The Great Gatsby: A Stunning Spectacle.

Yesterday afternoon I finally got round to going to the cinema to see Luhrmann's new film The Great Gatsby (Orange Wednesdays woo!). Since hearing about the film around Christmas time, I have been buzzing with anticipation: as a keen bookworm; Luhrmann fan (his version of Romeo & Juliet was breathtaking); and admirer of the beautiful Leonardo DiCaprio (a perfect casting for this role!). The Great Gatsby seemed to be made for me!

I first read the novella last October, as part of an A Level coursework. I immediately fell in love with the epicurean lifestyle of the roaring twenties; the excess, the glitz, the glamour. The whole era oozed seduction and sex appeal, which is why I was so happy when it was announced Luhrmann was directing the new film. Luhrmann is brilliant at bringing out the theatricality and cinematic 'wow' factor of classic stories by interpreting and manipulating them from a 21st century point of view.

EP Review: Cautioners - Conditional Identity.

I was recently contacted by Scylla Records asking if I would feature one of their artists on my blog as they had a music video premiere that night (you can check out the post for Hello Lazarus's video 'Stallions'  here). I'm now looking forward to building a relationship with the record company and featuring a few more of their artists on my blog. The first (of many, hopefully!) is Cautioners, and their debut EP 'Conditional Identity'.

Cautioners are a Bristol-based band who have caused shockwaves on the local scene without playing a single live gig. Yes, thanks to the internet and the broadcast of session videos the band have gained an initial strong following as well as gaining the attention of Scylla Records. 'Conditional Identity' will be released by Scylla Records on June 10th, and 4 days later the band have their first gig at Bristol Louisiana!

Pretty daunting for a band just breaking onto the scene, huh?

The Place Beyond The Pines: Beyond Underwhelming.

The Place Beyond The Pines depicts the catastrophic journey of Luke Glanton (Ryan Gosling, above), a motorcycle stunt rider who becomes involved in bank robberies after discovering he has a child with a former lover Romina (Eva Mendes). This risky decision puts Luke on a direct collision course with ambitious police officer Avery Cross (Bradley Cooper).

After seeing the trailer for The Place Beyond The Pines at the cinema last time I went to see a film, I was already underwhelmed and wasn't really fussed about seeing it. However, I was forced into it last night, with protests that it was 'brilliant'.
It wasn't brilliant.

My New Obsession: MS MR's 'Secondhand Rapture'.

I first heard of MS MR on BBC Radio One a few months ago, and I was instantly captivated by their debut single 'Hurricane'. Since then, MS MR have released a further two singles - 'Fantasy' and 'Bones' - both also phenomenal singles. Now that their debut album, 'Secondhand Rapture' is available on Spotify, I can't tear myself away from the computer!

MS MR consists of vocalist Lizzy Plapinger and producer Max Hershenow, based in New York. It seems that 2013 really is the year of the duo, with the likes of AlunaGeorge soaring in the charts also. There is a considerable difference between the two artists however; MS MR have a much more vintage sound whereas AlunaGeorge has a sweet naivety about their sound. Plapinger's vocals have been rightly compared to Florence Welch; the raw intensity of her voice is brilliant in conveying the emotion in the album, particularly in  'Think Of You' and 'Hurricane'. 

Series Finale: Doctor Who.

I have literally just finished watching the series finale of Doctor Who, titled 'The Name Of The Doctor'.

I found out a few weeks ago that the original title of the episode was to be 'The Funeral Of River Song', which devastated me! This seemed to be confirmed with the apparition of a tombstone for River at the start of today's episode. Although there was no physical death of River in tonight's episode, the emotional episode between her and the Doctor (shown above) was pretty heartbreaking and seems to signal an end to River Song's time in Doctor Who episodes.

Twitter Find Of The Day: The Family Rain.

The Family Rain are a group of three brothers from Bath - twins Tim and Will, and older brother Ollie -who have a phenomenally authentic indie sound. Having all been in independent fruitful projects, the brothers joined as a unit in 2011 and their success has snowballed from there.

 The combination of 'fuzzed out' guitars, heavy percussion, hip-hop twists and a bluesy vocal, reminiscent of Jack White almost, has ensured the band have had a devoted following ever since the release of their debut single "Trust Me...I'm A Genius". The video for their debut single also caused waves across the internet, as they 'hip-hopped' the English countryside like there was no tomorrow. This single also ensured the band practically had their pick of labels, including Lily Allen's In The Name Of.

Breaking The Exhausted Stereotype Of Crime Thrillers: The Fall.

The Fall depicts the journey of DSI Stella Gibson (Gillian Anderson) from the London Metropolitan Police to the infamously troubled Northern Ireland to review an unsolved murder case in Belfast. The horrific strangulations of two brunette 30 something professional women have not been linked, making it more likely the killer will strike again.

Within the first five minutes of the introductory scene, I had dismissed The Fall as BBC's hastily scraped together rip off of Broadchurch after seeing the success the thriller had gained their rival, ITV. Watching DSI Gibson clean her bathroom with a face mask on wasn't particularly entertaining, nor was the anticlimax when you began to suspect maybe the audience was being used as a voyeur to reflect somebody watching her in her house and then this was tarnished as she just packed a suitcase and the scene ended. However, by the end of the episode, I was pleasantly surprised to see my opinion had changed (this rarely happens to me!).

An Interesting New Hybrid Of Music: Polar Caps.

Today I got a very exciting email. Alaskan Records, of London, asked me to check out one of their artists, Polar Caps (aka singer-songwriter/producer Owen Hughes-Holland). Aside from being extremely flattered at being contacted, I was interested to check out a completely new sound to anything I've listened to before. Polar Caps produces a very interesting style of alternative electroacoustic pop; a hybrid which is captivating and appealing to the masses.

Series Round Up: The Politician's Husband.

As anyone who knows me personally, or anyone who frequently reads my blog, will tell you, I'm a huge David Tennant fan. Ever since his role as Doctor Who, I've thought of him as my favourite actor, ever. Which is why it was so terribly heartbreaking and shocking when I discovered I didn't like his character in BBC Two's The Politician's Husband.
This isn't a criticism of Tennant's acting, however. Rather, it is an enormous compliment: he must be bloody good at acting if he can make such a fan of his hate him!

Introducing: Sugarpuss.

Take one look at the name of this band and the name of their debut EP - Psychotic Teenage Supermodels - and you wouldn't be criticised for thinking Sugarpuss are some hardcore crazy young band with no limits. A pleasant surprise, on listening to their collection, is they are not nearly as crazy as first anticipated. They're actually the perfect mix between pop and rock which is so popular right now, with bands such as Foster The People and Two Door Cinema Club.
It's refreshing to find a band which doesn't rely too heavily on the futuristic synths which are so popular in today's music scene; instead, Sugarpuss rely solely on brilliant vocals, acoustic guitars and a bit of light percussion. They sometimes make their songs really authentic by adding some group clapping for the beat and a harmonica! I don't know if it's possible to get any more chilled.

Series Round Up: The Ice Cream Girls.

MASSIVE SPOILER ALERT! - The final episode of The Ice Cream Girls contained a pretty big twist! So, if you haven't seen the episode yet, I'd advise you not to read on as I'll be discussing the twist a lot in the following post! 

Right from the start of the series, I've been very much 'Team Poppy'; Serena, in my opinion, has this air about her which just screams 'I'm hiding something!'. I've therefore felt the pain of the injustice of Poppy's 17 year sentence, while Serena has had the idyllic life every girl dreams of. My heartbreak when Poppy was confronted with the fact that Al, her love-interest/lifeguard/general nice guy, was actually an undercover journalist looking for a big story, was tremendous. I was expecting a much more violent reaction from Poppy when she went to her flat; I must admit I was slightly disappointed when all she did was smash up his laptop. But this seems to have been a wise, deliberate decision, to convince the audience that Poppy isn't a 'murderer'.

Caught Live: Derren Brown, Infamous.

It's been almost 24 hours since I was sat in the Dress Circle of Sunderland Empire Theatre, being blown away by the phenomenon that is Mr Derren Brown. I must admit, I'm still a bit mind-boggled at over 50% of the content of the show (as well as the fact Derren Brown is now practically bald!).
For obvious reasons, I won't be revealing any spoilers of the 2013 tour, simply because I don't want to ruin it for anyone who has tickets for the show in the upcoming weeks, and it is more than likely that this will be broadcast on television at the end of the year.
But, what I can tell you, is it is 100% real. How do I know this? Well, I was fortunate enough to 'catch the frisbee' last night (not a euphemism, I swear!) and was asked to go on stage with the man himself! I feel I can tell you about this particular aspect of the show because it is very similar to aspects of his shows, and so not really a spoiler. And also, I need to talk/buzz about it!