Outlander

Alien/Predator/13th Warrior---if any of those movies appeal to you, and you know who you are, then you should go to see the movie 'Outlander'. If those movies do not appeal to you, or you have no tolerance for B-movie fun, then you will hate this movie. I obviously have a soft place in my heart for this type of film, which is why I'm writing about it here.
This is the tale of Kainan (played by the always respectable Jim Caviezel) whose spaceship crash lands in Viking territory the year 709. (If you are already thinking to yourself 'how is that possible?' then you do not have the predisposition for this type of movie...again, stay away) It turns out that Kainan has brought with him a formidable creature that he knows all too well, and now has to team up with the locals, using his advanced intellect and their unadvanced weaponry, to defeat it before it takes over. You even get Ron Perlman (Hellboy) showing up for a cameo as one bad-ass viking. Needless to say I enjoyed it for what it was, and what it was, was B-movie awesomeness!!!

Asobi Seksu

Asobi Seksu has been sort of a group whose music takes me back. There's just something about it that is warm, comfortable and carefree like the summers of my youth. The strange thing is that I was never a My Bloody Valentine fan back in the day, as a matter of fact my musical taste was absolutely horrible. Probably the "coolest" bands I listened to were Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Bush and the like and I just listened to them because everyone else did. I was all too eager to escape the "Christian" music black hole of crappiness I was stuck in (for the record there are a few good "Christian" groups out there, they were just so good that I didn't like them if that makes any sense). So I guess there is something to be said about capturing the feeling of yesterday, during which that actual style of music was never physically present.
ANYWAYS, their new album 'Hush' is not entirely different from the band's second album (which was really the first album they had found their sound) called 'Citrus'. The shimmering fuzzy wall of sound is still present, although perhaps slightly more compressed this time around. The beautiful vocals that float over the layers upon layers of sugary dream pop are even sweeter than I remember. Sometimes it really can be a good thing to stay the same and here we have the perfect example.

Goemon

Ok, I apologize for not posting to the blog for quite a few weeks now as I have been transitioning back into the States, but now that I am settled, I hope to bring you more of the good stuff. I am proud to have my first official post of the new year be some very exciting news. First off, if you have never seen the Japanese movie 'Casshern' go rent it now. It is a visual feast of pure CGI live action anime...it is what movies like 'Sin City' could only hope to look like. Outside of the visuals the storyline falters and it becomes overly long and self-indulgent. So rent it once, soak it in in all its glory and let it leave you wanting more, because it will and I am here to tell you that the more is here now (did that sentence make any sense?) Director Kaz Kiriya is about to unleash his sumptuous next film entitled 'Goemon'. While not based on an existing anime, it is firmly within the same realm. This is a martial arts epic, and it looks to trump 'Casshern' in every way. Here's the trailer:

The Road

'The Road' is a film based on my favorite book of recent, which shares the same name. Cormac McCarthy is truly one of the greatest living writers and his first book-to-film adaptation was more than adequate I'd say as 'No Country for Old Men' won numerous awards. For those of you who don't know the story, it is as follows: "The Road" is a post-apocalyptic dramatic thriller about a father and his son walking alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. It is cold enough to crack stones, and when the snow falls it is gray. The sky is dark. Their destination is the coast, although they don't know what, if anything, awaits them there. They have nothing; just a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless bands that stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food--and each other.
Those of you who know me understand that I love a good post-apocalyptic film and I was equally excited and afraid when I heard about plans for a film adaptation. Now that its confirmed that it will star Viggo Mortenson as the father, and 'The Proposition' director will helm (not to mention appearances by Guy Pearce, Charlize Theron, and Robert Duvall) I am now confident that this film could very well live up to its potential. The one wild-card here is Kodi Smit-McPhee who will play the son, whom I know next to nothing about. That is a role that could seriously make or break this film, but as long as they don't go completely mad and play up the cute factor, we should be ok.....I hope.
The difficulty will be whether a storyline that unfolds as beautifully, deliberately and confidently as the novel format allows will be effectively translated to the screen. Will hollywood get scared and meddle with MTV editing, special effects, adding increased, but dumbed down dialogue? We shall see, it will certainly be a great challenge for all involved, but this film has so much going for it, consider my expectations through the roof.
Here are some fantastic looking production stills:

Sherlock Holmes

Although in the past Guy Ritchi films, like 'Snatch' and 'Lock, Stock..' were favorites of mine, recently I am starting to think that he may be a one trick pony. Those films are both very similar in style and pacing, and are flashy and fun, like a good roller coaster, but they just don't stick with you and certainly start to bore after repeat viewings. All of this griping aside, this new photo (below) of his new take on Sherlock Holmes has me both intrigued and worried. While a darker less Disney take on this great character is welcome, it seems you could replace Robert Downey with Brad Pitt and your watching 'Snatch' all over again. But, I do believe that if anyone could tackle Mr. Holmes its Robert Downey, who is one of the more versatile actors today, so I'll be following this one closely (Jude Law doesn't hurt either). Decide for yourself:

In Bruges

In Bruges is one of those films that will completely mind-whip your moral fabric, as it throws you into the lives and whacked out perspectives of two hitmen, one of which (played by Colin Farrell) is on the tale end of a job gone horribly wrong (sorry can't tell you how). Their boss, having found out about this atrocity, sends them to quaint Bruges in Belgium to lie low while things get sorted out. While the elder (Brendan Gleeson) and more experienced of the two enjoys the scenery, Colin Farrell's character is going out of his mind with boredom and dealing with flashbacks of the prior incident of which he is responsible. I can't reveal much more of the plot without ruining things, but let me say that things get very complicated as both men have to deal with reconciling very different moral dilemas and their resulting inward and outward battles. Seriously, there are so many crazy bits in this film that I am dying to write about, but you just gotta see for yourself.

The film has fantastic dialogue that is well matched by every actor, including Ralph Fiennes as their temperamental boss. It adeptly mixed priceless dark comedy with a real sense of human drama. Colin Farrell may have never put together a better performance. Mind you this is NOT the feel good film of the year, but you will laugh, you will cry, and yes there is a midget. Here is the trailer which doesn't do the film justice:

(WARNING--this film is at times very violent, and contains sexual situations (no nudity) and drug usage)

Autolux Cont.

As most of you know I have been awaiting the new Autolux album entitled "Transit, Transit" like my younger self looked forward to playing duck hunt on a new Nintendo game system while trying to sleep on Christmas Eve. The latest news, as reported on their myspace page, is that they are working out the business end of the deal and that it will potentially come out soon after the new year. While this is probably meaningless and they'll still release the album whenever they want, I'll take any news as good news at this point. They have also put a new instrumental song up (not associated with "Transit, Transit"), you can listen here.