All reviews - Movies (43) - TV Shows (14) - DVDs (11) - Books (20) - Music (30) - Games (15)

Engrossing historical thriller

Posted : 5 hours, 15 minutes ago on 7 August 2008 01:19 (A review of Labyrinth)

An engrossing thriller that consists of two tales - one set in modern day France and one in medieval France. The two female protagonists seem to share a spiritual connection of some kind.. The story is basically another one about the search for the mythical holy grail of Christianity and as just that is not an extraordinary one. The real worth of this book lies in it's development of the two female characters and it's tight interweaving with the history of the region it is set in (southern France, primarily Carcassonne.)

The main historical events are the religious persecution of the Cathar sect that flourished in southern France by the Roman Catholic Church that called for a crusade to wipe out what it considered as heresy. This eventually led to the destruction of the distinct culture that prevailed in southern France till that time. Kate Mosse clearly loves the region and it's history, and it shows. Her enthusiasm for the region is contagious. Her plotting for the medieval story is excellent and well researched. However, she only does a mediocre job with the modern storyline but it's not a fatal flaw. The quest for the Grail also feels secondary to the adventure in the plot, which feels like a good thing once you're done. I love books that respect the history they are trying to write about and this one succeeds admirably and that for me is the biggest selling point, the other being the two strong female characters.

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Intimate little gem

Posted : 2 days, 8 hours ago on 5 August 2008 10:22 (A review of Once)

Watching the 'guy' and the 'girl' fall in love on screen was like taking a peek into the lives of two everyday people you meet on the street. They could be the couple walking by holding hands or the two people smiling just for each other, oblivious to the rest of the world. The movie was so wonderfully intimate, so natural were the performances that you can forget that they were acting.

I've already mentioned the incredibly natural performances. Now I must mention the excellent music as well as the performance of it. The music is so incredibly expressive and I was completely taken in. The movie is described by some people as a 'contemporary musical'. 'Contemporary musical' or not, this movie is a treat reminiscent of 'Before Sunrise' and 'Before Sunset'. It has the same raw and natural quality which was especially prevalent in the latter movie and very little in common with the average artificial and bland musical. Unarguably, an intimate little gem.

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Sarah McLachlan's High Point

Posted : 2 weeks, 1 day ago on 23 July 2008 03:43 (A review of Mirrorball: The Complete Concert (2 CD's))

This concert captures Sarah McLachlan at her best, after the massive success of 'Surfacing'. She was at a commercial high point though creatively she might have arguably passed her peak. The material is almost exclusively from her three best albums, the aforementioned 'Surfacing' along with 'Solace' and 'Fumbling Towards Ecstasy'. The sheer number of songs ensures that almost all her best songs find a place here. The only obvious exclusion is 'Drawn to the Rhythm' from 'Solace', which is one of my favourite Sarah McLachlan songs.

Sarah is always a great live performer, based on the handful of live recordings I have heard (I wish she would tour again, I'm dying to see her live). She sounds great here and is well backed by an excellent band. Some of the songs really shine in a full band setting. One that comes to mind is 'I Will Not Forget You' from 'Solace'. It has a sparse arrangement on the album and the full band arrangement really brings out a new dimension to the song.

This really is the full concert and contains all the banter in-between the songs. Sarah has a understated but charming personality, much like the character of her music. I enjoyed listening to the whole concert, the songs and everything between the songs too. Any fan of Sarah's would definitely enjoy it too.

This album (not the single CD release) should be in the library of every Sarah McLachlan fan. It showcases Sarah in the best light and her fans will enjoy it without hesitation.

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Solace review

Posted : 2 weeks, 1 day ago on 22 July 2008 11:06 (A review of Solace)

This album is the first in a trilogy of great albums Sarah McLachlan's produced in 90s. It starts with a 1-2-3-4 knockout combo with 'Drawn to the Rhythm', 'Into the Fire', 'The Path of Thorns (Terms)' and 'I Will Not Forget You'. The rest isn't so bad either.

Sarah McLachlan's second album has both her beautiful voice and versatile songwriting on display. To back it up, the music is fresh and varied. From the folk influenced opening track to the beautifully constructed ballad 'I Will Not Forget You', the album is full of great arrangements. All of these elements would be on full display in her next album ('Fumbling Towards Ecstasy') as well. That may be her best album so far, but this album is very close. The only thing that is falls behind on is consistency as it has one or two weak moments.

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Surfacing review

Posted : 2 weeks, 2 days ago on 22 July 2008 11:18 (A review of Surfacing)

'Angel' was the first song I heard by Sarah McLachlan. It wasn't even from a CD of this album, but from the soundtrack for 'City of Angels' and that song will always have a special place among all her songs for me. Sarah McLachlan was reaching the heights of her popularity with the release of this album. At just ten tracks long, it's a short album compared to her earlier releases and not nearly as consistent an album as 'Fumbling Towards Ecstasy'. It does contain some of her best songs to date.

The highlight, both lyrically and musically, is the opening song, 'Building a Mystery'. Brilliant lyrics and alt rock inspired music that complements her voice make this a winner. She follows it up with 'I Love You', a lovely slow ballad with an atmospheric musical arrangement. The album has several more good songs, including the aforementioned 'Angel' almost at the very end.

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Not her best album, but pretty good.

Posted : 2 weeks, 3 days ago on 21 July 2008 01:07 (A review of Afterglow)

Sarah McLachlan's best work came in the mid 90s with 'Fumbling Towards Ecstasy' and 'Surfacing'. She wrote great songs and she still does. There are some excellent songs on this album, most notably 'Fallen', 'Train Wreck' and 'World on Fire'. Her angst is still intact and her vocals are beautiful and emotional.

Her music, however, seems to have slipped into a comfortable rut in this album. There's very little (or absolutely nothing) of the folk rock influences or atmospheric arrangements of her earlier work. She had started down this path in 'Surfacing', but that album had enough highlights to balance. I read somewhere that she composed all the songs on a piano for the first time, instead of her guitar. Maybe she should go back to the guitar and regain some her rock groove rather than slide further into this comfortable rut, which will eventually lead to a completely boring album.



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Fumbling Towards Ecstasy review

Posted : 2 weeks, 4 days ago on 19 July 2008 11:30 (A review of Fumbling Towards Ecstasy)

Sarah McLachlan produced her finest, most consistent album very early on in her career. She has a well developed sound that allows her lovely vocals to shine on every sound. She has rarely deviated from this formula in the rest of her career, only added some studio magic to the mix.

The songs on this album are gems, starting with the instantly attention grabbing 'Possession'. The album keeps sailing along on good songs, right to the very end. 'Fear', the second to last track in the original US release, is one of the best songs on the album. Such consistency, with both more up-tempo songs as well as her sparse ballads, was not to be found in any subsequent album she produced.

No review is complete without a glowing tribute to her beautiful voice, delicate and expressive as it is. She's not prone to diva-esque flourishes but rather imbues each song with the perfect range of emotion it needs.

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The Dark Knight review

Posted : 2 weeks, 5 days ago on 18 July 2008 11:40 (A review of The Dark Knight)

Any words I try to put down will sound banal. Just a few thoughts then:

1) Set up for a third movie.
2) My favourite Star Wars movie is Empire.
3) Heath Ledger, I mourn you today. You were one awesome f**king actor.
4) How did the studio let this movie get made?

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Where The Light Is: John Mayer Live In Los Angeles review

Posted : 3 weeks, 1 day ago on 16 July 2008 02:28 (A review of Where The Light Is: John Mayer Live In Los Angeles)

It's amazing how an artist can sound so much better live than he does in the studio. I've heard two studio albums by John Mayer, the first being pretty mediocre pop and the second being pretty good pop, occasionally blues inspired. However, it is his two live albums that I think are really outstanding, this one and 2005's 'Try' with what he calls 'The John Mayer Trio'.

John Mayer is a very good songwriter but his albums frequently lose their way in some mediocre music. Somehow, that flaw is vastly mitigated in his live performances. In this concert, he plays three distinct sets - an acoustic set, an electric blues set with the rest of the 'Trio' and a third and final set with the band.

The first set is amazing, it's direct and uncluttered and he sounds good, really good. The second set is amazing as well and he demonstrates what a skillful blues guitarist he is. He is good enough to be invited to Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar festival. The songs are mostly from 'Try' which isn't a bad thing at all.

The third set sees him returning to a more conventional setting, with a band, and playing his more popular songs. He sounds much better than he does on his albums. There is a slight raw edge to his music, naturally imparted by playing live. The overly processed feel of his albums is gone and this allows his songwriting to shine. As I said before, he writes good stuff, and now it has an excellent setting too.

The DVD is a better buy than the CD if you have a 5.1 sound system and it's nice to see how diverse the three sets really are visually as well as musically.

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Almost perfect

Posted : 3 weeks, 3 days ago on 14 July 2008 06:16 (A review of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock)

I haven't played any guitar hero game before this one and I went in expecting a lot. I wasn't disappointed by the game - to a point. The gameplay is easy to pick up and it is consistently fun. Ultimately, the game lives and dies by the music selection. For me, at least, this is where it falls short of perfection. I like most of the songs available but not all of them. Obviously, your mileage may vary. Despite that, it is lots of fun to play and unique in my game collection (till I grab Rock Band).

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