I recently had the chance to check out the Bellingham, Washington quartet Death Cab For Cutie at San Diego State University’s Open Air Theatre.I was hesitant to attend the show because I haven’t been to a larger venue since seeing The Mars Volta at Soma in January (check out my live review for them here: Mars Volta Review).I’m glad I attended because the show was great and the venue sounded surprisingly good!
The band was tight and the mix was pretty much there throughout the whole show.Everything was distinguishable and best of all there was no need for ear plugs!I love a mixer that mixes to save their ears.There was only one song that sounded off and it was “The Sound of Settling.”Chris Walla, the guitar player got off beat and his guitar just didn’t reproduce the tone from the album.A small disappointment but I’m sure a majority of the fans didn’t even notice.But then again, maybe they did.
Death Cab fans are an odd group of people.Everyone was all eyes on stage throughout the entire duration of the performance.Sadly, that was the most they did.People who paid upwards to $150.00 for ground floor tickets didn’t even move.It might as well have been mannequins down there because they would have given off the same energy as this crowd.It’s confusing and frustrating but regardless of the crowd, Death Cab put on a great show and Ben Gibbard’s nasally voice is reproduced perfectly while he bobs and sways around the microphone.
My two favorite songs throughout the night were the full length “I Will Posses Your Heart” off of their new album “Narrow Stairs” and their final song during the encore, “Transatlanticism” on the “Transatlanticism” record.This was my first live Death Cab For Cutie experience and I am ashamed to admit so.I wish I could have seen them at a smaller venuehowever in this instance the venue was not a factor and I recommend checking them out when they come to a nearby city.Oh, and while you’re there…at least bob your head or something.
I had doubts but hopes that The Incredible Hulk would be at least decent.Marvel’s own version had to be better then Universal’s right?Well, not exactly.The Incredible Hulk does some things partially better however I would equate the films to be pretty on par with one another.
The movie starts with a news reel of force fed information pertaining to the scientific discovery and development of the character.This all happens during the introductory credits containing transitions that “whoosh” by to the next headlining article and digital text scrolls displaying the production cast.Some might like the quick and dirty intro but in my opinion it doesn’t pay off.The Hulk still isn’t revealed until ten or fifteen minutes into the film.
Once Hulk is finally revealed you’re struck with the thought of whether this looks better or worse then the previous endeavorer five years ago.From a design/detail standpoint, he doesn’t look bad at all.However there are many moments where he just looks kind of awkward in the environment.
One thing that I think The Incredible Hulk probably did the best was the fight scenes however this isn’t say much.If you don’t have good fights scenes in an action film, you don’t have a good film.That being said, the Hulk has a killer roar that sounds great.The environment is used in unique ways that you can’t help but smile and think how cool that moment just was.And regardless of any nearby civilians the military will decide to blow everything up.Wait what?Yea…the military in this movie is pretty ridiculous.There is a scene in the middle of a park where there are at least four separate shots spanning across five minutes of Humvees jumping into the area.Why does every Humvee that pulls into a park have to catch air and land so brutally on its suspension?I guess it creates ACTION!Along with that, during the final scene a chopper decides to unload a turret gun along a series of buildings block after block.I guess this is something you do in this situation. Fire like crazy and hope you kill the thing along with a few bystanders while saving many in the process.
The Incredible Hulk doesn’t really go anywhere as a movie.It heavily hints twice at a sequel and one of those times being right at the end of the movie.Lord of the Rings:The Fellowship of the Ring had a better ending.If you don’t like spoilers don’t read the rest of the paragraph.All I am saying is if you are going to have that kind of an ending you have to at least have something epic happen before it.It almost does.As you probably know, Hulk is faced against a similar foe called Abomination.Well the fight starts mediocre and gradually excels.It gets more and more violent until you think “Yes, here it is! He’s going to end it!”And then Betty (Hulk’s love interest) stops in and says “Stop!!!”Come on, this Abomination asshole just killed probably a hundred people in the street, destroyed the whole city, tried to kill you and your father and you want him to stop?Um, what?
The Incredible Hulk is disappointing and I left frustrated which has only happened to me a handful of times.Save this movie for a rental and put on your clown shoes.This overwhelming movie will have you flabbergasted.Yes, I used the word flabbergasted.
Street artist Slinkachu has an ongoing project titled “Little People” where he takes hand painted miniature models and places them in urban environments for various photos. Check it out, it rocks!
With help from David Fincher and Spike Jonze, Tarsem Singh (The Cell) is back with a re-release for 2006’s visual joyride The Fall.Singh and his team have once again created a film that makes you wish you had the reel at your theatre seat to stop it on key frames.I kid you not when I say that every frame from this film would produce a stunning photo.
The Fall is a story about an injured and mentally unstable stuntman who meets a little girl while being hospitalized.While both are being treated he tells her a story of five mythical characters.As the story advances and the little girl’s imagination runs wild, the line between fantasy and reality is blurred because of his erratic state.
One of the biggest things that I enjoyed about this film was the multiple story lines that where in fact one.Because of the fantasy story that is being told, Singh has the ability to be as creative as possible without having the audience question what is fundamentally possible.
When not experiencing the vividly epic fantasy the audience is presented with the reality within the hospital.One might think that this half of the story would be the less interesting half however the rolls are perfectly casted and the little girl is one of the most adorable things I have seen on screen in years.
After viewing the trailers I wouldn’t have guessed this movie to have that many comical/cute moments but I couldn’t have been more wrong.And what’s great about this is underneath it all there is this dark drama that slowly creeps its way up to the end.The Fall is superb piece of work and I can’t thank the guys above enough for making it possible for me to check this out in theatres.
Artist BLU has released a video of his latest work called MUTO. A lengthly animation across urban landscapes that’s incredibly weird and awesome. It’s amazing and can be seen after the jump.
I recently had the chance to check out El Ten Eleven at The Beauty Bar in San Diego, CA and I highly enjoyed myself.Being a totally rad bar, it probably helped with the experience.
Designed like a 50’s woman’s “beauty bar,” there were hair drying chairs, places to get your nails done while watching the show (ridiculous) and most importantly of all, happy hour until 10PM!What bars do that?
The show was $5 however I got there early enough to not have to pay.This wasn’t strategically planned however.The doors opened at eight, so some friends and I got some food and were there around that time. It was completely dead.We were talking to the bartender and she was telling us the first band didn’t go on until ten or ten-thirty.With hearing that, we got our happy hour on.
El Ten Eleven is an instrumental act with atmospheric, textural sounds. The band consists of two members, Kristian Dunn on a 1977 guitar/bass double neck and Tim Fogarty on drums.Being a two man act Dunn relies heavily on looping pedals to perform most of the material live.It’s great watching and hearing the songs slowly building and coming together because Dunn is switching between the guitar and bass while also selecting different effects to add.It’s multitasking at its best and he completes it well.
With the shows being so cheap (and even if they weren’t), I highly recommend checking out these guys.Who doesn’t enjoy sipping on a drink, socializing with friends and watching a good “shoegazing” instrumental band?
Like There Will Be Blood, The Visitor probably isn’t for the majority. It’s a movie that concentrates on the development of a character and what influences this growth.
The Visitor stars Richard Jenkins as Walter Vale, a Connecticut college professor that is jaded from his routinely mundane life since the passing of his wife. The university has asked him to attend a conference in New York City for a book he has co-authored. He accepts and arrives to find illegal immigrants staying in his apartment. Vale starts to prioritize his life and finds purpose through his new personal encounters.
The movie is well casted, has superb acting, and is Jenkins best performance in my opinion. It’s not an artsy film, nor does it contain any action. It’s a simple drama with peppered in laughs. It’s a story that showcases the lives of a group of individuals over the course of a few weeks. If you enjoyed There Will Be Blood, chances are you will enjoy this. It’s a film that takes it’s time and has a touching story on purpose and what’s important.
Trent Reznor has released a new studio album titled “The Slip” for free at http://theslip.nin.com/.
I decided to cough up the bandwidth and check it out and my only thoughts are that someone needs to stick a needle back in this guys arm. I can see why he released it for free.
It feels like a bunch of b-sides from With Teeth, and thats really saying something. If it’s not a collapsed vein, then some other critical piece is missing from this generation of NINs production techniques.
If you like God Is an Astronaut, Set Fire to Flames, Explosions In The Sky, 65 Days of Static or Godspeed You! Black Emperor then you will thoroughly enjoy This Will Destroy You.
The San Marcos, Texas based quartet consists of two guitarists (Chris King and Jeremy Galindo) a bassist (Raymond Brown) and a drummer (Andrew Miller). They currently have an EP titled Young Mountain and a full self-titled LP released through Magic Bullet Records.
Their self-titled album is a great balance of electrical ambiances and building compositions that climax into a lush orchestration of aural perseverance. I can’t help but feel motivated and inspired every time I listen to these guys.
Taking a look at my iPod playlist it is clearly becoming more and more apparent that I have a post-rock addiction. Either that or I am a complete sucker for a guitarist with a delay pedal. There’s just something about this genre of music that fits all situations. One of the biggest things is more often then not there is no singer present. A pure instrumental joy which is great to work to. Along with that these songs gush with inspiration making it easy to run or workout to. Hell, it’s even great to fall asleep to.
I highly recommend picking up there self-titled LP or the previously released EP, Young Mountain. Both are stellar albums and worth grabbing if you like the genre.
This Will Destroy You is currently wrapping up their tour:
Iron Man would be my favorite superhero movie if Batman was never created.There’s just something special about superhero’s that don’t have super powers.Like Bruce Wayne, Tony Stark has a butt load of cash and wants to make a difference.He develops a military suit that is loaded with artillery, is basically indestructible and can fly.Using this suit, he commits to destroying all the other weapons he has created that Middle Eastern terrorist have acquired.
One of the biggest things that superhero movies lack is good dialog.I can’t praise Jon Favreau enough for his casting of Robert Downey Jr.Downey plays his commonly casted overly confidant witty male that is more than enjoyable to watch.Between the two of them, they were able to compile some great scenes that helped Iron Man stray away from the typical cliché moments that we all have come to dread but accept in hero movies.
Another outstanding aspect of this film was the special effects.Seeing some of the trailers leading up to the film I was somewhat concerned.A lot of them tended to resemble a caliber equivalent to videogame cinematics.This fortunately wasn’t the case and the movie looked great.The suit looked awesome (and not plastic), the explosions were big, and the flying scenes were extremely entertaining.
Iron Man has great pacing throughout the film.It takes it’s time developing an interesting character that holds true throughout the whole film and never bends in order to fill blockbuster stereotypes.It’s one of the best movies I have seen this year standing next to Cloverfield and There Will Be Blood.I recommend you see it as soon as possible.You won’t be disappointed.
Forgetting Sarah Marshall is about a guy who gets his heart broken by his girlfriend of five years. After hearing that she is leaving him for another man he decides to escape reality through an adventure to Hawaii. By chance she is also taking a vacation on the same island and staying at the very same hotel. Craziness ensues…
Like I said previously, what I enjoy most about all of the films Judd Apatow has an involvement with is that they are all written well. When I say “written” I am mostly referring to dialog (however the story lines are also very solid).Everything flows naturally and never seems too far fetched.Yes, story lines will pan out as you would expect, but how the characters deal with these situations and approach the next tend to make us laugh because they all feel so true and organic.Granted, this is written for a certain demographic, but those stating these movies seem juvenile or tawdry should be attending another showing of Atonement (which has an awesome soundtrack by the way).
The usual Apatow crew was present in supporting roles (Paul Rudd, Bill Hader, Jonah Hill) however I really enjoyed the casting for the main characters.Jason Segel did an excellent job at pulling off the emotionally distraught and recovering ex-boyfriend Peter Bretter.Kristen Bell and Mila Kunis are easy on the eyes and are both captivating in every scene.But Russell Brand stole the show for me.I was surprised to check out his IMDB profile and see he showcases the resume of a struggling actor.Don’t let that fool you though because I definitely enjoyed his performance.Brand plays a European pop singing sensation that has swindled Bell away from Segel.His delivery is hilarious and by the end of the movie it’s hard not to like him even though he has a part in the break up for the main character.
Forgetting Sarah Marshall has great pacing and I will more then likely be adding it to my collection.Pay the $11 bucks to see this comedy because with The Love Guru and You Don’t Mess with the Zohan approaching, you probably won’t be spending your money to be laughing at that.
Cedric Delsaux has taken your favorite characters from the Star Wars universe and brought them to our world. In a great series of Photoshop manipulations you can see what it would have looked like if Boba Fett was trailing targets through urban environments. Awesome!
Hit the jump for a few more photos or head over to Cedric’s site for the full series.
What do you get when an entire drilling rig falls into an underground cavern searching for natural gas? This beautiful disaster. The accident happened in 1971 and has been bringing in tourists to Turkmenistan for over 35 years!
Scientists have discovered what they think to be the first audio recording, beating Edison’s recording by seventeen years! The ten second clip from 1860 was discovered by Grammy award winning audio historian David Giovannoni and consists of a French woman singing “Au Clair de la Lune.” The sound waves were etched into a piece of paper covered in soot.
The FR-2 V-Accordion offers the incredible digital advantages of Roland’s Physical Behavior Modeling technology, providing true tone and characteristics of the world’s best accordions, but they are significantly lighter than previous models. Perfect for students, stage keyboard players, and traveling musicians.
Piano-type keyboard
PBM (Physical Behavior Modeling) enables the true tone and expressive characteristics of the world’s finest accordions
Additional sounds onboard, including piano, organ and strings
Eight user programs for instant storage andrecall of your favorite settings
Lightweight for young students and travelingperformers
Pad function for triggering percussion sounds and rhythms
The Gingerdead Man has been resurrected and it couldn’t look more delicious. Unfortunately Gary Busey won’t be lending his voice but from what it looks like a horror movie is being filmed and the Gingerdead Man is brought on set to begin his rampage. With the ‘directors’ looking for something special I can only guess that they will start filming their crew being slaughtered while being oblivious to whats really going on. But who knows, I guess we will have to wait and see. Keep an eye out for the man with his eyeballs of flesh hanging from his face while he’s yelling at someone to hide. Classic!
