GARFUNKEL & OATES

 This article originally appeared on Soundproofmagazine.com. Garfunkel and Oates' album All Over Your Face is available now on iTunes.

Micucci (left) and Lindhome. Photo courtesy of the artist.

 If you are confused by the moniker Garfunkel and Oates, you wouldn't be the first. Comedy duo Riki "Garfunkel" Lindhome and Kate "Oates" Micucci took their stage name from two of music's most prominent second bananas. Once Tom Arnold booked them; thinking they were actually Art Garfunkel and John Oates. Now that their self-released album, All Over Your Face, has debuted at #1 on iTunes Comedy and HBO has tapped the team for a pilot, it is unlikely that mistake will be made again.

 Micucci and Lindhome met at the Los Angeles chapter of the Upright Citizen's Brigade in 2007 and quickly began working together on the musical film Imaginary Larry. When the excerpts of that collaboration amassed legions of fans on youtube, the two decided to pursue further musical ambitions.

 "That was really exciting for us," Micucci wrote from L.A about All Over Your Face's iTunes ranking. "We made this album all on our own without a record label."

 They did create a fictitious label, "No One Buys Records," to release the album on and it's this type of irreverent humour that landed Garfunkel and Oates on Jay Leno's Tonight Show on four separate occasions. Their lyrics frequently tackle social taboos like unconfident sex ("Handjob, Blandjob, I Don't Understandjob") drugs ("Weed Card") and pregnant envy ("Pregnant Women Are Smug.")

 "It usually starts with the subject of the song," Micucci, who is originally from Pennsylvania, wrote about the Garfunkel and Oates writing process. "We just start spitting out ideas. Some songs come out really quickly but most take a lot of time and thought. 'Handjob Blandjob, I Don't Unerstandjob' took months to finish. We began writing that song on an airplane. We were discussing in great detail our confusion about hand jobs and the poor lady sitting next to us seemed really uncomfortable." 

 The pair recently wrapped shooting a video for Weed Card, a song that was written in sex columnist Dan Savage's basement. However Garfunkel and Oates' celebrity ties don't end there. Micucci and Lindhome were invited by the Oates of their namesake to perform as his opening act.

"John Oates is just so cool. And one of the nicest guys, too," Micucci wrote. "We both grew up listening to Hall and Oates and they still are one of our favorite bands, so we were flipping out when John reached out to us to see if we wanted to play music with him.  We opened for him when he played in Southern California and then last September he invited us to play at his Songwriter Festival in Aspen."

 The only stipulation for the girls using his name is that John Oates requires free beer at all of their shows. While Art Garfunkel has yet to contact the duo, Micucci adds that they wouldn't turn down an opportunity to work with him.

The opportunity to ink the deal for their pilot at HBO came from a partnership with Richard Keen. Keen has previously worked on the web sensationTom Cruise is a Cock Block and Comedy Central's Important Things With Dimitri Martin. If Garfunkel and Oates' series is picked up, a portion of the series will be web-based.

 Both women have established ties with HBO. Micucci has a reoccurring role on Bored to Death as Zach Galifianakis' elfin love interest and Lindhome will appear in the upcoming Laura Dern-starring comedy Enlightened. Micucci has also appeared on the sitcoms Raising Hope, Scrubs and Weeds and you may remember Lindhome as the murderous maven Sadie in the recent remake of Last House on the Left, or from guest spots on sitcoms such as Single Dads and $H*! My Dad Says.

 In addition to upcoming shows in LA, Garfunkel and Oates will be appearing at the Melbourne Comedy Festival this spring and hope to release another full length album by the end of the year.

Weed Card


Worst Songs Ever Medley

BREAK UP SONGS

 Whether you are alone by choice this V-day or you're alone because it turns out your valentine gave you VD; here are thirteen break up songs to help nurse your broken heart.

Cupid 
Spinerette

"Cupid don't you know that, that it's over?"

You & I  
Cut Off Your Hands

"You were not there for me. I just moved on. I've been moving on for so long."

Do Me a Favour 
Arctic Monkeys

"Do me a favour and stop flattering yourself. How to tear apart the ties that bind? Perhaps fuck off, might be too kind."



Capri Pants 
Bikini Kill

"I like you but baby it's all wrong."

Knives Out 
Radiohead

"Look into my eyes. I'm not coming back."

Breakaway 
Detroit Cobras

"I'll make that vow to myself. You and I are through.  Nothing can change my mind. I'm sorry just won't do."

Like a Drug 
Queens of the Stone Age

"What can I say? I guess it wasn't meant to be. Now you're gone."

Divorce Song 
Liz Phair

"And the licence said you had to stick around 'til I was dead. But if you're tired of looking at my face, I guess I already am."

Gone Daddy Gone 
Violent Femmes

"The love is gone."

Not In Love 
Crystal Castles featuring Robert Smith

"And we were lovers. Now we can't be friends. Fascination ends."

Night Watch 
Tegan & Sara

"I've got grounds for divorce. It's in my blood this divorce. I seperate everybody. I need distance from your body."

Freebird 
Lynyrd Skynyrd

"Bye bye, it's been a sweet love. Though this feeling I can't change."

Don't Dream It's Over 
Crowded House

"They come, they come. To build a wall between us."

5 DRAMATIC OSCAR NOMINATIONS

 There were a few surprises when the Academy Award nominations were announced late last month. Aussie Jacki Weaver usurped a fictional Jackie's nomination in the Best Supporting Actress race and Canada-Italy co-production Barney's Version quizzically snagged a nod for Best Make Up. While the majority of the noms were as predicted, the nominations in this post were mostly unforeseen in true dramatic fashion.

Denis Villeneuve's Incendies, nominated for Best Foreign Language Film

 Quebecois director Villeneuve's work has been submitted as Canada's entry for the Foreign Language Oscar twice before. In 1998 for August 32nd on Earth and for his brilliant, multiple award-winning tale of an edifying fish and wrongful death, 2000's Maelström. The story of twins who venture to the Middle East after their mother's death, Incendies marks Villeneuve's first Academy Award nomination after his two unsuccessful attempts. According to critic's picks complied by goldderby.com, the film is in a tight race to bring home the gold. Out of the twenty-two critics polled, Incendies and In A Better World from Denmark are tied with eight votes each. The six remaining critics chose Spain's Buitiful as the likely winner. Canada has won in this category once; for Denys Arcand's Les Invasions Barbares.

Incendies trailer (French with English subtitles)

Mike Leigh, nominated for Best Original Screenplay for Another Year

 The screenplay categories are where you will occasionally find first-rate, independent films that deserved additional nominations (see The Squid and The Whale, Ghost World, Election) but were muscled out of other categories. Leigh, the British sentimentalist scribe who brought us tales of off the map obstetricians (Vera Drake) and untamed optimism (Happy-Go-Lucky,) has landed his seventh nomination for penning Another Year. It's unlikely he will finally win a statue this year (he's 0-6 so far), as he's up against favourite The King's Speech and other strong contenders The Kids Are All Right and Inception. Oscar voters first took notice of Leigh in 1997 when they showered Secrets and Lies with five nominations. Since then, Leigh has continually brought realistic English characters to life with writing that is consistently touching and transparent. Another Year doesn't stray far from Leigh's formula, chronicling a year in a happily aging couple's life as they deal with their downcast friends.

Another Year trailer

Michelle Williams, nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role for Blue Valentine

 Although nominated for a Golden Globe and an Independent Spirit Award for her role in Blue Valentine, Michelle Williams is the dark horse of the Best Actress category. Hilary Swank took her spot in the Screen Actors Guild nominations, which many see as a reliable precursor to the Oscars. Although nominated once before for her supporting role in Brokeback Mountain, Williams was passed over by the Academy for her understated performance in 2008's Wendy and Lucy. Perhaps members had a tinge of voter's remorse this time around. After all, as Katherine Hepburn once said "the right actors win Oscars; for the wrong roles." William's role as Cindy, one half of a crestfallen couple, has been close to ten years in the making. Williams likens dealing with the heart-wrenching material over the course of a decade to running an emotional marathon.
"I’ve been working on Blue Valentine since I was 21. So it makes sense in my mind that promoting it should have the same kind of effort and endurance behind it that being committed to it and finally making it had,” she told thestar.com.
Williams went on to say that playing the role of Cindy may not have changed her outlook; however she now understands how to make a relationship work.
“My romanticism and my optimism have not been diminished, but I do think you have to be vigilant and willing to compromise. It’s something you have to stay ahead of."

Blue Valentine trailer

Darren Aronofosky, nominated for Best Achievement in Directing for Black Swan

 Each of Aronofsky's movies to date has dealt with misery and mania. Whether it be the quest for answers (Pi,) the need to boost one's ego (The Wrestler,) insatiable cravings (Requiem For a Dream) or chasing the illusion of perfection (Black Swan,) you could say that Aronofsky is obsessed with obsession. Straddling the boarder that separates drama and horror, Black Swan has become the director's highest grossing release. This tale of a ballerina who goes bonkers is poised to break the $100 million mark this month. The film landed five nods, however Natalie Portman's bid for Best Actress is the only nom likely to result in a golden statuette. Independent film fans have been fixated on Aronofsky's work for years and countless critics agree that his first nomination is long overdue.

Interview with Darren Aronofsky


Nina (Portman) dances the Black Swan

Exit Through the Gift Shop, nominated for Best Documentary

 The heated debate over whether this doc is an elaborate hoax or a truthful tale of an artist's rise to fame is feverishly burning now that the film has been nominated. Exit Through the Gift Shop documents street art aficionado Thierry Guetta's journey from videographer to street artist to mainstream art star. Guetta goes from admiring and filming underground artists to emulating their craft under the pseudonym Mr. Brainwash. Guetta eventually turns a huge profit, which is where this doc's title comes into play. The film is not only a chronicle of the obstacles street artists face; it is also a comment on the commercialization of art. The film's director, Bansky, is the anonymous mastermind behind the most creative and cheerless Simpsons intro (below) ever to be inked. Bansky was one of Guetta's heroes/subjects/inspirations in the documentary within the documentary. It's obvious that Banksy's primary motivation for presenting Exit Through the Gift Shop is to expose Guetta for the fraud that he is; that is if the film is fact and not fiction as many people have speculated. 
"Obviously the story is bizarre, that’s why I made a film about it, but I’m still shocked by the level of skepticism. I guess I have to accept that people think I’m full of shit. But I’m not clever enough to have invented Mr. Brainwash," Bansky wrote to slashfilm.com.

Exit Through the Gift Shop trailer


Bansky's Simpsons intro