Abducted by Cults

I started listening to All Songs Considered again, and I don't know why I ever stopped. Every episode has been killing it, and I've heard so much great music. For example, this song by a band called Cults. The best feeling is hearing a song that encompasses everything you love about music, and this song does it for me. Basically, I like anything that sounds like a 60's girl group. I think Lexie will like this song, and he's probably already heard it because he's infinitely hipper than I am.

Tragedy

I came home from H's early this weekend to do Easter prep, so on the drive home I got to treat myself to one of my favorite things in life: Saturday night soft rock! As anyone (okay, anyone in the Winfrey family) knows, Saturday is when a lot of radio stations have flashback/70's/"lost hits" nights. Mama Winfrey is a BIG fan of this, and I can see why. I heard so many jams tonight! Specifically, this song by the Bee Gees. We love the Bee Gees around Winfrey Family HQ; Alex went through a fairly serious listening-to-the-Saturday-Night-Fever-soundtrack-on-vinyl phase when he was in high school. I was not familiar with this song before tonight, but after listening to it about a million times since I got home, I'm very, VERY familiar with it now.

This is the karaoke version, so you can learn the lyrics now. You're welcome.

WHAT IS THIS.

I've watched a lot of weird movies in my time. Around the Winfrey house, that's basically what we do for fun. What I'm saying is, I might be easily amused, but I'm not easily surprised. Yet when I watched the trailer for this Japanese horror film that Netflix suggested to me, all I could think was, "What the fuck is this?" I'm not the one studying films in school, though. Have you heard of or seen this movie?

At first I was like, "Thanks but no thanks, Netflix." Now I am like, "How soon can you ship this to me?" Bonus points for the wackadoo sitcom intro stuck in the middle of this trailer. What's the deal with the trippy 60's music? What's the deal with the cat painting that looks like the work of a schizophrenic? What's the deal with this movie? I intend to find out, but I'll probably wait until Lexie's home.

Do You Remember This?

Netflix recommended this movie to me, for reasons that aren't entirely clear. I completely forgot about this, but I remember it being really sad. I can't believe this movie was ever made. What a dumb premise.

But then I found a Robin Williams with a (possibly) dumber premise: The Best of Times! It's always a treat to see the films that time forgot. At least Kurt Russell always looks fine. Seriously, what a babe!

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!

If Alex Won't Make a Post About Baby Mountain, I Will

The blog seems to have fallen on hard times recently. Alex has been busy with college, and for some reason I've been cooking complicated meals for just myself after I get off work every night. But enough of that. As the sign in the hallway at my office says, "No Excuses."
Last weekend H. and I went to OU for the premiere of Baby Mountain's third episode. 'Epi,' if you will (I won't). Firstly, and perhaps most importantly, we ate at O'Betty's, where we had delicious hot dogs (or soy dogs) and enjoyed the sexy scenery.

I promise I'm not turning this into my photo blog.
As you've no doubt seen on Facebook, Alex recently posted the Baby Mountain intro. As a girl that loves intros, I can honestly say it's one of the best I've ever seen. The only way it could be better is if it had an unnecessarily long montage of Balki coming to America or maybe Peter Scolari playing various sports in short shorts.

Baby Mountain Intro from Baby Mountain on Vimeo.

I am so, so proud beyond words of my little bro. He's doing such amazing, funny work and he never settles for less than his best. Oops, sorry, I think my grandma took hold of my keyboard and wrote that last part.
I am just fine with turning this into a Baby Mountain fan site. I can't wait for everyone to see the rest of this episode's sketches! My favorite involves an original song. It also let me know why Alex asked the question, "How do I make convincing afterbirth?" a few months ago.