If you’re looking for unfiltered assessments of today’s new releases, unblemished by corporate meddling, you’re in the right spot. It’s CHUD SPECIAL ED – brought to you by GLOBOCHEM!
AMERICAN: THE BILL HICKS STORY
So you love Bill Hicks, huh? If half the people who claim to love Bill Hicks knew his name when he was alive, his popularity would have eclipsed the sun. And he would have hated you. But, hey – buy this.
GREEN LANTERN: EMERALD KNIGHTS
This is a WB/DC OVA to get people in the mood for the upcoming blockbuster, and honestly, I’m more interested in it than I am in the film. It’s as if the thing was developed with one question in mind: “How do we get Jason Pollock interested in this?”
“We should hire Nathan Fillion to voice Green Lantern!”
“We should’ve hired him to play Green Lantern, but hey – better late than never, and he digs that guy.”
“Everybody digs that guy. We need to appeal to Jason here.”
“Well, that’s easy – somebody get Henry Rollins on the phone.”
“Ahh – good call. Jason loves ol’ Hank. But you know…that’s a curb this high. Henry does a lot of voice over work. And when he did commercials for GM, it’s not like Pollock ran out and bought a Hick-Up Truck.”
“Too true. We’ve gotta’ step up our game.”
“Are you thinkin’ what I’m thinkin’?”
“I think so – if you’re thinking we get RODDY PIPER TO DO HIS FIRST EVER VOICE OVER GIG?”
“You think he’ll watch it now?”
“Yeah – he’s a total chimp, and we just played him like a fiddle.”
“Cool.”
THE LONG RIDERS
The master Walter Hill enacts some of the most demented and elaborate stunt casting in film history for his stylized, mythical take on the James/Younger gang. Dig this – James Keach plays Jesse James, and his brother Stacy Keach plays Frank James. Cole Younger is played by David Carradine. Robert Carradine is brother Bob, and Keith Carradine is Jim. Dennis Quaid plays Ed Miller, brother Randy is Clell. Nicholas Guest is Robert Ford, and Christopher Guest plays Charlie Ford. Crazy shit, and a cool flick.
THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING
Hope and Crosby. Nichols and May. Hardcastle and McCormick. Caine and Connery. Lovely Technicolor adventure with a hint of danger from John Huston, adapting Rudyard Kipling.
THE OUTLAW JOSEY WALES
What do I have to tell you about this movie? Well, how about it’s on Blu Ray now – time for an UPGRAYEDD.
RUBBER
Quentin Dupieux stole the title of my autobiographical pregnancy scare film, and grafted it to his tale of a murderous, sentient tire. Subesquently, Mr. Oizo’s post-modern/post-ironic genre deconstruction flick has been embraced by people with ironic beards.
SANCTUM 3D
Executive Producer James Cameron said the people behind Sanctum got 3D “right.” Cammy claims that cheap, exploitative thrillers like Piranha and My Bloody Valentine will eventually trip up his dream for theatrical 3D – but Sanctum is not cheap or exploitative. The $30,000,000 film is about divers trapped in an underwater cave, where – one by one – they die brutal, horrific deaths. So…right.
TRUE GRIT
You know what this is. I don’t need to convince you. Bridges bests Marion. Coens beat all. Own it.
IT MEANS EVERYTHING: THE BLU RAY OF THE WEEK!
THE STUNT MAN
One of the best movies about movies ever made, Richard (Freebie and the Motherfucking BEAN, SON) Rush directs the scenery-chewing smarm of Peter O’Toole into a collision course with Steve Railsback, who winds up on the set of a film directed by O’Toole’s mad genius Eli Cross. Railsback’s character, Cameron (get it? Railsback’s guy doesn’t) is on the lam, and he ducks onto the set, screwing up a stunt and necessitating the need for a new performer. Cameron sees this as a perfect opportunity to hide from the law, but the comically egomaniacal Eli’s not going to make it easy. The film is desultory, dark, demented – and often uproariously funny. The ARTISANS at Severin Films have pulled out all the stops for this release, including the previously-available Achor Bay extras – and then some. If you love movies, you owe it to yourself to see this film. If that’s not enough to get you to pick it up – Joshua Miller just stole my thunder with a fantastic CHUD review that says everything I could and more about this amazing film and its awesome director. This is a must-own flick.
THE NEW BLU REVIEW – COMIN’ RIGHT AT YOU!
Ancient Warriors
Another Year
Apt Pupil
Asylum of the Damned
Beyond Recognition
Billy Madison
Blue Crush
Blue Crush 2
Bobby G. Can’t Swim
Breaking Bad: The Complete Third Season
The Bridge on the River Kwai
Bulletproof
Collateral Damage/Eraser
The Company Men
Death at a Funeral
Dolphins and Whales 3D: Tribes of the Ocean
Every Which Way but Loose/Any Which Way You Can
Green Lantern: Emerald Knights
Hair
Happy Gilmore
Heartbreak Ridge/Firefox Double Feature
Just Go With It
Legends of Flight
The Long Riders
Madagascar
The Man Who Would Be King
A Matador’s Mistress
Meet Market
Nature: Outback Pelicans
Nature: Survivors of the Firestorm
New York, New York
Ocean Wonderland 3D 3-D
Original Sin
The Outlaw Josey Wales
Posse
River of Darkness
Robin of Sherwood: Set 1
Rome: The Complete First Season
Rome: The Complete Second Season
Rubber
Sanctum 3-D
Sects, Dregs & Rock N Roll
Shadows and Lies
Sharks 3D
Sheryl Crow: Miles from Memphis
Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2011: 3D Experience
The Stunt Man
The Superman Motion Picture Anthology 1978-2006
To
Toy Story 3
Transformers
True Grit
Tsubasa: Season 1
Vera Cruz
When It Was a Game: The Complete Collection
Wyatt Earp/Assassination of Jesse James
Yellowstone National Park
AND NOW THE DVD STARTS!
THE CHINA QUESTION
For me it would be, “Do you have a spare Zhang Ziyi I could borrow?” But for documentarian Brook Silva-Braga, the question is, “How does our desire for cheap manufactured goods doom the U.S. and China?” The film debuted on CNBC a few nights ago, and hits disc today. Our Ryan Mason has submitted a review for your approval, and it seems like the very sort of introspection we could use right now.
2:13
4 Movie Marathon: Classic Adventures
4 Movie Marathon: Hollywood Stars
4 Movie Marathon: Psycho Killers
4 Movie Marathon: Thrillers
4 Movie Marathon: Women with Grit
4 Single Fathers
AC/DC: Let There Be Rock
Accion Y Diversion Collection
America’s Sickest Home Video #1
America’s Sickest Home Video #2American: The Bill Hicks Story
Angelina Ballerina: Pop Star Girls
Another Year
Banned in America Collection 1-6
Bellydance Superstars: Killer Drillz With Zoe Jake
The Big C: The Complete First Season
Bitter/Sweet
Blue Crush 2
Bob Hoskins Collection
Bratz: BFF, Best Friends Forever
Breaking Bad: The Complete Third Season
Burn Notice: Season Four
Carancho
Care Bears: Flower Power
Chicago Mass Choir: XV
Children of God
Chronicles of the Third Reich
Discreet
Dizzy Gillespie: Dream Band Jazz America
El Cartel: Season 2, Part 1 La Guerra Total
El Vampiro Y La Vedette
Elmo’s World: People in Your Neighborhood
Exorcismus
FDNY Dream Bike
Foo Fighters: Back and Forth
Frank Sinatra: Around the World
From Beginning to End
Gene Autry Show: The Complete First Season
Gerry Mulligan: Jazz America
Ghastly Grabs: Volume 7
Ghastly Grabs: Volume 8
Green Lantern: Emerald Knights
Harmony: Oneness Here We Come
Have Gun Will Travel: The Complete Fifth Season
Hawthorne: The Complete Second Season
Hopalong Cassisdy: The Complete Series
The Housemaid
How It’s Made: Auto
How Stuff Works: Food & Beverage
I Only Want You to Love Me
In Her Skin
Irena Sendler: In The Name of Mothers
James Bond: Sean Connery Collection Volume 2
Journey of the Bonesetter’s Daughter
Just Go With It
The King Speaks
Le Tigre: Who Took the Bomp?
Legends of Flight
Lethal Landscapes: Canvases of Combat Artist
Leverage: The 3rd Season
The Little Cars 6: Fast Lane Fury
LOL Comedy Presents: Chris Spencer’s Minority
Love’s Kitchen
Macho Menos
Madagascar
Madeline & Her Friends
Maid Sama Collection 1
A Matador’s Mistress
Max Roach: Live at Blues Alley
McMillan & Wife: Season 2
McMillan & Wife: Season 3
Michael Palin Collection
Mujeres Y Muerte Collection
National Geographic Classics: Cats & Dogs
Nature: Outback Pelicans
Nature: Survivors of the Firestorm
New Tricks: Season 4
New York Street Games
Night Flight
Notorious BIG/2 Turntables & A Microphone
Osso Bucco
Paranormal Entity/From The Dead Of The Night
The Passing
Pokemon Collectors Set
Prehistoric
Pretty Little Liars: The Complete First Season
Pros & Ex-Cons
Queen of the Lot
Rawhide: The Fourth Season, Volume 1
Remembering 9/11 Collection
Remote Control War
Road to Avonlea: Season 4
Roary the Racing Car
Rubber
Salt of the Sea
Secret at Arrow Lake
The Secret Life of the American Teenager: Volume 6
Secuestro: Privacion De La Libertad
Shadows and Lies
Sheryl Crow: Miles from Memphis
Slices of Life
Snoop Sisters: The Complete Series
Strong Yoga Collection
Strong Yoga: 4 Fertility with Brenda Strong
Strong Yoga: 4 Partners with Brenda Strong
Strong Yoga: 4 Pregnancy with Brenda Strong
Supreme Champion
Tortured
UFC 128
Universal Squadrons
Veggie Tales: Live! Sing Yourself Silly
Vision Quest: Gia’s Story
Vision Quest: Kundalini Fire
Vision Quest: Part C Ascension
Voodoo Cowboys
When We Leave
White Collar: Seasons 1 & 2
White Collar: The Complete Second Season
The Wild Hunt
World’s Grossest Video
WWE: The Very Best of WCW Monday Nitro
NOW THAT’S WHAT I CALL MUSIC – WITH JEB DELIA!
CULTS – CULTS
Madeline Follin’s voice takes some getting used to: imagine Bethany Consentino with enough energy to get up off the couch, or Sharin Foo with the same amount of reverb, but about half the lower range. Like them (or Duffy, say), Follin is worshipping at the altar of Petula Clark or Lesley Gore, but she’s got more on her mind than date-night issues, and unless you’re opposed, on principle, to artists continuing to mine that vein of 60’s pop, she’ll get under your skin. The high-energy opener, “Abducted,” hints at the blend of light and dark that Cults traffics in: even if the word is used metaphorically, the blithe acknowledgement that “He took my heart away and left me to bleed out, bleed out” (followed by the cheerful agreement that “I knew right then that I would be taking her heart“) are set to a tune catchy enough for a classic Ronettes single. “Never Saw The Point” begins with a simple enough introduction– “I never saw the point in trying / ’cause I would only let you down“– but then follows it up with the doom-laden “And I just couldn’t bring you down there with me / I just can’t stand to see you drown“. Even creepier is “Go Outside”, which opens with a somewhat on-the-nose clip of Jonestown cult leader Jim Jones chuckling, “To me, death is not a fearful thing. It’s living that’s treacherous,” and continues with Follin’s implied threat: “I think I want to live my life and you’re just in my way.” The surface of Cults has the buzzy, fizzy quality of the best summer music, but again and again (“Most Wanted”, “Oh My God,” “Walk At Night”), Follin and partner Brian Oblivion make you think their warm summer nights are the sort that saw Zodiac or the Son of Sam hard at work.
SUSAN TEDESCHI, DEREK TRUCKS, the TEDESHI TRUCKS BAND – REVELATOR
Tedeschi began as the girl who rocked the blues guitar: not a great original, not a particularly compelling singer, but the hard-edged, take-no-prisoners alternative to the dignified approach of, say, a Bonnie Raitt. Since marrying Derek Trucks, she’s naturally started moving in elevated circles, working with musicians and producers whose pedigree includes artists like Johnny Cash, Dixie Chicks, the Jayhawks, and, of course the modern-day version of the Allman Brothers. And for her first album partnered with hubby, she’s drawn on all of that expertise (and such veteran players and writers as Doyle Bramhall, Gary Louris and Oliver Wood) to craft a sumptuous-sounding, expertly played, tasteful album that… well, that has the dignified feel of a good Bonnie Raitt album.
That’s not precisely a knock: I certainly admire Raitt’s work, I sometimes actively enjoy it, and the Tedeschi-Trucks combination can match her chop for chop. But it’s also a bit too easy to imagine this album going down smoothly at the local Starbucks; it’s not exactly about risk-taking. In fact, it borrows titles from great songs of the past (“Ball and Chain,” “Come See About Me” and “Bound for Glory” are among the names re-purposed here), but appears to have no interest in finding the grit, urgency, or conviction that drove artists like Janis Joplin or Woody Guthrie. Instead, most of what we have here is expertly-played, midtempo white-soul with tasty blues licks and slide guitar for accent (though with a few too many 80’s synth touches for comfort; the album often sounds more like late-period Little Feat than classic Allmans), with a highly generic quality: a song called “Midnight in Harlem” really ought to feel and sound as though it’s coming from a specific time and place, but it’s got the same smooth, tasteful groove as pretty much everything else. In the end, this is just a bit too bland for me (if I order chicken-fried steak, I’m not looking for health food), but if “expert” and “tasteful” are in your top five attributes for dropping coin on an album, you won’t go wrong.
GIVERS – IN LIGHT
I doubt it’s coincidence that the title of this album is just missing the word “Remain;” while African-influenced polyrhthms are not the revolutionary sound they were when Talking Heads fucked with everyone’s heads in 1980, it is a little surprising how few pop bands since then have incorporated them into effective original music. Even Vampire Weekend or Paul Simon often tend to use their juju guitars for decoration and color more than anything else (well, that and getting TV commercial work); the members of Givers have managed to have King Sunny Ade move in right next door to Brian Wilson and Blondie. From the skipping call-and-response of “Up Up Up” to the R&B flourishes of “Celing of Plankton” to the eerie Lou Reed touches on “Go Out At Night” to the party-out-of-bounds finale of “Words,” In Light is an immersive aural experience. Singers Taylor Guarisco and Tiffany Lamson sometimes sound like the amped-up version of She & Him, filled with the joyful necessity of being heard over the gleeful cacophony going on beneath them. Lamson, in particular, has a wonderfully knowing way of delivering a line like “You like your man / Ripe / I like mine / Still growing” that manages to shift from innocence to worldliness and back again; as forthright as she is on “Ripe,” she’s equally capable of vulneragbility on “Atlantic.” The album is at its strongest, though, when the two are harmonizing, as on the pulsing “In My Eyes” or the stop-time back and forth of “Meantime.” Of course, one of the chief differences between this album and its sort-of namesake is that David Byrne understood the difficulty of finding lyrical topics to match the complexity of this music: in other words, better to leave the audience scratching their heads to try and decipher “Crosseyed and Painless” than to lay out simple teen drama for the listener to shrug away (“I saw you first / It was in a dream“). But if Givers can find something as interesting to sing about as the music they’re singing to, they’re going to be formidable.
BRAD MEHLDAU, LEE KONITZ, PAUL MOTIAN, CHARLIE HADEN – LIVE AT BIRDLAND
While the calling card for jazz supergroups is often tightness you could bounce a coin off, this summit meeting of some of modern jazz’ most formidable players was assembled in its most famous nightclub in December of 2009 specifically “without preparation or rehearsal.” Or, evidently, a set list, though you’d never know it from the flow of the resultant album. The opener, “Lover Man,” demonstrates right off the bat that new recordings of even the most over-familiar material can be justified when the playing is of this caliber: not in terms of technical ability, or chops (these guys are way past that even being a point of discussion), but of the sort of imagination that lets them get inside the creative process that generated the songs in the first place, and turn them inside-out so that the familiar becomes startlingly new. “Lullabye of Birdland” was actually performed shortly after the death of its composer, George Shearing, and the 83-year-old Konitz (who first played the legendary club in 1949) soars in celebration of the memory, underpinned by the organic rhythm section of Haden and Motian. Konitz employs a uniquely muted sound (evidently achieved by stuffing the bell of his horn with cloth) on the Miles Davis piece, “Solar,” the rest of the band slowly joining in, to build to an intensity its composer would have approved. Maybe the high point of the set comes on “I Fall In Love Too Easily,” long associated with Frank Sinatra, with Haden taking center stage with a dark, liquid solo section. The album goes out on the wild deconstruction of Sonny Rollins’ “Oleo,” with each player seeming to strike off on his own, only to find the ensemble instinctively reassembled with a precision that is deft and expert, but heartfelt and urgent for all of that. Music-making of the highest order, not to be missed by serious jazz fans.
OTHER NOTABLE 6/7 RELEASES:
Joe Ely – Satisfied At Last. For the first few tracks on this one, I was wondering if Ely was doing his own “tribute album,” as “The Highway Is My Home” and “Not That Much Has Changed” felt so familiar that I thought they were deep album tracks I’d managed to forget over the years. The accompaniment has a similar familiar feel (lots of that “Gallo del Cielo” Spanish guitar), but Ely’s in stronger voice than he has been in years, and with a little help from Butch Hancock (and a new version of “Roll Again”), delivers his best since Letter to Laredo. Strongly recommended.
Black Lips – Arabia Mountain. More controlled than the Fleshtones, less inhibited than the Hoodoo Gurus. Mostly good fun, and I kinda like the story that they cut the vocals using a mike jammed into a human skull, but I can’t shake the feeling that that’s less a metaphor for death than for empty-headedness.
Arctic Monkeys – Suck It and See. Cutesy? A bit, sure (“Don’t Sit Down ‘Cause I’ve Moved Your Chair”). Trying too hard? Uh, yeah (“The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala”). But if Andy Partridge can’t be bothered anymore, it’s good to know that Alex Turner’s still on the case.
Above & Beyond – Group Therapy. I think it’s hilarious that their last album, Tri-State, actually needed a remix version. Talk about coals to Newcastle… Anyway, back to sleep, fellas.
Duncan Sheik – Covers 80’s. I guess that Sheik finally validated his songwriting with Spring Awakening. But his singing? Just as fey and nasal as you remember… which means that while he hits the nail on the head with drivel like “Gentlemen Take Polaroids” or “Hold Me Now,” his complete innocence of concepts like wit or nuance makes “Love Vigilantes” or “William It Was Really Nothing” so arch and strained that you don’t know whether to laugh or cry.
Chick Corea – Forever. There’s no shame in being only the second-best jazz supergroup album of the week; 2 CD’s, recorded live, one disk of Return to Forever faves, the other acoustic reworkings.
All Time Low – Dirty Work. “I feel like dancing tonight / I’m gonna party like it’s my civil right!” Co-written with Rivers Cuomo? Naturalement. Still, the energy is there, and a cameo from Maja Ivarsoon is nothing to sneeze at.
Simply Red – Farewell: Live in Concert. Who the hell knew they were still around?
Peter Murphy – Ninth. Like, say, Robyn Hitchcock or Richard Butler, there’s an upper limit on what you can expect, but as long as he can keep deploying that sepulchral Bowie photocopy of a voice, he can’t go too far wrong.
Fucked Up – David Comes To Life. Hardcore rock operas are not inherently worse than any other kind… but when was the last time you felt the need for one at all? And because I can get lazy about my reading, the appearance of Cults’ Madeline Follin as the heroine was a bit startling. Worth a listen, anyway.
From Bikes to Trains to VIDEO GAMES – WITH BRIAN CONDRY:
INFAMOUS (PS3; retail)
I liked Infamous the First way more than Prototype, but that could be because I played it a month or two before. This one looks to be delivering on all the promises of the first. The graphics are better, the powers are bigger and the story will probably be less stupid. And since REDACTED is dead we can avoid that whole character mess. Add in cool features like user created missions (yay! No more zapping security things on the side of buildings!) and this looks like one hell of a summer game.
OPERATION FLASHPOINT: RED RIVER (PS3; 360; PC; retail)
This isn’t ARMA real, but it’s realer than CoD. Maybe? That’s what the series started out as, but it’s just chasing the Duty nowadays. But if you just can’t get enough of shooting mans in faces, here ya’ go. This one looks kinda like Ghost Recon. Old ones, not GR:AW. Oh, hey – there’s a GR:AW this year. Those were fun…
RED FACTION: ARMAGEDDON (PS3; 360; PC; retail)
Guerilla was a damn good game with some problems that were alleviated by driving a truck through a building and then smashing it to bits with a hammer. The demo for Armageddon was kinda rough and all the early reviews are calling this mediocre. This one looks less like Space Asshole and more like Space Boring. I mean, fucking really? You have a game based around breaking shit as much as possible and then put it underground and turn it into a corridor shooter? Goddamn idiotic, you ask me…
OTHER NOTABLE 6/7 RELEASES:
And for this week’s Movie Tie-In of the Week, we bring you GREEN LANTERN: RISE OF THE MANHUNTERS on fuck you if you buy this and not Infamous 2. You deserve to be punished by the Game Gods.
ROCK BAND DLC:
Available on Xbox 360, Wii and PlayStation3 June 7th, on PS3 in Europe June 8th:
Bruno Mars – Grenade
Bruno Mars – Just the Way You Are
Bruno Mars – Marry You
Rise Against – Audience of One*
Rise Against – Help Is on the Way
Rise Against – The Good Left Undone
Pro Guitar/Bass Additions for Legacy Songs:
Mötley Crüe – Kickstart My Heart
Pearl Jam – Even Flow
These tracks will be available for purchase as “Bruno Mars Pack 01”, “Rise Against Pack 02” and as individual tracks on Xbox 360, PlayStation3 system and Wii. Tracks marked with * will include Pro Guitar and Pro Bass expansions for $0.99 per song.
So there you have it – make sure to LIKE the Special Edition, and engage in discussion on the boards!
FIN.