The Host

A Korean movie with 92% on Rotten Tomatoes going mainstream in U.S. theaters? Comedy/horror monster flick? Crossover between Little Miss Sunshine (also 92%) and Godzilla? I had to give in, it looked too good to be true.

Lucky for me I was dead wrong.

This movie was absolutely amazing with just the right amount of humor while still being serious at times. The monster, a mutated fish formed from mass amounts of formaldehyde being dumped into the local river by way of the doctor’s sink, was rendered with amazing detail and ultimate creepiness without being too over-the-top insane. The cinematography is incredible; the way suspense is built in the monster scenes is brilliant, like no other movie I’ve seen. Imagine this house-size fish thing staring a girl it put in its lair down for a full minute of breath-taking edginess before attacking her with incredible ferociousness.

The Red Elvises at Rusty’s Surf Ranch 3/24/07

The Red Elvises are quite possibly Russian rockabilly at its best. Imagine a band made up entirely of men in flamboyant suits of red flames or sofa patterns along with a normally clothed woman on guitar and a scantily clad woman on keyboards/accordion/keytar. The frontman has the most amazing energy I’ve ever seen out of all the shows I’ve been to; he really knows how to get the crowd going. His lyrics are written with the intention of sounding badly translated and his delivery in each song is impeccably timed.

Under the blue blue sky
Stupid blue birds fly
It ain’t butterflies
Sex in paradise

I’ll get me a hat, you’ll wear a thong
We’ll love and dance to a metallica song
O baby, what a beautiful day
Tra la la la la

We’ll live in a hut, and talk about art
We’ll get a fat cat, named Bonapart
O baby’ why don’t we get away

-excerpt from Sex in Paradise

They’re so gimmicky that it’s hard not to love them.

Werner Herzog Double Feature 3/23/07 at the Aero

Yesterday was the second of four days devoted to Werner Herzog at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica. Showing was a new 35mm print of The Mystery of Kaspar Hauser (aka Every Man for Himself and God Against All) (1974) and a 16 mm print of Heart of Glass (Herz Aus Glas) (1976). But the films weren’t the main attraction, it was Werner Herzog’s appearance in between them in which he discussed the both films as well as answered questions from the audience.

Kaspar Houser is a charming film about a foundling in 19th century Germany. It’s compelling, sweet, and the acting is brilliant. The story is based on the actual events which happened to Kaspar Houser during this same time period.

Heart of Glass, on the other hand, I was completely unprepared for. Herzog did discuss the process he went through when hypnotizing his entire cast to create a unique effect and dream-like quality of acting, but I felt that it was way too artsy. The main character, who was the only one not hypnotized during production, could see into the future. He could see the demise of this small village which relied on selling a special type of “ruby glass” to survive. The message of this film was clear, but it was not done in a way that I was prepared to sit through. I only had 5 hours of sleep the night before, this movie started at 10:30 and didn’t end until midnight, and I had just finished watching another movie just before it; I was in no mood to fully concentrate on this mind-trip. To be fair, I’m going to rent this movie and watch it again when I have the time and am fully awake.

Highlight of the night: Werner Herzog chuckling to himself while recalling the time he was shot during an interview.

Bloc Party at the Wiltern 3/20/07

Wow. All I can say was that might have been the best show I’ve ever been to.

OK, so the first opener, The Like, was pretty terrible. Their songs were all structured exactly the same, making them intensely boring. But whatever.

Next up was Final Fantasy. Basically a solo effort by Owen Pallett of Arcade Fire fame (he co-wrote the strings arrangement for their albums Funeral and Neon Bible), his performance alone made the show worth the money. He loops violin sounds to create amazing songs, all the while someone is showing a story through transparencies held over a projector. It was a really cool effect.

Then finally Bloc Party. Now, I wasn’t really expecting a lot from them. Their new album was less new wave, a bit slow, and when I saw them at the Greek Theatre last summer their playing was sloppy and the vocals were muddy. Everything has changed. Their playing was impeccable; they’re the type of band much more well-suited to the small-club-venue setting rather than the whole outdoor 2,000 person audience. They played every single one of their best songs in a lengthy hour and 15 minute set. At the Greek, I felt Bloc Party was very intimidated by their opening bands, MEW and Broken Social Scene. MEW I might let slip by as an opener, but Broken Social Scene is a huge band, way bigger than Bloc Party was at the time.

This will probably be the last time I see them.
Why’s that?
‘Cause they’re so mainstream now that I’ll never be able to get tickets.
They’ll probably be filling up the Staples Center not too long from now.

Like I Was Never Gone

I realize it has been a while since the last post, but what can I say.

Despite their lackluster live performance a few months ago, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah’s first eponymous album is my favorite album ever. I can sit down and listen to it all the way through without so much as moving a finger; I fall into a state of utter calmness as I walk through each song as if they were each part of a trail finally culminating to a grand view of the entire world below.

Menomena do doo dododo. Menomena do do dodo. Front and center at the shadiest venue I’ve been to yet was a band renown for its catchy weirdness and the use of a bass sax. I mean, seriously, it’s one of the silliest sounding instruments ever used in a band, but it contributes to the overall sound nonetheless. I am speaking of none other than Menomena at the Echo.

First and foremost: find the venue. No signs, all the billboards in Spanish, 8 pm and black as pitch, where the hell could this place be?

Oh yeah, you see that neon sign which isn’t glowing that says Restaurant? Well there’s a white door underneath it. That’s the uh… entrance.

Luckily, the acoustics were great inside (at least they were in front of the stage) and the outside really didn’t do the disco-ball-smoking-room-out-back venue dubbed “The Echo” justice.

Sidenote: Ever since I purchased the twelve dollar Etymotic Research earplugs, I haven’t been so paranoid about hearing loss at the shows I go to. The case being that hearing loss runs in the family and it would be majorly uncool to wear a hearing aid when I’m 30 rather than deal with earplugs when I’m 18.

The Parson Redheads opened first for Menomena. A nine-member psychedelic hippie supergroup who put on a pretty decent show. They might have done without the tambourine guy, but each of them contributed pretty much equally throughout their entire set. Besides, the dude was really into hitting that tambourine; he was almost lost in the waves of rhythm those lovable Redheads were dishing out.

Next up, Bon Savants. Bass guitar, drums, guitar, and barely audible keyboardist (only live). Highlight: guitarist looked like a combination of Tom Cruise in The Last Samurai and Jason Lee and could play the Junior SG like no other.

Finally Menomena came on. They played my two favorites right off the bat. The two songs which I they needed to play for me to be content with this show and not go home and bitch about how they didn’t play their best for a show in LA (TV on the Radio I’m looking at you). Pretty convenient coincidence, I guess.

A good drummer keeps rhythm. A great drummer sings while never missing a beat. Danny Seim is a great drummer. Not only did his drum beats sound identical to those on the album, but never before have I seen such a dedicated individual. Closing his eyes the entire time, his sticks never missing a beat, I could see he was doing this with a self-satisfaction that only comes with a love for what you do.

By the way, Menomena’s “No Encore Policy” has officially ended with LA.