Another Earth and Moon Movie Reviews

As I continue on my quest of movie awesomeness, I have encountered two space movies yet again. What's different about these two is they don't deal with the impending doom of the Earth for once. They are more of the sit back and think type of movie. So I now bring you, Another Earth and Moon.

Another Earth (2011)

This movie is about as independent as you can get and manages to create a beautiful movie despite the low budget. I only heard of this movie through a compilation trailer and was immediately interested.

The story follows a young college student named Rhoda (Brit Marling, who also wrote the movie), as she crosses paths with a famous music composer in a tragic way all while the Earth realizes they aren't alone in the Solar System. Coming into plain site, a "twin" Earth is discovered and has come into the plain of site.

It would really be a shame to spoil any of the plot to this movie because the intersecting storyline is incredible and so important to the film (so really pay attention when you watch.) What I will say is at some point contact is made between the Earth's, and they realize just how similar both of them are.

Rhoda was studying astronomy in college before her unfortunate accident happened which ultimately ended her education. However, she won a contest held by NASA to visit "Earth 2."

Here's where the movie gets confusing in a good way. The ending is simply incredible, and nothing really happens. It's left up to the viewer to decide if what they just saw happened, or not. I've spent much time on message boards trying to interpret the ending, and no one answer seems right.

Another Earth is easily one of my favorite films on this list so far, and writer/actress, Brit Marling has a bright future in front of her.



IMDB - 7/10
TheSIBandGuy - 4.7/5


Moon (2009)

Moon is a similar movie to Another Earth, in it's more of something to get you to think besides the obvious space connection. In this movie, Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell), is a scientist who is living on the Moon for three years in order to harvest Helium-3 and send it back to Earth as a fuel source. Sam is alone on this mission and only communicates with his robot/computer companion, GERTY (Kevin Spacey). Unable to directly communicate with Earth, GERTY and Sam form a close relationship although one of them isn't real...maybe...

The acting by Sam Rockwell is great. He is pretty much the only person ever on screen, and does a convincing job of someone who has clearly been isolated for too long. Spacey's character is just a computer, so it is only his voice, but even his tone is perfect. He reminds me of the computer HAL from Space Odyssey 2001.

This movie is filed with a couple of great plot twists. It's also important to note that it takes place in the future so some of these twists involve thinking about where we would have come as a civilization.

Moon offers a compelling look at loneliness, fear, and mistrust as Sam learns everything is not what it really seems to be.

You must check this movie out for the sheer brilliance of the acting and simple premise.



IMDB - 8/10
TheSIBandGuy - 4/5

Both of these movies were among the favorites I've watched. They are grouped together for having to do with space, but also not being about the end of the world. Instead they focus on advancing the Earth. These films were very much under the radar and did not boast huge budgets, but were very effective in their stoytelling.

Melancholia and the Quiet Earth Movie Reviews

Melancholia (2011)

Melancholia is a rather intriguing independent movie starring Kirsten Dunst (Justine), Kiefer Sutherland (John), and Charlotte Gainsbourg (Claire).

The movie opens up seemingly happy and a bit comical as we see two newlyweds, Justine and Michael, on the way to their wedding reception. After a series of funny and "cute" married couple moments they wander into the reception about an hour late.

It is there that things begin to take a turn for the bizzarre as we see Justine's true traits come out while around other people. She suffers from some sort of depression or bi-polar disorder and can't make any rational decisions once she gets into one of her moods.

What is supposed to be the best day of her life turns into a total disaster and embarrassment as the wedding and hours old marriage comes to a crumble...but wait, that's not the main plot of the movie.

Justine's brother-in-law, John, is a scientist, and along with the rest of the world has seen a new planet in the sky, Melancholia. The planet is a greenish hue and appears to be moving past the Earth when suddenly it changes direction and starts on a collision course that will wipe out humanity.

The rest is up to you to see! No spoilers here! However, Justine's character becomes a background to the bigger problem at hand, and her sister, Claire comes to be more prominent in the second half of the movie.

The film is actually quite fascinating and visually beautiful with vibrant colors and an opening and closing montage that really makes you happy to have HD. Dunst easily becomes one of the most disliked characters to ever be on screen, and that is due to her superb acting. She makes you hate her, and that's the point.

IMDB - 7.2/10
TheSIBandGuy - 3.5/5



The Quiet Earth (1985)

This is a very unknown gem of a movie made in New Zealand on a budget of $1,000,000. The movie has no major stars and only features three actors the whole movie. It is one of the most simple movies I've seen, yet is so effective in it's storytelling.

The Quiet Earth opens with a man waking up to a world where he is the only person left. As weeks go by he descends into a mild insanity as he can't figure out how to cope with being the "ruler" of the world. Eventually he finds a woman and they quest off together until they run into a renegade of a man.

The movie is devoid of much sound and music aside from what they are listening to themselves within the movie. It's just an empty movie just like the world they inhabit. It sounds boring, but it is incredibly awesome to watch.

You grow attached to the main character, Zac Hobson (Bruno Lawrence) and want to see him succeed in this end of days scenario.

The cause of this human wipeout is a bit confusing to follow, but in short it has to do with some sort of time-warp dimension that scientist were fooling around with. The results of this experiment vanished everyone save for a few people who were experiencing things at the right time.

One of the best scenes of the film is the closing title screen when Zac finds himself on a beach and on a new planet. Saturn is rising in the horizon and there are breathtaking cloud formations rising with the sun – truly a great outro for a crazy film.



IMDB - 7/10
TheSIBandGuy - 3.5/5

I chose to group these two movies together for the obvious end of the world situations, but also for the character development and unresolved issues of the players involved in the films. Melancholia is two totally different movies. The whole first half it shows you a clearly not all there Dunst while in the second half of the movie shifts to the other characters and the diasater at hand. There's no cure or hope for Dunst except for her waiting to die.

In The Quiet Earth, we see the main character Zac unable to cope with himself. He tries to play the survival card and look for others but fails. Dunst thrives by herself, Zac truly comes alive when he has a companion, opposite spectrums.

Overall, these are must see movies if you are looking for low budget well made quickies. Both movies start off slow, but give them time and you'll get sucked in.

The Royal Guard Interview - Bringing Straight Up Rock and Roll to Everyone

Where does the Royal Guard name come from, and why pick the theme?
Apparently, every name we came up with happened to be taken, Foo Fighters, Def Leppard, Green Day, etc... So when we saw that The Royal Guard was still available, we jumped on it!

Is the band a continuation of the Todd Davidson Band, or is this something entirely new?
It's not as much of a continuation as it is an extension. The Royal Guard has definitly become it's own entity even though the song writing is still mainly done by Todd, every one brings their own unique talents to the table.

How did you all get together and what dynamic do you each bring to the table? 
Our friendships go back to childhood. It just so happened, that we all wanted to become rock stars! As for the dynamics, Todd is the comic relief. The scenarios of what could go wrong in a simple everyday situation, are endless. Despite the fact that Andy is a mad scientist and the greatest virtuoso any of us have ever met, he's the most laid back of us all. Fred is most likely to go for his doctorate next. Finally, Vin brings his good looks and a  Facebook status "single," and he's the only fighting chance we have against all boy bands!

Rockstars by night, what do you all do during the day?
If you saw us during the day, you most likely will find Todd playing with his model trains, Fred reading a book, Andy soldering, and Vin hitting a home run! Oh ..or did you mean how do we pay our bills?

What would you label your sound, and are there any bands you guys model yourselves after? 

We like to think of ourselves as a rock band. We like Muse, Green Day, My Chemical Romance and The Foo Fighters, and lots of 80's hair bands. All this comes to play in our music.



What's the whole point of your music? What's the message, and why is it so important to you?
The whole point of our music is that you have to follow your dreams. You've got to find something in life that you love and do it. For us it's music!


What is the goal of the band and where do you see yourselves in the future?

The goal of the band is that we want our music to be heard. We hope to see ourselves on big stages.

The band's fan-base has been growing as of late. Tell me about some of your recent opportunities?
We've been working a lot with Loaded Rock Shows playing venues on Long Island.

Are there any plans of touring? Recording?
We have some new songs that we've been introducing at our live shows. We are just getting started with pre-production for a new album. But until then, our main focus is playing live and introducing our latest album, Showdown.

On Nov 4, we have a show with Candlebox at a brand new venue in Long Island, The Emporium. There's a lot of buzz around this show because it's the first rock show to be held there. We're very excited to be on that bill!

Tell us about the album you have out now.
The name of the album is Showdown and it features the best of The Royal Guard. We had a lot of fun writing these songs and recording them. We believe that it will bring out the "air guitarist" in you!

In one quick sentence, why should listeners give the Royal Guard a chance?
We believe the listener will receive in return. It's original, it's creative. It will definitely be worth your time.

Anything you'd like to add?
We always put a great effort into our live shows because we want you to have just as much fun at the show as we do.



http://theroyalguardband.com/
http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/showdown/id314311624
https://twitter.com/theroyalguard
http://www.youtube.com/user/TheRoyalGuardMusic

Heroes Drops Their First Full Length Album, 'The Compassion'

Local Staten Island Hardcore band Heroes just dropped their first full length album, The Compassion, and trust me, you don't want to miss it!

Consisting of band members: Nick Vitale (Vocals), Chris Benne (Guitar/Vocals), Peter Martingano (Guitar/Vocals), Nick Colella (Bass), and Paul Pipitone (Drums), this five piece is taking over the hardcore scene by storm, by mixing melodic and well driven instrumentals to break up the monotony seen from a lot of bands in the same genre.

The Compassion was released on September 17 on Contain Records with a heavy tour to come in the works.

The album opens up on a pretty unique note. "Intro" is like a really cool post-hardcore instrumental that almost fools the listener into thinking this will be the sound on the album. Then it breaks into a really fast paced punk sequence that dives further into what you'll hear before getting your face ripped off. Yeah, it's pretty awesome!

Next up is "One More Time." This song feels like an old Thrice song from The Illusion of Safety. The guitar work on this track is infectious and is a great start to the album.

Skipping ahead a bit to "Ancestors," this track is one big heavy breakdown. Lyrically, the words go punch for punch with the music. All you can really do is just nod your head. "They hope that we see what once was/ The compassion is not in our eyes/ Our fate is in one place."

"Frequency" harkens back to the intro and is reminiscent of something Moving Mountains would play, a nice little interlude before kicking down the door again with the next track, "Crossing Over."

Skip ahead to "Choke Hold" and you'll find Heroes at their angstiest and angriest. The music is brutal and the vocals are even more so, "Let this f****** end/ Hate fills my veins/ Punishing starts now/ Don't say a word/ Now this is what you made/ Look at what you did/ And all this tension here won't kill me."

"Subsister" has a punkier sound compared to some of the tracks, and vocally there's a lot of good dynamic on the track with different types of screaming mixing with clean spoken vocals.

"Survivors Guilt" is pretty awesome because it mixes the softer interludes with some background screaming. The distant screams of "I don't know what I will turn into/ But the panic seems to always settle in/ Thinking has been torture/ I just want to be safe" has a really cool effect on the song and adds depth.

Overall The Compassion is a great first effort by the guys in in Heroes. The transitions between the soft and skillful played interludes that lead into the shrill beat-down hardcore songs is great. So please please please, check out Heroes and pick up The Compassion.

http://www.facebook.com/HEROESNY
http://heroes.bandcamp.com
http://www.twitter.com/HeroesNY
heroesny@ymail.com

Iron Man 2 and Super 8 Movie Review

Iron Man 2 (2010)

Yes, I know this movie doesn't fit into the "You Gotta See This" type of category that most of the other films I've seen do. Quite frankly, it's on the list because I never saw it before. 

The first Iron Man was a great blockbuster that got the whole Avengers craze off and pretty much resurrected the career of Robert Downey Jr. Downey has become the embodiment of Tony Stark, the multimillionaire, playboy mogul of Stark Enterprises who moonlights as a super hero.

The second installment of the franchise to me felt a bit bland. Downey was great as usual, but the storyline really lacked, and the villain (Mickey Rourke) wasn't very memorable. Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) was a better character. A glaring and distracting gripe about the film was not having Terrence Howard reprise his role as Lt. Rhodes/War Machine. Although Don Cheadle is a formidable replacement, he didn't seem to fit it. Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell) played the Lex Luther type of villain that has no power but rather imposes will.

As you'd expect, the action was superb, the fighting was good too, but the movie just suffered from being boring and kind of all over the place. 

IMDB - 7.1/10

TheSIBandGuy - 2/5

Super 8 (2011)

Super 8 is a really cool movie because it is a throwback to the early Spielberg of the 70s and 80s. Director J.J. Abrams did a fantastic job of capturing the ominous almost whimsical but emotive presence that classics like E.T., Close Encounters, and Jaws have. 

Using predominantly a cast of kids, they play their roles wonderfully as the curious and adventuresome protagonists of the story. The key characters are: Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney), Alice Dainard (Elle Fanning), and Jackson Lamb (Kyle Chandler). 

This is Courtney's first movie and you'd never guess it as he plays the leader of his group of friends. Fanning as is her sister, a great actress. I honestly can't believe how big she's gotten, I thought she was still a little kid, nevertheless, she's going to break out in a big way.

The main plot of the movie is the kids making a zombie film. They each have assigned roles: director, cameraman, makeup, actor, actress, etc. They film their tale with an 8MM camera aka a Super 8, which was a pretty standard home camera to have in the 70s and 80s. 

While filming an important scene of their movie something terrible happens in the background and they get it all on film while being in danger themselves. This kicks off the events of the rest of the movie (NO SPOILERS). This movie is best viewed while being in suspense.

Super 8 has a few small plot holes mixed throughout, but it is nothing major enough to lessen the movie. I'd have to say a lot of people did not enjoy the movie because they were unaware of the context and background of which it was made and were expecting a crazy monster action flick. That's not the case here, it serves to be a fun movie that pays homage to some we already love. Check it out for yourself and see if you can notice any of these similarities. 

IMDB - 7.2

TheSIBandGuy - 4/5

I chose to group these two movies together because they were both supposed to be big summer blockbusters when they hit theaters, and yet failed the hype in certain ways. One was about robots and machines while the other was the "monster" movie. Iron Man 2 failed to deliver the punch of the first one and Super 8 failed to deliver the monster movie people were looking for. However, from a film standpoint, Super 8 was all around a better movie in my opinion.

Playdough New Album, Music Video, and Press Release

Our good friend Playdough is back, and he's releasing a new album, Writer Dye: Deux or Die on October 22nd. Guess what, it'll be free exclusively at www.iamplaydough.com. Pre-order the album's special package too - http://playdough.bandcamp.com/merch/writer-dye-limited-edition-pre-order-package-with-shirt-and-cd

An underground hustler and overall dope lyricist, Playdough's new album is going to be on some "next level" stuff. His new single, "King of Queens" samples two legends of music, the Beastie Boys and Queen. He takes an interesting twist of the famous "Bohemian Rhapsody" and totally flips it hip-hop. Check it out below.



Also, be sure to read up on my previous review and interview of Playdough here.

Blog Post Number 200!

Hey everyone, I want to thank each and every one of the bands and different artists I've interviewed or wrote about, and most importantly you, the readers for keeping up with my mostly consistent but sometimes not blog. It was just a little while ago I was blogging about my 100th blog, and now here we are at 200.

As always, I promise to provide my readers with good interviews and honest reviews along with a few musings along the way. Bare with me as I branch a little off topic sometimes, I like to write about a variety of things, lately it's been movies.

The blog is continuing to grow into a branch of Broken Records Magazine and more cross features are coming. The brand has been expanding a lot, so good things are on the way. I have a number of contributors as well, Paul Marino, Gerard Ucelli, and James Kingsley.

I've come along way since my little class blog project.

Again, many thanks everyone, please don't hesitate to contact me for interviews, reviews, or just general questions. Follow me on Twitter - @JSarachik_Brmag or like TheSIBandGuy on Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/TheSIBandGuy?ref=ts or Youtube - http://www.youtube.com/user/TheSIBandGuy

While you're at it, take a look at my sneak peek of my first studio album.

Requiem for a Dream and Lost in Translation

Requiem for a Dream (2001)

Requiem for a Dream was a movie that I had seen most of before a number of years ago, however, I thought it deserved a proper revisit. 

I wasn't crazy about the move while watching it, but when I looked back and thought about what I saw, the value went up. This movie is another case of raw but realistic acting, and while the plot was an integral part of the movie, the story was really subliminally told by the sites and sounds of the movie. 

The jump cut editing was fantastic in this movie, and made the scenes stand out as an experience rather than a visual. The premise of the movie is the effects of drugs on the lives of four connected people. The main characters: Harry Goldfarb (Jared Leto), Marion Silver (Jennifer Connelly), Tyron C. Love (Marlon Waynes) and  Sara Goldfarb (Ellen Burstyn) all experience something traumatic as their addictions take them to the brink of life. 

Now back to the jump cuts...They were artfully done in the movie. Everytime a drug was taken, a separate drug scene was shown. The hurried pace and noises of this rapid sequence made you feel like you were doing it with them. This clip will best explain what I'm talking about a few seconds in and then perfectly at the 44 second mark: 



My main gripes with the film are that it develops very slowly with the best parts during this time focusing on the mother, Sara. Her decent into schizophrenic madness is impressive work by Burstyn. The other characters shine in the last 20 minutes of the film as they begin to experience the cost of their actions. 

Overall, it's a very dark and slightly disturbing film that shows the dangers of drugs and recklessness. Overrated, maybe, but not really. I can understand why people feel that way. Watch the film with an open mind and pay attention to the detail rather than what's in front of you. 

IMDB - 8.4/10
TheSIBandGuy - 3.8/5

Lost in Translation (2003)

Having no idea what this movie was about except for the famous opening scene, I was pleasantly surprised. The entire movie is an extremely slow moving look into the lives of two completely opposite yet similar people. The stars of the film: an old sort of washed up actor, Bob Harris (Bill Murray), and a too young, bored married wife of a traveling photographer, Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson), share a weird friendly romance while stuck in Japan.

Bob is in Japan to shoot commercials for a whiskey company while Charlotte is their with her "barely their" husband. Confined to sit around in her hotel room in a foreign country all day, she begins to venture into the hotel and runs into the unhappily married and terribly sick of the mundane actor Bob Harris.

After a number of small run-ins, they begin to hang out and go on a few nightlong adventures (never sexually implied) throughout Japan. When the time comes for Charlotte to return home, the departure is harder than anticipated.

The movie broaches the subject of emotional cheating, and relationship issues between young and old, did Bob take advantage of a lonely Charlotte? Interesting dynamics to digest in such a simple and straightforward movie. Sofia Coppola directed a movie as far from the spectrum of her famous father as you can think, and it worked. 

Overall a wonderful film that highlights the art of a strong dialogue and emotions. This movie is not for everyone, but if you are curious to see Bill Murray do something besides comedy, this is his opus. Johansson is also great as she was just getting into her own as an actress.

IMDB - 7.8/10
TheSIBandGuy - 3.7/5

I chose to group these two movies together because they deal with people who have no sense of identity. In Requiem, they use drugs to place themselves in a world devoid of responsibility and reality. In Lost in Translation, they use a "forbidden" romance to quell their own desires and escape their seemingly miserable situations.

Link Drop - Four Nights Gone, Eric D'Alessandro, Katie Fasulo and More!

Four Nights Gone
Four Nights Gone is diligently working on their album, and for their fans waiting, here's a sneak peak...


Here's their new single, "The Scars Remain."

Heroes

Local hardcore, Heroes, just released their first full length album, Compassion. Check it out!

Katie Fasulo

Katie is very talented good friend of mine. Please subscribe to her Youtube channel and help her out! Here's her latest untitled song.

Eric D'Alessandro

Everyone's favorite funny man/rapper is back with his now weekly "Eric Show." Check out his last two episodes!

WATCH EPISODE 5 HERE

Donnie Darko and Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind

Donnie Darko (2001)

I had no expectations of what Donnie Darko was coming into the film. The only thing I knew was that it is commonly regarded as a great film. With that being said, I was a little disappointed that the movie didn't give me much of a reaction after watching it. I was sort of just "blah" with it.

The best part of Donnie Darko was the low budget, raw feeling of the film. The actual shooting style is more narrative as it feels like you are living through the day with the characters. Donnie is played by a young Jake Gyllenhaal and because of his age, his acting seems unpolished but it works for the role to provide the awkwardness of his character.

His sister, is played by his real one, Maggie. Their table bickering becomes more believable and obviously their resemblance adds to the validity of the family. Another key character is Gretchen Ross played by Jena Malone, who is Donnie's love interest and the big piece of the puzzle at the end. Patrick Swayze plays the role of a guru self-help doctor who feeds propaganda to all those around him. Donnie's interactions with him are some of the more priceless points of the movie.

Without giving away too many details, the movie becomes rather bizarre as Donnie tries to deal with an imaginary friend who tells him to do bad things. The sequence of events in the movie play out in cause and effect scenarios. Every action has a reaction, and because this the final scene of the movie is a bit of a shocker. The plot twists through different times periods in the story.

Overall, as I said, I'm kind of apathetic toward the movie. I can't decide if it was a small masterpiece in storytelling or just an overhyped movie. What do you all think?

IMDB - 8.2/10
TheSIBandGuy - 2.9/5

That leads me to...

Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind (2004)

I found this story to be much more involved and of higher concept. The main character, Joel Barish (Jim Carrey), and his eccentric lover, Clementine Kruczynski (Kate Winslet), become involved through a chain of random events. They are drawn to each other because of their own personal problems, Joel is a socially awkward pseudo recluse while Clem, is an erratic and compulsive alcoholic.

Using their new found relationship as a way to deal with their own problems, they eventually develop new ones with each other. In an effort to rid themselves of each other they try an experimental treatment that alters their minds...I'll leave it at that.

The audience is then taken through the recesses's of Joel's mind in an effort to find Clementine. It is here that we see Joel in real life, Joel in his mind, and Joel conscious of himself in his head, in other words, three parallel universes of sorts.

The viewer really has to pay attention as the story advances back and fourth between the three Joel's. At certain points it becomes disorienting because you don't know which is which. The movie hits deep, and makes you wonder how fate works. It also in a way tackles the age old question of: "Is it better to have loved and lost than not have loved at all?"

Yet again this movie sort of open ended, leaving the viewer to interpret which Joel they are watching. The cast is excellent, the dialogue and story are great, and the intense dream like sequences make for a psychological drama.

IMDB - 8.4
TheSIBandGuy - 4.4/5

To tie the two movies together, obviously Eternal Sunshine was a better film in my opinion. I thought Jim Carrey really stepped out of the comedy realm and put his head to something serious, and it worked. The cast and director were more experienced and the budget was bigger. With that being said Donnie Darko worked on a small scale and really utilized what they had. I'd recommend DD as a one time watch, and Eternal Sunshine as a borderline classic.