Song of the Day: Comeback Kid by Sleigh Bells (2012, dir by Derek Miller and Gregory Kohn)


I like Sleigh Bells.  Originally, I was going to use their video for I Can Only Stare for today’s music video of the day but the video’s suicide heme didn’t feel appropriate for this weekend.

So, I went with Comeback Kid, instead.  I tend to think of this video as being a trailer for some extremely over the top television show about life in small town Texas.  (Having lived in small town Texas, I’m allowed to say that.  If someone from up north said the same thing, I’d have to claw their eyes out.)  I know that some people are probably saying, “So, you wouldn’t share one video because of all the suicidal imagery but you’re willing to share a video that opens with a woman jumping around with a gun!?  What the Hell, Bowman!?”

Well, you might have a point but I’ve made peace with myself.  When I was fourteen, one of my friends told me that her father had just purchased a new gun and I spent an entire afternoon holding the gun and pointing the gun and jumping around with the gun.  I never pulled the trigger, which is a good thing because I later discovered that, despite what my friend had told me, the gun was loaded the entire time.  But it’s odd.  Guns are scary and yet strangely seductive at the same time.  Denying that fact doesn’t do anyone any good.

(For the record, I’m the only person in my family who doesn’t own a gun.  Recently, a new gun store opened a few blocks away from our house.  As Erin put it, we now know where to go “when the shit finally goes down.”  She was joking and I quote her with her permission but still, that shop is probably the first place that the majority of my neighborhood would head if a revolution ever did break out or if our country was invaded Red Dawn-style.  I’d probably be right there with them.)

(By the way, there’s another store in my town that specializes in selling both guns and antique dolls.  It’s a fun place, to be honest.)

Anyway, enjoy!

Here’s The Trailer for Keanu Reeves in Siberia!


The action film career of Keanu Reeves continues this July with Siberia!

In this one, Keanu’s a diamond trader whose partner disappears in Russia.  Keanu hops on an airplane so he can investigate.  I’m going to guess that it will all somehow involve the Russian mafia because almost everything does nowadays.

Personally, I think they missed an opportunity when they didn’t call this one, “John Wick in Siberia.”

I also think that someone needs to team Keanu and Liam Neeson up for an action film.  Speaking of Liam, did you remember to see The Commuter earlier this year?  It was surprisingly good.

Anyway, here’s the trailer for Siberia!

Here’s The Rather Awkward Trailer For Billionaire Boys Club!


Billionaire Boys Club is an upcoming film that’s based on a true life murder.  In the 1980s, two wealthy young men murdered a con artist named Ron Levin.  The film was first expected to be released in 2017 but then it got pushed back by a few months.  That’s rarely a good sign but I still plan on seeing the film because I enjoy true crime reenactments and, at the very least, I would imagine there would be a lot of fun 80s music on the film’s soundtrack.

That said, the trailer is totally awkward because of the presence of Kevin Spacey in the role of Ron Levin.  I saw one comment on YouTube from someone declaring, “It’s cool to see Kevin on screen again.”  Of course, what needs to be remembered is that this film was shot in December of 2015, long before Anthony Rapp and several others came forward with stories of decades of sexual harassment and abuse at Spacey’s hands.  In fact, this film was completed long before Spacey started work on All The Money In The World.  While Christopher Plummer was busy reshooting Spacey’s scenes in that film, Billionaire Boys Club was sitting on the shelf.

Anyway, this film is finally going to be released in August.  Interestingly enough, Levin’s murderer will be played by Ansel Elgort, who previously co-starred with Spacey in Baby Driver.  I’ll probably see the film, though perhaps not in theaters.

Here’s the trailer:

Here’s The Trailer for David Gordon Green’s Halloween!


Somewhat under the radar, Texas’s David Gordon Green has had one of the most interesting and varied film careers of any modern filmmaker.  How many other directors would be capable of directing both Your Highness and Joe?

Green’s latest film is a sequel/remake/reboot of the horror classic, Halloween.  The trailer picks up decades after the end of John Carpenter’s film, with Michael Myers again coming for his sister (Jamie Lee Curtis) and, this time, his niece (Judy Greer).  However, Laurie isn’t just passively waiting for the next night that he comes home.  Laurie’s got a gun and she’s not shy about using it.

So, judging from this trailer, all of the original Halloween sequels never happened.  Needless to say, the two Rob Zombie films have been pushed to the side as well.  Whether that’s a good thing or not will depend on how you feel about those films.  I’ll be sorry to lose Halloween II but the one with Busta Rhymes?  Who cares?  Rob Zombie’s first Halloween was good but his second one can ride out of town on a mysterious white horse for all I care.

As for this latest film, the trailer looks good.  I have faith in David Gordon Green.

Music Video of the Day: Ariadna by Kedr Livanskiy (2017, dir by Masha Demianova)


Today is National Best Friends Day so I knew I would absolutely have to share something from Kedr Livanskiy.  My best friend Evelyn introduced me to Kedr Livanskiy’s music a few years ago and she quickly became a favorite of ours.

Evelyn and I absolutely love this wonderfully atmospheric song and video.  As usual, one of us thinks that this song is about being young and free in Russia while the other thinks that it’s about young vampires who are learning how to deal with the ennui of being immortal.  Try to guess who believes what!  It’s fun!

Enjoy!

(And remember to hug your best friend today!)

Music Video of the Day: Across the Universe, covered by Fiona Apple (1998, dir by Paul Thomas Anderson)


In this video, Fiona Apple serenely covers the Beatles’s Across the Universe while chaos reigns all around her.

Fiona recorded this cover for a 1998 film called Pleasantville and the video follows along with Pleasantville‘s plot of a black-and-white world descending into chaos as the result of a little color being added.  That said, I would argue that this video is far superior to the film because Pleasantville was directed by the always heavy-handed Gary Ross while this video was directed by Fiona’s then-boyfriend, Paul Thomas Anderson.  While staying true to the themes of Ross’s film, Anderson still brings his own signature wit to the video.

Enjoy!

Here’s The Teaser For The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part!


Oh hell yeah!  Everything is awesome because Emmett, Wyldstyle, and Princess Unikitty are back!

Of course, some people online are already complaining that this film is basically just a combination of Mad Max and Guardians of the Galaxy but who cares?  It looks fun.  It looks like it will make me laugh.  It looks like it will help me get over the fact that there’s not a Pixar movie called Bumblebee that features Martin Freeman as a bee who is struggling to understand why the only ability God gave him — the ability to sting — is also the only thing that can kill him.  That’s what is important here, people!

I’d follow Chris Pratt to the gates of Hell.  In fact, I have.  Anyone tried to sit through Passengers recently?

Anyway, the important thing is that this looks like a fun and cute movie, sure to be full of laughs for both the kids and the adults.  This looks more like that Lego movie about Batman than the Lego movie about all the ninjas.  I’m looking forward to it.

(Actually the LEGO movie with all the ninjas had a cute cat in it so it wasn’t all bad.)

Here’s The Trailer For Bumblebee!


Yesterday, when I heard that there was a trailer for a film called Bumblebee, I was really excited because I assumed it would be a Pixar film about a bee who speaks with the voice of Martin Freeman and who wonders why he was given the ability to sting if he can only use it once before dying.

Then I watched the trailer and I discovered that it was just another Transformers movie.

Actually, to be specific, this is a Transformers spin-off.  In fact, it’s a prequel!  It’s set in the 80s, which means that there will be a lot of retro fun to be had!  So, this might be better than the average Transformers film.  Or it might really suck, again like an average Transformers film.

Regardless, I bet it will have a killer soundtrack.

(Also, there is a reason for cautious optimism.  Michael Bay is not directing.  Instead, the director is Travis Knight, who previously gave us the brilliant Kubo and The Two Strings.)

 

A Blast From The Past: Archival Newsreel Footage of D-Day!


Today is the 74th anniversary of D-Day, a day in which thousands sacrificed themselves so that the world could live free of Hitler’s tyranny.

Now, back in 1944, they didn’t have the nightly news.  They didn’t have CNN or MSNBC or Fox News.  There was no 24-hour news channels.  And certainly, there was no internet.  No one live tweeted the invasion of Normandy.  No one blogged about it.  No one marked themselves safe on Facebook.  Instead, for many of the citizens back home, their first knowledge of D-Day came from the newsreels that often ran before movies.

The newsreel below is from June 9th, 1944, three days after the invasion.  Take a look:

Also, be sure to check out some of our previous D-Day posts:

  1. The D-Day Photos of Robert Capa
  2. Film Review: The Longest Day
  3. Scenes I Love: Saving Private Ryan
  4. A Second Scene I Love From Saving Private Ryan