At the Cinema - April 2009

When I was growing up in nearby Mississippi, I did not really care for the 4 or 5 old time New Orleans songs that WTIX played (am 690 – for those of you who remember when we listened to music on a.m. radio.) Many of the songs were related to Mardi Gras, and I just didn’t get it. There was one that goes “it’s carnival time” that for 40 years I thought was saying “it’s kind-of-a-time” and I sure didn’t see the point of that statement. To this day, I still don’t get that excited about Mardi Gras, but I understand what it means to the people who attend parades, or participate in parades. Like so much else about this area of the country – well, there’s just nothing like it.

I bring all this up to express that it’s “festival time” in New Orleans and there ought to be a song about it.

It starts with the French Quarter Festival over an early weekend in April. Music stages are set up around the French Quarter and local restaurants set up food booths and you can wander around and be as gluttonous as you care to be, which is pretty much what New Orleans is all about – gluttony at its most decadent. With its perfect weather (usually) and great local music, it’s a wonderful way to spend a weekend.

As much as I like the FQF, it pales in comparison to what follows on the last weekend in April and the first weekend in May – the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. Featuring incredible food (each vendor is selected for one or two entries that are considered the best of the best) and great music (80% with Louisiana roots) this is by far the finest event to take place in New Orleans. Basically, if you like music, you’ll see act after act that will blow you away, 5 or 6 per day at the price you’d pay to see 1.

So, this is my favorite time of the year. I’ve been going to the Jazz Fest for 35 of its 40 years (unfortunately, not consecutively) and it gets better and better every year. It’s festival time and if you like food and music (I like one too much) there’s just nothing like it.

I bring all this up so that you understand why I saw only one movie this month:

12 Rounds – 5 out of a possible 10 score. This is the adventure thriller set in New Orleans where the local scenery is the star and the actor is John Cena, whom I understand to be a wrestler of some fame. Well, since wrestling is action acting, he’s right at home in this mindless adventure, which is not nearly as bad as the critic’s reviews say, but not as good as it could have been. It hop scotches around New Orleans neighborhoods (usually ignoring distances) and takes advantage of several local landmarks. Fun, with Aidan Gillen as the truly evil terrorist in one of many over-the-top performances.

Which brings me to my Top Ten underrated movies which I promised last month.
I can sum up what makes these films special in 2 ways – first, I watch them almost every time they’re on, and second, they can generate hours of discussion on what they were really about. And of course, I couldn’t limit it to 10.

11. Big Wednesday – overlooked surfing movie that is more about friendship than surfing.

10. Galaxy Quest. Maybe only a Star Trek fan will get the references, but this is a hilarious movie, period.

9. The American President. Annett Bening lights up the screen in this Aaron Sorkin penned chronicle which unfortunately led to the TV show The West Wing.

8. Anything by Frank Capra. This generation knows Capra only as the director of the Christmas Classic It’s a Wonderful Life. Well, there’s a whole catalog of Capra-corn that shouldn’t be overlooked. It Happened One Night, You Can’t Take It With You, and my favorite – Mr. Smith Goes to Washington to name just a few.

7. Minority Report. Since I didn’t care for Schindler’s List, let me try to make it up to Speilberg. This is an incredible look at one future wrapped in a mystery story. Although praised at the time of release, I think this is an upper echelon classic, with Tom Cruise and Colin Farrell at their best.

6. The Buddy Holly Story. When Rolling Stone picked the 50 greatest rock movies, this wasn’t even on the list, which is crazy. Gary Busey sings live in one of the most overlooked performances ever. A great Biopic.

5. Radio Days/Zelig – Two Woody Allen films that are just below his Annie Hall/Manhattan masterpieces

4. The Conversation – While I didn’t go ape over The Godfather, this Coppola film is one that can generate days of discussion. When Gene Hackman says this was his best film, that’s saying something.

3. L A Confidential – Lost in Titanic mania, this film would have won Best Film in almost any other year. A complex, masterful thriller.

2. Robin and Marian – Totally overlooked Robin Hood movie with Sean Connery and Audrey Hepburn breaking your heart. Realistic romance, realistic action.

1. Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Hang around me for any length of time and you’ll hear several quips from this movie (and Annie Hall). While Martin Scorsese has gone on to direct many classics, and I like almost all of them, for some reason this one to me is perfection. Ellen Burstyn gives one of the great all time performances. There are few things I’m sure of, but I’m sure that when you see this you won’t like it as much as I do. That’s what makes movies so personal.

Another Top 25

Here it is. My top 25 male vocal performances of all time.

My Generation – Roger Daltry
A Change Gonna Come – Sam Cooke
Sunlight – Jesse Colin Young (Youngbloods)
I Saw Her Standing There – Paul McCartney (Beatles)
Imagine – John Lennon
You’ve Got a Friend – James Taylor
Galveston – Glen Campbell
Losin’ My Religion – Michael Stipe (REM)
Billie Jean – Michael Jackson
Born to Run – Bruce Springsteen
Music of the Night – Michael Crawford
Your Song – Elton John
Moondance – Van Morrison
Stardust – Willie Nelson
A Song For You – Leon Russell
More Today Than Yesterday – Pat Upton (Spiral Staircase)
Walkin’ in Memphis – Marc Cohn
Crossroads – Eric Clapton (Cream)
Suspicious Minds – Elvis Presley
Look to Your Soul – Johnny Rivers
This is It – Kenny Loggins
While My Guitar Gently Weeps – George Harrison (Beatles)
God Only Knows – Carl Wilson (Beach Boys)
Only the Good Die Young – Billy Joel
Cherry Bomb - John Mellencamp
I Left My Heart in San Francisco – Tony Bennett
Superstition - Stevie Wonder

Well, this time I got it done in just 27. Too hard, enough of that. Although, I'm thinking about maybe 10 outstanding duets....

My first top 25

Got a lot of reaction to my Karla Bonoff remarks, mostly “Who’s she?” and “What did she sing?” which led to discussion of many female vocalists. Given the Facebook signature “25 random things about me” which I can’t imagine anyone would be interested in I thought I’d take a run at something that might get your nostalgic juices flowing, if there is such a thing as a nostalgic juice.
So here is my “purely personal "25 favorite female vocalist performances,” in approximate order:

A Song for You by Karen Carpenter
Trouble Again by Karla Bonoff
Me and Bobbie Magee by Janis Joplin
Think of Me by Sarah Brightman
Unbreak My Heart by Toni Braxton
Don’t Cry for Me Argentina by Patti Lupone
Somebody to Love by Grace Slick
Sundown Lady by Lani Hall
Nick of Time by Bonnie Raitt
It’s Too Late by Carole King
First We Take Manhattan by Jennifer Warnes
All I Want to Do is Make Love to You by Ann Wilson
At 17 by Janis Ian
Rhiannon by Stevie Nicks
You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me by Dusty Springfield
Diamonds and Rust by Joan Baez
Seven Year Ache by Roseanne Cash
Desperado by Linda Ronstadt
Up on the Roof by Laura Nyro
The Tender Trap by Stacey Kent
Work to Do by Vanessa Williams
How Will I Know by Whitney Houston
Shame by Evelyn “Champagne” King
Papa Don’t Preach by Madonna
You’re So Vain by Carly Simon
Down at the Twist and Shout by Mary Chapin Carpenter
They Can’t Take That Away from Me by Ella Fitzgerald
Down to The River by Alison Krause
You Only Live Twice by Nancy Sinatra
Be My Baby by Ronnie Spector

Well, as you can see, I couldn’t limit it to 25 – and that was without putting anyone on twice, which I would have done, and stopping at 30 made me leave off My City was Gone by Chrissie Hinds and What’s Love Got to Do with It by Tina Turner, as well as Joni Mitchell, Alanis Morisette, Jewell, etc. but at least I snuck a couple more in. Tonight I’ll jump up and think of one I can’t believe I left off….
Favorite Male Vocalist performances coming soon….
Your favorites?

A Wonderful Concert - April 5, 2009

A list of my favorite albums of all time would start like this:
1 Abbey Road – The Beatles
2 Restless Nights – Karla Bonoff
3 The White Album - The Beatles

I bring this up only to emphasize the thrill I just had. Not only did I get to hear Karla Bonoff in concert at The Barns at Wolf Trap in Virginia tonight, but I actually got to meet her and tell her how much her music had meant to me over the years. Got an autograph too!

This is a concert I had looked forward to for a long time. I’ve watched Karla’s web site for years hoping to see her again, as she doesn’t play often. I first saw her in Memphis over 20 years ago, and still listen to her albums to this day. Every song she ever recorded is on my ipod.

The acoustics in this venue were as good as any place I’ve ever been. And what an incredible voice. Wow.

The good news is I sat dead center in the second row. The bad news is that I had the talking, screaming, drunk couple from hell sitting next to me. I felt like Karla was giving me a personal concert. This couple acted like she was doing it just for them. They talked to her, loudly. The girl sang every song she knew at the top of her lungs. If they didn’t know the song, they made out. I’m not making this up. Fortunately, people started “shusing” her and she calmed down, and I’m happy to say I was able to ignore her.

It was a thrill to hear this music, and I hope it's not the last time I get to hear her in concert.

At the Cinema - March 2009

I Love You, Man – 8 – An enjoyable comedy featuring Paul Rudd and Jason Segel’s continued ascension as comedy stars. They have believable chemistry in this story of Paul’s search for a suitable best man for his upcoming wedding to Rashida Jones as a too good to be true fiancée. There’s actually more charisma and star power than story here. My guess is that we’ll look back at this movie as another stepping stone to stardom for the three leads. I got a kick out of the music scenes, but I won’t give that away. See it – you’ll laugh. And check out Role Models on DVD if you like Paul Rudd.

Knowing – 7 – A good but strange movie. Nicholas Cage, whom I’ve never been a fan of, (Other than his great performance in Leaving Las Vegas – his every-squirrel-finds-an-acorn moment), gives another in a series of bland performances, but the movie is an interesting story that I won’t spoil here. It morphs from suspense to science fiction and has some impressive special effects in the disaster scenes. One of the strangest things to me in the movie is that Cage looks like he’s riding a horse. In several scenes he stands with his feet wide apart like he’s about to do a broad jump. Never quite figured that out.

I just learned that Cage has 2 homes in New Orleans, including Anne Rice’s old house. So, he obviously has good taste, and I’m sure he’s a great guy, although how would you like to know you’d shared a wife with Michael Jackson? (They both were married to Lisa Marie Presley, who has now kept Graceland through several marriages)

Let me explain my distaste for Cage, who’s my Lionel Ritchie of movies. How did he get this career? I think the best way would be to give you my

Top Ten Movies I just didn’t get.

I remember once Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel having a spirited discussion on why Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was considered a classic. Neither of them liked the movie, thought it was way overrated, and just could not grasp its popularity. I, like most, consider it a classic, but was always fascinated by the personal taste factor of movies. So, keeping in mind that this is purely a personal thing, here are the movies that I just never “got.”

10. Caddyshack/Jerry McGuire Two universally acclaimed sports movies I totally fanned on. I found Caddyshack mildly amusing but never the great sports classic that so many others go nuts over. I’ll take Bull Durham or Major League for sports comedy. Caddyshack was just silly to me, but I seem to be alone. As usual. As for Jerry, other than the star-making performance by Renee Zellweger, I found nothing else remotely believable and the first half in particular made me want to turn my head, with Cruise so far over the top he made me cringe. Just didn’t get these 2, and I love sports movies. (#1 – Hoosiers)
9. The Big Lebowski/Rocky Horror Picture Show. Two cult favorites. I finally watched “The Dude” last year and had the mature reaction of “huh?” As for Rocky, I don’t think I’ve ever been able to make it through the whole movie and I’ve tried several times.
8. The English Patient. The endless patient to me. Thought it would never end
7. Two classics: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and The Godfather. While I appreciate the artistry and acknowledge the depth, I just never went gaga over them the way the rest of the world did. This will undoubtedly remove all my credibility forever, but I’m just being honest. I actually like Godfather II better in which the Pacino/DeNiro acting was phenomenal. Which is why I can forgive Pacino for
6. Scent of a Woman. Any movie with a blind man driving is ridiculous to me and for Al Pacino to have finally gotten his Oscar for this, instead of Serpico or Dog Day Afternoon is like giving an MVP award to Andruw Jones at this point in his career.
5. 2001 A Space Odyssey/Eyes Wide Shut. How can the same iconic director that made Dr. Strangelove, Clockwork Orange, and Full Metal Jacket, have made these? I’m sure 2001 has some mystical meaning that I never got, but I’ll never concede that on Eyes. An idiotic title that means nothing is just the beginning. It’s excruciating from beginning to end and was one of the few movies where I wanted my money back. People have tried to tell me what this was about and I tell them they’re making it up. There’s no “there” there.
4. Anything with Adam Sandler. The Nicholas Cage of comedy. I find him likable, but I just sit there wondering what everyone else is laughing at. Just shows how personal comedy is.
3. Pineapple Express and other Seth Rogen vehicles. This guy’s a star? Really?
2. Schindler’s List. Sorry. I know this is another classic, and it’s politically stupid to say so, but if the US government ever wants to send me to Gitmo and torture me, I’ll take waterboarding over having to sit through this again.
1. Moonstruck. Everyone I know loves this movie and it is “nails on a blackboard” to me. Let’s start with Nicholas Cage. Never believed him for a minute, but at least he’s half Italian. Cher as an Italian? Please. I kept asking myself was this the same woman who sang “Half Breed?” Now that was a believable performance! And the fact that she campaigned her way to an Oscar is a blight on the books. Can we get a recount? I just looked at this as a movie where they threw every Italian cliché up on the screen and called it a soup. I never bought it for a moment. I hate being manipulated and this movie lays it on so thick that by the time they pulled out “That’s Amore” to officially go over the top, I’d had enough. Sometimes I watch it just to see if I just was sick that day or something. Nope. Can’t stand it, and the fact that it launched Cage to stardom makes it that much tougher to take.

Now you know how weird my taste is. Send me some of the movies that you didn’t get. I’m sure you’ll want to tell me how wrong I am, but as I said, purely personal – and never afraid to give a contrarian opinion.

Next Month: My top 10 underrated movies.
Nominees?