As I prep this Special Ed for launch, I’m listening to Hot Water Music‘s Fuel for the Hate Game, and I gotta’ tell you – it’s still great. If you don’t know this band…get to know them.
When Blu Ray and HD DVD went to war in 2006, the consumer was told that the soon-to-be critical mass of high definition adoption necessitated a new medium: a disc to handle the detail and clarity of the high def image.
Meanwhile, trade publications were seeing – for the first time, and after almost a decade – DVD sales growth in the single digits. They conducted polling that pointed out a disturbing reality: consumers saw DVD as very-nearly disposable, with players available for $30.00, and used/dump bin discs becoming impulse purchases that, should you not like the film you bought, you could give to a friend – or even toss.
Savvy consumers realized that they could buy titles inexpensively at big box retailers who used the deep discounts as “loss leaders” (Best Buy stocks cheap new-release DVDs to get you through the door so they can sell you a fridge). If you missed the street date or sale day, it didn’t matter – the film you wanted would be $7.00 – down from $20.00 – in a scant few months.
The internal industry rationale was: DVD has become bottom-of-the-barrel devalued, so we need a new format so we can charge real money for this content again.
And so here we are…five years after the debut of Blu – and maybe three removed from the first indicators that it might find mass adoption – and we face the same situation. Films are once again becoming devalued.
When we examine the whys and the wherefores, we see what could be many contributing factors. Sure sure, you can say that studio slates are weak – and that weak films aren’t good for home video – but films that are fucked at the box office often find their audience at home. And yeah, you can say that downloading – legal and otherwise – hurts packaged media, but the sad fact of that rationale is that the most pirated films are the ones that slay at the box office and destroy on home video (they usually feature a mincing, drunken Johnny Depp). And maybe you can even make mention of that whole, “We live in a disposable culture, and so entertainment is disposable…” diatribe. All of these things are true – to a degree. But in the end, you can lay the blame squarely at the feet of the studios.
I present my evidence:
Black Sheep/Tommy Boy
Coming to America/Trading Places
Defiance/Enemy at the Gates
The Godfather/The Godfather Part II
Shooter/The Italian Job
Shutter Island/Primal Fear
Every one of these films – with the exception of Black Sheep and Shutter Island, are not half-bad films. There are – inarguably – a couple of flat-out American classics here (I speak obviously of Tommy Boy and Coming to America), and they’re being packaged in a hollowed-out two spindle eco case with hastily-executed “double feature” artwork and set for a suggested retail price of $20.99 (which will end up $16.99 at Best Buy, and $13.00 at Wal-Mart).
This is the work of Paramount, obviously – and as shitty as it is, it doesn’t come close to the treatment catalog stuff sees at the hands of Warner Brothers. They often throw two poorly-mastered, often disparate films on a single Blu Ray without any special features or menus – a move that’s almost Echo Bridge in its fuckwittedness.
Yeah…consumers think these films are worthless. Wonder who gave them that fucking idea…?
Ah well…enough of my yackin’. Whaddya’ say – let’s boogie!
BETTER OFF DEAD
My heart broke a little when I discovered that John Cusack hates his double-barreled blast of Savage Steve Holland. Holland’s first Cusack flick is the better one, if for no other reason that Diane Franklin > Dinty Moore-Kutcher.
EASTBOUND AND DOWN: THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON
The perfect vehicle for the McBride/Best/Hill machine. I love these guys. I love this show. The first season also comes to Blu Ray today, as well.
THE NAME OF THE ROSE
Jean-Jacques Annaud’s take on Umberto Eco’s monastic mystery is hampered by Cap’n Sean Connery on autopilot, but the film remains charming and sinister and pretty good.
Also – I suppose I should mention STAKE LAND.
STAKE LAND
I’ve heard good things. I hate vampires, but I love Danni Harris.
IT MEANS EVERYTHING – THE BLU RAY OF THE WEEK!
CONAN THE BARBARIAN
It’s just as I’ve always said, the first film is the better one – and it’s presented here with a new HD master…and all of the old features (including one of the best commentaries ever recorded, wherein Schatzi comes off as a monosyllabic, misogynist, narcissistic slab of brain-dead beef – ‘cause…well – yeah). I like to think that Milius dressed Arnold in animal skins, dropped him in the middle of nowhere, and just rolled cameras on the shit he pulled – which amounts to beating, stabbing, and fucking everything.
If the new Conan film is half as good as this one…it’ll be twice as good as Conan the Destroyer – which also sees a Blu Ray release this day.
BUT THAT…IS ANOTHER STORY.
ALL IN – THE REST OF THE BLU:
Baka & Test: Season 1 DVD
Better Off Dead
Black Sheep/Tommy Boy
Braveheart / Gladiator
Casshern: The Complete Series
Coming to America/Trading Places
Conan the Barbarian
Conan the Destroyer
Copycat
Defiance/Enemy at the Gates
Eastbound & Down: The Complete First Season
Eastbound & Down: The Complete Second Season
Exporting Raymond
A Fistful of Dollars
For A Few Dollars More
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood Part 5
The Godfather/The Godfather Part II
Heart: Live
Jewel: The Essential Live Songbook
The Magnificent Seven
Marvel Knights: Iron Man & Spider Woman
Maverick
The Name of The Rose
Outside the Law
The Perfect Game
Return of The Magnificent Seven
Rio
Sands of The Kalahari
Sheryl Crow: Live
Shooter/The Italian Job
Shutter Island/Primal Fear
Sleepers
Soul Surfer
Spy Kids Digital Copy
Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams
Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over
Stake Land
Tsubasa: Season 2
Wayne’s World 1 & 2: The Complete Epic
Wild Wild West
Zen: Vendetta Cabal Ratking
AND NOW THE DVD STARTS:
For me – it’s like there’s only one DVD coming…to DVD…this week. And it pains me greatly to recommend it. But…I gotta’ do.
THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM
This sickens me on so many levels. It’s an ECHO BRIDGE title, so it will likely be full-frame and non-anamorphic. It features an incredibly shitty bit of box art as a replacement for the wonderful old airbrushed Full Moon key art. It will undoubtedly look as though the mastering process involved a malfunctioning Sanyo video camera from 1983, a broken projector, a 60 watt bulb, and the ripped-to-ribbons portable screen from my third grade classroom, but…
…the genius Stuart Gordon’s gleeful homage to the Edgar Allan Poe Corman classics hits the same dark/snark comedic notes as those films, but turns the exploitation factor all the way up and rips the knob off. Easily one of Charlie Band’s best productions, TPATP looks downright sumptuous sometimes, and features a GLORIOUS performance by Sir Lancelot Henriksen (and a lesser perf from Oliver Reed, years before he was forced to slum it in Gladiator). This is one to OWN.
MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000: MST3K vs. GAMERA
SHOUT! Factory has been killing it with their MST box sets – and this looks to be no exception. Every one of the Gamera films our friends on the SOL tackled – in one convenient package.
I wet myself – it’s starting to sting!
SO THERE’S ALL THIS DVD:
A.T.L. After Dark
Accused at 17
Asylum Seekers
Awesome Dinosaurs: Tales of Scales
Awesome Snakes: Tales of Tails
Back to the Secret Garden
Baka & Test: Season 1
Bellydance Superstars: Bombay Bellywood Live
Ben 10 Ultimate Alien: The Return of Heatblast
Beast In Heat Triple Feature: Flesh For The Beast
Better Off Dead
Black Sheep/Tommy Boy
Bob Harper: Beginner’s Weight Loss
Bob Harper: Totally Ripped Core
The Boston Strangler: The Untold Story
Braveheart/Gladiator
Casshern: The Complete Series
Chuggington: It’s Training Time
The Coffin
Cold Weather
The Colony: Season 2
Coming to America/Trading Places
Con Artist
Conan the Barbarian
Conan the Destroyer
Copycat
Cougar Hunting (Widescreen)
Crazy for Cars Collection 2
Curious George: A Day at the Library
Daiakuji: The Complete Collection
Dance off the Inches: Belly Dance
Dancehall Gladiator
Dear Lemon Lima
Defiance/Enemy at the Gates
Doctor at Large
Doctor at Sea
Doctor in Clover
Doctor in Distress
Doctor in Love
Doctor in the House
Doctor in Trouble
Eastbound & Down: The Complete First Season
Eastbound & Down: The Complete Second Season
Ed Sullivan Presents: Rock N Roll Revolution
Elvis: The Great Performances Gift Set
Everwood: Complete Seasons 1-4
Everwood: The Complete Fourth Season
Evidence of a Haunting
Exit 33
Exporting Raymond
The Final Destination
A Fistful of Dollars
For A Few Dollars More
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood Part 5
Garrow’s Law: Series 2
The Godfather/The Godfather Part II
Going Postal
Happy: The Littlest Bunny/Maxwell Saves The Day
Heart: Live
I Almost Got Away With It
I Wanna Be: Bulldozer Driver
I Wanna Be: Train Engineer
Impact 911
Innocent
Jesse Stone: Innocents Lost
Jewel: The Essential Live Songbook
Joe Maddison’s War
John Pinette: Still Hungry
Julie Darling
Last Night
The Least of These
The Little Cars 7: Revved Up and Ready To Go
Loopdiver: Journey of a Dance
The Magnificent Seven
Maid Sama Collection 2
Manchester Fiesta 5th Anniversary: Part 1
Manchester Fiesta 5th Anniversary: Part 2
Marvel Knights: Iron Man & Spider Woman
Masters of Terror
Maverick
Melancholy of Haruhi: Chan Suzumiya Part 2
Minnesota Magic: Remembering the Minnesota Twins
Minnesota Twins 1991 World Series
Mucho Culo
The Music Never Stopped
Mystery Science Theater 3000: MST3K vs. Gamera
The Name of The Rose
Nicki Minaj: Roman’s Revenge
Outside the Law
The Perfect Game
Pie in the Sky: Series 5
Pinocchio/Heidi
The Pit & the Pendulum
The Prisoner
Pure Country 2: The Gift
Quarantine 2: Terminal
Return of the Magnificent Seven
Revolutionary Girl Utena: Black Rose Sage Set 2
Rio
Robin Hood/The Three Musketeers
Sands of the Kalahari
Scott Cole: Yoga Tai Chi
Sesame Street: Learning Letters with Elmo
Sheryl Crow: Live
Shooter/The Italian Job
Shutter Island/Primal Fear
Simba
Sleepers
Soul Surfer
Spot: Spot Goes To School
Spy Kids
Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams
Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over
Stake Land
Storm Chasers: Season 3
Streetwalkin’
Strigoi: The Undead
The Super Hero Squad Show: The Infinity Gauntlet
To Walk With Lions
Tracy Morgan: Black and Blue
Tsubasa: Season 2
UFC 130
United States of Tara: The Third Season
Veggie Tales: Lunch & Lessons in a Box
Vs. The Dead
Wayne’s World 1 & 2: The Complete Epic
Who Killed Chea Vichea?
Wild Wild West
Zen: Vendetta Cabal Ratking
NOW THAT’S WHAT CHUD CALLS MUSIC – WITH JEB DELIA!
JESSE SYKES & THE SWEET HEREAFTER – MARBLE SON
I recently took a couple of my nephews shopping for vintage vinyl at some used record stores in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury, and from the sound of it, Sykes and guitarist Phil Wandscher were right behind us. The alt-country of previous outings has been largely replaced with a mesmerizing psychedelia suggesting the influences of Quicksilver Messenger Service, It’s A Beautiful Day or the early Steve Miller Band, mixed with the heavy blues drone of Earth (with whom Sykes and Wandscher toured last year).
The opener, “Hushed By Devotion,” is a startling raveup, washes of guitar sound rising and falling for eight ferocious minutes. Wandscher’s fretwork recalls the Grateful Dead in his ability to spin long, intense guitar lines, but with an edge and bite that owes a lot to Carlos Santana or Sam Andrew, sounds he continues to explore on “Your Own Kind” and “Pleasuring the Divine.”
Given that, it’s impressive that Sykes’ vocals never seem to be taking a back seat; her doom-laden songwriting making them inescapable. Her voice is ethereal and ominous on the cosmic haze of “Come To Mary,” the weirdly affecting “Ceiling’s High,” and the acoustic murmur of “Be It Me, or Be It None,” while “Wooden Roses” sounds almost like a forgotten minor hit from the Summer of Love. The songs themselves give up their secrets grudgingly, if at all, and the listening experience is as challenging as it is satisfying.
FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE – SKY FULL OF HOLES
BUY IT FROM AMAZON!
Here’s the problem: power-pop bands are supposed to deploy their catchy melodies, expert harmonic sense, and hand-clapping enthusiasm in service of teenage romance or its over-the-hill equivalent. The observational narrative is supposed to be the province of rootsy guys like Dave Alvin or Patterson Hood, while the wry, witty turn of phrase is more associated with practiced ironists like Richard Thompson or They Might Be Giants. And confounding those expectations is something of a specialty for writers Chris Collingwood and Adam Schlesinger, among the best, and most underrated, songwriters in contemporary American rock and roll.
“They opened up a bar called Living Hell / Right from the start, it didn’t go too well,” sings Collingwood in his tale of investors’ woe, ”Richie And Ruben”; much love as I have for bands like Smithereens or Teenage Fanclub, I don’t believe either has ever grabbed the ear with an opening line that good. As the album continues, the various characters find themselves passing out drunk (“Radio Bar”), soaking up the seaside sun (“A Dip in the Ocean”), putting the moves on a stranger on a train (”Acela”), or simply “…staring at the sun with no pants on” (“Someone’s Gonna Break Your Heart”), all set to a rich assortment of memorable tunes. And while it’s never been just fun and games on previous FOW albums, here, the anxious friendship of “Hate to See You Like This,” the sympathetic picture of middle-aged fatherhood on “Action Hero,” and the quiet fury that closes the album on ”Cemetery Guns” represent a growing maturity. Pure Pop For Smart People.
RICHARD BUCKNER – OUR BLOOD
For a guy that was awfully busy in the 90’s and early 00’s, it’s strange to realize that it’s been nearly six years since Buckner’s last outing; stranger still (but welcome) is the way he’s grafted his alt-country roots onto a more electronically contemporary sound. The fact that the musicians range from pedal steel specialist Buddy Cage to Sonic Youth drummer Steve Shelley suggests something of the range on display. It’s not that the guy was too busy or lazy (no George RR. Martin comparisons, please), but events like suffering through a falling-out with his record label, a stolen laptop, a failed film score, and broken tape machine, seem somehow a propos for this poet of the inevitability of failure.
“Someone should have told you,” he sings on “Confession”, “I guess I’m the one they warned you about.” Along with “Thief,” “Confession” is among the best examples of Buckner finding a way for the bleak sound of electronics to underscore his dark worldview. Our Blood is vintage Buckner: simultaneously bemoaning and savoring the dark side of romance. “Let’s waste the night, pay the price and get out of here,” he sings on “Escape.” “It’s not enough, backing up just to disappear / Without a fight, they’ll never know we’ve won.” Equally powerful, though wordless, is the quietly desolate “Ponder.” The balance of the album sums itself up in all one-word titles: “Traitor,” “Collusion,” “Hindsight.” Tough and uncompromising, Sparing no one (himself least of all), Buckner is, more than ever, a complete original.
DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS – UGLY BUILDINGS, WHORES & POLITICIANS (GREATEST HITS 1998-2009)
Given the difficulty of extracting “hits” from a catalog of nearly a dozen albums that never produced one, and the fact that this band has featured two (and at times three) of the finest songwriters in American music today, this was bound to wind up an equal balance of excellence and compromise. The fan base seems to be blaming the band’s supposedly acrimonious split with New West for the inadequacy of the selection, but in reality, the selection here is only unsatisfying in comparison to the embarrassment of riches found on the albums from which it’s excerpted.
Still, though, album context matters with this band (if Patterson Hood had his way, we’d all be listening to nothing but vinyl LP’s), which here makes for some odd transitions (particularly with the three excerpts from the 2-disk Southern Rock Opera). On the other hand, left to stand apart from its original context, a song like “Outfit” (possibly my favorite song of the 2000’s) can sneak up on you and grab you like the first time you heard it: its tale of a working-class father watching as his son sets off to chase his dream of rock and roll stardom perfectly nails so many emotions: hope, regret, fear, resignation, pride, and love, punctuated by Jason Isbell’s aching wail of a guitar solo. Generally, though, the focus here is on the band’s hard-charging double/triple layered guitar attack on classics like “Sink Hole,” “Never Gonna Change,” and “Lookout Mountain.” Unfortunately, there’s less emphasis on the powerfully novelistic character studies that are so much of DBT’s strength; if New West hadn’t been determined to include something from every one of the band’s albums for the label, we could have had “Decoration Day,” “Putting People On The Moon,” or “Cottonseed” in place of lesser (though excellent) fare like “3 Dimes Down” or “Gravity’s Gone.” And, seriously… no “Goddamn Lonely Love”? I know Isbell’s not in the band anymore, but… seriously?
The absence of rarities or previously unreleased songs means that this isn’t a must-own for fans. For anyone else, some introduction to DBT is a must, but I’d actually suggest starting with one of their complete integral albums, either Decoration Day or The Dirty South for choice, or this year’s typically excellent Go-Go Boots. But you’d hardly go wrong if you snag this album as your first taste of DBT. Like the man says, “Let There Be Rock.”
OTHER NOTABLE 8/2 RELEASES:
The Calm Blue Sea, The Calm Blue Sea. If your favorite part of any Black Sabbath or Big Country song was the long rise-and-fall crescendo at the end, then these guys are for you… just don’t expect songs, too.
O.A.R., King. Haven’t heard this one yet, but PR suggests that they’ve expanded their lite-reggae world beat with some R&B, a touch of grit, plus production help from Russell Simmons.
Flourishing, The Sum Of All Fossils. The churning guitars and suicide-bomb drums are neatly in place; so, however, is the rigidly defined gargling-with-razor-blades vocals, which in bands of this genre, tend to put me to sleep.
Keb Mo, The Reflection. The jazz influences become more prominent, with the guest appearances by Marcus Miller and Dave Koz; there’s some quiet storm in contributions from Indie.Arie and David T Walker; and Vince Gill sings those white-boy blues. Maybe a smidgen more tasteful than is ideal, but an impressive album.
John Hiatt, Dirty Jeans & Mudslide Hymns. Hiatt’s career arc was a fascinating one: he’s the rare rock and roller who managed to not only survive his hellraising days, but turn his journey to maturity into music even more powerful than that of his youth , culminating with the back to back triumphs of Bring the Family and Slow Turning. Unfortunately, in the two decades since, inspiration has sputtered, and even his better albums tend to sound like expert re-creations of the past: on this one, I hear a new “Perfectly Good Guitar,” two variations on “Thing Called Love,” and his latest iteration of “Tennessee Plates,” moved this time to Detroit. Mostly listenable, sometimes catchy, all very familiar.
Arcade Fire, The Suburbs – Deluxe Edition. For those who haven’t given this band enough money in the past year, here’s the Grammy-winner with two new tracks, including a duet with David Byrne, as well as a DVD with a Spike Jonze film Scenes from the Suburbs, a making-of documentary longer than the film itself, music videos, and a thick booklet of lyrics and photos.
Mat Kearney, Young Love. Some people want to fill the world with silly love songs. Some of them are as tuneful and memorable as Paul McCartney… and some of them aren’t.
Kenny Wayne Shepherd, How I Go. Anyone finding the Keb Mo album a little restrained for their taste can wallow in Shepherd’s white-boy pain, on obvious classics like Bessie Smith’s “Blackwater Blues” and Albert King’s “Oh, Pretty Woman” and the Beatles’ less-obvious (though it certainly shouldn’t be) “Yer Blues.”
Trace Adkins, Proud to Be Here. And why not? Given the house fire and other madness the man’s endured recently, I’d say he’s probably relieved to be here, too. He and Blake Shelton bring the yuks on “If I Was a Woman,” “Damn You Bubba” is prime redneck roughage, and a splendid time is guaranteed for all.
Archers of Loaf, Icky Mettle. The latest band to go the deluxe-remastered-repackage route is Archers of Loaf, kicking off a complete set of reissues by adding a second disk of rarities, including the Greatest of All Time EP, to their classic debut. Good thing the reissue is jam-packed, because you’ve already got the album, right? Right?
Dex Romweber Duo, Is That You in the Blue? More songs of regret and revenge set to Romweber’s patented surf-rockabilly-bossa nova mashup; imagine Richard Hawley with a better beat and a sense of irony.
From Bikes to Trains to VIDEO GAMES – WITH BRIAN CONDRY!
GAME OF THE WEEK:
INSANELY TWISTED SHADOW PLANET (XBLA)
The Summer of Arcade continues! Two very quality titles so far – will this continue the trend? It looks amazing; very cool art here. I get a very PixelJunk Shooter vibe from this, and that game is great. Hopefully ITSP can be as good – if not better – than that title.
THE REST OF THE STORY:
FUCKING NOTHING (PS3; 360; PC; retail)
The Summer Doldrums have attacked! Are you a bad enough dude to go outside and take a vacation until the champion, Deus Ex, appears?!
THE DROSS:
Pirates of Black Cove is a PC game. There is a pirate on the front of it. It looks kinda’ like Age of Booty.
There is also a thing called Bleach: Soul Resurreccion. Stupid anime – infecting my video games!
ROCK BAND DLC:
Beastie Boys – Make Some Noise
Beastie Boys – No Sleep till Brooklyn
Heart – Barracuda*
James Brown – Super Bad, Pts. 1 & 2*
Rufus (ft. Chaka Khan) – Tell Me Something Good
* means you can buy Pro Guitar and Pro Bass modes
That’s it. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna’ go finish watching Night of the Comet for the 836th time. Ohh, Catherine Mary Stewart with a Mac-10…[udokier]“Howw sheh haunts my dremes…”[/udokier]
FIN.