Vacationland: True Stories from Painful Beaches by John Hodgman I’ve had a confusing relationship with John Hodgman for years now. I’ve always like him on the Daily Show, and thought he was an insightful and witty guest on podcasts. However, when I got his trilogy of fake facts book, it quickly became apparent that I had made a mistake. While Hodgman’s comedy always seemed nuanced and slightly highbrow to me, his books were the opposite of that: boring, repetitive, pointless,...
The Matrix I’m sure I speak for boys and girls everywhere when I say that, being in high school and seeing the Matrix for the first time in theatres changed my life forever. Also, I should note that I grew up on a tiny island in the Caribbean where even movie theatres were a novel thing. To say that my friends and I’s minds were completely blown away doesn’t quite describe it. I’ll always remember what one of...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the You’re Not Alone 2LP by Andrew W.K. An epiphany: since first appearing on the pop music radar in 2001 with the release of his debut album, I Get Wet, Andrew Wilkes-Krier has chased the idea and image of a perfect party as well as producing a genuinely kinetic soundtrack for such an event with little thematic deviation (obvious exception being the piano-focused, instrumental album which appeared in 2009, 55 Cadillac) –...
Optimism over Despair: On Capitalism, Empire, and Social Change by Noam Chomsky, C.J. Polychroniou It should be evident by our almost-unanimous praise of the Chomsky books we’ve reviewed on this site that we’re admirers of the man’s work. I won’t say “fans,” because that sounds weird when you’re talking about a political figure in his late 80s. Optimism Over Despair has the format we’ve enjoyed most in Chomsky’s books: a collection of brief interviews. One reason for this this is...
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard With Mild High Club Sketches Of Brunswick East photo: turntablelab.com In some ways, Sketches of Brunswick East is an album that left me more impressed with King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard than Murder of the Universe. The latter album is what made me fall in love with the band and solidified what the name “King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard” is supposed to represent musically. But, this band doesn’t adhere by any standards:...
Endless Poetry ABKCO In the featurette for Endless Poetry there’s a plea by writer/director Alejandro Jodorowksy where he claims that he wants to undo modern filmmaking and instead make something that’s an artistic expression by its creator, a film that will stay with the viewer after they watch it, that has the power to change lives. This is the bar Jodorowsky has set for himself and it should be enough for us to give him a chance. Having been...
El Topo Soundtrack Alejandro Jodorowksy photo: turntablelab.com El Topo is the kind of movie that should be seen by everyone simply due to its historical significance. It’s one of those movies that has nothing to lose. Some will love it and become interested in its creator Alejandro Jodorowsky and all his movies, others will like it, others will appreciate it for just how unique and strange it is, others will consider this movie homework and something a film buff ought...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Go Farther In Lightness 2LP by Gang Of Youths. For the nearly half-century since the genre’s inception now, one of the few steadfast foundations upon which punk rock has stood has been nihilism. Consistently, the spirit of punk has been one of “Fuck it all – strip the music down to the barest essentials and get emotionally dark and bleak – at least that way we’ll all beat the world at...
Phantom Thread I’m a fan of the Best Show with Tom Scharpling and in one of the host’s many ramblings, he’s expressed his feelings for Paul Thomas Anderson (PTA) and how he believes him to be a genius: one of the few geniuses on this earth. Now, I wouldn’t go that far because I don’t really believe in geniuses. Although I do know one. What I can say about PTA is that all evidence points to him being the...
Notes on a Case of Melancholia, Or: A Little Death by Nicholas Gurewitch When it comes to webcomics it’s hard to find a better equalizer than Nicholas Gurewitch’s Perry Bible Fellowship. I’ve been reading it for more than 10 years and am still genuinely in awe of how this webcomic consistently excels both in its writing and art. Clearly, PBF is the creation of a disturbed mind, and as far as comedy comics are concerned, the current gold standard in...