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 ...

It's always so hard to pick just a handful of films from the Revelation Perth International Film Festival (or Rev as it's affectionately known) lineup to recommend. When people ask me what they should see my answer is usually "ALL THE THINGS!". But I'm going to do my darnedest to pick out the best of the best. I'm going to split it into three different categories, my top 5 features, my top 5 documentaries and my overall top 5. Anything that makes it into the overall top 5 won't be included in the other two because that would be silly. Top 5 Features White Reindeer A Field in England Gimme the Loot Cheap Thrills A Monster in Paris (A kids movie and showing in 3D!) Check out the trailer for the not-your-average-Christmas-movie White Reindeer here Top 5 Documentaries Burn The Act of Killing  Fierce Green Fire Sunset Strip Hunter The trailer for The Act of Killing is here . It's chilling stuff. and now, DRUMROLL... Top 5...

Its nearly that time of the year again. Its Perth, its winter, its almost July and that can only mean one thing... Its nearly time for the Revelation Perth International Film Festival ! For those of you who don't know, this is one of my favourite things ever! As someone who adores film Rev gives me (and all of you Perthians) the chance to see amazing films we would most likely never get the opportunity to see anywhere else. Rev has moved to a new home this year, with the bulk of the action taking place at Luna in Leederville and additional screenings and events happening at Paradiso, Luna on SX and at other venues around Leederville and Fremantle. While it sad to leave the Astor, the new home base in Leederville opens the door for lots of new and exciting happenings (and a whole new collection of places to eat during the festival, YAY!) The last few years I have blogged about Rev and this year I will have heaps of reviews, recommendations, suggestions and maybe a few surpr...

Last week I was lucky enough to see preview screenings of both Django Unchained and Lincoln. Both films deal with similar subject matters (slavery, racism, civil rights etc etc) and are set only 6ish years apart. Of course being that one is Tarantino and one is Spielberg they were always going to be vastly different films. I've always been a big Tarantino fan so I was excited for Django for months before seeing it. With Lincoln however I was definitely undecided and if I hadn't received free tickets I may not have paid to see it in the cinema. Surprisingly, while I very much enjoyed Django it was less than I'd hoped and despite my hesitation, Lincoln was more. I'm probably more of an old school Tarantino fan, the pre Kill Bill stuff is my favourite. I enjoyed Inglorious Basterds, it had some absolutely divine moments but it wasn't Reservoir Dogs and it wasn't Pulp Fiction and Django is very much the same. Maybe I'm just being too hipster about the whole th...