USA

Post-it Notes (Jeff Rosenstock, POST- review)

Posted on by Tim Kuefler

Making music isn’t something for everyone, but everyone needs music in their life. When economic anxiety has become the new buzz term to describe the state of western nations, then I think it only makes sense for an artist to come on the scene and shake things up.

 

Jeff Rosenstock – POST-

released March 23, 2018
********* 9/10

Jeff Rosenstock is an American musician and songwriter hailing from Long Island, New York. He’s been involved in a ska band (The Arrogant Sons of Bitches), an indie rock group (Kudrow), and a musical collective (Bomb the Music Industry!). It was only six years ago that Bomb the Music Industry! split up and Rosenstock had to decide what to do with himself. After a bit of deliberation he launched his solo career in 2012.

In those six years he has released three studio albums, We Cool?, Worry, and POST-. POST- was released digitally on January 1, 2018 to the surprise of so many people. It has since been issued through Polyvinyl and to generally favourable reviews – Most of the songs were created shortly after the 2016 presidential election and reflect Rosenstock’s disenfranchisement with national pride, non-confidence in people, and disbelief in himself.

it’s equal places angry and fun, something we could all do with in 2018. While that sounds incredibly daunting–and like a really tiring listen–the album’s most impressive trait is that it makes all that vital work feel joyous and communal

USA tells a story about the never-ending civil war of America, having never ended but instead become even more charged over time. It’s a strong opener and features lines like “we’re tired and bored” and “et tu USA” which smartly sounds like F U USA. Then we have Yr Throat and Powerlessness, which have a subtle taste of hope about bridging communication, but ultimately raise doubt whether America is worth the trouble.

Continuing this trend are All This Useless Energy and Beating My Head Against A Wall. Both tracks are strong indicators of what happens in the face of futile odds. Most surprising to me though is Let Them Win. A song about the importance of working together to combat evil behaviour and focus on we instead of you and I.

TV Stars reminds you of a Billy Joel song, and even has a reference to piano-playing, but most importantly there is a theme about loneliness and the fear of it, throughout the track. This also shows up on the next song, Melba, which it is probably the most happy song of the lot, and hilarious if you pay attention to the lyrics. Oddly enough it also reminds me of another song – I’ll have to get back to you on what that is exactly.

Pros: The energy of each song is amazing, and how Rosenstock manages to inject fun into such sweeping epics of ideas is something I haven’t seen in a while. Tackling difficult topics comes naturally to him.

Cons: Rosenstock is a victim of his own success. It mimics Me Too! but unfortunately isn’t quite as interesting as that initial outing.

Runtime: 40 minutes

Points of Interest: It was written and recorded mere weeks before it’s January 1 release date. Most of it  was recorded live onto tape, giving it a very lo-fi and earnest sound.

Now all that shared, POST- might not be Jeff Rosenstock’s best work to date, but it is far and above more entertaining/meaningful then so much other music that’s been released this year. This is a spiritual successor to other punk concept albums like American Idiot and The Monitor. It’s heartfelt, DIY, modern punk music, and I think it’s pretty damn accessible too.

theories Summarized

It’s cathartic and painful, bright and worrisome –  an anthem of economic anxiety as it were. POST- was given away for free on New Years Day, but I’d happily pay for it a second time if I were given the choice. It’s that good.

And speaking of albums I would happily buy a second time if it ever came up, Brendon and I have a great video review on the 2005 debut album Silent Alarm. This is essential Bloc Party listening and it features so many danceable tracks on it. Definitely worth a sit down. Or twenty.

I can’t believe that album is over a decade old already, but it was easily in my top five records for that year, and has been on heavy rotation ever since!

And remember, if you liked what you saw, and/or enjoyed what you read, please click on the like button, and even better, subscribe to the channel and my mailing list! I’ll be back tomorrow with a film review on The Shape of Water. A divisive film, yes, but I have an interesting theory on why it actually deserved to win so many Academy Awards.

Tim!

A Figure Of Speech (Hidden Figures review)

Posted on by Tim Kuefler

When given the space to work, we are capable of incredible things. So how is it that skin and gender are still considered barriers to greatness?

 

Hidden Figures (2016)

Cast: Taraji P. Hensen, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monae, Kevin Costner, Kirsten Dunst, Jim Parsons, Mahershala Ali, Aldis Hodge, Glen Powell
Director: Theodore Melfi
re-released on blu-ray April 11, 2017
******* 7/10

IMDB: 7.8
Rotten Tomatoes: 93%, Audience Score 93%
The Guardian: ****/*****

Theodore Melfi is an American director, producer, and writer of whom I could dig up very little information on. Melfi has only recently stepped up into the role of director, with the Billy Murray film St. Vincent being his first time at the helm, and Hidden Figures as his second outing.

Luckily for us, his involvement with the film industry has been a fairly measured one, which began in 1998, on a whim, by helping raise money for the film Park Day. So humble and full of admiration for this story is Mefli that he turned down the opportunity to direct Spider-Man: Homecoming over Hidden Figures…which blows me away, personally.

That mentioned, what follows is a very brief overview of the film, and to give a sense of how it unfolds.

 

Set in 1960s America, and taking place near Cape Canaveral, we watch the stories of mathematician Katherine C. Johnson (Taraji P. Hensen) (formerly Goble), engineer Mary Jackson (Janelle Monae) and computer supervisor Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer) as they work for NASA during the space race to put a man into orbit around the Earth. Taking place at NASA primarily, we watch these human computers fight for equal rights as both women and minority figures on campus.

All three woman are in the midst of proving themselves to their peers, and especially outperforming many of them, much to the shock of the average NASA scientist, like lead mathematician Paul Stafford (Jim Parsons), head supervisor Vivian Mitchell (Kirsten Dunst) and floor director Al Harrison (Kevin Costner), though Harrison is not portrayed with prejudice, only as stern in his approach to success.

We also see into these women’s lives and watch them address family matters and challenges associated with romantic relationships. For instance, Goble eventually enters into a romantic relationships with the recently returned Colonel Jim Johnson (Mahershala Ali), who initially repels her with an ill-made comment about women and mathematics.

Based on true stories surrounding these three legendary women who helped John Glenn (Glen Powell) up until his launch date, Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, and Katherine Johnson truly are well deserved pillars for any of us who struggle with gender, race, and professional boundaries but have a desire to to bring something good into the world.

A familiar story of triumph over adversity, Hidden Figures offers a unique slant in the tone being set with the content and the performances that drive the action forward. All three arcs work well together, with a little more time being spent on the growth of Katherine Johnson and her supporting cast-mates. It never holds your hand on the issues of the day, but instead faces them indirectly so that you can might better glide through a key moment in history.

Yes, it is incredibly heart-warming and very much an easy to digest movie, but the fact that it is able to look at crucial women in the history of NASA without pandering too heavily to us, is a very odd thing to experience.

Pros: An uncomplicated story which gives some well merited screen time to people that did great things for humanity. It also does well to elevate the profiles of Hensen, Spencer and Monae; with Monae stealing the show every turn she gets.

Cons: I can’t help but wonder if a story about great people deserves greater treatment for its characters and more details coming through each scene… And if it has any real staying power in coming years.

Runtime: 2 hours 7 minutes

Points of Interest: The coffee brand used in Katherine’s work area is significant, it was Chock Full o’Nuts, which was one of the first corporations to hire a black executive at a VP level. The man Chock Full o’Nuts  hired was retired baseball legend Jackie Robinson, the first person to break the color barrier in professional baseball. Also, the set used for Dorothy Vaughan’s house is actually an historic house in Atlanta, where civil rights pioneers Ralph Abernathy and Martin Luther King met.

Hidden figures manages to entertain and showcase great performances from its three leads, but I have to wonder if the feel-good angle was the right way to to go with this story.

theories Summarized

Overall, Hidden Figures is an excellent film from an entertainment perspective and does great work in highlighting the efforts of those black women who made major contributions to the space race happening during the Cold War. Odd that echoes technological advancement and racism throughout it’s story in a time when that is exactly what we seem to be experiencing a lot of of.

And man do I ever wish that was only a theory, but we really do need to be vigilant in the face of these injustices.

Tim!

Bittersweet Symphony (Arca, Arca review)

Posted on by Tim Kuefler

 

Let we forget, music doesn’t always have to have lyrics, and sometimes it’s even more beautiful when it does have lyrics, but we don’t understand the lyrics that we’re listening to. Because of language barriers.

Just something mull over in preparation of this week’s review.

Arca – Arca

released April 7, 2017
********* 9/10

 

Alejandro Ghersi, better known by his stage name Arca, is a Venezuelan electronic DJ, songwriter and producer. He has released three studio albums to-date, including the self-titled Arca (which I’m about to review). Ghersi has worked with artists like Bjork and Kanye West, so you know he’s legit.

Born into a wealthy family, Ghersi has previously lived in the United States and currently lives in London, England. His music is incredibly beautiful to listen to. Full of production value, interesting and complimentary sounds, and sometimes it is creepy as fuck too. Like that album cover, man does that ever give me the heeby jeebies.

This is the first album to feature Ghersi singing in Spanish, which is probably why it feels both foreign and familiar to me. I’m not completely without understanding of the French language, and there are some similarities between French and Spanish, plus my girlfriend understands Spanish, so I’d be remiss not to mention that. And I’m just going to out and say it, but I don’t know why electronic music is so capable of elevating itself to the same level as classical organ rich hymns, but Arca has managed yet again to entertain a strong reign over the spiritual, while upending it with his own battles of sexuality and identity.

Ghersi has been making music since he was young, and his dedication to piano as well as explorations of electronic landscapes have allowed him to transition from pianist, to synth pop teenage dream artist, to electronic guru.

Arca is a combination of those things, and also none of them. You can hear the pop throughout different parts of the album, and the amphitheatre effects are a credit of his technical training, but it’s when they are combined with his experiences as producer that we can see how the chaotic and vibrant sounds of electronic music can make this all work together.

I kind of hate to make comparisons, but it reminds me of the experiences I had listening to Sampha and his album Process a few month ago. The emotion is there, it is raw and visceral like when I listen to the track Child or Piel. There is humour found in Whip and simplicity within Coraje.

This is a soundscape and a place for intimacy. Ghersi admits that Spanish is the language he first learned to process emotion with, so it makes sense that we can feel the emotion in his lyrics when we listen closely, Anoche provides the most vulnerability that Ghersi is comfortable with.

I find myself oddly happy to be writing this post, because at first I thought I would have nothing to say about Arca and Arca. And yet, as I’ve mentioned this is an album without consequence of lyrics. Conceptually it makes me very happy to just enjoy the music and not get caught up in the intent, instead the production and emotion speaks clearly. I could see this being played at a club, in a performance piece, during a play, and even at an art gallery – it has that much range

Like an opera.

theories Summarized

 

Arc of the past few years would have expected you construct your own narrative from his work, but this time around, it’s all there on display for the world to take in and sit with. The majesty and the pageantry of sound that is Arca is both a backdrop and the main event. I don’t know you can listen to this and not be affected by it in some way, and I have this theory that no matter your personal outcome, Arca will get along just fine.

Tim!

Something Is Leaking (Snowden review)

Posted on by Tim Kuefler

There have been dozens of spy films over the years, and the sub-genre is strongly associated with the Jame Bond franchise to be sure, but what do you say to a film that is not your typical gun wielding action hero?

Films like The Lives of Others and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy come to mind, but I bet you wouldn’t expect a biopic to fit the bill, now would you?

 

 

 

Snowden (2016)

Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Melissa Leo, Zachary Quinto, Rhys Ifans, Shailene Woodley, Tom Wilkinson
Director: Oliver Stone
released on blu-ray December 27, 2016
******** 8/10

snowden_movie_poster__2015__by_nabilstevieg-d8kd87l

IMDB: 7.4
Rotten Tomatoes: 61%, Audience Score 73%
The Guardian: ****/*****

 

Oliver Stone is an academy awarding winning writer, director and producer. Known for his tendency to focus on American political issues, Stone is something of a controversial director. He has directed Platoon, Born on the Fourth of July, Heaven & Earth, Wall Street (and its sequel), The Doors, JFK, Nixon, and W. Snowden is his latest film and maintains the pace for addressing difficult subject material.

Snowden is based on a a series of books called The Snowden Files by Luke Harding and Time of the Octopus by Anatoly Kucherena. It has received mixed reviews and is a box office disappointment, only grossing $34 million worldwide on a budget of $40 million.

Based on the story of Edward Snowden, former computer professional for the CIA and former contractor for the United States government. Snowden is a whistleblower that leaked classified information from the NSA in 2013 without any authorization. He has revealed that the US and European governments had been working with telecommunications companies to run global surveillance and without any knowledge from the general public.

The movie opens with Snowden (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) meeting in Hong Kong with documentarian Laura Poitras (Melissa Leo) and journalist Glenn Greenwald (Zachary Quinto). They discuss releasing the classified NSA information which Snowden has stored in a Rubik’s Cube.

As the movie progresses we see a series of flashbacks of Snowden’s time in the US army, his administrative discharge over a fractured tibia, application for a position with the Central Intelligence Agency, and what he learns working with his employers.

Corbin O’Brian (Rhys Ifans) decides to take him on, and Snowden is educated in the ways of cyber warfare. He learns about the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which circumvents the Fourth Amendment rights of U.S. citizens by allowing warrant requests to be approved by a panel of judges that were appointed by the chief justice. During this time Snowden also meets Lindsay Mills over a dating website (Shailene Woodley), they hit it off, though they have different belief systems. Snowden’s first post is in Geneva Snowden where he begins to question the ethics of what they do. After his superior tries to force a DUI on a target of theirs, Snowden resigns the CIA.

Taking a position with the NSA in Japan, Snowden builds backup program of Middle East data called Epic Shelter. He slowly learns that other countries are employing similar practices, and working together on a global surveillance program. The stress of this knowledge and the job leads to a breakup with Mills.

A few months later, leaves this job and returns to Maryland to reconcile with Mills and he take a position consulting for the CIA. During a hunting trip, O’Brian asks for Snowden’s help counterattacking Chinese hackers. Snowden becomes epileptic, and Mills moves with him to Hawaii for his health, while Snowden works on this new post. Snowden learns that Epic Shelter has been repurposed to assist U.S. drones in launching lethal strikes against terror suspects in Afghanistan.

Snowden reaches his breaking point and smuggles a microSD card out of The Tunnel via the previously mentioned Rubik’s Cube. He asks Mills to fly home and contacts Poitras and Greenwald for a meet. With the help of Ewen MacAskill (Tom Wilkinson), the information is disseminated to the press, and leaked over other channels as well. The three journalists help Snowden to be smuggled out of Hong Kong. However, the U.S. Government revokes his passport, forcing him to remain in Moscow. The Russian government grants him asylum and Mills joins him.

Snowden continues his to fight right now.

Pros: Gordon-Levitt communicates Snowden’s crisis of ethics well, and the supporting cast all aid in the progress of the story. It’s clear that Oliver Stone is in reverence of Edward Snowden.

Cons: The template of the action-thriller takes away from the message, and the way the story unfolds is far to safe for the subject matter at hand.

Runtime:  2 hours 14 minutes

Points of Interest: To ensure the screenplay was not hacked or leaked, Oliver Stone wrote it on single computer without internet connectivity. Oliver Stone also visited the real Edward Snowden after filming to show him a cut of the film.

Did you know that Luke Harding is a Guardian journalist and that former editor Alan Rusbridger makes a cameo in the film? When I first watched this movie in theatres I was worried that The Guardian might come out with a biased review of the film, but I was pleasantly surprised. The highlights of the film definitely came in performances by Gordon-Levitt, Woodley, and Ifans, but this is a story that asks a question we cannot ignore, and it hits the mark.

This biopic is an excellent exploration into the sub-genre and a strong urging to deal with issues of security, secrecy and privacy as they continue to evolve in our globalized world. Snowden might not be for everyone, and it is likely biased towards the viewpoint of its protagonist, but the topic is essential. And that’s all the theories I’ve got for now.

Tim!

A Dish Best Served Cold (The Man From UNCLE review)

Posted on by Tim Kuefler

The Cold War was an incredibly stressful time in the world following the fallout from WWII. And yet, there have been films set in that time period which make it seem like a time of intrigue, excitement and heat. Top Gun, X-Men: First Class, and Watchmen come to mind for me in particular.

Today’s Theatrical Tuesday entry is set in that time period too. But is the meal hot or stone cold?

 

 

 

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015)
Cast: Henry Cavill, Armie Hammer, Alicia Wigram, Elizabeth DeBicki, Hugh Grant
Director: Guy Ritchie
released on blu-ray November 17, 2015
**** 4/10

The-Man-from-Uncle-Poster

IMDB: 7.4
Rotten Tomatoes: 67%, Audience Score 78%
The Guardian: **/*****

Guy Ritchie is well known for making crime films. He has Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch, Revolver, RocknRolla, both Downey Jr. adaptations of Sherlock Holmes, and now The Man from U.N.C.L.E. to his name.

I really wanted to get into this movie, especially after seeing the trailer. It appears to have all the elements needed for fun, but does it hold up? Let’s review the plot.

 

In 1960s Germany, American Napoleon Solo (Henry Cavill) heads from East to West Germany, but is followed by Russian Illya Kuryakin (Armie Hammer). Solo stops at a garage and meets Gaby Teller (Alicia Vikander). Gaby’s estranged father is building a bomb for the Nazis. It is Solo’s mission to escort her out of country and get her to her uncle Rudi (Sylvester Groth) so she can meet her dad.

They head to the border, chased by Kuryakin. They narrowly escape him and are able to zip line over the Berlin wall. With Kuryakin behind them, the escape truck backs up, shorting the line and  stranding Illya on the other side of the wall.

We learn from Kuryakin’s briefing that Solo came to Europe during WWII, but stayed to become a thief. Eventually captured, the CIA recruited him to make use of his skills.

Fast forward, CIA specialist Sanders (Jared Harris) meets Solo for a mission. Turns out it’s a set up and Illya Kuryakin appears and gets the drop on Napoleon. The KGB director Oleg (Misha Kuznetsov) then comes in and we learn Solo and Kury are teaming up on this mission.

In Rome, Kury and Gaby will pose as a couple while Solo is an antiquities dealer. The suspicion is that uncle Rudi works for a criminal organization which belongs to Alexanders but is run by his wife Victoria. A man named Waverly (Hugh Grant) checks into the hotel in Rome right before Napoleon does. When Napoleon checks in, he discovers some henchmen but then disappears. While Kury and Gaby are walking Solo shows up and warns Kury he will get mugged, but that he should let it happen to keep his cover. The mugging then happens though Kury loses his fathers watch and Gaby’s engagement ring, he keeps his cool.

We see Solo engage in sex with the desk clerk while Gaby get drunk in the other room in the hopes that Kury will dance with her. He won’t, but they wrestle, and she then passes out. The next day the two agents confront each other about bugs they found in their rooms. Kury then picks Gaby up at the hotel entrance with a brand new engagement ring.

Solo heads to a party that Victoria is throwing. On the way in, he steals an invitation from Waverly by bumping into him. He then fights security so Victoria will notice him. He also steals her necklace and a bracelet from another guest. Victoria introduces herself and Solo says his name is Deveny and that he specializes in filling in gaps in collections. He gives her the bracelet and the necklace.

While at the party, Rudi insults Kury about his ethnicity.  Kury leaves to calm down, but gets into a fight with three men in the washroom. Alexander takes this opportunity to flirt with Gaby, but Kury comes back and they leave the party.

At the hotel, Kury has developed camera film in order to pick up radiation on people at the party. They all go to sleep to ponder the information, but in the next scene we see the two agents separately break in. They decide to work together and get past all obstacles until the safe alarm goes off…

 

And that’s enough plot.

Pros: These are some seriously beautiful locales, sets, people, and the cinematography is top notch. We can thank Guy Ritchie for that, as he always appeals to our sense.

Cons: It’s too generic of a story which doesn’t ever get serious enough, and yet it is nowhere near as much fun or as campy as the TV show on which it was based. It’s no where near as interesting as 007, Bourne, or Ethan Hunt romps.

Runtime: 116 minutes

Points of Interest: Armie Hammer was the only cast member to watch the original show in preparation. When Henry Cavill is in the truck eating and drinking, one station on the radio is playing the original theme music. The movie takes place about a year after the Cuban Missile Crisis, which the show never revealed.

If you like spy movies enough to pay attention to the details, this one isn’t for you. But if you like fun, comedy, and stylization, check it out.

 

 

 

As I mentioned earlier, there is something appealing about an era film, maybe it’s the sets, the clothes and the phrases, but I keep thinking it’s because we want to make history come back to life, when sometimes it should stay in the freezer. Till next time dear readers.

Tim!