Entries in Recs in Effect (7)
Week of August 15, 2011
Rob Dean On Monday, August 15, 2011 at 12:45PM Every week, we list our recommendations of new music, books, comics, movies and TV to check out. This is Recs in Effect:
New Disc
No, not the shitty shitty shitty AMC show. (Sidenote: I'm not a fan of that TV show) This is a Criterion Collection release of the pretty great Stanley Kubrick movie. A disjointed, alinear tale of a heist, violence and the desperate people these things tend to attract, The Killing has been hugely influential to many filmmakers. Reservoir Dogs, Heat, The Town, Taking of Pelham 123, Pulp Fiction and The Dark Knight all draw pretty heavily from what Kubrick has done here. It's one of the late master's lesser known works, but it's pretty great. The whole "colors as names", lack of chronology, eerie mask thing that's been cool in the films of Tarantino, Soderbergh and all sorts of heist movies? Yeah, they started here in 1956. I also like that Kubrick so loved Sterling Hayden in his role as the tough guy Johnny Gray that he brought Hayden back as Brigadier General Jack "Precious Bodily Fluids" Ripper in Dr. Strangelove. Plus Criterion will certainly be bringin it with this disc so it looks better than ever before.
Week of July 18, 2011
Rob Dean On Monday, July 18, 2011 at 12:30PM Every week, we list our recommendations of new music, books, comics, movies and TV to check out. This is Recs in Effect:
New Book
Grant Morrison is the man of theory that people like to put up when defending comics. A man interested in investigating, deconstructing, destroying, reinventing and adhering to the fundemental aspects of storytelling and comic books, Morrison can be the Tarantino of comics when he works. He can also be the Spike Lee, an artist with so much to say that he tries to say it all at once, creating whiplash inducing tonal shifts that make it easy to lose focus. In either case, Morrison appears to approach comics as a medium in a very solemn way, respecting all that has come before him, while trying to just finding the constant vein of having fun and creating the impossible that he relishes so. A book by him on the medium, including meditations on Superman and X-Men, the two franchises that he completely rejuvenated, is a must grab for anyone that is interested in media studies, literary theory and where Batman gets those wonderful toys.
Week of July 11, 2011
Rob Dean On Monday, July 11, 2011 at 12:30PM Every week, we list our recommendations of new music, books, comics, movies and TV to check out. This is Recs in Effect:
New Movie
Tabloid
I know people are going to all go see Harry Potter this weekend. But personally, I hate most of those movies. I like the books (well, all but the first 2) and I like Goblet of Fire and Order of the Phoenix as well as elements of some of the other movies, but mostly I just find them so boring and poorly made. So, in a bit of counterprogramming - I'm asking you to go see Errol Morris's latest film: Tabloid, which concerns former Miss Wyoming Joyce McKinney who may or may not have chained up a mormon missionary in the 70s. It appears to be Morris's meditation on fame and a similar look at how diverse the multiple chapters in our lives can be. Errol Morris is, to me, the best documentary filmmaker of all time (his attempts at subverting the truth are more apparent to me than Werner Herzog's, and so I appreciate Morris more) who has done much to not only shape the visual language of modern documentary filmmaking but also to fundamentally alter the way we think about documentary films. Read a review (and explore more about Errol Morris) here.
Weeks of June 27 and July 4, 2011
Rob Dean On Monday, June 27, 2011 at 12:30PM Every week, we list our recommendations of new music, books, comics, movies and TV to check out. This is Recs in Effect:
We're going to be taking next monday off (as we love our country and freedom and Jesus and why don't you feel that way you godless hippie bastard?). So this recommendation covers the next two weeks.
New Comic (June 28th)
This one is a blind recommendation. BUT! It is by Charles Soule. Charles Soule wrote one of my favorite graphic novels of 2009: Strongman. Strongman was an excellent, funny, sad, well-paced story that blended the inherent ridiculousness of luchadores with familiar trappings of a noir missing person case. Due to his excellent writing, Soule has become one of those people whose work I will always support, buying sight unseen (see Eric Powell, Brian K. Vaughan, Javier Grillo-Marxuach, James Jean). Anyways, 27: First Set is the story of a musician who encounters rock's infamous '27 Club' - that is the group of talented musicians who die at the age of 27. I'm sure it's a great genre-blending mash-up of fun, nerdiness and inventive approaches to well previously trodden territory.
Week of June 20, 2011
Rob Dean On Monday, June 20, 2011 at 12:30PM Every week, we list our recommendations of new music, books, comics, movies and TV to check out. This is Recs in Effect:
Slim pickins this week, y'all...
New Book
I'm a huge fan of Gallery 1988's Crazy 4 Cult series and have bought a handful of pieces and prints from the shows. The combination of brilliant talent, unique visions and beloved films makes it an easy sell for me. Many of these pieces are being collected for this book and I would highly recommend picking it up.
Week of June 13, 2011
Rob Dean On Monday, June 13, 2011 at 12:30PM Every week, we list our recommendations of new music, books, comics, movies and TV to check out. This is Recs in Effect:
New Game
Duke Nukem Forever
14 years. 5 different developers. Duke Nukem Forever became one of those insider geek jokes - something that would never be made and forever postponed. Well, it's finally coming out this week. The Duke Nukem franchise has spawned many imitators and has left its mark on many series - in its development, design and attitude. This installment has been getting less than good marks - but it makes the list because of its long, storied history. Buy it here and check out the trailer below:
Week of June 6, 2011
Rob Dean On Monday, June 6, 2011 at 12:30PM Every week, we list our recommendations of new music, books, comics, movies and TV to check out. This is Recs in Effect:
New Music
The Book of Mormon
Who's Responsible? Trey Parker, Matt Stone and Robert Lopez
What Is It? The broadway musical by South Park's Parker & Stone and Avenue Q's Lopez focuses on the pros and cons of faith by examining two Mormon missionaries' exploits in Uganda. Hilarity Ensues?
Why's It Worth Noting? Firstly, Parker & Stone have proven their musical chops many times previously (Orgazmo, South Park, Team America) and paired with the more playful (and less dark) Lopez, they deliver a great musical that craps all over religion - but it also highlights the functions that religion can serve; basically stating that religion is dumb but can provide meaning and direction. The album was released on iTunes a couple of weeks ago, but the CD comes out on Tuesday and is definitely worth picking up. The songs are infectious, hilarious and brilliantly vulgar. Here's a sample (semi-NSFW, language):
