Monday, June 20, 2011

Recently Watched: Midnight in Paris

SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT

Midnight in Paris is a well made movie. Paris looks so beautiful, (ME WANTS TO GO.) It's well acted; Owen Wilson particularly does a great job in the lead role and the script is pretty funny in that Woody Allen dorky-clever way. I think my biggest problem with this movie was that going into it I thought that when Wilson's character explores Paris after midnight he'd be experiencing some of the current Parisian night life... SPOILER ..I was wrong.. instead Wilson goes back in time and experiences Paris in the 1920's. It's cute..he is a huge fan of the 1920's and he is meeting literary/cultural figures from the 1920's and he is aware of how crazy it is (insert Allen humor) ... it works or I should say it worked for most of the audience..but to me it got a little old after say the 15th person he met. The movie comes around ..I don't want to say I didn't like it because I did, but I definitely have mixed feelings about the plot. I really liked the ending, and the overall message of people always thinking a time before "their time" is more inspiring.

FYI: team9 vs Stereogum - Bang On A Milli


The title of this blog came from this glorious mash up of Lil Wayne "A Milli" and The Breeders "Bang On" = Bang on a Milli

Thursday, June 16, 2011

The Party's Over


I want to have a party just so I can play this to make people leave.

Monday, June 13, 2011

Recently Watched: Last Night

I watched this movie because I'm a fan of Guillaume Canet and I really liked him in it. The film..not so much. A lot of the dialogue and supporting characters were very convenient for the story line. Would a man at a dinner give you advice about cheating the first time you meet him? Is anyone that bold? Or is he an easy character used as a plot device??! (I'm asking you.) The dialogue was also very low. I'd like to think that I'm not a close minded American in that I appreciate accents but between Sam Worthington's Australian accent, Keira Knightly's English and Guillaume Canet's French I felt like I missed a third of the dialogue.

In list form:
-Sam Worthington has dead eyes and a flat voice.
-Eva Mendes was supposed to be "the hot girl" but she looked kind of harsh throughout the whole film.
-Keira Knightly gave a pretty good performance, but I didn't 100% care about her characters relationship issues. What does she like about her husband? What did she like about her past lover? It's not really explained.
-Canet shined mostly because HE'S FIIINE. No, but really he was good in the film. When he is happy he has spark about him that seems real. And he is the only character that seemed to convey that he was in love with another character.

The film basically boils down to will each member of the couple cheat during their night apart? What I'll tell you is ONE DOES AND ONE DOESN'T. and not the right couple, man. One last thing, I don't think their relationship was worth saving, you don't get the sense that they are really all that in love, they play out the "we've been together for 4 years so it's time to get married" story.

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Cat Power- Fool


I recently bought (and by bought I mean...nvm) Cat Power's "You Are Free."
It's completely beautiful, and it has some of my favorite songs like "Maybe Not" & "Good Woman," .....but damn it's a downer.

It opens with "I Don't Blame You" which seems to be about Kurt Cobain. It's about someone not liking what they are doing anymore i.e being on stage. I like it's simplicity.

"Good Woman" which I've posted on here before is one of my favorite Cat Power tunes, it has a cinematic quality, the lyrics are simple, it's all in the way that she sings about basic human feelings that strikes the right chord. As she sings "I want to be a good woman, and I want for you to be a good man, this is why I will be leaving..this is why I can't see you no more.." the backup vocals are weirdly haunting along with the music.. plus knowing that she is a recovering alcoholic who seriously thought about killing herself probably influences the way that I feel about the lyrics.

"Werewolf" is haunting..her dark but cool sound creates a weird scene. I can hear it in a independent film trailer to a montage of dramatic shots. people dying by accident... people cheating on each other. yeah.

"Fool" see above video, is really sad in a striking way. It works on you, its seemingly mellow but as it goes on the lyrics "it's on the tip of your tongue in your suicide letter..." ... opposite of uplifting.

"He War" is completely different. Weirdly it's kind of punk to me, it still sounds like indie rock alternative but the weird changes in pace overlapping vocals with the weird voice over type break..it's grown on me.

"Shaking Paper" is a pretty special song that you lose yourself in. It has faint vocals with a continuously cloudy background, I really like this one.

"Baby Doll", "Maybe Not" (was obsessed with this song in like 2007?) and "Names" are equally depressing. "Baby Doll" is slow with southern undertones. "Maybe Not" has a simple repetitive piano part that kills you. "Names" is about real? people that have terribly sad stories filled with abuse on every level and how Marshall "doesn't know where they are." In every story she states the persons age...which is always disturbingly young for whatever they've dealt with in their life.

"Half of You" is a simple sweet love song where Marshall sings about "wanting all of you." It's a nice change lyrically. "Keep on Running" is a dark song. The last track, "Evolution" features Eddie Vedder on vocals. His soft but deep speak singing compliments her sweet but soulful style.


Today I went to IKEA and pretended to be conducting a job interview with my friend in a make-shift "office."

After like 5 mins of being a junkie boss who asked if my applicant would buy marijuana in dangerous parts of the city for me(..hypothetically ..I don't condone that. I'm a good person...., ) an older lady employee came over and she said: "Is someone getting fired??" (apparently acting in the fake rooms at IKEA is common)

and I said "no, I'm conducting an interview... "

to which she said "oh ok, do you need help because I'm about to take my lunch break."

why was this so funny to me..

Colour Revolt - Matresses Underwater

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Dance Yourself Clean

"talking like a jerk except you are an actual jerk and living proof that sometimes friends are mean"

"don't you want me to wake up, well then give me just a bit of your time"

"I miss the way the night comes with friends who always make you feel good"

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Recently Watched: Open Five

I watched "Open Five" a film directed by Kentucker Audley and shot by Joe Swanberg. I enjoyed it's natural pace, dialogue, and look. It had a vibrance that you don't always see in movies made for cheapssss.

The film follows two girls/women/ladypeople who are visiting the one girls semi boyfriend in Memphis. They are actresses, he is a musician and his friend is a director. The camera follows the four around for the weekend in Memphis. Does anything get resolved? not really.. Is there a major dramatic plot line? No.. but does there need to be? check it out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cybtQ0vmUxo

Sunday, June 5, 2011

New Reads!


Tiny Fey's book is dope!



Seriously. I don't want to sound like an impressionable youth, but it was really inspiring. There were a lot of things that were really great and funny to read as a woman, but I think her sense of humor / experiences have mass appeal. Her take on how women are portrayed in the media and treated in the entertainment workplace is pretty interesting; Fey is able to balance being serious/factual while still being funny.