Upcoming Single Releases (Updated 27th June 2013)

This Week’s Single Releases

Andrea Begley – My Immortal

Chase & Status - Lost & Not Found

Cimorelli – Made In America (EP)

Doom Man – See Me Strive

Enter Shikari – Radiate

Herb Albert – Puttin’ On The Ritz

Icono Pop feat. Charli XCX – Love It

Indiana – Smoking Gun

Jack Johnson - I Got You

Jake Bugg – Broken

Jay Brown – Keep Talking

John Newman – Love Me Again

Josh Record – The War (EP)

Leeroy feat. Nagla – Can’t Get Enough

Lewis Watson – Four More Songs (EP)

Lorde – Tennis Court (EP)

MIA – Bring The Noize

Michael Buble - Close Your Eyes

MKTO - Classic

The Saturdays – Gentleman

Will.I.Am – Bang Bang

7^thJuly

Alunageorge – You Know You Like It

Iggy Azalea – Bounce

Katy B - What Love Is Made Of

Lawson feat. B.O.B. – Brokenhearted

MO – Waste of Time

Peace – Lovesick

Robyn feat. Snoop Dogg – U Should Know Better

Sebastian Ingrosso – Reload

Sneakbo – Ring A Ling

Unconfirmed

Pink feat. Lily Allen - True Love

14^th July

A*M*E – Heartless

Avril Lavigne - Here's To Never Growing Up

Ed Drewett – Undefeated

K Koke feat. Bridget Kelly – My Time

Lucy Spraggan – Lighthouse

Rihanna feat. David Guetta - Right Now

Selena Gomez – Come and Get It

Unconfirmed

Breach – Jack

Charlie Brown – Floodgates

Chvrches – Gun

Gauntlet Hair – Human Nature

Noah & The Whale - All Through The Night

21^st July

Diana Vickers – Cinderella

Nina Nesbitt – Way In The World

Professor Green feat. Miles Kane – Are You Getting Enough?

Roll Deep feat. Camille – All or Nothing

Unconfirmed

Amplify Dot feat. Busta Rhymes - I'm Good

Frank Ocean - Sweet Life

Nina Nesbitt - Way In The World

Scouting For Girls - Millionaire

Will.I.Am feat. Miley Cyrus - Fall Down

28^th July

Eliza Doolittle - Big When I Was Little

J Appiah – I Ain’t Rich... Yet

Josh Record – The War (EP)

Mark Morrison – I Am What I Am

Unconfirmed

Don Diablo feat. Kelis & Alex Clare - Give it All

Stooshe – My Man My Music

4^th Aug

Charlene Soraia – Broken

Unconfirmed

Fall Out Boy - Alone Together

11^th Aug

Unconfirmed

C2C - Happy

18^th Aug

Little Green Cars - Absolute Zero

Tich - Obsession

Unconfirmed

Miley Cyrus – We Can’t Stop

25^th Aug

Unconfirmed

Avicii - Wake Me Up

Naughty Boy - Think About It

1^st Sep

Austin Mahone – What About Love

Upcoming Singles With Unknown Release Dates

The Band Perry – Done

Bridget Kelly feat. Kendrick Lemarr – Sweet Dreaming

Ciara feat. Nicki Minaj – I’m Out

Disclosure – F For You

Foals – Bad Habit

Franz Ferdinand – Right Action

Hurts – Someone To Die For

Justin Timberlake – Tunnel Vision

Kanye West – Black Skinhead

Karmin – Acapella

Miguel - Adorn

Rod Stewart - She Makes Me Happy

Taylor Swift feat. Ed Sheeran - Everything Has Changed

Thomas Rhett – It Goes Like This

Vampire Weekend – Unbelievers

The XX – Fiction

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World War Z [Review]

Apocalyptic-porn zombie flick ‘World War Z’ stars the housewife’s favourite buff actor Brad Pitt as Gerry Lane, a former soldier who, through going about his daily business, ends up in the middle of a zombie infestation, escaping from the infected with his wife Karin (Mireille Enos) and daughters Constance and Rachel. Eventually seeking rescue thanks to Thierry Umutoni, a figure from his past who is now helping the US military tackle the outbreak, he finds himself called upon to find the source of the infection and help save the world.

‘World War Z’ is based on a book of the same name but apparently is a very loose adaptation, but I can’t comment on how closely it follows it as I’ve not read it. Judging the film purely on its merits this is the best zombie film we’ve had since the brilliant ’28 Days Later’. Now, I’m sure there will be those of you reading this that scoff at it being a zombie film as the antagonists run rather than shuffle, but if we’re being honest the rage-infected creatures of the aforementioned ’28 Days Later’ are always more scary than the slow, lumbering types so get over yourself. ‘World War Z’ does throw in the traditional type too, though, to keep the purists happy.

‘World War Z’ feels much more epic than your average zombie film and its scale really fits the picture, taking the concept established in ’28 Days Later’ and making it feel more global. It starts pretty sedated, feeling like it’s going to tackle zombies in the same way ‘Signs’ tackled an international alien invasion, with background news reports and a strong, informative opening credits sequence that expresses the scale of the problem in an easy to understand way. But, getting the cheesy car sequence out of the way in the first ten minutes – thankfully, as it’s being an overused trailer for the last twelve months, the film quickly bounces into the action at almost ‘Godzilla’ speeds of let’s-get-into-the-plot. There’s no ‘Cloverfield’-esque opening here.

The opening action scene is brilliantly managed with the CGI and large set-pieces handled brilliantly, and it feels like how a genuine zombie invasion would happen. The opening thirty minutes are pretty tense with some narrow escapes and darkly lit corridors. I’d heartily advice avoiding the film in 3D – my sense of timing meant I ended up having to don glasses to see it – as the film is dark and gloomy in parts and even more so behind dark shades, and the 3D effect is pointless and very much underutilised in the film.

The sense of panic is well captured and ‘World War Z’ captures the realism of a zombie invasion as well as you could and it does feel like they’ve made an effort to make it feel more global than the American-centric affairs we usually get in this type of picture. We get a long scene in Israel, one of the highlights of the piece, with some cracking use of CGI and a feeling that no one has yet truly found a solution. A key death just before this point, though, seemed too quick leaving me scratching my head as how they truly died.

The film continues along balancing plot with set pieces, with breadcrumbs of hints spread through the film of how the infected could be defeated. An action segment aboard a plane employs some jumps in a film that, considering the subject matter, doesn’t really employ too many jumpy moments, but the finale is a tense and well executed final third. Much has been made of the ending being re-filmed; I’m not sure what the original plan was but the solution works in the context of the film, though it does have a different vibe to the very wide-angled previous hour and a half. This last section does, though, employ some good tension, and is only let down by a half-hearted ending which seems to set up for some sort of sequel through the narration even though the plot strands seem neatly resolved.

‘World War Z’ isn’t going to win any awards as a masterpiece of cinema but it’s one of the most watchable films I’ve seen recently, and the two hour running time shoots by. Pitt is a strong lead and carries the film, though no one really stands up next to him as a stand-out companion due to him chopping-and-changing his travelling companion regularly. The music from Muse suits the atmosphere well and captures the mood, and the CGI of the zombie hordes looking impressive.

The invasion is handled realistically within the movie with the opening justaposition of news bulletins and trivial reports balanced next to each other setting up everyone’s reactions, and there are no real flights of fancy with the plot. The zombies themselves are particularly creepy in close up, and the images of them throwing themselves at helicopters and people stand out. I would have just hoped for a stronger final act and less of an ending that just sort of peters out, but it does better in the plotting stakes than a lot of recent films – ‘Man of Steel’ for example – in making the drama more believable without resorting to mindless CGI action pieces without any heart.

Not a particular scary zombie flick but plenty of tense moments and the sense of scale is handled well. With a stronger ending, would have grabbed another mark.

6.5/10

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Upcoming Single Releases (Updated 21st June 2013)

This Week’s Single Releases

Arctic Monkeys – Do I Wanna Know?

Biffy Clyro – Opposite (EP)

Bruno Mars – Treasure

The Civil Wars – The One That Got Away

Court Yard Hounds – Sunshine

John Mayer – Paper Doll

P9 – Love You In Those Jeans

Remix Junkies – I Don’t Care I Love It

The Wanted – Walks Like Rihanna

30^th June

Chase & Status - Lost & Not Found

Doom Man – See Me Strive

Indiana – Smoking Gun

Jake Bugg – Broken

Jay Brown – Keep Talking

John Newman – Love Me Again

Josh Record – The War (EP)

Lewis Watson – Four More Songs (EP)

Michael Buble - Close Your Eyes

Roll Deep feat. Camille – All or Nothing

The Saturdays – Gentleman

Unconfirmed

Icono Pop feat. Charli XCX – Love It

Iggy Azalea – Bounce

Lewis Watson – Calling

Miguel - Adorn

Rihanna feat. David Guetta - Right Now

7^thJuly

Alunageorge – You Know You Like It

Katy B - What Love Is Made Of

Lucy Spraggan – Lighthouse

MO – Waste of Time

Peace - Lovesick

Sebastian Ingrosso – Reload

Sneakbo – Ring A Ling

Unconfirmed

Pink feat. Lily Allen - True Love

14^th July

Avril Lavigne - Here's To Never Growing Up

Breach – Jack

Chvrches - Gun

Ed Drewett – Undefeated

Gauntlet Hair – Human Nature

K Koke feat. Bridget Kelly – My Time

Selena Gomez – Come and Get It

Unconfirmed

A*M*E - Heartless

Charlie Brown – Floodgates

Lawson feat. B.O.B. – Brokenhearted

Noah & The Whale - All Through The Night

21^st July

Diana Vickers – Cinderella

Scouting For Girls - Millionaire

Unconfirmed

Amplify Dot feat. Busta Rhymes - I'm Good

Frank Ocean - Sweet Life

Nina Nesbitt - Way In The World

Will.I.Am feat. Miley Cyrus - Fall Down

28^th July

Don Diablo feat. Kelis & Alex Clare - Give it All

Eliza Doolittle - Big When I Was Little

J Appiah – I Ain’t Rich... Yet

4^th Aug

Charlene Soraia – Broken

Unconfirmed

Fall Out Boy - Alone Together

11^th Aug

Unconfirmed

C2C - Happy

18^th Aug

Unconfirmed

Little Green Cars - Absolute Zero

Miley Cyrus – We Can’t Stop

25^th Aug

Unconfirmed

Avicii - Wake Me Up

Naughty Boy - Think About It

1^st Sep

Austin Mahone – What About Love

Upcoming Singles With Unknown Release Dates

Alicia Keys – Tears Always Win

The Band Perry – Done

Ciara feat. Nicki Minaj – I’m Out

Kanye West – Black Skinhead

Karmin – Acapella

Skylar Grey – You Wear Me Out

Swim Deep – King City

Taylor Swift feat. Ed Sheeran - Everything Has Changed

Thomas Rhett – It Goes Like This

The XX – Fiction

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Free To Play Games

"IGN reports that Steel Diver will be Nintendo's first free to play game. In an interview with Shigeru Miyamoto, the legendary Nintendo developer said that Nintendo is planning to return to the 3DS submarine sim as he has some fun ideas for the title, including a four-player multiplayer mode." (http://www.officialnintendomagazine.co.uk/51321/steel-diver-is-nintendos-first-free-to-play-game/)

This could be an interesting direction for Nintendo who have so far been reluctant to invest in F2P or indeed DLC to a big degree, though they have on some 3DS games. The two questions hanging over it is where they'll get the money for it, whether it will be from micro-payments, and on what formats it'll be released: will it be the 3DS, WiiU or mobile phones? The latter would certainly be new territory for any video game companies.

Personally, I'd like to see them embracing DLC more than F2P. For instance, on the new Smash Bros game in development allowing additional characters and courses to be purchased in the future (though not to the detriment of a cut-back game as some other developers have been guilt of) and for Mario Kart 8 to have 32 new courses then the ability to buy courses from previous games to play in full HD.

I enjoyed 'Steel Diver' as a game and a 4-player versions could be interesting, but I'll wait to see where the revenue comes from and how fleshed out the game is.

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Man of Steel [Review]

I have a confession to make, and it’s not the one about me wearing my underpants on the outside of my trousers. It’s that, to the day I saw the new ‘Man of Steel’ film, I’ve never seen a Superman movie. Sure, like a lot of people of my age, I watched Dean Cain and Teri Hatcher as Clark and Lois in the anachronistically titled ‘New Adventures of Superman’ as a youngster, but I’ve never seen Reeve or Ruth in action. But, as I imagine is the case for most people, I am familiar with the mythology of the man in the cape.

‘Man of Steel’ casts Henry Cavill as the Krypton-born superhero and, with one eye presumably on a ‘Justice League’ movie, sets up his origin story and starts from scratch. So, we get to see the last days of Krypton, crippled by their very own equivalent of man-made global warming, where the young Kal-El is sent blasting off into space by his father, played brilliantly by Russell Crowe, to start a new life elsewhere to stop them repeating the same mistakes of the residents of Krypton. Meanwhile, General Zod is causing all manner of upset and has other plans for their future before being imprisoned following an impressive opening battle scene.

Naturally Kal-El lands on Earth and grows up as Clark Kent in Smallville before morphing into the superhero we know, saving kids in buses and going from place-to-place to avoid the exposure so feared by his father, who breaks the key rule we know about pets and danger and sets in motion the mantra of the man in steel. But soon Zod is back, threatening the planet, and it’s up to Superman to save the planet.

‘Man of Steel’ has a brilliant opening hour or so. The backstory and history of Krypton is well told and the jumping around of timelines through Kent’s life really builds the character, and “love interest” Lois Lane gets a much more fleshed out role in this piece. Both Cavill and Adams fit neatly into their characters though much of Kent’s human-side is established by a very convincing turn by a young Clark Kent, played by Cooper Timberline.

The tension that builds through the discovery of a buried spacecraft and Zod’s scary and tense take-over of the television network really lifts the film up and Russell Crowe’s turn as his hologram-father is brilliant, with his guidance of Lois Lane one of the genuine more light-hearted elements of an otherwise dark film (the other being a great joke with a building site sign).

Sadly, as the film enters its final third it loses all the momentum that it has set up. The conclusion suffers from the same problems that ‘The Avengers Assemble’ had, in that it ends up feeling like a video game battle with little spark, where the CGI budget has been thrown at the screen rather than plot. The construction drills from the ‘Star Trek’ reboot meet CGI versions of the actors being thrown through buildings, and into cars. It all looks very impressive but ultimately devaluates the build-up and it ends up feeling like a retread of the conclusion to the Matrix trilogy with Neo and Agent Smith’s air-battle, but without the impressive choreography or lighting. In short, it’s a shallow, lifeless ending. It has, for instance, none of the energy that was seen in the building-battle between Spider-man and Doc Ock in the second film of that original trilogy, or the grit of Batman vs Bane in the Dark Knight’s recent third appearance.

‘Man of Steel’, even with its disappointing ending, is worth seeing thanks to its strong first-half storytelling and the tension built through the stand-off between the two cultures. There is a good amount of fallibility put into the character of Clark Kent to avoid him becoming too undefeatable, and the set pieces are always nothing short of impressive. Russell Crowe stands out as my favourite contribution to the piece but there is also great support from other minor characters such as the head newsreader played by Laurence Fishbourne. Henry Cavill fits neatly into the role and the modernising of his costume works, and Amy Adams gets to be more than the typically Lois Lane love interest. Michael Shannon’s ‘Zod’ feels a fleshed out baddie, it’s just a shame he gets lumped with becoming nothing more than a collection of 1s and 0s in the bombastic, but boring conclusion.

With a better written and directed ending this could have been up there with ‘The Dark Knight’. Instead, it’s a well set-up film that nails the history and backstory but reduces Superman to a bit of meat being thrown through more metal and glass, in destruction of Metropolis that must cost a few pennies. It’s not as dark as ‘The Dark Knight’ with some shots of humour, but it’s the fleshing out of the Superman character and his involvement with the human race that really sell the film, and it’ll be interesting to see how they tackle the world’s knowledge of him and his involvement with the military in the inevitable sequel.

(6/10)

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Single Releases (Updated 14th June 2013)

This Week’s Single Releases

Dizzee Rascal feat. Robbie Williams - Goin' Crazy

Gabrielle Aplin - Home

Heaven's Basement – Fire Fire

Jason Derulo - The Other Side

John Legend - Who Do We Think We Are

Leah McFall – I Will Survive

London Grammar – Wasting My Young Years (EP)

Madness - Misery

Sage The Gemini – Red Nose

The Middle Eight – Greenpoint

Statik Selektah featuring Sean Price and Mac Miller - 21 & Over

Tom Odell – The Another Love (EP)

Tunng – The Village

23^rd June

Biffy Clyro – Opposite (EP)

Court Yard Hounds – Sunshine

Karmin - Acapella

The Wanted – Walks Like Rihanna

Unconfirmed

Ed Drewett – Undefeated

Michael Buble - Close Your Eyes

Taylor Swift feat. Ed Sheeran - Everything Has Changed

30^th June

Indiana – Smoking Gun

John Newman – Love Me Again

Lewis Watson – Four More Songs (EP)

Peace - Lovesick

Roll Deep feat. Camille – All or Nothing

Unconfirmed

Chase & Status - Lost & Not Found

Icono Pop feat. Charli XCX – Love It

Iggy Azalea – Bounce

Lewis Watson – Calling

Rihanna feat. David Guetta - Right Now

The Saturdays – Gentleman

7^thJuly

Alunageorge – You Know You Like It

J Appiah – I Ain’t Rich... Yet

Katy B - What Love Is Made Of

Lucy Spraggan - Lighthouse

Sebastian Ingrosso – Reload

Unconfirmed

Pink feat. Lily Allen - True Love

14^th July

Avril Lavigne - Here's To Never Growing Up

Selena Gomez – Come and Get It

Unconfirmed

A*M*E - Heartless

Charlie Brown – Floodgates

Lawson feat. B.O.B. – Brokenhearted

Noah & The Whale - All Through The Night

21^st July

Diana Vickers – Cinderella

Scouting For Girls - Millionaire

Unconfirmed

Amplify Dot feat. Busta Rhymes - I'm Good

Frank Ocean - Sweet Life

Nina Nesbitt - Way In The World

28^th July

Don Diablo feat. Kelis & Alex Clare - Give it All

4^th Aug

Charlene Soraia – Broken

18^th Aug

Miley Cyrus – We Can’t Stop

1^st Sep

Austin Mahone – What About Love

Upcoming Singles With Unknown Release Dates

Alicia Keys – Tears Always Win

The Band Perry – Done

Carrie Underwood – See You Again

Ciara feat. Nicki Minaj – I’m Out

FM - Story Of My Life

Gauntlet Hair – Human Nature

Jimmy Eat World – I Will Steal You Back

Josh Osho – Freewheel

Sick Puppies – There’s No Going Back

Skylar Grey – You Wear Me Out

Sneakbo – Ring A Ling

Snoop Lion feat. Miley Cyrus – Ashtrays and Heartbeats

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Upcoming Singles (Updated 7th June 2013)

This Week’s Single Reviews

Alison Moyet - Love Reign Supreme

Andrew Stockdale – Long Way To Go

Churchill – The War Within

Depeche Mode - Soothe My Soul

Goo Goo Dolls – Rebel Beat

Ivy Levan – Hot Damn

K Rose – Booji Girl

Man Can’t Fly - Don't Waste My Time EP

Mark Owen – Stars

Michael Franti - I'm Alive (Life Sounds Like)

Tegan And Sara - I Was A Fool

Wiley feat. Angel & Tinchy Stryder - Lights On

16th June

Heaven's Basement – Fire Fire

Jason Derulo - The Other Side

John Legend - Who Do We Think We Are

London Grammar – Wasting My Young Years (EP)

Statik Selektah featuring Sean Price and Mac Miller - 21 & Over

Tom Odell – The Another Love (EP)

Unconfirmed

Bruno Mars – Treasure

Bullet For My Valentine - P.O.W

Deap Vally - Baby I Call Hell

Robbie William & Dizzee Rascal - Goin' Crazy

23^rd June

Biffy Clyro – Opposite (EP)

The Wanted – Walks Like Rihanna

Unconfirmed

Ed Drewett - Undefeated

Michael Buble - Close Your Eyes

Taylor Swift feat. Ed Sheeran - Everything Has Changed

30^th June

Avril Lavigne - Here's To Never Growing Up

John Newman – Love Me Again

Peace - Lovesick

Roll Deep feat. Camille – All or Nothing

Unconfirmed

Chase & Status - Lost & Not Found

Icono Pop feat. Charli XCX – Love It

Iggy Azalea – Bounce

Lewis Watson – Calling

Lucy Spraggan - Lighthouse

Rihanna feat. David Guetta - Right Now

The Saturdays – Gentleman

7^thJuly

Sebastian Ingrosso – Reload

Unconfirmed

Katy B - What Love Is Made Of

Pink feat. Lily Allen - True Love

14^th July

Selena Gomez – Come and Get It

Unconfirmed

Charlie Brown - Floodgates

Lawson feat. B.O.B. – Brokenhearted

Noah & The Whale - All Through The Night

21^st July

Diana Vickers - Cinderella

Unconfirmed

Amplify Dot feat. Busta Rhymes - I'm Good

Frank Ocean - Sweet Life

Nina Nesbitt - Way In The World

28^th July

Don Diablo feat. Kelis & Alex Clare - Give it All

4^th Aug

Charlene Soraia – Broken

18^th Aug

Miley Cyrus – We Can’t Stop

Upcoming Singles With Unknown Release Dates

Alicia Keys - Next Day

Alunageorge - Lost & Found

The Band Perry – Done

Billy Bragg - Handyman Blues

Bo Bruce – Alive

Bon Jovi - What About Now

Bridgit Mendler - Hurricane

Bring Me the Horizon - Go To Hell For Heaven's Sake

Everything Everything – Don’t Try

Frank Turner – The Way I Tend To Be

Gauntlet Hair – Human Nature

Jimmy Eat World – I Will Steal You Back

John Legend – Ordinary People

Josh Osho – Freewheel

Kelly Clarkson – People Like Us

Maroon 5 – Love Somebody

Mumford and Sons - Babel

One Republic – If I Lose Myself

The Proclaimers - Not Cynical

The Script – Millionaires

Sick Puppies – There’s No Going Back

Snoop Lion feat. Miley Cyrus – Ashtrays and Heartbeats

Skin and Bone – If You Like To Dance

3010 - Destin

Tyga feat. Chris Brown – For The Road

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