The Greatest (?) Hits of Pencil Storm during vacation week.
Read MoreRob, Ricki and Oscar; Talking Movies From ....2017?
Pencil Storm’s hopelessly out-of-date Global Pandemic Oscar coverage.
Read Morefrankblackfrancis :: aboxset :: byrobbraithwaite
Pixies formed in 1986. David Lovering, Kim Deal, Joey Santiago and Charles Thompson IV, under the alias Black Francis, created music that influenced bands for years to come. Tensions within the group, largely between Thompson and Deal, strained and broke up the band in 1993.
Pixies reformed in 2004. A reunion tour was launched and new music was everyone’s hope. Pixies recorded “Bam Thwok!” for submission to the Shrek 2 soundtrack. It was rejected, and they continued to tour. Pixies wouldn’t go into the studio unless all members agreed. Kim Deal left the band in early 2013. A new EP was released later that year.
Pixies released three EPs over 2013 and 2014. They would later be collected as Indie Cindy. Simon Archer (The Fall) played bass in the studio. Kim Shattuck (The Muffs) managed bass duties live for a couple months before Paz Lenchantin (A Perfect Circle) got the job permanently. Beneath the Eyrie, the new Pixies album, is out September 13th.
The making of Beneath the Eyrie was made into the award-worthy documentary podcast, It’s a Pixies Podcast.
Pixies were slowly making their way into my music world just as they were breaking up. From the Pump Up the Volume soundtrack to a 120 Minutes VJ crying, “That was the world premiere video of ‘Velouria’ and the last time we will ever show it,” I was aware of Pixies but I didn’t pay much attention to the albums until I got hooked on Frank Black’s solo albums, specifically Teenager of the Year.
Here Comes Your Man — 01
Bam Thwok! — 02
On Graveyard Hill — 03
Letter to Memphis — 04
No. 13 Baby — 05
Gigantic — 06
The Happening — 07
Planet of Sound — 08
Bel Esprit — 09
Something Against You — 10
Debaser — 11
Allison — 12
The Holiday Song — 13
Greens and Blues — 14
PIXIES :: 1986-1993, 2004-2019
13 — Come On Pilgrim (1987)
06, 10 — Surfer Rosa (1988)
01, 05, 11 — Doolittle (1989)
07, 12 — Bossanova (1990)
04, 08 — Trompe le Monde (1991)
02 — single (2004)
14 — Indie Cindy (2014)
09 — Head Carrier (2016)
03 — Beneath the Eyrie (2019)
Post-Pixies, Black Francis became Frank Black. He produced The Cult of Ray himself. The third solo album was recorded live with very few overdubs, a departure from his usual studio recording process. He liked the result so much that it became a blueprint for the next eight or nine years.
I saw Frank Black during the Teenager of the Year tour. The still underknown Jonny Polonsky opened. Throughout the entire show people screamed for Pixies songs. They never got them.
Headache — 01
Adda Lee — 02
Men in Black — 03
Superabound — 04
Old Black Dawning — 05
Pure Citizen of the Citizens Band — 06
You Ain’t Me — 07
Speedy Marie — 08
The Creature Crawling — 09
Czar — 10
The Man Who Was Too Loud — 11
The Cult of Ray — 12
Space Is Gonna Do Me Good — 13
Don’t Ya Rile ‘em — 14
FRANK BLACK :: 1993-1996
02, 05, 10, 14 — Frank Black (1993)
01, 04, 06, 08, 13 — Teenager of the Year (1994)
11 — The John Peel Session :: w/Teenage Fanclub (1995)
03, 07, 09, 12 — The Cult of Ray (1996)
Frank Black and the Catholics was made up of the backing band on The Cult of Ray. The process of recording “live-to-tape” was passed into law. There were no overdubs and virtually all of the songs during this time had no edits.
In 2004, Frank Black left the Catholics behind. He recorded two albums in Nashville with heavy-hitting session musicians that included Steve Cropper and Spooner Oldham, among many others.
I saw Frank Black and the Catholics during The Dog in the Sand tour. It was this tour that, for the first time, Pixies songs appeared on a Frank Black set list. Pixies reunited three years later.
Bullet — 01
Modern Age — 02
Do You Feel Bad About It? — 03
Smoke Up — 04
Go Find Your Saint — 05
21 Reasons — 06
If It Takes All Night — 07
I Switched You — 08
Solid Gold — 09
Nadine — 10
If Your Poison Gets You — 11
I Burn Today (live) — 12
Wave of Mutilation (live) — 13
FRANK BLACK AND THE CATHOLICS :: 1997-2006
03, 09 — Frank Black and the Catholics (1998)
04, 08 — Pistolero (1999)
01, 07 — Dog in the Sand (2001)
06 — Black Letter Days (2002)
02 — Devil’s Workshop (2002)
10 — Show Me Your Tears (2003)
05 — Honeycomb (2005) as Frank Black
11 — Fast Man Raider Man (2006) as Frank Black
12, 13 — Christmass (2006) as Frank Black
By 2007 the Pixies reunion tour looked like it was here to stay. There were rumors of new songs being worked on, though no new Pixies album appeared. Charles Thompson reverted to his Pixies alias, Black Francis, when he released Bluefinger. Both it and the EP svn fngrs made me wonder if some these songs had seeds of the rumored session. The rest of this section of frankblackfrancis is filled with a grab bag of projects: he wrote songs and a score for the silent movie The Golem (1920), he partnered with Reid Paley, a contributor on Fast Man Raider Man, for a one-off album, and he recorded a couple albums with Violet Clark, his wife, under the name Grand Duchy.
Threshold Apprehension — 01
Six Legged Man — 02
Half Man — 03
Bad News — 04
Curse — 05
Dead Man’s Curve — 06
The Flower Song — 07
Ugly Life — 08
Tight Black Rubber — 09
When They Come to Murder Me — 10
Lolita — 11
Stars — 12
BLACK FRANCIS :: 2007-2011
01, 09, 11 — Bluefinger (2007)
03, 10 — svn fngrs (2008)
02, 06 — NonStopErotik (2010)
04, 07, 12 — The Golem (2010)
05, 08 — Paley & Francis (2011) :: as Paley & Francis
If you haven’t noticed yet, Frank Black records a lot. Since Pixies formed in 1986 his yearly album average is nearly one and a quarter. And that’s not counting the songs he didn’t put on his records.
There was so much b-side material that collections were released. Oddballs compiled some of the excess from 1994-1997. Like material from the Catholics years were spread over two titles: Snake Oil (covers) and Another Road for the Hit (originals). Abbabubba and Christmass were mixes of original songs, live recordings and alternate versions of album tracks. Pixies even released a collection of b-sides. And with the arrival of Beneath the Eyrie, there are six more songs for the pile.
History Song (live) — 01
Somethings — 02
Don’t Clip Your Wings — 03
Re-Make/Re-Model — 04
Oddball — 05
Amnesia — 06
Old John Amos — 07
Sugar Daddy — 08
This Is Where I Belong — 09
Preacher’s Daughter — 10
That Burnt Out Rock ‘n’ Roll (live) — 11
Do Nothing — 12
You Never Heard About Me — 13
Rabbit Hole — 14
Tossed (vocal version) (live) — 15
SCRAPS
01 — FB&theC covering The Good, The Bad and The Queen
02, 12 — FB&theC - Snake Oil. 02 covering Angst. 12 covering The Specials
03, 10 — FB&theC: One More Road for the Hit
04, 05, 13 — FB: Oddballs
06, 09 — FB: “Headache” CD single. 09 covering The Kinks
07 — covering Arthur Alexander
08 — FB: Wig in a Box: Songs from and Inspired by Hedwig and the Angry Inch
11 — FB: 93-03. covering Gary Green
14 — BF demo
15 — FB bootleg
Below are Spotify versions of the playlists above. A few songs aren’t available, so some of the playlists vary slightly. There are a very small number copies of the above set, plus two episodes of It’s a Pixies Podcast, burned to CD at Colin’s Coffee, if you are so inclined…
“On Graveyard Hill” video co-directed by Kii Arens (Flipp, PPL MVR and LA-LA Land Gallery)
*phew*
In Conclusion: The Movies of 2017 - by Rob Braithwaite
Watching 366 movies last year kind of broke me. I only watched 104 movies this year. Here are some highlights. [Law and Order noise]
OPERATION: DYNAMO
I don’t know how or why but there were three movies this year that featured the rescue from Dunkirk in some fashion, and they fit together so well that I suspect Kevin Feige orchestrated it all.
Darkest Hour
World War II is in its dawn when the unpopular English Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain is replaced by the not-as unpopular Winston Churchill. Churchill is almost immediately pressured to reach out to the Germans to ask for mercy. It is a concept so foreign to him that even his body rejects the notion of nothing short of victory in the face of the rising fascist force.
The movie has a few classic biopic trips when information and backstory need known. But there are stunning scenes and sequences. The makeup work on Gary Oldman is nothing but award winning, as is his performance.
The drama of Darkest Hour is political and personal. The rescue at Dunkirk is an element of the story, however it isn’t seen. Thankfully, there’s…
Dunkirk
I expected this to be a three hour movie in which the first hour was filled with clunky get-to-know-them-so-you-care setups. Nope. Just two hours of action and tension. It’s amazing. The dogfights especially.
Some didn’t like Dunkirk because there is too little context or they didn’t care enough about the people. I disagree. But, for context there’s Darkest Hour. For the personal touch, there’s…
Their Finest
England is very much the WWII mix now. Their troops are back on the front lines, and their citizens are adapting to routine air raids. Morale is low. Here come the movies to make everyone feel better!
The Ministry of Information decides to make a film about the heroic deed of two sisters who stole their father’s boat to rescue soldiers from the Dunkirk shore. Problem is, their boat never made it to Dunkirk. Catrin Cole, still seeing their heroism, fights to tell the sister’s story as it happened. And yet, the propaganda machine continues to distort the truth.
Maybe the most interesting thing about Their Finest is that as myth takes over the sister’s truth, the myth of the romantic comedy genre is exposed as propaganda itself.
Ignore the forgettable title. Ignore the terrible trailer. Ignore the awful poster. See this little gem.
THIS SEASON ON SUPERHERO SHOWDOWN
Franchise moviemaking has got me down more than ever. It all feels like TV programming now, especially superhero movies. I don't get event anticipation anymore. Still, because I do like them, I see them.
Never mind the comic book source, Logan is a great movie. I got a little misty at the end.
Wonder Woman proves DC can make a great superhero movie. After seeing Justice League, I’m convinced they can’t. I’m sure Wonder Woman succeeded because no one at the studio thought much about it (“Oh, let them have their Wondering Woman.”), and Patty Jenkins & company went largely unchecked.
I’m not going to shit on Justice League. The movie does a great job of that on its own. But I would like to laugh at some horrible and frustrating product placement in it.
Bruce Wayne has successfully recruited Barry Allen. They both get into Bruce’s expensive car. Bruce says the “because I’m rich” line from the trailer and then the movie cuts to his hands gripping the steering wheel. The fingers of his right hand stretch out to pull up on a small lever. The car starts up, and the movie cuts to his expensive car driving toward the camera for all to see which brand had this ingenious feat of engineering.
I wasn’t expecting anything to happen -- they weren’t in costume or in any danger -- but it seemed like something was about to happen. Turns out they were just going… Where were they going? Jesus! They weren't going anywhere!
Spider-Man: Homecoming is fun. I like Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 more than the first one. I’m in the minority opinion of Thor: Ragnarok. It is mostly pointless and too jokey, I say. It would have been an amazing surprise had no one known Hulk was in it.
IN OTHER FRANCHISE NEWS
There are parts of The Last Jedi that I love. And there are parts of The Last Jedi that I ignore. If you’ve seen it once, you could miss the first 45-60 minutes forever and enjoy it even more.
War for the Planet of the Apes closes out the rebooted property. Easily one of the best series of the 21st century.
Transspotting 2 and Blade Runner 2049 prove a quality sequel can be made decades after the original. My fingers are crossed for Remo Williams: The Adventure Continues.
John Wick: Chapter 2 raises the stakes on the hitman world built in the first one. I couldn’t be looking forward to Chapter 3 more.
Alien: Covenant balances its philosophical and action elements better than Prometheus did. There’s a great middle sequence and final moment.
REST MY WEARY EYES
Enough blockbusters. Give me a movie set in a natural and practical environment where people interact with each other.
Lady Bird is a wonderful movie. I’m afraid it’s going to take away some attention from The Big Stick in the mind of people who give awards to things. Both are worth anyone’s time. The Big Sick does not let itself off the hook with an easy ending. Lady Bird will go down as one of the best director debuts, as will Jordan Peele’s debut, Get Out. He set the bar incredibly high for himself and his next movie.
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri takes a brutal look at festering rage.
Marjorie Prime should probably be avoided if a loved one recently died or is suffering from dementia. Even without the recent experience of those things, this examination of memory and legacy is like a mule kick.
It Comes at Night and mother! both have trailers that misrepresent what really happens. I wouldn’t recommend mother! to many people, even though I do like it. It Comes at Night is an excellent story of how isolation can breed mistrust and paranoia.
The pace of Logan Lucky is unlike usual heist movies. It’s a little slower and not as flashy but no less engaging. The wealth of the community of characters reminds me of the comic Southern Bastards.
I’m a sucker for movies set in a single location. Ben Wheatley double downs on that idea with Free Fire by making a movie-length shoot out.
THE LESS YOU KNOW THE BETTER
Movie trailers don't respect you. You should pay them little mind. This year I tried not to watch trailers online. Very rarely has a trailer completely ruined a movie for me, but wouldn’t it be nice to see something in a movie you aren't expecting? If you trust me, watch these five movies without watching the trailers or reading more about them:
Brigsby Bear. A 20-something guy is obsessed with a children's program. Co-written by and starring Kyle Mooney and directed by someone else from Saturday Night Live.
Better Watch Out. Christmas horror/comedy.
Colossal. A woman returns to her home town to get her life in order.
Good Time. Robert Pattinson received rave reviews in this crime drama.
The Girl with All the Gifts. Horror/thriller. I wish I could have seen it with that much information.
SOME OTHERS I LIKED A LOT
Split, Raw, Life, It, Murder of the Orient Express, The Disaster Artist, The Shape of Water.
THE OVERLAP
There are a few movies that open in select cities at the end of the year to be eligible for award season. They will receive a wider release in January. I, Tonya and Phantom Thread are the two I’m most interested in.
Here’s to movies in 2018!
Hot Sun, Cool Theater: Summer’s Movie Series - by Rob Braithewaite
That big ball of fire in the sky can get pretty hot this time of year. If you are looking to beat the heat, or just want to see an older movie on the big screen, the way you might never have before, the Gateway Film Center, CAPA, the Wexner Center for the Arts and Studio 35 have you covered.
GATEWAY FILM CENTER
Summer of Bond. July 1st - September 10th.
All twenty-six James Bond movies will be shown, in order, including the non-canon Casino Royale, starring Peter Sellers, and Never Say Never Again.
series information and tickets
CAPA
Summer Movie Series. June 23rd - August 6th.
If you’ve got an ol’-timey “classics” itch, this series is your scratching post. Hitchcock, Bogey & Bacall, Jimmy Stewart, Cary Grant, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera! Fritz the Night Owl hosts a few of the new blood titles.
series information and tickets
WEXNER CENTER FOR THE ARTS
The New Hollywood: Deep Cuts 1967-1978. July 6th - August 24th.
Deep Cuts is right. Ain’t no radio hits on this list. See something you’ve never heard of before! The double feature of Juggernaut and The Driver is inspired. Inserts… well, that’s a Richard Dreyfuss movie no one mentions. It could be good.
series information and tickets
Free Tuesday Matinees. July 11th - August 8th.
Free movies. On Tuesday. In the afternoon.
Wex Drive-In.
When the ball of fire goes down, the projector lights up.
July 20th: Wattstax
August 17th: Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.
Free screenings.
STUDIO 35
The New Hollywood: Classic Hits. July 3rd - September 3rd.
The Wex has partnered with Studio 35 to complement its Deep Cuts series with more familiar titles from that era.
Four Cents: Rob & Ricki and Oscar, Part Four: Our Oscar Picks, Top Eight Categories
Ricki: It's become a tradition at the Cacchione household the last few years for us to host an (incredibly small) Oscar party. That "party" consists of my lovely wife Debbie preparing a meal that involves bacon in some creative way (which I can't eat, since I can't digest meat protein) and our main movie friend Kyle coming over to watch the bloated nightmare that is the Oscar Awards broadcast from what seems like five in the afternoon 'til sometime past three o'clock the next morning.
The three of us fill out the entire Oscar ballot and point values are assigned to the various categories: i.e. tech categories are one point apiece; documentaries & animated maybe three points; writing cats five points; on up to 10 points apiece for the acting and best director & best picture picks.
Generally, by the time they get around to announcing Best Supporting Actress around midnight and people with jobs on Monday are already sleeping, I'm behind by so wide a margin that I start making up rules: like from then on, all the remaining categories are worth 50 points apiece. The winner gets a prize, but none of us can remember what any of the prizes have ever been, so they can't be that great.
So Rob and I are dispensing with all the down-the-line categories and concentrating on what we are terming The Big Eight: writing, acting, best director & best picture.
Rob: I don’t watch the Oscars. I don’t like bloated pageantry. I have no dog in the fight, so I’m not missing anything. That’s not to say I’m not interested. I’ll check the results in the morning.
I have never entered an Oscars pool or had to predict the winners. Until now. What would we do if blogs didn't need content?
BEST PICTURE
Arrival
Fences
Hacksaw Ridge
Hell or High Water
Hidden Figures
La La Land
Lion
Manchester by the Sea
Moonlight
Rob: Gotta begrudgingly pick La La Land. Hollywood loves Hollywood. I’d like to be surprised by something else winning, but I don’t think I will be.
Ricki: Most of my picks are gonna be divided into What Should Win and What Will Win: What Should Win, Manchester By The Sea, by far the best movie I saw all year; What Will Win, La La Land.
BEST DIRECTING
Damien Chazelle (La La Land)
Mel Gibson (Hacksaw Ridge)
Barry Jenkins (Moonlight)
Kenneth Lonergan (Mancheaster by the Sea)
Denis Villeneuve (Arrival)
Rob: Again, La La Land. It can’t win Best Picture and not win Best Directing. However, it is worthy of directing honors over best in show. My off-ballot hopes are with Moonlight.
Ricki: Rob's probably right about Best Picture/Best Director being intertwined, as they are most years. Who Should Win, Kenneth Lonergan. Who Will Win, Damien Chazelle.
BEST LEADING ACTRESS
Isabelle Huppert (Elle)
Ruth Negga (Loving)
Natalie Portman (Jackie)
Emma Stone (La La Land)
Meryl Streep (Florence Foster Jenkins)
Rob: Can we please agree that Meryl Streep is an excellent actress and not nominate her for anything for a while? The same goes for Pixar movies. Anomalisa should have won last year over Inside Out. Anyway, Isabelle Huppert for the win.
Ricki: I'm going with Emma Stone here, partly because I thought she was the best thing ABOUT La La Land, and partly because I truthfully didn't see any of the other performances.
BEST LEADING ACTOR
Casey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea)
Andrew Garfield (Hacksaw Ridge)
Ryan Gosling (La La Land)
Viggo Mortensen (Captain Fantastic)
Denzel Washington (Fences)
Rob: Denzel Washington. duh. If by some freak occurrence Ryan Gosling wins, I’m going to pretend it’s for The Nice Guys.
Ricki: I say Casey Affleck is going to pull this out.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Viola Davis (Fences)
Naomie Harris (Moonlight)
Nicole Kidman (Lion)
Octavia Spencer (Hidden Figures)
Michelle Williams (Manchester by the Sea)
Rob: Viola Davis. duh. And yet it can not be understated how much Michelle Williams crushed that one scene in Manchester by the Sea. You never would have guessed she was hardly in the movie before it.
Ricki: I didn't see Fences, so I'm pulling for Naomie Harris in a truly fearsome, ferocious performance in Moonlight.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Mahershala Ali (Moonlight)
Jeff Bridges (Hell or High Water)
Lucas Hedges (Manchester by the Sea)
Dev Patel (Lion)
Michael Shannon (Nocturnal Animals)
Rob: Mahershala Ali. Largely no contest. When isn’t Michael Shannon great? Maybe when he’s slightly overshadowed by his co-supporting actor Aaron Taylor-Johnson. Sill, with a Taylor-Johnson nomination instead, Ali would have taken it.
Ricki: I concur, Mahershala Ali. (Hopefully John Travolta will NOT be called upon to present this award.)
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Hell or High Water
La La Land
The Lobster
Manchester by the Sea
20th Century Women
Rob: It’s between 20th Century Women and The Lobster. I’m giving the edge to The Lobster. Its world-building should be rewarded.
Ricki: Manchester By The Sea.
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Arrival
Fences
Hidden Figures
Lion
Moonlight
Rob: I’m assuming none of the voters compared the original text with the adaptation: I mean, that would be the best way, right? Sure, but I’m not going to do that either. I’d like to pick Fences. The content is great. I don’t feel like it was adapted for the screen. It still had the rhythm, feel, and - at times - the staging of a play. Is it better to change the content for the medium or to let it stand as it is? In this case, the latter was chosen. I’m picking Arrival.
…well, maybe not. Arrival’s strength might be in the editing. Hidden Figures, while an amazing story, is presented in a very ordinary way. I didn’t see Lion. So, Moonlight for the win.
Ricki: Yeah, this is tough, since I don't know what any of these screenplays were adapted FROM. (But none of them were comic books, naturally.) I'd like to pick Moonlight, but I'm going to go with Hidden Figures, just because I enjoyed it so much, which is exactly the kind of from-the-heart-makes-no-logical-sense-pick that loses me our Oscar Ballot Pize every year.
In closing I want to thank the Pencilstorm readers for hanging in with us through all these blogs and I especially want to thank Rob for watching 366 movies in 2016, an accomplishment that should be hailed.
My easiest Oscar Prediction of the Year? Jimmy Kimmel is gonna suck as the host.