March 26, 2013

Retroview: Tuff Fest I: Movie 5: THE THING

A Retroview Review. 
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Luke here, back with a new limited series where I talk about like 60 movies over the next 60 days. Click here for an explanation. Read on for the quick and dirty review!


There are few movies that occupy the upper echelon of movies I consider good (there are a lot of good movies, but few perfect is what I'm saying). I bring this up because, obviously, The Thing is one of the few movies I consider basically perfect. From the terrifically chilling soundtrack to the stellar performances from every cast member, from Rob Bottin's godlike visual effects mastery to the straight up bonkers premise, from the brilliant cinematography to the spot on look into the human psyche, John Carpenter's The Thing is an unstoppable behemoth of a movie. No matter how many times I see it, the sense of terror present during my first seeing it surfaces again in new and bizarre ways. It's flat out an effective movie. And if you haven't see it, I envy you, because you get to see it for the first time now that you're going to go out and see it right away.


-Luke Hunter James-Erickson
To see all the movies written about so far, click here: Tuff Fest I
Again, for an explanation, click here: Introduction to Tuff Fest I
To suggest movies I should schedule for Get Tuff Fest II, e-mail me: TheeLuke@gmail.com


March 25, 2013

SLM Mixtape #50: ohmygodshutup



track list:
Flipless in What Plastic Box - Baby Walrus
Fathers Day - Neal Morgan
Shut Up & Deal - Radiator Hospital
Tony's wife - Sun Ra
Windows Open - Which Magic
I Won't Hurt You - West Coast Art Experimental Band
Movies Is Magic (Van Dyke Parks) - Mike Cooper
This Is War... - Spoon Boy

March 19, 2013

Retroview: Tuff Fest I: Movie 3: In the Mood For Love

A Retroview Review. 
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Luke here, back with a new limited series where I talk about like 60 movies over the next 60 days. Click here for an explanation. Read on for the quick and dirty review! 

Wong Kar-wai’s second in his informal trilogy, In the Mood for Love is the most accessible of the three. Faster paced than Days of Being Wild, more concise than 2046, In the Mood For Love is a heartbreaking exploration of the processes of losing a lover to infidelity. It’s still very much a contemplative movie, slow and deliberate, but more emotionally charged. There are conversations that are so unbelievably hard to watch that I felt uncomfortable just being in the same room as the movie. The soundtrack comes in gracefully during emotional moments, causing the heart to swell and one's breath to freeze in their lungs. It's a desperately beautiful movie.

-Luke Hunter James-Erickson
To see all the movies written about so far, click here: Tuff Fest I
Again, for an explanation, click here: Introduction to Tuff Fest I
To suggest movies I should schedule for Get Tuff Fest II, e-mail me: TheeLuke@gmail.com


March 18, 2013

SLM Mixtape #49: Something Powerful


Track list:
Leading Me Now  -  The Tallest Man On Earth
Second Place Blues  -  Luke Roberts
Randy Quaid  -  Graham Wright
Emmylou  -  First Aid Kit
The Motherlode  -  The Staves
Night Bus  -  Lucy Rose
The First Day Of Snow  -  The Mad Skeleton
Undone  -  Lucy Michelle and the Velvet Lapelles

March 15, 2013

New Layout!

Hello Everyone!

As you may have noticed, the site looks a little different.  Well that's because my good buddy Jasper went through and tore up the fabric of space and time (read: code and stuff) and came up with this wonderful new layout!  Everything fits now!  Everything looks wonderful!  Now I'll be able to write new things and not feel embarassed by the sickly and disturbing design!

New content coming atcha soon.  I hope you like the new layout!

Check out Jasper's personal website if you think you may need his assistance with any of your own stuff.  He's awesome!

March 12, 2013

Retroview: Tuff Fest I: Movie 2: Days Of Being Wild

A Retroview Review. 
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Luke here, back with a new limited series where I talk about like 60 movies over the next 60 days. Click here for an explanation. Read on for the quick and dirty review!

The first of Wong Kar-wai’s informal trilogy, Days of Being Wild is a slow, contemplative, mood focused film that follows around a Hong Kong playboy’s exploits with one woman, whom he quickly becomes bored of, and another whom he can’t seem to rid himself of. The movie explores courting, copulation, certain people’s compulsion to constantly remain on the hunt, and the inevitable emotional fallout that all of these things may bring about. It’s a sad movie, and moving, but it is certainly not for everyone. Bring your patience and be prepared to let it wash over you and you may find it rewarding.



-Luke Hunter James-Erickson
To see all the movies written about so far, click here: Tuff Fest I
Again, for an explanation, click here: Introduction to Tuff Fest I
To suggest movies I should schedule for Get Tuff Fest II, e-mail me: TheeLuke@gmail.com


March 11, 2013

SLM Mixtape #48: what. what is it that you want.




White Jeep - Mayyors
Make Force (Album Version) - Xbxrx
Drunkship Of Lanterns - The Mars Volta
stabbing - Manual Zombie
Amplifuckation - Science vs. Witchcraft
Vaneigem Mix - Royal Family And The Poor
Birdtown - DD/MM/YYYY
Zs - Zs

March 9, 2013

Ivan & Alyosha, Live review (with Arc Life, Dana Falconberry)

 (photo: Live Letters)

Last Wednesday, I was invited to see Ivan & Alyosha, a self described "indie-rock, folk-pop, indie-pop" quintet from Seattle, Washington.  Being that the majority of the new music I come across sits a little further from center than a band like Ivan & Alyosha, I hadn't heard of them until I received the invitation.

They had a laundry list of accolades from a variety of reliable sources, and I liked the song in their newest video, so I decided to take my best friend out for the night and hit up the Hi-Dive, a venue which rarely disappoints.

Terminally early, I found myself at the Hi-Dive roughly an hour before the music started. As the crowd formed around me, the people-watching portion of the evening began.  It great to see so many people so excited, unironically, for a show, that there were "whoops" and "yahoos" well prior to the first band even taking the stage. Denver is an excitable town, true, but it was ready for a show.

March 6, 2013

Ivan & Alyosha @ the Hi-Dive, tonight.



While the blog continues to have these small updates during this sort of reconstruction I've got in the works (You just wait and see! All these minor formatting issues will soon be a thing of the past!), I hadn't really planned on doing live show reviews. But then the opportunity to see Ivan and Alyosha came across my table, and after hearing the song from the video above, I decided to get myself out there this evening and see if they're as adorable as they look in the video. It's at the Hi-Dive at 9PM this evening, 3/6/2013. See you there maybe?

March 5, 2013

Retroview: Tuff Fest I: Movie 1: La Horde

A Retroview Review. 
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Luke here, back with a new limited series where I talk about like 60 movies over the next 60 days. Click here for an explanation. Read on for the quick and dirty review!

La Horde French indie zombie flick that explores the concept of a zombie apocalypse in a new way. Well, okay honestly it’s still a survival horror movie, but the characters themselves are what really sell movies whose premises are as well taxed as “zombie survival horror.” The characters’ interactions with not only one another, but the zombies themselves, for the first time showed that there can be a collection of cool and calculating people in the middle of an “end of the world situation” … and that even these people will react in unexpected and sometimes terrifying ways when put under pressure. There is a stronger sense of hopelessness in La Horde than American zombie movies, which is most certainly linked to their filmmaker’s cultural differences, which was what made La Horde most appealing. Not the strongest movie ever, but I was pleased to see at least one current zombie movie that felt a little more realistic.

-Luke Hunter James-Erickson
To see all the movies written about so far, click here: Tuff Fest I
Again, for an explanation, click here: Introduction to Tuff Fest I
To suggest movies I should schedule for Get Tuff Fest II, e-mail me: TheeLuke@gmail.com


Btw, props to Beth for the suggestion.

Retroview: Tuff Fest I: Introduction

A Retroview Review. 
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Luke here, back with a new limited series where I talk about like 60 movies over the next 60 days. Read on to see what I mean.


Last month I took a week off work and watched movies from one weekend to the next. It was half in celebration of by birthday (a month late), and half me clearing out my “List of Shame” (my list of movies I’m ashamed I have yet to see), with a dash of "well I just want to watch a week's worth of movies for the heck of it." To not take any much deserved attention away from the 34th Starz Denver Film Festival (see the last like 40 posts for reference, nice work Justin and Ben!), I decided to put off writing about it until after the madness of the SDFF34 had come to a close. Also, it takes a long time to write about this many movies.

This will be an ongoing, quick and dirty daily offering that will continue for roughly the next 60 days. I'll put up the first write up later this week, probably after the last SDFF34 post goes up. I hope you enjoy the series!

To see all the movies written about so far, click here: Tuff Fest I

March 4, 2013

SLM Mixtape #47: Psalm 137:9






Denomination Blues Part 1 - Washington Phillips
Mcabee's Railroad Piece - Palmer Mcabee
Tired Of Being Mistreated (Pt.2) - Clifford Gibson
At The River - Tennessee Mountaineers
My Jelly Blues - Bertha Ross
No News or What Killed The Dog - Frank Crumit
John Gilman Want Tobacco (Carnival) - Victoria Phillip & Dixon Phillip
Lift Him Up That's All - Washington Phillips