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Jerry Cantrell recommended Van Halen by Van Halen in Music (curated)

 
Van Halen by Van Halen
Van Halen by Van Halen
1978 | Rock
8.5 (2 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"He's a friend of mine and I'm proud to call him that. They gave us one of our first breaks, around 1990 when we were on tour with those guys for about half a year. When I discovered his music, I think they had already released a couple of records. The first one was in ‘78, and I was in Pennsylvania in ‘79 when Van Halen II came out, but I had never actually heard them, instead I’d heard friends talking about them at school. A couple of my friends had the Van Halen logo written on their folders. I was like: ""What's that?"" ""This band Van Halen man, they're fucking killers, you gotta check 'em out!"" So, my Dad let me join the Columbia records and tapes club. It was a total scam. It was like you send a penny then you could pick out, I don’t know, seven or eight records, but then you were hooked for so many records after that, for way past full price. Some of the records I picked for my penny, were Van Halen I and II. I remember, my dad was watching TV in the living room like we did most nights. We had a pretty decent stereo system. So I put the headphones on, and I put on Van Halen I for the first listen. And from the first fucking note... I remember how magical that was. Same thing as with Hendrix. That's why I cite Eddie and Hendrix, ‘cause I think those guys are like brothers, of different eras. It's completely unique. There's nobody before that guy that sounded like that guy. But there were a ton of guys that sounded like him afterwards, or were trying to emulate him. I tried my tapping technique, but I'm no good at it. That record, for a kid wanting to be a guitarist, that was like an unachievable goal, to be that fucking good and to sound that fucking bad-ass, but it made you wanna try. Years later, when we went on that tour, we became really good friends. He had his new guitar and amps that he had had made. I remember asking if I could buy one, if he could give me a little discount or something like that. He's like: ""Fuck that man, I'll just give it to you!"" and, ""Look man, I got paid. It's the lamest thing in the world: when you got nothing, nobody will give you anything, when you have everything, everybody just gives you everything for free. So let me just give you some shit."" I forgot about that, it was sometime in the middle of the tour... I got home from that tour. I was living with my manager Kelly Curtis and his wife, down in their basement. Kelly greeted me at the door, like: ""Welcome home man! How was the tour?"" “Oh that was good man!"" ""Oh that's cool man! And d'you mind getting your shit out of my garage?"" I'm like: ""What are you talking about?"" He's like:""Eddie Van Halen has put so much gear in my garage, I can't even park my car. Get that fucking shit out of there."" So it was there, two full stacks and two guitars that he had fucking sent me for free. And I still have one of them. The other was stolen by someone years ago and I never saw it again. I still mourn the loss of that. But I saw him [Van Halen] about a month ago in LA before we left. As a matter of fact, I stole his guitar tech, Craig DeFalco [laughs]!"

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Max Winslow and the House of Secrets (2019)
Max Winslow and the House of Secrets (2019)
2019 | Family, Sci-Fi, Thriller
8
7.0 (2 Ratings)
Movie Rating
An out of the blue watch here, I had my fingers crossed for something a little lighthearted... and that's sort of what I received.

A challenge is issued, a competition that will see the mansion of tech billionaire Atticus Virtue gifted to the lucky winner. Chosen from his old school, five pupils enter to compete for the prize. As the evening goes on the games become increasingly dangerous and they find themselves fighting back against an advanced AI who's out to get them.

Max Winslow And The House Of Secrets feels like the kind of hybrid you'd get from crossing Willy Wonka with Ready Player One. All three films have the same sort of idea to them but convey it in their own quirky ways.

The story isn't the only classic idea the film capitalises on, we've also got your stereotypical group of teens thrown together end up having to work together to solve their problems. As they're introduced to us there was a little eye-roll on my part... we've got the computer nerd, the jock/musician, the social media icon, the gamer and the bully... but despite that eye-roll I quickly got over it as we progressed further in.

All these characters actually give us quite a well-balanced film, their introductions were handled quickly and clearly so it doesn't feel like a slog meeting them all, and jumping between characters/scene helps move the action along and keep you interested.

The acting from the younger members of the cast is pretty good when they're thrown in together, they all work well together and in scenes that could quite easily have become a little cheesy they manage to keep it quite sensible. We're treated to Marina Sirtis playing the AI running the mansion, I was amused by this casting, I don't think my brain could quite comprehend her in this role. The mansion's eccentric owner is played by Chad Michael Murray, I wish I could be a little more excited about him in this film but his brief appearances didn't rate highly with me. There weren't many moments when he was on screen where his performances weren't slightly awkward, at one point it felt like a script issue, but either way I was pleased that the main focus was one the younger actors.

Eye-rolling early on felt like it was becoming a habit, as the main storyline began it happened again. A moment occurs and you know that the information is going to be relevant later, you don't have to wait too long for an initial pay off to it either. I was worried that this would mean the ending of the film would be ruined but the pace from switching up between characters helps to drag you away from it.

Something I was a little surprised about was the tone of some of the scenes. When you start to watch the film it feels very much like a made for TV (that's not a negative comment, you know I love my made for TV movies!) family adventure affair, but some scenes are actually a little darker than would happily fit in that sort of film. Sitting at a 12A seems like the right level, had it been sanitised for younger viewers I think we'd have been left with something too tame to be good. (You could have pushed it further into the 15 and up area, but that would have put it in Escape Room territory and I'm not entirely sure we need more of that.)

Despite my eye-rolling and (many) unanswered questions that come from an adult watching a film not entirely made for them, I really enjoyed Max Winslow And The House Of Secrets. It's a fun watch, with some surprising little additions.

Originally posted on: https://emmaatthemovies.blogspot.com/2020/10/max-winslow-and-house-of-secrets-movie.html
  
The Amazing Spider-Man
The Amazing Spider-Man
Games, Entertainment
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
App Rating
The Amazing Spider-man, starring Andrew Garfield, came out 10 years after Maguire's ill-fated first attempt, on 3rd July 2012. Co-starring some greats, including Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans, Martin Sheen and Sally Fields. You might as well read the last summary for this one too, but add in the fact that he's out to solve his parents' mysterious death.

Peter is less nerd, more loser this time around. And generally he comes across as a bit more sad than before. But you'd expect that as we started the movie with a sad farewell. He has a bit of a "moment" with his dad's old briefcase to push that fact home a bit more.

No field trip for this Peter, instead he gatecrashes an intern enrolment to get a nosy at what might have to do with his parent's past. We learn lessons from this film too... in this one it is super easy to break into what must be highly classified labs.

Peter's transformation happens a lot quicker in this one, much to the trauma of everyone in the subway carriage with him. His little morning rampage gives me visions of Wolverine destroying the sink in X-men Origins: Wolverine... and now I come to think of it, doesn't Cyclops have a meltdown with his powers in a bathroom? What can we learn about this? Superpowers make you hate bathroom fixtures.

Did anyone else notice the guy who runs Jurassic World? Is he trying to pick up tips on how to super charge those dinosaurs? And while we're talking about mystery appearances, I'm torn about Spidey helping The Reaper rescue his son.

Honestly, my favourite line has to be... "Yeah, nobody likes your meatloaf." Sheen and Fields reacting to each other is just priceless.

Uncle Ben dying in this one is a lot more dramatic and sets Peter off on a bit of a crusade that leads to some better green screened wall walking. And some handy falling through a roof into a wrestling arena, gives him an idea for his costume, and we see a montage of him honing his skills and tech... we're a little bit past shooting some white gunk out of our wrists at this point. I like that he points out everything is spandex, yes Parker, there should be other options.

After the big costume reveal I feel like the film drags a bit. It's good, and I enjoy it, but I feel like there's a lot of film for not a lot of plot... does that make sense? Possibly not, but I know what I mean, so it's all good.

Just goes to show you how much I was paying attention in the last one. I missed Stan Lee's cameo. This one was much better, listening to music in his library while it gets destroyed in a fight behind him. Stan Lee, I love you. Genuine hearts all around.



The crane moving scene is, well, a little bit moving. One good deed deserves another, and let's fly a flag in the background for added effect.

We started sad, we end sad. I definitely prefer this film to Spider-man. It isn't without its own flaws though. While Spider-man was just over two hours, it didn't feel like that's how long you were watching for. The Amazing Spider-man felt like 2 hours 16 minutes of screen time. But the ending... she's angry at him, and then he whispers to her, and she gives that little smile, and as she dips her head he knows she's going to forgive him. And we're left with a spark of joy.
  
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    Save money automatically & invest with unlimited access to the same information and insights that...