Review - Limitless

To me this seems much more like a Phillip K Dick story than The Adjustment Bureau. A down on his luck writer, played by Brad Cooper, is offered a wonder drug that changes the way he sees the world, and opens a new realm of possibilities for what he is capable of. We already knew Brad Cooper could do the job as a clean cut good looking over achiever, but here he gets the chance to show another side at the start of the movie as a hobo, down and out writer, and he does a great job. Perhaps it's that to me Brad Cooper still isn't too familiar but he really becomes the character in this one.

What I loved about this movie was the great sense of paranoia, fear, danger and confusion that this movie portrayed, all emotions associated with drug use and all quite real for our protagonist here. People are following him, he's having black outs, he's gonna run out of drugs, he owes money to a loan shark, the drug has made his life better but brought it's own set of problems.

I did enjoy the fact that the movie doesn't get preachy or carry some sort of anti-drug message, but at the same time it is also held back from greatness by the fact it doesn't really explore any of these issues such as is it right to take drugs to improve performance or open our minds, and it doesn't go into greater detail about how many people around the world are and have been using this drug, and how many world changing events have been shaped by this drug, since it becomes clear there are many people using it. In this sense they could have made it far more sci-fi and turned it into a bit of an epic. Instead this is purely a story about one man, and even then we don't really get to understand him all that much.

It's a well done movie, and a good story told well, but it's limited scope keeps it from greatness. Still, it's worth watching.

Review - The Mechanic

Rejoice! Jason Statham is back doing what he does best. Killing people, getting laid and being an all around bad ass. This isn't his finest hour, but the over the top violence almost makes up for it. Mechanic is a code word for hitman, and Statham is the best. Trouble is his next job is to kill him life long mentor, the wheelchair bound Donald Sutherland. The agency he works for has told him to do it, that Sutherland is a mole and must be killed. And the job is done. After this, Statham runs into his now dead mentor's grieving son, takes him under his wing, and teaches him the art of killing. From here on in Ben Foster pretty much takes over the lead role, and he does a really good job. He's a pretty damn good actor, and can do the bad ass role pretty well too. 

The story is pretty shallow, and light on twists and turns, but as I said earlier, the violence is used to cover this up. And it mostly works. This won't go down as a cult classic like Crank, but it's an easy way to spend 90mins, as long as you don't expect too much, and are a Statham fan. 

Soundwave Festival 2011 - Melbourne, Australia

This year I travelled to Melbourne for the 2011 Soundwave festival. There was such a great lineup this year, however the way they organised the timetable meant there were some tough decisions to be made on which band to see for many people. Me, I was there for Slayer and Iron Maiden, and anything else was a bonus.

It was a cold dark day in Melbourne, a stark difference to the searing hot temperatures we usually get in Perth for Soundwave. After finally getting in, getting drink vouchers, and smashing a few cans of Beam and Cola, I made my way down to see The Sword. I’m a big fan of their first album, not as much their later stuff, but they played a great set, including Winter’s Wolves so I was happy. Their sound wasn't as "doomy" as I hoped though.

After that it was a rush to the main stage for Monster Magnet. A band I’ve loved for a long time, I was extremely happy to see they were playing. They didn’t pull a huge crowd but they delivered a good set, all the classics, nice and crunchy guitar sound. The singer is looking a bit pudgy these days, but his voice is still great.

Then it was time for more drinks.  After that it was back to the metal stage for Dimmu Borgir. It started to rain and they were a good 30mins late to come out. When they did, they were excellent. They ripped through Mourning Palace at the end, but 3 or 4 songs was quite a disappointment. They did promise to return for a headlining tour, but not until next year. After them was High on Fire on the stage next door, another of my favourite bands. They were great. No frills, just loud and fast and Matt Pike's voice in great form. 

Back to the bar for more drinks and then getting ready for Slayer. 

I worked my way through the crowd toward the front in anticipation of Slayer, while Ill Nino played on the stage next door. A massive wall of Marshall amps is what awaited us on the empty stage. Ill Nino were going over their allotted time and the Slayer crowd was getting restless. They started booing Ill Nino, which pissed the singer off. He gave the Slayer crowd the middle finger and kept playing.

When they finally finished, and Slayer appeared on stage, there was a massive crush which shunted me right toward the front of the stage and a mad pit ensued. 5 minutes into War Ensemble and I had lost my shoe and saw it thrown on stage. Another 5 minutes and a crowd surfer kicked me in the head and I watched my sunglasses go flying too. This was a violent pit, I was loving it.

Slayer were awesome! Mandatory Suicide, Reign in Blood, Black Magic! And they finished with Angel of Death which was absolutely bonecrushing. I was bruised, battered, and walked away with a huge grin on my face!

And finally, it was time for the headliners, Iron Maiden. I love these guys. They're the nicest band you will ever see, and they always deliver and give their best for every show. They played a few new songs which I have to confess I wasn't familiar with, I've neglected their last couple of releases but the songs were instantly catchy and I'll be definitely checking out their new stuff very soon. As for the classics, every single one was perfect and a dream come true to see live. 2 Minutes to Midnight, The Evil That Men Do, Fear of the Dark, Number of the Beast, The Trooper, so so good. Of course with only a 2hr set they missed a few classics like Aces High but it was such an incredible show and what a way to end an awesome Soundwave. Can't wait for next year!