The Brown Note Movie Review

A few years ago I would've ranked Alex Garland alongside Robert Eggers, as one of the most exciting new directors out there, now it's two utterly forgettable war films, back to back, that are bad in completely different ways. Though Warfare does share with Civil War, having both nothing to say and being at the back of the pack of numerous other much better films on the same subject. Watch something like The Outpost to see how the single battle film can be done so much better.

After my initial exposure to the mercurial talents of John Martyn - who created his own language through Folk, Blues and Jazz through the 1970's and on - a follow up. Before I focused on the immortal albums like Solid Air and One World, this time an extensive look at the rest. Well, up to a point, specifically from his debut, London Conversations in 1967 to The Apprentice in 1990. A slow start, and some real 80s trash lie in wait, but a few more classics are added to the list and it's a fascinating journey. Fans of Beverley Martyn turn away.

After a lackluster decade of documentaries, Theroux returns with one of his finest, most important - and most timely - ever, on Israeli colonization of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. It says the quiet part out loud - it never has been about how the Palestinians behave, it's always been about ethnic cleansing.

Since their second album, Ants From Up There, bagged my album of the year in 2022, and promptly lost their iconic leader - no British indie act has gone through more change. Now firmly ensconced in their Harry Potter House Band/Music Hall Indie phase with a beguiling, detailed and unique baroque new album.

Director Gareth Evans rightfully made his name with the iconic Indonesian action crime films, The Raid and the even better The Raid 2. This grimy cop thriller goes unexpectedly full tilt Hong Kong era John Woo, but it's a law of diminishing returns as the dozens (hundreds) of bodies pile up, albeit imaginatively.

Happily, Justin Vernon's much loved project has made the tilt away from the experimental, abstract songwriting of the last two albums, and a return to more satisfying complete pieces of the first two, albeit with the odd slightly annoying and incongruous hangover stylistic elements. Still, it's great to have him back in this pocket and with his own defined genre of Neo-Country-Soul.

Well who knew, if you take something with a rusted on fan-base and don't abuse that fan-base or take them for granted, people will come and watch your film. There's nothing good about it - great turns from Jason Momoa and Jack Black aside - but there's nothing really bad about it either.

I went in expecting mid-tier MCU, like Captain Marvel or Black Panther, I got bottom tier, like Antman 3 or The Marvels. This is an abomination of a film with no reason to be and horrible visuals. An excellent Harrison Ford aside - there's zero reason to even bother once.

There are commonalities with Hollywood and TV in recent years. Having not one single original idea and remaking something no one asked for, to a terrible standard and for some reason, cynically using an existing fan-base but rubbing that fan-bases noses in it by race/sexuality or gender swapping a lead character. There's also a more vile and insidious trend going on here where only one person always seems to pay the price.

Director Steven Soderbergh's latest is a classy Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy variant, expertly made and with an impeccable cast, exceptionally led by Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender. The odd improbabilities aside.

I do love Germany's DJ Koze, and ranked both his previous long form behemoths, Amygdala (2013) and Knock Knock (2018) as my second best albums of those respective years. The same cannot be said for his third. A beautifully produced and effortlessly classy affair, that is almost never compelling, sadly.

I think this is an all time first for me, an album where I hated the first half and actually liked the second half. The "UK Bass" artist has one of the most acclaimed albums of the year, I suspect in large part to music critics rating anything that mentions gender or sexual identity higher than it deserves. The first five tracks of yelping vegan Death Grips are interminable, yet the next five are vastly better.

The most mind-blowing album I've heard in years. This psychedelic journey through a club apparently owned by Cthulhu, by Bolivian-American siblings, encourages you to invent a new genre at every turn. A colossal monolith of dayglow noise that is, in an already exceptional year for albums, my new reigning album of the year (sorry Deafheaven/Darkside).

This years brightest new indie attack, levels with octopus armed percussion and a sound like no one else. Music to attune to (like Trout Mask Replica) before all its glories are revealed.

This latest and most rote Stephen King adaption has 79% on Rotten Tomatoes. How. Following on from last years tepid, flat and overrated Long Legs, the same director is getting kudos for an even worse film. Far far worse. It's utter garbage.

The superb Deafheaven, always welcomed by the COMPLETELY REASONABLE gatekeepers of Death Metal, sound reborn on their masterpiece sixth album. The only questions being, is it their best release yet? (possibly) and is it my album of the year so far? (yes).

Mike Hadreas, aka Perfume Genius, was expected to follow his last collection with a return to the his perfectly sculpted run of albums, so why does this feel more like another disjointed collection, when compared to his best work?

Or more accurately an EP review of a minor, yet still excellent collection of music the esteemed Canadian electronic composer has made for films.

The British TV drama has become a lightning rod for a burning issue, shining a spotlight in the online spaces turning young boys into misogynists. It's also artistically brave in its structure, superbly shot and directed and features some of the best acting you'll see on TV. The follow up https://brownnote.podbean.com/e/adolescence-what-to-do-about-a-problem-like-jamie/  

The Russo brothers latest attempt to turn as much cash as possible into a bad movie, is nowhere near as terrible as the reviews suggest. Its a pretty watchable, near remake of Bumblebee - with everything a bit worse.

This side quest to the excellent A Quiet Place sci-fi horrors, is immaculately made, directed and acted. So it's rare for me to trash it - I just can't remember seeing a film with so little reason to exist.

Mel Gibson puts his director hat back on for an unusually small project for him. It's really just three people in a room - or in this case a plane. It's been pretty trashed by critics but as a low key B movie actioner it's worth a once through.

Maestro Nicolas Jaar is one of modern music's MVPs. His long run of solo albums plus the two superb AAL albums plus the Pink Floyd analogous cat-nip Darkside project, with guitarist Dave Harrington and now winningly drummer, Tlacael Esparza. Possibly their best album in this now The Smile analogous collective. Continually restless and evolving - often in one track - and always hugely listenable, my fave of the year so far.

Noah Lennox - aka Panda Bear - has long established himself as the most prominent offshoot of the erstwhile Animal Collective band. I have found recently albums - even with the (godlike) Sonic Boom co-album Reset - to be too simplistic and over acclaimed. That's half true here, where songwriting, melody and sequencing get it over the line. I do miss the wild abandon and inspiration of Person Pitch though.

One of the most fascinating aberrations ive ever reviewed. Will Oldham (aka Bonnie "Prince" Billy) has an impeccable thirty year discography, with some of his best and most interesting work in recent years. He is undoubtedly one of the finest songwriters and lyricists in modern American history. So for some reason he has decided to release a generic modern mainstream country album. The lyrics are either very broad and trite, or surprisingly on the nose takes on men and women, the instrumentation, arrangements and song progressions as predictable and unambitious as modern country itself. Then there's the anti gun track. Most baffling of all is how this album is actually acclaimed by critics.

One of the buzziest internet-rap stars of the last couple of years, makes distinctive wall-of-sound melodic rap, that is very post Chief Keef, even more Playboi Carti and a little Salem. It's pleasant stoner music/head music but could do with a wider variety of attack.

It's a set up and environment worthy of a computer game, with two high class leads and being beautifully shot and produced. However the tonal shifts and a world that doesn't seem explored enough, along with a lot of plot conveniences to facilitate the story, it's only just worth it.

I'm a huge fan of Gerard Butler tilting towards being a B movie action titan in mold of Liam Neeson or Jason Statham and loved the grimy, flawed Heat via Training Day via Bad Lieutenant charms of the original. Happily this seems to now have morphed into a franchise, though shifting in tone to a near buddy comedy, it still does enough.

In an immortal era for British indie guitar music, out of the holy trinity of BCNR, Black Midi and Squid - they are now the only ones with either their original lead singer or who haven't split entirely. Their excellent third album is every bit as good as their first and a tiny bit less so than their classic second. Another cohesive, oblique look at the absolute state of society and the world around them.

Abel Tesfaye's last outing as The Weeknd, allegedly, caps a magnificent modern pop trilogy. It may be a little more diluted than After Hours, or Dawn FM due to its incredible length but it still showcases a the most thematically fascinating modern pop star and his peerless voice, melody and production.

Another of the big Oscar contenders and one of the most unexpected. What I thought would be some dour indie love drama, is actually the funniest screw-ball comedy in years. It's laugh out loud hysterical throughout with a mega-watt powerhouse lead. Though if you've a low tolerance for hardcore sex/nudity/drug taking and swearing, you might want to give it a wide berth.

Writer-Director Brady Corbet enters the big league of hugely ambitious auteurs, with this intermission requiring epic, chronicling the post WW2 life of a holocaust surviving Jewish architect. A near masterpiece and understandable front runner at this years Oscars, though if the astonishing acting masterclass given by Adrien Brody gets beaten by nepo baby Timothy Chamalet's Bob Dylan impersonation for best actor, there truly is no god.

Thoughts on the most tepid Oscars in modern history. What's been missed - from a stellar year in horror to high profile performances by veteran actresses (Pamela Anderson, Kate Winslet, Kirsten Dunst) that were all ignored. The issue of category fraud (I'm looking at you best supporting) finally gets talked about and why the only thing I really care about is nepo baby Timothy Mid-strength Chamalet and Dune being shut out. Good luck to The Substance, Anora, The Brutalist and Conclave though.

This immaculately made drama about anointing a new Pope, is far from dry or austere, but exciting and entertaining. More like House of Cards in its evocation of the behind the scenes political machinations and deal making involved in the process. Sadly a couple of very distracting and misguided story elements arrive right at the end, in an almost ruinous manner. SPOILER ALERT as I discuss that ending.

Scottish Post-rock titans, Mogwai, have been on a fine run of pretty decent new albums in recent years. However, though they sound very much alive, one of their only genuine peers, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, have been making relevant and vital music that rivals the best they've ever done. Here is a godlike band, dipping their toes into very inconsequential and unambitious music that in no way is worthy of them.    

The current heavyweight champion of Latin Pop, Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, aka Bad Bunny, completes a victory lap with his seventh - and most political - album. And it's a fine effort with welcome Salsa and Puerto Rican musical influences. It also repeats my complaint about his previous release, like a Drake album, it appears stuffed with too many mediocre tracks to try and game the streaming charts.

Director Robert Eggers is right at the top of arguments for the MVP of film making right now. His four films have near been impeccable. This remake of the original 1920's classic is very different from what I'd been led to believe - it's by far the most fun and actually funny (at times) of his often challenging filmography. If it doesn't have the substance of previous works, the cinematography, production design and soundtrack are outstanding.

David Lynch (January 20, 1946 – January 15, 2025) never made a blockbuster movie in his life, yet is as famous a director as Steven Spielberg. This a show celebrating his unique artistic vision, one that puts in on a par with Kubrick or Hitchcock. He is also a director with a stronger connection to the music in his projects than almost anyone in history. A trawl through every major project of Lynch's and the music used in each.   *Dune doesn't appear in the video version due to a corrupt file. The full music is on the radio version.   Original Twin Peaks: The Return review (10/10) https://www.podbean.com/eas/pb-v38dr-e42e47 Original Mullholland Drive review (10/10) https://www.podbean.com/eas/pb-u4exc-dfc2c8  

Following last years UNIVERSALLY LOVED piece, Oasis Are Shite, an imaginative followup - were they ever any good to start with? So I have done what no sane adult should do, and what I haven't done in 25 years, actually listened to Oasis. Obviously Be Here Now and on are complete garbage, but were those first three great albums, Definitely Maybe, What's the Story.. and The Masterplan ever great? and how do they hold up now?

My irregular series on artists, albums or movies that were either denied classic status at the time or who have been forgotten from the conversation since. Here a look a 60s UK folk music genius who branched out into astonishing music in the 1970s (see also Nick Drake, John Fay, Vashti Bunyan...). A walk through his life and career through the lens of four totemic albums from that period, including the absolutely essential for anyone releases, Solid Air (10/10) and One Word (10/10).

Perhaps the embodiment of Hollywood's incessant, remake-reboot era, given it's one of the wildest takes on needing a sequel ever. But given director Ridley Scott is himself one of the wildest properties in film this century - you have zero idea what you are going to get with this man lately, maybe it could work? No, no, it does not. Following the original screenplay so slavishly it continually invites always belittling comparisons, not to mention extra appreciation for the (missing) original star, Russell Crowe, given the appalling casting of rom-com level Paul Mescal as his replacement.

Nothing is more redundant most best films lists, as any critics top ten will include five films the public wont even see until next year. So my most and least favorite films actually widely released in 2024. Note - I really did mean to say Abigail at number 15, but looking at the thumbnail, decided to describe the film Megan instead. The perils of live radio.

Exactly what it says on the tin. Tis the season of lists, and in a banner year for albums, particularly alt-rock and rap, my top twenty favorite albums of 2024. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/26A8L15kpvZtRl3gRhddG5?si=jZKf4draTgqcWC8cjiXiKw

Perhaps rounding off a banner year for Horror movies, writer-director, J.T. Mollner's twisted take on Horror movie tropes and serial killer films. Spit ingeniously into six non-chronological chapters, each upending the previous, this challenging and provocative film is beautifully made, and anchored by awards-worthy leads, Willa Fitzgerald and Kyle Gallner.

The original Smile was a top tier "ordinary" horror, as opposed the more art-house/A24 world. It's sequel bridges that gap, whilst outpacing its predecessor in nearly every way. Once again the female lead (Naomi Scott) is outstanding, but now the focus on interior mental breakdown - this time for a pop star put under too much stress - is so good, it almost outweighs the need for a horror film at all.

Francis Ford Coppola's decades long passion project is deeply, unforgivably flawed, in so many ways. It's also amazing and brilliant in so many others. In a world where billionaires send themselves into space and all they come back with if tales of flaccid penises, that someone could spend so much on such a piece of art, designed, unconsciously, to defend the very notion of its own existence, is a marvel.

It takes an awful lot to get me back into new material from a classic band I've loved to remember at their peak and pretty much since the career capping classic, Disintegration, in 1989, that had been the case with The Cure. However, the first new material in 16 years had garnered such raves, I couldn't resist and I'm glad I didn't. Despite some of the worst production and mixing I've ever heard from a band of their stature, and a questionable opening salvo, Songs.. is undoubtedly their finest, most tortured and monolithic work in decades. I'm outside in the dark Wondering how I got so old!!!

The second album in 2024 from the Radiohead offshoot, The Smile, is nowhere near as great or coherent as Wall of Eyes. It's perfectly fine, just very undeveloped songwriting wise - as befitting its title - and even Thom Yorke seems to be half involved in many tracks.

Ridley Scott gave his baby new life with the premise of Prometheus, massively expanding the context of the whole Alien universe, then promptly killed it dead with Covenant abandoning that story entirely. This new film has been hailed as an excitingly fresh rebirth, but I don't see it. The production design is superb, but other than the lead, the acting is pretty dire. The biggest problem though, is with how unambitious the story is, at this late stage, going all the way back to the being hunted on a spaceship story of the first film, which has been done a million times since.

I've nothing but respect for the band's talent but I've rarely heard an album more self-sabotaged than this (despite rave reviews). Almost every song - many of which are very decent - have a math-rock violent interlude half way through, that is often annoyingly goofy and usually stops everything they've built up to that point dead. This makes it all a hard listen, I'd struggle to go back to.

Sometimes in the relentless recycle and repackage world that is modern Hollywood, timing can be everything. No one asked for a sequel to director Tim Burton's breakout 1988 film but it was a hugely welcome return anyway. There's a lot of love for re-pairing the originals leads, Winona Ryder and surely the least disliked legacy actor out there, Michael Keaton. Burton too is back delivering his trademark wildly enjoyable gothic comedy horror.