Bits and Pieces plus number 88

Since I've gotten cable, I've seen parts of many movies to decide if I wanted to see the whole thing. I'm going to give brief reviews of those movies:

I saw most of Wimbledon. The story is an extremely formulaic love / sports story about Kirsten Dunst as a star tennis player and an older British tennis player making a comeback. The movie doesn't have any original ideas and even borrows a bit from Notting Hill. Dunst is never convincing as a tennis pro on or off the court. Worst of all, the tennis ball is clearly digitally inserted into the picture removing any believability from the scenes. The direction is way too busy for a simple movie of this type. I rate this a 1 out of 10.

Also, I saw all of The Man Who Loved Women. I saw a version of it starring Burt Reynolds but found that one very boring. Director Francois Trauffaut (sp?) uses his autobiographic, humanistic style to build sympathy for an unhandsome womanizer who will go to any lengths to meet an attractive lady. The main character is obsessed with bedding as many women as possible and loves all aspects about them as representatives of their sex, not their actual personalities. By holding up a mirror to a character whose extreme sexism is rooted in sincerity, the movie reveals the pleasure, pathos and loneliness of a person who views love as something to be collected instead of nurtured. The movie succeeds as both a character study and a comment on modern relationships. This was a very impressive film. 8 out of 10.

I watched Dark City directed by the same guy that directed The Crow. The art direction is amazing in this film, it is shot on darkened sets with real detail in the settings. Unfortunately, the film stumbles in every other area. The storyline, in particular, either rips off or lays the foundation for the Matrix. 2 out of 10.

The last movie I watched was Saving Face, about a Chinese - American mother and daughter. The mother is a widow and is pregnant due to an unknown lover. The daughter is a closeted lesbian struggling with her mother's issues and her own personal issues. I thought the film was heartfelt and well acted, but the storylines have been used repeatedly in other films. I give this movie a 4 out of 10.

With this many bad movies around, I'm grateful the number 88 CD is:

Jet - Get Born (2003)

Jet is a successful Australian hard rock band with a no nonsence approach to their rockers and ballads. Like many people, the first time I heard of Jet was their song "Are You Gonna Be My Girl?". Unlike many modern bands, there was a sense of abandon in recording this song. The entire album captures this feeling of balls to the walls rock. Although they have been compared to The Strokes and White Stripes as part of the garage rock movement, I feel they're closer to the Kinks.

The main song, my favorite on this album, is "Are You Gonna Be My Girl." The song, with it's jumpy beat and IPOD commercials seemed to rock harder than much of it's competition. When I first heard this song, I thought it was just a short song written for a commercial but I loved it. "Girl" was the first song from this decade that I really liked. It was catchy and it was unafraid to rock without any sense of what's considered "cool".

"Cold Heart B***h also rocks hard but seems a little misogynistic (sp?). I found the lyrics a little annoying until I realized it was supposed to sound like AC / DC. I guess it's an Australian thing, somehow knowing it's AC/DC makes rampant sexism OK. Also, the video really nailed the feeling of being drunk in a bar by continually cutting out frames while moving a hand held camera.

"Radio Song" comes off like Oasis lite, but I actually like this song better than anything Oasis has done. Although I like Oasis, I've always thought they were a little overrated. I also like this song better than that "California" song for the tv show The O.C., which "Radio Song" kind of resembles.

"Cold Hard B***h" and "Radio Song" represent the two sides of Jet to their best. The rest of the album follows suit by switching between hard rock ("Rollover DJ", "Get Me Outta Here") and beatlesque ballads ("Lazy Gun", "Timothy"). Occassionally they even have a bit of a punk edge in their songs ("Take It Or Leave It"). All of the songs work well with the exception of "Look What You've Done", which was the second single off the album.

"Look What You've Done" echoes the old ELO ballad "Can't Get It Out Of My Head" but to lesser effect. It's not a bad song, just boring and I was disappointed to see it as the second single. Still, it got a lot of radio play so it seems others liked it well enough.

Like many modern bands, I don't know if Jet has enough talent to generate good songs past the first album. But for one album, Jet manages to sum up all that was great about classic rock of the last 40 years into a vital, vigorous blast.