Wednesday, October 24, 2007

The Kingdom -- The Movie

I saw The Kingdom a few days ago. While watching the movie, I was semi-disturbed. Is the Saudi Intelligence service really that incompetent? I would think they'd have a rather good Saudi version of the FBI considering that they're in the Middle East. Maybe I'm wrong. I also found the movie to be another one of those white men to the rescue type movies. Of course, Jamie Foxx is black so perhaps I should say it was one of those Americans coming to the rescue type movies. As another example of a movie that had this sort of underlying theme, The Last Samurai, which I like to call White Men Dancing with Samurai -- my take on Dancing with the Wolves. Maybe my memory is a little vague, but I do believe that both The Kingdom and The Last Samurai had that moment where the American gets to meet the royal family and immediately has some influence on future decisions -- give me a break. I've come to the point where I don't really like movies where Americans come to the rescue, because I really don't believe that other cultures need to be rescued or educated. Of course, I also hate movies where Americans are humbled -- such as The Day After Tomorrow. I guess I just hate implied storylines that deal with Americans being seen as overly helpful or overly in need of a lesson.

Over-all, The Kingdom wasn't a bad movie. It had some intense moments. I just had this sneaky suspicion that it was a movie that was trying to make the Saudi intelligence service look incompetent just to make the FBI look competent.

Notes from Vivace

Sunday, October 7, 2007

Eagle Rock Music Festival

I headed out to the Eagle Rock Music Festival in Los Angeles. This is the second year I've gone. I'd say last year was better. Last year I saw Great Northern and Monsters Are Waiting. I liked Great Northern. I fell in love with Monsters Are Waiting. This year I caught The Mormons, The Pity Party, Black Shakespeare, Virginia City Revival and Under the Influence of Giants.

The Mormons and Virginia City Revival sort of perform in a world that makes comedy of religion. The Mormons is obvious. The band members dress as Mormons on bikes. They also take another shot at Mormons as there is a guy who just stands back, smoking. Virginia City Revival makes fun of Southern Revival meetings. Both are a little much for me. VCR does have some great costumes. One guitar player plays in drag. The lead singer like a Southern preacher. I guess you should give them props for that.

The Pity Party is an interesting two piece band. One plays drums and keyboard at times. The other is on guitar. I wasn't the most impressed with this group, but it was interesting. There was a guy in the audience who was yelling out, "You suck." I'm not sure why you'd say that to a local band that plays gigs for free. It just seems rude. A security guard starting walking over, but the guy moved on.

I saw Black Shakespeare while eating. Interesting world music band. Sort of funk. Sort of African.

Under the Influence of Giants was the main draw. They're sort of a mellow rock group. The instrumentals aren't out front like other bands. I don't believe the drummer ever had his moment. This isn't criticism. It is just how the band works. Amazon.com classifies them as a funk band. I'm not sure if this matches them well. I enjoyed the band. There was a bit of fun regarding a light saber. And the lead singer took a dual role on the drum set. It was an interesting sight seeing two people playing the drums. It was a cool band to end the night with.