Brief Movie Review: 'Life During Wartime' (2009)

Movie: Life During Wartime (2009)
Director: Todd Solondz
Rating: 2.3/5 Stars **'
Life During Wartime is about a deeply troubled family (3 sisters and their families) that is filled with have many serious psychological and abuse problems. Some of the different family issues include a pedophile in the family, a delusional sister, a socio-path, loneliness, and of course the children that have to deal with having parents and relatives that are chock-full of drama. Interesting movie, although I am sure there were undertones that I didn't quite pick up. I would not watch this again, although it may be worth watching once if you haven't seen it. 

Song of the Day: 'Silverspoon' by Sonpsilo Circus (2011)

Today's feature song is Silverspoon, by Australian indie/psychedelic band Sonpsilo Circus. Sonpsilo Circus is a indie-psych-soul band out of Perth, Australia and consisting of members Peters Gowers, Benjamino McDonald, and Mitch McDonalds who formed the band back in 2009. Silverspoon is a single off of the group's debut self-titled 7-track album Sonpsilo Circus ,which was released on August 13th, 2011. If you like what you hear you can buy this album HERE, or you can head over to the band's website HERE. Enjoy!

Brief Movie Review: 'Daybreakers' (2009)

Movie: Daybreakers (2009)

Directors: Michael Spierig, Peter Spierig

Rating: 2.3/5 Stars **'
Thaaats right folks, another vampire/end of humanity film. The human species has gradually been infected with a virus that turns them all into vampires, and the power structure now serves the vampires ends of providing them with fresh blood (which is diluted due to shortages) for the new vampiric population. Again, seems to be some commentary there about rampant consumerism of a malignant society and how it uses the lifeblood and energy of others to continue onwards despite the impending doom and un-sustainable nature of its activities. This film is entertaining enough though if you tend to like vampire movies, which are always "so hot right now."

Song of the Day: 'Ain't Hungry' by Lanie Lane (2011)

Yes this is a repost, mainly because the video is now up, check it out below :D Today's song is...Ain't Hungry by Australian pop-roots-blues-jazz singer-guitarist-songwriter Lanie Lane. Lanie Lane comes out of Sydney, Australia, and her musical style fits into many genres all at once. This song was produced by Jack White, and if you listen to the song you can definitely tell his influence is there, and the article on that is HERE. There is not a heap of biographical information on this artist, but I do highly recommend checking out her work, and if you are interested in finding out more about her you can go to her Unearthed page HERE, or her Facebook page HERE, or even her Myspace page HERE. Do note, that this song is still available as a free and legal MP3 download on herUnearthed page. Enjoy! 

Song of the Day: 'Take 'Em Up (feat. Nancy Whang)' by Shit Robot (2010)

The song of the day goes to Irish electronica musician Shit Robot, and his song Take 'Em Up (featuring  Nancy Whang). Shit Robot (Marcus Lambkin) is a DJ/producer out of Dublin, Ireland who has been active on the electronic music scene circa 1992. Take 'Em Up is a single off of his 2010 From the Cradle to the Rave album and it features guest vocals by American singer Nancy Whang. For more info and music check out Shit Robot's website HERE. 

Brief Movie Review: 'Zombieland' (2009)

Movie: Zombieland (2009)
Director: Ruben Fleischer
Rating: 2.8/5 Stars **'

This movie was actually kind of funny, and as others have mentioned, it was funnier than Shaun of the Dead, and I think Bill Murray's cameo may of had something to do with that, as it for sure made the movie for me ;-) Check this one out if you are looking for some good old-fashioned gory-zombie-comedy-fun time. 

Your Daily Feature Song: 'Whatever Leads Me To You' by Geoffrey O'Connor (2011)

Today's feature song is Whatever Leads Me To You, by Australian trance artist Geoffrey O'Connor. Geoffrey O'Connor is a musician from Melbourne, Australia and is also the lead singer for the band The Crayon Fields. Whatever Leads Me To You is a single coming off of his latest album titled Vanity Is Forever, set for release this sometime in September 2011 (this month!). I don't have much other information on this artist, so if you are interested in more you can check out his Last.Fm page HERE, or his website HERE for more music and info. Whatever Leads Me To You by Geoffrey O'Connor from Geoff O'Connor on Vimeo.

Brief Movie Review: 'Nine' (2009)

Movie: Nine (2009)
Director: Rob Marshall
My Rating: 2.5/5 Stars **'
This movie is really more of a musical than I expected it would be. I don't really fancy musicals that much so I can't say I am going to be a very good reviewer of it. Basic story is about a famous Italian director who has seen his hey-dey and struggling to make another big hit. He also just happens to be a Don Juan sort of character who sleeps with lots of different beautiful women, most of whom are the actresses in his movies/musicals. Cast includes Penelope Cruz, Daniel Day Lewis, Nicole Kidman and more. I don't recommend this to you if you aren't a big fan of musicals as you will probably find it boring in that case. 

Steve Judd's Global Astrological forecast for September 2011

Your Daily Song: 'Do It Again' by Holy Ghost! (2011)

Today's feature song is Do It Again, by American electro-pop duo Holy Ghost!. Holy Ghost! originate out of New York City , consists of members Nick Millhiser and Alex Frankel, and have been active on the music scene circa 2007. Do It Again is a single off of their debut self titled album Holy Ghost!, which was released on April 4th, 2011. I love this song! It has elements of 80s-era synth-pop, mixed with those hyper-electro-glam-punk sound effects that are reminiscent of bands like Sigue Sigue Sputnik. Its very fresh to say the least, so check it out. 

A Brief Movie Review: 'Skyline' (2010)

Movie: Skyline (2010)
Directors: Colin Strause and Greg Strause 
Rating: 1.8/5 Stars *'
Another alien-invasion movie, very reminiscent of Independence Day (1996) and War of The Worlds (any of them), in fact I would suggest not wasting your time watching this one and if you want to watch and alien invasion movie go with one of those classics instead. I mainly watched this because it was available on Netflix Streaming, but I would not watch it again. 

Now They Call Them Oldies: 'Oh, What a Night' by The Dells (1956)

Its been awhile since I posted an oldie song so I decided to start them back up again just to mix up the music posts a bit. So, this week's feature oldie song is the 1956 hit Oh, What a Night, by American R-and-B group The Dells. The Dells originate out of   Harvey, Illinois, USA in 1952 consisting of original members Marvin Junior, Mickey McGill, Lucius McGill, Verne Allison, Chuck Barksdale, and Johnny Funches. In 1955 the group signed on with  Vee-Jay Records, and in 1956 they recorded Oh, What a Night which would make the Top 5 of the R&B singles chart. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. This song is also ranked at #260 on the Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. And so there is the first 'oldie' post for the Summer, a bit late I know, its just that Summer-time is for being out-doors and away from computers and all, so there ;-D

A Brief Movie Review: 'Super 8' (2011)

Movie: Super 8 (2011)

Director: J.J. Abrams

Rating: 3.4/5 Stars ***'

This movie was a lot better than I thought it would be, although J.J. Abrams seems to have a thing for monster-movies in which the monsters all look like giant mutant-turtles (ie Cloverfield (2008)), and not the teenaged ninja type. The US military loses a captured alien after a transporter train derails, and the alien then proceeds to terrorize a small nearby town. The kids in this movie, and their interactions were taken right out of The Goonies (1987) in terms of a similarity of characters, as well as the adventure theme, the only thing they were missing was a 'Sloth' character who likes Babyruth candybars...mmmm...baaabby ruth....