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Entertainment Reviews

I Just Saw You In My Dream, Is That Weird?: “Dream Scenario” Review

Dreams are funny little things that our minds play with when the rest of our body is resting or asleep. For some, they might be working over the things that are on their mind during the day. Others, it might be a struggle to face your fears in a place where you aren’t physically in danger. But what if there was someone watching you in your dreams? A24’s Dream Scenario tackles this exact thought with Nicholas Cage being the “man of your dreams” in this dark comedy of limitless possibilities.

Paul Matthews, Cage’s character and the protagonist of this film, is an unremarkable professor who desperately wants his work to be appreciated. For some inexplicable reason, people start seeing Paul’s likeness in their dreams while they are asleep. The news reaches Paul in the waking world and he instantly becomes a viral, Internet-famous celebrity which for Paul is a dream come true to have his own talents recognised in his field of study. Soon, the likeness of Paul in the dreams becomes less of a passive observer and more of a nightmare to his audience of millions, which starts to create obstacles for the real Paul and his family.

Generally, … Read More

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Entertainment

Getting Back In Sync: “Trolls: Band Together” Review

The U.S. Poster for "Trolls: Band Together" with Poppy and Viva.
The U.S. Poster for "Trolls: Band Together" with Poppy and Viva.

I’ll start by saying that I’ve only seen one Trolls movie before this screening of the third movie in the series. With Trolls, it seemed like a fairly inoffensive, kid-friendly jukebox musical, even if they did butcher Gorillaz’ “Clint Eastwood” for one scene. Of course, who didn’t hear “Can’t Stop the Feeling” on the radio when the movie was first released in cinemas?

With the second movie, Trolls: World Tour, the release around 2020 says all that it needs to about why I couldn’t get to the cinema to see it and with home releases, my time was split away from watching another sequel in a kids’ franchise. So, why Band Together? Well, with this movie being the catalyst of *NYSNC getting back together to record new music this year, I figured I’d see how it is for a fun, family-friendly cinema experience. Boy bands bring back a certain nostalgia from my childhood that isn’t easy to ignore.

Trolls: Band Together takes place after the events of the first two movies with a Bergen wedding between Gristle and Bridget, demonstrating the peace between the Bergens and the Trolls. However, the movie focuses more on Branch, the down-to-earth Troll, and … Read More

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Entertainment Reviews

Dark Side of the Moon Redux – Live at London Palladium Review (9th October 2023)

On the 8th & 9th October 2023, Roger Waters performed 2 shows at the London Palladium to celebrate the release of his Dark Side of the Moon Redux album – as I’m sure you would have known if you have read any of my track review articles, this was his re-interpretation & revisiting of the album that he, along with the rest of Pink Floyd, created back in 1973, which is considered one of the most popular rock albums ever made.

Ahead of the event, a schedule was e-mailed out, along with details: mobile devices, smart watches, and other recording tools would be put in pouches that would be opened after the performance, and the show was made up of two distinct parts – 50 minutes of Roger Waters, and then 50 minutes of Dark Side of the Moon Redux (with a 20 minute intermission between both). I assumed this to mean 50 minutes of songs not on the album, and then 50 minutes of the album. How mistaken I was.

When the show started, Roger did what he likes to do when he’s not singing – talking. He thanked the owner of the venue to allow for him to … Read More

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Entertainment Reviews

Time (2023 Dark Side of the Moon Redux) – Roger Waters Track Review

 

Another week, another track review of the upcoming Dark Side of the Moon Redux album by Roger Waters – the song this go-round is Time.

Right off the bat, some may be relieved to hear that the song, which starts off with a cacophonic sound collage of clocks ticking and alarm bells ringing in the original, is no longer present. Instead, in its place, is more of the spoken word poetry that was heavily present in his other single (Money), so your mileage may very well vary depending on how you feel about the original and the new style that’s being taken.

However, it feels like there has been more effort put into this song as a whole – while there are still the talking aspects, there is more of an attempt at breathy singing, which I think works well in the context of this song. As the title suggests, it’s a piece largely around the all-too-fleeting journey that is life, on an album that was made by Waters while he was 29. Fast forward 50 years, and the message hits a lot harder from the perspective of a man, who, at the time of writing, … Read More

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Entertainment Reviews

Money (2023 Dark Side of the Moon Redux) – Roger Waters Track Review

Money, it’s a crime – it’s also the first song out of the upcoming Dark Side of the Moon Redux album coming out in October this year. As the name suggests, this is a revision of the Pink Floyd album that originally came out in 1973, in celebration of its 50th anniversary – it’s also that album with the cover that’s been the staple of stereotypically college dorm room poster collections for decades.

Oh hey, it’s that album!

Roger Waters was the bassist and lead singer of the band up until The Final Cut after which he and the band separated on less than cordial terms, but has still kept his Floyd material as a staple in his live performances and so has taken it upon himself to give the album a fresh, modern spin. Now, going into this review, I must clarify: Dark Side of the Moon is not my favourite Pink Floyd album, and I personally feel like Money is the least “fitting” song in the album, in the sense that I feel it breaks the flow too much, so it’s not a song that I hold near and dear to my heart. However, having said that, the … Read More

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Entertainment Gaming

What’s Been In My Gaming Cycle?

Hi all, it’s been a while! I was thinking it would be a good time to give an overview on what’s been in my gaming cycle recently, as well as what I’m looking forward to!

SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated

The remaster of what appears to be a collectathon title that many looked fondly upon its release in the early 2000s, the game tells a fairly basic but charming plot around Plankton unleashing robots within Bikini Bottom, with the objective being for SpongeBob (as well as characters such as Patrick and Sandy) to collect Golden Spatulas (the game’s version of Stars/Jiggies) and put a stop to the techno-menace.

While mainly put on my radar due to my enjoyment of the chaos that was ai_sponge (may it rest in peace), the game is filled with charm and characters on a show that I very much enjoyed growing up. While the gameplay isn’t groundbreaking, and some voice acting is a bit off (e.g. not having Clancy Brown voice Mr. Krabs), it was an enjoyable and inoffensive experience with an approachable level of difficulty for the most part, with exception of some the slide levels!

THEATRHYTHM FINAL BAR LINE

No, … Read More

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Pop Culture

Shell-uloid! A ranking of TMNT movies and tv projects

Greetings! It is I, Josh “Thunder” Shaver, making my return to the printed page. Recently, I watched the new TMNT Mutant Mayhem film and actually loved it. I know a lot of purists out there are mad that things were changed, but when the multiverse is cannon, anything is possible. In fact, there is no actual TMNT cannon, as it changes with every iteration. Sometimes Splinter was previously a man, sometimes he was that man’s pet. In the original comics, April was a living drawing. For this ranking, I’m just looking at the movies, live action and animated, and the TV series too. Here they are in order from my least favorite to my most preferred version of the brothers. Let’s kick it off with the one movie I hate the most and a reminder that these are my own personal opinions.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014)– I have so much disdain for this movie, I don’t think I will ever have anything nice to say about it. The boys don’t just look bad, they’re fugly. The story is slow paced and retcons everything to be aliens. I know my whole soapbox is there is no real canon but … Read More

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Entertainment

Celebrity Memoirs I Want to Read

There are dozens of articles across the web that include the “best” celebrity memoirs. This isn’t one of them. I have never been interested in celebrity memoirs, autobiographies, or biographies. I’m not sure why. I’ve not felt the need to know their personal lives or been super into celebrity gossip.  Maybe because I’ve only felt “connected” to a handful over the years and those individuals never released one? Dunno. But it seems there has been a surge the past year or so, and a few have actually caught my eye. Below are five that I am interested in… but still may or may not read.

1. Spare- Prince Harry,  Jan 2023: A prince struggles with his royal lifestyle and finding love, eventually relinquishing his title and leaving his royal family after marrying the love of his life. Sounds like a modern-day fairy tale or a rom-com movie. But fairy-tales and rom-coms don’t talk about the nitty gritty details. I don’t share the same fascination of the British monarchy that America possesses overall, but I loved Princess Diana. She was dubbed the “World’s Princess” for good reason, and I admired who she was and what she stood for. Conspiracy theories aside,
… Read More
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Gaming

Final Fantasy XVI – The First FF I’ve Completed! (Impressions)

Hi all, Andrew here – I appreciate it’s been a while since I’ve written an article, so I hope it’s not too rusty! Anyway, on with the topic – I, as a gamer who’s approaching his 30s, have completed my first ever Final Fantasy game – the recently released Final Fantasy XVI. While I have dabbled and played a bit of Final Fantasy VII Remake and Final Fantasy XV, this is the first one where I got to the credits. As a result, I thought it would be interesting to put down my non-spoilery thoughts on what I felt worked well, and what I felt would be better built on!

What I Liked

  • As a rule, I’m generally not a fan of turn-based combat (with exceptions such as Persona), so having a more real-time combat focus was definitely a plus for me, and made the series feel a bit more approachable for a beginner.
  • The graphics were fantastic, with a minimal difference between the cutscenes and the actual gameplay – it certainly makes the best of the PS5 technology, with some breath-taking scenery and set pieces!
  • They used QTEs in a way that make sense – while I personally don’t
… Read More
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Entertainment

WWE RAW results from 04-10-2023

Tonight’s WWE RAW opens LIVE on the USA Network from the Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, Washington as Kevin Patrick joins us. He’s joined at ringside by Corey Graves. Graves explains how some Superstars aren’t here due to travel issues, but the ones here are ready to tear it down.

We go right to the ring and out comes 2023 WWE Hall of Famer Rey Mysterio to a big pop.

Rey, wearing his LWO t-shirt, welcomes everyone to RAW. He talks about how this has been a crazy year. A “Rey!” chant starts up as he talks about his ups & downs. Last week should’ve been a dream come true with the induction and to compete… a “you deserve it!” chant interrupts. On top of that, to compete at the biggest WrestleMania of all-time but instead he had to face his own son. Fans boo. Rey really wanted things to be different. The music interrupts and out comes Dominik Mysterio to boos.

Dominik goes on with the usual, about he’s sick of hearing Rey and how he’s a deadbeat. Dominik says The Judgment Day is his real family. Rey says those idiots are using Dominik. Dominik says Rey is the … Read More