abu Dhabi later in the year, where Jay-Z, Muse and Depeche Mode – three of the world’s biggest live acts – did their own “free to race ticket holders” gigs after practices and the actual race.
Ahead of this weekend’s British Grand Prix, Silverstone has decided it fancies a go at this and this means that for the first time in its now-50 year history of hosting the race, there is a pre-race gig.
Some may view the organisers as doing it a bit cut-price by bringing in Kaiser Chiefs, although their hit potential is certainly there despite a recent rough patch. The West Yorkshire band did look in trouble when original songwriter and drummer Nick Hodgson left the band following a best-of tour in 201, yet the appearance of singer Ricky Wilson on The Voice as a judge, the drafting in of Adele writer Fraser T Smith for a few songs and the arrival of new drummer Vijay Mistry appears to have revitalised the band. Their 5th album was a number one on its release a few months ago and the band played two acclaimed slots at Glastonbury Festival last weekend.
After a bizarre interlude before the start where the band are interviewed by former Formula 1 racing driver Eddie Jordan, the band return to an intro of the classic Edwin Starr hit War, before breaking into 2005 oldie Everyday I Love You Less and Less.
Wilson remains an energetic presence as a frontman, and now thinner than before, he seems to run further and faster than ever before. Barely two songs in and Wilson is high-fiving the front row during Everything Is Average Nowadays, before bouncing around a tinier stage than usual for newie Ruffians on Parade. Later on he engages in more fun, such as borrowing the side-stage cameras for band close-ups, scaling the scaffolding and jumping from the drum kit.
In keeping with the F1 spirit, however, Jordan and his bright orange trousers re-emerge four songs in for a called for but fairly pointless cameo on additional drums during Na Na Na Naaa. This is slightly redeeemed, however, by an impressive one-two of Never Miss a Beat and Little Shocks – the two extremely impressive lead singles from their 3rd and 4th records, and indeed the only songs from those two aired in the whole concert.
This show is one of the first UK shows on the tour for fifth album Education, Education, Education & War, and there is naturally airings for the material on there. But as much as Wilson jokes, the nicely-crafted new tunes like Coming Home and Meanwhile Up in Heaven aren’t quite as big fan jumpers as the classics.
The classics are the nearest a largely sterile crowd gets to a classic mosh-pit. Ruby retains the classic pop song feel that made it a number one in 2007, while I Predict a Riot, now without the ubiquity it enjoyed in the mid-to-late-2000′s, is still brilliantly calibrated.
But the subtle danger to that one is not really prevalent here. The crowd do bounce a few times, but are largely tame by the standards of big gigs like this.
There was a concern over the sound, yet considering this is not a gig venue, the sound is surprisingly good and certainly the tunes are clear enough to be made out from the sound of the first riff.
But it certainly could be longer. After an hour or so, the band tear through Angry Mob and call in a rest for a little bit. They return for two more, culminating in an extended run-through of Oh My God that climaxes with Wilson doing the traditional F1 thing of spraying the crowd with champagne.
Despite the weak crowd, the gig was certainly impressively proportioned and did have more than a passing glimmer of the old days when the band were a legitimate challenger for the crown of Britain’s biggest bands.
It was also certainly a more than acceptable welcome to gigs at Silverstone, and hopefully this can be a tradition that continues.
3.75/5
Supporting Kaiser Chiefs were highly-tipped band The Dexters, who performed a brief 30 minute warm-up session before the main event and fresh from a tour that included a show in Milton Keynes back in March. But their slot wasn’t helped by poor acoustics that left the guitars almost gasping for air, and a lack of quality songs. The band do at least deliver a decent song near the end of their slot, in the form of the subtle yet impressively crafted Start to Run. But for the bulk of their stint, they fail to fire up a crowd of drunk race fans – something which should’ve been an easy win.
Friday, 27 June 2014
Yet Another Newcastle Summertime Mess
While the World Cup has somewhat eclipsed the transfer window, planning for the new season is still being orchestrated.
This was captured by a big breakthrough for Manchester United, who continued their rebuild by all-but signing Southampton full-back Luke Shaw and purchasing Spanish midfielder Ander Herrera.
Other rumours and transfers are happening at all levels, as teams prepare for the new season. So what exactly are Newcastle United doing?
Well, so far, there has been some permanent signings, with Spanish striker Ayoze Perez and Sunderland midfielder Jack Colback moving to Tyneside, while Shola Ameobi, Luuk de Jong and Loic Remy are among those to have already left.
Its clear Newcastle need strikers, not to mention a winger and in most likelihood, a new full-back given Mathieu Debuchy is unlikely to stay on Tyneside. After all, Debuchy has complained he feels his game his inhibited by Pardew's negative tactics and says he misses playing the Champions League. If he stays, its nothing short of astonishing.
All the talk, however, has been of outs. As well the departed trio up-front, there's been several links for the exit door for Tim Krul, Debuchy, Steven Taylor, Davide Santon, Hatem Ben Arfa, Sylvain Marveuax and Gabriel Obertan, as well as for youngsters James Tavernier and Mehdi Abeid, despite them impressing while on loan last season.
Its questionable if Alan Pardew knows what he's doing on letting such a big change in numbers happen so quickly. Not all of these players are capable but squad depth would be nice, particularly given it regularly seems to be an alien concept to Newcastle managers. Most of these players have also been ruined by his poor management, which has turned Ben Arfa and Marveuax from promising prospects to fat men who can't even get a game behind wingers that aren't wingers.
Also, trying to change too quickly can have repercussions. A very quickfire turnaround in players can lead to an unsettled difference in trying to adapt a new team, and it means that it can take far too long to have the formula figured out.
Saying that, much work is needed on the playing squad even with these players staying. But so far, the indication has been that it will be a summer of cheapskate signings. The club are refusing to pay the valuation of Montpellier winger Remy Cabella - who is currently with Debuchy on World Cup duty - and is equally unwilling to meet the valuation of highly rated German striker Pierre Michel Lassoga.
Somebody has to tell Mike Ashley that assuming the football world can function on cheap signings is no longer possible. It was very impressive when in 2011 we constructed a fanttastic CM of Yohan Cabaye and Cheick Tiote for less than £8M. By contrast, of course, Norwich spent £8M on Ricky van Wolfswinkel, who netted one goal in the 2013-14 season.
But that was then. Nowadays, with Premier League teams earning a minimum of £60M just for taking part, the economics are different. On top that, the team earned a further £20M for finishing in the top half, and a further £15M in player transfer profit thanks to the sale of Cabaye to PSG in January.
With the club having made £95M in total from these ventures even before matchday, merchandise and corporate revenue is thrown into the pile, it brings to mind that the Newcastle accountants could do a passable Scrooge McDuck impersonation on this cash. But other clubs also see this cash and think that if Newcastle have this much, they can afford to splash it.
Truthfully, we also can. But this reluctance to do so is a huge problem, because it fuels the lack of investment in the playing squad that has already alienated key squad members, and could allow us to drift further.
2013-14 was already an irritating year for Newcastle fans, with the tentative progress of the first half of the campaign thrown away in a depressing end of season run-in that would have seen Alan Pardew fired if it wasn't for his stupidly long contract.
In 2012-13 and 2013-14, Newcastle have lost 38 Premier League games in all, split evenly between each one. This depressing statistic includes a number of 3 goals or more pastings, and cannot be allowed to continue, but it feels like it is by a boardroom underestimating how shaky the ground beneath their feet is.
Its also now 65 years since Newcastle won a major trophy (the 1969 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, now known as the UEFA Europa League), and the board have indicated they don't care for glory. They just care for a healthy balance sheet, and apparently going for glory would ruin that, even though sport is mainly about the glory rather than the middling dullness of mid-table campaigns. Its amazing some of our more top-end players haven't moved already considering this restraint on even attempting success exists.
Any lack of investment this summer - and from the looks of it, he is refusing to spend on a loss again - will be a huge problem, as it will leave us ill-equipped for the new season and facing a depressing campaign.
Ashley also has to be told more people will want to sponsor his sporting product if its successful, and hopefully we could get a more credible face than Wonga.com, who were this week fined for appalling practices in their loan-sharking operation. But this willful sabotage hidden under cover of World Cup darkness is causing a huge problem, and with no end in sight, this messy summer could once again lead to a rough campaign.
This was captured by a big breakthrough for Manchester United, who continued their rebuild by all-but signing Southampton full-back Luke Shaw and purchasing Spanish midfielder Ander Herrera.
Other rumours and transfers are happening at all levels, as teams prepare for the new season. So what exactly are Newcastle United doing?
Well, so far, there has been some permanent signings, with Spanish striker Ayoze Perez and Sunderland midfielder Jack Colback moving to Tyneside, while Shola Ameobi, Luuk de Jong and Loic Remy are among those to have already left.
Its clear Newcastle need strikers, not to mention a winger and in most likelihood, a new full-back given Mathieu Debuchy is unlikely to stay on Tyneside. After all, Debuchy has complained he feels his game his inhibited by Pardew's negative tactics and says he misses playing the Champions League. If he stays, its nothing short of astonishing.
All the talk, however, has been of outs. As well the departed trio up-front, there's been several links for the exit door for Tim Krul, Debuchy, Steven Taylor, Davide Santon, Hatem Ben Arfa, Sylvain Marveuax and Gabriel Obertan, as well as for youngsters James Tavernier and Mehdi Abeid, despite them impressing while on loan last season.
Its questionable if Alan Pardew knows what he's doing on letting such a big change in numbers happen so quickly. Not all of these players are capable but squad depth would be nice, particularly given it regularly seems to be an alien concept to Newcastle managers. Most of these players have also been ruined by his poor management, which has turned Ben Arfa and Marveuax from promising prospects to fat men who can't even get a game behind wingers that aren't wingers.
Also, trying to change too quickly can have repercussions. A very quickfire turnaround in players can lead to an unsettled difference in trying to adapt a new team, and it means that it can take far too long to have the formula figured out.
Saying that, much work is needed on the playing squad even with these players staying. But so far, the indication has been that it will be a summer of cheapskate signings. The club are refusing to pay the valuation of Montpellier winger Remy Cabella - who is currently with Debuchy on World Cup duty - and is equally unwilling to meet the valuation of highly rated German striker Pierre Michel Lassoga.
Somebody has to tell Mike Ashley that assuming the football world can function on cheap signings is no longer possible. It was very impressive when in 2011 we constructed a fanttastic CM of Yohan Cabaye and Cheick Tiote for less than £8M. By contrast, of course, Norwich spent £8M on Ricky van Wolfswinkel, who netted one goal in the 2013-14 season.
But that was then. Nowadays, with Premier League teams earning a minimum of £60M just for taking part, the economics are different. On top that, the team earned a further £20M for finishing in the top half, and a further £15M in player transfer profit thanks to the sale of Cabaye to PSG in January.
With the club having made £95M in total from these ventures even before matchday, merchandise and corporate revenue is thrown into the pile, it brings to mind that the Newcastle accountants could do a passable Scrooge McDuck impersonation on this cash. But other clubs also see this cash and think that if Newcastle have this much, they can afford to splash it.
Truthfully, we also can. But this reluctance to do so is a huge problem, because it fuels the lack of investment in the playing squad that has already alienated key squad members, and could allow us to drift further.
2013-14 was already an irritating year for Newcastle fans, with the tentative progress of the first half of the campaign thrown away in a depressing end of season run-in that would have seen Alan Pardew fired if it wasn't for his stupidly long contract.
In 2012-13 and 2013-14, Newcastle have lost 38 Premier League games in all, split evenly between each one. This depressing statistic includes a number of 3 goals or more pastings, and cannot be allowed to continue, but it feels like it is by a boardroom underestimating how shaky the ground beneath their feet is.
Its also now 65 years since Newcastle won a major trophy (the 1969 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, now known as the UEFA Europa League), and the board have indicated they don't care for glory. They just care for a healthy balance sheet, and apparently going for glory would ruin that, even though sport is mainly about the glory rather than the middling dullness of mid-table campaigns. Its amazing some of our more top-end players haven't moved already considering this restraint on even attempting success exists.
Any lack of investment this summer - and from the looks of it, he is refusing to spend on a loss again - will be a huge problem, as it will leave us ill-equipped for the new season and facing a depressing campaign.
Ashley also has to be told more people will want to sponsor his sporting product if its successful, and hopefully we could get a more credible face than Wonga.com, who were this week fined for appalling practices in their loan-sharking operation. But this willful sabotage hidden under cover of World Cup darkness is causing a huge problem, and with no end in sight, this messy summer could once again lead to a rough campaign.
Wednesday, 18 June 2014
Kasabian at Shepherd's Bush Empire - Live Review
It's safe to say the expectations for Kasabian as a live act are getting quite big.
Their albums maybe frustratingly inconsistent, but as a live act, they certainly have the chops.After all, they are now big enough for the headline slot at Glastonbury Festival - not only that but closing the festival as well, to boot - and will be preceding it with a 50,000-capacity outdoor homecoming show in Leicester.
Before that is a more smaller affair, in the grand surroundings of the Shepherd's Bush Empire theatre for War Child, who have made the Leicester band this year's charity gig after previous events involving Muse, Coldplay and The Killers. The efforts here have certainly helped raise cash for the charity, while members for charities associated with War Child and people they rescued are also in attendance.
This show is also the London launch party for 5th album 48:13, and there may have been a temptation to play the whole thing, not least given it currently tops the UK album chart.
However, they don't do that. After the raucous opener Bumblebee, Kasabian instead dip back into the hit parade. A snippet of Kanye West's Black Skinhead is a perfectly weighted introduction to the classic snarler Shoot the Runner, before the one-two of Underdog and Where Did All The Love Go continues the party.
Co-frontmen Tom Meighan and Sergio Pizzorno are in typically buoyant mood, barking out lyrics and commands to go nuts that the masses in front of them respond to with gusto. The moshpit is a sea of limbs bouncing in time to the strain of the works, and there isn't a single song in the entire set that they stay still for.
There are indeed moments when it seems the crowd is bouncing in time to the crack of drummer Ian Matthews' snare drum, which the crowd moshes heavily no matter which members of the large rotating cast are on stage at once.
In all, some 14 members are on stage during the headliner's set - the 4 main members, plus de-facto members on keyboard, trumpet and lead guitar, along with a 4 piece string section and 3 female backing vocalists who dip in and out of proceedings. You don't get the sense, however, that they don't want to be there. All of them approach their roles with gusto, with Meighan and Pizzorno in particular bundles of energy on a stage much smaller to those they have played in recent years.
This good mood and mixture of players allows a variety of pleasing textures to seep out of the stage. The contrast is certainly felt between string-led tracks that pepper the set, the classic electro-indie-styled tunes and the 48:13 material. This includes one-two of lead single Eez-eh and likely future single Stevie appears a few songs down the line, with the former much than recordings from live shows suggested, while the latter is an improvement of the inconsistent album version.
Later down the line, the band also dispatched the sprawling Treat - an almost seven minute mishmash of indie, rap, electronica, psychedelic rock and everything inbetween. On record, its an entertaining mess, but here, with Pizzorno bouncing around the stage wielding maracas and heavy duty strobe lights bathing the venue, its a highlight.
This series of new material also fit in with the hit parade Kasabian have cultivated. A heady rush of Days are Forgotten and Processed Beats keeps the crowd singing and dancing, while there's also diversions into electro (the spindly yet supple ID) and mariachi (Take Aim, which is delightful but ruined by a far-too-teasing snippet of Empire closer The Doberman as an intro).
One early quibble was the bass being nothing more than a series of faint rumbles, although its mercifully resolved for the snappy, snarling Club Foot, which sees Chris Edwards' 4-string fill the room with that monstrous riff.
The main set concludes with Kasabian's best-known tune in the form of Fire, where it feels that the entire room is in a frenzied delirium, singing and dancing like its life depends on it.
But its not done yet, and if Switchblade Smiles is a decent start to the encore, Vlad the Impaler - dedicated to the late Rik Mayall, who died last week - is astonishing. The bass and guitar riffs are loud enough to start earthquakes, while the crowd reponse - despite everything - is possibly the best of the night so far.
And there's still time for the crowd to go even more mad, as a cover of Praise You gives way to L.S.F. - a final run-through of the classic song that used to close all the gigs.
It says a lot about how much they've improved live that Kasabian can afford to leave out their best song in the form of Fast Fuse, plus similarly impressive material like Cutt Off, Stuntman, Thick as Thieves and many more, and yet the gig does not suffer. Its an effortless snapshot of the band's 10 years in pop culture, that is almost effortless at exciting the impressive crowd.
Its not a perfect night, but very close to it. They may still be indecisive on record, but the live arena is where Kasabian made their name, and shows like this prove exactly why.
Leicester and Glastonbury will be in for some exciting treats.
4/5
Opening proceedings were Merseyside-based 5-piece The Sundowners, who even had a Miles Kane/Alex Turner lookalike on lead guitar. The band's twin female vocalists do provide a nice verve to proceedings, which divots over a variety of sounds even despite the suspicion the guitars have been either turned off or very low. Final song Medicine does hint at promise that they could be bigger, and there is certainly enough to entertain before proceedings get underway.
Their albums maybe frustratingly inconsistent, but as a live act, they certainly have the chops.After all, they are now big enough for the headline slot at Glastonbury Festival - not only that but closing the festival as well, to boot - and will be preceding it with a 50,000-capacity outdoor homecoming show in Leicester.
Before that is a more smaller affair, in the grand surroundings of the Shepherd's Bush Empire theatre for War Child, who have made the Leicester band this year's charity gig after previous events involving Muse, Coldplay and The Killers. The efforts here have certainly helped raise cash for the charity, while members for charities associated with War Child and people they rescued are also in attendance.
This show is also the London launch party for 5th album 48:13, and there may have been a temptation to play the whole thing, not least given it currently tops the UK album chart.
However, they don't do that. After the raucous opener Bumblebee, Kasabian instead dip back into the hit parade. A snippet of Kanye West's Black Skinhead is a perfectly weighted introduction to the classic snarler Shoot the Runner, before the one-two of Underdog and Where Did All The Love Go continues the party.
Co-frontmen Tom Meighan and Sergio Pizzorno are in typically buoyant mood, barking out lyrics and commands to go nuts that the masses in front of them respond to with gusto. The moshpit is a sea of limbs bouncing in time to the strain of the works, and there isn't a single song in the entire set that they stay still for.
There are indeed moments when it seems the crowd is bouncing in time to the crack of drummer Ian Matthews' snare drum, which the crowd moshes heavily no matter which members of the large rotating cast are on stage at once.
In all, some 14 members are on stage during the headliner's set - the 4 main members, plus de-facto members on keyboard, trumpet and lead guitar, along with a 4 piece string section and 3 female backing vocalists who dip in and out of proceedings. You don't get the sense, however, that they don't want to be there. All of them approach their roles with gusto, with Meighan and Pizzorno in particular bundles of energy on a stage much smaller to those they have played in recent years.
This good mood and mixture of players allows a variety of pleasing textures to seep out of the stage. The contrast is certainly felt between string-led tracks that pepper the set, the classic electro-indie-styled tunes and the 48:13 material. This includes one-two of lead single Eez-eh and likely future single Stevie appears a few songs down the line, with the former much than recordings from live shows suggested, while the latter is an improvement of the inconsistent album version.
Later down the line, the band also dispatched the sprawling Treat - an almost seven minute mishmash of indie, rap, electronica, psychedelic rock and everything inbetween. On record, its an entertaining mess, but here, with Pizzorno bouncing around the stage wielding maracas and heavy duty strobe lights bathing the venue, its a highlight.
This series of new material also fit in with the hit parade Kasabian have cultivated. A heady rush of Days are Forgotten and Processed Beats keeps the crowd singing and dancing, while there's also diversions into electro (the spindly yet supple ID) and mariachi (Take Aim, which is delightful but ruined by a far-too-teasing snippet of Empire closer The Doberman as an intro).
One early quibble was the bass being nothing more than a series of faint rumbles, although its mercifully resolved for the snappy, snarling Club Foot, which sees Chris Edwards' 4-string fill the room with that monstrous riff.
The main set concludes with Kasabian's best-known tune in the form of Fire, where it feels that the entire room is in a frenzied delirium, singing and dancing like its life depends on it.
But its not done yet, and if Switchblade Smiles is a decent start to the encore, Vlad the Impaler - dedicated to the late Rik Mayall, who died last week - is astonishing. The bass and guitar riffs are loud enough to start earthquakes, while the crowd reponse - despite everything - is possibly the best of the night so far.
And there's still time for the crowd to go even more mad, as a cover of Praise You gives way to L.S.F. - a final run-through of the classic song that used to close all the gigs.
It says a lot about how much they've improved live that Kasabian can afford to leave out their best song in the form of Fast Fuse, plus similarly impressive material like Cutt Off, Stuntman, Thick as Thieves and many more, and yet the gig does not suffer. Its an effortless snapshot of the band's 10 years in pop culture, that is almost effortless at exciting the impressive crowd.
Its not a perfect night, but very close to it. They may still be indecisive on record, but the live arena is where Kasabian made their name, and shows like this prove exactly why.
Leicester and Glastonbury will be in for some exciting treats.
4/5
Opening proceedings were Merseyside-based 5-piece The Sundowners, who even had a Miles Kane/Alex Turner lookalike on lead guitar. The band's twin female vocalists do provide a nice verve to proceedings, which divots over a variety of sounds even despite the suspicion the guitars have been either turned off or very low. Final song Medicine does hint at promise that they could be bigger, and there is certainly enough to entertain before proceedings get underway.
Wednesday, 4 June 2014
A Million Ways To Die In The West - Film Review
It seems naturally fitting that having attempted everything else in Hollywood, Seth MacFarlane would fancy being the leading man in his own movie.
Having already been a cartoonist, voiceover artist, director, writer, producer and voice actor in his own animated movie, it appears the live-action star in his own movie - his acting debut, no less - was his next step to attempting some kind of beserk cultural domination. He even released a novel version of this movie two months ago.
Reportedly, he may not have engaged in this move, with Paul Rudd apparently approached over the role before MacFarlane decided to step into the breach himself.
Nevertheless, you would be forgiven for hoping for something special - MacFarlane has created some hilarious comedy moments with his previous TV and film work, there's an impressive looking cast - both on the bill and with cameos - and it looked good in the trailers.
This, however, does have the hallmark of a vanity project. Despite the impressive looking roster, the insane hands-on approach MacFarlane takes to this is absurd, and its safe to say he's found his own inspiration for this in his obsession for Western movies and in his own personal life.
MacFarlane has said in interviews he has been dumped by girls for being too nice. Naturally, inside the opening five minutes, his cowardly sheep farmer character Albert Stark is dumped by his girlfriend Louise (Amanda Seyfried) after skedaddling on the standard Western showdown.
Albert essentially opens as a function to slag off the Western Frontier of America as a place to live, citing dozens upon dozens of reasons to his only friends Edward (Giovanni Ribisi) and his prostitute fiancee Ruth (Sarah Silverman).
Edward and Ruth are Christians withholding sex from one another until marriage, despite Ruth doing everything with everyone around town. Its a mildly amusing gag at first, but despite one or two other moments, it gets old staggeringly quickly.
Repetition becomes a problem - its not enough to have one joke, as it has to be repeated, and given its use in the trailer, its stale quickly.
A lot of the jokes are, naturally, so worn out from the trailer that they fail to resonate so well. There is some withheld stuff that, mercifully, adds something to the table. Particularly amusing is Albert's father George (Christopher Hagen), who is gloriously profane in the classic crochety old man role.
Also working well with a magnificent amount of scenery-chewing, if a little underused, is Louise's new lover Foy (Neil Patrick Harris), and his fabulously ornate moustache. He and Albert do not get on well, with Foy being a particularly devious man - like Patrick Harris' How I Met Your Mother show-stealer Barney Stinson, only somehow even more of an ass.
Considering both Patrick Harris and MacFarlane are renowned for their singing abilities, it feels odd neither gets a change to show off their vocals, with the - admittedly impressive - solo song performed by country singer Amick Byram.
The song in MacFarlane's character's heart is certainly minute, as he struggles to blend in amidst the fights. Bizarrely, though, heart-tugging rom-coms seem to be the aim for his character's arc when Anna (Charlize Theron) strolls into town.
She is married to infamous outlaw Clinch Leatherwood (Liam Neeson), but naturally keeps it a secret long enough for Albert to fall in love with her.
In truth, the rom-com aspect is extremely basic, although MacFarlane does seem like he has the potential for such work. His acting beyond classic voice work does need work, but there is some promise lurking there.
He does, however, at time reminds you of Brian Griffin in a bolo tie and Stetson. In truth, its kind of a curse MacFarlane and his co-writers in Family Guy have been involved, as it reminds a lot of one of the recent lackluster recent works put out by the Fox animated staple.
That's not to say everything fails to hit the mark. There are amusing lines dotted hither and thither, some provoke a smirk and there are one or two guffaws. Some amusing lines drop in and out, and there is an amusing cameo from American talk show host Bill Maher. But there is also a heavy reliance of sex, race and scatological jokes, and while some are amusing, and there is one jaw-droppingly offensive joke later somehow made even more weird with a late cameo for Django (Jamie Foxx)
There's also a bizarre on-drugs sequence near the end when Albert is taken in by some friendly Indians.
While its been trailed as mocking the Old West for being a truly detestable place to live, this is in many ways its own love letter to the genre of Western films. The piece as a whole looks beautiful, and has cinematography very well in keeping with the world of a Western movie. A Western-aping soundtrack is also very nicely set to the piece.
But at almost 2 hours, it is at least half an hour too long, and feels like it stretches things a bit thin at times. MacFarlane's previous comedy project Ted may only have been 15 minutes shorter, but was a leaner piece with evolution in the style and strategy.
This, by contrast, has a fairly basic plot on which hangs a range of hit-and-miss jokes, while some characters impress more than others.
In short, it is like watching a live-action Family Guy set in 1882 Arizona. There's even a cameo role for Alex Borstein - better known as Lois Griffin - and the odd pop culture reference too.
The frustrating element is that there was much promise, ranging from its cast and pedigree to its beautiful setting. But while the films look was certainly up to scratch, it would've been better if the jokes were consistently up to scratch.
2.75/5
Having already been a cartoonist, voiceover artist, director, writer, producer and voice actor in his own animated movie, it appears the live-action star in his own movie - his acting debut, no less - was his next step to attempting some kind of beserk cultural domination. He even released a novel version of this movie two months ago.
Reportedly, he may not have engaged in this move, with Paul Rudd apparently approached over the role before MacFarlane decided to step into the breach himself.
Nevertheless, you would be forgiven for hoping for something special - MacFarlane has created some hilarious comedy moments with his previous TV and film work, there's an impressive looking cast - both on the bill and with cameos - and it looked good in the trailers.
This, however, does have the hallmark of a vanity project. Despite the impressive looking roster, the insane hands-on approach MacFarlane takes to this is absurd, and its safe to say he's found his own inspiration for this in his obsession for Western movies and in his own personal life.
MacFarlane has said in interviews he has been dumped by girls for being too nice. Naturally, inside the opening five minutes, his cowardly sheep farmer character Albert Stark is dumped by his girlfriend Louise (Amanda Seyfried) after skedaddling on the standard Western showdown.
Albert essentially opens as a function to slag off the Western Frontier of America as a place to live, citing dozens upon dozens of reasons to his only friends Edward (Giovanni Ribisi) and his prostitute fiancee Ruth (Sarah Silverman).
Edward and Ruth are Christians withholding sex from one another until marriage, despite Ruth doing everything with everyone around town. Its a mildly amusing gag at first, but despite one or two other moments, it gets old staggeringly quickly.
Repetition becomes a problem - its not enough to have one joke, as it has to be repeated, and given its use in the trailer, its stale quickly.
A lot of the jokes are, naturally, so worn out from the trailer that they fail to resonate so well. There is some withheld stuff that, mercifully, adds something to the table. Particularly amusing is Albert's father George (Christopher Hagen), who is gloriously profane in the classic crochety old man role.
Also working well with a magnificent amount of scenery-chewing, if a little underused, is Louise's new lover Foy (Neil Patrick Harris), and his fabulously ornate moustache. He and Albert do not get on well, with Foy being a particularly devious man - like Patrick Harris' How I Met Your Mother show-stealer Barney Stinson, only somehow even more of an ass.
Considering both Patrick Harris and MacFarlane are renowned for their singing abilities, it feels odd neither gets a change to show off their vocals, with the - admittedly impressive - solo song performed by country singer Amick Byram.
The song in MacFarlane's character's heart is certainly minute, as he struggles to blend in amidst the fights. Bizarrely, though, heart-tugging rom-coms seem to be the aim for his character's arc when Anna (Charlize Theron) strolls into town.
She is married to infamous outlaw Clinch Leatherwood (Liam Neeson), but naturally keeps it a secret long enough for Albert to fall in love with her.
In truth, the rom-com aspect is extremely basic, although MacFarlane does seem like he has the potential for such work. His acting beyond classic voice work does need work, but there is some promise lurking there.
He does, however, at time reminds you of Brian Griffin in a bolo tie and Stetson. In truth, its kind of a curse MacFarlane and his co-writers in Family Guy have been involved, as it reminds a lot of one of the recent lackluster recent works put out by the Fox animated staple.
That's not to say everything fails to hit the mark. There are amusing lines dotted hither and thither, some provoke a smirk and there are one or two guffaws. Some amusing lines drop in and out, and there is an amusing cameo from American talk show host Bill Maher. But there is also a heavy reliance of sex, race and scatological jokes, and while some are amusing, and there is one jaw-droppingly offensive joke later somehow made even more weird with a late cameo for Django (Jamie Foxx)
There's also a bizarre on-drugs sequence near the end when Albert is taken in by some friendly Indians.
While its been trailed as mocking the Old West for being a truly detestable place to live, this is in many ways its own love letter to the genre of Western films. The piece as a whole looks beautiful, and has cinematography very well in keeping with the world of a Western movie. A Western-aping soundtrack is also very nicely set to the piece.
But at almost 2 hours, it is at least half an hour too long, and feels like it stretches things a bit thin at times. MacFarlane's previous comedy project Ted may only have been 15 minutes shorter, but was a leaner piece with evolution in the style and strategy.
This, by contrast, has a fairly basic plot on which hangs a range of hit-and-miss jokes, while some characters impress more than others.
In short, it is like watching a live-action Family Guy set in 1882 Arizona. There's even a cameo role for Alex Borstein - better known as Lois Griffin - and the odd pop culture reference too.
The frustrating element is that there was much promise, ranging from its cast and pedigree to its beautiful setting. But while the films look was certainly up to scratch, it would've been better if the jokes were consistently up to scratch.
2.75/5
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