A decade in the making.

Bohemian Rhapsody the biopic film is championed by Roger Taylor (Drummer, Queen) and Brian May (Guitarist, Queen) that heralds the start up of the band, formerly known as Smile and the killer Queen himself, Freddy Mercury’s inception, influence, fame and iconic talent, covering events up to their show stopping performance of Live Aid in June 1985.

From just a bunch of Uni students that cobbled together songs and did covers, when the lead singer of Smile left the band Roger and Brian needed to find a replacement. Freddy (played by Raimi Malek) pretty much positioned himself in to the lead with a car park, one song rehearsal.

It wasn’t long until Smile, became Queen and Freddy (as we all know and love him) changed to his stage name (and also legally), from his birth name Farrokh Bulsara, having been a refugee from Zanzibar.

Strict parents, especially a traditional father who worked as a book keeper at London’s Heathrow airport, Farrokh worked as a baggage handler at the Terminal and submersed himself in to his love of music in any spare time that he had.

It was during the time of joining Smile that Farrokh met someone that would change his life and no matter what, always be at his side, from relationship to a friend that no one else in his life could compare to, Mary Austin.

It was while on tour with the band now called Queen and by this stage John Deacon, another University student had joined on bass, that Farrokh, now legally called Freddy Mercury, began to realise and struggle with (initially) his bi-sexuality.

The film is a mostly accurate portrayal with two members of the band being Executive Producers and long time band manager; Jim Beach also being on the Production team. Thee are some noticeable timeline shifts, such as when Freddy was diagnosed with AIDs (it was 1987 – two years after Live Aid).

Titled after Queen’s experimental yet signature song Bohemian Rhapsody (aka ‘Freddy’s thing’) which their record producer, Ray Foster (Mike Meyers)  refused to have aired, (deemed it was too long for radio) and when eventually released was slammed by music critics globally at the time. As we all know and was predicted by the first radio DJ at the time to play the song; Kenny Everette – it has become a rock anthem that has never and will never be matched. Ever.

The film is a total gloves off raw look in to the trials through the 1980’s as fame and influence from different avenues including the then Manager of Mercury; Paul Prenter shaped Freddy’s existence and eventual death of AIDS on the 24th of November 1991.

20th Century Fox really know how to take out a year with a bang. Last year’s finale was The Greatest Showman – this year; Bohemian Rhapsody.

We all know the songs, know the band and love Freddy.

Fan of Queen or not, there’s no denying they rocked us through the ‘70s and 80s. Doing what they did how they wanted to do it. Sometimes experimental, always a bit risque and never the same as any other rock band. Interacting with the mass sized audiences making them feel the rock and be a part of it. Stadium after stadium, album after album.

Let Queen rock you one more time in Bohemian Rhapsody. The best film this year and totally worth the ten year wait.

The post Bohemian Rhapsody (20th Century Fox) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

On November 16th, 2018 fans can celebrate the recorded legacy of musical icon and singer / songwriter Chris Cornell, with the 17-track self-titled album, Chris Cornell and a 64-track limited-edition deluxe box set (11 of them unreleased).  The first release since his passing in 2017, the album will be released by Cornell’s wife, Vicky Cornell on behalf of The Chris Cornell Estate through UMe.

Chris Cornell commemorates his life and legacy not only as a singer, but as a poet and one of the most prolific writers and greatest voices of the modern rock era. Vicky, worked extensively with Chris’ bandmates and friends to compile a collection of material from the late artist’s expansive career, showcasing his contribution to music history with selections culled from the deep catalogues of his three influential bands – Soundgarden, Temple of the Dog and Audioslave – as well as songs from his solo career. She turned to producer Brendan O’Brien, who was a trusted partner to Cornell over the years and Jeff Ament who created the packaging for Chris Cornell.  

The first unreleased track, “When Bad Does Good,” was produced, recorded, and mixed by Cornell and was found in his personal recordings archive. The track was a favorite of his and it wasn’t until friend Josh Brolin, reminded Vicky of the unreleased song, that she decided to share it with his fans. 

“Since Chris’ sudden passing I have put all my efforts and energy into sharing his music and legacy with his fans from all over the world”, says Vicky.  “I felt we needed to create a special collection to represent all of him – the friend, husband and father, the risk taker and innovator, the poet and artist.  His soaring vocals found their way into the hearts and souls of so many.  His voice was his vision and his words were his peace. This album is for his fans”.

The track is also accompanied by a lyric video (watch above).

The breadth of all 17 selections on Chris Cornell display the full span of his artistic achievements, from the full-on kick of Soundgarden’s seminal “Black Hole Sun” to the mournful yearning of Temple of the Dog’s “Hunger Strike” to the sensitive depth of Audioslave’s “Like A Stone” to his spot-on solo theme to the 2006 James Bond film Casino Royale, “You Know My Name.” This collection also contains a pair of unreleased recordings: a touching cover of Prince’s “Nothing Compares 2 U” that was cut live at Sirius XM, and “When Bad Does Good.” 

The November 16 2018 release will also include a limited-edition 4CD Deluxe box set of the same name, consisting of 64 tracks total (11 of them unreleased.)  

Chris Cornell comes housed in a jewel case with a limited-edition custom die-cut slipcase that showcases Seattle with tree-line graphics on the front and other various cities he lived in throughout his life on the back, a 32-page booklet with many unreleased photos, and liner notes from bandmates and colleagues Kim Thayil, Matt Cameron, Tom Morello, Mike McCready, and Brendan O’Brien. The 180g 2LP edition comes in a gatefold jacket with similar limited-edition slipcase graphics, a 12-page booklet, and the aforementioned liner notes, while the 4CD limited-edition box boasts a further expanded 54-page booklet.

Additionally, a limited-edition Super Deluxe 4CD, 1DVD, and 180-gram 7LP box set is set for release on November 16. The Super Deluxe edition holds 88 tracks — 64 songs plus 24 videos, with 13 entries (11 audio + 2 video) previously unreleased overall. Also included in the Super Deluxe box are a 66-page hardcover photo book wrapped in linen with a red foil signature cover, three artist lithos, three photochromatic lithos inspired by Cornell’s lyrical fascination about the sun (images are brought to life by holding under direct sunlight), a turntable mat, a microfiber vinyl cleaning cloth, and a 36×48-inch wall poster.

The box set’s ten unreleased live performances include Cornell’s duet with Yusuf/Cat Stevens on “Wild World” and another duet with his daughter, Toni Cornell, on Bob Marley’s indelible classic, “Redemption Song.” Temple of the Dog’s 25th anniversary reunion / first-ever-official tour in 2016 is highlighted with hometown performances of “Reach Down” and the Andy Wood / Mother Love Bone favorite “Stargazer,” Chris’ personal arrangement of “One” featuring the lyrics to Metallica’s song set to the music of U2’s song of same name, and a first ever album release of Audioslave’s 2005 ground-breaking performance on Cuban soil of “Show Me How To Live.” Also in 2016, one of Chris’ personal career-topping moments was performing at the prestigious Royal Albert Hall in London where he covered The Beatles’ “A Day In The Life.”

Three additional live selections from Sweden in 2006 include “Wide Awake,” “All Night Thing” and Led Zeppelin’s “Thank You” are from the very first show ever where Chris performed by himself with an acoustic guitar in front of an audience which became the creative spark for his future, highly successful Songbook tours. Two unreleased music videos spotlight a solo acoustic performance of “Scream” and the newly edited Soundgarden video “Live To Rise,” showcasing the band only without The Avengers movie footage included.

The post CHRIS CORNELL: AN ARTIST’S LEGACY appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

The timeless tale of King Arthur has been told and retold throughout the centuries.

The young man who was able to pull the sword from the stone.

I admit that I was surprised to hear of Guy Ritchie (Snatch, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels) taking on this classic narrative with his gritty and raw film formula that he is known for.

But, he does it right.

King Arthur: Legend of the Sword from Warner Bros. is a tale of family betrayal, where the King’s brother, Vortigern (Jude Law) covets his brothers post as King of Camelot and makes a deal with sea witches by sacrificing his own wife to gain the power to overthrow the King (Eric Bana).

Arthur (Charlie Hunnam), the son of the King manages to escape and is ferried of to Londinium (London) where he is raised in a Brothel gaining street smarts and becoming a skilled fighter aswell as thief, wheeler and dealer.

The coming of age of Arthur is where the Guy Ritchie flavour is seeded with the notable quick cmaera and scene swap outs to get through narrative.

The new King, Vortigern becames a wee bit paranoid that his nephew maybe out there and that the original King’s bloodline is still prevalent, causing a threat to his own reign. So he sets up camps around the region to test local young and old manfolk at pulling the King’s sword from the stone it was placed in after his murder.

Here we have the rise and the retribution of the eventual King Arthur coupled with larger than life battle scenes.

Naturally in a fantasy film such as this – effects are paramount and as equally epic, however, glad to say not overdone which could have pulled the film down.

King Arthur: Legend of the Sword is a healthy mix of live action and SFX with a good pace. Not a film that keeps you on the edge of your seat but an excellent reimagining of the a well told and infamous legend.

Fans of Guy Ritchie films will appreciate aswell as those that are wanting to see a large and boastful fantasy movie.

The post King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (Warner Bros. – 2017) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

The Great Wall of China. Spanning a whopping 21,196.18 kms across China, built, initially, during the time of the Ming Dynasty taking over 2,000 years to build.

Being able to be seen by interstellar telescopes from Space, The Great Wall is an epic achievement of mankind and the largest man made wonder on Earth.

To say it is epic is an understatement. unfortunately the recently released film The Great Wall (2017) is not as epic, but it tries hard to be.

There are many legends surrounding the reasoning that the The Great Wall of China was built. This film takes on one of these legends.

Starring Matt Damon as William and his accomplice Tovar (Predro Pascal), two mercenaries who are on a quest to gain some Black Powder (Gun Powder) from China, but they both unwittingly get embroiled in a supernatural war against the alien Taotie monsters who resurface every 60 years, increasing in numbers with ever resurgence and gaining more intelligence with every encounter.

During the time of Song Dynasty and during the reign of the Renzong Emperor, William and Tovar find themselves surrounded by China’s seclusive Nameless Order, a military unit tasked with guarding the Wall, while they were fleeing a group of Khitan bandits.

The Nameless Order, led by General Shao (Zhang Hanyu) with Commander Lin (Jing Tian) as a successor, the two mercenaries are taken as prisoners initially, but mostly for their own survival, William and Tovar soon join the ranks of the Nameless Order.

However, Tovar is not so keen and befriends Sir Ballard (Willem Dafoe), a westerner who he himself was taken prisoner some 25 years previous and with Tovar devises an escape plan with Black Powder in hand.

The Taotie are hungry and humans appear to be their primary source of food. With a Queen Taotie directing orders to the millions of her monster subjects, the grunts set out to breach the Wall and gather food for their Queen.

When the Taotie Queen is fed she will reproduce.

In Chinese law the Taotie are said to appear during times of greed, and it is the Taotie’s plan to populate themselves throughout China, as they make their way through the Wall and on to the Imperial City.

Going in to see The Great Wall I had super high expectations. Like many of you reading this, I had seen the trailers and was expecting great things and to be blown away.

But I feel that The Great Wall came 10 years too late, trying to give itself that huge larger than film life vibe with heavy amounts of CGI and battle scenes that looked like they had been slightly cloned from 2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road.

As a film going audience we are saturated and desensitized to CGI in films and when there is too much of it to try and get a film through to its conclusion, it is really apparent.

However, The Great Wall does have some good humour and while it is a somewhat serious flick, it does not always take itself too seriously.

Another weak spot in The Great Wall film was the supporting cast and acting talent therein. Even Matt Damon had a few eyebrow raising moments as his accent tended to change per scene.

The Great Wall did not meet the expectation and in areas actually disappointed slightly. While I still have a high appreciation of the Chinese legend that was being told and actually enjoyed the core narrative o the film, it is entertaining but is a film that you would go and see if you are prepared to turn off your senses.

The Great Wall had the makings of being an epic film-making historical movie, but it missed the mark.

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