Archive for the ‘Kites in Space’ Category
Slumdog Millionaire Review and Playlist
I forgot about including the inclusion of movie reviews with music. I recently saw both Milk and Slumdog Millionaire which seem to be candidates for movie of the year. Anyway, while Juno was a popular indie flick to see at first, it got tiresome fast. Slumdog Millionaire didn’t look appealing at first, you know a romance film? The critical and fan reception was quite high though and being late on Christmas day with either an opportunity to see Yes Man or Slumdog Millionaire, the right choice was made.
Here’s my playlist for the movie. The soundtrack was pretty good and suited some of the cinematography. I did like the use of “Paper Planes” which was more about hustlin’ like the song says instead of just “getting high” like Pineapple Express used it for. Before I get carried away:
Born Out of The Hustle by Kites in Space
Paper Planes MIA
Blind by Hercules and Love Affair (for the blind singers)
Brother Watching by Shad
How I Made My Millions by Radiohead
Pressed In A Book by The Shins (for the Three Musketeers)
Let Love Be My Only Guide by The Bell
Now onto my review:
Slumdog Millionaire is a film that has its premise given away from the start. It asks a question whether or not Jamal Malik’s run at 20 million rupees on “Who wants to be a millionaire?’ is whether he is smart, if he cheated or if it was destiny. The movie’s plot is simple, Jamal Malik is accused of cheating and he is being questioned about how a “slumdog” could do better then lawyers, doctors and intellects in general.
A thinking man could likely extrapolate that Malik does quite well on the gameshow which serves as the backbone of the movie’s plot. The storyline isn’t the strongest as it can be painfully obvious that it could be one of those movie’s that end ups with the two love interests living “happily ever after and making a lot of babies” (the latter is implied). I’m not the type of person who looks for a movie that has an “aw” storyline (kind of ironic with the name of this site lol).
With that Slumdog Millionaire has been universally praised, why? Everything in between is done incredibly well. Sometimes a movie doesn’t need the greatest storyline to win you over. The movie gave off tense moments despite the outcome almost completely drawn out. Everything from the cinematography and to the direction was top notch. This movie is more proof that it’s not the quality of the story that counts but the quality of the storyteller that makes the world of difference.
Slumdog Millionaire I can see being universally liked by all types since it’s one of those feel good romantic dramas but it extends past that horrid drama with a stylish touch and fearless direction. It was at times light-hearted and funny and save for the last minute stopped being overly-cheesy. I think some of the gripes people have are the weaker storyline and the romance stinking up something great but it really just gives the movie some direction rather then being lost and all over the place.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
It will likely be the top or top 2 movie of the year (waiting on The Wrestler).
Kites in Space – Kites in Space Review
Who are Kites in Space? Steve Burton (a member) says they are from Ithaca, New York and Montreal (kind of like Chromeo I guess). They released a self-released album recently (album date unknown). Burton likened his band to The Shins and Broken Social Scene. There is very little known about this band, they randomly emailed me and their stuff was top notch.
On their website “As a new band, we are adamant about embracing new media as a means to get our good word and good tunes out. We chose the internet as our sole medium.”. About a month ago I messaged them asking if they had a myspace page, they didn’t at the time and responded with a “Nope, sorry, we are not quite there yet, though I’m becoming more and more aware of the importance of one as I try to get the word out”. No kidding. Get on that please. (For your own sake)
They are giving away their album for free on their website which I’ve chosen to review because it’s worthy. Without any pictures or much information, it’s incredibly tough. All the information is going to be based on this web page.
The band itself does hold a reasonable comparison to Broken Social Scene considering the male and female vocals and sounding like a bigger band then they actually are (only 5 members). However, they seem to get more influences from folk and southern rock.
With just 9 tracks, Kites in Space try a variety of songs, to more upbeat songs like Walk It Off (BSS like) to xylophone-like (it’s from the xylophone family) Cords Wrapped Too Tight to Born Out of The Hustle (which is hustlin’ when it comes in terms of the pace). The variability in Kites in Space’s record is both the strength and ultimate weakness of the band.
They’ve yet to find that true medium between Katelyn Glanton and Seth Feldman Benn Bartishevich though there are flashes of brilliance. It’s a debut album and the band itself is probably unknown but the skill is there. They need to get a myspace up already, I have no photos and other then their album on my computer, there’s much more I want to find out.
They need to use the internet for all it’s worth as they are a good band and it isn’t really an excuse for a band not to make a crappy myspace layout, just as long as their music is on there. They are selling themselves short as they seemed to have put in a lot of time in the record.
Rating: 3.75 out of 5.
