DOCUMENTARY - SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN

Aight so yo. I was lurking on Facebook wondering why everyones life seems so much more exciting than mine, and i stumbled upon this documentary. Then i watched it. Now im writing about it cos it was quite good. 

Its about this dude named Rodriguez and his musical endeavours in the late 60's and early 70's. Some music guys find him in a smoky burnt out Detroit bar, playing with his back to the audience all mysterious like. So it goes that they sign him and he releases two albums, and these albums flop and he's kinda reabsorbed by the smoky clouds that spawned him. The thing is though, that the songs he put out were all pretty decent, with lyrics on par with, if not better than the huge singer songwriters around at the time - Bob Dylan and the like.

His music makes its way overseas however, specifically to South Africa, he becomes the soundtrack to rebellion against apartheid. Basically he's da man over there, and everyone has his record and digs his music. But no-one knows who the fuck he is. This prompts two guys to look for answers, and to search for Sugar Man. The documentary details their attempt to track down Rodriguez, and to find out if the rumours of his extravagant on-stage suicide are true.

The thing about Searching For Sugar Man is that the story completely carries itself. Aside from a few cool animated shots, and interwoven archive footage, its just a straight up interesting story. A multitude of key figures, musicians, and studio execs are interviewed and each segment strengthens the mystery surrounding a guy who was "Bigger than the Rolling Stones" in South Africa, but as famous as someone like me (or you- prick).

The fact that the music is pretty tight also helped me enjoy this documentary, and his tunes are systematically incorporated into the flick, throughout its duration- they really help you to get a feel for the kind of voice this guy had- and its a good one. 

Without spoiling the ending (they all die en-route to South Africa, tragically) its definitely a story that has genuine weight, and quite an amazing finale, with everything being tied up quite nicely; the basic mystery is solved, Rodriguez remains somewhat of an enigma. I want to say its heart-warming, but i don't have a heart and heat makes me queasy.

4 OL'DIRTY BASTARDS OUTTA 5

FILM - MIDNIGHT IN PARIS

FILM - MIDNIGHT IN PARIS

Aight so yo. I seen a few Woody Allen flicks before and they're usually pretty cool. The whole breaking the fourth wall talking to the camera shit in Annie Hall, specifically this one  (click click click) kinda builds this rapport with the audience that you don't get in a lot of other movies- It's like a neurotic charm that hilarious as well as intriguing. Midnight In Paris doesn't have characters talking to the audience through the camera and shit, but it contains the same sort of disdain for pretentious shit-chatters and its always fun to see people who love to talk get told to shut up - in more words and in a clever way (fight the power). 

Movin on, a struggling Hollywood hired hand goes to Paris with his wife (who's a bitch!) for a break, and to attempt to finish his work-in-progress novel. The Wife has her parents there too (who are also dicks). Then there's this dude called Paul  who takes the role of the shit-talker mentioned earlier. There's this opposition between struggling human intellectual Gill (Owen Wilson) and Book and lecture memoriser Paul (Dick), and the film does a decent job of steering you towards supporting the character of Gill and wanting him to do well and shit. 

So Gill's this dude that, like many of us, thinks he was born in the wrong era. The past seems like a much better place, in terms of nearly everything. Crazy parties, bitches, art, and a sense that people gave shits about stuff. His destination of choice would be Paris in the 1920's (Mine would the year 2000 anywhere near Scarlett Johansson when she looked like this, so i could become best friends with her, protect her from the rigours of teenage life, and systematically weasel my way to her heart. At this point I would dig in my claws and not let go for hell nor fire. I think i just made that phrase up). 

One night Gill goes for a walk, a clock strikes midnight, and a olden time car magically transports him back to the 1920's where he meets the likes of F. Scott Fitzgerald (and his drunk bitch wife Zelda), an intense Ernest Hemingway, Pablo Picasso, and Salvador Dali (played by Adrian Brody) who likes rhinoceros' and saying his name in a funny way. These late night/early morning rendezvous help Gill overcome the artistic challenges of being a writer (like knowing what to write about and how to sound and shit) and they help him out with some more personal stuff and shit. These cameo-like appearances are pretty fun to watch. The whole notion of looking back on things with Rose-tinted glasses, and letting the present slip away (My man) is explored, and it comes to a pretty tidy conclusion as Gill experiences a kind of eureka moment in the 1890's. Without ruining the ending (they all die), the film finishes leaving you kinda satisfied, even though there's a bit that's kinda corny but kinda alright about walking in the rain and shit. 

For me, the whole meeting great literary figures and artistic genius' is kinda cool, and sometimes pretty funny. The emphasis on humanity and feeling over the straight up check-out-how-many-books-i-have-read knowledge makes me feel good about being a shit student, and the film shows Paris looking pretty pretty too. The only downside is the lack of a Scarlett Johansson. But thats alright.

3 ROCK BOTTOMS OUTTA 5!

FILM- AMOUR

Film - Amour

Aight so yo. This film won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film festival last year, which is basically like completing 10 seasons of Master League on Pro Evolution and winning everything (which i did) .. (twice)- Because initially only a few people get to see it/care, and its too complex for everyone else to understand/no-one gives a shit (haters). Seriously though, films that get that accolade are kinda hit and miss with me. I can fuck with Apocalypse Now (1979 winner) Pulp Fiction (1994) and The Wind That Shakes The Barley (2006), but some of them go straight over my head- Tree Of Life (2011) Four Months Three Weeks and Two Days (2007). Sometimes they are too ambitious, too pretentious, or just not that entertaining. I kinda feel everything great is entertaining in some way, even artsy films that invoke some sorta deep thought cuz that's entertaining and interesting for me (And people say i'm not fun?)

So Amour. Its pretty sick. Amour means love, and the film kinda flirts with the idea of love, what it means, and to what extent it can push you. Nearly all of the film takes place in the apartment of this ageing married couple, so it's all tight and claustrophobic and really human. To cut an old story young, the wife is gradually deteriorating, and its all sort of the husbands fault, because he pushed for a surgery she never wanted (Guilt -My Man). Initially, their relationship is full of charm. Living in their apartment we see dinner time conversations that hint at enduring love and excitability even in the twilight stages of their life and marriage. Gradually, the wife's deteriorating health places a financial and emotional strain on the husband, and we get a real first hand look into the pain of watching a loved one slip away. Without giving away the ending (they all die), I can say that its a pretty honest, brutal look at emotional and physical decay- that whole drag of the mortality of humans and how it sucks dick.

It made me think about love and marriage and shit. Thought-provoking films are pretty sick, and when i finish watching something and think about who's right, what i think about what just happened, and other deep and meaningful shit i can never really say i didnt enjoy it.

Although this did happen, and i found it hilarious. Which then made me sad because it's quite a poignant moment and i missed that.
(full screen it, and apologies for the shitty copy)









Minus the hilarious-but-not-really face slapping, I thought Amour was pretty brutal, pretty honest, and pretty sick, if not a little heavy going. The ending raises some pretty interesting questions too, about selfishness and selflessness, and the real limits of love.

Yo i was gonna go for the 3.5 on this but that slap bumped it up...

4 CAPTAIN & TENNILLE'S OUTTA 5

MUSIC- XXYYXX

Aight so yo. Triangles eyes tongues conspiracies Illuminati Numbers add up to corrupt governments, totalitarian states, the loss of civil freedoms and the end of the world. Shut up.

I'm pretty sure this albums out soon/already/never,  but definitely at least two tracks that are pretty sick and I'm listening to right now. Dope beats, with that funk cowbell, trap drums and nifty vocal loops. 
I cant stress the funk cowbell enough.
FUNK COWBELL. My Man.

Witching Hour and Closer 

 

MUSIC - UNDERSEA

The Antlers - Undersea.

Aight so yo. I remember listening to 'Hospice' a few years back and thinking it was pretty sick.  (Full album link if you're feeling like listening to some depressing music). I kinda missed the boat on 'Burst Apart' (Again) the follow up, but have definitely been stoked on 'Undersea' released some time somewhere.

side note-  I'm not down for telling you specific release dates, the bands favourite philosophers, or which character the members pick in Super Smash Bros (Link all the way pu$$i£$), so if you're looking for that kind of busyness sorry to disappoint- maybe i'll learn. What's important to me is sharing dope shit that I've found.

What i remember from the old stuff is emotionally intense vocals- soft then loud then pain if you feel me. Peter Silberman ( I definitely just looked his name up to sound more legit) brings mellow vibes on this one, which is why its pretty sick. Dreamy and watery there's this sense of a haunting feeling of optimistic melancholy (Makes me feel pretty chill about how long everything is). 

Tracklist

Drift Drive- Definitely the most upbeat of the four songs, but not in that gay chirpy way.

Endless Ladder- 8 minutes, Pleasantly haunting. Builds up and shit.

Crest- Dopest track on the EP for my money ($$$). Haunting horns,chilling voice, downbeat and a little more depressing (but that's sick).

Zelda- Some crazy video game shit going on here forrabit. Sly synths or something. Dem Horns again. Pretty dope.

Mellow vibes, cool horns, simple guitars, cool lyrics.

3.5 Sun Tzu's Outta 5

BOOK- NAIVE. SUPER

Naive. Super - Erlend Loe

Aight so yo. I picked this book up a few years back after someone I worked with recommended it. I thought it was pretty neat and easy to read back then, plus the main character made cool lists and didn't really see a point in anything. My man. I've read it again recently (its the first book I've ever read twice- props) and it got a whole lot better. S'like that time when i watched Lost In Translation  as a youngen and thought it was lame, then watched it at university and thought it was bangin. Comin' at things from new angles and at different times in your life really makes you see stuff in a new light (including, but not limited to, Scarlett Johansson's breastisiz)

 To summarise without giving away the ending (everyone dies), Its about a young guy who, on his 25th birthday, is suddenly overcome with the emptiness of his existence. He plays croquet, then cries and shit. This guy then quits university (My Man) and starts from scratch in his brothers empty apartment- wrestling with what he is, what surrounds him, and what everything means. 

The way it's written is what appeals to me the most. S'like simplicity aids the quest for clarity. The chapters and sentences are short, but there's a lot to be found in them. While I whole-heartedly agree there's some cool shit to be found in those long sometimes-convoluted-but-usually-harbouring-some-slyly-dope-meaning classic literature sentences, i kinda dig the brief, straight to the dome style that's adopted here. Saying something simply doesn't diminish the weight it can have, in fact sometimes its the opposite.

Examples - 

I love you

I hate you

Fuck off

The book comes in at just under 200 fairly short pages, with easily manageable chapters (the type you can read on the toilet without being in there for a suspicious amount of time). It's pretty fun to read (I swear), and approaches the biggest question in the world with a kinda charming simplicity and naivety (yeaaah) that says more, in fewer words, about everything. 

I read the English translation, cuz the books author is Norwegian, just in case you wanted to know that.

Buy It Here (if you want)

Maybe I should do ratings?

4 Kim K Butts outta 5

Beginnings

Simply aiming to gather a bunch of cool shit that I've seen, heard, read, or listened to in the hopes that you (whoever you may be) will see, hear, read, or listen to some of the same stuff and maybe dig it. Books films albums whatever.

Not being a fellow known for perseverance or busyness this is as much an experiment to how far i can take something as it is a way to pass the time. Fuck it.