What can be said about the new Matrix movie that hasn’t already been said about Peeling paint, toe nail clippings, dripping faucets and hiking in the dark? The film is a yawn fest; a series of unimpressive scenes and bad cinematography built on the wobbly foundations of some interesting, although poorly executed, ideas.

Yes. It is bad. Although not as catastrophically bad as Wonder Woman 84, the recent Mortal Kombat or Bill&Ted 3, It still is bad and another reason for Hollywood to stop with the nonsense of rebooting films that need no rebooting or making sequels to films that need no sequels. They need to slow their own role and suppress their hubris. It’s not a factor of what Lana was thinking that is at fault. It is the factor of Hollywood wanting this to be made. In the Matrix Resurrections there is a scene early on in the film where (spoilers) the new Smith is in a meeting with Thomas Anderson instructing him that Warner Bros is interested in making another Matrix project whether the creators are involved or not. Yes, this movie is meta. If this was taken from an actual event in our reality and Lana had intention of sabotaging the franchise to keep it out of corporate hands then, by all means, she has my respect as a creator. Some of the earliest cringe moments that happen at the beginning of the film happen during the writers room montages; again possibly Lana letting us know how desk geeks, white shirts and corporate where brainstorming in a think tank on how to revive the franchise. Soulless hacks with not a creative bones in their bodies throwing around ideas based on algorithms, market testing and what works for other franchises such as the monolithic MCU.

The Matrix ended with Revolutions.

Resurrections attempts to reintroduce all those emotions and connections you had with the original film. Grave robbing you of your nostalgia while gaslighting you to accept the nonsense that follows.

Neo is now back in the Matrix. Constantly having to be rebooted every time he resists the new version of the matrix’s programming. How did he survive? The machines brought him and Trinity back. Why? because somehow his source code was imprinted onto her and together through the power of love can only exist close to each other but not too close otherwise the union would be catastrophic. The reasoning behind this? After Revolutions – a large number of humanity unplugged from the original version of the program resulting in an energy shortage and Civil War among the machines; many machines now sympathetic to humanity after witnessing Neo’s sacrifice to save Zion and the Machines work to help humans under threat of death while others have reorganized to maintain the system and supress humanity; Neo and Trinity are essential and repurposed to sustain the new fascistic machine power, they are super batteries.

The film had some promise and interesting ideas for I’d say the first 1/3 of the film. Ideas wasted. Bugs is a new character that could’ve been better served if not drowning in all these new characters, remixes and tech mumbo-jumbo.

Can’t say much else. The fight scenes are boring. The editing is choppy. The camera is shaky. The pacing drags along like a dirty mop. Nothing feels at stake. The Oracle is gone. The Architect is gone. However, Smith is still there, Morpheus is a program that Neo subconsciously creates and some of the exiles including the Merovigian still exist. Why havent these programs just been deleted. Especially Smith after all the havoc he caused in the previous two films. I don’t know. And the Merovigian, smh, is now an exile program dressed like he fell out of Oscar the Grouch’s trashcan that only serves as a comedic throwback during a throwaway action set piece the contradicts the climax of the film. Wasted and embarrassing.

Let’s talk about the fact that this is an R rated movie but, it feels like a PG cash grab. There’s cute machines, little machines that fist bump and lots of humor. Yes, humor in a Matrix film. Remember that film trilogy about a dystopian future where Machines have exterminated half of humanity and are growing them in vats to serve as fuel; locking them into a computer simulation without their consent or knowledge while the surviving members live in exile underground with the constant danger of genocide at any moment? Yeah remember that movie? Well here is a sequel but, this time with jokes and stuff.

Long story short: If this was a self-sabotage by Lana Wachowski then I salute her. But, if not then she is part of the problem in Hollyweird.

My Conclusion is  – It’s bad. I can’t recommend anyone pay money to sit in theaters to see this. If you have to see it go home and watch it on HBO MAX or stream it illegally.

A big disappointment but, not the worse of the worst.

Be warned.

Keep it safe. Mask up. And always keep your finger on that REWIND button.

10. Occams Laser – Halls of the Damned

9. Starfarer – Highrider

8. Burial Grid – Caput Mortuum

7. Acryl Madness – Kill _Em All

6. Microchip terror – Circuitry of Doom

5. Hollywood burns – Abomination from Planet X

4. Perturbator – Death of the Soul

3. Sierra X Matteo Tura – Inner Speech

2. Abstract Void – Forward to the Past

1. Gost – Bound by the Horror

Okay. It’s late night and I’m in the beginning of an insomnia stretch.  After a few viewings of the new film adaptation of Frank Herbert’s DUNE directed by Denis Villeneuve on HBO MAX, I can finally sit here and review this bittersweet, epic of an incomplete retelling.

So you’re thinking – “Is it good?”

Well, yes and kind of yes. See it is a very well made film. The visuals are magnificent. I’m serious, the visuals are magnificent. The cinematography by Greg Fraser (Rogue One, Zero Dark Thirty) really does contribute to the world building and overall experience of this space opera about rival houses battling over dominion of the galaxy and the most precious resource to humanity the Spice Mélange.

House Atredeis and its patriarch Duke Leto Atreides, his concubine the Bene Gesereit Jessica and their son Paul Atreides have been gifted by the Emperor of the known Galaxy with the reins of Spice production on the only planet that produces it , the desert planet ARRAKIS. The previous overseers, House Harkonnen, were brutally industrialized and equally brutal on their workers. House Harkonnen’s base planet is Geidi Prime; a barren planet that earns its status in CHOAM with export made possible on the backs of slave labor. House Harkonnen is headed by the Baron Vladimir Harkonnen.
Duke Leto (Oscar Isaacs) from the very beginning is faced the obvious obstacle of being “fucked”. Meanwhile, the Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) is busy preparing her son, PAUL (Timothée Chalamet) for his future as the leader of House Atreides. After a meeting with Bene Gesserit Gaius Helen Mohiam, she has to hasten her training of her son for dangers that lie ahead of him on the new world of Arrakis; dangers such as fulfilling Spice Production Quotas, gigantic Sandworms, attempting to build a relationship with the Fremen, and terror attacks by remnants of House Harkonnen.

The film compared to the previous adaptations – the 1984 David Lynch film and the 2000 Sci-Fi Channel miniseries which in spite of a low budget wasn’t that bad. This film falls somewhere in-between.

The David Lynch film although deviated from the source material in many ways still tells a complete story; it just happens to be a bunch of exposition stuffed into two hours.

The television mini-series is the more complete translation of Herbert’s three books from Dune to Dune: Messiah and Children of Dune. The budget was lack luster and the costuming atrocious in the first 3 part DUNE mini-series but, Children of Dune the follow-up miniseries redeemed this years later. The special effects were primitive and resembled cut-scenes from a WING COMMANDER PC game. Paul Atreides was played by a noticeably older actor but, performed well.

The new film is a visual buffet of sound and images. It is marvelous. The casting was well executed and perfect. The film all just falls into place. The world building is without pretentions and paced so well. I love how technology is portrayed and the details and exposition are implied without being spoonfed to the viewer. Denis actually trust the audience to be intelligent and think about what they see, a quality that is lacking in 99% of Hollywood directors. But,….

The Negatives – The damn score is really distracting. There are times when I’m engaged with what is going on and salivating at the experience only to be thrown out of the movie by random throat singing and bagpipes in other scenes. The score is almost trash and self-indulgent. Hans Zimmer is accomplished and has delivered in his craft as a composer with films like Pirates of the Caribbean, Intersellar, The Dark Knight trilogy and Blade Runner 2049. Unfortunately, he falls short here. I tried watching the film for a second time but, couldn’t get passed the score. Finally it was the third try when I learned to just let it play and reexamine the film as it is.

Another negative is – The wait to see PART 2. I know the book is too much for one movie and the studio needed to be confident the franchise would turn a profit before signing off on a sequel. However, I do not understand why a script for a second film was done before or during filming. The film makers knew they wanted to finish the story. So why not have the second installment locked and in the chamber? It makes no sense to me. Now I have to wait two years for a DUNE part 2 of 2. This might’ve been okay back in the day when franchises like Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter were built on frenzied fans lining up at theaters for every new movie. But, this is 2021 and audiences are accustomed to binge-watching and instant gratification. It all just seems like they jumped out the window to film and promote an incomplete film with no knowledge of if they’ll be able to finish it. Lucky for us the film performed very well this year, earning over $300 million dollars with part 2 already green lit and the director already being quoted in interviews as being interested in filming a third film based on Dune: Messiah and completing Paul Atreides story.

So far this film gets a hard 4.5 out of 5. Let’s see what they do next. Oh, wait Part 2 doesn’t premiere till late 2023 – Fcuk me right.

The spice is vital to space travel. The spice expands the mind. The Spice is life. The spice must flow. Keep your steps without rhythm and keep your finger on that damn REWIND button.

Favorite tracks : Glow, The Path, Abracadabra

Arcade High’s ‘Kingdom II’ is out now via Spotify and Bandcamp.

Announced as being his most personal effort to date, Origins is a steadfast set of tracks that stays true to the artist’s name brand whilst raising the stakes to new cinematic heights.

Dynatron’s third comes off fully conscious of the time past and aims to take us that extra step further from where we’d expect a 2021 release to land. Origins is a contemplative album dreamed up with a grand scope in mind, brought to life by dreamy synth soundscapes. The producer’s affinity for the hard and heavy transpire through key tracks such as ‘Close Encounter’ and ‘Tumbling Upwards’, adding a rougher edge and a heightened sense of grandeur to the album’s starlit melancholy. As on previous efforts, Jarre’s influence shines across the album’s majestic production whilst also leaving room for some sharp Carpenter-Esque timbres and tenser melodies.

On the whole, Origins is a very cohesive next step in the Dynatron saga. Hasseriis’ roomy snare-driven beats are still as efficient as ever at getting your head swaying like a headbanging space-traveller vibing out in zero-G. Every track plays out like a long lost diary log from a lone journey into the grand unknown, an introspective voyage along trails of stardust and galactic wilderness. Getting lost hasn’t sounded this good in a long, long time.

Favorite tracks: Close Encounter, Uncertain Destiny, The Machine

Dynatron’s Origins is out now via Blood Music.

Seems like the people that brought us Atomic Blonde (2017) teamed up with some other folks and dipped their hands into buckets of Netflix cash to give us – KATE.

A one word title for a simple story that could be wrapped up in just one word –
“No-nonsense”. Yes, technically that’s two words but, you get the point.

• “Directed by Cedric Nicolas-Troyan and written by Umair Aleem. The film stars Mary Elizabeth Winstead
  (Death Proof, Scott Pilgrim, Fargo: the series) , Miku Martineau, Woody Harrelson (Venom 2, NBK), Tadanobu Asano, Michiel Huisman, Miyavi and Jun Kunimura (The Wailing, Shin Godzilla). The film follows Kate (Winstead), an assassin, whose mentor and handler (Harrelson) assigns her to kill a high-ranking Yakuza boss. During Kate’s final mission, she finds out that she has been poisoned and only has 24 hours to live, so she uses her last hours to get revenge and find out who set her up.”
• Wikipedia.org

This is a no-nonsense, hyper stylized, female revenge film set in Japan. No, not KILL BILL. No; not HAYWIRE. Kate is more obviously inspired by anime and video games. 

It’s more anime than you’d expect and more video game than John Wick. The injections she takes to extend her life-bar that reminded me of Metal Gear Solid 4 (Every time she was on the verge of dying I called out, “snake?” “Snake?”, “ Snaaaaaaake?”). Another nod to video-game/anime culture being the car chase that sounds like the opening credits to some new racing themed Shonen  anime similar to Initial –D, and don’t forget the tons and tons of Ghost in the Shell and Blade Runner inspired scenery.  Yes, this movie is CYBERPUNK as fuck.

More low life than Hi-Tech and cyberpunk from the prospective of a High-rolling mercenary caught in the middle of a Yakuza clan war in the nocturnal underbelly of Tokyo, Japan after being poisoned by radioactive material. Kate is determined to weave, stab and shoot her way through the back streets of Japan and eliminate any Yakuza responsible or in the way of her wrath. You can easily create a character based on Kate for your next table-top cyberpunk RED campaign in cooperation or in secrecy subverting your friends.  

Soundtrack is serviceable to the overall setting of the film piece. Band-maid, Okinawa Electric Girl Saya, OOIOO, Sakurako Ohara, MoNa a.k.a. Sad Girl, and one of my favorite j-pop groups Aural Vampire.

Kate was released on Sept 10^th, 2021 and received mixed to not so flattering reviews and reactions from audiences. Some film critics were dismissive of Kate. In my opinion, this is a better film than Gunpowder Milkshake. Gunpowder with all this style and flash and star power failed to engage me with its action set-pieces. Action scenes need to have emotional content. If the film doesn’t keep your interest with its story (regardless of its originality or lack of) and the fight scenes aren’t edited or filmed well then, you might as well watch a televised ballet; it doesn’t matter if they are choreographed superbly. Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times may disagree with me since he enjoyed Gunpowder’s flashy fantastical acrylic gloss dripping all over its shallow exterior. Kate to me is what a live-action retro cyberpunk OVA would look like (OEDO 808 (1990), ANGEL COP (1989)). Like I said, this whole piece feels like a gumbo of video-game and anime. I enjoyed it. It was simple and at its core the story although unoriginal was acted well-enough for me to be engaged. The visuals alone is worthy of a blu-ray or 4K purchase. I liked it and can’t wait to own it.

Stay sleek, stay free, stay safe, stay healthy and always keep your finger on that REWIND Button. 

Nottingham producer Last Action Hero has just released China Town Ghosts, a conceptual follow up to his 2020 album Cop Movie.

In this latest instalment, Wagner is pulled back into a world of corruption and violence by the Dragon Dynasty from whom he must save his daughter Sarah. Blending double-dragon beat-em-up scores with some Hong Kong cop movie flair, Last Action Hero will satisfy any synthwave enthusiast looking to take a trip down the murky streets of Chinatown.

Favorite tracks: Beijing Bar Fight, The Glow

Last Action Hero ‘China Town Ghosts’ is out now via Bandcamp

• Free writing has traditionally been seen as a prewriting technique in academic environments, in which a person writes continuously for a set period of time without worrying about rhetorical concerns or conventions and mechanics.

I tuned in for the hell-of-it. I pressed play on my Roku TV and sat back in my musky bathrobe and watched a film that i was guaranteed to be a big pile of Dino-shit. Unfortunately, I was wrong. It was actually a really good movie.

I hated the previous Suicide Squad and there has been no opposing perspective or interpretation or violin chords on social media from David Ayer that can convince me otherwise. It was a rainy day in NYC and I was on a date with my A-Alike when we decided to go see Suicide Squad 1 at the cinemas on 14th street off of Union Square. We had arrived late and instead paid to see Hell or High Water; a very good film that I recommend people seeing. We were impressed with our choice and saw that the next Suicide Squad screening was starting – so, we sneaked in. I nearly scratched up my forearms trying to fish 3-D glasses out of the return box. We sat and watched the movie. After forty five minutes, I looked over at my A-Alike and said, “What the fuck is happening?”

Back to the Future: and there I was watching the new Suicide Squad movie in 2021. I was enjoying myself. I knew what was happening. I was involved. I was entertained. I was invested in these characters and their personalities that were given material and room to inhabit this DC universe.

Idris Elba is always good in any role (FACTS), Margo Robbie gives a fantastic Harley Quinn performance, KING SHARK voiced by Stallone is the fan favorite online but, to me he was just good- memorable but, just good. Polka-dot man – thumbs up. John Cena is definitely one of the big performances in this film. But, that damn Sebastian the rat was my favorite. I’m a softy for cute fury things – especially the ones that are reviled by society: wolves, rats, raccoons, specifically.

My reaction to the film is positive. I didn’t mind the runtime because, it wasn’t that long. After fast forwarding through the Justice League directors cut, this runtime was a relief.

The action is good, the jokes hit and the cinematography is aesthetically pleasing. James Gunn knows how to write unknown, throw away characters and ensemble pieces with a good eye and imagination for lush, at time absurd, fun and action. The film has a beginning, middle and end and that’s all i wanted. Oh, and salute to Viola Davis for portraying Amanda Waller and awesomely in this film. When she loses her cool and fires out obscenities at our (anti)heroes, I was screaming “TELL IT, WALLER!!”

iT’s a fun film and deserves the flowers and positive reviews from viewers and critics like myself. Thumbs up. and my finger on that REWIND button.

The Suicide Squad is a 2021 American superhero film based on DC Comics featuring the team Suicide Squad. It was written and directed by James Gunn and stars an ensemble cast including Margot Robbie, Idris Elba, John Cena, Joel Kinnaman, Sylvester Stallone, Viola Davis, David Dastmalchian, Daniela Melchior, Michael Rooker, Jai Courtney, Peter Capaldi, Alice Braga, and Pete Davidson. In the film, a task force of convicts known as the Suicide Squad are sent to the island nation of Corto Maltese to destroy evidence of the giant alien starfish Starro the Conqueror. 

Example: “I have to find that woman Jax mentioned named Sonya Blade.” 

My response: oh that person you were told to see by the stranger, that you didn’t know, who saved you from the ice guy you never seen before turning July snowfall in a hail storm. No address/nothing just a name and city. You just accept this with no doubt in your mind like “Okay”. You calmly have that conversation with your wife after you tuck your daughter to bed AFTER almost being assassinated by an ICE NINJA, a few scenes ago. Golden Arms just packs up leaves. Like Frosty the Super Ninja won’t find them there unprotected: no firearms, no security. Sitting ducks. 

So Golden tits goes off on his journey and just “boop” magically finds Sonya living in a trailer. What follows is Exposition, “yadda yadda, yadda”, intro Kano, more exposition, “blah,blah,blah, outworld, outworld, earthworld is fucked, Raidens temple, then they are attacked by Reptile, Kano steps in and Kano delivers his fatality- Cool. 

 The opening scene was good with well-shot cinematography; sucks the lovely cinematography ends there . The story……what? I laughed so hard at Jax’s T-Rex baby short circuit robot arms in every scene until they levelled up for I guess you can call it the climax, if that.

The musical score sucked. Joe Taslim was awesome as always. And that ending – “Fuck You🖕”.

Some parts I liked but, it all just felt very much like street fighter the movie. The humor was okay in parts. But it was all so rushed. I’m sick of Hollywood movies setting up cinematic franchise universes instead of “let’s make a complete movie n if it sells we’ll add to it.” No, nope, not here. I expected an MK movie not a prequel.

Another case of cinematic marketing expecting you to sign on for a series of installments to tell a story and world build rather than go for it out the gate.

 I’d prefer to watch the original film with all its cheese. Fuck it I’d rather watch RAID 2 or The Night Comes for Us on NETFLIX. Out of a 5 Mortal Kombat gets a 2.5. No cap

Btw if you like the new Mortal Kombat,. I’m Happy for you. I really am. Enjoy it. I can also recommend some muppet movies, ghibli films and superhero movies if you like… 

However,  I did not. As for those fight scenes 🤮🤢. It is 2021; you live in a wonderful era of fight choreography n in camera stunts. There is no way -after watching -John Wick movies and THE RAID movies that you can be impressed by choppy edited fight scenes that, in the words of Bruce Lee, “lack emotional content”. Shit I’d say rewatch the Story of Ricki-Oh. Deadass.

Emil Rottmayer’s ‘Deflection’ is available for purchase and streaming on Bandcamp and Spotify.

Kagami Smile’s Secrets Between is available via Kudatah on Bandcamp and Spotify.