Reviews by Mike Porciello
(Scroll down the page to see all his choices for best Movie, Music and
Books of 2011)
BEST MOVIE/DVD:
Phase
4 Films:
The Open Door
Starring: Catherine Georges
Christine
Smith
Ryan Doom
Daniel Booko
Written, directed by Doc Duhame
Produced by Doc Duhame, Gregory Hobson, and Clint Carmichael
90 mins
Backpedaling a little, I'll give the independent it's justification once
again, and select The Open Door to receive top honors this year.
The Open Door has an 80's, small California town feel to it, and the
anticipation for the evil to spread it's wings is as thick as a brick
wall. This movie explores the powers of strict parenting (reading e-mails,
keeping abreast of everything going on) and sticks to it's guns:
What if poor old Amanda had just listened to her mother, and not snuck out
to go to the party? Soon you'll be the edge of your seat screaming
"no"!! DON'T play pranks on the taunted!!
www.phase4films.com
RUNNER-UP MOVIE/DVD:
Walking
Shadows presents:
A Media Savant
Film:
Lunopolis
Starring: Dave Potter
Jed Himel
Matthew J. Avant
Hal Maynor IV
Written, directed, and produced by Matthew J. Avant
2009 Media Savant
98 mins
Why wasn't this movie released in theaters? Why isn't it more popular today?
I've always liked my killers to be real, and have a reasonable interest in
conspiracy theories. This documentary thriller is the latter.
Could the space race have
been started by the Roswell incident in 1947? Did Earth make contact with
inhabitants of the moon during that same incident? Sparking off fierce
controversy that we are not alone in our universe, and aliens are closer
than you think, Lunopolis brings governmental cover ups, and
extraterrestrial forces to light. Original and thought provoking, Lunopolis
is a keeper!! Thoroughly entertaining!!
www.lunopolis.com
HONORABLE MENTION MOVIE/DVD:
Stage
6 Films/ MPCA present:
ARENA
Starring: Kellan Lutz
Samuel L. Jackson
Katia Winter
Johnny Messner
Written by Tony Giglio
Directed by Jonah Loop
Produced by Mark Williams,
Brad Kevoy,
Mike Callahan
2011 Sony Pictures, Inc.
94 mins
Fights, camera, ACTION!!
Battles to the death, a la Gladiator are the workings of an evil and shrewd
businessman (Jackson), and are delivered to your computer screen. Expect
tons of gore, violence, and edge of your seat thrills, as this action
packed bloodbath will satisfy your "appetite for
destruction"!! Come duke it out in the ARENA, and bring your
skilled weaponry. You're going to need it!!
www.SonyPictures.com
BEST CD:
Machine
Head
Unto The Locust
2011 Roadrunner Records
Produced by Robb Flynn
Robb Flynn and company return with a vengeance on Unto The Locust, the
seventh album from Machine Head. Damn man, every song on this album kicks
ass!! There's neither a filler, nor wasted track. Maybe not their
heaviest, but Machine Head have matured without sacrificing heaviness. The
music, the new age of thrash, brings heavy grooves, strong melodies, and
hooks as sharp as an 8/0 to live-line you!!
From the opening eerie chorus of "Sonata in C", this CD is
about as flawless as it gets. The guitar solos during the outro will kill
you. Song 3, "Locust", is interesting in it's own right, in that
each instrument takes turns leading the direction at times. You'll
probably start screaming along to the chorus, " SUFFER UNTO THE
LOCUST"!!. I love everything this band brings to the battle. Groove,
black, death, thrash, hardcore, shredding, and progressive, all wrapped into
one California band, who've done their homework. Hot chicks love Machine
Head too!! Always a pleasure to see at a concert.
It's hard to explain, but
there's something hidden in this album, as in many of Machine Head's songs.
This is an album of nocturnal nature. Maybe because I'm working overnights
for now, or maybe I'm good at picking up on things. Something illegal, of
forbidden nature, but something to warm your soul, and not corrupt you. Deep
psychology, and perhaps release of pain. These guys are magicians of
that nature, in their own right. I like the band best when their songs are
longer, and more drawn out, with time changes that stop on a dime, and
direction that shifts like a mood swing. Excellent stuff, Unto The Locust is
my album of the year. Go buy this one, and make Machine Head even bigger.
RUNNER-UP CD:
The
Suburbs by Arcade Fire
2010 Merge Records
Produced by Markus Dravs and Arcade Fire
This Canadian indie/alternative outfit lead by husband and wife team Win
Butler and Regine Chastagne, make a powerful statement with their ode to
disenfranchised youth, The Suburbs. Also buried within the layers of this
album, is a tale of governmental siege. Part avant-garde, part post punk,
this album I just can't put down, and runs circles around a lot of my
head banging music!! A 9 piece, the band looks like something that pops up
out of a jack in the box, complete with weird haircuts, and crazy smiles.
Expect a lot of protest through poetry, through song, and over an hour's
worth of entertainment, on their 2010 smash, that is leaving fans and
critics wondering alike: How will they top this one?
The title track gets the
ball rolling with a western, shooting gallery-like intro. Ready to Start,
with it's fancy meander, showcases the talent this band has, in shifting
gears from light to heavy, and always clean. Modern Man, is really what got
me into Arcade Fire. Hearing it on a local radio station, I was immediately
taken back to my own youth. I remember listening to Long Island east
end radio station WRCN, when it played really weird college rock that no
other station would even touch. Artists like early Soul Asylum, Dreams So
Real, Havana Black, Hothouse Flowers, and even John Hyatt.
Moving further down the opus, Rococo has to be one of the most beautiful
songs I've ever heard. It sounds like a winter Christmas land come to life.
Is it a term to describe a future hybrid style of music, or is it an ancient
art? Yes!! Wasted Hours, (song 11) sounds so much like pre Darkside
Pink Floyd, that you'd swear Win Butler transformed into Roger Waters for a
few minutes. All in all, The Suburbs is on the cutting edge of indie rock,
and Arcade Fire, already with a tremendous following should see much success
in the years to come. The Suburbs by Arcade Fire is one of those albums that
comes along once in a lifetime, and winds up being your official soundtrack
to certain periods of your life. Highly recommended!!
www.arcadefire.com
HONORABLE MENTION CD:
The
Stone Chiefs- Drive On
2011 Grab 'Em Records
Produced by Jeff Creed
If The Black Crowes and Hinder
had a baby, the band would collectively be known as The Stone Chiefs.
Mixing Southern rock with radio friendliness, this 5 piece outfit from
Raleigh, NC are starting to gain popularity throughout the U.S. Straight
forward rock, with soul not heard since The Allman Brothers, these guys
rock!! Check out the title track form this debut!! I have a feeling
we'll be hearing a lot more from this young band, and their best is yet to
come. Welcome in the new generation.
BEST BOOK:
Tony
Iommi: Iron Man
My Journey Through Heaven & Hell with Black Sabbath
with T.J. Lammers
Copyright 2011 by Tony Iommi
Published by DeCapo Press
Tony Iommi can chalk up another world title to his massively
impressive resume: Master of Literature!! Il maestro lays down the law,
and like one of his infamous power chords, sends you to the corners of
earth with a smile. Kudos to T.J. Lammers as well, on this
spellbinding book.
Who would've thought that heavy metal, born in a factory outside of
Birmingham, England, came by way of accident. Already an accomplished
guitarist in a variety of blues bands, high school dropout, teenaged
Iommi, on his last day of work, nipped off the tips of two of his fret
fingers, by not paying attention to when the blade of a powerful lathe
machine (those things can cut # 10 rebar with no problem) came down.
History was made right then and there in 1965.
Soon withdrawing into a staggering depression, Iommi soon found
solace in an unlikely source. His manager, an older more conserative
minded fellow, brought him a record of gypsy Belgian, blues virtuoso
Django Reinhardt. Reinhardt, with only the use of two fret fingers, due to
suffering severe burns, blazed up and down the fret board, hammering out
solos, like a metal god. Immediately seeing the light, young Iommi began
to fabricate his own prosthetics, and down tune to mainly D, to
re-develop his skills, and soon invented a style and sound trademarked in
the industry, unto himself.
I was so captivated by
this book, that I wound up finishing it in two nights. Similar in style to
Ozzy's autobiography, but with a more serious tone, this is a book that
fans of all types of rock music should have, gracing the shelves at home.
All modern rock can trace it's roots to Black Sabbath; for it wasn't for
Tony Iommi's straightforward, down tuned style, music might have sounded
different. It's nearly impossible to go a day without hearing a Black
Sabbath song on certain radio stations, and without seeing how such a
seminal band shaped the world we listen to today, musically, to escape.
Every, and I do mean EVERY album the man ever recorded, and every
lineup he's ever worked with is not left without merit. Some interesting
views on the afterlife, and out of body travel as well. You'll
burn through page after page, reading about his early years as
the child of two very strict Italian parents, his discovery of martial
arts and weight lifting, as a means of escaping bullying, to the latest
(just before their official announcement) of what the original black
Sabbath has been up to. I can't wait to hear the new album, and see my
idols live in concert again!!
RUNNER-UP BOOK:
Iron
Maiden In The Studio: The Stories Behind Every Album
Jake Brown
2011 John Blake Publishing Ltd.
One hell of a book. A lot to fascinatingly flip through, for a rather
short novella. Concise and to the point, every studio album to date, from
Iron Maiden to The Final Frontier, is detailed. This is the book
that diehard Maiden heads need to have. The stories, the glories, the
multiple lineup changes, the reunions, the trials and tribulations of
one the best bands to emerge from the UK.
Starting in 1976, playing pubs, Maiden began the slow and steady climb to
the top. This biography confirms what I've believed about early Iron
Maiden, in that their early work was punk. In the early chapters, bassist,
lyricist Steve Harris confirms that they were indeed inspired by the punk
bands of the 1970's. They took that direct firepower, and transformed it
into something louder and more theatrical. Their over the top concerts
prove that!!
The Paul Di'Anno years, up first, are commemorated; detailing their years
sweating it out in nightclubs, only to emerge at the forefront of heavy
metal in the 1980's. Ex Samson vocalist Bruce Dickinson entered when
Di'Anno quit, or was fired, and with his operatic voice, and powerhouse
vocals, helped take the band to stardom. It's an interesting fact to know,
that Dickinson, (whatever he was thinking at the time) wanted Somewhere In
Time to be more of an acoustic based album; thinking that it would help
the band to be leading the pack, rather than just following. In hindsight,
although he is not credited as writing anything on that album, it was the
better decision to stick with what worked. That album, although layered
with keyboards, and with the use of guitar synthesizer, never alienated
the diehards, and is considered by many (including myself) as the favorite
Iron Maiden album of all.
Blaze Bayley, I'll even
give him his own paragraph. Dickinson left in 1993, and in came Wolfsbane
vocalist Blaze Bayley, lasting two albums.( X Factor, and Virtual 11)
Well............................................, it's not that he's a
sucky vocalist, but nearly 100% of Iron Maiden fans agree that his voice
just did not suit the band. Like with Gary Cherone in Van Halen; great
singer, wrong band. Looking back at it, it was the right decision,
because if Maiden had hired a Dickinson or Di'Anno clone, or even if the
albums took off, there probably would not have been a reunion with their
most successful vocalist, AND the reintroduction of guitarist Adrian
Smith, to make Maiden a band with 3 guitarists; a reunion that is still
going strong to this day.
Iron Maiden In The Studio: The Stories Behind Every Album is loaded
with interesting information on the band, and how each album begins with
simple ideas and riffs, and morphs into gold and platinum. I hate to
mention Pearl Jam and Iron Maiden in the same sentence, but each is a band
that can continue to put out mediocrity, and still suffer no ill
effects. They gobble up the younger generation of those who grew up
listening to them, and retain enough of an older hardcore fan base. The
album takes off, and the house is packed wherever they play. Iron Maiden
is superior to every other band when it comes to their live show. The
tapestry backdrops of spectacular artwork, the fire, lasers, the
showmanship, and Eddie their mascot, live in undead person.
Finally to continue the burning desire, the band in their advancing
years, still does not know when they will call it a day. I hope that day
doesn't come anytime soon, and may they stay strong and active. Jake Brown
does a Killer job of taming the beast for an in depth look. "Up
The Irons"!!
www.ironmaiden.com
HONORABLE MENTION BOOK:
The
Truth About Elvis Aron Presley: In His Own Words
Dr. Donald M. Hinton
2001 American Literary Press
This book is either the biggest piece of disrespectful fraud ever
committed, or it's the most important book of the 21st century, in terms
of rock music. I honestly am not quite sure what to make of it, but
just think for a moment: If Elvis, at age 42, did take a concoction to put
him in a death-like trance, and have help from the CIA that fateful
August day of 1977, (and there are way too many coincidences in this
book that will have you scratching your head for an answer) then Dr.
Hinton has to be one of the luckiest people in the world to
have talked to, and met Elvis
Presley. I'm no Elvis conspirator, and have not lost a second
of precious sleep thinking about whether or not The King pulled the
wool over our eyes, then slipped out of sight with a close knit
traveling circle of friends, but let's just say this book had me
wondering. An excellent read, for people who know a lot or a little
about the man who took rock music to a new level, way back when.
Missouri physician Donald Hinton, a self described Elvis fanatic,
risks his license, reputation, and even his life to prescribe painkillers
over the phone to a man claiming to be Elvis, who now goes by the
name of Jesse; Jesse being his twin brother, born stillborn, and now given
life. After backing it up with concrete proof, Hinton agrees to treat this
man's arthritic condition; thus opening a door to a new world. The
now exiled entertainer extraordinaire sporadically calls Hinton, to
dictate his new life, his past regrets, and rewards him with
rare and precious memorabilia, reportedly from his private collection that
he's saved over the years.. There is even an updated photograph, (as
of 2001) reportedly with his grandson Ben. (Lisa Marie's son) As
you read further, take into account some of the numerous coincidences in
this novella. Elvis was a numerology freak, so take note of his birthday, death
day, and age, and how those numbers add up. Hinton has numerous rare autographed
items, including handwritten letters, that supposedly Elvis/Jesse has given
the doctor; stating that his caretakers do not trust him with money,
and never let him out of their sight. What about Elvis' insurance policy
no one has cashed? The misspelling of his middle name on his gravestone?
The younger, skinnier "corpse" in the coffin, January 1977? New
autographed items that match Elvis' signature? Hmm. Interesting.
After further research, I believe, however, there is a
weird and antiquated Missouri law stating that you may write about a dead
person in the first or second person. Hinton practices, or practiced
medicine in Missouri, so go figure. But retract a little bit, onto
the numerous blanks that are filled when reading The Truth about Elvis
Aron Presley: In His Own Words, and you'll see what I mean.
Either
way, Elvis as we remember him, is dead to the world. He's not coming
back, (or I will print and eat this in public!!) but there was always the
theory, through numerous sightings, and way too many rumors, that The King
faked his death. This book sheds new light on that. Elvis' supposed
fake death has been the subject of too many rumors, too many photographs, ever
since 1977, when he is listed as having died. Simply put: People who know
something, no matter how important they may be, can't keep their mouths
shut. Nobody thinks Roy Orbison, Michael Jackson, or most other celebrities
who have died, are still alive. So why Elvis? To this very day, why Elvis?
Maybe just maybe, he fooled us all, in order to save himself from self
destruction, and to live the closest thing to a normal life, that a man can
live. Maybe he really did have a drug and weight related heart attack on
August 16th, 1977.
Graceland probably welcomes a little controversy. Why not?, if it
raises interest, then it brings in people, and people equal money!! Either
way, whether this book belongs in your fireplace, heating your living
room, or if it deserves a special mention in The Rock and Roll Hall of
Fame, I recommend it. It's the product of intelligence, through either fact
or fiction.
www.elvis.com
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