Reviews Archives | Page 13 of 22

“Censor” is One of the Year’s Best Horror Films (Review)

29Oct

By Matt ShiverdeckerNo Comments

Film, Reviews

“Censor” is One of the Year’s Best Horror Films (Review)

The increased availability and lowered prices to purchase VCRs fueled the home entertainment industry in the 1980s. People all over the world were able to easily watch movies from the comfort of home and boy, did they ever. It wasn't just the major Hollywood studios who benefited from the video store craze. Many independent film producers and distributors were able to exploit their catalogs and initially release them on formats like VHS, Beta, and laserdisc. Once the floodgates of videotape rentals opened, viewers couldn't get enough of horror films. The genre, often ignored or disrespected by the major studios, had great success and some releases, especially straight-to-video titles, pushed the boundaries of gore and violence. Some films were so controversial that they became k...

Seattle’s Adams Traktor’s New Single “Bleed” Available Worldwide

29Oct

By mendowerksNo Comments

Music, Reviews

Seattle’s Adams Traktor’s New Single “Bleed” Available Worldwide

Progressive rocker JR Smith formed Adams Traktor as a vessel to explore and bend genres of modern music. That journey continues with the release of his new single "Bleed". A stellar group of musicians assembled to perform on the track including Manny Elias, founding drummer for Tears for Fears. Special guest Fernando Saunders (Lou Reed, Slash) rounds out the rhythm section on bass while Olda Krejcoves is featured on lead guitar. The result is a hard-hitting rock song with a danceable groove. We can see this one translating well to a live setting. "Bleed" is the existential rock song that circles around a story told by so many artists and musicians that have sought the magic of a muse to stimulate them, inspire them, love them, hate them and otherwise make them feel alive. The go...

Dead Sara Announce Initial Tour Dates Of 2022

27Oct

By SimonNo Comments

Events, Music, Reviews

Dead Sara Announce Initial Tour Dates Of 2022

One of our favorite bands around here at MendoWerks, Dead Sara is heading out on tour early in the new year with one of the world's most famous guitarists' side projects. Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators is ramping up for dates in February. What we're trying to say here is, if you're going to the show, make sure you get in in time for Dead Sara. The nearly month-long jaunt will kick off in Portland, Oregon, and wrap in Denver, Colorado a few weeks later. The main issue I have here is that this tour doesn't cover more parts of the country. Ain't It Tragic is the latest studio album from Dead Sara and features the stand-out tracks "Hands Up," "Losing My Mind" and "Heroes". For a behind-the-scenes look at the recording of the album click here. Dead Sara f...

Green Day To Release One Song Per Week Leading Up To BBC Sessions Album Drop

25Oct

By SimonNo Comments

Music, Reviews

Green Day To Release One Song Per Week Leading Up To BBC Sessions Album Drop

Punk rock icons Green Day are digging into the archives and releasing a collection of recordings from the BBC's legendary Maida Vale Studios. The BBC Sessions will showcase recordings from 1994, 1996, 1998, and 2001. The collection marks the first time these recordings will be properly mastered for official release. The first session which took place in 1994, occurred just months after Green Day dropped their seminal Dookie album. The band was raw and raucous and ripped through a four-song set that included "She," "When I Come Around," "Basket Case," and "2000 Light Years." They'd return three more times over the next seven years capturing the band at different stages of their career, capped with the 2001 session during Green Days' Warning era. Set for release on December 10, ...

An Icon Goes From Explorer to Environmentalist in “Becoming Cousteau” (Review)

22Oct

By Matt ShiverdeckerNo Comments

Film, Reviews

An Icon Goes From Explorer to Environmentalist in “Becoming Cousteau” (Review)

There was a time in the not-so-distant past where it seemed like the entire world was transfixed by French explorer and captain, Jacques Cousteau. Sailing on his ship Calypso, Cousteau and his team became famous with a network series called "The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau" that ran for a decade (and was followed by a public television series for many years after as well). Director Liz Garbus ("What Happened, Miss Simone?") takes us back to his earliest days that turned him into the tireless environmentalist that he became. After running out of funds for his research vessel, he took money from oil companies to dive for them. I was blown away to learn that his team discovered all of the oil underwater off the coast of Abu Dhabi while working for BP in the early 1950s and ...

RÜFÜS DU SOL Enters New Chapter With Fourth Studio Album ‘Surrender’

21Oct

By SimonNo Comments

Music, Reviews

RÜFÜS DU SOL Enters New Chapter With Fourth Studio Album ‘Surrender’

The Grammy-nominated RÜFÜS DU SOL have come into their own on their new studio album Surrender. The live electronic trio has come this far in their career on their own terms and continues their journey down their own distinct sonic lane. The Australian trio of Tyrone Lindqvist, Jon George, and James Hunt formed in the fall of 2010. Just a few months later they released their first EP simply titled Rufus. Influences from artists like Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails to Moderat and Jon Hopkins bleed through. The result is a bolder sound than they've created in the past. Lead singles "Next To Me", "Alive" and "On My Knees" have already racked up more than 50 million streams on digital platforms, one of which you may be using. That leads us to the latest single "I Don't Want To ...

Jack White Releases Two Dramatically Different Versions of New Single “Taking Me Back”

20Oct

By SimonNo Comments

Music, Reviews

Jack White Releases Two Dramatically Different Versions of New Single “Taking Me Back”

Jack White is back with a brand new single and it happens to be featured in the trailer for the new Call of Duty video game. White, no stranger to pushing the envelope, has decided to release two different versions of the song. According to a press release at the Third Man Records site, "Taking Me Back" was recorded in Nashville at Third Man Studios. White can be heard singing and playing each of the instruments on the track (not at the same time, obviously). The release is White's first new material to be released in four years. To date, White has built up quite a resume. He's a 12-time GRAMMY® Award-winner and 36-time nominee. All three of his solo albums – 2012’s BLUNDERBUSS, 2014’s LAZARETTO, and 2018’s BOARDING HOUSE REACH debuted at #1 on the Billboard (Soundscan) chart. ...

“Halloween Kills” is a Middling Means to an End (Review)

19Oct

By Matt ShiverdeckerNo Comments

Film, Reviews

“Halloween Kills” is a Middling Means to an End (Review)

It was fun until it wasn't. That's how I felt about the latest effort to keep the twisted legacy of Michael Myers going. In 2018, David Gordon Green and his "Eastbound & Down" buddy Danny McBride were unlikely choices to reboot the "Halloween" franchise, but they managed to bring the series back to life with a fascinating exploration of personal trauma that was equally measured and brutal. For the follow-up, they leaned heavily on the brutality but left the script feeling like a parody of a horror sequel. That is probably the hardest element to overcome here. Since it was intended as a new trilogy, "Halloween Kills" was always going to feel half baked. It exists to bridge the gap between movies and, never fear, "Halloween Ends" (which it most certainly will not) is already ...

Creativity, Loss, and Passion Collide in “Bergman Island” (Review)

15Oct

By Matt ShiverdeckerNo Comments

Film, Reviews

Creativity, Loss, and Passion Collide in “Bergman Island” (Review)

In her English-language debut, French director Mia Hansen-Løve utilizes the inspiration of Ingmar Bergman to tell two stories in one. Both take place on the Baltic island of Faro, not far off the northern coast of Sweden. Bergman first went there in 1960 while scouting locations for "Through a Glass Darkly." He ended up shooting multiple feature films and two documentaries there and ended up building a house where he lived with Liv Ullmann. Chris (Vicky Krieps) and Tony (Tim Roth) are two American filmmakers who head to Faro on a creative pilgrimage. They are not married, but have a young daughter at home, so they've escaped to work on their separate screenplays and be inspired by the land that Bergman loved dearly. They stay in the home where "Scenes From A Marriage" was filmed...

Illenium Teams With Thirty Seconds To Mars On A New Single “Wouldn’t Change A Thing”

15Oct

By SimonNo Comments

Music, Reviews

Illenium Teams With Thirty Seconds To Mars On A New Single “Wouldn’t Change A Thing”

Multi-platinum artist, producer and DJ ILLENIUM has just unveiled his latest project, a collaboration with alt-rockers Thirty Seconds To Mars. The song marks the first new material from the Jared Leto-led outfit in three years. "Wouldn't Change a Thing" is set to be included on the upcoming Deluxe Edition of ILLENIUM's fourth studio album FALLEN EMBERS which is due October 22. The release marks the first under the newly signed deal with Warner Records. The Deluxe Edition features five new songs and is available for pre-order & save now. So far the original album release has surpassed more than 400 million streams. ILLENIUM has an impressive five billion+ streams on his catalog to date. Tour is underway and more details can be found here. For updates and to stay in touch...