Pure Reason Revolution

I am constantly reminded by my iPod that I possess an incredible album by a British band called Pure Reason Revolution. Their debut album, The Dark Third is full of LSD-inspired, haze-inducing, catchy-as-fuck prog epics unheard of ever since Roger Waters decided to run Pink Floyd like Robert Mugabe runs Zimbabwe.

Their sound is also reminiscent of The Beach Boys, but fortunately they try to do something different in each song instead of not fixing the-thing-that-ain't-broke.

I can't wait for their new album and I hope to see them out here on the East Coast very soon, because they are, right now, occupying the coveted spot of the-band-I-have-to-see-that-still-exists-today. And, I think they will be there until Zeppelin decides to tour, or something.

Peace.

Top 10 Albums re-vamp

Like I said, those Top 10 lists are flexible. In fact, this has just come to my attention. While doing some research, as you do, I found out that the one Moonsorrow album I have, Viides Luku - Havietty was actually released in 2007.

For those of you not familiar with Moonsorrow, they are a Finnish metal band that incorporate black metal with extreme prog doodling. As a result, you have an album with two songs. The shorter one is just over 26 minutes long. It is an insane album - no crazy prog stuff I have comes even close to these songs. They are absolutely amazing. Hence, without further ado, I present you my revised Top 10 Albums of 2007:

1- Raising Sand by Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
2- The End Is Begun by 3
3- Black Stone Cherry by Black Stone Cherry
4- Hello Master by Priestess
5- From Beale Street to Oblivion by Clutch
6- Dark Passion Play by Nightwish
7- Viides Luku - Havietty by Moonsorrow
8- III: Over the Under by Down
9- United Abominations by Megadeth
10- Send Away the Tigers by Manic Street Preachers

I feel sorry for Porcupine Tree's Fear of a Dark Planet, but a late run by these Finns is unavoidable. Also for statistical reasons, there are two bands from Finland on this list. The other is NIghtwish. Those crazy Finns...they are pretty good drivers, too. What's up with that?

Peace

80th Academy Award Nominees

And here it is...quite probably the most exciting time in moviedom is nigh. This morning, the Academy (whoever they are) announced the nominees for the upcoming ceremony. Now, there is a key question here: will there be a ceremony?

I'm not a fan of the red carpet shenanigans of the celebrities and their new hot dresses. However, the Golden Globes showed that without the ceremony, the awards are useless. Absolutely obsolete. The only use for them is to print them on the DVD covers to pump up the sales for the "critically acclaimed fare".

Without further ado, let me give you my humble analysis of this year's nominees:

BEST ACTOR:
- George Clooney for Michael Clayton - a shoe-in nomination, but I don't think the movie, or the performance actually, was memorable enough to win.

- Daniel Day-Lewis for There Will Be Blood - whenever he is nominated, he is the favourite - deservedly. The Academy still owes him for Gangs of New York. Regardless, he is a god among acting talent.

- Johnny Depp for Sweeney Todd - Oh, Johnny...who doesn't love you? But, I still feel he had a better chance for Pirates.

- Tommy Lee Jones for In the Valley of Elah - I haven't seen the film, but I'm pretty sure he did a great job. However...who saw the movie in the first place?

- Viggo Mortensen for Eastern Promises - the fight scene in the bathhouse is deserving the nomination alone, but it feels like a caricature role.

And the winner is...Daniel Day-Lewis

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

- Casey Affleck for The Assassination of Jesse James - for me this was the performance of the year. And any other year, it would have been the clear favourite. But...

- Javier Bardem for No Country for Old Men- ...as usual, Mr. Bardem steals the show. One of the scariest characters ever put on film.

- Philip Seymour Hoffman for Charlie Wilson's War - perhaps the movie is too light for Oscar, but Hoffman always delivers.

- Hal Holbrook for Into the Wild - just hoping that the Academy gives the award to the person who deserved it this year and not make amends to clear up old omissions...

- Tom Wilkinson for Michael Clayton - good performance, but again, not that memorable.

And the winner is...Javier Bardem

BEST ACTRESS

- Cate Blanchett for Elizabeth II - she should have won for the first one. This feels a little bit of a stretch to me.

- Julie Christie for Away From Her - the momentum from the Globes should carry her to the finish line.

- Marion Cotillard for La Vie en Rose - a role tailor-made for Academy, but her downfall could be that the Academy might favor an American, or better-said, an English-speaker.

- Laura Linney for The Savages - has she been not good at anything?

- Ellen Page for Juno - the best thing in the movie. She might be too young to win, but I wouldn't be surprised.

And the winner is...Ellen Page

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

- Cate Blanchett for I'm Not There- a woman playing a guy? An icon? The only thing against her is that she won this award before.

- Ruby Dee for American Gangster - a filler nomination.

- Saoirse Ronan for Atonement - I thought Keira Knightley's performance was far more moving, but she did a good job.

- Amy Ryan for Gone Baby Gone - one of the two revelations from the movie (the other is Ben).

- Tilda Swinton for Michael Clayton - another amazing performance. Unfortunately, the movie doesn't have enough buzz.

And the winner is...Cate Blanchett

BEST ART DIRECTION

- American Gangster - it was Harlem, all right. But it wasn't anything special,

- Atonement - looked and felt amazing. Without extreme theatricality, it replicates the time perfectly.

- The Golden Compass - Pullman's world is hard to bring onto the screen, but they did a good job of it.

- Sweeney Todd - haven't seen it yet, but Burton's films always looked stunning.

- There Will Be Blood - a strange choice, maybe, but a very strong contender.

And the winner is...Atonement

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

- The Assassination of Jesse James... - the sepia colors, the scenery, the look...absolutely fantastic.

- Atonement - some very clever camerawork and the interior shots are great too.

- The Diving Bell and the Butterfly - haven't seen it yet, but if the trailers are anything to go by, then this could be the dark horse.

- No Country for Old Men - when was the last time a Coens movie didn't look great? Can't remember? Because there isn't one.

- There Will Be Blood - I think Day-Lewis' performance takes all the attention away from the camera.

And the winner is...The Assassination of Jesse James

BEST DIRECTING

- Julian Schnabel for The Diving Bell and the Butterfly - perhaps a surprise win in the Globes, but it looks like a real contender.

- Jason Reitman for Juno - well, clearly the thing that struck with this was Ellen Page. Not a director's movie. I'm sure Ang Lee is cringing somewhere...

- Tony Gilroy for Michael Clayton - it looks good but a tad too slow and pretentious.

- Joel & Ethan Coen for No Country for Old Men - it's their year, for sure.

- P.T. Anderson for There Will Be Blood - every film student's favourite film director, but will the Academy like him as much.

And the winner is...are...the Coens

EDITING

- The Bourne Ultimatum - the only thing going for it was the editing, but it might be a little too hectic for the older members.

- The Diving Bell and the Butterfly - again, judging from the trailer, it might just go home with the trophy.

- Into the Wild - haven't seen this one too, so I have no comments...

- No Country for Old Men - the Coens have always been very meticulous, and this is no exception.

- There Will Be Blood - again, too strong a performance for the movie to shine elsewhere.

And the winner is...The Bourne Ultimatum

FOREIGN LANGUAGE

Unfortunately for me, I haven't seen any of these films yet. I blame the time I spent in Los Angeles.

ORIGINAL SCORE

- Atonement - the use of typewriters as percussion was genius and it added another layer of tension to the film.

- The Kite Runner - haven't seen this one either, but I read a lot about how good it is.

- Michael Clayton - I can't even remember the music...

- Ratatouille - too much Pixar brass gives me a headache.

- 3:10 to Yuma - westerns always do well in music, so this could be a contender.

And the winner is...Atonement

BEST MOTION PICTURE

- Atonement - the inconsistency in the second half will be the downfall of this otherwise shoe-in-genre film.

- Juno - too light and indie to win, but even the nomination is as good as a win. And the cliche...this year's Little Miss Sunshine

- Michael Clayton - it was too long ago for the members to even remember it. It wasn't that good anyway.

- No Country for Old Men - if this doesn't win...well...I will do something else with my life.

- There Will Be Blood - perhaps too dark to win.

And the winner is...No Country for Old Men

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

- Christopher Hampton for Atonement - a beautiful script with sharp dialogue, but the shift in second half is a little awkward.

- Sarah Polley fort Away From Her - a filler nomination.

- Ronald Harwood for The Diving Bell and the Butterfly - when it comes to scripts, the Academy has a soft spot for the foreign films, so it wouldn't be a huge surprise.

- Joel & Ethan Coen for No Country for Old Men - it might be a little too faithful to the novel, but the Coens use some of their magic too.

- Paul Thomas Anderson for There Will Be Blood - not a screenwriting movie.

And the winner is...are..the Coens.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

- Diablo Cody for Juno - this will win, but it doesn't take enough risks. Then again, that's perfect for the Academy.

- Nancy Oliver for Lars and the Real Girl - I'm pretty sure the premise is a lot more interesting than the end result.

- Tony Gilroy for Michael Clayton - serious subject matter could be working in its favour.

- Brad Bird, Ian Pinkava, Jim Capobianco for Ratatouille - the animated scripts are, unfortunately, bound to the animation...so, I'm not sure this is good enough

- Tamara Jenkins for The Savages - I'm not sure if anybody has seen this yet...

And the winner is...Juno

So here it is folks. These are only some of the nominees...the ones I care about anyway. So, we'll see in four weeks whether I did good or not. Then again, my picks might change as I watch the other nominated films.

So until then...

Peace

Assorted Top 10s on the 'Net

Like I said before, there's no way escaping the Top 10s and this will be no exception. While I was measuring the waves of the Internet, I came across a few Top 10 films of the year. And I thought I might share them with you.

First off, let's start with the World's Most Respected Film Critique...me:
1- No Country for Old Men
2- The Lives of Others
3- The Assassination of Jesse James...
4- Gone Baby Gone
5- Knocked up
6- Feast of Love
7- Sunshine
8- Atonement
9- Eastern Promises
10- Hot Fuzz

Rotten Tomatoes gives an interesting list, where Ratatouille comes up as number one. Although I'm not a huge Pixar fan, I can't say I enjoyed it too much. That said, it's better than a couple of the films they put on Top 10: Hairspray and Zodiac. I have nothing against the latter, but...come on...Cute doesn't mean good. Then again, I had Feast of Love on my list...

Top Ten Reviews features a more-or-less consensus list, as it is compiled from various reviews across the board. Ratatouille once again comes up as the leader. The one rather interesting entry is the Korean monster flick, The Host. I had some issues with the tone of the film. In fact, I am stuck with writing a review for it. Watch this space.

Richard Corliss (Time), meanwhile, compiles this list, where the top two slots are the same as Yours Truly. However, he puts a reissue, Charles Burnett's classic Killer of Sheep. I'm not sure if it should be eligible. As far as a naturalist approach goes, the film has few peers, but its merits end there. Oh, and his list also features Beowulf...

Roger Ebert compiled a very unremarkable list (very much like mine, actually...). He puts Juno in number one. Even though I enjoyed watching it, one thing stuck with me throughout: could it have been less predictable had it taken some risks?

On that note, I will give the list of one of my friends. Here's the Top 10 list of Wheeler Maidrand Crowley:
1- Juno
2- Gone Baby Gone
3- No Country for Old Men
4- Superbad
5- The Bourne Ultimatum
6- The Lookout
7- The Assassination of Jesse James...
8- Knocked up
9- Southland Tales
10- Grindhouse

I have seen nearly half of these films with him, so I'm not surprised at their inclusion. But, dude...The Lookout? Really?

And finally, a little bit of research on my part from the imdb. From their list of films between the years 2000 and 2009, these are the Top 10 of the year:

1- There Will Be Blood
2- No Country for Old Men
3- Juno
4- Ratatouille
5- The Bourne Ultimatum
6- Sweeney Todd...
7- American Gangster (What?! - ed.)
8- 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days
9- The Man from Earth
10-3:10 to Yuma

The people spoke.

Peace.

Top 10 Films Re-Boot

You might remember my Top 10 films of the year blog about a week ago. There I mentioned that any 2007 film that I would see is likely to creep up into the list.



Today I was flabbergasted by "The Lives of Others" and I wanted to put it in its deserving spot of No. 2 (sorry, "No Country..." still rocks). However, some Internet searching reveals that (actually imdb) the said film was first released in 2006. The catch is it was released in festivals and what-not. It entered the American and British markets in 2007. In other words, even though it was originally released in 2006, there was no way for me to legally watch it then.



So, here is the updated Top 10 films of 2007:

1- No Country for Old Men (Dir: Joel & Ethan Coen)

2- The Lives of Others (Dir: Florian Henckel Von Donnersmarck)

3- The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (Dir: Andrew Dominik)

4- Gone Baby Gone (Dir: Ben Affleck)

5- Knocked up (Dir: Judd Apatow)

6- Feast of Love (Dir: Robert Benton)

7- Sunshine (Dir: Danny Boyle)

8- Atonement (Dir: Joe Wright)

9- Eastern Promises (Dir: David Cronenberg)

10- Hot Fuzz (Dir: Edgar Wright)

W.A.S.P.

As per usual, I was perusing the Holy Land of cyberspace with my iTunes on (don't worry, this is not another iTunes-related blog) and a song that I haven't played for a long time came on: Chainsaw Charlie (Murders in the Rue Morgue) by the almost-inimitable monsters of shock-rock W.A.S.P..

There seems to be a reason why this band never got the notoriety they deserved. Yes, they were following in the footsteps of Alice Cooper; they were not as campy and catchy as Twisted Sister (but, my God, they are so much better); and they weren't as controversial as the God of Fuck, Mr. Marilyn 'look-I'm-so-clever-I should-be-a-philosopher' Manson.

W.A.S.P. had the chops to compete the best of them and for some unknown reason they are not mentioned when there is a stupid thing that a teenager does somewhere. Where are you, people? I mean we are talking about a band whose lead singer (with the awesome name of Blackie Lawless) sharpening the knife he attaches to his crotch on stage! He climbs on to his microphone, which is essentially a motorcycle handlebar with a myriad of skulls and chains! And, with the exception of Mr. Furnier, he can write songs. Take a listen to Animal (Fuck Like a Beast), L.O.V.E. Machine, The Idol, The Headless Children, or the absolutely amazing I Wanna Be Somebody. In fact I dare anybody not to feel pumped up and ready to smash something after listening to the latter song.

Actually, and I am contradicting myself wildly here, I was very surprised at the number of people that showed up to their gig in Nottingham Rock City a few years back. But then again, a lot of people show up for any band that comes to Rock City.

I dedicate this day to W.A.S.P. and their amazing repertoire. What was I going to say? Oh yeah, and I am going to be somebody today!

Peace.

iTunes Survey

It seems like I can't get enough of this. But I promise this is the last one of its kind. This is by false45th. Here were my results:

How many songs: 7063

Sort by Song:
First song: "A Tout le Monde" by Megadeth
Last song: "10001110101" by Clutch

Sort by Time:
Shortest song: "Interlude #1" by Warrant (0:10)
Longest song: "Jddstd Syntynyt" by Moonsorrow (30:10)
[technically speaking it should be "Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence" by Dream Theater (41:17), but iTunes somehow divides the song into 8 parts]

Sort by Artist:
First artist: AC/DC
Last artist: 311

Sort by Album:
First album: "Abandon" by Deep Purple
Last album: "5150" by Van Halen

Top 3 Most Played Songs:
1- "Jolene" by The White Stripes (53 times)
2- "Supermassive Black Hole" by Muse (40 times)
3- "Stand by Me" by Ben E. King (37 times)
"Redneck" by Lamb Of God (37 times)

First Song that Comes up on Shuffle:
"Halo of Flies" by Alice Cooper

Search...:
"sex" - 23
"death" - 93
"love" - 393
"you" - 620

Number of Songs Starting with "I", "I'm", "I'll", "I've", "I'd" - 153

Songs with the Most Different Versions:
I don't have more than two versions of any song and there are too many to name here.

Peace