on summer movies

what with it being summer and generally nice outside, i have been neglecting my netflix queue somewhat. on the positive side, that means i've been playing ultimate, tennis, basketball, volleyball, or just out and about on my bicycle. however, i've made it to three movies this summer which i think is more than the past couple summers combined.

the first movie i saw this summer was WINTER'S BONE, a slice-of-life following a 17 year old girl trying to track down her father who jumped town while out on bond. she has to find him before his hearing date since he posted the family's house and land as collateral. understated but able to be followed, it spins a neat tail full of local details (missouri ozarks) and plenty of feeling without growing maudlin.

although it doesn't have much in common with the second movie i saw, INCEPTION, they both thrived by not over-explaining and expecting the audience to be able to follow along. for big budget movies, it seems that no one is doing better job of crafting solid, thoughtful entertainment than christopher nolan and he now qualifies as one of the few directors with which i'll get unabashedly excited for his next movies, even knowing little about them.

the only other movie i saw this summer was DESPICABLE ME, an animated movie revolving around a super villain. it was unable to live up to the high standard set by pixar movies, but made for an enjoyable night all the same seeing it amongst friends.

listening to records i've collected....

more music that i've been listening to and enjoying:

"odessa" by caribou

"turn me away (get munny)" by erykah badu

"that's what our love is" by bonnie "prince" billie and the cairo gang

"pump it up" by elvis costello

"you were right" by built to spill

"paper mill" by madvillain

"what does your soul look like (part 1)" by dj shadow

"angel echoes" by four tet

movie memories

in junior high, i would occasionally tag along to the supermarket with my mom when she was buying groceries. sometimes i'd join her strolling through the aisles to pick up the various goods but most often i'd gravitate to the small movie rental section that the store near our house contained. we never rented videos from blockbuster or the other big chains, but would get one with some groceries every now and again. stranger still, kroger's often included a small publication listing what was new to their story with reviews included. i'd usually grab one to read on the ride home since at that point i already was interested in movies and their reviews.

one such issue had a special section on the "sleeper of the month." i was unfamiliar with the term and thought it bizarre that the magazine wanted to tout something specifically that was going to induce sleep due to its awfulness. to increase the dissonance, the article went on to describe the movie in positive terms which stuck with me for whatever reason. that movie was smilla's sense of snow. about thirteen years later, i've finally caught up with it thanks to netflix.

from the review i read so many years ago, i just recalled that it was a mystery and somewhat of a mood piece starring several people i had never heard of. turns out my memory served me fairly decently, although now i recognized most of the actors. julia ormond in the title role, gabriel byrne (usual suspects), tom wilkinson (michael clayton), jim broadbent (harry potter and the half blood prince), peter capaldi (in the loop) and others filled parts.

the movie itself was a murder mystery, although it quickly got away from the moodier elements. the story starts small and realistic and while it maintained its close focus, the movie hums along nicely. unfortunately, it begins to sprawl and suddenly one woman's quest for truth transforms her into a super spy, which subsequently dampened my enjoyment.

apparently, smilla's sense of snow is based on a novel that grasped with issues of identity and nationality, especially as it pertains to inuits in greenland and denmark. shoehorned into hitting all the murder mystery plot points, the movie only touches on it glancingly to its detriment.

and yet, i enjoyed it. i can only wonder if i would've enjoyed it at that younger age, but something tells me i wouldn't have; maybe it's for the best that i didn't see it until recently.

a return from the depths

my last post was in february of 2009; it is now may 2010. the natural question is where have i been for the past year. the answer is without internet.

now, however, i am internet enabled once again and hope to return to some regular navel gazing. i am committed to getting back into the habit of talking about the music, books, and movies i'm encountering with whatever else i happen to see fit to cover.

to get the ball rolling once again, i'm dedicating this maiden post to something light and easy: a quick and dirty mix of some of my favorite songs that i've encountered in the past couple months. thanks to the hennepin county public library, i've been able to access and sample a wide variety of music, new and old alike. i've decided i'm just going to link to youtube since lala is going away and i don't know what else to use to replace it. if you have any good suggestions, please leave it in the comments. this is a kind of post i hope to do fairly frequently so anything will help. now, on to the songs (note: i don't vouch for any of the videos):

1. "10,000 claps" by phantogram
2. "roll up your sleeves" by we were promised jetpacks
3. "like a pen" by the knife
4. "do the astral plane" by flying lotus
5. "they never got you" by spoon
6. "timeless form, formless time" by rafter (no youtube link available, sorry)
7. "last call" by love is all
8. "shades" by wale
9. "siamese" by wye oak (no youtube either)
10. "gila" by beach house
11. "here come the warm jets" by brian eno

blogging update

so apparently minneapolis wi-fi is available a street over from where i live, but not on the street where i live. and it may take until summer for them to build a pole with a wireless router (or just outfit a currently existing pole with a wireless router). thus, my dreams of blogging more frequently may be dashed again for the time being, but i'll do what i can. i suppose i could just bring my laptop to a coffeehouse, get some tea, and mooch off of them but i refuse to be that guy. one, because that takes a lot of work. two, because this blog isn't that important to me. and three, because reasons looks best in threes.

i'll try to update occasionally but be aware my initial predictions are looking premature. booooooo USI Wireless and their partnership with the city of minneapolis. or as my grandmother says "poop on you."

CD Review: ERA VULGARIS

since the end of high school, my musical tastes began shifting away from hard rock toward rap and lighter indie rock. i still gave my rage against the machine and deftones albums plenty of burn but the hard rock afterward wasn't resonating with me. i would occasionally hear a song that seemed a little better or intriquing but, with my audio galaxy downloading days far behind me, i never felt like spending the twelve bucks to find out if an entire album was worthwhile.

one such song that exemplified this was "no one knows" by queens of the stone age. it contained a hooky guitar riff, shifts in tempo, a funky bass bridge, and amazing drumming (by nirvana and foo fighters alum dave grohl). it even had a fun music video.

that was it though. just a single song from a musical island until i bumped into some more queens of the stone age songs in the game rock band. each subsequent track i heard (and got to play) got the blood running with the same mixture of percussive forward force and clever guitar riff in a heavier environment than i had found with the franz ferdinands and the strokes of the world.

thanks to the minneapolis public library, i got my grubby paws on ERA VULGARIS. i noticed two songs from rock band ("3's & 7's" and "sick, sick, sick") as cuts i liked already and was pleased by the rest of the album. upbeat, but with enough tempo shifts to keep it interesting, qotsa (as i will refer to them henceforth) sublimate harder guitar effects into catchy songs. i don't know how to judge vocals apart from knowing whether they distract me from listening or not, and these do not. the two linked songs are fairly representative of the album as a whole save except for the great pace changer "make it wit chu." while the subject matter is puerile, the throwback funk influences add depth to an interesting album that might feel repititive otherwise.

after a whole album's worth, i still want to listen to more. thankfully, more is on the way. thanks again minneapolis public library!

Movie: SIDEWAYS

SIDEWAYS, directed by alexander payne, was the indie-sort-of-comedy darling at the oscars in 2005 sandwiched between the actually good indie-sort-of-comedy LOST IN TRANSLATION and the actually terrible indie-sort-of-comedy LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE.

everything i read about this movie prior to its release seemed like it would be something right up my alley. one of the director's previous films was ELECTION, a sharp, dark film i enjoyed highly. it starred paul giamatti, whom i had liked in SAVING PRIVATE RYAN and MAN ON THE MOON. the subject prominently featured wine and friendship, two more great things in life. and yet, i never saw it. not in theaters nor on video. maybe i could just sense that i wasn't going to really like this film.

several aspects turned me off. i found paul giamatti's character grating. while he did give a strong performance for most of the film, the inevitable blow up/break down scene happened not once but twice and dragged the characterization closer to base caricature. his friend (portrayed by thomas haden church) was someone with whom i couldn't empathize. a man looking to cheat on his fiance as much as he can before marriage, he only sobs when his wallet and clothes have been stolen. he later goes through with the marriage anyway. the dynamic between the down-on-his-luck giamatti and girl crazy church played like a b movie SWINGERS replacing vegas with napa.

about a week removed from watching it, i can only recall a single scene i liked and for the direction alone. a drunk, bitter giamatti calls his ex-wife in the middle of a dinner date with friends. the camera stays in close focus on giamatti's head from a low angle, highlighting his own egoism and ugliness. the rare instance where the film accurately portrayed one of its characters.