Film news ...

Originally published on www.thefancarpet.com

Tina Fey discusses Mean Girls the Musical

It looks as though yet another hit film will be getting the Broadway treatment as funny woman Tina Fey confirms there are plans to adapt the teen hit Mean Girls into a musical.

The actress who recently co-hosted the Golden Globes and won a SAG award for her role in 30 Rock, both wrote and starred in the hit 2004 film that saw Lindsey Lohan become a house hold name, before the bad publicity.

Fey told E! News at the Screen Actors Guild Awards that the musical version could “maybe” be made.

She went on to say "We want to … I would love to, yeah.

I'm trying to develop it actually with my husband, who does all the music for 30 Rock. And I think Paramount's on board, yeah."

The potential musical would see the hit film join the ranks of other hit films to make the transition from screen to stage such as Legally Blonde, Sister Act and 9 to 5.

Whether the film will make its way to the stage is yet to be seen as these things to take, so for now watch this space.

Will J.J Abrams' Star Wars: Episode VII see a female lead?

With the announcement a few months back that a seventh Star Wars film was in the works the rumour mill of Hollywood has already been flying into overdrive, but a new announcement could put a new spin on the latest instalment in the franchise.

With everyone just getting over the fact that Star Trek director J.J Abrams will be directing the latest intergalactic adventure, it has been suggested the main character in the film could be a woman.

It has been reported that Kick-Ass 2 heroine Chloe Grace Moretz was pitched to the studio as the leading lady for the project when Matthew Vaughn was being considered for the directing role.

Although it isn’t clear whether this had any indication for Vaughn’s vision for the latest offering and nothing has been announced or set in stone for the project, it would be intriguing to see a female lead in an otherwise male dominated franchise that could bring it right up to date.

Meanwhile in other Star Wars news it has been announced that the planned 3D treatments of the remaining prequels of the film series have been shelved in order to concentrate on the upcoming film.

It looks as though we may just have to sit and wait as the rumour mill on this eagerly anticipated film continues to churn out more stories.

Review: Keep the Lights On

Originally published on www.biggaypictureshow.com

Keep the Lights On tells the story of a Danish filmmaker, Erik (Thure Lindhardt), who’s working on a new documentary and living in New York City. He enters a loving yet complicated relationship with Paul (Zachary Booth), a struggling drug and sex addict. The film takes a rare and honest look at the complications that impact on most relationships and the negative effects addiction can cause for yourself and a partner, all put together in a way that makes you not think of this as a ‘gay film’.

The film itself is based on the director Ira Sach’s own relationship with literary agent Billy Clegg, who has published a memoir discussing his own past struggles with addiction. Luring you in with a great concept, I got excited by the idea of this film and was very intrigued about how it would tackle the sex addiction aspect, as most gay themed films just tend to focus on muscly model-esque men having sex and getting naked at every given opportunity.

However this film completely avoids that and the sex scenes are both relevant to what’s happening and actually drive the plot along, and in one case shows us that sex isn’t exactly how it looks in porn or Hollywood. So a big thumbs up has to be given to them for not falling into the littered realm of cliché and mind numbing sex scenes.

The way the film is shot is also very good, as it has an almost vintage, gritty realist look to it, and for an independent film I was pleasantly surprised that it didn’t look like someone had just filmed something in their back garden with a home video camera, which is often the case. In fact the film as a whole looks like Transamerica in terms of the way it was shot. The music used, when coupled with the imagery, is excellent as it really helps set the scenes and allows you to know if you’re in for a heavy moment or not.

This being said, I wasn’t completely satisfied when it came to watching this film. What Keep The Lights On lacks is perhaps the most important part – the ability to get the viewer engrossed and concerned about what they are watching. As the film progressed I realised that I had little concern for the characters, which mainly stemmed from the slow moving plot.

Also I felt that if someone watched this film who hadn’t read up on it beforehand and knew what it was about, then this slow burning plot would definitely confuse them and leave them wondering what the hell was going on. However, despite not feeling for the characters, the two lead actors give quite gritty and realistic performances as lovers, so hats off to that.

Keep The Lights On has so much going for it in its premise and the music, and acting and shooting is all great. However, the slow developing plot that makes you lose interest allows the film to fall flat. They could have done so much more with this film, but they just missed the mark. But credit to them for not turning it into a gay sex and sausagefest.

Review: Rewind by Devlin feat. Diane Birch

Originally published on www.sosogay.co.uk

As a member of the grime collectives O.T Crew and The Movement that both feature other well-known British rap artists such as Wretch 32, Devlin has already experienced some significant success on the UK charts. He’s had four top 40 singles and a top 40 album that was certified gold, and also featured on a remix of the number one hit ‘Price Tag’ by Jessie J.

Here he teams up with American singer-songwriter Diane Birch – who has yet to match the success of her musical partner – to put forth the tale of lost love and regret on ‘Rewind.’ It uses the combination of rapper and singer that has worked well for numerous other artists of late: Eminem, B.O.B and Professor Green who used Rihanna, Emeli Sandé and Hayley Williams respectively on their tracks.

The song does put you in mind of ‘Love the Way You Lie’ and ‘Read All About It’ with its wanting to push rewind on a part of your life, which is something we can all relate to, and features a great dark and moody base with a thumping beat in the background that we’ve all become very familiar with in the last few years.

Although a competent rapper, Devlin isn’t as good as some of his contemporaries and whereas the previously mentioned tracks have both superb rapping and singing, the highlight of ‘Rewind’ has to be Diana Birch’s vocals. The little known singer carries the song, coming across as a less depressing and morbid version of Lana Del Ray, occasionally sounding as though she’s about to burst into a rendition of Heart’s ‘Alone.’

Given the trends of rappers and singers over the last few years and with this song being reminiscent of previous hits, not to mention its catchy tune and Birch’s great vocals, it all points toward ‘Rewind’ being a huge hit for 2013.

Review: The Blue Angel

Originally published on www.moviemuser.co.uk

As a lover of old Hollywood films, especially those made during the film industry’s golden age – because in my opinion the films were just better as they had a type of mystical Hollywood gloss painted over them – I was excited at the prospect of reviewing a film from 1930. This was in part to see a film from this era that I’d not heard of. It was also because the film was made not long after the transition into the talkies and, of course, it features film legend Marlene Dietrich.

However, like most good things they always seem a bit too good to be true, and that is certainly the case when it comes to this film. It’s being released as part of a Masters of Cinema series in a dual format (DVD & Blu-ray) edition that also features both English and German language versions of the film. The movie depicts the downward spiral of a school teacher (Emil Jannings), whose attempts to catch his students frequenting a local cabaret bar leads to his own enthusiasm for the bar’s main attraction, Lola (Dietrich), which results in both his life and fortune entering a time of turmoil.

Despite being included in the Masters of Cinema collection, unfortunately I couldn’t find anything too magnificent about it. In fact I can think of a few other films from the 1930s, such as Grand Hotel and Of Human Bondage, that would benefit more from a new HD release. They also feature legendary stars such as Bette Davis, Joan Crawford and Greta Garbo, who are all on par with Miss Dietrich, if not better.

The film itself is rather boring, bland and has minimal dialogue to begin with; in fact it made me think of a rather bad version of the 1970 hit, Cabaret. It does have some good points when it comes to the use of the camera, mainly due to the panning that was very difficult back then due to static cameras, but apart from that there’s not much else to go on about.

Maybe it’s been seen as worthy to be included in this new collection due to it being the first collaboration between the director Josef Von Sternberg and Dietrich (it was also her ticket to Hollywood), who would make many more films together, but apart from that I can’t see any other reason why it would be included.

One thing I will say is that we get a clear indication of the twilight years of Marlene’s career, as she spent most of them as a cabaret singer touring the world. But apart from that, unless you’re a huge fan of Dietrich or old movies I’d give this a miss.

Review: Peace - Wraith

Originally published on www.soundblab.com

This new up-and-coming four-piece from Birmingham have already been making quite a stir on the music scene. After snagging a record deal, the band spent most of last year touring and even supported The Vaccines and Magic Kids. They've released their debut EP, Delicious, and have been nominated for best new band at the NME awards. With comparisons to bands like The Foals, Friendly Fires and Wu Lyf, it looks likey you may be hearing a lot more from this band in 2013.

The sound of Peace, and 'Wraith' in particular, can be described as a dark yet upbeat blend of indie-techno-rock with hints of psychedelic, 60s inspiration spread throughout. Coupling excellently smooth guitar riffs and smoother indie vocals, (I'll let you make those deductions yourself, the band make you want to dance and sing along, especially during the shout-out "dance forever."

Although Peace has taken inspiration from bands of recent times and we have heard music such as this before, they've managed to do it in an enjoyable and refreshing way, I mean, I've had this song on repeat for quite some time now and its vocals and sound is just as good as anything The Arctic Monkeys have ever put out.

So in other words, top marks to this song and I look forward to seeing more of this band as the next 12 months progress.

Britain: The bipolar nation

Originally posted on www.huffingtonpost.co.uk

If you haven't already noticed this week has seen a mass of snow descend upon the entire of the UK, and to say it has been met with a mass of mixed and somewhat strange responses would be an understatement.

Throughout the month of December during the build up to Christmas most people for some reason like the famous song says dream of a white Christmas only to be met with grave disappointment when once again all we get is heavy rain, wind and freezing cold temperatures. We then have to endure the disappointment that these people spread through social media about how gutted they are. Lets be honest we haven't actually had a white Christmas in quite some time as we all know here in the UK it won't actually come until January or February just like it has done in recent years, and given how bad it has been recently you wonder why people do get so excited.

Well as usual January has come along and the snow has come out in full force to put a stop to everything that we would usually do on a day to day basis, you have to wonder how people in countries such as Russia or Norway cope with the amount of snow they get throughout the year, I mean you never hear about those countries coming to a complete stand still do you?

Well I must say that I am probably one of the only people who dislikes snow and I've stuck to this for a long time, so much so that when it did fall last week I came close to avoiding my Facebook, Twitter and especially my Instagram account due to the number of tweets, status updates and pointless pictures of snow covered cars there were, as if people think I can't actually look out of my window and see it for myself.

So what does Britain do during this time, apart from updating their entire friend list about every snowy step they take? Well after the initial few hours of excitement as it falls where they throw face destroying lumps of ice at each other in the form of snowballs, build snowmen that never look like the ones in films as they have some type of road attached to them and enjoy the novelty that is snow, they soon turn from happy snow dancing hippies in a cynical moaning bipolar country that hates snow and never wants to see it again.

Yes we all know what happens, two days later when it begins to turn to suspiciously yellow and brown looking slush and ice the country panic buys every loaf of bread and pint of milk that's around because there's the possibility they may get snowed in. This for a start ruins everything for normal people as you can't have a cup of tea or a piece of toast as someone somewhere is sat with a panic room filled with bread and milk that will expire long before the snow has finally left our streets.

Now they're all sat there moaning that the snow won't leave, they can't get to work because it would probably be an 8 hour trek to get there, which in some cases means no pay and are anxiously praying to the Facebook and Twitter gods for it to go away. In other words they are finally realising why I hate snow in the first place and never wanted it to come.

It's not just snow that endures this but summer as well. You've probably seen some of these ex-snow lovers now praying for some warmth and sun, who are now saying they can't wait for summer. Well we all know what will happen in the summer, everyone will be excited about the sun but then moan about it two days later because it's too hot and the heat of their work office is getting too much for them. This is coming from a country where people will pay hundreds and hundreds of pounds to go to Spain for two weeks.

Lets just face it, no one in this country is ever happy, if we could save the economy from our ability to want something and then continue to moan about how much we hate it when we've got it we would never have entered a recession in the first place, in fact we'd probably be the most powerful country there is.

So for now we will just have to suck it up and deal with the snow and wait for it to go so we can be happy, that is until next year when everyone wets themselves with excitement at the first sight of a flake of snow. There's just no winning.

Did Disney Predict the Future of the Human Race?

Originally published on www.huffingtonpost.co.uk

It sounds like a strange concept that the Disney company that is primarily targeted towards young children but loved by adults around the world, and is predominately responsible for giving many a false view of love that will have undoubtedly ruined the dating lives of many could predict the future.

However given the recent news that two more big high street stores; HMV and Blockbuster have entered administration this week adding to a list that includes Jessops, Comet, Woolworths and many more, you only have to look at the Disney/Pixar hit Wall-E to see where we may be heading.

In the film the human race has been evacuated to a space ship where they fly around all day on floating chairs hooked up to what is quite obviously the internet, watching films, television and listening to music all day because the earth has been destroyed due to mass consumerism. Now this mass consumerism that has destroyed the planet in Wall-E could be seen as happening because of the very invention that keeps them so greatly entertained, the Internet.

Yes that's right, in statements this week from both HMV and Blockbuster they've mentioned that their custom has been greatly affected by the internet with many choosing to stay indoors and shop on Amazon for the latest DVD, game and music releases instead of heading somewhere such as HMV, or if they have chosen not to buy a film they've instead opted to stream it from LoveFilm or Netflix rather than renting from Blockbuster.

Yes that great invention has truly changed the way we live, we no longer have to leave the house to buy anything as we can get clothes, games, music and even our food delivered straight to our doors thanks to the option of buy online. We don't even have to go out to meet new friends thanks to social networking websites like Facebook and Twitter, and if we decide we want to meet a boyfriend or girlfriend there's no need to go out and awkwardly eye up the nearest available person as the internet is littered with dating websites filled with "hot singles" in your area that are just waiting to chat.

Yes it is quite a sad state of affairs when you see these great high street stores disappearing. I for one will be greatly saddened if HMV does in fact vanish from shopping centres and the high street alike, their website has already been disabled due to their current issues, and it all seems to have happened because the internet has given us the ability to be lazy and opt for convenience in every aspect of our daily lives.

For some people one of the main reasons they leave the house is to go to work, but with computers giving us access to work information and the ability to work from home, I wonder if going to the office will one day just mean sitting on the sofa with a cup of coffee in your pyjamas communicating work stuff via email and telephone?

It also brings up the issue of whether we will continue to go out for meet ups with friends and family, after all what's the point when Face Time or Skype could allow everyone to have a night out together from the comfort of their own living rooms? Provided that you have a good Internet connection and your supermarket of choice delivered your wine on time.

Yes the Internet is a brilliant creation and we wouldn't know what to do without it now as it has made everything so much easier. But what's happening is a very sad and unnerving state of affairs, and maybe we won't end up in a space ship hovering above the earth waiting for a plant to be sent up inside a robot in the way that Disney foretold. But sitting in isolation communicating and doing everything via an Internet connection, like the morbidly obese in the animated hit, could become a dreaded reality if we aren't careful.

After all we may only be a few shop closures away from the high streets of Great Britain resembling old western films with tumbleweeds taking the place of the almost extinct high street shopaholic.

Review: Holopaw - Academy Songs Volume 1

Originally published on www.soundblab.com

Holopaw isn't a name that springs into my mind when I start thinking of bands that aren't tearing up the charts. In fact, until I reviewed this album I'd never heard of the band, yet I was intrigued by them due to the description of their sound. Blending as a mixture of indie-rock, country and folk together into 40 minutes worth of songs, Holopaw have created a great alternative soundtrack for your summer, festival travels and beach day parties with their fourth album, Academy Songs Volume 1.

Sounding a little like the alternative pop group Fun. but without all the annoyance and whining that comes with them, the band recorded this album at the beach, and you get a real feel of that while listening to the record as they combine a mixture of ethereal, haunting and earthy sounding songs. One thing I like is the mix of songs, by which I mean that some concentrated on the sweet and earthy yet powerful indie vocals of John Orth, which really made you feel something, whether it was sadness or delight. Others concentrated on the music, where guitar riffs and drumbeats took centre stage over the vocals.

In terms of songs, 'Golden Sparklers' and 'Infidels' are definite standout tracks with their varying mix of upbeat and down-key guitars and drums, and haunting yet surprisingly steady vocals. But the best track on the album has to be 'We Are the Virgin Snow', which is a blend of indie-folk and is a little depressing but also quite buoyant. In other words, it's quite a bipolar song as the haunting vocals and sadness which lies underneath blend well with the build up of drums and folk dancing-inspired music.

Towards the end of the album some of the songs do begin to sound a bit samey, as if they are blending into one. But don't let that deter you as the majority will make you want to dance around in a carefree child-of-the-60s way. Overall, this album is a great blend of songs you could listen to anywhere. Some do sound similar but what artist isn't guilty of that? It's just a shame, with bands such as Mumford & Sons doing so well, that this band hasn't broken into the mainstream yet. Hopefully we will hear more from them in the future.

Review: The Men Next Door

Originally published on www.biggaypictureshow.com

Luring you in with a concept that has only really been seen in soaps and mainly carried out as heterosexual storylines, The Men Next Door makes you feel as though you’re about to see something a little different in terms of gay cinema. However once the film begins it’s rather disappointing to find that it’s just another mound of clichés, stereotypes and unfunny comedy.

After initially reading the plot synopsis I thought I’d be in for a rather funny and not too serious treat – after all seeing a film about a man falling in love with both a father and his son isn’t something you see every day. I was expecting a few laugh out loud moments with a sweet sentiment underneath. However, within the first 15 minutes of the film I saw two cocks and two or three sex scenes, once again reinforcing the fact that the majority of gay cinema is sold on sex.

Aside from this much of the ‘comedy’ within the film was not funny, tried a little too hard and on the whole was a little bit predictable. Also the sweet sentiment that ran throughout the film failed to make you go “awww”, instead it made you want to reach for the nearest sick bucket.

That said there are a few funny moments that did make me laugh, such as the awkward moment when the truth about the father and son comes is revealed. There’s also an entertaining situation in a getaway cabin later on the in film, which gets ruined by afamily therapy session that ensues. I did enjoy the way in which the more amusing parts of the film were told during conversations between Doug (Eric Dean) and his brother, and in all fairness you do wonder whether he will choose the father or son in the end. But as the film nears its conclusion, it gets extremely mundane and yawn inducing.

The way the film is shot is extremely low budget and it shows, which makes you feel as though you’re watching something a film student made on their lunch break. Adding to the pain I felt watching this is that the majority of the acting is wooden, beside Benjamin Lutz, who plays the son of the story, Colton, but even he annoys you after a while.

The character of Evelyn (Heidi Rhodes) does amuse at times, but she too becomes a little annoying as you realise she’s just another stereotype of how some gay people see their straight friends who have settled down with children.

Overall Verdict: This film could have done so much with the premise, but instead it’s badly written, badly shot and badly acted. Where it could have invested in good comedy and a more heartfelt sentiment, the makers settled for lacklustre comedy, stereotypes and a couple of helpings of sex in order to make people watch it.

Saying Goodbye to the Festive Devil

Originally published on www.huffingtonpost.co.uk

It's now the middle of January, which means that we've been in the New Year now for two weeks and if you're like me then you've been breathing a sigh of relief as you start to get back into your regular routine, as you've waved goodbye to that festive devil that is otherwise known as Christmas.

Yes that's right the whole of the British public, who spend the whole year waiting for that month of December where eating and drinking as much as you like without being judged is finally gone. And even though we love it so much it's nice to finally get back to a sense of normality. I'm demonstrating this normality myself by finally getting round to writing a new article.

We've now begun slipping back into our old ways, which involve plodding through the week looking forward to the weekend, eating when we normally do instead of waiting for Christmas hams to be cooked and cheese boards to be presented to us, waking up when we feel like it on the weekend and waking up during the week feeling slightly sleepy but without the dreaded 10 day hangover than comes with Christmas, which makes some of us wonder how alcoholics do it.

Don't get me wrong Christmas is a great time of year where we get to see all our family at once and revel in each others company, but to be honest that usually goes awry. If you've been having the loving family Christmas over the couple of days before hand, where nothing goes wrong and everyone likes each other you can almost guarantee that at some point on Christmas day a full scale war is going to break out.

The Christmases of years gone, where a selection of family members enjoyed a few games and watched Christmas television are now things that some of us can vaguely remember. Now Christmas day has turned into a struggle to get toys out of the box for children and an even bigger nightmare when it comes to setting up the latest gadget, which usually turns into technology vs. technology half way through the day when brothers and sisters or husbands and wives look for the nearest gadget to attack the other with, which can become Wii control vs. iPad on the living room rug. Yes Christmas is a fun time of year isn't it?

But let's be honest, hasn't Christmas always been a little like this? Even when it was just board games and Christmas television someone would always start a row because one person wanted to watch Coronation Street and the other wanted to watch Eastenders, which would turn into a battle of wits as the one waited on baited breath for the other to leave the remote control unattended. Also you'd usually have the one member of the family who does all the cooking seething over a big pot of potatoes as everyone else enjoyed themselves drinking wine and pulling crackers.

To be honest Christmas has never really changed, it has always been a bit of a tedious struggle that we all look forward to but at the same time detest in the back of our minds, it's no wonder there's so much drinking involved, I mean how else could the British public cope with spending so much time in a confined space with the 'ones we love?'

So this begs the question, what will we do this Christmas? Will we stay at home and just leave all the hassle to everyone else or continue with the effort that is the season to be jolly?

The truth is, as much as we moan and groan come September, which seems to be the start of Christmas in the UK according to shops and advertisers, we will be making arrangements for whose house we are spending Christmas at, and who's going to be cooking and so on. I for one will be staying in my own home as travelling the length of the UK to visit everyone is quite frankly too expensive, what with trains, presents, drinks, food and nights out, however this will probably change come September,

So until then I'm going to haul myself up and stick to my routine, before all those people who I've been avoiding since last Christmas rudely interrupt it. Wizard was definitely wrong, I do not wish it could be Christmas everyday. In fact I thank god it only comes once a year.