Calling Shenannigans...

For those who've missed my more frequent posting here, perhaps you'd be interested to check out the work I'm doing for The Weekly Dig! Since New Year's, I've covered everything from punk record store openings to Hercules and Love Affair DJ sets to cult film revivals, with more work coming every week. That doesn't mean this blog is dead, though. Far from it. Expect big things starting soon. In the meantime, let's catch up tomorrow night @ SAVANT PROJECT in Mission Hill, where I will be performing free of charge with DARK & STORMY and MR. MCNEILL from 10 to close!

12/27: Neptune, Major Stars, Bugs and Rats @ Charlie's Kitchen in Harvard Square

It is common knowledge among promoters that the time between Christmas and New Year's Eve is a dicey time to have an event planned. Students are snuggled back into the cozy suburban nowheres from whence they issued forth in September, biding time between all the "holiday" festivities that have just started to fizzle out and the overblown, overexpensive disappointment that is every New Year's Eve... Not to mention the fact that it is generally cold as a warlock's balls.

The show I am here to tell you about, however, is in one any local promoter will tell you is an absolute slam dunk, calendrical issues be damned!!!


NEPTUNE


You see, nobody ever forgets the first time they see Neptune in concert... and that's a LOT of nobodies. Throughout several stylistic changes over their rather long reign at the top of Boston's noise-rock heap, the group have managed to sway, slam and clamor with homemade industrial implements and tense, theatrical stage presense for thousands of rabid fans from Boston to Bordeaux.

Just a scant two days after Xmas, we find them joining forces with local celebrities Major Stars, whose trajectory from instrumental wall-of-noise psych to wailing rock n' roll badassery has been well-documented locally and led to a fruitful relationship with stalwart indie label Drag City.


MAJOR STARS

Opening will be my all-time favorite Quincy-based rock group (and one of the MA's longest-held "best kept secret" bands) Bugs and Rats, in all of their sludgy, grungy fury.


CHARLIE'S KITCHEN

The show would be filled to capacity at nearly any venue you could throw at it, from Great Scott to Mass Art to the Middle East... But what better place to book such a facemelter of a three-band showcase during the collegiate diaspora known as winter break than upstairs at CHARLIE'S KITCHEN, a sweltering, overcrowded cheeseburger-joint-cum-karaoke-haunt which functions as Harvard Square's last bastion of unrepentant townieism!? Other than in the basement which once housed the HOSS, I think we all know the answer is "nowhere".

This will be a VERY crowded show, so don't be late. The bands are absolutely the type that will envelop you in sound... just as surely as the atmosphere will envelop you in a wall of hirsute, flannel-clad gentlemen and their too-cute-for-them girlfriends, and as surely as a fine bouquet of sweat, cannabis indica, spilled PBR and double cheeseburgers will envelop your lungs and nasal passages. Yeah, it's pretty much my idea of heaven, too...

Saturday: VISIONS w./ DJ DONNA SUMMER (Jason Forrest!), DEV/NULL, CORALCOLA + DAVID DAY!

For years and years now, DJ DONNA SUMMER aka JASON FORREST has been a transcontinental household name in more styles and subgenres of electronic music than it is worth listing. Whether it was his 2005 block-rocker "War Photography", the truly dizzying "My 36 Favorite Punk Songs" novelty track, or the more recent electro club bangers he's been producing on the NIGHTSHIFTERS label, you've probably heard the COCK ROCK DISCO founder tear up the laptop at some point or another. This Saturday, don't miss the opportunity to see him reunited with Boston's own CRD alum (and producer of my favorite local 12" of 2010), DEV/NULL!!!



DJ DONNA SUMMER

Local institutions CORALCOLA (whose soon-to-be-released new record will probably give Dev/Null's a run for its money) and DAVID DAY will top off an amazing evening at GOOD LIFE, 28 Kingston Street in tundra-esque Downtown Boston. ALL FOR A MEASLY FIVE BONES!!!

The Great Pumpkin Came Early This Year!

Ectocooler - ecto scares the neighbors by ectocooler

a 47-minute podcast's worth of spooky synth patches, "stalked thru a dark alley" tunes and some truly satanic gangsta shit, curated by yours truly. Much love and happy haunting!

TRACK LIST:

skeletal system - in a fog
brain machine - eternal night
oOoOO - sedsumting
mika vaino - midnight mutant
big l - zone of danger
model man - shouldn't
kupa - bloody tears
wolverine (NES 8bit) - the first trial
ixtlan - his name is raiko and he killed the clown
wu lyf - concrete gold
babe, terror - summertime our league
duncan scott and william j - dayman (fighter of the nightman)

BUFFYFEST 2010 (and so much more!) at NEW ENGLAND COMIC CON!

The yearly takeover of Hynes Convention Center by New England Comic Con is going to be drawing far more than just us comic geeks this year. The three-day nerdapalooza, which starts this Friday, is hosting several generations' worth of TV's most-beloved heroes and villains, including SEVEN MEMBERS of the cast of Joss Whedon's masterful BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER! My inner fanboy is beyond elated at the thought of being in the same room as XANDER, SPIKE, CORDELIA, HARMONY, TARA, THE MASTER and GLORY all at once, SMG and Boreanaz be damned.


Nicholas (Xander Harris) Brennan and James (Spike) Marsters


If you are a Buffyphobe or just need more convincing, I have five words for you: Adam West and Burt Ward. BATMAN AND ROBIN! They of the anti-shark-repellant-spray! THE MAYOR OF FUCKING QUAHOG AND HIS BOY WARD!!!


Adam (Batman) West and Burt (Robin) Ward


There. I'm sure by now you're already purchasing tickets. And in case it's too expensive, maybe you can ask STEVE AUSTIN, aka THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN, aka LEE MAJORS, if he still has access to the kinda cash necessary to float you... That or ask that BARACK OBAMA guy for one of those loans he's always handing out, since he's appearing at a rally in the same building as all of these people on Saturday.... I know, wtf, right?

Tuesday, October 19th: Matthew Dear, Andre Obin, Coralcola and Volvox!

During that all that luxurious and plentiful free time I'm sure MATTHEW DEAR has at his disposal (that is, when he's not running two record labels, crafting epic sets for all your favorite podcasts and  remixing all your favorite bands), the GHOSTLY INTERNATIONAL and SPECTRE SOUND honcho has somehow managed to eke out four increasingly-singular albums of deep, minimal electronic dance music. Apparently bored with all that slacking off, he's decided to embark on an exhaustive tour, which will be stopping off in Allston towne to perform with a trio of Boston's freshest electronic tastemakers.

MATTHEW DEAR 

Endless Wave frontman ANDRE OBIN has a textured, shoegaze-influenced take on laid-back technopop which will be the perfect segue into Matthew Dear after CORALCOLA sets us all adrift on a sea of his glitchy, ambient dreamtunage. If one were to read this blog end to end, there is no doubt that it is Mikey "Coralcola" Lee whose events come up most disturbingly often. Mikey opened for Mount Kimbie last week and played a set of almost-entirely-brand-new jammy jams that got me all tingly in ways that assure my practice of over-covering his appearances will continue unabated well into 2011! One of those tracks is available now on the internets, so I'll just let y'all listen for yourselves...

CORALCOLA - Moistests Weathers


VOLVOX

I'm sure you will all show up to Great Scott promptly and READY TO DANCE, because this will be packed early and VOLVOX is spinning. I'm sure you've seen her at MAKE IT NEW, or HARUM SCARUM, or VISIONS, or NO TOMORROW, or in so-and-so's basement, or opening for DEADMAU5, or probably somewhere right now... So you're familiar with the way those little inflections of darker ebm and industrial beat can peak out of that minimal house and techno sheen... and you know that you can't deny them...



Tuesday, October 19th at GREAT SCOTT in Allston, MA...
MATTHEW DEAR
ANDRE OBIN
CORALCOLA
VOLVOX
18+
$10 advance/$12 day of show
Doors @ 9pm
See the GREAT SCOTT WEBSITE for more info.

October 5th: Chapterhouse, Ulrich Schnauss, 28 Degrees Taurus

The gods of UK rock have been smiling on New England as of late, bringing us in recent months a visit by CHAMELEONS UK, and now by personal faves CHAPTERHOUSE, in short succession.

Chapterhouse

There are few greater achievements in the canon of shoegazer rock than Chapterhouse's aptly-titled 1991 debut "Whirlpool". From the pop jangle of "Breather" to the ecstatic, enveloping warmth of "Treasure" to the propulsive and sinister guitar thrust of "Autosleeper"; the Reading, UK group managed in nine songs to mine a far wider range of sonic materials than even their more-hyped counterparts (such as Ride and My Bloody Valentine) could ever fit into one record, all while retaining a distinct sound throughout.



28 Degrees Taurus

Chapterhouse alone would be reason to leave the house, but luckily for you and I they are paired with an amazing pair of quite distinct talents. Germany's Ulrich Schnauss, who is touring with the group, is a purveyor of the kind of dreamy chillout electronica that pulls you in and won't let go, managing to sound somehow upbeat and sunny without ever being chirpy or saccharine. Local post-punk/psych favorites 28 Degrees Taurus will round out the bill with their dreamily eastern melodies and hard-partying boy/girl lyrical delivery.

CHAPTERHOUSE (UK)
ULRICH SCHNAUSS (GERMANY)
28 DEGREES TAURUS
@The Middle East (Downstairs)
18+, 8pm doors
$15
480 Mass. Ave, Cambridge, MA
The Middle East Website

October 1st: An Evening with Graham Hancock

GRAHAM HANCOCK

Leading counter-cultural figure and fucker of minds Graham Hancock, best known for his 1995 investigation into the roots of civilization, "Fingerprints of the Gods", will be making a stop in Massachusetts to promote his new book, "Entangled", on October 1st. Although Entangled is Hancock's first fictional novel, you can bet that topics discussed at the reading will range from prehistorical civilizations to extraterrestrial contact to psychedelics to the approaching 2012 event and back. Anyone with a curiosity regarding the more esoteric and mysterious aspects of human existence would do well to attend.

The Emergence Project presents...
GRAHAM HANCOCK
Friday, October 1st from 7:30 to 9:30
@ The Arlington Center, 369 Massachusetts Avenue, Arlington, MA
$10/$5 for students
for tickets and information, click here.

TONIGHT: The Middle East and End of an Empire present FENNESZ, BURNING STAR CORE, NOVELLER

FENNESZ



Christian Fennesz, for those unaware, has been one of the most important purveyors of ambient experimental music to emerge in the past 20 years. His work with Ryuichi Sakamoto is already the stuff of legends, and his solo masterpiece "Endless Summer" is, to these ears, an absolute essential for anybody with an interest in more left-field, "out" sounds.

Make sure to show up in time for BURNING STAR CORE, as well. C. Spenser Yeh has spent a number of years now perfecting his noise/drone compositions for violin, electronics and vocals and may well prove to give the headliner a run for his money in the "intensity" department.

Opening act NOVELLER is less familiar to me, but an overview of her myspace page belies a sensibility which fits this bill perfectly. Her eddying currents of bowed and treated double-neck guitar and various effects are sure to pull plenty of early-birds up from their barstools to the front of the room.


NOVELLER

End of an Empire presents...
FENNESZ (Vienna, Austria)
BURNING STAR CORE (Cincinatti, OH)
NOVELLER (Brooklyn, NY)

@The Middle East (Downstairs)
18+, 8pm doors
$15 adv./$17 at door
480 Mass. Ave, Cambridge, MA
The Middle East Website

You killed my beta fish! Just threw it out the window!

Yours truly was comped a ticket for tonight's Of Montreal/Janelle Monae gig at House of Blues. Couldn't be more excited, because the pix from the tour kickoff make it pretty clear that the "False Priest" tour is gonna be a TRIP!


Of Montreal

The opener is possessed of some crazy dance talent and a penchant for retro Sci-Fi dystopia, as evinced in this video featuring Outkast's Big Boi...

Dubstep's seasoned vet and upstart rookies take the Hub by storm!

On September 24th, Bassic will be playing host to one of the true originators of Dubstep and one of its most consistently-gamechanging recording artists, Hotflush records honcho SCUBA!


SCUBA

His "Triangulation" LP was undoubtedly one of the year's masterpieces. In fact, one of the only better releases of 2010 was "Crooks & Lovers", by Hotflush signees Mount Kimbie... and wouldn't you know it, the fine folks over at Music Ecology have Kimbie stopping over for a gig with Coralcola at Wonderbar in Allston a mere four days later!


Mount Kimbie

This will be a week to remember for years, and if I were you I'd make it my business to miss neither of these events. Show up early, kiddos!

Monday, August 2nd: THE CHAMELEONS (UK) and ENDLESS WAVE at Hennessey's

CHAMELEONS UK

Now, Faneuil Hall has never exactly been one of our city's cultural hot spots unless your idea of a good time is something akin to hanging out in the Irish-American version of the Jersey Shore, but when I found out that postpunk/protogaze legends CHAMELEONS UK would be coming through to play a $10 gig with Andre Obin's ENDLESS WAVE tomorrow I almost spat Magic Hat all over my monitor. DO NOT MISS THIS SHOW! Small venue, important band, enragingly good local talent. Seeya there.

The Chameleons UK - Perfume Garden

2010 is half-over, so here's half a top 10 list!

1. Mount Kimbie "Crooks & Lovers" (Hotflush) 
On the most ambient fringes of the trendiest genre to emerge in years, there is a non-existent mountain of raw talent. This is Mount Kimbie; a duo based in Peckham, UK whose stellar early single "Maybes" gave indication to those in the know that they were not fucking around. Laced with field recordings and found sounds, their take on dubstep has a nuance that most of their competitors (and most of dance music in general) lack. Finally released to the public (without those pesky hotflush watermarks) in all its head-scratching glory!
Mount Kimbie - Carbonated



2. Flying Lotus "Cosmogramma" (Warp)
Enough words have been said about the bizarre brilliance that is COSMOGRAMMA at this point to fill an entire warehouse of servers. Just listen, already.
Flying Lotus - Satelllliiiiiteee



3. Eminem "Recovery" (Shady/Aftermath)
If Marshall Mathers had a nickel for every time his music and persona were misunderstood, he'd be a slightly richer man. He'll be the first to tell you that of course, which is part of what causes his critics to misunderstand him in the first place. He's not just another celebrity whining about the pitfalls of success, any more than he's just a misogynist or a homophobe. At his best (and RECOVERY is his best work since THE MARSHALL MATHERS LP) he is the greatest rapper of all time; layers of honesty and myth deftly weaving in and out of each other almost as sublimely as the layers of pun, rhyme and metaphor that he wraps them in.
Eminem - Untitled



4. The Liars "Sisterworld" (Mute)
Perhaps due to their lead singer's noticeable gangly Australian-ness, I have always viewed the Liars (rather unfairly) in the long, black shadow cast by Nick Cave. The influence was readily evident in the band's debut album, and less-so with each passing release. I was thrilled with the generally-poorly-received industrial racket of THEY WERE WRONG SO WE DROWNED, but bored to tears by DRUM'S NOT DEAD at a time when it was one of the most-played records on ZBC. I was ready to write the band off for good when SISTERWORLD came along and knocked me flat on my ass. This is a group that needs fear no man's shadow, and an album that casts quite a few of its own.
The Liars - Goodnight Everything



5. Actress "Splazsh" (Honest Jon's)
Intriguing doesn't even begin to cover it. This album is a mystery wrapped in an enigma wrapped in a quartet of black hexagons. If Actress (nee Darren Cunningham) has any peers at all, it's beyond me to name them. His commitment to making the uncomfortable and unpredictable seem desirable is a gift that keeps on giving, and one that a lot of other artists should consider.
Actress - Hubble

Tuesday, July 27th: SSSLLLOOOWWW... featuring a live set by WHITE RING!!!

If you aren't aware of my love for this wonderful little drag/chopped/screwed monthly, you aren't paying very close attention. Comfortable couches, sinister BPMs and all the DRANK you can DRANK! Last month brought a fantastic DJ set by sxsw pariahs SALEM, and this month the witch house takes over as WHITE RING drop by, not to DJ, but to actually perform a full live set!



WHITE RING


Resident aliases DIE SLOW and CORALSLOWLA are sure to put in appearances, as well. Tip that sexy bartender.

SSLLOOWW presents...
WHITE RING
JULY 27†h 9PM-1AM
21+ $5 COVER
@ ENORMOUS ROOM
567 MASS AVE
CAMBRIDGE, MA
SPONSORED BY DRANK

Saturday, July 17th: FRESH PRODUCE's 4th anniversary w./ PRINCE PAUL

The creative force behind De La Soul, Handsome Boy Modeling School and THE ALMIGHTY GRAVEDIGGAZ is stopping by the Good Life to help DJs Knife and Tommee inaugurate the 5th year of their FRESH PRODUCE hip-hop parties. I myself may be in NYC over the weekend, but hip-hop heads with any sense in them will be lining up EARLY on Kingston St. for this one. Don't miss out!


PRINCE PAUL

Brand new NEW COLLISIONS track DYING ALONE...

THE NEW COLLISIONS

Ascending to greater and greater heights on the new wave reunion circuit while somehow remaining fresh and credible is difficult at best for a young, pop-friendly outfit, but luckily THE NEW COLLISIONS seem more than up to the task. No moreso than on this new jam from their upcoming second record, the first (I believe) to feature the clever and catchy-as-hell guitar-work of Alex "The Sterns" Stern. Show Boston some love, people!

Civilization's Dying (ACE Zero Boys cover) by The Hives

THE HIVES

Perennially underrated punk legends THE ZERO BOYS get the deluxe treatment here by Pelle and company. Just listen, and then go download Killed By Death #4. You'll be glad you did.

Civilization's Dying by The Hives

6/4: BASSIC 3-Year Anniversary w./ MARTYN, C-Dubz, Jay-K, Damien Paul

From his embryonic DnB rumblings in Rotterdam to his more recent DC-area dub techno offerings, MARTYN has always been a high-profile and hotly-tipped name in electronic music. It makes sense then to see him tapped as the headliner for the three-year anniversary of BASSIC, Boston's premier night for all things low-end.

There is no better opportunity on the horizon to experience the bowel-shattering bass bins of the Good Life's basement lounge. Get there early for C-Dubz, and check out the upstairs room for my man Damien Paul and Jay K. Don't forget to say happy birthday to Sarah!!!

MARTYN

5/22: THE NEEDY VISIONS (LP Release) w./ TULSA, MMOSS, LIFE PARTNERS, MAINE COONS

the needy visions

THE NEEDY VISIONS' debut album, released tomorrow through Bodies of Water Arts and Crafts, is a buoyant and quirky collection of retro-psych-pop-punk, handily ensconcing Dan Shea's inimitably loveable Weymouth mumble within full singalong harmonies, ragged guitar fuzz and a propulsive, bouncy rhythm section.



This shit is sure to be great summer BBQ fuel, so don't miss your chance to grab the vinyl tomorrow night @ the Temple in Jamaica Plain, where the band will be celebrating the record's release with MMOSS (whose new full-length is my other favorite psych jam outta New England this spring), TULSA, LIFE PARTNERS and THE MAINE COONS.


MMOSS

Saturday, May 22nd 2010 @ 8pm:

THE NEEDY VISIONS
TULSA
MMOSS
LIFE PARTNERS
THE MAINE COONS

@ the Temple, 670 Centre Street in Jamaica Plain, MA.
This is an all-ages event!!!

5/27 - "A Boston Tribute To Guru" @ The Middle East Downstairs

GURU


Big Shug, Akro, Termanology and about a dozen more of Boston's heaviest-hitting MCs unite to pay tribute to Roxbury, MA's all-time greatest, Keith "Guru" Elam of Gang Starr.

Thursday, May 27, 2010
The Middle East Downstairs
Leedz Edutainment presents "A Boston Tribute To Guru"



featuring:
Big Shug
Krumbsnatcha
Reks
Termanology
Akrobatik
Blak Madeen
Blackargo & Raw Spillage
Singapore Kane
JDO & Speak
plus special invited guests
and more
Music by Statik Selektah
Hosted by D-Tension

18+ $12adv/$15dos
8PM Doors

the middle east online

3/15: Asha and I remake the Plough as the black clinic!!!

the black clinic on facebook

Why George Romero’s "The Crazies" is Still Relevant and a Damn Fine Film to Boot

...a fine piece of film crit I read over at All Things Horror. CHECK IT!

SSSSSSSSSLLLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWW

SSSSSSSSSLLLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWW




DJ DIE SLOW
CORALSLOWLA
+
SLOWEOKE
SING SLOW

BRING CODEINE
NO COVER
21+
9PM
ENORMOUS ROOM
569 MASS AVE
SLOWBRIDGE

Eli Reed and Eli Keszler are: One Hundred and Forty Four Thousand!

Two Brookline-to-Brooklyn transplants with musical resumes most of my readers would probably commit genocide for are reuniting for a new project!




ELI KESZLER is a conservatory-trained percussionist who has performed with everyone from cult recluse Jandek to 1960s Jamaican rocksteady innovator Lynn Taitt, as well as recording solo and with Ashley Paul, Mass. Hysteria, Lip Service (his duo with American Idol metaprankster Andrew Fenlon) and Red Horse.




ELI "PAPERBOY" REED honed his chops after high school by playing blues guitar in Clarksdale, Mississippi, playing gospel organ in the south side of Chicago and flying to the UK to record with Holly Golightly. His band the True Loves has released two critically-acclaimed albums, had Beyonce's little sister sing backup vocals, and opened for the Dave Matthews Band at Giants' Stadium for fuck's sake!


Though both were in the earliest of True Loves incarnations, they have not worked together since... UNTIL NOW!!!

One Hundred and Forty Four Thousand are playing at Union Hall in Brooklyn on March 3rd. Don't miss it!!!

The Year in Film, by your friend and mine, Generoso Fierro.

GENEROSO FIERRO'S BEST FILM OF 2009!

Hello:

Pulled from every theater I went to in Boston, NY, Los Angeles and Honolulu! Thanks to the BUFF the IFFB for their individual line-ups that help stock some of the lists. Probably the best year for US cinema in many years. Feel free to comment on this list and to hear some of your picks. Curious as to what you think and no, I think Inglorious Basterds was vastly overrated and not on any of these lists. The top ten is in order.

XO Generoso

TOP TEN OF 2009






1) Tulpan DIR: Sergei Dvortsevoy/ Kazakhstan

Documentary filmmaker Sergei Dvortsevoy's first narrative feature is nothing short of an astonishing masterpiece. A sailor, Asa ( Askhat Kuchencherekov) has come to the Hunger Steppe region of Kazakhstan to become a sheepherder but must marry in order to fulfill this role so he sets his sights on the only maiden in the area, the title character Tulpan who is brilliantly kept off screen for most of the film. Asa's performance in the film is remarkable as are the performances of the other actors but it's their work in conjunction with the work of the animals in the film that makes this experience miraculous in it's execution.

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2) A Serious Man DIR: Joel and Ethan Coen/USA

The Coen Brothers decided to walk away from heaving just simple misery onto their characters, here they adapt the Job of the Old Testament into a middle class, mid western Physics professor named Larry Gopnik. Larry is given all of the misery one man can handle from his brutally terse wife to his irreverent children, to his best friend who is sleeping with his wife. Larry is not whiny or pitiful but trying his best to amend these situations with attorneys, conversation and spiritual guidance from his rabbis which fail him in a multitude of brutally comic methods. Needless to say, this film is dark and funny but not the Lebowski-esque laugh out loud funny. No, this is the kind of funny that make you gasp, cower and deeply breathe again before laughter can be created. Is Larry's punishment on this Earth and act of God? And act of man? Or just is he just Schrodinger's cat? Whatever, it's the kind of darkness we all need to see more of in comedy.

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3) Üç Maymun (Three Monkeys) DIR: Nuri Bilge Ceylan/Turkey

Ceylan may be the best director to utilize and blend environment, location and character since the late great Michaelangelo Antonioni. A large part of this credit goes to his daring cinematographer, Gokhan Tiryaki who has been does more with tone and framing than some of the most experienced cameramen using 35MM. The story, sparingly written by Nuri Bilge and Ebru Ceylan as well as newcomer Ercan Kesal is moral tale where all of the indiscretions occur off camera leaving you to determine their severity. A family (father, mother and son) have all been affected by the loss of the youngest in the family, who eerily invade their conscience. How they approach life and those who wrong them is what makes this film Ceylan's best yet.

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4) The Hurt Locker DIR: Kathryn Bigelow/USA

Bigelow has indeed created her best film here. Rarely is the focus of a war film so exceptionally centered around a single man, bomb technician Sgt. William James (played to perfection by Jeremy Renner), every aspect of this character is flushed out via a multitude of nail biting defusing and hostile situations. We know he is excellent at what he does and unfortunately we know there is no limit to the amount of adrenaline he needs pumping through his body on a daily basis. Both men under his command are forced to deal with his thirst for pushing the limits and they are not happy about this but this is Sgt. James' world. A film that achieves this level of tension and such meticulous understanding of a character is rare.

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5) Must Read After My Death DIR: Morgan Dews/USA

The struggle of a suburban American family is documented in hundreds of hours of audio recordings, letters done by the family themselves. Their infidelities, hatreds and failures are all there to be seen. Credit to Dews for the construction of these materials, as he is family, his personal knowledge of what went on allowed him to create a truly heartbreaking portrait. In some ways this is similar to the documentary "Tarnation" which was released back in 2004 except that the declarations made by the people seem even more natural and at the same time so horribly wrong.

TRAILER






6) Bakjwi (Thirst) DIR: Park Chan-wook/Korea

In these days of bloodless vampire films you almost begin to fantasize too much when faced with a potential genre jolt from the always inventive and potentially hazardous direction of Park Chan-wook (Oldboy, Sympathy For Mr. Vengence). His new film "Thirst" is exactly what we needed here. Park's creation of Sang-hyeon (superbly done by Kang-ho Song), a Roman Catholic priest who is the purest of souls provides an excellent source for the conversion to evil, in fact this conversion is due to blood he receives after being a guinea pig for an experimental drug that could cure a deadly virus, giving him the noblest of intent. Once Sang-hyeon becomes a vampire he does not automatically turn to evil suggesting more of a choice that he tries for himself. What Park does so well here is creating the connection between a priest's repression of carnal desire and the need to feed from unwilling people. His eventual obsession for the wife of a childhood friend who is currently being victimized herself provides the catalyst for his eventual evils. Dynamically shot as all of Park's films and with sensational performances as well, this is equal to the director's finest work.

TRAILER







7) Bronson DIR: Nicolas Winging Refn /UK

A sensational, stylistic biopic of England's most notorious criminal, Michael Peterson (aka Charles Bronson)..Well, maybe not most notorious...One can draw amazing parallels between Charles Bronson and another very notorious English gangster, the late Reggie Kray. As depicted in "The Krays" Peter Medak's highly underrated 80s films about vicious nightclub owner/gangster brothers, Ronnie and Reggie Kray, the latter brother Reggie too is near and dear to his mother (read: momma's boy), is oddly sensitive to homosexuals, and tries to maintain some sort of "normal" life while committing acts of ruthless violence. Most importantly though, unlike Reggie's need for cash is "Bronson's" usual motive for violence... fame. For this fame Bronson attaches a desire for grand spectacle in each beating to add to his notoriety and "empire' and these beating are as brilliant as one can depict on screen. We understand his background and it is not a labored process, no apologies here from director Nicolas Winding Refn on behalf of Bronson, it's all about the grand spectacle. Tom Hardy's performance is something rare, vicious and charming and so compelling. One can only imagine what the real Bronson thinks of this film and if anyone will "pay" for a misstep.

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8) Julia DIR: Erick Zonca/USA/France

Erick Zonca has not made a narrative film since 1999's "Dreamlife of Angels"...His new film "Julia" feels like a film that compiles ten years of his best ideas which in this case is a very good thing. Much can and should be said about Tilda Swinton's performance in the title role, she is nasty, desperate and like Zonca, Swinton seems to have been waiting a long time to deliver a performance as varied and as powerful as the one given here. Think of this film as an exaggerated version of the Dardenne Brother's noir effort from earlier this year, "Lorna Silence" a tale of a desperate woman willing to commit crime to survive, . Both films contain astute performances from the title character but so much about "Lorna's Silence" is the small gestures, emotions and choices that one makes with their back against the wall. Now apply the urban ethic of Cassavettes "Gloria" and you have "Julia". A rough, vulgar and all so rewarding film that hits you with a sledgehammer. This had a too short run here in Boston, see it quickly wherever you are.

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9) 35 Rhums (35 Shots of Rum) DIR: Claire Denis/France

Denis' newest can been seen as an homage to Ozu with it's so loving portrayal of a father and a daughter's relationship. Here Denis sets her non-dysfunctional family in a Parisian apartment complex where the pieces of the family's past take shape in the form of current residents. Denis allows the story to progress at a smooth pace never forcing the drama and in turn allows you to see all of the character's motives behind their decisions. Easily the best film Denis has done since 2002's "Friday Night".

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10) Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans DIR: Werner Herzog/USA

A hooker, coke and heroin infused post Katrina New Orleans crime freak show with Nicolas Cage embodying the spirit of Abel Ferrera's classic tale of a corrupt cop trying to make it all better through the vices that own his life. Here Werner Herzog (?) has let it all go, structure, plot, decency and gave the run of the joint to Cage who is at his best as a man without sense or even a remote idea of normal behavior for a police officer. So very entertaining is Cage's performance I had to remind myself if there were any other actors in this film, there are kind of... Eva Mendes plays a very attractive prostitute who is an even match for Cage in the vice department and Val Kilmer kind of shows up in a couple of scenes to have no real motivation at all. Stereotype abound and this makes N.O. look as close to hell on earth as anyplace could. Does this sound like a mess? It is, but it reminds me of how uptight most crime dramas are these days and if you stop being upright for a minute, how one diseased overacting cop can change it all!

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SUPPLEMENTAL LIST: (NOT TOP TEN BUT QUITE CLOSE)

We Live in Public – DIR: Ondi Timoner/USA
An almost too slick documentary bio on internet pioneer, Josh Harris, the visionary founder of the internet television station, Pseudo, and creator of "Quiet", an Orwellian style art project in which 100 people were sequestered in pods in a Manhattan building only to be interrogated and around the clock filmed. "Quiet" was created in 1999 and we are to gather that director Ondi Timoner was either an inmate or a director during the 30 days of the project's existence. Due to this we assume, director Timoner has a personal relationship of some sort with Harris which allowed her access to his life in a very intimate way. Regardless of this relationship, this is an amazing story which is told through a myriad of eye candy techniques that seem a bit unnecessary but do not overtake the essential ideas. What remains is a portrait of man who grew up relating only to technology and his subsequent need to funnel life through the technology that he created.

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Le Silence de Lorna (Lorna's Silence) DIR: Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne/BELGIUM
The Dardenne brothers have created a neo film noir that uses many of the elements of their trademark realist style to push a classic noir plot into a direction that so few films in that genre are able to do. Lorna (Arta Dobroshi) is in way over her head both physically and emotionally by agreeing to marry a hapless junkie named Claudy (well played by Dardenne Brother regular Jeremie Renier) to get her Belgian citizenship only to then divorce and marry a Russian for the same reason, all of this funded by desperate low level mobsters. The Dardennes do not create Lorna as the classic femme fatale, she has emotions and although early on her resolve is to do whatever is necessary, this resolve breaks down and creates an amazing character who is never allowed to let her guard down for even a second. She is constantly being put upon throughout the film and it's this pressure that allows us to see Lorna for who she really is.

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An Education DIR: Lone Scherfig/UK
Let's get this out of the way...Carey Muligan is a brilliant young talent. She is this film's central strength and does the most with her role. The casting in fact is also noteworthy, from Peter Sarsgaard's as the unscrupulous David, to Alfred Molina's overbearing father, to Emma Thomspon as the head mistress of the school. "An Education' is an acting showcase. The story is cliche in some ways but from a female perspective and social context it is a story that is so missed in the films today. Carey Mulligan's "Jenny" is faced with short options that in 1960s England were dim to say the least for a woman and the script bears out that struggle well. The style of the film is a bit on the flash which is odd coming from Lone Scherfig, part of the Danish Dogma movement (Italian For Beginners) . The editing method is a bit on the quick side which kills the emotion in a few key scenes but that is a small dent in an otherwise impressive collection of actors.

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Beeswax DIR: Andrew Bujalski/USA
Another small gem from Boston director Andrew Bujalski, who seems to be in a small minority of contemporary filmmakers who understand how the people of this current generation interact with one another. Much can also be said about the performance of director Alex Karpovsky who plays off the textured performances by twin sisters Maggie and Tilly Hatcher. The progression of the story and the acting flow naturally which works well with this kind of storytelling. So much happens here and none of it seems forced.

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The Girlfriend Experience DIR: Steven Soderbergh/USA
Soderbergh is not the first director to link the economy with the world's oldest profession but the non-linear narrative structure that Soderbergh comes up with here is quite interesting and makes the film infinitely watchable. Real life porn star Sasha Grey plays Chelsea who provides the title's service. Her relationship with her clients is actually more escort than streetwalker, providing supportive conversation, arm candy and in many cases not even sex. They (the clients) are looking for the boyfriend experience which is needed as the film's progress is in line with with the collapsing economy, Chelsea providing the ear for their frightened economic theories while she seeks out ways to improve her status as an upscale escort. Soderbergh wisely uses Chelsea's relationship with Chris, her live-in boyfriend who doesn't mind his girlfriend's profession as long as it's short and detached as a means to see her emotional structure more clearly away from the job. Her professionalism though is compromised by two emotional slips, one of choice and one of reaction to a caustic review that gives us great insight into Chelsea's true being. It is an interesting view of pre-election 2008 in relation to this life and choices.

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Stingray Sam DIR: Corey McAbee/USA
Someone has to give Corey McAbee the funding to make more than one film every nine years! Stingray Sam is a another unique and completely entertaining science fiction western musical comedy done in short segments as the Flash Gordon serials were...Here you follow Stingray and the Quasar Kid as scam their way in finding and rescuing a young girl (played to wide-eyed perfection by Willa Vy McAbee, daughter of Corey) and to bring her back to her father. Each segment features a song by McAbee's band American Astronaut and the songs do not disappoint. This is truly "event" filmmaking which I would gladly see anytime. I want more Stingray Sam!

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Il Divo DIR: Paolo Sorrentino/Italy
Paolo Sorrentino's stylized and unique biopic on Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti excels due to it's uncannily restrained performance by Toni Servillo in the title role. As the viewer you watch in amazement as Andreotti sidesteps every scandal with his carefully chosen words and controlled expressions. The same words that define his relationship with his wife and God as we gain greater insight into his motivations. A stunning work.
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Antichrist DIR: Lars Von Trier/Denmark
"He" (Willam Dafoe) and "She" (Charlotte Gainsbourg) begin the film with and act of love which is immediately challenged by the accidental death of their young son. "He" is a therapist, emotionally dead and brutally controlling and "She", overwhelmed by grief has studied witchcraft and those studies may have drawn her to the conclusion that woman and their ability to produce offspring are inherently evil. They descend to Eden, a cabin deep in the forest where her fear is confronted, his controls is exerted and where evil is brought out. It is not a surprise that by the end of this film there is a dedication to Tarkovsky, as so many elements of his film making, especially that of Andrei Rublev, come into play here both in visual style and detached dialog. The epilogue scene in and of itself seems pulled from Takovsky's Rublev giving a nod to imbalance against the natural world. Their child is dead by fate and the only culprit they both feel is the mother. Much will be made of the sadomasochism in this film, which at times is tough to take, but is necessary to illustrate the contempt both characters have for the evil they feel is inherent in women.

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Aruitemo Aruitemo (Still Walking) DIR: Hirokazo Kore-Eda/Japan
Hirokazo Kore-Eda delicate non-melodramatic take on a family, who after 12 years is still coming to grips with the death of their eldest son, who died while rescuing a young boy from drowning. Kore-Eda carefully observes this family as the gather for one day on the anniversary of the accident. Death is a familiar subject to the director as he has studied loss in his previous films, "Maborosi" and" After Life". There are no large dramatic outbursts here, only the small regrets, sometimes voiced, mostly seen through facial expression and gesture. A well acted and at times surprising candid film about an family that may never fully mend.

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THE WORST OF THE YEAR BY FAR (EITHER DRAGGED TO SEE THIS ON A DATE OR JUST A REALLY BAD ERROR IN JUDGEMENT)



Kimjongilia DIR: NC Helkin/USA

A painfully short-sighted account of the current North Korea as done by American director NC Helkin. Accounts of the wretched state of the dictatorship are given by North Korean refugees in heartfelt testimony but the factual basis of the claims made seems thrown together here. All of the scenes of genuine human suffering are thematically pulled together with the help of interpretive dance which I found inappropriate. A more factual film with less concern about visual entertainment would've been a better treatment of the subject matter.

I Love You, Man DIR: John Hamburg/USA

Easily one of the most dreadful experiences I have had in a movie theater in some time. I usually find Jason Segal and Paul Rudd funny but this tired sort-of remake of a fairly mediocre Patrice Laconte film, "Mon Meilleur Ami" is a pure waste of time. In the Laconte film the main character's lack of friends is due to his fanatical devotion to work and his interests involving art. As we are in the USA, "I Love You Man's" hero is friendless due to his feminine nature and desire to please his woman. Add in some old gay jokes, projectile vomiting, fart jokes and an appearance by the band Rush and you have a very unfunny waste of time.

(500) Days of Summer DIR: Marc Webb/USA

Earlier last week I watched Pasolini's 120 Days of Sodom, a film complete with some of the most mind numbing displays of sexual perversity and physical torture. That compared to "500 Days of Summer" is really a feel good joyride I would take again. "500 Days of Summer" represents a new age of "whine as you go" comedies for this generation (Away We Go and Nick and Norah fit well here). These are films in which characters hope that they are given things solely on their ability to constantly whine and complain about their dreams only to achieve them due to their entitlement. In "500 of Sodom, I mean Summer" the main character who is bereft of any humor, drive or backbone for that matter, whines about not having the girl, then when he gets her he whines about the status of their relationship which sets you up for the eventual whine about losing her. All of this is done in a "inventive" way of mixing up their 500 day relationship in a non-linear narrative (done before) so we don't believe that we are getting the same whine around that we have recently been getting in droves. The half a star I give the film is for Zooey's eyes which are quite sparkly.

Gentlemen Broncos DIR: Jared Hess/USA

So, without being too negative and to not give away too much of the storyline let me please sum up "Gentlemen Broncos"...Imagine if you will a third generation script of Wes Anderson's is found in a subway toilet by a drunken, amyl nitrate influenced Todd Solondz and Harmony Korine. After getting beaten up by slightly less intoxicated cops, the pair decide to re-write the script in the back of circa 1977 leather bar that only plays one-hit wonders of the early 1970s as a theme that evening. When they leave the bar at 4AM, they run into a even more intoxicated Michel Gondry who has glued his hand to a Lego penis he just made for a video of a Daft Punk song he already made a video for ten years earlier. Gondry then decides to shoot the script while watching the DVD of "Be Kind Rewind" in slow motion. Though that may sound appealing, it's really not, not at all. The one star goes to Jemaine Clement who does the most with the nothing character of a jerk science fiction writer. And even the most ardent Farrelly Brothers fan will be in awe and then bored of the multitude of bodily fluids and breast jokes being thrown around this movie. Edited down as quickly as one would do when handed such a disaster, this may go down as the worst film of this decade.

REDISCOVERED TREASURES (HAVEN’T SEEN THEM IN YEARS BUT WAS BLOWN AWAY BY THEM AGAIN)



Straight Time DIR: Ulu Grosbard/USA

It's been said that Hoffman who produced and co-directed (not credited) Straight Time was not happy with the final results which is a shame as some of his (Hoffman's) finest work is on display here. Hoffman cast much of this film which is a veritable who's who soon to be legendary actors, Theresa Russel, Harry Dean Stanton, Kathy Bates..All of whom turn in brilliant textured performances. Hoffman's performance is at his usual best but the character Max Dembo has flaws in his actions, he is set up to be much smarter than his actions would indicate and that is a huge problem within this film. A criminal's human weaknesses are excepted behavior (as in Elmore Leonard's novels they are essential to the character) but here bad judgments are consistently being made by Dembo and that contradicts his intelligence. This weighs down the plot and leaves too many holes in the storyline. All that said this is a rare glimpse into some of the finest acting of it's era and should be sought out.

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Trans-Europ-Express DIR: Alain Robbe-Grillet/FRANCE/BELGIUM

Robbe-Grillet has always been a unique storyteller...From the bizarre horror script he wrote for Renais' Last Year and Marienbad to L' Imortelle, he has always found new ways to to play with the structure of film narrative. "Trans-Europ Express" follows that innovative tradition in his narratives. Jean-Louis Trintignant plays both himself and his alter-ego smuggler in the film whose moment by moment actions are being written during filming by the director and screenwriters who are on the very same train he (Trintignant)is riding. The progression of the images and over-narration is also unique and highly entertaining. An amazing film experience.

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When Generoso is not sitting in uncomfortable movie theater seats or cooking delicious Italian cuisine, he can be found booking and promoting experimental music and film around MIT, or heard on their radio station, where his "Bovine Ska and Rocksteady" is a true institution in broadcasting Jamaica's best 60s imports.

Check it out in the greater Boston area on WMBR 88.1 or anywhere in the world at http://wmbr.org

Here's wishing him a speedy recovery from his recent surgery, and here's a picture of him and I crushing poor Sarah: