OT: Art, Music, Literature, Media, and More! Part 1

[jmr07019]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNfuhltdXR8[/youtube]

Great thread. I love live music maybe even more than I love the C's. I'm heading out to Illinois for a music festival friday headlined by the above band ~ Umphrey's McGee. They have a very unique style and absolutely crush it every time they play. If you like Zappa, Scofield or are into the heavier / metal sound you will like them. The video might be a little tough to watch as it appears to be shot from a go pro but the audio is good quality. Ending jam really does it for me.

Here's another Umps song that's a little shorter

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mISaTerZ7EE[/youtube]

[jmr07019]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Clq_6XG5tZk[/youtube]

Did you catch Gov't Mule with John Scofield at the Orpheum Theatre in Boston a few months ago? Hell of a show. John can really play. Warren too.

[truth18]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Clq_6XG5tZk[/youtube]

Did you catch Gov't Mule with John Scofield at the Orpheum Theatre in Boston a few months ago? Hell of a show. John can really play. Warren too.

Govt Mule are great live. One of the best shows I've ever seen (not that one, a show in NYC couple years back with Taj Mahal, Bonnie Raitt, and Levin randomly playing with them).

[Trippinskarlo]

Well...I know not everyone is feeling the action movie vibe, so I thought I'd list some of my favorites in different categories from recent years...I'll try to stay away from the mainstream ("Wolf of Wall Street", "Silver Lining Playbook", Django, etc)...

Comedy (Not slapstick)
1.- "Chef"-Undoubtedly, my favorite film of the last X amount of years was Chef starring and directed by Jon Favreau. Again, not your prototypical comedy. However, my 5 biggest passions in life are family, movies, music, cooking and the Celtic's. This movie checks 4 of those boxes. It's a movie about cooking and parenting and it's got a sick soundtrack (like many of Favreau's films. One of the coolest tracks I've heard in a long time was a cover of Sexual Healing by the Hot 8 Brass Band. I wish I knew how to post videos...lol

Thriller (no thrills)
2.-"Nightcrawler"-Jake Gyllenhaal continues to blow me away (see drama as well) and this movie was a true showcase for him. He plays an absolute creep who attempts to be first on scene at accidents or crimes in order to film video which he then can sell to local media. I'll leave it at that. Not too violent, but I still think it needs to be considered a thriller.

Thriller (with thrills)
3.-"Drive"-This one had it all. Crazy soundtrack, a great performance from Ryan Gosling and maybe the most astonishing acting transformation from 2011 in Albert Brooks. The movie is violent. Explosive violent. However, the scenes of violence are not nonstop. So, when they take place, they are that much more impactful...

Drama
4.-"Prisoners"-Oh boy. Beware if you're a parent. The movie asks the question, how far would you go to protect your family? It features incredible performances by the entire cast. Again, Gyllenhaal is mesmerizing as a detective trying to help two families find their daughters. However, the show stopper here is Hugh Jackman as a conflicted father. Makes you long for Hugh to hang up the razor hands and turn over Wolverine to someone else.

Horror
5.-"The Babadook"-Let me be clear. I am a horror fanatic. Nothing frightens me anymore. However, this movie...bring some clean drawers.

British Comedy
6.-"The Trip" and "the Trip to Italy"-If you're a fan of Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon and like dry British humor, this is comedy gold. Basically two guys that are funny as hell eating, drinking and doing impressions of people. These are not for everyone.

French Horror Movies
7.-These movies ARE NOT for the faint of heart. They are extreme. They are also extremely well done. The French are in a class of their own when it comes to horror movies. I won't get into the details of each one. However, if you're interested, check them out. They are very violent and have subtitles, so they are an acquired taste. They are (in order from my personal favorite), "Inside", "Martyrs", "Frontier" and "High Tension".

That's all for me now. I could type in this thread for a month straight...

If your into new wave french extreme also check out gaspr noes stuff like irreversible and I stand alone. Chef was fantastic. I have a bunch more "extreme" cinema recommendations so let me know if your into any of that. Go see ex Mochica if you haven't yet it's definetly a solid mainstream flick.

[15th overall]

A band I've been really getting into the past couple of weeks is Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings. Their label, Daptone Records, strictly uses analog recording equipment in order to try to retain the sound of the golden age of Soul, which is pretty cool IMO.

Still making my way through their catalog and have enjoyed most of the tracks so far, so I'm not exactly sure what song I'd choose to best represent them at this point, so I'm just going to post the song that initially got me into them.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=168UaxgQu-o[/youtube]


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


On the film front, if you're into revenge movies as much as I am, you should definitely check out Blue Ruin. Might be my favorite movie of 2014, top 5 for sure. Last I checked, it was still on Netflix.

[Pacino62]

Well...I know not everyone is feeling the action movie vibe, so I thought I'd list some of my favorites in different categories from recent years...I'll try to stay away from the mainstream ("Wolf of Wall Street", "Silver Lining Playbook", Django, etc)...

Comedy (Not slapstick)
1.- "Chef"-Undoubtedly, my favorite film of the last X amount of years was Chef starring and directed by Jon Favreau. Again, not your prototypical comedy. However, my 5 biggest passions in life are family, movies, music, cooking and the Celtic's. This movie checks 4 of those boxes. It's a movie about cooking and parenting and it's got a sick soundtrack (like many of Favreau's films. One of the coolest tracks I've heard in a long time was a cover of Sexual Healing by the Hot 8 Brass Band. I wish I knew how to post videos...lol

Thriller (no thrills)
2.-"Nightcrawler"-Jake Gyllenhaal continues to blow me away (see drama as well) and this movie was a true showcase for him. He plays an absolute creep who attempts to be first on scene at accidents or crimes in order to film video which he then can sell to local media. I'll leave it at that. Not too violent, but I still think it needs to be considered a thriller.

Thriller (with thrills)
3.-"Drive"-This one had it all. Crazy soundtrack, a great performance from Ryan Gosling and maybe the most astonishing acting transformation from 2011 in Albert Brooks. The movie is violent. Explosive violent. However, the scenes of violence are not nonstop. So, when they take place, they are that much more impactful...

Drama
4.-"Prisoners"-Oh boy. Beware if you're a parent. The movie asks the question, how far would you go to protect your family? It features incredible performances by the entire cast. Again, Gyllenhaal is mesmerizing as a detective trying to help two families find their daughters. However, the show stopper here is Hugh Jackman as a conflicted father. Makes you long for Hugh to hang up the razor hands and turn over Wolverine to someone else.

Horror
5.-"The Babadook"-Let me be clear. I am a horror fanatic. Nothing frightens me anymore. However, this movie...bring some clean drawers.

British Comedy
6.-"The Trip" and "the Trip to Italy"-If you're a fan of Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon and like dry British humor, this is comedy gold. Basically two guys that are funny as hell eating, drinking and doing impressions of people. These are not for everyone.

French Horror Movies
7.-These movies ARE NOT for the faint of heart. They are extreme. They are also extremely well done. The French are in a class of their own when it comes to horror movies. I won't get into the details of each one. However, if you're interested, check them out. They are very violent and have subtitles, so they are an acquired taste. They are (in order from my personal favorite), "Inside", "Martyrs", "Frontier" and "High Tension".

That's all for me now. I could type in this thread for a month straight...

If your into new wave french extreme also check out gaspr noes stuff like irreversible and I stand alone. Chef was fantastic. I have a bunch more "extreme" cinema recommendations so let me know if your into any of that. Go see ex Mochica if you haven't yet it's definetly a solid mainstream flick.

Ex was a mind Fk...Fantastic

I watched Irreversible on the third date with my wife. She cried for 30 minutes straight after "the scene". I felt so badly...Lol. Had no idea that was coming. I Stand Alone was cuckoo as well. Stomach churning cuckoo...

One that I had to order from Amazon UK and buy a special DVD player for was "A Serbian Film". I will never watch it again and I did have to walk out of the room for one scene. I honestly cannot recommend these movies to anyone.

As for 15th Overall. Blue Ruin was amazing. So well done for a little indie with no stars. Glad it's got some fans out there. Love revenge movies. Some of my favorites:


"I Saw the Devil"...Amazing
"The Vengeance Trilogy"...Not the Old Boy remake either. The original. Old Boy is far and away the best of the 3.
"Mother"..Not as violent as the others
"Moebius"...Be warned

[Pacino62]

A band I've been really getting into the past couple of weeks is Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings. Their label, Daptone Records, strictly uses analog recording equipment in order to try to retain the sound of the golden age of Soul, which is pretty cool IMO.

Still making my way through their catalog and have enjoyed most of the tracks so far, so I'm not exactly sure what song I'd choose to best represent them at this point, so I'm just going to post the song that initially got me into them.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=168UaxgQu-o[/youtube]


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


On the film front, if you're into revenge movies as much as I am, you should definitely check out Blue Ruin. Might be my favorite movie of 2014, top 5 for sure. Last I checked, it was still on Netflix.

Longer and Stronger and Better Things are my two favorites by SJ and the DK's. Entire catalog is great though.

[jmr07019]

Here's a song from an up and coming funk group called Turkuaz. They're from Brooklyn and will likely be around the area this summer

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TUwZEorhFA[/youtube]

[Pacino62]

Here's a song from an up and coming funk group called Turkuaz. They're from Brooklyn and will likely be around the area this summer

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TUwZEorhFA[/youtube]

You're speaking my language there. That's some good stuff. It's rare that something grabs me that quickly, but I knew as soon as I hit play that I was a fan. Thanks!

[jmr07019]

more funk for the thread

these guys (Kung Fu) started out small in the NE area. I saw them at tammany hall in worcester when they first started but they've gained popularity and are playing nation wide now (i think)

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etlkfu4l_2w[/youtube]

and these guys are called Dopapod and are originally from Boston. this song is funky but in general they have more of a rock feel to them

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-itMtEWF5lo[/youtube]

and just as a general comment it amazes me much music DOESN'T get played on FM radio. i rarely listen to the radio anymore, unless it's sirius XM

[Pacino62]

JMR...keep bringing the funk. You're on fire

[15th overall]

As for 15th Overall. Blue Ruin was amazing. So well done for a little indie with no stars. Glad it's got some fans out there. Love revenge movies. Some of my favorites:


"I Saw the Devil"...Amazing
"The Vengeance Trilogy"...Not the Old Boy remake either. The original. Old Boy is far and away the best of the 3.
"Mother"..Not as violent as the others
"Moebius"...Be warned

I watch a lot of foreign movies and Korea, IMO, has the market cornered on revenge + crime movies. Seen all of those except Moebius, which I'll have to check out... never even bothered with the Old Boy remake as there was no way it could possibly hold up to the original.... also, F Spike Lee. Kind of fuzzy on the particulars of the "Sympathy for [X]" movies from the vengeance series at this point, but I remember thinking that Sympathy for Lady Vengeance was the worst of the bunch by a good margin, but the critics don't seem to agree.

"Amazing" is absolutely an accurate description of "I Saw the Devil." May be too crude for some, but it's a must watch for anyone that likes fast paced violent movies with a severely F'd up element. Never a dull moment.

Big fan of "Mother" too, Joon Ho-Bong's got a few good ones. "Memories of Murder" is excellent, I think I may like it better than Mother, but both do a fantastic job of injecting humor into some pretty grim scenarios without it coming off as too corny. "The Host" is entertaining, but not anywhere near the same class as Mother and Memories of a Murder... wayy more Hollywood-ish. He recently did his first English-speaking film, Snowpiercer (starring Chris Evans and Ed Harris), which I enjoyed more than I thought I would but it's absolutely wicked cheesy... a good movie to smoke a bowl to, but I don't think I'd ever seriously recommend it to anyone (especially if they don't blaze)--- somehow it got a 95% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which is absurd.

Two other Korean crime movies worthy of your time are The Yellow Sea and The Chaser. Chaser's a bit over the top, while Yellow Sea's more serious.

If you liked, Blue Ruin, I'd recommend checking out the Argentinian movie, The Aura. Not the same kind of story (although still crime-related), but I got a similar vibe from it, as far as the pace, build-up, etc.

I'm assuming you've seen the Indonesian movie, The Raid: Redemption? If not, drop whatever your doing and go watch that isht right now. IMO, it's one of the greatest action movies of all time. The sequel was pretty disappointing, too chatty and political. They're coming out with a third one soon. If you like The Raid, Merantau's worth checking out--- same director and lead actor (Iko Uwais), but with a much lower budget. Iko's a legit martial artist, so they all have A+ action scenes.

I've already written too much here, but I'm definitely interested in hearing some more foreign and indie recommendations from you (& others) at some point. TBH, I've been meaning to bring this up in the Boston Community Thread for months now.

[threrf23]

Moebius is a Ki Duk Kim movie. Don't remember whether it is one I have watched, but I recommend other Ki Duk Kim movies, especially Pieta.

Last time we had a movie thread going, Takashi Miike got a lot of mention. Since then, I have seen Love Exposure, which is a movie every Miike fan needs to watch. It is actually not directed by Miike, but it is an absolutely epic Japanese movie that is kind of in his vein (four hours long, so plan ahead).

[ryaningf]

Just finally finished Doystoyevsky's Crime and Punishment. It was a brutal read, especially so because I was attempting to put myself into the 1860's Russian mindset while reading it.

Dostoyevsky's the man, but Crime and Punishment can become a chore at certain points. I'd recommend "Notes from Underground" (proto-existential short story/novella), "The Idiot" and of course "The Brothers Karamazov" (his greatest work). Even 150 yrs later and in a completely foreign cultural landscape, his insights into human psychology still ring true.

I have recently been listening to My Life in the Bush of Ghosts by David Byrne and Brian Eno. Really cool instrumental album with African rhythmic influences and middle eastern influences

Both guy's entire bodies of work are worth checking out. True innovators and seekers. Among the few artists who improved as they aged while also showing courage to evolve and reinvent.

His early singer-songwriter stuff doesn't get much attention these days (more famous as a producer and ambient music), but here's a completely unrepresentative early Eno cut (all of his cuts are unrepresentative, he's that eclectic):

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7BDS19H9OM[/youtube]

In a Silent Way is just a GOAT album

If we're talking earlyish Miles, A Kind of Blue is an all-time classic. If you're going to own just one jazz album, it's that one.

For later Miles (pre 1975, not that crap in the 80s), On the Corner will always be my favorite. John McLaughlin on guitar (with instructions from Miles to play like you don't know how to play guitar), innovative tape recording techniques, and Miles feeding his horn throw a wah-wah.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iOG_ZSEMUs[/youtube] (ignore the **** at the beginning, the real track starts with the Indian percussion instruments. Dig those handclaps later on.)

***Ex Machina is a mind numbing and jaw dropping brain fk. Please see it You'll do yourself a favor

Second this.. It didn't ever totally surprise me but it was amazingly smart and well done

Word. It's well-shot, acted, and manipulates the audience into identifying most with the robot, just a great film all-around.

***

I'm a fan of outsider art, which is a kind of art made without reference to a scene or as some might characterize it it's art without the artifice of craft or talent getting in the way. If it makes you question whether it's actually art, or if you think hey my kid could have painted that, if it sounds like an accident, then I probably find it interesting.

I don't much read narrative books anymore, more interested in stylists, but this is what I'm reading right now.

50 Secrets of Magic Craftsmanship by Salvador Dali
Leaves of Grass (first edition) by Walt Whitman
Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg: The Letters

As for what I listen to, to quote a Silver Jews line, all my favorite singers couldn't sing.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ty44AgX0kIU[/youtube]

Big fan of Stephen Malkmus, Bob Dylan, Jonathan Richman...(actually those guys can sing, they just made choices to sound like they sound).

I can relate to this one especially.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d34534BeE3E[/youtube]

This song just makes me smile (no hard feelings War on Drugs fans).

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjDwit8ryEA[/youtube]

In terms of modern music, here's good country:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlYgTU1QAjE[/youtube]

Best rap album of this year and last 5 years IMO. Basically one long open letter to Tupac.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRK7PVJFbS8[/youtube]

Okay, time to stop. Great thread idea truth18.

[Slartibartfast]

Anyone else fed up with every other action tent pole being an ensemble? Stars, banter, set-pieces and hit puree. I found Fast & Furious, Age of Ultron, the Hobbits, and the latest X-Men almost unwatchable primarily because of the sheer amount of characters, sub-plots and 12-part actions scenes they were cramming in to a 2 hour (ish) format. It works for TV when you have 12+ hours to work with, but it's turning movies into chaotic free for alls.

It's gotten to the point where I'm actually looking forward to Tom Cruise movies because at least his ego is big enough to keep 10 other main characters out of his star vehicle.

[shawn unkempt]

Mad Max was the best new movie I've seen in years. Damn that was a lot of fun. Might go through the back catalog because I haven't seen any of the old ones.

Now that it's summer I've been on a western kick. Just finished reading Warlock (really, really great book) and just picked up Blood Meridian.

Also, I play bass in a weird punk band that I'm sure you'd all hate. Just recorded our first demo, but we're waiting on it to get mixed.

[StojkoVrankovic]

Pacino....
Check out this link, http://mondotees.com/collections/music?page=1

Mondo recently partnered with Death Waltz recording company which releases some great soundtracks to old horror flicks. Some nice gems in there

[Pacino62]

Pacino....
Check out this link, http://mondotees.com/collections/music?page=1

Mondo recently partnered with Death Waltz recording company which releases some great soundtracks to old horror flicks. Some nice gems in there

Sick Link Stojko. Thanks. My wife is going to hunt you down if I start ringing up the charge card.

[Pacino62]

As for 15th Overall. Blue Ruin was amazing. So well done for a little indie with no stars. Glad it's got some fans out there. Love revenge movies. Some of my favorites:


"I Saw the Devil"...Amazing
"The Vengeance Trilogy"...Not the Old Boy remake either. The original. Old Boy is far and away the best of the 3.
"Mother"..Not as violent as the others
"Moebius"...Be warned

I watch a lot of foreign movies and Korea, IMO, has the market cornered on revenge + crime movies. Seen all of those except Moebius, which I'll have to check out... never even bothered with the Old Boy remake as there was no way it could possibly hold up to the original.... also, F Spike Lee. Kind of fuzzy on the particulars of the "Sympathy for [X]" movies from the vengeance series at this point, but I remember thinking that Sympathy for Lady Vengeance was the worst of the bunch by a good margin, but the critics don't seem to agree.

"Amazing" is absolutely an accurate description of "I Saw the Devil." May be too crude for some, but it's a must watch for anyone that likes fast paced violent movies with a severely F'd up element. Never a dull moment.

Big fan of "Mother" too, Joon Ho-Bong's got a few good ones. "Memories of Murder" is excellent, I think I may like it better than Mother, but both do a fantastic job of injecting humor into some pretty grim scenarios without it coming off as too corny. "The Host" is entertaining, but not anywhere near the same class as Mother and Memories of a Murder... wayy more Hollywood-ish. He recently did his first English-speaking film, Snowpiercer (starring Chris Evans and Ed Harris), which I enjoyed more than I thought I would but it's absolutely wicked cheesy... a good movie to smoke a bowl to, but I don't think I'd ever seriously recommend it to anyone (especially if they don't blaze)--- somehow it got a 95% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which is absurd.

Two other Korean crime movies worthy of your time are The Yellow Sea and The Chaser. Chaser's a bit over the top, while Yellow Sea's more serious.

If you liked, Blue Ruin, I'd recommend checking out the Argentinian movie, The Aura. Not the same kind of story (although still crime-related), but I got a similar vibe from it, as far as the pace, build-up, etc.

I'm assuming you've seen the Indonesian movie, The Raid: Redemption? If not, drop whatever your doing and go watch that isht right now. IMO, it's one of the greatest action movies of all time. The sequel was pretty disappointing, too chatty and political. They're coming out with a third one soon. If you like The Raid, Merantau's worth checking out--- same director and lead actor (Iko Uwais), but with a much lower budget. Iko's a legit martial artist, so they all have A+ action scenes.

I've already written too much here, but I'm definitely interested in hearing some more foreign and indie recommendations from you (& others) at some point. TBH, I've been meaning to bring this up in the Boston Community Thread for months now.

First. You have amazing taste.

Second. Here are some recommendations

1.-Election...Godfather
2.-Triad Election...Godfather 2
3.-Man From Nowhere
4.-Thre23 said Pieta which is incredible. Also scary that he recommends it. Lol
5.-Audition
6.-3 Extremes
7.-The Loved Ones...one of my favorite imports ever

As for what you mentioned...RAID movies are ridiculous. There is Jo American director with the balls to film action sequences like that. Enjoyed The Host and Snowpiercer for movies where you shut your brain off and stuff popcorn down your throat. The Chaser and Yellow Sea were both great.

Excited about The Aura and Memories of Murder. Nobody ever mentions foreign films I haven't seem, so you've officially stumped me and got me fired up

[Pacino62]

Anyone else fed up with every other action tent pole being an ensemble? Stars, banter, set-pieces and hit puree. I found Fast & Furious, Age of Ultron, the Hobbits, and the latest X-Men almost unwatchable primarily because of the sheer amount of characters, sub-plots and 12-part actions scenes they were cramming in to a 2 hour (ish) format. It works for TV when you have 12+ hours to work with, but it's turning movies into chaotic free for alls.

It's gotten to the point where I'm actually looking forward to Tom Cruise movies because at least his ego is big enough to keep 10 other main characters out of his star vehicle.

Agreed. I was so disappointed with Avengers. Although, I loved Spader as Ultron and Bettany as Vision. Furious 7, made me yearn for a Hobbs solo film. Lol. Check out Mad Max Slart. You'll be so pleased. Also, Daredevil on Netflix is amazing. Vincent D'norfrio as Kingpin is beyond perfectly cast.