June, 2009

Unless you’ve been living in a cave for the past couple days, you most likely know about Michael Jackson’s untimely death Thursday at the age of 50. I thought it would be an appropriate time to pay the superstar his due reverence with a top 10 favorite song list, but any list wouldn’t be complete without a Jackson joke; after all, its become a pop culture necessity for several years – well before he named his youngest child, Blanket.

So here’s one courtesy of Late Night host Jimmy Kimmel: “He was an extremely powerful symbol: a black performer whites could relate to and then later in life, a white performer who blacks could relate to.” Well done, Jimmy. And on that note I bring to you my top 10 Michael Jackson playlist.

10) Remember the Time

9) Rock With You

Who Is It?

7) Black or White

6) Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’

5) The Way You Make Me Feel

4) Beat It

3) Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough

2) Man in the Mirror

1) Billie Jean (Quite simply the most timeless, brilliant pop song ever recorded. Pretty cool video too.)

As you probably noticed, Thriller is conspicuously missing from my list. The reason being that I always considered it a far better video than song. But that’s just me and everyone’s got their own personal Jackson faves.

R.I.P. Michael

Life derails for Walter Garber, a NYC transit worker, when a former prisoner hijacks a subway train, takes hostages, demands money and demands only to talk with Garber. Tony Scott’s version of the 1974 film with the same title, “The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3” is full of action and passionate performances.

Both Denzel Washington (Garber) and John Travolta (Ryder) are full of energy throughout the film. The movie also stars Luis Guzmán, John Turturro, James Gandolfini, Alex Kaluzhsky, and Gbenga Akinnagbe. “Pelham” won’t be nominated for any awards, but it’s a captivating movie and a terrific opportunity to finally see these veteran actors, Washington and Travolta, acting together.

 The Good: - Denzel Washington – Going from playing an obnoxious crime boss to an inspirational debate teacher – Washington’s “Garber” adds “everyday man” to his recent resume. But Garber isn’t perfect, which makes the character even more appealing. Only Washington could give this character the sincerity needed to not come off as hammy. Would we expect anything else from the classy actor?   - John Travolta – I think the last time Travolta was this fuming in a movie was in “Face/Off” (or was that Nicholas Cage?). Covered in tattoos as “Ryder,” Travolta plays the wisecracking, angry-at-the-world subway hijacker impressively. It’s great to see Travolta and his acting talents back on movie screens (only this time without a dress).

- The Movie’s Pace – The story’s timing is well done – it’s not too long or too short. The plot progresses steadily and doesn’t get caught up with irrelevant details. “Pelham” gets to the point, and sticks to the point – and I like that in a movie.

- It’s An Action Movie Too – “Pelham” isn’t all talk – it’s not continuous negotiations or argument with Ryder, it’s not solely “what can they say next to make him stop.” Those theatrical elements are covered, but Scott has also offered audiences great action sequences complete with flipping cars, cop shoot outs, and a standoff!

The Bad: - Background Characters – Roger Ebert makes a great point, “This version occupies a denatured action-movie landscape, with no time for local color and a transit system control room that humbles Mission Control. That also may explain the film’s lack of time to establish the supporting characters, even Travolta’s partners.” I agree because, the lack of focus on the secondary characters establishes a lack of caring for them. However, putting more emphasis on them may have interrupted the film’s pacing and if that’s the case then I’ll pass – keep the movie the way it is.

- Slightly Over the Top – The cars flipping during collisions are a little dramatic, but it sure does make for an entertaining movie.   In The End: “The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3” will definitely keep audiences’ attention. But now that it’s competing with “Transformers 2” I think we’ll see it disappearing from theaters soon. However, make sure to catch it on DVD because Washington and Travolta’s performances shouldn’t be missed!

“Blindness” is kind of a scary movie depicting the outbreak of a seemingly contagious illness that renders people blind. Understandably, the worst of humanity comes out. Mark Ruffalo, Julianne Moore, Danny Glover, Alice Braga, and Gael García Bernal are some of the actors that make up a group of quarantined individuals living in a vacant mental institution where, literally, the blind are leading the blind, with one exception, a Doctor’s wife who lies about being sick in order to stay with her husband (who is sick). 

“Blindness” is a unique epidemic film that can be admired for its take on the genre, the acting, as well as its views of humanity during such desperate times.   The Good: – Terrific Acting – One sign of a great actor is when they can make audiences hate them, love them, sympathize with them, etc.  “Blindness” features actors capable of bringing viewers into their world so much so that it’s impossible to sit back and submissively watch this movie.

- A Different Take on the “Disease” Film Genre – Within the portfolio of “disease contaminating society” films out there “Blindness” is special. The characters don’t actually die from the “white blindness” disease.  The illness in this movie doesn’t mean death, life as a zombie or other tragic fate – the illness isn’t necessarily the “bad guy.”

- The Tempo – “Blindness’” plot progresses at a nice pace. The audience learns about the disease and how the world is dealing with it at the same pace as the characters in the movie. The pacing is so that the deterioration of society and desperation are sincere – viewers aren’t thrown into chaos and expected to buy into it.

The Bad: - Not a Happy Movie – About 15 minutes of “Blindness” are happy and worthy of a smile, I could have used a little more.

- It’s Pretty Darn Realistic! – Unlike zombie or alien attack movies, “Blindness” is slightly more plausible, making it that much scarier. Seeing how people change and the terrible things they do in the movie makes me cross my fingers that something like this will never happen.

In The End: “Blindness” is a quality film in regards to the acting and plot, but won’t leave audiences with a warm and tingly feeling once it’s over.

The year is 2009.  Terminator: Salvation has been released.  The film itself…is not so black and white.

Not even shady gray. Yet, more like gleaming silver. Gleaming silver pistons of death ignited by the fiery optic pulse of powerhouse structures of machinery called Terminators. I digress…ah yes, the film.

In the film, the element of time is held to an astral plane; not immediately comprehensible in the context of the story. What’s defied is the linear logic of time, man and his offspring.

(Enters the realm of the machines).

The year is 2018. The lethal and exacting machine regime is at hand and presenting a dystopian state for the misnomered “resistance”:human extinction.

Nine Inch Nails front man Trent Reznor has announced that their performance Sunday at the Bonnaroo Music Festival was their last in the United States. For those unaware, Bonnaroo is a popular music festival in Manchester, Tennessee which has been dubbed as “The New Woodstock.”

The industrial rock group performed their last set in the early morning hours Sunday, shortly after Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band wrapped up. “It just dawned on me that this is our last show ever in the United States,” Reznor said during his band’s set. “Don’t be sad. I’ll keep going. But I think I’m going to lose my … mind if I keep doing this, and I have to stop.”

NIN just completed a U.S. tour with Jane’s Addiction. Their summer tour continues in Europe and Asia. The tour is entitled “Wave Goodbye” and was conceived as a farewell tour to mark the 20^th anniversary of their debut album, “Pretty Hate Machine.”

Best wishes, Trent. It’s been an impressive journey.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine was released in May in succession to the first three X-Men films and in prelude to the highly-anticipated Avengers film, which will be released in 2012.

As a kid, watching the show X-Men on T.V. to see Wolverine and my other favorites was a Saturday morning ritual. Now, to see his cinematic portrayal come to fruition indulges nostalgia.

The film’s opening credits coincide with a sequence that introduces Logan and his brother Victor, who we come to know as Wolverine and Sabertooth, respectively. The setting is 1840s Canada and the two young brothers flee their home and become professional soldiers, fighting in many wars such as the Civil War, WWI, WWII, and Vietnam. One could immediately detect the maudlin disposition of these two feathering pansies in the first twenty minutes.

After surviving an execution in one of the virtuous wars they so bestially fought in, Logan (Hugh Jackman) and his brother (Liev Schreiber) are approached by Colonel Stryker, who understands what they are. Stryker (Danny Huston) makes them an offer they can’t refuse; well they could refuse it, but that wouldn’t make for a very interesting story, would it? They agree to Stryker’s proposition and join his team. They do not realize that their agreement to help Stryker is a facade for a plan that will ultimately have relative consequence in the events that occur in the preceding X-Men films: the Weapon X program.

Logan and Victor fight alongside other mutants for Stryker’s cause before one day Logan decides that he no longer wants to be a part of the annihilation of innocent people. So he quits the team, much to the dismay of his manicure-needing older brother.

Logan escapes to the mountains of Canada, where he becomes a Brawny man-looking lumberjack and gains the love of a comely schoolteacher named Kayla (Lynn Collins), who licks his figurative wounds. Get it? Cause’ he regenerates. Through his intimate relationship with Kayla, he gains the inspiration for the moniker that is eventually dubbed to him.

However, his quiet life with the schoolteacher is vehemently interrupted when Sabertooth returns and Logan finds Kayla slain in his trail. Feeling the pain of love lost and enraged to avenge his fallen lover, he seeks answers from Stryker. Stryker explains to vindictive Logan that the only way to defeat Sabertooth is to work with him. After Logan agrees, he befalls the insidious will of Stryker and undergoes a procedure that renders his claws adamantium, making him virtually indestructible. The plot thickens…and from a pool of comatose recollections emerges….Wolverine.

Throughout the film, Wolverine and Sabertooth tussle in several scenes, some of which are charmingly graced by the presence of highly anticipated X-men favorites like Gambit (Taylor Kitsch), and Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds). Although Gambit is a tough character to portray well, Kitsch does it with aplomb. Ryan Reynolds integrates the comical charm of Van Wilder and the graceful swordsmanship seen in Blade: Trinity to do likewise. Liev Schreiber plays a ferocious Sabertooth, and appropriately portrays a formidable opponent for Hugh Jackman.

His performance is more memorable than that of that one dude’s from the first X-men films. And although it probably wouldn’t fit into the story, I would have liked to see Omega Red face off against his arch nemesis. Hugh Jackman is ultra jacked for the film. However, I don’t think the gruff machismo of Wolverine would approve of tanning. But aside from his spray-on tan and impotent howling, Jackman seems to pull it off.

Most people reviewed X-Men Origins: Wolverine unfavorably and said it has a dull storyline, and doesn’t compare to other superhero movies like Iron Man or The Dark Knight. While I agree the storyline is not strong, to compare it to other superhero films unrelated to the X-Men story is naive and presumptuous. The film sits comfortably in the company of the other X-Men films and its acts supersede many of the portrayals in the first three films. The action sequences are grippingly fun and flashy. If you’re an X-Men fan, see the movie…bub.

The countdown to the end of one of the most inventive TV shows has begun. “Lost” ended it’s second to last season this past Wednesday with a finale full of answers and new questions (which is how they like to do things over at “Lost”). For the 5th season, producers assured fans there would be more answers to some of the many mysteries of the show (sigh of relief)! Below are just some that the show revealed these past 17 episodes.

Item 1 – Season 5 introduced one of the biggest mysteries so far – HOW are the Oceanic 6 going to get BACK to the island?! Episode 6 “316” answered this Lost mystery by showing the survivors boarding Ajira Airways Flight 316 in order to recreate as much of the original Oceanic 815 flight as possible (including dead Locke as a stand in for both himself and Jack’s father, Hurley with a guitar at his side as a possible stand in for Charlie, and the pilot who was SUPPOSED to be flying the Oceanic flight). And their efforts work – there’s a bright light then back on the island!

Item 2 – An island that moves?! In the first episode of Season 5 “Because You Left” we see what really happens after Ben turns the donkey wheel. Juliet, Sawyer, Locke, Daniel, Miles, Charlotte and additional Losties and Freighter folk are consumed by a bright light that starts them bouncing around through history – literally.

Item 3 – What were the circumstances surrounding Locke’s death? In “The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham” the Season 4 cliff hanger – Locke in a coffin – is explained. After a full day of extremely bad news, Locke attempts to hang himself, only to be interrupted by Ben. Ben talks Locke down, they chat for a bit and just when Locke’s revealed enough information for Ben, he strangles him.

Item 4 – Who is Jacob? “Jacob” has been a name and authority referenced quite often and for quite some time now on “Lost.” It was hinted at that it might be Jacob who was using Christian Shephard’s body (Jack’s dead father) as a vessel to move and speak. In the season finale, we find out that, like Ben, the audience has never actually seen Jacob before, but, unbeknownst to the Oceanic 6 – they have.

Item 5 – How does Daniel Faraday’s mother, Eloise Hawking, know so much about traveling to and from the island? – The episode “Jughead” presents Ellie (a.k.a. Eloise Hawking). As of 1956, she’s an Other and she runs into future son Daniel and his friends Charlotte and Miles and brings them to a leaking hydrogen bomb.

In The End

The only complaint from this loyal fan is that in the finale, there wasn’t any way to already know what was going on because the key information was new and revealed for the first time at the beginning of the episode “The Incident” (Jacob on the beach talking with his rival). In the end though, the executives at “Lost” have really overcome some of the unhappiness from TV watchers of past seasons. But since making the decision to only have 6 seasons, the stories have had the chance to really develop so that loyal fans get the reward they deserve.

How did Green Day go from a shameless 90’s Bay area punk trio to the most relevant rock band in America? It’s a rhetorical question, I know, but there is something truly special about a band capable of making the cultural defining statements of Dookie, American Idiot, and their latest offering (which complements Idiot quite well), 21st Century Breakdown.

On Breakdown, Green Day is truly breaking it down on what it means to be alive in post-Bush America. Billie Joe Armstrong is like a modern day Walter Cronkite, reporting on America’s state of affairs much like Cronkite brought the ugliness of Vietnam directly into Americans living rooms in the 70’s. He is a child of Nixon era America and now he is chronicling the Obama era like he belongs to the ‘class of 13’ as he proudly exclaims.

It’s an ambitious and successful follow-up to Idiot. The album is divided into 3 Acts, Heroes and Cons; Charlatans and Saints; and Horseshoes and Handgrenades. Act III is the weakest of the three but it also features the album’s most enjoyable track, the aforementioned “Horeshoes.” The band connects admirably on at least half of these 18 tracks, making the division of the album into 3 acts function as smoothly as a stage play.

I couldn’t help but think, however, had Green Day eliminated a handful of songs this could be the most consistent, enjoyable rock album of all-time. Either way, if you like good rock music, you will find plenty to like in 21^st Century Breakdown.

Upon listening to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs new album, It’s Blitz, I couldn’t help but think: This is what U2’s Pop would have sounded like if it were a good album. We know we’re in for something special with the opening track, Zero and it’s disco thumping backbeat accompanying Karen O’s yearning vocals. It sets the tone that we’re in for an album unlike anything we’ve heard in years.

The next track, “Heads Will Roll,” builds on the disco leanings with ambient sound-scapes that rival anything conjured up by Brian Eno. “Softshock” may be the album’s best song, gorgeous in its ambiance and featuring the omnipresent synth riffs that dominate the album.

There are ten songs on the album and while I can’t say they are all good, they are certainly all listenable. It’s a better album than their last LP “Show Your Bones” simply for its ambition and how often it delivers. In short, It’s Blitz succeeds with all its glitz (and glam).