A Movie Review: Black Mass

Black Mass. This movie follows the rise and fall of Whitney Bulger (Johnny Depp) and how he corrupted those around him. A key example of this corrupting influence being his childhood friend, a celebrity FBI agent, John Connolly (Joel Edgerton).

The movie opens with Whitney Bulger being a rather small time gangster in Boston who wants to expand his power. John Connolly moves back to Boston. He learns that the mafia wants to expand into Bulger's territory and plan to take him out. Connolly warns Bulger.

Connolly later convinces Bulger to turn into an FBI informant to help take down the mafia. The problem is that Bulger is very hesitant to feed any information unless pressed, but at the same time he is corrupting Connolly.

I found this movie to be a so so gangster movie. Johnny Depp is brilliant as Bulger. He totally changes up his acting style. There is no Pirates of the Caribbean or Alice in Wonderland type acting. My problem is how John Connolly is portrayed. I don't think the movie properly shows the transition of Connelly from a top FBI agent to a corrupt one. To me, at one moment he's trying to get his childhood friend to turn informant and then the next moment he's involved in a murder.

Reno Bo and yOya at The Satellite

I wasn't planning on going to The Satellite on a recent Monday night. Instead, I went to another music venue. Unfortunately, that venue was having some technical issues. It was a sad moment as there was a nice crowd there. I decided the situation wasn't about to turn around anytime soon so off to The Satellite I went.

Reno Bo was finishing up their set. He's a Nashville based artist. His music has a touch of blues.

yOya was up next. The last time I saw them was at the 2014 Brokechella. It was cool catching up with this band again.

I knew I was going to have to wake up early to head to work so I took off after yOya. I'll be back to The Satellite tomorrow to catch the residency band.





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Hobart W Fink and The Vim Dicta at The Smell

Hobart W Fink

It was time to head to The Smell. I don't often head down that way, but I do enjoy doing so. The traffic going from Glendale to Downtown Los Angeles was jammed. The 110 was backed up. Downtown street traffic was also more crowded than anticipated, but I was able to find parking in my normal location.

First up for me was Hobart W Fink. Their stage show is fun to watch. You have a bassist who can't stand still. You have a guitarist who has the most animated facial expressions. Their music comes to you straight from the house garage. If I heard correctly, the band has had a significant turn-over in members: one original member and two new ones. A lot of their songs on Soundcloud have female vocals. So for the night, they had a guest singer for a couple songs.

The Vim Dicta ended the night for me. I think this band is hard to pin down. You have a female lead singer with deep sexy vocals. You have music where a single song can sound psychedelic one moment and then jazzy the next.  This band will definitely keep your ears waiting for what the next musical note will bring.


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The Eleventh Frequency, Solar Sons and Charlie Overbey & the Broken Arrows at The Echo

Charlie Overbey and the Broken Arrows

It was a Reprising of Echo Park Rising -- some of the bands that played Echo Park Rising were playing on this Monday night. Both The Echo and The Echoplex stages were used for the night.

The Eleventh Frequency calls themselves a post-punk band. Their music rises above the horizon and shines a light on the audience.

Solar Sons came up next for me. Their funk fashion fuses perfectly with their funk music. A couple friends (I'm assuming they were friends) were filming the set. One was so into the rhythm I couldn't help but wonder if she was actually filming anything that would be of any use to the band.

The final band of the night for me was Charlie Overbey and the Broken Arrows, country music to the core with influence from Johnny Cash. This band is made up of older gentlemen who show more energy on stage than those half their age. I couldn't help but think this band would be perfect for Bloomfest, well, when Bloomfest had live bands.

Pittsburgh Steelers vs San Francisco 49ers: 43 - 18

That was a fun game to watch -- as a Steelers fan. Even though the Steelers didn't score on their first drive, it definitely looked like from the naked eye that the offense was going to start clicking at some point during the game.

In some ways, more interesting than the offense was the defense. The defense shut the 49ers down for 3 quarters. Sure, over-all, San Francisco had 3 drives that went 15 or more plays, but they only came away with 3 points from those long drives. I love the red zone defense. I also loved how during the first 3 quarters it often times looked like the San Francisco offense was going backwards. A running back would see an angle cut off and so would try to find another opening, but would end losing a couple yards. It was awesome.

As for the offense, the stats show that Antonio Brown ended up with the most catches and yards, but Darrius Heyward-Bey and Heath Miller played significant roles. One has to wonder how the Steelers are going to work when Le'Veon Bell comes back. Current replacement running back DeAngelo Williams held his own. If Williams keeps performing, it'll be one dynamic offense if the Steelers can have 2 strong running backs along with a top quarterback and wide receiver corps. Defenses would never know what to expect.

So how long is Josh Scobee going to be around for?

Best moves: Antonio Brown's ability to totally fake a defense into thinking he's going one direction and then switching to his intended direction.

A Dream: horse racing in the UK

So I recently got the Santa Anita newsletter. I think that led to the following dream:

I was in the UK, hanging out at the Royal Ascot. I was there to watch American Pharoah racing at Royal Ascot. Part of me wondered why a dirt horse was racing on turf, but whatever, I was there to see him race.

When I got there, I didn't buy the right ticket. They wouldn't let me anywhere near the track. Instead, I had to stand way back in an entrance that led into the track area.

So the race began. Instead of racing on turf, the race was being held on dirt. I was feeling like American Pharoah might win this race. Also, the track oval was like running around a small apartment complex. The horses raced around it over and over again. Two horses were in the lead. One with a jockey and the other horse had lost its jockey. For a few moments, I thought American Pharoah was the horse in the lead, but then I realized he was back a few lengths -- not too far back, but not in front.

Then suddenly all the horses stopped. The jockeys got off their horses. One specific jockey was pointed out. The other jockeys started to beat him up for some offense. Victor Espinoza (American Pharoah's jockey) looked stunned at what was happening. After the jockey was appropriately punished, all the jockeys got back onto their horses. They made sure that the distances between the various horses was approximately the same as before the stop and then off they went again. Soon; however, American Pharoah was pulled off. Victor Espinoza was seen walking off the track with a badly injured knee cap.

I found myself being very disappointed that American Pharoah wasn't going to finish the race.

Then I woke up.

King Walrus & the Magicians, Messenger and Winter Break at Pehrspace

Messenger

It was off to Pehrspace to catch some Razorcake bands. King Walrus & the Magicians was playing as I walked into the stage area. Their sound reminded me of a local favorite The Mo odds. What really got me going was that after looking into the band later I learned that they came in from San Luis Obispo. I graduated from Cal Poly SLO. I even noticed that they played at the Cal Poly radio station.

Next up was Messenger. For some reason, I swear I've seen this female led band before. Or maybe I saw her as a special guest of another band. She paces across the stage with swagger. A friend would join between songs to provide a quick respite. Hey, I handed a bottle of water to the lead singer. I felt like part of the band.

Winter Break ended the night for me. The crowd came up close. When the band encouraged them to come closer, they moved in even closer. Close enough where I found it hard to take any photos. Their fan base took various times singing along with the band. It was a thrilling way to end the night.
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A Dream: Too Much Zombie Watching

In my dream, it was night. I was running from a building that was over-run by zombies. The zombie outbreak was just happening and folks were not aware of what was going on. It was known that there was a virus outbreak, but not the extent of the problem. I found myself rushing towards a medical research building. The building had large glass panels. The lights inside were bright and I could see folks in lab coats doing important research. In another room, I saw a zombie. A security officer was in a struggle with the zombie. No one else in the building was aware of this. I screamed for folks to notice as I rushed towards the building, knowing that it was essential that I help keep this lab free of zombies. I ran into the building with the intent to kill the zombie.

And then I woke up. I'll never know if I helped prevent the zombies from taking over the earth.

A Movie Review: The French Connection

The French Connection. Jimmy Doyle (Gene Hackman) and Buddy Russo (Roy Scheider) are undercover police officers. After taking down their most recent suspect, they go out for drinks. They notice Sal Boca (Tony Lo Bianco) spending a ton of money. On a whim, they decide to tail him to see where it leads. By doing solid investigative work, their case slowly expands. They are able to get wire tap authority and soon there is a French connection made. They are convinced they're onto something big though others suspect they're just investigating low level criminals. They are soon told to just drop the case, but when a sniper attempts to take Jimmy Doyle out, the case ramps back up.

Wow, I vaguely remember seeing this movie before -- it sort of dawned on me during the last 30 minutes -- but after seeing it again recently I have to say this movie is brilliant. This is a very well crafted crime thriller. It is a joy watching Jimmy Doyle and Buddy Russo slowly put together their case. It is also amusing to watch the cat and mouse game begin as the French connection realize that they're being watched. The French aren't stupid and know how to evade.

A couple issues:

1. When the sniper attempts to take out Jimmy Doyle from a rooftop, Jimmy goes up after him. From the rooftop, Jimmy sees the sniper running below him. Now the building looked to be at least 6 stories high. Somehow Jimmy is able to run down the stairs or go down the elevator and catch up to the guy. Yeah, I don't think so. Other than that, this movie is tightly written. I don't know if there are any other logical flaws.

2. I'm not sure that the passage of time is properly reflected in this movie. The stakeout takes place over a couple months, but you only learn about that when it is mentioned towards the end of the investigation. For some reason, I think the the passage of time should have been shown better, but then that is a rather minor complaint.

My 2015 Movie Summer Rankings

I saw a number of movies this summer. I did skip out on a lot, as well. In past years, I'd probably head out to see movies like Minions, San Andreas, Terminator: Genisys and Tomorrowland. But now I'm a touch more careful with how I spend my money at the movie theaters. With that in mind, I have to say, I saw some decent movies this past summer.

Excellent

Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
Mad Max
Spy
The End of the Tour

Solid

Straight Outta Compton
Mistress America
Trainwreck
Dope
Avengers: Age of  Ultron

Okay

Inside Out
Jurassic World
Pitch Perfect

A Movie Review: The End of the Tour

The End of the Tour. I've read two of David Foster Wallace's books: Infinite Jest (which I struggled through) and A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again. I also bought Oblivion, but haven't started to read it yet. I wouldn't say that David Foster Wallace is my favorite author, but I do have an interest in him. I still remember seeing a blurb on Infinite Jest in a magazine (I think it was Newsweek). Based on that blurb, I decided to go buy the book. As mentioned, I struggled through it, but the one thing I do recall is being amazed at how much knowledge Wallace had about various random facts. I couldn't help but think he'd kick butt in a Trivial Pursuit game.

Over-all though, I knew little about the author. I assumed based on his critical acclaim that he was an intellectual. When I heard about The End of the Tour, I decided I had to see this movie. A writer at the Rolling Stone David Lipsky (Jesse Eisenberg) is assigned to interview David Foster Wallace (Jason Segel) during the last leg of his book tour. What shocked me about this movie. David Foster Wallace was like the rest of us (or maybe worse). He was addicted to junk food. What kind of diet was that guy on? He loved to watch television. He was so concerned about his addiction to television that he refused to own a television. Yes, David Foster Wallace was like the rest of us, but with an amazing skill to write wonderful stories.

This movie is probably not for everyone. It is a movie that digs into the psyche of a beloved author. If one has never heard of David Foster Wallace, they probably wouldn't find this movie interesting. It might just come across as another movie about a "creative" who is filled with self-doubt. But for those who have read his books, it gives some wonderful insight into the man. But by wonderful, I also should say there is dread. There is dread, because the ending is already known. One just might walk out of the theater a touch depressed as well as a touch inspired.

    

Sugarcube and Popheart at Bootleg

Popheart

Sugarcube's music pretty much has the taste of sugarcubes, adding that perfect sweetness to any cup of coffee or tea. Popheart followed in the same vein, but with deeper vocals.

This was my first time at the Bootleg since The Fold and Bootleg parted ways. The Fold always brought awesome bands to Monday nights. The Bootleg continued in that tradition on this September night.

The bands were young and so was the crowd. And many were dressed to impress. I'm not saying they were dressed like they were going clubbing, but there was a distinct fashion sense.

So I couldn't help but think that Popheart's lead singer has a resemblance to Paul Dano. Even his hand motions reminded me of Paul Dano's physical acting. And then in the crowd, I swore someone looked like Catherine Keener. It was a Hollywood night.


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The Ex-Gentlemen at El Cid

The Ex-Gentlemen. It's been years since I last saw this band. This band has deep ties with the old Kiss or Kill Club via Bang Sugar Bang and The Rainman Suite. Though I recognized only a handful of folks at El Cid, it felt like a Kiss or Kill Club night. There was this great sense of punk rock freedom. Due to the fact that they were playing a birthday party, they did two sets on the night. Extra duty for a cool friend.

There she sat on the floor speakers, putting on the illusion of being bored, but one could tell that she hoped that her musician would give her that private glance.



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A Movie Review: Straight Outta Compton

Straight Outta Compton. This movie follows the true life story of the rap group NWA. We're first introduced to Eazy-E (Jason Mitchell), a small time drug dealer who narrowly escapes the LAPD. We soon meet Ice Cube (O'Shea Jackson Jr.), the lyrical genius who writes while on the bus, and Dr. Dre (Corey Hawkins), the producer extraordinaire. Outside a night club, Dr. Dre gets arrested. Eazy-E bails him out. In the process, the two discuss exploring the music world together. With the help of Ice Cube, they produce a record which becomes a big hit. In comes Jerry Heller (Paul Glamatti) to bring some structure and promotional power to NWA.

This is an engaging movie. You really find yourself cheering for Dr. Dre, Ice Cube and Eazy-E.

I did have some issues with this movie; however. It seems that Eazy-E is the only member of the band that is shown to have a real dark side. The others are almost viewed as angels -- well, excluding the orgies. Any negative light on the character of Dr. Dre and Ice Cube are more issues of discussion versus being viewed on screen. For example, Dr. Dre's girlfriend Nicole (Elena Goode) mentions her worries about the violence that swirls around NWA.

I think the movie introduces too many individuals without any real explanation. I think Nicole is the only person that is provided an introduction. How did Eazy-E and Ice Cube meet their future wives? They're suddenly just there. Suge Knight (R. Marcos Taylor) just shows up at a pool party one day and we have to assume that he's an important character. I do understand that the movie is covering a lot of time, but it would be nice to get some intros. For example, Eazy-E having to deal with AIDS is slowly introduced to us via his constant coughing and so it isn't a surprise when it is found that he has the deadly disease.

As for Jerry Heller being portrayed as the lone bad guy. Yes, it sounds about right, but part of me also thinks that Eazy-E has to take his share of the blame. If you are considered the leader, you can't be naive and once you've learned that you've screwed over your friends -- via by not fully understanding what Jerry did -- you have an obligation to make things right.

The Bulls with Alex Lilly and White Sea at The Satellite

The Bulls

It was the final residency night for The Bulls. I just had to head on over to hear the catchy tunes from this band.

Alex Lilly hit the stage first with her beat poetry and amusing date story. If one should go on a date with Alex Lilly and she starts to talk about the weather one should know that she feels the date is getting a touch uncomfortable. I did a quick look up on Alex Lilly and realized that I'd seen her before when she was playing with a band called Obi Best.

White Sea was up next. White Sea is also known as Morgan Kibby. What amazing vocals, her range is stunning. During one song, I think she surprised herself with her range. Morgan mentioned during the set that she was so happy the crowd was enjoying her set as she suspected that most had never heard of her. Well, one guy came up to me and said, "Why does she think we don't know her?"

I'd call The Bulls' residency an amazing success. Their music soothes the soul. As a photographer, I have to say I really loved the stage smoke and how it played with the light. I think it made for some amazing photos.


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A Movie Review: Mistress America

Mistress America. Tracy (Lolo Kirke) is a freshman in college. She doesn't really get along with her roommate. Her one social goal is to get into a literary club, but that doesn't occur. Her one semi-friend is Tony (Matthew Shear) who soon starts dating an extremely over-the-top girlfriend. This leaves Tracy largely alone. She reaches out to her soon-to-be sister-in-law Brooke (Greta Gerwig) who also happens to be a decade older than her (Tracy's mother and Brooke's father are planning to marry). The two hook up and Brooke takes her out on the town, introducing her to an intoxicating music/cultural scene. The two quickly become close.

What is this movie about? Sisterhood without the genetic ties. This movie shows us an older sister quickly recognizing that she needs to help her younger sibling adjust to a new cultural experience. It is sweet. We also see a younger sister not having the experience in life to know that actions that she sees as innocent can be viewed as betrayal.

This isn't a brilliant movie, but it is a touching one.

A Movie Review: The Talk of the Town

The Talk of the Town. Leopold Dilg (Cary Grant) is accused of arson at the factory where he used to work. He escapes from prison and arrives at his friend's house, Nora Shelley (Jean Arthur). Nora is preparing the house for rent. Instead of turning Leopold over to the police, she hides him in the attic, knowing that he is innocent of the crime. Soon after Leopold arrives so does the renter, a famed law professor named Professor Michael Lightcap (Ronald Colman).

What follows is the three living under the same roof. Leopold introduces himself as the gardener. Leopold Dilg's lawyer actually went to school with Professor Lightcap. So a game starts to begin where Leopold and his lawyer attempt to get Professor Lightcap to take an interest in the case. At the same time, Professor Lightcap is informed that he will be nominated to the Supreme Court and obviously doesn't want any involvement in a case that might cause difficulties for him during the nomination process.

This movie has a lighthearted comedic feel to it with just a touch of political philosophy and small town corruption. Though Cary Grant holds top billing, it really feels like this is a Jean Arthur/Ronald Colman movie. A love triangle forms between Nora, Leopold and Professor Lightcap. Perhaps it is my own biases, but I could help but hope that Nora would pick the stuffy Professor Lightcap. I just felt the chemistry between the two was more dynamic.