Here is your Tower of Power…the MAAAN of the hour – too dog-gone sweet to be sour. I’m fiiiine, de-viiiine, and GUARANTEED to blow your mind – it is NOW…Special Ed time!
Anyway…
There’s a tonne of product hitting the street this week that amounts to repackaging and “bonus DVD copy” [shokosugi]boosit[/shokosugi], and I don’t really want to address it – but as I’ve mentioned before, stuff like this usually heralds a lower price point on the titles, so perhaps that will help some of you who’ve not picked these up.
The Ant Bully
Batman
The Brave One
Clash of the Titans (the GOOD ONE)
The Departed
Fracture
The Gauntlet
Journey to the Center of the Earth
Ocean’s Twelve
Point Of No Return
Rumor Has It…
Rush Hour 3
Semi-Pro
Set It Off
Shoot ‘Em Up
Swordfish
Tango & Cash
Under Siege
We Are Marshall
The Wild Bunch
Wow…those are some crappy titles up there, for the most part. Clash, Tango and Cash, The Wild Bunch – arguably Under Siege…that’s it. Oh well.
There’s some Universal Pictures stuff mixed in here that features “new packaging” – pretty sure that means not a whole lot. Let’s take on the proper releases:
FROM THE MINDS OF THE COEN BROTHERS
AH YES and OH NO – you’re about to spend money. Blood Simple, Raising Arizona, Miller’s Crossing, and Fargo join us on Blu Ray this week – in this collection or as separate titles. Every one of these films is a classic, and each one is better than your precious Lebowski. You know it’s true. Look in your heart.
Look in your heart…
DEADGIRL
It seems like I’m the only person on the internet who liked this movie.
I’m so fucking tired of zombie movies I could scream, but I thought this flick was an excellent throwback to Romero-esque ham-fisted social commentary with a real mean streak. Troma alum Trent Haaga script sounds like stupid kids, and duel directors Marcel Sarmiento and Gadi Harel mount a production that never looks cheap or shitty – which truly adds to the vile nature of the film. The cast is populated with kids who look like they decided to spend hiatus from their CW dramas making a movie about raping a restrained woman…who happens to be undead (so she can’t complain, bro). What Deadgirl says about the social pecking order and sexual politics – and how it says it – feels like the Brundlepod fusion of Cameron Crowe and Cronenberg.
And it’s a great first date movie – with the right girl.
You know she’s the right girl when, after you explain that the film is about two high school losers who find a zombie girl strapped to a gurney in the bowels of an abandoned hospital and decide that they should have sex with her, asks – “Do you see penetration?”
LOVE.
IF… (Criterion)
A girl I used to know showed me a picture of her and her boyfriend at a Halloween party. She was dressed in I-don’t-even-remember – probably some anderweres and animal ears. But her boyfriend…he was dressed as a Droog.
I’m reminded of a verse in a song from the great Too Much Joy called “William Holden Caulfield”…
I’m afraid of people who like Catcher in the Rye
Yeah, I like it too – but someone tell me why
people he’d despise say, “I feel like that guy”
There are honey bunches of people who love A Clockwork Orange for every fucking wrong reason – they idolize the Droogs as some symbol of edgy rebellion. They dress up like Alex on Halloween. How cute – a serial rapist!
The best part is that these asswipes miss the point entirely – by the end of the film Alex is neutered by the State and cannibalized by his former mates (who would just HAVE to become pigs). Not only is he not a badass – by the end of the film, he’s broken and pathetic. “My hero,” right?
And sure-sure, he gets his “mojo” back by the end, but the moment makes no sense (though, to be fair, the book’s ending also makes no sense).
But if you’re trying to play up your antisocial edge, and you want to glom on to a film with real contempt for the system – and a Malcolm McDowell performance spilling over with cocky charisma – If… would be a far better call to make.
The first film in Lindsay Anderson’s Mick Travis Trilogy (a set of flicks – including O, Lucky Man and Britannia Hospital – that get more twisted as they progress), If… stars McDowell (in his first film role) as an awesome, smarmy dick subjected to – and later instigating – increasingly batshit happenings on his private school campus, culminating in an armed student uprising and a takeover of the school. The film is weird, funny, and ruthless – and the sex is consensual…which might be a turn-off for the Droogs among us.
The final image of Anderson’s film is so fucking awesome and heroic, that I smile every time I think about it. I’m smiling right now. This movie is awesome.
STRIKE
Battleship Potemkin director Sergei Eisenstein was one of those guys who was shooting like no one else on the planet until people started shooting exactly like him. Here, he turns his innovative eye to a tale of discontented workers at a locomotive factory, who foment rebellion against the bourgeois assholes who exploit them – shown here looking for all the world like the Moneybags guy from Monopoly. Eisenstein works in broad strokes – juxtaposing images of the workers with Russian dancing bears, and introductory shots of the factory-employed strike breakers with wolves (or is it a fox – it’s been awhile) and owls. The film is crazily melodramatic and energetic, and at no point is there any confusion as to which side you should be on – just like LIFE.
IT MEANS EVERYTHING – THE BLU RAY OF THE WEEK!
A BITTERSWEET LIFE
As the kids on the interwebz are so fond of saying – OMG!!11!one!!exclamationpoint!!
Quiet Family. The Foul King (ohhh, The Foul King). A Tale of Two Sisters. The Good, The Bad, and the Weird. I Saw the Devil. That’s right – Kim Ji-Woon has not made a bad film. And now you can own his best film.
A Bittersweet Life is a strangely quiet, introspective drama/action/mobster flick starring Lee (Rise of Muthafuckkin’ Cobraaaa) Byung-hun as a young mob enforcer in over his head with a rival gang and his boss’s girl. Simmering and lush, and punctuated by demonic bursts of polished, plausible action – this is one of my favorite films, and I hope it becomes one of yours.
This film has never seen a release in America, but this Blu Ray is REGION 1, so that works. YES ASIA is offering it in many different forms. I’ll be picking up the coffee table book, but that’s because I’m apparently made of money (I’m not).
ALL IN – THIS WEEK’S BLU:
The Fifth Quarter
An Affair to Remember
All About Eve
The Ant Bully
Back To The Future: The Complete Trilogy
Batman
Bereavement
Bikini Girls on Ice
BKO: Bangkok Knockout
Blood Simple
The Brave One
Carmen
Children of the Corn: Genesis
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader 3D
Clash of the Titans
The Complete Jean Vigo (Criterion)
Daniel Tosh: Completely Serious
Deadgirl
Death Race
The Departed
The Dilemma
Forks over Knives
Fracture
From the Minds of the Coen Brothers
Gantz
The Gauntlet
Good Will Hunting
Green Zone
House: Season 7
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
If… (Criterion)
In a Better World
Inglourious Basterds
Journey to the Center of the Earth
Latter Days
Miller’s Crossing
The Mummy Trilogy
Nikita: The Complete First Season
Ocean’s Twelve
Orpheus (Criterion)
The Perfect Host
Point Of No Return
Prom DVD
Raising Arizona
Rio 3D
Rumor Has It…
Rush Hour 3
Semi-Pro
Set It Off
Shoot ‘Em Up
Shrek
Shrek 2
Shrek the Third
Skateland
Sons of Anarchy: Season Three
Spice & Wolf: Complete
Spice & Wolf: Season 2
Strike
Swordfish
Tango & Cash
Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas 3D
Twilight Zone: Season 5 – The Definitive Edition
UFC: Bad Blood
Under Siege
The Vampire Diaries: The Complete Second Season
We Are Marshall
The Wild Bunch
Wonders of the Universe
Wrecked
AND NOW THE DVD STARTS:
NORWEGIAN NINJA
If it’s good enough for the boss…
CAGNEY AND LACEY: TOGETHER AGAIN
‘Cause I’ve waited my entire life for a reason to type “Tyne Daly”…
TYNE DALY!
(in related news…JIMMY SMITS!)
THIS IS A LOT OF DVD:
The 5th Quarter
90210: 3 Season Pack
90210: The Third Season
An Affair to Remember
All About Eve
An American Family: Loud Story Short
Andre Rieu: Unforgettable Evening with Andre Rieu
Angelina Ballerina: The Shining Star Trophy
The Ant Bully
August & Everything After: Live From Town Hall
Avenging Hand
Bach: Sacred Music Helmuth Rilling
Bach: Secular Music Nikolaus Harnoncurt
Back To The Future: The Complete Trilogy
Baseball Legends: Philadelphia Athletics
Batman
Bereavement
A Big Box of Zombies
Bikini Girls on Ice
Billy the Kid’s Smoking Guns
Birth of Motion Pictures: Quad Feature Silents
BKO: Bangkok Knockout
Blackmail Boys
Blood Simple
Border Devils
Border Outlaws
Breaking News, Breaking Down
The Cactus Kid
Cagney & Lacey: Together Again
Carmen
Cell 211
Cherry
Children of the Corn: Genesis
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
Cigarette Girl of Mosselprom
The Complete Jean Vigo (Criterion)
Cougar Town: The Complete Second Season
Crazy Comedies and Rhythm
Cross Roads
Daniel Tosh: Completely Serious
Date Bait
Deadgirl
Death of a Cheerleader
Desperate Housewives: The Complete Seventh Season
Detroit 1-8-7: The Complete First Season
The Devil’s Teardrop
Doc Martin: The Movies
Dora the Explorer: Dora’s Halloween Parade
El Greco: Mystic under the Blazing Sun
Erotica Psychedelia
Face to Face
Flying Blind
Forks over Knives
From the Minds of the Coen Brothers
Gangster’s Boy
Gantz
Get That Man!
The Ghost Rider
Good Will Hunting
Goya: From Humble Abode To Royal Palace
Great Gildersleeves Volumes 1 & 2
Gunners and Guns: Black King
Her Secret
Hermitage: Journey in Time & Space
High Powered
House: Season 7
iCarly: The Complete 3rd Season
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
The Ideal Husband
If … (Criterion)
If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front
Ikki Tousen: Great Guardians Part 1
In a Better World
The Incredible Shrinking Man
Irish Gringo
Kaboom Kids: Ready for Playtime
Kaboom: Outdoor Adventures
Kartemquin Films Collection Early Years Volume 3
Latter Days
Laugh to Keep from Crying
Lionel Hampton & the Golden Men of Jazz
Miller’s Crossing
Millions Call Him Father: The Story of Pedro De Gante
Mr. Robinson Crusoe
Murder is News
Murphy’s Law: Complete Collection
Murphy’s Law: Series 4 & 5
Neo Angelique Abyss: The Complete Collection
Nikita: The Complete First Season
Norwegian Ninja
Ocean’s Twelve
One Minute to Zero
Orpheus (Criterion Collection)
Pacific Battle Hell
Paranormal State: Season 5
Parenthood: Season 2
Pentagram: When the Screams Come
The People’s Enemy
The Perfect Host
Phantom Pain
Pin Down Girl
Police, Adjective
Prom
A Proper Violence
Raiders of Red Gap
Raising Arizona
Reality Star
Red Faction: Origins
Rio
A River Called Titas
Roadkill
Roots
Royal Wedding of a Lifetime
Running Wilde: Season One
Salbi Zainab: Extraordinary Minds
Salonen Esa-Pekka In Rehearsal
Sand
Scooby-Doo & The Ghosts
Scooby-Doo & The Pirates
Scooby-Doo & The Robots
Scooby-Doo & The Zombies
The Secret Agent (New Packaging)
Sinbad & the Minotaur
Skateland
Sons of Anarchy: Season Three
Spice & Wolf: Complete First Season
Spice & Wolf: Season 2
Stained
Strawberry Shortcake: Growing Up Dreams
Strike
The Toll of the Sea
True Adolescents
Turpinator: Ben Turpin Comedy Classics Night Out/Clever Du
TV Mysteries of ’50s
Twilight Zone: Season 5 – The Definitive Edition
UFC: Bad Blood
Uh Oh Show
The Vampire Diaries: The Complete Second Season
Vera
Woman in Brown
Wonders of the Universe
World War II: Documents
Wrecked
WW II Start to Finish
X
NOW THAT’S WHAT CHUD CALLS MUSIC – WITH JEB DELIA!
RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS – I’M WITH YOU
Half as funky as they think they are, a third as funky as they wish they were… which makes them twice as funky as today’s pop crop of fey indie, faux country, and the roughly one-quarter of the American population that has appeared on American Idol. The latest RHCP is a bit of toe-tapping fresh air, expertly played and sumptuously recorded. The fact that you tend to forget it the minute it’s over isn’t necessarily a bad thing; Anthony Kiedis isn’t what you call a deep thinker, and a line like “I want to lean on you / Get Jan and Dean on you” isn’t something you want to subject yourself to on any kind of recurring basis.
As I say, though, the album sounds great. Guitarist Josh Klinghoeffer has moved from touring fill-in to fulltime band member, so we trade John Frusciante’s Eddie Hazel-inspired psychedelic funk for a wash of atmosphere in and around the scratchy rhythm and power chords. But Flea’s always been the one to hold things together (as producer Rick Rubin intones over the beginning of “Ethiopia”: “It starts with the bass!“), and he’s in fine form, loose and supple, but never less than rock-solid.
“Monarchy of Roses” opens things with a roil of feedback and military drums before breaking into danceable radio-ready pop. The acoustic-driven “Brendan’s Death Song” is an elegy for a fallen friend, and Kiedis’ plaintive vocals manage to tip his usual sincerity-snottiness balance in favor of the former. From that point on, though, it’s Flea and Klinghoffer and drummer Chad Smith who pull things out, and the band comes through with harmony vocals on tracks like “Ethiopia” and “Annie Wants A Baby” that are engaging enough to give Kiedis the illusion of depth. I’m With You isn’t likely to win the band any new converts, but anyone afraid that Frusciante’s latest departure was going to send them back to square one needn’t worry.
BEIRUT – THE RIP TIDE
World music magpie Zach Condon returns with a triumph of horns kicking off “A Candle’s Fire”; the fact that what he’s on about seems less than celebratory (“This is the house where I / I feel alone“) is, well, pretty much par for the course. With Beirut, you hop on for the layers of instrumentation, and keep coming back for Condon’s adenoidal observations of a life lived searching for roots… musical or otherwise.
This time out, Condon seems to have settled into an instrumental sound more straightforward than before; it’s all masses of George Martin-style strings and horns, with synth underpinnings, but you have the sense he no longer feels he has to show off with the latest indigenous instrument he ran across: if “Payne’s Bay” sounds like it could have been a Magical Mystery Tour outtake, it’s because of its smooth pop sensibilities more than any kind of oddball arrangement or ethnically distinctive instrumentation.
Typically, of course, the songs evoke nothing related to their geographical titles: I don’t know what they’re listening to in Condon’s hometown of “Santa Fe” these days, but if it’s a subdued version of Arcade Fire, then Condon has it pegged; and “East Harlem” is probably the only song ever to invoke that name without making the slightest attempt at rhythm and/or blues. Sharon Van Etten reappears to lend vocal support on “A Candle’s Fire” and “Payne’s Bay,” but as Condon and choir intone on “The Peacock,” “He’s the only one who knows the words.” For all the mass of studio musicians employed, Beirut is every bit as much a solo project as Condon’s work as Holland, and if your ear is drawn in by the melodies and texture, you’ll come along on the journey of discovery that the (just now 23) Condon has barely begun.
TINARIWEN – TASSILI
I was going to call these Tuareg veterans the Grand Old Men of the Desert Blues, except that the (roughly) 80-year-old Boubacar Traoré is still out there, having released a new album earlier this year, so that’s out. But there’s no question that as the international standard-bearers for the Sahara Sound, with festivals and documentary films focused on them, Tinariwen gets the most attention and response in World Music circles. And in a way, this latest release feels like a step back from that spotlight; contemplative, lower-key, without the psychedelic drone and ululating passion we associate with Group Inerane, or the feedback freakout of Group Doueh… or Tinariwen’s earlier work that inspired both.
At this point, it’s not surprising that Tinariwen is attracting guest stars from other fields of music, but there’s nothing obtrusive about it: if the liner notes didn’t tell you that Wilco’s Nels Cline was one of the guitarists on “Imidiwan Ma Tenam,” you’d have no reason to suspect it, as he blends perfectly with Ibrahim Ag Alhabib and company. Elsewhere, TV on the Radio’s Tunde Adebimpe and Kyp Malone lend a tone of respectful playfulness to the chanted “Tenere Taqqim Tossam,” along with some English-language lyrics (“O Tenere / Why can’t you see / I’ve seen the world / But I love you better / You are the treasure of my soul“), and Adebimpe adds a sensitive vocal to the lullaby, “Walla Illa.” “Ya Messingah” fills out the sound with the Dirty Dozen Brass Band (and given that this album was supposedly recorded in a desert tent last year, I rather suspect the contribution was by long-distance), with a deep and ominous underlay of horns. As is often the case with early reviews, I don’t have a lyric sheet or translation, so the songs have to make their impact on expressiveness (as opposed to actual expression), but as a set of ruminations on the basic human needs of life and love against the backdrop of war’s oppression and misery, it communicates just fine. Exquisite. I note that there is a 2-disk “Special Edition” coming out in early September, but no idea what the extra material will consist of.
JOHN DOE – KEEPER
My expectations were probably too high, but when I heard a while back that Doe was going to be collaborating with The Sadies, I was expecting an all-time roots-rock summit; instead, 2009’s Country Club was a listenable, but overly respectful tiptoe around a set of country classics, with Doe sounding intimidated by the shades of Johnny Cash and Hank Williams. Thankfully, he’s working his own side of the street again, loose and ragged, crazy in love and looking for his place in the world… sorta like most of us, really.
Guest vocals from Patty Griffin, Cindy Wasserman and Jill Sobule help provide contrast and context for Doe’s warmly rough singing, and he’s in fine, free form here, kicking things off with the bellow of “Don’t Forget How Much I Love You,” drawing down to the near-whisper of “Moonbeam,” and leading the massed chorus of not-quite-regret that wraps up the album with “Painting the Town Blue.” In fact, his duet with Griffin on “Giant Step Backward” might be the album’s signature, as Doe comes to terms with the roller-coaster ride of “dirty jobs” his life has been so far; he’s also come to terms with the fact that he’ll always be known as the guy from X, and as Exene’s ex, and is finally able to embrace his past, and use it to inform his future.
The strong musical supporting cast also includes guitarist Smokey Hormel (who’s played with everyone from Johnny Cash to Tom Waits), Don Was, Giant Sand’s Howe Gelb, and Los Lobos’ Steve Berlin; there’s Stonesy rock and roll punch on “Handsome Devil,” a Springsteen-like keyboard wash driving “Jump Into My Arms,” and stark, dark reverb underpinning “Lucky Penny.” “So much has changed in this twenty-first century,” Doe and Wasserman harmonize on “Cottage in the ‘Dale,” and it sounds like Doe’s pretty comfortable keeping up with it.
OTHER NOTABLE 8/30 RELEASES
Lenny Kravitz – Black and White America Long-delayed album that was once going to be called Funk, which wouldn’t have been a bad title at all, as it’s got more down-home grit than guitar workout. As a writer, he doesn’t get as much out of his mixed-race perspective as, say, Garland Jeffreys, but when he really puts one across (“Come On Get It,” “Boongie Drop,” “Stand”), you’ll forgive the occasional drippiness.
Tommy Stinson – One Man Mutiny Stinson’s first Bash & Pop album sounded more like The Replacements than Westerberg himself often managed (“Never Aim to Please,” “Tickled to Tears”), and despite his past contributions to Soul Asylum and Guns N’ Roses, it’s nice to hear some of that Minnesota ragged-roll again. Pick to click: first single “It’s A Drag.”
Avishai Cohen – Seven Seas Stunning new release from the multi-insturmentalist/composer/and, lately, singer. From the elegantly hushed opening of “Dreaming” to the Bad Plus-like drive of the title song, through the mad collage of harmony and percussion that is “Two Roses,” this is jazz playing as muscular as you’ll find. I will grant that Cohen’s singing is another matter, though: blander and with less character than his playing, or that of his band.
Dirty Beaches – Badlands Low-fi rockabilly with lashings of Deadbolt and The Cramps. Not aggressive enough to be a room-clearer, but you’ll get some odd looks if you play it at your next party. I can’t wait to try it myself.
Hard-Fi – Killer Sounds Big Brit guitars, wailing harp, and working class resentment… the perfect soundtrack for post-riot London? Are we post-riot yet?
Andrea Echeverri – Dos Colombian thrush (whose band Aterciopelados did some of the music for Rio) sings of motherhood with more verve, but just as much wisdom, as Tracey Thorn sang of post-motherhood on last year’s Love And Its Opposite. Though “Mis 32 Dientes (Elia Fleta Mallol)” gets things off to a deceptively simple start, most of this music is quirky and catchy, filled with gorgeous multi-layered vocal harmonies, snappy rhythms, and who doesn’t love a whistled chorus here and there? Plus, “Pacencia” is closer to rock and roll than anything you’ll hear on the VMA’s.
Cabie Curtis – Stretch Limousine On Fire With pitch-perfect harmony vocals from Lisa Loeb and Mary Chapin Carpenter, and a crack band that includes drummer Jay Bellerose and guitarist Thomas Juliano, this walks the line between modern rootsiness and trad country. Commitment usually involves stepping over a line or two, though.
From Bikes to Trains to VIDEO GAMES – WITH BRIAN CONDRY!
GAME OF THE WEEK:
MORTAL KOMBAT ARCADE KOLLECTION (PSN; XBLA; PC; retail)
All three OG MK games as one, to play on your systems, at any time. ROCK IT, MOTHERFUCKERS.
THE REST OF THE STORY:
MADDEN NFL ‘12 (PS3; XBLA; download)
I’m sure some will find this to be the game of the week. I sure as shit don’t. I don’t even know the special bullshit that hits this year. Full Contact Play By Play! Madden’s Fantasy League Picks! Eh, whatever. More importantly, Madden means the start of the fall season of games!
THE DROSS:
BODYCOUNT (PC) The demo is garbage. It costs sixty dollars. You’re your own worst enemy if you buy this.
Bunch of download games this week. An Ugly Americans game, more Deathspank (in “The Baconing”…sigh) and Serious Sam Double D. Like boobs.
ROCK BAND DLC:
Red Hot Chili Peppers – By the Way
Red Hot Chili Peppers – Californication*
Red Hot Chili Peppers – Look Around
Red Hot Chili Peppers – Monarchy of Roses
Red Hot Chili Peppers – Otherside*
Red Hot Chili Peppers – Parallel Universe
Red Hot Chili Peppers – Scar Tissue
Red Hot Chili Peppers – The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie
* means you can buy Pro Guitar and Pro Bass modes.
And there you have it. I’d like to take a moment to thank Brian Condry, who’ll be stepping away from Special Ed for a bit. I couldn’t have done what you do here. Skills.
Stepping in for Brian will be – well, you’ll have to tune in next week. It’s pretty awesome. I can’t wait…
FIN.