More Indie Than Your Cat » Spectrum Culture

Spectrum Culture: The Final Articles

admin — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 03:46:17 +0000

I want to say the largest reason I decided to leave MITYC for a while was my being let go from Spectrum Culture. I could tell I was going to be let go for a month leading up to the main event, and it sucks, but I was relieved when the end finally came. I couldn’t handle being super stressed out over something I wasn’t putting my best into. In all honesty, I had written a resignation letter 10 days before I was let go on September 12th. In that time I had pumped out four mediocre articles, and only three were published. Below are the three that made it, and the one in its entirety that didn’t.

End of the Aughts: Video of the Decade

The Decemberists – “16 Military Wives”

In schools across the country, model United Nations are teaching children about international relationships. The Decemberists took that premise and switched the international relationships to personal ones to represent real problems in the world.

Brendan Benson – My Old Fimiliar Friend

Brendan Benson already has a successful solo career that has seen the release of three albums. He picked up a huge boost by becoming Jack White’s lieutenant in The Raconteurs, and after the release of Broken Boy Soldiers in 2006 and Consolers of the Lonely in 2008, the groundwork had been laid for Benson to make a run at a larger mainstream audience with My Old, Familiar Friend.

Mew – No More Stories…

I’ve always been impressed by the bravado that prog rock bands tend to possess. Sometimes, it just isn’t good enough to have a short, catchy album title. Danish indie-rock band Mew’s latest release is 23 words long:

No More Stories
Are Told Today
I’m Sorry They
Washed Away
No More Stories
The World Is Grey,
I’m Tired
Let’s Wash Away.

This article was submitted, but never published.

Visioneers

Dir: Jared Drake

2008

Are you… stressed out… unhappy with your life… having problems in the bedroom? Experiencing strange dreams? Do you feel like you could just explode? In the Visioneers, the stress of these dilemmas could literally make you spontaneously explode.

On the dystopian meter, Visioneers is closer to The Island than Brazil. It’s the present day, with very few futuristic elements except for a corporation in the United States that is more powerful than the President. As with most omnipresent corporations, it only takes two sentences to get the exposition out of the way. “Welcome to the Jeffers Corporation. The largest and friendliest and most profitable corporation in the history of mankind.”

In the opening of the film, we find a diligent employee or Level 3 “Tunt” George Washington Winsterhammerman. Standing at the doorway of his small office, George steps up to a framed picture of his boss and with the “Jeffers salute” (flipping the middle finger) calmly says, “Good morning Mr. Jeffers.” An epidemic is sweeping across the nation; people are exploding for no reason. To rectify the situation, the Jeffers Corporation and its subordinate—the US federal government, tries to have citizens look at the beauty of the world around them, and all that is wonderful. The Jeffers Corporation believes if it can externally apply happiness; the epidemic of explosions will end.

Visioneers isn’t groundbreaking. It’s a bit reminiscent of the worlds of Brave New World and 1984. The films strength comes from a tour de force performance from Zach Galifianakis as George Washington Winsterhammerman. George is a man who constantly lives in the shadow of his ancestor, President George Washington. Instead he wrestles with his internal revolution. For two-thirds of the film, Galifianakis is deadpan. Using only small movements, Galifianakis acts like a shy child to convey emotion before going on the occasional massive freak out.

Galifianakis’ introduction to mainstream audiences came this summer, in Todd Phillip’s The Hangover and in the rodent infested Disney film {G-Force}. Galifianakis is probably best known for his stand up routine, occasionally touring as a “Comedian of Comedy” with Patton Oswalt, or lip-syncing Kanye West’s “Can’t Tell Me Nothing” with Will Oldham on a North Carolina farm. It is Galifianakis’ ability to put his body into violent convulsions and extreme situations that came in handy for when it came time to emote as a person who can’t feel.

Throughout the film, George’s wife Michelle (Judy Greer) follows every bit of advice from TV guru Sara. Now, imagine going through life following everything exactly as Oprah does—you would be dead inside too. Greer and Galifianakis are an awkward couple, but that’s the point. Both George and Judy are traveling through life along a set path. It is only when George starts to deviate, that Michelle must compensate to keep things as normal as possible.

The director/writer team of Jared and Brandon Drake use George’s world to exaggerate the awkwardness of normal human interaction. It’s as if everybody is so emotionally distant, that they don’t understand how to deal with each another on any deeper level. The only time George finds a connection with someone else is with a Level 4 “Tunt” named Charisma. Whenever his office phone rings, George’s face lights up and gets quiet, as he attempts, to cherish every word she has to say.

The score, by Polyphonic Spree front man Tom DeLaughter, is extremely subtle.As George strays farther and farther from what he considers normalcy, a flurry of percussion begins to invade the void left by his sanity. When George finally calms down, the score returns to simple piano chords, allowing the actors space to perform.

Galifianakis begins the film by giving the audience a “Jeffers salute” and from there it is a 95-minute decent into the human condition. What is happiness? Audiences are bound for a surprise when they don’t find Galifianakis acting awkward or funny. Much like Will Ferrell’s role in Stranger Than Fiction, Galifianakis as the straight man, in a foreign existence makes up for the lack of shtick.

By Nicholas Ryan

Spectrum Culture: Year One: Movies

admin — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 20:56:13 +0000

Man, I have been completely letting down my fan base. I haven’t updated in 3 weeks. I’m a terrible blogger… OR it is summer time in the city and I’m just lazy.

Here is one that I should have put up on the 21st, I’ll try to be better in the future. It is Year One: Movies, from the year we are born, so I went with 1985′s “Better Off Dead.”

While watching the film again for this review, I realized exactly how many of the lines I unintentionally have memorized. As Lane tries to avoid paying the paperboy, he rattles off, “My little brother got his arm stuck in the microwave. So my mom had to take him to the hospital. My grandma dropped acid this morning, and she freaked out. She hijacked a busload of penguins. So it’s sort of a family crisis. Bye!” I recited most of this before realizing I wasn’t talking to anyone in my living room.

Little side note: This is the first article I’ve had published since college that has my actual name on it. It is actually a typo, but I didn’t correct them because I like how it looks.

Recently… On Spectrum Culture

admin — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 01:50:03 +0000

In my absence from MITYC, I had a few things posted up on Spectrum Culture. At the moment, two of them are actaully on the front page. Here we go

Rancid – Let The Dominoes Fall,

Let The Dominoes Fall is a well-rounded record; though it’s likely not the high water mark of Rancid’s career, it will definitely hold the interest of anybody who has enjoyed the band for the past couple decades.

TV on DVD: Spaced,

Tim and Daisy go out for a night on the town. The pair run into a bad crowd and must defend themselves with the only thing they have, finger guns. What follows is a full-fledged shoot out (think John Woo) but without the violence, blood or guns.

End of the Aughts: Disappointments, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

Their debut was a critical success, the only thing that could derail the entire project would be a mediocre follow up… crap.

Please enjoy them, and read other articles written on the site. The writing keeps getting better and better. I can’t thank David for making me sound somewhat knowledgeable when my articles are posted.

Spectrum Culture: The Garden

admin — Tue, 19 May 2009 04:54:33 +0000

I got another review up!!! SCORE ANOTHER ONE FOR ME!!! I’m actually pretty excited about this one. After I submitted it, I was rather worried that it was total shit, so I started rewording the entire thing in my head while in the shower, and later in the day Spectrum’s film editor, Eric wrote me an email telling me it was a great review and to keep up the good work. It was awesome. Please enjoy the trailer above and then have your documentary dreams crushed when you read the review.

The film’s greatest flaw is that the entire conflict is only portrayed through the lens of good versus evil, while the actual story is far more complex.

Now please go read Spectrum Culture’s review of The Garden.

Spectrum Culture: The Saddest Music in the World

admin — Fri, 08 May 2009 18:41:36 +0000

If you haven’t figured it out yet, I’m totally a sucker for these large articles on Spectrum where a bunch of writers get together and put together a collection of music or movies on a topic. I was sort of skeptical when it came to the topic of depressing songs. Yes, there comes a time and a place when I feel it must be necessary for me to want to be sad and listen to that type of music, but most the time I try to avoid it.

It took me over a week to find the right track to do mine on. I wanted to do the Weakerthans song, “My Favorite Chords,” but a full review of their album had appeared a few weeks ago and I didn’t want to rehash old material. I eventually landed on The Mountain Goats “No Children” because nothing says happy days like a couple burning up in a fire.

What gets me the most about “No Children” is the fact that the husband is so overwhelmed with emotion, he is not only calling for an end to their relationship, but truly wanting both of their deaths.

I hope you die
I hope we both die

Please enjoy Spectrum Culture’s Now Ain’t The Time For Tears: The Saddest Music In The World. My contribution is about half way down, but I highly encourage you to read the whole thing. Everybody did a remarkable job and it also features one by The Hold Steady’s Franz Nicolay.