August 2010

Any sort of arts-related start-up endeavor is destined to be a challenge, no matter how strong the concept or talent behind the product is. This not because people don’t care about art anymore, but, rather, because there’s just so much of everything that finding an audience for anything has become quite the challenge.  

I first found out about Ferocious Quarterly, an arts publication based out of Fort Wayne, after stumbling into their excellent website, fe.rocious.com, on a fluke. After an hour or two of exploring the website’s blog - a dream come true for anyone interested in design - I found photos of the No. 1 edition of Ferocious Quarterly. Knowing of the reputation for quality of artist Nate Utesch (known by many for his work in post-rock band Metavari), the publisher and curator of FQ, I wasn’t at all surprised by how stunning both the website and book were. The printing, the paper, the artwork, the writing, the presentation - all top-shelf stuff.

By the time I made it to page 16 - a collage by artist Eric Stine - of the meticulously crafted 92-page book I was sold. Ferocious Quarterly is not a piece of work I like simply because it was produced in Fort Wayne, my hometown. And it’s not just something I believe in or want to share with friends, but something I ... [Continued]

Written by G. William Locke

Tops at the Box: Sylvester Stallone’s latest offering of big dumb action, The Expendables, had a solid opening weekend, bringing in just over $35 million over its first three days. Starring almost every big name action star from the 80s and 90s (save for Wesley Snipes, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Steven Seagal), Stallone’s film is getting some surprisingly positive reviews thus far. A friend described it as a buddy flick between Jason Statham and Stallone; he said it was good for what it is, but not without some major issues. ScreenTime will, if anything, probably wait for the RedBox for The Expendables.  

More From the Box: Last week’s No. 2 film, director Ryan Murphy’s film adaptation of “Eat, Pray, Love,” took in a lower-than-expected $23.7 million over its first three days. Some bad reviews and lots of gossip about the film’s star, Julie Roberts, likely hurt the $60 million film’s opening weekend. Still, ScreenTime is pretty sure that Eat, Pray will make its money back and then some, especially come rental time. Murphy’s last adaptation, Running With Scissors, also received negative reviews, but not quite to the extent of Eat, Pray. For example, here’s Roger Ebert’s Twitter review of the film: “Me, me, me, me, me!” From what we know of the book, sounds like a faithful adaptation.  ... [Continued]

Written by G. William Locke

Check it out, Part Two of our look at some of the promising films coming out before the end of the year. Be sure to scroll down and check out Part One of the list. And definitely be sure to check back in a couple of months for info about even more great movies coming before the clock strikes 2011. For now, here we go, Part Two of our list …  

Fair Game - Wait a second, isn’t Fair Game a shitty 90s action/romance/comedy starring one of the Baldwin Bros and Cindy Crawford!? WTF, man?! But for reals, Doug Liman (Swingers, The Bourne Identity, Go) makes good movies. Not always, but sometimes - and this looks like his best in a good while. Starring Naomi Watts as the famous Covert CIA agent, Valerie Plame, whose cover was blown by her New York Times-writing husband, played by Sean Penn, Fair Game looks like the solid drama/thriller of late 2010. (November 5)

The Next Three Days - Paul Haggis’ new movie is a remake of 2008 French thriller Anthing For Her. The movie, about a man trying to break his wife out of prison, stars Russell Crowe, Liam Neeson and Elizabeth Banks. Zzz. (November 19)

Love and Other Drugs - Director Ed Zwick teams with Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway in what looks to be an attempt to get some Oscar nominations. The new trailer just hit the ‘net, and it doesn’t look like anything remotely special. I wonder if this movie will even be able to find an audience? A romantic comedy with a weird sense of humor, semi-dark characters and not-so-obvious laughs? Good luck, Zwick ... [Continued]

Written by G. William Locke

Up to this point, 2010 hasn’t exactly been a banner year for film. In fact, we at the Ze Cat would even probably call this a lousy year for film. Of the 40ish movies we’ve seen at the theater this year, only 15 have been worthwhile. That’s like, what, a little more than two per month out of hundreds released? Yikes!  

But hey, there are a whole lot of promising movies coming out before the end of the year - almost too many to count. See below for Part One of our list of 25 movies we’re kinda/sorta excited about.

The American - This new film from photographer-turned-director Anton Corbijn stars George Clooney as an assassin who hides out in the Italian countryside. Clooney’s character is supposedly very dark, and the film quite European. Kinda sounds like the first 12 minutes of the second Bourne flick. (September 3)

Machete - Robert Rodriguez’ campy retro action flick looks fun and dirty. Boasts a strange cast (Jessica Alba, Robert Deniro, Danny Trejo, Michelle Rodriguez) and surely some funny and cool touches from the master of funny and cool ... [Continued]

Written by G. William Locke

Director Sam Mendes, the man responsible for modern classics American Beauty and Revolutionary Road, almost always seems to know what he’s doing, be it heavy (Road to Perdition) or light (Away We Go). This is why his 2005 war film, Jarhead, is such a disappointment. The concept of the film is great and the cinematography is, at times, as beautiful as you’ll see in a war film. But damn, some of the attempts to make the film seem … err … hip, are embarrassing. The incessant use of unfitting, of-its-time music - used as an attempt to keep the movie light and fun - is so blatant and annoying that you can’t help but cringe. The playful moments amongst the Marines who make up the story of this film are borderline cheesy. Actually, they’re not borderline anything - they’re flat out cheese.  

This is a shame because, aside from the then-hip casting of leadman Jake Gyllenhaal (at the time a sudden cult figure thanks to Donnie Darko), the casting was great. The writing was great. The production was great. These few small mistakes keep Jarhead from being the best war film of the Naughts.

The story of Jarhead is simple. Our hero, Anthony Swofford (Gyllenhaal in his first major studio lead role), joins the Marines just as Operation Desert Shield is about to hit. He spends a lot of time adjusting and questioning what he’s doing, but even more time wondering what his girlfriend is doing back home. (We’re made to feel like this girlfriend of his is his everything - amusing, considering the character is 20 years old.) At the urging of Seargent Sykes (Jamie Foxx), Swofford becomes a Marine sniper, which he is very good at. He’s he part of an ace team of shooters, paired with the always excellent Peter Sarsgaard ... [Continued]

Written by G. William Locke

Last year’s Down With Wilco was a pleasant surprise from Scott McCaughey’s pop supergroup The Minus 5. Sometime between Down With Wilco and 2001’s Let the War Against Music Begin, McCaughey, Peter Buck, John Ramburg and Bill Rieflin managed to slip out a tour-only album titled In Rock. Originally limited to 1,000 copies, The Minus 5 and Yep Rock have now decided to give the album a proper release, taking off two songs and adding four complementary tracks recorded in late 2003.  

On describing the band’s once-forgotten album, McCaughey had this to say; “This record was made carelessly, carefree, carefully calcified, like loose marbles in a capsule, Apollo Gemini Jupiter. It is the sound of relationships flaring like sunspots, of love unleashed like a big blonde dog pulling a troop carrier up a mountainous sand dune. If you want more, it’s always there, where small amps with bad tubes are turned up too loud and the Wurlitzer’s buzz is prohibitive.” And it goes on. As little as can be taken from those drops of nonsensical wisdom, it’s clear that In Rock has some sort of muscle behind it, be it logical or not.

Down With Wilco portrayed The Minus 5 as a solemn, calculated band, where in the past they seemed to be little more than an “anything goes” side project. The fun is back on the quick ... [Continued]

Written by G. William Locke

Oddly enough, Secret Wars finds Oneida revealing many of their secrets through immense songs that sound fit for war. First off, Oneida’s hawkish sound is a front that works as a trench to mask their subtle precision playing. Hidden beneath the big static riffs and half-dead vocal style is a smart band which chooses to play tidy rockers rather than the flashy art songs they sound very capable of. Often considered to fit in with the “stoner rock” crowd, the eight-year-old Brooklyn band mixes 60s psychadelia and 70s rock heroism with their early 90s grunge attitude.  

Six years into their career, Oneida released what has become their signature album with 2002’s Each One Teach One. While the album didn’t live up to the commercial hype, it hit just in time to be grouped with the Queens of the Stone Age and The Liars, two bands that helped solidify this whole undefinable “stoner rock” thing. With the Queens of the Stone Age in a transitional period and The Liars selling themselves as a one-album fluke, Oneida’s sixth studio album in eight years strives to single-handedly keep the MC5’s lazy-boned, deadbeat-guitar sound alive. Secret Wars sounds very lean - with eight concise tracks spanning over 40 minutes, only the fourteen minute closer, “Changes in the City,” feels excessive.

Opening with the guitar-effect driven “Treasure Plane,” Secret Wars starts off with wasted-sounding vocals and a mood-enhancing guitar drone fit for last year’s great Desert Sessions Vol. 9 and 10 album. Next up is “Ceaser’s Column” which  ... [Continued]

Written by G. William Locke

You know that joke about The Strokes just being Gap models with guitars? Well, Phantom Planet leading man Alexander Greenwald is not only a real life Gap model, but also, supposedly, he’s become a Stroke? Phantom Planet centerpiece Jason Schwartzman recently left the band in order to focus on his new sitcom, “Cracking Up.” Since Schwartman’s departure and Greenwald’s move to focal point, apparently, the band has gone from covering “Say It Ain’t So” to “Brainville” overnight.  

Upon the success of the teen-drama, “The O.C.,” Phantom Planet gained a last-minute hit with their thematic song, “California.” The momentum must’ve been enough for the band to not only get label support for their followup record, but they also managed to pull in Flaming Lips producer Dave Fridmann to help gain credibility. Moving from a fun, pop band to a moving art band just can’t be done overnight, no matter how cute you or your bass player may be.

Songs like “You’re Not Welcome Here” and “Know It All” work for Phantom Planet if for no other reasons than they don’t sound exactly like someone else’s song and warrant repeat listens. The majority of Phantom Planet sounds like a straightforward rip-off hidden under clever production and ugly ... [Continued]

Written by G. William Locke

Typically, both film scores and soundtracks are used to guide a movie audience’s emotions through the film and help add dramatical flair to what may otherwise be a sub-par film. Some directors use soundtracks to bring in a target audience. Some use them to sell the image of both themselves and their film. Most often to the best effect, some optimistic filmmakers use them to show off their musical tastes and gain exposure for otherwise typically unknown artists. Such is the case with Stephin Merritt’s accompaniment to Peter Hedges’ Pieces of April.  

Merritt is a jack of many trades in the indie-rock world, fronting both The 6ths and primarily The Magnetic Fields, becoming one of music’s most promising producers and artists since his impressive 69 Love Songs was released. Now, with a world of music critics and fans waiting for his next move, what is a guy to do? Put together a soundtrack that serves as an introduction to his body of work? Sure, sounds smart, but can his off-the-wall songs pull their weight in the context of a film?

Comprised of five unreleased Magnetic Fields gems, three songs from 69 Love Songs, a solo track and two The 6ths songs, Pieces of April does exactly what it sets out to do: give the listener and viewer an introduction to one of rocks  ... [Continued]

Written by G. William Locke

Tops at the Box: Writer/director Adam McKay once again teams up successfully with Will Ferrell, this time for a buddy/cop/Stooges-type flick called The Other Guys, also starring Mark Wahlberg. Bringing in a solid $36 million over its first three days, the action-filled comedy took last weekend’s No. 1 spot, knocking Inception out after three weeks at the top. McKay, who scored hits working with Ferrell on Step Brothers, Talladega Nights and Anchorman (all of which I believe they wrote together), is getting some of his best reviews and box office results so far with The Other Guys. Looks, ya know, stupid, simple and funny. Our guess is that if you like the other McKay/Ferrell flicks, you’ll probably like this one.  

More From the Box: Inception took last weekend’s No. 2 spot, bringing in another $18.6 million in the US, upping its so-far US box total to $228 million (just under $500 million worldwide). Last weekend’s No. 3 moneymaker was Step Up 3D, no doubt another in an endless line of movies ScreenTime think look awful but will surely make someone some decent money. Director Phillip Noyce’s solid-looking femme fatale thriller, Salt (starring Angelina Jolie), took the No. 4 spot, banking another $11 million and upping its total to over $90 million. Rounding out the Top 5 last weekend was oddball comedy Dinner For Schmucks, which brought in $10.5 million in its second week.

Opening this Weekend: Three much anticipated films for three much different audiences come out this week ... [Continued]

Written by G. William Locke

After over four months of daily updates (including weekends, holidays and even a few days with multiple updates!), we at the Ze Cat have decided to have an easy day. Yep. So nothing too substantial will be added to the site, not until tomorrow.

So, rather than present an essay or column or review or interview, we're going to take the day to tell you about the year 2010, so far. Yeah, we did this recently, but a solid number of albums and films we really like have since been released. So, yep, you got it, our favorite films and albums from the first 62% of the year.

Catfish (September 17) - Catfish is the inevitable film that attempts to be this year's Paranormal Activity or The Blair Witch Project. In the trailer's setup we're told that everything is real in this story about a guy who goes to meet his Internet girlfriend, though the word "documentary" is never used. We see Nev Schulman fall for a mysterious girl online who he then gets to know via phone and chat. We get the impression that he becomes very close with her and her family before ever meeting them - his friends recording as much as they can with cameras. One day they all set off to meet this mystery girl … and things turn creepy. This is where the trailer leaves us, ending with a quote about how the film (now called a thriller late in the trailer) will shake you for days. Hmm … kinda sounds like the Blair Witch trailer. Regardless, we're a sucker for these kinds of indie flicks. (Or is this an indie flick? How well the trailer and film's website are put together make us think it might be a studio movie disguised as a low-budget future phenom gagger.) Looks promising regardless of our suspicions.  B+

Saw 3D (October 29) - Hahahahahahahahaha!!! Saw 3D!!!! Awesome! Because both Saw and 3D weren't both ridiculous enough already. What bothers us so much about the Saw movies is how well they're photographed and edited. Stupid movies that drain the ...