Day 295: The Room (aka YOU’RE TEARING ME APAAART, LEEESAAAAA)

The Room, written, directed and starring Tommy Wiseau

So, I didn’t get to expand on this yesterday, but I wanted to feature something (now) near and dear to my heart.

This last Saturday I got to attend a “The Room” party, which went from being a Rocky Horror Picture Show-like movie experience to a drunken crazy-fest. And, strangely enough, this is exactly how The Room (2003) needs to be watched: with a little bit of lighthearted silliness.

The movie is a disaster, to say the least. It’s full of plot holes, soap-opera lines, and melodramatic acting… not to mention how creepy all of the characters are (I’m looking at you, Denny!!). But what makes it so great is how classically bad it is, much like the other midnight movies out there (RHPS and Snakes On A Plane are just two examples).

After I signed up to drink every time a football was on the scene – which is ridiculous because this comes in the most ridiculous times – it was clear that everyone at this party was going to be either drunk or close to it by the end of this film. Boy, was I right!

By all means, I want to say that this movie is no Oscar winner, but the movie is classic. Whenever the main characters enter a room, they say “Oh hi _____” before getting to the point; Johnny (played by the strange Tommy Wiseau, who also wrote and directed the film) bellows out poorly-accented lines (“YOU’RE TEARING ME AHHHPAAAHHHHT LEEESAAA!”) and drinks scotchka; Denny is apparently an 18-year old drug addict that has serious parental-deficiencies as he lays in bed with Lisa and Johnny while they’re trying to get it on (mind you, Johnny wanted to adopt Denny); then there’s Mark, who’s Johnny’s best friend (and this fact is stated NUMEROUS times throughout the film) and seems like a cool guy until, you know, he sleeps with Johnny’s fiancée…. it’s like scene after scene goes by, making less and less sense.

But overall the experience was a blast. Those of us at the party pelted the make-shift screen with plastic spoons (and sometimes knives and forks) everytime the pointless spoon painting showed up in a scene, and we all yelled “GO! GO! GO!” as we travelled along with the stock footage of the Golden Gate Bridge… there were tons more, but that’s something you should find out for yourself.

I highly recommend The Room because it is an experience in itself. It may be considered the worst movie ever made (probably after Troll 2 (1990)), but it sure is a hell of a lot of fun. Especially if you don’t take it seriously (please don’t. That’s a fate worse than death!)

Here’s a preview for you to get stoked about, and if you live in Oregon, Wiseau is showing the movie in Portland towards the end of May! ENJOY (and beware!)

And thanks to Bryan for inviting me to watch this insane film. SPOON!

Day 292: Windowsill by Arcade Fire

I wanted to feature this song today because it literally encompassed my feelings in song-form. Sort of.

You see, today was one of those strange bipolar weather days, where the sun would peek out for a good ten minutes before hail rained down. Rain to sun to hail to rain to clouds to sun to rain. All day long.

And as I was walking through campus, doing whatever I normally do on Thursdays, I had the undeniable urge to find a CD that could compliment the strange weather pattern… making it more realistic, I guess.

I try to turn to bands that I’ve trusted with this task before, so it only took me a few seconds to realize that Arcade Fire’s whole Neon Bible album is incredibly effective for this type of day. But what really convinced me was the presence of the song “Windowsill.”

The song is incredibly somber, but it’s grandiose and beautiful while still remaining terribly melancholy. With Win Butler’s graceful voice moving through the difficult lyrics, and the background instruments (specifically that string part towards the middle), I can’t help but feel like this song is an escape for not only me but for the band itself (see the lyrics “I don’t wanna live in my father’s house no more…”). It expands and increases it’s intensity while still remaining full of plea.

With the weather changes that just mess with the population of our little city, “Windowsill” is not only an escape, but it falls with the rain, just in a different way. I feel like I can imagine looking through the window of a hectic world onto like a green pasture, so free from all this craziness. I guess I’m just strange like that.

But regardless, it perfectly encapsulated a moment in time today, and I couldn’t help but feel a little empowered by this song. The world just sort of melted away around me, and all that was left was me and the rain/hail/clouds/sun. It was a beautiful feeling.

I hope you can enjoy this song the same way. Here’s “Windowsill” by Arcade Fire

Day 285: [BELATED] Movie I Want To See: Some Days Are Better Than Others (2009)

Hey everyone.

I saw this Portland-based/made/themed movie pop up on my blog roll a few months back, and I really want to see it! Not only is Carrie Brownstein (aka that one girl from Sleater-Kinney and Portlandia) in it, but my lovely James Mercer (lead singer of the Shins) plays a character as well.

The movie is about four different, quirky people who are leading lives that go nowhere… they sort of embark on a mental trip into the unknown of their soul, searching for the meaning of life, while conversing with each other.

Here’s the preview, and I really hope I can see this movie in the future:

Day 268: A Softer World

For today’s post, I wanted to feature an online comic that takes me by surprise every time I visit it.

“A Softer World,” by Joey Comeau and Emily Horne, takes a look at the secret minds of people in daily situations with a hipster touch. With strange photographs and cut-out word documents of phrases, it’s a piece of art every week.

I really like it because it doesn’t shy away from the dark and intense topics, but it also reignites the silly moments in life. It’s creative, it’s strangely realistic, and it’s beautiful!

Below are a couple examples from the past few weeks. But you can check out more in the archives section if you’d like. Just click the pictures to see more, and hopefully you’ll see “a softer world” we live in.

click the pics to see the website!

Day 263: Open Your Arms by Editors

Hey everyone!

You know when you have one of those days where you wake up and everything goes wrong? Yeah, that’s today for me.

But instead of dwelling on it too much, I’ve decided to take extra precautions today to make sure I try not to slip into some sort of sad mindset. Sure, I am a wee bit upset that today has gone by in a not-so-great manner, but I can think of at least one thing that makes my day a little easier.

“Open Your Arms” by Editors is kind of an old-school song (it came out on their debut album The Back Room in 2005), but it’s so beautiful and mind-boggling that I can’ ever turn my attention away from it.

I first discovered my love for this song back when I was in 9th grade… it set the perfect scene for me. I was on a field trip with the band (yeah, I’m that much of a nerd), and we were headed to Wenatchee, WA for some sort of festival… but in order to get there from where I live, we had to go through the Snoqualmie Pass. Thankfully it was spring, so the lack of snow was a sight for sore eyes, but it was still a gorgeous view. Then “Open Your Arms” came on, and I couldn’t help but cry.

Something about this song just makes the scenery so much more special. It’s as if the song was written by the mountains, forests, lakes, snow piles… the road, the signs, the clouds. Call me cheesy if you like, but it’s a beautiful feeling.

So I hope you enjoy “Open Your Arms” by Editors. If I may make a suggestion: just close your eyes, and listen.

Day 258: Catfish (2010)

Hey everyone!

Today is the big day: THE ACADEMY AWARDS!! Every year I sit and watch the big award show and leave somewhat disappointed… but regardless it’s awesome to see what’s going on in the minds of old people deciding these winners!

Anyways, in honor of the award show, I want to feature a movie that didn’t get nominated!

Last night I watched the  documentary Catfish (2010)  and I walked out of it completely shocked. It was incredible!

The premise of the movie is as follows: Yaniv Schulman is a photographer, and one day he is contacted by a six-year-old girl who painted a beautiful version of one of his photos. He begins to become friends with this girl and her family, ending up in almost a long-distance relationship with the young girl’s sister. As new developments turn up (his new passion to talk to Megan, the sister), the documentary changes meaning.

But when things begin to seem a little off, the filmmakers begin to dig deep in the meaning of YouTube, Facebook, Google Maps, and texting to find the real truth about this family.

It’s not scary (like the preview tries to portray), in fact it’s actually really fascinating. But what made it so intriguing was the charm and tense feeling you get when watching it. I found myself both creeped out and completely enthralled. It’s amazing.

I warn you, though, it is really intense… the ending is slightly expected, but also really incredible.

Here’s the preview…. if you’re interested, be sure to check it out! I want everyone to see it.

Day 256: After Hours by The Velvet Underground

Hello there!

For the blog today, I wanted to feature an adorable song. Even though the lyrics are a little sad (and sadly true about myself), the song is super sweet and super fantastic.

“After Hours” by The Velvet Underground is one of those weird tracks that appears at the very end of The Velvet Underground I (which I so happened to buy on vinyl today at the record store) that I always skip to. Maureen Tucker, the drummer of the band, has such an imperfect voice that it’s strangely good.

Today has been a great day, and “After Hours” is a great song.

Enjoy!

Day 255: Save Me by Aimee Mann

Hello there!

Tonight I feel like I’m gonna pass out… so before I do so I wanted to share a really beautiful song by the lovely Aimee Mann.

The song was written for the movie Magnolia (1999), which if you haven’t seen it I HIGHLY recommend it, and it features the characters in the movie as they go about their strange lives (with Aimee Mann kind of creepin’ in the background).

Anyways, enjoy “Save Me” by Aimee Mann (and go rent Magnolia… It’s gorgeous)

Day 249: NEW RADIOHEAD!!!

Hey everyone!

BEST NEWS EVER FOR TODAY AND EVER.

So, a band I’ve featured a few times on this website (aka Radiohead) had announced on Monday that they were not only done with their new CD but that they were going to release the digital version of it on this Saturday (aka tomorrow). Needless to say, I kind of freaked out when I heard the news… the last update they made was back in July of 2010, so this of course was a huge shocker to me.

Well, more good news came from the band early (and I mean EARLY) this morning when they decided to release their new album a whole day early. Yeah, that’s right. The King Of Limbs (2011) is now available here (if’n you’re like me and want to buy it… the hard copy comes out on March 28th!

ANYWAY, NPR streamed the whole album this morning, and even at only about 35 minutes, the CD is solid work!

I love it already and I’ve only listened to it twice.

You guys are in luck! I’ll post a link to the site that has the whole album streaming right now, so go check it out! (My favorite song is called “Morning Mr. Magpie”)

If you’re too lazy to go check it out on your own, watch this creepy video for their song “Lotus Flower” (featuring the lovely Mr. Thom Yorke!)

ENJOY!!!!

Also, I’d like to mention that I really appreciate all of my family and friends who are getting me through some hard times. It really doesn’t take much to make me smile, but it does help a lot. Thanks everyone :)

Day 215: House Of Cards by Radiohead

Hey guys…

So today’s been just an oddball day of mixed emotions for me. I won’t go into details, mainly because most of you won’t care and I’ll probably be out of this funk tomorrow.

But when I get into a bad mood, I always like to find relief in my favorite bands. So for today’s blogpost, I wanted to feature one of my all time favorite Radiohead songs: “House Of Cards”.

It’s really pretty, even though the lyrics are kind of sad (“I don’t wanna be your friend/I just wanna be your lover”). Regardless, I am in love with this song… it’s dreamy, it’s beautiful, and I can never feel unhappy listening to it!

In addition to the song, the video is incredible! I took this directly from the comment section (because I honestly can’t explain it myself): “In Radiohead’s new video for “House of Cards”, no cameras or lights were used. Instead, 3D plotting technologies collected information about the shapes and relative distances of objects. The video was created entirely with visualizations of that data.” (via radiohead)

So enjoy “House of Cards” by Radiohead.