mewithoutYou- Brother, Sister (10/10)

2006
Tooth And Nail Records

1. Messes Of Men
2. The Dryness And The Rain
3. Wolf Am I! (And Shadow)
4. Yellow Spider
5. A Glass Can Only Spill What It Contains
6. Nice And Blue (Pt. Two)
7. The Sun And The Moon
8. Orange Spider
9. C-Minor
10. In A Market Dimly Lit
11. O, Porcupine
12. Brownish Spider
13. In A Sweater Poorly Knit

There's not really much I can't say, but at the same time there's not enough words in the world to describe the feeling you get when you listen to a cd and realize that a band has achieved perhaps the greatest thing they are capable of. Brother, Sister is one of the greatest albums of our generation, hands down. If you disagree, I'll fight you. If you agree, I'll fight you. ANNNNNNYYYYWWWWAAAAYYYYYYY....

The musicianship on this album is incredible, the production is perfect, the artwork is gorgeous, the song titles and album title are just moving, and Aaron's poetry is as awe inspiring as ever. When you listen to song after song, it just becomes so clear how much this band has grown, and what a clear direction they have found. Every so often I hear a cd and I just don't really have anything to say. Go listen to this. Now. It's incredible.

There is no need to analyze, no need to grade or pick out imperfections.

The Chariot- The Fiancee (8/10)

2007
Solidstate Records

1 Back to Back (1:33)
2 Faced Each Other (2:01)
3 They Drew Their Swords (2:31)
4 And Shot Each Other (4:00)
5 Deaf Policeman (2:43)
6 Heard This Noise (2:44)
7 Then Came to Kill (5:00)
8 Two Dead Boys (2:36)
9 Forgive Me Nashville (3:11)
10 Trumpet

The Chariot's latest effort, "The Fiancee" has left me largely confused, and kind of at loss. But, I'll be honest, there's alot of different facets to my confusion, mostly because of my opinions of Josh Scogin, my completely bafflement (?) at their new lineup, and also the cover art and album title, I honestly just don't get. But let's face it, none of those have anything to do with this cd in and of itself, so on to the review.

What The Chariot have done here is completely revamped if not changed their entire sound, and released an album that is nothing less than a very solid, very well done, and very (yes, I'm about to say it) unique effort. I believe Josh, in his infinite wisdom, decided that their previous sound needed a little work, and perhaps wasn't really unique at all, and as a result it appears they went in the direction of what they believe is more of a punk-ish route. I'm not, however, saying that this is a punk album. But what we have here is a very heavy, fairly upbeat record, with less breakdowns, and less "WEEEEEEE", and alot more older hardcore chord progressions, alot of Josh showing off his vocals, and alot of strange experimentation that ultimately saves this album from monotony.

I haven't decided yet if I love it, like it, or hate it, but it's definitely a good album. My complaints are that in changing styles, they've done something a bit too much, and quite a few times during the cd, they went into parts that I would have sworn were repeats from previous songs. The musicianship is still awful, if not more so (minus a much more solid drummer), but the band does an excellent job hiding that, and having Hayley Williams contribute definitely gave some extra points in my book, although her part is barely audible in the recording.

Production wise, Matt Goldman did a satisfactory job. I'm not super stoked on the tones of any of the drums, namely the snare and toms, and the guitar tone is a little too plain for my tastes. But they definitely outdid themselves in the weirdness post production department, which is pretty cool, I guess. Overall, I'm impressed. Kudos Josh, we all know noone else had anything to do with it.

For Fans Of: Norma Jean, Every Time I Die

Harsh Times (0/10)

Director: David Ayer
Genre: Crime / Drama

I could not even begin to explain to you what this movie is about. It vaguely has something to do with a guy in the military who ends up going crazy because of it or something. I see a lot of movies. Like, a LOT. And just as hard as it is for me to give a movie a 10/10, it is probably even harder for me to give a movie a 0/10. I just like movies.

This is hands down, by far, the WORST movie I have ever seen. The acting is absolutely terrible, which I hate because I have really enjoyed Christian Bale up until this point. Christian Bale is not a gangster. He sounds ridiculous in this movie. I feel like the only people who would like this movie would have to either be deaf and blind or some 16 year old white kid who wants to be hardcore.

I'm not sure if it was the "I was at a party, someone offered me a joint, I was sad because I didn't make it into the LAPD, so I inhaled" or the "What if I just punch you in the belly?" after being told his long-time girlfriend is pregnant or the stupid, awful death scene at the end (yes I just gave away the whole movie, but if you were going to go see it anyway, I'm not sure we could be friends anymore...), but something about this movie just made me want to write a letter to David Ayer and ask him to give me 2 hours of my life back. I would rather watch Gigli 15 times in a row than watch this terrible excuse for a film.

If you absolutely MUST watch some of the movie, here is my advice: Watch the first 5 minutes, then turn it off and burn it.

Set Your Goals- Mutiny (7/10)

Eulogy Recordings
2006

1. Work in Progress
2. We Do It for the Money, OBVIOUSLY!
3. Dead Men Tell No Tales
4. Mutiny!
5. This Song Is Definitely NOT About a Girl
6. Old Book Misread
7. This Very Moment
8. Flight of the Navigator
9. To Be Continued...
10. Don't Let This Win Over You
11. Echoes

I had never heard this band before until now, but had heard an awful lot about them. I think I understand now. This is definitely a solid band, with a solid sound, that have definitely found their place in the world, and will probably make millions, or at least enough to pay rent from their music. What this is, is a very successful blend of hardcore and blink 182 style pop-punk, an easy transition that has already been touched and played with (Stretch Armstrong, Good Clean Fun, etc.) but as far as I'm concerned, has never been taken to this level.

If that's as far as they went, Set Your Goals, would be on my THESE BANDS SUCK list, but fortunately for them, for me, and for you, they also happen to be incredibly creative artists that take their music very seriously, which I find so ironic when lyrically they are so down to earth and simple. But I think there is something about a band that can make you feel something profound with lyrics about their ex-girlfriends and the whole "back in the day when we used to go to shows and kick each other and nothing else mattered but the sing a longs and hardcore" thing.

Music wise the album is fairly solid as well. Guitar work that follows that same blend of genres to a "T" and nothing that is obviously unimpressive. Production wise, again, very solid. Nothing to flashy, minus some impressive track transitions, but everything is present and mixed well, and sounds good, so that's fine by me. Alot of people don't understand how important and difficult production and engineering is for an album, until they and their little tardstick nu-core band go into their friends study and come out with an album that sounds like static and fart noises.

Set Your Goals is like Maylene in that, I think, they've claimed a very marketable nitch in the music industry. They are unlike Maylene in that they don't blow. But at least Maylene are the nices dudes ever.


For Fans Of: With Honor, Blink 182, New Found Glory, A Day To Remember

See You Next Tuesday-Parasite (7/10)

Ferret Records
2007

Tracklisting:
1. Baby, You Make Me Wish I Had Three Hands
2. Good Christians Don't Get Jiggy With It 'Til After Marriage
3. Honey, I've Never Had Sex That Wasn't Awkward
4. Before I Die I'm Gonna Fuck Me A Fish
5. Here, Take This Pill
6. How To Survive A Vicious Cock Fight
7. Paraphilia
8. Just Out Of Curiosity, Are Your Parents Siblings?
9. 8 Dead, 9 If You Count The Fetus
10. Man-Dude vs. Dude-Brah (Where's the Party At?)
11. Let's Go Halvsies on a Bastard
12. A Portable Death Ray And A Sterile Claw Hammer
13. Pogonatrophy Part One: The Hunter
14. Pogonatrophy Part Two: The Parasite

See You Next Tuesday are back again with their Ferret Records label debut, and more than anything it is 100% pure See You Next Tuesday- that is to say its loud, its obnoxious, its short, and its ridiculous, but at least its all on purpose, right? Right?

Okay so on to the album. 14 tracks of strange noises, breakdowns, and some meager attempts at melody, with completely unintelligible vocals, that are either really low or really high the majority of the time. I know exactly how they right their music. They sit down and for ever part, minus the breakdowns, literally try and come up with something that has literally never been done before... and I think they succeed quite a bit. The only problem is that making noises with your guitar that have never been done before... I mean they might all be different, but they sound the same with distortion on them, and putting them all together over and over and over, maybe its just me but it gets monotonous.

Maybe all I'm just saying is that I'm not a huge fan of what this band does. But that's not the question is it? See You Next Tuesday has, as far as I'm concerned, completely succeeded at being themselves. The music is all the same, without being too "the same." It's all fairly "brutal" so to speak. The songs are very short and concise. But they have grown as a band, and you can hear it in quite a few of their songs; a tiny bit of melody here, a little bit of, oh gosh don't say it, METAL there, all comes together to be a pretty nifty little set.

There are fourteen tracks, which I'm sure all the avid fans are thanking their own respective religious leaders for, seeing as their last EP was three tracks clocking it at about 5 minutes total. Those three tracks appear on this album, by the way, all rerecorded and nifty. The production is excellent, which figures since Ferret really seems to know how to do their bands justice on all fronts. The packaging comes from a newer artist that I've seen on alot of new releases, and it's definitely pretty cool looking. I don't know if I think it's the greatest album cover I've ever seen, but you know, to each his own.

Basically, this album annoys the piss out of me, unless its taken in really small doses. But if you dig them, you'll probably love it. Let me just say that I just listened to the ENTIRE ALBUM while typing this... so, there.

For Fans Of: Nu-grind/Noise (Cloacal Kiss, Job For A Cowboy, The Heartland)

Shooter (8/10)

Director: Antoine Fuqua
Genre: Action / Drama / Thriller

Okay, first of all, let me just say that I love Mark Wahlberg. Of all of his movies I've seen (which I'll admit, I haven't seen all of them), but of the ones I've seen, I love them. I haven't seen a single one I haven't liked. I just think that boy is great! Examples (in order of date released): Fear, The Big Hit, Three Kings, Rock Star, The Italian Job, Four Brothers, The Departed.

So this movie is about a former marksman for the military who is brought out of retirement to help stop an assassination attempt on the President. He is then framed for the assassination. The whole thing is pretty much a him getting even, taking down the bad guys, etc kind of thing. There is nothing super crazy or life changing about the movie. It just pretty much rocks your face off.

If you enjoy movies where something bad happens to somebody and then they spend the whole movie getting back at someone, you need to see Man on Fire, The Punisher and Walking Tall.

Blood Diamond (9/10)

Director: Edward Zwick
Genre: Adventure / Drama / Action

First of all, after reading Ian's posts about movies, I've decided that I suck at reviewing movies. I'm such a movie fan that when I see a movie I like I turn into a blubbering idiot who can't get her words out. It's just, "ooooo I loved it!" And later, once I calm down, I can explain why. Anyway, I'm going to attempt...

First of all, this movie is about a huge, rare diamond that is discovered by a fisherman in Africa who was taken from his family and forced to mine for diamonds for the rebels in Sierra Leone. Leonardo DiCaprio plays a diamond smuggler who, while in prison, finds out about the diamond and the man (Djimon Hounsou) who found it. They join together for different reasons to find this diamond.

This movie touches on so many different issues that it is hard to put them all together. It is a common theme in media today to make a movie that has a very distinct social statement. You could argue that the world is getting worse, but I think it is more that Hollywood is focusing it's attention on certain issues now that have been going on for years. Many people are just beginning to open their eyes to what is going on in other countries. This movie is one of these eye-opening movies. It speaks of the value Americans in particular put on diamonds and how this is affecting the countries some of these diamonds are coming from. It almost made me wish that my wedding ring was some other kind of stone. But the emphasis they are making is that conflict diamonds are the diamonds we are to avoid. And it is now (after recent legislation) the responsibility of the consumer to demand diamonds that are not conflict diamonds.

I gave this movie a 9 out of 10. I don't think I can put my finger on the exact reason I gave it a 9 instead of a 10. It had something to do with the way it made me feel. But I may decide it is a 10 later and come back and change this.



And on a personal note, my heart goes out to the African people and the turmoil and destruction that is present and has been present in their country for decades. There are terrible things happening that are beyond any of our comprehension here as Americans if we don't step outside our comfort zone to see. BUT, it is important that we don't focus all of our attention in the direction of Africa. There are other countries with similar devastating occurrences that are sometimes overlooked. Bosnia, Colombia, Iraq, Palestine, Thailand, Peru, Philippines, Cambodia, Congo, Iran, Vietnam - it is important not to forget these countries as well. I'm not minimizing the importance of the conflict in Africa, only reminding us they are not the only countries like that.

INFORMATION

This is a site where me (Ian) and Cameron review music, movies, and books and anything we feel like reviewing. We love this stuff and we like having opinions about it. So, enjoy, hopefully it will help.

If you are interested in us reviewing anything you have, let us know, we'll tell you what to do.

Also, credit for the name goes to my uncle Chip. Because he's the man.

That's all I got for now.

300 (10/10)

2007
Directed by Zach Snyder
Gerard Butler
Lena Headey

Another revolutionary and beautiful film that challenges so much about us as people and our country but does so in a way that inspires rather than angers. This film almost captured me alone in its sheer disregard for me as its viewer. Zach and ultimately Frank Miller (writer of the original graphic novel) show so little concern for what is acceptable or politically correct in America today, and instead release a film that is easily as influential as The Matrix, if not more so, and easily more beautiful.

300 is a not-so-accurate interpretation of the battle of Thermopylae in 480 B.C. in which 300 Spartan soldiers took on over a million of Xerxes Persian Army rather than submitting. It's an amazing story of courage and honor, challenging so much of what America has come to accept as the truth.

The entire film was shot in front of a green screen, which I would normally despise (see Star Wars: Episode I), but the backgrounds are so beautiful and so realistic- I can't imagine what the budget for this film was, but it must have been sky high. Anyway, this lends so such a surreal atmosphere, adding the perfect mood to the film. Gerard Butler's performance also just makes the film- there's no way I could not say anything about it, he's pretty much the definition of courage in man, enough to make me want to start working out 25 hours a day.

The film challenges modern perception of honor, of loyalty, of marriage, of battle, of selflessness, of submission, of a man, of a woman, and ultimately points toward our own lack of moral fiber and will. We have become so complacent when we could be so firm. We bend when we could be like pillars. That's what I got out of it. Go see it. I'll shut up.

Babel (10/10)

2006
Directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
Brad Pitt
Cate Blanchett
Gael Garcia Bernal
Rinko Kikuchi

Easily one of the greatest films of our generation. Babel comes from the same director as "21 grams" which again I have unfortunately not seen, but if this movie can be taken as any indication, I need to see it immediately. Babel is the story of a bullet and how it affects the entire world, but the values found in this movie run so incredibly deep, I can hardly understand it all. Before I go any further, may I just say that the best thing to do is stop reading this and go watch the film, and learn from it whatever you will, rather than listen to me blather on about it. Because this film is definitely worth it.

I'm not going to go into the plot, because you need to be watching it right now. But I will say this film covers everything from love in tragedy to teenager lust to coping with death to the idea that one small mistake can change everything to the idea that we are all ultimately connected to post 9/11 racism and paranoia to suicide to being viewed as different and acceptance and ultimately shows the vast gaps that we experience between each other; how little we understand one another, whether we have never met or have spent our entire lives together, ultimately pointing to the title, referring to the complete and totaly divergence of language and communication. Language is the only thing in the history of the world and humanity that has a tendency to diverge rather than converge.

Something I admire so much is how unique each story of the movie is, but yet so powerful. You don't get the feeling that Gonzalez Inarritu is just trying to be pretentious with this storyline, but rather that he feels very strongly about everything you see, and in turn transferring that feeling to you. The sountrack is incredible, the cinematography is very earthy but also clever; the movie is just gorgeous. And the settings are so beautiful as well. Go rent it. Go buy it. Now.

Hampton Sides- Ghost Soldiers (7/10)

Anchor Books 2001

The book that inspired the film "The Great Raid," which unfortunately I never saw. Sides definitely knows what he's doing, which I'm sure is the way it goes for anyone with a book that is a "national bestseller". Ghost Soldiers is the account of the largest surrender in US history outside of the Civil War, the Bataan Deathmarch, and a prison break operation conducted by US rangers to free the captured soldiers. It's horrifyingly honest, clearly portraying the evils and hardships of war, and telling the story without sparing any of the brutal details.

As far as writing style, Sides takes an approach that is fairly unique, telling two stories taking place at completely different times in a parrallel fashion; going back and forth between the captured soliders' story and that of the rangers trying to rescue them, climaxing when the two stories come together as one and finish the book together.

The book is profound in alot of ways. I found myself writing down certain quotes from the soldiers and having a better understanding of life and living through the stories of these men. It's touching, and Sides certainly does an adequate justice. If you're into war novels, I'd recommend this for sure.

300 (10/10)

Director: Zack Snyder
Genre: Action / Drama / War / History

I honestly don't have words to describe what I thought of this movie. I'm speechless and pretty much in awe.

Going to see it is absolutely necessary.

Ian, you really need to see it and put a better review of it on here because I just can't. I seriously can't describe how I felt about it or why it was good. Every single thing about it was great. You need to critique it, not me.

Half Nelson (8/10)

Director: Ryan Fleck
Genre: Drama

Ryan Gosling plays a middle school history teacher with a drug addiction. A student from his class discovers his addiction and they develop a friendship. It is odd and sad and funny and scary and brutally honest. I thought it was very well done. I love Ryan Gosling as an actor. I've seen most of the stuff he has been in and I've loved all of it. I love how he can play this and then play in The Notebook and then play in Remember the Titans and Stay and Murder by Numbers. He is diverse and he captures your attention by the way he plays whatever role it is.

I would say this movie is really excellent, but it's not for everybody. You have to really love and understand film in order to be able to appreciate it because it isn't your typical movie. But that's probably what I like a lot about it.