Author Archive for Patrick Ripoll

In Which I Declare Myself King of All Awesome.


March 6, 2008
Patrick Ripoll

Collective Family MP3 Quickie

But in the (pretty much) absence of content, I smell a power vacuum. And I’ve always wanted to be king. So guess who just became royalty? Patrick Ripoll, that’s who. I broke free of my stale prison they call “Friday assignments” and am now proposing something new.

You (all twelve of you) don’t go to this blog because you want to see where we stand on the big entertainment issues of the day (but, for the record, Semi-Pro is shit). You want us to share with you. This is a place where we stand on our little soap box (which would promptly tear and collapse, because it’s a fucking cardboard box that’s designed to hold soap) and yell “Hey! You! The funny looking one with the hat! Check this out! It is awesome!”. So that’s what I’m going to do every day. Sometimes it will be in the form of an album review, a rant about women in prison films, a retrospective on the career of Bill Duke, a comparison between stand-up comedy and 80’s cop films, whatever. Point is, I see some shit, I know some shit, I want to share this said shit with you. Because goddamnit, that’s what it’s all about.

I, King Patrick, declare that this blog be a place of sharing, from now until forever, cuz there’ll never be another better*. If this whole goddamned Collective is about people sharing music for the sheer thrill of it, then there’s no need to be as stingy as to limit my output to one day.

And I declare this: If you e-mail me (soybomb@care2.com) with a link to your music, your website, your blog, your short documentary about midget turtles, I will mention it here. People will hear about it. I’m not gonna lie and go “Oh my god, Long Necks, Little Torsos is the greatest short film about midget turtles ever made!” but I’ll keep an open mind, I’ll keep positive energy, and most of all, I will keep what I write about it entertaining so even if it sucks, at least a funny joke came of it.

I got several different e-mails recently from various blokes asking me to review their albums. On Friday (which will still be “Patrick’s Big Stuff Day”) I’m reviewing Chicago folkie James Eric’s new album Fire in the Mountains. Spoiler Warning: It’s good. The next Friday after that I’ll be reviewing plucky young upstart Big Round Spectacle’s debut misfortuneless, which is also all sorts of pleasant. But let me cover the two non-CLLCT folks who contacted me recently, AKA, “the less important”.

I got an e-mail recently from a Nadav Young promoting his curious site www.VIRV.TV I say curious because it’s purpose is not entirely clear to me. In the little e-mail press release thing I got, it claimed to be “a hand-picked, all-indie playlist 24/7, exclusively on the web. Our playlist includes Bright Eyes, Of Montreal, Spoon, Arcade fire, Xiu Xiu, The Good Life, Now Its Overhead, Architecture In Helsinki, Bloc Party, Shout Out Louds and many, many more..”. So it’s like a YouTube with super-limited selection and no easy ability to control what you watch? I’d like MTV2 to start playing all music videos again, too, but that’s cuz it’s on TV, so it’s easy to have on in the background while I do other things, like making gin in my bathtub. An online tv station just misses the point of why people choose to sit in front of the TV: It’s passive. So why have it online? Why would someone download an application to watch videos they could find on youtube? Well, Nadav’s job is a playlist manager, so I suppose the angle they are going for is “if you like X band, you’d like Y band!” Which I guess makes a little more sense, but not a ton.

Nadav, if you read this and you could clarify exactly what your site is and the needs of the consumers it fills, that’d be super helpful. As far as the music, I think it’s silly to limit yourself to indie, but niches are meant to be filled, I suppose. For once I’d like to see a radio station that plays Curtis Mayfield, Paul Simon, Captain Beefheart, Kylie Minogue, Daniel Johnston, and Leadbelly back to back. They could call it “97.5, The Hammer: We’re completely unmarketable!” Then I could listen to it for a week before I get all up in arms about it shutting down. Cuz that’s what happens to great things. They get replaced by Lite Rock mix stations. Fuck quality, we need another outlet to hear Rob Thomas.

Springfactory, springing to action...near a factory?

The other fellas that contacted me were one of those musical rock ‘n roll groups you kids love so much. Their name: Springfactory. Their mission: to rock you. Or make you dance. Or make you giggle while dancing. Look, I’m not going to tell them why they do the shit, point is they make music and they want to share it with ya’s. They have a new album of old material, their previous released EP’s, coming out through Series Two records. Series Two records is based in Nebraska, the music capital of the world. I’ve listened to music via their myspace, and the tracks they e-mailed me, and I gotta say, it’s pretty nice (especially “No More”, which has a fun Georgie James quality to it). Go ahead, check it out, it won’t hurt. It’s some rather lovely definitely well-made indie/pop/rock/dance stuff. Look, I won’t do Springfactory the disservice of lumping them into the genre. You know why? Because I’m not a good enough writer to do that. You gotta be a DaveB motherfucker to do that shit. I’m just some college dropout.

Speaking of which, will Kanye West ever be interesting again? Just wondering. Dude can make fucking beautiful beat, but will he ever be interesting again? I wonder. But speaking of Kanye West and interesting, have you seen Spike Jonze’s video for “Flashing Lights” yet? Holy great.

Anyway, that’s about all I got for now. Keep in touch though, for real. BTW, if I ever say something stupid here, or just incredibly ignorant, tell me. That’s you sharing with me. Which is beautiful.

*I was the key grip on Chicago rapper Astonish’s music video, Hear Me. Look at that lighting and TELL ME that I’m not some kind of a genius.

MP3s:

Springfactory - No More

Joseph Still - MineSongs (2007)


February 22, 2008
Patrick Ripoll

Album Review Collective Family

Joseph Still's Minesongs will move you

Folk has splintered. There’s folk-rock, folk-pop, anti-folk, twee-folk, jazz-folk, folk-salsa, folk-rap, folk-folk, folk-folk-rock-folk and too many other folks to mention. This is not new news. Since the folk explosion of the 60’s, the word hardly means anything at all. What used to describe pop music inspired by traditional music, now means “an acoustic guitar is in there somewhere”. Surely, when Neutral Milk Hotel and the Mamas and the Papas can both be covered with a single term, things have changed. I beat this point into your brains because I need to emphasize how remarkable an artist Joseph Still is. His music sounds like he’s been in a Rip Van Winkle coma since 1953, as if Dylan never happened. And it is wonderful.

The aptly named MineSongs has a thick reverb that dominates the entire album, as if Joseph’s mournful howls were eminating from the depths of the Earth itself. Every part of this album carries the same air of mystery, from the inconsistent tracklists (his album is available various places, and never are the songs in the same order) to the cryptic single letter song titles to a hissing voice that makes the lyrics to his songs near impossible to detect. His raspy voice has a weariness and wisdom that comes from a place much older than himself. The fact that Joseph is only 17 years old is mind boggling and I still have trouble believing it.

Joseph Still, Killin' them softly.

Most of the songs rely on Joseph’s considerable skills as a guitar player, but other instruments, sounds, and voices drift in and out of the music as if they were a dream. It’s a dark dark album, but these instances of accordion, organ, and vocal harmonies are warm lanterns that penetrate the night. Listening to this album is like live with a group of folk musicians, in a log cabin, in the dead of winter, in the middle of the night, huddled together, taking turns playing songs to keep your mind off the cold, trying to make it until the sun comes up. And I’m sorry I have to fall back on such flights of fancy, but Mr. Still has left me with no choice. He’s created an intense dreamy album that you float in and out of, that floats in and out of you, that transports you somewhere else.

I’ve listened to this album, in it’s many different mutations, probably over 30 times since I first stumbled upon it, and I will probably listen to it at least 30 times more. It’s eerie production possesses an ambience that makes it a perfect album to listen to as you go to sleep, but the old fashioned song structure and Joseph’s amazing voice make it so engaging that it also works on it’s own terms, listened to straight through. You can drive to it, you can make love to it, and one day, if he’ll permit me, I would love to score a film with it.

My friends, I cannot reccomend any one or two songs, because to take any song out of context would be doing both you and Joseph a great injustice. I will say that if you can listen to “Break” and not feel moved, you probably have your heart installed backwards.

Download, listen to, stream, praise, and vote for Joseph Still’s “MineSongs” here.You will thank me later. Preferrably in cash.

Joseph Still’s Myspace
Joseph Still’s CLLCT

Morgan Orion: Circle of Allusions (2007)


February 9, 2008
Patrick Ripoll

Album Review Collective Family

Morgan Orion - Circle of Allusions

Personality counts for a lot in lo-fi music. Bob Dylan only wrote 2 of the 13 tracks on his debut album, but his voice and guitar playing crackled with life, wit, and a taste of the dry sense of humor to come. Morgan Orion wrote all 9 tracks on his debut album, and it drips with his personality, particularly the sound of his voice. A common flaw many beginning folk artists make is to allow their influences overpower their creativity. There are a million and ten bearded 20-somethings out there who are trying desperately to sound like an Iron & Wine, or a Bruce Springsteen. There is only one Morgan Orion.

One of the great things about Morgan Orion is that he sounds exactly as you would expect him to after looking at him, and he looks exactly like you’d think if you heard him. It’s a friendly, unpretentious, and slightly defeated sounding voice, one that is perfectly mirrored by his lyrics. Songs like “Furniture” and “Seashore” are driven by free-associative imagery like “Sweeping what’s swept up and keeping what’s kept up/it’s not so easily done/the battles are ample but we’re just a sample/of all that’s been lost and won” and “They had a child, the child had another/this young boy was that child’s brother/he looked at his Grandfather with eyes like sailing ships”. His clever wordplay gives the songs a terrific rhythm and energy that no amount of additional insturmentation could duplicate.

With 9 tracks clocking in at 30 minutes, Circle of Allusions is a highly enjoyable and propulsive record that gets in, does it’s job, and gets out. It’s been getting a whole lot of airplay at my place, even as background music it always puts me in a good mood. Do yourself a favor, and check him out.

Also, Morgan is going to be touring all over the place with the duo Kiki & Peepee throughout March. I had the good fortune to see him perform last night at the House of Grey Noise, and they were both excellent. I highly reccomend you see these excellent performers, so check out the tour dates on his myspace.

Download Circle of Allusions from CLLCT here!
Morgan Orion’s Myspace

New To Theatres: 1/18/08


January 18, 2008
Patrick Ripoll

Cinema/Television

In my first post I was quite gung ho about doing an article every Friday until I died. 2 weeks later I missed an article because I was working as key grip on a music video. I’d apologize, but I doubt anyone really cared. Like I said 2 weeks ago, January is a graveyard and did anyone really want to hear what I had to say about a fucking Veggie-Tales movie? I will say that I’ll eventually catch First Sunday on video, but that’s more for my love of Kat Williams (who IS a hysterical comedian who is smarter than most people give him credit for) than my love of Tyler Perry-esque chitlin’ plays.

CONTEST: This article needs a name. You could be the lucky person to name it! Whoever wins will receive a Patrick Ripoll prize-pack which includes some DVD’s, some mixtapes, maybe some candy, all sorts of glorious shit. So get naming! All entries can be left in the form of a comment on the blog, e-mailed to me at soybomb@care2.com, AIMed to me at soybomb43, or sent as a private message on the Collective forums. Whatever it takes to get it to me.

A quick word on the Golden Globes: No one gives a fuck about the Golden Globes.

And now, onto this Friday, or as Hollywood would like to call it, “The Official Start of the New Year”. We got the much-hyped about Blair-Witch meets Gamera “Cloverfield”, a new Woody Allen movie(!!!!), some generic looking romantic comedy featuring the star of the best romantic comedy of last year, a low-profile Diane Keaton/Queen Latifah caper, and a movie about a girl who’s vagina eats things AKA Patrick Ripoll’s favorite movie of all time, ever.

Let do this like nudists!

Cloverfield (Trailer)
Starring Mike Vogel, Jessica Lucas, and the fucking singer from Yellowcard
Directed by Matt Reeves
This sure as hell better be better than the 1998 Godzilla
The Premise: Monster(s?) battling in New York City, as captured by a 20-something with a camcorder.

The Lowdown: Ever since the teaser trailer hit last summer the internet has gone crazy with speculation. Thanks to clever viral marketing by Mr. J.J. Abrhams, that buzz has nearly lasted all the way til now. Will the movie live up to the hype? It’s an intriquing premise that could be great or shit, but fortunately the early word coming in has been almost unanimously positive. Nothing earth shattering, but all involved seem to agree that at worst, it’s a very entertaining film.

Is It Worth Seeing?: For a brief (75 minutes!) good city-stomping time at the theatres, this is a safe bet.

27 Dresses (Trailer)
Starring Katherine Heigl, James Marsden, Judy Greer
Directed by Anne Fletcher

The Premise:  After being a Bridesmaid 20-something times (I forget the exact number) Katherine Heigl fights to win back the man she loves from her sister.

The Lowdown: Katherine Heigl may feel that Knocked Up was sexist, but if I were her, I’d be more concerned about not knocking the best film I’ll probably ever be in. Especially if she’s going to appear in middling garbage like this. Besides, what’s a more sexist trait of the romantic comedy than the persistant idea that there is no greater prize for a woman than to win a handsome and successful man to marry? And while I don’t believe that Knocked Up is sexist (then again, I’m one of the few people who really felt for Leslie Mann’s character and didn’t think she was a shrew bitch), Judd Apatow’s crew is certainly a boy’s club, so it’s not likely that Heigl will ever be in a movie as funny and heart-felt as Knocked Up again. On the plus side, at least she probably won’t ever have to have a sex scene with someone who looks like Rogen again. So maybe it’s not all bad for her.

Is It Worth Seeing?: Let’s not kid ourselves, there are those of you who have girlfriends, wives, or very clingy mothers who aren’t going to want to see a docu-drama about giant monsters decapitating Lady Liberty. So, for some of you out there, it’s not going to be a choice. You’re going to see this flick whether you want to or not. At least take comfort in the fact that the very lovely and funny Judy Greer has a supporting role, which should make it a bit less painful.

Mad Money (Trailer)
Starring Diane Keaton, Queen Latifah, Katie Holmes, and Ted Danson
Directed by Callie Khouri
If The Coens couldn't pull it off...

The Premise: Diane Keaton, Queen Latifah and Katie Holmes try to rob a bank but strike COMIC GOLD INSTEAD! GABBA GABBA HEY!

The Lowdown: Against my better judgment, I am damned proud of Diane Keaton. There was a point where she had the potential to be one of the all-time great comediennes, right up there with Lucile Balle and Gilda Radner. However, Love & Death (the most underrated comedy of all time) was a long long time ago and her career path didn’t quite go that way. But flash forward to now, and you see that she’s done alright for herself. Through some clever career moves, she’s established a niche for herself as “the hot funny old lady” that should keep her working until her teeth fall out. And while the films she’s in are far from great (though I do have a soft spot for The Family Stone), it’s not often an actress is able to stay relevant in Hollywood once menopause sets in. Hollywood is kind of cruel that way.

So good for you, Diane Keaton. Even though the movies you have been in have been shit (Because I Said So being a particularly big offender), you stay on top. Of course, being dumped in the middle of January against Katherine Heigl and giant monsters with little advertising support isn’t exactly “on top”, but at least you’re doing better than Mia Farrow! Congrats!

Is It Worth Seeing?: Listen, if the goddamned Coen Brothers already made this exact movie (Ladykillers, anyone?) and it wasn’t worth seeing then, there’s no fucking way the director of The Ya-Ya Sisterhood is going to be anything better than shit.

Cassandra’s Dream (Trailer)
Starring Collin Farrell, Ewan McGregor, Phil Davis, Tom Wilkinson
Directed by Woody Allen
Woody Allen returns, hardcore.

The Premise: Ewan McGregor and Collin Farrell are in over their heads in debt, and get entangled in a dangerous and sinister series of events to clear it.

The Lowdown: Woody Allen is awesome. I need to make that clear as possible because it’s easy to forget how good he is. Match Point helped people remember that he can still turn out a killer movie, but it’s important to realise that Match Point was no fluke. Woody Allen is up there with Scorsese as one of America’s greatest living and working filmmakers, and the fact that every movie he releases isn’t an event (even the bad ones, like Anything Else or Hollywood Ending) is a real shame. His last film, Scoop, was a light comedy (reportedly) designed solely to show off the comedic acting chops of Scarlett Johanson, and while it was funny, it was a mere appetizer for Cassandra’s Dream, which is the kind of film Woody should be focusing on now. It’s being dumped at the beginning of the year because the Oscar race is already too crowded and this film doesn’t have the benefit of surprise that Match Point did, but Allen was never one to court awards anyway. So this isn’t going to be pushed and promoted as the important movie it is, but don’t be fooled, this is just as important to see as Atonement (and probably more so).

Is It Worth Seeing?: You bet your ass it is. It’s still in limited release, but look for it when it goes wider.

Teeth (Trailer)
Starring Jess Weixler, John Hensley, Josh Pais
Directed by Mitchell Lichtenstein
New meaning to the phrase

The Premise: Jess Weixler’s vagina has teeth and is hungry. I’m not shitting you.

The Lowdown: Why is this not already an established genre? Why is there not a “vagina dentata” section at my local Best Buy? I don’t need to know any more about this movie to know it’s going down as one of the all time greatest movies since Nashville. This girl’s hairy scar has teeth! Her cootch! Teeth! Do I need to spell it out for you??

Ok, let me calm down a second. Suffice to say, this kind of premise alone sells me on a movie. Whether this film is a cheap tawdry monster movie, a romantic comedy, a documentary filmed in real-time, it doesn’t matter. The premise alone already has my ticket. But, as if you needed any more reason to see this film, it’s also supposed to be hilarious, terrifying, daring, and disgusting. Also, Jess Weixler’s performance evidentally sells the whole thing. So on top of a great premise worthy of early Cronenberg, it’s supposedly all pulled off well too.

Not that it should matter. Chick’s pussy is hungry, s’all I’m sayin’. If you aren’t the kind of person who gets excited about a movie like this, you aren’t the kind of person who gets to be my friend.

Is It Worth Seeing?: I don’t care how far away from you this film is playing, see this shit. There’s no bonding experience like going on a 5 hour road trip with your fam to see a movie bout a girl who’s snatch devours shit.

This week kicks off another exciting year in film, and I for one, can’t wait for what ‘08 has in store for us. Next week has Sylvester Stallone (or as I like to call him, ”the male Diane Keaton”) becoming Rambo again and kicking all sorts of ass. Then again, there’s also another shitty dance movie that defies all grammatical logic, “How She Move”. So maybe it won’t be such a great year after all. Who knows.

The Best Ever MC In Denton


January 4, 2008
Patrick Ripoll

Music Video

I can’t keep this to myself, it’s too fantastic. The whole track is great, but if you want to fast-forward to the super-great, go ahead and skip to 3:04. And now I present to you…

Aesop Rock Ft. John Darnielle - Coffee

Campbell - Flatland Prometheus EP


January 4, 2008
Patrick Ripoll

Album Review Collective Family

My intro to video games was through the SEGA Game Gear, a big lug of a thing that sucked up batteries like the cast of SNL used to suck up cocaine. And like the cast of SNL used to gloat over less fortunate variety shows (like Fridays), I would laugh at those with less fortunate systems like the Nintendo Game Boy. “You fools” I would shout, “you only have four colors, and no backlight! My Game Gear has both, and Sonic the Hedgehog to boot! Now I have to go sell my first-born to support my AA Battery habit!” It’s true, I was keeping the monkey off my back like I was a cast member of SNL, which is where the already bent metaphor breaks and shatters into a million pieces.

I guess my point is, in between the dawn of the very first video games that weren’t entertaining enough to play and the current state where video games aren’t affordable enough to play without making a serious marriage-level commitment to them, there was a time when games were both simple and fun. The Gameboy may have only had 4 colors but it had at least 40 GREAT games. And it may have been operating with approximately 14 sound effects (a number you can count on your fingers, if you’re weird and have too many fingers), but there was some great music. Tetris, Kirby’s Dreamland, Super Mario Land, all classic gaming scores, done with relatively simple beeps, buzzes, whirrs, and pops. Enter Campbell.

The minimalistic album cover for Campbell's minimalistic album

Campbell is an electronica artist that utilizes all sorts of lo-fi sound effects, from Game Boys to cell phones. And while this isn’t entirely unique to him (a mini-sub-culture* of sorts has spawned from this kind of lo-fi sampling. Even Beck rocked a concert in Bonnaroo using a Gameboy), the difference here is that once the gimmick has worn off what you’re left with is well-composed songs. “20,000 Leagues” is a lovely and lush (if a bit long) folk song that mixes gameboy sounds with a guitar and Campbell’s vocals (which I wish there were more of! Homeboy can sing!). It doesn’t sound like it should work on paper, but the two lo-fi sounds work amazingly well together. Then things get even better with his certifiably epic “Misguided Salute” which manages to evoke real feeling and soul from the boops buzzing and beeps. “Misguided Salute” is definitely my favorite track of the album, and one of my favorite electronica songs I’ve heard in a while.

His genre is listed as “Noise-Folk” and while I call it lo-fi electronica, it is important to differentiate him from artists like Kraftwerk. His music has much more of a soul and is much more rough around the edges (by design) than other similar artists.

Unfortunately, as with any good EP, it’s all a tease. With only 4 other songs (two more sound experiments than songs, and one a wholly original cover of “What a Wonderful World”) it’s all over much too quickly. I can’t wait to see what Campbell does next, and until he releases more material, this will do fine. Well, this and some late-night Tetris sessions on my old dot matrix Gameboy.

*Which I guess, is a sub-sub-culture.

Download Campbell - Flatland Prometheus EP from CLLCT!
Campbell - Misguided Salute:

New to Theatres: 1/4/08


January 4, 2008
Patrick Ripoll

Cinema/Television

Wow, that’s a dull title. This segment needs a name that catches your attention like “Patrick Ripoll Fingers Your Daughter” or “Hellwolf: You Will Be Eaten Alive” or something. If you can think of a good name, please drop me a line because I can’t think of nothing. It’s not like I’m some kind of writer or something.

Well it’s January, or as I like to call it, “December’s Hangover”. It’s when the studios punish us for enjoying so many great movies at the end of last year by dumping all their crap at the beginning of this one. As a result January is a graveyard, all the corpses like the way I play my guitar, you gotta look cute if you wanna get far, January is like a graveyard. Hell, this weekend only has one major release. My advice is to do like the grizzly: gorge on as many great movies as you can before they leave theatres and hibernate until March.

In the meantime, Edward Burns!

One Missed Call
Starring Edward Burns and Shannyn Sossamon
Directed by Eric Valette
Trailer
I give great butterfly kisses!
The Premise: Several people begin to receive voicemails from their futureselves, detailing the when, where, and how of their own deaths.
The Lowdown: I dunno how much you know about Japanese filmmaker Takashi Miike, director of the original “One Missed Call”, but I’ll pretend you’ve never heard of him just to get everyone on the same page. Takashi Miike is batshit insane. He’s one of the most prolific, controversial, and unusual filmmakers working today. The guy has averaged about 4 films a year since 1996, many of which have stirred up controversey for their transgressive and bizarre violence, and, according to most interviews I have read of his, the guy doesn’t really understand what he does, he just does it. This is the guy who made a yakuza-gangster movie that ends with the crimeboss conjuring a fireball and destroying the Earth (DOA). He made a slow-burn domestic romantic drama that ends with some of the most brutal torture ever committed to film (Audition). Ichi the Killer’s title credits rise out of a puddle of cum. The dude has made some wacky shit. Whether or not he’s truly an outsider artist or he’s just putting people on, I can’t say, but the man has undeniably made many great, if unusual, films (Audition, Gozu, DOA: Birds, Ichi the Killer). But he’s also made a lot of crap. Sadly, One Missed Call goes in the latter category.

What does this mean about this remake? Not much, really. The original is standard J-horror fare, and there’s little about the remake to suggest it will be anything other than a standard remake. Edward Burns is about as average a leading man as you can get, and the only film I really remember Shannyn Sossamon from is Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (she’s the pink-haired girl who Robert Downey Jr. watches die). But I will say that, if there is a scene featuring that creature on the poster who has mouths for eyes, and he devours something through it’s eyemouths, I will love this movie forever. Until then, I’ll keep waiting for Hollywood to remake Visitor Q (I dare you to! I double dare you!)

Is it Worth Seeing?: I personally can’t stand J-horror, or Hollywood remakes of J-horror. But if that’s your bag, this is as good as any.

Also: Juno, Atonement and The Orphanage are all expanding their releases. So be on the lookout for those fine films. And if you haven’t already seen No Country For Old Men, godammit, do it! 

New to Theatres: 12/28/07


December 28, 2007
Patrick Ripoll

Cinema/Television

It’s Friday, which means somewhere out there, Chris Tucker is getting Ice Cube high. It also means that a bunch of waiters wearing red and white vertical stripes and buttons are singing God’s praises before asking you if you’d like a Loaded Potato Skins appetizer. But most importantly, Friday means that new movies are hitting theatres. Some may be good, some may be bad, but they’re all going to show that Three Doors Down “Citizen Soldier” National Guard video before the trailers. Let’s check them out!

The Bucket List
Starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman
Directed by Rob Reiner
Blandness!
The Premise: Two dying old guys have fun, learn to love life, and tug at your heartstrings in the safest and most predictable of ways.
The Lowdown: This is going to be this years Little Miss Sunshine. That is to say, the slightly above-average movie that everyone’s parents go and see, get exactly what they expect, and proclaim it to be “great” or “cute”. Cut to a year later, it’s playing on TNT and they sit down to watch it not even realising they’ve seen it before. Rob Reiner hasn’t made a truly good movie for 15 years, instead opting to play it safe with very dull formulaic comedies like Alex & Emma or Rumor Has It. This one appears to be no different.
Is it Worth Seeing?: If you’re 40 years old and like to be spoon-fed life affirming pap, sure.

Continue reading ‘New to Theatres: 12/28/07′

Shelby Sifers - Run Around, Run Around


December 28, 2007
Patrick Ripoll

Album Review Collective Family

Hi folks, Patrick Ripoll here. I’ll be up-keeping this here blog every Friday forever and ever, until I die. Maybe even after, if I ever get my BA in Necromancy. It’s a 6 year program, so I’m crossing my fingers and hoping that my scholarship money from “The Joey Ramone Foundation for Tall, Lanky, Ugly Bastards” comes in soon. The lady who took my application said I was a shoe-in.

As the weather got warmer your arms fell out/And I watched from the window and I thought it out- Shelby Sifers

As the year draws to a close, all those damnable end of year lists pop up everywhere. Pretty useless, right? By now you’ve already heard about the big albums, and you don’t need more reasons why Neon Bible is great. Well, my top 10 list for 2007 would mostly be the familiar safe “great” albums (Kala, Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?, etc) with one major exception: Shelby Sifers’ Run Around Run Around. The only reason it’s not on everybody else’s lists is that they probably haven’t heard it yet.

Continue reading ‘Shelby Sifers - Run Around, Run Around’