“Thee” is such a damn garage name!
Check out these garage rock revivalists.
“Thee” is such a damn garage name!
Check out these garage rock revivalists.

I went to the movies to go see “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.” And I was not disappointed. I will go so far as to say this is the best film of the year….. no one will see. “Imaginarium” tells the story of Doctor Parnassus (a phenomenal Christopher Plummer) as he struggles to save his daughter Valentina (Lily Cole) from The Devil (Tom Waits) as Parnassus made a deal for eternal life that any child he fathers will become property of The Devil when they turn sixteen. The whole plot of the movie is Parnassus makes another deal that if he can get 5 souls before the Devil, then he will save Valentina. Parnassus and his merry band, Valentina, Anton (Andrew Garfield) and Percy (Verne Troyer) try to get these souls by having them go through the Imaginarium, which projects your imagination. They don’t start out so hot. That is until they find Tony (Heath Ledger) hanging from the side of a bridge. If your a Monty Python fan, you will see traces of it as it was directed by Terry Gilliam. The worlds portrayed in the Imaginarium are colorful and gorgeous and amazingly creative. Now, you probably know that Ledger died while making this film. However, Ledger’s buddies stepped in to finish the project. Now this transition isn’t one frame its Heath Ledger and next its Johnny Depp. No. They put in as whenever Tony goes into the Imaginarium, he transforms. These different transformations are portrayed by Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell. It is done very stylistically and very cleanly. An overall phenomenal film that no enough people will see cause you know it has… thoughts and ideas to it. Bravo Mr Gilliam. Bravo.
Overall Grade: A+
Yeee kid!
Edit: Missed it by one second. So technically first post of 2010.
This Christmas with all the movies opening, I decided to go against the what’s expected of me going to see Sherlock Holmes and instead going to see Nine. And might I say I’m glad I did. Nine is a movie-musical based the 1983 Broadway musical “8 1/2.” Nine tells the story of Italian director Guido Contini (Daniel Day Lewis) as he struggles to pen his latest film “Italia.” Meanwhile, his personal life is in shambles, in particular all the women in his life. These women are his wife (a phenomenal Marion Cotillard), his mistress (an equally as phenomenal Penelope Cruz), his assistant (Dame Judi Dench), his mother (Sophia Loren), a journalist (Kate Hudson), a whore from his childhood (Fergie) and his leading actress (Nicole Kidman). This super woman ensemble is perfect to a T. Most of the songs are heart felt looks into the character. I was on the verge of tears during “My Husband Makes Movies” which is sung by an aforementioned phenomenal Marion Cotillard. Rob Marshall, who directed the Oscar-winning Chicago, does the musical numbers like Chicago with his music video like editing. I personally loved it. It made it look really polished. My only real problem with it is that they added a song that was not in the original musical, “Cinema Italiano.” I like the song but it kind of goes against the theme of the rest of the music which is kind of Jazzy like. But overall a very good film worth the price of admission.
Overall Grade: B+

Bamboorella!


Mmmmm. Now, she looks like a young gal I want to meet. Ladies take notes.
Chris

Complete B-Sides
1. “River Euphrates” – Let’s ride the tire down! – Great bass-line and great explosions from Black.
2. “Vamos (Live)” – Spanish – Clingy acoustic guitar; lots of regular guitar effects.
3. “In Heaven” – Screaming – Easy on the vocals, Black! Good God!
*4. “Manta Ray” – The Build-Up! – Rock me, Joey!
*5. “Weird At My School” – Cone of Light Intro! – The bass line is just like in “Bad Kids”! Yee kid.
*6. “Dancing the Manta Ray” – Day-ants the Man-ta Ray! – Funny and awesome how Black slows/lisps his vocals.
*7. “Wave of Mutilation (UK Surf)” – Way-hey-hey-ave – Extremely chill version? I guess!
*8. “Into The White” – Kim sings!- Excellent bridge. The repetition may be excessive.
*9. “Bailey’s Walk” – It’s cra-hey-hey-zee!” – As some guy said…I see where Cobain got his vocals.
10. “Make Believe” – David Lovering sings! – DL does his best Morrissey, intentionally or not.
11. “I’ve Been Waiting For You” – Such a long time – A little forgettable, but it’s actually pretty good?!
12. “The Thing” – Narrative Great Salt Lake – I dig the direction of this song.
13. “Velvety Instrumental Version” – Good rhythm; would have been interesting with vocals.
14. “Winterlong” – You seemed to be where I belong – Okay, but weak on the vocals.
15. “Santo” – Hey ya boy, how ya doin? – Nice and heavy with quirky vocals.
16. “Theme From Narc” – Videogame theme – Just kind of there…
17. “Build High” – Megaphone chants – I like the continuous command; kind of country-rock
18. “Evil Hearted You” – Spanish – Espanol invasion!!!
19. “A Letter In Memphis” – The riffs are all there!
Come On Pilgrim
*3. Isla De Encanta – May-oit May-oit May-oit – Frenetic and crazy!
*6. Nimrod’s Son – You are the son of a mother fucker! – Decent flow.
Yes, yes, they’ve been playing a few other tracks like “Gigantic” and “Where Is My Mind?” but those are instantly memorable.
GREEN = GREAT, LIGHT GREEN = GOOD, YELLOW = AVERAGE

Random title indeed. This is an extremely brief commentary or rant if you will on something that occurs quite often when I am discussing music with other music devotees. Here’s the setup:
Someone asks me if I like some Progressive Rock band like Dream Theater or King Krimson and then I respond that I’m not really into Prog Rock, yet every time this incident happens I am sporting a shirt with one of the few prog bands I listen to (i.e. Tool, Pink Floyd). Most of the music related shirts I wear would be appropos, like the Ramones or the Black Lips, but for some strange reason, I am never seen wearing such shirts when this question arises. I don’t know, I think it’s slightly amusing enough to make a post out of the situation…. and I’m also procrastinating my french homework.
Chris