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This is going to be different than an “I told you so” but looking at what I had to say about THE INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL trailer I can say with a bitty bit of confidence that no matter what you think of my solipsistic, ape-like ability to hammer this column out every single week there is a little bit of truth that I am able to eek out of these trailers which can, unfortunately, be quite revealing to me about why I have reservations about some of the most anticipated films.
I damn near feel like one of those carnival barkers on Saturday mornings in between many a sports show admonishing you to call call call right now to get my free pick of the week. My ability to write about this crap certainly has been pleasurable every single week (sometimes) but it’s never fun to be disappointed at what most people would consider to be the messiah in celluloid shape.
What seems to be the problem many critics are now having with JONES seems to be the very thing which is bright as any halogen spotlight in that trailer. This isn’t a review of the film but when I had the chance to be a part of the Sunday preview this week I just passed at the opportunity in lieu of hanging with 2 dozen mutant children at a birthday party; I didn’t have any inside information about the film but after these trailers and television spots I thought I pretty much knew what to expect.
After reading the reviews that have slowly been oozing their way across the Intertubes I can’t say that I’m kicking myself for making the choice that I did. Certainly, all the hubbub regarding what in fact the crystal skull was and all the bullshit Cease and Desist letters that many sites were using as reasons for taking down images readily available (for anyone who needs a quick legal lesson on Cease and Desist letters for film sites here it is: They are calls/e-mails from studio representatives which provide access to these sites and they are done so as to preserve the movie slave’s free flow of information, to ensure their junket invite still arrives on time, that they’re still allowed to participate in set visits, etc…Just imagine what it would be like if the drama club were actually cool, that this was still high school and that the drama club was the one thing everyone wanted to be in.) and all the hoopla about a movie, if you looked at it close enough, wasn’t that thrilling.
I guess it smarts in a way that this movie has fallen short of unreachable expectations, no one likes to see Harrison Ford ambling around like a grandfather in a role known for lots of physicality, but the fact is that he’s getting up there in age, we’ve all grown up (some of us) and anyone who can look at this franchise with the same awe and wonder as many of us do to the first three films (and, really, let’s all face facts regarding the 3rd installment) and just leave it at that? No, because that would be admitting that there is something inherently wrong about the character but these do not have to be mutually exclusive movies. You can have a clunker in there and still retain that Soul Glo of the trilogy but I think, and I am writing this on Monday night as many of the critics are unleashing their reviews, you will see a lot of that nostalgia permeate the very same reviews which should stand alone; you can’t really tie this 4th installment to the other three as it would be just as unfair to besmirch the good name of STAR WARS just because PHANTOM MENACE was a piece of dog shit.
That’s just me, though, and I realize many of you are already sold on what is the next messiah on celluloid. If you could do me an honest favor, bookmark this rant and come back to me next year when you’ve had a chance to really soak in the film and let me know if I’m wrong? I would like nothing more than than to say this 4th part is just as worthy to stand next to the 3rd, not just as a good action movie, we all know Spielberg can crap those out on a whim, but a movie that still genuinely embodies that sense of mid-century adventure when serials and mindless derring-do was the thing that made movies fun.
Somehow I think that bit will be lost in all the marketing.
Director: Christopher Zalla
Cast: Armando Hernandez, Jorge Adrian Espindola, Jesus Ochoa, Paola Mendoza
Release: May 16, 2008
Synopsis: Winner of the Best Film at the Sundance Film Festival (under its former title Padre Nuestro), SANGRE DE MI SANGRE is an exhilarating and provocative thriller from newcomer Christopher Zalla exposing the dark side of the American dream. A young Mexican immigrant, Pedro (Jorge Adrian Espindola), journeys to New York City in search of the successful father he’s never met only to have his belongings and identity stolen by a conniving thief, Juan (Armando Hernandez). As Pedro is left alone and unable to communicate in a country foreign to him, Juan cons his way into the home of Pedro’s father, Diego (Jesus Ochoa), finding a man just as flawed as he is. While Juan attempts to reinvent himself, Pedro’s only hope lies with a mysteriously complex prostitute, Magda (Paola Mendoza), as he frantically searches for his identity back.
View Trailer:
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Prognosis: Positive. Arizona is a funky kind of place to live.
When you’re here, it feels like any other dustbowl that gets to 120 in the July without even trying, it looks like any other cramped and forced suburbia where the homes are all made out of stucco and are no more than 10 feet apart and it has a way of looking desperate and isolated when you fly in here and see that we’re literally one big mass surrounded by an unforgiving desert of nothingness.
Plus, we’re pretty much a lightning rod for immigration reform.
You’ve got some yahoos on one side saying that all illegals should be tossed back to Mexico, you’ve got others who say that English as a Second Language programs should be a part of the state funded curriculum and you even have lots of people debating the merits of whether illegals should be allowed to partake of government programs. On a daily basis this debate rages on in the news but all I want to know is whether the Cubs won another game. That said, though, this movie looks absolutely amazing with regard to getting down to the dangers of what happens when Mexicans want to try and make a go at life here in America, illegally, and run into the kind of drophouse scenarios that happen on a routine basis.
When we open on this trailer we thankfully have a voice over that’s not intrusive as it is helpful to explain what we have: simply, one Mexican meets another on their way to a better life in America. Simple, cut and dry.
What’s more is that the story gets thrilling and even exciting for me when the voice over lets us know that this is a tale of one kid who is genuinely looking for his father in New York while the other guy plans to take advantage of this and beat him to it, and exploit the situation to his favor. I damn near get my jollies when we see that the bad guy beat the other to the punch and we’re instantly tossed to the Sundance, Winner, Best Film logo. Brilliant. It’s perfectly placed, it comes at just the right time and you are unable to do anything else but watch further to find out what is going to happen next.
What follows, the guy supping at this other kid’s father like a leech by taking money and comfort from this unsuspecting dude who thinks this is his son, is delicately followed by positive reviews from the Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe and others. In this trailer it just helps to keep the visibility and credibility of what it’s trying to sell you. And, as you see the kid who really is the guy’s father hot on the tail of the weasel who is bilking him, the tension is wonderfully understated but wholly present.
The subsequent cut scenes that follow when the OG child finds out another has been sleeping in his bed and eating his porridge run rings around any thriller that I have had the misfortune to try to be sold on this year; I’m really concerned about who is going to beat who to the literal punch by the time all is revealed at the end. I’m just as ready to fork over my cash at the end of this trailer as anyone else should be to find out how this all plays out.
Director: Jay Duplass, Mark Duplass
Cast: Steve Zissis, Ross Partridge, Greta Gerwig, Elise Muller
Release: June 13, 2008
Synopsis: While the Duplass Brothers were shooting their last feature film The Puffy Chair, a crew member raised the question “what’s the scariest thing you can think of?” Someone immediately said “a guy with a bag on his head staring into your window.” Some agreed, but some thought it was downright ridiculous and, if anything, funny (but definitely not scary). Thus, BAGHEAD was born, an attempt to take the absurdly low-concept idea of a “guy with a bag on his head” and make a funny, truthful, endearing film that, maybe, just maybe, was a little bit scary, too.
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Prognosis: Positive. Brilliant.
I swear, you do enough of these trailer reviews and you start to wonder whether it is possible to be original and fresh with regard to making you feel connected to a film and energize you to open your mind to what’s on the screen. I’m here to say that it is possible and that this trailer deserves a few viewings in order to see how good this thing is built from the ground up.
First, you have a plucky musical score behind the opening sequence. It sets the mood perfectly as we open on a car rolling down an empty and hollow road. As well, we’re entertained to the entire plot of the movie. We hear why these people are where they are, why it’s important to keep tuned in and why this makes a good movie. Hell, we get it all of this within the first 10 seconds.
This is the first reason why this trailer is great.
Second, boom, we’re hit with the Official Sundance logo. Perfect, perfect, perfect. I realize no one of great importance reads this column but I am thankful to the silent stars that someone gets the notion that you need to put these accolades in the front, not to bury it in the middle or end when I’ve made up my mind to forget your film. This just helps to solidify the pedigree of the movie and it works even better, as this trailer does, when we’re smacked with the idea that the movie these four people are going to make in the woods comes about due to a dream. Or is it?
This is the second reason why this trailer is great.
As we entrench ourselves into the unique and very original premise of this film there is a sense of interest I don’t usually get out of my trailers. I actually found myself glued to what was coming next. The baghead premise is one that is both funny and scary when you feel like something’s not going to turn out right. When one of the four members of the film shoot for the weekend express a desire to have his part written as the romantic interest of one of the ladies in the group you can already feel the double tension building.
The quotes, the many many quotes, genuinely help to ballast the reputation of this film’s thesis that it’s a film worth watching in its entirety. The tension then continues to build between the guys for the affections of the ladies and then the grizzly idea that this baghead is indeed a psychopathic element that is actually happening. It’s funny, to be sure, when one of the ladies meets with a baghead (Is he/she real? Is someone really going to die?) only to admit at the breakfast table when no one fesses up to them being it that the baghead, then, has seen her naked. It’s funny/scary at the same time.
The ending’s quick cuts, normally a bane of every shitty and shoddy trailer which employs them, actually increases the uneasy sense that this movie is more than just about 4 people wanting to make a movie; it seems like a bizarre combination to have but this really does seem like a tasty Twix and Oreo combo with a hearty glass of milk.
Yum.
BIGGER, STRONGER, FASTER* (2008)
Director: Christopher Bell
Cast: Hulk Hogan, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone
Release: May 30, 2008
Synopsis: In America, we define ourselves in the superlative: we are the biggest, strongest, fastest country in the world. We reward speed, size and above all else: winning – at sport, at business and at war. Metaphorically we are a nation on steroids. Is it any wonder that so many of our heroes are on performance enhancing drugs? From the producers of Bowling For Columbine and Fahrenheit 9/11 comes a new film that unflinchingly explores our win-at-all-cost culture through the lens of a personal journey. Blending comedy and pathos, BIGGER, STRONGER, FASTER* is a collision of pop culture, animated sequences and first-person narrative, with a diverse cast including US Congressmen, professional athletes, medical experts and everyday gym rats. At its heart, this is the story of director Christopher Bell and his two brothers, who grew up idolizing muscular giants like Hulk Hogan, Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger, and who went on to become members of the steroid-subculture in an effort to realize their American dream. When you discover that your heroes have all broken the rules, do you follow the rules, or do you follow your heroes?
View Trailer:
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Prognosis: Positive. Goddamn!
I’d like to consider myself worldly enough in assuming that I’ve seen almost anything and everything. I realize the occasional off-beat news story about some high school PE teacher having her way with a female student is the one off exception to that rule, however, a trailer like this that repulses me from the get go deserves the distinction of WTF Of The Week.
When we meet Valentino, a meathead of the very highest order, rank and distinction, he is perhaps the one thing that could have drew me in to seeing INDIANA JONES the very first week of release. Since he isn’t, and he’s in this documentary, you can bet my jones is finding out how a freak like this guy literally was able to make his bicep bigger than the vertical circumference of his head. If you’re not impressed by this guy’s addiction to steroid use you need to lay off those fetish porn sites.
Valentino’s further introduction, made quite personal by his real honest interview where he’s the first to admit that his freakish appearance does not impress the ladies, anchors this documentary in a space where it’s less sensational than it is an examination into what might be at the forefront for the culture of physical power we’ve seemed to engender here in America.
I will say from an aesthetic point of view this trailer goes further than the MTV, True Life-ization, surface investigation into what makes steroids such an attractive alternative to these men who think that their idols such as Arnold Schwarzenegger and Hulk Hogan were physical templates they needed to live up to, literally, and they incorporate war imagery in a way that makes me pause for a moment. I don’t quite know how initially the two square but as the narrative unfurls a little further we see that this is an American culture we’re talking about, one where you need to be able and strike fast and hard. Without steroids, it seems to imply, there couldn’t have been a triumphant Rocky, a liberating Rambo or even a defeat of Andre the Giant.
It’s about at this point when we get “From the Producers Of BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE and FAHRENHEIT 9/11 that I have drank the Kool-Aid for this thesis; not that I’m any believer in the totality of either production, mind you. There were more than enough issues and factual misrepresentations and leaps of logic we all could back a Mack truck into but the way in which the information in those two films were presented at least had a nice gloss to it.
I’m even jolted back to sympathy when we get a voice over from one of three brothers who are profiled in this movie. When he comments that, as a bodybuilder, he was affected by the revelations that Hogan and his other heroes were absolutely taking things into their bodies to enhance their physical appearance that normal weight lifting simply could not do you are brought down to a genuine tale of conflict. And, when he says that two of his brothers currently do take steroids to enhance their physicality you can’t help but be affected by it.
As well, one of the things that bring this message home is perhaps one of the most point blank, reflexive questions: In order to provide for your family and in order to keep your job would you take steroids? I know for some of you who don’t have either this is a moot question but just softening your focus on this question and thinking of someone else other than yourself kind of brings this debate to one of personal responsibility and the What If questions that easily makes this trailer poignant if nothing else.
The hideous visage of a “woman” who is so obviously afflicted with small nuts and a dude’s voice is enough for any person to go clean, the hilarious steroid fueled cow is a sight that almost trumps Valentino’s bizarre in all its bizarre physicality and one air force pilot’s assertion that in sports you should play fair and, in war, you shouldn’t play fair at all. Again, it’s a flashy sound bite that made COLUMBINE and 9/11 such documentary darlings.
And, when, one guys talks about how people cheat to get ahead and they flash images of nutritional supplements and politicians, the video image of George Bush is enough to induce a few laughs.
This week I was going to plug my new course at New York University’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies: “The Superhero as American Icon.” But then last week I received bad news: only two people had signed up for the course, so NYU was canceling it. This keeps happening. Where is this wave of serious interest in the comics medium that I keep hearing about?
The athletic bodysuits serve a practical function. As for the other costumes in the show, it is hard to imagine anyone wearing them on the street. That is probably the point: this exhibit is about fashion as dressing up for display at parties and galas, for putting on alternate identities, not as practical everyday wear.
Jonathan Coulton on Jonathan Coulton: “In 2005 I left my day job writing software to pursue music full time. To keep myself busy I released a new song on this website every week for a year in a project called Thing a Week. A few of those songs became big internet hits (my folky cover of Sir Mix-a-Lot’s “Baby Got Back”, a funny video called “Flickr”, a song called “Code Monkey”), and I am now fortunate enough to make my living as a musician.
Paul and Storm are a comedy music duo, and they have been performing as a duo since 2004. Before that, they were one half of a cappella band Da Vinci’s Notebook for about 12 years. A Paul and Storm show is part music concert and part standup/improv comedy”“just enough of both to fit neatly in neither category. They like to engage the audience, and are known to award snack cakes and/or other prizes for good (and sometimes bad) behavior. Their show would be PERFECT as a cable special, and would make lots of money for whichever brave channel decides to air them first.
Doc Hammer was born in 1626 in Hamar, Norway, under the name Erik VonHamer. Being the son of a humble cobbler, not much was expected of the young man, other than to cobble and to not complain about all the cobbling. But Doc was destined for greater things. At 17, with nothing more than really well made shoes and a dream, he made his way to Antwerp to study oil painting under the great Rubens. Within a year, the two were at odds. Rubens spoke (infrequently) of Doc as “that creepy skinny kid,” and Doc spoke of Rubens’s work as “kinda unattractive if you really look at it.” By 1648, Doc had relocated to Leiden, where he found his master in Rembrandt. It was there, in his 23rd year, that Doc met “She Who Was To Deliver The Kiss Of Eternal Youth.” After a spicy courtship, “She Who Was To Deliver The Kiss Of Eternal Youth” and Doc were married. By 1650 Doc had grown weary of immortality and committed an unsuccessful suicide by burying his never-corpse in the basement of a Dutch cottage. In 1870, Doc again resurfaced. Using the name Vilhelm Hammershoi, Doc resumed his painting career with mild success. After thanking his bride for “the immortality thing” and nicely reminding her that he had “heard every one of her stories like a billion times,” “She Who Was To Deliver The Kiss Of Eternal Youth” and Doc split up in 1916. Again, Doc literally went underground until, now using the name Armond Hammer, he resurfaced and made a whole mess of money selling overpriced meds to the Russians. Sick of all the baking soda jokes, Doc faked his death. Biding his time till the MC Hammer thing had blown over, Doc again resurfaced as “Doc Hammer.” Today, Doc still paints in oils and writes, voices, and does other crap for The Venture Bros. (a show you can watch on cable TV).
Teardrop consists of just two members, brothers Jono Renton and Pete Renton. Brought up on the sounds of Saturday morning television in the 90’s they seek to write music that is evocative of both the past and looking forward. Both members use different skills to create their unique sound, often associated with such acts as The Album Leaf, Boards Of Canada, Aphex Twin and other IDM artists. Jono provides the guitars, while Pete provides the synths and drums.
Matt Lees was born and raised in sheep-lovin’ Wales. At 12-years-old his family decided to move to everything lovin’ Canada and start a new life. Not an easy feat for any person, let alone a less-than-manly pre-teen. Eager to fit in with the Canuck teens he threw himself into the arts. He began an obsessive love affair with music. Writing and singing to express his emotions, he needed to learn an instrument to complete his sound. In the beginning he learned piano but, being lazy, he didn’t want to lug a piano everywhere. Guitar seemed like the easiest choice… plus, chicks dig guitar players. Ego in hand, he now fronts a self-titled band. The MLB fuses a pop-rock sound with a modern blues feel. Playing mainly in Ontario, Canada, Matt has also shared his music with audiences in Europe – even the French! Matt loves long walks on the beach, puppies, sharing his feelings and the smell of dew in the morning. He is currently ‘sticking it to the man’ in the real world while preparing to record and release his debut album (aka scrounging funds and searching for a cheaper studio).
Born in the fall of 2006 in the center of the two-man acoustic comedy rock scene, Columbus, Ohio, the self proclaimed Turner and Hooch of Rock and Roll, The Paul Frumpton Experience Featuring Larry – known more colloquially as Jeff Stormer and Jeremy Hoover – are best described as what happens when comedy, music, caffeine, and improv collide in a chocolaty, peanut buttery explosion of good times. Stormer and Hoover met as students of Ohio State University and have been performing for scraps of food and hobo nickels ever since. Jeremy and Jeff’s major influences include Bacon, Booster Gold & Blue Beetle’s irreverent banter, David Bowie’s crotch in Labyrinth, and a deep-seated love of go karts. Finally, we feel obliged to mention all the things that are off limits to the comedy duo… This list includes NOTHING.
Lex Friedman’s musical influences include artists like They Might Be Giants, Moxy Fruvous, “Weird Al” Yankovic, CAKE, Barenaked Ladies, Tom Lehrer, Ben Folds, and Michael Jackson. Lex has left a smattering of bizarre music videos on YouTube, which have been slowly overtaken by videos of his 18-month-old daughter Anya. He occasionally shares new songs on his blog. He currently appears both weekly and weakly as the host of the “Week in Douchebaggery” on Cracked.com. Lex, his aforementioned daughter Anya, his lovely wife Lauren, and his diabetic maltese Charlie all live together in New Jersey, and sincerely hope that you don’t hold that against them. He gives one of them two injections if insulin each day – guess which! Lex also wrote this sentence. To avoid appearing like a suck-up, Lex has neglected to mention other musical influences of his who may or may not be the Iron Chefs of this Song Fu competition. Let’s just say he happens to also love the musical stylings of a guy whose name rhymes with Shmonathan Shmoulton.
In the Audience is the newest musical outlet for singer/guitarist Jordan Stowell. At age 18, Jordan has just released his debut EP online and in select independent record stores in the northeast United States. The music has been compared to popular acts like Goo Goo Dolls and Guster as well as smaller acts like Anathallo and The Format. The music of In the Audience would likely fall under the genre of “Indie Pop.” Although likely not making an appearance due to time constraints, the band also includes guitarist Steve Janick. The band mixes calming acoustic guitars and violins, with loud percussion and the occasional keyboard or hand clap. New to the music game, In the Audience is already preparing summer tour dates in select regions of the United States and Canada.
I picked up the guitar 20 some years ago and still don’t know one scale or the names of most of the chords. After a year of playing I formed a band called The Narrow Way. We wrote such classics as “Polka Hell” and “The Shades of Limbo”. After refining my chops, I then formed a band called Mechanized Death, which was named after that infamous car accident safety movie from the 70’s. We wrote such inspired classics as “Roadkill”, “Tunafish” and “I Don’t Care”. After Mechanized Death, I went solo and now have written hundreds of songs… I even sold one to a morning radio talk show (ahhh… the fame). Lately, I won song of the day at Garageband.com…So I guess my star is still rising.
Hello there! We’re John and Jane DeLorean, and together we are the FLYING DELOREANS. We used to be husband and wife, but after a brief creative hiatus we got a divorce and now are just brother and sister. We have many, many influences, but mainly just really enjoy playing music. Our main instruments are piano and ukulele and guitar and we’re basically the loveable underdog. Well, see ya.
Ben Rossow is seeking to inflict upon the world his unique brand of acoustic pop/punk/folk music. Hailing from Mora, Minnesota, this northern songsmith and his collaborator, Pete Morgan, have recorded and performed under the name “Ben & Pete.” Ben plays acoustic guitar and makes noise with his mouth, while Pete generally attracts songbirds with his delightful vocal stylings, and sometimes adds keyboard effects to distract potential enemies. Influences range from Bob Dylan to Weezer, Cheap Trick to The White Stripes.
My Fu is stronger than you! I am Coleman Bear Saunders, or Cloakie to most. At the age of 25 I work with music everyday at my studio that I recently built. I produce, engineer and compose various genres of music with ninja like precision. I have been picking away at the guitar since the age of 7 after watching my Dad play Johnny Cash tunes in the wrong key while singing the wrong lyrics, although I do the same thing because that’s the way I was learnt, ya hear me boy? I live in Kentucky and the music scene isn’t the greatest, so I turn to the internet to pipeline my Fu to the masses for free. I’m getting tired of music these days, I want some more songs about Dragons and fucking! Songs that take you on a journey and let you experience a different world, like movies do. My dream is to compose and score music for video games, TV, and my ultimate goal, the big screen. This is why the Song Fu competition was made for me. All the challenges that the competition presents to me will be similar to the expectations of future employers. Good luck to all, and may the best Fu win.
Elaine Chao Finnell is a singer/songwriter from the San Francisco Bay Area. In her checkered musical past, she has been a choral singer, a pit musician, an a cappella vocalist, a vocal percussionist, a hip hop beatboxer, contemporary Christian worship musician, and a musical librettist. After leaving the a cappella world in 2001, Elaine shifted into the world of hip hop theater, touring with spoken word artist Aya de León, then going solo and performing in such venues as the Yerba Buena Gardens in San Francisco and at the Apollo Theater in New York City. She began writing music at the tender age of 17, co-authoring her first musical with Brian Allan Hobbs. Since then, she has written two full length musicals and two plays. She currently plays regularly at her church as a lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist. While not in her musical pursuits, Elaine can be found in a cubicle at a major software company, at home with her engineer husband and their network of Macs, or studying martial arts at a local university.
Airplane vs. Ambulance are a four-piece synth-punk band from Abbotsford, BC. The band’s sound has been described as a blend of pop hooks and indie sensibility, and the’ve crafted their own unique take on modern rock.
East Carolina was formed in 2006 when friends Aaron (vocals, keyboards, accordion, etc) and Stuart (electric guitar, bass, keyboards, etc.) realized that, though often praised individually for their musical prowess, together they would be a virtually less-stoppable musical force. Combining in their music elements of alternative and classic rock, comedy, jazz, hilarious banter, polka, and more, East Carolina creates music that is unique, pleasurable, and often unclassifiable. Their original songs range in topic from Spanish love gone wrong to social anxiety to properties of gasses, and beyond. East Carolina is thrilled to be participating in the Masters of Song Fu competition and looks forward to sharing their songs with all of you.
To Serve Mankind seeks to do just that, via music that makes you think about the world and your place in it differently. Friends since high school, the duo, likened to They Might Be Giants or Barenaked Ladies, have played back yards to front yards and everywhere in between. It seemed like just yesterday To Serve Mankind had absolutely no future, and look at them now, competing in Song Fu against artists such as Paul and Storm and, uh, the Jonathan Coulton. Jeff Little and Bryan Ewing both grew up in Apple Valley, CA, an environment which demands creativity just to stay sane among Joshua trees, dirt, and the Wal*Mart. With a combined vocal range of at least a perfect 5th, To Serve Mankind is ready to take the world… aeriously. Bryan is into Rock, Jeff digs on Funk. Both serve as worship leaders at their respective churches and are married… not to each other… but to one woman each – Bryan to Michelle, Jeff to Jen. Bryan has a son named Malachi, and Jeff is expecting his wife to follow through on this pregnancy thing and produce a daughter, Jane. Jeff, Bryan (and Malachi) love Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Hello. I am Jeremy Edgington. Call me germ. I live in Springfield, Ohio and I was born here in 1972. I started playing guitar at about 13. I took it seriously only off and on. I love to play. I hate to practice. I just jam. I got began enjoying “deeply listening” to music at a really young age. I was into Kiss when I was in Kindergarten and first grade. I had all of their albums. Second grade came along and out with Kiss, in with Def Lepard! Then came Van Halen and so on. I have a nice recording studio. Buckethead is a huge influence on me. I play bass and guitar. I do drum programming. I also program background ambience. I use the guitar for just ambient noises in songs, too. I will someday release a CD. Maybe…
Relic’s Jetboat are a modern folk band – this isn’t about acoustic guitars in the coffee shop, it’s songs about modern folk and the events or stories around us. They bring a party band attitude to their songs about Garage Sailin’, Gordon Downie, Ogopogo and The Beachcombers. The songs cross genres as they represent the music that we hear these days. From country to reggae, punk, celtic and rock, the band has been described as “The Barenaked Ladies with an edge”, or this review of the band: “These guys could get a job doing Muppet Music. From Canada, they perform their individual style with ease and an abundance of satire. They take us back to a time of musical innocence when people got off on groups like the Beach Boys.”
The Deal: After 20+ years making music as a hobby, I recently wrote and recorded a song for my daughter. I got a little taste of mild success (hey, my mom liked it). So now I’m taking my music out of the closet, dusting it off, and seeing how it does in the sunshine. Who knew there was so much work in just attempting to do music for a living. I feel like I am opening a Subway franchise (Only opening a Subway franchise seems more fulfilling in a creative way).
Shannon is a woman of keen intellect and she is a little cuter than average, but not photogenic, so her picture will not necessarily reflect her attractiveness. She likes to ride vintage bicycles that clunk and whistle so that people in the city know she’s approaching and take notice. When she’s not working her ass off at her corporate job that pays huge cash, she likes to belittle her husband (sorry, fellows, she’s married) and re-arrange her coaster collection. She wants to make it big in Song Fu so that she can finally have an excuse to quit her career and bask in the adoration of her fans. At this time, she only has two fans (three, if you include the kid in the street that sometimes rides by on his scooter and stops for a minute when he hears her playing the guitar in the back yard, or maybe he’s looking at her dog in the window; she’s not sure).
I trained as a film critic at Glasgow University, then as an actor at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and then worked in a call centre for three years. Figures. Fed up with offering people death insurance, I taught myself how to edit film and got a job in a Glaswegian production company editing fishing programmes. When the allure of that finally wore off I went freelance for a while before setting up my own company, TheCage.TV Ltd. All through this time I’ve been writing songs to play live and record, in the olden days on MiniDisc and four-tracks and nowadays on Garageband. Currently I’m the only member of the band so it’s essentially solo work, though in theory anyone can contribute.
Run At The Dog are high energy, rock/pop, category-sluts with multi-gendered vocals and intricate arrangements. They are like Abba meets Faith No More meets Mos Def meets the Mormon Tabernacle Choir meets Steely Dan. The songs of this Minneapolis 5-piece are always written right away, with no respect for the calculating mind. Audience members are unsure whether to dance, laugh, or panic.
Oh no! Just when you thought it was safe to hang out at the Quick Stop…
First and foremost, take a moment to celebrate the glorious demise of the ill-conceived American version of Spaced with the news that this July brings the release with the original Britcom that put Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Jessica Hynes, and Edgar Wright on the geek map. Loaded with bonus features from not only the UK release, but also exclusive to the US edition, this is a must-have set. Keep an eye out at your favorite online retailer or DVD emporium.
By the third season of 
For years now, I’ve been reiterating that you should buy, post-haste, the comedic sci-fi novels of Simpsons writer John Swartzwelder. Every one so far has been a gem, and he’s managed to keep the plate spinning with his latest tale of slow-witted detective Frank Burly, 
With a new Indy flick in the offing, it was a foregone conclusion that we’d see some form of re-release on the original trilogy – and so we have with the 
Cinema geeks rejoice! Universal has seen fit to collect 10 of their catalogue’s most genre-tastic titles into one box set – 
As much as I liked the “official” history found in the deluxe tome To Infinity And Beyond, it’s nice to have a complementary, unauthorized book about the early days and rise of Pixar to balance out the picture, and David Price’s 
The movie’s not yet in theaters, but everything I’ve seen of Kung Fu Panda has made me keen to do so. It’s taken awhile for rival studios that the way to fight Pixar is not to make knock-off Pixar flicks, but to realize the same thing that Warners did in their heyday – leave the heart to Disney and focus on the comedy instead. If you want to whet your appetite for this flick, look no further than 
I wasn’t alive to experience firsthand growing up in the 50’s, but I’m certainly aware of the shows and celebrities that made up the pop culture diet of that generation. If you’re as interested as I am in that period, you’ve got to get yourself a copy of 
It’s been 10 years since the passing of the Chairman of the Board, and Warners has seen fit to celebrate his passing with a quartet of box sets celebrating Frank Sinatra’s cinematic legacy – 
Everyone’s favorite sleuthing antiquities dealer returns in the complete third season of 
It’s not like I would have paid to see it in the theater, but 
The fourth season of 
Just when my nephews have nearly burned out the previous release, along comes 
One of my nephews is fast approaching the one-year mark, and getting him to sleep is quite a feat with all that teething going on. We’ve found that a big help in the seemingly never-ending battle is Nickelodeon’s 
The off-color puppets are back with 
Have you ever picked up a book and thought “This is an idea that was a long-time coming…”? I thought that very thing when I thumbed through 
You’ll weep, you’ll awww, you’ll get plenty of points from your significant other if you pick her up a copy of the new 
Like According To Jim, 
Surprisingly enough, Sean Combs acquitted himself quite well in last year’s TV adaptation of 
One of those programs that will always grab my attention if insomnia or boredom has me scanning channels at 4 in the morning is anything with forensic examiner Dr. Michael Baden. An all-new edition of 
Do NOT take anyone who was responsible for your baby batter to see FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL unless you want to be very uncomfortable as I was where there was copious and obnoxiously needless nudity.
Director: Adam McKay
Director: David Gordon Green
Okay, while my cohort, Chris, made nice-nice to his wife and indulged her with the sub-par chick flick, “Made of Honor,” yours truly acted like a real man and ticked his spouse off. She insisted I get out of the house and take the kids with me. There was a method to my madness (rarely do you want to tick off a woman part Cherokee/Scottish descent) – with a busy weekend ahead of us, I wanted to catch “Iron Man” before anybody told me anything about it. And, I had little desire to suffer through another Patrick Dempsey pretty-boy flick with wife pining over him. I liked him better before the nose job.
