'Charlie Countryman': A Review

Also known as The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman, this semi-psychological romdramedy follows Charlie (Shia LaBeouf) through the streets of Bucharest as he chases Gabi (Evan Rachel Wood) around for the majority of the film. This may seem romantic at first, but this would be a bit creepy if it were real life.

Charlie, a twenty-something from Chicago, flies to Bucharest after his recently deceased mother (Melissa Leo) appears to him and suggests he fly there. What's the significance of the capital of Romania? I'm still unsure, but he goes anyway. He meets Victor, Gabi's father, on the flight and promises to deliver a hat to her on his behalf. In cliche fashion, he falls in love with beautiful and mysterious Gabi instantly.

Of course a girl like Gabi has to come with baggage, which appears in the form of her unstable and quite older ex Nigel (Mads Mikkelsen). Of course he's involved with organized crime and has violent outbursts because why date an older guy if he isn't a criminal that makes hundreds of thousands of dollars? Of course Charlie has to get himself involved in a complex situation that he doesn't fully understand because he has to be the American hero.

There is a short while where Charlie isn't looking for Gabi, and that's when he meets his roommates Carl (Rupert Grint) and Luke (James Buckley) at a hostel, takes acid with the guys, and goes to a club with them. Of course they get into trouble at the club and find themselves on the bad side of Darko (Til Schweiger), a friend of Nigel. Of course.

Charlie wants to be a savior and essentially has a death wish. While this sort of behavior is welcome in many circumstances, he causes more problems for the girl he loves as a result. Let's explore a few of many flaws of this film without giving away too much:

• The main issue here is the script. It is clear the actors are working with what they were given, and I question if revisions were made at all. It had the potential at the base, but failed to have stronger dialogue and plot points. In fact, the film became predictable after the first twenty minutes, and there were far too many instances of cliche dialogue.
• The film tries too hard to be more than it is. It's a pretty film, that's for sure. The lighting and tone is excellent throughout, but even that can't save it. Charlie has hallucinations a few times in the film, so there are hints at this trying to be part psychological adventure when really you just question if Charlie has some sort of mental illness (not trying to stigmatize mental illness, fyi). He has one drug-induced trip with hallucinations, but you're curious as to why the others occur. Trauma perhaps? 
• Besides the flat psychological parts, this film also dabbles in comedy in the midst of much dark drama. I'm not talking about moments of comic relief, which is expected in a drama. We're talking about scenes that are supposed to be funny in a way that changes the tone of the film, and you momentarily forget that this is mostly a dark drama and not like Transformers.
• Plot issue: Charlie has never been to Bucharest before. He doesn't speak Romanian. But he ends up driving a car roughly 30 minutes after exiting the airport and initially riding with a cab driver he barely understands. We see him pull out a map for a short while (and where did that come from?) as he is driving. Realistically, you don't drive in a foreign country if you have no idea where you're going and haven't planned ahead. 
• Possible plot and character issue: Charlie can't take "no" for an answer because he loves Gabi, no matter how many times she tells him to go away because he doesn't need to get involved with her dark past. This is where we question Charlie's common sense and whether or not he has an illness of sorts. Is he far enough removed from reality that he can't see how he's putting both of them in unnecessary danger? He even puts Carl and Luke in danger, and he barely knows them either! He tries to blackmail Nigel after being threatened and assaulted by the guy on more than one occasion, and you can predict how that turns out. We get it, Gabi needs to be protected (though she never says she can't take care of herself or wants his help...), but her life would be less complicated without you.

Overall, the film is shot well, and all of the actors do their best with the characters they're given (unfortunately not much for Grint and Buckley). The soundtrack is legit, including M83 and The xx. Charlie Countryman was set up for indie greatness but falls so flat it's frustrating. What's the point of having so many talented actors if you're barely going to utilize them? This is the LaBeouf, Woods, and Mikkelsen show; the rest of the cast don't do enough to get the "supporting" label in all honesty. Apparently this film was Black Listed some time ago, and I think it should've stayed that way.

Also, I'm over the story line of "love at first sight that's initially one-way but becomes mutual if the person forces him- or herself into the other's life at any moment possible." Can we please stop romanticizing stalkerish behavior?

If anything, give the film a chance for aesthetic purposes only. It's currently streaming on Netflix.

"But it was just a joke"- the Line We've Heard Far Too Many Times

Musicians and fans are starting to speak up more often against inappropriate behavior in the "scene", which makes me very happy. Unfortunately, not all involved are taking this type of behavior as serious, or rather they aren't responding in the most supportive manner for victims.

Most recently, female members of Tigers Jaw and Pity Sex were kissed on stage by an unruly male fan a few nights ago. Some days later at Warped Tour, Ryan Rockwell, frontman of Mixtapes (a band I've never heard of, for the record), made a "joke" on stage in an attempt to interrupt the current conversation taking place between songs. He said something on the lines of "No, no fuck Tigers Jaw. Just kiss whoever you want." After they played their song, he said that his previous comment was stupid and obviously you shouldn't kiss someone without their consent. Of course, initial reports of his comment failed to mention his retraction of statement, one of Rockwell's biggest issues with this sudden backlash. He made an official statement about the incident on a podcast he has with friend Justin Schafer called "Big Snackers". 

I listened to the first 30 minutes of the podcast because that's about how long it took to cover the incident, mainly because Justin continued to add on and on (I'd call him an instigator of sorts). I metaphorically walked into the discussion about this incident unbiased, even though I'd heard about the Tigers Jaw/Pity Sex incident. My first reaction to rumors of Rockwell's comment was "wow, that's very rude and inappropriate to say," but I wanted to hear this guy's side of the story before immediately judging him as a misogynist and whatnot- maybe someone misheard him, etc, etc. 

After listening, I've come to some conclusions. Ryan Rockwell didn't really apologize during this podcast. He was more defensive than anything because no one mentioned his pseudo apology two minutes after the comment was made, which makes sense in order for him to protect his image and reputation. Everyone ganged up on him on the internet (as usual), but those directly affected didn't contact him personally to discuss the matter (besides a single tweet from Tigers Jaw in response to confirmations of his comment). He did advocate for not kissing/touching someone without consent, especially after saying that member(s) of his band have had the same experience as Tigers Jaw/Pity Sex. Yes, it was unfair for people to automatically hate him for comments they weren't witnesses to, and it was/is wrong for people to throw hateful speech at him since that's not going to get us anywhere in changing things like this. He made a mistake and hopefully he's learned from it.

Justin Schafer, on the other hand, should have kept many of his comments to himself while Rockwell made his statement. I know it's their shared podcast, but Rockwell was using this platform to make a personal statement that got lost at times with Schafer's input. If he didn't officially victim-blame, he got pretty darn close to it at points: Why did they wait until after playing a second time to address the guy? Why wasn't he thrown out of the venue the first time it happened?- these were essentially two questions he asked. Sure, they're valid questions, but he was not at that show. Do we know where that guy went after the first attempted kiss? How do we know that security didn't attempt to find him the first time? Fans in the audience may not have instinctively thought that what he did was wrong, so when he returned to the crowd (by whatever means) he probably blended in with everyone else. Also, many times you're in a state of shock that something like that even happened, especially the survivors (I don't really want to use "victim" now, as both females have spoken up and against this nonsense). 

Schafer's responses stemmed from a need to defend his friend, but he could have said things more tastefully instead of turning on everyone else. Why aren't people going after the guy who kissed them, the guy who actually did something? Who's to say someone hasn't? If people can't put a name to the face (or really have a clear view of the face to begin with), it makes it bit harder to go after him, but that doesn't mean that everyone has just let that guy go without consequences. Schafer also calls out all of these people as cowards basically, saying that most of them are hiding behind their computers and wouldn't confront Rockwell personally if they had the chance. He mentions that this is part of what's wrong with the scene and how people aren't going after the real perpetrators. One of the simplest ways to help prevent inappropriate behavior is to call people out for the inappropriate comments and language that precede such behavior. The best advice of all is to not say or do inappropriate/hateful/etc things to begin with.

Oh, Rude and Ungrateful Brand New Fans

A friend reminded me Friday night that I haven't written here in awhile, mainly due to school- it's senior year, what can I say?

Anyway, PropertyOfZack released an article earlier Saturday about Brand New fans being disappointed by their album choices for Friday night's sold out show in the band's hometown. Now, I shouldn't even have to go on further about how ridiculous it is that fans are disappointed by which albums this band chose to play. If you're a fan of Brand New and know their scarce history of playing shows in recent years, then you truly understand how ungrateful these so-called fans are. 

They finally decide to play a few shows, albeit on the coasts, in which they play two of their albums in their entirety. Two albums. In full. Brand New has released four albums to date, each holding 11 or 12 songs (not including special editions or b-sides). Fans attending these shows get to hear one of their favorite bands play at least 23 songs for them, aka a lot of songs for one night and one show. 

As a result of the rarity of this occasion, all of the shows sold out in a matter of minutes. The people I know who were planning to road trip to Friday night's show weren't able to get even a single ticket. The majority of fans were not able to get tickets obviously, so those who obtained tickets were the lucky ones. I'm sure these people were very excited for this show and had in mind which albums they hoped to be played, but I assumed they'd be happy to hear the band put on a great show regardless. 

I guess we assumed wrong. Due to this being a hometown show, many fans felt entitled to hear Brand New's first two albums performed live since they "made" the band. Are you serious? You know what y'all are entitled to? Hearing two albums played in their entirety by one of your favorite bands because that's what you paid for. There are so many people who would have loved to be in your shoes last night, myself included. The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me is one of my favorite albums of all time (my tattoo even references it), and Daisy is actually a good album if you give it a chance. Maybe they decided not to play Your Favorite Weapon or Deja Entendu because they knew there'd be a lot of fans there who've heard those songs over and over again since they've been there since the beginning. I don't know. Regardless of why they chose to play their two recent albums, fans got to hear them perform. I'm also shocked to hear that people were so pissed that they walked out once the guys started playing Daisy. You'd rather walk out of a show because the band didn't play the songs you wanted to hear that they never promised you than enjoy the rest of the show? Guess who's money was wasted? Not Brand New's. 

People always say how Brand New treats their fans poorly because they rarely play shows, but look at what happens when they're being "nice". While we can't be certain if Brand New picked their setlists in advance for these shows or if they choose the day of, it seems like the band treated the lives of those sour Friday night fans by treating Saturday fans to Your Favorite Weapon and Deja Entendu. Does that count as karma?

In the end, I hope that all fans are happy because the band is recording new music. Don't be a scrooge. Merry Christmas to all (who celebrate)!

Album Review: 'How Long' by Bradley Hathaway



Arkansas-based poet/singer/songwriter Bradley Hathaway's folk roots have returned for his first full-length album in roughly four years, How Long. I've been driving around Central Illinois with this album playing on repeat to get a good feel for it. It helps to take in the scenery of corn fields and falling autumn leaves while letting this album marinate. Shorter than your average LP (10 songs coming to a close at roughly 38 minutes), it is sweet, to say it simplest. It is considerably more folky than his 2010 EP A Thousand Angry Panthers and much lighter than 2009's A Mouth Full of Dust, but I think it's necessary for the subject matter of How Long. In my ears I hear a love album, and I remember why I fell in love with Bradley's words eight years ago.

Now, don't confuse my label of "love" as an album full of songs about falling in love and being so happily in love. This is about varying degrees of love and the desire for (or the discovery of) intimacy. Intimacy is not simply for romance- intimacy is about closeness to another being. These songs tell the stories of people who are searching for (or have already found) intimacy through various avenues.

The album begins with "Daddy's Name", a slow but fitting start to an album of such a soft nature. It sets the tone for the majority of the album, as most of the songs are not upbeat. This is followed by the album's first single "How Long", an almost conversational love song that asks "how long will your love last?" and ends with assurance of a love that will last for seasons upon seasons. I think it's the perfect title of the album, and the song does its title justice. As human beings, we are drawn to relationships, so it is only natural to wonder how long someone will love us when entering a romantic relationship with another person.
"Courthouse" is a lovely duet that I don't have enough words for at this time (it's currently my favorite from the album), but just listen to it, seriously, then you'll understand. For the long time fans of Hathaway, you'll be happy to know that he goes back to his spoken word roots with "He Drives". I've missed the way he performs his pieces with so much emotion, though this may be considered tame compared to the poetry and prose of All the Hits So Far. Although the name might be deceiving, "If I Should Die" picks up the pace on the record and will have you tapping your toes and harmonizing with the background singer(s).

The album ends with "You Look So Pretty", which has listeners waiting for more. Part of me likes that this song was chosen to end the album, but another part of me is sad that it's over. The only option is to listen to it again, obviously, since it's that good. "My words are few, my thoughts they number many" pretty much sums up my review of this album while quoting the final track. I don't want to spoil anything for readers because you need to hear this album for yourself, but know that this album is just a great listen overall- lyrically and musically.

To quote Hathaway's popular poem "Manly Man", this album is about people who "want to be loved, and have love, and give love. And not just that romantic kind either." And maybe I'm wrong, maybe I've interpreted this album all wrong, but I can't help but feel the love.

How Long will be officially released on November 5th, but you can pre-order the album and buy merch at http://bradleyhathaway.storenvy.com/. The album is also availble for digital pre-order as well.
Don't forget to visit Bradley on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bradleyhathaway

Upcoming confirmed tour dates:
October
28 North Little Rock, AR @ Mug's Cafe 515 Main Street 7pm
29 Jackson, MS @ Northridge Church 3232 N. State St 9pm
31 Nashville, TN @ House Show 422 Veritas St 7:30pm

November
1 Columbus, OH @ House Show 2131 Iuka Ave 7pm
2 Holland, MI @ Lemonjello's Coffee 61 E. 9th St 7pm
7 Port Huron, MI @ SchwonkSoundStead 1521 7th St 8pm
10 Hamilton, ON @ Barn Side Studio
11 Oneonta, NY @ SUNY Oneonta College Lee Hall 7pm
12 Clarks Summit, PA @ Baptist Bible College and Seminary Library 538 Venard Rd
15 Delran, NJ @ House Show 110 Lowden St 7pm
16 Madison Heights, VA @ Schoolhouse Venue 131 Old Colony Rd

Random Band/Musician Follower: Ben Landis

Ben Landis is a Los Angeles-based chiptune and pop rock artist who found me on Twitter within the last two or three days. My initial reaction was "this must be a spam account", but upon further inspection, I realized that this guy is legit. He is following almost half a million people and has over half a million people following him, so I figure that at least half of those followers must be real people. So I headed over to his Soundcloud page to have a listen.



Now let me first state the fact that I listen to chiptune/8-bit music, not as regularly as I used to, but I'd still call myself a fan of the genre. With that being said, I've heard a variety of artists who fall under in this genre, and Ben Landis sounds pretty generic to me, unfortunately. His songs sound like they literally came out of a video game, which is kind of cool in one sense, but very lackluster in another sense.

I'll give him credit though. He's done a nice job making everything sound smooth and not like a jumbled mess of chiptune sounds. It's not that easy to create chiptune music, especially considering the various equipment most of these artists must invest in to make their sound at least somewhat unique. Maybe he's still fairly new to the chiptune world, and that could be the reasoning behind his songs not sounding too creative. New listeners of chiptune will probably enjoy this as it produces a wave of nostalgia, most likely resulting in people scrambling to find their Game Boys and Nintendos.

His album Adventures in Pixels comes with a comic book of sorts as well, it seems. Now that is a creative idea indeed. Essentially, Ben Landis creates music that would be perfect as the soundtrack of a classic game. I'll be waiting for him to create tunes that I'd casually listen to while driving around town and such. Who knows, maybe Ben will be one of the forerunners of the next wave of the chiptune scene. He's got potential.

'Upstream Color': A Review

A few months ago, I heard the light buzz around Shane Carruth's latest film Upstream Color. Carruth wrote, directed, and starred in this film- the same exact route he took in creating his 2004 debut Primer. In my eyes, Upstream Color has the same confusion and mesmerism of Primer but with an obviously larger budget. I say confusion because if you saw Primer, at least 80% of the film's dialogues and jargon went right over your head since it is so science-heavy, and Carruth doesn't even try to reduce its language for the common moviegoer. While Upstream is a lot easier to follow as its subject is not time travel, it is still confusing upon the first viewing. 

I thought I understood what was happening during the first thirty minutes or so- a parasite, unrelated people with synchronized movements- but then I found myself puzzled as the film went on. Pigs, albums full of songs created with objects and not instruments, Walden, repetition- more elements that enter the film and seemingly have no clear connection with anything, but their purpose slowly becomes perceptible. By the end, things finally tie together, and you understand how everyone and everything is connected, but you tell yourself that you need to watch it again to fully understand well enough to explain the film to a friend (yes, I realize that I changed narrative view in this sentence). Overall, I enjoyed this film a lot, and I'm ready for Carruth to write/produce/star in another film that pushes my interest in science fiction by having enough dramatic elements to hold me over.

Visually beautiful and contextually perplexing, Upstream Color is a must-see for the independent film lover. If you're a fan of Primer, you better watch this film- that is an open threat- but I must warn you that this film is very much different from its predecessor, so it may disappoint some. If you like the thrill of Christopher Nolan's Memento, but you also desire to be challenged a bit more, then this is a film for you. 

The film is available to purchase in various formats here. The website also lists other retailers you can purchase the film from, including Amazon, iTunes, Best Buy, and Wal-Mart. 

You can also stream the film online on Netflix.

Video for a Day: "Bad Girls" by M.I.A.

"Bad Girls" by M.I.A.

So, I'm pretty much having post-Pitchfork withdrawals, and I'm trying to relive M.I.A.'s set of dancing with everyone and their sweat. Just pretend you were there with me if you weren't in the crowd.