Let's just say, this is what I want for Christmas and to keep forever and always.
Aside from that... this is the most fun I've had waiting for people to die in a movie. I know that sounds weird, but it's not like people don't know the general story of Pompeii (and if you don't... REALLY?!).
This is a love story, but the thing I liked about it was that it wasn't the main focus of the movie, it was more subtle and you knew it was there, even if it was cheesy. More than anything, it was an action movie through and through. A serious revenge fantasy, sword fights, "lunchroom" brawls, armies and lots of fire - all the ingredients you need for some campy action-packed fun!
Jon Snow... err... Milo's character is a young child at the start who sees his family slaughtered. It's a gut-wrenching and brutally well done scene. The thought of revenge fuels a lot of what happens throughout the movie and really makes certain deaths REALLY satisfying. Like this guy's:
And This guy's:
Another side plot that blooms is the friendship between Milo, The Celt, and Atticus, the proven gladiator. They led very parallel lives before ending up slaves to be killed in a bloody arena battle. Luckily, since they're both such skilled fighters, that's not how it went down. Atticus' end - though sad, what sweet in what it represented and how he still got to fight for his freedom.
totez adorbs BFFLs - literally for life.
For once, I didn't feel like the 3D was over-powering in the action setting. With Lava flying and things on fire everywhere, I couldn't imagine it done any differently. There was a whole lot of fighting, a whole lot of running, and a whole lot of horse whispering(Milo's people do this, apparently). There was also a whole lot of this too:
His pout game was on point.
The ending was super duper cheesy, in my opinion. You've been warned. Honestly, it's exactly how I thought it would end. It would have been way less believable if the heroes magically got away. But seriously, come on...
Never let go, Jack.... wait a sec.....
Overall, it's a movie I would recommend. It really is the most fun I've ever had waiting for the world to end. The action was good, the acting was good, and I even enjoyed the story.
My big disappointment was when the credits rolled and this didn't immediately start playing:
I listened to it while walking home from the theatre, so it's fine. But HOW CAN THEY NOT BE CONNECTED? /rant.
I should probably start by saying I have an unhealthy obsession with Bruno Mars' first Album "Doo Wops and Hooligans" and Bruno himself. He is crazy talented.
The First time I heard this song was Bruno Mars' SNL Performance a few weeks back. I was almost in tears the first time I saw it. There is no doubt that Mars is a soulful singer with real emotional punch. He himself was almost crying while belting it out in New York and it made me instantly fall in love with the track. The chorus really hits you with a wavering sadness that is unmistakable in his voice.
All you young wild girls You make a mess of me All you young wild girls You'll be the death of me The Death of Me All you young wild girls No matter what you do Yeah you young wild girls I'll always come back to you Come back to you
Note to self: you're young, be more wild, and find Bruno Mars to serenade you.
Track #2: Locked Out of Heaven
I feel like you've probably heard this one.... at least if you've been on the internet or heard any top 40 radio since October. The internet is all up in arms because it sounds like The Police, but Bruno Mars himself said "Hell Yeah! You try to write a Police song". His honesty is refreshing and his attitude is admirable. The song itself has 80s-inspired mega-hit written all over it. It's fun, it's soulful, and it's got great lyrics. Here's the video:
Track #3: Gorilla
"Umm... what?"
That was my first reaction to this song. It's not a bad song, I may have been thrown by the falsetto "oohs" and the fact that most of the song is You and me baby makin' love like gorillas". Based on the track's first line, he may have been coked up while writing it, but that just shows he really is like artists from the 70s and 80s, right? Because of this revelation, I imagined Bruno Mars all crazy eyed singing this while doing some really manic dance moves before playing the piano breakdown with a little too much intensity. It made it super entertaining in my head. This is definitely more of a rock sounding song, and sadly, I think Nickelback could cover it. Not a high point in the album.
Track #4: Treasure
Funk? Check. Soul? Check. Extremely cheesy 70s smile? I guarantee it was pasted on his face during recording. This is a super fun track that I could see being a big summer hit. It sounds like sunshine. The song is about a girl, she's his treasure, his golden star, she's fine so fine. A few listens and you'll be toe tapping, head bobbing and singing the chorus. It's got that throwback sound. Start adding volume to your hair now, what's old is new again.
Track #5: Moonshine
I was waiting for this one. The track where you can hear a little growl in Bruno Mars pristine voice. It pops up in a few small moments in Moonshine and it really adds a perfect amount of grit to the 80s-sounding intensity of the track. I also really enjoyed the phrasing in this song. The way the words are pronounced and the slight changes in pacing and inflection make it different than your standard pop song. Different as in better, and I love pop music.
Track #6: When I Was Your Man
Is that a piano or a teardrop machine? Seriously... The longing you hear in his voice in the first few moments of the song sets up this heart-wrenching ballad that will make you want to give Bruno Mars a hug while your eyeholes fill with salt water. It's Adele calibre breakup tuneage. It's haunting and I can't get enough of it.
Also....
To the girl this was written for: He was wrong, he's sorry, take him back you evil beotch, he's pouring his heart out AND wishing you the best! What more could you want? Better yet don't, I'll take him, he's sweet and I like flowers and parties.
Track #7: Natalie
Holy rhythm and anger Batman! Then again I'd be angry too if some broad took all my money (not that I have any to steal at this point). Little miss snake eyes better watch her back indeed. This is the next generation's "Gold Digger" without the douchebaggery of Kanye attached. Well written, well executed, and it's wicked fun to yell sing the name "Natalie". There's so many ways to phrase her name before telling her she better run. #ThingsILearnedFromBrunoMars?
Track #8: Show Me
Steel drums and the promise of an oasis underscore this reggae "love" (read: unh unh unh) song. Show Me is lighthearted, fun, and may make you want to drive to the nearest airport to find a hot destination where you can use this song as a macking device. Hawaiian shirts await! For the record, between this and his Liquor Store Blues from Doo Wops and Hooligans, he could pull a lot of fans from the reggae crowd.
Track #9: Money Make Her Smile
Is "her" one of those Young Wild Girls or related to Natalie perhaps? In describing a good chunk of the female population Bruno Mars points out "It's not complicated, so it won't take a while, Music make her dance, money make her smile". This song may also be about strippers, but regardless, I'll still cruise to it. Another intense rocker.
Track #10: If I Knew
Ahh, regret in the face of true love. Many a man and woman have felt it, and Bruno Mars once again personifies heartbreak. The sweet guitar in this short track set up a perfect backdrop for him to croon out his feelings, and it's perfectly crafted.
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This album makes me laugh, cry, dance and rock out. I'd say that's a win. The way that it mixes different moods and genres really makes the album title perfect as can be. Unorthodox Jukebox will definitely be put in to rotation with my cruisin' CDs in the car right next to Doo Wops and Hooligans. I also may be head over heels in love with Bruno Mars (as much as you can be in love with someone you've only seen from afar... now I sound creepy...)
If you've read through this and haven't listened to it yet, I commend you, now listen to it!! Here's the streaming link again: http://www.unorthodoxjukebox.com/
You can also pre-order the album and download the already released tracks while you listen.
Unorthodox Jukebox will be available online and in stores December 11th!
What do you get when you take Justin Bieber add an extra dose of talent, and a British/Irish accent, then times him by 5? That my friends, is UK Sensation: One Direction. Their first album Up All Night is being released in North America today (March 13th, 2012), and there's a ton of buzz around it.
(See what I mean about the Biebs thing? Although, second from the left looks like a Jonas Brother who got lost in England - those eyebrows, they're everywhere!)
So I've revved up my iTunes and am going to scroll through this album track by track. Starting of course, at the top:
#1. What Makes You Beautiful
It starts off with what sounds like "Summer Nights" from Grease. Which is to say, it's instantly catchy. Whoever cooked these guys up got "boy band" just right. It's chorus is infectious:
Baby you light up my world like nobody else
The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed
But when you smile at the ground it ain't hard to tell
You don't know
Oh Oh
You don't know you're beautiful If only you saw what I can see
You'll understand why I want you so desperately
Right now I'm looking at you and I can't believe
You don't know
Oh oh
You don't know you're beautiful
Oh oh
That what makes you beautiful
Deep? Not exactly, but charming nonetheless. In a word, it's adorable. You can't help but sway along. This is clearly the reason it's not only track 1 on the album, but also their lead single. It's been out for quite a while in the UK, but only a month or two here in Canada. Even still, this group sold out concerts on this side of the pond in mere minutes. Who says the X Factor can't give you fame? Simon Cowell obviously saw the marketability of this group and has run with it ever since. It should also be noted that this song was produced by the same people who brought us Brit Brit's Baby One More Time. There's officially no way I could have hated it.
#2. Gotta Be You
Who's ready for a ballad? Ready or not here it comes! The first thing I noticed is the epic strings in this song. They're a perfect lead up to the pop sounds that come in for the chorus, which is unfortunately a bit whiny. The voices blend well, yet the whine is distracting. Good thing this was the second single, it's hook doesn't catch you as easily as track 1. It is easy to sing along though, so I'm sure the teens and teeny bopper wannabes alike are all a-twitter about it. The thing that caught me up about this song, is it seems like a squeakier, more pop sounding version of Marianas Trench's Beside You. Though that may just be the Vancouver in me. Not a bad song overall, but it wouldn't be my first pick for a listen.
#3. One Thing
(Side Note: The great thing about an album being released in the UK before North Americais the fact that there's already a few vids on youtube. So handy.)
There's that catchy guitar again. Not exactly the same as in What Makes You Beautiful, but it's got a similar vibe. Once the song starts up, you can tell it's different. Through the first few tracks in this album, you can tell that all the boys can sing, a welcome change from most boy bands we know and love. The thing I really enjoyed about this song in particular is the Backstreet of it. Being a 90s kid, this totally could've been a Backstreet Boys tune. The voice blend, the tune, the song in general screams BSB and I love it.
#4. More Than This
This is a beautifully told version of a classic tale. The girl he (they?) long for is in the arms of another. The falsettos in the beginning of the song have great vibrato. I enjoy the way the voices are separate to begin with, then come together, then separate again to highlight different sounds. This brings the song an interesting dynamic that solo artists would need to collaborate for. The emphasis is in all the right places highlighted by the different voices (and in some cases, accents). Lyrically it's something that anyone who's got a crush or has lost a significant other to someone else can relate to. It's a song about longing that any pop junkie will long to listen to on repeat.
#5. Up All Night
Time to kick it back up! The infectious drum beat is back and "Katy Perry's on replay", so it's time to get hooked by pop again! I guarantee this will be a single at some point. Funny that they should mention her, because this to me, is a PG version of Katy Perry's Last Friday Night. All it's missing is a Kenny G sax solo. Other than that it's catchy, it's got the breakdown (complete with a chant: "Up all night, up all night"), and a few vocal runs to remind you these guys can sing. I'm also expecting Glee to cover this at some point because I am imagining Blaine singing this as I listen to it. I have a chronic case of head bobbing and it ain't goin' nowhere.
#6. I Wish
All I can say about this, is the songwriters for this group have complicated love lives. That aside, this is another catchy little ditty about longing and heart break. Basically, the poor boys are pouring their hearts out about how they missed their chance with a girl, and they wish they hadn't. Sad as the message is, you still want to sing along and dance. That balance leads me to believe this album is golden so far. Pop is popular for a reason, and this is ready for consumption, Tay-Swift style.
#7. Tell Me A Lie
My first thought: This sounds angsty enough to be a Kelly Clarkson Song. My internet search result: Kelly Clarkson wrote this song. It all makes sense to me now. As a self-proclaimed Clarkson fan, I immediately started jamming before I'd finished my googling. I could sit here and point out all the similarities to a Kelly Clarkson song, but one of the boys does enough belting that I probably don't need to. The tune is pure pop, with a little bit of a pop-rock sound thanks to the guitars. Again, if this hit the radio airwaves, it would get played on repeatpeatpeatpeatpeat.
#8. Taken
You always want what you can't have, and for some reason that's always fodder for a pop song. Boom! Here's 1D's version of that. Taken. I'm giving Dr. Seuss props to the songwriters for rhyming "Breakin'" with "Taken". If only there accents didn't ruin the rhyme the second time around, oh well, it's still dreamy sounding. The chorus looks like this:
Who do you think you are
Who do you think I am
You only loved to see me breaking
You only want me cause I'm taken
You don't really want my heart
No, you just like to know you can
Still be the one who gets it breaking
You only want me when i'm taken
It's got a simple song structure, it's a simple song, and it works.
#9. I Want
What a needy broad. Always wanting things. The issue of the "High Maintenance Woman" is brought to light here. The piano has me hooked in, and it's got a wicked vibe that's almost edging on dark, but still pop star clean like Lindsay Lohan when a judge is watching. The tune has got a great beat and again is highlighting a different end of the vocal spectrum. I imagined this on Broadway with some angry walk-snapping followed by angry dancing in the instrumental part. If I could dance, I would choreograph it and write it in to a show. I listened to this song about 5 times before moving on, it's an entertaining dance in my head. Feel free to imagine your own.
#10. Everything About You
Pop personified. This song is repetitive, it rhymes, and it's redundant (kind of like this sentence). That being said, it's another one of those "guilty pleasure" songs that you will find yourself singing along in the car to, whether you wanted to or not. It's everything about you, you, you. People will eat it up, myself included.
#11. Same Mistakes
The picture on these last few tracks is becoming nauseating with it's joy, and it doesn't really match this next song. Making the same mistakes over and over is a depressing, yet somewhat hopeful affair. The tune in this song is a played down self-esteem-seminar backtrack. For some reason, this works for this track. This was one of my least favourite songs on this "disc". It feels bland and predictable, even more-so than your typical boy band ballad.
#12. Save You Tonight
All that you want's under your nose. Luckily, there's a song to tell you about it. Hold on, there's a rhythmic chorus above to tell you about it. More pop gold, it even mentions superman. At this point in the album it's blending with some of the other tracks a bit, but it still stands on it's own in certain parts. The chorus has a different vibe than the other tracks and this one's got the dance beat perfected (at least if you dance like Napoleon Dynamite). It's something I can imagine will be bassed up, remixed and thrown on in a club that caters to a younger crowd. Catchy, Catchy Ear Candy.
#13. Stole My Heart
We've reached our final song. You know that dancey, club song I was imagining? I found it. So throw your hands in the air, and wave 'em like ya just don't care! Okay, it's definitely not hiphop, but it's got an intense quick beat that I can hear coming from a club or some eurotrash's neoned up car. Plus, it talks about love at first sight. $$$ in the bank. Dance monkeys, dance!
Alright, that's enough perky white kid music for this perky white girl. Will I listen to this album again? Absolutely. It's a delectable pop morsel, primed for North American consumption. It's proven itself as a contender in the UK, hitting number two and staying there for a good run. It was the fastest selling debut album on the UK Albums Chart in 2011, and I'm sure it will catch on quick here. I've already been getting tons of requests for What Makes You Beautiful from a variety of pop lovers at the radio station I work for. With a few hits in their homeland, we'll just have to wait and see if One Direction falls in to the One-Hit Wonder or Superstar category on this side of the world.
