this month from emusic:
david bowie
reality- even though it is new stuff, he is good. i recorded Pennebaker's Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars off of Palladia and have had Space Oddity stuck in my head for weeks.
eels
hombre loco- i used to listen to them all the time.
hoodoo gurus
stoneage romeo- just the half of the album i somehow didn't already have.
michael jackson
thriller- because it's good and i heard it a lot this week for some reason.
st. vincent
actor-because the singer was described as having "photogenic gamine looks" and the title sounded vaguely tragic.
pixies- a couple songs that have gone missing off of various hard drives.
if someone asked me my favorite album I would probably say:
the pixies
doolittlethree great movies i saw this week that may be some of the my favorite films released this year:
MoonGreat writing, great filmmaking. Love scifi. Love it. Makers of really good scifi have a special place in my heart and, probably, heaven. Sam Rockwell (as Sam Bell) was awesome as the lonely mooninite and demonstrates that having yourself as company isn't all that great. Of course, we already knew that. I just googled some Moon soundtrack-related questions and stumbled upon a review that called Sam a 'shambolic everyman'. It sounds right, but according to my close-minded spellcheck, it isn't.
I must be feeling pretty disconnected because being alone in space felt both ominous and familiar. Sometimes, I too feel like my heart is somewhere else and I'm just winding down the clock. Writer/director Duncan Jones is David Bowie's son. Inevitably, my "Space Oddity" mental soundtrack resurfaced with a vengeance. What a great song (not in the movie, to be clear).
The Hurt LockerI spend a lot of time thinking about war. Too much, maybe, but that is what the current job entails. I went to see this with a bunch of people from the office after my enthusiasm for the trailer proved contagious. Katheryn Bigelow's film effectively conveys how i've envisioned the experience of war would be: harrowing, randomly unjust, confusing as hell, and completely devoid of bullshit St. Crispin's day-style inspiring speeches. I thought a lot about disconnecting (from community) and sitting in a tin can after seeing this, too.
A couple of months ago, I was editing an interview with a war hero who'd attempted suicide (and is still struggling with PTSD and wrote a book) and the realization that he and I were the same age stopped me cold. I'd known already, but hadn't processed exactly what it meant. I discussed this briefly with a few people who wrongly interpreted that I was marveling at our vastly different life experience, but it was actually the responsibility I owe him. Not not me --or him-- specifically, though. Generations collectively bear their burdens-- and these are my peers. Iraq war II is our albatross and it won't be going away any time soon. It was just the sudden and overwhelming vision of a society touched by that kind of trauma that gave me pause. The Hurt Locker gives glimpses of that without making it the focus of the film.
500 Days of Summer I saw myself in it, but instead of feeling run over by a truck, I felt good. It was like something that might be called... perspective. It was also funny. This was augmented by the dude with the great laugh sitting in the center of the theater near the front row. I also fell deeply in love with Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) when he sang "Here Comes Your Man". (see above) It turns out I have a relatively new and surprising fondness for karaoke since my first experience with it this past January at a gay bar in Indiana.
I decided a while ago that I was not gonna write any more reviews. Consider these shambolic post-list ramblings.
