I want an award

I have never listened to autolux, but thanks to your post i definitely want to now. So now i will get on with it and listen to them. And yes, i do know who is very deserving of this award, and they better get on with it and quick. Or else....

p.s. I tore the house down with my speech today. When you gave me the idea about talking about the different editing styles it all came together. I couldn't transition from one thing to another, but when you gave me that idea, it all just came to me. Thank you Chris. My speech rocked.

The "Get On With It!" Award - #1

The idea for this blog came to me one afternoon at work.  I was probably quite bored, listening to my ipod, and then bam! the idea struck me so forcefully that I had to write it down in the little notebook I carry with me everywhere.

The "Get On With It!" Award (think back to Monty Python and the Holy Grail) was created in order to draw awareness to an artist or band that needs to kick things into gear.  They have undoubtedly created something brilliant in the past, something that has rocked me and/or moved me, but I am getting impatient for something new and equally brilliant.  Franz Ferdinand would have been a perfect recipient of this award two months ago.  Prior to the end of January 2009, they hadn't put out an album for over three years.  That is simply too long for me to wait.  While I'm sad that I can't bestow this award upon them, I am happier now that they have released their third album (which I have been rocking a lot lately).

The first recipient of the "Get On With It!" Award, is not the most deserving.  No, that band will get theirs very soon.  You know who I am talking about, Justin.  No, this winning band happens to be none other than Autolux.  Autolux is a trio from Los Angeles that I first listened to back in late 2005/early 2006.  I was immediately impressed with their sound, not surprising once I found out that their guitarist, Greg Edwards, was in Failure.  Their debut record, Future Perfect, is one of the best sounding albums I've listened to.  Not only are the songs great, but the production is fantastic.  I love the way all the instruments sound.  The guitar tone is deep and heavy, but not overbearing.  The vocals, both male and female, are, I want to say, calm and placed perfectly in the mix.  The contrast between the vocals and instrumentation is very striking, but it all works so well together.  And the drumming of Carla Azar is pretty amazing.  Really, just great stuff.

Future Perfect was released in the fall of 2004, more than a year before I ever listened to it.  It's been over four years since then, and, quite frankly, it's time to get moving, Autolux.  Thankfully, their second album, Transit Transit, is scheduled to be released sometime this year.  It is definitely one of my most highly anticipated albums of the year, but until it actually hits the airwaves or internet-waves (?), I'll just have to keep listening to the fantastic music they've already put out.

I've added nine Autolux tracks to my playlist for the uninitiated.  I think we listened to their album on the way back from the Decemberists concert at the Oregon State Fair, Justin.  That was awhile ago, wasn't it?  Anyway, congratulations Autolux.  Now get on with it!  

Sasquatch, I'm coming!

As I reported on my other blog, I spent last Friday and Saturday camped out in line for the BYU-Utah basketball game.  I mentioned being relieved in line for long enough to return to my apartment, take a shower, and pick up some pizza.  What I forgot to mention was that I was home long enough to order my 3-day pass to the 2009 Sasquatch music festival.  I must say that I am pretty freaking stoked for the festivities.

Justin, you really need to find a way to make this work.  Like I said before, I am more than willing to help make this happen.  Imagine seeing the Wrens again.  I know that's all I really need to say.  Let me know what the status is because tickets are cheaper the earlier you get them.  My good buddy Whitney (from the Whitris Fruits movie I made my freshman year and which I believe I showed you) and I will definitely be heading up there from P-Town so there will be room in a car for you and yours.  Anyway, that's all I wanted to say about that in this post.

Netflix the Oppressor

The dang comment box was giving me serious problems so this comment just turned into a post instead.
Stupid netflix trying to tell people how many movies they can put in their queue. 500 movies in a queue is pretty dang impressive though. I know there are so many movies that i need to see but this last week i am feeling like i have seen everything worth seeing. Obviously that's not true, but it's how i feel lately. And no way could i watch all those movies before adding another one. I think that's just crazy talk. I wonder if we got the movies for next week into work today. Synecdoche should be in there. I am going to go check right.........now!

Why Netflix? Why?!

I routinely visit Netflix, often just to randomly browse the selection or to see if anything new has been made available for online streaming.  About an hour ago, I was at the site, and I tried to add a film to my queue.  I clicked on add and everything was going as it should, but the normal confirmation window didn't pop up.  Instead I received a message telling me that I had reached 500 films on my queue and could not add any more to it until I either watched or removed some of those movies on my queue.  I was disappointed that there was a limit to my queue, but I guess it's not surprising or anything.

I've been a Netflix subscriber since the fall of 2005, and my queue has never gotten shorter.  Being a film major didn't help.  I would essentially leave each film class with a couple movies to add to my queue, and yadda yadda yadda my queue is too long now.  I've got to find a way to get through all those movies.  I've seriously got at least two years' worth of films in my queue, more if I keep watching at the glacial pace I've maintained the last six months.

I'm almost tempted to not add another film to my queue until I watch every last one that's on there right now, but I don't know if I could do that.  Do you think you could do that, Justin?  It would require immense self-discipline on my part.  Then again, I'm not sure I want to do it.  I know without a doubt that there are amazing films not on my queue.  Why should I prevent myself from watching a great film at any time?  Forget that idea. 

Movie Musings

I've decided that I will write at least one paragraph about every film I view for this blog.  I'll give a quick little review and whatnot.  It won't be anything super comprehensive unless the particular film warrants a more copious discussion.  I should probably come up with a catchy little name for this segment, but I'll work on that later.  I'm going to start with last Friday and catch up to the present day.

Troll 2 (1990) - directed by Claudio Fragasso.   

Date viewed: 27 February 2009.  My rating: 1/2 star (or 4 1/2 stars for being so awesomely terrible).

According to various sources on the internet, Troll 2 is basically the worst movie ever made, and for that reason, it has become quite famous as one of the best bad movies ever made.  And let me tell you, it is terrible --- and hilarious.  We watched this while camping out Friday night, and it was scary (in how bad it was) and very entertaining, especially if you love movies that are so bad they're good.  First off, there are no trolls in this movie.  That's right, a movie called Troll 2 is actually about goblins that live in a town called Nilbog and try to eat any tourists that pass through.  The writing is atrocious and the acting only accentuates how poorly it is written.  My favorite line of the movie is delivered by evil goblin who disguises himself as a preacher.  When Joshua, the protagonist, is saved by his dad and taken away from the goblins, the preacher, with a scowl on his face and a menacing tone in his voice, says "We need time for some things to happen."  I recommend the film to anyone who wants to have fun with one of the worst films of all time.

The Interpreter (2005) - directed by Sydney Pollack.

Date Viewed:  28 February 2009.  My Rating: 2 1/2 stars.

This movie had been in my Netflix queue since the beginning days of my membership in the fall of 2005.  I decided to finally give it a go Saturday night, and it worked well enough as a mildly entertaining film.  The acting is decent, about what one would expect from a cast including Sean Penn, Catherine Keener, and Nicole Kidman, directed by the veteran Sydney Pollack.  The film was pretty pedestrian, and I didn't really feel much for any of the characters.  Their grief seemed a little too manufactured, probably the script's fault more than anything, but when the film finished, it left me exactly as I'd been before I watched it.  Like I said, it worked well enough for mild entertainment, but that's it.

Synecdoche, New York (2008) - directed by Charlie Kaufman.

Date Viewed:  01 March 2009.  My Rating: at least 4 stars (will likely change with time).

This is a film that very few people heard about and even fewer people saw.  It played in the state of Utah at one theater for about two weeks.  I was upset when it left the theater before I could make a trip to SLC to see it.  Anyway, Synecdoche is the directorial debut of acclaimed screenwriter Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkevich, Adaptation, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind --- one of my favorite films of all-time), and I had been waiting impatiently to see this film.  Critics seemed to have one of two responses to the film:  either they loved it and declared it a masterpiece, or they absolutely disliked or hated it.  Any film that polarizes critics like that is doing something unique and could hardly pass as fodder for the mainstream movie going public.

It won't surprise anyone familiar with Kaufman's work that this narrative is complex, blurring the distinctions between reality and dreams.  I wasn't always sure what was going on in the film, whether it was truly happening or whether we were in the head of the film protagonist, Caden Cotard (played by the ever-impressive Phillip Seymour Hoffman who knocks this role out of the park).  After I finished watching the film, I wasn't sure how to react.  Kaufman definitely has a lot on his plate in this film, and he's tackling some heavy personal issues (life and death, love, the role of art, etc.) and it can be difficult, perhaps impossible, to truly know what he's saying.  But, to some extent, what he's saying through his film may not be as important as what the viewer hears for themselves.

I texted Justin after I watched it and told him that watching Synecdoche is like going to a buffet after fasting for a couple days:  it's going to take some time to digest everything.  It's been one day since I watched it and I'm still not sure that I've been able to process even a tiny portion of what is going on in this film.  It will definitely require another viewing or two.  How then, if there's still so much I need to process, could I rate the movie so high?  Despite the complexity of the narrative, Kaufman is sincere and genuine in his search for meaning, and there are some truly powerful and poignant moments in the film.  Eternal Sunshine left me feeling similarly befuddled after my first viewing, but each subsequent viewing has revealed greater emotional depth and wisdom and I expect Synecdoche to reveal itself to me in the same manner.

I recommend this movie only to those willing to approach the film with an open heart and mind.  This is a very serious film for mature audiences, so watching it with a group of people unaccustomed to serious cinema will prove disastrous.

Late night texts

Dude, sorry i keep getting your texts when i get off of work and then i don't feel that i should respond because it's about midnight. So I apologize, but i am excited because we should be getting synechdoche this week so I should be seeing it in a couple of days. I really hope Charlie Kaufman doesn't disappoint me like Wes Anderson did with his most recent film. I wasn't a huge fan of "The Darjeeling Limited." You said it would take a couple of days to digest, so hopefully when it all does I will have seen it by then and we will be able to discuss. Gone.