Jordan Wold:The Good, the Bad and the Viral [two]

Posted By Jordan Wold in Media, Movies, Music

BreakingModern — Welcome to The Good, the Bad and the Viral, a semi-regular column in which I dig up all sorts of pop culture for your amusement and distraction. Plus, I’ll show you that video your friends keep telling you to watch.

The Good

Though she’s been active on the music scene for over a decade, alt-rock artist Annie Clark, better known as St. Vincent, finally had her breakthrough last year with the eponymously titled record, St. Vincent. Clark’s album simultaneously presents listeners with infectious, improvisational-like guitar licks in tandem with a deeply personal lyrical labyrinth. Even the performer self-describes her 11-track masterpiece as “a party record you could play at a funeral.”

“Birth in Reverse” and “Prince Johnny,” the album’s respective second and third songs, are easily current highlights in Clark’s career. “Birth in Reverse” is a trippy adventure with impressive guitar work, while “Prince Johnny” is beautifully rich in themes and lyricism. I put off listening to St. Vincent for months despite hearing nothing but raves, so I urge you to give it a listen immediately.

The entirety of St. Vincent is available to stream on Spotify and to purchase on digital stores like iTunes as both a full album and individual tracks. Physical copies can also be purchased at most music retailers.

The Bad

Any film buff (or masochist) has heard of The Room. Commonly referred to as one of the worst movies of all time, The Room has strangely cemented itself in cinema history as a must-see. Written, directed and starred in by the mysterious eccentric Tommy Wiseau, this 2003 film looks like it was made in 1982. Inequitably, it is a perfect disaster. Some films are so bad they’re good, but The Room leaps past that descriptor by times 12 to become so bad it’s brilliant.

The Room has gained popularity in several major metropolitan areas as an art house midnight movie. But if you’re not lucky enough to live in a city where the flick is being shown, you can easily purchase it on disc via online retailers like Amazon. Once you’ve seen this Wiseau opus I recommend reading The Disaster Artist, an engrossing account of how The Room was made, as told by writer Tom Bissell, and Greg Sestero — one of the film’s stars.

The Viral

This week’s top viral video comes from Sunday’s Golden Globes Awards ceremony. Overall, the show was a fairly standard affair, but the opening monologue was sharper than usual. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler returned as hosts for one last time, so they let loose with their snarky digs. The SNL alumnae commented on a variety of things, even going so far as to try out a pair of Bill Cosby impersonations. As it turns out, anyone can do a Cosby imitation. Try it.

Video: 2015 Golden Globes – Tina Fey and Amy Poehler (Full Monologue HD) Cosby

The video has garnered millions of views because everyone loves Fey and Poehler. The two can mock nearly anything with grins on their faces. It’s also delicious to see Hollywood stars taken down a peg, or as Hannibal Burress put it, a couple of notches.

For BMod, I’m Jordan Wold.

Featured image credit: © everythingpossible / Dollar Photo Club

All screenshots: Jordan Wold