Game of Thrones

Why Captain America Turned Nazi And Other Fan Theories (Cross Talk Ep.6)

Posted on by Tim Kuefler

Fandom is broken.

Well, that’s what Devin Faraci of Birth. Movies. Death. would have us believe anyway.

Now, normally I don’t like to indulge the reaction post/video side of humanity on the Internet because I find doing so to be far too specific and not in the least satisfying – The problem being that creating content around a “trending topic” runs the risk of quickly becoming dated and it’s often not broad enough to build an entire timotheories sized post on.

Sure, I could do something everyone likes, like speculating on the next Angry Birds movie, but I’d prefer to write like a Shrek movie, one with many layers, sort of like an onion, because I don’t care what everyone likes.

53863670

But fortunately for you, dear readers, you’re going to get your cake and eat it too, because that Faraci article is something of a whopper and conveniently related to the topic I was going to bring up this evening anyway.

It just so happens that in doing research for Episode 6 of Cross Talk, how fandom influences studio direction, Chris came across the above article and decided to share with me. And we had a good chat about it.

But let’s get into it!

Without giving too much away, Chris and I have found a way to demonstrate the value of a measured approach to the challenge that is social media, because if you follow his logic through to it’s logical conclusion, then Faraci’s fandom has always been broken.

Faraci tells us that because of the Internet, extremists like Annie Wilkes now have a way to terrorize anyone and everyone, but what about the other side of the coin? Those who never had a voice now have potentially have one, and petitioning for artistic changes just go a lot easier.  So where did we land? And how upset are we about the Steve Rogers: Captain America #1 reveal? You’re about to find out, and I’ll give you a hint, as an artist, I happen to have a few theories on this topic.

I’ve included a direct link to the full video for you here, but as always, the real action is just below for your convenience. Otherwise, please sit back and enjoy Episode 6 of Cross Talk!

I’m out of theories for now, but please check back tomorrow for an album review that is all about Simon. It should be a good one! Please comment, subscribe and share this with you friends. We want to hear your feedback!

Tim!

The Night Is Dark, And Full Of Terrors (My Personal Murderer, Cauchemar review)

Posted on by Tim Kuefler

The Game of Thrones TV show and the book series which it is based off of, A Song of Fire and Ice, features a rather complex fantasy world with various belief systems and a cast of interesting and rich characters to fill these roles.

One of these belief systems in the world is the religion of the Lord of Light, a belief system which espouses that there are two gods, one a good god of love and light, and the other a god of darkness and evil.

This week’s Melodic Monday entry is about a band which asks questions of dark and light and hopes to share some thoughts on the duality of those themes.

But obviously life is not so simple as to be divided in this way.

Or is it?

 

 

 

My Personal Murderer – Cauchemar
released February 4, 2016
******** 8/10

cover

My Personal Murderer are a Ukrainian rock group which have been been active since 2008. Influenced by director David Lynch, the 1990s, and the socio-political environment they live in, My Personal Murderer have created three studio-length albums in the past six years.

I was very happy to hear from the band’s frontman and get an opportunity to review this album, because it’s themes are interesting and the sound distinct. I admit I had little idea what I was getting myself into, but I’m glad I said yes to Yevgen Chebotarenko. Did you know that the word Cauchemar is of French origin and means “to have a nightmare”? My Personal Murderer are a rock group with a few self-proclaimed influences, ranging from alternative, to atmospheric, depressive rock, post-punk, shoegazing, and I would also add emo into that mix.

Yevgen has an incredible control over the music and lyrics of MPM, as he is the lead vocalist, guitar player, and heart of the band, and he told me that Cauchemar the album has been a labour of love from the start. The band has seen some lineup changes from the time that the first single of the record, Constant Waiting, was put together last year, but the trio worked out the kinks and got the album out.

Yuriy Kononov plays drums currently, but Maxim Kovalchuk, who played bass, left the group midway in 2015 and was replaced by former bassist Nikita Perfiliev.

Cauchemar represents that collaboration between these three artists and a new direction for the band. The album evokes feelings of intimacy throughout, shifting from obsessions of lust, pain, spirit and struggle to grind out the themes focused in each track. The title track features a talking sequence and is one of my personal favourites on the record. With lines like “why is there nothing, if there is nothing, where did I come from?” asking questions, the tone is set up quite well. You can hear the talking sequence shift to feature background voices and eventually give way to percussion and wind instruments.

The Worm Prince traces out the actions of a body in contortion, fighting itself and attempting to excise the unwanted portions (people and emotions) and challenges with a hollowed out self, while Constant Waiting is less obvious. The melancholy is there but the lyrics on this one are curious, I can’t tell if it’s an admission of lustful guilt or a suicide note, but the pain and suffering in the story is very deliberate.

Dear Pigeon is up next and has a similar pacing, but the tone is one of both anger and empowerment, the author is aware that he suffers, but he wants the audience and players in his life to admit their limited participation and lack of commitment to his misery.

I think my other two favourites are Crawling Son and Soup For the Creature. Crawling Son has a spiritual feel and evokes a story of fallen angels, while the later includes a narrative of the end of a love story, a lover spurned, a lover lost.

Finally, comes the song Streets. This is the longest song on the record, at 9 minutes and 32 seconds. The build up for this one is pretty intense and delayed, the first three minutes are instrumentals; it then dips back and forth into instrumentals after the 5 minute mark. Another story to be told here about identity, maturation, and the struggle of isolation by defying conformity.

 

 

 

It’s important to recognize that while the members of this band are collaborating together, My Personal Murderer is a band not yet fully realized. I am willing to bet that Yevgen and the rest of the group will come into their own as they perform these songs and hone the focus of these tracks. Shoegazing is a genre of music which isn’t for everyone, but if you are interested in introspection and want to hear some solid music, give this album a try. It can be found on mypersonalmurderer.com and is worth the price of admission.

After all, the night is dark and full of terrors, and it can be scary to go it alone.

And that’s it for today, dear readers. I’ll see you tomorrow with another introspective genius review, or should I say review on an introspective genuis?

Tim!

Moonshine (The Transporter Refueled review)

Posted on by Tim Kuefler

Moonshine, white lightning or hooch if you prefer, is one of the ways that we could get alcohol if we want, and in times of great restriction like The Prohibition era, it was probably the best way.

But we don’t really need moonshine anymore, now that there are so many other kinds of alcohol out there, with interesting flavours, and which undergo incredible distillation before being released into the marketplace.

But what the heck does that have to do with this movie review? You’re about to find out.

 

 

 

The Transporter Refueled (2015)
Cast: Ed Skrein, Ray Stevenson, Loan Chabanol, Gabriella Wright, Radivoje Bukvic
Director: Camille Delamarre
released on blu-ray December 8, 2015
*** 3/10

moviepilot-exclusive-official-poster-revealed-for-the-transporter-refueled-474395

IMDB: 5.0
Rotten Tomatoes: 17%, Audience Score 32%
The Guardian: **/*****

Camille Delamarre is a French editor and director. This is his second time directing for the big screen and his previous work was the District 13 remake, Brick Mansions, which featured the greatly missed Paul Walker, David Belle, and RZA.

Brick Mansions was rated very poorly, but I personally really enjoyed it. I might be slightly biased as I am huge Paul Walker fanboy, and I’ve never seen the original District 13.

So I had high hopes. But were they misplaced?

Let’s cover the story a bit before I detail my thoughts.

 

It’s 1995 in France, and a group of teenage prostitutes see a van roll up and a man get out, then opens fire on the group. The man, a Russian named Arkady Karasov (Radivoje Bukvic) and his partners, Yuri and Leo Imasova kill many of them, but let one pimp survive to share the story. One of the girls, Anna (Loan Chabanol) is traumatized by what the events.

Meanwhile, Karasov recruits Maissa, one of the previous pimps girls as his own and she gets in his car. Karasov then yells at the other girls to get to work. Anna stands there crying.

Fast forward 15 years and Anna receives a call while eating and tells the other party that the plan is in motion.

We see a group of six thieves coveting a black Audi. The owner, Frank Martin (Ed Skrein) watches and use his phone to open the doors and knock two of them over. The gang leader notices Frank and demands the keys. But Frank disagrees and he disables them all with martials arts. But not before realizing he is now late and driving away quickly.

Frank greets his father Martin Sr. (Ray Stevenson). Martin Sr. tells his son that he late and they start discussing Martin Sr’s retirement. Frank recieves an unlisted phone call, but declines to answer while driving.

Meanwhile, Qiao is waiting in a hotel room with two men for Anna to arrive. The accountant is upset that she is late. When Anna arrives she shoots the accountant and guard almost immediately. They then drop another dead prostitute in the mix, and set the room on fire before leaving.

Frank and his father are having dinner while they discuss what Martin Sr. has planned for the future. We learn that Martin Sr. was likely a spy during this exchange just before Frank gets another call from the unlisted number. This time he answers and Anna asks him about a job. They agree to meet for 2PM the following day.

Karasov is on his yacht with Yuri, Imasova and Maissa who is now his kept woman. They learn that there has been an “accident” with the accountant.

Karasov and Maissa meet with Inspector Bectaoui (Samir Guesmi) who wants Karasov to identify the woman and if she is one of his “hostesses.” Karasov doesn’t like the implication and makes a threat to the inspector before leaving.

Frank meets with Anna and covers his terms. No names, no changing the deal mid transaction, and he cannot know what is being transported. This is for his own protection. Anna agrees and explains he will be transporting her and two packages  which total 104 kilos altogether. This will happen at the Mediterranean Bank in three hours.

 

And that is the end of that, as they say.

Pros: It is incredibly efficient and both the story and action keep up the pace quite well. If you’ve seen the original trilogy, you’ll being entertained, however mindless it is.

Cons: It’s efficient to the point of being sterile and doesn’t live up to previous entries.

Runtime: 96 minutes

Points of Interest: Ed Skrein left Game of Thrones to make this movie. This is not a prequel of how Frank Martin became The Transporter, it’s a retelling. Which is pretty telling I think.

There are so many better action movies out there at this point, that something so methodical and derivative just isn’t going to make a big enough mark. You should probably just drive away from this one.

 

 

 

Moonshine tastes pretty “good” when well made and when you don’t have a lot of options.

But it’s also incredibly powerful and can make you very sick if done wrong.

So why put yourself through that experience, especially when some people make it from car radiators? The Transporter Refueled reminds me of moonshine because it can do the basic trick of being visually interesting and fits the genre, but just isn’t as enjoyable as other offerings. Plus I don’t want anyone to be blinded by this.

See you tomorrow for some wisdom. Please leave comments and thoughts below!

Tim!