Tuesday, January 11, 2011

AllMoPs 18

All Manner of Plugs: Issue 18 (1.9.2011)
a weekly informing and recommending email

Written by J.S. Lewis

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PLUG IN

How is your year going so far?

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Finally discovered this song and dig it a great deal. What a swell tribute to New York City! Furthermore, it's refreshing to see a hip-hop MV these days that ISN'T all about girls "dancing" in a club. Nice editing to beats. A collage of life.

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A LIST

Rolling Stone has been busy making lists lately! (See more in The Film Tome Report.) Here's several music-related ones: 30 Best Albums of 2010, 50 Best Songs of 2010, 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, and 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

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NEWS TO ME

Have you heard about the hobo with the golden voice? Better question, have you heard said voice? Here's CNN's coverage. Here's off-news documentation. I hope this guy gets his own podcast!

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MONKEY DO

Have you ever seen a baby mandrill? Well, if you're in Lansing anytime soon be sure to stop by the Potter Park Zoo and check one out. Or you could just look here. Or here.

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RANDOMONIA

This just might be the most intense video on the world wide web.

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THE FILM TOME REPORT

THE TRAILER ROUND-UP

The Head-Scratcher*:
*Formally know as "The 'Okay...'".

"African Cats" is currently one of the few films I'm looking forward to in 2011. (Besides "The Tree of Life" and "Cowboys and Aliens," there are not many films I'm excited about. Many people thought 2010 was a dry spell for great cinema, a preposterous notion IMHO, 2011 looks nowhere as good.) Imagine my surprise (which shouldn't be hard as you may be surprised yourself) when I heard news of "The Last Lions." This is ANOTHER nature documentary about lions in Africa! I refuse to believe this was all coincidental. "The Last Lions" is narrated by Jeremy Irons and comes a whole two months before "African Cats," but may not be receiving as wide a release. Both films look gorgeous and will provide an interesting compare-and-contrast study later this year.

The Simon Pegg and Nick Frost duo beats just about any other. Case in point: "Shaun of the Dead" and "Hot Fuzz." Perhaps it was the lack of their dynamic-ness that made Edgar Wright's latest, "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World," feel so empty. The duo return (without Wright's direction) in "Paul." A lot of it looks lame, but I'm hopeful.

With a tagline like "Stay in the light" you know you're getting something different with "Vanishing on 7th Street." (Make sure you select the trailer.) The trailer is far from subtle and shows FAR TOO MUCH for my liking. There are teasers and there are trailers, then there are revealers (like this). Are there any scary moments in the film this trailer doesn't showcase? Directed by Brad Anderson (who did "The Machinist") and starring Hayden Christensen who you all loved in the lesser "Star Wars" trilogy. Hard to tell if this will rise or fail.

Two more docs: Go green with "The Last Mountain" and get blown away by "Tornado Alley."

Toss of the Week: Maybe I was scared I would get beat up or perhaps this really is what I've been looking for, either way "Strong Man" is my top pick from the blooming trailers this week. I love character studies and slice-of-life pieces. This looks to deliver truth and a lot of heart.

ENLSITED

Here's Rolling Stone's 10 Best Movies of 2010 (no surprise what number one is... it seems to be topping everyone's list). Also, here is their 10 Worst Movies of 2010 (the four of which I saw I quite liked...).

KEEPIN' IT SHORT

Logorama
Directed by François Alaux, Hervé de Crécy and Ludovic Houplain

This 16-minute animated film won an Academy Award last year. It looks like a lot of work and lot of asking for permission... the concept is superb!

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UNPLUG

Finicky porcupine! If you have any comments, questions, requests, complaints or threats please let your voice be heard by allmops@gmail.com. If you wish to be removed from the AllMoPs send-list, let me know. If you wish to add someone, let me know. Remember, all previous AllMoPs are available at my blog, All Manner of Posts. Jazz up your January and thanks for plugging in!

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