As part of Allen Hall Productions, a series of short documentaries were made for each student publication at the University of Oregon. Here’s the one that was created for the Oregon Voice. Thanks to Abby Silverman and Christina Diamond for the video.
Please refrain from laughing (too hard) at our interview shyness.
Just one of many moments that were captured on the OV road trip to Portland for MusicFest Northwest.
The picture quality came out pretty wirey, but I did take liberties with showing off my hebrew skillz (we’ll see about that).
Until next time, shalom! And a quick ‘hello’ from Ami Shalev of Monotonix.
On Friday the 9th through Sunday the 11th Eugene will be host to an international film festival (who knew?) showcasing over eighty films: features, shorts, and documentaries made by independent up-and-comings and Hollywood hotshots. The festival will be held at the Valley River Center Regal Cinemas. A detailed schedule of the festival and information on the films can be found here.
Admission:
$8 for an hour and a half
$75 for a weekend pass.
Or, for aspiring filmmakers, $100 gets you a pass to the festival and enrollment in a three-day screenplay-writing retreat taught by Tom Sawyer (sadly not Huck’s companion, but writer for Murder, She Wrote) and Ken Sherman (Hollywood literary agent). More info at the EIFF site.
Yesterday I attended a sneak peak showing of All’s Faire in Love, a romantic comedy advertised as a centerpiece of the festival. Owen Benjamin plays Will, a star college quarterback, who is forced by his grudging professor (Cedric the Entertainer) to work at a Renaissance Fair in exchange for a passing grade. Will, who has the sensibilities of a bro, is troubled to find himself surrounded by intensely passionate theater people in Elizabethan garb. (Subtext: Renaissance Fairs and the people who attend them are completely absurd.) Within the hierarchy of the fair, Will is cast as a lowly “fetch boy,” and is required to obey the commands of the nobility. Chris Wylde comically portrays one of these nobles, Prince Rank, a despicable and overzealous Renaissance player. Will’s luck improves when he befriends Crocket (Matthew Lillard), and wins the admiration of a young actress named Kate (Christina Ricci). Every scene is pervaded by bouts of slapstick and punch lines, some of it witty though most of it uninspired. The soundtrack is the film’s great weakness. Made up of tacky selections such as “Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)”, the soundtrack gives the film a distastefully cliché air. Despite some corny jokes and poor song choices, All’s Faire in Love is worth seeing for its moments of well-written and brilliantly performed humor, if not simply to support Eugene’s own film fest.
Rated: A slightly mealy Red Delicious out of a juicy Honey Crisp.
Hello avid internet surfers, welcome to the Trailer Park. A new weekly blog showcasing some of the week’s best and worst trailers for movies coming to theaters.
While I understand you can’t judge a book by it’s cover, you can certainly judge a movie by it’s trailer and I have picked a select few to showcase.
How Trailer Park works is simple, I give the embedded Youtube video of the trailer showcased for you all to watch and then at the bottom of the video, I display my opinion and then give it a rating based on our unique top of the line rating system:
Clean – A rating of Clean means this movie looks like a must see and you should definately give it a watch once it comes to theaters.
Decent – A rating of Decent means this movie looks okay, but it’s still a little sketchy and I recommend you wait for the reviews to come out before you pay for your ticket.
Dirty – A rating of Dirty, much like a trailer park itself means this movie looks absolutely horrid or is not interesting at all and I recommend you stay away from it.
Be warned, this is my opinion and my opinion only, do not criticize me if I bash a movie that you think looks promising.
So let’s get started:
Response: Normally, I’m not a fan of remakes.. Well actually, I hate them. However, looking at this trailer, it seems to look a little promising. The original movie released in the 1980’s and directed by Wes Craven, scared the living shit out of me, giving me nightmares for about a month.. I was 15. From the looks of this trailer though, it looks like they will be keeping the nostalgia that the original offered and it will stay true to the original movie. Although there are some moments that are questionable (What the hell did they do with Freddy’s iconic face?) everything else looks like it will pack a punch once released. I wouldn’t call this a remake, more like a reimagining, plus with James Earle Harley (Watchmen, Little Children) taking the helm that Robert Englund once held, this movie seems like it will appeal to it’s teen/young adult audience.
Rating: DECENT
Response: God this trailer was absolutely painful to watch, why the hell are they making a sequel to that travesty that they called an Alvin and the Chipmunks movie, the same movie that ripped the balls of my childhood and destroyed it with every single fiber of their being? It’s not their voices that annoy me (Although it still was painful to listen to) it’s the simple fact that these 3 inch little rodents are going to a HIGH SCHOOL populated with human beings, people that could squash their tiny little bodies with 1 single footstep! In the original series, the chipmunks were the size of children so it made much more sense and it was less awkward, but because apparently Hollywood has to make everything “logical” they reduced the chipmunks to a much smaller scale, funny? No. cute? Not so much either. The addition of the Chippettes (Their 3 alter/opposite gender egos from the TV series) is a plus, but it still does not save this movie from looking like an absolute mockery.
Rating: DIRTY
Response: First off, let me tell you that I’m not exactly ecstatic that Robert Zemeckis has chose to make all his newest movies motion captured orgasms, while Polar Express was okay, Beowulf totally destroyed the original work and ever since, I have despised any idea that Mr. Zemeckis (who directed such classics as Forrest Gump and Back to the Future) had in store. However, with Disney leading the way and Jim Carrey starring not only as Scrooge, but all 3 of the ghosts, this might turn out to be a great movie. The movie has fantastic visuals and of course, it has Jim Carrey, who is one of my favorite actors. Can Disney conjure up a phenomenal version of the Charles Dicken’s classic tale? I’ll be buying a ticket to see for myself.
Rating: CLEAN
The RV:
In case you are wondering what the RV is, the RV is basically showcasing a trailer that didn’t come out this week but is also still not in theaters and caught my attention so impressingly that I just had to post it for you all to see.
This Trailer Park’s RV is…
Response: If there were a definition for a movie trailer, this would be it. This movie trailer, unlike most others, does not give anything away and leaves people guessing. Also the fact that it’s being directed by the same guy who did The Dark Knight is also a major plus. With an all star cast lead by Leonardo Dicaprio, this movie looks like it will pack a serious wallop once the release date rolls around.
Well that’s all the trailers I have for you this week, don’t forget to log on next week for another visit to the Trailer Park.
That’s meant as the “Gee wiz” or “How interesting” form of the sentence, not asking if people would hypothetically look at something. But while there’s talk of looking, check out our very own Grace Pettygrove’s column in today’s ODE.
Mayer Hawthorne, signee to the infallible hip-hop label Stones Throw Records, tours in promotion of his freshly pressed debut album, A Strange Arrangement. It is a collection of eleven songs written and recorded in the old-soul fashion of Motown. Hawthorne’s cries and croons throughout are backed by nostalgic doo-wop harmonies. The instruments, most of which Hawthorne plays personally, capture the vintage soul aesthetic: the distinct snappiness of snares, twang of Stratocasters, and funkiness of trumpet and bass parts. It is a nearly uncanny impression of classic Motown styles.
The album is introduced by a thirty-second prelude of impeccable harmonies a cappella; three or four overlapping tracks of Hawthorne’s vocals chime in unison, “We made a strange arrangement.” Hawthorne’s voice is untrained and inexperienced; his singing is basic, free of adlib and flourish. But he has an undeniable knack for composing harmonies, a musical intuition that is completely incomprehensible to those of us who lack the gift.
“Honestly,” he explains, “the first couple songs that I did were a total experiment on the side and I never planned on those songs ever being released to the public or people even hearing them.” Until rather recently he had no desire to record or release this soulful side-project. His primary vocation had been as DJ Haircut, a hip-hop artist. Hawthorne tells, “I grew up listening to soul music with my dad, and then as I got older I kind of found my own musical identity—I got really into hip-hop music. And then I got back into soul music from hip-hop, from digging for all the samples from all my favorite hip-hop tracks.” He experiences soul through the lens of a hip-hop-head, which is apparent at a few moments in the album. For example, the percussion underlying “Maybe So, Maybe No,” the funkiest and catchiest track on the record, calls to mind the fat and speedy high-hat commonly heard in contemporary rap.
The album’s first single, “Just Ain’t Gonna Work Out,” pre-released on a red heart-shaped 45, is supremely cool. Atop a groove of sparse keyboard, drum, and guitar parts Hawthorne apologetically breaks up with an unnamed lady friend in a falsetto that recalls Curtis Mayfield. The B-side, “When I Said Goodbye,” is a sort of antithesis to side A. Seeking to reconcile with his ex (presumably, the same one from side A) Hawthorne begs forgiveness: “I’m half the man that I was with you by my side/I didn’t mean it when I said goodbye.”
Mayer Hawthorne and his band, The County, performed last Saturday at Eugene’s WOW Hall. The crowd that met them was dinky (not more than fifty people) but most of the fans were already quite familiar, even infatuated, with Hawthorne’s material. He was preceded by three opening acts. The first was a Eugene rap group, Animal Farm, which performed an insufferably low-energy set of generic rap to the ten or so beings scattered about the floor (most of the crowd didn’t show up until later). The second act was an MC named Buff 1, who comes from Mayer Hawthorne’s hometown, Ann Arbor, Michigan. Buff 1 was animated and charismatic, his rhymes, strong. But there was nothing special, interesting, or edgy about his music.
The third opener, and the last before the anticipated headliner, was a member of the Stones Throw posse: an electro boogie DJ named James Pants. He wore narrow black jeans, a white tee, a leather jacket and dark shades. After leading the audience in a quick session of preparatory stretches set to echoey transient music, he mixed Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit” with an electronic drum sample, and then suddenly shut it off. “That was just a taste of what I might be able to do. But now I’m going to do some karaoke.” “Touch Me” by The Doors came on and he sang along in a booming voice, theatrically waving his hands. At this point, any expectation of a normal DJ set was dispelled. James Pants’ set was more of a joke than a concert. He spent only about twenty percent of his stage time actually DJing records. Ten percent was karaoke, and seventy percent he spent ranting (in his voice that sounds strikingly like Ron Burgundy’s), pacing the stage in a constant struggle with his microphone chord. He rambled at length describing his music, informed the audience of opportunities to join his fan club, and complained sarcastically about being eclipsed by Mayer Hawthorne’s increasing popularity. “I may not be a boy soul-singing sensation,” he yelled. “I may not wear sweater vests and designer glasses, but my name is James Pants and I don’t fuck around!” The music he did play was movingly funky. He blended obscure golden era funk records with contemporary electro and his own drumming on an electronic kit. He closed with the following words, “Just a quick note to the promoter, and I do believe my lawyers have contacted you about this several times and heard no response, but I had requested specifically wireless microphones so that I do not get tangled. Thank you for basically ruining the show and embarrassing me. Normally this doesn’t happen.”
Mayer Hawthorne and his four-man band took the stage and launched immediately into their hit, “Maybe So, Maybe No.” The live rendition lacked one key element of the recorded version—the buzzy trumpet line that induces spine shivers—but it was danceable and pleasing just the same. They followed with “Just Ain’t Gonna Work Out,” another popular favorite, which everyone seemed to know the words to. And so they began: a one-two punch of soul power. The audience was engrossed and remained so for the duration of the show. The band played through their short repertoire of love songs, and in between songs Mayer spoke to the audience about romance as if he were some aged veteran lover. He prefaced one song by saying, “Here’s a song about the fucked up things we do for love.” And he repeatedly asked, “Do you feel the love, Eugene?” One number that stood out among the others was “I Wish It Would Rain.” The guitarist played a descending intro melody, which wavered beautifully with the reserved movements of his wah-wah pedal. Mayer sang softly, the keyboard player pounded his keys, and the patrons swayed with eyes glued on the musicians.
Rated: Jasmine out of Disney princesses.
It sometimes takes a sparse, whistling overture to wake up out of that late-summer malaise. “Black River Killer,” a standout song from 2008’s Furr, joins six other Blitzen Trapper songs, sold only on CDRs at their live shows, to make the Black River Killer EP, out August 25 on Sub Pop. Short at just above 17 minutes, each song carrying just above two minutes of listening time, the EP keeps the quick songs bound together along an imagistic spine.
The seven songs, stacked seemingly in happy/sad alternation, push forward an agenda of slightly pessimistic exploration into America’s faded pastoral landscapes. It must be the economy, right?
Soft, burbling electronic tones guide the listener from the rural account of spiritual warfare in the opener “Black River Killer” and through the rest of the EP. Similarly, “Going Down” manages a happier note of corroded morals accompanied by an Air-approved, far away synth line.
On “Shoulder Full of You,” the harmonic melody playing over the comparatively restrained acoustic guitar line, causes a break in the low-down tone of the song, like an occasional passing view of rusted grain silos on a desolate highway.
“Preacher’s Sister’s Boy,” the next song on the EP, has the same light-hearted, electronic whistle and a tambourine-laden beat that has all the swaying of the road home with suddenly a lot more to see on the way.
Taking this into consideration, the next song “Black Rock” drops the listener into a chanting melody repetitive like a word association exercise for the entire first minute, which is actually about half the song.
But still, like most good EPs, Black River Killer gets ahead with the help of a strong tailwind at the end. The last song “Big Black Bird” substitutes the requisite electronic sub-tune with a lonesome harmonica and an unprecedented bassy swagger. In a word, or two literally, it’s country music.
Rated: 7 passing glimpses of grazing cows along the highway out of 10 endless, yellowed fields.
Tickets to the Pixies’ upcoming Doolittle 20th-Anniversary tour went on sale this morning at 10a.m. The Pixies will be playing their 1989 masterpiece in its entirety and more – an event not to be missed.
According to the ladies at the EMU ticket office, bulk tickets are going fast and may sell out long before the Nov. 14th show at the Hult Center for the Performing Arts.
If you’re a Pixies fan and have yet to get your ticket(s) to their ONLY OREGON SHOW, get ‘em now. Tickets are $37 for upper-balcony seats and $55 for all others. They may be spendy, but it’s surely worth it. I’ve got my four, now you go and get yours.
P.S. – If you’re currently broke but still yearn for tickets, do what I did. Charge them to your student account via a two-step process. First, go to the Card Office in the basement of the EMU and put enough money on your Student ID/Campus Cash card (By charging to your UO student account.) to cover the cost of the number of tickets you want (FYI: There is an 8 ticket limit per person.) Second, go upstairs to the ticket office and use your Student ID/Campus Cash card to purchase the tickets. Voila!
And lastly, if you get Federal Financial Aid, don’t forget to thank Uncle Sam for your Pixies tickets!
The summer isn’t really winding down. It’s just sitting there. Don’t read our progress report. Anyway, with days between now and the beginning of the ‘09/10 school year becoming fewer and fewer in number, it seems like an appropriate time to look in the direction that isn’t backwards.
Our first issue will need reviews, and the fall has some interesting releases:
-9/8- Andrew WK’s 55 Cadillac
-9/11- Jay Z’s Blueprint 3
-9/22- The Pains of Being Pure at Heart’s Higher Than the Stars
-10/13- The Flaming Lips’ Embryonic
-10/13- Thao With the Get Down Stay Down’s Know Better Learn Faster
-10/13- Wolfmother’s Cosmic Egg
-10/27- Weezer’s mysterious seventh
Looks like the late 2000s are a lot like the early 2000s. The question remains, will we be able to review them? Probably. In advance, depending on our yet-to-be-determined printing schedule?
Maybe.
We will have a review for the new Blitzen Trapper EP up ahead of the August 24 release. “In advance” just may be my new favorite phrase.
