X2

Not that many sequels to films are as good as or better than the first but with X2 (or X-Men 2) Bryan Singer has made a film which certainly equals the first. Continuing on from the world’s quest to find all the mutants in the world William Stryker (played by Brian Fox) tracks down the school for gifted youngsters (mutants).

He also manages to capture Charles Xavier and through his son is able to get into the mind of Xavier and his plan is to through his son get into the mind of Xavier and find all the mutants in the world. Stryker builds his own Cerebro device to track down all the mutants in the world and kill them.

The usual suspects are back Wolverine, Storm, Cyclops, Rogue and Jean Grey along with a couple of new faces in Iceman, Pyro and Nightcrawler. Working alongside Magneto and Mystique to try and stop Stryker the X-Men of course managed to stop Stryker, rescue Xavier and shut down this fake Cerebro.

However, helping the X-Men get away proved too much for Jean Grey as she made the decision to save the X-Men over her own life. X2 sees Hugh Jackman’s performance as Wolverine come on a lot from the first film. Jackman really gets to grips with Wolverine’s past and in X2 we see how good Jackman can be as the Wolverine. Halle Berry continues her solid performance as Storm and newcomer Alan Cumming is an excellent Nightcrawler.

Brian Fox takes on the bad guy role in the film and does it brilliantly as William Stryker. Sir Ian McKellen is not so prominent in this film but when he is he is as good as ever and although Patrick Stewart takes a back seat in this film every scene he is in you thoroughly believe he is Charles Xavier.

Bryan Singer has added yet another superhero film to his Filmography and thankfully it’s another successful and enjoyable one.

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Single: Bombay Bicycle Club - Evening/Morning

I’ve followed Bombay Bicycle Club for a long time (I mean a long time) I have practically grown up with them. I saw them almost two years ago opening up the second stage at Chelmsford V Festival after they won the Road to V competition. Since then they’ve gone on to release a couple of really good EP’s but nothing that has impressed me greatly.

Until now I’ve had the new single ‘Evening/Morning’ on repeat for some time and I think it is the best song that the four piece have put together so far. If an album is coming out soon and sounds anything like this song then I can see it being a very, very, very good album.

At times the music sounds very much like something Kings of Leon would’ve come up with (first two album eras). Lead singer Jack Steadman has a very unique and obscure voice that I could imagine some people not liking however that is something I’ve always found so appealing and interesting about the band. ‘Evening/Morning’ is released via the superb Young & Lost Club and you should definitely be buying it with your pocket money this week (buy it here). “I’m ready to owe you anything” Jack sings, but trust me BBC with this song you owe us nothing!

9/10

Bombay Bicycle Club – Evening/Morning

Label Focus: XL Recordings

XL is one of my favourite labels, if not my favourite label. The label was set up by Tim Palmer, Nick Halkes and Richard Russell and was originally a label set up to release dance records. However the label has transformed since then and releases a wide range of different musicians.

XL definitely boasts one of the most eclectic ranges of music around at the moment. With the likes of solo artists Adele released her debut album ‘21’ on XL to other solo artists Dizzee Rascal and M.I.A. all releasing critically acclaimed albums on the XL label.

What is so great about XL is how they’ll sign lots of new talent and are constantly signing the freshest talent in the music scene. Most recently they signed hotly tipped St. Alban boys Friendly Fires who release their self titled debut album very shortly. Other debut albums to be released by XL this year include Cajun Dance Party’s ‘The Colourful Life’. Vampire Weekend dropped their self titled debut album in January and the album is one of the best on XL for some years.

Along with some great new bands XL has a range of more commercially known bands such as The White Stripes, Beck, The Raconteurs, Sigur Ros, The Prodigy and of course one of the best British bands of all time, Radiohead.

The talent doesn’t stop there when you consider the likes of Jack Penate, Be Your Own Pet, Tapes ‘n Tapes, The Teenagers and To My Boy have all used the XL label to release very successful albums. The Horrors have just recently announced that their new album will be out on XL Recordings too and future albums from new bands such as Magistrates and Kid Harpoon are expected too.

XL also assist in the development of other small labels such as Young Turks, Merok and Abeano who are all trying to bring fresh sounds to our ears all the time. To say XL Recordings is one of the most respected if not the most respected label in the country would be no understatement.

Formula One

On Sunday afternoon I spent a few hours watching a whole grand prix race, something I have never done before. I’ve always seen Formula 1 as a pretty dull sport really and only ever have watched highlights here and there. In the days where Michael Schumacher dominated the Championships I do honestly believe it was pretty dull. To watch a guy win race after race, title after title was slightly boring, especially when the sport itself can be at times boring.

In those years that Schumacher was dominating there wasn’t really any challengers either that could really take over from him. Y’know like when Chelsea spent 500 million on players and Arsene Wenger arrived to turn Arsenal around to challenge Manchester United. There was none of that during the Schumacher era really, however it’s in current climate there are so many drivers who have the ability to win the Championship, but at the same time lose it. Last season was one of the most exciting in history as only two points separated the top three drivers. In the end Ferrari’s Finish ice man Kimi Raikkonen wan the drivers Championship with Lewis Hamilton second and Spaniard Fernando Alonso on third.

This season the race is as close, as exciting and of course as unpredictable as ever and Lewis Hamilton is still leading the charge for the drivers Championship. Eleven races in Lewis Hamilton leads the table but only by a mere 5 points over last year’s winner Raikkonen and 3 points behind him is fellow Ferrari Felipe Massa. Seven races remain in the race for the biggest price in motor racing and Lewis Hamilton will be pushed all the way by the two Ferrari’s I’m sure. Many questioned whether last year’s success for Hamilton would be a one off but he has come back this year as strong as last year.

Winning races so far in Australia, Monaco, Germany and the Silverstone track in Northamptonshire, Great Britain. However Lewis will have to keep it up because in Massa and Raikkonen he is up against a very fast Ferrari car. Lewis Hamilton’s arrival and drivers such as Massa, Raikkonen, Alonso and Kovalainen have made F1 exciting again. I really hope Lewis does the business this year and secures the F1 Championship. 1996 was the year Damon Hill won the F1 Championship, the last from Great Britain and it’s about time we had a new British motor racing hero.

X-Men

Bryan Singer found his fame with his critically acclaimed film and one of my favourite films of all time, The Usual Suspects back in 1995. Five years on he was releasing highly anticipated X-Men, everybody watched (well I think everybody) the cartoon series as a child. I used to tune in to Fox Kids when I was small to make sure I watched the series about those X-Men and women of course.

For some reason I’ve never seen the film until today even though I’ve seen the second film X2, how that came about I really have no idea. X-Men is basically like the TV series Heroes which I am pretty sure most of you have seen / know what it’s about. Despite this comparison X-Men IS different because all the characters feel like superheroes and the characters are far better, obviously.

The world isn’t ready for mutants (X-Men) and considers them dangerous and wants them to come out and own up to whom they are and what they can do. The problem with the world of mutants is that there are bad ones and there are good ones. Magneto falls into the bad category along with his troops Sabre Tooth, Toad and Mystique. Where as Charles Xavier, Wolverine, Storm, Cyclops and Rogue are part of the good guys of the film.

The cast is as good as any superhero film out there, any film which includes Sir Ian McKellen as the bad guy works for me. Hugh Jackman is the perfect Wolverine; in fact he is Wolverine just as Christopher Reeve is Superman. I couldn’t imagine Wolverine as anyone else, it would be wrong. Patrick Stewart is definitely the ideal Charles Xavier and Halle Berry is faultless as Storm. Bryan Singer’s 2000 X-Men definitely remains one of the best superhero films made to date.

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Batman Returns

Right from the word go this film feels very much like a Tim Burton film, a lot more so than the previous film Batman. The opening music and the very opening scene is very much what you would expect from Tim Burton, which of course is no bad thing.

The film follows the story of the Penguin also known by his “real name” Oswald Cobblepot who is played by Danny DeVito. His performance as The Penguin is one of the real treats of the film, he fits into The Penguin role perfectly and if you were to see The Penguin down the street (unlikely of course) then you’d definitely see DeVito.

Michael Keaton carries on as Batman and he definitely is growing into the role as Batman but I still cannot take him seriously as Bruce Wayne. Bruce Wayne is meant to be a cool character but Michael Keaton is more like a geek something you do not associate with Bruce Wayne. Thankfully when he puts the mask on he is a very good portrayal of Batman.

The sexual feline Catwoman is played by Michelle Pfeiffer despite her being a quiet and shy secretary. Max Shreck who is played by the great Christopher Walken is the brains behind The Penguin who gets The Penguin to go for mayor so that he can go ahead with his power plant which will suck all the electricity from Gotham City.

The people of Gotham pity The Penguin when they find out how he was abandoned as a child and they begin to love The Penguin. Until thanks to Batman they find out what he is really like and at one point the people of Gotham turn on Batman because The Penguin sets him up but of course Batman is the man of the people and he saves the people from The Penguin and Max Shreck.

Overall the film carries on from the first and it’s very much the dark Tim Burton film everybody expects from a Batman film.

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Summer Transfers

2008 has been slow for transfer activity mainly because of the European Champions however transfer activity in the Premiership is now in full swing. Sunderland has one of the most active so far signing Spurs trio Taino, Chimbonda and Malbranque along ex Liverpool and Bolton forward Diouf. Roy Keane certainly has signalled his intent for the new season not to just stay up but to get a high table position.

The big four have been fairly quiet especially Manchester United and Arsenal who haven’t really splashed out with United not signing anyone so far. Arsenal have signed young starlet Samir Nasri but have sold Hleb, Gilberto Silva, Flamini and Lehmann. Chelsea have splashed out on Portuguese duo Deco and Boswinga and let the likes of Steve Sidwell and Ben Haim leave. Liverpool has made the biggest signing so far purchasing Robbie Keane for £19million and are still trying to get Gareth Barry for a similar price. They have recouped some of the money though by selling the likes of Crouch to Portsmouth and Riise to Roma.

Teams like Aston Villa, Everton and Manchester City have yet to really set the transfer window on fire. City did sign Brazilian Jo with Villa buying Chelsea’s Steve Sidwell and Blackburn’s veteran keeper Brad Friedel however you expect all three to bring in plenty of talent. Fulham have quietly been making several acquisitions including Andy Johnson (£12 million), West Ham pair Bobby Zamora and John Paintsill, Swede Fredrik Stoor along with free transfers Zoltan Gera and Mark Schwarzer.

Tottenham have probably been the most active signing the likes of Dos Santos, Bentley, Modric and Gomes. With the likes of Milito and Arshavin both expected to be Spurs players sooner rather than later. However Spurs have sold a lot of players with the likes of Gardner, Taino, Malbranque, Kaboul, Keane, Chimbonda, Robinson all departing and Berbatov is expected next too.

Newcomers Stoke, West Brom and Hull have all been fairly active in the market. Stoke City have made Dave Kitson their transfer record and have also signed experience Danish keeper Thomas Sorenson. West Brom meanwhile has signed Scott Carson and Gianni Zuiverloon and Hull have brought in George Boateng, Giovanni, Bernard Mendy and Anthony Gardner.

Elsewhere Newcastle and Middlesbrough have all been fairly quiet only making a couple of signings each. Wigan has made a fair few signings including former Birmingham duo Kapo and De Ridder. I expect so much more activity over the next 4 weeks with the transfer deadline looming on August 31st.