Last night I watched High Tech Soul: The Creation of Techno Music, something I’ve been eagerly awaiting since I found the movie on Netflix and added it to my queue. Let me say to begin with that I really enjoyed this documentary. First off, it’s about techno and I am (of course) very into electronic music of most forms. Techno in particular has a special place in my heart because of the second reason: it originated in Detroit and I am (of course) very into Detroit.

Given my interest in both topics there was a lot that the documentary discussed that I knew. For instance, I know about the Belleville Three and I know about Electrifying Mojo. I know about the Music Institute (which was just a couple blocks from where I work now) and the reasons why the music has such a life here in this city.

But there was plenty that I still learned. I think most interesting was just learing about a lot of the personalities directly involved and more detail about the moods at the time and how it built up to this sort of creative outlet. It’s not a particularly long flick, but it is arranged well and has a nice flow to it. Some people might criticize that there isn’t more music, but frankly this is a documentary about the creators and the time period just as much as it is about the music itself.

Here’s the trailer if you’re interested in checking it out.

This past weekend I went out of town with some good friends to go relax on the west side of the state. Other than a lot of lounging in the sun, swimming and eating we also watched the inspired-by-true-events movie 21.

I have to say, it was very entertaining.  You can definitely tell where they took some liberties with the actual details of what went down toward the end of the movie, but it was still pretty well done. The acting was good, the pacing was good, heck even the effects (what effects they had) were good.

There have been a lot of movies about “stickin’ it to the man” but this one came off as a bit different. Perhaps because it wasn’t completely formulaic (although it was still relatively predictable) or perhaps because the dialog in general was very well written and delivered. It was also a very stylish portrail of what could have been pretty much a documentary. You really got a feel for what it might have felt like to be a college kid with hundreds of thousands of dollars and an ego to match.

Overall it’s a very well done movie and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it.

Yesterday I took a vacation day. This is worth noting because I have hardly taken any vacation time this past year. Unfortunately one of the major reasons I did that was to work on my taxes (more on that for another post). I did take a break after lunch to go see 10,000 BC with my dad and sister though. My impression of this movie was that it had cavemen, dinosaurs, saber tooth tigers AND pyramids. I basically expected this to also have some crazy alien twist and a gigantic explosion.

While the movie was good and entertaining it took itself far more serious than I thought it would. There were no dinosaurs or aliens or explosions. The movie was lacking because of this. I wanted something completely over the top that was unbelievably ridiculous. This movie is rated PG-13 and unfortunately it’s way on the tame side of PG-13. It should have been R. I just needed more in every way.

Camilla Belle was extremely attractive in this film, but again, PG-13. I was hoping for slightly more compromising caveman attire.

Seriously though the movie needed dinosaurs. And men riding those dinosaurs, using them to build pyramids made out of diamonds for their alien overlords. It could have been so much more…

For those of you who haven’t had the pleasure of watching The Fountain I highly recommend that you do. I don’t think it’s the best movie made or anything, but it is definitely an experience that is worth having if only for the supremely beautiful visuals and stunning soundtrack. Dig a bit deeper and you’ll find a really wonderful story that definitely gives you something to think about. But that’s not what I’m going to talk about this time.

The soundtrack for The Fountain is - without question - my favorite movie soundtrack of all time. It was done by Clint Mansell who is good friends with Darren Aronofsky (the director of this film). They’ve worked on several other things before; probably most notably Requiem for a Dream (another great soundtrack). San Francisco-based Kronos Quartet (who I am a huge fan of) primarily performed the soundtrack for The Fountain and the results are fantastic. Their minimal style is really appealing to me; strings like these just beg to be sampled.

The entire soundtrack is basically gold. The movie is great, especially the way the visuals complement the music, but honestly the soundtrack is probably the best thing about the entire movie. I have found myself listening to it for quite some time now. In particular it makes great music for working or driving I’ve found. It’s also inspired me at times and I’ve found myself wishing that I could remix some of the music.

Turns out I’m not the only one. In poking around online I actually found this site from Twentieth Century Fox which lets fans download individual parts from a track, remix them and then upload the finished result for others to vote on. I’m quite impressed with a few of them. For example, I think this one is probably my favorite at the moment.

I’ll definitely have to take a little time this weekend and see what kind of rough cut I can come up with.