"The more I love humanity in general, the less I love man in particular" -Fyodor Dostoevsky

“Is there anybody going to listen to my story?” serenades as the opening line in Across the Universe. It is sung by a voice bearing a striking similarity to Ewan MacGregor’s, especially since MacGregor chants a parallel plea to begin his story in Moulin Rouge - “There was a boy…” If you’ve seen Moulin Rouge, then Across the Universe will be familiar ground. Both are musicals that weave established pop songs into the story (although Across the Universe’s music consists entirely of Beatles’ tracks… Continue

Distortion is the newest concept album created by Stephin Merrett’s main band the Magnetic Fields. Merrett, whose side projects include Future Bible Heroes, the Gothic Archies, the 6ths and a few other solo ventures, never fails to be cynically delightful with his lyrics and melodies. The Magnetic Fields are certainly no strangers to concept albums; previous concept albums include the monumental 69 Love Songs (the concept should be self-explanatory) and i wherein all of the song titles begin wit… Continue

There are those who will “get” Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood and those who won’t. The film is beyond comparison to anything in contemporary cinema and will likely confuse those expecting a formulaic movie experience. There Will Be Blood is more akin to the strict visual representation of a novel - rather than a mere adaptation for screen. Unlike most modern films, there is virtually no dialogue in the first thirty minutes; no heroes per se; no singular narrative pervasive among its… Continue

Modern horror movies often receive the sharp-end of the stick when it comes to criticism and for good reason – 99.9% of them repeat the same, tired formulas and quite frankly, suck. Take for example, last year’s The Messengers, a bargain-bin buy that I’ll feel absolutely no remorse about never watching again. The Messengers, like so many other horror films, employs an absurd set-up (in this case, a family leaving the city to plant a sunflower farm around a haunted-looking house – huh?); followed… Continue