Arcade Fire to re-release ‘The Suburbs’

Thanks to a good and loyal friend of Owl Pellets, I found out about this: The Arcade Fire is re-releasing ‘The Suburbs,’ because, you know, they won a Grammy. And maybe, just maybe the people at Who is The Arcade Fire? will finally get their answer!

From Perez Hilton:

Nice!

Maybe now all the people that obnoxiously asked “Who are they?” when they won the Grammy will give them an actual listen now! Ha!

Indie faves Arcade Fire have announced that their award-winning 2010 album, The Suburbs, will be re-released on June 27th, with two new tracks called Speaking Tongues and Culture War, as well as a bonus DVD featuring a short film and a ‘making of’ documentary!

Hopefully this new material will hold us over until they’re ready to release another album in a year or two!

Probably not, but hey! We’ll be patient!

Looking forward to this one, guys!

So excited!

Out on DVD: The Kingdom

Quick review: Not as bad as I expected after some pretty rough reviews, but still not great. The Kingdom is written by Matthew Michael Carnahan and like Lions for Lambs (which he also wrote) it lacks any real depth and relies on cliche stereotypes, especially when it comes to the relationships between the American FBI agents and the Saudi police.

Nothing great, but a watchable “who done it,” political thriller.

Rating: B-

Out on DVD: This is England

Written and directed by Shane Meadows. Starring Thomas Turgoose and Stephen Graham (Snatch).  Winner of the BAFTA Film Award for Best British Film. Nominated for the BAFTA Film Award for Best Screenplay.  Winner of the Best British Independent Film. Nominated for the Best British Independent Film Award for Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor and Actress, Best Technical Achievement (original music by Ludovico Einaudi).

This is England is set during Margret Thatcher’s reign over England, The Falklands War, and serious economic decline and unemployment in England. The film follows Shaun (Turgoose), a twelve year old boy who lost his father in The Falklands War, and his journey into England’s skinhead culture. When Combo (Graham) – the former leader of the skinheads – returns from three and a half years in prison, he is obsessed with English pride and purity. Needless to say, a schism occurs within the group of friends – some opt out of Combo’s crusade against “Paki-Bastards” (please excuse the racial slur), while others join him, including Shaun.

The film is provides a look into the roots of racist thought and racist skinhead culture in England during the 1980s – primarily a result of the economic hardship of the time, according to the film. The storyline isn’t hard to predict, but, even though you can see the climatic scene coming from a mile away, it is executed perfectly. So perfectly, in fact, that I am tempted to say that the director wanted the film to end in a predictable manner that the viewer expected so that the tension could rise and build until it’s horrifying, amazingly delivered climax debuts. The film may be a bit predictable, but it still manages to daze you. And who said predictability was a bad thing?

The acting is more than on par. The stars of the film, Turgoose and Graham, are especially good. There are brief, moments of cheese that could have been avoided by simply delaying the score by a second or two, but I can really only think of one instance at the moment; it’s not much to complain about.

Check out this film for the climax if for nothing else. The plot isn’t anything especially new, but the delivery is really worth noting.

B+/A-

DVD Review: ‘Bender’s Big Score’

Last night I finally watched Futurama‘s first straight to DVD “feature-length epic”: Bender’s Big Score. I’m not sure why I say “finally” – I didn’t even know that the film had been released in November (at most, I didn’t pay much attention to it), but being a fan of Futurama and disappointed with the selection of new releases at B-Buster, I picked up a copy of the straight to DVD “epic.”

My expectations were admittedly low – when Family Guy released a straight to DVD film during a few years ago I was more than underwhelmed, I was disappointed. This, however, could be due in large part to the fact that Family Guy‘s comedy depends on pop culture references that have little to nothing to do with the plot – something that’s funny in 20 minute intervals, but can get a little old when subjected to in for over an hour.

Anyways, Futurama‘s humor does not rely on those kind of jokes, so I can’t be sure why I put the two films in the same boat.

Bender’s Big Score was surprisingly good. A great deal of work seems to have been put into this film, which eliminated the lazy, “let’s get this done” feeling I often acquire after watching a straight to DVD flick. The jokes were as original as those on the show, and the plot didn’t feel stretched – like a 20 minute episode drawn out for an additional 60+ minutes.

The plot primarily revolves around time travel, a subject addressed in a very clever fashion by the Futurama writers, as seen in past episodes when the TV show was originally running. In addition to a fun storyline, the time travel plot explains elements of the TV show, which should be fun for any Futurama fan. For example, it is cleverly explained how New York City is destroyed before becoming New New York City.

On top of a good story and funny jokes (Bender had me in stitches), the DVD has some great special features. The is a lecture given by a prominent mathematician – with the help for the Futurama writers, creators, and developers (including Matt Groening) – about the use of math references in Futurama. It may sound boring, but it was really fascinating.

Bottom line: worth renting. This is especially true if you’re a fan of Futurama.

8.5/10