Jason Cox: March 2007 Archives

"TMNT" was the No. 1 movie in America for a reason this past week - it rocked. OK, so maybe I'm a little biased since I spent many a day in my youth (nearly two decades ago) playing with Ninja Turtle action figures, video games, going to the "Ninja Turtles: Coming Out of Their Shells" live tour, dressing up as a Ninja Turtle for Halloween and easily getting caught during a game of hide-and-go-seek-in-the-dark because I accidentally wore my glow-in-the-dark Leonardo PJs.

In all seriousness, the movie was better than I expected. Sure, there were plenty of groan-worthy jokes and plot holes big enough to drop a man hole cover through, but all-in-all this was actually a more grown-up Ninja Turtles movie in comparison to its early '90s counterparts. Go see it. Now.

As entertainment reporter, I talk to local bands. A lot. A whole lot. It's a blessing and a curse. The truth is, there is something supernatural about York County because I think there are more bands than there are people. You think I'm kidding but they're everywhere. I open my shower curtain at night and there's a new local band holding out my towel for me. It's kind of getting creepy.

When it comes to self-promotion some bands are better than others. Some contact me and when I try and get back to them, I never hear from them again. Some check in with frequent e-mails to make sure I haven't forgotten that I promised them a profile in FlipSide. I haven't.

For your reading pleasure, here are a couple mini reviews on the good and the bad that I've seen or heard lately. Try and enjoy.

The Arcade Fire - "Neon Bible" - Mega wow. It took me a few listens to really get into The Arcade Fire's follow up to "Funeral," but hot diggity damn, it's solid. It's a little more morose than their last outing, which is odd, since they wrote "Funeral" while they all had family members dropping dead like flies, but it is what it is. As much as I hate to admit it, the best track on here is a revamped version of "No Cars Go," from their early self-titled EP. I never cared much for the song... until now. Now it lights up my soul. It's an overdrive-fantasy-turn-it-up-to-11-sends-shivers-down-your-spine-while-driving-80-down-the-highway-in-a-snowstorm kinda song. Or so I think. Another great track? "Black Waves/Bad Vibrations." 9 out of 10.