BUSOM – Boys vs Girls (2012 Summer Concert) [Review]

BUSOM – Boys vs Girls (2012 Summer Concert) [Review] Escape, Student Central – Thursday 3rd May 2012

And here we come to the final BUSOM (Bradford University Society of Operettas and Musicals) performance of the year, the Summer Concert that took place in Escape. With the chorus split into boys vs girls (well, roughly) and raffle tickets available for the interval draw, it was time for a ninety-minute exploration of songs from musicals and television shows on the theme of the battle of the sexes. So, let the fight commence!

The first act opened with the chorus performing ‘Anything You Can Do’ from ‘Annie Get Your Gun’ which was a popular song to open with, with the chorus split into a fun call and response set-up. There were some early nerves and a handful of missed cues but the song was delivered well and with funny punctuations from Jon Carter and comedic acting from Emelie Ollila and Zoe Howe. Tom Lehrer’s ‘When You Are Old And Grey’ followed with Dave Jennings bringing his usual spot-on character acting to the fore. Both him and Zoe tackled the fast-paced and lyrically-tricky song well after a few tongue-ties early on, both bringing the song about an arguing married couple of life.

‘Crazier Than You’ from the ‘Addams Family’ musical was a fun performance by Melissa Barret and Anna Garlick, both singing powerfully. It wasn’t the strongest of the night’s performances with a few pacing and key issues but it was a fun performance nonetheless. ‘Master of the House’ came next and Carl Mitchell, leading the ‘Les Miserables’ piece, was full of character and delivered the lines well and in character but it was Helen Plant with her Cockney accent and exciting performance, bringing the words to life, that stole the number and with Carl and the chorus made this song one of the highlights of the show.

‘You Can Drive A Person Crazy’ from ‘Company’ was a song dominated by Lyndsey Niven’s vocals but timing between her, Catrina Lodge and Joanne Brotherton was spot-on. Poppy Brooks continued the act with a strong solo performance of ‘I’m Not That Girl’. It’s not one of the better songs from ‘Wicked’ in my opinion but Poppy sung it beautifully, matched by a simple, touching piano backing.

The female chorus of ‘Men’ from ‘Calamity Jane’ saw a strong performance, particularly from the front row of vocalists, compensating from a slightly quieter line up at the back. The strong musical side was backed up by some complimentary acting from Christine and Anna on the “boys” side who added an extra dimension to the performance.

Alice De Jong, the musical director for the night who was a great personality bridging between the songs, joined up with Nick Smith for Rent’s ‘Tango Maureen’, creating a pleasing partnership but they struggled with some of the higher notes and the volume of the piano for this number, but it was a great listen.

Up next was ‘Guys and Dolls’ from the musical of the same name, brought to the filled-up Escape Bar by Stuart Sellens and Jon Carter, a double-act I always look forward to and wouldn’t be disappointed. Stuart delivered his lines with vigour and enthusiasm as ever and, though the stronger of the pair through the number, they bounced off each other well to bring the story to life and was a great way to head towards the final number of the act, which was ‘I’ll Make A Man Out Of You’ from Disney’s ‘Mulan’.

With Anna Garlick in a bright yellow hat she was as enjoyable, enthusiastic and bubbly as ever as the soldier performing the song, grasping the character well, even if her vocals of the song were more shouted than sung, though that fits in with the army nature of the tune. The female chorus were a little subdued for this number, but the male side really kicked up the delivery when teamed with Anna’s vocals.

It was then time to grab a drink during the interval and see if anybody was lucky enough to win something in the raffle. The highlight of this break for me was either winning a Body Shop gift pack or hearing the line to the winner of the mystery prize “come and see me after and I’ll give you the surprise” (ooh, err, missus), I’m not sure which.

It was back to ‘Guys and Dolls’ for the opening of the second act with famous hit ‘Luck Be A Lady’, with both sides of the chorus bouncing off each other well, creating a very good recreation of the hit, complimented by a bouncing piano tune.

Heading into the world of the internet next with Christine and Naomi Fowler singing ‘My Eyes (On The Rise)’ from act two of ‘Dr Horrible’s Sing-along Blog’, and they did a great performance, working well together, even if the actual song itself wasn’t the best choice from the amusing collection of songs from Joss Whedon.

Next up was ‘Song That Goes Like This’ from ‘Spamalot,’ a song I heard for the first time in a previous BUSOM production and loved, and enjoyed it just as much the second time around with lots of effort both vocally and in acting from James Wheeldon and Emily Grace Bennett, with a brilliant ending that segwayed into far and away the key moment of the show, ‘Two Ladies’ from ‘Cabaret’, performed by James, Emelie and Stuart, the latter camping it up in a blonde wig and high voice as the second of the two ladies. The number sounded great and was a fine performance, with the audience in stitches over Stuart’s performance, which he clearly had put lots of time into. James and Emelie equally had a ball and the three of them stole the show in my opinion.

Heading back into the territory of the women, Lyndsey Niven was at her best performing ‘I Hate Men’ from ‘Kiss Me Kate’, even jokingly referencing her own husband in her characteristic portrayal, generating some laughs with her tongue-in-cheek acting. Never has the word ‘men’ ever said with so much venom, like an angry female Basil Fawlty.

‘Avenue Q’ ditty ‘The More You Ruv Someone’ followed and Emelie’s performance was very strong with support from Lyndsey and Emily, and she stayed on to duet with Bill Harding for ‘I’ll Never Tell’ from the musical episode of ‘Buffy The Vampire Slayer’ which was a great performance with smatterings of Bill’s creepy-smiley alter-ego and a well-timed cameo from Stuart Sellens as a blonde-Buffy complete with crucifix.

Penultimate number ‘It’s A Scandal! It’s An Outrage!’ from ‘Oklahoma’ was a song that was slow to get going but the chorus worked well aside Nick Smith on lead vocals, who performed with gusto, and Stuart in his wig alongside Christine and Anna, brought the song to an end with much laughter.

The spirit of Barry Manilow was channelled for the final number with the uptempo, singable ‘Copacabana’ creating a cracking ending to the ‘Boys vs Girls’- themed evening.

The 2012 Summer Concert was another top show from BUSOM with some hilarious stand out moments plus, of course, some excellent performances. Stuart, who was both entertaining to watch with or without his blonde wig, was as great to hear and see as ever, alongside strong performances by all of the cast especially Dave, Carl, Helen, Lyndsey, Poppy and Emelie. The song choices were a fun selection from across the spectrum and there was very little not to enjoy about any of the performances. Another fun production from BUSOM.

7.5/10 See photos at http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.532035592084.19502.283300391&.

Ten Days With My HTC One S

[You can read part one of my article at http://it-is-phil-time.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/one-day-with-htc-one-s.html]

So it has been ten days now with my new HTC One S phone and it’s been, in the most a fun experience. I’m getting my head around my apps and, though I’ve not bought any paid-for apps yet I’ve enjoyed grabbing the Amazon app for quick shopping, including a snazzy bar code reader, a QR-code reader, the great Daft Punk app where you can play along to ‘Harder Better Faster Stronger’ and ‘Technologic’ (though with a little delay before pressing the button) and the IMDB app. I’ve also been looking around for useful recording apps such as RecForge Lite which is a powerful but simple to use .wav recording tool, and even the Comrex Arc app, though it only worked one way when trying it with my local radio station, against the fully working iPhone version.

I’ve also got an app to control the sub.tv system at work and the iPlayer app which works really well but only on wi-fi.

It’s not been all smooth sailing app-wise though. The Virgin Media app, which allows you to set programmes on your player when away from home, only works with their new Tivo box not mine which is a disappointment. Happily I can download the Sky+ one and now cause chaos by setting programmes to record on my parents Sky box, which is funny but not particularly useful. There is even a mock TV remote for my television... well, the model up from mine. It’s often quite frustrating with these compatibility things.

But it’s been fun playing ‘Draw Something’ and ‘Words With Friends’ and though I can’t complain about the choice and ease of use of the Android app store, there are certain things that bug me. I recently purchased a triple play of ‘Johnny English Reborn’ that comes with a digital download element “for your PC or mobile device”. The mobile device element should read “for Apple mobile devices” as the .wmv file doesn’t work on Android phones. Pathetic.

Otherwise I’m really enjoying the phone. I’ve just about got used to the keyboard and the 8mb outer camera takes some really good shots and the ability to upload to Facebook or Twitter is very straight forward.

The one thing I am noticing, though, is the quality of signal. Though I’m on the same network – T-Mobile – as my last phone, I am finding the signal to be less strong in areas than on my previous phone and sometimes connecting to a caller takes five or so seconds, but it’s not been too major a problem at the moment.

The major event I’ve had in the past week is having my Hotmail account hacked into and having to reset it (that’s a different story, but perhaps related to the bug that’s going round) and I’m not sure if it’s coincidence that it happened a few days after I set up push e-mails...

But, overall, a good mobile experience and we’ll see what the next week of smartphone use brings!

[On a side note my mum has now upgraded to a contract and got the Nokia Lumia 710 and though it has a lot of the same abilities as mine its Windows Phone app store is not comparable and the GUI not as fun, but it’s simple to use and powerful, but I think in paying the extra £150 to get a HTC rather than that I made the right decision.]

American Reunion [Review]

I have fond memories of the original American Pie film as a thirteen year old boy, wondering if that was really what college life was going to be like (it wasn’t, it was more evening working, lunchtimes in the Tesco canteen and coursework) and enjoying the moment when, at the end of the school year, our RE teacher asked us to bring videos in to watch and someone brought this in, before it was hastily turned off and we went to do rounders instead. So, when it was announced that the whole cast was reuniting for a third sequel after the various straight-to-DVD releases I knew it was something I’d have to see.

Sadly, like several films recently, lots of the best moments were spoilt by the trailer; when will film makers stop doing this? However, there are still lots of great moments and, aside from a few cringey shoe-horned references to the first film that seem to have only been put in for nostalgia purposes but seem awkward, it’s back to the, erm, quality of the original films. The story revolves around the original gang – Jim, Oz, Kevin and Finch – meeting up a few days ahead of a thirteenth (read it’s too late for a tenth) reunion of the class of ’99. Jim is now a father with Michelle and struggling with balancing the relationship between being a father and a husband (the opening scene hinted in the trailer is a funny opening); Oz a television celebrity with all the trappings that has come with; Kevin a stay-at-home househusband; and Finch a globe-trotting adventurer, or so he says.

But, their meeting is crashed by Steve “Stifmeister” Stifler, still living in the area having never really grown up and thus chaos ensues as the group get themselves into a string of random, awkward and disgusting scenarios, against a backdrop of how their lives have changed from the sexless marriage of Jim and Michelle, to the awkward minor-celebrity lifestyle of Oz, to the realisation of Steve Stifler that he is no longer in high school and should behave accordingly, though this maturing does not last long.

As always with the films it’s the excellent Seann William Scott who steals the film, getting the best lines and set-pieces. Though he appears to have turned into an impression of a young Jim Carrey, it’s Scott that keeps the film together and is the highlight of the piece. Credit should also go to the ever reliable Eugene Levy as Jim’s dad who, though not getting the laughs of previous films, still has his moments and is as awkward as ever, and as the two-hour film nears its conclusion he gets his own key moments and a cracking credits scene.

American Reunion is a worthy addition, and supposed conclusion, to the franchise and, though it fails to have that one key scene that defines the film like, for instance, the superglue and porn tape sequence of American Pie 2, it has its great moments alongside, unusually, its moments of real character building, though they are often overshadowed by naked and sex jokes. Key moments include Steve’s revenge on some contemporary high school kids and an awkward moment between Jim and MILF Guy with a girl passed out in his lap and the ensuing farce that follows.

Mentions should also go to the soundtrack, which includes a great mix of songs from the period and beyond, and to the actors who, though this franchise is mostly what they’re only known for, are willing to give it their all.

American Reunion was never going to be a high-brow comedy or indeed laugh-out loud funny but it is well worth a watch with some great comedic scenes, some great cameos from characters from the first films (and Neil Patrick “I’ll cameo in any film” Harris) and at times some genuine, touching observations on how their lives have changed, and not always for the better. It also has its fair share of fart, nob and sex jokes so you won’t be disappointed in that area, either. Ooh err.

(7/10)

The Avengers Assemble [Review]

Joss Whedon’s super movie finally hit cinema screens this month. Receiving overall positive praise across reviews I was looking forward to see the film that sees Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, The Incredible Hulk, the Black Widow and Hawkeye teaming up under the stewardship of SHIELD’s Nick Fury to do battle with evil God Loki and his army of alien invaders – a sort of cross between the Terminator and Ivan Ooze from Power Rangers – whilst also overcoming their own interpersonal issues.

Having only seen the Hulk and Iron Man films that led into this ensemble piece I was worried that I wouldn’t follow the characters and although the opening is a scattergun of introduction scenes and plot set-up I don’t feel that I missed much in not seeing Captain America and Thor, though there is plenty of hokum, gobbledy-gook and jargon in the first fifteen minutes that could leave you scratching your head. I think I would understand more of the opening with these films under my belt but if you haven’t seen them it’s not a deal breaker.

The premise of the Avengers Assemble (Assemble added so we don’t confuse superheroes in spandex with agents in bowler hats led by Joanna Lumley) is an ambitious one and does require a bit of suspension of belief to get all the characters together. The star of the show is without doubt Robert Downey Jr as Tony Stark / Iron Man who gets lots of the quality one liners and the best of the script, and is to all intents and purposes the main character of this piece. This is really what the lacklustre Iron Man 2 should have been like. Credit also to Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner / The Hulk whose acting style is perhaps not as incredible as everyone seems to be saying (he sounds rather bored in the first half), with him being neither better or worse than the recent two portrayals of the character, but the Hulk makes a big impact, pardon the pun, and comes runner up as the character with the best lines and scenes.

The rest of the cast is rounded up with a mish-mash of superheroes from Marvel’s back catalogue but most are pretty redundant in the scheme of things compared to the might of Iron Man and the Hulk and it feels at times that they’re shoe-horned into the plot to make use of their limited powers. Out of them only Thor really seems useful with the others basically fodder for killing off the minions whilst the others battle the big boys.

The first hour of the Avengers Assemble is very hard work and drags as it flips between storylines and set-pieces. The opening with Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury is a kick-starting opening but it’s Scarlet Johansson as the Black Widow who gets the best opening. Captain America’s de-frosting and the origins of the power source that is central to the plot gets a bit of a muddy explanation and, at least in the screening I went to, the muddiness and blurriness of the darker action scenes was disappointing.

However, from the half-way point as the characters work out their personal issues in a superhero-style soap, the film improves and though the big ending battle is a, admittedly excellent, CGI-fest there is still time for some well-scripted moments and key battle scenes.

I really wanted to enjoy the Avengers. There are lots of good lines in it, especially from Tony Stark, and some very good performances from all the actors including Tom Hiddleston as Loki, and the CGI was, in the most very good, aside from some obvious green-screen scenes near the end. Sadly, though, the film is just missing something that I’ve enjoyed in previous superhero pieces. The mix of superheroes, myth and magic and reality doesn’t quite piece together properly and the film tries to do too much during its running time, though granted this was always going to be a challenge. None of the set pieces are particularly thrilling and it’s mostly just fight scenes with little tension, and a lot of the films big pieces like the battle on the flying craft look like someone carrying the script for Transformers collided with someone reading that of Battleship and ending up mixing up the paperwork in the ensuing flurry of paper. Thank God from Clark Gregg as Agent Coulson who brought some life into the film alongside Downey Jr.

I enjoyed The Avengers Assemble as a popcorn film and its witty lines but the opening hour was too lacklustre for my liking and the end battle not exciting enough to redeem the film. If you want a fun popcorn superhero flick then you’ll enjoy it but it’s certainly no Spider-man 2 or The Dark Knight. There’s only so many times I can see Thor bashing someone with a magical hammer, Hawkeye firing an arrow at someone or Captain America, er, protecting himself with a multi-coloured shield in one film before I get bored.

6/10

One Day with the HTC One S

There comes a time in the life of a mobile phone owner when they have to consider dumping their previous phone for a new model. The last phone I truly owned that was designed to last was the classic Nokia 3330; a phone that, although it had no camera or apps, the internet was built around WAP and the most graphically amazing game was Snake 2, would survive an apocalypse.

Since then I’ve had two Sony Ericsson’s, the first of which stopped reading the memory card so I couldn’t load music or save anything to it, and the second which would switch itself off every time a text message was sent and would refuse two out of three times to pick up calls. These were followed by a Nokia 5800 Express Music which was the most enjoyable of the phones to use but even it succumbed to my bad run of luck and ended up with a cracked LCD screen. I’m not sure how it happened as it went into my pocket fine and came out damaged, but the crack rendered it unusable as the screen began to become a jumbled mess. A £25 screen replacement at Kirkgate Market solved the issue temporarily but even that didn’t work all the time with the screen not working properly early in the morning or late at night... a little bit like me. Not to mention the embarrassing farce I had with it as, open receiving my ‘fixed’ phone I immediately put the memory card back in the wrong slot and got it jammed in thus had to return to the stall with my tail between my legs.

With my phone rapidly becoming as much use as a Mensa application form at a TOWIE recording it was inevitable that I would have to get a new one and dip my toe firmly into the smartphone market. The Nokia 5800 had been pretty useful in that it was a well-rounded phone that took reasonable photos, played music, was competent at Internet surfing and had the ability to download some apps, it couldn’t stand up compared to the new range of phones. The use of Facebook and Twitter was slow and cumbersome; e-mails only accessible through the browser which was ok at viewing but half-hearted with composing and would regularly crash; uploading photos to the net unintuitive. Though it had been a great phone and served me well it wasn’t necessarily built for 2012.

So what phone to go with? There are three major players in the smart phone market: Apple with their iPhone, RIM with their Blackberry and HTC with their Android phones. I’m not a big fan of Apple both ethically and monetarily, feeling their very expensive for what you get and as a company Apple are very locked down and restrictive; I’d been warned off getting a Blackberry by several of my friends, so I was ideally after a HTC on Android as it offered lots of apps through their store and I’d known several friends with one who’d said good things.

Not knowing a huge amount about mobile phones – and indeed whether I was at the end of my contract to upgrade – I headed to the T-Mobile store in York to browse through their selection of phones and to check whether I could upgrade. The good news was that I could – thanks to a quick text of ‘Up’ to 150 on my phone – but the choice wasn’t exactly breathtaking. For a new phone with no extra to pay I was offered a Sony Ericsson phone – after my experience with two of their models I was definitely not willing to go with one of those – or a Motorola. I’ve had no experience with a Motorola and the only person I’d known with one was my auntie, but she revealed through a quick phone call that hers wasn’t a smartphone but what she had used had been reliable. She also said she had a HTC currently which was very good but hungry on the battery. To me, battery life isn’t so much of an issue as I had become used to charging up my power-hungry Nokia each night.

With the choice as murky as ever I asked the sales assistant about the options. To complicate matters my phone is on a contract in my mum’s name as she benefits from a half price deal thanks to a previous employer. Therefore a plan for me to swap to another contract and keep my phone number – essential as my number is known to a lot of people not necessarily in my phone book and the change would be a considerable amount of hassle – and my mum to swap from Pay As You Go to the cheap contract was a no go due to a situation I wasn’t following when they explained it to me never mind repeating it here. Basically I couldn’t swap contract without losing my number and for my mum to get the deal would either have to pay £30 for the privileged or get hold of another SIM card, switch over her details over the phone, then switch it back to T-Mobile. But, crucially, this still wouldn’t solve the problem of my phone number and was either costly or a hassle.

Even the T-Mobile person on the phone was confusing, especially when discussing HTC models 1S and 1X and their differences, when both letters sound incredibly similar over the phone. Nice naming there, HTC.

So basically I was stuck with two choices: relinquish the cheap contract and go over to a more expensive monthly one and get a free phone, or stick with this contract and pay £160 for a new phone. Basically, I worked out, over a year there was little difference but the latter was cheaper in the long term. Though balking at the cost of the handset – my Nokia 5800 was just £30 to buy last time – it was the option I picked and I was handed over a new phone in what was, from this point onward, relatively pain free. Well, aside from the courtesy transfer of contacts from one phone to the other which only transferred over half of them.

So, with my Nokia thrust into a drawer it was time to try the new phone.

The first thing to note is that it’s considerably bigger than a standard mobile phone, which is good news for the touch screen. In compensation it’s much thinner and lighter but less friendly on the pocket just to its size. The screen is bright, the battery life as expected, and the aesthetic feel good. It comes with an 8mb camera and the usual bells and whistles, including the ability to connect to your home wi-fi to save on the phone costs.

The phone helpfully takes you through an intuitive set-up wizard when it’s first turned on. This includes setting the time; letting you log into Facebook, Twitter, Hotmail, Google, Flickr, SkyDrive and lots of other applications so they automatically feed onto the phone; and some more, slightly worrying, Big Brother style sections that track your location.

The HTC 1S itself is, once you get your head around a different phone, is relatively simple to use. The screen unlocks with a quick flick of a ring (steady!) and locks again with a quick button press. The time is displayed in big characters at the top above the weather and at the bottom are the options for phone book, e-mail, main menu, messages and camera. Below that is a back button, home button and application button. Right at the top are a whole range of symbols for new messages, e-mail, wi-fi, signal strength, battery life and, rather redundantly, the time again. In the space, and on other windows found with a flick left or right, can go quick links which were soon filled up with Facebook, Twitter, About UoB, BBC News, RamAir and, er, Draw Something, which I’m ashamed to say was the first thing I downloaded. Fun it is too.

The experience of using the phone is a mixed bag. The phone menu is simple to use and concise and picks up contacts from Hotmail, Facebook and your Sim with photos displayed. Unfortunately the process of removing duplicates is a slow and painful one especially with the list moving back to the top when a duplicate is removed. Also, the screen is a little too sensitive and occasionally led to me accidentally calling a contact rather than editing them. A way of editing contacts via the PC would have been useful. You can also group friends in a variety of ways and set-up quick dials too, both straight forward.

The e-mail screen was the most eye-opening for me with a very intuitive way of doing things with the ability to delete, mark and read e-mails far better than on my previous phone. Sadly switching to the ‘folder’ menu involves a couple of clicks and the keyboard takes some getting used to for larger fingers. Though I’d lost the stylus to my previous phone under a takeaway’s counter a couple of years ago (don’t ask) I miss it when typing as pressing ‘M’ on the keyboard often slips over to the backspace so you can end up losing more than you’ve typed. I imagine it’s something I’ll get used to though.

Messaging does its job and is straight forward and the camera is simple and powerful, and in HD, with a wide variety of flash and image options and, if you really want it, Instagram-style filters.

On the main menu are a variety of useful applications including a flashlight, calculator, sat-nav-style interface for driving and a settings menu, which among other things allowed me to re-import all the contacts from my previous phone more successfully in store. There are, of course, lots of other apps to install and though I’ve only scratched the surface of those available there seems to be plenty and the service simple to use.

Though the phone is powerful and mostly has been fun and easy to set-up there are some weird decisions. The ability to switch to silent or meeting mode is not accessible from the homepage unless, like me, you find the macro button hidden away that can be dragged to the front page. I’d also been spoilt by the music management of the 3DS as a portable music player so the music I transferred over doesn’t group as well as it did on that portable console, ironic really when its music playback is a tertiary function whereas this phone, with its beats audio, is built around it to some respect. That said it’s a problem I can get around and the music sounds great, both through the speaker and headphones, with lots of tweakable options. Also, the ability to switch simply between multiple Facebook accounts like you can with Twitter on that app wouldn’t go a miss. Also, on one phone call, I felt the phone getting rather hot so hope this is a one-off rather than a recurring thing. I don’t want to burn off my ears after all!

So far I’m impressed by the phone. Its handling of e-mails, messages, Facebook and Tweets is great both in the app and on the alert menu and, though it means I’m now never away from my e-mails, it’s much easier to interact with things. The phone is lightweight, portable and the screen is bright. The music sounds great and it’s straight forward to use. The lack of an instruction manual in the box or an obvious way of backing up information from the phone to your PC lets it down but overall, aside from the cost I had to pay to get it, I’m enjoying the phone and adapting to it well.

I’ll let you know a week on from purchase if I’m still feeling as positive then.

The Cabin In The Woods (Movie Review)

Horror films are something that I don’t usually rush to the cinema to see, though it is a genre I’m happy to put over my money for, from the pop end of the market with the Final Destination films, to recent ones such as ‘The Woman In Black’. But there was definitely something in the marketing and the reaction on the internet to the ‘The Cabin In The Woods’ that made we want to see it.

And I’m glad I did as ‘The Cabin In The Woods’ is one of the best concepts in a movie I have ever seen. The film tells the story of five teenagers who head to a, er, cabin in the woods, for a weekend but upon arriving there, in the wake of a warning from the owner of a local deserted petrol station, they find a cellar full of mysterious objects and trinkets that sets in motion a chain of events that sees them being picked up one by one.

So far so cliché you may think, and you’d be right to believe that, as it’s intentional. Though the trailer for the film did give some clues away that this is more than an ordinary horror film don’t worry about the spoilers as the major schtick of the film is revealed in the very first scene but there is much more to come that you won’t know about.

What the trailer doesn’t reveal is possibly the most fun final thirty minutes in a film for a long time. The first forty minutes or so is typical horror movie territory with a handful of jump scares, dark rooms and typical teenage pursuits including drinking, smoking and, er, making out with a stuffed wolf’s head. This first part of the movie does occasionally find itself dragging though it’s punctuated with excellent turns from the cast especially Fran Kranz as a stoner, who has some of the best lines in the film and delivers them flawlessly, and Bradley Whitford, who lights up the screen when he’s on, and with the switching between two different scenarios there’s always something new to keep the film fresh. Matched cuts and juxtaposition are used excellently in the film and one scene set before the bombastic finish will have you smiling.

It’s the finish, though, that makes the film and without giving anything away it’s an excellent balance of tongue in cheek plotting, horror action, top class CGI and an eye for comic timing. ‘The Cabin In The Woods’, throughout its 95-minute run time, manages to balance very effectively its scares, laugh-out-loud moments, “romantic” sections and smile-enducing action scenes without ever seeming like its spreading itself thin. A scene with Bradley Whitford near the end, built up throughout the film, is a great pay-off and if you don’t enjoy the final half an hour with a permanent smile on your face and occasionally a dropped jaw then there’s clearly something wrong with you.

With plenty of twists and turns, mild scares and a plethora of well written and hilarious lines and scenarios, plus perhaps the most depressing end to a film since ‘The Butterfly Effect’, I whole heartedly recommend ‘The Cabin In The Woods’. The first half of the movie may have its moments of cliché and times when you’d like it to move a bit faster, but this is more than made up by the ending.

It was almost enough to give me a husband bulge, to quote the film.

9/10

You can also read Liam's take on the movie at http://cybaria.net/horror-deconstructed/

The Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists! (Review)

Only the fifth feature film from the Aardman stable in twelve years (and only three of those have been claymation) ‘The Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists!’ is adapted from the book of the same name by author Gideon Defoe and is another classic example of a great family film for the Easter period that combines both a funny, well-written and twisty-turny plot and a loving eye for detail and background visual jokes that few other animation companies spend time and effort on.

‘The Pirates!’ tells the story of the Pirate Captain (Hugh Grant) who, alongside his crew, sail the seven seas going about their business in the hope he’ll do enough great piratical deeds to earn the Pirate of the Year trophy. Sadly, in pirate circles, he’s a bit of a loser and thus fails to score any booty and becomes humiliated in front of his more successful peers. That is, until thanks to a chance meeting with travelling scientist Charles Darwin (David Tennant) who discovers his faithful parrot is actually the last living dodo, he heads to London to claim a science prize, lots of booty and the award he so longs for. Sadly it doesn’t quite go that away with Darwin and Queen Victoria (Imelda Staunton) having other plans for the rare bird.

The animation of ‘The Pirates!’ is probably the most ambitious of all the Aardman features so far with lots of love going into each frame. With support from CGI in creating the water, it truly is a beautiful film and the characters animated with much detail. Scenes such as a daring rescue involving a bath-tub and a final showdown on a boat are as thrilling and well choreographed as any action film and running jokes involving Darwin’s revolutionary evolutionary monkey servant and the Pirate Captain attacking ships really make the film.

Voice wise the actors are spot on and each bring a different character to each role with Grant, Tennant, Staunton and many others relishing the role. Charles Darwin in particular is the most interesting of the interpretations, turning the scientist into a depressed loner with a desire to find a girlfriend, leading to many of the jokes of the piece.

Alongside the plot, which is full of twists and turns, exotic locations, and never loses its pace, the film feels much bigger than its 88-minute running time suggests. It also deserves repeat viewing for the amount of background detail and visual jokes, only some of which are covered in the worth-waiting-for credit sequence.

Tightly plotted with throwaway sections early on coming back later with relevance, the period setting of the piece is great but it isn’t afraid to throw in some modern anachronisms to get a laugh, such as the Pirate Captain being street or the name of Victoria’s ship.

It’s perhaps not as laugh out loud funny as the Wallace and Gromit feature or ‘Flushed Away’ but the humour is not to be missed and there are still several belly laugh moments and many jokes that appeal to the adult mind as well as for children. As with any Aardman film there are so many little moments in the film that make you chuckle that it’s difficult to list them all without spoiling the film, but let me just say it’s difficult to watch the film without a constant smile on your face.

The soundtrack is also worth the ticket admittance with a song from Tenpole Tudor sitting beside a ditty from Flight of the Conchords alongside some hilarious sound effects.

My biggest upset with the film is that several of the big jokes were included in the trailer – but this is more of a bugbear with movie trailers in general – but when the alternatives this Easter for a film to see involves a fifteen year re-release of a disaster movie and a kids film that involves kids killing each other, the warmth, hilarity and general time and care that has gone into creating ‘The Pirates!’ makes this a must see film.

(8/10)