I went to Edinburgh. My first time there and first time in Scotland. It's a great place, you should go. Would have been good to be there longer, but I'm sure i'll head back soon...
Great city, great country, great scenery, great whiskey and great company...
There's a new Yogi Bear movie out. Mixing live action, the lastest CGI, Dan Akroyd, Justin Timberlake and a blonde actress who's been in things like Scary Movie but it's OK to like her because she was in Lost In Translation and it was ironic somehow.
....anyway, needless to say this new Yogi Bear film is awful looking and I imagine the whole movie is largely unwatchable. Shame, seeing as I have fond memories of the original Hanna-Barbera Yogi Bear cartoons.
But this parody of an alternate ending to the new movie nearly made me laugh and cry at the same time....
A mock up of the infamous legend of the assassination of Jesse James by Robert Ford. The clip even uses Nick Cave & Warren Ellis mesmerizing score from the film The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.
"Don't that poster look dusty"
Thanks to Sam Cuthbert for alerting me to this and consistently keeping me amused, bewildered, confused and concerned at least three days a week! Follow him and his truly profound and essential musings on Twitter here twitter.com/#!/offthecuth. If you're lucky enough to live in or around Brixton, or you often frequent the Ritzy, then you can check out his ramblings in print form in their programme.
Here's one last piece of vital information from the original Yogi Bear himself...
After watching it a couple of times, I wondered why the whole song was in the trailer, and then why the trailer was over 3 minutes long? It was also weird that the song sounded like The Black Keys and those dudes crudely dressed as Mariachi's looked a bit like The Black Keys. So sure enough, this ain't no movie trailer, it's full music video for The Black lips track of the same name in the style of some killer looking action revenge flick!
I think I could handle a whole movie of this...
"I'm pretty sure God would consider it a sin NOT to glorify that ass!"
I intercepted two of my friends linking this trailer on facebook and now I can't wait to catch this documentary...
AMERICAN GRINDHOUSE
This is about the history of some of seedier, nastier elements of cinema....some say that Grindhosue and Exploitation movies are all but gone (for better or worse) from today's cinema but this doc could show how vital elements of these films still run rampant in the film industry today, and how some of the core themes and messages (if you want to call them that) have carried through to todays Hollywood blockbusters. This is the essential dirty side to all that is great a about cinema and the movies.
Loads of Big Hype (and an Oscar nomination) around this movie ANIMAL KINGDOM, about an Australian family and the deep criminal underwolrd of Melbourne. A massive win at last years Sundance festival is always a promising accolade to hold when heading into cinemas, and it has also been paralleled in comparison with (amongst other great films) Michael Mann's Heat...strong all round!
Werner Herzog is one of the most prolific and outstanding filmmakers still working today. His movies, documentaries, shorts, operas, teachings and general life story display an incredible perception of life and all the big questions that surround us daily. He is known as one of the most hands on directors, often literally putting himself through what he wants to depict in his films. Through his work, we can see a never ending desire for knowledge and to gain experience, whilst also playing with and developing the rules of film and film making.
His back catalogue contains some of the most vital and dynamic examples of what film can be. With Cave of Forgotten Dreams he has now taken a new medium into his hands, by making a 3D documentary that explores the incredible Chavuet Caves, in which hold the earliest known man mad cave paintings.
This film will no doubt be an extraordinary experience, delving into an ancient past with a thoroughly modern medium, with a genuinely visionary film maker.
Although, Herzog's work is perceived as very deep, serious and full of a sometimes overbearing art-house stigma, there is a lot of humor and playfulness in his films. Some of his style of humor can be seen in this fantastic short film where Hervog narrates as a plastic bag on an Odyssey into time and the meaning of life...
'you may be thinking, "hey, shut up and enjoy the sunset you idiot!", well I don't care what you think!'
And this isn't even Herzog himself, but it's just so good...
...a litany of dreary picture postcards sent from arbitrary locations the world over...
...is zat a scroll? Or merely a rolled up towel? After trying zo hard to find ze scroll are ve sure ve can handle zer real ansvver?
All this and I haven't even mentioned Klaus Kinski, Nicholas Cage or Grizzly Man yet.....!
Last week was a busy one. In amongst all the films, too-ing anf fro-ing from London and finishing off season 5 of The Wire I also caught three amazing shows and a slick new club launch!
I'm sure you've all heard plenty of noise about Esben and The Witch recently, their debut album Violent Cries was released last week and a tour was commencing. They plaid an awesome show at Pavillion Theatre, Brighton. Dark, moody, melodic, sporadic and so full of atmosphere you could get lost in it. They make complicated music using a range of loops, samples and riffs that they manage to pull together into some kind of musical cohesion. Yet they can also strip their music back to simply three people bashing the shit out of a drum (personal highlight). Great seeing a young band push themselves and music somewhere that results in more than just an immediate passive experience.
Here's their video for Marching Song.
Two days later I caught another astonishing show, the ever great Richard Thompson at The Dome. This guy is old now, but he's still the best damn guitar player I've ever seen and he has a band that puts todays indie boys to shame.
It's hard to find some real new and decent live footage of him and his band (they don't need no MTV vids) but this is a little taste from TV about ten years ago...
If you spend the best part of two hours watching this band play live you'll literally be blown away by the intensity, complexity and incredible natural flow and understanding of music that is impossible to replicate on record. These guys can take a song in 9/8 timing (olde folky English morris dancing like) and mix it with hell raising 80s metal guitar solos (that's not the whole show by the way) and make it sound not only credible but truly remarkable and incredibly visceral.
After that show and being slightly aware that I was the probably by far the youngest person in 2000 capacity venue, I fled to a place where I was probably one the oldest....
("In the right place at the wrong time? That's how I feel every day." Jack White)
The Haunt is a real trendy new dive (literally right on my doorstep), and the opening night saw some great acts such as Is Tropical, Romy XX and Kim Ann Foxman playing to some of Brighton's trendiest new hipsters....I can see many a debauched filled night taking place here...YES!
One of my favourite bands formed since I've been around and appreciating real music has ended. THE WHITE STRIPES are done.
Not really a massive surprise seeing as they haven't done anything (as The White Stripes) for over three years, but still, sad that there won't be any more music from the duo. I know they sounded pretty rough around the edges and often out of time (and tune), and Meg really couldn't play the drums for shit, but thats not the point dammit!...(or maybe it was?)
Not only were their tunes great, but their clear links and ties to a shared musical heritage resonated beyond the music of their beloved blues, country and punk. This combined with their self styled image and the progression of their remarkable, striking and original music videos made The White Stripes simultaneously a band steeped in old style roots and references while continuing to push all that is new and exciting about making music.
However, they signed out with a marvelous and eloquent farewell...
"The White Stripes do not belong to Meg and Jack anymore The White Stripes belong to you now and you can do with it whatever you want. The beauty of art and music is that it can last forever if people want it to."
Great city, great country, great scenery, great whiskey and great company...
