a warped view

"Now Muscle Shoals has got the Swampers  And they've been known to pick a song or two  Lord they get me off so much  They pick me up when I'm feeling blue  Now how about you?" - Lynyrd Skynyrd Chances are you've never heard of Muscle Shoals, Alabama. It is highly likely however, that you've heard  of Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding, Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, and the Rolling Stones. All of these artists, and many, many others, recorded some of their most popular, successful and groundbreaking songs and albums at both Fame Studios and Muscle Shoals Sound Studios in Muscle Shoals. This beautifully shot documentary, named after the town, takes viewers on a journey through history, introducing us to the key players and a supporting cast of famous faces.  Utilising, interviews, archive footage, photos, sound clips and some of the greatest music ever recorded, Muscle Shoals introduces us to the men who made ...

I know Rev is already over but I didn't get a chance to post this from youtube on to the blog so I'm doing it now.

I totally forgot to post this to the blog yesterday! I've been a bit sleepy the last few nights!

The films we saw today. I was a bit tired and forgetful so I didn't do my recommendations for Monday. There's actually only 5 sessions on Monday and I recommend each and everyone one of them! There's Last Days of the Arctic, Paul Williams, the Color Wheel, the first Crispin Glover Session and Love. If you want to see any of the movies we saw today they are on again on the following days; the Way of the Morris is on Friday at 5pm, Bad Brains is on next Sunday at 8:45pm and Whisperer in the Darkness is on Thursday at 5pm.

I am heartbroken... I feel like the little kid who finds out that Santa was just her dad in a costume with a pillow up his shirt. I LOVE and adore Kevin Smith and his movies. I am an unrepentant fan girl. I have seen every movie he has made multiple times (well except Cop Out but I made it ALL the way through the one time so that's gotta count for something). I quote characters from the View Askewniverse and worship Jason Mewes and his character Jay. I watch videos of Kevin on youtube, I own his book and I have two signed Silent Bob inaction figures. I have even watched the commentary on all the Jersey films! I EVEN LIKED JERSEY GIRL! So you can imagine my excitement when I heard that Kevin Smith was making a horror movie (Red State). I read every article I could about it, I checked out the cast, watched other movies they'd been in while I waited for Red State to be made. I was dying to see this amazing new movie, one of my favourite movie makers doing a movie in one of my ...

On Wednesday we were lucky enough to attend a preview screening of Paranormal Activity 3. I had originally been skeptical of this movie franchise, being under the false impression that it was Blair Witch without the woods. We resisted seeing the first one for quite a while until one night there was nothing else to watch. I was pleasantly surprised. Here was a good old fashioned scary movie. One that didn't rely on blood and gore but instead used mood, sound and old fashioned bump in the night stuff. Number 2 was the same and luckily number 3 has stuck to the same formula. If you don't know the premise behind the franchise you should still enjoy this movie. Despite the fact that it is number three and yet all the events take place before the first and second one, the stories are linked but not so intrinsically that you won't understand what is going on. I should point out that I am not really someone who is scared by horror films. My friends and I watched my first horror...

Wow! Just wow! This is one of the most amazing pieces of cinema I have seen. Tyrannosaur is Paddy Considine directorial debut and I really hope the first of many outstanding films from this actor-turned-director. Dealing with subject matter that is uncomfortable and cringe inducing it takes a very human story and makes it something that is beautiful to behold. At times this film was so hard to watch and I can't count the number of times my hand flew to my mouth to stifle a gasp. Despite the brutality of the subject matter the two leads managed to portray two beautifully fragile human beings who the audience could really care about and the interactions between them while being so real managed to avoid the ridiculous stereotypes we often see in these types of films. This film made me cry, made my heart break and then filled it back up again with hope. It made me so pleased that there are people in the world brave enough to tell stories that don't have happy endings where ev...

As a fan of the movies adapted from the writing of Philip K Dick I was very excited to see this adaptation of the story of the same name. Dealing with dream visions, messages from beyond, communists, social control, oppression of civil rights, aliens and lasers it is Dick's most autobiographical novel. The story and film both feature a character named after Dick and several plot elements based on actual events from his life. The film contains several familiar faces, though none of them as well known as god herself, Alanis Morrisette (a personal favourite). The ensemble cast performed well, creating likable (or unlikeable if necessary)characters that were easy to become involved with. I was invested in the story and the fates of each player, hoping for the best. There were times the story moved slowly, where perhaps the director could have been a bit more ruthless with the editing (the lack of ruthlessness may be because the director was also the writer of the screenplay). The pac...

Last night we saw the movie Fire in Babylon. The synopsis states it's a 2010 documentary film about the record-breaking West Indies cricket team of the 1970s and 1980. Now if you are anything like me you are probably already starting to tune out. Cricket?! Pfft! How could that possibly be an interesting movie? Well let me tell you right now that this movie is better than you could possibly imagine! Starting around the late 60's and early 70's and filled with stock footage and interviews with players, academics, and people of cultural significance in the West Indies it is an inspiring, uplifting, sometimes confrontational, sometimes hilarious look at how the rise to success of one group of men lifted an entire people up above the oppression, racism and helplessness they'd endured for over 300 years. The movie talks about the 1975 test series when Australia massacred the West Indies, embarrassing them internationally and cementing the label of Calypso Cricketers. It a...