I'm gonna go ahead and predict that Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters will either be the best film of 2007, or make all film projectors that try to run it start bleeding. Or both.
Trailer time:
Flaming chicken!!
So, I officially got tired of embedding Amazon.com links in my music sidebar, so I decided to mix things up a little bit. Now, when you click on any one of the albums in the new "Listening Station," you'll either get a link to a free MP3 from the album, a music video, or a link to where you can stream the entire album! So far, the Of Montreal link is the only one that provides a full stream, but if there are any other links I should know about, send me an e-mail and I'll add it to the list.
A fascinating new article from the New York Times has appeared, discussing the place of independent cinema in America these days, with specific attention on the new distribution methods many of the independent studios (real ones, not big name studios with the word "Independent" thrown in at the end of the title) are trying out. One such method is IFC airing new films simultaneously with their theatrical release, including some of my favorites from last year, including Steven Soderbergh's Bubble and Kirby Dick's documentary This Film is Not Yet Rated.
Also worth mentioning is the amount of space the Times uses talking about Old Joy, one of my favorite films of 2006. It's looking like it will garner no Oscar buzz, but then again, it doesn't need to. I prefer it much more as an overlooked gem that will hopefully find its place in cinema history as time goes on. And if it doesn't, well, at least I enjoyed it.
An interesting sidenote: On page 2 of the article, the reporter refers to the Matthew Barney/Björk experimental film Drawing Restraint 9 as a documentary. Not only is this an error, it couldn't be a more incorrect description of the film. Did Jayson Blair get rehired by the Arts department?
This is getting ridiculous. Every year, it seems, there's another musical biopic (only in the case of Dreamgirls, it's based on ficticious characters), and now, we have Babel, which while I have been told is a good movie, it looks like Crash, just in many different places instead of just L.A. Why can't these awards people pick genuinely original and daring motion pictures for once? It seems like those two films, along with other releases like Bobby are the "safe" films, movies that seem to have been made in order to be nominated for awards.
I think this needs to be the year that the Oscars pull some crazy sh*t. Like when Marissa Tomei won an Oscar for My Cousin Vinny. Or when Annie Hall took Best Picture. We need another crazy year like those. I would freak out if Little Miss Sunshine took home a slew of statues, or if Children of Men would at least sweep the technical awards (it deserves Best Cinematography and Best Art Direction, for starters).
Well, we'll have to see if any of these things will come true when they announce the nominees next Monday. To all the filmmakers out there, I wish each and every one of you the best of luck.
Best Picture
Babel
Children of Men
Dreamgirls
Little Miss Sunshine
The Departed
Best Actor
Clive Owen, Children of Men
Forest Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Departed
Peter O’Toole, Venus
Sacha Baron Cohen, Borat
Best Actress
Helen Mirren, The Queen
Judi Dench, Notes on a Scandal
Meryl Streep, The Devil Wears Prada
Penelope Cruz, Volver
Toni Collette, Little Miss Sunshine
Best Supporting Actor
Brad Pitt, Babel
Eddie Murphy, Dreamgirls
Kevin Kline, A Prairie Home Companion
Mark Wahlberg, The Departed
Steve Carell, Little Miss Sunshine
Best Supporting Actress
Abigail Breslin, Little Miss Sunshine
Adriana Barraza, Babel
Cate Blanchett, Notes on a Scandal
Claire-Hope Ashitey, Children of Men
Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls
Best Director
Alfonso Cuaron, Children of Men
Clint Eastwood, Letters from Iwo Jima
Jonathan Dayton & Valarie Faris, Little Miss Sunshine
Martin Scorsese, The Departed
Robert Altman, A Prairie Home Companion
Best Original Screenplay
A Prairie Home Companion
Babel
Little Miss Sunshine
The Fountain
The Queen
Best Adapted Screenplay
A Scanner Darkly
Children of Men
Notes on a Scandal
The Departed
The Prestige
Best Documentary
An Inconvenient Truth
Deliver Us from Evil
Jesus Camp
My Country, My Country
The Trials of Darryl Hunt
Best Animated Feature
Cars
Happy Feet
Monster House
Best Foreign Language Film
Apocalypto
Letters from Iwo Jima
Pan’s Labryinth
The Science of Sleep
Volver
More explaining, as well as my rants and ravings on the banality of the Golden Globes, later...
UPDATE: I was recently informed by Mark from OscarCentral.com that, unlike the Golden Globes, Apocalypto and Letters from Iwo Jima are ineligible for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar because they are American-produced. It's nice to see the Academy still has some common sense in this regard.
I received a pretty cool e-card plugging the new AIR album Pocket Symphony, which is being released this March. The lead single, "Once Upon a Time," will be available on iTunes tomorrow. You can stream a sample of the track at pocket-symphony.com.
The tracklisting is as follows:
1. Space maker
2. Once upon a time
3. One Hell of a party
4. Napalm love
5. Mayfair song
6. Left bank
7. Photograph
8. Mer du Japon
9. Lost message
10. Somewhere between waking and sleeping
11. Redhead girl
12. Night sight
Observant readers might notice that a crucial modification has been made to my Top Movies of 2006 list. Readers might also notice that no explanation has been given for the change. I believe that, after viewing the new entry to my list, no explanation is necessary.
That is all.
The Apples in Stereo are one of those bands that I've caught glimpses of all throughout my music listening career. In 1999, I heard the distinctly Lennon-esque "Strawberryfire" when they were featured by MusicMatch Jukebox (remember them?) as an Artist to Watch. Then, a couple years later, the Apples returned, appearing in a music video for their Powerpuff Girls track "Signal in the Sky (Let's Go)". And, just recently, lead Apple Robert Schneider appeared on The Colbert Report, singing his new song "Stephen, Stephen" before the Decemberists vs. Colbert Guitar Solo Contest.
I'm finally getting to the point of this post, and that is to say there's a new Apples in Stereo album, entitled New Magnetic Wonder, that's coming out on February 6, and the first single off it, "Energy," is pretty freakin' awesome. The band has never tried to hide its Beatles influence, and this song is most certainly no exception. That doesn't mean it doesn't stand well enough on its own. Have a listen:
The Apples in Stereo - "Energy" (MP3)
Thanks Stereogum, for posting the track.
The new year got off to a cool start when I found out that my favorite new artist of '05 was gonna be giving a free concert at the main branch of the Greensboro Public Library, opening for hyper-literate rock group Harry and the Potters. A lot of fun was had by all. I got a copy of SSLYBY's re-issued debut Broom on vinyl, plus I got the band to sign it! And even though I hadn't heard much from Harry and the Potters (who, by the way, are a duo that perform rock songs based on events that take place in the Harry Potter books), they gave an excellent show as well. I must, however, agree with what my brother said during the sets. Whoever walked into the library expecting a nice, quiet evening certainly received something else!
See more concert photos, as well as photos of my signed vinyl.
Duck and cover, people! It's another political post!
I have always been a fan of Tom Tomorrow's straightforward editorial cartoons under the title, This Modern World. The latest comic is no exception. Unfortunately, I have to sometimes deal with people like the ones he describes in the comic at UNCW. Here's hoping 2007 will inspire people, including right-wing college students, to engage in objective and intellectual commentary about the state of the nation and the world abroad, not so they can prove their superiority in debate, but so both sides can come to a well-thought out agreement.
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