The Brown Note Movie Review

This old school sports movie - a near remake of the classic Robert Redford baseball movie, The Natural - is built entirely out of cliches and hokum, and I kinda love it. Brad is ace, they don't rely on a wall of CGI and everything radiates good looking, exciting fun. They don't make em like this (much) anymore.

I felt bad for the last film in this venerable (near 30 year!) franchise. It not only got Barbenheimered at the box office but it was also the first real step backwards in quality. Sadly I would say that's the case once again, as pretty much everything was better even in Dead Reckoning. It's still ultra high quality in most film making areas but the story, people and screenplay are lesser.

The esteemed Mr William Bevin's latest isn't quite his ambient side nor his beat-heavy side, though it does feel like listening to a club way in the distance. Classy stuff but I would've liked a bit more.

Following on from the outstanding debut album, Madres, a lesser EP from the Berlin based Peruvian DJ. Two fantastic tracks but also a bit of filler.

After an interminable half year of being spammed by this over-promoted battle between, directors Zack Snyder, of the previous DC comic book movies and his replacement, James Gunn, the movie itself is not actually any good. Just as goofy as the pre-release shots proclaimed it to be and too lightweight in all directions to build a universe off of. The irony is Snyder gave us Superman but no Clark Kent, whereas Gunn has given us Clark Kent and no Superman.

This timely second live album from Radiohead, is of their most overtly political album, at a time when the band's impenetrable force-field has been broken by politics over Israel. Many tracks outstrip their studio counterparts in a pretty thrilling document of the band in their best live era.

Director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland, return to their iconic zombie franchise. While it probably wont satiate fans of the first two films in the same way, it does have its own unexpected successes. It looks pretty amazing for a movie filmed on iPhones and has a far deeper soul than relentless zombie kills.

Arguably the MVP of solo rap these last ten years, and particularly for his single producer albums with Madlib and (this album's returning) The Alchemist. It's a fine album but in the context of those other albums, not a stand out. The immaculate luxurious lounge-soul back drop, can get repetitive and overly low-key, but it does give one of rap's technical masters space to do whatever he wants.

I'm not entirely sure where the rebirth happens in the 7th movie of the financially indestructible franchise, given it's basically a remake of Jurassic Park 3. But it is viciously hamstrung by terrible dialogue and acting, more befitting a low budget horror movie. Instantly the worst of the lot and I've never seen Scarlett Johansson so bored in a movie.

The modern music critic is the biggest coward going. If it ticks the right boxes, they worship it out of fear. That's the only reason for the insane level of universal acclaim this album from the very talented Londoner has got. I found it difficult to get through, bland, almost Beiber-esque modern mainstream pop-R&B/Rap, and it definitely doesn't live up to it's title and theme. It feels more like the day-time TV of Black British Music.

This John Wick spin off suffers most for an unforgivably trite story. I feel like I've seen this 'young girl that loses her parents and grows up to be an assassin' story a hundred times already. It also fails to make good use of its luminous star. Outside of that, it looks fantastic, is made with great competence and an enjoyable watch.

Given Mr Young's insane amount of releases in recent years, I suspect this maybe one fans have skipped. You shouldn't. In a banner year for live performances from Young (Glastonbury etc), this attendant studio album is one of the most ramshackle he's ever made, but its full of idiosyncrasy and Young in the now. Unusually specific personal lyrics, churning garage rockers and several gentle ballads, that show he has lost none of his ability to craft melodies and songs as pretty as Helpless or Harvest Moon.

The feverishly awaited return of the mighty Thornton brothers, Pusha T and Malice (plus production again from the Neptunes/Pharrell Williams) after more than fifteen years, has been the rap event of the modern era. Unless you like children's rap like Travis Scott and Drake. There was no way on earth it could live up to the hype or their heyday best. It does. Every last aspect - from the rollout to the music - is peerless class.

One of the best reviewed superhero projects since GOTG3 and it still stiffed at the box office. The days of comic book movies earning a billion are long gone, even half that is a success now. Florence Pugh takes over from Scarlett Johansson (who ironically just killed her at the box office...) as the new Black Widow (kind of). There are big plusses and nearly as big minuses here. The themes, soul of the film, the lead actor and for once even its visuals, are excellent. Shame they had to saddle it with the worst dialogue this side of The Batman, and some repetitive scenarios and overlong sequences can be a drag.

My intermittent series on albums, movies or bands that either were denied classic status on release or have been forgotten about since. Though their Krautrock peers, Can, Neu!, Faust and Kraftwerk still get plenty of coverage, these equally brilliant pioneers are rarely mentioned. Their first three album run, Phallus Dei, Yeti and Dance of the Lemmings (two of which are doubles) is one of the finest in rock. In fact this was supposed to be their first FIVE albums but I ran out of time (#5 Wolf City is also a masterpiece). A genuinely wild ride through some of the best proto-metal, prog rock, space rock and krautrock out there.

A new segment on this channel called Overrated. I am a hater at heart and love trashing things more than loving them. So this bit will feature things that have garnered universal acclaim, that I don't think are actually any good. Here the holy cow, that stinks up every list of best war films, reviewed in depth, where I factually and objectively state why Saving Private Ryan was never any good.

In an era where the live music mega-festival has changed, a look at two elements from the recent Glastonbury festival. Charli xcx Vs Neil Young, is live music important at a live music festival anymore? And the Kneecap/Bob Vylan controversy.

MASSIVE SPOILERS Director Ryan Coogler certainly has critics bending over backwards, but like Black Panther, this - the best reviewed major release so far this year - is nowhere near as good as the insane level of praise it's got. A beautifully made and totally worthy watch, but a long way shy of a masterpiece in multiple ways. The first half is done so well, I kinda wished the vampires had stayed away.

My intermittent series on something either denied classic status on release, or has been forgotten about since. I wanted to review this all time fave but struggled to know if it belonged here. It DID get classic status, but many years after it was made, and that was the 90s. Since then the final, notorious and never conclusively released final album from Alex Chilton's power-pop inventing Big Star, has faded from view. Like Nick Drake around the same time period, they released two classic, hugely influential, critically acclaimed albums, that sold nothing and left them to produce one final angry, dejected, hopeless finale. Often ranked as one of the darkest and most harrowing of albums, it's shot through with brilliance and bitter beauty.

The fabulous Victoria Beverley Walker, aka PinkPatheress, hasn't put a foot wrong with her three major releases, including this new mixtape. Unlike contemporaries like Billie Eilish, she actually is a self created bedroom star and not an industry plant, and one who wipes the floor musically with the likes of Sabrina Carpenter. In fact she is about the only peer of Brat-era Charlie XCX.