Dolo Tonight picks 5 movies to pair with ‘DVD Rental Store’
In Pairings, artists and creators pick the movies that complement their latest work.
Dolo Tonight (aka Jonah Rindner) is a singer and multi-instrumentalist whose new album DVD Rental Store comes out October 3 wherever you get your music!
We asked Jonah to pick a few movies that pair well with DVD Rental Store.
Angus (1995)
This movie is criminally underrated. It’s got one of the wildest soundtracks ever put together, like unreleased (at the time) Green Day songs and these total gems that you can’t even find anywhere else—Goo Goo Dolls, Ash, Smoking Popes, Love Spit Love, Tilt, Weezer. I have no idea how they pulled that all together. It’s this awkward coming of age story about a kid who doesn’t fit in, and that’s basically the energy I wanted for “Varsity Lip”. It’s awkward and fun, it’s heartbreaking, it’s clumsy, and then the music just hits you in the chest. I think a lot of my record comes from that same headspace—the messiness of being young but somehow still feeling like the main character and trying to go for the popular girl and failing terribly. In a weird way this is my high school experience. I am Angus.
Juno (2007)
Juno is so lovingly wholesome but also totally quirky. There’s an insane soundtrack and this Moldy Peaches song moment in it. That was the first time I heard them. It really is one of those songs you hear once and it never leaves your head. I wanted to make something that felt like that scene when it plays. “Go Together” comes from that same kind of place, where it feels small and intimate but it sneaks up on you with how big the emotions actually are. Also, I swear, Michael Cera in that track outfit… that’s sick. I don’t care what anyone says. (I don’t think anyone actually says anything bad about this movie—it’s kinda legendary—but if they do... then screw ‘em!)
Be Kind Rewind (2008)
This movie is literally half the DNA of DVD Rental Store. The whole VHS rental shop, the DIY moviemaking, the community vibe where everyone just shows up and makes it work. That’s how my project came together. At the same time, it’s honestly such a tough watch. My roommate and I could barely get through it. It’s one of those “bad but good” movies, and that’s exactly how I imagined the record. It’s clunky, it’s low poly, it’s funny in ways it’s not even trying to be, and somehow it’s still beautiful. A lot of it takes place in New Jersey, which is where I grew up, and the fact that Mos Def and Jack Black are in it makes it way better.
Vernon, Florida (1981)
This film is just Errol Morris pointing a camera at people in a tiny town and letting them go off about their lives—and somehow it’s amazing. One guy is obsessed with hunting turkeys, another guy won’t stop talking about sand and stuff, and all of it sticks with you way longer than it should. I sent it to all of my friends after watching it and was like “dude you have to get into this.” That’s exactly the kind of oddball energy that inspired me while making the skits and characters in DVD Rental Store. Real people are way stranger and more interesting than anything you could script, and I wanted to capture that. I love how honest these people on camera were while being filmed. I feel like the skit on “Hate You Now” came directly from that movie. It’s just a guy who broke into someone’s house and doesn’t understand why she won’t go on a date with him, he’s so blissfully unaware.
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)
This is just pure fun. All-time favorite. It’s ridiculous and campy and confident in the dumbest way possible. That’s what I wanted sprinkled all over the album. Even in the heavier moments there’s this wink hiding under the surface. If Mike Myers can be sexy while looking like your weird uncle on Halloween, then I can be weirdly, dramatically sad over some happy chords and still have fun with it.