Most horror movies achieve their scares by jolting the viewer. They grab them by the collar and shake them about with a blood-curdling scream or a quick explosion of strings from the soundtrack. But nobody screams in Let The Right One In, an atypical horror movie that possesses the skill and discipline to engage its audience, not with jump scares and orchestral swells, but with chilling, unrelenting quiet.
Archive for the 'reviews' Category
Given the recent setbacks in the struggle for gay rights, it can be difficult to view Milk without the specter of those disappointments looming just outside the screen’s borders. The film, which depicts the rise to power of Harvey Milk, America’s first openly gay political figure, serves as a stirring call to arms for gay rights activists, and as a reminder that sometimes progress is possible only through dedication, perseverance, and sacrifice.
Scotland’s Frightened Rabbit played another excellent show in San Diego on November 5, less than six months from their previous date at the Casbah.
Continue reading ‘Review: Frightened Rabbit; November 6, 2008; U31, San Diego’
The trailer for the French film A Girl Cut In Two would have you think that the film is a taut, sexy, tense thriller about the violent love triangle between a beautiful girl and the two men who compete for her affections. What the film actually delivers is about as sexy and tense as Rush Limbaugh enjoying the effects of a painkiller binge.
In 1999, the film adaptation of Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club became an obsession for aimless twenty- and thirty-something males, who closely identified with its examination of the alienation felt by the so-called “middle children of history”. The film continues to resonate with disenchanted corporate drones and Ikea shoppers everywhere who work jobs they don’t want so they can buy things they don’t need.
Though Palahniuk has written nearly a dozen books since that movie premiered, it has taken until now for a second adaptation of his work to reach the screen, but it remains to be seen whether Choke, another tale of young men struggling to give their lives meaning through questionable means, will have a comparable impact.
Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11 failed in ousting the Bush administration from the White House in 2004. Slacker Uprising, the new film by Moore documenting the 2004 tour of the same name, gives him one more chance to proclaim, “Mission accomplished,” and be correct this time. (On a personal note, I don’t see how this film could fail in getting rid of Bush.)
A large crowd of power-pop fans filled Bar Pink on Saturday to celebrate the release of The Powerchords’ red-hot full-length …Think I’m Gonna.
Continue reading ‘Review: The Powerchords; September 27, 2008 at Bar Pink; San Diego’
^^ Shannen Doherty ^^
Or, Keeping Up with the Walshes
If there’s anything the TV industry trusts, it’s precedent, which has brought us a parade of Judge Wapner impersonators, provided sixty-seven variations on CSI and Law and Order, and given Chevy Chase the opportunity to have a late-night talkshow. In other words, precedent is responsible for some of the great travesties in televisual history. Following suit, the new 90210 is monopolizing on the uberhip ’90s original Beverly Hills 90210 and it’s all about being up-to-date.*
Airing on the illustrious FOX network, Do Not Disturb, at first blush, seems to get its name from the fact that it’s set in a hotel. But I discovered, too late, that it had been named by my TV Guide, warning me not to mess with this show because I wasn’t going to like what I saw.
With a chic New York City hotel as its backdrop, this half-hour sitcom centers a lot of its action in the bowels of a hotel, expelling awful things from its back-office mise-en-scène.
For a band that has spent the last ten years plumbing the depths of human misery, The Black Heart Procession sure do put on a fun live show. Playing to an eager crowd last Friday, the San Diego natives drew from various eras in their impressive catalog to assemble a set that was both a great introduction for newcomers and a satisfying playlist for the devoted.
Continue reading ‘Review: The Black Heart Procession; September 26, 2008 at The Casbah; San Diego’
High Time, as it opens with tribal rhythms and arithmetic chanting, will likely prompt listeners to think “Oh, another release from Thrill Jockey,” or “This is really freakin’ cool.”
Is there no limit to Jenny Lewis’ charms?
As front woman of indie-rock stalwarts Rilo Kiley, Lewis infused album after album with her distinctive persona, and in 2006 she and the Watson Twins released Rabbit Fur Coat, a terrific collection of songs that favored Americana-tinged fairy tales over the takeoffs and landings of her usual rock and roll. Now, we finally have Acid Tongue, the first officially solo album from Ms. Lewis, and it’s one of her greatest achievements to date.
In the past ten years, screenwriter Alan Ball has given us two of the most scathing examinations of the frailty of human nature in general, and American life in particular.
Ball’s screenwriting debut, American Beauty was nothing short of a cultural phenomenon when it was released, and though the film doesn’t quite hold up under close scrutiny, its strongest moments likely remain etched in the minds of viewers. His HBO series Six Feet Under benefited from having five years rather than two hours to examine human nature in all its contradictory glory, and its insights into what makes people tick tended toward subtle incrimination and unbearable heartbreak. In Towelhead, his film directing debut, Ball once again tries to walk the razor’s edge of placing flawed but sympathetic characters in shocking but realistic circumstances.
^^ The New Pornographers ^^
San Diego’s annual Street Scene festival was truly a sight to behold. A large section of San Diego’s downtown and West Village was sectioned off and made home to four stages, forty bands, and thousands upon thousands of voracious music lovers. From bros rolling joints to cute hipster chicks with flasks taped to their thighs, the surroundings were cramped, but everyone was in such a good mood that no one seemed to mind the lack of breathing room.
Continue reading ‘Review: San Diego Street Scene; September 19, 2008′
Oakland rockers Man/Miracle have released a new 7-inch entitled “Pushing And Shoving/You’ve Got A Hold On Me”. The song “Pushing And Shoving” was previously included on the band’s supergood self-titled full-length album, and “You’ve Got A Hold On Me” is previously unreleased. You can listen to the A-Side at their MySpace, the B-Side here, and buy the record and other merch here.
Continue reading ‘Man/Miracle Release “Pushing and Shoving” 7-Inch’
