Colette's Birthday: Yacht Rock

Oh hello, you've caught smooth groove aficionado, kickass illustrator, and occasional Tape Freaks contributor Izzi Xiques relaxing in her music nook!

James Ingram and Michael McDonald

Colette and I met while working at a mind numbing retail job that piped in bland overhead music, and if you've ever worked a retail job that had it's own soundtrack, you are probably just familiar with the smooth sounds of soft rock as we are. Hell, just shopping in retail settings should make you familiar with the voices of Michael McDonald, Hall and Oates, Toto, and Kenny Loggins. But have you ever wondered how those smooth grooves came to be? The answer to those questions you never asked are all answered in the best twelve episode mini series ever made about the interconnected musical collaborations of the soft rock movement now forever known as Yacht Rock.

Eddie Van Halen and Michael Jackson

Yacht Rock is the brainchild of J. D. Ryznar, Hunter D. Stair, Lane Farnham and follows protagonists Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins from the birth of smooth in late 70s through it's resurgence in the smooth rap of the 90s. Michael McDonald, is our scrappy underdog who fights tooth and nail to keep smooth music alive, even as the 80’s hard rocks starts to take over the airwaves. Loggins on the other hand rolls with the punches and adapts to mainstream music as it changes, trying desperately to drag McDonald with him. But episodes don't always focus on those two, there's also a feud between The Eagles and Steely Dan, an episode that reveals what's truly responsible for the birth of smooth gangster rap, episodes also feature Michael Jackson, Hall and Oats, Christopher Cross, and so much more. The collaborations are all true, the stories behind the collaborations are… debatable.

Even though Yacht Rock ruthlessly pokes fun at a lot of huge stars (from those eras), all the teasing comes from a place of love, making it equally enjoyable for people who are trapped in a retail world filled with gentle grooves as well as true fans of the music. It’s honestly hard to deny what a gem this series is, so much so that John Oates (as well as others depicted in the series) credit the resurgence of smooth rock fans to Yacht Rock. Michael McDonald even gave his seal of approval, hinting that even though the show isn't exactly accurate, it's intuitive in a very real way. Honestly, even if you hate the music of these artists, once you've seen Yacht Rock from beginning to end you'll have a hard time hating those tracks ever again.

Watching Yacht Rock was one of the things that sealed me and Colette’s friendship. And I'll just say: the first time we watched it all the way through together, was not the last. Colette showed me the true power of smooth music, and the world will never been the same again.

You can watch all the episodes of Yacht Rock here.

Colette's Birthday: Recent Movies

We've been catching up on some modern movies and shows this month at the Tape Freaks household, here are my opinions on some of those:

Good Time: This was a great movie no doubt, but, I can't say I loved watching this film. (And if I hadn't watched all the way to the end, I might not have liked it at all.) Maybe it was the wrong night for me to watch it but, it was too real for me and I had a hard time going along for the ride. My mind kept wandering to people and situations from my youth, wondering what happened to people I knew from those days, remembering what happened to those people, wondering if people who watched this flick would take away a new perspective about people like that (as it seemed was the intention) or if they would shrug it off like so many episodes of Cops. I'd be interested to hear from someone who's perspective was shifted as a result of watching this movie, particularly someone who didn't grow up submerged in those kinds of realities, because they're over the top in just the right ways that make it only a step away from things that happened to people I knew. Over all, this is a very well executed film; great performances by everyone on screen, interesting juxtapositions of perspective, and cinematography that actively adds to the narrative, just too triggering for me to enjoy personally.

Super Dark Times: Somehow this hyper realistic and dark coming-of-age movie was exactly my speed. At the start, the portrayals of teens/preteens being obnoxious dipshits was so spot on that I almost couldn't stand it, but that setup pays off pretty quickly, and the twist and turns the movie takes were organic and completely unexpected. It was the dark coming-of-age film I never knew I wanted, but I would like more now please.

Ingrid Goes West: Halfway through this movie I had an anxiety attack expressly caused by watching this film. Oddly, I still liked it a ton! This is a beyond fantastic exploration of imposter syndrome, mental illness and enabling, filled with excellent performances by Aubrey Plaza, Elizabeth Olsen, O'Shea Jackson Jr., Wyatt Russell, and Billy Magnussen. It was also pretty great to see two sons of stars illustrating they were more than their parent's children. Especially Jackson, he was able to match Plaza's genuine and grounded delivery of humor every step of the way. I will be watching this movie again... despite it having caused me to question every friendship I've ever had all at once...

Brigsby Bear: This movie made me want to run out and make a movie with my friends. I mean, I've done exactly that before, but this was especially inspiring both in that this is a great film, and watching the characters make their own film brought me life. This was also another in a trend I've been noticing of films and shows that fit my humor, get dark, and are great over all, but never get mean. It's very fucking refreshing.

The Villainess: Tim kept explaining this as South Korean John Wick, and it really was in all the best ways. If you've not been watching a bunch of modern South Korean genre movies (which you should fix by watching The Wailing, Train to Busan, The Host, and Okja), we've noticed this strange theme to them: each film winds through drastically different tones, and does so with mind-boggling ease. And it's not genre mashing like drama/action/horror or horror/comedy/coming of age, it's more like high-body-count zombie/heart-warming coming of age/serious family drama/societal-commentary film. (I was describing Train to Busan there if you were wondering.) The Villainess was a mix of spy/family drama/romantic comedy/bloody action/revenge flick; think Drive with heavy overtones of John Wick, Atomic Blonde, and The Raid 2. If you liked any of those, you will very likely enjoy this one as much as we did!

Mom and Dad: This one could have been better. It's not that it's wasn't entertaining, or that the performances were flat (Nicolas Cage is wonderfully batshit, but Selma Blair steals the damn show), it's just that it falls short in some areas where the Crank movies (yes, we love the Crank movies) shine. It's stylized, but in a way that captures too well the drabness of living in suburbia, and it occasionally meanders in the plot and character development in ways that are distracting at best and needless at worst. But, there are a few delightful surprises throughout and it's far from terrible, just set your bar accordingly.

February's Mystery Movie: First Clue

Clue #1: The first clue to this month's movie is that it's one of Colette's favorite action-exploitation films.

Tape Freaks Presents: February's Mystery Movie at the Trylon Cinema, Wednesday, February 7th @ 7:00pm, only $5!

****Purchase advance ticket here****

Colette's Birthday: The Pitfalls of Watching Movies While Female

While choosing a movie for this month I only had three criteria I wanted the film to meet: pass the Bechdel test, don't rape the women in the film, and ideally feature a Woman of Color. That doesn't seem like shooting for the moon, but it turns out it might be. It never seems like I'm ignoring epic amounts of bullshit to enjoy the movies I watch, but it's starting to seem like I'm ignoring more bullshit than I could have possibly imagined.

We burned through stacks of movies over last few months that seemed promising as picks, classics we loved or films that have been recommended by friends or the internet: and that epic quest resulted in maybe two films we could screen at some point. We thought about screening Coffy, because I LOVE Pam Grier, but there's quite a bit of misogyny in that film that barely gets addressed by the end. (Also, most of the badass women in Coffy have their clothes ripped off at some point, and I don't think it actually passes the Bechdel test.) We watched countless movies from our "to watch" pile that heavily featured lady characters, and most of those movies also featured scenes where said awesome lady characters were raped. For a second I even abandoned the idea of playing something that met any of my criteria in favor of screening a movie that I love love love that features mostly men, but then that exact movie got booked at the Trylon. (To be screened on my actual birthday even.) I was ready to give up and just play Rouge One, but you know what? Thinking back on my viewings of it, I'm not even sure that Rouge One passes the Bechdel test.

And that got me really thinking: if a movie I love as much as Rouge One could have me questioning in retrospect if it even passes the most laughably low-bar of tests for judging if a movie treats it's lady characters well, what am I missing in everything else? So here's my birthday wish to you: when watching films, watch with people who aren't you in mind. If you're white: watch for how People of Color are portrayed (if there are any at all). If you're a dude: watch for how many women there are (and how much you know about those characters aside from what directly relates to the men in the movie). If you're straight: watch for how the LGBTQA people are portrayed. If you're cis gender: watch for how Trangender people are treated (or more likely are joked about). Ask yourself "if they were consistently portraying people like me that way, how would I feel?" Check in about how those portrayals fit into our society at large, and read perspectives written from different people about how they're being represented in media. And listen, I'm not telling you to outright hate everything that treats people who aren't white cis men poorly. (I mean seriously, if we did that, how on earth would we enjoy much of anything at this point?) However, enjoying things that are problematic while discussing the problems they contain makes us grow as an audience and a society, and that's what I'm ultimately looking for in my time on Earth: positive growth.

So back to my pick for this month: Tim finally realized there's an obvious pick I had not considered for even one second before, and it's exactly what we're playing this month. It's newer than any movie we've ever played before (as was the case with my birthday pick last year), it's one that I truly love, it actually meets all my criteria, and exceeds them in ways that I would love to talk about at length with anyone after the screening. This month I went from being frustrated to the point of wanting to give up all together, to being more excited for a screening than I've been in almost exactly a year, happy birthday to me!

January's Mystery Movie: Third Clue

Clue #3: The director of this month's movie previously directed a film with a very similar title. Due to the confusion that caused, the video box for this month's movie included a disclaimer to clarify that the movie was NOT a sequel to the similarly titled film.

Tape Freaks Presents: January's Mystery Movie at the Trylon Cinema, Wednesday, January 3rd @ 7:00pm, only $5!

****Purchase advance ticket here****

Haunted Houses: House 1, 2, 3, 4

Not to be confused with the epically strange Japanese movie the Trylon plays every Halloween, this is an obscure horror franchise who's only major through line is the title. (Though, this series was produced by Sean S. Cunningham who produced the Friday the 13th franchise, and features music by Harry Manfredini who scored the same series... if you count that sort of thing as coherence.) If you've not watched any of the House movies, you're missing out on a strange pocket of haunting movies that get weirder the further you get into the series.

House (1985): Troubled writer, Roger Cobb, has just inherited a house from his aunt and is moving in with the hope it will help him focus on writing his new book. But, this man is not just a tortured man writing a memoir outlining the haunting memories he brought back with him from Vietnam; he's also processing the loss of his child from a failed marriage! All that stuff is about to take a back seat though, because the house has begun to reveal that it's far more than just a house... Directed by Steve Miner (who also directed Friday the 13th II & III, Lake Placid, and Halloween H20), stars William Katt (who was the titular Greatest American Hero) and features George Went (Norm from Cheers), this weird-but-fun film does a surprisingly good job of balancing scares, comedy and heartfelt character moments. It also features some great monster effects, is Kane Hodder's (Jason Voorhees (parts VII-X) first credited Stunt Coordinator effort, and is one of Fred Dekker's (writer/director Monster Squad, Night of the Creeps) earliest writing credits.











House 2 (1987): Jesse (Arye Gross) and his friend Charlie (Johnathan Stark) uncover a murder mystery that has connections to Jesses his parents, great-grandfather, and an ancient Aztec crystal skull. This sequel was directed by the writer of the original's screenplay, and as you may have guessed, has almost nothing to do with the previous flick, including it taking place in a different house. This one is also a lot more goofy and leans harder into wacky comedy than it does horror movie. But, even though this installment is as big a mess as it sounds like it is, it's still enjoyable mostly due to Chris Wallas and his effects crew (Gremlins, The Fly) who bring some really bizarre and fun creature effects by way of skeleton cowboys, pterodactyls, and a caterpillar-puppy.

House 3 (aka The Horror Show (1989)): After a long murder spree, crazed serial killer (Brion James) has finally been caught and sentenced to death by electric chair. Unfortunately, sending a murderous amount of electricity through his body only gives his newly forming ghost super powers! He puts these powers to immediate use by tormenting the detective who took him down (Lance Henricksen) and killing everyone close to him. Now, if you're familiar with this series you may have just exclaimed "there were more than two of these movies?!!", or perhaps you came across House 4 and thought "what the hell happened to part three?". Those are both common reactions (to the few that fit the criteria of knowing about these movies at all) due to the fact that Sean S. Cunningham pre-sold this movie to European distributors under the name House 3 but, once they started actually making the movie, he realized this flick wasn't going to fit into the the franchise so for releases everywhere else they called it The Horror Show. This installment takes yet another departure from the previous flicks as far as tone, this time omitting the comedy completely and leaning hard into dark to the point of mean spirited. But, the two lead actors give some pretty great performances and there are more wild and enjoyable effects and gore by a young KNB effects team.


House 4 (1992): Roger Cobb is (finally) back! And he's killed in a car accident right away! He's also married to Kelly Cobb (Terri Treas) and they have a 12 year old daughter, but there's no mention of his wife from the first movie, or that he had a son that disappeared, or that they are "returning" to a house that's totally different from the house in the first film... but seems like it's supposed to be the house from the first film... Still, the last in this weird series is the first to have anything to do with any of the others and that's at least something! This installment was straight to video and sadly was the last in the series, but it is another fun/weird notch in the belt of director Kevin Tenney (Night of the Demons, Witchboard).

January's Mystery Movie: Second Clue

Clue #2: This months movie features a top notch scream queen.

Tape Freaks Presents: January's Mystery Movie at the Trylon Cinema, Wednesday, January 3rd @ 7:00pm, only $5!

****Purchase advance ticket here****