The Korean Monster

Finally managed to watch this Korean MONSTER-MOVIE that had been recommended to me. It’s a rather unconventional movie in terms of combining THRILLER with COMEDY and DRAMA in a strange yet successful fashion! If you too are a fan of excellent special effects topped with a balanced plot then “The Host” is highly recommended. Btw, I still haven’t understood why its titled the host, if there is any connection that I’ve managed to miss but you happen yo catch please do share! ;)

Not Forever Young, But a Forever Song!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0OX49tdZt4

The German SYNTH/Electro-POP group Alphaville is perhaps one the most influential bands in my life with their "Big in Japan", an immortal song that still till this day gives me goosebumps when listening to it! Alphaville has perhaps not managed to stay “forever young” (the title of their biggest HIT which many have heard by few know the artist behind, played even on Napoleon Dynamite’s prom!lol) but they sure have managed to create a forever-song! That was Alphaville 23 years ago and now with only the singer Marian Gold left in the band, this is Alphaville today!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDGYUZc2z3w

Ultimate Disco Queen

The Australian DISCO QUEEN Kylie who had a revival almost a decade ago is now resuming her career after her cancer treatment! This Australian Special Edition of her greatest HITS was released a few months ago and features both audio and video versions of the songs. If you are a fan and look for a collection THIS IS IT! It more than justifies the ULTIMATE in its title!

The PULSE has dropped!

What’s your BEST concert experience? Mine is a 13-year-old experience from PINK FLOYD’s ”THE PULSE”-tour back in 1994! Before that I didn’t even like Pink Floyd, but my friend who was a HARDCORE fan purchased me a ticket and invited me, so I ”reluctantly” followed him to the stadium that rainy summer evening. But hours later I was converted to a hard-line ”Floydian (as their fans are called)” and a week later a proud owner of a lovely Pink Floyd collection! What a SHOW! An orgy in light, sound and vision! Talk about high Goosebumps factor! This was what I call ”LIVE-experience”!

In 13 years have I waited for this concert to be forever documented on a media in a way that it does the quality of the delivered performance justice. However the 2006 released DVD which was postponed in months due to its mastering does not serve the purpose. The re-editing for the DVD is so carelessly done that it manages to leave out the most important details happening on stage and in the arena! Not to mention the poorly designed DVD package and artwork which does not meet the same quality standard as set by the band’s previous masterpieces! Needless to say Pink Floyd has redefined “album covers” in more than two decades and this is an underachievement! Everything considered its not so strange that the price of DVD was dropped to 2/3, only a few months after the release. Normal you might think, but not in regard to Pink Floyd whose oldest albums and concerts are still till this day sold for full price! Pink Floyd and “sale” have simply never gone hand in hand!

I think I stick to my earlier version on VHS where the A/V-quality might not be that high but the level of experience is!!

One of the 1994 tour shirts!

Prestigiously Thai

Not everything in Thailand is a bootleg!! This I happened to learn when, to my big surprise, one of my favourite movies from last year was released as Limited Edition ONLY in Thailand! Of all places! “The Prestige” GIFTSET is exclusively manufactured and released in Thailand by WB and if it had not been for a fellow collector of mine I would have never even looked that way! Way to go Thailand!!

Award for the best supporting posterior …

goes to miss Biel’s booty!!!

Just when I’d started to give up on the idea of seeing Jessica Biel’s laws-of-nature-defying (for a white girl) booty being fairly displayed and adequately exposed onscreen, the eight wonder of the world surprises us by starring in “I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry” along with its owner miss Biel! Now you know to whom or “what”, to be exactly, my vote for the best supporting role goes! Hehe!

Although I’m fantASStically indulged by this dream-comin’-true I still wont settle and keep on hoping for a “leading part“ some day soon! These prominent cheeks have still much more talent to offer us! Much much more! hehe!

Ice Cold Zero

I’m a soda addict! Cant have a meal without washing it down with some soda! But I only drink sugarless sodas. And as such its hard to find a good sugar-free soda that manages to deliver the exact taste of its original! Coca Cola Light (what diet coke is called in Europe) somehow didn’t do that for me, neither did Pepsi Max really! Now Coca Cola has launched its “Zero” in Sweden which was an instant hit with me! And now together with Sprite Zero its my designated drink for the hot summer ahead!

Am I sponsored by Coda Cola? No, but I wish I was!lol

Lost Toys

McFarlane has announced the upcoming release of the new set of toys based on LOST characters. I must say that this almost lifelike Mr. Eko would look good on the LOST shelf of my collection, beside the DVDs of the show!

For those who do not know the McFarlane company, it’s a designer and manufacturer of grownup toys! Collectibles for display that are mostly based on famous characters of the popular culture!

Not Enough Goya!

I’m a huge fan of biographical films that portray the character and life of artists (cultural personalities and characters in general). Yesterday I went and watched the highly acclaimed director Milos Forman’s take on the father of satirical art, Fransisco de Goya’s life in “Goya‘s Ghosts“. To my disappointment the movie was more or less only loosely centred around Goya himself as it focused on the fate of his favourite model “Ines” against a large backdrop of the time’s war-ridden Spain! Although coming short in terms of artist-portrayal the film is still worth watching since it brings up the still current issues of religious hypocrisy and political tyranny as a constantly dynamic dilemma! It was indulging to see one of Sweden’s prominent actors Stellan Skarsgård in the lead role as Goya, but I must say that it was Javier Bardem’s excellent performance that ultimately stole the focus and attention. Not to forget miss Portman who is slowly but surely refining as an actress of dramatic roles!

“Goya‘s Ghosts“ wasn’t as inspiring as I had hoped for, but still engaging!

Singing Tangerines

The pioneers of TANGERINE DREAM are back! In an album dedicated to the late Syd Barrett of Pink Floyd the legendary act feature poetry by British and American poets preformed by Chris Hausl! Vocals on music is something which Tangerine Dream are new to, but manage to pull off excellently!

Bull! Pit-Bull!!

Being a short-term Bond-fan who got into the franchise with Timothy Dalton’s near-Shakespearean interpretation of the British agent and fell out with Pierce Brosnan’s neo-Moore performance I had my doubts and fears when I saw the image of Daniel Craig as the new Bond! Craig who looks more like a Bond-villain from the cold war era and has therefore not so surprisingly played mostly bad guys in his career just didn’t look cut for the sleek suit! Yet when I read the overwhelmingly positive reviews I thought hey I should give the guy a chance! There is a chance that the guy just “looks” like “that“! And yesterday I finally sat down and watched the long flick, which was disappointingly nothing like what its been described as by the critics (hey we critics aren’t perfect either, even though it might be hard to belive!lol)! The supposedly more “realistic” Bond got things even more “unrealistic” once in action! All in all I must say that there was nothing new, let alone realistic, to this version of Bond other than the fact that Craig possessed and displayed the charm of a crossed and constipated pit-bull!

Museums of Music

A while ago I recommended the book-turned-into-movie “High Fidelity”, as a movie to watch on Valentine’s Day! In High Fidelity John Cusack’s character Rob is the owner of a second-hand/vintage record store. And when I was a teenager this was the main place where I hanged out and dreamt of managing one day! A cultural forum, a museum of music wherein every visitor is a guide and a narrator to an own unwritten page in the book of music history! Still today, when leaving work for home, I happen to find myself in these labyrinths of rarities where the smell of vintage vinyl and aging paper get me intoxicated and put in trance …to the past!

TRANCEMASTER

The TRANCEMASTER Tiesto is back! The new studio-album “Elements of Life” featuring numerous guest vocalists was just released and its 80’s HI-NRG inspired single “In The Dark (featuring Christian Burns)” has already become a HIT!

This is MAINSTREAM TRANCE at its BEST!!!

Robots in Disguise

One of the movies that are due to be released this summer are TRANSFORMERS, a movie based on a favourite cartoon of mine from the 80’s!

About alien robots good and bad, with ability to transform into vehicles, that come to earth and have our planet as a battlefield! This is an adaptation that I have been waiting for in exactly 22 years! And by the look of the first released images it looks to make all the waiting worth while:

http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1808716430/trailer

The Final Act

The Sopranos, perhaps one of the most intriguingly unconventional series in the history of television, return on April 8th for the final nine episodes of its sixth and last season! This has been one of my absolute favourite shows during the last seven years and I would have hated for it to just end prematurely. But considering how things have developed lately behind its stage and the possibility of where the story line could be heading if stretched even further, I’m glad over the wise decision of wrapping it up in time while rounding it off in a smooth and adequate way! Hopefully these last episodes will manage to put a nice and “gratifying” end to the epic opus of HBO!

The Aussie Prince of Persia!

Its official now, the 19 year old Australian actor Charlie Clausen is casted for the role of the Prince in the movie adaptation of the “Prince of Persia” computer game! The highly anticipated movie will hit the cinemas in 2008. I must say that he looks very Disney-like with that baby-face, those puppy eyes and almost cartoon-prince-sque appearance! Considering that Disney is behind the project which is promised to be in the Pirates of the Caribbean line of matinee-entertainment it doesn’t seem that strange at all!

The Most Wanted Producer

Timbaland’s brand new album “Shock Value” is to be released on 3 April! It’s as expected a very EXPERIMENTAL collection with a balanced combination of artistic value and commercial potential. Filled with special CAMEO-/guest appearances that others would die for! Appearances by artists from all sorts of genres like Swedish the HIVES, something which further proves Timbaland’s top position and status on the international music scene. Though being directly labelled as an HIP HOP producer Timbaland’s talents exceed and reach far beyond any genre! His “open mind” is a guide for this omnivorous and omnipotent craftsman who has got the gift to sell you what you want the way he wants! He takes what’s familiar, redresses it in the most unfamiliar fashion and presents it as something you’ve never heard before …yet think you have!

Yes, Timbaland is much more than a hyped commercial phenomenon! He is an artist, a true creator of art! An innovator! And as yet another sign of his versatility comes news about his upcoming work on the British COLDPLAY’s forthcoming album and also his revitalising force on my childhood idols, the veterans of DURAN DURAN’s upcoming opus!

Techn Problem!

These past few days I have had techn issues with blogger! So for the latest updates please check my bia2 blog until the issues are solved! Thanks!

www.bia2.com/pourya