Inglourious Basterds or The Giant Jewish Jerk-Fest Tarantino Made?
When I first saw the trailer for Inglourious Basterds my initial and admittedly bigoted response was, “A bunch of nerdy Jewish looking actors brutally killing Nazis… did Tarantino just set-up the ultimate Hollywood executive (read Jewish) circle jerk?” Needless to say, I didn’t bother to catch it in theatres. Reviews came in overwhelmingly positive from my pseudo film buff guy friends with a penchant for violence (fittingly). They promised stunning cinematography, a well-paced and cleverly written story, an Oscar worthy performance, another dope Tarantino soundtrack, and a healthy release of testosterone. After the easily foreseeable and overblown finale I was left with most of the aforementioned items matched by a serious case of blue balls. Historical revisionism has been employed here merely for the sake of another undeniably cool yet empty Tarantino film.
On the road to pointlessness there is a lot of fun to be had while watching Inglourious Basterds. Christopher Waltz deserves all the praise he has received for his performance as Colonel Hans Landa aka ‘The Jew Hunter,’ leading this impressive ensemble cast (with the exception of Brad Pitt’s rarely amusing, mostly annoying Aldo Raines and Hostel director Eli Roth’s awful acting turn as ‘The Bear Jew’). It’s a Tarantino movie so of course the dialogue is slick and absorbing and like I said before, the soundtrack kicks ass. The moving pictures are beautiful and major props are due to cinematographer Robert Richardson. The opening sequence is probably Tarantino’s best yet and the careful pacing and elegant visuals from a stationary camera (not handheld) are much appreciated.
So I just listened to Bonfires on The Heath (Merge Records – purchase), the new album by The Clientele, and immediately needed another cup of coffee. This isn’t a bad thing (for me at least) but listening to any album by this band immediately makes me want to fall right to sleep. I work a lot. Sleep is good. My only concern is that seeing them live will have the same effect and people will assume I’m narcoleptic. See you at the NYC date?? I’ll be there in my jammies. Check out the dates after the jump & listen to the track “Harvest Time” below.
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The Hype Goes On. Without us, I mean. For today, anyway. Call it a boycott. We tried to sound the alarms, but they did not listen. Apparently we will have to be fleet of finger and track down the goods ourselves.
I was encouraged by the two of you who clicked on my latest attempt at bridging the high and low to ponder, can classical music be blogged? Would anyone care if it were?
You must watch this immediately.
Now, you may have been compelled to click Related Videos. There is exactly one live performance of Johannes Brahms there. It is a terribly recorded youth symphony. There is a nice close-up of a timpani roll at the start, however. The roll is remarkably smooth and sensitive given the performer’s age.
Shout Out Louds are an indie-pop band from Stockholm, Sweden. They have some boys and a girl in the band, and are affiliated with Peter, Bjorn & John (famous for the single most important moment in whistling history since Axl on “That’s Good“. The song builds with a piano line that is equal parts “All My Friends” and Peanuts theme, cutting out sporadically for vocals, which are unfortunately a bit too heavy on the reverb (think Arcade Fire covering Phoenix). The chorus would be fantastic but for the odd choice of guitar line, which is a bit too present in the mix and distracts from the rest of an otherwise driving chorus.
The next track, “Fall Hard,” is the real standout on the record. The guitars, while still a bit overwhelming, do not ultimately disappoint. The song features really interesting chord progressions and technical but still memorable leads. The horns are smooth and pleasant throughout. And while the vocals here are slightly too Robert Smith for comfort, the chorus differentiates Shout Out Louds from their contemporaries and gives the song a welcome uniqueness that is mostly absent on the remainder of the album.
Okay, I know what you’re thinking – “Wow, these guys must really love The League of Moveable Type!”.
And we do… but honestly, while trying to decide on this weeks free font, I didn’t even think about Jason’s selection of League Gothic last week (and by last week I, of course, mean last November). Fact is, there are so many free fonts available, but so few that are of decent quality. So my brain just picked something from The League of Moveable Type by default.
This fat serif font is perfect for a variety of uses, especially creating vintage, letter pressed style, posters and display images. Just distress the text a little and you are good to go. Plus, when I read the name, it makes me think of this, so… win win, right?
Chunk is an ultra-bold slab serif typeface that is reminiscent of old American Western woodcuts, broadsides, and newspaper headlines. Used mainly for display, the fat block lettering is unreserved yet refined for contemporary use.
Click here to visit the site and download Chunk. Also check out their Manifesto.
Yoshihisa Hirano (Obviously I just copied that from Wikipedia. Hackery!)
This is a story of a guy. Some would call him a hack. Together with another hack, Masashi Hamauzu, they made something awesome no one will care about. This makes me smile.
Masashi Hamauzu just quit Square Enix. This may have been because they assigned him games everyone hated (except me, sometimes). Then they made him write four CDs of music for a game about zippers.
Anyway, this other guy is a “real” composer. He went to Juilliard. Now, among other things, he orchestrates video games.
Today we will be discussing his work in the aforementioned zipper game, Final Fantasy XIII, which also features a kid named Hope saying serious things about conforming to Japanese society and loving peace while summoning Motorcycle Transformer Shiva so you can press buttons and kill things.
I’m a little bit obsessed with TV, specifically NBC’s current Thursday night lineup: Community, Parks & Recreation, The Office and 30 Rock. And you probably should be too. But I get that we’re busy kids, with awful attention spans and internet addictions. Two hours of television is a lot to sit through, which is why I’m here to help you set your priorities straight, Thursday night TV-wise.
WATCH FIRST (Maybe even when it airs. Like right at 8:00. WITH the commercials. Crazy, right?): Community
I absolutely adore Community with every ounce of my being, and last week’s episode was no exception. The fact that this show constantly invokes traditional sitcom tropes (Jeff and Britta ridiculously scheming to keep Annie away from mini-nippled Vaughn) and then subverts them so casually and hilariously is what makes this show so great. The awkward coupling of various characters is what usually destroys ensemble sitcoms, and the wonderful scene towards the end of the ep when the entire cast sits around sizing one another up as potential sexual partners was a great send up of that. And is why I have faith that tonight’s Valentine’s Day themed installment “Communication Studies” will be equally awesome. Plus in the preview, Greendale’s Human Being mascot has been repurposed as the “Cupid Being,” which is creepily delightful.
WATCH SECOND (But later. Fast forward through those commercials, and don’t be mad at me if I was wrong about this!): 30 Rock
I’m going out on a limb here for my favorite lady Tina because last week’s episode was pretty bad. With its trite plots–Kenneth annoys Pete while he tries to get some peace, Liz and Frank team together to battle cigarette and junk food addictions, Jack teaches Jenna on how to deal with her crazy mother–barely any Tracy antics, no Grizz, and no Dotcom, this episode was just…meh. However I know redemption will come tonight in the form of Jon Hamm’s guest-turn as Liz’s former flame Dr. Drew Baird. Plus Liz’s other ex-boyfriends Floyd and Dennis, who is always good for a laugh, will be popping up. Oh but also JON HAMM. And did I mention Jon Hamm? Don’t Lemon this one up, Fey.
Inglourious Basterds or The Giant Jewish Jerk-Fest Tarantino Made?
Okay, I know what you’re thinking – “Wow, these guys must really love The League of Moveable Type!”.
I’m a little bit obsessed with TV, specifically NBC’s current Thursday night lineup: Community, Parks & Recreation, The Office and 30 Rock. And you probably should be too. But I get that we’re busy kids, with awful attention spans and internet addictions. Two hours of television is a lot to sit through, which is why I’m here to help you set your priorities straight, Thursday night TV-wise.
