writhaus

4 stars

Queens of the Stone Age have a new record, and it’s alive.  The band’s fifth album, Era Vulgaris, is macho and aggressive hard rock at its best.  There is not a weak track on it.
The dense music is layered such that the music on much of Era Vulgaris is like a stew at the bottom of a pit threatening to boil over and consume the songs.  The stew seems to breathe life into the record, giving it a life of its own.  I was ready for the CD to jump out of my stereo and walk out of the room.

The first single from Era Vulgaris is “Sick, Sick, Sick.”  It features Julian Casablancas of The Strokes, but you have to listen closely near the end of the song to hear him.  “Sick, Sick, Sick” pulsates with energy.  It’s sin and debauchery put to music, which is what rock and roll is all about.  “I’m Designer” sounds like a cross between Crosby, Stills and Nash, Alice in Chains, and Foo Fighters.  “Into the Hollow” could have been on Stone Temple Pilots‘ No. 4.  Perhaps my favorite track on the record, though, is “Make It wit Chu.”  The brazen track oozes sex.

It’s clear the band had fun making this record. You should have fun hearing it. You either need to stop and give this record a listen or get out of the way.

Scale:
0. Shoot yourself
1. Poor
2. So-So
3. Good
4. Excellent
5. Instant classic

4 stars

I was introduced to Das Llamas‘ music when I caught them live on Wednesday, June 20 at Safari Sam’s in Hollywood. They rocked live, and I picked up their latest disc, World War. It’s their first full-length album. Das Llamas’ unique style is captured perfectly on the record. The Seattle-based band mostly has post-punk roots, but their influences include everything from classic rock to New Wave.

There are no standout tracks on World War, but there are no weak ones, either. Das Llamas’ style is frantic and spastic, yet they’re contained and tight. Thomas Burke’s drums are relentless, and they duck and weave around staccato and repetitive guitar riffs. Above it all, Kerry Zettel’s clouded vocals seem to propel the music. There’s hardly a chance to catch your breath during the frenetic 31-and-a-half minute record. Throughout this whirlwind of a record, Das Llamas maintain an original sound. To me, they sound like many New York City bands of this decade such as Liars, Interpol, and Yeah Yeah Yeahs, but they add a gray Seattle scuzzy quality to the proceedings, giving them a whole lot of lock-up-your-daughters attitude.

Das Llamas likely won’t achieve mainstream success, but they seem to have a bright future with indie rock fans. Listen for the buzz. It’s coming soon.

Scale:
0. Shoot yourself
1. Poor
2. So-So
3. Good
4. Excellent
5. Instant classic

Most movies are garbage. There, I said it.

There are actually many great movies released every year. Unfortunately, it’s like sifting through a garbage dump for your grandmother’s pearl earrings that were accidentally thrown away.

That’s why everyone needs film-geek friends; they can tell you what movie to rent on a Friday night that will get you laid, or what movie to watch that will make that big, burly biker guy weep. Honestly, they are just really valuable people to have on your team.

I am your film-geek friend. I want you to see movies that are quality, entertaining films so you can enjoy the most that the medium has to offer.

As such, I have put together a list of five films you probably missed. It’s not your fault, and I don’t blame you. It’s easy to miss these things for that one week they are available in the Big, Huge, Giant, Blue Rental Chain before they are moved to the discount bin. Heck, some of these films came out on DVD while said Blue Rental Chain still was on the fence about the format.

Enough commentary. Here is the inaugural list of five. Check them out. I think you’ll be entertained.

1. Waking the Dead - Directed by Keith Gordon, best known as Rodney Dangerfield’s son in Back to School, Waking the Dead tells a hauntingly eerie love story about what happens to a man when he ignores what he loves and who he is. It stars the lovely Jennifer Connelly and introduced me to Billy Crudup, who you probably know better from rolls in Big Fish and Almost Famous. The performances are solid, especially Crudup, who manages to convey all the emotion anyone would experience if someone who vanished from your life suddenly reappeared.

2. The Dish - Those Aussies do great work on their continent. We all know that, right? Unfortunately, it’s hard for their films to get any great traction here unless there is someone fighting crocodiles in them. That was especially the case with 2000’s The Dish, a film about the moon landing and Australia’s role in making that happen. It’s a small, modestly budgeted film, and I love it. The cast is led by Sam Neill and features the most legitimately patriotic ending I have ever seen on film. If you want to feel better about being an American in these dark times, or if you want to be reminded how amazing human beings can be, watch this film.

3. Twice Upon a Time - I was tempted not to put this film on the list. It isn’t because it isn’t a lot of fun. It’s amazing and features an animation technique used regularly by the South Park guys, except I don’t think John Korty and Charles Swenson had the help of computers. Mostly it’s the fact that the film is not available on DVD, which is criminal. The plot revolves around Ralph, the All-Purpose Animal (voiced by Lorenzo) and Mumford the No-Purpose Nobody’s quest to rescue the Rushers of Din from permanent nightmares at the hands of Synonamess Botch. It’s witertainment at its best! Unfortunately, the best you can do is get an edited-for-kids VHS tape until Warners decides to give us what we want. (And thanks to Mark Kermode for the term witertainment.)

4. The Corporation - It’s a documentary. It’s from Canada. It’s one of the most important stories committed to polyester. You see, the American legal system gave businesses the same rights as normal everyday people. Unfortunately, if you subject corporate behavior to a human’s psychological test, you’d see that they are among the worst psychopaths the world has ever seen. This film investigates where and when things went wrong and encourages you to do something about it. Mostly it really helps open your eyes to what’s going on around you and what kind of monsters we have unleashed on the planet.

5. Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi (that’s Spirited Away in English) - So maybe you actually have seen this flick. It was a hit in its native Japan and did pretty well when Disney localized it for the United States. It’s by Japan’s Walt Disney, Hayao Miyazaki, and is every bit as magical as the films Walt brought to the screen. Chihiro’s parents have been turned into pigs by the spirits that haunt an old amusement park. Chihiro must find a way to restore them. The plot is as simple as that, but the journey is amazing. Like many Miyazaki films, there are no evil villains, just characters that are following their own motivations, pretty much just like real life. The way the animation brings the locations and situations to life is astounding. This is one film I honestly can say I love.

There are other films I want to suggest, but that’s enough for now. And just as a reminder to myself for next time, “DD” is here to remind me of another Aussie film you will enjoy.

3.5 stars

The landscape of modern rock is littered with trash. There are so many crappy bands that have made it big such as Nickelback, Korn, and Evanescence. Nick Black is struggling to make it big, and from what I’ve heard there’s no reason he shouldn’t make it big.

I saw Black perform with his band on Friday, June 15 at The Keyclub on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood. Their performance was pretty good, and I picked up a five-song sampler they were giving away for free in the club. For lack of something to call it, I’ve called it the Hollow EP. The CD includes the tracks “It’s Over,” “Let You Go,” “Sorry,” “Hollow,” and “Barracuda.”

The songs on the EP are ace. I am pretty surprised I like it because I tend to shy away from the new hard rock they play on the narrow rock format you find on the FM dial nowadays. Of course, there are exceptions such as Wolfmother and System of a Down. Black’s songs rock hard. They follow the proven rock song formula, but they avoid sounding overly contrived. The title track to their full-length album, Hollow, which is available on their Web site or on iTunes, is the obligatory rock ballad, but it truly is an exceptional track. It’s the perfect showcase for Black’s rich and deep voice. Black’s cover of Heart’s “Barracuda” is tremendous. I think Black’s version is better than the original.

In a land where his genre has run its course, Nick Black is relevant and worthy of a listen. I honestly think the name Nick Black will be known by more people than just his cult following in the very near future.

Scale:
0. Shoot yourself
1. Poor
2. So-So
3. Good
4. Excellent
5. Instant classic

When I saw this headline on the Drudge Report, I was shocked. The headline shows the traditional Drudge bias, of course. Here’s my marked up version:

I have a firm belief that news reporters, producers, writers, and decision makers should not be biased. When they donate, they obliterate that bias.

“Sure,” they might say, “I still can cover things objectively.”

You might think you can, but no. Your objectivity is gone. Credibility is the single-most valuable thing a reporter (and news agency) has, and when you tarnish it, you’re left with nothing. You might as well switch to blogging for all the good it will do you. For a while now, we have been unable to trust the Fourth Estate to bring us the news stories we need to read. Unchecked consolidations have seen to that.

Personally, I am a registered Independent. That’s because I share the same level of contempt for Democrats AND Republicans. Neither party has shown themselves to be forthright and honest, and it’s starting to catch up with them, as seen in this headline from USA Today:

Of course partisans would say, “See? The Democrat majority is more hated than the Republican one it replaced!”

Yes and no. Congress has been on a downhill slide for decades now as we grow more and more tired of their pork politics and amazing ability to run our great country into the ground. There’s really nothing new here, other than more people are starting to wake up.

“Finally,” is all I can say.

2.5 stars

I was sure I was going to give The Bravery’s second disc, The Sun and the Moon, a glowing review. I’ve been spinning it since it dropped a few weeks ago. I’d enjoyed it tremendously, but today I gave it a more thorough listen. Standing alone, the music is interesting and catchy at the same time. It’s great post-punk revival stuff. It would be worthy of four stars. Also, the lyrics are great on paper. But when the lyrics are combined with the music, it’s like oil and water. The lyrics and music for each song were written by the band’s singer, Sam Endicott. The fact that the lyrics and music don’t jive, however, gives the record the feel of a singer and a band on different pages.

The lyrics on The Sun and the Moon are some of the saddest and most pessimistic lyrics you’ll ever find. “Believe” describes a horrible world: “We do our time like pennies in a jar — but what are we saving for?” The narrator of “This Is Not the End” is talking to someone on his or her deathbed. These two songs have the common theme of “need[ing] something to believe.” As you get deeper into the album, it’s clear Endicott doesn’t find what he’s looking for. “Bad Sun” is full of self-loathing: “We are liars like the summertime, like the spring we are such fools/Like fall we are false prophets, and like winter we are cruel.” The record’s first single, “Time Won’t Let Me Go,” is a heartbreaking track about lost youth: “All these precious moments you promised me would come in time/So where was I when I missed mine?” “Tragedy Bound” is about a suicidal girl whose father sexually abused her. “Fistful of Sand” is from the point of view of a man whose partner is vacant because she is cheating on him. In “Above and Below,” the narrator wants to escape the world and live underground. While the lyrics are depressing on The Sun and the Moon, they’re great lyrics. But before you stop reading this review and slit your wrists, let me tell you about the music on the album.

The music couldn’t be more cheerful! (Wait. R.E.M.’s “Shiny Happy People” just popped into my head.) The music could be more cheerful, but it’s pretty cheery; all right? Take “Angelina” for instance. It might be the worst track lyrically and musically, and it also is the best example of how the music and lyrics don’t match: “I knew that nothing could tear us apart, I never even gave it a second thought/I was so sure and I was wrong, now every single thing I ever had is gone.” Picture that in your head. Now picture Beatles-like saccharin repetitions of “Angelina” in the background. Right. “Bad Sun” has whistling in it. (By the way, I think Peter Bjorn and John started a trend here. I’m hearing whistling more and more.) I could go on and on, but I’ll talk about the exceptions now.

The first track, “Intro,” is extremely short and has no lyrics, but it’s very sad organ music, which sets the tone perfectly. Of course, you know what happens, though. “Time Won’t Let Me Go” is almost an exception. It’s a great song, and the music fits the lyrics pretty well. Then, the “ba ba-ba-ba-ba ba-ba-ba-ba ba-ba-ba ba-ba’s” start coming. Why not do “oh’s” or “ooh’s”? “Tragedy Bound” is a wonderful acoustic song. “Split Me Wide Open” works. My favorite track on the record, though, is the closer, “The Ocean.” The harmony-laden song is the perfect finale for the record.

Perhaps you’re like my fiancée and will say, “Doesn’t Morrissey do that [combine dark lyrics with cheerful melodies]?” I can assure you The Bravery is not in the same league as The Smiths, and there does not seem to be any intentional irony here. The title of the record is ironic (music=sun/lyrics=moon), but I don’t think it was done on purpose.

This effort totally frustrates me because it could have blown The Killers‘ (a band to whom The Bravery constantly is compared) sophomore album out of the water. Sam’s Town was a letdown after The Killers’ amazing debut. The Sun and the Moon could have lifted The Bravery to the status of The Killers. Unfortunately, it will not.

Scale:
0. Shoot yourself
1. Poor
2. So-So
3. Good
4. Excellent
5. Instant classic

There are accompanying reviews of The Dark Crystal, Poltergeist, and Creepshow available by clicking the titles.

[audio:http://www.brianwoods.com/1982fest.mp3]

This review is part of writhaus’ coverage of the 1982 Film Fest at the Areo Theater in Santa Monica, Calif.

Stephen King and George Romero sat on King’s porch in Maine. They talked of their love of old EC Comics and decided to make an homage they would call Creepshow.

Romero’s anthology features full-on scares and more tongue-in-cheek horror as it follows the exploits of a college professor (Hal Holbrook) with an overbearing wife (Adrienne Barbeau), a husband (Leslie Nielsen) with murder on the brain for his wife and her lover (Ted Danson), a businessman (E.G. Marshall) with a fear of germs, a country farmboy (Stephen King) with a complete lack of luck, and a Father’s Day family gathering gone awry when a dearly departed family member shows up looking for his cake.

The acting is solid and suiting to the sometimes over-the-top nature of the stories being told. When King exclaims, “Meteor shit!” we know immediately the kind of character he is playing. Barbeau is nails-on-a-blackboard perfect as Holbrook’s terror of a wife. The editing is well-done with a nod to the film’s comic book inspiration. It’s apparent on screen that Romero had a lot of fun, and that sense of fun passes through to the audience as they watch. The effects are done by longtime Romero collaborator Tom Savini and are up to his usual gruesome standards.

The print exhibited by American Cinemateque as part of their 1982 Film Fest was in good shape, although it did bear the marks of time with some dust apparent and the occasional green scratch, but as less of a crown jewel for Warner Brothers, it still looked quite good for its age.

This review is part of writhaus’ coverage of the 1982 Film Fest at the Areo Theater in Santa Monica, Calif.

1982 was a banner year for genre cinema, seeing the releases of Blade Runner, Star Trek II, and the Steven Speilberg-produced Poltergeist. Released the same weekend as E.T., Poltergeist has earned its niche as a horror masterpiece.

Featuring the direction of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’s Tobe Hooper and starring Craig T. Nelson, JoBeth Williams, and Heather O’Rourke, Poltergeist tells the story of the Freelings, a typical family living the American dream in the Los Angeles suburbs. One night, they awaken to what they think is an earthquake and daughter Carol Anne saying creepily, “They’re here…” What follows is still one of the scariest films of the past 30 years.

The entire production is amazing. The acting is spot on. You feel for the Freelings as they go through their haunting. The editing is perfect with nary a wasted scene, everything pushing you toward the dramatic climax. The pacing is ideal, with just the right amount of tension-relieving humor before the next scare arrives. John Williams’ score tingles, creeps, and frightens, perfectly managing the film’s atmosphere.

The print screened as part of American Cinemateque’s 1982 Film Fest was pristine. I can’t imagine it looking better in 1982. Even the effects, which by all accounts should be incredibly dated, stand up to modern scrutiny (with a tip of the hat to Ben Edlund, then of ILM). If the print used to create this fall’s DVD special editions is this good, we are all in for a treat come Halloween!

This review is part of writhaus’ coverage of the 1982 Film Fest at the Areo Theater in Santa Monica, Calif.

By 1980, Jim Henson was ready to branch out from normal muppets and tell a new kind of story with his creations. This story took the form of a fantasy tale filled with mysticism entitled The Dark Crystal. Henson’s friend Frank Oz directed; his normal crew of muppeteers commanded the creatures.

In a world ruled by the avian Skeksis, their power flows from the Dark Crystal. Their rule is merciless as they pillage the realm for what they need. As their emporer dies, we are introduced to the Mystics, the Skesis’ antithesis. Their master also lies dying. He calls his young charge to his side, and from there the story focuses on the quest of Jen, who is thought to be the last Gelfling. There is a prophecy, and Jen will play a role in it. His quest will change him and his world forever.

The film is one that either works or doesn’t work for you. I am in the former group. The muppet tech involved completely transported me into this world. Everything feels vibrant and alive. The film honestly made me care about what would happen should the Skeksis take complete control. I wanted Jen to succeed in his mission.

One integral part of this film is the haunting and beautiful score by Trevor Jones, one of the earliest to mix symphony and electric elements. The main theme is such that it stays with you long after the film is over.

The print screened for American Cinemateque’s 1982 Film Fest was virtually pristine, although some dust appears, and there was heavy grain during the opening and close. This grain is readily apparent in home versions, but is obviously part of the source, for better or worse.