Colin’s Favorite Albums of May 2022

This month saw quite a few familiar faces returning with both highly anticipated and mildly anticipated albums alike. Some of the ones that fell more into the latter category I just haven’t had much time to dig into despite being Colin favorites, since they came out toward the end of the month (like Wilco’s Cruel Country or Craig Finn’s A Legacy of Rentals). Also, as much as I always look forward to a new Sharon Van Etten album, for whatever reason, her new We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong hasn’t quite been hitting with me. Maybe this is because much like I found with 2014’s excellent Are We There, her music is just a little hard to embrace during the sunnier parts of the year, even if this summer has already manifested just how much we’ve been going about this all wrong. Continue reading →

The Pick: Jupiter Ascending

This time around, we round out our trio of episodes looking at The Wachowskis’ misunderstood non-Matrix movies. We discuss why this one has had less of a cult following than Speed Racer or Cloud Atlas since its release, as well as why audiences didn’t connect with it at the time despite its efforts to craft a grand, new sci-fi franchise born of original IP. Also, just in time for Summer, we dive into some cold beverage talk in our little picks. Continue reading →

The People’s Bonus Album: Falling Into You

Oh god. I keep taking so long in between installments of The People’s Albums that it’s hard for me to know when I’ll ever complete this journey through the best selling albums in the U.S. Guess my only goal is to finish it before I die or before we eventually lose interest in writing for this blog (whichever happens first). I know I’d have to do another one of these bonus installments in order to round it out to an even 50 before starting on the top ten, but maybe I’ll figure out a way to weasel my way out of another bonus entry since I really need to get started on that top 10.

Album: Falling Into You
Artist: Celine Dion
Release Date: March 11, 1996
Copies Sold In The U.S.: 11.8 Million Continue reading →

The Pick: Basic Instinct

We’re back with another sleazy movie from the ’90s with one of the most-parodied movies of its time, Basic Instinct. We dig a little bit into the movie’s status as one of the quintessential erotic thrillers as well as how Michael Douglas came to embody this very particular type of sexy murder mystery. We try to delve into things about it other than “that scene” while taking a stab at a Michael Douglas impression, which is apparently just a more nasally Jack Nicholson. Strap in for the pick of the century. Continue reading →

Colin’s Favorite Albums of April 2022

April wasn’t quite as hot of a month music-wise as the other two I’ve covered so far this year. Which is perfectly ok since March 25 saw the release of so many noteworthy albums that I’ll have plenty to talk about here. In addtion Destroyer’s last album (which I covered last month), the first three albums I’ll be covering actually came out on that release date and served as some of my most-listened-to albums throughout April. Continue reading →

The Pick: The Devil’s Advocate

Only in New York! This week we’re taking a look at a decidedly sinister and satanic look at NYC with the supernatural lawyer oddity that is The Devil’s Advocate. We discuss both Keanu Reeves’s perplexing accent as well as how Al Pacino arrived at the bombastic persona he embraced in the ’90s. Pacino’s turn as Satan himself (which isn’t really a spoiler) earns the actor a slot in our Three Timer’s Club while also becoming another one of our latest villains bent on committing omnicide. Continue reading →

The Pick: Altered States

We’re a little late in posting this tribute to the late, great William Hurt. But hey, it’s always a good time to get in the tank. This episode, we go deep into this hard-to-classify sci-fi/horror oddity about a university scientist who goes from experiments in sensory deprivation tanks to drug-induced hallucinations to becoming a violent monkey man. It’s a movie made by a bunch of guys who seem a little too smart and talented for this material, and yet make it all the more fascinating in the process. Continue reading →