Friday, December 25, 2009

A Modern 12 Days of Christmas (Day 12)

And on the 12th day of Christmas my true love gave to me...

twelve Christmas Carols

eleven loving friends

ten totem poles

nine purring cats

eight smelly dogs

seven Game Boy games

six Sega Saturns

FIVE THOUSAND BUCKS!!!

four hockey sticks

three Big Screen TVs

two CD players



and a pair of leather shoes by Nike!!!

A Modern 12 Days of Christmas (Day 11)

On the 11th day of Christmas my true love gave to me,

eleven loving friends

ten totem poles

nine purring cats

eight smelly dogs

seven Game Boy games

six Sega Saturns

FIVE THOUSAND BUCKS!!!

four hockey sticks

three Big Screen TVs

two CD players

and a pair of leather shoes by Nike

Thursday, December 24, 2009

A Modern 12 Days of Christmas (Day 10)

On the 10th day of Christmas my true love gave to me,

ten totem poles

nine purring cats

eight smelly dogs

seven Game Boy games

six Sega Saturns

FIVE THOUSAND BUCKS!!!

four hockey sticks

three Big Screen TVs

two CD players

and a pair of leather shoes by Nike

A Modern 12 Days of Christmas (Day 9)

On the 9th day of Christmas my true love gave to me,

nine purring cats

eight smelly dogs

seven Game Boy games

six Sega Saturns

FIVE THOUSAND BUCKS!!!

four hockey sticks

three Big Screen TVs

two CD players

and a pair of leather shoes by Nike

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

A Modern 12 Days of Christmas (Day 8)

On the 8th day of Christmas my true love gave to me,

eight smelly dogs

seven Game Boy games

six Sega Saturns

FIVE THOUSAND BUCKS!!!

four hockey sticks

three Big Screen TVs

two CD players

and a pair of leather shoes by Nike

A Modern 12 Days of Christmas (Day 7)

On the 7th Day of Christmas my true love gave to me,

seven Game Boy games

six Sega Saturns

FIVE THOUSAND BUCKS!!!

four hockey sticks

three Big Screen TVs

two CD players

and a pair of leather shoes by Nike

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

A Modern 12 Days of Christmas (Day 6)

On the 6th day of Christmas my true love gave to me,

six Sega Saturns

FIVE THOUSAND BUCKS!!!

four hockey sticks

three Big Screen TVs

two CD players

and a pair of leather shoes by Nike

A Modern 12 Days of Christmas (Day 5)

On the 5th day of Christmas my true love gave to me,

FIVE THOUSAND BUCKS!!!

four hockey sticks

three Big Screen TVs

two CD players

and a pair of leather shoes by Nike

Monday, December 21, 2009

A Modern 12 Days of Christmas (Day 4)

On the 4th day of Christmas my true love gave to me,

four hockey sticks

three Big Screen TVs

two CD players

and a pair of leather shoes by Nike

A Modern 12 Days of Christmas (Day 3)

On the 3rd day of Christmas my true love gave to me,

three Big Screen TVs

two CD players

and a pair of leather shoes by Nike

Sunday, December 20, 2009

A Modern 12 Days of Christmas (Day 2)

On the 2nd day of Christmas my true love gave to me,

two CD players

and a pair of leather shoes by Nike

A Modern 12 Days of Christmas (Day 1)

On the 1st day of Christmas my true love gave to me,

a pair of leather shoes by Nike

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Attention! A Modern 12 Days of Christmas to be released

Starting this Sunday, I will be revealing to you, my devoted readers, a modern rendition of the 12 Days of Christmas. This rendition was created years ago, when I was at the ripe young age of eleven. Each day I will release two verses of the song. (seeing as how I missed the 12 DAY mark awhile ago)

'Tis the Season.

Friday, November 20, 2009

Cold War Kids : Audience Of One


They're back. As posted last month, the Cold War Kids are releasing an E.P. in January. This is the first leak from the coming E.P. and it is good to hear the Kids back in form.
The song is straight ahead soulful. The middle eight is especially good. I think this song more than makes up for their repetitive ramblings of something not being right [with them].

To those of you who are reading this and know what 'an audience of one' implies: good for you. And for those of you who don't, here is a list of comprehensive search engines that might help you figure it out before you decide to leave a smart-ass comment on my blog:

Ask.com

Google

Yahoo

Bing


And here's the track:

Cold War Kids : Audience of One

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Owl City : Fireflies . . . Ha Ha



I stumbled across this great review of Owl City's hit single, Fireflies.

Reviewed by Pitchfork, the single received a gracious rating of 1. That's right, less than two and a bit more than nothing (though not much).

To summarize the review, I've selected this passage to highlight the essence of Fireflies:
"Like most 'brought to you by...' attempts to connect with the disaffected, it's delivered in an emasculated, cloying wheeze that serves as a cutesy defense mechanism for a guy who's trying so hard to be sincere, he forgets to say what he actually means"
Read the review in its entirety. It is intensely gratifying. I promise.

Saturday, October 31, 2009

November 24




Moby : Wait For Me Deluxe Album/Version/Edition

I got pretty excited over the June 30th release of Moby's album, Wait For Me. However, this deluxe release has me ecstatic.

A three disc release.

The first disc is the entire original album, plus two unreleased bonus tracks.
The second disc is an ambient version of the original album, with new interpretations of each of the 16 tracks, re-recorded and re-interpreted by Moby himself. No funky remix album in sight.
And the third disc is a video DVD including live performances, music videos and of course, what we all know and love, more Little Idiot animated shorts for each of the tracks on Wait For Me.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Korg X3



I used to play one of these.

The Korg X3. I remember this thing having wonderful string and piano sounds. A nice cello patch. While it didn't have much to boast about in the way of knobs and tweaking cutting-edge sounds, its sound banks were huge.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

January 19


The Cold War Kids are planning on releasing a 4 song EP entitled, "Behave Yourself," on January 19th. New material is currently being worked on for the upcoming album, following the release of the EP. Also, here's a little promo video they put together for the whole thing. LA bands. *Puh.*

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Moby and his drum machines


Moby talks about his gear, shows us his drum machine collection and rants about the nerds in electronic music. This is a submersion into Moby's home studio in New York. This is SO COOL.

If the vid doesn't work, check out the interview HERE.

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

New Sea Wolf album

Released September 22.

How did I miss this?


Here's a free download (enter your email to acquire) of a bonus track off of the album, entitled Stanislaus. I've listened to it a few times now. It has that bohemian-gypsy-thing going again. It's melodramatic. However, it's tastefully melodramatic. Nonetheless, I am anticipating picking up White Water, White Bloom. It seems Alex Brown Church, lead singer of Sea Wolf, "couldn’t have known beforehand what the next record would sound like, but I did know I wanted it to be bigger, with a band feel, rather than another series of intimate confessionals.”

With this crisp Autumn weather at hand, Sea Wolf seems fitting to be listening to.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Orthodoxy: G.K. Chesterton's closing thoughts

"Joy, which was the small publicity of the pagan, is the gigantic secret of the Christian. And as I close this chaotic volume I open again the strange small book from which all Christianity came; and I am again haunted by a kind of confirmation. The tremendous figure which fills the Gospels towers in this respect, as in every other, above all the thinkers who ever thought themselves tall. His pathos was natural, almost casual. The Stoics, ancient and modern, were proud of concealing their tears. He never concealed His tears; He showed them plainly on His open face at any daily sight, such as the far sight of His native city. Yet He concealed something. Solemn supermen and imperial diplomatists are proud of restraining their anger. He never restrained His anger. He flung furniture down the front steps of the Temple, and asked men how they expected to escape the damnation of Hell. Yet He restrained something. I say it with reverence; there was in that shattering personality a thread that must be called shyness. There was something that He hid from all men when He went up a mountain to pray. There was something that He covered constantly by abrupt silence or impetuous isolation. There was some one thing that was too great for God to show us when He walked upon our earth; and I have sometimes fancied that it was His mirth."

Monday, September 21, 2009

Beck's Record Club

Beck is exorcising his creativity in yet another way: a Record Club.

This group, composed of Devendra Banhart, both of the dudes of MGMT, legendary producer Nigel Godrich, actor Giovanni Ribisi, members of Little Joy, Wolfmother, and of course Beck himself, is going through choice classic albums and covering all of the tracks. This formula produces a track once a week. The site states, “There is no intention to ‘add to’ the original work or attempt to recreate the power of the original recording. Only to play music and document what happens.”



So far, The Velvet Underground & Nico has been covered. The project at hand is the misty, clairvoyant, Songs of Leonard Cohen.

Check it out: Beck Record Club

Friday, September 18, 2009

October 20




Julian Casablancas : Phrazes for the Young

If you're not familiar with this name, you may know him better as the moppy-haired lead vocalist for super-group, The Strokes. If you're not familiar with that name, leave my blog. NOW.

Listen to the single HERE.

October 26




U2 : The Unforgettable Fire, REMASTERED

Completely and fully remastered. The Unforgettable Fire is U2's 1984 album; the first album to see collaboration with Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois. It is the most experimental of U2's albums, leaving pictures, abstractions, poetry, colors, and images in the mind of the listener. No waving of white flags here. Just, simple, beauty. The album also boasts the climbing number, "Bad," my favorite of U2's songs.

Oh October 26, come quickly.

Saturday, September 5, 2009

"Dylan-kick"

You may be asking yourself what a "Dylan-kick" is. This would be especially true if you've read my latest blog entry, posted earlier this evening.



A Dylan-kick is when you start listening to the music of Bob Dylan, incessantly and without end. It's when you're at work, and you just can't get "Positively 4th Street" out of your head. It's when singing Bob Dylan songs becomes the most delightful thing you could possibly do with your time. It's when you find yourself dwelling upon the depth of Dylan's early work, considering its (more than) possibly, politically-charged themes. It's when you think about how cool it would have been to have liked Dylan when he went electric, even though everyone around you would have thought it was shite. (or shit, if you saw him in America) It's when you purchase two albums of his in less than a week. It's when you randomly ask the nice people at the record shop why there is a small box of Bob Dylan posters lying on the ground behind the counter, and they give you one for free because you bought a Bob Dylan record.



It's when you can't get enough of Bob Dylan. It's when you watch I'm Not There, and consider that perhaps Cate Blanchett plays Bob Dylan better than Bob Dylan plays Bob Dylan. It's when you start realizing you really, REALLY want to get your hands on Martin Scorsese's biopic of Dylan, No Direction Home. It's when you decide your wife rules, because two of the Dylan DVDs you do own, she bought for you, even though she can't stand him and his music. It's when you open your closet and consider putting on all black and wearing sunglasses indoors.

How does it feel? So good.

October 13

As a continuation of my Dylan-kick,


"This film traces the early career of Bob Dylan in a manner no other has ever attempted telling his tale from his birth in Duluth, Minnesota; through school and college; across his years as New York’s bright young star, through to his electric phase, culminating with the controversial 1966 world tour. Featuring interviews with a host of friends, colleagues and associates from that era, and numerous others, rare and often previously unseen footage, daring and outspoken contributions from the very finest Dylan writers [such as Derek Barker, CP Lee and Clinton Heylin] and a host of other features, this film is among the finest Bob Dylan documentaries yet to emerge."

Ooooohhh yes.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Proceeds from Modest Mouse's "King Rat" going to non-profit marine life organization

I am apparently, severly misinformed. The musical chronology of Modest Mouse is far less expansive than I was under the impression of. I am of course referring to their albums, not every thing else. They have under their belts five official studio albums (LPs), as well as six EPs.
However, though their collection of released albums is shorter than I was aware of, their strew of songs is longer than ever.

On a serious note, this video, entitled, "King Rat," is taken from the newly released EP, No One's First, and You're Next. It was directed by Heath Ledger, and was completed after his death by The Masses, an ambitious film and music company he was a partner in. Ledger's intent for making this video was to bring an "impassioned stance against the illegal commercial whale hunts taking place off the coast of Australia each year."
Proceeds from the video when purchased on iTunes go to the non-profit, marine life organization Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. Be sure to check out their stance on wildlife conservation, as well as the many ways each of us can be involved in aiding this organization.


You can download the video HERE for a humble price.

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Faraway, So Close!


I just finished watching Faraway, So Close! (or in German: In weiter Ferne, so nah!). The 1993 film is directed and co-written by Wim Wenders, the man who gave us a number of movies, in and of his own unique, tasteful, and arguably, sometimes daft style. A few of his films include, The Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick, Hammett, The State of Things, Wings of Desire, and Paris, Texas.

In the opening credits of the film, we find the protagonist nested on top of the Berlin Victiory Column. He is an angel. Him and his divine kin traverse (more like waft) the earth. Their job is to guide human beings, whispering words of truth to them, carrying them through the darkness at the end of their lives, and above all, watching them. A striking statement comes out at the beginning of the movie:
"We are neither the light, nor the message. We are the messengers."
Another beautiful monologue in the film stood out to me, this time coming from an Italian man, working in his shop, as he lets his thoughts pour out of him. The angels after all, hear the thoughts of humans, thereby knowing the present conditions of their hearts. It is as follows:
"It still amazes me, that you don't have to think about what you do, once you've established a routine. You can think any thoughts, draw your conclusions, contradict them, just like an angel, but without the exclusivity.
Meanwhile you create something! Something to eat, a chair, a fur hat, a pizza. Lot's of necessary things, and plenty of them, so there'll be enough some day. At the same time, you must think about what isn't necessary and what's still missing. Otherwise you'd only have things that already exist. And you'd be bored."

Friday, August 21, 2009

Michael Cera plays someone we have not met before

Finally, Michael Cera being portrayed as something other than a sensitive youth, finding his way in to hilarious sexual situations. Youth In Revolt looks like a comedy, and judging by this trailer, is most certainly a comedy.
Boy wants to get girl. Boy can't get girl, so decides to make for himself an alter ego named Francois. Francois is a deeper voiced, sarcastic version of himself, who seems to have stumbled out of Wes Anderson's closet. He also has a mustache. I will leave it up to you to decide whether Francois is merely an alter ego, or is in fact an example of multiple personalities.


Monday, August 10, 2009

Crocodiles sound like a girl group from the 60's



So I'm listening to this song called "I Wanna Kill," by this band called Crocodiles. They're rad. They have an old 60's quality to their guitar styling. As I'm enjoying every moment of being immersed in their sonic tapestry, my wife yells at me from the couch, "Hey! This has the same guitar part as the song "And Then He Kissed Me!"

I quickly googled this claim. My wife was right. The Crystals performed the song, which included said guitar part. And it
is the same lick! I'm not surprised that she was correct. My wife is very intellgent, and has a great memory. I am just extremely surprised she plucked that obscure little detail right off the top of her head.

In the Arts Beat section of The New York Times, under the heading,
SXSW: Four Word Reviews, Wednesday Afternoon, Crocodiles are described as:

Stylish wall of throb.

This is a perfect description. Listen to these guys.

Radiohead and Third Day set to release collaborative effort

I am just kidding.

I stumbled across this article, comparing christian act Third Day's newest album, to the artwork of Radiohead's 2003 release, Hail to the Thief.


Radiohead : Hail to the Thief





Third Day : Revelation



Since we all know what Radiohead was communicating through their title Hail to the Thief*, what was the source of "revelation" that took the name for Third Day's newest creation? Was it implicit of anything specifically? One would think it must be, to possess such a title as REVELATION. In fact, I would only assume the best from my fellow Christian brothers, whose insight into the salvation of humanity puts them ahead of the game of life. In fact, if I had a chance to talk with the men from Third Day, I would encourage them to look for truth in all places, and claim all truth as God's. Look to culture, look to other musicians, look to what's going on in the world; mimic that which inspires you. But come on guys, don't copy what someone else has already done.

You can read the full article HERE.

*Though Thom has stated that the album's content was heavily influenced by current events, he denies it having strictly political intent. However, the artwork of the album has been called a "roadmap," a reference by Radiohead to the Bush Administration's 2003 plan for peace in the Middle East.

Tracyanne's Idaho

I just stumbled across this blog post from lead singer of Camera Obscura, Tracyanne Campbell. I found her meandering thoughts to be quite entertaining, especially at the mention of our very own Idaho.
Also, I am delighted with the realization that Camera Obscura have made their way so far west in this tour of the United States. I have heard of some bands hitting up California alone (which is a mistake) and skipping the much more interesting entirety of the West Coast. NEXT TIME, eh Louis?

Here is the post:

This reminds me; I still don't have their new album.

Thursday, August 6, 2009

September 1




David Bazan : Curse Your Branches

Thursday, July 9, 2009

October 6




Air : Love 2

Sunday, July 5, 2009

For those who have never been to Idaho (or have, but not inside our residence)


So here is our place.


Here is the front of the house. It's an old house-turned-duplex, and our side is on the right.


Front door/incoming mail box


Living room, shot #1.


Living room, shot #2.


Living room, shot #3. This is where we do a lot of our reading.


This is the kitchen! And that table is where we do a lot of our reading.


Yes, we have an indoor window. It's pretty nice.


Looking in to the kitchen, through the indoor window.


These lead to the dungeon/torture chamber.


This is the basement. This is where we go to watch movies, play video games, and stay cool in the summer. (the basement stays monumentally cooler than the upstairs)


Music room, shot #1; Equipped with an electric piano, vintage synths, and recording equipment. It is also a wonderful room to relax in and listen to music via the record player.


Music room, shot #2.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Blonde Redhead : "My Impure Hair"



This is the final Mike Mills/Blonde Redhead collaboration for 23. And in some ways, this is the purest and most simple of the videos.

"My Impure Hair" is a delicate song, resting quietly at the closing of the album. After so much layering and stacking, thick with humidity, drug-swirls, an intangible sense of déjà vu and song after song of night-climbing city tracks, beautifully and perfectly wound into a soundtrack of concrete and post-modern thought, this track brings such sweet closure to this album destined for its place in the darkness. Its simplistic format beckons the morning sun, as it slowly rises above the end of all that was terrible about the night before.

I love how, with glooming bravado, the video slowly fades to black.

Dark Night of the Soul

I was recently pointed in the direction of some great music, by a friend of mine from Minnesota. She made a post of an upcoming/postponed (at the time) collaboration of one Danger Mouse, and Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse. The project was cleverly named, Dark Night of the Soul, a phrase coined by 17th century Spanish mystic Saint John of the Cross. Naturally, I had to pursue the project.

Upon reading my friends' post, which referenced coverage by NPR, I came to find out that David Lynch himself had signed on to the project to do a 100-page book of original photography, inspired by the music of said collaborators.

Some research later, I have come to find that the project has been canned by EMI, due to some unknown copyright claim. It's become a "lost album," if you will. But let's not lose hope so quickly. After all, this is the digital age.

On June 15th, this "lost album" is going to be made available. There will not be a label-backed album release. Instead,
Dark Night of the Soul will be releasing two versions of the same thing. The first is a poster and a blank CD-R. The second option is the 100-page Lynch-made booklet and a blank CD-R.

Underneath the ordering form on their website, a note is made: "Due to an ongoing dispute with EMI, Danger Mouse is unable to include music on the CD without fear of legal entanglement. Therefore, he has included a blank CD-R as an artifact to use however you see fit."

Wow.

I know what I will be doing on Monday.

Check out the official site below, and be sure to read up on the list of collaborators included in this project.

http://www.dnots.com/

Free live Coldplay album

LeftRightLeftRightLeft is the title of Coldplay's new, self-released, completely free live album. It's available HERE.

Check it out.

Friday, June 5, 2009

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

DC Talk is of the devil!!! + Jimi Hendrix was a drug-crazed New Age occultist + a crucified monkey

You know, Jesus-is-savior.com is actually quite interesting. You should check it out.
No really. It's shocking, self-righteous, and it looks like someone went crazy with the exclamation points. Yeah, you know what kind of site I'm referring to. It's freakin' crazy.

ANYWAY, I didn't begin this post to tell my readers solely about this site. I intended to bring to attention a particular set of accusations against the group DC Talk, based upon biblical principles and truths. Or at least, that is what the author of this article states.

The article is entitled,
DC Talk Exposed, and begins by introducing the "Jesus Freak" music video as one of the most popular Christians videos ever recorded. But, how "Christian" is it? (asks the following line) The author then goes into not-so-great depth to gorge this subject.

From here, we are told the director of the video is none other than Simon Maxwell, an Englishman and collaborator with the "satanic and blasphemous Nine Inch Nails." We learn that DC Talk was interested in roping him in for this project, due to his particular style, demonstrated specifically in NIN's "Closer." [side note: pay attention to anything with 3 or more exclamation marks (!!!), brackets, or anything that is CAPITALIZED]

And I quote,

The author refers to "Closer" as "ultra-blasphemous," pointing out the fact that the video shows a monkey crucified on a cross. It then goes on to quote Mr. Reznor himself,
"If you think I WORSHIP SATAN because of something you see in the 'Closer' video [with its images of a crucified monkey]- great!"
(Trent Reznor, People, Feb. 6, 1995)
ANNDDD for the conclusion: Because Trent Reznor talks about wicked, satanic blasphemy + DC Talk proudly admitting to watching Nine Inch Nails videos + liking those videos and hiring Simon Maxwell to direct their video = GOING TO HELL.

"And believe me there's NOTHING Christian about the video!"

End quote.

Here is the full article in its entirety:
http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/Evils%20in%20America/dc_talk_exposed.htm


I want a lot of dialogue on this one. Share your thoughts. Let me know what you think about this article. Go crazy.

Is DC Talk a Boy Band? I think so.

What exactly can we classify or genre-fy, in the most culturally specific of terms, DC Talk to be? Are they a Christian rock band? Boy band? Some kind of R'nB?

In an interview with Alarnet TV, a no longer aired Christian music entertainment talk show, Kevin Max is asked if he was in "some sort of boy band, back in the day." He responds with a simple yes, and gives a brief explanation:
"I've always been into rock 'n roll, but the other two guys were in such reverse musical patterns at that time, that I think we came out as this, this thing that nobody could really put their finger on, and go, is it Pop? Is it AC? Is it a boy band? Is it R'nB? Is it Hammer? You know, they couldn't figure it out."


First, let's ask ourselves what constitutes a band as a boy band.

1) Limited creativity and overall input in direction of music.
2) When said band members don't play any instruments.

According to Allmusic.com, the three members of DC Talk were not comfortable playing instruments on their recordings. Instead, they decided to contribute only vocals to their albums.

Because of this, I am skeptical as to the level of which each member contributed musically and creatively, to the creation and production of each piece of music. Is DC Talk just a moniker for *Boy Band?

I suppose it's a viable conclusion to come to, if such a conclusion can actually be made. After all, I don't know any of the members personally, and aside from pieces of data here and there, the question remains unanswered. However, this I know: I will never listen to DC Talk again. I MEAN, the same again.



*If you like Boy Bands, be sure to check out these groups:

Backstreet Boys, NSYNC, Take That, Westlife, New Kids On the Block, New Edition, The Monkees, B2K, Boyzone, BoyzIIMen, 98 Degrees.

Sunday, May 31, 2009

Ringtones...4 Free!

Oh, what is wrong with me?

Just in case no one has heard of this site, Myxer is a free online program for creating your own, personalized ringtones. Overall, it's a pretty simple, well-intentioned program. However, the fact that I am posting a blog about this, shows that I have succumb to my nerd side; thus, the 'nerd' tag.

Saturday, May 30, 2009

"Shot In the Back of the Head"


Taken from Moby's upcoming album, Wait For Me, here is the video for "Shot In the Back of the Head." Directed + created by David Lynch himself. Enjoy. Very dark.

Also, the song is free to download HERE.

June 30




Moby : Wait For Me

Friday, May 15, 2009

Max Payne: An analytical comparative piece

No matter which way you look at it, Max Payne is an awful movie. It's only slightly cheeky and watchable more than once. Those who have never played the video game, which is the film's predecessor, will not like this movie. And to those who are well aware of the game's nature, having played it in full, enjoying it or not, I say this to you: I guarantee you will not see this movie as anything more than a trite, weakened adaptation of the original.

The reason I come back to the subject of the Max Payne film, is because there is more to be said and uncovered.


Just this morning, I finished another complete game of Max Payne, and took it upon myself to rent the film, being slightly intrigued to pursue the "Director's Cut" qualities that prompted me. Among the obvious boastings, I had hoped to find some deleted scenes, perhaps some insightful featurettes, some actor interviews; I even hoped to find some sort of "From Game to Film" piece/thing/short.

Needless to say, I was let down once again.


There were no deleted scenes, no insightful featurettes, no actor interviews, and certainly no "From Game to Film" piece. All that the disc contained was a theatrical version and a director's cut version of the film, and an audio commentary with the director. But come on, do I really want to watch this movie again, this time with the sound stifled, and the director bragging about his multi-million dollar grossing movie?

Oh yeah, speaking of money,
Max Payne earned $17 million+ in its first week at the Boxoffice.

Max Payne

For some reason, John Moore, the movie's unimpressive director, felt it was necessary to steer the film completely away from its predecessor's original storyline.

Some of the changes that were made:
  • The role of Jack Lupino is hyped up, being more of a super-human on drugs than a madman affected by drugs, on drugs.
  • The role of Norse mythology symbolism is at large in the game. However, the film takes the idea of Valkryes, Valhalla, etc, and turns it into a literal, insinuating reality, that these bad dudes really DO have wings, and really are waiting for the Valkryes to carry them off the battlefield. This is especially so with the character of Jack Lupino.
  • The character of B.B. is revealed to be a counterpart in the whole of the Valkyr operation. However, he is not part of the drugged-outs who killed Max's family.
  • Nicole Horne is killed in the final shoot out on top of the Aesir building. She does not live for a sequal.
  • Vladimir, head of the Russian mafia never makes an appearance in the film. (unless he is the man, walking opposite Max on the street; this would in turn make sense, seeing as how that character was at the party in Mona's gang, as she attempted to strong-arm her sister Natasha)
  • Natasha Sax, Mona's sister, is not a character from the storyline. In the game, she is Don Punchinello's wife. Punchinello is head of the Italian mob.
  • The character of Mona Sax is a twin sister to Lisa, and not at all Russian (which is how she is portrayed in the movie). She is most certainly American.
  • Alfred Woden, head of the Inner Circle (a secret society responsible for funding all sorts of things, from the shadows of course) is nowhere to be seen in the film.
  • The scene that introduces the game, is of Max on top of the Aesir building, punctuating the end of his vendetta by claiming "They were all dead." This is the same scene in which the final scene exits as well. The film was consistent with mirroring a scene in the introduction, and further into the movie. Well done, film. HOWEVER, it is not of Max's final scene on top of the Aesir building. It is instead of him floating in the river, telling us about the criminals and such that hang out with him at the bottom of the Hudson River. A dizzying inclusion.
  • The story behind Max's vendetta is made visually clear in the beginning of the game. We see him coming home to find his wife and baby murdered. However, in the film, the emotional response to the scene is not seen until nearly half way through the movie.
Scott Miller, CEO of 3D Realms (producer of the Max Payne games) put it best, when asked asked for his thoughts on this minor alteration:
"Saving this scene until mid-film is a narrative blunder, because the audience needs to empathize with Max in order to like him and understand what drives him."

-Edge Online
This is exactly what the game, or should I say, the original storyline accomplished. Its portrayal of Max's unspoken plight was indeed made clear, and his taste for revenge (to an extent) did seem justified. But most importantly, from the very beginning (and this is where the movie lost points) we could understand his anger. There was never any confusion as to why you were Max Payne, and why Max Payne had nothing to lose.

Another fact about the film:

Rotten Tomatoes gives it 18% on the Tomatometer. Out of 123 reviews, 22 were fresh and 101 were rotten. An average of 3.8/10

As for reviews of the film, here are a number of them that stood out to me. Click for a link to the full review:


-"Simply terrible. An insult to gamers and action fans. Frankly, it doesn't even deserve notoriety as one of the year's worst; it deserves to be forgotten." Russ Breimeier, Christianity Today

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"A profound feeling of laziness hovers over the entire picture, suggesting that it was as joyless to make as it is to watch." Ethan Alter, Film Journal International

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"Max just drags on as it drags you down. If you stay and watch the endless end credits, there's a short scene that hints a sequel is coming. That's what I call real pain." Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

-"Max Payne is content to be an efficient vehicle for the delivery of a familiar range of sensations, some of which almost rise to the level of feelings." A.O. Scott, New York Times

-"A movie that cares much more for poetic choreography in explosive gunfights than gaping lapses of logic in a flimsy crime narrative." Ted Fry, Seattle Times

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"Maybe somebody decided the movie was already so convoluted and leaden that throwing in a few swooping, screeching valkyries could only help. They do not." Rob Salem, Toronto Star

-"The willfully absurd action sequences help the movie slog along, but slog it does, right through to the obligatory after-credits scene to establish the possibility of a franchise." Jeffrey Bloomer, Paste Magazine

-"Every shot, every edit is well thought out. But in the end, I didn't care about anyone." Austin Kennedy, Sin Magazine

As you can see, many reviewers share my thoughts on Max Payne.

A reviewer at the Internet Movie Database put it best when he said,
"I wanted this to be good. I kept lying to myself and saying it would get better any minute.

People who say I am disappointed because it isn't the video game need to understand I didn't want the video game I wanted an action film that captured the essence of the game.

We are left with no reason to care for Max Payne. If I was the writer I would have been ashamed to have my name attached.

Max Payne got the Indy treatment.

I really want my money back on this one. I felt insulted that they thought this script was a passable story"

Check out if interested:
Graphic Novel
A good run down on the basics of Norse mythology
Script of Max Payne video game

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Blonde Redhead : "Top Ranking"



Mike Mills and Blonde Redhead. What is it about their collaborations that insist he make simple, artistic music videos? Whatever the reason, it's always a delight. This one isn't like the last two I have posted. It's fun, rather than dark or sad.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Computer Game Music

I have a confession to make. I collect computer game music.

Yes, it's true. I have a little over 100 different folders, containing every thing from complete soundtracks to single track treasures. The music takes up about 4 and a quarter gigabytes of hard drive space and is comprised of a variety of stylistically different computer games. However, the bulk of my collection, consists of old Sierra (Sierra On-Line) adventure games.

I am currently organizing each collection, meticulously citing my sources as I make adjustments.

This process seems to never end.

There are titles to verify, track numbers (if ever the music had an order), album titles (if there ever was such a thing; many times, no official soundtrack was ever produced, but rather its form is dictated by the essence of the original game), and of course album art (or in many cases, the picture on the box that the game was sold in).

However, I am nearing the end of my archiving.

Here follows a complete list of my computer game music:

-Adventures of Willy Beamish
-Age of Empires II
-Age of Empires II: The Conquers Edition
-Alice
-Betrayal at Krondor
-Betrayal In Antara
-Call of Duty
-Castle of Dr. Brain
-Code-Name: ICEMAN
-Conquests of Camelot: The Search For the Grail
-Conquests of the Longbow: The Legend of Robin Hood
-David Wolf: Secret Agent
-Descent II
-Descent 3
-Deus Ex
-Diablo II
-Diablo II: Lord of Destruction
-EcoQuest : The Search for Cetus
-EcoQuest 2: Lost Secret of the Rainforest
-EverQuest
-Fire Hawk: Thexder the Second Contact
-Full Throttle
-Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers
-The Beast Within: A Gabriel Knight Mystery
-Gabriel Knight 3: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned
-Ghost Recon
-Ghost Recon: Desert Siege
-Ghost Recon: Island Thunder
-Gothic II
-Grim Fandango
-Half-Life
-Heart of China
-Heroes of Might and Magic IV
-Hitman: Codename 47
-Hitman 2: Silent Assassin
-Icewind Dale
-Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter
-Inca
-Jones In the Fastlane
-King's Quest: Quest For the Crown (VGA)
-King's Quest II: Romancing the Throne
-King's Quest III: To Heir Is Human
-King's Quest IV: The Perils of Rosella
-King's Quest V: Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder!
-King's Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow
-King's Quest VII: The Princeless Bride
-King's Quest VIII: Mask of Eternity
-The Colonel's Bequest: A Laura Bow Mystery
-Laura Bow In: The Dagger of Amon Ra
-Leisure Suit Larry In the Land of the Lounge Lizards
-Leisure Suit Larry 2
-Leisure Suit Larry 3
-Leisure Suit Larry 5
-Leisure Suit Larry 6
-Leisure Suit Larry: Love For Sail!
-Lords of the Realm II
-Lost In Time
-Max Payne
-Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne
-Metal Gear Solid
-Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
-Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
-Myst
-Myst III: Exile
-Neverwinter Nights
-No One Lives Forever
-Outlaws
-Phantasmagoria
-Phantasmagoria: A Puzzle of Flesh
-Police Quest: In Pursuit of the Death Angel (VGA)
-Police Quest II: The Vengence
-Police Quest III: The Kindred
-Police Quest IV: Open Season
-Quest For Glory: So You Want to Be a Hero
-Quest For Glory II: Trial By Fire
-Quest For Glory III: Wages of War
-Quest For Glory IV: Shadows of Darkness
-Quest For Glory V: Dragon Fire
-Rainbow Six
-Rainbow Six: Eagle Watch
-Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear
-Rainbox Six: Rogues Spear: Urban Operations
-Return to Castle Wolfenstein
-Rise of the Dragon
-Silpheed
-Sorcerian
-Space Quest: The Sarien Encounter
-Space Quest II: Vohaul's Revenge
-Space Quest III: The Pirates of Pestulon
-Space Quest IV: Roger Wilco and the Time Rippers
-Space Quest V: The Next Mutation
-Space Quest 6: The Spinal Frontier
-StarCraft
-StarCraft: Brood Wars
-SWAT 2
-The Curse of Monkey Island
-The Incredible Machine
-The Incredible Machine 2
-The Incredible Machine 3

-The Island of Dr. Brain

-The Sims
-The Sum of All Fears
-Thief: The Dark Project
-Thief II: The Metal Age
-Undying
-World of Warcraft

Tuesday, March 31, 2009