Coming Soon - Kick-Ass

I know that I am alone in saying that I'm fed up with superhero movies.  The Spiderman trilogy has been appalling, Batman overrated, X-Men a mess of story lines and so on, but I really am.  I think that people aren't putting effort into them as they already have millions of followers due to comics who will go and pay for the movie no matter what.

So then, what are the odds that an action comedy spoofing the lives of superheroes, played by kids and also based off a comic (the rights bought before issue #1 was published) will be one of my favourite movies of 2010?  Well, too early to say so far, but as each day draws near the prospect is looking better and better.

The movie centres around a teenage boy named Dave Lizewski who decides to become a superhero; he can't fly but he can kick your ass!  Donning his green and yellow costume, Dave (under the guise of Kick-Ass) heads to the streets to fight crime.  He soon comes across Big Daddy (Nicholas Cage) a gun-toting Batman look-a-like and his daughter Hit-Girl who just so happen to be trying to bring down a local drug baron.

We'll have to wait until April to see if it truly delivers, but the trailers have been the most fun to watch since last years Zombieland.  It already has a cult following and will no doubt be a huge success, so here's hoping that it entertains and kicks ass as well.  Until then, enjoy the trailers:

Teaser:

Full Trailer:


Red Band trailer for Hit-Girl (soooo funny):

What are the Most Successful Movies Ever?

Most people will be familiar with the following list of movies:

Rank	Title		Lifetime Gross
1	Titanic		$600,788,188
2	The Dark Knight		$533,345,358
3	Star Wars		$460,998,007
4	Shrek 2		$441,226,247
5	E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial		$435,110,554
6	Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace		$431,088,301
7	Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest		$423,315,812
8	Spider-Man		$403,706,375
9	Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith		$380,270,577
10	The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King		$377,027,325

It's the top ten highest grossing movies ever domestically in the US. A quick scan of the lists shows that they are mostly big-budget, special effects blockbusters, designed to rake in money rather than to aim for anything higher. There are a few exceptions, but on the whole, that's what it is. Plus, it's common sense that the movie industry, as well as the music industry, concentrate more on the big money bringers as this is what keeps them alive and it is something relatively easy for them to do, year after year.

Making a critically acclaimed movie (not that us critics' opinions mean anything) is more of a gamble. Will the movie actually be any good? Will the audience enjoy it? Will enough of them go and see it? Fortunately there are still plenty of movies that have more weight to them than the standard 'summer blockbuster' that we get acclimatised to these days and there's a steady balance between the two, although the latter sometimes get overlooked due to a lower budget advertising campaign and release.

What if we were to take the box office figures from all movies and adjust them for inflation? This would give us a clearer look at how movies in the past fared against those in the above list. It also helps to see how commercially successful it was as the standard figures would be hard for us to interpret. For example, back in 1941, Fantasia made $76 million domestically on it's release. Now we know that this figure these days isn't much at all, so to us it isn't that helpful as a figure to show how well it did. If we were to take that figure and adjust it for inflation, though, it makes Fantasia the 20th highest grossing movie ever! That $76 million now becomes $596 million these days, which immediately springs out as a high figure and an indicator as to how well it did.

Now I will show the adjusted top ten in reverse order and offer brief comments on the movie and its position.

10: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs



Year: 1937
Unadjusted Gross: $184,925,486
Adjusted Gross: $782,620,000

It's no surprise that this movie did well. This was the first ever animated feature, Walt Disney's first, and it was presented in glorious Technicolor. I can imagine no other more magical even in the theater in that era other than Wizard of Oz which was released two years later. It went straight to the top of highest grossing movies at that time and kept it's crown for only two years. It really is a beautiful movie and the style of the animation looks great today, probably Disney's best release.

9: The Exorcist



Year: 1973
Unadjusted Gross: $232,671,011
Adjusted Gross: $793,883,100

Again, no surprise here on the success it achieved. This was a highly talked about movie, from people talking about how scary it was, religious groups wanting it banned and stories of accidents during production. The Exorcist was originally banned in the UK on video from 1984 up until 1998. All of these stories made people rush to the cinemas to see it, a lot didn't even last for the whole showing as people were generally terrified by what they saw.

One of the most important horror movies ever made and one of the most unique in the way it was presented, it still holds up very well today and is better than most horrors that were released since.

8: Doctor Zhivago


Year: 1965
Unadjusted Gross: $111,721,910
Adjusted Gross: $891,292,600

This is an odd entry, despite the fact that it was a huge commercial success at the time, it also received many criticisms on it's length and pacing, which director David Lean took into account. He edited around 17 minutes from the final cut but also stated that he wouldn't make any more movies, he did however due to Doctor Zhivago's box office success.

I haven't seen this, it doesn't really interest me as the story didn't do much for me, but please post your opinions of this is you have seen it.

7: Jaws



Year: 1975
Unadjusted Gross: $260,000,000
Adjusted Gross: $919,605,900

The one that started them all, Jaws is the original Summer Blockbuster, it was the movie that put Spielberg on the map as a major player in the movie business and was the first movie to open nationwide, setting the trend for the rest of the big movies since.

Unlike summer movies of today, Jaws is intelligently directed, perfectly building up suspense and scares, mostly due to the technical problems with the shark. The cast is great and John Williams famous score take it to a whole other level. Still a great, entertaining watch to this day, one of Spielberg's best.

6: Titanic

Year: 1997
Unadjusted Gross: $600,788,188
Adjusted Gross: $921,523,500

Paramount studios were worried about Titanic. It famous became the most expensive movie to make at that time and they wondered whether or not it will make any money. Their worries were eased when people flocked to see the tale of the legendary 'ship that couldn't sink', they wanted to see the disaster of the sinking, the groundbreaking special effects and, for some reason, Winslet and DiCaprio getting it on. Months later it crushed it's competition at the Oscars.

Today, Titanic is an ok-ish movie. The effects, by now, are weak in places but do not detract too much. The main weakness is the script. Take away the effects and the fact that it is the Titanic, and we are left with a fairly run-of-the-mill romance that doesn't seem to deliver as much as it should. The acting is ok, but again, could have been a lot stronger. It is still a good watch, but it's length would prevent someone watching it on a whim.

5: The Ten Commandments



Year: 1956
Unadjusted Gross: $65,500,000
Adjusted Gross: $940,580,000

Put a famous biblical account on the big screen and you're already guaranteed a big audience. But when you put something as epic as The Ten Commandments on the big screen then expect one of the biggest movies ever. Everybody wanted to see this epic, especially how it would portray certain events like the ten plagues and the parting of the Red Sea. Throw in Charlton Heston and Yul Brynner and you got a smash on your hands.

It's a very enjoyable movie, despite it's length. It certainly does have that 'epic' feel to it, in scope, production and time. The effects still look good when you think that this is over 50 years old, they don't cut it like the CGI today but you are always wondering how they did everything back then. Glorious colour and a cast of hundreds. Definitely worth seeing once.

4: E.T. : The Extra-Terrestrial



Year: 1982
Unadjusted Gross: $435,110,554
Adjusted Gross: $1,018,514,100

The first movie on this list to have over $1 Billion. Spielberg, by 1982, had established himself as one of the top Hollywood directors and his previous movies all had great success, but I don't think even he was prepared for how popular E.T. would become. With this movie Spielberg had perfected the formulaic family film that he would go on to replicate numerous times.

A family movie that children could enjoy and learn from and where adults can be taken back to their youth and a movie where, no matter what your age, you end up crying at. One of Spielberg's best 'family' movies, though his later ones tend to tarnish the memory of this somewhat. Check out the original and not the special edition 20th anniversary dvd.

3: The Sound of Music



Year: 1965
Unadjusted Gross: $158,671,368
Adjusted Gross: $1,022,542,400

There's something about this movie, something that will divide an audience, a lot of people hate this movie or find it intensely boring, yet others love it. It seems there are more who love it than hate it which is why it is so high in this chart. It's beautiful scenery and popular tunes direct from the musical drew vast crowds to the theater. It's huge success is said to have saved Fox studio after Cleopatra nearly made it bankrupt. Definitely the most popular and successful movie musical, Sound of Music regularly tops lists of favourite musicals and movies.

2: Star Wars



Year: 1977
Unadjusted Gross: $460,998,007
Adjusted Gross: $1,278,898,700

Not much needs to be said about the original Star Wars. It changed how movies would be made forever, thanks to Industrial Light and Magic, the company that was set up to create the (then) great effects. And this is where the movie shines; audiences had never seen anything like what Star Wars had to offer with it's exciting space battles, weird creatures, cool light sabers and walking carpets. I still think this is badly written and directed, especially compared to the next two sequels, but the vision that Lucas had and the determination to get it made despite not having much financial backing is incredible. John Williams' score catapults it above and beyond what even Lucas could have envisioned.

1: Gone With the Wind



Year: 1939
Unadjusted Gross: $198,676,459
Adjusted Gross: $1,450,680,400

For its time, Gone With the Wind was a beast of a movie, it blew all competition out of the water. It became the highest grossing movie of that time, and now, adjusting for inflation, it is the top of our list. It won ten academy awards, which it held as a record for nearly 20 years.

Another epic movie but this didn't have special effects to blow audiences away, instead it had a story and characters that the audience could love and relate to. It's a big movie to sit through but make sure you do it at least once in your life.

So there we have the list of highest grossing movies ever if adjusted for inflation. Quite a difference from the standard list. I have to say that I do prefer this list; although I don't think that the ten movies are the ten best, they mostly deserve their place and it is easy to see how they warrant their success. this second list seems to be more three-dimensional than the first. They are films that are important, films that people spoke about before and after viewing. They aren't mindless stories written around computer generated action scenes. They have depth and character, yet are all different from one another. For the most part, they are movies which were made with loving care by the directors and producers, some raised the bar for what should follow, others set a new way of making movies and dared others to do better. By doing this, they not only achieved a work of art that would endure, but they also drew audiences in and reaped vast amounts of cash for the studios. Proof that a commercial success doesn't have to be an artistic wasteland.

Let's hope that there will continue to be directors, writers and producers who have the desire to achieve great things, let's hope that they will gain the support of the studios to make their dreams but also to distribute and advertise them well so that people will get a desire to see them.

For a look at the full list you can view it here

Music Review - Rodrigo y Gabriela - Live In Manchester And Dublin (2004)

1. Foc
2. Hola
3. One/Take 5
4. Mr Tang
5. Paris
6. Libertango
7. Captain Casanova
8. One

Well I've finally gotten around to ripping my Rodrigo y Gabriela albums and so I thought I'd give this one a review.

For any not familiar with Rodrigo and Gabriela, they are a Mexican duo who play classical guitar. Despite a lot of their work resembling Spanish flamenco etc, their roots actually stem from thrash metal, a fact that doesn’t surprise after just a short listen.

Dublin is where they moved to and eventually got their foot in the door of the music world.

What is so endearing about Rodrigo y Gabriela is not just the fact they are technically both brilliant guitarists, that cannot be denied, but rather the fact that they give a lot of thought into their compositions. Rather than being happy to wow a crowd by their incredibly fast playing, they obviously take a great deal of time thinking about a song’s structure. Indeed, it may all be flamenco/thrash metal on the outside but dig a little deeper and there are very similar elements to classical music and composition. They certainly have a passion for music and a love for expressing their style as each tune is crafted with care and detail, getting the most out of two guitars as one can.

As if anyone were not convinced by their thrash metal influences and background, they are happy to provide covers of songs such as Orion and One by Metallica, the latter of which appears on this album. Once again, even with the covers, they have taken the time to make it sound as good as it can with beautiful arrangements. One doesn’t lose any of its power in the crossover from electric to classical guitar, all of the notes are present, so are the drums in places and the whole thing builds up wonderfully. One is actually performed twice on here; as the last track with a string accompaniment and as the third track which suddenly blends in to the classic tune Take 5. Throughout the recording you will hear snippets of other tunes including Master of Puppets and Seven Nation Army, and as cheesy as it could be, they actually make it work and fit in perfectly.

This entire album is very enjoyable and very accessible, you don’t have to like thrash and you don’t need to be interested in flamenco. Just put it on and enjoy. Also check out their self-titled album and their new album Live in Japan, though I have yet to get this.

Music Review - Lynyrd Skynyrd - One More From The Road - Deluxe Edition (2001)

1. "Introduction/Workin' for MCA" – 5:32
2. "I Ain't the One" – 3:47
   
3. "Saturday Night Special" – 5:39
4. "Searching" – 4:00
5. "Travellin' Man" – 4:37
6. "Simple Man" (bonus track) – 6:56
7. "Whiskey Rock-a-Roller" – 4:48
8. "The Needle and the Spoon" – 4:35
9. "Gimme Back My Bullets" (bonus track) – 4:01
10. "Tuesday's Gone" – 8:25
11. "Gimme Three Steps" – 5:11
12. "Call Me the Breeze" – 5:50
13. "T for Texas" – 9:14
14. "Sweet Home Alabama" – 7:29
15. "Crossroads" – 4:16
16. "Free Bird" – 14:25
17. "Introduction/Workin' for MCA (alternate & previously unreleased)" – 5:42
18. "I Ain't the One (alternate & previously unreleased)" – 3:52
19. "Searching (alternate & previously unreleased)" – 4:13
20. "Gimme Three Steps (alternate)" – 4:42
21. "Call Me the Breeze (alternate)" – 7:27
22. "Sweet Home Alabama (alternate)" – 5:43
23. "Crossroads (alternate)" – 4:46
24. "Free Bird (alternate)" – 14:55

One More From The Road, recorded at the peak of their short career in 1976 showcases Lynyrd Skynyrd for what they really were; a talented bunch of musicians who were proud of their roots, loved music and loved to perform, never ever taking themselves too seriously.

As far as studio albums go, they never did any better than their 1973 debut “pronounced 'lĕh-'nérd 'skin-'nérd “ which is a great album. However, when you hear the songs played live, the studio pressing always seem a little flat in comparison. It is this reason that One More From The Road is Skynyrd’s best album. The 2001 deluxe edition is fantastic, offering more tracks and some alternate versions, but also super sound. It contains everything I love and look for in a live album; great sound, great crowd, atmosphere, fun and brilliant tunes.

We kick off with them being introduced to the stage and straight away they plunge in with the opener to Working For MCA, immediately demonstrating that the sound quality is perfect for a live album. All instruments are clearly heard, each lead guitar is discernable which is often not the case on the studio recordings. And this is so important with bands such as Lynyrd Skynyrd. Every member with an instrument is so underrated and often overlooked that it is tragic. The three lead guitarists all have the skill and talent to front a band of their own and they complement each other so well. During live shows they clearly love playing alongside each other making performances so electric and vibrant, often extending solos by improvising and feeding off each other’s performance. Not to mention that the piano is clearly heard throughout and also stands its own ground against the guitars, adding yet another wonderful layer to the songs and also an element that many rock groups overlook.

My own personal highlights of the album are:

Simple Man- A track I overlooked on their debut album, but this really stood out on the live album. A simple song about the advice that Ronnie Van Zant got from his mother and grandmother, overlayed with a simple yet catch guitar riff.

Tuesdays Gone- I’ve always thought that this was a good song but too long for what it was. Here it is just as long but seems more fleshed out. I adore the guitar tones at the beginning of the song, Powell’s piano sounds wonderful and I love the harmonica over the verse. Definitely ignites a song that fell flat on the debut.

Gimme Three Steps- An underrated Skynyrd song, this is what they are all about. It’s a fun song, full of energy, with catchy guitar parts all about dancing with a girl only to have her partner come in and thinks she’s cheating on him.

Call Me The Breeze- Brilliant cover of JJ Cale’s song, once again full of energy and brilliant showmanship by the guitars and piano. This almost feels like the perfect jamming track, none of the band seems to want this song to end as the rip through it.

Free Bird- Yeah, I actually like Free Bird, maybe because it is actually a good song and just because it’s always played it doesn’t mean that it’s no good. On this album we have two versions, both over 14 minutes long, but the extra time isn’t solely because of extended guitar solos in the second half as one would imagine. Although the solo is longer, there is also an extended piano solo before the second verse. In fact, it is this very interpretation of the song on piano that got Billy Powell a spot in the band.

If you are unfamiliar with Skynyrd then this album is the best place to start. As I have said, the songs here are so much better than their studio equivalents, so even if you have heard their albums this is still something you should check out.

A year later Lynyrd Skynyrd's plane crashed killing lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, lead guitarist Steve Gaines, his sister and backing vocalist Cassie Gaines, the assistant road manager and both pilots. Lead guitarist Allen Collins was badly injured and nearly had an arm amputated. Gary Rossington, lead guitarist, broke both arms and pelvis as well as numerous other injuries. Pianist Billy Powell nearly had his nose ripped off as his face suffered many cuts.

The plane that crashed had been inspected only a few months before by Aerosmith who rejected the plane feeling that it wasn't sfae and that the crew weren't fit to pilot.

Obviously, the crash pretty much ended the band. The classic line-up was gone and the surviving members didn't play for years. These days Lynyrd Skynyrd are touring again, albeit with a hugely different look. Ronnie's brother Johnny is now lead vocals and Billy Powell and Gary Rossington are the only original members to still play in the group.

Despite only lasting four years, Lynyrd Skynyrd left their own mark on music, helping to define 'Southern rock', causing the most clichéd and annoying jokes in music ('play Free Bird') and being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Were they the best band ever? Not by a long shot but they certainly had a lot of talent and technical expertise but they chose to have fun and enjoy themselves instead of following the route that a lot of others took. Not to overlook the fact that they were more entertaining than a lot of rock acts from their time and they put on one hell of a show, which they seemed to enjoy just as well as the crowd. Not everyone's cup of tea, but I only drink from my own mug.

Top Five - Time Travel Movies

Ever since H.G. Wells wrote about a machine that could travel in time, the whole concept of time travel has captured the minds of millions. Needless to say, this concept has been used in countless books, movies, TV shows etc.

For this edition of Top Five I have narrowed down my favourite movies that use the time travel concept and as you will see, they all handle it differently. In thinking up this list I decided not to include movies where a character is frozen and re-awakes in the future, such as Planet of the Apes, as this isn't strictly time travel.

5. Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure



First off, this film takes all the conflicting theories about time travel and decides it could have more fun without them. Worried about paradoxes? Don't worry, it's perfectly ok to grab Beethoven, Socrates, Billy the Kid et al and bring them back to the present for the sole purposes of a school report. After all, Bill and Ted are already in a paradox. Their music saves the world in the future and are worshiped like gods, but how can they succeed without the help of Rufus from the future? Who cares? All we want is comedy, historical figures out of their depths, aerobic teaching Joan of Arcs, skateboarding Genghis Khans and watersliding Napoleans.

4. Groundhog Day



Whilst not as an original concept as most think (12:01 was also made that same year), Groundhog Day is a highly inventive and charming look at a man trapped in a loop. Every day he wakes up to the same tune on the radio, sees people doing exactly what they did the previous day, knowing that things will be the same tomorrow. What really lifts this movie well above what it could have been is the journey the character takes; at first he hates the town he is stuck in, then he uses his predicament to get what he wants, then after all that is exhausted he uses it to help people. His situation eventually gets him to see people in a loving way and to help them out, not just a few but nearly the entire population. He uses it to better himself and, in the end, he is a person that the whole town and his colleagues love. It's a touching story that piles on the laughs and is a worthy addition to the genre.

3. Terminator/Terminator 2: Judgement Day

Here are two excellent movies about time travel. The first see a man being sent from the future to protect a woman who will give birth to a great man. Also being sent back is a cyborg bent on terminating her before she can give birth to him. Once these two beings arrive there is no more physical time travel but the implications and paradoxes continue throughout. Sarah Conner is at first a timid mullet wearing woman who is thrust into a situation where she is being hunted and where she is told that she will train her son to be a great soldier. She is told of the destruction of the majority of Earth's population, she knows the date. She is told of a war that happens afterwards between the machines and the survivors of mankind.

In the second movie another terminator has been sent back to kill the son who is 12 years old, and to protect him another terminator, captured and 'tamed' has been sent back to protect him. Once again no more time travel is used once they arrive but the foreknowledge of events to come drive the story. Can they prevent the war? Can they stop the machines from becoming what they are? Does killing the man solely responsible for this make them any better than the machines? All this is dealt with in a way which is entertaining to an audience, we can enjoy this purely as an action movie, but if we wish, we can also look into the deeper messages.

2. 12 Monkeys



I love this movie, though I never at first. To me this agrees with my own theories on time travel; you cannot prevent what has already happened from happening.

Mankind has been enduring a virus that has killed off most people. The survivors live underground but scientists can send back James Cole to the past to gather information on the virus and maybe even obtain a sample of it in it's pure form so that a cure can be made. He also has to track down the army of the 12 monkeys who may have started all of this.

Unfortunately, time travel screws with your mind and being sent back to a strange time can lead you to being caught and put in a nut house if you aren't careful. Guess what? Cole wasn't careful. Throughout the story, Cole is treat as a mental patient, his story isn't believed, he is on the run from the law. His psychiatrist begins to slowly believe him but just as we the audience start to get our doubts. This movie deals with time travel but also insanity. Is Cole really from the future or is he insane? Perhaps it's both? He is also reminded of a dream he keeps having which may or may not be a memory of when he was a boy. A memory that gradually seems to be coming true as the story progresses, the characters becoming the people Cole is around.

There is a lot to get from this movie. A first viewing may or may not make you like it, but you definitely need to watch this at least twice because you will start to pick more things up, more paradoxes, more questions, more theories and more headaches. It truly does get greater with each viewing and cannot be justified in this post.

1. Back to the Future Trilogy



Not only is this one of the best time travel movies, it is one of the best movies ever, period. The script is incredible in it's comedy, plot arch and characters. This is all brought to life by brilliant directing, effects and a perfect cast.

Time travel in this movie works this way: You can change anything that has happened in the past, but it will have severe consequences on the future. The last thing you want to do is prevent your own birth...which is what Marty McFly does within his first few hours of arriving back in 1955. The movie is a race against time to get his young mum and dad together before he fades away out of memory. The second two movies, although not planned at all during the making of the first, brilliantly add on to this story. We see Marty go back, yet again, to 1955, where he has to avoid his past self whilst interacting with the events we witnessed in the first movie. Not only that, we see a glimpse of the future, 2015, and get a lesson in paradoxes when a character from 2015 goes back to 1955 and changes history. We see how this effects the present, and also the character in the future (he quickly fades away after coming back from the past).

Some people dismiss this as confusing and not as good as the first. While the latter is true, the second movie is still hugely entertaining and explains time travel and paradoxes in a way that no other movie has been able to do (who can forget Doc's diagram on the blackboard?).

The third movie, only deals slightly with the issues that the first two did, but is still a great movie, entertaining in the same vein as the others and a great way to end the trilogy.

So, what are YOUR favourite movies that deal with time travel? No doubt you will disagree with my list but it would be enjoyable to see what you think of it and to name your own. Feel free to put all thoughts and ideas in the comments section below.

Music Review - Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band - Hammersmith Odeon London '75 (2006)

Disc: 1

1. Thunder Road
2. Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
3. Spirit In The Night
4. Lost In The Flood
5. She’s The One
6. Born To Run
7. The E Street Shuffle
8. It’s Hard To Be A Saint In The City
9. Backstreets

Disc: 2
1. Kitty’s Back
2. Jungleland
3. Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
4. 4th Of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)
5. Detroit Medley
6. For You
7. Quarter To Three

During their career Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band have made a name for themselves as one of the live acts to see. Their peak of popularity and success came in the mid 80s and it all started around here. Recorded on 18th November 1975, just three months after the breakthrough album Born To Run, Springsteen and his band had yet to carve their reputation in stone. Here we have a real treat for the audience, who would mostly know of him and his records, but have yet to hear about and experience the magic made when performing on stage. This was the start of Springsteen trying to break into the UK and Europe.

We open with Thunder Road, one of Bruce’s best loved and well known songs, but here everything is stripped down to a piano and vocals. Roy Bittan really is a great pianist and here is no exception, it’s a beautiful rendition of the song, often sounding like something Jim Steinman would write. A very laid back start to the album.

Tenth Avenue Freeze-out comes next, delivering the energy that, these days, we come to expect from the band. I never really liked this track on Born to Run, but when I first heard it live it changed my opinion of it. The band seem to have a lot of fun with this track and put a lot of energy in it. The best version is on Live In New York, but this one is still great to listen to.

From here on the party never really lulls, the energy is kept cranked up, all members are on full form and are each allowed to shine, especially Clarence Clemons on saxophone enjoying the chance for some solos of his own.

The only downside to a live album such as this, recorded so early in an artist’s career, is that there are a lot of favourite not on here due to them not being created yet. Having said that though, they certainly make the most of what they have, often improving on some of the ‘flatter’ tracks (Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out as already stated).

All-in-all this is a very enjoyable album, even for those not familiar with some of the tracks. This does not read as a ‘best of’ like later live albums would be, but it certainly is an interesting look at the beginning of Springsteen’s career and the birth of his live reputation.

Classic Scene- The Sixth Sense

div style="text-align: justify;">In 1999 The Sixth Sense became a huge success making writer and director M. Night Shyamalan almost a household name, if only people knew how to pronounce it.

One of the big factors in it's popularity was the big twist at the end which, for me, ruined the movie slightly. I thought the twist was unnecessary as the movie was solid without it, and the twist was also a bit daft. The rest of the movie, though, was hugely entertaining, scary at times, directed brilliantly and actually had a kid who could act and not be annoying.

Haley Joel Osment was only ten or eleven when he made this, but he managed to stand up alongside Bruce Willis (who also did a good job) and add the critical depth to one of the most important characters.

In this scene, towards the end of the movie (it should have finished around this scene really) we see Cole (Osment) and his mum(Toni Collette) stuck in a traffic jam after an accident. Up until this point Cole hasn't spoken too much to her, especially regarding his secret which led to him having to see a shrink.

I love this scene, it's one of the ones that make me cry even after watching it again just now (dammit) it just does so much in 5 minutes and yet it's pure dialogue.