The Last Candle

Saw Revenge of the Sith today with the fam’. Super-short review: sucked. Insipid dialogue compounded with monotone, lifeless acting. Boring direction. The same two action scenes — lightsaber battles and spaceship fighting — over and over again, with no attempts at innovation or even making things fairly interesting. But: awesome special effects and some pretty groovy environments.

But you know what? Lucas’ latest blah-fest was almost all worth it for Vader’s emo-yawp of infinite inner turmoil. The high inner pressure caused by having to repress large amounts of laughter brought tears to stream down my face, provoking my mother sitting next to me to think that I was emotionally distraught.

Okay, I also liked the final moments of the Kenobi-Skywalker battle — the final words between the ex-master and apprentice were the rare few from the movie that felt like there was actual weight and emotion behind them and not just a poorly-written script spoken by a few big names. Thus, everything else: wooden as a forest of Sequoias.

Grade: two angry Chow Yun-Fat heads. Revenge of the Sith probably deserves no more than one and a half heads in my book, but I’ll be damned if Mr. Yun-Fat’s head (that most esteemed of noggins, supplementary star of the ageless classic Hard Boiled) will be cloven in twain on this page.

<br/> YTMND’s got you covered for “NOOOOOOOOO” remixes in the usual YTMND dead horse-beating greatness. Try this one on for size.

JOEL OWEN: I’m hired.

SERVO, CROW and GYPSY: He’s hired.

OWEN: I hope I don’t get fired.

SERVO, CROW and GYPSY: He’s hired.

OWEN: In forty years I’ll be retired.
     But for now, I’m simply hired.

SERVO, CROW and GYPSY: He’s hired, he’s hired, he’s hired, he’s hired.

OWEN: I got a job today.

SERVO, CROW and GYPSY: He’s hired.

OWEN: I’m selling Chevrolets writing software, hey!

SERVO, CROW and GYPSY: He’s hired.

OWEN: I’m bringing home good pay.

SERVO, CROW and GYPSY: He’s hired.

OWEN: I just got hired.

ALL: HIRED!

Hired.

…but I’ve found my own favorite Brit pop-rock group — except this one uses just as much progressive metal and thrashing as it does pop.

The group: Porcupine Tree.

I picked up In Flames’ Clayman and Porcupine Tree’s In Absentia from my favorite music store, New Moon Records, a couple days before graduation and leaving Mount Pleasant. Clayman was fully expected to be the hot item: I haven’t listened to any new black metal in months, and Clayman is supposed to be one of In Flames’ best. Additionally, I only knew Porcupine Tree from a single song heard years ago; In Absentia was something of an impulse purchase.

Well, Clayman is good, but In Absentia has turned out to be one of the best albums I’ve ever listened too. Rank: Epica-class. This is serious business here, folks.

In Absentia’s sound is a combination of Brit rock (like Radiohead without the experimental meandering), pop sensibilities, and a heavy dose of progressive metal with a touch of thrash. Steven Wilson, the mastermind doing the writing, singing, guitar, and keys, puts it all together in an album that is beautifully in content and form, but also nails a feeling on every song. Contrast with, say, a Rhapsody album: Fabio busts out with one bombastic, rousing chorus after another with Luca Turilli following up with yet another super cheese-shredding solo. I love Rhapsody, but they’ve never hit any kind of deeper subtext or sublety in the music that really attracts a listeners attention. In Absentia, however, is so detailed that I can’t help but lean on every measure and note to see what the music is saying.

(I’ve heard someone say In Absentia is a concept album, but I haven’t been able to pick out the storyline. It’s definitely the most vague narration I’ve ever tried to discern — if there is one.)

Turns out that the Tuesday (the 17th) after I bought In Absentia, Porcupine Tree’s newest album Deadwing was released. After a week and a half of constant In Absentia, Deadwing became buying priority numero uno — and on a trip to Mount Pleasant to finish up some old business, New Moon once again supplied me with the Porcupine Tree greatness. After four days of Deadwing, it’s found to be a slightly less “complete” album than In Absentia, but still much more so than any Rhapsody release. The new album is also more heavy on average, but it is not without signature smooth, introspective pieces such as the 12-minute Arriving Somewhere But Not Here. Another awesome release — I can’t believe I haven’t heard of these guys before.

iTunes has both Deadwing and In Absentia in the catalog, as well as the partial album of Signify, Porcupine Tree’s release previous to In Absentia.

Oh, and I still like Epica more — it’s going to be very difficult to beat an absolute top release in my favorite genre — but In Absentia is really, really close. Heck, Porcupine Tree is so good that within two albums I’ve become a fan of a entirely different genre. Of course, whether the rest of the progressive Brit. pop-rock scene is as good as Porcupine Tree has to be seen, but I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt until I investigate further.

Ho-lee crap: First Killzone 2 video. (If you click-through on the WMV version, there’s a downloadable copy.)

That is the most single captivating trailer I have ever watched. Period. Even the much-anticipated Metal Gear Solid 2 trailer from several E3’s back was not watched with nearly as much relish.

However, with that kind of super-high quality, I find it hard to believe the footage (and screenshot from the previous post, which appears in the trailer) is in real-time now — it’s just TOO damn good, even for the upcoming generation. (Right?)

But, man, one can hope.