Category: Reviews (Page 4 of 9)

We watched The Girl In the Cafe last night. We love Bill Nighy, and Kelly MacDonald was great too. They were both excellent in State Of Play also.

Alas, it appears that Bill has had his eyes “done”. His wonderful craggy face looks kind of wrong, now.

Bernard was in town and phoned us up, out of the blue. Would we like to go see The Musical Box at the House of Blues? I actually knew roughly who they were but I had no idea they were in town.

As I understood it, their current tour was playing songs from Genesis’ “The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway” period.

I was familiar with a couple of the pieces of music on the album but most of it was going to be new to me. Of course we told Bernard Yes! we’d love to meet up with him and see the show, and we’d meet him at the box office and then go have dinner somewhere nearby prior to the performance.

The performance itself was kind of odd. My first impression was that it was cheap and tawdry looking, although there was nothing wrong with the music at all. The drummer was excellent, he looked and sounded just like Phil Collins, uncannily like him in fact. From our seats we couldn’t quite make out what keyboards the Tony Banks Sound-alike was using but they sounded very authentic.

I enjoyed the show more and more as it progressed (pardon the pun). In fact, I’d quite like to see it again.

Later on I looked up these guys on the web and found out that rather than just a cover/tribute band, The Musical Box are a group of French Canadians who specialize in performing (or “re-staging”) complete concerts from the touring history of the progressive rock group Genesis, complete with props and effects that are as-close-to-original-as-possible.

Now I understood why the stage looked the way it did. They really were trying to go back in time and reproduce something exactly as it happened. Well, I don’t know if this is more honorable than just playing cover songs and enjoying the music. It’s an admirable effort, and I don’t know if they succeeded in their goal or not but it was an excellent show.

…and that’s SplashDown.

Editor’s Note, 2020: Try this link.

James LaBrie is the Celine Dion of progressive rock. Not that there’s anything wrong with that! I have a secret confession to make. I like a lot of the songs that Celine Dion chooses to sing. Given the right material, she can knock it out of the park without even trying. But quite often, she over-emotes or affects her delivery, accentuating in a way that, quite frankly, ruin the whole thing.

The material written by Henning Pauly on Frameshift’s debut is strong enough that James knocks it out of the park, even if the first few stanzas of the first track got me wondering whether he was going to “pull a Celine” and over-emote. J la B is best when he cranks up the volume and lays off the vibrato, and fortunately there is plenty of that here.

This album was much, much better than I thought it was going to be when I read the blurb. At one point they liken it to Queen, and yes, there is one track at least where that is not hyperbole. Recommended.

Grade: A- (a point off for the odd vocal affect)

So Roger Ebert said that this movie was produced for an audience that didn’t exist. Um… Hello? I, for one, thought this movie was pretty cool, but I expect for completely different reasons than the 20 or so kids who enjoyed it along with us. I think you either have to have loved the original Thunderbirds series as a kid, or you have to be a kid in order to “get” this film. Ebert clearly is in neither group.

Points off though for the rather annoying child characters (hint: Spy Kids kind of needed them, because that was the whole point, but Thunderbirds never needed a kid in a starring role in order to appeal to the target audience of same) and also because, for some reason, the words “International Rescue” could never actually be said out loud by any character in the film. Why not? Is it politically incorrect to imagine an organisation not directly affiliated with a single nation?

This movie really put me in the mood for Team America: World Police which is coming from Matt Stone and Trey Parker in October. (It’s a satirical action film – with marionettes.)

It seems that this was just in the theaters last week, yet on our last trolling through the pre-viewed cheapo surplus bins at the local Hollywood video rental chain store, we found a copy of this on sale, so we picked it up.

Here’s the deal: it’s entertaining, and visually arresting, but Koyaanisqatsi it isn’t. At the beginning we thought it was going to be random pictures of birds flying around, set to music. They we marvelled at the amazing photography – just how did they get these pictures of birds migrating, nesting, swimming, doing their thing, at such amazing close up? And flying in formation in the air?

Then we realized that there is a kind of story – or more accurately, three or four stories as we followed various species of birds on their migratory paths around the world. It is spectacular, but then it becomes contrived. We realized that there is simply NO WAY to have obtained these shots unless there was some magic trick involved. So, for the rest of the film, we wondered what the trick was.

Like much magic, knowing how it was done rather spoils the enjoyment of the film. My recommendation: Don’t watch the “making of” featurette on the DVD (but you won’t be able to help yourself) and don’t listen to the commentary – it’s more boring than the music track. Still worth seeing, though. Three stars.

When Dennis Potter’s “The Singing Detective” became available on DVD, I knew we would have to obtain a copy. It took a bit longer than I thought, but eventually we did. And last week, Lisa and I got around to watching it, an episode at a time. She remembers seeing it when it was originally broadcast on her local PBS station, years ago. I remember seeing it on TV in New Zealand.

The weird thing is, I could swear that I was about 12 years old when I first watched it. But that’s not possible; it was produced in 1986. I would have to have been 21 or so. I guess it’s understandable that a production that plays around with multiple story threads in different time periods, and includes a 12-year old version of the main character, would have the result of confusing my own memories. Not that I identify with the young Philip Marlowe at all.

I think “The Singing Detective” epitomizes the style and quality of Dennis Potter’s work. It may not be everybody’s favorite, however. Personally, I think the mental trickery of the postumously produced double-whammy “Karaoke”/”Cold Lazarus” productions appeals more.

But “Detective” will be the yardstick to which all future surrealist drama will be held.

Lisa and I had our 9th anniversary of being married yesterday, and in a fit of rebellion from work, left the house to catch a late afternoon showing of “Something’s Gotta Give” at a nearby cinema, followed by takeout pizza back at the house.

The movie was ok, but what we really enjoyed was the fact that we both thought it was less good for the same reasons: It felt like an older woman’s wish-fulfilment fantasy, with one dimensional characters and unrealistic circumstances. The film is enjoyable only due to watching Jack Nicholson playing, well, Jack Nicholson; and Diane Keaton being – Diane Keaton. They’re both a pleasure to watch as they struggle to overcome the lack of chemistry and clumsy plot.

I’ve read similar comments in various reviews, so I don’t think it’s a unique perspective.

“The Hidden Step” by the Ozric Tentacles is a CD I can play over and over again without getting tired of it. Very good for background music while trying to concentrate on work.

Last night we watched _The Blue Diner_. We originally thought this independent film might be another addition to our Food Movie Collection, but as it turned out, food has a pretty peripheral role in the plot. This bilingual film stars Lisa Vidal as Elena, a young woman who suffers a small stroke that gives her temporary aphasia, or loss of function in the language center of her brain. She “forgets” how to speak and understand Spanish, although her knowledge of English is unchanged. From the back of the DVD case you’d expect this plot line to be more dominant, but in fact it is really only about a third of the plot. It is plaited together with an older guy trying to keep his diner business afloat; whether or not Elena’s father, the famous singer “El Canario” is still alive; and the mysterious appearance of a painting by Elena’s ex-boyfriend in the local art museum.

Included on the DVD is a small documentary about the making of the film which, unlike most “Behind the Scenes” promotional segments that find their way on to the special features section of DVDs, actually does give some insight into why the film was made and how long it took. Given its history (they clearly ran out of funding and couldn’t finish it for six years), in my mind it is elevated from an ok film with a confusing and underdeveloped plot, to a “good effort” film with a lot going for it. In a way, it might be worth watching the documentary segment first, to gain insight into the motivation of the producers while watching the main feature.