Figurines

This is a song I've been listening to a lot the last few days. Their new album is really good. Figurines is a band that I forget about until they come out with a new album. They are consistently good, and this song in particular is a really good pop song.

Can't You Feel It?

Look at this album cover. So good. Listen to this whole song.



Are you having a cookout this summah? This song is on. The whole time.

PS
Are you listening to Who Charted? Listen to it. At first I thought it was just okay, but it has grown on me. Howard Kremer's got somethin'. He seems like an honest guy.

What's this?

Sorry guys. I've been busy. I know you don't want excuses, you want results. Spring quarter just started up, so blog updates will probably be light. Tonight I went and saw a really good film though, so I thought I'd write about it.

If you have the chance to see Cold Weather in the theater, I would highly recommend it! It's playing here in Athens, but we generally get things on kind of a weird schedule, so I'm not sure if it's playing elsewhere. The film is directed by Aaron Katz, whose previous films (Dance Party USA and Quiet City) are considered a part of the mumblecore movement. If you have a brain, you realize how stupid that word is, and if you're familiar with our blog then you know about my conflicting feelings toward it. I don't want to say anything too bad about these movies, so I'll just say that some of them are not for me.

Mumblecore is such a loose, meaningless label, so I feel dumb using it, but I kind of have to. The reason that I love the Duplass Brothers' films so much is because they are able to take everything good about mumblecore, the emotional honesty and authentic performances, and inject them into a genre film. The Puffy Chair is a road movie. Baghead is a horror movie. Cold Weather is a detective movie, and a very good one.

Some people may be put off by the fact that the plot does not really start until about 40 minutes into the movie, at least that's what I gather from reviews I have read of the film. I had no problem with its structure. It's very beautifully shot (with a RED camera) and the characters are engaging (also attractive). The brother/sister relationship was fun. For me, this was a more exciting film than any of the Bourne movies. I would much rather see someone awkwardly trying to solve a mystery than watch Jason Bourne jump through a window and beat someone up with a rolled up magazine. The stakes were raised in this film! I didn't know what was going to happen!

As more and more mumblecore directors get exposure and access to slightly larger budgets, I hope that they all follow the path of Aaron Katz or the Duplass Bros, and continue to make movies that feel genuine but are also genuinely interesting. Winfrey recommends!

Best of '10

Everybody did their best of the year lists already, and I figured I should do something. I liked all the same films that everyone else did pretty much, so I'll just list my favorite film of the year.

ANIMAL KINGDOM

If you haven't seen this film yet please watch it. The trailer isn't the best indication of what the film is like. I wasn't incredibly excited about this movie, but I decided I would see it (because Leonard Maltin recommended it) and I immediately loved it. It's the kind of movie that I would go see again the next day (the next day it wasn't in our theater anymore). Seriously, every scene, every shot, every performance knocks it out of the park. When people talk about how good The Town was, and how refreshing it was to see a crime film treated with some intelligence, I think about how much better Animal Kingdom was. It's a really unique film that, in the words of director David Michod, is "dark and violent yet beautiful and poetic at the same time."

I really like this film and I can't recommend it enough.

Greenberg

I went and saw Greenberg tonight. When I purchased the ticket, the lady asked me, "Just one?" as if I were buying a single ticket to Dear John or something. I have wanted to see this movie for a while, mostly because of my casual interest with Noah Baumbach and my more than casual interest with Greta Gerwig. I was really feeling a movie tonight, so truthfully I would been pretty forgiving of just about anything I went and saw. That being said, Greenberg was pretty good.

I went into the movie with kind of low hopes. While I did want to see it, the trailers didn't really do anything for me. I thought the dialogue sounded kind of overly clever. I'd heard people, including Ben Stiller, compare it to a seventies movie, and I thought, "come on." Just because a film has a somewhat unlikeable protagonist doesn't mean you need to talk about Hal Ashby all the time. Then when the film started, I shut up because yeah, it did kind of remind me of a seventies movie. Greenberg reminded of that particular era of filmmaking not so much because of the (slight) narrative similarities, but because of technical factors. The editing, which was, thankfully, not interested in continuity of motion, and the opening credits of the film were nice and unexpected after seeing the trailer. I also enjoyed the use of the zoom, which is something that people are starting to use more, and I have to say, I fully support. Zoom it up, baby. The film looks really pretty, which is always good.

There was only one scene in the film that reminded me of what I expected from the trailer, and that was one of the worst parts of the trailer as well. The scene in which Roger Greenberg interacts with several younger partygoers and talks about how olllllllddddddd he is. This scene went on for a while, and was the only time that I thought Baumbach's dialogue really felt writerly and forced. However, this scene is followed by a really nice scene with Greenberg and his friend, Ivan. The interaction between Greenberg and Ivan was one of my favorite parts of the film. There was an appropriate amount of it, and it felt pretty authentic.

Now to the Gerwig stuff. Was she good? Yes. Did she get naked? Would you expect anything less from her? All jokes aside, the lady gets naked in nearly every movie she's in. Her character was interesting and wasn't too much of a pixie dream girl, which the trailer kind of implied. It was nice to see a strong independent lady up there, not looking for relationships and having casual sex. Good for you.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, Greenberg was enjoyable. Don't be put off by the trailer. It felt much more natural than I thought it would, and Ben Stiller does a great job of keeping his character believable. If you have really wanted to go see a movie, and it's a Monday night and you're alone, I can think of nothing better to do.

We're Back (Soon)!

Little Alex left for school about an hour ago, and I'm already sad. Hopefully, though, this will result in more frequent blog posts (because that's what everyone cares about, of course). Much more importantly, Alex is going to get to work on his new sketch comedy show, Baby Mountain! Exclamation point mine. This is the biggest creative endeavor a Winfrey has taken on since the craft show candy sale of '08 or Chase's indefinitely-postponed Comicbalooza. Let's hope it will be more successful than either of those.
And as for me? Well. As much as I hate New Year's Eve, I love New Year's Goals. I have a pretty hefty list, as usual, and it'll be a good year if I can accomplish half of them. One of said goals (that I cheated on and started about a month early) was to eat healthier. Winfreys may be blessed with a great many things (stunning good looks, above-average smarts, really large foreheads) but we were also cursed with Bad Genes, in terms of a predisposition for dietary-related diseases. Part of my "Eat Healthier" goal involves making my own granola, which, as it turns out, is super-easy, super-fast, and makes your apartment smell great. I used Mark Bittman's recipe, because we all love Mark Bittman, right? Related: I accidentally searched for "Mark Buttman" while trying to find his books at the library and I've been calling him that all week. Anyway, here's his granola recipe. Winfreys recommend!

Makingof

Makingof is one of my all time favorite websites, and I've meant to make a post about it for a while, but I keep forgetting. It's such a great website! Who came up with such a great idea? Oh, Natalie Portman.

She's an angel. Anyway, this could become the greatest website in the world. Interviews are something that I spend way too much time on, whether it's podcasts or commentaries, and now there's this website. Thanks Natalie Portman. I really hope that they keep adding to all of these great interviews. Here's an interview with my favorite director, David Gordon Green.

Winfreys recommend.

I was home this weekend, and you'd better believe I did some cooking. I decided to go with Michael Symon's recipe for Honey Brined Chicken with Lemon and Sage, and it was so good. Also, it was really easy to make. Just put it in the brine the night before you cook it, and then put it in the oven. It was extremely tender and flavorful. Simple and delicious. A tip of the hat to you, Mr. Symon. I also made buttermilk biscuits, and some roasted asparagus. For dessert, I made Tyler Florence's chocolate mousse, which was also very good.

Following Kerry's Lead

Kerry made a post about one of her all time favorite songs. Not to be outdone, I want to share with you one of my favorites. The song is The Mending of the Gown by Sunset Rubdown. I never get tired of this song. This is a live version where you can't see anything, but it sounds great.

Oh yeah, I might get to see them perform in a few weeks. Boner alert!

Bruce Dern

I like him. He fathered Laura Dern, so he can't be that bad. Also, he was great in The King of Marvin Gardens. It's weird to see an actor that you know of in a movie and realize that you want to see every movie he's in. Kerry and I had this experience this summer with a Mr. Charles Grodin. Anyway, I highly suggest this movie, but good luck finding it at the library. Am I the only one who sees similarities between this movie and The Darjeeling Limited and Bottle Rocket? I must be, because when I googled "The King of Marvin Gardens+Wes Anderson" nothing came up.

On another note, it seems like Jack Nicholson's credits are expanding in the past. Like, every few months I find a new movie that he was in from the seventies. Does he have a time machine and an amazing work ethic? Also, why is it that the back of the DVD reads, "Jack Nicholson (1997 Best Actor, As Good As It Gets)"? The dude won an Oscar for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. He's also been nominated for Chinatown, The Last Detail, Five Easy Pieces, and Easy Rider.

In all this excitement, I almost forgot my reason for coming here, which was to post this

I'll Watch This Until My Dick Falls Off

I'm not going to stand here and tell you guys to go see Point Break. I know that you've all seen it already, and I'm the one who has been missing out. This isn't me trying to defend it or convince you to watch it. This is me honoring a great piece of film.

Sometimes a sum is greater than its parts. That's the case here. Sure, it's a great cast (Keanu, Gary Busey, Swayze, Anthony Kiedis from The Red Hot Chili Peppers), but that's easy to mess up. They just did something right here. The stars were aligned. It's not the kind of movie that you watch just to laugh at either, which is weird because it's about a group of surfer bank robbers. Watch the movie and get lost in its wonder.

Highly Recommended.

Here at The Talented Winfrey Family, we like telling our readers about things they may not know about (Paula's Farty for example).  Today, I recommend to you Thunderbolt and Lightfoot.  Ther trailer is below.

Anyway, this movie is fuckin' nuts.  First of all, look at that cast.  Second of all, it is a legitimately good movie.  Yeah, it's crazy, but it's not just a wacky 70s movie.  I can honestly say that I've never seen a movie like this one.  

PS

I hope y'all got your free piece of Kentucky Grilled Chicken today.