Long time no review...

It's been a while since I've done a review, so I've decided to start up again and review three movies I watched recently. The three are Star 80, Jacob's Ladder, and Downfall. The first review will be up by Sunday, September 5th!

Come back soon! Your views and support is greatly appreciated. Spread the word about us!

COMING SOON:

My Top 10 Greatest Pop Albums of All Time

1. True Blue











2. Spice











3. It's Not Me, It's You

4. Madonna











5. Ray of Light

6. She's So Unusual











7. Thriller

8. The Fame Monster

9. Off the Wall

10. The Fame

Silent Hill 2

I have decide to include three firsts on the site in this one review: first video game review, soundtrack review, and double review. I could think of nothing better than Silent Hill 2 to review for this special.

Silent Hill 2, first released on PlayStation 2 in 2001, has been described by G4's X-Play as "the scariest of all time". I couldn't agree more. This game effectively combines two key elements of horror that many filmmakers cannot capture in the same movie: psychological terror and shock. In Silent Hill 2, there is a perfect balance of the two. It is truly one of the scariest works of any kind I have ever experienced, more than most movies, games, books, etc. The plot of the game is truly one of the best in gaming and is worthy of a Hollywood movie. It features an incredible plot twist and a story woven perfectly together.

I  must admit that the controls are a bit annoying and difficult at first, but the makers of the game gave you time to get used to them before any trouble really arises. Trust me, you really get used to the controls because it is so addicting you can't put the controller down! The riddle and action difficulty levels are up to you, but for a really good and challenging experience, I recommend a hard riddle level and easy or normal action level. The higher up on the action level you go, the more annoying it gets, not hard.

Rarely is a game ever more terrifying than Silent Hill 2. The stories you read, the monsters you see, the creepy areas you explore, the noises you hear, and especially the music you hear make this the scariest game of all time.

The soundtrack of Silent Hill 2 deserves just as much praise as the game itself. The album cover can really tell you the theme of the music: creepy and slightly depressing. It may not be depressing to some people, but there are certain slow songs on here that make me feel sad. Of course, those song were used in depressing scenes. The tracks featured in tension building or shocking scenes requires no actual scene to bring out the emotion. The music is that powerful. I recommend buying it on iTunes, and after playing the game, you will.

Sticky & Sweet Tour

Madonna's eighth worldwide tour to promote her latest studio album Hard Candy, Stick & Sweet Tour, was released on CD/DVD earlier this year. The tour itself began in August 2008 in Cardiff, Wales, and concluded in September 2009 in Tel Aviv, Israel. It earned in upwards of $408 million  becoming the highest grossing tour by a solo artist, breaking the previous record Madonna herself set with her 2006 Confessions Tour.

The live album Sticky & Sweet Tour became Madonna's nineteenth top-ten album in the United States. It featured a CD as well as a DVD, or blu-ray. While the DVD showed the tour in its entirety, the CD was missing almost an hour of the tour. That was real disappointment, but most of the best performances were on the CD, except "Into the Groove" for some reason. Watching DVD was very enjoyable though. Madonna still manages to be sexy, energetic, and musical while performing at age 51. The two performances that really stand out are "Vogue" and "Into the Groove". I also really liked the "Die Another Day" video interlude for some reason.

I would definitely give this album a try, especially if you are a Madonna fan, but don't expect to find a lot of classics, as it is supporting her 2008 album Hard Candy.

Mind In The Gutter

Most of you may know him as the "leave Britney alone guy", but Chris Crocker has done quite a bit since the release of that sensational video in 2007. Besides appearing on numerous talk shows and releasing dozens more internet videos that still gain hundreds of thousands of views each, Crocker has been dipping into the music industry. His first single on iTunes, "Mind In The Gutter", only got three stars based on the reviews of a thousand or so bias listeners. I think that because most people see him as the 'Britney' guy, those people won't give his music a chance. As far as independent internet music goes, Chris is no worse than anyone else. I think the song is catchy, danceable tune. Although I have to admit, I'm not a big fan of the entrance.

Crocker has since released another single on called "Love Me Better". It has received mixed to positive reviews on iTunes.

It's Not Me, It's You

This article concludes the two part special on Lily Allen.

With It's Not Me, It's You, Lily Allen's music took a slightly darker and more serious tone. It also feels more like it is for adults. Each track is very full sounding and has meaning, some personal, some political, some religious.

The album's singles, "The Fear", "Not Fair", "Fuck You", "22", and "Who'd Have Known" are undoubtedly the best tracks on the album of course. All of them fared well commercially too, especially "The Fear" and "Not Fair" which peaked at #1 and #4 in the UK respectively. My favorite of these would have to be "Not Fair", mostly because lyrically it is genius and it has a sort of country pop feel, much like Madonna's "Don't Tell Me". In fact, the album owes a lot of it's greatness to the lyrics of the songs which are brilliant.

The backing tracks on the album are many, but there are a select few that stand out: "Everyone's At It", "Him", "I Could Say", and "Back To The Start". "Back To The Start" was so good, in fact, that it was released as a sixth single in Australia.

It's Not Me, It's You once again shows us Lily's great talent in the lyrics department, but brings out a wider range of emotions than she did with Alright, Still. This album is definitely one of the best to be released in 2009, even better than Lady Gaga's The Fame Monster. It's one of the best pop albums to come out in a very long time.

Alright, Still

I was very disappointed to hear that British singer Lily Allen was giving up her music career for good to pursue other projects, but thankfully she left us with some great music to look back on. This blog begins a two part special on Lily Allen where I will review her only two albums. This is the review for her debut album Alright, Still.

In 2006, we in America only got a glimpse of Britain's hottest new pop star Lily Allen with her hit single "Smile", that peaked at #1 in the UK and #49 in the US. I had heard the song on the radio once or twice, but I wasn't really interested until I saw Lily perform the song live at the Concert For Diana. After that I became obsessed with the song as well as her debut album itself. I mostly liked the albums official singles "Smile", "LDN", "Littlest Things", and "Alfie", as well as backing tracks "Everything's Just Wonderful" and "Knock 'Em Out".

What I really love about Lily is her ability to take songs that are lyrically very negative and turn them into upbeat 'happy' songs. For example, "Smile" is about Allen enjoying seeing her ex-boyfriend suffer; in "LDN" she describes that London is not all it seems (The negative aspects of life in London) ; and in "Knock 'Em Out" she explains how much she dislikes getting hit on by creeps at a pub. All of these songs have an extremely happy and upbeat composition.

I think that it's safe to say that Alright, Still is one of the best pop albums ever made.

In her second album, Allen stuck to the complex and meaningful lyrics, while getting more serious and losing the bubblegum pop feel. The review for It's Not Me, It's You is coming soon.