Weekend Cover: Squarepusher - Love Will Tear Us Apart

Hey it's the weekend. That means I'm listening to people play music that other people wrote. You should too.

M83 On Jimmy Fallon Was Good.

So far the new album "Hurry Up, We're Dreaming" sounds like it's a shift away from their previously dreamy, MBV-ish stye. This one is very 80's-soundtrack-dancy, complete with a sax solo. I guess 2011 is the year where the sax solo became a thing again. I hope that changes very, very soon. Anyway, M83 was good.

Stone. Roses.

Elephant Stone was the first song I learned on the bass. I may get to hear it played live soon. Today's a good day.

American Juggalo Made My Brain Melt

"We have alcohol and muthafuckin explosives."

When I think of Juggalos, and believe me I try hard forget they exist, I find myself feeling both scared and sad for America Humanity at the same time. 

At first, a doumentary about the Gathering of the Juggalos sounded about as appealing as a root canal or a week with intestinal flu. ICP had already taught me about the 3 Ms: magic, miracles, and mangets. How could my brain possibly endure additional exposure to their music or their fans? 

Yet...I was so fascinated by this mutant strain of homo-sapiens that I couldn't look away. Afterward I felt like large number of my brain cells had died in a fiery auto accident, but it was so worth the 20 minutes of my time. If you've lived your whole life wondering "Where can I find a short but informative documentary about a large gathering of quasi-mentally-challeneged delinquents who enjoy clowns, hip-hop, murder, and whippits?".... look no further than American Juggalo.

Lou Reed + Metallica = Do.Not.Want.

I'm Just Sayin.....  I'm not even gonna link to it. My ears are still crying themselves to sleep a little bit.

RIP Cliff Burton - 25 Years Ago Today

Cliff Burton, the baddest heavy metal bassist that ever lived died 25 years ago today.  Tragic.

Radiohead - the National Anthem

Under threat of severe beating from Agent Cooper, I bring you awesome video of Radiohead from the Colbert Report.

Wild Flag - Wild Flag

Yeah, we are still here.  Things are pretty busy here in Big Gripe land.  Just for you, yes you, I've written this very special review of a very special band.  I usually don't like the idea of a "super group".  Usually because they aren't that super.  Well, Wild Flag is pretty damn good.  Made up of a bunch of bad ass women from a bunch of bad ass groups, including Sleater Kinney, Helium and Quasi, Wild Flag delivers a great first album.  A really good indie rock album with some really catchy poppiness thrown in.  Lots of loud guitars, banging drums and subtle keyboards.  Very strong songwriting with great delivery and very well recorded.  I am very impressed and am looking to forward to great things to come from Wild Flag.  

Monday Cover: Coldplay - Everybody Hurts

R.E.M. called it quits last week. I know a certain Mr. De La Bacca who was a huge fan, so this is for him. You can watch it too, even if you just like Coldplay. He'll never know.

Rum Diary

"There's no such thing as 470 proof alcohol."   Indeed.

Here Be Wonder

My good friend Clay writes short stories, with tiny pictures next to them. He assures me he creates these things himself. If you enjoy tales of lizards, comets, murder, and so forth then you should spend a few minutes checking out his short stories with tiny pictures and lots of wonder. www.herebewonder.com  

Weekend Cover: Smashing Pumpkins - Never Let Me Down Again

You know, I usually try to include a link with some sort of actual video for these covers but today it's just not worth it. The two "videos" for this song with the largest hit-counts had either some fucked up goth chick on a swing-set or a couple of fetuses swimming around for no reason. Either way, this link is your best choice. You're welcome.

Captain America: World Policeman

Captain America was the best blockbustah of the summah so far. It's nice to see somebody have to work their ass off to become a hero instead of flipping some sort of instant badass switch and becoming a pro overnight. The Red Skull was a perfect villain and the post-credits ending tied into the Avengers very nicely. I honestly had no idea there was actual footage from that film yet. The 3D was well done & subtle, if you're into that sort of thing. If you haven't seen it yet, perhaps this inspirational trailer will inspire you. 

Explosions in the Sky on David Letterman

Growing up in West Texas if you'd ever told me that any of my friends or acquaintances would end up playing awesome music on David Letterman one day, I probably would have called you a liar.  And then blown cigarette smoke in your face and shuffled off to go be an annoying teenager somewhere.  Congrats to these guys.  They've worked their asses off to get to where they are and they've remained humble along the way.  Good for you guys.

Hungover Green X-Pirates Part 7: The Ladyboys Strike Back

The Wookster & I have been busy havin a summah, hope you're busy doing the same. I don't expect a lot out of summer movies which is cool because I'm rarely disappointed. Every summer I lower my expectations and head out to enjoy the explosions, GCI eye candy, and inevitably get pissed off at the American moviegoing public because they can't shut their ignorant pieholes for 2 fucking hours so I can catually hear the movie I paid to watch. Here's a rundown of the moviefilms we've attended thusfar:

Green Lantern was fairly forgettable. The editing was all over the place, and the CG was dodgy about half the time. I understand this was because they had several different fx houses working on it, never a good idea. The biggest problem fx-wise was the costume. Half the time it looks amazing and half the time it looked like I got hammered and Photoshopped the costume on. As much time as they spend with the Green Lantern Corps, you don't see them do anything but stand around until the very end of the movie, and then it seems like a total afterthought.

[Spoilers] Parallax the angry yellow cloud was LAAAAAAME. Not quite as much of a cop-out as the generic Galactus Cloud from the FF movies, but pretty damn close. I liked the idea that he was a corrupted Guardian, but they never really went for it as far as that plot point was concerned. You're never given time to identify with the Guardians so the reveal isn't all that significant. The guardians come off as tiny blue assholes, they fact that Parallax is one them isn’t too much of a stretch.

Ryan Reynolds was surprisingly good though, he does as much as he can to carry the movie with the crappy script he’s given. Killowog was pretty badass. Sinestro was also badass except for the easter-egg silliness at the end, and by silliness I mean this really should have been a major part of the fucking movie! The yellow ring could have been the one thing that made the plot have some sort of impact. If Sinestro had made that choice and then revealed to be the "real villain" instead of Hector Hammond/Big Head Todd, this film would have rocked.

I don't have a lot to say about The Hangover Part II. It was doomed to be second best simply because the first film exists. There are some good laughs but it's the same exact movie in a different setting. Take the script from the first film, do a quick find & replace with the words Vegas & Bangkok, throw in some ladyboys and a smoking monkey for good measure, and you've got your sequel. If you're one of the 5 people on the planet who didn't see it in theaters you didn't miss much. Just watch your copy of the first one on video, you'll thank me later. Unless you like chicks with dicks, in which case you should totally see it. Your call bro, totally your call.




Pirates of the Caribbean 4 is a film where, for the most part, nobody gives a shit about anything as far as I understand it. Here goes:

Gore Verbinski didn't give a shit about directing this movie so another guy did it. Orlando Bloom and Kirea Knightly didn't give a  shit about being in the movie at all. Jack Sparrow, as always, has lost his ship and wants to get it back. Barbosa sells out and joins the royal navy for no good reason. There's a Fountain of Youth somewhere so Blackbeard & Penelope Cruz want Jack to help them find it. Jack doesn't give a shit about ye olde fountain, he just wants his ship so he goes along with Blackbeard &Penelope Cruz because ..... I don't know.  Jack and Penelope Cruz hooked up a long time ago but don't hook up this time around because they don't really give a shit about eachother. Oh and they can't find the fountain unless they kidnap a mermaid and make her cry.

Are you starting to see why people bailed on this movie before it got made? I stopped giving a shit about the ridiculous plot about 15 minutes in, nobody in the movie cared about how retarded the plot was so I wasn't going to either. The only person who cares about anything is an uber-religious guy who wants to bang a mermaid. What baffles me is this: in a movie full of all sorts of unsavory, pirate-y, criminal types why is it that only the bible-thumper guy wants to bang the mermaid? You'd figure the pirates would be kinkier than the goody goody dude. I'm pretty sure this is as far as you can take a series of films based on an amusement park ride. They had a good run with the first 3 films, but the overall level of give-a-shit was pretty low this time around.

X-Men: First Class surprised the hell out of me. I was dead set on hating this movie after the abomination that was X-Men 3. I still hate Brett Ratner though, just so you know. Brian Singer was involved to some extent so that explains the rise in quality over X3 and whatever the Wolverine movie was called. I'm still trying to forget about it.

The script for First Class was very loosely based on the comics, once I stopped caring about the accuracy of things I found it really entertaining. The casting was great for the most part. Kevin Bacon was was a surprisingly good villain. Hugh Jackman's cameo fucking killed me, one of the best Wolverine moments in the films or the comics really. If there's a downside to this movie it's January Jones. The lack of clothing just wasn't able to balance out the lack of acting for me. She really didn't even need to be in the story, which is sad because the White Queen is a really cool character. First Class wasn't the best comic book movie ever made but it was better than X3. So fuck you Brett Ratner!

That's what we've been up to. Enjoy the rest of your Summah. 

Weekend Cover: Ramones - I Don't Want To Grow Up

Sorry interweb, we have neglected you. Despite our lack of attention I can assure you we have been wasting an appropriate amount of time listening to music watching movies. Hopefully this Tom Waits cover will make up for it while we write some shit. Adios!

Lonely Island - Turtleneck and Chain

Andy Samberg and crew return with another batch of white boy prank rap.  I love it, but the crude and offensive lyrics may throw some people off.  With guests from Akon to Justin Timberlake to MICHAEL BOLTON(!?!?) there's a whole lot of greatness going on.  If you just want something fun that will make you laugh all summer, definitely pick this one up.  Highlights are I Just Had Sex, Jack Sparrow and Motherlover.

Foo Fighters - Wasting Light

Now this is what a Foo Fighters album should sound like.  I think the time away from the Foo's was good for Dave Grohl.  This is the most rocking album since The Colour and The Shape.  Maybe it was hanging out with his Crooked Vultures crew or being produced by Butch Vig, but this album is a real return to the rock.  Very stripped down, focused, bare bones rock.  A really solid effort from beginning to end.  I was about done with the Foos, having not been too happy with their last couple of albums, but this has returned my love of Dave.  Look out for some good guest appearances too.

Weekend Cover: Weezer - Paranoid Andrioid

Yes. Yes that's good. Radiohead is always good.

The Horrors: Still LIfe

I never thought I'd associate The Horrors with bands like Simple Minds or The Psychedelic Furs but that's kinda what's going on with Still Life, from their upcoming album Skying. A big shift, but I do find myself digging the old-school synth sounds as opposed to the Hammond organ stuff on the last few albums. Also, it's nice to see somebody still using a Windows 95 screensaver for something useful. Good for you, sir or madam.

Goodbye Bonesaw

I saw the first of Sam Raimi's Spider Man movies with a handful of good friends who, like me, were hopeless comic book nerds. Normally the post-credits discussion after a movie like this would be filled with comparisons to the comic, spotting Easter eggs, and bitching about plot holes. Not here. We didn't say much about the cameos by Stan Lee and Bruce Campbell either. We all left with smiles on our faces repeating one line from a character who had less than 30 seconds of screen time, and we still quote him to this day.

The world might remember him as Randy "Macho Man" Savage but to me & my friends.... he was Bone Saw and that motherfucker was ready.

Black Swanson

"I just want to be perfect."

Vegan Black Metal Chef

I think I'm falling in love with the internet all over again. Thanks VBMC, you made my Monday worthwhile.Now let's cut some tofu and crush some peanuts, the hardcore black metal way!

Weekend Cover: Dave Grohl - Tiny Dancer

It was either this or Tiny Danzig. Dave's banter is funnier, trust me. Have a wonderful weekend internets!

"You know let's skip all that other crap and get to the chorus, like on that bus scene."

Thor Was Pretty Good

Pretty good. Not great but good. Don’t go into it expecting a Christopher Nolan movie, or even a Jon Favreau movie. Branagh does a great job with the characters; you definitely buy Chris Helmsworth as Thor.  Loki has to be my favorite though. It would have been easy to play him over-the top 100% of the time, subtle worked much better. The visuals are really well done. I didn’t catch it in 3D but I may actually go back to check it out again. I was kinda worried about how they would handle the rainbow bridge, because you know that could have turned out all sorts of wrong, but they pull it off nicely. There are some truly epic shots and the costumes come off way better than I expected based on the early stills we saw last year. 

It would have been interesting to see a film that was a 100% Kenneth Branagh production, which I’m guessing we didn’t get here. Too bad. It’s probably not Branagh’s fault though. You can tell he was given a laundry list of shit from Marvel that he had to include: Frost Giants, the exile/redemption plotline, Jane Foster, and oh yeah tie it in pretty heavily with the Avengers movie ‘cause that’s coming up next.  There are a million “bridge” references in this movie and that’s exactly what it feels like. Introduce Thor & his supporting cast, speed through the origin story, and give him a reason to come back next summer for the Avengers™, a Marvel Studios production. 

I’m not going to bitch about the overall racial makeup of the cast, you can read plenty of that elsewhere on the interwebs. Haters gonna hate I guess. Yes, in a movie about Norse gods two of them are played by a black guy and an asian guy. Two guys, that’s it. I understand that the Norse pantheon probably isn't the most racially diverse crowd but just to be clear….this is a movie based on a comic book, which was very loosely based on Norse mythology. It’s not like they threw in a Hispanic guy, somebody with down’s-syndrome, and a kid in a wheelchair like it was a McDonald’s commercial or something. I’m not sure how accurate you expect these things to be but please, let it go. There’s a rainbow bridge in it for fuck’s sake! Plus, Heimdall was kind of a badass in this one. /Rant off.   

All told Thor is exactly what it’s supposed to be: a summer blockbuster , available in multiple dimensions, and also an advertisement for next year’s Avengers movie. It’s probably not going to end up in my movie collection next to my other 10,000 nerdy comic book movies but that’s ok.

PS – [spoilers] WTF what that shit at the end after the credits? Vibranium?  

Explosions in the Sky - Take Care, Take Care, Take Care.

This is possibly the best album yet, from boys from Austin, Tx.  It is very well laid out and the subtle nuances, like the hand claps, add so much to the album.  The sound is amazing and the songwriting is great.  It has been a while since the last album and the break between seems to have treated the band well.    Another plus for the album is the amazing art work that is the packaging.  Very intricate and well done.  Overall a very strong album that will be getting lots of listens on the stereo in the coming weeks.

YYYYYYYEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSS!!!!!! Beastie Boys Bad Ass!!

Beastie Boys - Make Some Noise - Free Music Videos - Top Songs

I have now listened to this about ten time and I will keep listening to it.  Over and over and over and over again. Gives me hope about the new album.

Weekend Cover: Deathcab sings Weeds

Hope you have a ticky-tacky weekend.

What Comes After Sunday????

Yes, we here at The Big Gripe are Roots homers. Everyone should be. Anyways, here is the only way this horrible Friday song should ever, ever, ever, ever be heard. Enjoy. I guess file this under cover songs. Also this was a great way for Colbert and Fallon to raise money for charity.

Who Killed Rosie?

AMC looks like it has done it again. The Killing may not be as good as Mad Men or Breaking Bad but it was pretty solid. Very gripping and had me on the edge of my seat for most of the show. I was upset when the two hour premier ended because I wanted more. Yeah it is your classic murder mystery, who done it, but it was well written and has the potential to be a really good show. There were some issues though. Some of the acting was pretty off putting, some characters you just wanted to punch and I don't think it was because they were written that way but because they were acted poorly. Another issue I had was yes we as viewers know that it rains a lot in Seattle, where the show takes place, but almost every scene had rain, mentioned rain or referenced rain some how. We get it, so please stop. Those were my two main issues with the show, but as the premier went on I found myself not caring so much about those things and being really gripped by the show. I cannot wait until next Sunday for the next episode. If you missed it, find it and watch it.

That's More Like It: Green Lantern Wondercon Footage

Yep. That's the Green Lantern movie I was looking for. Badass. You can check out the footage in higher quality HD-ness over at the apple site. What say you Wookie?

Weekend Cover: Human Fly by Nouvelle Vague

I could listen to the singer from Nouvelle Vague all day. The fact that they lay down some cool covers is just a bonus. I'm gonna start posting the originals with these, I guess for extra credit or something. In this case the original by The Cramps is one of the best songs ever, so there's that.

Star Wars by Simon Pegg & Nick Frost

Nick & Simon attempt to re-create a scene from Star Wars while shooting their new movie Paul.

MOGWAI: Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will

I held off saying much about the new MOGWAI. I liked certain tracks at first but didn’t fall in love with the whole thing right away. I think it works really well as an album, maybe not their best but probably better than most albums you’re going to hear this year. 

Hardcore Will Never Die… is a bit of a grab-bag stylistically and it took a while to grow on me. You get some dancy electronic stuff, some loud aggressive stuff, and some of the slow & pretty stuff MOGWAI is best known for.  After several spins in the car & another round of playthroughs at home I’m digging it quite a bit. We already talked about tracks like Mexican Grand Prix & How to be a Werewolf. There are a few more standout tracks like Rano Pano, Death Rays, and Letters to the Metro, but the best by far is George Square Thatcher Death Party. It’s loud & pretty at the same time, everything this band does really well. The Deluxe version comes with a second disc containing a 23 minute song called Music for a Forgotten Future (the singing mountain). I could take it or leave it, it’s good but it’s nowhere near as epic as something like MY Father My King. 

Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will might not end up being your favorite album of all time, but it’s definitely got some good stuff on it.  

R.E.M. - Collapse Into Now

First and foremost, I am an R.E.M. fan. Big time. Some of their songs, albums are big parts of my life and I absolutely love them. I think Mike Mills and Peter Buck are awesome and I can forgive Michael Stipe for being insane on things because he is in R.E.M. I always hope that Bill Berry will be back behind the drumset someday. Collapse Into Now is like a time machine back to early 90's R.E.M. It is a great mix of Out of Time, Automatic for the People and Monster. There are some fantastic rocking tracks, some great mellow mandoliny tracks and just some great classic R.E.M. songs. If you don't have it yet, go pick it up and take a listen.

Welcome To The Ma-Sheen

As promised.

Meme Ma-Sheen

Hi Internets. Use & distribute as you see fit. I'll post more as time allows, and as long as the tiger blood sustains Charlie's life-force.

Foo Fighters: White Limo

As per the description on the youtubes:

"SUPER KILLER RAD NEW FOO FIGHTERS VIDEO" Enjoy.

Straight Outta Locash

'Cause some days you just need to hear some CB4.

Your Weekend Cover: Me First and the Gimme Gimmes - I'm All Out Of Love

Damn dude, I have slacked on the covers. Next time I let shit go this long you should slap me around a bit. The new Gimme Gimmes album, Go Down Under,  is exactly what you'd expect. Punk covers of Aussie acts like Air Supply, Olivia Newton John, The Easybeats, INXS. This one starts out with a nice intro from Black Flag's Rise Above.

Radiohead: Lotus Flower

Nice. I'm not saying much until I hear the whole album, but I'm digging this one.

See! That's what I'm talkin' about.

"Don't tase me bro!!!"

Sooo, yeah. The new Thor trailer. There's a Facebook reference, and some ogling, and some hammer throwing at the very very end. Oh and a taser. The god of MFing thunder gets tased. Judging by Thor's attire after he arrives on Earth, I'm guessing they get good clearance sales on cheap t-shirts in the magical kingdom of Asgard. At least he'll be comfortable.

Waiting for King of Limbs

As per the W.A.S.T.E. newsletter:

 " Thank you for waiting. Radiohead are pleased to announce that their new album, The King Of Limbs, is now available to pre-order from www.thekingoflimbs.com

There are digital and physical versions of the album available:

The digital version is available in both MP3 (320kbps) and WAV formats.

The physical, 'Newspaper Album' comprises two clear 10" vinyl records in a purpose-built record sleeve, a compact disc, many large sheets of newspaper artwork, 625 tiny pieces of artwork, and a full-colour piece of oxo-degradable plastic to hold everything together. The Newspaper Album also includes a digital download.

Pre-ordered digital will be available to download on Saturday 19th February.

For the next few weeks, The King Of Limbs will be exclusively available from our website,
but from March 28th it will be on general release on CD, 12" vinyl and digital download in all good record stores."

I just don't need 625 bits of paper. I love me some Radiohead, but I can wait until March 28th for the plain ol' CD. I'll have the new MOGWAI, Black Heart Procession, and the new Gimme Gimmes to tide me over until then.

Comic Book Movies. Ugh.

The first official, all shopped-up still from The Amazing Spider-Man looks ok. Some better. At least it's got more going for it than the crappy spy pictures that have been leaking off the set lately. The black webbing, as opposed to Toby McGuire's silver, is a step in the right direction but I'm starting to hate the "sporty" re-design. Especially the back of the thing, it might as well have a goddamn Nike swoosh across it for fuck's sake. Still...it couldn't be much worse than Spideman 3, hopefully we won't have to sit through another dance number.

It's starting to feel like the mid-90's all over again, where nobody in Hollywood gave two shits about sticking to the material that made a character great as long as they could sell some toys out of the deal. Joel Schumacher's Batman films being the worst offenders, but at least he owns it. If you're not familiar with the word "toyetic" check in around the 3:30 mark. So yeah. The industry is flooded with comics-based reboots, parodies, and a half-baked takes on some classic characters and I really couldn't give two shits about any of them except for one.

Surprisingly, the one character I never really cared much about in comics has the most going for him so far. Captain America looks like it's getting everything right. As a character he never really works for me outside of a World War II setting, luckily this is the setting for a good chunk of the film. Both versions of the costume are really practical for a military guy but faithful to the comics. Plus...there's something really satisfying about watching somebody beat the crap out of a bunch of Nazis. I can't wait to see Hugo Weaving as the Red Skull.


Other than that I just don't have much interest or faith in any of the upcoming comic-book movies. The thing that bugs me the most, and I can't stop coming back to it, is the costume and set designs. These should be no-brainers. There are decades worth of drawings to help insure that you get the iconic look of a character right. I know some things don't translate to flim, and you can't have everybody running around in their underoos, but why does every director think they have to reinvent the goddamn wheel all of the sudden?

Thor Just doesn't look like Thor. If you're gonna go with bearded Thor, you need to have a haggard ass, battle-worn, ass kicker of a guy not some abercrombie model. I can see what they're going for with the cape, but it comes across as cheap. Like Smallville cheap.

And Anthony Hopkins is all sorts of wrong for playing Odin. Don't get me wrong, he's a good actor. Don't go calling the movie police. He's just one of those Jack Nicholson type actors that plays one character really well and doesn't do much else. He's never a character, he's Anthony Hopkins. Plus....I can't stand the stick-on eyeptach. I know it's from the comics but it looks shitty. Smallville shitty. (I think that's gonna be my new rap name) 

I should be all sorts of crazy about Green Lantern, but no. Again, it comes down to design & casting. Everybody in the movie looks really fucking cool except Hal Jordan. I just don't buy that CGI costume & most of it has to do with the mask. It's too goddamn bright & it looks photoshopped on, because it is. I hate to give credit to Schumacher, but at least his bat-masks looked like they existed in the real world. Ryan Reynolds may surprise me but I'm not expecting a lot from him as Hal Jordan. He plays a great smart-ass, which would be perfect for Flash or even another GL like Kyle Rayner. Anybody except Hal Jordan. "I know, right!??"

X-Men: First Class looks prequely alright. That's all I've got. I completely lost interest in the X-Men when the geniuses at Fox let Brett Ratner simultaneously fuck up one of the best X-men stories ever written and kill off ALL the series' main characters. The Wolverine movie didn't help either. The casting for First Class doesn't bug me, not even the Kevin Bacon part. It's mostly my apathy that's the problem. I've just been mutant-ed to death. The only selling point for me is that Betty Draper runs around in not a lot of clothes, so it's got that going for it. At least a renter.

Ok then nerds, see you at the movies. 

Your pal,

Smallville Shitty

MOGWAI: Mexican Grand Prix

Taken from their newest collection of coolness coming out next week Hardcore Will Never Die But You Will,the video for Mexican Grand Prix has hit the interwebs. It has a bit of a Stereolab vibe to it, you know if Stererolab wasn't dead set on boring me into a coma. But I digress. You either like the dancy stuff they've been getting into as of late or you don't, but I'm liking it so far. How to be a Werewolf seems to indicate that there will be more traditional, organic sounding MOGWAI tracks as well, I'm looking forward to listening to the whole album front to back next week.

Exit Through the Gift Shop

Whether or not this is a documentary or a mockumentary, this film is fantastic. I lean towards believing that it is a mockumentary. The story is a little too perfect, the situations too exact for it to make me believe that it is real. That may just be the pessimist in me, but that is how I feel. I also believe that Banksy is a huge prankster and that he might see this as one of his greatest works. He seems to try and expand his artistic horizon constantly and I wouldn't be surprised if he has decided to expand into film. Thierry Guetta is a fantastic character, whether real or imagined, he's thoroughly likable and may be completely crazy. Shepard Fairey, who is real, is also great in this movie. Rent it, get it on Netflix, find it on the internet, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie and highly recommend that you see it as soon as you can.

Iron and Wine - Kiss Each Other Clean

I like it. I really do. Sam Beam has found the fuzz bass and the whah-whah pedal and it is good. This is a pretty solid album. A good mix of the classic Iron and Wine folksy sound with some late 60's early 70's space rock. Another enjoyable aspect of this album is the vocals. It appears that Beam is more confident in his voice and they decided to turn up the vocal knob. With each album they put out, they get more experimental and it is working. I really liked Shepherd's Dog and this is just building off of that album. Often when artists get away from what made them popular it doesn't work, but Beam appears to take his time and make quality work, not just quantity. And honestly he couldn't really keep doing what made him popular, it would have gotten stale. Don't get me wrong, I hope he eventually makes another hushed bare bones album, but as long as he keeps putting out good material I can wait.

Van Halen + David Lee Roth = Too Late

So it appears that Diamond Dave and the rest of the Van Halen crew, minus Michael Anthony(why?) are recording a new album. All I gotta say is WHY? Seriously, why? I'm so confused. You guys are about 20 years too late. This is ridiculous. I cannot fathom that this is in any way a good idea. Diamond Dave burned out in the late 80's and Eddie Van Halen appears to be hell bent on ruining the legacy of this once classic band. Seriously, WTF, get rid of Michael Anthony, your bass player, back up singer, dude in the band who didn't appear to be a raging douche bag and replace him with your teenage son. Guh! Fuck off, Van Halen. You egomaniac. Bring back Gary Cherone!!!

Fringe Friday

I’m ignoring all the talk about Fringe’s move to the Friday night “death slot”. Period. Fox seems to be going out of their way to let people know they didn't move the show to kill it off, let's hope that's true. Friday’s episode “The Firefly” had all the ingredients that make a good Fringe Episode, plus a few cool extras. 

We got mad-scientist Walter, The Observers, Doc Brown, and a nicely placed Twin Peaks reference. Apparently Walter's glasses were a gift from his pal Dr. Jacoby from Washington. Awesome. The fact that those guys know each other makes all sorts of sense. 

Christopher Lloyd's burned out musician character fit right in with all the time-travelly business going on, nice that they worked the year 1985 into the script.  

As long as they keep cranking out episodes like these I don't see the fans going anywhere. 

Tron: Legacy

I don’t remember falling in love with the original Tron back in the day. It had some cool ideas like travelling back & forth between the real world and a digital world, and the idea that the digital world could be just as real as this one. At the time there was a crazy amount of buzz about the look of the film and the use CG for the light-cycles. However, if you go back and watch it you’ll find that your memories of the “cutting-edge” effects are much better than the real thing.

Tron: Legacy sports some badass visuals, no doubt about it, and is the kind of flick that’s perfect for 3D. I had pretty much dismissed 3D after my horrible experience watching Avatar. I love the Alamo Drafthouse but the setup they had for Avatar sucked. I’m sure part of that had to do with the type of 3D  glasses they had. They made my eyes feel like they were working twice as hard as they should be. The image was dim and blurry. The eye strain left me with a crazy headache by the end of the movie and no love whatsoever for 3D. Fuck that shit, Pabst Blue Ribbon! I’m glad I decided to give 3D another shot for Tron: Legacy as the 3D IMAX setup greatly embiggened the previously mentioned badass visuals. I’m not an expert on the tech but I’m guessing these were passive glasses instead of active shutter. The image looked great and no nasty headache so ….A+. The 3D was used mainly for depth and they kept it subtle, I didn’t feel like people were throwing stuff at me every couple of minutes. There’s so much going on visually that I really need to re-watch it just to look around at the environment.  I love the updated look of the new film; it references the original while reflecting much of the darkness that The Dude & Company encounter. The coolest moments for me were the nostalgia moments in the film’s intro.  PK Ripper!

There’s no need to dive into the story behind Tron: Legacy, you’ve seen it before and in greater depth in the Matrix. Real vs. Digital, Chaos vs. Order, the futile search for perfection.  Done.   Most of the cast  does what it’s supposed to do. Flynn’s son Sam plays the reluctant hero rather well but doesn’t do anything unexpected. After a ton of bitching he takes up his father’s cause and marches out to fight the bad guys. There are a ton of pretty ladies in tight leather if you’re into that sort of thing.

If I have one large gripe (ka ching) about the characters it has to do with Michael Sheen’s Castor/Zuse. If the Merovingian from the Matrix decided to have a baby with Chris Tucker’s character from The 5^th Element, this would be the over acted, jazz-handsy result.  Nuff said.

Bottom line is you don’t get attached to any of the characters once you finally meet The Dude.  Bridges is in full-on Lebowski mode for the Flynn character and it works for his newfound Zen master/Obi Wan role. It doesn’t ruin the flick but you definitely find yourself tempted to chime in with your favorite line during the frequent mid-sentence pauses.  “Obviously you’re not a golfer.” The digital Bridges, Clu, mostly works. Mostly. The CG modeling is spot on & looks like a young bridges but it tends to fall apart a little during dialogue scenes. Animating lip movements in a convincing way is hard enough, trying to match movements to a specific actor had to have been a complete bitch of a job.
 

The sound setup in the IMAX theater was about as good as it gets. Good thing because the score was DOPE. Don’t believe me? Here:

I never really got into Daft Punk that much. No particular reason I just never paid that much attention to them. I’m correcting that shit right now. There has never been a soundtrack more appropriate to this kind of film ever. It’s got that retro Nord Lead kind of sound to it but the music is very much from right now.

So there you go. Visuals = BAD ASS. Story = Ok. Sound = Fucking Awseome.

Beastie Boys Ready for New Album

The Beastie Boys have announced that The Hot Sauce Committee Pt 2 will be released as planned. MCA, Adam Yauch, has been given the all clear from his cancer, which is fantastic. The guys are gearing up and getting ready to film a video and get a tour together. I hope this album is better than the last couple they have released. The Mix Up was good, but it was all instrumental. To the 5 Boroughs had some gems on it but on a whole it wasn't that great. If they can find the magic of Ill Communication and Check Your Head that would be so badass. Keep your fingers crossed.

nme