Symbiotic Reviews

-THE THIRD ACT PODCAST: EPISODE 9- On the ninth episode of THE...

Thu, 16 May 2013 21:58:53 -0700

-THE THIRD ACT PODCAST: EPISODE 9-

On the ninth episode of THE THIRD ACT PODCAST, the gang unspools harebrained conspiracy theories regarding the new documentary Room 237, whisper in hushed voiceovers about Terrence Malick’s latest tone poem To The Wonder, and unleash a new segment involving high levels of ethanol. Malick aficionado/disciple Jonathan Houting co-stars.

STREAM EPISODE 9 HERE!

-FILM PICK OF THE WEEK- FROM UP ON POPPY HILL Set in Yokohama...

Wed, 08 May 2013 17:15:00 -0700

-FILM PICK OF THE WEEK-

FROM UP ON POPPY HILL

Set in Yokohama circa 1963 just before the Olympics and after the devastation wrought by Word War II, From Up On Poppy Hill is a lovingly crafted, beautifully rendered, and emotionally moving portrait of first love and broken families. That the animated film from the legendary Studio Ghibli is not directed by Hayao Miyazaki, but rather by his son Goro, should not be a cause for too much concern since Hayao is a co-writer here and the story is based on his original idea.

READ FULL REVIEW HERE

-MUSIC PICK OF THE WEEK- Blu/Madlib/M.e.d. The Burgundy...

Tue, 07 May 2013 12:53:12 -0700

-MUSIC PICK OF THE WEEK-

Blu/Madlib/M.e.d.

The Burgundy EP

Underground rappers Blu and M.E.D. have already collaborated with each other as well as hip-hop producer extraordinaire Madlib on separate projects before, so it comes as little surprise that eventually all three would join forces. The results of their labor, The Burgundy EP, is a mishmash of neo-soul atmosphere, fragmented hip-hop beats, jazz-inflected instrumentation, and laid back rapping.

READ FULL REVIEW HERE

-THE THIRD ACT PODCAST: BONUS EPISODE- On a very special bonus...

Mon, 06 May 2013 16:37:21 -0700

-THE THIRD ACT PODCAST: BONUS EPISODE-

On a very special bonus episode of THE THIRD ACT PODCAST, Christian and Jericho get into some psychologically-charged hypnotherapy by going through their memories of Danny Boyle’s latest film Trance. Clocking in at just over 30 minutes, and sadly missing the quick-witted banter and ace filmic musings of Armando Rivera, this bonus episode nonetheless cuts right to the nitty gritty!

STREAM BONUS EPISODE #1 HERE!

-SYMBIOTIC RECOMMENDS: 10 ALBUMS, MARCH 2013- The clamoring fans...

Fri, 03 May 2013 12:32:52 -0700

-SYMBIOTIC RECOMMENDS: 10 ALBUMS, MARCH 2013-

The clamoring fans have spoken. Here it is, my fellow music obsessives…it’s my 10 favorite albums from March! There’s some choice nuggets of auditory bliss here, including records from Spectral Park, Grill Cloth, Marnie Stern, and more!

CHECK OUT 10 ALBUM RECOMMENDATIONS HERE

THE STROKES Comedown Machine 6 out of 10 Anyone thinking for a...

Thu, 02 May 2013 12:28:00 -0700

THE STROKES

Comedown Machine

6 out of 10

Anyone thinking for a moment that The Strokes want to be the same band that catapulted to fame 12 years ago after their auspicious debut Is This It? floored listeners, should really wake up. Even though 2003′s sophomore album Room On Fire was a critical and commercial success, the tide started to change with the release of 2006′s First Impressions of Earth, an album that was more experimental and sprawling than anything they had attempted before, resulting in the band’s first legitimate critical and financial misfire. Since the early 2000s, the genre known as “garage rock” has been gone the cyclical route of becoming nearly meaningless. With so many bands trying to emulate the sound that The Strokes more or less popularized, and with the advent of digital streaming, downloading, and the economic collapse, it seemed the band that was once heralded as the next big thing in rock was perilously close to becoming irrelevant.

READ FULL REVIEW HERE

-THE THIRD ACT PODCAST: EPISODE 8- On the eighth episode of THE...

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 17:19:24 -0700

-THE THIRD ACT PODCAST: EPISODE 8-

On the eighth episode of THE THIRD ACT PODCAST, cinematic elitists Christian, Armando, and Jericho dive into another shitty trailer starring some pot-smoking Hollywood pals, introduce a new ongoing segment that could spell the end of film criticism and good taste altogether, and wear their dagger-face tattoos proudly, taking a stab at Derek Cianfrance’s sprawling new film The Place Beyond The Pines, starring Ryan Gosling and Bradley Cooper.

Stream Episode 8 here

EVIL DEAD 3 stars out of 4 Hands are severed, limbs are ripped...

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 17:38:43 -0700

EVIL DEAD

3 stars out of 4

Hands are severed, limbs are ripped from bone, eyes are gashed, insides are spilled out. A nail gun is used. So is a needle. And then there’s the chainsaw, that iconic weapon of mass decapitation made so famous in Sam Raimi’s 1981 original. To say more would undoubtably ruin the gleefully grotesque way in which various appendages are splintered, snapped, and hacked in this latest version, but really, is any of this a spoiler?

READ FULL REVIEW HERE

SPRING BREAKERS 3.5 stars out of 4 Harmony Korine’s Spring...

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 11:07:54 -0700

SPRING BREAKERS

3.5 stars out of 4

Harmony Korine’s Spring Breakers is like watching one long pulsating, feverish pop music video from hell with your eyelids taped open. This will either by a cause for celebration or, as is the case with many detractors of Korine’s work, another reason to lambast the guy for wallowing in trashy excess. Indeed, approaching Spring Breakers with any kind of objectivity will largely depend on how one views Korine’s filmmaking aesthetic as a whole.

READ FULL REVIEW HERE

-THE THIRD ACT PODCAST: EPISODE 7- On the seventh episode of THE...

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 14:44:00 -0700

-THE THIRD ACT PODCAST: EPISODE 7-

On the seventh episode of THE THIRD ACT PODCAST, resident film nerds Christian, Armando, and Jericho analyze vapid youth culture in Harmony Korine’s SPRING BREAKERS and unveil just how many appendage’s get ripped apart in the new EVIL DEAD. Jam-packed with bonus features and including a very special guest, Episode 7 expands horizons and offers titillating unrated action!

STREAM EPISODE 7 HERE!

-THIS WEEK IN VHS- True Identity Our fearless bargain-bin...

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 09:09:46 -0700

-THIS WEEK IN VHS-

True Identity

Our fearless bargain-bin reporter Micaiah Cass is back with another VHS pick! Mobsters, Othello auditions, Lenny Henry in white face. It’s 1991’s True Identity, and you can check out her tantalizing review here!

READ FULL REVIEW HERE

-REVIEWS AT A GLANCE- On the latest edition of REVIEWS AT A...

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 16:21:32 -0700

-REVIEWS AT A GLANCE-

On the latest edition of REVIEWS AT A GLANCE, I weigh in on what I’ve been watching and listening to lately, including my takes on the movies Planet of Snail, Anna Karenina, Ted, John Dies At The End, and Your Sister’s Sister. I also tackle new albums by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Foals, Iceage, The Men, and Youth Lagoon.

READ FULL ARTICLE HERE

ATOMS FOR PEACE Amok 7 out of 10 Atoms for Peace are, for lack...

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 10:53:19 -0700

ATOMS FOR PEACE

Amok

7 out of 10

Atoms for Peace are, for lack of a better term, a supergroup. Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke, Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea, David Byrne percussionist Mauro Refosco, REM drummer Joey Waronker, and long-time Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich, have collaborated on a electronic album that bears more than a passing resemblance to Yorke’s solo outing The Eraser (2006), as well as Radiohead’s last LP The King of Limbs.

READ FULL REVIEW HERE

-THE THIRD ACT PODCAST: EPISODE 6- On the sixth episode of THE...

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 10:08:56 -0700

-THE THIRD ACT PODCAST: EPISODE 6-

On the sixth episode of THE THIRD ACT PODCAST, the gang ventures into the land of aging Las Vegas magicians with reviews of The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, as well as gothic dysfunctional family drama in Park Chan-Wook’s English language debut Stoker. There’s also random segues into a certain Spielberg blockbuster as well as a new segment called “Idol Worship,” in which the panelists gush and blush about an actor they feel is an underrated American treasure.

STREAM EPISODE 6 HERE

STOKER 2 stars out of 4 There will inevitably be those who...

Sun, 07 Apr 2013 12:42:58 -0700

STOKER

2 stars out of 4

There will inevitably be those who defend Stoker by claiming anyone dismissing the film “just doesn’t get it.” In this case, they would be right, since celebrated South Korean filmmaker Park Chan-Wook (Oldboy, Thirst) has been saddled with a story that makes absolutely no sense. Wentworth Miller, best known as an actor in the TV series Prison Break, has written a script that for some baffling reason was on 2010′s “Black List” of the best unproduced screenplays.

READ FULL REVIEW HERE

THE INCREDIBLE BURT WONDERSTONE 3 stars out of 4 What exactly is...

Sun, 31 Mar 2013 12:00:27 -0700

THE INCREDIBLE BURT WONDERSTONE

3 stars out of 4

What exactly is the demographic for a movie about a pair of aging Vegas magicians? Younger viewers who didn’t grow up during the heyday of Siegfried and Roy likely won’t get the joke, and older ones who recall watching David Copperfield on TV might find a satire about this world extremely dated. Truthfully, they should have called this “A film starring a bunch of people who used to be funny”, with the sight of Steve Carell ( already surpassing Will Ferrell in milking his 15 minutes) and Jim Carrey (who was at one time box office gold) relegated to putting on bad wigs and ridiculous costumes. Still, despite the tough sell premise and a cast that seems to be trying desperately to wring laughs out of dated material, The Incredible Burt Wonderstone emerges as something of a guilty pleasure.

READ FULL REVIEW HERE

-THE THIRD ACT PODCAST: EPISODE 5- On the fifth episode of THE...

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 15:50:00 -0700

-THE THIRD ACT PODCAST: EPISODE 5-

On the fifth episode of THE THIRD ACT PODCAST, Christian and Jericho are left to wage the cinematic battle sans Armando, launching into discussions of VOD indie releases The End of Love and Wrong. A certifiable yak-fest of ripping on crappy trailers and berating interns, Episode 5 also clocks in at just over 1 hour, something of a record for podcast and perhaps an ominous sign that such brevity will never happen again.

STREAM EPISODE 5 HERE

-SYMBIOTIC RECOMMENDS: 10 ALBUMS, FEBRUARY 2013- It’s that...

Sat, 23 Mar 2013 20:36:00 -0700

-SYMBIOTIC RECOMMENDS: 10 ALBUMS, FEBRUARY 2013-

It’s that time again. No, not desecrating a national landmark using expired yogurt and party poppers, though that’s always an option. It’s time for my favorite albums from last month!

CHECK OUT ALBUM RECOMMENDATIONS HERE

SMALL APARTMENTS 3 stars out of 4 Swedish director Jonas...

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 20:00:55 -0700

SMALL APARTMENTS

3 stars out of 4

Swedish director Jonas Åkerlund, who made his name back in the 90′s with music videos for artists like Prodigy and Madonna, hasn’t exactly had a smooth cross-over into the realm of feature filmmaking. With only two movies to his name, 2002′s hyperkinetic but ultimately hollow drug satire Spun and 2009′s Horseman, a serial killer dud starring Dennis Quaid, Åkerlund has struggled to find his voice away from the music video world. With his latest feature Small Apartments, it’s clear that the prospect for commercial or critical success is nil, seeing as the movie is being dumped directly to video after screening at 2012′s SXSW festival. It should be said right away that this is one polarizing affair, but that also infers people will actually see it.

READ FULL REVIEW HERE

-FILM PICK OF THE WEEK- VAMPIRE’S KISS Vampire’s Kiss is...

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 09:01:00 -0700

-FILM PICK OF THE WEEK-

VAMPIRE’S KISS

Vampire’s Kiss is an absolute must-see for fans of Nicolas Cage in over-the-top mugging mode, an acting style that he’s inhabited for his entire career. Still, even fans that have found enjoyment in cinematic clunkers like that remake of The Wicker Man will be tickled by Cage’s erratic performance as literary agent Peter Loew, a man who believes he was bitten by a vampire, played by a campy Jennifer Beals.

READ FULL REVIEW HERE