Likely one of the most underrated rock bands to come out of the ‘70s, a decade that inexplicably made everyone from Journey to Styx famous, Memphis-based rockers Big Star always seemed on the edge, (but just not quite there yet) of making it big. Their debut, 1972’s #1 Record, arguably their best, boasting songs like “The Ballad of El Goodo,” “Don’t Lie to Me” and “In the Street” (sadly, best known…
Yes, a lot of the pre-movie publicity surrounding Lindsay Lohan’s comeback movie, The Canyons, focused on the fact that her co-star James Deen is a porn star. But Lohan aside, who does a pretty solid job in this clunky erotic thriller, it seems just about every other actor here was trained in pornos as well. The acting is stilted and dialogue pretty weak, thanks to one-time literary hit maker Bret…
Aside from maybe The Beatles, you could never imagine another documentary working as well as Springsteen & I does with any other musician. The idea is simple enough: fans of Bruce Springsteen submitted short videos of themselves talking about their favorite Bruce memories, what he means to them, or simply the words they use to describe him. The result is surprisingly sincere and heartfelt without coming across as overtly…
Though it has yet to receive the massive amount of critical and fan love as his previous HBO series The Wire, David Simon’s Treme remains one of the best kept secrets currently on air. Season three continues to build on that solid foundation of engrossing characters and stellar music. This latest season finds the residents of New Orleans still dealing with the aftermath of…
The movie Syrup owes more than a little to David Fincher’s adaption of the book Fight Club. Like Fincher, Syrup director Aram Rappaport had to take a literary cult favorite – in this case Max Barry’s novel – and bring the story to another medium. Both books/films involve dark, cynical, plots that flirt with humor and romance and the characters in both are pretty difficult to root for. While,…
Godfathers of the Oi! movement, the Cockney Rejects’ influence can still be heard today in everyone from Rancid to the Dropkick Murphys, so it’s only appropriate that someone finally got around to making documents on the underappreciated and often overlooked band. East End Babylon is a visual love note of sorts to a group from one of the toughest neighborhoods in England, who managed to escape jail, drug abuse and…
Girl Most Likely is the type of movie that could only work as a small, independent film. The quirky love story, the outrageous characters (each more odd than the next) and the small town charm would quickly be distorted and dumbed down in the hands of a major studio in an attempt to try and guarantee broader appeal. The quirky love story would be amped up to make it the primary…
Morrissey fans are a devout bunch. Some might say fanatical, but I’ll go with adoring. Regardless there are bound to be some that have a problem with any DVD that comes out about Moz (“Why didn’t it include interviews with Morrissey?” “There were not enough up close shots of him singing!” and on, and on, and on). But this 25Live captures one of Morrissey’s most intimate concerts in recent memory,…
River Phoenix was 23-years-old when he died on the sidewalk outside of the Viper Room. And given his childhood – raised in the Children of God cult, forced to panhandle in the streets of South America to feed his family, and serving as the main source of income for his parents and siblings for the rest of his short life – it’s hard to imagine a scenario where he…
There is something dated about the sound on the debut full length from Philly’s Transitshop. And not in a “cool, this has a real vintage throwback feel to it,” but more of an “I’m gonna recreate an old ‘80s new wave record without really adding anything new to the mix” feel. The result is a bit of an affected Morrissey croon over some old Spandau Ballet tracks, which…
This British romantic comedy may have come from the producers behind Love Actually, but don’t expect the same earnest, saccharine sweet love story with this one. What I Give It A Year does promise is many more laughs, raunchy at times, but funny none the less. Written and directed by Dan Mazer (the same writer behind the so wrong, but so funny Borat), I Give It A Year toggles between…
The latest from mocumentary king Christopher Guest (This is Spinal Tap, Best in Show) is his first foray into TV and the results are mixed. The show is slow going for the first few episodes, but is worth it for those who stick with it to the end. Chris O’Dowd (Bridesmaids, The IT Crowd) plays Tom Chadwick, an Englishman who inherits an old box of family heirlooms from…
Ever run into those people who have whacky theories about the hidden meaning of cult movies? You ain’t heard nothing yet. This documentary from novice movie director Rodney Ascher compiles a number of divergent theories from fans of Stanley Kubrick’s horror classic The Shinning. Among the theories that are exhaustively argued (and allegedly supported by close ups and stills from the movie) are claims that the film is about…
Unless you lived in LA between 2002 and 2007 you’ve likely never heard of the Kiss or Kill music scene. That doesn’t make the documentary on the movement, In Heaven There Is No Beer, any less fascinating. The film, by first-time director Dave Palamaro, chronicles the music scene comprised of a mix of rock and punk-influenced bands like The Dollyrots and Bang Sugar Bang. The scene was started by…
Yes the alkie/junkie-who’s-really-a-good-guy genre has been around for a long, long time. The fact that anyone would try and tread that ground after Charles Bukowski is simply mindboggling, but somehow Danny Bland takes the challenge and does remarkably well. In Case We Die, the first novel from Bland (best known as a musician for The Dwarves, Cat Butt and Best Kisser in the World) is dark, emotional and surprisingly funny.…
It takes some balls to call out Tom Waits as a reference point in your band bio; Even more when your music fails to live up to even Waits’ weakest musical output. You can see where the D.C. based indie blues noise band The Torches were going with that comparison; frontman Stephen J. Perron Guidry boasts a purposely off kilter delivery, with a deep baritone matched by a banjo and…
This darkly comical Canadian TV series has yet to really catch on in the U.S., but thanks to DVDs it is finally managing to carve out a small, but loyal following here. The show originally aired on HBO Canada, but can be seen in the U.S. on Direct TV, not exactly mass exposure. Call Me Fitz stars Jason Priestly as a boorish used car salesman battling with the sudden appearance…
If you’re don’t like the latest Willie Nelson record, just give it a couple of months, as there’s bound to be another one just about to come out. That’s actually not hyperbole, when you consider Willie has put out 68 albums to date, and that’s just counting studio releases, not live albums, compilations, box sets, etc. At 80, the legend (and yes, he has definitely earned that title at this…
Bob Dylan’s 1970 album Self-Portrait was welcomed by Rolling Stone magazine with the rather succinct review opener: “What is this shit?” Needless to say quite a few Dylan diehards had no idea how to take the troubadour’s tenth album; a double record set featuring mainly covers of old pop and folk hits. It was rightly maligned at the time with it’s puzzling selection of covers and sappy, cluttered string…
Despite being a documentary, the brilliant Stories We Tell unspools more like a fictional family drama. Helmed by actress (The Sweet Hereafter, Dawn of the Dead) and director (Away From Her) Sarah Polley, she turns the camera on her own family for this one. Narrated by her actor/father, the doc examines Polley’s family, specifically her mom and dad and whether or not the man who raised her was her…