Blind Pilot Expunged Records

Oregon. What hasn’t it given us? The Goonies, Clyde Drexler’s pro career, heinous college football uniforms and a certain trail turned computer game immortalized forever by inflicting death via dysentery. And after all that, the state just continues to give and give. Today it gives us a talented, melow indie rock group to compliment the impending crisp fall afternoons. This group reminds me of The Shins, and has already toured with The Counting Crows, The Hold Steady and The Decemberists. They blend outstanding vocals with a wide assortment of stringed instruments, yet rarely would I consider any of their songs to be more than mid tempo. And that’s a stretch (Read: this band is very low-key and laid back with its sound). Get ready to check out the group with quite possibly my favorite album of the year: Three Rounds and a Sound.

-John

New EA Sports game featuring some sweet spots with Johnny Mac. That guy’s pretty awesome.

-John

I’m sure you’ve all been super anxious and unable to sleep trying to figure out my top five favorite movies from this past summer. What could they be? When will he tell us? I want to like all of the same things that he likes and I can’t effectively do that until I know what his favorite summer movies are. Wait no longer - top 5 in your face:

#5 - Star Trek

This was a tough one. I couldn’t decide if this should come in at number 4 or number 5. Really, it could go either way, but right this second, and for the purpose of completing this list, it was the fifth best movie I saw this summer. Fifth out of a very strong five mind you. Going in I had only seen the original two films and quite honestly didn’t like either one of them and do not consider myself a Star Trek fan at all. However, the greatest accomplishment this film achieved was appealing to people just like me while holding as true as possible to the original lore - or so I hear. Also, my boy J.J. Abrams was attached and I knew he would deliver the goods. And he did. The script was a polished balance of light-hearted humor and effective action-movie dialogue, with excellent delivery from the actors, who were perfectly cast. Sci-fi dialogue can be difficult to deliver sometimes, especially when talking about fictional creatures and the technical workings of intricate space technology that doesn’t exist, but there were no forced lines and the jokes were well-timed. We got a good look into the back story of Captain Kirk & Co. in a way that didn’t alienate people with no prior knowledge of the Star Trek mythology. The real showpieces of the film, of course, were the action sequences. The special effects were first-rate and didn’t have that “too computerized” look that plagues so many modern films, but they also didn’t dominate the scenes, allowing for the actors’ good-old-fashioned stuntwork to be prominently featured. The scene where an adolescent Kirk steals a car and the one where he runs from some kind of snow monster are particularly good examples of this. The movie hit on all cyliders and is arguably the best action film of the year (I think the only other movie in that discussion is Watchmen). Don’t let the 5th place fool you - it is well worth the rental money.

#4 - The Hurt Locker

Director Kathryn Bigelow continues to prove that a female director is more than capable of directing poignant action movies and war films entrenched in the mannerisms and camaraderie unique to all-male military outifts. A daunting proposition, to be sure, but Bigelow cut her teeth in the action genre years ago directing Point Break (Utah, make it two) and K-19: The Widowmaker. The Hurt Locker focuses on a bomb disposal unit in modern day Iraq and the nerve-racking peril they often encounter when disarming roadside bombs in the midst of hostile Iraqi neighborhoods. The tension is more than palpable in the bomb defusal scenes and it does a remarkable job of detailing all of the unknown variables that can go into disarming even the crudest of make-shift explosives. Those guys truly find themselves in some unbelievably dangerous situations where they have to force themselves to remain calm or risk detonating a bomb that could take out a city block. The main cast is a who’s who of “I totally recognize that guy, but can’t figure out from where”, with Jeremy Renner taking the lead and delivering an Oscar-worthy performance of a bomb defuser who is fearless on the job, but has lost the abililty to function in normal society. Also be on the lookout for some stellar cameos by Guy Pearce, David Morse, Ralph Fiennes and the stunningly attractive Evangeline Lilly. Not necessarily a feel good movie, but a movie of excellent quality nonetheless, and certainly a welcome variation to your standard summer blockbuster release.

#2a - The Hangover

And then there were three. These next three were absolutely my three favorites of the summer, but I really couldn’t decide between my number two and number three selection, so I was forced to make it a tie for second place. A fitting compromise for two excellent movies that were fantsatic for wildly different reasons. The Hangover is awesome, that’s no secret. Just about everyone loved it - not everyone, but just about - and it introduced a large part of the world to Zach Galifianakis and his comedic ability. Like anything great, it’s hard to put your finger on exactly why this movie was so well-received, but more than likely it’s the combination of several factors working together. Perfect marketing - it delivered exactly what it said it would based on the trailers. Perfect casting - no dominant actor needed, so Cooper, Helms and Galifianakis were each able to shine in bursts, and in very different ways (I thought Cooper was hilarious and loved seeing Helms in the “every guy” role). Perfect script - it gave you ridiculous scenarios that seemed mildly plausible, hilarious plot devices (tiger & baby), and quotable dialogue (wolfpack of one); everything you need in a summer comedy. There was also a steady balance of smarter humor and shock value comedy as evidenced when comparing the scenes where Cooper and Helms mock Galifianakis, to the closing credits. Stark contrast, yet both work for the film. It’s a top-notch comedy with a sequel already in the works (hopefully it won’t be called Hangover 2, because that wouldn’t make sense) and ties for second on my summer movie list. If Megan Fox were in it, it could have been 2nd by itself. Maybe. Probably.

#2b - Inglourious Basterds

So here’s the other half of my two-way tie for second - Tarantino’s saga devoted to the punishment of Nazis. Punishment in its most brutal and merciless form. So, going into the movie I had this thought: “Tarantino is directing a film starring Brad Pitt, where he leads a team into Germany with the sole mission of torturing and murdering Nazis? This could be the best movie ever made.” While it wasn’t able to live up to that lofty expectation, I was treated to a parade of everything great about Tarantino films, as well as a brilliant surprise performance from Christopher Waltz (who earned himself a villain role in Green Hornet after this). First of all, I love Tarantino. Because of that - I like all of the nuances of his style. I love his back and forth dialogue, his penchant for the bizarre and his ability to use realistic gore and violence in an unrealistic way. I say that to say that if you feel the opposite, this movie is not for you. It is much more dialogue heavy than expected and some scenes do move very slowly. In fact, I would say while I can appreciate the slow pacing in certain scenarios (David Lynch is a master of the snail-like pace during scenes of tension and urgency) the one down side to the movie was that we didn’t get enough footage of the Basterds doing their thing and wreaking havoc throughout the French countryside. Brad Pitt was great, and his southern flair and backwoods charm came shining through to provide fantastic comic relief and a believable no-nonsense Lieutenant. Some people thought he was over-the-top, but I thought he was perfect and the best part of the movie. The opening scene, with Christopher Waltz expertly showing his snake like charm and venom, is a testament to Tarantino’s brilliance as a writer and a director and sets the tone perfectly for the film. I loved the dialogue, the characters, the humor, the action, the gratuitous violence - the whole 2 1/2 hour package. But as I said earlier - I love Tarantino.

#1 - 500 Days of Summer

So here it is - my favorite movie of the summer. Maybe a surprise to some of you, maybe not. And before we get started, no, I did not pick this solely because Zooey Deschanel is in it. Although, that didn’t hurt. My ranking for this movie is extremely subjective and I realize that without a personal connection one would probably rate it lower than some of the others on the list. However, I had that connection. I related to this movie on many different levels (probably a little too much) and I feel it’s the most accurate relationship movie I’ve ever seen. It beautifully highlights the subtle actions of a relationship that define in which direction it will ultimately go. The shared jokes, the conversations where you should have seen trouble, the struggle between true feelings and convenience and the ability to be led-on by someone (or lead them on) even when you know it will lead to your own unhappiness. It illuminates the highest highs of love - the feeling of unbridled happiness - but doesn’t leave out the often glossed over despair of unrequited love. The script was unexpectedly witty (be alert because many of the jokes are told so off-the-cuff that they’re easy to miss) and Deschanel and Gordon-Levitt were perfectly cast. Who knew the kid from “3rd Rock From the Sun” would turn out to be a good actor, and Deschanel was so convincing as the “indecisive heartbreaker” that I found myself actually disliking her during the movie - something I didn’t think I was capable of doing. The scene where we see Gordon-Levitt’s expectations vs. reality in a split-screen format is perfect. I mean 100% flawless. It was something to which everyone can relate. There was also creativity to spare. Out-of-sequence formatting, sporadic dance numbers, animation and the overall visual style were all utilized effectively, but in a way that directly tied to the storyline and not as ostentatious excess. Anyway, I could go on about this movie all day, but I’m sure you all get the idea. It really stayed with me after I saw it and I still find myself reviewing/analyzing scenes sometimes. It’s the movie I always wanted to write about girls, but never did. It’s not your standard romantic comedy, probably not a romantic comedy at all, and I recommend it highly. It’s rare that a movie lives up to expectations these days, but this one certainly did - and I had the bar set pretty high going in.

There you have it. I hope you enjoyed my run down of my favorite summer movies. I trust you all feel more informed and able to make smart rental decisions in the coming weeks and months. I don’t charge a fee for my services, but will accept lavish praise in the comments section. And cash. I always accept cash. And Megan Fox.

-John

Fanfarlo Felt Tip Records/White Heat

A London-based band, fronted by a Swede, that incorporates all sorts of unorthodox instruments (a mandolin? say what!?), has played at SXSW, toured with Snow Patrol, recently played LA with Chapel Hill’s own Love Language, and just released their first full-length album back in February of this year sounds like this:

-John

(Thanks to PCC2C fan Meredith H. for the tip)

This summer, some movies came out. Additionally, and not unrelatedly, (that can’t be a word) I went to some movies this summer. It’s true, ask around. In fact, I saw nine movies this summer - summer being defined as the weekend Star Trek came out until Labor Day - and seven of them were really good. So, now I’m going tell you what I thought about those nine movies, and rank them, so that if you didn’t see them you’ll be educated when deciding on what movies to throw in your respective Netflix/Blockbuster queue. It’s my present to you all.

#9 GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra

Contrary to popular belief, this movie doesn’t really pit GI Joe vs. COBRA. Actually, our favorite, top secret, nickname only, elite fighting squad battles Destro and his army of mindless soldiers. The story revolves around nano-technology and the premise that, apparently, there is no limit to its power. In fact, a creepy scientist with a warped face (never a desirable adjective when describing one’s face) used nanotechnology to make Destro’s soldiers mindless! OMG! I suspect real nanotechnology may have a power limit, but not in GI Joe world. In the end GI Joe wins, but no one really dies (true to the cartoon), so we get to see ol’ warped face transform into Cobra Commander and head off into the distance. Overall, the movie was just ok. It had a lot of action, but the effects were a little too computer-enhanced and made some scenes look kind of lame. The dialogue was pretty bad, and even though that was to be expected - it was still really bad. Jokes fell awkwardly flat and the actors’ deliveries ranged from poor to very poor. Especially Channing Tatum. On top of being a great dancer, I’ve heard he’s actually a really funny guy, so maybe a different style of comedic material would have been appropriate for him - like if he “stepped it up” and breakdanced on Cobra Commanders warped-ass face. That would have been sweet. Other pluses: Sienna Miller & Rachel Nichols (pictured above) were both hot, there was a sweet scene between Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow from when they were kids, and a really well put together military flashback during what looked like Desert Storm. Also, there was a Boom Boom Pow remix over the credits. I love that song. The movie wasn’t great, but it wasn’t terrible. I would say it was offically “just ok”, and rank it 9th out of my 9 summer movies.

#8 Transformers 2: Revenge of The Fallen

Critics destroyed this movie after it came out. They said it was a travesty. A disgrace. The worst movie ever made. I’m not really sure what these people were expecting. There were some good robots and some bad robots and then they fought each other periodically. During the periods of non-fighting, the robots were all looking for some ancient space artifact, Megan Fox was face-warpingly hot (that may be my new phrase), Shia LaBeouf was 50/50 with his jokes, and a lot of stuff exploded. Pretty much a replica of the first movie. Not astounding, but entertaining. Other good aspects: The Constructacons, the Deceptacon posing as a blazing hot college girl, and Megan Fox. Things that were not good: the extremely lame dream sequence where Shia meets Optimus Prime’s ancestors - it was terrible, the two mildly racist autobots who were supposed to be from the hood or something and the scene where LaBeouf’s parents got high. Overall - definitely worth watching, not nearly as bad as people said, but due to the fact that I ended up seeing a bunch of good movies this summer, it only ranks 8th out of 9. Megan Fox.

#7 The Cove

So here’s where they start getting good. It was pretty tough to rank the following seven, because I enjoyed them all a lot. Yet, I did it anyway. Coming in at number seven is The Cove. A movie that dolphin lovers really want to see and then probably wish they hadn’t. Because of all the dolphin killing. They go in to the theater to support dolphins and then get an eyeful of murderous Japanese fisherman hacking away. The movie follows Richard O’ Barry of Flipper fame as he engages in environmental activism, trying to undo the harm he did to dolphins during his ten years on the show. He feels responsible for popularizing trained dolphins due to the success of the show in the 1960s. He travels the world, often being banned in certain towns for trying to deter fisherman and whalers, raising awareness (I hate that phrase - not even sure what it really means) on the cruelty of confining dolphins withiin water parks. Due to his infamous presence, he joins up with some filmmakers to form a crack squadron capable of shedding light on the atrocities being committed against dolphins. Cool things in the movie: pretty sweet covert action, trying to get audio/video footage of the actual cove area where most of the butchering takes place; sweet footage of dolphins underwater; and some good comedy at the expense of less wealthy island nations. Not so great parts: some themes were a little repetitive and preachy, and there wasn’t as much covert, night-vision footage as I would have liked. I like me some covert night-vision footage. A very solid documentary and well worth watching.

#6 District 9

This ranking is a testament to the overall strength of the movies I saw this summer, not a poor reflection of this particular film. District 9 is a very well written, engaging movie with some of the more imaginative action sequences I’ve seen in a long time. The basic premise is that aliens visit Earth, their ship breaks down, and then humans forbid them from leaving and make them live in slums until their weapons technology can be comprehended. The aliens are of a different biological composition than we’re used to seeing in the movie-world (they look like giant roaches that walk on two legs) and are a rare combination of superiority and inferiority that presents a very compelling dichotomy. The aliens are far more advanced with regard to technology and possess superior strength, yet are easily held captive on Earth by humans who don’t seem to fear them. The social commentary is layered throughout with thinly veiled references to Apartheid and general human rights, and Sharlto Copley is outstanding as our favorite alien social worker - watch for him to have a breakout year. It’s a fast-paced, unique film that may have ranked higher on this list if I hadn’t been so unbelievably tired while watching it. Highly recommend it.

Thus concludes Part 1 of my summer movie recap. I hope it was as poignant and soul-stirring as I had intended. My guess is that it was more soul-stirring but I can’t be sure until the polling is finished. Tune in soon for the thrilling conclusion to “Summer Movies Become Fall Rentals”…

-JS

I’ve been on a cooking kick over the last few months and I can’t tell you how tickled (it’s the first time I’ve ever used that word. Just trying it out) I was to stumble across this video of Christopher Walken making chicken. I have a few questions about this video.

#1 Who shot this video?
#2 Why doesn’t this person follow Christopher Walken around at all times and film him? You know that guy that digs green eggs and ham so much? That’s how I feel about Christopher Walken. I want him to be filmed at all times. If there was a channel dedicated to 24 hours of Christopher Walken, I would gladly watch it. He needs his own reality show asap.
#3 Whose kitchen is that? Seriously??? I have a crap-ass kitchen and it seems to be on par with the kitchen that Walken is using. Is he at someone’s home? Is it one of his many vacation homes? I want answers here.
#4 This isn’t so much of a question as it is a statement of fact. Those pears look delicious. Note to self: All future pears will only be consumed if cooked in an oven.
#5 Was that Walken’s cat at the end of the clip? That cat was hilarious. Man oh man, cats are funny. Maybe there should be a channel dedicated to just cats being funny. I would definitely dvr that while I watched the Christopher Walken channel.

RN

Andrew Bird Fat Possum

In the grand tradition of Wilco, Smashing Pumpkins, Kanye West, Common and many others, Chicago has come to offer you some of its finest music in the form of Andrew Bird. Mr. Bird embodies an interesting mix of folk and pop laced with relaxed vocals and an array of stringed instruments. Wikipedia even reports my man plays the glockenspiel. Right? The glockenspiel? How sweet is that? I’m not entirely sure what that even is, but this dude can jam one out. Respect. A friend of Chapel Hill’s Squirrel Nut Zippers and former labelmate of Ani DiFranco, Bird has come into his own over the past few years appearing on Letterman and Conan as a successful solo artist after some ensemble work throughout the nineties. Catch some of his melodic work below.

-john