Thoughts on Inglourious Basterds

Hating both the player and the game. Read the full review-rant over at Dinca.

Mux031: Clusterbomb

At the point where I shouldn't bother with naming these based on months, given that I've made like six mixes this month.

Starts off with two newish tracks, then kicks into some classic jams that, for whatever reason, haven't been put on a Mux yet. The Pitchfork 500 Tracks of Whatever reminded me to include them.

As always, download it via drop.io for your iPod pleasure.

Trax:

1. The Rural Alberta Advantage - The Ballad of the RAA
2. Jay Reatard - Wounded
3. Franz Ferdinand - Take Me Out
4. The Walkmen - The Rat
5. Radiohead - There There
6. The Go! Team - Junior Kickstart (UK version)
7. Gorillaz - Feel Good Inc.
8. LCD Soundsystem - Losing My Edge
9. Why? - Sanddollars
10. Dan Deacon - Slow With Horns / Run For Your Life

Archetype is...

...80 pages long, thus far. I hope to wrap it up under 120 pages.

It is, however, becoming rather ambitious. To the point where I'm not sure if I can pull together the resources to shoot it in late fall through the spring; for one thing, the budget would be around $1,500. I might have to change the film's timeline or flat-out delay it until next year. Maybe do something insane like shoot it simultaneously with Old War.

There are two main characters (and a ton of bit parts I have no idea how I'll fill), and I'm debating whether or not I should play one. Regardless, I hope to ambush a prospective person for the other lead at a partay on Friday. I forgot how tall he was. Hope he can fulfill the Six Feet Rule.

The Fifty-Year MPC Plan

I'll indulge myself a bit.

• 2009-2010: Archetype
  
• 2010-2011: Old War
  
• 2012: Meridien K
  
• 2014: Decade
  
• 2020: Ages / Ages Part II
  
• 2025: Wastelands Black
  
• 2025: Wastelands White
  
• 2028: Obsidian
  
• 2030: Century / Century Part II
  
• 2035: Reformation / Reformation Part II
  
• 2038: Octoberan / Octoberan Part II
  
• 2043: Triumvirate / Triumvirate Part II
  
• 2048: Undercurrent Year 1
  
• 2049: Undercurrent Year 2
  
• 2050: Undercurrent Year 3
  
• 2051: Undercurrent Year 4
  
• 2052: Framework
  
• 2053: Undercurrent Year 5
  
• 2054: Undercurrent Year 6
  
• 2055: Undercurrent Year 7
  
• 2056: Undercurrent Year 8
  
• 2057: Chameleon
  
• 2058: Undercurrent Year 9
  
• 2059: Undercurrent Year 10
  
• 2060: Framework Part II / Chameleon Part II

Yeah. That sounds about right.

JDK Radio 006: Night

Wait until it's dark.

Download via drop.io.

Tracks:

1. The Knife - Silent Shout
2. Crystal Castles - Crimewave (vs. HEALTH)
3. Justice - Waters of Nazareth
4. Burial - Archangel
5. Battles - Leyendecker
6. Tortoise - Ten-Day Interval
7. Broken Social Scene - Hotel
8. Radiohead - Fog
9. TV on the Radio - DLZ
10. RJD2 - Here's What's Left
11. Junior Boys - Last Exit
12. Flying Lotus - Auntie's Lock / Infinitum

Transmissions DVD commentary sans DVD

Given I doled out a few more copies of Transmissions at MNKINO to the uninitiated (plus a DIY business card with the URL to this fine rant-blog), I'm reposting the director's commentary for Transmissions. You can get it here and listen to my sage, haven't-got-into-a-film-festival-yet wisdom.

Enjoy!

Mux030: Oh Nine

Too soon, sure, but I wanted to toss together ten tracks from my thus-far ten most-favorite albums of the year.

Download via drop.io.

1. Grizzly Bear - Southern Point
2. Dirty Projectors - Temecula Sunrise
3. Cymbals Eat Guitars - The Living North
4. Japandroids - Young Hearts Spark Fire
5. Sunset Rubdown - Idiot Heart
6. We Were Promised Jetpacks - This Is My House, This Is My Home
7. Tortoise - Prepare Your Coffin
8. The Antlers - Sylvia
9. Why? - One Rose
10. Dan Deacon - Surprise Stefani

Addition:

I've done quite a few mixes as of late. However, I think I really hit a sweet spot with Mux028, which I've spun over a dozen times. Probably because it was a nice mix of current stuff plus time-tested favorites, like "Keep The Car Running," "Teenage FBI," "Fatalist Palmistry," and "Paper Thin Walls." It also has a nice flow.

The drop.io link stills work, and here are the tracks:

1. Dirty Projectors - Cannibal Resource
2. The Arcade Fire - Keep The Car Running
3. Guided By Voices - Teenage FBI
4. Why? - Fatalist Palmistry
5. Modest Mouse - Paper Thin Walls
6. The Rural Alberta Advantage - Don't Haunt This Place
7. Jay Reatard - Before I Was Caught
8. Super Furry Animals - White Socks/Flip Flops
9. We Were Promised Jetpacks - Quiet Little Voices
10. Frightened Rabbit - Head Rolls Off
11. The Antlers - Bear

Oh yeah and that Imeem thing:

MNKINO / In consideration: Blah blah blah

Hello to all MNKINOers who happened upon this fine blog by means of the business cards inserted in the violently-thrust-at-you copies of Transmissions I pimped out at tonight's event. I had a great time being, in general, surrounded by people interested in film in a rather warm place. The warmth added to the communal spirit of it, or something.

Also, big propers to Andy and Linds(a/e)y (I'm so sorry I don't know) for organizing the event and keeping it alive with next month's mystery meat called "Transparency." I had an inkling for an idea, so we'll see; I have a whole month to make an experimental short, so I shouldn't sweat it.

But unfortunately...

Rules are rules, and I have to retally my festival rejections. Big Bear Lake didn't bite. Maybe if I made a movie about trout...

The tally: 12 rejected, 8 pending; 20 total.

• Ann Arbor (Michigan)
  
• Austin
  
• BendFilm (Oregon)
  
• Big Bear Lake (California)
  
• Charlotte
  
• Chicago International
  
• Chicago Underground
  
• First Take (Georgia)
  
• Landlocked (Iowa)
  
• Maine
  
• Midwest Independent (Chicago)
  
• New York
  
• Rhode Island
  
• Sacramento
  
• Sausalito
  
• Slamdance
  
• Stony Brook (New York)
  
• Sundance
  
• SXSW (Austin)
  
• Toronto

Thoughts on District 9

I somehow mixed myself up with another blog, and I've posted a huge wad of text about the movie mentioned above at this here link. In brief: Good, not great.

Mux029: A.M. / Favorite albums of 2009 (thus far, again)

Something a little more mellow this time around.

Download via drop.io.

1. The Antlers - Two
2. Why? - January Twenty Something
3. The Thermals - At The Bottom of the Sea
4. Yeasayer - 2080
5. Elliott Smith - Rose Parade
6. The Rural Alberta Advantage - The Air
7. Frightened Rabbit - My Backwards Walk
8. Bowerbirds - Northern Lights
9. The National - About Today

---

Also, another theoretical of if a gun was to my head, these would be my ten most-favorite albums of the year (thus far, alphabetically):

1. The Antlers - Hospice
2. Cymbals Eat Guitars - Why There Are Mountains
3. Dan Deacon - Bromst
4. Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca
5. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
6. Japandroids - Post-Nothing
7. Sunset Rubdown - Dragonslayer
8. Tortoise - Beacons of Ancestorship
9. We Were Promised Jetpacks - These Four Walls
10. Why? - Eskimo Snow

In consideration: Calling New York a no-go

New York Film Festival notification deadline is today. Haven't heard anything. I'm going to pull a CNN calling California for Obama the moment the polls closed: Transmissions won't play in New York.

And now, my friends, the rejected pile is larger than the pending. Halfway to the conclusion of this year-long festival madness. At least when it's over, I can put Transmissions up freely online and see if The Long Tail ever finds it. I shouldn't care; three friends who've seen it (and told me about it) were deeply affected by the experience, so that should count for something, right?

The tally: 11 rejected, 9 pending; 20 total.

• Ann Arbor (Michigan)
  
• Austin
  
• BendFilm (Oregon)
  
• Big Bear Lake (California)
  
• Charlotte
  
• Chicago International
  
• Chicago Underground
  
• First Take (Georgia)
  
• Landlocked (Iowa)
  
• Maine
  
• Midwest Independent (Chicago)
  
• New York
  
• Rhode Island
  
• Sacramento
  
• Sausalito
  
• Slamdance
  
• Stony Brook (New York)
  
• Sundance
  
• SXSW (Austin)
  
• Toronto

In consideration: I don't like this pattern

Midwest Indepedent: nay.

Yesterday I helped photograph a high school senior who was dabbling in filmmaking (e.g. using a Sony Handicam with all auto settings and Windows Movie Maker; not to be elitist, since I want to be all encouraging et cetera). I said a little about Transmissions to the senior's mom, and I mentioned the festivals with my usual semi-defeated smile. She said it'll get accepted on the 11th notification. I didn't see any tea leaves nearby, but I sure hope that's the case, since No. 11 is the New York Film Festival, e.g. a qualifier for the Film Independent Spirit Awards. But given the notice is two days away, I've come to understand that means Rejection if I haven't heard anything yet. And in five days is Big Bear Lake. So... well, I'll just update this whenever it's made official.

The tally: 10 rejected, 10 pending; 20 total.

• Ann Arbor (Michigan)
  
• Austin
  
• BendFilm (Oregon)
  
• Big Bear Lake (California)
  
• Charlotte
  
• Chicago International
  
• Chicago Underground
  
• First Take (Georgia)
  
• Landlocked (Iowa)
  
• Maine
  
• Midwest Independent (Chicago)
  
• New York
  
• Rhode Island
  
• Sacramento
  
• Sausalito
  
• Slamdance
  
• Stony Brook (New York)
  
• Sundance
  
• SXSW (Austin)
  
• Toronto

In good news, I channeled some zen this morning and think I found my focus for Project 910, which I've now tentatively (re-)titled Archetype. (So that's what I'll call it henceforth.) I like the direction I'm taking it. Now that I've, well, found that direction. I might have to delay it... quite a bit, maybe, but I can't say no to a good story. Instead of fall, I might have to start in hella-cold winter, but that'd be a good character-building exercise for both cast and crew. Since there's going to be an actual cast and crew for this one. I hope.

Nine-minute teaser for AMC's The Prisoner remake

I love the tease of the giant Rover out in the desert.

I figure the series will be much more a conventional thriller than the mind-fuck that was the original. If nothing else, I'll guiltily be happy for an ending with closure instead of the madness that was the original end, "Fall Out."

Tweets

Is it just me, or is Twitter refusing to work? So this is what I would've twote today.

• My love-hate relationship with Infinite Jest, upon finishing, leads to a daily mental debate of whether to re-read or not.
  
• $400 check for property tax rebate, e.g. "free" money. Will be used boringly to get CC bill from 1100 to 700.
  
• New WHY? and Jay Reatard are good. Former is a bit slower than Alopecia, but solid.
  
• Applying for a Guggenheim Fellowship. Take that, actual scholars!
  
• Making an experimental short tomorrow. Will post online at month's end.

Mux028: August 2009

Now that it's actually August:

Download or stream via drop.io.

1. Dirty Projectors - Cannibal Resource
2. The Arcade Fire - Keep The Car Running
3. Guided By Voices - Teenage FBI
4. Why? - Fatalist Palmistry
5. Modest Mouse - Paper Thin Walls
6. The Rural Alberta Advantage - Don't Haunt This Place
7. Jay Reatard - Before I Was Caught
8. Super Furry Animals - White Socks/Flip Flops
9. We Were Promised Jetpacks - Quiet Little Voices
10. Frightened Rabbit - Head Rolls Off
11. The Antlers - Bear

Update from the vague future: I can't pin down exactly why, but I think this is the best mix I've ever made. Hence its placement on the "Important Stuff" sidebar.

Another update: Probably because it has some of the best sequencing I've (inadvertently) done.

In consideration: Rattlesnakery

Turns out the Toronto International Film Festival did get my submission. Learned that via a pretty sparse rejection e-mail, even though I figured it out once they posted the selections online a while back. I just hope by some miracle they decide to be nice and not cash that $75 check I sent them a million years ago.

To re-tally: 9 rejected, 11 pending; 20 total.

• Ann Arbor (Michigan)
  
• Austin
  
• BendFilm (Oregon)
  
• Big Bear Lake (California)
  
• Charlotte
  
• Chicago International
  
• Chicago Underground
  
• First Take (Georgia)
  
• Landlocked (Iowa)
  
• Maine
  
• Midwest Independent (Chicago)
  
• New York
  
• Rhode Island
  
• Sacramento
  
• Sausalito
  
• Slamdance
  
• Stony Brook (New York)
  
• Sundance
  
• SXSW (Austin)
  
• Toronto

Metroid's Samus Aran Speaks Out About Gay Marriage

Something surprising from McSweeney's. If nothing else, I'm pretty sure all the Metroid details are accurate.

Guitar Hero 5 / Indie Rock Band

While I'm not nearly as fanatical as I once was about the Guitar Hero franchise, I couldn't help but notice that the soundtrack for Guitar Hero 5 is official. I happened upon this way because it was the top story on Pitchfork today, and they seemed thrilled if only because Vampire Weekend's "A-Punk" made the list.

I've a veteran of both GH and Rock Band, and when it comes to indie rock, the selection is pretty limp. Especially when the "indie rock" songs in Rock Band (that were mostly freebie downloads) sound like the kind of low-caliber fare on some band's MySpace. (Credit, though, that Rock Band has TV on the Radio's "Wolf Like Me" as downloadable content, and as an on-disc song in GH 5. Too bad it's not that fun to play.)

Nerds everywhere always come up with their dream setlist for a Guitar Hero or Rock Band game, and I usually don't know a single song on their lists. I can only assume they have terrible taste. So I went through my music library and plucked sixty songs that I think could fill out a pretty varied rhythm game. Call it Indie Rock Band, I suppose. I don't want to spend an arduous amount of time arranging these songs by difficulty, so here's what would be fantastic in my casual-semi-hipster opinion.

Alphabetical:

1. A.C. Newman - Miracle Drug
   
2. And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead - Another Morning Stoner
   
3. The Arcade Fire - Keep The Car Running
   
4. Belle and Sebastian - Another Sunny Day
   
5. Bloc Party - Like Eating Glass
   
6. Boris - Woman On The Screen
   
7. Born Ruffians - Kurt Vonnegut
   
8. Broken Social Scene - Cause = Time
   
9. Built to Spill - Carry the Zero
   
10. Camera Obscura - Let's Get Out of This Country
    
11. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - By the Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth
    
12. Cymbals Eat Guitars - Some Trees
    
13. Deerhunter - Nothing Ever Happened
    
14. Elliott Smith - Don't Go Down
    
15. The Flaming Lips - Do You Realize
    
16. Fleet Foxes - Ragged Wood
    
17. Franz Ferdinand - Jacqueline
    
18. Fucked Up - Son the Father
    
19. Guided By Voices - Teenage FBI
    
20. The Hold Steady - Stuck Between Stations
    
21. Jay Reatard - My Shadow
    
22. The Joggers - Back To The Future
    
23. Joy Division - Shadowplay
    
24. Les Savy Fav - Raging in the Plague Age
    
25. The Magnetic Fields - I Don't Want To Get Over You
    
26. Mastodon - Blood and Thunder
    
27. Maximo Park - Apply Some Pressure
    
28. Metric - Combat Baby
    
29. Modest Mouse - Paper Thin Walls
    
30. My Bloody Valentine - Soon
    
31. The National - Abel
    
32. Neutral Milk Hotel - Holland, 1945
    
33. The New Pornographers - Mass Romantic
    
34. Pavement - Gold Soundz
    
35. Peter Bjorn and John - Defects on My Affection
    
36. Phoenix - Napoleon Says
    
37. A Place To Bury Strangers - Missing You
    
38. Radiohead - Jigsaw Falling Into Place
    
39. Rogue Wave - Endless Shovel
    
40. Santogold - L.E.S. Artistes
    
41. Secret Machines - Lightning Blue Eyes
    
42. Shout Out Louds - Please Please Please
    
43. Sleater-Kinney - What's Mine Is Yours
    
44. The Smashing Pumpkins - Rocket
    
45. Sonic Youth - 100%
    
46. Spoon - Finer Feelings
    
47. Stars - Ageless Beauty
    
48. Sunset Rubdown - Stadiums and Shrines II
    
49. Tapes 'n Tapes - Insistor
    
50. Ted Leo - Army Bound
    
51. The Thermals - Power Doesn't Run On Nothing
    
52. TV on the Radio - Golden Age
    
53. The Walkmen - The Rat
    
54. We Were Promised Jetpacks - It's Thunder And It's Lightning
    
55. Weezer - The Good Life
    
56. Why? - Fatalist Palmistry
    
57. Wilco - Kamera
    
58. Wolf Parade - Language City
    
59. The Wrens - Hopeless
    
60. Yo La Tengo - Sugarcube

Endnote: Unfortunately, since they're all duos (e.g. either no bass or guitar part), I can't include any Death From Above 1979, No Age, or Japandroids.

In consideration: Another $40 spent

Sent off to SXSW 2010. Now: 8 rejected, 11 pending; 19 total.

• Ann Arbor (Michigan)
  
• Austin
  
• BendFilm (Oregon)
  
• Big Bear Lake (California)
  
• Charlotte
  
• Chicago International
  
• Chicago Underground
  
• First Take (Georgia)
  
• Landlocked (Iowa)
  
• Maine
  
• Midwest Independent (Chicago)
  
• New York
  
• Rhode Island
  
• Sacramento
  
• Sausalito
  
• Slamdance
  
• Stony Brook (New York)
  
• Sundance
  
• SXSW (Austin)