says... rent
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Kansas
Sure, lots of TV shows and movies pretend to take place in Kansas. CBS' series Jericha invented its own town here, and who could forget the faux-Topeka house party in Almost Famous with all those "real Topeka people, man."
A refreshing exception to this let's-say-we're-filming-in-Kansas-but-really-film-it-somewhere-else thing is Kansas, a little-known crime drama shot in the summer of 1987 in Lawrence, Topeka and other parts of northeast Kansas. According to the 80s Movie Rewind Web site (www.fast-rewind.com), more than 2,000 Kansans, mostly from the Douglas County area, were extras in the film.
Its slightly far-fetched plot and occasionally cheesy dialogue might bother diehard film buffs, but Kansas is worth watching for its stunning cinematography of our stomping ground, and the fact that you'll recognize the scenery and maybe even some of those people standing around in the parade scene.
become partners in crime, though quickly turn into bitter enemies.The film is full of fights, romance and plenty of Kansas farmhouses.
A young, scruffy Matt Dillon (Crash, There's Something About Mary) stars as a bank robber drifting through the Midwest. In the sunflower state, he meets up with another traveler played by 80s Brat Pack-er Andrew McCarthy.The two become partners
You can rent Kansas through Netflix (www.netflix.com) or Blockbuster Online (www.blockbuster.com).
Matt Dillon in Kansas.
watch
"The Mysterious Ticking Noise" and "They're Taking the Hobbits to Isengard"
While these aren't the only fantasy movie spoofs out there, these are two of the funniest and best-executed ones. And believe us, we've looked. In order to enjoy either of these, however, you must have at least a small place in your heart for these movies. Otherwise, you'll find little to no humor in them. And remember: They're supposed to be dumb.
"The Mysterious Ticking Noise" is one installment of a series of Harry Potter hand puppet shows. This particular one centers around—you guessed it—a mysterious ticking noise. It opens with Snape, who hears the noise and starts singing.
"The Mysterious Ticking Noise."
"Snape, Snape, Severus Snape" in time with the music. But what starts out as a simple ode to himself quickly turns into a noisy melee as each of the main Harry Potter characters adds his or her own name to the song until it's a round-robin including Ron, Dumbledore, Harry Hermione, and even Voldemort. I'd let you in on the source of the ticking, but I wouldn't want to ruin the surprise.
The music for "They're Taking the Hobbits to Isengard" is based on a techno version of the theme music from the Lord of the Rings movies. It is comprised of movie and sound clips, which go surprisingly well with the chosen tempo of the music. Believe it or not, after watching this once or twice, you'll find yourself humming the tune and singing. "They're taking the hobbits to Isengard, gard, g-g-g-gard" to yourself (because if you sang it out loud, people would make fun of you).
"They're Taking the Hobbits to Isengard."
music guy A road map to music utopia
Arctic Monkeys (For fans of The Strokes and Bloc Party)
It's a bit ironic that a band comprised wholly of technologically dense lads would owe most of their success to the unstoppable march of technological progress. For the upbeat, fast-paced and lyrically clever post-punk pop-rock Arctic Monkeys, though, the success is more than merely ironic—it is wholly unexpected. While many in the music industry would consider the group's continued refusal to put record label scouts on their guest lists to be an act of self-sabotage, it has, in fact, allowed the tenacity and devotion of the group's fans to really propel the group to greatness. The Arctic Monkeys' fans have shown that, in an age when RIAA lawyers sue their own customers while lowering artists' compensation, true talent can still provide a pathway to stardom and succeed.
After the group of four friends formed in 2002, they started playing some small local venues while handing out free demos to anyone who would take them. Now, so far this is a pretty normal way to achieve success (a lot of successful bands start out like this), but then the group veered sharply down the road less traveled... After garnering a fervent fan-base around Sheffield (UK), the labels and agents came knocking—but the band refused to guarantee them guest list space or VIP treatment at their shows, eschewing the normal route in favor of doing what they loved. Simultaneously, the fans began their work by uploading and sharing the music
work by uploading and sharing the music on sites such as MySpace, where the Monkeys quickly became one of the most popular artists. When asked in a 2005 interview with Prefix magazine (a music magazine in New York) if they even knew how to upload their music to the web, the band replied with a succinct "no, no."
Next, a fan who just so happened to be a photographer went to a few shows with video cameras and eventually had enough film to slap together a music video for what he thought was their best song at the time,"Fake Tales of San Francisco," and uploaded it to his Web site (keep in mind this was before advent of YouTube). After a few weeks, the video became so popular that it was placed in constant rotation on MTV UK.The song was finally released in studio recording form on the band's first album, which subsequently became the fastest-selling debut album of any British band ever—including the Beatles. Go back and read that again.The Arctic Monkeys' debut album sold more
copies in its first week than did the Beatles' debut—and the Monkey's didn't even have a major label backing them—just a lot of devoted fans spreading the gospel. The album, *Whatever People Say I Am*, That's What I'm Not, was finally named TIME magazine's album of the year in 2006.
BONUS:There may be an awesome mash-up of Kaiser Chiefs' "I Predict A Riot" and the Arctic Monkeys' "I Bet That You Look Good On The Dancefloor" cleverly titled "I Predict That You Look Good On The Dancefloor" floating around somewhere on the intertubes... And when I say "There may be" I mean "There is and go listen to it ASAP."
interesting fact: Kermit the Frog is left-handed. -www.berro.com
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02.21.2008 17 VOL.5 ISS.21
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