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Continued from page 14
October 21
31
Rob Zombie’ s horrific tale of five carnival workers kidnapped the night before Halloween and held hostage in an abandoned, hellish compound. At the mercy of
their captors, they are forced to play a twisted game of life or death called 31. For the next 12 hours, they must fight for their lives against an endless parade of sadistic killers dressed as clowns. Rated R.
Ouija: Origin of Evil
Set in 1965, a widowed mother and her two daughters running a séance scam decide to add a new“ stunt” to their repertoire using an Ouija board to increase business and unwittingly invite authentic evil into their home in this horror sequel. When the youngest daughter is overtaken by a real
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entity, the family must confront unthinkable fears to save her and send her possessor back to the other side. Rated PG-13.
October 25
The Windmill
An Australian girl on the run washes up
in Amsterdam and seeks shelter from the authorities with a group of unsuspecting tourists on a bus tour of Holland’ s worldfamous windmills. When their tour bus breaks down in the middle of nowhere, the tourists are forced to seek shelter in an abandoned barn next to a sinister windmill where, legend has it, a Devil-worshipping miller once ground the bones of locals instead of grain. As members of the group start to disappear, the girl learns that they all have something in common – a shared secret that seems to mark them all for doom in this Dutch horror film. Rated R.
Sa
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Continued from page 26
GAME THEORY The Big Shot Chronicles
( Omnivore)
Omnivore’ s lovingly curated Game Theory reissue series continues with an expanded 30th anniversary edition of pivotal album The Big Shot Chronicles. The album bridged 1985’ s Real Nighttime and 1987’ s Lolita Nation – the former often considered the album where late pop genius Scott Miller’ s songwriting gifts exploded into fruition, and the latter often considered his most ambitious. That puts Chronicles in a sweet spot between the two, and many Game Theory fans recognize it as Miller’ s most focused effort. The album opens with the raging psych-pop of“ Here it is Tomorrow.” Miller’ s rapid-fire lyrics answer a“ quick judger, long-time begrudger” who“ wrote me off like there was no tomorrow.” Gil Ray’ s drums prove that they’ ve got Miller’ s back with a bulldog
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attack in the verses that releases into a hard-charging chorus. The“ chime and rhyme” of“ Erica’ s Word” careens around hairpin turns with a perfectly twisted melody, as Miller cites algebra and physics while kissing off an old flame who left him in the dust. Ray and Miller create a confessional mood with their intertwining acoustic guitars during“ Regenisraen,” with Miller’ s lyrics about hope and renewal supported by winsome harmonies from keyboardist Shelley LaFreniere and bassist Suzi Ziegler. The jangling“ Crash Into June” is propelled by Ray’ s thunder and LaFreniere’ s synth hook, as Miller wrestles with the inability to grasp good times as they fly by into nostalgia. Abetted by producer Mitch Easter( Let’ s Active, R. E. M.), the song crosses the continent from Game Theory’ s new base of San Francisco, CA to borrow a bit of the early ' 80s sound from Athens, GA. Easter fulfills Miller’ s vision of borrowing sounds from David Bowie’ s Low for the wry“ I’ ve Tried Subtlety,” which paradoxically serves both as a callof-solidarity for alienated outsiders and admission of self-doubt. The album closer is the intimate portrait of salvation and self-contained perfection“ Like a Girl Jesus,” launched with shades of Velvet Underground by Miller’ s Stratocaster arpeggios and the pulse of Ziegler’ s bass.
– Jeff Elbel
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