The weather’s getting warmer and you might be thinking about taking a trip. Perhaps you’ve got romance in mind. Maybe adventure on the brain. Where are you off to?
I never thought much about The City of Lights until Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris. I honestly haven’t traveled that much and where I have gone, English is the official language (despite having a sister that lives in Chile). I’m sure I'd be a little lost anywhere else. But I find myself thinking more of Paris these days. After you watch today's scene, I’m sure you'll see why.
In this opening scene of Midnight, Allen catches the city in such a way that you want to drop what you're doing and hop on a plane. Like, now. Its scenery, culture, famous landmarks, architecture - it all looks so inviting. And it's set to a tune called "Si Tu Vois Ma Mère" by Sidney Bechet, a song that just sounds like Paris to me. Monsieur Bechet was born in New Orleans, but moved to France later in life (and died in Paris). So he got it. Even if you don’t watch the scene all the way through I’m sure you’ll find yourself listening to his song.
I honestly don’t know much about Woody Allen. Truthfully, I haven’t seen many of his films (trust me, I want to rectify this). But I love Midnight in Paris. Any movie that can make me like Owen Wilson again has to be good.
Enjoy today's scene. And answer me this: if you could go to any country or city - in any time period or decade - where would you go?
P.S. Recall our recent FSF featuring the opening scene from The Shining. They're sort of the antithesis of one another in a way. Two great openers, but this one makes me a lot happier.
July 12th is creeping closer and the amount of promotional material and news about Pacific Rim is getting crazy. So it’s time for a new Pacific Rim Watch update!
Pacific Rim may feature more posters and artwork than any other film in recent memory. Here’s a few character images I saw on JoBlo a while back.
You may recall some ruckus that Michael Bay supposedly accused del Toro of “ripping off” Transformers. Bay quickly came out and said that he wasn’t referring to del Toro or Pacific Rim in his comments. Whether Bay was talking about Pacific Rim or not, I’m sure it’ll be better than Transformers.
This is a cool featurette on “The Drift”, the effect of joining two pilots together in the film. This kind of seems like this year’s Avatar in terms of the tech within the film.
JoBlo shared a trailer for Atlantic Rim. Yes, this is real. This would surely make for a fun drinking game to play before seeing the real film.
Del Toro revealed that a sequel would further explore the Kaiju aliens. I’m not sure what he means by that but it would surely be interesting.
I’ve barely had time for posts like these lately, which is unfortunate. On the bright side, the reason I don’t have a lot of time is because The EH Team has been busy. Like, fun-filled weekends kind of busy. That being said, I’d like to rant a little about our recent Friday. Let me explain...
We had gone out to Jacksonville Beach to watch the original Iron Man as part of the Moonlight Movies series. The concept was fun but the entire experience was pretty much ruined by a group of insanely drunk douchebags. This group of people - who were seated in a circle (yes, some of them weren’t even watching the movie) right in front of us - talked - nay - yelled, throughout the entire film. And whenever we or anyone else tried to shush them, they responded like we were the assholes. They even called us townies! I didn't think anyone actually used that phrase. Their main argument seemed to be that we could watch Iron Man on TV, since it supposedly comes on TBS all the time. They couldn’t seem to grasp the concept that, hey, we don’t want to watch it on TV, we came here to watch it on an enormous screen. I know we weren’t in a movie theater, but that doesn’t matter. You should still be somewhat respectful when the activity you’re engaging in requires silence. Talk about your DUI (Seriously, a girl talked about this. Loudly. The same girl complained about how she had been shushed at a screening of Men in Black.) on your own time. So go fuck a cactus, you guys.
Moving on, on Sunday Nick and Mrs. Nick accompanied me to a screening of the 4th Season of Arrested Development at Sun-Ray Cinema. I wore my Bluth’s Frozen Banana shirt, as did probably half a dozen others. A few other folks wore Arrested Development themed T-Shirts, everyone snacked on actual frozen bananas courtesy of Sweet Pete’s, and a general good time was had by all. I’m not sure if there’s always blue lighting in Sun-Ray or if they switched out the lights just for AD but, either way, it was a nice touch.
I didn’t watch the entire 4th season at Sun-Ray, but I did finish it later that night (I stayed up until 3:00). I thought that the season, while good, focused a little too much on the plot and not enough on the characters. I’ll probably never re-watch it the way I can re-watch seasons 1-3.
On Memorial Day we went to a free concert at the Landing to watch The Features perform. I wasn’t familiar with the group but I liked what I heard. After the concert we grabbed some drinks and I played around with the Vine app. Here’s Nick trying to find the perfect pair of glasses.
Enough about us, let’s move on to some new trailers and movie news!
Trailers
I was planning on writing this Batch last week, that’s why all of these trailers are a little old. First up, The Wolverine. This is a much better trailer, as the first few were a little silly. I’m really hoping this new movie tickles my fancy, especially since Wolverine will be popping up in the new X-Men First Class flick. I don’t want to be sick of him by then.
The fourth Man of Steel trailer is quite amazing and action filled. I’m really looking forward to Kal-El beating the crap out of something (anything!).
The new The World’s End trailer is a little slice of fried gold. It really gives you a good feel for how the actors will play off one another and it looks hilarious. Plus, it reveals that the antagonists are (spoiler alert!) robots! I thought they were aliens until I watched this trailer (maybe they’re alien robots?)
Don Jon, Joseph Gordon Levitt's directorial debut, made the Honorable Mention section of my 2013 Anticipated Films list. I hadn’t seen a trailer when I wrote that list and I was just going off the way the movie sounded on paper. So I’m happy that the trailer makes the movie look really solid. ScarJo plays a New Jersey girl really well. A little too well.
Which of these trailers is your favorite? Poltergeist Reboot
JoBlo reported last week that the new Poltergeist film might end up being a sequel and a reboot, similar to producer Sam Raimi’s recent Evil Dead sequel/reboot combo. My motto with reboots is “It’s bound to happen sooner or later,” so this news doesn’t really bother me. Poltergeist is one of my favorite films of all time and a reboot could royally suck, but I have faith in Raimi.
Are you looking forward to this film? Would you rather a straight reboot or a straight sequel?
Community News
Capping off the news section of Batch o’ Hatch with a bang, there is now an updated version of the Journey to the Center of Hawthorne game from Community. Plus, there’s rumblings that Dan Harmon could come back to the show??? As the A.V. Club points out, there’s no precedent for this, so it’s exciting. I don’t see why Harmon wouldn’t come back, especially now that Chevy’s gone. I mean, NBC really dicked him over, but it's his baby and I could see him burying the hatchet in order to come back. Fingers crossed that Harmon will return for the final two seasons and the movie as well.
Ruth from "...let's be splendid about this..." sharing a Simon Pegg Tweet about a possible new Trek film. I'm not sure if he's joking or not, but this would be awesome. By the way, read Ruth's review of Star Trek Into Darkness right here.
I hope all is well for everyone on this beautiful Memorial Day. If you have the day off, enjoy it and remember what it's for and even if you don't you can still do the same. I'm getting straight to it with today's MVM. Gonna give you a three'fer of songs from the young British lad, Jake Bugg. All are from his 2012 self-titled debut. Just looking at him and hearing his sound gives me flash backs of the '60's British Invasion. Not that I was there, but with the moppy hair, bluesy and twangy sound, he would fit right in with acts like The Beatles, The Animals, Herman's Hermits, Donovan and even the early Stones.
Here's wishing you a Happy Monday and as always remember to live your soundtrack out loud.
This week's scene is incredibly brief (and not even complete - head to the video's YouTube page to read some angry comments about that) but it's appropriate because it's my first real memory of Arrested Development. It was my wild and crazy college days. Some friends and I had gotten together to hang out (I got a keg for the first time!) and my buddy had Arrested Development on in the background. This scene played out and I remember asking my friend "Why are they doing that?" I guess I thought it was an inside joke or something.
This scene really showcases two of the show's strong points - its cast and its absurd comedy. The whole family - and Carl "You Got a Stew Going" Weathers! - is cheering for someone to give a speech. They don't know who, however - they didn't think that far ahead.
Since this week's scene is so brief, I've included a super cut of 18 running gags on the show, courtesy of Slacktory. Also, to get you even more pumped, the excellent Season 4 trailer is included below.
I hope you enjoy the new season! And if you're in Jax on Sunday, make sure to stop by Sun-Ray Cinema to catch the new episodes on a big screen! First episode starts at 12:30 p.m.
I hope most of you know who I’m referring to, but if not, he was the
keyboardist, and along with Jim Morrison, one the two founding members of my
favorite band of all time:The Doors.This is sad news.Ray played a pivotal role in the influence of
the man that I am today.I learned a lot
from the music and stories of The Doors and though I’ll never have the chance
to say so, I owe these four guys a great deal of thanks for nearly everything I’ve
seen and accomplished.I was lost before
I started listening to them.I hated a
lot of people and things, I felt cheated by the world and its constant
let-downs, and it was only when I was playing chess with my college roommate,
listening to his The Doors Greatest Hits
album that it occurred to me that I am, and always have been, a monumental fan
of the band, more keenly a fan of Morrison’s.Jim is my all-time favorite artist and Ray was the light that guided Jim
back from sea time after time.Every Jim
in the entertainment world needs a Ray to stand by his side, when the rest of
the band is ready to kick the “Jim” out due to drunken, wasted shenanigans, the
“Ray” is always there to remind the others what “Jim” brings, musically,
creatively, and artistically.A reminder
that what is brought can never be and will never be replicated by another to
the same degree.
It is truly a sad day,
but with the same flip of that coin, I am extremely happy that Ray and Jim will
be together once again.Goodbye, “Beautiful
Friend”.
I’m going to start this post off with a couple of corrections
to last week’s post . . . I know, I know, I can hardly believe I made a
mistake, but I did, and although such a thing hasn’t happened since 1998 (turns
out Halloween H20 isn’t going to be a
very good movie), I’m going to take full responsibility in hopes that you can
forgive and forget.I mentioned a little
comedy being released last Tuesday called “3,
2, 1 . . . Frankie Go Boom” starring Charlie Hunnam and Chris O’Dowd, as
constantly-at-each-other’s-throats brothers.First mistake:apparently the “3, 2, 1 . . .” part of the title was cut
from the film and it is now simply called “Frankie
Go Boom”.I didn’t think (and still
don’t) there was much of a reason to drop the numbers from the title, but
apparently the studio/filmmakers/etc. thought it would be conducive to
sales.I’m making that up of course,
because I couldn’t find anything revealing why the title was changed.Chalk this one up to the Bermuda Triangle, I
guess, because surely the only legitimate claim to the change will be that a
portion of the title is now lost at sea.Right?The second mistake came
from my description of this same film . . . I mentioned that Hunnam’s character
is recently released from rehab, but it’s actually O’Dowd’s character, Bruce
(the filmmaker), who is a recent grad of the institute.Hilarity ensues.That’s it, or at least those are the only two
goofs I caught since that last post, let me know if there are more, but be
please gentle if so.
Old TiTs:Frankie
Go Boom, Charles Swan
I recently had the pleasure of watching two of the four
films I mentioned last week; the other two I had already seen, one of which I
would definitely watch again.Mistakes
aside, Frankie Go Boom was downright
hilarious and although my hopes were not very high for this one, it took home
the gold in comparison to the artsy Charles
Swan.Ron Pearlman should win an
award for his performance as the transsexual computer hacker, “Auntie
Phyllis”.Oh, he is oh-so disgusting in
this film.Let’s face it, he’s not what
one would call an “attractive male” and add to that a wig, make-up, tits, and a
dress and all you’ve got left is a leftover from the Dr. Moreau’s island.He/she is fucking hilarious though!This movie gets the open-hatch rating from
and I can’t wait to share it with the rest of the Hatch crew.Each character being helmed by this all-star
cast is a memorable one, whether it’s a drunken, horny Lizzy Caplan, a naked
Chris Noth sprinting on a treadmill, I’ve already mentioned Pearlman’s
insanity, or the bitchiness of Whitney Cummings’ character (is she already
typecast or is she really just a dirty bitch?), the comedy rarely lets up.See this movie as soon as you can, but only
if you like low-key, hilarious independent comedies.
The other guilty pleasure I had last week came to me in the
form of Charles Swan.This one I was really looking forward to, and
although I enjoyed it, it was admittedly a tough sell.My wife hated it mainly because of Charlie
Sheen, I liked (didn’t love it) because of the artsy-fartsy protagonist that
lives deep down in my subconscious, and because I’m a huge fan of both Bill
Murray and Jason Schwartzman.Frankie absolutely won the battle
between these two, but I haven’t given up on Swan yet, in contrast to what I did with Texas Chainsaw when I left the theater.I’m not sure if Murray and Schwartzman owed
Charlie a favor, but the film certainly could’ve used much more of both of
them.They made me laugh when they were
present and made me long for them when they were away.Charlie Sheen can no longer hold a movie
based on his own merit . . . I’m not sure he ever could . . . but this seemed
like his very own, private “Swan Song” to his ex-wives, ex-girlfriends,
ex-employers, ex-everyone he’s screwed over in the past.As I said, I enjoyed the artsy-ness to it and
had anyone else, save for Nic Cage, been the title star I would’ve enjoyed it
more, but I’m not going to give up yet.Another viewing will be required before I officially rate it; maybe I’ll
make Robert watch it with me though I’m fairly certain he will not like it
which may dissuade my “defending” take which I carry with me now.How about you?Have you watched it yet?If so, what’d you think?
New TiTs:True Blood,
Side Effects, Stand Up Guys, ABC’s of Death
Are there any True
Blood fans that read our posts?I’m
not a big fan by any means, but there are aspects of the show that I do
enjoy.Okay, so it’s mainly the nudity,
so what?I’ve yet to see any episodes
from Season 5, but Season 4 was better than I anticipated and although I heard
that this season is pretty awful, I’m still going to watch.I think the show has three types of followers:those who live for cheesy-ass horror TV a la
Buffy, Angel, any non-reality show produced by SyFy; those obsessed with
vampires who are unlike Dracula in every conceivable way possible; and those
who just enjoy a good pair of tits.I,
myself, fall into the latter category obviously.I will admit until it’s canceled that True Blood is silly, not in a B-movie
way, but just in an awful “I wish I were
still a teen because this is fun and Eric is sooooo dreamy” kind of
way.The dialogue is 84% shit, the
characters are beloved mostly on a “I hate this fucking idiot” pedestal and
while the first season was rooted in introducing the real world to the
supernatural world, the latter episodes make me question if there is even
supposed to be a real world within the show.And by real world, I of course mean like the one you and I live in, you
know, without fairies and werewolves.But hey, the nudity is great, so don’t let me complain too much.I’ll be watching this one soon so I’ll let
you know how much worse/better it gets.
Side Effects is
one that I’ll pick up once it hits the Redbox.Starring every other woman’s heartthrob, Channing Tatum, this one should
task Tatum with the ability to act.A
feat I’m convinced he has yet to master.A straight drama, this one revolves around a wife who murders her
husband due to some side effects prescribed by her psychiatrist.That’s in a nutshell, folks, I’m sure there’s
much more going on, but to avoid a similar mistake made last week, I’ll leave
it at that.To me, this one looks more
interesting than anything else.Typically I wouldn’t give a shit about what these actors/director are
shelling out (Jude Law, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Rooney Mara, Steven Soderbergh),
but I’m interested to see how the story turns out . . . courtroom drama, murder
mystery, boring piece of shit, I’m just not sure and that’s what’s got my
interest peaked.After nearly five
attempts of seeing it in theaters (I talked myself out of each viewing), I
finally decided that Redbox was the way to go.When it will hit, I have no idea, but let me know if the movie is good
and worth buying.I can be easily
swayed.
Stand Up Guys is
another one that I’m pseudo-interested in seeing.It’s hard to deny great actors (Christopher
Walken and Al Pacino) when they’re acting in their genre wheelhouse –
gangster/mob/crime family-esque movies.It looks to have some solid laughs, good drama and I’m willing to bet
neither Walken nor Pacino toned down their performances in front of each other.The plot revolves around Pacino, who’s just
been released from prison, and Walken, his oldest, best friend, who has the
awkward obligation of killing Pacino.It’s easy to tell from the preview that Walken doesn’t want to kill his friend
and it seems (based on preview) that Pacino knows and is going to accept his
fate.How it turns out, I have no idea,
but I’m kind of hoping for the Thelma and
Louise ending.Alan Arkin also
co-stars and although it’s possible I’m still too young to fully appreciate the
relevance of the movie, it looks like one that won’t disappoint.Worth owning?Hmm, probably not, but once Netflix picks it up on their streaming
service, it’ll almost be like owning it anyway.Do any of you out there have any interest in this one?
Last, and most definitely least, on our list is the
horrendous, not in a scary way, ABC’s of
Death.What a joke.What a lame-ass joke!Both Robert and I were looking forward to
checking this one out and boy, were we disappointed.I won’t go into plot details, for that check
out Robert’s review here.I will say,
however, that the idea of this plot intrigued me (until I watched it) based on
26 different directors submitting a different kind of death.What I, and I’m pretty sure Robert, didn’t
know was that [insert phrase – APPARENTLY
– here] this was supposed to be a comedic horror movie.Well, it’s not fucking funny nor is it
scary.It’s just awful and, no pun
intended, extremely shitty.If I had
known I was supposed to be laughing at (most of) these segments, I might’ve
given it the benefit of the doubt, but it certainly wasn’t promoted that way,
nor did we get any kind of indication of the extreme, obscene shit scenes –
there are far more than there should be.I did not like any of the 26 segments, the directors I like let me down,
the directors I hadn’t heard of completely turned me off, and
surprise-surprise, Ti West blows it once again.Why this director gets so much love is beyond me, except for the fact
that most people are stupid.Anyway, I
make mention of this only because I enjoy ranting, and because they are making
a sequel . . . yep, you read that right.There will be a sequel to this shit and call me crazy, but I’m willing
to bet it will be just as shitty, if not shittier, with plenty of segments
dedicated to shit, much like the shit I’ve been talking about this entire
paragraph.Shit.
Music:The
National, Thirty Seconds to Mars
We’ve got a couple of music releases that are worth taking
note of and the first I will not say much about because I’m certain Pat will be
writing about The National’s new
release soon enough.While, personally,
not much of a fan of the indie group, I do respect the music that they put out – but that’s mostly because Pat knows his onions when it
comes to music and it is extremely possible that my distaste for them merely
stems from my own lack of knowledge regarding their catalogue.Same thing happened to both Dr. Dog and Delta Spirit and now, after taking in their catalogues on more than
a few occasions, I am a huge fan of both.So I’ll await Pat’s post and give them a firm listen once he owns the
entire album.
Our other music release comes from Thirty Seconds to Mars . . . or is 30 Seconds to Mars . . . I see both repeated throughout the
internet and I’m not a big enough fan to know.This one marks the band’s fourth album and is called Love, Lust, Faith and Dreams.Wikipedia lists it as a concept album, which,
as you know, is right up my alley, exploring the themes conveyed by the
title.Being the description that it is,
I have no choice but to check it out.I
like some of their tunes, but really only hold the need to listen when I’m
pissed off, but then again they’re never at the top of that list either.I prefer Jared Leto as an actor, though he
hasn’t been in anything since 2009 (“Mr.
Nobody”???) and only has one thing in the 2013 pipeline, Dallas Buyers Club, I’d really like to
see him come back to the big screen.Although not the most prestigious filmography, he did a helluva job in Requiem for a Dream, is memorable in FightClub and Panic Room, and made
oh so many numerous teenage girls experience masturbation for the first time
and many times afterward.Respect.I guess it goes without saying he’d be great
in a musical.I’ve long gestated a
musical revolution outline/plot/screenplay that would display Mr. Leto’s
talents to the nth degree . . . if only he’d call.
Alright, that about wraps her up for this week.Enjoy Memorial Day and the long weekend
because I know I will.Until next time .
. .
Somehow this blog is two years old. I remember meeting the gang for lunch one day to discuss starting it. I forgot all the notes that I took and our waitress had to step out of the restaurant to call me back. What’s funny is that place isn’t even there anymore.
French Toast Sunday recently turned three and Lindsay did a post on what she loves about blogging. I thought I’d kick our third year off with a little light plagiarism (hey, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery) and basically do the same thing. So, without further ado, here are
5 Things I Love About This Blog
5. Concerts
Before we started this blog I probably could have counted the number of concerts I’d been to on one hand (okay, one hand and that one weird foot of Pat’s). And going to concerts is a regular thing for me now. There’s a lot more potential for violence than I would have thought. That might be naive, but it’s not like we go to GWAR concerts.
Sun-Ray Cinema is an awesome local movie theater here in Jacksonville. They’ve been kind enough to team up with us on a few giveaways for some of their screenings. And I’ve gotten to see some of my all time favorite films on a big screen thanks to them (The Evil Dead, Jaws, The Shining, Vertigo). We’re actually set to watch the upcoming 4th season of Arrested Development in its entirety on May 26th at Sun-Ray, and that’s pretty awesome. Hopefully they keep on keepin’ on, and with talk of adding a second screen, I can’t see how they wouldn’t.
A few months after we started the blog I got an email from my friend CT from the Nerd Lunch Podcast, asking me if I’d like to be a guest on the show. We’d worked together years ago (okay, I was an intern) and we’d recently started interacting again because of our respective blogs. I’ve been on the podcast a few times now and I think I’ve gotten a little better. This probably sounds silly to veteran podcasters, but it’s a lot of fun and I enjoy being on when I can. The NLP crew are a great group of guys and I’m honored to be a part of the 4th Chair Army.
Some of our friends have been kind enough to guest post for us. Special thanks to Ruth for being the first. You can check out all our guest posts here. We’d love to have an even bigger extended family, so just shoot me an email if you’re interested in writing a Music Video Monday!, Favorite Scene Friday!, a review, or something else. There’s plenty of room in The Hatch.
1. The EH Team
My favorite part of this blog is my EH Team Family. Pat has a pretty successful Twitter account where he’s retweeted by rock stars. Like the rest of the group, he’s a great lover of music (and I was just kidding about the weird foot). I’m fortunate to work with Tiff in the real world, so we get to talk about movies, TV, and music all day. She’s currently going through The Walking Dead withdrawals, having watched seasons 1-3 nonstop. Nick and I share a love of good horror films, shitty horror films, Community (which just got renewed again somehow!), and countless other crap. These guys make me feel like I’m part of something special.
So in conclusion, thanks for reading our blog for the past two years. Stick around!
Once upon a time a boy started a feature called The EH List. His intention - a pure one - was to highlight the music that he, his blog mates, and their friends shared on a monthly basis into one Spotify playlist. But it was not to be...
Yeah, I didn’t do one of these last month (or the month before). I meant to but LIFEHAPPENED. Anyway, I figured I’d make this installment three times as awesome. Hope you enjoy.
This is just an excellent tune by M&S that Tiff and I discussed a few months back. It’s a fantastic song about love lost and love rejected.
M&S are playing in St. Augustine in September. Just a stone's throw from The EH Team's stomping grounds but we don't have tickets...at the moment. Actually, probably forever. That thing is crazy sold out.
“Walking on a Dream”
Empire of the Sun
Turns out this awesome song has a really kooky music video, as witnessed in Tiff’s MVM from February.
“Landslide”/“Go Your Own Way”
Fleetwood Mac
Chris over at Movies and Songs 365 did a very thorough series on the music of Fleetwood Mac. Two of my faves were “Landslide” and “Go Your Own Way”. As I mentioned to Chris, the latter always makes me think of Forrest Gump.
“Hot Chip”
Shake a Fist
Mike from 20 Something Awesome shared this track back in February. I’d never heard of Hot Chip before. It’s a very catchy tune - and I haven’t even listened to it with my headphones on!
“Yamaha”
Delta Spirit
Nick shared this tune as a Music Video Monday after hearing it featured in Warm Bodies. He wasn’t crazy about the zom-com and I still haven’t seen it. Maybe I’ll give it a whirl in October.
John from The Droid You’re Looking For featured this track as part of his look at the music of the Coen Brothers. The tune is from Hatch favorite The Big Lebowski. Nick actually put this track on a CD for me a long time ago and I couldn’t believe it when he told me that Kenny Rogers did it. Still blows my mind.
While we’re on the topic of the Coen Brothers, check out the Red Band trailer for their new flick, Inside Llewyn Davis, which also looks to be brimming with tunes.
“Inhaler”/”Blue Blood”
Foals
Mike from 20 Something Awesome was kind enough to handle Music Video Monday for us one week in March. He chose the Foals track “Inhaler”. Mike had previously shared “Blue Blood” (and its awesome video) on his own site and I’ve included that here as well.
“Drift Drive”/”Every Night My Teeth Are Falling Out”
The Antlers
Virtually every MVM from late February to April was chosen because the artist was set to perform at the Shaky Knees Music Fest in Atlanta (and we still weren’t issued press passes...grumble). Case in point, Pat chose these two Antlers tracks and they performed that Sunday afternoon. I was a little fuzzy at that point but I’m sure they were great. Hopefully Pat or somebody else can attest to that.
“Diane Young”
Vampire Weekend
Our last track from Mike is a catchy one from Vampire Weekend’s new album “Modern Vampires of the City”. I wanna say it’s a little different from their usual style, but, then again, I’m not familiar with their entire catalogue. In any case, it’s a fun tune.
“Don’t Break the Needle”
J. Roddy Walston and The Business
Another MVM pick by Pat, “Don’t Break the Needle” is (wait, is it about a record player or drug use...okay, the latter) a song about DRUGS. Anyway, Pat chose this track after some unmitigated praise for the band by Nick.
“The Funeral”
Band of Horses
As I mentioned in my MVM from April, I was very excited to catch Band of Horses at Shaky Knees. And I have to admit, watching the band perform in the rain surrounded by the EH team and friends is one of the highlights of my year so far.
“Elephant Gun”
Beirut
I was completely unfamiliar with Beirut until Pat brought the band to my attention with a recent MVM. Great song. You could listen to it chillin’ on the beach but it’s also a little sad.
Happy May, boys and girls!We’re done with the April showers, so let’s bring on the May
flowers!Yes, that is a metaphor for the
new releases happening, you’re welcome.May started off with a whimper with Mama
being the only thing worth mentioning as far as new releases last Tuesday, but
this week brings us a bit more and next Tuesday will bring us even more.It’s an exciting month for TiTs so let’s dive
right in, shall we?
Old Tits:Mama, The Master, and Phoenix
Last week granted us the DVD/Blu-ray release of the
Guillermo Del Toro produced, Mama.The trailer for this one both sparked my
curiosity and made me hate the movie all together, all at the same time.The trailer is spooky by all means (which I
love), but the incessant, unnecessary “Mama” that is whispered throughout
killed any theatrical desire I had to see the movie.Luckily for Del Toro thought, Robert emailed
me the following last Thursday, “I meant
to tell you last night that I watched Mama a couple nights ago.The last little bit gets a bit goofy but 90%
of the movie is solidly creepy . . .”In Robert I trust, so this one is now officially back on my radar, I
just hope the whispers don’t habitat every 10 seconds of the movie like they
did with the trailer.I’ll let you know
as soon as I know.
. . . Mama . . .
I’m not proud of this next one, but I’ll reveal my thoughts
anyway.I watched the ridiculous piece
of awful that is, The Master, with
Joaquin Phoenix and Phillip Seymour Hoffman.Both actors did an outstanding job, let me get that out there right off
the bat, it’s just that the content/plot of the film was incredibly bogus and
after it was all over I felt neither cheated nor fulfilled.Why, you ask?Well because nothing fucking happened throughout the 2 ½ hour
feature.I’m sure you’ve read, as have
I, that this movie is loosely based on Scientology and if that’s true then some
of the A-lister’s in Hollywood are even dumber than I previously thought (I
can’t give celebrities much credit for being millionaires/idols because they
hate themselves and need to make a living by pretending to be anyone other than
who they really are – I give them more credit than I do professional athletes
(I cry every time I play Monopoly but no one gives me more money, why does it
work in professional sports?), but I could never marry, befriend, or share any
part of my life with a Hollywood celebrity – at the end of the day I just
couldn’t trust the person).As I said,
the acting is great (although I’m still not sure why Amy Adams is in the movie,
she’s only got approx. 15 minutes of screen time and most of it is pointless),
but with no growth out of the characters it was very difficult for me to give a
shit.The best parts are watching
Phoenix’s character poison himself and others with wild dink concoctions (we
see him drinking paint thinner straight from the can at one point, Mmmm yum!),
yet no one dies of poison, so maybe that comment is a little off-putting on my
part.Avoid this trash if you can, but
if you’re dying to see it please remember my warnings and then hit me back with
a comment on what you thought, I’d love to chat with someone who enjoyed the
movie. Perhaps a revelation about it would ignite in my little head, but I
doubt it.
I mentioned the new album release by Phoenix a few weeks
ago, but it’s nothing more than 10 tracks of lame poppy horseshit, so don’t
worry about it.
New TiTs:Dexter, Cloud Atlas, A Glimpse Inside
. . ., Texas Lamesaw, and 3, 2, 1 . . .
Dexter, the show
about America’s favorite serial killer with a heart of gold, will be coming to
an end soon (new/final season starts next month) and today grants us the
release of Season 7.I’m a Dexter fan.I easily got hooked from the first disc of
the first season and haven’t looked back since.I like the sex, the killings, and the pickles that ‘ol Dex finds himself
in each season and while I agree that it needs to wrap up, I haven’t been
deterred by any season or season finale (I’m looking at you The Walking Dead) so I have soaring
hopes for the upcoming 8th and final season.Season 7 is good, but certainly not the best,
and because I’m purposefully going to avoid and plot details/spoilers of it,
I’ll do you one better and rank the 7 seasons from worst to best for you:
7.Season 3
– something about this season didn’t click with me the way Seasons 1 & 2
did.It revolves around a budding
friendship between Dexter and a character played by Jimmy Smits (who does an
incredible job, similar to all of the show’s celebrity guest stars), but with
the planning of a wedding involved (Dexter’s), it seemed like the need for a
companion was just a bit too much.Dex
already has a companion in fiancé Rita, but his need, desire, for someone more
like him seemed to stretch a bit too thin for my taste.
6.Season 5
– to be fair, I think my logic for placing this one at the bottom of the list
is because this was the only season I watched on a week-by-week basis (I
usually blow through DVD/Blu-ray discs) and the time in between each Sunday was
killer (no pun intended) and made me feel less in tune with the season as a
whole.
5.Season 7
– this one is fun, but without revealing too much, I’ll only say I didn’t care
too much for the direction that Dexter and Debra’s relationship took (is
taking).Do I have a better idea in
mind, well no, but still, regardless of what secrets come to light, a brother
and sister should stick together through and through (unless both are as
deranged as batshit crazy Scientologist’s, HahHah).
4.Season 2
– this one just barely fell out of the top 3, but that’s only because the other
seasons are incredible.I like this one
a lot and nearly tied it with Season 1, but what kept me from going that route
is because there isn’t really a main killer that the Miami Metro PD is after
(there is one, but the dude’s kinda lame in comparison to other main killers)
and as exciting as it is to watch Dexter feel the pressure of the Force (and
Sgt. Doaks, sp?)closing in on him, there could’ve been just a bit more in the
plot.
3.Season 1
– the one that started it all, this season is fantastic as we get introduced to
our beloved killer and his chilling (pun intended) maniac older brother.Only one other killer bests the Dexter lot
over the Ice Truck Killer (and we’ll get to him shortly), but he comes in a
close second.I loved the back-and-forth
between the two as well as the mystery of Dexter’s past coming to light.This one is a helluva season to get started
with and one of the best Season 1’s ever produced in my opinion.Honestly, if the upcoming Season 8 was
literally this one, I would fell ultimately fulfilled with the series as a
whole, but oh well . . . I can’t wait to see what happens in the real end.
2.Season 6 –
this one is great for a variety of reasons, mostly the plot twists, but also
the content.I had been wondering
if/when religion would play a role in Dexter’s actions/kills and this season
brings it.Aside from the second best
surprise cliffhangers of the series, everything about this season is
balls-to-the-wall.More blood than in
recent seasons, nastier deaths, etc. make this one of the best seasons of the
series, only to be outdone by one season and that season, of course is,
1. Season 4
– whether you like the show a little bit or a lot, this season is for you.Thanks in LARGE part to the fabulous Jon
Lithgow, this season not only contains the best (or worst, depending on your
direction) serial killer, but also the best cliffhanger ending.This season kept me on the edge of my seat
for all 12 episodes and try as they might, the writers and producers will not
make another season that can stand up to this one.Season 6 gave it a good run for its money,
but unless Season 8 ends with a BANG, this season will be the season most fans
will remember Dexter for.So, so good.
Next up is Cloud Atlas,
an interesting little film from the likes of the Wachowski siblings.This one isn’t the best movie in the world,
but it is very interesting.Set between
approx. six different time periods, this is ultimately a love story painting
the idea that we are in fact many people who have lived many lives and through
each one we have a choice between bad and good, love and hate, right and
wrong.I’m sure many Philosophy classes
will tackle this movie along with various texts and I’m kind of envious that it
came out so late in the game for me (I graduated 7 years ago).Definitely not a one-time watch, this one
requires at least 3 viewings to catch all the little nuances, actors, etc.It was fun to see Tom Hanks and Halle Berry
play so many different roles (six each) for one feature, but I’m absolutely
positive some info fell through my mind cracks.I’m not sure I’ll buy this one, but I would most certainly watch it
again.These kinds of movies deserve all
the attention they can get so as to persuade Hollywood to keep projects like
this in the pipeline (let the Transformers bullshit go already, Jesus!) so do
movie-lovers everywhere a favor and check this one out.Maybe Kickstarter can back a project of a
similar nature.Or maybe we’ll have to
wait a few more lifetimes, who knows . . .
I’m going to bet on A
Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan, III.Yes, I will buy it without having seen it, as
I like to do from time to time.Despite
Charlie Sheen’s involvement, this one seems right up my alley in terms of pure
entertainment.Sheen’s presence is
counteracted by the great Bill Murray and the equally awesome Jason Schwartzman
and I’m severely looking forward to this next team-up of theirs.Judging from the trailer, there is a bit of
gonzo in this picture and it’s about time.We need more gonzo movies, Hollywood, let’s step it up!I’m not even entirely sure what it’s about,
but I have a feeling that it will delight me.I’ll be sure to update you next week.
And for all you horror fans out there, I’m sorry.Nothing of relevance is being released
today.You may feel the need to argue
being that Texas Chainsaw 3D is being
released, but it’s as ridiculous as the new Phoenix album (frankly I’m
surprised they aren’t on the soundtrack).The only thing going for this movie is the hot lead actresses, but they
don’t show any nudity so that “going” is short-lived anyway.Backed by a silly story, and plumb dumb
ending, this one is nothing but a letdown.Hell, even the Texas remake with Jessica Biel is infinitely better.I have a feeling this one will go down in the
annals of history as cheesy-B fun, along with every other Texas sequel.It’s hard to believe that no one can make
this series scary again.
Last on our list is the low-key, indie comedy, 3, 2, 1 . . . Frankie Go Boom.I’ve read some good things about this flick
and I am looking forward to checking it out (mainly because my girl-crush,
Lizzy Caplan, is in it).Chris O’Dowd,
who I’ve been man-crushing on ever since This
is 40, also stars as well as Pacific
Rim and Sons of Anarchy star,
Charlie Hunnam.They play brothers with O’Dowd playing the obnoxious, older of the two
and Hunnam playing the younger, recovering drug addict . . . comedy ensues. Oh, and did I mention a cross-dressing Ron Pearlman? I may not have the highest of hopes for this
one (I’m counting on you, Swan), but I’m
sure it’s got a few good laughs in there.
That’s all for this week, guys and dolls.Sadly, there’s nothing doing for music this
week.In its absence may I suggest J.
Roddy Walston & the Business.Pat
mentioned them a few weeks back, check it out and check out the rest of their
stuff.It rocks.Bite back with some comments below, let me
know which season of Dexter is your fav.Until next week . . .
.JPG)
