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Surveillance
Elizabethtown
(dir. Cameron Crowe)
After losing $1 Billion on behalf of the Oregon-based sneaker company (?!) he works for, hotshot designer Orlando Bloom thinks about killing himself - before the death of his father leads him on a journey of self-discovery to check out his roots in old Kentucky. On the way he meets a hottie airline steward (Kirsten Dunst), who makes him realise just how swell life can be.
It could have been a lot quicker if he'd succeeded with the early suicide, as this was pretty painful for all involved. The basic premise is a bit cheesy, but could have been really well done in an indie movie. Cameron Crowe's heavy handed recent form just pummels any glimmer of hope into distant oblivion, aided and abetted by the truly awful Orlando Bloom and a pretty average Kirsten Dunst. I only realised quite how bad the acting had been when an OK scene from Susan Sarandon seemed like the best acting I had seen in years.
Musical references are squeezed into the film at every unsuitable moment but the highlight was, of course, My Morning Jacket's appearance as the cousin's reformed band 'Ruckus', who play a blinding cover of Freebird as a tribute to the old man at his funeral.
20th Mar 2006 - 2 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Read more 1 star reviewsloose guitar man
guitar man will hodgkinson live on this week's loose ends
19th Mar 2006 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
see the way she talks…
lou, nico and john live in paris 1972:
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19th Mar 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet
coupland vs morrissey
generation x vs generation vexed: douglas coupland tries out his interviewing technique on morrissey. both have got new stuff coming out
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Ringleader of the Tormentors
jPod
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19th Mar 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet
pump me up
new superhuman muscles being developed… the world of universal soldier can 't be far off
19th Mar 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet
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Canadian Entertainment
One of the best things about Canada is the fact that The Kids In The Hall is on every night. In fact most TV in Canada seemed to date from 1994, which generally was not a good thing. Luckily we brought our own entertainment in the form of Marx Brothers movies on DVD. Hear Harpo speak here.
17th Mar 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet
tune in, space out
ah, it turns out they can hear you scream in space (well, whistle and tweek anyhow…)
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17th Mar 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet
ATP Fallout
Some fallout is trickling through from the upcoming All Tomorrow's Parties festival.... notably Spoon and Dinosaur Jr. gigs in London.
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16th Mar 2006 - 2 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
zappa on zappa
ahmet & dweezil coming over in june, along with zappa alumni steve vai, terry bozio and napoleon murphy brock
16th Mar 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet
van parks
van morrison's going to be on parkinson, saturday 25th march 10.10pm itv1. i'm guessing he won't be doing a 20 minute version of streets of arklow…
16th Mar 2006 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
darth digital lucas
george on some of his new toys, indiana jones 4 etc, and some hints on the star wars tv series - sometime in 2007 and a bit "darker" apparently
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winter of george
star wars tv
chewie revelations
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15th Mar 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet
Riding the Brakes
Chimpomatic buddy Herbert has remixed chimp favourites Brakes' track All Night Disco Party
15th Mar 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet
Walk The Line
(dir. James Mangold)
Biopic of the young Johnny Cash, following his upbringing by his tough father following the death of his brother, his start in the music business, his being offered drugs by Elvis' cronies, addiction and constant pursuit of hottie singer June Carter.
Joachim Phoenix was nothing special and I can see why he missed out on the Oscar nod. Unfortunately the same goes for Reese Witherspoon, both were OK and you could even assume they put in reasonable impressions of their characters, it was just that the story itself itself just wasn't that interesting. There was no real drama, goal or end point and in fact it pretty much just finished after the famous Folsom prison show.
The execution was very dull, and cliched... so much so that I thought the first half was simply setting up things for some kind of dark twist which never came. When things were hard it was raining, when they were good everything was sunny. I expected more from James Mangold after Copland... but then he did also bring us Identity. He meanders us through the story, broadcasting the drama to us in cliched and obvious ways (on the phone: "Stop cryin', I can hardly hear what your saying!") and then it just comes to a fairly abrupt but not unwelcome end.
14th Mar 2006 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Read more 1.5 star reviewsSnow Report
This post is coming live from B.C, Canada, where chimp75 and marmot are hitting the slopes. Literally in marmot's case. The snow is good and weather is fine, but the crowds over the weekend were way bigger than previous trips... due to it being 'spring break'. The weekend warriors were in full effect.
Things will also hotting up in the natural heated outdoor spa later, followed by some live music in the Kicking Horse Saloon later tonight.
Updates are brought to you courtesty of the coffee shop, which now has wifi and Wilco playing on the stereo.
14th Mar 2006 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
BR UFO
british rail plans for a ufo. would it be able to deal with leaves on the line?
14th Mar 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet
constanza
you can never have enough george facts… another spot from the good dr.
13th Mar 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet
sopranos meets google maps
tony and the bada bing crew are jumping on the google maps bandwagon, with this handy map and recap to get you ready for the new series - starts tonight in the states
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12th Mar 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet
i am a tree
been noticing a string of odd signs on trees around telegraph hill recently… this one popped up outside chimp towers over night. reminds me of the work of post!man:ifesto, for those of you that go back that far
12th Mar 2006 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
live gilmour
live david gilmour concert online and on bbci (red button stuff) until 14 mar. couple of pink floyd tracks and the obligatory new ones
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12th Mar 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet
more moore
longtime c71 hero alan moore is on tonight's culture show hopefully laying into the film version of v for vendetta. bbc2 7pm and 11.20pm.
9th Mar 2006 - 2 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
pj + mmj
yes, the dream gig for some chimps - my morning jacket are supporting pearl jam. in the states…
8th Mar 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet
x3
x3 trailer up, looking better than the early reports suggest… we hope.
8th Mar 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet
super furry lobster
more new creature news: a deep sea furry lobster
8th Mar 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet
v for verdict
chimped up a v for vendetta review below, with some further reading on the alan moore vs dc comics/hollywood saga
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8th Mar 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet
V For Vendetta
(dir. James McTeigue)
Another film mining the genius of Alan Moore. And yet again, it misses the mark and makes you want to read the comic again (or should - if you haven't read it already, it's still worth a look).
This isn't as bad as the League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen or Hellblazer (haven't got round to From Hell yet). Despite a wandering Brit accent, Natalie Portman is basically ok throughout, and Hugo Weaving does a pretty interesting job behind V's mask - thankfully they resist the urge to take it off, Judge Dredd style. As it's copied from a drawing, this is actually one of the better things about the adaptation - it really looks like him.
The main problem is the muddled updating of what was basically a very time-specific attack on Thatcher's Britain. Ian Hurt works as a ranting British fascist, but it somehow seems too easy in a pantomime villain way - the evil dictators we've ended up with in real life smile a lot more.
Having a terrorist as the hero of a mainstream film is obviously going to be "shocking" for the Fox-watching demographic in the states, but the morality is still fairly clear-cut here - he's fighting an evil totalitarian Britain that's anti-gay, anti-Muslim, even anti-film, so it's not too much of a stretch to get us on his side.
The trailer makes it look like it's going to ramp up the Wachiowski-style action, but there's actually not that much - it's a much more static outing than the Matrix (although the philosphy floats closely to that level of debate at times).
Having had a quick scan of the comic again, I'm not sure it's one of my favourite Moore works any more - loved it at the time, but was never that into the art for some reason, and he's done so much that's better since - and admits as much in the accompanying essay. Watchmen's still the obvious work of unparalleled class, but his recent stuff for ABC has been great too - Top Ten, Promethea and Tom Strong especially.
It's also worth noting that Moore's been hardcore about his insistence that his name isn't anywhere on the film. Check his wiki entry for a lowdown on the on-going feud. He doesn't even get paid for having his work bastardised.
8th Mar 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet
Read more 2 star reviews
arrrrrrrrggggghhhhh
been wondering what chewie thinks about things at the moment? luckily, he's got a blog
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6th Mar 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet
Panspermia
"There is a small bottle containing a red fluid on a shelf in Sheffield University's microbiology laboratory. The liquid looks cloudy and uninteresting. Yet, if one group of scientists is correct, the phial contains the first samples of extraterrestrial life isolated by researchers."
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Observatory
Panspermia
Fred Hoyle
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6th Mar 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet
Paris Fashion Column: Sunday
Things are finally winding down in Paris, and there has been very little last minute news to add. Puffa jackets are about as high profile as the Arctic Monkeys - often tight and sometimes using parka elements in the collar. Although they haven't lookedgoodonthedancefloor-sincenineteeneightyfouraah.
The music at this year's show has been a great improvement and although the chimp contingent arrived fatally early to the big party we were given a reprival by hearing them sound check the stereo with Clap Your Hands. However, the French still don't know how to do taxis and their sandwiches suck.
More next season. Allez!
5th Mar 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet
not myspace
still don't quite get myspace, and now even more confused after finding these weird myspace entries for matt herbert and dani siciliano which definitely are not by them. all v odd.
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5th Mar 2006 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Loose Fur
Wilco are in the studio and working towards another album this year, but the Tweedy/Kotche/O'Rourke side project Loose Fur have a second album due out March 21st.
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4th Mar 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet
Paris Fashion Column: Friday
Not much news to report today. More custom All-Stars, with black skulls printed on black canvas this time. Nothing that Vans haven't been doing for years, but with the marketing muscle of their recent Nike takeover they're in a position to make us feel like we invented it personally.
A lot of people are wearing shoes where the toes curl up, which generally seem like they had 4 inch heels that have had 2 inches cut off making them sit back (springs and calipers optional). Almost as bad as hoofs in my book so stay clear.
The same goes for shoes where the heels are wide and flat, and come down from the back of the shoes, rather than the middle of the heel.
There's a cool stand here by a Brazilian shoe designer, that has a panel cut out of it where you can just see 3 pairs of feet. They have models in there, who all re-cross their legs at the same time every few minutes and you just see the shoes and feet...
More and more riding boots are about, but we're still advising that they be by-passed by the discerning buyer.
Last tip seems to be camoflauge prints, but using something unusual to create the print, like the silouette of a butterfly or something. Maybe the shape of a hand grenade. Hmm.
3rd Mar 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet
Pearl Jam
All-time favourites Pearl Jam are back in action with a new album, free single (for two days) and a world tour. It all starts on March 8th.
Plus, they have a new website, which has started already.
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3rd Mar 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet
Paris Fashion Column: Wednesday
So far, not much has really surfaced at the top of the fashion pile.
There's a lot of fur around... but not even nice fur. Mostly cheap looking patchwork jackets. Dunno what that's all about.
All-Stars have definitely dropped in popularity, after being the big thing (again) six months ago. The Japanese still seem to be rocking the All-Stars though, with many of them wearing almost patent-leather style, or in some cases metallic red. There's also some shiny puffa jacket action going on, and quite a few day-glo shoes, like boots in shiny yellow or stilettos in shiny bright green.
Footwear generally is all about boots - mostly riding-boot style.
There's a lot of army-surplus style things, although fitted shorts are noted by their absence.
The 'shift' style dress is getting a lot of attention, as it's blowing gently in a breeze and everybody wants to touch it.
Outside tip: Maternity-style dresses on regular ladies. Plus, French hems.
More to come.
2nd Mar 2006 - 3 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
what time is pete?
no, not another story where pete doherty gets arrested/gets unarrested/is actually a brilliant poet if only you'd like, listen to the lyrics maaaan, but rather the best rumour we've heard in ages: he's been made up by the KLF.
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2nd Mar 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet
Giant Squid
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...wraps it's tentacles around London
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28th Feb 2006 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Clap Your Hands Say OK
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CYHSY Review
Grizzly Bear Review
Twin Peaks Re-View
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28th Feb 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Sala Heineken - Madrid
Halfway through their set, support band Dr. Dog announce that this is the last date of their European tour with Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and give thanks for the opportunity of getting overseas and on the road with the lengthily titled headliners. And then it makes sense. They must be knackered. Having been pretty much blown away the last time I saw Dr. Dog, I couldn’t figure out why this show seemed so flat. The audience were smiling along, clearly amused by the idiot antics of the goofy frontmen kitted out in shades and woolly hats. But there was something missing, this was a performance that suggested ‘Just one more, then we’re out of here’.
The same could apply to the hugely anticipated CYHSY. Desperate punters, begging for tickets outside in the rain, hinted that the levels of hype already witnessed in their native New York and more recently London had spread to Spain. Opening with the first ’song’ on the album (not the eponymous vaudevillian number) and finishing with its closer and highlight Upon This Tidal Wave of Young Blood, with a few new tracks in between, they put on a solid show. But that was it: solid. A large part of the album’s appeal is the sense of character and fun running through it and I imagined the live show would capture this. But a largely static backing band flanked tired/shy singer Alec Ounsworth, as they worked through the numbers. This is not to say it was disappointing; the songs themselves are strong enough to grab and hold the attention, his unique vocals certainly captivate and being joined onstage by Dr. Dog and friends for the encore was definately a high point (quite literally as a Dog guitarist performed an exemplary solo from the shoulders of a burly roadie). Overall, would be worth checking out again - just to see how they operate with a full tank of gas.
28th Feb 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet
Read more 3 star reviews
Grizzly Man
(dir. Werner Herzog)
Could failing to get the part of Woody on Cheers really drive a man to turn his back on being human? This is one of the more bizarre questions that Werner Herzog's Grizzly Man poses in its troubled margins. The documentary tells the tale of a failed actor, Timothy Treadwell, who spent many summers living among grizzly bears in the Alaskan wilderness. Holed up in a worryingly basic tent, Treadwell filmed many hours of himself in his self-appointed role of guardian of the bears, and Herzog has used that footage as the foundation of his own take on events. To describe Treadwell as the guardian of the bears is, in fact, not strictly accurate, for it soon emerges that he actually saw himself as one of the bears, no longer human. There are, accordingly, some truly astonishing scenes in which he is face to face with the creatures, and some even more bewildering moments at which he even loses his temper with them and tells them to back off, which they do. From a very early point in the film, though, we know that Treadwell eventually dies in his tent, along with his girlfriend, at the hands of a bear. Even though there is an audio recording of the fatal attack (it would appear that Treadwell didn't have time to remove the lens cap), Herzog decides, in a moving scene, not to include it in his film. And this is very much a documentary that is more interested in opening than closing a case. Herzog is absolutely clear in his narration about where he disagrees with Treadwell - he says, for instance, in an unintentionally hilarious moment that, unlike Timothy, he believes that the universe is nothing but chaos and bleakness - and he poses some uncomfortable questions about Treadwell's disavowal of the human and, above all, his staged self-mythologizing. (It would seem, for instance, that some of the footage was shot deliberately to give the impression that Timothy was always alone in the wilderness, even though he was regularly accompanied.) There are also many moments at which the interviews conducted by Herzog feel curiously contrived. The coroner who reports on the aftermath of the attack, for example, delivers a dramatic monologue to camera that feels (but might not be) meticulously scripted and over-rehearsed. That's not a criticism of Herzog's film, though; it's merely one of the elements that gives Grizzly Man its claws.
28th Feb 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet
Read more 5 star reviewsThat Creep Really Knows How to Roll
Look's like bowling is back in vogue, with a glitzy new lanes in Bloomsbury Place getting passed around as the place to go.
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28th Feb 2006 - 2 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
diy ctu
another one for the DIY CTU file: mobile phone tracking services are opening up their sockets and triangulating positions in the uk
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be your own jack
at least get a warning when it's happening to you
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27th Feb 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet
malaysian bigfoot update
they're closing in on the johor ape man apparantly, but keeping it a strictly local affair…
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27th Feb 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet
Twin Peaks Season One
(dir.David Lynch and others)
What's up, doc? I have just raced through all of season 1 of Twin Peaks in a couple of days. This is the first time that I've revisited it since it aired on TV in 1990. It's still great, and Cooper is still one of the greatest characters ever to appear upon our screens, but it was *very* odd to watch it in such a condensed time period. What I remember about watching it first time around is weekly mass viewings in halls of residence that took up almost all of a term. (Chimp71 might even remember the occasion on which we had to bribe people to join the Twin Peaks gang, just so that we outnumbered the people who wanted to watch something on the other channel in the TV room. And then there was the night on which we really couldn't make up the numbers, which led to far too many people piling into my room to watch the show on my ancient, unreliable B&W portable TV). Stretching the viewing experience out over a couple of months clearly made season 1 feel more epic than it actually is - I really felt this time around that it was a small, perfectly-formed, tightly-plotted gem. And my memory clearly can't be trusted: I remember lots of visits to 'the red room', but there's just *one* in the whole series. I'm assuming that the scenes I've remembered are from season 2, so we'll just have to wait for that to appear on DVD.
27th Feb 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet
Read more 5 star reviewsMulti-National
The National's awesome album Alligator has been expanded and re-launched with some of their excellent b-sides and videos, presumably after snagging several top spots in the best-of-2005 lists. Not being ones to rip-off the early adopters however, you can use the UPC code on the original CD to log in and download the 5 bonus tracks and 3 videos.
Plus, they even have an OSX widget.
Plus, they're supporting Editors on a UK tour, then playing their own gig at the Scala on May 31st. (booked. boom.)
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Get the music. Get the widget.
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25th Feb 2006 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
scale
interview w that boy herbert over on the ever-reliable pitchfork about his new album scale, which has been going down nicely in chimp towers recently (along w dani siciliano's equally excellent second album slappers); also some details about the radiohead covers album (including matt and mara carlyle doing Nice Dream.) loving moving like a train on scale and why can't i get you high so far… out soonish on k7!
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24th Feb 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet