Random ruminations about No Country For Old Men.

OK, finally saw this puppy, and must say I was thoroughly impressed. I shall now list some thoughts.

1. First and foremost, I cannot believe that the villain of this flick was some dude named Anton who sported the freshest Latino version of a press 'n curl and dressed like he was an old lady named Bea who owned a cleaners in Minnesota. It was parted and tucked under and everything! How can this guy be scary?!

2. Now that I think about it, most of the sickest villains appeared harmless. Who knew a dude who was 4'8" and had an upper lip flavor savor who got a band of other dudes wearing knee-high space boots to take part in a mass genocide?

3. Can I be really honest here? Good. So, how about I didn't know who the hell Josh Brolin was until Diane Lane was nominated for an Oscar in 2002 for her role in Unfaithful, and they had pictures of her and he was noted as her fiancé? So until I saw him in American Gangster, I only knew him as Diane Lane's husband. Ain't that some shit? He's fantastic.

4. I didn't know Tommy Lee Jones was 97. ...........*10 minutes later, after looking up his information on IMDB.Oh! They just made him look that old? Oops. My bad, brother. You did a good job.

5. OK, so who else thought of the awkward scene in Trainspotting where Renton found out that the girl he banged was a high school kid whenever Kelly MacDonald, aka Carla Jean Moss, was onscreen?

And most importantly:

6. Did Paramount Vantage have this pact where the only way the Coen Brothers and P.T. Anderson could come out of their hiatus was to film their movies at the same time, at the same location, and have the films focus on two totally different villains who went after the same thing, only to show that they actually are similar because they're both achieving their goals through relentless hatred and corruption?

7. Need elaboration? No worries. Exhibit A= Daniel Plainview. He's charming, good looking, eloquent, can be humorous and cares about his people. At least, on the surface. But beneath the physical attractiveness lies an embittered, ugly asshole who only likes one thing: getting rich, or die trying. A true gangsta. Even though Eli Sunday effortlessly tries to get Plainview to redeem himself from his deep-rooted evil, redemption is bye-bye. Who needs God when you've got dolla dolla bills, y'all? Seriously. Who needs friends when you've got workers to do all your dirty work in order to make you even richer in the end? Exhibit B= Anton Chigurh. He's not-so charming. Not that good-looking (only if you don't imagine sexy ass Javier Bardem portraying the role), not as eloquent for he has a thick Spanish accent, has absolutely no sense of humor and doesn't give a fuck about anybody. Can't say beneath the surface lies a sensitive, caring man. I'd be a lying mother if I said that. But, just like Plainview, he only cares about one thing: getting rich, or die trying. Again, a true gangsta. Know what we have here, folks? A tale of two brothers: The white collar criminal vs. the blue collar criminal. Who's the worst kind? The white collared crook certainly doesn't look like one, mainly because he has a clean-cut reputation to uphold, as opposed to the blue collared crook, who lives as if he has nothing to lose. But it doesn't matter, because in the end, they're the same person going after the same things with the same

8. I've heard some cats say that they still feel that No Country For Old Men is better than There Will Be Blood. Me, I think that you can't have one without the other. I mean, you can, but that is like wanting a fly ass grilled cheese sandwich without the bread. Together those movies makes one helluva mega-epic about American culture.

Under the Radar: Jennifer Gentle.

I was first exposed to Italian psych-rockers Jennifer Gentle while browsing some records at Wax 'n Facts and they were playing the promo copy of their June release Midnight Room. It was one of those rare moments when I approach the clerks and ask, "Who is this?!" And they proudly smile and told me who it was. It was March at the time, which meant I had to wait three more months to have the full listening pleasure.

By the time that I bought it, I was sure everyone was gonna mutter their names any chance they got to spread the love, but strangely, that has not happened. They even got a deal in 2004 with the grandmother of all indie labels, Sub Pop, but still got nothing.

But then there's the influences: Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd, Can and Captain Beefheart, to name a few. All three bands that no one appreciated until years later. Maybe that'll be the case for Jennifer Gentle, though that's unfortunate, because people need to know about them now.

That's a great thing, though, because that leaves musicians freer range to be themselves, and what Jennifer Gentle is doing is some straight up psychedelic garage gritty rock, man. Fasolo sounds like a mixture of Marc Bolan via electric T.Rex era and Ziggy Stardust David Bowie. Their first three albums were recorded in lead singer's Marco Fasolo's basement. They don't fuck around.

Listen:
Jennifer Gentle - Take My Hand

Fashion ads circa Winter 2005: Diesel

I also loved this one. Reasons self-explanatory.

Needless to say, 2005 was a very good year for fashion ads.

Fashion ads circa Fall 2005: Chloé

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

So here's the thing. I became an Interview magazine subscriber four years ago (after falling in love with it four years prior to that) and while I love the concept of celebrities interviewing their celeb friends, as well as living up to being the "Crystal Ball of Pop!," what I love most about it are the fashion ads and photo spreads. They have the most flattering photo shoots for the interviewees as well as nabbing the sexiest, artsiest fashion advertisements.

Anyway, so I'd tear out pages of Interview with pictures of a fun pic of Anthony Hamilton, an adorable pic of Amanda Peet, a hot pic of their mafia spread, yada, as well as sleek ads and post them on my wall. It was all the rage back in college; I kinda slipped a little bit, even though I still have the same level of fascination.

The above picture is possibly my all-time favorite ad I've ever seen. It's an ad that actually has something to do with the product: she's not half-naked, she doesn't have her pubes shaped like the "G" for Gucci, the focus isn't on her rail thin body. The focus is actually on the big, sexy Chloé bag, with the model out of focus as a silhouette. And as far as photography goes, it's wonderful because even though her face is hidden by the sun, you can tell she's feeling good about life just by looking at her body language: right arm swaying along with the wind that is blowing through her curly hair, wearing a carefree white skirt, which is "ballsy" because she's wearing white for a Fall campaign--gasp!

I'm so glad I found this online, because I threw out most of my pictures and posters when I was moving out of my apartment in college to move to Atlanta. I missed it.

Needless to say, I love this ad.

If you're a fashion ad nerd like me, check out Jozworld. It'll blow yer mind.

Covers: Kings of Convenience vs. Feist

Kings of Convenience are the male equivalent to Feist, so it'd only make sense for them to pay homage to the woman they adore and collaborated with on their 2004 album, Riot on An Empty Street.

Listen (take note of their introduction of the song--it's really sweet):
Kings Of Convenience - Gatekeeper - Live @ Fabrik, Hamburg (Feist Cover)

And here's a song they did with Feist:
Kings Of Convenience - Know How (featuring Feist)

And how can you not feel good after seeing this video?:

Trailers: Be Kind Rewind.

Dear Michel Gondry:

Did you happen to use your Science of Sleep methods to turn my comedic wet dream into reality? Otherwise, how else would you explain casting Mos Def and Jack Black to co-star in your next film? Oh. It's because you're a brilliant visionary? That makes sense.

Love,

Amber

p.s. Thanks for casting Danny Glover, too. It's good to see him in more artsy film roles.

Paul Westerberg warms my soul.

Dunno why, but I always get a sense that everything in life is gonna be allright whenever I hear Paul Westerberg's gentle, raspy voice. Maybe that's why I (secretly) love The Goo Goo Dolls and love Jeff Tweedy, both of whom were heavily influenced by The Replacements. I mean, how can you not love Paul Westerberg?

Watch:

This video is the white people equivalent of a hip-hop video circa 1994.

Like so:


But my love for early '90s hip-hop is a whole different post. Stay tuned.

Uncertainty in the air: Vampire Weekend.

Because nothing makes me more excited than seeing a bunch of squirrelly white dudes trying to sound Africana and get famous for that reason.

Then again, good music is good music. My homeboy Christian clowned me today asking if I bought their album, but then said,"Or are you gonna protest because you don't want to do that kind of thing?" Which is true, I usually protest a Vampire Weekend-esque band. But hey, I can't protest before I give the cats a listen, right? And shockingly, I wasn't anti- it. I tried to be, but then my roommate Eric made a good point by saying, "I like their direction. I could definitely see 'em live. This is like the Graceland for hipsters."

And after listening to some more tracks, I agree. Shit's not bad.

Listen:
Vampire Weekend - Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa
Vampire Weekend - M 79

UPDATE: Erykah Badu is still the shit.

Erykah Badu - Honey [NEW]
Uploaded by keyzz

Ahhhh, now we have a video of her new greatness. E. Badu is E. Badu, so I don't want to have all these expectations of her new LP to be like Baduizm or Mama's Gun, or even Worldwide Underground. I want her to keep doing what she does, because I'm gonna love her anyway.

Also, a special treat (hint: listen to the first 20 seconds to hear who produced it):

When did Robyn get so hood?

Remember this chick? No? OK, let's refresh yer memory:


Ain't that some shit? She showed a lil gully-ness with that side slick haircut and shaking her hips a little bit in videos, but now she's all "Fuck you, I'm the baddest bitch" mentality. Like so:


And now she's doing hooks with Snoop Dogg:


Girl, where you come from?