Month: June 2007

My review of Knocked Up

What’s the point? It’s everything you’ve read. Human, funny, and armed with an appeal for everyone…dirt dumb to smart (that’s the big feat). Pedestrian jokes, good jokes, great jokes, gross jokes, and some fantastic arguments. You’re supposed to hate the married sister, and boy did I, ugh, just broadsided by the realism of that character. Somebody did their research. Ha! I kid. No research needed, just find that irritating voice over there, complaining to the Whole Foods manager, or yelling at a Texas de Brazil waiter, or talking about taking fourteen Pilates classes in one day.  

Over in the world of FUN, a title isn’t the only thing Slither rips from Cronenburg’s Shivers. What a romp!!

The not-to-be-missed, gut-busting Harsh Times on YouTube

In order to convince my readers of Harsh Times‘ HILARITY value, I’ve grabbed some YouTube proof. The extra-ridiculous dialogue was hard to find (Christian Bale and Freddy Rodriguez chewing up the scenery with faux-cholo, decade-old street slang), but these present the basic idea. Enjoy.

Get a load of this.

…then this.

Wow.

Good gravy.

…..I’ve got more.  (someone beat me to this one)

As stated before, I’ve created the perfect 3.5 hours of entertainment: Assassination Tango/Harsh Times double feature. I will subject colleagues Bob Mehr and David Dunlap Jr. to the gauntlet.

 

 

 

THE SECOND COMING OF THE ‘FLAG (OR THE FIX)

No, not BL’AST, and not even SUNSHINE SUPER SCUM – I’m talking about this very recent (late 2006) 45 from Michigan’s RED RED RED, one of the most ripping, wild, noxo punk rock records of the 21st century thus far. Finding information on the band online was a bit of a chore, what with a malfunctioning band website, a poorly-updated page from their current label, and next-to-nothing written about them. After a bit of sleuthing I found their Myspace page, and from there learned that this project contains an ex-member of THE PIRANHAS, a band who, in retrospect, were pretty friggin’ great themselves. A must-purchase is their LP/CD collection of their first two 45s – I wrote about it here.

RED RED RED honestly sound like they were coughed from a rough night of coupling between ’81 BLACK FLAG (with Dez on vocals) and Michigan hardcore heroes THE FIX. It’s that intense and crazed, and I haven’t heard many punk rock tracks this great in a long while. There’s an LP/CD out right now called “MIND DESTROYERâ€Â (again, I had to work my ass off to find that out), and you can order it right here. I just did.

Play or Download RED RED RED – “Disconnectedâ€Â (from 2006 45 on Perpetrator Records)

Harsh Times INDEED!!!

A little over a year ago I had the Showtime channel. It filled a void. The straight-to-VHS/DVD crime genre, roughly post Pulp Fiction to present day, entertains me to a troubling end. On-Demand is my current, and slightly costlier, way to deal with the separation anxiety. See last night’s Smokin’ Aces post. Today, in tidy portions, I consumed Harsh Times. This movie is unbelievable. Bob Mehr and I are planning a double feature with Assassination Tango. Both are essential to the quest for ultimate entertainment via very poor Hollywood decisions. I need to let the former sink in for a day or so. A more detailed post is forthcoming. Beats Dirty for hilariously misguided Training Day rips.

Hold on now…..

I just pried myself from bed to the horrifying memory of giving Smokin’ Aces a favorable shout-out. I’m not even going to honor it with italics. Waddupwiddat?

That Marilyn Manson review must have been really bad.

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Thing is, this guy is further from the target than most of the review’s immediate comments.

Need I spell it out?

Yes, 14-year-olds listen to Marilyn Manson. Yes, in terms of fan demographic (and intellect), I see little diffference between a Limp Bizkit fan and a Cradle of Filth fan, though I UNDERSTAND THAT THEY SOUND NOTHING ALIKE. Tip ‘O the visor to your meth-tooting, Oxycontin-addicted, pregnant-at-19, married-at-20, ground-effects-hanging-lopsided-on-the-Eclipse ASSES!! No, the aforementioned doesn’t make up the buying majority for T. Rex reissues.

Otherwise, yes, that review could have been better.

Got a blog? You’re a writer!!

I’m twenty minutes into an On-Demanded Smokin’ Aces. Imagine It’s A Mad Mad Mad Mad World or Andy Breckman’s Rat Race (or Hot to Trot) done up post-post-post-post 90’s Tarantino dumb-dumb don’t-blink implausible you get the drill, seen the drill, can write the drill in your sleep….with one catch: IT’S TOTALLY WORTH IT!!! By the time that last word was written, I was 70 minutes in. Want more numbers? At least 50 different wagers could be made during this film. They die here, they die there, and most are legitimate surprises. Sort of seat ‘o the pants, I must admit.

Yes, I liked Narc (same director, my reader(s), a Mr. Joe Carnahan). He’ll be sitting in the same chair for the adaptation of Killing Pablo, and yes, I read Mark Bowden.

P.S. It has a bad ending.

A clarification…and something else….

I was just kidding around re: promo releases. Believe it or not, I listen to each and every promotional CD that enters my PO Box. They’re all gold. It’s us against them. Our little war. Gear up, we’re taking on every last editor!!

I heard nice things about Cormac McCarthy’s Oprah interview. No YouTube yet. As for elderly writers, if you want to see one leave his dignity at home, look for Tom Wolfe’s short interview on Real Time with Bill Maher. “Out of Touchâ€Â doesn’t even begin to explain…

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