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.

Updated: Diane Birch @ Hotel Cafe

An Update Below

I just came back from seeing Diane Birch at Hotel Cafe. A friend of mine sent out a mid-morning e-mail saying that he was planning on seeing her set and suggested that the people on his e-mail list should check her out, as well.

I won't go into her set too much, because I suspect that come mid to late August I'll have a column posted on intraffik.com about this night. Let's just say this, she has vocals that shine with beauty.

If you missed the set -- and most likely you did -- you can catch her on Jimmy Kimmel this Friday night, July 31st.

Sorry no photos. Last minute invite meant I didn't have time to bring along a camera. Anyways, here's a video from youtube.




Updated: I noticed that people are searching for Diane Birch so I figured I shouldn't leave my blog on such as tease of saying go check out intraffik.com in a month. So here's a brainstorm of quick notes about her set: Hotel Café was packed. I suspect it was as close to being sold out as possible. The age range was between 21 to 70. She rotated from piano to keys throughout much of the set, sometimes between songs; however, I thought she was most engaging when simply singing with her band. Her backup band consisted of a drummer, guitarist, bassist and trumpeter. The trumpeter added the most to her sound. She is a beauty with the focus being on her eyes. I did buy a CD from her and took it for a listen the following day. She has a very personable personality.

A Movie Review: (500) Days of Summer

(500) Days of Summer. I did enjoy this movie; however, I just want to mention a movie I consider to be an even better romantic comedy, Adventureland. Personal preference. I suppose I just like seeing a more happy ending. Warning: This blog has more than its share of spoilers.

I should probably also admit before going much further that I'm also irritated that I missed Zooey Deschanel's She & Him residency at Spaceland a few months back. That just stunk. I don't know what I was thinking.

So yes, I liked Adventureland much better, but that doesn't mean I didn't love (500) Days of Summer. It takes a different look at relationships. It shows that sometimes people break-up. It shows that sometimes certain people aren't meant for each other. And yet, it does have a happy ending to a degree. Summer finds true love, an emotion she felt she would never feel -- rather quickly by the way -- after breaking up with Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt). The movie doesn't end with Tom finding true love, but it does end with him potentially finding a new girlfriend.

Problem with the movie: Okay, I'm thinking the following isn't a problem, I just wished I'd realized this before going in to see the movie. So I guess this is more of a heads up. The movie doesn't stick to a linear timeline (I would have known this if I'd read the reviews). It starts out around day 290-ish, plus or minus 30 days, and then u-turns to the start. I wish I'd logged those days better in my mind, because I think it would have made the movie more enjoyable. Early in the movie, they're having breakfast in the evening. This is essentially the moment in the movie where they breakup. Fast forward towards the end of the movie and the same day is revisited, but a few hours before that moment. Oh well, it just means I'll need to watch this movie again on DVD.

What I enjoyed about the movie is that it showed amazingly romantic moments between the two of them and yet at the same time it showed moments where you just couldn't help but think, "There is something wrong going on with this relationship." That thought was brought out by Tom's sister where she said something like, "I'm happy you guys broke up. I think you'll realize this if you'd re-think your relationship." The movie then re-winds and shows you those moments where there were signs that Summer just wasn't fully invested emotionally into the relationship.

One complaint regarding the style of the movie. There is the When Harry Met Sally moment where people are getting interviewed about their relationships. It seemed like a scene that could have been cut. It seemed out of place. The movie does use various movie styles; however, so it was meant to be included. There is a musical number where perhaps you'd think that maybe this wouldn't work either, but I enjoyed it. There is also a rather long scene towards the end of the movie that uses a split screen that shows: imagined (I don't believe that is the word used in the movie, but you get the idea) versus reality. Now that was just a brilliant scene, because how many of us are hit with cold reality when it comes to relationships.

This is a minor moment, but I loved the scene where the boss called Tom into his office. I think in many movies, the boss is seen as unsympathetic or as a jerk. This movie treated the boss as a good guy. I liked that. It was one of those moments that just showed that this was a different type of film.

I had a brief conversation with a couple of friends about this movie. One mentioned that he thought Summer was just a mean character. I think through most of the movie, this just isn't true. I'll have to give it up to him; however, when a few months after their breakup they happen to meet up on a train ride where both are heading to the same wedding. To me, Summer does lead him on, giving him the illusion that perhaps he has another chance at getting the relationship back on track. We learn moments later in the movie (the split screen portion of the movie) that she's dating someone else who is about to ask her to marry him. As Tom later asks Summer, why didn't she just mention this fact to him earlier. That was cruel, especially since she asked him to a rooftop party where she knew her new boyfriend would be. I suppose you could use this moment to go back through the whole movie and apply this character flaw to their relationship and therefore re-address how she treated him during their relationship. Perhaps my friend is right. Perhaps I'll come to his conclusion when I see the movie again. For now, I'll argue in her benefit that sometimes it is hard to bring up those topics. Also, I'd argue that throughout the movie, it was clear that Summer and Tom had reversed roles. Summer had more of the dominant/"male" role in the relationship where she didn't treat their relationship as something that might potentially lead to a long term commitment. Tom had the more "female" role of looking for a long term commitment. If you look at it from that perspective, I don't think she treated him badly during their relationship.

Ending: Deschanel was in a movie called Yes Man, which I thought had the undercurrent of being a love story to the Eastside of Los Angeles. In many ways, (500) Days of Summer is a love story to Downtown Los Angeles.

A night of words: Matt Vasquez of Delta Spirit at Spaceland

Matt Vasquez of Delta Spirit was playing at Spaceland on Tuesday night. He wears his heart on his sleeves. Throughout his set, he made some interesting comments. After singing a song about his ex-girlfriend, in which he used some rather strong words, he ended by saying, “Don’t ever date a guy with a guitar or he’ll write a song about you calling you a whore.” Now he might not have said whore, but it was a similar type word, perhaps harlot. He also talked before one song saying, “I was lucky enough to be on tour when my grandfather died. I was on tour near his place and so I was the only grandson who got to see him before he passed away. The same thing happened when my grandmother passed away, me being on tour. She was on morphine and slept most of the time. When she would wake up, she’d call my mother over and say, ‘I want to be euthanized. Where’s that Dr. Kevorkian.’ I changed my opinion on euthanasia after that experience. Anyways, I wrote this song when I was seeing my grandfather and I didn’t have to change a word.” He also joked a couple of times about how playing at Spaceland was going to pay off his rent for the month. He had a couple backup musicians, a bassist and a drummer. They played with him for the first half of the set and then the final two songs. The set went about an hour and fifteen minutes. I was actually surprised by that. I wasn’t expecting such a long set. Note: For some reason, I found it interesting when he rotated harmonicas. He also had out a banjo, but I don’t believe he ever used it.





The other two bands of the night were The Romany Rye and The Parson Red Heads. I saw perhaps half of Romany Rye’s set. They’re a three guy band. There was a funny comment by one guys who said something like, “I wrote this song while learning to play the piano, which I still don’t know how to play.” The band has an interesting situation where they rotate around musical instruments. When I walked in they were all on guitars. During one of their songs, two of the guys rotated to a drum set and a piano. The Parson Red Heads are a rather mellow band that didn’t ever go outside that music range of mellow. One of the guitar players was interesting to watch. He often times held something in his right hand. The young lady in the band commented, “Can you believe he played the tambourine and the guitar on that song? I always find that so amazing.” Looking at their myspace page, I do believe I only saw a subset of the band so I suspect they can jam it up a bit more.

Below pictures are of Parson Red Heads. I didn't really get a good shot of Romany Rye.

Pretty Mess, Pu$$y Cow and Dirty Filthy Mugs at the Blue Star

Saturday night at Blue Star. First off, there was an issue with the sound. I guess the sound guy didn’t show up. I heard someone say he called in sick. Of course, that could mean he just decided not to show up for the night for whatever reason. Folks tried their best at getting the sound going and someone was able to get one microphone to work at around 10:15 p.m. The first band of the night was Pretty Mess. They’re a four member, all-girl, punk band. They play aggressive. Sing raw. Use plenty of four letter words. And have probably the hottest drummer in Los Angeles. There were some interesting moments during their set. The microphone went out during their set as someone who knew a bit about sound came around and tried to help make things better. There were complaints, but the guy knew what he was doing and kept on going. Eventually the sound came back and he also got a second microphone working, as well. Also, during their set, a police helicopter flew overhead for some reason with the beam lights pointing towards the Blue Star. Sort of interesting. I half expected to see cops coming by at some point. No police came in though perhaps a couple cop cars drove by the Blue Star at some point.

Next up was Pu$$y Cow. I hadn’t seen this band play a full set in a couple months, I believe since their Juanita show way back when. I’m not sure who set up the night, but the honest truth was that this was a Pu$$y Cow show. Probably 60%-70% of the people there were there to see Pu$$y Cow. There was a moment where one of the fans got up into Chissum's face. Chissum tried to start the song off, but just couldn't and started laughing.

Dirty Filthy Mugs were the third band of the night. They started the night off with a bang. The lead singer just went flying around from the start. I swear this band has one of the best stage shows in Los Angeles (obviously Automatic Music Explosion stands alone). They threw out confetti poppers and sprayed everyone with party spray string. It was awesome. And they sounded great, as well. And for a song or two one of the guys brought out an accordion. An unfortunate situation arose that perhaps not very many people noticed. There was a guy wearing ski glasses. He got a little testy at one point with a lady who was using the poppers. Some of the streamers landed on his back. He got so furious that he got a cup of beer and threw it at her back and then stormed off. A fight could have started, but she was cool about it and so her friends were cool about it. The guy obviously deserves a big JERK tagged to his forehead.

Interesting note was that some sort of party was occurring across the street in this largely industrial park area. Someone mentioned it was a corporate party, but when I was driving off for the night I noticed a bunch of teens/college age folks heading towards the party. My car also had a number of party fliers on it. Maybe this area is turning into a little hidden hip area of music and dance?

Big Stone City, F-ing Southwell and Z/Schnee and the Bleeding Livers

Wednesday night at El Cid to catch Rob Z's night. As I was walking towards El Cid I heard the sounds of the first band. I was thinking, “Wow, that band sounds really awesome.” The band is called Big Stone City. I’m sorry I didn’t catch their whole set. Next up was F*** Southwell. He used to front my all-time favorite local band: Bang Sugar Bang. He borrowed a couple guys from Get Set Go to help fill out his sound. A funny note about his set: He took one of his guitars from its case and realized that one of the strings was broken. He broke it at his last gig. He mentioned, “This just proves that I am one of the laziest musicians around. And I didn’t even practice with the guys since our last show. They said we’re fine, however.”

The final band of the night was Z/Schnee and the Bleeding Livers. This is Rob Z’s band. Rob Z always has these gags he uses. This time around he had a bicycle horn. He told everyone, “Whenever I make a sound with this horn, I want everyone to yell out, ‘Brand New Car.’ It means we’re singing a brand new song.” Kevin and Emily from the former band Midway made an awesome guest appearance that got many of the people in the crowd pumped up. Somewhere in the middle of the Bleeding Livers set, a couple of people took to dancing on the floor. A couple of others joined after some persuasion. Soon thereafter a large number of people started to dance away. Anyways, this is the last Rob Z night for awhile as he is putting his night on hiatus.

The Mulhollands and The Shakers at Fox and Hounds

I last saw The Mulhollands back in mid-April so three months had passed since I last saw them. That's a rather long time period for me to go without seeing one of my favorite local bands. With that in mind, I headed off to Fox and Hounds on Saturday night to catch their set. It also happened to be Matt's, one of the guitar players, birthday. I believe that one of the songs on their set list was written by Matt -- if I heard Sarah correctly. The set was lovely. The songs are great. It was great to see them again. There was an interesting scene come the end of their set. I noticed a guy walking in front of me and moving to the front of the "stage" area. I didn't pay much attention until I noticed people around me started to talk and point. The guy had taken down his pants. Now luckily he wasn't going commando and was wearing sportswear versus briefs, but still. Even the band had to take notice. (I'll resist posting a photo of the pant-less guy for his own sake, not that very many people ever come across this blog but who knows.)

Beforehand, The Shakers were up. As mentioned before in other blogs, this is Jodie's new project -- post Automatic Music Explosion. I was doing some photo taking. I was getting much better photos than I got when checking out their Viper Room gig. I noticed that they're looking for a bass player. Their current bass player if Jeff from Automatic Music Explosion.

Death Cab for Cutie at the Hollywood Bowl

I saw Death Cab for Cutie at the Hollywood Bowl on Sunday evening. It was a pleasant night of music. The Los Angeles Philharmonic joined in on the fun for about 5 songs. I’m not sure they added all that much to the music. For a moment or two you'd hear a brass instrument ringing loud, but other than that the Philharmonic didn't seem to add much -- though I was way in the back so perhaps it was more enjoyable for people up close.

What did add a lovely twist was the final song. Fireworks started up behind the stage. I half wondered if these were just extra fireworks left over from the 4th of July. Probably not. It was a lovely ending to their set. I sort of wished that Death Cab for Cutie was able to see the fireworks themselves, because it was so beautiful seeing the fireworks going off as the band played.

I have to admit that Death Cab for Cutie is one of those bands I’ve heard of, but I wouldn’t really be able to name off any of their songs. I was a bit amazed during their set how many of their songs I actually recognized. The great thing about the band is the distinctness of the lead singer's vocals.

There were two other bands: The New Pornographers and Tegan and Sara. Both made statements about how amazing it was to play at the Hollywood Bowl. I think both bands were a bit intimidated by it all. Tegan and Sara kept on mentioning how nervous they were. Interestingly, based on their myspace pages and such, both are from Vancouver, Canada (Tegan and Sara mentions on their myspace page as being both from Vancouver and Montreal -- I'm not sure how that works)– a place I recently visited and will shortly have a massive music column up on inTraffik.com.

Notes about the Hollywood Bowl. I went with some friends. I learned an interesting parking trick. Park at Hollywood and Highland. Buy some goodies at a 2nd floor food vendor who will give you parking validation. Walk up to the Hollywood Bowl. The parking was $4 plus a few extra dollars for a couple snacks. All told it is probably just slightly cheaper than just parking at the Hollywood Bowl, but on the other hand you aren’t waiting around, drumming your fingers on your car's hood, for people to get to their car. (I personally tend to do something similar, but I usually just take the metro to Hollywood/Highland and then walk up.)

It was getting a bit chilly at the Hollywood Bowl around 9 p.m. My friends were all cold at that point. Luckily, we all had jackets.

I usually post pictures with my music blogs. Sorry about not having any. I was way way way up in Section W.

Dizzy Balloon at the Viper Room

Off to the Viper Room I went to catch my friends in The Shakers. Their set started at 8 p.m. A really early start time. Of course, there were six bands or so playing. I have to say that their sets are getting tighter.





I didn't stay for all six bands. I did catch one band; however, that I figured I'd highlight, Dizzy Balloon. This band came down from Oakland. They're a band that I initially wasn't blown away by, but as their set progressed I got more into it. An interesting story was told by the lead singer, "I was on Southwest Airlines, heading to Oakland. I sat by a lawyer and a young lady. I asked the guy what he did. He told me he was a lawyer. I told him I was in a band. He said that that was cool and that I was young. The young lady then asked me, 'You said you're in a band, what band?' I said, 'We're a small band, you probably heard of us. My band's name is Dizzy Balloon.' She replied, 'My friend just gave me your CD!!!' That was just a cool thing to happen and she's in the audience tonight." She was indeed, dancing her heart away

This one's for you Melody G: Switchfoot

A number of us left on a rented bus from Glendale at around 8:30 a.m. on a Saturday. Our destination was the Switchfoot Bro Am at Encinitas. I fell asleep around City of Commerce and the next thing I noticed we were in Encinitas.

When we got to the beach we started to set up our tent. We got into an argument with someone who had a tent nearby and decided to take our tent elsewhere. We actually found a better location.

Soon afterwards, the music started. Some of the bands I'd like to highlight are:

The Howls rocked the beach.



Everyone in The New Archaic are under twenty-one. They were energetic to the core.



Tristan Prettyman had a laugh at the beginning of her set. She was introduced as having just come off of a world tour. From what I could figure out by listening to her comments, she was actually just taking a vacation in Bali and ended up doing a couple sets there. However, she is going on tour in England so I guess her world tour is upcoming.


After Tristan Prettyman, Switchfoot came onstage. I read a twitter feed that said there were about 8,000 people there. I was probably twelve rows back from the stage so it is hard for me to verify that number -- not that I'm good at estimating those things. It was crowded as can be seen by the below photo.




As the sound check started, I remember a friend of mine saying how he liked sound checks done behind a curtain. He felt it created an atmosphere of mystery. I disagreed, saying I liked seeing it done out in the open. I still have to disagree. It wasn't Switchfoot doing the sound checks. Others were doing it. I just loved seeing them setting and checking everything.

The crowd was really pumped to see Switchfoot. They did a ten song set. The list is below:

Stars
Oh! Gravity
Gone
This is Your Life
Mess with Me
Bullet Soul
Awakening
Meant to Live
Dare You to Move
I Won't Back Down (cover)

I have to admit I'm not the biggest Switchfoot fan. I've obviously heard of Switchfoot. That said, it was an enjoyable set. It was sort of a greatest hits set, which is great for someone like me who basically knows Switchfoot via their radio hits.







They introduced a new song called "Bullet Soul," which I'll assume will be on their new record. I'll say it was rather good.

Interesting side: their lead singer, Jon, had fun taking various items from the audience: hats, glasses, cameras. He'd wear the hats and glasses for awhile. He also grabbed a couple cameras, taking photos of the audience.

I believe for three songs, they had some guest musicians. A saxophone player played on two songs. The lead singer from The Howls and another guy played on the cover song along with the saxophone player.

There were some artists doing some painting to the side of the stage.

















Over-all, a great time. I also slept a significant amount of the time as we headed back to Glendale. Me and sleep.

Local Natives and Castledoor at Spaceland

Monday night at Spaceland. I have certain music addictions when it comes to the local music scene. There’s the addiction to The Mulhollands and Automatic Music Explosion. You may as well toss in IO Echo and Great Northern. I'll stop there less I bore you with a long list of bands.

I’ve recently developed a new addiction and they’re called Local Natives. I first came across Local Natives during their Silverlake Lounge residency based on the advice of a friend. From the start, I was enthralled with their vocal harmonies and great melodies. Even though I loved their sound, I didn't catch another one of their sets until this week at Spaceland. For some reason, I randomly decided to check out the Spaceland calendar and realized that they were playing along side the Monday night residency band, Castledoor. For sure, I was going.

A comment I often get when I start talking to folks about Local Natives: Isn't that a bit redundant, Local Natives. I can't deny it, but then I don't really have an answer.

About the Local Natives set. I must say I loved it. I convinced three friends to come along and they also seemed to enjoy it -- though perhaps they were just being nice towards my feelings. The one disappointment was that they didn't have their violinist along. The violinist just adds a bit extra. I was told that for their August residency they expect to have the violinist return on occasion. There was a nice fan base lined up along the stage. The fans danced like crazies.

It was a steam room in Spaceland. I’ve been to Spaceland enough to know that it gets hot inside, but that night seemed specifically heated.

Castledoor. Castledoor has an interesting two keyboard set-up. This was the first time I’d seen them perform. I got more and more into the set as it progressed.