 Photo: screenrant Director Guillermo del Toro creates a fantastical, character-driven period film that lives and breathes its own wondrous monster lore. Set in 1960s America, it centres around a mysterious water-dwelling creature that is captured in South America and brought back to Baltimore for scientific study.
The Shape of Water has an ensnaring charm that speaks with great humanity and thrilling suspense and delivers scenes that will move audiences to tears. A bond is quickly formed between the humble, mute Elisa and the creature which develops into an intimate connection. Click for the full review: Shape Of Water: monster movie morphs into surprisingly endearing love story.  Going back in time, Episode 1: The Phantom Menace was received with mixed reception. The film gave us many iconic additions to Star Wars canon, including Jedi councils, desert battles with cloaked figures wielding double-edged light sabers, pod races, and full-scale invasions into the peaceful planet of Naboo. Yet haters detested at the time and now people have grown a little more accepting of it. The same may not be said for the latest Star Wars film: The Last Jedi.
While it was exhilirating to see Mark Hamil reprise his role as the legendary Master Skywalker, and witness Carrie Fischer's best performance as General Organa, there was also a lot that was wrong with the film that stopped it from becoming great. Read more at Cream magazine here: The Force Weakens in 'The Last Jedi.'
 Photo: last.fm Not a yes sir, not a follower? If the Beatles were the spokesmen of their generation, then Imagine Dragons are fast becoming the voice of a new one. The former battled against old conventions, experimented with psychedelics and practiced transcendental meditation. They were not just trend setters, they were representing a revolution of the post-war era. The latter are the front men to a new sound and style that hits you with its rhythm-driven edge, but their appeal goes deeper than that.
An awareness tendrils its way into the music that, while they’re successful, there’s more to it. The words play on two meanings. There’s the factory music and cathartic high of reaching the top. Yet there’s also a symbol that all that is merely a way post onto greater things. As Paul McCartney said that at the height of Beatlemania, when they got to the top, they found there ‘wasn’t much there.’ That insight finds its way into many of Imagine Dragon’s songs too. The message is to go deeper. What are you creating that is meaningful to you? Dan Reynold’s might ask. Please check out my full review at: livinglifefearless.co/2017/opinions/imagine-dragons-evolve-indie-rock-pop/  Photo: Omegaunderground Netflix is cornering the market on some quality programming. Shows like The 100 and Sense 8 are just some of the shows building a bedrock audience. The future of television is here and it comes with cutting visuals, suspense, and captivating storytelling. The recently released Netflix film, Death Note, is its latest American adaption of a popular Japanese Manga serial, and boy was it met with mixed feelings.
Fans of the anime series have blasted it for leaving out so much material. But I think a lot of the complaints are unwarranted. I’m a fan of Full Metal Alchemist and wasn’t sold on the teasers for the live action film, but that doesn’t mean the movie won’t be any good. Sometimes an adaption can actually work if we don’t get too serious. We don’t need to over-think the series or the hundreds of episodes that came before it. The film’s strength lies in building on the source material without going overly in depth. Instead it relies on grounding the film on its core concepts and simplifying the plot just enough to engage. Check out my full opinion piece here: https://livinglifefearless.co/2017/opinions/death-note-a-netflix-original-film/  Say what you wanna say about cosplayers. But some fans take their hero-costume game to the next level. It wasn’t really all that long ago when all a fan needed to do to feel connected to the silver screens was buy a ticket to see a premiere. Wouldn’t anyone stammer just a little if ‘the man with no name’ came into your coffee shop and ordered a double shot mocha ‘punk’ in a gravelly, smoke-ridden voice.
The next level of fandom is cosplay. It comes from that fire to feel connected to our favourite characters. Sir Ian McKellen once said that playing Gandalf as a fully interactive character, was the ‘next best thing’ to starring in the film itself. But some out there believe that to dress up as the scruffy-lookin’ Han Solo, or rig a suit bringing your prop-mold making game to the armor of Destiny 2, makes you a different class of fan altogether. Check out the full list article here: http://www.thegamer.com/the-20-most-jaw-dropping-cosplays-of-2017-so-far/  Photo: bleedingcool Stranger Things is a surprise hit series. The show infuses a blend of sci-fi and 80s nostalgia that takes the ‘band of kids against all odds’ archetype and injects it into a chilling, horror thriller. In the fictional small town of Hawkins, Indiana, a mysterious otherworldly entity enters their world by means unknown and people systematically begin to disappear, including one young Will Bryers. Season 1 was engrossed with his family and three close-knit friends frantically trying to solve the mystery surrounding his disappearance and the strange occurrences happening all around town.
Ahead of the premiere of the second season, for those who unwittingly skipped this fantastic show, take a look at what makes Stranger Things one of Netflix's best. Read the full feature on LLF: https://livinglifefearless.co/2017/opinions/enter-a-void-filled-with-stranger-things/  Photo: Warner Bros Gravel crunches beneath the feet of a solitary figure as it saunters into the radioactive, orange-dusted expanse of an abandoned city. A Blade Runner advances – bioengineered to operate on command, not to think for himself. He has reached the end-thread of an investigation. He searches for an answer to a riddle that has been hidden for almost 40 years. All paths converge on former officer, Richard Deckard.
With dazzling visuals and an impressive soundtrack, there is a lot to love. But there is one problem with Blade Runner 2049: its not really a film, but a visual documentary of the conditioned human psyche. For the full review, head here: http://www.creammagazine.com/2017/10/a-visual-documentary-of-the-human-psyche/ |
AuthorIndie Publisher and author of Fiction, J.K.A. Short also writes on music, games, and other creative entertainment Archives
August 2018
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