Saturday, May 8th, 2004
Rings Around The World
Finally watched The Ring last night – Yeah, yeah, I know, that is so 2002. Bite me, alright? It was alright, not all that though. I had expected something… I dunno, but something more. Shoulda figured it wouldn’t be too over the top with a PG-13 rating. I did like how all the images in the video came together, though. Very nice. I’d like to know just how the ghost managed to put together a VHS video, though. Call me pedantic, but I have trouble picturing the production process. “Is it set to 2 hour or 6 hour? Well, it’s only about 10 minutes long – 2 hour would have a better picture, wouldn’t it? Can you adjust the tracking? There’s these lines on the image…” They’re making a sequel, I hear? At first thought, that’s not such an awful idea – There’s certainly more that can be mined from this story without getting repetitive. Of course, that’s probably what they said about The Blair Witch Project. But I do have one note for Hollywood – enough with the solemn little children spouting crypticisms in ghost stories already? It’s so bloody old. More Naomi Watts, however, is a-ok.
Camera Obscura, that other fey Scottish pop band, will be embarking on their first-ever North American tour this summer in support of Underachievers Please Try Harder. The roadshow will be stopping in at the Horseshoe in Toronto July 23.
Ted Leo and his Pharmacists have returned to the studio with producer Chris Shaw and will hopefully have the results on shiny plastic discs for public consumption by October.
Andrew Bird will be opening for The Magnetic Fields on their upcoming tour. I picked up i yesterday – I like the explicit “No synths” note in the credits of the liner notes. I also like the synth-less sound, it’s fascinating how Merritt still manages to make the arrangements sound so distinctly Magnetic Fields, even without his usual instrumentation.
The Toronto Star looks at the emergence of recording clubs – the latest incarnation of the DIY independent record label – in our fair city.
You know what I love? How they somehow manage to forecast 48 hours of showers each and every weekend. It’s my favorite thing ever.
np – Mojave 3 / Ask Me Tomorrow
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5/8/04 12:54 pm
Have you seen the original Japanese film, Ringu? Much better, and less exploitative of the solemn little child angle. Can’t say the same about the sequal though, and if Hollywood is basisng their sequel on this one, then it’s shaping up to be quite the stinker.
And thank you for the news about the upcoming Camera Obscura tour! Still quite a ways away but I’ll be there for sure.
5/9/04 9:36 am
was there a Japanese sequel as well? I haven’t seen Ringu. from the trailer attached to the Ring DVD, it looks like the US version was a shot-for-shot remake. I assume it’s not, but they do make it look that way…
Camera Obscura will be nice – see you there!
5/9/04 8:43 pm
There was a sequel to the original Japanese film, as well as a "prequel" called Ring 0 which the director of the two films did not get involved in. I haven’t seen Ring 0 and don’t really plan to.