Backspin

Week ends.


It's an heartbreakingly gorgeous day here in MPLS for once. It seems like the entire spring has been a cold, rainy affair but as soon as June rolled over we've had warmer weather. It's almost as if May was the month for the weather to get the water out of its system before it got hot. Anyway, it's too nice to sit inside writing about music, so I'll just tell you about something I love and get on my way. 

If you're like me, you probably love folkster extraordinaire Sufjan Stevens. Fantastic music that bobs and weaves, floating in and out of your ears. In particular, the album Come On, Feel The Illinoise. Great, unusual music that is not quite unlike Andrew Bird. As wonderful as it is, I do, in fact, prefer a secret remix of the album. Done by Donald Glover under his DJ alter ego mcdj, the album Ill-inoise! serves as a complete reworking of the Sufjan Stevens masterpiece. The resulting remixes are absolutely gorgeous. It's as if Glover took these beautiful but grounded balloons and just undid the tethers that grounded them. All of the tracks have a lightness to them, partly from the raised pitch of the original samples, but also stemming from the fact that there are some deftly crafted drum loops and atmospheric touches. Glover's sense of space and style show an intrinsic love of his craft and a deep understanding of the source material.

I find it quite fascinating that our culture has taken such flight with the idea of reworking pre-existing works of art - I struggle to think of other generations where there has been such a movement that is so meta-contextual and almost self referential. I've written about the circular nature of our mashup culture; I've also heard grumblings from older generations about the shallow nature to the culture as a result. Some would say it certainly seems a mixed blessing at best. I don't think that's the case - after all, listen to how gorgeous this album turned out when mixed by a second artist. What are the odds that he would have created a similar work in his own right if the source material hadn't existed? That's your homework assignment - download this album and make notes. Test is Monday. 


I'll leave it at that and let the remixes speak for themselves. Go find mcdj and his music here - it's serene music for a barbecue or pool party scene like today. I'll see you tomorrow.

The Great and Powerful

Holy Hannah, cats.

Friday, at last.

So I'm back to writing about some post-grunge guitar driven alternateen-anthems once again. I wrote, a while back, about a concert experience that turned me on to one of my favorite bands, The Get Up Kids. I mentioned, in passing, seeing the band Ozma as an opener. You know what? I still dig Ozma in their own weird way, even after all these years. 

One could get the sense that Ozma, hailing from Pasadena, frequently got labeled some variation on the derisive 'Weezer Lite', a term I heard hurled at them during that show. I dug their sound, though. Personally I found it to be similar enough but distinctive and unique in their own right, enough that I half heartedly sought out their music after the show. Unfortunately their performance was eclipsed in my eyes by that of The Get Up Kids, and I soon forgot about the little emo band that could. About a year later, killing time in study hall, a friend of mine fired up a certain f s program that shall remain nameless. Agog that she had installed it on a school computer (it was a different time, then) I asked to see what she on on the horrendously under powered pc. Among the tracks was Ozma's awesome introductory track with which they had opened their show - 'Domino Effect'.

"Oh my god Ozma!" I shouted.

She cocked her head, conjuring. "Oh yeah, we were at that show together, huh?" We weren't super close, if you couldn't tell... 

I loved the song and listened to it on that pc in the computer lab whenever I had class in there. But then time passed, she graduatued and the teacher cleaned out the hard drive. I forgot all about Ozma and that song. I was about to go off to college myself when I was poking around a Best Buy, looking for something I can't recall, when I saw that album by Ozma, Rock and Roll Part Three. I immediately switched gears and went gung ho for Ozma, throwing it into my car's CD player on the way home. The night of the concert came rushing back to me, hearing those songs. The excellent opener, the eversoslightly Western tinged 'The Ups and Downs', the crushing and epic 'Battlescars', a song whose power and heft still drive me crazy today. As much as I love those tunes, though, I still can't get over the bizarre and hopelessly pleading love letter to the genius pixie, 'Natalie Portman' - it's a strangely written track that rocks, never the less. A churning, rolling affair of power chords, octave-riffs and morose lyrics, singer Ryan Slegr wails the final lines of the song in resignation and frustration, belting "There's nothing! There's nothing! There's nothing I can do!" It comes across as an amazing mix of heartbreakingly sad and a touch absurd. Basically, I love it.

The band split in the last decade, only to get back together in the last few years. To be honest I've fallen out of step with Ozma, not really following their developments, but I still love Rock and Roll Part Three. There are some fantastic songs on there that not only feel great but they bring me back so vividly to that unbelievable great show. Give it a listen.

Dinosaur Bones

Hidy ho, friends.


I am totally tapped.


Turns out helping your better half plan the wedding in addition to being a normal, productive member of society is a tiring thing. Who knew? Movie Week is officially over - it was fun while it lasted but I oughta get back to my meat and potatoes, my bread and butter, my sturm and drang. So excuses, excuses - I'll give another truncated post and tell you just a bit about how I cam to love Dinosaur Jr.


I missed the boat on J Mascis, the sole musician responsible for 95% of what Dinosaur Jr. is and does. I was just too young to have been exposed to it in their heyday. As I've written before, my older brother was an excellent repository for guitar-driven rock music that might have come just ohsoslightly before my time. Not only did he (consciously or unconsciously) guide my musical development but his friends did as well. One such friend was in the habit of selling me his old CDs for cheap, like dollar-a-pop cheap, which was a god-send to a Middle West teenager with no internet to speak of. So once in a blue moon, when the fates would align and I could tag along to their place, the older brother would get pre-occupied and I could get a crash course in the friend's musical world. It was revelatory, to say the least. 

One of the many things I got turned on to during one of these crash courses was Dinosaur Jr. He was in the midst of telling me how much he loved Wesley Willis when he tossed a CD onto the pile I had established on the floor, saying "Oh, Dinosaur Jr.'s great, you gotta hear that - it's basically one guy playing all the instruments over himself," and that was it. No more preamble, just that. So I took it, along with the stack of other discs he was done with, back to my place and devoured them. It was, in hindsight, some good songwriting draped in distortion and insane guitar solos, but there was something about it so new (despite the fact it was more than five years old) that I struggled to retain the sound. 


The CD was the EP Whatever's Cool With Me, which was really just the single and a handful of strong b-sides and a couple of live tunes. Up until that point in my life I hadn't really branched out and found things that weren't getting exposure on MTV or the radio, so something like Dinosaur Jr. was an important step into a new world for me. It was the kind of thing where you listen to it and love it, then when you try to recall it later your mind can't quite recreate the sound because it isn't used to it. Does that make sense? I hope it does, because its a fun sensation and it rarely happens anymore. 

The EP is still one of my sekrit favorite things, with this unbelievable sense of melody hidden under the grungey trappings of the era. The title track is great, 'Sideways' is a lovely little pop tune. 'Not You Again' still rocks, with its upbeat, cheery distortion and crazy solos. 'The Little Baby' was intense for me, at the time, the first I'd heard proto-screamo. 


If you've never heard anything by Dinosaur Jr., this might not be the best place to start. It was, for me, an interesting jumping off point, as it was between albums and eras for the band and I had my curiosity piqued right as they went on hiatus. Always behind the curve, eh? Regardless, give the band a listen, they've got some great songs.

Movie Week Memoriam

Ladies and gentlemen, here we have it!


The sad yet poignant end to Movie Week. 


I've just arrived home from the premier screening of the locally made, insanely funny Wasted On The Young and I have to say - it is funnier than I could have ever hoped. I mean there were times I felt I should stifle myself, lest I ruin someone else's good time. I howled out loud, along with the rest of the sold out theater. Hell, the 9 pm show was sold out, too. I would love nothing more than to give a thorough recapping of the lovable indie film fresh from Paperback Productions, but do to my intimate involvement with the movie, objectivity is almost non-existent. That being said, I absolutely adored the scenes I wasn't in, relishing the performances of my friends and neighbors. It was also an amazing curiosity to see a motion picture shot entirely on VHS - the aesthetic was both unique and enjoyable. If you're interested, head over to the site and buy it for a single dollar. That's less than a sandwich! I won't say anymore at this point, to avoid accusations of shilling. What I will do, instead, is compile every post thus far on the subject of movies. See, I mostly just write about them, not act in them. So here goes:


Brick - a phenomenal, understated, modern day noir flick set in a CA high-school, starring the amazing Joseph Levitt.
Monsters - a quiet, evocative film on a shoestring budget about societal implications of aliens in Mexico. Awesome.
Cloverfield - the flipside to Monsters, wherein a Cthulian-esque monstrosity attacks NY. Very post-9/11.
Fan Edits - a look at the fascinating world of fan edits and how they change our perceptions.
Spirited Away - one of my favorite movies, ever. A beautiful, heartfelt tale of growing up. And ghosts!
The Matrix Trilogy - the groundbreaking series that looks even more impressive in hi-definition. A must see.
Moon - a moving but lonely and ultimately heartbreakingly human science fiction movie. Duncan Jones is a genius.
Mystery Team - the Derrick Comedy debut feature, an absurd take on Encyclopedia Brown, starring Donald Glover.
The Ride - the shorth film that accompanied 30 Seconds To Mars' single 'Kings & Queens. Heavy and gorgeous.
Inception - a look at how music shapes the experience of this phenomenal thriller. Heady, intelligent stuff.
MST3K - the absolute best of the worst. Manos, Hobgoblins, This Planet Earth. You name it. Yikes.
Akira - an examination of how scene and setting impacted my perspective of the Japanese breakout hit.
Terminator - some of the smartest science fiction movies ever, even if the continuity and quality tapers off.
Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs - surprisingly smart and funny, a great under rated and recent movie.
Oldboy - harrowing stuff, but some of the most original film-making I'd seen in years. Watch it with the kids! (Don't)
Wasted On The Young - Minneapolis-made movie makes moves. I'm so proud of everyone involved.
Pleasantville - see Tobey Maguire and Reese Witherspoon before they were stars. It's a charming 90s movie.
Silent Hill - an uneven, but enjoyable horror flick I love more for the soundtrack than anything.
Chasing Amy - Kevin Smith's best work, an honest and moving look at relationships, with plenty of dick jokes, to boot.


There we are, kids. Quite a few, so feel free to peruse and see what you find. I plan on doing more on movies later, but I ought to get back to what I do best. In the future though, I'd like to branch out more, do more themes. Maybe books? Games? Lord knows the web is full of guys like myself writing about video games. Something more obscure....perhaps comedy? Who knows. Hey, I'm open to suggestions - drop a line and let me know what you think! 

Agent Smith

Back at it, huh? 

Movie Week continues, for just two more days. In the spirit of this site, I thought I'd write today's piece on a movie that I loved long ago which doesn't seem to get the same respect it once did. That movie? Chasing Amy, written and directed by Kevin Smith. Yes, that Kevin Smith. 

While I have written more than a few pieces on this site about being behind the pop-culture curve or not picking up on the zeitgeist, this movie is one instance in which I was fairly in the know, at least from where I was sitting. Like I've previously explained, growing up in the less densely populated parts of the Middle West, you have to make your own fun and find your own niche. This was especially hard before the ubiquity of the interwebs and access to anything faster than dial up. However, being a teenaged male in America, I was well aware of the indie hit Clerks and the mangled-but-eventual cult success Mallrats and the inherent appeal to my sensibilities. Long winded diatribes about the political ramifications of Star Wars. Comic book references galore. Believable everyman characters. Smith may receive some flack for diminishing returns these days but I still love his canon, if solely for the Askewniverse. So when I heard about his followup to Mallrats, the low budget and character driven Chasing Amy, I was curious. I also had heard about the subject of the film's plot, namely that of a straight man pining after his lesbian friend. I never had a chance to see the movie in any of the major chains around me when it was first released, but I did seek it out upon its release to VHS soon after. Yes, VHS. I do remember what that was like. 

No bones about it, I still dig this film, a decade on. There's something so genuine and heartfelt about it. Say what you will about the nature of sexuality and predilections for human behavior, I can't speak from a sociologist or psychologist's perspective. As a straight male in my late 20s I can hardly speak of the broader world of human sexuality. It feels to me, though, that this was Smith's first foray into cinematic maturity and making a movie that, while still riddled with the low-hanging fruit of lowbrow humor, it possesses a humanity that revealed his charm as a writer and director. Clerks had been a DIY, almost guerrilla-style, self funded project. Mallrats had given him a larger budget and Hollywood production values, only to see him (slightly) misfire under the pressure, but that film's (initially) poor reception could almost be chalked up to the public and the industry's misunderstanding his wheelhouse. We didn't know then what we know now about his strengths and weaknesses. I, for one, would find it fascinating for him to make Mallrats as present day Kevin Smith and see what the results would be. More crudity, but maybe more heart, as well. Not to say the version we have doesn't have it, but I haven't seen the recut and expanded version of the movie that he released in recent times. But that's an article for another day. 

I'm rambling. 

The point is, I found (and still find) Chasing Amy to be a film that perfectly encapsulated what Smith's style is all about. He may certainly disagree, especially considering how much time has passed since he made it, but I think it's a very enjoyable mix of levity and sincere emotional events. The script is Smith doing what he does best - riffing on pop culture while giving characters some excellent dialogue to build scenes on. That he has some terrific actors enlisted does no harm, as I've always loved watching Jason Lee and it's funny to see Ben Affleck right before he exploded into stardom. They're fun to watch together on screen, and it shows how actors having chemistry is crucial to making a movie work. The majority of the cast were Smith's friends, including ex-girlfriend Joey Lauren Adams, who does a fantastic job bringing her character to life. Smith has shared some interesting anecdotes in regard to how the studio wanted to recast the film in order to provide a higher budget. I'm glad he stuck to his guns - what would this movie have gained from a quadrupled budget if it had starred David Schwimmer? Sorry Ross. The chemistry among the cast is what sells the film, really. Well, that and the fact that basically one guy being responsible for almost everything you see on screen. 

Having listened to his commentaries and podcasts, one quickly picks up on the fact that Smith simultaneously makes no apologies for his work and is also the first to jump on the critical dogpile. I get that he's not Martin Scorsese or Woody Allen, but I wish he would tone down the self deprecation. Hearing him bag on his own work only brings the flaws to light, most of which I wouldn't really be aware of if he wasn't pointing them out. I specifically recall him pointing out a shot in Mallrats that is very deep and then joking about his lack of depth in his canon. As a layperson who knows little about the process of film making and camera placement I never would have noticed it. Now I am finding myself remembering that every time I see a deep shot. In regard to Chasing Amy, though, he has had little (that I've heard) critical to say. I think he holds this film closer to his heart, due to its personal relevance to his own experiences and relationships. It's easily held by many critics as his best work, even today, and it's plain to see why.

If you've never seen Chasing Amy in the 10+ years its been out, you're way over due. It would be a real shame if you only knew him as the caricature he sometimes plays up. Sure he can be crass or foul, but along with that you get a film maker who creates real characters and witty, insightful dialogue. Do yourself a favor and rewatch it, even, just to see what made him a name in the first place. It's good, you'll like it. 

Radio Static

Man, these things keep getting later and later.


Hope your weekend was as good as mine, a mix of extreme productivity and quantifiable unwinding. Movie Week continues, but not for long. Tonight, a short look back at an under rated but curious example of the game-to-screen phenomenon. 


I've written a fair deal about my love for Silent Hill, particularly the second installment of the game series. The first post I ever wrote was on how much I love the work of the series' composer, Akira Yamaoka. Imagine, then, my delight when I heard several years ago that there were plans to adapt the games into a film. I was, of course, skeptical about the process, as anyone who has seen video game-based movies like Super Mario Brothers, Double Dragon, Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat can attest, the results are never strong. My fears were dissuaded by the professed admiration of Christopher Gans, a French director who swore up and down that the movie was a labor of love and a dream project of his. So, expectations hovering in the middle, I went to see the big screen adaption of Silent Hill when it was released in theaters.


It was...okay.


I really wanted to love the movie. There were parts of it that absolutely nailed the tone and mood of the surreal-yet-disturbing game series. Other elements were less cohesive or just not that strong. It was, in short, an uneven affair that shone brightly at times but faltered when it came to sticking the ending. Part of the problem, obviously, comes in the translation from game to cinema - games are solitary, intensely personal experiences, whereas a major motion picture is seen in a theater full of people without your hands guiding the experience. Where I had played these games alone in the dark, tensely feeling my way through the dread and abandoned corridors, here was a movie played in a theater in which seemingly disparate elements were forced into an unconfused whole.

There are definitely parts of the film that work, in particular the first half of the movie. In it, we see a great deal of imagery and themes central to the games, without just copying them wholesale. The pervasive fog, the flickering radios, the uncanny movement of things in the mist - some of it plays out as ideally as a film version of Silent Hill could do. In particular, the music and score for these establishing scenes are fantastic, basically amounting to a pseudo-greatest hits of the game's music. Yamaoka's influence on the series is felt strongly here and it works to great effect. The script is not a stand-out element, but the cast does a solid job in handling insane material, making the impossible somewhat believable. It's only as the movie progresses that we lose sight of where we started. While the games excelled at atmosphere and ambient dread there was also a fair degree (okay a hell of a lot of) graphic violence and disturbing images. The film, unfortunately, forgets or confuses the emphasis, switching out effective scene-settings for gore and viscera. By the end of the movie we've strayed straight into a torture film, watching characters suffer seemingly out of obligation rather than plot necessity.

Silent Hill is far from a perfect movie, but it still holds its own, if just for that opening 35 or forty minutes. If I ever wanted to explain the series to someone and have them experience it without them playing it I would have them watch the begging of this movie. Just not the last leg - too brutal, even for me at times. Still, glad to have as strong an adaptation as this. We'll see what happens with the sequel, due next year. As long as they use Akira Yamaoka's music, I'm in.

Changing Times

Kids!


The kids these days, what with their rocknroll music and their societal progressions!


I was out to dinner tonight with my better half and my younger brother, talking about movies in honor of Movie Week, and while we established several good ideas for later posts, we struggled to find something appropriate for tonight. Then my younger brother made a joke about black and white TVs and it hit us all at once.


Pleasantville!


You guys remember Pleasantville? You totally should, it actually holds up as a pretty cool movie, especially considering the star power it now possesses, retroactively. Released in 1998, the movie starred Tobey Maguire and Reese Witherspoon as a couple of jaded, disaffected kids from the millennial era (picture Roy from the Simpsons) who end up trapped in the fictional world of the TV series Pleasantville. All seems well until some incidental changes are made to the established social norms. Suddenly up is down, wrong is right and what was black and white is now Technicolor.

What was kind of a gimmicky premise turns out to be a cool, dynamic choice for film making, even today. The movie's stark color palette and distinctive tone are really fascinating presentations for what amounts to be a fairly rote morality play about civil rights and the progression of society. 

While not a groundbreaking film in any major sense of the word, Pleasantville still stands as an intersting, if overlooked, film from right around the millennium. If you're looking for something to pop in to help unwind over the long weekend, give this movie a shot, if for no other reason than to see some major players of the modern Hollywood scene in their younger days. I'll see you tomorrow for another Movie Week post.

Product Placement

Word.


Saturday.


Memorial Day Weekend.


Forgive the brevity of the post, there's been life and wedding planning intervening in my writing schedule. That's not an excuse of any kind, just insight into my world.


You might know that last week I spent the better part of 1000 words extolling the virtues of Galaxy Farm and the music they make. Additionally I made it perfectly clear that I have a relative in the band, which should not (but probably does) affect my objectivity. Today, for Movie Week, I thought "The hell with objectivity" and decided to spread the good word about something I took part in two summers ago. That something?


Wasted On The Young.


Set in the Twin Cities, the movie was written and produced by some of my closest friends, including (but not limited to): Evan Drolet Cook, Riley Lang and Joseph Voelbel. Starring lots of local fresh faces and veterans of the industry, the movie is essentially about a group of young 20-somethings over the course of a summer and the effect that one of the friends learning to drive has on the entire group. It also features a small role played by me, in my limited capacity as an actor. Having seen snippets of the film, I can tell you that I expect great things from it, as it proves to be damn funny and even, dare I say, touching at times. Yes, I do dare say it. But it's the good kind of touching, not the bad kind your parents warned you about.

Here's the best part - not only can you see the trailer for Wasted On The Young here, you can buy some of the few remaining tickets to the premier at Trylon Microcinema June 1st and 2nd here. Unfortunately both 7pm shows are completely sold out, but there are a few left for the 9pm showings. Even better, if you can't make it to one of the theatrical showings, the movie will be available on the website for downloading DIRECTLY TO YOUR COMPUTER FOR HOME-VIEWING for a mere 99 cents! How bananas is that? I think that's a hell of a deal for a locally made movie.

Do yourself a favor and get on board the Wasted On The Young bandwagon before buzz catches on and you're the last to see it. I guarantee you'll find something to laugh at, even if it's something so simple as a movie being shot entirely on VHS. You heard me right.


See it. Live it. Love it.


BYOB.

Ticking Clock

Oh, kids. 

Here we go. 

Chances are, unless you're a bit of a film buff, you haven't heard of the 2003 South Korean flick Oldboy. That's really a shame, considering how good it is. Despite the quality of the movie though, I will start today's write up with the warning that this movie is most certainly not for everyone. There are some visceral, graphically v scenes, as well as some uncomfortable themes that are gonna put some people off the movie. That being said - if you're still with me, you have to see this movie. 

I think I first became aware of it a couple years ago, from the same hip friend who turned me on to Andrew Bird and Doomtree. Talk about a jumping off point. Anyway, I had seen the case for the DVD kicking around his apartment and asked, casually, what it was. His response? "Oh, dude - it's this crazy movie about a guy who's locked up for 15 years with no idea why and then he's just let out into the world and he starts to find out why. It's crazy, really messed up but good." That sums up not only the most basic gist of the movie but how my friend could also sell me on it without spoiling too much of the plot, hooking me in at the same time. On a certain level, he hit the nail on the head. If we were to go deeper we would find there is much more going on in one of the greatest movies to ever emerge from South Korea. 

The story is much more complicated than Rizzo's succinct, encapsulation-take. The overall plot concerns a man by the name of Oh Dae-Su who is mysteriously abducted after being released from police custody, having been picked up on d and d charges. He awakens to find himself in a sealed apartment with only a TV for information, finding out his wife has been m and that he is the primary suspect. His meals consist of nothing but dumplings on a tray, slid through the door. Any attempt at escape or s find him being gassed unconscious by unknown forces. Passing the time shadowboxing and exercising, he remains imprisoned for 15 years, only to be released, unceremoniously back into the world with no explanation. Starting out from square one, he begins the process of piecing together the hows and whys of his imprisonment in a quest for vengeance against the parties responsible. Before we reach the end of the film he is a broken and shattered man, having confronted his past and questioned his own life to arrive in a place of (potential) resolution. I won't go any farther into detail to save you the pleasure and horror of the journey Dae-Su endures, but it was a harrowing experience simply watching the movie, to say the least. 

I watched this movie, alone, for the first time over a Christmas break when my better half was visiting family. Maybe it was being alone for the holidays or maybe it was the emotional turmoil in the movie, but Oldboy really affected me. There's visceral, realistic violence, disturbing emotional content and staggering plot developments. It is unlike any film I had seen up until then. By the time I finished watching it, midnight had come and gone, along with a bottle of wine, and I felt I had to wash the taste of the harrowing plot out of my mouth with something light hearted. Just a little cartoon to lighten the mood before bed. That being said, it is a beautiful, artfully shot movie with a distinctive style that is refreshingly un-Hollywood and completely novel for American audiences. Plus, a a dude eats a live octopus on camera. Ferreals.


If you're looking for an adventure for your Friday night, or like me, your weather is going to suck this long weekend, watch Oldboy. It's a trip, but not for the faint of heart. Tread lightly and be prepared. It's unreal.

Spotty Weather

Alright, gang - it's movie week. I'm calling it.

Instead of spending my posts positing about unheard or under-appreciated albums of yesteryear I'm going to delve into movies for the next week, writing about some forgotten or overlooked gems that deserve just as much love as the musicians. Think of it as an experiment or a broadening of horizons. IF you love it, gravy. If you hate it, it's only a week, so no worries. Strap in, then, as we draw back from science fiction ever-so-slightly and look at a more recent, more family friendly flick, Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs.

I know what you're thinking. "Really? A movie based on that children's book? Why not just make a movie about Candyland, while you're at it?" Well, the powers that be in Hollywood are already working on that, and in my defense - Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs is good. Like, really, really good. I honestly wouldn't have given it the time of day were it not for a write-up on sci-fi emporium io9, which basically sold me on the movie. I, like many others, had dismissed it as just another schlocky, CGI'd kid's movie that was probably done on the cheap for a quick buck. What reason would I have to suspect otherwise? It was when I read the io9 article explaining how it was the stealth sekritbest science fiction movie of the summer that I thought about giving it a second look, and I was really glad I did.

 We all loved the book, growing up, right? But there's not a lot to it, so I assumed there would be some fleshing out of details to create a decent plot. Turns out the script writers created a believable and charmingly funny world out of the bare-bones plot established by the children's book. To condense the entire plot without spoiling all the fun, an optimistic but terribly unlucky young inventor named Flint has been struggling with failure and not achieving recognition for some of his more...unusual creations. Creations like spray-on, permanent shoes, rat-birds and a thought-translator for his pet monkey, Steve. Eeking out an existence with his gruff but loving father in the island/town of Swallow Falls, Flint has grown tired of the sardine-based lifestyle everyone living there depends on, from tourism to horrible meals. So he sets out to fix it with a water based food generator, "Flint Lockwood's Diatomic Super Mutating-Dynamic Food Replicator" (or the FLDSMDFR) . Something gets supercharged, the experiment goes wrong and soon food is raining from the sky. A plucky young weather girl comes to report on the bizarre occurrences and a romance of sorts begins. Soon, though, larger and larger portions begin to rain down and something must be done to save the tiny town of Swallow Falls. I know it sounds like I may have had a stroke while writing this last bit here, but trust me, it's an absolutely wonderful movie that is surprisingly funny and incredibly well done, especially in the overstuffed market of family affair, computer generated comedies. 

The voice acting is a major part of what makes this movie so great. SNL alum and ubiquitous modern comedy star Bill Hader delivers a genuine performance as the endearing but constantly-failing Flint. Anna Faris and her distinctive comedy timing compliment the romantic subplot as well as the main drive of the film. Neil Patrick Harris provides the voice of Steve the monkey, in an amusing cameo. Andy Samberg channels his energy into the local child celebrity-turned-washed-up adult Brent, showing his schtick through his vocal chords instead of his flailing body language, for a nice change. There's a cop whose small but significant role made me look him up to verify it is indeed Mr. T providing the voice. Also - Bruce Campbell as The Mayor! The acting is all very energetic without being manic, the characters possessing some genuine motivation despite the outlandish settings and scenes. 

Visually, the film is astounding. There are times, when watching, that you'll see food and think "I wanna eat that" before you realize it's not real. So often you'll see CGI movies that have clearly phoned it in, getting by on the barest production values. Not so much here - the settings are down-to-earth towns and buildings, the people just a tad cartoony (deftly avoiding the uncanny valley) and the action set pieces are executed insanely well. This movie is filled with little moments that make me go agog, staring at something like the fluid waves of a Jello castle or a garbage can in an alley, thinking "this looks way too good for this movie." It's even better in Blu Ray, to boot. There are tons of blink-and-you-miss-it gags to be found that make repeat viewings fun, as well as some incredibly funny call back jokes that made me howl. Some favorite moments, without divulging too much: the jello castle, young Flint and his permanent shoe disaster, the runaway TV, and anything involving Steve and his obsession - gummy bears. 

I know I started movie week off yesterday with some hard sci-fi. Hopefully this recommendation is a little more middle of the pack, but it still shows its nerd-loving, brainy roots at its heart. It's smart, funny, well made and well acted. Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs slipped under the radar a bit when it came out in theaters, but it's totally worth watching, trust me. It is available on Netflix Instant, but do yourself a favor and watch it in HD to really get a sense of what I'm talking about. You won't be disappointed.