Anniversaries
In 2012, The Avengers Was a Huge Risk. In 2022, It’s a Relic of a Lost Era.
There’s an argument to be made that Joss Whedon’s The Avengers is the most important superhero movie of the 21st century. The reasons are numerous, from its proof of concept that a crossover event on this scale could work, to its staggering box office success, to the now-vast media empire which would not exist had this one film fallen apart. The MCU began with Marvel literally using its entire catalog of characters to secure a massive loan to produce its own films, and while the early success of Iron Man and the other Phase 1 films was promising, that huge gamble was still largely dependent on The Avengers succeeding. And that wasn’t necessarily the safest of bets, given that despite Whedon being nerd royalty and an established screenwriter, script doctor, and TV director, the film was onl...
How Austin Powers Made James Bond Take Itself Seriously Again
Upon its release in early May 1997, Mike Myers and Jay Roach’s Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery became a pop culture phenomenon. Born from Myers’ faux rock band, Ming Tea, it saw the Wayne’s World star employing his typical knack for quirky personas and clever parody to poke fun at 1960s British psychedelia and campy spy cinema. Consequently (and ironically), its irresistibly fun quips, characters, and look became a defining part of the late 1990s zeitgeist in America, England, and elsewhere. Primarily, International Man of Mystery — as well as its more successful, elaborate, and ridiculous sequels: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999) and Goldmember (2002) — was an affectionately astute and meticulously constructed send-up of the James Bond movies. In fact, Myers and company did such ...
Nosferatu Turns 100
This Friday, March 5, marks the 100th anniversary of the German silent horror film Nosferatu. An early example of German Expressionism, the film was directed by F.W. Murnau, who helmed other early cinematic masterpieces such as Sunrise (1927) and City Girl (1930), and starred Max Schreck as a Transylvanian vampire named Count Orlok. Orlok is looking for new digs, which brings estate agent Thomas Hutter (Gustav von Wangenheim) his way. Hutter has heard stories of the mysterious Orlok, mostly from locals who cower at the mere mention of the Count’s name. Paying no mind, Hutter makes his way to Orlok’s castle and is invited to stay for dinner. Hey, can’t beat a free meal! While dining, Hutter cuts his thumb with a steak knife and begins to bleed profusely. Like any good host, Orlok offers to ...
Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours: Still Flawless at 45
As Fleetwood Mac prepared to make its 11th album — and second with its latest lineup — in 1976, it was on top of a world that was falling apart. The group’s self-titled 1975 release, its first with new American members Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, had revived the veteran British band’s flagging fortunes. It was certified seven times platinum and gave Fleetwood Mac its first No. 1 album in the U.S., spawning three Top 20 hits. The group was top of the pops, quite literally. But the quintet wasn’t quite able to bask in its success. All hell broke loose, also quite literally, between albums. Buckingham and Nicks, a couple when they joined Fleetwood Mac, broke up. Singer-keyboardist Christine McVie and bassist John McVie ended their eight-year marriage. Drummer Mick Fleetwood and his w...
Sly and the Family Stone’s There’s a Riot Goin’ On Resounds 50 Years Later: Classic Review
Editor’s Note: Sly and the Family Stone released their fifth studio album on this day 50 years ago. Read Okla Jones’ retrospective essay below, and stay tuned for an exciting giveaway on Consequence surrounding the anniversary. When There’s a Riot Goin’ On was released in 1971 — exactly 50 years ago today, November 1st — America was a nation in transition, feeling the effects of the previous decade. The shadow of Dr. King’s assassination loomed over the black community; and the Vietnam War divided an entire country. What Sly and the Family Stone’s fifth album did was give a voice to a new generation yearning to be heard. The revolution, as it was referred to by some, was when the hip, twenty-somethings of the world experienced an awakening, so to speak, and pushed the limits of sex, drugs,...
Now I’m in This Dream Place: Mulholland Drive Is Still Puzzling, 20 Years Later
I still remember the first time I saw Mulholland Drive, which celebrates its twentieth anniversary this week. It was in the spring of 2005, and I was in my freshman year of college at the University of Iowa. An English lit major with an interest in writing about movies, I’d signed up for an Introduction to Cinema course that was required to pursue a film studies minor. A lot of the films we’d watched so far — Weerasethakul’s Mysterious Object at Noon, Tarkovsky’s The Sacrifice — had left me, a curious but sheltered eighteen-year-old, somewhat cold. But there was an expectant buzz in the air when I settled in for that day’s screening: the film we’d watch today would have boobs in it. I knew who David Lynch was, but had only seen The Elephant Man, not the most representative film of his care...
Scrubs is 20, So Pour Yourself an Appletini and Revisit 20 Iconic Music Moments
For its long (some might say too long) nine-season run on NBC, Scrubs was probably the best sitcom on television. And yet, it’s easy to forget just how influential Bill Lawrence’s goofy, absurd, heartbreaking show about the residents, staff, and patients of Sacred Heart Hospital was to the fabric of network comedy. Like Lawrence’s later show — the Internet’s current darling/core of shockingly bitter Internet discourse Ted Lasso — Scrubs worked tirelessly to thread its wacky, colorful characters and endearingly cinematic sight gags with an essential core of dramedic sentiment. You could count on Scrubs to make you laugh for twenty minutes, but in the last two before the credits, it was liable to make you cry. Much of the success of that thematic juggling act was bolstere...
30 Years Ago, Nirvana Unleashed the Game-Changing Nevermind
Heavy Consequence contributor Greg Prato is the author of several rock books, including 2009’s Grunge Is Dead: The Oral History of Seattle Rock Music. Here, Prato looks back at Nirvana’s groundbreaking 1991 album Nevermind on its 30th anniversary, sharing quotes from his aforementioned book. Few albums have played a major role in changing the direction of rock music. Not only did Nirvana’s Nevermind do just that, it also started a cultural revolution. Upon the release of Nevermind on September 24th, 1991, it seemed like almost immediately, hair metal was pronounced dead, as radio and MTV suddenly embraced likeminded bands hailing from the Seattle area. Beyond the music, young people began adopting “grunge fashion,” while also embracing the more progressive and introspective thinking ...
Weezer’s Pinkerton at 25: The Band Has Moved On, Though We Never May Do the Same
Weezer isn’t giving interviews about Pinkerton for its 25th anniversary. There’s no big press push promoting a deluxe vinyl reissue of the album celebrating its quarter-century of existence. (As of press time, you can’t even buy Pinkerton from the band’s merch store, though it is readily available elsewhere.) This relative silence about an auspicious milestone (which will officially occur on September 24th) for one of their best-loved and most influential records might seem a little odd. But maybe Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo, whose intensely personal songwriting drives this 10-song, 34-minute record, doesn’t feel like there’s any advantage to speaking further on the subject. Clearly, the band has moved on; though they took a five-year break after Pinkerton that was, at the time, commonly ...
“No One’s Ever Been Able to Do This”: An Oral History of the First Governors Ball Music Festival
One decade ago, a couple of untested twenty-something best friends set out to create a little music festival just off the island of Manhattan, putting on a one-day event on June 18th, 2011. In the 10 years and nine iterations since, Governors Ball has become an indelible part of the East Coast’s music landscape, morphing into New York’s answer to Coachella, Bonnaroo, and Lollapalooza; a place where the buzziest acts in music and its biggest fans converge into one memorable weekend. Here, founders, staff, and artists who played the very first Governors Ball reflect on how everything came together without nary a hiccup. This is the oral history of the first Governors Ball Music Festival. HUMBLE BEGINNINGS: A BALL IS BORN It all begins with two best friends with a dream: Tom Russell and Jorda...
Artists Reflect on 20 Years of The Strokes’ Is This It
The release of The Strokes’ landmark debut album, Is This It, was anything but smooth, but once it made its way into the hands of rock fans, its impact was profound. After a staggered international release of the album beginning in August 2001, Is This It was set to arrive in the United States on September 11th on vinyl and September 25th on the then-more-popular CD format. For the US release, the cover artwork was changed from a woman’s naked hip and rear end to the less-risque image of subatomic particle tracks. While the vinyl did come out on September 11th as planned, that day’s horrific terrorist attacks forced the New York band and its label to rethink the release of the CD. The scathing tune “New York City Cops” was dropped from the tracklist of the CD version in the wake of the her...
20 Years Ago, The White Stripes’ White Blood Cells Got Our Garage Rock Hearts Beating
By the turn of the 21st century, The White Stripes had two respected and relatively popular albums under their belt: 1999’s The White Stripes and 2000’s De Stijl. Recorded at Jack White’s home studio, the collections did a fine job establishing the pair’s blues/garage rock revivalist formula, steadfast DIY outlook, and signature visual aesthetic of red, white, and black color combinations. Yet, they were only just starting to gain major industry and mainstream attention as they toured De Stijl, so it was clear that if they played their cards right, their next record would finally catapult them into being international superstars. Luckily, that’s exactly what White Blood Cells did. Released on July 3rd, 2001, the LP (their last on indie label Sympathy for the Record Industry) found them fur...
