Gogol Bordello Non-Stop Dir. Margarita Jimeno

[Lorber Films; 2009]
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Styles: gypsy punk doucmentary
Others: Gogol Bordello

Oren Kaplan, guitarist for Gogol Bordello, states in the documentary Gogol Bordello Non-Stop that, “Gypsy music and punk music are one in the same. It’s all rebel music.” Unfortunately, that rebel character is pretty sedate in the film, if not sly and humorous. Directed by Margarita Jimeno, Gogol Bordello Non-Stop is collection of history, interviews, and concert footage that attempts to provide insight to and explanation of the band’s mission and success. But instead of providing endless energy, the film is just an adequate portrait of a highly mythologized band.

Alice in Wonderland Dir. Tim Burton

[Walt Disney Pictures; 2010]
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Styles: children
Others: The Nightmare Before Christmas, Edward Scissorhands

O the murk, the mess, the acid-drenched eye candy, the incomprehensible babble emanating from Johnny Depp, the steampunky, dirty psychedelia of Tim Burton’s bastardized take(-off) on Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland, his alternately diverting and dumpster-diving Babel.

Serena-Maneesh S-M 2: Abyss In B Minor

[4AD; 2010]

By

Rating: 2/5

Styles: shoegaze, pop
Others: Primal Scream, Raveonettes, Warlocks

Five years after their self-titled debut, Serena-Maneesh finally return with a follow-up on the venerable 4AD. But five years is an admittedly long time to wait for new material, especially for an up-and-coming band. And even though last year saw the release of SM Backwards, a spotty odds-and-ends/remix comp, most of the source material was dated from even before their first full-length. Unfortunately, the benefit of time didn’t encourage Serena-Maneesh to record a gargantuan Loveless-style follow-up to its Isn’t Anything-aping first album.

More about: Serena-Maneesh

Links: Serena-Maneesh - 4AD

Dinowalrus %

[Kanine; 2010]

By

Rating: 4/5

Styles: Nor Wave, shoegaze, ambient-post-punk
Others: Spacemen 3, early Deerhunter, White Denim, Titus Andronicus

I’m pretty sure I’m a symptom of the zeitgeist when I confess that, no matter how much music fills my days, I can stake very little claim to being there, man. I think I spot my target audience already, wheeling rickety carts through a Salvo of hand-me-down moments. But I’m not blowing raspberries; it’s miraculous that we still somehow have access to the idea of a ‘scene’ when the word’s central concept, place, is no longer an issue.

More about: Dinowalrus

Links: Dinowalrus - Kanine

Mother Dir. Bong Joon-ho

[Magnolia Pictures; 2010]
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Styles: drama
Others: The Host, Dancer in the Dark, Requiem for a Dream

Mother, a relatively focused drama about a mother’s quest to prove her son’s innocence, isn’t the most obvious follow-up to Bong Joon-ho’s previous film, The Host. That film, a monster movie about a giant tadpole that slimily regurgitates its prey through a mouth that looks like a nightmarish vagina dentata, was a kinetic, gorgeous man vs. beast action that makes competition seem like petting zoos, brimming with Molotov cocktails, biological warfare, competitive archery, lots of Korean snacks, and inappropriately-timed slapstick.

Bright Eyes & Neva Dinova One Jug of Wine, Two Vessels

[Saddle Creek; 2010]

By

Rating: 3/5

Styles: indie rock
Others: Monsters of Folk, Desaparecidos, Mystic Valley Band

Although there’s a big difference between Conor Oberst’s first album as Bright Eyes and his most recent solo work, his trajectory as a songwriter has been a simple one. A Collection of Songs Written & Recorded 1995-1997 certainly had a folky quality to it, but was more or less a straight derivative of the teenaged Oberst’s lo-fi and alternative record collection. Ever since then, he’s been tempering those songs’ raw, indie rock formula with incremental doses of country & western professionalism, sprinkling another pinch or two into the ether on a record-by-record basis.

More about: Bright Eyes & Neva Dinova

Links: Bright Eyes & Neva Dinova - Saddle Creek

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Dir. Niels Arden Oplev

[Music Box Films; 2009]
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Styles: mystery, thriller
Others: Zodiac, The Silence of the Lambs

Stieg Larsson’s internationally bestselling Millennium Trilogy is getting the cinematic treatment both in his native Sweden and in Hollywood. The American version won’t hit theaters until 2012, but the Swedish version has already been winning awards throughout Europe since its early-2009 release.

Florent Ghys Baroque Tardif: Soli

[Cantaloupe; 2010]

By

Rating: 2.5/5

Styles: experimental, classical
Others: Dither Quartet, Eleonore Oppenheim, Bang on a Can

By all counts, Florent Ghys seems like a pretty intelligent guy. He’s certainly done his homework, having studied ethnomusicology in his native France at Bordeaux University and Conservatoire and the double bass with Thierry Barbé, the principal bass of the Paris National Opera. He’s also done work in composition masters classes elsewhere in the world, with New York City’s Bang on a Can All-Stars and Milan’s Sentieri Selvaggi.

More about: Florent Ghys

Links: Florent Ghys - Cantaloupe

The Green Zone Dir. Paul Greengrass

[Universal Pictures; 2010]
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Styles: war, drama
Others: The Bourne Identity, The Informant!

“Oh, you’re going to see The Bourne Iraq-ity?” That was the response I fielded, via Facebook, when I told all and sundry that The Green Zone was on my mind. The anti-Iraq War war flick might also be on Paul Bremer and Judith Miller’s minds when they get wind of the ripped-from-the-headlines storyline: shock and awe — the US has embarked on war in Iraq, yet the search for WMDs already seems futile. It turns out that the military and media have been taken for a ride with faulty intelligence, generated by a US government more intent on regime change than fact-finding.

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