Hella funny, extreme low-budget, hardcore Alabama horror. The third act should send most horror fans to Cloud 9. The director Adam Wingard is able to not only get good performances from the cast, but achieves some top-notch gore to go along with it. Sometimes the budget and inexperience rears its ugly head, making the movie veer close to a Youtube or student film. But the David Lynch influence on the music and performances keeps things going to the Tom Towles-crazed blow-out ending.
Date is 1983. Check out that mixer and reel-to-reel recorder used for FX. Who knew the announcer would be so prophetic talking about echoes and drugs? Yep, it’s one of those.
Something about this kids movie is really freaky, I mean interesting. Stephen Chow is the man to blame. The director of Kung Fu Hustle delves into his visual bag of tricks and even throws in some martial arts and super-human soccer lest you forget. There are some stupid and predictable parts, but Chow always keeps it unique, and CJ7 thankfully never tries to phone home or eat Reeses.
Rating: 7/10
A fairy tale with Christina Ricci sporting a pig nose. James McAvoy and Reese Witherspoon to support. What’s not to like? Ricci with a snout isn’t all that bad, I mean I’ve probably done worse. Peter Dinklage, the small guy from The Station Agent and In Bruges, is hilarious too, and this should propel his star further. This one kinda falls apart in the third act though, or maybe it just runs out of pig jokes.
This video finally gives me an excuse to put some Modeselektor up. I love this track even though it is at least a year old. Props to nikorble2 on Youtube for putting this together. Check out all the fun with reverse slow-mo:
Here’s the Bush/Gore Florida voting crisis in movie form, just in case you didn’t totally purge this madness from your memory. Yes, this does root for the loser like most movies, but Bush won, and the rest is history. It feels remarkably cable-ish at times. Laura Dern gives an incredible performance as Katherine Harris. Doesn’t mention how aliens subverted votes as an experiment in global/political parallel timeline studies.
“Techno” music today has gone minimal, abstract, and wonky. The center of the 4/4 techno pulse is Berlin, and sound design is reaching electro-acoustic levels within it. It usually doesn’t land on any lists on this page, but here are some recent tracks that are pretty outstanding:
1. Adam Beyer and Mathew Jonson – ‘A Big Dipper’
Two techno heavyweights find the right chemistry.
2. Futureshock – ‘Tiger Dust’
I prefer the Dub mix, but the Alex Neri mix is also very good. Freaky alien quadrant music.
3. Audion – ‘Billy Says Go’
Matthew Dear’s alter-ego is more experimental, and it works here.
4. Hot Chip – ‘One Pure Thought (Dominik Eulberg mix)’
Eulberg is a forest ranger in Europe, and his music sounds like electronic symphonies of nature. This one is a pleasant 10 minute stroll.
Here’s my official rave for the mad genius of this Baltimore electronic musician. His live shows and previous album (described by Pitchfork “like an army of Woody Woodpeckers took speed and decided to form a band inspired by the taste of Skittles”) has been a huge smash with folk all over the country. With a new album looming that is supposed to be more organic and serious than his previous one, I thought it was high time to get him on this page. The first video is him performing live on the morning news (proof that Elvis may possess him at times), and the second is a sampling of his collaboration on the Ultimate Reality DVD with visuals by JJ Roche (available on Netflix). It’s a 40 minute Schwarzenegger-themed, culture-warping music art video that is one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen, and something I’ll be sharing with others as much as possible.
THE BEST KILLER CROC MOVIE EVER. Well, that is not saying much, so: THE ONLY GOOD KILLER CROC MOVIE. And what a CGI beauty this croc is. As a matter of fact, the whole film is gorgeous, set in stunning Outback locales. Everything about this production is top notch. And since this is a believable movie, it is slow and unexciting in parts, but the other parts will have you chewing on your fingernails, while the croc is chewing…
I walked into this expecting a stoner Superbad, and what I got instead was the most outrageous slice of cinema since Pulp Fiction. This is a riot. Seth Rogen and James Franco are perfectly cast, and the supporting characters are buckwild movie gold. And this is the guy that directed George Washington and All the Real Girls? Get outta here. Can’t imagine what this is like in an Amsterdam movie theater. Rating: 9/10
This is the sequel to the documentary about the astonishing cocaine boom in the 70s, and the terrifying crime it created, especially in Miami (the real Scarface stories). It expands upon the legend of Griselda Blanco, who has probably put to death more people in America than all of the well-known serial killers put together. (And she is still alive, and not in custody.) It delivers more incredible and bizarre stories not found in the first movie. The only thing I don’t like is that in the end it still seems to promote thug life, and not thug death (or thug jail time), which is what usually happened to these young men. Definitely watch the prequel first if this sounds interesting. Rating: 7/10
I’ve got twice the number of artists this month that have killed it, so I’m going to break it down:
1. Diplo / Santogold – Top Ranking
Diplo returns with another artist-centered mix after his M.I.A. mixtape, Piracy Funds Terrorism. The results might top that effort with its reworkings of Santogold, dub, and sometimes the kitchen sink. Diplo knows how to throw a party.
2. The Bug – London Zoo
Digital ragga laced onto dubstep beats, this is the long-awaited followup to The Bug’s first album Pressure. The Bug has been playing dubstep maybe longer than anyone and it shows. My favorites are ‘Angry’, ‘Warning’, and ‘Poison Dart’.
3. Tricky -Knowle West Boy
A surprising return to form for the trip-hop artist. And don’t miss the ‘Council Estate (Drums of Death mix)’ found separately that takes nu-rave to another level.
4.The Black Ghosts – TheBlack Ghosts
(**Their old ‘hits’ have been mixed horribly for the album, and it is truly sad that I had to lower this.) Half of this album has been floating around for a while now, but as a whole I would seriously have to consider this for Best of 2008. The new songs are great. “Repetition Kills You’ sounds like Blur with keyboards.
5. VA – Life Beyond MarsBowie Covers
Don’t miss the tracks by Matthew Dear, The Emperor Machine, and Joakim.
6. Ratatat – LP3
The boys deliver their best album yet by delivering variety and more depth than their trademark guitar sound.
7. Benny Benassi – Rock N’ Rave
Surprising quality from the electro-jumpstarting ‘Satisfaction’ auteur. He mostly avoids the cheese that plagued him after that worldwide smash. There’s a superb mash-up with Iggy Pop called “Electro Sixteen’. Also don’t miss the separate ‘I Am Not Drunk (Bloody Beetroots mix)’.
8. Flying Lotus – Los Angeles
This Warp artist already can count Kanye and Erykah Badu as fans with his brand of chip-hop.
9. Digitalism – Kitsune Tabloid mix
Delicious electro mix that leaves a burn.
10. Unkle – End Titles – Stories for Film
Half of this is instrumental music, but the new songs such as ‘Chemical’, ‘Nocturnal’, and ‘Ghosts’ are great.
