14 Mar

Movie Review: John Carter

Posted by vagrantesque in Movies. Tagged: , .

The movie reviews on Vagrant Rant finally get started today with John Carter, a film I saw last night in the cinema. It came out on March 8 and you should see it.

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Starring: Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins, Mark Strong
Director: Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo, Wall-E)
Rating: M
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John Carter Poster
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It’s always interesting to see the results when a film director known almost exclusively for one type of work tries his/her hand at another. Filmgoers got a taste of this phenomenon earlier in the year with gangster movie extraordinaire Martin Scorsese‘s family film Hugo, which won several Oscars despite its director’s violent screen reputation. In a similar vein, Pixar veteran Andrew Stanton tried his hand at making a live action film recently and the result is John Carter, which was one of my most anticipated films of 2012. While it certainly isn’t Academy Award material, the big budget Disney blockbuster is an admirable first effort.

Continue reading

13 Mar

Hundreds of ’em

Posted by vagrantesque in Misc, Movies. Tagged: , , .

Generic Movie Pic

Over the last few years I have been undertaking to watch and review 100 movies for the first time every 365 days, in an effort to get “more cultured”. I started at the end of 2009 with a strained attempt to remember everything I had watched that year (only reaching 50), then began in earnest in 2010. I published the lists on Facebook and if you’re interested you can skim through them using the following links.

You can check out that half-hearted 2009 effort here, the fragmented 2010 project here and here, and the complete 2011 list here.

This year I’m only up to twelve movies and we are already in March. Best get a move on. My first proper film review for Vagrant Rant goes up tomorrow!

11 Mar

Album Review: Evanescence – Evanescence

Posted by vagrantesque in Music. Tagged: , .

What’s that? You didn’t realise that Evanescence released a new album last year?

Exactly.

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Released: October 2011
Label: Wind-up
Genre: Rock
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Ooooohh

That’s a lot of cool colours (Thank you, Year 4 art class)!

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TRACK LISTING (iTunes Deluxe Edition)

1. What You Want
2. Made of Stone
3. The Change
4. My Heart is Broken
5. The Other Side
6. Erase This
7. Lost in Paradise
8. Sick
9. End of the Dream
10. Oceans
11. Never Go Back
12. Swimming Home
13. New Way to Bleed (Deluxe Only)
14. Say You Will (Deluxe Only)
15. Disappear (Deluxe Only)
16. Secret Door (Deluxe Only)

One-time symphonic rock superstars Evanescence arguably peaked just as they were getting started. They won a Grammy in 2004 for Best New Artist after their wildly successful debut album Fallen hypnotised much of the Western world. It brought the niche subgenre of hybrid orchestral movements and snaring guitar riffs into the mainstream through powerful singles such as Bring Me to Life and My Immortal. But dynamite lead vocalist Amy Lee was the catalyst for internal trouble in the band which delayed the release of their next effort until 2007. The Open Door didn’t see the success of the first album but it managed to build well off the strength of Lee’s voice while employing a great deal of variety in melody and themes. Continue reading

5 Mar

IDO: Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3

Posted by vagrantesque in Games, IDO. Tagged: , , .

Here starts a new series of articles called “In Defense Of”, which will attempt to address some of the negative accusations leveled at a host of popular things. Modern Warfare 3 (released on November 8th last year) seems like as good a place to start as any, because there are millions of people playing it even right now.
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I N   D E F E N S E   O F

–==Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3==–

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The Case Against:
The Call of Duty franchise is growing stale and Modern Warfare 3 is a glaring example of this. Every year the series repackages the same game and calls it a new one, expecting everyone to buy it anyway. Putting the disc into your console or PC will give you exactly the same experience as you got from Modern Warfare 2. The game is terrible and no-one should play it. Battlefield 3 is better in every way.
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Keanu muses

Indeed.

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The Defense:
It’s amazing how little time can elapse before a popular videogame franchise becomes ‘cool’ to hate on. But it’s simply astounding that such a franchise can attract as much bashing as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 does and still sell so ridiculously well as to become the highest selling entertainment media property of all time. That’s ultimately the bottom line when it comes to the latest COD: Its sheer sales numbers tell the best story of its enduring quality. No extra argument needed.

But extra argument I will give. Continue reading

29 Feb

Something something something COMPLETE

Posted by vagrantesque in Misc.

Well, that’s February done.

My seven days of blogging were successful and from here on out I plan to post twice a week. It’s March tomorrow, which means the start of brand new NRL and AFL seasons, the launch of Mass Effect 3 and HUNGER GAMES! Some of the things you can expect from Vagrant Rant over the next little while:

-A new series of articles called “In Defense Of” in which I will attempt to rebutt the haters of a particular entertainment property

-More top ten lists packed with subjective goodness

-Loose, bloggy rants on topics not really related to anything

-Plenty more reviews of movies, albums and games

Remember, if you like what you see on vagrantrant.com, subscribe to it! Just type in your email address in the space provided on the right-hand sidebar of the site to get updates sent to you.

Note: If you are reading on an iPad, the box will not appear. Just touch the “normal site” link at the bottom of the page to view it like everybody else.

25 Feb

Game Review: The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword

Posted by vagrantesque in Games, Wii. Tagged: , , , .

I know it has been three months since the latest Hyrulian adventure was released, but like I said I’m not going to be able to post a whole lot of game reviews near release. I finished Skyward Sword just over a month ago and hey, people are still playing it, so here we go.

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Platform: Wii
Developer: Nintendo
Rating: M
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Golden!

Still going strong after 25 years.

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I’m going to come right out and say it.
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The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is only just behind Majora’s Mask as my favourite Zelda game of all time. Read on to find out why. Continue reading

24 Feb

Ahead

Posted by vagrantesque in Games, Lists, Movies. Tagged: , , .

I looove lists. Especially top fives/tens. You’ll be seeing a few of them here on Vagrant Rant, starting here. Enjoy : )

Unless the end of the world comes on time according to the Mayan calendar, it is going to be an incredible year for entertainment media. There is just so much to look forward to. I won’t bore you with the album releases I am most looking forward to this year, but here are my top ten most anticipated movies and games of (the rest of) 2012!

MOVIES

10. Looper (Info)
Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis play the same character, but one is trying to kill the other. Sound intriguing? I certainly think so.

9. Snow White and the Huntsman (Trailer)
An epic reimagining of the classic fairytale with more violence and more Chris Hemsworth/Charlize Theron. Looks awesome.

8. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (Trailer)
I’m not the world’s biggest Lord of the Rings fan but I actually read The Hobbit, so I’m keen to see how it turns out as a film.

7. The Amazing Spider-Man (Trailer)
Hopefully director Marc Webb can deliver a version of Spider-Man that has its own unique identity. The trailers suggest he will.

6. John Carter (Trailer)
The 100 year-old inspiration for the likes of Star Wars and Avatar finally looks like getting a worthy movie adaptation. Continue reading

23 Feb

Viva la Vita – Playstation Vita Review

Posted by vagrantesque in Console, Games, PS Vita. Tagged: , , .

Please forgive me for that horrible, horrible pun.

The Playstation Vita launched around the Western world today and I was fortunate enough to be able to pick one up. Not that it was cheap. Not in the slightest.

My wallet...

Day One haul, clockwise from bottom left: Starter Pack, PSVita Wifi Model, Preorder Bonus Box, Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Little Deviants, PSN Voucher, Memory Card. My wallet hurts.

Just under $600 all up. Ouch. Let’s get straight to some first impression reviews. Continue reading

22 Feb

Album Review: PLAYER – Capsule

Posted by vagrantesque in Music. Tagged: , , , , .

My album reviews start with a left-field choice, but one that introduced me to an entire genre all by itself.

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Released: March 2010
Label: Yamaha
Genre: J-pop/Dance
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omgwhatsonhereyes?

…Nup. Can’t explain the logic here.

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TRACK LISTING

1. Stay With You
2. Player
3. I Wish You
4. The Music
5. Factory
6. I Was Wrong
7. Can I Have a Word
8. What Do You Want to Do
9. Hello
10. Love or Lies

Some time in late June, 2010, I was travelling on a long Singapore Airlines flight to South Africa when I decided to pass the time by checking out some of the Eastern music options available on their (awesome) in-flight entertainment system. The first option I chose was PLAYER, a Japanese electro-pop album that was relatively new at the time and that I knew absolutely nothing about. Continue reading

21 Feb

Summer Movie Round-Up

Posted by vagrantesque in Movies. Tagged: , , .

Last year I watched 35 movies in the cinema as part of my 100 movie project (more on that later). This year, with summer on its last limp legs, I am up to a grand total of eight. With the Oscars less than a week away, it seems as good a time as any to go through them (I won’t be rating them yet though).

The posters pictured below are the properties of their respective studios.
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Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

Another year of (hopefully) 100 movies kicked off with several loud bangs thanks to Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. The film does not shy away from pyrotechnics and seems to take delight in framing its explosions in the most ludicrous way possible. The traditionally tame period setting has no effect on this; Ritchie knows what he likes from his films and he runs with that. The banter between his leads Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law is what holds the otherwise confusing narrative together. The supporting cast, especially Noomi Rapace, is underused, although Jared Harris’ criminal mastermind Moriarty is well depicted. One brilliant slo-mo heavy escape sequence in particular stands out from what is ultimately an “alright” movie. Continue reading

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