i make music

Well, since this is my blog, I guess this is the most appropriate place for me to debut my music. I've been working hard clicking buttons on my Laptop creating music that is sort of a mixmash of all the sorts of things I connect with. So it sort of ended up being an instrumental, post-rock, shoe-gaze, post-apocalyptic, 80's synth, epic. I'm doing it under the name 'Subsist the Apocalypse', which is ridiculous in all the right ways.

I embedded a flash player for the song at the top of the right hand menu, so throw on some headphones, (really, it plays much better that way) give a listen, and if you want you can come back over to this post and let me know what you think. If you really like it, and want a copy for yourself, I put a download link underneath the flash player. Just copy and paste the link in the address bar and your good to go. I'll keep posting music as I create it, so stay tuned.

Blood: The Last Vampire

Anyone who has seen the original anime that this live action version is based on would be wetting their pants in excitement for this film. This has great potential to be the best anime adaptation yet. It seems void of stupid casting decisions (Korean actress Jeon Ji Hyun looks perfect in the role of Saya), and it is reportedly going to stick very close to the source material. This gorgeous teaser trailer only heightens these expectations. For those of you unfamiliar with the story:

On the surface, Saya is a stunning 16-year old, but that youthful exterior hides the tormented soul of a 400 year-old halfling. Born to a human father and a vampire mother, she has for centuries been a loner obsessed with using her samurai skills to rid the world of vampires, all the while knowing that she herself can survive only on blood like those she hunts.
When she is sent onto an American military base in Tokyo by the clandestine organization she works for, Saya immediately senses that this may be her opportunity to finally destroy Onigen, the evil patriarch of all vampires. Using her superhuman strength and her sword, she begins to rid the base of its evil infestation in a series of spectacular and elaborate showdowns. However, it is not until she forms her first human friendship in centuries with the young daughter of the bases general that Saya learns her greatest power over Onigen may well be her ability for human connection.

Push

Push is a film about people with special powers, specifically psychic-powers. Some have the ability to move physical objects, others to implant memories, others can see the immediate future based on other people decisions. These people are being watched and gathered up by the government so they can do experiments to enhance these abilities. Treated like lab rats many die in the process, but there are some who will come out of hiding and find the strength to resist. Sound interesting? Well it should be, but its not.
Set in Hong Kong, which in itself provides a colorful and interesting backdrop, Push plays out a little too much like an episode of Heroes and is far to familiar to spark any excitement. The special effect are just ok, and the acting is at times sub-par, even from a post-puberty Dakota Fanning (its just awkward now to watch her act drunk). Everything centers around when the first psychic to survive the governments drug testing, escapes with a vile of the special enhancement drug. A cat and mouse game ensues between the government's own psychics, an interesting asian gang of psychics, and our heroes who are looking all looking to find the drug and use it to get a leg up. As with many of these types of films, the wasted potential outweighs any bright spots in the story. Rent it if you just looking to kill a few hours with some semi-mindless fun.

Babylon A.D.

Vin Diesel, you may not be the best actor, action hero, and even a little down-syndrome, but you seem to be my only hope recently for the sci-fi genre. You've been been consistently getting roles in films that could have been much better starring someone else, but certainly could have been much worse as well. Basically you neither add or take away, your just there...you and your deep voice and muscles. Babylon A.D is no different...a film with a lot of potential in my favorite genre, but just ok. Not good, not bad, just Vin Diesel.
I'm not sure if this story is pre or post-apocalyptic, but as long as apocalyptic is somewhere in there I'll probably give it a shot. If nothing else the production design was quite interesting, very dark, grim, dystopian...just how I like it. Even the prominent French casting is fun, but in the end this is a Vin Diesel movie. This film slowly goes from mildly interesting, with decent action, too confusing and convoluted.
I won't say much more than that about the film, either you like this stuff or you don't...I do, so on a 10 point scale I would give it a very generous 6. But PLEASE, Vinny boy, I loved Pitch Black, but if your gonna be the guy in all the films I want to see, can you step up your game a little?

Blindness

WOW. This is one heavy film. Being a fan of the disaster/post-apocalyptic genre, when I found out that Fernando Meirelles the director of the equally heavy 'City of God' and also recently 'The Constant Gardener', I had to check it out. This film is full of star power coming from the likes of Mark Ruffalo, Julianne Moore, Danny Glover, and Gael García Bernal, and for the most part they do what they can with what they are given. But this is not a character driven film, its storyline is one that is meant to probe the darkest parts of the human condition. There is a Lord of Flies quality to this film about a large group of people (eventually the world) who are suddenly struck with a mysterious case of, well, blindness. The government of course immediately quarantines them to a building with different wards and, other then regular food drops, leaves them to fend for themselves.
Julianne Moore is inexplicably the only person who is not struck with the illness, but pretends to be blind in order to go into quarantine with her husband, Mark Ruffalo. Her performance is the most starling, as she has to secretly bear the burden of those within her ward literally can't care for themselves. When they all eventually realize they are on their own, issues of order (democracy) and morality are relentlessly thrown at the viewer. At times it felt as if it might be more than I could handle. Especially when Gael García Bernal's character comes onto the seen proceeds to take charge of food rationing, in exchange for unreasonable demands. Although the film is well done, my recommendation is to only see this film if you have a strong stomach and a firm moral foundation. Otherwise you may find yourself severely depressed and your faith in mankind shaken. While I respect 'Blindness' for its unflinching look at the dark side of human nature, I cannot think of a time when I would ever want to watch it again. Even a hopeful ending just isn't enough.

***WARNING - SO YOUR NOT AS UNPREPARED AS I WAS - THIS FILM CONTAINS LOTS OF NUDITY/RAPE***

Fleeting Joys

I can't believe I missed this, but probably the best true shoegaze band out there today, Fleeting Joys, released a new album called 'Occult Radiance' on January 22nd. Let me put it to you this way: If you loved My Bloody Valentine then you will love Fleeting Joys. I was really into their last album 'Despondant Transponder', which came out almost 3 years ago, and this album is definitely a more than worthy follow up. Check out this new track entitled 'You are the darkness':

You Are The Darkness - Fleeting Joys

Salute to the Jugger (AKA The Blood of Heroes)

'Salute to the Jugger' is a little known Mad Max clone that came out in 1989. As far as Mad Max clones go, this one is one of the best. The whole dirty, gritty post-apocalyptic world is quite believable, reminding me at times of Terry Gilliam's glimpses of the future in '12 Monkeys'. This film is one part post-apocalyptic survival tale and one part sports underdog story. These two very different kinds of film come together as we follow star Rutger Hauer (Bladerunner) and his ragtag team of juggers, who play a new brutal sport that involves someone called a 'quick' trying to get a skull on a stick, while Gladiators fight all around to harm or protect him (or her). This sport provides the only means of income for this select group of people who travel from town to town to play the local best. The story unfolds as we find out that Rutger's character named Sallow used to be a part of the official jugger league. To become a part of the league you have to have gathered enough wins (skulls) and make an official challenge. Even if you do challenge your chances of getting the leagues attention are slim to none as most challengers are dispatched within minutes, and many loose their lives or the ability to walk in the process. Sallow seems content to travel and make what money he can until his 'quick' gets his legs broken and local asian women joins the team, and she has higher aspirations. The more I write about this film the more I appreciate its simplicity. Create an an awesome post-apocalyptic atmosphere: CHECK, Create an awesome new sport that combines the best of football and American Gladiators:CHECK, Make us root for the underdog:CHECK. Its a shame this film is so hard to find. I'd love to see a widescreen, directors-cut someday. If you can find it, check it out. (PS-I apparently found the version with the pretty great original ending which was not included in the American release of the film)

The Quiet Earth

Recently I had a movie night with some friends, which always turns out to be ridiculously good and bad in a good way. After much deliberation on the theme of the evening we went with one of my favorite genres in film (or books for that matter) post- apocalyptic or apocalyptic in general. I spend a great deal of time putting together a list of little known or seen mad-max clones and went to the local indie video store only to find out that they didn't have any of them. So in order to save the night I had to forgo the B-movie craziness and pick up a few more serious apocalyptic films...this did not turn out well. Among them was, what many consider on the net, a classic of post-apocalyptic media: 'The Quiet Earth'. While this film had great potential, with the last man on earth scenario, numerous New Zealand film awards, and 1985 special effects, my friend put it best when he said "it was just too ok."
If a post-apocalyptic film is going to take itself seriously it NEEDS to be amazingly executed or else it just becomes mediocre and incredibly boring. While I respect what the film was trying to do, and it does make you think about how long it would take you to crack when your left alone in a world that you helped destroy, its just lacked believability. Everything about it is barely passable from the acting to the story-line to the special effects and so on, and in this genre barely passable comes across as worse than laughably bad. Now there is enough potential there that if a talented director wanted to attempt a remake I would be the first one in line, but as-is like 'Waterworld' your just left with would could have been.