tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-96021552024-03-18T15:32:39.229-05:00The NicsperimentNihilist by nature, Anti-Nihilist by choiceThe Nicsperimenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08101227163387381013noreply@blogger.comBlogger2295125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9602155.post-50261249853542762782024-03-15T18:19:00.005-05:002024-03-15T18:19:40.903-05:00Silent Hill Reviewed<p>Because of my total console dedication to Nintendo and Sega in 1999, I missed
out on the Sony Playstation survival horror classic, <i>Silent Hill</i>. However, as
I've dedicated my 2024 pop culture experience to every facet of 1999, and
since its the 25th anniversary, I've finally played through the game. Even
though I may not have experienced it back in 1999, playing through <i>Silent Hill</i> now is the best
time machine. Here's my review:
</p>
<p><a href="https://classicvideogamereviews.blogspot.com/2024/03/silent-hill.html">https://classicvideogamereviews.blogspot.com/2024/03/silent-hill.html</a></p>
<a href="https://classicvideogamereviews.blogspot.com/2024/03/silent-hill.html"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="650" data-original-width="650" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiESD-cXZGY-Q2WXOUP6U4B6EAot0dO7IyWo0Mnh1gkOdQwz6-lb3sNK7ad-51vkKmDYclTyQipx4xMtaX6svpXjzYJV4TGQQMnHFgtM6dPM1Roc9sPq_nRaWDT2SftoUexF-oz0j1Vog7pV_W1PYXMudcBZCACdcdgwZRhYECemAwsiEMJW0b0/s600/Silent%20Hill%20PS1.jpg" width="600" /></a>
The Nicsperimenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08101227163387381013noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9602155.post-84633348055017266792024-03-12T09:36:00.002-05:002024-03-12T09:36:32.211-05:00The Mod Squad (Film Review)
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2Jui0zSbPWAaRZYZU5RQbuQYQeLVw7m71hnHHWmII6MeHKhdQAdihWDVXwFHtVq8GZFdkazs_5AAE66HOiCbtEQJU3-e4gyIBbwITaY5eNTbFXvA5mWkAK87ilEdFy_dDrVjuu3ST0EcBA_pUfn-SUWi_tybl6ArQ8BrTxN3YO3LsQ9hoEIos/s1500/TMS.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1000" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2Jui0zSbPWAaRZYZU5RQbuQYQeLVw7m71hnHHWmII6MeHKhdQAdihWDVXwFHtVq8GZFdkazs_5AAE66HOiCbtEQJU3-e4gyIBbwITaY5eNTbFXvA5mWkAK87ilEdFy_dDrVjuu3ST0EcBA_pUfn-SUWi_tybl6ArQ8BrTxN3YO3LsQ9hoEIos/s600/TMS.jpg" /></a>
<br /><i>1999 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer<br />
Directed by: Scott Silver; Written by: Stephen Kay,
Scott Silver, and
Kate Lanier
<br />
Starring: Claire Danes,
Omar Epps,
Giovanni Ribisi,
Dennis Farina,
Josh Brolin,
Steve Harris, and
Michael Lerner
<br />
MPAA Rating: R; Running Time: 92 Minutes
</i><br /><b>
The Nicsperiment Score: 6/10
</b><br /><br />Julie, Pete, and Lincoln are living their last chance. Facing a lifetime of prison stints, they take up Captain Adam Greer's offer to become undercover cops. This works out okay...until Captain Greer is murdered. Unfortunately, Greer is not only framed for drug-related matters, but all the cops around him seem crooked...all but Julie, Peter, and Lincoln, who must now not only solve Greer's murder, but clear his good name.<br /><i>The Mod Squad</i>'s plot is as rudimentary a story as a crime film has had. The 1999 adaptation of the late 60s/early 70s counterculture procedural almost doesn't even seem to care about its plot. The cops are bad, they get together and have a big meeting where they spell out all their plans, a villain even says, "<i>But why did we kill X CHARACTER?</i>" to which another villain answers, "<i>Here's exactly why in detail...</i>" and our heroes are sitting outside the window recording the entire thing on a cassette tape. It's the kind of story a middle schooler would scratch out for a weekly assignment. I can easily admit that as a storytelling device, <i>The Mod Squad</i> is an abject failure.<br />However...1999 is my favorite year in human history, and <i>The Mod Squad</i> is both aesthetically and aurally the most 1999 movie that exists. Scott Silver may not tell a coherent story here, but he knows what looks good. Silver's cinematographer, the award-winning Ellen Kuras, presents a washed-out desaturated image, punctuated by bright, contrasting colors, to create a gorgeous visual palette for the film that's one of the best looking of the year. Likewise, every contributing visual element here, down to even the wardrobe (the film's marketing included a corresponding Levi's campaign) and hair and makeup, are firing on all cylinders. 1999 coolness is bursting out of the seems, even as the plot dies on the vine.<br />Likewise, the jazzy score by BC Smith, outside of a few overly cheesy nods to the 70s, is wonderful and atmospheric, featuring some cool downbeat and satisfying cues. The soundtrack itself is an ode to 1999 cool, from a Curtis Mayfield/Lauryn Hill mashup to Morphine to Björk (all that's missing is some Portishead!), and I love it all. In the end, though, the visual and audio elements will not be enough to get many viewers over the lousy plot hill. Claire Danes, Omar Epps, Giovanni Ribisi bring a lot of cool to their lead roles, but that may not be enough to endear most viewers to their thin characterizations and lackluster dialogue. Even the film's dark humor is an acquired taste.<br />The best comparison I can make for<i> The Mod Squad</i> is to the Official Dreamcast Magazine. This magazine was created to focus upon Sega's final foray into console video gaming, and premiered in 1999. It's graphical layouts and style are the best 1999 can offer, and strangely similar to the theatrically released poster for 1999's <i>The Mod Squad</i>. If you are a fan of the Sega Dreamcast, and I am, the magazine's aesthetic beauty is easily enjoyable. If you aren't...if you're say, a huge X-Box fan who mostly plays <i>Call of Duty</i>...all of those aesthetics are going to do nothing for you. And neither will this film. Meanwhile, I think I'm going to throw it on again.<br />
The Nicsperimenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08101227163387381013noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9602155.post-611276815242864152024-03-06T13:23:00.005-06:002024-03-06T13:23:50.816-06:00Detroit Rock City (Film Review)
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM6mPIkR6lqgMmrMyV7mN2OVlwvfKMifdL9rDxDzJYy0N8ON1NO2HQXh1GPcVZTxzb1imYx63HZlPhs7SBgHQbc21VFdXaSQMyNI8sPNEvtw8LcOS7n6fOML-Yi1vEJHbsO6uw3h4F0stPJHAB7OmnYnt0NQDB3gaWoH_R70B92-yoSOaiakVs/s755/DRC.jpg"><img alt="Detroit Rock City 1999 Poster" border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="509" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM6mPIkR6lqgMmrMyV7mN2OVlwvfKMifdL9rDxDzJYy0N8ON1NO2HQXh1GPcVZTxzb1imYx63HZlPhs7SBgHQbc21VFdXaSQMyNI8sPNEvtw8LcOS7n6fOML-Yi1vEJHbsO6uw3h4F0stPJHAB7OmnYnt0NQDB3gaWoH_R70B92-yoSOaiakVs/s600/DRC.jpg" title="Detroit Rock City" /></a>
<br /><i>
1999 New Line Cinema
<br />
Directed by: Adam Rifkin; Written by: Carl V. Dupré
<br />
Starring: Edward Furlong,
Giuseppe Andrews,
James DeBello,
Sam Huntington,
Gene Simmons,
Paul Stanley,
Ace Frehley,
Peter Criss,
Natasha Lyonne, and
Lin Shaye
<br />
MPAA Rating: R; Running Time: 94 Minutes
</i><br /><b>
The Nicsperiment Score: 5/10
</b><br /><br />
It's the fall of 1978, and teenaged Hawk, Jam, Lex, and Trip have one goal: to see their favorite band, KISS, play in Detroit. Unfortunately, the world seems set against their goal. Jam's hyperconservative mother burns their concert tickets and ships Jam off to boarding school. Now they're down four tickets and one friend. Can the remaining trio rescue Jam and get more tickets? If the four reunite, can they even get to Detroit in the first place? If they do, can they even get to the show with tickets in hand? Or will they lose their minds in...<i>Detroit Rock City</i>?
<br />
I really enjoy the first half of 1999's <i>Detroit Rock City</i>. The 1978 suburban Cleveland setting is perfectly executed, the four young actors have great chemistry, and the lowbrow humor clicks on all cylinders. The soundtrack, featuring a lot of great 70s rock music, as well as some great covers of those songs enhances the fun atmosphere. I found myself quite invested in these four young idiots getting to Detroit. But then they get there...and the movie isn't even halfway over.
<br />
When it comes to Adam Rifkin's <i>Detroit Rock City</i>, viewers' mileage will vary, and mine is the 170 between Cleveland and Detroit. As soon as the four boys reach the titular city, they split up in search of cash and KISS tickets, and the movie loses steam. Together, these four are a fun crew, but apart, the juvenile stupidity of their adventures just isn't enough to carry the more than half of the film's runtime they occupy. To make matters worse, this large portion of the film was shot in nondescript Toronto, not Detroit, further sapping the character out of this massive section of the film. When the boys finally reunite, <i>Detroit Rock City</i> only has minutes of runtime remaining, and the four see their favorite band in a moment that essentially reduces the film to a KISS commercial (KISS Nation produced the film). Then the movie is over.
<br />
The quilt of 1999's cinematic legacy is knitted with nostalgia for the preceding decades, and <i>Detroit Rock City</i> is a part of that fabric. I really do enjoy its first half. I like Edward Furlong as Hawk about as much as I like him in any movie, and I also have a soft spot for Giuseppe Andrews' performance as the fumbling Lex. As the boys hit the road, autumn leaves swirling in the wind, 70s rock soundtrack hitting hard, the dopamine centers in my brain go overdrive. However, that second half on the Toronto streets sucks all the <i>Detroit Rock City</i>-provided joy out of my soul.
The Nicsperimenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08101227163387381013noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9602155.post-83571788049320759782024-03-05T11:10:00.002-06:002024-03-05T11:10:45.792-06:00Filmshake Is Going to Detroit Rock City and Hanging Out With the Mod Squad
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin2ddEq_AXnSoJlP0PmJfICJknKw_LLv1eZMWPJIMAsxrVXrO7_IDC1fLVuHcvt3V_O-xuMuJEpHKg1BtDi1npVqeRihp5Zde3LMSkhji_BfDU0hkGUgbeyCKg0QgcXlC1HQp-YXObyEMv5bfNN0tfPkMH18IhFXfCHQUDj16uYz6S7H0mjIc1/s1023/TMS.jpg"><img alt="The Mod Squad 1999 Black and White" border="0" data-original-height="634" data-original-width="1023" height="397" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin2ddEq_AXnSoJlP0PmJfICJknKw_LLv1eZMWPJIMAsxrVXrO7_IDC1fLVuHcvt3V_O-xuMuJEpHKg1BtDi1npVqeRihp5Zde3LMSkhji_BfDU0hkGUgbeyCKg0QgcXlC1HQp-YXObyEMv5bfNN0tfPkMH18IhFXfCHQUDj16uYz6S7H0mjIc1/w640-h397/TMS.jpg" title="The Mod Squad 1999 movie" width="640" /></a>
<br />
Few movie podcasts have covered 1999's <i>Detroit Rock City</i> and even less have covered that same year's <i>The Mod Squad...</i>but has any podcast ever covered BOTH these little known or seen movies in the same episode? Well, one has now! Filmshake, the 90s Movies Podcast, continues its magnificent trek through the cinematic landscape of 1999, as we cover these two movies that few have seen, let alone find magnificent...except...one of us loves <i>Detroit Rock City</i> and the other loves <i>The Mod Squad</i>! That's right, one of your Filmshake hosts is the only living fan of 1999's <i>The Mod Squad</i>! Listen to find out which one!<br />
<div id="buzzsprout-player-14586876"></div><script charset="utf-8" src="https://www.buzzsprout.com/615940/14586876-episode-75-detroit-rock-city-1999-and-the-mod-squad-1999.js?container_id=buzzsprout-player-14586876&player=small" type="text/javascript"></script>
<div>...(it's me)</div>The Nicsperimenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08101227163387381013noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9602155.post-88226511002915914172024-02-28T15:38:00.003-06:002024-02-28T15:38:27.034-06:00The Beaver (Film Review)
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoXZ_5-MAf5Sp2LHCpFRCJMtr7VDat1BIZndkqZdIjH6Z31wRJt97VmI81YcYcYE79NJTP1vAFSZHCxJAVi78GKxn3ygp99M-S-CE-SBGCgrw2KCqDwGnJeJQGgPlFqWutkZrBTi6BuO1_Vm8o0ap8KKF70AdhEcbjEw6quvlD9LAHWo6t4-yQ/s2000/The%20Beaver.jpg"><img alt="The Beaver 2011 Mel Gibson Jodie Foster Anton Yelchin" border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="1351" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoXZ_5-MAf5Sp2LHCpFRCJMtr7VDat1BIZndkqZdIjH6Z31wRJt97VmI81YcYcYE79NJTP1vAFSZHCxJAVi78GKxn3ygp99M-S-CE-SBGCgrw2KCqDwGnJeJQGgPlFqWutkZrBTi6BuO1_Vm8o0ap8KKF70AdhEcbjEw6quvlD9LAHWo6t4-yQ/s600/The%20Beaver.jpg" title="The Beaver Movie 2011" /></a>
<br /><i>
2011 Summit Entertainment
<br />
Directed by: Jodie Foster; Written by: Kyle Killen
<br />
Starring: Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster, Anton Yelchin, and Jennifer Lawrence
<br />
MPAA Rating: PG-13; Running Time: 91 Minutes
</i><br /><b>
The Nicsperiment Score: 6/10
</b><br /><br />
Walter Black has a wife and two sons, is the CEO of a major toy company, and is
so depressed, he's lost the ability to speak. After his wife, Meredith,
finally loses patience and kicks him out, Walter decides to end it all,
but before he can complete the act of self-deletion, he finds a beaver puppet in
the dumpster. Walter puts the puppet on his arm, and suddenly his will to live returns. He can even speak again...but only as the beaver. Soon, the beaver has turned Walter's entire life
around. His youngest son loves spending time with him. His ideas for the once
floundering toy company have lifted it out of the economic doldrums. His wife
starts to enjoy his company again. His oldest son, Porter, seems to
resent him even more now, but Porter has a love interest played by Jennifer
Lawrence to focus his attention upon. However, as Porter starts to show some of
the same tendencies as his father, and as Meredith begins to grow tired of only
interacting with Walter through a hand puppet, something becomes clear: they don't need the
beaver...they <i>need</i> Walter.
<br />
The weirdest element of 2011's Jodie Foster-directed <i>The Beaver</i> is surprisingly
its most grounded. As Walter Black, Mel Gibson brings his considerable A-game,
conveying Walter's crushing sadness primarily through his eyes in the film's
first act, before spending the majority of the rest of the film talking in a
grimy British beaver accent through a puppet. I firmly believe that the vast
majority of humanity experiences pain the same way, even though the
circumstances surrounding that pain might be vastly different. Walter's pain in
this film, due in no small part to Gibson's incredible performance, is
universal, and his beaver puppet coping mechanism is strangely relatable. HOWEVER, the details...
<br />
Walter's son, Porter, is a brilliant, but troubled teen. He makes money forging
essays for his classmates. The class valedictorian, played by Jennifer Lawrence, asks
him to write her graduation speech. It turns out, though, that Lawrence isn't
just a genius who, like Porter, has been accepted into an Ivy League school, but
also one of the greatest graffiti artists in all of whatever wealthy state this
film is supposed to be set in. However, she stopped doing graffiti because her
brother died. So in summation, the extremely (NOT) relatable storyline for Porter is:
Porter is not only a genius who has gotten into an Ivy League school, but an
unscrupulous forger who makes money writing his classmates' essays. There is a
girl in his class who looks like Jennifer Lawrence. That girl is romantically
interested in Porter. She also is a genius and the class valedictorian. She
wants to pay Porter to write a speech for her. Porter wants her to become a famous graffiti artist again. Also, his dad, a toy company CEO, will only talk to him
in a gruff British accent, while wearing a beaver puppet. Man, that sounds
exactly like my senior year of high school.
<br />
Did I mention that Meredith is a rollercoaster architect, and that the film's final
scene involves the family smiling and running around, Porter and Jennifer
Lawrence hand-in-hand, then riding one of Meredith's rollercoasters in
sepia-toned slow motion? The positive here is that <i>The Beaver</i> understands
pain. The negative is that <i>The Beaver</i> seemingly has no idea how real
everyday life works. As a result, there's a moving family drama here, starring a
fantastic Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster as Meredith, and the late Anton Yelchin as
Porter (maybe named after Gibson's <i>Payback</i> character), full of some very amusing,
dark, and offbeat humor, like a sex scene involving Gibson, Foster, and a very
eager beaver. However, that good stuff is surrounded by nothing that feels like actual reality. In the end,
<i>The Beaver</i> is a strange film that's most definitely worth watching once, but
its considerable flaws dam up any chances it had to be a classic.The Nicsperimenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08101227163387381013noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9602155.post-75629354234544066512024-02-23T16:23:00.001-06:002024-02-23T16:23:32.349-06:00Beetle Adventure Racing! Review!I love the Nintendo 64, and I'm loving revisiting some of my favorite of its games for their 25th anniversaries. The latest revisit is for 1999's <b><i>Beetle Adventure Racing!</i></b>, released in March of 1999. It's my favorite racing game for the beloved 64-bit system, blending 3D platforming into its racing gameplay. I had just as much fun playing through this game now as I did 25 years ago, and I'm pleased to present my review at the link below:<br /><br />
<a href="https://thenintendo64museum.blogspot.com/2024/02/beetle-adventure-racing.html">https://thenintendo64museum.blogspot.com/2024/02/beetle-adventure-racing.html</a>
<br /><br />
<a href="https://thenintendo64museum.blogspot.com/2024/02/beetle-adventure-racing.html"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1520" data-original-width="2098" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoht1_JqgzDglT8RKnn0RF7vGOvPKjwXy80YsdIx4MTFO4q030BdQxB5eFbCXCqyUxRuSA_qdZeIeXTaRgsMDsEqgO4j24ZhHT8gsh3NQSMe8WuEinMTpyRsBRuKe_tU9RmOdbmZETOtr5nr67942cNbSxgfU5GyzPm3MIzaRG4QAFMNoGOQp5/s600/BAR.jpg" width="600" /></a>
The Nicsperimenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08101227163387381013noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9602155.post-51872773029819829412024-02-19T13:14:00.000-06:002024-02-19T13:14:23.811-06:00Payback (Film Review)
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyVZbGlCyJhVgoIxLPcpfBDxANrYfF933_9cFX5Q2qfwunl9lttePSKIkRYOSWNFd8R7VI_ECYSNBLsnzj9xSNYRY8BwVCaIo8cIOh5SVKiv5VnsWdTjMRnNyiV1rFa27qC1Wx_mSR2csxWJ48AxIdVC-6gxZhCOu-FNlrleHpdlFEarQlKHAX/s1191/Payback%201999.jpg"><img alt="Payback 1999 Mel Gibson Brian Heldgeland" border="0" data-original-height="1191" data-original-width="800" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyVZbGlCyJhVgoIxLPcpfBDxANrYfF933_9cFX5Q2qfwunl9lttePSKIkRYOSWNFd8R7VI_ECYSNBLsnzj9xSNYRY8BwVCaIo8cIOh5SVKiv5VnsWdTjMRnNyiV1rFa27qC1Wx_mSR2csxWJ48AxIdVC-6gxZhCOu-FNlrleHpdlFEarQlKHAX/s600/Payback%201999.jpg" title="Payback Movie 1999" /></a>
<br /><i>
1999 Paramount Pictures
<br />
Directed by: Brian Helgeland; Written by: Brian Helgeland and Terry Hayes
<br />
Starring: Mel Gibson,
Gregg Henry,
Maria Bello, and
David Paymer
<br />
MPAA Rating: R; Running Time: 101 Minutes
</i><br /><b>
The Nicsperiment Score: 7/10
</b><br /><br />
After a big heist, Porter is shot, robbed, and left for dead by his partner in crime, Val, and his wife, Lynn. Unfortunately for Val, Lynn, and everyone associated with them, Porter<i> isn't</i> dead. After several months, the angry, vengeful Porter turns up very alive. He wants his $70,000 back. He wants... <i>Payback</i>.
<br />Brian Helgeland's 1999 directorial debut, <i>Payback</i>, is a love letter to 1970s crime thrillers. With a dark blue filter over his lens, and grime caked over his sets and his characters' moral compasses, frequent scribe Helgeland seems to relish his first chance behind the camera. Even the majority of elements where the studio took control out of Helgeland's hands, like the addition of a hard-boiled voiceover or a more cathartic, palatable ending, generally work. As Porter, Mel Gibson seems to relish putting a darker twist on his action hero persona, believable as he commits several acts of surprising physical violence, yet still charming and likable. As Porter's hooker-with-a-heart-of-gold post-wife love interest, Rosie, Maria Bello brings just the right balance of toughness and charm, herself, while Gregg Henry brings a wonderful level of slime to the villainous Val. Speaking of villainous, <i>Payback</i> features a murderers row of bad guys, from James Coburn to William Devane to Lucy Liu to David Paymer to the one and only Kris Kristofferson, all chewing the delicious scenery. Chris Boardman's dark and gritty musical score and Ericson Core's phenomenal cinematography are also feathers in the film's cap, and as much a love letter to 70s cinema as Helgeland's writing and directing. <br />However, there are a few moments that hold <i>Payback</i> from greatness, keeping it firmly in the "good" territory. One studio-inserted action beat features Gibson sneaking under some henchmen's car, cutting the fuel line and setting the gasoline trail on fire o blow up the car, in a cartoony sequence that clashes violently with the rest of the film's grittier, more realistic tone. Another moment, created by Heldgeland himself, wraps up several of the film's pre-climax loose ends in a clumsy fashion, and could have been handled with much more subtlety. Thankfully, these moments don't come often, and the majority of the film is a highly enjoyable experience, emblematic of many of the throwback charms much of 1999 cinema has to offer.<br />
The Nicsperimenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08101227163387381013noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9602155.post-43860904880841506552024-02-14T15:34:00.002-06:002024-03-01T10:19:45.379-06:00The Sopranos Season One, Episode by Episode Review<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ7ImuFdGrvwnIiCOaUYS9_zIlSARjTMlbM0MPhwctla9ZmefUvKFsmZO2o-bAHB6IMDRWzg1GWhrve2pXYDloKxVeyJARUkCkeGBnWIih3LzfQ5Xo9MVjUHh2N4R6WyDTJFgV0OFD0qjfM99QC62dEPFwycSVbno7hdDwINW3Xs1pkr0r2GvJ/s1440/The%20Sopranos%20Season%20One.jpg"><img alt="The Sopranos Season One Cast Promo" border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1080" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ7ImuFdGrvwnIiCOaUYS9_zIlSARjTMlbM0MPhwctla9ZmefUvKFsmZO2o-bAHB6IMDRWzg1GWhrve2pXYDloKxVeyJARUkCkeGBnWIih3LzfQ5Xo9MVjUHh2N4R6WyDTJFgV0OFD0qjfM99QC62dEPFwycSVbno7hdDwINW3Xs1pkr0r2GvJ/s600/The%20Sopranos%20Season%20One.jpg" title="The Sopranos Season One" /></a>
<br /><br /><b><span style="font-size: large;">
EDITOR'S NOTE: IF YOU DON"T CARE ABOUT MY RAMBLING PERSONAL STORY BELOW, SKIP TO
THE FONT CHANGE AND CLEARLY MARKED EPISODE 1 REVIEW A FEW PARAGRAPHS DOWN, WHERE THE REVIEWS BEGIN</span></b><br /><br /><i>
The Sopranos</i> changed my life. As 1999, and the second half of my junior year of high
school kicked off, I felt stuck and miserable. I was trying to pull myself out
of a depression that began in 1998, and my restrictive home life and church life weren't helping. I should preface this by saying that I am a religious person, but the church
I group up in wasn't religious per se, and more so a cult. My church life boiled
down to my Uncle, the leader, and his strangely papal like edict to "Do as <i>I </i>say." At home, which wasn't even in the same town as the cult (we had to drive
an hour to get to every special event and all <i>three</i> weekly church services), my mom was
his enforcer, and I felt trapped, constantly monitored, and not free to just be
a regular old high school junior. <div>The final straw came on Valentine's Day, 1999,
a Sunday night. I finally had my own car, and I was about to start a cashier job
at my local grocery store, and yet here I was at a stupid church Valentine's Day
banquet, wanting to jump out of my skin. The worst moment came late in the
night, when my uncle angrily pulled me aside, told me I looked like a slob, and
that I was bringing down the whole banquet. Finally, the event ended, and I went
home. I was off the next few days for Mardi Gras, so I brought my backpack into
my room and cleaned it out...and that's when I found the tape. </div><div>I remembered my
best friend Robbie handing the tape to me on the Friday two days before, right as school ended, his only
comment, "You have to watch this." I looked out my door to make sure my mom and everyone else had
gone to bed, then hit play on my VCR...and the rest is history. </div><div>The next hour
was one of the most formative of my life. After the famous HBO white noise logo came an incredible opening title
sequence set to the A3 song, "Woke Up This Morning," then the words CREATED BY DAVID
CHASE came onscreen before a logo that said THE SOPRANOS. The episode was
"College," episode five from Season One, which had aired live the weekend before. My prevailing thoughts throughout this incredible hour of television were,
<i>this is deep, this is well made, this is the coolest thing I have ever seen,
and this is for me</i>. I had an epiphany.</div><div>It's not that I wanted to be a mobster or that I wanted to imitate the show's lead character, Tony Soprano, who is in truth a
charming and charismatic sociopath. It's that I wanted to experience and live in
the stuff I actually liked (stuff like <i>The Sopranos</i>), do what I actually wanted to do, and be who I
actually wanted to be. If there was some dumb event for old people who thought I
dressed like I slob, I wasn't going to go. I was going to do what <i>I wanted</i> to
do. I was going to watch what<i> I wanted</i> to watch, even if I had to stay up late,
when no one else in my house could see. And also, Robbie was going to
have to start recording <i>The Sopranos</i> for me every week. </div><div>Thankfully, Robbie
obliged. He was a great friend, and I guess he is responsible for changing my
life. Thanks, Robbie. Now, it's been exactly 25 years since that night
<i>The Sopranos</i> came into my life. I've experienced some great shows,
movies, and music since then, but nothing like I did in 1999, and nothing like
<i>The Sopranos</i>. In honor of that night... <br /><br /><span style="font-family: courier;">I'll be running
the first season of The Sopranos throughout the rest of 1999, and will post a quick
review of every individual episode on this very post. Each review will appear here on the first day of each month (two in November and December). I can't
wait to watch and talk about these episodes. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: courier;">Lord above, thing's ain't been the same
since <i>The Sopranos</i> walked into town...</span><br /><br /><b><span style="font-size: large;">EPISODE 1 -- "THE SOPRANOS"</span></b><br /><b>Written and Directed by David Chase<br />Originally Aired: 1/10/1999</b><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAbq7Hl_SVPvetYXY4PuFhRln4pRPbwcKwQPX6jP-pWwOBfv2n0nHzMaC3AV-B6XB5FB-EPrEFBRY4nhGSA3BnrBOmrebRKdLNVWzAF78Etqu_Bm72n3aAWz5sGbTc0thGIsVzZt7Tdfeu6MRiYY9VB4ebQ7ZmElhirXJemdcwEopeCPHNXV3M/s1920/TSDE1.jpg"><img alt="Tony Soprano Feeds Ducks The Sopranos" border="0" data-original-height="1072" data-original-width="1920" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAbq7Hl_SVPvetYXY4PuFhRln4pRPbwcKwQPX6jP-pWwOBfv2n0nHzMaC3AV-B6XB5FB-EPrEFBRY4nhGSA3BnrBOmrebRKdLNVWzAF78Etqu_Bm72n3aAWz5sGbTc0thGIsVzZt7Tdfeu6MRiYY9VB4ebQ7ZmElhirXJemdcwEopeCPHNXV3M/w400-h223/TSDE1.jpg" title="The Sopranos Series Premiere" width="400" /></a>
<br />The genius of this series premiere comes in the way its first half is told in a completely different manner than the entirety of the next 85 episodes. Tony Soprano (portrayed through the greatest television performance in history by the late James Gandolfini), an underboss in the DiMeo crime family of New Jersey, introduces the viewer to his conflicting home and professional lives through voiceover. While voiceover can sometimes work as a storytelling cheat, it's employed at a top tier level of depth here. Tony has recently suffered from panic attacks, and his doctor has recommended he visit a therapist. Tony gives his new therapist the rundown of his life, and this is the voiceover that introduces viewers to <i>The Sopranos</i> world. Tony has a wife, Carmela, a teenaged daughter, Meadow, and a middle school-aged son, A.J. Tony also gives his therapist, Dr. Melfi, some details about his professional life. In more fun storytelling, Tony tells Melfi that his profession is in waste management, but as he gives her vague and false details, the imagery onscreen reveals Tony hanging out with his mobster subordinates, violently assaulting someone who owes his Mafia family money, and generally acting like a charismatic sociopath. Again, the storytelling technique here is genius, as it puts Tony on the same ground as the lead in films like <i>Goodfellas</i> through the voiceover, charmingly and magnetically pulling in the viewer, even as the show refuses to deny or sugarcoat who Tony actually is: a violent, evil man. Tony cares about his children, on some level even cares about the longsuffering Carmela, who he lies to and cheats on, and he is full of charismatic energy, but he's evil. The show is able to ride this line, keeping hold with Tony's charisma, while repulsing with his behavior, all the way until the series finale, eight years after the premiere. A little less than halfway through this first episode, Tony's first therapy session ends, and from that point on, the storytelling for the majority of the rest of the series is a traditional, yet highly complex, voiceover-free narrative. The complex relationships in Tony's professional life are further highlighted, and the tension and stress in his personal life come further to the fore, particularly the stress caused by Tony's forever dissatisfied, paranoid, and abusive mother, Livia. Beyond the voiceover, which again, only exists in the first half of the episode, the central framing device for this premiere are the ducks that visit Tony's home. Apparently, a pair of ducks visited Tony's pool, mated, produced ducklings, and then, much to Tony's dismay, learned to fly and left...which immediately precipitates Tony's first panic attack. It turns out, at least as deciphered through one of Tony's late-episode therapy sessions (he will visit Melfi consistently throughout the series), that Tony fears the dissipation of his family. Throughout this self-titled opening episode, Tony, through therapy and through Prozac, is able to get his mental health back on track and at least temporarily overcome his depression and panic attacks. By A.J.'s birthday party at episode's end, all seems right in Tony's world, but as Tony calls his eager family over to the grill to eat, the camera pans back to the image of an empty pool. Thus ends one of the greatest series premieres ever aired.<br /><br /><b><span style="font-size: large;">EPISODE 2 -- "46 Long"</span></b><br /><b>Written by: David Chase; Directed by: Dan Attias<br />Originally Aired: 1/17/1999</b><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXIBoBmM2u_FXrf64hU8rnfBMl30FPl2A6eseBmQoyb960nZ3-wZrX0_fEim1U2szTZfaMoO6V0t8e303u145mARotxNuwRICCZlgnpVOvQ8xR3O5BHAJEI12b0IZVBzzGiriw9A_wabVTTcwyp_meIsHDtA9kAayqr48vyqeRq_Jz5Tv1Uv7v/s1000/46%20Long%20Group%20Photo.jpg"><img alt="The Sopranos 46 Long Season One Episode Two" border="0" data-original-height="563" data-original-width="1000" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXIBoBmM2u_FXrf64hU8rnfBMl30FPl2A6eseBmQoyb960nZ3-wZrX0_fEim1U2szTZfaMoO6V0t8e303u145mARotxNuwRICCZlgnpVOvQ8xR3O5BHAJEI12b0IZVBzzGiriw9A_wabVTTcwyp_meIsHDtA9kAayqr48vyqeRq_Jz5Tv1Uv7v/w400-h225/46%20Long%20Group%20Photo.jpg" title="The Sopranos 46 Long" width="400" /></a><br />"46 Long" deepens the world introduced by The Sopranos premiere. In Tony's professional life, his nephew Christopher and a bonehead friend knock off a DVD player truck, only to find that the trucking company was supposed to be under the protection of Tony's Uncle Junior, the acting mob boss...at least in name. Everyone knows Tony is actually in charge, but Tony has to pay his respects to Junior, meaning <i>Christopher</i> has to pay his respects to Junior. As Tony tries to work out these professional kinks that subtly intersect with his family life, one aspect of his family life threatens to overwhelm him and send him back into panic attacks. His mother is now beyond the point of taking care of herself, but still refuses Tony's overtures to send her to a retirement home, and vexes the poor in-home care woman brought in as a stopgap solution. Meanwhile, A.J.'s schoolteacher's car has been stolen, and Carmela suggests Tony use his resources to help...to which Tony agrees, after finding how low A.J.'s grade is in the teacher's class. "46 Long" is the only episode in The Sopranos entire run to feature a cold open, a scene that features Tony and his crew counting out money in the backroom of the Bing, their strip club headquarters, as a roundtable news program about the decline of the Mafia airs on the television in the background. This moment is not only humorously ironic (the Mafia may be in decline, but these guys are still rolling in dough), but also reflects the melancholy statement Tony makes to Dr. Melfi in the previous episode, that he's come into the Mafia at the end, when its best times are already over. This sentiment casts a mythic, almost Lord of the Rings epic feel to the show, and indeed the rest of this series has a strange nostalgia and wistfulness for the past, fitting for a series that got its start in 1999. This nostalgia/reflection of decline is further highlighted when two of Tony's soldiers, the irritable Paulie and the affable Big Pussy, visit a trendy coffee shop while on hunt for the missing car, and lament that Italians should have been the ones to popularize and profit from things like the cappuccino, that the wider world has benefitted from Italian cuisine, while Italians and Italian Americans have seen little of the reward. As for Melfi, she's continuously frustrated by Tony, as he vehemently defends his mother's goodness to her in their sessions, despite all evidence that she's an absolutely awful woman. By the end of the "46 Long," though, Livia finally ends up in a retirement home, Christopher and his friend don't get any smarter, and the teacher gets his car back...sort of.<br /><br /><b><span style="font-size: large;">EPISODE 3 -- "Denial, Anger, Acceptance"</span></b><br /><b>Written by: Mark Saraceni; Directed by: Nick Gomez<br />Originally Aired: 1/24/1999</b></div>Coming Soon!...<br /><br />The Nicsperimenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08101227163387381013noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9602155.post-42830927019339626932024-02-13T19:07:00.001-06:002024-02-13T19:07:54.317-06:00Filmshake Is Out for Payback!
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVxnyADNM3ZCiFwbV-SM3_cU0_OY2g-BB3eVUMXjQ_Ku1WJF2bhoC5fz7G59UKWv_Gvieh2QXRBTRV5uC4XCkIs4I9Bw9GjN5fOn1xhJ1J_kbe0fXjBjK7Vq7UO0_Ge9jpfz1COofIZ4OjEt06C1HIGHfoANsA_UWRvozc8fHq-ochAUAS_XWh/s1600/FF4CE3A7-CEA5-451F-922A-D556FFB8E1B7.png"><img alt="Payback 90s Movies Podcast 1999" border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVxnyADNM3ZCiFwbV-SM3_cU0_OY2g-BB3eVUMXjQ_Ku1WJF2bhoC5fz7G59UKWv_Gvieh2QXRBTRV5uC4XCkIs4I9Bw9GjN5fOn1xhJ1J_kbe0fXjBjK7Vq7UO0_Ge9jpfz1COofIZ4OjEt06C1HIGHfoANsA_UWRvozc8fHq-ochAUAS_XWh/s600/FF4CE3A7-CEA5-451F-922A-D556FFB8E1B7.png" title="Payback 90s Movies Podcast" width="600" /></a>
<br />
When it comes to The '90s Movies Podcast, I'm not exactly known for skimping on my homework, but for our latest episode, Jordan Courtney and I both watched 1999's <i>Payback</i>, the 2006 Director's Cut, 1967's <i>Point Blank</i>, and 2011's The Beaver PLUS I read Donald E. Westlake's 1962 novel <i>The Hunter.</i>..and we talk about ALL of it!!! Listen below, as we begin our quest into the cinema of 1999.
<br />
<div id="buzzsprout-player-14461274"></div><script charset="utf-8" src="https://www.buzzsprout.com/615940/14461274-episode-74-payback-1999.js?container_id=buzzsprout-player-14461274&player=small" type="text/javascript"></script>
The Nicsperimenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08101227163387381013noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9602155.post-66515657573983062322024-02-09T11:49:00.001-06:002024-02-09T11:49:15.756-06:00Update to Norma Jean Post<p>I don't know why, but The Nicsperiment's most popular post over the last
nearly eight years is the August 17, 2016 entry "A Complete History of Norma
Jean." I mean, it's a fine post, thoroughly researched and injected with my
own experience and knowledge, but for some reason Google has elevated it more in searches than everything else I've written since. Norma Jean have
released three more albums in that span, so I have finally updated the original post to
keep it's title true. If you want to see the updated version (which is the
only version, since I just updated the original), click the link below:
</p>
<p><a href="https://thenicsperiment.blogspot.com/2016/08/a-complete-history-of-norma-jean.html">
https://thenicsperiment.blogspot.com/2016/08/a-complete-history-of-norma-jean.html</a></p>
<a href="https://thenicsperiment.blogspot.com/2016/08/a-complete-history-of-norma-jean.html"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="980" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYCkCg8yPsqo1isl8IK3ANsuX4Bw7oWb59QqgPghCO6PEFqKz4SvDska1snKodDoGLPKVNi98NTJnjcHFKNURgxe_g8ISN8LNvqb0DOEC6gZbH9E7BraWWNRwlodYlvzo1kx5FrCUGyo-aWAt_5qe8YEvJ48SDLHJRj2zfhZ-lp5vvdZFE_eBJ/s600/NJH.jpg" width="600" /></a>
The Nicsperimenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08101227163387381013noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9602155.post-28027863075114303522024-02-02T17:31:00.016-06:002024-03-14T18:11:06.430-05:00The Films of 1999<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPL3wwclKn7pvFjuZhOXdeMfH3t3cxiB-PGNZenoueIpW9Mik5an5tvcPdQBTbnpWDeNAy5td5dHdtjIjNqEQZhgE3FrqAxfqKc24iiQCjMlzGuhVm4Fr97PHXSzd4D1o_INq2sh-IcQzJ2F_ya86Fauf__YqH61uyyHA33QQxEkYEaCMXLi2A/s1432/1999.png"><img alt="The Films of 1999 Photo Collage" border="0" data-original-height="996" data-original-width="1432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPL3wwclKn7pvFjuZhOXdeMfH3t3cxiB-PGNZenoueIpW9Mik5an5tvcPdQBTbnpWDeNAy5td5dHdtjIjNqEQZhgE3FrqAxfqKc24iiQCjMlzGuhVm4Fr97PHXSzd4D1o_INq2sh-IcQzJ2F_ya86Fauf__YqH61uyyHA33QQxEkYEaCMXLi2A/s600/1999.png" title="The Films of 1999 Photo Collage" width="600" /></a>
<br /><br /><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">This year, </span></b> I'm reading through Brian Raftery's
<i>Best. Movie. Year. Ever.: How 1999 Blew Up the Big Screen</i>, watching each
of the 33 movies mentioned and keeping
<a href="https://twitter.com/90smoviespod/status/1753511235449147547">a running X thread</a>
of my thoughts on each film. HOWEVER, I'm actually watching far more 1999 films
this year than those 33. So here, on The Nicsperiment only, I'll not only be
keeping the same thread I'm running on X, but I'll be adding my thoughts on
those other 1999 films I watch as well, plus I'll be giving all the movies
review scores, which I also won't be doing on Twitter. And finally, I'll
be keeping a ranked list of all the 1999 movies I watch
<a href="https://letterboxd.com/thenicsperiment/list/ranking-every-1999-film/">on Letterboxd</a>. This is easily the most excited I've been about something on The Nicsperiment since my "Every
Album I Own" project, but while that entailed thousands of posts, this project
will only entail one: this very post, which I'll continue to update throughout
the year. Let the fun begin!<br /><br /><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>* * *</b>
</div>
<br /><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFn2qksBEVOt23ryRl7FX5bYo2iwblc59h5_C-m15YWultVvooq3fZZhGfo0YTPnlqWE1HsiUSq0V3imYdjDejl0xWNxsrfWMRzzm0VrMjFhHkBPruGndpBRjRUdEm78DhsPLIh9wBtNGU35y_FRcrGE6aecqezjSL7WuMrTv6xgCOzMv9M-GE/s864/GFW5CXsaIAAjs_q.png"><img alt="The Blair Witch Project Poster" border="0" data-original-height="864" data-original-width="580" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFn2qksBEVOt23ryRl7FX5bYo2iwblc59h5_C-m15YWultVvooq3fZZhGfo0YTPnlqWE1HsiUSq0V3imYdjDejl0xWNxsrfWMRzzm0VrMjFhHkBPruGndpBRjRUdEm78DhsPLIh9wBtNGU35y_FRcrGE6aecqezjSL7WuMrTv6xgCOzMv9M-GE/w134-h200/GFW5CXsaIAAjs_q.png" title="The Blair Witch Project 1999 Review" width="134" /></a>
<br /><b><i>The Blair Witch Project</i> -- 7/10</b><br />In 1999, the skeptical
18-year-old me didn't get the hype around <i>The Blair Witch Project</i>, but
upon revisit I much more appreciate its lo-fi, folk-horror charms, its built-in
autumnal atmosphere, and its confidence in the modern found-footage blueprint
it's creating.<br /><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxUdcv0gvblgjw2B9SLubTdfjlNwIdTE5vyaL-AXR5qVRmsdY_r0iVzoqwq-0HlXkd6M_T240LQtdwN83nKPgVT1tYHQDBLYYlum8-8OWnzZGZ91pz6tV6mdEHGYdpMZQgiwE3UORTz2E2Al-v7-R7BxO0XRu9fztP-GDLztSubvh4GniCjNL-/s475/MV5BOTI5ODkxMDU4Nl5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTYwNDE2NjU5._V1_.jpg"><img alt="Curse of the Blair Witch 1999 Review Sci-Fi Channel" border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="264" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxUdcv0gvblgjw2B9SLubTdfjlNwIdTE5vyaL-AXR5qVRmsdY_r0iVzoqwq-0HlXkd6M_T240LQtdwN83nKPgVT1tYHQDBLYYlum8-8OWnzZGZ91pz6tV6mdEHGYdpMZQgiwE3UORTz2E2Al-v7-R7BxO0XRu9fztP-GDLztSubvh4GniCjNL-/w111-h200/MV5BOTI5ODkxMDU4Nl5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTYwNDE2NjU5._V1_.jpg" title="Curse of the Blair Witch 1999 Review" width="111" /></a>
<br />
<b><i>The Curse of the Blair Witch</i> -- 7/10</b><br /><i>Curse of The Blair Witch</i>
has to be one of the greatest television tie-ins to a movie ever made--great
pains were taken to make this thing feel like a real television documentary, and
in the end it is almost as good as the actual film, probably scarier. Greatly
enhances the film.<br /><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguedL61W112uNzm8XDwcKGwCNToqIJVK3gtH3gUZQSV3fTwTv5jroo1MY0WWCI_Km12flfmEKlm-EPqVh4lyftkIkrsMcNdf8qccmMpXPf3h-fcJTZn0W0niGTmK0ILD_F0q-ScOqYkZRu7Kiu06qAVqCKbPXu7mhLKZuP_tAFfVjOhzdw3a_Z/s1481/The%20Boondock%20Saints.jpg"><img alt="The Boondock Saints 1999 Review" border="0" data-original-height="1481" data-original-width="1000" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguedL61W112uNzm8XDwcKGwCNToqIJVK3gtH3gUZQSV3fTwTv5jroo1MY0WWCI_Km12flfmEKlm-EPqVh4lyftkIkrsMcNdf8qccmMpXPf3h-fcJTZn0W0niGTmK0ILD_F0q-ScOqYkZRu7Kiu06qAVqCKbPXu7mhLKZuP_tAFfVjOhzdw3a_Z/w135-h200/The%20Boondock%20Saints.jpg" title="The Boondock Saints 1999 Review" width="135" /></a>
<br /><b><i>The Boondock Saints</i> -- 6/10</b><br />
<div>
This movie is so damn dumb. If you told me it was written by and maybe even
directed by a 12-year-old boy, I'd believe you. The editor seems to have found
a how-to manual that describes fades on the first page, then excitedly thrown
the book on the floor and immediately started working. Every second of
Boondock Saints is puerile juvenilia, and the film never once looks beyond its
ankle deep, "Let's be good guys by killing all the bad guys" surface. The
characters are one-dimensional and ridiculously over-the-top, even if young
Indiana Jones, Daryl Dixon, and Willem "Wait, I can REALLY do whatever I
want?!" Dafoe seem to be having the time of their lives.
<i>The Boondock Saints</i> is a stupid crowd-pleaser in the guise of an
experimental indie, and I now completely understand why my younger friends
talked about the movie like it was Citizen Kane back in the early 00s. It's
just so, so stupid.
</div>
<div>I enjoyed it immensely.</div>
<div>***</div>
<div>
Gonna have to cover this on my podcast at some point. This is the Filmshake
ideal.
</div>
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihQuB57z-VRThe-HU9wvIE1t8o4s9pykwVwcsP5Xl-ocYea8WCpKbl8lNAsitccbxo317jikvLW62PMrFVEN2UBewZpflWDeT8XN6PZ8tbaHW7pb787yKqiEJQ4-KFKo9cGD1Jt2Zysj7tGHckiHFJbihaE1NSLmnOxxLgvClIVSg5NuPAypJg/s1500/Following.jpg"><img alt="Following 1999 Christopher Nolan Review" border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1000" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihQuB57z-VRThe-HU9wvIE1t8o4s9pykwVwcsP5Xl-ocYea8WCpKbl8lNAsitccbxo317jikvLW62PMrFVEN2UBewZpflWDeT8XN6PZ8tbaHW7pb787yKqiEJQ4-KFKo9cGD1Jt2Zysj7tGHckiHFJbihaE1NSLmnOxxLgvClIVSg5NuPAypJg/w133-h200/Following.jpg" title="Following 1999 Review" width="133" /></a>
<br /><b><i>Following</i> -- 8/10</b><br />With <i>Following</i>, Christopher
Nolan comes right out of the gate with the blueprint for his asynchronous
storytelling, served by a brilliant, lowdown noir vibe that perfectly reflects
late 90s fin de siècle. The best $6K any aspiring filmmaker ever spent.<br /><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSASK3pPTMSr3NwsBiEK0olVHoz0Z72EwNy0G-3CUv3Ob_AzUVfb1fXEKGxfCjq5l2DnCIoIk6lepTcqygYPCBTSoIgQb8_JuAwJvFurpituapVpO4M-i91Do0x_amCDEUA44gAJukFxM3HfXLJYs7Bc_WLX_ge3iJFmxNRfrqbAbeGEQ3Rqvf/s1483/Guinivere.jpg"><img alt="Guinevere 1999 Film Review" border="0" data-original-height="1483" data-original-width="1000" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSASK3pPTMSr3NwsBiEK0olVHoz0Z72EwNy0G-3CUv3Ob_AzUVfb1fXEKGxfCjq5l2DnCIoIk6lepTcqygYPCBTSoIgQb8_JuAwJvFurpituapVpO4M-i91Do0x_amCDEUA44gAJukFxM3HfXLJYs7Bc_WLX_ge3iJFmxNRfrqbAbeGEQ3Rqvf/w135-h200/Guinivere.jpg" title="Guinevere 1999 Film Review" width="135" /></a>
<br /><b><i>Guinevere </i>-- 8/10</b><br />Sarah Polley crushes it as the naïve
& vulnerable May to Stephen Rea's manipulative, commie, starving artist
loser December, in a subtle, deeply shaded film that bangs Polley's character
over the head more than the viewer. Also, Jean Smart gives arguably the best
& most savagely delivered monologue of 1999 in a dressing down of Rea's
character that should be legendary. Quite an underrated film.<br /><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdMTBw-BDKklyiqwykrvtDOiFP-CgYjkUBKmW0Kfn_IJHkwPK1BjNw2F7YTDAA70emOoT8I8uP_zUayntWuR39F_Y14x_b74XJGn_Xv9d5hBAiv667bmI9uL4pDd_cHwP-PX29ZawZPqk2nGBoQ5yj-rdflGvB6oOb51TKT40EOWr-NEqppFxM/s1451/Go%201999.jpg"><img alt="Go 1999 Review" border="0" data-original-height="1451" data-original-width="979" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdMTBw-BDKklyiqwykrvtDOiFP-CgYjkUBKmW0Kfn_IJHkwPK1BjNw2F7YTDAA70emOoT8I8uP_zUayntWuR39F_Y14x_b74XJGn_Xv9d5hBAiv667bmI9uL4pDd_cHwP-PX29ZawZPqk2nGBoQ5yj-rdflGvB6oOb51TKT40EOWr-NEqppFxM/w135-h200/Go%201999.jpg" title="Go 1999 Review" width="135" /></a>
<br /><b><i> Go</i>--7/10</b><br />Go's opening act is a fun and visceral blast
of late 90s raver energy, undercut by the progressively less interesting tales
of its 2nd and 3rd acts. The needless Pulp Fictionesque time and perspective
changes downgrade what could've been a great film into one that’s just okay.<br /><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAJhzbdxmYx4iWTils0R5iMmzFf3HA-7lfj1y-cN5_A7W3O32ETvS0uUWNac0obBx0ciDl-PVt8_d-vUuSuEQXiHo56UhyeJ9DPMlMzx1ce_Jd3MsffspcloAjBdIPSC6pyFnu1rWz5f6efxDyKb-bUA36NDCdmp_SSdPOoI-4ZuOcfheV8amr/s1517/Holy%20Smoke.jpg"><img alt="Holy Smoke 1999 Review" border="0" data-original-height="1517" data-original-width="1000" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAJhzbdxmYx4iWTils0R5iMmzFf3HA-7lfj1y-cN5_A7W3O32ETvS0uUWNac0obBx0ciDl-PVt8_d-vUuSuEQXiHo56UhyeJ9DPMlMzx1ce_Jd3MsffspcloAjBdIPSC6pyFnu1rWz5f6efxDyKb-bUA36NDCdmp_SSdPOoI-4ZuOcfheV8amr/w132-h200/Holy%20Smoke.jpg" title="Holy Smoke 1999 Review" width="132" /></a>
<br /><b><i> Holy Smoke</i>--5/10 </b><br />
An absolute mess that takes its audience's investment for granted--beautifully
shot by Campion and well-acted by Winslet and Keitel, exploring a plethora of
thematic depths, sometimes well, but never sets a baseline for any of the
insanity. About as mixed a bag as a movie can be.
<br /><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7b6TjYeXKVKzUGhEPwJJRZgAlYKzVLoNXLAeavYVz6kDp021WNiRDQ-YZMX9Dm1devIhPE4eJHGWTzh3klwM9nRsXIcIylXGYrkRLmBaxyoR0UfPS_37BhN8VJR2JWH5_mFwBTOu6goRVU2aIeKqqCBdGsuK22cDeGoChgX-WNMYWiyAVkmYp/s1200/b7cdfd2f-789e-4dd6-ae49-b11c84dd37b3.jfif"><img alt="Run Lola Run 1999 Franka Potente" border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="806" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7b6TjYeXKVKzUGhEPwJJRZgAlYKzVLoNXLAeavYVz6kDp021WNiRDQ-YZMX9Dm1devIhPE4eJHGWTzh3klwM9nRsXIcIylXGYrkRLmBaxyoR0UfPS_37BhN8VJR2JWH5_mFwBTOu6goRVU2aIeKqqCBdGsuK22cDeGoChgX-WNMYWiyAVkmYp/w134-h200/b7cdfd2f-789e-4dd6-ae49-b11c84dd37b3.jfif" title="Run Lola Run" width="134" /></a>
<br /><b>Run Lola Run -- 9/10</b><br /><i>Run Lola Run</i> is 80 minutes of
pure, inventive, outrageously curious adrenaline, fueled by writer/director Tom
Tykwer's seemingly inexhaustible ingenuity, Franka Potente's breathless
performance, and a killer techno soundtrack. 90s EXTREME at possibly its
best.<br /><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQfY6PomqaFQujEzqv9_jcoLV-E6mbPiqWqta7DgfAdouUKeWKv_B3qbKZyy94uG-YweGauTZCpSPb0XMjh824zCpC12YXJxEsbPe73G_przLvCYmrEmquhR9EAHMTUvahJnx55qFcwvCrBvmn1vvAAqsW2bClSs_s8a7RiVfgd42sUEDQUzH-/s500/MV5BMTAzMzU4MDQ2NjJeQTJeQWpwZ15BbWU4MDAxMTAwMTMx._V1_.jpg"><img alt="Touch Me In the Morning 1999 Giuseppe Andrews" border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="375" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQfY6PomqaFQujEzqv9_jcoLV-E6mbPiqWqta7DgfAdouUKeWKv_B3qbKZyy94uG-YweGauTZCpSPb0XMjh824zCpC12YXJxEsbPe73G_przLvCYmrEmquhR9EAHMTUvahJnx55qFcwvCrBvmn1vvAAqsW2bClSs_s8a7RiVfgd42sUEDQUzH-/w150-h200/MV5BMTAzMzU4MDQ2NjJeQTJeQWpwZ15BbWU4MDAxMTAwMTMx._V1_.jpg" title="Touch Me In the Morning 1999" width="150" /></a>
<br /><b>Touch Me In the Morning -- 7/10</b><br />This is about as different as
you can get. I've spent a decent amount of time around trailer parks, and I
lived in a trailer for seven years, so there's definitely something identifiable
and to a degree empathetic about this aged crew of worn down, barely
comprehensible losers, but at the same time, did I need to see three very drunk
and gnarled old men have an orgy with an equally gnarled and inebriated
prostitute? I don't know, maybe I did. Did I really need to see someone take a
dump in a sink, then try to stomp it down with his bare feet? I don't know,
maybe I did. Outside of the most outlandish moments, 3/4 of what happens in this
movie resembles things I've either witnessed or heard hearsay of, but also it's
clear Andrews is having a blast with trailer trash tropes and stereotypes and
also with this goofy twist he puts on his own persona as the lead. His songs
(Andrews' character makes keyboard-based music to cheer up the trailer park
denizens) are borderline genius in the extremeness of their insipidity, forcing
me to erupt in those bouts of laughter where you have to slam your fist down on
the armrest to breathe.<br /><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg_91_dCZsTIrcxcooYjbLfJ0QjEJ_qryLAG2lbE1XI5Dr26exIG_zDrbpILsjsnGX6pbdMelnDycBohLYeZ4zhEDKrKyEW0mBv35DuV57F8BhBHvRLrHrOxWAKn4cEgERX_btBCA12CkMylRMy0o9vVLteFerwjmwwPSOEMgnnYFqaiq0tt_G/s1370/MV5BNzIzYjZmOWItMmNkYi00NTdhLWJlYmEtMjU2ZDQwY2ExZTQ1XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNzgzODI1OTE@._V1_FMjpg_UX1000_.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1370" data-original-width="1000" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg_91_dCZsTIrcxcooYjbLfJ0QjEJ_qryLAG2lbE1XI5Dr26exIG_zDrbpILsjsnGX6pbdMelnDycBohLYeZ4zhEDKrKyEW0mBv35DuV57F8BhBHvRLrHrOxWAKn4cEgERX_btBCA12CkMylRMy0o9vVLteFerwjmwwPSOEMgnnYFqaiq0tt_G/w146-h200/MV5BNzIzYjZmOWItMmNkYi00NTdhLWJlYmEtMjU2ZDQwY2ExZTQ1XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNzgzODI1OTE@._V1_FMjpg_UX1000_.jpg" width="146" /></a>
<br /><b>Bleeder -- 5/10</b><br />There are a few acclaimed directors whose work
I can't seem to connect with, and Refn is near the top, even in this early film
where I still find his work to be mostly aimless, nihilistic, and populated by
characters barely recognizable as humans. Some nice visuals, though.<br /><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_TWmQIAaV_Q9ba0F15z4MSz9ycgc7EZg_WS-gCJEI6Ly2SkzXQQU2jzIUXu_JYs9aqkV0Dk_AtRKsHmOAq46CR5M1t1gkCo0nyGqwazq4u3DpUmHZn6l8g29tGleY2wprYc_do9uuE0RQk_cqHOqdneO8dc3JREWtMBxI9KwTrd8TpIloXviw/s1456/ARFRB.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1456" data-original-width="1000" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_TWmQIAaV_Q9ba0F15z4MSz9ycgc7EZg_WS-gCJEI6Ly2SkzXQQU2jzIUXu_JYs9aqkV0Dk_AtRKsHmOAq46CR5M1t1gkCo0nyGqwazq4u3DpUmHZn6l8g29tGleY2wprYc_do9uuE0RQk_cqHOqdneO8dc3JREWtMBxI9KwTrd8TpIloXviw/s200/ARFRB.jpg" /></a>
<br /><b><i>A Room for Romeo Brass</i> -- 7/10</b><br />This first half of
<i>A Room for Romeo Brass</i> is one of the most delightful portrayals of
childhood friendship I've seen, then about halfway through, it rather
frustratingly becomes the Paddy Considine show. Considine's character is funny
and enjoyable in small doses, but his constant noxiousness is overwhelming
during the second half of the film, spending up a lot of the first half's
goodwill capital. Thankfully, the kids at least get a couple scenes together
again in the last five minutes, but splitting them up to focus on such an
unlikeable character is an awful decision.<br /><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_kUZPwRKpVuQXzPgCwiUNgbgNlLOas-my6v5h6WaFTe4vaOimjJgBVVPOXVGCnXRevogbNz4bH9ZiHpWupHgiI2D58S5uf-wcRfkjmqutwDY9i-dAjOpqoQ_TBRoZw4p5NaSW9jofV9srdTO6bLNsSz7T9onrSwKitACBvh23SzpXexlytCfZ/s1478/RCTR.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1478" data-original-width="1000" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_kUZPwRKpVuQXzPgCwiUNgbgNlLOas-my6v5h6WaFTe4vaOimjJgBVVPOXVGCnXRevogbNz4bH9ZiHpWupHgiI2D58S5uf-wcRfkjmqutwDY9i-dAjOpqoQ_TBRoZw4p5NaSW9jofV9srdTO6bLNsSz7T9onrSwKitACBvh23SzpXexlytCfZ/s200/RCTR.jpg" /></a>
<br /><b><i>Ratcatcher</i> -- 8/10</b><br />Both hard and beautiful to watch, I
enjoyed <i>Ratcatcher</i>'s slice of (mostly awful) life up until its final 5
minutes, which I hated. Could have ended in 1000 satisfying ways, but goes
overly artsy and nihilistic when it should have keep the tone of its previous 90
minutes...and it's still pretty damn good, regardless.<br /><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRJL6cqIXHoN9XP81l-vw1q7tmRqdAIzd2f6vnjPkHRKc78QughoGxPB2HgbtVO2-bOlQ2zQWphmRbkW2z5R2P1GN0cSG1DDHXYrzVA1CIIRiy7hXdvfDACh2RhLJmxW4oj8FR7DoWKfX4DpyvTmgQdY0JdlMTI-A2fJT7Z1bQ4qXyrNV2FMJY/s1200/OS.jfif"><img alt="Office Space 1999" border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="810" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRJL6cqIXHoN9XP81l-vw1q7tmRqdAIzd2f6vnjPkHRKc78QughoGxPB2HgbtVO2-bOlQ2zQWphmRbkW2z5R2P1GN0cSG1DDHXYrzVA1CIIRiy7hXdvfDACh2RhLJmxW4oj8FR7DoWKfX4DpyvTmgQdY0JdlMTI-A2fJT7Z1bQ4qXyrNV2FMJY/w135-h200/OS.jfif" title="Office Space 1999" width="135" /></a>
<br /><b><i>Office Space</i> -- 9/10</b><br />
<i>Office Space</i> is miraculously both timely (Y2K is a major plot point!) and
timeless (office bureaucracy never changes!). A near perfect comedy, whose
subtlety respects audience intelligence, though it's not afraid to be
ridiculous. Also, it's 2024, how do printers still suck?! <br /><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQQRIee4ohyphenhyphenCf2CTHL2yjOsjdtCaBlFdyWLPzGfHBP_6KFBJyEhH8-bHi271uf__mncc31inNitqYwTwJnVfpV-a1IOqj2W12U-CGEtfRrNS0-UVLW58L7tRgShbTqgYafkXeyIWKbIKr4tWeQ8fzX8b_ov8bQlCzpm0wPwDLwTdMcMvgNOfAw/s741/Wonderland.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="741" data-original-width="500" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQQRIee4ohyphenhyphenCf2CTHL2yjOsjdtCaBlFdyWLPzGfHBP_6KFBJyEhH8-bHi271uf__mncc31inNitqYwTwJnVfpV-a1IOqj2W12U-CGEtfRrNS0-UVLW58L7tRgShbTqgYafkXeyIWKbIKr4tWeQ8fzX8b_ov8bQlCzpm0wPwDLwTdMcMvgNOfAw/s200/Wonderland.jpg" /></a>
<br /><b><i>Wonderland</i> -- 9/10
</b><br />One of the loneliest movies I've seen. Perhaps because I'm from rural South Louisiana, where family is huge and everything, I felt this London family that barely has anything to do with one another, despite the fact that they live in the same city, seemed like alien beings...and yet the alienation in this film is universal. Featuring such subtle emotions and emotional connections that one character's brief, quiet moment of tearing up on a bus feels like someone falling into the street and sobbing, Wonderland won't be for everyone, especially considering it's just bouncing back and forth between the daily lives of family members who are all having a fairly unremarkable long weekend (until the climax, at least). However, last night and all morning, I've found I can't get this film and Michael Nyman's magnificent accompanying score out of my head. Winterbottom has created a resonant film that captures a lost moment of history in London, but more importantly, two full hours of the human condition and it's a SHAME that this film not only isn't streaming, but can only be seen either on an out-of-print DVD with 240p resolution, or on an equally low-res rip on the Internet Archive, which features enormous Korean subtitles. This film premiered at Cannes, won Best Film in the 1999 British Independent Film Awards, yet it's somehow slipping out of historical remembrance. I've now watched a large swath of great British films from 1999, and I'm starting to wonder what was in the water there that year. I guess it was the best year in history EVERYWHERE.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />
The Nicsperimenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08101227163387381013noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9602155.post-79234726541244116712024-01-30T10:12:00.001-06:002024-01-30T10:12:16.261-06:00Kirby and The Forgotten Land<p>I've only reviewed one Nintendo Switch game in the last two
years...well, time to make it two! My family bought <i>Kirby and the Forgotten
Land</i> for my birthday a couple years ago and I've finally
played through it...and I love it! I've never enjoyed a modern Kirby game
like I have this one. </p><p>Here's my review:
</p>
<p><a href="https://reviewsfornintendoswitch.blogspot.com/2024/01/kirby-and-forgotten-land.html">
https://reviewsfornintendoswitch.blogspot.com/2024/01/kirby-and-forgotten-land.html</a></p>
<a href="https://reviewsfornintendoswitch.blogspot.com/2024/01/kirby-and-forgotten-land.html"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="338" data-original-width="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKksRl68FVrS1IqMXRXLVGLPZxUUZIGobJfL65hqNW8oiKQpp9zwy7tL02GLQutMOca67ADyZFfzHoxSy5jfL1PeBKx1hPu91QA878YFvR1mUDEHsvySdKAXYX2ZEA6q2zM_Dbz2ABp_VGlNhp1q_cawB4DNtqMnSTGcEVBb1LzOnC0CKJSA3S/s600/B9AA759B-057A-42E2-B107-E15F4B2BFAFC.jpeg" width="600" /></a>
The Nicsperimenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08101227163387381013noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9602155.post-50806487109562058882024-01-26T15:13:00.004-06:002024-01-26T15:13:38.585-06:00A Perfect World (Film Review)
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHyccwrl6QL3bBcUASz2QMrO6JgI2voaNHn_Ux8Ue_yUTKgO4l3X9ep7iVFzRnl4Oeq2Uk5bq1I3dhRRP0atgnfUdd6fC_DZSpQ0r4CbbN0yqYwiy1WTmPkG8hne-r5Pc_y4MnU0UAVuuinDnF19FCl2GFOGsurQmh8zXDyOj8GD_g_92-oce5/s1500/APW.jpg"><img alt="A Perfect World Poster" border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1000" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHyccwrl6QL3bBcUASz2QMrO6JgI2voaNHn_Ux8Ue_yUTKgO4l3X9ep7iVFzRnl4Oeq2Uk5bq1I3dhRRP0atgnfUdd6fC_DZSpQ0r4CbbN0yqYwiy1WTmPkG8hne-r5Pc_y4MnU0UAVuuinDnF19FCl2GFOGsurQmh8zXDyOj8GD_g_92-oce5/s600/APW.jpg" title="A Perfect World" /></a>
<br /><i>
1993 Warner Bros.
<br />
Directed by: Clint Eastwood; Written by: John Lee Hancock
<br />
Starring:
Kevin Costner,
Clint Eastwood, and
Laura Dern
<br />
MPAA Rating: PG-13; Running Time: 138 Minutes
</i><br /><b>
The Nicsperiment Score: 9/10
</b><br /><br />Butch Haynes and Terry Pugh break out of a rural Texas prison in 1963, head for a small town, and take an eight-year-old boy, Phillip, hostage. While Terry is an all-out sociopath, Butch is far more morally sophisticated, and when Terry seriously threatens Phillip's life, Butch eliminates Terry. Butch soon finds he and Phillip have much in common. Both their fathers abandoned them. As a Jehovah's Witness, Phillip is in danger of being deprived of an All-American youth just as much as the whorehouse-raised Butch was. Now, on a cross-Texas road trip, hunted down by the authorities, and mostly failing to tamp down his criminal tendencies to rob and antagonize every countrysider in sight, Butch decides to give Terry the childhood he never had.<br />1993s <i>A Perfect World</i> offers classic 90s cinematic moral complexity. Written by John Lee Hancock and directed by a peak Clint Eastwood, the film expertly blends a crime film, a road film, a father-son film, a philosophical study, and a vision of America in 138 minutes that absolutely fly by. As Butch, Kevin Costner gives a career best performance. He's a deeply wounded and flawed man trying to finally do something right, and Costner imbues the character with life and an inferred rich history so strongly, even if the film didn't give his backstory (which it does in remarkably inventive ways), the viewer could easily imagine it. Eastwood, directing at the same high level he achieved in the previous year's <i>Unforgiven</i>, pulls double-duty as the weary lawman on Butch's trail. This is the type of character Eastwood can and probably has played in his sleep, but here he brings a unique energy that belies the complex history his character is revealed to have with Butch. Newcomer, young T.J. Lowther, gives a phenomenal performance as Phillip, forgoing the general precociousness often found in these kinds of parts for a quiet, far more believable realism. Laura Dern rounds out the main cast as a criminal profiler who at first seems like a token government tagalong, but who soon proves herself to be a great asset and ally to Eastwood's law enforcer. Dern brings both charm and weight to a role that would be extraneous in a worse written, directed, and acted film.<br />The result is a paradoxically enjoyable and difficult film, where every positive moment is offset by the natural consequence of the lead character being a lifelong criminal. Eastwood lingers on beautiful natural imagery before it is sullied by a robbery or an assault. <i>A Perfect World</i> consistently chews on its deep themes of cause and effect, sins of the father, good and evil, and by its inexorable end, as the credits role, the viewer is left to sit with all of it. This magnificent early 90s ambivalence feels admirable and delightfully out of step with 2020s cinema. <i>A Perfect World</i> is a forgotten classic.<br />
The Nicsperimenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08101227163387381013noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9602155.post-45028346008310445032024-01-23T13:46:00.003-06:002024-01-23T13:46:45.612-06:00Filmshake Lives In a Perfect World
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTHxK7rbGmJg61qWLcj3KRsoJ3XXZ8jVa8LByz_QVaoVgwfAGqSMzig_H7LxPNQ779h4yJz9_N0foFwy6fPRCWbmNw9liorWpYHPSQeWZnFmNh_WXlg6Ww6wvAUzFXLx-DFXKV00ZNyUymRuyIGJUUUOFHd53kX94zqYwt76Jp_Rcgt_mMQXmr/s1600/APWB.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTHxK7rbGmJg61qWLcj3KRsoJ3XXZ8jVa8LByz_QVaoVgwfAGqSMzig_H7LxPNQ779h4yJz9_N0foFwy6fPRCWbmNw9liorWpYHPSQeWZnFmNh_WXlg6Ww6wvAUzFXLx-DFXKV00ZNyUymRuyIGJUUUOFHd53kX94zqYwt76Jp_Rcgt_mMQXmr/s600/APWB.jpg" width="600" /></a>
<br />
Before The 90s Movies Podcast dives into 1999 this year for its 25th anniversary, we have some unfinished business. Just late of its 30th anniversary, we're covering 1993's <i>A Perfect World</i>, a showcase for Clint Eastwood, Kevin Costner, and Laura Dern's talents. What a film! If you're looking for moral and thematic complexity, or just a solid, well executed drama, or even an interesting twist on a father-son dynamic, this is your film, and we're talking about it for two hours, including a 10-minute philosophical dialogue on the concept of fallibilism as pertains to the film. Listen below!
<br /><div id="buzzsprout-player-14330858"></div><script charset="utf-8" src="https://www.buzzsprout.com/615940/14330858-episode-73-a-perfect-world-1993.js?container_id=buzzsprout-player-14330858&player=small" type="text/javascript"></script>
The Nicsperimenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08101227163387381013noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9602155.post-20883354062501307422024-01-09T15:56:00.001-06:002024-01-09T17:27:02.383-06:00December 2003 Aethestic<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSSeXbJ1vpeLNFm_qVRWaDuOWIiz6onJXGiWYrogWdc5onI6Ih4ADre__hZLMdsZgX8iNpZKjKQTm1Yw289frtG4-hcde_ZmbR8efLf6zdQ6SRyp56NI9SX-PUBXZbhdCRfWSBhTbJKnf6WI7P4zZnL-zGjczfNHfVUVtjOk0B4_N09DryLD9K/s2876/Untitled1.png"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="2876" data-original-width="2136" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSSeXbJ1vpeLNFm_qVRWaDuOWIiz6onJXGiWYrogWdc5onI6Ih4ADre__hZLMdsZgX8iNpZKjKQTm1Yw289frtG4-hcde_ZmbR8efLf6zdQ6SRyp56NI9SX-PUBXZbhdCRfWSBhTbJKnf6WI7P4zZnL-zGjczfNHfVUVtjOk0B4_N09DryLD9K/s600/Untitled1.png" /></a>
<br /><br /><b><span style="font-family: courier;">
Before I move on to my yearlong celebration of 1999, there's one thing I didn't
get to last year, and I can't let it pass. I won't link to this post anywhere.
It's for Nicsperiment diehards only.</span></b><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">
It's December 2003, and I'm under more pressure than I'm emotionally equipped to
handle. I am 22-years-old, and I've spent the last 13 years of my life in what
most diagnostic handbooks would classify as cult. I'm trying to leave, but also
fearful that I'm negatively impacting my peers by doing so. My own mother, who I
wouldn't properly reconcile with for another 15 years, is applying as much
pressure as anyone--she brought me to this place when I was 9, and as much
pressure as I feel that I'll hurt people by leaving, she feels even greater that
I'll <i>be</i> hurt if I leave. However, I'm in my early 20s and a college senior. After a January 2003 doctor's visit
revealed that certain cult-induced behaviors were literally killing me, I made a vow that I would live the rest of the year as freely as possible, as close to a normal heterosexual male in his early 20s in 2003 as I could be. So I did. It's been a great year. However, I've
had all that cult weight basically pushed into a tiny closet, and by late December,
it's starting to spill out and crush me. </span><div><span style="font-family: arial;">December 2003 feels like a last hurrah
before I have to seriously contend with the weight bearing down upon me. An
apocalyptic ending. Rather fittingly, I see <i>Return of the King</i> three times
in the theater. It's not just set in an apocalyptic landscape--it features many
great endings. The first viewing I attend at midnight on my 22nd birthday, with
over 20 friends from disparate circles and walks of life, the most epic
gathering I've ever fostered--before the movie starts, I share a box of birthday donuts with a handful of those friends, donuts given to me by my on campus job, and before that, I'd gone to the LSU vs Utah basketball game, just to make sure the day is full. I've also finished my last Spanish class just
days before--those 18 hours, taken since my sophomore year, were the bane of my bad-at-foreign-language
experience, so getting through them feels like a huge relief. My other big achievement that semester is completing a ten-minute shortform documentary for a non-fiction filmmaking class. I get an "A." In fact, I get all "A"'s that semester, the only time in my college career.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Throughout the month, I listen to Radiohead's histrionic <i>Hail to the Thief</i>, a very good album that
nevertheless makes 2003 seem like the most catastrophic year in human history.
It isn't, but that looming apocalyptic catastrophe looms over my head,
nonetheless (is there a difference between “nevertheless” and “nonetheless?”). Speaking of endings and looming apocalyptic catastrophe, I've been
reading the 19-book-long Star Wars: The New Jedi Order series since it premiered
during my senior year of high school. It ends in late 2003 with James Luceno's
<i>The Unifying Force</i>, and what an ending it is, essentially the Star Wars
Extended Universe's <i>Return of the King</i> (and like live-action Lord of the Rings,
it should probably end there!). As soon as classes end, I binge the
book, love it, but feel strangely empty. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Before I know it, the month--and the year--is ending. I spend New
Year's Eve bouncing between two gatherings. The first is at my good friend Robker's house,
where we play a card game spoofing Dungeons and Dragons. I eventually leave that get together and head back to my hometown to visit my cousin Amber. Our
friend Katie is there, among others, and in the final moments of 2003, and the first of 2004, after everyone else, including Amber,
either leaves or goes to bed, Katie and I watch Katie's copy of the nutso 2000
Japanese action flick, <i>Battle Royale</i>. It's one of my favorite all-time
film viewings</span>, and a memory far more precious to me now that Katie has passed
away. In fact, that's why I felt the obligation to write this piece. Katie died in May of 2023. Amber and I were at Katie's bedside in the days before she drew her final breath, but I never got to have one last conversation with her. I never
got to thank her for providing moments of safety and sanity throughout the
course of my life, from our childhoods, all the way to now. It's January 2024, I'm 42, the cult
I grew up in is gone, and it's been over 18 years since I left it. </div><div>But Katie isn't gone. Her memory rests close to me,
forever. I might be focusing on 1999 for The
Nicsperiment this year, but the output is dedicated to Kathryn Springstead.</div><div><div><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_beRlbX92Vj1lxZ_Qc9pSu5ne7F0LHW4JyPeUxwxuAVZnjMlFDT7k-vTD_JLeYQfocUwo7CNvrOrM1xBGF9xKr_trh4UWy7OUmXUNzhBayFJWGiwyNO3w3gdVCu7x4ZpY1f54wTAtrb9P8An9DE-5OJwvljFC5N4nLA4j5zmCBBpKsmPM1EFY/s4032/IMG_0803.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_beRlbX92Vj1lxZ_Qc9pSu5ne7F0LHW4JyPeUxwxuAVZnjMlFDT7k-vTD_JLeYQfocUwo7CNvrOrM1xBGF9xKr_trh4UWy7OUmXUNzhBayFJWGiwyNO3w3gdVCu7x4ZpY1f54wTAtrb9P8An9DE-5OJwvljFC5N4nLA4j5zmCBBpKsmPM1EFY/s600/IMG_0803.jpg" /></a>
</div></div>The Nicsperimenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08101227163387381013noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9602155.post-37364258372496250412024-01-08T16:09:00.003-06:002024-02-17T12:25:55.703-06:00This Year I'm Gonna Party Like It's 1999...Literally!If you know me personally, have been a long-time Nicsperiment reader, or listen
to my 90s movies podcast, Filmshake, you know 1999 is my favorite year in human
history. For its 25th anniversary, I'll be celebrating 1999 all year, by
revisiting and reflecting upon its cinema,, music, video games, and maybe even a
little bit of its television. I'll still watch, listen and maybe play some of
this year's movies, shows, music, and video games, but my major pop culture
focus this year is 1999. And who knows...maybe 2024 will end up being great year around that!<br />For movies, Filmshake, starting in February, will cover
nothing but 1999 in 2024. I'll also be reading through Brian Rafferty's
<i>Best. Movie. Year. Ever.</i> and watching all of the films it focuses upon,
keeping a Twitter thread of mini-reviews running as I watch them. I may
eventually release a long-form culmination of these reviews later in the year on The Nicsperiment.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM1UC163MMGbmzbxuztAT6vW8R4-scnZOtFbCK6HhuA4q1or37L5Li_xEbm8Wt4oXHFfXgdWO_EbPBBbAZSDK2rstLclsWGagJHA9R9wv5kWk92oH4UKAuWSIe0mF7oSrUNsLDvQyOX-HjzaBiDETrlWFX0R8GAtOhfdwc2Lzsqj6eulVRXO7X/s4032/IMG_8522.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM1UC163MMGbmzbxuztAT6vW8R4-scnZOtFbCK6HhuA4q1or37L5Li_xEbm8Wt4oXHFfXgdWO_EbPBBbAZSDK2rstLclsWGagJHA9R9wv5kWk92oH4UKAuWSIe0mF7oSrUNsLDvQyOX-HjzaBiDETrlWFX0R8GAtOhfdwc2Lzsqj6eulVRXO7X/s600/IMG_8522.jpg" /></a>
<br />I'm also going to keep a ranked list of 1999 films on Letterboxd. I'm
going to be replaying and reviewing some 1999 games for the Nintendo 64 and
Dreamcast from my collection, some revisited for the first time in 25 years,
some maybe even for the first time. Late in the year, I'll make a post here on
my favorite musical albums of 1999...and befitting the greatest year in human
history, the music from 1999 RULES.<br />I maybe be the only person in the world
excited about this, but BOY AM I EXCITED!!! Let the games begin!!!<br />
The Nicsperimenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08101227163387381013noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9602155.post-44028504470376678402024-01-04T09:34:00.005-06:002024-01-30T10:18:48.738-06:00My 2023 Booklist<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnnzCtHMzQctwdQxAbrAugYS4K2nDs9jDIcpVKrZE8TihjLJHQwSsI1F9tRVvRHZvAbPd28J6ZBCVtucAMkFKqzwYcNZqIy8yo_BXDr6Mh-VuGxLiwaGhlE04Jd3vO8Rl0toA6vDYVlSUHmBz4Zqt99WU27vDKuUrZDztgk3TrBhGGd4GoY25I/s500/UTV.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Malcom Lowry Under the Volcano" border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="328" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnnzCtHMzQctwdQxAbrAugYS4K2nDs9jDIcpVKrZE8TihjLJHQwSsI1F9tRVvRHZvAbPd28J6ZBCVtucAMkFKqzwYcNZqIy8yo_BXDr6Mh-VuGxLiwaGhlE04Jd3vO8Rl0toA6vDYVlSUHmBz4Zqt99WU27vDKuUrZDztgk3TrBhGGd4GoY25I/s600/UTV.jpg" title="Malcom Lowry Under the Volcano" /></a>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br />I've been an avid reader all my life, but the early 2010s, for a number of
reasons, severely kneecapped my prolific consistency. My reading habits have
experienced numerous stops and starts since then, but I made it a point this
year, with extra inspiration from my wife, to get as close to my previous
reading levels as possible. I kept a book on my bedside table all year and
transformed my stupid smart phone into my...bathroom book...thanks to the Libby
app. I tell you what, when you're on the can for 20 minutes, it's a lot more
fulfilling to read a couple chapters of a good book than it is to doomscroll. I
also bounced back and forth between lighter and heavier fare throughout the
year, trying to create the most satisfying reading experience I could--and I
succeeded! Here's a list of everything I read, with commentary for select
titles.<br /><br /><b><u> 2023 </u></b><br />
<b><i>The Hunter’s Blades: The Two Swords</i> — R.A. Salvatore</b> (I finally
finished this trilogy that I started reading back in 2020, just because I had
some nostalgia for seeing the book covers in the early 2000s. It was pretty
fun!)<br /><b><i> Master</i> -- Writing and Art by Peter Dydo</b> (Gotta be one
of the most underrated graphic novels I've ever read! Incredible painted artwork
at the service of a timeless story about corruption due to absolute power)<br /><b><i>Star Wars: Darth Bane: Path of Destruction</i> -- Drew Karpyshyn </b>(After finally, definitively giving up on Disney Star Wars (<a href="https://thenicsperiment.blogspot.com/2023/08/disney-star-wars-sucks-and-i-hate-it.html">Disney Star Wars
isn't Star Wars</a>), I rededicated myself to the original Star Wars Pre-Disney
Expanded Universe this year, realizing there is such a rich, rewarding world
there, I may never experience it all. I began with the incredible Darth Bane
Trilogy, which I read throughout the year, and completed. Also, I should note, I
only buy original copies of EU books--not the new ones rebranded by Disney with
the blasphemous LEGENDS moniker.)<br /><b><i> The Nazis and the Occult</i> -- Dusty Sklar </b>(Disturbingly apt. Don't believe your eyes and ears, only what the party says
is true...)<br /><b><i> The Gathering (The Dreadful Death: Book Two)</i> -- Ezekiel Kincaid</b><br /><b><i> Broken (Star Wars: Legacy, Vol. 1)</i> -- Written by: John Ostrander; Art
by Jan Duursema </b>(Since I'm hanging out in the Star Wars Expanded Universe, I decided to go back
and read through this awesome comic series, as there were a lot of issues I
missed back when it was being released.)<br /><b><i> House of Leaves</i> -- Mark Z. Danielewski </b>(This was the "cool" book to read back in 2000, so I didn't read it, but after
recently receiving it as a gift, I finally took the plunge and LOVED it! Great
experimental novel with real heart and rich themes.)<br /><b><i> Jurassic Park</i> -- Michael Crichton (3rd reading) </b><br /><b><i> Vampiress Carmilla #15</i> -- Warrant Publishing (Various
Writers/Artists) </b>(I discovered this and its sister comic magazine, <i>Shudder</i>, on a trip to
Lafayette over the summer, and I love both. These are compilations of throwback,
old school style, black-and-white horror comic shorts that are so much fun, with
incredible artwork on the covers.)<br /><b><i>Shudder Magazine #12</i> -- Warrant Publishing (Various
Writers/Artists)</b><br /><b><i>Thus Spoke Zarathustra</i> -- Friedrich Nietzsche </b>(I loathe
nihilism to such a high degree, and I loathe this book, which I hate-read. I
read it in tandem with <i>The Nazis and the Occult</i>, which was a more
horrific one-two punch than any two horror novels could be. People have thrown
around the term "Nazi" like Mardi Gras beads the last decade, but they have no
clue what they are talking about. These two books show exactly how something
like the Nazis can come to be, in the 20th Century...and in the 21st.)<br /><b><i> Star Wars: Darth Bane: Rule of Two</i> -- Drew Karpyshyn</b><br /><b><i>Vampiress Carmilla #16</i> -- Warrant Publishing (Various
Writers/Artists)</b>
<div>
<b><i>Shards (Star Wars: Legacy, Vol. 2)</i> -- (Various Writers/Artists)<br /><i>
The Passenger</i>
-- Cormac McCarthy </b>(McCarthy (R.I.P.) has always been very hit or miss for me, but I promised
one of my best friends I'd read McCarthy's final two published works with him
this year. Both felt like no editor wanted to give the Physics-obsessed, "hey
kids look how cool I still am" McCarthy any notes here, and both of these
books should have been noted to death.)<br /><b><i> Shudder Magazine #13 </i>-- Warrant Publishing (Various
Writers/Artists)</b><br /><b><i>Isom #2</i> -- Written by: Eric July; Art by: Cliff Richards</b>
</div>
<div>
<b><i>Stella Maris</i> -- Cormac McCarthy </b><br /><b><i> The Mourning (The Dreadful Death Book 3)</i> -- Ezekiel Kincaid</b><br /><b><i> Alien</i> -- Alan Dean Foster</b><br /><b><i> Alien: The Illustrated Story</i> -- Written by: Archie Goodwin; Art by:
Walter Simonson</b><br /><b><i> Cujo</i> -- Stephen King </b>(I think Donna Trenton is one of
King's best female protagonists. The bleakness of the ending surprised me.
Overall, I had a good time with it.)<br /><b><i> Vampiress Carmilla #16</i> -- Warrant Publishing (Various
Writers/Artists) </b><br /><b><i> Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis #1</i> -- Written by: William
Messner-Loebs; Art by: Dan Barry </b>(The new and hopefully last Indiana Jones movie, also courtesy of Disney, was
so catastrophically bad, I figured I'd get into the old Indiana Jones Expanded
Universe too, though the Indy in these comics is a bit more of a cad than I
remember him being in the PC game these are based upon.)<br /><b><i> Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis #2</i> -- Writing and Art by Dan
Barry </b><br /><b><i> Claws of the Dragon (Star Wars: Legacy Vol. 3)</i> -- Written by John
Ostrander; Art by Jan Duursema </b><br /><b><i>Under the Volcano</i> -- Malcolm Lowry </b>(I also rededicated
myself to completing the Modern Library Top 100 novels of the 20th Century.
This one, clocking in all the way at #11, is a devastating reflection on
alcoholism, set in a rural southern Mexican town in the late 1930s.
<i>Under the Volcano</i> takes place over one day, and is written in a highly
impressionistic style, and overall, I really enjoyed it, though I wouldn't
quite place it among my favorites. Also, the last chapter is emotionally
BRUTAL.)
</div>
<div>
<b><i>Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis #3</i> -- </b><b>Writing and Art by Dan Barry</b><br /><b><i> Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis #4</i> -- </b><b>Writing and Art by Dan Barry</b><br /><i style="font-weight: bold;">
Star Wars: Darth Bane: Dynasty of Evil</i><b> -- Drew Karpyshyn </b>(What an ending to this trilogy. All three books
are great. Karpyshyn absolutely knocked these out of the park. "No source
material" though, right Kathleen Kennedy?)<br /><b><i> Vampiress Carmilla #17</i> -- Warrant Publishing (Various
Writers/Artists) </b><br /><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>* * *</b>
</div>
<br />I'm hoping to stay as consistent in 2024! Reading is great! You should
do it too! Happy New Year!!!</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgMiWHJnm0ZT-apUH8Blw5_DqXS-Ugq1TUkqmFkpmgVAhp0UWAx1VML1iSZSkbn0qQYN2cHtS4zYljaSFo1Emgiet4kHq3Elq4BQMW3vA5I342e-aUYemb9JxSbhiVfMur-84EJV7e7plBCIP77RWK0DQ4U4AMykFuHjJOgPnoFHfJpmD2epXeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis Issue #1" data-original-height="1510" data-original-width="969" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgMiWHJnm0ZT-apUH8Blw5_DqXS-Ugq1TUkqmFkpmgVAhp0UWAx1VML1iSZSkbn0qQYN2cHtS4zYljaSFo1Emgiet4kHq3Elq4BQMW3vA5I342e-aUYemb9JxSbhiVfMur-84EJV7e7plBCIP77RWK0DQ4U4AMykFuHjJOgPnoFHfJpmD2epXeg=w411-h640" title="Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis Issue #1" width="411" /></a></div>
</div>
The Nicsperimenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08101227163387381013noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9602155.post-88697239257081009102023-12-31T08:40:00.071-06:002023-12-31T08:40:00.147-06:00THE NICSPERIMENT'S TOP NINE ALBUMS OF 2023<div><b>* FOR A BRIEF ENTRY ON SONGS I LIKED THIS YEAR FROM ALBUMS THAT DIDN'T MAKE THE BELOW LIST, CHECK OUT <a href="https://thenicsperiment.blogspot.com/2023/12/some-other-music-i-liked-in-2023.html">MY POST FROM YESTERDAY</a>*</b></div><div><br /></div>Maybe the dopamine kick I get from experiencing new music is finally waning as I
hit 42 this year, or maybe 2023 just wasn't the best year in music. There is
little I heard to which I feel I'll return, but thankfully, I
<i>was </i>able to find <i>some</i> new stuff I liked, much of it metal, so here are my
nine favorite albums of 2023.<br /><br /><b>
9. Sermon-- <i>Of Golden Verse</i></b><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixuOWnqIu2gavvR-TlAPfTfOpt76lgGAntC8hoh8_dAzHvOkYXunDFBWIFGsUr26R-PPdClDdUK4Kqfh52mMY5N3fr03FDQN4_ld8MA_FjydGuxjhQ3YEBz89uRjjB2pigizra8gFpRQayR4PxRMSIWEd_p4jgqBH9stZLkPtk8mU56qIjnFlT/s1200/Sermon%20Of%20Golden%20Verse.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixuOWnqIu2gavvR-TlAPfTfOpt76lgGAntC8hoh8_dAzHvOkYXunDFBWIFGsUr26R-PPdClDdUK4Kqfh52mMY5N3fr03FDQN4_ld8MA_FjydGuxjhQ3YEBz89uRjjB2pigizra8gFpRQayR4PxRMSIWEd_p4jgqBH9stZLkPtk8mU56qIjnFlT/s320/Sermon%20Of%20Golden%20Verse.jpg" width="320" /></a>
<br />
Inventive hard rock, featuring a highly talented, masked vocalist/guitarist, a tom-happy drummer who absolutely smashes them in a percussive avalanche, a skilled bassist, and some excellent songs full of dynamic moments.<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zm8xPOiHJ-U?si=2lZt_l6WMb-Z65AT" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>
<br /><br /><b>
8. Blackbraid -- <i>Blackbraid II</i></b><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicPx0ZZU5FBpgie0TYUs4y8_2OJg4tqRfyrBSOfIiyrkUnCFuoo2d3Uvc1NSkbrWA_WOmyPzchs8BpHiwVOI4TlYn8DyRQj_H45vHJ9NrdUZwW_VwRVaImeMRR-D477tAMyURYfrV-P_-nI-Uo8Vr6VC5BtA6HDV6NDeabhmwChMbaLOXcnrFN/s1200/Blackbraid%20II.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicPx0ZZU5FBpgie0TYUs4y8_2OJg4tqRfyrBSOfIiyrkUnCFuoo2d3Uvc1NSkbrWA_WOmyPzchs8BpHiwVOI4TlYn8DyRQj_H45vHJ9NrdUZwW_VwRVaImeMRR-D477tAMyURYfrV-P_-nI-Uo8Vr6VC5BtA6HDV6NDeabhmwChMbaLOXcnrFN/s320/Blackbraid%20II.jpg" width="320" /></a>
<br />Black Metal music from a Native American angle, with all the blastbeats and shredding I expect, along with flute and other Native American instrumentation I don't, full of fist-pumping, badass moments that hint at even better possible music to come.<br />
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7. Spiritbox -- <i>The Fear of Fear</i></b><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqoJS8Lf6cYXcsiJqHhZnjo9hBos9aF8hGI-O9tDVN-leybR3j7K9iiLeD3VxJVnK1TmQCzBlF_OoLXxXe_KXovdvUr1TDTRcCTZLU-mjL8ayPO7NhULzXW1eTmKqjQLV24rFxyljiX7ktXgHnFfZ17HtJysGtghOaZvqIm1kaRfc9euxt29-K/s700/Spiritbox%20The%20Fear%20of%20Fear.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="700" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqoJS8Lf6cYXcsiJqHhZnjo9hBos9aF8hGI-O9tDVN-leybR3j7K9iiLeD3VxJVnK1TmQCzBlF_OoLXxXe_KXovdvUr1TDTRcCTZLU-mjL8ayPO7NhULzXW1eTmKqjQLV24rFxyljiX7ktXgHnFfZ17HtJysGtghOaZvqIm1kaRfc9euxt29-K/s320/Spiritbox%20The%20Fear%20of%20Fear.jpg" width="320" /></a>
<br />
25-minutes of great music is enough for me to ignore the "EP" tag here, as <i>The Fear of Fear</i> is awesome, and displays the best blending of Spiritbox's harsh and smooth textures to date, with songs that feel huge and epic, bolstered by a violently dichotomous vocal performance by Courtney LaPlante that should elevate her to legendary status.<br />
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6. The Acacia Strain -- <i>Failure Will Follow</i>/<i>Step Into the Light
</i></b><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj73VFPpZyUW1-ti4YBGitWSMJ9B-VpQ5L0uNVmz-HoU8UX-k8RNwipdug6t01VQ5Ddg7PCRJLbSk4c3N_JZsu495ITzqSsy7PrwlE-xuDnI5tJDtK-_zb1obDDnG7-GU8KNFzZhxgvgQCOvSyiN_6Kpa-BuUht5Wus5BedT0cUbCMzCK29VLzx/s1500/The%20Acacia%20Strain%20Failure%20Will%20Follow.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj73VFPpZyUW1-ti4YBGitWSMJ9B-VpQ5L0uNVmz-HoU8UX-k8RNwipdug6t01VQ5Ddg7PCRJLbSk4c3N_JZsu495ITzqSsy7PrwlE-xuDnI5tJDtK-_zb1obDDnG7-GU8KNFzZhxgvgQCOvSyiN_6Kpa-BuUht5Wus5BedT0cUbCMzCK29VLzx/s320/The%20Acacia%20Strain%20Failure%20Will%20Follow.jpg" width="320" /></a>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu0onDQ9sysQmyR1XU5YNce-E9jB07yfflxCSmV6QVjsSxNAAvObflW0u88l2AN0_AvVURwzrd1S8sbCNoMIO-mjVXKXpkYEzIffRrIv3bOciiTNt3G6Y0VZIfiAs_UY_29xl8ShpUgCjGFxgs6zOYPAjzKwMak6kuyH0CkQzrRH-IyjVUxM0T/s1200/The%20Acacia%20Strain%20Step%20Into%20the%20Light.jpeg"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu0onDQ9sysQmyR1XU5YNce-E9jB07yfflxCSmV6QVjsSxNAAvObflW0u88l2AN0_AvVURwzrd1S8sbCNoMIO-mjVXKXpkYEzIffRrIv3bOciiTNt3G6Y0VZIfiAs_UY_29xl8ShpUgCjGFxgs6zOYPAjzKwMak6kuyH0CkQzrRH-IyjVUxM0T/s320/The%20Acacia%20Strain%20Step%20Into%20the%20Light.jpeg" width="320" /></a>
<br />
A deathcore band decides to create a double-album where the first part somehow transforms their usual two-minute, face-punching style into three 10-plus minute sludgy doom metal songs, full of bleak, yet beautiful atmosphere, and the second further refines that quick-hitter, face-punching sound. Both albums interweave not only similar fatalistic themes about the brutal nature of life on Earth, but repeat certain lyrics and musical motifs for an overall package that strangely reminds me of late 90s Portishead, not in sound or genre, but in tone and feel. Even the album artwork, best featured in the incredible vinyl versions, works together in concert to create a beautifully bleak and cruel short story (spoiler alert, mama bird chokes on that deer meat). From this anti-nihilist listener, the only way I ever want nihilism to be presented is purely as it is, and this music is so hopeless, it actually comes back around to a strangely hopeful place, where the mantra of "failure will follow" almost becomes a message of hope, i.e. failure is a constant companion in life, so it's nothing to fear. Also, the 9:20 mark on "Pillar of Salt" features not only the most stunning musical transition I've heard this year, but one of the most stunning musical transitions I've heard, ever.<br />
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5. In Flames -- <i>Foregone</i></b><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2XABNnzBuZN_1Mlek3xks-JwTFNFT2JUXtJDoaAQOwMT_16Zhc6DYNds18oXdWgudfsRE3tQuelMUG9YcGgkdhOqFFO766IEo-5J1Ej1A9D12VL6A5LTgliXNSmZ7ZPN_erwG6zDiZY-K-x1eXgMcq_UkVV2FiCo2Z7Ujl3Tea9192hEhxHqE/s1200/In%20Flames%20Foregone.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2XABNnzBuZN_1Mlek3xks-JwTFNFT2JUXtJDoaAQOwMT_16Zhc6DYNds18oXdWgudfsRE3tQuelMUG9YcGgkdhOqFFO766IEo-5J1Ej1A9D12VL6A5LTgliXNSmZ7ZPN_erwG6zDiZY-K-x1eXgMcq_UkVV2FiCo2Z7Ujl3Tea9192hEhxHqE/s320/In%20Flames%20Foregone.jpg" width="320" /></a>
<br />In Flames has historically been the poster boy band for the melodic death metal genre, excellently blending beautifully melodic guitar riffs into their otherwise abrasive music. <i>Foregone</i> ups the ante in the melody department, by containing a loaded arsenal of melodic song choruses, which may disappoint fans of the band's more extreme side, but delights my ears, as this is one the more highly listenable, and purely enjoyable metal albums I've heard in recent memory.<br />
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4. Dad Hats -- <i>Spill </i></b><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCrWHSNWfYQ5Nz7Gqj2HPY5VQ0okObA1HrG2Yt2Ujj_82fmveZBgbAOF5Lw6xvqNwCAaBMoCl-cqLXGRvT7O86Qh21p_UAEjve1ZbfD3P8MUpBvDOFl8L0Z3-6hyphenhyphenhRYnHxPuBPMRh2WwkSeOVo3qPiYC6N6akLlTDq_Oesp3RnG12uU0QbJchO/s1200/Dad%20Hats%20Spill.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCrWHSNWfYQ5Nz7Gqj2HPY5VQ0okObA1HrG2Yt2Ujj_82fmveZBgbAOF5Lw6xvqNwCAaBMoCl-cqLXGRvT7O86Qh21p_UAEjve1ZbfD3P8MUpBvDOFl8L0Z3-6hyphenhyphenhRYnHxPuBPMRh2WwkSeOVo3qPiYC6N6akLlTDq_Oesp3RnG12uU0QbJchO/s320/Dad%20Hats%20Spill.jpg" width="320" /></a>
<br />
Possibly the most obscure album on this list, but it shouldn't be, as <i>Spill</i> is a wildly enjoyable take on the pop-leaning, yet punk-influenced radio rock of the mid-00s, generally a subgenre I didn't enjoy back then in my 20s, but one I can't resist here in my 40s when it's done so well, and with such relatable lyrics throughout most of its runtime. This is a great album from front-to-back that deserves many more ears!!!<br />
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3. Majesties -- <i>Vast Reaches Unclaimed </i></b><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOjP6DIJjPrBzm1aOh1x9NnSiEi8gZ4hrubAyp84lU5fE0RRHXo_rMRYhT6vkgPiKOAy4YO89yZCT-9Ct8L-KbxXEYZ81JPaZjrVhb8euHid4iJJk7JUDa1wrQYtQtO1Yq2c-OwbEDzhhZHEjBQrh8TMqFGuyqF7MTdPJsjtZrnBdVwmYibDt7/s1200/Majesties%20Vast%20Reaches%20Unclaimed.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOjP6DIJjPrBzm1aOh1x9NnSiEi8gZ4hrubAyp84lU5fE0RRHXo_rMRYhT6vkgPiKOAy4YO89yZCT-9Ct8L-KbxXEYZ81JPaZjrVhb8euHid4iJJk7JUDa1wrQYtQtO1Yq2c-OwbEDzhhZHEjBQrh8TMqFGuyqF7MTdPJsjtZrnBdVwmYibDt7/s320/Majesties%20Vast%20Reaches%20Unclaimed.jpg" width="320" /></a>
<br />
I guess I was in a melodic death metal mood this year, because I returned to this...majestic album from Obsequiae frontman, Tanner Anderson, again and again. While Obsequiae has been categorized as medieval death metal, with Anderson utilizing medieval scales and instruments, Majesties is purely focused on adding in as many sweet guitar melodies as possible, resulting in a waterfall of gloriously beautiful riffs, with some lovely, atmospheric acoustic breaks thrown in at select moments to fill out <i>Vast Reaches Unclaimed</i>'s highly enjoyable sound.<br />
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2. Project 86 -- <i>Omni </i></b><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6ObY1o-wUHQwluddV2Y7no3dRG1z4a7LYS-Ae9ekRkug4kHBeaxpaX2USvMrfSHyGCD7Af4Cmdza9pSoKiK4bcaybAdacZOrPLhdbqx97Mvt0wBLRa8_iJukBYRjxT5gKyKgUbF_9Q8EzO-ITXeMpXyd2WwWjaKMX0lHLFq3q4VKaG3fnqTsZ/s1500/Project%2086%20Omni.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6ObY1o-wUHQwluddV2Y7no3dRG1z4a7LYS-Ae9ekRkug4kHBeaxpaX2USvMrfSHyGCD7Af4Cmdza9pSoKiK4bcaybAdacZOrPLhdbqx97Mvt0wBLRa8_iJukBYRjxT5gKyKgUbF_9Q8EzO-ITXeMpXyd2WwWjaKMX0lHLFq3q4VKaG3fnqTsZ/s320/Project%2086%20Omni.jpg" width="320" /></a>
<br />The end has finally come for the storied Christian hard rock band who've essentially now been only frontman, Andrew Schwab, and guest players for nearly half of their 27-year run. <i>Omni</i> is a double-album, with the first part released in 2023. Schwab, always one to go against the grain, has not softened in his old age, and instead made Project 86 HEAVIER than ever, utilizing members of Norma Jean to give <i>Omni</i> a crushing, djent-influenced metalcore sound, at the service of the culmination of the lyrical themes the talented, often literary-influenced Schwab has been writing throughout the band's career. Schwab somehow predicted the vast majority of the first 23-years of America's 21st Century on the band's 2002 album, <i>Truthless Heroes</i>, from the creation of and focus upon hyper-narcissistic social media, to the endless, corporately-motivated military conflicts that have found much fuel from said social media. He was right then, but I sure as hell hope he's not this time, as the future the towering doom prophet screams about on <i>Omni </i>makes our current hellscape look like <i>Mr. Roger's Neighborhood</i>.<br />
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1. Tomb Mold -- <i>The Enduring Spirit</i></b><br />
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<br />
I've enjoyed Tomb Mold's dense death metal albums well enough up to now. However, these wily Canadians have kicked things up to the stratosphere on<i> The Enduring Spirit</i>, incorporating dreamy guitar melodies and textures into their complex song structures without compromising their previous heavy sound, or veering away from harsh vocals. The result is a strangely emotional album that stuns and surprises, even many listens in, culminating in a gloriously twisting 12-minute final track whose title reveals a second part to the album's moniker, "The Enduring Spirit of Calamity." If Tomb Mold are able to consistently create albums of this caliber, and somehow maybe top it, even the sky may not be the limit.<br />
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<div><br /></div>The Nicsperimenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08101227163387381013noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9602155.post-55316921736468460702023-12-30T12:00:00.016-06:002023-12-30T12:00:00.123-06:00Some Other Music I Liked in 2023These songs come from albums that I found interesting, but that didn't quite
make my Top Nine Albums List (releasing tomorrow).
<div>
<br /><b>Holy Fawn -- "Foal" </b><br />Holy Fawn's
<i>Realms</i> EP may have been released in the mid-2010s, but it's new to
vinyl this year, and the band's dreamy shoegaze metal always feel fresh,
meaning this vinyl release feel revelatory, a boon to 2023, with the rumbling,
autumnal "Foal" cresting as its pinnacle.<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9Ls74BxO7CQ?si=PU1Ds1hJudQ0kyaR" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>
<br /><br /><b> Fathomage -- "Vales of Darkness"</b><br />
Fathomage''s sprawling atmospheric black metal album,
<i>Autumn's Dawn, Winter's Darkness</i>, just barely missed my top nine list,
the first one out, not because of a lack of quality, but because at 75
minutes, it's just too much to chew on--hence, I didn't revisit the entire
album often, but I did frequently revisit its standout track, "Vales of
Darkness," which distills all of the album's best qualities into 10 perfect
minutes of heaviness, harps, and husky medieval choir work.<br /><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dQxEGupZUWg?si=eRoEmuyDE7qhdoaX" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe><br /><br /><b>The Plot in You -- "Left Behind" </b><br />While I generally
don't go for the big, anthemic hard rock style popularized by bands like 30
Seconds to Mars, I loved both singles The Plot in You released this year,
particularly the fist-pumping "Left Behind," which features a huge and rousing
chorus that's as anthemic as it gets.<br /><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_P3Q6VkNrwg?si=SBTUwGx2OLOd4BG6" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe><br /><br /><b>Paramore -- "Liar" </b><br />
After a six-year hiatus, Paramore's This Is Why feels like a strange
afterthought, though the final third is as good as anything they've released,
particularly the hushed and powerful "Liar," which was also great live, when
my wife and I saw the band play in NOLA this summer.<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LBIE63c6fjI?si=UFQMQwnT29eyRhOB" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe><br /><br /><b>
'68 -- "They All Agreed"
</b><br />
Unfortunately, this year's <i>Yes, and...</i> marks the first time a Josh Scogin-led act has released two straight albums that don't do much for me. However, that spark of the eternal found in Scogin's best work is still present at times on this 4th '68 full-length, particularly on this moody and atmospheric take on a love song.
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<b>Earthside -- "Pattern of Rebirth" and "The Lesser Evil"</b><br />Progressive rock band, Earthside, pretty much throw everything at the
wall on this year's lengthy (80-minute!) <i>Let the Truth Speak</i>, but when
the band hit, they hit hard, from the more straightforward, driving rock of
"Pattern of Rebirth" to the amorphous, funky, chunky "The Lesser Evil," which
are both so good, I've included each of them here.<br />
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<br /><br />
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<br /><br /><b>Acid Magus -- "Dead Weight"</b><br />
Acid Magus' <i>Hope Is Heavy</i> is a fun stoner rock album, full of the
stretched-out jams the genre is known for, though the standout moment is the
funky, unbelievably fun "Dead Weight," a groovy delight about blowing a
vampire's face off with a shotgun that I couldn't stop listening to in
2023.<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QFJ2M9CaSTE?si=Rg4PXCZTNy6YhJIJ" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe><br />
<br /><b>Naoki Sato -- "Pain"</b><br /><i> Godzilla Minus One</i> is my
favorite film of 2023, and that's due in no small part to Naoki Sato's
fantastic soundtrack, which employs building, swelling strings to invoke wells
of emotion. I particularly love "Pain," which follows the lead character (the
lead character is not Godzilla) and his mental struggle (though I
<i>would</i> be interested in a film about Godzilla's mental struggle)
throughout the film, as he tries to find the will to live and find hope for
the future in the ruins of the world around him.<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7D3f7M7x6ds?si=0Q7Z6rO0BIe7NaFf" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe><br />
<br /><b>Linkin Park -- "Fighting Myself"</b><br />
Chester Bennington returned from the grave in 2023, as Linkin Park released a
20th anniversary edition of their classic album, <i>Meteora</i>(an album which
made my best of 2003 list earlier this month),which contains a treasure trove
of unreleased tracks. The head-bopping "Fighting Myself," featuring
magnificent interplay between Bennington and co-frontman, Mike Shinoda, and
one of those huge, epic outros only Linkin Park could create, is my favorite.
What a gift from the beyond!<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iKBCVZqqooY?si=JMKX1ulmAoQLDLG5" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>
</div>
The Nicsperimenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08101227163387381013noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9602155.post-85566300743831565852023-12-29T17:08:00.000-06:002023-12-29T17:08:03.668-06:00Star Wars: Rogue Squadron Review, Just In Time for the 25th AnniversaryLate this November, I was intent on playing through
<i>Star Wars: Rogue Squadron</i> for the Nintendo 64, and releasing a review on
December 8, its 25th anniversary. However, that soon turned into a desperate
push to finish the game and the review simply before the year ended, but I've
done it. <div>Here's my review for this solid Nintendo 64 Star Wars title, with two
days to spare: <br /><br />
<a href="https://thenintendo64museum.blogspot.com/2023/12/star-wars-rogue-squadron.html">https://thenintendo64museum.blogspot.com/2023/12/star-wars-rogue-squadron.html</a>
<br /><br />
<a href="https://thenintendo64museum.blogspot.com/2023/12/star-wars-rogue-squadron.html"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2100" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhALYVn0LfQfF85paXrjEsWqE4oWzQdyKdfXy_OXabcaQyqqh0_3V7xlw2G0s5jq2R7vpmVIRASlJh8h8ZzhyWU8h4HImllNxVC69bwFlXktLTTbuMouWMN994xUnRd6_6TiDY-ZjkAR8pDqBBQXcTSnWyXWmVyPCdqrr5PBi2MutsHUidJc_0I/s600/n64_starwarsroguesquadron.jpg" width="600" /></a>
</div>The Nicsperimenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08101227163387381013noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9602155.post-39076457813440218662023-12-29T10:08:00.002-06:002023-12-29T10:08:20.078-06:00Go (Film Review)
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrPvVv34uQVTZsSUoNahAlMoBHq456y3wwIOymDkbug5cjTTUdEfD52JMBvxOxq1ku-l9AVX4n2ndyymNGZbFFKEWybumxVCfeQ-JX3OuZYi52l60V3vxkOEMMKIhJFkEmI4lTdEVcdouwdHioWkEtOJxLZ12d3FMIcyl906Z42ubGKRiAbLiz/s1451/Go%201999.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1451" data-original-width="979" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrPvVv34uQVTZsSUoNahAlMoBHq456y3wwIOymDkbug5cjTTUdEfD52JMBvxOxq1ku-l9AVX4n2ndyymNGZbFFKEWybumxVCfeQ-JX3OuZYi52l60V3vxkOEMMKIhJFkEmI4lTdEVcdouwdHioWkEtOJxLZ12d3FMIcyl906Z42ubGKRiAbLiz/s600/Go%201999.jpg" /></a>
<br /><i>
1999 Sony Pictures
<br />
Directed by: Doug Liman; Written by: John August
<br />
Starring: Taye Diggs,
William Fichtner,
J. E. Freeman,
Katie Holmes,
Breckin Meyer,
Jay Mohr,
Timothy Olyphant,
Sarah Polley, and
Scott Wolf
<br />
MPAA Rating: R; Running Times: 102 Minutes
</i><br /><b>
The Nicsperiment Score: 7/10
</b><br /><br />Teenaged Ronna is desperate, facing eviction right before Christmas, as she works overtime cashier shifts at her local crappy supermarket. When her drug-dealer co-worker leaves for a guys trip to Vegas, Ronna makes a risky decision to procure drugs for two of his clients, making a deal with her co-worker's dangerous supplier for a bottle of medical grade ecstasy. Unfortunately for Ronna, everything goes wrong. The clients are Narcs, so Ronna has to quickly throw away the drugs, she ends up selling Tylenol as ecstasy to the local kids at a massive Christmas rave to get the money she needs, the supplier catches up and is about to shoot her, then a mystery car drives by, hits her, and she's left for dead in a ditch...and we're only 30 minutes into the movie. Unfortunately, this is the point in John August's script where we completely leave Ronna's story for that of her co-worker, Simon, the idiot who's off in Vegas having idiotic adventures with his idiotic friends. This significantly less interesting story has a few positives, namely Doug Liman's kinetic direction and lovely cinematography of the American West in 1999, along with Stephen Mirrione's snappy editing...but then, after a silly but fun car chase, we leave that story for an even less interesting one. Now we're with the two guys who wanted to buy drugs from Ronna, who are not only a couple of Narcs, but actors fulfilling a promise to go undercover for a weird police officer who seems strangely into their bodies. Surprise, surprise, these two bland as beige wallpaper characters are the ones who hit Ronna with their goofy yellow sports car. And now, after an hour of silly time-wasting, we finally find out what happens to Ronna.<br /><i>Go</i> tries with all the gusto its $20 million dollar budget can muster to summon the zeitgeist of 1999. Sometimes it succeeds, mostly by the grace of its incredible, rave-influenced soundtrack, Sarah Polley's infectious attitude and misplaced self-confidence as Ronna, the over-the-top and somehow lovable psychopathic antics of Timothy Olyphant's drug supplier, and visuals that conjure the times, even if the script and dialogue feel like "How do you do, fellow kids" try-harding. A 90 minute film solely focused on Ronna's story, even with some of the try-hard dialogue, might have been a late-90s near masterpiece. Unfortunately, the second and third scenarios August has cooked up just aren't very interesting, and the film's <i>Pulp Fiction</i>-inspired jumps in time and perspective, along with an unnatural attempt at aping Tarantino's monologuing, feel unnecessary. <br />The result is a just okay film that I am probably overrating in my <b>7/10</b> score because of my nostalgia for 1999, the greatest year in human history, when I, coincidentally, both worked as a hard-luck teenaged grocery store cashier (at the Winn Dixie) needing to pay bills, and also drove across the American West (during that summer, from Louisiana, all the way to the Pacific)...anddddd also had a much older male boss (who had hired me on at a new job I defected to late in the year) who continuously made strange and uncomfortable passes at me. For those reasons, I feel some connection to, and will always be able to watch and somewhat enjoy this inconsistent film, despite its myriad flaws. For someone who experienced their late teen years after Y2K, but still wants to know what it was like to do so right before, <i>Go</i> doesn't exactly capture it, and in some cases, is nowhere close, but some of the vibes here...they're accurate. <i>Some</i> of them.<br />
The Nicsperimenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08101227163387381013noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9602155.post-19824250343416517802023-12-27T10:13:00.001-06:002023-12-27T10:21:13.197-06:00One Piece: Season One (Television Review)
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-w5m8BaukLIYL13qRoxbpOvhAsSKkSrrkNEUoo91-k4yZCDpUIc428y8vgvuHSUdQwteLCT855IMk7O4EZd7DlCjTL3-bHmNWkcwMfDGmWl0GcFN-I40vOkHsFNMHsYzxROqPxi9n9cey3jbMFk11QPW_cuFSZnp0TVerZo2Ktx3xSJfK_AjV/s2048/6B4719C5-01F3-421E-9538-D5EA80B5B198.jpeg"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1383" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-w5m8BaukLIYL13qRoxbpOvhAsSKkSrrkNEUoo91-k4yZCDpUIc428y8vgvuHSUdQwteLCT855IMk7O4EZd7DlCjTL3-bHmNWkcwMfDGmWl0GcFN-I40vOkHsFNMHsYzxROqPxi9n9cey3jbMFk11QPW_cuFSZnp0TVerZo2Ktx3xSJfK_AjV/s600/6B4719C5-01F3-421E-9538-D5EA80B5B198.jpeg" /></a>
<br /><b>
One Piece
<br />
2023 Netflix
<br />
Season One
<br />
The Nicsperiment Score: 10/10
</b><br /><br />Monkey D. Luffy wants to find the famous hidden treasure, One Piece, and become The King of the Pirates. There are just two problems: He doesn't have a ship. He doesn't have a crew. Monkey doesn't care. He has supreme confidence in his dream, and that confidence draws out other dreamers--there's Zoro, who wants to be the world's greatest swordsman, Nami, who wants to make a map of the world, Usopp, who wants to become a great warrior of the sea, and Sanji, a chef who wants to find the mythical All Blue, a sea that connects all others together. When this group comes together under the banner of Captain Luffy's Straw Hat Pirates, no one can stand in their way!<br />I've never read a page of the <i>One Piece </i>manga or watched an episode of the <i>One Piece</i> anime. The posters and trailer for this very show didn't do much to convince me that Netflix's 2023 <i>One Piece</i> live-action adaptation was worth my time. However, a couple of people whose opinions I trust recommended the show, so I gave it a shot. I've watched it alone and now watched it a second time with my family. <div><i>One Piece</i> is the best new show I've seen since the pandemic. Every detail and aspect of the show is handled with the utmost love and care. The writing is tightly constructed, with every moment holding value and importance, all of it paid off with perfect timing The performances are pitch perfect. I can't state this enough: they do not make shows like this anymore. The golden age of television nosedived off a cliff somewhere in the late 2010s, as streaming became the prevalent delivery system for "content," and quantity over quality became an unstated but obvious mantra. A few shows from the "before times" like <i>Better Call Saul </i>released their long delayed final seasons during the 2020s, and felt like magnificent, impossible relics from a time when giants walked the Earth. Talent, knowledge, and a network or streaming service that promotes those things have seemed near non-existent. And then this goofy show, <i>One Piece</i>, where people look ridiculous, eat magical fruit to gain superpowers, and use giant snails to make phone calls comes along...<br />When it comes to the "quantity over quality mantra," Netflix has been offender #1, pumping out endless low-quality productions, without anything approaching care. Netflix's live-action anime adaptation reputation is somehow even worse, as their 2021 take on the legendary anime, <i>Cowboy Bebop</i>, is an unfathomable abomination<b>...hold on a second...okay, I'm back, I just watched 40 or 50 <i>Cowboy Bebop</i> anime clips to cleanse my mind of even the idea of the live-action version. </b>Anyway, and speaking of Cowboy Bebop, this first season of live-action <i>One Piece</i> reminds me of that incredible animated show. You've got a nice little crew of strangers who end up as a makeshift family aboard a ship, but the key difference here is that these fresh-faced, eager young lads and lass aren't all obsessing over the past, but eager and optimistic for the future! When one of them is stuck in a past that won't seem to let them go, the group unite as a crew and deal with the problem together. Like <i>Cowboy Bebop</i>, <i>One Piece</i> is buoyed by an absolutely outstanding soundtrack, this one by Sonya Belousova and Giona Ostinelli, who provide the series with a brilliant and versatile musical theme that is worked into so many fun variations and tones depending on the circumstances and setting onscreen, it becomes a blast to pick it out as the show hums along. Iñaki Godoy is absolutely phenomenal as Luffy, the kind of optimistic, aspirational lead I can't remember seeing in years. In contrast to Cowboy Bebop, and its introverted, quiet, brooding lead (who I also love), Luffy is an open book, a selfless, self-sacrificial hero who will do anything for his friends, and they shared dreams they hold. The rest of the cast is equally up for the task.<br />
I think, in the awful grimdark farce of current television, I forgot that a great show with a positive outlook can actually make the viewer very feel good and <b><u>UPLIFTED.</u></b> For all its flaws, Netflix is perhaps most worst known for delivering second and third seasons that fall off a cliff for the few of its shows that start off strongly. I strongly hope <i>One Piece </i>doesn't do the same, but even if it does, this first season, with its supremely satisfying conclusion, will always serve as a reminder of just how good an adaptation can be when it serves the source material, and is created by people who both love and respect said source material. In a world of Jake Skywalker, Indiana Joke, Rings of Poop, and Dr. What the Hell Happened, where every franchise in the popular world of science fiction and fantasy seems to have been bought and destroyed by multinational conglomerates who couldn't give two shits about them, I'm glad something like <i>One Piece</i> can somehow exist.</div>The Nicsperimenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08101227163387381013noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9602155.post-6175027395404354212023-12-26T16:17:00.002-06:002023-12-26T16:17:16.987-06:00Filmshake Is Ready to Go!
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAX6buetQsMSDPqPfk8Y1xoeWxZX6r4w_6EAz3ZU2zijSgO2_S4fG58agR8MTLYph5fT0gfgYY8w3GxMBFUsUpLpaVApz_lqdPJlQkYeJ3UmWpSlzouk1KVR-epMHTqM9LRv6GidIPSvM8H6OLRnBzbvqVlooKM0nMbTBcQUqLkAESY9V97w4r/s1280/Go%201999%20Polley.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAX6buetQsMSDPqPfk8Y1xoeWxZX6r4w_6EAz3ZU2zijSgO2_S4fG58agR8MTLYph5fT0gfgYY8w3GxMBFUsUpLpaVApz_lqdPJlQkYeJ3UmWpSlzouk1KVR-epMHTqM9LRv6GidIPSvM8H6OLRnBzbvqVlooKM0nMbTBcQUqLkAESY9V97w4r/s600/Go%201999%20Polley.jpg" width="600" /></a>
<br />
Back in 1999, I saw the trailer for <i>Go</i> and thought it looked like it was pandering to the youth of today, today being 1999. Well, back then, I was the youth of today, so I avoided <i>Go</i> like the plague...until now! Jordan Courtney, my co-host on the 90s Movies Podcast, decided we should end the year with it, so...here we <i>Go</i>! Listen below!
<br />
<div id="buzzsprout-player-14198229"></div><script charset="utf-8" src="https://www.buzzsprout.com/615940/14198229-episode-72-go-1999.js?container_id=buzzsprout-player-14198229&player=small" type="text/javascript"></script>
The Nicsperimenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08101227163387381013noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9602155.post-19555193948681829932023-12-21T10:43:00.005-06:002023-12-21T10:44:11.317-06:00The Nicsperiment's Top Nine Albums of 2003Talk about cognitive dissonance! I turned 21-years-of-age several weeks before the
start of 2003, and then spent the vast majority of 2003 being more social and
acting more age appropriately than I ever have in my life. I generally felt like
I was experiencing one of the greatest years of my existence, until I read several
year-end recaps from idiotic, perennially miserable pop culture rags like
Rolling Stone, which declared 2003 as the worst year ever, and then thought,
<i>Huh, I guess it wasn't that great.</i> Sure, I didn't like much of my
country's foreign policy that year, but the "worst year ever?" Well, <i>they</i> said it,
so I guessed it was true. Only, it wasn't true. 2003 was an absolutely great year. Some
terrible stuff happened, but terrible stuff is always happening. Outside of
2020, pretty much every year has been a great year if that's your state of mind,
and truthfully, my son considers 2020 to be his favorite year, so <b><u>ANY YEAR</u></b> can
be a great year if that's your state of mind. With much accrued wisdom over the
last 20 years, and having long rejected the obsolescent opinions of dying pop
culture overlords, I've been able to reappraise 2003, remember all the fun I
had, and most pertinently for this piece, reflect on how great the music was.
Sure, a lot of 2003s music is as doom and gloom as those dreary periodicals
were, but that doesn't mean it's bad. Here are my top nine albums of 2003,
except, how could I choose only 9 this time? Ties abound!<br /><br /><b>TIE 9. The Appleseed Cast -- <i>Two Conversations</i></b><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo_m0pOBkkXutv-usTUGir1vrga2iWSEi495zIVMvg3u8YpaV5GsopJx1H6qFxqAgrRRUUm_ASMC2aPDsjIRkPRmednCPkk_YSm-LWoTmB7C0T0NdbzI9gzjP4YTgarPT7k6mcyuLLxETFi8A0WicMfq1BcpadGXILXqR_85yHzNw5sXsUNFWx/s640/Two%20Conversations.jpeg"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="640" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo_m0pOBkkXutv-usTUGir1vrga2iWSEi495zIVMvg3u8YpaV5GsopJx1H6qFxqAgrRRUUm_ASMC2aPDsjIRkPRmednCPkk_YSm-LWoTmB7C0T0NdbzI9gzjP4YTgarPT7k6mcyuLLxETFi8A0WicMfq1BcpadGXILXqR_85yHzNw5sXsUNFWx/w320-h320/Two%20Conversations.jpeg" width="320" /></a>
<br />
The Appleseed Cast were my cool art rock/experimental rock band in the early
00s. No, I wasn't <i>in</i> The Appleseed Cast, but I felt like they were
<i>my</i> band, which made it strange when the indie, relatively unknown band
released a highly accessible album, easily classified as "emo," that my little
sister likes. <i>Two Conversation</i>s details the creation, break-up, and
reunion of a romantic relationship, and wasn't what I was looking for from The
Appleseed Cast in 2003, but 20 years later, I can see its greatness, the
instrumentation still creative and stellar, the vocals warm and heartfelt, the real emotion still there,
transcending any emo tags the album received. The album made The Appleseed Cast,
who'd already released three perfect albums between 1998-2001, a major "scene" name,
but I guess accessibility isn't necessarily bad...just different. In 2023,
<i>Two Conversations</i> doesn't sound "accessible." It sounds revelatory.<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/s6AlD1qN0rw?si=xU8k-aa33zWokc2I" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>
<br /><br /><b>TIE 9. These Arms Are Snakes -- <i>This Is Meant to Hurt You</i></b><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjehvotjkE13ydembyReuwOUba5wIF9dtaq9UcPPyETmts-GAy6uwQwTInoyskmjbGkZA8hh_23lm1jB5Sh3Xk2yGpN6Th1am3mKV_jB-zbm-Ugeb15jyJn0k-0m_Svmb6tfgi1Hc9T2jKe922KAcTvRh-Y6q_rc6elA1mvhrAt7OxHArbGk-3X/s1200/CCB56D39-CC8A-489A-B95A-6BD3AE030EF5.jpeg"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjehvotjkE13ydembyReuwOUba5wIF9dtaq9UcPPyETmts-GAy6uwQwTInoyskmjbGkZA8hh_23lm1jB5Sh3Xk2yGpN6Th1am3mKV_jB-zbm-Ugeb15jyJn0k-0m_Svmb6tfgi1Hc9T2jKe922KAcTvRh-Y6q_rc6elA1mvhrAt7OxHArbGk-3X/s320/CCB56D39-CC8A-489A-B95A-6BD3AE030EF5.jpeg" width="320" /></a>
<br />The post-hardcore band (I HATE THAT MONIKER), These Arms Are Snakes, never
quite lived up to the promise of their first EP,
<i>This Is Meant to Hurt You</i>...but hey, their first EP lives up to their
first EP! It's awesome! It's also over 20 minutes long, so I'll give it LP
status and include it on this list, as it's a furious collection of
huge-sounding songs, full of huge riffs, thrilling twists and turns, gloriously
winding instrumental passages, excellent late-night atmosphere, desperate
vocals, bizarro lyrics, and an album-ending breakdown that has to be heard to be
believed.<br /><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VlKBAvQiqq0?si=z_qu0aN9w6FBJx0r" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe><br /><br /><b> TIE 8. Blink-182 -- <i>Blink 182</i></b><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8MnzHsVwK5IYQfiktsMjWRmiU1Ds6YZWOIjd42o1Z9liB1hY-tsA4c9xPLbGRV9cg3tfwu0TdG7Wuh0mLYugr1yQRDmxxMLjtSABdSCUSsAJ7ysJtxn5N_Jf-CuQmQOUTCUnMxIVjQ9as7D-Nv0k7YP_GIqPfOUlbO76NnAEVo4RyV2o69nLc/s1600/b182.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="316" data-original-width="316" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8MnzHsVwK5IYQfiktsMjWRmiU1Ds6YZWOIjd42o1Z9liB1hY-tsA4c9xPLbGRV9cg3tfwu0TdG7Wuh0mLYugr1yQRDmxxMLjtSABdSCUSsAJ7ysJtxn5N_Jf-CuQmQOUTCUnMxIVjQ9as7D-Nv0k7YP_GIqPfOUlbO76NnAEVo4RyV2o69nLc/w320-h320/b182.jpg" width="320" /></a>
<br />I can't think of an album that sounds more 2003 than <i>Blink-182</i>.
This self-titled album features the 90s pop-punk banding venturing to more
experimental rock sounds, and against the odds, finding great success. <i>Blink-182</i>
is loaded with memorable, highly enjoyable songs, exploring the band's more
melancholy side, while not completely ditching their punk roots. This results in
the perfect mix of faster songs that highlight drummer, Travis Barker, and his
incredibly dexterous hands and feet, and more laid back, moodier stuff, like the
highly popular Smashing Pumpkins ballad-side-esque, "I Miss You." The allusions
to war here are clearly being exuded due to the United States' conflict ventures into Iraq that year and Afghanistan the previous, with the post
9/11-darkness seen in much of the music from this period not so much creeping
through as reigning sovereign. Often, the previous decade, in this case the 90s, will seep through for
a few years before the new decade, in this case the 00s, establishes its identity. Think of the more
gritty, urban 80s feel in early 90s cinema that soon gave way to the sunnier,
post-Cold War optimism of the rest of the 90s. If one wants to look for one piece of early 00s pop
culture where the 90s informally died, it's <i>Blink-182</i>. <br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/CvtJVku_mJw?si=7p8RTKwD4hpt1UN5" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>
<br /><br /><b> TIE 8. Cursive -- <i>The Ugly Organ</i></b><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOJJEwVnvKotKOJ-bytNuGg6abqq-WQpkqn3-RqvlyHSF1k29wfeTR9Q62WWpbI6vT246MFAFMFZYfch7HYBBEKGpjwAZ5prItRu4zmjQh1ThgOdl3wfucZz5dfxfz9SwD6GPr0HSinabvylGn7O2crecXge0LXKazeE0HmBq-_Ei8ohQix-uG/s1400/CTUO.jpeg"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1400" data-original-width="1400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOJJEwVnvKotKOJ-bytNuGg6abqq-WQpkqn3-RqvlyHSF1k29wfeTR9Q62WWpbI6vT246MFAFMFZYfch7HYBBEKGpjwAZ5prItRu4zmjQh1ThgOdl3wfucZz5dfxfz9SwD6GPr0HSinabvylGn7O2crecXge0LXKazeE0HmBq-_Ei8ohQix-uG/s320/CTUO.jpeg" width="320" /></a>
<br />My first write-up for <i>The Ugly Organ</i> was long-thought and
heartfelt, then my computer froze and I lost it. Attempt two is gonna be brief:
this is an emotional album about feeling like you're failing everyone around
you, but no one more than yourself, and trying to find some hope in that
situation. It's mostly rowdy rock music with a lot of great cello accompaniment, and
it ends with a cathartic, ten-minute track that just might be the best DON'T
KILL YOURSELF song I've ever heard.<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9JcFgL2qO9Y?si=rrcrcFJtX4Uyrw3y" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>
<br />
<br />
<div>
<b>TIE 7. Radiohead -- <i>Hail to the Thief</i></b><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhrTo9z3182p2v-5OZ0H3fEJ7m608n0wovdqxVU-hIyP73cdoT9KUPIQOoi4h_awocGibELk7ofIlaIwiqToYnX126TwJ69rcFkb-jKA0k_zm-tW1eImM8HndM9S386QFgSHyyQn_keJQ40WX5QUTIYSV8dDOTxXn0HDRxcYVrDWyzV-KGvxpM/s316/RHTTT.png"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="316" data-original-width="316" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhrTo9z3182p2v-5OZ0H3fEJ7m608n0wovdqxVU-hIyP73cdoT9KUPIQOoi4h_awocGibELk7ofIlaIwiqToYnX126TwJ69rcFkb-jKA0k_zm-tW1eImM8HndM9S386QFgSHyyQn_keJQ40WX5QUTIYSV8dDOTxXn0HDRxcYVrDWyzV-KGvxpM/w320-h320/RHTTT.png" width="320" /></a><br />I hate getting into politics on The Nicsperiment, but I guess I can't
avoid them when they're <i>Hail to the Thief</i> 's major
preoccupation. George W. Bush was the worst President of my lifetime, until he
was surpassed by the most recent President, who is essentially George W. Bush
with Dementia, so I understand the sentiments behind Radiohead's 2003 album.
At the same time, it's tough to listen to all the hyperbolic, apocalyptic doom
and gloom of the famed experimental rock band's 20-year-old album and not find
it all a bit silly. Several <i>Hail to the Thief </i>songs, for
example, "We Suck Young Blood," are so over-the-top in their calamitous, fear-mongering pessimism, they border on parody. With that said, there's no
arguing against the artistic excellence and top-notch songwriting quality
found in the vast majority of these 14 tracks. I made a top 100 songs list
recently, and two Radiohead songs made the cut...they are both found on this
foggy little rain cloud of an album.<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7AQSLozK7aA?si=igBqRwXfQ70pNIf1" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe><br /><br /><b>TIE 7. The Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-la-la Band
(with choir) -- <i>"This Is Our Punk-Rock," Thee Rusted Satellites Gather + Sing,</i></b><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH3qetA55DnfOBMLKrxHQ3VOgoas6iibRiRaVv0M6CS28E7jz_TDQEpZpPLPr1gmAWYiUX1JDFIPNzpNttYoy6McKTwXGjJDgTn9mxWQdR6EmmfQyhz2nBhxKwXmjxcRBSYxc2fuFCRYp-DDk93TihdW6eHW7XoRAni2fFVHfzuK_EuY5Vrv0g/s1200/ASMZ.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH3qetA55DnfOBMLKrxHQ3VOgoas6iibRiRaVv0M6CS28E7jz_TDQEpZpPLPr1gmAWYiUX1JDFIPNzpNttYoy6McKTwXGjJDgTn9mxWQdR6EmmfQyhz2nBhxKwXmjxcRBSYxc2fuFCRYp-DDk93TihdW6eHW7XoRAni2fFVHfzuK_EuY5Vrv0g/s320/ASMZ.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />Somehow, Silver Mt. Zion manage to put their cards on the 2003
experimental rock table and tell Radiohead, "I see your hyperbolic doom and
gloom, and I raise you," because <i>This Is Our Punk Rock</i> miraculously kicks the doomsaying up to an even more histrionic level. Hearing
this albums lyrics, you'd think everyone in North America was being drug into
the street and shot as their house burned down in 2003, but...HOLY COW,
IS <i>THIS IS OUR PUNK ROCK</i> CINEMATIC. Raising the production value
on their generally lo-fi rock sound and pairing it with stunning strings, A
Silver Mt. Zion make a soundtrack for the greatest silent film that never
existed. While there's obviously less polish, and certainly more raw
vocals here than what's found on Radiohead's album, all of that starving
artist emotion A Silver Mt. Zion are capable of is put to its best possible
use, and somehow, and definitely unlike Radiohead, the band leave all that end of
the world lava downpour behind at the end of the album to conclude <i>This Is Our Punk Rock</i> in an
incredibly personal and comforting place.<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZIaWqIwbhc8?si=AKjw434mYcha7Ehd" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>
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<br /><b>6. Explosions in the Sky -- <i>The Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place</i></b><br style="font-weight: 400;" /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1QVAIy35KY5_mIBjiUx_x2tRhPqXrVFFqy218jzfDFQfOLX8AL4IjZGv6-IvEcekaJorwtVKHSDtA5OLHJQ4c97z59y4G7BozBb0ysmOKJaFb-Q1UgVKxyD3FZJxeXtdtC4OPW9ksc04KGP3E1AnXlKeQerTjelPlJ-Chka3q5Gt5XqojUA_9/s1104/The%20Earth%20Is%20Not%20a%20Cold%20Dead%20Place.jpg" style="font-weight: 400;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1104" data-original-width="1094" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1QVAIy35KY5_mIBjiUx_x2tRhPqXrVFFqy218jzfDFQfOLX8AL4IjZGv6-IvEcekaJorwtVKHSDtA5OLHJQ4c97z59y4G7BozBb0ysmOKJaFb-Q1UgVKxyD3FZJxeXtdtC4OPW9ksc04KGP3E1AnXlKeQerTjelPlJ-Chka3q5Gt5XqojUA_9/s320/The%20Earth%20Is%20Not%20a%20Cold%20Dead%20Place.jpg" /></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span><br style="font-weight: 400;" /><span style="font-weight: 400;">While Explosions in the Sky were sometimes accused of not pushing the
envelope enough in the instrumental rock genre, their huge, cinematic, and
optimistic </span><i style="font-weight: 400;">The Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place</i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> is actually revolutionary in the way it doesn't linger in the
post-9/11 cultural malaise of the early 00s, but actively fights against
it. These five huge songs feel like the rhythms of life, as the cacophonous
celebrations of the opening two tracks give way to the darker meditations
of the album's midsection before rising to a new beautiful peak in the
final two tracks. These 45-minutes form an incredible emotional
narrative that's resonant and timeless, outlasting much of the more in
vogue work of the band's early 00s peers.</span><br style="font-weight: 400;" /><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/aznXne3juPk?si=qH1zL6A3m_EcUzNb" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span><br style="font-weight: 400;" /></div><br /><b>TIE 5. Howard Shore -- <i>The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (soundtrack)</i></b><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGGM8EniSbG2JVSW-S70gYrSBFZixj-Uq4X-Pb3MgndlFaUp0bNTqhLFRiG1x7VgJhxpwlmWJRRpnq0K_S8t44brU4PeF2aRyvAk46w22ny3r_us5aYE9-HeUaaP9dta85_ZwZzKIR-WTkfG5C1mi37ue4tXRakbmMnMaKf4VcC2drSQHGNnna/s316/ROTKS.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="316" data-original-width="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGGM8EniSbG2JVSW-S70gYrSBFZixj-Uq4X-Pb3MgndlFaUp0bNTqhLFRiG1x7VgJhxpwlmWJRRpnq0K_S8t44brU4PeF2aRyvAk46w22ny3r_us5aYE9-HeUaaP9dta85_ZwZzKIR-WTkfG5C1mi37ue4tXRakbmMnMaKf4VcC2drSQHGNnna/s320/ROTKS.jpg" width="320" /></a>
<br />Howard Shore's compositions for The Lord of the Rings' trilogy finale, <i>Return of the King</i>, not only tie together his phenomenal work from the previous two films, but introduce an entire arsenal of lovely new ideas. Utilizing diverse orchestrations, with distinct,
memorable, complex themes rolling off the tip of his pen like the River Bruinen,
rousing, inspiring music, horns, strings, percussion, choirs, flute solos, vocal
solos, Shore forever cements his status as a maestro. This may be the greatest film score of all time.<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4s2gNErMozc?si=-hKRFEXQSCXJDzTP" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe><br /><br /><b>TIE 5. Yasunori Mitsuda -- <i>Chrono Cross Original Soundtrack</i></b><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQqkJ8GgJe4k4O8y55aUwQlP1gzuQzfcbVC1WEvKdhLvNaSax1l8h8av3k4G-ZFlsA00x1tJvoMbgzp7hQWfp8EXrehDer-doyK6_LNX2jsA_C1ilw_bgAjwe6xF2jCYhdHSlV7hZMPFzfvgQDsbKcWy-voW2bjhEvO2GIJZTjrGCf9q6E5vDV/s1621/CCOS.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1375" data-original-width="1621" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQqkJ8GgJe4k4O8y55aUwQlP1gzuQzfcbVC1WEvKdhLvNaSax1l8h8av3k4G-ZFlsA00x1tJvoMbgzp7hQWfp8EXrehDer-doyK6_LNX2jsA_C1ilw_bgAjwe6xF2jCYhdHSlV7hZMPFzfvgQDsbKcWy-voW2bjhEvO2GIJZTjrGCf9q6E5vDV/s320/CCOS.jpg" width="320" /></a>
<br />"Of all time" is an often over-used phrase, but Yasunori Mitsuda's
soundtrack for 1999's PS1 JRPG, <i>Chrono Cross</i>, compiled in totality and
released in 2003, might be the greatest video game soundtrack of all time. While
the game is divisive, a darkly depressing, overtly complex sequel to the
uplifting <i>Chrono Trigger</i>, one of the most beloved video games ever
created, Chrono Cross' soundtrack has deservedly drawn universal acclaim. Mitsuda, who
also excellently scored <i>Chrono Trigger</i>, creates a world
music/folk hybrid tableaux, presenting seemingly limitless character and
regional themes while also expertly incorporating some of his finest work from
<i>Chrono Trigger</i>. The results are absolutely stunning, fully presented
across the length of this three hour album of music that works for both active
listening, or chillout background noise, climaxing in Mitsuda's soul-crushing
career peak, "Radical Dreamers," a piece whose vocal harmonies evoke a failed,
unfulfilled spirit, finally rising up into eternity. <i>Chrono Cross Soundtrack</i> is a depressive person's aural
paradise.<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/M9T9kZzSEvI?si=PARcI2yzkoTzkJFv" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>
<br /><br /><b>TIE 4. Deftones -- <i>Deftones</i></b><i><br /></i>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR6Dhpd6W5a2Dhf2xc08sg-MNqKlO-N9hJZwWdbXq7S_4npwr2mz77euIdmZVTAQumFEkNvzGosVtWnmt1Fb6KRVrHrNN5FsMFSYYCP5JAvcR8MZHwrKzIozd9iI2crsEJvwSejSaPYnkdAYJftsbbU7WqVCB4lG-h1APDFLKBe3ickWn9GeYm/s1448/Deftones.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1448" data-original-width="1448" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR6Dhpd6W5a2Dhf2xc08sg-MNqKlO-N9hJZwWdbXq7S_4npwr2mz77euIdmZVTAQumFEkNvzGosVtWnmt1Fb6KRVrHrNN5FsMFSYYCP5JAvcR8MZHwrKzIozd9iI2crsEJvwSejSaPYnkdAYJftsbbU7WqVCB4lG-h1APDFLKBe3ickWn9GeYm/s320/Deftones.jpg" width="320" /></a>
<br />Deftones mostly abandon the lush, immersive sound of 2000s legendary
<i>White Pony</i> for a more streamlined, straightforward sound on
<i>Deftones</i>. Songs here focus on drawn out grooves, with guitarist, Steph
Carpenter, drummer, Abe Cunningham, and bassist, Chi Cheng (R.I.P), falling into
a hypnotic lockstep that gives <i>Deftones</i> a remarkable staying power.
Meanwhile, vocalist, Chino Moreno, provides his usual, unique blend of strange,
sensual singing, and aggressive, piercing screams, reminding the listener just
what year it is with lines about terrorism and war, over the band's
darkly-tinged jams, filled out by Frank Delgado's ever-present keyboards. In 20 years, after
complaining that the album didn't sound like <i>White Pony</i>, I've probably
listened to <i>Deftones</i> more than any of the band's other 21st Century
albums...except maybe <i>White Pony</i>.<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0mnXzCCpctU?si=8WWjUP24TcirYoq3" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>
<br /><br /><b>TIE 4. Starflyer 59 -- <i>Old</i></b><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIt78VUuUBxiErZKJJwHqdNKXhsTHvKUgGbtF8epDSn6ftIFsR0liUfKeKWBIWZX_UsvOIzVHrWmIvLK8_fK7PK62iF_wia3Xwt2DzPxHmYEpcU8_MRjtZg5W8xhQC7LyaFGi0tM20-0P3wG8EUHM-bfFMAh4pOol0zZ_tMecXtDcH5ASkgNLj/s300/S59O.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="297" data-original-width="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIt78VUuUBxiErZKJJwHqdNKXhsTHvKUgGbtF8epDSn6ftIFsR0liUfKeKWBIWZX_UsvOIzVHrWmIvLK8_fK7PK62iF_wia3Xwt2DzPxHmYEpcU8_MRjtZg5W8xhQC7LyaFGi0tM20-0P3wG8EUHM-bfFMAh4pOol0zZ_tMecXtDcH5ASkgNLj/s320/S59O.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />Jason Martin's morphing, ever-changing Starflyer 59 project reached its
critical zenith between 2001's lo-fi masterpiece, <i>Leave Here a Stranger</i>, and the driving alternative rock of 2003's <i>Old</i>. On <i>Old</i>,
Martin is able to cash in on his impeccable cultural cache to draw Frank Lenz
and Richard Swift, two highly talented multi-instrumentalists, into the fold,
along with a returning and quite prominent, Jeff Cloud, on bass. The result is a
delightful ten track opus, featuring a kitchen sink production approach and perhaps Martin's most charismatic vocal performance to
date. <i>Old</i> is an incredibly fun, highly listenable, timeless
album by a guy who's always seemed to be the title of this album, even when he
was making music in his early 20s. He's not even old yet here, in fact, he's
younger on <i>Old </i>than I am now, but that acerbic,
self-deprecating old guy charm Martin has always possessed has perhaps never
been stronger. Also, <i>Old</i> and <i>Deftones</i> were released on the <b><u>SAME DAY</u></b>, May 20, 2003, and I bought them together that day at the local FYE. See: <i>2003 was a great year!</i><br /><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bqHjSv1MgX0?si=_XZgSpb3JGLUbLMw" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe><br /><br /><b>3. Linkin Park -- <i>Meteora</i></b><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMiyfFWpxBHbyQrivgEOiyRL6X4JkdzA1xhWFoEftqEGnoG1e5_TqKwviEmuy7IAA4lVb2zrGaXv6smskAeDB0RJaZJ2tMukXB2nqc5wDZi0wUw4U9k9u4hjLQPzT3KDRsb8JvmE4w8FT0DBhPTC6X4N_wZOr1OjdxAkMSamc71rYcz11HffdP/s1425/Meteora.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1425" data-original-width="1425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMiyfFWpxBHbyQrivgEOiyRL6X4JkdzA1xhWFoEftqEGnoG1e5_TqKwviEmuy7IAA4lVb2zrGaXv6smskAeDB0RJaZJ2tMukXB2nqc5wDZi0wUw4U9k9u4hjLQPzT3KDRsb8JvmE4w8FT0DBhPTC6X4N_wZOr1OjdxAkMSamc71rYcz11HffdP/s320/Meteora.jpg" width="320" /></a>
<br />"Disposable music in a highly ephemeral genre" they called it. "Too much like
their first album," they said. Hey, at the time, I said it too. 20 years later,
frontman dead for six years, no new music anywhere on the horizon, and Linkin Park are still drawing 40
million listens a month on services like Spotify, based upon the strength of albums
like their sophomore effort, 2003s <i>Meteora</i>. The band's ridiculous
dedication to rap-rock perfection, crafting and sifting through and dicing up
hundreds of permutations of these songs until they had something they knew would
stand the test of time pays off dividends. These 12 tracks flow together in a
living landscape that, as most of the best albums from 2003, sound absolutely of
the time, and absolutely timeless. Unlike many of the albums from 2003, though,
Linkin Park are able to find hope and optimism through a dedication to personal
responsibility and positive change that feels almost foreign in 2023. I've
probably listened to this album 100 times over these last two decades, and
its impact has only greatened with each listen (also, the recent vinyl
re-release is amazing, turning up the bass and adding some space in the mix that
somehow makes this classic album even better). Also, the below video has 2.1
billion views. 2.1 BILLION!<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kXYiU_JCYtU?si=xDtcufWTypsJaor9" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>
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<div>
<br /><b>2. Zwan -- <i>Mary Star of the Sea</i></b><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvnfGeQXxeLQWAijhj2wrNcMPnlIwwrcVH7_6OzseiEHcAAMZRMMWtRTJ3XK-nFtNrwejXoeotVolVKb9JT4B4x4U-pePFdQYtqkW22UVS_DvpGzJiymelJ5MbpzZDij_NrxHXEUYDGicgJaDTxEp7YtmNCCMrjSGkDAPE0qfVdEqCJIwpuZ1Z/s600/ZMSOTS.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvnfGeQXxeLQWAijhj2wrNcMPnlIwwrcVH7_6OzseiEHcAAMZRMMWtRTJ3XK-nFtNrwejXoeotVolVKb9JT4B4x4U-pePFdQYtqkW22UVS_DvpGzJiymelJ5MbpzZDij_NrxHXEUYDGicgJaDTxEp7YtmNCCMrjSGkDAPE0qfVdEqCJIwpuZ1Z/s320/ZMSOTS.jpg" width="320" /></a>
<br />Smashing Pumpkins are fine, and some of their singles are my favorite
songs ever, but I've never connected to any of their albums like I do that of Billy
Corgan's 2003 side band Zwan's lone full-length,
<i>Mary Star of the Sea</i>. The album takes a page from the 70s, featuring
the huge interplay of three guitars, a roving, aggressive bass, lovely female
harmonies from bass player, Paz Lenchantin, and Jimmy Chamberlain's
constantly rolling, all-timer drumming performance. I think what really pushes
this beautiful album near to top of the 2003 heap for me though, is Billy
Corgan's spiritual positivity, as he uniquely reaches above the post 9/11,
early 00s haze of negativity and grabs a shining ball of optimistic
energy with his hippy-dippy lyrics and religious longing. Also, having Paz in you band doesn't hurt.<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/CwmUMySSNQc?si=GIh9jtrG-bnQ9Q_2" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>
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<div>
<br /><b>1. The Mars Volta -- <i>De-Loused in the Comatorium</i></b><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4VASyH5FYsoms2T5e5OwqnORSDROsBRNrute4TYV1lbIWyi0rt_qfnYJDKqqM4wj1HTeY2vosOrMJy8_lQeGt2sLNRJKvh0jkxr3bxWCHu-495dR5K_fVfnnXK8Ul2Obkzy75nULZhHt0cJjtI0uiLW3LjbIDXs653GM1jnGjD0NtCXJzl0kT/s1000/De-Loused_in_the_Comatorium.jpeg"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="977" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4VASyH5FYsoms2T5e5OwqnORSDROsBRNrute4TYV1lbIWyi0rt_qfnYJDKqqM4wj1HTeY2vosOrMJy8_lQeGt2sLNRJKvh0jkxr3bxWCHu-495dR5K_fVfnnXK8Ul2Obkzy75nULZhHt0cJjtI0uiLW3LjbIDXs653GM1jnGjD0NtCXJzl0kT/s320/De-Loused_in_the_Comatorium.jpeg" /></a><br />I grew up hearing my parents' stereo blasting Yes, while my mom would often
try to paint pictures of the legendary progressive rock band's trippy album
covers in her spare time (her attempt at <i>Tales from Topographic Oceans </i>still hangs in the laundry room). I had been primed to have a progressive
rock band all my own, and in 2003, The Mars Volta happily obliged, providing
their stunning debut full-length, <i>De-Loused in the Comatorium</i>,
which features virtuosic musical performances, wailing vocals, and absurdist,
science fiction and fantasy fueled lyrics, often at the service of something
too personal to put into plain language. The overall album fits together
marvelously, full of unique, living atmosphere, slowing down to breathe at
all the right moments, all engines go at all the right moments, and
often.<br /><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/neSQgkEy_xQ?si=MWNRps8WRXKER9Tm" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe><br /><br /><b><u>NOTABLE RELEASES IN MY WORLD:</u></b><br />Aarktica's <i>Pure Tone Audiometry</i> is just an absolutely lovely
experimental rock album, featuring a warm, enveloping sound, and an all-time
great song with "Ocean." After seeing then new band, Anberlin, put on a raw,
great rock show, I was at first disappointed in the overly polished nature
of their debut album, <i>Blueprints for the Black Market</i>, but I have
since warmed to its charms. Bleach's <i>Astronomy</i> is a fun little rock
album. With Brave Saint Saturn's sophomore space rock effort,
<i>The Light of Things Hoped For</i>, I'm finding I connect less and less as
time goes by, outside of that insanely powerful closer, though I still think
it's quite a good album, overall. Cool Hand Luke have to be one of the most
underrated Christian rock bands of the early 00s, and
<i>Wake Up, O Sleeper</i>'s lovely, experimental alternative rock sound is
emblematic of their stellar musicianship and songwriting skills. Drive-By
Truckers' <i>Decoration Day</i> leans a little more into the band's "sit
down and I'll tell you a story" side than their "we're gonna burn this
mother down" one, but it still sits comfortably atop the mid-tier of the
storied South Rock band's records. While <i>How to Start a Fire</i> was my
least favorite of the original trio of Further Seems Forever albums, Jason Gleason's
turn behind the microphone has grown on me a little bit every year, and I've
come to enjoy it so much, it almost made this top nine. Furthermore's
bizarre <i>She and I</i> is probably the whitest hip-hop album in history,
but if the second half was as stunning and lyrically proficient (and
prophetic) as the first, it might have made my top nine. Speaking of whitest
hip-hop, John Reuben's <i>Professional Rapper</i> might be the most fun
Christian rap album of the early 00s, featuring excellent instrumentals,
deep, but not overly-indulgent or pretentious lyrics, and a delightful
performance from Mr. Reuben himself. Kaki King's unique, virtuoso
guitar-picking-centric <i>Everybody Loves You </i>is a wonderful chillout
album. The Juliana Theory's <i>Love</i> is an over-bloated affair that killed their
burgeoning rock career. Kashmir's <i>Zitilites</i> shows the incredible promise
of this Danish rock band that would rattle off three alternative rock
classics immediately afterward. Academy Award-winning composers who score
Pixar, Star Wars, Star Trek, and Batman movies have to get their start
somewhere, and Michael Giacchino burst on the scene scoring the first season
of the ABC spy drama, <i>Alias</i>, with a brilliant, highly listenable mix of
orchestral, techno, and world music that's lovingly curated on the<i>
Alias (Original Television Soundtrack)</i>
disc released in 2003. <i>Nocturama</i> proves that even a weak Nick Cave
and the Bad Seeds album is worth listening. MxPx's
<i>Before Everything and After</i>, along with The Julianna Theory's
<i>Love</i>, prove that 2003 was a bad year for Tooth & Nail bands to
try to go mainstream. Speaking of MxPx, the band I'd always considered their
little brother, Relient K, surpassed them in 2003, with
<i>Two Lefts Don't Make a Right...But Three Do</i>, a fun pop-punk album
that's even more fun 20 years later, now that I don't feel too cool for
school to listen to it. Skillet's <i>Collide </i>is a hard rock dream--John Cooper
distilled Linkin Park (minus the rap), P.O.D., and Godsmack's sounds into
one of the best hard rock albums of the year. Slick Shoes breaks the
pop-punk band leaving Tooth & Nail curse with the fantastic, far more
tech-punk than pop-punk<i> Far From Nowhere</i>, by jumping to a slightly
bigger label instead of a major one. <i>Stellastarr</i>*'s self-titled debut
is a very fun foray into 80s new wave revivalism. Sufjan Stevens' slightly
over-bloated <i>Michigan</i> is a great dry-run for 2005's
<i>Illinois</i>, though its orchestral folk with Vince Guaraldi overtones
make for a solid album in its own right. Yeah Yeah Yeahs' <i>Fever to Tell</i>
isn't my favorite album ever, but it was and still is a lot of fun, and one
of the few of those early 2000s garage revivalism albums to actually live up
to the hype. Sigur Rós' take "Untitled #1" from their 2002 album <i>( )</i>, release it as a single, and create an entire mini-album of new material around it called <i>Vaka</i>, a 20 minute mini-opus that's a freezing ocean of massive waves of emotion--my mind used to make too much dopamine back then, and it overwhelmed 2003 me, but I can enjoy it now. I've mentioned that several albums in my list are perfectly emblematic of a certain 2003 vibe. The big trilogy closing films from that year followed suit: <i>The Matrix Revolutions</i> and <i>The Return of the King</i> are both apocalyptic in tone, and feature burned out and smoking dystopic landscapes. One album, released on November 4, the day before <i>The Matrix Revolutions</i>' release date, may actually be most emblematic of the cultural change between the first 21 months of the 21st Century, and post 9/11: P.O.D.'s <i>Payable on Death</i>. In 2001, P.O.D. released their epochal <i>Satellite</i> on 9/11 itself. The album, obviously recorded before that day, features unbridled optimism and positivity, and its lead single, "Alive," is a joyous celebration of life. <i>Payable on Death</i> is an absolute downer. The band's main songwriter, guitarist, Marcos Curiel, had been inexplicably kicked out of the band just before its recording, and while new guitarist, Jason Truby, acquits himself very well, Curiel's latin-tinged jammy style is completely missing from the album. Instead, the songs are dark, 3.5 minute hard rock songs, dropping just about any of the earlier rap-rock, nu-metal, and Latin rock designators the band previously held. With that said, it's still quite good, with Truby adding some ethereal touches, along with his guitar hero, Phil Keaggy, who shows up in some guest spots. I enjoy the resulting album so much, it almost made this list. It might be a downer, post 9/11 album from a band previously known for positivity, but it's pretty damn good. And hey, that's 2003 in a nutshell.</div>
</div>The Nicsperimenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08101227163387381013noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9602155.post-74279141836823599002023-12-15T14:53:00.002-06:002023-12-15T14:53:15.753-06:00Enemy of the State (Film Review)
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-pWh91tdOYhlhGwz78VgSDltzgSeHM6-Y9VqFhumfsiZlz6Fqjq-txyQff3YxWPM_-61d_HuAElyX8ZnjqRAIMuCA9lT-s_oZY1az7QX9WV4X4wO8h4Rdvd-JQzHkmRDFz78CGZ_lI-wj9-gOyyjB3O_laQol24z5mCqrLsLGIwPR_u_4AsBz/s1500/EOTS.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1000" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-pWh91tdOYhlhGwz78VgSDltzgSeHM6-Y9VqFhumfsiZlz6Fqjq-txyQff3YxWPM_-61d_HuAElyX8ZnjqRAIMuCA9lT-s_oZY1az7QX9WV4X4wO8h4Rdvd-JQzHkmRDFz78CGZ_lI-wj9-gOyyjB3O_laQol24z5mCqrLsLGIwPR_u_4AsBz/s600/EOTS.jpg" /></a>
<br /><i>
1998 Touchstone Pictures
<br />
Directed by: Tony Scott; Written by: David Marconi
<br />
Starring:
Will Smith,
Gene Hackman,
Jon Voight,
Regina King,
Loren Dean,
Jake Busey,
Scott Caan,
Barry Pepper, and
Gabriel Byrne
<br />
MPAA Rating: R; Running Time: 132 Minutes
</i><br /><b>
The Nicsperiment Score: 8/10
</b><br /><br />
Robert Clayton Dean is a hotshot, shot-calling lawyer, living the highlife, wife and son, giant house, and an ex-mistress informant, Rachel, who is able to gather an alarming amount of information any time he needs it. However, a chance run-in with an old classmate on the run from the law puts Dean in the government's crosshairs. Unbeknownst to Dean, that old classmate has slipped a recording of a murder into his bag...the murder of a U.S. congressman who was the key opposition to a piece of proposed legislation that would give the government unprecedented access to private citizens' lives. Before Dean knows it, that same government has besmirched his name, sabotaged his marriage, vandalized his home, emptied his bank accounts, and put him on the run. There's only one man who can help: Rachel's actual informant, Brill, a mysterious man who wants nothing to do with Dean...until Rachel is murdered.
<br />
Tony Scott's 1998 rapid-fire action thriller, <i>Enemy of the State</i>, just felt like an above average genre flick in 1998. 25 years later, it feels like one of the most prescient films of the 90s, as the United States government enacted the privacy-destroying Patriot Act just a few years after <i>Enemy of the State</i>'s release, along with several adjoining pieces of legislation that have given the powers that be unprecedented power. Meanwhile, Americans freely give up their privacy to mega-corporations (and the governments they serve), as they willingly feed those corporations all the private data they can eat from their smartphones everyday. But it's not just Enemy of the State's topical warnings that have been proven correct with time. In the late 90s, some critics considered Scott to be a quick-cut heavy hack. In 2023, he is regarded as an auteur. Scott's direction here is phenomenal, with the viewer getting a voyeuristic POV of the film's events, the quick cutting intentional and artistically done to portray the film's intrusive sense of surveillance.
<br />
Scott's action is also high octane, and his actors are game. Will Smith, as Dean, putting a dark twist on his 90s everyman persona, plays a highly flawed and angry man who just wants his life back to normal. Paired with the legendary Gene Hackman as Brill, the duo have a special, unique chemistry, that lends this movie a dramatic heft that might have been missing with any other duo. These two aren't the only well-regarded actors found here, though, as Scott puts together an absolutely unbelievable cast, somehow getting such frequent award winners as Jason Robards and Gabriel Byrne to show up for bit roles, and filling out the field agent villain roles with a seemingly unlimited cupboard of beloved young 90s actors, from Jack Black, to Seth Green, to Barry Pepper, to Jamie Kennedy, to Jake Busey, to Scott Caan, the film almost becomes a game of "<i>who won't show up here?!</i>" You've even got Regina King as Dean's wife and Lisa Bonet as Rachel, and most delightfully, a scenery-chewing Jon Voight as the lead government villain, perhaps the only actor in 1998 who could believably hold their own against Gene Hackman. There's even an uncredited Tom Sizemore in a MAJOR role! It's the best cast of the 90s! I'm not sure there's another film in existence featuring more Oscar winning actors than this one.
<br />
The production team holds up their end of the deal, as well. From interior design work that gives a feeling of warm late 90s Christmas comfort away from the cold all-seeing eye, to a crack stunt team who launches cars into trains and through sewer tunnels, hits bicyclists with fire trucks, and blows things up things real good, it is all here and it is spectacular. Musically, Harry Gregson-Williams and Trevor Rabin join together to give the audience their best, providing a score that both invokes the technological aspects of the film, as well as its sweeping, glorious action and dramatics. I love this movie. I'm almost shocked at how well it holds together 25 years later. Rest in piece, Tony.<br />
The Nicsperimenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08101227163387381013noreply@blogger.com0