So rumours are flying around the internet that Bradley Cooper (or as I like to call him, Bradley Blue Eyes) could possibly be The Crow. Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (28 Weeks Later) is set to direct the remake which starred Brandon Lee. The original rumour was that Mark Wahlberg was set to step into Lee's shoes though the public response was very negative with this choice, so have casting decided Cooper would be a better candidate for this role?
I have never seen The Crow and never really been interested enough to find out what it is about but I know for certain if Cooper was cast I'd definatly want to see this movie. I have always been a fan of Blue Eyes, mainly because he is a great actor, but the fact that he is drop dead gorgeous does help I guess. I believe Limitless has given him the chance to show he can hold a movie by himself and prove that he is a perfectly capable actor for anything thrown at him, whether it comedy or a drama.
Barley Scotch (John Wheeler) is the lead vocalist, also playing the acoustic guitar and violin. Don Wayne Reno plays the Banjo. Dale Reno plays the acoustric guitar and mandolin and Jake Byers is the acoustic bass player.
In 2001 they released the album A Hillbilly Tribute to AC/DC consisting of cover versions of AC/DCs songs, favourites of mine are; Highway to Hell, You Shook Me All Night Long and Dirty Dead Done Cheap. In 2002 their second album was released A Hillbilly Tribute to Mountain Love, favourite songs of mine from this album consist of; Centerfold, Feel Like Making Love, I'm Keeping Your Poop (written by Wheeler). Their third album Kiss My Grass: a Hillbilly Tribute to Kiss released in 2003 consisted of cover versions of Kiss' songs.
In 2004 one of my favourite albums was released, Let There Be Rockgrass, a play on words to AC/DC's album Let There Be Rock. The theme of this album was cover versions of songs from rock bands. A Hot Piece of Grass was released in 2005, consisting of songs mainly wrote by Wheeler, making this another one of my favourite albums as it proves his song creativity and humour. Ungle Virgil, Mountain Man, Kirby Hill, Marijuana, Wish I Was You proves Hayseed Dixie at their best. The last song on the album is Duelling Banjos composed by Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith and Don Reno, possibly Hayseed Dixie's most popular song due to it being made famous in the film Deliverance.
The sixth album was released in 2007 featuring fantastic cover songs; Devil Woman, I don't Feel like Dancin', Strawberry Fields Forever, Breaking the Law, Down Down, Paint it Black and Poison. In 2008 they approached their seventh album differently by producing no cover versions of songs, therefore calling the album, No Covers showing their creative talent and proving that they don't need covers to be a hit. Favourites of mine consist of; Set Myself on Fire, Born to die in France, Gonna Be Alright, That's It I Quit.
In 2010, feeling slightly let down, Killer Grass was released, an album that hasn't been as strong as all other seven albums. Though it has a brilliant cover of Bohemian Rhapsody and one of their comedic songs Alien Abduction Probe I feel this album doesn't quite hit the spot.
Though with a vocalist that sings like an unconventional Angel, a Banjo player that plays like the Devil, a Bass player that plays loud as hell and an Mandolin player that is just mental - all wearing tie die T-shirts and jean dungarees I can forgive them as they have produced several amazing albums. Therefore I Want To Be A Hayseed Dixie Groupie.
Recently I set myself the target to sit through the entire Planet of the Ape films. I swiped the DVD box set from the shelf and put on Planet of the Apes, slid into bed to shut off the World outside. I remember when the DVD box set was released. I received it as a Christmas present from my parents in 2001. I was only twelve and I was fanatical about the series. Nine years later and I thought it was about time to have a marathon of apes.
In Planet of the Apes (1968) I always found Charlten Heston appealing but always found that the men in the film didn’t look like men. I don’t know whether it was the terrible tans or the big thick beards. Maybe it’s just that men from the sixties in Hollywood had a totally different look to what we expect men to look like these days. The music is appalling; it doesn’t create an atmosphere just annoyance. But no one can forget the classic ending and the iconic image of the Statue of Liberty sunken in the sand.
Beneath thePlanet of the Apes (1970) is tolerable yet it still has its problems. It seems rushed, does have some imagination but is not explored enough. The new man on the scene, Brent, is definitely better to look at than Heston, yet the plot seems to derive from the fact that Heston probably didn’t want to have much screen time? Therefore Heston bookends the film and has James Franciscus fill his shoes by repeating the same storyline.
Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971), released only one year since Beneath the Planet of the Apes is totally pointless and incredibly rushed. There is no entertainment value and seeing apes attempt to live within a human society is rather dull and feels like I’m watching a strange version of Pretty Woman (1990). The best thing about this movie is it pieces together how talking apes came to exist as Zira has had her baby and left it with the circus.
Having been rather bored with this film I found it impossible for myself to put on the next two films. I failed my marathon sadly so I decided to put on Tim Burton’s remake instead, Planet of the Apes (2001). The acting is certainly better by the actors portraying the apes than the original – it certainly shows the development of acting within the last thirty years. I remember many people criticising this film to pieces. Yet I do believe it is a good movie apart from the casting choice of Leo (our alternative Taylor character) but then again I have never been a fan of Mark Wahlberg. A lot of people claim this movie didn’t need to be remade yet I believe if a filmmaker has the credibility to start making movies for themselves, then I say why not, if it flops at least it is something special at heart to the filmmaker. I certainly think that it was a good move for Burton because it enabled him to diverse from his usual gothic mise en scene and not cast Johnny Depp. Yet I would quite like to see this movie remade by someone like Danny Boyle to enable a deeper look at the psychology and emotional breakdown of the human character entering the Ape World.
I met my favourite actor before Christmas - Tom Hardy It was a Christmas Present from my parents. They had secretly arranged it that I would meet him as they know Tom Hardy's friend. I had just finished a night shift and had officially been awake for 24 hours.
It was an amazing experience for me and as you can imagine I was rather emotional (I blame having no sleep) and the man is a gentleman. He even signed two of my DVDs, Wuthering Height and Bronson. So the performer in me decided to write a song about Tom Hardy.
I just want to leave a message before I start posting away with the movie reviews and youtube videos. I hope you all enjoy my blogs and consider subscribing to me on youtube :-)
