If you haven't seen this show, I feel sorry for you. It is, in my opinion, the funniest show ever besides Arrested Development. That's saying a lot, I know, but I stand by the statement. The show is about Bret and Jemaine from Flight of the Conchords trying to make it big in New York after moving from New Zealand. For the uninformed, Flight of the Conchords is a folk-comedy duo that writes some of the greatest songs known to man.
The show is set up so we see the two trying to go through daily life, but it is interjected with faux music videos. These can be seen as actual videos the band is making for a particular reason in the episode, as daydreams, or even hallucinations. Either way they come in, they are hilarious. The show itself is really fucking funny, too. The humor is kind of dry and subtle, and that shit is my favorite, so I'm down till I'm underground on this one.
This comes with two DVDs and a total of 12 episodes. I was a little disappointed to see that there weren't any extra features, but it's totally worth it anyway. Go buy this shit.
Here is one of the musical interludes. It comes up as Jemaine and Bret are about to be mugged.
I really shouldn't even have to write anything about this movie, but in the spirit of Halloween, I felt that it would just be a fun reminder. As many already know, this movie may be the best horror film ever made. Period. It spawned an entirely new way of creating scary movies, and to this day it stands proudly as a masterpiece for your viewing pleasure. Hell, George A. Romero is still making movies based off of this one, and they all go over well with critics. But this is the one that started it all, way back in 1968. That's right, we're talking original here. Don't buy into the remake, even if it did have Romero himself as executive producer. This is the version you want to see. This is the classic.
Shot in black-and-white, the movie tells the story of a group of people hiding inside a house in rural Pennsylvania from reanimated bodies searching for human flesh to sustain themselves. Yikes! That is just spooky! Will they escape? Will they be eaten alive? Not only that, but if a living human gets bitten, he turns into a zombie and gets the cannibalistic hunger himself! Oh, shit! How will it all turn out?! You'll have to watch for yourselves, I'm afraid!
All kidding aside, this movie is awesome. Not only did it make a huge contribution to horror films as we know them today, but it was also a subversive critique of American culture at the time. Scary and political? You just can't go wrong with this one, folks.
If you don't think Kid Dynamite's "Shorter, Faster, Louder" is one of the best punk records to be put out after 1986, you deserve to be punched in the neck. They (along with a couple other classic acts like Dillinger 4, 88 Fingers, Lifetime, etc) refreshingly brought back the aesthetic of hardcore + punk + hooks x speed = aggro gritty awesomeness... that you can slamdance and 'whoa-oh-oh' to until you're blue in the face. It was pure, it was raging, it was fun, it was perfect. These cats only put out two full-lengths, a couple splits, and one b-sides/demos disc... but seriously, that's all that was necessary. They didn't turn into some drawn-out joke or punk rock cliche. They carved out their niche, beat you in the face with it as fast as they could, and then parted ways. It's almost romantic in a way...
But as for the DVD documentary, (just like the band's duration) it felt too short, but what was there was fucking amazing. Sure i would of loved more info, live footage, interviews, etc... but the already-packed 90 minute film was honestly powerviolence as is. It is also interesting to note that it was completely put together and directed by Kid D's singer, Jason Shevchuk (who now is the singer/guitarist for None More Black, if you needed help placing the name). But all in all, the most important part of this documentary is what it bleeds: the band's guts, determination, road relentlessness, energy, and fuckin power. It definitely brings me back watching the boys rise to their peak, only to prematurely fall apart... maybe I should just do us all a favor and add them to the "Get the Fuck Back Together, Idiots" category as well.
I apologize if this is old news to some of you out there... but I honestly feel compelled to throw this up and give it more screen time. I picked up the book ("American Hardcore: A Tribal History" by Steven Blush) almost three years ago and quite possibly have read it three or four times over in that span. The reason this book is so damn magically special, besides the fact that it's packed to the brim with information, is that it's pretty much the first to ever tackle this subject fully -- the American youth response to the dwindling of the 70's punk pioneers, and the surge of yuppie-ism gaining momentum. More specifically, it chronicles the '80 - '86 rise of the original "hardcore" within our fifty states.
Don't get me wrong, this isn't a boring "this happened, then this happened" kind of retelling... the history is retold by the actual people who lived it. Sure there's Blush as a 'quasi-narrator' (nicely set in bold font, in case you forget which part is him talking) to keep to keep it cohesive, but the bulk of the content is everyone who meant something to the movement putting in their two cents on whichever topic the chapter was highlighting. And it definitely cuts deep, it covers everything from specific bands, to hotbed areas of the country, to the agenda, to the fashion, to the shows, etc...
Honestly, this combo means so much to me because early '80s hardcore has to be my all-time favorite genre or 'style' of music (ie. Black Flag, Bad Brains, Dead Kennedys, Misfits, Minor Threat, Minutemen, etc)... and frankly, the lack of attention paid to it in the realm of music history really pissed my shit off. Any book or documentary I picked up before these were all the same, "Iggy and Lou Reed were on to something, then New York birthed punk rock at CBGB's, then England exploded with the Pistols, Clash, Damned and such, then a post-punk movement grew out of the ashes, watering things down by "getting experimental" ... then according to them it seems the world stopped for a bit... and suddenly, oh no, here's Nirvana! And it's some mystery how that happened. Get it together assholes, quit skipping over one of the most pure, radical, and important movements in our short musical journey on this planet.
So, anyway... to my delight, this book spawned a documentary, made by the same people. I really really wanted this to be the end all be all of my favorite documentaries, but when i saw it opening night up here in NYC, I was slightly (and I emphasize 'slightly') disappointed. But in a good way of sorts, if that makes sense... I mean, what did I expect, if you really wanted to capture all of this info in a documentary, it would have to be 12 hours long or something. So long story short, I loved it to death, but I see how it could seem they tried to cram as much info as possible into two hours. Which leads me to the DVD, and why it's featured... Rabidly purchasing this as well, the day it came out, the special features totally revived everything I hoped the movie would be. Swelling with more content, I couldn't have been more pleased.... So If you missed it in theaters, pick up this DVD now, and bop on down to your local book sellers and get a major dose of powerviolence... in book form!
" 'Shit Happens' is appropriately titled, as shit does indeed happen on the road, as is one of the best things about being in a band and how ridiculous touring can be. The DVD follows the band on tour over the last few years, mainly focusing on their latest jaunt out on the Vans Warped Tour.
"Shit Happens" captures the humor of the band, and what I have always appreciated about Every Time I Die; their fuck you, "look how much fun we are having" attitude. After years of controversy, as the band used to be well known for bailing on shows at the last minute, and being assholes to amuse themselves. "Shit Happens" is a entertaining look at the good times of being in a band, at the level of success to allow them to get away with what every kid in a band dreams to attain. The bottom line, if you like ETID, then you will love this DVD." ~ N. Shannon
And for further emphasis, one of the funniest things I have ever seen in my life... I'm sorry, this video clip makes me almost piss my with powerviolence every time i see it...
