So today’s post is my list of hopefuls for the 2012.  The films that I am most anticipating and the films I think have the best chance at “wow”-ing me.

12. The Avengers (May 4th)

I love super hero movies.  It’s honestly hard for me to not enjoy a superhero movie.  Even at the extreme rate at which Hollywood is cranking them out these days, it has been a while since we’ve had a really great one.  And with Joss Whedon at the helm, I think this could be a fun and exhilarating film. While I’m a little disappointed that Edward Norton won’t be reprising his role as the Hulk, I’m excited to see how the extremely talented Ruffalo will portray the character.

11. Lincoln (December)

I love U.S. History, and have always been fascinated with this particular time period.  That alone will get me in the theater, but then when you tell me that Daniel Day-Lewis, the ultimate method actor, will be playing Lincoln, well now you got me really excited.  Not to mention Joseph Gordon-Levitt will playing his son.

10. Django Unchained (Dec. 25)

Leonardo DiCaprio has owned the past decade, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt is working real hard to steal it from him. And Tarantino has enlisted them both to tell his story of a freed slave-turned-bounty hunter on a mission to rescue his wife.  But I think his best move may have been bringing back Christoph Waltz.  I’m hoping their partnership can bring back some of the magic that was in Inglorious Basterds.

9. The Great Gatsby (Dec. 25)

Two Leo films coming out on Christmas Day? I think Popcorn and Coke will suffice for presents this year.  So I will see just about anything DiCaprio does, so you can imagine my excitement when I heard he would be taking the lead role in the new adaptation of one of my absolute favorite books.  If it weren’t being filmed in 3D, this would be much higher on my list.

8. Moonrise Kingdom (May 16)

It’s a new Wes Anderson movie, why wouldn’t I be excited about it?  Glad to see some new faces among Anderson’s usual favorites. Looks to be a fun one.

7. Blue Like Jazz (April 13)

Another one of my favorite books is being made into a film this year.  Donald Miller’s hilarious collection of essays should make for a fun film, and knowing that Miller himself was involved in the making of this film, gives me confidence that the faith aspect of the film will be done well.

6. The Hunger Games (Mar. 23)

My wife and I both devoured these books when we first discovered them a couple years ago.  Although I kind of doubt that this will end up being a good movie, I can’t help but be excited about watching.  I just don’t know how you could pull off the intensity of this film in a tasteful way.  But if they somehow pull it off, it will be epic.

5. The Hobbit (Dec. 14)

Peter Jackson reunites the whole gang with the addition of Martin Freeman (Sherlock, The Office) to adapt my favorite Tolkien book. Yes please!

4. Gangster Squad (Oct. 19)

Ryan Goslin, Emma Stone, Josh Brolin, and Sean Penn in a 40′s Mafia film.  Not a fan of the title, but that won’t stop me from seeing this flick.

3. Argo (Sept. 14)

While I still have my doubts about Ben Affleck as an actor, after watching Gone, Baby, Gone and The Town, I am a firm believer in Affleck the director, and will watch anything that he directs from here on out.  And with both Bryan Cranston and Kyle Chandler leading the way, I have pretty high hopes for this film.

2. Jeff Who Lives At Home (Mar. 16)

Jason Segel is quickly becoming one of my favorite comedians and I continue to be impressed with Ed Helms as he branches out into different comedic roles.   Just looks like my kind of indie comedy.

1. The Dark Knight Rises (July 20)

The Dark Knight was my favorite film of 2008 and I thought their absence from the Best Picture nominations was the biggest snub of the year.  Christopher Nolan hasn’t made a bad film yet.  It’s unfortunate that Ledger will never be able to reprise his terrifyingly awesome role, but I’m excited about the addition of Tom Hardy as Bane.  Excited to see how Nolan finishes up this epic superhero saga.

Hope you enjoyed the list. What film are you most excited about seeing this year? What egregious error did I make?

New Order – Love Vigilantes

So first lets start with what I got first.

This mix is super dope, super chill, and super ambient.

But i said it gets better…. The next part you’re gonna have to go off-site to see, but is well worth it.

I also found this site called YooouuuTuuube, and it offers another way to visualize it.

If you enjoy the track, be sure to go over to the artists Last.fm page and pick up the MP3.

I hope your ears bleed in wonderland!

I know i’m always talking about how I’ve got some new kind of remix, but this week. I’ve outdone myself.

I’ve brought along a visual aid to help me, and it’s something special in it’s own right. ( I recommend going to the Vimeo website and watching it in HD)

Eclectic 3.0: The Roads Less Traveled from Ross Ching on Vimeo.

I’ve chosen a remix from the original score of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.

Ennio Morricone – L´Estasi Dell´Oro (The Ecstasy of Gold) (Remix)

This remix is captivating. I love it. It’s been on repeat in my office for two weeks. It’s classical nature, yet vibrant breakbeats make me feel like I’m in an italian spaghetti western of my own.

It’s great stuff.

I hope your ears worse spurs. Ω

In this inaugural post I would like to draw attention to the newest late night show, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. I have begun following his show closely after taking over for the legendary Conan O’Brien. I have honestly been pretty impressed with how well he has assumed this new role. I love how he has gone to great lengths to become relevant by embracing all of the new cultural and technological norms such as Twitter and Facebook (although it seems the show tries too hard at times). And I am especially impressed with the musical guests he has been able to line up thus far. The debut show, that aired March 5, 2009, included the legendary artist Van Morrison in which he played “Sweet Thing.” The two performances I would like to highlight are Glen Hansard of The Frames performing a cover of “Hair Shirt” by R.E.M. on March 12, 2009; a very intimate performance of a man and his Mandolin. The second is Vampire Weekend on March 18, 2009 debuting a brand new song, “White Sky.”  This song will be included on their new album that will hopefully be released this coming fall. I bring attention to each of these notable performances so that you may venture over to hulu.com and watch them for yourselves.

We have embedded the March 18th episode so that you can watch the Vampire Weekend performance right here, right now. This is truly one of the best late night performances I have ever seen. For those of you who have been living underground for the past year and have yet to hear their debut album, you must go out and get it immediately.  You won’t be disappointed.  Unfortunately we couldn’t find a video with just their performance, so what you have here is the entire episode.  But if you want to jump straight to Vampire Weekend’s performance, just click on the second to last white dot at the bottom of the video. Unfortunately the Van Morrison performance is no longer available, but if you head over to hulu.com, you can find the Glen Hansard performance and many more. I hope they bring you as much joy as they brought to me. I hope your ears bleed and maybe even your eyes a little with these amazing performances. More to come soon.

Vampire Weekend – White Sky

Van Morrison – Sweet Thing

1. Snow Patrol – You Could Be Happy

Smallville Season 6 – “Promise”

I thought this was a great way to open such a pivotal and emotional episode.  The lyrics of this song fit so well and helped move the audience quickly into the emotional state of distress that Clark is going through on the day of Lana and Lex’s wedding. I seriously loved this episode and it wouldn’t have been half as good without this fantastic opening track.

2. Colin Hay – Overkill (Acoustic)

Scrubs Season 2 – “My Overkill”

Scrubs continues to be one of the funniest shows on television.  Even in their eighth season and with a network change  they can hardly create an episode that doesn’t make me laugh.   But the reason I own every season on dvd, is not so that I can watch Dr. Dorian dance in a patient room filled with 99 Red Balloons to the Nena song of the same title (although I can’t help but laugh out loud everytime I watch that scene).  Rather it is because they are not afraid to tackle some of the more serious and less fun aspects of being in a relationship and working in a hospital.  While it is still worth a few laughs, this great opening to the second season is a great example of that.

3. Led Zeppelin – Babe I’m Gonna Leave You

One  Tree Hill  Season 3 – “The Show Must Go On”

I was really disappointed that I was unable to find a video for this one.  I thought it was pretty incredible the way they wrapped up their entire season with this six and half minute song playing in the background.  It doesn’t distract from, but rather adds to the dramatic effect of this cliff-hanging closer.

Sufjan Stevens – Wolverine

That’s right The Roots are going to be playing live on Late Night with Jimmy Kimmel every night.  How weird is that.  That seems to be reason enough that it won’t tank after just one season.  Although I wonder how long they’ll want to do that.  What would be cool though is if after a season then he gets another band to come and do it for a year.  I wouldn’t doubt it if after this news there are a a bunch of bands contacting the other evening and late night hosts about becoming a permanent feature on their show.

Anyway, props to Jimmy for getting The Roots to join his crew.  Maybe he will continue to bring artists with actual talent on his show as guests every night.  I’m not getting my hopes up though. The one band that popped into his head as he was showing where the band would play on his model studio was Green Day.  Well here are a few tracks from Rising Down, the newest release from The Roots.

The Roots – The Show (feat. Common and Dice R)

The Roots – Rising Up (feat. Wale & Chrisette Michele)

The bad news is that we obviously have a while to wait until this movie actually hits theaters.  But here are a few tracks to bring you back to some of your favorite moments in this fantastic show’s short career.

Europe – The Final Countdown

Vince Guaraldi Trio – Christmas Time Is Here

Starland Vocal Band – Afternoon Delight

Of Montreal – Skeletal Lamping

Of Montreal – Id Engager (removed 2/13/09)

I haven’t gotten the chance to hear this whole thing, but what I’ve heard I really enjoyed.  And that is coming from someone who hasn’t been much of fan in the past.  Obviously I enjoyed such great tracks as ‘Wraith Pinned to the Mist’ or ‘Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse’.  But I think I might have to go out and pick up this album.

Parts & Labor – Receivers

If you have been keeping up with the blog, you will know that I just recently discovered this band and that my knowledge of their existence doesn’t extend beyond a single track that I posted off of this week’s release. But that track was good enough to earn this album a spot in this feature.

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Brett Dennen - Hope For the Hopeless

Brett Dennen – Make You Crazy (ft. Femi Kuti) (removed 2/13/09)

I have been impressed with this young fellow from the beginning.  He has an incredible voice and seems to have a great heart as well.  He has been doing a lot lately use his influence to help those less fortunate than him.  And fortunately for us, he’s been doing it while making great music at the same time.  Go out and buy this guy’s album.  Ain’t no reason you shouldn’t go out and buy this album.

Snow Patrol - A Hundred Million Suns

I absolutely loved Final Straw when it first came out, in fact I still love it.  Although it was way over commercialized, I still was able to enjoy Eyes Open.  But if their first single, ‘Take Back the City’ is any indication of the way their new release is going to go, I don’t think I should even bother.  The song was just tailor made for pop radio and has no substance to it whatsoever.  Just another anthem pop song for junior high boys and girls to sing along pump their fists to.  I hate to see great potential like that go sour.  Here’s to hoping I’m wrong.

Film

Pride and Glory

Edward Norton is the man.  He is easily one of the best actors of our time.  The story for this one doesn’t look too promising, but I will go simply to see Norton’s performance. Boy has this been a sorry year for film.  It seems like I’m just gonna have to wait for Christopher Nolan to give us another addition to his incredible Batman series.

Thanks for reading. Hope your ears and eyes bleed this week.

Music

Ray LaMontagne – Gossip in the Grain

Ray LaMontagne – Let It Be Me (removed 2/13/09)

This is sure to be one of the best albums of the year.  One of the best performers and songwriters of our generation. He hasn’t disappointed me yet, and I think we can expect nothing but greatness on LaMontagne’s third release. I mean it even has a love song that he wrote for Meg White.  What more could you ask for?

Keane – Perfect Symmetry

Keane – Spiralling (removed 2/13/09)

I feel like I should say the exact same thing about this band as I just did about Ray.  These guys are truly pop geniuses.  Now I’m not trying to say that their music is really complex and that they are super talented.  Quite the contrary.  They make very simplistic music with familiar chord progressions, but they manage to make it sound very intricate and brand new.  I highly encourage you to go out and get this as soon as you can.

Copeland – You Are Sunshine

Easily one of the best Christian bands out there.  Their sounds never ceases to amaze me.  Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to hear a bit of this new album, but I am really looking forward to it.  The whole album is available to be streamed from their myspace. You should check it out. I know I would be if myspace wasn’t blocked on our server here at work.

Ingrid Michaelson – Be Ok

I have only heard the title track, and I actually didn’t care too much for it. But I still felt that his release was worth mentioning because of how incredibly catchy and enjoyable her debut from last year was.  If wouldn’t rush out and buy this one. But if you’ve never heard her before she is definitely worth a listen.  I recommend the songs Breakable or Die Alone.

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Film

W.

“A chronicle on the life and presidency of George W. Bush.”    Really?  This movie is already being made? I mean his presidency hasn’t even officially ended yet.  This just blows my mind.  Almost as shocking as the fact that a movie has already been made about the events of 9/11.  At least all of those gave us at least a year or two to look back upon what had happened and gain some perspective.

I am definitely curious to see this film and find out what they have to say, but I am just afraid it will only piss me off.  Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not about to tell you that Bush is perfect and that he’s been a fantastic President.  But I just don’t understand what makes Oliver Stone think that he has such great perspective on his life and presidency as to make a movie like this.  I don’t know, maybe he isn’t trying to make a statement and it will actually have a tasteful plot line and ending.  We’ll see.

I hope that your eyes and ears bleed all week.

Feist – 1 2 3 4 (removed 2/13/09)

What indie superstar should be the next to make an appearance on the show?

First, I will start with the impact a film can have on a song by highlighting the song by Savage known as “Swing!”. Now this song has become very popular in the last three months. Yet as I recently began hearing it on the radio, I thought I recalled hearing it somwhere earlier. And guess what interested reader.  I had heard it earlier. To be more precise, I heard it exactly a year earlier in the film “Knocked Up”.  But the song wasn’t popular last year when Knocked Up was orginally released…hmmm why did it just recently gain in popularity? Upon thinking about how I remembered the song, I came up with a hypothesis: the song “Swing!” was played during the dvd menu for Knocked Up.  So if I’m waiting to start the dvd, the song will continually loop over and over again. Well this summer, it must’ve gotten stuck in a lot of peoples heads as they bought/rented the dvd when it came out in december, and requests probably started getting made for local music stations to play this song. And four months later you have a massive snowball effect and a hit song due to a film.

Now ironically the song I’m highlighting that has made an impact on a film is another Seth Rogan movie and it is this years’ Pineapple Express. I have not seen the film and don’t plan to until it comes out on dvd, but what I can say is this is what most people looking at seeing the film have said to me in regard to film. “Yeah Pineapple Express looks funny in the previews, and I really like that song.”  I have literally heard this from well over five individuals. The song is M.I.A.’s Paper Planes that has taken off by hitching itself to a highly anticapated film. But I genuinely feel that the likablitly of this song will impact peoples decisions on whether or not they want to view this film. I mean just look at the impact the symbiotic relationship had for the film Gardenstate, and look what Gardenstate did for The Shins!

Ok, so it’s not rocket science. Songs help films.  Films help songs.  But heck, I thought it was somthing worth taking note of. Oh and I want to aplogize to my readers for the lack of posting.  I’ll be writing more reguarlly from now on, be looking for an album review of this summers hottest rap album Tha Carter…yeah that will be interesting until then, enjoy the summer olympics.

The Shins – Caring Is Creepy (removed 2/13/09)

M.I.A. – Paper Planes (removed 2/13/09)

Just let me say that I haven’t walked out of a theater feeling that good, since the last installment of Lord of the Rings. The Dark Knight, emphasis on the dark, is easily the best movie of the year. I would be very surprised to see anything come along that could beat it out for best picture. Now you might be thinking to yourself, “Wow, Nathan, that is quite a bold statement.” But then again, you must be one of the few people left that haven’t seen it yet.

First of all, let me say that Heath Ledger was incredible. He put Jack Nicholson to shame. So creepy. One of the best villians I’ve ever seen. I am amazed at how sad I get thinking about the fact that this was his final role. The Joker, through Ledger’s terrifyingly awesome performance, stole the show. Which is saying a lot, because he was surrounded by an array of fantastic performances by some of the best actors/actresses that are making films. Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhal, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, Eric Roberts. Ridiculous. And they were all incredible. Oscar-worthy performances all around. I am so glad that somebody finally decided to take these superhero stories seriously. I hope that people have learned what can happen when you take an a timeless story and then get the best of the best to retell it. My hat goes off to you Christopher Nolan.

He has really raised the bar when it comes to superhero movies. One of the main reasons that both of these movies have been so successful is that he tells such a compelling story. Very seldom any more can a movie keep my attention like that for almost 3 hours. And then the other reason for his success, is because he has surrounded himself with the best that are out there. His film crew is awesome. It is just visually stunning. Gotham city is just as dark and damp and awesome of a place as I imaged it as a kid. Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard…need I say more? They put together a perfect score to match this hauntingly beautiful film.

My wife always tells me that I need to be more careful about building up hype about movies before I see them, and that I am just setting myself up to be disappointed. Which unfortunately, more often than not, that is what happens. And if there were ever a time for that to happen. This should have been it. I had been waiting to see it ever since I walked out of the theater from seeing Batman Begins back in the summer of 2005. It sure was worth the wait though. I honestly cannot recommend this movie enough.

Hanz Zimer and James Newton Howard – Why So Serious? (removed 2/13/09)

Did I mention I also like movies?

flight of the conchords – foux du fafa (removed 2/13/09)

mutemath – typical (removed 2/13/09)

mates of state is coming out with a new album on teusday. and in promotion of re-arrange us, they have created a rather intriguing video that includes bunnies on mopeds and many other strange oddities. fortunately strange or weird are not my words of choice to describe “get better,” the song the video was made for. it is so addicting and lovely and gorgeous and powerful and well, i’ll just let you watch and listen for yourself.

here is another great song off their new album they have decided to give away for free

mates of state – my only offer (removed 8/28)

Tegan and Sara on Leno

jimmy fallon – idiot boyfriend (removed 8/28)

r.e.m. – man on the moon (removed 8/28)