Be Kind Rewind

Be Kind Rewind is a fantastic movie about a video store clerk and his bud who are forced to reenact popular movies with limited time and no money.

Even before the movie was released, the trailer already caused a big internet sensation because the concept is so original, the idea is genius. (speaking of internet sensation, look up the term ‘sweded‘ on the tube)
It excited me even more knowing that Michel Gondry was going to direct it. I really dig his unique way of displaying an imaginary situation on screen, like the over-the-top Science of Sleep and his music videos.

It’s in no way a perfectly directed film, but it really gives you a great feeling, makes me feel young again :-).
Be Kind Rewind is funny, original, clever and creative, just a terrific feel good movie.

Go see it, Josdigital tells you to.

Sufjan Stevens - “Palm Sunday Tornado Hits Crystal Lake”

I consider myself a Sufjan Stevens fan. I especially like the video for this instrumental short by the singer/songwriter. So simple, yet so captivating and beautiful.

Erykah Badu - Honey

Erykah’s fourth full-length looks promising. After eight years of musical silence, New Amerykah will be the title and features a wide range of producers like Madlib, 9th Wonder and J Dilla.

I’m feeling it. The cover art looks great and her first single, Honey, is a soulful funky 9th Wonder beat overlayed with Badu’s sweet and eccentric voice, breathing on top of it.
The music video for Honey is funny, refreshing and original (apparently K-Os had that idea first, cool video btw).

Menomena - “Evil Bee”

Menomena’s Friend and Foe is one of the albums I’ve missed last year and therefor unrightfully didn’t make my list. This video for Evil Bee is a very dark and captivating story about “Bees being used as slaves to the evil tank birds and their dreams of rising up”. Very strong and original video accompanied by a fantastic song.

via SRO’s Top 79 Music Videos of 2007

Boom Bip - “In The Tree Tops”

It’s been pretty slow down here with the holidays and all. I’m slowly progressing on my favorite albums of the year list, which I’ll be posting pretty soon, so watch out for that.

In the mean time, check out this crazy little abstract video for Boom Bip’s In The Tree Tops. I’m a Boom Bip fan, but with his latest, Sacchrilege EP, he steered in a surprising new direction. A bit Justice, Simian Mobile Disco like, with the raw 80’s electro-synths. Not bad, I’m just surprised to see what’s coming.

The Fountain

According to Imdb, it took Darren Aronofsky 6 years to finish The Fountain and his work paid off. You might remember him from other masterpieces like Requiem for a Dream and Pi.
I won’t give away too much of the story, but the movie revolves around 3 different stories set in 3 different time zones, each having something to do with life or death.

The first one takes place in the past, around the Maya or Inca time zone, where a man and his crew are desperately in search for the tree of life to free their captive queen. That’s right Adam and Eve’s tree.
The second story takes place in present time, where doctor/scientist is also desperately in search for a cure against his dying wife’s sickness.
The last story, off course, takes place in the future where a man, living in harmony with what I can only assume is the tree of life, where he awaits the beautiful relief of death in a very spectacular manner.

When I speak of a very spectacular manner, I mean visually and musically a very artistic way of displaying this particular event.
I also read at the Imdb Trivia that Aronofsky hardly used CGI for those scenes, but a micro-photography of chemical reactions on tiny petri dishes, whatever that means.
What I read in a great review at A Medium of Images and I have to agree is this: “Its primary flaw, and it is quite a big one, is that Aronofsky’s dialogue often feels leaden, contrived and unnecessarily portentous, with the result that Izzy and Tom never leave an impression on us as living, breathing human beings.”

Why I actually wanted to post about The Foutain is for the fantastic score.
I don’t usually listen to or recommend film scores or soundtracks, but this is a totally different case.
Clint Mansell, The Kronos Quartet and one of my favorites, Mogwai teamed up to create this symphonic, post-rock masterpiece.

Six Feet Under

So, a few months ago I decided to watch all seasons of this HBO TV series, Six Feet Under, after reading some good reviews and a recommendation by a friend.
What I immediately noticed is that the title sequence is pure brilliance.
Six Feet Under centers around a typical dysfunctional American family attempting to live their lives while running a business that thrives on death, a funeral home that is.

This is one hell of a show. I just watched the series finale and it touched me so bad I can’t get over it. You can call me a bitch but I’m not too shy to say that I actually cried at the last 6 minutes, like most people who watched the show with as much love as I did.
It’s just the way you got to know the characters, their personalities and everything about them and eventually see what happens to them in the future.

If you never plan on picking up the show, take the time to watch these last minutes of the show after the jump. It might and probably will change your mind.

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Faux Pas - Entropy Begins At Home

Knowing that Tim Shiel, the mind behind Faux Pas, completed this album in a 4 months time frame, you’d think it’s not worth your time. But Entropy Begins At Home is pretty impressive, this fun electronic joint has been playing non-stop in my car radio for the past weeks.

“Essentially it’s a psychedelic experience, a musical alchemy intended to depict vivid colors and bizarre patterns, euphoria through altered states of consciousness, and the clarity and directness with which Faux Pas juxtaposes and moves through different strands of music heightens the experience. It’s also, and this is the key part, incredibly pleasurable to listen to, in almost any circumstance.” stylusmagazine.com

I discovered Faux Pas via the lovely Scissorkick blog, bought it and haven’t regret it.
Word is Tim has plans to release another in the near future, you can read about all things Faux Pas on Tim’s blog.

www.iamfauxpas.com
myspace.com/iamfauxpas

Also click the jump for the music video of Tim as a Brim.

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The Fashion - Solo Impala (dir. Jakob Printzlau)

I really don’t know much about these guys, only that they have some very fun and original music videos like this one, Solo Impala (youtube/mov).
Directed by Jakob Printzlau from Plastic Kid, an impressive portfolio.

Apparently they’re a Danish band who had a critically acclaimed, in Denmark that is, debut album entitled Rock Rock Kiss Kiss Combo and recently released their follow-up.

myspace.com/thefashiondk

Follow me after the jump for their other 2 videos, Letters From The Ambulance and Like Knives.

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