Amoeba Music

Conan the Barbarian is cool and everything, but Dillinger is by far the best movie John Milius ever directed. A fast, mean, ultraviolent crime story brought to life by an amazing cast. Harry Dean Stanton makes such an impression with a minimal amount of screen time. Milius was pretty young back in '73 and his raw, unpolished (somewhat scatterbrained) style works for the material. There's a sense of immediacy to it. You might expect him to present these criminals as macho badasses - which he does, to an extent - but he's equally interested in making fun of fragile masculinity and chipping away at American myths.

Everyone should own this album. It should be distributed to schoolchildren.

Understated, contemplative character study about a kind old soul re-entering the life he abandoned in search of his beloved pet pig. The film follows no predictable pattern or formula. First time writer/director Michael Sarnoski displays real control, creating a slightly stylized yet relatable environment while delving into a criminal element rarely depicted on-screen: the culinary underworld. Shady restaurant black markets. What he's saying about love, loss, passion, and remorse is communicated with powerful clarity thanks to a tight script and remarkable acting from Cage, who turns in his finest performance since Leaving Las Vegas.

An electronic milestone. These guys were masters in the art of sampling. Every song is killer, especially the first two.

One of my top-ten favorite albums. Recently re-released on LP. I'm not a huge shoegaze guy, but this thing is monumental.

Warren deserves more love, especially this album. The title track is one of the greatest rock songs of all time.

From Scream Factory. Overlooked slasher film blessed with a smart script and confident direction from Geoffrey Wright (Romper Stomper). Easily the best flick that emerged from the post-Scream genre boom. It beats Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Urban Legend, Valentine, all of 'em. The cast does great work, particularly Brittany Murphy as the unusually strong heroine, and Ken Selden's dialogue is razor-sharp. Even Jay Mohr comes off well. It's an artful, darkly funny sleeper that ranks alongside the classics. The script was first sent to David Lynch, who loved it but declined because he was gearing up to make Mulholland Drive.

All three films in this series were recently given the deluxe treatment by Vinegar Syndrome, but I'm really only recommending the first. Pretentiously silly as it is, The Prophecy is more intelligent and ambitious than your average wide-release horror flick. The story is a bit jumbled (incorporating Native American religious rituals into a Bible-based narrative is an odd choice) but it's always compelling and impeccably cast. Walken and Stoltz are both perfect. They - and other actors like Elias Koteas and Virginia Madsen - make all this hokey nonsense 100% convincing. Widen directs with a sure hand, striking a pleasant tone and maintaining it well; he takes himself seriously but never grows ponderous and successfully incorporates a large amount of dark humor. This is a very funny movie, and not unintentionally. Walken fucking kills it. Hilarious and menacing at the same time. You'll have no problem believing he's been walking the earth for centuries. I saw The Prophecy in the theater when I was nine and loved it. Nice to see that it more-or-less holds up. I found myself saying, "damn, that was pretty cool" a lot more than expected. Viggo Mortensen as Satan chowing down on desert flowers? It's easy to see why this has developed a cult following over time.

Gritty guerilla filmmaking at its finest, vicious exploitation that plays it 100% straight, a minor masterpiece of manic shot-on-16mm madness with enough verve and beautifully choreographed violence for ten big budget Hollywood action flicks. The hyperactive gore of Evil Dead meets the street gang mayhem of The Warriors, and it's better than both. The coolest. No film collection should be without it.

The kind of album that I would of been in love with in almost every stage of my life. A darkwave synth album full of all the goth sadness and dance pop that I love. Timeless and perfect and everything I love. 

I love when a new band takes all my favorite genres of the 90s and mashes them up together. It is like they were raised inside my brain. Shoegaze and grunge mixed with Twee pop to create a super catchy and fun swirly album.

I know everything is going to be OK when I have a new Kelly Lee Owens album in my life. It is always a fun ride when you dive into one of her albums. Dreamy electronica that I can lose myself in. Like a euphoric musical blanket that you can wrap yourself up in.   

An absolutely gorgeous album from my new favorite artist. I love it more and more after every listen. Emotionally complex pop that somehow sounds like nothing you have ever heard before but also comfortably familiar.

A compilation of beautiful & spooky synth pop from your new favorite Scandinavian dark wave band. Cinematic and dramatic and easy to fall in love with after your first listen.