Bloglander

Select a movie on each slide that was filmed in or around the Spokane area.

Each week we check out the new releases in music and DVDs to see what's worth your time and money, and what's more fit for the garbage can. It's Tuesday Taste, and here's what's coming this week: 

MUSIC

Australian singer/songwriter Courtney Barnett first caught my attention with her breakthrough to North American audiences, How to Carve a Carrot into a Rose EP, and I'm as excited for her first full-length — Sometimes I Sit and Think, Sometimes I Just Sit — as I am for any album coming this spring. Here's a taste of her deadpan vocals and chiming guitar-rock, via new tune "Pedestrian at Best:"
 
The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion is one of the great under-appreciated rock bands of the last 20 years or so — if you need proof, go check out their show in May at The Bartlett and thank me later for the best night of your spring. Freedom Tower — No Wave Dance Party 2015 is the band's 10th full-length, and it's full of the joyfully sloppy, greasy grooves and heavy riffs that the trio has pretty much perfected at this point. 

Each week we sift through all manner of entertainment garbage to find the gems worth your time among the week's new releases in music and DVDs. It can get messy, but we like to be helpful. Here's a look at some of the best for this week: 

MUSIC 

Modest Mouse, Strangers to Ourselves. Eight years. It seems insane that it's taken Modest Mouse that long to get another full-length album together, but alas, it's true. Acts like Axl Rose and Boston are notorious for such lengthy pauses in recording, but Modest Mouse was historically pretty prolific for most of their career. Thankfully for us fans, the wait is over, and the collection Strangers to Ourselves is full of the off-kilter rhythms, churning anthems and Isaac Brock howls we've come to know and (for the most part) love through the years. As someone who was feeling a bit burned out on the band by the time their last album came around in 2007, the long wait was perfect for getting me amped to hear them again. Of course, not all old fans are thrilled with the new one. Here's a taste of a new song called "Coyotes:"

Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp a Butterfly. Arguably the most creative rapper going right now, Kendrick Lamar's sophomore album was originally slated to come out next week, but he went ahead and dropped To Pimp a Butterfly a little bit early. People are pretty excited about it after his killer debut Good Kid: M.A.D.D. City, his appearance during the last week of The Colbert Report and much hype accompanying the release. Here's a killer new track for your consideration: 

To the rest of the country it doesn’t matter that Spokane is a four-hour drive away from Seattle. As a fellow city in Washington state we will forever be associated with grunge music, and by extension, Kurt Cobain — and we’re fine with that. This week, the first trailer of the fully authorized documentary Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck dropped and it looks like everything Nirvana fans (aka what should be most of the planet) have been waiting for.

For the film, which recently wowed at Sundance Film Festival, Academy Award-nominated director Brett Morgen was given unprecedented access to Cobain’s personal artifacts, including photos, drawings, writings, audio diaries and home videos. While Cobain's story has been dissected over and over, this is the first documentary made in full cooperation with the musician's family and friends — Courtney Love and daughter Frances Bean Cobain are even credited as executive producers.

Cobain killed himself more than 20 years ago, but our fascination with him has seemingly only increased. This film sets out to capture a side of the singer/song-writer we've never seen. If the heartbreaking trailer is any indication, it's done just that. 

Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck premiers on HBO May 4. A companion book and film soundtrack, featuring a previously unreleased recording, will also be released. 

Every week we scour the new releases from the music and home-video folks to see what's great, not-so-great and downright awful that's being foisted on the public. No need to thank us, just take a look at our Tuesday Taste to find out if you need to start shopping. 

MUSIC

Will Butler, Policy. You might only consider Butler a sideman to his frontman brother in Arcade Fire, but his solo debut proves him to be both a savvy songwriter and an incredibly talented instrumentalist with a wide-ranging sonic palette. There's a bit of garage-rock, some retro electro-pop, some gorgeous piano-driven balladry on this impressive first effort. Here's a taste: 
Joe Pug, Windfall. Pug is a criminally under-rated songwriter with a weathered-to-perfection voice and knack for great, roots-based hooks in his tunes. If simple and stirring folk is your bag, Pug is your man. He's playing in Spokane March 29. Here's a bit of his new album: 
And of course we have to mention: 
Madonna, Rebel Heart. Madonna's latest has a little bit of everything we've come to expect from the modern pop pioneer in her later years. There are some genuinely engaging dance tunes, decent ballads, and collaborations with younger tastemakers that feel totally out of place — the reviews are mixed, as you'd expect. Considering Madonna was only good for a couple of strong tunes per album even at her best moments, not a bad ratio all around for her 13th set. And it gives her an excuse to tour this year.  

MOVIES & TV

The big mainstream release of the week is the latest in an inexplicably long line of Night at the Museum movies. If you're watching to get one last glimpse of Robin Williams, fine. Otherwise, if you need something that will appeal to a lot of different folks, maybe stick with the 30th anniversary edition of The Breakfast Club or the 50th anniversary DVD release of The Sound of Music. 

If something a little off-kilter or thought-provoking is more your speed, though, consider these new releases: 

Happy Valley is a harsh documentary about the pedophilia scandal at Penn State University, and the way it shocked the academic, sports and community cultures in the college town. The reviews, including our own, were solid all around. Here's a look: 
Listen Up Philip features Jason Schwartzman as a writer in search of some sanity just as his second novel is about to be releases, causing him to flee to his idol's summer retreat. A well-received dark comedy about the artistic mind is the deal here. Check out a peek: 

In design circles, we all know it and we all hate it. Stock art. Those very cheesy photos of people in suits giving each other high fives. Granted that happens here at Inlander HQ on an hourly basis.

Vince Vaughn and co-stars of the upcoming movie Unfinished Business posed for hilarious stock photos, all which are free to use. So feel free to make those awesome motivational posters.

Here you go: 

Big news arrived in the music world in recent days with the announcement that the day for new releases will move from Tuesday to Friday — in other words, for most people, payday! How it will affect sales remains to be seen, but in the meantime, Tuesday remains big for new music and DVD releases until this summer, and we're here to guide you to the best of the bunch. 

MUSIC
Washington's own Brandi Carlile continues to release top-notch folk-rock with her new album, The Firewatcher's Daughter, a harmony-laden set of 12 songs released on the indie ATO label. Here's a taste: 
Canadian electro-pop duo Purity Ring returns from a jaunt home to Edmonton to record their sophomore set Another Eternity with a strong follow-up to their debut Shrines. Here's a new tune called "bodyache:"

MOVIES & TV
The major release of the day is The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1, which is basically the first half of the last chapter of the four-film project. If you're a fan, you've probably already seen it — it made more than $336 million. If you're not, consider checking this out instead: 

Foxcatcher might have a similar name to Mockingjay, but it's a much quieter film, and showcases Steve Carell like you've never seen him, both literally and in the acting sense. If you can get past the dramatic prosthetic schnozz and get into the true story of an odd, wealthy wrestling coach, you'll be rewarded, as Carell was with a Best Actor nomination at this year's Oscars. Mark Ruffalo was similarly honored for Best Supporting Actor. Here's a look: 

It only took 48 hours to blow up.

Spokane filmmaker Adam Harum, a co-creator of the locally-produced sci-fi web series Transolar Galactica, wasn't expecting his parody remake of the 50 Shades of Grey trailer — in which he splices Lord of the Rings wizard hero Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellen) in place of the overhyped BDSM film's male lead character Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan) — to gain much traction. But since he posted the video on a few blogs and Reddit two days ago, it's gathered up an impressive (as of this posting) 80,500 144,800 views on YouTube.

Several thousand of those more recent clicks are in part thanks to a pick-up by the Onion's (not fake) entertainment news site, the A.V. Club.

The parody took three hours for Harum, an audio engineer for local studio ILF Media, to produce and while he didn't think it would "go viral," he decided to try an online social experiment, posting it on various sites, then sitting back to see if it would take off.

"I try the same channels to get my work out there, and I used the same pattern I've always done with my content of where, what time and what sites," he explains. "This is one of those things that is easily digestible and quick and fast, and people could easily click and share," unlike some of the professional video work Harum says he's shared through similar channels.

"It's been interesting to see the process," he says. "Most people don't get to see how this type of online content works, and the way Google and YouTube allow you to track data."

And for those wondering, Harum says he indeed saw 50 Shades of Grey in theaters. 

"It was hilarious. One of the greater comedies that's recently come out."

Welcome to our weekly look at the new DVDs and album releases, in which we try to steer you toward the awesome and away from the awful. Let's do it. 

MUSIC
There's a lot to love for classic-rock and hard-rock fans this week. First and foremost is the reissue of Led Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti, a stone-cold classic brought to new life under the knife of Jimmy Page. Also arriving this week are new sets from Kid Rock, a live album from Rob Zombie, and some Southern swamp-blues from JJ Grey.

Here, though, are some new releases that rise to the top of the pile:  

Screaming Females are a New Jersey-based punk trio who have been around for about a decade, but still seem like fresh faces on the scene. Their new album, Rose Mountain, is their fourth, and marks another leap forward into more melodic songwriting. Here's a taste: 
Torche is metal with plenty of hooks, including some killer vocal harmonizing few of their peers would dare to try. Their new release, Restarter, is their fourth full-length, and its easily as aggressive and heavy as their previous releases: 

Every week the entertainment biz does its best to separate you from your money, and at Tuesday Taste we help you decide how best to spend your hard-earned cash, sifting through the week's new releases. 

MUSIC 
Among the mainstream releases this week, Imagine Dragons will probably dominate the sales chart with their bombastic brand of rock. Reggae fans will want to check out a new Bob Marley live set recorded in Boston in 1978. Here are a few releases worth a listen if those don't do it for you: 

A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS, Transfixation. The New York noise-rockers try to capture the blend of shoegaze, psychedelia and hardcore that makes their live shows some of the most thrilling in modern rock on their fourth full-length. Here's a taste: 

JULIANA HATFIELD THREE, Whatever, My Love. A criminally underappreciated part of the '90s alt-rock explosion, the Juliana Hatfield Three released one album in 1993 and finally are releasing a follow-up 22 years later. Poppy, punky and highly entertaining is the rule with these guys. Here's a new tune, "Wood":