Robin Thickes' track 'Blurred Lines' featuring T.I and Pharrel.

This song is a little different and funky and I really love it!

The song is of dance-pop origin with an up-beat feel with simple, but effective lyrics that reads of what is appropriate. The track starts with a high pitch, whisper like tone and continues into a tenor style of pop singing, with lines such as trying to domesticate ya.

The track feature guest vocals from rapper T.I; which isn't bad coming from someone who isn't a fan of rapping,  and from Pharrel.

The track isn't like anything else on the radio, which is a benefit to my ears because I was slowly getting bored of the same old tunes and theme trends coming from copycat artists.

I rate the track:

Madonna's twelfth studio album; MDNA (2012).

A little late to the party. In all fairness everything I review is old.

Having recently listened to Madonna's latest album, MDNA, I came to the conclusion it's nothing that hasn't been heard before.

Madonna has always been one of my favourite performers, but never one of my favourite vocalists. Granted, the woman can sing, but her voice isn't strong enough for me to really be amazed.

The first track, Girl gone wild, is one of my favourite songs at the moment. A dance track, it incorporates elements of electro-pop and jumpy rhythms to create an outstanding track. Madonna's vocals are so auto tuned and include effects that they fit perfectly onto the song. Gang Bang is another track I enjoyed. Filled with sound effects and dark pop elements, the track is artistic and listenable, unlike the majority of the other songs featured on the album.

Madonna proves she can also release a mature track that isn't boring and Masterpiece is that track. A ballad, Masterpiece is beautiful and Madge's vocals go well with the track. The other songs to me are just incarnations of what Madonna has done before. The majority of them, such as Turn up the radio and I don't give a (featuring Nikki Minaj's guest vocals) are lyrically non-adventurous and rhythmically boring and simple. To me they are just album fillers. I'm a sinner isn't bad, but I wouldn't purchase it.

Give me all your luvin' (featuring guest vocals by M.I.A and again by Nikki Minaj) is an enjoyable track, although many people I doubt will enjoy it because of it's bubblegum-pop style of musical make-up; with Minaj and M.I.A. reminding us that we are actually in the twenty-first century. 

On the whole the album isn't bad for a fifty something year old attempting to compete with the newly emerging artists; which Madonna has successfully done but a little more effort could have been put into making the album, rather than filling it with tacky tracks. If only the whole track-list was a combination of Gang bang and Masterpiece.

I rate the album:

Angels & Demons (2009) movie review.

Starring:
Tom Hanks
Ewan McGregor
Ayelet Zurer
Stellan Skarsgård
Pierfrancesco Favino
Nikolaj Lie Kaas
Armin Mueller-Stahl

The review.

Angels & Demons is a gripping film with an interesting plot and an array of talented actors. What I enjoyed is the in depth visualisation of the papal conclave.

Tom Hanks reprises his role as Robert Langdon, a symbolist from Harvard university. Since Forest gump, I hadn't Hanks as a serious actor until The  DaVinci Code in 2006. His acting wasn't transparent and he put himself well into the adventurous shoes of his Character. Obi Wan playes Camerlengo turned Illuminati member Patrick Mckenna. McGregor's acting was shining and illuminating. Zurer playes scientist Vittoria Vetra. I haven't seen her in anything other than this so I haven't anything to criticise her with but her character was a little boring and reliant on Langdon. Skarsgard I believe is an incredible actor, varying his acting techniques for his different roles; instance as Bill in Mamma Mia and as Martin Vanger in The girl with the dragon tattoo. Kaas' role as the assassin was a little dull, but all the more creepy with his mad scientist appearance.

The story starts quite interesting, depicting the process of the death and re-election of a pope. The film brings up the feud between the Illuminati; a group of ancient researchers who began to prove  Christianity wrong and the Catholic church who turned them violent by killing some of their members (I'm not sure whether the story is actually true because of the controversy and inaccuracies surrounding the Robert Langdon series) and branding them with crosses upon their chests. The Illuminati take revenge by capturing Catholic prefertiti and murdering them and branding their chests with ambigramms of the words earth, wind, fire and air. The film is rather predictable, but nevertheless spellbinding and capturing, practically forcing the viewer mentally to sit and watch.

I enjoyed the film immensely and hope that Dan Brown, the author of the Robert Langdon series, has his next book, The lost symbol, adapted for the silver screen.


I rate the film:

Ted (2012) movie review.

Starring:

Mark Wahlberg Mila Kunis Seth MacFarlane Joel McHale Giovanni Ribisi The review. Ted is comical movie that's enjoyable after about twelve o' clock at night. About the adventures of a mystical, loud mouthed, pot smoking, hooker hiring and sexually active teddy bear named Ted; who mystically comes to life because of his owner's Christmas wish. Whoops. Mark Wahlberg was largely funny in his antics and screw up that his character, John Bennet, is confronted with. I don't think, really, that he did his best playing the roll but who can blame him after presented with a shoddy, childish script. Kunis I also didn't think gave herself entirely to the role, which I know she is capable of after watching Black Swan, for the entirety of the movie I just wanted to scream at the television shut up Meg for funsies. Seth Macfarlane, who provided the voice for loud mouthed yet mystical Ted was prestige in  doing so, His on screen counterpart, however was not. I can't say that Ted wasn't funny, just childishly funny; the kind you wouldn't want to admit to. McHale's part in the film is basically to wind up the main characters, playing Kunis' self described womanizer boss. He acts like he does in everything else, which is pretty funny if you ask me. Ribisi, however, stole the spotlight all to himself. Playing a psychotic version of Ned Flanders, Ribisi's character and his son steal Ted and lock him up in their house for play time. Along with dancing to Madonna is what he thinks is privacy, Ribisi is hilarious in the film. I think Ted is funny the first time around, but not something I'd recommend for a second viewing. I rate the movie.

Rihanna - 'Diamonds' world tour; Cardiff 10/06/13.

Well, Rihanna can certainly perform. Five costume changes, a diverse setlist and classy gyrating made Rihanna's debut in the UK for her 'Diamonds' world tour in Cardiff's Millenium stadium  a success. 

One mistake she made, however,  was let David Guetta be her support act.

He kinda stole your spotlight, Riri. David Guetta masterfully got the crowd jumping and jiving. Doing his Dj thing, he begrudged Rihanna of a spotlight after presenting his arrangement of collaborations; such as with Nikki Minaj, Sia and Riri herself. 

But she took it back by blaring out on stage after the forty-five minute interval between acts in interesting attire.

Diversity I think was the key to her act. Singing songs ranging from Bubblegum pop to Reggae, Rihanna holds an array of tracks to her arsenal. As stunning as ever, Rihanna dances around the stage as if she wasn't phased by 65,000 people spectating her show.

She 'sang' many of her chart topping hits, ranging from Umbrella to Man down and even some lesser know tracks; such as Rockstar 101, which featured Slash on the track but Nunu Bettencourt from the band Extreme filled in on stage with Emphasis from Riri.

She embarked in a serong to sing her ballads (my friends and I thought it was a towel from afar). If only she sang a little more rather than rely on her back up singers while shimming her figure around.  

Nevertheless, Rihanna put on a good show; a show I would've happily paid to see (I have good friends, I didn't have to; thanks Lows).

On the whole the show was entertaining, adrenalin fuelling and loud, very VERY loud. 

I rate the show:

The pictures featured are from the show, but I didn't take them. The one's I took are on my Blackberry and it's too much effort to transfer them to my iPod.

Moonstruck (1987) movie review.

Starring: 

Cher Nicolas Cage Olympia Dukakis Vincent Gardenia Danny Aiello

Review.

Moonstruck is a highly enjoyable movie with an original storyline and showcases its talented cast to the world. What I liked about the movie was the link to Italy and the theme of love; Verona being 'the city of love' because of its inclusion in Romeo and Juliet. If either Cher or Cage hadn't done the film, I doubt it would've been nearly as successful as it was.

The film presents Cher, in her Oscar winning role as 37 year old widow Loretta. Loretta is close to marrying an old fat man but Falls for his brother, Cage's, unique character Ronnie. Ronnie is infatuated with Loretta and is seemingly obsessed since discovering of her engagement with his brother. Coming across as a rather odd character, willing to slit his throat in front of Loretta with the big knife and  full of  cheesy pick up lines; for instant when Loretta asks where is she being taken while being carried by him and  he replies "to the bed" in his weird, trying-too-hard-seductive voice. Cage's acting just doesn't cut it for me, and for a romantic comedy, he just isn't funny. Dukakis is, however playing the role of Loretta's bored with life mother; winning her an Oscar for best supporting actress.  

On the whole I really enjoyed Moonstruck, but I wouldn't have called a Romantic comedy, just romantic because I just didn't find it that funny.

I rate it:

Miley Cyrus' 'We can't stop'.

It's my blog I can do what I want.

I haven't got a clue why I like this song, but I do. Music critics were sceptically of Cyrus' musical direction and so am I. Her provocative image is seemingly to garner attention and the twerking in the video seems pointless. 

The song is of pop origin which incorporates dance and R&B with poor songwriting thrown in for good measure. At the beginning of the track a low pitch voice chants the law; it's our party we can do what we want. The song is about a house party with instinctive drug references; for example tryna get a line in the bathroom referring to cocaine and dancing with miley/Molly, a reference to ecstasy. 

In all fairness, it doesn't sound like anything else on the radio, but if this is Cyrus' attempt to try and get taken seriously within the music industry then my love, you fail. 

I rate this track: