Steve's pop picks

Now that the NME is free, I've being checking out their recommendations. Here is some stuff I like:

El Vy - really good - bit like Lloyd Cole
The 1975 - Love me - Like a combinations of Fashion-era David Bowie (my favourite) and Duran Duran 
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard - Hot Wax - Brilliant sound, a bit reminiscent of early Jon Spencer Blues Explosion but more surf garage - Great use of a flanger and great bass sound
Potty Mouth - Cherry Picking - Again, lovely bass. Reminds me a bit of Belly.

Review of An Irrational Man

Interesting film but no more than that. Woody Allen writes really good dialog, not just in itself but in the sense of dialog that moves the film along. My partner took exception to Joaquin’s prosthetic belly. I can’t say I noticed. 

Woody Allen is a very functional film-maker nowadays, though I found some of the focusing of his shots rather odd. He doesn’t use the very wide aperture look (which is good cos I really don’t like it - most of the time it’s style over substance) but he often leaves most of the screen just a bit out of focus. Unfortunately, if it’s not immediately obvious where the point of focus should be, it makes it look like a mistake

The Martian Review

This is a good popcorn movie, with a nice balance of introspection and action. Matt Damon is a good lead and the other characters are well drawn. What was Sean Bean doing though?