Karl Bade THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE…
…with the opening of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Newsday gives it 3 1/2 stars, calling it “a Frankenstein monster of arrested development and unresolved childhood conflicts that have been maniacally funneled into Wonkaland, a child's totalitarian fantasy in the elaborate disguise of a candy factory.” Coming Soon says: “Tim Burton's magical version of Roald Dahl's classic is as weird and twisted as you might expect, but it still far surpasses the original movie in every sense.” John Hartl of MSNBC writes: “The new movie often feels less like a remake than a trip through Burtonland, where weird landscapes, Danny Elfman’s spry music and Johnny Depp’s whims threaten to turn the movie into a series of improvisations. Fortunately, there’s more of the classic Burton (Beetlejuice, Ed Wood) than the problematic Burton (Big Fish, Planet of the Apes) of recent years. And the casting couldn’t be much better.” Of Burton and Depp, Rolling Stone's Peter Travers says, “Their missionary lunacy is a treat for twisted children of all ages.” The Washington Post review calls it “a major comedown.” The Christian Science Monitor review tweaks the reader: “On paper, Tim Burton seems the ideal filmmaker for a remake of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory… on the screen, Burton turns out to be the ideal filmmaker for this deliciously bizarre yarn.” Harry Knowles of Aint-It-Cool-News calls it “simply scrumdiddliumptious… Burton hasn’t been this good in a very long time… if ever.” Michael Wilmington of the Chicago Tribune gives it four stars: “In a summer of movie discontent, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory stands out like a gourmet truffle in a box of stale caramels and curdled creams.” And Oddjack has Matthew Tobey's handicapping of the movie — for example, the odds that the film will feature “hot Oompa-Loompa-on-Oompa-Loompa action” are 47/1.
FRIDAY TIME-WASTER: Bird-Snatchers.
FRIDAY TIME-WASTER II: As I've been remiss in posting time-wasters, today's bonus is Cannibal Chase, for which I really recommend turning on your speakers or earphones.
BILLY BRAGG and others announce a free music festival in London this Saturday to remember those who died in the city’s terrorist attacks. “This free festival gives all Londoners an opportunity to come together to send a message of defiance to the bombers by celebrating the diversity they wish to destroy,” said Bragg.
CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH announce tour dates and the second pressing of their album. Pate fans should note that one gig is at a Unitarian church.
THE HOLD STEADY frontman Chris Finn lauds bar bands in Rolling Stone.
ALISON BROWN and her unique banjo stylings are profiled in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “I never thought I'd make a living playing music,” she says, “maybe something behind the scenes on the business end. When you're a banjo player, there aren't a lot of opportunities.”
SONIC YOUTH: Tiny Mix Tapes has th details on the deluxe Goo due Spt. 12th. A 4-LP version is due later this year from the band-run Smells Like Records.
MUSIC BLOGS: The recording industry, while suing P2P networks, may stop worrying and learn to love the blog.
FREEBIRD! My Morning Jacket will accommodate America's number one drunken request in Cameron Crowe's Elizabethtown, which comes out in October.
BULLETTE offers a live download at her site, where you can still download her album for free.
MOBY'S various online projects are blurbed by Vanity Fair.
SUFJAN STEVENS talks to SF Weekly about balancing personal storytelling and history on his Illinois (or do you say Illinoise?) album.
TUVAN THROAT SINGERS Albert Kuvezin and Yat-Kha record an album of popular covers. You can download Joy Division's “Love Will Tear Us Apart” at the link, but you'll have to buy the disc to get the Hank Williams and Captain Beefheart.
BLOC PARTY already have 25 songs to choose from for the follow up to their debut, Silent Alarm.
TOM-KAT UPDATE: Jerry Maguire fights Toby Maguire and Rob Lowe is also involved. Nicole Kidman says that when she was married to Cruise, she became more isolated. “Part of me shut down, put up barriers and became very insular. It was very hard to keep friendships alive during that period.” And Cruise bought War of the Worlds co-star Dakota Fanning a cellphone for her 11th birthday. Her parents didn't want her to have one; I can't imagine why.
CHRISTIAN SLATER rejects a plea bargain from prosecutors on a charge of allegedly groping a woman.
JULIA STILES gets dissed by a clerk at Whole Foods. Ouch!
OLIVER STONE, explaining how he would keep politics out of his 9/11 movie, says a film about 9/11 should have “been done right away. I don't think you should run from things. You should confront them. It's better for the country. Look at the English [reaction to the recent London subway bombings]. They took it and absorbed it and continued on. They didn't run around and call for huge pieces of legislation costing billions of dollars to defend our homeland and create a huge war in a foreign country.” Note that he's not just complaining about the war. BTW, in October 2001, Stone called 9/11 a “revolt” against media consolidation. “Does anybody make a connection between the 2000 election”—for the Presidency—”and the events of September 11th?” he asked, and added cryptically, “Look for the thirteenth month!”
ALBERT BROOKS' UPCOMING FILM, Looking For Comedy in the Muslim World, gets a good advance review.
SUPPORT FOR BIN LADEN FALLS in several heavily Muslim countries, particularly those where terrorist attacks have occurred, according to surveys conducted for the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. Solid majorities in Lebanon, Pakistan, Turkey, Jordan and Indonesia have an unfavorable view of the United States, while Moroccans are split. However, young people in Morocco, Lebanon, Pakistan and Turkey view America more favorably than the overall populations in those countries.
IRAQ: Noah Shachtman and Christopher Allbritton both blog from the midst of a desert duststorm in Baghdad. Allbriton, who awakened to the sound of a suicide bombing in which one bomber was captured by Iraqi police, advises: “On July 17, the Ba'ath Party will somehow celebrate its 1968 coup that brought it to power. It probably won't be good.” Over 1,000 citizens in Qayarrah, including several influential political and religious leaders, marched alongside Iraqi Army and police officers in the first of several planned demonstrations against terrorism. But I'm sure you saw it on the news. No?
LONDON BOMBINGS: The British-born mastermind of the London attacks had direct links with al-Qaeda, according to the police. The fourth bomber was identified as Jamaican-born Muslim convert Lindsey Germaine. Following last week's attack, BBC output was not to describe the killers of more than 50 in London as “terrorists” although they could refer to the bombings as “terror attacks.”
NEARLY ONE-THIRD OF MAJOR MEDICAL STUDIES are contradicted or undermined by later studies, according to a new study. Of course, this study may be contradicted or undermined by later studies.
HOMO LIGHT: Norwegian homosexuals are set to launch their own soda brand, “Homo light,” at an upcoming gastronomic festival, in the hope that it will help promote tolerance. Tastes great or less filling?
THAT AIN'T NO WOMAN! IT'S A MAN, MAN! Samukeliso Sithole (try saying that five tmes fast) — a triple jumper and runner who competed as a woman at several international sports events — was convicted in a Zimbabwean court on charges of impersonation and offending the dignity of a woman athlete who undressed in his presence, unaware he was a man.
DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES gets 15 Emmy noms, but Eva Longoria and Nicolette Sheridan are snubbed, thereby ensuring more entertaining catfights in our future.
SIMPSONS-FAMILY GUY FEUD: I hate to read about cartoon-on-cartoon violence. Can't we all just get along?
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY) is asking the Federal Trade Commission to probe how users of “Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas” can access “graphic pornographic and violent content” for the videogame from the Internet. I didn't know she was a gamer… or do you think Bill put her up to asking?
WILL CHIEF JUSTICE REHNQUIST RETIRE? “I'm not about to announce my retirement,'' he said in a statement obtained by The Associated Press. “I want to put to rest the speculation and unfounded rumors of my imminent retirement,'' said Rehnquist, 80. “I will continue to perform my duties as chief justice as long as my health permits.'' Like any good lawyer, there's your loophole.
CHINA IS PREPARED TO USE NUKES AGAINST THE U.S. if it is attacked by America during a confrontation over Taiwan, a Chinese general said on Thursday.
THE UNITED NATIONS would like to wrest control of the Internet from the U.S. I'm shocked to discover China leading the effort.
THE GERBIL'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY is being prepared by a gerbil and artist Sally Madge. So far there is no info on the Richard Gere entry.
WHAT'S WORSE THAN THE HOUSEFUL OF CATS? A Burke, VA townhouse where nearly 200 cats (many dead) were found Wednesday is owned by the family of the Alexandria, VA woman who had nearly 300 cats removed from her home over the weekend.
THE BLUE PIGEON GROUP debuts in Mancester, England.
MOUSE RESCUED by a special emergency team of the Hamburg Fire Brigade.
GOATS are are working on wildfire prevention at San Pedro California's Peck Park Canyon.
