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Controlled Explosions
With new album Take Care, Take Care, Take Care released on April 18th on Bella Union, Chimpomatic favourites Explosions in the Sky have released their first preview of the album. The track Trembling Hands is more direct than much of the band's previous work ...and provides a taster of what to expect next month. I for one, cannot wait.
8th Mar 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
Nazi 3D Films Discovered
I thought this was an Onion spoof when I first saw it, but apparently the Nazis were shooting in 3D as far back as 1936 - 16 years before Hollywood first started its tedious flirtation with the gimmick.
They probably invented it so they could shoot Iron Sky in the format.
8th Mar 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
Skate or die: The Get By - Skating NYC
In support of last year's New York-set dramedy How To Make It In America, HBO made this nice little film The Get By - documenting the New York skate scene.
The show also features references to a supposed New York skate 'legend' - Wilfredo Gomez ... a film about whom you can see above.
7th Mar 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
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New My Morning Jacket: Circuital
"I want it to sound like we're Cuban or Cambodian kids, and we're wearing berets and we're walking through an alley and we stumble upon this band, and it explodes into this crazy sing-along."
My Morning Jacket have a new album - Circuital - out this spring. Make of that what you will. The good news:
"We want people to have almost the exact opposite experience they had last time. I definitely had some goals of wanting to make this one warmer and somehow more contained and more concise of a statement."
Via Rolling Stone
4th Mar 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
Simulated Return From Mars
We reported on the simulated mission to Mars in April 2009 - and now after a two week simulated holiday on the red planet, our trusty simulated astronauts are heading back, for a simulated landing in November 2011.
Via Engadget (including simulation joke)
P.S. Don't miss their write up on the 100 Year Starship initiative to send ageing astronauts on a one-way mission to Mars by 2030.
3rd Mar 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
Trailer Park: Easy Rider - The Ride Back
No, it's not a porno remake - it's an actual sequel/prequel to 60's classic Easy Rider. Not sure how connected the production actually is with the original. According to the blurb:
"The long awaited prequel/sequel to one of the highest grossing independent films of all time, "Easy Rider" defined the thoughts and values of a generation. EASY RIDER: THE RIDE BACK shows through flashbacks how these much loved characters became the classic icons of a generation."
Looks like a total turd to me.
1st Mar 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
Monkeys
New, chimp-friendly short up from bluetongue films - the collective behind Animal Kingdom and Hesher, as well as numerous outstanding short films.
1st Mar 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
Bass Notes: The film posters of Saul Bass
The Kemistry gallery on Charlotte Road in Shoreditch are running an exhibition of some of Saul Bass' poster until March 17th.
Mon-Fr: 10-6pm
Sat 11-4pm
Entrance is free
1st Mar 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
Hesher Vision: Old Men With Lightsabers
Joseph Gordon-Levitt's new film Hesher seems to be building up some viral promo. Check out Hesher's own YouTube and Facebook pages.
1st Mar 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
Irina Werning: Back To The Future
Take a look at Irina Werning's lovely photo project Back To The Future, which re-creates childhood photos years later.
28th Feb 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
Low Flying Aircraft
Great shot of a low-flying airplane over Russell Square. Via Google Maps.
25th Feb 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
Trailer Park: Hesher
Joseph Gordon-Levitt gets in touch with his inner hesher, in Sundance hit Hesher. Starring Natalie Portman too, of course.
21st Feb 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
Promo Promo: Radiohead - Lotus Flower
It seems to be UK only, so I haven't actually watched it here in Berlin - but I'm assuming the new Radiohead video for 'Lotus Flower' will be worth a few minutes of your time.
My copy of the new album will arrive in approximately 14 minutes. German WIFI. Bah!
18th Feb 2011 - 3 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
The Big Picture: World Press Photo winners
The Big Picture has a round up of some of the winners from the 2011 World Press Photo awards.
15th Feb 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
Promo Promo: Foo Fighters - White Limo
Sabotage-esque video up for new Foo Fighters track White Limo. With added Lemmy.
14th Feb 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
Babelfish in your pocket
Google's Babelfish gizmo now comes in app format for iPhone - allowing you to stick a mic in the face of some innocent Japanese person and translate what they are saying to you. Or vice versa.
Android version here.
10th Feb 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
New Strokes: Under Cover of Darkness
First Impressions of this: they've turned their back on the critically panned (but awesome) sound of First impressions of Earth for the casual pop sing-a-long style of their debut.
MP3 here.
10th Feb 2011 - 2 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
The Creme Bru-log
Wacky pranksters M. Ward and Jim James have a new website - reviewing crème brûlée from around the world. Possibly including Paris, France.
Let's hope they put this much effort into each of their new albums.
9th Feb 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
Ad Nauseum: Superbowl Special
At $3m for 30 seconds (or something like that), a spot during the Superbowl ad break is advertising nirvana, with many advertisers creating special spots that air only once. Nothing particularly flashy about this one ...just a clever idea, well made. With a very large licensing budget.
7th Feb 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
Ad Nauseum: The Psychology of Mad Men
Great article over at the BBC Blogs looking into some of the psychology and thinking behind the advertising boom of the 1950's and 60's.
7th Feb 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
The Big Picture: Space Shuttle Challenger
It was the 25th anniversary of the Challenger disaster last week - a traumatising event that I remember watching on live TV as a child and one that would set back the space programme by many years.
Via The Big Picture
1st Feb 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
Trailer Park: Beginners
Indie alert: trailer up for Mike Mills' new feature - Beginners, with Ewan McGregor and Christopher Plummer. Think there might be some idea-pooling going on in the Mills' household. Wife Miranda July's latest movie The Future is narrated by a cat.
31st Jan 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
Promo Promo: She & Him
Promo up for "Don't Look Back" from M.Ward / Zooey Deschanel side-project She & Him.
28th Jan 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
Blue Tongue Films
I was so impressed by David Michod's debut feature Animal Kingdom that I've spent the last few days stalking him and his friends on the internet. Turns out they have a film collective called BlueTonguefilms that have put out a swathe of excellent short films, including Crossbow (something of a precursor to Animal Kingdom) and Oscar Nominee Miracle Fish. Also don't miss the excellent Netherland Dwarf, or Nash Edgerton's Spider.
11th Jan 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
MCA Health Update
Good news, Beastie Boy MCA is apparently in good shape after battling cancer. Hot Sauce Committee Part II will be arriving soon and alter-ego Nathanial Hornblower even has a film in the Sundance Film Festival.
7th Jan 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
Best of 2010
CSF
Just because most of our 2010 reviews have been happening on Twitter doesn't mean quality music hasn't be coming in thick and fast this year. Here's my top 5 for 2010:
Abe Vigoda - Crush
Probably my most unexpected favourite for 2010, Crush finds LA Smell regulars Abe Vigoda moving up a notch to make their most accessible album yet. If a band like this can ever hit the mainstream, this is certainly great prep - like Interpol with more ideas and better beats.
The Soft Pack - The Soft Pack
The San Diego post-punkers graduate from community college with straight A's in 'chorus'. After a lot of hype and a fairly average live sighting, I was surprised to find myself so engaged with this first album proper. Side A rules.
LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening
The bubble may have burst as LCD Soundsystem set to disband, but there was still time for one last go-around. Not quite as ace as Sound of Silver, but with tracks like 'All I Want' and 'Home', it's still stuffed with classics.
Spoon - Transference
Harnessing all their studio 'accidents' into another masterfully produced masterpiece, Spoon yet again deliver a five star album. So consistent I almost forget about them. Some great slow burners on here.
Black Mountain - Wilderness Heart
Almost forgot this one ...which is a surprise considering how bombastic it is. After the note perfect In The Future, Black Mountain had no hope of topping getting even better just yet, but the least they could do was shore up their legend. Old Fangs and the title track cruised into their best-ever playlist.
DULY NOTED: Weezer - Hurley / Pinkerton Deluxe
With their departure from a major label, it seemed certain that Weezer would put aside all the contractually-obliging crap they're been churning out and finally release a great record again. Nope. Hurley crawled back up to a 3, but luckily the time had come for a deluxe edition of 90's classic Pinkerton. A re-release shouldn't be anyone's best album in a decade, but this one is stuffed full of long-lost tracks, b-sides and oddities - plus it's getting a five star rating for being overlooked the first time round.
Monsters was a great movie. Somewhere one of the worst ever. Kings of Leon, The National and Band of Horses all disappointed. Roll on 2011.
1st Jan 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
Read more 5 star reviews
Slow Motion Fruit
What's so special about a cheesy ad with some slow motion fruit?
31st Dec 2010 - Add Comment - Tweet
The 1930's in Colour
Been meaning to put this up for a while: a great set of early colour photos from the Library of Congress. It's so strange to see an era we are so accustomed to seeing in black and white represented in such vivid colour. For the first time, you feel that these are real people that you can relate to as humans. So real that the photos look magically art directed.
Via Vincent Laforet
30th Dec 2010 - Add Comment - Tweet
Xmas, North Korean Style
More killer visuals from The Guardian's Dan Chung. It's the East vs West on the technology front too, with the North Korean reporters still packing suits, wooden tripods and film cameras.
29th Dec 2010 - Add Comment - Tweet
The Babelfish is here...
...but only in Spanish for now. Amazing video of an augmented reality app that converts written text between English and Spanish. In reality it's apparently not quite as slick as the video, but not far off.
Via Engadget
21st Dec 2010 - Add Comment - Tweet
Trailer Park: Tree of Life
I rate him as one of the greatest living directors alongside Peter Weir, so you can imagine how excited I was when the trailer for Terrence Malick's Tree of Life came online today. I already watched a hooky bootleg last week, but now it's in glorious 1080p over at Apple.
Looks great, but still no real expalnation of what it's about ...with a retro life story seemingly juxtaposed with some sort of sc-fi element. I love movies.
15th Dec 2010 - Add Comment - Tweet
This Year's Biggest Pictures
As the end of the year approaches, The Big Picture have curated part one of their annual pictures of the year article. Some great photos as usual.
It's not all chimp friendly vistas of Hong Kong skylines and snowboarding however, with earthquakes dominating this year's selection.
UPDATE: Part 2 of 3 can be found here.
#CSF
#CurrentAffairs
#Photography
15th Dec 2010 - Add Comment - Tweet
The Assassination of Yogi Bear, by the Coward Boo Boo
Great Yogi Bear / Jesse James mash-up online at YouTube, giving the bears some real emotion.
14th Dec 2010 - Add Comment - Tweet
Promo Promo: Sour Mirror
Another incredible HTML5 video, not unlike Arcade Fire's recent effort - but actually a bit cleverer.
As with all these smart ass things though, it won't work on phones or ipads - and you need to allow pop up windows.
#CSF
#Music
#PromoPromo
#Websites
10th Dec 2010 - Add Comment - Tweet
14 Actors Acting
Nice photo + video piece over at The New York Times, with 14 Hollywood A-listers playing 14 classic film archetypes. James Franco comes out well as usual, but so do Michael Douglas, Tilda Swinton and others.
Shot by photographer Solve Sundsbo, on the forthcoming Red Epic digital cinema camera.
10th Dec 2010 - Add Comment - Tweet
Mad Men: Starring You
We're a little off the bleeding edge with this one, but here's a great lazy greetings card template for you: Mad Men starring YOU.
9th Dec 2010 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
The All-new Beastie Boys
Seth Rogen, Elijah Wood and Danny McBride will play the Beastie Boys in MCA/Nathanial Hornblower's short film "Fight for Your Right Revisited", which will debut in the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. Details are thin at the moment, but it appears the film will address all those unanswered questions of what happened following the original video....
8th Dec 2010 - Add Comment - Tweet
Trailer Park: Nice Beaver
It's release has been on ice since his recent meltdown, but Mel Gibson's new flick The Beaver could just break that ice....
6th Dec 2010 - Add Comment - Tweet
RIP: Irvin Kershner
More sad news today, director Irvin Kershner has died. In many ways he's a little known director, but to every chimp he is the man responsible for lifting the Star Wars saga from 'blockbuster' to 'epic'. His fantastic touch on The Empire Strikes Back elevated Star Wars into a totally different league, with classy assured direction and some beautifully storyboarded scenes - particularly those light on effects. A true master.
29th Nov 2010 - Add Comment - Tweet
RIP: Leslie Nielsen
RIP comedy legend Leslie Nielsen. And don't call him Shirley.
29th Nov 2010 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Google Googles
Ever since Shazam wowed the world with their call-this-premium-number-to-ID-some-music trick, I've been wondering when the concept will expand to other searches - such as faces, book covers, posters and more. Google goggles does that through their Google App.
Only problem is, if it's a book cover you can probably already tell what it is, by the power of eyes. Check out two tests below of stuff in my office. Goggles ID'd Jennifer Aniston OK, but for some reason they think the Chimpomatic logo belongs to The Misfits...
28th Nov 2010 - Add Comment - Tweet
Plane Graveyard
Ever wondered where that airplane graveyard that looks so good in films and on TV is? It's here.
18th Nov 2010 - Add Comment - Tweet
The Beatles on iTunes
Bore me again. The Beatles are finally on iTunes, and as usual it's in their own rip-off style. £10.99 for each album, £17.99 (!) for the double disc greatest hits albums and the white album.
The Rolling Stones meanwhile are happy to stick to the standard prices that everyone else uses. You can even get Beggars Banquet for £4.99 or Hot Rocks for £8.99...
16th Nov 2010 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
1080p is the VHS of the future
How's that 47", 1080p, Full HD-ready TV working out for you? Nice try, but it's already out-of-date. What you really want is a Super Hi-Vision plasma screen, capable of a resolution of 7680x4320 - 16 x better than 1080p.
OK there is a projector, but while the TV sets don't exist yet (you can use 4 x 4K sets together) the camera does - and the BBC and Japan's NHK just did a test broadcast of a studio session from The Charlatans. Not quite sure how that content decision came about.
The quality is so clear that a special lens had to be built to cope, and much like 3DTV, the format has dictated a shooting style of its own - with a single camera wide-shot being so big and clear that the viewer would be distracted by too much editing and can just cast their eyes around the screen instead.
Watch more at the BBC
16th Nov 2010 - Add Comment - Tweet
Muji Apps
With smart phones and iPads starting to replace old-school hardware like the notebook, Muji must have started to question the future of their cute little business. Luckily, they decided to digitalise their offerings and now have a range of iPad Apps out.
Muji Notebook
Muji Calendar
Muji To Go
Muji Apparel App
Muji Notebook could be fun, but at $4 I don't really need to find out. Calendar doesn't suggest it will work any better than Apple's own calendar, but Muji To Go sounds like fun ... and it might just help me to wear the right clothes for the weather. A problem I have never quite conquered.
15th Nov 2010 - Add Comment - Tweet
Trailer Park: Battle Los Angeles
Only the use of autotune seems to differentiate the trailer for Battle Los Angeles from Independence Day, but it might just be enough.
12th Nov 2010 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Trailer Park: Blitz
The boys are back in town for this Jason Statham-led UK serial killer thriller, also starring Paddy Considine and that irish guy that's the mayor in The Wire ....who steals this trailer with one of his lines: "I want a lawyer and a sandwich. And I want to update my Facebook status."
11th Nov 2010 - 2 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Ad Nauseum: Call of Duty Black Ops
BC and I spent a good amount of time shooting stuff with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, and I doubt this update will be any easier to resist. Clever ad too.
All-digital trailer below.
10th Nov 2010 - Add Comment - Tweet
Break it down...
Ever wondered who that was ranting about parking tickets on DJ Shadow's Stem/Long Stem? Turns out it was Murray Roman (not Elliot Gould, surprisingly). A question I finally answered thanks to www.whosampled.com - a database of beats and pieces listing all types of loops and lifts.
"Traffic offences! Bah! Parking tickets!"
9th Nov 2010 - Add Comment - Tweet