Mother Howl
Craig Clevenger is quickly becoming my favourite writer. He already has two published novels (both of them simply amazing), and now he’s in the process of writing the third. Meanwhile, he released one of the chapters of his new novel as a short story, exclusively on Chuck Palahniuk’s website. You can check it out here. Really awesome stuff.
Monkey Island is back!
The Monkey Island games were some of the first games I have ever played, and some of the games I enjoyed the most in my entire life. Now, after years and years since the last Monkey Island release, Lucas Arts, together with developers Telltale Games, decided to bring the franchise back to life. Tales of Monkey Island will be a 5-episode game that kicks off this July 7th, and pretty much everyone involved in its creation was part of the original Lucas Arts team that designed the first games.
Here’s the trailer. Let the countdown begin.
Killer, indeed
How cool is this promo poster for Dexter’s new season? Dexter is by far the only TV show that hasn’t disappointed at all so far – 3 great seasons, and if this poster is any indication, season 4 should be right up there with the others.
Old-school quality horror
With Drag Me to Hell, Sam Raimi does exactly as promised: he delivers 90 minutes of intense old-school horror. No gore, no blood, no torture, no stupid people chased by angry killers. Just your plain-old spooky story of a curse, of spirits, haunted houses, boo moments and creaky doors. Except for the close-up on an iPhone, there’s nothing that sets this movie in our time. It looks and (most importantly) feels like an 80’s horror flick, when there wasn’t the sadistical need of today’s films to get people frightened. A well-shot scene of windy leaves and weird noises can still do the trick.
What I really liked about this film is how Sam Raimi really doesn’t try anything fancy. He pays tribute to what he loves, and he loves doing it. A good script, good actors and high production values in the hands of a director who knows how to shoot a spooky scene? Cannot go wrong with that. Drag Me to Hell is a sure winner for everyone who enjoys a good classic horror flick, and doesn’t need R-rated violence to feel at least a little bit uneasy.
Kobe, dredg and Rishloo
Aimless web surfing can make you find amazing things. First, I just noticed that Kobe Bryant (yes, the Kobe Bryant) recently added to his official MySpace page the song “Mourning this Morning” from Dredg’s new album. Now that’s some funky shit. Then, I just stumbled upon a new, unsigned band that blew me away. They’re named Rishloo, they have 2 self-released albums, they sound a bit like A Perfect Circle (not too much tho), and their music is simply amazing. You should really check’em out. Also, don’t forget about “The Pariah, the Parrot, the Delusion”. It’s still the best music I’ve heard in a long time. Oh, and Mars Volta’s new album is just around the corner. Busy summer for cool music.
How to waste 93 million euros
It’s official: I hate Real Madrid. They just bought the most overrated cheating prick in football, and they paid 93 million euros for him. Now that’s stupid. They could have used the money for Messi – an obviously better player who, incidentally, doesn’t cheat and has traces of common sense. They could have used the money for anyone in the world – hell, they could have gotten two – three top players. Nope. They bring in an arrogant cheater who, despite flashes of brilliance, is not the best player in the world, and is not worth that much money. Now they have Ronaldo and Kaka stepping on each others toes – clearly not a recipe for success.
On the good side of things: the Premier League suddenly became a cleaner league.
Facebook & Twitter
My tentacles keep spreading over the internet. Just activated my Facebook account (Cristian Tane) and my Twitter account (cristane). I have no idea how often I’ll update those (I’m actually surprised I’m updating this blog so damn often), but feel free to drop by anytime.
The Pariah, the Parrot, the Delusion
Today marks the release of Dredg’s new album. It’s an extremely artsy, original, diverse and mature concept album, based on Salman Rushdie’s essay “Letter to the Sixth Billion Person”, an album that takes Dredg back to their “El Cielo” roots, with a cohesive sound, inventive and evolving songs, filled with intermissions that make them flow seamlessly from one another. If you don’t give this one a chance, you’ll be missing on a masterpiece.
You can read the essay here. You can listen to the full album stream here. And then you can buy it here.
I AMsterdam
My third time in Amsterdam, and each time it keeps getting better and better. This time I went there for the weekend mostly to meet a good friend that I haven’t seen in a long time (you can check out her blog here). And what a weekend it was. From tasting warm wort at the Heineken brewery, to eating Argentinian steak late at night, or getting lost in the Red Light District searching for some street with an impossible name, it was a blast. Thanks Geo & Robert for the warm welcome and being such good hosts – the services will be reciprocated soon 🙂
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