It has been much too long since I’ve seen a Joe Swanberg movie, almost three years now since I last saw the director’s films LOL and Hannah Takes The Stairs. And while I did finally rewatch Hannah last week, I also watched a movie by him that I had not yet seen before which is titled Uncle Kent. Similar to his movie LOL, which dealt with the protagonist being obsessed with a girl he met online, Uncle Kent deals with a protagonist also dealing with a girl he met online – though it is a more concrete relationship this time around (especially as the girl is someone he meets on chat roulette). I did enjoy the movie quite a lot and I was instantly reminded on how many awesome flicks came out in 2011.
As I’ve said a couple times before, my favorite band ever in the universe is Bishop Allen. For nearly three years now, they haven’t released much since their 2009 album Grrr… In fact, as far as I know, the only thing released since that album was a Christmas song in 2010. And in that time, they had only played on L.A. show (which I of course missed).
Three years is a long time. A LONG TIME. I remember when I heard the entire Grrr… stream online before its release date. I was still a film student and was setting up these huge lights in my living room, listening to the album while I prepared to do a photo-shoot for my cinematography class. Shortly after, I experienced my official Worst Day of My Life (yes, capitalized): a combination of relationship problems and the failing-to-develop photos of that said-project. What cheered me up during the dark day? Yep, Bishop Allen. And what is this all leading to? Yep, Bishop Allen is coming out with new things.
They recently announced that they have begun demoing a new record. And that they want to tour again soon. When I read that online last night, I could not help but smile. It’s been a rough three years without new material from them, with many conversations similarly going like this:
“So Vince, any new Bishop Allen stuff lately? Have they even been doing shows?”
“No.”
“So… they’re like on a hiatus?”
“Dude, they are not on a hiatus!”
What’s more, they have a new music video out! Sure, it’s a song from the Grrr… album, but it is still newness. And hey – it was directed by Joe Swanberg, director of one of my favorite mumblecore films, Hannah Takes The Stairs.
:::sighs::: It all began with Bishop Allen. The lead singer of my favorite band of all time had starred in two films by this guy named Andrew Bujalski. The film was called “Mutual Appreciation” and I knew I had to see it. But what I got was something much more than enjoying my favorite band sing their songs in a feature. I got to see an extremely grainy, black and white, 16mm flick that I completely fell in love with. Charming. Check. Funny. Check. Likable characters. Check. Completely different from the same stuff I see all the time. Check, check.
The movie was like watching real life in progress. I wanted more. So I decided to see Bujalski’s first film, “Funny Ha, Ha” starring one other part of Bishop Allen, Christian Rudder (though Justin Rice has an awesome cameo). I loved that one ever more.
The thing about these films is that they aren’t epic dramas, just stories about life. Even the endings prove this by being so random without a true conclusion. Moving on from Bujalski’s films, I decided to watch “Quiet City” by Aaron Katz. The same feeling was with this movie and the plot… two people meeting in New York City and wandering through it together is something I really can relate to.
Yesterday I watched of seeing “Hannah Takes The Stairs” directed by Joe Swanberg. Bujalski acts in it also. Though it is probably my least favorite in the mumblecore genre, it was decent nonetheless. I know I’m late in getting into these mumblecore films, but I’m glad I stumbled across them. At least now I won’t be getting bored with my Netflix account anytime soon. :)
