Author: Joseph James

Film Review: Locke

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It’s a funny premise: a man driving in his car whilst talking on the phone. Sound like an entertaining film? Not really. But when the Film Festival comes to town that’s when you go see the movies that are a bit different from the usual offerings. One such film being Steven Knight’s Locke.

Tom Hardy plays Ivan Locke, the film’s namesake. Suiting, considering that Locke virtually is the entire movie. He’s the only character you see. He’s driving in one direction and he’s uncertain if he’ll be able to return.

Hardy is captivating. Cool, calm and collected, albeit slightly crazy, he drives through the night and negotiates with people on the other end of the phone line. It’s a welcome return to form after his last role, playing Bane in Christopher Nolan’s Dark Night Returns. Sure, he bulked up for the role and acted his part well, but the way Bane was portrayed was plain silly. I attribute this mainly to the fact that Bane was so difficult to understand because of the mask covering his mouth. Unlike Locke, who makes sure that he is clearly heard. Because for this character, so much is riding on how well he makes himself understood during the ensuing phone calls. He drives on, stoically talking his way through his problems when all the odds are against him.

The camerawork is interesting, made up of countless shots of the car, the driver, the traffic and the motorway, much of it blurred, shaky and unfocused. The visual component almost seems unnecessary at times seeing as all none of the character interaction is face to face. It would be interesting to listen to the audio alone to see if the film can be carried by its dialogue. Locke is largely built on the subtleties – the emotion, the pauses and the dynamic pacing of events.

This is Hardy’s film. It’s by no means a blockbuster, but he owns it. Hardy demonstrates his acting abilities through juxtaposed scenes of heated arguments with his character’s boss and tender moments with his family. Try listening to Locke conversing with his youngest son towards the end of the film and not be moved.

Locke is well paced, with enough drama to keep the viewer captivated. There may be no action sequences, but there is enough on the line to keep the viewer on edge. The film is about a man struggling to retain control as he watches his life disintegrate around him while trying desperately to do what he hopes is the ‘right thing’. To elaborate on the plot would be to spoil it, which is why the film may not sound so appealing. But despite how sparse and simple it sounds, Locke contains all the right ingredients for an entertaining ride.

 

Joseph James

Live Review: Ellie Goulding at the Wellington TSB Arena

Ellie Goulding Broods
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Ellie Goulding

w/ Broods

TSB Arena Wellington

Monday 9 June 2014

Brother/sister duo Broods proved to be an ideal choice as tonight’s opening act. It was a homecoming of sorts for the two, who, along with their drummer, played a half hour set of sparse synth based music that complemented Goulding’s electropop brilliantly. Although the sampling sounded a bit weak to start with, once the mix improved they played a suitably dynamic set. Broods is quite a departure from the siblings’ previous band, The Peasants, and judging from crowd reaction they could well follow down the path just recently paved by Lorde.

If Broods gave a taste then Goulding gave the full combo deal, demonstrating how well the style of music can be played with a full band. Goulding herself proved adept on both guitar and drums, showing her to be more than just a pretty voice that can gyrate across a stage. She started off strong with hits like ‘Figure 8’ and ‘Starry Eyed’ before changing down a gear to a stripped back song. She then stripped it back even more for a short acoustic set of songs with just guitar or piano for accompaniment. An Elton John cover preceded a lull in the set but the pace picked back up eventually, providing more opportunities for the crowd to move about.

From there on in it got better and better, with Goulding appearing more comfortable to “be silly” onstage, as she told us in her polite English accent. The audience in turn seemed to receive each song better than the last, until the band finally concluded with the song ‘Burn’.

This is one of the better setups I’ve seen at this venue. The stands at the rear were set up, making the arena appear fuller. The lights and screens were impressive. Goulding had the goods. Enjoyable and diverse, she demonstrated that an excellent concert can be put on without the overly excessive price of admission that her popstar contemporaries charge. She has the voice, the charisma and the stage show without the diva attitude to match.

 

Joseph James

Live Review: Run the Jewels, Danny Brown & Earl Sweatshirt at James Cabaret, Wellington

Earl Sweatshirt Run The Jewles Danny Brown Wellington James Cabaret
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Run the Jewels, Danny Brown, Earl Sweatshirt

James Cabaret, Wellington

Tuesday 28 January 2014

It’s only January, but tonight was promising to be the biggest Hip hop show of the year. The triple bill of Run the Jewels, Danny Brown and Earl Sweatshirt was almost too good to be true for hip hop fans, and the hipsters in their bucket hats attended in droves.

Run the Jewels proved to be a good opening act. The crowd were worked into a frenzy as MCs EL-P and Killer Mike tagged between themselves alternating lead duties. I was a bit confused when they talked about their DJ being born in Wellington and being raised by Koala Bears, but all was forgiven when they pulled an especially rowdy fan up onstage and sat him down for “time out” so that security wouldn’t need to deal with him anymore.

Danny Brown was arguably the biggest draw card of the night. Known as the rapper with the funny voice and having been touted as the next big thing by overseas press, Brown delivered on the hype. His music was bass driven and required a lot of chanting from the crowd, an interaction that the audience was happy to oblige. Brown lapped it up, continually poking out his tongue and throwing the goat.

Compared to Brown’s incessant bass driven music, Earl Sweatshirt’s set seemed far more stripped back, especially when he started spitting lyrics a cappella between his other songs. Sweatshirt’s set was a lot less structured than the first two bands and he would get the crowd to vote on if they wanted to hear old or new material. He later admitted that he’d only written about 20 songs, so we’d heard just about all of them anyway.

My personal highlight of the night was when Odd Future collaborator Domo Genesis threw a bucket of fried chicken into the audience and watched the crowd fight over the fried chicken. “Yeah! Rip each other’s throats!” shouted Sweatshirt.

An interesting insight into the world of hip hop. I just hope that they’re not all serious.

 

Joseph James

Live Review: Guitar Wolf at Mighty Mighty, Wellington

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Guitar Wolf playing Stinkfest 2013

Mighty Mighty, Wellington

Thursday 12 December 2013

 

When the opening band has two drum kits and a gimp mask, you know that your night will either be really good, or really bad. Oddly enough, Guitar Wolf’s live show came under both categories. The music isn’t exactly what I’d call good, but they put on one of the best shows I’ve ever seen.

Japan’s answer to the Ramones; Guitar Wolf are a caricature of all things rock and roll.. The band has the image and sound down pat – clad in black leather and sunglasses and playing at breakneck speeds with volume levels to rival Spinal Tap.

Their set started with the singer, Seiji, asking for a beer from the crowd, which he promptly downed in one go. This set the tone for a wild night. One punter earned himself a spot as guest guitarist by winning a thumb wrestle with Seiji. A human pyramid was formed onstage. There was stagediving. One member of the audience sang his school song into the microphone. Seiji hit plastic balls into the crowd wielding his guitar like a cricket bat.

The music was pretty terrible, a torrent of noise and distortion. A shout of “One, two, three!” was the only way to distinguish where most songs started and finished. It was bordering on impossible to decipher anything Seiji said/sung with his thick Japanese accent. (“Did he just say Mt Victoria is poisoned!?”)
The thing that set this show apart from the rest is the band’s dedication to the rock. No matter how hot they got they wouldn’t remove their clothing. They were all dripping with sweat, but rockers wear leather! It almost seemed cartoonish. Drum Wolf (Toru) was a powerhouse with the endurance of a steam engine, and Bass Wolf (U.G.) held down a solid groove.

They gave it their all, continuously playing faster and louder. And when we thought it was over, the band kept coming back for more and more encores. This show was almost two years to the day since Guitar Wolf had last played in Wellington. And this time was just as memorable.

 

Joseph James