Random Movie Selection

I've seen a couple of movies on television recently and decided to put a few comments out on each of them:

The Island - Michael Bay, king of the 30 second shot, strikes again with yet another movie that is high on style and low on substance. This movie puts on airs that its intellectual sci-fi about a society rebuilding itself after an apocalypse. The Island steals bits from all sorts of sci fi, but mainly pulls from Logans Run and Minority Report. Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johanssen play the suckers-I mean lead actors in a movie that doesn't call for much acting as much as running. For some bizarre reason, Ewan McGregor's mole on his forehead gets more prominent lighting than anything else in the movie. I mean, I've seen the mole in other movies of his but in Michael Bay lighting the thing takes on a life of its own. Some sci fi themes come up but are quickly dropped in favor of chase scenes and explosions. If you have a chance to see this...don't.

The Dreamers - Bernardo Bertulucci loves to make movies about people in isolated and emotionally damaged states having a lot of sex, The Dreamers is no exception. A movie about an American student in 1960's France hooking up with a twin brother and sister who play sex games and obsess on new wave cinema. The main reason I watched this was to see Eva Green, who will be the Bond girl in Casino Royale. Green gives a good performance as a sexual tease head case, I'm looking forward to seeing (probably less) of her in Casino Royale.

The Upside Of Anger - Joan Allen gives a terrific performance as a wealthy wife and mother of four daughters whose husband leaves her for the secretary. Allen delivers a full performance, bringing across a character who feels like a real person with different moods. She is unafraid to show the ugly side of her characters anger and bitterness, but doesn't overplay it to the point of caracature. Other actors and stuff happens but none of it matters, it's all Joan Allen on this one.

Charlie And The Chocolate Factory - Tim Burton gets his whimsy on in this almost pointless remake of the Gene Wilder classic. Teaming up again with a Michael Jacksonish Johnny Depp, the movie plays fairly close to the original except for the oddball style that Burton has patented. It's an OK movie, I just didn't think it beat the original.

Red Eye - At the time of its release, it seemed like the girl-in-danger-on-a-plane movie with the lesser pedigree (I think Jodie Foster's Flightplan came out around the same time). But where Flightplan took it's implausible plot seriously, Red Eye deliberately throws logic out the window. A heroic Rachel McAdams fends off the terrorist leanings of a villianous hitman played by Cillian Murphy. The first half plays out like a Lifetime movie of the week, with Murphy psychologically and physically terrorizing McAdams. But when McAdams physically fights back, the movie's kitch factor kicks into high gear. None of the actual movie makes much sense, but watching these two battle it out on a mental and physical level makes it very watchable. For a wannabe Lifetime movie without the bad courtroom ending, it's pretty good.

Wolfmother

Picking up where I left off, I recently bought the CD to the band Wolfmother. I heard the song "Woman" and was impressed by the proto-Zeppelin riff and Robert Plantish wail. I couldn't believe a band would be that retro in this day and age, I hadn't heard such lavish imitation since the Black Crowes broke out. I heard a second song, "Mind's Eye" which echoed early Pink Floyd's style of haunted balladry. Both songs had a strong presence in them which motivated me to check them out.

It took me a little while to digest this album, because like The Darkness before them it's hard to get around the derivitiveness of it all. Yes, this band rocks hard like its 1972. Yes, they are influenced by many of the great hard rock bands of the early 70's. Yes, I like this album. But, why don't I love it?

As much as I enjoy Wolfmother, it comes down to the fact that this music is more a concept than a group right now. Aside from the blatant Led Zep influence, bits of classic rock are strewn across the album. The Bad Company riff used on "White Unicorn", the Dylan lyrical nod in "Joker & The Thief" and the Rush like song titles ("Vagabond", "Dimension" and "Colossal" to name a few) are dead give aways.

This made the album easier to enjoy in parts instead of as a whole. The first two songs you hear at any point in the album will impress with its heavy classic rockness, but after that the predictability of the album becomes a little boring. I think this band has a lot of potential, but right now I'm giving them a 6 out of 10.

Number 79

It's been awhile, so to get the ball rolling here's Number 79...

Fleetwood Mac - The Dance (1997)

One of the first bands I was ever a big fan of was Fleetwood Mac. I became a music fan in 1982 and I was infatuated with Stevie Nicks. I thought she was one hot witchy woman chick! I had a Fleetwood Mac poster the size of my wall. And I respected her talent, I liked her singing and songwriting as well. I had my best friend record a Fleetwood Mac concert off his bootlegged HBO and I was hooked.

Fleetwood Mac became THE band to me for awhile. The combination of three distinct singer / songwriters, the soft harmonies, the finger picked guitar and tight rhythm section sounded amazing. Plus, they had Stevie Nicks and that "Gypsy" song I couldn't get enough of. I thought all bands should sound this way, I bought Rumours at a local Payless and received Mirage from Columbia House records.

I couldn't wait to see them in concert, but after 1982 Fleetwood Mac just died off. No announcement, no final tour, no anything. Just a string of solo projects to keep hope alive. That hope paid off in 1987, when the Mac reformed and released Tango In The Night. They were set for a major tour when Lindsey Buckingham quit. I saw Fleetwood Mac post-Buckingham, they were competent and tight but the magic wasn't there. I never thought I would see Fleetwood Mac live again.

So it was with great surprise that Fleetwood Mac did reunite in 1997. Probably inspired by the amount of bank their soft rock contemporaries The Eagles made, Fleetwood Mac set aside their differences for a reunion tour. The concert was almost everything I could hope for (except Stevie Nicks seemed a little tired), the band ran through classic hits like "Dreams", "Go Your Own Way" and "You Make Loving Fun" like it was 1977 again. Stevie Nicks let out a big wail on "Gold Dust Woman" that you could feel all the way to the back of the ampetheatre. There is a chemestry when the five members of Fleetwood Mac play, an edgy tension that livens up the soft harmonies and supple rhythms that mark their classic sound.

The Dance is the live album which the tour supported. Musically, it's a handicapped album with more backup band members than actual card carrying members. But the thrill of hearing classic Fleetwood Mac played by the original performers is awesome. In addition, the rearranged numbers like the acoustic "Big Love" or the banjo & brush drum driven "Say You Love Me" freshen up the procedings. I've got to admit, I don't care for the USC band assisted "Don't Stop" but not every track can hit as hard as the rest. The Dance marks a time I thought would never come and the fond memories pushes this one to Number 79.