A Movie Review: Friends with Benefits

Friends with Benefits. Okay, one has to give it up to Mila Kunis, she definitely picked the better movie in the post-Black Swan competition with Natalie Portman. I’m not saying that Friends with Benefits is the perfect movie, but it is far better than No Strings Attached.

In this version of two friends trying to have a sexual relationship without the emotional attachment, we have Dylan (Justin Timberlake) and Jamie (Mila Kunis). Dylan is a successful art director executive who is contacted by a headhunter, Jamie, to take the top art director position at GQ magazine. He is initially hesitant about moving from Los Angeles to New York City, but he finally decides to go for it. As Jamie is the only person he knows in NYC, he strikes up a friendship with her. And well, the title tells the rest of the story.

The movie is entertaining, but at moments I couldn’t help but think about No Strings Attached. I swear at one point I was totally confused about which movie I was watching. That aside, Kunis and Timberlake had real film chemistry together. And I love the moment in the film where there is a distinct miscommunication regarding the direction of their relationship.

Also the side characters played by Patricia Clarkson, Jenna Elfman and Woody Harrelson were awesome and enhanced your understanding of the two leads.

I enjoyed the movie, but I can't fully praise it.  In my opinion, the movie played it rather straight, but I felt that when they dealt with Dylan’s learning disability with math, they went over the top silly. It just didn’t fit with the movie style. Also, hopefully not giving too much away, but later in the movie we find out that Dylan’s decision to switch jobs was faced with major complications versus just the LA vs. NY reason that is giving at the beginning of the movie. This later revelation might make sense in the Dylan/Jamie department, but it doesn’t work out very well for the audience, which has to at least briefly consider rather or not Dylan is just a thoughtless jerk.

Raining Jane at Hotel Cafe

I'm planning to post something on Intraffik regarding this night so just some photos of Raining Jain for now.














Guest Back-up Musician

Robert Francis, Boots Electric and Taylor Locke at The Bootleg Bar

I'm planning on including this night in an Intraffik blog so here are some photos for now of Taylor Locke, Boots Electric and Robert Francis.

Taylor Locke




Boots Electric













Robert Francis

The Belle Brigade and Little Hurricane at Levitt Pavilion Pasadena

This night will be part of an Intraffik blog post so I'll just post some photos of The Belle Brigade and Little Hurricane.

Little Hurricane









The Belle Brigade

10,000 Maniacs at Pershing Square

10,000 Maniacs at Pershing Square. I'll likely be writing about this night on Intraffik so I'll just leave it at photos for now.

Black Elephant, The Smiles and Mister Loveless at The Smell

It was off to The Smell to catch The Smiles, Black Elephant and Mister Loveless. This was the first time at The Smell for The Smiles.  They're from USC.  They admitted that most of the band members had never been to the Smell, which resulted in a question later in the evening.  When I was outside, I overheard someone ask, "How did they get on the bill if they'd never been here before?"  I'm sure there is a connection, but it is an interesting statement that highlights the culture of The Smell scene. 

Now Black Elephant is definitely not new to The Smell.  They had the crowd forming a mosh pit.  If you rank folks who have the most fun on the drums, I'd think the drummer for Black Elephant would have to rank high.

Mister Loveless is a band from Oakland that I saw previously just across the way at the 5 Star Bar.  They had the camera and video guys working to document the night.

Anyways, it was very hot and muggy inside The Smell.  A little too much body odor at times, but whatever, it was a good night of music.



The Smiles






Black Elephant




Random Art




Mister Loveless

Andy Clockwise and The Street & Babe Shadow at The Satellite

It was off to a good night of music at The Satellite where I caught The Street and Babe Shadow and
Andy Clockwise. The Street and Babe Shadow gave us a country tinged show that brought along with it a band name that made you mentally repeat it so that you could look them up in the future.  Andy Clockwise had us all feeling like we were part of the band.

Comment of the night via Andy Clockwise:  Can you turn up the bass monitor and the drum monitor?  I can't hear, I'm deaf.  

Time.  The theme of the night was time.  The Street and Babe Shadow kept mentioning how they had two songs left.  They kept going for awhile, but who cared that they gave us some anti-climatic moments because they gave us a solid set.  Andy Clockwise got cut off by the sound guy.  Andy Clockwise, "We have one last song for you."  Sound guy, "Sorry, I was told to cut you off."  Andy Clockwise, "Why?"  Sound guy, "There is another band after you and you've gone on for an hour and twenty minutes."  Andy Clockwise, and just to note that he was being totally cooperative and understanding of the situation, "Oh . . . okay guys [his band mates], we're done, let's take our bow."  Oh well, like I said, time was the theme of the night . . . the lack of it.  No matter, we had two great sets played at Satellite on a Monday night.

The Street and Babe Shadow










Andy Clockwise

Mere Mortals end their run

From Buzz Bands LA (20 July 2011), Mere Mortals: Bidding farewell, with ‘Love X’. I only caught Mere Mortals a couple times; however, I do distinctly remember my first time seeing them a little over two years ago at Cinespace.  They were on the same bill as The Mulhollands.  I loved them.  It is sad to hear they're calling it quits.

A Movie Review: Kiss Me Know Kiss Me Later

I was privileged to catch a screening of the documentary Kiss Me Know Kiss Me Later.  It tells the story of the Kiss or Kill Club scene in Los Angeles that reached a peak in 2005 before ending in 2007.  The more well known bands that came out of that scene included The Dollyrots, Bang Sugar Bang and The Randies.

The underlying theme of the movie is family.  Families have fun together, but unfortunately there are serious breakups.  One of the open wounds for the Kiss or Kill Club scene is the rift that developed between The Dollyrots and Bang Sugar Bang.  Jealously, hurt feelings, ex-communication.  It is there for all to see.

I will say that I wish a coda was added on to this movie in regards to this family rift.  I distinctly remember seeing in 2007-ish, The Dollyrots showing up at The Scene in Glendale to support Bang Sugar Bang.  Also, those of us who were part of the Kiss or Kill Club scene know that The Dollyrots came back to play one of the last shows.  It would have been nice to show that families fight, but they do mend their ways.

Over-all, a nice walk down memory lane.

A Movie Review: Midnight in Paris

Midnight in Paris. I really loved this movie. Gil (Owen Wilson) and Inez (Rachel McAdams) are in Paris.  In a few months, they'll be married.  You can immediately tell that their relationship isn't the best.  Gil is a successful Hollywood screenwriter who wants to become an author.  Inez loves living the life that comes from being the significant other of a successful Hollywood-type.  Dreams vs. Money.  And dreams do come into the picture as Gil finds himself swept into a time machine car that at midnight takes him to the past. 

Some classic scenes from the movie.  Gil runs into Zelda Fitzgerald (Alison Pill) and F. Scott Fitzgerald (Tom Hiddleston) at a party.  He hasn't yet realized that he's taken a time machine car back into the 1920s.  Gil is surprised to learn that his new friends have the same names as the famous Fitzgerald couple.  Owen Wilson's facial expression and tone of voice are classic.  Another classic scene is when Gil is back in real time Paris.  He is looking around an open air shop and runs into a store clerk, Gabrielle (Léa Seydoux).  As he leaves, there is a split second shot of Gabrielle.  It might seem insignificant, but to me that split second shot of Gabrielle as she looks down is filled with meaning and foretelling.

A Movie Review: The Tree of Life

The Tree of Life.  Bored to death.

The film revolves around Jack (Sean Penn) as he looks back on his life.  The day we meet him is the anniversary of a younger brother's death.  His brother died at the age of 19 from unknown causes.  As he struggles through this specific day, we see him reflect on his younger years:  his relationship with his brothers (the assumption on my part is that it is his more artistic-leaning brother who dies way too young) and parents.

Nature vs. Grace is a theme of this movie.  To me, it looked like both are failures.  Mr O'Brien (Brad Pitt) is not well liked by his children because he is a very harsh father -- though I wouldn't call him abusive (nature).  Mrs O'Brien (Jessica Chastain) is loved by her children when they are young, but specifically Jack (played by Hunter McCracken as the youth) runs over her as he grows older (grace).  The movie also decides to spend ten minutes or so going through the history of evolution.  What is up with that?  Is that to show us that no matter what nature wins over grace or is it to show that we hardly matter in the grand scheme of life.

And as for Jack.  If anyone is the biggest jerk in the family, it is this kid.  Can one blame this on his father or mother?  Doubtful.  Nature has decided to make this kid the bad seed.

Yes, I am writing a lot about this movie, which sometimes indicates that it is a movie that makes one think.  In this case; however, I'm writing a lot because I felt like it was a movie that addressed significant issues in the most boring of manners.  Seriously, I didn't care one bit about the family.

Queen Kwong and LA Font @ Silverlake Lounge

Queen Kwong delivered us a crazy night.  All one has to do is spend ten minutes watching this video and you'll understand what I'm saying. The video shows Queen Kwong's last song. About halfway through the video, Carré (lead singer) walks off stage, waving. I took this as a sign that their set was finished. Not so. They continued on, providing us with a five minute jam session that including pacing, yelling . . . and then the full on destruction of a bass guitar. SLAM! SLAM! SLAM!  Okay, so the question is:  was that planned or inspired?  Whatever the answer via Queen Kwong, the question for many of you is:  why weren't you at Silverlake Lounge?    

Update 7/15:  So a friend sent me an e-mail asking why I didn't invite her to see a band called Godzilla or some band with a zilla in it.  What, I asked?  I went through a list of bands I'd seen over the last month or so, maybe she's thinking about Zola Jesus?  Zola, zilla, maybe?  No, she was talking about Queen Kwong.  I don't know how you get Godzilla from Queen Kwong, but I figure it is a funny little side story.   

My Mondays in Los Angeles are spent trying to circulate among the various Silverlake/Echo Park venues to catch the residency bands. LA Font is the July residency band at Silverlake.  I say this was particularly a night for the various bass players to shine.  The bass player for LA Font did not destroy his musical instrument at the end of their set, but he did shine in his own way.  On this night, he roamed the stage, enjoying some friendly riffs with the drummer, moving to the center of the stage to jam with the other band mates and swinging his bass guitar in all manner of directions. 

Queen Kwong






LA Font

A Movie Review: Bridesmaids

Bridesmaids. Perhaps the best movie that came out in the early part of the summer movie season. When I first saw a trailer of the movie, I thought it was going to be about Annie (Kristen Wiig) and her jealousy that her best friend Lillian (May Rudolph) was getting married. I guess I misinterpreted the trailer. It has nothing to do with that. It is a movie about the misadventures (caused by Annie) as Lillain prepares for her wedding. Yes, this is a female-centric movie, but I have to admit that as a non-female I loved it.

Best thing about this movie: in the end, no one is really portrayed as an evil person. They could have easily made Helen (Rose Byrne) into an evil witch, but they didn’t. Yes, she does play mean once with Annie, but even in that situation it isn’t something that one would consider horrible – almost like someone who is essentially a good person pushing things a touch too far.