Directed by the band themselves, single and title track Mexico, NY is We Barbarians’ first release since 2011 and comes ahead of an eagerly anticipated new EP due June 3rd. Losing a heap of equipment to Hurricane Sandy last last year, their plans for 2013 were pushed back a little but there’ll also be a tour to come from the exciting Brooklyn three-piece. Shooting snapshots of their faces, the video switches focus between the eyes and mouths of Dave, Nate and Derek to create a creepy and encapsulating video as the boys go a little Strokes-y with their sound. Grab a free download from the band’s Soundcloud page: www.soundcloud.com/webarbarians/mexico-ny

Mexico, NY EP is released June 3rd on limited edition 180 gram vinyl and digital

Fast & Furious 6 tears onto screens with a roar and barely stops for breath during the full 2-hour running time. While it’s nothing revolutionary, the producers have certainly ramped things up for the latest outing as even the subtitles speed away from view.

From the off it seems business as usual for Toretto (Diesel) and O’Conner (Walker) as they roar through the sleepy streets of the Canary Islands but the plot soon takes a twist.

Crashing their way across the globe in pursuit of a military microchip, suave, growling protagonist Owen Shaw (Evans) and his gang of cockney hoodlums need to get their hands on the tech to finish a bomb capable of taking down a country’s entire defence system for 24 hours. Facing an uphill battle to catch the fleet-footed criminals, CIA agent Luke Hobbs (Johnson) enlists the help of the familiar Fast & Furious crew by promising them immunity for the crimes he was tracking them down for last movie, but with ‘vehicular warfare’ on the menu, he sure came to the right guys.

While the plot seems to broadly follow the standard A to B fare for the franchise, screenwriter Chris Morgan has gone to the pains to take this outing from A to B via O and E en route, fleshing out the characters which the main cast have grown into so well. Taking time to tie up loose ends from the previous films, as well as leaving several new ones keep you hooked in the future, there’s a Marvel-esque post-credits sequence right at the end too.

Hobbs, Toretto & co. base themselves in London, displayed in all of its glory as they explore the shining streets of the city to the grimy cobbled streets of East London and finally an affluent Auction House on the river in one of the few comedic missteps in the film. From there they travel back to the Canary Islands to set up for the finale, with Shaw commandeering a tank from a military convoy to make his escape, blowing up, flattening or smashing through anything that gets in his way.

As the action unfolds, the film keeps its tongue shoved firmly in cheek as the set pieces start out ridiculous and only progress from there. Director Justin Lin, in charge of the franchise since 2006’s Tokyo Drift should take huge amounts of credit for his work on keeping the explosions and crashes feeling fresh, exciting and hilariously ludicrous by utilising fantastic camerawork and long sweeping shots of the action. This is Lin’s swansong on the series before new director James Wan (Saw) takes charge on the next one, and he’s done a brilliant job of producing car chases and fight scenes to rival the most hardened of action films.

I never thought I’d consider the original film, 2001’s The Fast and the Furious, to be subtle and understated, but placed next to this it’s a veritable shrinking violet. While it’s difficult to look past the glistening anabolic muscles, exploding cars, flipping tanks and crashing cargo planes, a lot of the charm here comes from the very self-aware script which keeps the tone light-hearted and jovial and lifts the film above being a bland re-run of the previous iinstallments.

This isn’t a film which will win any awards and may not win over any fans who aren’t already familiar with the franchise, but for those who are, or those who are happy to buckle in for the ride, it’s a satisfying next step in a series which brings out the little boy and his Hot Wheels cars in all of us.

★★★★★

I’ve got to admit I wasn’t that excited for Alfonso Cuarón’s sci-fi thriller Gravity, but the teaser trailer will blow you away. George Clooney and Sandra Bullock play two astronauts on a return into earth, only when debris crashes into their space station, they’re left drifting alone into space. Though it’s coming in 3D, at least there’ll be an IMAX release too when Gravity hits theatres October 4th in the States and October 18th in the UK.

Photographer Todd Gross has a wonderful eye for urban photography, spotting the sights that normally pass you by but really show what a city’s about, however mundane..

Check out more of Todd Gross’ work on his Tumblr: www.quarlo.tumblr.com

The lead track from Wild Nothing’s eagerly anticipated new EP, Empty Estate, Heyley Akin’s playful video sees dancing flowers and stick men wander the technicolour streets. Recorded in Brooklyn at Gary’s Electric, the 7-track EP sees Jack Tatum explore a new sound after the hugely successful Nocturne.

Check out more of Hayley Akin’s music videos on her site: www.hayleyakins.com

Empty Estate is out May 14th on Captured Tracks

Joe Toy (Robinson) and Patrick Keenan (Basso) think their lives couldn’t be any worse. Stuck at home with their frustrating parents, Joe’s single dad Frank (Offerman) is awkward, grumpy and embarrasses him in front of the girl he likes, while Patrick’s parents (Mullally and Jackson) dote and pamper him to the ends of the earth.

Then one day walking home from a party, they hatch a plan. Stumbling on a open plot in the middle of the forest, Joe wants the boys to move in, and joined by class wildcard Biaggio (Arias), the three kids come up with such a wonderfully over the top scheme, it’s just so ridiculous it actually works.

Packing a bag of clothes, canned goods and pasta, the boys run away from home to build a house in amongst the trees, scavenging materials from a nearby residential development and taking most of Frank’s tools. After constructing quite an impressive structure, the trio find what almost any teenage boy yearns for; freedom. Going hunting every day (though most of the time they return home with roast chicken from a nearby fast food joint) and growing ‘beards’, everything’s going just to plan, until after inviting friends from school over for the night, including Joe’s crush Kelly (Moriarty), tensions start to rise between the boys, while the police are starting to scale up their inadequate efforts to find the trio too.

While the story and script are terrifically engaging, this is a more of a character focussed film, rewarding the audience for investing your time in their development rather than offering an expansive plot. From top to bottom, the actors turn in magnificent performances, bringing so much life to the fantastic breadth of characters. Nick Offerman almost steals the show and is hilarious as his now trademark grumpy middle-aged man. But it isn’t a frustrating performance; Frank’s intentions are only for good and he’ll charm you in spades as he just doesn’t quite know how to handle a boy who wants to spread his wings. Megan Mullally and Marc Evan Jackson are marvellous too, and feel like they’ve been so happily married for an eternity, so proud and so in love with their boy.

The Kings Of Summer was always going to live or die by the performances of the young leading men, but Nick Robinson, Gabriel Basso and Moises Arias return director Jordan Vogt-Roberts’ faith in spades. Feeling so natural amongst each other and all sharing fantastic chemistry, putting the trio in improv before the shoot clearly helped a lot. Alongside the script, the boys were encouraged to riff off each other and keep rolling with the scene even if something goes wrong. They brings a dynamism and energy to the narrative and even Moises Arias’ Biaggio, who borders on being a little too ridiculouss, gets away with it.

The honesty, charm and authenticity of the dialogue should be at great credit to first time writer Chris Galletta too. Mutual friends of Galletta and Vogt-Roberts were trying to introduce the pair for months before at last each got the idea, and upon reading the script it’s no surprise he jumped to join the project.

The Kings Of Summer is a brilliant, endearing and engaging coming of age comedy.  Shot on location in Ohio and made for under $2m, Vogt-Roberts and DOP Ross Riege have done a really fantastic job getting it to the screen as the film with such beauty. The film highlights the power of friendship and liberation, yet also reinforces that you should never forget how much your parents love you too, even if they don’t always seem to show it. The Kings Of Summer is hugely rewarding and Jordan Vogt-Roberts has crafted a captivating film which is right up there with the movies it’s inspired by. For me this is not only the funniest film of the year, but also the best film of the year to date, and I’d be surprised if anything manages to top it come December.

★★★★★

It’s about time Adam Scott got his chance as a leading man, and while he proves his worth in this gently amusing indie rom-com, I just wish it had a little more bite.

After finding out his was part of a study about children of divorce, Carter (Scott) returns to writer Dr. Judith for guidance about his modern day problems. When younger brother Trey (Duke) gets hastily engaged, Carter is left with the daunting task of getting their long-divorced parents back into the same room, while his own relationship is getting a little stagnant too. Though after Judith decides there’s material there for another book, A.C.O.D., or Adult Children Of Divorce, she realises she’s opened herself up to a torrent of problems she could have never expected.

After Carter’s parents inevitably get back together, it’s unfortunate the plot twists feel incredibly clichéd. Everything is as expected, while the comedy in each character isn’t given time to breathe. For Parks And Recreation fans it’s amusing to see Adam Scott opposite Amy Poehler, only here they’re not so besotted as Poehler plays Scott’s on-screen step mum. Poehler still has most of the funny lines but she isn’t given enough screen time to do her talent justice.

Adam Scott is very reliable and handles his leading man status well, but without enough punch in the script, there are times even the short 87-minute running time feel leggy.

A.C.O.D. is a fun watch, but it feels a little samey in the indie rom-com genre, and while the central topic is quite unique, how they manifest in Carter’s troubles doesn’t feel at all new. The narrative doesn’t really such you in and I felt very passive to the action. In A.C.O.D. everything is said to be going out of control, but in practise there’s nothing you won’t expect. A.C.O.D. sets out to explore what it’s like to have grown up through divorce, but falls back on clichéd plot twists and generic family exchanges when it runs out of new ideas.

Writer/director Stu Zicherman’s last work in Hollywood was co-writing Jennifer Garner superhero movie Elektra, so A.C.O.D. is quite at least a big step in the right direction, but I hope there’s a little more craft and a little more bite on the next film.

★★★★★

Written and directed by Tobias Lindholm, best known for his work on the lauded Danish TV show, Borgen, A Hijacking is a gruelling and lifelike experience. Following the crew of a Danish cargo ship as Somali pirates hijack them, the film sees their protracted negotiations escalate further and further, with the CEO staying in the head office in Copenhagen.

Often a trait of this sort of film, A Hijacking if a very well made film, if not massively enjoyable. In his almost documentary style of filmmaking, Lindholm has achieved an impressive sense of realism and you can certainly see why the film has attracted a lot of attention on the festival circuit. Though it brings to light an often under reported problem in the world, the average cinemagoer might struggle to find much to enjoy.

A little imbalanced in terms of the plot, Søren Malling also really struggles as company boss Peter Ludvigsen, making scenes off the boat awkward and frustrating in equal measure.

★★★★★

While respecting the structure of two Victorian terraced houses, House House by Andrew Maynard Architects brings them together with a new structure across the rear of the terraces. Organised across three levels, the tall house is flooded with light and an intelligent mirror system which gives a greater perception of space yet maintains all of the original brickwork.

Explore more of Andrew Maynard Architects’ projects on their website: www.maynardarchitects.com

Though Tom Ford might not agree, a good short sleeved shirt and pair of shorts are essential for summer in the city. Ontour can help out with the former in the shape of their light blue Mini Pumpkin shirt. With contrasting buttons, a breast pocket and little pumpkins embroidered all over the shirt, part of Ontour’s summer collection, the 70/30 cotton/linen split is also breathable and flexible for cyclists. You can pick up the Mini Pumpkin shirt from Ontour’s online store for €74.95: www.ontour.nl/collection/shirts/mini-pumpkin1/