Toronto -
The video for Verve’s final closing set can be found on BBC here
At the 28 minute mark, right before the festival closing song (guess what it is), commenting on their position as closing band for Glasto, Ashcroft saids “Im worried she didn’t think we were as good as Keane or something like that”.
Not really a dig, but still pretty funny.
There are a lot of good shows on that BBC page, including Hot Chip, Massive Attack and MGMT. Check it.
Toronto - Lets get the basics out of the way first: This movie is essentially a mashup of The Matrix vs the Fight Club vs John Woo’s movie. As you undoubtedly know by now, Wanted is a movie about a would-be loser living a boring life (ie. Ed Norton in Fight Club or Neo in the Matrix) who finds himself thrown into a world of Assassins who kill “1 to save 1000″. Angelina Jolie plays Carrie Ann Moss (only hotter, although that is not hard to achieve) and Morgan Freeman adopts the Morpheus role. Thats about as much plot as I’ll write about, since it’s mostly irrelevant.
Action. That is what Wanted is about. Check your brain at the door and enter a world where bullets can curve, cars can flip at will and people can leap across buildings. From the opening scene til the credits, this movie is pretty much non stop “chris bridges” action. So what separates this movie from the rest of the movie? Style. There are shoot’em up assassin movies all the time, but this one does it with massive style. It seems as if every action sequence in the movie pushes the envelop just a bit. A car chase scene is usually pretty exciting, but you know what..lets have Angelina Jolie in a dress lying down on the hood of the car shooting the truck behind her while steering the car with her legs!. Thats the insanity I be speaking of. I think a few times in the movie, I spoke out loud with a “WHAT!” at some of the stuff you see. However, this movie was built with ‘fun’ in mind, and it fits the bill.
The other thing I love about this movie is the complete disregard for human life. I can’t remember the last assassin/action movie where so many innocent/pedestrians die. You know Ron Howard can’t pull off this shit. Thats whats refreshing about having this russian director. Too often we’ve seen gun fights where the hero saves a baby in the middle of the gun fight or helps a senior across the street or something. In Wanted? Nope. You dead, if you in the way. Thats the way Assassins should be. James McAvoy cares not if he has to kill hundreds of people to get to his man, thats what it takes to get the job done, son.
So how is the acting? Stellar. We all know current boy-du-jour James McAvoy can act from Atonement and Last King of Scotland, and he really does a good job conveying the transition from poor office nerd to cold blooded killer. Much better then Neo, but every Keanu Reeves movie, I expect him to say ‘whoa’ for some reason. Angelina Jolie doesn’t really do much in the movie, aside from show off her ass, her tattoos and her twigly arms. I think she needs to eat some more. Having said that, it never hurts to have Angelina Jolie in a movie, even if the only emotion she shows is that of no emotion. Morgan Freeman, is Morgan Freeman. He’s old, he’s wise.
In conclusion, you should see this movie. It’s got insane action, it’s got humor, its two hours of escape and you will leave the theatre with a smile on your face.
4/5
Toronto - Well. What else was one to expect? This is an evolved strain of social lifeform that began in 1981 as a protest. And today, it’s a highly valuable commodity worth millions in tourism dollars and other associated business interests. I can’t do an in-depth review since 1. I’m not familiar with the scene, and 2. I was mainly there for the photo op. And what a helluva photo opportunity it was! Cut loose! The LGBTs (and other spectrum of orientations) really take you for a spin - while you’re propped up in the ass by hundreds of other bystanders with your chest/nuts/others squashed against the fence and other anatomical parts that do not belong to you. My advice: take an inflatable doll - it’s like fishing - all jolly gay ol’ fun. At the end of the ordeal I have two fully-drained batteries, one very sore wrist, one sore throat, two fatigued calves, and one wet camera… it’s all true. Take that however you want - although right now everything seems suggestive since the rainbow is seared onto my retina…
Toronto - Lets take the Panic Manual Time machine and go back to April 15, 2008 when Noel Gallagher spoke out about the choice of Jay Z as the headliner for Glastonbury:
” I’m sorry, but Jay-Z? Fucking no chance. Glastonbury has a tradition of guitar music and even when they throw the odd curve ball in on a Sunday night you go ‘Kylie Minogue?’ I don’t know about it. But I’m not having hip-hop at Glastonbury, no way man. It’s wrong.”
Cue Jay-Z’s response at Glasto:
Classic.
It woulda been better if he was like “I got 99 problems, but Oasis ain’t one”
Toronto - This must be sugar pop week here at Panic Manual. I’m handing out some free candy. To cap off the week, and start you off ton the weekend, here is the latest single from Norway’s best export - Annie. Surprisingly, it’s been four years since Annie made waves in the the indie dance club world (as small as that is) with her debut album - Anniemal, which reach #1 on the Uk charts. Well..101. Now I must confess, I was a big fan of her songs “Heartbeat“, “Me Plus One” and “Chewing Gum“. They were fun electro tunes. Her new single - “I Know UR Girlfriend Hates Me” is along the same lines and I’ll be damn, its definitely catchy and something people are gonna be putting this on dance floor this summer. Excuse me now while I go chew some bubble gum.
You can download an album sampler at Annie’s website here
Here is a video about her, I guess
[Note: this review was written by Brian, an avid Ahmad Jamal enthusiast well acquainted with Ahmad's discography.]
Toronto - Even if you haven’t heard of legendary pianist Ahmad Jamal, you’ve definitely heard the unmistakable sound he popularized.
In late fifties, Jamal’s understated, eloquent style influenced scores of other artists, famously inspiring Miles Davis’ during his First Great Quintet period. In more recent years, Jamal has been rediscovered by a new generation of artists: he’s been sampled on countless hip-hop records (Nas’ “The World is Yours”, Common’s “Resurrection”).
At his packed Festival Mainstage show earlier this week, the legendary Jamal put on a mesmerizing performance that found the 78-year old pianist still pushing his delicate, thoughtful sound into new directions.
He was accompanied by a stellar rhythm section consisting of his longtime bassist James Cammack, drummer James Johnson, and the odd-haired percussionist Manolo Badrena. The interplay between the latter two stole the show for me; it was exhilarating to watch them gradually evolve their patterns together into complex, crowd-rocking grooves.
I’ve been waiting for years to see Jamal perform, and his sparse, dynamic piano play was captivating to hear in person. The audience agreed with me, bringing the band back out for three standing-ovation encores. It was a treat to see Jamal continue to push his artistic boundaries well after his status as a jazz legend has been cemented.
4.5/5
