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6/15/2005
FILM FLAM
We caught Mr. and Ms. Smith at our weekly jaunt to the drive in. Unless you’ve
been living in a cave you’re aware than Brad and Jen parted ways during the
shooting of this film and Angelina is rumored to be the cause, so the film has
gotten a ton of tabloid-style press. I feared something along the Gigli lines
but I like both Brad and Angelina and I’m an action/spy/comedy movie fan so I
went into it with high hopes, but low expectations.
As an action/spy movie it ain’t all that great. There’s nothing new or terribly
imaginative about their shoot-outs and the competing spy organizations look like
something off of Spy Kids rather than James Bond.
But this is no simple action flick. It’s really an allegorical story about
relationships. They begin as strangers with lies covering their past misdeeds
and flaws. This creates distance between them, landing them in therapy where
their relationship sounds less than perfect under close inspection. Their
passive aggressive interactions hit a bit too close to home for me, causing me
to alternately wince or giggle. After they come clean with each other they learn
to respect each other and know each other in ways that they couldn’t approach
before. Then they go out and face the world as true partners. It sounds like a
movie I wouldn’t watch at gunpoint, but with all the guns blazing on screen I
was suckered into enjoying it – a lot.
One scene in particular stuck with me - Brad and Angelina are battling the bad
guys together in a big department store, blasting away at charging foes. They
slip into an elevator and there’s a moment of calm while the ever-present Girl
from Ipanema plays over the speakers. They brace themselves for another wave of
attacks as the elevator gets to the next floor. I couldn’t help but think of the
countless times I’ve followed my partner into the mall and braced for the
onslaught of the cosmetics counter attackers (and what I’d like to do in
response.)
There’s not a lot of subtlety, but the heavy handedness works thanks to the
action/comedy theme. Angelina doesn’t do much acting, but Brad has a few moments
where only a glance or a raised eyebrow got the crowd giggling. It’s a fine
slightly-more-than-brainless summer flick perfect for the drive in.
EAR PLUGS
We’ve had some CD’s sitting in our To Do stack for a while. We’ve been busy up
until last weekend when we sat around doing nothing all weekend, thanks to the
sporadic rain and multiple festivals around town. But life has settled back into
mostly routine, for better or worse, so I’m digging out forgotten recordings I’m
supposed to have reviewed a month ago.
The Jupiter Watts have a new CD, Let It Lie. It’s pretty good low key rock.
Fuzzy guitar, soft vocals, sort of a Pearl Jam quality to it here and there.
Their press kit says “While we love the well-crafted guitar pop song, we also
try – true to our name – to keep faith in space, hence our affinity for
repetition and lots of woozy tremolo.”
I don’t personally have any faith in space. I think the cosmos is a void where
at any moment a wandering asteroid could split this planet in half. But I hear
what they mean about repetition and woozy tremolo. This music would be a good
soundtrack for a marijuana rally. It’s also good stuff to have on my computer at
work where I’m doing mindless repetitive tasks. But it breaks from the
almost-groovy repetition into some almost-grungy rock from time to time, just
enough to keep me from getting bored.
No, that’s not exactly a strong testimonial. This didn’t excite me. But it’s
nice.
For more, see www.thejupiterwatts.com
We also got a CD from Jeff Black, Tin Lily. I can’t bear putting
it back in the CD player to give it a detailed review. I tried to listen to it a
couple of weeks ago and felt mildly nauseous after only a few minutes. Now I’m
not brave enough to try it again. Maybe after a cup of coffee. I remember it
being folky singer-songwriter stuff that’s so honest I had to skip forward past
a few tracks. This is the kind of music that contributed to a breakup between me
and degenerate AA several years ago. I couldn’t stand this kind of stuff, she
loves it. So I’ll send it to her and maybe she’ll write a review.
Sorry, Jeff!
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