2011/09/30
2011/09/29
vitesse - when nothing's changed
vitesse - when nothing's changed
little bit on the goth side, as if the smiths ran into peter murphy, i suppose. this is from 2000; ran across it again today...good to hear after several years.
little bit on the goth side, as if the smiths ran into peter murphy, i suppose. this is from 2000; ran across it again today...good to hear after several years.
50/50 movie
scored free passes to see two of the movies' most adorable actors, joseph gordon-levitt and seth rogen, in 50/50 last night.
story: a young man who finds out he has a tumor on his spine, and for the next hour and a half, tries to work through his therapies, and his friends' and family's attempts at supporting him. also loses a girlfriend, but picks up a dog, rookie therapist, and chemo friends.
joseph gordon-levitt: plays a full range of emotions very effectively, somehow without changing his facial expressions so much. you're with him all the way, and feel like you really "get" him, even when noone else in the movie seems to. seth rogen as bromantic best friend: you know this role from rogen, and it fits. angelica huston as his mom: a little more emotional than most of her roles, and that works very well.
regarding the rookie therapist: with all the other "top-notch" surgeons and doctors surrounding the patient, i wondered why the hospital would stick him with a grad student therapist. but maybe this is the way it's done, what do i know. cute back and forth between her and him, though, which didn't wreck the movie.
by the end of the movie, you may be tearing up. or bawling. it's no brian's song, so don't worry about embarrassing yourself excessively, but do be prepared (kleenex, dark glasses). i didn't come out feeling emotionally manipulated, like i did in terms of endearment; it seemed fairly low-key, and entirely genuine.
highly recommended.
2011/09/28
2011/09/27
ryan gosling - drive
we saw the new ryan gosling movie, drive, this past weekend, because if a movie has ryan gosling, we see it (similar to my george clooney rule). this was one of the best movies i've seen in months, months, though i feel uncomfortable recommending it to anyone.
don't be put off by the very 80's neon pink title sequence in the beginning, but do fall in love with the music selected throughout the movie.
also, prepare yourself: ryan's unnamed character, part time getaway driver, part time stunt driver / mechanic, starts out as a not-really-bad guy with a heart of gold; by the middle of the movie, you find out that yeah, he actually is a good guy who does some really awful things.
even as the interactions between the driver and irene are quiet and slow, the love story happens quickly and sweetly, then gets interrupted by the return of a husband. it appears to be restarted, except for a few straggling debts to be paid, which lead to some of the bloodiest, violently goriest scenes i've seen since...well, i don't know when. (i had that feeling of wooziness in parts.)
it's reported that hugh jackman was originally in place for the role of the driver...ugh, that movie would have been completely different, and probably instantly forgettable.
coming soon: ryan gosling and george clooney in the same movie? see you there!
2011/09/26
2011/09/24
europeans - animal song
listening to the radio in the 80's was fun and exciting. but making videos sure was simple, eh?
2011/09/21
2011/09/18
blondie - the dream's lost on me
country-inspired track from the "no exit" album. going to see them in concert again in about 3 weeks, even though it means driving two hours each way on a worknight. san diego...7th largest city in the US, but so many acts don't make their way down here.
2011/09/17
2011/09/16
2011/09/14
blondie - panic of girls reviews
very flattering review of the new blondie album, panic of girls, which finally saw a US release yesterday (exclusively on amazon):
http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2011/09/blondie-panic-of-the-girls.html
snippet:
http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2011/09/blondie-panic-of-the-girls.html
snippet:
Ennui is not the commodity, nor is nihilism with a bubblegum exterior shell. This is feel-good realism for a world imploding under its own arrogance and ignorance. In a place where post-Warhol art-as-disposability has turned into all Snooki/Britney/Lindsey/Khardashians all the time, Blondie strikes a blow for pop culture that’s not stupid, wasted and empty.
2011/09/12
2011/09/11
patrick wolf - together
stringy pop song, all the while sounding moroder-esque.
Alone, again in Paris,
Travel drained, I write to you.
You've been on my mind,
Cold days, long nights.
A rooftop in Berlin,
I call, confess the state I'm in.
These cities, this view,
I see nothing without you.
And I can do this alone,
But we can do this so much better,
Together, together, together.
perfectly mopey sentiment that ultimately uplifts.
2011/09/10
OMD - crush
continuing my re-obsession with stephen hague...
introductory video to OMD’s album, crush, which was produced by stephen hague. hague features fairly prominently in this video, as well, which is nice…most times, the producer gets as much as a “thanks” in album liner notes, and that’s about it.
for the record, crush was the first of OMD’s albums that didn’t really work for me as a whole, but had so many real nice moments, and one of my favorite singles of theirs, “so in love.”
(finally: could paul and andy be anymore adorable together, seriously?)
introductory video to OMD’s album, crush, which was produced by stephen hague. hague features fairly prominently in this video, as well, which is nice…most times, the producer gets as much as a “thanks” in album liner notes, and that’s about it.
for the record, crush was the first of OMD’s albums that didn’t really work for me as a whole, but had so many real nice moments, and one of my favorite singles of theirs, “so in love.”
(finally: could paul and andy be anymore adorable together, seriously?)
waylayers - like we used to
a new favorite band, Waylayers , are releasing weekly videos of new material. so far, they've all been terrific, but today's is really, really good.
2011/09/09
new order - regret
having recently fallen into reobsession with stephen hague, new order's "regret" popped up. a welcome diversion, anytime.
2011/09/05
2011/09/04
2011/09/03
spectropia
from toni dove’s spectropia
sort of like “deborah harry meets david lynch”…i had no idea this existed until yesterday. thank you, internet.
sort of like “deborah harry meets david lynch”…i had no idea this existed until yesterday. thank you, internet.
2011/09/02
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