Tuesday Tidbits

• I found another funny webcomic, the Perry Bible Fellowship. Thanks, Yewknee.
  
• They announced the Oscar nominees today. I know not many of my predictions turned out to be right. The reason I didn't include any nominations for Brokeback Mountain was because I hadn't seen it yet. Which brings me to my next tidbit...
  
• I saw Brokeback Mountain last Saturday and was pleasantly surprised. I was skeptical about this film, especially because of all the hype it had been receiving, but I see now that while it doesn't deserve a lot of the press it has been receiving, it is an impressive motion picture. This year's Best Actor race is gonna be a tough one!
  
• This week's free single on iTunes is by UK rock group The Magic Numbers, entitled "Love Me Like You Do." It's excellent, and it's free.
  
• You can now download Strong Bad e-mails for your video iPod. Or, if you don't have a video iPod (like me), you can just download the e-mails so you can watch them whenever you want on iTunes.
  
• You could buy the two new Gorillaz songs off iTunes, or you could just download them for free here. Thanks, Clever Titles.

Steve Jobs Declares He Owns Everything

Drawing from Crookie's Blog

I don't know if everyone's been following the Disney/Pixar debates, but here's the scoop. A couple years ago, former Disney CEO Michael Eisner told Pixar to shove it when they asked for more control over their films. So, Pixar decided to make the upcoming film Cars their last movie made under the Disney name and pursue another studio to do business with. Well, that's when Disney executives realized that all the money they're making off movies is thanks mostly to Pixar (and Miramax, which kicked out its creators, Bob and Harvey Weinstein, earlier last year), and they fired Eisner, replacing him with Robert Iger, who offered Steve Jobs $7 billion in Disney stock in a bid for ownership of Pixar. Jobs agreed, Pixar is now owned by Disney, and the world may be spared a Toy Story 3 and Another Bug's Life, now that Pixar's creative leader and co-founder John Lasseter will be chief creative officer of all Disney productions. Of course, this now means that Steve Jobs has a big stake in Apple Computer, Pixar Animation, and Walt Disney Studios. Let's hope his first film idea doesn't involve animated iPods.

UPDATE: It's official. Toy Story 3 is kaputz.

Hall of Awesome: The Next Five Best Albums of 2005 (and Honorable Mentions)

So...where were we?

6. eels, Blinking Lights and Other Revelations

Mark Oliver Everett (the man called "E") has always been the antithesis to popular music. While the Britneys and Justins talk about how pretty they are and how much money they have, E won't stop telling you how ugly he is and how poor he is. The video for "Hey Man (Now You're Really Living)" features E simply holding a video camera because he "spent all the money making the new album." And what an album it is. Two discs, thirty-three tracks. And E has never been a musician who's valued quantity over quality. Blinking Lights owes a lot to another famous double album, The Beatles' White Album. Like that double-LP, the songs on Blinking Lights don't seem to flow from one to the other, but there is a unified sound throughout, one that is unmistakably eels-like. E continues to nurture his affection for catchy pop songs (as evidenced by his appearances on the soundtracks for both Shrek movies) by recording tunes like the ethereal "From Which I Came/A Magic World," and the bouncy aforementioned "Hey Man." He even uses his pop palette for self-parody on the laughable "Going Fetal," a dance number featuring a sample of Tom Waits crying like a baby. But its when he's somber and reflective that Blinking Lights truly shines. The instrumentals "Marie Floating Over the Backyard" and "God's Silence" are haunting in their immediacy, and the listener is left amazed that such beauty could be relegated to a simple minute-long interlude track. E reaches his apex with this sprawling album, and no stone is left unturned under his watchful eye. Bottom line: This album has something for everyone, and after multiple listens, it might prove to have more than just something.

7. The Chemical Brothers, Push the Button

The Chemical Brothers have had a long, successful career. Long because they've just released their ten-year singles compilation, and successful because they're one of only about three or four electronica acts you've probably heard of (Moby and Fatboy Slim being two more). This is all good and well except for the fact that up until now, the Brothers (Ed Simons and Tom Rowlands) had hit a snag when it came to crafting solid albums. Their recent efforts, Surrender and Come With Us had some great singles, but the albums never really felt cohesive. Flash forward to 2005 and the release of Push the Button, the album that went relatively unnoticed on most Best Of lists due to its early January release date, but the album that proves to be the Brothers best effort yet. Everything flows with an urgency seldom heard since 1997's Dig Your Own Hole, with the duo seamlessly blending the hard rock breakbeats of their early work with the atmospheric psychedelia of their later albums. The guest appearances are back, but the vocalists (like Kele Okereke of Bloc Party and frequent ChemBros guest Tim Burgess) don't distract from the music; they transcend it, making their vocals just another piece in the Chemical Brothers' electronic puzzle. Bottom line: This is the album for everyone who thought electronica had nothing new to offer and who would very much like to be proven wrong.

8. The Mars Volta, Frances the Mute

The Mars Volta is the ultimate ADD band. They blaze and howl through a mess of guitars, horns, and drums before settling into unnerving electronic beats for the better part of three minutes. Not that I'm complaining. On the contrary, Frances the Mute is one of the best prog-rock releases of 2005, even if the band refuses to call it prog-rock. Like eels (the band, not the animal), The Mars Volta takes their time and crafts four epic tracks and one single, totaling a 76-minute experience that is equal parts disturbing, exhilarating, and hard-rocking. "L'Via L'Vasquez" could've been an old Santana tune if it weren't for its creepy, Pink Floyd-esque coda. The melodies in the songs are catchy enough to merit repeated listenings, and the lyrics are cryptic enough to merit repeating musings and interpretations. Bottom line: If you like your rock albums to confound you while they astound you, this is your disc.

9. Coldplay, X&Y

In 2005, Coldplay faced a slew of criticism, the harshest coming from inside the band as lead singer Chris Martin publicly declared after the release of their third album that Coldplay was working on improving their lyrics. It shouldn't be surprising that he's so self-conscious. This is the big Third Album. They gained a cult following with Parachutes, plunged into the mainstream with A Rush of Blood to the Head, making expectations for X&Y ridiculously high. The truth of the matter is that if you've never been a big fan of Coldplay, X&Y probably won't change your mind anytime soon. For those who are, however, the rewards are plenty. X&Y is Coldplay's most cinematic, most anthemic, and also their longest album (almost twice as long as Parachutes). And while they're lyrics may not be the most brilliant, the persistent catchiness of the melodies more than make up for it. Everyone's already lovin' "Fix You," but what about the equally impressive "Swallowed in the Sea"? Coldplay might be drifting from the enclosed, ambient rock that made the bulk of their early EPs and debut album, but they've taken their unparalleled songwriting skills with them. Bottom line: There's always room for at least one mainstream album in your music collection.

10. The White Stripes, Get Behind Me Satan

Okay, I'm sorry, I meant to say that there's room for two mainstream albums. But, make no mistake, the White Stripes may be selling a ton of records, but they never show it. The raw opening single "Blue Orchid" was just a bait-and-switch for the Stripes as they abruptly jump into marimba mode on the haunting "The Nurse," right before the incessantly catchy "My Doorbell" takes center stage. It's this kind of helter-skelter instrumentation that keeps Get Behind Me Satan consistently interesting and fun to listen to. The hard guitars of "Blue Orchid" rarely make a second appearance, except for the Elephant-esque "Instinct Blues," which neatly segues into the brief Meg White interlude "Passive Manipulation." Instead, mastermind Jack White ops for sparse piano, acoustic guitar, and the aforementioned marimbas. Surprisingly, the best tracks are pushed to the back of the album, like "As Ugly as I Seem," a self-conscious guitar track that wouldn't feel out of place on Rubber Soul, and "I'm Lonely (But I Ain't That Lonely Yet)," a beautiful, piano-laden ballad that neatly rounds out this exceptional release by the most consistent act in lo-fi indie rock. Bottom line: The perfect album for those that like their music raw and rugged.

Honorable Mentions:
Ben Folds, Songs for Silverman
Bright Eyes, Digital Ash in a Digital Urn
Bright Eyes, I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
DangerDoom, The Mouse and the Mask
Gorillaz, Demon Days
Hot Hot Heat, Elevator
Josh Rouse, Nashville
Kanye West, Late Registration
Robbers on High Street, Tree City
Ryan Adams and the Cardinals, Jacksonville City Nights
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, Broom
Stars, Set Yourself on Fire
System of a Down, Mesmerize/Hypnotize
The Go! Team, Thunder, Lightning, Strike
The New Pornographers, Twin Cinema
Thievery Corporation, The Cosmic Game
Z-Trip, Shifting Gears

Alright, that's it! I'm finally finished with my Top 10 Albums list! Look for the Best Movies of 2005 coming soon!

Drawn to Pup

Once again, leave it to Drawn! to point out the coolest web-comics. This one's called "Pup Ponders the Heat Death of the Universe" by the very-talented Drew Weing. See more Pup comics here and more of his other comics here.

Thursday Tidbits

• I saw Me and You and Everyone We Know today and I just might have to add it to my Best Movies of 2005 list (date of release still pending). It makes sense that its writer/director/star Miranda July used to be a performance artist. "Quirky" can't even begin to describe this wonderfully bizarre slice-of-life movie.
  
• Chalk this one down for News of the Weird. A man broke into the home of a caricaturist and, fifteen minutes later, the police captured the thief based on a drawing the artist had made for the cops.
  
• Flickr turns two on February 10, six days before I turn 20. Here are some cool photos I wouldn't have found if it weren't for Flickr.

Tokyo gone plastic

I can't stop singing the praises of Tokyo Plastic, one of the coolest ad agencies/Flash animators on the web. Not only have they made bizarre and beautiful ads for Mitsubishi, MTV, and MSN, but their website is a work of art all by itself, and also contains the award-winning Flash short "Drum Machine." Also, check out their other kick-ass shorts "Opera Dude" and "Music Box."

More Photos!

New Hanover Marching Band
Originally uploaded by devpd.

I don't know when I'll ever be able to finish the Hall of Awesome. So here's another cop-out: a bunch of photos I took recently during the annual Martin Luther King Day Parade in downtown Wilmington. My friend Adam told me that he'd be attending, dressed up as the pelican mascot for Wave, the city's transit system.

First off, I didn't know our bus system even had a mascot. Second, I also didn't know that we had a parade on MLK Day. So Nathan, Caroline, Merri and I went to check it out and had a great time. You can see my set of pics here.

Sorry for the lack of updates...

Don't worry; I haven't died. I've just returned to college and have yet to get back in the swing of things. I promise I'll have finally completed the Hall of Awesome by debuting the next five best albums of 2005 as well as the best movies of 2005. Just not right now.

In the meantime, how about them Panthers?? Whoo-hoo!

Box Office Briefing

I find it most amusing that Hostel is the number one movie at the box office this weekend, followed by (ha-ha!) The Chronicles of Narnia. Isn't that wonderfully American? The happy and warm Christian family flick getting beat by the vicious, just-barely-R-rated horror film? I think so.

Anyhoo, I saw The Producers last week with my girlfriend and we both thought that it was one of the funniest films of the year. While the opening scenes had Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick trying a little too hard to be like Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder (the stars of the original film), things picked up a lot after Matthew Broderick did his big number, "I Wanna Be a Producer." It sure is nice to see that old stalwart genre, the Hollywood musical, finally get into the spotlight again. After the runaway success of Moulin Rouge and Chicago, there haven't been all that many other musicals that have sparked anyone's interests. I hope The Producers will change all that. Also, if you go see it, stick around 'till the end of the credits.

I'm also on my way out the door to see The Squid and the Whale, the new film from the co-writer of The Life Aquatic, Noah Baumbach. It made #7 on my list of the best reviewed films of 2005. I'll let you know how that goes.

New Song Added to 15 Megs of Fame

You can download my newest track, "Running Away From Your Problems (Never Solved Them)," by clicking here! Please rate it and/or post a comment! Also, check out my other songs on 15 Megs of Fame. And if that's not enough, download my cover of Massive Attack's "Teardrop"!

Hall of Awesome: Top 5 Albums of 2005

It's that moment you've all been waiting for, where I reveal my top 10 album picks of 2005! This also marks the end of the First Annual DiMattiaFilms Hall of Awesome. I hope everyone had as much fun reading these as I did writing them. So, without further ado, let's begin!

1. Devin Davis, Lonely People of the World, Unite!

I don't care if anyone thinks I'm bias for putting a musician whose name is the same as mine at number one. This guy is the real deal. Lonely People of the World, Unite! flows in a way I have rarely heard albums flow before. Every single aspect of this album, from writing to production to instrumentation, is stellar. Lead track "Iron Woman" begins at breakneck speed, with a sense of immediacy rarely heard on an indie rock album. And Davis' driving force never slows down as the album races through ten more songs, each one just as good as the last. His voice may not be as good as those of his contemporaries, but he delivers each vocal track with a wail and a yelp, as if he's betting all he's got on these eleven tracks (which he probably has). Bottom line: This is the record for those who wish bands would just get to the point and stop peppering their albums with pointless filler.

2. The Decemberists, Picaresque

One of the most imaginative albums of the year, The Decemberists pull the ideas for their songs right out of a long-lost Alexandre Dumas novel. Whether they're telling stories of a daydreaming young Indian princess ("The Infanta") or of a pair of shipmates in a giant whale's stomach ("The Mariner's Revenge Song"), you can be assured that The Decemberists will tell it to you in riveting detail using words you've never heard used in songs before. They are also well-experienced in setting the mood. There's the upbeat pomp of the political jab "16 Military Wives," the winner of Catchiest Political Song of 2005, the solemn bass drum of "From My Own True Love (Lost at Sea)," and the highway-chasing acoustic guitars of "The Engine Driver." There's no doubt that if The Decemberists had existed in the 18th century, they would be singing the same songs that they're singing now. Thankfully, they weren't, so you don't have to travel far-and-wide to listen to their well-weathered sound. Bottom line: This is the album for people who are sick and tired of "Yeah, yeah, since you been gone" passing as song lyrics.

3. Sufjan Stevens, Come On Feel the Illinoise!

What can I say about Sufjan Stevens that hasn't already been said by every single weblog in existence? When he's not coming up with paragraph-length song titles, he's crafting some of the most beautiful and well-orchestrated indie rock ever made. Even though his 50-state project may ultimately end up too daunting to be completed, at least Illinois will be around for our listening pleasure. Bottom line: This is the best album about Illinois to come out in 2005. It's also pretty damn good in every other aspect, too.

4. Oasis, Don't Believe the Truth

Up until now, every artist on this list has been new to my ears. Leave it to Oasis to deliver a blast from the past while staying just as relevant and just as groundbreaking. After the stumble-and-fall of their previous two albums, they find their footing and release Don't Believe the Truth, one of the best albums of their career. Listening to these eleven amazing songs, it's almost like nothing happened between this album and their previous masterpiece, (What's the Story) Morning Glory?. Their guitars blaze, the drums (by Ringo Starr's son, Zak) are triumphant, and Noel and Liam trade off vocals with relative ease. Bottom line: This is the 2005 album for those who want to party like it's 1995.

5. Andrew Bird, The Mysterious Production of Eggs

Andrew Bird has always been the diamond in the rough as far as musical talent was concerned. He added a dark and seductive touch to any Squirrel Nut Zippers song he was invited to perform violin on. His own band, Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire, also released wildly varying albums, the best of which was 2001's The Swimming Hour. Now, he's on his own and after releasing a sweeping EP, Weather Systems, he's ready to blow our minds with the Nick Drake-meets-prog-rock opus The Mysterious Production of Eggs. None of his brilliantly-crafted tunes follows any sort of traditional structure. Just when you think you've figured out the melody of a certain song, he pulls the melodic carpet out from under you. He also makes use of his large vocabulary, crafting stories like the one in "A Nervous Tic Motion of the Head to the Left," about the destruction of the world because of a neglected tanker filled with HAZMAT...I think. Bottom line: This is the "fine wine" album, one that's bitter upon first taste, but proves its worth with every repeated listen.

(GASP!) It took me forever just to write those five reviews, so I'll take a breather and post the next five later.

Catbird Records, with the DiMattiaFilms 200% Quality Guarantee!

As many of my frequent readers know, I am a huge fan of Catbird Records, the extremely indie record label created by Ryan of The Catbirdseat music blog. Well, he's just added two new releases to the Catbird Records lineup, Get Him Eat Him's Do As I Tell You EP, which is out now, and Hemstead's Untitled, which will be released next month. As always, they are very limited editions and are also very, very cheap, and the music kicks ass, so what're you waiting for? Some MP3s? Oh, okay, I have some...

MP3s: (right-click, save as)
Get Him Eat Him, "Exposure"
Hemstad, "Fyllekärring (Demo)"
Hemstad, "Sommar i Göteborg (Demo)"

Top 50 Music Videos of 2005

I have figured out where I am going to spend the rest of my Internet time for the next few weeks, and that's gonna be at DoCopenhagen's list of the Top 50 Music Videos of 2005. Not only does he show screencaps of all the videos, but he is gracious enough to include links to every single one of them, providing hours of music video satisfaction. His pick for #1, the Aphex Twin/Chris Cunningham collaboration "Rubber Johnny," is one of the most disturbing and mind-blowing things ever put on video.

Best Reviewed Films of 2005

Before I start listing my picks for the best movies of 2005, here are the top 20 best reviewed films of 2005, according to Rotten Tomatoes. Now, their complete list includes any film with 20 or more reviewers, but I've condensed that list down to movies with 100 or more reviewers, simply because out of all the films on their list, only about 20 or 30% are films that have received a wide release. Also, please note that three of the top five films are documentaries. Just an interesting sidenote.

So, without further ado:

1. Murderball
   
2. Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room
   
3. Good Night, and Good Luck
   
4. Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
   
5. March of the Penguins
   
6. The Squid and the Whale
   
7. Grizzly Man
   
8. Capote
   
9. Downfall
   
10. Kung Fu Hustle
    
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
    
12. Millions
    
13. Brokeback Mountain
    
14. A History of Violence
    
15. Broken Flowers
    
16. Pride and Prejudice
    
17. Howl's Moving Castle
    
18. Gunner Palace
    
19. The 40-Year-Old Virgin
    
20. Junebug

A Closer Look at the Movies of 2006

Just went through Apple's movie trailer database and unearthed some promising upcoming films. Among my favorites is the trailer for Thank You For Smoking, a satire about the tobacco industry. Also of interest is American Dreamz, another vicious satire of both the President and reality television. One of the more cryptic entries is the Kubrick-esque trailer for Bubble, a new film by Steven Soderbergh about the murder of a doll factory employee. Of course, the teaser trailer for Mel Gibson's new film Apocalypto looks interesting. Also worth mentioning is Marie Antoinette, the new film by Sofia Coppola starring Kirsten Dunst in the title role, along with Jason Schwartzman.

And then there's the trailers for upcoming computer animated features: DreamWorks is turning the popular comic strip Over the Hedge into a movie, The Weinstein Company is going to take a stab at fairytales a la Shrek with their Red Riding Hood parody Hoodwinked, and Nickelodeon is jumping on the CGI bandwagon with their film Barnyard. And then, of course, there's Cars, which will undoubtedly crush the competition because Pixar is God and you dare not challenge them!

If you've seen an interesting movie trailer recently, post a link to it in the comments! I'm always on the lookout for interesting and bizarre new films!

Hall of Awesome: Best Songs of 2005 Mixtape!

It's hard to pick your favorite albums of 2005. There are so many out there, most of which are excellent, but some are simply better than others. So, to give a second chance to the albums that didn't make the final cut, I've decided to cull one song from each to include in my Best Songs of 2005 Mixtape! These are not listed in order of preference, just the order in which they sound best in mixtape form. You can download the entire ZIP file (broadband connections preferred; it's over 70 MB) by clicking the YouSendIt link at the bottom of this post. Here's the tracklisting (along with brief reviews for select songs):

1. Bloc Party, "Like Eating Glass"
2. The Prayers and Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers, "Concerning Lessons Learned from the Aliens"

I'll admit; the long-winded titles this band uses are ridiculous, but this song is a great one. Recommended by Funtime Ben over at Tracks Up the Tree, Prayers and Tears is a one-man band from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and while the rest of the album (aptly titled The Mother of Love Emulates the Shape of Cynthia) doesn't hold up as well as this song, it's still an interesting listen.

3. Spoon, "The Two Sides of Monsieur Valentine"
4. United State of Electronica, "It Is On!"
5. Ben Folds, "Jesusland"
6. Bright Eyes, "Another Travelin' Song"
7. Death Cab for Cutie, "I Will Follow You Into the Dark"
8. Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, "Oregon Girl"

Recipient of DiMattiaFilms' Band of the Year Award

9. Rogue Wave, "California"
10. Franz Ferdinand, "Eleanor Put Your Boots On"
11. Gorillaz feat. De La Soul, "Feel Good Inc."
12. Robbers on High Street, "Spanish Teeth"
13. Embrace, "Gravity"

The best song Coldplay wrote in 2005 wasn't sung by them. In fact, they wrote this song for Brit-rockers Embrace, whom Coldplay had toured with in the past. Look for Coldplay's version to appear on the upcoming single for "Talk."

14. The Soundtrack of Our Lives, "Transcendental Suicide"

Not much stood out on TSOOL's Origin Vol. I, their follow-up album to 2003's astounding Behind the Music. Not much except for this killer six-minute rock opus.

15. Imogen Heap, "Hide and Seek"
BONUS TRACK: Z-Trip feat. Supernatural and Murs, "Breakfast Club"

DOWNLOAD THE WHOLE SHEBANG HERE! Once again, the link's expired. Plus, I've thrown away the original ZIP file. You'll just have to wait until I release the Best Songs of 2006 mixtape, I guess.