This is the follow up to my list from the first half of 2010. For the second half of the year, I am setting the timeline as CD's released from July 1 - November 28 (since there really isn't much new released in the month of December).
10.) The Walkmen - Lisbon
Lisbon is the 6th album from The Walkmen, and indie rock group out of New York City. Their sound has always been a kind of depressing, modern type of surf rock/garage rock, with a little bit of piano thrown in. With this release, they have added a slight bit of 50's rockabilly, while at the same time laying off on the depressing lyrics just a bit. This approach helped differentiate Lisbon from their earlier efforts while still continuing the quality of their previous music.
9.) Girl Talk - All Day
Gregg Gillis may not have the same musical or songwriting talent as the rest of the artists on this list, but his ability to pair together such disparate sampled beats and lyrics the way he does into a cohesive whole is pretty amazing. And the fact that he is able to make a living at this despite releasing All Day for free (I imagine clearing the samples would have proved prohibitive and expensive - I don't know how he was able to sell any of his earlier CDs) is impressive as well. He is an extensive touring act (he sold out 2 nights the last time he was in Columbus), and his music is the perfect match up for a live experience. All Day continues that party vibe, with samples from the likes of 2 Live Crew, Cream, Modern English, Jay-Z and pretty much everything in between.
8.) Black Mountain - Wilderness Heart
Black Mountain is a Canadian band with a sound that is a throwback to the early to mid 70's, particularly the prog rock and psychedelic bands. This sound continues on the band's third release. With most bands looking back to the 80's and 90's for their sound, its a refreshing change to hear a band that isn't afraid to embrace a sound from before the Punk Rock era. Black Mountain is able to take these influences and create music that stands on its own in 2010 without being entirely derivative. Rock 'n' roll has always relied on taking sounds from the past and forging them into something new, so I have no problems with bands that wear their influences heavily on their sleeves, as long as they add something of them selves to that sound. Its nice to be able to listen to something that sounds like its from that era without having to pull out the same discs over and over (that were actually made in that era). Wilderness Heart fits that bill nicely.
7.) Cee Lo Green - The Lady Killer
Cee Lo takes a break from a successful 2 album run with Danger Mouse (as Gnarls Barkley) to get back to his solo career. I had a long paragraph talking about the Cee Lo and his music, but it got erased, and I don't remember what I wrote, so screw it - just listen to the clip below. If you like it, get his CD. It's good.
6.) Blonde Redhead - Penny Sparkle
My write up on Blonde Redhead didn't save either. SIGH. I am trying to get this review done before 2011, so here is the short version: they are a dream pop band that normally has more of a guitar-heavy sound, but they decided to go with a more electronic sound for their 8th album. It is a good way to mix up their sound and keep it fresh.
Coming soon (hopefully this week), Part 2...
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
1970: Movies Pt 4
Woodstock
While I have seen clips of the performances in this film over the years, this is the first time I have ever sat down and watched the whole film. Also, the version I watched was the 40th Anniversary edition on Blu Ray, and it is LONG. The main version of the film on this edition clocks in at around three hours and 45 minutes. Plus, there is a second disc with another hour and a half plus of additional footage, most of which are additional performances (some that have never been seen seen in any previous version of the film). However, despite its long running time, I didn't even really seem to notice or mind. This was the perfect film to put on while I was doing other things. I was able to focus on the film when I wanted to (such as when a band I like was playing or a particularly interesting interview was being given), or I could multi-task and listen to the music in the background (or when some hippie was babbling on about something only their burnt out mind could understand, I could tune out completely).
As many people know, The Woodstock Music & Art Fair took place in the summer of 1969 at Max Yasgur's farm in White Lake, NY (not actually in Woodstock, NY) and it featured many of the top music acts of the time. This film focuses not just on those performances, but also on the people attending the show, the people supporting the show (such one scene dealing with the sanitation worker whose job it was to clean out the port o johns, probably one of the worst weekends to have that job in the history of port o johns) and the different townspeople affected by the show. The film doesn't hide anything from the viewer. It shows all the nudity, drug use (more on that in a sec), dirtiness and the effects of effects on some people of putting themselves through the ordeal for 3 days with little food or sleep. There are interviews from residents of the town who were vehemently against the festival, but also from those who were very supportive and even donated food and supplies.
The film does a fantastic job of capturing the crowd and the community at the festival. However, even better are the music performances. The music acts, especially on Blu Ray, look and sound fantastic, especially anyone playing at night. Considering they were out in the middle of nowhere, the lighting effects at night and the close up camera views make for a spectacular sight. This is particularly true of Sly and The Family Stone's performance, which, visually and due to the high energy of the music and the band, was my favorite of the whole film. Another technique that was really effective was the use of split screens. This was well used both during performances by groups that have multiple vocalists, like The Who (another band that looked fantastic at night and had some really cool slow motion effects added to their performance), where both Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend could both be shown singing different parts at the same time, and also to show both the band and the crowd reactions to their performance.
My favorite musical performances were The Who, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Sly and the Family Stone, Creedence Clearwater Revival (from the bonus features) and Jimi Hendrix (whose performance was so phenomenal, it has been released on its own DVD). My favorite non-musical scene was the drug/alcohol montage, where scenes are strung together of various concertgoers indulging in their vice of choice (including one guy very impressively making a pipe out of nothing but tin foil) and capped off with a shot of 2 cops eating popsicles.
This film is a must see for anyone who has even the slightest bit of interest in either the history of the time period or any of the bands who performed.
That wraps up 1970. Coming soon, I jump ahead 2 years to 1972.
While I have seen clips of the performances in this film over the years, this is the first time I have ever sat down and watched the whole film. Also, the version I watched was the 40th Anniversary edition on Blu Ray, and it is LONG. The main version of the film on this edition clocks in at around three hours and 45 minutes. Plus, there is a second disc with another hour and a half plus of additional footage, most of which are additional performances (some that have never been seen seen in any previous version of the film). However, despite its long running time, I didn't even really seem to notice or mind. This was the perfect film to put on while I was doing other things. I was able to focus on the film when I wanted to (such as when a band I like was playing or a particularly interesting interview was being given), or I could multi-task and listen to the music in the background (or when some hippie was babbling on about something only their burnt out mind could understand, I could tune out completely).
As many people know, The Woodstock Music & Art Fair took place in the summer of 1969 at Max Yasgur's farm in White Lake, NY (not actually in Woodstock, NY) and it featured many of the top music acts of the time. This film focuses not just on those performances, but also on the people attending the show, the people supporting the show (such one scene dealing with the sanitation worker whose job it was to clean out the port o johns, probably one of the worst weekends to have that job in the history of port o johns) and the different townspeople affected by the show. The film doesn't hide anything from the viewer. It shows all the nudity, drug use (more on that in a sec), dirtiness and the effects of effects on some people of putting themselves through the ordeal for 3 days with little food or sleep. There are interviews from residents of the town who were vehemently against the festival, but also from those who were very supportive and even donated food and supplies.
The film does a fantastic job of capturing the crowd and the community at the festival. However, even better are the music performances. The music acts, especially on Blu Ray, look and sound fantastic, especially anyone playing at night. Considering they were out in the middle of nowhere, the lighting effects at night and the close up camera views make for a spectacular sight. This is particularly true of Sly and The Family Stone's performance, which, visually and due to the high energy of the music and the band, was my favorite of the whole film. Another technique that was really effective was the use of split screens. This was well used both during performances by groups that have multiple vocalists, like The Who (another band that looked fantastic at night and had some really cool slow motion effects added to their performance), where both Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend could both be shown singing different parts at the same time, and also to show both the band and the crowd reactions to their performance.
My favorite musical performances were The Who, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Sly and the Family Stone, Creedence Clearwater Revival (from the bonus features) and Jimi Hendrix (whose performance was so phenomenal, it has been released on its own DVD). My favorite non-musical scene was the drug/alcohol montage, where scenes are strung together of various concertgoers indulging in their vice of choice (including one guy very impressively making a pipe out of nothing but tin foil) and capped off with a shot of 2 cops eating popsicles.
This film is a must see for anyone who has even the slightest bit of interest in either the history of the time period or any of the bands who performed.
That wraps up 1970. Coming soon, I jump ahead 2 years to 1972.
Monday, December 6, 2010
1970: Movies Pt. 3
(Here are links to Part 1 and Part 2)
Airport
I added this movie to the list not because it is universally acclaimed as a great movie from the 70's (although it was nominated for and actually won some awards), but because it was the film that kicked off what was one of the quintessential 70's movie genres: the "Disaster film". This type of film was so widespread in the 1970's that it even warranted its own parody film before the end of the decade, 1980's Airplane!
When I put the disc in the player and it showed that the film was Rated G, I wondered if I made a big mistake by selecting this movie. While I wouldn't say that choosing to watch this film was a "big" mistake, it is by no means a good movie. It is supposed to be a tense drama about a snowbound airport and an airplane that has bomb on it. However, it takes FOREVER to get things going. It is approximately 35 minutes into the film before they even introduce the bomber and its over an hour before the plane even gets off the ground. Instead, the film spends all that time exploring the characters and their particular personal problems (I guess when the cast includes Burt Lancaster, Dean Martin, Jacqueline Bisset, George Kennedy and Maureen Stapleton, you want to try to give them some sort of plot to show them off, but this film goes way too far). It took so long to get things going, ad the build up was so cheesy and melodramatic, that I actually shut the film off and went to bed, because it didn't interest me enough to want to power through to the end that late at night.
I was really hoping that the tension would increase once the plane was in the air an they discovered that there was a bomb aboard, but that was not the case. Other than a quick confrontation between the bomber and Dean Martin, the entire resolution fell pretty flat. About the only interesting thing I took away from this film was seeing exactly which scenes Airplane! and Airplane II: The Sequel chose to mock. I know this film was a huge success and spawned a few sequels and the other 70's disaster films. However, I am really hoping that the other disaster films I have not yet seen will prove to be more exciting than this one...
Airport
I added this movie to the list not because it is universally acclaimed as a great movie from the 70's (although it was nominated for and actually won some awards), but because it was the film that kicked off what was one of the quintessential 70's movie genres: the "Disaster film". This type of film was so widespread in the 1970's that it even warranted its own parody film before the end of the decade, 1980's Airplane!
When I put the disc in the player and it showed that the film was Rated G, I wondered if I made a big mistake by selecting this movie. While I wouldn't say that choosing to watch this film was a "big" mistake, it is by no means a good movie. It is supposed to be a tense drama about a snowbound airport and an airplane that has bomb on it. However, it takes FOREVER to get things going. It is approximately 35 minutes into the film before they even introduce the bomber and its over an hour before the plane even gets off the ground. Instead, the film spends all that time exploring the characters and their particular personal problems (I guess when the cast includes Burt Lancaster, Dean Martin, Jacqueline Bisset, George Kennedy and Maureen Stapleton, you want to try to give them some sort of plot to show them off, but this film goes way too far). It took so long to get things going, ad the build up was so cheesy and melodramatic, that I actually shut the film off and went to bed, because it didn't interest me enough to want to power through to the end that late at night.
I was really hoping that the tension would increase once the plane was in the air an they discovered that there was a bomb aboard, but that was not the case. Other than a quick confrontation between the bomber and Dean Martin, the entire resolution fell pretty flat. About the only interesting thing I took away from this film was seeing exactly which scenes Airplane! and Airplane II: The Sequel chose to mock. I know this film was a huge success and spawned a few sequels and the other 70's disaster films. However, I am really hoping that the other disaster films I have not yet seen will prove to be more exciting than this one...
Friday, November 26, 2010
1997: Music
This is the next post in my random review of my favorite CD's released in my lifetime that began with 1978.
5). The Tragically Hip - Live Between Us
In my original post, when I set up the rule I would use when choosing the CD's to write about, I said that I wouldn't disqualify live albums, and this disc is makes me glad that I didn't. The Tragically Hip (also known simply as "The Hip") is a Canadian rock band that has a huge following in their native country (they were inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 2005), but are virtually unknown in this country (except for areas that are close enough to get some Canadian crossover, like my hometown of Erie, PA). It really is a crime that they never really discovered in this country, as I think they would have been a fairly popular staple of alternative/college radio back in the 90's.
Live Between Us was released after their 5th studio album (1996's Trouble at the Henhouse) at the height of their popularity - the week this disc was released, it put 8 songs on the Canadian top 20 list. It contains live versions of my 2 favorite songs by The Hip - "Springtime In Vienna" and "Ahead By A Century". Listening to this disc always takes me back to the late 90's in Erie, when the only way to get decent music on the radio was to pick up the Canadian alternative station from Hamilton, Ontario when conditions were right over Lake Erie...
4). Belle & Sebastian - Dog On Wheels/Lazy Line Painter Jane/3.. 6.. 9 Seconds of Life EPs
While none of these are full length CD's, they were all released in the same year and, had they instead been released as one disc, would probably be Belle & Sebastian's best album. Belle & Sebastian play what is known as "twee pop", probably the least masculine form of alternative music there is (although Emo is a lot more whiny, so it might take that title). Twee is a cute, soft-sounding, totally white person version of indie pop that, while not very "rock 'n' roll", nevertheless is some of the most beautiful-sounding pop music ever produced, and Belle & Sebastian are the flag bearers.
B&S had 2 albums under their belt when they released this trio of EP's in 1997, and their fame in the indie music world was still mostly ahead of them. However, these EP's contain some of my favorite songs of theirs, including my #1 favorite "Lazy Line Painter Jane".
3). Sleater-Kinney - Dig Me Out
Sleater-Kinney is one of the greatest female rock bands in music history (not just in indie rock). They managed to do something that very few female acts were able to accomplish - they were able to make serious rock music on their own terms, without resorting to turning themselves into a bunch of over-sexed versions of the male fantasy "rocker chick" stereotype. And, man, do these women ROCK. They went on hiatus in 2006, which is a shame, because the music world definitely needs more women like these.
2). The Notorious B.I.G. - Life After Death
Its pretty amazing that Biggie is considered one of the greatest rappers of all time based off of only 2 albums. That just goes to show how incredibly talented he was. He had the perfect combination of lyrics and rapping ability and was equally adept at firing off the angriest "life in the ghetto" song or the smoothest R&B-tinged song about his skills with the ladies. It has been 13 years since his death and he is sorely missed.
Life After Death is considered one of the top hip hop albums of all time, and was certified Diamond, meaning it sold over 10 million copies. It was nominated for and won a ton of awards when it was released. Unfortunately, Biggie didn't get to enjoy any of that, as it wasn't released until after his death.
1). Radiohead - OK Computer
We move from one of the to Hip Hop records of all time to what is considered by many to be the greatest alternative album of all time (1997 was a pretty good year in music apparently). This was Radiohead's third album, and it marked their transition away from the more straight forward rock-based music of their first 2 albums and showed that they were not afraid to totally reinvent themselves to keep their music on the cutting edge of creativity. From this point forward, Radiohead positioned themselves at the top of the Alternative music world and left a sea of imitators (I'm looking at you, Coldplay) trying to keep up, and while many of them made good music, none of them were as good or as innovative as Radiohead was over their next few albums.
5). The Tragically Hip - Live Between Us
In my original post, when I set up the rule I would use when choosing the CD's to write about, I said that I wouldn't disqualify live albums, and this disc is makes me glad that I didn't. The Tragically Hip (also known simply as "The Hip") is a Canadian rock band that has a huge following in their native country (they were inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 2005), but are virtually unknown in this country (except for areas that are close enough to get some Canadian crossover, like my hometown of Erie, PA). It really is a crime that they never really discovered in this country, as I think they would have been a fairly popular staple of alternative/college radio back in the 90's.
Live Between Us was released after their 5th studio album (1996's Trouble at the Henhouse) at the height of their popularity - the week this disc was released, it put 8 songs on the Canadian top 20 list. It contains live versions of my 2 favorite songs by The Hip - "Springtime In Vienna" and "Ahead By A Century". Listening to this disc always takes me back to the late 90's in Erie, when the only way to get decent music on the radio was to pick up the Canadian alternative station from Hamilton, Ontario when conditions were right over Lake Erie...
4). Belle & Sebastian - Dog On Wheels/Lazy Line Painter Jane/3.. 6.. 9 Seconds of Life EPs
While none of these are full length CD's, they were all released in the same year and, had they instead been released as one disc, would probably be Belle & Sebastian's best album. Belle & Sebastian play what is known as "twee pop", probably the least masculine form of alternative music there is (although Emo is a lot more whiny, so it might take that title). Twee is a cute, soft-sounding, totally white person version of indie pop that, while not very "rock 'n' roll", nevertheless is some of the most beautiful-sounding pop music ever produced, and Belle & Sebastian are the flag bearers.
B&S had 2 albums under their belt when they released this trio of EP's in 1997, and their fame in the indie music world was still mostly ahead of them. However, these EP's contain some of my favorite songs of theirs, including my #1 favorite "Lazy Line Painter Jane".
3). Sleater-Kinney - Dig Me Out
Sleater-Kinney is one of the greatest female rock bands in music history (not just in indie rock). They managed to do something that very few female acts were able to accomplish - they were able to make serious rock music on their own terms, without resorting to turning themselves into a bunch of over-sexed versions of the male fantasy "rocker chick" stereotype. And, man, do these women ROCK. They went on hiatus in 2006, which is a shame, because the music world definitely needs more women like these.
2). The Notorious B.I.G. - Life After Death
Its pretty amazing that Biggie is considered one of the greatest rappers of all time based off of only 2 albums. That just goes to show how incredibly talented he was. He had the perfect combination of lyrics and rapping ability and was equally adept at firing off the angriest "life in the ghetto" song or the smoothest R&B-tinged song about his skills with the ladies. It has been 13 years since his death and he is sorely missed.
Life After Death is considered one of the top hip hop albums of all time, and was certified Diamond, meaning it sold over 10 million copies. It was nominated for and won a ton of awards when it was released. Unfortunately, Biggie didn't get to enjoy any of that, as it wasn't released until after his death.
1). Radiohead - OK Computer
We move from one of the to Hip Hop records of all time to what is considered by many to be the greatest alternative album of all time (1997 was a pretty good year in music apparently). This was Radiohead's third album, and it marked their transition away from the more straight forward rock-based music of their first 2 albums and showed that they were not afraid to totally reinvent themselves to keep their music on the cutting edge of creativity. From this point forward, Radiohead positioned themselves at the top of the Alternative music world and left a sea of imitators (I'm looking at you, Coldplay) trying to keep up, and while many of them made good music, none of them were as good or as innovative as Radiohead was over their next few albums.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
1970: Movies Pt. 2
(Here is a link to Part 1)
MASH:
Since I was a kid of the late 70's and 80's, I had a lot of exposure to the MASH TV show, as it was in constant rotation in syndication (even as it was still showing new episodes on CBS) as I was growing up. I loved that show and it wasn't until I was much older that I was even aware that the show was based on a movie. Finally, when I was in college, I got around to watching Robert Altman's film. I was apprehensive going in that, because of my exposure to the TV show, I wouldn't be able to appreciate the movie without comparing the two. That lasted about 5 minutes. After that, I became engrossed in the film and really didn't give the TV show another thought.
Just like Catch 22 (from Part 1 of my 1970 series), Altman uses dark humor in the setting of a previous war to offer an anti-Vietnam War message. In this case, its the Korean War and a surgical hospital that has to deal with the attrocities of war every day. The way that the main characters - surgeons Hawkeye, Duke and Trapper John - dealt with these horrors was to drinl and carouse and basically do whatever they wanted - anything to make them forget they were in the Army when they were off duty. They ran the camp, and anyone who tried to stop them were either run out of there (Frank Burns) or eventually assimilated to their side (Hotlips). The results were always hilarious - Donald Sutherland and Elliot Gould were at the top of their comedic game.
While Catch 22 was decent, this is the far superior film of the two.
Coming soon - Part 3!
MASH:
Since I was a kid of the late 70's and 80's, I had a lot of exposure to the MASH TV show, as it was in constant rotation in syndication (even as it was still showing new episodes on CBS) as I was growing up. I loved that show and it wasn't until I was much older that I was even aware that the show was based on a movie. Finally, when I was in college, I got around to watching Robert Altman's film. I was apprehensive going in that, because of my exposure to the TV show, I wouldn't be able to appreciate the movie without comparing the two. That lasted about 5 minutes. After that, I became engrossed in the film and really didn't give the TV show another thought.
Just like Catch 22 (from Part 1 of my 1970 series), Altman uses dark humor in the setting of a previous war to offer an anti-Vietnam War message. In this case, its the Korean War and a surgical hospital that has to deal with the attrocities of war every day. The way that the main characters - surgeons Hawkeye, Duke and Trapper John - dealt with these horrors was to drinl and carouse and basically do whatever they wanted - anything to make them forget they were in the Army when they were off duty. They ran the camp, and anyone who tried to stop them were either run out of there (Frank Burns) or eventually assimilated to their side (Hotlips). The results were always hilarious - Donald Sutherland and Elliot Gould were at the top of their comedic game.
While Catch 22 was decent, this is the far superior film of the two.
Coming soon - Part 3!
Monday, November 8, 2010
1970: Movies Pt. 1
As I stated in one of my very first blog posts, despite the fact I have seen a lot of movies, and I love 70's movies in particular, there are still a lot of great films from the decade that I have not seen. I am going to try and rectify that. I going to pick one year in the decade at a time and, using various movie lists on Wikipedia (Oscar nominees, top grossing, critics' year end lists), I am going to look for the notable films that I haven't seen (and probably a few I have seen that I want to re-watch). I am going to start with 1970, but will probably pick the remaining years at random to mix things up...
Five Easy Pieces
This film brought Jack Nicholson is first Academy Award nomination for Best Actor (he would be nominated 7 more times, winning twice), and he definitely turns in a fantastic performance that carries the film. Nicholson plays a California oil worker that, unbeknownst to his lower class waitress girlfriend, actually comes from an upper class family of musicians (Nicholson's character was a child prodigy on the piano). when he finds out his father is sick, he heads back to his family home after a long exile, reluctantly bringing his girlfriend with him. Nicholson finds out that things really haven't changed and he still doesn't fit in, even though he had recently come to the revelation that he didn't fit in with his current life either. That's pretty much it for the plot, but Nicholson turns in one of his bravura performances as a man capable of bubbling over with crazy rage at any moment (the slow burn in the scene with the waitress in the diner was fantastic).
Catch-22
Catch-22 is a movie with a similar intent to MASH (a movie I have already seen, but will be re-watching for this blog series) - use black comedy and an absurdist style (this is more so for Catch Than MASH) to show the horrors of war and use a previous war (WWII for Catch and Korea for MASH) as a standing for Vietnam.
Catch-22 uses a non-linear style, and that makes the film a little hard to follow. There was a point in the movie where, because of how the scenes were transpiring after the opening scene, I was sure that everything that was happening was in the main character's imagination. It turns out I was wrong, but that just demonstrates how disorienting it was to try and follow what was going on. The humor works for the most part, and the film boasts a pretty outstanding cast (Alan Arkin, Jon Voight, Orson Welles, Anthony Perkins and a bunch of other recognizable faces). However, I prefer MASH's attempt at the same subject matter (or at least I think I do - its been about 15 years since I saw MASH, so we'll see when I re-watch it).
(I couldn't find an official trailer for this film - apparently, re-cutting the trailer into your own version, and filming your own trailer are popular school assignments, as that was all I could find on YouTube...)
MASH - Coming Soon
Airport - Coming Soon
Woodstock - Coming Soon
Other notable films that I have already seen - Patton, Gimme Shelter
Notable Films I am skipping - Love Story (I know that this is another milestone movie from 1970, and that it was nominated for, and won, a bunch of awards, but it just does not interest me in the least. So, PASS.)
Five Easy Pieces
This film brought Jack Nicholson is first Academy Award nomination for Best Actor (he would be nominated 7 more times, winning twice), and he definitely turns in a fantastic performance that carries the film. Nicholson plays a California oil worker that, unbeknownst to his lower class waitress girlfriend, actually comes from an upper class family of musicians (Nicholson's character was a child prodigy on the piano). when he finds out his father is sick, he heads back to his family home after a long exile, reluctantly bringing his girlfriend with him. Nicholson finds out that things really haven't changed and he still doesn't fit in, even though he had recently come to the revelation that he didn't fit in with his current life either. That's pretty much it for the plot, but Nicholson turns in one of his bravura performances as a man capable of bubbling over with crazy rage at any moment (the slow burn in the scene with the waitress in the diner was fantastic).
Catch-22
Catch-22 is a movie with a similar intent to MASH (a movie I have already seen, but will be re-watching for this blog series) - use black comedy and an absurdist style (this is more so for Catch Than MASH) to show the horrors of war and use a previous war (WWII for Catch and Korea for MASH) as a standing for Vietnam.
Catch-22 uses a non-linear style, and that makes the film a little hard to follow. There was a point in the movie where, because of how the scenes were transpiring after the opening scene, I was sure that everything that was happening was in the main character's imagination. It turns out I was wrong, but that just demonstrates how disorienting it was to try and follow what was going on. The humor works for the most part, and the film boasts a pretty outstanding cast (Alan Arkin, Jon Voight, Orson Welles, Anthony Perkins and a bunch of other recognizable faces). However, I prefer MASH's attempt at the same subject matter (or at least I think I do - its been about 15 years since I saw MASH, so we'll see when I re-watch it).
(I couldn't find an official trailer for this film - apparently, re-cutting the trailer into your own version, and filming your own trailer are popular school assignments, as that was all I could find on YouTube...)
MASH - Coming Soon
Airport - Coming Soon
Woodstock - Coming Soon
Other notable films that I have already seen - Patton, Gimme Shelter
Notable Films I am skipping - Love Story (I know that this is another milestone movie from 1970, and that it was nominated for, and won, a bunch of awards, but it just does not interest me in the least. So, PASS.)
Monday, November 1, 2010
2010 Horror Fest Pt. 14
Usually for my marathon, I try and watch a mix of things I haven't seen and some classics that I have. This year, however, since I expanded the festivities to include all of October, and I already watched a ton of movies I haven't seen, I am sticking mostly to classics this year...
Halloween (1978)
I have mentioned several times in other posts that Halloween is my favorite horror film of all time, so I always include it in my end of the month day long marathon. It needs to be watched at night, so I actually watched it as the first film this year (I decided to start my marathon the night before my scheduled day off from work) - Thursday night was our Trick 'r' Treat night, so I felt this was the perfect film for that night.
I love what John Carpenter was able to do in this film with what little he had (it was made for around $300,000), and he did it without a lot of blood. The film is scarier for how it doesn't show things and lets your imagination fill in the rest. My two favorite scenes are near the end. 1.) Right after Laurie discovers that he friends are all dead, she is standing in the hallway, and you slowly notice Michael Myers in a darkened doorway as he comes into focus. 2.) The very end, where Dr. Loomis goes to look at the body of Michael on the ground below and discovers he is gone (the look of terror on the doctor's face is awesome).
April Fools Day (1986)
I had intended to watch this earlier in the week, not during the marathon, but I never got around to it. Since I had the disc already from Netflix, I decided to watch it. However, I was only half paying attention, since I was really trying to get my last blog post done. I don't have much to say about it, other than maybe I'll try to watch it again next year.
Evil Dead (1981) and Evil Dead II (1987)
I decided to lump these 2 films together, since II is less a sequel and more some sort of sequel/re-make hybrid, only turned up 1000%.
Both films involve a cabin in the woods and evil spirits being unwittingly unleashed to possess people and steal their souls. The first film goes more for horror and scares, while the second throws in more gruesome comedy and over the top spectacle. Both are considered horror classics, and I can't decide which one I like more. I really like the crazy gore of the first one. The effects are cheap, but that adds to the overall enjoyment - it makes the possessed seem even more otherworldly. I also LOVE Bruce Campbell's manic performance in II as he quickly loses his mind. Both films deserve their status among the all time greats.
Poltergeist (1982)
I haven't seen this film in years, and I forgot how great it is. So many great scenes: the steak on the counter, the guy who pulls his own face apart, the corpses in the pool, the killer creepy ass clown doll, the tree. Steven Spielberg, while not the credited director, definitely had a lot of influence on the production. It is a very slick looking film that holds up well today (the version I watched was in HD and looked pretty fantastic).
The Exorcist (1973)
I have said previously that horror movies don't scare me, but I love them any way. This is the only movie that scared me when I first watched it. I was in 8th grade, I was home alone, and for some reason I decided to watch this film with the lights off. This film scared the bejeezus out of me. It took all my effort just to get up and turn the light on when it was done, and the lamp was like 5 feet away from me. the combination of the makeup effects and the gravelly voice Regan uses when fully possessed (not to mention the things that this young girl does and says under the influence of the demon) result in some of the most disturbing scenes ever in a film. Linda Blair does a fantastic job as the possessed little girl. The makeup adds a lot to the portrayal, but she still holds up her end.
The Stepfather (1987)
This film would not be that memorable if not for one thing - the portrayal by Terry O'Quinn of the main character. O'Quinn showed on Lost that he is excellent at playing disturbed individuals that had less than ideal upbringings, and that serves him very well here. The Stepfather is about a man (O'Quinn) who moves from family to family (and identity to identity), killing off the family when they no longer meet his ideal of structure and order. He is striving for the sort of straight-laced, white bread family of the TV shows of his youth (one scene shows him watching and professing his love for Mr. Ed in one scene). When his family is unable to live up to that ideal, he eliminates them and moves on to another. O'Quinn portrays both aspects of his character - the All-American family man and the off the deep end psychopath both with equal creepiness. Its a shame that it took so long after this role for him to get the recognition his acting deserves.
A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984)
I was actually able to see this film in the theater on its initial release. I was only 10, and my friend and I convinced his mom to take us, telling her that my dad would be fine with seeing that type of movie since he was the one that too my friend and me to see The Terminator, also rated R (never mind that they were 2 totally different types of films). I managed to avoid any deep psychological damage from watching this type of film at such a young age, bit instead I came away with a love for the character of Freddy Krueger. First, he was unlike almost any other killer in horror films to that point. He had a sense of humor and he wasn't just a mindless killing machine, like Jason Voorhees. he seemed to enjoy what he was doing, which made him that much creepier (Robert Englund always delivered the goods as Freddy, sometimes being the only thing worth watching in the later, lower quality sequels). Also, he had the coolest weapon ever. Every kid who say this film were in love with the finger knives, and Freddy was a very popular Halloween costume for many years.
Halloween (1978)
I have mentioned several times in other posts that Halloween is my favorite horror film of all time, so I always include it in my end of the month day long marathon. It needs to be watched at night, so I actually watched it as the first film this year (I decided to start my marathon the night before my scheduled day off from work) - Thursday night was our Trick 'r' Treat night, so I felt this was the perfect film for that night.
I love what John Carpenter was able to do in this film with what little he had (it was made for around $300,000), and he did it without a lot of blood. The film is scarier for how it doesn't show things and lets your imagination fill in the rest. My two favorite scenes are near the end. 1.) Right after Laurie discovers that he friends are all dead, she is standing in the hallway, and you slowly notice Michael Myers in a darkened doorway as he comes into focus. 2.) The very end, where Dr. Loomis goes to look at the body of Michael on the ground below and discovers he is gone (the look of terror on the doctor's face is awesome).
April Fools Day (1986)
I had intended to watch this earlier in the week, not during the marathon, but I never got around to it. Since I had the disc already from Netflix, I decided to watch it. However, I was only half paying attention, since I was really trying to get my last blog post done. I don't have much to say about it, other than maybe I'll try to watch it again next year.
Evil Dead (1981) and Evil Dead II (1987)
I decided to lump these 2 films together, since II is less a sequel and more some sort of sequel/re-make hybrid, only turned up 1000%.
Both films involve a cabin in the woods and evil spirits being unwittingly unleashed to possess people and steal their souls. The first film goes more for horror and scares, while the second throws in more gruesome comedy and over the top spectacle. Both are considered horror classics, and I can't decide which one I like more. I really like the crazy gore of the first one. The effects are cheap, but that adds to the overall enjoyment - it makes the possessed seem even more otherworldly. I also LOVE Bruce Campbell's manic performance in II as he quickly loses his mind. Both films deserve their status among the all time greats.
Poltergeist (1982)
I haven't seen this film in years, and I forgot how great it is. So many great scenes: the steak on the counter, the guy who pulls his own face apart, the corpses in the pool, the killer creepy ass clown doll, the tree. Steven Spielberg, while not the credited director, definitely had a lot of influence on the production. It is a very slick looking film that holds up well today (the version I watched was in HD and looked pretty fantastic).
The Exorcist (1973)
I have said previously that horror movies don't scare me, but I love them any way. This is the only movie that scared me when I first watched it. I was in 8th grade, I was home alone, and for some reason I decided to watch this film with the lights off. This film scared the bejeezus out of me. It took all my effort just to get up and turn the light on when it was done, and the lamp was like 5 feet away from me. the combination of the makeup effects and the gravelly voice Regan uses when fully possessed (not to mention the things that this young girl does and says under the influence of the demon) result in some of the most disturbing scenes ever in a film. Linda Blair does a fantastic job as the possessed little girl. The makeup adds a lot to the portrayal, but she still holds up her end.
The Stepfather (1987)
This film would not be that memorable if not for one thing - the portrayal by Terry O'Quinn of the main character. O'Quinn showed on Lost that he is excellent at playing disturbed individuals that had less than ideal upbringings, and that serves him very well here. The Stepfather is about a man (O'Quinn) who moves from family to family (and identity to identity), killing off the family when they no longer meet his ideal of structure and order. He is striving for the sort of straight-laced, white bread family of the TV shows of his youth (one scene shows him watching and professing his love for Mr. Ed in one scene). When his family is unable to live up to that ideal, he eliminates them and moves on to another. O'Quinn portrays both aspects of his character - the All-American family man and the off the deep end psychopath both with equal creepiness. Its a shame that it took so long after this role for him to get the recognition his acting deserves.
A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984)
I was actually able to see this film in the theater on its initial release. I was only 10, and my friend and I convinced his mom to take us, telling her that my dad would be fine with seeing that type of movie since he was the one that too my friend and me to see The Terminator, also rated R (never mind that they were 2 totally different types of films). I managed to avoid any deep psychological damage from watching this type of film at such a young age, bit instead I came away with a love for the character of Freddy Krueger. First, he was unlike almost any other killer in horror films to that point. He had a sense of humor and he wasn't just a mindless killing machine, like Jason Voorhees. he seemed to enjoy what he was doing, which made him that much creepier (Robert Englund always delivered the goods as Freddy, sometimes being the only thing worth watching in the later, lower quality sequels). Also, he had the coolest weapon ever. Every kid who say this film were in love with the finger knives, and Freddy was a very popular Halloween costume for many years.
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