When you think of Cardiff as a city you may typically associate it with patriotic red dragons, long-standing castles, fine architecture or, more infamously the renound chippy lane after a night out at Wednesday RetroÔÇÖs (AKA Caroline Street). However, it cannot be denied that WalesÔÇÖ capital is a Cultural hub┬áhere are some of the best cultural venues in Cardiff. Cardiff National Museum and Art Gallery┬áby┬áSadia … Continue reading Cardiff’s Cultural Venues
After mass promotion and media build-up the latest James Bond film, Spectre┬áfinally opens onto Day of the Dead, Mexico City, with a long continuous moving shot through the carnival celebrations as Bond follows a man through the crowds. Daniel CraigÔÇÖs fourth bond film, after Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace and Skyfall and director Sam Mendes second, Spectre is linked back to all three of its … Continue reading Review: Spectre
┬áFollowing the release of PixarÔÇÖs ÔÇÿInside OutÔÇÖ, Eleanor Parkyn interviewed former Cardiff University student Paul Oakley who has been working as a Lighting Technical Director at Pixar for the last 5 years. How did you end up working for Pixar? I did my fine art degree and then I went travelling for a long time and met someone who worked in film and they suggested … Continue reading Interview: Inside Out
The opening scene of The Last Witch Hunter made me think. It made me think ÔÇÿGod, those Lord of the Rings films really were pretty good.ÔÇÖ Some of the opening images, sweeping shots of magnificent vistas, arenÔÇÖt just reminiscent of the Tolkein-based trilogy they are almost ripping it off. And the same goes for the way in which the intrepid band of heroes-on-a-quest are filmed … Continue reading Review: The Last Witch Hunter
ItÔÇÖs the first day of the clocks going back and the first day of Killing JokeÔÇÖs UK tour. The early darkness is appropriate for a band like them, whose gothic sensibilities provided inspiration to many of musicÔÇÖs darker artists, be that Metallica or LCD Soundsystem. Two days after the release of new Killing Joke album ÔÇÿPylonÔÇÖ, Cardiff Student UnionÔÇÖs, Y Plas, fills up with an … Continue reading Live: Killing Joke – Y Plas – 25/10/15
You will like this if you enjoyed: WarioWare DIY, Little Big Planet, any 2D Mario game Initially, Mario Maker doesnÔÇÖt look like much to write home about. The last two Mario platformers released on WiiU were basically ÔÇ£more of the sameÔÇØ, and, were it not for the ÔÇ£MakerÔÇØ part in the title, you might have expected this latest title to continue down that route. Thankfully, … Continue reading Review: Super Mario Maker
A day out at V is For Vintage: An Extravaganza is an ideal alternative to wasting your Sunday in bed. Offering the brilliant, the artistic and the beautiful, the vintage fair took place for the very first time at Depot on Dumballs road on Sunday 18th October and what a successful debut it was. Curated by the wonderful Jessica Keith, the aim of the project … Continue reading V is for Vintage: A Review
Amidst the whitewashing of past and current cinema, seeing a person of colour on our screens is refreshing. Yet, from makeup to putting on accents, the film industry still goes to great lengths to avoid employing actors of colour in the 21st century; because why bother casting a black actress when you can settle for Angelina Jolie with a perm? It’s not hard to spot … Continue reading Film in Technicolour: Problematic portrayals of race in the 21st century
Spoilers suck, plain and simple. No matter how much you try to forget that he dies, or pretend that itÔÇÖs an elaborate hoax, thereÔÇÖs just no escaping that knowledge and the sour, sinking feeling of watching the episode youÔÇÖve been waiting all week for, knowing itÔÇÖs all building towards a moment outlined an hour earlier in some Instagram comment. TheyÔÇÖre called spoilers for a reason. … Continue reading The Rules of Spoilers
Literature and art are often at the centre of revolution. They can spark change within a single person or within whole societies. Mads Banfield explains some of the most prevalent literary movements and asks whether innovation and revolution can take place now. Throughout the last centuries there have been a range of different literary movements, which have revolutionised how language is presented and engaged … Continue reading Literary Revolutions
A band that bridged the gap between the 80s gothic rock sounds of The Cure or Siouxsie & The Banshees and the 90s industrial sounds of Nine Inch Nails or Ministry, Killing Joke have always held a fondness for the darker sides of music. Their previous album, 2012ÔÇÖs ÔÇÿMMXIIÔÇÖ, was a concept album that dealt with themes of the apocalypse, and where do you go … Continue reading Album: Killing Joke – ‘Pylon’
Enter ShikariÔÇÖs January opus ÔÇÿThe MindsweepÔÇÖ brought the rock and electronic worlds into the New Year in fine style. Never ones to keep their fans hungry, nine months later Enter Shikari have decided itÔÇÖs time for another project. This time the same songs as ÔÇÿThe MindsweepÔÇÖ, only reinvented with emphasis on the electronic side. Hospital Records, the label that brought us the Hospitality club nights … Continue reading Album: Enter Shikari – ‘The Mindsweep: Hospitalised’
It has been three years since the release of Canadian electro-rock band, MetricÔÇÖs last album, the well-received ÔÇÿSyntheticaÔÇÖ, but the band, now in their 17th year, are back with their sixth album ÔÇÿPagans in VegasÔÇÖ. The album sees the band take a step away from their rockier roots and moves towards a slower vibe, moving from the electro fused rock sounds that defined their early … Continue reading Album: Metric – ‘Pagans In Vegas’
Just a few years ago the thought of watching horror films and television shows was non-existent for me. An episode of Midsummer Murders was about the level of thrill and fear I could handle without enduring sleepless nights with the light left on. Now, with the rise of the TV horror genre, I, like many others, have watched through my fingers as the gruesome scenes … Continue reading Netflix and Thrill: The Rise of Horror TV
Time travel has been a prominent theme within films and TV shows for decades, and why not? It allows us to explore the possibilities of things that could have drastically changed history and the course of the future. What if someone could travel back in time and give 17th century London the cure for the Black Plague? Will the world be under water in the … Continue reading I’ll Be Back- Time Travel in the Movies
Is there anything more tragic than a racing-movie that never gets up to speed? Well… yes. Obviously yes. There are many things more tragic than that. Testicular cancer is more tragic than that. Becoming so overwhelmed by one desire that you abandon long-held friendships and loyalties can be more tragic than that. Even the story of a talented athlete who feels compelled to cheat in … Continue reading Review: The Program
Here at Quench Culture we love a good offering of home-grown talent, and perhaps thereÔÇÖs no better than┬á’Parallel Lines’. Cardiff-based playwright Katherine Chandler created ‘Parallel Lines’ in 2012, and the following year it ran for fourteen nights at Chapter (arguably our cityÔÇÖs best venue for independent art and drama). Since then, popular demand has meant itÔÇÖs been re-adapted by Dirty Protest, an award-winning Welsh theatre … Continue reading Review: Parallel Lines, Chapter Arts
Spider bake sales, fourth wall breaking skeletons and an extremely terrifying flower, what more is there to say? Undertale, arguably one of the most interesting and soulful games of the year, arrives in the form of a simple throwback to old-style Role Playing Games. What initially began as an inconspicuous crowd-funding project on Kickstarter in 2013, developed into something much larger over the course of … Continue reading Review: Undertale
A gig at the Thekla is always a treat to behold; there is something unique about seeing a band perform in the bilge of a boat. ThereÔÇÖs a buzz when embarking, an excitement in the air. It says something however, when a band formed in 2011 and once hailed as ÔÇ£the UKÔÇÖs answer to The KillersÔÇØ is just selling out shows for 500. When Spector … Continue reading Live: Spector – Thelka, Bristol – 13/10/15
We often see autumn as the season that puts an end to our happy, warm, summer days, as it throws us into the windy and cold reality of having responsibilities. As a get away from the seasonÔÇÖs depressing aspects, an October issue of Vogue brightens up my month. Filled with this seasonÔÇÖs gorgeous trends that I canÔÇÖt wait to try out, we at Quench Fashion, … Continue reading A/W ’15 Style Edit: Womenswear
