Film Torments: The Barbarians (1987)
LIKE all great decades, the 80s was rife with cultural vapidity and creative appropriation – it was the decade of Reaganomics, Thatcherism and a million keys of coke, after all. Golan-Globus were two of...
Surprisingly Competent Media
Alt-J live up to the hype… again, on ‘This is All Yours’
MUSIC blogs and reporters at The Guardian occasionally ramble on about the so called ‘Mercury Prize curse’. The premise is as follows: If an artist or band wins the prestigious Mercury Prize their career...
Mojang? More like Microjang – Microsoft buy Minecraft developers for $2.5 Billion
IN A RATHER weird turn of events, although considering the global sensation Minecraft has become it certainly isn’t all that surprising, Microsoft have bought Mojang. The reasoning, according to Mojang’s Owen Hill, is that...
The good, the bad, and the Force: Re-evaluating Star Wars – Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
WE’RE at the big one now. This is the monster, the game-changer, the show-stopper. Widely acclaimed as one of the greatest films of all time and almost universally called the best in the franchise, it’s Episode...
‘Listen’ – A return to form for Doctor Who
STEVEN Moffat has been very hit and miss recently, and by recently I mean the last three years. Since taking over as Doctor Who showrunner in 2010, Moffat has delivered a fantastic fifth series...
Review: Pride – A rousing film of solidarity between Welsh miners and gay activists
IT’S A STORY no one seems to have heard of – there was a lesbian and gay movement that worked to support striking miners in the mid-1980s? For many, it’s become a piece of...
Album released this week in… 1970: Black Sabbath – Paranoid
A MERE four months after the release of their self-titled debut, British heavy metal gods Black Sabbath returned to the studio to record what would become one of the most influential albums in the history...
Film Torments: Jack and Jill (2011)
HERE at Surprisingly Competent Media, we just LOVE Adam Sandler. I mean, Grown Ups? Eight Crazy Nights? Classics! Amiright?! So, when it came to picking this week’s Film Torment, I had to go for 2011’s Jack...
Barclaycard Mercury Prize shortlist revealed
THE SHORT list for the 2014 Barclaycard Mercury Prize has been revealed. Awarded annually, the Mercury Prize is a highly esteemed award in the British music industry. Last years winner was electronic artist James Blake for...
Alan Moore finishes first draft of ‘Jerusalem’
ESTEEMED comic luminary Alan Moore has reportedly completed the first draft of his second novel, Jerusalem. According to a Facebook post made by his daughter Leah, the Watchmen and V for Vendetta writer has finally finished the long-awaited...
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