The Brown Note Movie Review

One of musics most indefatigable voices has had a dream run since he punctuated his long recording career by releasing music under his own name. Even against that 'Reality" is a high water mark. Focused, upright, compelling, consistent, well curated and with several of the best things he's every done. Add a fully developed sweet of songs, with a dynamic sound stage (often veering into the avant-ga...

One of the most acclaimed low-budget cross-over horror successes of the year, but having watched it near back to back with, Smile, I kinda feel the reviews for both films should be reversed. Admittedly this film is much more original and has much stronger themes, but where as Smile is relentless, scary and dread-fueled, Barbarian has a LOT of down time and a lot of dead ends. Much of the story and...

The ninth album from Pennsylvania's Alex G contains compelling and immediate melodies and emotional, personal lyircs SOME of the time. It can also drift a bit.

The latest in the long line of low budget horrors, that cross over to major box office, is a far classier affair than expected, with a superb lead performance by Sosie Bacon. Like the movie, she is at her best credibility descending in psychosis in this supernatural chiller. A brilliant sound-stage and music and an expert hand at the overused trope of jump scares rounds out a near excellent film.

Last review for a bit, and slightly less than the universal acclaim - though still very strong and often thrilling for the long awaited UK duo's debut.

I'm not sure why the stunning new album from veteran, Beth Orton isn't being called post rock, as it fits firmly into the heritage of Talk Talk's, Spirit of Eden and Laughing Stock.

My favorite rapper eschews his famed one-producer projects with few guests to go for the multi-guest, multi-producer angle most others can only do. It's never going to be bad, though I wished he'd pushed even further and sadly it's only the old head guest spots that are on par with the MVP himself.

Well, well, well. It's been a couple of years since we last found ourselves at the zero out of ten saloon. Thank me for watching the Idris Elba lion film, so you never have to. Less Jaws, than Jaws 4 - only without the laughter and entertainment. A whopping big fat zero for no merit in any direction of film-making. The Megan Fox lion film was MUCH better.

Brad Pitt brings a fair bit of comedic charm to a rote action film that aims at a very low hill and struggles likes a guinea pig to get over it.

Not really, unless you count her winning 26% of the vote, in a country with 65 governments since WW2 - closer to one a year than two - where 74% of Italian voters didn't vote for her and where AT LEAST three parties are needed to form government at any one time. Especially so when you factor in that Italians voted for economic reasons above all else, including right wing populism - with the blow b...

Greg Dulli's 90's stalwarts were one of the greatest alt rock acts of arguably the greatest decade in American alt rock, with a run of albums that rival anyone and in 1965 (a straight 10/10) still being one of my favorite go to albums. Since their 2010's rebirth, they've hardly been slouches, but this third album is their finest document since their heyday. In a terrific year for indie and alt gui...

Happily, the UK's Kevin Martin (aka The Bug, King Midas Sound and many others) continues to double down on the monolithic intensity of 2007 landmark classic, London Zoo, as he did with my album of the year from 2021, Fire. This is far more an experiment than an full album though, using the same base track with multiple vocalists. A fine concept but the vocalists themselves are rarely interesting e...

As a fan of the long running UK electronic pop since the start, like many fans I suspect, I expect each new album to garner a couple of great new tracks to the list, whilst being a little too middle of the road to be memorable a year later. That's double the case here- the opening four tracks are the most dynamic and exciting a run the band has had since their probable high point, The Warning, aft...

The second album from the California based electronic artist, eschews the abrasive freneticism inherent in Chigao's Footwork music scene, for something melodic, chilled and almost ambient. Well sequenced, poised, relaxing and subtle, one of the most attractive electronic releases of the year.

40% on Rotten Tomatoes? Now way is that fair for this comic book/super-hero-hiding-in-plain-sight (see Unbreakable) Stallone vehicle. Its screenplay/basic story maybe as rote as it gets but we get a strong director, a top tier soundtrack, great dialogue and near the same visuals. Plus Stallone is superb, not just phoning it in and the hard edge totally belies its PG-13 rating. In fact pretty much...

After reading a few reviews of this cross over indie success - about two friends stuck 2,000 ft up a tower, I have to disagree with most of the criticism. I didn't find it over reliant on hanging off things, too long or injected with melodrama. For the most part this "climbing-horror" plays out like Waiting for Godot in the sky, has a screenplay that builds pretty expertly (rushed end aside) and w...

After trashing the esteemed Baz Luhrmann's filmography for years, the for someone reason timely biopic of Elvis, is the first time this most singular of auteurs has effectively controlled his uniquely unwieldy talents across a whole movie. It maybe surface level noise but it's also an incredible work or art and is an absolute pinnacle of film-making craft.

A belated review of the supernova success of the Top Gun sequel, helmed by Tom Cruise, with his cockiness nowhere to be found and replaced by his most likeable and humble turn, it does exactly what it says on the tin.

I often think the parable of the emperor's new clothes is really about movie and music critics, who are either cowards following each other blindly or greet anything they don't understand by ascribing meaning to it, lest they look stupid. That's the only way I could understand some of the stellar reviews wonder-director, Jordan Peele's worst film by miles, is getting. Trust me - it's flat, repetit...

It wouldn't be a weekday if Neil Young wasn't releasing an album. If his insanely prolific archive series has tiers of interest - from completests only fair to previously unreleased treasures of gold, this sits almost uniquely in the top pile. Not in anyway fascinating by the standards of a  long ditched, never released classic album, it's a simple live set with his, ahem, Crazy Horse-lite band of...

A musical collision between the Spaceman 3 legend, Sonic Boom, aka Peter Kember (getting everywhere of late) and his close friend and Animal Collective MVP, Panda Bear, aka Noah Lennox, would seem the years most tantilising collaboration. However this could not be further from a marriage between Lennox's, Person Pitch and the totally under appreciated recent Kember album, All Things Being Equal if...

Normally one noise or hardcore act will breakthrough the walls of their genre each year, but with Soul Glo and now this Oklahoma based sludge metal band, dropping two of the years most exiting debuts, that looks like being two. This time keeping the politicised nature of the former band's music but in an even more direct an honest form on the anti-homelessness tirade, Why? A terrific, noisy and ti...

I'm latently a big believer that the Predator series is one of the most underappreciated of franchises, but Prey recognises a complete rebirth (after the undervalued Shane Black attempt recently). Instantly the paradigm of dumping the predator in different periods of history has proven a winning move. I had looked up who the spectacularly named Amber Midthunder was in three previous low rent (ish)...

The most baffling Marvel universe film yet and a massive signifier of just how badly the wheels have fallen off after Endgame. Now way in the past would the first half of this film have ever been allowed, and the light seems to have slightly dimmed on wonder director, Taika Waititi, after the roaring success of Thor Ragnorak. It's like there is no quality control at all anymore and no one is at th...

Arguably the king pins of the golden rebirth of British indie guitar music, alongside the likes of Black Country, New Road, Squid and Working Men's Club, return for a third album, and again seem like a group who play tennis upside down because they were bored kids not being challenged. Despite initial misgivings about them being too noisy or too frenetic here - there are plenty of oasis of calm, a...