For the past two years I hosted an amateurish radio show with my good friend James. At times the execution was a little shoddy but we felt that we consistently delivered in terms of entertainment and good music. Embedded below is our Greatest Hits compilation, 30 minutes of unadulterated, trivial and (hopefully) always funny student radio:
Great thanks to everyone at Burn FM and most importantly all of our listeners!
Friday, 9 August 2013
Monday, 5 August 2013
The World's End Review
Having previously tackled horror and macho action with Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, The World's End sees the trio of Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost working together again to take on classic British sci-fi with a pub crawl twist. Pegg and Frost are joined onscreen by a stalwart group of British actors portraying a group of school friends reunited for a nostalgic night on the tiles which inevitably goes tits-up. Comparison is inevitable between the three films, and, in the eyes of this reviewer, The World's End never quite reaches the giddy heights of its predecessors.
That doesn't mean that it isn't a worthwhile finale to the 'Three Flavours Cornetto' trilogy, if anything it's more indicative in a shift in focus, the film taking on a reflective tone absent from the group's earlier work. The action, camaraderie and occasional toilet humour are still present, but so are mediations on nostalgia and maturity. Wright's hallmark frenetic direction is on fantastic display here as Pegg and Co smash blue blood out of the Meccano-esque aliens who have inhabited their hometown of Newton Haven. Having perfected his shooting style with Scott Pilgrim there was a risk that it might now come across as stale, but thankfully these fears prove to be unfounded. In Wright's confident hands every punch, kick and beer-pulling montage has a weight and a heft to them, the visuals always uncluttered and easy to follow. Matched with superb sound editing, every scene provides a lot to admire, regardless of its punchlines.
The laugh a minute ratio is one of the film's key issues. Though consistently amusing throughout, I found that the only gags that brought me to hysterics were ones which were direct callbacks to the two previous films. The inevitable Cornetto reference didn't disappoint, but I found when coming out of the cinema I could barely remember any of the 'new' recurring jokes. The pop culture riffing which permeated the first two films is mostly absent too, but a superb soundtrack almost exclusively compiled from early 90's hits shows that Wright still has a great ear for musical cues and adds to the nostalgic emphasis of the film.
One of the things that sets apart this series of films is the instant familiarity you feel with the characters that occupy their universe. This is just as much down to the writing which so effectively emulates how we talk around our friends, to the excellent performances. Paddy Considine and Eddie Marsan, more known for their serious work, stand out here in support roles but the film belongs to Pegg as Gary King, a man unable to move on from his school glory days. Pegg, the heart of the film, shows great range gaining empathy for a character who deserves none. The sentimentality and warmth of the film originates in his interactions with his mature yet somewhat defeated friends and it's this which separates it from the middling British comedies of recent years, regardless of the gag count.
4/5
Different gear, still speeding
The laugh a minute ratio is one of the film's key issues. Though consistently amusing throughout, I found that the only gags that brought me to hysterics were ones which were direct callbacks to the two previous films. The inevitable Cornetto reference didn't disappoint, but I found when coming out of the cinema I could barely remember any of the 'new' recurring jokes. The pop culture riffing which permeated the first two films is mostly absent too, but a superb soundtrack almost exclusively compiled from early 90's hits shows that Wright still has a great ear for musical cues and adds to the nostalgic emphasis of the film.
One of the things that sets apart this series of films is the instant familiarity you feel with the characters that occupy their universe. This is just as much down to the writing which so effectively emulates how we talk around our friends, to the excellent performances. Paddy Considine and Eddie Marsan, more known for their serious work, stand out here in support roles but the film belongs to Pegg as Gary King, a man unable to move on from his school glory days. Pegg, the heart of the film, shows great range gaining empathy for a character who deserves none. The sentimentality and warmth of the film originates in his interactions with his mature yet somewhat defeated friends and it's this which separates it from the middling British comedies of recent years, regardless of the gag count.
4/5
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