Rrrrrrright so now its time for the 2nd part of my look at my pick of the best Foo Fighters songs which will cover the top 10 so there might be the odd surprise choice in here and again these are just personal favs. So let's get going....
10. My poor brain
It has to be said that this song, My poor brain, which features on their second, Colour and the shape, is one of my favourites. For starters I love the way the track slowly ups its voume at the start and grows louder into a cacophony of noise before it goes into its clean verse riff and it uses the quiet-loud dynamic. The chorus is also great with Dave singing "This is a blackout! Don't let it go to waste! This is a black. I wanna detonate!" and followed by the rather strange but catchy line "Sometimes I feel I'm getting stuck, between the handshake and the fuck!". The song finishes up great as well with Dave screeching "Sometimes I wish that I could change! I can't save you from my poor brain! Brain.... brain.... brain...! OK!" and its the "OK" bit I like the most just before the song closes out with one of their catchiest riffs, which proves again the Foos just know how to produce popular yet quality songs.
9. Aurora
Next at number 9 is Aurora, which remains one of the Foos most mellow and emotionally uplifting songs with its delayed effect peddle adding to the nostalgic feel the song has. The song was apparently written and dedicated to Dave's grandmother who had passed away and it shows the band continuing to develop their sound beyond the realms of standard rock. The lyrics are also quite floaty and dreamy in style and it features some of Dave's best lines such as "You believe there's somewhere else where its easier than this, and you see outside yourself and you buy the hole you fill and its on and on...". And another impressive aspect of the song is the way in which it builds into a crescendo and it ends on a real high note with the effect peddled guitar notes repeating again and again till the last note echoes. In short great stuff.
8. All my life
Although its definitely a top 10 song, All my life perhaps could be nearer the top but with so many songs to choose from I thought All my life deserves being at number 8. But getting back to the song, All my life is a cracker and the way it starts really grabs you with the G5 power chord chugging in the background and Dave quietly singing those great lyrics "All my life I've been searching for something, something never comes never leads to nothing, nothing satisfies but I'm getting close, getting closer to the end of the rope! All night long I dream of the day, when it comes around its taken away, leaves me with the feeling that I feel the most, feel it come to life when I see your ghost". And then it rips into the songs great central riff in what is easily one of the Foos most intense songs and it builds into a fine chorus and afteward it heads into its rockin outro with Dave yelling "Done, done onto the next one!! Done I'm done and I'm onto the next one!". In short All my life is one of the best Foos songs and the stuff that moshing at concerts was made for.
7. The Pretender
Well the Pretender is another track that had to be in here somewhere so it deseves a top 10 spot and here it is at No.7. Dave again never directly said what the meaning of the song was except he felt it mirrored the times and the political climate in the US and he felt people were getting screwed over by the government (obviously this was during the Bush administration!). Well what to say about it, I like the way the song starts with its mournful melody based on A minor, which breaks into a stomping ryhthym and Dave's lyrics: "Send in your skeletons, see their bones come marching in again. The need you bury deep the secrets that you keep, the secrets that you keep are ever ready. Are you ready??". And then it goes into its great chorus with the lyric "What if I say I'm not like the others? What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays? You're the pretender. What if I say I will never surrender?!". And then the song suddenly breaks into a blues boogie style similar to Chuck Berry which actually helps break up the song's morose tone at that point. And the song builds up nicely into the finale with its chorus and Dave finishing it off by screaming "So who are you? Yeah, who are you? YEAH, WHO ARE YOU????!" and then it comes to an end. So The Pretender adds up to one of the best Foos songs which again features a nice structure as well as some great lyrics and its well worth putting in the top 10.
6. No way back
Found on the double disc In Your Honor album, No way back is easily one of the Foo Fighters most upbeat tracks and its somewhat simplistic in its structure but its such a good fun song to listen to (and even play). The nature of the song could be somewhat dark in terms of the lyrics yet it makes it so optmistic which remains part of the band's appeal. The chorus lyrics to a lesser extent echo The Rolling Stones "Sympathy for the devil" with Dave singing "Please to meet you take my hand, there is no way back from here. Pleased to meet you say your prayers, there is no way back from here, but I don't care! No way back from here!". At this stage the Foos solos were pretty much in their infancy and the song features yet another mini solo but remains part of what makes the song a pleasure to listen to. And the ending of the song is also great with its little moments of staccato and Taylor's great drum fills which ends the song on an abrupt but satisfying moment in what is one of the most purely enjoyable songs the band has recorded.
5. DOA
Up next we have DOA which let's face it is easily one of the Foos best ever songs and its structure is pretty cool the way it starts with its slightly staccato rythyms before it launches into the verse. The song also features some of Dave's lyrics which start off with "You know I did it, its over and I feel fine. Nothing you could say is gonna change my mind. Waited and I waited the longest night nothing like the taste of sweet decline". It also has a great pre-chorus moment with Dave singing "Never mind there's nothing I can do, bet your life there's something killing you!". And the chorus lyrics are easily some of the most memorable of any Foo Fighters song "Its a shame we have to die, my dear. No one is getting out of here alive this time! What a way to go, they have no fear, no one is getting out of here alive this time!". So while the lyrics are again pretty dark in subject matter (especially as DOA stands for dead on arrival, term used for patients who died at the time of arrival at hospitals) the Foos yet again defy them by making it such an upbeat track. And perhaps that's why it ranks so high because as band they can make even a dark subject into something light and regardless of what you want to look at it, DOA is a great song in its own right and deserves a top 5 slot here.
4. New way home
As the final song on Colour and the shape, New way home it was a very strong way to finish the album and its remains one of the band's best songs. The start of the song sets it all up with its fairly jaunty pace and then it goes into the chorus which is one of the best Dave has written "I felt like this on my way home, I'm not scared. I passed the boats and the kingdom, I'm not scared". And after the first verse section the song becomes all quiet and Dave starts to repeat the chorus quietly as the song slowly starts to speed up and get louder and great thing here is underlying guitar track which accompanies it. And finally the songs reaches it crescendo as Dave yells the chorus line over and over and the song slowly fades out singalling the end of one of the Foos best albums. At the time it would be hard to figure this song would become one of the best signature songs of the group but over time it really has earned its place as one of the standout tracks not only on the Colour album but also of their career.
3. Everlong
So next up is Everlong, which is unquestionably one
of the band's finest efforts and the main riff in drop D is so simple to
play but is also very effective and the song quickly kicks in with the
hi-hats and the snare kicking away throughout. The song again also
features one of the band's most singable and also quite emotional
choruses where Dave sings out "And I wonder when I sing along with you,
if everything could ever feel this real forever. If anything could ever
be this good again. The only thing I'll ever ask of you, you gotta
promise not stop when I say when she sang". And again the song uses a
bit of that quiet-loud dynamic (popularised probably by the Pixies, who
coincidentally the producer of the Colour and the shape, Gil Norton,
recorded with) very well just before it ends on its emotional
crescendo. It still remains a favourite song of the band's and is easy
to see why however they have never played it the proper way in years and
Dave often starts if off singing and playing solo and he is only joined
by the rest of the band in the last minute, which I thought was all
wrong. Perhaps they have changed that since live I don't know, but it
took to see them perform during the live studio session recordings at
Studio 606, which can be found on Youtube, to finally see them play the
way it should be, all together as a band right from the start. So
Everlong is easily one of the most memorable tracks the band has ever
made.
2. My hero
The Foos have written a few songs that kind be described as anthems, the hugely overrated (in my opinion!) Best of You being the main one, but then there is My hero, which is a real rock anthem and still to this day one of the Foos very best songs. The song itself was said to have been a tribute to Kurt Cobain, but Dave has since refuted this by saying the song is more about seeing everyday people as his hero, which he reflects in the chorus where he sings "There goes my hero, watch him as he goes! There goes my hero, he's ordinary!". The structure of the song is also great from the start with the pounding drums coming in followed by Nate's bass and then the guitar line, and then the power chords E5 and C#5. Again Grohl's lyrics are very memorable here "Don't the best of them bleed it out, while the rest of them peter out. Truth or consequence, say it aloud, use that evidence, race it around!". The song also has a great bridge section where it stops for a breath and in builds up again goes back into the chorus and finally the song ends with some good feedback. In short My Hero is a terrific Foos number and it would be mad not to place it on this list.
1. Free me
OK OK OK, so you might wonder and ask the question "why the hell is this song right at the top of the list???" and "why isn't Best of You on here??". Well the reason why for me is Free Me remains one of the band's very best songs and it is criminally underrated and has probably not even been probably played since the In Your Honor tour. Not only that I also think that Best of You is one of the band's most overrated and blandest songs they ever wrote (not a popular opinion I'm sure but that's just the way I see it) so that's why its not here. Free me also probably has the best start to any Foo Fighters song where it begins in a continuous fashion from the previous track (on the In Your Honor) album and the central riff rings out quietly in the background with Dave singing "Free me now, right now, you take me away! Take it from me!" and then it crunches right into it. The lyrics are also great in this song and the way in which the main riff rings out in the background as the verse is played with a clean sound and not distorted is great and its also complimented by the 3/4 time signature. Dave's verse lyrics start with "Beautiful prisoner, left here for dead. Promises made and sentences read. Voices and visions are locked in my head like a safe full of sorrow." which is followed by its great chrous. And the bridge section is also great where Dave sings the lyric "Can you free what's keepin you! Well I need somebody to... FREE ME!!!!" which leads into Dave screaming the title of the song (perhaps that's one of the reasons maybe why they don't play it live so much as there is quite a bit of screaming involved!). The song also has a great rolling rythym on the drums and the guitar just before it ends on E5 with the string bend. So for me this stands as one of the very very best songs the Foo Fighters ever wrote and that's why it sits right at the top of this list and its a pity it remains one of the unsung songs by the band live as it surely deserves to be a regular on their set list.
Sooooooooo that's it for my exhaustive look at my top pick of the best 25 Foo Fighters songs and I hope you enjoyed it, even if you don't agree with it all, but again we all have our own opinions.
And with that I shall leave yeee there.
Sunday 31 August 2014
Foo Fighters - Top 25 songs Part 1
Well OK this is a review blog after all but I thought rather than do yet another review of a film, TV show or a game, I thought I would take a slightly different tack. As I had noticed the other night an article someone had put up analysing their favourite songs of the rock band, The Smashing Pumpkins, so I thought I would give it a go with one of my favourite bands, the Foo Fighters. So this post will cover my pick of the best 25 songs from Dave Grohl, Nate Mandel, Taylor Hawkins, Chris Shifflet and Pat Smear of the Foo Fighters. And there will be a few surprises here and there in this list, as you might think "why haven't you put this song on here???!" but they are simply based on my personal preferences.
So without further ado let's get on with the countdown and I will split this into two parts as it is too long to do in one post so I will cover songs 25-11.
25. Alone + Easy Target
Well its hard to always to start off lists like this as I'm not used to it but I'l start by choosing Alone + easy target from the Foos first album. Dave Grohl largely recorded his band's debut album all by himself and this track was all Dave as he played bass, guitars and drums and he also double tracked his vocals (which he did for most of the album as he was insecured about his own singing voice at the time. The song itself is pretty catchy and I always like the intro to the song and the way the volume slowly raises as well as being recorded using drop D-tuning and the bridge as well of "can't you ever listen?" followed by "get out!" which finishes the song. Its not quite what I'd call a classic Foos song so that's why I've placed it right at the top of the list (or is it bottom?) but its likeable enough and remains one of their most distinguishable songs from the very early days of the band when there was just one man in it. Dave reportedly had originally recorded the song back in 1991 when he was still in Nirvana and played it to be Kurt Cobain who was said to be delighted that he had another songwriter in the band although Dave played it down at the time He was right though.
24. Have it all
So next up is Have it all, which features on the Foos fourth album, One by One, the album itself was never really a favourite of Dave's or the band's anyway its easy too see why as there are some pretty mediocre tracks on it. However Have it all for me is the exception to that rule as it really is something of an underrated and overlooked gem and no doubt remains one of the best songs on it. The song itself has a pretty neat guitar riff throughout it and Dave's lyrics are actually quite good here with the bridge lyrics "I'm everything you're everything I'm not! I'm anything I'm anyone you want!". The song also builds itself up into a pretty good crescendo towards the end as it closes with the rising riff that runs through most of it. And when you give this song another chance it really does make you think the band are missing a trick by overlooking it themselves when playing live.
23. Wind up
Up next for me is Wind up which features on their 2nd album, Colour and the shape, and straight from the get-go its a song that really grabs you with its meaty guitar hook. The song also features a great vocal throat ripping performance from Dave which pretty much was the start of his screeching vocals career and the song itself was a fine example of poppy punk-rock. The lyrics are also pretty good at the bridge section where Dave screeches "MY ONLY PROMISE IS THAT I'LL NEVER TELL! KEEP YOU AT DISTANCE FROM THE THINGS THAT I FELT! I'LL BITE THE BULLET AND TAKE THE BEATING UNTIL I TAKE IT ALL BACK ANYWAY WHAT WAS I SUPPOSE TO SAY!!". The bridge song also features a cool and rather oddly time signatured riff which again shows you how the Foos had already started to develop their own little moments of unique musicianship before it goes back into the chorus. So in short, Wind up is a great little number, catchy, punky with plenty of bite from its frontman.
22. Headwires
Headwires is another nice little mellow track which is often overlooked taken from their most mellow album, There is nothing left to lose, which Dave had recorded when the Foos were just a three piece band with Nate and Taylor (his debut studio album with the band) in his home studio in Virginia. Headwires also has a Police like influence to it with its warm underlying riff but its the chorus the grabs you and pulls you into the song with Dave's lyric "Better than a bullet being fired, tangled in your headwires now". Its also followed with a nice bridge where Dave sings "stationed on the wire, one day I'll let go, tell them all hello". So for me Headwires remains as another hidden gem on of their third studio album with the likes of Learn to Fly and Breakout overshadowing it.
21. Skin and bones
This is a great little acoustic number which featured on the Foos live acoustic set album of the same name and it featured a full accompliment of musicians including keyboardist Rami Jaffee from the Wallhouse flowers and the reappearance of Pat Smear. Skin and bones maintains the band's ability to write catchy little songs that have a sad and morose undercurrent to them yet they are lit up by the Foo's ability to make something negative be positive. The chorus in itself is what really provides the listener the hook that grabs them and makes you appreciate what a nifty track this one really is. The live show DVD also rather amusingly shows Dave at the start before the live show wonder the corridors playing the chorus riff out loud and then as he wanders into a room with his wife and their new baby, Dave plays the notes quietly and gently. So Skin and bones definitely deserves a place on this list.
20. Let it die
Well it had to be in there somewhere as Let it die really is a fine Foos song with its fairly tricky to play riff, it remains one of their more technical songs as well as another fine example of the quiet-loud dynamic they used. The openning riff itself has an almost hypnotic quality to it with Dave's voice quietly coming in before it starts to build up into the heavy rock stuff and it ends with the Grohlster screeching "WHY DID YOU HAVE TO GO AN LET IT DIE?????!!!!". The song was also rumoured to have been about Courtney Love (Kurt Cobain's widow) and it hinted at Grohl's distaste for Courtney and Kurt's volatile relationship with drugs, which could also be mirrored in the song's lyrics "beautiful veins and bloodshoot eyes, why did you have to go and let it die?". But regardless of its real meaning the song itself really is one of the Foos standout tracks and is well worth a listen.
19. A Matter of Time
With the release of Sonic Highways coming in November this year, I thought I would pick at least one track off their most recent album, Wasting Light and I've opted for this one. A matter of time is a really good track and for me its easily one of the best one to be found on Wasting Light, which I personally think is one of their weaker albums, but here they get it right with a good mix of rock and "oohhh" harmonies. But what makes the song so good for me is the pre-chorus part with the unusual riff when Dave sings "it doesn't matter much to me, it doesn't matter much to you. Ooooh!" and the way which it builds into the chorus. So in short a matter of time is an excellent rock track and that's why its on here.
18. The Last Song
This is another underrated and most likely overlooked song from In your honor which features a really good central riff and some good lyrics from the Grohl. The song also features a good bridge with Grohl singing the lyrics "And yours is a name I will never name again. We pretend it doesn't matter, we pretend all the way. We pretend but it ain't no use!". The song also leads nicely into the following one which I will get to later, Free me and its funny as four of the tracks on the album from DOA to Free Me all run continously into one another with no break in between tracks. Anyway The Last Song which Dave says in his lyrics "is the last one I will dedicate to you" is one which is worth dedicating to anyone.
17. Low
Next is Low which is a great rock track and with its fast pace and its full throttle drums it really is a Foos song which grabs you by the throat and makes you listen. It also has a great chorus with Dave's chorus line "taking you as ow as you go" and followed by an even better bridge with a great guitar line behind it. The song was also well noted for its video which was a pretty rowdy one featuring Dave Grohl and Jack Black (the actor and lead singer from the comedy rock duo of Tenacious D) as a pair of rednecks who go to a motel room, get plastered, trash it and dress up in womens' clothing (as you do!) which caused MTV to ban it for its content. So Dave and Jack may have taken it as low as they can go in the song but song itself is something of a high in the list of the Foos and easily deserves a place on the list.
16. Stacked actors
This is another great example of the Foos showing they can rock out and also was an example of Dave Grohl making a statement for his contempt for all things Hollywood after he lived there for over a year in LA and he despised all the actors there as he thought they were all false and inscincere. The song has a great riff which is quite heavy and crunchy sounding thanks to the fact it is recorded in a drop A tuning (the bottom guitar string is tuned down from E to A basically). Dave's lyrics are also worthy of note and the chorus is memorable "Stack dead actors, stacked to the rafters. Line up all the bastards all I want is the truth!". Played by the Foos live its also a standout track and one where they have often have had fun with live by producing extended jams out of it (although it has to be some of their jams live can be a bit tedious at times!). So for me it is a real fav and it deserves its place quite high up the list.
15. Summer's end
Next is Summer's end which is on Echoes, silence patience & grace and its really enjoyable track which produces a sort of nostalgic haze and a warm and fuzzy feeling for the listener. Dave on the track provides a good vocal and the chorus "meet me in the summertime we can move the air. Sweet Virginia countryside, I will meet you there". Its also a leisurely track isn't in a hurry and it takes its time which is also part of its appeal as well as an enjoyable song to play on the guitar (and I play a little but not much a I used to). So I think Summer's end definitely deserves a place on here as it sees the Foos take a nice gentler pace.
14. Stranger things have happened
So far there hasn't been many of the Foos acoustic songs on here and they have done a few which are very worthy of a listen, but this one certainly is worth it which is on the Echoes album, which for me is still one of my favourite albums of theirs. The song itself rather uniquely starts with the sound of a metronome being wound up and set to go before the guitar gently comes in with its gentle yet warmingly emotional riff. The song itself also showcases how good Dave Grohl's voice can be and the range he has as well and the song's chorus remains one of the strongest and powerful to feature in any of their songs, possibly even more so because its an acoustic number. It also features a nice little solo on it which is played (presumably) by Shifflet and the style of the song allows for moments of staccato silence during the solo which adds to the song. The lyrics also underly a very personal message for Dave to his loved ones although who its aimed at is largely ambiguous, like alot of his songs there is no clear person, but it still provides some strong lines such as "I can change, I can change but who do you want me to be?". So Stranger things have happened remains another strong track in the Foos catalogue with its sparse style and its emotional message its also a nice shift from the norm.
13. Word Forward
Word Forward, which features on the Greatest Hits album I felt deserves to be quite high up here as its both sweet and bittersweet as a song and it starts so well with its gentle riff before it rises up with Dave singing "Years I've wasted these I owe you's" and then rips into shouting "They're just fucking words!". The song was actually dedicated to a friend of Dave's, Jimmy, who had passed away, who he had known for years, which is reflected in the lyric "goodbye Jimmy, farewell youth" and Dave talked about it when the band played on MTV Storytellers. The song also has a good bridge section where it rises up some more and the chorus leads into a great ending where it ends on a rather sinister chord (which is E minor 7th I think!). But song is also about moving on and not lingering over the past and it again it signals that good spirit that the Foos bring to their music, so I think it deserves its place on here.
12. Hey, Johnny Park
This for me I think is quite an important Foos song, which is on Colour and the shape, as it was the song that saw the band start to develop their sound and their ability to write emotional songs but at the same time still have that rock element to it. It also starts well with a drum fill and goes into the song with its riff tuned to drop D and then it turns into a gentle more emotional section and with this song Dave starts to show he has a fine singing voice. The lyrics are also good in the chorus where Dave sings "Its impossible, I can't let it out, you'll never know, if I'm selling you out, sit and watch your every mood!" followed by a few "oooohs" (which also started Dave's "ooooohh" trend in his songs!). Dave later said the reason he named the song Johnny Park was because he based it on one of his best friends from childhood and he had never heard of him since he was about 14, and he named it after him in the hope he'd call up! (whether or not he did who knows???). And for me its a great little song which signalled the development of the Foos sound as they were no longer a one man band writing little catchy tracks but saw Dave starting to emerge as a songwriter.
11. Ballad of the Beaconsfield miners
This is a song on the Echoes album which is a rare instrumental track which Dave dedicated to the miners involved in the collapse of a mine in Beaconsfield in Australia. The incident saw 17 people in the mine at the time where 16 of them survived by one was killed and two of the remaining survivors were trapped for two weeks before being rescued. During the incident one of the trapped miners requested an iPod with the Foos In your honor album on it to be sent down, which moved Dave and he later met with the miner and he wrote the track in dedication to the incident. The track itself also shows off Dave's technical skill on playing the guitar using his finger picking (and it remains a track I am frustrated at as I can't play it properly on the guitar!) it shows that while he is no Hendrix he is quite a spangly rhythmic player. Dave was also accompanied on the track by an American guitarist and musical experimentalist, Kaki King, and together its nice little duet and as such one of my favourite Foos tracks which is great little departure from their norm.
And so that's it for Part 1 and I will continue a bit later with part 2 which will continue the countdown with my top 10 pick of the best Foo Fighters tracks.
Till then that's it for now!
So without further ado let's get on with the countdown and I will split this into two parts as it is too long to do in one post so I will cover songs 25-11.
25. Alone + Easy Target
Well its hard to always to start off lists like this as I'm not used to it but I'l start by choosing Alone + easy target from the Foos first album. Dave Grohl largely recorded his band's debut album all by himself and this track was all Dave as he played bass, guitars and drums and he also double tracked his vocals (which he did for most of the album as he was insecured about his own singing voice at the time. The song itself is pretty catchy and I always like the intro to the song and the way the volume slowly raises as well as being recorded using drop D-tuning and the bridge as well of "can't you ever listen?" followed by "get out!" which finishes the song. Its not quite what I'd call a classic Foos song so that's why I've placed it right at the top of the list (or is it bottom?) but its likeable enough and remains one of their most distinguishable songs from the very early days of the band when there was just one man in it. Dave reportedly had originally recorded the song back in 1991 when he was still in Nirvana and played it to be Kurt Cobain who was said to be delighted that he had another songwriter in the band although Dave played it down at the time He was right though.
24. Have it all
So next up is Have it all, which features on the Foos fourth album, One by One, the album itself was never really a favourite of Dave's or the band's anyway its easy too see why as there are some pretty mediocre tracks on it. However Have it all for me is the exception to that rule as it really is something of an underrated and overlooked gem and no doubt remains one of the best songs on it. The song itself has a pretty neat guitar riff throughout it and Dave's lyrics are actually quite good here with the bridge lyrics "I'm everything you're everything I'm not! I'm anything I'm anyone you want!". The song also builds itself up into a pretty good crescendo towards the end as it closes with the rising riff that runs through most of it. And when you give this song another chance it really does make you think the band are missing a trick by overlooking it themselves when playing live.
23. Wind up
Up next for me is Wind up which features on their 2nd album, Colour and the shape, and straight from the get-go its a song that really grabs you with its meaty guitar hook. The song also features a great vocal throat ripping performance from Dave which pretty much was the start of his screeching vocals career and the song itself was a fine example of poppy punk-rock. The lyrics are also pretty good at the bridge section where Dave screeches "MY ONLY PROMISE IS THAT I'LL NEVER TELL! KEEP YOU AT DISTANCE FROM THE THINGS THAT I FELT! I'LL BITE THE BULLET AND TAKE THE BEATING UNTIL I TAKE IT ALL BACK ANYWAY WHAT WAS I SUPPOSE TO SAY!!". The bridge song also features a cool and rather oddly time signatured riff which again shows you how the Foos had already started to develop their own little moments of unique musicianship before it goes back into the chorus. So in short, Wind up is a great little number, catchy, punky with plenty of bite from its frontman.
22. Headwires
Headwires is another nice little mellow track which is often overlooked taken from their most mellow album, There is nothing left to lose, which Dave had recorded when the Foos were just a three piece band with Nate and Taylor (his debut studio album with the band) in his home studio in Virginia. Headwires also has a Police like influence to it with its warm underlying riff but its the chorus the grabs you and pulls you into the song with Dave's lyric "Better than a bullet being fired, tangled in your headwires now". Its also followed with a nice bridge where Dave sings "stationed on the wire, one day I'll let go, tell them all hello". So for me Headwires remains as another hidden gem on of their third studio album with the likes of Learn to Fly and Breakout overshadowing it.
21. Skin and bones
This is a great little acoustic number which featured on the Foos live acoustic set album of the same name and it featured a full accompliment of musicians including keyboardist Rami Jaffee from the Wallhouse flowers and the reappearance of Pat Smear. Skin and bones maintains the band's ability to write catchy little songs that have a sad and morose undercurrent to them yet they are lit up by the Foo's ability to make something negative be positive. The chorus in itself is what really provides the listener the hook that grabs them and makes you appreciate what a nifty track this one really is. The live show DVD also rather amusingly shows Dave at the start before the live show wonder the corridors playing the chorus riff out loud and then as he wanders into a room with his wife and their new baby, Dave plays the notes quietly and gently. So Skin and bones definitely deserves a place on this list.
20. Let it die
Well it had to be in there somewhere as Let it die really is a fine Foos song with its fairly tricky to play riff, it remains one of their more technical songs as well as another fine example of the quiet-loud dynamic they used. The openning riff itself has an almost hypnotic quality to it with Dave's voice quietly coming in before it starts to build up into the heavy rock stuff and it ends with the Grohlster screeching "WHY DID YOU HAVE TO GO AN LET IT DIE?????!!!!". The song was also rumoured to have been about Courtney Love (Kurt Cobain's widow) and it hinted at Grohl's distaste for Courtney and Kurt's volatile relationship with drugs, which could also be mirrored in the song's lyrics "beautiful veins and bloodshoot eyes, why did you have to go and let it die?". But regardless of its real meaning the song itself really is one of the Foos standout tracks and is well worth a listen.
19. A Matter of Time
With the release of Sonic Highways coming in November this year, I thought I would pick at least one track off their most recent album, Wasting Light and I've opted for this one. A matter of time is a really good track and for me its easily one of the best one to be found on Wasting Light, which I personally think is one of their weaker albums, but here they get it right with a good mix of rock and "oohhh" harmonies. But what makes the song so good for me is the pre-chorus part with the unusual riff when Dave sings "it doesn't matter much to me, it doesn't matter much to you. Ooooh!" and the way which it builds into the chorus. So in short a matter of time is an excellent rock track and that's why its on here.
18. The Last Song
This is another underrated and most likely overlooked song from In your honor which features a really good central riff and some good lyrics from the Grohl. The song also features a good bridge with Grohl singing the lyrics "And yours is a name I will never name again. We pretend it doesn't matter, we pretend all the way. We pretend but it ain't no use!". The song also leads nicely into the following one which I will get to later, Free me and its funny as four of the tracks on the album from DOA to Free Me all run continously into one another with no break in between tracks. Anyway The Last Song which Dave says in his lyrics "is the last one I will dedicate to you" is one which is worth dedicating to anyone.
17. Low
Next is Low which is a great rock track and with its fast pace and its full throttle drums it really is a Foos song which grabs you by the throat and makes you listen. It also has a great chorus with Dave's chorus line "taking you as ow as you go" and followed by an even better bridge with a great guitar line behind it. The song was also well noted for its video which was a pretty rowdy one featuring Dave Grohl and Jack Black (the actor and lead singer from the comedy rock duo of Tenacious D) as a pair of rednecks who go to a motel room, get plastered, trash it and dress up in womens' clothing (as you do!) which caused MTV to ban it for its content. So Dave and Jack may have taken it as low as they can go in the song but song itself is something of a high in the list of the Foos and easily deserves a place on the list.
16. Stacked actors
This is another great example of the Foos showing they can rock out and also was an example of Dave Grohl making a statement for his contempt for all things Hollywood after he lived there for over a year in LA and he despised all the actors there as he thought they were all false and inscincere. The song has a great riff which is quite heavy and crunchy sounding thanks to the fact it is recorded in a drop A tuning (the bottom guitar string is tuned down from E to A basically). Dave's lyrics are also worthy of note and the chorus is memorable "Stack dead actors, stacked to the rafters. Line up all the bastards all I want is the truth!". Played by the Foos live its also a standout track and one where they have often have had fun with live by producing extended jams out of it (although it has to be some of their jams live can be a bit tedious at times!). So for me it is a real fav and it deserves its place quite high up the list.
15. Summer's end
Next is Summer's end which is on Echoes, silence patience & grace and its really enjoyable track which produces a sort of nostalgic haze and a warm and fuzzy feeling for the listener. Dave on the track provides a good vocal and the chorus "meet me in the summertime we can move the air. Sweet Virginia countryside, I will meet you there". Its also a leisurely track isn't in a hurry and it takes its time which is also part of its appeal as well as an enjoyable song to play on the guitar (and I play a little but not much a I used to). So I think Summer's end definitely deserves a place on here as it sees the Foos take a nice gentler pace.
14. Stranger things have happened
So far there hasn't been many of the Foos acoustic songs on here and they have done a few which are very worthy of a listen, but this one certainly is worth it which is on the Echoes album, which for me is still one of my favourite albums of theirs. The song itself rather uniquely starts with the sound of a metronome being wound up and set to go before the guitar gently comes in with its gentle yet warmingly emotional riff. The song itself also showcases how good Dave Grohl's voice can be and the range he has as well and the song's chorus remains one of the strongest and powerful to feature in any of their songs, possibly even more so because its an acoustic number. It also features a nice little solo on it which is played (presumably) by Shifflet and the style of the song allows for moments of staccato silence during the solo which adds to the song. The lyrics also underly a very personal message for Dave to his loved ones although who its aimed at is largely ambiguous, like alot of his songs there is no clear person, but it still provides some strong lines such as "I can change, I can change but who do you want me to be?". So Stranger things have happened remains another strong track in the Foos catalogue with its sparse style and its emotional message its also a nice shift from the norm.
13. Word Forward
Word Forward, which features on the Greatest Hits album I felt deserves to be quite high up here as its both sweet and bittersweet as a song and it starts so well with its gentle riff before it rises up with Dave singing "Years I've wasted these I owe you's" and then rips into shouting "They're just fucking words!". The song was actually dedicated to a friend of Dave's, Jimmy, who had passed away, who he had known for years, which is reflected in the lyric "goodbye Jimmy, farewell youth" and Dave talked about it when the band played on MTV Storytellers. The song also has a good bridge section where it rises up some more and the chorus leads into a great ending where it ends on a rather sinister chord (which is E minor 7th I think!). But song is also about moving on and not lingering over the past and it again it signals that good spirit that the Foos bring to their music, so I think it deserves its place on here.
12. Hey, Johnny Park
This for me I think is quite an important Foos song, which is on Colour and the shape, as it was the song that saw the band start to develop their sound and their ability to write emotional songs but at the same time still have that rock element to it. It also starts well with a drum fill and goes into the song with its riff tuned to drop D and then it turns into a gentle more emotional section and with this song Dave starts to show he has a fine singing voice. The lyrics are also good in the chorus where Dave sings "Its impossible, I can't let it out, you'll never know, if I'm selling you out, sit and watch your every mood!" followed by a few "oooohs" (which also started Dave's "ooooohh" trend in his songs!). Dave later said the reason he named the song Johnny Park was because he based it on one of his best friends from childhood and he had never heard of him since he was about 14, and he named it after him in the hope he'd call up! (whether or not he did who knows???). And for me its a great little song which signalled the development of the Foos sound as they were no longer a one man band writing little catchy tracks but saw Dave starting to emerge as a songwriter.
11. Ballad of the Beaconsfield miners
This is a song on the Echoes album which is a rare instrumental track which Dave dedicated to the miners involved in the collapse of a mine in Beaconsfield in Australia. The incident saw 17 people in the mine at the time where 16 of them survived by one was killed and two of the remaining survivors were trapped for two weeks before being rescued. During the incident one of the trapped miners requested an iPod with the Foos In your honor album on it to be sent down, which moved Dave and he later met with the miner and he wrote the track in dedication to the incident. The track itself also shows off Dave's technical skill on playing the guitar using his finger picking (and it remains a track I am frustrated at as I can't play it properly on the guitar!) it shows that while he is no Hendrix he is quite a spangly rhythmic player. Dave was also accompanied on the track by an American guitarist and musical experimentalist, Kaki King, and together its nice little duet and as such one of my favourite Foos tracks which is great little departure from their norm.
And so that's it for Part 1 and I will continue a bit later with part 2 which will continue the countdown with my top 10 pick of the best Foo Fighters tracks.
Till then that's it for now!
Sunday 24 August 2014
Doctor Who: Take a deep breath....
OK so this is a bit of a historical post (well more current affairs really and no I don't mean the news) as it will cover the beginning of an new era in Doctor Who as I went and saw the first episode of the 12th Doctor's era tonight, played by Peter Capaldi who makes his debut as the Time Lord. So let's load up and have a look at this un..... (AND A FEW PLOT SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!)
So the story begins in Victorian London, where a dinosaur roams the city and it suddenly spits out a police box, the TARDIS which crash lands on a beach (upright!). Madame Vastra (Neve McIntosh) a Silurian, along with her human maid and wife Jenny (Catrin Stewart) and her Sontaran butler, Strax (Dan Starkey) arrive at the scene and as they approach the TARDIS, the doors open and the newly regenerated twelfth doctor (Capaldi) emerges babbling incoherently as he appears to be talking the dinosaur, he soon becomes overwhelmed and blacks out. Vastra, Jenny and Strax then take the Doctor and his companion Clara Oswald (Jenna Coleman) back to Vastra's residence where the Doctor continues rambling away until Vastra tricks him into sleeping, however during his sleep he senses the dinosaur's thoughts and speaks out loud about the creature's loneliness. Vastra in the meantime speaks with Clara, who is unhappy with the Doctor's new change of appearance as well as his erratic personality.
The Doctor meanwhile awakens and makes his way down to the river as he hears the dinosaur's pleas but when he arrives the dinosaur bursts into flames. The Doctor is soon joined by Clara, Vastra and the others and he angrily seeks answers and asks if there has been any other deaths by spontaneous combustion, which Vastra confirms there has been. The Doctor then dives into the Thames as he spots a man walking in the distance unfazed by the death of the dinosaur and he begins to investigate. Meanwhile Clara returns to Vastra's residence where Clara spots an ad in a newspaper which says "The Impossible Girl" which is a reference to herself (from the previous series) which points to a restaurant in London. Clara thinks the Doctor placed this ad and goes to the restaurant where she meets the Doctor, who tells her he didn't send and that there is something seriously wrong with the occupants who appear to be eating meals but turn out to be robots. The Doctor realises they have walked into a trap and as they try to leave the robots stop them and they are taken down to a lower level where they find the man from earlier, who is sat in the chair, and is in fact a cyborg. The Doctor examines the inert cyborg who is made up of parts of other people's bodies, however the man starts to awaken as do the other robots and from here the Doctor and Clara must find a way to escape from and defeat the deadly robots.
As the first story of a new era in the show, Deep Breath is a very entertaining episode and it does a fine job of introducing the new Doctor played by Peter Capaldi. Peter Capaldi himself is great in the role as the Doctor and he plays him with a hint of the raw sarcasm that he brought to his unforgettable character Malcolm Tucker, from the political satire, The Thick of It, but at the same time he also shows the essential goodness and eccentric qualities the Doctor has. Peter also get's some priceless dialogue to deliver as Steven Moffatt has written a very funny and clever script and naturally he has some real highlights in the story. Such as the scene where he first arrives in London and opens the door and sees Strax and tells him to "shush!" and then proceeds to babble on about him being one of the seven dwarves! Later on he has a funny scene where the Doctor speaks with a tramp and he starts to mimic the sounds that 10th Doctor made i.e. the "ooooohhhh!" and he realises he has a Scottish accent and he says "I'm Scottish! I'm Scottish! That's good! I can complain! I like complaining!" and goes on about how severe his new eyebrows are! Also the scene where he paces around the bedroom at Madame Vastra's residence and babbles away saying "What's the point of having a room you only sleep in and leave when you are awake! And don't look in that mirror its absolutely furious!!". Also in the scene the Doctor whinges on about how Clara and Jenny "both have the same accent! You are both talking in English! You've developed a fault!" and then Madame Vastra has the idea of talking to the Doctor in a Scottish accent and he sighs with relief and says "Finally! Someone who can talk properly!". So for his first episode, Peter really does well with his role and he embraces the comedy as well as the drama effortlessly and you just know he's going to have a ball with this part.
As for the other cast members, Jenna Coleman is fine (and fine!) as the Doctor's companion Clara, and she plays Clara's alarm and concern over the Doctor's change of personality and appearance very well, and how she struggles to adapt to his new regeneration. And thankfully Peter and Jenna both share a nice onscreen chemistry with one another as the two of them work very well together onscreen. This is particularly noticeable in the scene where they meet in the restaurant and Clara argues with the Doctor about her egomania and the Doctor starts to notice the peculiar behaviour of the soon to be revealed robotic diners and he says to her to never mind about her egomania and Clara says "nothing is more important than my egomania!". And later on they both share a nice moment where the Doctor has supposedly taken Clara back home to London in her time, but she can't bring herself to want to travel with the Doctor anymore, but she receives a phone call which changes her mind. And the Doctor then reveals to Clara that they are actually in Glasgow and he overshot the mark and Clara says "Oh, you'll fit right in!". Jenna has another good scene aswell where she is temporarily abandoned by the Doctor in the robotic lair and she is forced to confront the cyborg leader.
As for the other cast members, Neve McIntosh, Catrin Stewart both reprise their roles nicely as Madame Vastra and Jenny respectively, who are of course a married couple (nice!). And Dan Starkey almost steals the show as Vastra's Sontaran butler, who was actually a nurse in the Sontaran army. Starkey has some hilarious scenes in the story as well such as the scene where he tells Clara that the Doctor will return soon and "then we will disintegrate him in acid!" remembering the creed of his race as the Doctor was their sworn enemy and he says "Sorry old habit!". Another funny scene is where Strax in his butler outfit says to Clara "may I take your coat?" and she says "I don't have one!" and he says to her "Well what are you wearing?" and she says "clothes" and he says "Well can I take your clothes?!". And later he asks Clara if she wants to read the newspaper and she says yes and as he is down below and he throws the paper mightily up at Clara who is it right in the face and knocked off her feet! And as I saw the episode in the GFT cinema we were treated to a five minute teaser clip with Strax providing a hilarious overview of the Doctor's regenerations and he mocks each of the Doctor's incarnations for their facial and personality traits. And lastly Peter Ferdinando provides an effectively creepy performance as the story's villain, half-faced man, who's CGI make-up is quite impressive as we see half his face is human skin while the other half is transparently mechanical.
As for the new title sequence for the show its quite impressive with the cogs and clock faces as well as the glimmer of Peter Capaldi's unmistakable eyebrows! The new version of the title theme isn't anything great but the music for the story is actually quite good and again it is composed by the show's regular composer Murray Gold. And Steven Moffat's script for the story as previously mentioned is really funny and well written and it provides a perfect intro for the new Doctor.
So that's it for my look at Deep Breath which sees Peter Capaldi's reign as the twelfth doctor get under way in fine style and it bodes well for the rest of the season over its 12 episode run.
And on that note I shall bid yee goodnight!
So the story begins in Victorian London, where a dinosaur roams the city and it suddenly spits out a police box, the TARDIS which crash lands on a beach (upright!). Madame Vastra (Neve McIntosh) a Silurian, along with her human maid and wife Jenny (Catrin Stewart) and her Sontaran butler, Strax (Dan Starkey) arrive at the scene and as they approach the TARDIS, the doors open and the newly regenerated twelfth doctor (Capaldi) emerges babbling incoherently as he appears to be talking the dinosaur, he soon becomes overwhelmed and blacks out. Vastra, Jenny and Strax then take the Doctor and his companion Clara Oswald (Jenna Coleman) back to Vastra's residence where the Doctor continues rambling away until Vastra tricks him into sleeping, however during his sleep he senses the dinosaur's thoughts and speaks out loud about the creature's loneliness. Vastra in the meantime speaks with Clara, who is unhappy with the Doctor's new change of appearance as well as his erratic personality.
The Doctor meanwhile awakens and makes his way down to the river as he hears the dinosaur's pleas but when he arrives the dinosaur bursts into flames. The Doctor is soon joined by Clara, Vastra and the others and he angrily seeks answers and asks if there has been any other deaths by spontaneous combustion, which Vastra confirms there has been. The Doctor then dives into the Thames as he spots a man walking in the distance unfazed by the death of the dinosaur and he begins to investigate. Meanwhile Clara returns to Vastra's residence where Clara spots an ad in a newspaper which says "The Impossible Girl" which is a reference to herself (from the previous series) which points to a restaurant in London. Clara thinks the Doctor placed this ad and goes to the restaurant where she meets the Doctor, who tells her he didn't send and that there is something seriously wrong with the occupants who appear to be eating meals but turn out to be robots. The Doctor realises they have walked into a trap and as they try to leave the robots stop them and they are taken down to a lower level where they find the man from earlier, who is sat in the chair, and is in fact a cyborg. The Doctor examines the inert cyborg who is made up of parts of other people's bodies, however the man starts to awaken as do the other robots and from here the Doctor and Clara must find a way to escape from and defeat the deadly robots.
As the first story of a new era in the show, Deep Breath is a very entertaining episode and it does a fine job of introducing the new Doctor played by Peter Capaldi. Peter Capaldi himself is great in the role as the Doctor and he plays him with a hint of the raw sarcasm that he brought to his unforgettable character Malcolm Tucker, from the political satire, The Thick of It, but at the same time he also shows the essential goodness and eccentric qualities the Doctor has. Peter also get's some priceless dialogue to deliver as Steven Moffatt has written a very funny and clever script and naturally he has some real highlights in the story. Such as the scene where he first arrives in London and opens the door and sees Strax and tells him to "shush!" and then proceeds to babble on about him being one of the seven dwarves! Later on he has a funny scene where the Doctor speaks with a tramp and he starts to mimic the sounds that 10th Doctor made i.e. the "ooooohhhh!" and he realises he has a Scottish accent and he says "I'm Scottish! I'm Scottish! That's good! I can complain! I like complaining!" and goes on about how severe his new eyebrows are! Also the scene where he paces around the bedroom at Madame Vastra's residence and babbles away saying "What's the point of having a room you only sleep in and leave when you are awake! And don't look in that mirror its absolutely furious!!". Also in the scene the Doctor whinges on about how Clara and Jenny "both have the same accent! You are both talking in English! You've developed a fault!" and then Madame Vastra has the idea of talking to the Doctor in a Scottish accent and he sighs with relief and says "Finally! Someone who can talk properly!". So for his first episode, Peter really does well with his role and he embraces the comedy as well as the drama effortlessly and you just know he's going to have a ball with this part.
As for the other cast members, Jenna Coleman is fine (and fine!) as the Doctor's companion Clara, and she plays Clara's alarm and concern over the Doctor's change of personality and appearance very well, and how she struggles to adapt to his new regeneration. And thankfully Peter and Jenna both share a nice onscreen chemistry with one another as the two of them work very well together onscreen. This is particularly noticeable in the scene where they meet in the restaurant and Clara argues with the Doctor about her egomania and the Doctor starts to notice the peculiar behaviour of the soon to be revealed robotic diners and he says to her to never mind about her egomania and Clara says "nothing is more important than my egomania!". And later on they both share a nice moment where the Doctor has supposedly taken Clara back home to London in her time, but she can't bring herself to want to travel with the Doctor anymore, but she receives a phone call which changes her mind. And the Doctor then reveals to Clara that they are actually in Glasgow and he overshot the mark and Clara says "Oh, you'll fit right in!". Jenna has another good scene aswell where she is temporarily abandoned by the Doctor in the robotic lair and she is forced to confront the cyborg leader.
As for the other cast members, Neve McIntosh, Catrin Stewart both reprise their roles nicely as Madame Vastra and Jenny respectively, who are of course a married couple (nice!). And Dan Starkey almost steals the show as Vastra's Sontaran butler, who was actually a nurse in the Sontaran army. Starkey has some hilarious scenes in the story as well such as the scene where he tells Clara that the Doctor will return soon and "then we will disintegrate him in acid!" remembering the creed of his race as the Doctor was their sworn enemy and he says "Sorry old habit!". Another funny scene is where Strax in his butler outfit says to Clara "may I take your coat?" and she says "I don't have one!" and he says to her "Well what are you wearing?" and she says "clothes" and he says "Well can I take your clothes?!". And later he asks Clara if she wants to read the newspaper and she says yes and as he is down below and he throws the paper mightily up at Clara who is it right in the face and knocked off her feet! And as I saw the episode in the GFT cinema we were treated to a five minute teaser clip with Strax providing a hilarious overview of the Doctor's regenerations and he mocks each of the Doctor's incarnations for their facial and personality traits. And lastly Peter Ferdinando provides an effectively creepy performance as the story's villain, half-faced man, who's CGI make-up is quite impressive as we see half his face is human skin while the other half is transparently mechanical.
As for the new title sequence for the show its quite impressive with the cogs and clock faces as well as the glimmer of Peter Capaldi's unmistakable eyebrows! The new version of the title theme isn't anything great but the music for the story is actually quite good and again it is composed by the show's regular composer Murray Gold. And Steven Moffat's script for the story as previously mentioned is really funny and well written and it provides a perfect intro for the new Doctor.
So that's it for my look at Deep Breath which sees Peter Capaldi's reign as the twelfth doctor get under way in fine style and it bodes well for the rest of the season over its 12 episode run.
And on that note I shall bid yee goodnight!
Thursday 21 August 2014
Batman Arkham City
OK so here is another post salvaged from my other blog and this is another one I will update and expand which is on the video game Batman Arkham City, which was a critical and commercial success on its release so I thought it warrants a place on this blog. So let's give it a looksee....
So the plot focuses on Bruce Wayne (voiced by Kevin Conroy, who previously did Arkham Asylum) at the start of the game being captured by the villanous Hugo Strange (Corey Burton), and left at the mercy of the prison population of Arkham City. Arkham City itself is a section of Gotham City that has been closed off and populated by the low life, criminals and other villains that inhabit or inhabited Gotham. Wayne is left to the limited mercy of the Penguin (Nolan North), but he manages to escape and climbs to the rooftops where he contacts his butler Alfred, who sends him a package with his batman suit. Wayne puts on his Batman outfit and then scouts Arkham City to try and locate Catwoman (Grey DeLisle) who has been captured by Harvey "Two-Face" Dent (Troy Baker). Batman soon finds Catwoman and rescues her from Two Face who he ties up over a pit of acid and leaves him there, but at this point a bullet is fired at Catwoman, which misses. Batman then scans and analyses the trajectory of the bullet to where it came from, and soon finds out that the Joker was behind the assassination. Batman on tracking down the Joker finds out that his arch-villain has been infected with a compound known as Titan that is slowly killing him, and Joker captures Batman and straps him to a chair, wired up to a drip which Joker has injected his blood into Batman. Joker then kicks Batman through a window, who now has to try and find a cure, as he too will die if he doesn't. Batman then tries to locate Freeze, who he believes may have the cure for the Titan virus, but after a battle between the two, Freeze tells him there is no known cure, but there is one hope that if he can mix a compound which he created with an old foe of Batman's, Ra's Al Ghul, then he might have a chance to survive. In the meantime Hugo Strange is planning on using his Titan compound to wipe out the population of Arkham City, which he calls Protocol 10. So Batman has to both try and find the cure for the Titan formulae and stop Protocol 10 from happening.
Batman Arkham City is a terrific follow up to the excellent Batman Arkham Asylum, and it features a great cast of villains and colourful characters. The voice acting here is top notch, with Kevin Conroy giving a fine performance as Batman, and he always voices the dark knight with such great confidence, although at times he does make Batman sounds quite arrogant. Mark Hamill also makes a great return as the demented and villainous Joker, and plays the character with usual amount of insane glee and viciousness. It also highlights what a good actor Mark Hamill really is, and how underrated he is as a performer, whether he is on screen or behind it. The other voice actors are also very good, such as Nolan North as The Penguin, David Kaye as James Gordon and Corey Burton as Hugo Strange. The plot throughout is also really compelling and it keeps you interested in what is going on, and it helps with the voice acting being of such a high calibre.
Gameplay wise, Arkham City is superb, as the controls are very easy to use and the combat system is great as the Batman's combos in hand to hand combat have been enhanced and like in Asylm he gains experience points which allows him to upgrade his attacks, stealth skills as well as upgrade other things like his armour and equipment. Batman also faces some stern tests combat wise in the game as well as there are several game bosses and the enemies also get tougher as you go on as some of them heavily are armoured, some also have knives, stun batons and even shields. And in these instances Batman has to either deploy a powerful series of combo attacks to take them down or attack them from behind in order to disarm the foes. Batman also can make good use of his stealth skills throughout the game as he can sneak up on baddies and incapacitate them by employing a chokehold or simply knocking them out from behind, or even diving on them from above or in some instance Batman can pull them through wooden walls to perform a takedown.
The game also features some new gadgets as well for Batman such as smoke bombs which allows Batman to take cover when he is under fire from enemies, a remote electric charge (REC) gun which Batman uses to charge up motors temporarily as well as stun enemies. Gadgets from the previous game are also enhanced with more upgrades such as the cryptographic sequencer which is used to unlock security coded doors can now be used montior shortwave radio channels. The line launcher can now also be used as as a tightrope to allow Batman to move to other areas e.g. rooftops and Batman can even use it to change direction during flight. Batman can also movement wise also use his cape to glide around the city and the game features a new move, the dive bomb where Batman can use his body and his cape to dive down to gather more speed to move faster around the city. Batman also as usual can utilise his detective vision mode in which he can see through walls and look for clues to crimes as well as monitor the reaction status of his enemies. You also get to play as Catwoman, which is no bad thing in itself as she is a rather sexily rendered character (move a fine bottom, pervy I know sorry!) and she too also has her own combos for hand to hand combat as well as gadgets for self defence and her whip. Catwoman's playable campaign is somewhat smaller though than Batman's is but it still presents enough interest to give it a go.
Graphics wise the game also looks stunning and the environments are vast and quite varied as well as you can literally spend hours and hours running and moving around the city from the rooftops inside buildings as well going underground into the sewers. The characters models are also very impressive with Batman cutting a muscly and imposing figure and in a similar vein to Arkham Asylym, Batman's suit sustains more wear and tear as well as a few scars for the dark knight as the game progresses due to his many fights with the thugs of in Arkham. The other character models are also very good and the game's cutscenes are also very impressive and again the game makes use of the bullet time effect when Batman finishes off his last opponent when he takes on multiple enemies at once.
And another one of the game's strengths is its music score which is superb and was composed by Ron Fish and Nick Arundel and it features many dramatic passages which perfectly suit the tone of the game and it also has a terrific main theme for the game as well. The score does closely mirror Hans Zimmer's scores for the Christopher Nolan Batman films in places but it also provides its own style as well and it ranks easily as one of the best video game music scores you will hear.
As for the game's flaws.... well Arkham city get's so much right its hard to quibble too much but there are still one or two frustrations here and there. The first one that springs to mind is the dive bomb move is a pain in the arse to get right and you have to try and perfect it to get it right as you will really need it for the fantasy sequence where Batman enters the dreamworld created by Ra's Al Ghul, where Batman has to dive bomb following the visual outline of a path and if you do it wrong you will die over and over and will have to start it again. So it remains one of the biggest annoyances of the game in trying to get that move right although once you do its not too bad but for me personally it took ages to get right! Another thing is whilst the game's environments are huge and very impressive they are almost too big and you can literally spend about half an hour after Batman has finished a mission or fighting a game boss that you need to spend forever getting to your next location. As an example one mission has Batman do some fighting underground in the subways of Arkham and afterwards he has to spend forever running to reach ground level again and then to find his next destination! Arkham origins actually went by some way to fix this issue by allowing Batman to perform certain drop offs using his Bat plane (or is it the Bat as it was called in The Dark Knight Rises??) on auto pilot but this only for specific drop off points however.
And lastly some of the boss battles do present a decent challenge but the most difficult one is Solomon Grundy, the monsterous oversized villain who is chained up and used by the Penguin to try and kill Batman. And in the battle at one point Batman has to try and use his explosive gel gun to disable the floor points where the electrical charges are being generated that allow Grundy to use his ball and chain to launch a devastating electrical shockwave to knock Batman off his feet. And the pain in the ass here is that Batman has only a limited time to use his explosive gel and detonate it before he get's hit by one of the shockwaves which damages his health bar and he will die of course if he is hit enough! And the action of using the explosive gel just takes way too long to allow for Batman to get up in time before he can dive out of the wave of the shockwaves, which is HUGE pain in the posterior and one of the bits of the game that had me nearly tearing my hair out!
But that all aside Batman Arkham City is a terrific game and with its very lengthy and high quality single player campaign (which lasts at least 25 hours or so) its well worth giving it a go if you haven't already as there is much to enjoy here especially if you are liked Arkham Asylum.
And so with that I shall call it a night.
Night!
So the plot focuses on Bruce Wayne (voiced by Kevin Conroy, who previously did Arkham Asylum) at the start of the game being captured by the villanous Hugo Strange (Corey Burton), and left at the mercy of the prison population of Arkham City. Arkham City itself is a section of Gotham City that has been closed off and populated by the low life, criminals and other villains that inhabit or inhabited Gotham. Wayne is left to the limited mercy of the Penguin (Nolan North), but he manages to escape and climbs to the rooftops where he contacts his butler Alfred, who sends him a package with his batman suit. Wayne puts on his Batman outfit and then scouts Arkham City to try and locate Catwoman (Grey DeLisle) who has been captured by Harvey "Two-Face" Dent (Troy Baker). Batman soon finds Catwoman and rescues her from Two Face who he ties up over a pit of acid and leaves him there, but at this point a bullet is fired at Catwoman, which misses. Batman then scans and analyses the trajectory of the bullet to where it came from, and soon finds out that the Joker was behind the assassination. Batman on tracking down the Joker finds out that his arch-villain has been infected with a compound known as Titan that is slowly killing him, and Joker captures Batman and straps him to a chair, wired up to a drip which Joker has injected his blood into Batman. Joker then kicks Batman through a window, who now has to try and find a cure, as he too will die if he doesn't. Batman then tries to locate Freeze, who he believes may have the cure for the Titan virus, but after a battle between the two, Freeze tells him there is no known cure, but there is one hope that if he can mix a compound which he created with an old foe of Batman's, Ra's Al Ghul, then he might have a chance to survive. In the meantime Hugo Strange is planning on using his Titan compound to wipe out the population of Arkham City, which he calls Protocol 10. So Batman has to both try and find the cure for the Titan formulae and stop Protocol 10 from happening.
Batman Arkham City is a terrific follow up to the excellent Batman Arkham Asylum, and it features a great cast of villains and colourful characters. The voice acting here is top notch, with Kevin Conroy giving a fine performance as Batman, and he always voices the dark knight with such great confidence, although at times he does make Batman sounds quite arrogant. Mark Hamill also makes a great return as the demented and villainous Joker, and plays the character with usual amount of insane glee and viciousness. It also highlights what a good actor Mark Hamill really is, and how underrated he is as a performer, whether he is on screen or behind it. The other voice actors are also very good, such as Nolan North as The Penguin, David Kaye as James Gordon and Corey Burton as Hugo Strange. The plot throughout is also really compelling and it keeps you interested in what is going on, and it helps with the voice acting being of such a high calibre.
Gameplay wise, Arkham City is superb, as the controls are very easy to use and the combat system is great as the Batman's combos in hand to hand combat have been enhanced and like in Asylm he gains experience points which allows him to upgrade his attacks, stealth skills as well as upgrade other things like his armour and equipment. Batman also faces some stern tests combat wise in the game as well as there are several game bosses and the enemies also get tougher as you go on as some of them heavily are armoured, some also have knives, stun batons and even shields. And in these instances Batman has to either deploy a powerful series of combo attacks to take them down or attack them from behind in order to disarm the foes. Batman also can make good use of his stealth skills throughout the game as he can sneak up on baddies and incapacitate them by employing a chokehold or simply knocking them out from behind, or even diving on them from above or in some instance Batman can pull them through wooden walls to perform a takedown.
The game also features some new gadgets as well for Batman such as smoke bombs which allows Batman to take cover when he is under fire from enemies, a remote electric charge (REC) gun which Batman uses to charge up motors temporarily as well as stun enemies. Gadgets from the previous game are also enhanced with more upgrades such as the cryptographic sequencer which is used to unlock security coded doors can now be used montior shortwave radio channels. The line launcher can now also be used as as a tightrope to allow Batman to move to other areas e.g. rooftops and Batman can even use it to change direction during flight. Batman can also movement wise also use his cape to glide around the city and the game features a new move, the dive bomb where Batman can use his body and his cape to dive down to gather more speed to move faster around the city. Batman also as usual can utilise his detective vision mode in which he can see through walls and look for clues to crimes as well as monitor the reaction status of his enemies. You also get to play as Catwoman, which is no bad thing in itself as she is a rather sexily rendered character (move a fine bottom, pervy I know sorry!) and she too also has her own combos for hand to hand combat as well as gadgets for self defence and her whip. Catwoman's playable campaign is somewhat smaller though than Batman's is but it still presents enough interest to give it a go.
Graphics wise the game also looks stunning and the environments are vast and quite varied as well as you can literally spend hours and hours running and moving around the city from the rooftops inside buildings as well going underground into the sewers. The characters models are also very impressive with Batman cutting a muscly and imposing figure and in a similar vein to Arkham Asylym, Batman's suit sustains more wear and tear as well as a few scars for the dark knight as the game progresses due to his many fights with the thugs of in Arkham. The other character models are also very good and the game's cutscenes are also very impressive and again the game makes use of the bullet time effect when Batman finishes off his last opponent when he takes on multiple enemies at once.
And another one of the game's strengths is its music score which is superb and was composed by Ron Fish and Nick Arundel and it features many dramatic passages which perfectly suit the tone of the game and it also has a terrific main theme for the game as well. The score does closely mirror Hans Zimmer's scores for the Christopher Nolan Batman films in places but it also provides its own style as well and it ranks easily as one of the best video game music scores you will hear.
As for the game's flaws.... well Arkham city get's so much right its hard to quibble too much but there are still one or two frustrations here and there. The first one that springs to mind is the dive bomb move is a pain in the arse to get right and you have to try and perfect it to get it right as you will really need it for the fantasy sequence where Batman enters the dreamworld created by Ra's Al Ghul, where Batman has to dive bomb following the visual outline of a path and if you do it wrong you will die over and over and will have to start it again. So it remains one of the biggest annoyances of the game in trying to get that move right although once you do its not too bad but for me personally it took ages to get right! Another thing is whilst the game's environments are huge and very impressive they are almost too big and you can literally spend about half an hour after Batman has finished a mission or fighting a game boss that you need to spend forever getting to your next location. As an example one mission has Batman do some fighting underground in the subways of Arkham and afterwards he has to spend forever running to reach ground level again and then to find his next destination! Arkham origins actually went by some way to fix this issue by allowing Batman to perform certain drop offs using his Bat plane (or is it the Bat as it was called in The Dark Knight Rises??) on auto pilot but this only for specific drop off points however.
And lastly some of the boss battles do present a decent challenge but the most difficult one is Solomon Grundy, the monsterous oversized villain who is chained up and used by the Penguin to try and kill Batman. And in the battle at one point Batman has to try and use his explosive gel gun to disable the floor points where the electrical charges are being generated that allow Grundy to use his ball and chain to launch a devastating electrical shockwave to knock Batman off his feet. And the pain in the ass here is that Batman has only a limited time to use his explosive gel and detonate it before he get's hit by one of the shockwaves which damages his health bar and he will die of course if he is hit enough! And the action of using the explosive gel just takes way too long to allow for Batman to get up in time before he can dive out of the wave of the shockwaves, which is HUGE pain in the posterior and one of the bits of the game that had me nearly tearing my hair out!
But that all aside Batman Arkham City is a terrific game and with its very lengthy and high quality single player campaign (which lasts at least 25 hours or so) its well worth giving it a go if you haven't already as there is much to enjoy here especially if you are liked Arkham Asylum.
And so with that I shall call it a night.
Night!
Monday 18 August 2014
Jaws "We're gonna need a bigger boat!"
Right OK so this is a bit of blog shifting once again as this post was actually on my tennis blog back when I stuffed it with other posts on reviews and other stuff and I can't believe I didn't spot it until now. So this one is on a rather popular film called Jaws, directed by some fella called Steven Spielberg made back in 1975 (the year I was born funnily enough!) and I think it deserves an airing here. So let's get the waders on, get the poison covered spearhook and dive in.....
Soooo, it starts in the quiet seaside down of Amity Island where a rouge great white shark swims the waters, and a young girl Chrissie Watkins (Susan Backlinie) is killed by the shark while take a dip in the water. After this the town chief of police, Martin Brody (Roy Schneider), alerts the town mayor Larry Vaughan (Murray Hamilton) of the danger, who is largely uninterested as he is more concerned that the tourists come to town as they are town's main source of income, and also goes as far as asking Brody to cover up his autopsy report on the girl as a "boating accident" rather than a shark attack. Despite Brody's warnings and the mayor's negligence to do anything about it, a young boy is killed in the water by the shark, after which a bounty is put out, which brings in a whole bunch of greedy fishermen who want the prize money for killing the big fish, but despite their best efforts, they fail to kill the shark they were looking for and instead catch a "tiger" shark as identified by an expert from the Oceangraphic institute, Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfus) called in by Brody, who helps him try and locate the shark. But despite their best efforts, on 4th of July, their busiest day of the summer, the mayor insists the beaches stay open, which leads to yet another shark attack, where a young man is killed in a boat. Finally Brody convinces the mayor to hire local veteran fisherman, Quint (Robert Shaw) to hunt and kill the shark. Brody also persuades Quint into bringing along Hooper to help out in their quest, but of course Quint being a stubborn old school guy takes umbrage to the young college boy upstart in Hooper. And the rest of the films sees the men embark on their dangerous journey to find the rouge great white shark.
Jaws is without doubt an absolute classic thriller, and is easily one of Steven Spielberg's best films, it was the film that announced his career and he effectively invented the summer blockbuster with this one film as well. And even after 39 years, Jaws is still as effective as ever, as a piece of suspense it is nearly second to none, Spielberg adds in as many cheap frights as he can, and I'm sure the audiences back then would have been jumping out of their seats. But the film definitely works best when we don't see the shark, particularly early on in the film in the opening scene where the first victim Chrissie Watkins is being violenty pulled back and forth in the water by an unseen force, as well as the scene with the two fishermen using a pound of roast to attract the shark to shore, which it takes as bait and attacks the men.
And Jaws main strengths definitely lie within its writing and casting, as the characters in the film as so well written, particularly the three men, Brody, Quint and Hooper and cast wise the three leads are all excellent. Starting with Roy Schneider who is given some of the film's best dialogue such as the scene where he nervously flinches while throwing out some chum markers to lure the shark which suddenly rises out of the water without warning and backs into the boat saying to Quint "You're gonna need a bigger boat!". And also the scene where Brody get's drunk and he invites Hooper around and he says to him "Why don't we get another drink and cut that shark open" his wife says "can you do that?" and Brody replies "I can do anything I'm the chief of police!". Another good scene for Schneider is where Brody and Hooper try to convince the mayor into closing the beaches and Brody says to the mayor "If you open the beaches on the 4th of July it will be like ringing the dinner bell for Christ's sake!". And of course there is penultimate scene near the end where Brody faces off against the shark and he throws a compressed air canister into its mouth and he fires his rifle at it as it closes in on him and he says that classic line "Smile you son of a bitch!". He also some amusing moment such as the scene at the beginning of the film where he wakes up and looks outside to see where the kids are and he tells his wife, Ellen, they are playing out back. And Ellen says "In Amity you say the yaaard" in a Boston accent and Brody mimics her accent by saying "They're in the yaaard, not too faaaar from the caaaar!". Then there is the line where Broady nervously monitors the beach whilst his family are with him and he notices something bob ontop of the water, which turns out to be an old man swimming with a cap on. And the old fella walks over to Brody later and says "You don't go in the water at all, do you chief?" and Brody replies "That's some bad hat Harry!". Which later came the name of the production company belonging to film director Bryan Singer (admittedly I have to say its a crap name!).
Richard Dreyfus is also great as Hooper, the youngest of the three men and an expert from the oceangraphic institute, who could almost be spoilt and bratish in his manner, as he comes from a wealthy background, but ultimately Hooper is far more sussed than just about everyone else in the film. And Dreyfus has his fare share of great moment such as the scene where he examines the remains of Chrissie Watkins and he angrily refutes the coroner's report and says "Now this wasn't a boating accident! It was no propeller, no coral reef and it wasn't Jack the ripper! It was a shark!". And he also has a great scene where tries to convince the mayor into closing the beaches and he gives up by saying "Right that's it, Martin! I'm not staying here listening to a man, lining up to be a hot lunch, I'll see you later!" as well as "I think I am aware of the fact that you are going to ignore this particular problem until it swims up and bites you in the ASS! Now there are either two ways you can deal with this, you are either gonna kill this animal or cut off its food supply!". Dreyfus also shares a good albeit tense onscreen relationship with Robert Shaw, which was mirrored in real life, on account of Shaw's competitive nature and heavy drinking. And one of their funny scenes comes when Hooper thinks he's caught the shark, but whatever it is get's away and Quint puts him in his place, which leaves Hooper pulling faces behind his back! And he mocks Qunit by putting on a pirate voice "Aye aye, Jim boy, arrr!! I don't have to take this abuse much longer!". Dreyfus also shares a nice exchange in the film's closing moments where Brody and Hooper paddle their way back to shore. And Brody says to Hooper "I used to hate the water" and Hooper laughs saying "I can't image why!".
Robert Shaw is also great in his role as Quint, the old veteran seaman, who almost instantly takes a disliking to Hooper and his first scene is great where he introduces himself memorably by scraping his fingers down a blackboard during a town hall meeting. And in the scene he makes his offer to the townsfolk to kill the shark and says "I value my neck alot more than 3,000 bucks, chief. I'll find him for 3, but I'll catch and kill him for 10! With that you get the head, the tail and the whole damn thing!". Also another great moment is where he confronts Hooper on their first meeting and says to him "you've got city hands, Mr Hooper, you've been counting money all your life!" and during the scene Quint makes an amusing toast saying "Here's to swimmin with bow-legged women!" followed later by "Here lies the body of Mary-Lee, died at the age of 103, for 15 years she kept her virginity! Not a bad record for this vicinity!". And later when onboard the boat where Quint puts Hooper in his place again by saying he doesn't know what bit through his fishing line and how Hooper says it doesn't prove anything and Quint says "Well it proves one thing, Mr Hooper, that you wealthy college boys don't have the education to admit when you are wrong!". And perhaps the film's best scene and one of its highlights is undoubtedly of course where the men sit around at night in the cabin of the Orca (Quint's boat) sharing jokes, and Quint gives his chilling account of his experience of being one of the crewmates onboard the USS Indianapolis, during the Second World War, which was attacked by the Japanese, which left the survivors in the Pacific ocean at the mercy of sharks. And Shaw's delivery of this scene is perfect as well as chilling and perhaps the best line is where he tells Brody and Hooper: "Sometimes that shark look right at you. Right into your eyes. You know the thing about shark he's got black eyes, lifeless eyes... like a doll's eyes. When he comes at ya, he doesn't seem to be livin. Until he bites ya, and those black eyes roll over white and the ocean turns red".
Also in regards to the supporting cast Murray Hamilton is also excellent as Mayor Vaughan, who is determined to keep the beaches open despite the dangers in the waters of Amity. Hamilton also has some great moments such as the scene where Hooper arrives on the island just after the fishermen have caught a tiger shark, and Hooper suggests they cut it open to ensure it killed the boy, Alex Kitner. And Vaughan says "Listen fellas, this is hardly the time or the place to carry out some sort half-assed autopsy on a fish! And I am not going to stand there and watch that thing cut open and see that little Kintner boy spill out all over the dock!". And another good for Murray is where Hooper tries to convince Vaughan to close the beaches and Vaughan looks up at vandalised billboard poster for Amity showing a shark's dorsal fin. And Vaughan says pointing at the poster "Brody, sick vandalism! That is a direct mutilation of a public service announcement! Now I want those paint happy bastards caught and hung up by their busker browns!".
And lastly Lorraine Gray who I have to say is the weak link the in chain of the cast, but does a decent job with her role as Brody's wife, Ellen. And she has one or two good moments such as the scene where Brody berates his young son, Michael, for sitting out in his birthday present, which is a new dinghy boat which is tied up to a pier. And Ellen says to Brody in defence for her son "He is not out on the water, he is in a boat! I don't think he'll ever go in again after what happened yesterday!". But then Ellen who holds a book on sharks that Broady had with him, looks through and sees a picture of a shark ramming a hole into the hull of a small rowboat and she slams the book shut and yells "Michael! Did you hear your father?! Out of the water, now! NOW!!".
Getting on to the director, Steven Spielberg did a stellar job with Jaws and he created the perfect mixture of suspense and thrills and throughout the film there are some great moments where he has the audience jumping out of their seats, namely the scene where Jaws pops out of the water or where Hooper finds the remains of a fisherman underneath the waters. Spielberg also keeps the film's pacing real tight throughout and also employs some great visual moments as well such as the scene with the dolly zoom shot of Brody witnessing the Kintner boy being killed in the waters. And of course I can't forget to mention John Williams superb music score, which really brought to prominence and he won his first academy award for the score, and its incredible to think how tinkly two ivory notes would prove to be so effective.
As for flaws...... well Jaws maybe a great film but it is not perfect, and one of the main flaws is of course the shark itself, as once its unveiled the film's great suspense that was built up before is now nullified by the appearance of this totally unconvincing rubber creation. And the shark itself is clearly too big in proportion, and it looks beyond fake, although Spielberg does make very effective use of the underwater footage of real sharks, shot by an Australian shark expert couple Ron and Valerie Taylor. And the shark itself does let the movie down in places, and toward the end it shifts from being a gripping thriller to being ridiculously over the top, with the shark blatantly rising out the water to crash onto the boat's transom, so it can eat Quint and Brody. In reality of course, there is no way sharks would deliberately prey on humans, as they are largely terratorial creatures who stick to their own environments, and despite the fact that yes there have been many reported shark attacks over the years, sharks themselves largely live off a diet of other marine life such as sea otters, seals and sea lions and they don't deliberately hunt out people in the water!
It also has to be said that the ending of the film is also a weakness as Spielberg at the time wanted a big ending that would have the audiences screaming and on their feet, and the idea to actually blow up the shark was and is quite ridiculous. There is no doubt the fact that while the end is farcical it is also quite entertaining, and yeah ok you can't but help feel when Brody finally shoots the compressed air canister the shark has in its open jaws, when the sharks explodes, it is a crowd pleaser (the sound accompanying the shot of the shark as its remains sink into the water is actually taken from Spielberg's debut film, Duel, when the truck at the end goes over the cliff). The film also probably didn't do the species a favour itself, if anything it demonised sharks in the public, and it would take many years later before the myth behind sharks, being monsters, would itself explode.
The film also paved the way for its inferior sequels, although Jaws 2 was the best of the three of the films (it would have been even better if the shark ate the screaming teenagers in it!) but by the truly awful Jaws 4: The Revenge, the sharks suddenly took on the concept of revenge and that they had to hunt down the rest of the Brody family! Yeahh ok!! Surely by then they should have taken note of the concept of horror-thriller sequels is not a good idea! Although Michael Caine has frequently since said he only took up the part in Jaws 4 in order to help buy a new house for his grandmother (so at least his fee went to good use!).
And that's it for my look at Jaws, which has been much re-done an extended from what it was before and hopefully you will enjoy it. Until the next un that's it for now.
Dum dum dum dum dum dum.......
Soooo, it starts in the quiet seaside down of Amity Island where a rouge great white shark swims the waters, and a young girl Chrissie Watkins (Susan Backlinie) is killed by the shark while take a dip in the water. After this the town chief of police, Martin Brody (Roy Schneider), alerts the town mayor Larry Vaughan (Murray Hamilton) of the danger, who is largely uninterested as he is more concerned that the tourists come to town as they are town's main source of income, and also goes as far as asking Brody to cover up his autopsy report on the girl as a "boating accident" rather than a shark attack. Despite Brody's warnings and the mayor's negligence to do anything about it, a young boy is killed in the water by the shark, after which a bounty is put out, which brings in a whole bunch of greedy fishermen who want the prize money for killing the big fish, but despite their best efforts, they fail to kill the shark they were looking for and instead catch a "tiger" shark as identified by an expert from the Oceangraphic institute, Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfus) called in by Brody, who helps him try and locate the shark. But despite their best efforts, on 4th of July, their busiest day of the summer, the mayor insists the beaches stay open, which leads to yet another shark attack, where a young man is killed in a boat. Finally Brody convinces the mayor to hire local veteran fisherman, Quint (Robert Shaw) to hunt and kill the shark. Brody also persuades Quint into bringing along Hooper to help out in their quest, but of course Quint being a stubborn old school guy takes umbrage to the young college boy upstart in Hooper. And the rest of the films sees the men embark on their dangerous journey to find the rouge great white shark.
Jaws is without doubt an absolute classic thriller, and is easily one of Steven Spielberg's best films, it was the film that announced his career and he effectively invented the summer blockbuster with this one film as well. And even after 39 years, Jaws is still as effective as ever, as a piece of suspense it is nearly second to none, Spielberg adds in as many cheap frights as he can, and I'm sure the audiences back then would have been jumping out of their seats. But the film definitely works best when we don't see the shark, particularly early on in the film in the opening scene where the first victim Chrissie Watkins is being violenty pulled back and forth in the water by an unseen force, as well as the scene with the two fishermen using a pound of roast to attract the shark to shore, which it takes as bait and attacks the men.
And Jaws main strengths definitely lie within its writing and casting, as the characters in the film as so well written, particularly the three men, Brody, Quint and Hooper and cast wise the three leads are all excellent. Starting with Roy Schneider who is given some of the film's best dialogue such as the scene where he nervously flinches while throwing out some chum markers to lure the shark which suddenly rises out of the water without warning and backs into the boat saying to Quint "You're gonna need a bigger boat!". And also the scene where Brody get's drunk and he invites Hooper around and he says to him "Why don't we get another drink and cut that shark open" his wife says "can you do that?" and Brody replies "I can do anything I'm the chief of police!". Another good scene for Schneider is where Brody and Hooper try to convince the mayor into closing the beaches and Brody says to the mayor "If you open the beaches on the 4th of July it will be like ringing the dinner bell for Christ's sake!". And of course there is penultimate scene near the end where Brody faces off against the shark and he throws a compressed air canister into its mouth and he fires his rifle at it as it closes in on him and he says that classic line "Smile you son of a bitch!". He also some amusing moment such as the scene at the beginning of the film where he wakes up and looks outside to see where the kids are and he tells his wife, Ellen, they are playing out back. And Ellen says "In Amity you say the yaaard" in a Boston accent and Brody mimics her accent by saying "They're in the yaaard, not too faaaar from the caaaar!". Then there is the line where Broady nervously monitors the beach whilst his family are with him and he notices something bob ontop of the water, which turns out to be an old man swimming with a cap on. And the old fella walks over to Brody later and says "You don't go in the water at all, do you chief?" and Brody replies "That's some bad hat Harry!". Which later came the name of the production company belonging to film director Bryan Singer (admittedly I have to say its a crap name!).
Richard Dreyfus is also great as Hooper, the youngest of the three men and an expert from the oceangraphic institute, who could almost be spoilt and bratish in his manner, as he comes from a wealthy background, but ultimately Hooper is far more sussed than just about everyone else in the film. And Dreyfus has his fare share of great moment such as the scene where he examines the remains of Chrissie Watkins and he angrily refutes the coroner's report and says "Now this wasn't a boating accident! It was no propeller, no coral reef and it wasn't Jack the ripper! It was a shark!". And he also has a great scene where tries to convince the mayor into closing the beaches and he gives up by saying "Right that's it, Martin! I'm not staying here listening to a man, lining up to be a hot lunch, I'll see you later!" as well as "I think I am aware of the fact that you are going to ignore this particular problem until it swims up and bites you in the ASS! Now there are either two ways you can deal with this, you are either gonna kill this animal or cut off its food supply!". Dreyfus also shares a good albeit tense onscreen relationship with Robert Shaw, which was mirrored in real life, on account of Shaw's competitive nature and heavy drinking. And one of their funny scenes comes when Hooper thinks he's caught the shark, but whatever it is get's away and Quint puts him in his place, which leaves Hooper pulling faces behind his back! And he mocks Qunit by putting on a pirate voice "Aye aye, Jim boy, arrr!! I don't have to take this abuse much longer!". Dreyfus also shares a nice exchange in the film's closing moments where Brody and Hooper paddle their way back to shore. And Brody says to Hooper "I used to hate the water" and Hooper laughs saying "I can't image why!".
Robert Shaw is also great in his role as Quint, the old veteran seaman, who almost instantly takes a disliking to Hooper and his first scene is great where he introduces himself memorably by scraping his fingers down a blackboard during a town hall meeting. And in the scene he makes his offer to the townsfolk to kill the shark and says "I value my neck alot more than 3,000 bucks, chief. I'll find him for 3, but I'll catch and kill him for 10! With that you get the head, the tail and the whole damn thing!". Also another great moment is where he confronts Hooper on their first meeting and says to him "you've got city hands, Mr Hooper, you've been counting money all your life!" and during the scene Quint makes an amusing toast saying "Here's to swimmin with bow-legged women!" followed later by "Here lies the body of Mary-Lee, died at the age of 103, for 15 years she kept her virginity! Not a bad record for this vicinity!". And later when onboard the boat where Quint puts Hooper in his place again by saying he doesn't know what bit through his fishing line and how Hooper says it doesn't prove anything and Quint says "Well it proves one thing, Mr Hooper, that you wealthy college boys don't have the education to admit when you are wrong!". And perhaps the film's best scene and one of its highlights is undoubtedly of course where the men sit around at night in the cabin of the Orca (Quint's boat) sharing jokes, and Quint gives his chilling account of his experience of being one of the crewmates onboard the USS Indianapolis, during the Second World War, which was attacked by the Japanese, which left the survivors in the Pacific ocean at the mercy of sharks. And Shaw's delivery of this scene is perfect as well as chilling and perhaps the best line is where he tells Brody and Hooper: "Sometimes that shark look right at you. Right into your eyes. You know the thing about shark he's got black eyes, lifeless eyes... like a doll's eyes. When he comes at ya, he doesn't seem to be livin. Until he bites ya, and those black eyes roll over white and the ocean turns red".
Also in regards to the supporting cast Murray Hamilton is also excellent as Mayor Vaughan, who is determined to keep the beaches open despite the dangers in the waters of Amity. Hamilton also has some great moments such as the scene where Hooper arrives on the island just after the fishermen have caught a tiger shark, and Hooper suggests they cut it open to ensure it killed the boy, Alex Kitner. And Vaughan says "Listen fellas, this is hardly the time or the place to carry out some sort half-assed autopsy on a fish! And I am not going to stand there and watch that thing cut open and see that little Kintner boy spill out all over the dock!". And another good for Murray is where Hooper tries to convince Vaughan to close the beaches and Vaughan looks up at vandalised billboard poster for Amity showing a shark's dorsal fin. And Vaughan says pointing at the poster "Brody, sick vandalism! That is a direct mutilation of a public service announcement! Now I want those paint happy bastards caught and hung up by their busker browns!".
And lastly Lorraine Gray who I have to say is the weak link the in chain of the cast, but does a decent job with her role as Brody's wife, Ellen. And she has one or two good moments such as the scene where Brody berates his young son, Michael, for sitting out in his birthday present, which is a new dinghy boat which is tied up to a pier. And Ellen says to Brody in defence for her son "He is not out on the water, he is in a boat! I don't think he'll ever go in again after what happened yesterday!". But then Ellen who holds a book on sharks that Broady had with him, looks through and sees a picture of a shark ramming a hole into the hull of a small rowboat and she slams the book shut and yells "Michael! Did you hear your father?! Out of the water, now! NOW!!".
Getting on to the director, Steven Spielberg did a stellar job with Jaws and he created the perfect mixture of suspense and thrills and throughout the film there are some great moments where he has the audience jumping out of their seats, namely the scene where Jaws pops out of the water or where Hooper finds the remains of a fisherman underneath the waters. Spielberg also keeps the film's pacing real tight throughout and also employs some great visual moments as well such as the scene with the dolly zoom shot of Brody witnessing the Kintner boy being killed in the waters. And of course I can't forget to mention John Williams superb music score, which really brought to prominence and he won his first academy award for the score, and its incredible to think how tinkly two ivory notes would prove to be so effective.
As for flaws...... well Jaws maybe a great film but it is not perfect, and one of the main flaws is of course the shark itself, as once its unveiled the film's great suspense that was built up before is now nullified by the appearance of this totally unconvincing rubber creation. And the shark itself is clearly too big in proportion, and it looks beyond fake, although Spielberg does make very effective use of the underwater footage of real sharks, shot by an Australian shark expert couple Ron and Valerie Taylor. And the shark itself does let the movie down in places, and toward the end it shifts from being a gripping thriller to being ridiculously over the top, with the shark blatantly rising out the water to crash onto the boat's transom, so it can eat Quint and Brody. In reality of course, there is no way sharks would deliberately prey on humans, as they are largely terratorial creatures who stick to their own environments, and despite the fact that yes there have been many reported shark attacks over the years, sharks themselves largely live off a diet of other marine life such as sea otters, seals and sea lions and they don't deliberately hunt out people in the water!
It also has to be said that the ending of the film is also a weakness as Spielberg at the time wanted a big ending that would have the audiences screaming and on their feet, and the idea to actually blow up the shark was and is quite ridiculous. There is no doubt the fact that while the end is farcical it is also quite entertaining, and yeah ok you can't but help feel when Brody finally shoots the compressed air canister the shark has in its open jaws, when the sharks explodes, it is a crowd pleaser (the sound accompanying the shot of the shark as its remains sink into the water is actually taken from Spielberg's debut film, Duel, when the truck at the end goes over the cliff). The film also probably didn't do the species a favour itself, if anything it demonised sharks in the public, and it would take many years later before the myth behind sharks, being monsters, would itself explode.
The film also paved the way for its inferior sequels, although Jaws 2 was the best of the three of the films (it would have been even better if the shark ate the screaming teenagers in it!) but by the truly awful Jaws 4: The Revenge, the sharks suddenly took on the concept of revenge and that they had to hunt down the rest of the Brody family! Yeahh ok!! Surely by then they should have taken note of the concept of horror-thriller sequels is not a good idea! Although Michael Caine has frequently since said he only took up the part in Jaws 4 in order to help buy a new house for his grandmother (so at least his fee went to good use!).
And that's it for my look at Jaws, which has been much re-done an extended from what it was before and hopefully you will enjoy it. Until the next un that's it for now.
Dum dum dum dum dum dum.......
Tuesday 12 August 2014
Doctor Who The Brain of Morbius "Chop Suey the galactic emperor!"
Right I thought I would do another Doctor Who review and again I've plumped for what must be my favourite era of the show, when Philip Hinchcliffe was the producer during the Tom Baker era. And this story is The Brain of Morbius, which remains one of the most macabre stories of the classic series. So let's delve further into this one....
So the story is set on the planet Karn and begins with the TARDIS materliasing on the planet and the Doctor (Baker) angrily storms out and looks up at the sky and curses the Time Lords, blaming them for dragging him off course. Accompanied by his companion Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) they both soon stumble across a headless body of alien insect lifeform and look out to see there are dozens crashed spaceships over a valley. The Doctor and Sarah then spot a castle in the distance just as the rain comes on they make their to it, but they are being spied on by a girl wearing a strange headdress. The girl, Ohica (Gilly Brown) then reports back to the leader of the sisterhood on Karn, Maren (Cynthia Grenville) of the arrival of the TARDIS, which alarms Maren who insists that no spaceship can land on the planet without their presence. Maren also warns Ohica that the Elixir, they use to prolong their lives is running dangerously low and there is precious little left. Maren also suspects the Time Lords may have sent agents to steal the Elixir and tells Ohica to summon the other members of the sisterhood.
Meanwhile the Doctor and Sarah arrive at the castle and are greeted by its owner, Solon (Philip Madoc) a once renowned surgeon, who resides there with his clumsy manservant, Condo (Colin Fay) who has only one hand and a hook in place of his other. The Doctor asks Solon about the wrecked spaceships who tells him that it must due to the magnetic radiation around the planet that they crashed and Solon also tells them that he saved Condo's life as he dragged him from a wrecked spaceship as well. The sisterhood meanwhile chant together using their powers they manage to physically summon the TARDIS to their shrine and they examine it and realise it is a Time Lord spacecraft and that they must have sent an agent to steal the Elixir. Maren then decides they must try and locate the Doctor and bring him to them and they began their chanting again. The Doctor in the meantime sharing a drink with Solon, tells Solon that he has heard of him and of his advanced work involving microsurgical tissue transplants and also how he was rumoured to be linked with the cult of Morbius, a former renegade Time Lord who was executed after he formed a rebellion army against his race. The Doctor soon realises however that Solon has a statue of Morbius in his castle but he suddenly falls over unconscious as Solon had his wine drugged. Solon now intends to use the Doctor's head for a surgical operation of which will soon be revealed. Meanwhile Sarah fakes unconsciousness and sneaks downstairs into Solon's laboratory where she finds to her horror the body of a headless creature made of different body parts. The Doctor's body however is transported by the Sisterhood to their shrine before Solon and Condo can start the operation.
The Doctor then comes to in the shrine where Maren accuses him of being there to steal the Elixir which the Doctor denies and tells them the last thing he remembers was having a drink with Solon and Morbius, an impression leaves him shaken, as he realises he felt the mind of Morbius reach out to him. Maren however insists that Morbius is dead as he was executed on Karn and that he too will soon die. Meanwhile Solon and Condo discover the Doctor is missing and Solon realises the sisterhood must have taken him and he swears for revenge and tells Condo they must go to the sisterhood and get the Doctor back. The Doctor is then tied to a steak and the sisterhood began chanting with torches they prepare to burn the Doctor, but Solon and Condo intervene. Solon pleads with the sisterhood to let him have the Doctor, and even offers Condo when Maren reufses, who tells Solon to leave who does so with Condo. Maren and the sisters then resume the ceremonial sacrifice of the Doctor, who is released by Sarah, who is digsuised in the sisterhood robes, but as they escape Maren fires a bolt of energy from her ring at Sarah which blinds her. The Doctor then returns to Solon's castle and asks that he examine Sarah, but Solon tells him that her eyesight is almost completely destroyed and only the Elixir could restore her vision, which sets the Doctor off to the sisterhood again. Solon writes a note for the sisterhood to warn them of his ruse to send the Doctor back and he dispatches Condo to deliver it before the Doctor arrives there. In the meantime Sarah stumbles blindly around the dining room and knocks over a glass, after which we hear a voice call in the distance. Sarah blindly walks downstairs into Solon's lab to find the source of the voice, a glowing brain which turns out to be the remains of the renegade Time Lord, Morbius......
The Brain of Morbius for its time and era remains one of the series most graphic and macabre stories, which understandably caused some controversy at the time of its original broadcast and outrage with the prim and proper Mary Whitehouse, the head of the National Viewers and Listeners Association (NVALA) who was said to have been horrified by some of the story's content. Some of the scenes in the story certainly reflect that such as the moment where Solon and Condo struggle with one another in the lab and Solon shoots Condo in the chest and we see blood spatter on his shirt. This certainly is one of the most violent scenes in the original show and of that era and was also followed by the scene where during their struggle Morbius's brain is knocked onto the floor along with a puddle of green goo! (which was the fluid used inside the tank to support Morbius's brain). It is in itself a fairly sickening scene even though it is still pretty tame in comparison to your average horror film.
But the story itself is still a very entertaining one and its brooding atmosphere makes for a welcome change and the Frankenstein-esque storyline also makes it a bit more unique. The story also expands on the history of the Time Lords a little with the introduction of Morbius, a former renegade Time Lord as well as the Elixir of life used by the sisterhood and was once shared by the Time Lords. It also event hints at the Doctor's birth place was within "a couple of billion miles" from Karn and also further utilises the Doctor telepathic abilities in the scene where he says to Maren how he felt "the mind of Morbius reach out and touch mine". Terrance Dicks also who initially wrote the draft for the story had the story heavily re-written by the script editor of the time, Robert Holmes, which angered Dicks and insisted he wanted his name to be taken off the credits. And Holmes asked Dicks what name should he use instead and Dicks famously said to him "I don't know. Why not use some bland psuedonym!" after which Holmes used the psuedonym of Robin Bland, much to Dicks's amusement much later on.
Performance wise the cast are all excellent here and Tom Baker does yet another wonderful job as the Doctor and by now he really had started to find his feet in the role, given that it was his second season. In Tom Baker's second season (and 13th overall of the show by then) he showed different sides to the Doctor's personality where in stories such as Pyramids of Mars and The Seeds of Doom he was deadly serious, but here Baker give the Doctor's character a nice balance of playfulness and seriousness. And Tom has various highlights in the story such as in his opening scene where he storms out of the TARDIS and looks up at the sky as he rants at his own people "Come out! Meddlesome interferring idiots! I know you are up there so come out and show yourselves! Messing about with my TARDIS! Dragging us a thousand parsecs off course!". And later in the scene the Doctor stubbornly refuses to look around the planet and sits playing with is yo-yo and Sarah asks if he is coming and he says "No thanks. I'm just going to sit here and practice my double loops!". Tom also of course shares some nice chemistry with Lis Sladen especially in the scene where Sarah has been blinded by Maren's ring he examines her eyes and says "Flash probably numbed the optic nerve" and as Sarah pities herself the Doctor says "If you're going to sit their wallowing in self pity, I'll bite your nose!". Another amusing moment is where the Doctor goes back to the shrine of the Sisterhood and he arrives inside and says "Ding dong!" and all of the suddent the sisterhood all surround him and throw a net over him and he says "We can't go on meeting like this!". Tom also proves he is very adept in the more dramatic moments of the story as well, particularly in the final episode where he confronts the monster body of Morbius, who's brain has been attached into a casing and he challenges Morbius. And the Doctor says to Morbius taunting him "Brain getting a little overheated is it? Careful, not as strong as it was!" and Morbius says his brain functions perfectly and at that moment the Doctor lunges forward and says "I DOUBT IT MORBIUS!! All that time in a tank it's gone soft!". Also in the same scene Baker get's a good line where he teases Morbius by commentating on his monsterous body "You know, you can't really go on calling yourself Morbius. There's very little Morbius left! How about Potpurri?" and Sarah pitches in with "How about Chop Suey?!" and the responds the Doctor "Chop Suey the galactic emperor!". And lastly Tom has another great moment with Sarah when the Doctor and Sarah are both trapped in Solon's castle, he creates a lethal compound of cyanogen to lure out Morbius. And Sarah asks "will it work?" and the Doctor says "Well.... if we're still in here after a month???" and Sarah says "It hasn't worked!".
Philip Madoc is also terrific in his role as the villainous Solon who intends to resurrect Morbius and use the Doctor's head as the icing on the proverbial cake (so to speak, although its not a very tasty cake!). Madoc has numerous highlights in the show and even from the first scene he provides a very commanding presence with his deep booming voice. And in the scene he takes the head of an alien insect that Condo killed and he looks at in disappointment he shouts at Condo "That is an insect!! Even a half-witted cannibal like you can see it won't do!". And later when the Doctor and Sarah arrive at the castle, Solon greets them warmly and takes the Doctor's hat off and says to him "What a magnificent head!" and later when they have wine and dinner he says to the Doctor "You know I always knew that one day I would have a guest with a head for such a good vintage!". And one of my favourite lines comes in the scene after Solon and Condo discover that the Doctor has vanished after the sisterhood have transported his body away. And Condo says "Doctor gone!" and Solon in a silent rage says "I can see that you chicken brained biological disaster!". Later on Madoc has other good moments such as the scene where having shot Condo he grabs Sarah and forces her to work the pump during the operation and Sarah panic saying "What if I make a mistake?!" and Solon grabs her and says "If he dies, you die!".
Elisabeth Sladen is also really good once again as Sarah Jane Smith and she has some good scenes in the story such as the start where she looks out onto the valley of wrecked spaceships and Sarah says "There must be a dozen wrecked spaceships out here! Its like the Sargasso sea!". Also there is the scene where Sarah is blinded by Maren's ring and she tells the Doctor she can't see after they escape and he examines and she starts to feel sorry for herself and wraps the sisterhood robe around her head "Hey, you know I could always sell flowers. You know luvly fresh violets, guvnor. If I ever get back to Piccadily!". And later on in the scene where Sarah (having recovered her eyesight) and the Doctor are trapped inside a room of Solon's castle, the Doctor makes cyanogen gas and places it above the vents to let it filter upstairs into Solon's lab. And Sarah afer having asked if it will work and the Doctor says "well if we are still here in a month...." and she says "It hasn't worked!". Then Sarah asks "How many seconds are there in a month?" and the Doctor quickly replies "2,678,400" and Sarah says "Short month!" (although that is how many seconds there are in 31 days, so strictly speaking that's not entirely accurate for all months of the year!).
Cynthia Grenville is also good in her role as Maren, the leader of the Sisterhood on Karn and she shares some good scenes with the Doctor. Grenville's best line comes when she first meets the Doctor after the sisterhood have used their special telekinetic powers to physically ransport the Doctor to them and she says as he speaks of Morbius, "Morbius is dead, Doctor and you will be joining him very shortly!". Gilly Brown also does well in her role as Ohica, Maren's second in command of the sisterhood although she does have a tendency to overdo when she widens her eyes, so much so in fact she could give David Tenant a good run for his money in that department!
Colin Fay also puts in a good performance aswell as Condo, Solon's slow-witted but sympathetic manservant. Fay (who was an opera singer) has some good moments in the story as well such as the scene where he get's angry over Solon offering Condo up as a sacrifice to the sisterhood in order to spare the Doctor from being sacrificed by the sisterhood. And Condo says "Condo, good servant. You give sisters, let kill Condo! Condo kill you!" and he grabs Solon and says "You make Condo fool! Now you die!" but Solon tries to get out of it by saying it was just a "stupid joke" and Condo says "Condo not joke, you lose hand!". Also later on there is scene when they prepare for Morbius's operation and Condo looks over at the headless body that Solon has created for Morbius and he notices that one of the arms is human and he puts two and two together, realising that it is his own hand. And Condo says to Solon in shock "You take Condo's arm for this!" and they have their fight which ends with Condo being shot in the stomach, but he survives and limps out into the corridor (poor guy). There is also an amusing scene where Condo goes to find Sarah who at this point is still blinded by the effect's of Maren's ring and he picks her up and takes her away saying "Better you come now. Master want" as Sarah is kicking and screaming (although in this scene I can swear I hear Lis Sladen actaully laughing!).
And last of all Michael Spice does an excellent job as the voice of Morbius and Spice's powerful voice is eletronically treated as he delivers Morbius's potent threats (yet impotent as he is just a brain in a jar for the most part). Spice is also given quite a dramatic and effective entrance when Sarah stumbles downstairs into Solon's lab and he angrily asks her "Are you one of the sisterhood?! Did Maren send you to destroy me?!" and Sarah says no and Morbius angrily replies "Yes she did! You she-devils want to destroy me! Now before I have my revenge!". And later Spice has another good moment where Solon talks to Morbius, who angrily tells Solon "Trapped like this! Like a sponge beneath the sea. Yet even the sponge has more life than I! Can you understand a thousandth of my agony?! I, Morbius, who once lead the High council of the Time Lords, now reduced to this, to a condition where I envy a vegetable!". The Morbius creature itself was played by stunt actor, Stuart Fell.
As for the director, Christopher Barry does an excellent job here with the story and he keeps the atmosphere very intense and brooding throughout and expertly keeps the lighting dark to suit the tone of the story also. The music is again by Dudley Simpson and his score is excellent as well and it has plenty of dramatic passages which work well for the story and it showed once again how Simpson was the perfect choice of regular composer for the show and its remarkable to think just how prolific he was during the show's early years.
So regarding flaws does The Brain of Morbius have any worth moaning about???? Well not really although it has to be said there is the odd plot hole and the one that springs to mind straight away is why did the sisterhood decide to give the Doctor back to Solon after he helps them out by reviving the flame of their Elixir????? I mean it should be a case of "Thank you, Doctor, you have restored our scared flame!" but no instead "we will render you unconscious and take you back to Solon and leave you for dead!". Now that is gratitude!! Not unless of course the Doctor planned it that way to make it look like he was dead although he simply woke up when Sarah found him at the start of the last episode of the story. And it has to be said the logic of that scene just isn't very well explained at all and you are just left to imagine how and why the Sisterhood decided to give the Doctor back rather than just let him travel back himself! Another issue is with the set production, which is largely excellent but one of the backdrops is clearly a canvass that has been painted of a blue sky in the background in the scene where Sarah stumbles blindly around the surface of Karn when Condo finds her, and it basically looks pretty cheap and obvious in that instance.
And another thing that bugged me was the scene where the Doctor challenges Morbius to a mindbending contest at the end of the story and we see images of the Doctor's previous lives come alive on a projected image while they do mental battle with one another. And as we know the doctor has only regenerated three times up to this point yet we see other faces prior to that of the first doctor (William Hartnell of course) all of which are actually members of the Doctor Who production team of that time which included Robert Holmes, the script editor, George Gallaccio, production unit manager, Graeme Harper, the production assistant and one of the show's directors, Douglas Camfield. Hinchcliffe at the time said he wanted to imply that William Hartnell was not the first doctor, however if that were the case by then the Doctor would have been on his 8th or 9th regeneration by then! But the background of the Time Lords was just in its infancy back then of course and it would be The Deadly Assassin where it would introduce the concept of a Time Lord having a maximum regeneration cycle of 12 times. So again it did raise some inconsistencies in the story and also the history of the Doctor and the Time Lords lifespan as well. Also lastly another plot hole is in the scene where the Doctor makes cyanogen and he places it next to an airduct so it filters through into Solon's lab. However as the cyanogen gas kills Solon, the Doctor was taking a bit of a gamble as what if Solon hadn't finished the operation and Morbius was still inert then he and Sarah would still have been trapped inside the room! So it was just as well the Doctor timed it just right to use the cyanogen gas otherwise Morbius wouldn't have got up and found them in time!
But that aside The Brain of Morbius still is one of the classic series most unique, entertaining and foreboding stories and it remains a very strong one and well worth checking it out if you haven't seen it yet.
And with that I shall bid you farewell!
So the story is set on the planet Karn and begins with the TARDIS materliasing on the planet and the Doctor (Baker) angrily storms out and looks up at the sky and curses the Time Lords, blaming them for dragging him off course. Accompanied by his companion Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) they both soon stumble across a headless body of alien insect lifeform and look out to see there are dozens crashed spaceships over a valley. The Doctor and Sarah then spot a castle in the distance just as the rain comes on they make their to it, but they are being spied on by a girl wearing a strange headdress. The girl, Ohica (Gilly Brown) then reports back to the leader of the sisterhood on Karn, Maren (Cynthia Grenville) of the arrival of the TARDIS, which alarms Maren who insists that no spaceship can land on the planet without their presence. Maren also warns Ohica that the Elixir, they use to prolong their lives is running dangerously low and there is precious little left. Maren also suspects the Time Lords may have sent agents to steal the Elixir and tells Ohica to summon the other members of the sisterhood.
Meanwhile the Doctor and Sarah arrive at the castle and are greeted by its owner, Solon (Philip Madoc) a once renowned surgeon, who resides there with his clumsy manservant, Condo (Colin Fay) who has only one hand and a hook in place of his other. The Doctor asks Solon about the wrecked spaceships who tells him that it must due to the magnetic radiation around the planet that they crashed and Solon also tells them that he saved Condo's life as he dragged him from a wrecked spaceship as well. The sisterhood meanwhile chant together using their powers they manage to physically summon the TARDIS to their shrine and they examine it and realise it is a Time Lord spacecraft and that they must have sent an agent to steal the Elixir. Maren then decides they must try and locate the Doctor and bring him to them and they began their chanting again. The Doctor in the meantime sharing a drink with Solon, tells Solon that he has heard of him and of his advanced work involving microsurgical tissue transplants and also how he was rumoured to be linked with the cult of Morbius, a former renegade Time Lord who was executed after he formed a rebellion army against his race. The Doctor soon realises however that Solon has a statue of Morbius in his castle but he suddenly falls over unconscious as Solon had his wine drugged. Solon now intends to use the Doctor's head for a surgical operation of which will soon be revealed. Meanwhile Sarah fakes unconsciousness and sneaks downstairs into Solon's laboratory where she finds to her horror the body of a headless creature made of different body parts. The Doctor's body however is transported by the Sisterhood to their shrine before Solon and Condo can start the operation.
The Doctor then comes to in the shrine where Maren accuses him of being there to steal the Elixir which the Doctor denies and tells them the last thing he remembers was having a drink with Solon and Morbius, an impression leaves him shaken, as he realises he felt the mind of Morbius reach out to him. Maren however insists that Morbius is dead as he was executed on Karn and that he too will soon die. Meanwhile Solon and Condo discover the Doctor is missing and Solon realises the sisterhood must have taken him and he swears for revenge and tells Condo they must go to the sisterhood and get the Doctor back. The Doctor is then tied to a steak and the sisterhood began chanting with torches they prepare to burn the Doctor, but Solon and Condo intervene. Solon pleads with the sisterhood to let him have the Doctor, and even offers Condo when Maren reufses, who tells Solon to leave who does so with Condo. Maren and the sisters then resume the ceremonial sacrifice of the Doctor, who is released by Sarah, who is digsuised in the sisterhood robes, but as they escape Maren fires a bolt of energy from her ring at Sarah which blinds her. The Doctor then returns to Solon's castle and asks that he examine Sarah, but Solon tells him that her eyesight is almost completely destroyed and only the Elixir could restore her vision, which sets the Doctor off to the sisterhood again. Solon writes a note for the sisterhood to warn them of his ruse to send the Doctor back and he dispatches Condo to deliver it before the Doctor arrives there. In the meantime Sarah stumbles blindly around the dining room and knocks over a glass, after which we hear a voice call in the distance. Sarah blindly walks downstairs into Solon's lab to find the source of the voice, a glowing brain which turns out to be the remains of the renegade Time Lord, Morbius......
The Brain of Morbius for its time and era remains one of the series most graphic and macabre stories, which understandably caused some controversy at the time of its original broadcast and outrage with the prim and proper Mary Whitehouse, the head of the National Viewers and Listeners Association (NVALA) who was said to have been horrified by some of the story's content. Some of the scenes in the story certainly reflect that such as the moment where Solon and Condo struggle with one another in the lab and Solon shoots Condo in the chest and we see blood spatter on his shirt. This certainly is one of the most violent scenes in the original show and of that era and was also followed by the scene where during their struggle Morbius's brain is knocked onto the floor along with a puddle of green goo! (which was the fluid used inside the tank to support Morbius's brain). It is in itself a fairly sickening scene even though it is still pretty tame in comparison to your average horror film.
But the story itself is still a very entertaining one and its brooding atmosphere makes for a welcome change and the Frankenstein-esque storyline also makes it a bit more unique. The story also expands on the history of the Time Lords a little with the introduction of Morbius, a former renegade Time Lord as well as the Elixir of life used by the sisterhood and was once shared by the Time Lords. It also event hints at the Doctor's birth place was within "a couple of billion miles" from Karn and also further utilises the Doctor telepathic abilities in the scene where he says to Maren how he felt "the mind of Morbius reach out and touch mine". Terrance Dicks also who initially wrote the draft for the story had the story heavily re-written by the script editor of the time, Robert Holmes, which angered Dicks and insisted he wanted his name to be taken off the credits. And Holmes asked Dicks what name should he use instead and Dicks famously said to him "I don't know. Why not use some bland psuedonym!" after which Holmes used the psuedonym of Robin Bland, much to Dicks's amusement much later on.
Performance wise the cast are all excellent here and Tom Baker does yet another wonderful job as the Doctor and by now he really had started to find his feet in the role, given that it was his second season. In Tom Baker's second season (and 13th overall of the show by then) he showed different sides to the Doctor's personality where in stories such as Pyramids of Mars and The Seeds of Doom he was deadly serious, but here Baker give the Doctor's character a nice balance of playfulness and seriousness. And Tom has various highlights in the story such as in his opening scene where he storms out of the TARDIS and looks up at the sky as he rants at his own people "Come out! Meddlesome interferring idiots! I know you are up there so come out and show yourselves! Messing about with my TARDIS! Dragging us a thousand parsecs off course!". And later in the scene the Doctor stubbornly refuses to look around the planet and sits playing with is yo-yo and Sarah asks if he is coming and he says "No thanks. I'm just going to sit here and practice my double loops!". Tom also of course shares some nice chemistry with Lis Sladen especially in the scene where Sarah has been blinded by Maren's ring he examines her eyes and says "Flash probably numbed the optic nerve" and as Sarah pities herself the Doctor says "If you're going to sit their wallowing in self pity, I'll bite your nose!". Another amusing moment is where the Doctor goes back to the shrine of the Sisterhood and he arrives inside and says "Ding dong!" and all of the suddent the sisterhood all surround him and throw a net over him and he says "We can't go on meeting like this!". Tom also proves he is very adept in the more dramatic moments of the story as well, particularly in the final episode where he confronts the monster body of Morbius, who's brain has been attached into a casing and he challenges Morbius. And the Doctor says to Morbius taunting him "Brain getting a little overheated is it? Careful, not as strong as it was!" and Morbius says his brain functions perfectly and at that moment the Doctor lunges forward and says "I DOUBT IT MORBIUS!! All that time in a tank it's gone soft!". Also in the same scene Baker get's a good line where he teases Morbius by commentating on his monsterous body "You know, you can't really go on calling yourself Morbius. There's very little Morbius left! How about Potpurri?" and Sarah pitches in with "How about Chop Suey?!" and the responds the Doctor "Chop Suey the galactic emperor!". And lastly Tom has another great moment with Sarah when the Doctor and Sarah are both trapped in Solon's castle, he creates a lethal compound of cyanogen to lure out Morbius. And Sarah asks "will it work?" and the Doctor says "Well.... if we're still in here after a month???" and Sarah says "It hasn't worked!".
Philip Madoc is also terrific in his role as the villainous Solon who intends to resurrect Morbius and use the Doctor's head as the icing on the proverbial cake (so to speak, although its not a very tasty cake!). Madoc has numerous highlights in the show and even from the first scene he provides a very commanding presence with his deep booming voice. And in the scene he takes the head of an alien insect that Condo killed and he looks at in disappointment he shouts at Condo "That is an insect!! Even a half-witted cannibal like you can see it won't do!". And later when the Doctor and Sarah arrive at the castle, Solon greets them warmly and takes the Doctor's hat off and says to him "What a magnificent head!" and later when they have wine and dinner he says to the Doctor "You know I always knew that one day I would have a guest with a head for such a good vintage!". And one of my favourite lines comes in the scene after Solon and Condo discover that the Doctor has vanished after the sisterhood have transported his body away. And Condo says "Doctor gone!" and Solon in a silent rage says "I can see that you chicken brained biological disaster!". Later on Madoc has other good moments such as the scene where having shot Condo he grabs Sarah and forces her to work the pump during the operation and Sarah panic saying "What if I make a mistake?!" and Solon grabs her and says "If he dies, you die!".
Elisabeth Sladen is also really good once again as Sarah Jane Smith and she has some good scenes in the story such as the start where she looks out onto the valley of wrecked spaceships and Sarah says "There must be a dozen wrecked spaceships out here! Its like the Sargasso sea!". Also there is the scene where Sarah is blinded by Maren's ring and she tells the Doctor she can't see after they escape and he examines and she starts to feel sorry for herself and wraps the sisterhood robe around her head "Hey, you know I could always sell flowers. You know luvly fresh violets, guvnor. If I ever get back to Piccadily!". And later on in the scene where Sarah (having recovered her eyesight) and the Doctor are trapped inside a room of Solon's castle, the Doctor makes cyanogen gas and places it above the vents to let it filter upstairs into Solon's lab. And Sarah afer having asked if it will work and the Doctor says "well if we are still here in a month...." and she says "It hasn't worked!". Then Sarah asks "How many seconds are there in a month?" and the Doctor quickly replies "2,678,400" and Sarah says "Short month!" (although that is how many seconds there are in 31 days, so strictly speaking that's not entirely accurate for all months of the year!).
Cynthia Grenville is also good in her role as Maren, the leader of the Sisterhood on Karn and she shares some good scenes with the Doctor. Grenville's best line comes when she first meets the Doctor after the sisterhood have used their special telekinetic powers to physically ransport the Doctor to them and she says as he speaks of Morbius, "Morbius is dead, Doctor and you will be joining him very shortly!". Gilly Brown also does well in her role as Ohica, Maren's second in command of the sisterhood although she does have a tendency to overdo when she widens her eyes, so much so in fact she could give David Tenant a good run for his money in that department!
Colin Fay also puts in a good performance aswell as Condo, Solon's slow-witted but sympathetic manservant. Fay (who was an opera singer) has some good moments in the story as well such as the scene where he get's angry over Solon offering Condo up as a sacrifice to the sisterhood in order to spare the Doctor from being sacrificed by the sisterhood. And Condo says "Condo, good servant. You give sisters, let kill Condo! Condo kill you!" and he grabs Solon and says "You make Condo fool! Now you die!" but Solon tries to get out of it by saying it was just a "stupid joke" and Condo says "Condo not joke, you lose hand!". Also later on there is scene when they prepare for Morbius's operation and Condo looks over at the headless body that Solon has created for Morbius and he notices that one of the arms is human and he puts two and two together, realising that it is his own hand. And Condo says to Solon in shock "You take Condo's arm for this!" and they have their fight which ends with Condo being shot in the stomach, but he survives and limps out into the corridor (poor guy). There is also an amusing scene where Condo goes to find Sarah who at this point is still blinded by the effect's of Maren's ring and he picks her up and takes her away saying "Better you come now. Master want" as Sarah is kicking and screaming (although in this scene I can swear I hear Lis Sladen actaully laughing!).
And last of all Michael Spice does an excellent job as the voice of Morbius and Spice's powerful voice is eletronically treated as he delivers Morbius's potent threats (yet impotent as he is just a brain in a jar for the most part). Spice is also given quite a dramatic and effective entrance when Sarah stumbles downstairs into Solon's lab and he angrily asks her "Are you one of the sisterhood?! Did Maren send you to destroy me?!" and Sarah says no and Morbius angrily replies "Yes she did! You she-devils want to destroy me! Now before I have my revenge!". And later Spice has another good moment where Solon talks to Morbius, who angrily tells Solon "Trapped like this! Like a sponge beneath the sea. Yet even the sponge has more life than I! Can you understand a thousandth of my agony?! I, Morbius, who once lead the High council of the Time Lords, now reduced to this, to a condition where I envy a vegetable!". The Morbius creature itself was played by stunt actor, Stuart Fell.
As for the director, Christopher Barry does an excellent job here with the story and he keeps the atmosphere very intense and brooding throughout and expertly keeps the lighting dark to suit the tone of the story also. The music is again by Dudley Simpson and his score is excellent as well and it has plenty of dramatic passages which work well for the story and it showed once again how Simpson was the perfect choice of regular composer for the show and its remarkable to think just how prolific he was during the show's early years.
So regarding flaws does The Brain of Morbius have any worth moaning about???? Well not really although it has to be said there is the odd plot hole and the one that springs to mind straight away is why did the sisterhood decide to give the Doctor back to Solon after he helps them out by reviving the flame of their Elixir????? I mean it should be a case of "Thank you, Doctor, you have restored our scared flame!" but no instead "we will render you unconscious and take you back to Solon and leave you for dead!". Now that is gratitude!! Not unless of course the Doctor planned it that way to make it look like he was dead although he simply woke up when Sarah found him at the start of the last episode of the story. And it has to be said the logic of that scene just isn't very well explained at all and you are just left to imagine how and why the Sisterhood decided to give the Doctor back rather than just let him travel back himself! Another issue is with the set production, which is largely excellent but one of the backdrops is clearly a canvass that has been painted of a blue sky in the background in the scene where Sarah stumbles blindly around the surface of Karn when Condo finds her, and it basically looks pretty cheap and obvious in that instance.
And another thing that bugged me was the scene where the Doctor challenges Morbius to a mindbending contest at the end of the story and we see images of the Doctor's previous lives come alive on a projected image while they do mental battle with one another. And as we know the doctor has only regenerated three times up to this point yet we see other faces prior to that of the first doctor (William Hartnell of course) all of which are actually members of the Doctor Who production team of that time which included Robert Holmes, the script editor, George Gallaccio, production unit manager, Graeme Harper, the production assistant and one of the show's directors, Douglas Camfield. Hinchcliffe at the time said he wanted to imply that William Hartnell was not the first doctor, however if that were the case by then the Doctor would have been on his 8th or 9th regeneration by then! But the background of the Time Lords was just in its infancy back then of course and it would be The Deadly Assassin where it would introduce the concept of a Time Lord having a maximum regeneration cycle of 12 times. So again it did raise some inconsistencies in the story and also the history of the Doctor and the Time Lords lifespan as well. Also lastly another plot hole is in the scene where the Doctor makes cyanogen and he places it next to an airduct so it filters through into Solon's lab. However as the cyanogen gas kills Solon, the Doctor was taking a bit of a gamble as what if Solon hadn't finished the operation and Morbius was still inert then he and Sarah would still have been trapped inside the room! So it was just as well the Doctor timed it just right to use the cyanogen gas otherwise Morbius wouldn't have got up and found them in time!
But that aside The Brain of Morbius still is one of the classic series most unique, entertaining and foreboding stories and it remains a very strong one and well worth checking it out if you haven't seen it yet.
And with that I shall bid you farewell!
Saturday 9 August 2014
Call of Duty Black Ops: "This is 'Nam, baby!"
Right well I thought it would be a good change of pace to do a review on another video game and this is one of my favourite games in recent years, Call of Duty Black Ops. So get on the armour, get the guns (I seem to say that alot on here!) make our way into the jungle and look at this un....
So a little bit about the plot (don't worry it will be just one paragraph!) as the story follows Alex Mason (voiced by Sam Worthington) who is a special forces operative, who in the 1960s engaged in some black operations behind the enemy lines, run by the CIA. The ops take place in various different locations, and Mason works with other operatives, Frank Woods, Joseph Boden, and a Russian born operative, Grigori Weaver. The story is told in a series of flashbacks as well as main focus of the exposition comes from 1968 where Mason is held captive by unseen captors who ask a series of questions about a numbers station. Mason recalls several previous missions he was on in an attempt to answer the questions. Mason's missions include Operation 40, which was an attempt to assassinate Fidel Castro during the bay of pigs, 1963 where he embark on a mission to Kazah SSR to disrupt the space program and later 1968 where Mason was sent into Vietnam. The crux of these latter two missions were to track down a Russian defector named Dragovich, who later is revealed to smugglign shipments of a lethal nerve gas, Nova 6. Off and on throughout the game, Mason also encounters an ally of his, Victor Reznov (voiced by Gary Oldman) who helps fight during the missions. But as the game progresses we soon discover the truth behind what happened to Mason, who his captors are and what happened to Reznov, and can they stop Dragovich....
After the tremendous success of Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare, which saw the series being modernised, Black Ops continued with another different take on the series dealing with the Cold War and Vietnam, and with the main character being interrogated with the flashback sequences it makes for a compelling narrative, which keeps the player guessing as to how it will unravel. The single player campaign in itself is superb and it makes for an exciting and thrilling experience where the player is immersed in some very intense battles and the missions are very varied as well. The multiplayer campaign will also offer much enjoyment for multiplayer game fans and there is also the fun inclusion of the Zombie campaign, where you get to play John F. Kennedy who fights against zombies who break into the Pentagon!
In terms of the gameplay and combat its all pretty similar to what went before in the previous games where the player can movement wise run, walk, crouch, go prone as well jump over walls etc. And one thing where Blacks Ops has real variety is in the choice of weapons such as sub-machine guns, uzis, assault rifles, shotguns, sniper rifles, silenced pistols, grenades and a new addition to the game is the crossbow, which uses explosive bolts as well. The game also uses the same health warning system as before when the player takes alot of gunfire the screen starts to glow red to indicate the player's health is being damaged, but it gradually reduces when the player takes cover. The player can also kill enemies in the game with melee weapons such as knives or crowbars, which can be triggered by using a specific button on the controller (or keyboard if you use the PC) when they get in close. The game also features some scripted inscreen cinematic cutscenes and even some bullet time moments, one example is in the Operation 40 mission where Mason kills Castro's decoy.
Moving onto the games graphics Black Ops looks stunning and is based on the World at War game engine except a more enhanced version and the game features some advanced lighting effects and shadows, which are put to great use in the game's darkly lit sequences. The game's environments like most today are very varied and very well detailed and feature different settings such as America, Cuba, Russia, Vietnam and Kowloon. The character models are also excellent and while they might not quite approach lifelike quality they still look pretty good for their time. The game itself also features some explicit content and graphic violence, which can actually be limited in the game's settings where some of the game's more violent scenes are toned down with the blood and gore removed (this is the same for the game's strong lanugage which is also adjustable in the game's menus).
Voice acting wise Black Ops is also excellent and it featues a top cast that includes Ed Harris as Jason Hudson, the CIA agent, Gary Oldman who reprises his role as Viktor Reznov, the former Red army soldier, Ice Cube as Joseph Bowman and James C Burns as Frank Woods. And Sam Worthington who isn't the best actor of all time is actually surprisingly good as well in his voice acting role as the main character, Alex Mason. The game itself is pretty intense and serious in tone and there is little room for humour but there is one amusing scene in the game where Hudson tries to debrief Bowman who arrives in Vietnam and greets Woods and they just totally ignore Hudson who just sighs as they walk off (as neither of them are a fan of the CIA). The Vietnam intro scene also features a good exchange between Mason and Woods as they await for Woods's arrival and when he choppers they see how he is covered in muck and blood stains and Mason says to Woods "Woods, you look like hammered shit!" and Woods says "Looks don't count for shit in the jungle! This is 'Nam baby!". The game's music score is also excellent and was composed by Sean Murray, who worked Word at War as well and his score is very intense and atmospheric as well, and the game also makes good use of The Rolling Stones "Sympathy for the devil" in one scene during the Vietnam missions where the American army launch an attack on the VC by sea as they ride through the river.
As for flaws.... well Black Ops doesn't really have any worth moaning about too much, except maybe the simple fact that despite the setting and the excellent story, it doesn't really offer much else new to the series than what we have seen before. And in this respect it feels like what the player is getting is just revamped version of the previous game but that I guess would apply to all the Call of Duty games since the original. Depending on the player's taste the game's violence can also be quite strong and graphic (well its war of course!) and it does some disturbing moments in the single player campaign such as the horrible scene where Dragovich betrays Reznov and his friend Dimitri Petrenko and exposes Petrenko to the Nova 6 gas and traps him in an enclosed cell and the player is forced to witness his gruesome death. So the game certainly isn't for the faint of heart as the story is pretty intense stuff overall but then again you have to expect that from a war video game. Another criticism is that the single player campaign is fairly short as it clocks in at roughly six hours gameplay which means if you put in a pretty rigorous gaming session there's a fair chance you might get the campaign completed in two sittings at the most! There also some moments in the game where you are actually forced to watch the cut scenes and you can't skip them, which can be a bit annoying especially the one where Mason arrives at the Pentagon to speak with President Kennedy, which seems to go on forever and in that time you could make yourself a cup of tea by the time its done! There were also some software issues with the PC version but they were eventually ironed out with patches which made for a frustrating gaming experience at the time but in most cases Call of Duty is probably best enjoyed on a gaming console i.e. Xbox 360 or PS3 (although aiming your weapon is easier on the PC it has to be said using a mouse).
But that all aside Blacks Ops is an excellent addition to the Call of Duty series and it also saw the series take another refreshing spin on the warfare themes as well as the time period which made a welcome change.
So with that I shall good night!
So a little bit about the plot (don't worry it will be just one paragraph!) as the story follows Alex Mason (voiced by Sam Worthington) who is a special forces operative, who in the 1960s engaged in some black operations behind the enemy lines, run by the CIA. The ops take place in various different locations, and Mason works with other operatives, Frank Woods, Joseph Boden, and a Russian born operative, Grigori Weaver. The story is told in a series of flashbacks as well as main focus of the exposition comes from 1968 where Mason is held captive by unseen captors who ask a series of questions about a numbers station. Mason recalls several previous missions he was on in an attempt to answer the questions. Mason's missions include Operation 40, which was an attempt to assassinate Fidel Castro during the bay of pigs, 1963 where he embark on a mission to Kazah SSR to disrupt the space program and later 1968 where Mason was sent into Vietnam. The crux of these latter two missions were to track down a Russian defector named Dragovich, who later is revealed to smugglign shipments of a lethal nerve gas, Nova 6. Off and on throughout the game, Mason also encounters an ally of his, Victor Reznov (voiced by Gary Oldman) who helps fight during the missions. But as the game progresses we soon discover the truth behind what happened to Mason, who his captors are and what happened to Reznov, and can they stop Dragovich....
After the tremendous success of Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare, which saw the series being modernised, Black Ops continued with another different take on the series dealing with the Cold War and Vietnam, and with the main character being interrogated with the flashback sequences it makes for a compelling narrative, which keeps the player guessing as to how it will unravel. The single player campaign in itself is superb and it makes for an exciting and thrilling experience where the player is immersed in some very intense battles and the missions are very varied as well. The multiplayer campaign will also offer much enjoyment for multiplayer game fans and there is also the fun inclusion of the Zombie campaign, where you get to play John F. Kennedy who fights against zombies who break into the Pentagon!
In terms of the gameplay and combat its all pretty similar to what went before in the previous games where the player can movement wise run, walk, crouch, go prone as well jump over walls etc. And one thing where Blacks Ops has real variety is in the choice of weapons such as sub-machine guns, uzis, assault rifles, shotguns, sniper rifles, silenced pistols, grenades and a new addition to the game is the crossbow, which uses explosive bolts as well. The game also uses the same health warning system as before when the player takes alot of gunfire the screen starts to glow red to indicate the player's health is being damaged, but it gradually reduces when the player takes cover. The player can also kill enemies in the game with melee weapons such as knives or crowbars, which can be triggered by using a specific button on the controller (or keyboard if you use the PC) when they get in close. The game also features some scripted inscreen cinematic cutscenes and even some bullet time moments, one example is in the Operation 40 mission where Mason kills Castro's decoy.
Moving onto the games graphics Black Ops looks stunning and is based on the World at War game engine except a more enhanced version and the game features some advanced lighting effects and shadows, which are put to great use in the game's darkly lit sequences. The game's environments like most today are very varied and very well detailed and feature different settings such as America, Cuba, Russia, Vietnam and Kowloon. The character models are also excellent and while they might not quite approach lifelike quality they still look pretty good for their time. The game itself also features some explicit content and graphic violence, which can actually be limited in the game's settings where some of the game's more violent scenes are toned down with the blood and gore removed (this is the same for the game's strong lanugage which is also adjustable in the game's menus).
Voice acting wise Black Ops is also excellent and it featues a top cast that includes Ed Harris as Jason Hudson, the CIA agent, Gary Oldman who reprises his role as Viktor Reznov, the former Red army soldier, Ice Cube as Joseph Bowman and James C Burns as Frank Woods. And Sam Worthington who isn't the best actor of all time is actually surprisingly good as well in his voice acting role as the main character, Alex Mason. The game itself is pretty intense and serious in tone and there is little room for humour but there is one amusing scene in the game where Hudson tries to debrief Bowman who arrives in Vietnam and greets Woods and they just totally ignore Hudson who just sighs as they walk off (as neither of them are a fan of the CIA). The Vietnam intro scene also features a good exchange between Mason and Woods as they await for Woods's arrival and when he choppers they see how he is covered in muck and blood stains and Mason says to Woods "Woods, you look like hammered shit!" and Woods says "Looks don't count for shit in the jungle! This is 'Nam baby!". The game's music score is also excellent and was composed by Sean Murray, who worked Word at War as well and his score is very intense and atmospheric as well, and the game also makes good use of The Rolling Stones "Sympathy for the devil" in one scene during the Vietnam missions where the American army launch an attack on the VC by sea as they ride through the river.
As for flaws.... well Black Ops doesn't really have any worth moaning about too much, except maybe the simple fact that despite the setting and the excellent story, it doesn't really offer much else new to the series than what we have seen before. And in this respect it feels like what the player is getting is just revamped version of the previous game but that I guess would apply to all the Call of Duty games since the original. Depending on the player's taste the game's violence can also be quite strong and graphic (well its war of course!) and it does some disturbing moments in the single player campaign such as the horrible scene where Dragovich betrays Reznov and his friend Dimitri Petrenko and exposes Petrenko to the Nova 6 gas and traps him in an enclosed cell and the player is forced to witness his gruesome death. So the game certainly isn't for the faint of heart as the story is pretty intense stuff overall but then again you have to expect that from a war video game. Another criticism is that the single player campaign is fairly short as it clocks in at roughly six hours gameplay which means if you put in a pretty rigorous gaming session there's a fair chance you might get the campaign completed in two sittings at the most! There also some moments in the game where you are actually forced to watch the cut scenes and you can't skip them, which can be a bit annoying especially the one where Mason arrives at the Pentagon to speak with President Kennedy, which seems to go on forever and in that time you could make yourself a cup of tea by the time its done! There were also some software issues with the PC version but they were eventually ironed out with patches which made for a frustrating gaming experience at the time but in most cases Call of Duty is probably best enjoyed on a gaming console i.e. Xbox 360 or PS3 (although aiming your weapon is easier on the PC it has to be said using a mouse).
But that all aside Blacks Ops is an excellent addition to the Call of Duty series and it also saw the series take another refreshing spin on the warfare themes as well as the time period which made a welcome change.
So with that I shall good night!
Tuesday 5 August 2014
Pulp Fiction "That was f***in' trippy!"
OK now that I'm running the risk of repeating myself on here I thought I would do another post revisitation and this one is on Pulp Fiction, which I did back early last year which was taken from my other blog, but I thought I would revisit it and expand on some of the sections with looks at my fav bits of dialogue and a bit more analysis (well so to speak or basically me talking crap). So with that let's get on the cheap hitman suit, get the guns loaded and knock the door again on this one....
So the plot is told in a typically non-linear fashion and is split across two main stories with some subplots and the first one features hitman Vincent Vega (Travolta) who goes on a job with his partner Jules Winfield (Jackson) to retrieve a briefcase from some young kids who were stupid enough to rip off their boss Marcellus Wallace (played by Vingh Rhames). In the ensuing scene after they have killed the guys, Vincent accidentally kills one of their associates, Marvin (Phil LaMarr) by shooting him in the head while Jules is driving. After that Jule's calls his local friend Jimmie for help (played by Tarantino himself) and Marcellus who sends one of his business associates Mr Wolf (Harvey Keitel), who "solves problems" and aids in cleaning up their mess for them. The other story being Vincent who is asked by Marcellus to take out his wife Mia (Uma Thurman) one night on the town while he is away on business. As the two of them have a good night out, and share a steak, burger, and take part in a twist contest, at a "wax museum with a pulse" 1950s style diner. But when they go back to Mia's place, Mia accidentally overdoses on Vincent's heroin baggie, thinking it to be cocaine. At this point Vincent in a panic takes the dying Mia over to his drug dealing buddie Lance (Eric Stoltz) from whom he bought heroin, which leads into the infamous "needle" scene where Vincent brings Mia round with an adrenaline shot.
The next big story is the "Golden Watch" with Bruce Willis as a boxer Butch Coolidge who is coming to the end of his career and is being forced to take a dive in his fight by Marcellus. But Butch has other ideas and ends up winning the fight, killing his opponent in the process (unintentionally of course) and plans to flee with his girlfriend and the winnings he made from the bookies who placed bets on him. But as Butch and his girlfriend, Fabienne (Maria de Medeiros) plan their departure, Butch notices that Fabienne neglected to pick up his precious golden watch, which was given to him as a present from a soldier (Christopher Walken) who was entrusted the watch given to him by Butch's dad, who later died of dysentary (from concealing the watch in his ass!) which leaves Butch furious and little choice but to go back to get the watch. So as Butch goes back to his apartment to pick up the watch he proceeds to have the "weirdest fucking day of his life" as he rightly puts it.
And lastly the film concludes with Vincent and Jules having breakfast in a coffee house where they have a deep conversation about the freaky encounter they witnessed at Brett's apartment, when a gunman fired six bullets straight at them and they all missed. Not long after two thieves, Pumpkin (Tim Roth) and Yolanda (Amanda Plummer) hold up the coffee shop (whilst Vincent is in the bathroom) but as Pumpkin approaches Jules to get his wallet, the thief get's more than he bargained for as it leads into the film's surprising climax.
It has to be said that Pulp Fiction remains one of the most seminal and purely entertaining films of the last 20 years, which really established that Tarantino was no one-trick pony and he was a filmmaker that could really create something special. Tarantino's script is wonderfully written and is filled with rich (and profane) dialogue which is highly memorable as well as quotable. And its Tarantino's emphasis on the characters is what helps Pulp Fiction work so well as they are all very drawn out. Vincent as the main character in the film, is both dim and smart at the same time, as he holds a rather stubborn view of life, but at key moments isn't the brightest of sparks (especially leaving his machine gun outside the bathroom, in the scene where Butch faces off him with his gun).
Jules on the other hand is much brighter, cockier and smarter, and as he and Vincent face certain death at one point in the film, Jules is smart enough to realise that at this point, this probably isn't the life for him. And its most likely Jules decision after his dice with death that would go on to save him from a similar fate than Vincent's. In the final scene Jules also helps the two coffee shop robbers (from the opening scene) to escape unharmed, as prior to that he would have just killed them. Mia is also a really good character as she is nice and smart enough to know that her husband is protective of her, but she can look after herself. And Mia's close call with death also, provides a chance for Vincent to be the good guy and save her, although he wouldn't stand a chance in hell if she died on him. There's almost a fine line between Mia also flirting and going a step further with Vincent, but Quentin sensibly doesn't let it go that far, although in a later scene its implied they have been seeing each other behind Marcellus's back.
And performance is where Pulp Fiction shines as the cast are all on top form, starting with John Travolta who's career was totally revitalised here as he plays the part of the dim-witted hitman Vincent Vega, who get's into hot water when he unwittingly blows the head off a business associate and also has to try and save his boss's wife from overdosing on his own heroin. Travolta has numerous highlights in the film such as his opening scene where he talks with Jules about the subtle differences between the cultures of America, Paris and Amsterdam. And in the scene Jules says "Do you know what they call a quarter pounder with cheese in Paris?" and Jules asks "Don't they call it a quarter pounder with cheese?" and Vincent says "No they've got the metric system they wouldn't know what the fuck a quarter pounder is. They call it the Royale with cheese". And of course when Jules asks him "What do they call a whopper?" Vincent says "I dunno. I didn't go into Burger King". Then there is the scene where Vincent teases Jules about giving foot massages and says "Would you give a guy a foot massage? I'm little tired I could do with a foot massage myself!". And later as he fights the temptation to try anything on with Mia after their dinner, he talks to himself in the bathroom mirror at her place and says "So what you're gonna do is go out there and say "I had a lovely evening" get in the car, go home, jerk off, and that's all your gonna do!". And later the scene where Vincent desparately drives Mia over to Lance's place and drags her unconscious body out the car, despite Lance's protests "you are not to bring this fucked up bitch into my house!". And Vincent let's her drop to the ground and says "This fucked up bitch is Marcellus Wallace's wife! Do you know who Marcellus Wallace is??? Now if she croaks on me I'm a fuckin grease spot!". And later after they shoot the gunman in Brett's apartment, Vincent kneels down and asks Marvin "Why the fuck didn't you tell us about the guy in the bathroom? Did it slip your mind? Did you forget there was someone in there with a goddamn hand cannon?!". And lastly one of my favourite lines from Travolta is during the robbery of the diner and as Jules is about to give his money to Pumpkin he warns him "Jules if you give that fuckin nimrod 1500 dollars I'm gonna shoot him on general principle!".
Samuel L Jackson in this film needs no real introduction as this was the film that established his career and he is simply terrific in his role as the philosophical hitman who decides to turn a new leaf after his incident at Brett's apartment when retrieving Marcellus's case. Jackson has so many highlights in the film as well as priceless dialogue its hard to name them all but I will mention a few. The first being the scene where Jules and Vincent arrive at Brett's apartment and he asks Brett if he can take a bite of his burger and he does so and says "This IS a tasty burger!" followed by "Do you know what they call a quarter pounder in France?" and he tells Brett its a Royale with cheese and why and as Brett says "because of the metric system?" Jules says "Check out the big brain on Brett!". And later in the scene he taunts Brett just before he shoots him and asks "What does Marcellus Wallace look like?!" leaving Brett a stuttering wreck who keeps saying "What?" and Jules's short fuse is about to reach the limit and he points the gun at him saying "Say what again?! I dare you! I double dare you, motherfucker! Say what one more goddamn time!". And this is of course is followed by his famous Ezekiel 25:7 passage from the bible, which Jules later on spouts back to Honeybunny in the coffee shop and admits "I never gave much thought to what it meant. I just thought it was some cold blooded shit to say to a motherfucker before I popped a cap in his ass!".
Then there are some priceless Jackson moments in the "Bonnie Situation" storyline, such as when the gunman bursts out of Brett's bathroom and opens fire on Jules and Vincent but all the bullets miss. And Jules looks down at the dead gunman, after they shoot him, and he says "Did you see the size of the gun he fired at us? It was bigger than him!". And one of Jackson's funniest moments comes in the scene where Jules and Vincent have to clean out the blood stained car and Jules groans in dispair as he cleans out bits of skull and blood "Oh, man! I will never forgive your ass for this shit! This is some fucked up repugnant shit!". And when Vincent tries to say "when a man admits all his wrongdoings he is immediately forgiven" Jules says "Get the fuck out of my face with that shit! The motherfucker that said that shit didn't have to pick up itty bitty pieces of brain and skull on account of your dumb ass!". And when Vincent says how is "ready to blow" this is finally followed by "I'm a mushroom clould layin motherfucker, motherfucker! Every time my fingers touch brain I'm Superfly TNT! I'm the guns of the Navarone! In fact what the fuck am I doing in the back?! YOU'RE the motherfucker that should be on brain detail!". And lastly when Jules grabs Pumpkin he tries to chill out Honeybunny (or Yolanda) by saying "We're gonna be like three Fonzies! And what's Fronzie like?" and Yolanda says "cool?" and Jules says "Correct-a-mundo!".
Uma Thurman is also excellent in her role as Mia Wallace, Marcellus's sultry wife who has dinner with Vincent and their scenes together provide a nice chemistry between them both. Uma's highlights include the scene where Mia wants to dance for the Jack Rabbit Slim's dancing trophy and Vincent says no and she says "No, no, no, no. I do believe Marcellus Wallace, my husband, your boss, told you to take me out and do what I wanted. Now I wanna dance, I wan't that trophy. So dance good!" and they proceed to carry out a pretty cheesy dance (which wins them the trophy nontheless!). And after Mia has her harrowing near death experience and is saved bt Vincent she wearily asks him if he wants to hear a joke she told on the TV pilot she did. And Mia tells the joke "A daddy tomato, a mommy tomato and a baby tomato cross the street. The baby tomato starts lagging behind, the daddy tomato get's angry goes back and squishes him and says "Ketchup!".
Bruce Willis also puts in a good performance as the troubled boxer, Butch Coolidge, who is haunted by nightmares involving a soldier who hands Butch his late father's watch, who died in Vietnam and later on goes on the run from Marcellus Wallace as he ends up killing the boxer in his fight. Willis play the part with his usual type of coolness combined with some hot tempered moments, which we see in the scene where he frantically looks through his suitcase for his father's watch, which his girlfriend Fabienne has forgotten. And he says to Fabienne "That was my father's fucking watch. Do you have any idea what he went through to get that watch?? I don't have time to go into it but it was alot!". And one of Willis's best moments is where after he and Marcellus have been captured by the rednecks in the pawnshop and he breaks free of his bonds and knocks out the weird gimp and heads upstairs and rummages through the pawnshop for a weapon to rescue Marcellus with and he picks up a samurai sword and goes downstairs and exacts some revenge on the rednecks. And later when Marcellus let's Butch go he takes Z's chopper (Z is played by Peter Greene) and picks up Fabienne, who asks him "Who's motorcycle is this?" and Butch says "Its a chopper baby" and she says "Who's chopper is this?" and Butch says "Zed's?" Fabienne "Who's Zed?" and Butch says "Zed's dead, baby. Zed's dead!".
As for the rest of the cast, Vingh Rhames is great as the crime boss, Marcellus Wallace who sends Vincent and Jules to retrieve a case containing something of great value (and has a golden glow) which we never see what it is and later on has a confrontation with Butch. Rhames also has some good moments such as in his first scene where Marcellus talks to Butch and tells him "I think when this shit is all done and over, you're gonna find yourself one smilin motherfucker" as he tells Butch to take a dive in his fight. And later in the scene where Butch spots Marcellus cross the street, while driving his car, they look at each other and Marcellus shouts "Motherfucker!" just as Butch runs him over. But later on Butch decides to save Marcellus during being raped by the rednecks, and Marcellus then takes the shotgun and blasts Zed's private parts to bits. And as Butch asks him if he is OK, Butch says "Naw, man. I'm pretty far from OK!" and he tells Butch they are cool and asks "Don't tell nobody about this. This shit is between me, you and soon to be living the rest of his short ass life in agonising pain, rapist here, it nobody else's business" and he addresses Zed "You hear me talking hillbilly boy?! I ain't through with you by a damn sight! I'm gonna get medieval on your ass!".
Eric Stoltz is also good in his role as Lance, the drug dealer who sells Vincent the heroin, which Mia later overdoses on and he takes the call from Vincent when Mia has OD'd he says to him on the phone "This is not my fuckin problem! You fucked her up, you fuckin deal with this! Are you talking to me on a cellular phone?! I don't know you! Prank caller, prank caller!" and hangs up. Harvey Keitel also provides an amusing performance as Winston Wolf, the problem solver who turns and sorts out the "Bonnie Situation" which refers to Jule's friend, Jimmy's wife, Bonnie who will come home from work any time. And Harvey's best line comes when Vincent disputes Winston's straight talking no-nonsense manner and Winston says "If I'm curt with you, its because time is a factor. I think fast, I talk fast and I need you guys to act fast if you want to get out of this. So pretty please, with sugar on top, clean the fuckin car!". And lastly Quentin Tarantino also can't resist putting himself in the film in his small role as Jimmy who through little choice has to help out Jules and Vincent with their problem. And Tarantino has some funny albeit rather offensive sounding lines such as "When you came pulling in here, did you notice a sign outside my house saying dead nigger storage?" and later when Winston asks what Jules and Vincent looks like in Jimmy's sporty shorts and t-shirts he says "Dorks! They look like a couple of dorks!".
As for Quentin Tarantino's direction and writing well they speak for themselves as they are simply first class and as he did with Reservoir Dogs he employs the use of long takes in certain scenes and even has a little nod to Brian De Palma with the scene where we see Butch on the right edge of the frame, exhausted on the run from a groggy Marcellus who went see in the disance on the left of the shot. Tarantino also has a memorable soundtrack made up of tracks such as Dick Dale's "Miserlou", and Kool n the Gang's "Jungle Boogie", Aretha Franklin's "Son of a preacher man" as well as other songs like "Countin flowers on the wall" by the Statler Brothers, "Comache" by The Revels, used during the hillbilly rape scene and Chuck Berry's "You never can tell" used during Vincent and Mia's dance.
Flaw wise how does Pulp Fiction stack up then???? Well despite the fact the film is two and a half hours long it rarely drags, although I do admit the Butch and Fabienne scene does drag on a bit, and is the only fairly tedious scene in the film, especially with Fabienne wittering on, about wishing she had a pot belly like "Madonna did when she did Lucky Star!". The film is also probably guilty of Tarantino's own penchant to make nerdy observations possibly as a result of his travels, such as the comparisons between American and French cultures and gives those references for the actors to deliver.
And one of the few things that does leave me slighly uncomfortable about Pulp Fiction is the somewhat racist element on the dialogue, especially in the scenes such as Lance the drug dealer saying to Vincent about his deals "Am I a nigger? Are we in Inglewood??" as well as Jimmie saying to Jules "when you pulled in here, did you see a sign on the front of my house saying dead nigger storage??". It does show an uncomfortable mix of humour blended in with racism, and it was the same in Reservoir Dogs where the gangsters talk about "how every nigger they know treats their women like a piece of shit?". Also in the redneck scene where Marcellus is raped by one of the good ol boys, it does appear very stereotypical in its depiction of these characters and it almost like Quentin threw in the sodomy scene for shock effect more than anything else. But apart from that its a mighty impressive film, which is also great because not just the dialogue but also how the characters react and interact with one another, when there is no dialogue. And while Quentin was accused of writing racist dialogue by Spike Lee when he did Jackie Brown, I think at that time he wrote it specifically for the black guys in the film, so it certainly wasn't racist then, and I guess he is also writing the dialogue from the point of view of the character's attitudes. Despite all that it can still leave a bitter taste in your mouth whilst you listen to the dialogue at times.
Sooooo that's it for my revisitation to my original Pulp Fiction post and I hope you have enjoyed it and its amazing to think that Pulp Fiction is now 20 years old as a film and to this day it is still a fresh and highly entertaining as it was back then.
So with that I shall adios mofos!
So the plot is told in a typically non-linear fashion and is split across two main stories with some subplots and the first one features hitman Vincent Vega (Travolta) who goes on a job with his partner Jules Winfield (Jackson) to retrieve a briefcase from some young kids who were stupid enough to rip off their boss Marcellus Wallace (played by Vingh Rhames). In the ensuing scene after they have killed the guys, Vincent accidentally kills one of their associates, Marvin (Phil LaMarr) by shooting him in the head while Jules is driving. After that Jule's calls his local friend Jimmie for help (played by Tarantino himself) and Marcellus who sends one of his business associates Mr Wolf (Harvey Keitel), who "solves problems" and aids in cleaning up their mess for them. The other story being Vincent who is asked by Marcellus to take out his wife Mia (Uma Thurman) one night on the town while he is away on business. As the two of them have a good night out, and share a steak, burger, and take part in a twist contest, at a "wax museum with a pulse" 1950s style diner. But when they go back to Mia's place, Mia accidentally overdoses on Vincent's heroin baggie, thinking it to be cocaine. At this point Vincent in a panic takes the dying Mia over to his drug dealing buddie Lance (Eric Stoltz) from whom he bought heroin, which leads into the infamous "needle" scene where Vincent brings Mia round with an adrenaline shot.
The next big story is the "Golden Watch" with Bruce Willis as a boxer Butch Coolidge who is coming to the end of his career and is being forced to take a dive in his fight by Marcellus. But Butch has other ideas and ends up winning the fight, killing his opponent in the process (unintentionally of course) and plans to flee with his girlfriend and the winnings he made from the bookies who placed bets on him. But as Butch and his girlfriend, Fabienne (Maria de Medeiros) plan their departure, Butch notices that Fabienne neglected to pick up his precious golden watch, which was given to him as a present from a soldier (Christopher Walken) who was entrusted the watch given to him by Butch's dad, who later died of dysentary (from concealing the watch in his ass!) which leaves Butch furious and little choice but to go back to get the watch. So as Butch goes back to his apartment to pick up the watch he proceeds to have the "weirdest fucking day of his life" as he rightly puts it.
And lastly the film concludes with Vincent and Jules having breakfast in a coffee house where they have a deep conversation about the freaky encounter they witnessed at Brett's apartment, when a gunman fired six bullets straight at them and they all missed. Not long after two thieves, Pumpkin (Tim Roth) and Yolanda (Amanda Plummer) hold up the coffee shop (whilst Vincent is in the bathroom) but as Pumpkin approaches Jules to get his wallet, the thief get's more than he bargained for as it leads into the film's surprising climax.
It has to be said that Pulp Fiction remains one of the most seminal and purely entertaining films of the last 20 years, which really established that Tarantino was no one-trick pony and he was a filmmaker that could really create something special. Tarantino's script is wonderfully written and is filled with rich (and profane) dialogue which is highly memorable as well as quotable. And its Tarantino's emphasis on the characters is what helps Pulp Fiction work so well as they are all very drawn out. Vincent as the main character in the film, is both dim and smart at the same time, as he holds a rather stubborn view of life, but at key moments isn't the brightest of sparks (especially leaving his machine gun outside the bathroom, in the scene where Butch faces off him with his gun).
Jules on the other hand is much brighter, cockier and smarter, and as he and Vincent face certain death at one point in the film, Jules is smart enough to realise that at this point, this probably isn't the life for him. And its most likely Jules decision after his dice with death that would go on to save him from a similar fate than Vincent's. In the final scene Jules also helps the two coffee shop robbers (from the opening scene) to escape unharmed, as prior to that he would have just killed them. Mia is also a really good character as she is nice and smart enough to know that her husband is protective of her, but she can look after herself. And Mia's close call with death also, provides a chance for Vincent to be the good guy and save her, although he wouldn't stand a chance in hell if she died on him. There's almost a fine line between Mia also flirting and going a step further with Vincent, but Quentin sensibly doesn't let it go that far, although in a later scene its implied they have been seeing each other behind Marcellus's back.
And performance is where Pulp Fiction shines as the cast are all on top form, starting with John Travolta who's career was totally revitalised here as he plays the part of the dim-witted hitman Vincent Vega, who get's into hot water when he unwittingly blows the head off a business associate and also has to try and save his boss's wife from overdosing on his own heroin. Travolta has numerous highlights in the film such as his opening scene where he talks with Jules about the subtle differences between the cultures of America, Paris and Amsterdam. And in the scene Jules says "Do you know what they call a quarter pounder with cheese in Paris?" and Jules asks "Don't they call it a quarter pounder with cheese?" and Vincent says "No they've got the metric system they wouldn't know what the fuck a quarter pounder is. They call it the Royale with cheese". And of course when Jules asks him "What do they call a whopper?" Vincent says "I dunno. I didn't go into Burger King". Then there is the scene where Vincent teases Jules about giving foot massages and says "Would you give a guy a foot massage? I'm little tired I could do with a foot massage myself!". And later as he fights the temptation to try anything on with Mia after their dinner, he talks to himself in the bathroom mirror at her place and says "So what you're gonna do is go out there and say "I had a lovely evening" get in the car, go home, jerk off, and that's all your gonna do!". And later the scene where Vincent desparately drives Mia over to Lance's place and drags her unconscious body out the car, despite Lance's protests "you are not to bring this fucked up bitch into my house!". And Vincent let's her drop to the ground and says "This fucked up bitch is Marcellus Wallace's wife! Do you know who Marcellus Wallace is??? Now if she croaks on me I'm a fuckin grease spot!". And later after they shoot the gunman in Brett's apartment, Vincent kneels down and asks Marvin "Why the fuck didn't you tell us about the guy in the bathroom? Did it slip your mind? Did you forget there was someone in there with a goddamn hand cannon?!". And lastly one of my favourite lines from Travolta is during the robbery of the diner and as Jules is about to give his money to Pumpkin he warns him "Jules if you give that fuckin nimrod 1500 dollars I'm gonna shoot him on general principle!".
Samuel L Jackson in this film needs no real introduction as this was the film that established his career and he is simply terrific in his role as the philosophical hitman who decides to turn a new leaf after his incident at Brett's apartment when retrieving Marcellus's case. Jackson has so many highlights in the film as well as priceless dialogue its hard to name them all but I will mention a few. The first being the scene where Jules and Vincent arrive at Brett's apartment and he asks Brett if he can take a bite of his burger and he does so and says "This IS a tasty burger!" followed by "Do you know what they call a quarter pounder in France?" and he tells Brett its a Royale with cheese and why and as Brett says "because of the metric system?" Jules says "Check out the big brain on Brett!". And later in the scene he taunts Brett just before he shoots him and asks "What does Marcellus Wallace look like?!" leaving Brett a stuttering wreck who keeps saying "What?" and Jules's short fuse is about to reach the limit and he points the gun at him saying "Say what again?! I dare you! I double dare you, motherfucker! Say what one more goddamn time!". And this is of course is followed by his famous Ezekiel 25:7 passage from the bible, which Jules later on spouts back to Honeybunny in the coffee shop and admits "I never gave much thought to what it meant. I just thought it was some cold blooded shit to say to a motherfucker before I popped a cap in his ass!".
Then there are some priceless Jackson moments in the "Bonnie Situation" storyline, such as when the gunman bursts out of Brett's bathroom and opens fire on Jules and Vincent but all the bullets miss. And Jules looks down at the dead gunman, after they shoot him, and he says "Did you see the size of the gun he fired at us? It was bigger than him!". And one of Jackson's funniest moments comes in the scene where Jules and Vincent have to clean out the blood stained car and Jules groans in dispair as he cleans out bits of skull and blood "Oh, man! I will never forgive your ass for this shit! This is some fucked up repugnant shit!". And when Vincent tries to say "when a man admits all his wrongdoings he is immediately forgiven" Jules says "Get the fuck out of my face with that shit! The motherfucker that said that shit didn't have to pick up itty bitty pieces of brain and skull on account of your dumb ass!". And when Vincent says how is "ready to blow" this is finally followed by "I'm a mushroom clould layin motherfucker, motherfucker! Every time my fingers touch brain I'm Superfly TNT! I'm the guns of the Navarone! In fact what the fuck am I doing in the back?! YOU'RE the motherfucker that should be on brain detail!". And lastly when Jules grabs Pumpkin he tries to chill out Honeybunny (or Yolanda) by saying "We're gonna be like three Fonzies! And what's Fronzie like?" and Yolanda says "cool?" and Jules says "Correct-a-mundo!".
Uma Thurman is also excellent in her role as Mia Wallace, Marcellus's sultry wife who has dinner with Vincent and their scenes together provide a nice chemistry between them both. Uma's highlights include the scene where Mia wants to dance for the Jack Rabbit Slim's dancing trophy and Vincent says no and she says "No, no, no, no. I do believe Marcellus Wallace, my husband, your boss, told you to take me out and do what I wanted. Now I wanna dance, I wan't that trophy. So dance good!" and they proceed to carry out a pretty cheesy dance (which wins them the trophy nontheless!). And after Mia has her harrowing near death experience and is saved bt Vincent she wearily asks him if he wants to hear a joke she told on the TV pilot she did. And Mia tells the joke "A daddy tomato, a mommy tomato and a baby tomato cross the street. The baby tomato starts lagging behind, the daddy tomato get's angry goes back and squishes him and says "Ketchup!".
Bruce Willis also puts in a good performance as the troubled boxer, Butch Coolidge, who is haunted by nightmares involving a soldier who hands Butch his late father's watch, who died in Vietnam and later on goes on the run from Marcellus Wallace as he ends up killing the boxer in his fight. Willis play the part with his usual type of coolness combined with some hot tempered moments, which we see in the scene where he frantically looks through his suitcase for his father's watch, which his girlfriend Fabienne has forgotten. And he says to Fabienne "That was my father's fucking watch. Do you have any idea what he went through to get that watch?? I don't have time to go into it but it was alot!". And one of Willis's best moments is where after he and Marcellus have been captured by the rednecks in the pawnshop and he breaks free of his bonds and knocks out the weird gimp and heads upstairs and rummages through the pawnshop for a weapon to rescue Marcellus with and he picks up a samurai sword and goes downstairs and exacts some revenge on the rednecks. And later when Marcellus let's Butch go he takes Z's chopper (Z is played by Peter Greene) and picks up Fabienne, who asks him "Who's motorcycle is this?" and Butch says "Its a chopper baby" and she says "Who's chopper is this?" and Butch says "Zed's?" Fabienne "Who's Zed?" and Butch says "Zed's dead, baby. Zed's dead!".
As for the rest of the cast, Vingh Rhames is great as the crime boss, Marcellus Wallace who sends Vincent and Jules to retrieve a case containing something of great value (and has a golden glow) which we never see what it is and later on has a confrontation with Butch. Rhames also has some good moments such as in his first scene where Marcellus talks to Butch and tells him "I think when this shit is all done and over, you're gonna find yourself one smilin motherfucker" as he tells Butch to take a dive in his fight. And later in the scene where Butch spots Marcellus cross the street, while driving his car, they look at each other and Marcellus shouts "Motherfucker!" just as Butch runs him over. But later on Butch decides to save Marcellus during being raped by the rednecks, and Marcellus then takes the shotgun and blasts Zed's private parts to bits. And as Butch asks him if he is OK, Butch says "Naw, man. I'm pretty far from OK!" and he tells Butch they are cool and asks "Don't tell nobody about this. This shit is between me, you and soon to be living the rest of his short ass life in agonising pain, rapist here, it nobody else's business" and he addresses Zed "You hear me talking hillbilly boy?! I ain't through with you by a damn sight! I'm gonna get medieval on your ass!".
Eric Stoltz is also good in his role as Lance, the drug dealer who sells Vincent the heroin, which Mia later overdoses on and he takes the call from Vincent when Mia has OD'd he says to him on the phone "This is not my fuckin problem! You fucked her up, you fuckin deal with this! Are you talking to me on a cellular phone?! I don't know you! Prank caller, prank caller!" and hangs up. Harvey Keitel also provides an amusing performance as Winston Wolf, the problem solver who turns and sorts out the "Bonnie Situation" which refers to Jule's friend, Jimmy's wife, Bonnie who will come home from work any time. And Harvey's best line comes when Vincent disputes Winston's straight talking no-nonsense manner and Winston says "If I'm curt with you, its because time is a factor. I think fast, I talk fast and I need you guys to act fast if you want to get out of this. So pretty please, with sugar on top, clean the fuckin car!". And lastly Quentin Tarantino also can't resist putting himself in the film in his small role as Jimmy who through little choice has to help out Jules and Vincent with their problem. And Tarantino has some funny albeit rather offensive sounding lines such as "When you came pulling in here, did you notice a sign outside my house saying dead nigger storage?" and later when Winston asks what Jules and Vincent looks like in Jimmy's sporty shorts and t-shirts he says "Dorks! They look like a couple of dorks!".
As for Quentin Tarantino's direction and writing well they speak for themselves as they are simply first class and as he did with Reservoir Dogs he employs the use of long takes in certain scenes and even has a little nod to Brian De Palma with the scene where we see Butch on the right edge of the frame, exhausted on the run from a groggy Marcellus who went see in the disance on the left of the shot. Tarantino also has a memorable soundtrack made up of tracks such as Dick Dale's "Miserlou", and Kool n the Gang's "Jungle Boogie", Aretha Franklin's "Son of a preacher man" as well as other songs like "Countin flowers on the wall" by the Statler Brothers, "Comache" by The Revels, used during the hillbilly rape scene and Chuck Berry's "You never can tell" used during Vincent and Mia's dance.
Flaw wise how does Pulp Fiction stack up then???? Well despite the fact the film is two and a half hours long it rarely drags, although I do admit the Butch and Fabienne scene does drag on a bit, and is the only fairly tedious scene in the film, especially with Fabienne wittering on, about wishing she had a pot belly like "Madonna did when she did Lucky Star!". The film is also probably guilty of Tarantino's own penchant to make nerdy observations possibly as a result of his travels, such as the comparisons between American and French cultures and gives those references for the actors to deliver.
And one of the few things that does leave me slighly uncomfortable about Pulp Fiction is the somewhat racist element on the dialogue, especially in the scenes such as Lance the drug dealer saying to Vincent about his deals "Am I a nigger? Are we in Inglewood??" as well as Jimmie saying to Jules "when you pulled in here, did you see a sign on the front of my house saying dead nigger storage??". It does show an uncomfortable mix of humour blended in with racism, and it was the same in Reservoir Dogs where the gangsters talk about "how every nigger they know treats their women like a piece of shit?". Also in the redneck scene where Marcellus is raped by one of the good ol boys, it does appear very stereotypical in its depiction of these characters and it almost like Quentin threw in the sodomy scene for shock effect more than anything else. But apart from that its a mighty impressive film, which is also great because not just the dialogue but also how the characters react and interact with one another, when there is no dialogue. And while Quentin was accused of writing racist dialogue by Spike Lee when he did Jackie Brown, I think at that time he wrote it specifically for the black guys in the film, so it certainly wasn't racist then, and I guess he is also writing the dialogue from the point of view of the character's attitudes. Despite all that it can still leave a bitter taste in your mouth whilst you listen to the dialogue at times.
Sooooo that's it for my revisitation to my original Pulp Fiction post and I hope you have enjoyed it and its amazing to think that Pulp Fiction is now 20 years old as a film and to this day it is still a fresh and highly entertaining as it was back then.
So with that I shall adios mofos!
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