EJP's Top Albums of 2008: 1-10

What this list ultimately comes down to for me stems from one question: Which albums did I end up listening to the most this past year? Obviously I don't keep track of how many times I listen to every album (I'm not that anal retentive about my music...yet), but I usually have a pretty good feeling about how often I pop something in the CD player or bring it up on my iPod. So, with the exception of one album that I got fairly recently but that I really, really like, these are the albums that I listened to over and over again in 2008. They might not be the best music in terms of quality--and really, quality is pretty subjective, right?--but they gave me what my ears craved, and that's good enough for me.

10) The Nobility--The Mezzanine
First blogged about this Nashville group back in April, and I kept on listening to them. The title track was one of my favorite tunes of the year, but the rest of the album was plenty catchy, too.

9) Eliza Carthy--Dreams of Breathing Underwater
Carthy has apparently been around for a while, but this was my introduction to her crazy-good mixture of traditional folk with a splash of rock and also some other stuff that I can't pin down. Whatever it is, it's a great listen. Carthy has a strong voice without a trace of the whispiness that tends to characterize some British folk singers (ahem, Vashti Bunyan). The album starts out strong with "Follow the Dollar" and ends even stronger, with my favorite track, "Oranges and Seasalt", a song about terrible margaritas. If you only listen to one song from this album, listen to that one, but trust me when I say the whole thing is worth a try.


8) Michael Franti & Spearhead--All Rebel Rockers
So this is the aforementioned album that I haven't actually had for all that long, but that I really, really like. A humungous thanks to Nat at ...and sometimes why for introducing me to this artist. A little background, and a much overdo thanks to Nat. When she posted about her local folk festival, I was intrigued because I'd never heard of most of the bands she'd seen. Not only did she give me a detailed description on nearly ever set she watched, but she sent me a mix with music from all the artists (and an excellent bonus disc CD with several other Canadian artists). It was awesome. I'm still listening to them, and I'm still figuring out which groups to explore further (personal note to Nat: the Weakerthans are awesome, but their album wasn't 2008, so didn't make the list).

But I digress. I loved the Michael Franti song Nat put on my mix (see video for "Say Hey" below), and it turns out I really liked the whole album. Nat says they're awesome live, and I can believe it. ARR gives us a mix of funk, rock, soul and plenty of other good stuff. Some songs are political, some are simple, many will make you shake your booty (again, see video below).



7) Vampire Weekend--Vampire Weekend
I realize there's been some backlash with VW, but the album's still catchy as hell and definitely worth a spot on this list. Older posts can be found here and here.

6) Blind Pilot--3 Rounds and a Sound
How have I not posted on this album? That was an oversight. Consider it a pleasant surprise. This Portland group hit a sweet spot for me. There's nothing outrageously innovative here...some nice strings pop up throughout the songs, occasional horns, mixing seamlessly with some guitar plucking and minimal percussion. Pleasant vocals, good harmonies, incredible hooks. Hmmm...I'm probably not really selling these guys. All I know is I found myself playing this CD a lot. Like, a lot a lot. It was my comfort food for the year. Give "Oviedo" a listen below--it's one of my favorite tracks on the album, the song that initially got me hooked. If you like it, I can assure you the rest of the album is worth a listen.

5) Fleet Foxes--Fleet Foxes
Simply put, if you didn't put this album in your top ten of 2008, you are a crazy person and should go live in a crazy house. Full stop.





4) Try Me Bicycle-Voicings
Well, this is awkward. In finding the links to write his entry, I learned that this album was actually released in 2007. Oh well...screw it. I've already put way too much effort into this and I'm not going to rearrange my list now. I'm pretty sure this got a re-release in 2008, so we'll just count that. This a pretty album from beginning to end. That's really the best word for it. Pretty. The guitar and piano are perfect, Andy Naylor's vocals are comforting--the complete opposite of abrasive. I could sit down in a dark room with nothing but this album playing and a nice glass of red wine and I would very happy. OK, that sounds pretentious, but it's true. This is the perfect album for unwinding after a long day.

3) Jim White--Transnormal Skiperoo
Loved this album from the very first listen. The only reason it dropped a notch or two on my list is that the songs are so all over the place in terms of how they make me feel--from silly to sappy to very, very sad--that eventually it became exhausting to listen to the album from beginning to end all in one go. Still one of the more underrated albums of the year, in my opinion.

2) The Airborne Toxic Event--The Airborne Toxic Event
Every year, I seem to have at least a few guilty pleasures on my list. TATE should probably be this year's, but I refuse to feel guilty about the pleasure I get from listening to this album. Pitchfork gave this puppy a whopping 1.6. Wow. I'm not saying this band is highly original. And honestly, some of the lyrics might make Rick Springfield roll his eyes. But I'm sticking with my first impression: these songs are pure and simple rock and roll, and I can listen to this album over and over again.

1.) Thao and the Get Down Stay Down--We Brave Bee Stings and All
You can learn more about Thao, hear some of her music, and see a cool video in one of my older posts. It's like her song "Bag of Hammers" says, her music soothes me like a lick of ice cream. I fully realize this album won't be #1 on many lists, but it's the CD I listened to the most by far, so there you go. Listening to it made me happy, and usually that's what it all comes down to for me.


So that's it for 2008. For any regular readers (both of you!) who actually take an interest in my musical opinions, sorry it took me so long to get my act together this year. I'd planned on throwing up some favorite tracks in this post, but this has already taken me too long. Maybe a future post. But 2009 has already produced some good to excellent albums in a few short weeks, so it may be time to move on...

Movie Review: Phantom Of The Paradise

This 1974 unhinged, queer-ass horror/comedy/musical by Brian de Palma tackles an age-old enigma that has plagued all of mankind: what the fuck is up with Paul Williams?


Truly ahead of its time, its flaws are--in retrospect--endearing. And you'll have to decide which is creepier: Paul Williams as Swan or the music (which he wrote) actually being good.

Movie Review: The Ruins

As long as we're talking horror movies, I happened to watch my first horror movie in a long time last week. The Ruins was in movie theaters last spring very briefly and was barely a blip on the radar for most people, but I'd heard some reasonably good things about it, so I gave it a shot.

It wasn't terrible. I'd even go so far as to say it was pretty good. The setup is pretty standard: some attractive people on vacation in Mexico follow a complete stranger to an off-the-map ancient temple so they can have one more adventure before they leave the country. Things go awry quickly when one of the group gets killed by some local villagers the moment they set foot on the pyramid. I'm not really spoiling much when I say that the Big Bad that lurks in the temple has nothing to do with Mayan ghosts or the like. It's the EVIL VINES that grow all over the place.

I know, sounds lame, but it's better than it sounds. There's lots o' killin' going on in this movie, but very little of it is actually done by the vines. They're just sort of the grease for the wheels of murder here. Though there is plenty of visceral gore to admire (and I did my fair share of wincing, because the gore effects are pretty convincing), there's a psychological element that makes this flick a bit smarter than your maniac-in-a-mask slasher film. There's also a "real" actress in this--I'll watch Jena Malone in just about anything. Finally, the fact that most of the film takes place in broad daylight and still manages to be scary is exceptional.

Not a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination, but worth a gander if you're a fan of the genre and missed it last year.

Movie Revie: My Bloody Valentine 3-D

Schlocky, over-the-top, slasher horror fun. The 3-D was AMAZING, the plot semi-intriguing yet still comfortably formulaic, the actors (some throw-back) stilted, and the obligatory horror elements (teeners drinking where they shouldn't, boobies and crotch [in 3-D no less], red herrings, unbelievable 80's-style blood and guts) all were aggressively covered in what seemed to be a "FUCK YOU!" to the tired 90's self-reflective, minimalist gore horror genre of popular TV actors overstepping old stereotypes for overstepping's sake.

Thus, I loved it: the 3-D effects and the fantastic gore alone are worth every penny. Especially impressive was the miner's hat light shining through the screen (how did they do that?). But the movie could have easily failed as an effects piece and didn't, something rare both to the horror genre and 3-D genre.

I'd even watch it again in 2-D.

It had a preview of Coraline 3-D; we all have to go see that next month.

EJP's Top Albums of 2008: 11-20

OK, let's just get this going. I'm not going to expound upon the albums about which I've already written, 'cuz this whole exercise will take a while as it is. There are tons of links on here though, so click on the band name to go to a relevant web site or the album title for the Amazon profile.

20) Nerf Herder--IV
Yes, I know they're simplistic and fairly ridiculous, but I thought this was a strong effort for these aging bubblegum punks.

19) Jesus H Christ & the Four Hornsmen of the Apocalypse--Happier Than You
Like Nerf Herder, the band borders on a novelty act, but the music is very competent and the lyrics are whip smart. Risa Mickenberg's vocals leave something to be desired, but the songs themselves tend to make up for that. "Liz the Hot Receptionist" has received a little press, but it's "Back Burner Guy" that got my attention with lyrics like this..

When I’ve got you i’s a funny thing
I won’t be neurotic. I won’t have to cling
As long as I know you lust after me.
I can be the girl he wants me to be..

Because I know I've been that guy, as have some of my friends. You just have to listen to the song to know what I mean. Nearly all the songs are a mini essays or short stories, which is how this bizarre album ended up on this list.

18) The Hold Steady--Stay Positive
Touted as a great summer album, I have to agree. I'm probably in the minority who liked this album more than Boys and Girls in America, but I'm used to being in the musical minority by now. Not every song on the album is great, but they all seem kind of...big. There's lots of piano and in-your-face guitar work. "Constructive Summer" seems to be the the stand-out track for a lot of critics--and it is a good song--but it's two of the darker songs, "One for the Cutters" and "Lord, I'm Discouraged" that really struck a chord for me. I suppose it's odd to like two of the downer songs on an album called Stay Positive, but whatevs.

17) Flight of the Conchords--Flight of the Conchords
Whereas #s 20 and 19 on this list are borderline novelty albums, FotC are proud of being the fourth best novelty act in New Zealand. Don't know if I can add much about this group that hasn't already been said. The songs are brilliant and still make me laugh the tenth time around. Some of them were better in the context of the show, but I know plenty of people who enjoy the album and have never seen the show. I thought the songs on the first episode of the second season were a little weak, so I'm wondering if Bret and Jemaine can keep up with the high standard they've set for themselves.

16) Blitzen Trapper--Furr
It's been about a week since my last post, which praised the title track of this album. The album has grown on me enough that it had to move onto my list for the year. It's a great album to drink a beer to, and I wish I'd stumbled across it earlier in the year. For some reason, I think it will sound even better on a hot summer night. I have a feeling I'll be looking into the previous albums before too long.

15) Tilly & The Wall--O
This album only got an honorable mention at this year's halfway point, but after seeing them live and giving the album several more listens, O not only became my favorite Tilly and the Wall album, but it made it into my top 20 for the year. With all the tap dancing, it's easy to call them a novelty act, but they definitely don't write novelty songs, and it's nice to hear a band with some real energy once in a while. Also, they score a few points for unique CD packaging--every CD had a unique piece of art for the cover. Neat trick.

14) Noah & The Whale--Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down
Already heaped praise on this one here.

13) The Black Keys--Attack and Release
I already I don't see eye to eye with certain people on Black Keys albums. I really liked this one. "Strange Days" is the stand-out track for me. It just doesn't sound like it was written in this decade, nor do a lot of the songs. That's not a bad thing. Unlike the 80s, the 70s were a treasure trove of music. The Black Keys have tapped into that treasure and given it a modern edge. A bit more on this album here.

12) Emiliana Torrini--Me and Armini
I'd never heard of Emiliana Torrini before a month or so ago, but this album was one of the rare gems that I liked upon the very first listen. By the artist's own admission, it's all over the place stylistically--sometimes she sounds like her countrywoman Bjork, but then she's got the happy-go-lucky "Big Jumps" or the silly, but dancable "Jungle Drums". Honestly, I'm not entirely sure what to think about this album, other than to say that I really like her voice and I've been playing the CD a lot. If I'd picked it up earlier in the year, it probably would have been bumped up into my top 10.

The song in the video below is actually not on this album, but it gives you a taste of what to expect, though I like most of the songs from Me and Armini even better.



11) She & Him--Volume One
I was happy to hear that according to NPR's top listener picks of 2008, this album came in at 11. For a while, I thought I was the only person who liked it. Indeed, I liked it enough that I wouldn't mind seeing a Volume Two some day. Until then, I'm looking forward to M. Ward's new album coming out next month. More on this album here.



Honorable Mentions
Make no mistake, even though these are only honorable mentions, these are all albums that I enjoyed thoroughly. I wish I had time to do a top 30 again so I could write about why I liked these albums, but I've already mentioned several on the blog. Check them out if you get the chance.

Ponytail-Ice Cream Spiritual
Love Psychedelico-This is Love Psychedelico
The Dodos-Visiter
Jonathan Richman-Because Her Beauty is Raw and Wild
Flogging Molly-Float
The Kills-Midnight Boom
The Ditty Bops-Summer Rain
Carla Bruni-No Promises
The Terrordactyls-The Terrordactyls
Nana Grizol-Love It Love It
Golden Animals-Free Your Mind and Win a Pony (also wins prize for best album title)
Jenny Lewis-Acid Tongue
TV on the Radio-Dear Science
Jared Mees and the Grown Children-Caffeine, Alcohol, Sunshine, Money
Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan-Sunday at Devil Dirt

Furr

As I've been compiling my favorite album list for 2008, I've also been thinking about my favorite songs of the year. Blitzen Trapper's "Furr", the title track off their most recent album, is not only my new favorite song about a man living in a wolf pack, it's easily one of my favorite songs of 2008.

Pitchfork, which just happened to post the video for the song the other day, calls the album a "slow-burner", and though I've only had the album a few weeks, I'd say that's a good call. Listening to it, I hear some Wilco, I hear some CCR, and on some songs like "Furr", I only hear Blitzen Trapper. Though the album will certainly earn at least an honorable mention from me, I have a feeling that if I'd had it a little longer before compiling my list, it would have moved up the ranks. Of the pile of new albums I got before the holidays, it's one of the CDs I play relatively frequently.

Before watching this video--which is a perfectly good video, but nothing to write home about--try just listening to the song first. I'm not even sure why I like it so much, but I do. Have you ever seen those tacky wolf T-shirts, with, like, a giant wolf head howling at the moon or something? Imagine this song as one of those shirts, but it's the most comfortable shirt you have ever worn, so comfortable that you don't care that it's kind of tacky. Maybe the shirt reminds you of a good friend who lives far away, or a cool dream you once had, or your first kiss in the woods at summer camp. I don't know why you like your damn wolf shirt, you just do. Now listen to this song about wolves.

I Can Read!

So I actually did some reading while I was on vacation. I finished two books, one of which I'd been reading for an embarrassingly long time. Here's the rundown...

Michael Chabon's The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
So this was the book that took me way too long to read, but in my defense, I was reading other things on the side. Like, umm, comic books, which is kind of ironic since this book tells the story of two cousins who write and draw comics together. Chabon is a member of the McSweeney's group of writers, headed up by David Eggers, who are essentially writing modern classics. At least, they're the ones winning the awards (TAAoK&C won a Pulitzer) and garnering critical praise. This was my first Chabon novel, and though I obviously didn't find it a real page-turner, I did enjoy it for the most part. Set immediately before, during, and after WWII, the prose is rich and meaty and the characters are fleshed out well without spoon feeding too much to the reader about their thoughts and motivation. Ultimately, much as I enjoyed Moby Dick for its description of the whaling industry, I enjoyed this book for its description of the Golden Age of comics. Many of the events and characters Chabon describes in relation to the comics industry were real, and it was pretty cool to compare that time period with today's comics comeback. Though I found the characters and their various story arcs interesting, I didn't find that I had to know what was going to happen to them next, especially as the book progressed and nothing good happened to anyone anymore. I'm glad I read it, but I longed for a book that could be thought provoking and a fun read. Which is why the next book I read was...
Christopher Moore's Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal
I firmly believe that everyone should read at least one of Moore's novels in their life, and of the four I've read so far, Lamb is my favorite. The premise is simple: the angel Raziel is sent down to resurrect Levi (known as Biff), Christ's best friend during those 30 years of Jesus's life that the Bible conveniently skips, and force him to right a new gospel. Biff is kind of a jerk, but he's loyal to his best friend and they go on some amazing adventures, during which JC learns to become the Messiah. Moore concedes in his afterword that based on his research of the time period (and it's obvious he did do some research), Jesus's early life was probably not nearly as fun as this depiction. It's an interesting balancing act, making the life of Christ funny, but not sacreligous. I think Moore pulls it off--he definitely pulls of the funny part anyway. I'm probably not the best judge of what might be considered sacreligous, but I'd like to think my Christian friends could read this and not be offended. Nor is the book particularly preachy, so my atheist friends should get a kick out of it, too.
Moore is no Vonnegut, who could be funny and thought provoking, but knew that brevity is the sould of wit. Sometimes the book drags on in parts that could have been more succinct--descriptions of the Jewish hierarchy 2000 years ago might prove that Moore did some research, but they do little to move the story along. The final section of the book also drops the funny altogether, but then, I have to imagine that it's really, really hard to make crucifixion funny. Monty Python pulled it off at the end of The Life of Brian, but really, I think they're the exception that proves the rule. And though the end of Biff's gospel takes a decidedly dark turn, it stays true to the character as we've come to know him.
All of Moore's books are pretty amusing, and they're certainly quick reads. The humor is often sophomoric, but I'm always up for a good fart joke. If it happens to be Jesus farting, all the better.

"Weaving is a man's game"

OK, so I thought I might be able to get my top albums of 2008 up before I left for Germany, but that's not going to happen. I'll get it up in January though, for sure. Besides, I've got a stack of new albums resulting from my usual year-end binge, and there's a reasonable chance that some of them will make the list (TV on the Radio, I'm looking at you!)

So, to make up for what I can only assume is a shattering disappointment, I'm posting the Season 2 premiere of Flight of the Conchords (legally!). It won't make much sense if you haven't at least watched the last episode of the first season. But if you haven't watched the first season by now, you should, because FotC is fun, and fun is good*.

Season 2 Online Premiere - Flight of the Conchords (US Only) - watch more funny videos

*this rhyme blatantly ripped from from Dr. Seuss.

Fables: The TV Show?

I wrapped up the comics primer I posted this past year with high praise for Bill Willingham's Fables series. I was surprised to learn today that it may actually be made into a TV series.

As the AV Club article mentions, this could either be really good or very disappointing. Any decent TV version of this series would have to have some incredibly high production values to be any good, and somehow I doubt ABC has the cojones to pony up that kind of money on something this risky. Maybe if they limited the TV series to Fabletown (which exists within NYC) and left The Farm (where all the non-human fables live) out altogether they could do it less expensively, but the writers would have to sacrifice several interesting story lines. I think the show is an ambitious idea, and someone in TV land knows some good story-telling when they see it, but I can't help but be a little pessimistic. I could maybe see HBO pulling something like this off, but ABC? Not so much.

EJP's Top Irregular Albums of 2008

I had a post like this last year, so I figured I better get the ball rolling with this post. Actually, I'm not going to be quite as ambitious this year with the end-of-year lists. I leave for Germany in a week and have metric buttloads of stuff to do before then. I'll be condensing things a bit this year, and no way will there be a top 30 like last year. Sorry...as it is, I'm up way past my bedtime tonight.

Best 2006 album that wasn't purchased until 2008: The Dodos - Beware of the Maniacs
I already raved about this album extensively much earlier this year, so I won't really go into any details here. The Dodos got some good press in 2008 with the release of Visiter, their followup to this album, but I have to say I think BofM is the better album. It's more of a fun album, in any case, and it's still getting a lot of play time with me.

Best Reissue 2008: Andrew Bird - Music of Hair
This one wins by default because I think it's the only reissue I purchased this year. No, that's not true...I got something by Mission of Burma and hated it. It's no secret that I'm totally crushing on Andrew Bird's music, so this pick should not come as a surprise to anyone who reads this blog. That said, Music of Hair is not for everyone. In Bird's own words, "It is sort of a relic from the time before I got my conceptual shit together.” That sounds about right. The styles of the songs are spotty and the singing (what little of it there is) is fairly weak. There's little if any of the trademark whistling--the album is all about the violin. Lucky for me I enjoy the violin in nearly any style, so I found the album a great listen. I haven't had it for very long, so I can't really say I have a favorite track. I'd say it's a nice album to have playing in the background while preparing a Sunday dinner.

Best EP of 2008: Ben Kweller - How Ya Lookin' Southbound? Comein...
I also didn't get many EPs this year, but I'm glad I picked this one up. Generally when a rock artist "goes country", the result is pretty disappointing. But Kweller pulled this one off with aplomb. I genuinely liked every track on this EP, and I would go so far as to say that "Things I Like To Do" and "Sawdust Man" are two of BK's better songs as of late. This EP definitely whet my appetite for the upcoming LP. I'd say it was a must-have for any Ben Kweller fan, and even a should-give-a-listen to nonfans, though it's not really representative of his previous work.

Best Soundtrack of 2008: ???
I think the only soundtrack I bought this entire year was Juno's, which technically came out in 2007. I suppose that it'll have to count, but if anyone has any other recommendations, let me know. Not that the Juno soundtrack was bad, but I'd rather heap praise upon Kimya Dawson for...

Best Children's Album of 2008: Kimya Dawson and Friends - Alphabutt
This is a new category for me, and it's actually pretty competitive. My son listens to plenty of my music, but he's also got a growing collection of kids' albums, all carefully selected by me (which means no Rafi). Alphabutt won this one hands down. It has very, very little educational value, and let's face it, Kimya Dawson can't sing worth shite. But guess what? Kids don't care. These songs are fun and delightfully immature. There are several songs about farting, and I'm totally down with that. Farts are funny. My son might not appreciate this album much now, but he will. This'll be the CD we can only play when mommy's not home, because she loathes it. This is not to say die Frau isn't fun, but unlike me, she is usually unable to regress her sense of humor back to age 7. Oh well, more fun for the boys...

EINR: My Picks For Best Albums of 2008

Straight to the point. Minimalistic. That's all I have to give right now. See my previous posts as references as well (here).

2008, Best Albums of the Year:









1) Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago

2) The Walkmen – You & Me

3) Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes

4) J.Tillman – Long May You Run, J. Tillman/Minor Works/I Will Return. Kinda cheating with three albums, but they have really been hitting me hard. If you want happy go lucky, this is not for you. Trust me.

5) Calexico – Carried to Dust

6) Centro-Matic/South San Gabriel – Dual Hawks. This is the most recent addition, and it is possible that it should be higher, if that matters.

7) Cut/Copy - In Ghost Colours

8) Girl Talk – Feed the Animals

9) Thao & The Get Down, Stay Down - We Brave Bee Stings and All

10) Frightened Rabbit – Midnight Organ Fight

11) Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend

12) Sun Kil Moon – April

12) Los Campesinos! – We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed

13) The Wood Brothers – Loaded

Others that didn't make the list:

Portishead – Third

British Sea Power – Do You Like Rock Music?

The Black Keys – Attack & Release
The Broken West – Now or Heaven
Cold War Kids – Loyalty to Loyalty
M83 - Saturdays = Youth

Okkervil River – The Stand Ins

Mates of States – Re-Arrange Us
Silver Jews – Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea
Spiritualized – Songs in A&E
Wolf Parade – At Mount Zoomer
TV on the Radio – Weird Science
R.E.M. - Accelerate
Beck - Modern Guilt

Most disappointing album of the year:

My Morning Jacket – Evil Urges

Memorable Shows from 2008:
03/02/08: Wilco – The Ryman, Nashville, TN
03/12/08: Seeing David Berman 'poetry reading' at a small art design college in Nashville. Does this count as a show?
05/09/08: Radiohead – Charlotte, NC
05/17/08: Ladyhawk – The End, Nashville, TN
10/01/08: The Walkmen – Cat's Cradle, Carrboro, NC
10/02/08: Andrew Bird – UNC Memorial Hall, Chapel Hill, NC
10/03/08: The Black Keys – Orange Peel, Asheville, NC

Mmm...That's Some Good Sarcasm

I'm generally opposed to posting internetty stuff up here, but today's Toothpaste for Dinner just hit too close to home. It probably hits pretty close to home to more than a few people who read this blog...(you'll have to click on the pic to read the whole cartoon)

toothpastefordinner.com

Retro Reviews: Hot Fuzz & WALL-E

I used the long weekend to catch up on some movie watching, and I watched TWO movies in two days. Maybe I'll even watch another one tonight, if I'm feeling crazy.

As a big fan of Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg's Shaun of the Dead, I'd been looking forward to seeing Hot Fuzz for a while. It did not disappoint. Hot Fuzz does for action movies as Shaun of the Dead did for zombie movies, only more so. Besides being everything a satire should be, it was also a virtual who's who of British actors and actresses. As a self-professed Anglophile, I found myself frequently distracted from the movie because I kept thinking, "Hey, there's Tim from The Office. There's Jim Broadbent. There's..." and so on. Even Timothy Dalton, who I generally only think of as my least-favorite Bond, hams it perfectly here. It's honestly pretty rare that I laugh out loud at a comedy, but I did so frequently here. Definitely worth checking out if you haven't done so already.

I won't go into many details about WALL-E, if only because Clyde Squid just posted a review of this movie over on his other blog. I'll just say I agree with his assessment--it's a fun flick, not that I expect anything less from Pixar. This also happens to be the first movie my son ever watched, which is kinda cool. I honestly can't believe he sat still long enough to watch this from beginning to end; his attention span doesn't usually last more than 15 minutes. By the end of the movie, he was yelping "Wall-E! Wall-E!" My little nerdling.

Bender's Game (Is Over)

Watched the latest Futurama movie the other day, "Bender's Game." Despite the title, the movie is not a spoof of Ender's Game, which probably would have been a little too nerdy even for Futurama fans. It's really a send-up of Dungeons & Dragons, which is just nerdy enough, apparently.

There is an inherent problem with all of these Futurama movies, but it was never more evident than in this one. These "movies" were written so they could be broken up into 4 distinct episodes and broadcast on TV. That's a less-than-ideal way to create a cohesive story. The other two movies pulled it off reasonably well, but this third installment felt a bit more slapped together. What you get is something closer to the "Family Guy" style of writing--essentially a string of pop culture references held together by thinnest of story lines. I mean, the plot development that dumps the cast into a fantasy (as opposed to sci-fi) dimension makes no sense at all. The ground literally opens up, they fall through the crack, and suddenly they're in a land where Leela's a centaur and Farnsworth's a wizard. They're conveniently in the fantasy dimension for about 22 minutes.

This major complaint aside, I did chuckle out loud a number of times, just as I chuckle through Family Guy sometimes. I'm a sucker for pop culture references, but I've come to expect a little bit more from Futurama. The writers (and there were a lot of them for this movie) seemed to have phoned it in a bit here, which is unfortunate. Apparently there's yet another movie coming out--I believe there were originally supposed to be three--so maybe they'll try a little harder next time.

Nerd Rave: BSG 3rd Season

Since Clyde Squid did a BSG post on his other blog yesterday, I thought I'd mention that I finally finished watching the 3rd season this past weekend. I've finally caught up enough to be way behind again!

All I can say is that I enjoyed the entire season immensely, but that last two part episode blew my frakking mind. I've never been a huge fan of court room dramas (I'm pretty sure I'm the only person in this country who's never seen a single episode of "Law and Order"), but that was some trial. I'm not a huge fan of Apollo's character, but his rehashing of all the appalling things that various other characters had done over the past few seasons was incredible. And Baltar's exclamation after Gaeda's testimony may be one of my favorite lines of the entire series: ""The whole fleet knows this man tried to stab me through the neck. And you missed! Butterfingers!"
Shite...I still laugh every time I think about it.

I also loved the way the 4 new Cylons were revealed, two of whom are favorite characters of mine. One was not much of a surprise and one was a huge surprise. Oddly enough, the day after I watched these episodes, I accidentally left a crappy little radio on in our spare bedroom upstairs, which also happens to house the AC unit for the entire condo's central air. For the rest of the day, I kept hearing tinny music coming out of the ceilings and it took me a while to figure out where it was coming from. Thank goodness "All Along the Watchtower" never came on...

Anyway, I realize all of this is old news to you guys. Obviously I don't want any spoilers, but does the show continue to hold up in the next season? Season 4.0 arrives in mid-January.

Of All the Decemberists Songs to Get a Video...

There's been a lot of Decemberists backlash the last few years, but though I tend to like their earlier albums a bit more than the more recent albums, they're still one of my favorite bands. "The Tain" was arguably one of the more bizarre things they've put out--running around 18 minutes, the song is certainly not everyone's cup of tea. But I saw them perform it live at the Cat's Cradle years ago, as an encore, and it really is a creepy, fun song. Imagine my surprise when a video popped up on Pitchfork TV recently. If you can sit through the whole thing, it's actually pretty well done. It combines two of my favorite things: Decemberists music and weird animation. Take a gander if you've got about 20 minutes to spare...

Nerd Rant: The Stata Center

I know very, very little about architecture. I approach architecture the same way I approach many types of art about which I have little to no formal education: I either like it or I don't. Well, except for one general personal rule--the architecture I like must not sacrifice form for function. That said, I generally just don't think about architecture all that much, unless it's a building I work in or something exceptionally striking. The building I work in now is not much to look at and has some flaws, but for the most part I enjoy working there. The Stata Center, home to MIT's Computer Science Department and AI laboratory, is exceptionally striking. It's about two blocks from where I work and I walk by it nearly every day.

I've had mixed feelings about Frank Gehry's Stata Center since I first laid eyes on it years ago. There was the initial "Wow" factor, of course. I mean, look at it:
Then, when the novelty began to wear off, I began to wonder if it's actually just an eyesore. Then I got pretty used to seeing it on a daily basis, and I mostly thought of it as a helpful landmark. "Just take a right at the Crazy Building and you're there." But up until today, I'd never actually been inside the building. Now I have a new opinion of the Stata Center.

This is the worst effing building I've ever entered.

The professional reviews of the building have been mixed from the beginning, and much has been said by people smarter than me about how "uncomfortable" the building is. Have you ever imagined walking through an M.C. Escher drawing? Does that sound cool to you? Really? I mean really close your eyes and imagine it. Oops, did your stomach just lurch a little bit? Welcome to the Stata Center!

Here was my experience today, briefly. My boss, a colleague, and I decided to go to a seminar that happened to be in the Stata Center. I was pretty pumped to finally see the inside of the place. Upon walking through the front door, I found myself at the bottom of a psychedelic canyon. There were no 90 degree corners to be found. The walls slanted away and in many places went up a few stories to a variety of convoluted ceilings. It was all kind of a blur until the elevator. On the elevator, my boss, who went to MIT, told the story of a friend who had a job interview on the second floor of this building and was half an hour late because he couldn't figure out how to get to the second floor. Sure enough, I looked at the elevator buttons and there was no "2" to be seen. We went from L to 3 in one swoop, bypassing the mythical second floor completely.

We walked into the auditorium, which felt like walking into the bottom of a starburst shaped missile silo. I'm pretty sure we were inside the yellow structure you see here:
These walls actually lean inward, and were covered with a disconcerting grid of spots that probably had to be there to improve the acoustics in this unfortunately-shaped room. I soon discovered that if my eyes strayed too long from the screen or the speaker, I started to feel woozy. I have never experienced vertigo or claustrophobia, but this room made me feel a little of each.

Upon leaving the seminar (which luckily was interesting enough that my eyes seldom strayed from the screen), we decided to take the stairs down to the ground floor. There was a staircase right in front of us as we left the room, and we took it down to the fantastical 2nd floor. Upon doing a 180 at the bottom of the stairs to find the next flight down I found...nothing. A wall. Where were the stairs to the ground floor? I turned around to see that I had three choices: a hallway to my left, a bizarre twisty catwalk, or, hey a flight of stairs off to the right! Naturally we took the stairs down to...nothing. We found ourselves on a platform halfway between the 2nd and 1st floor that had no discernable egress. No more stairs, no doors. Not even a chair to sit on. There was a railing you could peer over into the cafeteria, in case you like to look at the tops of people's heads while they eat, but that was it. So we went back up the stairs and made our way over the twisty catwalk, where we eventually found the next set of stairs, essentially on the other side of the building, to get to the next floor.

WTF? Not to sound all Mr. Safety, but how the hell did this place pass fire codes? My colleagues and I are not stupid people, and yet it took us several minutes to figure out how to make a trip that should have taken 30 seconds.

The bottom line is, the Stata Center is the most pretentious pile o' crap I've ever seen or experienced. I can't imagine the poor people who have to work and study in it every day. I suppose they get used to it eventually, but you shouldn't have to gradually grow acclimated to the building you work in, at least not to this extent. And I haven't even gone into the fact that the building is barely even structurally sound--MIT sued Gehry last year for all the problems they've had with the building's integrity. What a disaster.

Please someone, direct me towards a building in the Boston area that will erase this nightmare from my memory.

Cannibal Movies: Mmm, Mmm Good

I have neither the time nor the energy to do a Halloween blog as elaborate as last year's, so instead I'm doing a brief review of a few cannibal movies. We're all very familiar with vampires, werewolves, zombies, and the like. Just to be clear, though zombies eat human brains, they are not cannibals since they are technically dead already. Cannibal movies are their own genre, though my very brief and far-from-complete list should prove that the genre can actually be quite diverse. Also, consider this a warning...I'm on my third glass of wine (the alcohol will counteract all the sugar I've consumed today, right?), so this post may very well make no sense whatsoever.

Ravenous (1999)
This movie features Guy Pearce as this army guy who's stationed at some fort in the middle of nowhere in 1847. Robert Carlyle shows up and he's all wanting to eat people and stuff, because he had to at some point and he realized it made him superhuman. David Arquette is in it and (spoiler alert!) he dies, which is awesome. It also features Jeffrey Jones, the principal from Ferris Beuller's Day Off, in one of his better roles, before we found out he was a pervert in real life. I once cooked dinner for Jeffrey Jones when he came to the restaurant I worked at, and it makes me sad that he is a pervert.
But I digress. This movie is actually not terrible. But it is not terrible despite having the worst, most inappropriate soundtrack of any horror movie ever. Even though it takes place in rural America in 1847, the soundtrack is very contemporary and it sounds like it was composed by a 12-year-old on his Casio synthesizer. Still, there were some clever surprises and some creepiness, so it gets at least one thumb up from me.

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)
I already reviewed this movie here. It was a wonderful return to form for Tim Burton, and it was a musical about cannibalism! Who could've thunk of such a thing! Oh wait....

Cannibal! The Musical (1996)
Honestly, it's been ages since I saw this movie, but after finding the trailer online to do this post, I think I may have to buy it. I mostly remember it was awesome. Like Sweeney Todd, it's a musical about cannibalism. It's also based on the true story of Alferd Packer, the only man convicted of cannibalism in the state of Colorado. Wait, did I just type Colorado? That makes sense, because this movie was also written, directed, and starred in by famous Colorado person Trey Parker. Is it mere coincidence that "Packer" and "Parker" are such similar names? Yes, I believe so.
In any case, as you can probably tell by the trailer below, this movie was made on a shoestring budget, so it looks pretty cheesy. But really, that just adds to the charm. The hilarious songs give you an early glimpse at the genius behind South Park and it's just good fun all around. This is an essential movie for anyone who likes Trey Parker/Colorado history/musicals about cannibalism.


Delicatessen (1991)
I've saved this one for last because a) I just watched it last night and b) Jean-Pierre Jeunet is one of my favoritist directors. I can't find anything about this movie not to like. Even though it's about a butcher in post-apocalyptic France who lures men into his building in order to eventually slaughter them and sell their flesh to his tenants (who know perfectly well what's going on), it's honestly more of a light-hearted jaunt of a movie. Like nearly all of Jeunet's movies--most notably Amelie and City of Lost Children--it is very, very pretty. From the opening panning shot and the beautifully clever credits to the Wes-Anderson-will-eventually-rip-this-off ending, this film is pure eye candy. Despite its plot (such as it is), it's really a dark comedy, heavy on the comedy. Nothing about this film is particularly scary. If you only watch one movie on this list, make it this one. If you watch it on my recommendation and don't like it, feel free to send a scathing comment or e-mail.

Do YOU have a favorite movie about cannabilism? Tell me about it!!

Gooed times

For gamers, the madness has begun. We have entered the late fall release period, when every week brings the release of two or more AAA titles from major studios and publishers. Just looking at this week's release slate makes me so, so happy that I do not review games for a living: I would probably go mad just trying to cover a tenth of this mess. We have the big sequels — this week sees Fallout 3, Fable II and Far Cry 2 are already out, Gears of War 2 and others are coming. We also have some truly unique and original ideas out and on the way, with parkour adventure Mirror's Edge and the cooperative zombie shooter Left 4 Dead. In all of this noise, you might miss a game like the physics puzzler World of Goo, from independent developers 2D Boy. Well, don't get snowed by the big boys — World of Goo will put a smile on your face even as you violently curse the law of gravity for its obstinacy.

The World of Goo is inhabited by numerous little goo balls that can be stuck together to create structures. In each level you have a few goos and a gap you must cross somehow to reach a pipe that forms the level's egress — the goo balls only really move across structures made from other gooballs. Most frequently you must build a bridge, but towers, arches, pendulums, and other more exotic designs are also needed. The key to each level is making optimal use of the structural properties of the goos, as well as their special abilities. The goo balls can produce relatively strong structures, but you rarely have the numbers or the space to build anything more than a rather wobbly one. Figuring out how to turn your limited goo balls into an escape route can be quite a challenge, and success produces some great "Aha!" moments.


On their own, the puzzles would be entertaining enough, and the game doesn't really need anything more. What made the game for me, though, was the art direction. The environments are whimsical, cute, and a little creepy. The music also contributes wonderfully to the atmosphere of each level. Although at its core it this a game about cute little balls of goo that stick together, the levels manage an impressive range of moods. World of Goo has a light little story, mostly carried on by unobtrusive signs and a few cutscenes, about corporate greed, skin-deep culture, and advertising. Understanding that the goo balls are delicious, however, is not essential to enjoying the game.

World of Goo isn't perfect. It can be difficult to select a specific goo that you want, especially if your structures are a bit crowded. Some goo balls that can create either nodes or struts have a tendency to add in as the wrong thing, and when your structures get to wobbling it becomes very easy to make a mistake or drop a goo ball by accident. These problems are essentially minor and probably won't get in the way of your enjoying the game. The only real sin in the game is one of the last levels, which I felt depended too much on luck. It's one thing for me to flub a level, quite another for the level to be flubbed for me by the design.

That one level aside, however, World of Goo has plenty of fun and personality to offer. Although the game is short enough to finish in one or two sittings, getting the obsessive completion distinction on each level, and gaining more extra goo balls for an associated meta-game, will provide several additional hours of play. It's the season for hi-res, hi-polygon titles from big publishers, but you could do much worse than setting those titles aside and getting elbow-deep in some 2D goo.

World of Goo is presently available through WiiWare, and it can be purchased for the PC directly from the developers or via several download services such as Steam. If you don't have a PC, don't despair: Mac and Linux (!!) versions are currently in beta and should be available soon. For this review the game was played to completion on the Wii.

Spore Gets an F

This is really more MWC's territory, but when I first heard about Spore I thought it sounded pretty cool. A game that actually incorporates real scientific principles--evolutionary principles no less--sounded right up my alley.

Too bad it turned out to be about as scientific as Pac-man eating power pellets and getting chased by ghosts (sorry my game references are just a little outdated). Science's "gonzo scientist," John Bohannon, recently tried out the game with some actual scientists, giving it grades on scientific accuracy. The thousands of horrible reviews on Amazon already convinced me not to consider checking out the game, but the borderline angry flunking it received from these scientists served as the final nail in the coffin (sorry for the cliches here; I'm too tired to put that much effort into writing well today).

MWC--I've been aware of your disinterest in Spore for a while now. Any final thoughts?