If nothing else, Jasper Rees's midlife crisis takes a unique form. No cheap floozies or expensive cars for him, by golly. No, Rees decides that the way to put meaning back into his life as he nears 40 is to return to the French horn, an instrument he hasn't touched in nearly 20 years.
But simply returning to his teenage level of proficiency -- he had been a moderately competent high-school band member -- isn't enough for Rees. He vows that in one year, he will play the third Mozart Horn Concerto at the annual meeting of the British Horn Society. Why the Mozart 3? Well, it's generally considered to be the easiest of the major horn concertos.
Which isn't to say that it's easy, mind you. As Rees lets us know, nothing about the horn is easy. It's ranked by Guinness as the most difficult orchestral instrument (tied with the oboe), and pitfalls seem to lie in wait around every corner for the horn player. Not the least of these is that for a variety of bizarre historical reasons, the horn player, alone among the orchestra, is expected to transpose nearly every piece of music he plays -- that is, to play different notes than are actually written on the page.
Rees's report of his year's journey is a marvelous piece of entertainment. He gives us the history of the instrument, gets advice and lessons from many of its most skilled players (who are a remarkably patient group), and describes his fumbling progress towards an appearance on the BHS stage. Rees's writing is filled with that dry wit that seems to come naturally to the British. He's informative without ever making the reader as if a ton of dry information is being dumped on him. A Devil to Play is a charming book, and anyone who's ever daydreamed about picking up that instrument they used to play (or picking one up for the first time) will love it.
June 12, 2009
June 02, 2009
MOVIES: The Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story (2009, Gregory Sherman and Jeff Sherman)
The Boys tells the story of Richard and Robert Sherman, the only songwriters ever to be under contract at Disney. Even if you don't recognize the names, you'd recognize their music; they wrote the songs from Mary Poppins, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Winnie the Pooh, and The Aristocats; their non-Disney work includes Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Tom Sawyer, and Charlotte's Web.
We open with directors Gregory and Jeff, who are cousins and the sons of Richard and Robert, explaining that they never really knew one another growing up despite living blocks apart in Los Angeles. Their fathers, despite their successful professional partnership, were personally estranged. They didn't socialize and barely spoke to one another outside their office at Disney.
The movie never pays off with the story of that estrangement; perhaps the Sherman cousins were unable or unwilling to get their fathers to discuss the matter in depth. There are hints that it might have had to do with money, or with wives who disliked one another, but for the most part, the issue is left hovering in the background throughout the movie, begging to be delved into.
Still, the career of the Sherman brothers is interesting and impressive enough that even the relatively bare-bones "and then we wrote" approach of The Boys held my interest. I wouldn't necessarily recommend that you rush out to the theater to see it unless you have a particular interest in the subject, but it might be worth renting.
We open with directors Gregory and Jeff, who are cousins and the sons of Richard and Robert, explaining that they never really knew one another growing up despite living blocks apart in Los Angeles. Their fathers, despite their successful professional partnership, were personally estranged. They didn't socialize and barely spoke to one another outside their office at Disney.
The movie never pays off with the story of that estrangement; perhaps the Sherman cousins were unable or unwilling to get their fathers to discuss the matter in depth. There are hints that it might have had to do with money, or with wives who disliked one another, but for the most part, the issue is left hovering in the background throughout the movie, begging to be delved into.
Still, the career of the Sherman brothers is interesting and impressive enough that even the relatively bare-bones "and then we wrote" approach of The Boys held my interest. I wouldn't necessarily recommend that you rush out to the theater to see it unless you have a particular interest in the subject, but it might be worth renting.
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Movies
June 01, 2009
MOVIES: Timecrimes (2007/US 2008, Nacho Vigalondo)
A Spanish time-travel story with all the usual plotholes you expect from the genre, but with such energy and brisk pacing that you don't have time to notice until it's over.
Hector is lounging in the back yard of his new country home, gazing through his binoculars into the nearby woods, when he spots a topless young woman. He wanders into the woods to investigate, and finds her unconscious; when he bends over to see if she's even still alive, he's stabbed in the arm by an unseen assailant. He runs from the attacker and winds up at a nearby research facility; one young scientist there is studying time travel, and sends Hector back in time about 90 minutes.
From there, we get all of the fun we expect from time-travel -- multiple Hectors, details which had seemed insignificant on the first go-round that take on new importance later, the desperate attempt to set things right -- done with great style, a fine sense of humor, and a marvelous Vertigo-esque plot twist at the end.
Timecrimes is also a sterling example of how to make a movie on a low budget. There are no special effects, a handful of locations, and only four speaking roles; writer/director Nacho Vigalondo (who also plays the scientist) has come up with a clever device that makes it easy for us to tell which version of Hector we're seeing at any moment, and also allows him to show multiple Hectors without expensive digital trickery. There aren't any blindingly original ideas to be found here, but Vigalondo's take on the theme is clever entertainment.
Hector is lounging in the back yard of his new country home, gazing through his binoculars into the nearby woods, when he spots a topless young woman. He wanders into the woods to investigate, and finds her unconscious; when he bends over to see if she's even still alive, he's stabbed in the arm by an unseen assailant. He runs from the attacker and winds up at a nearby research facility; one young scientist there is studying time travel, and sends Hector back in time about 90 minutes.
From there, we get all of the fun we expect from time-travel -- multiple Hectors, details which had seemed insignificant on the first go-round that take on new importance later, the desperate attempt to set things right -- done with great style, a fine sense of humor, and a marvelous Vertigo-esque plot twist at the end.
Timecrimes is also a sterling example of how to make a movie on a low budget. There are no special effects, a handful of locations, and only four speaking roles; writer/director Nacho Vigalondo (who also plays the scientist) has come up with a clever device that makes it easy for us to tell which version of Hector we're seeing at any moment, and also allows him to show multiple Hectors without expensive digital trickery. There aren't any blindingly original ideas to be found here, but Vigalondo's take on the theme is clever entertainment.
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Movies
May 25, 2009
MOVIES: Sunshine Cleaning (Christine Jeffs, 2009)
Stop me if you've heard this one:
There's this lovably quirky family living in the Southwest, and even though they bicker all the time, they really do love one another. So much so, in fact, that when one of them finds an unexpected route to possible success in life, the whole family piles into the creaky old van to support her. There's a talented cast of actors who are comfortable on both sides of the indie/studio divide, and look! There's Alan Arkin as the curmudgeonly patriarch who teaches life lessons -- most of them inappropriate -- to his adorable moppet of a grandchild. And a suicidal family member plays a key role in the action.
No, it's not Little Miss Sunshine, but it comes as close to it in style and tone as humanly possible. Unfortunately, it fails to tell an interesting story and leaves its talented cast stranded with nothing to do.
Emily Blunt and Amy Adams star as sisters who go into business together running a crime-scene cleanup service; Arkin is their father, who has a not very successful career as a distributor of giant metal tins of popcorn. And absolutely nothing of interest happens to any of them.
Oh, Adams has an affair with a local cop (Steve Zahn) and a sort of romantic fling with the guy who sells cleaning supplies (Clifton Collins, Jr.), and there's a strange subplot involving Blunt and the daughter (Mary Lynn Rajskub) of one of the dead women they're cleaning up after, in which it's never clear whether their relationship is supposed to be friendly, adversarial, or romantic.
But none of it works, and most of it is just annoying. It's a festival of quirk for quirk's sake. Not recommended.
There's this lovably quirky family living in the Southwest, and even though they bicker all the time, they really do love one another. So much so, in fact, that when one of them finds an unexpected route to possible success in life, the whole family piles into the creaky old van to support her. There's a talented cast of actors who are comfortable on both sides of the indie/studio divide, and look! There's Alan Arkin as the curmudgeonly patriarch who teaches life lessons -- most of them inappropriate -- to his adorable moppet of a grandchild. And a suicidal family member plays a key role in the action.
No, it's not Little Miss Sunshine, but it comes as close to it in style and tone as humanly possible. Unfortunately, it fails to tell an interesting story and leaves its talented cast stranded with nothing to do.
Emily Blunt and Amy Adams star as sisters who go into business together running a crime-scene cleanup service; Arkin is their father, who has a not very successful career as a distributor of giant metal tins of popcorn. And absolutely nothing of interest happens to any of them.
Oh, Adams has an affair with a local cop (Steve Zahn) and a sort of romantic fling with the guy who sells cleaning supplies (Clifton Collins, Jr.), and there's a strange subplot involving Blunt and the daughter (Mary Lynn Rajskub) of one of the dead women they're cleaning up after, in which it's never clear whether their relationship is supposed to be friendly, adversarial, or romantic.
But none of it works, and most of it is just annoying. It's a festival of quirk for quirk's sake. Not recommended.
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Movies
MOVIES: Easy Virtue (Stephan Elliott, 2009)
Elliott's Noel Coward adaptation isn't going to win any awards, but has a nice breezy charm.
It's the late '20s, and John Whittaker has unexpectedly returned home to the family estate after some time spent traipsing around the Riviera; even more surprising than his return is the fact that he's newly married, and to an American, no less. Larita (Jessica Biel) isn't particularly trashy or vulgar by American standards, but to a proper British lady like John's mother (Kristin Scott Thomas), she's a disgrace. Still, Mrs. Whittaker is delighted to have her son at home, and wants the couple to live there; Larita, a city girl at heart, wants to move to London as they'd planned.
What starts out as a battle for John's soul between Larita and Mrs. Whittaker takes some unexpected twists along the way, with lots of those marvelously bitchy Coward bon mots. Kristin Scott Thomas is splendid, as is Colin Firth as her husband. Ben Barnes isn't asked to do much more than be young, pretty, and naive, and he's entirely up to the task. The surprise is Jessica Biel, who is quite good here. She's not up to the level of Scott Thomas, to be sure, but she doesn't embarrass herself, and she has a pair of spotlight scenes -- one involving the family dog, and a tango at the annual Christmas party -- which she gets just right.
The score is mostly made up of songs from the era by Coward and Cole Porter, many of them sung (very nicely) by Biel or Barnes in performances that have been digitally scratched up to sound like period recordings. The opening and closing credit numbers deserve particular notice; Biel's "Mad About the Boy" opens the movie, and over the closing credits, we get a 20s-style arrangement of (of all things) Billy Ocean's "When the Going Gets Tough" that works surprisingly well.
It's the late '20s, and John Whittaker has unexpectedly returned home to the family estate after some time spent traipsing around the Riviera; even more surprising than his return is the fact that he's newly married, and to an American, no less. Larita (Jessica Biel) isn't particularly trashy or vulgar by American standards, but to a proper British lady like John's mother (Kristin Scott Thomas), she's a disgrace. Still, Mrs. Whittaker is delighted to have her son at home, and wants the couple to live there; Larita, a city girl at heart, wants to move to London as they'd planned.
What starts out as a battle for John's soul between Larita and Mrs. Whittaker takes some unexpected twists along the way, with lots of those marvelously bitchy Coward bon mots. Kristin Scott Thomas is splendid, as is Colin Firth as her husband. Ben Barnes isn't asked to do much more than be young, pretty, and naive, and he's entirely up to the task. The surprise is Jessica Biel, who is quite good here. She's not up to the level of Scott Thomas, to be sure, but she doesn't embarrass herself, and she has a pair of spotlight scenes -- one involving the family dog, and a tango at the annual Christmas party -- which she gets just right.
The score is mostly made up of songs from the era by Coward and Cole Porter, many of them sung (very nicely) by Biel or Barnes in performances that have been digitally scratched up to sound like period recordings. The opening and closing credit numbers deserve particular notice; Biel's "Mad About the Boy" opens the movie, and over the closing credits, we get a 20s-style arrangement of (of all things) Billy Ocean's "When the Going Gets Tough" that works surprisingly well.
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Movies
May 22, 2009
BOOKS: Observatory Mansions, Edward Carey (2000)
Observatory Mansions was, in better days, the Orme family's country estate. But as the family's fortunes have declined and the nearby city has continued to sprawl, the building is now a decaying apartment building, situated on a traffic circle at the city's edge.
There are still Ormes living in Observatory Mansions. Francis shares one of the apartments with his elderly parents, venturing out only for necessary shopping and to work. He is a street performer; in a white suit and gloves (and Francis has, shall we say, an obsession with his white gloves), he performs as a "statue of whiteness" in the nearby park. It's a perfect job for Francis because it doesn't require him to actually speak to anyone.
And Francis, sad to say, is probably the least eccentric resident of Observatory Mansions (not that there are many left). They are lonely people who've removed themselves from the world -- Miss Higg to her television, Peter Bugg to the book he'll never finish writing. They are, therefore, horrified when a new tenant arrives, a woman who has the nerve to want to meet her new neighbors instead of leaving them alone.
Observatory Mansions is a masterpiece of tone; it just keeps getting stranger and eerier. Carey's characters are grotesque creations, but he presents them with such compassion and understanding that you find yourselves feeling for them even as you're completely creeped out by them. The world he creates is a weird and marvelous place, and while I'm sure that the novel won't be to everyone's taste, it's one of my favorites (this was a re-reading).
There are still Ormes living in Observatory Mansions. Francis shares one of the apartments with his elderly parents, venturing out only for necessary shopping and to work. He is a street performer; in a white suit and gloves (and Francis has, shall we say, an obsession with his white gloves), he performs as a "statue of whiteness" in the nearby park. It's a perfect job for Francis because it doesn't require him to actually speak to anyone.
And Francis, sad to say, is probably the least eccentric resident of Observatory Mansions (not that there are many left). They are lonely people who've removed themselves from the world -- Miss Higg to her television, Peter Bugg to the book he'll never finish writing. They are, therefore, horrified when a new tenant arrives, a woman who has the nerve to want to meet her new neighbors instead of leaving them alone.
Observatory Mansions is a masterpiece of tone; it just keeps getting stranger and eerier. Carey's characters are grotesque creations, but he presents them with such compassion and understanding that you find yourselves feeling for them even as you're completely creeped out by them. The world he creates is a weird and marvelous place, and while I'm sure that the novel won't be to everyone's taste, it's one of my favorites (this was a re-reading).
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Books
May 21, 2009
MOVIES: The Brothers Bloom (Rian Johnson, 2009)
I loved Johnson's first film, the high-school noir Brick, so I had very high hopes for this one. Unfortunately, although there is much to admire, the film ultimately collapses under the weight of some very bad casting.
Let's start with the good. Johnson's story is entertaining. Our heroes, such as they are, are con men Stephen (Mark Ruffalo) and Bloom (Adrian Brody), brothers who've been pulling scams since childhood. Stephen does all of the plotting of their cons, and Bloom has grown tired of having to play one role after another; he wants to retire to live "an unscripted life." But Stephen talks him into one final con. (Apparently, neither brother has ever read a book or watched a movie, or they'd know that the "one final" anything never actually works.)
Their target is the lovely Penelope (Rachel Weisz), an eccentric New Jersey heiress, and the con is an elaborate concoction involving medieval manuscripts, Russian mobsters, and traveling to one exotic destination after another. Stephen warns Bloom not to ruin things by falling for Penelope, but who could resist?
The movie looks marvelous. The locations are lovely and they're photographed beautifully (Steve Yedlin, cinematographer); the costumes (by Beatrix Aruna Pasztor) and set decoration (by Sophie Newman) are impeccable (it's a marvelous running joke that everyone is almost always wearing a black hat of some sort -- cloche, derby, top hat, fedora, sunbonnet). The score by Nathan Johnson (the director's cousin) isn't quite as gleefully eclectic as his work for Brick, but it's fine music that does much to enhance the mood of the movie
Now to the problem: What the brothers Bloom are attempting to pull off here isn't called a con game for no reason; it's supposed to be fun. A certain playfulness and lightness of spirit is called for in actors playing con men, and as talented as Ruffalo and Brody can be, they aren't the first names that come to mind when you think light, breezy comedy. Even given that Bloom doesn't really want to be here, and Stephen is tired of putting up with Bloom's moping, we still have to have the sense that these are men who could take pleasure in their craft and cleverness. Brody and Ruffalo don't give us that; they're glum from start to finish.
As if to compensate for their excessive gravity, Rachel Weisz ramps up the energy so much that what should play as lovable eccentricity comes across instead as frenzied and manic. I got tired watching her after a while.
There are moments and scenes of great wit and style to be found in The Brothers Bloom, but they can't float the way they should, weighed down as they are by Ruffalo and Brody. Worth watching when it comes to cable and DVD, but I can't recommend paying full price for it. Here's hoping that Johnson returns to form with his next movie.
Let's start with the good. Johnson's story is entertaining. Our heroes, such as they are, are con men Stephen (Mark Ruffalo) and Bloom (Adrian Brody), brothers who've been pulling scams since childhood. Stephen does all of the plotting of their cons, and Bloom has grown tired of having to play one role after another; he wants to retire to live "an unscripted life." But Stephen talks him into one final con. (Apparently, neither brother has ever read a book or watched a movie, or they'd know that the "one final" anything never actually works.)
Their target is the lovely Penelope (Rachel Weisz), an eccentric New Jersey heiress, and the con is an elaborate concoction involving medieval manuscripts, Russian mobsters, and traveling to one exotic destination after another. Stephen warns Bloom not to ruin things by falling for Penelope, but who could resist?
The movie looks marvelous. The locations are lovely and they're photographed beautifully (Steve Yedlin, cinematographer); the costumes (by Beatrix Aruna Pasztor) and set decoration (by Sophie Newman) are impeccable (it's a marvelous running joke that everyone is almost always wearing a black hat of some sort -- cloche, derby, top hat, fedora, sunbonnet). The score by Nathan Johnson (the director's cousin) isn't quite as gleefully eclectic as his work for Brick, but it's fine music that does much to enhance the mood of the movie
Now to the problem: What the brothers Bloom are attempting to pull off here isn't called a con game for no reason; it's supposed to be fun. A certain playfulness and lightness of spirit is called for in actors playing con men, and as talented as Ruffalo and Brody can be, they aren't the first names that come to mind when you think light, breezy comedy. Even given that Bloom doesn't really want to be here, and Stephen is tired of putting up with Bloom's moping, we still have to have the sense that these are men who could take pleasure in their craft and cleverness. Brody and Ruffalo don't give us that; they're glum from start to finish.
As if to compensate for their excessive gravity, Rachel Weisz ramps up the energy so much that what should play as lovable eccentricity comes across instead as frenzied and manic. I got tired watching her after a while.
There are moments and scenes of great wit and style to be found in The Brothers Bloom, but they can't float the way they should, weighed down as they are by Ruffalo and Brody. Worth watching when it comes to cable and DVD, but I can't recommend paying full price for it. Here's hoping that Johnson returns to form with his next movie.
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Movies
May 20, 2009
MUSIC: American Idol 09: year-end awards
By now, the folks on the east coast are about halfway through the overwrought festival of bad duets with celebrities that is the final Idol results show. That won't start here in California for another two hours, so let's take a few moments for the annual year-end awards. Only performances from the top 12 on are considered; the semifinalists aren't included.
Best performance: Kris, "Ain't No Sunshine" (2nd version)
Runner-up: Anoop, 'Always On My Mind"
Worst performance: Danny, "Dream On"
Runner-up: Megan, "Rockin' Robin"
Voted off too soon: Allison
Runner-up: No award; America mostly got it right this year
Lasted too long: Scott
Runner-up: Adam
Most disappointing: Lil, who clearly had the voice to be a contender, but never found her own style or (more important) away to please the judges.
Most pleasant surprise: Kris, who seemed at first to be this year's Jason Castro -- pleasant to look at, nice boy, harmless coffee-house vibe -- but proved to be a skillful interpreter and arranger who never got nearly as much credit from the judges for his originality as did The Chosen One, Adam Lambert.
Best performance: Kris, "Ain't No Sunshine" (2nd version)
Runner-up: Anoop, 'Always On My Mind"
Worst performance: Danny, "Dream On"
Runner-up: Megan, "Rockin' Robin"
Voted off too soon: Allison
Runner-up: No award; America mostly got it right this year
Lasted too long: Scott
Runner-up: Adam
Most disappointing: Lil, who clearly had the voice to be a contender, but never found her own style or (more important) away to please the judges.
Most pleasant surprise: Kris, who seemed at first to be this year's Jason Castro -- pleasant to look at, nice boy, harmless coffee-house vibe -- but proved to be a skillful interpreter and arranger who never got nearly as much credit from the judges for his originality as did The Chosen One, Adam Lambert.
May 19, 2009
MUSIC: American Idol 09: The finals!
Well, it's not the Adam vs. Danny final the producers so desperately wanted, and it's not the Kris vs. Allison final we so richly deserved, but it is the most interesting final we could have gotten, and by far the sharpest contrast any Idol final has ever presented. It's pop against rock, understatement against flamboyance, sincerity against artifice, subtlety against bombast -- it's Kris against Adam, and THIS...
...is the final rundown.
Round One: Something Old ...
Adam, "Mad World" -- I liked this better than his first performance of it, if only because he kept it almost entirely in his lower register this time, where we can actually hear him singing instead of screeching. This song really brings out his tendency to gasp for breath between phrases, though, and the drawback of being able to understand the lyrics this time around is that you notice how maudlin the song is, and that it's impossible to sing it without looking like a self-pitying 14-year-old. I wish he'd chosen "Tracks of My Tears" or "Feeling Good" instead.
Kris, "Ain't No Sunshine" -- Absolutely the right song choice; Kris's only other real option was the Kanye song from last week, and it wouldn't have been wise to do the same song twice in a row. The original was one of my favorite performances of the year, and I think this was just as good. It's an intense performance, and the dynamic shifts are beautifully done. The last note didn't really need to be a falsetto note -- again with Idol men and their falsetto obsession -- but at least it was in tune.
Round One to Kris, but it's closer than I'd have expected. Interesting to note that Kris's performance was as theatrical as he ever gets and Adam's was as understated as he ever gets; they meet in the middle between their usual styles, giving us the most direct comparison we've ever seen.
Round Two: ...Something New...
Adam, "A Change Is Gonna Come" -- I can understand why Fuller would choose this song for Adam; it certainly plays to his flair for the dramatic. But this is a song about determination in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles, and Adam simply doesn't project the world-weariness or the sense of having suffered that the song requires; the biggest obstacle this guy's ever faced is that Starbucks was out of blueberry muffins. The overdone vocal gymnastics in the second half don't help; they detract from the simplicity of the song's message.
Kris, "What's Going On" -- I wish he hadn't chosen to end it in essentially the same way he ended his first number -- big pause, dramatic final note -- but otherwise, that was a fine performance. The arrangement works well, though I think Kris is lucky that this is the last week of the competition; one more acoustic-guitar arrangement might make him start to seem like a one-trick pony. Not his best performance of the year, but after Adam's disappointing work in this round, it didn't need to be.
Round Two to Kris, by a comfortable margin.
Round Three: ... and an Idol Anthem, too!
Adam, "No Boundaries" -- I've been curious about this moment all week. For the first time, Adam was going to have to sing a crappy piece of Top 40 Pop that he wasn't allowed to re-arrange or re-invent, and I wondered whether he'd be able to do it. Well, he managed it, but he didn't look happy about it; this is the most tense and uncomfortable we've ever seen Adam. There are even a few notes badly out of key as the chorus enters near the end of the song (and whatever I may dislike about Adam, ptich has rarely been a problem for him). It's as good a performance as Adam could have given in a style so far from his comfort zone.
Kris, "No Boundaries" -- Oh dear. What a moment to have a really craptastic performance. Kris is pushing so hard to be heard over the band that his pitch is off and his tone is unusually harsh and unpleasant. There's not much to say, really -- it's a disaster on every level, and it's painful to sit through it.
Round Three to Adam, not so much for giving a good performance as for not sucking. I feel sorry for both guys, though, for having to sing that wretched song, which is surely one of the worst official Idol singles ever.
For the night: Kris, but damn, it's surprisingly close, as Adam spent much of the night proving that he could actually sing if he decided to.
For the season: Kris deserves it, and if the vote was really that close last week, then I think he'll win it, as the Danny Gokey vote is likely to break heavily in his favor over Adam. That last performance, though, just might have been awful enough to lose the whole thing for him.
...is the final rundown.
Round One: Something Old ...
Adam, "Mad World" -- I liked this better than his first performance of it, if only because he kept it almost entirely in his lower register this time, where we can actually hear him singing instead of screeching. This song really brings out his tendency to gasp for breath between phrases, though, and the drawback of being able to understand the lyrics this time around is that you notice how maudlin the song is, and that it's impossible to sing it without looking like a self-pitying 14-year-old. I wish he'd chosen "Tracks of My Tears" or "Feeling Good" instead.
Kris, "Ain't No Sunshine" -- Absolutely the right song choice; Kris's only other real option was the Kanye song from last week, and it wouldn't have been wise to do the same song twice in a row. The original was one of my favorite performances of the year, and I think this was just as good. It's an intense performance, and the dynamic shifts are beautifully done. The last note didn't really need to be a falsetto note -- again with Idol men and their falsetto obsession -- but at least it was in tune.
Round One to Kris, but it's closer than I'd have expected. Interesting to note that Kris's performance was as theatrical as he ever gets and Adam's was as understated as he ever gets; they meet in the middle between their usual styles, giving us the most direct comparison we've ever seen.
Round Two: ...Something New...
Adam, "A Change Is Gonna Come" -- I can understand why Fuller would choose this song for Adam; it certainly plays to his flair for the dramatic. But this is a song about determination in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles, and Adam simply doesn't project the world-weariness or the sense of having suffered that the song requires; the biggest obstacle this guy's ever faced is that Starbucks was out of blueberry muffins. The overdone vocal gymnastics in the second half don't help; they detract from the simplicity of the song's message.
Kris, "What's Going On" -- I wish he hadn't chosen to end it in essentially the same way he ended his first number -- big pause, dramatic final note -- but otherwise, that was a fine performance. The arrangement works well, though I think Kris is lucky that this is the last week of the competition; one more acoustic-guitar arrangement might make him start to seem like a one-trick pony. Not his best performance of the year, but after Adam's disappointing work in this round, it didn't need to be.
Round Two to Kris, by a comfortable margin.
Round Three: ... and an Idol Anthem, too!
Adam, "No Boundaries" -- I've been curious about this moment all week. For the first time, Adam was going to have to sing a crappy piece of Top 40 Pop that he wasn't allowed to re-arrange or re-invent, and I wondered whether he'd be able to do it. Well, he managed it, but he didn't look happy about it; this is the most tense and uncomfortable we've ever seen Adam. There are even a few notes badly out of key as the chorus enters near the end of the song (and whatever I may dislike about Adam, ptich has rarely been a problem for him). It's as good a performance as Adam could have given in a style so far from his comfort zone.
Kris, "No Boundaries" -- Oh dear. What a moment to have a really craptastic performance. Kris is pushing so hard to be heard over the band that his pitch is off and his tone is unusually harsh and unpleasant. There's not much to say, really -- it's a disaster on every level, and it's painful to sit through it.
Round Three to Adam, not so much for giving a good performance as for not sucking. I feel sorry for both guys, though, for having to sing that wretched song, which is surely one of the worst official Idol singles ever.
For the night: Kris, but damn, it's surprisingly close, as Adam spent much of the night proving that he could actually sing if he decided to.
For the season: Kris deserves it, and if the vote was really that close last week, then I think he'll win it, as the Danny Gokey vote is likely to break heavily in his favor over Adam. That last performance, though, just might have been awful enough to lose the whole thing for him.
May 18, 2009
MOVIES: Star Trek (J.J. Abrams, 2009)
It's the Muppet Babies version of Star Trek, as we go back to the very beginning to see how Kirk, Spock, and the rest of the Enterprise gang came together. Except that it's not quite the Enterprise gang we already knew, because Abrams cleverly re-boots the franchise by making this a time-travel story, thus creating an alternate history in which events are free to develop differently than they did in the original version.
The personalities are essentially the same, though, which poses a particularly nasty challenge for the actors -- how to evoke the original cast without falling into slavish imitation or caricature -- and most of the cast succeed very well. Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto as Kirk and Spock come off best (thank goodness, since they have the largest roles). Pine gets the cocky arrogance of Kirk just right, and Quinto's Spock is perfect as a young man who hasn't quite yet found the balance between his human and Vulcan sides.
As McCoy, Karl Urban gives the most cartoonish imitation of his predecessor, and Anton Yelchin's Chekov is embarassing, though in fairness, the script doesn't give him much more to do than a few "victor/wictor" accent jokes, so he's playing them for all they're worth (which isn't much).
Our villain this time is Eric Bana, as a pissed-off Romulan named Nero, who's traveled back in time to wreak vengeance on the men who destroyed his planet. Bana's trying to make Nero a larger-than-life figure, striving for the same sort of operatic tragic figure that Ricardo Montalban created in The Wrath of Khan, and he never quite gets there; all of his flailing about and yelling ultimately just seems a little silly.
But a Star Trek movie is never really about the bad guy, anyway; it's about the relationships among those core characters, and Abrams gets those relationships just right; Pine and Quinto have moments when you forget that you're not watching Shatner and Nimoy. The tone of the movie also captures the original series perfectly, with a precisely calibrated blend of earnestness, camaraderie, humor that walks the is-it-or-isn't-it line of deliberate campiness, and hope that humanity might actually find itself in this wonderful world someday.
The special effects are very well done, though Abrams is overly fond on phony light flares on the lens. Michael Giacchino's score is marvelous; I was reminded at various points of Holst, or of a more brutal and percussive Hovhaness. (And Alexander Courage's original theme music is brought in at exactly the right moment.)
Does the story hold up? Well, not really; time travel stories rarely do if you examine them too closely. But things move along quickly enough that you don't have time to worry about the paradoxes and loopholes until after the movie's over, and the main goal -- giving the series a fresh start and freeing it from the fanboy tyranny of Official Star Trek Canon -- is accomplished with great efficiency. A fine new start for the series.
The personalities are essentially the same, though, which poses a particularly nasty challenge for the actors -- how to evoke the original cast without falling into slavish imitation or caricature -- and most of the cast succeed very well. Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto as Kirk and Spock come off best (thank goodness, since they have the largest roles). Pine gets the cocky arrogance of Kirk just right, and Quinto's Spock is perfect as a young man who hasn't quite yet found the balance between his human and Vulcan sides.
As McCoy, Karl Urban gives the most cartoonish imitation of his predecessor, and Anton Yelchin's Chekov is embarassing, though in fairness, the script doesn't give him much more to do than a few "victor/wictor" accent jokes, so he's playing them for all they're worth (which isn't much).
Our villain this time is Eric Bana, as a pissed-off Romulan named Nero, who's traveled back in time to wreak vengeance on the men who destroyed his planet. Bana's trying to make Nero a larger-than-life figure, striving for the same sort of operatic tragic figure that Ricardo Montalban created in The Wrath of Khan, and he never quite gets there; all of his flailing about and yelling ultimately just seems a little silly.
But a Star Trek movie is never really about the bad guy, anyway; it's about the relationships among those core characters, and Abrams gets those relationships just right; Pine and Quinto have moments when you forget that you're not watching Shatner and Nimoy. The tone of the movie also captures the original series perfectly, with a precisely calibrated blend of earnestness, camaraderie, humor that walks the is-it-or-isn't-it line of deliberate campiness, and hope that humanity might actually find itself in this wonderful world someday.
The special effects are very well done, though Abrams is overly fond on phony light flares on the lens. Michael Giacchino's score is marvelous; I was reminded at various points of Holst, or of a more brutal and percussive Hovhaness. (And Alexander Courage's original theme music is brought in at exactly the right moment.)
Does the story hold up? Well, not really; time travel stories rarely do if you examine them too closely. But things move along quickly enough that you don't have time to worry about the paradoxes and loopholes until after the movie's over, and the main goal -- giving the series a fresh start and freeing it from the fanboy tyranny of Official Star Trek Canon -- is accomplished with great efficiency. A fine new start for the series.
Labels:
Movies
May 12, 2009
MUSIC: American Idol 09: Judges' choice
The annual choice night -- judges pick a song, contestants pick a song -- gets shrunk from three songs to two this year, as Idol continues to be unable to properly manage time. Sadly missing from the usual lineup: Clive Davis, whose picks are usually the most astute of the evening.
The rundown:
Danny, "Dance Little Sister" -- Danny's screaming at us, and even though he's managing to stay on pitch, it's not a pleasant thing to hear. It's a harsh, aggressive, almost threatening performance; I begin to fear that if Little Sister doesn't dance well enough, Danny's going to send her to the salt mines. And quite apart from the screaming, it's just not a very interesting performance.
Kris, "Apologize" -- Very well done, with the falsetto accents being used (for once) quite effectively. It's a slightly bigger sound than we usually get from Kris, and it's good to see that he's capable of more power; the sound isn't forced or pushed, and (unlike Danny) there's no apparent effort behind it.
Adam, "One" -- The first voice and chorus are rather pleasant, but then it's back to the shriek shriek scream scream scream of which Adam is so fond. There's barely a word in the second half of the song that can be understood, except maybe by dogs, and I feel as if someone's ramming an iron spike into my brain.
For Round 1: Kris, Danny, Adam.
Danny, "You Are So Beautiful" -- A few moments in the middle border on the overly shouty, but far less so than Danny's norm, and the opening is absolutely beautiful. The song suits his voice and style perfectly, and the arrangement is effective. Probably his best performance of the season. (And let's face it, the subliminal reminder of the dead wife is good for a few votes, too.)
Kris, "Heartless" -- I don't know the Kanye West song at all, but I'm willing to bet that it's not an acoustic guitar number. Enunciation continues to be a problem for Kris, but that's the only serious problem here. The arrangement is lovely, and the performance is spot-on technically. It's a fine performance.
Adam, "Crying" -- I have the same reaction I had to his Led Zeppelin song last week: He really doesn't look comfortable as a hard rocker. As for the performance, shriek scream yawn can we please for the love of god send him home already?
For Round 2: Danny, Kris, Adam.
For the night: Kris (narrowly, on the basis of consistency), Danny, Adam.
For the season: Kris, Danny, Adam.
Deserving to go home. Adam. Seriously, America, the emperor has no clothes. Realistically, though, either Danny or Kris will be leaving; I think it's too close to call.
The rundown:
Danny, "Dance Little Sister" -- Danny's screaming at us, and even though he's managing to stay on pitch, it's not a pleasant thing to hear. It's a harsh, aggressive, almost threatening performance; I begin to fear that if Little Sister doesn't dance well enough, Danny's going to send her to the salt mines. And quite apart from the screaming, it's just not a very interesting performance.
Kris, "Apologize" -- Very well done, with the falsetto accents being used (for once) quite effectively. It's a slightly bigger sound than we usually get from Kris, and it's good to see that he's capable of more power; the sound isn't forced or pushed, and (unlike Danny) there's no apparent effort behind it.
Adam, "One" -- The first voice and chorus are rather pleasant, but then it's back to the shriek shriek scream scream scream of which Adam is so fond. There's barely a word in the second half of the song that can be understood, except maybe by dogs, and I feel as if someone's ramming an iron spike into my brain.
For Round 1: Kris, Danny, Adam.
Danny, "You Are So Beautiful" -- A few moments in the middle border on the overly shouty, but far less so than Danny's norm, and the opening is absolutely beautiful. The song suits his voice and style perfectly, and the arrangement is effective. Probably his best performance of the season. (And let's face it, the subliminal reminder of the dead wife is good for a few votes, too.)
Kris, "Heartless" -- I don't know the Kanye West song at all, but I'm willing to bet that it's not an acoustic guitar number. Enunciation continues to be a problem for Kris, but that's the only serious problem here. The arrangement is lovely, and the performance is spot-on technically. It's a fine performance.
Adam, "Crying" -- I have the same reaction I had to his Led Zeppelin song last week: He really doesn't look comfortable as a hard rocker. As for the performance, shriek scream yawn can we please for the love of god send him home already?
For Round 2: Danny, Kris, Adam.
For the night: Kris (narrowly, on the basis of consistency), Danny, Adam.
For the season: Kris, Danny, Adam.
Deserving to go home. Adam. Seriously, America, the emperor has no clothes. Realistically, though, either Danny or Kris will be leaving; I think it's too close to call.
May 07, 2009
BOOKS: Old City Hall, Robert Rotenberg (2009)
Entertaining legal thriller with a fine mix of sharply drawn characters.
Mr. Singh enjoys his short morning chats with Kevin Brace, one of the customers to whom he delivers the newspaper every morning, so it comes as a particular shock when Brace opens the door one morning with bloody hands and confesses to killing his wife, whose body Singh finds in the Braces' bathtub. Those words -- "I killed her" -- will be the last words Brace speaks to anyone; he refuses to talk to the police, and insists on communicating even with his lawyer only in writing.
Not talking is out of character for Brace, who is Toronto's most popular talk-radio host, but the police and Crown Attorney's office aren't terribly bothered. With a dead body, a weapon, and a confession on hand, this should be an easy case. But then, there are those mysterious fingerprints that shouldn't be at the scene; Brace's silence poses unexpected obstacles; and the judge assigned to the case is just unpredictable enough to make everyone nervous.
The story is full of nifty twists, and Rotenberg gives us a terrific bunch of characters; I particularly liked Nancy Parish, Brace's attorney, who can't figure out what her client is up to, and Detective Ari Greene, whose scenes with his grumpy retired father provide much of the novel's comic relief. Because the story's set in Canada, the courtroom sequences happen slightly differently than they might in an American city, but never so much so that the U.S. reader will feel ambushed by something he didn't see coming.
This is a very good first novel, and several of these characters could easily continue on as series protagonists, if Rotenberg so chooses.
Mr. Singh enjoys his short morning chats with Kevin Brace, one of the customers to whom he delivers the newspaper every morning, so it comes as a particular shock when Brace opens the door one morning with bloody hands and confesses to killing his wife, whose body Singh finds in the Braces' bathtub. Those words -- "I killed her" -- will be the last words Brace speaks to anyone; he refuses to talk to the police, and insists on communicating even with his lawyer only in writing.
Not talking is out of character for Brace, who is Toronto's most popular talk-radio host, but the police and Crown Attorney's office aren't terribly bothered. With a dead body, a weapon, and a confession on hand, this should be an easy case. But then, there are those mysterious fingerprints that shouldn't be at the scene; Brace's silence poses unexpected obstacles; and the judge assigned to the case is just unpredictable enough to make everyone nervous.
The story is full of nifty twists, and Rotenberg gives us a terrific bunch of characters; I particularly liked Nancy Parish, Brace's attorney, who can't figure out what her client is up to, and Detective Ari Greene, whose scenes with his grumpy retired father provide much of the novel's comic relief. Because the story's set in Canada, the courtroom sequences happen slightly differently than they might in an American city, but never so much so that the U.S. reader will feel ambushed by something he didn't see coming.
This is a very good first novel, and several of these characters could easily continue on as series protagonists, if Rotenberg so chooses.
Labels:
Books
May 05, 2009
MUSIC: American Idol 09: Rock night
I will happily admit that rock music is not my favorite genre, so the rundown may sound grumpier than usual. (If I think everyone stinks, I can blame it on their lack of dress rehearsal.) Slash takes on the role of mentor, and for the first time in Idol competition, we get duets from the wannabes.
The rundown:
Adam, "Whole Lotta Love" -- At least tonight his high-pitched shrieking is stylistically appropriate. Sadly, that doesn't make it any less painful, especially when the words are as incomprehensible as they often are here. And for the first time, even Adam's stage presence fails him; he looks uncomfortable tonight, like a little boy playing dress-up in a rocker's clothes.
Allison, "Cry Baby" -- Maybe it's just the song or the style, but this is the least subtle, least interesting performance we've gotten from Allison; she's bludgeoning us with volume. There aren't any serious technical problems -- the pitch is fine, the phrasing makes sense -- but it never crosses the line from competent to interesting.
Kris & Danny, "Renegade" -- It's not really a duet so much as two soloists sharing a stage; they don't even look at each other for most of the song. Kris comes off better as a rock singer than I'd expected him to, and Danny's R&B sound is less suited to the style than I'd have guessed. But their voices blend very well, and they've made enough attempt at ensemble that they're even breathing together in the same odd place ("...long [breathe] arm of the law...").
Kris, "Come Together" -- This song ought to feel a little bit sleazy, and while Kris certainly goes farther in that direction than I thought he could, it is sort of like watching the Hardy Boys make a porn flick. It's not a disastrously awful performance -- I liked the middle section, where he drops into his lower register -- but it's a very bad song choice. Then again, in all fairness, this was never going to be his best night, and I don't know what would have been a better choice.
Danny, "Dream On" -- Excuse me while I lift my jaw from the floor. The opening verse wasn't half bad, but the louder and higher-pitched it got, the worse it became. Danny's pitch went completely to hell and back -- I don't think a single instance of the words "dream on" was in tune, and that made up about half of the song -- and those last few seconds of rocker screaming were horrific. By far the worst performance of the night, maybe the worst of the season (and I haven't forgotten Megan's "Rockin' Robin").
Allison & Adam, "Slow Ride" -- Individually, they're both better than they were in their solo numbers. He looks more comfortable, and (much to my surprise) manages to scale his performance down to a more natural level, allowing the two to blend nicely. She's singing instead of shouting, and unlike the Kris/Danny pairing, these two actually seem to be aware of one another's presence. The song is duller than dirt, but the performance is the best one we've heard tonight.
For the night: Allison, Adam, Kris, Danny.
For the season: Allison, Kris, Danny, Adam.
Deserving the trip home: I continue to dream of the Adam-goes-home miracle, but I certainly don't expect it. Overall, Danny is the most deserving of the exit, but I wouldn't feel safe if I were Kris.
The rundown:
Adam, "Whole Lotta Love" -- At least tonight his high-pitched shrieking is stylistically appropriate. Sadly, that doesn't make it any less painful, especially when the words are as incomprehensible as they often are here. And for the first time, even Adam's stage presence fails him; he looks uncomfortable tonight, like a little boy playing dress-up in a rocker's clothes.
Allison, "Cry Baby" -- Maybe it's just the song or the style, but this is the least subtle, least interesting performance we've gotten from Allison; she's bludgeoning us with volume. There aren't any serious technical problems -- the pitch is fine, the phrasing makes sense -- but it never crosses the line from competent to interesting.
Kris & Danny, "Renegade" -- It's not really a duet so much as two soloists sharing a stage; they don't even look at each other for most of the song. Kris comes off better as a rock singer than I'd expected him to, and Danny's R&B sound is less suited to the style than I'd have guessed. But their voices blend very well, and they've made enough attempt at ensemble that they're even breathing together in the same odd place ("...long [breathe] arm of the law...").
Kris, "Come Together" -- This song ought to feel a little bit sleazy, and while Kris certainly goes farther in that direction than I thought he could, it is sort of like watching the Hardy Boys make a porn flick. It's not a disastrously awful performance -- I liked the middle section, where he drops into his lower register -- but it's a very bad song choice. Then again, in all fairness, this was never going to be his best night, and I don't know what would have been a better choice.
Danny, "Dream On" -- Excuse me while I lift my jaw from the floor. The opening verse wasn't half bad, but the louder and higher-pitched it got, the worse it became. Danny's pitch went completely to hell and back -- I don't think a single instance of the words "dream on" was in tune, and that made up about half of the song -- and those last few seconds of rocker screaming were horrific. By far the worst performance of the night, maybe the worst of the season (and I haven't forgotten Megan's "Rockin' Robin").
Allison & Adam, "Slow Ride" -- Individually, they're both better than they were in their solo numbers. He looks more comfortable, and (much to my surprise) manages to scale his performance down to a more natural level, allowing the two to blend nicely. She's singing instead of shouting, and unlike the Kris/Danny pairing, these two actually seem to be aware of one another's presence. The song is duller than dirt, but the performance is the best one we've heard tonight.
For the night: Allison, Adam, Kris, Danny.
For the season: Allison, Kris, Danny, Adam.
Deserving the trip home: I continue to dream of the Adam-goes-home miracle, but I certainly don't expect it. Overall, Danny is the most deserving of the exit, but I wouldn't feel safe if I were Kris.
April 28, 2009
MUSIC: American Idol 09: Rat Pack night
The Rat Pack serve as this year's excuse for a night of standards, and Jamie Foxx is brought out to serve as the most unexpected mentor in Idol history. This is normally the week when we begin to get two songs from each contestant, but in an unspoken acknowledgement of the show's inability to manage time this season, we're still getting only one song each.
The rundown:
Kris, "The Way You Look Tonight" -- Kris has a natural, intimate quality that suits him well tonight, and the performance isn't bad overall, though his phrasing is occasionally strange (why would you breathe after the word "just" in "just thinking of you" instead of before?) and his enunciation is still sloppy. The up-tempo section in the middle is a mistake, though, especially the painful falsetto note that leads into it.
Allison, "Someone to Watch Over Me" -- I had been worried about Allison tonight, but she made a good song choice and pulled it off very nicely. Like much of her material, it's not really a 17-year-old's song -- it's about the fear that one is running out of time to find love, after all -- but Allison's preternatural maturity allows her to get away with it. No serious technical flaws, and while it's not a brilliant piece of interpretive singing, it'll do.
Matt, "My Funny Valentine" -- Foxx tries desperately to get Matt to sing full voice instead of falsetto, and he's right; those are Matt's best moments in the song. But his pitch is off throughout (he frequently hits a pitch badly and finds his way to it by the end), he's throwing in too many pointless ruffles and flourishes, and the moments when he does go to falsetto are terribly unattractive, especially at the very end of the song. (Simon's praise of this is one of his rare moments of lunacy.)
Danny, "Come Rain or Come Shine" -- Remember how all of Taylor Hicks' bluesy riffs started off seeming so fresh and original, and by the end of the season were revealed to be a very limited batch of cheesy affectations? Meet Taylor II. It's not a horrible performance, it's just never an interesting one, and the further into the song we get, the sillier and more overblown it gets.
Adam, "Feeling Good" -- An unusual song choice, not only because it has nothing to do with the Rat Pack, but because it is perhaps the most cursed song in Idol lore, having led to the elimination of two contestants in one night (Leslie and A.J., semifinals, two years ago). As for Adam's take on the song, it's his best performance yet, if only because he's actually singing much of it instead of screaming the entire thing at us. The big note at the end is held way too long, to the point where it starts to feel like Sideshow Bob and the rakes, and there's a terrible unplanned raspy moment when he drops out of it. Still, it's the first performance Adam's given that I genuinely enjoyed.
For the night: Adam (!), Allison, Kris, Danny, Matt.
For the season: Allison, Kris, Danny, Matt, Adam.
Deserving to be sent home: Adam earns himself a reprieve this week, so let's send Matt packing.
The rundown:
Kris, "The Way You Look Tonight" -- Kris has a natural, intimate quality that suits him well tonight, and the performance isn't bad overall, though his phrasing is occasionally strange (why would you breathe after the word "just" in "just thinking of you" instead of before?) and his enunciation is still sloppy. The up-tempo section in the middle is a mistake, though, especially the painful falsetto note that leads into it.
Allison, "Someone to Watch Over Me" -- I had been worried about Allison tonight, but she made a good song choice and pulled it off very nicely. Like much of her material, it's not really a 17-year-old's song -- it's about the fear that one is running out of time to find love, after all -- but Allison's preternatural maturity allows her to get away with it. No serious technical flaws, and while it's not a brilliant piece of interpretive singing, it'll do.
Matt, "My Funny Valentine" -- Foxx tries desperately to get Matt to sing full voice instead of falsetto, and he's right; those are Matt's best moments in the song. But his pitch is off throughout (he frequently hits a pitch badly and finds his way to it by the end), he's throwing in too many pointless ruffles and flourishes, and the moments when he does go to falsetto are terribly unattractive, especially at the very end of the song. (Simon's praise of this is one of his rare moments of lunacy.)
Danny, "Come Rain or Come Shine" -- Remember how all of Taylor Hicks' bluesy riffs started off seeming so fresh and original, and by the end of the season were revealed to be a very limited batch of cheesy affectations? Meet Taylor II. It's not a horrible performance, it's just never an interesting one, and the further into the song we get, the sillier and more overblown it gets.
Adam, "Feeling Good" -- An unusual song choice, not only because it has nothing to do with the Rat Pack, but because it is perhaps the most cursed song in Idol lore, having led to the elimination of two contestants in one night (Leslie and A.J., semifinals, two years ago). As for Adam's take on the song, it's his best performance yet, if only because he's actually singing much of it instead of screaming the entire thing at us. The big note at the end is held way too long, to the point where it starts to feel like Sideshow Bob and the rakes, and there's a terrible unplanned raspy moment when he drops out of it. Still, it's the first performance Adam's given that I genuinely enjoyed.
For the night: Adam (!), Allison, Kris, Danny, Matt.
For the season: Allison, Kris, Danny, Matt, Adam.
Deserving to be sent home: Adam earns himself a reprieve this week, so let's send Matt packing.
April 21, 2009
MUSIC: American Idol 09: Disco night
After last week's surprising waste of the Judges' Save on Matt, the top seven return for a night of disco songs. Everyone's a little desperate, knowing that two will be sent home this week, and we wind up with a night of unexpected arrangements and performances that are, even when they don't quite work, more interesting than we might have predicted.
The rundown:
Lil, "I'm Every Woman" -- Remember Lakisha from two seasons back? Fabulous voice, but no emotional connection to the songs or to the audience? That's who Lil reminds me of as she delivers the least interesting of the many Idol versions of this song. And I've always thought this was a bad Idol song; there's not much melody, and the backup singers do too much of the work.
Kris, "She Works Hard for the Money" -- Very nicely done, though Kris's enunciation is particularly sloppy tonight. The arrangement is clever and effective, and Kris manages to give the song his own style without making it unrecognizable or destroying it entirely.
Danny, "September" -- It almost hurts to watch him lumbering across the stage. On the other hand, it doesn't sound too bad; it's less forced than usual, and I'm surprised at how well he's hitting the high notes. It's not a great performance, and it has the tentative feel of something he's not quite sure he's got memorized yet, but it'll keep him around for another week.
Allison, "Hot Stuff" -- Oh, dear. Nothing about that worked. The arrangement, the outfit, the staging, the song choice -- all of it just wrong. It's the first time that she's come across as a kid singing material that's too old for her. Given the surprising frequency with which she's wound up in the bottom three, I fear that she's in big trouble after that performance.
Adam, "If I Can't Have You" -- His pitch is unusually shaky tonight, and in spots his enunciation is so nonexistent that I'd swear he was mocking us ("If I caaaaaaaaayuuuuuuuhh"). There are moments, though, when he drops into his lowest register, that I hear for the first time a voice that I'd be curious to hear more of; those few notes are far more attractive than the high-pitched shrieking that he so enjoys.
Matt, "Stayin' Alive" -- Big kudos just for getting out all the syllables in comprehensible fashion. The performance was better than I'd have expected, not that I'm going to remember it in the morning. And someone needs to club him upside the head with a great big No More Falsetto Stick; the last five seconds were painful.
Anoop, "Dim All the Lights" -- When the repeated line in the song is "gonna dance the night away," it would be nice if the arrangement felt like something you could, I dunno, dance to; this felt more like something that would be playing quietly in the background of a birthing class. It was pretty and well sung, I suppose, but the performance and the song were so utterly at odds that it landed with a thud.
For the night: Kris, Danny, Matt, Adam, Lil, Anoop, Allison.
For the season: Kris, Anoop, Danny, Alllison, Lil, Matt, Adam.
Should go home: Since it's a given that Adam isn't going anywhere, I'll have to say Lil and Matt. But with two going home, I expect a surprise, and I fear for Allison.
The rundown:
Lil, "I'm Every Woman" -- Remember Lakisha from two seasons back? Fabulous voice, but no emotional connection to the songs or to the audience? That's who Lil reminds me of as she delivers the least interesting of the many Idol versions of this song. And I've always thought this was a bad Idol song; there's not much melody, and the backup singers do too much of the work.
Kris, "She Works Hard for the Money" -- Very nicely done, though Kris's enunciation is particularly sloppy tonight. The arrangement is clever and effective, and Kris manages to give the song his own style without making it unrecognizable or destroying it entirely.
Danny, "September" -- It almost hurts to watch him lumbering across the stage. On the other hand, it doesn't sound too bad; it's less forced than usual, and I'm surprised at how well he's hitting the high notes. It's not a great performance, and it has the tentative feel of something he's not quite sure he's got memorized yet, but it'll keep him around for another week.
Allison, "Hot Stuff" -- Oh, dear. Nothing about that worked. The arrangement, the outfit, the staging, the song choice -- all of it just wrong. It's the first time that she's come across as a kid singing material that's too old for her. Given the surprising frequency with which she's wound up in the bottom three, I fear that she's in big trouble after that performance.
Adam, "If I Can't Have You" -- His pitch is unusually shaky tonight, and in spots his enunciation is so nonexistent that I'd swear he was mocking us ("If I caaaaaaaaayuuuuuuuhh"). There are moments, though, when he drops into his lowest register, that I hear for the first time a voice that I'd be curious to hear more of; those few notes are far more attractive than the high-pitched shrieking that he so enjoys.
Matt, "Stayin' Alive" -- Big kudos just for getting out all the syllables in comprehensible fashion. The performance was better than I'd have expected, not that I'm going to remember it in the morning. And someone needs to club him upside the head with a great big No More Falsetto Stick; the last five seconds were painful.
Anoop, "Dim All the Lights" -- When the repeated line in the song is "gonna dance the night away," it would be nice if the arrangement felt like something you could, I dunno, dance to; this felt more like something that would be playing quietly in the background of a birthing class. It was pretty and well sung, I suppose, but the performance and the song were so utterly at odds that it landed with a thud.
For the night: Kris, Danny, Matt, Adam, Lil, Anoop, Allison.
For the season: Kris, Anoop, Danny, Alllison, Lil, Matt, Adam.
Should go home: Since it's a given that Adam isn't going anywhere, I'll have to say Lil and Matt. But with two going home, I expect a surprise, and I fear for Allison.
April 20, 2009
BOOKS: A Reliable Wife, Robert Goolrick (2009)
It's a cold Wisconsin day in October 1907, and Ralph Truitt waits for the train that will bring Catherine Land, the woman who has answered his newspaper advertisement searching for "a reliable wife." It's clear almost immediately that both Ralph and Catherine are strong-willed people, and that each has an agenda that goes beyond a simple arranged marriage. But affairs of the heart never go quite as one plans them, even when one doesn't actually plan to involve the heart at all.
Goolrick's novel is a wildly overheated tale of passion, lust, vengeance, conniving, and longing. The story is almost too loopy to be believed, built as it is on a series of wild coincidences, and Goolrick's prose leans to the absurdly melodramatic. (Remembering a perfect childhood day, Catherine thinks, "The sun set every day. It could not be that it would set in splendor only once in her lifetime.") But the three principal characters -- Ralph and Catherine are eventually joined in Wisconsin by the piano-playing cad from St. Louis, Tony Moretti -- are so vividly drawn, and their emotional lives so real despite Goolrick's excesses, that A Reliable Wife kept me turning the pages. It can be an infuriating novel, and there will be moments when you want to toss it across the room, but there's something weirdly compelling in its delirium, and I'm glad to have read it.
Goolrick's novel is a wildly overheated tale of passion, lust, vengeance, conniving, and longing. The story is almost too loopy to be believed, built as it is on a series of wild coincidences, and Goolrick's prose leans to the absurdly melodramatic. (Remembering a perfect childhood day, Catherine thinks, "The sun set every day. It could not be that it would set in splendor only once in her lifetime.") But the three principal characters -- Ralph and Catherine are eventually joined in Wisconsin by the piano-playing cad from St. Louis, Tony Moretti -- are so vividly drawn, and their emotional lives so real despite Goolrick's excesses, that A Reliable Wife kept me turning the pages. It can be an infuriating novel, and there will be moments when you want to toss it across the room, but there's something weirdly compelling in its delirium, and I'm glad to have read it.
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April 14, 2009
MUSIC: American Idol 09: songs from movies
Quentin Tarantino is our mentor tonight, and the results are a wildly mixed bag, with performances tending to the extremes.
The rundown:
Allison, "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" -- Not her best performance, though I'm still impressed with how smoothly she gets from her lower register (heck, she's a female Idol contestant; I'm impressed that she has a lower register) to her upper. There's nothing terribly wrong here; there's just nothing terribly interesting, either (to be sure, that's partly the fault of the song). It's a forgettable piece of work.
Anoop, "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You" -- Well, damn if Tarantino hasn't managed to push Anoop at least part of the way from Cute Little Boy to Romantic Lead. If he could sing like this every week, he'd be a threat to win this thing. It's a passionate, intense performance; the only thing I'd change is the cheesy pointing to the audience on the final "you."
Adam, "Born to Be Wild" -- Even I must grant that Adam is a showman, and if all I had to do was watch this performance, I'd be dazzled by it. Unfortunately, I also have to listen to it, which means being assaulted by that ugly high-pitched shriek. And the gasping for breath is getting worse every week; the first verse is particularly bad.
Matt, "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman" -- PItch is iffy throughout, with one especially nasty falsetto note in the bridge. Ultimately, Matt falls to the same pitfall that took down Allison -- there's nothing of interest in the song, and all the effort in the world can't make it seem that there is.
Danny, "Endless Love" -- The harp makes for an effective arrangement, and it's a fine performance. The belting doesn't come across quite so much as shouting as it often can with Danny, and whether it's because of Tarantino's advice or not, he does seem to be more emotionally connected with the material and the audience. (Losing the glasses? Big mistake; it's the one thing we remember about him.)
Kris, "Falling Slowly" -- Oh, that hurt to watch -- the most plodding, uninvolved, lifeless performance of this song I can imagine. The beginning was pitched too low for Kris, and even when he got into a more comfortable register, there was never any energy or spark to it. It was just a limp series of notes.
Lil, "The Rose" -- Lovely voice, and not the slightest idea what she ought to do with it. None of those runs and riffs and melodic alterations worked at all; they were just plugged in because they might sound impressive. It was a taste-free performance.
For the night: Anoop, Danny, Allison, Adam, Matt, Lil, Kris.
For the season: Anoop, Allison, Danny, Kris, Lil, Matt, Adam.
Should go home: Should be Adam, but won't be; either Lil or Matt would be the next best choice.
The rundown:
Allison, "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" -- Not her best performance, though I'm still impressed with how smoothly she gets from her lower register (heck, she's a female Idol contestant; I'm impressed that she has a lower register) to her upper. There's nothing terribly wrong here; there's just nothing terribly interesting, either (to be sure, that's partly the fault of the song). It's a forgettable piece of work.
Anoop, "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You" -- Well, damn if Tarantino hasn't managed to push Anoop at least part of the way from Cute Little Boy to Romantic Lead. If he could sing like this every week, he'd be a threat to win this thing. It's a passionate, intense performance; the only thing I'd change is the cheesy pointing to the audience on the final "you."
Adam, "Born to Be Wild" -- Even I must grant that Adam is a showman, and if all I had to do was watch this performance, I'd be dazzled by it. Unfortunately, I also have to listen to it, which means being assaulted by that ugly high-pitched shriek. And the gasping for breath is getting worse every week; the first verse is particularly bad.
Matt, "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman" -- PItch is iffy throughout, with one especially nasty falsetto note in the bridge. Ultimately, Matt falls to the same pitfall that took down Allison -- there's nothing of interest in the song, and all the effort in the world can't make it seem that there is.
Danny, "Endless Love" -- The harp makes for an effective arrangement, and it's a fine performance. The belting doesn't come across quite so much as shouting as it often can with Danny, and whether it's because of Tarantino's advice or not, he does seem to be more emotionally connected with the material and the audience. (Losing the glasses? Big mistake; it's the one thing we remember about him.)
Kris, "Falling Slowly" -- Oh, that hurt to watch -- the most plodding, uninvolved, lifeless performance of this song I can imagine. The beginning was pitched too low for Kris, and even when he got into a more comfortable register, there was never any energy or spark to it. It was just a limp series of notes.
Lil, "The Rose" -- Lovely voice, and not the slightest idea what she ought to do with it. None of those runs and riffs and melodic alterations worked at all; they were just plugged in because they might sound impressive. It was a taste-free performance.
For the night: Anoop, Danny, Allison, Adam, Matt, Lil, Kris.
For the season: Anoop, Allison, Danny, Kris, Lil, Matt, Adam.
Should go home: Should be Adam, but won't be; either Lil or Matt would be the next best choice.
April 07, 2009
MUSIC: American Idol 09: songs from birth years
It's an early 80s festival tonight (except for Allison, the baby of the group), as the wannabes offer songs from the year they were born. It is a painfully mediocre night of bizarre arrangements and uninteresting performances.
Danny, "Stand By Me" -- That slow opening verse is horrible, and completely disconnected from the up-tempo stuff that follows. And beyond the awful arrangement (which is most certainly not "the Mickey Gilley version," Gilley having been part of the early 80s "urban cowboy" movement), Danny's not in good voice tonight; he sounds pinched and strained. It's one of Danny's worst performances.
(And on that whole Mickey Gilley thing, I don't care if there was a cover version, this is not a song from 1980, and Danny ought not have been allowed to cheat the theme so blatantly.)
Kris, "All She Wants to Do Is Dance" -- Another very odd arrangement, all jazzy drums and brass that don't suit the song at all. Given that, I suppose there's nothing horribly wrong with the performance -- no glaring sour notes or anything -- but I didn't find it very interesting or effective.
Lil, "What's Love Got to Do With It" -- The verse and the bridge are quite nice, understated and relatively subtle. But then we plow into those choruses, and it's all Great Big Sledgehammer Notes (a couple of which are badly out of tune). Lil desperately needs to find a way to turn on the power without turning off the humanity.
Anoop, "True Colors" -- Finally, an arrangement that works reasonably well. But poor Anoop is so busy making soulful goo-goo eyes at us that he's forgetting to sing; his pitch is wobbly, his enunciation is sloppy, and oy, that awful falsetto note at the end! (What is it with the male contestants wanting to show off their weak falsetto registers this year?)
Scott, "The Search Is Over" -- It was bad enough when Scott was doing polite, tepid performances of polite, tepid music, but this? It's not as if Survivor is Led Zeppelin or anything, but the song does demand some edge; we just got more polite and tepid. And his pitch is terrible throughout; I winced when he went into the final chorus, where those high notes were disastrous. Please send him home, America.
Allison, "I Can't Make You Love Me" -- Talk about dumb luck, that the perfect Allison song just happens to come from her birth year. I'm particularly impressed by how smoothly she transitions from her lower register to her upper, and that she doesn't overuse the upper register; other singers we've heard would have insisted on belting an entire chorus.
Matt, "Part Time Lover" -- Well, that was a mess. The goopy slow intro, the odd little interjections of falsetto, the jazz riffs at the end, the unpleasantly nasal tone of Matt's voice throughout -- nothing about that worked. About all I can say for it is that it was minimally better than Scott.
Adam, "Mad World" -- He's gasping frantically for breath between phrases, and his strangled chipmunk upper register is painfully unattractive. And the attack on that final note is wildly out of tune, though he does eventually wrangle the note into place. Even without the technical problems, it's not a very memorable song or performance.
For the night: Allison, Lil, Kris, Anoop, Danny, Adam, Matt, Scott.
For the season: Allison, Kris, Anoop, Danny, Lil, Matt, Adam, Scott.
Deserving the trip home: Scott.
Danny, "Stand By Me" -- That slow opening verse is horrible, and completely disconnected from the up-tempo stuff that follows. And beyond the awful arrangement (which is most certainly not "the Mickey Gilley version," Gilley having been part of the early 80s "urban cowboy" movement), Danny's not in good voice tonight; he sounds pinched and strained. It's one of Danny's worst performances.
(And on that whole Mickey Gilley thing, I don't care if there was a cover version, this is not a song from 1980, and Danny ought not have been allowed to cheat the theme so blatantly.)
Kris, "All She Wants to Do Is Dance" -- Another very odd arrangement, all jazzy drums and brass that don't suit the song at all. Given that, I suppose there's nothing horribly wrong with the performance -- no glaring sour notes or anything -- but I didn't find it very interesting or effective.
Lil, "What's Love Got to Do With It" -- The verse and the bridge are quite nice, understated and relatively subtle. But then we plow into those choruses, and it's all Great Big Sledgehammer Notes (a couple of which are badly out of tune). Lil desperately needs to find a way to turn on the power without turning off the humanity.
Anoop, "True Colors" -- Finally, an arrangement that works reasonably well. But poor Anoop is so busy making soulful goo-goo eyes at us that he's forgetting to sing; his pitch is wobbly, his enunciation is sloppy, and oy, that awful falsetto note at the end! (What is it with the male contestants wanting to show off their weak falsetto registers this year?)
Scott, "The Search Is Over" -- It was bad enough when Scott was doing polite, tepid performances of polite, tepid music, but this? It's not as if Survivor is Led Zeppelin or anything, but the song does demand some edge; we just got more polite and tepid. And his pitch is terrible throughout; I winced when he went into the final chorus, where those high notes were disastrous. Please send him home, America.
Allison, "I Can't Make You Love Me" -- Talk about dumb luck, that the perfect Allison song just happens to come from her birth year. I'm particularly impressed by how smoothly she transitions from her lower register to her upper, and that she doesn't overuse the upper register; other singers we've heard would have insisted on belting an entire chorus.
Matt, "Part Time Lover" -- Well, that was a mess. The goopy slow intro, the odd little interjections of falsetto, the jazz riffs at the end, the unpleasantly nasal tone of Matt's voice throughout -- nothing about that worked. About all I can say for it is that it was minimally better than Scott.
Adam, "Mad World" -- He's gasping frantically for breath between phrases, and his strangled chipmunk upper register is painfully unattractive. And the attack on that final note is wildly out of tune, though he does eventually wrangle the note into place. Even without the technical problems, it's not a very memorable song or performance.
For the night: Allison, Lil, Kris, Anoop, Danny, Adam, Matt, Scott.
For the season: Allison, Kris, Anoop, Danny, Lil, Matt, Adam, Scott.
Deserving the trip home: Scott.
April 05, 2009
MOVIES: Duplicity (Tony Gilroy, 2009)
I am a sucker for movies about double-crosses, con games, and back-stabbing who-do-you-trust mind games, so Duplicity was right up my alley. It's certainly not the best movie of its type, but it's a breezy bit of entertainment.
Clive Owen and Julia Roberts star as Ray and Claire, former government spies (she's ex-CIA; he's ex-MI6) who decide to team up and pull a con of their own in order to make enough money to retire together; their primary obstacle is that despite their love, neither of them can quite get past their professional paranoia to completely trust the other.
The nature of the con is the weakest part of the movie; Ray and Claire get themselves hired by the corporate security departments of competing conglomerates, figuring that they can somehow steal the hot new product which the companies are fighting to bring to market. The scam never really does make sense, and the moment at the end when it's revealed that Character X has really been pulling the strings all along is particularly implausible here. (That's always the hardest part of the story to get past the audience, because the pieces never quite fall into place as neatly as they would have had to.)
The movie's other significant problem is that Julia Roberts is slightly miscast. The thing that makes her such a huge movie star is her rare combination of glamour and accessibility; despite the looks and the charisma, we somehow feel that we know her. We trust Julia Roberts, which makes her not quite the right choice for a movie where no one trusts anyone. It's not a movie-killing flaw, because what Duplicity is mostly about is the fun of watching two glamorous movie stars toss off snappy banter against a series of fabulous international backdrops, and on that level, Roberts is more than adequate. But if you imagine the role played by someone whose sexuality has an edge of danger, a hint of menace (which Owen does bring to his role) -- say, Catherine Zeta-Jones -- you get an idea of how the movie could have been just that much sharper and crisper.
Still, the movie's strengths outweigh its small flaws. Gilroy's writing is clever; there's a nice bit where the same passage of dialogue recurs at least four or five times, and we figure out more about what's really happening each time we hear it. The supporting cast is very good; RIck Worthy and Kathleen Chalfant make strong impressions as members of Owen's corporate security team, Carrie Preston gives a charming, amusing performance as a corporate travel agent who gets caught up in Owen's scheming, and there's typically solid work from Paul Giamatti and Tom Wilkinson as the dueling corporate bosses. The international locations look marvelous (Robert Elswit is the cinematographer), and James Newton Howard contributes a score with a lively retro feel.
Granted, I'm predisposed to like this kind of story, and those who aren't fans of such things may enjoy the movie less than I did, but I thought it was a smooth-moving, slick diversion.
Clive Owen and Julia Roberts star as Ray and Claire, former government spies (she's ex-CIA; he's ex-MI6) who decide to team up and pull a con of their own in order to make enough money to retire together; their primary obstacle is that despite their love, neither of them can quite get past their professional paranoia to completely trust the other.
The nature of the con is the weakest part of the movie; Ray and Claire get themselves hired by the corporate security departments of competing conglomerates, figuring that they can somehow steal the hot new product which the companies are fighting to bring to market. The scam never really does make sense, and the moment at the end when it's revealed that Character X has really been pulling the strings all along is particularly implausible here. (That's always the hardest part of the story to get past the audience, because the pieces never quite fall into place as neatly as they would have had to.)
The movie's other significant problem is that Julia Roberts is slightly miscast. The thing that makes her such a huge movie star is her rare combination of glamour and accessibility; despite the looks and the charisma, we somehow feel that we know her. We trust Julia Roberts, which makes her not quite the right choice for a movie where no one trusts anyone. It's not a movie-killing flaw, because what Duplicity is mostly about is the fun of watching two glamorous movie stars toss off snappy banter against a series of fabulous international backdrops, and on that level, Roberts is more than adequate. But if you imagine the role played by someone whose sexuality has an edge of danger, a hint of menace (which Owen does bring to his role) -- say, Catherine Zeta-Jones -- you get an idea of how the movie could have been just that much sharper and crisper.
Still, the movie's strengths outweigh its small flaws. Gilroy's writing is clever; there's a nice bit where the same passage of dialogue recurs at least four or five times, and we figure out more about what's really happening each time we hear it. The supporting cast is very good; RIck Worthy and Kathleen Chalfant make strong impressions as members of Owen's corporate security team, Carrie Preston gives a charming, amusing performance as a corporate travel agent who gets caught up in Owen's scheming, and there's typically solid work from Paul Giamatti and Tom Wilkinson as the dueling corporate bosses. The international locations look marvelous (Robert Elswit is the cinematographer), and James Newton Howard contributes a score with a lively retro feel.
Granted, I'm predisposed to like this kind of story, and those who aren't fans of such things may enjoy the movie less than I did, but I thought it was a smooth-moving, slick diversion.
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