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MOVIE REVIEW: Once

I don’t recall any recent movie that was as critically acclaimed as Once. Last I checked, it had a 97% positive rating on the movie site Rotten Tomatoes. It’s been billed, correctly, I think, as a musical for those who like music but hate musicals. I mean, there’s no Ewan McGregor from Moulin Rouge, merry murderers from Chicago or even Jennifer Hudson from Dreamgirls, all of which I’ve seen, by the way, breaking into song to advance the plot. All the music comes from their “real” situations, and works, perhaps, because musicians who could act were cast, rather than actors who could sing.

Carol and I got a babysitter and went to see Once last month at the Spectrum in Albany, when it was down to two shows a day, as it turns out the week before it closed. It’s the story of a Guy (Glen Hansard) in Ireland who is a busker with a guitar, an aspiring singer/songwriter and vacuum cleaner repairman who meets a Girl (Marketa Irglova), who’s also a singer/songwriter as well as a pianist. They end up making beautiful music together in an “organic” way. But it doesn’t play out exactly how you might think.

Incidentally, I capitalized Guy and Girl, because that’s how the characters are billed; likewise Guy’s Dad (Bill Hodnett) and Girl’s Mother (Danuse Ktrestova).

I really don’t know how to describe this any further without giving out key plot points, except to say that we too were charmed and captivated by Once. It has a running time of 85 minutes, and it’s rated R, almost certainly for the substantial use of the F-word. In fact, much of the scene before the credits even pop up is laced with that word; it lessens considerably after that, but you may want to watch this with other adults.
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Gay Prof says something snarky about the impeding departure of Karl Rove so I don’t have to.

ROG

Playing The Whole Album?

Interesting stuff in this past Friday’s Weekend Journal of the Wall Street Journal, even if Murdock IS buying it.

One piece was Hollywood Report: Up Next — Your Favorite Album; In Concerts, Bands Play CDs, First Track to Last; Battling the iPod Effect by Ethan Smith. WSJ. Aug 3, 2007. pg. W.1

Abstract (Summary)
The impetus behind the current wave of live album concerts comes from England, and in particular from Barry Hogan, the 35-year-old London-based founder and director of an influential music festival called All Tomorrow’s Parties. “When you see a band you love, how often are you sitting there thinking, ‘Why are they doing this new stuff?'” Mr. Hogan asks. And after having asked himself that question one too many times, he decided to do something about it. In 2005 he launched a concert series, related to All Tomorrow’s Parties, called Don’t Look Back. That series has presented around two dozen alt-rock artists playing beloved albums in their entirety — from Iggy Pop’s Stooges playing 1970’s “Fun House” to the Cowboy Junkies doing 1990’s “The Trinity Session.”

Despite sellout crowds, Mr. [Bun E. Carlos of Cheap Trick] acknowledges that in some ways, the concerts were “goofy.” For one thing, the order in which songs appear on an album might not make sense in concert. “If the producer didn’t think there were 10 or 12 killer songs, he’d top load the sequence” with potential hits, Mr. Carlos says. That means that in concert, a band might end up closing with the weakest material of the night. Another problem: There were some songs on the albums that the band had never played live, and they struggled with them. A few were rearranged as acoustic numbers, to give themselves a breather. “We were young men when we did ’em originally,” Mr. Carlos says.

Other artists have taken a more maximalist approach. For the just-completed European tour during which he played his 1973 album “Berlin,” [Lou Reed] was backed by a 30-piece orchestra. Mr. Reed played a brief series of “Berlin” concerts in New York last year, but his manager, Tom Sarig, says he is unsure whether the rocker will perform the album elsewhere in the U.S.

Besides Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, and Cheap Trick, Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters has played live versions of “Dark Side of the Moon”, and Sonic Youth hit the road to play “Daydream Nation”.

This fall, Lucinda Williams will play a week in NYC and LA with each night featuring a complete performance of one of her five most prominent albums, such as 1998’s “Car Wheels on a Gravel Road.” But during a second set, she’ll play selections from her 2007 release “West.”

Interesting. I’ve know of other artists, notably Phish, playing a whole album, but not the actual artist, except once in 1989 in Albany when I saw Joe Jackson play the entire first half of Blaze of Glory, then some other tunes, then the entire second half; the audience was unfamiliar, and therefore not very happy, as some folks walked around the Palace Theater, somewhat bored.

Another piece, on sports: By the Numbers: The Best at Keeping Batters Off Base
Allen St. John. WSJ: Aug 3, 2007. pg. W.3

Abstract (Summary)
In the American League, the BABE list also is topped by two young pitchers, each of whom were crucial pieces in big trades. Dan Haren of the Oakland A’s, acquired from the St. Louis Cardinals for Mark Mulder, has posted a .378 BABE. (Underscoring Billy Beane’s acumen in identifying promising young pitchers is the fact that A’s draft pick Joe Blanton is third in the AL with a .393 BABE.) Behind Mr. Haren is Josh Beckett of the Boston Red Sox, who’s rewarding the faith that General Manager Theo Epstein displayed when he traded two prized prospects to the Florida Marlins for the hard-throwing righty.

One thing that the BABE list shows us is how volatile the pitching side of the game is. The BOP list of top hitters tends to be quite consistent from season-to-season, with such players as Barry Bonds, Albert Pujols and Alex Rodriguez keeping their places at the top alongside sleepers such as Carlos Guillen of the Detroit Tigers. But many of the league’s top pitchers are pretty far down on the BABE list this season. Last year’s National League BABE champ, Brandon Webb of the Arizona Diamonsbacks, is 14th on this season’s list with a .406 mark, two slots behind John Maine of the New York Mets (.402). Roy Halladay of the Toronto Blue Jays, the 2003 AL Cy Young winner and last year’s AL runner up in BABE, is 18th on this year’s list — behind journeyman Ted Lilly of the Chicago Cubs. And Oliver Perez of the Mets (.421, 23rd), who a year ago was demoted to the minors by the pitching-starved Pittsburgh Pirates, ranks ahead of two-time Cy Young winner, and defending AL BABE leader, Johan Santana (.423, 25th).

The writer talks about BABE, or bases per batter. BABE starts with a pitcher’s total bases allowed (the sum of his hits allowed plus one extra point for each double, two extra for each triple and three extra for each homer). When you add in walks issued and batters hit by a pitch, the sum is Grand Total Bases. Divide GTB by the number of batters a pitcher has faced, and the result is BABE. The lower that number, the better a pitcher has been at minimizing the number of bases issued to opposing batters.

There’s a third article in that edition, about a Indie Film festival in New Zealand. Also, in the Saturday edition, there’s this: “New Labor Moves: Belly Dancing Hits Delivery Room; Connection to Childbirth May Have Ancient Origins”, which I sent to our Bradley instructor, our doula, and the only belly dancer I know personally; the former, at least LOVED the piece. If you’re interested in the full text of any of these pieces and can’t access them, e-mail me.
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It’s sports Hall of Fame season. First the baseball event with a record 75,000 in Cooperstown, then football in Canton and horse racing in Saratoga. Jaquandor provided not only the football story about a guy who played for the only team in NYS, but directed me to a story about Barry Bonds, which pretty much covers my position. The Buffalo guy also notes: “As for people who suggest that his record carry an asterisk in the record books, wouldn’t any batting title from the steroid era also require an asterisk?…Hell, if as many players took steroids as are commonly supposed, shouldn’t the entire yearly standings of Major League Baseball carry an asterisk in that period?” But I know mine’s a minority opinion; in some AOL instant “poll”, 65% were shocked, shocked I tell you, that Barry Bonds should get any kudos at all.
ROG

There IS Need to Fear

Underdog is here. I’ve seen the commercials for the movie of the live-action character, opening today, voiced by Jason Lee (Earl of My Name Is…) and it seems lame. A Chicago Tribune piece by Louis R. Carlozo seems to agree: “…redux has all the hallmarks of a film that lives up to its title, minus the ‘under’ part.”

Fortunately, the REAL Underdog is here. The cartoon version, voiced by Wally Cox, my favorite Hollywood Square, is also coming out today: three volumes of The Ultimate Underdog, six episodes each, $12.93 each from Classic Media. The product also features shorts of Tennessee Tuxedo, voiced by, would you believe, Don Adams, plus Commander McBragg and the annoying Go Go Gophers.

I was never a big fan of live action versions of cartoon characters. The Garfield movie seems a little creepy to me. But I didn’t really care that much about Garfield, anyway.

The Underdog cartoon, though, I was invested in. Beginning with its faux Superman opening – “It’s a bird.” “It’s a plane.” “It’s a frog.” “A FROG?” – let even this 11-year-old in on the tongue-planted-firmly-in-cheek joke. But it was clever, not condescending, or dopey. “Not bird or plane or even frog. It’s just little ol’ me [CRASH ] Underdog.”

What does it say about me that I know the theme songs for all four of those cartoon segments?
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More Spider Pig on ‘Simpsons’ DVD and other pop culture stuff.

ROG

Oscar-Worthy Films I’ve Seen: 1936

The Nominees:

Picture: “MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY”, “Alice Adams”, “The Broadway Melody of 1936”, “Captain Blood”, “David Copperfield”, “The Informer”, “Lives of a Bengal Lancer”, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, “Les Miserables”, “Naughty Marietta”, “Ruggles of Red Gap”, “Top Hat”

Actor:VICTOR MCLAGLEN in “The Informer”, Clark Gable in “Mutiny on the Bounty”, Charles Laughton in “Mutiny on the Bounty”, Franchot Tone in “Mutiny on the Bounty”

Actress:BETTE DAVIS in “Dangerous”, Elisabeth Bergner in “Escape Me Never”, Claudette Colbert in “Private Worlds”, Katharine Hepburn in “Alice Adams”, Miriam Hopkins in “Becky Sharp”, Merle Oberon in “The Dark Angel”

Director:JOHN FORD for “The Informer”, Michael Curtiz for “Captain Blood”, Henry Hathaway for “Lives of a Bengal Lancer”, Frank Lloyd for “Mutiny on the Bounty”

The one I did see was Munity on the Bounty, albeit on commercial TV many years ago, which, I suspect, did not do it justice. I’m guessing that perhaps three actors vying for the Actor Oscar from Munity helped McLaglen win, though it won for Director as well.

As far as the omissions: the Marx Brothers were slighted for A Night At The Opera, which I’ve seen on TV; Alfred Hitchcock’s The Thirty-Nine Steps, which I haven’t. I’ve seen scenes from
Top Hat, which was nominated for Best Picture, neglected its performers and its directors. You may have seen the great dance finale of “Lullaby of Broadway” or “The Words Are in My Heart”, with 56 grand pianos coming to life.
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AFI 100 greatest movie quotes (montage)

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Win a SPARKY Award and $1000! Contest details.

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Sharing can also be a vital tool in helping to address complex problems that challenge society – like disease, hunger, global warming, and economic disparity. The sharing of ideas gives us ways to discover, collaborate, and create in unprecedented ways.

The SPARC Discovery Awards challenges you to illustrate in a short video presentation what you see as the value of sharing information. Use your imagination to suggest what good comes from bringing down barriers to the free exchange of information.”

Spread the Word!

ROG

MOVIE REVIEW: Waitress

Last weekend, the wife and I got to go to the movies for the first time in ever so long. There’s usually some negotiation involved, but we honed in on our choice straight off.

I had intended to review this movie right away before I was influenced by other assessments, but of course that didn’t happened. What I’ve discovered in a number of reviews of this film is the overuse of the q word. Rotten Tomatoes, which gave it a 90% positive rating, notes the consensus is that it’s “sweet, smart and quirky”.
Waitress is the story of a woman named Jenna (played by Keri Russell), who’s pregnant – that’s established very early in the film, so that’s hardly a spoiler – and in a bad marriage. Her day-to-day salvation is making pies, delicious-looking pies, with names that describe her feelings at the moment, such as Baby Screaming Its Head Off in the Middle of the Night and Ruining My Life Pie. Jenna has two co-workers, Dawn (Adrienne Shelly) and Becky (Cheryl Hines), who are friends, even when each make choices that the others aren’t crazy about.
Jenna finds solace, for a time, in meeting with the new ob/gyn in town, Dr. Pomatter (Nathan Fillion). But ultimately, it’s about Jenna trying to figure it all out for herself.

I don’t want to say too much more about the plot, but I will make these observations:
Andy Griffith as the crusty diner owner Joe is wonderful.
It’s unfortunate that Jenna’s chauvinist husband is named Earl (Jeremy Sisto), because it reminded me of that Dixie Chicks song and video, Goodbye Earl. This Earl turns out to be more nuanced than the one played by Dennis Franz.
This is a foodie movie in the tradition of Chocolat or Big Night. There is a one pie-making scene that is VERY sensuous.
The music, mostly alt-country, I guess, and at least one tune co-written by director Adrienne Shelly, was great. One song choice I thought was a little odd, though I gave it a pass when I realized it was performed by the group Cake, another food group.
Some of the reviews claim that there is an “inconsistency of tone” in this movie. I didn’t feel it. I thought it was just how life is.
I really liked the waitresses and their bonds, but Cheryl Hines as Becky reminded me just a little of Polly Holliday as Flo in the TV show Alice, also about three waitresses.

All in all, I really liked this movie. But I had a sense of sadness during the credits, not by what was on the screen, but over the fact that the director Shelly would not be making another warm and touching film, as she was murdered last year.

I should mention, finally, that Keri Russell as Jenna is wonderful in this film. I’d never seen her in Felicity, before or after the infamous haircut, but there are few (if any) scenes she’s not in, and she’s always credible and interesting.
ROG