Wool!

Ok, I'm back. I beat the main part of THE WARRIORS and have returned to grace you with the self-indulgence you pay no money to read ever so often here. So I'll get right down to it:

*THE WARRIORS game makes up for the fiasco that is the "Ultimate" version of the film recently released on DVD. Outside the Lucas games and the 007 games, this might be one of the best adpatations I can recall in the videogame world. The guys who did this game LOVE the source material and have created something so true to the movie that the attention to detail to charcters and that universe is occasionaly scary. Three complaints: 1. It's too short (the actual events of the movie are the least interesting parts of the game), 2. The camera needs improvement (difficult when you have dozens of people fighting) and 3. The post-story universe should have been all of Manhattan as opposed to just part of Coney. These are minor complaints, though I feel a sequel to the game could be fucking massive. Great game.

*My non-STAR WARS or BATMAN movie of the year could be KISS KISS BANG BANG, which marks the full-force return of Robert Downey Jr. and the start of a new, hopefully non-insane, phase of Val Kilmer's career. This sharp, witty tour de force by LETHAL WEAPON creator Shane Black, in his directorial debut, is nothing short of hilarious and excellent. I loved this movie beyond words and you can't believe the chemistry between Downey and Kilmer. And I must praise the actress MIchelle Monaghan, (who was awesome in CONSTANTINE before all of her scenes were chopped out), who, along with Rachel McAdams, might be the breakout star of the year. She stands toe to toe with two screen vets and hold her own with no problem. This is a great film and certainly one of my faves this year. Check this out.

*Depeche Mode have a new album out and of course we have tickets for their December 7 gig at the Garden. The new album is being widely praised as their best since VIOLATOR, which is where I start looking for the publicist who is trying to earn a paycheck. (Hello...it was called SONGS OF FAITH AND DEVOTION). Is the new album good? YES! Very good, in fact, much better than the last one, which I liked a lot. Is it their, like, best shit ever? No, but again it's REALLY FUCKING GOOD, and I think people are praising it because it in no way sucks. As I had hoped, Dave wrote a few songs and they are the ones i like best on the album, especially the track NOTHING'S IMPOSSIBLE. However, Gore should have let him do half of the album cause the songs where Gore sings are the weakest on the record. Anyhow, 25 years and still rolling. The next step though HAS to be a reunion of some kind: either with Flood or, preferebly, Wilder. Until then, it's no doubt the show will be nothing short of great.

*My ALMOST Album Of The Year is Leandro Fresco's LIZ SIN CALOR. Fresco is a well known electronic musician made famous to us via his work as Cerati's programmer, remixer, and as 1/3 of Cerati's awesome, yet still unreleased, electronic project Roken (which also features the talents of Cerati's longtime collaborator Flavius E, whose new album CONJUNCTION, is quite good as well). B and I have been tracking Fresco's records down for years and Brandt has recently become pen pals with the guy via E-mail. This new CD is a super album of warm electronics that just feels fresh and alive. He even samples an obscure Duran album track. The reason this album is not Album Of The Year and it's SO close, is because it's too short and needed like two more great tunes to round it out. It's certainly top 5 of the year. It was a nice surprise to see this come out as we thought between the Roken gigs and Fresco being involved with Cerati's new album, that there was nothing new on the horizon. Brandt loves that this guy sometimes goes topless. www.Leandrofresco.com

*I finally made it to Brandt's new place in Brooklyn, which will be our new recording HQ and it's a pretty sweet space. Very comfortable and a lot more room than the Birdcage. We spent Sunday going through the HF album and what needs to be done and started coming up with a the gameplan to get this fucker on track. It's gonna sound fucking awesome and I'm back at work editing, tweaking etc. This new space will raise the comfort level quite a bit, I think. I want to call it Studio Anus, but I think we need to wait a bit before christening the space. Meanwhile, the dog still wants to eat shit, but I digress...

*Speaking of eating shit, your friend, not mine, Anus McManus wrote me twice recently. In one Email, which was a response to my previous blog entry, he mentioned something about me and James Remar's penis and in the one I received yesterday, he told me he wanted to poo in my mouth and called me a "blog bitch". Sadly I have run out of suspects, but I feel the culprit or culprits were here on Monday night.

*Vincent Cassel has a movie coming out where he beats the shit out of Clive Owen and tries to kill Jennifer Aniston. This sounds glorious.

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