So I’ve decided to do some legitimate “bloggish” type stuff on here. Yes, I’m still writing creatively, but a lot of the projects I’m working on are a bit more ambitious and will take some time to finish. So, rather than having long lulls in between postings, I’m going to try and do some weekly (maybe bi-weekly???) updates that will keep you guys informed about some of the cool shit (and not-so-cool shit) I’ve come across over the course of the week. I watch a lot of movies, listen to a lot of music and read a lot of books. Some of said media is fantastic and some is atrocious, so I figure I’ll share my findings with you kids.
After all, I have impeccable taste, so you should pretty much worship my opinions.
I’ve included links where I feel it’s worthwhile or appropriate.
Recent music that has been successfully rocking my face:
Band: Autolux; Album: Future Perfect - Picture Silversun Pickups minus some of the pop sensibilities. It’s weird, dirty, dissonant and effects-laden. It’s also pretty fucking atmospheric with stellar production. A lot of people who know me probably wouldn’t expect me to like this band, but I do… so you probably should too. (link to myspace page)
Band: Year of the Rabbit; Album: Self-Titled – So this is the only album released by these guys and it came out in 2003 (I believe). The group features Ken Andrews who was in a band called Failure. He does solo stuff too, which is also kind of cool. Year of the Rabbit is pretty much just awesome, straight-up rock, which you don’t find too often post-2000. This album has incredible production and a fair amount of hooks, which kind of makes me surprised I didn’t know about it until recently. It’s also kind of surprising this is the only album these dudes put out. (link to myspace page)
Song of the week: “Angeles” by Elliot Smith. Honestly, this could be the song of the month or year or whatever. Just a fantastic track. I could seriously listen to it over and over.
Music that sucks and should be illegal to make:
Band: The White Stripes; Stuff That Sucks: Every fucking thing ever done by these no-talent assholes!
So there’s nothing new about the White Stripes; they’ve been around for quite some time and have always sucked. They’ve come to the forefront of my brain recently though because I saw them on Conan O’Brien’s final episode. I love Conan and this was a piece of television history that would have been just about perfect if not for the abysmal performance of The White Stripes. I think Conan has an erection for these idiots, which is kind of depressing, but I can’t stress enough how awful this band is (and I use the term “band” very loosely). Usually if you sing like a douche bag and your only accompaniment can’t play instruments well, you don’t turn into an indescribably popular rock sensation… unless you’re Jack fucking White. I mean seriously, who the fuck did this clown blow to get the fame and critical recognition that he’s gained?? And Meg White… YOU SUCK AT EVERYTHING YOU DO!! AND YOU’RE FUCKING UGLY!! Seriously, these two need to kill themselves. There’s nothing “ironic” about their music, unless you consider it ironic that they suck so shamelessly and everyone loves them. Come to think of it, I guess that is kind of ironic.
Recent movies that have impressed me:
Quarantine: Yeah, I know this was an American remake of some foreign horror movie (“REC”) and all you film snobs will undoubtedly call me pedestrian for not watching the original… but fuck you; sometimes I just don’t want to read subtitles. I didn’t have high expectations for this movie—frankly the whole handheld camera deal (Blair Witch Project, Cloverfield, Diary of the Dead) seems like it’s been kind of overused as of late, but this one was done quite well. The performances were also solid, which lends a lot to the empathy you need to feel for the characters to make a film like this effective. Plus, it didn’t resort to CG for the gore and violence, which always wins points with me. I’ll be honest, I’m completely desensitized and horror movies will almost never scare me in the conventional sense, but I think people would find this one pretty creepy. It didn’t try to do too much and it did a good job utilizing its claustrophobic setting. (link to imdb page)
Eden Lake: This is the most impressed I’ve been by a horror movie in a long time. I think plausibility really aids in the effectiveness of horror, and this film was disturbingly plausible. It also did something that a lot of horror movies used to do, but seems to have fallen by the wayside in recent times: offer some statement or social commentary. This one offers a pretty bleak perspective on the degenerating condition of adolescent behavior and their parents’ involvement in their lives. Warning: this one is not for the squeamish. As I said, I’m pretty desensitized, but this film made me pretty uncomfortable at times. It’s quite brutal, but that brutality is purposeful and efficient in terms of conveying the movie’s “message.” (link to imdb page)
Recent movies that have royally sucked:
Midnight Meat Train: I had pretty high hopes for this one, but was hugely disappointed. It’s based on a short Clive Barker story (awesome) and I had read that it was immensely gory and violent (also awesome). Plus, it got like a 69% consensus on rottentomatoes.com, which implies no Oscar-contention, but let’s face it, critics generally pan horror movies and for one to receive a 69% rating on rottentomatoes is pretty impressive. The movie, however, was not. In the midst of gaping plot holes and poor performances, the film tried to offer some ludicrous and completely undeveloped explanation for all the heinous acts that had been occurring through the course of the film. And those heinous acts weren’t even that interesting. Plus, CG was used for the vast majority of the gory effects and it wasn’t even done competently! Just an all-around disappointment with few (if any) redeeming qualities. Do not jump on board this one! (See what I did there?)
Book Recommendation: The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall
Within the first few pages I was blown away by Hall's ability as a writer. This novel offers some concepts that are pretty out there and the ending seemed a little weak to me, but it's definitely worth checking out. It's original, inventive and incredibly well written. It's also his first novel so I kind of expect pretty great things from this dude. (link to amazon page)
So that’s it for now. I hope this has been helpful or interesting to some of you. Check back soon for more updates.
1 comment:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAOxo8qH_AQ
Big fan.
Post a Comment