Lexicon

Lexicon
Author/Publisher: Max Barry/Penguin Press
Released date: June 18th, 2013
Grade: 2 out of 5 meatballs
Reviewed by: Pawl Schwartz

This book hooked me on the premise. An X-Men style school for those who are especially gifted with words and resisting persuasion that turns students into near superhumans who can weaponize language. NLP taken to its logical extreme? Well, that’s what I thought. But the actual end result is far less interesting.

I won’t waste your time with a longwinded review on what I thought would be a candy-quick read. The book takes a left turn to focus on the Tower of Babel story and a secret ancient language that used to be universal. The teachers at the school, called “poets” when they master language control, are constantly working on uncovering this ancient language and its “bare words,” because anyone who so much as views one will have no more will or volition outside of what is asked by the one who holds the word.

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I'm So Excited

I'm So Excited (Los amantes pasajeros)
Directed by: Pedro Almodóvar
Release date: June 28th, 2013 (USA)
Grade: 2 out of 5 meatballs
Reviewed by: John Esther

When a writer-director of Spain’s Pedro Almodóvar’s stature titles his film after a banal, albeit apropos, American pop song from the 1980s, you know he is aiming for his lowest common denominator.

The opening night film for Los Angeles Film Festival 2012, I’m So Excited commences with León (Antonio Banderas) and Jessica (Penelope Cruz) working on an airport runway. After a minor accident, León learns that Jessica is pregnant with their child. He is so excited he forgets his job and thus puts all the passengers on the plane in serious jeopardy.

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Dirty Wars

Dirty Wars
Directed by: Richard Rowley
Released on: June 7th, 2013 (USA)
Grade: 5 out of 5 meatballs
Reviewed by: John Esther

Director Richard Rowley’s superb and solemn documentary does not paint a pretty picture of U.S. foreign policy under the Obama administration.

The Dirty Wars narrative, sort of, starts one night after a U.S. raid results in the deaths of innocent Afghani men, women and children. U.S. sources give one side of the story. Those present, like family members of the victims, give another.

There to uncover what happened before and during the tragedy is journalist Jeremy Scahill, author of Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army). Not one to be embedded, Schahill’s thorough investigation ultimately leads to the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC).

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The Prey

The Prey (La Proie)
Directed by: Eric Valette
Released on: June 7th, 2013 (USA)
Grade: 3 out of 5 meatballs
Reviewed by: John Esther

Franck Adrien (Albert Dupontel — AKA Pierre, the intellectual gone amok with a fire extinguisher in Irreversible) is a bank robber doing time in prison. Although he is a loner who just wants to be left to serve his time, others will not let Franck alone. He has a stack of money hidden from his last job, but he does not trust anyone — including his incredulously attractive wife, Anna (Caterina Murino), who is left alone to support their mute daughter, Amélie (Jaïa Caltagirone) — enough to disclose the whereabouts of the loot. This makes quite a few people mad, but Franck can handle himself.

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No

No
Directed by: Pablo Larrain
Released on DVD: June 25th, 2013
Grade: 4.5 out of 5 meatballs
Reviewed by: Justin Tucker

For 17 dreadful years, General Augusto Pinochet and his oppressive military dictatorship held a tight grip on the people of Chile. It was a dark time in the history of that nation. Corruption was rampant, and dissent was not tolerated. In 1988, the Chilean government held a plebiscite to determine if Pinochet’s rule would extend for another eight years. Millions of Chileans voted in that referendum and determined the future of their country. The rest of the world watched to see if the people of Chile would vote to end the tyrannical regime.

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The Host

The Host
Directed by: Andrew Niccol
Released on DVD: July 9th, 2013
Grade: 0.5 out of 5 meatballs
Reviewed by: Justin Tucker

Unless you’re already a fan, The Host is perhaps one of the most grueling experiences ever to be had in a theater. The latest adaptation from author Stephenie Meyer keeps the same template as her Twilight series, but exchanges vampires and werewolves for mind-controlling aliens. It’s yet another inferior Body Snatchers interpretation but with a lame sci-fi romance angle to the story. Nothing in this movie is redeeming except for maybe William Hurt as the shotgun-wielding Uncle Jeb, and that’s a big maybe.

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The Place Beyond the Pines

The Place Beyond the Pines
Directed by: Derek Cianfrance
Released on: April 5th, 2013
Grade: 3 out of 5 meatballs
Reviewed by: Justin Tucker

The first two acts of The Place Beyond the Pines felt like it could be the first great movie of 2013. It starts off by focusing on Luke (Ryan Gosling), a motorcycle stunt driver risking life and limb for no pay for a traveling carnival. Romina (Eva Mendez), a former fling, visits him when the carnival arrives in Schenectady, New York. He then discovers they have a son together and quits the carnival to stick around and provide for his budding family. He finds minimum wage work with Robin (Ben Mendelsohn) in his body shop, but still needing more cash, he and Robin turn to bank robbery with the help of Luke’s mad motorcycle skills. After one such robbery, Luke is pursued by lawyer-turned-cop Avery Cross (Bradley Cooper).

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Knife Party || Haunted House EP

Knife Party
Haunted House EP
Label: EarStorm/Warner Music Group
Released on: May 6th, 2013
Grade: 4 out of 5 meatballs
Reviewed by: Neil Miller, Jr.

Knife Party has, for the better part of the last few years, functioned as somewhat of an anomaly in the beast we now know as "EDM" (Electronic Dance Music). Both Rob Swire and Gareth McGrillen were members of arguably the best drum 'n' bass group on the planet — Pendulum. Once the Aussie powerhouse band parted ways, Swire and McGrillen started releasing larger-than-life tracks under the Knife Party moniker. Pendulum fans likely rejoice at the buzz of any tunes from Knife Party, as the aesthetic they apply to their music is similar to that of their former band: hugely pulverizing synths, bass drops that would make any of their peers say "why didn't I think of that?," and massive beats that have obviously been toiled over as much as, if not more than, the bass and synths of each respective track. Their new EP, Haunted House, is no exception to any part of their formula. They might not release much at any one time, but the music is so big and has such longevity that four tracks is all you'll need until they unleash their next massive record.

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Stone Sour & Papa Roach w/ All That Remains, In This Moment, & Sick Puppies @ Peoria Civic Center

Stone Sour & Papa Roach w/In This Moment, Sick Puppies, and All That Remains
Where: Peoria Civic Center
When: May 16th, 2013
Grade: Stone Sour/Papa Roach/All That Remains: 4 out of 5 meatballs
In This Moment & Sick Puppies: 2 out of 5 meatballs
Reviewed and photographed by: Neil Miller, Jr.

“Never forget where you came from” — those words echo in my mind with every show I cover, every album I review, and every band I get the pleasure of meeting. I haven’t always been a Chicago native, so every once in a while, I like to head down to my hometown of Peoria and see how rock music is alive and kicking there. I told my friend on our way down to P-town that the city which rests in the heart of Illinois is a mecca for rock ‘n roll. It’s the reason I still love hard rock and metal to this day. In my teen years, it was the place to be for a real rock fanatic, as all of my favorite bands at the time would be sure to stop through — Slipknot, Coal Chamber, Sevendust, Orgy, Slayer, Ministry, System of a Down — the list is endless. So, when I saw that Stone Sour would be hitting Peoria’s Civic Center, I knew it was a show that couldn’t be missed. Stone Sour/Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor has always been very vocal in his affinity for Peoria and the Midwest in general, and from seeing him in various incarnations throughout the last 15 years or so, I knew he’d do something special for us, and indeed he did. First, though, we had to witness a brutal onslaught of hard rock from a slew of diverse openers — some great and some not so much.

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IAMX @ Lincoln Hall

IAMX
Where: Lincoln Hall
When: May 2nd, 2013
Grade: 4 out of 5 meatballs
Reviewed and photographed by: Neil Miller, Jr.

Each time I see IAMX live, an overwhelming sense of things coming full circle astounds me. You see, the only reason you’re reading this review of Chris Corner’s amazing show at Lincoln Hall this past Thursday night on UR Chicago is because I pitched a feature on him many years ago to the magazine to preview his then upcoming date in Chicago to support his second album, The Alternative. I’ve been a fan of Corner’s work since he was one of the brainiacs behind Sneaker Pimps and time has only nurtured that fandom into something purely loyal and faithful. I may not have liked his last album, Volatile Times, but I still know that IAMX live is an experience like no other. Packed with the dramatics of a Shakespearean play, flawless musicianship, and loads of punk attitude and unbridled energy, Chris Corner and company dominate every stage they step foot on. Touring in support of an album that could very well be his best yet, The Unified Field, IAMX cranked up the energy dial to 11 and blew the minds of Lincoln Hall’s sold-out crowd.

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