This past Tuesday's movie night movie was Like Crazy, a love story starring Anton Yelchin and Felicity Jones. The movie follows a young couple as they grapple with a long-distance relationship. The couple, a British exchange student and an American student, meet at school just before graduation. Once they've graduated, however, her visa expires (which she violates) and she must return home. They spend the next few years meeting up, breaking up, getting married and dating other people. Finally, the girl's ban on entering the United States is lifted and she moves back so they can be together forever. But will they last that long?
The movie was a Sundance favorite and it's easy to see why. Anton and Felicity turn in great performances as star-crossed lovers. Everything feels believable, too, with their relationship shifting between giddy romance when they're together, and fights and despondence when they're parting or are apart. I was surprised to learn that much of the film was improvised, though that really added to the realism.
I have such mixed feelings when it comes to some of my favorite bands shilling for major brands. I don't mind it, though, when the music seems to meld well with the product or tone of the commercial. It also leads to some hilarious moments from time to time (see: The Black Keys and Vampire Weekend showdown on The Colbert Report).
Another time when it seems to work is when I really like the brand doing the advertising. There have been three recent collaborations between some of my favorites artists and some of my favorite brands, all of which led to great results.
Best Coast and Johnny Marr for Ray-Ban
I want a pair of Ray-Bans so badly, I've taken to wearing the Ray-Ban-esque glasses sold at Wal-Mart until I have some more money to buy the real deal. In a recent project for the brand, Johnny Marr, formerly of The Smiths, has teamed up with several up-and-coming bands to produce songs for the brand. The "Raw Sounds" project includes several bands; Best Coast, Au Revoir Simone and Tom Vek, but Best Coast seem to best capture the sunny and cool attitude of the brand itself.
Karen O, of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, is a legend in the making. It's only fitting that she should cover a song by two other legendary artists, even if it's a completely different style than her own. Miss O covered Waylon Jenning's and Willie Nelson's "Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Cowboys." The song was recorded and a video made for The Chipotle Cultivate Foundation, which aims to support sustainable agriculture and family farming. The video itself shows three young boys exploring and vandalizing an abandoned farmhouse, only for the experience to hit close to home for one of them.
Original
Matt & Kim, Andrew W.K. & Soulja Boy for Converse
This isn't the first collaboration between a seemingly random mix of musicians and Converse (and it won't be the last). A few years ago, the brand released "My Drive Thru" with Santogold, Julian Casablancas (of The Strokes) and Pharrell. More recently, Matt & Kim, Andrew W.K. and Soulja Boy released "I'm a Goner." I find it surprisingly awesome given that, while I love Matt & Kim, I'm not too big a fan of the other two. And, the collaborations are kinda fun. Next up is a collaboration with Gorillaz, which should be released in February of next year.
I'm a little late on recounting my Tuesday movie night, but I caught a good show, so I simply must tell you about it.
This was a little bit of a different week for me. I had initially been planning to go to the local independent theater to catch !Women Art Revolution, but some friends wanted to see 50/50 at a larger theater and I couldn't pass it up (for, you see, I love Joseph Gordon-Levitt).
The movie, also starring Seth Rogen, is about a man with an unpronounceable spinal cancer as he deals with the changes in his relationships with his friends, girlfriend, parents, psychologist and pot-smoking fellow cancer patients. As the movie progresses, he begins to deal more and more with the possibility of his own mortality.
The movie's surprising in a lot of ways. Most of those surprises center around Seth Rogen. Going into the film, I felt as though he could easily make the movie all about him or his character, as it seems to be the case in many of his films. It wasn't however, while his was a major character, the film never delved far from focus on Joseph's character. In that same sense, I was surprised by the maturity of the movie. There were plenty of laughs, but it never felt like they were using cancer as a source of cheap jokes or crude humor (well...not that much).
If you hate everything Seth Rogen, I think this would be a good one to check out to get a different side of him.
This is something I thought was a way's away. I knew that Dan and Pat were recording a new album, but didn't think it would actually be released until well into next year. Monday, though, I learned that the album, titled El Camino, would be released in fewer than two months!
The duo announced the album with a hilarious video featuring Bob Odenkirk from Mr. Show:
To go along with the faux car commercial is a website showing the El Camino for sale with some information on the condition of the car. There's also a phone number, which takes you to a pre-recorded message from drummer Pat regarding the vehicle.
The album artwork isn't as striking as that for Brothers, but the band shows that they're still willing to go against the norm when it comes to promoting and packaging their work. With most bands simply posting an ad on a website and visiting a few late shows, this definitely stands out.
I already know what may very well be topping my year-end list in January!
Tuesdays have become my official movie night; I've started to make a habit of heading to the local theater to catch mostly independent films and documentaries. I go on Tuesdays (or try to), since it's only $6!
Tonight, I saw Restless, a film by Gus Van Sant.
The movie stars Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Alice in Wonderland) and Henry Hopper (Dennis' youngest son). Henry is Enoch, a boy who likes to crash funerals and memorial services. At one of them, he meets Annabelle (Wasikowska), a terminally ill girl. They quickly fall for each other, but he of course has to deal with her impending death. Also, there's a Japanese ghost...for good measure.
The film has gotten lukewarm reviews, but I quite liked it. I think it's mostly due to Mia's charm. The movie also had a pretty good score; with music by Sufjan Stevens, Pink Martini and Bon Iver!
Andrew Bird - Norman score Norman is a movie about a young man faking cancer in order to deal with his own father's terminal illness. The movie's been making the film festival rounds for more than a year now and will be getting an official (albeit limited) release later this month. Tomorrow, the film's score, created by Andrew Bird, will be released. I'll try to wait to pass judgment on the score until I can hear it in the context of the film. Hopefully, it will be showing at my local theater!
Trailer
Björk - Biophilia
Björk is known for having a more...interesting...song-writing process, and a more interesting style of music than most of what's out there. She was inspired to create this album after hearing of the concept of 'musicophilia,' the mind's empathy for music. Biophilia is, therefore, the mind's empathy for nature. Each of the songs touch on some aspect of nature. The album's also been released as a series of apps. That may be the first thing I download to my new iPhone this weekend!
"Crystalline"
Paley & Francis - Paley & Francis
Black Francis (Frank Black) was the frontman for legendary alternative rock band Pixies. Reid Paley was frontman for the "blues rock band from hell" The Five. This isn't their first foray together, Francis produced Paley's debut solo album and Paley often supported Francis on tours. This is their first duo album, though. It should be a promising mix of great punk and alternative rock, through a fairly more mature set of eyes.
"Curse" (live)
James Blake - Enough Thunder EP
Blake is having a pretty decent year. His music is at an intersection of two of very popular styles of music; dubstep and folky, soulful, minimalist music. He released an incredible full-length earlier this year to much well-deserved hype. I had the chance to listen to the new EP yesterday and it is certainly a great (if not frustratingly short) followup. It includes one of the best collaborations I've ever heard, with Bon Iver.
"Fall Creek Boys Choir" (with Bon Iver)
Radiohead - TKOL RMX 1234567
Radiohead's most recent album, The King of Limbs, can be considered fairly divisive among fans. Regardless of whether the album's your favorite, though, they are one of the few bands that manages to be original and surprising, even after considerable commercial success. This remix album has artists such as SBTRKT, Caribou and Jamie xx putting their own spins on the songs from the album. Remixes are always a mixed bag for me, some seem to enhance the original music, while others degrade it. Hopefully, the group of artists here have done right by Radiohead.
"Lotus Flower" (SBTRKT Remix)
Ryan Adams - Ashes & Fire
Ryan Adams is a bit of an anomaly. He seems to be able to transition seamlessly between multiple genres of music. He's built his name on alt-country, but has several releases with a more traditional rock feel to them. Just last year, he released a heavy metal album, Orion, that somehow didn't seem out of place. Ashes & Fire sees him going back for more of the alt-country style he started with. Although he's made great music in several genres, this seems to be what fits him best.
"Chains of Love"
Tim Hecker - Dropped Pianos
The music on Dropped Pianos actually precedes Hecker's most recent album, Ravedeath, 1972. The recordings here were the "piano sketches" that went into the final product of that album. Being an early prototype of the music, it has been described as having a much different, darker mood. We don't often get to see the early work that goes into the final albums released by musicians (usually just in the form of demos that show up on b-sides releases), so it will be interesting to compare and contrast this to the final product of his earlier release.
"Sketch 5"
Yuck - Yuck (Deluxe Edition)
Yuck became the poster-children of the new wave of early-90s indie rock. They definitely seemed to have ushered in a new era, even seeming to preempt the re-emergence of many of the artists that they were influenced by. I kinda despise deluxe editions of albums, though. There's a lot of music that I love, but not much that I'm willing to buy twice. It is nice, however, to see bands get big enough to warrant a re-release of an album. If I'm able, I'll just try to get my hands on the extra songs this is being released with.
"Milkshake"
Raquel Zimmerman and my favorite model-turn-musician Karen Elson (along with two male models) show off some serious dance moves in a recently posted look-book video for Lanvin.
I will say, I think Karen's a bit more committed to the moves than Raquel (step it up, girl!) Watch to the end and you get to see house designre Alber Elbaz showing off his own awkward dance moves.
I mentioned Alex Turner's excellent soundtrack for the independent film, Submarine a few months ago. Last week, I decided to see the movie at a local theater that specialized in independent and foreign films.
The movie is excellent! It's a "coming of age" film about a young man, Oliver, whose has dual goals of losing his virginity and keeping his mother from sleeping with the creepy new neighbor. He succeeds at one and only half succeeds at the other; I'll let you guess which (or see the movie, which you should).
The movie stars Noah Taylor, the dad from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, looking surprisingly haggard, Paddy Considine as the creepy neighbor and amazing early starts from Craig Roberts as Oliver and Yasmin Paige as the object of his affections.
Definitely a must see! And get the soundtrack, too!
After a teasing post from Pitchfork, which led to a site that was streaming the short, just not to anyone in the US, the short film based on Arcade Fire's Grammy-winning The Suburbs is available for all to watch online.
^That's the opener I was going to have for this post, before realizing the You-Tube video of the film had been removed. Thankfully, I've had the chance to watch it before it was removed, though I would like to watch it again.
The film will be released along with the deluxe edition of the album at the end of this month.
