First, this movie is not what the previews tell you it will be. While there are funny moments, it is not a comedy. It's actually a little depressing. It is a good movie, but Will Smith has shown us his acting chops. He's not just the swaggering soldier from Independence Day. We expect more from him. And while his acting in Hancock is fine, the range he's given was not. The characters lacked something. The exception to that is Jason Bateman's character.
Allow me to say that after the role he played in Smokin' Aces, I felt dirty every time I looked at him, and watching Juno made me want to start a petition to make him a registered sex offender. It was nice to see Bateman in a role where he was once again a genuinely likable, if somewhat naive and idealistic man.
Hancock delivers. It's amusing, somewhat sarcastic and very cocky. It might leave you a little unsatisfied in the end, but its way better than what else is out there.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Monday, June 30, 2008
Wall-E
Okay, I was the kid watching ET in the theater and bawling my eyes out. And had I not been so horribly embarrassed to be watching this movie without a child in my company, I would probably have been doing the very same thing while watching Wall-E. Forget that it's animation, forget that it's about a robot, forget that for the first half of the movie, Wall-E's only interaction is with a cockroach.
This movie is about the basic need for people (and robots, in this case) to have companionship. Working with the public, I will freely admit that I sometimes wish I could live in total solitude, but the bottom line is, at the end of the day, just like Wall-E, we all want someone, sometime, to hold our hand.
He's sweet, he's expressive, and it is all too easy to forget, while watching this movie, that you can't give him the hug he so clearly needs. There are subtle messages in the movie, and not so subtle messages. There is, of course, the broader message of how we are polluting our planet and our insatiable need for consumption of everything is addressed with the deserted wholesale store. The people in the film are slaves to technology. They do nothing for themselves, and have grown fatter and lazier with each passing generation. They ride about their starliner in little hover chairs, with a holographic screen in front of their faces, and have little or no real contact with the anyone else. It's an uncomfortable analogy as I sit here in my comfy office chair on my own over sized behind staring at a screen. They are as isolated as Wall-e, but are distracted enough, and complacent enough not to care until he brings it to their attention.
Bottom line, see the movie, even if you don't have a kid to camouflage your presence there. It's worth it.
This movie is about the basic need for people (and robots, in this case) to have companionship. Working with the public, I will freely admit that I sometimes wish I could live in total solitude, but the bottom line is, at the end of the day, just like Wall-E, we all want someone, sometime, to hold our hand.
He's sweet, he's expressive, and it is all too easy to forget, while watching this movie, that you can't give him the hug he so clearly needs. There are subtle messages in the movie, and not so subtle messages. There is, of course, the broader message of how we are polluting our planet and our insatiable need for consumption of everything is addressed with the deserted wholesale store. The people in the film are slaves to technology. They do nothing for themselves, and have grown fatter and lazier with each passing generation. They ride about their starliner in little hover chairs, with a holographic screen in front of their faces, and have little or no real contact with the anyone else. It's an uncomfortable analogy as I sit here in my comfy office chair on my own over sized behind staring at a screen. They are as isolated as Wall-e, but are distracted enough, and complacent enough not to care until he brings it to their attention.
Bottom line, see the movie, even if you don't have a kid to camouflage your presence there. It's worth it.
Reckless Kelly
Reckless Kelly is first and foremost, a great live show, but beyond that, they are gifted songwriters and musicians who defy the cookie cutter classifications determined by the industry. They are neither rock, nor country. They are not bluegrass. They are not Texas Country. The label "Alternative Country" has been applied to them previously, but even that is an uncomfortable fit.
Lacking a genre, however, does not mean they lack a distinctive sound. In fact, Willie Braun's vocal style is unmistakable whether he is singing a rollicking account of good love gone bad and violent, or the vulnerable and resolute ballad of a Katrina survivor. The songs are an expression of every aspect of American life, and reflect almost every style of music that is distinctly American. Their songs display vulnerability, male swaggering, drunken brawling, yearning for love, yearning for peace, regret for what is lost and what has never been, and a lack of tolerance for bullshit, in any of its many incarnations. In the midst of it, there is a biting humor and the turn of a well crafted phrase that lingers in your mind, long after the music has stopped. All of it is set to the wail of a sometimes angry, but always skillfully wrung out guitar.
If you love bad boys, you'll love them. And if you find yourself bored with with artifical, pre-packaged country stars of today, and find that rock and roll has gotten just a little too whiney and PC, give Reckless Kelly a listen. I think you'll like what you hear.
Their latest album, Bulletproof, is available for sale as of June 24, 2008.
Lacking a genre, however, does not mean they lack a distinctive sound. In fact, Willie Braun's vocal style is unmistakable whether he is singing a rollicking account of good love gone bad and violent, or the vulnerable and resolute ballad of a Katrina survivor. The songs are an expression of every aspect of American life, and reflect almost every style of music that is distinctly American. Their songs display vulnerability, male swaggering, drunken brawling, yearning for love, yearning for peace, regret for what is lost and what has never been, and a lack of tolerance for bullshit, in any of its many incarnations. In the midst of it, there is a biting humor and the turn of a well crafted phrase that lingers in your mind, long after the music has stopped. All of it is set to the wail of a sometimes angry, but always skillfully wrung out guitar.
If you love bad boys, you'll love them. And if you find yourself bored with with artifical, pre-packaged country stars of today, and find that rock and roll has gotten just a little too whiney and PC, give Reckless Kelly a listen. I think you'll like what you hear.
Their latest album, Bulletproof, is available for sale as of June 24, 2008.
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