Rage Against the X-factor wins!

Have you been following the campaign? If you are unsure which group out of the many thousands Facebook gets through in a year, I am talking about the fan created 'Rage against the X-Factor' campaign.

The X-Factor is a singing competition based in the UK, much like American Idol, or Pop Idol in other countries.

This campaign was set out to make the old, controversial band Rage Against the Machine (RATM) reach the Christmas number 1 in the UK.

Even I was reluctant to believe Rage could win; Considering that the final show of this year's X-Factor was viewed by over 10 million people, whilst the anti-X-Factor Facebook group only had 65,000 members.

I must admit that my views were in-line with the Facebook group. The predictability at Christmas in the music charts had become unprecedented and over the last 5 years, every year an X-Factor contestant has hit the number 1 spot.

Though I admit I watch the show, I have never felt it is fair that someone who 'has always wanted to sing' is able to go from nothing, to a number 1 chart topper in around 6 months.

It especially gets under your skin when you think about the years some bands have to play in awful pubs, clubs and bars that don't really care if they're there or not.

Whilst part of me feels sorry for this years X-Factor winner Joe McElderry, the other part of me thinks if he truly wants to be in the music industry then he needs to get used to the fact you can't jump to instant success, whilst achieving longevity as an artist.

If you're from the UK I'd love to hear what your views are on this, who do you think should have got No.1?

Soft Review

Recently, I watched a short movie as part of my journalism studies - a class that focused on reviwing that week, interestingly enough. Unfortunately I couldn't just hand in one of my previous pieces of work, and so this review came about.

Soft is a short film, a medium that is surprisingly underrepresented when it comes to reviews. I haven't seen a lot of short films myself, true, but the few I have seen (such as Paths of Hate, or The Facts in the Case of Mr Hollow) tend to be finely made, with a certain visual flair to leave a lasting impression. Few such movies are over 15 minutes long, and so tend to be far more focused on grabbing the audiences attention. For many directors, a short film is their chance to garner attention and potential backing from financers for a ful length feature.

Soft is fairly typical in this respect - it is an urban drama exploring the issues of bullying and violence in youth. Some reviewers, like Peter Bradshaw of the Guardian Film Blog favourably compare it to A Clockwork Orange. The plot revolves around a father, his son, and the gang of teenagers who harass them. The course of events is almost entirely predictable, starting off with the son being assaulted and fleeing home, before the gang intimidates the father and then besieges the pair of them in their house. That's about it really - it's readily available on Youtube so feel free to check it out for yourselves.

There is a nice variety when it comes to techniques in this movie - camera phone footage is used in key sections, particularily when the gang is dealing out violence, whilst the rest of the film is presented in a typical fashion. To put it simply, there is nothing new or groundbreaking in this film, but it is a well crafted story told in a minimalistic way, and does a LOT with very little.

Made by Simon Ellis, this short movie has won the International Short Filmmaking Award at the Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for a BAFTA in 2008. Like many short movies, it's readily available on the internet, so do check it out.