philosoraptor42 | Entries tagged with drive

Recently I've been listening to a podcast called "Radiodrome" and they occasionally finish up with an obscure song. They played this song at the end of podcast number 156 and my instant reaction was to try to find out who the artist was. However, looking up the lyrics didn't seem to do the trick. It turns out that the song is only found on the soundtrack of an obscure 80s apocalypse movie called "Radioactive Dreams", so I guess no one bothered to write the lyrics up anywhere. Anyway, having tracked this song down I've just got to share. I have now bought the entire Radioactive Dreams soundtrack, but this song seems to be the best.

The movie is here if you are interested. Doesn't appear to have a DVD release.

Naturally I've had a bit of a kick for music that sort of pretends to be from the 80s in the style of the movie Drive. So I guess it was only a matter of time before I got similarly excited by a song that is actually from the 80s. Check it out:

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I suppose I'm probably the last person to hear about this, right? The latest Horroretc Podcast had this playing at the beginning and I instantly had to get it....

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Turns out these are the same guys who did the amazing soundtrack for the movie "Oblivion". Rewatching that movie recently I was struck by how much more effective that movie was made by its soundtrack, so it seems that the talents of M83 were a major factor in my enjoyment there.

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Maniac (2012)

Before we begin with the review, I absolutely have to share this awesome song from the soundtrack. It's another Drive-esque synthy song and I absolutely love it.

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When I first saw the original 1980s movie "Maniac" I decided that it could not possibly be remade because to do so the original movie would need to have some kind of unique plot that set it apart. That's not to say that the original had nothing to set it apart at all. It was essentially a showcase of Tom Savini's gore effects and that makes it special in its own way. However, a remake clearly would not be a showcase of Tom Savini's gore effects (or at least, if it was, Tom Savini had better have some pretty amazing new tricks up his sleeve to make it worthwhile).

Incredibly the remake has somehow managed to make some distinctive story points which fit the original and part of how it managed to achieve this is by making the story clearer and stronger. In the original movie the insane murderous protagonist possessed a whole load of shopfront mannequins without any real explanation. This time around it turns out that he makes his money by restoring classic mannequins and selling them to collectors. His hideout is actually at the back of a store devoted to this craft.

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I cannot wait for this upcoming album to come out. This is great!

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(If you like this video you should probably check out the youtube link above and click "like". Plus in the video information there's a tinyurl link to Mediafire. Apparently the band Flashworx have offered up this EP as a freebie.)

Seriously, the movie Drive has done weird things to my taste in music. I can't stop listening to stuff like this these days....

Pusher (2012)

I was intrigued by this remake of Pusher. Admittedly I'm a big fan of the Pusher series. It has a strong appeal for me, even if I didn't feel inclined to give any of the entries an A+ score. However, the first movie in the trilogy is definitely not the best. It's not until the sequels, each of which has a different protagonist, that the world of those films expanded with side-characters often returning and the audience becoming more familiar with how the characters relate to one another.

Screencap from the original 1996 movie. The guy on the left?
Mads Mikkelsen! (From "A Royal Affair", "Casino Royale" and
the recent "Hannibal" tv series.)

The original Pusher is a pretty simple story. A drug dealer in Denmark has retirement plans and is look forward to pulling off a big score and possibly finishing with drug dealing for good. He wants a better life for both him and his girlfriend who currently works as a dancer in a club. He thinks of himself as a more sensible drug dealer and a good businessman. Unfortunately, he's not immune from hiccups and so when things start to go wrong he's left unsure as to what to do next. The remake is basically the exact same movie only set in London.

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In my last post I came up with 10 songs that resembled the style of music in the "Drive" soundtrack. I'm now back to make even more recommendations, particular after having come across the "Valerie and Friends" album that showcases a lot of interesting bands in this particular synthy 80s-sounding electronica style.

More awesome songs from bands mentioned last time:

Electric Youth

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Tesla Boy

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Awesome songs from bands not mentioned last time:

Russ Chimes

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Jupiter

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(Via Popped Culture)

I cannot believe that I have actually seen precisely NONE of the films nominated for Best Picture this year. I haven't been avoiding the cinema, but (of those already actually released in the UK) these simply weren't films that looked worth my time. We'll see if I regret those words later in the year (though I have as yet to hear a recommendation that makes me excited about "Moneyball").

Anyway, below are some of my favourites that weren't considered for Oscars. Yeah, some are obvious. Others, however, I'm rather more annoyed about. Particularly the award for Best Picture. Yeah sure, I don't expect my favourites to win. In 2011 I'd have picked Black Swan (it's frankly criminal that Darren Aronofsky hasn't got an Oscar for best director yet), in 2010 I'd have picked A Serious Man (which is my favourite Coen Brother's movie, by contrast to "No Country For Old Men" which I was far less impressed with) and in 2008 I'd have picked "In Bruges" (which actually wasn't nominated for Best Picture, but did at least get a nominated for Best Screenplay). So yeah, sure I made different choices, but at least I could find some mention of my favourite movies in the nominations. If there's a simulated oscars again this year, I'm not sure I'll be so excited. Right now, I'll have seen absolutely none of the best picture nominations so I'll have a tought time getting involved.

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The Oscars seriously suck this year.

Some nice fan art posters to start off...

I've found myself a little obsessed with the music from what is still my favourite movie of the year (unless you count Black Swan which didn't reach UK cinemas til January). The soundtrack of Drive has an 80s-style theme, but all the actual songs are modern. I think the style they adopt might be linked to moves by bands like Crystal Castles to make use of videogame sounds in their music and I'm also reminded of the recent trend to do 8-bit versions of songs (as seen in another recent soundtrack).

In this post I'm going to look at several bands or artists I've come across either from the soundtrack or from searching for similar sounding music. If you loved the Drive soundtrack as much as I did, you might want to check this out...

1. Electric Youth

Anyway, possibly the best example of a song made to sound 80s on the Drive soundtrack is "A Real Hero" by College featuring Electric Youth:

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Having done a bit of digging, I'm inclined to believe that it is Electric Youth, not College, who are the real secret to this song's success. Oddly one of their own songs sounds even more 80s than the one featured on the Drive OST:

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( For more songs from Kavinsky, Desire, Crystal Castles, Tesla Boy, Anoraak, Flashworx, Ladytron and Daft Punk, continue reading under the cut! )

Drive (2011)

Wow.

Okay look, the short of it is that this is the best movie I've seen so far in 2011. Even if you don't find that you rate it as highly as I do, everyone is going to be talking about it anyway. The trailer is not that good, so you are best off avoiding that. As per usual, my review is spoiler-free, however reviews cannot help but give preconceptions. I'd suggest you only read the review below if you have either seen the movie or are disinclined to watch it (even later on DVD). All you need to know is that this a unique piece of cinema unlike anything else you've seen this year.

So, with that being said, the review begins now...

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