Film review

Submarineby Patrycja Pencarska

The heart-warming characters, hilarious triviality and an extreme awkwardness of a teenage boy, all captured in wonderful retro scenery are now crucial to the success of new wave for the coming-of-age movies.

The brilliant debut film from Richard Ayode – “Submarine” is an inspiring and refreshing sensation to the British film industry based on Joe Dunthorne’s novel. The awkward comedy, full of discomfort and teenage angst draws you in straight away and takes you back in time to the picturesque Swansea of the 80s. While portraying a range of themes – from adolescence and relationships to depression and death, the film captivates the audience into a journey through a mind of troubled and sexually frustrated teenager.

Fifteen years old Oliver Tate, played by the eccentric Craig Robert, endures his dreary, everyday routines by creating the alternate realities in his head. But, really – it’s quickly established that the boy has two big ambitions in his life: losing his virginity to a strangely seductive yet completely reclusive classmate Jordana (Yasmin Paige) and saving his parents’ marriage. The storyline gets more and more twisted after Oliver’s first kiss, which supposedly “tasted of sour milk, Polo mints and Dunhill International,” as his mother is allegedly cheating on dad – too wrapped up in his own misery to realize what is going on.

The outstanding performance from the entire crew – especially the excellent skills of the youngest actors, greatly enhanced the complex and heart-warming characters. Peculiar yet completely adorable Oliver and his beloved Jordana create a compelling and accurate portrayal of the teenage romance accompanied by sexual tension. Beside the quality of acting, the perceptive visual tricks and savvy camera work coming from the director, established the vintage setting and effectively enthralled viewers, displaying a range of shots and visualizing the summary of the events with a creative and unique approach. Including “breaking the fourth wall” and using the characters to communicate with the audience seems like a clever technique to add elements of drama to the film, but more importantly – get even more subtle humour into the storyline. And finally – the soundtrack: absolutely mesmerising and soothing composition of indie music, being a magnificent work of art on its own, accomplished movie’s light-hearted feel with a hint of mystery.

Bizarrely charming, brutally honest and incredibly humorous account of youth seen with the eyes of a teenage guy, who spends his free time either fantasising about suicide or being “the best boyfriend in the world” is an intriguing blend of a laid-back comedy with many awkward elements of adolescent’s drama. Whether it’s due to quirkiness of Oliver, his mother’s infidelity or perhaps Jordana’s pyromaniac tendencies, it is almost certain that the characters from “Submarine” will linger with you after the last credits disappear.

Abnormally phenomenal!

Gig review

16^th October 2011
Silent Screams at Club Revolution
by Patrycja Pencarska

The metalcore five-piece Silent Screams shook the Peterborough local venue on a Sunday night, unleashing their energy with powerful riffs and piercing vocals to the relentless audience, impatiently waiting for the attack.

Never mind a blissful Sunday night to restore and relax before another long week at work or school - The Coventry crew have no time to slow down. Playing some of the angriest, the most attitude-drenched tunes in the underground music culture, Silent Screams have been touring around the UK in the last month, intensely promoting their debut album “When It Rains” (available in your local stores on October 24^th.) Now, for the first time, the boys tried to take over Club Revolution in Peterborough.

Vacant venue quickly fills up with demanding fans. Effective dim lighting adds to the sinister atmosphere surrounding tonight’s acts. The beginning is dreadful: the inadequate skills of the amateur musicians don’t fool anybody. But a disappointing opening from the first two bands was rapidly balanced out by a refreshing performance from the local Turn & Run and an excellent sample of UK’s finest metal delivered by Under Godless Skies.

Undeniably, the evening truly belonged to the headliners who performed an outstanding set, reeling off their songs with dark frenzy. The venue was filled with furious energy and riffs heavy enough to get the entire audience into the brutal beauty of progressive metal. The brilliant collaboration of bassist and guitarist has led to a sudden kick off in the mosh pits. Clearly, the band members were smugly appreciative of the risky and slightly bizarre way of portraying devotion coming from the crowd.

The two-year experience and technical abilities with a significant amount of passion and commitment contributed to a fantastic live performance, enhanced with ridiculously loud bass and flashing lights. The melodic sounds of “Pacific Highway” contradicted with the agonizing screams from the vocalist, causing a burning fever among those under the stage. Ending the victorious evening with the fans’ favourite “Burning Bridges”, is the proof that there is more to the infamous hardcore genre than screams and violence. “I really enjoyed it. Brilliant night, but I’m gonna be in a lot of pain tomorrow,” said Sam – the lead guitarist after the gig. So despite the ominous title in the heavy close, we can be certain that this is not the last time we see Silent Screams rocking out on the Peterborough stage!

The new wave of metalcore genre tends to be quite controversial – you either love it or you hate. If you shudder even at the idea of shrieking screams I recommend you don’t bother with this one. However, if you are open to experiencing new, heavy and outrageous music and you are a fan of Devil Wears Prada or Asking Alexandria –do not hesitate to give the Coventry Mob a listen straight away.

Unquestionably, a memorable experience and eventful night full of enthusiasm, passion and talent!

Jack Daniel's Advert

 

Jack Daniel's advert I have created for a photography assignment.

Get real...

There is nothing more aggravating than hypocrisy. The amount of people you meet every day that are willing to spend every minute of their life preaching to you about morals and what is expected of a young adult (whether this is offering your seat on the bus even if there are many others available or the necessity of spending a Friday night drunk, high or having wild sex.) Of course, all these ridiculous rules, rituals and ways of behaviour do not include them. The holier-than-thou attitude is spreading across the nation like a disease, leaving us – people who try to stay true to themselves – dreading to make our opinions and views known to the rest of community. 
 

An even worse kind of a hypocrite is the one who claims to hate two-facedness. You know the ones who will never fail to inform you how much sincerity means to them. Bullshit! These self-righteous bastards could not be sincere to save lives. While self-hatred would be absolutely justified, hypocrites tend to do exactly the opposite! For example, haven’t you heard them saying how they are “beautiful the way they are” and “their own person” or even better: “unique and proud of it”? 
 

Quite honestly this is ridiculous. And sickening. The so-called distinctive style comes from fashion magazines, stores’ newest collections and of course – internet. There is nothing “unique” in the way they dress, act or speak. Hypocrites represent the fraction of society that will happily spend their life pretending they are someone they’re not. And whilst remaining just a manufactured copy of latest trends, in between updating their Facebook statuses and spending fortune on vintage clothing in an illogical effort to look effortless – they will do their very best to make you believe that this is really who they are.

Sometimes, I actually feel sorry for them. Or to be more accurate, I would’ve felt sorry if not the constant stream of worthless moaning about being misunderstood and isolated due to their originality. Originality, my ass. Whether their lifestyle is influenced by personal issues or problems with low-self esteem I do not know, however I think that all of them need a loud wakeup call from the nation to realize how much people like us detest their pitiable actions. It is extremely hard to determine if their ways are subconscious or unnaturally enforced. To ensure you, if you are guilty of any of the accusations above – in reality there is not much of a hypocrite in you. But if you are certain that you could never, under any circumstances commit such a cardinal sin – I think I have some bad news...

A rant-type column, printed in The Big Yellow Box university students magazine in Peterborough

Welcome

Hey, everyone and welcome to my brand new blog. As journalism students we are constantly encouraged to start publishing our twork and let other hear us. Having embarassed myself enough on tumblr with the amount of porn related gifs and endless moaning about sexual frustration caused by certain celebrities, I plan to take it seriously this time.

This will be sort of a porfolio with my college assignments, favourite photography I do outside lessons as well as for college purposes and of course new column-style rants of a teenage girl. And basically anything I feel like writing - from poems to reviews. Okay, maybe not poems and not lists of things to do.

I am really looking forward to this! xoxo