Went to visit Brian this weekend. He's leaving Chicago, and I thought I'd head down and send him out with a reminder of what makes Chicago a great place to live. First things first, we killed afternoon catching a matinee ($9.50/ticket!!) in Evanston of Borat.

I don't get HBO anymore. Not, I don't get it as in "I don't understand it", but I don't get it as in "I don't want to pay a ridiculous amount of hostage money to my local cable dealer (Charter - and as an unrequested, one-time-special bonus review: Charter sucks) so that I can see crappy documentaries about shitty movies, the occassional decent film, and The Wire (additional bonus review: The Wire is - and this is indisputable - the best show on television, bar none). To get HBO I would have to pay close to $100 per month just for cable (not including internet) - and, trust me, cable is not worth $100 per month ($1200 per year?!? Please.) In any event, while I've seen Da Ali G show, I don't watch it religiously. I had seen Cohen's Borat character, but didn't really know the flavor, if you know what I mean. I'd seen the ads on the tele and received pretty decent reviews from respected sources, so I was pretty excited to see the film. Here's a little tidbit for anyone who hasn't seen it yet. Except for the 1 or 2 "skits" that can't be shown on television (naked wrestling) you have already seen this entire film. Seriously, through the various media outlets/reviews/interviews/etc. practically the entire film has already been shown. It doesn't mean it isn't funny, but, there's not much of a surprise factor. The other interesting about the movie was how many old people were in the theater. Not "old" as in "that person is unhip because they don't have a MySpace account" old, but like "that person needs a cane and walker" old. Seriously. Probably half the crowd had legitimately gray hair. Brian and I were among the YOUNGER people in the theater. And, aside from us and the few others our age or younger, there were a lot of crickets chirping in the theater. Old people do not find the film as amusing as I did. Which, begs the question: what were they expecting when they went to see this? We were talking to some people after the movie and they said that the old people sitting behind us were "not amused." Our only reaction was "what were they expecting?" Like I said, I didn't know much about the character or the movie, other than the clips I had seen and brief conversations, but I had a general idea of what I was getting into. And, from what I knew about it, it seemed like something that if it was your thing, you would like, if it wasn't you should stay away because you just won't find it funny. And it certainly didn't look like anything my grandparents would find even remotely amusing. So, I'm wondering what compelled folks my grandparents' age to go to the movie? Boredom? Curiosity? Lack of knowledge? In any event, I was mildly surprised that none of them actually walked out of it. So, kudos for the intrepid curiosity.

After the movie, we had some time to kill, so back to Brian's to play some Tony Hawk. Then, off to dinner over by Martyrs' where we were going to see Chicago Afrobeat Project. We went to this German Restaurant called Glunz Bavarian Haus. It is one of those things that makes Chicago great - the sheer variety of restuarant selections is amazing, and everywhere you look is a hidden gem. I hereby declare that anyone eating at Buca Di Beppo's or any similarly ridiculous chain in Chicago (or New York for that matter) should not be allowed to visit ever again. Anyway, the food at the restaurant was awesome. Brian ordered the Beef Stroganoff (who's surprised that Brian ordered something that sounds like "strokin' off"?) but was convinced by the waitress to get some boiled beef thing (maybe the Sauerbraten?). I ordered Spinach Spatzel. For drinks we started with the Delerium Noel. The Noel is a Belgian Strong Ale and Delirium is one of my favorite breweries. It came in a goblet, and went down smooth as vintage wine. It was finely malty and not overly spicy, with a bitter, hoppy finish. The second beer (with our meal) was a Weihenstephaner Dunkel Weiss. It was a fine beer, exactly what you'd expect from a dunkel weiss - crisp, with medium body, mostly malt with little hop. But, the star of the restaurant was the Polka Band. We sat 2 tables from the band, and they were entertaining and talented. Brian has a new favorite song; when you see him next, ask him to sing a bar or two (if you dare).

After dinner, on to the show. When we arrived, the opener was just getting started. And, to say the least, they weren't what we expected from an opener for Chicago Afrobeat. The first song was slow, dirge-like. It was quality, but it was putting us to sleep. Over the next few songs, the opener, JT & The Clouds, turned out to be pretty great. At once reminiscent of both the musicality of the E-Street band and The Grateful Dead while the lead singer, in both appearance and demeanor bears a striking resemblance to David Byrne. However, the venue itself was miserably hot. The seats were all taken, and we were relegated to standing near the "dance floor" in a crowd of people. Having dressed for the cold outside, we were overdressed for the warm inside. Moreover, by the time the opener finished, it was already after 11pm. Chicago Afrobeat came on around midnight and played a blistering few songs before we left at 1:30 or so - they were still going strong, but I was hot and exhausted. I mentioned in a previous blog, that if you were looking for new music you should check out Fela Kuti - the "inventor" of the afrobeat genre. Chicago Afrobeat does an amazing job of running with the style. They add little new to the formula, but they perform it quite well. When I was in Victoria, BC during Canada Day my step-brother and I saw Femi Kuti, a Grammy nominated afrobeat group - and I was astounded - that had been my first real introduction to the multifaceted genre. Much like hip-hop with the graffitti and the breakdancing, afrobeat also is rooted multi-dimensions. Dancing, and dancers, is/are integral to the equation. As is art. Chicago Afrobeat had both in tow. Two female dancers put a face (and body!) to the music, while the painter put together a painting (sold at the end of the show) showing visually the ideas put forth by the musicians and the dancers. Everyone works together to put forth a spectacle of sight and sound. In any event, it's a genre that is relatively new to me, and the more I hear the more I hear its influence everywhere (reggae, crunk, alt pop, etc).

Oh. And then on Sunday the Bears won a nail-biter against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in overtime (up 24-3 at one point, the game went to OT tied at 31-31 - Gould missed a field goal in OT, then made his second attempt a few drives later). So, yeah, a good (relatively cheap) weekend.

mood: amused music: She's Just Right For Me tags: beer, borat, chicago, chicago afrobeat, food, glunz bavarian haus, movies, music

I was given this book for Christmas last year from Pete. I'd heard of Gaiman, but hadn't read anything of his. I'm not generally a fan of sci-fi - I like good sci-fi, but I hate bad sci-fi, and that genre particularly has a lot of the latter, and very little of the former; so, I tend to stay away from it and rely on Pete (who is a BIG fan of sci-fi) to filter it for me. He scored another one this time.

Ostensibly, it's about a war between gods. The ancient gods, legends and heroes (Odin, Vishnu, Ho Chunk, Johnny Appleseed, etc.) against the new gods (television, highways, drugs, technology, etc.). The protagonist is a convicted felon freed a day early so he can attend the funeral of his wife who died giving road-head to his best friend. He is diverted by a man who offers him a job as a body guard. A job that, since his wife is dead and his other job offered by his now-dead-friend is no longer, he accepts. The rest is his travels with his new companion. Whom, as I'm sure you've guessed by now, is a god.

Anyway. That's the plot, more or less. But, like all good sci-fi it's about more than that. It's about the role of modern religion. It's about modern relationships. It's about growth, and acceptance, and forgiveness. It's about the roles these gods played in our lives when these lands were founded and the ways that we accomplish the same thing with different rationale. It's about remembering the past and living in the past. Unfortunately, about 3/4 of the way through the book, it kind of falls apart as he focuses more on the plot and wrapping up the book. Which is unfortunate. If he'd had less going on, less loose ends to tie up, Gaiman could have maintained his pace throughout and ended up with a vastly stronger book.

Interestingly, the quote on the front of the book is by Michael Chabon. This is interesting, because this book (American Gods) reminded me a LOT of Chabon's Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Klay - a book that is in my top 5 books I've ever read - up there with 1984 and Great Gatsby and Crime and Punishment and Pale Fire as far as I'm concerned. But, what makes Kavalier a superior book is that Chabon didn't bite off more plot-wise than the book could handle, so it never felt rushed or ignored.

Anyway. A good read; it took me about 5 days to get through.

music: american girl - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers tags: american gods, books, michael chabon, neil gaiman

It's about the decisions that two potential Palestinian suicide bombers must make when their plan to bomb Israel gets interrupted. It's a look into the Palestine/Israel conflict that we, Westerners, are not normally privy to, since we lead mildly sheltered, mostly suicide-bomber-less lives (9/11, Madrid, and London notwithstanding). I didn't find the movie particularly compelling as a movie - the subject matter was good, but I never really got into the movie like I wanted to. That said, it's still worth checking out.

mood: morose music: Mustt Mustt - Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (I know he's Persian) tags: israel, movies, palestine, paradise now

Once upon a time (actually, the mid-1800s) there was a guy named Jack Renton. Mr. Renton was kidnapped (shanghai'd) in San Francisco to work on a guano boat (yes, a bird-shit boat). Mr. Renton escaped in a small life raft with 3 other people. 30 days later they landed on an island occupied by cannibalistic tribes. Mr. Renton was the only one to survive and he lived with the tribe for 9 years. He eventually escaped (left) and recounted his story to an Australian newspaper. His story was promptly forgotten. Until the late 90s when a documentary writer (Mr. Randell) learned of this guy and wrote a book about him. The book was promptly forgotten (it is now out of print and next to impossible to find). Until the mid-2000s when the book was found in one of the only English-language book shops in Seoul, South Korea. Said person was amazed by the adventures of said Mr. Renton and the South Seas slave trade that he fell prey to. Said person, now back in the states, nominated the book for our book club. I read it.

As you might think, it's a fascinating story. The only thing I would change about it, would be to put more focus on the time that Jack Renton was actually on the island. Unfortunately, the only timely accounts of Mr. Renton's time on the island are his conversations with the Australian Newspaper, which was actually more of a gossip-adventure type thing that left out a lot of details to focus on the sordid points. Otherwise, all that is left are oral histories from the islanders themselves. An oral history that is pretty interesting in its own right, particularly as an intellectual property attorney. Basically the oral histories are passed down from family member to family member. But each family only owns a portion of the story (indefinite term, by the way, the rights never expire) and they are not allowed to tell any other part of the story. So, to piece the whole story together, you have to ask multiple people - and if one of the families dies out (in a warring, cannibalistic society) that part of the story is lost forever. Anyway, most of the second half of the book is about the Slave Trade and the white interaction with the Solomon Islands.

mood: impressed music: Fela Kuti - Monkey Banana tags: jack renton, nigel randell, white headhunter

Interesting, mildly related fact, that I learned while watching Timothy Dalton's "License to Kill": Benecio Del Toro was in a Bond movie. Who knew?

Spike TV had been running a Bond marathon all Thanksgiving weekend. Unlike most people, I'm actually kind of a fan of Timothy Dalton as Bond. I hated Lazenby and Moore. Brosnan was good, but his movies after Golden Eye weren't all that great (especially that dreck with Halle Berry). But I liked Dalton - he was more of an understated Bond. He used his wits and cunning to defeat the bad guys and get the girls and didn't go in guns blazing. But, I also like him because he wasn't just a "superhero" type. He had actual problems of his own.

The new Bond (Daniel Craig) is more like the Dalton Bond. Except much more muscle-y. The movie itself was pretty decent - though it suffered the typical Bondian fate of terrible dialogue (when will they learn that you don't have to tell the audience EVERYTHING? we aren't idiots - well, OK, some of us are, but really are we making movies for the lowest-common denominator? And, even if we are, based on our experience at this particular movie the lowest-common-denominator isn't afraid of asking their marginally more intelligent friends a question during the movie if they are having trouble figuring it out). Otherwise, it was pretty decent. The plot played off the modern affinity for No Limit Texas Hold Em - though thankfully we were spared the crushingly brutal commentary by Lon McEachern (or however you spell his name) and Chad Norman. Daniel Craig was good as Bond. He showed a vulnerability, and a personal side that Brosnan's Bond never had. To wit, in this movie, Bond actually makes some mistakes - in some instances due to his brashness and aggressiveness and in some cases because he merely is wrong. I'm not sure if this is a first, but it certainly brings some more depth to the character.

Anyway. It was a good way to kill a Thanksgiving weekend.

mood: satisfied music: License To Kill - Tina Turner tags: bond, daniel craig, movies, pierce brosnan

11/29: Idiot Edit: Some things to note, besides the numerous spelling and grammatical mistakes plaguing this post. First, as noted by Erin in the comments, Tom HANKS, not Tom CRUISE was in The Terminal. I'm sure you all knew that, but nonetheless, I thought I'd make the correction. Second, it turns out that Match Point was the first profitable movie Woody Allen had made since the mid-80s.

Sorry for the long time between posting. It's amazing what little you accomplish when you spend most of your time sitting at home on your ass.

Movies
10/17: Chocolat
    Better than I expected. I expected a crappy foreign chick flick. I got a pretty decent chick flick. Alfred Molina continues to impress. I thought Judy Dench being nominated for Best Supporting in this movie was a bit of a stretch. Putting Johnny Depp on the cover is deceptive - he had approximately 15 minutes of screen time in the entire film. I wouldn't have chosen to watch this, but it really wasn't that bad.

10/29: The Departed
    Awesome. Loved it. If you haven't seen it yet, stop reading and go watch it. Reminded me a lot of Good Fellas. Di Caprio is awesome - I think Scorsesee has found his new DeNiro. I really liked Matt Damon in this, even if Erin thought DiCaprio's Boston accent was better than Damon's. Talking with someone else about this movie, we were commenting about Jack Nicholson. She mentioned that considering how good Nicholson is at playing these eccentric, slightly bent characters, you begin to wonder if Nicholson himself isn't slightly bent. I think he is.

10/31: Match Point
    Another Woody Allen movie. Though a very different type of Woody Allen movie. Most notably it wasn't that funny. It wasn't supposed to be funny. But none of Allen's dry (very dry) wit. Also conspicuously absent was the bantering dialogue Allen is famous for. The actors could actually take breaths. The movie itself is a bit of a murder mystery and I think it shows Allen is a legitimate filmmaker in his own right and can write and direct more "mainstream" type of movies. All of the actors were good, the story was strong (IMDB notes that it seems to be based on Dostoyevsky's "Crime and Punishment" - something I think I can see, but having read the book recently don't really think is all that accurate - for the first thing, the book is all post-event brooding, the movie is pre-event fate). But, in any event, the general ideas of the movie are ones I can sympathize at least a little bit with - primarily the notion of luck, and the idea that one single event can often knock a fate off course; and that those events happen so frequently that it seems tough to call anything "fate" and sometimes you just have to chalk it up to "luck."

11/5: Move from Janesville, WI to Madison, WI

11/19: Y Tu Mama Tambien
    Another movie that I wasn't really looking forward to. Although Erin claims that I had added this one to the queue, I don't recall wanting to see this movie. However, I didn't really know much about it other than that it was foreign and Spanish-language. Turns out it was filmed in Mexico. It was written and directed by Alfonso Cuaron, now famous for taking over the Harry Potter franchise from Chistopher Columbus. It's star, Gael Garcia Bernal, played Ernesto Guevara in Motorcycle Diaries. The co-star, Diego Luna, has since been in "The Terminal" with Tom Cruise. So. I think it's safe to say that this movie impressed some people in 2001. It turns out that I really enjoyed the movie. The direction was spot-on for the a "road movie" dealing with all of the typical "teen angst" sort of issues. It was a lot more sex than I had expected (although I could have done without the dudes kissing, in context it wasn't completely out of place, so I can safely roll my eyes and move on). In any event - well written - though I suspect that the English translation for the subtitles made the dialogue more "stilted" than it really was.

Music
No Concerts (unless I haven't mentioned the DJ Shadow set that Brian and I saw - incredible - more about it a little later, but I was really impressed).

CDs
Fela Kuti - Monkey Banana/Excuse O
    I had heard of Fela from various sources: Common and Mos Def have both name-checked him on albums, Beck made an entire album in the style of music that Fela invented (afrobeat), he was enormously influential on David Bryne and Peter Gabriel, he was political in the same manner as Bob Marley. I've been big into bop-style jazz and electro-rock lately, so I downloaded this from eMusic, really for shits and giggles - it's only 4 tracks long and I was curious. Holy crap! This album is awesome. If you are looking for different styles of music to listen to because whatever your listening to now is boring - go, and get this album today. The grooves are relentless, the lyrics sparse and emphatic, the improvising and solos are astounding.

Old Crow Medicine Show - Big Iron World
    eMusic is my friend. OCMS are a strange kind of band. More or less traditional old-timey country and bluegrass. I've heard that their live is where it's at, but I haven't seen them live. Their song "Wagon Wheel" (on their last album) is considered a modern bluegrass classic. These guys are awesome. On record though, it's a tough listen. Not because the music isn't good - it is - it's great. But, the "Show" doesn't really come across on record. Each song, written in the old-timey traditional styles, are short, often off-kilter musically and usually deal with off-beat subject matters (working in a union, cocaine, etc.). While these songs, I'm sure, fit right in for a "Medicine Show" style concert, with segues, and on stage banter and greater context from one song to the next, they come across as random and unfulfilled on record. Still, some of the songs are great and it's a good album, but I wouldn't start here if you're new to bluegrass.

Latryx - The Album
    Released in 1999 (or thereabouts) in San Francisco, I'm a bit of a newcomer to the main participants on this album. Brian and I went to see DJ Shadow a few months back. Shadow is part of what is now called the Quannum Project that features another band I've been obsessed with, the General Electriks. On the GE album, and on Shadows prior album, an MC that makes the occassional appearance is a guy named "Lateef the Truth Speaker". I was really impressed with him on GE album and he's currently touring with Shadow. In concert I was amazed. He has a bit of a sing-songy flow at times, and his lyrics can tend to the mundane, but he can really work very well with the right DJs - and Shadow and GE are some of the best. Anyway. Lateef is one of the two MCs comprising Latryx (the name of the other guy escapes me). Shadow produces some of the album. The back-and-forth rhymes and turntablism has been done by others (Beasties with Mix Master Mike come to mind), but this right up there with the best. Highly recommended if this is your thing.

music: Fela Kuti - Monkey Banana tags: chocolat, dj shadow, fela kuti, latryx, match point, movies, music, old crow medicine show, the departed, y tu mama tambien

This movie had exactly one thing going for it: I like Tom Hanks.

I hate Dan Brown. I hate the Da Vinci Code book. I hate Ron Howard as a director (he's really corn-ball and cheesy).

Brian had gotten this and Cars from Netflix and we were down visiting him for the OSU/Michigan game (the Buckeyes won! And now Michigan is Ohio's slave for the next year and they have to take Toledo back). Anyway. I wasn't really up for it, but Brian really wanted to watch it, and Erin was relatively indifferent; I figured half-asleep on a bored Sunday afternoon was probably the only time I was going to watch it, so I reluctantly agreed (plus, it's Brian apartment and his TV, so I didn't really have a say in the matter). It was really stupid. A lot like the book actually. Well - let's be honest, I've never actually read Da Vinci Code. I ACTUALLY read the first 3/4ths of "Angels and Demons" and was traumatized by the horrendously bad writing, inane plot, and over-obvious foreshadowing (I mean, come on "little did he know this would come back to haunt him" - are you freaking kidding me??? I wasn't that obvious in my 6th grade creative writing class and I wrote a 18 page spy story about an evil chinese terrorist named Chu Mi Wang and got away with it) that I stopped reading shortly after the main character jumped out of a helicopter in the upper-atmosphere without a parachute and landed, fortuitously, in a roiling river and survived with nary a scratch. Seriously, Angels and Demons was one of the worst books I have ever read. I am honestly baffled that people claim to enjoy it. I've contemplated sending Dan Brown a bill for the time it took me to read it and demand a refund and that he shoot himself lest he create something else on par with it.

So, having heard that Da Vinci Code was basically a re-write, you can't blame me for not really having read it. Needless to say, I wasn't really looking forward to the movie. I'll say that I did not enjoy the movie and more or less leave it at that. I thought the direction was cheesy, the plot was stupid, the dialogue was atrocious, the acting wasn't awful. And it went on interminably (about 2.5 hours or so).

Brian also got Cars, the Pixar movie about, yes, Cars. Erin and I actually stayed up to watch the whole thing, and I actually sort of enjoyed it. I've been a bit miffed by the US animation industry. They are boring. If you want more detail as to why go read John K's blog. But, Cars was all right - no real problems with it.

mood: disappointed music: Anything by Enigma tags: cars, da vinci code, dan brown, movies, owen wilson, pixar, tom hanks

The Thin Red Line is one of my least favorite "movies" of all time. It was slow, it was boring, it had no plot, there wasn't enough action or lines to accurately determine if any of the actors were even any good, it was hard to differentiate between actors (granted, I'll give you that's somewhat the point), and it lasted forever, clocking in a 170 minutes.  It was beautifully shot. That's about the only good thing I can say about it.

Fast forward a few years, and the same director and creative vision that created that movie, has a new movie about John Smith, Pocahontas, and Jamestown.  It is far shorter (only 135 minutes), it has what can be recognized as a plot, the writing is pretty good even if the dialogue is somewhat sparse, and it's beautifully shot. It's, quite frankly, the best I can expect from Terrence Malick. I know, there's a lot people out there that love Malick's languid, gorgeously shot movies; I'm not one of them. Though I will say, that I liked his subtle "expansionist/imperialist" digs that he takes at Western culture and governmental systems, and he got a great performance out of Colin "Inconsistent" Farrell. Christian Bale wasn't useless, and Christopher Plummer was, well, Christopher Plummer - he's fine, no need say much more.

It's not a complete waste of 2+ hours, like The Thin Red Line, and if you want to give Malick another shot, this will at least restore some faith in the medium. For my money, if I want a beautifully shot, slow, thought provoking film, I'll watch Capote. However, others had more positive things to say about the movie and Malick and what they perceive as "his point" - so, with apologies, to TedG for infringing whatever copyright he might have in his IMDB comment, I'm going to paste a portion of what he said about The New World, so, keeping that in mind, you can watch it perhaps a bit more informed than "I Hate Terrence Malick, but I'll give him a shot"

Malick's method is to frame films as remembrances. Remembrances of romantic notions, whether freedom, peace, war or love (as his four films trace). This way, he can exploit a languorous floating through remembered reality that never is that gentle or considered in actual reality. He can use his narration as things remembered, floating over the sights. To make this as effective as possible, he plays all sorts of tricks with the sound, having different boundaries of different types between what you see and hear.

Added to this is a considered approach to framing. You may have noticed that most filmmakers stage the action as if the world arranged itself to fit nicely in the window the camera sees. It makes for nice pictures and clear, precise drama, but we know it for what it is, a theatrical device. Malick is like Tarkovsky; he likes to discover things and if the way the world frames things so that they are off the window we see, so be it.

That's why his battle scenes are unique. With most directors, you'll have smiting and dying nicely so that we can see it. Or alternatively, we'll have point of view shots that are hectic as if we were a participant. These two battle scenes have the camera as a disembodied eye that shifts about as if it were the eye of dreams, or nearly lucid recalling or even retrospective invention. Sometimes hectic as if it were point of view, but never looking at what a combatant would, instead having a poetic avoidance.

I first met Malick when he was a lecturer at MIT and I a philosophy student. He spoke of French Objectivism, and was clearly bothered by how the notation and language constrained the ideas. At the time, I was doing my thesis on Thomas Harriot, who is the hidden motivator behind everything in this story — the real story. Malick never saw the thesis because by the time it was finished, he was off to explore this business of experiencing from the "outside" in cinematic language.

But Harriot is likely the inventor of the "external viewer of self" notions that Malick liked (as they reappeared in the French '60s) and uses in his philosophy of film. Harriot suggested he got it from the Chesapeake Indians. So the circle closes: a film about a people using their own mystical memory-visions.

If you take a little time to tune yourself to Malick's channel, you will find his work to be transcendent. I consider this one of the best films of 2005, despite its apparent commercial gloss and the mistaken notion that most will have that it is a love story. It is about remembering and inventing love in retrospect. A world is always new so long as the imagination of recall is supple.

mood: blah music: Wish You Were Here - The Orb tags: colin farrell, movies, terrence malick, the new world

It was lambasted something fierce by the usual suspects. But, I actually enjoyed it. Yeah, Penn overacted. But Southern Politics is all about overacting. The critics generally panned Penn's arm flailing and screaming yet not saying much at all. But what's politics? Especially southern politics in the 20s. Even more especially southern country politics in the 20s. Let's face it, the "hicks," as Willie Stark calls them, understand 3 things: God, family, work. These people are used to hellfire and brimstone and arm flailing and snake flinging and screaming and yelling so Stark just adopts the style that they are accustomed to. They (the critics) complain about Penn's "incomprehensible" accent. But, I ask, have these critics ever been to the deep south?!? Their accents are freaking incomprehensible. Honestly, I think more blame can be pointed at James Gandolfini, who, aside from Tony Soprano, I've never really liked as an actor. His "Tiny" isn't really all that interesting, and while you can see Stark's underestimation and hubris coming to get him, you can never really get behind the idea that Tiny orchestrated it. Now, Patricia Clarkson, I would believe. The rest of the cast was pretty wasted (Jude Law was pretty good, actually), but I think that was more the fault of the director who would was obviously spending more time behind the camera than trying to work some real feeling from his actors.

I thought the movie was, if you got past the incompetent direction and over-wrought writing, a pretty incisive commentary on modern politics. That if you want to change, you have to get out and do something about it. That all politicians lie and cheat - that's what politics is; but at least some of them lie and cheat to make the world better for the common man rather than to stuff their corporate glutton benefactors.

This was the first movie directed by Steve Zaillian. He should stick to writing. He's written some pretty great movies: Awakenings, Searching for Bobby Fischer, Schindler's List, Mission Impossible, Gangs of New York, to name just a few. But his directorial debut was less than stellar. He clearly knows the directing cliches (shadows, and camera placement, and blurry rememberances, etc.) and he uses every single one of them. But they don't really work because he never gets past the cliche. He knows the source material is good, so he "overacts" on the directing rather than let the story tell itself.

All-in-all, I thought it was pretty decent. I would recommend seeing it either on video or at a matinee.

mood: irritated music: Louisiana Rain - Tom Petty tags: all the kings men, jude law, louisiana, movies, sean penn

A Marilyn Monroe movie about rashes. No, not really. It's about not knowing what you have until you don't have it. In this case, the "it" merely takes a vacation to Connecticut/Maine/Northern New York/Massachussettes/whatever, while the husband (Tom Ewell), stays to work in New York City. When he returns home from dropping the "fam" off at the train terminal he finds that a buxom blonde has moved in to the apartment above him. The remainder of the film is his conflict, some external, a lot of it "internal" (via monologue - the movie is based on a play, and it seems like it), over whether to be with his wife and kid, or whether to run free of the shackles (drinking, smoking, pretty girls, general cavorting) while he has his chance. Since this movie was made before Hollywood became cynical, he makes the predictable decision.

I really enjoyed the film; much more than I expected, I suspect. Marilyn Monroe was fun. Tom Ewell was hilarious. Billy Wilder directed and wrote the screenplay based on the George Axelrod play. If you liked "Some Like it Hot" or generally enjoy these older films, you'll like it.

mood: content music: Don't Come Around Here No More - Tom Petty tags: billy wilder, marilyn monroe, movies, seven year itch, tom ewell

Anime by the same guy that did Spirited Away. I really liked that movie, and this one is, arguably, better. It's not as dense and mystical. But, it's not fluffy and Disney-like either. What I primarily like about Miyazaki's movies is that he doesn't dumb the movie down for the audience. He presents complex ideas (death and confidence and love) in complex ways that even children can understand. I would argue that this is not a kid's movie, but could be watched by children. In other words, I'm not sure that the intended audience is children. But, Erin disagrees and thinks that it is a wonderful children's film. I'm not sure it's a distinction with a difference because in any event it would a movie that children would love. Billy Crystal as "the fire" is amusing and child characters are mature role models. Miyazaki's paintings are astounding. The detail that is captured in each piece of machinery and background is mind-bending; even without dialogue you could get lost in his movies.

Highly recommended.

mood: enthralled music: This Land Is Your Land - Woody Guthrie tags: howls moving castle, miyazaki, movies

Awful. Only watched the first 30 minutes and bailed on it for more exciting things - there's a fresh coat of paint in the downstairs hall that I was really interested to see how it dries. The acting was bad. The plot was stupid. The writing was atrocious. The direction was campy. All-in-all; ranks up there with the Batman that had Arnold Schwarzenegger and Uma Thurman in all-time bad comic-book-adaptation movies. Up there with Daredevil and Hulk. And Fantastic 4. And X-Men. Ummm...I'm sensing a theme here. Maybe the theme is that Marvel is fucking terrible at turning fun comic books into awful movies. I think we should all point and laugh at Stan Lee for making a mockery of his own legacy.

mood: sick music: Brittany Spears - Hit Me Baby One More Time tags: comics, marvel, movies, spiderman, stan lee

Not going to say much about this film, except that, if you haven't seen it, do whatever it takes to see this movie ASAP. It was really really good.

music: Peter Gabriel - Biko tags: movies, tsotsi

John, Erin and I went to (or stayed in, as the case may be) Madison, WI to see Cracker and Trampled by Turtles at the High Noon Saloon.

We got to the venue kind of early and had some drinks out on the patio. Around 9:15pm or so TBT came on and played for about 45 minutes so. Interestingly, their set did not include as much of their newest album as I would have expected. But, it was awesome. Johnny Hickman came out and played one song with them. Kenny Margolis came out and played two songs with them. Kenny probably the best rock-accordianist I've ever seen. Seriously, few bands use an accordian for much other than a novelty instrument. Throw a quick accordian solo down and move on - it could be a harmonica, a piano, or even a guitar, but they choose the accordian because who doesn't want an accordian on an album at least once? But not so with Cracker and Counting Crows (bands for whom Kenny plays a significant amount of accordian). Kenny seems to have an understanding on what the accordian can and cannot do. It doesn't just have to be used to play a polka (though, Cracker DID play a polka during their set - The Steiner Beer song which is an old german beer advertisement originally covered by FSK - what is FSK - or, what is FSK). In any event, Trampled By Turtles continued to Win Friends and Influence People to buy their cds.

Cracker came on at around 10:30 and didn't stop until about 12:45. It was one of the more interesting sets by Cracker that I've witnessed. They started (started) with St. Cajetan, then Take Me Down To The Infirmary, then Been Around the World. Followed by a few new songs. It was a very diverse set that included the obvious (Low, Movie Star, Teen Angst, Take the Skinheads Bowling) and the rare (the aforementioned Steiner Song, Cajetan and Infirmary, in addition to It Ain't Gonna Suck Itself and Bicycle Spaniard) and filled in with new (Something You Ain't Got, Gimme One More Chance, Everybody Gets One For Free, Darling We're Out of Time). Interestingly, they mostly ignored "Forever" including only One Fine Day. All in all, I couldn't really handpick a better set.

John and I were trying to figure out what the deal is with Lowery these days. He's been touring with Camper, he's released a new Cracker album. He seems to be pissed off at Virgin Records and trying to push his new records and old bands. In the midst of it all, where does Cracker stand? They've gone from selling out The Metro in Chicago (about 1500 people) to barely filling the High Noon Saloon (max, about 400, that night only about 250-300). I've argued that Lowery seems to taking one last shot with Cracker - he released an album of radio-friendly songs, is touring considerably, and - in an unprecedented move - making the audience aware of CDs and merchandise in the back and letting the audience know that the band will be at the merch table to meet everyone. John thinks it's his last waltz so to speak and that he's packing it in and getting ready to fold them all. Lowery has a family, including a young child, they (Cracker and CVB) don't seem to be having much commercial success, and David isn't exactly looking and sounding great after years of touring. John thinks that Lowery will just fall back on his producing and just go out and play shows on occassion as the whim strikes him.

Who knows. All I'd say is, enjoy it while you got it. If they are coming to a location near you - go check them out.

mood: ecstatic music: Duty Free - Cracker tags: concert, cracker, music, rock, trampled by turtles

Very very weird. It was sort of like watching a Wes Anderson film. I know, Jason Schwartzman was Max Fisher in Rushmore. But, here's the thing. I love Rushmore. It's one of my favorite movies of all time. I've seen it dozens of times (oddly, I don't own it). And, when Schwartzman speaks in Huckabees, he sounds exactly like Max Fisher. Oddly, it sort of works, because I can imagine Albert as a grown up Max. He has this neurotic idealism and eccentricity to him that was very reminiscent of young Mr. Fisher. And, "Open Spaces" seems like a project that Max Fisher would definitely participate in (and be the charter founder of). Max would be pissed if it were co-opted by the likes of Brad (Jude Law, with a weird, suppressed british, but not quite American accent) who stabbed Albert, a friend, in the back by going to the dark side (Huckabees) and contributing to the urban sprawl that Open Spaces so fiercely opposes.

Like Erin said, it felt like it was trying very hard to be a Wes Anderson film - quirky characters and music, odd (and often pointless) plots and sub-plots, etc. - but never really quite lives up to its idol. The direction was too standard. Wes Anderson has a fun pace to his films that are rather herky jerky, they run, then they walk, then they jog, then they come to a complete stop only to take off at a full sprint (like Bill Murray's character, Steve Zissou, in the The Life Aquatic when he is running away from the reporters). But Huckabees didn't go that far. The whole movie always moved forward at the same smooth pace; and while the characters and situations were often zany from one point to the next, so it appeared to go from normal to strange in one quick break, it never actually did since the movie would just continue on as if nothing extraordinary happened and all would be explained in due course.

Of course, a lot of people don't like Wes Anderson films for this very reason - they can be hard to watch because of the strange pacing and eccentric characters and lack of plot. But what I've found is that a lot of people that don't like Anderson don't like him more because of the pacing and plot issues and actually tend to like the eccentric characters - they just want to see the do something. Well, if that's the coat rack you hang your hat on, then this is the movie for you. Which is to say, I liked it, but I didn't like it as much I enjoy the master, Mr. Anderson, himself.

I suppose I should comment on the plot, briefly, since it is kind of bizarre. I will say that I thought that the plot was fun. The existentialist detectives (Lily Tomlin and Dustin Hoffman) was a great idea. A person wants to know what life is about. Well, it can only be answered from a given person's point of view. So, Tomlin and Hoffman undertake to fully understand the person's point of view and what that person's life means and then, through directed lessons, show the person exactly what their life is about. Isabelle Huppert made a great foil. Naomi Watts and Mark Wahlberg were fun as supporting characters.

mood: strange music: I'm Not Like Everybody Else - The Kinks tags: huckabees, movies, rushmore, wes anderson

A critically acclaimed documentary about quadraplegic wheelchair rugby and the ongoing rivalry between the USA and Canada for world dominance. Yes, that's right - it's not a typo - quadraplegic wheelchair rugby. Here's how it works (more or less) - there are x number of guys per side (5, I think) and each person is assigned a number based on the extent of their quadraplegic-ness: 4 for the less handicapped, 1 for the most handicapped. Each team can only have 10 (I think) points on the floor at any one time. All of the players slather some stick-um on their hands (if they have any - seriously) and each team tries to get a ball (sort of looks like a volleyball/basketball) across a "goal" line. The game is played on a basketball court. It is seriously crazy shit. To paraphrase one of the players - this isn't the Special Olympics, they aren't mentally handicapped, it is the real deal. Most of these guys were bat-shit crazy (like any good rugby player) before they were handicapped, and if you put them in a wheelchair when they have nothing to lose (most, by definition, have already had a broken neck once, and it is common, when wheelchairs tip over - which they do frequently, that the neck is broken again during a game) the game can get a little violent.
In any event, the movie treats "the game" like it treats each of the people, so while you see how the game is played and the movie sort of revolves around the US/Canada rivalry and the 2004 Para-olympics in Athens Greece, it equally revolves around the players themselves, and the injuries and causes of them becoming quadraplegic to begin with. What you quickly find out is that most of the players are jackasses - and, like other good athletes, they have hot girlfriends. You also find out that quadraplegics can, in fact, have sex - and you see a brief part of the "quadraplegic sex training video" that most of them are shown so they can get the idea of how it's done (often requires some imagination to get them in the right position - and, as you can imagine, the non-injured party does most of the work - very sexy) - but it also raises the question of whether it would be possible for TWO quadraplegics to have sex (they really only go into quad-normie sex). I contend that it would be possible, though very time consuming.

I actually found that the most compelling story line was "Kevin" (I think that was his name) who was a moto-cross rider who broke his neck in a crash. We meet him 4 months after his wreck and it is just sinking in that he is a quadraplegic and how that will affect his life. We see him go home from the hospital and freak out about how everything is different to accommodate him (though we are forewarned by the others in the movie that this is a typical reaction, so it's interesting to see it play out knowing that he will, hopefully, get used to it - we are also told that some people just never get used to it and are bitter and pissed off - which seems perfectly legitimate, if not entirely mentally healthy). We also see Kevin get introduced to the game of wheelchair rugby and see his interest bloom - and you can tell that the people involved in the game and the game itself will help him adjust to his new, seated, life.

It's a whole world that those of with legs never really see or appreciate. And the movie does a great job explaining it all to us and showing us the premier athletes of the sport and generating some empathy for their cause.

mood: amazed music: We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions - Queen tags: movies, murderball

A film by Woody Allen. Filmed in 1979 it has Diane Keaton, Mariel Hemingway and Meryl Streep. Mariel Hemingway was nominated for Best Supporting Actress and Woody Allen was nominated for Best Original Screenplay.

Like most Woody Allen movies it was short on plot and long on dialogue. The dialogue was sharp and witty and quick - though the movie itself moved rather slowly - probably because of the lack of a plot. In an hour and a half Allen jammed more dialogue in than Terrence Malick has had in all of his movies put together.

Manhattan was Sex and the City for the middle-aged Jewish crowd. Yale is cheating on his wife with an art snob/writer, Isaak is dating a seventeen year old. Yale goes back to his wife, buys a Porsche, and Isaak dumps the seventeen year old to date Yale's lover. Isaak and Yale's lover split when she goes back to Yale. Isaak goes back to the seventeen year old. In the meantime everyone contemplates why they bother in the first place. Why bother with the marriage. Why bother with writing. Why bother with the TV show. Why bother with love at all. The only thing everyone seems to agree on is that sex is good. Typical Woody Allen.

If you like Woody Allen, or even just like sharp dialogue, it's definitely a great movie. Personally, I thought the direction was a little stock, but it didn't get in the way. Allen chose to film the whole thing in black-and-white; given references in the movie and the whole "writer" theme going on, it's an apparent throwback to the old Cary Grant or Rita Hayworth movies. Allen also does a great job of showcasing the city that he names the film after and really putting the characters into everyday life in the city.

mood: pensive music: Bob Dylan - Idiot Wind tags: manhattan, movies, woody allen

It was a wedding.

mood: aggravated music: YMCA - The Village People tags: plays, tony and tina

I hadn't read the Narnia books in a long, long time, but my basic recollection of them was positive, if not a little dull. But, I remember nothing about them, so seeing the movie was much like never having read them. The movie was silly. I think that perhaps in book form it probably comes off better, but in movie form it doesn't even begin to touch the Harry Potter films for ways to kill a child's afternoon. Even more, for me, than the fact that it was silly (because quite frankly kids will watch anything with moving pictures and talking animals) was the fact that the CGI wasn't really all that good. In a number of places the contrast between actor/green screen was pretty sharp and it was clear that the entire scene was fake. Of course, it is, but it shouldn't LOOK like it. This was especially noticeable where there were extreme closeups on the actors (head shots, etc.) and would have looked terrible on a big screen.

It wasn't as bad as War of the Worlds, but, nonetheless is not highly recommended.

mood: aggravated music: The Beast and the Dragon, Adored - Spoon tags: movies, narnia

I posted the tracklist for Mix 7 in the comments of the previous post, however, I forgot to include the album names, so I'll repost as a new post:

Hippie Mix (To David Lowery) - 71 Minutes
BadAss Mixes #7

Running Time - 70m 55s

Tracklist
Camper Van Beethoven - We Saw Jerry's Daughter/Surprise Truck - Camper Van Beethoven
Spoon - The Beast and The Dragon, Adored - Gimme Fiction
My Morning Jacket - Into the Woods - Z
Cracker - Better Times Are Coming - Greenland
Wilco - Misunderstood - Being There
Pearl Jam - Comatose - Pearl Jam
Sonic Youth - Youth Against Facism - Dirty
Sublime - Waiting For My Ruca - 40oz to Freedom
Fleetwood Mac - Tusk - Tusk
Modest Mouse - Dance Hall - Good News For People Who Love Bad News
Old97s - Valium Waltz - Drag It Up
Iron + Wine/Calexico - Red Dust - In The Reins
Grateful Dead - Ripple - American Beauty
Cracker - Sunday Train - Garage D'Or
Los Lobos - When the Circus Comes - Just Another Band From East LA
Bob Dylan - One of Us Must Know - Blonde on Blonde
The Kinks - Alcohol - Muswell Hillbillies
Camper Van Beethoven - I'm Not Like Everybody Else - Camper Vantiquities