Music review: The Beatles: Please Please Me (1/9/16)
I recently started listening to the 12 "core" albums of The Beatles again, and now I remember why I love this group so much. As such, I'll give my brief thoughts on each of these 12 "core" albums.
First up is Please Please Me, released in 1963. Though the songs here may sound very basic compared to what they'd create later on, there's just a sense of energy and sheer fun listening to this album. The Fab Four originally recorded this in one day, completely high on creativity, and you can just feel it when you listen to this album.
Best song of the album: Hard to say, as there are so many good tracks.
I'd put it as a 4-way tie between "I Saw Her Standing There", "Boys",
"Please Please Me", and "Twist & Shout".
Worst song of the album: I don't find any of them bad, but I'm rather indifferent towards "A Taste of Honey" and "There's a Place".
Worst song of the album: I don't find any of them bad, but I'm rather indifferent towards "A Taste of Honey" and "There's a Place".
Movie review: The Peanuts Movie (1/10/16)
A very enjoyable movie that captures the feel and essence of the Peanuts while taking advantage of a rather unique style of mixing 2D hand drawn animation and 3D CGI. Its story is very simplistic, but then that is what Peanuts is best known for. All the characters you know and love are there, there's a lot of very heartwarming moments with Charlie Brown, and is a great introduction for the newcomers who've only heard of these characters, and a delectable treat for the vets who've read and seen everything that's come before.
I'm also just happy that we've gotten yet another adaptation done right, after the horrible Dr. Seuss movies, Smurfs, and Alvin & the Chipmunks movies. I highly recommend seeing it over this weekend if you're already sick of Star Wars.
Music Review: The Beatles: With the Beatles (1/10/16)
Released also in 1963, With the Beatles is very reminiscent of Please Please Me in a lot of elements, from the simplistic yet charming original compositions, self-identifiable cover songs, to the domination of the theme of "love" throughout the album.
Please Please Me & With the Beatles seem to be a great representation of the band's early days and the beginnings of the Beatlemania period. The mixture of raw youthful energy, simplistic charm, and unaltered sound is perfect for your nostalgic dance party and reminiscing of early 1960's rock.
Best: It Won't Be Long, All My Loving, Till There Was You, Please Mister Postman, Money
Worst: Again, none are particular bad, but I'm indifferent to Little Child, You Really Got a Hold on Me and I Wanna Be Your Man
Music Review: The Beatles: A Hard Day's Night (1/16/16)
Released in 1964, I see A Hard Day's Night as one of the best albums of the entire Beatles discography. Consisting of completely original songs & no covers, an iconic opening guitar chord, produced at the zenith of worldwide Beatlemania, and made in conjunction with the titular movie, there is almost nothing wrong with A Hard Day's Night...
...well, except for a lack of Ringo singing, which is a bit of a shame since he's my personal favorite Beatle for childhood reasons.
Best songs: A Hard Day's Night, I Should Have Known Better, And I Love Her, Can't Buy Me Love, Things We Said Today, You Can't Do That, I'll Be Back
Worst: Again, none are particular bad, but I'm indifferent to Little Child, You Really Got a Hold on Me and I Wanna Be Your Man
Music Review: The Beatles: A Hard Day's Night (1/16/16)
Released in 1964, I see A Hard Day's Night as one of the best albums of the entire Beatles discography. Consisting of completely original songs & no covers, an iconic opening guitar chord, produced at the zenith of worldwide Beatlemania, and made in conjunction with the titular movie, there is almost nothing wrong with A Hard Day's Night...
...well, except for a lack of Ringo singing, which is a bit of a shame since he's my personal favorite Beatle for childhood reasons.
Best songs: A Hard Day's Night, I Should Have Known Better, And I Love Her, Can't Buy Me Love, Things We Said Today, You Can't Do That, I'll Be Back
The rest of the songs I didn't mention aren't bad, but I just like them
less. In comparison to the previous two albums, there aren't any that
I'm indifferent towards, which is a testament to its creativity.
Music Review: The Beatles: Beatles for Sale (1/17/16)
"The weary faces on the cover of the next British LP, Beatles for Sale, showed that Beatlemania was taking its toll".
-Malcolm McDowell, The Compleat Beatles, 1982
Comparing this to A Hard Day's Night is like comparing night and day. Whereas A Hard Day's Night was all original songs, Beatles for Sale went back to having cover songs. While there was a sense of youthful optimism in A Hard Day's Night, cynicism and pessimism seemingly dominated Beatles for Sale.
Music Review: The Beatles: Beatles for Sale (1/17/16)
"The weary faces on the cover of the next British LP, Beatles for Sale, showed that Beatlemania was taking its toll".
-Malcolm McDowell, The Compleat Beatles, 1982
Comparing this to A Hard Day's Night is like comparing night and day. Whereas A Hard Day's Night was all original songs, Beatles for Sale went back to having cover songs. While there was a sense of youthful optimism in A Hard Day's Night, cynicism and pessimism seemingly dominated Beatles for Sale.
This
is an uneven album for me, and its one of the few albums of the
discography where I outright just skip songs. The original material and
the covers have their share of good songs, while others are
just...there. Despite this, the album is a continuing sign of the
Beatles' maturing creativity. They are slowly moving away from the
fresh-faced mop top era of Beatlemania and beginning the transition into
the mid-era of the band's creative history.
Best songs: No Reply, I'm a Loser, Baby's in Black, Rock and Roll Music, I'll Follow the Sun, Mr. Moonlight, Eight Days a Week
Worst songs: Whenever I listen to the album, I just outright skip Kansas City, Words of Love, Honey Don't, Every Little Thing, What You're Doing, and Everbody's Trying to Be My Baby
Music Review: The Beatles: Help! (1/24/16)
Much like Beatles for Sale, I tend to skip songs in this 5th entry in the Beatles Album Canon. Out of all their albums, this is probably the one I'm least familiar with, and I think it's mostly because this album contains three of the major iconic Beatles songs. They kinda overshadow almost everything else in the album.
Help! is probably my least favorite of the "core" discography. It just feels like a "filler" album compared to what'll be coming from the future. Heck, that's probably the best way to sum up Beatles for Sale and Help!: Filler. Has some good material in there, but is ultimately not anything special compared to what has come before...and what will be coming in the future. The maturation of the Fab Four's creative abilities continues, and will truly manifest in the next album, the one that marks the end of the Beatlemania era and marks the beginning of a new phase of the Beatles.
Best songs: No Reply, I'm a Loser, Baby's in Black, Rock and Roll Music, I'll Follow the Sun, Mr. Moonlight, Eight Days a Week
Worst songs: Whenever I listen to the album, I just outright skip Kansas City, Words of Love, Honey Don't, Every Little Thing, What You're Doing, and Everbody's Trying to Be My Baby
Music Review: The Beatles: Help! (1/24/16)
Much like Beatles for Sale, I tend to skip songs in this 5th entry in the Beatles Album Canon. Out of all their albums, this is probably the one I'm least familiar with, and I think it's mostly because this album contains three of the major iconic Beatles songs. They kinda overshadow almost everything else in the album.
Help! is probably my least favorite of the "core" discography. It just feels like a "filler" album compared to what'll be coming from the future. Heck, that's probably the best way to sum up Beatles for Sale and Help!: Filler. Has some good material in there, but is ultimately not anything special compared to what has come before...and what will be coming in the future. The maturation of the Fab Four's creative abilities continues, and will truly manifest in the next album, the one that marks the end of the Beatlemania era and marks the beginning of a new phase of the Beatles.
Best songs: Help!, Ticket to Ride, Yesterday
Worst songs: Another Girl, Act Naturally, Dizzy Miss Lizzy
Music Review: The Beatles: Past Masters I (1/25/16)
In-between the releases of "Please Please Me" to "Help!", there were the singles that weren't included on any albums. These singles from 1963-early 1965 would be complied into "Past Masters I", and are just as important as the core albums.
Because this is a compilation of songs over the years, I'll instead be ranking each of the singles from best to worst, from top to bottom. Songs that have corresponding album versions won't be included, and I won't include the German translations of two of them because they are just simply translations.
Worst songs: Another Girl, Act Naturally, Dizzy Miss Lizzy
Music Review: The Beatles: Past Masters I (1/25/16)
In-between the releases of "Please Please Me" to "Help!", there were the singles that weren't included on any albums. These singles from 1963-early 1965 would be complied into "Past Masters I", and are just as important as the core albums.
Because this is a compilation of songs over the years, I'll instead be ranking each of the singles from best to worst, from top to bottom. Songs that have corresponding album versions won't be included, and I won't include the German translations of two of them because they are just simply translations.
1. I Want To Hold Your Hand
2. I Feel Fine
3. From Me To You
4. She Loves You
5. Yes It Is
6. Bad Boy
7. This Boy
8. I'll Get You
9. I Call Your Name
10 Thank You Girl
11. I'm Down
12. Matchbox
13. Long Tall Sally
14. She's a Woman
15. Slow Down
Music Review: The Beatles: Rubber Soul (1/30/16)
And so we reach 1965's Rubber Soul...the end of the Beatlemania era, and the blueprint of the style that will dominate The Beatles for the future albums to come.
I previously mentioned how "A Hard Day's Night" and "Beatles For Sale" were practically antithetical to one another. Well, Rubber Soul, with its 14 songs, can be seen as the antithesis to the Beatlemania era as a whole. The wide-eyed romantic, energetic and bouncy feeling of their earlier songs has evolved into sort of a more sophisticated display of artistry. This would be the beginning when the Beatles would shed their status as a pop boy band, and take their first steps into musical godhood.
2. I Feel Fine
3. From Me To You
4. She Loves You
5. Yes It Is
6. Bad Boy
7. This Boy
8. I'll Get You
9. I Call Your Name
10 Thank You Girl
11. I'm Down
12. Matchbox
13. Long Tall Sally
14. She's a Woman
15. Slow Down
Music Review: The Beatles: Rubber Soul (1/30/16)
And so we reach 1965's Rubber Soul...the end of the Beatlemania era, and the blueprint of the style that will dominate The Beatles for the future albums to come.
I previously mentioned how "A Hard Day's Night" and "Beatles For Sale" were practically antithetical to one another. Well, Rubber Soul, with its 14 songs, can be seen as the antithesis to the Beatlemania era as a whole. The wide-eyed romantic, energetic and bouncy feeling of their earlier songs has evolved into sort of a more sophisticated display of artistry. This would be the beginning when the Beatles would shed their status as a pop boy band, and take their first steps into musical godhood.
Best songs: Drive My Car, Norwegian Wood, Nowhere Man, Michelle, Girl, I'm Looking Through You, In My Life
Worst songs: Wait, Run For Your Life
Movie Review: The 5th Wave (1/31/16)
A rather decent post-apocalyptic flick. I was actually surprised during the credits to find that it's yet another movie based off a YA novel, but that certainly does explain why the movie was paced like it was.
Casting, acting and story were all fine, though I did groan at a few of the typical cliches they employed in the story, and shook my head at one particular part of the movie that we've been told way too many times before. Fortunately it was just a line in-passing and not a major part of the story.
I'm hoping that this will make enough money that a sequel will happen because by the end I actually was invested in the story and characters. All in all, not too bad.
Movie Review: Deadpool (2/14/16)
I'm only a casual fan of this fairly-recent Marvel character, so all I know of the basics of Deadpool is that he's a wisecracking chatterbox mercenary with a penchant for killing, never picking sides, fictional-character awareness, and fourth-wall breaking. So at first, I was hesitant to see this one, not even bothering to give the trailers a watch.
I was happy to find a superhero movie that took advantage of its R rating, showed Deadpool being his Deadpool-y self, and had tons of typical & violent action. But what made this work just so good is that it had a quite a lot of heart into it. For all of Deadpool's insanity and antics, he's deep down a good guy, and you feel for his suffering, dilemma, and whenever something bad happens to him. The story was also very down to earth, which is a breath of fresh air after the tons of superhero movies that always had huge, world-ending stakes. Deadpool is just focused on one simple goal in the movie, and its easy to follow his struggle while being entertained by the sheer amount of humor in this movie. Childish humor, dirty humor, referential humor...I say there's just about every kind of humor that can please everybody.
Worst songs: Wait, Run For Your Life
Movie Review: The 5th Wave (1/31/16)
A rather decent post-apocalyptic flick. I was actually surprised during the credits to find that it's yet another movie based off a YA novel, but that certainly does explain why the movie was paced like it was.
Casting, acting and story were all fine, though I did groan at a few of the typical cliches they employed in the story, and shook my head at one particular part of the movie that we've been told way too many times before. Fortunately it was just a line in-passing and not a major part of the story.
I'm hoping that this will make enough money that a sequel will happen because by the end I actually was invested in the story and characters. All in all, not too bad.
Movie Review: Deadpool (2/14/16)
I'm only a casual fan of this fairly-recent Marvel character, so all I know of the basics of Deadpool is that he's a wisecracking chatterbox mercenary with a penchant for killing, never picking sides, fictional-character awareness, and fourth-wall breaking. So at first, I was hesitant to see this one, not even bothering to give the trailers a watch.
I was happy to find a superhero movie that took advantage of its R rating, showed Deadpool being his Deadpool-y self, and had tons of typical & violent action. But what made this work just so good is that it had a quite a lot of heart into it. For all of Deadpool's insanity and antics, he's deep down a good guy, and you feel for his suffering, dilemma, and whenever something bad happens to him. The story was also very down to earth, which is a breath of fresh air after the tons of superhero movies that always had huge, world-ending stakes. Deadpool is just focused on one simple goal in the movie, and its easy to follow his struggle while being entertained by the sheer amount of humor in this movie. Childish humor, dirty humor, referential humor...I say there's just about every kind of humor that can please everybody.
If I had one criticism, it's that Deadpool is not quite as insane as he
normally would be as seen in the comics, but my guess is that they
don't want to play their hand too soon or risk throwing so much that the
audience wouldn't accept it. But what we did get was just as good in
its own right, and I await the sequel.
All in all, a great start to 2016's superhero movies. And per the norm, stay until the end of the credits.
Music Review: The Beatles: Revolver (2/15/16)
1966's Revolver, like Rubber Soul, is another album that would lay the groundwork for the rest of the Beatles discography. But while Rubber Soul's groundwork is in the songs, Revolver's groundwork is in the compositions. By this point, the Beatles had all but left the touring scene, so they were free to try some fancy-schmancy studio techniques to enhance their songs. It may be difficult to appreciate this now, but at the time, many of these techniques were extremely innovative and fresh. Oh, and did I mention, drugs factored into the creation of some of the songs, too?
All in all, a great start to 2016's superhero movies. And per the norm, stay until the end of the credits.
Music Review: The Beatles: Revolver (2/15/16)
1966's Revolver, like Rubber Soul, is another album that would lay the groundwork for the rest of the Beatles discography. But while Rubber Soul's groundwork is in the songs, Revolver's groundwork is in the compositions. By this point, the Beatles had all but left the touring scene, so they were free to try some fancy-schmancy studio techniques to enhance their songs. It may be difficult to appreciate this now, but at the time, many of these techniques were extremely innovative and fresh. Oh, and did I mention, drugs factored into the creation of some of the songs, too?
The end result is an album that may seem like it doesn't know what mood
it wants to be, but I feel that it's very symbolic and poignant. It
exemplifies how the songwriting was reaching new heights beyond the
almost superficial qualities of the early years. Don't get me wrong, the
early years were great, but there's a reason many consider the
middle/late era of the Beatles to be the zenith of the creativity.
All in all, a great album and definitely one of my favorites. We'll see the continuing zenith next time...with one of the most iconic and important albums of all time.
Best songs: Taxman, Eleanor Rigby, Here There & Everywhere, Yellow Submarine, Got to Get You Into My Life, Tomorrow Never Knows
Worst songs: None. The rest of the songs are good, I just like them less than the aforementioned ones.
Music Review: The Beatles: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
We've now reached the legendary Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. This 1967 album is considered by many to be the greatest work of the Beatles, a symbol of the late 60's counterculture, and the highest high of the Beatles using the combination of musical talents and studio wizardry.
While I certainly can agree with the latter two sentiments, I personally don't see it as the Beatles' best. In fact, and I'm ready to get tomatoes in the face for this, I find the album rather overrated when stacked with the rest of their discography. I don't particularly care for Paul McCartney's idea of taking on alter-egos for the making of the album, and there are times when the studio fiddly bits seem a little bit of a hindrance to the songs. And while I said that the previous album, Revolver, was fine for having a disunity with its songs, the attempt of unity for Sgt. Pepper falls flat. Only the beginning and ending of the album songs sound like they're part of the same batch, the rest of them can belong on any of the other albums seen after Sgt. Pepper's.
All in all, a great album and definitely one of my favorites. We'll see the continuing zenith next time...with one of the most iconic and important albums of all time.
Best songs: Taxman, Eleanor Rigby, Here There & Everywhere, Yellow Submarine, Got to Get You Into My Life, Tomorrow Never Knows
Worst songs: None. The rest of the songs are good, I just like them less than the aforementioned ones.
Music Review: The Beatles: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
We've now reached the legendary Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. This 1967 album is considered by many to be the greatest work of the Beatles, a symbol of the late 60's counterculture, and the highest high of the Beatles using the combination of musical talents and studio wizardry.
While I certainly can agree with the latter two sentiments, I personally don't see it as the Beatles' best. In fact, and I'm ready to get tomatoes in the face for this, I find the album rather overrated when stacked with the rest of their discography. I don't particularly care for Paul McCartney's idea of taking on alter-egos for the making of the album, and there are times when the studio fiddly bits seem a little bit of a hindrance to the songs. And while I said that the previous album, Revolver, was fine for having a disunity with its songs, the attempt of unity for Sgt. Pepper falls flat. Only the beginning and ending of the album songs sound like they're part of the same batch, the rest of them can belong on any of the other albums seen after Sgt. Pepper's.
But
still, credit where its due. Most of the songs are still excellent and
iconic, some of them definitely couldn't be done justice without the
studio to back them up, and the music industry has indeed been changed
forever after this album. It's a good album in its own right and
certainly deserves to be listed among the greats. But in comparison to
the rest of the Beatles Discography, there are some albums that I feel
that are better than this one.
Best songs: With a Little Help from my Friends, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, She's Leaving Home, Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite, When I'm 64, A Day in the Life
Worst songs: Fixing a Hole, Lovely Rita, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band Reprise
Movie Review: Zootopia (2/22/16)
This movie, by all accounts, should not have been good at all. It features the hackneyed elements of talking anthropomorphic animals, a buddy-cop dynamic, a detective story, and messages of prejudice and racism. Yet, either by some miracle or just genuinely good & clever production, Zootopia managed to combine all these aspects and give us yet another feather in the cap that continues Disney's winning streak that began with Princess & the Frog.
The strength of this movie lies in the characters, story, and setting. Having it take place in an environmentally-varied animal metropolis gives us tons of setups for jokes, plot opportunities, and is actually a major part of the message of the movie. The two protagonists play off each other perfectly and are good characters in their own right. Judy Hopps I think is one of the best non-Princess protagonists of any Disney movie I've seen a while. She may be kind and naive, but she is determined, smart, and more than deserves to wear a police badge and make her new home a better place. Nick Wylde may be your cliched jerk with a heart of gold, but he has no bad intentions and has one thing in common with Judy; both are victims of a system that's examined and dissected throughout the movie.
Best songs: With a Little Help from my Friends, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, She's Leaving Home, Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite, When I'm 64, A Day in the Life
Worst songs: Fixing a Hole, Lovely Rita, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band Reprise
Movie Review: Zootopia (2/22/16)
This movie, by all accounts, should not have been good at all. It features the hackneyed elements of talking anthropomorphic animals, a buddy-cop dynamic, a detective story, and messages of prejudice and racism. Yet, either by some miracle or just genuinely good & clever production, Zootopia managed to combine all these aspects and give us yet another feather in the cap that continues Disney's winning streak that began with Princess & the Frog.
The strength of this movie lies in the characters, story, and setting. Having it take place in an environmentally-varied animal metropolis gives us tons of setups for jokes, plot opportunities, and is actually a major part of the message of the movie. The two protagonists play off each other perfectly and are good characters in their own right. Judy Hopps I think is one of the best non-Princess protagonists of any Disney movie I've seen a while. She may be kind and naive, but she is determined, smart, and more than deserves to wear a police badge and make her new home a better place. Nick Wylde may be your cliched jerk with a heart of gold, but he has no bad intentions and has one thing in common with Judy; both are victims of a system that's examined and dissected throughout the movie.
Then we have the story, and its subsequent message. It continues
Disney's newfound creativity of playing against expectations and
challenging its own ideals. The story has some twists that some may see
coming, but it doesn't make it any less surprising, and the message is
one that takes advantage of its animal setting. It's both a timely and
timeless message that is very easy to forget these days, and yet it
doesn't in any way become preachy or talk down to us as if we were
babies. The anthropomorphic setting may seem like it's just for the sake
of animal-human jokes, but it is also a metaphor for the world today.
Frankly, without the setting, the movie would have been weaker.
If I had one nitpick, it's that the climax could've been a bit stronger. But besides that I don't have that much bad to say about the movie. So, in comparison to the other 54 main Disney movies out there, I give Zootopia a 4.5/5. It frankly should've been a flop with so many things against it, yet it turned out to be one of the best Disney movies since 2009. The only reason I wouldn't rate it a perfect 5 is because while Zootopia is great, I still think that there are a few other Disney movies that are better. Well done Disney. Your 55th big movie has definitely been a success.
Music Review: The Beatles: Magical Mystery Tour (2/28/16)
Not much I think I can say about this 1967 entry in the Beatles Discography. Some songs are good, some songs are bad, overall it's decent. I suppose it's nice that they continued to use the techniques that were started in Sgt. Pepper's...which I guess is the underlying problem here. It feels like it's an echo of Sgt. Pepper's, almost like a part 2 if you will.
I think it's because that this album consists of 5 singles that were released and produced earlier than the initial 6 songs made for the album. As a result, there's almost a sense of incompleteness to this one. Really, you could've just put the 5 singles on one of the Past Masters, put the 6 original songs on Sgt. Pepper's, and nothing of value would be lost.
If I had one nitpick, it's that the climax could've been a bit stronger. But besides that I don't have that much bad to say about the movie. So, in comparison to the other 54 main Disney movies out there, I give Zootopia a 4.5/5. It frankly should've been a flop with so many things against it, yet it turned out to be one of the best Disney movies since 2009. The only reason I wouldn't rate it a perfect 5 is because while Zootopia is great, I still think that there are a few other Disney movies that are better. Well done Disney. Your 55th big movie has definitely been a success.
Music Review: The Beatles: Magical Mystery Tour (2/28/16)
Not much I think I can say about this 1967 entry in the Beatles Discography. Some songs are good, some songs are bad, overall it's decent. I suppose it's nice that they continued to use the techniques that were started in Sgt. Pepper's...which I guess is the underlying problem here. It feels like it's an echo of Sgt. Pepper's, almost like a part 2 if you will.
I think it's because that this album consists of 5 singles that were released and produced earlier than the initial 6 songs made for the album. As a result, there's almost a sense of incompleteness to this one. Really, you could've just put the 5 singles on one of the Past Masters, put the 6 original songs on Sgt. Pepper's, and nothing of value would be lost.
Best songs: Fool on the Hill, I Am the Walrus, Strawberry Fields Forever, Penny Lane, All You Need is Love
Worst songs: Flying, Blue Jay Way, Baby You're a Rich Man
Music Review: The Beatles: Yellow Submarine (3/5/16)
I think, out of all the albums, this is the hardest one to evaluate. The one I have in my possession is apparently one version of the album, which is the "Songtrack album". This one contains all the Beatles songs that were played in the movie, while the "actual album" version contains only the entirely new songs and the instrumental soundtrack of the movie.
In that regard, it should not even count as an album. Heck, sources say that the only reason this album came about is for contractual reasons and not because of any creative drive. But the fact that there are only four new songs, while the rest was filled with either song repeats or instrumentals, just goes to show that, like Magical Mystery Tour, this is an album that could be removed and it wouldn't make a difference. Heck it has even less going for it than Magical Mystery Tour because of the smaller amount of actual new material.
Worst songs: Flying, Blue Jay Way, Baby You're a Rich Man
Music Review: The Beatles: Yellow Submarine (3/5/16)
I think, out of all the albums, this is the hardest one to evaluate. The one I have in my possession is apparently one version of the album, which is the "Songtrack album". This one contains all the Beatles songs that were played in the movie, while the "actual album" version contains only the entirely new songs and the instrumental soundtrack of the movie.
In that regard, it should not even count as an album. Heck, sources say that the only reason this album came about is for contractual reasons and not because of any creative drive. But the fact that there are only four new songs, while the rest was filled with either song repeats or instrumentals, just goes to show that, like Magical Mystery Tour, this is an album that could be removed and it wouldn't make a difference. Heck it has even less going for it than Magical Mystery Tour because of the smaller amount of actual new material.
Because of all that, I'll just be judging this album solely on the four original songs.
Best songs: Hey Bulldog, All Together Now
Worst songs: Only a Northern Song, It's All Too Much
Music Review: The Beatles: The White Album (3/6/16)
The Beatles, AKA The White Album, is a misnomer. A more appropriate title of this album is "John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison & Ringo Starr."
For anyone not familiar with Beatles history, this 1968 release is pretty much the beginning of the end of the band. A combination of new mindsets, emerging individual styles, the formation of the Apple Corps company, and tensions caused by John and a certain Yoko Ono resulted in an album that is extremely unfocused, erratic, disorganized, and just all over the place. Even more damning is that, unlike everything else that came before, it was a four-sided album (2 CDs today). It's really telling that, out of the 30 songs in this album, roughly half of them consisted of the Fab Four actually being four musicians. Heck, there a few tracks on there that just make you wonder "What the hell were they thinking?!".
Best songs: Hey Bulldog, All Together Now
Worst songs: Only a Northern Song, It's All Too Much
Music Review: The Beatles: The White Album (3/6/16)
The Beatles, AKA The White Album, is a misnomer. A more appropriate title of this album is "John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison & Ringo Starr."
For anyone not familiar with Beatles history, this 1968 release is pretty much the beginning of the end of the band. A combination of new mindsets, emerging individual styles, the formation of the Apple Corps company, and tensions caused by John and a certain Yoko Ono resulted in an album that is extremely unfocused, erratic, disorganized, and just all over the place. Even more damning is that, unlike everything else that came before, it was a four-sided album (2 CDs today). It's really telling that, out of the 30 songs in this album, roughly half of them consisted of the Fab Four actually being four musicians. Heck, there a few tracks on there that just make you wonder "What the hell were they thinking?!".
So, yeah, not a fan of this one, which is a shame since this was the
last album my Dad and I got to complete our collection. To its credit,
there are still some very good songs on the album, and it consists of
IMO George Harrison's best song EVER, but it's offset by some tracks
that are either average, lame, or just awful.
Best songs: Back in the USSR, While my Guitar Gently Weeps, Blackbird, Sexy Sadie, Helter Skelter, Revolution
Worst songs: Wild Honey Pie, Martha My Dear, Why Don't We Do It In the Road?, Yer Blues, Long Long Long, Revolution 9
Movie Review: Kung Fu Panda 3 (3/13/16)
Kung Fu Panda is my second favorite Dreamworks property (#1 being How to Train Your Dragon), so I was eager to see how the third movie would play out after the smash hits of the first and second movie.
To my delight the third movie was, to paraphrase the (lame) Kung Fu Panda TV show, awesomeness. Everything you loved about the previous movies stays true: characters, humor, animation, and music. The story is also a great continuation as we see the character of Po take his next step: becoming a master, rediscovering his people, and has a great story angle: how can you be a good chosen one? This goes hand-in-hand with the message of the movie, which is to be the best person you can be. You may have inspirations in your life that guide, but they ultimately shape your own unique self.
Best songs: Back in the USSR, While my Guitar Gently Weeps, Blackbird, Sexy Sadie, Helter Skelter, Revolution
Worst songs: Wild Honey Pie, Martha My Dear, Why Don't We Do It In the Road?, Yer Blues, Long Long Long, Revolution 9
Movie Review: Kung Fu Panda 3 (3/13/16)
Kung Fu Panda is my second favorite Dreamworks property (#1 being How to Train Your Dragon), so I was eager to see how the third movie would play out after the smash hits of the first and second movie.
To my delight the third movie was, to paraphrase the (lame) Kung Fu Panda TV show, awesomeness. Everything you loved about the previous movies stays true: characters, humor, animation, and music. The story is also a great continuation as we see the character of Po take his next step: becoming a master, rediscovering his people, and has a great story angle: how can you be a good chosen one? This goes hand-in-hand with the message of the movie, which is to be the best person you can be. You may have inspirations in your life that guide, but they ultimately shape your own unique self.
If I had a nitpick, it's that some parts of the climax could've been
better, and the villain, while entertaining and hilarious, isn't quite
as menacing as the peacock villain of Kung Fu Panda 2. But those are
only minor detriments. All in all, Kung Fu Panda 3 is a great movie for
the family, where it has just about enough for every viewer. If this
really will be the final movie, then I felt it ended on a high note.
Music Review: The Beatles: Abbey Road (3/19/16)
The twilight years of the Beatles were...unpleasant to say the least, what with the band being split apart by bad business decisions, creative differences, failed projects, and the death of their longtime manager Brian Epstein. Post-Sgt. Pepper, the likes of Magical Mystery Tour, Yellow Submarine, and The White Album were released with mixed opinions, and the "Get Back" recording sessions could best be described as hell for the Beatles.
It makes the release of 1969's Abbey Road all the more a miracle, and is hands down the best album since Sgt. Pepper. The album can be seen as a culmination of everything they've done so far; the energy of Please Please Me, the creativity of a Hard Day's Night, the varying moods of Rubber Soul & Revolver, and the techniques of Sgt. Pepper. Despite there being one more album, Abbey Road is seen as the last hurrah of the Beatles. Combine that with one of the most iconic record covers of all time, and Abbey Road more than deserves its awards, accolades, and legacy. One of the Beatles' finest.
Music Review: The Beatles: Abbey Road (3/19/16)
The twilight years of the Beatles were...unpleasant to say the least, what with the band being split apart by bad business decisions, creative differences, failed projects, and the death of their longtime manager Brian Epstein. Post-Sgt. Pepper, the likes of Magical Mystery Tour, Yellow Submarine, and The White Album were released with mixed opinions, and the "Get Back" recording sessions could best be described as hell for the Beatles.
It makes the release of 1969's Abbey Road all the more a miracle, and is hands down the best album since Sgt. Pepper. The album can be seen as a culmination of everything they've done so far; the energy of Please Please Me, the creativity of a Hard Day's Night, the varying moods of Rubber Soul & Revolver, and the techniques of Sgt. Pepper. Despite there being one more album, Abbey Road is seen as the last hurrah of the Beatles. Combine that with one of the most iconic record covers of all time, and Abbey Road more than deserves its awards, accolades, and legacy. One of the Beatles' finest.
Best songs: Come Together, Something, Maxwell's Silver Hammer, Oh
Darling, Octopus's Garden, Here Comes the Sun, Because, The End
Worst song: Her Majesty
Music Review: The Beatles: Let it Be (3/20/16)
If there is a word to describe the final Beatles album in 1970, it's "bittersweet". The reason is because it's more interesting to look back on 46 years later as opposed to thinking like a fan at the time. Let it Be is vindicated by history as being the group's swansong, but as a followup to the masterpiece of Abbey Road and the end of the Fab Four, it was a disappointment.
In retrospect, it's easy to see why. The mid and late eras of the Beatles were characterized by studio wizardry and mixing as opposed to playing and recording like an actual band. So Paul's idea of foregoing all of that and "getting back to where we once belonged" seemed very appealing. It should be noted though that the original Let it Be recordings happened at the height of all the chaos behind the scenes, and bad attitudes led the shelving of Let it Be. This is why I said last time that Abbey Road's development and release was miraculous, because that album really did seem like the last hurrah where the group came together and made something great.
Worst song: Her Majesty
Music Review: The Beatles: Let it Be (3/20/16)
If there is a word to describe the final Beatles album in 1970, it's "bittersweet". The reason is because it's more interesting to look back on 46 years later as opposed to thinking like a fan at the time. Let it Be is vindicated by history as being the group's swansong, but as a followup to the masterpiece of Abbey Road and the end of the Fab Four, it was a disappointment.
In retrospect, it's easy to see why. The mid and late eras of the Beatles were characterized by studio wizardry and mixing as opposed to playing and recording like an actual band. So Paul's idea of foregoing all of that and "getting back to where we once belonged" seemed very appealing. It should be noted though that the original Let it Be recordings happened at the height of all the chaos behind the scenes, and bad attitudes led the shelving of Let it Be. This is why I said last time that Abbey Road's development and release was miraculous, because that album really did seem like the last hurrah where the group came together and made something great.
The final nail in the coffin for Let it Be was the decision of upper
management to insert said studio wizardry into the Let it Be recordings
to release the album. As a result, what would've been a stand-out album
became just another one in the crowd of studio-influenced music. I
suppose that's the tragedy of the final album; Abbey Road's shout to the
world of their triumphant end...was instead replaced with a quiet
whimper that was a symbolization of the end of the Beatles.
But of course, there are still some great and just outstanding songs in the album. It's just such a shame that the historical final album had to end up being rather...average. Yeah, put me in the camp that says Abbey Road was the Beatles' TRUE final album.
Best songs: Two of Us, Dig a Pony, Across the Universe, Let It Be, I've Got a Feeling, The Long and Winding Road, Get Back
Worst songs: Dig It, Maggie Mae, For Your Blue
Movie Review: Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice (3/28/16)
If this movie was a meal, then the best way to describe it is that it's under-cooked, but also overcooked.
I'm admittedly not a huge DC fan, so I wasn't super-duper excited to watch this, and it was more of the novelty of seeing the two most famous superhero movies on the big screen that drew me in. The two main flaws of this movie are the unnecessary long run time, and how it just kept beating around the bush to get to the main point. Both I think stem from DC's seeming insistence of making their stuff dour and depressing, the characters brooding about their constant issues and arguing about their principles. There's of course nothing wrong with discussing those, but when it just keeps going and going and going and going, it becomes tired and monotonous too quickly.
But of course, there are still some great and just outstanding songs in the album. It's just such a shame that the historical final album had to end up being rather...average. Yeah, put me in the camp that says Abbey Road was the Beatles' TRUE final album.
Best songs: Two of Us, Dig a Pony, Across the Universe, Let It Be, I've Got a Feeling, The Long and Winding Road, Get Back
Worst songs: Dig It, Maggie Mae, For Your Blue
Movie Review: Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice (3/28/16)
If this movie was a meal, then the best way to describe it is that it's under-cooked, but also overcooked.
I'm admittedly not a huge DC fan, so I wasn't super-duper excited to watch this, and it was more of the novelty of seeing the two most famous superhero movies on the big screen that drew me in. The two main flaws of this movie are the unnecessary long run time, and how it just kept beating around the bush to get to the main point. Both I think stem from DC's seeming insistence of making their stuff dour and depressing, the characters brooding about their constant issues and arguing about their principles. There's of course nothing wrong with discussing those, but when it just keeps going and going and going and going, it becomes tired and monotonous too quickly.
Hence why I said it's both under-cooked and overcooked. There are A LOT
of good things to like about the movie in terms plot and characters,
but not enough was done with them. And some of the unnecessary stuff in
the grand scheme was given way too much attention than it deserved.
These are extremely glaring problems in the movie, so as such I feel
that while it's not awful, it's still not particularly good either. Had
these problems been rectified, I think this movie could've been great,
amazing even. But no, we're just going to have to settle for a
less-than-stellar outing for what should've been a monumental occasion
for superhero pop culture.
Music Review: The Beatles: Past Masters II (4/1/16)
Just like with Volume One, my ranking of the best-worst singles of Past Masters Volume Two, compiling the ones released between Rubber Soul, and Let it Be. Like the last one, duplicate songs from albums won't be included.
1. Hey Jude
2. Day Tripper
3. Lady Madonna
4. Paperback Writer
5. The Ballad of John and Yoko
6. Don't Let Me Down
7. The Inner Light
8. We Can Work It Out
9. Old Brown Shoe
10. Rain
11. You Know My Name
Movie Review: The Jungle Book 1967 (4/10/16)
Before I watch the live action one, my brief thoughts on the original 1967 Disney classic.
It's...OK, I guess. I admit this was one that I never watched as a kid, and was only really familiar with the Bare Necessities song. While the animal characters are memorable, the animation was good for its time, and its villain was pretty good, I felt that the story was weak and Mowgli the man-cub to be pretty lame and annoying.
Curious to see how this upcoming live-action version will be in comparison to the original, especially since the last two Disney live-action remakes were...mixed, to say the least.
Movie Review: The Jungle Book 2016 (4/10/16)
When I first heard they were doing a live action Disney Jungle Book adaptation, I rolled my eyes. Disney hasn't exactly been wowing people as far as their recent live action adaptations go, so I just didn't care about this. My interest was suddenly piqued when I found about the star-studded cast voicing the animals that included Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley, Scarlet Johannson, Christopher Walken, and Idris Elba. I figured I'd at least see it for their voices, if not for everything else, since I was never that fond of the original animated Jungle Book and never read Kipling's original stories.
Music Review: The Beatles: Past Masters II (4/1/16)
Just like with Volume One, my ranking of the best-worst singles of Past Masters Volume Two, compiling the ones released between Rubber Soul, and Let it Be. Like the last one, duplicate songs from albums won't be included.
1. Hey Jude
2. Day Tripper
3. Lady Madonna
4. Paperback Writer
5. The Ballad of John and Yoko
6. Don't Let Me Down
7. The Inner Light
8. We Can Work It Out
9. Old Brown Shoe
10. Rain
11. You Know My Name
Movie Review: The Jungle Book 1967 (4/10/16)
Before I watch the live action one, my brief thoughts on the original 1967 Disney classic.
It's...OK, I guess. I admit this was one that I never watched as a kid, and was only really familiar with the Bare Necessities song. While the animal characters are memorable, the animation was good for its time, and its villain was pretty good, I felt that the story was weak and Mowgli the man-cub to be pretty lame and annoying.
Curious to see how this upcoming live-action version will be in comparison to the original, especially since the last two Disney live-action remakes were...mixed, to say the least.
Movie Review: The Jungle Book 2016 (4/10/16)
When I first heard they were doing a live action Disney Jungle Book adaptation, I rolled my eyes. Disney hasn't exactly been wowing people as far as their recent live action adaptations go, so I just didn't care about this. My interest was suddenly piqued when I found about the star-studded cast voicing the animals that included Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley, Scarlet Johannson, Christopher Walken, and Idris Elba. I figured I'd at least see it for their voices, if not for everything else, since I was never that fond of the original animated Jungle Book and never read Kipling's original stories.
But man oh man, this was definitely a surprise. It's as if this movie
made up for a lot of the shortcomings of the animated movie. Mowgli the
man-cub is actually an interesting and smart character, and the story is
actually cohesive and is a clear journey instead of just random
moments. All of the major animal characters have their chance to shine,
and the villain of Shere Khan (One of the better parts of the animated
movie), was made to be even better here. Pile onto that some really good
CGI and gorgeous scenery. This is definitely a movie that's great to
watch on the big screen, as you can just feel the nature of the jungle
in all of its wonders and dangers.
I definitely recommend it. The kids will enjoy the animals, the adults can enjoy the story and scenery, and those who watched the original animated version can have an experience seeing and comparing. And as far as being an adaptation of a previous movie goes, it completely blows Alice in Wonderland, Maleficent, and Cinderella out of the water.
Movie Review: The Angry Birds Movie (5/15/16)
I watched this one mainly out of curiosity than for any actual excitement. I've played my fair share of the game, and it's most certainly fun and enjoyable for what it is. When I heard that it would get a movie, I was sure it was going to be a gigantic bomb. The trailer didn't help matters, inserting a lot of pop songs, emphasizing on slapstick, and constantly milking the same joke again and again: The Red Bird is always angry and miserable things happen to him.
It's no surprise then that practically every single scene in the trailer appears in the 1st half of the movie, which to me was just a gigantic chore and pain to get through. It was infuriating seeing the poor Red Bird suffer throughout that first half because he really seemed like the only sane character in a community of nitwits and jerks. He is constantly ostracized from all the other birds because they are so happy and perfect, while he is...GASP...angry and miserable! Well OF COURSE he's angry! You'd be angry too if you were constantly picked on as a hatchling, abandoned at birth, and being laughed at as an grown bird for being different and having bad things happen to you. The 1st half is just filled with mean-spirited/idiotic characters, insufferable slapstick jokes, toilet humor, boring predictability, shoe-horned pop songs, and just plain idiocy from every character but the Red Bird and the pigs. If this was just going to be the entire movie, I would've downright loathed it for being insulting towards kids' intelligence, a waste of time for the parents, and being a soul-less shill out of a property that had absolutely jack-squat to do with the source material...
I definitely recommend it. The kids will enjoy the animals, the adults can enjoy the story and scenery, and those who watched the original animated version can have an experience seeing and comparing. And as far as being an adaptation of a previous movie goes, it completely blows Alice in Wonderland, Maleficent, and Cinderella out of the water.
Movie Review: The Angry Birds Movie (5/15/16)
I watched this one mainly out of curiosity than for any actual excitement. I've played my fair share of the game, and it's most certainly fun and enjoyable for what it is. When I heard that it would get a movie, I was sure it was going to be a gigantic bomb. The trailer didn't help matters, inserting a lot of pop songs, emphasizing on slapstick, and constantly milking the same joke again and again: The Red Bird is always angry and miserable things happen to him.
It's no surprise then that practically every single scene in the trailer appears in the 1st half of the movie, which to me was just a gigantic chore and pain to get through. It was infuriating seeing the poor Red Bird suffer throughout that first half because he really seemed like the only sane character in a community of nitwits and jerks. He is constantly ostracized from all the other birds because they are so happy and perfect, while he is...GASP...angry and miserable! Well OF COURSE he's angry! You'd be angry too if you were constantly picked on as a hatchling, abandoned at birth, and being laughed at as an grown bird for being different and having bad things happen to you. The 1st half is just filled with mean-spirited/idiotic characters, insufferable slapstick jokes, toilet humor, boring predictability, shoe-horned pop songs, and just plain idiocy from every character but the Red Bird and the pigs. If this was just going to be the entire movie, I would've downright loathed it for being insulting towards kids' intelligence, a waste of time for the parents, and being a soul-less shill out of a property that had absolutely jack-squat to do with the source material...
...which is why
I'm happy for the 2nd half of the movie. Anyone who's played the game
knows that the reason they are "angry" birds is because the pigs steal
their eggs, and I sure I'm not giving anything away when I say that
exactly happens. And sure enough, when they begin to fight back,
it...GASP...actually resembles the freaking game! It's like it's a
completely different movie! The animation is more fast-paced, the jokes
are funnier, it relies less on slapstick, the characters are actually
smarter, and the Red Bird is actually looked up to and respected! The
2nd half is what saves this movie from being dreck, and makes it more
worthwhile.
All in all, it's satisfying. If you have enough tolerance and patience to get through the 1st half, you'll definitely enjoy the movie for what it is. It's certainly not the garbage that I was expecting it to be, but it's of course far from a masterpiece when we've seen better animated movies out there that can be enjoyed by people of all ages. But I feel that, for the most part, The Angry Birds Movie is not that offensive and is worth to watch just for the 2nd half. The asinine 1st half and the engaging 2nd half to me make this slightly above average for a children's animated movie.
Movie Review: X-Men: Apocalypse (5/23/16)
Jean Grey's comment on Return of the Jedi in this movie is very fitting: "The third one is always the weakest". While X-Men Apocalypse is good, it's certainly far from great or amazing.
I felt that the movie had a problem of trying to focus on what it wanted to do. It was as if they couldn't stay on one thing for too long and kept bouncing around from one plot-point and group of characters to another plot-point and group of characters. The action, while of course good, tended to get arbitrarily interrupted for a slow scene for characters, and while most of the time I appreciate those, in this case they tended to be rather slow and feel like speed bumps.
All in all, it's satisfying. If you have enough tolerance and patience to get through the 1st half, you'll definitely enjoy the movie for what it is. It's certainly not the garbage that I was expecting it to be, but it's of course far from a masterpiece when we've seen better animated movies out there that can be enjoyed by people of all ages. But I feel that, for the most part, The Angry Birds Movie is not that offensive and is worth to watch just for the 2nd half. The asinine 1st half and the engaging 2nd half to me make this slightly above average for a children's animated movie.
Movie Review: X-Men: Apocalypse (5/23/16)
Jean Grey's comment on Return of the Jedi in this movie is very fitting: "The third one is always the weakest". While X-Men Apocalypse is good, it's certainly far from great or amazing.
I felt that the movie had a problem of trying to focus on what it wanted to do. It was as if they couldn't stay on one thing for too long and kept bouncing around from one plot-point and group of characters to another plot-point and group of characters. The action, while of course good, tended to get arbitrarily interrupted for a slow scene for characters, and while most of the time I appreciate those, in this case they tended to be rather slow and feel like speed bumps.
I'm rather mixed on
the villain, since while I don't know much about Apocalypse, I'm aware
that in the X-Men mythos he is a massive deal (He is called Apocalypse
after all). He certainly looks menacing and has some pretty impressive
powers, but he didn't really start showing off until the very end, and
even then I wish he could've done more. There's also one scene in the
movie that I'm very conflicted on, because while it's a great scene, it
did feel like it went on longer than necessary, and felt extremely
shoehorned in the movie. We could've taken that out to allow more time
for the movie to iron out its problems.
Now what did I like? The story is nice, the characters were neat, and all the actors did well. McAvoy's Professor Xavier continues his evolution into the mentor figure we know him as. You really feel for Fassbender's Magneto here, the poor guy just can't catch a break, and it's a good step in his character arc. Lawerence as Mystique was once again great, if a bit underutilized. And all the newcomer cast for the iconic X-Men played their parts well.
All in all, while I feel it to be the worst of the new X-Men trilogy that started with First Class and continued with Days of Future Past, I certainly don't' feel it to be bad. It's still enjoyable for audiences who want to see more X-Men, and for the fans who want to see the next chapter. I just find it funny that this new X-Men trilogy has repeated the original one with the first one being fine, the second better, and the third one sub-par. But hey, X-Men: Apocalypse is still miles above X-Men: The Last Stand, so that's a start.
Now what did I like? The story is nice, the characters were neat, and all the actors did well. McAvoy's Professor Xavier continues his evolution into the mentor figure we know him as. You really feel for Fassbender's Magneto here, the poor guy just can't catch a break, and it's a good step in his character arc. Lawerence as Mystique was once again great, if a bit underutilized. And all the newcomer cast for the iconic X-Men played their parts well.
All in all, while I feel it to be the worst of the new X-Men trilogy that started with First Class and continued with Days of Future Past, I certainly don't' feel it to be bad. It's still enjoyable for audiences who want to see more X-Men, and for the fans who want to see the next chapter. I just find it funny that this new X-Men trilogy has repeated the original one with the first one being fine, the second better, and the third one sub-par. But hey, X-Men: Apocalypse is still miles above X-Men: The Last Stand, so that's a start.
