IO Echo @ the Roxy

General

IO Echo @ the The Roxy. The previous band encouraged the audience to come up to the front of the stage at least three different times. There was no need for IO Echo to do the same as the audience was up front from the beginning. Unlike my last visit at The Echoplex, it didn’t take me awhile to get into their set. From the start, I was rather into the music. (Note: in my blog regarding to Echoplex set, I’d mentioned that a longer format of the blog would appear on a webzine at some point. Well, it should be up rather soon.) I love the song “Addicted.” It has that great opening beat, with IO’s syncopated vocals. I am; however, most fascinated with the song “I am on Fire.” I love how the song has an old-fashion creepy nightmare edge for a minute and then just explodes with a screaming rant, “I’m on Fire.” I can’t help it, this song is fascinating. It is a day later and the “I’m on Fire” scream is stuck in my head.

Some comments made during the show

“We’re going on tour with OK Go, we’re returning April 4th with a show with Autolux – in San Diego. We can all take a road trip down there.”

“Can you turn down the lights, we’re a moody group.”

“Thank you.”

Some notes from the night

For a band that calls itself moody, lead singer IO smiles a lot. She smiles at the end of certain songs. I think when she realizes that her group just gave a great performance of a specific song, she can’t help but crack a smile.

There were a couple moments where IO picked up her music stand like a princess warrior, carrying it around like a spear in search of music demons.

Funny Face. Audrey Hepburn. Interpretative dance in Paris. That’s what popped into my head while watching IO dancing around the stage. When watching bands, I occasionally start spacing out with a thought, “What does this band remind me of?” Well, Audrey Hepburn and the Paris bar in Funny Face popped into my mind. There were moments during musical bridges that IO was just dancing around in mindless fun and one couldn’t help but want to join her on stage, bouncing around with her.

There was a group of individuals dancing in the middle of the Roxy floor.

It was rather funny seeing IO crawling underneath the legs of the guitarist.

Rant on the Roxy

P.S. I must say this: what’s up with the Roxy’s pricing? On their website it said $10 for admission, but when I got to the box office it was noted at $11.50. Why advertise $10 and then jump it up $1.50? Sorry, that is just unnecessary. And who decided pricing in $0.50 increments for a music venue? Why not go with $11 or $12?

My fall-winter movie ranking

Yes, it is raining, we can go to the movies

Rachel Getting Married. Brilliant. I know some people had problems with the long drawn out scenes such as the dish washer scene, but I loved it all.

Doubt. Not only a movie that makes you think, but engaging, as well.

Gran Torino. Dirty Harry now retired.

Role Models. Just so wrong, just so funny.

Revolutionary Road. Depressing to the core and brilliant for it.

The Wrestler. Emotional connections.

Slumdog Millionaire. I see it as over-rated, but still a good film.

Yes Man. A love story to eastside Los Angeles.

Well, it is raining, so let’s go to the movies

Quantum of Solace. James Bond on adrenaline.

Eagle Eye. You’re always watched.

Let the Right One In. A very ambiguous movie. A movie that vampire fans should see.

Underworld: Rise of the Lycans. Perhaps I saw it on the right day, but I liked this prequel.

The Reader. Not so much a brilliant story, but a thought provoker.

Frost/Nixon. An interesting history lesson.

Taken. A good action flick for the winter months – if seen in the summer would get ranked lower.

Valkyrie. Another interesting history lesson. Tom Cruise is perhaps getting his mojo back.

This must be Seattle, where’s the sun

Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Bored to death. How did this get nominated for Best Picture?

Dre Day Celebration at Blue Star Cafe

It was the Third Annual Dre Day Celebration at the Blue Star Cafe. The Blue Star café resides right next to a scrap metal business. I’ve gone to the Blue Star a handful of times; however, I’m not sure how well known this location is so I’ll provide some details. The Blue Star is off the 10 freeway. It is located at 2200 East 15th Street. This location is actually just north of the city of Vernon. I’ve never eaten at this location, but a nice review can be found at the Los Angeles Times website. It is a small sized café with a nice patio area (I believe the patio area is larger than the dining area of the café). The patio area is used for the shows. During the shows, they actually provide free hamburgers (though a donation is requested.)

The first band up for the night was Stab City. They did a trio of Dre covers. Interesting note is that the drummer led out in the cover songs. Perhaps the three of them decided that he was the best rapper of the group? For the night, in honor of Dre, they called themselves 187. After the covers, they did a handful of their own songs, the drummer back doing backup vocals. The drummer had the words Deez Nuts felt penned across his stomach. The bass player had a Mario Brothers t-shirt on.

After their set finished, there was the night’s contest, which was who-could-finish-two-forties-the-quickest. Personally, I don’t think I even drink forty ounces of water a day so drinking two forties seemed like a challenge. There were two contestants, one new while another was a repeat. The 2008 winner declined to defend his title so the repeat was the loser from last year. He was challenged by a young lady. Her friends yelled out for her not to do it, but she went for it anyways. Joe Dana, who was the master of ceremonies, insisted on knowing that each of the contestants had a ride home. The two forties were then duck taped to each hand (which meant they better have used the bathroom before hand). Meanwhile, Horace Weintraub was setting up. 3-D glasses were passed out. They were the 3-D glasses used for the Super Bowl’s Monsters versus Aliens commercial. It was yelled out that Horace Weintraub would be in 3-D. Actually, I think I only saw one person wearing them during the set. Horace Weintraub is a three piece band. Two vocalists with an electronica keyboardist and flashing lights. Back to the drinking contest, the young lady finished her first forty and the duck tape was taken off her right hand. The two time competitor of this event was taking a different course of action. He was drinking out of both bottles. So at this point, it was about even.

During the Horace Weintraub set, I attempted to photograph the young lady in the band (I took a handful of photos of her, but this is in regards to one specific shot attempt). She actually gave a rather sexy pose, but just as I was about to shoot the photo a friend of hers interfered with my shot by sticking out her right arm. Oh well, photo ruined. The singer gave me a shrug and on they went. Later, a couple other young ladies went on stage (one being the arm lady) and they dance and sang to the music. Phrase used during the set: don’t say a word, don’t say a word.

As the set came to an end, the two drinking contestants were finishing up their drinks. At this point, the guy had pulled ahead. He didn’t have a significant lead, but a lead large enough that unless the young lady did a quick chug, she wasn’t going to win. I think by this point she was tapped out. I noticed her taking a long swag and when she finished she looked at the remaining bottle and appeared disappointed that she had consumed so little. The winner was rewarded with a Gangsta Rap Coloring Book. The loser was also given an award, but she had disappeared. I was informed later that she was found sprawled out drunk on a chair.

As for the two first bands, this definitely wasn’t a time for any PC-individuals to show up. The N-word was tossed around like grenades in Iraq. (Is that previous sentence a bit of an un-PC thing to write?) Anyways, all in context of the night as this was a Dre Day Celebration.

The third band up was Pu$$y Cow. They were the most gangsta-fashioned group. A mosh pit formed almost immediately. Joe Dana felt like joining in, so he yelled out, “I’m jumping in right there. I’m just telling you in advance. I’m coming through right there.” He pushed through the mosh pit, joining in the fun. The mosh pit eventually was pushed to the side to make room for a small dance floor, which was used extensively by a couple guys who designated it as their two man gang territory. Some interesting notes: At one point, it looked like every single person had a camera out and was photographing Pu$$y Cow. During one Dre cover song, Chissum decided to change the words of a rap, adding some comments about Disneyland. A comment was made by Joe Dana about never getting through a set without knocking over his beer, which would be very disappointing this night because he had a 40. The 40 did survive somehow.

The final group of the night was Old Man Markley. This is a 9 piece band. That’s right, 9 piece. They’re in the Southern blue’s mode. What I found so fascinating about this band was the various instruments they used. You have a washboard. You have a banjo – which reminds me so much of summer camp. You have a mandolin. You have a bass functional via a metal bathtub. You have an autoharp. A harmonica. And finally a fiddle – another one of those summer camp musical instruments. This is definitely a unique band. I was on one end of the stage and over-heard a young lady saying, “Isn’t this band just awesome?” “What’s the name of this band,” her friend asked. “Old Man Markley.” They would have continued with a few more songs, but I guess one of their band mates needed to take off. Too bad.

Total side note: You ever find yourself feeling very clumsy. Well, during the day I found myself running into things. I turned around in the parking lot and smacked right into the side mirror of a Lexus. I was at a friend’s house and ran into his coffee table. I also stepped back and ran into his dog. It actually started on Friday afternoon, when I fell down a couple steps at the Santa Anita Race Track – a brief blog on my time at the race track was posted earlier though the part regarding the fall was left out. Anyways, while at the Blue Star I found myself being very careful around the speakers. A couple of times I found myself near the speakers and made a mental note to be careful around them. No need getting the Dre Gangsta Crew mad at me for ending a night way too early -- a reality based Southwest commercial.

P.S. It is a grand time in Los Angeles when at the beginnig of the week you can hang out at the Silverlake Lounge watching folk-rock bands like Local Natives and end the week at a Dre Day Celebration.

A little Oscar blogging

Since I've written various blogs on movies, I may as well write some thoughts on the Oscars.

1. The Oscars in the past had clips for each of the best picture nominees. This year not. Perhaps it was to speed up the show, but the show still went pass 8:30 p.m.

2. I liked how previous Oscar winners provided personal messages to each of the best supporting and lead actors and actresses.

3. Did Shirley MacLaine basically tell Anna Hathaway that she was a great actress and she'd get many more nominations in her lifetime, but this just wasn't going to be her night?

4. I read some bloggers who are entertainment critics who say that Kate Winslet really won for her performance in Revolutionary Road versus The Reader. I agree with this. I personally think the Oscar should have gone to Anne Hathaway, but on the other hand, Kate Winslet can be denied only so long before it just looks unfair. She deserved a victory if you consider that sometimes the Oscar goes for an individual's body of work versus just a single movie.

5. I believe it was the screenwriter for Slumdog Millionaire who thanked Warner Brothers. I found that interesting considering who Warner Brothers dealt with Slumdog Millionaire. I also found it interesting how the producer failed to mention Warner Brothers when he accepted the Best Picture Oscar.

6. Did Sean Penn forget to thank his wife? There will be an argument about that at some point.

7. I don't think there were any sweet moments like last year's Oscar where Marketa Irglova was allowed to come back on stage; however, there was a very emotional moment when Heath Ledger's family came onstage to accept his Oscar.

8. I can't help but think that Dark Knight should have won two or three additional awards in either of these areas: editing, makeup, sound, visual effects, art direction and cinematography.

9. I haven't seen Milk so I can't judge Sean Penn's acting, but I can't help thinking that Mickey Rourke was robbed. To me, this wasn't a situation like Kate Winslet where the Academy was rewarding someone for the body of their work.

10. I think Slumdog Millionaire is so over-rated. Sorry. I liked the movie, but I just don't see it as being a best picture winner. This is a fell good movie that in five years will just be one of those movies you watch when you're depressed and want to be cheered up. Here's my five best picture nods: Doubt, Revolutionary Road, Dark Knight, The Reader and (I'll trust the Academy on this one since I didn't see the film) Milk. I'll admit The Reader is on the edge, but as I mentioned in my movie review of the film, I think this movie gets a nod because it makes you think about ethical issues. I could see Rachel Getting Married squeezing it out.

P.S. The Pineapple Express sketch was amusing. Some of the Hugh Jackman stuff was painful.

Movie Review: The Reader

I’ve struggled with writing this review. It is getting late on a Saturday evening. I’ve mulled over this review for the last few days. In fact, I was going to post this review before my review of Taken, but I was just finding it too hard to write this up. Before reading onwards, here are two caveats. I’m just going to post this today no matter what and post it before I head off to hang with friends on a Saturday night. Some of my thoughts are all over the place so be kind. Second, some of my memory recall of events might be slightly off, sorry.

The Reader. I wanted to catch this movie before the Oscars. I’d read articles that argued this was the least expected best picture nomination and perhaps the least deserving – stealing away a possible nomination from Dark Knight or Doubt. Here’s my initial opinion on the movie. The first half of this movie is a bit boring. I guess if you’ve seen the movie or heard about it you might find this a stunning statement -- Kate Winslet constantly in the nude, having hot sex. Sorry, I just wasn’t into it. I suppose the whole point with the nudity is to have you think about the soul of the two characters. Where the movie picks up is during the Nazi guard trial. It brought up a lot of thought provoking issues. In my opinion, this isn’t a movie nominated because of its storytelling (which I don’t think is all that great), but because it makes you think about complex issues.

Warning: there is a major spoiler revealed here. The stunning spoiler, and this is something I didn’t pick up on until the movie neared its end, is that Hanna (Kate Winslet) is illiterate. Why is this important? She volunteered as a Nazi guard, because she was illiterate. She worked at a factory during the war and was about to get a promotion. Due to the shame she felt regarding her illiteracy, she immediately volunteers as a Nazi guard to avoid revealing this shame. As a Nazi guard, one of her main functions was to select ten individuals at a time and send them off to Auschwitz. Another crime of hers was being present during a horrific event where 300 Jews remained locked in a burning church. She lived an uneventful life as a metro toll collector after the war. It is during this time that she meets Michael (David Kross). What follows is a love affair. She suddenly disappears (once again driven by a promotion that would expose her illiteracy). Years later, she is arrested and this is where Hanna and Michael once again cross paths. Unknown to Hanna, Michael is now in law school and is taking a class where part of the classroom is spent at the trial.

During the trial, I felt that Hanna wasn’t fully apologetic, but she was the most honest of the guards. She admitted that she was a Nazi guard while her fellow guards initially denied it. She did not deny her role in the deaths of 300 Jews in a church. Instead, she asks the judge what other options were available to her. In her opinion, if she opened the door, the Jews would have escaped meaning that she would have faced punishment.

Her honesty causes her fellow guards to conspire against her. She is accused in the trail as being the leader. The judge points to a document that describes the church fire, asking which of the guards wrote it. He believes it is Hanna. Hanna can prove that she wasn’t the leader by saying she is illiterate. Instead, due to her shame, she simply can’t admit this and therefore admits by default that she was in fact the leader. Now Michael could have done something here. He could have spoken to the judge, telling the judge that Hanna is in fact illiterate. He couldn’t do this, because he was ashamed to admit that he had an affair with a Nazi guard. The result of this fact being hidden is that Hanna is given a life sentence while the other guards are given a sentence of around four years.

Eventually, Michael re-establishes contact with Hanna via book recordings. He reads books to Hanna. Hanna eventually uses these recordings to read and write.

I don’t know if by reading the above, immediate moral/ethical questions start popping into your mind. You might feel sympathy for Hanna or you may not. You may also wonder about Michael: how could he allow someone to spend a lifetime in prison when the real sentence should be only four years? Two movie critics had vastly different takes on the movie. Ron Rosenbaum on Slate.com attacks this movie as being a “film whose essential metaphorical thrust is to exculpate Nazi-era Germans from knowing complicity in the Final Solution.” Roger Ebert (FYI: I think there might be a link issue on Ebert's website, which hopefully gets fixed) on the other end argues that this is a movie about shame and, “’The Reader’ suggests that many people are like Michael and Hanna, and possess secrets that we would do shameful things to conceal.”

What follows are a couple questions I had (I had many more, but will only address two of them – you can read the two articles by Rosenbaum and Ebert for other questions):

Here’s one question that popped into my head while driving home from the movie theatre: Are there degrees of guilt? She obviously wasn’t the leader of the guards. She obviously found herself in this job by error. And yet she still participated in it. Do I feel sympathy for the fact that she was sentenced too harshly? Yes. Do I feel sympathy for the fact that she got entangled with Nazi crimes? No. She could have taken a stance – and by stance I don’t mean trying to free the Jews (that takes immense amounts of courage), but she could have left her job as a guard. But then you also have to ask yourself: If placed into that situation, would I have had the courage to leave? I think it is initially easy to say yes. But then am I really morally better than Nazi Germans or those who participated in recent genocides in Iraq, Darfur or Rwanda? In the right circumstances, could any of us find ourselves doing horrible acts?

Another question that popped into my head was the issue of forgiveness. After committing suicide Hanna states that she’s left money for the daughter of the survivor who testified against her. Though I have to admit that I don’t think Hanna was apologetic during the trail or even at the time of her death for her role as a guard, I think this last act is her attempt to apologize for her crimes. I don’t know if that makes much sense. Hanna doesn’t apologize for doing the job that was assigned to her. She is a person who believes in doing a job to the best of her abilities. I think she is apologizing for being a murderer. The daughter has no forgiveness for her. Michael (Ralph Fiennes), who delivers the money to the daughter, explains that Hanna was illiterate. The daughter responds with something as follows, “Does this money excuse her for what she did?” Michael doesn’t go a step further, which is to explain that Hanna was sentenced unfairly (this brings up the issue of sympathy again). Even though the daughter doesn’t understand what Michael attempted to say, her statement still has a point. Does it matter that Hanna was only a follower versus a leader? Should the fact that Hanna was just following orders mean that the daughter should extend some level of forgiveness? I think the answer is that the daughter should have extended forgiveness. And perhaps the daughter did extend forgiveness via her actions. Her words indicated no forgiveness, but her actions did via the fact that she put the tin can that held the money in a visible location. In some ways, the last moments of this film reminded me of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Forgiving is an important process in healing.

Off to see Audra Mae and Where's Moo at Silverlake Lounge

Where’s Moo. On their equipment is an IO Echo sticker. Hey, can’t go wrong there. This band has a lead singer who is more than willing to give up the attention to his band mates. There were several times when he moved to the background and gave it up to the others. He also has a singing style where he cups the microphone while singing. This band uses a computer with the lead singer hovering over the monitor every other song. The bass player was a fill in. This seems to be a common theme that I’ve noticed recently, bands not having their current line-up for a night and needing friends to help them out. The bass player was a previous member of the band so it worked out okay for them. The bass player was helped as needed. It appeared that the guitarist would occasionally take on duties belonging to the bass player. There was a couple interesting moments on stage. When the band was starting their set, they began by doing a sound check and then just went right into their set. Another moment occurred when the guitarist was taking over the responsibilities of the bass player. While trying to direct some of the onstage action, the guitarist lost his guitar pick. The lead singer, not seeing it, stepped on it. The guitar player knelt down and tried to pull it out from underneath the foot of the lead singer, but couldn’t. Finally, the lead singer shifted his weight just a bit and the guitarist was able to recover his pick. How would I describe their music? It is hard for me to describe their music. Their website includes reviews that describe them a bit REM-ish, Cranberries-ish. I can see how those bands might reflect their influences.

Audra Mae. It was apparent very quickly that a group of people that night were there to see Audra Mae. About five minutes before her set began, the crowd started to edge towards the stage. I’ve seen her perform 3 or 4 times previously; however, she was always either solo or with two back-up singers and a musician. This time around she had the whole band out. She had two back-up singers along with five musicians. It was great seeing her in a different light. She gave it her all for the crowd. She started off her set with a jacket on, but by the start of the second song she had to take it off. The crowd loved the set. A couple of people were climbing atop the seats around the bar to get a better look. One of the back-up singers was Jodie from The Automatic Music Explosion. For this set, she had a totally different look to her. Much more country-blues-rock-folk look versus the shoe-string, make-up look for AME.

Yes: I've been hanging out at Silverlake Lounge a lot over the last couple of weeks.

Silverlake Lounge Part 2: Army Navy and Local Natives

Local Natives. So I went back on Monday to catch Local Natives at Silverlake Lounge for a second time. Part of it was driven by the fact that I was hoping to capture some better photos than last time. Part of it was driven (most of it) by the fact that this band is really good. So what happened other than some awesome music? There was some nice interaction with the audience. At one point, there were screams and cheers for a particular song. Someone in the band asked, “I heard everyone scream except for one person. Who is that one person?” A guy in a Celtics jacket raised his hand. There was some back and forth with the guy for a few moments. There was some nice interaction within the band itself. Towards the end of the set, it was mentioned that the following week was their last week of their residency at Silverlake Lounge. One of the band members got confused and asked, “Did you say this was our last song?” Another band member replied, “No, he meant that next week was our last night here.” The confused band member said, “Good, because I was going to have to jump him . . . . I’m kidding, I wasn’t going to do that.” It was a nice set. I recognized most of the songs from the previous set. I also recognized a number of the individuals in the audience, which indicates this band has a nice following. I can also say I helped out on of the band members. Before the set began, the violinist handed me a half empty drink, “Can you put this on the bar?” Okay, so that wasn’t as cool as helping out various bands when they knock over their microphone stands, but whatever. When I saw the violinist taking up the drum sticks and drumming away on the wood beams of Silverlake Lounge, the movie August Rush popped into my head. I just remember seeing the kid in the movie hearing and experimenting with all these different sounds. It isn’t like drumming away on wood is unique, but that strange connection was made anyways. I wonder what the violinist uses to drum on if they play at other venues that don’t have wood beams. I guess I’ll find out at some point.

Army Navy. They played a song from the Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist soundtrack. I was thinking they were doing a cover. But I went to Amazon.com just to make sure and well, they were playing one of their own songs. Cool. I didn’t know this fact about this band beforehand. Good for them for getting their song onto the album. There was this comment by a band member, “This is a new song. We’ve never played it. It doesn’t even have a title. It doesn’t even have lyrics.” It was a good song even though it didn’t have a title or lyrics. During their set, a photographer was taking some photos. This guy had a very high end SLR camera, one that if it is one of the newer versions has the price tag around $8,000 and if an older version still has a price tag around $4,000. He came loaded. He had three different lenses, which when two were not in use he left them on the stage. I was actually a bit worried for awhile that someone in the band might accidentally kick one or both off the stage. I guess I’m used to more active bands. I wouldn’t leave anything of importance anywhere near some of the bands I follow. Army Navy has a different feel though, much more low-key, which helps on the camera lens front. After re-reading the last couple of sentences, I’m thinking that wasn' the most ringing endorsement: hey, any band with a song on the soundtrack of Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist is a-ok with me.

Movie Review: Revolutionary Road

Revolutionary Road. Sean Nelson wrote a piece on MSN about the worst Oscar winners. He wrote that Sam Mendes was the least deserving Best Director Oscar winner for his work on American Beauty. He also wrote that Revolutionary Road is “torpid” – dull. Now personally, I liked American Beauty. And I personally liked Revolutionary Road. I would admit (Sean Nelson states that American Beauty shows a "shallow" side of suburban America) that Sam Mendes appears to have a grunge against suburbia. I don’t know why this is. I don’t know much about him. Perhaps he grew up in the suburbs or perhaps he’s just a snob. I don’t know. With that said, Revolutionary Road follows the lives Frank (Leonardo DiCaprio) and April (Kate Winslet) Wheeler. The movie starts with them meeting at a house party - in the city. It then jumps ahead an unknown number of years. They’re married. Have two children. Live on Revolutionary Road in Connecticut suburbia. Frank works at a dead end job in New York.

Their marriage has crumbled. April fell in love with Frank, because he seemed like a person who wanted to find himself, live a life of adventure. She didn’t see herself living life in suburbia. She didn’t see herself married to a person who had a desk job. This tension in their marriage causes Frank to start up an affair with a young lady in the secretary pool.

April presses for change. She suggests that they move off to Paris. Frank needs a little convincing, but eventually agrees. Their marriage seems to repair itself and then it all falls apart again. Feeling less pressure to perform at his job, Frank suddenly blossoms at work. He is offered a promotion. April finds out that she is pregnant. With the promotion, it seemed to me that Frank suddenly found his calling. This wasn’t the calling that April had hoped for and so she didn’t want to accept this outcome. She suggests they continue with their plan and that perhaps she should get an abortion, but Frank finds the idea of an abortion abhorrent. She found the two of them on two separate roads. He now wanted to stay in Corporate America and be the bread winner for his growing family; while she still wanted the life of adventure. April once again discovers that she can’t stand being around her husband.

April finds herself having a brief rendezvous with a next door neighbor (who is also married.) Both of them have now had affairs. I think each has an affair for different reasons. I think April has an affair to escape the present. Frank has an affair because he wants to feel like a man that a woman holds in esteem.


I will also write this about Frank. He is a cruel man who twists facts to hurt his wife. His emotional abuse leads to the below outcome.

Spoiler Alert. The last part of the movie actually reminded me of a recent episode of Battlestar Galactica. Can you believe that? Comparing Revolutionary Road to Battlestar Galactica? In Revolutionary Road, April screams bloody murder at Frank. They have a huge, ballistic fight. The next morning, Frank comes down to the kitchen. There is April, dressed with a smile and preparing orange juice. The kids are off at the neighbors. She has a great breakfast prepared. She indicates that this is to celebrate the start of Frank’s new job. And then as soon as Frank leaves, she attempts an abortion – which she is attempting after 12 weeks. (I guess self-induced abortions have a better chance of success before 12 weeks. I’m no expert on this, but this is a discussion point in the movie.) As she is having an abortion after 12 weeks, she is essentially risking suicide. Why does this remind me of Battlestar Galactica? In the episode called “Sometimes a Great Notion” Dee and Apollo have an awesome date. This is after the disappointment of learning that Earth was destroyed by nukes and that they must continue their search for a homeland. Dee apparently wants to live the perfect day. She wants to feel like she did before when she and Apollo were first dating. And then she commits suicide. I got the same feeling about April. She wanted to have a morning where she was once again in love with Frank. And then she committed suicide.

The honest truth is that this is one devastating movie. You’re depressed from about minute five onwards until the end -- that is you feel some joy when they live in the city, but depression when they move to the suburbs. But I was also engrossed in the movie. I know that all people don’t grow up bored to death in suburbia like Sam Mendes would like us to believe. I don’t believe that people have unfulfilled lives living in suburbia. On the other hand though, I’m sure some people do feel trapped in life and Sam Mendes is making films that focus on these individuals. I suspect Revolutionary Road is about the lives of artists, adventurers who compromise in life and find out that they regret it.

I’ll admit I’m disappointed that Revolutionary Road did not get nominated for Best Picture. In my opinion, this movie is so much better than The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Of course, if you happen to read my review on Benjamin Button you’ll see that I hated that picture. Oh well. I guess my hate of Benjamin Button is similar to Sean Nelson’s hate of Revolutionary Road.

In regards to Oscars: I think both Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet deserved Oscar nods for their performances.

Post Valentine's Blog: Rob Z night at El Cid

El Cid. We’ve all heard of El Cid, right? That’s where I was Wednesday night. It was a Rob Z night, Valentines from Venus: A Tribute to Women. It was one of those nights where it seemed that half of the people there knew each other, providing an interesting vibe to the night.

Chop Chop. They had a fill-in drummer who used an electronic drum set. Chop Chop has a low key sound to it, which made it interesting that the bass player wore a Metallica t-shirt. The bass player has a nice follow through while striking notes, it seemed like he was playing the bass like a piano. The lead singer has a nice voice. The lead singer apologized once or twice to her band mates for messing up a song and gave a pleasant laugh a number of times. I suspect this band has loads of fun during their practice sessions. I can’t help but think that at times they break out in laughter during their sessions.

Resonant Heads was up next. Sometimes you look at the band list for the night and recognize a specific band name, but can’t recall if you’ve seen that band before. This is how I felt regarding Resonant Heads. Once they were on stage, I did remember seeing this band before though I believe they had a different line-up at the time. I can’t recall when I saw them, but I believe it was at El Cid a couple years ago. The drummer is from this band called Virginia City Revival -- I’m not sure if this is still an active band or not. The lead singer was the same. There was also a fill-in for this band, as well, like with Chop Chop. Unlike for Chop Chop, I believe the person missing is missing for good and Resonant Heads is looking for a new band member. This is just speculation. I overheard a conversation, which seemed to imply that the missing individual had left the band for good. I could be wrong.

The final band was Vagina Revenge or better known as Bleeding Livers. This is a band that Rob Z fronts. It is actually a band comprised of members from two other bands. It is an all male band. Three of the guys were dressed in drag while the drummer was not. Hmm. The drummer did have a barrette in his hair. Mike on guitar actually looked sort of like Elaine Benes from Seinfeld. Interesting. Their set comprised of various songs from female musicians.

P.S. I guess El Cid changed management recently so it'll be interesting to see what changes occur.

Silverlake Lounge: Local Natives

A friend suggested checking out Local Natives over at Silverlake Lounge. They are the residency band for February ‘09. My friend unfortunately had to cancel, but I decided to head on over anyways. First off, however, I had to watch the new episode of ”24” at home (which admittedly seems totally off topic). I wanted to catch the second band Dusty Rhodes and the River Band, as well, but I figured since they were the 10 p.m. band it meant they wouldn’t go on stage until 10:30 p.m. and so I could watch “24” without worries. I arrived at the Silverlake Lounge at around 10:20 p.m. and Dusty Rhodes was already on stage. Interesting. It seemed that the bands were playing on schedule Monday night, which I haven’t experienced in the past at Silverlake Lounge. Anyways, the place was packed. I did attempt to slowly make my way closer to the stage during Dusty Rhodes’ set, but I never made it more than halfway up. (So no photo evidence.) They’re a band in the folk-rock vain. From what I could tell one of the lead singers bounced around a lot. I enjoyed the music, the little I heard of it -- I think I probably caught half their set.

After they finished their set, there was this crowd shift of people heading away from the stage. I knew it was crowded, but for awhile there I was wondering how many people were actually packed inside the bar. There was this organized stream of people moving away from the stage while another stream moved towards the stage. It almost felt like an orchestrated agreement between people at the front and those in the rear: we were up front for Dustry Rhodes and now we’ll move to the back so that you all in the back can now see Local Natives up close.

I headed up front.

While upfront I over-heard some conversations. After I got into Silverlake Lounge a line apparently formed outside. One young lady complained about being stuck outside for 20 minutes. Another woman was talking about how she booked bands at various locations.

Local Natives started their set at 11 p.m. on the dot. Once again, I couldn’t help but find this interesting since the last few times I’d gone to Silverlake Lounge, the bands always started 30 minutes late. Of course, the last time I was at Silverlake Lounge was back in September so maybe the world has changed in five months.

This, of course, was the first time I’d seen Local Natives. I had no clue what to expect. All I knew was that my friend suggested that we check out this band. Considering Dusty Rhodes, I was rather sure that Local Natives wasn’t a punk band or heavy metal band. They are a six piece band, though their myspace page seems to indicate a five piece band. An additional face is their violinist. Here are my thoughts on this band. Awesome folk-rock. Midway through the set I could not help but think the following: there is a transition point between jazz and rock, and Local Natives fits right at that transition point. I love how for one song two of the band members switched instruments. (I haven’t written a review of Whispertown2000, but this band also rotates instruments – actually more so than Local Natives.) There was a row of young beautiful people right in front of the band, two of them were singing along during much of the set. On occasion, this band goes wild, not wild in a crazy antics way, but wild in the sense that they suddenly get this momentary jam session feel where everyone is having the time of their lives. The band invited up a couple guest musicians. The violinist from Dusty Rhodes came up for a dueling violinist battle. They also invited up a percussionist who took up double duties on the drum set. I was standing a little too close to the side of the stage at times and was worried that the bass player was going to give me a black eye. When I had that feeling, I would back up just a bit. I am an analytical person. Towards the end of the set something dawned on me. This band was situation in a triangle shape. Three band members up front, two in the middle and the drummer in the back.

With that, I left and walked through the cold night air. It was seriously cold. I just had to mention that. Cold for Los Angeles, of course.

Over to the Key Club: The Automatic Music Explosion and The Mulhollands

The Key Club and Monday nights: based on the myspace bulletins I received from The Automatic Music Explosion it appears that the Key Club is back to a 9:30 p.m. guest list cut off for Steel Panther. The club seems to switch policies every few months. One policy is that people on a band’s guest list need to get to the club by 9:30 p.m. The other policy is that people on a band’s guest list need to get there before their band gets on stage, which means someone can show up as late as 11 p.m. and still get in for free.

Nancy Fullforce. This band puts on an interesting show. I walked into the Key Club and on the main floor there was a small platform. I looked at it and wondered, “What that’s for?” I found out at 9:15 p.m. A young lady got on it and started to tap dance. Now that is an opening. There were also two guys on either side of the floor holding signs that said “Rock” and “Roll.” The O’s were cut out so that the guys could stick their heads through the alphabet. The two guys later came back as weight lifters. During one song that had the word “vulture” in it, there was a scene from (I believe) The Birds projected on the stage screen. So what about the band itself? It is hard to say. This was the first time I’ve seen this band. One cool thing about this band is that they incorporate a saxophone and trumpet. I always appreciate a band that uses musical instruments other than the standard drums, guitar and bass. Interesting note: I wonder if this was the first time they’ve played at the Key Club. The trumpeter occasionally would put his trumpet down and pull out the digital camera.

The Automatic Music Explosion and The Mulhollands. Okay, so if you read this blog, you’ve figured out by now that I’m a sucker for these two bands. The AME had the 10 p.m. slot. Their new song is titled “Rock Me Like This.” I mentioned this song in a previous blog, but wasn’t able to nail down the song title. This song won’t allow you to relax. This song is the equivalent of a high octane action movie squeezed into 3 or 4 minutes. I learned that this song is from producer Mike Chapman. He produced albums for Blondie and The Knack. The AME needs to get this song recorded, because it deserves some radio airplay. During the set, an occasional voice would come booming out at just the right moments during song breaks. The first time I heard it I looked around the Key Club. Was a Key Club DJ getting into the music and making shot-outs? Actually, it was the drummer, Max. The Mulhollands came up next. Murray, their guitar player, was back on stage. Previously, Eric from The New Hotness had taken the guitar duties. Murray had a broken arm at that time so it was good to see him back. The Mulhollands are a band that focuses in on Sarah J’s vocals. Her vocals were going Monday night. Unlike at the The Roxy, there were no sound difficulties. Jeff, on bass, who usually plays in the background without drawing too much attention was getting on his knees and rocking it during a song or two. Matt Fuller was playing to the crowd so much so that a couple guys came towards the stage at one point and started to give him the band worship gyrations. It all ended with Sarah J taking out the megaphone for the last two songs. One must love the megaphone.

This was an interesting night in terms of who showed up. There were a variety of friends that showed up, many of whom seldom interact with each other. I always find it interesting how certain bands (in this case The AME and The Mulhollands) can bring so many varied groups together.

For some reason I focused in on opening this Monday night. Nancy Fullforce started it off with the tap dancer. The Automatic Music Explosion came out from behind the curtain, walking in a line to their spots. The Mulhollands settled in on stage, checking their gear, and when the time came went for it full force.

Movie Review: Gran Torino

Gran Torino. This is an excellent movie. A friend who also saw the movie gave it rave reviews, but discounted the acting skills of the Asian actors. I thought they were just fine. (The issue here is that many of the Asians in the movie aren’t professional actors.) The story starts out at a funeral. Walt Kowalski’s wife has just died. They live in a neighborhood that has culturally transitioned from European to Hmong. Kowalski is a bit of a racist and doesn’t get along with his neighbors. A youth living next door to Kowalski by the name of Tao has a cousin in a gang. The cousin pressures him into trying to steal Kowalski’s Gran Torino. Kowalski becomes aware of the theft-in-progress and confronts the kid. Over the next few days or weeks, Kowalski slowly becomes more involved with Tao and his family and then in the neighborhood at large as he sees the need to stand up to the local gangs.

I found myself wrapped up in storytelling. You see a racist who slowly softens his stance to his Asian neighbors. He sees his neighborhood as being run down and despises the fact that the Hmong don’t keep their properties up, but learns that one reason is the fact that they are too poor to do the necessary upkeep. You see a person who was likely involved in his community at one point, but then withdrew as he saw the cultural shift occur, but then finds a reason to get re-involved. Even though the film is seen as an anti-PC movie, it also has certain qualities that affirm the need to stay involved in your neighborhood. You also see how he has issues with his own family members. His children don’t like to be around him. His daughter-in-laws are greedy. One grandchild is a spoiled brat. This is partially his fault and he realized this as time passes.

Kowalski gets involved with his neighborhood to the extent that he feels he must do something about the local gang harassing his next door neighbors. His actions cause a violent reaction. This leads to the powerful finale.

Criticism: There are always issues in any movie that you can question and complain about. My one complaint is in regards to the priest. When the gang reacts to Kowalski’s actions, the priest comes over to discuss matters with Kowalski. It seems to me that he advocates aggressive measures against the gang during the meeting, but then later on reverses himself. If I interpreted the priest’s initial reaction, an appropriate explanation to this reversal isn’t provided in the movie.

Of the Oscar potential movies I’ve seen, I’d have to say that this movie deserves a nod for Best Picture. Unfortunately, it got no Oscar nods at all.