DVD Review – Speed Racer

“Aahhhh, MY EYES!!”

…This, after sighing and falling back into my seat, was my first thought as the titles rolled up the screen.

 

 

 

 

This incredible film by the infamous Wachowski brothers, is a glittering, high-tempo, technicoloured neon-feast for the senses. Based upon the anime cartoon series of the same name, the translation to the big screen is every bit as flashy and seizure-inducing.
The film tells the tale of the ‘Racer’ family. Built on strong family morals, the family team battle large corporate race teams in what appears to be a futuristic ‘drift-like’ driving championship.
As the story unfolds, it becomes apparent that the family’s eldest son, ‘Rex Racer’ (Matthew Fox – Lost) turns away from the family in order to try and run corruption out of the sport, although to the rest of the family it seems as though he has betrayed them, and tarnished their name in the sport.
As his younger brother ‘Speed’ grows older, he is a natural born race-car driver, and takes to the driving seat of his brother’s car, and tries to climb to the same heights of success as Rex.
The spoken content of the film can become rather tedious, as it tries to explain the workings of the corruption, seemingly rife throughout the sport. However, when race-day comes, the film jumps into life, and it becomes an nothing short of an aesthetic spectacle. With fast-paced leaps, overtakes and spins-aplenty, you can rarely tell which position Speed is currently in at any point of the race, and you do begin to wonder if this is what it feels like take an illegal substance. (Note: Just to clarify, I have no idea what this is like, but just imagine it to be somewhat like this!) Speed starts to uncover the darker side of some of the teams driving in the championships, and like his brother before, moves to try and put an end to it.

I won’t give away the outcome… but of course you can expect the usual ‘feel-good’ ending of a film carrying a ‘12′ rating, with good ever prevailing over evil.

Whilst this film most definitely won’t be for everyone, it really is a beautiful film, with dazzling effects. And despite needing to take some form of pain-relief afterwards due to the headache you’ll be left with, it is something quite special.

DVD Review – Sigur Rós – Heima

Last year, Sigur Rós decided to play a series of concerts in stunning locations in their homeland of Iceland. Totally free to the local residents, crowds flocked from near and far to see what can only be described as ‘jaw-dropping’ performances.

The film is possibly one of the most beautiful collections of footage I have ever seen, and with Sigur Rós’ mysterious and magical, unique sound, it makes Heima (translation – ‘Home’ in English), an absolute must-see for all.

If the Icelandic Tourist Board had any sense, they would use this amazing film to advertise their picturesque and magical country as it shows the side of Iceland you don’t normally see, steering well clear of the brushed-steel, modern health spas and developments, and instead taking our breath away with the magic of what is a beautiful country, complimented perfectly by one of my favourite bands, the immensely talented Sigur Rós.

I really couldn’t recommend any film more highly than Heima, definately a 10/10, perfect in every way, the only critisism being that it had to end.

You can check out the trailer at the Heima website at www.heima.co.uk

Lecture Review – Wim Crouwel.

This morning we had the absolute pleasure of graphic design legend Wim Crouwel’s presence at Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication.

He spoke for around an hour on his inspirations in design, and his career to date, showing some of the pieces of work that have long-since established him as one of the all-time greats in graphic design.

Above – Wim Crouwel talking through one of his famous designs.

Still full of life and highly energetic, his presentation kept the packed lecture theatre gripped with some of his fantastic quotes (some raising the theatre into roars of laughter!);

On his Success-

“You need to have some luck”

“It was the right moment to meet the right people”

On his work-

“I always try to translate the typography with the style of the artist”

“I took the idea from the Da Vinci painting (the Vitruvian Man), but I left the man out!”

“This is the most unreadable poster I ever did!”

“When you grow old, all your identities get replaced by modern ones!”

On technology-

“I cannot work with the mice!”

Wim also answered my question in a brilliant way too I thought…

Me - “Most of your work is highly functional, but a lot of it also pushes the boundaries of legibility. How do you tend to deal with both legibility and the visual aesthetic at the same time? Do you have to hold your hands up sometimes and accept compromising one for the other?”

Wim - “I always work with a system that dictates what I can and cannot do. The grid is like a football pitch, it can be a beautiful play sometimes, but other times it can be dull and grey, I usually realise afterwards that a grey design could have been beautiful if i’d have done this or this, but by then it has been done!”

Wim Crouwel is a fantastic speaker, and will tomorrow be holding a talk for I.S.T.D – sure to be a full house!

Shop Review – Nike iD Studio, London

This place is my idea of heaven, although everything is so out of reach, like when you were a child in a push-chair and couldn’t quite reach that chocolate bar on the shelf!

…It’s so close you could almost taste it, but then its sealed in an impenetrable fort of glass and suspended inbetween floors, the only way to access the treasure being a single walkway, but you need to book an appointment first.

I’ve never felt disappointment like it…

Music Review – Pin Me Down

…Russell from Bloc Party (The amazing guitar player incase you don’t know names), has started his own side project with a young female vocalist from New York, and they have put together a few songs, ‘Cryptic’ clearly being the best, but as yet there isn’t any news on albums or any mainstream releases.

So if you love Bloc Party (…and who doesn’t!?), check out Pin Me Down, you’ll definately be able to recognise instantly the Bloc Party guitar-sort-of-feel going on. Its sheer electro-genius!

…If you’ve had a listen and want to hear some more of their great music, check out their Myspace;

http://www.myspace.com/pinmedown

Music Review – Cass Lowe

I had the pleasure of attending Kate Walsh’s gig at The London Arts Theatre on the 2nd March 2008, and although had only bought the album on the recommendation of a friend, I loved every minute of it.

Kate’s performance, and the whole night was really set in a quite intimate atmosphere, helped to some extent by the small theatre itself, but mainly due to the sheer ‘nakedness’ of the musician’s work. Every strum of the guitar, every screech of a inaccurately-struck chord was heard, and this blurred the usually-quite-obvious barrier between musician and audience, stripping them back to an existence usually forgotten by most mainstream artists or bands.

Of the night however, one of the main highlights for me was the very first supporting act. Up onto the stage strolled a tall, soppy-haired guy who looked to be in his early twenties, guitar in hand and a great choice in footwear I also noticed (A pair of silver high-top trainers).

He introduced himself as Cass Lowe, and instantly the crowd seemed to warm to him.

In the crowd were young and old, but all seemed to connect with the ‘cheeky’ stage presence, and his music didn’t disappoint.

Accompanying a free-flowing, quite organic-sounding style of guitar-play was a great voice. Deep and honest (by that I mean, not one of those fake, put-on voices some musicians seem to adopt as their own!), it echoed out through the theatre and had everyone transfixed.

Of the songs performed, I particularly enjoyed ‘Wrote You A Song’ and his brilliant rendition of The Cure classic ‘Lovecats’, which was played expertly.

I got the chance to meet with him in the bar afterwards to buy him a drink and congratulate him on a great performance, and he was a really nice guy there too, so really hope his career takes off, I shall definately be keeping my eye out!

Check out his myspace at http://www.myspace.com/casslowe where you can listen to some of his music, and there is also a link for 2 free track downloads.

…ENJOY!

Night Out Review – Shunt @ London Bridge

Again had a fantastic night out at what is rapidly becoming my favourite place so far to hang out, Shunt. The entire experience of such a surreal underground location coupled with the amazing things going on each week is a great one, probably an experience you wont find anywhere else.

…This visit for example, the vaults had been transformed into a Pirate Kingdom, complete with a pirate ship D.J booth, and a full-working zip line! All of course underground, in the deep tunnels below London Bridge station!