Our First Video Review

Your Chance to Win Usher Tickets!

Hey Guys,
As seen on our review show we are giving away 2 Usher tickets for March 2011!
All you have to do is leave a comment, and in 25 words or less tell us why you should win the tickets.
A post to the review will be made this coming Monday when the competition opens.
The competition will close on November 29th so get commenting!



*Not a real competition

2002- Bowling for Columbine skyrockets Moore's success.

Bowling for Columbine was a confronting investigation into the use of guns in America and there implications in the massacre at the Columbine High School. Moore seeks to find out why the Columbine massacre occurred and why the United States has a high violent crime rate. Moore interviews a range of people including comedian Matt Stone, head of the NRA Charlton Heston, music artist Maralyn Manson and a range of citizens with opinions on the gun laws and restrictions in America. The film has been highly criticized for misrepresenting information, but to say it is confronting, thought provoking and shocking in the evidence it does present would be close to an understatement. 

Image Source: www.michaelmoore.com

From the opening scenes when he gets a free gun by opening a new bank account - Moore uses archived clips, mixed with interviews of people associated with the Oklahoma City bombings to persuade us to accept his arguments. 

Various clips are introduced throughout the film depicting violence in the United States and the fear that citizens live with in this society. There is implication that fear is hyped by the media and controlled by the government to keep the level of fear amongst the populace. 

He also includes a segment comparing the contrast of violence between the U.S. and Canada which has a fairly high percentage of private gun ownership, but very low gun violence.

Why is this? The answer that Moore leads us to is that the reason the United States has so many violent deaths due to guns is not the AMOUNT of guns but due to the exploitation of violence through the media and the governments position to keep Americans on the edge of fear.

The film is very successful at bringing out a reaction from the audience, wether it be disgust at George W. Bush, a new found respect for Maralyn Manson, or a loss of all respect for Moore. 

Find out your reaction by watching the trailer at: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUSpszWfu_w&feature=related

Alex

xx

2010- "Easy A" gets an easy A.

Easy A begins as any stereotypical teen flick with a pan across the school yard, we go on a hunt for our protagonist as her voiceover gives us a background to her invisibility. As we bump, quite literally, into Olive Penderghast. Olive launches quite unintentionally into a graphic description of how she lost her virginity to a college boy in the hope of dodging an invitation to a camping trip with her best friends parents, a couple of modern nudists whose idea of a nice dinner is quite questionable. Olives description of her exploits get overheard by the schools resident christian Marianne who spreads the rumor like wild fire. Olive gets thrown into a web of lies as she uses her new reputation to help out a friend in need. Word gets out of Olive's kind nature and before she knows it she is helping a whole host of guys as she lets people say they "did things." It only takes for olives entire life to fall apart before she realises that maybe telling the truth is a better way to lead her life. 

Image source: www.starpulse.com

The film is really successful in the box office, I've personally seen it twice and i plan to see it again. Obviously im a fantastic example of box office takings but for the more number hungry folk on the 4th of October the film had taken $42,176,967 at the box office in the USA. The film has really capitalised on the increase in internet and mobile telephone use in teenagers across the world. The entire film is based around an video blog post as Olive tries to clear her name in a way she know will reach the most people. Possibly commenting on the new communication methods of the 21st century that are targeting teens. The use of new technology familiar to the "digital natives" of the Y and I generations allows the audience to commect to the character in a way that has become so familiar to them, digitally. Urging forward the success of the film. 

Image source: bitchinfilmreviews.com

'Easy A' has become recognised for its different and when done well, very successful style. The way in which Olive speaks directly to the camera at some points creates the film in a more documentary film style sense and allows Olive to speak directly to the audience, including them in the plotline, and at points, inviting them to comment and form opinions on what is happening. Key to this style of film is the comedy factor which primarily contributes to its success and is overall done very well. Olive's great sense of humour paired with the dynamic script makes this film stand out from all other teen flicks.

Image source:www.cbc.ca

Further contribution to the film's success is Olive as a character herself. Played by Emma Stone, Olive has previously been a bit of a loner, unknown, and as she puts it, 'anonymous'. This is all until the rumours are spread and Olive is transformed into a sexy, very well known, popular with the boys, teen. I believe much of the film's success can be put down to Stone herself and the character she plays, she is very bright and unique. Easily relatable yet distincitive, her transformations are textbook reactions to how high school works. When things eventually blow up for her she handles herself in a way which is beyond her characters years. Portraying strong, passionate qualities, she's a great role model for why you should tell the truth, and simply be yourself.

'Easy A' is in cinemas at the moment and is rated PG.

Reviews:

• it’s easy to love "Easy A," a funny and sweet updating of the high-school comedy genre

• As the title implies, 'Easy A' is a movie made by some smart people.

• This isn't just the sharpest high-school comedy in years, it's also the funniest movie of any kind in 2010 so far.

For more reviews visit Rotten Tomatoes.

Liz and Alex

xx

Don't Stop Believin' in Your Inner Gleek!

Originally a hit for Journey in 1981, “Don't Stop Believin' was covered by the Glee cast in 2009. Since then, they have infiltrated pop culture and continues to climb up the music ladder to success. According to sales source, Nielsen Soundscan, the Glee cast has sold an incredible 2.8 million albums and 11.5 million downloads. The Glee cast had already scored 25 hits in the top 100!
(Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/oct/07/glee-beats-beatles-chart-record )

Glee's version of “Don't Stop Believin'” can be described as bright, bouncy, cheerful and uplifting. The “da-da-da” backing vocals, awesome guitar solo and powerful vocals from Lea Michele (who plays Rachel) has the power to make you smile from ear to ear. It can be seen quite cheesy to outsiders but to Gleeks (Glee lovers), this is the song that makes one want to go that extra mile and punch the air in triumph! "Don't Stop Believin" is featured in two albums: 

Glee: Volume 1

(Image Source: http://www.socypath.com/2010/02/glee-tv-series-sound-track-list-music-of-glee-tv-series-album-list/)

 AND  Glee: Journey to Regionals

(Image Source: http://teamyeheyblog.yehey.com/?tag=journey-to-regionals)

This shows how fundamental the song is to the Glee series. If you haven't watched Glee yet, Why don't you give it ago?

So if you're looking for a song that will give you an extra lift in getting through the day, I (as well as many Gleeks) highly recommend this song! You can watch it here: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x9d28q_glee-dont-stop-believe_shortfilms

~Yolanda

2001 produced one of the best family movies of all time, Monsters Inc.

Monsters Inc. was the fourth feature length film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and was so well received a sequel is scheduled for release in 2012.

Image: www.impawards.com

John Goodman and Billy Crystal voice the characters of Mike and Sulley, two monsters working to collect screams for children in order to power their city. In this world, access to our world is gained through children's closet doors, creating a portal for transport.
The story surrounds Sulley, who works late one night to see a child's closet door has been left behind on their 'scare floor'. He enters to check if another monster was 'scaring' in their and turns around to find that he has accidently brought a human child into their world.
Mike and Sulley spend the film disguising the little girl, 'Boo' as they name her, as a monster and ultimately try to find her door so she can get home.


The animation is superb and the use of bright colours and flawless effects makes the film very engaging and entertaining to watch. Whilst this is ultimately a kids movie i think it's enjoyable for everyone, give it a go one night this week.


    x x Liz

2003- Rocking it out With Jack Black in "The School Of Rock"

Math is a wonderful thing
Math is a really cool thing
So get off your ath, lets do some math
Math, Math, Math, Math, Math

With a teacher like Jack Black who wouldn’t want to do math! Blacks hilarious performance as Dewy Finn bought classic rock back into the lives of many young people such as myself. The 2003 film grossed $131,282,949 internationally at the box office making it a major success across the globe. This is completely unsurprising as the film is an upbeat protest against the “Man” that gets everyone bopping along in their seats.

Dewy Finn is a washed up rock star fired from his band for his uncontrollable antics on stage including partial nudity, stage dives gone wrong and his elaborate and extended guitar solos. After almost being kicked out of his apartment Finn lands a job at snooty prep school Horace Green by stealing his flat mate’s identity. The kids, although at first resistant to his hopeless charm and abrupt demeanor, grow to love Mr S’s classes as he teaches them the practical and theoretical elements of rock and its history as they strive towards a school assignment of entering “Battle of the Bands.”


Black is found out after a string of events that lead his room mate to telling his ever disapproving fiancé of Finn’s identity theft but the Kids get him off his ass to compete in the Battle that is eventually won by his old band, but “The School of Rock” receive an encore to give ACDC a run for their money. Winning in spirit the kids and Black form an after school program specializing in rock education that rocks out through the credits leaving the audience in awe of the young performers ability.


Black was nominated for a Golden Globe but was pipped at the post by Bill Murray for Lost in Translation. Personally I think Black gave a much better performance, especially given his rocking out on stage in Angus Young-esque attire. Having said this, the real stars of the show were the kids in the film. The cast of very young musicians are amazing in there talent, particularly Tomika, played by Maryam Hassan, who has the most amazing voice and Zach, Joey Gaydos, who is an amazing classical and rock guitarist.

In The words of The School Of Rock

Baby we was makin' straight A's
but we was stuck in a dumb days
Don't take much to memorize your lies,
feels like i've been hypnotised,


and if you wanna be a teachers pet.
well baby you just better forget it,
rock got no reason, rock got no rhyme,
You betta get me to school on time,
Oh yeah!


now can i please have the attention of the class,
todays ass-ignment...ah hemm...
KICK SOME ASS!

Images sourced from:
new.taringa.net
photo.yeah1.com


Lyrics sourced from:
www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/s/school_of_rock/

Usher made us say "Yeah!" in 2004

Before Usher had us singing “Oh my gosh!”, one mention of a single word: “Yeah!” would instantly create the beginning of what would be the song that we just could not get out of our heads in 2004, whether it be for good or bad reasons. Accompanied by the vocals of Lil Jon and a rap by Ludacris, “Yeah!” was the lead single in Usher's album “Confessions”(2004). The track was placed number one on the U.S Billboard Hot 100 for 12 consecutive weeks - the longest running in 2004. To top it off, it stayed in the top 10 for 24 weeks! * (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeah!_%28Usher_song%29)

The song has been claimed by critics to have a catchy R&B and crunk beat that would be an easy dance floor pleaser. However, I find that to my personal liking it has a constant beat and rhythm. There is no excitement in the dynamics of sound apart from Lil Jon's occasional “Yeah!” which can be interpreted as too repetitive or just overwhelming.

I think “Yeah!” is a good song to listen to occasionally. Usher has grown significantly since the release of this song. 

 (Image Source: http://everydaymusic.wordpress.com/2010/01/12/)

Can't remember the song? Why don't you listen to it here: "Yeah!" by Usher feat. Lil Jon and Ludacris (Youtube Video)


Got a different opinion? Let us know! We would love to hear it! :)


~ Yolanda