Lockout, The Raid, and Facebook.

Pack it up, pack it in, this Drive-in Speakerbox blog is about to begin. This weekend we were blessed by the unexpected presence of the much-hyped Indonesian martial arts actioner The Raid: Redemption. Bullets flew almost as fast as the fists and the techno-whumpy score. It was intense, and lacked the obviously-choreographed "delicacy" of most films of this ilk. The action was hilariously brutal and had an accompanying sense of unease and tension I don't usually experience from watching face punches. Lockout, on the other hand, was as forgettable a film that I'd watch and forget on Netflix Instant except that I just saw it in the theater, as I've ever seen. Save for the delightful (and dreamy!) Guy Pearce, all I can really say about Lockout is that it was a movie. Oh, and the special effects looked like scenes from the 1994 computer game System Shock.

We heard music from the following:

The Beyond, 1981 - Fabio Frizzi

Karate Warrior 2, 1988 - Stefano Minette

Lost in Translation, 2003 - Various

Teen Wolf, 1985 - Miles Goodman

Day of the Triffids, 1962 - Ron Goodwin

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Moby Lick in the house!

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Everything we talked about tonight is based on mediocre books.

Of the bevy of films seen this week, I actually hated Hunger Games the least, not because of its particular merit as a film, but because of its lack of certain characteristics as a blockbuster; mostly this had to do with the filming of certain scenes - little or no sound, quick, jerky editing, instances of real emotional maturity. It must be said, though: the cave scene was monstrously lame. The Lorax epitomized everything wrong with children's films: spazziness, randomness, a lack of emotional involvement, an "extreme" grandparent...fuck all that. It's the emotional involvement thing that really irks: films in which nothing sad happens (or, rather, can happen) can't really have the power to truly uplift either. Don Bluth, where have ye gone? And Mirror, Mirror? Well, people like The Princess Bride, so I guess they shouldn't hate this; it certainly didn't have the ridonkulous preponderance of Tarsem's other films, so there's that.

We heard music from:

Yellowstone, 1994 - Bill Conti

Gladiator, 2000 - Hans Zimmer

Dutch, 1991 - Various

The Jetsons, 1990 - John Debney

Journey to the Center of the Earth, 1959 - Bernard Herrmann

Robocop, 1987 - Basil Poledouris

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Bombs, Flops, Tanks...know your lingo people.

(Original Post date 3-19-12)

Hello my duckies, and welcome to another entry in the divine codex of The Drive-In Speakerbox. Podcasts are still being repressed by the brutal regime known as MediaFire, so you probably won't be able to listen in until KXUA has been purged and/or we at the show move our account off-site.

The misanthropy in the air was positively crackling; both the Boom Operator and I were in the grips of a mighty malaise, sweaty with anger and eager to discharge our unhappiness upon the general public. Our biggest bone to pick this week was the conflation of the idea that a film is a "bomb" or "flop" because of its critical reception rather than its box office performance, the two often becoming as interchangeable to casual moviegoers as they are to the gold-hoarding caricatures called producers, who seemingly disavow any large-budgeted film if it does not quintuple its earning potential in the first weekend of release. Neoliberalism, you win this round...

No movies were reviewed this week, as we are steeling ourselves for the blockbuster bukkake of arrows known as Hunger Games, a book series I don't entirely fear or despise, despite some transparent similarities to the loathed Twilight series (a girl and her two suitors, ooh, whichever one will she pick?!), but we'll see.

We heard music from the following:

Bloodsport, 1988 - Paul Herzog

Moon, 2009 - Clint Mansell

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, 1990 - John Du Prez

A Goofy Movie, 1995 - Various

The Last Airbender, 2010 - James Newton Howard

The 13th Warrior, 1999 - Jerry Goldsmith

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A great show, fueled by rage.

(Original Post date 3-12-12)

Oh, bless his heart, the Boom Operator was having a time this week: meltdowns abounded, which means today's show was an ass-kicker...not like any of you can even listen the the goddamn podcasts with Mediafire's lawyers clutching tightly to our musical content like so many caricatured tycoons. It's hard to be the little college radio station that could sometimes.

It was a sad week, actually, as we received word of the passing of comic legend Jean Giraud (Moebius). I actually broke the news to the Boom on-air, causing in a secondary meltdown. I don't think Moebius had worked in a while, but the man was responsible for an incredible portion of the artistic miens of science fiction visual art in film and print for the last 40 years. He'll be remembered.

The B.O. went on review John Carter of Mars, which he said was surprisingly fun before lamenting its predicted fiscal failure.

We heard music from:

X: The Man with X-Ray Eyes, 1963 - Les Baxter

Body of Evidence, 1993 - Graeme Revell

The Fifth Element, 1997 - Eric Serra

Time Masters, 1982 - Various

John Carter of Mars, 2012 - Michael Giacchino

Tron, 1982 - Wendy Carlos

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Project X....I can't believe this exists.

The Boom Operator was privileged to see a true titan of cinematic history this week, Project X, a movie about some dickhead who throws a party, and also about how that party is big. But this seems somewhat pointless to mention, particularly when Ralph McQuarrie, the man responsible for the principal artistic outlook of the Star Wars Universe (at least before Lucas decided green-screen bukkake of racial caricatures was the right direction) died last week.

We heard music from:

Bedknobs & Broomsticks, 1971 - Irwin Kostal

Creepshow, 1982 - John Harrison

Star Wars trilogy, 1977-1983 - John Williams

Vision Quest, 1985 - Tangerine Dream

Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey, 1991 - David Newman

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