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Showing posts with label review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label review. Show all posts
Thursday, 21 June 2012
Wednesday, 14 December 2011
Wednesday, 27 July 2011
Captain America Review
Published by Itchy City on Tuesday 26th July 2011. Link here .
Another Marvel adaptation for 2011's comic fans, this time with extra-bad baddies.
America is at war, governments are falling, and Marvel Studios has another movie out. Craftily concealed in this hilarious analogy between the WWII setting of Captain America and today is a serious point: we get that the story of the struggle between good and evil has 'universal, timeless relevance'. But you know what, we've heard it before.
Let's start with the goodies. Captain America is Chris Evans, AKA the guy with cream and glacé cherries on his nipples in Not Another Teen Movie. He plays weedy New Yorker Steve Rogers, who implausibly is desperate to sign up for the US army. Cue eccentric German scientist, an experiment gone right, and lo, a superhero. Evans, to his credit, does all that is asked of him in the role: shooting baddies, falling in love, and looking great in a tight t-shirt. The romantic female lead (Hayley Atwell), astonishingly for a Marvel, isn't at all irritating. In fact, she kinda kicks arse, and all in a standard issue army pencil skirt.
As for the baddies, no one can deny Nazis make the baddest baddies, and this bunch, led by the ever-scary Hugo Weaving, are even worser than the Nazis. They are super-nasty to a wicked orchestral soundtrack, and everyone does everything in sexy-as-hell 1940s outfits. Loads of long, black leather studded creations for the ones we hate, nipped in waists for the pretty girls, and a totally ridiculous superhero costume. The attempts at humour from both sides are not just successful, but also rather sweet, it's gripping, it's fun, and lots of things go bang. So far, so super.
Until we get on to the superbly crap. Weaving's accent sucks. Was he going for German? For the sake of German-Australian relations, we hope not. The CGI boys didn't do a great job on 'pre-op' skinny Evans: his proportions are all wrong, and creepily he has the same deep big-dude voice throughout. 3D was done post-production, and it shows. The plot had a few embarrassing holes, for example the baddies' motivation, and the ending is boring. Minor points, but unimpressive on a big budget.
But most disappointing was the lack of originality. 'You don't give up, do you?' says Red Skull (Weaving) to Captain America. And that's how Itchy feels about samey superhero movies. Red Skull looks like Voldemort, the Captain has an amazing Enchanted (Disney princess film) moment, and the plot is almost indistinguishable from Iron Man. It is a good Marvel comic adaption, a classic good v. bad yarn, with lots of explosions, and as long as that's definitely what you're looking for, you'll have a great time.
Another Marvel adaptation for 2011's comic fans, this time with extra-bad baddies.
America is at war, governments are falling, and Marvel Studios has another movie out. Craftily concealed in this hilarious analogy between the WWII setting of Captain America and today is a serious point: we get that the story of the struggle between good and evil has 'universal, timeless relevance'. But you know what, we've heard it before.
Let's start with the goodies. Captain America is Chris Evans, AKA the guy with cream and glacé cherries on his nipples in Not Another Teen Movie. He plays weedy New Yorker Steve Rogers, who implausibly is desperate to sign up for the US army. Cue eccentric German scientist, an experiment gone right, and lo, a superhero. Evans, to his credit, does all that is asked of him in the role: shooting baddies, falling in love, and looking great in a tight t-shirt. The romantic female lead (Hayley Atwell), astonishingly for a Marvel, isn't at all irritating. In fact, she kinda kicks arse, and all in a standard issue army pencil skirt.
As for the baddies, no one can deny Nazis make the baddest baddies, and this bunch, led by the ever-scary Hugo Weaving, are even worser than the Nazis. They are super-nasty to a wicked orchestral soundtrack, and everyone does everything in sexy-as-hell 1940s outfits. Loads of long, black leather studded creations for the ones we hate, nipped in waists for the pretty girls, and a totally ridiculous superhero costume. The attempts at humour from both sides are not just successful, but also rather sweet, it's gripping, it's fun, and lots of things go bang. So far, so super.
Until we get on to the superbly crap. Weaving's accent sucks. Was he going for German? For the sake of German-Australian relations, we hope not. The CGI boys didn't do a great job on 'pre-op' skinny Evans: his proportions are all wrong, and creepily he has the same deep big-dude voice throughout. 3D was done post-production, and it shows. The plot had a few embarrassing holes, for example the baddies' motivation, and the ending is boring. Minor points, but unimpressive on a big budget.
But most disappointing was the lack of originality. 'You don't give up, do you?' says Red Skull (Weaving) to Captain America. And that's how Itchy feels about samey superhero movies. Red Skull looks like Voldemort, the Captain has an amazing Enchanted (Disney princess film) moment, and the plot is almost indistinguishable from Iron Man. It is a good Marvel comic adaption, a classic good v. bad yarn, with lots of explosions, and as long as that's definitely what you're looking for, you'll have a great time.
Friday, 1 July 2011
Review of Soju Korean Kitchen in SoHo
Submitted to Itchy London but as yet unpublished.
The Soju Korean Kitchen is squished between pricey Piccadilly and slutty SoHo, yet is super cheap and spotlessly clean. Swift and friendly service and decent Korean classics make it an (oddly empty) reliable lunchtime spot if you’re in the centre of town.
Our bokumbap (yup, great name, it means Korean fried rice) was subtly spiced, the fried egg on top perfectly runny. The £9 lunch set menu didn’t blow us away tastewise, but made up for it in quantity, the plates just keep coming: soup, meat, rice, pickles, pickles, sauce, more pickles. The Koreans sure do like their pickles. And we like their pickles too.
Review of Lounge Bohemia in Shoreditch
A website with just a phone number and a note: 'by appointment'. An unmarked door, a fire escape down into the gloom. So far, so hooch bar.
Forget clichéd Roaring Thirties glamour, this den of iniquity does it with sixties Communist style, and boy is it sexy. Slinky curves, Shoreditch trendies seducing each other at the next table, menus hidden inside books of Czech fairy tales (honestly dahling, what else?) and sultry low hanging lights. The cocktails (£7.70-£14) are both sublime and ridiculous. Rum infused with a Cuban cigar served over vanilla candy-floss anyone?
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