Three Imaginary Girls - Seattle's sparkly indie-pop press

Rockstar New Wave Karaoke Countdown: 4 very Imaginary Ladies!

three imaginary girls — Mon, 21 May 2012 20:45:59 +0000

{JennyG photo: Ben Haley, JennyJ photo: Sarah Jurado}

We here at TIG are honored to have four amazing Seattle-lebritys join us on stage for our 10th Anniversary Rockstar New Wave Karaoke Bash on Friday, June 1st at Chop Suey! We’re sure you know who Jenny George, Megan Seling, Anna Banana, and Jenny Jimenez are, but just in case, here’s a few reasons why we’re stoked that they each agreed to sing a song for us.

Jenny George
What can I say about the amazing Jenny George that y’all don’t already know? Everywhere I go with her, people stop us on the street to say hi and get a hug, or come over to talk to her. Why? Because SHE IS AWESOME. She raised over $7,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society at this year’s Dancing on the Valentine, fulfilled a lifelong dream of meeting her music idols, and she’s always sparkling and charming and beautiful inside and out—and omg. I just love her. I’m confident she’s gonna ROCK the stage.

Rockstar New Wave Karaoke Countdown: Your Favorite Book

imaginary liz — Mon, 21 May 2012 15:46:21 +0000

Your Favorite Book have been writing songs that pair candid Weakerthans melodies with early Mountain Goats lo-fi acoustic guitar strums since their first release in 2002 (hooray for all the peeps celebrating their 10th anniversary this year!). It isn't just YFB's original songs that make me weak in the knees, I still grin from ear to ear remembering the time YFB covered a Bright Eyes song for my birthday at our 2007 holiday show (why isn't there a video of that?!).

If that's how YFB marks my birthday, how is Patrick, lead YFB-er, going to celebrate our 10th anniversary with a new wave song?!? All I can say is that he wanted to actually sing his chosen in a foreign language. Yes, it's going to be *that* kind of party!

As Patrick describes it, "The song I shall perform is a heartfelt plea for sanity in a world gone mad, and a not-so-subtle rebuke of power-hungry leaders who think nothing of using the little people as cannon fodder on their way to global domination. I would like to dedicate it to my fellow Germans, and to anyone else who yearns for true peace."

Besides spending the last few weeks preparing for our 10th Anniversary Rockstar New Wave Karaoke Bash {tix} on Friday, June 1st at Chop Suey, YFB has been readying their new album for release in early summer 2012. Remember the Narwhal is the seventh YFB full length and the first to feature a full-band.

YFB was even kind enough to donate a sneak peek track from the album for our imaginary zine mix cd, which also features rare and exclusive tracks from The Long Winters, BOAT, Tullycraft, Exohxo, Tennis Pro and a ton more favorite bands. Sidenote: You can pick up a copies of the 10th anniversary zine at the June 1st bash so get there early before we run out (it's limited edition)!

SIFF Take: Robot and Frank

Roxie Rider — Sun, 20 May 2012 21:10:11 +0000

{Robot and Frank screens May 20, 6:00 PM at Renton IKEA Performing Arts Center.}

The near future, as imagined by Jake Schrier in his feature film debut Robot and Frank, forgoes silver jumpsuits and flying cars in favor of a refreshingly plausible iteration, where the principal difference between now and then are that the adults are named Madison and Hunter and Ava and Jake, and helper robots are around to cook and clean for, say, crotchety ex-cat-burglars like Frank Langella’s Frank, whose declining memory and the legacy of his lousy parenting skills make him an ideal candidate for robotic assistance. No one, even his own children, could reasonably be expected to put up with him for long, but the robot, who’s programmed to be somewhat charmingly emotionally manipulative, teases out the best in him.

The movie makes a few tonal missteps (rookie mistakes, most likely) and has an entirely unnecessary and implausible twist towards the end, but otherwise it’s completely enjoyable.

SIFF Take: Cracks in the Shell (Die Unischtbare)

Imaginary Amie — Sun, 20 May 2012 05:31:00 +0000

{Cracks in the Shell screens at SIFF May 18, 9:30pm at Pacific Place, May 22, 9pm at the Egyptian Theatre, and again May 25, 9:30pm at The Everett Performing Arts Center.}

Fine (Stine Fischer Christensen) is a mousy, innocent, and mostly ignored actress who is berated by the head coach at her acting school for not being visible enough, and rightly so, since she promptly falls asleep on stage during an important workshop. So it’s a surprise when she wins a juicy and prominent lead role in a famous director’s new play.

But amidst struggles at home with an overwhelmed mother and a mentally-handicapped sister, Fine starts to crumble as the demanding director gives her more and more off-stage advice on how to “become” the sexually-charged and destructive character Camille … which, predictably, sometimes involves "becoming" in his bed. (oof. bad joke, sorry!)

Donning a blonde wig fashioned for the play, Fine adopts Camille’s persona and sets out to romance a handsome stranger named Joachim (Ronald Zehrfeld, whose ruggedness I totally drooled over in last year’s 12 Paces Without a Head), which doesn’t quite produce the tragic results the director was hoping would come across in her acting. Determined to please him, Fine continues a downward, Black Swan-esque spiral on her way to fully becoming Camille, which uh. May or may not end well.

Clocking in at 113 minutes, Cracks in the Shell starts to wear a little thin by the end, but it’s still a nice way to spend the evening—if only to watch Christensen shine in the lead role. And don't worry, it's not *quite* as depressing as Aronofsky's doomed ballerina tale.

Five More Picks for the First Weekend of SIFF

Imaginary Rich — Sat, 19 May 2012 15:40:55 +0000

While I'm rapidly falling behind the prolific SIFF madman Imaginary Embracey in number of films viewed (yes, I'm jealous) I had a few picks to share for this weekend. As well as a counterpoint to offer on Sleepwalk With Me. ;-)

I'm sure there are a ton of other great things playing and I'm looking forward to checking out some of the recommends from Imaginary Embracey's list myself. This list is limited to films I can vouch for in advance. My full thoughts on everything I've seen, or at least written about can be found in other spots online if you're planning further in advance than this weekend.

In no particular order...

Las Acacias (Argentina) - A tired, grizzled truck driver's boss asks him to give a ride to a woman traveling to Argentina with her baby. He doesn't want her there. The baby is preternaturally cute. There's not a lot of talking, a lot of mate consumption, and in the end an understated super-compelling film. In keeping with the less is more ethos of the filmmaker I'm just going to say you should buy a ticket. I'll wait... Seriously, I loved this film which was one of the most beautiful surprises for me at Palm Springs 2012. And I only walked in by mistake because something else was booked. You on the other hand dear reader, have no such excuse. Add it to your schedule now!

Sleepwalk With Me - Comedian/director Mike Birbiglia takes us along for a thinly veiled autobiographical ride as he becomes an accomplished performer, plans his wedding, simultaneously contemplates whether he wants to get married and struggles with a remarkably dangerous sleepwalking problem. We're always hearing how great comedy comes from great personal pain. But it's rare for a film to demonstrate it so convincingly. This moving picture that has a lot of bits some of us may feel more than a little uncomfortable with due to self recognition. But it's hilarious and directly shows that process of turning real life trauma into hilarious stand-up.

My Sucky Teen Romance - With a bright pop look to it, some amusing dialog and earnest, likable (albeit not super slick) performances populating it I think it's hard not to enjoy My Sucky Teen Romance. It's not a parody of vampire films, at least not a full on one. Instead it feels more like a tragic romantic comedy that does get some of its laughs at the expense of Twilight and a trial and error process of figuring out which vampire lore applies in the kid's particular situation. With many a nod towards the fact that it's hard out there for the teens... If you're a mass consumer of vampire pop-culture I'd say My Sucky Teen Romance is definitely worth your time. There's a more comprehensive review lurking out there if you'd like to read more.