Take Care (2011) review.

Review: 3.5 out of 5.

October's very own, "Drizzy", is back with his 2nd album, Take Care. Serving as his answer to his debut from the Summer of 2010 from his last album, Thank Me Later, Producer. 40 really knew how to shake things up this time around. It has been evident Drake had been really sticking with studio time rather than chilling in his spare time in-between tours. The first track from Take Care I heard was "Headlines", then "Free Spirit" which featured Rick Ross, "Club Paradise" and lastly "The Real Her" (although Free Spirit and Club Paradise did not make it to the final track listing). I remember the last time I reviewed one of his album's and it seems like such an after thought now.

Good:

Released in November 15th 2011, Drake's transition from his debut has spread and defined who we are dealing with. No longer are we in front of an artist back in Toronto who is fresh, but an artist who carried weight. Not as many artists can be found here apart from The Weeknd, Rihanna, Birdman, Rick Ross, Andre 3000, Lil Wayne and of course Nicki Minaj compared to the large plethora of artists a year back. Many of his songs I actually liked. Sticking with past relationships, family and more about where he came from, where he is now and where he intends to go, Drake touched on how he is dealing with fame and his lifestyle in the fast lane and home. Unlike Thank Me Later, there was more focus, down tempo and is chilling without being too tranquil.

The best songs here was "Over My Dead Body", "Take Care", "The Real Her" and "Practice" for those ladies out there and those who are into neat sounds. I am very impressed with the great recording, mixing and production gone into the LP thanks to 40., T-Minus and Jamie xx. For those who aren't fond of that "sweet boy" Mitzvah don't feel left out, there's always ""Underground Kings", that Lowinski magic with "Make Me Proud" with Minaj and "HYFR" (Hell Ya Fucking Right) with Weezy. His lyrics on his own two feet coincide with his rapping ability. For me, what stuck out for me was "Cameras", "Over My Dead Body", "Underground Kings" and "The Real Her", especially in Andre 3000's verse. I'm a fan of his time from Outkast, he's a beast and he went in.

Bad:

Drizzy is better this time around, but only just a couple notches. My least favourite has got to be "Headlines", "Crew Love" and "Lord Knows". I will come back to these three later but my main issue is his trait of being relative to people as much as its his greatest strength may also be his most greatest vulnerability, lyrically and critically. I mean look at the boycott from Common. What I'm detracted from is when he sings, I can't feel it. I mean I feel the lyrics, but not the rhythm. Not the music, but the vocals. They don't vary, I mean there's only so much a rapper/singer can do. A few songs I began to notice this in was in "Shot For Me" and "We'll Be Fine". Now that we have a clear picture of who Drizzy is, I fear if he continues he might start to fade. How much "Bein' real" can you do? Eventually, you have to dig into the higher reaches than finer things in life. I am not feeling The Weeknd either. All I'm sayin' is he got to try something else, FAST!

Overall:

I haven't forgotten about the tracks I disliked, hold on. Drizzy has enough lyrics to load a shotgun and put out a hit list. Noah "40" Shebib really knows how to put it down, I credit him for topping this one. A descent, steady, collaboration from the likes of Rihanna, Kendrick Lamar, Lil Wayne and Andre 3000. "Headlines" felt like it was rushed plus there was nothing concrete in terms of rhythm and content while "Lord Knows" has got to be the most controversial, the thing about "Mink coats" and having relations with it, c'mon Ricky. As for "Crew Love", I ain't feeling XO (The Weeknd) to his OVO (Drake) but Drizzy has put out a good LP that will keep us busy for the time being.

- Written by Kbon.

The Darkest Hour (2011) film review.

Review: 1.5 out of 5.

Of all the highest grossing films of 2011 I have watched, the film I reviewed is definitely the lowest, at least critically. The Darkest Hour was so bad, I almost slept throughout the entire film. That is not me exaggerating, I assure you. If any of you watched Skyline, this is a lot worse. I won't go into specifics right now, but I'll go into the background detail along the way.

Released 25th December 2011, a non-Christmas Day Special guarantee, the Russian-American production was directed by Chris Gorak and produced by Timur Bekmanbetav (Wanted) and ran a tedious 89 minutes. The motion picture with its tag line "Survive the Holidays" followed two young American men, Sean (Emile Hirsch) and Ben (Max Minghella) who travel to Moscow to sell their very own software to the company, headed by a Swedish businessman. Unfortunately, their passion project has been ripped from them (cough Social Network) and were thrown out. Sean and Ben start to woo beautiful women in the company, how convenient both the women they end up with, Natalie (Olivia Thirlby) and Anne (Rachael Taylor) are also American.

Fast-forward 15 minutes later, everyone looked outside at the night sky as a sudden glow appeared just when many aurora balls of light fell down. An invasion began to ensue as invaders protected by force fields ravaged the area, vaporizing every man, woman and child who got in their way. They proceed to consume the humans electrical resources.

Good:

It was hard to note anything great about the film, what I do appreciate is the concept they were going for, which is an alien invasion from Russia's perspective and the fact these creatures are far beyond humanoid and more so another plane of existence, which is raw energy. The length of the production gone into the film was not the best and is satisfactory, but the potential, basic, premise fell very short in the actual interpretation.

Bad:

There were many things that were bad about the sci-fi that is hard to muster in one go. First of all, the script by Jon Spaihts was trite. I hardly think there was any structure at all in this film, it started off fine up until the arrival of the aliens but pacing went completely out of whack and was a drag all the way through. It was noisy, not contained and went hay-wire. Everybody went beserk including the main cast who was frighteningly 2 dimensional in personality, drive and reaction. It is like the actors who did these characters didn't even try. There is really nothing more to say here.

The film was so bad, even through the last half of the 2nd act that I couldn't watch it anymore. The direction was so apalling, by the time some of the characters teamed up with the Russian's and found a solution to their perdicament, that was it for me. If anyone saw this would damn well agree with me. It was undercooked and I grew sick of what they fed me.

Even the music was depressing, balled together with awful screams with sweet, fitting, executions. Sooner or later, you will tire of the executions and could not really invest in the characters. So much that you could hardly care if they lived or died. Most of all, I couldn't take any of the actors or director for that matter, seriously.

Overall:

The film had a descent premise, but was engrossed in trash; flat characters, lazy cast, futile script, poor direction and production that would of been great if a little more thought had gone into the movie instead of screams, overbearing slow pace and less flashing lights. Watch Kanye's music video, he'll give you tips on brightness and contrast. Don't bother watching this on 3D, your better off renting a cheap copy in your local DVD or Blu-ray store just to add to your collection. The next review will be Drake's second outing, Take Care LP.

- Written by Kbon.