In a Minute

Einstein has a well-known quote (that they tried to pass as LL Cool J dialogue in Deep Blue Sea), in which he compares the relative length of a minute when your hand is on a hot stove versus time spent with a cute girl. That dichotomy, of a minute's simultaneous length and brevity, is the subject of two of the three songs posted today. The first, the opening track from the Silver Jews' Starlite Walker record, is a duet between Steve and David, both imploring us to "come in [their] kitchen" to sit with them and spend some time together. Wistful and laconic, they sing that they "never want this minute to end / And then it ends." The song acknowledges that, yes, time is fleeting, but also dense and compendious.

Conversely, the third song (another by Carla Bruni) focuses more on the "soixante petites secondes pour ma dernière minute" -- the last minute of someone's life. It's more urgent than the slow pace of the Silver Jews, who are clearly in no hurry and have the time to contemplate life, rather than the desperate rush to find meaning, validation -- something! -- as the last moment ticks away.

Sandwiched between those songs is a short ditty from Godard's Pierrot Le Fou. Entitled "Twist Pour Jean-Luc," it's one of many compositions he recorded for Pierrot Le Fou and Le Weekend. It's a fun song, and hey, it's just a minute.

Silver Jews -- Introduction II
Antoine Duhamel -- Twist Pour Jean-Luc
Carla Bruni - La Derniere Minute

Early Bergman

Criterion might be the hardest working DVD company right now. They provide their customers with movies of only the highest quality, plus packaging and bonus features that would never appear on the releases of other companies.

The main compliant has always been that their films are too expensive. Well, this is no longer true. Starting this Tuesday Criterion Collection/Eclipse will start releasing films that may have a cheaper price, but still contain the Criterion Collection quality.

Their first release is a collection of early Igmar Bergman films and the following month will see a release of Louis Malle documentaries both for around $50!

TMNT review

I’ve been looking forward to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie since day one. The idea of an all CGI Turtles movie didn’t thrill me, it was just a small concern, and any fears were soon erased with the teaser trailer. In that trailer the Turtles looked like they were ripped from the pages of the comics. Their eyes were the same eyes to be found on Page one of issue one which was a big plus for me. This movie was obviously made by someone who cared about this property.

But somewhere in there something happened. It was like the TMNT movie I had put so much faith in became a safe kid’s film. Now I know that this movie was never going to sniff a rating above PG, but that teaser trailer showed so much promise and these other trailers showed so much….umm…cute monsters. What happened?

So with much hesitation I went and saw it. I was excited, but every ounce of me was waiting for a disaster. What I found instead was a Turtles film that pulled a lot of punches and yet it still manages to work somehow.

The Turtles retain a lot of the characteristics of the comics. Mike is a clown, Don is smart, Raphael is a loner, and Leo is the reluctant leader. Keeping this dynamic is crucial to the movie, and I think director Kevin Munroe realizes that. The Turtles need to act like a fractured family. If Munroe had chosen to ignore this and instead focus on the monsters then this film fails. The arc of this story isn’t in the Max Winters storyline; it’s in the Raphael and Leonardo dynamic, and the stances that they choose to take.

I mentioned the CGI earlier because I still don’t think it works. The humans are animated to be too much like a cartoon. How come a cheap Nasonex commercial has better animated humans then a top of the line Hollywood movie?

What works? The Foot here works better then expected. They are a group lacking a leader since the Shredder’s death. In many ways the Foot is what the Turtles are at the beginning of this film; Leaderless, looking for their place.

I’m not the biggest fan of the monsters and Max Winters story, but it serves its purpose. It is just a backdrop for a much bigger story to hopefully be played out in a sequel. A sequel that would hopefully include the Shredder.

Overall TMNT is a solid children’s film. It doesn’t pretend to be anything more then a fun movie, and you shouldn’t expect as much.

The Shadowy Version #2

This is the second installment of "The Shadowy Version," a regular column featuring the covers of Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet and the original versions. I had planned to feature one of my favorite SMOASP covers, but WFMU took the wind out of my sails with this post, which features not one, not two, but seventy-nine versions of the song "Popcorn." Still, I was pleased to see that my library contains a version not found on their list, which empowered me to persevere. The original, along with a German language version (though I could have asked my girlfriend for a translation, even someone with a cursory knowledge of German should be able to glean the subtleties from a line like "Popcorn ist es gut.") is posted below.

Also included is a cover of Gene Pitney's Eastern-tinged "Mecca," a simple pop song with a wonderful arrangement and ballsy lyrics comparing his girl's house to the holiest of Moslem shrines. It's doubtful someone could write a song like that these days without a load of socio-political baggage attached. I'd like to think there's a missing verse comparing her room to the Masjid al-Haram, but I realize that's wishful thinking. The Shadowy version is a rollicking, upbeat affair. I love Brian's solo in here, subtly changing from the staccato picking of the verse to fuller, more sustained notes. Though his guitar work in Shadowy Men is almost completely un-effected, small nuances in his playing allow for clear delineation of sections.

Hot Butter -- Popcorn
Antoine -- Popcorn (German Language Version)
Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet -- Popcorn

Gene Pitney -- Mecca
Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet -- 13 (Mecca)

Ex-Models

Crossover artists are bound to run into some skepticism. I needn't mention all of the celebrity bands who never got the chance to be taken seriously. Granted, most of them are pretty mediocre, but they should at least be able to prove their cruddiness on their own merits. It's difficult to keep a straight face when you hear of a professional athlete or, oh Lordy, a supermodel announce their intentions to make a record. What's more surprising is the fact that some of these songs are pretty good, that Shaq record exempted, of course. Twiggy quit modeling at an early age to concentrate on acting and music. Ignoring some singles she cut when she was younger, her eponymous debut came out in 1976. It featured the production of Doobie Brother John McFee and the songwriting skills of Doobie Michael McDonald and, uh, Kenny Loggins.

Carla Bruni -- who recently put out an English-language record -- was an Italian supermodel who quit the biz at the age of thirty to concentrate on her chanson career. Though a few eyes rolled, her debut album Quelqu'un m'a dit proved her as a mature and sophisticated songwriter.

Also included is a song by the band Ex Models because they're great.

Twiggy -- Here I Go Again
Carla Bruni -- Le Ciel Dans Une Chambre
Ex Models -- Pink Noise

The Shadowy Version #1

This is the first in a series of posts chronicling the extensive collection of covers from the mighty Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet. Steve Albini said they were the only band he'd be willing to record for free. SMoaSP has always been a favorite around the Hall of Owls. Our last road trip to St. Louis started with the most democratic of ideas: everyone gets one cd to play in the car, and then the next person chooses a cd and so on. By the second day we had all decided to listen to Sport Fishin': The Lure of the Bait, the Luck of the Hook for the remainder of the trip. Like most folks, our familiarity with the band began with Kids in the Hall, though it quickly developed into something far more deep-rooted. The Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet were always relevent, whether it was the first nice day of spring in 1997 or during a late-night drive in 2004. Their cover songs were often standards, but were made new when suffused with the light-hearted mischief that characterized their sound.

We'll begin with two songs from the second side of Savvy Show Stoppers. "Summer Wind," written in 1965 by Henry Mayer and Johnny Mercer, is a crooner standard. The Shadowy version is arranged simply: two guitars, one lead, one rhythm; Reid's sharp, bouncy bass; and a simple brush beat. It's straightforward and unpretentious. "Misty," a piano jazz standard from 1954 and the subject of an early Clint Eastwood-helmed film, has been covered by hundreds of musicians. The Shadowy version has the light touch and sweet romance of a high school prom.

Johnny Mercer -- Summer Wind
Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet -- Summer Wind
Erroll Garner -- Misty
Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet -- Misty

In Memory

Beloved man about town Larry Bud Melman died today at the age of 85. We demand seven days of grieving!

To quote CNN:

"There will be no funeral service for DeForest, who left no survivors."

DVD Releases: March 20th. 2007

It's been far too long since the Care Bears Movie has been available on DVD. Ok, I couldn't even say that with a straight face, but this little slice of 1980's nostalgia has to appeal to someone due to it being the 25th Anniversary of the Care Bears and all. One reason to consider owning it? How about a score by NRBQ, John Sebastian, and Carole King! Still not selling you? Ok, how about Harry Dean Stanton as the singing voice of Brave Heart Lion!

Ed Wood sure could make a shitty movie, and now you can shell out 10 bucks and see six of these shitty movies in the comfort of your own home. That's a cost of $1.66 per shitty movie! This set give you some of Tor Johnson's fines acting! You get Glen of Glenda, Jail Bait, Bride of the Monster, The Violent Years, Night of the Ghouls, and the worst (best?) movie ever made: Plan 9 from Outer Space! But the real treat of this disk looks to be the bonus feature The Ed Wood Story.



I can't tell you how amazingly scary and funny Re-Animator is. Is it a zombie movie? A rip off of Frankenstein? Whatever it is, it's pretty great. Anchor Bay looks like the did a pretty good job putting this together. It's two disks, with the first being a widescreen transfer and two audio commentaries by Director Stuart Gordon and members of the cast. The second disk is full of deleted scenes, extended scenes, a seventy minute documentary, and a bunch of trailers.

Chantal Goya

Despite an auspicious start in Godard's Masculin-Feminin, Chantal Goya's legacy is closer to Raffi than Jean Seberg. Originally a ye-ye girl -- much like the one she played in Godard's film -- she released pop records and appeared in movies until 1975. Then, along with her husband and writing parter Jean-Jacques Debout, built a successful career performing songs for children, complete with elaborate stage design, costume and animation. Her ubiquity was enough to warrant a line of toys, and a ton of records, including numerous crossovers with the likes of Mickey Mouse, Tintin and Babar.

One thing that's endeared her so much to me is the plainness of her voice. She lacked the bratty delivery of France Gall or the throaty sexuality of Francoise Hardy. Instead, she sounds very small in her songs, due in part to the songs' production and in part to the timidity of her singing. There are parts in "Ce Soir On Danse" (a harrowing tale of setting up a dance party) where she is clearly off-key and is shouldered through the end of the bridge by the backup singers. Still, I find this charming and a bit sexy (lord knows my history with quiet, awkward girls).

Still, there's something undeniably appealing about these songs. The opening drumbeat on "Tu M'as Trop Menti" sounds years ahead of its time. She may have been one in a long line of Gainsbourg's chanteuses, but managed to transcend the propped-up, Tammy-style theatrics that were often the result.

Chantal Goya -- Ce Soir On Danse
Chantal Goya -- Lasse-Moi
Chantal Goya -- Tu M'as Trop Menti
Chantal Goya -- Une Echarpe, Une Rose

and one from her current repertoire

Chantal Goya -- Ce Matin un Lapin

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #45

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles began being published by Mirage Studios in May of 1984 until August of 1993. While originally intended to be a parody of the popular mutant comics at the time, it quickly became something that Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird never realized it would be: a merchandising empire. But somewhere between the movie, the Archie comics, the toys, the cereal, and the animated series the original canonical series lost a step. Issue #45, titled "Leatherhead, Too" (First Printing: March, 1992), tries to return the Turtles to their original, more action oriented, roots.

This issue was written and illustrated by Dan Berger, who does a decent job to replicating the tone of the early Eastman and Laird written and illustrated issues. His art is very reminiscent of Batman: The Dark Knight Returns but with a nod towards the animated series, and while that sounds awful, it actually works pretty well.

The issue starts with two splash pages that seem to be lifted directly from issue #1, and then a brief introduction to the turtles and their characteristics. The plot centers on the re-emergence of a leaderless Footclan in New York. This plot point would seem to set up the 13-issue "City at War" arc that concluded Volume 1. The Foot were last seen in the "Return to New York" story arc (issues #19-21) which concluded with the second death of the Shredder, Oroku Saki.

It seems that members of the Foot want revenge for the death of the Shredder and begin using Leatherhead (first appearance Tales of the TMNT #6) as a means to achieve that revenge. Leatherhead is trying to return to the Ultron planet, the planet calls home, when members of the Foot befriend him and secretly ruin the transporter device he was working on (this isn't the dumb wrestling obsessed Leatherhead of the Archie series and cartoon, Leatherhead here is portrayed as being highly intelligent.) This leads Leatherhead to question who are his real friends and his real enemies. After two very brutal battles, with the Turtles and the Foot respectively, the issue ends on somewhat of a sour and depressing note.

While issue #45 seems to be nothing more then a stand alone issue, it may be important to collectors trying to carve out the Turtles versus Foot relationship. This issue directly bridges the events from the second death of Shredder and the return of the Foot in "City at War", which allows the reader to cut out the numerous stand alone and zany dream-like adventures the Turtles have from issues #21-#44.

Welcome to the new Howls of Owls blog, an extension of Hallofowls and Mr. Juziuk. This blog is cooperative, with a team of strong men alternating their interests, be them rare mp3s, microphone reviews, news about our own projects or trivia about future Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle projects.

We hope it to be a fun and dynamic experience, and if it's not, we'll stop doing it. Deal?