Curren$y The Stoned Immaculate

[Warner Bros.; 2012]

Rating: 2.5/5

Styles: hip-hop, dirty south, weed rap
Others: Wiz Khalifa, Smoke DZA, Big K.R.I.T.

Curren$y may not have brought weed rap into the mainstream, but he set the precedent. Before Wiz Khalifa convinced Volvo-driving soccer moms to run out and buy their teenage sons Taylor Gang hoodies at the local Hot Topic, before Mac Miller scored a #1 debut on the Billboard charts, Curren$y was enjoying the success of his 2010 breakthrough Pilot Talk: an LP that, despite only modest commercial success, scored the New Orleans rapper invaluable cred with hip-hop snobs and mainstream audiences alike.

Links: Curren$y - Warner Bros.

Lola Versus Dir. Daryl Wein

[Fox Searchlight; 2012]

Styles: indie dramedy
Others: Breaking Upwards, Hannah Takes the Stairs

The name Lola, or some close variation of it, has become a kind of shorthand in the movies for strong yet meretricious women whose liveliness is relentlessly shamed by the needy men they latch on to.

Prometheus Dir. Ridley Scott

[20th Century Fox; 2012]

Styles: science fiction
Others: Alien, Trog, Tree of Life, Battlestar Galactica, Splice

On paper, director Ridley Scott’s new film Prometheus, in which a team of scientists discovers that life on Earth was designed by aliens, is about our search for what gives human life meaning. But like last year’s Tree of Life (TMT Review), another grandiose attempt to cinematize our distant origins to which Scott’s latest has been compared, Prometheus is more interesting for what it reveals about our relationship with film than with otherworldly realms, whether Godly or extraterrestrial.

Future of the Left The Plot Against Common Sense

[Xtra Mile; 2012]

Styles: punk, indie rock with balls
Others: mclusky, The Jesus Lizard

If you’re a fan of Future of the Left, then by now you’ve probably had a chance to see front man Andrew Falkous’ scathing rejoinder to Pitchfork’s review of his latest album. Among the many criticisms that drew the musician’s ire was an implication that Falkous, whose wit and rancor have become legendary in the indie rock community, spent too much of The Plot Against Common Sense taking pot shots at easy targets.

Links: Future of the Left - Xtra Mile

House Of Low Culture Poisoned Soil

[Taiga; 2012]

Styles: experimental
Others: Isis, Mamiffer, Fantômas (Delìrivm Còrdia only)

About eight years ago, this dude with a bandana tied ’round his neck and a newly inked sleeve tattoo redder than the devil’s cock pulled me aside and played me a House Of Low Culture CD. “This is a side-project from the guy in Isis,” he said excitedly, and I could tell he wanted to see how I reacted before he made his own opinion known. Thing is, I literally couldn’t hear anything; I asked dude to jack up the volume. Once he did, I could hear something bubbling under the surface, but I couldn’t register what it was or where in the world it might have come from.

Links: Taiga

Extraterrestrial Dir. Nacho Vigalondo

[Focus World; 2012]

Styles: sci-fi comedy
Others: Timecrimes, Shaun of the Dead, Dark Star

Spanish director Nacho Vigalondo is the genuine article. He belongs among the front rank of the international filmmakers whose movies are making it out of the festival circuit and into our small, arthouse theaters. Vigalondo possesses the love of artistry, a strict attention to the construction and execution of every aspect of his films. His entertainments are something more than the sum of their sure construction, which is an even rarer attribute in a filmmaker than a willingness to leave things ambiguous.

The Tortured Dir. Robert Lieberman

[Twisted Pictures/IFC Films; 2009]

Styles: thriller, horror
Others: Saw, I Saw the Devil

This ugly little flick is a B thriller with pretensions to torture porn, released under the aegis of Twisted Pictures, the studio responsible for the Saw series. Its initial straight-to-video release dates back to 2009, when it naturally vanished without a trace. Now, IFC Films (no doubt still high off the fumes of Dead Snow and the Human Centipede series) has sent it out into the world again, for reasons that are unclear if not inexplicable.

The School Reading Too Much Into Things Like Everything

[Elefant; 2012]

Styles: 60s pop, chamber pop, indie, twee
Others: God Help the Girl, Sandie Shaw, Brill Building, The Magic Theatre, Cœur de Pirate

The thing about The School is that they’re adorable. I find it difficult to give their sophomore album anything but a 5, because look at their wittle whiskers and those big eyes — they so want just to be petted, but then they get all fake-aloof and pretend they’re not interested and… I’m sorry, I’m talking about cats again. All of the above nonetheless applies.

Links: The School - Elefant

Marina Abramović: The Artist Is Present Dir. Matthew Akers

[Show of Force; 2012]

Styles: documentary
Others: Bob Wilson’s Life & Death of Marina Abramovic, Making Sh*t Up, Gerhard Richter Painting

“The first time I met the legendary, radical performance artist Marina Abramović, I was immediately surprised and seduced by her warmth and charm. […] It was one thing to be seduced by her as a subject and another thing to allow myself to be seduced by her myth. […] Throughout the next ten months, I documented nearly every waking moment of Marina’s life. […] It’s always hard to leave material on the cutting room floor, but I found it especially heartbreaking on this film.” –Matthew Akers [emphases added]

Safety Not Guaranteed Dir. Colin Trevorrow

[Film District; 2012]

Styles: indie dramedy
Others: Primer

When he’s not acting, Mark Duplass is an accomplished writer and director. Anyone interested in contemporary independent film should check out The Puffy Chair and Baghead (and, while not independent, Cyrus and Jeff, Who Lives at Home), the first movies he wrote and directed with his brother, Jay.

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