Media Junkie

New Feature: Approved For All Audiences

It's time to unveil a new feature here at Media Junkie.  It's one I've debated doing for a long time, but I'm just going to run with it.

There are plenty of movie sites out there on the internet.  If you want the latest scoops, you go to Ain't It Cool News, if you want exhaustive information you go to the Internet Movie Database, and if you want trailers, you go to Apple.  Therefore, it seemed kind of redundant to post trailers for films I'm looking forward to at this blog, but then I remembered - this is MY blog.

I'm not trying to compete with those sites.  I love those sites and visit them on a daily basis.  I'm not trying to be the biggest music/movie blog on the internet or paint myself as an authoritative voice.  I'm just a nerd with a passion for these forms of entertainment, a passion for writing, and too much free time on my hands.  Media Junkie is a fun side project for me, so why shouldn't I write short pieces about upcoming features and their trailers? 

With that in mind, I'm going to begin sharing the films I'm excited to see in the feature Approved For All Audiences, and I'm going to kick things off later this weekend with my write-up of the 16 minute preview of James Cameron's new 3D science fiction epic, Avatar, I witnessed yesterday before attending a late screening of Inglourious Basterds.

Nobody is going to come to this blog to see the latest trailers, but that isn't the point.  The point is, was, and always will be to share my enthusiasm for the things I love, and if anybody enjoys reading them, that's just a bonus. 

Required Viewing: Inglourious Basterds

Inglourious Basterds
Universal Pictures
R
153 Minutes
2009

The word "genius" is a word that gets thrown around too often.  I'm no stranger to hyperbole and frequently use adjectives such as fantastic, terrific, amazing, and so on to describe motion pictures or albums, but I rarely use the term "genius."  That word is reserved for only those experiences that go even beyond the exemplary; the experiences that remind you why you love going to the movies or listening to music in the first place.

It is with great enthusiasm that I write this: Inglourious Basterds, the latest epic from writer/director Quentin Tarantino, is a work of pure, utter genius.

Poster Boys - The Summer Pledge Live at the Post Bar, Ferndale, MI - 20 August 2009

After a short but spirited set at Rochester's Gold Music and Arts Festival only days earlier, Detroit's spacey post-rockers The Summer Pledge made a lasting impression on the crowd at Ferndale's popular nightspot, the Post Bar.  There were plenty of reasons for the crowd, who were packed in the small main floor area like sardines, to walk away satisfied: the roughly hour-long set was loud and the band was as energetic as I'd ever seen them, playing in front of a great deal of friends.

The Post isn't really a concert venue - it's a bar.  There is no stage, no lighting, which doesn't make for a picture-friendly environment, so I wasn't able to capture any shots of the show, but my near-photographic memory hasn't failed me one bit. 

Essential Albums: All Thieves - We Are All Thieves (Promo)

All Thieves
We Are All Thieves (Promo)
2009 (Unreleased)
Chrysalis Music

Buy This Album (Unavailable)

The very first record I ever inducted into my Essential Albums category on this blog was Dusted's When We Were Young.  Dusted was the side project of Faithless creator and famous electronic music producer Rollo Armstrong and his friend Mark Bates, and it was a far cry from the dance music that made Faithless an international success. 

Far more introspective and melodic, When We Were Young was something of a musical storybook with artwork that recalled Maurice Sendak's classic childrens' tale Where The Wild Things Are to boot.  It was, and remains, a beautiful, brilliant album with layers of sounds and samples that yield new discoveries with each listen even years later.  Peaceful and serene at times, dark and sinister at others, When We Were Young remains my favorite work from Rollo to date, despite the wonderful output of his far more famous band.

Several years later, When We Were Young was rerecorded and retitled.  This time, Rollo's kid sister Dido provided vocals for many of the songs, several were removed and replaced, and the ones that remained had been heavily reworked.  The thematic elements of the music were even put into a companion book.  This album, retitled Safe From Harm, was still worthwhile, though it lacked the magic of the original recording on which it was based.

With Faithless on hiatus, Rollo has turned his attention to producing more new acts, beginning with British singer/songwriter Kristian Leontiou's One eskimO, who are currently getting some heavy buzz as an opening act for Tori Amos on her U.S. tour.  Their debut CD, All Balloons, is slated for release this fall, and the circulating 10-track promo is nothing short of spectacular.

So what happens when Rollo, Mark Bates, Leontiou and female vocalist Bailey Tzuke (daughter of singer Judie Tzuke) join forces for a new project?  Magic.

Movie Review: The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard

The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard
Paramount Vantage
R
90 Minutes
2009

What a year for comedies this has been.  Whether it's family-friendly fair like Pixar's incredible Up, raunchy comedy like The Hangover, or flat-out offensive like Bruno, 2009's lineup of comedies has been pretty strong.  The Goods has some incredibly stiff competition to live up to, and it didn't quite sell me that it deserves to be at the top of the list of 2009's funniest.

Produced by Adam McKay and Will Ferrell, The Goods is another in a long line of nonsense comedies like Anchorman or Talladega Nights.  It has its moments, but it can't sustain itself for the duration of its rather short running time.  Still, if you've got time to kill, you could do much worse.

Movie Review: District 9

District 9
TriStar Pictures
R
112 Minutes
2009

2009 could be the year of the sleeper hit.  Commercial successes like Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra have also been critically panned.  The Hangover has become the year's biggest comedy practically on the strength of word of mouth alone, grossing nearly three times as much as Sacha Baron Cohen's Bruno, even after an intense bidding war between studios for the latter. 

Now we have District 9, the directorial debut of Neill Blomkamp.  Though Peter Jackson's name is plastered all over the TV spots and his Wingnut Films production company helped bring the movie to audiences worldwide, Blomkamp wrote (alongside Terri Tatchell) and directed this clever, engrossing sci-fi action thriller and he does so with such style that it's hard to believe this is his first time behind the lens.

Part Cloverfield-style mock documentary, part action, part sci-fi, and part political commentary, District 9 is a fabulous film that is destined to be a cult classic.

Movie Review: G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
Paramount Pictures
PG-13
118 Minutes
2009

There is something extremely sad about watching your favorite memories from childhood get thrown into the Hollywood marketing machine, ground up, then regurgitated as a slick, modernized version.  Growing up in the 80s, I was crazy about G.I. Joe.  I videotaped the shows and watched them over and over.  I owned all the figures and vehicles, sometimes doubles, triples, or more in order to have an entire legion of generic Cobra soldiers for my Joes to shoot at. 

To say that I was leery of the latest attempt to sell my childhood back to me, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, is an understatement.  I was vehemently opposed to it.  I had sworn it off completely after seeing the costumes, the accelerator suits, and footage of Marlon Wayans jumping through a train in slow-motion.  I had a morbid curiosity, but that what where it ended...until I left the choice of movies up to my friend.

Not only did I see The Rise of Cobra, I saw it on opening night, in a packed theater.  Normally, this is the type of experience that can make you rethink your stance.  The theater cheered and clapped, awed by the intense action and special effect.  They laughed at all the jokes, even the bad ones, and the kids whose parents brought them seemed enthralled.  I, on the other hand, spent the entirety of the film thinking "This is not what I grew up on."

Movie Review: Funny People

Funny People
Universal
R
146 Minutes
2009

After the dreadful Pineapple Express, I was worried that the comedy team of Seth Rogen and producer/director Judd Apatow had hit their wall.  Up until that point, everything they touched seemed to turn to gold, and I may have been in the minority but I felt Pineapple Express was a complete failure on every level.  It wasn't funny, it wasn't exciting, and the characters did more to irritate me than endear me to them.
 
Apatow returns to the director's chair for their newest collaboration, Funny People, and I'm pleasantly surprised that the ship seems to have been righted.  Apatow squeezes some truly remarkable performances from the talented cast, and delves into slightly more dramatic territory - more akin to Knocked Up than the slapstick humor of Superbad (which he only produced).  There's still plenty to laugh at in Funny People, including the usual dick-jokes, insult humor, and some interesting pseudo-realistic stand-up routines, but it also has the quality that has made so many of Rogen's movies so fantastic - the human element.