Week 10/52 – OPW Challenge 2024

Below are my reviews for the week of March 3rd-9th. This week I listened to a brand new album by one of my favorite bands and watched a movie.

Album: Parallel Realms (2024) Directed by STRFKR

My Thoughts:

STRFKR (pronounced “Starfucker”) is an indie rock/synth-pop band. I’ve been listening to STRFKR ever since my sister showed them to me back when we were in high school. Because their name is not very “family friendly” we used to refer to them as “Starfun,” especially when we would listen to them in the car with our mom. I have them to thank for helping me dip my toes into philosophy during college because they sample “philosophical entertainer” Alan Watts’ lectures quite a bit in their first couple of albums.

I’ve seen STRFKR live several times; I can’t even tell you how many at the moment. Actually, they’re probably the second or third band I ever saw live. I can still remember my mom taking on the 40-ish minute drive to take my sister and me to see them at SOhO in Santa Barbara the summer before my senior year in high school. By the way, thank you mom! She didn’t see the show herself, and I can’t believe she was willing to drive us and wait around the area for the show to end (and on a Wednesday night?!) The show was amazing and my sister and I were so happy that they ended the show with their rendition of “Girls Just Want to Have Fun”

STRFKR’s first three albums are my favorite in their discography, and I’ve only loosely kept up with their work since then. When they announced that they would be releasing a new album this year, I decided that it might be nice to revisit them and see what they’re up to. I’m not sure what to say about Parallel Realms other than, yup, it’s definitely a STRFKR album. It’s got some strong songs earlier in the album, but I feel like it fizzles out half way through.

I know I have been complaining about albums being too short nowadays, but I think that at 55 minutes this album feels a bit too long and bloated. They chose to add instrumental interludes throughout the album, which is interesting, but I didn’t find them to be anything special or even necessary. I also found myself losing interest after the seventh song in the album, and based on the Spotify numbers, it seems that others might feel the same way. See the two images below to compare the playbacks for songs 1-7 compared to 8-17:

Maybe the numbers will even out eventually, but as of right now it seems that listeners seem to prefer the songs that were previously released as singles, myself included. So my verdict is that this album is fine, I’m happy they’re releasing new music, and I while this album isn’t my favorite, I hope more people will continue to listen to STRFKR’s music. If you have the opportunity to see them live, please do! You might get the chance to see a dancing/crowd surfing astronaut:

My Rating:

Favorite Songs:

Movie: Great Expectations (1998) Directed by Alfonso Cuarón; Screenplay by Mitch Glazer; Based on Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Summary:

The 1998 film Great Expectations, directed by Alfonso Cuarón, is a modern adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic novel. The story follows Finn, a young man from a humble background who receives a mysterious benefactor’s assistance, enabling him to pursue his dreams. Finn becomes infatuated with Estella, a woman from a wealthy family, and their complicated relationship unfolds against the backdrop of ambition, love, and betrayal. The film explores themes of social class, identity, and the pursuit of one’s desires. Notable performances include Ethan Hawke as Finn, Gwyneth Paltrow as Estella, and Robert De Niro as an enigmatic escaped convict.

Summary written by ChatGPT when prompted “Summarize the 1998 film ‘Great Expectations’“

My Thoughts:

Ever since watching Pride and Prejudice I’ve been craving to watch more movies/shows based on classic novels. In high school, I was asked to choose between reading A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations by Charles Dickens and I chose to read Great Expectations. I remember liking it, and so when I was trying to choose another movie based on a classic novel that I’ve read I decided to watch this 1998 adaptation. The cast sounded great and I’ve liked Alfonso Cuarón as a director ever since he directed my favorite Harry Potter movie: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Also, one of my coworkers was actually in this movie and I was curious to see them in it.

Sadly, I was not at all a fan of this movie. First of all, I was shocked with just how sexual it was. Now I’m wondering if the novel it’s based on was also sexual and I just missed that altogether when I read the book in high school. Great Expectations has a lot of style, and I could clearly see some of Cuarón’s usual stylistic techniques (long takes and Dutch angles), but it ended up feeling like a film with a lot of style and little substance. Maybe there are some good adaptations of Great Expectations out there that others can tell me about, but this one ain’t it.

My Rating:

Where to Watch: As of 3/12/2024, you can stream Great Expectations on Max with a subscription.

References:

OpenAI. (2024). ChatGPT (Mar 12 version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com/chat

Spence, J. (2013, October 2). STRFKR Launches astronauts at the Music Farm. Jess Marie Spence. https://jessmariespence.wordpress.com/2013/10/02/strfkr-launches-astronauts-at-the-music-farm/