What's up, guys! Jaron here. Popping in to drop off this week's film reviews of About Time and Over The Garden Wall. I hope you guys enjoy the reviews, and we'll catch you next week for another round on us! Laterout. About Time Wow. Just… Let me begin with that. Absolutely wow. About Time is an absolutely wonderful piece written and directed by Richard Curtis, who did 2003’s Love Actually as well as the famously impressionable Mr. Bean film, curiously enough. This film stars Domhnall Gleeson as loveable goof Tim, who learns from his father that the males in his family all have the ability to travel through time. Sweet mother of frogswallows, let me tell you about this movie. I yelled. I yelled at the television. I yelled frequently, over and over, as I watched Tim screw up his life countless times. To completely clarify, I was so engrossed in this film that I could not help myself from outbursts of frustration and joy at the events. I wish I could share more about those events, but I really could not bare to spoil too much of it. About Time is clearly a film about appreciating every second of every day that we’re given. It’s with great sadness that I learned of the most recent passing of one of my childhood idols, Leonard Nimoy. His last-sent message into the void that is the twittersphere was thus: “A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory.” (https://twitter.com/TheRealNimoy/status/569762773204217857) I watched as Tim lived and relived so many of life’s perfect moments, and it would be a lie to say that I did not envy his ability. It would be a lie to say I didn’t envy his relationship with his father, or with Mary. It would be an absolute lie to say that I did not spend the majority of silent moments in this film wishing harder than anything that I could walk into my own bathroom, clench my fists, and relive some of the more magical moments of my life if, for no other reason, than to remember them more clearly. About Time is so beyond worth watching, and I absolutely strongly recommend checking it out. Final Score: QWERTY I cried. I cried twice. Over The Garden Wall
Over The Garden Wall is a 10 chapter mini series that premiered on Cartoon Network earlier last year. It was created by Patrick McHale the creative mind behind Adventure Time and The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack. It stars the voices of Elijah Wood, Christopher LLoyd, Melanie Lynskey, as well as many others.Over The Garden Wall is about two brothers (Wirt & Greg) that are struggling to find their way home through a forest known as “The Unknown.” Along their way they meet a talking bird named Beatrice, a peculiar woodsman, creepy pumpkin people, a purely terrifying “Beast,” as well as loads of other odd places and people. When I first heard of OTGW back in December, I thought it seemed very intriguing. I didn’t know anything about the plot, but the art style caught my eye. However, I never got around to watching. So, when Jaron informed me my suggestion was OTGW, I was more than thrilled. Now, having watched OTGW 9 times, I must say that it is a breath of fresh air amongst the neon crazed random abyss that Cartoon Network has become. Don’t get me wrong, I can appreciate shows like Adventure Time or Flapjack, but it feels like recently CN is trying to shove that formula into all of their shows. *cough* clarence *cough* *cough* Ugh... sorry. Over The Garden Wall’s beautiful early 1900’s style, their simplistic character design against their beautifully detailed settings, and their old-timey folk songs makes it a striking and refreshing piece for modern animation. Alright, so let’s get a little deeper into OTGW by discussing the plot/writing. In my personal opinion the overall plot of this series is fantastic.Although OTGW is advertised as a “cartoon,” it deals with very serious themes of fear and growing up. However, there were times in the episodic adventures where I was not thrilled. My main issue was primarily and almost solely Greg’s dream sequence in chapter 8. It came off as very childish amongst some very dark and serious themes. But, that was kind of the point. Greg’s character represents a sort of childish innocence. So, it’s fitting that his dream would be very childish and fun. So, even my issues with this series aren’t even issues. Like I said one of the main themes is fear. Whether it be the fear of growing up, the fear of losing one's daughter or the fear of unleashing a hidden evil. All of the characters suffer from some sort of fear. Primarily the fear of the “unknown.” Which is the name of the forest that Wirt & Greg are trapped in. Fear is actually personified as a character in “The Beast.” “The Beast” is a tall black shadowy figure that we never fully see, except for a millisecond at the end. He is a perfect representation of those thoughts that lurk in the back of your head. The thoughts that creep around late at night that make you question everything in your life. That is what “The Beast” is. He preys on your most darkest fears and exploits them for his own benefit. We see the effect of this fear as Wirt and Greg embark on these little adventures during their travels. They go from place to place and and help people with their problems that are almost always the result of fear. But, as they go through these situations we see a conflict that resides between Wirt and Greg. Wirt and Greg’s relationship is a perfect representation of the optimism of childhood versus the cynicism of adolescence. Greg is a free spirited, easy going, and fun loving little boy. Where as Wirt is a depressed, questioning, and pessimistic teenager. This creates a very interesting conflict between the two characters. For most of us, when we are children, life seems to be the best thing ever. We can’t be afraid of the future because we haven’t experienced much of what life has to offer. But, as we grow and experience hurt, suddenly the future becomes terrifying. This is because if we don’t know what the future holds, that means we don’t know whether or not we’ll get hurt. This fear can become crippling and can prevent us from going or doing anything. This is Greg and Wirt. Greg can’t wait for the next moment of every day. He even states “This is amazing!” while the two of them are being attacked by a gigantic monster dog. Where as Wirt is utterly terrified of what “might” happen. It could be said that Wirt might even resent Greg for his never ending optimism. He is constantly annoyed with Greg’s bubbliness and criticizes him for it. Wirt doesn’t see it as positivity, but rather carelessness. He lets that eat away at him to the point that he nearly loses himself to it. That is until he realizes that his negativity can affect the people he loves. This forces Wirt to rise up and face his fears. He is forced to face “The Unknown.” We all must face our “unknown” at some point in our life. Stand up and face our most terrifying fear. It’s never easy, but we are better in the end because of it. In closing Over The Garden Wall is a beautiful tale about two brothers as they struggle to conquer their fears and find their way home. It’s unexpected stylistic choices are a refreshing change in a sea of sugar crazed mindless cartoon garbage. Over The Garden Wall is unique and remarkable. Final Score: QWERTY There needs to be more animations like this.
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Look at that! Our first review, and it's already a day late. Off to a great start. <3 Hey, guys! Jaron here. Clark and I have come to the collective decision that, to keep this blog updated as well as to just make public something we’ve been doing passively for a while, we’re going to be posting reviews on our blog. Each week, Clark and I have elected to choose three songs and one film for the other to review. The reviews will be compiled between the two of us, and then posted here for you all to read, comment on, and consider freely. We’ll be posting our Three-song music reviews on Wednesday, and our film reviews on Friday. We’ll be rating each piece on a 1-6 scale using “QWERTY” as our scale. A low score would simply be a “Q,” and a high score would then be a full “QWERTY” slide. This week, Clark gave me a solid piece from a youtuber we used to follow back in the day, Julian Smith. You might remember him from his “Jellyfish” days, or his “Malk” skit. Either way, hilarious dude. Great hair. B STORY’s “Back Then” is such a fantastic song, especially for nostalgia addicts like Clark and I. I had the blessing of watching the official video for the song on Julian Smith’s official youtube channel, and let me tell you, I was impressed from a visual standpoint as well as an audio standpoint. This is my maiden voyage into the sea of B STORY, and I’m nothing but happy that Clark sent this to me. The songs rhythmic strumming stacked on top of a chord progression reminiscent of The Pixies’ “Where Is My Mind” carried me through a journey from present to past in mind and heart, and the occasional sonic explosion of a carrying chorus really wrapped me into Smith’s refrigerator spaceship. His voice is, to me, almost unrecognizable from his earlier video works (which, for me, it’s been a few years since I’ve heard his voice). Regardless, a fantastic song. On our QWERTY scale, I’d definitely give it a full QWERTY score. === Bear Hands’ “Agora” was a great experience for me. The semi-lazy vocals remind me a bit of the effortlessness of 90s grunge music, and the manbun the lead vocalist bares (pun) is nothing short of a great modernized interpretation of the grunge movement for today’s generation. Audibly, the song is fantastic. It elicits a cool sensation for me, a sense of sort of darkness with some very real driving percussive elements behind it. Visually, the video I watched was also very well done, though there were moments I felt the vocalist’s performance was only slightly lacking. I do wish the song was longer, but only so I could enjoy it for longer without looping it back over. Definitely a QWERT, lacking one point because of its abrupt ending that left me wishing I had something more to hang onto. === To wrap up my three hyperhipster song reviews, I listened to Yellow Ostrich’s “WHALE”. I thoroughly enjoyed the opening to this song, and the accompanying video (directed by Eric Gross). It sets the mood of slight suspense with a finely tuned vocal harmony which ends up leading into and carrying the rest of the song through and through. I really, really enjoyed the song structure of this, both instrumentally and vocally. The high pass filter on the lead vocals left me waiting for the song to bloom into a full crashing moment, and I was slightly dismayed (and I really do mean only slightly) when the crash came through, and the high pass filter stayed. That, I would say, is the only drawback for me in this song. I’d definitely give this one QWERT, once again, simply for the high pass filter. Needless to say, my music library was expanded this week. The video was stunning, as well; particularly the underwater portion of the video, which occurs about halfway through. As the song concludes with it’s instrumental carry-off, I felt really satisfied. I felt like I’d been told a folktale in the form of song, and it brought to mind how our current generation’s storytelling is very much a matter of mixed media rather than campfire stories. We communicate ideas through film, through music and self-expression. It becomes a method of communication in itself, where we use it as a categorization and pre-screening process when we meet new people. I like that idea - “are we artistically compatible?” - it serves to remind us that art is not dead, and will not die. Hola! Mi nombre es Clark. I would like to put a disclaimer that I in no way consider myself a musician, but rather a lover of music. The reason I state this is because in my reviews I will not be discussing musical theory or really what went into making the song. Mainly because a lot of it just goes right over my head haha. What I look for in a good song is a unique sound combined with thought provoking lyrics. So, that being said, let’s get started.
Artist: Default Genders Song: Sophie Source: http://tinyurl.com/dgsophiesong Ok… So, first off I would like to confess something. Jaron and I are calling these reviews “The Blind Reviews.” This is because we are supposed to enter each suggestion without any knowledge of it prior to listening/viewing each piece. Go in “Blind.” Well… I already broke that rule on our first attempt haha. I had heard this song a few months back while visiting Jaron. I’m pretty sure I had heard it in passing from Jaron’s laptop. Oh well… Even though I had already heard this song briefly, I did not realize how amazing this song truly is. After listening to it several times and analyzing the lyrics, I have come to the conclusion that this song is breathtaking. Its ambient dreamlike sound automatically draws you in within the first few seconds. Its dreamy sound is very fitting given the lyrical content. Part of the reason why I love this song so much is I feel I can relate to the lyrics in a ridiculous way. The singer seems to be struggling with feelings of regret, loneliness and change. Which are things we all struggle with (Myself definitely included.) He repeatedly speaks of how he dreams that he could go back in time and change past events. But, he also speaks of people in his life that want him to go back to the way he was. This creates a very interesting conflict that takes place throughout the song. His continuous want to change his past versus his peers desire for the “old him.” These lyrics combined with the amazing dreamlike synths create a song that is truly phenomenal. I’d say this song definitely gets a full QWERTY. Artist: The Faint Song: Fish In A Womb Source: http://tinyurl.com/fitwsong This was my first introduction into the musical world of The Faint. And I would say that it was a pretty solid first meeting. It definitely has a very unique and cool ambient sound. The lyrics, although out there, are very interesting. I definitely listen to some trippy music, so this was right up my alley. I don’t believe that I have a full grasp of the meaning behind the lyrics, but I’ve only listened to it twice so far. My only gripe with the song is that it is pretty repetitive. But, it is definitely possible that this is done on purpose given the lyric ”Every day is like the first, but with a harder head.” This repeats several times throughout the song. So, it could be said that the repetitive nature of the music is fitting to the lyrics. In conclusion it is a solid song. Although as of now I am not the biggest fan of the repetitive nature of the song. But, that may change upon further analysis of the meaning behind the song. Final Score: QWERT (Although, that may change in the future.) Artist: Names Song: November Source: http://tinyurl.com/nnovembersong So, the song is titled “November” and one of my wants/needs from an artist is that they convey a feeling/emotion through their music. I must say that this band brilliantly conveys the feeling of November. I feel like when I listen to this song I am instantly transported to a quiet, cold, and rainy day In November. That is the best way I can convey the state of mind this song puts me in. It’s so quiet and peaceful. When you play it you can’t help, but forget about everything and just live in that 2 minutes and 54 seconds. No, it is not the most musically or lyrically daring. But, that doesn’t make a good song. In my opinion, a good song is one that forces you to stop and listen to what it has to say. This song accomplishes that in spades. Final score: Full QWERTY. Truly a beautiful piece of music. |
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