music/movie review - for those who care ... ie:no one.

Feb 20, 2004 00:05

Top 15 CD’s/Albums
Some of these I chose for their skill, some for their passion and some for their lyrics. Even if I don't appreciate the vocals or something like that you can't deny that music is all poetry and reading lyrics is one of the most amazing parts about the whole thing. Another big factor was sound... because… what the hell is music without sound?

The Beatles - I couldn’t decide on an album.
I love The Beatles. Obviously quite a few people share that sentiment. They are ridiculously talented and their music was so beyond its time that it sparked a craze that swept the world. That alone should win them a spot on my list. They were taken as another Beach Boys-esque little superficial catchy band until ‘Yesterday’ was played live. If you look into the lyrics you can see that they attacked some deeper issues besides their little catchy fun songs. The members of the band are incredibly talented and they all thrived on their own for some time. I won’t even go into Lennon. You all know. I totally think ‘Blackbird” should be the senior song, but it will probably be that Eve 6 song or something.

Sublime - Sublime
This is a classic. Their slow beats and catchy lyrics made them top for a short while. After Brad died they became the Long Beach Dub All-stars. I don’t think I need to go in depth about why I chose this one. You all know it. I’ve seen you wearing the shirts. Genre- reggae.

Brand New - Deja Entendu
This cd is just riddled with amazing lines and the music itself is talented and catchy. This band offers a wide variety of styles. They have their slow acoustic songs and their quick electric ones. Ok, so it’s not a huge variety - but their music isn’t always the same, you have to give me that. You can just feel the passion they put into it and it sucks you in. the genre here is emo but it has been developing towards less emo stuff, I think.

Coldplay - Parachutes
This slow sad music is sure to put you in a mellow mood. I was in a toss up between Parachutes and A Rush of Blood to the Head, but after I listened to ‘Trouble’ again there was no contest. The lyrics aren’t always amazing, but even if you don’t like them the music is impressive. Genre? Soft rock I would say.

Cursive - The Ugly Organ
I love sporadic random music... and this screaming, crying, passion catches me by the ear and demands I listen to it on repeat for days. I had trouble deciding which cd to use here; they are always so good! They use slightly unorthodox instruments to get their crazy sound. They are both lyrically and musically talented and I don’t think anyone who listened to them enough would disagree with this choice. Genre - post hardcore/indie

Greenday - Dookie
Dookie is another classic. I got through elementary with this cd and the Sublime one I already mentioned. They may not have ridiculous riffs or amazing lyrics... but come on .. it’s catchy .. it’s Greenday … it rocks.

The Bled - Pass The Flask
I’ve been listening to this for the last week pretty much nonstop. With most hardcore you find the generic jud jud breakdowns and tough guy lines that make you pass it by for hopes of something new, but this cd has some great lyrics and they know how to work their instruments. Another thing hardcore is known for being bad at. Its funny how interchangeable lyrics are.. if you sang them instead of screamed them they wouldn’t sound so threatening at all. And if you had Conor Oberst sing them they would instantly be emo.=P

Glassjaw - Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Silence
This band has gotten really big lately. Last year almost no one knew what I was talking about but now I think it’s understood that glassjaw has earned their spot in the line-up for hardcore bands. At least in the magazines and everything they are referred to as hardcore … I’d give them a post hardcore, myself. Besides that they also do a lot of side projects completely out of their genre. These guys aren’t elitist rock stars about it. Their music is sporadic and screamo. Daryl wails out his bitter broken hearted lines as the tempo escalates, you have to love it. <3

Simon and Garfunkle - The Sounds of Silence
Even if you think it’s old and everything you have to respect the skill of these guys. I mean … listen to Anji. It’s amazing. They are such incredible songwriters and the lyrics are good too. They attack the more interesting issues with tact and skill. They may have been high the entire time but it didn’t seem to harm their art, haha. This music is serene and serious it will leave you feeling tired and deep. Mrs. Cybulski knows ‘what’s up’.

Rasputina - Thank You for the Ether
This band is very popular in the UK. Headed by a female vocalist this random and strange music is pretty entrancing. They make use of very unconventional instruments in their music and though the lyrics aren’t usually that amazing the crazy music itself makes me put it on repeat. I have no idea what kind of music this is … they probably call it modern rock or alternative.

Silverchair - Neon Ballroom
Not only is the head singer cute, but he can sing (which is usually a plus for singers). The music is very powerful and the lyrics are vague enough to hit home with most people. This Australian band mixes hard rock with a kind of grunge emo. The end result is damn good.

My Chemical Romance - I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love
This is another sporadic talent; it’s an affinity of mine. They have some good lines but the lyrics aren’t all that great for the most part. It’s just the great riffs and impassioned singer.

Weezer - The Blue Album
Yet another classic. Weezer has been around for a long time and there is a good reason behind that. They are ridiculously catchy and talented. They are awesome. Some of the lyrics are dumb but it’s amusing. You all know about them so I won’t go into it.

Bright Eyes - Letting Off the Happiness
Here is a band that I truly cannot bring myself to listen to. Coner Oberst is supposed to be this gorgeous genius, but I can't stand his voice (and I don't particularly find him attractive either, while I’m on the topic). I mean Bob Dylan was one thing … but this raging alcoholic can't even make his warble sound sane. It hurts my ears to try and listen to his brilliant words through his terrible voice. So that is why I chose Bright Eyes. The poetry is sincere and cutting, it has a nice edge, the wording is very meticulous and the music itself is amazing. The genre here is most blatantly and painfully emo.
The Program - Artificial Intelligence
This Californian band has been touring for a little while and I’ve had the pleasure of seeing them both times they played in Springfield. Each time they impressed me. These kids are still in high school, usually when I see younger kids climb the stage I don’t expect much. I bought the cd and I’ve been loving them ever since. They are ridiculously talented and I’m really glad I had the pleasure of seeing them.

Top 15 Movies
Movies - I’ll try to explain them without giving them away.

Full Metal Jacket - This a story about the Vietnam War. It’s a Kubrick film, so right off you gotta know its gunna be messed up, and it is. It focuses on a few different soldiers and their experiences. Boot camp is easily the best part but the whole thing is good.

Interview with the Vampire - This is a classic film riddled with great actors and actresses. It stars Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, Kirsten Dunst, Antonio Banderas, Steven Rea and Christian Slater. It is based one the novel by famous vampire author, Anne Rice. This tale is about a kind vampire who has to deal with his need for flesh and his unwillingness to take lives. The idea is only cliché now because of the popularity of this movie.

American Beauty - This movie is the kind of thing that leaves you feeling very frustrated. Not quite ‘Magnolia’ frustrated, but along those lines. Everyone in it is so messed up and corrupt and those who aren’t and held down by those who are. It’s kind of about innocence, kind of about human frailty, and mostly just one messed up movie.

Fight Club - When this movie first came out it was an immediate hit. Unfortunately for me, The Fast and the Furious came out at the same time. In my meek and humble opinion, that movie sucked. So when I saw it first I had no hope for Fight Club and didn’t see it until a friend of mine made me watch it. Edward Norton and Brad Pitt have great on-screen chemistry. I bet you’ve all seen this and most of you before I did, but I’m not going to give it away anyways. In any case- you should all see this movie.

Boondock Saints - Ryan, Steph and John know what’s up. This is a cult classic. There is no way you can get sick of this movie, at least I know I can’t. Here we have two irish meatworkers who get a calling from God to rid the world of the undeserving. So they fumble about and actually get to be pretty smooth about it. I realize how ridiculous this sounds … but take my word. It rocks. With such vibrant characters as Agent Smecker and Il Duce, who couldn’t love this mesmerizing film?

The Dangerous Lives of Alter Boys - Yeah, I know what it sounds like, but let me assure you - there is no priest on boy action here. This movie is full of indie stars like Emile Hirsch, Kieran Culkin, Jena Malone and Peter Care, and of course Jodie Foster - who produced it. It’s a coming of age flick with impressive side-stories. They employed a very popular comic artist to do the comic scenes and they really serve as a pivotal part of the plot. You grow to love the main characters, raging flaws and all - because you understand where they’ve been ... except maybe Jena (the girl from Donny Darko)… her character is just nasty. In any case it’s a very worthwhile 2 hours.

The Labyrinth - Ok. First off know that this movie is a Jim Henson production. We all know what that means. Secondly David Bowie is in it … as the Goblin King. The plot goes along the lines of … girl reads ‘The Labyrinth’ (think Never-Ending story style) … girl must baby-sit (which angers her) … girl mutters a curse from the book on the baby … it works … girl must now travel through the labyrinth to the goblin city and recite speech to goblin king to get her brother back. The obstacles and characters are timeless. Even if the Muppets and the songs throw you off … you have to appreciate the scene artwork and all the crazy time it must have took to make.

Office Space - I hope to God everyone has seen this. The subtle humor makes it better with repetition and yet again ... the characters are awesome. You have to love Michael Bolton. I mean come on … he’s named after a “no talent ass-clown” … it’s great. He reminds me of my friend Brian Adams. Here the people work at Initrode, a terrible software programming company. The bosses are ridiculous and the co-workers are insane. So anyways, the main character is hypnotized and never awoken (just watch it ... it makes sense… in ‘that’ kind of way) after this he cares about nothing. The company is downsized and through some fluke in competency he is given a raise while his hard-working friends are fired. They cook up a little scheme to install a virus that steals percents of pennies from the company, so they won’t notice. Yet this all goes awry when Michael messes up his decimal point and suddenly they are stuck with a huge sum of money. Watch the movie and see; it was based on a comic strip about one of the most entertaining characters, Milton.

The Black Crystal - Yet another Muppet movie and another cult classic. It’s another book on my list too, while I’m at it. Ok, plot: there was a division in the original race when the crystal was cracked. The member of the race split in half, the skexis are the evil ugly diabolical half while the elders are the nice gentle and wise half. Gip, the last of his kind (or so he thinks), must find the lost shard of the black crystal and restore balance before the 3 moons meet or all of his world will perish. The skexis do their best to thwart him because they want to take power of this desolate world. This is another movie that sounds dumb when you try to explain, and another movie with incredible scene art.

Reservoir Dogs - This is the tale of a muddled robbery. Each agent is referred to by a color instead of a name to help their privacy and they are a kind of specialized mafia. This is a Tarantino movie, so we all know everyone dies. I can’t lie, most of the reason this movie is here is the ear scene. Oh yeah. I promise I’m not a violent person. Most of this movie takes place in an abandoned warehouse with the characters trying to decide who ratted them out. Its especially cool because Tarantino lets the viewer figure it out as the characters in the movie do.

Punch Drunk Love - Easily Adam Sandlers’ best movie, and most under-rated. I have to admit it was strange seeing him in a role like this but he did it well. This is a story about guys who kind of shut himself off to everything because he was surrounded by overbearing things and people his entire life. He is pretty crazy and very pathetic and that makes his all the more lovable. I have to say I loved The Waterboy and all that but this is just so much more real.
High Fidelity - Well Cusack is in it, now you know what it’s about. The whole thing is Cusack, who appropriately enough owns a music store, trying to find love and direction in his life. This sick misanthropic guy fails to see his own shortcomings and blames the world and girls for everything that has ever hurt him, completely blind of the pain he causes. It’s a coming to a realization movie, I suppose. There is a book on this one too. It’s another one that gets better with repetition; you notice these subtle hints to bigger things when you already know the plot.

Johnny Suede - Yeah, yeah. Another Brad Pitt movie. It’s all coincidence, I swear. This is before he was famous though. He plays Johnny a poor starving artist searching for something to make his life worth living. Johnny pawns his guitar for a few extra carrots and then finds these suede shoes and his life just starts a roller coaster ride. He’s in a little go-nowhere band and he has a few relationships. This tale is speckled with music, honesty and a sort of cheerful lonliness. The main love story isn’t even ended … they leave you hanging and that is pretty irksome.

Adaptation - This is Nicholas Cage’s best film. It takes you through the psychological process of a screenwriter who is quickly losing it. As Charlie (Cage) tries to grasp the concept of letting go, just relaxing and letting things flow, his life is torn asunder. Things really do happen in life, contrary to his former belief and he finds that out the hard way. This movie is excellent. You will laugh and cry - the whole ‘sha-bang’ so go watch it.

When Harry Met Sally - Classic. I just saw this recently and I can see why it’s so celebrated. Billy Crystal’s character is so adorable; in fact the movie itself is adorable. It’s basically about two people who are just ‘meant to be’ and no matter how many other relationships they have the end up falling back into each other’s arms. It’s a chick flick I suppose, but hey … I’m a chick what can I say.

i fucking love karate. i'll have to remind myself of that when i get up tomorrow and i can't walk to my computer to see this ...
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