Metallica predicts Presidential Outcome With HARDWIRED...To Self-Destruct

When I heard the lyric "We're so f**ked, sh*t outta luck", I kept thinking "This sounds like the Presidential election!" Damn. How did they know?

HARDWIRED..To Self-Destruct sees Metallica continuing their move back to the heavy thrash sound they had before The Black Album (and some are relieved) and that had started with Death Magnetic. Admittedly I liked Death Magnetic, but I didn't love it. I like it mainly because it was a huge improvement over the therapy soup that was Some Kind Of Monster...and THAT it was. I was so happy that they had cleaned up the sound and returned with better riffs! I'd really love to throw that CD away but I paid money for it...maybe it'll see renewed life as a coaster... Anyhow, if Death Magnetic was a step back into the heavy, HARDWIRED is definitely part of the journey toward the crunch we all love.
Oh and BTW, the album topped charts worldwide. All the fans and Fifth Members agree: This sh*t's f**king awesome.
One thing that they're doing differently is that they are releasing actual music videos for ALL of the tracks, as well as Making of's for the videos and for the songwriting process in-studio. Me, I personally LOVE the in-studio stuff, like when you see the Presidio studio with all the fan-made flags and banners...that's awesome. But what really gets me going is the song/riff writing process - Lars is much more the arrangement dude than I imagined. And of course the god-like James Hetfield with the mighty voice and growling ESP Snakebite...so bad-ass! The music videos are interesting, with some being animated, some performance, some where they're not the band that's playing the song and montage stuff. Interesting, but not as good as the in-studio stuff. I live for that stuff! As of this writing, more behind-the-scenes material has been released for "Confusion", "Here Comes Revenge" and "Dream No More". Keep 'em coming!

Getting to the music, there are some that are really good and some that are just so-so IMHO. My jam will always be "Moth Into Flame". The riffage going on in that track is just what I like to hear. It's got a little bit of euro-metal mixed in there but it works. "Now That We're Dead" and "Atlas, Rise!" are 2 more faves but I am slowing liking more and more of the album. "Hardwired' is a throwback to the "Kill/Ride" days and I was ecstatic to hear the riffs of yore abound...
That being said, some of the songs have these long repeating intros that, on the one hand we love the riffage, but on the other hand - when is the singing going to start? I think some of these anthemic trudging passages could've been shortened just a bit. Streamlined, if you will. It's no wonder the album stretches across 2 CDs (3, if you bought the deluxe version) for 10 songs. I look at it as Metallica getting back to those 8 minute themes from the Master of Puppets/...And Justice For All days, I just hope them realize that although it sounds good, some of it just plods along. There are instances of the "Load/ReLoad" era as well as just a smidgen of Iron Maiden's signature gallops.
So even if the some songs are just a bit too long, the overall sound is tight and spot-on.Just wish it didn't take EIGHT YEARS for it to be released!
I bought the Deluxe version with the 3rd CD 'cuz I had to hear their Ronnie James Dio tribute "Ronnie Rising medley" and the vinyl Deluxe version with three different colored records for each CD.
I would recommend this to those who want to hear more of the Death Magnetic-style sound.

2 Years Gone

Well, a year or two has gone by and both Random & I have been busy and not really in the same workspace anymore. We still see & message each other but after settling into the "new digs" he referred to, we both had way more duties piled on that keep us busy enough to almost lose touch.
Now, that's not an excuse...it's just the way it is.
Be that as it may, the "creative juices" have been flowing quite a bit lately for me within my new duties and may well spill into this blog. After all, this is supposed to be where we show our "randomness", right? I think I've been more random than Random has, but he knew this from the start.
Would I ever start my own blog? It's crossed my ind but as displayed here, we both have no time to update with the gazillion things happening in our lives..so the answer seems to be an emphatic "NO" at this point. Just popping up here for a bit suits our schedules just fine.
Is there a schedule for posts? Of course not. It's random. And eclectic.
Would we like to be able to schedule? Of course we would. But as stated previously, our duties have increased tremedously that we're just too brain-tired to do much.
But we'll try. Maybe?
I will certainly try to give it a go.

Still-Not-A-Blogger Taeng😛

New digs

So been really busy with work, especially these past few months as we are moving lock stock and barrel.

OUT FROM LEFT FIELD: EVERLY or, WTF DID I JUST WATCH?

Man, 2014 was seriously lacking in the hard action dept. I mean, aside from the very cool Marvel movie romps (Love them GUARDIANS, baby!), there really wasn't that one action flick that satisfied my craving for car chases, blowing stuff up, gun and fist fights and just your general mayhem.
Seemed like 2015 was headed the same route. That is, until I saw...

After seeing the very pumped-up action trailer I was VERY interested. Plus we haven't seen Salma in a badass role since DESPERADO, I believe. But she's front-and-center as the title character Everly (First name or last? Who knows?) and she's not taking crap from anyone.
The movie STARTS off with a naked (back to the camera shot, so no free show) Everly clammering into a bathroom, shivering fiercely like a drug addict with withdrawal symptoms. We hear people in the other room so we know she's not alone. She goes to the toilet and pulls the lid off and retrieves a plastic bag with a cellphone in it. She uses it to call someone but gets voicemail instead, so she leave a message. She also pulls out a gun that was in the same bag as the cellphone. She dresses herself in some clothes already in the bathroom, Suddenly there's banging on the door...the guests are requesting her presence once again. Gathering all her courage she lifts the gun up in front of her, opens the door and starts blasting away. The guests, all male, are taken by surprise as they are cut down one by one. One guest manages to get a shot off and rips into Everly's hip but the bullet exits into a wall behind her. Once the dust has settled, we she's taken out all 5 guests...but one is alive...barely,
And that's just the first 10 minutes or so, folks! I was a happy camper!

The lone surviving guest, crippled by Everly's wild shooting spree.

Well, Everly seems to be a high-demand call girl and is the pet of an Asian crime lord known as Taiko. This night she has taken her life back by killing Taiko's henchmen (guests). Said crime lord is informed of her behavior and puts a contract on Everly, which brings out all sorts of characters such as the hookers who were working on the same floor as Everly..

"Nothing personal..."

...to policemen who basically trap her in the apartment (they are on Taiko's payroll, don'tcha know), to - and this was really f'ed up - a sadist and masochist with 4 masked and kimono-ed servants. I kid you not!

Sadist and masochist...WTF is going on??????

The Sadist is very true to his word and this is probably the most gruesome part of the flick, even though the body count was largely due to gunfire. The use of acid is VERY unappealing...
So the movie is basically Everly trying to survive the night and protect her mother and her child from the crime lord by giving them the money she "embezzled" from the crime lord and telling them to escape. Ultimately, Everly has to step up to the plate for her daughter, but at what cost?

Probably my favorite scene,,,she took out at least 8 guys...including the ones in the elevator!

The action is at a decent pace and the characters aren't anything really new (except that S&M thing..still trying to un-see that) and the story can be a bit goofy sometimes. There's just enough dark humor/sarcasm to keep the mood light but when it gets dark, it gets DARK. The showdown with the crimelord was a bit strange but I guess there really wasn't any other way to resolve it.
The direction was pretty good, with a final camera move that would make David Fincher proud.
Would I buy it on bluray? Probably...but not when it first comes out.
It's a great action to pass the time and fill in the gap that Hollywood didn't.
Oh and there's another action flick that was WICKed....

 Release date: July 23, 2014

I AM SO THERE.

Taeng's Down-and-Dirty Review: GODZILLA 2014

 GODZILLA

I'm kinda lukewarm on the reboot of our favorite kaiju. Its different from the first 'boot' by Roland Emmerich, which it seemed was widely panned. I, for one, enjoyed the rollercoaster ride it took me on (the 1998 movie) but I do see the point of the negative reactions, mainly to two facts: 1) The design kinda sucked. It made sense, given the history at the beginning of the movie but it still kinda stank 2) Godzilla was always on the run & hiding VS attacking and mashing foam buildings...and HE was a SHE.
Anyway, the reboot is WAAAY more serious in tone. Gone are the funny characters and the close calls they get into. No high-speed chases and no targeting New York, for once (although our beloved Waikiki gets trashed). This monster movie takes itself VERY seriously. If you smiled at any time during this movie, it was UNINTENTIONAL.
This seriousness can be good and bad. Good because there is finally a Godzilla movie that isn't as hokey as all previous efforts (even the Japanese ones where its OBVIOUS there's a man in a suit). But then again the "hokey-ness" had its charms.
Its a bad thing because, well, there are no jokes and no real levity. Dark is what it is..or maybe a shade or two of gray.

THIS MOVIE IS SO DARK, I HAD TO USE MY FLASHLIGHT..

Add to that is the fact that I only liked ONE character in the movie: Bryan Cranston's Joe Brody. I was rooting for him, feeling for his loss and his determination to find out the truth. But the for 2/3 of the movie its his son, Ford, who is supposed to take the lead. But you know what? So little of his story as a young boy is revealed that I really had no feelings for him. He suffered the same loss as his father and they showed his reaction to this loss...but with Ford we pass over that by fast-forwarding 15 years so that now he's a grown man. Add to that he's pretty stone-faced all the time..we don't even see him cry when he supposed to. Maybe its the army training he had...who knows? But to me it made him robotic...I couldn't get behind him like I did his father.

Bryan Cranston as Joe Brody. Dude I was SOOO rooting for you!

But I wasn't rooting for your son! How sad!

As for the Big G himself, the design is much better this time around and the way they weaved him into the old film footage was a nice touch. And the story about what they were actually doing with those nukes...genius. Adding more monsters was also a nice touch and the grand scale in which we see the kaiju's wake of destruction was cool. The fights themselves seems a bit clumsy and dark (alot of the fights were during the night) but the final jawbreaker move was great.
Yet I am still lukewarm at this reboot because it seemed off-balance emotionally and not quite satisfying when it came to the monster fights.
Bottom line: This is monster movie that takes itself very seriously. For some its a welcome surprise (critic love this movie) but for me it wasn't as thrilling as I'd wanted it to be. I was waiting for something that would make me go "WHOOOOAAA". It never happened.
Not that I could do a better job, mind you. Director Gareth Edwards does a good job...its the characters, both big and small, that I have a problem with.
Would I buy it on blu?  Well, "lukewarm" means it could be yes or no. I really have no idea.

OUT FROM LEFT FIELD: W E R

Hey there, I'm back again with another Out-From-Left-Field movie review. This time its a horror movie that actually hit the mark: Wer.

Short for 'Werewolf', maybe? That's what I thought at first.

But wait let's take a step back a bit so I can regale you on just WHY I was even interested in this: It would be the very hot A.J. Cook of TV's "Criminal Minds" fame. I've always liked her...I even sat thru one of her earlier flicks about alien abduction. I just like watching her. End of story.

A.J. Cook. Yes, please!

 

So anyway I went into this with no prior knowledge other than AJ Cook's hotness so when the story started to unfold,I was intrigued. I was expecting some sort of low-budget monster romp time-suck of a movie. Turns out it was pretty damned good.

A family of 3 (husband, wife & son) vacationing in Paris get brutally slaughtered one night by a very hairy animal-like creature.  The mother  barely survives and claims they were attacked by a hairy thing that walked upright..she claims it was "eating her baby alive' 

GROSS! CREEPY!

It also just so happens that they were filimg their camping vacation so there is some evidence of someTHING attacking them.

The police officers arrest a suspect with a serious medical condition who lives less than 2 miles away. And he's hairy.

You know what they say about guys with big hands...

Attorney Kate Moore (AJ Cook) comes to the man's defense. Joining her are Eric (he's the information dealer, gets all the facts) and Gavin (forensics..and a previous love interest of Kate's). The suspect in custody is named Talan Gwynek (keeeeeen name!) and the dude's a scarey looking sasquatch of a man, bearded and yes, hairy.

Eric, played by Vik Sahay (Remember the TV series CHUCK?)

Gavin, played by Simon Quarterman

Things start at a slow-boil from there and escalates to absolute ape-$h*t proportions. I mean, I thought I was watching Law & Order until the beastly reveal...then I'm like "Oh damn, I forgot it was supposed to be horror flick!"

Obviously, the operation DID NOT go well...

There are a few side story type things thrown in to justify some people's actions, while condemning others (namely the police & the government...things are corrupt even in France?? Mon dieu!) but I tended to file those events away becuz I was waiting for more info..I really wanted to know if it was "true" about Talan. I also felt for Kate as she tries to give Talan the benefit of the doubt, innocent until proven guilty and all that.

The last act is something of pure WTF...I mean the events leading up to it pretty much made it a little predictable but it still managed to find a little twist to make it not so cliche. But then again, not much of this (other than the 3 or 4 "jump scares" that were predictable) is cliche. Its a fresh take on the werewolf lore, explained by science, which somehow makes it seem possible. It seemed so.."X-Files"-ish to me but in a good way.

I know I'm not saying a whole lot (how unusual for me, right?) but I DO NOT want give anything away.

The camera work is a bit shaky, more documentary-style (it is NEVER bolted down) and there is also closed-circuit cameras used. Some may think that it detracts from the movie-watching experience but I'm used to it.

All in all a pretty fun romp. The acting is just enough and not over-the-top. You really feel for Talan as a misunderstood misfit. AJ Cook is fine as always and she spouts only ONE s-bomb in the whole movie. The special effects were definitely high-quality stuff but used sparingly. The morgue scene was especially chilling, as it shows the aftermath of the vacationer's attack.
Now the big question:Would I buy it on bluray? Probably not. As much as I enjoyed the movie, there's no surprises if watched again. But nonetheless it wasn't a waste of my time, either. Now when that 2nd Sharknado movie comes we'll see an actual time-suck movie in action.