This declining franchise really needed a jolt to the head, but the producers disappointingly opt to play it safe with an unambitious script and child-friendly action. After the OK part 3 (2003's Rise of the Machines) and a weak part 4 (2009's Salvation), this film is unlikely to win new fans or keep the old ones hoping for more. Even though it's made to a high technical standard, the movie feels derivative and safe, avoiding any properly dangerous tension for a series of badly contrived action set-pieces.
It opens in 2029, as plucky rebel John Connor (Jason Clarke) is fighting the world-dominating Skynet machines with the help of his right-hand man Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney). When Skynet sends a Terminator (the young Arnold Schwarzenegger) back to 1984 Los Angeles to kill John's mother Sarah (Emilia Clarke), Kyle follows to rescue her. But he arrives to find the timeline already altered. Sarah had been attacked years earlier, rescued at age 9 and raised by an ageing Terminator she calls Pop (the present-day Arnie). Since everything has changed, Sarah and Kyle decide to jump forward to 2017 San Francisco so they can stop Skynet from taking over the planet with its Genisys operating system. But when they arrive, they realise that there's been even more jiggery-pokery in the timeline.
The way the film wraps in and around the 1984 original is clever, with added intrigue in the fact that Kyle and Sarah haven't yet fallen for each other and conceived John. So when he turns up in San Francisco, there are all sorts of mind-bending possibilities. Alas, the screenwriters can't be bothered to play with them. Instead they structure the film as a series of rambling expository conversations leading to yet another pointless flurry of explosive carnage. Honestly, if Terminators are literally indestructible, why bother trying to defeat them with guns? And yet everyone keeps shooting at them, just making them mad.
All of this leaves the actors with little to do, and the inanity frankly defeats both Courtney and Jason Clarke, who come off as little more than macho poseurs. Emilia Clarke is far and away the best thing on-screen, investing some genuine emotional depth into her role that adds what little resonance the film can muster. And Schwarzenegger has a lot of fun revisiting his most iconic role, livening up each scene with witty (if repetitive) deadpan humour. Yet while the film is loud and fiery, with solid effects and an epic scale, it never manages to thrill or surprise us at all. The producers need to travel back in time to recapture their mojo.
We couldnt quite bring ourself to commit to this one so one of our interns, Michelle stepped up...
"Hello, I'm Taylor, and I love seeing a sold out Manchester Arena", called Taylor Swift as if the fifteen thousand people screeching from the stands didn't know who she was. For someone with seven Grammy Awards, Swift immediately came across as an incredibly humble performer. This could be one of the best things about her performance at Manchester Arena on Wednesday night - her vigorous determination and beaming smile showed that she wanted to be on stage as much as her fans did.
Attracting fans of all ages from across the world, Swift was met with a tremendous applause and insanely strong reaction from the crowd as she launched straight into 'Welcome to New York'. It set the scene well; we were all there for an evening with Swift in the magical musical world she had created. "There's something else you should know about me", she said after her first song. "I was born in 1989!"
Stories about heartbreak, believing in yourself and (surprise, surprise) heartbreak again were honest, and moving. Her joyous and bubbly personality was heightened by moments where she played the wrong note on the piano (and informed everyone) and laughed when one of her backing dancers made a funny face at her from behind a clear screen. These minor moments humanised her performance, reminding the audience that the superstar on stage was a real person, not just a manufactured pop robot.
On the subject of dancers, they all put in a terrific effort, accomplishing insane acts and crazy acrobatics on an already packed stage. This was helped by the equally amazing light show the audience was treated to, accompanied by the light-up wrist bands which flashed and shone in time with the music.
While Swift utterly dominated the stage with her performance, a special mention has to go out to Vance Joy, who set the tone for the show with a comparatively brief half-hour set. The young Aussie looked right at home on the tour, but seemed somewhat stunned by the number of people who were almost as interested in seeing him as they were Swift. Putting on a great show including his new single 'Mess is Mine' and an exceptional Sam Smith cover, he rounded off the set with a stunning performance of 'Riptide', winner of Triple J's Hottest 100 (Australia's musical equivalent of a Best Picture Oscar) which was recently covered by Swift.
From the 50 Shades inspired rendition of 'I Knew You Were Trouble' to the rock-tastic performance of 'Bad Blood', Taylor Swift's 1989 World Tour was a sight to behold. An honest, touching and outstanding spectacle, which delighted everyone who attended - especially with her awesome encore of, yes, 'Shake it Off'.
edited.
Josh Warrington will defend his WBC International and Commonwealth Featherweight title against Joel Brunker at the First Direct Arena in Leeds on September 5.
Tickets are now on general sale from the First Direct Arena on 0844 248 1585 and at www.firstdirectarena.com. VIP tickets priced at £150 are available exclusively from Matchroom Boxing on 01277 359900 and at www.matchroomboxing.com.
As usual we have cant be beat hotel rates for the centre of Leeds. We cannot name the hotels due to the exclusivity of our rates. All hotels are City Centre, no more than 15mins walk from the Arena and are booking up quickly..if you have used this service before you know you will not be let down.
Hotel 1. SOLD OUT 2/7
Hotel 2: SOLD OUT 3/7
Hotel 3: SOLD OUT 2/7
Hotel 4: SOLD OUT 4/7
We also have a small number of £10 codes to use with Redspottedhanky for your travel to Leeds. The codes are valid through September, from anywhere in UK mainland but the destination must be Leeds. Codes are one per booking. Click here to enter your email address and receive a code.
All codes allocated 5/7 thank you.
Josh Warrington will defend his WBC International and Commonwealth Featherweight title against Joel Brunker at the First Direct Arena in Leeds on September 5, live on Sky Sports.
Warrington makes the third defence of the title he claimed in Hull in November 2013, and will look to add the challenger to the impressive scalps of Rendall Munroe and Martin Lindsay.
Matchroom boxing earlier today revealed the schedule for Marching on Together..
SCHEDULE
JOSH WARRINGTON VS JOEL BRUNKER
12 x 3 mins WBC International and Commonwealth Featherweight title
GAVIN MCDONNELL VS JEREMY PARODI
12 x 3 mins EBU Super-Bantamweight title
KAL YAFAI VS TBA
8 x 3 mins Super-Flyweight contest
CALLUM JOHNSON VS TBA
8 x 3 mins Light-Heavyweight contest
ANDY TOWNEND VS LEE GLOVER
10 x 3 mins English Super-Featherweight title
EVENT TICKETS
Tickets are on sale from midday on Tuesday June 30 to Matchroom Fight Pass members from www.matchroomboxing.com priced at £30, £40, £60, £100 and £150 for VIP tickets.
Tickets go on general sale from midday on Wednesday July 1 from the First Direct Arena on 0844 248 1585 and at www.firstdirectarena.com. VIP tickets priced at £150 are available exclusively from Matchroom Boxing on 01277 359900 and at www.matchroomboxing.com.
Lets Rock returned to Leeds, bigger and better than ever on Saturday and even the Yorkshire sun came out to witness the oddest and greatest of the 1980’s to Temple Newsham.
Rick Astley was identified as a clear favourite from early on, his boyish charm clearly not diminished and not lost of the hoardes of now middle aged women who would later castoff their bras in the general direction of Mr Astley.
Tom Bailey however – erstwhile leader of the Thompson Twins – headlined with his new incarnation of the band. This was his first appearance in the city since 1983 ( the Quickstep and Sidekick tour at Leeds Uni fact fans)and the closest thing to a home town gig since for the Halifax born front man. A small but curious crowd initially gathered as the band came on to an instrumental take of We Are Detective – thereby ensuring that this wasn’t going to be one of the few genuine hits in the set tonight. The Thompson Twins never really capitalised on the short run of hits in 1983/4 and although their live shows at that time were spectacular they never won that mass audience appeal, arguably they never craved it. This would explain the long absence, but for those that stayed after the Rick phenomenon and those that slowly crept back, ears pricked by the opening notes of Love On Your Side, this was a rare and interesting treat.
In The Name of Love opened the set, those high pitch notes are irresistible, it’s a classic and as retro is the order of the day it ticks that box magnificently. Minor twins hits, it has to be said, do no transfer well to 2015, Sister of Mercy and Lay Your Hands on Me sound weak and though the performance is faultless, the songs lack any hooklines in the public’s consciousness. An industrial backdrop to You Take Me Up signals the beginning of the run in that sees Doctor Doctor! revive the crowd, and just in time too. Hold Me Now, remains a true 80’s classic, still sounds relevant today and is one of those rare songs that really did and does still have that mass appeal, the crowd singing almost lovingly over the intro, a true epic, the chorus being sung long after the band finished, long after the band had left, infact, most of the way back to the car park.
Tom was genuinely touched by the reaction of the crowd, milking the applause, rightly so but please Tom, not another 32 years….
The day started in the drizzle at noon with perennial sunshine merchants, Bucks Fizz, well three quarters of anyway, who despite the seemingly unsocial hour attempted get this particular party started with a fair degree of success, a hits laden set, highlight judging by the exaggerated hand movements around us, When We Were Young. Sam Fox channelled 1985 effectively as the male audience members sauntered down. Bless her, I think she thinks it still is 1985 but it’s fun even if the slowed down classic ballad version of Touch Me feels awkward. Thankfully the regular version puts us right.
The Beat – ranking Rodger style – were a revelation, fears that the vocals of Dave Wakeling (himself touring as The English Beat) would be missed too much were greatly misplaced, Rodger, ably accompanied by Roger jnr put on a wicked show that got the whole crowd dancing, in recognition the sun broke out too, there can be no greater accolade. A nod also to slipping Rock the Casbah into the set..
Heaven 17, having very seldom played live back in the day have found that (fascist) Groove (thang) now, always a polished set, Temptation the obvious pull but for me the nearly not quite first hit Let Me Go is sublime (especially as Temptation is performed lending more from the 1992 Brothers in Rhythm mix
Jive Bunny, what can you say – my 15 month old son loved them, well the big bunny anyway as he had his noise cancelling headphones on. Sonia wins the award for shortest dress of the day and most knicker flashes since Susanna Reids first days on Good Morning Britain…. That’s to take nothing away from the pint sized pop princess who supplements her own back catalogue with some solid gold hits, Betty Boos set is short but sweet, and perfect to watch and listen to while queuing for a wood fired pizza I find. Where Are You Baby is a perfect example of late 80’s (well actually 1990) girl pop rap that was so successful.
T’pau have never really stopped, since those heady days of 87/88 Carol has toured the band in one form or another and as she told us in our recent interview with her, she still loves performing those songs, seeing the crowd sing them back. Another faultless, though all too brief performance crowned with a mass China In Your Hands singalong. Check out their new album if you ever had any love at all for the band, classic T’pau for 2015. Five Star are always a big draw whenever they play up here in the North as it seems to happen so infrequently. A huge hit catalogue, slick dance routines, whats not to love, Rain Or Shine, Cant Wait Another Minute, The Slightest Touch, Systematic, it never dropped and this was another set that just needed another 10 minutes or so.
I never get the impression Midge Ure enjoys these kind of things, I always get the impression he would rather be playing obscure Slik b-sides with oodly guitar bits rather than Loves Great Adventure, Hymn or even indeed the sublime Fade To Grey (which he wrote for / as part of Visage). That said, the consummate pro, just lacking that bit of 80’s fun, go on smile Midge… Here’s a quick question for you, has there ever been an 80’s festival at which Go west haven’t played, are the contractually obliged to appear everywhere. Has to be said I have become ambivalent to them and their cover of Sex on Fire. I appreciate they have a legion of fans who let the record show, enjoyed it.
And so we are back to Rick Astley, the common consensus around me was that he should have been headlining, I guess scarcity value saw Tom get that gig, not that Rick will have been bothered, a more self-depreciating pop star cannot exist. He knows how to entertain and if that’s at his expense he doesn’t care. Add in a healthy sized swag bag of solid gold hits and its winning formula. Anyone who has seen Rick over the last few years will know he has a habit of dropping current or out of character songs into his set, so previously we have had The Smiths and Pharell covers, today, Uptown Funk and a bit of Clean Bandit, the latter proving difficult to sing as Rick swiped his IPad too quickly and lost the lyrics… It has to be said at this point the stage was looking like something from an Ann Summers clearance stall with bras of all shapes landed on the stage. Feigning embarrassment he whimpered “I’m a married man! Before declaring whilst holding one particular item that there “are some big girls in Leeds”. Of course the money shot was Never Gonna Give You Up although Together Forever and Cry For Help were almost equally as well received.
As we left it was confirmed Lets Rock Leeds will return for 2016, we see it as a very welcome addition to Leeds’s rich and varied music landscape and we hope to work with them next year to bring you more interviews, features and deals ahead of showtime. Til then keep an eye on Lets Rock and subscribe to this blog to ensure you don’t miss a thing
Thanks to Steve Haywood for all his assistance.
The latest release in the Rolling Stones' 'From The Vault' series comes hot on the heels of the remastered and expanded reissue of their seminal 1971 album 'Sticky Fingers'. While The Marquee gig is a great companion piece to that album, as a stand-alone release it feels slight by comparison. It's by no means a 'cash-in' as this performance has been on the bootleg circuit for years, and deserved a proper release. However, it may have been more suitable to package it alongside 'Sticky Fingers' itself, in isolation it feels like a forgettable curio, although I must stress that everything here is well worth your time, no matter how brief the contents are.
In essence, you get a 38-minute live performance of 8 songs that were taped for an American TV special and then re-cut at varying lengths for transmission around the world. That this classic line-up of the band (Jagger, Richards, Watts, Taylor, and Wyman) was performing in such an intimate and historic venue on London's Wardour Street makes this an artefact of interest. Add to that essentially four songs in the set list that many viewers around the world wouldn't have heard: 'Brown Sugar', 'Bitch', 'Dead Flowers', and 'I Got The Blues'. It's understandable why the fan community have wanted a proper release for this show for the last four decades. My problem then is not really with the show itself, rather that it feels lightweight when you compare it to similar archive series releases from other heritage acts.
Compare, for example, the plethora of material that Bob Dylan's 'Bootleg Series' has released in recent years. Even Neil Young or The Beatles' Anthology have presented sought after performances in bumper packages. 'Live At The Marquee' could have been bolstered by audio performances from The Roundhouse or any other of the UK shows in the month preceding 'Sticky Fingers'. While the University of Leeds show was presented on super deluxe version of that studio album earlier this year, perhaps it would have been more beneficial to include it here. Whatever the logic behind this release and its array of different formats (CD, DVD, Blu-Ray, and combinations of all), 8 tracks (no matter how good they are), a couple of outtakes of the same songs to ensure camera angles were covered, and a solitary Top Of The Pops mostly mimed performance of 'Brown Sugar', do not add up to a bumper package or value for money. There's an hour and change of performance here, it really does feel like a bonus disc at best.
The sound quality throughout is exceptionally good, as is the video. It actually works better as a CD because the performance itself seems to lack a little atmosphere (the crowd are very low in the mix and are hardly ever visible). The fast cuts on '(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction' and 'Bitch' attempt to compensate for this to varying degrees of success. It's only when you listen to the audio in isolation that you start to concentrate on Richards' guitar rather than Jagger's crooning and fashion choices (including a wonderful hat), it's certainly the musicianship rather than the visuals that are the main selling point here. Particular highlights for Richards are 'Dead Flowers' and 'Brown Sugar'; more of these moments would certainly have made this release essential rather than a footnote to 'Sticky Fingers' itself.
The material presented here is good then, certainly a lot of care has been taken to ensure the quality is far superior to the bootlegs that have been doing the rounds for years, but I also can't help but feel disappointed. This was a perfect opportunity to document the entire 1971 Farewell Tour of the UK. That it isn't an overview of that tour, when material from many of the shows was recorded by the band itself feels half-hearted. Fans will no doubt rejoice at the opportunity to re-live this rare performance - the various formats are aimed squarely at them, but the more casual listener may feel differently and I think that's more than understandable. My advice is to invest in the excellent 'Sticky Fingers' re-issue first and only opt for this if you need more afterwards.
WARRINGTON TO DEFEND TITLES AGAINST BRUNKER ON SEPTEMBER 5
Josh Warrington has certainly captured the attention of our readers both here and in Just Music and Just Families. We have seen huge click throughs, we were delighted to host a pre fight get together earlier this year and expect once again our unbeatable hotel rates to sell out as Josh Warrington defends his WBC International and Commonwealth Featherweight title against Joel Brunker at the First Direct Arena in Leeds on September 5.
Live on Sky Sports, Warrington makes the third defence of the title he claimed in Hull in November 2013, and will look to add the challenger to the impressive scalps of Rendall Munroe and Martin Lindsay.
Brunker is no stranger to British shores having faced newly-crowned IBF champion Lee Selby in London in October, and Warrington believes the Australian will bring the best out of him. “I’m delighted to be defending my Commonwealth title at the First Direct Arena again – it’s my home and Joel Brunker is the perfect opponent for me,” said Warrington. "I think it will be a very good fight against Brunker, he’s a come forward fighter, busy and will make it difficult for me – but I’m ready for whatever he can bring. I’ve watched Selby’s fight with Brunker back a few times and to be honest until Lee stopped him, it wasn’t his best performance – I’m confident I can put on a vintage performance and go one better. I was happy for Lee to win the World title, good on him – but I’m not thinking about him yet, Brunker has my full attention.
“It’s another significant step-up for me, but every time I’ve stepped up a level, I’ve won titles and delivered – from British, European, Commonwealth and now heading to World level. Since my last fight I’ve had some much needed time off. I boxed in Berlin and Leeds in quick succession. To be honest I haven’t had a break from camp since the European Title fight against Davide Dieli. It’s given me some time to focus on my house and get engaged to my girlfriend in Mexico – my batteries are fully recharged and I’m raring to go. I can’t wait, I’ve got such a buzz already in training. The whole city will be buzzing with the news and I can’t wait to hear the crowd roar me on to victory on September 5.”
Tickets are on sale from midday on Tuesday June 30 to Matchroom Fight Pass members from www.matchroomboxing.com priced at £30, £40, £60, £100 and £150 for VIP tickets.
Tickets go on general sale from midday on Wednesday July 1 from the First Direct Arena on 0844 248 1585 and at www.firstdirectarena.com. VIP tickets priced at £150 are available exclusively from Matchroom Boxing on 01277 359900 and at www.matchroomboxing.com.
Hotel room rates will be posted to subscribers on 1st June who will have exclusive access until 8th June. Any remaining room rates will be generally available on this blog from 9th June at 8am
