Her first album, Lana Del Rey aka Lizzy Grant, was released in 2010 under her birth name Lizzy Grant and has a very different feel and sound to it than Born to Die. Lizzy Grant had a more hopeful, love filled lyrics and is more acoustic which is a harsh contrast to the dark and almost depressing lyrics blended with hip hop beats that spans Born to Die. Whatever spawned the change in Del Rey’s lyrics was clearly life changing in more ways than one.

In terms of the track list on Born to Die (Deluxe) every song has a different feel and slightly different attitude while all still falling under the umbrella category of heartbreak. It is rumored that Del Rey and her boyfriend of the time had broken it off sometime after the release of her first album thus leading to the heart crushing lyrics on Born to Die. With the lyrics being so personal and honest they compliment perfectly with her deep and soulful vocals. Take a listen to the title track “Born to Die” to get a good idea on what I am talking about. I have never heard such control and experimental capability out of any modern woman vocal artist. Del Rey’s vocal talent is outstanding to the point that certain songs almost had me convinced that there must be multiple singers on the album (Off to the Races is a prime example). Personal favorites for me from Born to Die are: “Dark Paradise,” “Summertime Sadness,” This is What Makes Us Girls” and “Off to the Races” (even though I must emphasize again that the whole album is mind blowing).

I picked to review the Deluxe version over the regular version mostly to expose the 3 songs that unique to the album. Two of the three, I enjoy just as much as the rest of the album (which is my favorite of the year so far). The song “Lucky Ones” just doesn’t seem to belong with the rest of the album. It is more of a traditional almost love song and just falls completely flat on its face in my opinion. However, “Lolita” and “Without You” still resemble the rest of Born to Die while still being unique. “Lolita” in particular should really have been featured on the non-deluxe version of the album. The song bleeds sex with its deep beats that are clearly based in Latin roots and lyrics that are dark and sinister like the rest of Born to Die and pairs up nicely with “Carmen” which is on the album.

Dubbed the “self-styled gangsta Nancy Sinatra” Del Rey is certainly a unique woman who may possibly be the most classy sex infused artist out there. Her appearance is classic 50’s turned up a notch or two on the sexified scale and so far in 2 out of 3 music videos has died at the end. Granted, I am concerned that the 25 year old may be a bit mentally unstable but that only makes her more fascinating and entertaining to watch grow as an artist. All that being said, Lana Del Rey is not just another pretty face who sings nice, she is a serious artist that has a distinct voice and has something to say and has no qualms about singing about what’s on her mind.

The whole album can be listened to on repeat without boring of it (trust me, I have been listening to it for a month straight and haven’t lost interest in it yet). Del Rey’s breakout hit “Video Games” is a lusciously sultry song that is a great introduction for the listener that has never heard Lana Del Rey and should (hopefully) get the listener pumped for what the listener will hear on the rest of Born to Die.

Which leads into the next topic, former That 70’s Show star Ashton Kutcher will be portraying the late-great Steve Jobs in a completely separate film than the one mentioned above. A few pictures have recently been leaked, check them out and see if you think he can pull it off. He has big shoes to fill. [Filmschool Rejects]

Paul Reubens confirms the new “Pee-Wee Herman” movie will start shooting soon. This new film would be the third installment of the franchise that began with the 1985 cult classic “Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure” followed by “Big Top Pee-Wee” in 1988. [Coming Soon]

In case you have been living under a rock this week, Cannes Film Festival is going on right now and reviews are starting to pour in from around the web. The staff here at Way Too Indie are working on compiling a list of our most anticipated films for this year’s festival.

The director who brought us Pineapple Express and the TV show Eastbound and Down, David Gordon Green’s latest film will be a remake of Dario Argento’s 1977 horror classic Suspiria. To lead the film will be Isabella Fuhrman who already has one horror film experience from Orphan. [IFC]

Paste Magazine reports that a Brooklyn based indie band named Here We Go Magic found and picked up John Waters hitchhiking on an Ohio highway. The infamous indie/arthouse director John Waters had been quoted to say that hitchhiking is “a great way to have sex.” It would be shocking if it was any other director, but for Waters it seems about right. [Paste Magazine]

It is no secret that Stanley Kubrick was a bit of a control freak. He was careful about doing interviews, often opting to have full editorial control over his own quotes. This type of control and attention to detail is what made his films masterpieces. Moviefone has an interesting article on how Stanley Kubrick insisted that he took his own Newsweek cover, something that was never done. It’s part of an excellent three article installment on Stanley Kubrick. [Moviefone]

David Rosseau (Jean-Paul Rouve) is a writer that is under a contract with a publisher but has yet to write anything. In fact, he does not even have a title for the novel yet. On his way to redeem what was left for him in a will, he visits small town called Mouthe, which borders France and Switzerland. It is widely considered to be “no man’s land”, where the snow fall hard enough to cause the TV signal to go out and the lights to flicker. While driving through he notices local policemen on the side of a road. As he passes by them he notices a stretch with a sheet covering someone, all that you see is bright blonde hair.

Sure enough, on the news the next morning there is a report that a famous model named Martine Langevin (Sophie Quinton) has passed away. They report that the woman made famous from the cheese commercials had passed away with sleeping pills nearby and that the case was closed. David suddenly gets inspired and has his story.

It is quite obvious that being a detective is a career that David should have chosen to do. The first thing he does after hearing the news is to find out more about Martine’s death. David investigates the area she was found dead in, breaks into where she lived, and even shows up at the morgue to examine her. He does all of this before we see him do any writing. For being a novel writer he sure has a knack for detective work.

I question whether or not he being a writer was really needed. Sure, there are some parts of the film that do reference the fact he was a writer and that she liked his novels but it felt like more of an afterthought than a crucial plot point. With how good he is at playing detective, I feel like he chose the wrong career path.

He becomes increasingly frustrated that the authorities are considering the case closed so quickly. So much so that he begins to suspect that there is something they are covering up. Eventually there is one brave police officer that shares his suspicions and is willing to investigate the case with him.

She hides behind her celebrity face, often referring herself as an alter ego. In days near hear death her love for Marilyn Monroe becomes very apparent. She aspires to be her. They were born on the same date. Both were adored by everyone who laid eyes on them, yet were both depressed on the inside. Not to mention the obvious fact that they are both blonde and celebrity bombshells.

The number 5 makes frequent appearances in the film, if you look closely you can catch them. I first noticed the number 5 as a magnet on Martine’s refrigerator. Then as she describes her dream to her psychiatrist you see her walking through a door with the number 5 on it. It is seen on a record that is spinning (at her funeral of all places). I am not sure I caught the significance of the number but director Gérald Hustache-Mathieu wanted it show up a lot.

My favorite aspect of the film was the cinematography done by Pierre Cottereau. Wide shots of snow falling in vast open areas really played in nicely with the mood of the film. I found myself admiring the camera work more than once.

If I had to point out the biggest flaw in the film, it would be the writing. Which is ironic since the main character in the film is a writer. But the storyline felt like it was on a straight path with not much for turns or twists.

Many have stated that the film is similar to that of Fargo, but aside from the similar weather I fail to see that connection. I would say it has more of a Pedro Almodóvar vibe to it. A well shot mystery with a series of flashbacks and some (albeit small) turns.

Even though Nobody Else But You may have been a little light in the plot department, the film is very watchable thanks to the fine acting and good camera work. Although the film is largely a murder mystery, it combines the right amount of dark comedy into the mix. The thing that hurt it the most was almost everything seemed too coincidental making it hard to believe what is taking place was real and not so illusive.

The film is about sibling rivalry and their own pentathlon of athletic events they created to solve the rivalry. It will star Mark Kelly and Steve Zissis as the brothers. The trailer screams Duplass made but I personally found it less compelling then some of their other films. The only way to find out though is to watch the film when it comes out June 6th.

Official trailer for The Do-Deca Pentathlon:

Within the first 10 minutes we find out all we need to know about Stanislas Graff (Yvan Attal), the head of a corporation with a seemingly massive personal fortune as well. He goes about his work, has a meeting over lunch, meets a mistress at a swanky apartment he owns on the side, loses a large amount of money at a high-stakes poker game and goes home to his wife and children at their large decadent home. After seeing what amounts to a typical day for Graff, the next morning he’s kidnapped while driving to work by a group of masked men. The kidnappers cut off one of Graff’s fingers and attach it to a letter demanding 50 million Euros in exchange for his life.

Of course it all sounds like a standard kidnapping thriller until things begin to go awry. Graff’s kidnapping becomes a major story on the news and, as the tabloids become dominated by the discovery of his multiple mistresses and gambling debts, the tide begins to turn against him. The board of directors at his job suddenly become hesitant about putting any money towards the ransom and his family finds out that their fortune is worth a lot less than they thought which only adds more stress on Graff’s wife (Anne Consigny), looking like she could fit into a Hitchcock film easily). The capture goes on for weeks and eventually it looks like if Graff is ever released he’d be the only person happy about it.

Lucas Belvaux directs Rapt with a strong level of assurance, making its 2 hour runtime zip by as we see more and more failed attempts at releasing Graff from captivity. Yvan Attal shines mostly in the final act as a once powerful man clinging on to what he had, but makes sure that his selfish behaviour that made up the opening still shines through even after everything he’s endured. Belvaux writes his characters in shades of greys, and his cast is smart enough to play on that moral ambiguity as much as possible.

While the film may not have pulled off what it was trying at the end (going into more details would require some major plot points being revealed) Rapt is still a nifty little thriller that’s reminiscent of the type of thrillers we’d see from the 1970s.

When you walk down the street urban design is everywhere and has been carefully thought about explains Amanda Burden, director of New York City Department of City Planning. “Everything you see has been designed; the width of the sidewalk, where trees are planted, the scale of the trees, how the street furniture interacts, how many stores you have per block, the height of the buildings, where they set back.”

One of the biggest impacts ever made to cities was the inventory of the automobile. Lots of changes had to be made such as streets, sidewalks, street lights. Automotive transportation allowed to better access to the city however it brought pollution, congestion and noise. Although, this initially had the most effect on American cities it has spread to developing countries as well.

The mayor of Bogota, Colombia brought up a several great points on transportation. He explains that traffic jams have nothing to do with the amount of vehicles on the road or how large the roads are. It is the amount and length of trips that vehicles must make. One of the ways to bring traffic down is to restrict car use. And the most obvious way to do that is to restrict parking. He says the constitution gives you many rights; right to education, right to health, right to housing , but the right to park your vehicle is not one of them.

By 2050 the documentary states that more than 75% people will live in a city. Currently, about 33% of people on earth live in slums without sewers, without water, and without sanitation. In one slum city there are 600 people per toilet with the politicians in the city not wanting to add more toilets because it would encourage people to come. There are many tidbits of information throughout Urbanized, some of them are real eye openers.

The best way to look at cities is that they are competing for people. They are competing for the investment people provide when they decide to live in that city. Business opportunities and living conditions are among the most important features people look for in a city but the city cannot focus on one and ignore the other. The city must provide both of these adequately in order to lure people in.

Urbanized explains how we as humans have evolved over time to see more horizontal than vertical. The theory is that our enemies have largely been on the same plain as us, only occasionally would they be up or down from us. Another fascinating tidbit is that we typically can see movements around 100 meters far and wide, which explains why a lot of older city squares are around that size.

The cinematography was done incredibly well thanks to Luke Geissbuhler, showing off wonderful footage of urban design. It showed all kinds of different street signs and street lights all around the country, it was amazing how unique they are. Also it showed how different strategies are used in different countries for transportation design. The documentary was able to capture ordinary objects and make them seem extraordinary.

Toward the end the film is when it started to lose some of the engagement for me. This is because instead of showing the design of a city it showed how politics affect a city. I am not saying that politics are not important enough to shape a city but it deviated slightly from what the film is about. It did however show how a city is essentially a living organism in of itself.

I liked Urbanized the least out of the trilogy, which without context may be misleading, considering how much I enjoyed the previous two in the series. Having said that, I found myself caring about urban design more than I have ever before, which is what I presume was the point of the film. Just like Hustwit did with his other documentaries, with Urbanized he captures everyday design that most people never think about. He does it in a captivating and skillful manner. This is the best trilogy of design documentaries period.

One of the first scenes in Hick is Luli McMullen (Chloe Grace Moretz) having her thirteen year old birthday party at a crappy dive bar in Nebraska. One of the birthday gifts she opens up happens to be a .45 Smith & Wesson. Afterwards her mother and father both drunkenly fight over who is driving her home but both are too drunk to do so. Instead, she gets a ride from a person who works at the bar. That is how this family operates in a nutshell.

The next morning her mother leaves with a real estate agent with Luli witnessing. After telling her father the news, he seems more upset than surprised. After he finishes his breakfast also abandons her. On a whim she gets the idea of going to Las Vegas for no other reason but there is sugar daddy potential there. And that is how the adventure starts and we have little choice to accept this as the plot.

Luli manages to find a ride from a young gentleman named Eddie Kreezer (Eddie Redmayne) but it is not long before she manages to upset him enough to kick her out. After finding shelter to sleep underneath a bridge she is awakened by a woman who pulled over from the highway to urinate, nearly on her. Somehow she convinces the woman to give her a ride.

The woman’s name is Glenda (Blake Lively) who seems to be exactly like Luli in 30 years. Within the first few minutes of meeting each other Glenda offers cocaine to Luli. Her thought process is that Luli will probably doing it with her friends sometime soon anyways so why not let her try it now.

The two stop at a convenience store and form a plan to rob it. Both feeding of each other’s similar personalities, they are a dangerous combination. If there were related they would be a twisted mother and daughter version of Bonnie and Clyde.

It turns out that Eddie, who first picked Luli up for a ride, knows Glenda. Glenda is in some sort of relationship with Eddie’s boss and for no good reason Eddie is put in charge of looking after Luli. Eddie seems to have a sexual connection with Luli that soon becomes dangerous.

I have little doubt that the novel this film was adapted for would be more intriguing then it’s film counterpart. This is one of those cases where the book most likely did not translate well to film, although I have to speculate because I have not read the novel. I felt like the characters in Hick were not developed well enough as they could have and the film only skimmed the subject matters they encounter.

The best part about the film is the performance by Chloe Grace Moretz. She is a fearless teenager who waves guns around like they are nothing and snorts coke when given the chance. She has played in roles ranging from Kick-Ass to Let Me In to Hugo but probably never has had as much on-screen face time as this. When most of the other actors seem to overplay their characters she was the least offender.

What annoyed me the most is when Luli suddenly shows that she does have normal human emotions when she for some reason is mad when Glenda leaves her. She did not seem to bat an eye when her mother did the same thing at the beginning. Now granted, her mother did not seem to care much for her so maybe she saw Glenda as a role model to look up to. But why? Maybe she wanted to believe Glenda was a better person than she really was. Again, lack of character development.

There is more than one scene that will leave you scratching your head. I appreciated the strangeness that was found in the scenes but so many of them felt forced. They really did not seem to fit in or were not needed at all.

To use the film’s own words, Hick is not “worth of note”. The big problem is the film never hooks the viewer in from the beginning. So the story arc never seemed to peak because it never really began. The underdeveloped characters make it nearly impossible to sympathize with them, making you wonder what the film was trying to accomplish.

The most recognizable song is the epic “Alone” which starts slowly, with a brooding, deliberate start that explodes into a passionate, heartfelt finish dealing with loneliness of heartbreak and life on the road. “Risk” is a fun, energetic musical piece that really showcases the talents of banjoist Dave Carroll. The band plays exceptionally well, using the mandolin and violin to really bring depth and tone to the slower songs like “High Water“ and “Beautiful“. The only negative I can find is that some of the lyrics sound like what would happen if Nicholas Sparks wrote a western, just too many love clichés dealing with isolation and a broken heart.

Signs and Satellites is another excellent, multi-faceted CD, with fun, fast paced songs, and deeply moving ballads. It compares very favorably to their two previous albums Duluth and Palomino. The song writing continues to develop while still allowing the band to stretch their jam-band influenced instrumental wings.

A must listen for any fan of bluegrass, country, folk, progressive rock, metal, and just about any other style of music not found on MTV.

Sleepless Night does not take place at the YMCA and is not full of kids having the time of their lives. A lot of them are for sure dancing the night away, but certainly not the main character. Sleepless Night does however take place the majority of its runtime in one setting over the period of a night. A massive dance club in the heart of Paris is the primary setting. The story goes late into the night and features a cop, who’s essentially locked in, racing through the club for hours on end to right his wrong.

Sleepless Night is unrelenting. Apart from the opening 5 minutes, the film takes place in one day and apart from the opening 15 minutes and the final 10, the entire film takes place at this night club. But most of these minutes are in first gear as the movie almost never lets up the pace. Sleepless Night was featured as a part of TIFF’s Midnight Madness program, a good choice if you ask me. Full of twists and turns, downright cruel drug dealers and tons of crazy fights, it doesn’t disappoint in the action department.

The film starts out in the early morning on a Paris street. Two masked men carrying automatic weapons hold up a car with two other men. They are carrying a very big black bag that the weapon wielding men want. A shootout ensues and the masked men get away with the bag. We find out these robbers are actually a couple of cops. The bag they stole is full of drugs. Lots of drugs.

One of the cops is our hero, Vincent. I use the term hero loosely because he’s a dirty cop. At the same time, you can’t help but root for him. The actor (Tomer Sisley) portraying him has an innocent face and he’s fairly likeable. Vincent gets a call one day from a man who claims to have his son and wants his drugs back. When he gets his drugs, Vincent can have his son. He is told to bring the drugs to his nightclub.

I read a review that said the nightclub was as big as a Wal-Mart. That description is not far off. This club is huge. A dance floor that features hundreds of people dancing and multiple levels of bars, casinos and hidden rooms where drug deals and other evil deeds are done.

Vincent brings the bag of drugs to the club but hides it in the ceiling above a bathroom stall. What complicates everything is when two agents investigating the early morning shootout move the bag out of the bathroom requiring Vincent to dart through the club for his son’s life. Vincent finds himself conning this guy, promising things to another and killing others.He must find the bag of drugs to get his son out alive. This is going to be a very long night for Vincent.

The movie is very well done. The acting is convincing and the directing is razor sharp. My issue is with some of the editing choices. I know I said the film is well paced and at times, relentless. But there are a few instances, and mind you there are only a few, that completely stop the movie’s pace dead in its tracks. Each of these pauses are only a minute or two at length but most of them kill the intensity completely. This bothered me quite a bit. With the film’s runtime around only 100 minutes, these pauses even made the film seem longer than it really needed to be.

Another issue I have with this movie is its believability. I know it’s only a movie and sometimes we are required to just ‘go along with it’, but I find it really hard to believe that in a club with hundreds, possibly thousands of people that not one single person called the police. Multiple shootings, multiple brawls and no one feels the need to call for help. Utterly ridiculous.

All the negative things aside, I’d have to say Sleepless Night was above all, a fun experience. It’s unique in that it spends most of its time in one location and uses its time, for the most part, very well. It’s just hard to believe that our hero can run through this club for hours on end bumping into the same people in the same locations, sometimes covered in blood and no one does or says anything about it. I won’t be giving Sleepless Night a great rating and demand everyone see it, but it certainly isn’t a waste of your time if you choose to see it.

Official trailer for Goodbye First Love: