2010s in Film: Why I Love #23 “Blue Jay”

Counting down my top 25 favorite films of the last decade and just why I love them.

#23 Blue Jay (2016)

Writer: Mark Duplass | Director / DP: Alexandre Lehmann | Music by: Julian Wass. Starring: Mark Duplass, Sarah Paulson, Clu Gulager

I love this movie because of the unspoken connection between Jim and Amanda – two adults who really know each other, and at this point in their lives might be the only people for one another who truly fit that bill.

Immediately, #IYKYK they go way back with a slick reference to Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam.

Time has passed, they see each other, and all the care comes rushing back. You don’t even have to put it into words – it’s all in their eyes, smiles, and the space that’s left in conversation.

Loss is difficult, and it can throw you all over the place emotionally, so I’m pleased to see Jim experience active grief onscreen.

Then there’s Amanda, pausing to take in Jim’s childhood house – the pictures on the wall – that’s the boy I knew. Going through the closets, smelling clothes, reading letters. 

Always trying to keep it on the up, the couple staves away the looming “talk” all night, replacing it with fun trips down memory lane, dance moves, inside jokes, and playing back tapes – which the 90s kids know is a landmine waiting to happen.

Ex-couples dream of this kind of experience. Happenstance leading to resolving all of your past issues in one brisk, fun-filled day overlooking the beautiful scenics of the town that grew you both.

Blue Jay. I mean, it’s a fantasy, right?

New Spotify / Apple Music Playlist – #Mood: Mope//Hope

Our latest Mood mix is here to get us all through the coming week(s)!!!

Mope//Hope is “A playlist for those oscillating #quarantine emotions, with an electro-pop twist.” says curator Jen (@designjenquinn). And it’s definitely encouraged me to set some light goals starting this week to take more deep breaths, stretch, and take at least two quick walks outside. Find us on Instagram @indiedigs and let us know how you’re doing?

Listen to #Mood: Mope//Hope now on Spotify and Apple Music.

Follow @indiedigs to stay up to date on new playlists, concert announcements, and what’s next.

May 2020 Concert Calendar (LIVESTREAMS)

Gathering shows happening this month on the web!

See y’all on the live chats:

– Tame Impala, 5/02, 5am on NTS

– Kevin Devine 5/3, 1pm on Patreon

– Laura Marling 5/3, 1pm on Instagram

– Valerie June 5/3, 4pm on Twitch

– Ben Gibbard / Death Cab for Cutie 5/7, 7pm on YouTube

– Alkaline Trio 5/7, 7pm on Facebook

– Diet Cig 5/7, 7pm on Instagram

– Kathleen Hanna 5/12, 9pm on Crowdcast

– St. Vincent 5/13, 8pm on BAM.ORG

– Saves the Day 5/15, 7pm on Instagram

– Beach Slang 5/16, 5pm on Stageit

– Thrice 5/21, 7pm on Instagram

Follow Concert Calendar on Spotify and Apple Music for monthly updates of live shows coming to the area.

New Spotify / Apple Music Playlist: 00s Indie Pop

Our latest playlist 00s Indie Pop is now live! Listen on Spotify and Apple Music. Hope y’all have a lovely day ❤

Follow @indiedigs on Spotify, Apple Music, and Instagram.

RSD 2020 *UPDATE*: Annual One-Day Event will be 3-Day RSD Drops.

Record Store day has officially moved to a new format for 2020 due to COVID-19, RSD Drops. This means instead of a one-day event, it will spread the special releases digitally over the course of three dates.

RSD has posted the following announcement on the site:

“Record Store Day will look very different this year, but supporting indie record stores may be more important than ever. We don’t know what sort of rules will be in place, or what sort of gatherings people will be in the mood for this year, so we’re focusing on the music and getting the really great titles on the RSD Official List this year into the stores and into your hands, in the most financially and socially responsible way.

The titles on the RSD 2020 Official List, launched on March 5th, will be released at participating record stores on one of these three RSD Drops: August 29th, September 26th, and October 24th.   The new version of The List, with newly assigned RSD Drops dates will launch on June 1 so check back here for a look at when you’ll be able to pick up the titles on your RSD 2020 wishlist at your local record store.” 

– Source: Record Store Day (recordstoreday.com)

Learn more at recordstoreday.com.

See y’all when the new RSD list drops on June 1st. 🤘🏾

2010s in Film: Why I Love #24 “Lady Bird”

Counting down my top 25 favorite films of the last decade and just why I love them.

#24: Lady Bird (2017)

Writer / Director: Greta Gerwig | DP: Sam Levy | Composer: Jon Brion | Music Supervisor: Greta Gerwig

I’m writing this on the two-year anniversary of moving to the area to be with my mom when she got sick and I’m still recovering, clearly. I started a blog making playlists because music is the only thing we ever talked about and now I have no one to talk to anymore that really gets it quite the same *cue A Grand Scene for a Pandemic*

Ladybird is, thankfully, one of the last movies we got to watch together that year, before everything, and I was elated to showcase that my favorite writer, Greta Gerwig – who I’ve followed painstakingly since college, has made a story so close to our socio-economic experience with such breath of the times.

It was hard for my mother to watch. She was like “I’m not like…that…am I?” But I was like, “no, not exactly just some of the interactions. The way we fight sometimes but we love each other. It’s sweet!”

It’s not all us, but a lot of it is, and that means a lot. 

This was also the year my bf and I moved down to Atlanta, my home. I’d premiered my first feature film that summer alongside my creative partner for a group of friends and family in the city, and I was just feeling like all the stars were aligned that particular Thanksgiving weekend at the Tara. Like, this is the fuel you need to keep going. Greta’s going to inject it right now.

View this post on Instagram

Been waiting a while for this one! Go see @ladybirdmovie if it’s playing near you. 💕it’s great

A post shared by Chanel Monét James (@chanel.person) on Nov 21, 2017 at 4:10pm PST

Aside from all that, there’s the multi-dimensional representation of catholic school teachers

#dramaclublife and the boys: the singing “Danny” that takes your breath away (former Drama Geek over here, so, know all about that).

the “Kyle” reading political non-fiction while smoking alone at a coffee house table and saying “tight” a lot.

And it’s the idolization of the rich girl, with her SUV and her experience, just wanting her to see you.

I had two friends like this in High School – one who drove a nice mid-sized, white, sports car and I thought she was a goddess, the other drove a jeep and threw all of the parties. Thankfully, they were both nice to me so I never had to deal with any bullying or ass-kissing, but I was thankful to have a mediator to relate to the preppy boys at parties who terrified me.

Yeah, for me, Ladybird pretty much nailed 2002. 

New Digs – April

April New Digs playlist is here, featuring Nashville duo Twen with their latest track “Thrice“.

Here are all of the artists to watch this month:

Purr - Giant Night

Saintseneca - Winter Breaking

NTE - Buscabulla

Twen - Thrice

Patricia Labor - Sleep Talk

Egyptian Blue - Four Is The Last Four

Los Siberianos - Nieve Bonaerense

herbal tea - Garden

Riarosa - Change

Ditch Days - Baltimore

Bathe Alone - Champagne

Vasudeva - III

Check out the April 2020 New Digs playlist on Spotify and Apple Music.

The goal of New Digs is to celebrate and elevate great new music, more often of the independent variety.

If you have an upcoming single or album you’d like us to review for New Digs, we’d love to hear it. Please follow Indie Digs on Instagram and/or Twitter and send us an email: indiedigs@dinosaurhawk.com. 

Happy listening!

CJ

RSD Round Up, Pt. 1: Top 5 Record Shops, plus New Spotify / Apple Music Playlist

On what would have been Record Store Day, 4/18 I posted a video in our Instagram stories featuring some favorite records from my home collection, particularly to spark joy! #mariekondo, And celebrate my top five record shops from all the places I’ve called home. ICYMI, here’s links to those record shops – all of which are open online! + Instagram post and the playlist. See you all on the rescheduled date, June 20th! 🙂

5 Recommended Record Shops w/ Online Stores:

1. Waterloo Sunset Smyrna – Smyrna/Atlanta, Ga (my hometown! ✨)

2. Goodboy Vinyl – Wilmington, DE

3. Creep Records – Philadelphia, PA

4. Generation Records – New York, NY

5. Antone’s Record Shop – Austin, TX

View this post on Instagram

Missing my Record Store Day today *but* looking forward to the reschedule on June 20th 🥳 and celebrating anyway by sharing some favorite record shops that are open online 👍🏾 AND for a lil something extra 😏check our stories for a special message 😍 (hint: we share some favorites from the vinyl collection and make you an impromptu playlist!) . . The @indiedigs project is all about lifting us up to have better days and celebrating music history, so yeah, hope you like the songs we picked!! And that everyone stays cozy & safe 🧦😘 and let us know some of your favorite shops so we can check em out!👇🏾

A post shared by indiedigs (@indiedigs) on Apr 18, 2020 at 4:40pm PDT

2010s in Film: Why I Love #25 “Bachelorette”

Counting down my top 25 favorite films of the last decade and just why I love them.

#25: Bachelorette (2012)

Writer / Director: Lesley Headland | Starring: Kirsten Dunst, Rebel Wilson, Lizzy Caplan, Isla Fischer. | DP: Doug Emmet | Composer: Sebastian Arocha Morton | Music Supervisor(s): Jim Black

Bachelorette follows a group of high-school friends affectionately known as the “B-faces”, played by Kirsten Dunst, Lizzy Caplan, Isla Fisher, and Rebel Wilson, on the eve of the wedding of the one in the group they used to bully.

It came to me out of nowhere one night via Netflix while I was 25, living in a basement room in Bushwick with my cat, Bloom, eating a red velvet cupcake and drinking whisky in bed.

This script is quick-witted and every character in this film is stunning. From Regan’s dress to Gena’s tangents to Katie’s eternal highness.

And, the story is made only more uniquely kettled by the unapologetic stares, portrayal of selves, and perfect matches offered by Trevor, Clyde, and Joe.

Joe as a concept makes my heart melt and Marsden is conflictingly hot; an icy depiction of how “that kind of thing” works if you, like Regan, offer the same.

Clyde and Gena’s backstory was a surprise (it was also great to see Adam Scott and Lizzy Caplan back together again after Party Down) and the fact that the Damone reference can sum up everything for that tense conversation on the train is a very comforting, generational thing to include in a story like this.

Ultimately, what I love about Bachelorette is that it’s a wedding hi-jinx movie that’s really good with presenting behaviors of true compatibility.

The B-faces approach their “demons” and meet their matches, but most importantly – due to sheer adrenaline to not fuck up in the biggest way for this accepting friend to whom they have been truly shitty – they come through for each other and themselves, solving internal and external catastrophes barely in time for the ceremony. It’s a perfect wedding.

New Spotify / Apple Music Playlist: “90s R&B”

Never Say Never is my favorite album of childhood. It was on constant repeat in my CD player for the entirety of 1998 and 1999.

I remember summer of ’98 being at YMCA summer camp and instead of playing basketball with the other kids in the gym during lunch, I sat alone by the vending machines to eat my turkey sandwich in solitude and listen for probably the fifth time that day.

Brandy made me feel seen. I mean, we both wore braids and we’re both Aquarius! She just seemed like a good friend and I deeply required her insight to help manage “the feelings”. In fact, she inspired many the choreographed song & dance for both the stage and my bedroom mirror. Anyway, all your favorite icons are on the playlist too!

LISTEN NOW AND GET IN YOUR FEEEELSS

Check out 90s R&B on Spotify and Apple Music.