Filmage: The Story of the DESCENDENTS

Very stoked for a documentary about the DESCENDENTS.

Julieta Venegas @ Bakersfield, CA

Mexican indie pop icon, Julieta Venegas, played at the Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield, CA. We made a 2 hour road trip from Los Angeles with our good friends Carlos and Zoey to watch some catchy pop tunes sung in Spanish.

We arrived at 8:00 pm to the venue where Korn (actually, they hail from this city) launched there 2006 World Tour [sounds random but we acknowledge it because they had a commemorative plaque outside the venue].

This convention center had several events at the same time (like Disney on Ice) but our venue was a medium-sized theater with seats. It was kind of empty but Julieta's performance was well worth it. She was accompanied by 6 all-around musicians (two kick ass chicks included) who changed guitars, keyboards, trumpets and other instruments between themselves.

They delivered a very warm and intimate set which reminded me of Belle and Sebastian's DC gig back in Oct 2010. The comparison came to my mind because it was a lot of musicians and instruments on-stage delivering beautiful music. The difference was that it was done with a very mexican flavor to it. In addition, the drummer played with only one stick during the entire set, which was very cool. The interaction between the band and the public was very good.

Julieta sang hits such as Canciones de Amor, Eres para mí (in which she rapped Anita Tijoux's verses), Lento, Amores Perros Me Van A Matar (from the classic Iñarritu film soundtrack), Debajo de mi lengua, Me Voy, Ya Conocerán (which she announced will have a music video soon), Algo Está Cambiando and a cover of La Jaula de Oro by Los Tigres del Norte.

After an hour and a half, the band left the stage but returned to sang their last three songs Revolución, Sin Documentos and Andar Conmigo. Overall it was a great show, full of her hits. Even though it was a very small audience, Julieta and his backing band played with tons of energy. Definitely would see Julieta Venegas again but never going back to Korn's hometown.

The Skin I Live In by Pedro Almodóvar

The Skin I Live In is the new film by Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar. Starring are Antonio Banderas as Dr. Robert Ledgard, Marisa Paredes as Robert's mom Marilia and Elena Anaya as his patient Vera Cruz. All of whom have appeared in previous movies by the legendary manchego filmmaker.

Dr. Robert, an innovative plastic surgeon, has invented a powerful synthetic skin. He has lost his family to tragic events and therefore uses his time to develop his scientific experiments on his guinea pig, Vera. His mother Marilia has return to help him in the house duties. Life is getting better for Robert but unexpected events will get things back to the usual.

The story is very Almodóvar-like in many aspects. The dark humor, the shocking themes and dialogs, the bright colors of the scenery, the feminine identity, Art and music presenting the tone, homosexuality in some form, nonlinear storytelling using flashbacks, a movie inside the movie itself, strong sex scenes and a final twist at the end are all elements in this flick.

The performances by Elena Anaya and Banderas are great. Anaya's unconventional role uses more body language than words, making it very interesting. Bandera's character is a bad guy with the social acceptance to do whatever he wants because of his profession. Both are worth any nomination in the festival circuit.

Almodóvar never dissapoints on my book. His stories are unique and told in an original and bizarre way. If you have not seen any of his movies, avoid this. If you are a fan, then sit back and enjoy, his latest entertaining gem. This film was nominated for the Palm D'ore at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival. 8 out of 10 stars.

50/50: A Jonathan Levine Film

50/50 is the new film by director Jonathan Levine (The Wackness). Starring are Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Adam, Seth Rogen as his friend Kyle, Anjelica Huston as Adam's Mom, Anna Kendrick as therapist Katherine and Bryce Dallas Howard as his girlfriend Rachael.

Adam is a young radio writer who suddenly gets a rare type of cancer. His life torn apart but with the help of Kyle, Katherine and his family, his journey becomes one of self-discovery and acceptance.

The film goes back and forth between comedy and drama. Joseph Gordon-Levitt makes an outstanding performance that is really Academy award nominee material. Adam is one of those characters that you feel happy for them when things are getting better and very sad when things go bad. Seth Rogen does the same funnyman character we are accustomed to see and Anna Kendrick's character brings up the feelgood elements of falling in love and sexual tension with the main character.

It is all based of a true story. The script being penned by real-life "Adam", Will Reiser. He got cancer while working as a writer for HBO's Da Ali G show and his best buddy at that time was actually Seth Rogen, who plays the friend in the movie.

Worth seeing if you are into switching emotions in a limited time period. Avoid it if you hate sad movies or Seth Rogen type comedy.

7.5 of 10 stars.

Early 80s gems

Here's some rare videos from early 80s bands.

JFA-Little Big Man, 1983 at The Mad Gardens in Phoenix, AZ


Agression-Money Machine, 1984 L.A. Olympic Auditorium


Descendents-Catalina, Hey Hey, Bikeage and Jean is Dead, Early 80s. Milo with a Bad Brains shirt. Same footage as Flipside Video Fanzine Vol. 1 but with more songs.

D.I. and The Dickies coming to my town

D.I., the legendary Orange County punks, and The Dickies, L.A. punk pioneers, presented their anthems at the House of Blues of the Sunset Strip. The opening band was Juicehead and the closing one was The Misfits. As a matter of fact, it was the second straight show at the HOB that we went for the opening acts rather than the headliner.

The doors opened almost at 8:00 pm as hundreds of metalheads, rockers and punks with the obligatory Misfits shirts, entered the venue. Juicehead threw a set of 90s punk tunes that even included the Operation Ivy standard, "Knowledge".

Half an hour later, Orange County's finest, Casey Roger and company jumped on stage with their blend of skate punk rock. They opened with "Johnny's got a problem" and continued with classics such as "Imminent War", "Hang Ten in East Berlin" and "Guns". A couple of covers like "Amoeba" (Adolescents) and "Falling Out" (Rikk Agnew) followed in their repertoire. They ended with their best known tune, "Richard hung himself". In general, it was an intense set with lots of energy that left the crowd asking for more.

Our "headliners" came next to ripped the stage apart. The Dickies sounded like it was 1977. Very fun and energetic as their appearances in the old Flipside Magazine videos. Frontman Leonard Graves Phillips and guitarist Stan Lee, the only original members, began with "Rosemary" and played songs from all their early albums such as "Give it Back" "You drive me ape", "I'm ok you're ok", "If Stuart could talk" and the Sabbath cover "Paranoid". "Gigantor" was their last song. The best part was Leonard using different props like gorilla masks, snorkel masks, inflatable women or penis puppets.

We left before The Misfits because I have seen them twice in the past and it was late for a weekday. As we walk to our car, some punks broke into a fight in the street, apparently for something that occurred at the pit. Anyhow, it was a great punk rock show with two of the most legendary punk bands of Southern California.

8/10 stars.

2011 Eagle Rock Music Festival

The 13th Annual Eagle Rock Music Festival was held at the infamous Colorado Boulevard featuring music acts from electronica to rock, passing through hip hop and singer/songwriters. Upcoming and established groups from L.A. and beyond for all musical tastes. Rooney, the indie rock band featuring the youngest Schwartzman-Coppola, was headlining and were joined by other eclectic acts like Fuxedos or Barrio Tiger.

Since we live in the same neighborhood, we made a half hour walk to where the action was happening. After some oinkster pastrami fix, we head to the Razorcake stage to see the almighty Fuxedos.

This band is no joke in terms of their genius (although, any normal-type person can see them as a "joke band"). One of the most entertaining acts I have seen in my lifetime (with the permission of The Adicts or Belle and Sebastian). Theatrics combined with almost every prop unimaginable, accompany the sonic delivery which crosses boundaries so diverse as punk, jazz, country, opera, metal and any kind of sound from the musical spectrum. Their encore of The Beatles "I wanna hold your hand" fits perfectly the latter description.

Musicians followed singer Diabolical Danny Shorago like an orchestra follows a director. This says much of a band that changes from city to city (L.A. and S.F., different bands with same singer). After their jaw-dropping performance rock, we saw just a couple of tunes by Barrio Tiger and walked to the farthest stages to catch Rooney.

At the Kingsize stage, we awaited for Robert Coppola Schwartzman's band. A lot of underage girls began filling nearby the stage as if it was a Backstreet Boys concert circa 1999. The peak was their new upbeat single "Holdin On" and their hit "When Did Your Heart Go Missing", this one shortened because of the 11:00 pm curfew.

The highlights were Rooney, Fuxedos, the $1 cupcakes, free good clean fun for all the family and the closeness to my crib. The downgrades were Rooney's set cut off and annoying drunk teenagers hanging out instead of seeing the bands. 7/10 stars for the ERMF.