Last month I decreed I would be getting my house in order, aka this nearly defunct site. The universe, of course, heard my ambitious proclamation and kicked me square in the crotch with a bootful of aggravation and stress. The result, as you can see, is another month of desolation. I vow that one day the Reel Whore will get it together and crank the productivity dial up a notch or two. Until then, I should probably take a friend's advice before hurtling headlong into another ambitious run, and instead sit back, relax and drank.
My well wishes are more than a little on the late side. For that I apologize. As I'm sure you've noticed, the tumbleweeds have been blowing between the links here. Sickness, holidays, and life have taken the Reel Whore off track, but it's a new year and it's time to put my house in order. I'm ruminating a few ideas for the site at the moment, but while I work on those, why don't you enjoy this poppy little ditty?
Folks here in Raleigh, NC have been waiting for rock/metal band KIX to bring the thunder back to our fair city for over twenty years. They did just that this past Saturday at the Lincoln Theater and I was lucky enough to be in attendance. Not all that familiar with KIX before the concert, I can happily say they've found a fan in me. Lead singer Steve Whiteman has a great stage performance and KIX rocks it from the first note played to the last. With my ears are still ringing, I thought I'd share a little taste with you by showcasing their biggest hit from 1989. Enjoy!
Just heard this for the first time today despite their album releasing in May of this year. Can't believe I'm so behind. It's a decent little tune and the quirky video makes it even better. Enjoy.
Sorry for the Monday Mood Music's recent absence, but I'm bringing it back! Since I just reviewed a movie set in Georgia, why not post a little music feautring the Peach State? Enjoy.
Today is normally reserved for my Monday Mood Music, and though it's posting later than usual, it's a selection that also fits in snugly with the Week of Reel Whorror!. Seeing as how this week's all about the evil that houses do or hold, it's impossible not to mention the film Rob Zombie crammed every conceptual ounce of horror into. And, being a rocker prior to debuting as a writer-director, he was all too happy to supply his initial offering with a killer (no pun intended) soundtrack which included his cover of this Commodores classic.
Release: 04.11.03
DVD Release: 08.12.03
Rated R
1 hours, 29 minutes
Matinee
I have to go on record as saying House of 1000 Corpses is perhaps one of the best and one of the worst horror films I have ever seen. Approximately three-fourths of it is edgy and phenomenal in its delivery; the remaining just utter filth and a waste of good celluloid. Then again, the horror genre has a wealth of depraved avenues one can traverse; I just prefer some concepts more than others.
The debut picture from musician turned writer-director Rob Zombie opens on All Hallow's Eve with four college kids traveling along the back roads of Texas (has a familiar ring to it, right?). Captain Spaulding (Sid Haig, Jackie Brown) runs the roadside Gasoline, Fried Chicken, and Horror Museum where the kids stop to stock up for the last leg of their voyage home. The museum tour chronicles notorious mass murderers, including the local legend, Dr. Satan, which sparks the kids’ need to drive out to the fabled killer's remote stomping grounds in the cold, rainy dead of night. One hitchhiker named Baby (Sheri Moon) and one flat tire later, the kids end up at the home of the Firefly family. After partaking in the Firefly Halloween celebration and getting the car repaired, their fun really begins.
The darkest, most twisted character is Otis, creepily portrayed by Bill Moseley (Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2). Otis will single-handedly freak you out. He’s the answer to the question “What if Ted Nugent was insane?...correction...an insane mass murderer?” Sid Haig's Captain Spaulding is a vulgar, dreadful delight and may just hold the record for most profanity per minute from a character. Spaulding couldn't open his mouth without making a sailor blush. I always wished Haig would start appearing in more features after 1000 Corpses, but seems only Mr. Zombie appreciates his talent. Sheri Moon's Baby is a sexy, sultry psychotic woman who flaunts it. Her high-pitched, joyful schoolgirl giggle will send chills up and down your spine. My favorite sedate scene with Baby involves a liquor run to the local ABC store with the ingenious name. (I was so enamored by her character that I penned two pieces of fan fiction for the LAMB).
The unsuspecting travelers are played by Chris Hardwick (Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines), Erin Daniels (One Hour Photo), Jennifer Jostyn (Deep Impact) and a then, mostly unknown Rainn Wilson (Juno). As each becomes the playthings of their sadistic hosts, they give great ear-piercing screams. The gore and torture are wonderfully sick and twisted; the influences of many horror classics are plainly evident in 1000 Corpses. It's a very bloody and deliberately brutal film with a smidgen of violence tossed in to help offset the blood. Unfortunately, 1000 Corpses has many horrific horror film fumbles that disengaged my interest at times. Likewise, Zombie's direction is tense, creating a nail-biting ambience, but at other moments he segues into a music video vantage with random cuts and digital effects unnecessary to the story's development.
House of 1000 Corpses has something for every aficionado of the horror genre, and that is where it fails. In trying to make a dish palatable to all connoisseurs, Rob Zombie inevitably created a film with some indigestible tripe. That said, it is still a must see. I recommend 1000 Corpses on the well-developed and unique characterizations alone; what you try to get from the rest of the flick is done so at your own risk.
Not sure what all TV you're watching, but overall fall's new show line-up has sucked pretty hard. I've already dropped several of the new shows and it's looking like I'll nix a few more once I've given them a full three episodes to impress/disappoint. I owe a debt of gratitude to my returning shows for being quite exceptional, and thereby making the overall fall 2012 television season decent.
I have only the premier of Happy Endings (this Tuesday!) before I can say I'm completely satisfied with the returning shows. I'm not too worried because I love me some Elisha Cuthbert, even more so now thanks to this show. I first tuned into Happy Endings mainly to ogle Elisha in all her yumminess, but she and her costars had me in stitches within seconds. Since I also tuned in to see how Casey Wilson was faring after being axed from SNL, I was very pleased to discover she has found a non-Wiig world where her talent could really be showcased. Happy Endings is a hilarious show that you should be watching. And, even though I just featured Weezer here a month ago, flaunting Elisha on the site should help sway you to tune in. Enjoy!
I had this really great song in mind for today's selection. I ran across it while driving around last Wednesday. At the time I thought to myself that I should go ahead and prep this post, but then thought better of it since lots can happen between Wednesday and Monday and what if what I wrote wasn't reflective of my Monday mood. Boy, was I right on both counts. My mood has certainly changed and that song has long since been forgotten. That's right. The great song is now lost to the recesses of my addled mind. Instead, let us revisit some pre-SNL Passion Pit with the debut single they released from their first EP way back in 2008. Enjoy.
Morning stargazers! Personal commitments kept me from choosing a mood music last week, but I couldn't let a second week start off without a little tunage.
This is one of those songs that is no doubt being played on a rock station somewhere in the world at any given moment of the day. I've never really given much thought to the title or lyrics. It wasn't until today that I read along with the song and I now understand it's essentially a song about a booty call, and a telepathic one at that! The lyrics never concerned me nearly as much as the kickass tempo and all around great rhythms this Dutch band crafted. If you find yourself on the road, I highly recommend you queue this up to amp your drive. By queue this up I mean just the song, not the video... not looking to cause an accident!
Good morning stargazers! It's been a minute since I've posted, but times have been a changing. Thinking about change, it's funny how a song is forever changed when used to great effect in a movie or TV show. I touched on this two weeks ago with my last Monday Mood Music, The Michelle Williams Effect. Then, it was Michelle's glowing screen presence that placed that song in a new light.
This week's selection has been forever changed thanks to the smarmy self-portrayal Rick Springfield gave in season 3 of Californication. Every time I hear Jessie's Girl now, I picture Rick sidling up to Eva Amurri, belting out a few lines of his famous tune, confident his sheer star power will melt her, making her another notch in his bedpost. Thanks to that episode, I will never think of it the same way.
Yesterday I went to see Take This Waltz. It's a thoughtful, emotional film about a woman who, though happily married, falls in love with another man. Michelle Williams plays the conflicted spouse, Margot, and thanks to her, I have a new-found appreciation for the Buggles hit, Video Killed the Radio Star.
Released in 1979, the song made it to #1 on several foreign singles charts, and climbed to #40 on the US Billboard Hot 100. It always ranked as an okay tune in my book, but now it will be forever associated with Michelle's smiling face. While I doubt the song played every time she rode the Scrambler during filming, if it did, I wonder how she feels about it now? What about you; this a love it or hate it tune for you?
The history of the band responsible for today's selection needs more explanation than I care to give. Thankfully, Wikipedia has a lengthy explanation behind the phenomenon that is AKB48. For those too lazy to delve into the full version, here's the short of it:
AKB48 is a girl group with 64 members based on the concept of "idols you can meet." The girls, who are from ages fourteen to twenty and over, are broken into four teams of 16 and they perform live every day at their own theater in Akihabara, Tokyo (btw, it's the source of their name A-K-B). They have become insanely popular in Japan and the concept, and the girls, are expanding worldwide.
This week's selection is AKB48's seventeenth single from 2010. Enjoy!
First off, kudos to those of you who get the title reference. If you don't, get with the times, although I could say the same of myself considering I was a slacker and didn't post a Monday Mood Music last week. Today I remedy this by posting not one, but two awesome tunes I heard in succession last week on my local station.
One is off the new album from the well-known Jack White, but the first is from Apollo Cobra, a band that's new to me, but will soon be joining my extensive mp3 collection. I hope they'll make it into yours too. Enjoy!
Going all nostalgic for the second week in a row. Don't blame me, blame my local radio station for digging up some totally random, blast-from-the-past grooves. This week's selection may have had the longest fucking title ever! Probably not ever, but at least in 1996 it topped the list for long-ass titles. You may remember it as that "Phonebooth" song, or just as another one-hit wonder of the 90s, but today it's my Monday Mood Music selection. Enjoy!
Primitive Radio Gods -
Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth With Money in My Hand
Morning stargazers. Driving into work, the very first song that came on my radio this morning was White Flag by Dido. Not sure what prompted the nostalgia, but it was comforting to hear the mellow tune. Watching the video for the first time in years I'd forgotten David Boreanaz was Dido's ex-beau. If you're up for a little reminiscing, be it for Dido's song or Boreanaz's bushy head o' hair, why not take a listen?
Dido - White Flag
Heard any songs resurrected by the radio lately that caught you by surprise?
Good morning stargazers! I don't know about you, but I'm dragging. Not sure why, I had a fairly relaxing weekend. Maybe with the Fourth of July being on Wednesday is making it hard to focus. Either way, I need something peppy to get moving and since today is Devin Star Tailes, a.k.a. Dev, 23rd birthday, I thought she should have the honor to rev us up. Enjoy.
It's been a few weeks since I've brought a Monday Mood Music to you. I know you've missed them. I was at a loss for which song to choose today, but then I remembered the first song I heard when I turned on the radio this morning. The local rock station hear has been killing the "Van Hagar" recently. Even through the fog of waking up, I immediately recognized that synthesizer. If you've been deprived of the definitively 80s sounds of Sammy and the Halens, be without no longer!
Van Halen - Love Walks In
The post title is not only a reference to the song, but also to let you know that I finally saw Prometheus this weekend. Intense stuff.
To defame or praise a film based solely on the value of its trailer before attending the screening. Ratings: Moist with Antici...pation! Must-see event, uber-exciting. Bring me a towel. It's Friday, I Don't Want to be Alone.Could take it or leave it. (Knowing me I'll take it.) Exercise the Right to Cinematic Celibacy.Looks like crap on a stick and will be avoided as such.
