Moon

This is one of the best sci-fi and/or indie films I've seen in a long time. How can you go wrong with Kevin Spacey as the voice of "the computer" on a lonely one-man outpost on the moon? This film is the story of that one man (Sam Bell, played brilliantly by Sam Rockwell) running a plant that harvests helium-3, a super efficient and clean-burning fuel that solves all of Earth's energy problems. It's only available on the dark side of the moon, and Sam is the lucky guy spending three years up there, accompanied only by the aforementioned AI. Moon is a tense, slow burn of a movie and I don't want to give anything else away. Do NOT watch any trailers because there are a lot of spoilers out there. This is my first movie pic not currently streaming on Netflix, but it's worth the wait for the DVD. Go get it.

A Town Called Panic

This was a great recommendation from a friend, and my son's first foray into subtitled movies. A Town Called Panic (Pannique au Village) is a truly bizarre stop-motion animation adventure featuring 3 cheap plastic toys (Horse, Cowboy, and Indian) as the main protagonists. The first plot point involves dealing with 50 million bricks by accident and it just gets weirder from there, including a trip to the earth's core, a donkey drummer, and a giant robot penguin. The film's creators clearly had a blast thinking like kids and just letting their imaginations stretch. Currently streaming on Netflix.

Scapegoat Wax

Hey, remember Jet Set Radio Future? Probably not: it was a video game about inline-skating graffiti artists that I only know because it came bundled with my Xbox about 12 years ago. It was a pretty fun game with a soundtrack that is now the stuff of legend in videogame hipster lore. A tune by hop-hop duo "Scapegoat Wax" surfaced on the radio recently and I looked them up on good old Spotify. Turns out they did a song from JSRF (Aisle 10) that I really dug. Their album Okeeblow isn't an all-time great by any stretch but there are some really solid tracks in this eclectic mix of rap, funk, and acoustic pop. "Aisle 10," "Freeway," and "Eardrum" are among the highlights

The Taking of Pelham 123 (1974)

Nope, not the remake (Sorry Denzel!). The Taking of Pelham 123 is a crime caper about four men holding a NYC subway car hostage for 1 million dollars. I watched it last year thinking it would be silly, campy fun and I was wrong. This is a GREAT film that holds up surprisingly well. We've got Walter Matthau, Jerry Stiller, and Robert Shaw (Quinn from Jaws!) among others turning in solid and darkly funny performances. I'm particularly fond of the exaggerated New York CIty attitude present throughout. This is also a must-watch for any Tarantino fans out there, as this is where the badguy "codenames" from Resevoir Dogs ("Mr. Brown," "Mr. Blue," etc.) come from.

Extract

Mike Judge (of Beavis & Butthead, Office Space, and Idiocracy fame) quietly released Extract in 2009. It's a quirky ensemble comedy featuring Jason Bateman, Mila Kunis, Ben Affleck, and Kristen Wiig. This isn't a fall-off-your-chair yukfest but rather a slow burn of clever, dry comedy. Affleck is especially brilliant as the bartender giving Bateman's character "medical" advice on how to "just make everything better." I'm not going to give you a plot synopsis because it'll sound too boring. And it has Mila Kunis. Did I mention Mila Kunis? 'Cuz she's totally in this movie.

Soul Coughing: Ruby Vroom

Soul Coughing is a long-time favorite of mine. Mike Dougherty's vocal stylings and lyrics will remind you of Cake, and while there are plenty of parallels these guys had their own unique sound. The grooves have much more hip-hop influence, and the inclusion of acoustic bass and effect from a Casiotone keyboard give the texture a weird and interesting combination of organic and sampled. Yes, you read that correctly: a Casiotone keyboard. Ruby Vroom is my recommendation as a starting point. "Is Chicago, Is Not Chicago" was one of the better known tunes (check out Youtube for a Dave Matthews cover!), but absolute favorite lyrically is the noir/beat-poet vibe of "City of Motors."

Just one review this week:

The Host

Nope, not the recent tween film. The Host (2006) is a about a giant semi-aquatic mutant creature terrorizing Korea. There's something for everyone in this modern take on the classic Kaiju (giant monster) movie: a freaky-looking creature, silly slapstick humor, a young girl in trouble, a slacker turned hero, some great action sequences, and some surprisingly grim and serious moments, too. So whether you're in the mood for something different, or (like me) you grew up with a healthy dose of Godzilla and Gamera on Saturday mornings, this is a fun watch. It even gets the Wifey Seal of Approval despite the subtitles :-)

Radiohead: Kid A

Kid A, released in 2000, is where Radiohead took another big in the "experimental" direction. From vocal manipulations to obscure electronic instruments to chaotic 3-part horn section improv, this one has it all. It also turns out that what I thought was a Theremin is actually an Ondes Martenot. This is by no means an obscure album (4 million copies sold worldwide!) but I'm always amazed and impressed by how widely appreciated these guys are.

Marwencol

You've never seen a documentary like this before. Marwencol is the story of Mark Hogancamp, who was brutally assaulted by five men and suffers serious brain damage including 9 days in a coma and little memory of his previous life. He takes refuge in his own back yard by creating a detailed scale model of a fictional town, Marwencol, set in WWII Germany. I don't want to give anything else away. Please do yourself a favor and just go watch this.

The Cardigans: First Band on the Moon

I won't even call this a guilty pleasure because it's too good for that. You probably remember The Cardigans for their kitschy pop hit from 1996: Lovefool. Give the whole album, First Band on the Moon, a listen with a good pair of headphones. They're a tight band and the layers of sound are truly colorful without sounding over-produced. On tunes like "Losers" and "Step On Me," Nina Persson delivers some surprisingly dark lyrics with her "girly" voice over a variety of guitar and synth timbres. And sorry old-school metalheads, but I LOVE their lounge/trip-hop cover of "Iron Man."

Comic books: Prophet

I'm hooked on this after reading about it on a geek-site and grabbing the first issue online. Prophet is a weird, trippy, biological tale of John Prophet, a cloned earthling who wakes up in the distant future on a mission to re-establish the Earth Empire. It turns out there are hundreds of Prophet-clones scattered throughout the galaxy and the writers have a field day with this, creating countless worlds for these Prophets to explore. The environments are usually "alive," quite literally in the sense that many of the worlds, buildings, and modes of transportation are creatures feeding off each other. Go check out issue 21 (first issue of the re-launch) at Comixoloy.com for free!

Ozomatli

I found Ozomatli this week when I was looking up Chali 2na, the rapper with the low voice in Jurassic 5. Ozomatli is a crazy mix of Latin, funk, hip-hop, etc. that has been around since 1995. I've just started listening to their eponymous album, and my frist impression is a big thumbs up: they mix genres very well and it's a head-bobbing good time. Definitely worth a listen, especially for Jurassic 5 fans.

Superman Family Adventures

In honor of Free Comic Book Day tomorrow here's a recommendation for parents looking for kid-friendly comic books (which are increasingly difficult to find!) Superman Family Adventures is wacky, well-written, and cute-without-making-me-want-to-vomit. The bad news is it's gonig out of print after only 12 issues, so grab it while you still can :-( But do keep an eye out for writer Art Baltazar's next book, "Aw Yeah Comics!"

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai

For those of you who haven't heard of director Jim Jarmusch, Ghost Dog is the story of a reclusive hit man (Ghost Dog, played by Forest Whitaker) who lives on a rooftop, raises pigeons, and can only be contacted for "jobs" via said pigeons. He lives by the ancient samurai code outlined in the book Hagakure, which he carries with him. This one really hits the indie-flick sweet spot of mixing humor with sadness, and Whitaker's performance is quietly outstanding. I'm avoiding too much detail here because the strangeness is best experienced first-hand. Ghost Dog is currently streaming on Netflix, so don't read any more reviews, suspend your disbelief, and dig this cult classic.(NOTE: Dead Man, a Jarmusch flick at the top of my own need-to-see list is currently streaming, too)

The Brand New Heavies

Before the vintage analog movement of the 2000's, there was "Acid Jazz" in the 1990's which got me hooked on funk. So yeah, it's another term for "funk." The Brand New Heavies are a great example of this sound, which is more pop and disco oriented as opposed to a 60's/motown leaning. The Heavies are a primarily instrumental outfit from the UK, but their better-known works feature N'Dea Davenport on vocals, including 1994's "Brother, Sister", and the 2006 reunion album "Get Used To It". You'll get it all here: a tight rhythm section, slick arrangements, and powerful vocals. This should be a great way to wrap up my month of retro-funk reviews.

Samurai Jack

Ever wish you could watch Kill Bill with your 6-year-old son without traumatizing him? Samurai Jack is the answer, and the first season is streaming on Netflix right now. Genndy Tartakovsky (creator of The Powerpuff Girls and Dexter's Laboratory) is responsible for this masterpiece which lasted from 2001-2004. The style is simple and shape-based similar to old school Hanna Barbera cartoons, but reaches much higher levels of artistry and captures 70's-style samurai movie action unbelievably well. Jack is a mighty samurai who is thrust into a dystopian future by his evil nemesis, Aku. The main plot is that he's trying to get "back in time" but most episodes focus on how Jack helps others along his journey. The futuristic setting also allows for "robot" enemies which means huge battle scenes with no blood.

Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings

Here's where every vintage retro soul/funk outfit got their sound: Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings. Various members of the Dap-Kings were featured on Amy Winehouse's hit tunes (yes, THAT Amy Winehouse). Sharon Jones is still alive, still touring, still killin'. "Dap-Dippin'" is a great album to start with as it has a really strong James Brown style opening and a great cover of "What Have You Done for Me Lately?" I never noticed how great the lyrics to that song are, and Jones OWNS it here