Day: 12 March 2014
TV Catch Up – House of Cards
Netflix subscribers who are game for a dose of nostalgia will be delighted to discover that Pokémon: Indigo League (the original 1997 series) is now available to stream. While it is arguably no longer the cultural phenomenon it once was, Pokémon still remains a household name – those who grew up with the franchise might be able to touch base with their childhood. Once you hear the theme tune, you won’t be able to resist. As well as this, the Australian legal series Rake has hit Netflix too. Those who don’t see Pokémon as their thing might find this a more attractive proposal.
Oh, and those on Netflix who haven’t seen House of Cards Season 2 yet, make it a priority right now! Shame on you even more if you haven’t watched the series at all! Kevin Spacey is a greedy, backstabbing US Representative and Robin Wright is his equally devious wife – one shouldn’t need to sell it any harder.
And, of course, we cannot ignore the build up to this year’s Eurovision Song Contest. It was announced on Monday that Molly Smitten-Downes (a relative unknown compared to past competitors) would be representing the UK this year. Will the UK be in with a chance of winning the competition for the first time since 1997? You’ll have to find out on May 10th.
Preview: Godzilla
Since his first roarcous outing in 1954, Godzilla (aka Gojira) has continued to grow in both size and popularity. This year the rampant reptile makes his 29th movie appearance in Legendary Studios’ Godzilla remake, directed by Welshman Gareth Edwards. This will be the most immense Godzilla movie yet, and Edwards is an intriguing choice as its helmsman.
In 2010, debut director Edwards released his ethereal road movie Monsters, a landmark in well-crafted low budget sci-fi and the antithesis of Hollywood event movies like War of the Worlds and Cloverfield. Edwards not only scripted and shot the film, he also created the convincing and hauntingly beautiful CGI elements. Monsters dealt with alien invasion on an entirely new and thought provoking spectrum – hopefully Edwards’ new monster is given the same treatment.
Aside from the main, massive attraction (at over 100m high, this Godzilla is the biggest ever) there’s an astounding array of acting talent too. Starlet Elizabeth Olsen is top billed, and she’s really going places; look out for her turn as ‘Scarlet Witch’ in next years Avengers: Age of Ultron. Perhaps a better known face is that of Aaron Taylor-Johnson, the ass kicker of Kick-Ass, who plays a marine toughie charged with bringing down the scaly beast before it T-wrecks the Eastern seaboard. Most exciting of all, however, is the brilliant casting of Bryan Cranston. Hot off his world-wowing run as Walter White in Breaking Bad, Cranston will be kicking off his chemist’s hazmat suit for a role that’s a little more, well, physical (he’s playing a physicist). Cranston’s scientist is the man against the system, slowly attempting to uncover the truth about Godzilla and the conspiracy that’s kept it hidden in the murky depths.
The origins of the atomic amphibian are more profound than many people realise. It’s not just about a digitised dinosaur wreaking unstoppable havoc for the audience’s amusement, it’s a representation of America’s nuclear attacks on Japan. As Gareth Edwards says, the 1954 original was like ‘therapy for a nation’, a fantasy through which they processed the unthinkable atrocities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima.
Unlike the disgracefully shoddy Roland Emmerich/ Matthew Broderick version, Gareth Edward’s take will be much more respectful to the lore of the kaiju king. The new ‘Zilla is absolutely huge (twice the size of the 1998 model) and certainly too large to clamber about a city skyline, so there’ll be no Jurassic parkour nonsense either. For a taste of the epic scale of the film, check out the darkly astounding international trailer, which features Bryan Cranston running around San Francisco as well as some really massive explosions.
Godzilla crashes into cinemas on May 16th of this year.
Soul music for soul food?
Last week a phycology study came out of the University of Arkansas about the impact of background music and its effect on the taste of food. The essential thesis initially drew me in as it occurred to me that maybe there is a connection between by insatiable appetite for cheese and the fact that I listen to Bruce Springsteen for about 13 hours a day. Sadly the report concluded that until further research is conducted, musical genres cannot be broken down into particular artists.
Streets of Philadelphia?
Edam Raised a Cain?
The study did conclude that jazz makes milk chocolate taste measurably better, whilst hip-hop detracts from the taste satisfaction of a Twirl or Flake. I thus took it upon myself to become a guinea pig in this experiment (Guinea Pig is enhanced with Paraguayan-Mestizo polka). First I took that confectionary classic, the Galaxy bar and turned on some Kenny G; allegedly the smoothest things in their respective fields. My findings were that I did actually eat the bar faster than usual, but instead of savouring the chocolate, I was scoffing in order to get Kenny off Spotify (I don’t have any Kenny G on my iTunes).
With the theory under strain after the first test I broke out the big guns—Lindt and the Dave Brubeck Quartet. It was here that I read between the lines of the report; if you get yourself some really good food and some really good music and listen whilst you eat, you will have a thoroughly enjoyable experience. This idea held actually held up as I consequently tripped out on eating a Crunchie whilst listening to Cold Lampin’ with Flavor smashing their hip-hop theory asunder.
After having clambered out of a jungle of wrappers and rappers, I set my mind to music in restaurants. The bottom line is that a restaurant has to be financially viable to survive, so a study of this kind could be of some use if music could contribute to enticing the punters into opting for a pricy ceviche starter, Chateaubriand main, or show stopping Crockenbush dessert. However how far would restaurateurs go? If the next instalment of the study said the tomato ragu tastes substantially better whilst eaten to brass music, would Giorgio Lochetti be seeking the finest Bavarian Oompah house band in all the land? The potentially insane combinations are literally endless, I mean Escargot and Chaz and Dave?
It is undeniable that there is more to food and eating than just our palate. The company, environment, our personal psychological and physical state all contribute to our perception of the pleasantness of food. Yet my final conclusion came whilst wading through the highfalutin scientific material. I could not help but think that almost any culinary concoction on God’s green earth is enhanced to levels of biblical deliciousness after spending all night attempting to dance at Mint Lounge’s Itchy Feet—swing and fried chicken anyone?