Midnight Madness - Sledgehammer Edition

While looking this old tv show up, it turns out that Sledgehammer co-star Anne Marie Martin (right) married and divorced author Michael Crichton to the tune of 30 million plus. That's a big chunk o' change!

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Couldn't help but notice Sledgehammer actor David Rasche got a featured role in the new movie Burn After Reading, bringing back fond memories of the short lived tv show. The Clint Eastwood / Dirty Harry take off was a fun dose of exaggerated action movie and detective show cliche's. Trust me, I know what I'm doing.

More Drama? - Yes has announced they've gone the You Tube route to find a singer to fill in for the ailing Jon Anderson. It seems to be done with Anderson's consent and he's been replaced once before (by the immensely talented Trevor Horn), though with mixed results. But it really seems pointless for Yes to do this, since they have not been an active band for a few years and the reason for a 40th anniversary tour is to celebrate the existing group members being together. And while the new singer can copy Anderson's voice well, you just can't duplicate his space hippie Jesus juice persona that is key to a lot of Yes music. Singers in other bands can be replaced successfully if they're better known for a vocal style rather than a distinct personality. Anderson's random lyrics, trippy talk about other dimensions of existence and the ethereal nature of the songs need his mojo to function. Looks like this is a done deal, so I guess all I can say is good luck Yes.

Barracuda: The musical - A week after debunking the RNC for using "Barracuda", Heart hits the press again to announce intentions of recording a concept album. I hope they use this opportunity to expand on the story from the "What About Love" video. We can get to the bottom of why Nancy Wilson had to be poured out of a bronze mold and how come there's not fifty of her if you can do that? And why is Ann Wilson wearing a mask with a lit blowtorch when you're waiting for bronze to cool? And why are the rockers in Victorian garb while sweaty models work in dirty rags? I sense class warfare and alchemy at work. The answers to these questions that have plagued my mind can finally be brought to light!

Riddle me this, Batman - Johnny Depp is either confirmed or not confirmed but definitely heavily rumored to be the Riddler in the next Batman flick. You can always expect the unexpected with Depp so if its true it should be interesting.

WoOoOoOoOoOo! - Retired Wrestler Ric Flair got a black eye from a fight with his daughter and another person. The daughter was arrested for assaulting an officer arriving on the scene (she got tazed). Apparently, Flair's daughter didn't understand that the whole "To be the man, you've got to beat the man" wasn't meant for outside the ring. I find it interesting that this isn't considered elder abuse, Flair is 59 years old.

It's not women's figure skating - Movie critic Roger Ebert was intentionally hit in the leg by another movie critic during a film screening. Ebert had wanted the other critic to stop blocking his view of the screen by leaning out of the seat. Somewhere, Tonya Harding is saying "Good, Good! Let the hate flow through you."

Is there a guitar legend he won't work with? - http://www.melodicrock.com/ reports the band Chickenfoot is recording. Made up of Sammy Hagar, Joe Satriani, Michael Anthony (Van Halen) and Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers) the group is said to have a Led Zep feel. Following the demise of Planet Us, this news has potential.

Speaking of guitar legends... - http://www.melodicrock.com/ also reports that Ywgnie Malmsteen has a new album coming out as well.

?Se Habla Espanol? - I find some humor in the song below called "One Semester of Spanish Love Song". A brief note, you may have to turn up the volume on the You Tube bar at the bottom of the menu because it starts off at zero volume for my computer. It may do the same on yours.

"One Semester of Spanish Love Song"

After Burn

Brad Pitt in the middle of negotiations during Burn After Reading

The Coen brothers strike again with their ironic wit and humanistic characters intact for the new film Burn After Reading. A darkly comedic parable about greed and fear, Burn traces five oddball characters as they become entangled with each other in pursuit of owning money, sex and relationships. The movie sets up the story of an ex-government analyst (John Malkovich)writing his uncensored memoirs until a disc of it falls into the hands of two fitness club employees (Frances McDormand and Brad Pitt). The two fit clubbers try to extort money from the analyst in return for the disc. In the meantime, a philandering treasury department agent (George Clooney) sleeps with many women including the ex-analyst's wife (Tilda Swinton). And from there, things become wildly unpredictable and interesting.

Burn is a character driven film with some truly memorable performances. Most of the actors do variations on role types they've done before - Malkovich is hyper intelligent and condescending, McDormand is midwest purity (like in the Coen's Fargo) and Clooney is a wide eyed simpleton masked by an ingratiating demeanor (like in the Coen's O Brother Where Art Thou). Swinton I'm not familiar with, but she delivers a first rate ice queen. The twist for these actors is portraying these people as venal and a bit sad but still retaining relatibility and likability. Burn After Reading hinges on the success of these performances because it's a character driven movie, directed by the Coens these actors shine.

But in terms of acting, the movie belongs to Brad Pitt. Which surprised me because I haven't always found Pitt convincing in previous movies. In Burn, Pitt plays the role of an empty headed teenage jock trapped in the body of a thirty year old perfectly. His snappy delivery and comedic timing is on target and commands attention whenever he's on screen.

With the actors in place, the Coens allow for time to let the audience to get to know the characters. Most of the humor is based on knowing these people so it takes a moment for things to really get rolling. But once it does, the Coens mix farce with harsh reality to create a world that is by turns funny and intense. There are moments that are as shockingly chilling as they are humorous at the same time.

Burn After Reading is a good film that's amusingly funny yet has some depth to the storytelling. It won't stand with other Coen brothers films as modern classics (Fargo, The Big Lebowski or No Country for Old Men) but is fascinating and entertaining.

Burn After Reading trailer

Death Becomes Them

Hit the Lights: Metallica's speed metal thunder is resurrected from the dead. No life 'til goatee?

I mentioned a few posts back that I've been waiting for Metallica to get back to the business of rocking. In the 80's, Metallica was a band that intentionally or not stood for something: Heavy Metal rebellion. They weren't on MTV, they weren't on the radio and were considered among the hardest of the hardcore in Metal (The friend who introduced me to Metallica's music would constantly debate with himself who was heavier, Metallica or Slayer. I don't know if he ever found an answer.). No nonsense, no bullsh*t, just straight up rock played faster and heavier than you could handle with total commitment. Their career picked up momentum through a combination of live performance, word of mouth and tape trading. The devil horn throwing headbanging masses championed the band as the source of pure music in an era of spandex and hair spray.

At the start of the 90's, the band slowed down their sound and hit paydirt with an artistic and commercial triumph in the Black album. Then they took a break for the first half of the decade. When Metallica returned, there was a noticeable change in their approach (more than just cutting their hair). In my view, their music from the late 90's seemed to be more about prestige, trendiness and above all gettin' P-A-I-D. Rebellion was no longer needed, they had become the standard bearer of all things Hard Rock in the 90's. A brand name, like Sears or Kleenex. That's not to say I didn't enjoy Load (1996), Reload (1997) or Re-Reload or whatever they put out at that time. It just wasn't as good to me, their albums were solid but not mind blowing like before (though Garage Inc. came close).

But for the new millennium, they shifted approach again starting with St. Anger (2003). Despite the total lack of guitar solos and a tin can drum sound (I actually enjoyed the drum sound though), I liked that Metallica were getting back to what made them unique. So why this three paragraph wind up? Because Metallica, the version of Metallica I'm a big fan of, has finally come back. At least musically.

Produced by Rick Rubin, Death Magnetic essentially picks up where ...And Justice For All (1988) left off. Death is filled with slash and burn guitars, complex arrangements, dog bark vocals and speed of light beats. It's all played with fire and uncompromising fury, something I didn't think the band was capable of anymore. New bassist Robert Trujillo fits in perfectly with a rumbling, agile style that is distinct from the prior bassists. James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich and Kirk Hammett attack their established roles with renewed interest.

The opening track "That Was Your Life" sets the tone starting with an ominous sparse guitar leading into a slow buildup of the full band before a classic style rampaging riff starts. It's followed by shifting drum beats between mid tempo and fast while Hetfield yells out end-of-the-world lyrics without any sense of commercial melody. Then Hammett unleashes a squalling guitar solo and before you know it, you're back home.

Other highlights include the strutting march of "Broken, Beat & Scarred" and the cut throat thrash of "My Apocalypse". The lead single "The Day That Never Comes" utilizes their established slow/quiet to fast/loud song structure (like "Fade to Black" or "One") to great effect (it has grown on me). And the instrumental "Suicide & Redemption" proves the band has lost none of their chops. Even the sequel "Unforgiven III" shines and the string backed piano start surprisingly fits in well with the album.

The morbid Death theme lends the disc a jumping off point for what to me is their most satisfying record in nearly two decades. I was skeptical that Metallica would not fully return to their roots given their impulse to be arty for art's sake, but they have really impressed me. Out of the whole piece, the only thing that took me out of the album for a moment was "The End of the Line" with the main guitar part aping Pearl Jam's "Even Flow" (it kept bugging me as familiar and my wife walked in and nailed what it was). Otherwise, Death Magnetic is from start to finish a great album. Each time I hear it, I like it more than the last time (an hour ago I thought it was good but another spin is revealing even more to enjoy) and finally they sound like dangerous badass SOBs again. Welcome home (sanitarium), Metallica.