OK so now its time for Part 2 of my look at the best Smashing Pumpkins songs, which will cover No.15 down to No.1 and there might be the odd surprise in there and you might say, where the hell is that song??? You might disagree with some of these choices, but they are just based on my opinion, but hope you enjoy reading them. So let's give it a look.....
15. Cherub Rock
Well its hard to start
cramming in all the very best songs of the Pumpkins at this stage but I
thought I would start with Cherub Rock from Siamese Dream as it really
is a great track and it had to be in here somewhere. Perhaps it
deserves to sit inside the top 10 but here it is at 15, Cherub Rock is a
fine opener to the SD album and I always like the way it starts with
the clean sounding guitar octave notes, then the distortion kicks in
along with the drums and the main riff which is one of the band's best.
The song also features some of Billy's best lyrics and I really like
the first verse where he starts "Freak out, give in, doesn't matter what
you believe in. Stay cool, and be somebody's fool this year". And
then there is chorus where Billy sings "Who wants honey, as long as
there's some money. Who wants that honey?" and followed by "Let me
out!". The song chord wise is actually pretty simple suprisingly but it
uses the octave notes so well and it may lack a solo but in this case
its no bad thing really. I always liked the acoustic version of the
song as well (as found on their Vieuphoria video when they played it in
an MTV studio session), perhaps even more than the album version. So
for me Cherub Rock is certainly one of the band's finest songs so it
sits in here rightfully.
14. Try try try
Right next up is this lovely mellow track from the Pumpkins, which features on the Machina album, which is nice antedote from some of the more intense tracks on there. The video however was quite controversial on its release as it depicts someone having a drug overdose, which was banned by MTV, but ultimately its a song that shows the beauty of the Pumpkins songwriting, where they can mix dispair and hope together and that pretty much sums this track. It has also good chorus where Billy sings "Try to hold on, to this heart, a little longer, try to hold on, to this love aloud, try to hold on, for this heart's a little bit colder, try to hold on to this love". The song does have a repetitive feel to it however but at the same time it doesn't actually repetitive and that's also perhaps a reason why its such a good song and well worth putting on here.
13. Perfect
OK at 13 is Perfect from Ava Adore, which has been compared often to 1979 and its easy to see why (or hear why) because they do sound fairly similar. However I will be controversial and say I much prefer Perfect to 1979 as I just think it hits the nostalgiac chord better than 1979 does. Billy's softly sung lyrics also compliment song and he starts off "I know we're just like old friend, we can't just pretend that lovers make amends, we are reasons so unreal, we can't help but feel something has been lost" and the chorus of course Next time, I promise we'll perfect". Given the dark and gloom that surrounds the Adore album, Perfect is very much like a beacon of light and its a very good track in its own right and here it is at 14, although I'm not too sure about the cowboy hat Billy wears in the video!
12. Stumbleline
At 12 we have Stumbleline from Mellon Collie, which is a fan favourite and that is understandable as it is one of their most beautifully understated acoustic songs. Again it features one of Billy's best vocal performances and he gently sings throughout and plays the guitar gently and the lyrics are perfect. "Boredom's in the bathroom shaking out the loose teeth. Sally's in the stirrups claiming her destiny. And nobody nowhere understands anything about me and all my dreams. Lost at sea". And then there is the chorus where Billy sings "I'll be your stumbeline, I'll be your superqueen" and the song's best lyrics for me are in the verse "Jukebox fuckup hanging around the drugstore, no matter what you say he'll be back for more". And the song finishes on a gentle note which is great as it leave the listener hanging on for more as Billy sings one last great line "And you make me come around ruby I could never sleep alone". In short its one of the Pumpkins most moving tracks without even being overly sentimental and that's why its so good and here at 12.
11. Ava adore
So at 11 is
Ava adore which for me is the best track off Adore and the album itself
is pretty experimental with its electronica sound and also features
some of the Pumpkins darkest material, which is clearly reflected in the
album's morbid cover. But right away Ava adore is a catchy number with
its intense riff and again Billy's coarse lyrics starting off with "Its
you that I adore, you'll always be my whore, you'll be the mother to my
child and a child to my heart. We must never be apart!". I have to
say though the lyrics in the song are a bit cheesy in places especially
the chorus where Billy sings "Lovely girl you're the murder in the
world" and the bridge lyrics also "In you I see dirty, in you I crash
cars! In you I taste God!". It also features a good Pumpkins
guitar solo although maybe a bit simplistic by their standards. So Ava
Adore is a pretty twisted example of a love song but its carried with
in a style that only Billy Corgan could manage so well and it well
deserve to be quite far up the list on here.
10. Soma
Another one of the Pumpkins darker
songs and one that again utilises the quiet-loud dynamic nicely and it
features some of Billy's most dour yet soulfully painful lyrics and the
structure of the song itself is great. The gentle and morose guitar
line is also what makes the song work so great and Billy's lyrics
starting things off "Nothing left to do, and I'll left to do is run away
from you". And later Billy sings on "So now, I'm all by myself, as
I've always felt, I'll betray my tears, to anyone caught in our ruse of
fools!" and then the almost chilling "one last kiss from me, one last
kiss.... goodnight!". After this it leads into the heavy rock section
of the song which features a terrific guitar solo from Billy, before it
returns to its gentle sleep as this incredible closes out. Soma sure
deserves being in the top 10 of this list, its not exactly easy
listening, but then most of the Pumpkins music isn't, which in lies part
of the beauty of it.
9. Porcelina of the vast oceans
Yet
another song off Mellon Collie, at over 9 minutes, its the longest song
on there and it remains almost like one of the hidden gems, which I
hadn't discovered for a while until recently I gave it a go and its
without a doubt one of their best songs. Porcelina also has a great
intro with the way it slowly starts up with the gentle guitars, in fact
its almost reminiscent of the band Jane's Addiction's music, and then it
goes into the heavy distorted riff, which its woven nicely between the
song's softer moments. The song also easily ranks as perhaps the most
atmospheric and dream-like song the Pumpkins wrote and the song's heavy
distorted chorus also makes it great listening. And Billy's lyrics
"without a care in this whole world, without a care in this life, its
what you take that makes it right!". And the song continues with its
gentle loud dynamic throughout which is what makes it work so well and
as far as one of their epic songs go, this is one of the best they did.
8. United States
Right OK at No.8 is flat out the best track on Zeitgeist, United States, which I think is the longest song they have written as it clocks in at just under 10 minutes (9 minutes and 51 seconds to be exact) so its a real epic and a very worthy one to be inside the top 10. The track itself get's off to a great start with Jimmy's drums gently coming in followed by the heavy crunching guitars (tuned down to drop Db) playing a killer riff and one of their best. Billy then starts singing "Tired eyes, closed for days, there's no regret cause there's no place I don't know what I believe but if I feel what do I need?". Then its followed by a really good section where Billy sings "Revolution, revolution, revolution blues. What will they do? What will they do to me?" and later he sings "What will they do to you??". And the song goes into its mid-section where it goes quieter and Billy plays feedback on his guitar, which sounds almost like a siren. After this the song kicks back in again and heads toward the best part of the song with a heavy and very crunchy riff and Billy sings "Well I feel alright, so tonight I got to ask you why, why deny it, its no surprise, I've got to survive!". Then we get one of the best pieces of rock the Pumpkins have come up with the amazing guitar riff and Jimmy's drums poudning away and Billy continues "Fight! I wanna fight! I wanna fight a revolution! Tonight, I wanna fight! I wanna fight a revolution! Tonight! At the light, at the light, do you wanna watch me die!". And Billy finishes up singing "Let me be something good, let me prove something real like I should. Let me embrace every single living thing! Let me be every single moment I ever misunderstood!". And after this the song goes into a heavy heavy outro with bursts of staccato guitar and drums and it finishes on a really good instrumental section before this epic track ends. And at No.8 United States is the best track from the "new" Smashing Pumpkins.
7. Muzzle
OK this is where the Mellon Collie songs start to come thick and fast as this is another great little track from their double album epic. Muzzle is easily one of the band's most upbeat tracks and its got a nice quick pace to it as well as a really good riff. The song also features some good lyrics from Billy although he does sing them somewhat incoherently (which let's face it in their early stuff he was guilty of!) and he begins the song immediately "I fear I am ordinary, just like everyone!" and later "My life has been extraorindary, blessed and cursed and won". The song's lyrics are actually in retrospect again fairly dark but Billy manages to sing them in a such way that makes the overall song cheerful, but I guess that was always part of the appeal of the band in that they could mix in the positive with the negative. That all aside Muzzle is a great catchy little song to be found on the varied and versatile album that is Mellon Collie and the infinite sadness.
6. Siva
Right its time for a break from Mellon Collie and to go back to their debut album, Gish, with Siva which has to be just about the best song on the album. Most of Gish its pretty much straight up rock and Siva is a perfect example of that combined with the simple fact its such a catchy (yes I overuse that word sorry!) song in its own right. Billy's lryics start off "I spin off and lose my head. Throwing a stray spark instead. Gather strength down in my heel. And dig it in the world I peel". The song also features some good guitar solo work and it also features a nicely unique quiet mid section before it bursts back into being a loud rock number and again it has another quiet section before it finishes loud which makes Siva a bit unlike the other tracks on Gish. In short Siva is great and worthy of being in the top 10.
5. The Everlasting Gaze
Now we get to another crunching heavy rock song from the Machina/The machines of God album, The everlasting gaze which ranks as one of the Pumpkins best rock songs. The song is also as close to heavy metal as you will get from the band, with the exception of course of heavy metal machine. Right from the get go this song grabs you by the throat and pulls you in with its crunching metal riff and Billy's lyrics "You know I'm not dead! Now you know where I've been. As you sleep, torn I am, weighted patiently". It also has a great chorus "on the ways of your desire, you always find a way, and through it all, into us all you move. Forgotten touch, forgotten thought, we can never have enough!". And the song's title actually doesn't come into until the bridge where Billy sings unaccompanied "We all want to hold in the everlasting gaze! Enchanted in the rapture of his sentimental sway! But underneath the wheels lie the skulls of every cog! The fickle fascination of an everlasting God!". And the end of the song is perhaps the best bit where it goes into rocking overdrive and Jimmy's drumwork is incredible before it draws to its close. So overall its a great song as well as having a stylish video recorded using fish eye lens and Billy and the band dressed in black, almost looking like something out of the Matrix and the video gives a nice round view of Billy's bald napper! And for TEG is one of their best and nicely belongs inside the top 10.
4. Jellybelly
Ahhh lovely, Jellybelly is without a doubt one of my favourite Pumpkins songs, and after the morose beauty of Soma, Jellybelly is the perfect antidote given its upbeat tone. Right away the song pulls you in with its rocking distorted guitars and the drop-D tuning (half a step down of course to Eb) and the song also features some amazing drum work by Jimmy Chamberlain and the main riff of the song itself is great. The song also features some fine lyrics by Billy which he starts off the song with "Welcome to nowhere fast. Nothing here ever lasts" and the chorus "We're nowhere, we're nowhere, we're nowhere to be!". And again Billy is essentially singing depressing lyrics but done in such a contrary manner its at odds with the songs nature, but its work so well when he sings "living makes me sick, so sick I wish I'd die. Down in the belly of the beast, I can't lie". And then there is the bridge section "there's nothing left to do, there's nothing left to feel, doesn't matter what you want, so!". And the song then rises up more as it nears its end as the guitars and Jimmy's amazing drums reach a crescendo and Billy sings "to make yourself feel better, you'll make it so you never, give into your forevers and live for always!". After this its the chorus again and the song finishes on a wonderfully frenetic note, which really heralds the beginning of the Mellon Collie album (well apart from Tonight, Tonight which feels like a precursor, albet a good one). So for me Jellybelly is a great track and it ranks rightly in the top 10.
3. Geek USA
Another great rockin song from Siamese dream, Geek USA really is a great piece of music and it features some great guitar and drum work from Billy and Jimmy. Billy's lyrics again signal his anger and frustration but they are also quite imaginative as he starts off "lover lover, let's pretend we're born as innocents. Cast into the world with apple eyes! To wish wish dangerous, my dear delirious, try to leave the rest of us behind!". And the song also has great chorus lyrics with Billy singing "shot full of diamonds and a million years, the disappointed disappear, like they were never here!". Then the song goes into a gentle mid section where Billy sings the lyrics that echo the album's title "in our dream we are connected, siamese twins, at the wrist." But then the rock comes back in and Billy sings on "And then I knew we'd be forsaken. Expelled from paradise. I can't believe them when they say its alright!". And then the song goes back to its rocking and features a great guitar solo from Billy before more great lyrcs "words can't define what I feel inside who needs them?! Caught with this virus on my mind! I give in to the disease of my needs!" as the songs pace becomes faster as it finishes with a certain level of contempt as Billy sings "we really love the USA!". Its a great energetic track, better played live by the band than on record as the pace of it is a bit slow but that aside Geek USA is the bomb and deserves being at No. 3.
2. Mayonaise
It may be No.2 on here but Mayonaise is easily one of the Pumpkins most beautiful songs, the emotion of the song is perfect as it doesn't feel overly sentimental either but it retains a nice feeling of nostalgia at the same time too. The chord structure of the song is also what makes it work so well as it has a slightly alternate tuning which gives the songs is beautiful chords in the first instance. Billy's lyrics here begin "fool enough to almost be it, cool enough not to see it, doomed" and its followed by more moving and painful lyrics which culminate with "No more promise, no more sorrow, no longer will I follow? Can anybody hear me? I just want to be... ME! When I can, I will. Try to understand, that when I can I will". Again the acoustic version found on Vieuphoria is my favourite as that was the first version I had heard of it and its wonderful in its own right but any version is really, and as it produces some nice moments during the performance where Billy laughs out loud at something in the background and James running out into the small audience at the end. So Mayonaise is right here at No.2, the Pumpkins most uplifting number.
1. X.Y.U.
OK so should a nice gentle mellow number finish off this rather exhaustive list???? Nah! It has to end with a real intense rocker and this cracker from Mellon Collie for me is their best ever song, X.Y.U. Right from the first second X.Y.U. is easily the most intense song the band ever produced and the guitar octave notes are the main hook that drives the song and it is backed up by some of Billy's most ferocious lyrics where he really is spitting out bile although its not entirely sure who its all aimed at but its a great vocal performance all the same. The lyrics are of course great and Billy starts off "She didn't wannabe, she didn't wanna know! She couldn't run away cos she was ca-razy! She gave it all away! She saw her baby break! And in the air it hung that she was dull razors!". And then its followed by "And I said, I wanna fill you up, I wanna break you, I wanna give you up. From one another, another should come to another, no one should come between us". And from here Billy's vocals intensify as he shouts "RAT-TAT-TAT KA-BOOM BOOM! Cos I'm a sister, and I'm a MOTHERFUCK!". And the next bit is where the heavy metal chugging guitar comes in and Billy's rage fills and he sings what are my favourite lines in the song "I am made of shamrocks! I am made of stern stuff! I am never enough! I am the FORGOTTEN CHILD!!". And after the first section it goes into the second section where song slows down and Billy starts singing about Mary had a little lamb and she's "not a stupid girl" and then the song temporarily stops. And during the gap this is where Billy delivers one of his most immortal lyrics at the top of his lungs "AND INTO THE EYES OF A JACKYL I SAY KAAAAAAA-BOOOOOOOOMMMMMM!!!" and the songs continues its frenetic pace and finally launches into the songs final segment. And this is the best part of the song where the song becomes its heaviest and the guitars crunch away with a great simple riff and Billy's frantic soloing and he sings "bye bye, baby, good BYE!" as the song ends with the guitars going into a rising frenzy and a single pound of the drums from Jimmy. So X.Y.U. is an unforgettable piece of music and I think it deserves to be right at the top of the list as the best Smashing Pumpkins song.
Soooooooooooo that's it for my rather exhaustive look at what I think are the 25 best Smashing Pumpkins songs, it took a fair bit of time and was surprisingly more depressing than I thought it would be (lol!). But nah I hope you enjoy it, even if you might say "where the hell is 1979 or Tonight?????!" well to be honest they aren't my favourites even though they are fine tracks in their own right.
Anyway that took a while and I will turn in and bid yee goodnight, tonight, tonight!
Ahad, 5 Oktober 2014
The Smashing Pumpkins Top 30 songs Part 1: songs 30-16
Hello! Right now we are into October so thought I would get started with a couple of posts and this one is actually to an extent an plaigirisation of someone else's idea as I thought I would do a list of what I think are the best songs of the rock band, The Smashing Pumpkins (and this has been done already on the web somewhere of course!).
But I liked the idea of doing it with the Foos so I've done that so thought might as well give it a go with the Pumpkins as I've been enjoying listening to their music again. Being only 30 tracks will cover only so much of the Pumpkins material as there are 28 songs on the Mellon Collie album alone! (and not all of those will feature here!) So without further ado let's begin the countdown....
30. Panoptican
OK to start off the list (actually this will be heavily revised!) this is a song off the Pumpkins most recent album (well prior to the release of Monuments of an elegy later this year) Oceania, which in itself is a good album and it sees the Pumpkins get back to the roots of their rock sound. Although one thing I would say about the song it does sound similar to the Queens of the stone age as the guitars have almost an identical sound to them, but overall its a really good track. It also features a really good chorus with "There's a sun that shines in, there's a world that stares out at me and all I refuse to please" and again it shows that Corgan's voice is improving with age as he no longer has the almost teenage-esque growl that he brought to his songs back in 90s. So from the new Pumpkins era, this is one worth checking out and I thought its worth putting on here right at No.30.
29. Pissant
Great little song off Pisces Iscariot which remains one of the band's most catchy earliest tracks and it features a pretty cool riff and some good lyrics from Billy, even though its just two and a half minutes long. The lyrics from Billy start with him singing "Got me a raygun, got me an altitude, can't help thinking there's something wrong with every one of you!". And then "talk revolution, as if it matters now, I don't care anyway just give me what I want!". It might not be an instant classic and its a fairly simple song structurally for the Pumpkins but for me but it is still a really likeable track and an underrated gem to be found on PI.
28. Neverlost
This track is off Zeitgeist and its a nice mellow and rather melancholy track but its one of my favourite songs off it and its welcome change of pace from the heavy crunchy numbers to be found on there (but I quite like that as I think Zeitgeist is somewhat underrated). The song starts off very well with the use of clean guitar sound and the xylophone backing up the track nicely, which is what helps make the track so work well. Billy's vocals are pretty good (although he seems to spend most of Zeitgeist singing in a falsetto!) and he starts off "All hands on deck, setting sail to get wrecked off course, you make what you want of me, I will keep you anyway" and then "Let's fill these hours and kill desire" and then the chorus "I've seen the film, I know the place, I'm never lost". Then it has a really good bridge section with Billy singing "If you think just right, if you'll love you'll find certain truths behind" before it continues on with the chorus and verse to finish. So Neverlost is well worth checking out and its one of the most underrated newer songs.
27. Doomsday clock
Next up is a song off their Zeitgeist album which saw the band's reformation without either James Iha or D'arcy Wretzky on guitar and bass, but Corgan and the drummer Jimmy Chamberlain being the surviving two members. Right away Doomsday clock brings in the listener with its heavy drum intro from Chamberlain followed by the crunching metal guitars (which is in Drop Db tuning). Corgan's lyrics start off well as he sings "Is everyone afraid? Is everyone ashamed? They're running towards their holes to find out, apocalyptic means are lost among our dead. A message to our friends to get out". Then there is the song's catchy chorus where Billy sings "Please don't stop its lonely at the top, these lonely days when will they ever stop? This doomsday clock ticking in my heart, not broken". The song then has a pretty good bridge section where Billy sings "We gotta dig in, gas masks on, wait in the sunshine, all bug-eyed. If this is living? Sakes alive! Well then they can't win, no one survives!" which is followed by the chorus and before you know it that's the song over. So Doomsday clock is a solid opener to Zeitgeist and that in itself makes it worth putting on here.
26. Today
OK so next is Today, should it be on here??? Well why not?? And I have to say I really like it and yes it is their most well known and commercial song but for many its probably the song introduced them to the band and that's good enough reason for it to be on the list. The song itself is upbeat in tone but it is if anything but that as the lyrics are pretty dark and Billy later said the song was written when he was in a state of deep depression. The lyrics are pretty memorable of course and Billy starts singing "Today is the greatest day I've ever known. Can't live for tomorrow, tomorrow's much too long. I'll burn my eyes out before I get out!". And then he continues "I wanted more than life could ever grant me, bored by the chore of saving face". And in the next verse Billy continues "Today is the greatest day I've ever known, can't wait for tomorrow, I might not have that long. I'll tear my hear out, before I get out!". And the bridge section changes things slightly as Billy sings "I want to turn you on" before it goes to the chorus to finish "Today is the greatest day I have ever really known!". It is a popular track of course and its not their very best but its still more than good enough as an anthem track for the band even though there is better yet to come.
25. Tales of a scorched Earth
Next we have Tales of a scorched Earth from Mellon Collie, which must rank as one of their heaviest tracks and easily if there was any example of the Pumpkins veering towards becoming a metal band, this was it. The song of course features Billy's voice being distorted and his lyrics are pretty brutal and stark sounding as he screeches at the start "Farewell! Goodnight! Last one out, turn out the lights!" and later he sings "Cause you're all whores and I'm a fag! And I've got no mother, and I've got no dad! So fuck it all because I don't care!". And the song throughout builds up in its intensity as the guitars screech towards the songs conclusion, it feels like an assault on the listener's senses and it sure is that, but its definitely worth listening to it for its crunching chorus alone. Puzzlingly it remains a song that the Pumpkins never really played on tour much, if at all, which is a shame but then it does require quite alot of intense screeching from Billy to carry it off, so perhaps he wanted to save his vocal chords! So I really like Tales and I thought it should be on here.
24. Here is no why
Dun-dun-dun - dun-dun-dun - dun-dun-dun! OK that's the intro riff if you might not have guessed which remains one of the Pumpkins best opening riffs, its catchy as hell, with that A major 7th followed by E chord combination, Here is no why remains one of the Pumpkins more upbeat tracks (even if it is at odds with their teenage angst-esque lyrics). The lyrics all the same are pretty good again with Billy's voice in fine form as he sings to begin "the useless drag of another day the endless drags of a death rock boy". It also features one of the Pumpkins best choruses of any song with Billy singing "And in your sad machines, you'll forever stay! Desparate and displeased with whoever you are!". The song also has a good bridge where it quiets a little before it goes right into its excellent guitar solo and it eventually ends on a slower note with the guitar line ending things nicely with one of the Pumpkins most ambiguously upbeat numbers.
23. Silverfuck
Next is Silverfuck which I've always really liked since I first heard it and I also really like the live version of it on Vieuphoria and as a song is just out and out rocks with its great drop D tuning, its a fine epic track on Siamese dream and in a way its a shame it isn't the closing tack on it (and finishing tracks on the Pumpkins albums was never their strong suit). Silvefuck also makes great use of the quiet-loud dynamic and allows for Billy's rather haunting lyrics to echo more as he sings at the begininng "I hear your winter and I hear your rain. I've failed your summer ways and I feel no pain" before it bursts into the energetic chorus "I HEAR WHAT YOU WANT AND I FEEL THAT WAY!". And then the song works its way into a frenetic mid-section climax leading into the song's mellow bridge where Billy sings "When you lie in your bed and you lie to yourself" and the mellow section ends with a chilly silence as Billy continues "bang bang you're dread, hole in your head" a few times before it rips back into its heavy chorus and from there the song builds into a frenzied finish. Silverfuck had to be in here somewhere as it really is something of a crescendo on SD and its a pity as I said that it isn't the finale to the album so here it is.
22. Where boys fear to tread
Another track off Mellon Collie, I really like this one and its the first track on the 2nd disc, Twilight to Starlight, which starts off with its improv'd sounding intro before it get's to its great main riff which runs throughout the whole song. There are some unusual sound effects dropped into the song as well one of them of course being the rocket launcher sound from the PC game, Doom, which is used to good effect. The song also has a great chorus with Billy singing "So get on, get on, get on the bomb! Get back, get back you belong!". And its the song's guitar riff that really gives WBFTT its edge but on the whole you get its actually a song where the Pumpkins are having a bit of fun and taking a break from the anguish of the songs such as Bullet with butterfly wings or the pained loneliness of Soma. Whichever you look at it, its a fine track worth putting on here.
21. Quiet
Next is Quiet and its actually hard in a way to rank this low down (or high up???) as it easily recognisible as a very fine track off one of the Pumpkins best albums, Siamese Dream. Quiet again echoes Corgan's rather troubled pysche and the making of the SD album was very tense and problmeatic with apparently Billy controlling everything during the process and recording all the guitar and bass parts himself. The lyrics are pretty good but again there are some dark undertones with Billy calling out "Jesus - are you listening - up there - to anyone at all?" and then "We are the fossils, relics of our time, mutilate the meanings so they are easy to deny!". But the central guitar riff is really good and it remains one of better sounding tracks off the rather mediocre production of Siamese dream, which for me whilst its a great album, its poorly produced with all tracks at a largely played at a plodding pace, which is why its no wonder that the Pumpkins played all those songs much faster live to up the tempo and give them much needed energy (sorry SD fans but for me its a poor album by Butch Vig's standards). But I love the way the song ends nonetheless and the tortured lyric "Come save me from the awful sound of NOTHING!!" rounds it off in a potent way, which Billy often screeches live to punctuate its meaning. So Quiet while its low down here, deserves a place in the list.
20. The end is the beginning is the end
Its a pity as good a song this is that they ended up using it for such a profoundly crap film, Batman & Robin back in 1997, because The end (I will call it for short) really is an excellent Pumpkins song which has a killer riff, which hooks you in straight from the off. The song also features a really good chorus with Billy singing some pretty dark lyrics (not like him!) "Is it bright where you are? Have the people changed? Does it make you happy that you are so strange? And in your darkest hour, I hold secret's flame! You can watch the world devoured in its pain!". I don't know what Billy made of the song appearing in the same film with Arnie as Mr Freeze and George Clooney (who struggles to keep his head still! (Sorry George!) as Batman. The film itself is a travesty but this is such a good song so you might think Batman & Robin???? Forget it, the Pumpkins would never bother writing something good for that. Well they did just that here and it definitely warrants its place here at 17.
19. Bullet with butterfly wings
OK you might say "why is this song so low down????" well the Pumpkins wrote so many good songs and its hard to place them all on this list but I think while Bullet is a very fine track indeed I wouldn't quite put it as high as in their very best. Nonetheless Bullet starts off great with silence and Billy's lryics "The world is a vampire, sent to drain. Secret destroyers hold you up to the flames. And what do I get for my pain? Betrayed desires, and a piece of the game". And Billy puts in one of his best vocals performances on thios track, especially when he sings "Even though I know - I suppose I'll show all my cool and cold - like old job!". And the song's dark and foreboding guitar line runs through the song and there is no doubt the song has one of the band's most memorable lyrics at the chorus "Despite all my rage I'm still just a rat in the cage! Then someone will say what is lost can never be saved!". I think its more than safe to say that in the Pumpkins earlier material had alot of angst and torment to them and this song is certainly no different especially as Bullet offers little in the way of salvation or resolution in its meaning as Billy sings the final line "And I still believe that I cannot be saved!" over and over. However despite that Bullet is still one of their most well known songs which is still very worthy of putting on any list and I could it put it higher but there are so many other songs to get to so here it is at No.19.
18. I am one
It was the first single they released on their debut album and there probably isn't a finer way that the Pumpkins could have announced themselves with I am one. Its a pretty straight up rock track but its got a good riff and catchy lyrics "I am one as you are three! To try and find the messiah in your trinity! Your city to burn! Your city to burn!". The song also features some good guitar solo work from Corgan himself as well as a rare solo from D'arcy on the bass and played live in the early days Corgan used it to improvise some of his own lyrics as shown in their live video, Vieuphoria where he sings "all I wanted was everything and all I got was shit!" so the structure of the song allows for a bit of improv. It might not be an all time great of theirs but I am one definitely deserves a place here and its still a memorable track simply because it introduced the world to the Pumpkins so it had to be on here somewhere.
17. Fuck you (an ode to no one)
Another one off Mellon Collie, An ode to no one is another rocker, which features some of the most bitter and angry lyrics to be found in a Smashies song, its where Billy really starts express his rage. The song starts off great as well with the distorted single note playing and Billy's ranting lyrics "I'm never coming back, I'm never giving in. I'll never be the shine in your spit. I disconnect the act. I disconnect the dots. The disconnect the me in me" (OK that last lyric is a bit pretentious!). And the song kicks in with its pretty intense metal-esque riff and it also features a good chorus where Billy again yells "No way! I don't need it! I don't need to disconnect your love!". Admittedly I do think some of the lyrics in An one to no one could be better although I do like the way the song slows down as Billy spits out "I took a virgin axe to his sweet Mary Jane! Lost my innocence to a no good girl! Scratch my face with anvil hands! And coil my tongue around a bumblee mouth!" before he sings more gently "And I give it all back to you" before it launches into its intense ending with the chorus again. So at 17, An one to no one is a mighty fine track.
16. Heavy metal machine
At No.16 we have a song off Machina, the rather heavy track called Heavy metal machine, which is rather apt as it is a track that has a fair amount of crunch to it. The song at first might appear to just sound like another rock-out noise fest, but it is actually a reall good song and the feel of it actually reminds me of the newer Helmet material and I'd imagine its a song that had a bit of an influence on the industrial metal scene. The song has a real killer riff to it all the same and Billy's voice is effectively distorted as he sings "If I were alive, I were real, would you survive?". Then the song goes into a great section where Billy sings "Let me die for rock n roll, let me die to save my soul, let me die, let me die, rock n roll!". And then the chorus kicks in which is great and very familiar sounding as I said to some of Helmet's new era and Billy sings "Heavy metal! Heavy metal machine! A heavy metal machine. We're the metal, in their metal machines! Heavy metal! Heavy metal machine!". As the song continues it becomes more intense as it leads into its outro which features some impressive drumming from Jimmy and some more crunchy guitars. The song finishes somewhat abruptly but Heavy metal machine is still one of the Pumpkins standout tracks and it might take a few listens to appreciate it, but give it a go as its worth for its chorus alone. So here it is at 16.
Rrrrrrrrrrrrright so that's part 1 over with next is Part 2 which will continue the countdown to No.1.
So see you in a bit!
But I liked the idea of doing it with the Foos so I've done that so thought might as well give it a go with the Pumpkins as I've been enjoying listening to their music again. Being only 30 tracks will cover only so much of the Pumpkins material as there are 28 songs on the Mellon Collie album alone! (and not all of those will feature here!) So without further ado let's begin the countdown....
30. Panoptican
OK to start off the list (actually this will be heavily revised!) this is a song off the Pumpkins most recent album (well prior to the release of Monuments of an elegy later this year) Oceania, which in itself is a good album and it sees the Pumpkins get back to the roots of their rock sound. Although one thing I would say about the song it does sound similar to the Queens of the stone age as the guitars have almost an identical sound to them, but overall its a really good track. It also features a really good chorus with "There's a sun that shines in, there's a world that stares out at me and all I refuse to please" and again it shows that Corgan's voice is improving with age as he no longer has the almost teenage-esque growl that he brought to his songs back in 90s. So from the new Pumpkins era, this is one worth checking out and I thought its worth putting on here right at No.30.
29. Pissant
Great little song off Pisces Iscariot which remains one of the band's most catchy earliest tracks and it features a pretty cool riff and some good lyrics from Billy, even though its just two and a half minutes long. The lyrics from Billy start with him singing "Got me a raygun, got me an altitude, can't help thinking there's something wrong with every one of you!". And then "talk revolution, as if it matters now, I don't care anyway just give me what I want!". It might not be an instant classic and its a fairly simple song structurally for the Pumpkins but for me but it is still a really likeable track and an underrated gem to be found on PI.
28. Neverlost
This track is off Zeitgeist and its a nice mellow and rather melancholy track but its one of my favourite songs off it and its welcome change of pace from the heavy crunchy numbers to be found on there (but I quite like that as I think Zeitgeist is somewhat underrated). The song starts off very well with the use of clean guitar sound and the xylophone backing up the track nicely, which is what helps make the track so work well. Billy's vocals are pretty good (although he seems to spend most of Zeitgeist singing in a falsetto!) and he starts off "All hands on deck, setting sail to get wrecked off course, you make what you want of me, I will keep you anyway" and then "Let's fill these hours and kill desire" and then the chorus "I've seen the film, I know the place, I'm never lost". Then it has a really good bridge section with Billy singing "If you think just right, if you'll love you'll find certain truths behind" before it continues on with the chorus and verse to finish. So Neverlost is well worth checking out and its one of the most underrated newer songs.
27. Doomsday clock
Next up is a song off their Zeitgeist album which saw the band's reformation without either James Iha or D'arcy Wretzky on guitar and bass, but Corgan and the drummer Jimmy Chamberlain being the surviving two members. Right away Doomsday clock brings in the listener with its heavy drum intro from Chamberlain followed by the crunching metal guitars (which is in Drop Db tuning). Corgan's lyrics start off well as he sings "Is everyone afraid? Is everyone ashamed? They're running towards their holes to find out, apocalyptic means are lost among our dead. A message to our friends to get out". Then there is the song's catchy chorus where Billy sings "Please don't stop its lonely at the top, these lonely days when will they ever stop? This doomsday clock ticking in my heart, not broken". The song then has a pretty good bridge section where Billy sings "We gotta dig in, gas masks on, wait in the sunshine, all bug-eyed. If this is living? Sakes alive! Well then they can't win, no one survives!" which is followed by the chorus and before you know it that's the song over. So Doomsday clock is a solid opener to Zeitgeist and that in itself makes it worth putting on here.
26. Today
OK so next is Today, should it be on here??? Well why not?? And I have to say I really like it and yes it is their most well known and commercial song but for many its probably the song introduced them to the band and that's good enough reason for it to be on the list. The song itself is upbeat in tone but it is if anything but that as the lyrics are pretty dark and Billy later said the song was written when he was in a state of deep depression. The lyrics are pretty memorable of course and Billy starts singing "Today is the greatest day I've ever known. Can't live for tomorrow, tomorrow's much too long. I'll burn my eyes out before I get out!". And then he continues "I wanted more than life could ever grant me, bored by the chore of saving face". And in the next verse Billy continues "Today is the greatest day I've ever known, can't wait for tomorrow, I might not have that long. I'll tear my hear out, before I get out!". And the bridge section changes things slightly as Billy sings "I want to turn you on" before it goes to the chorus to finish "Today is the greatest day I have ever really known!". It is a popular track of course and its not their very best but its still more than good enough as an anthem track for the band even though there is better yet to come.
25. Tales of a scorched Earth
Next we have Tales of a scorched Earth from Mellon Collie, which must rank as one of their heaviest tracks and easily if there was any example of the Pumpkins veering towards becoming a metal band, this was it. The song of course features Billy's voice being distorted and his lyrics are pretty brutal and stark sounding as he screeches at the start "Farewell! Goodnight! Last one out, turn out the lights!" and later he sings "Cause you're all whores and I'm a fag! And I've got no mother, and I've got no dad! So fuck it all because I don't care!". And the song throughout builds up in its intensity as the guitars screech towards the songs conclusion, it feels like an assault on the listener's senses and it sure is that, but its definitely worth listening to it for its crunching chorus alone. Puzzlingly it remains a song that the Pumpkins never really played on tour much, if at all, which is a shame but then it does require quite alot of intense screeching from Billy to carry it off, so perhaps he wanted to save his vocal chords! So I really like Tales and I thought it should be on here.
24. Here is no why
Dun-dun-dun - dun-dun-dun - dun-dun-dun! OK that's the intro riff if you might not have guessed which remains one of the Pumpkins best opening riffs, its catchy as hell, with that A major 7th followed by E chord combination, Here is no why remains one of the Pumpkins more upbeat tracks (even if it is at odds with their teenage angst-esque lyrics). The lyrics all the same are pretty good again with Billy's voice in fine form as he sings to begin "the useless drag of another day the endless drags of a death rock boy". It also features one of the Pumpkins best choruses of any song with Billy singing "And in your sad machines, you'll forever stay! Desparate and displeased with whoever you are!". The song also has a good bridge where it quiets a little before it goes right into its excellent guitar solo and it eventually ends on a slower note with the guitar line ending things nicely with one of the Pumpkins most ambiguously upbeat numbers.
23. Silverfuck
Next is Silverfuck which I've always really liked since I first heard it and I also really like the live version of it on Vieuphoria and as a song is just out and out rocks with its great drop D tuning, its a fine epic track on Siamese dream and in a way its a shame it isn't the closing tack on it (and finishing tracks on the Pumpkins albums was never their strong suit). Silvefuck also makes great use of the quiet-loud dynamic and allows for Billy's rather haunting lyrics to echo more as he sings at the begininng "I hear your winter and I hear your rain. I've failed your summer ways and I feel no pain" before it bursts into the energetic chorus "I HEAR WHAT YOU WANT AND I FEEL THAT WAY!". And then the song works its way into a frenetic mid-section climax leading into the song's mellow bridge where Billy sings "When you lie in your bed and you lie to yourself" and the mellow section ends with a chilly silence as Billy continues "bang bang you're dread, hole in your head" a few times before it rips back into its heavy chorus and from there the song builds into a frenzied finish. Silverfuck had to be in here somewhere as it really is something of a crescendo on SD and its a pity as I said that it isn't the finale to the album so here it is.
22. Where boys fear to tread
Another track off Mellon Collie, I really like this one and its the first track on the 2nd disc, Twilight to Starlight, which starts off with its improv'd sounding intro before it get's to its great main riff which runs throughout the whole song. There are some unusual sound effects dropped into the song as well one of them of course being the rocket launcher sound from the PC game, Doom, which is used to good effect. The song also has a great chorus with Billy singing "So get on, get on, get on the bomb! Get back, get back you belong!". And its the song's guitar riff that really gives WBFTT its edge but on the whole you get its actually a song where the Pumpkins are having a bit of fun and taking a break from the anguish of the songs such as Bullet with butterfly wings or the pained loneliness of Soma. Whichever you look at it, its a fine track worth putting on here.
21. Quiet
Next is Quiet and its actually hard in a way to rank this low down (or high up???) as it easily recognisible as a very fine track off one of the Pumpkins best albums, Siamese Dream. Quiet again echoes Corgan's rather troubled pysche and the making of the SD album was very tense and problmeatic with apparently Billy controlling everything during the process and recording all the guitar and bass parts himself. The lyrics are pretty good but again there are some dark undertones with Billy calling out "Jesus - are you listening - up there - to anyone at all?" and then "We are the fossils, relics of our time, mutilate the meanings so they are easy to deny!". But the central guitar riff is really good and it remains one of better sounding tracks off the rather mediocre production of Siamese dream, which for me whilst its a great album, its poorly produced with all tracks at a largely played at a plodding pace, which is why its no wonder that the Pumpkins played all those songs much faster live to up the tempo and give them much needed energy (sorry SD fans but for me its a poor album by Butch Vig's standards). But I love the way the song ends nonetheless and the tortured lyric "Come save me from the awful sound of NOTHING!!" rounds it off in a potent way, which Billy often screeches live to punctuate its meaning. So Quiet while its low down here, deserves a place in the list.
20. The end is the beginning is the end
Its a pity as good a song this is that they ended up using it for such a profoundly crap film, Batman & Robin back in 1997, because The end (I will call it for short) really is an excellent Pumpkins song which has a killer riff, which hooks you in straight from the off. The song also features a really good chorus with Billy singing some pretty dark lyrics (not like him!) "Is it bright where you are? Have the people changed? Does it make you happy that you are so strange? And in your darkest hour, I hold secret's flame! You can watch the world devoured in its pain!". I don't know what Billy made of the song appearing in the same film with Arnie as Mr Freeze and George Clooney (who struggles to keep his head still! (Sorry George!) as Batman. The film itself is a travesty but this is such a good song so you might think Batman & Robin???? Forget it, the Pumpkins would never bother writing something good for that. Well they did just that here and it definitely warrants its place here at 17.
19. Bullet with butterfly wings
OK you might say "why is this song so low down????" well the Pumpkins wrote so many good songs and its hard to place them all on this list but I think while Bullet is a very fine track indeed I wouldn't quite put it as high as in their very best. Nonetheless Bullet starts off great with silence and Billy's lryics "The world is a vampire, sent to drain. Secret destroyers hold you up to the flames. And what do I get for my pain? Betrayed desires, and a piece of the game". And Billy puts in one of his best vocals performances on thios track, especially when he sings "Even though I know - I suppose I'll show all my cool and cold - like old job!". And the song's dark and foreboding guitar line runs through the song and there is no doubt the song has one of the band's most memorable lyrics at the chorus "Despite all my rage I'm still just a rat in the cage! Then someone will say what is lost can never be saved!". I think its more than safe to say that in the Pumpkins earlier material had alot of angst and torment to them and this song is certainly no different especially as Bullet offers little in the way of salvation or resolution in its meaning as Billy sings the final line "And I still believe that I cannot be saved!" over and over. However despite that Bullet is still one of their most well known songs which is still very worthy of putting on any list and I could it put it higher but there are so many other songs to get to so here it is at No.19.
18. I am one
It was the first single they released on their debut album and there probably isn't a finer way that the Pumpkins could have announced themselves with I am one. Its a pretty straight up rock track but its got a good riff and catchy lyrics "I am one as you are three! To try and find the messiah in your trinity! Your city to burn! Your city to burn!". The song also features some good guitar solo work from Corgan himself as well as a rare solo from D'arcy on the bass and played live in the early days Corgan used it to improvise some of his own lyrics as shown in their live video, Vieuphoria where he sings "all I wanted was everything and all I got was shit!" so the structure of the song allows for a bit of improv. It might not be an all time great of theirs but I am one definitely deserves a place here and its still a memorable track simply because it introduced the world to the Pumpkins so it had to be on here somewhere.
17. Fuck you (an ode to no one)
Another one off Mellon Collie, An ode to no one is another rocker, which features some of the most bitter and angry lyrics to be found in a Smashies song, its where Billy really starts express his rage. The song starts off great as well with the distorted single note playing and Billy's ranting lyrics "I'm never coming back, I'm never giving in. I'll never be the shine in your spit. I disconnect the act. I disconnect the dots. The disconnect the me in me" (OK that last lyric is a bit pretentious!). And the song kicks in with its pretty intense metal-esque riff and it also features a good chorus where Billy again yells "No way! I don't need it! I don't need to disconnect your love!". Admittedly I do think some of the lyrics in An one to no one could be better although I do like the way the song slows down as Billy spits out "I took a virgin axe to his sweet Mary Jane! Lost my innocence to a no good girl! Scratch my face with anvil hands! And coil my tongue around a bumblee mouth!" before he sings more gently "And I give it all back to you" before it launches into its intense ending with the chorus again. So at 17, An one to no one is a mighty fine track.
16. Heavy metal machine
At No.16 we have a song off Machina, the rather heavy track called Heavy metal machine, which is rather apt as it is a track that has a fair amount of crunch to it. The song at first might appear to just sound like another rock-out noise fest, but it is actually a reall good song and the feel of it actually reminds me of the newer Helmet material and I'd imagine its a song that had a bit of an influence on the industrial metal scene. The song has a real killer riff to it all the same and Billy's voice is effectively distorted as he sings "If I were alive, I were real, would you survive?". Then the song goes into a great section where Billy sings "Let me die for rock n roll, let me die to save my soul, let me die, let me die, rock n roll!". And then the chorus kicks in which is great and very familiar sounding as I said to some of Helmet's new era and Billy sings "Heavy metal! Heavy metal machine! A heavy metal machine. We're the metal, in their metal machines! Heavy metal! Heavy metal machine!". As the song continues it becomes more intense as it leads into its outro which features some impressive drumming from Jimmy and some more crunchy guitars. The song finishes somewhat abruptly but Heavy metal machine is still one of the Pumpkins standout tracks and it might take a few listens to appreciate it, but give it a go as its worth for its chorus alone. So here it is at 16.
Rrrrrrrrrrrrright so that's part 1 over with next is Part 2 which will continue the countdown to No.1.
So see you in a bit!
Selasa, 30 September 2014
Hitman 2: Agent 47 Returns
Right well I thought I would finish off the month with another one of them reviews and so this time I've opted to do another video game and the game will be Hitman 2: Silent Assassin, which features the professional human cloned killer, agent 47. So let's give this one a look....
So a bit about the plot which starts with Agent 47 (voiced by David Bateson) who has faked his own death after the events of the first game and unofficially resigned from his contract agency. 47 since then has retreated to a church in Sicily to try and find peace with himself and works as gardener for his best friend and mentor, Father Vittorio. However one day, the father is kidnapped and a ransom note is left for 47, who decides to go back to his old just as an assassin in an effort to try and track down the father. 47 then goes back to his old agency handler, Diana Burnwood and says in return for becoming assassin again he wants Diana's help in trying to locate Father Vittorio to which Diana agrees. 47 also tells Diana that Father Vittorio was kidnapped by the Mafia boss Guiseppe Guiliano. And from here agent 47 heads back to his life of contract killings and as the game progresses 47 follows leads in hope to find his good friend and confidant, father Vittorio. (well that was quick!)
Hitman 2 for me remains one of the strongest entries in the series and it for its time its presentation was very impressive and it was reportedly a big improvement over the limitations of the first game in the series. The gameplay itself is also very good and largely straightforward and 47's mission objectives are given at the start of the level which are followed by cut scenes. The missions themselves are actually very varied and there is no set way for 47 to kill his targets as he can either kill them directly (shoot or stab them) or find other more stealthy ways to bump off his targets. And this has always been part of the appeal of the Hitman games in that it allows for the player to make their own choices in how to reach the objective of the mission (i.e. how they decide to kill the guys!). 47 can also of course change disguises in the missions as he takes the clothes of people whom he has either killed or incapcitated and use them to get into places, e.g. police stations, heavily guarded areas, etc.
Weapons wise, 47 has a variety of weapons to choose from and he always has his trusty dual ballers (silenced pistols) as well as his fibre wire, which at times can prove to be the most effective weapon in the game when 47 wants to try and make a clean kill without attracting too much attention. 47 has access to a variety of other weapons such as assault rifles, sub-machine guns, shotguns and sniper rifles, as there are some missions where 47 will be required to take out subjects from a distance using a sniper rifle. In the game however 47 has to use his weapons carefully as the emphasis of the action is mainly stealth based if he goes in all guns blazing he is sure more times than not to be killed outright (although he is suprisingly quite strong and can take a fair amount of bullet damage before he finally goes down!). 47 also has the option to incapacitate his enemies without killing as he can use chloroform to knock out them out, which agains for 47 to pinch their clothes and move on.
Graphics wise Hitman 2 also looks great for its time especially considering the fact the game is now 12 years old, the visuals are very impressive and the character models are also even good and it also helps that the game got a visual upgrade when it was released for the Xbox 360 as a remastered version in HD. The game's environments are naturally very varied as well as 47 travels to different locations throughout the world such as Russia (to St Petersburg where 47 kills a Russian general), Afghanistan (where 47 travels to kill some soldiers involved in the Afghan war) and Japan (where 47 goes to kill a Yakuza crime boss). The game also makes good use of its heads up display (HUD) where we 47's health bar and also the suspicion system, which is a bar that rises when 47 attracts too much attention from nearby strangers and will ultimately result in going red if 47 blow his cover.
And another very strong aspect of the game is its music score by Jesper Kyd, which is superb and it is a very dramatic and atmospheric score as well, which is well worth checking out on its own and it suits the tone of the game perfectly. Kyd makes strong use of both orchestral and electronic arrangements in his music and both are carried off superbly as Kyd utilises the national orchestra of Budapest in the orchestral moments and his own synthesized tracks. The voice acting is also very good and David Bateson once again excels as 47 in providing his intense and low voice providing 47 with the right amount of icy coolness and menace.
As for flaws..... well Hitman 2 does have one or two niggles, for starters I feel that 47's movement is still a bit sluggish here, as he walks quite slowly although he can run a fair bit faster, but worst of all when 47 is in a crouched position he creeps forward at a painfully slow pace! And this proves to be quite problematic when he tries to sneak up on enemies to kill them with his fibre wire as it can take an age for him to get into place and by then the enemy may already have moved off! This also applies to when 47 tries to move dead or unconscious bodies as he drags them rather slowly and messily across the floor, which takes too long and is bound to end up with 47 being rumbled and again highlight the sluggishness of 47's movement. Another issue probably also lies in the fact that 47 can't really conceal his weapons very well, i.e. larger weapons such as sniper rifles as he has to try and discreetly holster it in his arm, which isn't very inconspicuous. The game's difficulty level is also quite tough at times and may leave players a bit frustrated when trying to complete a level and also given the large area of some of the levels it is all too easy for 47 to get lost and out of place for when he is trying to locate a target. The difficulty level naturally rises toward the end of the game with the last mission where 47 tries to save Father Vittorio particularly being a pain in the ass when 47 has so many baddies to kill.
I also thought the inclusion of the chloroform in the game whilst it is a good idea to let 47 use non-lethal methods to dispatch his enemies, the chloroform effects don't last for the rest of the level, so before you know it the person 47 has knocked out is soon back up and walking around again, which will no doubt cause them to alert others of 47's presence! Then there is the game's save system which is also a pest as it won't allow you to save your progess during a level and exit the game, it will only save your progress while you play the game. This continued to be the case in Hitman blood money, which was a great game as well but it also marred the gameplay experience as well as it would be alot better if they allowed you to permenantly save your progress when you exit the game so you can go back into it, but no someone at IO interactive just wasn't having it! (the game's publisher of course).
But that all put aside, Hitman 2 is an excellent entry in the game's series and is well worth revisiting and still holds up well after 12 years.
And I shall leave yee there and see you all in October!
So a bit about the plot which starts with Agent 47 (voiced by David Bateson) who has faked his own death after the events of the first game and unofficially resigned from his contract agency. 47 since then has retreated to a church in Sicily to try and find peace with himself and works as gardener for his best friend and mentor, Father Vittorio. However one day, the father is kidnapped and a ransom note is left for 47, who decides to go back to his old just as an assassin in an effort to try and track down the father. 47 then goes back to his old agency handler, Diana Burnwood and says in return for becoming assassin again he wants Diana's help in trying to locate Father Vittorio to which Diana agrees. 47 also tells Diana that Father Vittorio was kidnapped by the Mafia boss Guiseppe Guiliano. And from here agent 47 heads back to his life of contract killings and as the game progresses 47 follows leads in hope to find his good friend and confidant, father Vittorio. (well that was quick!)
Hitman 2 for me remains one of the strongest entries in the series and it for its time its presentation was very impressive and it was reportedly a big improvement over the limitations of the first game in the series. The gameplay itself is also very good and largely straightforward and 47's mission objectives are given at the start of the level which are followed by cut scenes. The missions themselves are actually very varied and there is no set way for 47 to kill his targets as he can either kill them directly (shoot or stab them) or find other more stealthy ways to bump off his targets. And this has always been part of the appeal of the Hitman games in that it allows for the player to make their own choices in how to reach the objective of the mission (i.e. how they decide to kill the guys!). 47 can also of course change disguises in the missions as he takes the clothes of people whom he has either killed or incapcitated and use them to get into places, e.g. police stations, heavily guarded areas, etc.
Weapons wise, 47 has a variety of weapons to choose from and he always has his trusty dual ballers (silenced pistols) as well as his fibre wire, which at times can prove to be the most effective weapon in the game when 47 wants to try and make a clean kill without attracting too much attention. 47 has access to a variety of other weapons such as assault rifles, sub-machine guns, shotguns and sniper rifles, as there are some missions where 47 will be required to take out subjects from a distance using a sniper rifle. In the game however 47 has to use his weapons carefully as the emphasis of the action is mainly stealth based if he goes in all guns blazing he is sure more times than not to be killed outright (although he is suprisingly quite strong and can take a fair amount of bullet damage before he finally goes down!). 47 also has the option to incapacitate his enemies without killing as he can use chloroform to knock out them out, which agains for 47 to pinch their clothes and move on.
Graphics wise Hitman 2 also looks great for its time especially considering the fact the game is now 12 years old, the visuals are very impressive and the character models are also even good and it also helps that the game got a visual upgrade when it was released for the Xbox 360 as a remastered version in HD. The game's environments are naturally very varied as well as 47 travels to different locations throughout the world such as Russia (to St Petersburg where 47 kills a Russian general), Afghanistan (where 47 travels to kill some soldiers involved in the Afghan war) and Japan (where 47 goes to kill a Yakuza crime boss). The game also makes good use of its heads up display (HUD) where we 47's health bar and also the suspicion system, which is a bar that rises when 47 attracts too much attention from nearby strangers and will ultimately result in going red if 47 blow his cover.
And another very strong aspect of the game is its music score by Jesper Kyd, which is superb and it is a very dramatic and atmospheric score as well, which is well worth checking out on its own and it suits the tone of the game perfectly. Kyd makes strong use of both orchestral and electronic arrangements in his music and both are carried off superbly as Kyd utilises the national orchestra of Budapest in the orchestral moments and his own synthesized tracks. The voice acting is also very good and David Bateson once again excels as 47 in providing his intense and low voice providing 47 with the right amount of icy coolness and menace.
As for flaws..... well Hitman 2 does have one or two niggles, for starters I feel that 47's movement is still a bit sluggish here, as he walks quite slowly although he can run a fair bit faster, but worst of all when 47 is in a crouched position he creeps forward at a painfully slow pace! And this proves to be quite problematic when he tries to sneak up on enemies to kill them with his fibre wire as it can take an age for him to get into place and by then the enemy may already have moved off! This also applies to when 47 tries to move dead or unconscious bodies as he drags them rather slowly and messily across the floor, which takes too long and is bound to end up with 47 being rumbled and again highlight the sluggishness of 47's movement. Another issue probably also lies in the fact that 47 can't really conceal his weapons very well, i.e. larger weapons such as sniper rifles as he has to try and discreetly holster it in his arm, which isn't very inconspicuous. The game's difficulty level is also quite tough at times and may leave players a bit frustrated when trying to complete a level and also given the large area of some of the levels it is all too easy for 47 to get lost and out of place for when he is trying to locate a target. The difficulty level naturally rises toward the end of the game with the last mission where 47 tries to save Father Vittorio particularly being a pain in the ass when 47 has so many baddies to kill.
I also thought the inclusion of the chloroform in the game whilst it is a good idea to let 47 use non-lethal methods to dispatch his enemies, the chloroform effects don't last for the rest of the level, so before you know it the person 47 has knocked out is soon back up and walking around again, which will no doubt cause them to alert others of 47's presence! Then there is the game's save system which is also a pest as it won't allow you to save your progess during a level and exit the game, it will only save your progress while you play the game. This continued to be the case in Hitman blood money, which was a great game as well but it also marred the gameplay experience as well as it would be alot better if they allowed you to permenantly save your progress when you exit the game so you can go back into it, but no someone at IO interactive just wasn't having it! (the game's publisher of course).
But that all put aside, Hitman 2 is an excellent entry in the game's series and is well worth revisiting and still holds up well after 12 years.
And I shall leave yee there and see you all in October!
Ahad, 28 September 2014
Doctor Who The Ark in Space "The Earth shall be ours!"
Right so here we go its that time where I get back on the computer and do some frantic key clacking to do another review. And this one will cover a classic Doctor Who story, The Ark in Space, a very early Tom Baker story, which saw the beginning of the Philip Hinchcliffe era, which is largely regarded as a golden era in the show. But anyway let's have a look at this story.....
So the story begins with the TARDIS materialising onboard a space station, which appears to be in an inert state. And as the Doctor (Baker) and his two companions, Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) and Harry Sullivan (Ian Marter) look around they quickly find that there is no air supply, which leaves Sarah almost unconscious. The Doctor then manages to restore power and the air supply just in time however Sarah in the meantime is transported and placed into cryogenic suspension, leaving the Doctor and Harry to explore the station further. As they look around the Doctor and Harry find a large cryogenic chamber, which holds a large number of humans in cryogenic suspension and they soon also find Sarah in one of the pallets. The Doctor suggests they try and find a resuscitation unit which Harry finds in a cupboard along with a large insectoid alien lifeform. Then one of the humans, Vira (Wendy Williams) in cryogenic suspension is awoken and revives herself using the equipment Harry found. Vira, who is a medical technician, then manages to start the revivication process for Sarah and also her leader, Lazar who is nicknamed as Noah (Kenton Moore). The Doctor then tells Vira that they have overslept for thousands of years as the alien insect must have sabotaged their control systems, which the Doctor had earlier repaired.
Once Vira has revived Noah, Noah is immediately suspicous of the Doctor and Harry and as the Doctor investigates the ship's power room, he discovers that an alien larvae and traps it inside the ship's solar stack. Noah soon encounters the Doctor in the control room of the Ark and stuns him with a laser weapon and heads down to the power room where is infected by the alien creature. The Doctor soon recovers and encounters Noah again who hides his hand from him, which has been infected and is starting to change into a green scaly skin. As Vira revives another shipmate, Libri (Christopher Masters) the young shipmate sees Noah and backs away in fear as he thought he saw something horrible in Noah. Noah however while talking to Vira, insisting the reviving process must be halted, starts to exhibit strange behaviour as he feels his mind struggling against the influence of the alien creature and he leaves quickly. The Doctor then convinces Libri to go after him, which Libri does with a gun, but Noah overpowers him and shoots Libri dead and reveals that he is starting metamorphose into the alien creature. Noah then sends out a message to Vira that they are all in great danger and that the alien creatures, named the Wirrn, will overtake and absorb the humans. The Doctor and Vira then decide to pay Noah a visit, who has started to mutate even more into one of the Wirrn and he tells him they don't have much time. The Doctor then decides the best solution now is to find out how to kill the Wirrn by finding their weakness and the Doctor dissects a part of the Wirrn's brain tissue and joins with it through a mental link using the control system and he discovers that electricity killed the dead creature. From here, Noah now advancing into Wirrn form shuts off the system's power and as the Doctor goes to the power room to turn it on again he is attacked by Noah, who fully transforms into a Wirrn and warns Vira, who arrives with Sarah and Harry and the others to leave the ark or die. And from this point on, the Doctor and his companions must find a way to defeat the Wirrn and save the future of the human race.
As the debut story of the golden era in the show of the Hinchcliffe and Holmes years, The Ark in Space is undeniably effective and it shows the series go in a new direction. And with Hinchcliffe and Holmes, the show became a bit more dark and gothic in terms of its approach but at the same time it still retained the show's humour as well but it was a stark contrast to the light hearted jaunty tone of the Jon Pertwee years. And in their debut The Ark in Space is a great example of the approach that Hinchcliffe and Holmes would use so well and here they dared to explore themes, which they would also later look at again in body horror, and transformation (which they do again in The Seeds of Doom) and the story has some strong and fairly shocking moments for its time. The story also even featured a scene that was cut where the mutated Noah begs Vira to kill him, which was cut out by Hinchcliffe as he deemed it as being too frightening and the story would also signal the beginning of Hinchcliffe's battle with Mary Whitehouse, who was strongly opposed to several of the stories of that period due to the horror content of the some of the stories. The story also features another disturbing image where we see Noah finally complete his transformation at the end of the third episode as his human eyes are the last thing to change before he becomes a complete Wirrn. And its moments like this that with Ark in Space it sure signalled that the show was changing and also for the better as Hinchcliffe believed the show should also appealto adults as well as children hence the change in tone.
Performance wise the story is very good and Tom Baker really started to lay the grounds for his potrayal of the Doctor after trying to find his feet in his debut story, Robot, as he plays the Doctor with a good level of seriousness, eccentricity, humour as well as a strong moral sense. Baker has some great moments in the story and the first that comes to mind is the scene in the first episode where he is impressed by Harry's calculations of the Ark and he says "You're improving, Harry! Yes your mind is beginning to work. Entirely my influence of course, you shouldn't take any credit!". There is also the funny moment at the start where he berates the forever clumsy Harry, who had mucked about with the TARDIS controls and he calls him "a clumsy ham-fisted idiot!". Another good moment is where the Doctor tells Sarah and Harry how Vira didn't stop them from going after Noah and the Doctor says "By the 30th century human society had become highly compartmentalised. Vira is only a medtech and I expect we are an executive problem!" before being confronted by Noah. Then there is scene where the Doctor teases Sarah in the last episode, where she pushes herself from a very narrow conduit panel, carrying a power cable behind her and she get's all upset as she get's stuck. And the Doctor says to her "Stop whining girl! You're useless, I knew we couldn't rely on you! Hundreds of lives are at stake and you just sit there blubbing!". And then there is the moment where the Doctor just before he joins his mind with the Wirrn, Vira warns her that if he links up the equipment to his mind it could "burn out a human brain" and the Doctor says "an ordinary brain, yes, but mine is exceptional!". And then there is the hilarious and most likely unintentionally double entendre line where the Doctor explains his medical status and Harry's to Vira by saying "well my doctorate is purely honorary and Harry here is only qualified to work on sailors!" (or maybe it was intentional!). Another good scene is where the Doctor discovers that the missing crewmember, Dune, was used by the Wirrn, who planted eggs inside his body and Vira says "You mean Dune's knowledge??" and the Doctor says "Has been thoroughly digested I'm afraid!". And Sarah frightened by the prospect says "don't make jokes like that, Doctor" and the Doctor says to her "When I say I'm afraid, Sarah, I'm not making jokes".
Elisabeth Sladen is also as good as ever in her part as Sarah Jane Smith and she has some moments in the story such as when she volunteers to take the power cables through the conduits so they rig up the power to electrocute the Wirrn and she says "why can't I take that cable through?" and they look at her and Sarah says "Well I'm about that wide!" as she indicates the width of the conduits. And the story also begins to show the natural chemistry that Tom and Liz had with one another on screen in the scene where the Doctor teases her to get her to move on. And Sarah starts sobbing but the Doctor's teasing remarks get her riled up and she says "You wait until I get out of here!" and as Sarah emerges from the conduit the Doctor takes her hand and she protests "I don't need your help, I can manage thank you!" and as the Doctor tells her he is proud of her she gasps and says "Conned again! You're a brute!". Then there is the scene where Sarah near the start, is starved of oxygen due to the Ark's air supply turned off, but as the Doctor makes his repairs and turns it on again, Harry reassures her calling her "old girl" and Sarah groggily stirs and says "Harry, call me old girl again and I'll spit in your eye!".
Ian Marter also makes a good impression in the story as the bumbling but well meaning Harry Sullivan and also provides some comic relief as well as he is given some possibly unintentionally funny lines to deliver. Marter actually get's some of the best lines in the story such as the scene where Harry says to the Doctor "I always hated sliding doors even since I got my nose caught in one at Pompei barracks!". Another is the scene where the Doctor and the others listened to an automated message of the future prime minister of the Earth (a female voice) and Harry says to Sarah "Well I bet that did your female chauvanist heart a power of good" and Sarah says why and Harry says "Well imagine a member of the fair sex being top of the totem pole!". And then there is the priceless line where the Doctor comments on the Wirrn Queen to Vira and Harry says "We found the queen in the cupboard!". And when Vira says there is a technical fault on the ship, Harry says to her "gremlins can get into anything, old girl, first law of the sea!".
As for the guest cast, Wendy Williams does well enough in her role as Vira, the senior medical technician who revives her crewmates and loyalities are torn between the Doctor and Noah. Wendy has some moments in the story such as the scene where she tries to revive Sarah and the Doctor says that she has changed Sarah's body into a battlefield, and Vira says "Battlefield?! I hypoid in classics by you dawn timers have a language all of your own!". Also there is the moment where the Doctor and Vira confront the rapidly mutating Noah in the corridors of the ark and after the meeting, Vira turns away sadly saying "Noah and I were pair-bonded for the new life". Kenton Moore is also quite effective in his role as Noah, who starts off as a rather arrogant crew leader but is soon consumed by the Wirrn and he starts to become slightly pitiful. Moore also some good moments such as the scene where he reveals his mutated green skinned hand and he pleads with Vira to evacuate the ark and he fights to tell them "You are all in great danger!" and then Wirrn that briefly takes control of him and his voice changes to a lower tone saying "We shall absorb the humans. The Earth shall be ours!".
And lastly Morgan Richardson is great in his role as the Ark crewmember, Rogin, who is somewhat grumpy and he too get's some of the story's best lines. An example is the scene where he has been revived and he says to Vira "I told there has been a snitch up! We should have taken our chances on Earth and went into the thermic shelters! We'd be happily dead by now!". And later he says to other revived friend, Lycett, "We should have stayed on the Earth. I liked the Earth. I like heat!". And lastly there is the line where Rogin and Harry use the transmats to transport between areas in the Ark and Harry after he is arrives says "I say! What a marvelous way to travel!" and Rogin rubs his teeth saying "It always sets my teeth on edge!".
As for the direction, Rodney Bennett does a fine job with the story and along with The Sontaran Experiment, it was the only other story that Bennett would direct for the show as he provides a good deal of tension of suspense throughout the story. The sets are also very noteworthy in the story as future academy award winner, Roger Murray Leach produces some brilliant and imagnitive sets for the Ark space station. And laslty a nod deserves to go out to the show's regular composer at the time, Dudley Simpson who provides another fine dramatic score for the story, which is very well suited and features many atmospheric and dramatic cues.
As for the flaws............... well yeah OK The Ark in Space isn't quite perfect and its main flaw probably lies in the fact that while Noah's transformation into the Wirrn throughout the story is quite effective, the Wirrn themselves are less so and in the end we are subjected to more men in rubber suits shifting about! And after the effectiveness of the story for the first three episodes, when you see the plastic rubber suited Wirrn shift around the studio, it takes away any convincing impact the creatures should make. But I guess given the show's limited budget back then and the limited effects technology of the time they always in the end has to resort to using men in rubber suits for any insectoid alien lifeforms! I also felt the story features one or two superflous characters specifically Libri and Lycett who in the end are just used as fodder for the Wirrn (well Lycett literally as he is consumed by the Wirrn larvae) and actually aren't given enough time to be developed as characters or to contribute to the story itself. Perhaps also the story is a bit slow paced at the start and its not until about halfway into the second episode when things start to pick up, but overall the pacing isn't too much of a problem, but if I'm being picky it does feel a bit sluggish at the start. The lack of budget obviously was clearly a bit of an issue where we see in the scene the Doctor, Sarah and Harry walk down the corridors of the Ark that in fact there is only really one corridor area, which they keep reusing at different angles! But to be fair these were just the time and budget constraints the production staff had to work with at the time.
But those niggles aside The Ark in Space is still one of the early classics from the Baker era and its well worth checking out and it remains for the most part an effective, creepy and entertaining story which if you haven't seen it, I'd recommend giving it a go, if you are a fan of the original series (like me!).
So with that I shall bid yee goodnight.
So the story begins with the TARDIS materialising onboard a space station, which appears to be in an inert state. And as the Doctor (Baker) and his two companions, Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) and Harry Sullivan (Ian Marter) look around they quickly find that there is no air supply, which leaves Sarah almost unconscious. The Doctor then manages to restore power and the air supply just in time however Sarah in the meantime is transported and placed into cryogenic suspension, leaving the Doctor and Harry to explore the station further. As they look around the Doctor and Harry find a large cryogenic chamber, which holds a large number of humans in cryogenic suspension and they soon also find Sarah in one of the pallets. The Doctor suggests they try and find a resuscitation unit which Harry finds in a cupboard along with a large insectoid alien lifeform. Then one of the humans, Vira (Wendy Williams) in cryogenic suspension is awoken and revives herself using the equipment Harry found. Vira, who is a medical technician, then manages to start the revivication process for Sarah and also her leader, Lazar who is nicknamed as Noah (Kenton Moore). The Doctor then tells Vira that they have overslept for thousands of years as the alien insect must have sabotaged their control systems, which the Doctor had earlier repaired.
Once Vira has revived Noah, Noah is immediately suspicous of the Doctor and Harry and as the Doctor investigates the ship's power room, he discovers that an alien larvae and traps it inside the ship's solar stack. Noah soon encounters the Doctor in the control room of the Ark and stuns him with a laser weapon and heads down to the power room where is infected by the alien creature. The Doctor soon recovers and encounters Noah again who hides his hand from him, which has been infected and is starting to change into a green scaly skin. As Vira revives another shipmate, Libri (Christopher Masters) the young shipmate sees Noah and backs away in fear as he thought he saw something horrible in Noah. Noah however while talking to Vira, insisting the reviving process must be halted, starts to exhibit strange behaviour as he feels his mind struggling against the influence of the alien creature and he leaves quickly. The Doctor then convinces Libri to go after him, which Libri does with a gun, but Noah overpowers him and shoots Libri dead and reveals that he is starting metamorphose into the alien creature. Noah then sends out a message to Vira that they are all in great danger and that the alien creatures, named the Wirrn, will overtake and absorb the humans. The Doctor and Vira then decide to pay Noah a visit, who has started to mutate even more into one of the Wirrn and he tells him they don't have much time. The Doctor then decides the best solution now is to find out how to kill the Wirrn by finding their weakness and the Doctor dissects a part of the Wirrn's brain tissue and joins with it through a mental link using the control system and he discovers that electricity killed the dead creature. From here, Noah now advancing into Wirrn form shuts off the system's power and as the Doctor goes to the power room to turn it on again he is attacked by Noah, who fully transforms into a Wirrn and warns Vira, who arrives with Sarah and Harry and the others to leave the ark or die. And from this point on, the Doctor and his companions must find a way to defeat the Wirrn and save the future of the human race.
As the debut story of the golden era in the show of the Hinchcliffe and Holmes years, The Ark in Space is undeniably effective and it shows the series go in a new direction. And with Hinchcliffe and Holmes, the show became a bit more dark and gothic in terms of its approach but at the same time it still retained the show's humour as well but it was a stark contrast to the light hearted jaunty tone of the Jon Pertwee years. And in their debut The Ark in Space is a great example of the approach that Hinchcliffe and Holmes would use so well and here they dared to explore themes, which they would also later look at again in body horror, and transformation (which they do again in The Seeds of Doom) and the story has some strong and fairly shocking moments for its time. The story also even featured a scene that was cut where the mutated Noah begs Vira to kill him, which was cut out by Hinchcliffe as he deemed it as being too frightening and the story would also signal the beginning of Hinchcliffe's battle with Mary Whitehouse, who was strongly opposed to several of the stories of that period due to the horror content of the some of the stories. The story also features another disturbing image where we see Noah finally complete his transformation at the end of the third episode as his human eyes are the last thing to change before he becomes a complete Wirrn. And its moments like this that with Ark in Space it sure signalled that the show was changing and also for the better as Hinchcliffe believed the show should also appealto adults as well as children hence the change in tone.
Performance wise the story is very good and Tom Baker really started to lay the grounds for his potrayal of the Doctor after trying to find his feet in his debut story, Robot, as he plays the Doctor with a good level of seriousness, eccentricity, humour as well as a strong moral sense. Baker has some great moments in the story and the first that comes to mind is the scene in the first episode where he is impressed by Harry's calculations of the Ark and he says "You're improving, Harry! Yes your mind is beginning to work. Entirely my influence of course, you shouldn't take any credit!". There is also the funny moment at the start where he berates the forever clumsy Harry, who had mucked about with the TARDIS controls and he calls him "a clumsy ham-fisted idiot!". Another good moment is where the Doctor tells Sarah and Harry how Vira didn't stop them from going after Noah and the Doctor says "By the 30th century human society had become highly compartmentalised. Vira is only a medtech and I expect we are an executive problem!" before being confronted by Noah. Then there is scene where the Doctor teases Sarah in the last episode, where she pushes herself from a very narrow conduit panel, carrying a power cable behind her and she get's all upset as she get's stuck. And the Doctor says to her "Stop whining girl! You're useless, I knew we couldn't rely on you! Hundreds of lives are at stake and you just sit there blubbing!". And then there is the moment where the Doctor just before he joins his mind with the Wirrn, Vira warns her that if he links up the equipment to his mind it could "burn out a human brain" and the Doctor says "an ordinary brain, yes, but mine is exceptional!". And then there is the hilarious and most likely unintentionally double entendre line where the Doctor explains his medical status and Harry's to Vira by saying "well my doctorate is purely honorary and Harry here is only qualified to work on sailors!" (or maybe it was intentional!). Another good scene is where the Doctor discovers that the missing crewmember, Dune, was used by the Wirrn, who planted eggs inside his body and Vira says "You mean Dune's knowledge??" and the Doctor says "Has been thoroughly digested I'm afraid!". And Sarah frightened by the prospect says "don't make jokes like that, Doctor" and the Doctor says to her "When I say I'm afraid, Sarah, I'm not making jokes".
Elisabeth Sladen is also as good as ever in her part as Sarah Jane Smith and she has some moments in the story such as when she volunteers to take the power cables through the conduits so they rig up the power to electrocute the Wirrn and she says "why can't I take that cable through?" and they look at her and Sarah says "Well I'm about that wide!" as she indicates the width of the conduits. And the story also begins to show the natural chemistry that Tom and Liz had with one another on screen in the scene where the Doctor teases her to get her to move on. And Sarah starts sobbing but the Doctor's teasing remarks get her riled up and she says "You wait until I get out of here!" and as Sarah emerges from the conduit the Doctor takes her hand and she protests "I don't need your help, I can manage thank you!" and as the Doctor tells her he is proud of her she gasps and says "Conned again! You're a brute!". Then there is the scene where Sarah near the start, is starved of oxygen due to the Ark's air supply turned off, but as the Doctor makes his repairs and turns it on again, Harry reassures her calling her "old girl" and Sarah groggily stirs and says "Harry, call me old girl again and I'll spit in your eye!".
Ian Marter also makes a good impression in the story as the bumbling but well meaning Harry Sullivan and also provides some comic relief as well as he is given some possibly unintentionally funny lines to deliver. Marter actually get's some of the best lines in the story such as the scene where Harry says to the Doctor "I always hated sliding doors even since I got my nose caught in one at Pompei barracks!". Another is the scene where the Doctor and the others listened to an automated message of the future prime minister of the Earth (a female voice) and Harry says to Sarah "Well I bet that did your female chauvanist heart a power of good" and Sarah says why and Harry says "Well imagine a member of the fair sex being top of the totem pole!". And then there is the priceless line where the Doctor comments on the Wirrn Queen to Vira and Harry says "We found the queen in the cupboard!". And when Vira says there is a technical fault on the ship, Harry says to her "gremlins can get into anything, old girl, first law of the sea!".
As for the guest cast, Wendy Williams does well enough in her role as Vira, the senior medical technician who revives her crewmates and loyalities are torn between the Doctor and Noah. Wendy has some moments in the story such as the scene where she tries to revive Sarah and the Doctor says that she has changed Sarah's body into a battlefield, and Vira says "Battlefield?! I hypoid in classics by you dawn timers have a language all of your own!". Also there is the moment where the Doctor and Vira confront the rapidly mutating Noah in the corridors of the ark and after the meeting, Vira turns away sadly saying "Noah and I were pair-bonded for the new life". Kenton Moore is also quite effective in his role as Noah, who starts off as a rather arrogant crew leader but is soon consumed by the Wirrn and he starts to become slightly pitiful. Moore also some good moments such as the scene where he reveals his mutated green skinned hand and he pleads with Vira to evacuate the ark and he fights to tell them "You are all in great danger!" and then Wirrn that briefly takes control of him and his voice changes to a lower tone saying "We shall absorb the humans. The Earth shall be ours!".
And lastly Morgan Richardson is great in his role as the Ark crewmember, Rogin, who is somewhat grumpy and he too get's some of the story's best lines. An example is the scene where he has been revived and he says to Vira "I told there has been a snitch up! We should have taken our chances on Earth and went into the thermic shelters! We'd be happily dead by now!". And later he says to other revived friend, Lycett, "We should have stayed on the Earth. I liked the Earth. I like heat!". And lastly there is the line where Rogin and Harry use the transmats to transport between areas in the Ark and Harry after he is arrives says "I say! What a marvelous way to travel!" and Rogin rubs his teeth saying "It always sets my teeth on edge!".
As for the direction, Rodney Bennett does a fine job with the story and along with The Sontaran Experiment, it was the only other story that Bennett would direct for the show as he provides a good deal of tension of suspense throughout the story. The sets are also very noteworthy in the story as future academy award winner, Roger Murray Leach produces some brilliant and imagnitive sets for the Ark space station. And laslty a nod deserves to go out to the show's regular composer at the time, Dudley Simpson who provides another fine dramatic score for the story, which is very well suited and features many atmospheric and dramatic cues.
As for the flaws............... well yeah OK The Ark in Space isn't quite perfect and its main flaw probably lies in the fact that while Noah's transformation into the Wirrn throughout the story is quite effective, the Wirrn themselves are less so and in the end we are subjected to more men in rubber suits shifting about! And after the effectiveness of the story for the first three episodes, when you see the plastic rubber suited Wirrn shift around the studio, it takes away any convincing impact the creatures should make. But I guess given the show's limited budget back then and the limited effects technology of the time they always in the end has to resort to using men in rubber suits for any insectoid alien lifeforms! I also felt the story features one or two superflous characters specifically Libri and Lycett who in the end are just used as fodder for the Wirrn (well Lycett literally as he is consumed by the Wirrn larvae) and actually aren't given enough time to be developed as characters or to contribute to the story itself. Perhaps also the story is a bit slow paced at the start and its not until about halfway into the second episode when things start to pick up, but overall the pacing isn't too much of a problem, but if I'm being picky it does feel a bit sluggish at the start. The lack of budget obviously was clearly a bit of an issue where we see in the scene the Doctor, Sarah and Harry walk down the corridors of the Ark that in fact there is only really one corridor area, which they keep reusing at different angles! But to be fair these were just the time and budget constraints the production staff had to work with at the time.
But those niggles aside The Ark in Space is still one of the early classics from the Baker era and its well worth checking out and it remains for the most part an effective, creepy and entertaining story which if you haven't seen it, I'd recommend giving it a go, if you are a fan of the original series (like me!).
So with that I shall bid yee goodnight.
Isnin, 22 September 2014
JFK revisted "Back and to the left!"
OK so this is an updated version of my post for the Oliver Stone drama film JFK, which covers the events that surrounded John F. Kennedy's
assassination that took place on 22 November 1963 in Dallas, Texas and
the aftermath of its investigation. So I thought I would add in more to this post to extend it as its been festering about and thought it could do with a tweak here and there. So let's give it a look and just to warn you this post is a BIG one!
On the day of the assassination, in New Orleans, District Attorney Jim Garrison (Kevin Costner) is informed by one of his staff Lou Barnes (Jay Sanders). After Kennedy's death is announced officially on television, the suspected assassin Lee Harvey Oswald (Gary Oldman) is arrested and taken to the station for questioning. Garrison then plans to investigate any suspects and associates of Lee Harvey Oswald's that might be under his jurisdiction in New Orleans, however before he can do that, Oswald is assassinated live on TV by Dallas mob man Jack Ruby (Brian Doyle Murray). Regardless of Oswald's shock assassination, Garrison brings in one of Oswald's alleged known associates, David Ferrie (Joe Pesci) who naturally denies he ever knew Oswald. However Ferrie gives a very shaky account of his activities on the day of the assassination which Garrison quickly disbelieves and has Ferrie detained for more questioning by the FBI, regardless of this though Ferrie is let go, after which Garrison decides not to continue investigating any further.
Three years later in 1966, after sharing a conversation with a senator, Russell Long (played by the late great Walter Matthau) on an airplane, Garrison starts to have serious doubts and suspicions about the events of the assassination and that Oswald was the lone gunman. After more digging around, and reading over the 26 volumes of the official assassination investigation, published by Warren Commission and conducted by chief judge Earl Warren (played by Garrison himself), Garrison decides to re-open the investigation of the crime. With his small team of staff, Garrison questions many different witnesses to the shooting, and potential suspects that may have been connected to the assassination. As Garrison and his team investigate further, a name that keeps popping up is Clay Bertrand, who is later revealed to be Clay Shaw (played by Tommy Lee Jones) a well respected businessman and entrepeneur. However on bringing Shaw in for questioning, Shaw categorically denies any knowledge of Oswald, Ferrie or any one else potentially involved in the conspiracy, as well as denying his Clay Bertrand alias. But soon after their meeting, Garrison's investigation is made public and soon the press and media come down hard on him. Now forced to operate out in the open, Garrison faces tough choices ahead of him in carrying out his investigation, after receiving various death threats, crank calls, and narrowly escaping frame ups to discredit him. Eventually after rigorous investigations, including a discussion with an ex-military figure who simply calls himself "X" (Donald Sutherland) who provides him with important background knowledge to the events surrounding the assassination, Garrison decides to arrest Shaw and prosecute him for his possible involvement in the alleged conspiracy to assassinate Kennedy. What follows after this is a lenghty trial sequence where Garrison presents his case for the prosecution of Clay Shaw as well as his speculation on the events on the day of the assassination in Dallas.
JFK is without a doubt a great achievement in its own, as Oliver Stone took a controversial subject and turned into a film that is fascinating, intelligent and gripping. If you look at the events and evidence that are presented in the film, it certainly does a great job at convincing you that there was a possible conspiracy involved. Jim Garrison himself showed tremendous moral courage and character in bringing such a trial to the public eye, as he himself faced great danger in pissing off the government and endangering his own life in the process. But Garrison is never potrayed as anything else other than a very decent man who in reality at first was never really keen on Kennedy at the time, but during his investigation came to admire him for what he stood for during his time as the president before his untimely tragic death.
But whether or not a conspiracy took place in Dallas that day or not, no one really knows, but the film certainly does its best to convince the viewer that there was one. One of key aspects of the assassination as highlighted in the film was that it seemed highly unlikely that Oswald could have fired 3 shots that from the book depository window, in such a short space of time (5-7 seconds), and do it with such precision from the distance he was at from the motorcade. And that is where the other riflemen come into the equation and the scenario of a team that would be able to place themselves in fixed positions to ensure the assassination would be carried out precisely. Another crucial crux of the film and the case was, there had to be more than just 3 shots, as if for no better reason, there were four known wounds, three to Kennedy (in the throat, back and head) and one to Governor Conally (one in the back). This is where the Warren Commission presented the ridiculous "magic bullet" theory that one bullet accounted for the wounds between Connally and Kennedy. Also based from the facts given from the film, it seems unlikely that if after Oswald committed the crime, that he would be able race down the stairs in about 90 seconds, only to face a police officer who was checking out the building, to ask whom he was, and appear not to be out of breath, which the policeman testified later that Oswald was absolutely not out of breath.
Another theory however that has been stated over the years was the final headshot that killed Kennedy was in fact fired by one of the secret service agents, Clinton Hill in one of the car's behind Kennedy's parade car in which Hill accidentally fired off a round from his M16 gun in the confusion which caused the fatal head shot that killed Kennedy. Then there is the film footage, taken by an onlooker Abraham Zapruder, which shows the assassination itself, and gives possible clues of the direction of where the bullets came from. The footage itself is terrible to watch, and it was followed by some more public assassinations (Oswald himself, Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy followed), and Garrison himself later subpoenaed the Zapruder film for his trial (the footage itself was later televised for the first time in 1975 on American television). Another key point was surely, if Oswald was even the lone gunman, he would not have acted alone, as he must been acting on behalf of powerful people behind the scenes, in this regard Oswald himself could well have been a sleeper cell, who was set in motion at the key moment, but again this is just a bit of speculation, but I personally have never bought into the possibility that Oswald was just as Garrison says in the film "an angry lone nut" who carried out the assassination purely by himself. However in recent years the theory involving Hill is considered to be more accurate given that the type of shot fired from his M16 machine gun was far more powerful and destructive than the first two shots fired at Kennedy.
But back to the actual film, JFK is without a doubt fascinating to watch, and features so many great performances and cameos from its big cast. Kevin Costner, while he not be the best actor in the world, does give a fine performance as the DA Jim Garrison, who takes on the daunting task of bringing the JFK assassination to trial, he also shows Garrison as being a very moral man, as well as being very strong and stubborn in the face of adversity. Costner has many highlights in the film which include his lengthy 30 minute court case sequence where he delivers a very lengthy monologue to the jury going over the arguments of his prosecution. Costner also has some other good moments such as the scene where he argues with one of his staff, Bill Broussard (Michael Rooker) who argues that the mob could have been behind the assassination and Garrison refutes the idea. And Garrison says "Could the mob change the parade route, Bill? Could the mob influence the national media to go to sleep? I mean could the mob get Oswald into and Russia and get him back??? And when have the mob used anything but 38.s for hits up close??? The mob wouldn't have the guts or power for something of this magnetude! Assassins need paryolls, schedules, times, orders! This was a military style ambush! This was a coupe de'tat with Lyndon Johnson waiting in the wings!". Another highlight of Costner's is when Garrison and his wife argue and as she yells at him "I want my life back!" he shouts back "So do I, goddamnit! I have a life too you know! But you can't just bury your head in the sand like some ostrich, Liz! Its not about our house, our two cars, and our kitchen! Its about our kids growing up in a shithole of lies and I'm angry about it! And my life is fucked because of it, and if you can see it that way then you're life is fucked too!".
And Costner as Garrison in the film now and then quotes pieces of William Shakespeare and the most notable one is after he has his meeting with Clay Shaw and he quotes from Hamlet and says "One may smile and smile and be a villain!". Also there are some great lines that Costner get's during his epic monologue to the jury and the most notable bit probably is the end where Garrison becomes emotional and says to them "Do not forget your dying king. Show this world that this is still a government of the people, for the people and by the people. Nothing as long as you live will ever be more important. Its up to you". And during the case Costner has another great moment where Garrison discusses the ridiculous nature of the magic bullet theory which he describes as "one of the grossest lies ever forced on the American people!". And after he explains the supposed wounds created by the bullet he says to the jury "That's some bullet! But the government says they can prove it with some fancy physics in a nuclear laboratory. Of course they can. Pheoretical physics can prove an elephant can hang from a cliff with its tail tied to a daisy! But use your eyes and your common sense!". Then there is the scene where Garrison shows the footage of the murder and he says at the moment of the fatal head shot to Kennedy we see Kennedy fall violently back and to the left which is inconsistent with the direction of the book depository "back and to the left, back and to the left, back and to the left! What haeppened next? Pandemonium!".
Joe Pesci also probably gives the film's best performance as Dave Ferrie, the crazed suspect (replete with a ridiculous wig and eyebrows!) who later admits to his involvement with Oswald, as he shows a mixture of malice and remorse. Pesci also has some great moments as the paranoid Ferrie and his first scene is great when Ferrie is taken into Garrison's office for questioning over his whereabouts of the weekend of the assassination, but Ferrie's story is filled with holes, so Garrison detains him for further questioning. And Ferrie asks why and Garrison replies "Dave I find your story simply not believable!" and Ferrie appears surprised and says "Really?! What part?". And then there is Pesci's best scene in the film where Ferrie in a state of panic and paranoia nervously paces a hotel room where Garrison and his men keep him after a newspaper article is released impliacting Ferrie. And in the scene Ferrie babbles saying "But who the fuck pulls who's chain?! Who the fuck knows? "Oh what a deadly web we weave and we practice to decieve!". And Garrison asks him who killed the president which sets off Ferrie into a demented rant "Oh why don't you fuckin stop it?! This is too fuckin big for you, you know that?! Who killed Kennedy... fuck man! Its a mystery, its a riddle wrapped inside an enigma! The fuckin shooters don't even know it, don't you get it?! Fuck, man! I can't go on talking like this, they'll fuckin kill me! I'm gonna fuckin die!". And Ferrie goes on to lament about how he wanted to become a catholic priest but was defrocked because of his homosexuality and he sits back saying "I'm so fucking exhausted I can't see straight!".
Tommy Lee Jones gives an excellent performance also as Clay Shaw, and he depicts as a very sly businessman, who is clearly also very manipulative and Jones appears to revel in playing up the transparent villainous qualities of the character. And in his best and main scene Jones refutes every accusation that Garrison makes at him as he keeps asking if he met with David Ferrie or Oswald and Shaw is aghast and says "You really have me assorting with a sordid cast of characters!". And then he says "I am a businessman and like all businessmen I am accussed of all things!" and later when Garrison accusses him of considering an act of patriotism to kill the president Shaw says "Now just wait a minute, sir, you are way out of line!" before wrapping up the meeting and mysteriously the next day, the cover is blown on Garrison's investigation. Another good moment Jones has is during the scene when Willy O'Keefe recalls to Garrison a meeting Willy had with Shaw, Oswald and Ferrie, where Ferrie conspires to kill Kennedy and suggests how they could do it. And Shaw says to Ferrie "What don't we drop this subject. Its one thing to engage in banter with these youngsters, but this sort of thing can get so easily misunderstood!" before crushing Ferrie's testicles for his disobedience!
The other smaller character roles are equally impressive, with fine stuff from Michael Rooker as Bill (one of Garrison's staff). Rooker also has some good moments, the main one being when he tries to reason with Garrison that he is taking the wrong route and suggests the mob was behind the assassination, which Garrison dismisses. And Bill get's fed up and says before leaving the office "This is Louisiana, chief! I mean how the hell do you know who your daddy is??! Because your momma told you so! You are way out there taking a crap in the wind, boss! And I am for one not goin along on this one!". Of course in the director's cut of the film, Bill ends up betraying Garrison and also steals some of his files and we also see him be coerced by a government agent earlier aswell.
Laurie Metcalf as Susie, another staff member, is also very good and she has some good moments in the film, the main one being where Garrison's team meet for lunch and she goes over the file history of Oswald's character and background. And of course Jay Sanders is also excellent as Lou Barnes, who was in reality one of Garrison's key members of staff (although the film depicts Barnes as quitting the investigation, in reality he didn't). Sanders also has some good moments such as the scene where Lou and Garrison are at the book despository building with the rifle that Oswald used and he does a demo of firing and reload the empty rifle and he goes over the specifics of the improbabilities of Oswald being able to pull off three precise shots. And Lou says "I mean this is the whole essence of the case to me. The guy couldn't do the shooting!". And later on when Lou demands to Garrison that he can no longer work with Bill because he doesn't trust he says "I cannot work with Bill Broussard anymore" and when Garrison asks if he is giving him an ultimatum, Lou says "Well if that's what you wanna cal it?! Hell I never thought it would come to this. I guess I am". And Garrison says "I won't have any damn ultimatum put to me, Lou. I'll accept your resignation" and Lou says "Well you sure got it! You are one stubborn son of a bitch! And you are making one hell of a mistake".
Also Kevin Bacon, is excellent as Willie O'Keefe (who in reality was based on one of Garrison's key witnesses, Perry Russo) the gay prostitute who claimed to have known and had sexual relations with Shaw. And Bacon's main scene is quite impressive where Willie recalls meeting Oswald and his involvement with Shaw and Ferrie. And as Garrison asks Willie if he will testify and if he does what he says will be attacked by different people and Willie dismisses it and says "Oh bring all those motherfuckers on in here with their college degrees! I've got nothing to hide! You know this about the truth coming out! You goddamn liberal, Mr Garrison, you don't know shit because you never been fucked in the ass! This is about order! Who rules!". Sissy Spacek is also very good in her role as Garrison's with Liz, who has to suffer her husband's obssessions with the JFK case throughout the film. And Sissy's best scene comes when Liz argues with Garrison and she says to him "I just want to raise our children in a normal world and I want my life back!".
Donald Sutherland is similarly great as the mysterious "X" who delivers a very lengthy 17 minute dialogue giving Garrison the background info surrounding the events leading up to the assassination. And Sutherland's monologue is so long is hard to pick some examples, but I think his last few lines are great where he encourages Garrison to carry on with his case. And as Garrison says he hasn't much of a case, X says "You don't have a choice anymore. You've become a significant threat to the national security structure! They would have killed you already but you've got alot of light on you. Instead they are trying to destroy your credibility. Be honest, your only chance is to come up with a case. Something, anything! Make arrests, stir the shit storm, hope to reach a point of critical mass that will start a chain reaction of people coming forward then the government will crack. Remember, fundamentall people are suckers for the truth, and the truth is on your side, Bubba. I just hope you get a break".
Also there is the superb Jack Lemmon as Jack Martin, an assistant to a private eye detective, Guy Banister, who is great in his role as the down and out drunk, who Garrison approaches earlier on in the film. And Jack tells Garrison what happened in Guy's office during the summer of 63, but he becomes instantly panicked when Garrison mentions the assassination and starts to leave. And Garrison asks what is the problem and Jack says "Do I have to spell it out for you, Mr Garrison?!" and Garrisons no one knows what they are talking about and Jack stares at him in disbelief saying "You are so niave!". And Ed Asner is also good in his brief role as Guy Banister (played by Ed Asner) the private eye, who was a former FBI man and was said to be closely linked to behind the scenes of the assassination, but Banister died shortly after in 1964. Asner has a couple of good scenes, particularly his first scene where he cheers Kennedy's death and he says "All this blubbing over that no count son of a bitch! They're balling like they knew the man!". John Candy is also great in his role as the sleazy lawyer, Dean Andrews who apparently met with Oswald and spoke with Shaw but he refutes any claims that he knows the identity of Shaw who used the alias of Clay Bertrand. And at the end of the scene Dean says "You're crazy as your mama! Goes to show its in the genes! You any idea what you're getting yourself into, Daddio?! The government is gonna jump all over your head, Jimbo, and go cocka-doodle-doo! Good day to your, sir!".
And last but by no means least, there is Gary Oldman as Lee Harvey Oswald. Oldman is great as Oswald, and potrays him as a complex and private man, who remained a mystery even after his death. Gary Oldman also facially resembles Oswald a fair bit, and does an excellent job at reproducing his unusual American accent, which had a tinge of Russian to it. And during the film Oldman quotes alot of the dialogue taken from Oswald's public arrest on TV as he says to the press that "I didn't shoot anyone, no sir. They have taken me in just because I defected to the Soviet union. I am just a patsy!".
So FINALLY getting onto the director paragraph, Oliver Stone does a terrific job here and he keeps the viewer engrossed throughout as he presents the film's arguments in a very convincing fashion and he also makes great use of some frantic camera work as he combines a mixture of black and white footage and colour mixed in with the film itself. Stone's screenplay is also a great achievement in itself as it is very intelligent and well researched for the most part although it does create some composite characters based on real life witnesses so there might be the odd bit of licence taken here and there. And lastly I can't forget to mention John William's terrific film score, which is both suspenseful and atmopsheric throughout and features many excellent tracks, particularly the main theme.
As for the flaws??? Well JFK does have the odd niggle, for starters I feel the film verges on bombarding you with too much information at times, so it definitely takes a few viewings to get the gist of all the details. And another thing I would say about the film that probably lets it down slightly is the melodrama of Garrison's home life, as he argues with his wife Elizabeth (Sissy Spacek) who is frustrated by the amount of time he devotes to the case. It is however key to the film as well I guess, as it is important to show how the events of the investigation impacted on Garrison's personal life, and later in reality, his first wife Elizabeth did divorce him. Another slight problem with the film, and probably the case in general is there is not much evidence that cold links Shaw to knowing Oswald, as it ultimately is just the word of people who have witnessed seeing Shaw and Oswald together in the past with not much if any in the way of photographic evidence or otherwise. But it was later revealed in 1978, four years after Shaw's death, by the at the time CIA director, Richard Helms, that Shaw did actually work for the CIA as a contractor (this is added in as insert at the end of the film). And based on the Richard Helms testimony, it proved that Shaw was guilty of perjury. But people of power and persuasion like Shaw, can as it seems get away with murder (or assassination in this case). You could also say its hard to guage how accurate the film actually is in terms of the depiction of the events behind the assassination and if indeed it was conspiracy or not, but personally I think there had to be one as I could not see Oswald acting alone and it seems a bit too coincidental that Oswald could get off two shoots before the third shot kills Kennedy (if in fact it was the secret service agent Hill that accidentally discharged that shot), and as I mentioned before how are Governor Connolly's wounds explained, as it would suggest there had to be at least four bullets fired for four separate wounds. But you could drive yourself mad thinking about it so I will leave it there for now! :-)
Sooo that's it for my extended and VERY exhuastive post on JFK, which remains one of my favourite films and one of the best films of the 1990s, which to this day still remains as pertinent as it did on its release, and whether it be accurate or not, its still compelling viewing with a top cast and a great screenplay backing it.
And on that exhaustive note I shall say goodnight!
On the day of the assassination, in New Orleans, District Attorney Jim Garrison (Kevin Costner) is informed by one of his staff Lou Barnes (Jay Sanders). After Kennedy's death is announced officially on television, the suspected assassin Lee Harvey Oswald (Gary Oldman) is arrested and taken to the station for questioning. Garrison then plans to investigate any suspects and associates of Lee Harvey Oswald's that might be under his jurisdiction in New Orleans, however before he can do that, Oswald is assassinated live on TV by Dallas mob man Jack Ruby (Brian Doyle Murray). Regardless of Oswald's shock assassination, Garrison brings in one of Oswald's alleged known associates, David Ferrie (Joe Pesci) who naturally denies he ever knew Oswald. However Ferrie gives a very shaky account of his activities on the day of the assassination which Garrison quickly disbelieves and has Ferrie detained for more questioning by the FBI, regardless of this though Ferrie is let go, after which Garrison decides not to continue investigating any further.
Three years later in 1966, after sharing a conversation with a senator, Russell Long (played by the late great Walter Matthau) on an airplane, Garrison starts to have serious doubts and suspicions about the events of the assassination and that Oswald was the lone gunman. After more digging around, and reading over the 26 volumes of the official assassination investigation, published by Warren Commission and conducted by chief judge Earl Warren (played by Garrison himself), Garrison decides to re-open the investigation of the crime. With his small team of staff, Garrison questions many different witnesses to the shooting, and potential suspects that may have been connected to the assassination. As Garrison and his team investigate further, a name that keeps popping up is Clay Bertrand, who is later revealed to be Clay Shaw (played by Tommy Lee Jones) a well respected businessman and entrepeneur. However on bringing Shaw in for questioning, Shaw categorically denies any knowledge of Oswald, Ferrie or any one else potentially involved in the conspiracy, as well as denying his Clay Bertrand alias. But soon after their meeting, Garrison's investigation is made public and soon the press and media come down hard on him. Now forced to operate out in the open, Garrison faces tough choices ahead of him in carrying out his investigation, after receiving various death threats, crank calls, and narrowly escaping frame ups to discredit him. Eventually after rigorous investigations, including a discussion with an ex-military figure who simply calls himself "X" (Donald Sutherland) who provides him with important background knowledge to the events surrounding the assassination, Garrison decides to arrest Shaw and prosecute him for his possible involvement in the alleged conspiracy to assassinate Kennedy. What follows after this is a lenghty trial sequence where Garrison presents his case for the prosecution of Clay Shaw as well as his speculation on the events on the day of the assassination in Dallas.
JFK is without a doubt a great achievement in its own, as Oliver Stone took a controversial subject and turned into a film that is fascinating, intelligent and gripping. If you look at the events and evidence that are presented in the film, it certainly does a great job at convincing you that there was a possible conspiracy involved. Jim Garrison himself showed tremendous moral courage and character in bringing such a trial to the public eye, as he himself faced great danger in pissing off the government and endangering his own life in the process. But Garrison is never potrayed as anything else other than a very decent man who in reality at first was never really keen on Kennedy at the time, but during his investigation came to admire him for what he stood for during his time as the president before his untimely tragic death.
But whether or not a conspiracy took place in Dallas that day or not, no one really knows, but the film certainly does its best to convince the viewer that there was one. One of key aspects of the assassination as highlighted in the film was that it seemed highly unlikely that Oswald could have fired 3 shots that from the book depository window, in such a short space of time (5-7 seconds), and do it with such precision from the distance he was at from the motorcade. And that is where the other riflemen come into the equation and the scenario of a team that would be able to place themselves in fixed positions to ensure the assassination would be carried out precisely. Another crucial crux of the film and the case was, there had to be more than just 3 shots, as if for no better reason, there were four known wounds, three to Kennedy (in the throat, back and head) and one to Governor Conally (one in the back). This is where the Warren Commission presented the ridiculous "magic bullet" theory that one bullet accounted for the wounds between Connally and Kennedy. Also based from the facts given from the film, it seems unlikely that if after Oswald committed the crime, that he would be able race down the stairs in about 90 seconds, only to face a police officer who was checking out the building, to ask whom he was, and appear not to be out of breath, which the policeman testified later that Oswald was absolutely not out of breath.
Another theory however that has been stated over the years was the final headshot that killed Kennedy was in fact fired by one of the secret service agents, Clinton Hill in one of the car's behind Kennedy's parade car in which Hill accidentally fired off a round from his M16 gun in the confusion which caused the fatal head shot that killed Kennedy. Then there is the film footage, taken by an onlooker Abraham Zapruder, which shows the assassination itself, and gives possible clues of the direction of where the bullets came from. The footage itself is terrible to watch, and it was followed by some more public assassinations (Oswald himself, Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy followed), and Garrison himself later subpoenaed the Zapruder film for his trial (the footage itself was later televised for the first time in 1975 on American television). Another key point was surely, if Oswald was even the lone gunman, he would not have acted alone, as he must been acting on behalf of powerful people behind the scenes, in this regard Oswald himself could well have been a sleeper cell, who was set in motion at the key moment, but again this is just a bit of speculation, but I personally have never bought into the possibility that Oswald was just as Garrison says in the film "an angry lone nut" who carried out the assassination purely by himself. However in recent years the theory involving Hill is considered to be more accurate given that the type of shot fired from his M16 machine gun was far more powerful and destructive than the first two shots fired at Kennedy.
But back to the actual film, JFK is without a doubt fascinating to watch, and features so many great performances and cameos from its big cast. Kevin Costner, while he not be the best actor in the world, does give a fine performance as the DA Jim Garrison, who takes on the daunting task of bringing the JFK assassination to trial, he also shows Garrison as being a very moral man, as well as being very strong and stubborn in the face of adversity. Costner has many highlights in the film which include his lengthy 30 minute court case sequence where he delivers a very lengthy monologue to the jury going over the arguments of his prosecution. Costner also has some other good moments such as the scene where he argues with one of his staff, Bill Broussard (Michael Rooker) who argues that the mob could have been behind the assassination and Garrison refutes the idea. And Garrison says "Could the mob change the parade route, Bill? Could the mob influence the national media to go to sleep? I mean could the mob get Oswald into and Russia and get him back??? And when have the mob used anything but 38.s for hits up close??? The mob wouldn't have the guts or power for something of this magnetude! Assassins need paryolls, schedules, times, orders! This was a military style ambush! This was a coupe de'tat with Lyndon Johnson waiting in the wings!". Another highlight of Costner's is when Garrison and his wife argue and as she yells at him "I want my life back!" he shouts back "So do I, goddamnit! I have a life too you know! But you can't just bury your head in the sand like some ostrich, Liz! Its not about our house, our two cars, and our kitchen! Its about our kids growing up in a shithole of lies and I'm angry about it! And my life is fucked because of it, and if you can see it that way then you're life is fucked too!".
And Costner as Garrison in the film now and then quotes pieces of William Shakespeare and the most notable one is after he has his meeting with Clay Shaw and he quotes from Hamlet and says "One may smile and smile and be a villain!". Also there are some great lines that Costner get's during his epic monologue to the jury and the most notable bit probably is the end where Garrison becomes emotional and says to them "Do not forget your dying king. Show this world that this is still a government of the people, for the people and by the people. Nothing as long as you live will ever be more important. Its up to you". And during the case Costner has another great moment where Garrison discusses the ridiculous nature of the magic bullet theory which he describes as "one of the grossest lies ever forced on the American people!". And after he explains the supposed wounds created by the bullet he says to the jury "That's some bullet! But the government says they can prove it with some fancy physics in a nuclear laboratory. Of course they can. Pheoretical physics can prove an elephant can hang from a cliff with its tail tied to a daisy! But use your eyes and your common sense!". Then there is the scene where Garrison shows the footage of the murder and he says at the moment of the fatal head shot to Kennedy we see Kennedy fall violently back and to the left which is inconsistent with the direction of the book depository "back and to the left, back and to the left, back and to the left! What haeppened next? Pandemonium!".
Joe Pesci also probably gives the film's best performance as Dave Ferrie, the crazed suspect (replete with a ridiculous wig and eyebrows!) who later admits to his involvement with Oswald, as he shows a mixture of malice and remorse. Pesci also has some great moments as the paranoid Ferrie and his first scene is great when Ferrie is taken into Garrison's office for questioning over his whereabouts of the weekend of the assassination, but Ferrie's story is filled with holes, so Garrison detains him for further questioning. And Ferrie asks why and Garrison replies "Dave I find your story simply not believable!" and Ferrie appears surprised and says "Really?! What part?". And then there is Pesci's best scene in the film where Ferrie in a state of panic and paranoia nervously paces a hotel room where Garrison and his men keep him after a newspaper article is released impliacting Ferrie. And in the scene Ferrie babbles saying "But who the fuck pulls who's chain?! Who the fuck knows? "Oh what a deadly web we weave and we practice to decieve!". And Garrison asks him who killed the president which sets off Ferrie into a demented rant "Oh why don't you fuckin stop it?! This is too fuckin big for you, you know that?! Who killed Kennedy... fuck man! Its a mystery, its a riddle wrapped inside an enigma! The fuckin shooters don't even know it, don't you get it?! Fuck, man! I can't go on talking like this, they'll fuckin kill me! I'm gonna fuckin die!". And Ferrie goes on to lament about how he wanted to become a catholic priest but was defrocked because of his homosexuality and he sits back saying "I'm so fucking exhausted I can't see straight!".
Tommy Lee Jones gives an excellent performance also as Clay Shaw, and he depicts as a very sly businessman, who is clearly also very manipulative and Jones appears to revel in playing up the transparent villainous qualities of the character. And in his best and main scene Jones refutes every accusation that Garrison makes at him as he keeps asking if he met with David Ferrie or Oswald and Shaw is aghast and says "You really have me assorting with a sordid cast of characters!". And then he says "I am a businessman and like all businessmen I am accussed of all things!" and later when Garrison accusses him of considering an act of patriotism to kill the president Shaw says "Now just wait a minute, sir, you are way out of line!" before wrapping up the meeting and mysteriously the next day, the cover is blown on Garrison's investigation. Another good moment Jones has is during the scene when Willy O'Keefe recalls to Garrison a meeting Willy had with Shaw, Oswald and Ferrie, where Ferrie conspires to kill Kennedy and suggests how they could do it. And Shaw says to Ferrie "What don't we drop this subject. Its one thing to engage in banter with these youngsters, but this sort of thing can get so easily misunderstood!" before crushing Ferrie's testicles for his disobedience!
The other smaller character roles are equally impressive, with fine stuff from Michael Rooker as Bill (one of Garrison's staff). Rooker also has some good moments, the main one being when he tries to reason with Garrison that he is taking the wrong route and suggests the mob was behind the assassination, which Garrison dismisses. And Bill get's fed up and says before leaving the office "This is Louisiana, chief! I mean how the hell do you know who your daddy is??! Because your momma told you so! You are way out there taking a crap in the wind, boss! And I am for one not goin along on this one!". Of course in the director's cut of the film, Bill ends up betraying Garrison and also steals some of his files and we also see him be coerced by a government agent earlier aswell.
Laurie Metcalf as Susie, another staff member, is also very good and she has some good moments in the film, the main one being where Garrison's team meet for lunch and she goes over the file history of Oswald's character and background. And of course Jay Sanders is also excellent as Lou Barnes, who was in reality one of Garrison's key members of staff (although the film depicts Barnes as quitting the investigation, in reality he didn't). Sanders also has some good moments such as the scene where Lou and Garrison are at the book despository building with the rifle that Oswald used and he does a demo of firing and reload the empty rifle and he goes over the specifics of the improbabilities of Oswald being able to pull off three precise shots. And Lou says "I mean this is the whole essence of the case to me. The guy couldn't do the shooting!". And later on when Lou demands to Garrison that he can no longer work with Bill because he doesn't trust he says "I cannot work with Bill Broussard anymore" and when Garrison asks if he is giving him an ultimatum, Lou says "Well if that's what you wanna cal it?! Hell I never thought it would come to this. I guess I am". And Garrison says "I won't have any damn ultimatum put to me, Lou. I'll accept your resignation" and Lou says "Well you sure got it! You are one stubborn son of a bitch! And you are making one hell of a mistake".
Also Kevin Bacon, is excellent as Willie O'Keefe (who in reality was based on one of Garrison's key witnesses, Perry Russo) the gay prostitute who claimed to have known and had sexual relations with Shaw. And Bacon's main scene is quite impressive where Willie recalls meeting Oswald and his involvement with Shaw and Ferrie. And as Garrison asks Willie if he will testify and if he does what he says will be attacked by different people and Willie dismisses it and says "Oh bring all those motherfuckers on in here with their college degrees! I've got nothing to hide! You know this about the truth coming out! You goddamn liberal, Mr Garrison, you don't know shit because you never been fucked in the ass! This is about order! Who rules!". Sissy Spacek is also very good in her role as Garrison's with Liz, who has to suffer her husband's obssessions with the JFK case throughout the film. And Sissy's best scene comes when Liz argues with Garrison and she says to him "I just want to raise our children in a normal world and I want my life back!".
Donald Sutherland is similarly great as the mysterious "X" who delivers a very lengthy 17 minute dialogue giving Garrison the background info surrounding the events leading up to the assassination. And Sutherland's monologue is so long is hard to pick some examples, but I think his last few lines are great where he encourages Garrison to carry on with his case. And as Garrison says he hasn't much of a case, X says "You don't have a choice anymore. You've become a significant threat to the national security structure! They would have killed you already but you've got alot of light on you. Instead they are trying to destroy your credibility. Be honest, your only chance is to come up with a case. Something, anything! Make arrests, stir the shit storm, hope to reach a point of critical mass that will start a chain reaction of people coming forward then the government will crack. Remember, fundamentall people are suckers for the truth, and the truth is on your side, Bubba. I just hope you get a break".
Also there is the superb Jack Lemmon as Jack Martin, an assistant to a private eye detective, Guy Banister, who is great in his role as the down and out drunk, who Garrison approaches earlier on in the film. And Jack tells Garrison what happened in Guy's office during the summer of 63, but he becomes instantly panicked when Garrison mentions the assassination and starts to leave. And Garrison asks what is the problem and Jack says "Do I have to spell it out for you, Mr Garrison?!" and Garrisons no one knows what they are talking about and Jack stares at him in disbelief saying "You are so niave!". And Ed Asner is also good in his brief role as Guy Banister (played by Ed Asner) the private eye, who was a former FBI man and was said to be closely linked to behind the scenes of the assassination, but Banister died shortly after in 1964. Asner has a couple of good scenes, particularly his first scene where he cheers Kennedy's death and he says "All this blubbing over that no count son of a bitch! They're balling like they knew the man!". John Candy is also great in his role as the sleazy lawyer, Dean Andrews who apparently met with Oswald and spoke with Shaw but he refutes any claims that he knows the identity of Shaw who used the alias of Clay Bertrand. And at the end of the scene Dean says "You're crazy as your mama! Goes to show its in the genes! You any idea what you're getting yourself into, Daddio?! The government is gonna jump all over your head, Jimbo, and go cocka-doodle-doo! Good day to your, sir!".
And last but by no means least, there is Gary Oldman as Lee Harvey Oswald. Oldman is great as Oswald, and potrays him as a complex and private man, who remained a mystery even after his death. Gary Oldman also facially resembles Oswald a fair bit, and does an excellent job at reproducing his unusual American accent, which had a tinge of Russian to it. And during the film Oldman quotes alot of the dialogue taken from Oswald's public arrest on TV as he says to the press that "I didn't shoot anyone, no sir. They have taken me in just because I defected to the Soviet union. I am just a patsy!".
So FINALLY getting onto the director paragraph, Oliver Stone does a terrific job here and he keeps the viewer engrossed throughout as he presents the film's arguments in a very convincing fashion and he also makes great use of some frantic camera work as he combines a mixture of black and white footage and colour mixed in with the film itself. Stone's screenplay is also a great achievement in itself as it is very intelligent and well researched for the most part although it does create some composite characters based on real life witnesses so there might be the odd bit of licence taken here and there. And lastly I can't forget to mention John William's terrific film score, which is both suspenseful and atmopsheric throughout and features many excellent tracks, particularly the main theme.
As for the flaws??? Well JFK does have the odd niggle, for starters I feel the film verges on bombarding you with too much information at times, so it definitely takes a few viewings to get the gist of all the details. And another thing I would say about the film that probably lets it down slightly is the melodrama of Garrison's home life, as he argues with his wife Elizabeth (Sissy Spacek) who is frustrated by the amount of time he devotes to the case. It is however key to the film as well I guess, as it is important to show how the events of the investigation impacted on Garrison's personal life, and later in reality, his first wife Elizabeth did divorce him. Another slight problem with the film, and probably the case in general is there is not much evidence that cold links Shaw to knowing Oswald, as it ultimately is just the word of people who have witnessed seeing Shaw and Oswald together in the past with not much if any in the way of photographic evidence or otherwise. But it was later revealed in 1978, four years after Shaw's death, by the at the time CIA director, Richard Helms, that Shaw did actually work for the CIA as a contractor (this is added in as insert at the end of the film). And based on the Richard Helms testimony, it proved that Shaw was guilty of perjury. But people of power and persuasion like Shaw, can as it seems get away with murder (or assassination in this case). You could also say its hard to guage how accurate the film actually is in terms of the depiction of the events behind the assassination and if indeed it was conspiracy or not, but personally I think there had to be one as I could not see Oswald acting alone and it seems a bit too coincidental that Oswald could get off two shoots before the third shot kills Kennedy (if in fact it was the secret service agent Hill that accidentally discharged that shot), and as I mentioned before how are Governor Connolly's wounds explained, as it would suggest there had to be at least four bullets fired for four separate wounds. But you could drive yourself mad thinking about it so I will leave it there for now! :-)
Sooo that's it for my extended and VERY exhuastive post on JFK, which remains one of my favourite films and one of the best films of the 1990s, which to this day still remains as pertinent as it did on its release, and whether it be accurate or not, its still compelling viewing with a top cast and a great screenplay backing it.
And on that exhaustive note I shall say goodnight!
Ahad, 21 September 2014
Still Game and yes or no
Well I thought I would do a post on something a little different as I went to see the live Still Game show last night up at the SSE Hydro, which started its 21 show run on Friday night there and I will always also mention something about the Scottish referendum since it has now passed. So let's gie it a look and I will mention a bit about the plot but I will try not give it all away.
So as for the story well there isn't really much to it as the main plot line is Jack Jarvis (Ford Kiernan) longs to see his daughter, Fiona, renew her wedding vows as she lives in Canada he regrets not being able to fly over and visit. So the rest of the story follows a bit of an every day life in Craiglang, and Jack and his good friend, Victor McDade (Greg Hemphill) interacting with the rest of the characters. The characters include Winston (Paul Riley) who has lost his aritifical leg after he tried to boot a dog in the balls (or baws!) who went at him and Jack and Victor set about trying to get him a replacement. Bobby the barman (Gavin Mitchell) who runs the town's local, the Clansman, shows off his brand new iPad (or fudge as Jack calls it!) and Tam Mullen (Mark Cox) the tightest of tightwads, carries on trying to get freebies off the town including a pint from Bobby. Then there is the town's biggest gossip, Isa Drennan (Jane McCarry) who can't keep her mouth shut, who works for Navid Harrid (Sanjeev Kohli) who is essentially good natured and filled with witty one-liners, who is nagged incecessantly by his wife, Meena, who's face is never revealed to the audience. And as the show goes on Jack and Victor break the fourth wall and start interacting with the crowd as does the rest of the cast and plenty of hilarity ensues.
Still Game was and has always been the real gem of Scottish comedy in the last 10 years or so and it was great to see it brought back for the live stage. And they used the expansive size of the Hydro very well for the show and built a great set for the setting of Craiglang with Jack's flat on the far left of the stage, the Clansman pub in the middle, and Navid's store on the right. The show was naturally also filled with some hilarious one liners and it featured some moments of comedic genius as well, such as the scene where Winston replaces his artificial leg with a ukulele and it starts playing some notes as he walks! The show is also interspersed during scene changes with tips on how to speak the Craiglang lingo such as "Open the door I'm a bogus gas man!". And while I won't give away the specifics the show also features a hilarious Bollywood number where Navid sings to Isa such lines as "Yoor oot yer bastard box!" and "Oot yer bastard dome!". Also given the current climate of the referendum the show also pokes a bit of fun at that as well where at one moment Meena during the Bollywood number gives the audience a chance to vote yes or no to see her face and the audience mostly voted yes although her face is not quite what you'd expect!
So is the Still Game show worth seeing??? Aye it sure is! Its a great laugh and the cast came together really well to provide some real moments of hilarity so if you manage to get a ticket or have already got a ticket to get along to see it, I'd thoroughly recommend you give it a go.
Right well that was pretty short (short than I expected!) and now onto something about Scotland's 2014 referendum for independence. But as well all know the referendum was about Scotland deciding over they should remain as part of the UK or become an independent country, and the Yes campaign was lead by the SNP leader and First Minister, Alex Salmond, whereas the campaign against it, the Better together campaign was lead by the former chancellor of the exchequor, Alistair Darling. And in the end the result saw Scotland reject independence with the no campaign winning the majority of the vote, 55% and at just over two million voters and the Yes campaign losing, but still gaining 45% of the country's vote with 1.6 million people voting for independence. And with that Scotland remains part of the UK.
Well I for one voted yes for independence but I don't have any real ill feelings towards those who voted no as each person is entitled to their own vote, but I must admit I am still shocked that a nation would reject its own independence and in doing so I think this country has lost something as well as a sense of its own individuality. And watching scenes of celebration from the No voters when the verdict was announced were for me frankly quite disturbing in watching them dance and cheer in delight. It also stuns me how out of 32 electorates that only 4 voted for independence with only Glasgow, Dundee, North Lanarkshire and West Dunbartonshire voting Yes.
And as a result the Prime Minister, David Cameron has issued a statement saying he will grant more powers to Scotland to control its own affairs as well as spend more on the NHS, as the government before this was set to implement a UK-wide privitisation of the NHS. But it remains to be seen whether or not that Cameron will keep to his promise to devolve these powers and already his fellow Tory MPs are pushing for him to renege on his promise and Ed Miliband, the Labour leader has reneged already. And with 55% of the country having voted no it remains to be seen what potential impacts that will have on us as a result as the Tory government could easily go ahead and renege on all promises and carry on with its original intent.
There is also the concern that even if Cameron will honour his promises to devolve more powers that once his term as PM is up after that we will have Boris Johnson, the current mayor of London, take over as the future PM, which frankly doesn't bear thinking about! And Johnson has already made some bungled comments in the press about how Scotland doesn't need these powers, which basically means if he get's into power then he will take them away with a blink of an eye. And this again reinforces that the No campaign even though its intentions were for Scotland to remain part of the UK, it was also based on fear and the fear of change, whereas the Yes campaign was based on hope and prosperity and looking to changing the future for the better. There were plenty ifs and buts surrounding the Yes campaign and if the projections given in the White paper would hold up if the nation did in fact vote that way, but I felt (and feel) it was worth taking a risk to see if Scotland could move ahead as its own independent nation, but now we may never know.
And I also think a fair part of this was also to do with the the manipulation of the media where the Yes campaign was ridiculed as being negative, poorly thought out as well as anti-British or English and violent towards the opposite side, which is entirely untrue. The BBC also throughout the campaign spun their own version of events and during the campaign, the political editor for the BBC, Nick Robinson also disgraced himself when he asked Alex Salmond a question during an international conference which Robinson in his report later stated that Salmond did not answer when in fact he did! The BBC also didn't even broadcast a protest in Trafalgar square a few weeks back where English protesters spoke out against privitising the NHS, which was again the result of the Government controlling the media.
But the Yes campaign itself was actually carried out peacefully with little actual trouble and I myself briefly attended a rally during the week and there was no trouble whatsoever or rioting as a result. But what transpired on Friday night 19 September with pro-unionists was utterly shameful and a disgrace where Unionists started to attack the Yes supporters in George square with the riot police forced to quell the disturbances which also saw Unionists burn the Saltire flag and wave the Union Jack. And I'm sure this sort of thing will not be tolerated by either the Yes or No side, its a disgrace to burn the nation's flag and its something that still leaves me aghast. But I was pleased to see that last night there were no more disturbances like this in George square, but it does remain troubling that scenes like this happened although in a way it was also inevitable.
So as it stands Scotland still remains as part of the UK, what will happen to us as a result who knows, the Yes campaign will naturally carry on campaigning for its independence. Will things change for the better?? Who knows? But one day we may yet have another referendum where Scotland will again have a chance to vote for its own independence.
And on that note I will leave yee there.
So as for the story well there isn't really much to it as the main plot line is Jack Jarvis (Ford Kiernan) longs to see his daughter, Fiona, renew her wedding vows as she lives in Canada he regrets not being able to fly over and visit. So the rest of the story follows a bit of an every day life in Craiglang, and Jack and his good friend, Victor McDade (Greg Hemphill) interacting with the rest of the characters. The characters include Winston (Paul Riley) who has lost his aritifical leg after he tried to boot a dog in the balls (or baws!) who went at him and Jack and Victor set about trying to get him a replacement. Bobby the barman (Gavin Mitchell) who runs the town's local, the Clansman, shows off his brand new iPad (or fudge as Jack calls it!) and Tam Mullen (Mark Cox) the tightest of tightwads, carries on trying to get freebies off the town including a pint from Bobby. Then there is the town's biggest gossip, Isa Drennan (Jane McCarry) who can't keep her mouth shut, who works for Navid Harrid (Sanjeev Kohli) who is essentially good natured and filled with witty one-liners, who is nagged incecessantly by his wife, Meena, who's face is never revealed to the audience. And as the show goes on Jack and Victor break the fourth wall and start interacting with the crowd as does the rest of the cast and plenty of hilarity ensues.
Still Game was and has always been the real gem of Scottish comedy in the last 10 years or so and it was great to see it brought back for the live stage. And they used the expansive size of the Hydro very well for the show and built a great set for the setting of Craiglang with Jack's flat on the far left of the stage, the Clansman pub in the middle, and Navid's store on the right. The show was naturally also filled with some hilarious one liners and it featured some moments of comedic genius as well, such as the scene where Winston replaces his artificial leg with a ukulele and it starts playing some notes as he walks! The show is also interspersed during scene changes with tips on how to speak the Craiglang lingo such as "Open the door I'm a bogus gas man!". And while I won't give away the specifics the show also features a hilarious Bollywood number where Navid sings to Isa such lines as "Yoor oot yer bastard box!" and "Oot yer bastard dome!". Also given the current climate of the referendum the show also pokes a bit of fun at that as well where at one moment Meena during the Bollywood number gives the audience a chance to vote yes or no to see her face and the audience mostly voted yes although her face is not quite what you'd expect!
So is the Still Game show worth seeing??? Aye it sure is! Its a great laugh and the cast came together really well to provide some real moments of hilarity so if you manage to get a ticket or have already got a ticket to get along to see it, I'd thoroughly recommend you give it a go.
Right well that was pretty short (short than I expected!) and now onto something about Scotland's 2014 referendum for independence. But as well all know the referendum was about Scotland deciding over they should remain as part of the UK or become an independent country, and the Yes campaign was lead by the SNP leader and First Minister, Alex Salmond, whereas the campaign against it, the Better together campaign was lead by the former chancellor of the exchequor, Alistair Darling. And in the end the result saw Scotland reject independence with the no campaign winning the majority of the vote, 55% and at just over two million voters and the Yes campaign losing, but still gaining 45% of the country's vote with 1.6 million people voting for independence. And with that Scotland remains part of the UK.
Well I for one voted yes for independence but I don't have any real ill feelings towards those who voted no as each person is entitled to their own vote, but I must admit I am still shocked that a nation would reject its own independence and in doing so I think this country has lost something as well as a sense of its own individuality. And watching scenes of celebration from the No voters when the verdict was announced were for me frankly quite disturbing in watching them dance and cheer in delight. It also stuns me how out of 32 electorates that only 4 voted for independence with only Glasgow, Dundee, North Lanarkshire and West Dunbartonshire voting Yes.
And as a result the Prime Minister, David Cameron has issued a statement saying he will grant more powers to Scotland to control its own affairs as well as spend more on the NHS, as the government before this was set to implement a UK-wide privitisation of the NHS. But it remains to be seen whether or not that Cameron will keep to his promise to devolve these powers and already his fellow Tory MPs are pushing for him to renege on his promise and Ed Miliband, the Labour leader has reneged already. And with 55% of the country having voted no it remains to be seen what potential impacts that will have on us as a result as the Tory government could easily go ahead and renege on all promises and carry on with its original intent.
There is also the concern that even if Cameron will honour his promises to devolve more powers that once his term as PM is up after that we will have Boris Johnson, the current mayor of London, take over as the future PM, which frankly doesn't bear thinking about! And Johnson has already made some bungled comments in the press about how Scotland doesn't need these powers, which basically means if he get's into power then he will take them away with a blink of an eye. And this again reinforces that the No campaign even though its intentions were for Scotland to remain part of the UK, it was also based on fear and the fear of change, whereas the Yes campaign was based on hope and prosperity and looking to changing the future for the better. There were plenty ifs and buts surrounding the Yes campaign and if the projections given in the White paper would hold up if the nation did in fact vote that way, but I felt (and feel) it was worth taking a risk to see if Scotland could move ahead as its own independent nation, but now we may never know.
And I also think a fair part of this was also to do with the the manipulation of the media where the Yes campaign was ridiculed as being negative, poorly thought out as well as anti-British or English and violent towards the opposite side, which is entirely untrue. The BBC also throughout the campaign spun their own version of events and during the campaign, the political editor for the BBC, Nick Robinson also disgraced himself when he asked Alex Salmond a question during an international conference which Robinson in his report later stated that Salmond did not answer when in fact he did! The BBC also didn't even broadcast a protest in Trafalgar square a few weeks back where English protesters spoke out against privitising the NHS, which was again the result of the Government controlling the media.
But the Yes campaign itself was actually carried out peacefully with little actual trouble and I myself briefly attended a rally during the week and there was no trouble whatsoever or rioting as a result. But what transpired on Friday night 19 September with pro-unionists was utterly shameful and a disgrace where Unionists started to attack the Yes supporters in George square with the riot police forced to quell the disturbances which also saw Unionists burn the Saltire flag and wave the Union Jack. And I'm sure this sort of thing will not be tolerated by either the Yes or No side, its a disgrace to burn the nation's flag and its something that still leaves me aghast. But I was pleased to see that last night there were no more disturbances like this in George square, but it does remain troubling that scenes like this happened although in a way it was also inevitable.
So as it stands Scotland still remains as part of the UK, what will happen to us as a result who knows, the Yes campaign will naturally carry on campaigning for its independence. Will things change for the better?? Who knows? But one day we may yet have another referendum where Scotland will again have a chance to vote for its own independence.
And on that note I will leave yee there.
Ahad, 14 September 2014
Batman Begins "does it come in black?"
Right so time for another post so this one is on another Batman film, Batman Begins, which was the first Christopher Nolan directed film and also marked the first appearance of Christian Bale in the role of the dark knight. So let's cape up, brave the night and take down some badasses... or rather let's just have a look at this one...
So the film begins with Bruce Wayne as a child (played by Gus Lewis) who accidentally falls into a well where he is attacked by a swarm of bats and is later rescued by his father, Thomas (Linus Roache). As a result Bruce is left terrified by bats and has nightmares and later on when he attends an opera with his parents, Thomas and Margaret (Sara Stewart) which involves performers pretending to be bats, he becomes frightened and they leave. On leaving the opera house they are mugged by Joe Chill (Richard Brake) who kills Bruce's parents. Bruce is afterward then taken to the police station where his comforted by an officer, Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman) and later is taken care of by the Wayne's butler, Alfred Pennyworth (Michael Caine) who reassures Bruce that his parents deaths were not his fault.
The story then moves on to 14 years later when Bruce as a young man (Christian Bale) seeks revenge on Joe Chills, who is granted parole when testifying against crime boss, Carmine Falcone (Tom Wilkinson). As Joe is escorted from the courthouse, Bruce close by conceals a gun, intent on killing Chills, but before he can one of Falcone's assassins shoots Chills. Bruce is then picked up by his childhood friend, Rachel Dawes (Katie Holmes) who is now an assistant district attorney who berates him for trying to take the law into his own hands and she drops him off at Falcone's nightclub. Bruce meets with Falcone who tells him that fear is a power that cannot be bought and that he should be grateful that Chills was killed before his men throw Bruce out. Bruce then decides to travel the world and becomes a criminal himself as he is caught for stealing and placed in a prison in Bhutan. In the prison Bruce is approached by a man named Henri Ducard (Liam Neeson) who offers to train in the arts of stealth and fear as a member of League of shadows, lead by Ra's al Ghul (Ken Watanabe). On completing his training, where Bruce confronts his fear of bats, he learns that Ducat's real intentions are to destroy Gotham to rid it of the corruption that has infested it. Bruce who is then given the task of executing a villager, who commited a crime, refuses to kill the man and instead burns down the League of shadows temple, in which Ra's al Ghul is killed by falling debris and Bruce rescues Ducat and takes him to the local villagers.
Afterward Bruce then returns to Gotham where he takes an interest in his family's company, Wayne enterprises, which is run by the corrupt William Earle (Rutger Hauer). Bruce then sets about trying to find a way to bring Gotham to justice himself without killing and sets in motion how to prepare himself for combating the city's criminals. And in doing so Bruce pays a visit to Wayne enterprises top scientist, Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman) who shows Bruce some of the company's technological prototypes such as a bodysuit and also the tumbler (essentially a large reinforced vehicle) which Bruce takes. Bruce then uncovers the entrance to a cave under his well, where he faces his fear of bats, as they swarm around him and he later creates his workshop down in the cave and soon dawns the bodysuit and becomes "Batman". As Batman, Bruce intercepts a shipment of drugs and he captures Falcone and provides evidence to Rachel to indict Falcone. Batman then receives help from Jim Gordon, who remains one of the few honest cops left in Gotham who later arrests Falcone. Falcone and his men are deemed as mentally unfit to stand trial and Falcone is moved to Arkham asylum where his met by the corrupt Dr. Jonathan Crane (Cillian Murphy) who has been using Falcone to import the drugs which can cause terrifying hallucinations. Crane then puts on a mask and exposes Falcone to the toxins, which drives Falcone insane with fear which will keep him in Arkham. While investigating Crane, Batman is also exposed to the drug and he barely escapes and survives as he is later given an antidote by Lucius. Rachel later on meets with Crane at Arkham where she finds the city's water supply has been laced with the hallucinigen compound and Crane exposes her to the drug as well. Batman however soon manages to rescue Rachel and takes her back to the batcave where he administers the antidote to her. Bruce then attends a party at his manor, where all of a sudden he comes to face with a familiar face, Ducard who reveals him to be the real Ra's al Ghul, who is intent on destroying Gotham and from here Bruce must find a way to stop him....
Batman begins remains an excellent reboot to the franchise of Batman and it saw the character get a much needed shot in the arm after the dreadful Batman & Robin, which ended the series previous reboot on a low. The film also get's back to the proper origins of the character and Christopher Nolan made the right decision to make Batman a more humane character, while retaining the brooding intensity of the dark knight, but Nolan concentrates on making him more a moral avenger and avoids going down the route of making Batman a killer. And for me that is when the film really kicks into action during the scene where Bruce makes his choice to reject the League of shadows vision to destroy Gotham city as he realises he must save the city despite the corruption that plagues it as prior to that it is a bit of a slow burner. And when Bruce arrives back in Gotham you know you are in for a bumpy ride as is the city itself as he prepares to take down the city's criminals before later on facing his biggest challenge in facing Ra's al Ghul once more.
Getting onto the performance section of the review they are all excellent, starting with Christian Bale who is great in his dual role as Bruce Wayne and Batman, although he fares best as Bruce more than as Batman, where he puts on a rather husky voice, but at this stage he doesn't overdo it like he does in the next two films! Bale himself apparently auditioned for the part wearing the Batman suit from Batman Forever, which starred Val Kilmer, he also had previously made the film, The Machinist, where he lost a significant amount of weight, and he put on a fair bit of muscle and beef to play the part of the dark knight. Bale has some good highlights in the film such as the scene near the beginning when Bruce is in the Buhatnese prison and he is getting beat up by a big inamte who says to him "I'm the devil!" and Bruce says "You're not the devil, you're practice!" and he proceeds to beat the big fella up! Another good scene is where Bruce pays a visit to Lucius Fox at Wayne enterprises and Lucius rides with Bruce in the tumbler and Bruce asks Lucius "does it come in black?". Then there is the scene where Batman makes his first entrance and as he beats up Falcone's men, he shortly after grabs Falcone and pulls out of the car as Falcone asks beforehand "what the hell are you?" Batman replies "I'm Batman!" and head butts Falcone, knocking him out, then he looks over at the tramp he saw earlier in the film, who Bruce gave his coat and Batman simply says "Nice coat!" before leaving. And prior to that as Bruce carves out the bat sign in his workshop, Alfred asks him "why bats?" and Bruce says "Bats frighten me. Its time my enemies shared my dread" and throws the bat symbol into a wall. Another good moment is where Batman meets Rachel at the subway station and she fires her taser gun at his body armour, which has no effect and he casually removes it from his suit. And Batman throws some evidence at Rachel's feet, who asks what it is and Batman says "Leverage, to get things moving" and Rachel asks who he is and Batman replies "Someone like you, someone who isn't afraid to rattle the cages!". And then there is the scene where Batman literally picks up the corrupt cop, Flass (Mark Boone Junior) by leg using his bat grapple and dangles him upside down. And Batman yells at Flass "Where were the other drugs going?!" and Flass tells him he doesn't know "I swear!" and Batman yells "SWEAR TO ME!!" and let's him drop and dangle but lifting him up again on the grapple. And Flass tells Batman of a location of a drop off point for the drugs "Cops can't go down to the narrows" and Batman says "Do I look like a cop????" before letting him go (or rather drop!).
Liam Neeson also provides a good performance as Ducard/Ra's Al Ghul who takes Bruce in to train him but ultimately can't convert him to the league of shadows of way thinking, and its not long before Ra's comes back to Gotham to finish off his business. Neeson plays the part in rather melodramatic fashion but he still has some good moments such as the scene where he tells Bruce where to go if he wants to be trained and Bruce climbs up a mountain and arrives at the temple of the league of shadows. On entering Bruce is exhausted and Ra's starts to whip his ass, lecturing him he says "death does not wait for you to be ready!" and as Bruce tries to defend himself Ra's effortlessly knocks him away saying "You are skilled but this isn't a dance!" and later "You are afraid, but not me of. Tell me, Mr Wayne. What do you fear?". And later as the two men practice combat on the ice, Neeson has a good moment where Ra's taunts Bruce by saying "You're parents death was not your fault. It was your father's!" and Bruce attacks him angrily and says "But I had training!" and Ra's says "The training is nothing, the will is everything!". And as Bruce knocks down Ra's on the ground, Bruce tells him to yield and Ra's says "You haven't beaten me. You've sacrificed sure footing for a killing stroke!" and he proceeds to tap his sword on the ice which causes Bruce to fall under. And later on when Ra's arrives in Gotham and runs the monorail to spread the halluconagen, Batman glides onto the monorail using his cape and Ra's looks up and says "It appears you have taken my advice about theatrically a bit literally!".
Katie Holmes also does well in her role as Rachel Dawes, although she was only 26 or 27 at the time of filming, I don't quite buy that she is old enough to potray the part of an assistant DA. Holmes does have some good scenes though such as the one where Rachel picks up Bruce, not long after Chills has been murdered by Falcone's assassin and Bruce shows her his gun and she angrily slaps him in the face saying "You're father would have been ashamed!". Another good moment is where Rachel is accosted by two of Falcone's men on the subway, but one is subdued by Batman and the other looks on in panic and runs off, just when Rachel prodcues her taser, and she says "That's right you better run!" and she turns to see Batman and jumps, firing the taser, which has no effect on Batman's suit. Another good scene is where Rachel confronts Crane over Falcone's sudden breakdown in Arkham and she asks "Isn't it convient for a 52 year old man who has no history of mental illness to suddenly have a complete psychotic breakdown, just when's about to be indicted?!". And also there is the moment where Rachel bumps into Bruce at a party, where he is starting pose as a billionaire playboy, and she says to him "Bruce, you may still be that great kid you use to be, but its not who you are underneath, its what you do that defines you" which is a line Batman later quotes back to her giving a hint to the fact that its Bruce who is the dark knight.
As for the other performances Michael Caine is very good as Alfred, Bruce's trusty butler, who helps out Bruce in starting his crusade as Batman. Caine also has some highlights in the film, such as in the scene where he meets Bruce and they fly back to Gotham on a private jet and he says to Bruce "And you can borrow the Rolls, just bring it back with a full tank". Another good scene is when Alfred confronts Bruce about forgetting his family's legacy and Bruce say he doesn't care about his name and Alfred strongly says to him "Its not just your name, sir! Its your father's name! And its all that's left of him! Don't destroy it". And then there is the scene where Ra's Al Ghul arrives at Bruce's manor and his men set it on fire and leave Bruce for dead, and Alfred helps lift a large piece of wood that Bruce is trapped underneath and he exclaims "What is the point of all those push-ups if you can't even lift a bloody log?!".
Morgan Freeman is also excellent as Lucius Fox, who helps Bruce by using some of Wayne enterprise's prototype technology, such as the bodysuit for Batman and the tumbler, which Bruce uses for Batman's car. Freeman also provides his character with a dry sense of humour as he exhibits throughout and is noted in the scenes where Bruce first approaches Lucius and uses excuses that he wants to use the equipment for base-jumping and spelunking. And as Lucius shows Bruce the memory cloth used to create his cape, Lucius says "I don't think they tried to market it to the billionaire, spelunking, BASE-jumping crowd!". And then Lucius who is wary of Bruce's excuses says "Mister Wayne, if you don't want to tell me exactly what you're doing, when I'm asked, I don't have to lie. But don't think of me as an idiot". Rutger Hauer is also good in his brief role as Earle, who has been running Wayne enterprises in Bruce's absence and he has a good moment where he visits Lucius and says to him "I'm merging your department with archives, and I am firing you. Didn't you get the memo?". And later on rather amusingly, Bruce buys back control of his shares in the company and puts Fox in charge of operations and Lucius says smugly to Earle "Didn't you get the memo?".
Cillian Murphy proves to be quite effective and creepy in his role as Dr Jonathan Crane aka Scarecrow and he has some good moments as well, which include the film's most frightening moment where Crane says to Falcone in Arkham "Would you like to see my mask?" and he takes out his fabric mask and his briefcase "I'm probably not so scary to a guy like you, but these crazies, they can't stand it!". And Crane proceeds to open his case and detonate a charge of the weaponised hallucanogen which freaks out Falcone and Crane's visage distort as the gas spreads and voice changes and he says "They scream and they cry. Much as you are doing now!". And just after Crane leaves the room and he says to one of the staff "No he's not faking, not that one!". And then there is the scene where Batman arrives at the narrows and hides as Crane and his men arrive, and as Batman attacks his men, Crane fires the toxin in Batman's face and he says as he throws alcohol in face "Here take a drink, you look like a man who takes himself too seriously! You want my opnion? You need to lighten up!" and he lights a match and sets fire to Batman's suit, who dives out the window. Tom Wilkington is also very good as the mob boss, Falcone and he has some good scenes also that include where Falcone meets with Bruce in his nightclub and he tells him "Look around you, kid, you'll see two councilmen, a union official, a couple off-duty cops and a judge. Now I wouldn't have a second's hesitation of blowing your head off right here and now in front of them. Now, that's power you can't buy! That's the power of fear". And later when Crane meets Falcone in Arkham and he puts on his mask, Falcone asks "When did the nuts take over the nuthouse???!".
And lastly Gary Oldman is excellent as Sgt Jim Gordon, one of the few honest cops left in Gotham, who ends up helping Batman. Oldman's highlights include his first scene where Gordon sits in his car along with the corrupt cop, Flass, and he says to Flass "I'm no rat. In a town that's bent, who is there is to rat to anyway??". Then there is the scene where Batman talks quietly with Gordon on his rooftop and Gordon tells him that the commissioner think that he is a menace and Batman asks "What do you think?" and Gordon says "I think you're trying to help" and turns back to see Batman has gone and he says "But I've been wrong before". And then at the end there is a funny moment where Gordon has setup a bat signal, which Batman taps and says "Nice!" and Gordon "You like it? I couldn't find any mob bosses!" (as Batman had strapped Falcone to a lampost, which created the reflection of the bat sign in the sky earlier in the film).
Now finally onto the director, Christopher Nolan who has done a great job here with the film and he keeps the atmosphere intense and broody throughout, but also allows for a few moments of levity as well in the film and provides the film with just enough hope and humanity from keeping it permanently in the dark and never forgets it is supposed to be a superhero film. Nolan also confidently handles the film's impressive action scenes and uses its different locations very well also as it was filmed mostly in Shepperton studios in England, but also there were some location filming in Iceland, during Bruce's trianing, as well as Chicago during the scenes where Batman is chased by the police. The film's music score is also excellent by Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard, which is very intense and atmospheric is well suited to the tone of the film.
As for the flaws.........well Batman Begins get's most things right except the odd niggle, such as the pacing of the film is a bit inconsistent and it has to be said that Bruce's journey in Bhutan and his training drags on a bit and it takes until Bruce sets the fire to the League of shadows temple for the film's tempo to kick into gear. I also felt that Bruce's father, Thomas, was unjustly branded a coward in the film, when during the scene where he is killed, he calmly tries to reason with Chills before being shot, which hardly shows the actions of a coward. And Ra's blames Bruce's parent's death on his father, when his father actually tried to do what he could and keep a cool head, but the film certainly doesn't seem to take that into consideration and even in Chills's mind, he felt that Bruce's dad begged for mercy, which going by the scene is bullshit, but then again its not like a criminal would lie is it??? Then there is Bale's potrayal of Batman, which is far from bad, but he does start to use that husky voice thing here, which can be grating, but it is nowhere near as bad here as it is the following two films. But I just think why is it necessary for Bruce to husk his voice to that extent, when all its liable to do is make him cough and splutter! And Michael Keaton managed to hush his voice well enough as Batman without making it sound ridiculous so its a bit crap that Bale wasn't able to do the same thing with his performance. You could also argue in a way that Nolan's attempts at humour in the film are at times also a tad lame, although there are some good lines and Caine and Freeman both provide the film with some dry moments of wit, but there are some naff ones as well such as the scene where Gordon first sees Batman's tumbler and he gasps "I've got to get me one of those!". I think its right though that Nolan does have some moments of levity in the film because it would be even more dreary without them, and I guess it is less guilty of cheesy humour than some of the superhero films out there. Although if you want to be really picky, Batman isn't really a superhero as such as he is morely a vigilante detective, as we all know he doesn't have any actual super powers that would make him one in the first place.
And lastly another flaw well worth mentioning is the scene where Ra's Al Ghul turns up at Bruce Wayne's mansion near the end and he has his men set fire to the place and Ra's struggles with Bruce and leaves him trapped under a falling roof beam. And in the scene Ra's says to Bruce "You burned down my house and left me for dead. Consider us even!" which when you think about it, it is not even remotely close in their case whereas Bruce did burn down Ra's house, he didn't leave him for dead and instead dragged him out the burning house and saved him from falling off a snowy cliff and then him took to a villager so he could recover! So obviously Ra's has a pretty warped sense of justice and let's face it the guy does anyway as how exactly is destroying one corrupt city which albeit has plenty of criminals in it but also plenty of innocent people, justice??? In short, Ra's Al Ghul is an ungrateful knob to put it mildly!
But all that aside Batman Begins is an excellent action flick that saw the Batman series get a proper reboot after the dismal Batman & Robin some eight years earlier.
And with that I shall bid yee goodnight!
So the film begins with Bruce Wayne as a child (played by Gus Lewis) who accidentally falls into a well where he is attacked by a swarm of bats and is later rescued by his father, Thomas (Linus Roache). As a result Bruce is left terrified by bats and has nightmares and later on when he attends an opera with his parents, Thomas and Margaret (Sara Stewart) which involves performers pretending to be bats, he becomes frightened and they leave. On leaving the opera house they are mugged by Joe Chill (Richard Brake) who kills Bruce's parents. Bruce is afterward then taken to the police station where his comforted by an officer, Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman) and later is taken care of by the Wayne's butler, Alfred Pennyworth (Michael Caine) who reassures Bruce that his parents deaths were not his fault.
The story then moves on to 14 years later when Bruce as a young man (Christian Bale) seeks revenge on Joe Chills, who is granted parole when testifying against crime boss, Carmine Falcone (Tom Wilkinson). As Joe is escorted from the courthouse, Bruce close by conceals a gun, intent on killing Chills, but before he can one of Falcone's assassins shoots Chills. Bruce is then picked up by his childhood friend, Rachel Dawes (Katie Holmes) who is now an assistant district attorney who berates him for trying to take the law into his own hands and she drops him off at Falcone's nightclub. Bruce meets with Falcone who tells him that fear is a power that cannot be bought and that he should be grateful that Chills was killed before his men throw Bruce out. Bruce then decides to travel the world and becomes a criminal himself as he is caught for stealing and placed in a prison in Bhutan. In the prison Bruce is approached by a man named Henri Ducard (Liam Neeson) who offers to train in the arts of stealth and fear as a member of League of shadows, lead by Ra's al Ghul (Ken Watanabe). On completing his training, where Bruce confronts his fear of bats, he learns that Ducat's real intentions are to destroy Gotham to rid it of the corruption that has infested it. Bruce who is then given the task of executing a villager, who commited a crime, refuses to kill the man and instead burns down the League of shadows temple, in which Ra's al Ghul is killed by falling debris and Bruce rescues Ducat and takes him to the local villagers.
Afterward Bruce then returns to Gotham where he takes an interest in his family's company, Wayne enterprises, which is run by the corrupt William Earle (Rutger Hauer). Bruce then sets about trying to find a way to bring Gotham to justice himself without killing and sets in motion how to prepare himself for combating the city's criminals. And in doing so Bruce pays a visit to Wayne enterprises top scientist, Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman) who shows Bruce some of the company's technological prototypes such as a bodysuit and also the tumbler (essentially a large reinforced vehicle) which Bruce takes. Bruce then uncovers the entrance to a cave under his well, where he faces his fear of bats, as they swarm around him and he later creates his workshop down in the cave and soon dawns the bodysuit and becomes "Batman". As Batman, Bruce intercepts a shipment of drugs and he captures Falcone and provides evidence to Rachel to indict Falcone. Batman then receives help from Jim Gordon, who remains one of the few honest cops left in Gotham who later arrests Falcone. Falcone and his men are deemed as mentally unfit to stand trial and Falcone is moved to Arkham asylum where his met by the corrupt Dr. Jonathan Crane (Cillian Murphy) who has been using Falcone to import the drugs which can cause terrifying hallucinations. Crane then puts on a mask and exposes Falcone to the toxins, which drives Falcone insane with fear which will keep him in Arkham. While investigating Crane, Batman is also exposed to the drug and he barely escapes and survives as he is later given an antidote by Lucius. Rachel later on meets with Crane at Arkham where she finds the city's water supply has been laced with the hallucinigen compound and Crane exposes her to the drug as well. Batman however soon manages to rescue Rachel and takes her back to the batcave where he administers the antidote to her. Bruce then attends a party at his manor, where all of a sudden he comes to face with a familiar face, Ducard who reveals him to be the real Ra's al Ghul, who is intent on destroying Gotham and from here Bruce must find a way to stop him....
Batman begins remains an excellent reboot to the franchise of Batman and it saw the character get a much needed shot in the arm after the dreadful Batman & Robin, which ended the series previous reboot on a low. The film also get's back to the proper origins of the character and Christopher Nolan made the right decision to make Batman a more humane character, while retaining the brooding intensity of the dark knight, but Nolan concentrates on making him more a moral avenger and avoids going down the route of making Batman a killer. And for me that is when the film really kicks into action during the scene where Bruce makes his choice to reject the League of shadows vision to destroy Gotham city as he realises he must save the city despite the corruption that plagues it as prior to that it is a bit of a slow burner. And when Bruce arrives back in Gotham you know you are in for a bumpy ride as is the city itself as he prepares to take down the city's criminals before later on facing his biggest challenge in facing Ra's al Ghul once more.
Getting onto the performance section of the review they are all excellent, starting with Christian Bale who is great in his dual role as Bruce Wayne and Batman, although he fares best as Bruce more than as Batman, where he puts on a rather husky voice, but at this stage he doesn't overdo it like he does in the next two films! Bale himself apparently auditioned for the part wearing the Batman suit from Batman Forever, which starred Val Kilmer, he also had previously made the film, The Machinist, where he lost a significant amount of weight, and he put on a fair bit of muscle and beef to play the part of the dark knight. Bale has some good highlights in the film such as the scene near the beginning when Bruce is in the Buhatnese prison and he is getting beat up by a big inamte who says to him "I'm the devil!" and Bruce says "You're not the devil, you're practice!" and he proceeds to beat the big fella up! Another good scene is where Bruce pays a visit to Lucius Fox at Wayne enterprises and Lucius rides with Bruce in the tumbler and Bruce asks Lucius "does it come in black?". Then there is the scene where Batman makes his first entrance and as he beats up Falcone's men, he shortly after grabs Falcone and pulls out of the car as Falcone asks beforehand "what the hell are you?" Batman replies "I'm Batman!" and head butts Falcone, knocking him out, then he looks over at the tramp he saw earlier in the film, who Bruce gave his coat and Batman simply says "Nice coat!" before leaving. And prior to that as Bruce carves out the bat sign in his workshop, Alfred asks him "why bats?" and Bruce says "Bats frighten me. Its time my enemies shared my dread" and throws the bat symbol into a wall. Another good moment is where Batman meets Rachel at the subway station and she fires her taser gun at his body armour, which has no effect and he casually removes it from his suit. And Batman throws some evidence at Rachel's feet, who asks what it is and Batman says "Leverage, to get things moving" and Rachel asks who he is and Batman replies "Someone like you, someone who isn't afraid to rattle the cages!". And then there is the scene where Batman literally picks up the corrupt cop, Flass (Mark Boone Junior) by leg using his bat grapple and dangles him upside down. And Batman yells at Flass "Where were the other drugs going?!" and Flass tells him he doesn't know "I swear!" and Batman yells "SWEAR TO ME!!" and let's him drop and dangle but lifting him up again on the grapple. And Flass tells Batman of a location of a drop off point for the drugs "Cops can't go down to the narrows" and Batman says "Do I look like a cop????" before letting him go (or rather drop!).
Liam Neeson also provides a good performance as Ducard/Ra's Al Ghul who takes Bruce in to train him but ultimately can't convert him to the league of shadows of way thinking, and its not long before Ra's comes back to Gotham to finish off his business. Neeson plays the part in rather melodramatic fashion but he still has some good moments such as the scene where he tells Bruce where to go if he wants to be trained and Bruce climbs up a mountain and arrives at the temple of the league of shadows. On entering Bruce is exhausted and Ra's starts to whip his ass, lecturing him he says "death does not wait for you to be ready!" and as Bruce tries to defend himself Ra's effortlessly knocks him away saying "You are skilled but this isn't a dance!" and later "You are afraid, but not me of. Tell me, Mr Wayne. What do you fear?". And later as the two men practice combat on the ice, Neeson has a good moment where Ra's taunts Bruce by saying "You're parents death was not your fault. It was your father's!" and Bruce attacks him angrily and says "But I had training!" and Ra's says "The training is nothing, the will is everything!". And as Bruce knocks down Ra's on the ground, Bruce tells him to yield and Ra's says "You haven't beaten me. You've sacrificed sure footing for a killing stroke!" and he proceeds to tap his sword on the ice which causes Bruce to fall under. And later on when Ra's arrives in Gotham and runs the monorail to spread the halluconagen, Batman glides onto the monorail using his cape and Ra's looks up and says "It appears you have taken my advice about theatrically a bit literally!".
Katie Holmes also does well in her role as Rachel Dawes, although she was only 26 or 27 at the time of filming, I don't quite buy that she is old enough to potray the part of an assistant DA. Holmes does have some good scenes though such as the one where Rachel picks up Bruce, not long after Chills has been murdered by Falcone's assassin and Bruce shows her his gun and she angrily slaps him in the face saying "You're father would have been ashamed!". Another good moment is where Rachel is accosted by two of Falcone's men on the subway, but one is subdued by Batman and the other looks on in panic and runs off, just when Rachel prodcues her taser, and she says "That's right you better run!" and she turns to see Batman and jumps, firing the taser, which has no effect on Batman's suit. Another good scene is where Rachel confronts Crane over Falcone's sudden breakdown in Arkham and she asks "Isn't it convient for a 52 year old man who has no history of mental illness to suddenly have a complete psychotic breakdown, just when's about to be indicted?!". And also there is the moment where Rachel bumps into Bruce at a party, where he is starting pose as a billionaire playboy, and she says to him "Bruce, you may still be that great kid you use to be, but its not who you are underneath, its what you do that defines you" which is a line Batman later quotes back to her giving a hint to the fact that its Bruce who is the dark knight.
As for the other performances Michael Caine is very good as Alfred, Bruce's trusty butler, who helps out Bruce in starting his crusade as Batman. Caine also has some highlights in the film, such as in the scene where he meets Bruce and they fly back to Gotham on a private jet and he says to Bruce "And you can borrow the Rolls, just bring it back with a full tank". Another good scene is when Alfred confronts Bruce about forgetting his family's legacy and Bruce say he doesn't care about his name and Alfred strongly says to him "Its not just your name, sir! Its your father's name! And its all that's left of him! Don't destroy it". And then there is the scene where Ra's Al Ghul arrives at Bruce's manor and his men set it on fire and leave Bruce for dead, and Alfred helps lift a large piece of wood that Bruce is trapped underneath and he exclaims "What is the point of all those push-ups if you can't even lift a bloody log?!".
Morgan Freeman is also excellent as Lucius Fox, who helps Bruce by using some of Wayne enterprise's prototype technology, such as the bodysuit for Batman and the tumbler, which Bruce uses for Batman's car. Freeman also provides his character with a dry sense of humour as he exhibits throughout and is noted in the scenes where Bruce first approaches Lucius and uses excuses that he wants to use the equipment for base-jumping and spelunking. And as Lucius shows Bruce the memory cloth used to create his cape, Lucius says "I don't think they tried to market it to the billionaire, spelunking, BASE-jumping crowd!". And then Lucius who is wary of Bruce's excuses says "Mister Wayne, if you don't want to tell me exactly what you're doing, when I'm asked, I don't have to lie. But don't think of me as an idiot". Rutger Hauer is also good in his brief role as Earle, who has been running Wayne enterprises in Bruce's absence and he has a good moment where he visits Lucius and says to him "I'm merging your department with archives, and I am firing you. Didn't you get the memo?". And later on rather amusingly, Bruce buys back control of his shares in the company and puts Fox in charge of operations and Lucius says smugly to Earle "Didn't you get the memo?".
Cillian Murphy proves to be quite effective and creepy in his role as Dr Jonathan Crane aka Scarecrow and he has some good moments as well, which include the film's most frightening moment where Crane says to Falcone in Arkham "Would you like to see my mask?" and he takes out his fabric mask and his briefcase "I'm probably not so scary to a guy like you, but these crazies, they can't stand it!". And Crane proceeds to open his case and detonate a charge of the weaponised hallucanogen which freaks out Falcone and Crane's visage distort as the gas spreads and voice changes and he says "They scream and they cry. Much as you are doing now!". And just after Crane leaves the room and he says to one of the staff "No he's not faking, not that one!". And then there is the scene where Batman arrives at the narrows and hides as Crane and his men arrive, and as Batman attacks his men, Crane fires the toxin in Batman's face and he says as he throws alcohol in face "Here take a drink, you look like a man who takes himself too seriously! You want my opnion? You need to lighten up!" and he lights a match and sets fire to Batman's suit, who dives out the window. Tom Wilkington is also very good as the mob boss, Falcone and he has some good scenes also that include where Falcone meets with Bruce in his nightclub and he tells him "Look around you, kid, you'll see two councilmen, a union official, a couple off-duty cops and a judge. Now I wouldn't have a second's hesitation of blowing your head off right here and now in front of them. Now, that's power you can't buy! That's the power of fear". And later when Crane meets Falcone in Arkham and he puts on his mask, Falcone asks "When did the nuts take over the nuthouse???!".
And lastly Gary Oldman is excellent as Sgt Jim Gordon, one of the few honest cops left in Gotham, who ends up helping Batman. Oldman's highlights include his first scene where Gordon sits in his car along with the corrupt cop, Flass, and he says to Flass "I'm no rat. In a town that's bent, who is there is to rat to anyway??". Then there is the scene where Batman talks quietly with Gordon on his rooftop and Gordon tells him that the commissioner think that he is a menace and Batman asks "What do you think?" and Gordon says "I think you're trying to help" and turns back to see Batman has gone and he says "But I've been wrong before". And then at the end there is a funny moment where Gordon has setup a bat signal, which Batman taps and says "Nice!" and Gordon "You like it? I couldn't find any mob bosses!" (as Batman had strapped Falcone to a lampost, which created the reflection of the bat sign in the sky earlier in the film).
Now finally onto the director, Christopher Nolan who has done a great job here with the film and he keeps the atmosphere intense and broody throughout, but also allows for a few moments of levity as well in the film and provides the film with just enough hope and humanity from keeping it permanently in the dark and never forgets it is supposed to be a superhero film. Nolan also confidently handles the film's impressive action scenes and uses its different locations very well also as it was filmed mostly in Shepperton studios in England, but also there were some location filming in Iceland, during Bruce's trianing, as well as Chicago during the scenes where Batman is chased by the police. The film's music score is also excellent by Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard, which is very intense and atmospheric is well suited to the tone of the film.
As for the flaws.........well Batman Begins get's most things right except the odd niggle, such as the pacing of the film is a bit inconsistent and it has to be said that Bruce's journey in Bhutan and his training drags on a bit and it takes until Bruce sets the fire to the League of shadows temple for the film's tempo to kick into gear. I also felt that Bruce's father, Thomas, was unjustly branded a coward in the film, when during the scene where he is killed, he calmly tries to reason with Chills before being shot, which hardly shows the actions of a coward. And Ra's blames Bruce's parent's death on his father, when his father actually tried to do what he could and keep a cool head, but the film certainly doesn't seem to take that into consideration and even in Chills's mind, he felt that Bruce's dad begged for mercy, which going by the scene is bullshit, but then again its not like a criminal would lie is it??? Then there is Bale's potrayal of Batman, which is far from bad, but he does start to use that husky voice thing here, which can be grating, but it is nowhere near as bad here as it is the following two films. But I just think why is it necessary for Bruce to husk his voice to that extent, when all its liable to do is make him cough and splutter! And Michael Keaton managed to hush his voice well enough as Batman without making it sound ridiculous so its a bit crap that Bale wasn't able to do the same thing with his performance. You could also argue in a way that Nolan's attempts at humour in the film are at times also a tad lame, although there are some good lines and Caine and Freeman both provide the film with some dry moments of wit, but there are some naff ones as well such as the scene where Gordon first sees Batman's tumbler and he gasps "I've got to get me one of those!". I think its right though that Nolan does have some moments of levity in the film because it would be even more dreary without them, and I guess it is less guilty of cheesy humour than some of the superhero films out there. Although if you want to be really picky, Batman isn't really a superhero as such as he is morely a vigilante detective, as we all know he doesn't have any actual super powers that would make him one in the first place.
And lastly another flaw well worth mentioning is the scene where Ra's Al Ghul turns up at Bruce Wayne's mansion near the end and he has his men set fire to the place and Ra's struggles with Bruce and leaves him trapped under a falling roof beam. And in the scene Ra's says to Bruce "You burned down my house and left me for dead. Consider us even!" which when you think about it, it is not even remotely close in their case whereas Bruce did burn down Ra's house, he didn't leave him for dead and instead dragged him out the burning house and saved him from falling off a snowy cliff and then him took to a villager so he could recover! So obviously Ra's has a pretty warped sense of justice and let's face it the guy does anyway as how exactly is destroying one corrupt city which albeit has plenty of criminals in it but also plenty of innocent people, justice??? In short, Ra's Al Ghul is an ungrateful knob to put it mildly!
But all that aside Batman Begins is an excellent action flick that saw the Batman series get a proper reboot after the dismal Batman & Robin some eight years earlier.
And with that I shall bid yee goodnight!
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