February 24th, 2009

MUSIC:

Slumberland is on a roll; the free single from Bricolage is some seriously fun stuff. They wisely draw on the "Since U Been Gone" spelling style to boot.

Wow... I'll let Pitchfork handle the backstory behind Staff Benda Bilili. The music is damn good to boot. Also on Pitchfork, a rad new video from Depeche Mode with a great sense of sick suspense. Apparently though, because it has a car in it, it is ripping off "Karma Police."

The Fader's freeload of Sonido del Principe is probably the straight-up coolest track I've heard all year so far. The Fader nails it: it's sweaty, danceable, gothic bliss. Young neo-neo-noir upstarts, if you're out there: take your inspiration from this track, please. I want to see a film that earns a soundtrack like this.

Discodust brings the goods. Epic german-ish house from Fakebeat, and the Marina and the Diamonds MP3 is what will be stuck in my head for the rest of the damn year. (Doesn't hurt that she's hella crushworthy) So yeah, blend of baroque and ecstasy tablets: just what I expect from Discodust.

FILM:

So far, everybody likes Watchmen a lot. Anecdote: [Warning: I try and avoid spoilers, but if you're good at inference and haven't read the graphic novel, skip this] I told my friend that of the entire film, I had one expectation. There's a line spoken by Rorschach near the end of the graphic novel. To avoid spoilers but clue in fans, I'll say that it's spoken to Dr. Manhattan right before something crucial happens. For me personally, that's the defining moment of the graphic novel - the moment that haunts me, brings tears to my eyes, the moment that elevates Watchmen from great to essential. As long as they do that moment justice, I don't care WHAT Snyder does to the rest of the picture. Well, that friend went to an advance screening, and he's assured me, wide grin on his face, that they did it right. That's all I need to get excited for this film.

Yeah... yeah, I just reread the ending out of necessity, and cried a little.

Yeah.

Anyway.

If you like films based on board games, it's time to get excited. Ish? I already know a few diehard fans of the original live-action Clue, and I don't know if the film will benefit from overly complicated and vague revisionist mythos.

God, the slow trickle of adorable/fun casting reveals from Scott Pilgrim is one of my favorite things about 2009 so far, no exaggeration.

Make no mistake: I don't give a damn about the Dragonball movie. (True fans of japanese animation are all holding out for the Blu-Realistic Akira restoration) No, I'm posting this story for one of its comments, a very strong contender for best non sequitr comment of 2009: "The second picture down looks like he just got slapped in the face with a fish..." Bravo, SR. Bravo.

I need to read more film blogs. With IFC scaled down and AICN frequently tangential, I wind up mostly posting my favorite /Film stories. Not nearly broad enough. RottenTomatoes doesn't help, because they're basically in the same predicament as I am.

WEIRD:

Paste explains all the ways Kenny has died. Prepare to giggle, if you think being run over by the Fonz's motorcycle is giggle-worthy.

WORLD:

The New York Times reports on Obama's promise to rebuild.

PERSONAL:

Try inserting Madea into other movie titles. My friends and I have been hooked on it for days; we call it Madeafest. Examples: Full Madea Jacket, No Country For Old Madea, He's Just Not That Into Madea.

Keeping myself busy is where it's at. Gotta learn from hip hop and apply the rap ethic to my films; gotta work hard and put the hours in. Drake said it best: "I'm not perfect, but I work hard and I deserve it."

Also, Chamillionaire is one hell of a grower.

2009 FILMS SEEN: 4
2009 SONGS ON MY ITUNES: 431
Current Computer Situation: MacBook Pro, addicted to bandwidth.