263 of 1001 Movies: The Deer Hunter (1978)

Robert De Niro and Christopher Walken star in perhaps one of their more critically acclaimed roles in The Deer Hunter. It's a well done movie, but maybe it just seems there were a lot of other movies hitting the theater like this during that decade or I just wasn't in the mood for it, but I struggled to find my way into being interested in the story, or even caring about the characters though they had a lot riding against them. The movie though is a depiction that is true to the realities of the Vietnam war, and looks at how the lives of men who had been sent there were affected by the tragedies they saw.

Summary: Michael, Stan, Steven, and Nick are growing up, and as the arrival of marriage and a child on the way is awaiting one of the guys a war is also brewing that is going to send them all over seas to fight it. The men's time in Vietnam is horrific as they live as captives and witness innocent lives taken. Returning home will be hard for some as trying to live a normal life afterward after seeing the horrors of another world.

249 of 1001 Movies: Days of Heaven (1978)

Richard Gere has never struck me as a particular actor, and even with Days of Heaven it's basically every other cast member that is interesting. Gere has a particular style, but he is probably the most emotionless guy I've ever seen. Terrence Malick though directs this movie that shows his early artistic skills. While my favorite still remains Badlands, Days of Heaven offers much of the same vibe and character development shown in his debut movie.

Summary: Bill is a hot tempered guy, and when his temper causes him to murder a man at his work place he must flee from Chicago, where he winds up in Texas with a girl, Linda, and his girlfriend. His girlfriend travel as brother and sister though, and when getting to Texas they find work there. They also find a possible fortune. Bill finds that they're boss is dying, and he has a huge inheritance. In order to get the inheritance, Bill convinces his girlfriend, Abby, to marry the farmer so when he dies they will get his money. With other people looking out for the well being for the farmer their plan may not go as hatched.

243 of 1001 Movies: Dawn of the Dead (1978)

After watching Night of the Living Dead I was impressed enough to be looking forward to Dawn of the Dead. I can see the appeal, especially for zombie lovers who seem to really love the movie, and it's impact on the genre is very noticeable and profound. It also seems a lot of zombie stories now copy the character types and plots though that Romero himself wrote. There was a lot about the movie I felt didn't progress though outside of just now having the budget to film in color though.

Summary: Peter and Roger are both SWAT team members who meet in the middle of the chaos abandoning their mission when it's over run with zombies. Francine is an executive at a news station, and Stephen is a reporter who have to abandon their television station once it also goes crazy as well, and they take the opportunity to load their helicopter. Now all four are put together and trying to search for a place that they can live in that is safer from the rest of the world. The logical step seems to be to find somewhere that is secluded from the city to take refuge in to protect themselves. The place they find is a shopping mall that they begin to make their own.

407 of 1001 Albums: Cheap Trick's At Budokan

Cheap Trick's At Budokan is an enjoyable album. It has a lot of fun tunes, and with it being live you get to here the enjoyment of the audience listening as well. To be honest though the recording lacks a little in quality, and it's not you will misplace for being a studio album. The live quality shows the guys skills, particularly on guitar though.

History: Well to explain much of it, this album was meant to be only released in Japan. With the huge success of the band's concert in Japan they performed a show at Budokan. With thousands of fans there the band was almost drowned out at times. The success though grew out of Japan with the album being import copies began selling popularly in the U.S. The album is well received by critics, and Rolling Stone lists it in it's 500 Greatest albums list.

400 of 1001 Albums: Buzzcocks' Another Music In a Different Kitchen

The Buzzcocks are catchy, and have this fun beat to their music, but like Turbonegro I just find their to be a problem with the lyrics. It relies again on sexual lyrics, and then further gives you song titles that would be difficult to share as something you liked with others. It seems the remastered version released years later contains these very sexually graphic songs. Anyways, I did like the punk beat and how they put the English sounds into their tune as well.

History: This debut album from the band was a hit in Britain. The single "I Don't Mind" made the charts. The album has the artsy vibe intended from the band, but it also doesn't stir too much depth to get complex. The albums reviews are mostly positive or at least favorable. The album has a lot of instrumental talent despite the change ups on the album.

393 of 1001 Albums: Brian Eno's Ambient 1: Music for Airports

To get an understanding of ambient music first I looked up the definition so I would understand what the point of the album is. You don't have lyrics to give you the meaning, but what the music provides the listener is more so in the instrumentals created by the ambient sounds. Interestingly, music that is for background play usually is there to easy and be forgotten, but ambient on the other hand looks to be peaceful, but also stimulate the mind of the listener. It's no surprise that a lot of ethereal sounds are fused in to help the listener.

History: Brian Eno had been incorporating a quieter sound into his albums for the past few years with albums like Another Green World, but in Ambient 1: Music for Airports, he steps it up by beginning a series of albums just for an ambient sound. Robert Wyatt also was apart of the album contributing to the piano. The album also fused in the anxious sounds that would have then made people think of airports, and even landed it's tunes in an airport at some point during the 80's. The album has received mostly positive reviews with the exception of Spin, which only gave it 4 out of 10 stars.

391 of 1001 Albums: The Jam's All Mod Cons

The Jam are an interesting sounding band that uses a lot of influences from the pop scene of the British in the 60's like The Kinks and comes back around a decade later in the 70's to make this album, which is a lot of fun and it's very light. It's a far cry from the heavy stuff I've been having to listen to. The songs are very short though, and I don't think always stick around long enough, and it's a good thing to feel that way because it means they are good enough to.

History: "Down in the Tube Station At Midnight" would become a pop song sensation in the U.K. and hit the tops of the chart. All Mod Cons find this album garnering the band more attention than previous efforts did, and adding to the attraction they were getting for being apart of the mod revival scene. Whether they liked that or not is another thing though. They did play the title of the album to the mod trend though and used a popular saying in Britain at the time to title their album from "all modern conveniences." It's catchy and memorable.