Album Review: The Used- Imaginary Enemy

The Used is a band that I have a love/hate relationship with. I either love a song, or hate it from them. In recent years, their material hasn't done anything for me. So, when I heard they released a new album this year, I was skeptical about it. However, I was rather impressed by this one.

The album is unique, compared to previous things they have done. They are pro-love, and anti-everything else. Content wise, that is what it is. It is obviously atheist in some areas and talks bad about America's current standing. If these things bother you, this is not the album for you. However, I have found some songs with not only unique sounds, but is also very symbolic and beautiful to listen to, and some songs have some great heavy sounds that gets you wanting to be in a mosh pit.

I only have one major problem with this album and that is the last two songs. The second to last is not terrible until the end where they ruin it with constant vulgarity. The last song shows to be 14 minutes, 41 seconds, when it is actually about 4 minutes, 7 minutes of silence, and 3 minutes of a confusing song. THAT IS WASTED MEMORY SPACE!! Why would you do that?

In total, I liked more than I dislike on this album. My final verdict is an 8/10. Check it out if you are interested.

Songs I recommend: Cry, Evolution, Generation Throwaway

Songs I didn't like: A Song to Stifle Imperial Progression (A Work in Progress), Overdose

Movie Review: Gravity (2013)

If I could put this movie into one word, that word would have to be, revolutionary. Gravity is an Oscar winning film and it makes sense why. As soon as it started, it had my interest. It has been a long time since I've seen George Clooney and Sandra Bullock in something this good. The camera angle does shift around often, but not in a distracting way. It makes you feel like you are lost with her, like you are experiencing the same thing. It even goes into first person view.

Anyways, the story is an accident occurs in space, killing all but two crew members and leaving the survivors stranded in space. Now they must avoid satellite pieces flying through space, but also find a station available to get them home.

Now despite how I summarized the story, this not Science Fiction. This shows us how it would feel to be lost in space. This is a realistic story. When I say this, I am not saying this really happened. It just doesn't feel like a SciFi movie. It feels more like an Action/Drama in space.

Now, there is some symbolism, but it isn't enough to say that it is annoying or anything. In all reality, they all point to the sensitivity of life and the natural need to survive.

Final Thoughts: I loved it. People who don't like quiet movies may not enjoy it as much as others, but people who are looking for a deep story and some amazing acting will love this movie.

Album Review: Chevelle's La Gargola

With Chevelle's greatest hits release in 2012, some would have thought that was the end for them. That is not the case when it comes to Chevelle and their new album, La Gargola (which translate into, The Gargoyle), they have proven that they still have plenty of miles left. This is proof that some rock bands age like a fine wine and Chevelle is one of them. Having both heavy and intense songs, to mellow songs that even reminded me a little bit of Pink Floyd. I really can't even really choose anything bad about this album. Even the order of the songs was so well done. Whoever mixed and put the album together knew what they were doing. It starts heavy like a nice workout and gives you a chill out at the end like stretching to prevent cramps after. It is a perfect balance! I even have a hard time believing that only three people are in this band. This is how you turn up the volume after a Greatest Hits album! My Final Verdict is a 10/10! Check this out, and don't forget to see this band on tour.

Movie Review: Frozen (2013)

Normally I don't try to do Disney movies, because everybody has seen them. However, the recent film, Frozen, has gotten everyone falling in love with Disney all over again. As for me, I have always loved Disney, despite their bad movies. But Frozen is definitely one of the best films they have done in a long time.

I love their two previous animated films, Tangled and Wreck-It Ralph. Frozen though, combines everything I loved about the two previous films, good humor, a well told story,  and great character relationships.

The film is about two sisters, Anna and Elsie. Elsie has a magical power over ice that she cannot control and hides away from the world and tries to hide her powers. An accident occurs and she loses control causing their entire kingdom to fall into an eternal winter. Anna goes to try to bring back her sister and save the kingdom.

It is based on a Norwegian story, but lightened up because Disney does that. However, I found myself caring for all the characters in this movie and enjoying every single one of them. Even the villain, which is part of a plot twist so I won't spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it (which is probably only four of my friends), was something I loved. I haven't been surprised by a villain like this since The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Not only that, but it also has something Disney has not yet done, having a family relationship as the focus.

The music is also amazing! I know a lot of people love the song, Let it Go. I actually found myself loving For The First Time in Forever or Do You Want To Build A Snowman even more. That is a personal opinion, but I have found those as the songs that give you the best idea of the relationship between the sisters and shows how different the two are.

This movie has a romance in it, but the focus is the relationship between Anna and Elsie. That was something that made me fall in love with this movie more than anything else. Even the moment when an act of love is required is one that happens with the sisters and the guy is not involved. I loved that!

I am so thankful for seeing this film and wish I saw it earlier. I recommend this movie to everyone. Easily now one of my top 10 favorite movies.

Album Review: Dead by April's Let the World Know

Yes, I have not stopped doing this. This will be my main focus. The movies are just going to be something on the side.

Now, Dead By April's new album Let the World Know. This band has done something incredible by combining soft piano, synthesizer, and clean beautiful vocals with heavy guitars and drums and screaming making a unique sound in the world of Metalcore. Do they do the same thing, after many member changes, with there third album? The answer is, Yes!

Unlike other bands, the changes in members hasn't hurt the band at all. The chemistry is still there and they are going strong. These songs are both beautiful and heavy hitting at the same time. It does slow down a little towards the end though. This is one I would recommend to not only metal lovers, but also to teeny pop kids who are interested in other genres. This makes a good transition for doing something like that. My verdict is a 9/10! Check this one out!

Songs I recommend: As A Butterfly, Done with Broken Hearts
Song I didn't care for: Replace you

Movie Review: The Swan Princess (1994)

So, I was on Netflix, looking for something to do, and I stumbled upon this film, The Swan Princess. Developed by Nest Productions (my LDS audience would know this as the company behind Living Scriptures). This was the full length movie they did, or at least to hit the theaters.

I've checked some sites for the average rating. Audiences thought it was okay, critics thought it was very "eh." My opinion... It is better than most recent children movies, but not enough to sit down and watch it myself more than once. I will watch it with kids when they want to watch it.

The story is, two neighboring kingdoms have the idea to bring the two together through the marriage of a prince and princess. When the two are younger and growing up, they don't get along, then start to fall in love. Things go wrong when the prince says something without thinking (typical guy thing to do) and then she gets kidnapped and imprisoned by a curse and a sorcerer out to achieve her fathers kingdom through marriage. So, the prince must rescue her and break her curse before it is too late.

The Positive- It doesn't talk down to the audience, which is a huge pet-peeve of mine with children's movies. You need to talk at children, not down to them. That is a big problem with some movies, but this doesn't. It has also aged pretty well. The voice casting was well done. Without any major actors for the most part, you see more of the characters and not the actors. There also aren't any plot holes either. It is also a romance you can believe. Plus, the animation has aged pretty well.

The Negative- It makes a plot turn that makes no sense and the villain is probably one of the weakest have ever seen. He is one dimensional, has a very bad plan, and he has a ridiculous song, that is probably the weakest song in the movie. It does have subtle moment of LDS/Mormon doctrine, which can turn off some people who aren't members of the Church.

Final Thoughts- This is a movie for children and a better one than others. I am not looking at this movie through nostalgia lenses. If you want a wholesome film for your younger kids, I would recommend this one. For an older audience, there are better animated films for them.

Movie Review: Apollo 18

Yup, I am reviewing an indie film. Now indie films can be good, but the majority of them are either really bad, or hilariously bad.

Apollo 18 is about a top secret mission to the moon and due to what happens on it, the record was removed, the government made up a fake story to say how the people involved died when in reality, they discovered life on the moon and it killed them.

That is pretty much the summary of the movie, so I just saved you an hour and a half of your time. I was expecting it to be like other bad horror films (so bad I can laugh at it). However, this movie was boring! I didn't even get a jump scare out of this. It tried though, but it suffers from two things; a stupid concept and a bad alien design.

As far as the camera shooting goes, that was probably the best part of it, and the acting wasn't too bad. It seems believable that they were actually astronauts, but too much bad overshadows that. The concept is... wait for it... The aliens are space rocks. SPACE ROCKS??? Do I even have to explain how stupid that is?
Not only that, but if you look closely enough at the aliens, they look like the crabs you would see in A game made by Nintendo (Metriod or Legend of Zelda maybe). It's just embarrassing! It is hard to believe someone thought this was scary.

This one, I can't recommend to anyone and watch it at your own risk.