Book review: Untamed by PC & Kristin Cast

Untamed is the fourth book in the House of Night series and the books opens with Zoey having to deal with the consequences of being disloyal to her friends and cheating on her boyfriends.  The problem is that unless Zoey can gain back the trust and support of her friends, she’ll be in no position to deal with the next challenge that awaits her.

And that challenge?  Oh, that would just be saving the world from the most feared of the Cherokee witches, Kalona and the Raven Mockers.

In previous House of Night reviews I wrote about how the authors had dragged the story out over several books by using terrible cliff hanger techniques at the end of the books.  Not only is that incredibly frustrating, it also tends to make the story a bit stale as it can be hard to distinguish the various books from each other. 

Although Untamed ends with a massive and rather unforgiveable cliff hanger, the story is definitely taken up a notch by the introduction of the fascinating Cherokee legend of the Raven Mockers.  The authors also give Zoey a bit of a character overhaul and she is far more likeable and worthy of respect in this novel than she was in the previous three books. 

So I land up giving the book a paltry three stars out of five as the story is really exciting but the book just ends right in the middle of all the action again.  I’ll keep on with the series and I’m hoping that overall, I’ll be able to give the  whole series a better score.  Actually, having to even consider that makes me feel kind of cheated.  It’s not as bad as Breaking Dawn where I opted to read Cleolinda's live blog summaries rather than the book itself but it’s not far behind either.

 

Twilight Saga: Eclipse Theatrical One-Sheet

 

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse theatrical one-sheet was released yesterday afternoon.  I’m really excited to see what they do with this film as I admittedly enjoyed New Moon but was thoroughly disappointed by Twilight.  Since seeing the film, I have been team Voluri all the way so I will be looking out for the Volturi profiles which I hope will come soon. 

If you click on the image, it should take you over to Picasa where you can get the full sized theatrical one-sheet poster.  Let me know if you have any problems as it is the first time I’m uploading with Picasa.

Graphic Novel: Fool’s Gold by The Dearne High

Imagine being a published author at the age of fourteen.  Well that is a reality for a group of students at The Dearne High, a specialist humanities college in South Yorkshire, England.  The students have produced and starred in a graphic novel of such astounding quality that it is hard to believe that it was made by children.

Fool’s Gold is a graphic novel about books, learning, history and social responsibility.  It is a treasure hunt and ghost story that features the students themselves as the central characters.  At its heart, Fool’s Gold is an educational novel but it is far from boring; it is an exciting and interactive journey through history that broaches the main issues that children and young people had to face in the past.

The novel is an absolute gem.  Graphic novels have long been considered a less intelligent version of reading for pupils that found real books too hard to follow.  The students from The Dearne High have turned this notion on its head as the story-within-a-story tells of the organisation, planning and effort that goes into a collaborative effort such as this.  Far beyond the historical and social value of the story, the students are carrying the clear message that this is something that anyone can do.  As Peter Shaw, Assistant Head Teacher of The Dearne High explains, “It is co-written and produced by students who are between the ages of 12-15, within a catchment area in the bottom 10% of all socio/economic indices within the UK”.

Fool’s Gold would not have been possible without the help of no less than ten award winning authors, two famous photographers and a professional illustrator.  The list of contributors reads like a veritable who’s who of contemporary children’s writers and includes Bernard Cornwell, Robert Swindells and Alison Weir.  Perhaps the most impressive to me, an old fan of graphic novels, was the involvement of former 2000AD editor Alan McKenzie and Marvel illustrator Kevin Hopgood. 

Watch a feature from television's Calendar on the novel:

 

The story begins as three ghosts appear to three pairs of school children at The Dearne High.  The father of the three ghosts finally appears when all of the children gather together and they are told that they need to help the ghosts escape eternal damnation.  The children realise that they simply don’t know enough and they convince the school to undertake three educational trips.

The first trip is to the National Coal Mining Museum at the Caphouse Colliery in Wakefield.  Here they learn about the terrible conditions that child labourers experienced in the days of coal mining.  Children as young as seven years of age had to work underground for over twelve hours a day, six days a week. Many of them were injured or even died, as was the case with the first ghost.  On this trip, author Malorie Blackman gives a talk on the need for powerful themes in novel writing and she discusses prejudice and discrimination.

The second school trip sees them visiting the seaside town of Scarborough.  The children spit up into more manageable groups and they meet famous children’s authors Alison Weir and G P Taylor.  Together with author Chris Wooding, they investigate the story the second ghost, a young boy who fell through a section of weak plaster in an inn and became trapped and later died.  They also visited the grave of Anne Brontë who died so young at the age of 29 of pulmonary tuberculosis, then known as consumption.  The students also learn that she had to use a male pseudonym in order to get her work published.  The notions of pirates and the smuggling trade were introduced on this trip.

The final trip is taken to Whitby which is the town that inspired Bram Stoker when he wrote Dracula.  The story of the third ghost is told here as he discovered the wealthy land owner’s hordes of gold and was locked in by the land owner and left to die.  The connection between the fictional vampires and the money-grabbing, greedy land owners of the past couldn't be clearer.

It is no small measure of the success of this graphic novel that it has made me want to visit all of the locations that the children from The Dearne High visited and to learn more about the history of that time.  The fact that so many well known people volunteered their time to help with this project is impressive and also makes me want to learn more about them and their books. 

The description of the graphic novel says that it is a book written by students for students but the quality is superb and I dare say that parents and other adults will want to read it too.  I’m certainly not giving up my copy!

Fool’s Gold was originally released in a delux interior colour version and is available on Amazon.com.  The version that I reviewed is the interior black and white version and is more affordable.  Readers from the United States can obtain this version at a cost of about $23 including postage directly from the school by emailing j.townend@barnsley.org.  This is the second book written by the students of The Dearne High.  The first was called Out of the Shadows: An anthology of fantasy stories as is also available on Amazon.

This article first appeared on Blogcritics.  I’d like to thank Peter Shaw from The Dearne High for sending me this fantastic book to review and would like to assure my readers that the opinions expressed here are my own.

Five New UK Shows You Must See

Television series in the UK have largely been hit and miss over the past five years.  Shows have been marred by shallow storylines, formulaic a-villain-an-episode formats plus scientific and historical inaccuracies.  Let’s face it, real life in England can be pretty drab but suddenly characters were infused with impossible glamour and improbable good looks. 

Series such as Spooks: Code 9 and Demons crashed and burned by the middle of their first seasons and you could almost hear the collective sigh of relief when the rapidly deteriorating Robin Hood was cancelled after season 3. 

As UK television producers slowly woke up to the fact that the tables had turned and the US now had the upper hand when it came to powerful, quality television, five must-see shows emerged from the UK.

Merlin

The BBC’s Merlin takes us right back to the origin of the age old English legend.  Magic has been outlawed by King Uther of Camelot as the young magician Merlin arrives to start his apprenticeship with the court physician Gaius.  Not realising who he is, Merlin starts a fight with the arrogant and bullying Prince Arthur and eventually lands up as his man servant.  Slowly, over the first two seasons, Merlin learns of his destiny and of how he must protect Arthur at al costs.  He struggles at times to understand and accept the world around him and must save Arthur’s life repeatedly while keeping his magically abilities hidden.

Merlin stars Colin Morgan as Merlin and Bradley James as Prince Arthur.  The are also some very famous names in the cast with Anthony Head (Buffy The Vampire Slayer) as King Uther, Richard Wilson (One Foot In The Grave) as Gaius and John Hurt (Nineteen Eighty-Four) as the voice of the dragon Kilgharrah.

The BBC announced in a press release in early December that Merlin has been renewed for a third season and the first season of Merlin will be available on DVD in the US from April 20, 2010.

The Fixer

When ex-British special forces soldier John Mercer found out that his aunt and uncle had abused his sister, he murdered them and was sentenced to a life in prison.  While in prison, he is offered his freedom in exchange for serving in a covert police squad and is released into the care of his handler Lenny Douglas.  Together with flatmate Calum and disgraced ex-cop Rose, they are government sponsored assassins that do the dirty work and take out the people that the law can’t touch. 

The second season is far darker than the first and includes some phenomenal acting from actor Andy Buchan who plays John Mercer.  The show also stars Peter Mullan, Tamzin Outhwaite and Jody Latham.

There is no news yet of when the next season is.

Being Human

When BBC Three ran a season of one hour pilots with the aim of awarding one of them a full season, Being Human was the immediate and clear favourite.  The quirky plot revolves around the lives of a werewolf, vampire and ghost who land up sharing a house together.  At once funny and intriguing, this show has been executed to absolute perfection.  All told though, this is a drama series and the first season focuses on the death of Annie, the ghost.  The second season is darker, scarier and far more serious as the three housemates must deal with their burdens and also a sinister underground organisation intent on killing them all.

In January, the BBC announced that Being Human has been renewed for a third season.  There seems to be no sign yet of the series being released on DVD in the US but it is available on iTunes.

Trinity

ITV’s Trinity was the first of two surprises on UK television screens last year.  Starring Christian Cooke, Claire Skinner and Charles Dance, Trinity is a tale of debauchery and intrigue in an upper class university.  Sure, it’s absurd and ridiculous at times, but it is side-splittingly funny and certainly a guilty pleasure. 

Trinity is set in the prestigious Trinity College at the fictional Bridgeford University.  For years the college has been the exclusive domain of the rich and privileged upper classes but now more modest classes of students are being granted entrance.   Attempts to protect the precious Dandelion Club (the secret men’s society) soon take a sinister turn as people begin to die and an organisation far more threatening than the Dandelion Club is behind it all. 

Trinity is a lot of fun and we await with bated breath for news of its renewal.  The first season certainly ended on a note of anticipation and will be available in the US from May 25, 2010.

Misfits

The biggest UK television surprise of 2009 was undoubtedly Misfits.  The E4 comedy is absolutely irreverent, with several “oh no they didn’t” moments where you simply can’t believe that they did that on national television.  The show is about five misfits, teenagers convicted of crimes and sentenced to community service.  They are all struck one day my a massive bolt of lightning in a freak storm and they slowly realise over time that they have superpowers.  Being the absolute reprobates that they are, they soon set about spreading as much mayhem as possible in this very, very dark comedy series.  Misfits is a bit like a hybrid between Skins and Heroes and it is the best UK export in years. 

There is no news yet when the DVD will be released in the US but it most likely will be as E4 rushed to announced the second season as the final episode of season one aired in December.

Introducing X:The Human Condition

Music listeners are increasingly sophisticated and savvy to the tricks of the musical trade.   There is a sense that everything has been done before and music fans are waiting for the one album that will surprise them, the one that will make its mark.  It is certainly not an easy market in which to release a concept album and doing so can be quite a risk for the artist.

X:THC’s X: The Human Condition is such an album.  This is a multimedia release that emerged out of live shows and has now been released as a CD and DVD.  The album tells the tale of escaping the prison of daily existence and finding love amidst the alienation and isolation of urban life.  It is an existential study of the inherent contradiction as we struggle to assert our uniqueness and independence whilst simultaneously seeking sameness and companionship.

Perhaps this sounds complex but the whole production is beautifully executed and while the CD could certainly be enjoyed independently of the DVD, together they make a great package.

The CD

The album begins with the spoken word of a child saying:

Once upon a time,
Two individuals shared the same experience,
Yet each was unaware of the other’s existence.

“No one could be like me,” the brown eyes softly said.
“No one,” the blue eyes whispered.

What follows then is a haunting and hypnotic collection of ten trip-hop songs.  The style may be reminiscent of Portishead, Tricky and Massive Attack but the album has a definite edgy, avant-garde sound.  This is electronica at its best and this is the type of laid back, emotional music that draws you in and keeps you listening. 

The DVD

Shot primarily in black and white around the parks and streets of New York City and inside a state penitentiary, the DVD tells the story of a photographer and clothing designer whose paths randomly cross.  They begin to play games with each other (in the best possible sense of the term) and soon find love and companionship.  There are powerful messages in the DVD as the audience is told that they are not alone and that sometimes people need to appeal to the child within in order to connect with other people again.

As a package, X: The Human Condition is a complete interactive experience and the message is by no means subtle.  This is in keeping with their public image as on  their homepage they invite those who have ever felt alone, alienated or different to listen to their music and attend their shows.

It may be too soon to say whether this is The Album, the one that will make its mark and stand out from the others.  But the haunting and hypnotic melodies plus the dark yet uplifting film seem to remain in your thoughts long after you’ve finished them and I would say that the risks X:THC took in producing such a bold album have certainly paid off.

You can watch the video below to get an idea of the sounds and feeling of the release:

This article originally featured on BlogCritics. I'd like to thank Amy from Two Sheps That Pass for sending me a preview copy of the release and would like to assure my readers that the opinions stated here are real.

Book Review: Raven’s Gate by Anthony Horowitz

Raven's Gate was one of the first books I read after I had ploughed through both the Harry Potter and His Dark Materials series.  It was around this time that I started properly reviewing books.  Given that Horowitz became one of my two favourite authors (the other being Garth Nix), I have decided to reread and properly review all of the Horowitz and Nix novels that I read in that first year.

It is difficult to write an introduction to Anthony Horowitz without resorting to terms like “prolific” or  “massively popular” for these are the precise terms that come to mind when you consider his impressive body of work.  Horowitz has written over fifty books, has adopted Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot novels for television and is also the creator of well known television series such as Foyle’s War and the Midsomer Murders.

Horowitz might be best known for his Alex Rider series which features the adventures of a fourteen-year-old superspy but he is most proud of his Power of Five series.  Known as the Gatekeepers in the US, the series begins in an English town called Ipswich with Raven’s Gate.

Matt Freeman is a fourteen-year-old orphan who gets into trouble with the law in the opening chapter of Raven’s Gate and is sent off to a remote village in the Yorkshire countryside for rehabilitation.  Officially, he is part of the L.E.A.F. project (Liberty and Education Achieved through Fostering) but unofficially, he becomes a mere servant to his foster parent Jayne Deverill and is forced to help out on her farm.

As wretched as his daily life might be, Matt realises that something quite sinister is going on at the farm and that something is not quite right with Mrs Deverill.  When Matt sees lights and hears whispers coming from an abandoned nuclear power station, he becomes more suspicious and realises that somehow, all of the local villagers of Lesser Malling are involved.   Matters come to a head when it seems that everyone who tries to help him lands up dead.  Can he escape before he becomes the next victim?

Raven’s Gate is a fantasy supernatural thriller that will have your heart racing as you rush to finish the book.  In fact, the pace is so fast that it is hard to remember sometimes that this is a book and not an action packed blockbuster film.  Anthony Horowitz wanted to take the classical fantasy genre out of Narnia and Middle Earth and has brought witchcraft, clairvoyance, magic and the notion of an ancient evil to modern day England.  It is easy to see why he is so proud of this series as they will appeal to both adults and the young adults that they were written for.

Raven’s Gate is the first book in a five-part series and Matt is the first of five children we will meet who will eventually save the world.  This series is certainly recommended to lovers of fantasy fiction and for people looking for an alternative to the ever more prevalent vampire books.

Hot Chip’s One Night Stand blows

It was with a certain degree of expectation that I decided to listen to the new Hot Chip album.  The Grammy winning and Mercury Prize nominated band from London, England have generated a reputation of being talented and intelligent alternative dance performers but would this album be more consistent and accessible than Made in the Dark, their 2008 album featuring the hit “Ready For The Floor”?

Well, One Life Stand is like an exercise in moving from the accessible to the mundane.  The biggest insult that judges can deliver in talent show contests is to suggest that contestants seek a career in musical theatre.  I mention this because One Life Stand opens with “Thieves in the Night” which has a definite stage sound to it.  I could just imagine the singer opening his arms on stage and throwing his head back to deliver the chorus.  The music is definitely upbeat with a New Wave or Synthpop sound to it but it also reminded me so much of Visage’s “Fade To Grey” that I nearly decided to listen to that instead.

The next song “Hand Me Down Your Love” begins so promisingly with the funky piano sounds being made popular by acts such as Parov Stelar.  I expected the song to go somewhere, for there to be some substance once I’d taken the hook but the song just amounts to nothing. 

Hot Chip had told fans to expect a slower, more downbeat sound but these tracks are merely uplifting little ditties that make you wonder why this has been marketed as a dance album.  Bands such as Soft Cell, Ultravox and Visage tore up the eighties with their brand of driving synthesizer music and this album is a definite nod to that era but it sounds stale and inane.

By mid-album it is obvious that all of the songs so far have sounded alike and are pretty unremarkable. 

And then you have “Slush”. 

My first thoughts on hearing the barbershop-type vocals and the lyrics “humina, humina, humina” are not fit to repeat on a family site such as this but let’s just agree that I was bordering on feeling offended. 

By the time the first proper dance offering “We Have Love” arrives, the listener has all but lost interest.  It is a wonder who this album was actually aimed at it seems that too musical theatre for lovers of dance or alternative music and it somehow misses the “4am, driving home from a club” mark completely.

I should have switched it off and turned on “Fade To Grey” when I had the chance.

For being absolutely horrid I give the CD half a star because I can't find a zero star image.

This review first appeared on BlogCritics.  I’d like to thank EMI for sending me a copy of the CD to review.

Music Review: Only Revolutions by Biffy Clyro

Biffy Clyro – Only Revolutions
Record label: 14th Floor 
Release date: 06 November 2009 (UK) / 09 March 2010 (US)

Breakthrough UK band Biffy Clyro are to release their new album Only Revolutions in the US on March 9, 2010. 

Hailing from Kilmarnock, Scotland, Biffy Clyro formed in 1995 and began releasing singles in 2001. It was only in 2007 that their fan base grew exponentially with the massively successful album Puzzle which was their fourth studio album.  In the next couple of years they became known for their explosive stage shows and shared the stage with Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Linkin Park and Muse.  They also became the first band ever to play in the Houses of Parliament in London when they played an acoustic gig on January 14, 2010 to celebrate the achivement of a local radio station in reaching 50% digital listenership.

Biffy Clyro finally put speculation to rest this week over the source of their strange name in an interview with Spin magazine.  They admitted that they had been imagining up Cliff Richard merchandise and one of the things they came up with was the Cliffy Biro (“biro” being a type of pen in the UK).  That got spoonerized into Biffy Clyro over time and the name stuck.

Only Revolutions is the follow up to the 2007 album Puzzle and is their fifth studio album.  It is an energetic album which the band say is their heaviest album yet.  Songs such as “That Golden Rule”, “Bubbles”, “Shock Shock” and “Mountains” are loud, powerful anthems that will have you singing along in no time.  The band makes great use of classic rock instruments with powerful guitar riffs, great basslines and great drums which absolutely complement Simon Neil’s vocal style.  On the whole, this is great music for dancing to and the band must be great live.

There are probably seven great songs out of the twelve on the album but the other songs really let the album down.  Some of the lyrics on the album are hackneyed and unoriginal while others are bizarre and you’re left wondering what any of the songs actually mean.  An example of this is the line “I’ve never had a lover who’s my sister or my brother before”.  As an album, there is also a lack of cohesion as the styles range from indie alternative to hard rock to a simple classical rock style.  What results is that you have several fantastic songs that are marred by somewhat average and unoriginal fillers.

Not everyone would agree with me though and in fact, the video for one of my least favourite songs “The Captain” won the award for Best Video at the Shockwaves NME Awards in 2010.  I have to admit, the video is fantastic and Simon Neil is looking good but I’m still not convinced.

In the end, I would say that Only Revolutions is not my cup of tea.  I wouldn’t necessarily buy the album but the wonder of the digital age is that I can download the specific tracks that I enjoyed from Amazon and would recommend: “That Golden Rule”, “Bubbles”, “Born of a Horse” (in spite of the lyrics), “Mountains”, “Shock Shock”, “Booooom, Blast & Ruin”, “Cloud of Stink” and “Whorses”.

This article originally appeared on BlogCritics.org.  I’d like to thank Kate from Warner Bros Records for sending me a copy of the CD to review.

Twilight Saga: Eclipse – Teaser Trailer

Not having been blessed with the virtue of patience, I present a preview of the Eclipse teaser trailer ahead of the release of the full teaser trailer at 6am PST tomorrow.  

Corey Haim dead at 38

Corey Ian Haim

23 December 1971 – 10 March 2010

This one is really sad. Corey Haim has died of a drug overdose in Burbank, California. The Two Coreys, Corey Haim and Corey Feldman were my idols when I was a teenager and I loved their performances in The Lost Boys (1987) and License to Drive (1988).

I always preferred Corey Haim as he was better looking (in my opinion).  In fact, my high school crush looked exactly like Corey in the photo above!

While Corey Feldman went on to become “a husband, father and environmentalist” according to IMDb, Corey Haim became a drug addict and finally lost his life this morning.  Very sad indeed but I wish celebrities would start to see the clear correlation between drugs and death.

You will always be young, beautiful and innocent in the eyes of the people that forgot about you when you went over to the dark side, Corey. Rest in peace.

Book review: Chosen by PC & Kristin Cast

After being thrilled to bits by  Marked and more than a little  disappointed by the sequel Betrayed, I decided to take a chance on the next book in the House of Night series because it had received good reviews.

The House of Night is yet another series in the ever popular vampire genre.  What makes this series different is its references to elemental magic, ancient Cherokee traditions and a focus on strong, powerful women.

The first book in the series Marked introduced us to Zoey, the protagonist of the series as she realises she is a vampyre fledgling and she starts at the House of Night vampyre finishing school.  In Betrayed, Zoey must deal with an evil force within the school that is killing human teenagers but the book ended right at the pinnacle of all the action and it was so frustrating!

Chosen begins immediately after the events of the previous book.  Without giving away the story too much, I will say that Zoey finds herself torn between three men and forms an alliance with her former enemy.  The authors have really written the most horrible lead character as Zoey proves herself to be arrogant, selfish and disloyal with a severe case of self-righteousness.  What saves this book and made me decide to pick up the next one in the series is the explosive finale which had me racing to the end of the book. 

At the end of the day, the House of Night series is a fun, imaginative series that does breath new life into the vampyre genre.  It is a pity that the authors have dragged the story out over so many books and used cheap cliff hanger techniques when the story could have run just as effectively by finishing up one story arc in one book.

I certainly wouldn’t recommend reading this book as a one-off and this is a series that you do have to read in a strictly chronological order.  But it is fun and easy to read and the books are great at passing the time and reading on the train.  Would I recommend that you start the House of Night series at all?  Yes, I would.  Just maybe borrow the books from the library rather than spending good money on them.

I give the book at strict passing grade at 2.5 stars.

Music Monday # 19: Evening/Morning – Bombay Bicycle Club

I haven't been able to get this band out of my head since I saw them in concert two weeks ago at the Shockwaves NME Awards Tour.  This is my very favourite song by them and is currently the most overplayed song on my iPod.

I’m busy buying up their entire catalogue on Amazon but had to wait as the single to Evening / Morning was only released today.

Find more Music Monday posts at Lady Java's Lounge or by clicking my label below.

Bombay Bicycle Club - "Evening / Morning"

I Had The Blues But I Shook Them Loose (2009)

Always adrift, there are trips to make,
the night won’t break, if the day won’t break,
But i was out, did you get in, did you
Draw the right stamp on your skin, saying

I am ready to owe you anything,
I’m ready to owe you anything,
I’m ready to owe you anything,
I’m ready to owe you anything,

(We cant, we can’t, we can’t, we can’t)

Keep with me i hope you’ll see that,
We can speak at slower speeds,
When i wake up it will always be that
When i wake up it will always be that,
I am ready to,

I am ready to owe you anything,
I’m ready to owe you anything,
I’m ready to owe you anything,
I’m ready to owe you anything.

Books: 2010

I may or may not be a little behind on my book reviews but I’ll be making a concerted effort to catch up this week!  Here is my list of books read so far this year.

January 2010

15.  The Book Thief – Markus Zusak

27. A Yank Back to England: The Prodigal Tourist Returns – Denis Lipman

27. A Time for Machetes: The Rwandan Genocide - The Killers Speak – Jean Hatzfeld

February 2010

05.  Untamed - P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast

17.  The War Before – Safiya Bukhari

24.  Never Let Me Go – Kazuo Ishiguro

March 2010

03.  Raven’s Gate – Anthony Horowitz (reread)

DVD Review: Triangle (2009)

The critically acclaimed psychological thriller Triangle releases on DVD and Blu-ray on 01 March 2010 and I decided to take a look and see what the fuss was all about.  My expectations were that this was your typical slasher-thriller with the cast members being killed off one by one until you’re left with a sole survivor but surely that didn’t deserve the great reception the film had received? 

Jess (Melissa George) decides to take a day off and go sailing with her friend Greg (Michael Dorman) and some of his friends.  From the start, she has an uneasy feeling and this does not endear her with Greg’s friends as they begin to feel creeped out by her.  Conditions at sea change and they go from being in gloriously sunny weather to suddenly finding themselves in the eye of a massive storm.  Greg and his friend Victor (Liam Hemsworth) fight to control the yacht in the storm but water begins to stream in, they lose control and the yacht capsizes.  Heather (Emma Lung) is lost in the ensuing chaos and the remaining friends climb to safety on top of the capsized yacht.

An ocean liner suddenly appears out of nowhere and the friends are convinced that they can see someone on board.  They manage to board the ship and it seems to be deserted but soon they find themselves being hunted down and murdered, one by one.

This is the point at which the film delivers its first major surprise.  You honestly think you know where the film is going and then realise you are stuck in a crazy time loop similar to that of Groundhog Day.  This is not your standard slash-and-kill film and instead, turns the entire horror genre on its head.

What follows is an incredibly clever, well thought out and complex storyline that will keep you on your toes as you try to guess and anticipate what will come next.  The film demands your attention and tests your powers of observation as you clamber to catch all of the clues and grasp the reveals throughout the story.

The film is darkly atmospheric with muted shades from the start.  It is frightening and scary but is never gratuitous and will thus appeal to fans of horror and suspense thrillers alike.  It is well paced and while it is never obvious, it never leaves you wanting to go back in the story to pick up something you missed. 

It is also not overdone.  Groundhog Day became an instant classic but was somewhat excruciating at times.  Using a similar technique, Triangle completes the loop just enough times for you to understand what is going on and then abruptly, you find yourself in the last quarter of the film where the scenery changes once again.

This really is a good film that deserves the reception and critical acclaim that it received on its theatrical release.  It is the sort of film that will have you talking and thinking about for a while afterwards as you work through how the puzzle was so masterfully constructed.  It was certainly a nice surprise and surprise and much more than I was expecting and we do so like surprises!

While the Bermuda Triangle is never actually mentioned, it is implied and the name of Greg’s yacht is Triangle.  The film is set off the Florida coast (where the Bermuda Triangle stretches to Puerto Rico and Bermuda) but I was quite surprised to see that the entire film was filmed in the Gold Coast area of Queensland, Australia.

The film itself features an all-Australian cast except for Michael Dorman who was born in New Zealand.  Henry Nixon and Rachael Carpani of McLeod's Daughters fame join the cast as married couple Downey and Sally and they add a somewhat comedic element to the cast.  The film is directed by acclaimed British director Christopher Smith who directed Creep and Severance.

For such a fast-paced film, I was quite surprised at the relative depth of the characters and I thought that as a whole, the film was well acted.  Melissa George gets special mention because she portrays several versions of Jess’s character in the film and she pulled it off with remarkable skill and cohesion.

The Blu-ray and DVD release is jam-packed with special features and certainly add value to the whole package.  The box has a 3-D cover which will make the most sense to you once you have seen the film and the special features are as follows:

• The Making of Triangle
• Audio Commentary with director Christopher Smith
• 3 Storyboards (The Storm, Jess Walking Through The Mirror, The Car Crash)
• Deleted Scenes
• Competition Winner Poster Design
• The Storm Special Features Featurette

Would I buy the Blu-ray or DVD?  Yes, I absolutely would.  Having seen the film, this is the type of film you like to revisit time after time to see what you might have missed and to keep the synapses firing.  The extra features are quite good too and make it worth it.

This article was originally featured on BlogCritics.  I’d like to thank the friendly guys over at Noble PR for sending me a copy of the DVD to review.

Book review: Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

As a reviewer, I would say that I am capable of writing both good and bad reviews. Sometimes I completely throw objectivity and professionalism to the wind and let my inner fan take over. I’ll wax on about how much I love an actor or adore a band and it is at those times that this blog most resembles that which it was originally intended for: a scrapbook in which to record all of the music, film, television and books that I consume. Over time, however, I have come to realise that readers hope for some semblance of objectivity and fairness when reading reviews and so, as much as possible, I try to present reviews in such a way that readers can make an informed decision on whether to purchase or consume the item themselves.

In reviewing Never let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, I am presented with a different dilemma. For me, this book was so sad and depressing that I find it almost painful to write about it (and indeed, it has taken me a week to get this far with a review). I’ve tried to dissect why this might be so. Never Let me Go is an incredibly well-written book and Kazuo Ishiguro is both a master at suspense and at leaving breadcrumbs for his readers to follow. I love his writing style and after loving When We Were Orphans, I am now keener than ever to read The Remains of the Day. I love this type of book too. As a rule, I love all dystopian novels or those that describe an alternative present, whether they are of the classical science fiction genre or the modern literature of Margaret Atwood or George Orwell. I’ve always loved books set in schools (the Harry Potter franchise being the best, but not first, example of this) and one of my favourite books of all time was Margaret Atwood’s Cat’s Eye which described a specifically painful childhood.

At the end of the day, I would have to say that Never Let Me Go struck a raw nerve in me and the descriptions of a disadvantaged childhood wrought with childish manipulation and misguided ideas of propriety left me feeling quite cold and empty. It is obvious that in some way it mirrored too closely the interpersonal relationships and circumstances of my own childhood (I have said before that I have not one positive memory from primary school in South Africa) and indeed, a book must be remarkable to generate that level of reaction in any reader, must it not?

Never Let Me Go is about a world where cancer has been cured and finding donor organs is no longer a concern of the general population. This is a world that is far from perfect though and such success has been brought about at a terrible human cost. I don’t want to give any of the actual story away and it wouldn’t be fair to give you the whole slice of bread right now so forgive the vagueness please (that was a really bad reference to Ishiguro’s breadcrumbs, by the way).

The book is narrated by Kathy who describes growing up in a rather unusual boarding school. She describes the friends she makes, the games they play and how they come to love, manipulate, depend upon and ultimately ruin each other as their lives remain entwined until their deaths. These are individuals who live a pre-planned, second-hand existence yet somehow manage to eke a childhood out of the most appalling and neglectful conditions.

It is certainly a book that will generate conversation amongst friends and book clubs and indeed, the other participants in my book rated it highly on readability, enjoyment and stimulating conversation. I'm glad I read it now and not after reading (and hopefully enjoying) his other books but my total score would be two out of five stars based solely on it actually being a well written imaginative book.

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Never Let Me Go has been made into a film starring Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightly and Andrew Garfield and with Andrea Riseborough as Miss Lucy.  I must say that I believe they have cast Garfield and Riseborough perfectly in their roles as Tommy and Miss Lucy.

I’m a fan of Andrew Garfield and loved him in the Red Riding trilogy and in Boy A.  The film is in post-production and is due for release later this year.  I will most likely go see it just for Andrew.