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February 19, 2008
A SHORT ONE
A short one:
1. The Albuquerque conference was pretty bleh. I gave my paper on Neutral Milk Hotel. I did fine, I thought, but there was no relation between my paper and the other two (which were on, respectively, RPG Board Games and Reality TV). Albuquerque is kind of a boring city, and I’m frankly glad to get it over with. I did meet another NMH fanatic and we are talking about working on a larger project. We’ll see how that goes.
2. Ben Affleck is a good director. As much as I like to ridicule him (and much of that ridicule stands, he’s not good at playing intelligent characters), GONE BABY GONE has an innate sense of tone, style, suspense, and character. Unlike the last lauded Dennis Lehane adaptation, MYSTIC RIVER, GONE doesn’t drown us in pathos and overkill. Instead, Affleck gives us a taut, tight mystery whose characters are believable in their skill-sets. It has a good feel of Boston without giving us a sight-seeing tour.
2.5. ROCKET SCIENCE is an indie charmer. Directed by the guy who made SPELLBOUND, one of my favorite documentaries, it seems like it should be classic quirk-overdose. But it works because of the conviction of its young actors. The plot: A kid with a stuttering problem joins a debate team. That sounds like an analogue to THE KARATE KID, or (shudder) SAVE THE LAST DANCE, or those recent movies about bands at African-American colleges. But it avoids all those cliched high points and ends up leaving you high despite all its lows. Also, Eef Barzelay of Clem Snide does the soundtrack, which closes with my favorite Clem Snide song, I LOVE THE UNKNOWN.
3. British Sea Power’s new album, DO YOU LIKE ROCK MUSIC, is pretty dang awesome. But I’m three for three on their major releases. Also recently bought (long overdue): THE BASEMENT TAPES by Dylan and the Band. Amazing. I've listened to it about six times in the last week.
4. Have you seen the high five guys? It’s classic Will Ferrell-produced goofiness.
5. I saw ACROSS THE UNIVERSE. I went into it with a good attitude, because I liked director Julie Taymor’s TITUS – the most inventive and visual compelling Shakespeare adaptation ever (of his worst play, no less). What a disaster! The photogenic young stars are bland and uninteresting and the music doesn’t fit. It’s a pastiche of all kinds of 60s clichés alongside some weird musical numbers. It’s like RENT, but with Beatles songs. One highlight: Evan Rachel Wood singing LOVE ME DO. But many low-lights, including Bono singing I AM THE WALRUS (Ok, Bono, we get it – you’re a global icon.)
Coming soon: Me and JUNO
| By Andytown | 11:46 PM
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