Lana Del Rey - Maleficent Trailer - 'Once Upon A Dream' (Watch Now!) [+ Review]

Gosh, guys. We need someone to sing the version of classic 'Once Upon A Dream' for our trailer. Who shall we get? 'How about Lana Del Rey?' This is how I would imagine the teams over at Disney went around choosing an artist to sing this iconic song. And, in case you are sitting at home asking yourself 'Lana Del Who?', then you should probably go and google it. Yep, that's right - sultry singer Lana Del Rey has teamed up with the Maleficent movie to sing a rendition of the classical sweet 'Once Upon A Dream'. Except in this version, it's not so sweet and a whole heap of haunting. Watch the trailer for Maleficent below, featuring Lana's vocals: 

If Del Rey's vocal appearance in the trailer wasn't enough for you, we get a nice sneaky peek of how deliciously divine Angelina Jolie is at playing Maleficent. The trailer possesses such an eerie quality and is so enthralling that it's making us want to hibernate all the way until May, when we can get to see it. Jolie airs her naughty side in the trailer; complete with bewitching smile and psychotic laugh, it puts all the critics to shame. The pairing of Del Rey + Jolie in this trailer is perfection and puts a disturbing spin (get it - spinning wheel) on the tale. Mark May 30th in your calendars ladies and gentleman, as it is sure to be a intriguingly wicked ride. 

National Television Awards 2014 Round-up

The National Television Awards 2014 was on recently, here's my review on Concrete, if you want to check it out! 

http://www.concrete-online.co.uk/national-television-awards-2014-roundup/

Sherlock - Series 3 Review

Also, here is another review I wrote specifically for the on-line version, about the series 3 of Sherlock and the final episode which aired on Sunday 12th January in the UK. There was a whole lot of craziness - so it's worth checking out the review (which doesn't contain any major 'spoilers', if you like). 

http://www.concrete-online.co.uk/sherlock-series-three-eeview/

The Taste UK - Series Opener Review

The Taste UK featuring judges Nigella Lawson, Ludo Lefebvre and Anthony Bourdain has arrived on British soils. You can check out my review of The Taste series opener on-line at Concrete [Venue] Newspaper. 

http://www.concrete-online.co.uk/taste-review/

Last Vegas (2013) Review

If you're looking for something to read in your spare time, I recently wrote a review for Last Vegas for Venue, Concrete Newspaper's pull-out section all about entertainment, arts and fashion - which you can read online at the link below! Happy 2014! 

http://www.concrete-online.co.uk/last-vegas-review/

You can also watch the trailer for the film, below:

The Lego Movie (2014) - New Character Posters!

 Yep - that's right. The Lego Movie has new character posters and everyone's excited. And by 'everyone,' I mean myself. The Lego Movie, set to screen in February 2014, revolves around a little Lego Man named Emmet (Chris Pratt), who is wrongly mistaken for a master builder, and embarks on a quest with Vitruvius (Morgan Freeman) to save the Lego Universe from an evil businessman named Lord Business (Will Ferrell) - how fitting. So, let's take a look at the character posters shall we! 

                 Charlie Day stars as Spaceman Benny. Check out his 'spaceyness'. 

          Superman (Channing Tatum) sporting his curling locks in this totally 'super' poster.

Will Arnett voices Batman in this Lego-tastic adventure; adding a heap of Batitude to the flick. 

       Elizabeth Banks adds the element of style and toughness to the film as Wyldstyle. 

                        Emmet freaking out in his poster; voiced by Chris Pratt. 

           Will Ferrell starring as Lord Business in this poster, looking as angry as ever. 

The formidable Morgan Freeman starring as Vitruvius. Check out those glowing eyes. 

                     And here is the adorable Benny again, looking slightly deranged. 

The Lego Movie is set to be released on the 7th February in 3D, and you can check out the trailer below: 

Foxes - Let Go For Tonight (Music Video) [+ Review]

After the success of their single Youth, Foxes have released the music video for their 6th single Let Go For Tonight. This video for this fun filled tune features a rather colourful paint party, which sees the singer being doused in an array of multiple paint colours. It is relatively upbeat and catchy song, which is clearly designed to be fun, fresh and carefree. The video is fairly simplistic in topic, but channels the motif of the song quite clearly (and it does look pretty fun - although I'd hate to be the one to clear it up afterwards). Watch the vibrant video below: 

Sherlock - Season 3, Episode 2 'The Sign of Three' [Review]

It would not be a stretch to say that this season of Sherlock is likely becoming a favourite for fans. What, with the 'fan pairings' arising themselves on screen in episode one (Sherlock & Moriarty's intimate moment springs to mind) and now, in this episode, with Sherlock taking on the important role of best man. This all paired with the frankly hilarious depiction of drunk Holmes and Watson staggering about on their stag-do. The second episode of season 3 was of course, a bizarre one, and revolved around the imminent wedding of Watson to Mary. Sherlock, being the highly functioning socio-path he is, struggled to write a best man speech for the wedding; many of his friends feared he may not be able to write one which didn't offend everyone at the reception. Of course, by 'friends' we mean Molly, Lestrade and Mrs. Hudson. 

The episode was slightly melancholy to begin with, as it highlighted Sherlock's fears that things might change between himself and Watson (after all, he can't have him around the apartment anymore). Mrs. Hudson really hammers home this idea, by reminding Sherlock that marriage changes people (comforting, coming from a lady who's husband was running drug cartels). Additionally, Mycroft, being ever the optimist, also likes to remind his brother that marriage changes people. So it looks pretty certain that Sherlock will lose some elements of his partnership in some way. Sad times. 

When one thinks of a wedding with Sherlock Holmes as the best man, it doesn't exactly conjure up the image of organised, blissful serenity. Quite frankly, audiences were probably waiting for Sherlock to offend someone, as is highly likely with the amount of people with inferior intellect to himself, all squished together in a reception hall. However, much to everyone's surprise, Sherlock actually managed to hit it out of the park, after briefly stumbling over his words and making it seem like things were going to go terrible. Sherlock admits a deep sense of admiration, love and general affection for Watson as his best friend, after re-telling the story of how John came to ask Sherlock to assume this important role at his wedding. 

However, this of course wasn't all about the wedding, and Sherlock also recalls the importance of Watson in several other cases, until they reach a particular 'unsolved case' in the form of 'The Bloody Guardsman,' who almost died after being stabbed in the abdomen in his seemingly locked shower cubicle - but was saved by Watson. In quick haste, Sherlock drifts to another narrative - 'The Mayfly Man' - where several women find themselves the subject of affection from a mysterious man who spends an evening having dinner with them, only to then disappear of the face of the earth. This case also intertwines with the story of John and Sherlock's stag night, in which Watson spikes Sherlock's drink and they all go off on a weird evening which culminates in spooning on the stairs and a game of 'Who Am I?'. 

One of the female 'victims' of 'The Mayfly Man' comes to Sherlock's apartment to ask for help, which culminates in Sherlock and Watson attempting to look for clues (and by 'looking' we mean Sherlock vomits all over the lady's carpet and they end up in a jail cell). Sherlock recalls that he failed to find a similarity between them, and that seems to be the end of the funny stories and accounts of Watson and Sherlock's time together. However, there is a snag - Sherlock remembers that one of the ladies knew John's middle name and realises that she must have seen it on a wedding invitation. He then deduces that the women must have worked for one of the wedding guests - in this case, Major James Sholto, who has become a recluse after receiving several death threats for a disastrous mission which he headed in Afghanistan, which cost the lives of several people. 

Sherlock deduces that the killer would only have time to strike at the wedding as Sholto rarely ever leaves the house. Sherlock slips a note to Sholto, who returns to his hotel room and refuses to come out unless Sherlock solves the case. He does so, and deduces that Sholto needs medical attention as he has already been stabbed, but his belt and uniform are preventing any major bleeding, and that this is what happened to the same guard in the story before. The day is saved, and Sherlock and Watson arrest the wedding photographer, who is the guy behind everything. 

Overall, the episode was displayed in a rather fragmented manner, which at times may have come across as a bit confusing - however, the performances from all involved (in particular Cumberbatch and Freeman) carried the piece nicely and provided a competent and solid element to the episode. There were continual points of character development, especially for Mary and Watson - the former has marked herself as a quirky, confident character (portrayed brilliantly by Amanda Abbington, who is coincidently also the real wife of Martin Freeman) and a sharp new addition to the series. 

Whilst 'The Sign of Three' may not be the most impressive episode to date, it is certainly a competent, witty and frankly, hilarious addition to the sharp and quirky series. After all, who doesn't like a high-functioning socio-path in the title role?