Assemblog: July 26, 2013

Idris Elba in Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom

New this week on Popshifter: Brad is a big fan of two new Scream Factory Blu-Ray releases: Ninja III: The Domination and The Howling; Jeff rethinks not having given Bulletboys a chance before and urges others to give the 2006 version of The Wicker Man another chance; I review the vinyl reissue of White Fence‘s self-titled debut as well as the splendid Lenses from Soft Metals, and marvel at the brilliant, hilarious Computer Chess.

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Movie Review: Computer Chess

By Less Lee Moore

I’m ignorant when it comes to both chess and computer programming, but it doesn’t make Computer Chess any less brilliant (though I probably missed a few good jokes). It’s one of the most clever mockumentaries I’ve ever seen because it doesn’t present itself like a documentary but instead a mere document of a long weekend with a bunch of computer programmers and chess fanatics. It’s like an extremely dry yet avant garde Christopher Guest film. This is a wonderful thing.

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In Defense Of: The Wicker Man (2006)

By Jeffery X Martin

Joyous news coming out of England . . . no, not the Royal Baby. We’ll finally be getting a definitive final cut of Robin Hardy’s classic thriller, The Wicker Man, this fall. This is the best Samhain treat fans of the Man could have ever hoped for. Restored footage, digital remastering, the whole nine yards. Hopefully, once the disc hits North American shores, the film will garner a new following. When most Americans think of The Wicker Man, their first thought is the Nicolas Cage movie. Fans of the original film bristle at this, especially because the remake was so thoroughly mocked and maligned, as if the presence of Nicolas Cage gives the entire story a bad name.

I implore you to reconsider.

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Blu-Ray Review: The Howling (Collector’s Edition)

By Brad Henderson

I remember asking my mother when I was ten or so why there weren’t any good werewolf films. There were many vampire films and ghost stories, but werewolf films were a little scarce (still are in my opinion). My mother asked, “Have you seen Silver Bullet or The Howling?”

I later went to my All Movie Guide on my computer (before IMDb was being used regularly) and looked them both up. A few days later, my mother came home with a brown lunch bag and unceremoniously handed it to me. I held it for only a second, wondering what title it could be. My mother bought me VHS surprises all the time, in fact many still sit on my shelves, so I had an inkling of what was in the bag. Peeking inside, I saw The Howling on the Embassy label.

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Waxing Nostalgic Cover Albums: Bulletboys, Rocked & Ripped

By Jeffery X Martin

I don’t know what a Bulletboy is. I might have heard one of their songs late at night while driving. Someone might have mentioned the name at a bar. That seems right, because I was more than likely drunk. I don’t remember things so well when I’m drunk.

Here’s the funny thing.

Now that I’ve listened to a cover album by Bulletboys called, aggressively enough, Rocked & Ripped, I have to go back and listen to their entire catalog. If Bulletboys is as wacky, bluesy, and just flat-out good as this record is, I have some catching up to do.

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Music Review: Soft Metals, Lenses

By Less Lee Moore

Soft Metals is an appropriate name for a band whose members initially bonded over analog synthesizers. The music of Patricia Hall and Ian Hicks has a hypnagogic quality that’s both solid and liquid. Their newest album, Lenses, continues this liminal exercise with various lyrical visions of love and lust. How you interpret the songs can depend on your mood or point of view.

Rather than relying on harsh textures, the washes of synths on Lenses are mostly fuzzy, sometimes squishy, but rarely piercing, and even then, only when it’s most effective. Hall’s chilly, voluptuous delivery is appropriate for music that’s overflowing with icy sensuality, frequently sounding like the lost soundtrack to a sci fi film from the late ’70s or early ’80s.

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Music Review: White Fence, White Fence (Reissue)

By Less Lee Moore

If you’ve become a fan of Tim Presley’s loopy, psychedelic White Fence but haven’t yet heard the eponymous debut, you’re in luck. Drag Records offshoot God? has reissued the album on vinyl. It’s probably the best format for a White Fence album.

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Blu-Ray Review: Ninja III: The Domination

By Brad Henderson

There are many words for Ninja III: The Domination but so little time to express the awesomeness of this weird piece of cinematic gold. Yes, it is the third film in a trilogy produced by Golan-Globus. No, it has nothing to do with the previous two films, but don’t let that stop you from watching this eccentric, romantic ninja flick. I said it, romantic. I imagine Scream Factory has a very long list of films that they want to release under their label, and I’m very glad that Ninja III: The Domination was part of their grand scheme.

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Assemblog: July 19, 2013

Frankenstein’s Army

New this week on Popshifter: I urge everyone to see Pacific Rim as soon as possible; Melissa is surprised and delighted by the new Blow Monkeys album Feels Like A New Morning and thinks that Boyce & Hart’s I Wonder What She’s Doing Tonite is filled with the “finest pop gems”; Jeff equates Powerman 5000’s Copies, Clones & Replicants album with being trapped in Hell; and Brad is ecstatic for Scream Factory’s upcoming release of The Fog on Blu-Ray.

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Music Review: Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, I Wonder What She’s Doing Tonite

By Melissa Bratcher

Both the liner notes and the back cover of I Wonder What She’s Doing Tonite posit that Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart’s association with the Monkees hurt Boyce & Hart’s legacy—that by having written for a “made-for-TV” pop band somehow diminishes their songwriting credibility. Every Monkees album, save for the soundtrack to Head, had at least one Boyce and Hart song on it. And most of those songs were perfect little pop diamonds, carefully crafted and catchy as anything.

I Wonder What She’s Doing Tonite is a collection of the best of Boyce & Hart. Full of complex pop songs with amazing production, these songs will make you wonder just why they aren’t revered like Goffin/King or Mann/Weil. It’s pure joy in your ears.

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