Industrial electro-punk, eclectic as it should be. This vibe and zest brings me joy, makes me smile. I’d love to see this band live.
Fat Dog – WOOF.
Zeal & Ardor – Greif
Just a couple of months ago I wrote I hope Zeal & Ardor doesn’t sleep on their signature style of “soul metal” and keeps evolving, growing, exploring further. And here it is. The new record has dropped and it’s nothing in line with their previous albums, and that is absolutely the best thing that could have happened to this band. It’s also a great feeling to read the same sentiment echoed over this record’s Bandcamp page from other people, too. It’s rare that a band can innovate and keep innovating so much, and their fan base taking the course with them and supporting their journey.
As for the record itself, I honestly don’t really know what to write or how to articulate my thoughts, rather. It’s fourteen tracks, which is a lot, and there’s an immense diversity. From calm but creepy lullaby, through massive metal road rage, to their usual beats and pulse but with bits of electronics now, ambient outtake with synths, and hard rock banger hits—it is a lot. I will need many more listening of this to digest properly, but I know I love it. Now I kinda feel like I’ll like the individual songs better than the album as a cohesive unit, just because it’s so non-cohesive and not in a conceptual way. Anyways, let’s try and articulate these feelings again in a few months’ time. Until then, I’ll just keep listening.
The Martin McDonagh and Colin Farrell trilogy
Today I watched three movies in a row, which gave me this beautiful journey through the worlds and mind of Martin McDonagh, and the many faces and fantastic acting of Colin Farrell.
I didn’t look at the release chronology, so I started with Seven Psychopaths (2012) because I was looking for something light and I imagined it to be like that. It’s a little weirdo meta-movie and contrary to what most people might think from the cover, it is absolutely not sold by the ensemble cast. Of course I loved Walken and cheered loudly when Waits appeared, but from a stage charisma point of view I give this one to Sam Rockwell. I partly tried to keep track of how much of what’s told is the story happening, being written, and the overlapping meta layer of both, but in another part I just don’t think I cared that much, and I don’t think it matters a whole lot. It’s a ride, it’s a journey, and I don’t think it’s meant for artistic deep analysis.
Now, In Bruges (2008) is a level deeper in seriousness and perhaps meaning, but it’s also not something that someone can get lost in over analysis. It’s a very simple plot in a simple setting, and it’s just this “point in time” thing where some odd series of events happen and we’re there to witness, and then the world goes on. Since there are fewer characters to focus on and we see more of their points of views it’s so easy to fall in love with them, even though practically everyone having a talking part is an anti-hero to begin with, so I guess I shouldn’t. I think what I loved most in this one is that the movie didn’t actually try to sell me on any of the characters or paint them in a specific way, it just portrayed them for who they are. I wasn’t fed a point of view, just got an amazing display of an odd collection of folks.
And then, The Banshees of Inisherin (2022) is a whole different kind of film with lots of depth and layers and symbolism. Given the context of McDonagh’s above two movies and the fact that Three Billboards came before Banshees, I was not sure what to expect: the dark comedy angle or rather serious cinema. This one was both, and it went from one to the other with quite fast of a switchover. It started quirky, and I wouldn’t say light at all, but it made me laugh, even if in grim ways. And then it ended up as one of the most depressing movies I’ve seen this year. My heart sank deeper and deeper, and I felt genuinely sorry for every single person portrayed. And when I felt bad and uncertain, it just left me there hanging and the movie ended. It was brilliant cinema though, no question about that.
It was a fantastic journey to see McDonagh’s writing and directing go through all these phases through the years. If I wanted to put a narrative to it, I’d guess In Bruges was his breakthrough, then with Psychopaths he got lured into Hollywood, he turned toward a more serious tone with Billboards, and then he went back to his Irish roots and mixed all his dark humor and achieved serious voice to craft Banshees.
It was also a joy to watch Farrell through three movies in a row playing three so distinctively different characters. I had this “recognize a great actor when I see one” feeling all along. Brendan Gleeson was an amazing partner on his side for two-thirds of this ride.
Wish I Was Here (2014) and A Good Person (2023)
It seems like Zach Braff has a ten year cycle of taking the time to do one of his own movies, when he’s both writing and directing. Garden State, his first one from 2004, is somewhere in my Top 100 of all time; it speaks so much to my heart, with music from my childhood, and the “going back to my little city” vibe that I do myself every once in a while.
Wish I Was Here was on my backlog for a while, and I finally watched it, although it’s nothing even remotely close to his first flick. Honestly, it’s kind of a mess, especially being all over the place from a directing perspective, so not a great credit for Braff. The only thing that saves the movie is the typical Zach Braff heart-and-soul that I can feel all over it, and that makes it likable at least. But likable, as an ugly little dog that I wish the best for.
And after this one did I see that there’s a new movie he did just last year, which totally went past me. Maybe because he was not playing in it, so his face didn’t jump at me from a poster. Anyways, A Good Person is a strong one. It’s personal, intimate, soul-crushing but also heart-warming, with absolutely amazing acting all over. After the series of “idiotic old man comedies” done by Morgan Freeman, this one brings him justice; it’s a fantastic role played well. And Florence Pugh is just close to being my favorite actress in the past ~five years, so she’s brilliant like what I’d expect.
A Good Person also fits into a line of movies I’ve watched this year, all on the topic of someone battling with addiction and trying to overcome some past tragedy. Films like The Way Back and Half Nelson were beautiful gems I discovered with this theme.
Dredd (2012)
This was a huge surprise. I had it on my watchlist for a long time as a catch-up thing, like something I knew I should not miss, but had no actual expectations. I assumed it to be on the level of the Robocop remake (not great).
Now that I finally watched it, I’m blown away. Great directing, interesting visual style, actually good actors doing actually good acting, good music, absolutely no “but why did they do that” moments, and an absolutely top-notch cyberpunk depiction.
It felt like a DLC for the Cyberpunk 2077 game when you’re playing a cop and see the megacity and the run-down future from their point of view. I can actually see how this movie made it to the inspiration list of the game’s artists. (Okay, now I googled this, and yeah, it’s obviously there.)
Mad Max (2015)
From a rusty dirt box to a golden muscle car in 46 hours.
First I didn’t like how the game forced me to do looting and progress painfully slow to be able to get to the story progression, but soon enough I got hooked and unlocked some of the idle loot generation methods so the engine started working and it was more about exploration, easy but fun fighting, and earning progress at a nice enough pace. At the end, I could help but max it out completionist style. My favorite bit was the beautifully done post-apocalpytic style: this game has almost ten years on it at the time of me playing it, but I had zero complaints about visuals, it looked fantastic to me.
Overall, it was definitely a memorable experience, and a true Sisyphusian Mad Max storyline.
The Black Dog – Other, Like Me
These guys are churning out new albums like a factory, and what’s socking is that none of these records feel like coming from a conveyor belt. This one’s on the darker side, introvert slow to mid tempo techno, some fine IDM noises, some industrial touch, some nice synths. It’s very well crafted electronic music.
Kangding Ray – Ultrachroma
IDM slow-tempo electronics.
Be Kind Rewind (2008)
Such a great premise, it’s hilarious and fun. The lead-up about how the tapes get wiped is so unnecessarily over the top, but already sets the tone for what level of ridiculous one should expect. It’s also funny and full of heart. This is a new entry on my favorites list.
Godzilla Minus One (2023)
It was interesting how old school, physical-looking, slow-moving kaiju met top-notch, realistic, modern visual effects. Also, great angle to look at the post-war Japan’s life as drama weaved into a monster movie.