Opening track Arab Strap's just-released ninth studio album Half-Told Tales. This one snuck up on me, so I haven't really had a chance to give it a proper listen, but this first time through? God DAMN! This could be a contender.
You can order this from Arab Strap HERE.
Watch:
Last night I sat down in my local big box theatre and was treated to one of the best theatrical experiences of the year. I'm talking about Na Hong-jin's new film Hope. I'm posting a trailer here, but I'd advise you just forego this and go see Hope on the big screen it is a BANGER!
When I posted about this previously, I mentioned that the "Quiet Place" vibes the trailer gave me were probably specifically achieved for the trailer, i.e. what better way to roll out a Korean monster movie in the theatre than by alluding to something that did well and could be somewhat comparable. I dig the two A Quiet Place films I've seen quite a bit, but this is definitely not that. Hope is its own thing, and I absolutely loved it. So much fun!
This entire film is about momentum; once it starts, it really goes hard, with only a few "lulls" in the fast-paced action. There's next to no exposition thrown at you, and the ending comes out of nowhere. This has already made it into my top five of the year, and I'm hoping I can go back and see it one more time before it leaves the big screen.
Watch:
A double watch today, before I get too far away from last weekend's viewing experiment to properly mention it.
A few months back, I wrote about how many Warner Brothers DVDs from 2008-2010 were manufactured substandard materials and had all largely gone bad. I also wrote about how I'd discovered via online discussion threads about this travesty that there exists and email whereby you can contact the company and they will replace your discs.
That turned out to be bullshit.
I'm rather attached to the packaging for the Blade Runner five-disc box set that Mr. Brown gave me circa 2011, so I ended up tracking down the set on Blu-Ray from eBay and swapping the BR discs into the DVD packaging. Next up, had to take a test toast, and I figured what better excuse to finally sit down over the course of a couple of days and watch all major versions of the film for comparison's sake.
I was extremely surprised by the results.
First, the Theatrical Cut: This ended up being an aborted attempt at watching the film the way I saw it first, way back as a little kid. Even back in the 90s when new versions sans voice over were surfacing, I defended (not preferred) this original cut simply out of nostalgia and, in hindsight, because the narration was probably the first time I was introduced to that particular Noir trope which does work well on occasion (of all the dames in all the offices, she walks into mine).
Watching this now - or perhaps more accurately attempting to watch this - I just couldn’t do it. There are a bunch of hinky moments in Ford’s performance I see now that I was either previously blind to or just didn’t want to admit - this film’s iconic footprint allows it to hold itself up by the bootstraps in A LOT of respects - and the narration, which at times feels forced, tired, half-arsed and downright goofy, only accentuates that. So I turned this off, waited a day and starter back in on the Director’s Cut. Something about this viewing or the Director’s Cut felt off. Part of it was I started it after waking up in the middle of the night, made it to JF’s intro and fell back asleep. Finished later that day, and it felt unfamiliar and a little hokey. Especially some of Ford’s mannerisms.
Interruptions are never good for watching film, but the answer would reveal itself upon my subsequent viewing of the Final Cut, which is definitely my preferred version.
Director's Cut: This viewing or the Director’s Cut felt off. Part of it was due to the fact that I started the viewing after waking up in the middle of the night. I made it to about where William Sanderson's JF shows up and welcomes Darryl Hannah's Pris into his apartment* and then fell back asleep. I finished the viewing later that day, but something about staring it in the middle made it feel overall unfamiliar and a little hokey. Especially some of Ford’s mannerisms.
Interruptions are never good for watching film, but the answer would reveal itself upon my subsequent viewing of the Final Cut, which is definitely my preferred version. (* Where's his other brother Darryl?).
Final Cut: This has been the version of the film I've watched in the last twenty-five years or so, so maybe it's just deep-rooted familiarity, but THIS feels right. I mean, compared to some folks' fandom with this film, I've probably only seen it six or seven times in my life, and probably four of five of those were either Theatrical or Director's cuts, but this Final Cut feels so cohesive, and one of the big factors I landed on for that in thinking about it is the color grading. It's perfect!
Playlist:
John Carpenter, Cody Carpenter & Daniel Davies - Cathedral
Sumerlands - Dreamkiller
Windhand - Eternal Return
Boards of Canada - Inferno
Yerusalem - The Sublime
Fear - Live... For the Record
Blut Aus Nord - 777 Sect(s)
Blut Aus Nord - 777 The Desanctification
Blut Aus Nord - 777 Cosmosphy
Arab Strap - Half-Told Tales
The Jesus Lizard - Liar
The Damage Manual - Special Edition
Card:
From Jonathan Grimm's Eldritch Lace Tarot, which you can buy HERE.
• Page of Wands
• Seven of Pentacles
• Page of Pentacles
Baggage. Frugal.
I have a ghost, or a demon, or a virus. I don't feel like I spend an exorbitant amount of my money on the amazing but admittedly frivolous things that I populate my space with - music, movies, books, comics, plastic, etc. I spend more than I probably should from time to time, but I've looked at the numbers and it just doesn't add up, the fact that I have such a hard time saving money. So, for this pull, I did something I almost never do. I held an exact question in my mind when I shuffled and chose. And I'd say the result is pretty on the nose. In the grimoire, I actually have "A difficult period in material life" as the entry for the Seven of Pentacles. I have "Baggage" among the qualifiers for the Page of Wands, and I have "Frugal" for the Page of Pentacles. Plus, two of the three cards are Pentacles, i.e. disks, i.e. material concerns.
So what does this tell me, other than this is an uphill climb?
