The Flying Cub Pup

Hunger

2011-11-28T18:30:00.001-05:00

Stark in appearance and harsh in presentation, Hunger barrels forward with a will full of purpose, mouth full of venom, heart filled with passion and a uncomfortably unwavering eye. Culling the softest moments from imprisoned individuals, the film launches from soothing to searing in no time flat, a terrific one-two punch of cinema carried by Fassbender's stoic performance and McQueen's ability to never flinch. Not for my sake, not for yours.

Suckerpunch

2011-11-28T17:40:00.001-05:00

Short skirts, samurai swords and slow motion parade across a bevy of backdrops and burlesque behavior that's far too tame and unbalanced to be racy or believable. To top it all off, the action is mostly a bore, which leaves us with stereotypical characters acting with little conviction in situations that rarely convince there's ever anything at stake. Zak Snyder's tradition of all style, no substance filmmaking continues with increasingly disappointing results.

Gangs

2011-07-24T12:40:00.000-04:00

By far, the best thing I could have tripped over whilst satiating my appetite for the latest from Ireland's premiere post-rock quartet, Enemies. It only makes sense that their label, The Richter Collective, would release the calculated, melodic mayhem that is And So I Watch You From Afar. Like Mogwai with more punch, Explosions in the Sky with more aggression, and Sigur Ros with shredding, ASIWYFA's relentless attack is only matched by their ability to quickly descend into quiet grooves and incorporate the last of expected flourishes. The rare audible experience that deserves to visual.

Scurrilous

2011-03-25T20:03:00.001-04:00

Protest the Hero return to the fold in their most scintillating release yet, a blistering effort of non-stop enthuse, theatrics, tempo gymnastics and pentatonic pluralization. Melodies soar amidst Daedalus-like labyrinths of fiery guitar work and roaring bass lines (another amazing, nearly understated, performance by Arif Mirabdolbaghi) that puts most other progressive metal to shame. Pulling more influence from classic rock and funk, Protest the Hero delve into and out of syncopated grooves with masterful precision, permeating the ears and trouncing them into submission. It's The Mars Volta meets Between the Buried and Me scrounged into three and a half minutes, and that's a very, very good thing.

A Chorus Line

2011-02-08T12:49:00.001-05:00

Herein lie the saddest songs in the world. For as much bombast and complexity as Marvin Hamlisch's score contains, the emotional center of the characters and the show never fails to come blazing through: To want and be wanted. Passion meets artistry. To do what one loves because to not is to deny ones rite. The original cast is more than capable of encapsulating this, and both group and solo performances tear through the glitz of Broadway and land smack-dab in the center of dissonance as the characters slowly reveal themselves through melodies soft, lush, manic and uproarious, and we are carried along with them through the joy, the pain, the fear and frustration.
"I was pretty, I was happy, I would love to..." Over and over and over again.

In the Realm of the Senses

2011-02-08T12:24:00.001-05:00

Darkly poetic, lyrical even, is Nagisa Oshima's tale of tormented lovers whose erotic vigor serves as a self destructive blueprint for the dangers of obssesion. Sexual compulsion is used as a storytelling device that sends us straight into the unbalanced sense of love that is shared on screen, managing to retain its honesty even when delving into its most voyeuristic tendencies. What's truly amazing is how much depth is conveyed through the depicted actions alone: A terrible passion and a vast desolation.

*Note: In the Realm of the Senses is not rated and contains sexually explicit material.

Dollhouse: The Complete Second Season

2011-02-08T12:02:00.001-05:00

It's a shame when something with this much promise is given the boot, but that's what you get when dealing with a sexually-heightened, conspiracy theory think-piece about human trafficking that also doubles as an action/adventure serial. Joss Whedon keeps the twists churning throughout thirteen barn-burning episodes, and makes all its flaws forgivable by creating characters that are easy to sympathize with. Unsettling in its logic, frightening in its scope, and really damn fun to watch.

Red Desert

2011-01-21T16:39:00.001-05:00

Shrouding itself in fog and the shallowest of focus, Anotonioni redefines the limits of possibility within the boundaries of linear storytelling. Monica Vitti's tortured psyche and gorgeous presentation enhance the immediacy of discontent that is consistently looping throughout her surroundings. Like Tati without the humor, the mechanized clashes with the humanity at hand, creating a dark, droning world where the psycological is given physical application, and even the most terrifying articles become items of beauty.

Last Year at Marienbad

2011-01-21T16:16:00.002-05:00

Victorian architecture surrounds and embodies numerous archetypes in a duel of individuals, wits, memory, romance, and one increasingly frightening card game. Elements blur into a swooning tapestry of perception teetering on the verge of reality, while time takes a backseat to the haunts of upper class aspirations. It enlightens only to discourage, and moves with such grace that we don't mind the darkness.

The Earrings of Madame De...

2011-01-21T15:53:00.000-05:00

What's truly amazing about Max Ophul's opus of desperation due to desire is that the whole entire thing, top to bottom, hangs on a pair of earrings. When you can place that much weight on two small objects and walk away with a masterpiece of lucidity and fluidity, heralds are in order. Endlessly roving cameras capture movement like no other, breathing into the lungs of a body that holds a heart ripe with passion.

Black Swan

2011-01-20T16:50:00.002-05:00

The graceful meets the ghastly, and beauty comes face to face with the wretch. Aronofsky's masterful stoke as a visual and emotional artist culminates into a whirlwind of bedlam as Portman stays on pointe across a glassy sea of wavering psychological disdain, while Tchiakovsky's tumultuos score reverberates as a foreshadowing vehicle that can only spell one thing: Perfection. It manifests soul, evokes reaction, and achieves something with the viewer that this director is slowly becoming known for: paralysis.

Let the Right One In

2011-01-20T16:38:00.000-05:00

Calm, almost humble, and quiet, it paints a shimmering and ironic hope within a landscape of otherwise disconcerting growth. Coming of age meets the bringer of death, as inevitability of both maturity and fictional nature combine in a way that is both touching and disquieting. It remains sullen even in its revelations, and smiles in the face of fate, teeth dripping with blood.

Insomnia

2011-01-20T16:17:00.000-05:00

There's not a spot of warmth in this dark, convoluted thriller. Convential protocol falls prey to moralistic skewing in the pursuit of justice, or is it the pursuit of self preservation? Unblinking and almost emotionless, it plays its deadened characters to its advantage and comes out the other end the victor. We get to come to the crime scene and observe the mess.

Long Live

2011-01-10T23:28:00.001-05:00

Another overwhelming sense of immediacy floods into existence, as The Chariot continues their relentless onslaught of carefully crafted chaos. Mounting to new heights on this latest effort, they again prove why this band is so wildly exciting to listen to: They never cease to surprise. Whether it be beat poet ramblings, screwball samples, viscious breakdowns, clever production, or unabashed intensity, there's never a dull moment when inviting Scogin and crew into your ears. There's nary a quiet one, either.

A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

2010-11-28T00:10:00.000-05:00

A testament to the love of the beat, during a period when rap was a personal expression and not an advertisement. Laid back jazz samples over vigorous drums completed with clever rhymes, usually about penis envy or scoring with honey's, because as front man Dres expresses during one of the albums skits: "I kick about what I know about". And you can't beat that with a bat.

Walkabout

2010-11-24T13:47:00.000-05:00

Haunting, surreal, graphic and compelling, Nicolas Roeg's adaptation of James Vance Marshall's novel is a hypnotic jaunt through wilderness, culture, past and present, sound and image. Juxtaposed with the pains of survival, the furies of sexual discovery through ones coming of age and the misunderstanding of the truest of intentions. Visual poetry firing on all cylinders.

The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie

2010-11-24T13:39:00.000-05:00

Luis Bunuel's biting satire of the upper class, matched with the films frequent fever dreams, make 'Bourgeoisie' bizarre in every sense of the word. One minute we're watching six friends consistently fail to enjoy a meal, the next they're taking potshots at supposed terrorists and listening to soldiers relate stories of fractured pasts filled with ghost mothers and murderous milk. And don't even think about dessert, you'll never make it that far into the meal alive.

The Bank Dick

2010-11-24T13:30:00.000-05:00

Personally, I find W.C. Fields drunken charcter in this piece, Egbert Souse (I'm missing the accent drop over "Souse"), to be painfully annoying. What's redeeming about the film is its rather unkind physical comedy towards children and occassionally wild sight gags (see above). The rest is Fields going about as a drunken bore, and Shemp Howard remaining so composed it's almost frightening.

The Friends of Eddie Coyle

2010-11-24T13:22:00.000-05:00

One of Robert Mitchum's last roles, as Eddie "Fingers" Coyle, is deftly played by the down tempo master. Oddly engaging for a daylight robbery thriller, surprisingly human for it's world of low life's, and quietly complex in the most understated way. Strongly played and carefully directed, it's power lies in its subtleties.

The Venture Brothers - Season 4.1

2010-11-03T20:20:00.002-04:00

Delivering more references to things you grew up with than you know what to do with, Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer's irreverent, witty, and wonderfully drawn series graces us yet again. Split into two parts, Season 4.1 is every bit as good as you remember it being, that is, if you forgot how good it was a few months back when it aired. The decidedly decadent duo (Publick and Hammer) own up to their creative choices instead of writing episodic excuses, and for the better!, as our other decidedly dumbfounded duo (Hank and Dean) delve into their adventures with more at stake than ever before. How much can you take? That all depends on how Batman you are.

Plays Wagner

2010-10-12T21:38:00.001-04:00

Wagner orchestrations slowed down to far beyond recognizable, bringing to mind dreary and bleak landscapes worthy of Michelangelo Antonioni's lens. It creaks, it groans, it haunts. It finds life in taking the life out of its source material. Something this simple shouldn't be this damn interesting to listen to, but it is.

I Mean To Live Here Still

2010-10-11T14:05:00.001-04:00

A lush, loud, ragtime-laced folk exploration, ravaged with booming voices, roaring brass, haunting woodwinds, and a technical appeal easy to enjoy and difficult to dissect. Brilliant.

Heart in Throat #0 - The Cranes Are Flying

2010-08-11T20:07:00.000-04:00

I was thoroughly astounded by this work from Russian filmmaker Mikhail Kalatozov, yet completely unaware of his other works (I Am Cuba, for one), and therefore, was pleasantly surprised by how advanced and inventive this film was. Relying heavily on the power of the moving image, Kalatozov portrays scores of emotional depth through movement and expression. Its power shakes the head and rends the heart, and here (one of my favorite moments in the film) we get an example of both sides coming together.

Veronica (nicknamed “Squirrel” and played by the ravishing Tatiana Samoilova) and Boris (Alexei Batalov) are two young lovers separated by war who, due to some very unfortunate circumstance, are never able to come to terms with his being shipped off before he goes. It’s a series of near-misses that leaves Veronica fairly distraught. The war continues on, and she moves ahead with her life with her parents while antedating Boris’ return. During one of these days at home, the city is warned via siren of a predicted air raid. Veronica heads down to the subway for protection at the chiding of her parents, who insist she goes while they stay behind. Most of the warnings are false alarms anyhow, her father explains, and they’ve both got more important things to do then waste two hours underground.

Upon emerging back into daylight, Veronica departs form the people she met as if it was a casual gathering. It’s an overlooked moment that speaks volumes of how people coped with the aftermath of ones country going to war. However, the moment is short lived, for as soon as she says her goodbyes, a fire truck goes roaring by her.

It takes her not a second to give chase, as it’s going towards her home. The following sequence is sheer brilliance, a mad dash of raging flames and hurried bodies as she bounds the stairs to her now tattered home.

Little touches like this chair, tossed between a support beam and
the railing, give these moments validity and a strong source of life.

She nears her door as a fireman calls after her, demanding she stops. She reaches her hallway, and we’re plunged into darkness with her…

…and when the door is flung open, we are greeted by the scorched remains of her home.

The fireman catches up to her and tries to pull her away from the wreckage, she stares him down, and he looks away, understanding and somewhat shamed by his own intrusion.

As she examines the ruins, the sound of the clock, still ticking and still standing, slowly takes over everything else. No flames, no sirens, no breathing, just the hideous reminder that everything is moving forward, this has happened, and there’s nothing to be done about it.

She wills it into silence.

Did I mention this is only about half way through the movie? But Kalatozov pours on the emotional intensity quickly and quite often. There are several heart-wrenching moments both before and after this one, but this one is the most important: This is the first time Veronica truly experiences loss. True, Boris has gone, but her hope that he will return is what keeps her going from day to day. This event, though, removes her family from her indefinitely. There is no hope for their return, and no hope for Veronica's return to the happy young woman she once was. A brush with death pushes her forward into a changed individual, one who is much more hardened to those around her, closer to a corpse than a living being. And we feel the life immediately lifted out of her, like the air out of our lungs when the moment passes.

Heart in Throat #1 - Blackboard Jungle

2010-08-11T18:46:00.000-04:00

This was one of the first scenes that came to mind when I was deliberating about doing this series. Admittedly, upon re-watching it, found it to be much shorter than I had remembered. However, that only serves to testify to the power of this moment, in which the memory of it is just as powerful as seeing it for the first time. For those not in the know, Blackboard Jungle is a story about inner-city school teachers (centered around Glenn Ford) who are dealing with some of the most destructive and volatile kids in cinematic history. They have a penchant for hurting and defaming others for no other reason than that they can. Several of the teachers are bent on giving up on the kids, shoving them through school and pushing them right into jail. A select few, though, see this as an opportunity to make a difference in the life of the youths.

One of these teachers, (Joshua Y. Edwards, played by Richard Kiley), goes about this by trying to get his students to appreciate their subject (in this case, math) by putting it side by side to something they enjoy, music. He brings in his record collection to share with the boys.

In comes the swarm…

His first class arrives, though they are not the ones he intends to share with, and they beg him to play them something, anything. Despite his attempt, he gives into to their incessant pleas and puts a record on, encouraging them to listen to the time signature.

This, however, ain’t what these cats are used to jiving to. Demanding something peppy, they shove him out of the way and start going through his priceless, irreplaceable collection.

The ringleader shouts out their titles and proceeds to smash them one by one. And for a moment, they’re just records. The kids are yukking it up, the music is playing, but it isn’t until we see how much these records mean to Mt. Edwards that this becomes painful. Here he is, diving for a soon to be deceased recording.

And from there, it’s more of the same: Pull a record, announce it, break it. The teacher gets up and they hold him back, keeping him from stopping the destruction.

And then, in a grand gesture of hateful spite, one of the students upends the whole box, a showering of a lifetimes worth of collecting, gone in an instant at the hands of the insincere.

The appropriate look for those who can’t understand mans inhumanity to man.

And as if to spit in the face that’s just been slapped, one of the students gives him back his glasses (knocked off when he dove for the record) so he can properly survey the damage.

This scene bears so much strength, and plays off several different themes that go far beyond the four walls of the classroom. It calls into question every act of hatred, violence, and cruelty whilst quietly questioning the motives behind all of it. As I mentioned earlier, this scene was much longer in my mind than it is in actuality, but it wasn’t until this current viewing that it actually hit home. I’m an avid record collector myself, and just imagining being in the same situation as simulated here is the stuff of nightmares.

Heart in Throat #2 - Requiem for a Dream

2010-08-11T18:11:00.002-04:00

Darren Aronofsky’s second feature gained him far more recognition than his first piece, ‘Pi’, and while neither film is inferior to the other, 'Requiem...' holds more weight because its story, characters, and locations are far more human than those in ‘Pi’. I believe this is the turning point for Aronofsky as an artist, its here he figured out how to create something that’s artistically fulfilling for the creator as much as it is fulfilling for the audience. This is achieved through large amounts of visual storytelling, and some surprisingly, and not so surprisingly, strong performances (I mean, Ellen Burstyn is in it!). The story is focused on four inter-related characters as they battle with their personal addictions, to their own degrees and in their own ways. The one we’ll take a look into is between Harry (Jared Leto) and Marion (Jennifer Connelly).

Harry sells drugs, lives with Marion, and hopes to use the money he’s making to build a future with her. They’ve got plans to buy a storefront to sell Marion’s clothing, and Harry’s got plans to score a pound of pure, and from there, they’ll be on easy street.

Theirs is a relationship that just seems, soft. They care for each other, and speak frequently of one another in ways that are almost childish, as if they’re fulfilling some deep-seated emotional rut that neither has experienced before. They’ve got their dreams, they’ve got each other, they’ve got coke, speed, and some heroine too. Aronofsky captures one of their tender moments brilliantly, through the use of split-screen.

The moment feels safe. And this is what ultimately puts us in their corner, we’re included. It’s a nice feeling. But as all things must go, things don’t remain as they are. There’s a shortage of supply being moved on the streets, so no one’s buying, and no one’s selling, which leaves Harry in a financial pinch. All the money they’ve been saving up is beginning to fund their habits, with nothing coming back in the door. Marion is convinced by Harry to get some cash via sleeping with her therapist, just to get through the month. This inevitably causes problems between them, as Harry can’t stand the thought of her with another man, but admit to pushing her into it. Things come to head, Harry leaves, and in a most degrading move, leaves Marion the number for Sal the Geep, a glorified pimp.

It’s here the blow gets landed. Harry skips town with his business partner, and the two of them make way for California. However, Harry’s habit of shooting heroine finally catches up with him. His arm is badly infected, and in going to the hospital they are admitting that they are users, and are ultimately jailed. Marion, on the other hand, having no other source of income outside of Harry, and seeing no other option, becomes one of Sal’s girls. As she’s preparing to go on her first outing, she gets a call from Harry.

“Hello?”
“Marion?”
“Harry?”
“Marion, I’ve been thinking about you so much. Are you okay?”
“When are you coming home?”
“Soon…”
“When.”
“…soon…you’re holding out right?”
“Harry…can you come today?”
“Yeah…yeah, yeah, I’ll come. I’ll come today, you just wait for me alright?”
“Okay, Harry.”
“I’m coming back, Marion.”
“Yeah…”
“Marion!”
“Yeah…”
“I’m really sorry, Marion.”
“I know…”

What makes it hurt is the way they talk to each other. It’s back to that childish dialect, that sense of yearning in every line. It’s still a tender discourse, but the subject no longer is. Harry’s outright lie to Marion in “I’m coming back” solidifies the death of what they had. There’s no way in hell he can make it back to keep her from going, and with both of them realizing it, it bodes a despairing end to a chapter that held such promise.

Needless to say, things don’t get much better from there.

Heart in Throat #3 - Magnolia

2010-06-19T00:05:00.000-04:00

Yet another genius piece of work from Paul Thomas Anderson, this one much broader than its predecessor, Boogie Nights. Here Anderson intertwines a whole slew of characters into seemingly unrelated storylines and carefully pulls them together stitch by stitch, much like how Robert Altman weaved his jazz creation, Short Cuts. It’s a beautiful thing to see, but it doesn’t come without its heartbreak. Truth be told, there are multiple arresting moments in this film, but this one is the first that comes to mind whenever this movie comes up.

In the opening montage, the last character we’re introduced to is Jim (John C. Reilly). We hear his telephone personals ad playing over these images...

It’s a surprisingly sad series of shots, especially when combined with the dialogue from his personals ad

“Well hello! This is Jim, I work in law enforcement. I’m an officer for the LAPD and work out of the north Hollywood district. I love my job and I love to go to the movies. I try to stay physically fit, my job demands it, so I’m in pretty good shape. I’m getting up there, though. I’m 32 years old and I’m 6’ 2” tall and I weigh about 180, if that’s important to you. I’m really interested in meeting someone special who likes quiet things. My job is pretty stressful, and I’d hope to have a relationship that is very calm and undemanding, and loving.”

The trick to all this in the visuals, which illustrate that he has room in his life for someone else, in fact, he’s set up his entire living space in wait for someone else to share it with him. Go take a look at those stills again. He’s got a table ready for a group, he’s clean, he’s even limited his motivational posters to his exercise space, and it’s obvious from the first few minutes that he rarely has anyone over. There’s a moment where Jim is talking about his job as if explaining it to someone, but when we finally see him talking, he’s alone, explaining his livelihood to himself. It’s a sad touch to what is an easily likable character: a boy living in a man’s body, treating an adult world with a childlike sensibility. For Jim, everything is black and white.

After the introduction Anderson leaps right into the story, starting with Jim. Here he is dealing with an incredibly obnoxious apartment tenant while checking out her place on a routine call.

And after getting to the bottom of the situation (dead body in the closet), he receives no recognition for the work he single-handedly administered. In fact, when the report of the event is written, he’s consistently shushed and left out of the report. Talk about a thankless job.

Things do start to get better for him. He meets a woman (Melora Walters) and winds up finagling a date out of her. His excitement afterwards is boyishly charming, thanking God for the opportunity and vowing to take care of her

“Yeah! Okay, well, that is what I wait for! I wait for those calls. I wait and I pray, and sometimes Jesus says ‘Jim, I got a surprise for you today. I want you to meet this young lady, okay? Now, where it goes from there is up to you, and I don’t think you’re gonna screw it up’. Okay, and God, I’m telling you right now, I will not screw it up. You gave me an opportunity, I’m gonna treat this young lady right. I’m a happy cop, yeah!”

It’s affecting due to our earlier experience with the character, that when something decent happens to him, our spirits rise with his.

Moments later, he witnesses a suspicious individual and decides to give chase. Jim’s suspicions turn out to be correct, as the questionable character winds up shooting at him. He dives for cover and starts to call for back up, only to realize that in his hurry he’s lost his gun.

This kid's got it.

Jim, now panicked, begins searching for his weapon, to no avail. And this is where it starts to become emotional: his happiness colliding with a touch of self-loathing as he frantically scours the area whilst repeating “Find the gun, Jim! Find the gun, Jim! Find the gun, Jim!”

Jim blubbers out another prayer as we hear the sirens of back up police cars arriving in the distance.

“Oh Lord, why is this happening to me? God please help me figure it out, I’m lost out here. I don’t understand why this is happening God, please God. Whatever it is I did I’m gonna fix it, I’m gonna do the right thing, please God help me find the gun.”

It’s hard not to feel his pain, embarrassment, frustration and fear in that moment. The approaching sirens signaling that he has to admit his defeat to his peers, no doubt a humiliating experience for such a sensitive individual. And for that brief minute, it is we who feel like we’ve been living alone for far too long and are desperate to make some sort of connection.

Heart in Throat #4 - The Fountain

2010-05-15T14:22:00.001-04:00

Probably one of the more polarizing films I’ve seen in the last few years, it’s one I like to show to friends, and I’ve yet to meet one person who thinks it’s mediocre. There seems to be a strong love/hate pull that grabs all who view it, but there’s no denying its dramatic power. Told in three separate timelines (one past, one present, one future), all of which feature Hugh Jackman as a man on a mission to overcome death. In the present timeline, he’s a neurosurgeon (named Tom) who’s desperately fighting against the impending death of his wife Izzy (Rachel Weisz), trying to find a cure for her ailment. He’s been operating on a monkey, Donovan, with similar conditions to Izzy’s to no avail for some time, and the amount of time he spends at work versus with Izzy is beginning to upset her. So at her request, he puts aside work and spends the night in her hospital room.

While she dozes off, Tom picks up a book Izzy’s been working on throughout her sickness and eventually nods off to sleep himself.

He’s awoken by the sound of her flat lining.

Tom frantically begins CPR, signals the nurses, and it’s only a matter of moments before he’s forced out of the room.

The desperation he’s feeling and sense of incapability to do anything comes through here in spades (thank you, Darren Aronofsky). If the shot above isn’t a perfect example of being eclipsed by something greater than yourself, I’m not sure what is. On top of that, the multiple levels of helplessness that pile on each other in just a few seconds is astounding (he can’t help because he’s forced out of the room, can’t help because he’s not running tests to find a cure at work, can’t help because nature ultimately trumps man, etc.). And that is portrayed flawlessly by Jackman (who is the man, if you haven’t heard).

As if the implications weren’t enough, Aronofsky slips in a small sequence of shots that encapsulate the character’s struggle.

Out in the hallway, Tom runs into one of his co-workers (Ellen Burstyn), who’s just come from their lab with news that the most recent serum they’ve developed for Donovan has taken, and its symptoms are rapidly disappearing.

The brief exchange rattles Tom. The knowledge that the cure for Izzy’s disease is now available while she’s in the next room slipping away makes for one unpleasant newsflash. He races towards her room…

only to find...

The doctors try to keep him away and he explodes in a fit of violence.

The hospital staff stands down, and Tom goes about a sad, last ditch rescue effort to bring his wife back.

The sequence bows out as it began, from far above. And before exiting into the films next moments, we’re left with this…

Unable to accept his failure to save his wife, the very reason for his work, we are giving his ignorance, his inability to allow for this to be true.

The reason this moment is so strong is due to Hugh Jackman, he really sells this. There are a lot of reasons as to why a sequence like this shouldn’t work, but he overcomes them all with some frighteningly passionate acting, relying more on expression versus movement. There’s a moment when he’s choking one of the doctors in Izzy’s room, zoned out in a violent stupor, and when he comes back down and realizes this isn’t what he wants, that he should be trying to save Izzy, well, you could tear down a wall with the look he gives. And we, with each heart breaking second, are right there with him.

Heart in Throat #5 - Ikiru

2010-05-12T15:09:00.001-04:00

*Heart in Throat: A one week series of scenes from films that have consistently given me pause, choked me up, or pinned me to my seat.

Akira Kurosawa’s masterwork explores the wonder and fulfillment of life through the possibility of death in grand fashion. Kurosawa has always had a touch for illustrating the depths of humanity in his work (even his cop thriller, High and Low, has a surprisingly human element), and it’s in full force here. Centered around Kanji Watanabe (Takashi Shimura), a public service administrator, who upon the realization that has an incurable stomach cancer, sets out to actually make something of himself in the few months he has left. But that’s not what we’re after today, instead, you’ll get a taste of his rationalization/reaction to the news of his upcoming passage.

Kanji lives with his son and sons wife, who both gripe about him behind his back, are wondering when he’s going to up die, and hope he doesn’t spend his their inheritance on a young mistress before he passes. Try as he might to convey the news of his illness to them, their constant accusations regarding his odd behavior convince him to stay quiet. Holed up in his room, he begins reminiscing about his long deceased wife, and remembers vividly the ride in the funeral procession, sitting next to his then young son and coming to grips with being his sole provider. Bringing him out of his thoughts is his son’s voice, calling for him.

His mood changes, and he hurriedly rushes toward his son’s voice, the anticipation of being needed and wanted, hoping to have a reunion with his son, it all comes through his face in the few seconds between his room and the stairs. He calls his son’s name back, beginning to climb the steps. “Don’t forget to lock up down there”, his son calls down to him.

I don’t think you could ask for a more defeated position. The request of his son matched with his previous flashback draw perfectly on each other, that when he crumples on the stairs, so do you.

Amplifying this are the films following moments, in which he continues to reminisce about his son growing up. The pride he felt watching his son play baseball…

…the shame of admitting it’s his son when he’s caught trying to steal second base.

The strength he tries to relay to his worried son, going in to get his appendix removed.

The fear they both experience as his son heads off to war…

…all this over a soft chorus of Kanji whispering his son’s name over and over (“Mitsou, Mitsou, Mitsou…”). It’s powerful stuff, and enough to leave the viewer feeling as alienated as the lead by its end.

Heart in Throat #6 - The Taste of Tea

2010-05-11T10:55:00.000-04:00

*Heart in Throat: A one week series of scenes from films that have consistently given me pause, choked me up, or pinned me to my seat.

Easily one of the most gorgeous films I’ve seen in recent memory, The Taste of Tea is one of those slice of life pieces that’s as calming as it is strange. It spans the lives of the Haruno family, a group of misfits and dreamers in their own right, their triumphs and travails, stories and songs. What we’ll see here is a travail for one of the family.

The gentleman on the right, I should've mentioned the family is fairly strange...

The uncle in question is a graphic artist, he dreams of “his mountain”, and it’s his birthday.

Everyone’s leaving his studio for the night, and one of his employees is explaining to him that she won’t be going home that night, and will be coming in late in the morning. She wraps with, “don’t call my house again, okay?” He nods.

The second she’s out the door he’s on the phone, informing her husband she’s having an affair.

Moments later, we witness his reward for keeping a moral compass and denying the wishes of his employee.

At first, it’s pretty funny: This tiny woman tossing him around like a rag doll, him flailing about and enduring some really dramatic crashes. But right around here it grows cold. His cries get more desperate, her attacks get more violent. Observe...

The combination of his moans matched with the exaggerated face-stomping sound effects make a greater impact than expected. It’s pretty damn depressing, as the viewer is left to watch with this feeling like they’re somehow contributing by watching. It’s a singular moment in a film filled with matchless exuberance, but a necessary portion. Still, by the end, it’s hard not to feel bad.

Heart in Throat #7 - Boogie Nights

2010-05-10T12:29:00.000-04:00

*Heart in Throat: A one week series of scenes from films that have consistently given me pause, choked me up, or pinned me to my seat.

PT Anderson’s epic about the 70’s porn industry and the rise and fall of one of its “stars”, Eddie Adams (aka Dirk Diggler), is as well rounded a film as they come, and a huge leap in the right direction from his debut feature, Hard Eight. Boogie Nights put him on the map, and it’s no surprise why: For a film whose catalyst for plot is pornography, Anderson delivers scores of emotional depth, humor, and the sadly heartfelt reality behind each of these stars. Human through and through, they all deal with the repercussions of their careers in the world outside of the one in which they mean everything, where the shoestring glamor they’ve basked in doesn’t amount to anything, an expert juggling act of the person behind the object. Within the fist half hour, we see Eddie’s (Mark Wahlberg) transition into the industry, and Anderson’s ultimate push to get him there consistently grabs me with each viewing.

It opens on Eddie’s mom, waiting up for him to get home from work. He’s been out auditioning for Jack Horner (Burt Reynolds), and while she has no idea where he’s been, she has her assumptions and therefore sits up half the night looking like death.

If I knew this was waiting for me at home, I'd stay out all night too...

Eddie comes home, and she lays into him. In a matter of seconds, she covers everything from his sex life to his education, continually insisting that he’s stupid and worthless.

This is the first time we see Eddie for what he is at heart, a sensitive individual who’s living under the impression that he’s going to be big someday (what kid doesn’t?). Everything preceding this moment showcases him acting like a happy-go-lucky teenager, working a dead end job as a dishwasher at a club and using his “gift” (ie, enormous penis) to pick up some cash on the side. He feels like a stud, but here at home, its obvious the feeling is that of castration.

Eddie starts to pack up his things in a confused and angry state, and Mom really gets into it.

"What do you think you're doing? You think that's your stuff? That is not your stuff! You didn't pay for it! That is not your stuff because you didn't pay for it, stupid! None of this is yours! You leave here, you leave with what you've got...nothing!"

And the verbal is only half of it…

And then Anderson lays the blow square on the jaw. While we hear the mother shouting and Eddie blubbering, he cuts to this…

This might be the saddest dolly shot I’ve ever seen, and it speaks volumes. Everything you wanted to know about this family’s dynamic is spelled in caps right there. And it hurts: the defeated father wearing a look of desperation, too paralyzed by his raging wife to defend his own son. Compare that to the character of Jack Horner, who takes Eddie under his wing as a listening, compassionate, respected, father-figure (albeit porn director), and there’s no question as to why Eddie abandons home and heads off to work in the movies.

It's a powerful moment in a strong film that tells more than it shows, a feat to respected, for sure.

Top Ten Films of 2009

2010-04-05T23:16:00.000-04:00

Yes, I'm fully aware how late in coming this is. Still, these movies are great, regardless of when the list gets published.

10. Extract
Mike Judge is someone I've always considered to be an underdog. No matter how long his shows run, or how big of a cult following his films develop, he's consistently given the short end of stick in one way or another. The tradition continues with Extract, probably the funniest and most overlooked comedy of the year. Jason Bateman stars as a stressed out business owner on the verge of selling his company with hopes of an early retirement, but not before a drifting con artist starts temping under his employ and convincing a recently injured employee to sue him for all he's worth. Judge's perspective shift (from employees with idiot bosses, Office Space, to bosses with idiot employees) comes across well, as he seemingly muses between his past and present. It feels natural, which is fairly uncommon in the world of comedy today. But when you've got Kristen Wiig, Mila Kunis, J.K. Simmons, Ben Affleck as stoner and Gene Simmons of KISS appearing as a bus stop bench promoting lawyer, I guess anything can happen. And Judge is pro enough to make sure it does.

09. Coraline
Vividly animated and wildly imaginative, Henry Selick's brainchild of a monster filled morality tale is more fun than that feeling you get right before you get caught with your hand in the cookie jar: pure, unadulterated, child-like excitement. The fluidity of the animation is astounding, and the cinematic sequences are just about the most creative inventions you'll see. Where Pixar excels in crafting stories that are equally understood and felt by its audience, Selick seamlessly creates something that can be appreciated by those who understand the depths of what he's doing, and those that don't.

08. Up in the Air
If you need a reason to like Jason Reitman, outside of the fact that he makes really damn good movies, you don't have to look too far to find something worth taking home and keeping around long enough to considering marrying and having multiple children with. For me, it's his affinity for title sequences, but I'd just as easily take his ability to tell stories that cater to nearly everyone with alienating a single member of his viewing public. Up in the Air is a continuation of that gift, making its point without preaching it, and doing so with some brilliant actors (I love you, Vera Farmiga). Strong enough to stay with you and subtle enough to slyly shift your paradigm.

07. Fantastic Mr. Fox
Wes Anderson. Alright, now that you've got your bias up and ready, please read: the maker of the most enjoyably impersonal films has made one you can watch with your kids and not hate anyone in except the villain (yes, there's a defined villain, three actually). Stop-motion animated in all it's clunky gloriousness, Anderson manages to fit his wit, whimsy, and flair into a unique little package that's brisk as the breeze and feels like the fall it takes place during. Voiced by Wes' regulars (Owen Wilson, Jason Schwartzmann, Bill Murray) and plenty of newcomers (George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Willem Dafoe), this zippier-than-your-jacket comic caper is all kinds of adjectives!

06. Up
No surprise that this won Best Animated Feature at the Oscars, because Pixar has got the strongest sense of what makes these animated films work: heartfelt storytelling. Honestly, no other company I know of can take a subject like a females inability to conceive and make kids and adults get it in the same breath. It's an art, and they're at the helm. Match that kind of keen insight with lush imagery and comedic timing that can't be topped, and you've got why Disney scooped them up once cutting them loose, and why they'll always be nipping at their heels.

05. A Serious Man
Those crazy Coens! Not only do the churn out movies at an alarming rate, but these self written creations are some of the oddest things in recent cinematic history (in the largely distributed realm, that is). What's so strange about their films is that they take something normal and just skew until it falls way left of normalcy (much like Twin Peaks did with the standard murder mystery plot). So we start with a Jewish college professor on the verge of tenure and end with hand written books about unraveling the universe, blackmailing students, tornadoes, hebraic text on the backs of teeth, the word "Mensch" and Jefferson Aeroplane. Don't ask. Watch.

04. Between the Folds
The most mind bending and exciting documentary I've seen in years just so happen to be about people who fold paper. Origami gets dissected by first time filmmaker Vanessa Gould, and underneath her watchful lens, we're treated to a wide variety of individuals within the world of paper folding. From purists, perfectionists, craftsmen, scientists and anarchists, each give their unique view on the act and lead us to a new understanding of the potential this activity holds. Nothing I write down is going to do it justice.

03. Antichrist
If there's one thing to admire about Lars Von Trier, its that he's fearless. He shamelessly goes where no one else will dare touch, rivets and revolts you with no room for compromise. That said, Antichrist is the most difficult film on this list to stomach, but it also features the most astounding performances and gorgeous construction. It's a double-edged sword, and there's a large amount of truth to what Trier is doing. There's a lot of beauty to be had, and a large amount of pain to go along with it. It's that understanding of the human experience that makes Antichrist what it is, an instantly engaging and terrifyingly lovely film.

02. Inglourious Basterds
Okay, we got Brad Pitt killin' Nazi's. Which sounds more like Natzee's when he says it. And we've got a ragtag group of middle aged would be war heroes doing the same under his command. And we got Quentin Tarantino re-imagining World War II. I smell good things, and to be honest, I saw good things too. Tarantino has trimmed his form down a lot since Reservoir Dogs, and his latest effort is the leanest expression of his talents yet. Harnessing the powers of the unknown-to-America Christoph Waltz, who's ability to grip you by just opening his mouth, Quentin has done one of those paradoxical things that would make Doc Brown grab his hair and exclaim "Great Scott!" He's re-written history while forging a new future for the possibility of the period piece.

01. The Brothers Bloom
Coming off the success his independent neo-film noir masterpiece Brick, Rian Johnson upped the ante for himself by piecing together an elaborate tale of brotherly love, and what it means to steal really expensive things from people. For brother Stephen, it's an outlet to write out capers with over-arching plot lines and character development. For brother Bloom, its how he feels like he has a place in the world, only he knows this world is one giant fabrication, and wants out. This was the only film this year that I went and saw several times in theaters, and wanted to start over again each time it ended. Johnson's knack for delivering characters we can care about is unmatched, all while keeping the tone at a cool 50-some-odd degrees. It's the balancing act of style versus substance, and Rian's in the middle of the scale watching everyone else plummet beneath, grabbing at his shoes.

The Flying: Top 5 Albums of 2009

2010-02-22T09:44:00.002-05:00

05. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest

There are few criticisms to be thrown at the chamber-pop indie stars, Grizzly Bear. Their landmark album, Yellow House, drew in millions of new listeners with their haunting, whispy melodies and upbeat rhythms. Many people, including myself, still consider Yellow House their best album, but Veckatimest proves its place in a discography that is bound to continue escalating. Daniel Rossen’s signature slapbacked electric guitar tone keeps a steady pace as Ed Droste’s moaning vocals take us to another world entirely. Complete with an appearance from Beach House lead singer Victoria LeGrand, “Two Weeks” is a solid second track with piercing wurlitzer and complex off beat drums. One can really tell how much time was taken during the production of this album as every little noise and effect seemed well thought out and intelligently placed. The Brooklyn natives are at the top of their game, and it is oh-so-enjoyable.

04. Dodos - Time to Die

There are only a handful of two man bands that can truly impress; one of them is The Dodos. Well, let’s be real, now they are officially a three man band since the addition of Keaton Snyder on vibraphone, but their rise to indie fame can be credited almost entirely on their sophomore full-length, Visiter. The whole of that album had them filling sound with guitars, drums, and Meric Long’s memorable melodies. They created tension, excitement and joy within each track. In “Time To Die,” they took their dynamics and toned them down a bit in exchange for more mature forms of songwriting. Please don’t take the phrase “toned them down a bit” the wrong way, I simply mean that they’ve concentrated their songwriting skill into songs that will grab you, shake your shoulders, shout in your face, but then apologize and compliment your hair. They seem forceful at the start, but then you realize that they’re softly delivered both melodically and rhythmically. The Dodos are truly finding their place in the world as a solid folk band, and with great reason.

03. Holiday Shores - Columbus'd the Whim

Now and again there are movements or “trends” in music that some choose to follow and others, stubbornly opting to appoint what they call resilience, do not, afraid of what may happen when change comes into the picture. Then there are those who take those trends and run with them, usually producing a revolutionary new sound. Now who’s to say that this sound is original, barring the theory that nothing is original anymore; they could just be reinventions of classic or old sounds. Still, it seems refreshing to hear some slap back on their clean guitar tones, or some massively reverbed vocals shooting forth from some Beach Boys inflected harmonies. Tallahassee, Florida is where they reside; Holiday Shores is their name. Their debut, “Columbus’d The Whim” is quite a jaw-dropper, showing off a haunting sound that is equally catchy as it is perplexing. Lead singer Nathan Pemberton’s vocals are anything but convoluted despite the moderately dense lyrical content, and the surrounding sounds lend a danceable hand to the flowing verses. I am very happy to have stumbled upon this promising southern act, and eager to see what the future holds for them.

02. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

Success can be defined in many different ways, and, of course, it is completely subjective. If you define it by being amongst the best albums of 2009 on most top indie review sites, having your single featured on a Cadillac commercial, a feature film, and most likely millions of hipster kids’ iPod screens, then you can consider Phoenix very successful. Their good fortune is well deserved to say the least, an album like Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix seems few and far between considering the genre it belongs to. Upbeat, catchy, listenable, and you guessed it, emotional. All these attributes describe millions of alternative rock albums throughout the years, but dare I say there is definitely something different about Phoenix’s fourth studio effort. From the instantly catchy “Lisztomania” to the two-part “Love Like a Sunset,” and finishing out strong with “Armistice,” this album listens like a powerful short story, eager to be read and re-read. Thomas Mars’ tremendously clean vocals are catapulted into timelessness by Laurent Brancowitz and Christian Mazzalai’s vice-tight guitar riffs. Every aspect of this album seems perfect, and for that reason I consider it hypnotic, but a bit inaccessible.

01. Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca

There are only a few bands that live up to the hype that is bestowed to them, and one that is even more hip than the hipness they’ve acquired is Dirty Projectors. Hip. Hipster. Hipstomatic. It doesn’t matter how cool you are, when it’s all said and done, it comes down to what’s on that compact disc, or, that illegal zip file rather, right? Or, wait… maybe, torrent file? Is that it? Oh, wait, maybe you could actually go out and buy that album with currency. This is doing no good.

As usual, I was on that oh-so-popular independent music review site that is over-respected because their office is in Brooklyn, and I saw some considerable hype for a band with a strange album cover. That cover, which consisted of two female members of the band facing each other with prime color amoebas melding into each other, was the façade to Dirty Projector’s Bitte Orca. I think I listened to the entire album in one sitting and then started it over. Realizing I had to leave for work, I put it on my iPod, picking up right where I left off. Let’s just say this album blew me away without question.
Normally I enjoy albums more when I have to grow to love them, because I enjoy the graduation to enjoyment when I get used to a band’s style or becomes attached to the tracks. But this was not a normal album my friends, oh no. This is the perfect blend of complex art-rock and catchy pop fun. This is the pinnacle of ultimate listenability.

From the off-kilter opener “Cannibal Resource” to the utter beauty of “Two Doves,” (memorably delivered by Angel Deradoorian) and closing with the gently delivered “Flourescent Half-Dome,” this album truly lifts you up, and never lets you down. David Longstreth’s compositions are a perfect display of someone who is obviously at the top of his game. He’s able to get your head bobbing, but then stopping because of, what is it, a timing change, or a syncopated rhythmic explosion? Hey, no one likes an interrupted head-bob, but instead of a grunt, I couldn’t help but smile. If you’re thrown off, DP will reel you back in with one climactic resolution after the other (and I’m not talkin’ about a musical resolution people, they’re smarter than that).

If you have room for one more new year’s resolution, make it buying Bitte Orca by Dirty Projectors; you’ll regret it about as much as you regret voting for Obama.

Cub Pup: Top 10 Albums of 2009

2010-02-18T11:26:00.013-05:00

I know it's a bit late in coming, but I can safely say that I listened to far more music last year than any other year I've experienced, purchased more albums, found more bands, and went out of my way to listen to things I generally would not give the time of day (the results varied). So whittling down this list took longer then expected. Overall, 2009 was a good year for music. I hope it was for you as well. Enjoy!
*The Flying's Top 5 Albums of 2009 coming soon!

10. The Chariot - Wars and Rumors of Wars
Relaxation does not seem to be on The Chariot's collective mind, ever. While they've developed a structure for their chaos that works very well (hit hard, hit fast, hit often), this album, thankfully, features them at their most musically progressive state so far. The Chariot has always had a penchant for surprises, whether it be odd samples or instrumentation, and 'Wars...' features some of their best uses of those elements. From Cathedral bells to reverse looped drum beats, even yanking a couple of seconds out of a Danielson track, the choices are splendid and the execution flawless. Best of all, the bands overall improvement in song writing dynamics really comes through, as they selectively allow songs to build or crescendo versus smacking you across the face for a full half hour. That's not to say they don't smack you across the face, because they do, a lot. But if that's pain, then I'm a masochist.

09. The Mountain Goats - The Life of the World to Come
John Darnielle never disappoints. I know Conor Oberst gets lauded as one of the greatest songwriters of our generation, but I think that's a gross misstatement. Darnielle has, through The Mountain Goats, crafted some of the most personal, gut wrenching, and enjoyable songs ever written, making him an unsung hero of sorts to those who are fortunate enough to be in the know. Continuing in the rather quiet pattern he's forged recently, 'The Life...' contains a broad spectrum of sounds that well encompasses the abilities of the Goats. Whether soft and barely discernible, or rollicking and hollering, Darnielle and company never fail in sounding fresh. Plus, when your album opens with a line about being a crystal healer with a expanding ministry, good things are in store. While not a religious album by any means (rather, "...ten hard lessons the Bible taught me..."), each song is named after a biblical passage, and the connections between the verses and Darnielle's trademark lyrics allow the album to reach a level of poignancy that wouldn't be there otherwise. Religious or not, The Mountain Goats could preach to me any day.

08. The Bad Plus - For All I Care
While most famous for their unique jazz covers of modern pop tunes, The Bad Plus should not be overlooked for their technical prowess and ability to let loose with classical compositions. All three of those elements are present on their latest record, 'For All I Care'. This time around, the trio adds another dynamic to the mix, vocalist Wendy Lewis, who accompanies the boys on the cover tracks (which include Nirvana's 'Lithium' and Pink Floyd's 'Comfortably Numb'). Her presence on the record draws a strange dichotomy that has not been there on the bands past efforts. While welcome, Wendy's vocals make the pop covers feel a little more like pop songs, while simultaneously allowing the band to be more experimental and diverse behind her, seeing as they don't have to structure the songs around melodies they're playing. It comes across as something that's held together but rattling like hell at the hinges. However, when the band kicks into the albums few instrumental tracks, that's when things really come together. Lest we forget, they are a jazz trio,and when they revert to what they are in the first place, it's so head spinning, it's a wonder they ever did anything else.

07. The Paper Chase - Someday This Could All Be Yours, Vol. 1
While not recording and producing for the likes of St. Vincent, The Appleseed Cast, Explosions in the Sky and The Mountain Goats, John Congleton is writing and fronting for The Paper Chase. If you like the groups he's worked with, there's a good chance you're going to hate what he does in his spare time, as it's the furthest from what his resume suggests. Wailing vocals, screaming guitars, shuddering basses all in time with strange-as-all-get-out dialogue samples, Congleton writes and performs like some kind of macabre genius. This latest effort is centered around natural disasters, personifying them with some human capability (move over Neko Case with your romantic tornadoes, The Paper Chase has some raping floods coming). And whether he's singing the scariest rendition of 'He's Got the Whole World in His Hands' you've ever heard or calmly, softly singing of how "God is everywhere", Congleton and crew consistently keep it creepy and engaging. Forget Ryan Gosling's Dead Man's Bones, cause The Paper Chase practically wrote the book on the bizarre, and their latest chapter's a good one.

06. The Mars Volta - Octahedron
Lead by the duoic of Cedric Bixlar-Zavala and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, who, besides having fairly long names, have some pretty long-winded ideas. These creations have been coming out in fairly rapid succession over the past decade. They're alarmingly intricate and well thought out, and the amount of content they've accrued in under ten years makes them one of the hardest working bands in existence (not to mention the load of side projects nearly everyone in the band is involved in that put out at least a record a year). Needless to say, the frenetic stylings they're famous for seem to have finally worn them down to a point where they're ready to take it slow for awhile, and that's where 'Octahedron' comes in. The changes are immediate and surprisingly sensible. It's well over a minute into the album before we hear anything other than a synth drone, and after that things maintain a low key, almost down tempo demeanor. This is not, however, a sign of weariness, merely that The Volta are content with taking things down a whole mess of notches. They've proven in the past that they can write a killer groove, and this album features some of their best, matched with more prominent and effect free vocals, along with compositions that are now free to build themselves moment by moment. Yet another testament to the expansive skill and musical intuition that is The Mars Volta.

05. mewithoutYou - it's all crazy! it's all false! it's all a dream! it's alright!
Over the years, as mewithoutYou frontman Aaron Weiss has spun yarn after yarn about faith, convictions, and nature, there's been one consistent trend: He becomes a little less angry with each album. For example, the first words on the bands debut album, '[A->B] Life', was a guttural holler proclaiming “Let us die! Let us die!”. The first words on this record, their fourth, are a humbly muttered “Every thought a thought of You”. The changes are that drastic all around. The musicianship has diversified to the point where the base of each song as a simply strummed guitar, then accentuated by a marching band of other instruments, compared to their standard five-piece set up. Best of all, the changes are good. Weiss is still spinning some pretty intricate tales, and the folk based song writing compliments his rambling ways well. Running the gamut from pastries, mammary glands, and forgiveness, the lyrical content is vast, and the delivery makes it every campfire sing along's envy. mewithoutYou may have put out their best record yet, which makes it an even bigger shame that it’s their last.

04. Cursive - Mama, I'm Swollen
Tim Kasher is one intelligent, often pissed off guy with a way of looking at the world and its workings in light that rarely shines elsewhere. That’s part of what makes Cursive so unique, because even if you don’t agree with Kasher’s views, you’ll no doubt find his perspective engaging. This is proved once again with ‘Mama...’, a loose concept record that’s compiled with what feels like a lifetime’s worth of work. With age comes wisdom, and the deepening understanding/personal opinion of the world expands with each song, so much so that there is a mutual understanding when Kasher closes out the last track with a cacophany of shouted “What have I done?”’s. He conveys himself so well, that even if it’s not necessarily understood, the listener just gets it. Cursive’s strength has always been in how personal everything feels, both in sound and word, and that comes across here in spades. Even though they’re getting up there in age, the band shows no signs of slowing. I, for one, am grateful.

03. Dan Deacon - Bromst
An electronic wizard in every sense of the term, Dan Deacon has been making mind boggling sine wave compositions an dance music for years. ‘Bromst’ delivers us with the most accomplished work he’s ever completed, a whirling force of sounds colliding into gorgeous erections, monuments to his keen insight into all things that make noise. Combining both the electronic and acoustic worlds, Deacon fills the void between the two, finding a harmonious center in which both can exist separately whilst complimenting the other. Beyond the feat of making it all work, Dan goes a step further to deliver not only technically astounding creations, but entirely catchy ones in the same instance. From wildly looped pianos to chopped up vocal sections, endless arrays of percussion based instruments to his trademark beats, Deacon is consistently expanding his horizons and making it accesible to everyone. Like Jesus given access to synths, glockenspiels, and lots and lots of effects pedals.

02. Thrice - Beggars
Fresh off their expansive and imaginative ‘Alchemy Index’ project, Thrice shifts gears again, this time into simpler song arrangements and a more direct delivery. The beauty of it, is that their songs are so good, no additional filler is needed. I’d miss a good musical interlude or solo if it was a necessary component of what they’re doing, but it’s not. Thrice wisely chooses to skin the fat off their current work and deliver a stripped down, emotional, and powerful collection of tunes. The result is a blues laced, dirty sounding record that can be as aggressive as it is reserved, as convicting as it is uplifting. One look through frontman Dustin Kensrue’s lyrics is proof enough he’s imparting as much wisdom as ever, and one listen shows that though this band may change, it’s always for the better.

01. Between the Buried & Me - The Great Misdirect
I already wrote a review for this album a short while back, so I’ll keep this short. This album is nothing short of incredible. Though a late comer in the year (released in October), it has grabbed my attention more than any other release, and has consistently brought me back to it, try as I might to distance myself from it. Nearly flawless on every level, Between the Buried & Me are redefining progressive metal, and reminding us all that substance trumps style any day of the week.

HONORABLE MENTIONS
01. The Avett Brother - I and Love and You
02. Enemies - Ill Fated 7"
03. mum - Sing Along to Songs You Don't Know
04. Nathan Johnson and the Cinematic Underground - The Brothers Bloom
05. St. Vincent - Actor
06. Carina Round - Things You Should Know [ep]
07. Imogen Heap - Ellipse
08. Manchester Orchestra - Mean Everything to Nothing
09. The Bird and the Bee - Ray Guns Are Not Just the Future
10. He Is Legend - It Hates You

The Best Christmas Music You Didn't Hear Last Year...

2010-01-27T20:04:00.010-05:00

So let me just get this off my chest and out in the open: For the most part, popular Christmas music is horrendous. So bad, in fact, I'd place a sound bet that every year, Jesus Christ, somewhere in the heavenly countries, is wishing he'd never been born (if it meant ridding the world of this audible garbage, mind you). So when it comes about December (or rather, the day after Thanksgiving, that's right, I'm talking to YOU, Soft Rock 102.1), I quickly grab hold of the few tolerable Christmas albums I own, and by tolerable, I mean exemplary. My stereo becomes infested with Dustin Kensrue's 'This Good Night is Still Everywhere', Howard Blake's 'The Snowman' soundtrack, and Vince Guaraldi Trio's 'A Charlie Brown Christmas'. Any year I am blessed with another tolerable album that I can add to that list, I consider it a good one. Folks, 2009 was a good year, as I was able to add not one, but two whole Christmas-specific albums to the list of what can rival all that is absolutely unholy. In alphabetical order, they are:

Jessica Ripka - Manger Songs EP

I tend to get a little pensive whenever friends pass along the music they make. I have this fear of hating it and then trying to break it to them easy. In my mind, this situation generally ends with my being obliterated in either word or some form of physical suffering by said friend. Jessica Ripka is a friend, and she could melt me with her eyes because she's had laser eye surgery, so I was equally thrilled and terrified to give a listen to 'Manger Songs', her first official EP. Much to my excitement, her bare bones approach to classic songs not only deftly puts her mark on them, but rejuvenates them as new creations. 'Joy to World' becomes an anthem brimming with energy and a 7/8 time signature, while 'Silent Night' sounds as if it was lifted right off a CocoRosie album, with lilting pianos and an eerie re-imagining of the famous melody. The other two tracks on the EP ('Oh Come, Oh Come, Emmanuel' and 'Nothin' but the Blood') are both loaded with enough hand clapping, staccato chord progressions and charming vocals to make Regina Spektor up and quit (or at least be insanely jealous). The EP's only set backs are brief, and thankfully, do not take away from what this is, a joyful burst of noise from one joyful individual. The first is that some of these re-imaginings are so far removed from their originals that at times it's hard to remember what song you're listening to. It's a dangerous line to toe, but Jessica pulls it off. The second is that it's only an EP. Jessica, if you're reading this (and I know you are), release more albums. Now.
4 out of 5
*you can purchase this album at: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/ripkajessica

Rush Coil - 8 Bit Christmas

Ever wonder what Christmas morning would sound like in Princess Peach's castle circa 1983? Wonder no longer! Because Shane Barber (aka Rush Coil) has pulled out all the pixelated stops in this wildly entertaining release. While it's true that it may induce many a headache if one tries to listen to it too much, there's a lot to be appreciated. To start, Barber has gone through and painstakingly re-composed each of these Christmas classics, versus merely transferring them into a broken down format. This permits the record to sound like a vibrant electronic spasm coming out of the speakers of a brand new Delorean instead of a Midi file ringtone of a holiday tune. This also allows him to fit the songs around themes and compositions from famous video games, and you can practically imagine the levels unfolding as you listen. From brightly lit cloud hopping, underwater exploring and dark cave diving, it's all there and rolling past your ears like the side scrollers it's inspired by. So if you're looking for boss level breakdowns to help you celebrate, than Rush Coil has created the best present you'll receive all year.
4 out of 5
*you can purchase this album at: www.8bitchristmas.com

This Past Week in Bearing Witness (December 21-27)

2009-12-28T16:24:00.021-05:00

fun. - Aim and Ignite

What do you get when you comprise ex-members of The Format, Anathallo, and Steel Train? fun. And thankfully, as their name implies, that's exactly the feeling you get when listening to their debut, Aim and Ignite. The combination of Nate Reuss' frenetic vocals, Andrew Dost's lush and imaginative arrangements and Jack Antonoff's...okay, well, I don't really know what Jack Antonoff contributes to the band because I never listened to Steel Train. But whatever he's contributing certainly isn't lacking, as the ten songs delivered do not disappoint. From marching bands to piano ballads, Freddie Mercury-esque vocal arrangements to electronic dabbling, fun. covers all territories in a fashion quite slick and engaging. The album's only drawback is that none of the tracks match the bombast and energy of its opener, 'Be Calm'.

Give an ear to: Be Calm

4 out of 5

Vince Guaraldi - Greatest Hits

While most famous for his work on the Charlie Brown Christmas Special (and other Charlie Brown television engagements), Vince Guaraldi did a lot for the San Francisco jazz scene back in the 1960's. He had a hit single, 'Cast Your Fate to the Wind', which broke out of the jazz circles and became a pop radio hit (nearly unheard of for jazz artists at the time). This collection (while from 1989, and yes, there is an updated collection of Guaraldi's works now available), covers most of his releases and gives the listener a good feel for Guaraldi's ability as a performer and arranger.

Give an ear to: Linus and Lucy

4 out of 5

The Streets - Everything is Borrowed

Seeing as I completely missed Mike Skinner's sophomore release, 'A Grand Don't Come for Free', and the follow up to that, 'The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living', I have not heard anything from The Streets since 2002's 'Original Pirate Material', an excellent and exuberant mash-up of garage beats and Skinner's staccato delivery. So it's been seven years, and hearing 'Everything is Borrowed' gives me quite a bit of faith in what Mike's been doing over the past few years. The most immediate difference is in the arrangements. Using primarily live instruments and full bands, he runs the gamut from gypsy violins and old world themes ('The Flip of a Coin'), harp and oboe duets ('The Strongest Person I Know'), organ laced riffs ('Everything is Borrowed') and brass tinged soul jams ('The Edge of a Cliff'). The rapping's still there however, and Skinner's as witty and insightful as ever, making for an entertaining and often self-deprecating listen (despite several lyrical faux-pas). Granted, there are a few tracks on here that wear out their welcome pretty quickly ('The Way of the Dodo' is too goofy-sounding to take seriously and too repetitive to be bearable), but when Skinner gets it right, he gets it better than nearly anyone else rapping these days. Which is 95% of the time.

Give an ear to: On the Edge of a Cliff

3.5 out of 5

Jonsi & Alex - Riceboy Sleeps

Jonsi & Alex is the teaming of Sigur Ros frontman Jonsi and his partner Alex (as if that wasn't self-explanatory). What they deliver is comparable to that of the quietest of Sigur Ros' work with a lack of prominent vocals. One doesn't realize it until its gone, but Jonsi's voice is what carries a lot of Sigur Ros' compositions. So to be greeted with Sigur Ros-esque sounds and not finding the eerily familiar voice behind it gives the album an incredibly sparse, down tempo groove. It's really nice to fall asleep to, but in the long run is largely underwhelming (which might be the point). I've listened to this twice, and can't tell you what song is what based on the titles, or even what a decent song on the record is to give a try, that's how similar it all feels. Regardless, Icelandic drone with the quartet Amiina on strings is always welcome in my book, even if it isn't the most memorable chapter.

Give an ear to: Boy 1904

3 out of 5

Rashomon

Akira Kurosawa's powerful story of justice, culture, and truth, told almost entirely through flashbacks, is an amalgamate of emotion and humanity. Telling the tale of the murder of a Samurai, the rape of his wife and the consequences that follow, from four different perspectives (either from those involved or those who witnessed the crime or helped in the aftermath), Kurosawa asks the question: what is the truth?, and then leaves it up for the viewer to decide. Surprisingly, its ambiguous ending is entirely satisfying. What we witness is powerful storytelling at its finest, combined with insight into Japanese culture and interactions (along with some absolutely stellar acting by Toshiro Mifune), making for the most entertaining questioning of justice I've seen in ages. A classic in every sense of the word.
4.5 out of 5

High and Low

Another of Akira Kurosawa's films (I've been on a kick recently, have you noticed?). He delivers a gritty and tense thriller with excellent results. It's like seeing every crime drama/mystery you've ever loved rolled into one, and Kurosawa takes the time necessary to allows all these dramatic elements to build up over nearly three hours. Multi-layered doesn't even begin to describe it, as our attention gets divided between the investigation of a kidnapped child, the emotional turmoil it causes, the criminal's motives, and a plethora of other well placed plot developments that only add to the intrigue. In a heavy-handed fashion, but nonetheless important, Kurosawa throughly explores the moral center of our lead (Toshiro Mifune, again), as he struggles with the ideas of material gain over individuals safety. On a technical level, this is the first Kurosawa picture I've seen shot in widescreen, and his use of the wide frame is unmatched. Positioning his actors like towers and creating gorgeous compositions via the framing of individuals through other peoples bodies (just see it, it makes sense). Best of all, the film does not lose Kurosawa's consistent message that's at the root of almost every film of his I've seen: how to deal with the human condition. This film deals largely with the criminal mind and the humanity behind it, and the beautifully shot and highly symbolic closing sequence not only capitalizes his point, but is one for the books as well. This is, hands down, one of the most gripping Kurosawa pictures I've seen, yet another testament to his legendary abilities.
5 out of 5

Oven Fresh and Ready to be Devoured!

2009-12-03T00:24:00.007-05:00

Nellie McKay - "As Normal as Blueberry Pie: A Tribute to Doris Day"
Listening to this album has brought me to a realization, when Nellie McKay covers classic tunes, she really must be seen to appreciate what she's putting into them. I recently had the pleasure of seeing her perform many of the tracks off this record at Nighttown in Cleveland, OH, and listening to the record after the show simply didn't do it justice. You miss out on her bodily twitches that accentuate the vocabulary she's crooning, the way she slides around the microphone and makes love to her piano. Okay, so I'm a bit infatuated, sue me.

This offering is made up of 13 songs originally made famous by Doris Day (unfortunately, no Que Sera). As far as tribute records go, it's fantastic. Lush and imaginative instrumentation fall easily in time with the arrangements, and Ms. McKay easily puts herself into each of the tunes, making them her own in one way or another. From the soft ukulele plucking in Meditation, to her charming banter with band members in Dig It, she's never short of cues that remind us that we're listening to Nellie play. However, as far as Nellie McKay records go, this one falls short of the mark she's created. While it's arguable that since this record is not a work of new songs, she can't be blamed for any disappointment that might ensue. But what's missing here is the overall angst and out and out sass, juxtaposed with her cool jazz swagger, that makes her so memorable to begin with (I know, I know! How would you incorporate angst and sass into a Doris Day tribute?). Not having that element to Nellie's brilliant playing, however, somehow brings the whole project down a few notches.

While I would gladly pay any price to see her perform this record any day of the week, listening to it only makes me anxious for her next original work. At least it will get some friends who have no interest in jazz to perk their ears up, a commendable feat, indeed!
3.5 out of 5

This Past Week in Bearing Witness!

2009-12-02T23:47:00.018-05:00

Greetings! The Flying and I are both hoping that you enjoyed your holiday and long weekend last week, and will forgive us for enjoying ours so much we delayed posting anything for several days. To make it up, we're introducing you to a new feature of our blog titled: This Week in Bearing Witness! We'll give a brief review of the music and movies we've been watching throughout the week that we didn't deem important enough (or merely didn't have time to) write full reviews for. We hope this educates you enough so you can walk with an air of supremacy when you step into the library and do not hesitate when making a selection! So without further ado...

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17 Again

Dear Lord, when will the movie going public get wise and prevent movies like this from being made? Honestly, it isn't even 10 minutes in and we get to see Zac Efron rip off his sweatpants while hip-hop dancing with cheerleaders from 1970-something. It doesn't get much better from there. To its credit, the film has some decent cast members (a surprisingly enjoyable Matthew Perry, a very funny Thomas Lennon and short-lived Jim Gaffigan), but they get massacred by some flat out awful "performances" from the likes of Michelle Trachtenberg and her Disney kin. If your girlfriend (or in my case, her gay room mate) rope you into watching it, it's endurable, but you might have to induce vomiting in its wake.
2 out of 5

The Lower Depths

The Criterion Collection released this film in two versions, one directed by Akira Kurosawa and one by Jean Renoir, and put them together in one package. Smart move, two very unique and entertaining takes on the same story.

Kurosawa's Version: The most noticeable difference between the two films is Kurosawa's use of location. He sets his version in a Japanese slum, and never lets us leave it. We're trapped in this hell hole with the characters, brilliantly portrayed by an ensemble cast (Kurosawa has a way with finding excellent performers and using them effectively, and doesn't sway from that here). Dark and engaging, he weaves a tale of mans inhumanity to man, meshed with his poignant vision and symbolism, to create an important tale that leaves little to be desired.
4.5 out of 5

Renoir's Version: While not as heavy-handed as Kurosawa's, Renoir's piece is equally as entertaining. It's interesting to see the same characters played by actors who have entirely different methods, different languages, different settings, and how they present those characters for that time and place. Where as Kurosawa confines the viewer to the slum, Renoir lets us ride about the city, introducing us to more characters and situations then his Japanese counterpart. The biggest difference is the ending. Renoir allows for a sense of hopefulness, whereas Kurosawa does not. This gives Renoir's version less edge, its message less powerful and not nearly as impacting. However, that does not take away from what it is, a thoroughly entertaining and enjoyable tale of, again, man's inhumanity to man.
3.5 out of 5

Aqua Teen Hunger Force Movie Film for Theaters for DVD

Note to self: ATHF is only consistently funny in 15 minute stretches. In that format, it flexes its random happenings and bizarre leads in increasingly humorous situations. When extending those same elements into something feature-length, it exposes its one great weakness (see Note to self above). What we get here is a rather strenuous exercise in how much idiocy one can take in a sitting. What makes ATHF funny in short, becomes its downfall in long form. It's unfortunate, but thankfully the show still runs nightly on [adultswim], which has allowed me a quick forgiveness.
2.5 out of 5

Coraline

Hey just about every kid I went to highschool with: Tim Burton did NOT direct The Nightmare Before Christmas. You know who did? Henry Selick, and much like Burton, he gets stuck using the same things over (but instead of Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter, he recycles Claymation). And also like Burton, he consistently succeeds. Coraline is a beautifully realized and executed tale of being careful of what you wish for. For Coraline (Dakota Fanning) it's a new family, and if she's not careful, she'll get exactly that. Except these parents want her to sew buttons into her eyes. It's true, there's some really creepy stuff in here for an alleged kids flick, but its overall message is sound and its endless imagination provide more than enough reason to enjoy.
4 out of 5

Cries and Whispers

Ingmar Bergman has consistently found a way to tie strong religious overtones into films that feel like they shouldn't belong there. Musing about heaven and hell, masochism, lesbianism, and family all in the same 90 minutes (and mostly in audibly quiet, visually blunt fashion) makes it a very personal and engaging film. Using highly stylized settings, he toys with time, space, and sanity that leads the viewer from stupor to horror in short order. Just don't ask me what it means.
4 out of 5

Indie-Shmindie

One day, I was feeling hip, so I went and downloaded the Urban Outfitters “LSTN #6: 25 Free Tracks,” which is a playlist they flood their colorful, ecclectic stores with. It was mostly dissatisfying aside from a few standouts. Those particularly catchy and/or poisonous tracks were “Fortune Teller” by Forest Fire, “The Ruminant Band” by Fruit Bats, “Caterpillar Playground” by Nurses, “Surprise Hotel,” by Fool’s Gold, and most importantly, “Phones Don’t Feud,” by Holiday Shores.

The Holiday Shores track has an immediate air of nostalgia mixed with the finger-snapping rhythm of a distant pop track that you can’t put a finger on. It is despicably catchy from the onset and even moreso after the addition of lead singer Nathan Pemberton’s lazy vocals. Not lazy in a lackadasical way, but more like a badass relaxed-dude way. The mixture of reverb-soaked guitars and uber-memorable melody lines make for a great song experience, one that urged me to acquire their entire album - Columbus’d The Whim, available now.

F.Y.I., a lot of the tracks on the album are better than Phones Don’t Feud, more precisely, Edge of Our Lives and Bradley Bear. Check ‘em out!

4.5 out of 5

Come All You Heathens!

2009-11-20T20:28:00.006-05:00

**Before this review commences, I must send this message out to the girl who, besides obviously not being of appropriate age to be seeing this film, pulled out her garishly bright cell phone and texted for a good ten minutes of the movie. It must not have been fated for me to give you a crash course in theater etiquette, but I hope the individual who does get to exploit your inappropriate activity makes you cry.**

I got wind of this film from a friend several months back. All I knew was that it starred Willem Dafoe, was directed by Lars von Trier, and that people were passing out at the premiere. I was immediately concerned and quite intrigued. As time went on, I began picking up on what exactly the film was about, and what it was that was causing such a stir (I won't go into the content here, but google 'Antichrist movie' and you'll get a good idea). Suddenly, I wasn't so sure if I wanted to see it anymore. A few friends bootlegged a copy and the verdict was unanimous, it was not easy to stomach. But as it often happens, intrigue overcame caution, and last week I trekked out to The Cedar Lee, sat down in a near empty matinee showing and braced myself. Am I ever glad I did.

Told in six chapters, the film centers around two individuals, He (Willem Dafoe) and She (Charlotte Gainsbourg). In the opening segment (which is absolutely stunning to view), we witness a consummation of their love and the catalyst for the rest of the picture: Their son dies. Months pass, He has grieved and recovered, She has not. He decides to help her through the grieving process by taking her to Eden, their cabin retreat in the woods. She, however, has been terrified of Eden since their son's death, and the problems arise immediately. He, in his ignorance as a husband in pursuit of "results", overlooks her atypical behavior and, as result, swings wide the gates of a path that's brimming with destruction.

None of the above sounds that different from a dozen other "cabin-in-the-woods" horror/suspense flicks, but the treatment here is what sets this film several bars above any other film of its ilk. Director Lars Von Trier brings some incredible performances out of his leads, especially from Charlotte Gainsbourg (who practically redefines what a raw, emotional performance should be). Her character is emotionally tormented, and she embodies it in surprising fashion, sucking us in with each look, twitch, and spasm. Willem Dafoe holds his own, but is easily overshadowed by his wily counterpart. Von Trier wisely builds his film up over roughly three quarters of the piece, giving it a chance to breathe and subside, giving us an opportunity to feel out its crescendos, and (most importantly) letting us relax enough to take in its rapturous images. From its slow motion dream sequences and handheld to dolly transfers, to its exquisite composition and the eerie way in which the forest moves, we're given a chance to see, feel, and appreciate before Lars gives us a large portion of severely uncomfortable cinematics. Remember that unanimous verdict? Well, it holds up quite well, and it comes down hard and fast. The film's final twenty minutes contain some of the most graphic and unsettling images ever put to film (while not rated, the film is labeled as strictly for those 18 and older). Yet, it retains its magnetism. Even as Von Trier is repelling us with his imagery, he's still drawing us in with confusion and a need for resolution. Whether or not the film delivers on that level is debatable, as its cryptic and symbolic meaning (which is riddled with mythology, theology, and misogyny) will no doubt be either misinterpreted or not grasped at all. Beyond a tough stomach, the viewer is asked to have mind open enough to take all of it in past first impression and decipher it on their own terms.

Truthfully, I thoroughly enjoyed 'Antichrist'. Its performances are spellbinding, its cinematography magnificent, and its story, while vague, is laced with intrigue. But it is harsh, and at times, painful to view. However, I think what Von Trier has accomplished is on a plane close to what Robert Altman attempted with 3 Women. You may not like, you may not understand it, but you will feel it.

4 out of 5

Throw away your maps, Misdirection is in!

2009-11-16T18:42:00.007-05:00

Between the Buried and Me - "The Great Misdirect"
It's been a mere two years since Between the Buried and Me released Colors, the 8 song, 64 minute masterpiece of modern progressive metal. When word got around that the band was preparing to release their next album, the question arose: How do you follow this up? It's been said that the trick is to do the same thing, but different. And in this case, that thing is progressive metal. And the different? Well, lets just say Between the Buried and Me are nowhere short of clever ideas.

The album opens with Mirrors, which, honestly, was the last thing I expected to hear upon pressing play. Comparable to an extensive jam by The Sea and Cake more than anything else, the song quietly grows and grooves before transitioning into Obfuscation, a blistering display of what BTBAM does best. Off-kilter time changes matched with brutal riffs, technical prowess, and an intensity that refuses to ease up. And from here on out, the record is absolutely relentless (even when it moves into moments so quiet, you'll swear you're listening to a different album). Disease, Injury, Madness is a perfect example of the previous parenthesized sentence. The band comes on strong, then backs off about 3 minutes in to play some incredibly soft orchestrations, only to reinstate their powerful presence (which, I might add, features some of the wildest drumming I've ever heard) before diving into a Styx-like organ laced groove. Fossil Genera - A Feed From Cloud Mountain continues in this fashion, featuring honky-tonk pianos, eerie whistling, and some vocal effects that scream The Mars Volta. The track closes with the most epic-sounding composition the band has ever written, simultaneously prophesying and sealing their fate as a collective whole with the repeated line, "We must move on", resonating over the cacophony of guitars, bells, and choir. Desert of Song features a first for the band, guitarist Paul Waggoner lends his southern-drawled croon to the tune, giving way to a near-folk ballad. And after all of this, BTBAM pull their greatest trick yet, Swim to the Moon. A 17 minute pitching and shifting work of genius (I'd describe it but I'm trying to keep this review to three paragraphs).

Clocking in at 59:30 over the course of 6 tracks, the album doesn't once disappoint and easily lives up to the standard the band has created for themselves. While it does move together the way Colors did, it does not play out as one giant composition. The tracks are broken up cleanly, with only a few blending together (but nothing like how Sun of Nothing and Ants of the Sky collided). However, it still plays like a complete album, with a definite opening, middle and ending, bringing with it a sense of completion by the time one reaches the end. It seems the group has found their niche combining multiple styles here (jazz, metal, classic rock, folk), and moving between them in a, albeit fascinating, somewhat abrupt manner. Regardless, the album is a landmark in and of itself, a milestone in the road that Between the Buried and Me is treading down. Is it better than Colors? I can't say. But I can say I'm just as excited about it as their last effort, and I've got no intention to stop listening anytime soon.

5 out of 5

What Will We Be? Good question...

2009-11-11T12:29:00.011-05:00

Devendra Banhart- “What Will We Be”

Let’s do Devendra a favor and not hold every one of his albums up to Rejoicing In the Hands, because let’s face it, it will be a tough road topping that one. That being said, What Will We Be is a healthy blend of minimalism and alt-folk with a latin flare that we expect from Banhart. This time around though, the album seems disjointed, and normally that wouldn’t be a bother except that the ideas seem so separated that it disrupts the flow of the album, resulting in a gradual loss of interest throughout.

The first track starts the album off strong, with an organic, latin off-beat flowing nicely into the reverb-soaked guitar, followed by Banhart’s immediately recognizable vibrato croon. The following three tracks work in a similar manner, Angelika being rudely interrupted by a spanish guy that sounds shockingly similar to DB, and then returning to the real thing for the finish. Transitioning into Baby, we get some easy listening retro pop that seems familiar but brand new in the same vein, something you could hum all day and not know where it’s from.

All the elements of a great album are present until we get to First Song for B, and then we wonder, what happened to the Devendra we know and love? It’s more depressing than enjoyable as he requests, “Please destroy me.” Thought you’d never ask. Moving right along to the ridiculously named Chin Chin & Muck Muck, we hear a song that could have came directly off of Robert Wyatt’s Comicopera, except not quite as exotic, or amazing. The following few tracks are separated, un-memorable and, quite honestly, I was dying to skip right through after about a minute in. Maria Lionza is painstakingly repetitive and melodically taxing, another track I was dying to skip through. In Brindo that spanish guy is back again, and I’m more frustrated that he had the nerve to interrupt Devendra than I am at the fact that his song isn’t that good. Meet Me At The Lookout Point and Walilamdzi both are vaguely reminiscent of Rejoicing In the Hands, Lazy and melodic with jumpy acoustic guitar and memorable melodies; they hit the ears satisfactorily.

Finishing off with some island flare is the super happy Foolin’. It leaves a good taste in the listeners mouth, but the fact of the matter is that the candle burned bright at both ends, the bulky middle of the album being oh so dim. An honest effort from the singer/ songwriter staple Devendra Banhart, but maybe next time we’ll get something a bit more complete.

2.5 out of 5

Seriously? Seriously.

2009-11-09T20:31:00.007-05:00

"He replied, "You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?" - Job 2:10

And thus we have 'A Serious Man', the 14th picture from the film making juggernaut, the brothers Coen. A delicate balance of faith, fear, calamity, humor and dread, absolute dread.

Centered around Larry Gopnik (played by a fantastic Michael Stuhlbarg), a physics professor residing in Minnesota who, while on the verge of tenure, is watching his entire life fall apart. His wife wants a divorce, his brother has moved in with no intentions of leaving, his son and daughter steal from him, he's being blackmailed by a student, his neighbor is cutting into his property line, someone's been writing defamatory letters about him to the tenure committee, and his insistence that he's "done nothing" is allowing the world to step on his toes. Desperate for help and understanding, Larry goes about consulting multiple Rabbis in an attempt to make sense of all these trials, to right himself. To become a Mensch, a serious man.

And it's at this point that the Coen's begin to flex their genius muscle. If the above paragraph isn't clue enough, a majority of this film is focused on showing a lot of bad things happening to one unassuming man. But instead of coming across as some sort of bizarre, third-person masochism, it's insanely entertaining. Perplexing its viewers with an odd mixture of humor and horror, the film's "whole lotta nothing" approach is completely engaging. Watching bad things happen to Larry Gopnik isn't so much an experience in which we feel sorry for him, but wonder how he, or someone else (or God, if you will) is going to resolve it. His visits to the Rabbi's are as fruitful as his brothers attempts to drain his cyst, their weaving tales (that are wonders of their own) don't even come close to touching on Larry's struggles. And as the impending weight, or is it doom?, of all these occurences comes to its peak, the film becomes not so much about how it will resolve, but if it will resolve. And when the film does come to a close, it's not so much about if it resolved, but why it climaxed where it did.

The Coen's are at the top of their form here, delivering yet another entirely unique perspective on human behavior as entertaining as it is engaging, with plenty of sly symbolism to go around. And while the cinematography here is kept to a minimum, every other aspect of this film shines. The art direction is stunning, and the Brothers direct and edit with such precision within each scene, that moments involving one long, slow shot, quicken ones heartbeat and create a sense of claustrophobia. Brilliantly trapping us, along with Larry, into a world that is coming apart at the seams and taking us with it, come hell or high water.

Another great delving into the off-kilter and semi unsettling world of Joel & Ethan Coen.
4.5 out of 5

and so it begins!

2009-11-09T20:28:00.002-05:00

We are entering the untamed mane of the review blog.

Please join us!