It’s been a while since I’ve seen a good trailer remix or mashup, but this one qualifies. It mixes the dialogue from Clint Eastwood’s ode to elderly ass-kicking, Gran Torino, with the visuals from Pixar’s paean to late-life adventure, Up. When you get down to it, Eastwood’s Walt is pretty similar to Up’s Carl: old, bitter, and initially resentful of the young people around them. They both prove that despite their advancing age they are still capable of tremendous actions. And they both just want people to get off their lawn. Check out the mashup, though if you haven’t seen the movies you may not quite get it:
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Seattle is best known for being the birthplace of grunge, but that doesn’t mean every band it produces dresses in flannel and mumbles over power chords. In fact Throw Me the Statue has more in common with the 80s pop groups that grunge ushered out than it does with Nirvana and Pearl Jam. But this shouldn’t somehow imply that they’re being untrue to their musical heritage. They’re still making good, independent music and putting on engaging live shows. And any city would be proud of a band that does that.
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Remember the Jason Segal video I posted a while ago? The one where he sings a song giving his phone number to women who want to have sex with him. Sheer genius. In that video he’s playing with The Swell Season, a band composed of Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, and they’re quite the interesting pair. If you’ve seen the movie Once you already know who they are. If you haven’t, please stop reading this and go watch it. It’s fantastic. But I digress. Hansard is the frontman and songwriter of the Irish band The Frames. Irglova is a Czech singer and songwriter. In addition to being bandmates they were romantically involved for a couple of years, but have managed to stay together musically. They just released an album called Strict Joy, and a video for the first single from it, “Low Rising”. The video is directed by Iron & Wine’s Sam Beam, and features a couple stuck in a bit of a rut. A very soggy rut. Check it out:
via BoingBoing
I had “Bohemian Rhapsody” stuck in my head for a big chunk of today, so to “celebrate” (or bring you all down with me), here’s an utterly absurd version by The Muppets. It’s either really, really dumb or completely inspired.
Yep, still looks good.
Toy Story 3 hits theaters June 18th, 2010.
K.C. McKanzie sings like she was born and raised in Appalachia, but the truth is very different. She wasn’t raised in the hills of Tennessee, the valleys of Virginia, or the nooks and crannies of Kentucky. She grew up half a world away in Germany. How did she get into music steeped in Americana while growing up in Europe? Simple, she listened to a bunch of Canadians. As she put it, “I sat next to my sister and the radio played the song “The Weight” from “The Band”. I knew from now on that this is the sound. I wrote down the name of the Band on a napkin– still got the napkin but never bought the record!”
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If you ask me Up in the Air looks really good. George Clooney plays a man whose job involves flying all over the country to fire people. As he approaches his one-millionth frequent flyer mile he begins to question his way of life. By itself that plot doesn’t sound that interesting, but factor in Clooney as the star and Jason Reitmen, whose last film was Juno, directing, the total package could be great. I’m not alone in my anticipation either. The National Board of Review just named it the Best Film of 2009, and it’s already starting to get Oscar buzz.
Check out the latest trailer for the film, and let me know what you think:
Up in the Air opens is out in limited release now, but comes to theaters everywhere on Christmas Day.
I’ve had this song stuck in my head for the better part of two weeks now, so in an attempt to exorcise the demons, here’s The Felice Brothers with “Frankie’s Gun”:
If this isn’t a sign of the positive effects of global communication technology flattening the earth I don’t know what is. It’s a group of South Korean students singing The Apples in Stereo’s “Energy”. Their teacher assigned it to them to help teach them English. I, for one, can’t think of a better way to learn. Check it out:
I’m in a pretty sedate mood tonight. It’s understandable really. The weather in Baltimore is cold and rainy. I’m still recovering from Thanksgiving gluttony. And I haven’t gotten much sleep in the last few days. So we’re going to go with a low-key cover tonight.
Gillian Welch is a modern folk/country/bluegrass genius. She’s an incredibly gifted singer, and an even better songwriter. Portland’s Blind Pilot give her song “Look at Miss Ohio” a respectful and intimate treatment:
In case you’re not familiar with the original, here it is, from Welch’s album Soul Journey
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