A Beer For Every State #11 - Connecticut
It's a sad day for fans of Canadian character actors, Wayne Robson has passed away. Robson got his start with a couple of small roles in some Robert Altman films and would eventually go on to be a part of countless films and television shows made in and around Canada. Mr. Robson was also a veteran of the stage and a voice-over artist, having provided the voice of Professor Calculus in the English language version of The Adventures of Tintin cartoon series from the early nineties. He may remembered most fondly, by Canadians at least, for having portrayed the character of ex-con Mike Hamar for several seasons on The Red Green Show. He will be missed.
Hobo with a Shotgun is an unapologetically violent exploitation movie that was filmed in Nova Scotia, not all that far from where I live. I wanted, more than anything, for it to be kick-asstastic. However, after seeing the movie this past weekend, I have to say I was disappointed. I thought the movie had some pacing issues and a lot of seriously bad dialogue. It wasn't a total shit fest though. The action scenes all looked good, they used lots of practical effects and fake blood, there were some cool cameos, some excellent music choices, some great camera work, and a number of lighting choices that paid homage to the films of Dario Argento. I hate to give Hobo with a Shotgun a bad review, because it definitely deserves to be seen and I know there's an audience out there for it, but I simply can't ignore the film's weaker points. 
Well, what would a David Lapham book be without the constant threat of pedophilia? It's ok, but if you were a parent buying your kid Detective Comics and you happened to read the issue where a 14 year old tries to seduce Bruce Wayne and then ends up half naked and dead of a drug overdose in a hotel room, you might rethink the whole reading comics is better than television thing. Obviously, though, kids probably only make up about 5% of American comic books' audience these days anyway.
Easter is coming a little later than usual this year, but Easter candy is already out in full effect. One of my personal favorites are the chocolate Easter bunnies that come with the crispy rice mixed in. They're not made with Rice Krispies officially sanctioned by Kellogg's, but that hardly makes any difference. It's not like, when you see one on a shelf, you say, "Oh, look at that. It's a chocolate Easter bunny made with crispy rice." Chances are you'd say, "Hell yeah, dawg. It's a chocolate bunny with some Rice Krispies all up in it."
As cliché as it may sound, Paul is a movie made for geeks, by geeks, about geeks. Simon Pegg and Nick Frost play two British sci-fi enthusiasts traveling across America in an RV who encounter an extra-terrestrial name Paul. The movie's got car chases, explosions, references to classic (and not so classic) sci-fi films, and a subplot that seems to exist only to make jokes at the expense of fundamentalist Christians. While Paul might not be as good as Shaun of the Dead or Hot Fuzz (Pegg and Frost's two prior cinematic pairings), it works along similar lines, mining laughs from pop culture's past and finding a satisfying center in a story based around friendship. And jokes about three-breasted women, can't forget about those. 
Sheltered insurance agent Tim Lippe (Ed Helms) gets sent to the big city (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) to represent his company at the big (regional) insurance convention, heart warming amusement ensues. Cedar Rapids is funny, but in a post-Judd Apatow manchild coming out of his shell kind of way. Ed Helms, in a rare lead role, carries the film, but he's backed by an excellent supporting cast. With stand out performances from John C. Reilly, Alia Shawkat, and Anne Heche (no, really). Considering the improv background of many of the cast, I'm willing to bet that the home video release of Cedar Rapids will either contain an extended cut of the film or a bevy of outtakes and alternate scenes. 
The Sonics' second album, Boom, might not have quite as many barn burning classics as their debut, but even a "lesser" Sonics record is still an epic document of amped up 60s garage rock. I have no idea how popular The Sonics might have been during their heyday but the influence their music, along with the music of bands like The Velvet Underground and The Stooges, has had over punk and rock bands in the last 40+ years is considerable. Highlights from Boom include "He's Waitin'," a kind of freaky morality tale, and "Hitch Hike," a sort of companion to their more well-known "Have Love, Will Travel." The band even does a take on the immortal "Louie, Louie," though their version sounds more like "Rock You Like a Hurricane" than The Kingsmen. 
Waiting for "Superman" is an Oscar nominated documentary about public education in America. Though I can't vouch for how accurate it might be, having never gone to school in the US, it is a well-made documentary. The use of twinkly piano music and images of disappointed children will probably make you feel bad, but Waiting for "Superman" doesn't seem to be going for an all-out weep-a-thon. While some might argue that the documentary is biased towards charter schools, it's likely that most will agree that there is room for improvement in public education. Also, children are, like, our future and stuff, or something.
One thing I like in songs is when all of a sudden in the middle of a regular old song BAM it's a robot voice. In that regard, this album does not disappoint. Also, in every other regard it does not disappoint either. It's more dance music, but I don't feel too old to listen to it this time because it sounds really dire, or maybe my stereo was turned up really loud. Either way, it definitely works. Also check out their blog - she seems lonely.
Once upon a time stores used paper bags and that was fine. Then, after awhile, they switched to plastic bags and that was fine. Now some stores are charging their customers 5¢ per bag for plastic shopping bags and I'm not cool with that. If the 5¢ fee is supposed to offset the environmental cost of the plastic bags, why not go back to paper bags or make bio-degradable bags? Here's an idea: if your company/store thinks that plastic shopping bags are so bad, stop fucking using them. Don't nickel and dime your customers to death because you're not willing to find an environmentally friendly alternative to plastic bags.
On the other hand, who likes a man in a tie? A man in a tie is always dumb. Look at that dumb idiot, working for the man! TV shows like Mad Men might try to trick you into thinking ties are cool, but you're supposed to hate every tool on that show (right?), so you just got tricked. By the year 2020 we will have reached Peak Tie and won't have any more ties, too bad.
Whatever Happened to Alternative Nation? is a ten part essay series by Steven Hyden featured on the A.V. Club. The essays look back at the 1990s in a historical and semi-autobiographical fashion, focusing primarily on the musical trends of the era. Moving from grunge's clash with hair metal to the rise of Brit-pop and rap rock and culminating with the emergence of Napster and the shameful debacle that was Woodstock 99. Reading the essays is like taking a plaid colored time machine back to the days of depression and dial-up internet. Well, not exactly, but the essays do make for a good read. And since I'm convinced that a 1990s revival will likely be the next big thing in popular youth culture, reading these essays has prepared me for the horrible, horrible times ahead.
I just think it's so precious that every band is way into EPs now. Too bad nobody buys physical albums anymore - the sizing of the packages used to be part of the charm. And this EP? Well, it's got a couple good songs on it I guess, but it sounds, I dunno, like a band I'm totally going to forget about in a year or so? But I'll probably forget about two beers I bought for $5 once, too, so the price makes it nice.
There's a great book out there called Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History Of Punk which chronicles the beginning of the punk scene on the east coast. We Got The Neutron Bomb makes for an excellent companion piece to Please Kill Me, as it chronicles, in a similar style, the rise of west coast punk. From the death days of glam rock to The Decline of Western Civilization, the book covers countless bands, zines, venues, trends, triumphs and tragedies. It's a good, quick read that gives you a greater picture of what the west coast punk scene was like in the late seventies and early eighties. And like any good book about music, it made me want to listen to more music, not just the classics in my collection but the stuff I'd never even heard of before.
Voluspa is an album by The Golden Filter, a band that falls into the genre known as "indie dance music that could probably be played in the background on Gossip Girl." I've been into this sort of music lately because, I don't know, mid life crisis? Anyway, it's got great beats and electronic production, but it's a little too dramatic to be called just a dance album. "Always Right" media outlet Pitchfork criticized the album because its songs lack traditional structure, but I thought that was pretty endearing. Anyway, if you like guitars don't buy it, but if you like a depressed modern version of ABBA then go right ahead.
This particular Jaws rip-off comes to us from the Land Down Under, having been made during Australia's insanely prolific (emphasis on the insane) era of ozploitation films. Razorback focuses on a gigantic wild boar with a penchant for eating people, be they toddlers or investigative journalists. What makes Razorback, and by extension most ozploitation movies, so entertaining is the sheer oddity of it all. Not just the oddity in the movie's premise, but the oddity in a world populated by unsettling characters, stark landscapes, bizarre animal species, technology that seems to straddle the divide between industrialization and steampunk, brutal violence, nudity, and popular music that all seems to sound like Men at Work. Australian cinema from the ozploitation era is truly a genre and an experience unto itself.
Though it can be said for many genres, horror is notorious for creating great posters and home video box art to compensate for and mask shitty movies. While the poster art for Cheerleader Camp smacks of a teen comedy sex romp mixed with horror elements, the movie itself is a uninspired, by-the-numbers slasher. It's Meatballs meets Sleepaway Camp meets boredom and a nearly thirty year old Leif Garrett playing a high school student. Despite attempts to use dream imagery and countless red herrings to hide the identity of the killer, it's not hard to figure out who's behind all the bloodshed. Gimme a "Meh."
For a long time I considered this to be my favorite Sonic Youth album, although in retrospect I think I was saying that just to avoid the obvious choice of Daydream Nation. Anyway, it's still a pretty great album, although if I had to characterize it, I'd call it... docile? Well, at least Macaulay Culkin was in one of their videos. Um.
You know what's an awesome movie? Groundhog Day. Aw, who am I kidding? You probably already knew that. Seriously though, Groundhog Day is pretty frickin' sweet. Definitely one of the all-time greatest Bill Murray movies. If you haven't seen it before or if it's been a while since you last saw it, do yourself a favor and go watch it ASAP.
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