Bzangy Groink

Category: Review

  • Civil War (2024)

    Alex Garland’s Civil War is gorgeously shot with immaculate sound design and an attention to mise-en-scene that’s absent from most current media apart from graphic novels. Every frame is there for a reason, there’s a kind of painterly quality to Garland’s narrative, the flow feels like the travel of ones gaze over a huge canvas…

  • OMOMO Derby

    Oh wow – first time at @omomo.uk but definitely not the last. We had the BEST food, I could actually fit my dodgy leg under the table (great seats!) and the service was also excellent. Derby peeps, if you haven’t been – GO! #KoreanStreetFood #KoreanFood #SoYummy #SuperTasty

  • Fluffmallow Badges

    Have a look at these AWESOME badges that arrived from Fluffmallow.com: How cute are they? AARGHGHGHGH!!

  • Three Thousand Years Of Longing (2022)

    I missed this in the cinema so I gave an excited but slightly worried squeak when I saw it had come on to Amazon tonight. Would I like it? Since my life isn’t long enough to waste writing negative reviews, you know that I loved it. I was looking forward to it because I’m a…

  • The End Of Carnival Row

    It’s hard to believe I first wrote about Carnival Row four years ago. A lot has happened in this human world since 2019. I mean, hoo boy, a lot. I’m a different person to the one who wrote that review. My health has been seemingly permanently impaired. Also my heart. So, I returned to the…

  • Home Again (2017)

    If you want a feel good film that might make you shed a lil tear of awh but leaves you smiling, this should do the job! There are romances, there are kisses, there are un-requited passions but there is only one really ridiculous sequence, the rest is very lifelike. The film delivers the hardest thing:…

  • Cyberpunk 2077 – A Review After Playing for 130+ Hours

    Well, I finished it. It had a nice, elegiac ending. It’s such a mixed game. For the graphic designers, I’d easily give them 11/10 as there’s so much work and love gone into every little detail of the game. It’s just sad a lot of it takes time to rez in or disappears in front…

  • My Very Short Review Of The Sony Xperia 5

    I had high hopes for this phone, I’m looking to replace my Samsung Note 10 Plus because the in-screen fingerprint sensor basically is shite. So, unboxed the Sony, lovely lovely, booted aaaaand… What a wonderful start! Okay… let’s reboot. Hmmm… seems a bit hot at the back. Ah, I’m sure it’ll be okay… …..aaaaand back…

  • Carnival Row

    Carnival Row

    I wasn’t expecting much of Carnival Row. I put it on just to have something to watch while eating my tea. The foundations of my prejudice were twofold. First, that many Amazon Originals are as lethargic and under-edited as their Netflix cousins, second, the casting of Cara Delevingne. If that sounds mean, you’re misunderstanding. I…

  • My Review Of The ASUS ROG Strix GL703GM-EE063T 17.3-Inch FHD 120 Hz with 3 ms Screen Gaming Laptop (Black) (Intel i7-8750H Processor, 8 GB RAM, 128 GB PCI-E SSD + 1 TB HDD, NVidia GTX 1060 6 GB, Windows 10)

    I don’t doubt the gaming calibre of the latop; it’s all there. What I do doubt is that anyone could use it as a daily PC without being driven insane by the (stereo) fans. From the get go, this machine was like standing behind an RB211 and that was with it doing nothing. Literally nothing,…

  • Destination Star Trek 2018

    So, last weekend was the long-awaited DST 2018. When I say long-awaited, I booked the hotel room over eighteen months ago. And then, finally, it was time! Like DST 2016, my bff Nat went with me. This is us:  This is the second time DST has been held in the NEC at Brum and it…

  • Gotham And Mr. J

    Cameron Monaghan has already been in a load of series that I love; The Mentalist, Fringe, Numb3rs, Monk, Malcolm In The Middle. But seeing him here portraying a young… you-know-who… well, he’s certainly got great things ahead of him. Meanwhile, Gotham unbelievably gets better every episode, the writing is absolutely spot-on. The ensemble cast is…

  • Falling Skies

    Falling Skies Season 4 cements this series’ position as one of my favourite ever SF TV series. Beautifully written and acted, FS has always maintained the right mixture of drama, romance, mystery and, of course, massive alien spaceships and ravenous bugbeasts. It’s also refreshing as so many SF series are now aimed very firmly at…

  • Indietracks 2014

    Indietracks 2014 was this weekend and, even though I’m straight edge, I’m still recovering from the mad swirl of it all. Firstly, it was DAMN HOT. GODDAMMNNN HOT. I honestly thought I’d pass out at some points in the shed! A contrast to last year’s downpours. Then there was the bewildering array of music:  too…

  • Her (2013)

    WARNING! SPOILERS! DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN THE FILM! Finally got to see ‘Her,’ courtesy of a lazy Sunday with my parents. My Dad fell asleep but that’s due to his age than a comment on the film. I loved ‘Her.’ The premise is that Theodore Twombly (played by Joaquin Phoenix) has separated…

  • Hit The Deck 2014

    Woohoo! Hit The Deck was, once again, lovely fun! I went with my mate Emma: We caught mostly the same bands but split up for a few – the worst thing about HTD is that there are always gig clashes! BOO! The first band I saw was Hands Like Houses. Very poppy and confident, the…

  • The US Propaganda War ~ TV Division A-OK!

    I’m currently watching the second ep of Intelligence, the new spy-fi TV series starring Josh Holloway as an agent with a chip implanted in his head. This wondrous chip connects him to the internet and allows him to be a walking Google but with access to all manner of restricted government data, satellites and presumably…

  • ‘Your Woman’ On Popular / Freaky Trigger

    Egosurfing around Tumblr, I found this in-depth discussion of ‘Your Woman.’ I see quite a bit written about me and that tune so it was lovely to read so many comments that were on the ball and cogent. Even the ones that are a bit factually wrong are internally consistent, a rare thing compared to…

  • Xbox One First Impressions

    Just under a week ago, I bought myself an Xbox One. I’m not an avid gamer but I saw all the hoohaa promo blah blah and I guess I fell for it. Here’s my initial impressions based on six days with the Xbone. Well, it started off badly. As soon as it booted, it needed…

  • Destination Star Trek London 2012

    Last weekend, Matty and I attended Destination Star Trek London 2012 (DSTL). And it was a fucking blast. On the Friday, I got there before him and excitedly made my way into the Excel. I was a bit disappointed that my ticket didn’t get me into the opening ceremony, we’d just got standard tickets and…

  • Derby Festé 2012

    Last week was Derby Festé 2012. I missed the events on Thursday and Friday but I managed to catch the daytime stuff on the Saturday. I was with my friend Emily and we had a lovely time, wandering round the various attractions. First up was the gentleman above, ALBOT. I thought it was a bloke…

  • London With Nat: Dungeons, Sealife, Blood Brothers, Hangover Lounge, Horrendous Fear

    Nat and I caught the 9am train to London. We knew we had a lot to pack in but we had the freedom that the only timetabled event was the gig we were doing for the marvellous Hangover Lounge peeps on Sunday. After a lucky early check-in at the hotel, we headed to the London…

  • Teenage Engineering OP-1 : A Perfect Instrument

    Recently, I bought an OP-1. I’d been in love with it since seeing the very early demos. It looked like a VL-1 as re-imagined by Wintermute so of course I wanted one. But there’s been a lot of hating on the poor old OP-1 on the web. People slagging it off as over-priced, gimmicky and,…

  • Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes

    About half an hour ago, I got back from seeing ‘Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes‘ (henceforth ‘ROTPOTA’ for brevity’s sake) and I’m buzzing about it so I want to do a review before that fades. I am a huge fan of the original Apes films. I watched them on telly as a kid,…

  • The Tree Of Life

    WARNING! SPOILERS AHEAD! So, after the high-octane spectacle of ‘Super 8,’ I headed to see Terence Malick’s ‘The Tree of Life’ at Derby Quad yesterday. My companion was fellow film buff Nat. I’d heard that the film was very divisive, prompting walk-outs from the audience so I wanted to go with someone I knew loved…

  • Super 8

    Last night, Malcy and I went to see ‘Captain America’ at the Derby Showcase Deluxe but it turned out to be in The Director’s Lounge. Not wishing to pay a million billion trillion quid for film tickets, we opted for ‘Super 8’ instead. Serendipity squared. I’d known about the film from trailers, it looked cute:…

  • Alt.Fiction 2011

    Last weekend, I went to Alt.Fiction 2011: Alt.Fiction brings you an extensive programme of Horror, Fantasy and Science Fiction literature events. Our flagship Alt.Fiction Literature Festival has been running since 2006 with an exciting mix of panels, readings, workshops and podcasts. Featuring leading authors, agents and editors, it is a celebration of all things genre…

  • “They’re Not Throwing Their Fannies In Your Face”

    Tonight, I watched a wonderful documentary about the British sculptor Reg Butler. It was made in 1974 and it’s pure old-school BBC arts doc: no moving cameras, no tricksy cutaways or CGI, just talking heads. Talking about art and life and sculpture. Click here to watch it. The doc traced Butler’s career from his early…

  • Terminator Salvation

    Today was Father’s Day so I took my Dad to see the most blokey film on at the moment: Terminator Salvation. (Or Terminator: Salvation. Or T4: Salvation. I’m not quite sure which one is definitive!) Quick review: it’s great! Go and see it now! Now, onto the more lengthy, wanky appraisal… (WARNING! SPOILERS AHEAD! DO…

  • Star Trek XI

    Last night, I went to see the new Star Trek film. As it started, I felt a mix of mild anxiousness and cautious optimism. Today, I feel excited about the future for Trek. I can’t remember when I first saw Star Trek. I grew up with it, as I’ve grown up with Dr. Who. I…

  • Watchmen

    Yesterday, I went to see Watchmen. And I loved it! I was quite worried by some of the reviews I’d seen. Also that the running time was nearly three hours. Also that the squid was excised. But Watchmen, the major motion picture, is probably the most faithful comic to film adaptation I’ve yet seen. So…

  • The Presets Live At The Royal, 29/10/08

    The Presets! Click the pic for a small gallery! Whoah! Last night I went to see The Presets and they were awesome! I’ve liked them ever since I heard ‘Are You The One?’ off their debut album and 2008’s newie, ‘Apocalypto’ is even poppier. It’s a raw, chunky slice of electropop, fusing classic synthpop with…

  • Bille The Vision And The Dancers Live At The Royal, Derby, 24/10/08

    Billie The Vision And The Dancers, live last night! Click the pic for a gallery! If you’re a regular Groinker, you probably already know that I have a soft-spot for Billie The Vision. So, as soon as I heard they were playing in Derby, supporting The Pipettes, I got tickets and me and my mrs…

  • The 39 Steps At Quad Derby

    Today, my mrs. and I went to see one of my favourite films, Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘The 39 Steps.’ I’ve seen it many times on telly, I’ve got the DVD but I’ve never seen it at the cinema so when I saw it in the Quad programme, I couldn’t resist. It’s the first time I’ve seen…

  • Derby Festé 2008

    WOW! What an absolutely amazing night the opening of Derby Festé 2008 was! Giant insects: Fireworks: And the enchanting Heliosphere pictured at the top. We got into town around eight and were just in time to see the Sarruga insects marching past Bold Lane. I think my fave was the mantis, I loved the way…

  • WALL-E

    I saw WALL-E last Thursday with my Dad. Thirty-one years ago, he took me to see Star Wars. Thirty-one years later, I took him to see this story, also featuring a cute droid voiced by Ben Burtt. WALL-E is the story of the last robot on Earth, a robot who is tirelessly carrying out his…

  • iPhone Apps

    Sketches – £3.49 well-spent! Sooo… I haven’t got a new iPhone 3G. But I’ve got the next best thing: iPhone version 2.0 software! Now, bear in mind that, unlike a lot of people, I’m not an un-critical Apple fanboy. I’m the proud owner of an Apple TV Brick. And also, I’ve been more enraged than…

  • Iron Man @ Cinema De Lux, Westfield

    I’ve just come back from seeing Iron Man at the new Cinema De Lux at the Westfield Centre. This isn’t a proper review of the film but rather a review of the whole experience… Well, the new cinema is certainly swanky central. Everything is impeccably clean, scrubbed and gleaming. The staff are all well-groomed, well-spoken…

  • 45 – A Tribute to Daniel Hansson

    In August 2007 Elektron CEO and co-founder Daniel Hansson passed away in an unfortunate auto accident. It is in large part his creative vision and eye for detail that have made Elektron’s products what they are today. The 45 Tribute pays homage to his creative genius and his philanthropic spirit. Artists from the Elektron community…

  • The 12″ As A Music Lesson

  • Apple TV Take 2 Woes

    I like the update, I love the new features. Unfortunately, the update doesn’t seem to like my 40gig Apple TV. Since upgrading, I get: * Slow, sticky menus. Can’t whizz round like before. The selector sticks and then, often five minutes later, skips down. * Glitchy playback. Every podcast or film I watch glitches at…

  • Logic Pro 8 Mini-review

    Yes, I bought the upgrade. Yes, I’m an idiot. Yes, Apple could quite easily get me to pay them money to slap me in the face with a fish. And then pay them to upgrade the damn fish. Oh well… here’s the mini-review: The good: much easier to use, especially for switchers. Shitloads of instruments,…

  • Johnny Foreigner, Plans And Apologies, Mascot Fight

    On Monday, I saw three lovely bands for the miniscule price of £2 at Vines, Derby. First on were Mascot Fight. This is a band getting more in their stride every gig I see. They’re more relaxed, have more fun and just let go more – all that comes over live. Well done, chaps! Next…

  • Albums Of The Year 2007

    Oh groinkers! It’s taken me bastard hours to compile my best-of list this year! Why? Because 2007 was a great year for new music! 😀 I’ve whittled this list down to from around ninety albums to fifty. I had to make some very painful cuts to get it down to that number. Really. 🙁 So,…

  • Elenette At Debaser Slussen

    Click the pic for an Elenette gallery! If you’re a regular Bzangy reader, you might remember this review. Well, I was lucky enough to see Elenette live while I was in Sweden, at Debaser Slussen on the night before we came home. It was a great gig! They played like bastards and went down very…

  • The Pastels, Taken By Trees

    Then, on Friday 7th, we were out again! This time to see the fabulous Pastels and Taken By Trees at Debaser Medis (themed drinks pictured above). We’d popped by early to see if anyone was about and The Pastels had just finished soundchecking. Stephen very kindly took pity on our poor, wizened, weather-beaten faces and…

  • Elmo, Movits!, Ludvig Svartholm

    On Thursday 6th, we toddled down to Debaser Slussen (pic above and click it for a gallery of the venue and area). We had no idea who was playing, we just wanted to get out of the hotel and see some bands. So, we were very chuffed to see not one but three cool acts!…

  • The iPhone – One Week Review

    I bought my iPhone on the UK release day, exactly a week ago. Since then, I’ve been itching to post up a review but I deliberately waited till I’d used it for a week. I’ve seen plenty of scrappy, ‘Ooh, I’ve touched one, it’s pretty!’-type reviews and I didn’t want to add another to that…

  • Why I Love My Stylophone

    Guess what I bought today: Yep! A STYLOPHONE! It may not mean much to you but it’s a slice of my childhood. I wanted one for ages and, after much pestering, I got one when I was nine or maybe ten. I played and played that little box. I composed maudlin elegies and triumphal marches…

  • Cowtown, Mascot Fight, Horowitz, Live At Susumi

    On Tuesday I went to the above ace gig at Susumi. Cowtown headlined and supporting were Mascot Fight and Horowitz. And I took some vids! Horowitz vids here! Mascot Fight vids here! Cowtown vids here! Mmmm…. compression artifacts…