Hot Fuzz was seen some time ago, however, due to unforeseen circumstances, mostly due to just being away from the computer most of the time, I had no chance to write on it.
Well, it was amazing. Hot Fuzz beat the hell out of Shaun of the Dead not because it was an amazing spoof, but because it was a true action film with well placed humor poking fun at the action genre as a whole. Definitely a must see for anyone who loved Shaun of the Dead.
Then came Chalk, the little indie movie that could. It had been traveling around the festival circuit for some time and only a few weeks ago did it finally premiere in West LA’s Nuart of all places. The director, producer, and one of the actors from the movie was there to field some questions and discuss the movie afterwards.
(This, by the way, was the first time I’d been in the Nuart Theater since it had been remodeled however long ago, and they did it perfectly; no more cramped, uncomfortable seats without any leg room!)
Chalk is a mockumentary revolving around three teachers and one assistant principal in an Austin, Texas high school. Rather than being about the students though, it’s from the teacher’s perspectives. But the main story focuses on the 1st year teacher Mr. Lowrey, a bumbling, nervous wreck who can hardly control his students. Then there’s Mr. Stroope, whose only goal this year is to win the Teacher of the Year award. Scenes such as the slang spelling bee and the Teacher of the Year speeches are comedic gold. The truly amazing part of this movie, however, is that I have teachers who’ll act exactly like the ones in the movie. I’ve never seen a teacher portrayed in such a true-to-life manner such as this.
Last Monday I saw Severance, a horror comedy not unlike Shaun of the Dead, but instead of zombies, there were some real dangerous fellows creeping around the woods seeking revenge. This movie was more of a true horror film with some comedy splashed in rather than a lampoon of sorts, and, even though the plot is rather thin, there are some real comedy as well as genuinely horrific gems all throughout. Personally, I’ve been desensitized to blood and knives and flame-throwers, but by the look on my friend’s faces during the movie, it may have been a bit more creepy than I make it seem. All in all, it was a fun movie; nothing special, but if the mood strikes for some awesome horror with some hilarious drug references, this is the movie to see.
On the music side, I saw the duo Crystal Castles from Montreal last Saturday (I’m this guy in the grey and blue hoodie), infamous for their fast, loud, strobe-lighted shows, including one at SXSW. A hooded boy keyboardist Ethen and screaming girl vocalist Alice, as well as a real drummer rather than the drum machine used on their recorded EP Alice Practice, this duo (trio when live, I guess) proved to be well worth seeing. The show only lasted about 30 minutes, but they couldn’t have made the crowd go more wild to the 8-bit bleeps and dancable drum beats.
On Tuesday I went to see The Arcade Fire at the Greek Theater, which was the place to be if you were into Canadian indie (iTunes link), because this was the big one. In fact, AF’s first album, Funeral, was the first indie album I’d ever bought (besides the My Iron Lung EP by the we-fight-to-be-indie band Radiohead). The show was astounding, I couldn’t believe how precisely and tightly they played; everything was orchestrated so absolutely perfectly. For any other band, playing like this would be commonplace, but for a 10-piece band with that many varying instruments? These guys were something else. One song noted for its incredible presentation was My Body Is a Cage, in which the lead singer’s face was projected onto the head of a cardboard cutout much like the little man on restroom signs. Very cool.
That’s it for now, next show is tomorrow which will be Deerhoof and Autolux at the Natural History Museum.
