So I went and saw Grindhouse on Friday at the Bridge. And I knew that I was gonna like it. But I was seriously blown away by how good it was. 10 minutes into the first film by Robert Rodriguez "Planet Terror" I wanted to see it again and was already getting excited about owning the DVD and watching the uncut version. I am a big fan of all the movies that these guys are in love with. It was so great to see them do an excellent job of replicating these movies. There have been so many horrible remakes of horror movies the past couple of years. It has almost made me not want to see these kind of movies anymore. Always so disappointing. But like 28 Days Later and Shaun of the Dead, I was totally surprised at how great these movies were. I am a big fan of Freddy Rodriguez from Six Feet Under. It was so great to see him in a completely different role in Planet Terror. He was awesome as the hero of the film. Rose McGowan is awesome as well. She has great roles in both films, but really outdoes herself as a one-legged stripper in Planet Terror. It was so great to see both Tom Savini (makeup artist for many of the 80s greats: Martin, Dawn of the Dead,  Friday the 13th, Creepshow, etc.) and Michael Biehn (star of two of my favorites Terminator and Aliens) as two cops in Planet Terror. The movie was nonstop action and gore. Like nothing I have seen in a long while.

OK everybody, it's April. I'm not sure how 3 months already passed by this year, but they did. Today is a Tuesday, which means another street date. So every Tuesday I'm gonna discuss the new releases that are coming out -- at least the important releases. or at least what is important to me...which may not be important to you...but it should be. As far as music goes, there is not a whole lot out today.

But most important is the new album by Jarvis Cocker Jarvis. I have loved Jarvis for a long long time now, but I have to admit that I had not paid much attention to him lately. After Pulp broke up in 2002 I never thought Jarvis would be able to put out anything nearly as interesting or fun as those Pulp albums. Back in the 90s I wore out my old Pulp albums: His 'n' Hers (1994), Different Class (1995), and This is Hardcore (1998). These 3 albums have all been reissued as deluxe versions. They are available now as imports but I'm sure they will be out soon domestically, especially now with the domestic release of his excellent solo album.

It's been over 12 years since Different Class came out. Seriously, one of the best albums of the 90s! I danced many nights at Pop Scene to Pulp along with Blur, Oasis, and Suede. This album made Pulp huge stars both in their native England and in the U.S. and this album blew me away. It was just one of those albums you can't get enough of. I could never hear "Mis-shapes," "Common People," or "Disco 2000" too many times, and it seemed like most friends I had at the time agreed with me. This album came out when Brit pop was one of the most popular styles of music. They were on the cover of all the music magazines and everyone was talking about them.  1995 was the year Blur's Great Escape and the Oasis album (What's the Story) Morning Glory? came out. Suede's Dog Man Star was released the year before, just as Jarvis is now releasing his solo album ...