Caveman

For the longest time I kept getting Caveman mixed up with the other indie band Cavemen. They should really start coming out with books for band names like they do for babies. The lack of creativity is amazing. I could never remember which one sucked and which one I really liked. Well luckily on my infamous night of somehow partying until 5 am on my 4th day of SXSW, I narrowly escaped Cavemen(not good) at a day show and ran into Cavemen(good)  at the Hype Hotel after party. What a triple win!!! After getting my second wind, I somehow skipped the line and got into V.I.P. of this party with free drinks, got exposed to the greatest taco on earth(Doritos taco locos), and I finally got see to Caveman perform. Well first, the reason I got in was because of my equally drunk buddy who is married but I convinced him to stay out until 5. He later got in big trouble with his wife because of this but whatever, married guys should never party with single ones. And second, I have been hesitant to write about this band because it was after 14 hours of drinking when I heard them. Not to mention I was in this state of euphoria and dancing on couches.

But after listening to their album Coco Beware on the reg, I think I can recommend this band without reservation. They are a 5 piece band from NYC who's music is  pop heavy and very very indie. I know that's a horrible description but when you think of festival indie band, this is the sound that pops into your head. Mellow sometimes dancy music that builds to a climax which makes them a great daytime drinking act.
http://onlyfreshness.blogspot.com/2012/04/day-drinking.html

Old Friend is a perfect lead single for them because it gives you everything you need to know about Caveman. It shows off the 3 guitars, keyboard, and drums, as well as the lead's voice which really acts as instrument itself. They sound next of Grizzly Bear in the sense that every instrument in the band gets a chance to shine and their music is very atmospheric at times. Listening to their music you wouldnt think it would be good for a festival or even a late night party but their sound jumps out at you in a way that's tough to describe. All you need to know is that at 4 in the morning when they took the stage they were able to hold the attention of a room full of blasted people who were just there to keep the party going. But 5 minutes into the show everyone was dancing(mostly on beat) to the music these 5 hipsters from NYC were performing for us and we all left with a new act to tell all of our friends about. Well, after we told them about the tacos of course. Do yourself a favor and check out their songs Easy Water, My Room, and Great Life to Live as well. I rate these guys as pretty FRESH!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FV_SS5LJZ-4

Brave

I love most of the Pixar movies of recent years. The Incredibles was the best movie that came out that year and I still talk almost on a weekly basis about Wall-E and Ratatouille. Oh and Ratatouille must always be pronounced R-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-ratatouille while making French hand motions. The kids working the box office love me when I ask for my movie ticket. But as of late it seems like Pixar has just been getting lazy which releases like Cars 2 and Toy Story 3000. When I saw the first 5 minute trailer they released for their latest effort Brave, I thought I was watching a J.J. Abrams(Cloverfield) ad. After I saw it, I still had no clue what the movie was about. So this young fiery and rebellious girl hates her parents, doesnt want to get married, and can shoot arrows with deadly accuracy? Ok, so this is a cartoon about a Bolivian stripper??? Is this really appropriate for children?

Well after seeing the film, the movie was just what I thought. No, it's not really about a Bolivian stripper but is it sad that I secretly wished it was? But it's really about a rebellious girl and her rift with her mother who so desparately wants her to look and behave like a queen. Which, no matter how hard Merida (Macdonald) fights it, it's her destiny. Well in this battle of wills, Merida reaches out to a witch to try and help her and in the process has a dangerous spell cast on her mom by mistake. So now she must do whatever is necessary to help break that spell within a certain timeframe or the spell will become permanent and could lead to deadly consequences.  It's a decent story and is actually a great one if I were a father of 18 and needed any excuse to get out of the house and keep the kids occupied. But I'm not! I'm a single dude who still thinks it's cool to see cartoons in the theater. Pixar movies used to have the right formula; a storyline or at least enough references in the story that's really geared for adults while having just enough gags to keep kids interested so everyone in the theater is laughing. But this entire movie is really just a bunch of physical comedy and is preching to young kids to be more understanding of their parents and for parents to not be so overbearing. Yawn! If I want this I'll watch reruns of the Smurfs.

If you're a adult with no kids, skip this Pixar offering and read a book instead. However if you're a family, go take the kids to see it as they will love you forever. Because this movie is full of bears, fairy looking wisps, witches, and misbehaving triplets. I rate this movie as kind of WEAK!

Abraham Lincoln : Vampire Hunter

I already know what you're going to say. How were you surprised that this move was ridiculous? You saw the trailer right? Look at the name of the movie! Yes, yes I know, but there have been plenty of trailers that look terrible but end up being masterful works of art. Shaun of the Dead looked like Benny Hill reincarnated, but the end result was a cool and funny zombie movie that was even a little moving at times. Have you seen the trailer for The Last Dragon by Berry Gordy? "Catches bullets with his teeth?? ___please!!!" This movie starred Prince's ex groupie Vanity and a black kung fu master from the hood versus a Bubba Smith (Police Academy) look alike with a jeri curl. This later inspired the move The Last Samurai starring Tom Cruise. Saki!!!!!! Anyway, Last Dragon is about as fresh as it gets for 80's movies! So some movie ideas sound great in theory and actually end up being great in practice. However, there are some that sound good in theory but when you try and follow through with it you get a disaster. For instance, my buddy's  idea for Iron Smeagol. A dual sequel to Iron Eagle and Lord of the Rings where Gollum teams up with Chappy to fight Bin Laden and his evil posse to recapture precious! While I was in tears when I heard this idea, there's no way this movie could keep my attention for 90 minutes. And well, the same happens here with Abe the vampire hunter.

This movie was adapted from the novel and put to screen by Timothy Burton and the director Timur Bekmambetov. He is responsible for Wanted and Night Watch. Wanted was one of the most ridiculous stories ever put on screen but also had some of the coolest action scenes ever put to film. People's lives are determined by the loom of fate? Really??? Night Watch was an incomprehensible mess but again had some pretty dark and imaginative scenes with vampires. So Timur has a history of working with terrible stories that he at least makes watchable with cool imagery. I was just hoping that with Burton's influence would at least help the story a bit but boy was I wrong.The story is simple enough. Abe watches his mom get murdered by a vampire and then spends the rest of his childhood building up the courage to kill the man who murdered his mom. He then teams up with Sturgess(Dominic Cooper) who trains him on how to kill vampires. He trains and trains, complete with a montage, and has a few practice killings before he gets his revenge. But once he finally gets to Jack Barts, his mother's killer, Bart's boss Adam finds out and decides he must either get Abe to join him or kill him. On the surface it doesnt sound THAT bad but again it's Abraham Lincoln. He's running for president, courting Mary Todd, working in a trade store, studying law, freeing slaves, and killing vampires? Well the sad thing is, that's not what bothered me about the movie.

***spoiler alert***

Well it kind of does but mainly the movie is just boring. When Abe is killing Barts who is played by Marton Csokas, he does so in this random stampede of a thousand angry horses while effortlessly jumping from horse to horse to do so. So carrying an ax gives you superpowers? The action looks like video game footage from the 90's at best. If I wanted to watch Quake 3 Arena or Sonic the Hedgehog replayed, I'd have my nerd friends set up a LAN party reunion. If you dont know what these are, consider yourself lucky. Not all of the action is this cheesy, just the two longest ones. The final train battle looks like Rush Hour 2 where Abe and his slave buddy toss the ax back and forth to each other in some form of homo erotic bonding to help defeat the main bad guy. And for some reason midway through the movie they switch to Abe at 50 and go off on this pointless tangent for what seems like an hour about the Civil War. 

The only bright spots were a few cool action shots, and Timur pulling a George Lucas. Instead of Lucas making all of the Dark Side nazis, he made all of the evil vampires slave owners. They ate the slaves for their meals. And everytime I saw Csokas (XXX) on screen I kept waiting for him to yell "Bitches come!!" The only thing that might have this movie fresh is if they had Abe assasinated by a vampire at the end and then switched to modern day Washington D.C. And the next thing you see is "Obama" getting off of Air Force One with an Ipod made of silver covered in vampire blood as it was playing Bow Down by Westside Connection. This movie was really WEAK!

Hip Hop Hipottamus

I was actually going to wait until after the show tonight to write this but once I saw a scene from Office Space reenacted in real life last night, I got the inspiration I needed. It's a Friday night and me and a few buddies are on our way to the black hole that is Side Bar when we see this middle aged slightly overweight white man in a convertible mercedes bumping (and I do mean bumping) some hip hop with a yorki in his lap. He was at a stop light enjoying his night when he sees this rough looking black man crossing the street (not me) and he instantly turned his music off! I guess he wanted the people at Onstar to hear his cry for help clearly. Once the man crossed the street without even looking at him he sped off quicker than Kate Hudson gets undressed backstage at a rock show! Career killer! Anyway, it took all I had not to yell "Where the white women at?" at him.

The power of hip hop amazes me. People keep writing if off thinking that it will eventually go away or that they will out grow it. I cant tell you how many people say to me that they love hip hop but once they get older and have kids they'll stop listening to it. But as our fat middled aged friend shows us, that's simply not the case. Just go to any country dance club and watch the rednecks. Yes, a few people line dance when country is on but its like 4 or 5 couples at most. But once Biggie or Ludacris comes on they RUN to the dance floor and start dropping it like it's hot!! This is also one of the reasons why tonight I will be the only black guy at the show, because hip hop is everywhere and people with money scoop up these tickets with the quickness!!

So I really didnt know much about El-P but I kept hearing his name come up. Then my friend in LA turned me onto his track The Full Retard. The name alone had me down but once I heard the beat it instantly reminded me of some old school Beastie or EPMD jams. But I was still skeptical because he's a white rapper and unless it's  the Beasties or Third Base, it's probably gimmick rap. But El-P holds his own. He has a nice flow and his beats are a nice mix of the old school and a progressive new sound. This isnt like some indie rap that will get old in 2 years, as evident by the fact he's been around for over a decade, but I think this is something that will catch on and inspire hip hop to actually be creative and fun again. It helps that his dad is a musician and that he constantly does things to challenge himself. Such as making a a pseudo jazz album in 2004's High Water. Check his new album and Im sure you'll be pumping this shit like they do in the future, as he says on his Retard track. I give El-P a rating a kind of FRESH!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZptOs8Gu9k

Next up is Killer Mike. Now I have been down with him from the very start. Most people know him from Outkast's song "The Whole World" but his debut album Monster dropped in 2003. While he has the look of a dirty south rapper he has always been a little different. He can get dirty with the best of them but he can also drop a little knowledge in his rhymes. He does his best to break down walls like he literally does in his video for Akshun. You wont get the typical party jams or songs about possesions from him. Instead he has no problem dedicating an enitre song to calling Ronald Reagan the devil or calling out cops for using  government initiatives to randomly harass people that look like him. But at the same time it doesnt come off preachy because he has, on these tracks anyway, some pretty fly beats. That however is the reason why he hasnt blown up. He doesnt have enough fly beats on his most of his albums and in hip hop you cant have one without the other. So that's why it was critical that he teamed up with El-P on his latest album RAP Music. Once you combine El-P's knack for fresh beats with his style you cant help but listen to his album all the way through and get introduced to the weird world of Killer Mike. Do yourself a favor and scoop his latest album up. Because of his skill alone, I give him a rating of FRESH!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXZxJGrYlKw&feature=related

I've previewwd Mr Muthafukin Exquire here already. Check it out.
http://onlyfreshness.blogspot.com/2012/04/drop-it-like-its-hot.html

So I would suggest going to the show once these guys pop in your city if you have the chance. Should be a good show!

Safety Not Guaranteed

There was alot of hype for this movie coming out of SXSW! It seemed to have a fairly original story and great cast featuring Aubrey Plaza. You might have seen her as the nerdy girl that Jason Schwartzman somehow tricked into getting in the sack with him in Funny People. As if I didnt already have enough reasons to hate him! Plus she was the perpetually angry coffee shop girl in Scott Pilgrim. Defintely see this film if you havent; it is full of smart humor about hipsters and is an ode to video game geeks! She is known for her dry humor and her nerdy and uncomfortable cuteness. Her role is slightly different here. She is still an undercover cutie but is more sad than nerdy in this film; which draws you to her even more because unlike most Hollywood actresses you truly believe that she's just like the girl who lives or works next to you. Unless of course you live in Dallas where every girl looks like an NBA groupie who practices their condom hole punching techniques while at happy hour ( i kid Dallas, i kid). The other star in the film is Mark Duplass. He's been around for a while mainly as a director and stars in the unbelievably funny The League. I'd stick to the movies he's in versus the movies he directs because both Baghead and Cyrus have about one funny joke per hour of film. But he's great in this film as the likeable but slightly off Kenneth.

The movie starts off with Darius (Plaza) working as an intern for this cool Seattle magazine who decides they need to shake things up and find a different type of story for their next issue. So one writer brings up this personal ad he saw that said "Wanted: Someone to go back in time with me...This is not a joke...Must bring your own weapons". The ad gets the attention of their boss so they decide it would be a good idea to go undercover and try and team up with this guy to gain some insight as to  how truly crazy he is for material . After they drive down to Ocean View to answer the ad, they find that it was written by Kenneth (Duplass); a paranoid conspiracy theorist who works at the local grocery store. It takes some time but Darius is able to gain the trust of Kenneth, as she plays up her weird, not so in touch with normal society self. And he decides to accept her as his partner for time travel. As they begin to bond you find out the real reasons why both of them are interested in going back and its for very different reasons than you'd think. However these reasons are what made them the people they are today and the screenwriter Derek Connelly does an awesome job of letting the story develop without it feeling forced or trite. However the entire time you're still not sure if Kenneth is just some paranoid weirdo who never really grew up or if he actually knows what he's doing. Things really get weird when they find out that Kenneth is actually being followed by federal agents.

There's also the story of Darius's boss Jeff, who is on his own mission while in Ocean View. He's the comic relief in an already funny story. He's a ladies man who is trying to score with an old flame while on this trip. There are a few memorable scenes with him and the other intern that went with them as they go out on a bender on the town with 3 local high school kids, one of which is a emo goth punk. The emo kid steals every scene he's in without ever saying a word. Reminded me of this girl I knew in high school who wore all black for an entire year because the lead singer of INXS died. Really? INXS??? I mean when Tupac died, we poured out some of our Bud Ice 40oz on the freeway as we were driving and listening to Picture Me Rollin but thats about it. Anyway, Jeff also has his own wonderful story in the film and it plays in well with the overall theme of the movie.

This movie is a pleasant surprise and takes you places you werent expecting to go when you initially walked into the theater. It's funny, moving, and thought provoking which is rare these days. So far I'd put this in my top 3 of the year and rate this movie as definitely TIGHT!

Purple Drank

So this is the third time that I have given The Temper Trap and their live shows a shot! The first two times were mainly due to the fact that they were part of an all inclusive package in the forms of ACL and SXSW; so why not go see what they're all about. Sadly both times I left mid show and was angry at myself for walking in the heat to hear such weakness. The third time was because I was tricked! This girl I was dating at the time purposely wore a low cut dress when she asked me to go to the show with her. So naturally I was dreaming about motorboats and breast milk instead of what she was actually asking me at the time. And the worst part is we stopped seeing each other a few weeks before the show, so I had to go solo because I'm too lazy to scalp a ticket. Aah the mammeries err memories; as my friend put it.

Believe it or not, I actually like Trap and I think their music sounds amazing recorded. From start to finish the album is tight and has a nice mix of beauty and power. But live it sounds and feels like you're at a Michael Bolton show in the 80's. Only they dont have the fresh hair Bolton has! Mandagi's falsetto singing works great when mixed in nicely in the studio with the other instruments but live its accentuated and you can hear how fruity some of his lyrics are. Im not an ex frat head but that doesnt mean I want to be at a show rocking out to some dude yelling "I need you now! I need your love right now!" while sounding like Adam Lambert who finally sneaked into the Yankees clubhouse after a game. But aside from the fact that he sounds a little fruity, their music just doesnt sound like it can be reproduced live. Which is strange because they dont use that many instruments. It's just not as loud and alive as it is on their cd and something always seems off. So you just get a flat performance and you're standing there bored out of your mind. Meanwhile laughing at other dudes who are drinking way to much to get through the show while also looking at their watches just waiting for the sound ordinance time to arrive so they can go home with their girls and get what they really went to the show for. Then there were the dudes that clearly had not been out of the house in months because they live in the suburbs with their 8 children. So they were way too into the show and were white man dancing fools. Dancing way off beat and in a circle for some reason while also trying to pump up others that were around them. Honestly it couldve been The Muppets playing on stage and they wouldve thrown their lighters up in the air.

It also doesnt help matters that Trap's new album is not that good and that they played alot of it. I lost track of how many songs off the new record were played but only about 2 of them sounded decent. Aah the curse of the instant success indie band continues. Great initial album but then the rushed and nowhere near as good follow up is made.  I talked to so many people that were leaving trying to convince themselves that it was a good show. "yeah well the last three songs was where it really took off" or "for the most part it was good". Not really rousing reviews for a sold out show. Ladies please dont torture your men by making them attend this. And guys, do yourself a favor and just take your girl to a romantic comedy instead. It may still be 90 minutes of pain but maybe you'll get a boob shot or two on screen. Overall this show was really WEAK and I suggest avoiding it! Oh well, I'm off to go listen to my Guy album.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EBACpHEqFk

But before I do there was also an opening act, the Crocodiles. When I listened to my first croc's song ever I was actually pretty impressed. Musically it sounded like Jesus and Mary Chain, so I was instantly down with it. But then I played more of their songs which, musically anyway, sounded good but I started to notice the lyrics. Oh why why why couldnt they just be an instrumental band? These lyrics sounded like they were written by a 13 year old Chris Gaines (Garth Brooks alter ego). Just nonsense that tries way too hard to be edgy. Check them out for yourselves, maybe you'll find a connection with them.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cn7GYXii0FU

Oh and why is this titled Purple Drank? Towards the end of the show, my friends and I were standing on the steps near the bar because at this point we didnt care about the performance. There was literally noone around us and this big security guy came up to us and told us we have to move because "cant nobody get no dranks with us standing there". If they were serving purple drank up in there, I could see it but since they werent...

Moonrise Kingdom

Before I go off on how great my brother Wes Anderson is, do yourself a favor and see Bottle Rocket if you haven't already. This is when Luke Wilson was actually skinny and before Kate Hudson, the career killer, met Owen Wilson. This movie is the sole reason why the Wilsons took Hollywood by storm for so long. But it's also the perfect introduction into the world of Wes Anderson who is able to capture the dysfunctional family and the unusual and sometimes unhealthy love story like no other. But because all of his movies are so similar in tone, you kind of have to be in the mood to see his films, otherwise they can come off as old hat. I, to this day believe this is why I never liked The Darjeeling Limited. Well that and the fact that Jason Schwartzman had an extended role in it. I'm sorry, but unless he's in a movie where they say the word hand job every five seconds his douchiness is too much for me.

But on to Moonrise Kingdom. From the opening shot of the film Anderson sets the tone for his quirky take on the Bishop family and our latest hero Sam Shakusky. The movie takes place in 1960's New England and focuses on Sam who has escaped his khaki scout camp run by Ed Norton to be with the love of his life Suzy. From that point on, the movie is about Norton's scout camp and Suzy's family putting together a rescue party to find them while Sam and Suzy try desperately to stay together. Sounds simple enough but as with all of Anderson's films that's not all to the story. It seems like with every one of his movies there is a character or a situation that everyone can identify with and this film is no different. Sam is an orphan and it seems as though he cant fit in anywhere due to his social status and the emotional damage he's incurred from losing his parents. Meanwhile Suzy apparently has emotional issues and loses her temper quite easily which has caused her to be distant around her family and gets her in trouble in school. And this isnt helped by the fact that she has become aware of the fact that her mom is having an affair with the local sheriff played by Bruce Willis.  And let's be honest, although John McClane is cool, who really wants him banging their mom? Anyway, the movie is full of great moments between Sam and Suzy; from them bonding due to each other's social ineptitude to them sharing their first intimate moments with each other. And who doesn't remember the first time they got to second base? The entire movie the new couple is not only running from the rescue party but also unknowingly trying to escape before the biggest the storm to ever hit New England arrives. Not to mention the fact that Sam's foster home no longer wants him so they  send Social Services after him to send him to a group home. And I love the fact that they only refer to Tilda Swinton's character as Social Services. It just further makes that whole institution seem so cold and disconnected.

While this may seem like heavy stuff, Anderson has a way of making light of the serious everyday issues we come across. This is yet another reason to love his films, because he makes us laugh at ourselves, our problems, and our dysfunctional families. It's like a cheap form of therapy. There are a couple of great scenes that I dont want to ruin for you but one involves the stand off between Suzy and Sam and the scouts who are sent to bring them in. And the other is when Bill Murray(Suzy's dad) discovers the couple in their tent one morning. Sadly something similar to this happened to me in college, yes college, when some girl's dad stormed his way into my apartment looking for his daughter who was late for her first day of work. Needless to say, he never invited me over for dinner again but that's another story for another time. The point is, we all have our own stories that can relate to what the characters are going through in this movie.  Oh and one thing that shouldn't get lost in this review is how great Ed Norton is in this movie. He plays Scout Master Ward perfectly as the sad little math teacher who secretly never really wanted to give up being a kid in the scouts and takes his job way too seriously but at the same time truly loves the kids. I rate this movie as pretty TIGHT and would definitely suggest seeing it in the theater.

What Time IS It?

So I work for a company in a small country suburb of Austin and suffice it to say that most of the employees there arent really up on the new bands that are out right now unless their 8 year olds clue them in. So then I get random questions like "Why is the band Foster the People talking about shooting kids with pump shoes?" "Or why is Gotye pronounced Gauthier?" which is actually a pretty legitimate question. I mean really, Gauthier???? Just call me Key from now on, the two L's in Kelly are silent! Anyway, I send my fellow music nerd an IM with some randon Bear in Heaven lyrics.
http://onlyfreshness.blogspot.com/2012/04/bears-bells-yachts-football.html
Something to the tune of "I feel myself running to you but my legs wont move...dance with me dance with me" and about 30 minutes later she sends a reply stating that she was in the middle of a presentation when that IM popped up and everyone in the room saw it. Um...oops! And after she explained what it meant she tried to talk to them about Daft Punk and they looked back at her with blank stares. Finally one of them gets the courage to ask "Wasn't Daft Punk a Russian astronaut?". This, is why I started this blog. Speaking of, the last random Daft Punk dance party I went to, I think I was the only person in there who was actually alive when their first cd came out.

The reason I bring all of this up is, I thought I was only hanging out with old people until I walked into the No Age and Ceremony show. When I first walked in, I noticed that the place was actually pretty close to capacity but there was no line at the bar. So I take the fool's gold and happily get my drink with no wait in line. I start to get in place for Ceremony and I hear this kid scream, "I just realized that as of 6 hours ago, I'm no longer in high school!!". And his friends high five him!!! Geez, where am I??? So I had to get myself ready for another level. I'm used to punk shows but not teenage punk shows. Those kids can bring it! Well if you have never heard of Ceremony, theyre a hard core punk band from California. Quite a few punk bands have a specific formula and stick to it throughout their album but not these guys. They are not quite Deftones who can sound like Morrissey or Depeche Mode at one point and then hard core metal the next but they do have range. They literally rock your socks off with Cross Them Out or Throwing Bricks or they can sound like Black Flag with Talking on the Telephone, their most accessible song. This show is not for the light hearted who want to watch from afar because literally everyone is going nuts including the lead who looks like he's having fits on stage while he screams "the modern world is surrounding me" over and over and his Johnny Rotten look alike guitarist is jumping from speaker to speaker. Kids are going nuts jumping from the stage and grabbing his mic and screaming lyrics while the bassist who looks like a pirate watches in total bliss. If you're up for a crazy show and some traditional punk, definitely go check these guys out who I would rate as FRESH!

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gx-qd20t_Mo&feature=endscreen&NR=1

Next up was No Age.

http://onlyfreshness.blogspot.com/2012/05/is-this-it.html

So the night already felt like a win because of the Ceremony performance but I also got to meet Dean the drummer for No Age as I bought my t shirt. I managed not to embarrass myself as I did with Japandroids but thats only because I kept my responses to 2 to 3 words max. And by now everyone knows about my previous No Age experience and this was no different. I didnt learn my lesson. I was right next to the speaker again, this time with my new found fresh out of high school buddies. But by this point of the night it was about half capacity because I'm pretty sure most of the crowd still had a curfew.  And sadly,  the rest of the people that stayed were too old to mosh but that didnt stop me and the high school kids from going nuts as they ripped through Teen Creeps. Dean and Randy dont appear to be slowing down one bit as their sound was as loud and energetic as ever. The really cool thing about their show is that typically when a setlist is new song heavy, you're for the most part bored and just waiting to hear the old stuff. But honestly their new material was the highlight of the night. You can tell they write their songs for live performances and it sounded as tight and as bratty as ever.; which is promising for their upcoming album. Do yourself a favor and check these FRESH guys out. Also check out the link I provided for my review of them to get a better feel for the band as a whole.

Prometheus

It's been so long since we've had decent sci fi movies. The only good ones that come to mind since The Matrix are two low budget indie films, Moon and Another Earth. Both of which are great and two of my personal favorites, but sometimes you want giant aliens destroying space ships or a large duck having sex with Lea Thompson like in Howard the Duck. This was bad sci fi at it's freshest but I still have a soft spot for that flick. When I look back, I think the 80's ruined sci fi forever because you had such classics in The Terminator, Blade Runner, Alien, the Star Wars sequels, and My Stepmother Is An Alien; just to name a few. But due to the success of these films and more advanced fx becoming available , Hollywood gave birth to Roland Emmerich. From that point on it was all downhill. The story quickly became irrelevant and all that was needed was an excuse to blow up a building or have Will Smith yell "Aww hell nah!!" as he punched an alien. All special effects and no soul. So now when sci fi comes along, we dont recognize it and you get mixed reviews for something like Prometheus.

Now why it took Ridley Scott so long to make this prequel, who knows. I've heard a number of reasons but my guess is that after working with Tom Cruise on Legend, you'd want to get as far away from science fiction as humanly possible too! I'm sure that Cruise spent most of his downtime on set floating above ground in his Xenu state striking random extras with his hydrogen bombs. But the point is, Scott is back doing what he does best in my opinion. I dont want to give away too much of the story but basically the movie starts off with some alien (we assume) who looks like a cross between Powder and Stone Cold Steve Austin drinking some substance which not only kills him but disintegrates his body, followed by a spacecraft leaving him. Next they shoot over to Earth in the distant future where we see Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and Charlie Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green) discover yet another cave painting that points to what they believe is the origin of mankind on Earth. And once they discover another solar system that is similar to ours and a planet that can sustain human life, they head there believing that they will find  our creators to answer the numerous questions they have about why they created us and how we got here. But once the crew gets to this planet, they discover that there are all sorts of hidden dangers there and that this planet may not be what they initially thought it was. Plus it appears that everyone that is a part of the crew has their own agenda. David, who is played wonderfully by Michael Fassbender, is the robot created by Waylend(the money behind the expedition) to help them in communicating with the aliens. However the entire movie he is creepy and calculating and you never quite know who's side he's on and whether he is aiding in the hell that is about to break loose or if he indeed is trying to help find the answers they came looking for. David is by far the most interesting character and is basically a modern day version of  HAL. Again, I dont want to give away too much of  the story but just know that this is indeed a prequel to Alien and by the way the story is written it works well not only in that regard but it's a movie that can really stand on it's own. Plus they dont pull a Spielberg. And by that I mean they don't spell everything out for you. Not everything is wrapped up in a nice and neat little package and you end up having to figure out for yourself what really happened and why. Scott and the writers take their time telling the story to help you get a feel for the characters and setting up the creepy mood and tone of the film.

In the end, it's just refreshing to see a sci fi flick with so much thought put into it.  And to actually have the backing of Hollywood to put good writers, directing , and acting in it. Do yourself a favor and pay the 3D money to see it, there are quite a few scenes in it that just wouldn't be nearly as cool in 2D. I definitely rate this movie as kind of TIGHT and would suggest that you go see it as soon as possible before the weekend of idiotfest is upon us in Rock of Ages and That's My Boy.

Headhunters

No this is not a piece about the the tiny music venue off of Red River or even a porn starring Misty Rain or Bettina. Instead this is a review of a Norwegian thriller based off the book by Jo Nesbo. Typically when foreign films get alot of hype over here its usually well deserved because they know we lazy Americans dont like to read (subtitles or anything really). And we certainly wont pay ten bucks to do so; especially when on the right night we can pay the same amount to get a pair of fake C cups in our face for 5 minutes. I wouldn't know from personal experience but I have some buddies who have partaken from time to time. But beware of the hype machine, sometimes you get gems like The White Ribbon or in my opinion last year's best film A Separation and then you get stinkers like Nightwatch or any post Madonna Guy Ritchie film. I'm counting those as foreign because I cant understand a word of what they say. RocknRolla was decent however.

Headhunters comes pretty close to living up to the hype; and I only say this because it got a 90% on Rotten Tomatoes. 90% is alot to live up to.The story starts off simple and intriguing enough. It's about Roger Brown, who is a 5'6" inch corporate headhunter who is actually really good at his job but feels the need to overcompensate for his lack of height by not owning a lifted truck with 32 inch tires but by stealing high end art and replacing them with forgeries. He steals art so that he can have all of the things that he believes men should want in life. He is living well above his means even with the thefts by owning this multi million dollar mansion, doing everything possible to please his supermodel esque wife, wearing top designer suits, and driving high end cars.  He cleverly uses the job interviews he conducts to see who owns nice art pieces and to do some reconnaissance work on his next job. At first, everything seems to be going great until his wife introduces him to Clas Greve, played by Game of Thrones's Jaime Lannister. Clas informs Roger's wife that he's inherited a pretty valuable German painting that his grandmother obtained in WWII and wants her to evaluate it for him. Well once she tells Roger that it's worth upwards of 100 million, it's game on! Roger of course sees this as an escape from his financial problems and proceeds to attempt to steal the painting. Little does he know that while attempting to steal the painting he is about to unravel a mystery that will leave you guessing and literally on the edge of your seat the entire movie.

The great thing about this movie is just when you think you have figured out the main twist, the story takes it up yet another notch; sometimes to borderline absurd levels but not quite crossing that line. It is well acted and the movie doesnt waste time with any overly sapping dramatic moments. Instead the story is written so well that you can get a feel for the relationships between the characters with subtle glances or uncomfortable silences. And not like the 30 minute long glances that Brad Pitt has with Claire Forlani in Meet Joe Black. That movie really is only 40 minutes long when edit out all of the longing stares. But as for Headhunters,  I give it a rating of pretty FRESH, so definitely go see it!

Men in Black 3

Yes they made this movie for the sole purpose to make money and not to entertain. Yes Tommy Lee Jones looks 105 years old. And yes I was dumb enough to pay 3D money to see this movie. It's sad really; because Will Smith refuses to take chances. I read an article, in Time magazine I think, that broke down Big Willy's strategy to selecting what movies to make or star in. Basically he looked at the top 10 grossing movies of  all time and they all either had special effects, special effects with creatures, or special effects with creatures and a love story. So he sticks to making only these types of movies or some variation of them. Which is ok since he's open and honest about why he makes movies, and thats to make money. But again its at my expense because I like movies with fx and creatures. And  I also learned how to play drums to the DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince album, so I cant help but support Willy, but man, even I have my limits. It's not like Smith is that great of an actor but when he tries he's actually pretty good, see Pursuit of Happyness or Hancock (kidding).  So its a shame he refuses to step out of his comfort zone every now and then because it's not like he's struggling for money. Or maybe Xenu has taken most of it by now, who knows. But just look at his IMDB page and look at what he has coming up; I, Robot 2, Bad Boys 3 and yes even Hancock 2!!! While you're at it, why not just do Seven Pounds 2; "even in heaven Will Smith gives parts of his body to save others FROM HELL!!!! " Actually now that I think about it, if all he does for the rest of his career is sequels and or prequels to his previous efforts, that really kind of tight. But moving on...

Men in Black 3 starts off with the struggling relationship between Agent J (Smith) and Agent K(Jones).  J doesnt feel like he really knows anything about K and K doesnt really care to let him in. Then all of a sudden this strange alien Boris the Animal shows up (played by Flight of the Chonchords Jemaine) trying to kill K  because K took his arm back in the day when he arrested him. He is unsuccessful so he decides to go back in time to do so and that's where the movie takes off. The script is actually a fairly decent one written by Ethan Cohen and no NOT Ethan Coen of the Coen brothers. There's enough decent backstory to keep you interested. Plus it helps that Josh Brolin nails his Tommy Lee Jones impression. Honestly, when I first saw the trailer I thought it was a voice over but it actually turns out to be Brolin. Who by the way still looks the same as he did when he was in Goonies. Which is both good and bad; good that he still looks about 35 but bad that he looked 35 at age 17. Which is in part why I thought Goonies was funny in the first place. But anyway, Jermaine is a waste as Boris because none of his comedic talent is allowed to shine in this character. He is just a basic boring mean alien. Nothing really memorable about him except for his gross hand. Jones is hardly in it because he's too old to do action movies and the first 20 minutes is full of recycled jokes from the first 2 MIB movies, complete with awful Will Smith stand up jokes. All that was missing was a Will Smith MIB rap song; which might have made this movie fresh but instead it just ended up being pretty WEAK. If youre bored and having a netflix night, it might beworth a look with a few beers but nothing more.

Snow White and the Huntsman

So who would have ever thought that there would be two Snow White movies released within a matter of months of each other and neither Danny Devito or Jonah Hill was cast as one of the dwarfs? Seriously how is that possible? It's not as if they are both that busy right now. And if Hill hadn't lost all of that weight it could have been a passing of the torch from one real life pseudo dwarf to the other. And then Hill could have starred in the new Romancing the Stone starring Seth Rogen and Anna Faris.While I am kidding, there is a very real chance of this actually happening one day followed by me laughing in hysterics as I jump from a burning UT building!!! Please Hollywood, just actually start trying again at some point!

So even I skipped Mirror Mirror, which is saying something. But I was kind of excited to see Huntsmen. The previews made it look like there would be enough action and Charlize Theron in it to make up for the awful casting of Kristen Stewart. And just a quick note on Stewart; while she has never been a good actress or even all that cute, she reaches new lows in this unique take on the classic fairy tale. It's like she is forever stuck in the apathetic rebellious teenager phase that most of us get over by age 17. Or some of us make a career out of, see Cobain ( I kid, I kid, I love Kurt). But Snow White is supposed to be the most beautiful woman on Earth, not some detached brat that looks awkward when they smile and has an A cup. I really dont hate Stewart; I cant blame her for playing the game of Hollywood by riding her undserved fame all the way to the bank. It's just this movie could have been a thousand times better with an attrative young actress who can actually act. HBO has no problems finding young talented bruenettes, why couldnt this studio do the same? It's just hard to believe that the Huntsman (Hemsworth), the seven dwarves, and an entire nation would change their ways and risk his lives for this basically invisible character. Hemsworth does what he can for the role and does a decent job of destroying warriors made of black glass. And Theron is as beautiful as ever and delivers a commanding performance. Some would say she over acted a bit, but having been around a few crazy women in my time, I'd say she nailed the crazy evil witch. And she even had a brother who for some reason looked like an albino drummer for The Monkees.I wont waste your time explaining the plot. It's basically Theron wanting to stay the young, beautiful, and evil queen forever and there is only one threat to her plan and that's the new most beautiful woman in the land, Snow White. So she makes every attempt possible to kill her. And for some reason the Huntsman and the dwarfs fall for her beauty and "personality" and decide to help Snow White take down the queen. That's essentially it.

So for the most part, the story was good, the acting was good, and the fx were awesome. Some pretty cool visuals throughout and the glass shattering warriors made up for the lack of blood. It's just that Stewart's acting makes this fairy tale even more unbelievable and takes you right out of the experience. While this movie isnt completely awful, I will still give it a rating of really WEAK.