Tuesday, May 27, 2008

I Read Something... May 27




Hope you had a grand old Memorial Day weekend, where old men remember what BBQ's are for and put on stupid aprons to cover their guts as they grill up a large collection of flesh.

Been a bit busy lately. Saw a couple of great shows including brass chaos and beauty of Beirut. Here they are on Jools Holland with a penultimate example of their musical wizardry:



And here's a new unreleased track that I can't wait to hear when it's released called "The Shrew", which can best be described as a bull fighting marching song minus the mariachi, make sure to check out the amazing horn blowout in the last third, a awe inspiring sight to see even from this awful angle:


---
I saw the overhyped Indiana Jones and The Overcrowded Geriatric Hospital of Belief Suspension. I think the title says it all. I was never a huge fan of the series besides Raiders but hopefully this one can put a nail in Indy's coffin. Although I doubt it since the film brought in over $300 million dollars worldwide on it's opening weekend.

Then later in the week, I went to Union Hall in Brooklyn and saw a Swedish band on their first US tour named the Mary Onettes (pronounced like Marionettes). They have a early 80's Cure feel that is exhibited best in "Lost" and the live video below for "The Void":



After one of my compatriots bought a round of drinks for the band (thanks Alex), we chatted up the pleasant guitarist named Henrik. It turns out they are form the same town in Sweden as Jens Lekman and I'm From Barcelona, two of best live acts out there. I've blogged both prevously so I won't go into their greatness here.

The Mary Onettes debut self titled album is quite good and is worth a listen. Pitchfork thought so too. Some might recognize a few of the tracks as I've old they were featured on Grey's Anatomy, which usually picks better songs than plot lines from what I remember. A perfect album for a beautiful spring drive. Here's a video of "Pleasure Songs":




---
In other news that I actually did read...

Sydney Pollack has passed after a battle with Stomach Cancer (BBC). Famous for directing Tootsie, Out of Africa, as well as working as an actor in films like Eyes Wide Shut. May I recommend one of his older works that I saw in film class a few years ago? Starring Jane Fonda in a dance marathon, it has one of my favorite titles ever, They Shoot Horses, Don't They?

---
There will be no Back to the Future IV. (Cinematical)

----
Fernando Meirelles (director of one of my all time favorite films, City of G-d) is getting mixed notices for his new film Blindness, a bleak film about contagious blindness spreading across the world. It opened this year Cannes Film Festival. The trailer is available here. I'm still very hopeful.

On the other hand it looks like Woody Allen's latest film, Vicky Christina Barcelona, starring Javier Bardem, Penelpoe Cruz and Scarlett Johansson, is quite enjoyable, if not only for the previously reported menage a trois sequence.

---
I can write about other things besides movies and music. I just choose not to for the most part. I finally finished the soon to be Coen Brothers' adapted novel "The Yiddish Policeman's Union" by Michael Chabon.

It tells the story of a bizarro/alternate universe where the Jews lose Israel in 1948 and are instead given a strip of Alaska to call their own. It's an Jewish Alaskan Shtetl detective story. The story itself was very interesting but some of Chabon's writing can be too artistic, bridging too many humorous Jewish metaphors that interrupt the flow of the story. That said, it should turn out to be one heck of a movie.


---
I love Mario Kart Wii! That's the real reason why there's no blogging time left. Mario Kart and working on a script about this man:



He's a mass murderer of class and courtesy in Northern New Jersey. His given name is Guts. You can call him... El Big Boy!

No comments: