BLACK SABBATH

BLACK SABBATH – Earliest Known Recordings!

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Interesting story about acetates featuring the earliest known recordings of Black Sabbath. Recorded on the very cusp between Earth and Sabbath, the songs are a mix of blues and psychedelic, but there's no mistaking Ozzy.

Transylmania (2009)

I saw the trailer for Transylmania last year and, being a sucker for vampire movies of any kind thought that it looked like it might be worth a look. And I'm conflicted. Really conflict.

I'm going to waste your time by beating around the bush here--the movie sucks. It really sucks. And yet...I enjoyed it. Maybe it was the mood I was in, or my expectations were just low enough to find it amusing, but if taken in small pieces, there's some okay stuff there. The jokes are lame, the acting uniformly crapacious, and the script is all over the place--seldom in a good way. But somewhere around the latter two thirds of the movie the ratio of dreck to watchable reverses itself, and the last 20 minutes of so are quite good.

It's obvious that the writers love both vampire movies and teenage sex comedies and know their stuff. The problem is that they can't resist cramming every single convention and cliche they could think of into the 90 mins. There's a reason why Hammer films never made teen comedies, and a reason why the hacks responsible for Date Movie -style "comedy" never made sophisticated gothic dramas.

These guys tried to do both and the result is never funny enough to be the first or classy enough to be the second. There are about 2 actual laugh out loud moments (both too graphically tasteless to make it to the trailer, where all the otherwise watchable footage went) and some nicely atmospheric set pieces, but the aforementioned crappy acting and paper-thin characters manage to undermine those potentially brighter moments.

Bottom line: if there's nothing on TV and you are watching this movie without having had to pay anything for the dubious privilege, then you might not loathe yourself too much for enjoying it. Otherwise, stay away

Upcoming Movie: Black Death

There's a British Horror/Fantasy movie coming out on May 28th called Black Death that seems to be sailing under everyone's radar, which is a little surprising giving the pretty awesome trailer (see below) and the acting talents of Sean Bean. Reading the sketchy sypnoses that I've been able to find made me think immediately of "The Navigator", and "The Church"--two movies of which I have fond memories. The trailer made me think that my initial knee-jerk reaction was way off, but it looks like a very worthwhile flick. Hopefully it will get a wide enough distrobution that I can see it on the big screen.

AC/DC meets Iron Man 2

I finally got around to seeing Iron Man this weekend, and was very pleasantly surprised. Robert Downey Jr. continues to impress (his Sherlock Holmes was simply brilliant) and the movie, while not stunningly original, was solid in just about every way. I'm now looking forward to the sequel more than ever.

Iron Man 2 comes out later this week, and since Marvel and Columbia Records cut a deal for cross promotion, AC/DC's music will grace the soundtrack, and in return footage for the movie was used to create video for AC/DC, perfoming "Shoot To Thrill". Enjoy!

Rush's Return to the Limelight -- RollingStone.com

Music -- Latest News -- Rush's Return to the Limelight -- RollingStone.com

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We talked about this on the air a couple of weeks back, but this Rolling Stone interview with Geddy Lee gives a few more details. The speculation that Rush would be previewing new material on this tour and releasing it piecemeal seems to be true. Some interesting comments about Moving Pictures too.

Thanks to Wheezer, the Cincinnati Metal God, for providing the link

In other exciting Rush news, the two year campaign to get the band a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame will come to fruition on June 25. Donna Halper, who is the American radio dj who "discovered" their first album over 30 years ago has been the driving force behind the campaign. No details about the unveiling ceremony have been released yet, but when I know, you'll know (or you can check out the Rush Is A Band blog and probably find out the same time I do).

Rush Documentary due out this month

And here's a preview clip featuring some interesting photos and some comments from Geddy's mom!


rush clip 2
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Resident Evil: Afterlife

It's that time of year: time to start planning what summer blockbusters I want to see. I thought that the were finished with the live-action RE movies, but I guess the lure of 3D and the current cachet for sci-fi flicks was too much for the producers to pass up. I'm hoping that the current rage for 3D isn't going to serve as a way of making piss-poor movies seem better than they are (Clash Of The Titans, anyone?), but I'm willing to give this one a shot.

Type O Negative's Peter Steele Remembered As 'Genius' By Fans

Another story about Peter Steele, this time from MTV.

Type O Negative's Peter Steele Remembered As 'Genius' By Fans

Type O Negative frontman dead

Peter Steele, singer and bassist for Type O Negative, has died following an unspecified illness. He was 48.
The announcement was made on the band's website on Thursday, but I literally found out about it about five minutes ago. To be honest, I'm somewhat surprised that I'm as upset as I am at this moment. Let me explain:

Type O Negative was always a (for want of a better term) problematic band for me. Much of their stuff was dreadful--and they made no effort to deny the fact, which in turn made me admire their honesty. Some of their stuff was quite brilliant.  Sometimes it was hard to tell which was which.

The gloomiest band on the planet, yet with a delightfully dry and subtle sense of humour and a relish for the absurd that greatly appealed to me. I haven't played them in years--not because I don't like them (I do), but because somehow they just seem to slip off the radar, lying fallow until they rise up and hit you right between the eyes with a new release or a new story in the metal press. In recent years, Steele's ongoing health (ahem) concerns have kept them out of the studio and therefore out of the spotlight, but once again they've risem up and hit us right between the eyes--this time in a way that is both profound and tragic.

Peter Steele, R.I.P.

CANOE -- JAM! Music: Type O Negative frontman dead

Review: The Shadowless Sword (2005)

The Shadowless Sword is a bit of a conundrum.  It has ever appearance of being a classic wuxia film.  A historical epic taken from Chinese history.  Lots of action and swordplay.  Heroes and villians with skills bordering on magic, and at the heart of it all a tragic love story.  So imagine my surprise to find out that despite all this (and being filmed in China to boot), this is actually a Korean movie.  Perhaps this is more common than I thought, but I must say the Koreans did a damned fine job  on this one.

Based on the struggle between the Balhae and Khitan kingdoms in the 10th century, the story concerns the efforts of  Yeon Soha  to bring Prince Jeonghyun back from exile to re-establish the kingdom of Balhae.  Now a petty criminal, Prince Jeonghyun  is the last remaining member of the Royal Family to escape assassination by the notorious Killer Blade Army.  While the Killer Blade Army is working for the Khitan, it's leader has a much more personal grudge against the Royal Family, which sets him at odds with his employers, who wish to use Jeonghyun as a puppet king.

Intrigue and history aside, the movie is a classic quest tale, with  Jeonghjyun and Yeon Soha's journey from exile to the headquarters of the Balhae forces mirroring an internal journey from vagabond to king, and from antogonistic strangers to lovers, all the while fighting, evading and/or fleeing from the Killer Blade Army.

This movie rocks for to major reasons.  Number one is that it looks amazing!  The scenery, the sets, the costumes and the actors are all a treat to watch.  I'm guessing that this morning probably cost a fraction of  a comparable American epic would cost, and yet you could put this side by side with any one of them without shame.  Seriously, it looks that good.  The second reason is that the action is brilliant.  Sure, there's the obligatory wire-work, and sure, there's times when it all becomes a little implausible, but even those moments are done with such conviction and style that they actually work.  The centrepiece fight scenes take place between Yeon Soha and Mae Yung-ok (the second in command of the Killer Blade Army), and they are almost hypnotic to watch--a combination of kung-fu, swordplay, and ballet.

The climax manages to evoke both tragedy and pathos, without straying into maudlin.  More Hero than House Of Flying Daggers, and very satisfying within the story.  If you think that the wuxia genre in the west peaked with Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, then you need to see this movie.  Seriously.  See it.