Music and Movie Talk #4 - Spring is Almost Here
March is here! I feel like everyone associates March with the beginning of spring, even though spring doesn’t begin until the 20th. I suppose the month of when that magical transition from winter to spring occurs is all that really matters. Who cares! We’re here to talk music and movies.
In this Music and Movie Talk—a segment where I talk about a few records and movies I’ve recently enjoyed—I have two Indie Rock records, one brand new, the other a little old, and two movies that couldn’t be more opposite from one another. Hope you enjoy, and as always, I appreciate you reading!
Music
My music intake has been all over the place lately. I’ve been digging the new Yo La Tengo record This Stupid World and have been adding various bedroom pop tracks I stumbled across to my playlists. Nothing better than playlists, eh?
Tony Molina - In The Fade
Genre - Indie Rock
Release Date - 2023
Listen Here
Tony Molina’s music is the opposite of any prog-rock band, specifically with runtime. Most of Molina’s tracks are only a minute or so in length, with his latest effort In The Fade, featuring 14 tracks and an 18-minute runtime. The record has a straightforward yet enticing sound reminiscent of Big Star, The Beatles, and Elliott Smith.
Admittedly, I didn’t know about Tony Molina until recently, but I’m stoked I finally know who he is. Molina has a clear ability for crafting guitar-oriented power pop tracks that are so infectiously catchy and easy to listen to. I doubt you’d find anyone who wouldn’t enjoy it to some degree.
The tracks being so short allows Molina to get his point across without wasting time and I imagine now is better than ever for these shorter tracks because of people’s shrinking attention spans. My personal favorite on the record is I Don’t Like That He, and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve listened to it already.
Mac Demarco - This Old Dog
Genre - Indie Rock
Release Date - 2017
Listen Here
Mac Demarco is one of those artists whom I deeply appreciate one of their records—that record being This Old Dog—but haven’t thoroughly explored the rest of their catalog. I’m sure someday I will, but for now, This Old Dog will remain a typical and familiar listen for me for years.
From what I can tell, the record is much more personal than Mac’s other efforts, touching on complicated relationships, celebrity status, mortality, and his estranged father. The scant and arid recording grants Mac the ability to express these feelings in a beautiful and genuinely heartbreaking way at times.
Also, I think it has one of the best closing tracks on a record in recent memory with Watching Him Fade Away. Clearly a song about Mac’s relationship with his father that features a somber synth and Mac’s grief and ambivalence, it gets me emotional every time I listen to it.
Movies
I didn’t watch as many movies as I would’ve liked in February, but I plan to amp that number up for March. Lately, I have a habit of starting a movie too late or wasting too much time scrolling looking for the right movie. Most of you can probably relate.
In the Bedroom (2001)
Genre - Drama
Director - Todd Field
Writers - Andre Dubus, Robert Festinger, Todd Field
Starring - Tom Wilkinson, Sissy Spacek, Nick Stahl
About - A New England couple's college-aged son dates an older woman who has two small children and an unwelcome ex-husband.
Why You Should Watch
I adored Tár (2022) and have been meaning to check out the rest of Todd Field’s directing filmography since. Last night, I decided to give his first full-length directorial debut In The Bedroom a shot. I didn’t know anything about it, other than who directed it and I really enjoyed it!
While I didn’t like it as much as Tár, it’s pretty impressive for being a debut. Set in Maine, the story centers on the inner dynamics of a typical family. Matt Fowler (Tom Wilkinson) is a doctor practicing in Maine and is married to Ruth Fowler (Sissy Spacek), a music teacher. Their son Frank (Nick Stahl) recently graduated, is on the verge of graduate school, and is involved in a love affair with a single mother, Natalie Strout (Marissa Tomei).
While the first third of the film was a little melodramatic and corny for my taste at times, it does a nice job setting the characters up and the second and final act really hit it out of the park for me. Focusing on themes of love, revenge, and despair, you won’t expect where In the Bedroom goes and the ending will leave you shocked, to say the least.
Cocaine Bear (2023)
Genre - Horror/Comedy
Director - Elizabeth Banks
Writer - Jimmy Warden
Starring - Keri Russell, Alden Ehrenreich, O'Shea Jackson Jr.
About - An oddball group of cops, criminals, tourists, and teens converge on a Georgia forest where a huge black bear goes on a murderous rampage after unintentionally ingesting cocaine.
Why You Should Watch
Ah, the current trending sensation of 2023’s Cocaine Bear. As easy as it is to pick apart this movie for its title and plot alone, I think we all agree that it’s nice to see a studio give a fairly decent budget to a story like this. “So, a bear is on Cocaine and kills people? Here’s $35 million!”
While I didn’t enjoy Cocaine Bear as some of its biggest die-hards, I did have a lot of fun. It’s everything you’d expect it to be—dumb, goofy, funny, and fairly violent. Besides the obvious, my main issues with the movie come down to the CGI and the unnecessary sprawling nature of the plotline and characters.
There are many characters and random B-plots going around this bear on cocaine, most of which seem unnecessary and boring. Cocaine Bear works best, as you can guess, during the scenes featuring the bear. All criticisms aside, it is a fun time, and it’ll be interesting to see how it ages.