X Factor UK 11: Top 5

Thank God for a more current theme! I felt like dying after almost three weeks of overdone and cliche songs, and while there were still some this week, I didn't mind. We're almost at the finish line, and I thought everyone delivered decent to strong performances - especially with Stevi Ritchie gone last week.

On with the show!

The Voice 7: Top 10 Studio Versions

Here are the Top 10 Studio Versions of The Voice Season 7. Also, just like the last season and American Idol post, I'll also include the rankings just for reference. Here's how they peaked against other songs available on iTunes:

#6 Craig Wayne Boyd - I Walk the Line
#26 Taylor John Williams - Come Together
#29 Matt McAndrew - Fix You
#40 Chris Jamison - Uptown Funk
#48 Danica Shirey - I Have Nothing
#54 Luke Wade - Try a Little Tenderness
#61 Damien - You and I
#137 Reagan James - Fancy
#151 Anita Antoinette - Let Her Go
#185 Ryan Sill - Starlight

DAM NATION
Password: Who ranked first in DAM NATION's Top 10 Review?

The Voice 7: Top 12 Studio Versions

So I've decided to post this again this season. Here are the Top 12 Studio Versions of The Voice Season 7. Also, just like the last season and American Idol post, I'll also include the rankings just for reference. Here's how they peaked against other songs available on iTunes:

#5 Matt McAndrew - Take Me To Church
#11 Craig Wayne Boyd - You Look So Good In Love
#12 Damien - He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother
#22 Chris Jamison - Jealous
#33 Taylor John Williams - If
#37 Luke Wade - Thinking Out Loud
#41 Anita Antoinette - Redemption Song
#59 DaNica Shirey - Creep
#93 Jessie Pitts - Don’t You Worry Child
#116 Reagan James - It Ain’t Over ‘Til It’s Over
#122 Ryan Sill - Ordinary World

DAM NATION

Password: Who ranked first in DAM NATION's Top 12 Review

The Voice 7: Top 10 Results Show

Is it time to ditch this season? I mean, take out Chris, Craig - and probably Matt - the rest are incredibly inconsistent with their performances. Pitch just died this season. Plus, how on earth is DaNica the last woman standing out of the thousands that auditioned? I just don't get it. So yeah, we're left with 7 guys and a woman who's possibly the least interesting out of all the finalists. Do the math.

On with this trainwreck of a show! Ha.

The Voice 7: Top 10

Oh no. The Voice Season 7 is turning out to be a dud. Really. I've never seen a season of The Voice that tanks so quickly. There's roughly two or three people who's turning out good to great performances and the others were mediocre at best.

Oh, and can judges be a lot more honest than blowing up everyone's asses? And was Blake being sarcastic when he said that this was the BEST LIVE SHOW OF THE VOICE EVER? Gawd. I think it's time to mute the coaches' comments starting next week no?

On with the show!

X Factor UK 11: Top 7

Yikes. These themes are getting worse. I don't know what they're thinking, but can they have a theme that's something more modern. It's like I'm watching the second season of X Factor with these songs. Come on, X Factor! You can do better than this.

On with the show!

Movie Review: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1

Even though I walked away from the film feeling almost inevitably let down, due to the simple fact that it was essentially half of a film, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 was a satisfying start to the finale and stood on its own as a fairly good film. True, the whole thing was just one huge buildup for the final installment, which I expect to be absolutely explosive - in all sense of the word - but this one did an excellent job of expanding the story further as the film progressively got much darker. It was gorgeously lensed as the cinematography seemed a lot more sullen and bleak than its predecessor, the visual effects were top notch, the editing was sharper this time, and it was surprisingly well-paced. The cast ensemble were on point. Jennifer Lawrence was excellent, while both Julianne Moore and Philip Seymour Hoffman delivered well-rounded performances. Elizabeth Banks added the much needed light and humor, which very well made up for the darkness and depth of the storyline. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 wasn't entirely perfect, but I consider this one as a preparation for the revelatory kind of finish for the franchise, and yes, it's going to be greatly anticipated. 8.5

DAM NATION: November 2014 Playlist

So yeah, it's that time of the month again! Here's the list of 15 songs that I (personally) fancy, that are already doing good on it's own and maybe some new singles from different artists that will probably - or maybe not - be hits in the next coming weeks in whatever format.

So, there! Enjoy!

1 Outside Calvin Harris (ft. Ellie Goulding)

2 Superheroes The Script

3 Real Love Clean Bandit (ft. Jess Glynne)

4 She Knows Ne-Yo (ft. Juicy J)

5 Sledgehammer Fifth Harmony

6 Coming Back Dean Ray

7 Take Me To Church Hozier

8 Baby Don't Lie Gwen Stefani

9 The Heart Wants What It Wants Selena Gomez

10 Lips Are Movin' Meghan Trainor

11 Wrapped Up Olly Murs (ft. Travie McCoy)

12 Stand By You Marlisa

13 Heroes (We Could Be) Alesso (ft. Tove Lo)

14 Burnin' Up Jessie J (ft. 2 Chainz)

15 Blank Space Taylor Swift

DAM NATION

Password: Who topped my X Factor 11: Top 8 blog?

The Voice 7: Top 12 Results Show

No surprises here. Yes, I would've preferred someone else to be saved by America instead of the other one, but I digress. All three delivered awful to forgettable performances and that caused their demise. Add to that the fact that they performed in the first half of the show.

In other news, it's interesting to see an X Factor UK alum, Ella Henderson, perform on the show. Her live performance of Ghost was fantastic and I still couldn't believe she placed 6th during her season. Tsk.

Oh, and that Wildcard to the Finale was odd. Not sure if I like the idea or not, but I'll get back to it after a couple more weeks.

Results after the jump!

The Voice 7: Top 12

If not for the last four singers, I was seriously ready to call this the lamest Top 12 in The Voice US history! Seriously. Some of them were boring, a couple had terrible vocals, ad the song choices in general were older than dirt. This season had so much potential, but something's just not right. If it was me, we should have a Bottom 8 tomorrow. Ha.

Oh, and coaches, please stop convincing us that the talent is great when it's not. Really.

On with the show!

X Factor UK 11: Top 8

As much as I hated the idea of them singing old songs, this theme usually results to an outstanding performances. Other than Stevi, I thought everyone delivered strong numbers that I'm starting to be a little nitpicky on the performances. Let's hope they'll send home the rightful act soon.

On with the show!

Movie Review: Interstellar

Interstellar was often messy and restless, and occasionally redundant, but just like Gravity last year, this film was a visual spectacle. The sheer detail of the visual effects was astonishing, it was technically remarkable and creatively executed, and it had some of the most stunning imagery I've seen in any film this year. It was visceral and the grandeur was admirable. The casting ensemble was also tremendously talented, but it was the powerhouse performances of Matthew McConaughey and Mackenzie Foy that stood out. With all that being said, Interstellar wasn't Christopher Nolan's best work to date. True, this was possibly his most ambitious in terms of plot and vision, but it came off to me as something that tried so hard to be profound. It threw more science from relative physics to what have you on the fly that things turned very confusing and silly. The pacing was off, the third act was a massive let down, and when I think back to the whole experience, it left me with nothing. I didn't even care much about any of the characters. I won't even pretend that I understood the ENTIRE movie with all the buffet of messy ideas that the film fired in all directions, but Interstellar may be worth a glance, just for its magnificent technical achievements. 8

The Voice 7: Playoffs #TeamGwen

Unlike Pharrell, I had my reservations with Gwen as a coach, but she has really proven herself to be a good one. I was seriously expecting her team to be composed of straight up cannon fodders until today. Her group was relatively stronger than the rest of the competition. We'll see if she can pull it off.

On with the show!

The Voice 7: Playoffs #TeamPharrell

I was loving Pharrell on the show during the Blind Auditions, but he's turning out to be a dud. Seriously. His favoritism during the Knockouts was apparent and his song choices now were horrid. I really thought Cee Lo Green was the worst coach in terms of song choices until we had Pharrell. But let's see next week if things will improve.

On with the show!

The Voice 7: Playoffs #TeamBlake

I didn't think Blake Shelton had much this season, but his team delivered some nice performances. Not sure if the next winner will be in this bunch, but what do I know. Blake's been pretty stellar in carrying mediocre singers into the finals. Ha! I kid.

On with the show!

The Voice 7: Playoffs #TeamAdam

At first, I really thought Adam had one of the better teams this season, but something just didn't connect. I don't know. Most of them had fantastic song choices, but that didn't translate much to the actual performances. To me, there were only two people who delivered solid performances - although the other one was just due to the song choice itself.

On with the show!

Movie Review: Big Hero 6

With an engrossing plot, awesomely lovable characters, genuine humor, and a sharp social message, Big Hero 6 fired on all cylinders with great visual impact and stunning animation. True, some of the characters appeared formulaic and underdeveloped and things got slightly chaotic especially towards the end, but there was something about that film that made all of that forgivable. The pacing was handled well, the humor was wacky, but substantial and never lowbrow, and the voice acting was really good. Visually, the animation and rending were gorgeous, and the technical achievement on this film was stunning with some fantastic set pieces. Plus, Baymax's character design was probably one of Disney's best works in recent memory. Big Hero 6 wasn't perfect, but this was possibly the most enjoyable animated film I've seen this year. If you like your entertainment filled with sophisticated humor, great characters, stunning animation and warmth then this delivers. 9

X Factor UK 11: Top 9

What were they thinking? I get it. Queen and Michael Jackson have fantastic repertoires, but their songs were so overdone with these singing shows, it doesn't excite me one bit. Good thing, a couple of them delivered solid performances, but in general, this was an okay episode.

On with the show!

The Voice 7: The Knockouts Part 3

Well, that was fast. Haha. Tonight, The Knockouts are done and a couple of people delivered some interesting performances, and yes, I finally agree with some of the coaches' decisions. Sigh. This season is turning out to be a weak one and I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to enjoy the show when the Live Show starts. I hope I'm wrong, but we'll see.

On with the show!

Movie Review: John Wick

John Wick, to me, was pretty entertaining, but it seriously left me wanting for something more. I don't know. The action sequences were exceptionally shot, there's a nice subtlety to the cinematography, and the fight choreography was really good. However, the story was just too weak and, at times, silly to support the incredibly executed action scenes. The first few minutes showed promise and the set up was actually quite interesting, but the film was just unable to sustain everything. Good thing, Keanu Reeves exuded a brooding screen presence that somehow made up for some of the film's shortcomings. I liked that he was, at times, vulnerable and he was never untouchable or indestructible. There's a humanity to the portrayal as opposed to the usual lead that's almost superhero like. The stakes were there, and it gave the story a lot more dimension. John Wick was sure filled with cliches with a lot of useless characters, but it was still  a very well staged action film. 7.5

X Factor UK 11 : Top 11

After an awfully weak episode last week, I seriously didn't expect to enjoy this as much as I did. Almost everyone improved and most of the song choices gave each one a chance to rise above the challenge of performing something out of their comfort zones. I'm pleasantly surprised with some of the performances.

Oh, and the twist was rather strange though.

On with the show!

Movie Review: Beauty In A Bottle

Beauty In A Bottle was quite a riot. I seriously wasn't expecting much other than a trite premise, but the overall effect of the film was hysterical. The writing was spot on, the storyline was executed well, and the cast was fantastic. All gave solid, believable, and occasionally completely over the top performances with particular standout Angelica Panganiban. I wasn't sure if her brand of comedy could sustain her part in the film, but she blew me away. Not only was she consistently funny and had an excellent comedic flair, but she also gave her character some great dynamics and dimensions. The humor of the movie was uneven though as some of it lasted too long that the effect wore off fast, especially in Assunta's story, but I digress. It's not epic. It's not revolutionary. It's not groundbreaking. It's not perfect. However, Beauty In A Bottle, on it's own, was one great piece of entertainment. Oh, and what was Belo thinking when she sponsored a movie that made a complete mockery of her brand? Haha. 7