Movie Review: Inception

After The Matrix came out, every movie-going mouth-breather nationwide suddenly began waxing philosophical like coffeehouse hipsters. You may remember it sounding something like this, “So if reality is just a perception, and technology was advanced enough, how would you be able to tell if your life wasn’t just a super realistic videogame you’re plugged up to?”

Minds. Were. Blown.

Meanwhile, those of us who had actually read a book in our lives, or played enough videogames to already appreciate this sort of 21st century zen koan prior to the film… we still thought it was a hell of an action movie with a surprisingly intelligent sci-fi storyline.

The film was a box office hit and a cultural landmark. Matrix posters becoming as common a sight as MC Escher and Salvador Dali on co-ed walls.

For the purposes of this review, and to forgive great directors their latter day sins, we’ll refrain from discussing the sequels.

Fast-forward roughly 10 years and Christopher Nolan – Mr. Dark Knight himself – goes and does the impossible. He out-Matrix’s the Matrix. How?

He writes and directs Inception, a film where he essentially puts the Matrix…get this…IN THE MATRIX.

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We’re Onto You: Television Isn’t Trying

For anyone watching mainstream television in this country in the last decade or so, it’s been a pretty wild ride. Some say that we are in television’s finest era, but there’s one major thing being overlooked here:

Nobody in network television is even trying a little bit to make a really GOOD show. Not one. OK, except Firefly, but we all know what happened there.

So to prove my point, let’s get started with game shows.

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Top 10: Movies of All Time (That I’ve Never Seen)

Hello, my name is Michael, and I love movies.

I managed a video store for three years. I hold a degree in Film Studies.  I’m a(n) accomplished screenwriter.  I’m even employed by Warner Brothers (though they’re more concerned with my ability to stuff paychecks into envelopes than my ideas).

However, despite all this, there’s still an ungodly amount of fantastic cinema that I have yet to experience.  Back in the day, when I was stocking shelves and chatting up customers at Vision Video, I frequently heard the phrase:

“What do you mean you haven’t seen that!? You work at a video store!”

Yeah, I know.  Trust me, I wish I could take back the time I spent watching Date Movie and put that hour and a half towards something riveting and awe-inspiring. Like this classic gem of a film.

Therefore, in honor of all the epic and glorious films I’ve missed, here’s a list of the Top 10 Movies of All Time That I Haven’t Taken The Time Or Made An Effort To See… Yet. I will list them in descending order, and provide a brief review on what I can only assume the damn thing is about.

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Album Review: Future Islands – In Evening Air

Maybe it’s my affinity for new wave bands such as A Flock of Seagulls or maybe it’s my love for all the great things that are affiliated with Wham City- But I really enjoy this album.

Originally formed in North Carolina before relocating to Baltimore, Future islands brings a unique sound to their new album out from Thrill Jockey.

It is refreshing to hear a new take on this genre of music that hasn’t already been played out in recent years. While it is based on the same sound as the new wave bands of the past, Future Islands brings a post-punk edginess and lyrical darkness to the energetic dance beats of the genre. They take the new wave aesthetic and infuse their own brand of heat wrenching dramatics.

The vocalist’s (Sam Herring) raspy voice adds a seriousness to the feelings the lyrics are trying to convey. Whether it’s his sharp sound in Long Flight or the grandiose delivery in Vireo’s Eye Sam’s voice adds a dynamic to the sound that has the ability to further engage the listener to lyrics in which they can already relate.

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Movie Review: 3 Anti-Westerns to Queue

The Missouri Breaks

Released in 1976 and set in late 19th century Montana, The Missouri Breaks was directed by New Hollywood’s most underappreciated director, Arthur Penn.  Penn gave the film a tremendous look and feel, but the reason to queue this particular Revisionist Western is its 3 great performances:

Jack Nicholson plays the leader of a gang of rustlers.  He poses as a small-time farmer in order to get revenge on the wealthy rancher that killed his friend.  Nicholson has all the fire and wild-eyed unpredictability that you would expect (see: Five Easy Pieces, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest) and creates a Western anti-hero who is unsympathetic, unethical, and overwhelmed.

Marlon Brando plays Robert E. Lee Clayton, an eccentric (read: Fabulous!) regulator who uses unconventional style and brutal justice to deal with Nicholson and his gang.  If Brando was trying to make this character as anti-Western as possible he succeeded.  This is one of Brando’s last half-sane performances and despite the fact that he refused to be directed, read his lines off of cue cards, and invented a character that seems unreal, Robert E. Lee Clayton is captivating and the Brando’s erratic performance really works.

Harry Dean Stanton plays Cal, Nicholson’s closest friend.  Harry Dean Stanton is hands down the best supporting actor a film could ever ask for and this movie is a great display of his scene stealing presence. Check his Wikipedia page and you will find this quote from Roger Ebert: “No movie featuring either Harry Dean Stanton or M. Emmet Walsh in a supporting role can be altogether bad.”  I would add my own quote: “A better than average Western starring two eccentrics can gain a great deal of authenticity and stability from a Harry Dean Stanton performance.”

And, you’ll notice a young Randy Quaid in a supporting role. (continue reading…)


You’re Doing It Wrong: Running a Homeless Shelter

I live in an apartment in downtown Atlanta . It is a great apartment. I have way more space than I could ever fully occupy, the commute is easy, and the rent is low. But there’s a catch. I live next to what I’m fairly certain is one of the worst homeless shelters of all time.

When I moved into my apartment I was not aware of its proximity to the shelter – thanks to a very informative property manager and her staff that assured me it was in, “A great lively urban neighborhood.”

So, you’d think my greatest frustration is the fact that I live next to a homeless shelter, but you’d be wrong. Let me be clear. I DO NOT oppose helping the homeless. My frustration comes from the fact that this particular shelter is being shut down for being run by an epically inefficient nonprofit that does nothing more than give drug addicts a place to sleep. In other words, a proper shelter gives a hand up, not a hand out. It teaches a man to fish instead of giving him a place to cook that “fish” up in a spoon and shoot in into his arm with a used hypodermic.

In the event our readers ever aspire to open their own homeless shelter, let me outline some important guidelines to save you from the same plight as my soon-to-be-homeless-themselves neighbor:

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Top 10: Visually Stunning Rap Videos

Rappers. What they lack in actual musicianship, they more than make up for in over-the-top music videos. I mean, you kind of HAVE to think of something insanely interesting for these people to do on camera when their only musical performance skill is holding a microphone and speaking into it.

And that’s just not going to fly on MTV VH1 FUSE Palladia (there we go, someone DOES still play music videos!). Here’s an homage to some of my all-time favorite rap music videos, as decided upon by their visual “stunningness” and placed in no particular order.

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Top 10: Bumper Stickers I Hate

Bumper stickers might be the most pitiful and simple-minded form of public discourse in existence (besides Twitter, of course). Although they can cover the gamut of topics from politics to music to personal affiliations, they really do nothing more than pad the car owner’s ego. Regardless of the intention, a bumper sticker primarily says one of two things about the driver: 1. “Nobody ever listens to me” and  2. “I’m not capable of articulating my beliefs on my own but I’m still arrogant enough to shove them in the face of people I don’t know.” Either way, I judge such drivers poorly.

However, certain bumper stickers irritate/infuriate me more than others. Their pompous and moronic messages go beyond the standard “somebody please pay attention to me” variety that I can simply dismiss. I’ve dedicated this post to 10 of those disgusting bumper blemishes.

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You’re Doing It Wrong: Internet Marketing

So here you are, poised to release your new product/service/social network/energy drink upon the world. Congratulations, you’ve entered what those of us with money (read: not this writer) call “the marketplace.” It’s not going to be easy. You’re going to need to advertise. And what better way to do that than with the internet? After all, everything is free on that thing, as far as you know.

I know, it seems really hard to come up with ideas. But don’t worry, after a few minutes of brainstorming some brilliant thinker will utter the words that drive every company to instant fame and success: viral video. Don’t be afraid! Everything’s going to be fine. You see, when you put a video on YouTube, people watch it over and over again, and then flock to spend money on your product/service/sketch group/caffeinated thing. It never fails!

Ever!

So how do we “go viral”, you ask? Many savvy marketers just like yourself have asked the same question. Now, let us examine what makes a true internet meme and how you can ride that donkey to fame and fortune.

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Album Review: Pete Yorn – Back and Forth

When I was little, I was a Dimetapp junkie. At the slightest sign of sickness, I’d demand a generous spoonful of that sweet grape syrup, and even if I wasn’t sick, I’d play ill just to get a fix.

Fast-forward 15 years and I’m a writer who has called Dashboard Confessional “Robitussin for the broken heart” – a surefire remedy for what ails you but which, when unneeded, is practically unpalatable.

Well, if Dashboard is the ‘Tussin, Pete Yorn’s Back & Forth is Dimetapp, because I’ll be damned if Mr. Yorn hasn’t turned me into a 24-year-old drugstore cowboy jonesing for sugary nepenthe for the broken-hearted, despite the fact that I have absolutely no legitimate need for it.

Yorn wears his lyrical heart on his sleeve without coming off as trite, and he bears his musical soul without being over-the-top or melodramatic. If the album were to be boiled down to two adjectives, I would say: “honest” and “subdued.” It’s honest without being brutal, and subdued without being boring.

Like chugging on Dimetapp when you’re not really sick, listening to Yorn’s new album when you’re not presently heartbroken isn’t exactly something to brag about – but it’s also far from unenjoyable.

Bottoms up.


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