Back from another weekend, and ready to roll. Well, ready to go back to sleep is more accurate, but whatever. In any case, I had a fun weekend that included a birthday celebration for fellow former page Dan K, as well as a few film viewings, so, let's get down to business ...
Okay, first, some random TV STUFF ...
- Man, how weird was SNL this past weekend? Christopher Walken returned to host, and moreso than any other time I've seen him host, this really felt like an episode of "The Christopher Walken Show" or something, as nearly every sketch seemed tailored to Walken's, um, unique sensibilities. At first, bending the show to fit Walken seemed a good move, as I was cracking up at his totally random monologue and then at his turn as a high school drama teacher who kept changing the lyrics to "Greased Lightning" because they were too dirty. Pretty funny stuff, but from that point on things got more awkward-weird than hilarious-weird. A sketch that cast Walken as an office stalker was really odd but oddly flat, and then sketches that introduced a clan of Walken wannabes and saw CW as a plant expert afraid of plants ... well, they just felt more strange for the sake of being strange than anything else, even if they were speckled with moments of comedy. I definitely let out bewildered mutterings of "W ... T .... F?" more times during this episode than I have at anything SNL's done in recent memory. It was memorable, that's for sure, and at this stage in the game, that's a lot better than the alternative.
My Grade: B
- Last night's KING OF THE HILL was definitely a mixed bag. I definitely agree with the review over on The Onion's AV Club that the ep started off slowly, but took a pretty interesting turn later on that shifted the premise into much more fertile territory. Basically, the episode started out as a kind of run of the mill look at how Peggy decided to hire a troupe of actors to help her sell an an unattractive house, much to Hank's chagrin, of course. Pretty standard stuff for KOTH ... But things picked up when it was revealed that, carried away with her runaway success as a real estate agent, Peggy sells HER OWN house while caught up in all of the commotion. This definitely raised the stakes of the episode, as Peggy had clearly crossed a line and Hank had legitimate reason to be upset with her. Often, Peggy's incompetence goes unnoticed by her family, so it was interesting to see her screw up in a way that so directly pissed off Hank. In any case, the ending was pretty clever, with Hank being forced to betray his reputation as an impeccable home-owner by deliberately rigging his house so it would fail an inspection. Of course, the house is so ingeniously messed with that the inspector fails it, but later gives a knowing aside that it would take one hell of a home-owner to so craftily fail an inspection, thus preserving Hank's reputation. Classic KOTH, helping to save an episode that had been pretty bland up to that point.
My Grade: B
- As a sidenote, congrats to KING OF THE HILL for being renewed by FOX for next season for a limited run. While this season so far has been a bit up and down, it still feels like there's plenty of life left in the show - I mean, we've barely even seen any plots yet that deal with Lucky and Luanne's recent marriage, a subject rife with comedic potential. So congrats to KOTH - the underdog show that keeps on ticking!
- And all I can say is, I am lovin' my new HD setup. Sure, my selection of HD channels is currently somewhat limited, but this weekend I watched some quality NBA action in HD, and the difference as compared to what I was used to was night and day. And man, TNT was running the Lord of the Rings trilogy all weekend, and I just kept flipping back to the channel to take in a few minutes of one of my favorite epic film sagas in glorious hi-def. Okay, yes, I realize I am a giant nerd but dammit all, I freaking love those movies. "We must cast the ring into the fiery chasm from whence it came!" YES.
- I am also taking advantage of some pretty cool HD-only channels such as HDNet movies, in conjuction with my new DVR'ing capablities. Example - a quick browse through the channel listing showed me that a movie classic I'd been meaning to check out, Bonnie and Clyde, was playing on HDnet Movies in a few days' time. Set the DVR, and soon enough I can watch a classic movie in HD at my convenience, free of charge. I know, many of you are saying "no duh Danny, welcome to 2008." And to all of you I say, quiet down and let me enjoy my moment of HD / DVR happiness.
- As for BONNIE and CLYDE ... awesome movie. 'Nuff said.
Okay ... saw two movies this weekend so let's get to it.
SHINE A LIGHT Review:
- Shine a Light, the latest from Martin Scorcese, is basically a tribute to the staying power of The Rolling Stones and the remarkable fact that, here in 2008, the band is every bit the rock n' roll tour de force that they were 40 years ago. Essentially a straight concert film with a bit of documentary thrown in for good measure, Shine a Light captures the Stones during a series of benefit shows, put on by none other than former prez Bill Clinton. It's interesting - the venues aren't huge, the crowds aren't fanatical, but Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and co go out and perform every song like they've barely missed a beat from their 60's heyday. More than anything, the film is an ode to Mick Jagger's unflappable energy. He dances around the stage with such manic force that you come away thinking he should be put in a lab and studied by scientists. How can any 60 year old man go out there and dance and sing like that?
Judged on its merits as a concert film, Shine a Light mostly, well, rocks. Like I said, even old standbys like "Start Me Up," "Can't Get No ... Satisfaction," and "Jumpin' Jack Flash" are performed with maximum energy, soul, and bravado, with Jagger flailing his hips, kicking, busting a movie, and belting out the lyrics like a man posessed. There are some great guest stars who show up as well to spice things up. Jack White, Christina Aguilera, and Buddy Guy (especially Buddy Guy) all contribute to some powerful duets with Jagger. These are really some great, iconic performances of some hits, some rarities, and some covers - so much so that a purchase of the soundtrack album is now strongly under consideration.
I guess where the film left me a bit frustrated was that it hints at a larger sense of context and story, but never really delivers on that potential to be not just a concert film, but a real look at the Rolling Stones story. Scorcese juxtaposes the modern-day show with vintage interview footage, and its fascinating to see from-the-vault clips of Jagger and co as twenty and thirty year old rockstars speculating on their future as a band. I would have loved to see more of that. The essential message seems to be that after all these years, the band is still pretty much truckin' along, Jagger not much different at age 60 than he was at age 20 except that, now, his brand of sex drugs and rock n' roll has become such a part of the pop culture that he's shaking hands with presidents and making documenatries with Martin Scorcese. It's all kind of a light, breezy affair, a congratulatory celebration of a band that's made it this far and is somehow still vital, still goin'. On that count, it's a fun film filled with great music and some off-the-chain performances - it's just that it kind of teases you with glimpses at the past, at the backstory of the band, at their rise to fame and ups and downs and place in pop culture history -- but the film never really dives too deep in that regard. As I said, it's a light, breezy celebration of a movie, complete with Scorcese on camera in full-on mug mode. And, some of the film's most potentially interesting moments, like The Stones doing a meet and greet with the Clintons, are pretty much presented as is. It's left to us to think "hmm, this is quite a meeting of the minds" and "I wonder if Bill is really a big Stones fan, and there's no way that Hillary is, is she?" Again, the irony of the torch-bearers of sex drugs and rock n' roll being so chummy with the political establishment is left for us to ponder.
So as a concert film, Shine a Light rocks. The smaller venue makes it a film less about the fanbase of the band and more simply about the band themselves. You see how they work as a unit, how their energy levels vary wildly - whereas Mick is a freak of nature, Keith is a walking "this is your brain on drugs" ad. What Scorcese does though is he strips away a lot of the context, giving us a bare minumum of historical footage so that we can marvel at the band's longevity and staying power as we see them, past middle age and still putting on a hell of a show despite all logic dictting that they should long-since have been broken up, washed up, and irrelevant. In the end, it's only rock n' roll.
My Grade: B+
LEATHERHEADS Review:
- Leatherheads was a movie that struck me as clearly having gone through development hell. It tried to be a sports flick, an old-fashioned screwball comedy, a Coen Bros.-esque postmodern twist on the screwball comedy, and a romance flick all in one, and as you can probably predict, the result is a film that doesn't particularly excel in any of its chosen genres. Luckily, the movie has a pretty likable cast, and a solid enough foundation, that it's an enjoyable ride in spite of its various problems. But it never quite clicks in a way that allows it to be anything more than a decently entertaining movie.
Leatherheads is most interesting when it sticks to its central premise - the tale of how professional football transformed from a small-time, backwoods sport into the beginnings of the bigtime world of glitz and glamour that the sport is known for today. If the movie has stuck to its guns and focused in on being a sports-comedy, it could have worked. But instead, the movie glosses over some of the historical context, and becomes less about football and more about the efforts of twin leads George Clooney and John Krazscinksi (of the Office dame) to win over a plucky reporter played by the only mildly-appealing Renee Zelwegger. The movie develops into a cat and mouse game of one upsmanship, and it tries its damndest to be cute and funny. But the level of wit present never comes close to being as clever as it wants to be, and the dialogue is pretty labored and rarely is it especially snappy or funny. The Coen Bros. this ain't.
Luckily, the film has a really fun cast. Clooney just kind of shows up here, both as an actor and a director, but he does a decent enough job of carrying the film and is mostly pretty likable, as an aging footaballer making a last-ditch effort to revitalize pro-football, which is suffering at the hands of the much more popular college version of the game. Enter John K., who plays a college star whose early entry into pro football gives the league a sudden infusion of fans, and begins elevating the game into equal parts sport and showbiz. John K does surprisingly little here - he basically shrugs and grimaces his way through the film without changing much of his usual Office M.O. But as I was saying, it was great to see the likes of the ever-reliable Stephen Root and Jonathan Pryce, who lend a touch of comedic flair and dramatic heft to the proceedings, respectively. While I don't thin kthis was the best work of anyone in the cast, it was, certainly, a talented and very watchable group that was assembled.
The biggest problem here? The movie just wasn't very funny, and for a movie that tried very hard to elicit chuckles, it was especially noticeable. Clooney has shown excellent goofball timing in movies like Intolerable Cruelty, it's just that here, the material was fairly flat, and everything had an air of being re-written, re-touched, and dumbed-down. This would have been okay, I guess, if it presented an in-depth look at the evolution of football, or had some real dramatic chops. But as it is, the movie tried so hard to be goofy fun in the manner of vintage comedies that it chose to live or die by its humor. Again, luckily, the cast and general good-natured style of the film made it much more likable than it had any right to be, but in the end it never quite added up to anything more than decently entertaining.
My Grade: B -
Alright, so long for now. Back soon with more words of wisdom.
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