2 Aug 2008 - Lollapalooza (De Novo Dahl, The Postelles, Mason Jennings, Devotchka, Okkervil River)

De Novo Dahl
A prefect start to a nice sunny day - this band greeted the morning in bright orange and yellow rompers, which stood out nicely against the walls of the band shell. I'd never heard of them before, save for one song that I'd downloaded from the Lollapalooza site, but they kept me occupied and glad I'd gotten up early and made it downtown.

The Postelles
Next up was another group of fresh young faces. The crowd wasn't too big - they had a solid performance, and they really seemed to be enjoying themselves. I kept listening to their catchy little pop songs for several weeks after the show.




Mason Jennings
I've seen Mason several times since I first "discovered" him 9 long years ago. It's been interesting seeing his style, lyrics, fan base and band members change. I enjoyed Robert Skoro as his bass player for a few years, but since then haven't noticed anyone of consequence in his band. That sort of hints to me that he might be a pain to work with, but what do I know? He has a woman playing bass now, and that's cool in my book.




Devotchka
This is a band that has come a long way since I first saw them as a random opening act when I was living in Denver back in 2000. They were fun, and I'm glad that a band with sousaphone, accordion and theremin can get invited to play such large venues. ah, the power of indie film, because I don't know that they'd have had so much exposure without Little Miss Sunshine and the like.





Okkervil River
And finally, I worked my way to the front for Okkervil River. I'd seen them once before, but being right against the rail was much more exciting than being in the balcony at the Riv. The whole band has such a great energy, and seemed to really be enjoying the day, (except for the lone female, sort of absently playing guitar off to the side.) I had fun playing with my new camera while they performed. "The President's Dead," and "For Real" were standouts, but "Westfall" blew my mind.

1 Aug 2008 - Lollapalooza (Yeasayer, Gogol Bordello, Mates of State, Cadence Weapon, The Cool Kids, Stephen Malkmus, and just a smidge of Radiohead)

Here it is Boxing Day, and I'm attempting to update ye olde blog. I figure I'll start where I left off, and see how far I get.

When we last spoke, I had just returned from the mega-festival that that takes place in beautiful downtown Chicago: Lollapalooza. When I first bought my three-day pass, I thought for sure one of my friends would join me for at least part of it. But, alas, I was flying solo, left to navigate to sea of pot smoke and sunscreen on my own.

Even though I got down there pretty early on Friday, the time I'd planned to spend listening to Rogue Wave was spent waiting in line instead. When I finally got in and made my way to the stage where #2 on my list (Yeasayer) was playing, I was starting to feel pretty old and uncool compared to all of the teenage hipsters surrounding me.

I couldn't get very close for Yeasayer, and that was a bad moment. I wondered if I was going to spend the next three days craning my neck to see bands that I liked, but didn't love. I couldn't imagine that that many thousands of people were there to see Yeasayer, who I didn't think had garnered such a following yet. Eventually, I got into the flow of things - learned some of the tricks to getting closer to the stage - and became thankful that I was there alone, and could follow my own agenda.

I'll just provide a few words on each act I caught, and throw in a couple of pictures where appropriate. More for sake of my own documentation than for your enjoyement, but if you like it, awesome.

Yeasayer
I was too far away to really get anything special from their live performance. After listening to their album, I was expecting to see some more interesting instruments (steel drums perhaps?) Chris Keating was a bit of a diva - refusing to take off his jacket despite the 90s temps. It was just okay, from my vantage point.


Gogol Bordello
If I had moved to the front after Yeasayer, I probably would have been able to get a great spot for this set. They sounded great, and put on a good show visually, complete with dancing ladies. Eugene Hütz really connected with the audience, and helped to put me in the mood for the rest of the weekend of rock.



Mates of State
Major disappointment here. I'd been listening to them sporadically for the last couple of years, and thought it would be neat to see them live. But, really they didn't bring anything new to a live performance than a recording. The keyboard and drums were about as far away from each other as possible on the stage, and, with Kori's head always hanging down (see below photo) there didn't seem to be any connection between them.



Cadence Weapon
Finally, I got was just a couple rows back from the stage for this young Canadian's set. Despite being afriad that the bass was going to change the direction of my blood flow or make my eyeballs implode, I had a lot of fun. I took a few mediocre pictures, but I liked what happened to this one when I started playing around with it.



The Cool Kids
Now, despite living in Chicago, and hearing the name before, I'd never heard The Cool Kids, so their hometown energy was a nice treat. I didn't stay for the whole set though, because I'd had enough life-changes bass for one afternoon, and I wanted to catch Stephen Malkmus.




Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks
I felt a little more in my element watching them - I recognized a few of the songs from Real Emotional Trash, had a relatively good view for showing up halfway through the set, and I was among my peers, so therefore didn't feel old and uncool. I liked that he had so many women playing real instruments in his band. After it was over, I listed a little to Radiohead as I left the park. I was probably more than a quarter mile from the stage, and I'd had enough for the day.

Lollapalooza - review coming soon.

Well - I survived my first Lollapalooza, and it was okay. The highlight for me was getting to the front row on Saturday for Okkervil River. Other fun bits included Gogol Bordello, the Postelles, and Cadence Weapon. I'll try to give you a little bit more of a review somtime in the next couple of weeks, and I'll post some more photos.

Until then though, I posted a whole mess of photos on my facebook page. So, if you partake in the facebook, check them out there.

Boban Marković Blows (The Boban i Marko Marković Orkestar - Martyrs', 21 July)

Imagine a mariachi band, oompah band, drum and bugle corp and punk band, rolled into one. Now cast a Danny Devito doppleganger with the voice of Mario Lanza and some serious horn skills, and you've got Boban Marković and his band of merry men.

Coming off a weekend of Chicagoland performances that included the likes of the Pitchfork Festival and the Evanston Ethnic Arts Festival, this troupe wrapped up their stand in our city with a raucous set at Martyr's on Lincoln Avenue. The sold-out show started (over an hour late...) with a couple of instant crowd pleasers, including a rendition of Hava Nagila before moving into even more crowd pleasers, that continued to please the crowed even more and more as the evening wore on. The played for a couple of hours, working the crowd into a soggy frenzy with each number. The finally ended just after 11 with the barreling "Kalashnikov," which had the entire audience, from 70-year-old Serbian men to world-music-savvy token hispters clapping and dancing along.

If you like loud brass and watching musicians who love their jobs, this band's for you, partiularly if you can catch them live. The Boban i Marko Marković Orkestar is a blast, and even though I don't know what the heck they're saying, everyone around me did know, and they were elated about it, so I was too.

Meanwhile, Back at the Manse.... (Shearwater with Frog Eyes and Evangelicals @ The Mansion - 24 June)

After a nice bike ride down to my old stomping grounds in Logan Square, my friend Joe and I enjoyed a bite at El Cid (featuring a new upstairs tequila lounge and too-loud music on the patio - gone are the days of the plum tree dropping rotting fruit around the strolling guitarist, I suppose) before peddling down to "The Mansion." Located just north of Fullerton and Kedzie, this venue is a former "asylum" of the masonic organization, the Knights Templar. Hence, I think "the asylum" would have been a better name than "the mansion," but who am I?

We arrived two songs from the end of the the Evangelicals' set. They may have potential, but I can't really judge them on that brief performance.

Frog Eyes was just awful. I've listened to a few of their tracks, and though that maybe, like Animal Collective, they were something that would grow on me... but no such luck. I've tried, but apparently it's not my thing. I do not like Frog Eyes, Sam I Am. And after an insufferably long soundcheck that had the vocalist warbling and wailing into the microphone ad nauseum, I was almost regretting the trip down there.

I was glad when Shearwater came out. They have a strong sound, and that guy (I don't feel like looking up his his name right now) has an amazing voice. The first two songs - with banjo and a nice rhythm were good, but then I think more of their longer pieces suffered from the sketchy acoustics in the room. It's got these really high ceilings, and this tiny little stage, and I don't think too much though has gone of what this combination does to the sound yet. So, I felt a little cheated out of the Shearwater experience, and will wait patiently for their next engagement, and hope that it's at Schubas.

mismatched pair - Jennifer O'Connor and Jamie Lidell @ The Abbey Pub, 4 June 2008

I had heard good things about Jamie Lidell. And I'd been wanting to see Jennifer O'Connor live for quite some time. However, the Abbey being a little out of the way, I often forget it's there. And when I read about this show, I kind of thought about going, but then changed my mind... until, my friend Shannon suggested going, and I marched right over to her cube and DEMANDED she buy the tickets right away.

It was a funny coupling. Jennifer O'Connor - a normal looking singer-songwriter, who can really rock out when she wants, and Jamie Lidell.... the British soul sensation, who has been riding easy on the Grey's Anatomy gravy train ever since one of his songs ("Multiply") was featured on a soundtrack.

There was no question that everyone was there to see the latter. Jennifer almost had the audience at the beginning. She and her band started with a couple of her sophisticated rock tunes, but then she made this fatal mistake of playing quiet slow songs from her forthcoming album. That might have succeeded if she were headlining at Schubas (which she did earlier this week, but I didn't go) but when you're opening for a character like Jim at a late late show, you've got to bring it a little more. Everyone was talking over her, and by the time she finished, I was pretty relieved.

Jamie on the other hand, had he crowd eating out of his goofy palm. He had a full band, which is apparently a treat for him, and I particularly liked the pants-less sax player, who could play two saxes at once. I had a stomach ache. I was exhausted from working long hours, and it was really warm in there... but I still had an awesome time, and I hope to catch him at Lollapalooza, though I don't know who he's up against there.

That's what it's all about.

So, I paid my ten bucks, and I went to the Death Cab show in Millennium Park. I enjoyed it, being pretty familiar with a lot of the music, and having a a few songs that I definitely love.

I was in a bad mood most of the day though, and during the show I was very happy. After a terribly rainy day, the weather was beautiful - you couldn't tell there the fog stopped and the fake fog started. But then it was over, and I was back to my sour disposition, but I suppose that sort of happiness in sadness is what "emo" is all about, even though I still sort of refuse to recognize that word.

Whatever.

(probably my worst concert review ever, but being so far away and given the remote (yet beautiful) orientation of the Great Lawn to the actual stage, it's the best I can do. Maybe tomorrow's will be better.

Schubas x 2 (Teitur on 5/14, Laura Veirs and Liam Finn on 5/15)

Someday I'll understand the science behind the phenomenon that causes all the bands I want to see to to book gigs in Chicago on back to back evenings. Until then, I'll just enjoy one marathon after another of live music at my favorite venues.

After the last 6 weeks have taken me to places like the Vic, Metro and Riviera, I am reminded of why Schubas is my favorite. The music room is perfectly small, and the sound is generally fantastic. After hearing good bands sound terrible in the larger classic venues, I can go to Schubas, where everyone sounds great. Well, maybe not everyone, but almost.

A few months ago, when I noted that Teitur was coming to town, I bought a pair of tickets right away. I'd been pretty much in love with his song "Louie Louie" for about a year. So, after I bought the tickets, I downloaded the rest of the album "Stay Under the Stars" from emusic. And I was a little embarrassed that I'd gotten so excited over him. At first, I kind of thought it sucked. With lyrics like:

"Umbrellas in the rain
Pop up in the windows
Because we’re not together"

And repetition of certain lyrics, seemingly just for repetition's sake, his songs struck me as awkward. It must be strange though, writing songs in a second language. And though he speaks English fluently, the poetry ends up a little askew.

In anycase, most of the album ended up growing on me.. And I downloaded the new single from his new album, and it was okay too...but I still wasn't looking forward to the show. But, apparently Teitur loves Schubas as much as I do, as the new song "Catherin the Waitress" was apparently written about a encounter at the very spot. So, that added an extra element of excitement, and it was an enjoyable little show.

His band was made up of young Nordic men and women grinning, blowing horns, playing xylophones and clapping hands. I think it was exactly what I needed to cure my grumpiness. Later, as my friend Dave and I sat at the bar, the band was drinking up the night's pay, and when Teitur leaned on the bar to order another round, I engaged him in a bit of conversation. Then he made me taste his bandmate's margarita, because he insisted that it tasted "like swimming pool."

The next night, I found myself back at the corner of Belmont and Southport for round two. This time it was Liam Finn and Laura Veirs. Laura was a known factor, and although I still enjoyed it, it wasn't one of her better performances. It was the second show of the night, and you could tell she was pretty tired. I did really like the spare treatment of "Shadow Blues" and for the first time, I listened deliberately to "Spelunking," which I now have a new fondness for. LV showed off her banjo skills on "The Cuckold Hen" and finished up with a couple oldies, ending with one of my favorites, "Blackeyed Susan."

The highlight of the evening though, was my first live taste of the wunderkind offspring of Crowded House frontman, Neil Finn - Liam Finn. I'd been listening to his album "I'll be Lightening" all spring, and was a little worried that he wouldn't do it justice live. But, boy was I wrong. This was rock and roll, and I want more. He played almost every song from the album, and the creative looping, switching intruments, and hopping all over the stage was unpredictable and exciting. And he's got this great versatile voice. It's definitely got some similarities to his pop's, but I think he strethes it a lot more. And, although it took me a while to warm up to her, his sidekick EJ was a nice compliment. He's a pretty young guy - so it will be interesting to see where he goes.

Ape-Rock-Recap

Here is it May 1st, and I find my self at least 3 blog entries behind, 4 if you count the play I went to on Saturday. So, just to make myself feel complete, I'll give some abbreviated commentary on the last week and a half. And I'll try to be better about this stuff in May.


Colin Meloy @ Park West, 21 April
Once again, I enjoyed my relaxing spot in the balcony, but felt a little detached from the action and energy on the floor. Colin holds an audience on the end of a sting, and pulls them along. They'll do anything he says, even if his performance isn't that great. It was a nice show, but I did miss the band. Although he writes the songs, he didn't seem complete without the rest of them. Laura Gibson did a nice little opening set, and I did find the highlight to be Colin and Laura's special duet rendition of Sam Cooke's "Cupid."

Iron & Wine with Califone @ the Vic, 22 April
Wrapping a three night stand, I actually did find myself nodding off a bit during one of the more extended, trancy numbers... luckily, this was when Joe elbowed me to ask me if the drummer had three arms. Both bands were fascinating to watch, and to hear, remodeling songs that had become familiar on their albums into new creatures. But I liked it best when it was just the pair of vocalists - Sam Beam and the woman I believe to be his sister.

Half-handed Cloud @ think/dance collective @ the church that I can see from my doorstep - 24 April
Interestingly enough, Berry United Methodist Church, which sits on the corner of Leavitt and Giddings, is home to the Lincoln Square Arts Center, which presented this little-publicized, but enjoyable low-key event last Thursday. Half-handed Cloud, is John Ringhofer, a normal looking guy, with a squeaky cartoon singing voice, and an endless catalog of tiny little songs. His songs are quirky and fun, and although they're full of christian references, they're mostly of the type you would expect to find in a claymation bible story. The dance group was good too - I forget how much I enjoy that sort of thing. I also feel compelled to mention that I've joined the CSA that delivers to this church on Saturdays, so I suppose in some way or another, it's going to be part of my new life in Lincoln Square, but probably never on Sunday.

And, well, I did see a play on Saturday Night. "Speech and Debate" at the American Theater Company, was a refreshing look at what my life could be if I were in high school RIGHT NOW. Thank goodness we didn't have the internet when I was in high school. We didn't even have caller ID back then, so lonely nerd remained lonely nerds without their blogs and podcasts, but we had a better speech team that the kinds in this show.

It was a unique production - lots of elements of recorded sound and video, made it a little more multi-media than most plays, and a few songs, without it committing to being an actual musical were just right. I have to say though, I did find the very last scene almost too abruptly cliche, and although I had been enjoying it as a completely original story, I almost groaned out loud at Solomon's testing the waters in the gay chat room with the "is anyone out there?" Reminds me that I do need to go to more plays though, so I'm glad my roommate magically produced these tickets. I still owe him $20.

-Neko +Okkervil River = pretty good show (New Pornographers @ Riviera 4/20)

This was my second date with A.C. Newman's rock machine, and it wasn't as hot as the first one. And, it actually had nothing to do with the absence of Neko Case (who broke her ankle and had to leave the tour last week.) I just think that after last October's show at the Metro, my hopes were a little too high.

I love watching this band. I love A.C. tight little stomp-and-pivot style of cranking out each song. I love Kathryn Calder's nonchalant posture at the keys. But I like being a little closer to them, and from the balcony at the Riv, they just looked, and most of all sounded a little too far away.

I think the Riviera suffers from some sound issues. This was my third time there, and I don't think I've ever been too impressed with the acoustics. And tonight, during both Okkervil and NPs, there were a lot of issues with feedback, and fuzzy muffled vocals.

I still enjoyed myself though, and it was nice to be more familiar with the new album, (Challengers), than I was at the show in the fall. "Adventures in Solitude" and Myriad Harbor (with Okkervil's Will Sheff filling in for Bejar) her highpoints of the show, as well as, I thought "Sing Me Spanish Techno," which I didn't care for much until recently. But that's funny how sometimes a song takes a year or more of play before it finds the right spot in your ear. They did fine without Neko - all they were missing really were her vocals, her tambourin-ing, and her glow - but that gave us all a chance to focus more on the rest of the band. Who knew the drummer had such a nice falsetto. Kathryn Calder was a little more centerstage this time too, and held her own on all the female vocal lines.

Another highpoint, was their performance of what has to be the perfect cover song for the New Pornographers. One thing this band has mastered are the Ooohs, aaahs, hey-aahs, doo-das, and the like, and during their encore, the busted out a flawless version of ELO's "Don't Bring me Down." I was pretty impressed.


Okkervil River itself was fine. I wish I'd had a chance to see them at Schubas last year... this place ws too big for me to enjoy them for the first time. It was good to hear a handful of familiar tunes off the new album, and I was quite satisfied that they closed with "Westfall," since that was the first of their songs I ever heard, and it remains my favorite.

So, my final word on NP, take two is that while I missed the energy and intimacy of the Metro show, this one was still enjoyable. And I'm still wanting more. I just read on NME that they'll be at Lollapalooza. So far, I haven't heard that rumor anywhere else yet, so I won't hold my breath. But that would make me a very happy gal.

How I Spent My Summer

I know. I'ts not summer yet, but I just wanted to make my summer project official. This started as an idea of a an adventure to go on with another live music afficianado who was possible moving at the end of he summer. Now, he's not moving, so it's no longer time sensitive or linked to him. But, still plan to visit all of the music venues in Chicago that I never have. But, I am going to cheat, because I'm not necessarily including jazz or blues clubs. But, it could happen.

But no I realize, I think I've been to most of them. I'd better make a list. And this is all I came up with:

House of Blues
Congress Theater
Charter One Pavilion*
Reggie's Rock Club
Ronny's
Kinetic Playground
Old Town School (I've only need here for square dancing)
Hideout (I've only been here for live band karaoke)
Double Door
Cobra Lounge
The Wild Hare
Phyllis'

I may have forgotten one or two, so I'll add to them if necessary. BUT, that's like one a week for 3 months, so a totally realistic goal in my opinion.



*Although you'll see a few large venues on this list, I don't plan to extend this to suburban monstrosities, like the Allstate Arena.

Friends with Benefits (Scotland Yard Gospel Choir in residency at Schubas)

Before April gets out of hand (and it's about to, and fast) I thought I'd better share my thoughts on my most recent trip to Schubas. Every monday this month, local band, Scotland Yard Gospel Choir is headlining their hand-crafted showcase of music, chatter, and various sundry features, with proceeds going to a handful of charities with local roots. I went to the first installment, and was treated to the cringe-inducing comedy of Jena Friedman, a too-long, but really funny story on Mayor Daley's speech oddities by WBEZ's Ben "too pretty for radio" Calhoun, and some music.

The opening band was Cabin, a band from Kentucy. They were okay. They played well, but I don't think they've found their own sound yet. SYGC's Elia Einhorn claimed that they were "Sufjan Stevens' new favorite band." I think he made that up.

SYCG itself was a lot of fun. A nerdy hybrid, showing influence of the Pogues, Belle & Sebastian and the like, they seem to have a lot of fun on stage. They're all pretty normal looking folks too. I had heard them at first on a Bloodshot Records sampler on eMusic, and so I was glad that they opened with that very song that had lured me there. "Aspidistra" is obviously one of their more polished tunes.

Their onstage banter is pretty good, and I particularly liked guitarist Mary Ralph's verbal catalog of tha nation's many varieties of generic Dr. Pepper.

A few of the songs are a little TOO referent to Belle & Sebastian in a sorty of gender-ambiguous, hopeless unrequited love sort of way, but pieces like "Aspidistra" and "Everything You Paid for" stand on their own, and I hope the band sticks together long enough to put out another album.

I'm going to plan to go back for their last offering on the 28th, if I'm not too exhausted after next week's music marathon. So, if you're reading this, you should join me. You can even by a nifty poster of a bunny humping a skunk for 5$. I did.

GOOD NIGHT.

F is my favorite letter as you know... (Kathleen Edwards w/ Luke Doucet and the White Falcon @ Metro 4/5)

Night two of female country/rock singer-songwriter weekend was everything I'd hoped for. I hadn't seen Kathleen Edwards live since she played a free show at Schubas to support her first album in 2003. Since then I wore out her first two albums and was well on my way to doing the same with the third. Her repertoire is a good split of sad songs and f-you rock songs (and she dropped quite a few of those f-bombs at the metro Saturday night too.)

She plays the crowd well, her banter isn't completely flawless. She babbled about Wilco, the Cubs, and how much she likes Chicago. She was genuinely happy with the nearly full house and kept telling us. She rocked on older favorites like "Six O'Clock News," and "In State" as well as the new, fun tunes "The Cheapest Key" and, finally, after hearing drunken fans yelling "Marty McSorley!!!" 10 or 12 times, "I Make the Dough..."

And drunken fans there were a plenty. Groups of men in their 30s-50s seem to love this woman more than anyones else, and are not shy about it. She must have psycho-stalker fans at every show. Her husband is in the band, and after on particularly bold solo, she told one of her suitors in the front row "That's guitar for 'stay the fuck away from me.'"

As she says in "The Cheapest Key," she does have a softer side. And it's not just for love songs. Once she got the band to leave the show, and the crowd to stop yelling out random song titles (I swear I heard a "Free Bird" in there. Don't people know that's just not funny anymore?) she was able to play the quiet, "Alicia Ross" and "Scared at Night" from her new album "Asking for Flowers." The former is a haunting first-person re-visioning of the murder of a young Canadian in 2005, and the latter combines her own memories with her fathers' exploring family bonds and life and death - and her voice did this beautifully. I was very happy with this show.

Fellow Canadian Luke Doucet opened. I liked a couple of his songs, and though his Band, The White Falcon was really impressive. I also found myself thinking though, that some of his work falls into my category guitar rock for men. And he had his band of drunken hockey fan followers who had trailed him down from Minneapolis to prove it. But, the were fun to watch, and I would definitely go see them again.

Tift Merritt w/the everybodyfields @ Schubas, 4/4

It was sort of a tradeoff, that a friend would go to Kathleen Edwards with me tonight, and I would go to Tift Merritt with him last night. Similar genre: young female songwriters oft-compared to Lucinda, Emmylou and the likes. Seemed like an even deal.

The everybodyfields were nice. I've been listening to them for a few weeks, and it's good, cry your eyes out, sobbing music. They seem to have that mastered, but I'd like to see what else they can do.

Now, the real thing:

So, although I'd been seeing and Tift Merritt banner ads some time, I'd also been ignoring them, and it wasn't until tickets were in hand for this show that I downloaded her latest album from eMusic.

If you've read any reviews of Another Country, you know they've been pretty lukewarm - identifying a couple good tracks, but mostly saying it was a disappointment follower to her previous work. Well, I'd never heard her other stuff, so I couldn't say that, but initially I didn't like much of it. It had a sound that was a little too perfectly produced. I didn't quite buy it. A few tracks grew on me pretty quickly though: mainly "Broken" and over all, "My Heart is Free." But, I still wasn't convinced, and wasn't sure how this big sound was going to fit in a little place like Schubas.

Well, not too worry, because Tift's tiny, with a comfortably awkward onstage banter, and so instead of being a diva, she kind of seemed more like your best friend putting on the most kick-ass karaoke performance in your favorite bar. She's fine on guitar, but stands out and seems at home when she's playing piano with all of the bounce and groove of Jo Ann Castle or Marcia Ball.

And maybe some of her songs are inspired by elders. Lots of comparisons have been made, but mostly to other female country vocalist. Going back to my favorite song from the album though, I hear Vietnam war-era rock influencing what is obviously a song about the battlefield. But where I'm hearing CCR and Jefferson Airplane, the song itself is about and previous-generation cousin of Merritt's dying in WWI France. An interesting parallel though, for a time when we are facing yet another overseas war.

So, while I went prepared for something nit quite my style, I really enjoyed myself, and would definitely catch her again sometime. Seriously though, watch out. Out of frustration at one point, she pitched a bum harmonica into the audience without quite enough warning. Luckily a very tall man to my right reached up and caught it with his freakishly long arms, or someone could have a nice little scalp lac.

Home Electronics Flashback

Several times in recent years, when chatting with friends or colleagues about techonologies of the past, such as the VHS cassette, I have said something about what we just called "discs" when I was little.

Ineveitably, each time, someone has said, "Oh yeah, LaserDiscs..." and I have had to try to explain, no, not those. Just video discs. And for some reason, nobody I talk to about this seems to remember the things. In fact, some people seem to think it doesn't exist.

So anyway, I thought I'd consult my friend the Worldwide Web, for some proof. Here is a link to the Wiki article on CED discs, and a little demo on how it works. See, I wasn't making it up after all.

The Glass is Already Broken

Tonight's post was meant to be a an advance review of the new documentary "Young at Heart" but since the screening was seriously oversold, and even showing up at 6:17 didn't get us into the 7:00 screening. Nonetheless, I had a nice night at the Duke of Perth with some nice people. As Rocky Dennis once said, "these things are good."

So, instead, I'll talk a little bit about the last few films I've seen.

No Country for Old Men
I never want to see it again. I don't care what happened to the money. But I loved it.

EU FILM FESTIVAL, PART I
Now that I'm finally officially a memeber of the Siskel Center, I hope to go more often that my usal 3-4 times per year. So, I hope to get down there at least one more time before what is officially may favorite film festival closes for the year next week. But, just in case I don't, here are my reviews of the two films I did catch last week.

It's a Free World
For some reason, I've always been a fan of the gritty social realism of Ken Loach, Mike Leigh, and a handful of other British directors. Ken Loach in particular. Although his last feature The Wind that Shakes the Barley was a bit of a departure, it only bolstered my appreciation of his work, so I was more than excited to see his newest film.

I was a little disappointed. Why? I can pinpoint a few reasons, none of which are legitimate. I wasn't buying the female protaganist... I think he works better with the male lead... AND, although his stories often center around innately good people doing questionable things for honorable reasons, Kierston Wareing's Angie was pretty void of redeeming qualities.

I also don't think that the improv Loach has his actors do was as successful in this film has it has been in the past, coming across more as just unscripted floundering in a few parts.

What is this movie even about? Well, Angie is canned from a company that's recruiting and exploiting Eastern European workers, and starts her own company to do the same thing. But, the blatant disregard for humanity she and her associate show baffles me.

Anyway, enough on that one, except to say that I really think my favorite character was the bumbling pub owner. Or maybe the son.

Saturno Contro
Really, I just saw this, because I figured, while I was downtown, I might as well make a night of it, but I ended up loving it. With the English title of "Saturn in Opposition," accomplished Turkish-Italian director Ferzan Ozpetek's story of a close-knit group of friends dealing with their own issues with the backdrop of the sudden illness and death of one of the friends was refreshing and mournful.

A cast of well known Italian and Turkish actors create some memorable characters, and just when I thought it was going to end, we got another good 30 minutes of learning more about them. I wasn't even quite ready to say goodbye when it was over.

It was beautiful, and I recommend seeing it on the big screen if you can. It will be good on DVD, but not as special.

My sweded review of Be Kind Rewind - it's only 33 words long.

In the interest of getting it done, I present a short form review of my most anticipated film of 2008. I'm just too tired to write more.

Gondry's imagination never fails to captivate me. Who would think of magnetic urine? Jack Black was still pretty much Jack Black, but Mos Def's character was fresh - no one we've ever seen before.

Winter DVD Roundup - or, A Fistful of Netflix

So, I haven't been watching quite as many films as I was at this time last year, but I still have quite a few that I've watched in recent months and not bothered to talk about. So here are some brief thoughts on some of them.


Margot at the Wedding
10 x the cringe and 1/2 the humor of Baumbach's last film. Interesting characters, great acting, and beautiful, but sometimes I wonder if every story really must be told.

In the Valley of Elah
Good performance by Jones, not as predictable as I expected. I thought the ending pushed it a little bit, but this was Paul Haggis, after all.

Reign Over Me
Don Cheadle plays a dentist looking for a life outside his wife, kids, and job. He's on the edge of finding it in the mouth of lonely patient, but instead takes on Adam Sandler's Charlie, a 9/11 widower who proves to be more than he can handle. Good story, small surprises here and there.

Introducing the Dwights
Yet again, another movie with Brenda Blethyn as a domineering mother. But she does it so well. This film from Australia was cute at the same time that is was tough, but I didn't really buy the girlfriend's character - a little too clingy and neurotic for him really to fall that much in love with her.

When Will I Be Loved?
Most of my peers on Netflix pretty much trashed this picture, but Roger Ebert gave it a glowing review, which is why I rented it. Ebert likened it to jazz, with Neve Campbell as the soloist. Well, I think he's right. But consider the fact a lot of people don't like jazz. Generally, I think jazz is usually okay.


Respiro
Last month you may have read my review of Emanuele Crialese's more recent film, Golden Door. While this didn't reach the same level of magic, I am still left with some vivid images, and I want to visit Lampedusa. Interesting note on oral fixations: Both films open with boys holding foreign objects (e.g. rocks or birds) in their mouths.

Cautiva
A believable, well told story from Argentina. A teenager struggles with identity after learning that the people who raised her are not her birth family and in fact may have had a hand in her parents' deaths.

Clean
Somewhat disappointing story of a woman's struggle to kick the needle when her rock-star husband ODs and her in-laws get custody of her son. I think I liked all of the characters except the protagonist. And I didn't think her music was so great.

Rocket Science
Funny, awkward. You think you know where it's going, but you don't.

The Feast of Love
Hmm... I remember really liking the book, but the movie just didn't do it for me. It was full of stereotypes of love, both good and bad. Portland was pretty, and Morgan Freeman was soothing and wise as usual as the narrator, but the rest of the characters were shallow and undeveloped - a result of poor adaptation, I think.

Something the Lord Made
Over the past year, I have developed growing fondnesses for both Mos Def and Alan Rickman. That enough might make me watch this again and again. I do always like the hidden historical dramas, and this one is pretty cool, because we realize that this wa s pretty recent history, so we're able to reflect on issues of race, ethics, and science and how things have changed in 50-60 years.

The Motel
As if being a fat adolescent isn't hard enough. This kid doesn't have a dad and lives in a hot-sheets motel. Pretty neat little indie flick.

Princesas
How does a middle-class woman become a prostitute? And then what does she do when she falls in love? Sad story with some happy moments, and a lot of good music from Manu Chao and others.


Beyond the Gates
Another Rwanda story, but this one from the point of view of a young, idealistic British teacher. No matter who is telling the story, I always cry my eyes out.

Un Air De Familie
I was hoping for the bright, quirky joy that I've seen in Cédric Klapisch's more recent films, but this one was a bit of downer most of the way through. I did really like Agnès Jaoui as Betty though, and it made me want to drink whatever she kept ordering.

Hawaii, Oslo
Truly unique story taking place over a brief summer night, day, and night again in Oslo.

Rescue Dawn
I liked seeing Steve Zahn in a serious role. I'm not sure he was any good at it though. Christian Bale was good - almost the grown-up super-version of the survivor he played in Empire of the Sun.

Hard Eight
Here's a ranked listing of PT Anderson Films from my favorite to my least favorite.
1)Magnolia 2)There Will be Blood 3)Boogie Nights/Hard Eight (tie) 4)Punch-drunk Love

This Is England
One of the best movies I've seen in the past year. This kid was good.

The Girl from Paris
Have I mentioned I want to live on a farm? Make that a farm in France.

normal lives on the big screen

So, thanks to a friend who knows my appreciation for the cinema, (thanks Alyna!) especially the free variety, I scored some free tickets to see pretty much any movie I wanted from Fandango. So I picked one that I'd been wanting to see for months, but hadn't yet pursued.

The Savages was a genuine story of two people caring for and dealing with their dying father, even though they've got their own shit going on. Hoffman's Jon and Linney's Wendy are both sort of stuck. Jon's stuck in his comfortable college-professor/writer career, which is so much his focus that he lets the love of his life leave the country with hardly a blink. Wendy temps, steals office supplies, writes plays, sleeps with a normal-looking married man with a dog, and tells a few not-so-little lies to make her life sound more exciting.


Their estranged father's common law wife passes away, and her family leaves him high and dry in Sun City, AZ. So Jon and Wendy bring him back to Buffalo to a nursing home, and with for him to die.

If this were a predictable film, they would get to know their father more, become better siblings to each other, and become fast friends with all of the nursing home's staff and residents. But it's not, and it's full of little unexpected bits, that are completely genuine and believable.

Visually, it was believable too. From the surreality of the Arizona desert, to the messy reality of a Buffalo winter, to the messy clutter of apartments, houses and nursing homes, I felt like I was watching people and places I knew.

The Savages shows that even when you are not close to someone, it's still a hard decision to surrender to the fact that you can't care for them, and that a nursing home is a necessity. There's still guilt and resistance and a million other feelings. And experiencing these is ultimately what Jon and Wendy need to nudge them out of their ruts and get on with things.

soak them in ice water for 10 minutes a day

We all know I average about a two-week delay on my movie reviews lately.

So, a couple weeks ago, I saw Persepolis. I had been eagerly anticipating its release for months since I read the books last fall. I was a huge fan of Marjane Satrapi's graphic novels, and I was excited about the story. But I was a little dubious that her simple drawings could translate into a feature-length film.

I was wrong. Her collaboration with the animators was brilliant, and added depth and character to the images. Speaking of character though, I did feel the film fell a little short in developing the characters from the books. But, that might just speak to my imagination as I read them.

I know that people have to make choices when adapting books to screenplays, and I wonder how they decide. Because one part that stood out as conspicuously missing from the film, was the friendship with the roommate in Vienna.

Anyway, it was a great story, a memoir of a different sort about family, identity, and home. I'm glad to see such a non-traditional film (cartoon for adults that is not from Japan) in so many theaters. And it's not as out there as The Triplets of Belleville.

Uma? Oprah? Whatever. (Enjoy my celebrity lookalikes)

Lost in Translation

With a beautiful title like Nuovomondo I think Miramax would have made out better if they'd stuck with the original Italian for Emanuele Crialese's story of a family's journey from Sicily to the U.S. Golden Door was a beautiful film, and deserved a nice round word like "Nuovomondo" to match its sensuality.

From the opening scene where I could almost feel the chalky rock in my moth as father and son climbed a mountain looking for an answer, the movie was filled with vivid pictures so rich I would almost feel them. Whether they were real, like the giant fish being hawked when the family arrived in the port city, or imagined, like the mammoth phallic carrot or the coins falling from the tree. Certain shots stand out too, like the pull out from the barren rocky terrain they call home at the beginning, to the awesome separation of the masses on the ships deck from the masses on shore as the ship departs.

As you know, I'm a big fan of the waif known as Charlotte Gainsbourg. She was an interesting pale contrast to the Italians on the boat, and I'm not completely sure I understand her character, but it was interesting.

One of the most unique features was pairing what I take to be Sicilian peasant music with a couple stellar Nina Simone tunes ("Sinnerman" and "Feelin' Good." The timing was really effective - which doesn't always happen when music from one time is injected into stories from another.

It's hard to imagine a life so hard that you would leave it for dreams of a land where rivers of milk flow for those who work hard. And we think we've heard every type of immigrant story, but this one is different in that it focuses not on the struggle to survive in the new world, but on the decision to leave and the journey itself. If you get a chance to rent this, I hope you like it, but it might be one of those bizarre tales that not everyone will find as beautiful as I do.

Do I need to report this to HR?

No trip to L.A. is complete without a celebrity sighting, right? Well, although the plane ride back with several members of Big Bad Voodoo Daddy would have fulfilled the requirement, we had already made the grade in Santa Monica last Monday. My friend Joe and I were blindly wandering the promenade half listening to people trying their luck at reality TV's latest regurgitation, "The Moment of Truth," while we waited for Erin and Jill to finish up at Banana Republic.

Suddenly, Joe was talking to a stranger, and asking him to pose for a picture, which I of course was asked to execute. Here you see the result, and if you watch the Office, you should recognize the actor to the right. I didn't, because I've only seen the show a couple times. I won't say his name here in case that violates some copyright law - I didn't get him to sign a photo release after all - but enjoy it, if you enjoy him. He's the one on the right, by the way. The other one is Joe.

And there was...

So I'm running a few weeks behind on my movie reviews. I caught an early Sunday matinee of P.T. Anderson's latest film, There Will Be Blood earlier this month. Although I often shy away from "historical epics" I am nonetheless always in pursuit of Paul Thomas Anderson, and Daniel Day Lewis. Neither of them disappointed with this film. Lewis was outstanding, even if he looked like Tom Selleck at times. Really one of the finest acting jobs I've seen in years. And there were some breathtaking shots, and the opening scenes, with their almost absent dialogue really drew me in.

I'll stop short of saying I loved it though, and it's because like Mr. A's other films (Magnolia being the exception) there was a point about 3/5 in, where I started to wonder if it was going to be too long... started to wonder if the movie was starting to take a turn for the bad and boring. This happened in Hard 8 and in Boogie Nights, and so I suppose I recognized the Anderson Fatigue for what it was, and accepted it. In the end, I found myself laughing at the absurdity of the story, and wondering how I got there, but all in all, it was a darn good flick.

I'm pretty behind on seeing movies too, and I know I have a lot of catching up to do. My goals this weekend are to see do my taxes, write my belated xmas thank-yous, and see Persepolis. Small goals, I know, and acheivable, but I have a way of letting the time slip by these days. Check with me on Monday.

Happy New Year

Who the hell is Frank Langella? And how did they know he would be a perfect Leonard Schiller? Well - he's one of those actors who has played countless minor roles, and seems completely familiar because of it. But very few of us could tell you where we've seen him.

Starting Out in The Evening stars Mr. L. as a forgotten novelist who may or may not ever finish his next book. Lauren Ambrose plays Heather, a brilliant yet somewhat clueless literary criticism student, pursuing a teenage obsession with Schiller all the way to a thesis. She's smart and sexy, but is always going to be a little out of sync with the rest of the world. Her awkward persistence finally charms the old man, just in time for her to finish her project and slip out of his life. But that's okay, he knows he doesn't want it anyway when she orders beer when he obviously wanted to share a fine wine with her.

Playing along is Lili Taylor, charming as always, as the novelist's always-present daughter. There's history there and it's mentioned here and there. But mainly Ariel remains a genuinely believable contemporary woman, and we her and her partner Casey (Adrian Lester) continuing to grow up and learn from the father, even at 40.

Nice little movie - a look at people who may very well exist in real life, but who you won't probably ever meet because they're too shy. Pretty suitable for a quiet snowy New Year's Eve.