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Andrew Blackie
Home>Staff>Andrew Blackie
Andrew Blackie

Features

Monday, January 16 2012

Movies 2011: Powerful and Disturbing Visions

Many films this year explored self-consciously "big" themes, revealing that sometimes the line between felicity of expression and facileness can be unclear.


Wednesday, September 24 2008

Nu-Metal's Not Dead!

August saw a resurgence of nu-metal glory for 2008, with several former figureheads dropping their new releases. And instead of these bands dying off like the genre they ostensibly belonged to, most proved there's still life after the spotlight moves on.


Wednesday, March 5 2008

Taking Their Passion Play to the Road: An Interview with Nightwish

If bassist Marco Hietala laughs easily, it's because his band's back where they want to be after a period of gloom and change.


Reviews

Friday, February 10 2012

'The Vow' Is Conventional, with Complications

The Vow is a conventional love story with a ghostly chasm in the middle, a weepie for Valentine’s Day cinemagoers.


Wednesday, December 21 2011

The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn

The Adventures of Tintin is a fine, affectionate tribute to the Tintin comics, and visually, it’s dazzling. But the movie lacks Hergé’s spirit.


Friday, November 11 2011

'Melancholia' Is Far From Transcendent

Melancholia begins and ends with scenes of utter destruction, scenes that are truly powerful, very scary, and somehow strangely beautiful.


Friday, October 28 2011

'Red State' Is the Worst Movie of Kevin Smith’s Career

It’s becoming more and more difficult to remember what Kevin Smith such an appealing and winsome filmmaker in the first place.


Friday, October 14 2011

'The Skin I Live In': Ideas on Gender and Power

Impeccably filmed and laden with intriguing, thorny ideas, The Skin I Live In is nonetheless a glassy, curiously reserved affair comprised of equal parts camp and melodrama.


'Tucker & Dale vs. Evil' Is a Gleeful and Punchy Horror Flick [30.Sep.11]
Tales from the Golden Age (Amintiri din epoca de aur) [2.Sep.11]
Ten Films to Watch for from the Sydney Film Festival [6.Jul.11]
Sydney Film Festival 2011 – 'A Separation' takes the Competition Prize [27.Jun.11]
Sydney Film Festival 2011: 'Hanna' [22.Jun.11]
Sydney Film Festival 2011: 'If a Tree Falls' + 'The Hungry Tide' [17.Jun.11]
Sydney Film Festival 2011: 'Sleeping Beauty' [16.Jun.11]
Sydney Film Festival 2011: 'POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold' [15.Jun.11]
Sydney Film Festival 2011: 'Attenberg' [14.Jun.11]
Alice in Chains: Black Gives Way to Blue [7.Oct.09]
George Harrison: Let It Roll: Songs by George Harrison [19.Jun.09]
Touch Me, I'm Sick by Tom Reynolds [19.Aug.08]
John Lennon: John Lennon / Plastic Ono Band [DVD] [16.Jun.08]
Disturbed: Indestructible [16.Jun.08]
Pretty Vacant: by Phil Strongman [12.May.08]
Panic at the Disco: Pretty. Odd. [10.Apr.08]
Dream Theater: Greatest Hitthias [4.Apr.08]
Earth: The Bees Made Honey in the Lions Skull [26.Feb.08]
Bullet for My Valentine: Scream Aim Fire [11.Feb.08]
Smashing Pumpkins: American Gothic [8.Feb.08]
Nights Like These: Sunlight at Secondhand [8.Feb.08]
StoneRider: Three Legs of Trouble [7.Feb.08]
For the Fallen Dreams: Changes [4.Feb.08]
The Mars Volta: The Bedlam in Goliath [29.Jan.08]
Crime in Stereo: Crime in Stereo is Dead [28.Jan.08]
The Forms: The Forms [24.Jan.08]
A Taste of Ra: Morning of My Life [23.Jan.08]
The Format: Live at the Mayan Theatre [DVD] [8.Jan.08]
Radio Massacre International: Rain Falls in Grey [18.Dec.07]
Arise and Ruin: The Final Dawn [17.Dec.07]
Oslo: The Rise and Fall of Love and Hate [17.Dec.07]
Tarja: My Winter Storm [7.Dec.07]
Various Artists: The Unholy Alliance [DVD] [6.Dec.07]
Enter Shikari: Take to the Skies [3.Dec.07]
Sick City: Nightlife [20.Nov.07]
Madball: Infiltrate the System [19.Nov.07]
Soldiers: End of Days [13.Nov.07]
Avenged Sevenfold: Avenged Sevenfold [9.Nov.07]
Coheed & Cambria: No World for Tomorrow [8.Nov.07]
Seether: Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces [2.Nov.07]
Gregory & the Hawk: In Your Dreams [1.Nov.07]
Jimmy Eat World: Chase This Light [16.Oct.07]
Nightwish: Dark Passion Play [4.Oct.07]
Scorpions: Humanity [26.Sep.07]
At the Throne of Judgment: The Arcanum Order [12.Sep.07]
Ash: Twilight of the Innocents [4.Sep.07]
As I Lay Dying: An Ocean Between Us [28.Aug.07]
Sum 41: Underclass Hero [22.Aug.07]
Morningbell: Through the Belly of the Sea [16.Aug.07]
Fuel: Angels & Devils [15.Aug.07]
Or, the Whale: Light Poles and Pines [7.Aug.07]
Bedlight for Blue Eyes: Life on Lifes Terms [7.Aug.07]
Josiah: No Time [3.Aug.07]
TME: Worlds Collide [2.Aug.07]
The Chariot: The Fiancee [2.Aug.07]
Korn: Untitled [31.Jul.07]
Dark Tranquility: Fiction [31.Jul.07]
Turisas: The Varangian Way [30.Jul.07]
Paradise Lost: In Requiem [27.Jul.07]
Within Temptation: The Heart of Everything [25.Jul.07]
Velvet Revolver: Libertad [19.Jul.07]
Hopewell: Beautiful Targets [12.Jul.07]
The Destro: As the Coil Unwinds [27.Jun.07]
Signal to Noise: Kodiak [20.Jun.07]
Mayhem: Ordo Ad Chao [20.Jun.07]
Thurisaz: Circadian Rhythm [15.Jun.07]
Dream Theater: Systematic Chaos [15.Jun.07]
Olympia: Emergencies [7.Jun.07]
Various Artists: Metalmania 2006 [DVD] [5.Jun.07]
Astrid Swan: Poverina [30.May.07]
Porcupine Tree: Fear of a Blank Planet [30.May.07]
Mêlée: Devils & Angels [29.May.07]
Vintersorg: Solens Rötter [25.May.07]
Linkin Park: Minutes to Midnight [25.May.07]
Bang! Bang!: The Dirt That Makes You Drown [24.May.07]
Machine Head: The Blackening [21.May.07]
Chevelle: Vena Sera [18.May.07]
Heifer: The Judas Belt [14.May.07]
Emmure: Goodbye to the Gallows [7.May.07]
Infidel: I, Oathbreaker [4.May.07]
Grave Digger: Liberty or Death [3.May.07]
Hot Cross: Risk Revival [2.May.07]
The Draft: The Draft [26.Apr.07]
Static-X: Cannibal [23.Apr.07]
Sevendust: Alpha [19.Apr.07]
Krypteria: Bloodangels Cry [17.Apr.07]
Nine Inch Nails: Year Zero [16.Apr.07]
Karnivool: Themata [12.Apr.07]
Korn: MTV Unplugged [10.Apr.07]
Since the Flood: No Compromise [9.Apr.07]
Megadeth: That One Night: Live in Buenos Aires [DVD] [28.Mar.07]
A Day to Remember: For Those Who Have Heart [16.Mar.07]
Green Day: Under Review 1995-2000 : The Middle Years [DVD] [13.Mar.07]
Ektomorf: Outcast [12.Mar.07]
Therion: Gothic Kabbalah [2.Mar.07]
Dredg: Live at the Fillmore [21.Feb.07]
Eyeless in Gaza: Plague of Years [21.Feb.07]
Fall Out Boy: Infinity on High [5.Feb.07]
Aiden: Rain In Hell [1.Feb.07]
Saliva: Blood Stained Love Story [29.Jan.07]
Army of Anyone: Army of Anyone [18.Jan.07]
HIM: Uneasy Listening Vol. 1 [18.Jan.07]
Metallica: Metallica - The Videos 1989-2004 [12.Jan.07]
Slipknot: Voliminial: Inside the Nine [DVD] [11.Jan.07]
P.O.D.: Greatest Hits: The Atlantic Years [8.Jan.07]
Killswitch Engage: As Daylight Dies [30.Nov.06]
36 Crazyfists: Rest Inside the Flames [29.Nov.06]
Brand New: The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me [28.Nov.06]
Staind: The Singles 1996-2006 [16.Nov.06]
Evanescence: The Open Door [9.Nov.06]
My Chemical Romance: The Black Parade [8.Nov.06]
Cradle of Filth: Thornography [5.Nov.06]
Papa Roach: The Paramour Sessions [31.Oct.06]
A Fever You Cant Sweat Out [31.Oct.06]

Blogs

Thursday, July 14 2011

Little Battles in the Midst of a Big One: 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2'

Over the course of ten years and eight films, it’s tempting to get misty-eyed and swept up in the fever of it all.


Thursday, May 26 2011

"Yes, Guys, We Can't Believe It's Happening Again, Either": 'The Hangover Part II'

The Hangover Part II is a serviceable, but somewhat flat sequel.


Sunday, February 21 2010

'Percy Jackson' is Slick, Superficial...and Subpar


Friday, January 29 2010

'Daybreakers' is Schlocky, Serviceable Vampire Fare


Friday, January 29 2010

This 'Leap Year' is Worth Skipping


An Interesting Proposition with 'Nowhere' Much to Go (Short Ends and Leader) [21.Jan.10]
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