Last week the latest music video from Dublin-based rock band Little Green Cars was released, to much excitement from yours truly. The track, My Love Took Me Down To The River To Silence Me, is a powerful one.
Little Green Cars' freshman album, Absolute Zero, has not failed to impress. The natural talent displayed by the band members pretty much knocks you out at first listen, and they have a knack for producing an amazing five-part harmony (WARNING: gives lots of chills). I was first drawn to them when I came across The John Wayne, a track lamenting the cruelties of unrequited love. I do have to admit, however, that my favorite songs are the ones performed by the only gal in the band - Faye O'Rourke. Give her a listen and be amazed (and then depressed about your own life) by the fact that she's only 20 years old! While my ultimate favorite track from the album is the gut-wrenching Please (sorry, no official video at this time), the track linked below is right up there with it. It's a song about the isolation of unexpected heartbreak and how such an event can leave you at an emotional standstill - one that deep down, you would rather not pick yourself up out of. The pain is your best friend and your worst enemy. The video for the track is actually near and dear to my heart. It was filmed on the Burren in Ireland's beautiful, remote County Clare. I was lucky enough to visit there a few years ago (you can see my touristy dorkiness on the Burren in the pic displayed below).
Just hanging next to a neolithic passage tomb, waiting to meet my maker.
The Burren is one of the most unique places I have ever seen. Its beauty is in its isolation and its starkness. Pretty fitting for such a song, me thinks.
Summer's in full swing, and in between our applications of sun block and flipping of burgers we wrote the following. That’s right, we wanted to share our favorite summer movies with YOU, dear reader. So read on. And tell us what summer movies you love the best!
Wet Hot American Summer follows the goofy, ridiculous, raunchy adventures of the counselors and campers at Camp Firewood. Drug use, young love, dancing, fridge humping, and crashing satellites ensue.
This is a great spoof of summer camp movies with mastermind David Wain at the controls. It’s a fantastic comedy in general because it’s sort of that perfect blend of parody and tribute. They get some really good summer camp stuff in there as well. How do you make out with your hottie of a fellow camp counselor AND keep the campers from drowning? It can’t be done.
Friday the 13th is so beloved as a horror film that many people might overlook the fact that it’s a summer film as well. The flick spawned a series (damn near a genre) of summer camp slasher films. The original film may not quite fit the bill of that quote above (which is from Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood), but the spirit is there. And, sure, the films don’t always revolve around Camp Crystal Lake (I’m looking at you Jason Takes Manhattan), but the spirit is there. Horny camp counselors getting picked off by Jason Voorhees - what’s more summer than that? In fact, if I’m being honest, these films make me want to rent a lakeside cabin for the summer.
Gym teacher Freddy Shoop (Mark Harmon) is all ready for his summer vacation in Hawaii with his girlfriend Kim when weasley vice principal Phil Gills forces him to teach english for the summer. Under normal circumstances Shoop would turn down the request but he’s trying to make tenure.
What follows isn’t your typical “summer” movie. Sure there are visits to the beach, amusement park rides, and raging beach parties, but all of the fun-lovin’ teens involved are technically in summer school. The film ends with the class coming together to pass a big test, everyone learns to apply themselves, and to be happy with the best you can be, yadda, yadda, yadda.
Summer Days, Summer Days, Oh how I love these blistering hot days . . .
That’s right, kids, Summer 2013 has officially begun and we’re kicking it off proper here in the Hatch! Each one of us has chosen some specific movies to get things started right and my two selections come from the two opposite ends of the summer spectrum. I’ve chosen one old and one new, one scary and one funny . . . well, if I’m going to be completely honest, both are freaking hilarious.
I’ll jump out of the gate with my oldie, but goodie; 1983’s Sleepaway Camp, directed by Robert Hiltzik, who you’ve probably never heard of, and starring a bunch of people who I know you’ve never heard of. Released in November of ’83 and scoring a surprising 73% on Rotten Tomatoes, Sleepaway… tells the tale of young, shy, bullied Angela Baker and her cousin Ricky during a short shorts kind of summer at, you guessed it, summer camp. The movie is chock full of gay overtones (and undertones), the acting is lame, the dialogue is beyond ridiculous, and the characters are the penultimate definition of disturbing, most notably cousin Ricky’s mom, Aunt Dr. Martha Thomas. Aunt Martha sends our two protagonists to Camp Arawak for some typical fun in the sun, however, as soon as the duo arrive things start to go horribly awry. Turns out someone is knocking off the dirty, sexual deviant, camp counselors, the pederast cook, and all the young campers who are mean to poor Angela. Released when slasher flicks were at their peak, we get some nifty kills from our murdering madman, including deaths a la boat, bees, butcher knife, axe, hair straightener (you’ll have to see it to believe it), and an arrow to the throat. We’re never shown who the killer is, not even a shape, until the end of the movie, and it most assuredly is the end of the movie that warrants the 73% rating. It is far and away one of the most surprising movie endings I have ever seen. I rank the surprise better than the ends of The Sixth Sense, Memento, Identity, and Fight Club, just to name a few. Now don’t go spoiling it by reading the Wikipedia page, spend 90 minutes of your lives and be as surprised as Robert and I were the first time we saw it together. And thank your lucky stars that you’re no longer attending summer camp in the 1980s. “No, that wouldn’t do at all.”
Next, we find ourselves back in the modern day . . . well, again if I’m being completely honest, the setting takes place before Sleepaway Camp, 1965 to be exact. The movie comes from Hatch favorite Wes Anderson and the movie is his latest and nearly greatest, Moonrise Kingdom. This was easily one of my favorite movies from 2012 and I’m saddened that it didn’t get the recognition it deserved at the Oscars, but oh well, I’m not going to gripe here. Similar to Sleepaway…, we find our main protagonist at a summer camp, Camp Ivanhoe, for Khaki Scouts, and while there are no gay tones, it’s still one of the most delightful films ever made, and the ending, while not very surprising, is just as delightful as a warm summer Sunday evening. Our plot follows the adventures of two young lovers, Sam Shakusky and Suzy Bishop, as they weasel their way across the fictional island of New Penzance in the bright light of true young love. What ensues is the stuff dreams are made of. If you’ve seen the movie, then you know how easily this can fit into the “summer movie” collection and if not, give it a try and take notice of the summertime style of the plot and setting . . . camping, swimming, dancing, stormy weather, etc. Being still a relatively new film, this one hasn’t quite reached the cult status that Sleepaway… and other Wes Anderson films have, but I’m confident that it will soon get there. Each star actor, and there are a lot of ‘em, gives a great performance in their respective roles and the plot really is nothing short of an adventure through and through. If you were to ask me to rank Moonrise… among my favorite Wes Anderson films, I’d answer ‘two, because “once a frogman, always a frogman,”’ but that’s a discussion for another time. Have a great summer, kiddos!
Pat
One Crazy Summer (1986)
Hoops McCann (John Cusack) needs to get away from his life so he heads to Nantucket with his friend George (Joel Murray). On the way to the island, they save Cassandra (Demi Moore), a rocker damsel in distress. With the help of George’s friends, Ack Ack (Curtis Armstrong), a.k.a. Booger and the Stork twins (Bobcat Goldthwait and Tom Villard), they're able to help Cassandra save her grandfather’s house. Meanwhile, George’s Uncle Frank (Bruce Wagner) spends the entire summer trying to win a radio contest. Let’s just say it’s an explosive ending.
Grease (1978)
Summer love at it’s best. This is probably a shocker to my Hatch mates but I genuinely think that Grease is one of the best musical movies of all time. Just in case you haven’t seen it, Danny (John Travolta) and Sandy (Olivia Newton-John) have a summer fling but when Danny returns to his “normal” life, he’s nothing like the boy Sandy fell in love with. Sandy, who is from Australia, enrolls at Rydell High instead of returning home. It doesn’t take long before she finds out who Danny really is. Fellas if you think that you're too manly to watch this movie let me try to persuade you with these six words: Sandy in skin-tight black pants.
The Sandlot (1993)
Being a kid that grew up playing baseball all summer long with my friends, The Sandlot had to make my short list of favorite summer movies. Set in 1962, The Sandlot tells the story of the new kid in town, Scotty Smalls (Tom Guiry), hanging out with the neighborhood kids and through America’s past time making friends for life. I don’t care if you like baseball or not, there's something for everyone in this movie, including Squints’ (Chauncey Leopardi) first kiss with the sexy lifeguard, Wendy Peffercorn (Marley Shelton). If you pass on this one, all I can say to you is, “You’re killing me, Smalls.”
Tiff
Jaws (1975)
I don't remember exactly how old I was the first time I saw Jaws - I'm guessing around eight or so - but I know it only took seeing it once for me to never be the same (hell, was anyone?). To provide some background on this life-changing moment, I was a beach baby. My mom was a beach baby. Our summers were spent at.the.beach. In the water. We splashed, we played, we dove into waves, we boogie-boarded all the way back to shore, never once thinking about what evil, monstrous beast with never ending rows of teeth might be in the water with us.
Then, Jaws happened. Not only did I stop enjoying swimming in the ocean, I stopped going in the ocean. Over the years I built up the courage to go back in, but I now maintain a waist-deep limit (and believe me, even then I'm staring at the water around me the entire time for that menacing gray fin to surface).
Oh hai.
So why is Jaws an awesome summer movie? Well...it taps into something that's a part of most of our lives and memories - summer vacation. July 4th weekend. Independence Day. Family fun. And it makes it all slightly terrifying…and more than a little exciting.
Aside from that, Jaws has all the trappings of a summer movie - sun, sand, babes in bikinis, and a handsome police chief, Martin Brody, who just wants to keep the citizens and vacationers of Amity Island safe, gotdammit! Once the beast of a shark has killed enough people to convince local officials that they really won't make many tourism dollars if their tourists are being eaten, the hunt for the killer begins. So Chief Brody, along with Hooper (lovable hippie-rich kid-marine biologist) and Quint (old battle axe-shark hunter) set out for the fight of their lives, complete with booze, a late-night sailor's serenade and a cat-and-mouse game between man and shark where we really don't know who is hunting whom. The movie ends with the shark exploding in a very gory, satisfying way, but not before Quint is chewed up and swallowed by it (and really, was there a more fitting death for that old bastard?).
But the main reason Jaws is a definitive summer movie is that it lives in us. It lives in my brain...and in your brain. In that place where we experience extreme fear. Don't believe me? Head on out to the beach this summer. Swim out in that cool blue water. Feel the waves move over you. Lay back…relax. Until that feeling hits you. You’re in dark, deep water. You can’t see your legs. Hell, you can’t see anything. The people on the shore look awfully small. No one else is around. It’s just you…and that giant, bloodthirsty, man-eating beast that is undoubtedly swimming up toward your dangling feet.
Today I give you a scene from one of my favorite movies of all time. I know this one is pretty much a chick-flick cliche, but I just can't help myself.
The scene actually begins at around the 0:52 mark of the video. If you're not familiar with the story, Jennifer Grey's character, Baby, is vacationing with her parents in the Catskills in the summer of 1963. Our Baby has a good head on her shoulders. She's a devoted daddy's girl with a bright future. But when she meets Patrick Swayze's Johnny, a bad boy from the wrong side of the tracks hired to teach dance lessons at the resort, everything changes. Baby is forbidden from having anything to do with Johnny, but she's in love and she does it anyway. In this scene, irritated and on edge from being cooped up for too long rehearsing for a dance Baby is filling in on, Johnny decides they need a break. You'll see the rest.
The reason I love this scene is that it's full of pure joy. Why do we typically do things we're not supposed to do? Because it feels GOOD. And Baby knows, in this moment, that she wouldn't trade being there with Johnny, this wild man who has totally changed her world, for anything. When Robert and I saw the movie in the theatre recently (one of my top movie experiences), we both knew what I was talking about. And if Patrick Swayze's grin doesn't convince you to love this scene, I don't know what will.
Happy Friday, friends! Here's to being WIIILLLLLDDDD!!!
For today's Music Video Monday!, I give you a pretty damn awesome song by the rather eccentric Australian duo, Empire of the Sun. The funny thing is that when watching the video for Walking On A Dream, one could easily be led to believe that they are some sort of spoof band. Flight of the Conchords comes to mind. But when you listen to the song, you realize they are genuinely talented.
I admittedly don't know much about the band, other than having a couple of their songs. This one has actually been in more than its share of movies. I discovered it on an old recommended iTunes playlist and since then, I seem to hear it in so many different things I see. The video (filmed in Shanghai), the costumes, the dancing...lets face it...pretty much everything about them is a little out there. But the song is beautiful and hopeful and makes me want to get up and dance...and there is nothing wrong with that. It's definitely a good tune to kick off the week!
Happy Monday, folks. I'm baaaaaack! You may (or may not) have noticed that I've been off the blog for a while. I've been taking a sabbatical to address global water shortage issues. Actually...not really. As much as I wish that were true, it's not nearly as interesting as that. And I don't even know what a "sabbatical" is...I just like to use that word. Really, I've just been away. Not writing much, not really "tuned in" to anything. But now I'm back and I'm excited to re-enter the blogosphere with a post about a song that I'm pretty painfully in love with.
For those who do not know, I tend to be a very possessive music lover. This is because anytime I hear a song I love, whether it's the sound of the song or maybe lyrics that moved me, I declare it mine. As in, "this is MY song." I have a lot of songs that are "mine," and once they become mine, they certainly cannot be claimed by anyone else. Today's song is a perfect example. I first heard it during an episode of the American version of the show Shameless (which I highly recommend for anyone who hasn't seen it). The show played just a small part of the song, but as soon as I heard it, I knew I had to find it and hear it all the way through.
"Oh Baby Blue...never think of home..."
The song is, in a word, beautiful. It's pretty and sad and touching, and I'm a sucker for all of those things wrapped into one soul-changing track. Before seeing the Shameless episode, I had never heard it or even heard of the band. After finding it...I don't know if I've ever heard a song that felt more like something meant for me.
The video is nothing more than just watching the band sing the track on stage, but it certainly looks to be a good show. I'm looking into their full music catalogue now. In the meantime, I've got Baby Blue on repeat. And I hope after you hear it, you will too.
"All of your hope, all of your heart All of your heat, all of your dark, Secrets you keep, all to be part, Of the love that you keep, I would just try to, Drag you from deep, wake you from sleep, Bring you back home, There I would keep you safe."
Today's Music Video Monday! is a dedication of sorts to the Halloween movies that scared the living hell out of me when I was a kid. These movies are as follows:
The Exorcist - this is actually the first horror film I remember seeing and I watched it specifically because my parents told me I couldn't. I don't need to discuss how scary this movie is. I'll just say that for a long time, I was terribly frightened of becoming that innocent little girl who randomly falls victim to demonic possession.
The Amityville Horror - if possession wasn't scary enough, this one left me to worry about a ghostly "imaginary friend" who would take over my house with evil, terrorize my stepfather and lock my babysitter in my closet.
A Nightmare on Elm Street - in some ways, this one takes the cake. I mean, for a long time when I got scared, I did what most kids did - told myself that if I shut my eyes and fell asleep, the fear would go away. This movie blew that all to hell.
Jaws - okay, so this one wasn't directed so much AT kids. But as a child who spent entire summers at the beach, it put a pretty healthy fear in me. Hell, it even made me afraid of my parents' swimming pool (true story).
If you're wondering what this music video, by one of the most talented, hipster-friendly bands to hit the music scene in recent years, has to do with scaring kids, all you have to do is watch it. The entire video is made up of different things terrifying a poor crying toddler. The first time I watched it, I was actually pretty disturbed - not only by the imagery, but also by what must have been done to keep this kid crying during the long period of filming. But the more I thought about it, I realized that the very things that scared me most when I was a kid (the terrifying films listed above), sort of aimed to do just that - make me AFRAID.
While I'm not sure what MGMT's exact message is with this song and video (they may argue the negligent mother is scarier than any of the monsters), I decided to celebrate the coming holiday with a Halloween tradition we all know and enjoy - scaring kids!
I began this wonderful Music Video Monday with the best of intentions to post an awesome video with (hopefully) an equally awesome write up. This eternal non-planner and total procrastinator actually had a PLAN. But then, before I knew it, my normal morning routine blew all of those good music video intentions to hell. I was getting ready for work with The Today Show on in the background like always, when I happened to catch a recap of the show's hosts with a very flashy Asian man moving around on stage in a manner that can only be described as totally outrageous. This showy person dancing like his life depended on it was none other than South Korean popstar PSY, and the tune was his monster international hit, Gangnam Style.
I'd heard things about this song before, mostly relating to the accompanying music video that went viral and skyrocketed from there. After watching the video, I can totally understand why. It is equal parts dumbfounding and amazing. From the crazy fashion, to the strange horse-like dancing, to the two-man elevator number, to the toilet scene (yep), to tons of other things...the video is totally bizarre and totally awesome. I decided to do a bit of research when preparing my post and, according to Wikipedia:
"Gangnam Style" is a Korean language colloquialism that refers to a luxurious lifestyle associated with the Gangnam district,an affluent area of Seoul, where people are trendy, hip and exude a certain "swag". All of this sounds okay to me, I guess. I actually didn't know South Korea had an "affluent area, " so good for them. But in reading further, I learned the song is actually a satire of the country's gross over consumption. For example, apparently the average credit card debt there is around 155% of the average income. This is the kind of stuff that pulls me in, but I'm a nerd. I guess my most surprising find is that this is a serious song about serious issues. I certainly would not have guessed that...which I suppose proves that age-old adage once again. Don't judge a book by its cover. And don't judge a song performed in a language you cannot understand just by its video and the very flashy man singing it.
Whatever the song is about, it's catchy as hell and the video is literally something you can't look away from. So giddy-up folks, Gangnam style!!!
