A Movie Review: Public Enemies

I'm up and down on Michael Mann. I loved "Collateral." I hated "Miami Vice." Now comes "Public Enemies." I did not like it. The movie centers around John Dillinger. The first half or so of the movie was okay, the second half was just a dud. Here's my problems with the movie:

In the scenes at the Wisconsin hotel, Michael Mann decided to go with what appeared to be an "inspired by the TV show Cops" type of filming. I just found it over-the-top and actually a total switch in style from the rest of the movie.

I also wasn't sure how John Dillinger was being portrayed. Was he a cunning bank robber? Was he a playboy? Was he a vicious killer? I don't know. If he was cunning, the movie surely didn't show it very well. I couldn't help but wonder: After awhile, wasn't John Dillinger sort of surprised that where ever he went, often times the FBI was around somewhere? Didn't he perhaps wonder how the FBI was tracking him?

Anyways, not one of my favorite summer movies.

A Movie Review: Moon

"Moon". This movie has some interesting concepts behind it, but it just doesn't deliver at the end. The story is about a guy who is alone on the moon. The moon is being mined for an energy source. He is the only person on the moon. One day, he gets into an accident. He awakes back at the station, unsure how he got there. It quickly becomes more complicated. Due to the accident, the corporation assumed that Sam died in the accident. They decide to activate a clone. My impression was that the memories transferred over to the clone and he can't recall how he got back to the base. He decides to investigate the accident scene. He ends up finding Sam and brings him back to the base. It so happens that they're both clones. The corporation is sending out a group to recover what they assume is the dead clone. If they find both clones alive, they'll have to kill both of the clones as a cover-up.

Here's what I'd like to know more from the movie:

1. It would seem hard to believe that this corporation is the only one that uses clones. There must be a cultural shift on the world that accepts clones. I wish this was explained a bit more.

2. I wish the film gave more insight into what happened to the original Sam. There is brief contact with the daughter via phone -- who then calls out for her father. You sort of wonder if perhaps the original Sam survived his 3 year commitment and the corporation creates clones to keep doing the same work. Of course, the film also hints that Sam's wife was straying after three years apart, indicating that perhaps Sam's daughter is calling out for her step father.

A Movie Review: The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3

"The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3". This movie is a box office disappointment. On the otherhand, it is a good movie. I'm not going to say it is a great movie, but I will say it was well written and acted. I usually try to poke holes into movie plot lines -- like the recent Star Trek movie. I can't really say I found any serious holes in the storyline. It just felt like a really tightly written movie that made sure that the storyline made sense in every possible way.

A Movie Review: Away we go

"Away We Go". I thought this was an okay movie. I think there are better road trip movies out there like “Little Miss Sunshine.” Also, I just found this movie lacking when compared to “Revolutionary Road,” which is also directed by Sam Mendes. The one note about this movie is that I think it shows us that we’re all broken – broken in the sense that our lives are not perfect. We’re all screwed up in large and small ways.

A movie review: Hangover

"Hangover" has made an enormous amount of money and has had some really long legs, indicating that it is a really loved movie. As for me, I liked it, but I didn't love it. I think my problem was that I came into this movie with very high expectations. I walked away thinking, there were probably better comedies out there this year. Over-all, though, it is a funny story about people who have a little too much fun in Las Vegas. It is a movie that flows rather well and makes you yearn for an adventure in life.

Spaceland: Local Natives and their residency

I invited a friend to come out to Spaceland. This was her first time at Spaceland. Before she arrived I saw a band called Rademacher. A friend told me at a Saturday night party that she planned on coming to check out this band. She never arrived, but I did get to see them and I thought they were rather good.




Red Cortez was the next band up. The lead singer was having some fun on stage. At one p0int he started to sing-chant, "Local Natives. Local Natives. Local Natives." He then broke up laughing, saying some like, "I'm just having fun." Interesting note about Red Cortez, there were four photographers with their SLR cameras taking photos of Red Cortez. I just found that interesting to mention.

Next up was Local Natives, the band I gave as the reason my friend should come out to Spaceland for the first time. Now my friend isn't used to staying out late, being a teacher and all. So before Local Natives started she said, "I might just leave at 11:30 p.m." I replied, "You've got to stick around for their whole set, this is why I invited you to come." She said, "If they're awesome, I'll stick around." She stuck around, because Local Natives were awesome.

It appears that Local Natives used to be called Cavil at Rest. Now the LA Weekly made fun of the band's name in a recent write-up. I also heard a couple guys talking after the set. One said, "They used to be called Cavil at Rest. They made a really dumb mistake changing their names to Local Natives." Actually, I like the name Local Natives.

Another interesting side note: For Red Cortez we were in the loosely defined second row. Someone how for Local Natives we got pushed back to the third row, not bad, except for the fact that the people in front of us were all like 6 feet tall. I was like, how did that happen. It wasn't like we couldn't see the band, it was just an interesting note.

While my friend took off after Local Natives, I stuck around briefly for Swim Party. If you've read my past music blogs, you know I hate staying out past midnight. I stuck around for three of their songs and took off myself. What did I think of Swim Party? I wouldn't mind seeing a full set, just hopefully when they have a start time before midnight. Half the audience had split by that point. The lead singer of Swim Party stated, "I know we all have to work tomorrow. We'll try to jam through our set as fast as possible."

Jessie Deluxe at Fox and Hounds

I got to catch an acoustic set by Jessie Deluxe at the Fox and Hounds on Saturday night. I previously saw her in her two piece band at the Roxy. She mentioned during her set that she decided to go acoustic/solo, because she was afraid that her two piece would be too loud. I don't know if she needed to worry about us, I think the Fox and Hounds has handled some rather loud bands. It was thoughtful of her and over-all, it was a nice set. She had one song that was dedicated to an opera singer, can't recall the name of the singer. To end her set, she played a song called "Bi-polar," which actually included some opera-like singing.

After her set, she walked around handing out her CD to those in the audience. Friendly personality, I say.

Switchfoot and Blue October at the Wiltern, August 6

This has been a fun week of music. Sunday started off with No Doubt and Paramore. And on Wednesday, Switchfoot and Blue October. It started off getting stuck at work a little longer than I wanted, but off I went eventually. I hung out with some friends across the street at a Japanese restaurant. Around 7:45 p.m. we headed over to catch Switchfoot. Yes, we missed the first band. A number of friends were already inside the Wiltern so I was able to squeeze in with them. We were in the second section of the general admission area, right by the railing.




I'd gone to the Wiltern website and it mentioned that no flash photography was allowed. So these photos are taken using 3200 ISO. Since we weren't right next to the stage, using flash wouldn't have mattered anyways.



I think the below is the best photo of the night.



And this one comes in a close second.



The lead singer, Jon Foreman, at this pointed started to make his way through the audience.



He went through the first section of the general admission area and ended up standing on the railing of the second section. And as I mentioned above, my friends and I were right there. So you see some rather close shots of him. I guess I could have turned on my flash, but I was a bit concerned about blinding him, considering the fact that he was on a railing.



My cute story. There was a young girl, perhaps 12, who I suspect was right by the stage. As Jon Foreman made his way through the crowd, I think she followed him. When he got to our railing, she squeezed herself towards the other railing and then sat atop of it. Now I suspect that security usually frowns on this. I waited for security to come by, but none did. She just sat there, looking in awe as Jon Foreman sang atop the railing. After a few minutes her mother (or guardian) came over and tapped her on the shoulder saying it was time to come back over. The young girl didn't complain. She got back down on the floor and they headed back towards the front of the stage. I wonder if Jon Foreman noticed this. I thought it was a very sweet moment.

And on my front. For a brief moment, Jon Foreman started to shake hands with the audience. I said to myself, why not, and briefly shook his hand.



Something that I've noticed at various music venues also happened here. Actually, some of my friends had passes for a meet and great with Switchfoot so they left the area. And in surged a number of Blue October fans: Switchfoot fans out, Blue October fans in. I say the super cool thing about Blue October, they have a violinist. The guy also plays the guitar so when he was playing his violin, he'd have his guitar, also. So you had a guy walking around with to instruments -- anyways, I found that interesting.

Blue October started off with a bang.



A lot of their songs had very personal lyrics.



And the fans ate it up.



Blue October did have an acoustic three song set. I was sort of surprised by this -- of course, this is the first time I've seen them. In my opinion, it was taking a chance that the audience would stay focused. I more than respect them for that move.



For some reason, I think I got better shows of Switchfoot than of Blue October. I think it had something to do with the lighting that each band used. Each used different lighting, Switchfoot had more white while Blue October went with . . . blue.

Switchfoot played for about an hour. Blue October played for about 1 1/2 hours. I'd say the audience was 60/40. 60% Blue October fans. 40% Switchfoot fans. I was told that when the doors opened, the line outside stretched around a corner. Who do I think had the better set? Well, I'm bias, of course. I think Switchfoot had the better set; however, I think their set at their Bro-Am was just slightly better. I think perhaps it had something to do with the crowd. Obviously, at the Bro-Am, 100% of the fans were there for Switchfoot while the fan base at the Wiltern was more diverse. As for Blue October's set. I liked it, but I thought it was a bit up and down at moments. I'm not sure they're really able to carry a 1 1/2 hour set. Hopefully, that isn't seen as too big of a knock, because there were definitely moments where they rocked it and I thought the acoustic set was great. It is like seeing a good movie, but thinking, it would be great if they'd trimmed 15 to 20 minutes off.

A movie review: Up

After seeing a number of cartoons and not enjoying them at all (Monsters vs. Aliens, as an example), I was wondering if I’d gotten too old to enjoy cartoons. That fear was tossed to the side after seeing Up. This movie is brilliant from the very start. It starts off by pulling at your heart strings and then sends you off wanting to do good. (Even the short cartoon was brilliant – of course, for Pixar, those usually are.) The first five minutes or so of the movie has to be one of the more beautifully crafted cinematic expressions of a lifetime of love. The middle is an enjoyable (though admittedly somewhat predictable) romp through South America

The coda shows how great emotional despair doesn’t need to create long-term depression. With the Academy now expanding the best picture race to the top 10 (which I don’t fully agree with), I think this movie is a shoe-in for a nomination. And if it isn’t, then it becomes obvious that expanding the nomination to 10 is a mistake and that it should get reduced back to five.

No Doubt on Sunday August 2nd, Irvine

For those who've come across my music blogs, you know the standard which is . . . here's some photos and a column will show up on intraffik.com in a month. (If you've never been to this blogsite than you have no clue what I'm talking about; however, you should check out intraffik.com if you have the time.) Well, that's true in this case as well, though I'm being slightly more wordy than in previous heads-ups-about-upcoming-intraffik-column blogs . . .

First off, we missed the first band, which I regret because I really did want to see them. We also missed about a third of Paramore set which I found really sad because I really really wanted to see their whole set.

We did get to see two-thirds of Paramore; however. And they rocked it.




To end their set, you can see below a number of costume characters.



Then up came No Doubt. The next two photos are shots of the projector screen.

I think the below is actually a rather good shot of the stage. The security guards were tight on the cameras. When walking towards the gates, I saw a woman carrying back her camera -- a non SLR camera. I made a comment to my friend. The woman heard me and replied, "No large cameras allowed." My camera I guess didn't look that large to the security guy. Unknown to him, my camera is far better than that woman's camera -- though obviously not SLR quality.

Another stage shot. Zoomed in so it didn't come out as solid.

This shot is towards the end of their set.

Awesome cool. No Doubt, during the encore three song set, had the two other lead singers come on stage to help with Stand and Deliver.

What a night. Gwen and gang delivered an awesome 1.5 hour set.

The Tempest: Independent Shakespeare Company at Barnsdall Park

This was my second time going to Barnsdall Park to catch some Shakespeare in the Park. Last year was Henry IV parts one and two. This year was The Tempest. The play is put on by the Independent Shakespeare Company. Their season at Barnsdall ends August 30th. The Company is rotating between The Tempest and Henry V.

I'm not a Shakespeare guru or fan so I can't really do a proper review. (I've seen perhaps 4 Shakespeare plays ever.) I will say I enjoyed The Tempest. Last year, I found Henry IV a bit confusing. Of course, this year, someone gave me a quick low down on The Tempest, which helped reduce the confusion.

Random thought: the programs were made of much higher paper quality than last year, meaning that even during this recession they're getting better funding?

My general comments:

Reservations are key. They let the general public in at 7 p.m. (the play starts at 7:30 p.m.), but the area fills up rather quickly. It appeared that some people had to watch from outside the boundaries.

If you have a large group, I'd recommend getting there at 6 p.m. (they start letting people in at this time) so that you can all sit together.

I'd also suggest bringing a jacket or blanket. Even though the plays go on in the middle of the summer, there is a nice breeze that comes through.