Welcome Guest! Mar 29, 2024 - 09:26 AM  
Homepage  |  Downloads  |  FAQ  |  Forums  |  Gallery  |  WebLinks
Main Menu
Online
There are 145 unlogged users and 0 registered users online.

You can log-in or register for a user account here.
  
Lou Reed, Cutout Bin, Watchmen, Snake vs. Hippo   Printer-friendly page   Send this story to someone
Friday, March 06, 2009 - 08:00 AM
Posted by: Karl

Karl

THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

...with LOU REED! He turned 67 this week, which seems like a good excuse to link a few from his Sessions at West 54th Street.  Selections include: "Sweet Jane," "Perfect Day," "Satellite of Love," "Dirty Blvd." and "Pale Blue Eyes."

FLAMING LIPS frontman Wayne Coyne rips on Arcade Fire. It's on like Donkey Kong!

ALL THE SAINTS stopped by The Current for a chat and mini-set streaming on demand via MPR.

THE BOTTICELLIS do the four free songs thing for Daytrotter, one previously unreleased.

CROOKED FINGERS is currently streaming "Your Control," a duet between Eric Bachmann and Neko Case.

THE 100 GREATEST SINGER-SONGWRITER ALBUMS, according to ChordStrike.  En route to the 2003 Pate reunion, Craig O'Neill observed that you cannot deny the power of Tapestry.

EASYBEATS: The fish, the barrel, the smoking gun!

JASON ISBELL talks to JamBase about the recording of his solo album. "Seven-Mile Island" is also steamable at the link.

DeVotchKa's Nick Urata talks to the Line of Best Fit about instrumentals, lyrics, the band's stage show, etc.

PETER TORK: A rare form of cancer has been discovered on the tongue of the ex-Monkee, who will undergo surgery this week in NYC.

THE RECORD STORE: James Lileks remembers the era B.C.D.

CUTOUT BIN: From Spinal Tap to the Parliaments, from Carly Simon to Veruca Salt, from David Boie to Pop!, plus David Ruffin, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, The Kinks, the Proclaimers and more -- this Friday's fortuitous finds are streaming from the Pate page at the ol' HM.

WATCHMEN, currently scoring 64 percent on the ol' Tomatometer, is this weekend's sole wide release -- and I rushed out to see it, as a service to you, dear reader.  First, I remind everyone that this is an R-rated picture for good reason. Director Zach Snyder's prior project was "300," which should tell you he does not shy from some truly grisly scenes against deserving and quite undeserving victims. 

And this is not the only reason that this is not a movie for kids.  While Watchmen is a movie about masked heroes (and one superhero), it is not a superhero movie in any traditional sense.  Rather, it is a pretty faithful adaptation of Alan Moore's classic series/graphic novel, which has action, but is also a combination of murder mystery, political thriller (not dissimilar in tone to Moore's "V for Vendetta"), speculation on the impact such people would have on world history and a meditation on the psychology of people who would, in the words of one character, "get dressed at 3 a.m. to go do something stupid."  At least, it is as faithful as could be done in 2 1/2 hours.

The series not only had a huge impact on comics, but on the portrayal of superheroes in movies, from The Incredibles to The Dark Knight.  However, all these years later, Watchmen remains a more extreme version of those projects it influenced.  I disagree with the reviews who suggest it may be inaccessible to those who have not read the book (though be sure to show up on time; the beautifully executed opening credits (spoileriffic) provide a lot of context to what follows).  I half-agree with the reviews that suggest that the big screen treatment in some ways creates a bit of the gloss the book intended to put on the genre.  But that flaw is also in the original material -- albeit more subtly.  While Moore's generally anarchist politics inform the narrative and his skewering of certain types of characters, he is a talented enough as a writer that these characters are fleshed out to the point where we sympathize, despite Moore's overall intent.  This is particularly true of the sociopathic Rorschach (who makes The Dark Knight and Dirty Harry seem wimpy), wonderfully played by Jackie Earle Haley.  Indeed, the biggest crowd reaction of the screening comes from a line delivered when he is near his lowest point -- a line straight from the book, as much of the best dialog is.

The soundtrack largely takes its cues from the book as well, though there is a rather unfortunate substitution of Leonard Cohen for Billie Holiday, and I think Elvis Costello got left out.  Overall, I recommend it; just know what you're getting yourself into.  Roger Ebert gave it four stars, and will be seeing it again. I probably will, too.

DAKOTA FANNING is negotiating to play lead singer Cheri Currie in "The Runaways," the biopic of the '70s all-girl band that already has "Twilight" star Kristen Stewart playing Joan Jett.

RHIANNA & CHRIS BROWN: The L.A. County District Attorney charged Chris Brown with felony assault and making criminal threats, also a felony. Law enforcement is leaking details of Brown's attack and Rhianna's statements to the police about past beatings. Brown's lawyers are discussing a possible plea bargain.

MICHAEL STRAHAN bugged the car of galpal Nicole Murphy (Eddie's ex) and went ballistic when she found it, according to the NYP.

VINCE VAUGHN is engaged. Wouldn't want to be John Mayer today.

JACKO announces his "comeback" tour in a manner that inspires absolutely no confidence. Videos at the link.

THE SEINFELD CAST will be featured in a multiple-episode story arc on HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm this fall. That seems like worlds colliding.

LINDSAY LOHAN is fuming that Katie Holmes got the cover of the latest issue of Glamour magazine.

WOLVERINE: Hugh Jackman talks to USA Today about the upcoming X-Men spin-off: "The character has always reminded me of Dirty Harry or Han Solo. He's a good guy, not a nice guy..."

PUBLIC ENEMIES, the Dillinger biopic starring Johnny Depp and Christian Bale, has a trailer online in glorious Quicktime.

CASTLE, Nathan Fillion's new ABC series, premieres Monday, but you can watch the first 13 minutes now.

SEVEN CELEB CAREERS that launched by accident.

CLUE will return as a live-action murder mystery under the direction of pirate-master Gore Verbinski.

PAKISTAN: Taliban militants blew up 16 shops selling music and DVDs in northwest Pakistan overnight, police said Thursday. The top US diplomat in Kabul warned that Pakistan posed a bigger security problem for the rest of the world than Afghanistan, in a newspaper interview published Thursday.

IRAN plans to start up its first atomic power plant this summer. Iran can develop a nuclear weapon within a year and has ready access to enough fissile material to produce up to 50 nuclear weapons, according to a panel of current and former US officials advising the Obama administration.

IRAQ: The military leader of AQI has been killed in Anbar province.

SNAKE VOMITS A HIPPO: Let's go to the video.

TATOOED CATS, Creepy Pics.

A "FROG HOTEL," designed to protect mating frogs, is to be created on the banks of the Water of Leith.  I totally see Robyn Hitchcock visiting.

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT: A well-groomed Alpaca.

BINTLETS born at the Panaewa Rainforest Zoo & Gardens in Hawaii. I didn't know what they were, either.

AN ORPHANED BABY OTTER has found a new home at The Florida Aquarium. Awww... some pics at the link.

6483 Reads

Comments

Display Order
Only logged in users are allowed to comment. register/log in
Home  |  Share Your Story  |  Recommend Us