Tag / free

by hutchwp

Short film review -Steamboat Willie (Walt Disney, 1928)

If you’ve seen a Disney Animation Studios film recently, then you’ll have noticed a short clip of the beloved Mickey Mouse captaining a boat, whilstling a little tune and looking like the happiest little mouse you’ve ever seen. It’s quintessential Mickey, summing up everything about what we know and love about him, in what were the first moments the world ever shared with him.

The year was 1928 and Walt Disney was reeling from a fall out with his business partners that had left him without his prize asset – the increasingly-popular Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.

Walt Disney was determined that his comeback would be the first cartoon to synchronise pictures and sound, and this determination was rewarded with unprecedented popularity. The rest, for want of a better phrase, is history.

The film itself is a sweet little vignette that sees Mickey get musical on a group of farmyard animals, and is mostly harmless, slapstick fun. Aside from the opening scene, this isn’t really a Mickey we’re used to in the 21st Century, though it is a much more savoury offering than what was just around the corner with the follow up films (the most shocking of which is the smoking and drinking version of Mickey portrayed in The Gallopin’ Gaucho, released later in 1928.

It’s hard to believe that from this point onwards it was built into one of the greatest icons of the 20th Century, but seeing is essential viewing for anyone who sees themself as a fan of Disney.

by hutchwp

Radiohead release videos for “Burn The Witch” and “Daydreaming”

Radiohead have this week unleashed two brand new music videos for the lead singles from their new album, which will be released on Sunday night at 8pm GMT.

The first single arrived on Tuesday afternoon and was immediately available to download. Titled “Burn The Witch”, it carries with it an urgent orchestral riff that crescendos into an electronic beast of a tune. Whilst this was hailed as a new direction by their manager Brian Message, the classical music influence is hardly surprising – guitarist Johnny Greenwood has been moonlighting as composer-in-residence for the BBC Concert Orchestra for some years and has also tried his hand at several film soundtracks, collaborating on the last three Paul Thomas Anderson films (There Will Be Blood, The Master and Inherent Vice).

You can watch the video below. It’s a bizarre cross between 190s stop-motion children’s cartoon Trumpton and 1973 horror film The Wicker Man, and it’s utterly brilliant.

The second video, released earlier today, is for a track called “Daydreaming”. This is a piano-driven track full of ambience and subtlety that would be at home on Kid A. The video has a cinematic quality to it, following singer Thom Yorke through various residencies and buildings before seeing him climb a snow-covered hill, into a hollow and falling asleep next to a fire as the tune collapses around itself.

You can watch “Daydreaming” here:

What do these songs say about the album? Well, they don’t sound like a drastic departure away from the sorts of sounds we’ve heard Radiohead produce before. Certainly they haven’t stood still, but both Kid A and Amnesiac are brought to mind with the material heard thus far, with heavy influences from Greenwood’s mature concert orchestra brain.

If they wanted to whet our appetite, they’ve certainly succeeded.