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  • Magic Mike: Movie Review

    Magic Mike: Movie Review

    MagicMikeMagic Mike gives director, Steven Soderberg a chance to redeem himself. After directing the decent Contagion, he came along with Haywire. Yes, it was partly shot here in Dublin but that didn’t help how not great it was.

    But something must have worked as Soderberg teams up with Tatum Channing again for Magic Mike. Channing plays Mike, ‘an entrepreneur’, construction worker by day, who dreams of having his own custom furniture business. Along comes Adam (Alex Pettyfer) to work on the construction site with Mike and manages to last one day. Adam sees Mike out on the town and no money to get into the club, asks Mike to get him in. In return, Adam just has to chat up two girls. This is where we find out that, by night, Mike’s a stripper or should I say, part of a Male Erotic dance troupe? Either way, he takes off his clothes.

    Thus begins the journey where Mike introduces Adam to the stripper lifestyle while Matthew McConaughey (Dallas), introduces him to the stripper moves. It’s not all fun and games though as Adam’s sister Brooke (Cody Horn), quite rightly expresses her concerns as to what this decadent lifestyle is doing to her brother.

    The story of Mike, is one of coming of age, OK, slightly older than most but this is an undercurrent that runs throughout the stripping and dance routines. Ah yes, the dance routines and the stripping. On stage, you’ll probably see the six of the hottest male bodies that Hollywood has to offer right now. Throughout the film, we’re treated to both group and solo dance routines. These are totally over the top, entertaining and very funny. One thing that stood out for me, Tatum Channing can dance!!

    Running at 110 minutes, this film could be fifteen minutes shorter, it meanders a tad but it captures a vital thing. Girls want to get with them, guys want to be them (Yes, you do! You want that attention) Couple all this with a great soundtrack and you’ve got one of the most entertaining films so far this year.

    Worth it!

    Magic Mike is in cinemas across Ireland from July 11th

  • Freshly Squeezed Film Festival: Review

    Freshly Squeezed Film Festival: Review

    I managed to get into the Screen Cinema on Saturday for some of the Freshly Squeezed Film Festival, which gives Student film makers a chance to showcase their work. I arrived as the Experimental Screenings were getting underway.

    I was extremely impressed by the both the cinematography and sound design in Oppenheimer, Davide Pochinu Carta’s film which he directed, wrote, edited and was also sound designer. Big task and a job really well done in the Sydney Film School.

    Looking at the credits in some of the films, the crews varied in size, from the modest to outright feature film standards. It was also quite eye opening to see how film is approached in different countries and how each interpret different genres.

    The comedy/fantasy section was interesting, for me, Red Point, Tomatina Origins being the standout. Directed by Dario J. Ferrer, the short film seemed to have defintely been influenced by how Jean-Pierre Jeunet approached Amelie. This could easily to turned into a longer piece.

    I also really enjoyed Matthew Nesbeth’s New with Tags. Matthew is attending the University of the West of England. In this piece our main character is, kinda fighting with himself, his ghosts and his past. I love how Matthew demonstrated this, really good.

    There were also a few little chats with people from the biz, Peter Robertson, Cinematographer extraordinaire , Producer Edwina Forkin and writer, producer and director Brendan Culleton. They gave some great feedback on what they actually do, in their day to day jobs and a few tips on how to get into the biz.

    It was great day and a lovely opportunity to meet like minded individuals, chat about film making and get a buzz about film making. A great healthy environment to be in. Well done to the Festival committee, looking forward to Freshly Squeezed Film Festival 2013.

    (Sunday Jul 8 – 15.04 The Film festival is running until tonight, check out what’s still to happen in the programme)

  • Tune of the Week 06/07/2012: George Michael – White Light

    Tune of the Week 06/07/2012: George Michael – White Light

    whitelightLast week George Michael unveiled his new single ‘White Light’ to the world on the thirtieth anniversary of ‘Wham Rap’ hitting the charts. This time last week, I was contemplating writing about Wham! and George and the musical influence on me (and posting a few pics with my entire GM collection). After hearing ‘White Light’ though, I didn’t not to on this occasion. There was something deeper to this.

    Since George released the cover of ‘True Faith’ for Comic Relief, he has been using a vocoder effect on his vocals which he uses again on the backing vocals on ‘White Light’. The tune itself is a grower and sonically does seem understated at times but I really love the dischord between George’s vocals and the backing track.

    That’s what I thought, musically, of the track until I heard the Kinky Rowland remix last night which was premiered on Phil Marriott‘s show on Gaydar Radio. This is an awesome dance mix and could easily, in my humble opinion, be one of the big club tunes of the year.

    I’m not sure though that ‘White Light’ can be looked at or compared to other music George has released. This track is about George’s illness last December, he suffered from severe pneumonia and had to undergo a tracheotomy to keep him breathing.

    On September 30th 2000, I got caught in a house fire. I was lucky, I miraclously woke up and crawled out of the building. Along the way, scorching my lungs and my vocal chords and (not for the faint hearted) burned the entire side of my hand on a hot fire extinguisher. That’s why ‘White Light’ is a special song. I, too, was in intensive care. My throat swelled up as did my vocal chords, making it extremely hard to breathe. So much so that the nice doctors were going to knock me out and put me on a respirator until they could stabilise my condition. The didn’t even know if I would live, such was the severity of the reaction I had taken to the smoke inhalation.

    Listening to the lyrics of ‘White Light’ brings back so many memories of that time. Being musically inclined, I’ve always attached lyrics to situations, this one had two, which I would run through my head (cos I couldn’t speak). The first was Garbage and the line ‘The trick is to keep breathing’. The second came from the first song that was on the radio when I got out of Intensive Care. It was Sonique and the song was called ‘Sky’ and the first lines of the song. ‘Look at me, it really was not easy, but I can breath.’ Corny? Probably but it gets you through and that’s exactly what ‘White Light’ is about. The thing that keeps you going. That’s why ‘White Light’ is this week’s Tune of the Week. It will be released in August.

    Original Mix:

  • Culture Cafe on RTE 2XM Show 50 Podcast and Playlist: 04/07/2012

    Culture Cafe on RTE 2XM Show 50 Podcast and Playlist: 04/07/2012

    Culture Cafe 50

    Fifty weeks of Culture Cafe! Thanks to my guests, really enjoyed chatting with you all.

    1. DJ Flip & Freezemaster Slick: Crossroads
    2. Of Monsters and Men: Little Talks
    3. Bombay Bicycle Club: Beg
    4. Chat with Piret Saar, Festival Organizer of Freshly Squeezed Film Festival
    5. Sound of Guns: Antartica
    6. Battleships: Your Words
    7. The Flaws: Let’s Fight
    8. Chat with Amy Stevenson, Electric Picnic Artists ReInvent The Wheel
    9. Elevens: New Beginnings
    10. Ben Howard: Old Pine
    11. Chat with Paul McKay of GiftedLive.com
    12. The Answer: Rise

    Thanks for listening!