Friday, 24 May 2013, 6:00 am

In the 1970, the world was hit by a wonderful new sensation called SOUL TRAIN! This gave start to some of the best performers of Soul, Rhythm and Blues music. It also led to the creation of some of the most inspiring and best written songs in modern music history, songs that still inspire musicians today and enliven any crowd of concert goers. Oddly enough, a lot of traditional musicians find themselves drawn to this music. Some people say it's because its just good music, others dig deeper and draw possible connections between the genres. Like our own traditional music, Soul, Rhythm an...

UL Debating Union and UL Development Society will jointly host a debate on Humanitarian Intervention in the Jonathan Swift Theatre (B1023) on Thursday, 11 October at 7.30pm. Former RTE war correspondent Charlie Bird is just one of the guest speakers attending. He has reported on both Gulf Wars and the Rwandan genocide, among other conflicts. “This House Would Intervene” is the motion to be discussed, the debate will focus on the legitimacy of interventions in foreign conflict. Each speaker will be given seven minutes to speak, and the floor will then open to Q&A from the audienc...

The University’s radio station, ULFM, has begun its second year as official broadcasting started last week. Over 150 students and non-students applied for a slot on the online radio station. Around 50 shows of all genres, from specialist music to specialist talk. The ULFM Development Board is made up of students throughout the University. With the reforms made to the Communications Office, Kevin O’Brien was appointed the first non-sabbatical Station Manager. Programming runs from 11am to 11pm Monday to Thursday and 11am to 4pm on Fridays. Outside of these times there are repeats a...

Brave is Pixar’s newest production. Distributed by Disney, it offers something different from what target audiences have been used to over the last few years. What I mean by this is it has forsaken the presence of its usual grown up comedic humour and gags instead it opts for a story more centered on the child that is its main viewing audience. Brave is set in the days when clans ruled Scotland. The film focuses on the story of Merida, voiced by Kelly McDonald, the spirited daughter of the King Fergus, (Billy Connelly) and Queen Elinor (Emma Thompson) Merida is a tomboy, proficient at...

The relationship between myself and television has always been a strange one. A once avid viewer during my pre-teens we have had a major falling out in recent years. Back in secondary school the only draw of television for me was maybe MTV Rocks, Top Gear and Film4 (all dealing with loud noises as it happens!) and even these have petered out for me. One channel was not worth paying for the whole MTV package on Sky, I had seen all the good Film4 movies to that point, and Top Gear…actually I’d still watch Top Gear but that is still only one show. Television at this moment does not necess...

  As a nineties child, I was enthralled with the masked crusaders antics and spent a considerable portion of my early youth hanging from swings and climbing things that in hindsight should’ve killed me. The problem this creates is that I’m inherently biased in favour of any upcoming film and I openly awaited this new release with a mixture of excitement and trepidation. Thankfully, I can report that the movie itself is pretty good and definitely one for the true believers (if you don’t get the joke your cooler than me). The only real problem I have with the movie is its consi...

  The Five Year Engagement is a diverting film which somehow managed to bypass all my bitter cynical receptors and earn itself some accreditation for a well thought-out, composed and clever movie. The wit is charming without being over the top funny and despite some brief lulls throughout the middle section retains its sense of self until the movie's closure. Thankfully, I can report that the usual discerning nature of romantic comedies becoming pretentious from the middle onwards is wisely avoided here and I have to commend the makers for producing a film which deals with the emotion...

Rock of Ages is for two kinds of people, people who don’t like Glee and people who do like Glee. If you like Glee then you’re going to love Rock of Ages and if you don’t you’re not going to like it very much. The story follows two aspiring young rock stars that land a job waiting tables in Hollywood’s most rocking club The Bourbon Room which is in financial difficulty. The leads are played by relative nobody’s Sherrie (Julianne Hough) and Drew (Diego Boneta). The club is going to go under unless the performance by the rock and roll rebel Stacee Jaxx who recently got kicked o...

Red Lights is a poorly constructed movie that fails to entice the viewer beyond the opening scene. Although advertised as a psychological thriller, the plot fails to define itself as such and regularly alternates between a mystery, a thriller and a love story, blundering all three. The movie frequently tries to engage the viewer with some eloquent speeches about mankind’s desire for belief in the supernatural but not only fails to expand on the questions it raises but avoids them entirely. Sadly, the only questions I found myself asking were things like - was the script writer drunk w...

Director: Ridley Scott Starring: Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron, Idris Elba and Guy Pearce Running Time: 124 minutes Genre: Science-fiction While not up to the level of his Alien and Blade Runner efforts, Ridley Scott's big return to the science fiction genre is still a highly effective and creative thrill-ride that takes a well known mythology (of the Alien film series) and not only reinvigorates it, but turns the series in another and more ambitious direction. But while not being a proper prequel to Alien, it contains many odes and obvious references to th...