Random 10 for June 23, 2008
1. Rilo Kiley, “Dreamworld.” Over the past couple of years or so, the Los Angeles indie pop scene seems to have been attempting to excavate the Topanga Canyon glory days of Rumours. “Dreamworld” formalizes it — I’m not even sure Lindsey Buckingham can write a Fleetwood Mac song like this anymore.
2. Aloha, “If I Lie Down.”
3. Otis Redding, “Change Gonna Come.”
4. Of Montreal, “The Repudiated Immortals.”
5. 3rd Bass, “The Gas Face.” Yes, that’s Busta in the beginning — what class — and MF Doom when he was known as Zev Love X. “L-Roy” Cohen gets the gas face, as do the rest of us.
6. Duffy, “Distant Dreamer.”
7. The Raconteurs, “Rich Kid Blues.”
8. Fight Bite, “Swiss Ex-Lover.”
9. Lily Allen, “Blank Expression.”
10. Shivaree, “Goodnight Moon.” The continued relative anonymity of Shivaree singer Ambrosia Parsley is ample proof that fame is an arbitrary thing indeed.
Video of the Day: The Chap, “Fun and Interesting.”
Maybe the most addictive and hooky song about narcissism and genetics in years, “Fun and Interesting” sounds like Fujiya & Miyagi with Sparks writing the lyrics — “Come on, come on, Cloner, clone another me.” The video is like a more steroidal OK Go clip.
Movie Review: “Standard Operating Procedure”
Lynndie England in “Standard Operating Procedure.”
Rating: 74
In most news coverage of the abuses at Abu Ghraib, only a handful of photographs were shown detailing the treatment of Iraqi prisoners. There was Pvt. Lynndie England with a cigarette dangling from her mouth, pointing at a naked detainee or holding a leashed prisoner; the “naked pyramid” photos; and that strange, iconic image of a hooded Iraqi standing on a stool with wires attached to his hands.
For “Standard Operating Procedure,” Errol Morris details the horrific backstory of those photos and displays hundreds of other digital images shot by Army Reserve soldiers who found themselves in a starkly real version of the “Stanford prison experiment.” Many of these photos are far more graphic and disturbing than the ones that made the rounds in the mainstream press, and they go far in telling the story of how a wartime detention facility became a torture chamber.
Morris is decidedly not run-of-the-mill in his methodology and focus; viewers who are turned off by re-enactments in documentaries will find plenty of faults with “S.O.P.” Also, Morris did pay many of the former soldiers for their interviews, though he did not tell them what to say.
As he has for several films, Morris interviews England, Sabrina Harman, Javal Davis, Megan Ambuhl and former Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski through a rigged TelePrompTer called the “interrotron,” which allows them to look directly at Morris’ face while staring into the camera. Morris’ signature technique creates an uncomfortable intimacy with his subjects, much as it did with former Defense Secretary Robert McNamara in “The Fog of War.”
These men and women come across as shell-shocked and benumbed as they stare directly into the camera and recall their behavior at Abu Ghraib. Morris makes the case that these people acted irrationally in their own “fog of war” and that their unwillingness to question any of their actions was a product of their environment. They were following orders, despicable as those orders might have been.
“Standard Operating Procedure” is not for the faint of heart, nor will it calm the tensions between people who are appalled by the Abu Ghraib prison scandal and those who consider such wartime actions to be fair game. Watching the film is a wrenching experience, but for Morris, whose documentaries hit harder and with more comprehensive detail than most, that is standard operating procedure in itself.
Random 10 for June 20, 2008
1. Tahiti 80, “Heartbeat.” French pop-rock band Tahiti 80 puts the breeze in breezy — uncareful listening could result in early starts to weekends.
2. The Bees, “The Start.”
3. Deux Process, “In Deux Time.”
4. Shelby Lynne, “Your Lies.”
5. Propaganda, “Dr. Mabuse.” This mid-’80s German electropop band was signed to ZTT in the early ’80s, around the time Trevor Horn was building that label into an empire and producing everything from ABC to Yes. Horn introduces and plays along with the group in this 2004 ZTT reunion for the Prince’s Trust.
6. Jim Noir, “Welcome CJ.”
7. Todd Rundgren, “Two Little Hitlers.”
8. M.I.A., “Mango Pickle Down River.”
9. Inara George, “Fool’s Work.” Before The Bird and The Bee, Inara George released a beautiful solo disc, All Rise, that was slightly more laid back than TB&TB and a fine showcase for her direct and gorgeous vocals.
10. Her Space Holiday, “Sick at Best.”
Movie Review: “The Love Guru”
Mike Myers in “The Love Guru.”
Rating: 26
“The Love Guru” reeks of desperation, testing the already stretched boundaries of what Mike Myers will do for a cheap, exhausted laugh. But since there is an audience for urine-soaked mop fights, elephant sex scenes and humor at the expense of nearly all physical conditions, “The Love Guru” is here to tap that demographic with a sledgehammer.
Myers plays Guru Pitka, an American-born, Indian-raised self-help titan with a flair for 6th grade toilet humor. Since their childhood studies under master guru Tugginmypudha (Ben Kingsley), Pitka has competed against rival Deepak Chopra for the affections of the masses and, of course, Oprah Winfrey.
Myers and Jessica Alba in “The Love Guru.”
When the Toronto Maple Leafs’ star player Darren Roanoke (Romany Malco) loses his mojo, team owner Jane Bullard (Jessica Alba) hires Guru Pitka to work his self-help magic on the jittery stick man. Roanoke has any number of mother issues and anger problems, but his bete noire is Jacques Grande (Justin Timberlake), the flamboyant Quebecois goalie for the L.A. Kings who seduced his wife, Prudence (Meagan Good).
This wafer-thin premise is just the framework on which Myers can hang his pre-adolescent anatomy laughs and cultural stereotypes. He trucks in flatulence and sexual humor at wholesale levels; Myers never goes half the distance with his projects. And on some occasions, he hits his mark: a hilarious Bollywood musical parody early in “The Love Guru” is deadly accurate.
But such references are far too lofty when the bulk of “The Love Guru” is bottom-rung, and many of the gags are stolen, including a running Timberlake gag lifted directly from “Bachelor Party,” of all things. Even the tacked-on ending is a direct steal from “The 40-Year-Old Virgin.”
This folly is reminiscent of late-career movies the similarly costume-obsessed Peter Sellers made when he needed alimony money, such as “The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu” or “The Prisoner of Zenda.” Like Sellers, Myers is a great talent, and it’s a shame to see him flailing around in “The Love Guru,” a mess of a comedy that cannot do much for his karma.
Movie Review: “Get Smart”
Anne Hathaway and Steve Carell in “Get Smart.”
Rating: 53
By veering away from the tone and style of the Mel Brooks/Buck Henry original series, Peter Segal’s “Get Smart” deprives its audience and its usually hilarious star, Steve Carell, of any real fun. Like Nora Ephron’s revision of “Bewitched,” this is a classic case of filmmakers not trusting good source material.
Carell plays Maxwell Smart as a meek and mildly klutzy intelligence analyst for CONTROL, the government agency entrusted with derailing KAOS, the Eastern Bloc terror group led by Siegfried (a bored-looking Terrence Stamp). Smart dreams of being a hands-on guy like Agent 23 (Dwayne Johnson), but the Chief (Alan Arkin) doesn’t see Max that way.
Anne Hathaway in “Get Smart.”
When CONTROL learns of KAOS’ plans to detonate nuclear bombs hidden in key U.S. population centers, Max gets promoted to Agent 86 and is paired with the luscious Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway) to defeat KAOS’ plans. Poor Max experiences a series of tough breaks, including getting harpooned in the face by a tiny spy gadget and falling out of a jet with no parachute.
The key problem with “Get Smart” is that it got too smart. Don Adams played Maxwell Smart as an arrogant bumbler, but Carell’s Max is a humble and capable pencil-pusher who just wants to win the girl and save the world. There aren’t many laughs to be had in that scenario, and the script by Matt Ember and Tom Astle, the team behind “Failure to Launch,” fails to live up to the talents of Carell, Arkin or Hathaway.
As for other elements of the original, the shoe phone and the original car are seen as museum pieces, while the ridiculous cone of silence gets a computer-generated treatment. The big, bulky plastic thing that dropped from the ceiling in the series was far funnier and much less expensive.
That is an apt metaphor for the failures of “Get Smart.” If Segal and the writers trusted what Brooks and Henry devised in the first place, maybe Carell would have had a chance at making something of a thankless role. Instead, it’s the old “destroy your childhood memories with wrongheaded remakes” trick, Chief.
Video of the Day: Jamie Lidell, “Multiply”
A few weeks ago, I reviewed the Jamie Lidell show at the El Rey in L.A., and here’s the 2005 single that signaled his reinvention from electro whiz kid to soul man. Seriously sounds like something Otis Redding would have recorded, but as much as you might think this is some Muscle Shoals relic that a pasty Englishman unearthed, this is an original.
Courtesy: Pitchfork
All-American Rejects Get Grand Slammy at Denny’s
Those days of carbing up after Green Door shows might be long gone, but for Nick Wheeler and Tyson Ritter, 2 a.m. just isn’t 2 a.m. without a Moon Over My Hammy.
Via Idolator.
Be Afraid of Eddie Murphy’s Head
Because Eddie Murphy won’t talk to print journalists, this is probably what I’m going to get stuck with:
That’s right, Murphy’s giant melon will be carted coast to coast as part of the promotion for his latest comedy, “Meet Dave,” which opens July 11. It left Los Angeles on June 13 and is making its way across the U.S., devouring everything in its path. It will spend three days in Times Square, probably looking to slurp from the Nissin Cup ‘O Noodles display, only to learn it was taken down two years ago.
Visitors are invited to take photos of themselves peering out of Murphy’s ear and upload it to the movie’s Web site, with the possiblity that their photo will make it into a mosaic version of the poster that will hit theaters before opening weekend.
I will, of course, keep you posted if Murphy’s giant cranium makes it to Oklahoma City. If I’m not available, the Emergency Broadcast System will let you know.
Random 10 for June 19, 2008
1. The Flaming Lips, “Can’t Get You Out of My Head.” This is the Flaming Lips’ cover of the early ’00s Kylie Minogue Eurobeat Daft Punk-y ultraexplosion, and with just a change in tone, Michael, Wayne, Steven and Kliph turned it into a paranoid stalker anthem a la “I Will Possess Your Heart” or “Every Breath You Take.” Here’s the original for your comparing pleasure:
2. Belle & Sebastian, “Photo Jenny.”
3. Ween, “I Can’t Put My Finger On It.”
4. Jay-Z, “Roc Boys.” Best track, bar none, on American Gangster, mainly because I’m a sucker for organic arrangements in hip-hop. Jay-Z himself described this as “black superhero music,” and he’s dead-on with it.
5. Blonde Redhead, “23.”
6. Lloyd Cole, “Margo’s Waltz.”
7. Dntel feat. Jenny Lewis, “Roll On.”
8. Miles Davis, “Deception.”
9. Scarlett Johannson, “I Don’t Want to Grow Up.”
10. Talking Heads, “Take Me To The River.” No question about it, Talking Heads did wonders with the Al Green classic. However, this extended live performance from the Heads’ induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is notable for its total lack of energy, with the exception of great Steve Cropper’s guitar work, a vocal assist from Sam Moore and the head-twister of it all, Marty Stuart sitting in. Byrne quite famously does not get along with his former bandmates — in fact, it’s a little like Sunnis and Shia between Byrne and Weymouth. Perhaps Byrne sucked at this just to disillusion the fans a bit and get them off his back.
