Review: "Muscle Shoals"
(10/31/13 8:12am)
Dir. Greg 'Freddy' CamalierMagnolia Pictures4/5 stars
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Dir. Greg 'Freddy' CamalierMagnolia Pictures4/5 stars
Seattle-based visual artist and activist Chris Jordan returns to Duke to participate in a panel and Q&A for this year’s Duke Arts Festival on Oct. 30 from 7 to 9 p.m. His work addresses issues of mass consumerism and environmentalism. Recess staff writer Derek Saffe spoke with Jordan about his journey, environmental activism as art and the experience of creating his new film, “Midway: Message from the Gyre."
Danny BrownFool's Gold Records4.5/5 stars
“The Act of Killing” is one of the most devastating documentaries to come out in recent memory. Directed by Joshua Oppenheimer and made over a span of 10 years with the help of various anonymous Indonesian informants, the documentary focuses on the Western-backed mass killings of Communists and ethnic Chinese under the Suharto regime in the mid 1960s. ‘The Act of Killing’ takes a different inflection from most documentaries on genocide, focusing on the perpetrators rather than the victims to relate the full gravity of what transpired.
After the boisterous success of “Shaun of the Dead” and “Hot Fuzz,” the creative ménage à trois of Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost culminates their unofficial ‘three flavor Cornetto trilogy’ with the sci-fi comedy fusion “The World’s End.”
Surveillance in the digital age is an omnipresent element of our reality. It’s a concept made palpable with the recent NSA leaks and their astounding scope of infiltration into our daily lives. Nevertheless, it is the United Kingdom—not the United States—that has been dubbed “the most surveilled state in the industrialized West.” With over 5 million closed circuit cameras monitoring the British populace with an Orwellian gaze, it is an ideal setting for work addressing the ever-tightening grasp on society. "Closed Circuit," unfortunately, fails to provide a profound social statement on mass surveillance.
King Krule, Archy Marshall’s artistic alias, has carved himself as an iconoclastic figure. He was raised in artistically fertile South London and first gained blogosphere prominence under the moniker ‘Zoo Kid’ before finally choosing King Krule as his nickname in 2011. His lanky, fragile 19-year-old body with a freckled, pale visage speaks little to the rich jarring baritone that erupts from him when he performs.
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J.J. Abrams’s latest installment in the hallowed halls of Star Trek lore is replete with visual wonder, but lacks in emotional heft. From its inception, the Abrams’ helmed Star trek reboot has been a departure from the staid and more philosophical treatment of previous franchises. Infusing more action sequences and epic set-pieces than any other franchise before it, this is the Star Trek for the Michael Bay generation.
Durham’s own Full Frame Documentary Film Festival has grown with every passing year, inevitably drawing submissions from Duke itself. This year, that includes Erin Espelie, instructor, visiting artist and MFA candidate in the Experimental and Documentary Arts. Full Frame will mark the North American premiere of her documentary, True-Life Adventure.
Barbara is a deeply affecting and realistic portrait of life in 1980s East Germany. In his latest film, writer-director Christian Petzold delivers a fine-tuned effort that earned him the Silver Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival.
In the 21 years since Loveless, My Bloody Valentine have accrued almost insurmountable expectations within the rock community. Many fledgling groups have tried (and failed) to replicate the Irish band’s swirling vortex of reverb, drum loops and angelic vocals. Meanwhile, their 1991 magnum opus has become a cult classic and garnered numerous musical accolades in and outside of the artistic community.
Rust and Bone is an arresting drama that retains its poignancy without succumbing to sentimentality. Writer-director Jacques Audiard, well known for his engrossing prison epic A Prophet, trains his eye on the lives of an unemployed father, Ali (Matthias Schoenaerts), and a killer whale trainer, Stephanie (Marion Cotillard). Set mainly in the Cote D’Azur city of Antibes, the plot unfurls gradually against the backdrop of their developing relationship.
A producer since he was a freshman in high school, Nosaj Thing has crafted cosmic-sounding instrumentals for the likes of Kid Cudi, Kendrick Lamar and other underground hip hop artists. It’s his solo work, however, that most fully reveals his musical palette. Nosaj Thing—alias of L.A.-based producer Jason Chung—returns after his acclaimed 2009 debut Drift with a glitch-hop album imbued with melancholy and expanded to accommodate a fuller sonic spectrum.
In recent years, the film scene at Duke has become one of its artistic strengths.
Entering into the mind of local artist Tom Whiteside—who presents his works under the name Durham Cinematheque—is akin to entering into a living repository of cinematic knowledge. Recess writer Derek Saffe had the chance to interview Whiteside and discuss his life as a filmmaker and his current exhibit at the Durham Cinematheque.
The richness of French cinema arrives on campus once again as Duke’s Center for French and Francophone Studies (CFFS) presents their annual month-long Tournées French Film Festival.
Fang Island, Major
On the Chromatics’ latest release Kill For Love, producer Johnny Jewel crafts a record of cinematic scope and splendor. The sprawling 90-minute record is the Portland-based group’s fourth LP and their second after switching styles from chaotic noise punk to slow-burning synth-pop.
The “Liam Neeson movie,” for better or worse, has essentially become an action sub-genre in its own right. His roles in Taken, Clash of the Titans and Unknown have already established him as an action star, but with director Joe Carnahan’s (of Smokin’ Aces fame) The Grey, he has cemented himself as such.