“I was really shocked at first. I was like “no way,” he’s just bullshitting with me. When he told me this is a legit thing, I was like “that’s really weird, but, that’s okay, sure, just don’t let me know about it.”
Link To The Documentary: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTiVO8kbEvc&feature=related
Classic! Fun Fact: Paul McCartney wrote this baby. Alas, this is one of those numbers that have fallen through the cracks over the years. Well, KLYAM still acknowledges its high quality.
Full Title: The Social Network
Director: David Fincher
Year: 2010
Comments: The Social Network has been hailed as a film that defines a generation and to me regardless of whether you like it or not, it is. Facebook is a part of our lives and for many it is our lives. Admittedly, I check my Facebook page at the very least a few times day. Such a phenomenon deserves its own film- even if the events depicted occured less than a decade ago and the plot itself is based on a novel (The Accidental Billionaires by: Ben Mezrich) released just last year. Everything is happening so fast! Yet, this ultra fast, in out, in out :) pace is perfect for the story or message the writers, filmmakers, etc are trying to articulate to the masses: the rampant releases of everything Facebook is a good metaphor for how quickly our modern world functions. Despite the fact that this is extremely recent history, I can’t imagine a more appropos time for its release. Now, it should be known that this film embellishes what happened in real life; it’s part fact, part fiction. In other words, the story was spiced up a bit to make the film a far more fascinating experience for all of us. I suppose one could compare this to the previous film I reviewed, Oliver Stone’s The Doors (1991) in which what appears on screen is more a “vision” of the actual events. So, with a few lines, let me tell you that the story begins in 2003 with Harvard undergrad, Mark Zuckerburg (Jesse Eisenburg) feeling disgruntled after being dumped by his girlfriend, he starts to drunkenly blog about her “lessr” qualities and soon finds himself creating a new internet sensation in “Facesmash,” in which his fellow male Harvard students can compare pictures of their female counterparts and vote for which one is more attractive. Within mere hours the site receives thousands of hits and ends up crashing the system. Mark is sentenced to six months of academic probation and understandably becomes a pariah. Not too long after this incident Mark is approached by a trio of Harvard students: Identical twin brothers- Cameron Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss (Armie Hammer) and their friend Divya Narendra (Max Minghella) looking for a programmer for their upcoming website, Harvard Connection. Mark accepts their offer, but eludes their subsequent calls, meanwhile he enlists his buddy, Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield) in assisting him with his latest project, “The Facebook,” essentially initiating the social network phenomenon we know of today. The rest of the film consists of simultaneous court cases with the Winklevoss brothers and Eduardo filing lawsuits against him over Facebook. Literally, we are bombarded with both cases at the same time; the movie goes back and forth, back and forth, leaving us feeling as overwhelmed as Mark. As a character he is quite fascinating, throughout the movie he is always searching for the meaning of “cool” and in many ways that is exactly what Facebook is: the supreme network of cool. Oddly enough, from start to finish Mark, it seems, never actually is “cool,” always an outsider (sometimes physically as metaphorically suggested in one of the party scenes where everyone is celebrating inside his house, while he is on the outside, simply observing. In essence, that is in actuality what Mark’s life becomes. He may not be cool himself, but he is the one who has created cool.
Grade: A, the best (or at least my favorite) film I’ve seen all year.
This was one of my favorite trailers from this year, so rarely do trailers entice you with something else besides the actual scenes themselves.
Bands: The Walkmen, A. A. Bondy, Blood Feathers
Venue: Royale [Boston, Massachusetts]
Date: Thursday, October 7, 2010
Blood Feathers – Rarely have I seen a first opening act rock and roll as hard as these guys did. Catchy numbers a plenty, it seemed as if Blood Feathers have been on the big stage many times before. Plus, all the band members seemed to be savoring every moment of their time up there. It’s really hard to describe them other than rock and roll (a bit southern/Americana influenced I’d wager) — in this way they are somewhat comparable to The Dig, who opened for The Walkmen in 2009.
A. A. Bondy – Bondy and crew started their set loudly with a huge wall of sound coming from Bondy’s amp and another wall of darker, clearer sound coming from the amp of the keyboardist (turned bassist). After this little introduction, the guys went full force into finger-picking, pedal steel guitaring, and tight bass playing. Bondy is an expert guitar player and when he rocks out, he rocks out. There were some slow folk tunes and some faster and meatier ones that usually involved the pedal steel guy sitting behind the drum kit instead of the guitar. The latter were my favorite.
The Walkmen: Ah, yes, these guys. One my favorite bands of the last four years, The Walkmen put on an incredible show on this night. Kicking things off with Hamilton on electric, they played “Blue as Your Blood,” off of Lisbon, a song which they played early on in their 2009 set when it was kicking around as “The Sky Above.” What I noticed, starting with “Blue,” was that Lisbon is a million times better live than on record. That’s no offense to how they recorded the album, it’s just the whole being there thing. Next up, “Angela Surf City,” which some have placed alongside “The Rat” as top in the band’s “rocker” category. Ham might have broken his neck singing this one. I could tell he loves singing slowly and then slamming into the rather intense chorus. I was surprised that they followed up “Angela” with “In the New Year,” I mean doesn’t Ham need a little break before he strains his vocal chords? Of course, this is one of their best numbers and a personal favorite. Paul’s clicky guitar and Pete’s faint keyboard go so well with Ham’s vocals. “Canadian Girl” followed and noticeably absent was a horns section. Usually around this time, they would ease their way next to Paul, stand around, and then do their thing. The song was still great in their absence, I think Pete might have even programmed some little faux horns in his keyboards. “Victory” is a great live tune. They decided to change things up and go back to the old days on the next two songs, “The Blizzard of ’96” and “We’ve Been Had,” off of their debut Everyone Who Pretended To Like Me Is Gone. Paul and Pete switched positions with Pete playing guitar and Paul playing the piano. It was super refreshing to see them dig deep into their catalog and play these lighter piano-driven ditties. Pete’s guitar parts were classic — the man looks very out of place playing the guitar…he makes a tin soldier look pliable. It was back to the battle as the guys reverted to their normal positions and played a string of numbers from their last two albums: “Donde Esta la Playa,” the especially fun “Woe is Me,” the bass heavy (credit Walt Martin) “On the Water,” the laidback Lisbon opener “Juveniles,” the orchestral-but-not-really-cause-there-are-no-horns You and Me beat “I Lost You,” and the triangles-laden waltz “While I Shovel the Snow.” For everyone who went just to see “The Rat” (you know who you are), you had to wait thirteen songs. Good. It’s a great song and I love it as much as the next guy. Unexpectedly, it drew the greatest reaction from the packed crowd. Oh yeah and Pete was on bass for all those who care about things like that. The set ended with the band’s alternate version of A Hundreds Mile Off standout “All Hands & the Cook.” The best is the little break when Ham sings some really long note and then the other instrumentation comes in and ends the song. That ended the song’s set and despite an earlier plead from some girl in the crowd “Lost in Boston” never came next as it does on the record. After a few minutes of cheering, Ham and Paul emerged to perform “New Country.” The rest of the band came back on stage after this tune and we got to hear “Everyone Who Pretended To Like Me Is Gone,” which they’ve been reviving recently. Great track! They closed their performance for good with their Mazarin cover of “Another One Goes By” and, indeed, another Walkmen Boston concert is in the books. Exemplary guitar play from Pete on this one as well.
Set-List
1. Blue as Your Blood – Lisbon
2. Angela Surf City – Lisbon
3. In the New Year – You and Me
4. Canadian Girl – You and Me
5. Victory – Lisbon
6. The Blizzard of ’96 – Everyone Who Pretended To Like Me Is Gone
7. We’ve Been Had – EWPTLMIG
8. Donde Esta La Playa – You and Me
9. Woe is Me – Lisbon
10. On the Water – You and Me
11. Juveniles – Lisbon
12. I Lost You – You and Me
13. While I Shovel the Snow – Lisbon
14. The Rat – Bows and Arrows
15. All Hands & The Cook – A Hundred Miles Off
———Encore———
16. New Country – You and Me
17. Everyone Who Pretended To Like Me Is Gone – EWPTLMIG
18. Another One Goes By – A Hundred Miles Off
Grade: A/A+
“I guess there’s just two kinds of people, Miss Sandstone: MY kind of people, and assholes. It’s rather obvious which category you fit into. Have a nice day.”- Connie Marble in Pink Flamingos (1972)
Some guy a couple of years ago blackened the lips of people on various posters around New York City. Well, screw that. Models are now using black lipstick to let everyone know just who their favorite band is. Case in point:
Talking about the state of the music “industry” seems to be a go-to topic nowadays. Steve Albini and now No Age.
Choice Quote: Dean: “Sometimes I like the idea of playing a house to 10 people but I like playing big places too, it just depends. I like the contrast and getting the best of both worlds of festivals. Seeing a band in a house environment is just the best experience, and you’re not supposed to see a band in there and we always think about how we can re-create that feeling a bigger level.”
Watch and vote for Young Kim’s video since after all…it is the best.
He’s a tad bit eccentric.
Kids Like You & Me (KLYAM) 