The Usual Lyrics

Goosebumps by Aphrodite is yet another song that has collected some proverbial dust in my music collection. This a very interesting song it's Drum n' Bass mix with one of the best quotes from one the best films I have seen. That film is The Usual Suspects directed by Bryan Singer (X-Men) and starring Kevin Spacey, who went one to win the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. The famous quote from the movie spoken by Kevin Spacey himself and looped in this song is:

"The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he did not exist. And like that... he is gone."

Hipster Dreams

I made a new mix on 8 tracks! This playlist is titled "Hipster Dreams", I made this mix to cheer myself up every time I'm feeling worried or frustrated at life's problems. Sometimes it's good to put on a tune that is able to transport you to another world, a world where no problems exists, there is nothing to be frustrated over and everything is worry-free. Of course no world like that truly exists but every once and a while it's good to escape and dream of such a world. Up-beat music accompanied by positive thoughts seem to be a perfect relaxant. So here is the playlist "Hipster Dreams", enjoy:

Sigur Rós + Rap

I randomly stumbled upon this remix of Sigur Rós' Starálfur mixed with Twista's Overnight Celebrity while searching for some indie hip-hop. This is a smooth spaced out minimalistic indie tune mix with rap, which might sound like an unlikely combination but it ends up sounding quite awesome! I think Sigur Rós' is perfect for sampling, rappers and DJs should use their material more often.

Overnight Star (Twista vs Sigur Ros) - Flosstradamus

Random #1

It's immensely beautiful outside so I decided to make a playlist that is indie-rock oriented for sunny day like this. Here it is, enjoy:


My friend found this and I found it hilarious! It's so sad but true, with all these budget cuts and fare hikes that the MTA is incorporating. The situation is truly comical if you really look at, a company like MTA is not making a profits so they decided to raise prices, ok the raising prices part is understandable but they also to drastically cut service! Ummm something is wrong here, it's like if Subway, the fast food chain, gets their $5 footlong deals that they been having for the past year and decide to raise the prices to $10 and decrease the deal from a footlong to only a 6-inch sub!! Well at least now I can FINISH my podcasts during my commute...


And lastly here is rare cover song that has collected some proverbial dust on my iPod music library. The is Surfin' USA, originally by the Beach Boys, done by the band The Jesus and Mary Chain, which was an Alternative Rock band from the 1980's that really never made it "big" but their albums were critically acclaimed and now along with bands like The Smiths and The Kinks they have reemerged in the hipster music scene.

Surfin’ USA (Summer Mix) - The Jesus and Mary Chain

Lyrics running across my mind #1

“I don’t mean to seem like I care about material things like a social status, I just want four walls and adobe slabs for my girls"

My Girls - Animal Collective

Explosions, fantasy, and more explosions...

May is fast approaching and what does that mean in the film world? The summer blockbuster season! Where gigantic big budget action films filled with big stars, big name directors, and most of all Hollywood’s obsession of sequels! Last year we had an amazing line-up with Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, and The Dark Knight all of which were in my opinion awesome movies. Now for this blockbuster season surprisingly we don’t have as many comic-book films as last season, which is a shocker to me! But we have the return of a classic TV/movie series to the big screen, Star Trek, a sequel to the massively popular Transformers, a prequel to the cinema classic Terminator Salvation, yet another Harry Potter film, and a quirky Pixar film. This season is going to be tons of fun; I should start saving some money if I wish to see all these in theaters…

Here’s the list of the summer blockbusters I’m anticipating, this in release order:
(Click Title of movie for Trailer)

X-Men Origins: Wolverine: After the abysmal X-men 3, I’m really hoping this will be better. The fact that they added Gambit is already good news.

Star Trek: A reboot, ala Batman Begins and The Incredible Hulk, after the horrible big budget flop, Star Trek Nemesis, Star Trek needs a proper re-imagining. Being a huge fan of the original Star Trek movies I’m super hyped for this film!

Angels and Demons: After I was blown away by The Da Vinci Code, Tom Cast returns as Robert Langdon, Ron Howard returns as director, and David Koepp returns as writer. Yes, this movie is going to be good.

Terminator Salvation: The fact that the director of Charlie’s Angels is directing this has me nervous, but Jonathan Nolan (The Dark Knight) has written a worthy script according to star of the film Christian Bale.

Up!: Pixar’s next big film, every Pixar film is worth watching (except Cars)!

Land of the Lost: Brings back memories of the adventure shows I used to watch when I was a little kid. Saw Journey to the Center of the Earth last summer and I had tons of fun, hopefully this movie will create the same effect.

Year One: Jack Black, Michael Cera, and 2/3 of the Superbad cast return in this parody of historical proportions. Can’t wait to laugh my ass off this June 19th, which is my birthday yay!

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen: Loved Transformers, which was amazing popcorn flick.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: What kind of summer would it be if there wasn’t a Harry Potter flick?! It’s going to be a sad day after I watch Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and I realize there aren’t going to be anymore movies!!! =(

G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra: Directed by one of my most favorite blockbuster Hollywood directors Stephen Sommers (The Mummy, Mummy Returns, Van Helsing) really can’t wait for this! Only question is will it be better than Transformers?

Mike Judge’s Return to Cinema!

After a 10 year hiatus after writing and directing the memorable comedy classic, Office Space, Mike Judge makes a return to film! In his new movie Extract he enlists an all-star cast including Arrested Development’s Jason Bateman, Mila Kunis (That 70’s Show), Ben Affleck, and J.K. Simmons (Spider-Man, Juno). The trailer makes the film look very promising, will it become more popular that Office Space? Who knows…? But I assure you hilarity will ensue.

(Click Here For Trailer)

The Dragonball Paradox

When I initially heard that a big Hollywood studio was finally making an adaptation of the beloved and arguably the most popular anime in the world, DragonBall, I jumped like an excited little fat kid who just received an entire chocolate cake! (No offense to all little fat kids or chocolate cakes out there) But then more info about the movie leaked out and then I found out the true horror they were making! It’s Goku in High School played by a 28 year-old white guy?! Piccolo is basically Spike from the TV series Angel! Yes, same actor and make-up! Chow Yawn-Fat (misspelled on purpose) plays Master Roshi, he looks completely opposite from the anime! In the anime Master Roshi is extremely skinny, 80-years-old, and has long white hair. How is that Chow Yawn-Fat in any twisted abstract way?! Well anyway besides the horrible casting, they completely skewed the plot of the original manga/anime and put the characters in high school, a real typical Hollywood 90210-esque high school! Hollywood seems they just wanted to cash in on the massively popular DragonBall name and make a product solely to make a quick buck. But here is my quandary, despite the movie looking like a terrible adaptation of one of my most favorite childhood cartoons I still want to ironically see it! I think it might one of those “It’s so bad it’s good” movies, and just campy good ole fun. The fact that this movie was made in the spirit of DragonBall where Goku and rest of the gang were young kids, not like DragonBall Z where the tone was more serious and action-oriented. The light tone where the movie doesn’t take itself too serious just seems like a good campy action movie that Hollywood took a dump on but manages to retain its playful spirit. Now this no Speed Racer by any means, which in my opinion was an amazing adaptation of another classic anime series. Speed Racer was actually a well-though out movie with amazing art direction and visual effects. But just like Speed Racer was a nostalgic experience of one’s childhood, DragonBall: Evolution seems to provide the same effect. So I’m very tempted to catch this movie in the theaters despite the horrible reviews and bad word-of-mouth. I’m also keeping my fingers crossed in hopes that a big Hollywood Studio decides to invest plenty of money to make an epic series of 4 big budget films based on DragonBall Z (similar to Lord of Rings).

Here’s my outline of how it would play out as a 4-part DragonBall Z film(s):

1. Saiyan Saga: Ending in a cliffhanger announcing the upcoming arrival of an insurmountable threat, Frieza!
2. Frieza Saga: Possibly the epic climax of the entire film series ala Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Captain Ginyu Saga would be cut.
3. Android Saga: Perfect cliffhanger sequence: You’ll see Cell finally being unleashed, but right before he breaks out, screen fades to black, credits roll!
4. Cell Saga: Yes, I decided to cut the entire Majin Bu saga, since I find it too difficult to adapt it to the big screen. Majin Bu Saga unfortunately is too grand in scale and at-times way too campy. A gigantic 10-foot pink ball for a villain will not be intimidating at all on the big screen. So the Cell saga will be a more than sufficient epic ending to a DragonBall Z film.

If I were to write the script I would also emphasize on the heavy themes regarding the eastern philosophies of Taoism, Zen, and Shintoism expressed in the anime. I would make into The Dark Knight of anime films!

A Different Kind of Music Film

Here are two music films that are not your typical music concert film (ala Rolling Stones’ The Forty Licks, The Police Live in Argentina). Arcade Fire’s Miroir Noir and Sigur Rós’ Heima transcend the typical concert film and instead show a cleaver mix of cinematography and a behind the scenes look with of course the necessary concert footage, but not necessarily the big Madison Square Garden concerts, more smaller but intimate concerts. Sigur Rós’ film especially looks beautiful with its exposition of the vast majestic landscapes of Iceland. Arcade Fire’s Miroir Noir seems like a more intimate behind the scenes look at the making of their groundbreaking music that has been made popular throughout the world over. Both are already out on DVD and I definitely plan on watching them soon, but for the meanwhile here is a trailer of Heima and a clip of Miroir Noir. Enjoy!

Sigur Rós’ Heima


Arcade Fire’s Miroir Noir