Tuskegee ~ Lionel Richie Goes Country!?

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Lionel Richie - Tuskegee

I never imagined one of my first album reviews would be on Pop/R&B artist Lionel Richie.  He’s been nowhere near my radar since the 1980’s, when I actually regularly listened to ~ and cared about ~ Top 40 radio (you couldn’t tear my walkman headphones out of my ears on Sunday nights during Casey Kasem‘s Top 40 Countdown for anything in my youth!)   Save for the occasional reminder that Lionel is Nicole Richie’s (adoptive) father, I haven’t thought much of him, nor listened to anything of his, in ages.

However, of late, due to the recent release of his new album, Tuskegee, I’ve been hearing and reading quite a bit about the seemingly once again ubiquitous artist.  And I must say I’ve been impressed…by his humor, his groundedness, his sincerity and his willingness to do something different…

…something really different.  Lionel, in a move both bold and refreshing, has gone country…in perhaps the most clever way he could ~ with his very own existing catalogue of hit songs, every one of which he is joined on by one or another of today’s (and in a few cases, yesterday’s) hottest country artists.  He has essentially made an album of covers ~ country revisions of his very own songs…and believe it or not, it works!  Continue reading →

Breaking Bad (Season 1) ~ Breaking Boundaries…Brilliantly

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Breaking Bad - Season 1

Creator/Exec. Producer: Vince Gilligan

Cast: Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul, Anna Gunn, RJ Mitte, Dean Norris, Betsy Brandt

I was just beginning a Masters Degree program when this AMC series debuted back in 2008, and thus was (regrettably) too deeply buried in my studies to have the time to be watching much of anything.  Hence my being so unforgivably behind in starting this phenomenal series.  I’d heard and read a lot of positive feedback about it, but wasn’t sure whether I could stomach the subject matter…for those of you who don’t already know, Bryan Breaking Bad - Walter WhiteCranston plays Walter White, a high school chemistry teacher who learns he has inoperable, terminal lung cancer and proceeds (though a series of events) to put his chemistry skills and knowledge to use for cooking crystal meth in order to make the money necessary to leave ample support for his family.  A weighty (and some might argue, farfetched) scenario, to be sure (echos of the Showtime series Weeds notwithstanding, which won me over in its first few seasons), so it is utterly astonishing to see how Breaking Bad - Walter Whitebrilliantly Vince Gilligan (the series’ creator and head writer) and company make such a premise work.  It is somehow entirely believable and without a doubt, one of the most addictive (no pun intended) television shows I have ever seen.  Continue reading →

Comic-Con Ep. IV: A Fan’s Hope…and a Newbie’s Introduction

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Whether you know ~ or care ~ anything about Comic-Con, the annual comic-book and Sci-Fi convention in San Diego, California that draws over a hundred thousand fans each year, this is a thoroughly enjoyable documentary film.  Despite my proximity to San Diego, I have never been to Comic-Con, nor have I ever had any burning desire to attend; however, I’ve always been curious about this much-talked-about yearly convergence of self-proclaimed “geeks” ~ and this was just the ticket into that wonderfully weird and wacky world. Continue reading →

Stellar Soundtrack: The Hunger Games – Songs from District 12 and Beyond

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Soundtracks have always been one of my favorite ways to capture and retain the mood and memory of a film, as well as to discover new (and old) music.  They are akin to a professional “mix tape”.  And, oh, how I love “mixes”…of course I long ago graduated from mix tapes to mix-CD’s, but I’ve enjoyed countless hours spent compiling assortments of music over the years, in part inspired by my love for soundtracks.  Maybe one of these days, I’ll put together a list of some of my all-time favorite soundtrack albums…I’d love to hear yours, too, so please feel free to share!

T-Bone Burnett

One of the proven “Kings” of film soundtrack production is Grammy and Academy Award winning producer/songwriter T-Bone Burnett.  Here, he has done it once again, gathering a unique mix of musicians, both mainstream and lesser known, all of whom do an exceptional job of capturing the themes and mood of the book (and film) through their songs.  I first listened to this album after reading the book, before seeing the movie, and truly felt like I was reliving the book through the songs ~ via both sound AND lyrics.  In some cases lyrics are taken directly from the pages of the book ~ and they translate in every instance.  Each track has a place here.  Burnett chose his artists wisely…and they certainly delivered.

Very few of the songs on this soundtrack are actually featured in the film.  It is more a compilation of songs “inspired” by The Hunger Games.  There are definitely strains of both Oh Brother Where Art Thou and Cold Mountain in the album’s frequently folksy, Appalachian style, which I wouldn’t necessarily have imagined for this film.  But it works.  Very well indeed.  And there are plenty of non-folksy tracks to satisfy all tastes. Continue reading →

Friends With Kids

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Written & Directed by Jennifer Westfeldt

Cast: Adam Scott, Jennifer Westfeldt, Maya Rudolph, Chris O’Dowd, Kristen Wiig, Jon Hamm, Megan Fox, Ed Burns

Adam Scott & Jennifer Westfeldt

Kristen Wiig & Jon Hamm

Jason (Adam Scott) and Jules (Jennifer Westfeldt) are long-time platonic friends who decide to have a child together (before it’s “too late”), split custody and care 50/50, while each continuing to look for “the One”.  Their married friends (comically ~ and at times, heartbreakingly ~ played by the reunited Bridesmaids clan listed above), are in equal measure shocked, wary and even offended by the idea (not that they share their feelings with the pre-natal pair).

Although a relatively novel idea at its premise, it is also one of those story-lines in which you know the inevitable outcome from the outset, so I wasn’t sure whether it would work.  However, I actually liked and appreciated the journey on which it took me to get from that tentative spark of an idea to the predictable conclusion.  It felt earned, refreshingly honest and on-the-mark…in fact, increasingly so as the film progressed.

The conversations and situations that ensue are actually timely and interesting and are, for the most part, handled deftly by the talented and likable cast, who, with their easy rapport, are easily believable as friends .  While Rudolph and O’Dowd play the more comedic couple, Wiig and Hamm’s screen couple prove to be surprisingly straight and serious, to great effect.  Westfeldt has a sharp ear for dialogue ~ even if she doesn’t knock my socks off as an actress (if only because she seems to play the same character in every film she does), I very much respect her work and direction.  And although Adam Scott is one of my favorite comedic actors on television (as the self-deprecating Ben opposite Amy Poehler‘s Leslie Knope in the fantastic Parks & Rec), he quite convincingly comes to the plate with a fairly raw emotional scene at the film’s end ~ a scene that entirely worked for me.

Maya Rudolph & Chris O’Dowd

A likable cast, cute kids, the guilty pleasure of gorgeous Manhattan & Brooklyn locations and sets and (at least for this single “middle-aged” childless gal) thought-provoking subject matter, all made for an emotionally honest, intriguing and enjoyable journey.

The Hunger Games…Didn’t Quite Fill Me Up

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Director: Gary Ross
Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Woody Harrelson, Stanley Tucci, Elizabeth Banks, Lenny Kravitz, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Wes Bentley,  Donald Sutherland

The highly anticipated film adaptation of Suzanne Collins‘ hugely popular trilogy of Young Adult novels has me questioning anew what exactly it is that makes page to screen work versus not…and whether I’m better off either NOT seeing the film if I’ve read the book (and liked it) or NOT reading the book and seeing the film instead.  It’s probably safe to say that in most cases, the book is far superior to the film adaptation…although now and again, they “get it right” and manage to convey the brilliance on the page in equal measure to the screen (the film version of Ian McEwan‘s novel Atonement comes to mind, as do most, if not all, of the Harry Potter series of films…)  But I digress, as obviously such a debate deserves its own separate discussion.

Jennifer Lawrence, as Katniss Everdeen

Elizabeth Banks (as Effie Trinket), Woody Harrelson (as Haymitch) and Lawrence

I just recently read ~ and enjoyed ~ The Hunger Games myself, (which, incidentally, seems made to be a movie).  Although Harry Potter it was not (will anything ever match that creative genius?), I did end up getting sucked into and invested in the characters and the (albeit dark, savage and morbid) story.  It’s still a bit difficult for me to grasp that material of this nature ~ kids killing kids, by force of their “government”, no less ~ was intended for such a young audience (heck, it’s heavy subject matter for any age).  Despite getting drawn into the dystopian world of Panem and growing quite fond of many of the primary characters/protagonists (Katniss, Peeta, Gale, Haymitch, Cinna, et al.), I’m still not sure I buy (or perhaps I just don’t fully understand) the reasoning behind (the NEED for) the Games themselves in this fictional landscape.  It is, as a good friend of mine who has yet to read the book or see the movie said as we were discussing the premise, “a hard pill to swallow” and I couldn’t agree more.  All of that said, I felt there was great potential for a film version of the novel and thus had high expectations.  And while parts of it worked, overall it fell short for me in capturing the emotion, feel and intricacies that the book did. Continue reading →

Project Nim (2011)

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Documentary by James Marsh

I’d wanted to see this documentary for quite some time, so was excited to finally sit down and watch it last night with a friend.  Sadly, it was a bit of a disappointment, I think in large part due to my dislike of the filmmaker’s documentary style.  James Marsh also made the critically popular documentary Man On Wire (chronicling tightrope walker Philippe Petit) about which I felt the same (more on this in a bit).  Project Nim documents the story of a chimpanzee named Nim Chimpsky who became the subject of a scientific experiment spearheaded by a Columbia University professor in the 1970’s.

What I expected to be a moving, emotionally engaging, intelligent account of our closest primate relative being raised among humans as opposed to its like species turned out to be a veritable freak show!  The majority of the “players” in the experiment came across as delusional oddballs who seemed more like they belonged on the Jerry Springer Show than at a higher education institution conducting experiments with an innocent primate in the name of science.  Continue reading →

We Need To Talk About Kevin ~ Worth Talking About

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Director: Lynne Ramsay

Cast: Tilda Swinton, John C. Reilly, Ezra Miller

Tilda Swinton & John C. Reilly

Wow.  I am still reeling from this one…I think this is going to be one of those that really sticks with me long after I’ve seen it.  (Sidenote: I viewed this on 1/24/12 and now that I’m entering this review well after the fact, I can say with certainty that I was right!  It did indeed stay with me…perhaps longer than I’d have liked, which is, in my experience, truly an indication of its power.)

I knew going in that it was going to be disturbing and difficult subject matter, though not how it would be presented or play out.  Indeed it was horrifically harrowing, yet I was engrossed and engaged from start to finish.  Though it left some questions unanswered (and there were a few aspects with which I took issue), overall I thought it was a superbly-done and extremely well-acted film.

We learn early on that the son (the Kevin of the title) – and first child – of Tilda Swinton’s character, Eva, commits some sort of heinous act on par with a Columbine or other such violent school tragedy.  We are, bit by bit, led to the final reveal of that through both flashbacks and scenes set in the present day.  It does quite a nice job of building characters and setting the stage without revealing too much.  In fact, nothing quite prepares you for the extent of the tragedy that ensues…

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Pina ~ Poetry in Motion

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Director: Wim Wenders

I made a special trip to a theater nowhere near my neighborhood (and in L.A., that really means something!) in order to see this documentary in 3D.  I’m glad I saw it, but my feelings about it shifted throughout the film…  

…the phrases that played (danced?) across my mind as I watched the film were…bizarrely brilliant, weirdly wonderful, and mystifyingly mesmerizing.  Just when I would begin to think that I wasn’t “getting it” or that it was just too avante garde for me, it would draw me back in and take my breath away.

Pina is a Wim Wenders film dedicated to the late, great dancer/choreographer Pina Bausch, who passed away in 2009 (though we’re never told at what age or how ~ it’s only alluded to that she went suddenly or, as some of her dancers put it, “too fast”).  It is Bausch’s work that is featured primarily throughout the film, interspersed with snippets of “interviews” with her international band of dancers, which really only give us their experiences of her.  We never get any sort of biographical information about Bausch, of which I’d have liked more.  The interviews (and I use that term loosely), are unique in that they, in many instances, use few words, instead using close-ups of facial expressions (in fact, in a few cases, no words are spoken ~ all feelings regarding Bausch and each dancer’s experience with her are communicated solely through the faces of the dancers being interviewed).  It’s actually quite remarkable ~ and is perhaps perfectly fitting given the art form being celebrated: dance/movement in place of words to convey emotion ~ pain, love, longing, loneliness, loss, joy, laughter, even aging…

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The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (2011, US Version) ~ Fire & Ice

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Director: David Fincher

Cast: Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara, Christopher Plummer, Stellan Skarsgard

I LOVED this movie!!  Having not read Stieg Larsson‘s book, nor yet seen the Swedish adaptation of the movie, I was in virgin territory here…and found it entirely engrossing and entertaining from beginning to end.  I was concerned that at 2 hours, 38 minutes it would feel too long, but it didn’t.  At ALL.  The pacing is perfect, building with a steady intensity (and ferocity) to a point where the suspense and tension become almost unbearable, in only the best sense of the word.

I was expecting to be startled out of my skin at every moment in the lead-up to the climax.  I’m not even sure I “connected all the dots” (there are a lot of players and details of which to keep track and I lacked the background knowledge that reading the book surely would have provided me), but I understood enough to thoroughly appreciate the ride as well as the conclusion.

The film is gorgeously shot and framed ~ clean, sleek, sharp and crisp ~ just like the chilly, icy Swedish landscapes in which it takes place.  And yet there is heat generated throughout by the consistently talented Daniel Craig, playing the smart and (at least here) sexy journalist Mikael Blomkvist.  Craig’s clear blue eyes are as striking as ever and his body is in top form ~ he looks as though he should be modeling every article of clothing he dons (whether a sweater and scarf, flannel pajamas or even bikini briefs) in a magazine.  So there’s the guilty pleasure of that eye candy on top of the across-the-board great acting and intriguing story…

Rooney Mara is utterly magnetic as Lisbeth Salander, the razor sharp detective/computer hacker Blomkvist employs to assist him in solving the murder mystery he has been assigned.  I couldn’t take my eyes off her anytime she was on screen ~ and whether or not I was supposed to, I sympathized with her from the outset and increasingly so throughout.  (She wordlessly broke my heart at the film’s end.)  She is mysterious, alluring, fiercely contained, a somewhat androgynous bi-sexual ~ a fascinating, and multi-layered character.  Mara completely and convincingly transforms herself INTO the role ~ she becomes Lisbeth.  I have great respect for her performance here ~ as contained as it is, much about her character is revealed.

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