Jeff Crosby and the Refugees playing Silverlake Lounge

Jeff Crosby and the Refugees was the first band up on a Monday night at the Silverlake Lounge.  They hit the stage with some good Americana rock.  Lead singer Jeff Crosby just recently returned from a vacation in Columbia.  That's actually interesting as I've started thinking about heading over to Columbia for a vacation.  I've read that the drug wars are dying down and that it is now a much safer country.  He also seems like an individual that has an interest in the community as he briefly talked about a guy who hangs out on the street corner near the Lounge, who likes to play chess.

Comment of the night: This next one will be on our next EP, which we'll put out when we're not broke.

A Movie Review: Premium Rush

Premium Rush. Wilee (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a bike messenger in New York City. He is given a package to deliver that catches the eye of a dirty cop named Bobby Monday (Michael Shannon).  An entertaining movie develops with the bad guy chasing down our hero and along the way other good guys end up inadvertently siding with the bad cop.  This movie won't go down as a classic, but it still ranks as a crowd-pleaser.  

A Movie Review: Hope Springs

Hope Springs. I was drawn to this movie because of Meryl Streep. Arnold (Tommy Lee Jones) and Kay (Meryl Streep) are married, but aren’t married in reality. Kay feels this desire for more.  She comes across a book about marriage written by Dr. Feld (Steve Carell). She finds out that Dr. Feld also works one-on-one with married couples. She signs the two of them up. Arnold resists, but finally breaks down.

The movie shows how over a week this couple is able to repair their marriage. This movie had its moments, but I wouldn’t call it a solid thumbs up. My problem with the movie is that from my vantage point, it is Arnold who seems to be the main reason for the breakdown of the marriage (admittedly, Kay does have some role, but it just seems the focus is on an emotionally detached Arnold). Since both Arnold and Kay appear to be good human beings, I feel that the movie would work better if both shared equal responsibility.  Perhaps this conclusion is due to my being a male.  A female might better see the flaws within Kay.

I did have a laugh at one scene where Arnold argues that they aren’t in the same tax bracket as Dr. Feld’s other clients. Hmm. Arnold is a partner at an accounting firm. Kay is a co-owner of a shop. They live in a two story house. Their kitchen is top notch. Their furniture is top notch. They eat well. They aren’t top 1%, but they probably are in the top 5%.

A Movie Review: Brave

Brave. Okay, first off, Stonehenge is in England not Scotland.  That is only one example of the issues I had with this movie.  A second issue was that the accents were so "authentic" (I'm putting that in air quotes as Scots might disagree, who knows) that I actually had a hard time understanding what was being said on occasion.

The basic story is that Merida (voiced by Kelly Macdonald) is a red headed princess who has a tomboy attitude towards life.  Her father Fergus (voiced by Billy Connolly) is the chosen king of the four clans.  The queen is Elinor (voiced by Emma Thompson).  The queen is a traditionalist (in terms of the role of women) and wants Merida to act like a lady.  Her father is more accepting of Merida's desires, but defers to his wife.

A day arrives that destroys the family.  The three clans are sending suitors for Merida's hand.  Well, she'll have none of it.  Merida is so upset that with the help of a witch, she casts an evil spell on her mother.

Maybe I'm just getting old and can't take cartoons anymore, but the movie just didn't do it for me.  And then when Merida goes to her mother and says something like, "You were always there for me," I almost gagged.  The mother wasn't evil or anything like that but I'd hardly call her someone who was always there for Merida.  Maybe the mother was there in terms of always wanting to squash Merida's dreams.

A Movie Review: The Campaign

The Campaign. This would seem like a funny film with Will Ferrell (Cam Brady) and Zach Galifianakis (Marty Huggins) going at it during an election. Brady is perhaps described as a Blue Dog Democrat while Huggins is a blend between East Coast Republican with a streak of libertarian values. It even has a couple billionaires in the mix, trying for the Trading Places duo of Randolph and Mortimer Duke. My problem with the movie starts with the political shenanigans. Making ill advised campaign mistakes and exaggerating them is one thing, but having Brady seduce Huggins’ wife is a totally different issue. And also the two billionaires don’t even rank anywhere near the fun of Randolph and Mortimer Duke. This is a No Vote movie.

A Movie Review: The Dark Knight Rises

The Dark Knight Rises. Bruce Wayne/Batman (Christian Bale) is damaged both emotionally and physically. With a relatively peaceful Gotham, Batman is allowed to go into seclusion – also aided by the fact that he is accused of murder. This seclusion lasts for a number of years, but evil arises in the form of Bane (Tom Hardy), a muscle man with a desire to destroy Gotham. This is an enjoyable film – helped along by the most beautiful Anne Hathaway. It runs about 2 hours and 45 minutes so make sure you hit the bathroom first, but it didn’t feel like a long movie.

Though I loved The Dark Knight and actually believe it to be the superior movie, I felt it had too my climatic moments. This movie just builds and builds until the end. The reason I feel The Dark Knight is a better movie isn’t so much because it is the Joker vs. Bane. I felt that this current movie just has too many holes in it. Now the following might be considered spoilers; so be warned . . . 1. We learn that Bane destroys Bruce Wayne’s fortune by making fraudulent futures contracts. Why wouldn’t Bruce Wayne go after his money? I know that perhaps money isn’t his main concern and Fox (Morgan Freeman) does make brief mention that the money can probably be returned, but Bruce Wayne seems to just wave him off. So maybe he isn’t concerned about money, but there is another side to the trade and he probably just made Bane a very rich man. 2. I think the timeline simply doesn’t work well. The best example being Wayne’s injured back. Admittedly, “24” had the same timing problems and “24” – excluding a couple seasons – was one of the best action series in TV history, but it still irked.

Is this one of the better summer popcorn movies? Yes, but I just feel a little bit more care to the details was needed.

A Movie Review: The Amazing Spider-Man

The Amazing Spider-Man. I really wanted to love this movie.  Andrew Garfield does a wonderful job as Spider-Man/Peter Parker, giving Peter Parker a social awkwardness that is endearing while Emma Stone gives Gwen Stacy a sassy flair.  However, I felt there were one too many cheesy moments.  Like Spider-Man telling Gwen Stacy he was going to toss her out the window or crane operators helping out Spider-Man or reptiles heading off to their apparent new leader, The Lizard.  I couldn't help rolling my eyes.  I would say see this movie because of the talented two young actors, but I suspect you might just roll your eyes like I did.

Cults and Lord Huron at MOCA

I headed off to MOCA over a week ago to catch Lord Huron and Cults. This is a rather delayed post due to the fact that I took off on vacation the next day.

Quote of the night (Lord Huron) after there was clapping in the audience after announcing that they were playing their final song:  Is that joy I hear, because this is our last song?

Cults gave a magical performance.  The crowd wanted more, but they reminded us that we'd all have to deal with a massive fine if they went past 10 p.m.

At this point, I think Cults ranks as a Los Angeles band versus a New York band, especially when Madeline's brother lives out here.  Their Facebook page still lists New York as their current location, but I think that needs to get switched over.

Lord Huron

Cults

Francisco the Man and LA Font at Satellite

It was a good night to head off to Satellite with LA Font backing residency band Francisco the Man. LA Font is described as a garage band.  They gave a 30 minute set with the lead singer hitting notes with precision.  Then came Francisco the Man, which has a more laid back attitude.  The sounds are meant to linger and the words are meant for you to think.

LA Font

Francisco the Man

The Child at El Cid

It was off to El Cid to catch The Child. Along the way, I ran into my friend Jodie, from The Shakers.  Hey, this was going to be a good night.

Interestingly, this was my third weekday night out last week (Monday at Bootleg, Wednesday at The Roxy).  I blog on music, but I do try to limit how many times I go out each week.  It isn't exactly easy to head off to bed after midnight and then go to work the next day.  And on this topic, I had two different conversations with friends where I said that I have recently tried to limit my weekday outings to only once or twice a week.  Of course, this past week was so filled with solid bands that I had to break that self-limiting pledge. 

The Child had a solid crowd at El Cid and responded with a solid set though folks tended to stay away from the front of the stage even though both Lauren and Holly asked for folks to come closer.   I don't know what's up with their friends.

Maybe I'm making this up, but does the individual in the below photo (Holly) look just a tad like Keira Knightley?

honeyhoney, Shana Halligan and Monsters Calling Home at The Roxy

It was off to The Roxy to catch Shana Halligan, Monsters Calling Home and honeyhoney.

I got a last minute text from a friend about my interest in heading off to see honeyhoney at The Roxy. It wasn’t a very difficult decision to make. I was there.

First up was Shana Halligan. Her set had a tinge of jazz inspiration. She had a back-up band for this set though she mentioned that she usually has a more electronic sound.

Monsters Calling Home filled the second spot. They have a Silver Lake/Echo Park sound and so I’m sure I’ll run across them one of these days soon at The Satellite or Bootleg.

To close out the night was honeyhoney giving us a near one hour set. Cutest moments of the night: a father brought his two daughters along and they were perhaps the biggest cheerleaders during the last two songs. Honeyhoney did run into banjo technical issues, but it didn’t matter.   We, the fans, love them no matter what.  An encore was demanded and provided.

I usually bring my DSLR to shows, but Roxy does require you to get permission from a band. Due to the short notice, I just brought along my point and shoot versus trying to contact a band. I will eventually post "poorer" than normal quality photos, but currently my Internet connection at home is down.

Update with my point and shoot camera:

Shana Halligan


Monsters Calling Home


honeyhoney


And honeyhoney comment of the night:  We're dealing with a slight banjo casualty.

A Movie Review: Ted

Ted.   John Bennett (Mark Wahlbert) grows up with no friends.  Even the Jewish kid who is getting beat up tells John Bennett to go away.  His parents give him a teddy bear for Christmas.  He makes a wish and would you know, Ted (voiced by Seth MacFarlane) his bear, comes to life.  Years past and Ted and John are still best friends who waste their time smoking pot.  Somehow John has the hottest girlfriend, Lori Collins (Mila Kunis), who works as a vice president at a PR firm.  Now why exactly does a woman who has two amazing advantages in life (she's beautiful and has a great job) live with a boyfriend who:  is always smoking weed (I could be wrong, but Lori does not smoke weed in the movie), makes perhaps $20,000 a year and has his best friend living with them?  I have no clue, but who cares, this movie will have you laughing. And there are also awesome bit roles played by the likes of Norah Johes, Tom Skerritt and Sam J. Jones.

Army Navy, Tribes and Meg Myers at Bootleg

It was off to the Bootleg to catch Army Navy, Tribes and Meg Myers. I only caught a portion of Army Navy.  Loved the songs I heard.  I ran into a fellow photographer who was there only to shot Army Navy.  I was actually:  hey, why aren't you staying for the other bands.  One reason I was thinking that is because Tribes was in town from the UK.  How often are you going to have a chance to catch them?  (I'm not saying you should go to every show that features an out of town band, I'm just saying if you're at a venue and they're playing at the reasonable hour of 10 p.m. . . . )  They gave a solid set and then Meg Myers went on stage, the residency singer:  deep Southern vocals. 

Army Navy



Tribes



Meg Myers