Chimpomatic

Golden Smog

Another Fine Day

The title to this record sums it up perfectly. The operative word being 'Fine.' It describes a state that is neither really bad nor really good. And it's 'Another' fine day, which hints at a monotonous state of fineness that goes on and on in a Groundhog Day fashion, never improving or getting worse. It's the kind of state where life just passes you by and you don't notice it. This is just what tends to happen to this record. It is yet another under-par offering from the apparent "Super Group" consisting of members of Soul Asylum, The Replacements, The Jayhawks and Wilco. Wilco's Jeff Tweedy's stocks have risen sharply in recent times and as a result his input here is minimal. When he does grace us with his presence he gives us the 2 best songs on the album, Long Time Ago and Listen Joe are classic Tweedy but they only serve to highlight the blandness of the rest of the songs.

When playing Another Fine Day in my car I had to turn it down so people didn't think I was listening to Crowded House. That's not a good sign.

#BC
#Music

7th Aug 2006 - Tumblr

Rampage

Bog standard entry into The-Rock-action-movie genre. As much personality as a computer game.

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3rd Jan 2019

Avengers

Infinity War

This time it’s really, really serious. Seriously.

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27th Dec 2018

The Greatest Showman

It’s a musical ...but slick direction makes it just about bearable.

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24th Dec 2018

Ready Player One

Pop-culture bouillabaisse, hampered by numerous terrible accents.

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24th Dec 2018

Lady Bird

Pacey, emotional, old-fashioned indie pic. Beautifully observed.

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15th Dec 2018

Darkest Hour

Surprisingly underwhelming biopic that doesn’t find its feet until 20m from the end.

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24th Nov 2018

Den of Thieves

Utterly derivative / thoroughly enjoyable ‘Heat’ rip off.

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21st Nov 2018

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Well crafted character study, with some nice touches.

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10th Nov 2018

You Were Never Really Here

Brutal revenge thriller. Stylish and violent, with plenty of explanation… https://t.co/VfjHjpveUJ.

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4th Nov 2018

Private Life

Intense indie drama from Netflix. Impeccably acted and directed.

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27th Oct 2018

Black Panther

Disappointingly unoriginal superhero movie, complete with dull CGI action.

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27th Oct 2018

Modern Life is Rubbish

Continually clichéd rock romance that never breaks into originality.

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13th Oct 2018

England is Mine

Dry Morrissey biopic that gets arty by avoiding using any Smiths songs.

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7th Oct 2018

The Only Living Boy in New York

Decent rehash of vintage indie movie tropes.

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7th Oct 2018

Hostiles

Mumblingly wordy western that’s big on self-importance and low on drama and tension.

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25th Sep 2018

The Disaster Artist

Muddled biopic with occasional moments of eccentric comedy madness.

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22nd Sep 2018

The Boy Downstairs

Like a long episode of Girls that’s all about one of the more boring characters.

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16th Sep 2018

Shot Caller

Slightly confused slice of post-Michael Mann LA crime.

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7th Sep 2018

Ingrid Goes West

Sympathetic retread of Single White Female, with added #hashtags.

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26th Aug 2018

Jumanji

Welcome to the Jungle

Fun updated reboot with added Breakfast Club.

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26th Aug 2018

Justice League

Low-tide mark for super hero movies. I only finished watching to see how bad it could get.

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14th Aug 2018

Song to Song

It’s a cover version of every other Mallick pic, but the setting is inspired and the improv from Gosling is enjoyably enthusiastic.

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8th Aug 2018

Paddington 2

Well written, well paced sequel. Surprisingly competent and heartwarming.

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4th Aug 2018

Death Wish

70s pot boiler that lazily meanders through a series of mediocre set pieces.

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23rd Jul 2018

Thor

Ragnarok

Enjoyable change of pace for the super hero genre. Comedy wins.

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21st Jul 2018

How It Ends

Great concept, but shoddily directed and utterly devoid of jeopardy.

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17th Jul 2018

Anthropoid

Small scale wartime espionage flick. Decent, but a bit laboured.

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15th Jul 2018

Geostorm

Sub Roland Emmerich swill, with Gerard Butler saving the world from crazy weather.

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13th Jul 2018

American Made

Derivative but fun romp through 80s CIA drug and gun running.

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12th Jul 2018

The Outsider

Brutally sincere, painfully thin yakuza flick. Jared Leto goes full Gaijin.

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6th Jul 2018

The Snowman

Huge misfire from Tomas Alfredson, with a multitude of bizarre choices. Like a bad 80's VHS rental.

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6th Jul 2018

Bone Tomahawk

Brutally violent, post-Tarantino western. It’s all a bit mechanical.

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2nd Jun 2018

Solo

A Star Wars Story

Reasonable, forgettable addition. Overfilling that mysterious back story.

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1st Jun 2018

Atomic Blonde

Lazy double-crossing spy drama, directed with a certain amount of swagger.

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24th May 2018

The Florida Project

Stylish, incredibly depressing portrait of life on the margins.

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12th May 2018

Brawl in Cell Block 99

Minimally written and confidently directed, with a brutally violent third act. Starring thin Vince Vaughn.

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4th May 2018

Last Flag Flying

Unofficial sequel to The Last Detail. Surprisingly slight effort from Linklater.

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29th Apr 2018

Alien

Covenant

Another tired entry, trotting out the same old tropes, plus new nonsensical gibberish.

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13th Apr 2018

Star Wars

The Last Jedi

Every moment is undermined by a gag and the few serious scenes are sloppily handled.

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13th Apr 2018

Spider-man

Homecoming

A third crack at Spider-man. Fun-ish, but it’s zero-stakes, zero-jeopardy. Bit smug too.

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31st Mar 2018

Wonder Woman

Another garish super-hero flick. Slightly above average, mainly by being more old-fashioned.

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30th Mar 2018

Slow West

Overly dry, eccentric western. Jarmuschian overtones.

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16th Mar 2018

Wind River

Incredible, tense, original thriller. A western with snowmobiles.

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14th Mar 2018

21 Years

Richard Linklater

Career retrospective doc that keeps it fun and doesn’t outstay it’s welcome.

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11th Mar 2018

The Mummy

Blockbuster-by-numbers as Universal clumsily attempt to build a franchise.

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24th Feb 2018

I’m Now

The Story of Mudhoney

Unsurprising history run-down, enlivened by the band’s ferociously DIY attitude.

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21st Feb 2018

The Cloverfield Paradox

Some good ideas, buried by shambolic direction and storytelling.

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20th Feb 2018

Get Out

Intense, eerie thriller that’s surprisingly straightforward and a little old-fashioned.

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30th Jan 2018

Colossal

Disappointingly slow, underdeveloped and literal monster metaphor from Nacho Vigalondo.

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27th Jan 2018

The Light Between Oceans

Long, but moving and stylishly directed period drama. Fantastic cinematography.

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15th Jan 2018