Dudes, it has been far too long since I’ve posted anything on this site. A quick look back tells me that it’s been almost 11 months! The past year has been a busy one. But yours truly is never too busy for some good tunez, and I’ve had some awesome music on my radar, some old some new, which I will share with you.
First up is the fantastically named Kurt Vile (nope, it’s not a pseudonym), and I love everything about the aesthetic of this video including Mr. Vile’s all-white ensemble.
I must admit that until I saw them up on the Grammys stage with classical pianist Lang Lang last Sunday night, I had completely forgotten about Metallica.
Or maybe I had just blocked them out since I find Lars Ulrich to be one of the most annoying people on earth. I think it was the whole Napster situation. I understand that it sucks for artists, who have worked really hard to put a product out there, when people are downloading their stuff for free. For the record, I would like to mention that I pay for all of my music. Not everyone does, and that’s cool — for me it’s just a matter of principle. Besides, I’m a fucking adult now. I don’t have the time to be dicking around with illegal downloads.
Having said all that, I do think Lars was just too serious about the whole thing. Dude needs to lighten up. It’s not that his argument didn’t make sense, it was just his way of going about it that rubbed me the wrong way. But then, I don’t like it when anyone is overly militant in their views. I’m a lover not a fighter, y’all. Why can’t we all just get along?
Anyway, music politics notwithstanding, Metallica is one of the hugest metal acts of all time, and in fact one of the most commercially successful bands in rock & roll history (they’ve sold over 110 million albums worldwide). They didn’t get to where they are by sucking. Sure, it’s metal for the masses, but it’s good stuff.
Here’s some classic Metallica for you today:
Guess who was featured on The Mindy Project tonight?
That’s right, Stepdad!
Yay Stepdad!!!
I went to see a movie last week called In A World. You might not have heard of it – I’m not sure it made a huge splash at the box office. But it was awesome; one of those totally feel good movies that stays with you after you leave the theatre and makes you want to go see it again right away. Here’s the trailer:
The gist of the story is that Lake Bell (who also wrote and directed the movie – what up Lake Bell!) plays an endearing slacker and aspiring voiceover artist. She’s grown up in the shadow of her old man who’s one of the top voiceover dudes in the world, and who has always told her that the voiceover industry is for the men only and that she should stick to being an accent coach. No fun, Buzzkill Dad! Go back to Russia! Buzzkill Dad kicks our girl out of the house so that his much-younger ladyfriend can move in, so Lake goes to stay with her sister and sister’s husband, the always awesome Rob Corddry (seriously, did you guys see him in Hot Tub Time Machine? If not, please stop reading this and go watch it immediately). Lake’s big break comes when a huge movie studio that’s releasing an epic trilogy – sorry, quadrilogy – called the Amazon Games (a sly takeoff on the Hunger Games, starring Cameron Diaz) decides to resurrect the iconic “In A World…” movie trailer opener, and they hold a competition to see who will be their voiceover dude…or lady! That’s right, Lake Bell is in the running – and her main competition for the job comes in the form of a slickster douchebag named Gustav Warner, and…her own father! Yup – in a fit of jealousy Buzzkill Dad has thrown his name into the ring. Buzzkill Dad, why you gotta be like that?!
So how does it all end? Well, you’re just gonna have to watch it to find out! The movie also features an excellent supporting cast, a very cute romantic subplot, and a great soundtrack, including one of my favourite songs of all time, which was also used to absolute perfection in the movie Real Genius. Obviously nothing can top the Tears for Fears + Real Genius combo, but this comes pretty close. But don’t take my world for it – check it out yo’self!
And because we can all benefit from the occasional hit of ‘Everybody Wants to Rule the World’…enjoy!
If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you know that I am a pretty huge fan of ’80s movies in general, and John Hughes flicks in particular. 1986’s ‘Pretty in Pink’ is one of my all-time favourites — I previously wrote about it here and here.
So you can imagine my excitement when my good pal Laird Sapir told me that she was planning a post about a face-off between teen movie uber-villains Hardy Jenns (‘Some Kind of Wonderful’) and Steff McKee (‘Pretty in Pink’) and asked me to argue on Steff’s behalf.
You can read my treatise on Steff’s sleazy awesomeness, and Laird’s excellent rebuttal in favour of Hardy, here: Blazers & Bad Attitudes. Be sure to vote for your favourite rich preppie douchebag!
Aw, you guys. Seeing Pretty in Pink on the big screen was just as good as I had hoped it would be. Even though I’ve watched it a million times on DVD (not to mention every time it’s on TV), there’s just something about being there in the theatre getting the full moviegoing experience that makes it really special.
This time around, I kept thinking about the fact that Robert Downey Jr. auditioned for the role of Duckie Dale and came very close to winning the part. If RDJ had been cast, I think it would have been an entirely different movie. I mean, Jon Cryer did an excellent job and imbued the character with a certain exasperating-yet-endearing charm, but there were no sparks between him and Molly Ringwald. If you watch the movie picturing RDJ in the role, you can definitely imagine Andie ending up with Duckie instead of Blane.
This works for me. You?
Anyway, here are my thoughts on seeing the movie again in the theatre, 25 years after the first time…
Today is a beautiful day. It’s sunny out and (relatively) warm, it’s Friday, and I am in a great mood. But more important than all of those things put together is the fact that tonight, I am going to see…oh, only one of the best movies of all time on the big screen.
Whether or not you are a fan of John Hughes, you have to admit that his films were a huge part of 80s pop culture, helping to cement the careers of a handful of young actors (Molly Ringwald, Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson, Andrew McCarthy, Eric Stoltz, Ally Sheedy, to name a few), and were seminal in the establishment of the teen movie as a genre. Which, as far as I’m concerned, was one of the most important developments of the 20th century. Sure, there were a few other “big” things that happened (women achieving the right to vote, desegregation, man walking on the moon, the invention of the internet by Al Gore, etc) but I’d say that the creation of the modern teen movie ranks pretty high up there.
Although The Breakfast Club is probably considered his masterpiece, Pretty in Pink is my favorite John Hughes movie (with Some Kind of Wonderful coming in a close second). Pretty in Pink has everything — great music, unbelievably awesome 80s fashion, a classic love triangle, new-wave hairdos…all set amidst the backdrop of the ’80s high school class divide (rich kids vs. poor kids, preps vs. outcasts) — obviously a recurring theme in Hughes’ work. Throw in a young James Spader in a crumpled linen suit in what is surely the most amazing portrayal of a rich sleazebag ever to hit the big screen, and what’s not to love?
I mean, look at this guy.
The disdainful smirk, the unbuttoned shirt, the feathered hair… goddamit, everything about this look is complete & utter perfection.
There’s one scene in the movie in which Blane (Andrew McCarthy) takes Andie (Molly Ringwald) to a party, and they stumble upon Steff (James Spader) and his rich bitch girlfriend Benny hooking up in one of the upstairs bedrooms, and oh my god Steff and Benny behave like such awesomely horrible rich douchebags to her that it makes me want to punch myself in the face from pure joy.
I need these two in my life so they can sit around all day making disparaging remarks about my outfits. Somebody please make this happen.
Anyway, I can feel this quickly devolving into a rant about why Steff is the best character in the movie so I’ll stop here for now, but there are many other amazing parts of this movie that we need to discuss (Duckie’s fashion stylings! Harry Dean Stanton! Annie Potts as Andie’s record store boss!) I’ll be posting this weekend about my thoughts on seeing Pretty in Pink again on the big screen, 25 years after I first saw it in theatres (I was 10). Will it live up to expectations? Will it be as good as it was all those years ago?*
*Spoiler alert: of course it will. Obviously I own the DVD and watch it every few months.
Most importantly, we will examine the music that appears throughout the movie and determine whether Hughes hit the mark with the songs he chose for the soundtrack.
I’m taking a walk down memory lane tonight, my friends. If all goes according to plan, at around 10:30 pm I will be sitting in a dark movie theatre sobbing with happiness as this song plays during the movie’s epic final prom scene:
“We’ve always had time on our sides
Now it’s fading fast
Every second, every moment
We’ve got to, we’ve gotta make it last…”
BOOK REVIEW FOR: This Is Gonna Hurt
Author: Nikki Sixx
What’s the Story, Morning Glory: the continuing saga of a rock ‘n roll icon
Who Are You: a modern-day Renaissance man
Do Ya Think I’m Sexy: both in print and in person, a resounding yes
Le’ts Give Them Something To Talk About: the state of the Crüe
Paperback Writer: no holds barred
Add It Up: truly a delightful surprise
I do a lot of reading in my spare time. Obviously I am super into books about music, but I also love young adult fiction. It’s one of my favourite forms of escapism. I order lots of books online and as such I receive e-mails all the time from my bookstore, generally with titles such as “Sizzling Summer Reads for Teens” and the like. I usually delete these (my go-to source for YA book recos is the awesome blog Forever Young Adult) but one e-mail caught my eye recently, as it had the words “Nikki Sixx” in the title.
It would be an understatement to say that I’m a huge fan. Mötley Crüe: The Dirt is my favourite music bio of all time and pretty much the inspiration for this site, and Nikki Sixx is the top grade in my Book Review Grading system. So you can imagine my excitement when I opened the e-mail to find out that the man himself was appearing live in person at my local Chapters to autograph copies of his new book, This Is Gonna Hurt. To be honest with you, it wasn’t even on my radar that he had a new book published. But I read The Heroin Diaries a few years back and really enjoyed it, so I was stoked to get my hands on a copy of This is Gonna Hurt, and the added bonus of coming face to face with one of my idols was an opportunity not to be missed.
my second foray into the blogosphere…to re-iterate, if you didn’t see my last list these picks are personal and subjective, although i also happen to be right. please send in your comments and your “i can’t believe u didn’t pick ???” and your “what the f’s” along as well so i can destroy them. in all seriousness though i had fun coming up with this list and it got me listening to some great music that i haven’t heard in a long time.
here are my “top ten guitarists”:
a legend, an icon, a musical god…what more can be said about james patrick page. as the founder and lead architect of the greatest band of all time, jimmy has cemented his place in history. generations decades from now will still be listening to his music and will continue to be just as gobsmacked as i was when i heard my first led zep track. a friend of mine said a long time ago: “the rolling stones are my favourite band, but if i had to genetically create the ultimate rock band it would be led zeppelin”. i know what he meant. each member of that band defined their respective roles and instruments for the hordes of bands to follow. the man who harnessed all that energy and laid out the blueprint for all this to happen was page.
as a young man cutting his teeth in the london session scene page performed on tracks for the who, the kinks, and donovan. in fact one of my favourite jimmy moments isn’t even a part of zep’s canon, it’s the first three notes he plays in joe cocker’s version of “with a little help from my friends”. he hangs onto to those notes like his life depended on it which truly showcases his incredible feel and passion for the instrument. jimmy had it all — smoking chops, amazing tones, a veritable riff machine, he was badass cool, wore great clothes, the dude even had better hair than everybody else. on the short list for the “greatest rock star of all time” title (yet again, another list), pagey was also a really debaucherous fellow which is how i like my rockstars. ahhh the stories he could tell. anyway i chose jimmy for the number one spot because i cant think of anybody else that fits all of my “personal criteria” whereas jimmy nails it. one aspect of page’s immense talent that seems to be undervalued is his revolutionary production chops. listen to any album recorded in the 60’s then put on zep 1. no comparison, sonically nothing had sounded like that before, nothing.
like i said the guy had it all (just stay away from the mid-late 70’s bootleg stuff, not good. let’s just he had some issues with drugs at the time). jimmy, like beethoven, is a genius and his music will be around for as long. i’ll bet some of you thought that another “jimi” would be in this spot. sorry.
essential listening: really?
Let Them Eat Vinyl 