Paul Haggis: In the Valley of Elah
File Video I lack ★★★★
A drama directed by Paul Haggis centered on the topic of the Iraq war. A soldier, returning from the Middle East, is brutally killed under unclear circumstances. In a contrast between the competencies and jurisdictions of the local police and the military, the figure of the father (Tommy Lee Jones), a Vietnam veteran and former military policeman, emerges as he searches for answers regarding the true fate of his son. A truly rich cast for a film whose significant content lies in the plot and how the real themes surface through discovery after discovery, leading to an ending that, while shocking, can be deemed inevitable within the logic of 'war.'
Pet Shop Boys: The Pop Kids
File Audio I have it ★★
EP that precedes the release of the album 'Super'. It contains the single, 'The Pop Kids' (also available in two remixed versions) and two new tracks, 'In Bits' and 'One-Hit Wonder'.
Pet Shop Boys: Super
File Audio I have it ★★★★★
It’s rare for Chris Lowe and Neil Tennant to “miss” an album. Anticipated by the single, ‘The Pop Kids,’ ‘Super’ is yet another album from one of the bands that have remained truest to themselves over the years while also managing to innovate with the advancements in technology and the multi-level differentiation of the musical offerings in the market. Produced by Stuart Price, I can't find any flaws in this work, where all the songs are more or less on the same level (for now, I particularly prefer the opener, ‘Happiness’).
Comedy directed by Peter Chelsom and starring Simon Pegg as Hector, a psychiatrist who suddenly grows tired of the monotony of his life and embarks on a journey around the world in search of happiness. He will experience a thousand adventures across the globe before returning home in what is a predictable happy ending. The cast is rich with Jean Reno, Stellan Skarsgård, and even Christopher Plummer, but it’s a film that feels almost familiar and could even end up boring the viewer.
7'' clandestine featuring three tracks including a cover of Johnny Thunders' 'Too Much Junkye Business', released - presumably - in 1989. It briefly showcases the entire range of the band.
Philip K. Dick: Ubik
Cartaceo I have it ★★★★★
Philip K. Dick himself admitted he didn’t understand at all 'Ubik'. He didn’t expect it to be so heavily regarded by his readers and definitely one of his most considered and influential works over the years. We are in the North American Confederation in 1992, psi phenomena are common, and the people who die are kept in a state of half-life (a form of cryonic suspension). After an explosion, Joe Chip mysteriously starts shifting backward in time. Who and/or what is 'Ubik'? A spray can-metaphor for God that gives people the power to understand who they are, where they are, and how to survive and continue living their own lives. Influenced by acid psychedelia and probably written under the influence of LSD, 'Ubik' is a work that possibly has no time and that eludes all kinds of possible definitions. The same goes for the world in which the plot is set.
It’s definitely not the album of the latest arrival, but it left me quite indifferent. Signs of improvement towards the end with 'Medicinals,' 'The Ministry of Social Affairs,' and 'The Wheel.' Stylish, perhaps too much: a slaughter of talent and talents. On the second listen, I gave up without any regrets.
  • Psychopathia
    20 apr 16
    Unfortunately, you confirm my fears about this album. At this point, I will avoid it; unfortunately, PJH no longer makes music for me. Since 2000, she has disappointed me album after album. For me, the last valid one is Is This Desire.
  • sotomayor
    20 apr 16
    'Let England Shake' was, in my opinion, a good album. This one, as far as I’m concerned, hasn’t worked at all. I read that the project was quite ambitious, but to me, nothing works. It’s a shame because aside from her undeniable talent, there’s an ensemble of musicians around her who are all noteworthy. Everything seems too flat.
  • Psychopathia
    20 apr 16
    Yes, let England shake wasn't bad, but it doesn't compare to the historic albums. For me, the worst were the second chapter with Parish, uh huh her, and the one with the piano whose title escapes me right now. Still, it’s absolutely grand.
  • sotomayor
    20 apr 16
    Who knows. Maybe one of the 'problems' - in quotes - of this group of artists (I also include various Nick Cave, Mick Harvey, and John Parish himself) is that they have acquired too much craft, and this is where one of their main strengths was/would be precisely a certain instinct and wild approach to music and art in general.
Psychic Ills: Inner Journey Out
File Audio I have it ★★★★
Three years after 'One Track Mind', here come the Psychic Ills again. 'Inner Journey Out' (Sacred Bones Records) is an album with a heterogeneous composition. The approach is still mostly derived from Spacemen 3 ('Fade Me Out', 'Back To You', 'Another Change', and the two gospel tracks 'I Don't Mind' and the beautiful 'Coca Cola Blues'), mixed with a certain nihilism and Velvet Underground garage vibes ('Confusion', 'Mixed Up Mind', 'All Alone'). In an album that might seem pretentious, and one of its limitations might be its excessive length, the band also dares to venture into meditative episodes like 'Hazel Green' and 'New Mantra', leading up to the long session of 'Ra Wah Wah'. It's not a masterpiece, but neither is it an album that leaves listeners indifferent, especially those devoted to the cult of psychedelia.
Qaushiq Mukherjee: Brahman Naman
File Video I lack ★★★★
We are in Bangalore, India, in the eighties of the last century. Namah is someone we could actually define as a "nerd." He studies Economics at university, and he and his friends are part of a quizzing team that will try to win the all-India finals challenges. At the same time, he is also trying to figure out his own life and particularly his approach with girls. Behind a mask of apparent arrogance, Namah is insecure and unable to break free from all the cultural conditioning the society has imposed on him, and just when it seems he might be getting somewhere, in the end, he always ends up being messed up. A very good fine comedy directed by Qaushiq Mukherjee and showcased at the 2016 Sundance Festival in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition section. Brilliant, ironic, presented in forms reminiscent of comic strips, and featuring a very good soundtrack.
R.E.M.: Up
CD Audio I have it ★★★★
This is the first album by R.E.M. after the departure of longtime member Bill Berry, who was mostly replaced during the recording sessions by former Screaming Trees member Barrett Martin, prior to the stable collaboration with Joey Waronker. The production was handled by Pat McCarthy for an album that was considered particularly experimental at the time and received tremendous responses in both the USA and Europe, especially thanks to the undeniable beauty of the first two singles, 'Daysleeper' and 'Lotus.' Overall, it is a successful work and a fundamental one for the Athens band, which found itself at what can be defined as one of the crucial points of its career. With this album, which could be labeled as a breakthrough, they overcame the only major crisis they faced in more than twenty years of career.
A buddy action movie directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber, starring Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart. Two old schoolmates reunite after twenty years. One now works for the CIA. Involving the friend in a spy adventure, this will be the occasion for one of them to overcome a midlife crisis, while the other finally confronts the issues he faced in youth due to bullying. This is the third recent comedy about 'old classmates reunion' I've watched lately. The other two were similarly themed: 'The Do-Over' with Adam Sandler and the brilliant 'The D-Train' by Jarrad Paul and Andrew Mogel, the only one of the three that really needs to be seen. As for this one, what can I say? I just like Dwayne Johnson. He is muscular, he is powerful, he is funny, he's The Rock. The movie isn't special at all, but how could you not appreciate him?
Richard Ashcroft: These People
File Audio I have it ★
A return that, as far as I’m concerned, was much anticipated, given that I’ve been quite a fan of Richard Ashcroft since I was a kid. 'Keys To the World' was and is objectively a gem in the genre of British pop music, and in some way, Richard seems to be trying to pick up where he left off. But the songs on this album lack any special strength. The tracks that should be the more winking ones ('Out of My Body') just don’t work, and all that’s left are a handful of decent ballads, among which are 'They Don't Own Me', 'Hold On', the title track, and 'Black Lines'. Not much to give it a positive score, but if it can be any consolation, in this year 2016, others of the same 'genre' like Suede or the Coral have managed to do much worse. He can very well rise again in the next episode.
  • odesso
    26 may 16
    Strict but fair (quote)
  • sotomayor
    26 may 16
    Ahah you know that I just changed it? I mean, I had 'rated' it yesterday, but I had given it two stars. Then just a moment ago, I was thinking about it and told myself, screw it, who’s going to listen to this album again...
  • anfoxx
    26 may 16
    I really like the single "This is how it feels," and quite a bit.
Richard Rush: Getting Straight
File Video I lack ★★★★★
We are in the USA during the years of the Vietnam War, and the student protests are heating up. The protagonist is Harry (as usual, a fantastic Elliott Gould) who, after being fully involved in social protest for years, decides to try to finish his studies to become a teacher and obtain a role he considers useful within society. Due to this choice, he will find himself alone and against everyone, leading to a true identity crisis and the only possible admission: that it doesn't matter what you do, but what you truly are. In a way, it's a film that is always relevant, not so much for the social context but for individual choices and as a subject belonging to a social community.
Richard Shepard: The Hunting Party
File Video Not intrested ★
We are in 2000 in the former Yugoslavia, and three journalists (Richard Gere, Terrence Howard, and Jesse Eisenberg) are on the trail of a Bosnian criminal known as 'the fox' (inspired by the real criminal Radovan Karadzic, arrested in 2008). The beginning of the film is promising; Richard Gere's acting seems to be both dramatic and irreverent at the same time. Everything suggests that what could emerge is a really great film, but this slips away as the minutes go by, leading to an ending that aims to astonish with its revelations and perhaps tries to tackle what can be considered 'conspiracy theories,' but instead feels weak and ultimately ends up being merely rhetorical. What a pity.
Rick Famuyiwa: Dope
File Video I lack ★★★
There are some contents in this movie that pay homage to the cinema of Spike Lee. The main characters are actually three guys who are high school seniors and are described as geeks. They live in a neighborhood of Inglewood, California, called 'The Bottoms', where crime is frequent and you could easily get in trouble when you're not doing the right thing. One of them, Malcolm, wants to be admitted to Harvard University, and he has qualities, but they seem not to be enough for a black man to go to that university. Involved unwillingly in drug trafficking because of his inexperience, he simultaneously needs to get out of this situation and figure out his admission to Harvard. Produced by Forest Whitaker and premiered at Sundance Film Festival.
Bananas forty years later. In this film directed by Ricky Gervais, the protagonists are a journalist working for the radio and his technician, who, sent to Ecuador to follow developments in a domestic crisis in the South American state, 'miss' their flight and, forced to stay in New York, decide to broadcast from the apartment of a couple of friends and invent everything that happens from scratch. While Allen wore a fake beard to play the role of the South American bigwig, here this virtually doesn’t exist except in the imagination of an easily impressionable audience. A light comedy, yet well directed by Ricky Gervais, who is better than one might think, and perhaps even better than he himself thinks, as he never ‘dare’ too much.
Paul Rudd is one of those actors of the new American cinema that I consider multi-purpose, and you can find him in different films that range from independent productions—sometimes even committed—to the most clichéd romantic comedies. In this beautiful film by Rob Burnett, he plays Ben, a social worker who serves as a caregiver for a boy named Trevor (Craig Roberts) suffering from muscular dystrophy. Ben will convince Trevor to overcome his resistance, and the two will embark on a long journey to what is "the largest hole in the world" (I believe it's the Morning Glory Pool in Wyoming, Yellowstone Park). It’s a road trip experience that will mark both of their lives. The cast also includes the young star Selena Gomez. It doesn't aim to tear your heart out, and perhaps that's why it’s a successful film.
Robert Altman: McCabe & Mrs. Miller
File Video I lack ★★★
An atypical Western directed by Bob Altman. The story is set in a small, snowy mining village and revolves around the figure of John McCabe (Warren Beatty), an unconventional hero for the genre, who could either be a ruthless, bloodthirsty man or simply a braggart. Because of these characteristics, he might remind one of some of Giuliano Gemma or Terence Hill's portrayals in the genre, but here the content leans more towards drama. Julie Christie received an Oscar nomination for her role as Mrs. Miller, the brothel keeper owned by McCabe, who then becomes the object of contention with a large mining company eager to take ownership at any cost. Not a masterpiece, but the analysis and description of the character are worth the price of admission.
  • hjhhjij
    13 jun 16
    Deconstruction, destruction, and reconstruction of the western stereotype and myth through Altman's satire, irony, and bitterness. Perhaps it's a type of cinema I particularly love, but for me, this film is indeed a masterpiece. Beautiful, brilliant in its "humanity" that removes any aura of myth and epicness from the genre.
  • sotomayor
    14 jun 16
    I adore Altman and this film, which I shamefully had missed. But, be careful, I also love spaghetti westerns, so it was inevitable for me to catch a lot of references, or rather - better - make comparisons with some of the works in the genre (which clearly range from excellent products to total trash or simple entertainment). Undoubtedly, McCabe's characterization is the central point of the film and something that is developed in an excellent way. I would also give credit to Warren Beatty, a great actor who perhaps has fired fewer rounds than he could have.
Roberto Vecchioni: Saldi di fine stagione
File Audio I have it ★★★★
Second album by Roberto Vecchioni, produced by the usual Renato Pareti (also the author of the music for 'Aiace' and 'I pazzi sono fuori'). The arrangements reflect the typical late-sixties style, and several lyrics, as a constant throughout the singer-songwriter's career, refer to historical events or mythology. The group of musicians supporting him in the recordings of this album is always notable (including Tullio De Piscolo and Franco Cerri), and they are the same as in the first album ('Parabola'), with the addition of two members from the group I Nuovi Angeli. An essential record for fans of Italian music from those years and among the most important recorded by Vecchioni himself.
  • sotomayor
    9 jun 16
    @[SandroGiacobbe] Sandrino, you pulled me back into the whirlwind of Vecchioni.
  • SandroGiacobbe
    9 jun 16
    This big working Japanese butterfly, this enormous polite woman, who does the shopping... and your smile is already gone, it's already forgotten... melancholy
  • sotomayor
    9 jun 16
    This morning while I was running, I got obsessed with #aiace. Every now and then, I like to feel like some sort of mythological hero, and I saw myself in his dramas and personal tragedy...
  • SandroGiacobbe
    9 jun 16
    Beautiful also Archaeology... Maybe because I remember youuuu tonight nananana, and then together with the Japanese butterfly, it's curious how two songs with such strong titles can turn out to be so delicate.
  • sotomayor
    9 jun 16
    You are the master of Italian music from that time.
Roberto Vecchioni: Blumùn
File Audio I have it ★★★
It’s the album by Roberto Vecchioni to which I’m probably most attached (along with Robinson) and one of those that, in my opinion, has a more convincing and less heavy sound than usual. His lyrical abilities are, after all, undeniable and widely recognized, and even in this case, there are what I consider gems, like 'Gli amici miei', one of the most beautiful songs Vecchioni has ever written. Intro and closing of the album by actor and comedian Gene Gnocchi.
Robyn Hitchcock: Robyn Sings
File Audio I have it ★★★
Robyn Hitchcock has always stated that he has three fundamental points of reference: Syd Barrett, of course, John Lennon, and Bob Dylan. At the opening of this album, which turns out to be a double live (the first part recorded in the USA between 1999 and 2000, the second in London in 1996), he says that 'Visions of Johanna' is the song that pushed him to start writing music (indeed, 'Robyn Sings', released on his own label, contains two versions of it). Robyn Hitchcock sings Dylan. What more can we say? Highly recommended for the fans of the former. If you like both: bingo. Noteworthy is the presence of Grant-Lee Phillips in the roster of musicians that are part of Mr. Hitchcock's band.

#levitation
I'm sorry, but I can't access external links. However, if you provide the text you want translated, I'd be happy to help!
Ryan Coogler: Fruitvale Station
File Video I lack ★★★★★
Produced by Forest Whitaker and directed by Ryan Coogler in his feature film debut, it tells the true story of the last day in the life of Oscar Grant (Michael B. Jordan), a twenty-two-year-old African American who was killed by the police in Oakland, California, with a gunshot to the back while handcuffed and after being stopped for no crime. The incident was documented and filmed by numerous people who witnessed the events and recorded what happened, and the event constituted a true scandal, unfortunately being yet another episode of 'gratuitous' violence exerted by US law enforcement, particularly against the African American population. A film that I believe should definitely be seen and that has received numerous well-deserved awards and recognitions.
Salman Rushdie: Midnight's Children
Cartaceo I have it ★★★
Salman Rushdie's 'Midnight's Children' are all the children born on August 15, 1947, at the stroke of midnight, practically at the same moment when India declared its independence. These children all possess extraordinary gifts and magical, supernatural powers. The same goes for Saleem Sinai, the protagonist of the story and also the narrator. A tale that travels through the historical events of his country in a hallucinatory and visionary manner, where the protagonist's experiences intertwine with those of India itself until they coincide into one. A work rich in content and insights, with some ups and downs in the rhythm of the narrative, but how could it be otherwise when telling the story of that part of the world from the late nineteenth century to the 1970s?
Sami Yusuf: Barakah
File Audio I have it ★
Album released by Andante Records from this British singer-songwriter and musician, but originally from Tehran, Iran. A multi-instrumentalist, the album is part of a series of recordings referred to as the 'Spiritique Collection,' of which it constitutes the first volume. The songs are mostly inspired by the sounds of Iranian and Azerbaijani folk music and contain themes of a religious nature drawn from Islamic tradition. The arrangements are very particular and evocative, while the atmospheres, as well as the tones, are dark and solemn, perhaps even too much so, to the point that discussing 'sacred music' in this case would not be entirely out of place. It is not.
  • lector
    23 may 16
    Why just one star?
  • sotomayor
    23 may 16
    Lector, because I expected more. Instead, it’s a really well-done job, with precious and very stylish arrangements, I would even recommend it, but the atmospheres overall are too dark, gloomy; I was not positively impressed. It feels like it has negative contents. I didn't see that 'sufi' inspiration that I hoped to find there.
  • lector
    23 may 16
    Remember that he is, after all, British: his perspective is always that of a stranger, with the added pain of uprooted roots.
  • sotomayor
    23 may 16
    He is a great artist, his qualities are undeniable and, not to mention, I am not critical at all regarding the references to Islamic religion, which I deeply respect and to which I would even consider myself a non-practicing believer in some way. I mean, I read the Quran a lot, though I am not religious, I find it a brilliant read and in general I respect all kinds of culture and religion. I simply didn’t like the atmospheres that came to be created. However, I am curious about what the other publications of this series of recordings will be, which I will try to follow: this is just the first one.
SBTRKT: Save Yourself
File Audio I have it ★★★★
Released unexpectedly and in full streaming on YouTube on March 25th. With the contribution and collaboration of friends and other artists (The-Dream, DRAM, Sampha), the London-based DJ and producer scores another significant hit for the dubstep genre, blending it with soul and alternative R&B as usual. The album is a snapshot of how he sees the world at this moment, paying attention to major themes as well as to the small things in our daily lives. I wouldn't use the word 'suffered', but the title itself, 'Save Yourself', nonetheless emphasizes what I would describe as a certain urgency, not just creatively.
  • Insect_Reject
    4 may 16
    Good work, but not up to 'Wonder Where We Land,' which in turn was not up to the first, excellent, self-titled album. A few "bangers" ('I feel your pain', 'Bury you'), and I would have bet that the most successful song (imo) is the one with the usual Sampha.
  • sotomayor
    5 may 16
    Overall, you're right, and it's actually something somewhat improvised, by his own admission; let's say it could even be defined as an EP. I have to say, I still found it really enjoyable, and it positively struck me on the first listen. Perhaps precisely because of this sense of immediacy that he clearly managed to convey to me.
Sexwitch: Sexwitch
File Audio I have it ★★★★
An incredibly interesting project born from the collaboration between Toy and Natasha Khan aka Bat for Lashes, two artists that I must admit I don't particularly love. With the production of Dan Carey, the band reinterprets six tracks of folk psychedelia from Iran, Morocco, Thailand, and the United States of the seventies. The result is an album with hypnotic sounds, krautrock grooves, and ethereal, obsessive vocals. It somewhat resembles what Goat does, although perhaps here there is a greater quest for sounds and atmospheres that are somehow vintage.

#levitation
Shane Black: The Nice Guys
File Video I lack ★★★
We are in Los Angeles in 1977, and a private investigator (Ryan Gosling) and what could be defined as a downright bruiser (Russell Crowe) are investigating the disappearance of a girl, soon finding themselves caught up in something that involves the worlds of gangsters and pornography, as well as politics and the justice department. It’s a fun comedy more than a true thriller or action film, and it’s precisely in its comedic elements that its strengths lie. Great, as long as it stays appropriately light-hearted and doesn’t aspire to become something different, otherwise it risks feeling too familiar, seen too many times before.
Shane Carruth: Primer
File Video I lack ★★★
I'm sorry, but I can't access external links or websites. If you have a specific text that you'd like me to translate, please provide it here, and I'll be happy to assist you!
Drama directed by Shari Springer Bergman and Robert Pulcini featuring Ethan Hawke among the cast. There are plenty of elements that could make for a great film: rock and roll, especially the music of the Replacements, punk and hardcore, drugs and youth angst, a young pregnant girl, and a troubled, insecure boy facing situations larger than himself. However, I believe the film doesn't work as it should and could. Perhaps there’s too much on the plate.
Shawn James: On the Shoulders of Giants
File Audio I have it ★★★★★
This boy is possessed by the sacred fire of blues music. Those same demons that have infected over time Son House, Robert Johnson, Blind Lemon Jefferson, and especially Howlin' Wolf, whom Shawn James somehow resembles with his voice that is both captivating and in a way aggressive, guttural like the growl of a massive Rocky Mountain bear. Recorded at the legendary Sun Studios in Memphis, Tennessee, 'On the Shoulder of Giants' is an album that balances soulful impulses with the more aggressive and acidic reverberations of the darkest blues music, one of the best 'American' albums I have listened to this year.
Spain: Carolina
File Audio I have it ★★★
Josh Haden and Spain's previous album, 'Sargent Place', left a very positive impression on me despite a lukewarm response from both the public and critics, leading to Haden's decision to completely overhaul the band by changing nearly all the performers and musicians. The result of these changes is 'Carolina', which can be described as an impeccable album in terms of purely technical aspects and arrangements, but it evidently lacks those 'punches' that somehow shake the listener. Nevertheless, it's still a good album, let's be clear: a confirmation of the great style and class of one of the bands that perhaps have received fewer accolades than they truly deserve over the past twenty years.
Sports Interactive: Football Manager 2016
DVD Dati I have it ★★★★
Last chapter of the most famous football management series developed by Sports Interactive. The game has been refreshed in some graphic details, and the 'touch' mode has been added. Richer than ever in details and statistical data, players experience virtually a complete virtual experience. The aspects to take care of are truly countless, and so many that I believe the line between pure entertainment and something that has an obsessive character has been crossed, and frankly, I don't see how one could go back in this regard, which makes it difficult to give an overall evaluation. The database is always up to date, and the scouting work is excellent, something that keyboard fans consider essential for what they believe should be potential market moves for their beloved team.