#20 - Waitress - Keri Russell gives a great performance in one of the nicest movies of the year, a sort of grown-up version of Juno.
#19 - 3:10 To Yuma - A re-make of a forgotten Western movie, 3:10 stars Russell Crowe and Christian Bale in one of the most intense cat and mouse games in recent memory.
#18 - American Gangster - This movie has gotten a lot of comparisons to Scarface, but I actually think it's much better. Russell Crowe stars in this one as well, along with Denzel Washington in Russell Crowe's take on Martin Scorcese's genre.
#17 - Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix - The Potter movies just keep getting better and better. How many times can you see a 2 plus hour movie that seems like it's too short and skips over too many details?
#16 - Shoot 'Em Up - The most intense and hilarious action movie in years takes a Tarantino sense of humor and smacks it into a Jason Statham type movie starring the always brilliant Clive Owen.
#15 - Superbad - The third (and remarkably least) of the Apatow pictures this year, Superbad features the brilliant Michael Cera and the reliable Jonah Hill in a quest movie to buy booze illegally in order to score some ass only to have real life get in the way of the plan.
#14 - I Am Legend - A quick and to the point action movie that tells a great story and doesn't drag it's feet doing it. Will Smith picks yet another great script and should give his agent a raise.
#13 - Charlie Wilson's War - Aaron Sorkin's screenplay cracks as some of the world's finest actors take on the sharpest dialogue of the year. Phillip Seymour Hoffman got an Oscar nod for his role in this movie and in a weaker year he would have easily won.
#12 - Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story - The best satire in years (not that this is saying much), walk Hard inserts it's lead Forrest Gump style into the history of rock n roll. John C Reilly is perfect as always and the music is gutbustingly awesome.
#11 - Stardust - Neil Gaiman provides the story for the best sci fi movie of the year, as this is also one of the funniest movies in the genre since The Princess Bride.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Monday, March 3, 2008
Top 1000 Songs #620-#611
#620 - "Handle With Care" - The Traveling Wilburys - Traveling Wilburys, Vol. 1 - The first and only Wilburys song on the list, "Handle With Care" is the biggest hit for the ultimate supergroup, combining the country rock styles of members Petty and Dylan with the vocals of Harrison and Orbison. Oh, and the lead singer of ELO is hanging out there too.
#619 - "Dimension" - Wolfmother - Wolfmother - The third and final Wolfmother song on the countdown, "Dimension" features a monster riff and that Sabbath/Zeppelin vocals that you just can't find anywhere else.
#618 - "Life In The Fast Lane" - The Eagles - Hotel California - The third of four Eagles songs in the top 1000, "Life In The Fast Lane" is the closest that the band came to a straight-up rock song with it's cutting lyrics and tremendous riff.
#617 - "Me And Bobby McGee" - Janis Joplin - Pearl - The first of three Joplin songs on the countdown, "Bobby McGee" is a cover of Kris Kristofferson's country classic and the only Janis song to hit #1.
#616 - "Man On The Moon" - R.E.M. - Automatic For The People - The fourth of twelve R.E.M. songs on the list, "Man" is one of the band's biggest hits and is about the legendary comic Andy Kaufman.
#615 - "Road To Joy" - Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning - The third of four Bright Eyes songs on the countdown, "Road To Joy" presents an indie folk emo hybrid performed to a sped-up version of the old classical music tune it stole it's name from.
#614 - "Kiss From A Rose" - Seal - One Night To Remember - The first and only song by seal on the list, "Kiss From A Rose" was one of the highlights of Batman Forever and definitely the peak of Seal's career.
#613 - "Even Flow" - Pearl Jam - Ten - The sixth of twenty-five Pearl Jam songs in the top 1000, "Even Flow" is one of the fastest songs in Pearl Jam's catalog and one of the first songs to solidify their reputation as a band with incomprehensible lyrics.
#612 - "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" - Elton John - Caribou - The third of eight Elton John songs on the countdown, "Don't Let" is one of Elton's greatest ballads with one of his best choruses.
#611 - "Lit Up" - Buckcherry - Buckcherry - The third and highest-charting Buckcherry song on the list, "Lit Up" is one of the last great Mainstream rock songs as the cocaine loving band carries the torch of Guns N Roses into the new millennium.
#619 - "Dimension" - Wolfmother - Wolfmother - The third and final Wolfmother song on the countdown, "Dimension" features a monster riff and that Sabbath/Zeppelin vocals that you just can't find anywhere else.
#618 - "Life In The Fast Lane" - The Eagles - Hotel California - The third of four Eagles songs in the top 1000, "Life In The Fast Lane" is the closest that the band came to a straight-up rock song with it's cutting lyrics and tremendous riff.
#617 - "Me And Bobby McGee" - Janis Joplin - Pearl - The first of three Joplin songs on the countdown, "Bobby McGee" is a cover of Kris Kristofferson's country classic and the only Janis song to hit #1.
#616 - "Man On The Moon" - R.E.M. - Automatic For The People - The fourth of twelve R.E.M. songs on the list, "Man" is one of the band's biggest hits and is about the legendary comic Andy Kaufman.
#615 - "Road To Joy" - Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning - The third of four Bright Eyes songs on the countdown, "Road To Joy" presents an indie folk emo hybrid performed to a sped-up version of the old classical music tune it stole it's name from.
#614 - "Kiss From A Rose" - Seal - One Night To Remember - The first and only song by seal on the list, "Kiss From A Rose" was one of the highlights of Batman Forever and definitely the peak of Seal's career.
#613 - "Even Flow" - Pearl Jam - Ten - The sixth of twenty-five Pearl Jam songs in the top 1000, "Even Flow" is one of the fastest songs in Pearl Jam's catalog and one of the first songs to solidify their reputation as a band with incomprehensible lyrics.
#612 - "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" - Elton John - Caribou - The third of eight Elton John songs on the countdown, "Don't Let" is one of Elton's greatest ballads with one of his best choruses.
#611 - "Lit Up" - Buckcherry - Buckcherry - The third and highest-charting Buckcherry song on the list, "Lit Up" is one of the last great Mainstream rock songs as the cocaine loving band carries the torch of Guns N Roses into the new millennium.
Top 1000 Bands #620-#611
#620 - Eddie Money - One of the great stars of 70's AOR, Eddie Money had a string of hits, but never created a truly great song.
#619 - Gomez - One of the most prominent bands in the second wave of Brit Pop, Gomez haven't had any big hits yet, but they've created several great albums.
#618 - The Pet Shop Boys - The least masculine of all New Wave bands, The Pet Shop Boys have a couple of big hits to their credit, but they didn't last very long.
#617 - Hank Williams - The grandfather of country music, Hank Williams laid the groundwork for every straight-up country singer who came after, leaving a trail of brilliant music nearly on par with Willie Nelson or Johnny Cash.
#616 - The Elected - An obscure indie rock band with a fantastic debut album and solid follow-up singles to date.
#615 - Linkin Park - For the most part, Linkin Park's music irritates me (especially the screaming idiot), but they've really improved over the years and they occasionally create a song that I really like.
#614 - The Verve Pipe - A late 90's band that had a huge hit with "Freshmen" and a series of smaller hits strewn across a few solid albums.
#613 - The Chemical Brothers - I don't generally like house music or techno, but the Chemical Brothers are pretty damn good at turning those genres into workable songs.
#612 - Johnny Thunders And The Heartbreakers - Johnny Thunders was an original member of the New York Dolls, one of the most important bands of all time if not quite one of the best. This is his project on his own, an important and outstanding '77 era punk band that created some of the most well-known songs of the genre.
#611 - Xibit - He doesn't really make albums anymore, but in the late 90's and early 21st century, Xibit was one of the best of the West Coast rappers.
#619 - Gomez - One of the most prominent bands in the second wave of Brit Pop, Gomez haven't had any big hits yet, but they've created several great albums.
#618 - The Pet Shop Boys - The least masculine of all New Wave bands, The Pet Shop Boys have a couple of big hits to their credit, but they didn't last very long.
#617 - Hank Williams - The grandfather of country music, Hank Williams laid the groundwork for every straight-up country singer who came after, leaving a trail of brilliant music nearly on par with Willie Nelson or Johnny Cash.
#616 - The Elected - An obscure indie rock band with a fantastic debut album and solid follow-up singles to date.
#615 - Linkin Park - For the most part, Linkin Park's music irritates me (especially the screaming idiot), but they've really improved over the years and they occasionally create a song that I really like.
#614 - The Verve Pipe - A late 90's band that had a huge hit with "Freshmen" and a series of smaller hits strewn across a few solid albums.
#613 - The Chemical Brothers - I don't generally like house music or techno, but the Chemical Brothers are pretty damn good at turning those genres into workable songs.
#612 - Johnny Thunders And The Heartbreakers - Johnny Thunders was an original member of the New York Dolls, one of the most important bands of all time if not quite one of the best. This is his project on his own, an important and outstanding '77 era punk band that created some of the most well-known songs of the genre.
#611 - Xibit - He doesn't really make albums anymore, but in the late 90's and early 21st century, Xibit was one of the best of the West Coast rappers.
Best Movies Of 2007 #30-#21
#30 - Eastern Promises - The latest screen pairing of David Cronenberg and Viggo Mortensen, Eastern Promises is a crackling mafia film with great performances and a scene set in a sauna that is among the most memorable of the year.
#29 - Once - If not for Juno and Walk Hard, this movie would run away with the Best Soundtrack award for the year. The movie's story isn't all that great, but the characters and especially the music make this film great.
#28 - Live Free Or Die Hard - After a lackluster third movie in the series, I had written the Die Hard movies off as done, but Live Free Or Die Hard is hilarious and has plenty of ridiculous action to satisfy the people who don't get the jokes.
#27 - Across The Universe - A trippy musical that envisions Beatles songs as telling a story of a group of friends living in the last 60's. Great visuals and great music throughout.
#26 - Hot Fuzz - I liked Shaun Of The Dead better, but Hot Fuzz is also hilarious, with great comedic moments sending up American action films.
#25 - Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street - Easily the darkest musical ever made, Tim Burton teams up with his usual suspects Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter to make an incredibly entertaining bloodbath of a musical.
#24 - Ratatouille - Pixar and Brad Bird score yet another hit and yet another Academy Award win with this clever story of a rat in a gourmet resteraunt.
#23 - In The Valley Of Elah - Paul Haggis' follow-up to the vastly over-rated Crash, In The Valley Of Elah is a sharp and gut-churning drama that only barely lets it's foot off the gas at the end, keeping it from a higher score.
#22 - I'm Not There - Another weird movie from Todd Haynes, I'm Not There uses a series of actors and one actress to tell the life story of Bob Dylan, though Dylan is never actually named. Cate Blanchett plays Dylan for most of the movie and does the best job, remarkably.
#21 - Michael Clayton - Great performances permeate from every corner of the screen in this sharp and engrossing 70's throwback starring Tilda Swinton in an Academy Award winning performance and George Clooney and Tom Wilkinson in roles that could have won if this wasn't such an extraordinary year.
#29 - Once - If not for Juno and Walk Hard, this movie would run away with the Best Soundtrack award for the year. The movie's story isn't all that great, but the characters and especially the music make this film great.
#28 - Live Free Or Die Hard - After a lackluster third movie in the series, I had written the Die Hard movies off as done, but Live Free Or Die Hard is hilarious and has plenty of ridiculous action to satisfy the people who don't get the jokes.
#27 - Across The Universe - A trippy musical that envisions Beatles songs as telling a story of a group of friends living in the last 60's. Great visuals and great music throughout.
#26 - Hot Fuzz - I liked Shaun Of The Dead better, but Hot Fuzz is also hilarious, with great comedic moments sending up American action films.
#25 - Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street - Easily the darkest musical ever made, Tim Burton teams up with his usual suspects Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter to make an incredibly entertaining bloodbath of a musical.
#24 - Ratatouille - Pixar and Brad Bird score yet another hit and yet another Academy Award win with this clever story of a rat in a gourmet resteraunt.
#23 - In The Valley Of Elah - Paul Haggis' follow-up to the vastly over-rated Crash, In The Valley Of Elah is a sharp and gut-churning drama that only barely lets it's foot off the gas at the end, keeping it from a higher score.
#22 - I'm Not There - Another weird movie from Todd Haynes, I'm Not There uses a series of actors and one actress to tell the life story of Bob Dylan, though Dylan is never actually named. Cate Blanchett plays Dylan for most of the movie and does the best job, remarkably.
#21 - Michael Clayton - Great performances permeate from every corner of the screen in this sharp and engrossing 70's throwback starring Tilda Swinton in an Academy Award winning performance and George Clooney and Tom Wilkinson in roles that could have won if this wasn't such an extraordinary year.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
New Shit This Week
DVDs:
BUY:
Beowulf - The visuals and the story in this movie are outstanding. I almost bought this one in Blu-Ray, but it's gonna look good enough on my upconvert DVD that it wasn't worth the extra money.
RENT:
30 Days Of Night - For a vampire movie, it's pretty good. For a movie, not so much.
The Darjeeling Limited - I damn near bought this one, but I figure there will be a Criterion Collection release at some point in the future, so I'm holding off for now.
Death At A Funeral - The indie farce that had a moderate amount of success, but never played in a theater near me. It should be worth a look.
Goya's Ghosts - I know nothing about this movie, but it's supposed to be fairly decent, so I'll give it a chance.
CDs:
Borrow It:
Rocket From The Crypt - R.I.P. - A cool band to be sure, but they don't really have a sure thing track record in my book.
BUY:
Beowulf - The visuals and the story in this movie are outstanding. I almost bought this one in Blu-Ray, but it's gonna look good enough on my upconvert DVD that it wasn't worth the extra money.
RENT:
30 Days Of Night - For a vampire movie, it's pretty good. For a movie, not so much.
The Darjeeling Limited - I damn near bought this one, but I figure there will be a Criterion Collection release at some point in the future, so I'm holding off for now.
Death At A Funeral - The indie farce that had a moderate amount of success, but never played in a theater near me. It should be worth a look.
Goya's Ghosts - I know nothing about this movie, but it's supposed to be fairly decent, so I'll give it a chance.
CDs:
Borrow It:
Rocket From The Crypt - R.I.P. - A cool band to be sure, but they don't really have a sure thing track record in my book.
New Movies This Week
SEE IT:
Semi-Pro: Will Ferrell in the 70's is almost always funny. This movie was a bit of a let-down, but it was still worth the viewing.
The Other Boleyn Girl: Granted, I've pretty much seen this movie on Showtime as The Tudors, but the film has one of the best casts of anything so far this year, so it's worth a look.
Penelope: It's been sitting on the shelf for a long time, but again, it features a lot of actors that I respect, so I'll probably check it out if I get an opportunity.
Semi-Pro: Will Ferrell in the 70's is almost always funny. This movie was a bit of a let-down, but it was still worth the viewing.
The Other Boleyn Girl: Granted, I've pretty much seen this movie on Showtime as The Tudors, but the film has one of the best casts of anything so far this year, so it's worth a look.
Penelope: It's been sitting on the shelf for a long time, but again, it features a lot of actors that I respect, so I'll probably check it out if I get an opportunity.
Modern Rock Update
Albums:
Nothing significant.
Modern and Mainstream Rock:
#1's:
Modern: The Foo Fighters - "Long Road To Ruin"
Mainstream: Puddle Of Mudd - "Psycho"
Debuts:
Modern: The Sick Puppies - "My World" - #20
Mainstream: 3 Doors Down - "It's Not My Time - #14
Apocalypta - "I'm Not Jesus" - #17
10 Years - "Beautiful" - #20
Nothing significant.
Modern and Mainstream Rock:
#1's:
Modern: The Foo Fighters - "Long Road To Ruin"
Mainstream: Puddle Of Mudd - "Psycho"
Debuts:
Modern: The Sick Puppies - "My World" - #20
Mainstream: 3 Doors Down - "It's Not My Time - #14
Apocalypta - "I'm Not Jesus" - #17
10 Years - "Beautiful" - #20
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