Culture Cues

Pink Floyd

2009-10-02T14:40:00.001-07:00

Dark Side of the Moon, originally released in 1973, is one of those albums that is discovered anew by each generation of rock listeners. This complex, often psychedelic music works very well because Pink Floyd doesn't rush anything; the songs are mainly slow to mid-tempo, with attention paid throughout to musical texture and mood. --Genevieve Williams

If you Enjoy Pink Floyd, you might also enjoy...

Roger Waters

Porcupine Tree

David Gilmour

Even more bands like Pink Floyd...
1. Yes: 90125 [Expanded]
2. Emerson, Lake, and Palmer: Brain Salad Surgery
3. Wishbone Ash: Argus
4. Focus: 8

Are you in a band that was influenced by Pink Floyd, and are looking to promote your band on this site? E-mail us at dkam136 (at) gmail (dot) com, and we can see about getting you coverage on this site.

AFI Top TEN: Animation

2009-10-02T13:57:00.000-07:00

ONE: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
One of the brightest nuggets from Disney's golden age, this 1937 film is almost dizzying in its meticulous construction of an enchanted world...When the wicked queen's poisoned apple turns from killer green to rose red, the effect of knowing something so beautiful can be so terrible is absolutely elemental, so pure it forces one to surrender to the horror of it. --Tom Keogh

TWO: Pinocchio
This Disney masterpiece from 1940 will hold up forever precisely because it doesn't restrain or temper the most elemental emotions and themes germane to its story. Based on the Collodi tale about a wooden puppet who wants to become a real boy, Pinocchio is among the most magical, mythical, and frightening films to come from the studio in its long history. --Tom Keogh

THREE: Bambi
The forest comes alive with BAMBI, the critically acclaimed coming-of-age story that has thrilled and entertained generations of fans. This grand adventure is full of humor, heart, and the most beloved characters of all time -- Bambi, the wide-eyed fawn, his playful pal Thumper, the lovable skunk Flower, and wise Friend Owl.

FOUR: The Lion King
This hip and violent animated feature from Disney was nevertheless a huge smash in theaters and on video. The story finds a lion cub, son of a king, sent into exile after his father is sabotaged by a rivalrous uncle. The little hero finds his way into the "circle of life" with some new friends and eventually comes back to reclaim his proper place.

FIVE: Fantasia
Groundbreaking on several counts, not the least of which was an innovative use of animation and stereophonic sound, this ambitious Disney feature has lost nothing to time since its release in 1940. Classical music was interpreted by Disney animators, resulting in surreal fantasy and playful escapism.

SIX: Toy Story
There is loads of it in this irresistible computer animation feature. Just a picture of these bright toys reawaken the kid in us. Filmmaker John Lasseter thinks of himself as a storyteller first and an animator second, much like another film innovator, Walt Disney.

SEVEN: Beauty and the Beast
In this "tale as old as time," Belle, the infamous beauty, is trapped in a castle with the beast. It is a story of discovering love beneath the surface and has a little bit of magic for us all. It is a personal favorite of mine.

EIGHT: Shrek
William Steig's delightfully fractured fairy tale is the right stuff for this computer-animated adaptation full of verve and wit. Our title character (voiced by Mike Myers) is an agreeable enough ogre who wants to live his days in peace. When the diminutive Lord Farquaad (John Lithgow) evicts local fairy-tale creatures (including the now-famous Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, and the Gingerbread Man), they settle in the ogre's swamp and Shrek wants answers from Farquaad.

NINE: Cinderella
The most celebrated of all the Disney classics, CINDERELLA, is also known as one of Walt Disney's all-time favorite films. CINDERELLA has enchanted generations with its spellbinding story, charming music, and endearing characters that live in your heart forever.

TEN: Finding Nemo
A delightful undersea world unfolds in Pixar's animated adventure Finding Nemo. When his son Nemo is captured by a scuba-diver, a nervous-nellie clownfish named Marlin (voiced by Albert Brooks) sets off into the vast--and astonishingly detailed--ocean to find him. Along the way he hooks up with a scatterbrained blue tang fish named Dory (Ellen DeGeneres), who's both helpful and a hindrance.

...links for October 2...

2009-10-02T01:20:00.000-07:00

Cultural constructs are created through experimentation and exploration. Similar to the way a child might experiment in a room full of blocks, adults experiment with different designs and modes of understanding before coming a conclusion about what is "right" or "good" in their own lives.

Cultural Constructs and Communities of Faith
"If communities of faith are to be a real place of radical hospitality and transformative relationships, they need to deal with the social constructs in which they inhabit. The social expression of the church and individual Christians does not happen outside the artificial modes of thinking about the actuality of power and privilege. We will do more damage than good if we keep addressing the issues of faith and social justice without questioning the given frameworks of racism, patriarchy, hetero/sexism, classism, and elitism." -E. Rosario Cruz

Father Stephen on Social Constructs
"In our modern world we sometimes forget that a single person is not able to do much on their own. If Wittgenstein was right, then we really can’t do anything on our own. We live, for good or ill, within a culture, within a social matrix that makes most aspects of our life possible. Language is a social construct; world-views are a social construct; family is a social construct and I could continue for quite a long period of time." -Father Stephen

And speaking of social constructs, we have one of our social holiday's coming up: Halloween. That means one needs to get stocked up on the necessary movies to experience our culture cues...

Halloween Deals at Amazon
There are some great deals on Halloween movies at Amazon. If you don't like movies that are too scary, I highly recommend Shaun of the Dead staring Simon Pegg (especially if you liked Hot Fuzz or Run, Fatboy, Run) available for just $6.99. You've seen the Rob Zombie's remake of Halloween, now see the original for just $8.99.

AFI Top TEN: Romantic Comedies

2009-10-02T00:07:00.000-07:00

ONE: City Lights
They just don't make movies like this anymore (silent movies, that is). Buy this movie if you want to see something quirky, but at the same time deeply moving that takes place without any words. Click here for more information about the movie.

TWO: Annie Hall
If you are looking for something you don't find in romantic comedies very often, this Woody Allen movie is for you. If you liked 500 Days of Summer, this movie is even better. You will also like this movie if you liked John Cusack in High Fidelity. Click here for more information about this movie.

THREE: It Happened One Night
From director Frank Capra, this is a romantic comedy starring Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert. Colbert, the daughter a very rich man, runs away from home and is on the run when she runs into a reporter (Clark Gable) who smells a story. After seeing this movie, you will find new meaning for the metaphorical walls of Jericho.

FOUR: Roman Holiday
When journalist Gregory Peck meets young Princess Anne, he thinks the solution to all his problems has fallen right into his lap. Falling in love, however, alters his plan, and the movie ends beautifully, but bittersweetly. Starring Audrey Hepburn in her first leading role, this movie has all necessary components to make a wonderful "true love" meets "coming-of-age" story.

FIVE: The Philadelphia Story
Social elite Tracy Lord finds a heart in this quirky and convoluted romantic comedy, starring Katherine Hepburn, Cary Grant, and Jimmy Stewart.

SIX: When Harry Met Sally
Nora Ephron wrote the brisk screenplay for this 1989 romantic comedy, director Rob Reiner made a nicely glossy New York story (very much in a Woody Allen vein) out of it, and Billy Crystal's unstoppable charm made it something really special. --Tom Keogh

SEVEN: Adam's Rib
A woman attempts to kill her husband & prosecutor adam bonner gets the case. Unfortunately for him his wife amanda (who is a lawyer too) decides to defend the woman in court. Amanda uses everything she can to win the case & adam gets mad about it. As a result their perfect marriage is upset by everyday quarrels. Starring Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn

EIGHT: Moonstruck
Fall under the delightful spell of Moonstruck, the mesmerizing romantic comedy from director Norman Jewison (Fiddler on the Roof) and Oscar winner John Patrick Shanley. Academy Award winners Cher, Nicolas Cage and Olympia Dukakis excel in this explosively funny tale which also features flawless performances by Danny Aiello, Vincent Gardenia and Frasier's John Mahoney.

NINE: Harold and Maude
Cort is Harold, a young man bored with wealth but interested in death, and Gordon is Maude, a wonderful old lady who can see nothing but good intentions in the world.

TEN: Sleepless in Seattle
Sam Baldwin (Tom Hanks) is a good father and a successful architect. But he's also a lonely widower. One night his precocious 8-year-old son Jonah calls a late-night radio talk show seeking a cure for his father's despondency. When Sam hesitantly takes the phone and discloses the story of his magic-filled marriage, he proves to be a deeply feeling and gentle man.

Pete Yorn / Scarlett Johannsson

2009-10-01T15:55:00.000-07:00

Great deal on Pete Yorn and Scarlett Johannsson's debut Album: only $7.99 at amazon.

Here's what one reviewer had to say at amazon.com about the album:

What makes the album is unfortunately the very thing that may turn off many people to listening to it - the fact that it's a hollywood starlet on the cover. The thing is, I love Scarlett Johannsen's voice. She takes this material, which is good in parts, and sends it soaring into another dimension. She has a unique and easy smooth delivery that suits the retro-poppy sound of this album well. This is not just another hollywood actress who wanted to create an album of bad singing for her most devoted fans.

The music featured is interesting and catchy. It is parts adult alternative, lounge, folk, and retro in some places. "Search your Heart", "Clean", and "I am the Cosmos" are the 3 best tracks. Overall, the mood is kind of happy-poppy feeling that will cause you to snap your fingers - yes - snap your fingers gaily whilst Pete and Scarlett trade lines.

Oh... speaking of Pete Yorn.... he does a good impression of an angst-ridden sensitive (read... brooding) boyfriend who just got dumped. Sometimes it works - sometimes it's a little thick.

Overall, a nice surprise and a good listen considering it's an album that I would not have otherwise looked at twice.

District Nine Movie Review

2009-10-01T12:25:00.001-07:00

District 9, although lacking in the traditional three-act structure screenplay, dazzled audiences all over America this weekend. Maintaining an 88 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and grossing $37 million in one weekend is no small feat. In fact, director Neil Blomkamp and producer Peter Jackson, with the relatively positively reviews have begun talks of making the movie into a franchise.

In short, the film appears to be Blomkamp’s subtle way to deal with South Africa’s history of apartheid. The movie itself does not beat you over the head with truisms or moralisms as per many other movies on racism, but it does leave one with the sense that something is wrong in the world. When one of the main characters begins morphing into the aliens he had formerly sent eviction notices to, he must deal with the words of a young alien who now notices, “We are the same.” His thoughts?
“We are not the same!”

These words stress what seems to be the central message of the movie. The aliens in this movie, as Rick Groen rightly points out, are not here with “either with evil intentions or innocent eyes.” They are not perfect, but neither are they imperfect. Humans are not protrayed as perfect, but neither are they imperfect. It appears that, when the shots have all been fired, we are essentially the same.

With that set as a kind of meta-premise, the majority of the middle of the movie is simply standard hollywood violence and big-gunned battles. There are a number of holes in the plot, and many of the back-stories are never concluded (sequel?). All of the violence in the middle moves away from the mockumentary style of the rest of the movie to a more Live Free or Die Hard style shots of grandeur.

As a result, District 9’s central message gets lost amidst a story that has no closure.
Another major let-down was that the famous scene from the trailer actually did not make it into the movie. An alien in the preview is asked, “How do your weapons work?”

The alien answers:

“We just want to go home.”

This element is carried somewhat by the father and son in the story, but the scene is cut out of the movie. There could have been an interesting sub-plot dealing with the pscyhology of the aliens there that was never fully explored.

To sum it up simply: District 9 had all the makings for a great movie, and in many ways it was, but it also failed in other ways that give it a 3 out of 5 in my book.

[afterword: I have heard that Blomkamp shot hundreds of hours of extra footage and this may be the classic story (a la "Once Upon a Time in America") of having to cut the movie into uneven pieces for theatrical release. Perhaps a later director's cut will fill in the pieces I have talked about above.]

Contact

2009-10-01T03:35:00.001-07:00

If you would like your band's CD to be reviewed on Culture Cues, send me an e-mail at dkam136 (at) gmail (dot) com.

Thanks,
Danny

Classic Albums

2009-10-01T03:31:00.001-07:00

Click on one of the classic albums below. Using Pandora and other sites, we have created a way for your to find similar music to what you already like. All you have to do is click on whatever music you already like, and we'll show you similar artists.

Pink Floyd

The famous band behind Dark Side Of The Moon

Great Music Deals

2009-10-01T03:29:00.001-07:00

Break Up (Amazon Exclusive)

Only $7.99

Recent Music Reviews

2009-10-01T03:26:00.001-07:00

Pete Yorn / Scarlett Johannsson: The Break Up
Click to read the full review...

AFI's Ten Top Ten

2009-10-01T02:44:00.001-07:00

Romantic Comedies
City Lights won this category with its quirky Charlie Chaplin infused humor. Click here to see the top ten AFI Romantic Comedies.

Animation

Snow white and the Seven Dwarfs, the classic Disney Comedy, won in this category. Click here to see the top ten AFI Animated movies.

Westerns
The John Ford classic starring John Wayne, The Searchers, comes in first for the Westerns category. Click here to see all the top ten Westerns.

Sports

Raging Bull, starring the diverse actor Robert De Niro as boxer Jake La Motta, wins the sports genre (directed by Martin Scorsese)

Mystery

The Alfred Hitchcock thriller starring Jimmy Stewart, Vertigo, wins the mystery category. Click here to see the top ten.

Fantasy

Who could have guessed that the classic The Wizard of Oz would win the fantasy category? Click here to see the top ten.

Sci-Fi

Winning the Sci-Fi category is none other than Stanley Kubrick's famous 2001 - A Space Odyssey. Click here to see the top ten.

Courtroom Drama

Also a famous book, the winner of court dramas, To Kill a Mockingbird, takes a long look at prejudice in the South. Click here to see the top ten.

Gangster

He'll make you an offer you cannot refuse in the original Godfather starring Marlon Grando and Al Pacino. Click here to see the top ten.

Epic

Lawrence of Arabia wins the epic category when British Intelligence supports the Arab rebellion against the Turkish-German alliance. Click here to see the top ten.

Great Deals

2009-10-01T02:42:00.001-07:00

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Recent Movie Reviews

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Biography

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Who Am I?

2009-10-01T02:11:00.001-07:00

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2009-09-30T02:38:00.001-07:00

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Culture Cues

Pink Floyd

AFI Top TEN: Animation

...links for October 2...

AFI Top TEN: Romantic Comedies

Pete Yorn / Scarlett Johannsson

District Nine Movie Review

Contact

Classic Albums

Great Music Deals

Recent Music Reviews

Archives

AFI's Ten Top Ten

Great Deals

Recent Movie Reviews

Biography

Who Am I?

Test blog 1