Not Much To Say?

I know. Can you imagine me having a post with such a title? I'm not sure what to say about that, either (obviously).

I've said pretty much all I have to say about Maine on Facebook, though I will take the opportunity to once again to tell the voters of Maine to "Suck it!" There's a newish term being bandied about these days: "Gay Apartheid." We're sure feeling it lately, aren't we? Basically, apartheid means "You're different from most of us, therefore you should not be afforded the same rights and privileges as us and we're going to pass laws to ensure that you never will." We all saw how well that worked in South Africa, didn't we?

But I'm not getting on my high horse, tonight. I've already said I don't have much to say.

Not much happening at the movies, this weekend, either. There is the abysmal-looking (and pretty abysmally-reviewed) The Fourth Kind, starring Milla Jovovich (The Fifth Element; Resident Evil) as an Alaskan psychiatrist investigating what appears to be a rash of alien abductions. Yawn. Alien abduction has never been particularly scary to me, and while I was certainly an X-Files fan, I never understood why aliens would be so interested in anal probing (unless of course, their leader was Richard Simmons wanting to know what it's like to be a top - Oh, now that was just mean. Stop it!).

Then there's Richard (Donnie Darko) Kelly's latest, The Box. Based on a Richard Matheson short-story, The Box is about a young couple (James Marsden and Cameron Diaz) who are in dire financial straits. Along comes a mysterious stranger (a digitally scarred Frank Langella) with an unusual offer. In exchange for pressing the red button in the mysterious box he brings them, they will receive a million dollars. The catch? Someone they don't know will die.

Kelly's last film, the critically drubbed Southland Tales was a highly-anticipated failure that didn't even find an audience on DVD. His first film, the enigmatic Donnie Darko, won both critical acclaim and a devoted cult following (myself among them). It's the movie that shot Jake Gyllenhaal into superstardom and gave the late Patrick Swayze his best role since Ghost.

The Box has gotten less than stellar reviews and I suppose I'll wait until it's On Demand.

On TV, my beloved Fringe was back this week with a story about an alien entity trapped in the body of a comatose Cosmonaut which feeds off the radiation in its victims, leaving them little more than piles of carbon dust. Like the best X-Files stand-alone episodes, it was creepy and fun, though it lacked the intensity of episodes about the series' central conspiracy plot.

Oh, and I almost forgot. there's a new Grizzly Bear video (via):



Well, I guess I had a few things to say, after all. I hope you're having a good weekend. I'm trying to... I think I'll do a little Christmas shopping tomorrow. What are your plans?

More, anon.
Prospero

And Still Another Quick One

Having now listened to the astonishing "Yellow House" for the second time, I have added the entire Grizzly Bear catalog to my Amazon Wish List. I've been trying for days to come up with a way to describe their unique musical style.

Obviously influenced by the Beatles and 70's "Art Rock" bands like Genesis (before Phil Collins ruined them); Yes and Pink Floyd, Grizzly Bear might best be described as "New Age Folk Rock ala Cirque du Soleil via John Lennon with Rick Wakeman on Keyboards. " Does that make any sense at all? I suppose to Grizzly Bear fans, it might. Still, it seems lacking somehow. How can one describe one of the most unique sounds in modern music? Like I said, it's been a long time since I've become so completely enamored of a band...

Anyway - Bridge opened well, I suppose. The house was small, but appreciative and the poor guy playing "Eddie" nearly amputated his thumb on stage, performing business (cutting an apple) he's been doing for weeks without incident. I am starting to enjoy myself, and find great pleasure in talking like (you should pardon the expression) a 'Brooklyn Guido.' I've even gotten myself a 1950's Flattop haircut and I now look like your high school's football Coach (Drop an' gimme twenny!).

I'm seeing Jennifer's Body Sunday morning (AMC has cheap tickets for shows before noon), and my review will follow, anon.

Prospero

A New Favorite Band

It's been a long time since I last fell in love with a musician or band. And I don't want to think about how long it's been since I've been to a concert (but damn, I saw some really great ones).

My musical taste, as eclectic as it is, runs toward older stuff these days. I like very little modern pop, simply because it's overplayed to death (the fact that I can still listen to Beyonce's "Single Ladies" without throwing up is a testament to the girl's genius). And most of today's indie music is crap (if I hear one more song off the Juno soundtrack, I WILL throw up). And let's not even talk about Lady GagMe; Miley; Xtina or any of the other bio-engineered pop stars out there (and God bless Joel McHale for letting me who these crazy biatches are, on his marvelous little basic-cable program).

Anyway - to the point. I recently discovered these guys when someone (and forgive me for being too lazy to look it up) posted a fan-made video for their song "Two Weeks." They are Grizzly Bear and the more I hear of their stuff, the more I want to hear more. Funky, moody, weird and so listenable. Here's a repost of that gorgeous papercraft-animation for "Two Weeks:"

I just love that song! Then today, the always insightful JA at MyNewPlaidPants posted this video of his favorite song from their latest album:

How to describe these guys and their sound? The visuals in their label-produced videos, like the one above, are certainly striking and somehow, oddly appropriate. Even more surreal is the video for the song "Knife," from their earlier CD, Yellow House:

That's an amazing song! I'm finishing this post and going to Amazon to buy Grizzly Bear CDs. I suggest you do so, as well.

More, anon.

Prospero