You know that feeling, where you lie down on the couch after a long day and just want some action? You look at a title and read: Machine Gun Preacher”. Oh that IS cheesy. And then you see Gerard Butler holding, in the one hand a little boy and in the other a machine-gun. Oh this can only be good, bloody and filled with action. And to top it off the short plotline is:

“Sam Childers is a former drug-dealing biker tough guy who found God and became a crusader for hundreds of Sudanese children who’ve been forced to become soldiers.”

I’m hooked for some mind-numbing action! And what do I get? The opposite!

True enough, Gerard Butler, did find God, but I thought it would be the kind of I-found-God-and-all-sinners-must-die. Well not quite because he does go on a crusade, but the film is much more about his internal struggle on being emotionally sucked into the conflict in Sudan and trying to hold his familiy together in the US.

I would recommend this for everyone to see for a just a couple of reasons. First of all, Butler is actually quite good in this movie and you really feel the character he is portraying. The political dimension is very interesting (studying politics myself). Sam Childers is feeling more and more alienated towards his own country the more time he spends in Sudan. He is litterally saving lives in Sudan and he is finding it extremely difficult to find funding in the US due to the financial crisis. There are some very scenes in the movie portraying the absurdity.

Budget: $30 million

Gross to date (27 february 2013): $1,1 million so not quite the blockbuster hit, which is a bit sad

Please remember to follow me on Twitter!

You know that feeling, where you lie down on the couch after a long day and just want some action? You look at a title and read: Machine Gun Preacher”. Oh that IS cheesy. And then you see Gerard Butler holding, in the one hand a little boy and in the other a machine-gun. Oh this can only be good, bloody and filled with action. And to top it off the short plotline is:

“Sam Childers is a former drug-dealing biker tough guy who found God and became a crusader for hundreds of Sudanese children who’ve been forced to become soldiers.”

I’m hooked for some mind-numbing action! And what do I get? The opposite!

True enough, Gerard Butler, did find God, but I thought it would be the kind of I-found-God-and-all-sinners-must-die. Well not quite because he does go on a crusade, but the film is much more about his internal struggle on being emotionally sucked into the conflict in Sudan and trying to hold his familiy together in the US.

I would recommend this for everyone to see for a just a couple of reasons. First of all, Butler is actually quite good in this movie and you really feel the character he is portraying. The political dimension is very interesting (studying politics myself). Sam Childers is feeling more and more alienated towards his own country the more time he spends in Sudan. He is litterally saving lives in Sudan and he is finding it extremely difficult to find funding in the US due to the financial crisis. There are some very scenes in the movie portraying the absurdity.

Budget: $30 million

Gross to date (27 february 2013): $1,1 million so not quite the blockbuster hit, which is a bit sad

Please remember to follow me on Twitter!

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You just gotta love radio here in the UK. They just played this awesome cuban-salsa remix of Arctic Monkeys’ “Dancing Shoes”. I’m a sucker for these kind of remixes, where different genres are mixed together. Anyway check it out and look at the very cheeky video

I’ve always been mainly a rock guy and have until recent years been a strong believer that music should be played on real instruments. So that was the old me. The new is digging the S**t out of electronic music. I’ve come to appreciate the pleasure of a deep funky bass and this track is just that. God dammit it’s soo good. I mean excellent! It’s when I hear music like this I’m glad I’m not a music snob anymore.

I know it’s been kinda boring to read the blog of lately due to lack of content. This is due to exams and other university related stuf.. I’m however back now and hopefully blog more frequently. Anyway, I love to go to Hypemachine and just see what people are digging at the moment and it seems to be this Tracy Chapman remix done by The Tailors. These two guys are from the Netherlands and this is a pretty cool little tune if you need something to warm yourself by in these cold times. Enjoy!

 
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Finally I got around seeing Drive for the first time. As with all films, that has some relevance to Denmark, this film got extremely hyped in Denmark, when it came out. And what did my brain do? Reject it! I don’t know why, but I HATE things, that are hyped. There is something seriously wrong with me, I know, because the hype must be there for a reason. And it is also only recently, that I’ve come to see The Avengers, which was incredible. Anyway a new chapter in London, and I saw Drive cheap and gave it a chance.

A mysterious man who has multiple jobs as a garage mechanic, a Hollywood stuntman and a getaway driver seems to be trying to escape his shady past as he falls for his neighbour – whose husband is in prison and who’s looking after her child alone. Meanwhile, his garage mechanic boss is trying to set up a race team using gangland money, which implicates our driver as he is to be used as the race team’s main driver. Our hero gets more than he bargained for when he meets the man who is married to the woman he loves (Thanks to “shin” from IMDB for the plot summary)

Lets start with Ryan Gosling, who of course plays the mysterious man. We never get his real name, which of course just adds to the mystery. Gosling is really amazing in this character and plays almost as a mute. He barely talks throughout the movie, and only does it is required. It almost seems as if he is discussed by human interaction (besides Carey Mulligans character). This just adds to the contrast, when we throughout the movie see him as a cold killer, killing people in the most gruesome ways. He has almost a dead stare in his eyes, as if killing people is the most natural thing to do. We do wonder, why he is so good at killing people, but it is never revealed.
Carey Mulligan plays Irene, who clearly is a broken soul. Her husband is in jail and finds comfort in Gosling and their chemistry on screen is absolutely amazing. There is one shot of them just staring at each other, saying nothing, creating some wonderful intensity, that tells us more of their characters, than a thousand words could ever do. And Albert Brooks is definitively not a guy you want to run into in a dark alley. Without giving away too much, this kills people in the most terrifying way throughout the film.

If you’re ever in doubt whether you are watching a Refn film, just wait for the murders/tortures. I remember from the Pusher films, that they were grusome and bloody and on that account he doesn’t disappoint. When you start watching it you think, oh this is going to be a beautifully shot noir film, without brutal violence. Well lets just say that isn’t the case. It’s beautifully shot in the streets of Los Angeles and in a lot of ways it really portrays the city in the same way as Taxi Driver portrayed New York. I don’t know what it is with and cinematography, but it really is one of the highlights of this film. Especially the scenes with Gosling driving around LA alone are powerful.

This is just a great film. It’s great acting, great cinematography, great directing, it’s just good craftsmanship. I had the same feeling with The Master. It is so hard to make a good film, but when you see a movie like Drive, it just seems so damn easy.

Right of the bat: this is probably one of the best movies I have seen this year. Sally El Hosaini makes her debut as a feature director and writer. It takes place in Hackney, East London, actually where I live and portrays the life of Mo (Fady Elsayed) and Rashid (James Floyd). Mo idealises his older brother Rashid and wants to follow him into gang life and at first Rashid willingly tries to help his younger brother, but when Rashid has an experience with the photographer Sayyid (Saïd Taghmaoui), he wants out. But quitting the gang life is not that easy and Mo and Rashid both have to make choices that affect their relationship.

At first this sounds like the usual sibling gang-banger story-line: younger brother idealises his older brother, who then has an experience that changes his views. Younger brother is now a result of older brothers old image and there we have the conflict. And it always ends with someone getting killed at the end, usually someone we suppose to care about. So after ten minutes of viewing this, I saw what was coming, and could not wait for the movie to be over, as I already knew the ending. However it seems as if El Hosaini had seen the writing on the wall and she alters it, because the change of circumstance in this movie is quite surprising and the twist is coming at just the right time, where the story gets a little soft. I’m glad I did not read any of the reviews before watching it, because nearly all of them ruin Rashids lifestyle changing moment (shame on you, yes, you know who you are!). The twist really gives this movie its charisma and separates itself from just another gang-life story. To raise this question in this kind of movie is quite daring and I really applaud El Hosaini for this as it really changes the dynamics.

James Floyd and Fady Elsayed put on impressive performances as siblings and you really emphasise with both of the characters. It is a joy to watch them bring the intensity and seeing them develop their characters throughout the movie, ranging from love, rage, fear, jalousie and frustration.

Last thing I want to point out is the cinematography by David Raedeker. No wonder it won at Sundance last year for best cinematography, because it is gorgeous shot. He makes the East End building complex seem cold and brutal, but yet aesthetic. Like there is life, but no hope.

In the end, I am so glad, that I got to see this movie and I can not recommend it enough. Just the way it portrays gang-life in London and deals with the themes is amazing. Go see it!

It gets 4 of 5 casettes

Oh what a glorious day! If you were cheering for the black guy. Well the result of last nights election can be traced all the way back to this guy, Lincoln. Anyway, enough of the history lesson. Three clips from the upcoming biopic are now online, where we are introduced to Lincoln and his family. His son Lincoln Jr, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Sally Field playing Lincolns wife. And of course Lincoln himself, played by the amazing Daniel Day Lewis. When he was announced as Lincoln my immediate thought was: of course, who else! When you are making a film about the nations father you want to be damn sure, that you are dealing with an actor with some presence. And by the looks of it, they made the right choice. Just by looking at the 40 second clip of Lincoln, I was hooked and maybe he should make space for another Oscar in the trophy room?

If you’ve been at the Roskilde Festival, then you probably know the legendary Orange Stage. The stage where the likes of  Prince, Roger Waters and Kanye West all have preformed. What many people outside of Denmark are unaware of is the fact that a danish up-and-comming act is opening the big stage each year. And this year is of course no exception. The rock band, Kellermensch, is really a band on the rise and are known for their energetic live performances. You could compare them to The Gaslight Anthem with their punk-rock-springsteen style, which I dig immensely.  For those of you going to Roskilde: Screw you! These guys are just what the rock doctor ordered!

Hot damn. I gotta keep up. Lupe has recently dropped his first single from his upcoming studio album “Food & Liquor 2: The Great American Rap Album“. Good  to see him not putting himself up on a pedestal. I wasn’t too crazy about his last album “Lasers” and a lot of people were talking about this being the end of Lupe. He however returns with the smooth flow that I know and love from”Food & Liquor”. And the fact that he stole the beat from Pete Rock could not care me less. Lupe Fiasco is back doing the thing that got him to where he is today!

As promised I will try and introduce you to some of the best Danish music and my very first recommendation are “Americana” boys One-Eyed Mule. Lead singer Rasmus Dall must be one the best kept secrets in regards to singers/songwriters. I have on more than one occasion had the pleasure of experiencing them live and Dall is one the most charismatic singers in Denmark. It is almost hard to believe that he is a Dane born and raised in Denmark, when you hear his take on American traditional music. They have already released four albums so there is more than enough to go around with the newest, “When Tomorrow Comes”, being just released. If you were at SXSW in 2010 you would maybe have seen them as part of the Danish contribution to the festival. Anyway enough from me. Please take a look at the video below and feel free to comment.

http://one-eyedmule.com/

Bruce Springsteen - Wrecking Ball (2012 - SME)

Its pretty thought-provoking, that there hasn’t been more protest songs during the last couple of years. One could argue that there is enough to talk about when you look at the social consequences of the economic crisis. There has been a void waiting to be filled and who better to do it than the little man’s defender: Bruce Springsteen. He takes a stand here with an attack on big business, its greed and blatant inequality.

The album begins with the ironic “We Take Care Of Our Own” which at first play, sounds almost patriotic, but so did “Born in the USA”. Just ask Ronald Reagan. As he mentions in the song we take care of our own as we did in “the Superdome” which can only be a reference to the place in New Orleans where the bereaved from Katrina had to flee. So when big business has now taken all your money, what do you do? You take them back and that is what is called for in the “Easy Money ‘, where you immediately feel Springsteens Seegar roots emerge.

“Gambling Man Rolls the dice, Working Mon pays the bills.” The message is not to be mistaken by on “Shackled and Drawn“. The track with its dragging 1-2 beat is one of the absolute highlights of the record. The track is in the perfect extension of the preaching mood that prevailed on some of the tracks from his interpretation of Seegar. On “Death to my hometown” we are introduced to folkish bagpipes and Springsteen’s Irish roots are really allowed to flourish on this anthem about small towns dying as a result of globalization and crisis.
This records best track is undoubtedly “Land of Hopes and Dreams” for several reasons. It was written for over 10 years ago but has only now been recorded for an actual studio album. Moreover, it is supposedly the last number saxophonist Clarence Clemmons recorded before his death, and if you are incarnated Springsteen fan it will get the hairs on your arm to stand up when you hear the sax solo that comes in the middle of the song. The song is full of hope for a better future and for a speedy reunion with an old friend.

One could continue to emphasize small elements in the songs and analyse the meaning of the lyrics, but then this review would never end. As a conclusion one can say that this is Springsteen’s most opinion-oriented album to date. One can argue that his later albums are political as well, but they are not as direct in their lyrical expression as on “Wrecking Ball”. One can agree or disagree with his views, but if you do not take the lyrics into the overall assessment of the record then you miss out on half the impression and expression

Grade: 5/6

The above is a translation of the review I did for the Danish musicsite Goombay.dk

I’m hoping that some people outside Denmark will read this blog. That is why I’m writing in English. We Danes (myself included) have a nasty habit of always writing in Danish. I’m currently the editor at another Danish site Goombay.dk so if you want something in Danish go there, because you are not getting it here! I have a belief that many Danish artists are being overlooked due to the language barrier. Well that is what I’m trying to break down here. You are going to get introduced to new artists as well as already established ones.

Well I think that is it for now… Are you exited?? Well I am..!