Category Reviews

The internet has become an invaluable tool for aspiring musicians to find their feet and fan base. MySpace offers many artists a platform to showcase their music. The website saw the success of Seattle based solo artist Mike Hadreas, also known as Perfume Genius. His debut album, Learning, was released in 2010 to a mass of critical acclaim and heralding praise. The only single, Mr Peterson, tells the autobiographical story of a tragic relationship between a young Hadreas and a school teacher who committed suicide; the song has become a much loved staple of his live sets...

Warning: This review may contain spoilers.

The new Disney/Pixar animated film takes us on a journey to the Scottish Highlands, back in the days when people could wield axes and bows without getting arrested, and when stone masonry was the height of technological advancement. Merida, the red-haired heroine of the story, is a feisty teenage girl who craves independence. This is a new direction for Pixar. They’ve had robots, monsters and grumpy old men take centre stage in their previous films, but this is the first time they’ve had a female lead character. And, even more unusually, Pixar hired actual Scottish actors to act in actual Scottish accents!

To say I was looking forward to this film is a slight understatement. The previous animated film I loved was How To Train Your Dragon, whi...

The Amazing Spider-Man is the latest film centring around Peter Parker and is a reboot of the franchise starring Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone.  It’s only director Marc Webb’s second film, after (500) Days of Summer (he has, however, been directing music videos for over a decade).  Despite this, and how different it is to (500) Days of Summer, it’s still marvellously directed.  Andrew Garfield plays the awkward geek well, and he also does it with a cuteness that’s hard to resist, even if you don’t understand the appeal when you first sit down to watch the film.  There’s obvious chemistry between he and Emma Stone, so it’s no surprise that they’re (possibly) now a real life couple, too.

Rhys Ifans also does a fantastic job, but of all the villains that they could’ve...

Keep on Loving You is the twenty-fifth studio album by country music artist Reba McEntire, and her first album to be released through the Starstruck/Valory label. The album was released on August 18th, 2009 (US), August 20th, 2009 (Aust), and August 31st, 2009 (UK). Keep on Loving You was Reba’s first solo album in six years. It peaked at number one on the U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums chart and U.S. Billboard 200 chart. The album has thirteen tracks, and plays for just over forty-eight minutes. Much like her previous studio album (Reba: Duets) it has a more pop feel to it. Whilst promoting the album Reba has credited Kelly Clarkson as an influence on what types of songs she looked for to include on the album...

This deliciously dark fairytale is only vaguely familiar to Disney’s Snow White.  This story is frightening, surprising, and intriguing to watch. This is not a love story. Snow White and The Huntsman is a desperate power struggle of a queen obsessed by beauty and the influence beauty gave her over men. Charlize Theron has an on screen presence that gives everyone goosebumps, her conversations with the mirror are haunting and have forever spoiled the innocence of Disney’s version. This film was not afraid to shock and certainly didn’t hold back on the violence – it’s a grown up fairytale that leaves you with a sickly sweet taste in your mouth.

Snow White’s father’s kingdom was taken over and she was imprisoned in a tower for most of her life...

Blown Away is the fourth studio album by country music artist, and American Idol season four winner, Carrie Underwood. The album was released on May 1st 2012 in the US, on May 4th 2012 in Australia, and will be released on June 18th in the UK. The album has fourteen tracks, and plays for about fifty-five and a half minutes. Although described as being darker than her previous albums, after a couple of listens it is easy to forget that as it still has Carrie’s sound to it. The album incorporates her country-pop sound, whilst delving into a darker place which her previous album, Play On, only lightly touched upon. For any Carrie Underwood fan it is hard to believe that she could disappoint with this collection of powerful songs.

We start off with Good Girl (Writers: Carrie Underwood,...

The Secret Circle is based on a book series by L.J.Smith, much like its sister show, The Vampire Diaries.  Unfortunately, unlike The Vampire Diaries, the show is not going to last past its first season as it was cancelled before its penultimate episode aired in the UK.  The show was treated poorly in the US, having long hiatuses between episodes, meaning that it was hard to keep track of when it was on.  As is The CW custom, it also had twenty two episodes.  This format works for some shows, and not for others.  It didn’t work for The Secret Circle.  The show started off strong, introducing the protagonist of Cassie Blake and killing off her mother, causing Cassie to move back to her mother’s hometown of Chance Harbour to live with her grandmother...

This review contains spoilers in later paragraphs.  A spoiler alert has been placed where the spoilers begin.

In the beginning...

It’s rare for a TV show to last more than a couple of years these days, but, against all odds, One Tree Hill has lasted for nine seasons and one hundred and eighty eight episodes.  It’s survived major cast changes – something many shows don’t even dare to risk – network changes, marriage break-ups, time jumps and more.  Over the course of nine years, the show spanned over fifteen, being one of the first shows to jump forwards in time, and doing so several times.

Whilst there are many other shows aimed at a similar demographic, few handle things in the same way...

Marvel Avengers Assemble (otherwise known as The Avengers) compromises of an all-star cast, led by writer/director Joss Whedon.  A true comic book fanboy who wanted to be a part of the X-Men films, you can tell how much he cares about the story that he’s telling and the characters that he writes about in the film.  It has his signature direction style, and also his trademark wit.  The plot was clever, and well explained, unlike a lot of superhero films that are more focused on the action and making money from a well-known character.    Whedon is also not afraid of his strong females, and, whilst I expected a testosterone fest, I was pleased to see that whilst the majority of characters were male, it wasn’t...

All the Women I Am is the twenty-sixth studio album by country music artist Reba McEntire, and her second album to be released through the Starstruck/Valory label. The album was released on November 9th, 2010 (US), November 12th, 2010 (Aust), and February 20, 2012 (UK). The album has ten tracks, and plays for just over thirty-eight minutes. Even if you are not a fan of country music, the sound is not of a traditional country style. Much like her previous two studio albums it has a more pop feel to it, which is a direction she has been slowly heading back into for at least fifteen years, while following the current feel and popular sound of country music of the time. This move is assisting her to remain just as current today as she was twenty years ago.

The album has an almost even mix of ...