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Sunday, February 24th, 2008
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2:23 pm - If I picked the Oscars...
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These are my preferences for who should win, not my predictions of who will win.
Best Motion Picture of the Year: Without hesitation, No Country for Old Men. Nothing even comes close to it. No Country for Old Men is an incredibly profound movie. It tackles big questions on the nature of evil, the existence of God, and the human experience. It has the most to say about the most topics, and it says them in novel and entertaining ways. Runner-up: Michael Clayton.
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role: It's probably a foregone conclusion that Daniel Day-Lewis will win, but I'm leaning toward George Clooney. Day-Lewis' performance is very impressive and well deserving and Shakespearean in range, but it's a little on the hammy side for my tastes and it's a little too close to his performance in The Gangs of New York. Clooney's performance is controlled and subtle, but no less impressive in my estimation. He's also extremely well liked by the Academy, so I wouldn't be terribly surprised if he were to upset Day-Lewis, but that seems unlikely.
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role: I didn't see The Savages or La Vie en Rose, so this is a difficult category for me to pick. Of the remaining performances, I'm torn between Julie Christie's haunting performance as an Alzheimer's patient and Ellen Page's captivating and entertaining performance in Juno. To paraphrase Roger Ebert, my heart says Ellen Page, but my mind says Julie Christie. Let's call it a tie.
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role: I can't imagine Javier Bardem not winning for his riveting performance in No Country for Old Men. Runner-up: Casey Affleck. He was spectacular in two films last year: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and Gone Baby Gone. Definitely someone to watch in the future.
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role: Unfortunately, I didn't see I'm Not There, so I can't comment on Cate Blanchett's performance in that film. For me this category comes down to the two performances by Tilda Swinton and Amy Ryan. Both are excellent. I've been a Tilda Swinton fan for years though, ever since I saw Orlando in 1993, and I'd love to see her get some well deserved recognition.
Best Achievement in Directing: The Coen brothers for No Country for Old Men. See Best Picture above. Runner-up: Julian Schnabel for The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.
Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen: Juno will likely win, and it's hard to argue with it's sparkling dialogue, but I'd give it to Michael Clayton.
Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published: Like there's any doubt? No Country for Old Men. Runner-up: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.
Best Achievement in Cinematography: Unfortunately, Roger Deakins was nominated twice for two different films, both of which are deserving of winning. He deserves the Oscar. I don't care which film he wins it for. If I had to pick one, I'd probably go with The Assassination of Jesse James. Here's hoping he doesn't split the vote...
Best Achievement in Editing: I'd give it to The Bourne Ultimatum, a fantastic film that deserves some Oscar recognition. Runner-up: No Country with Old Men.
Best Achievement in Art Direction: Tough category. I guess Sweeney Todd, but I'd rather give it to a number of other films which weren't nominated.
Best Achievement in Costume Design: I know this won't be a popular choice, but I'm going with Elizabeth: The Golden Age. Atonement's green dress is a one-hit wonder, and Sweeney Todd's costumes are too drab for my tastes.
Best Animated Feature Film of the Year: I loved Ratatouille. Persepolis was good too, but I found it less engaging.
Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score: I'd give it to Michael Clayton.
Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song: I'm rooting for "Falling Slowly" from Once. After seeing the movie, I sang this song all the way home, and, as soon as I got home, I immediately went online and bought the soundtrack. I'm praying the Enchanted songs all split the vote and allow Once to pick up this well deserved Oscar. Once should have been nominated for Best Picture!
Best Achievement in Makeup: I'm not going to pick this category this year as I didn't see two out of three of the films. I predict La Vie en Rose will win, however.
Best Achievement in Sound: I think the minimalist sound design of No Country for Old Men is revolutionary.
Best Achievement in Sound Editing: Ditto. Runner-up: Either The Bourne Ultimatum or Ratatouille.
Best Achievement in Visual Effects: The movie I want to win this category never seems to win. I don't understand it. Anyway, I'll give it to Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.
Best Foreign Language Film of the Year: The Academy dropped the ball this year. I'm giving it to 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days. It wasn't nominated, but it should have been.
current mood:  hopeful
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| Sunday, July 8th, 2007
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10:51 pm - Best Movies of the First Half of 2007
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The movies that get released in the first half of the year are often forgotten by the time year-end lists are made, so I thought I'd post what I consider to be the best movies of the first half of 2007 (January through the end of June exactly). Many of these are already available on DVD; if not, they will be soon. My list is even heavier on foreign films than usual, partly because of the fabulous Chinese and Korean film festivals I saw at the American Film Institute and partly because the more mainstream, English-language films so far this year collectively have been rather weak. Of the English-language movies, I can safely say that only Grindhouse and Once stand out enough to make my end-of-year list. Grindhouse undoubtedly has limited appeal, though I'm sure it would appeal to more people if they just would give it a chance. However, if you must see only one of the films on the list below, I heartily recommend Once. It's both superb and a real crowd pleaser. It's the only movie I've seen so far this year in which the audience actually applauded at the end. Please check it out. Without further ado, here is my list:
- Grindhouse
- Once
- The Banquet (Ye yan)
- The Lives of Others (Das Leben der Anderen)
- Exiled (Fong juk)
- A Dirty Carnival (Biyeolhan geori)
- The Lookout
- 300
- Zodiac
- Knocked Up
Honorable mentions (in no particular order): Paris, je t'aime; Black Snake Moan; The Namesake; Waitress; After the Wedding (Efter brylluppet); Away from Her; Bridge to Terabithia; Black Book (Zwartboek); Triad Election
current mood:  content
current music: "United States" by Smashing Pumpkins (Zeitgeist)
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| Monday, May 7th, 2007
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12:05 pm - Movie Review: Spider-Man 3
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Director: Sam Raimi
Cast: Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Thomas Haden Church, Topher Grace, Bryce Dallas Howard, Rosemary Harris, J.K. Simmons, James Cromwell
Theater: Muvico Egyptian 24, Hanover, MD
Spider-Man 3 is entertaining, but it's ultimately disappointing, falling victim to the same Hollywood "sequelitis" disease ("more/bigger/louder is better") that doomed PotC 2. The writing just does not live up to the exemplary standards of the first two movies. Sam Raimi should have brought in Michael Chabon to write the script like he did for Spider-Man 2, the best written super-hero movie ever. The Spider-Man 3 script is just a mess in comparison, with too many characters, too much plot (it takes like three or four plots from the comic book series and mashes them together into one movie), too many villains, and too many contrivances that could have been resolved by characters just sitting down and talking to each other. The first half of the movie is pretty good actually, but it falls apart in the latter half. It either needed to be an hour longer in order to fit everything in properly or the plot should have been pared way down, preferably the latter. Peter Parker is just kind of a jerk for about a third of the movie, squandering the affinity between the character and the audience. The music and dance sequence that comes out of that is a highlight, however, and made me wish for Spider-Man: The Musical. The movie is not a complete disaster, by any means. There are plenty of well directed, well acted, and well written scenes; they were just dragged down by an equal number of missteps, mostly in the script, unfortunately. Overall, if you're not a fan of the comic book or a completist, I would not recommend this one.
current mood:  cranky
current music: "Icky Thump" by The White Stripes
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| Sunday, February 25th, 2007
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6:33 pm - If I picked the Oscars...
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These are my preferences for who should win, not my predictions of who will win.
Best Motion Picture of the Year: This category is a toss-up for me. I enjoyed The Departed more, but Babel is more ambitious. I'll be happy with either film winning. If I had to pick one, I'd probably go with Babel.
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role: I like Forest Whitaker and would be happy to see him win. The only problem is that I haven't seen The Last King of Scotland. Limiting my choice to the films I did see (all of the others), I'll go with Ryan Gosling in Half Nelson. It was a really difficult role, and he excelled at it.
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role: I didn't see The Queen, but I'm always leery of acting performances based on living and well-known people. The resulting performances often end up being more about impersonation than real acting. Of the performances I did see, I liked Kate Winslet in Little Children best. I'd give Judi Dench the runners-up award, if there were one. It's disappointing to me that Maggie Gyllenhaal was not nominated. She gave three of the best performances of the year in Stranger Than Fiction, Sherrybaby, and World Trade Center. She really deserved to be nominated. I'd go so far as to say she was the actress of the year for me.
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role: Once again the leading candidate (Eddie Murphy) was in the one film in the category that I didn't see (Dreamgirls), but I cannot imagine a better performance than Mark Wahlberg in The Departed. He stole every scene he was in, and really made the performance his own.
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role: Rinko Kikuchi in Babel for sure. She gave possibly the year's most impressive performance by anyone, male or female, in any role. I really, really hope she wins. Supposedly, she's a longshot. The thinking goes that she'll split the vote with Adriana Barraza, also of Babel, but I'm pulling for her.
Best Achievement in Directing: Alejandro González Iñárritu (Babel), Paul Greengrass (United 93), and Martin Scorsese (The Departed) all deserve the award, but I'd be happiest to see Scorsese win it.
Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen: As the years go on, I'm starting to believe that the winner of the Best Original Screenplay category is the real Best Picture of the year. Over the past ten years, I would much rather re-watch the Best Original Screenplay nominees than the Best Picture nominees. This year, I would give the award to Pan's Labryinth with Babel a close runner-up.
Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published: This may be the toughest category to pick. Only Borat doesn't deserve to be here. (It was mostly improvised, so how did it get nominated for its screenplay?!) I'd love to see Children of Men win some award, but I think Little Children is probably the best adapted screenplay of the year. The use of voiceover in that film to bring the language of the novel to the film-goer was bold and well done.
Best Achievement in Cinematography: Nothing comes close to Children of Men in terms of cinematography. I really hope it wins. I'd give the runner-up award to Pan's Labyrinth. It's a shame The Fountain didn't get nominated in this category. It was memorably beautiful film.
Best Achievement in Editing: This category has to be a slam dunk for Babel. Iñárritu spent almost a year editing this film, meticulously crafting the narrative and the performances.
Best Achievement in Art Direction: I'd love to see Pan's Labyrinth win. Or The Prestige.
Best Achievement in Costume Design: Can there be any doubt? Marie Antoinette better win or there's no justice in the Oscar world. Runner up: Curse of the Golden Flower.
Best Animated Feature Film of the Year: Cars is the only one of the three that I've seen. I heard Monster House was really good, even better than Cars, but I didn't see it.
Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score: No clear winner here, but I liked Pan's Labyrinth's score. Babel's was also very nice. I might give it the edge actually. I really wish Superman Returns had been nominated. It was my favorite score of the year by far.
Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song: I haven't heard any of these except for Randy Newman's, so I'll abstain.
Best Achievement in Makeup: I'd like to see Pan's Labyrinth win, but I wouldn't be surprised if Apocalypto (which I did not see) won. The full-body makeup on the latter looks pretty impressive.
Best Achievement in Sound Mixing: I have to admit that I still don't understand the difference between sound mixing and sound editing. The same films are usually nominated for both, and you can't do one without the other. I would combine the two categories into one: "Best Achievement in Sound." The producers keep trying to make the Oscars shorter in length, and here's as good of a way as any, if you ask me. I'm going to abstain in this category because I didn't see enough of the films. Of the couple (Blood Diamond and PotC 2) I did see, I'd give the edge to Blood Diamond.
Best Achievement in Sound Editing: Ditto.
Best Achievement in Visual Effects: I'm really, really hoping Superman Returns wins this award because it deserves to win an award for something. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest epitomizes everything that is wrong with CG visual effects.
Best Foreign Language Film of the Year: I just saw The Lives of Others, and it was wonderful! But I still want Pan's Labyrinth to win this award.
Best Documentary Feature: I've pretty much ignored documentaries this past year. I hear Deliver Us From Evil is pretty impressive, but I haven't seen any of these, so I must abstain.
current mood:  bored
current music: The Arcade Fire (Neon Bible album)
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| Tuesday, February 20th, 2007
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11:15 pm - Best Movies of 2006
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Here are the top 25 movies of 2006 according to me:
- A Prairie Home Companion
- Children of Men
- Stranger Than Fiction
- Pan's Labyrinth (El Laberinto del Fauno)
- United 93
- Babel
- The Departed
- Superman Returns
- Little Children
- Inside Man
- Inland Empire
- Three Times (Zui hao de shi guang)
- The Fountain
- Don't Come Knocking
- A Scanner Darkly
- The Proposition
- The Prestige
- Marie Antoinette
- Little Miss Sunshine
- Running Scared
- The Good German
- The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada
- Casino Royale
- Volver
- Curse of the Golden Flower (Man cheng jin dai huang jin jia)
Honorable Mentions (in no particular order): Hard Candy, The Science of Sleep, Lady in the Water, Caché (Hidden), V for Vendetta, Letters from Iwo Jima, Half Nelson, Hollywoodland, Scoop, Crank, Akeelah and the Bee, Game 6, Miami Vice, Thank You for Smoking, Notes on a Scandal, World Trade Center, The Black Dahlia, Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, Venus, The Painted Veil
current mood:  accomplished
current music: "Intervention" by The Arcade Fire (Neon Bible)
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| Wednesday, July 12th, 2006
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11:12 pm - Best Movies of the First Half of 2006
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The movies that get released in the first half of the year are often forgotten by the time year-end lists are made, so I thought I'd post what I consider to be the best movies of the first half of 2006:
- United 93
- A Prairie Home Companion
- Inside Man
- The Proposition
- Superman Returns
- Running Scared
- Three Times (Zui hao de shi guang)
- Don't Come Knocking
- The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada
- Caché (Hidden)
- Hard Candy
Honorable mentions (in no particular order): Cars, V for Vendetta, Thank You for Smoking, Art School Confidential, Friends with Money, Akeelah and the Bee
current music: "Out of Here" by Middle Distance Runner
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10:53 pm - Movie Review: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
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Movie Review: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Director: Gore Verbinski
Cast: Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, Jack Davenport, Bill Nighy, Jonathan Pryce
Theater: Regal (Hoyts) Cinemas Bowie, Bowie, MD
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest epitomizes everything that's wrong with Hollywood sequels. It's an easy trap to fall into for the writers, the director, and the actors. If you did X in the first movie, then you need to do X++ in the sequel, right? Uh, no, the sequels that work the best tend to do Y instead, so Aliens is a very different film from Alien, for example. Anyway, unfortunately, it's an X++ sequel so that means Johnny Depp acts weirder, the bad guys are uglier and grosser, the stunts are bigger, the CGI more pervasive in a vain attempt to impress more, the fight scenes are longer (interminable really and often pointless), and the plot more convoluted. They took the premise of the first film and tried to make an epic out of it, but there just wasn't enough story for it to be a real epic in the first place, so they padded it with a lot of action, or worse motion (which is action without purpose). A lot of that could be forgiven if the plot would have just made sense (it makes even less sense than the first movie) and brought some sense of satisfaction. In case you didn't know, PotC 3 is coming out next year and it will conclude the story. Essentially, the writers and director tried to reproduce Empire Strikes Back in this film, but whereas Empire Strikes Back makes me want to watch Return of the Jedi immediately, I don't even care if I ever see PotC 3. Probably the thing that disappoints the most is that they (the writers, the director, and possibly even Depp) just got the character of Jack Sparrow wrong in this film. It's like they forgot what made the character so great, so unique in the first movie. Jack Sparrow isn't a good man who wants to be a bad man or thinks he's a bad man; he's a good man making his way in a world that thinks he's a bad man because he lives his life on his own terms rather than what society expects. I'm not sure if Depp's performance was lost in editing or not, but the Jack Sparrow of this film is a pale imitation of the first film's. I suspect that had as much if not more to do with the writing, direction, and editing than Depp's performance as an actor. Anyway, basically, it was a payday and everyone from the supporting cast to the stars to the writers and director (not to mention the producer and the studio, of course) decided to cash in. Well, I'm cashing out.
current music: Cannibal Sea by The Essex Green
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| Monday, July 3rd, 2006
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10:03 pm - Music Appreciation
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I haven't posted anything in a while, so I thought I'd post my last.fm weekly artists chart to show what music I've been listening to for the past week. It will automatically update on a weekly basis, so check back often. Last.fm is an extension/plug-in which monitors the songs that I play in iTunes and uploads the info to a web site.
current mood: productive
current music: "Blue Monday" by New Order (Singles)
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| Sunday, March 5th, 2006
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12:02 am - If I picked the Oscars...
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Best Motion Picture of the Year: Once again, my very favorite movies of the year weren't even nominated. Of the movies that were nominated, I probably liked Capote the most. If the pundits are correct, this is going to come down to Brokeback Mountain vs. Crash. Guilty admission time: I never saw Crash. I should have, but it just didn't sound all that great so it never made it to the top of my movies-to-see list. Usually, the Academy is notorious for forgetting about films that were released early in the year, so I was caught unprepared when this was nominated. I'm hoping Brokeback Mountain doesn't win, just because it's way overrated.
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role: Philip Seymour Hoffman for Capote. I was skeptical about his performance before I saw the film, but he really did a great job. I'd probably give Heath Ledger the runners-up award, if there was one.
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role: I'll be pulling for Reese Witherspoon in Walk the Line, but I wouldn't be disappointed if Felicity Huffman won. How in the world did Keira Knightley get nominated here? It was a good performance for sure, but not exactly nomination worthy.
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role: Compared to last year's abundance of talent in this category, this year is very disappointing. I'll pick George Clooney for Syriana, I guess. William Hurt would be deserving if he had been in A History of Violence for more than five minutes.
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role: Amy Adams for Junebug or Rachel Weisz for The Constant Gardener.
Best Achievement in Directing: I can't understand how Terence Malick didn't get nominated here for The New World. I'm not sure any of these nominees are particularly deserving, but I would give it to Bennett Miller for Capote.
Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen: As the years go on, I'm starting to believe that the winner of the Best Original Screenplay category is the real Best Picture of the year. Over the past ten years, I would much rather re-watch the Best Original Screenplay nominees than the Best Picture nominees. This year, I would give the award to Match Point.
Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published: The Constant Gardener must have been a very difficult story to adapt for film, and I think it was done marvelously.
Best Achievement in Cinematography: If The New World doesn't win this award, I may never watch the Oscars again. None of the other nominees even come close to the beauty of this film.
Best Achievement in Editing: The Constant Gardener again. The editing of this film is what made it so great, I think.
Best Achievement in Art Direction: Tough category. No clear winner in my mind, but I'd probably give it to King Kong. I would have liked to have seen Star Wars at least get nominated in this category.
Best Achievement in Costume Design: Colleen Atwood for Memoirs of a Geisha. She should have won last year for Lemony Snicket and was robbed.
Best Animated Feature Film of the Year: A very disappointing year for animation. Wallace and Gromit was a major disappointment. Corpse Bride was good, but no Nightmare Before Christmas. Howl's Moving Castle is far from Hayao Miyazaki's best work, but I would give him the award, I guess.
Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score: No clear winner here, but I liked The Constant Gardener's score.
Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song: I haven't heard any of these, so I'll abstain. I'd be surprised if the Crash song didn't win though.
Best Achievement in Makeup: Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith. Duh.
Best Achievement in Sound Mixing: Walk the Line, I think.
Best Achievement in Sound Editing: I actually would give it to War of the Worlds. I don't understand how Star Wars wasn't nominated for this though.
Best Achievement in Visual Effects: Where's Star Wars?! King Kong should win.
Best Foreign Language Film of the Year: Surprisingly enough, I haven't seen any of these. The nomination process for Best Foreign Language Film is archaic and desperately needs to be revised.
Best Documentary, Features: I actually caught Murderball on A&E recently. (It will be airing again soon, so check your TV listings.) It must have sucked to film penguins in sub-zero temperatures in Antarctica for months at a time. If March of the Penguins wins, I certainly won't begrudge them for it. That said, it's a by-the-numbers animal documentary. I'd give it to Murderball. I haven't seen the other nominees, however.
current mood: lonely
current music: "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" by KT Tunstall
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| Saturday, March 4th, 2006
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5:21 pm - Best Movies of 2005
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Since the Academy Awards are this weekend, I thought I'd post this. Here are the top 25 movies of 2005 according to me:
- 3-Iron (Bin-jip) (tie)
- Oldboy (tie)
- The New World
- Sin City
- Nobody Knows (Dare mo shiranai)
- Kung Fu Hustle (Gong fu)
- The Constant Gardener
- Match Point
- Serenity
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
- Broken Flowers
- Shopgirl
- Downfall (Der Untergang)
- Star Wars: Episode IIII - The Revenge of the Sith
- Capote
- A History of Violence
- Me and You and Everyone We Know
- Syriana
- The Squid and the Whale
- King Kong
- Jarhead
- Good Night, and Good Luck.
- The Ice Harvest
- Proof
- Elizabethtown
Honorable Mentions (in no particular order): Millions, Crash, Brokeback Mountain, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Grizzly Man, Pride & Prejudice, 2046, Mirrormask, Walk the Line, Murderball
current mood: accomplished
current music: "Rock and Roll Queen" by The Subways
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| Wednesday, September 28th, 2005
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12:17 am - Meme Review: My_belle_'s Survey
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Too big to post as a reply in someone else's journal, so I guess I'll post it here. ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) my_belle_'s survey meme is excellent! Best meme of 2005!
current mood:  bouncy
current music: The White Stripes
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| Saturday, June 25th, 2005
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1:48 pm - Concert Review: Billy Corgan
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Artists: Billy Corgan/The Crimea/Doris Henson
Venue: 9:30 Club, Washington, DC
Date: 2005/06/24
Billy Corgan is perhaps the greatest frontman lead guitarist of my generation and an excellent songwriter as well, but sometimes you need to take one step back in order to take two steps forward and I think that is currently where Corgan is at artistically. Smashing Pumpkins is one of my all-time favorite bands. I always wanted to see them in concert, but, unfortuantely, I wasn't able to realize that dream before they broke up. A couple years ago though, I was able to see Zwan in concert, and I was completely blown away by Corgan's guitar artistry. The highlight of that evening was an amazing 20-minute rendition of "Jesus, I/Mary Star of the Sea." Although I really enjoyed Zwan's performance, behind the scenes, Corgan was hating every minute of it. It seems there were a lot of personality issues (to put it mildly) on that tour, and Corgan killed Zwan shortly after the tour was over. After going through two band implosions, who can blame Corgan for going solo? In the liner notes to his first solo album, TheFutureEmbrace, Corgan writes that he never wanted to go solo and that he still considers himself a member of the Smashing Pumpkins. He also writes that this album was a learning experience for him, and I think the result is evident of that. Without a band, he basically recorded it with just him and a sound engineer, using drum machines and computers. The resulting sound is practically electronica, which is fine, but it clearly doesn't play to Corgan's strengths. Before Corgan took the stage at the sold-out 9:30 Club last night, the crowd chanted "Billy... Billy... Billy..." The audience was soon rewarded with the greatest light show ever at the 9:30 Club (in my estimation). With a wall of state-of-the-art, computer-controlled lights as a backdrop, Corgan and his backing musicians played presumably the entire contents of TheFutureEmbrace and then some, including an AC/DC cover. Billy seemed at first rather shy and then somewhat annoyed (after some heckling), but he eventually warmed to the crowd and genuinely seemed to be having fun. After the concert, he did something I've never seen done at the 9:30 Club. He went down the entire length of the stage and shook hands with as many people as he could. Then, he asked for the house lights turned on and gave a rather long and heartfelt speech thanking the audience for supporting him. He then closed the night with an amazing blues rendition of the traditional "Hail Mary" prayer sung a capella. Although I've seen better post-Pumpkins Corgan shows, I highly respect him as a consummate artist and for striving to evolve. As for the new material that he performed last night, I would say there were only 5 or 6 strong songs and only a few of those really showed off Corgan's brilliant guitar-playing skills, but at least he's out there trying to do something new rather than regurgitating the same songs with different lyrics like some artists. Not the best concert I've seen this year, but I certainly enjoyed it and I got a real thrill out of finally seeing Corgan perform at the 9:30 Club.
Of the two opening bands, Doris Henson gets the nod over The Crimea. The Crimea rocked out on a couple songs, but, for the most part, they bored me to tears. It didn't help that I couldn't understand a word their lead singer said or sang, thanks to his thick accent. Doris Henson, a five-piece band consisting of electric guitar, bass, drums, and trombone, exhibited some good songwriting and played with a lot of energy, but I rather disliked the song they ended their set with and I could have done without the trombone, which didn't really add much to their arrangements.
current mood:  contemplative
current music: "Jesus, I/Mary Star of the Sea" by Zwan
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| Friday, May 13th, 2005
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2:48 am - Concert Review: Kasabian
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Artists: Kasabian/Mad Action/Rock 'n' Roll Soldiers
Venue: 9:30 Club, Washington, DC
Date: 2005/05/12
Kasabian's eponymously titled debut album is full of catchy, beat-heavy, effects-laden, fast-tempo songs with nary a weak song in the bunch, but their album did not prepare me at all for one of the best concerts of the year. Indeed, I very nearly attended a concert by another superior Brit band, British Sea Power, at the Black Cat instead, but I went with Kasabian for the simple reason that I've been listening more to Kasabian than British Sea Power this year. Needless to say, I don't regret my choice at all, though I am annoyed that both bands were scheduled for the same evening. Lead guitarist/songwriter Serge and frontman Tom Meighan performed with an exuberance that the audience fed off and returned many times over. The driving force for the dance milieu, however, was Kasabian's excellent drummer, Ian Matthews, but it was the enthusiastic audience which elevated Kasabian and were in turn elevated by them and made it such a memorable concert experience.
Opening act Rock 'n' Roll Soldiers attacked the audience and took no prisoners! They played fast, straight up, no-gimmicks rock that the audience warmed to almost immediately. They're probably the best opening act on a three-act bill that I've seen in a long time. They were soon followed by Mad Action, who were more reserved but more technically proficient. Both supporting acts were very strong, but I would probably give the edge to Rock 'n' Roll Soldiers.
current mood: bouncy
current music: "Club Foot" by Kasabian (Kasabian)
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2:32 am - Movie Review: Kingdom of Heaven
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Director: Ridley Scott
Cast: Orlando Bloom, Liam Neeson, Jeremy Irons, Eva Green, Alexander Siddig, Edward Norton (uncredited)
Theater: Regal (Hoyts) Cinemas Bowie, Bowie, MD
Well, I never quite got around to writing this review, but suffice to say that I liked it, although it wasn't as good as I had hoped for from Ridley Scott. Still, an underappreciated film that deserved to do better box office.
current mood: cheerful
current music: "Call to Prayer" by Baba Maal (Passion Sources)
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| Saturday, May 7th, 2005
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2:27 am - Concert Review: The Decemberists
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| Wednesday, May 4th, 2005
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11:20 pm - Movie Review: Kung Fu Hustle (Gong fu)
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Director: Stephen Chow
Cast: Stephen Chow, Yuen Wah, Yuen Qui, Shengyi Huang, Leung Siu Lung
Theater: Muvico Egyptian 24, Hanover, MD
Writer/director/producer/star Stephen Chow's homage to the classic Shaw Brothers kung fu films of the '60s and '70s is the most visually inventive film since Amélie. Fans of martial arts films will love every frame of this film and its deft combination of highly kinetic action sequences, campy comedy, and touching romance. The story takes place in the gang-ruled Shanghai of the 1930's. Chow plays a street beggar who wants to be a gangster, if only so he could be someone important. He starts impersonating a gangster and acting tough. His hijinx result in an escalating conflict between the dominant gang and the residents of the poorest neighborhood in Shanghai, Pig Sty Alley. The story is actually very clever and my description simply cannot do it justice. Suffice it to say that the characters and the roles they play in the story are constantly evolving and will keep you guessing up until the climax. In addition to many classic kung fu film references, Chow's film also references The Matrix, Road Runner/Wile E. Coyote cartoons, Kubrick's The Shining, and Ghostbusters. This film may not be for everyone, but I think a lot of people who aren't fans of the martial arts genre would still enjoy it. Kung Fu Hustle is one of the best movies I've seen so far this year and certainly the most enjoyable.
current mood:  satisfied
current music: "You Got Me All Wrong" by Dios (Dios)
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| Sunday, May 1st, 2005
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10:22 pm - Movie Review: The Interpreter
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Director: Sydney Pollack
Cast: Nicole Kidman, Sean Penn, Catherine Keener, Sydney Pollack
Theater: Regal (Hoyts) Cinemas Bowie, Bowie, MD
Good, but not great. Both Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn gave good performances. Worth seeing if you like movies with lots of political intrigue and such.
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3:58 am - Movie Review: Palindromes
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Director: Todd Solondz
Cast: Ellen Barkin, Richard Masur, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Debra Monk, Richard Riehle, Walter Bobbie, Alexander Brickel, Rachel Corr, Will Denton, Shayna Levine, Valerie Shusterov, Hannah Freiman, Sharon Wilkins
Theater: Landmark Bethesda Row Cinema, Bethesda, MD
A very strange, daring, and thought-provoking film. Not for everyone though.
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| Saturday, April 30th, 2005
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12:57 am - Movie Review: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
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Director: Garth Jennings
Cast: Martin Freeman, Mos Def , Sam Rockwell, Zooey Deschanel, John Malkovich, Anna Chancellor, Alan Rickman (voice), Stephen Fry (voice), Helen Mirren (voice)
Theater: Muvico Egyptian 24, Hanover, MD
Kind of disappointing, but I liked it overall. I kept thinking that Terry Gilliam would have done such a better job directing this though.
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| Thursday, April 14th, 2005
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10:37 am - Movie Review: Fever Pitch
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Directors: Bobby Farrelly, Peter Farrelly
Cast: Drew Barrymore, Jimmy Fallon
Theater: Muvico Egyptian 24, Hanover, MD
Very sweet and funny and romantic. Only a couple of mild Farrelly brothers moments, but I'm not a big Farrelly brothers fan so that's a positive thing in my opinion.
current mood:  anxious
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