Today I've witnessed one of the most horrifying and bleak movie-going experiences of my life.
Frank Darabont's adaptation of Stephen King's "The Mist" is not for the faint-hearted. It requires a lot of endurance from its viewers - and it's a good thing.
Instead of depending on a oh-so-cute young cast, it revolves around a group of Maine townsfolk - characters and archetypes so common in King's oeuvre. Thomas Jane is very convincing as the middle-aged, handsome, very American, quarterback hero that King uses in pretty much in all of his stories: he is Vic Trenton, Bill Denbrough...His shortcomings and strengths are real, palpable, and minimalistic. That, in effect, makes it even more appealing.
Then there is Marcia Gay Harden...her portrayal of a religious fanatic is one of the best villains I have seen in recent memory.
The questions that are raised with regards to the role of God in our society and how unassuming people can turn to bloodthirsty fundamentalists by one good orator is scary and has to be viewed to comprehend.
As for the ending, I thought "No Country for Old Men" - my favorite film of the year so far - had a bleak ending that haunts the viewer long after the credits roll, but "The Mist" tops that. I can't even remember having a reaction of this magnitude to a film for a very long time.
It may not be perfect, but it is one hell of a ride and a welcome return for Frank Darabont.
Monday, November 26, 2007
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
England Crashing Out
What a way to end a dismal qualifying campaign. Today, England crashed out of contention from the upcoming Euro 2008 afer losing 3-2 against a Croatia side that has already qualified.
Before the FIFA World Cup 2006, I predicted - with a hint of subjectivity - that England would come out as victors. My justification: they had the best midfield combination that our age has ever seen. I mean, with David Beckham, Joe Cole, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard, what you have is a team that scores, passes the ball well, and holds possession. How wrong was I - and countless other commentators - when England put on a desperate show of redemption. And the broken foot of David Beckham should not be an excuse.
Flash forward to the present, the same midfield is still here. And the result is exactly the same.
Unfortunately, England looks like a lost cause. In world football you have the heavy weights: Brazil, Italy, Germany; you have the also-rans: Spain, Czech Republic, Uruguay, Netherlands. I'm afraid England remains with the second group after struggling in the group of bubbling teams-in-betweens, namely France and Argentina. Shame...
Before the FIFA World Cup 2006, I predicted - with a hint of subjectivity - that England would come out as victors. My justification: they had the best midfield combination that our age has ever seen. I mean, with David Beckham, Joe Cole, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard, what you have is a team that scores, passes the ball well, and holds possession. How wrong was I - and countless other commentators - when England put on a desperate show of redemption. And the broken foot of David Beckham should not be an excuse.
Flash forward to the present, the same midfield is still here. And the result is exactly the same.
Unfortunately, England looks like a lost cause. In world football you have the heavy weights: Brazil, Italy, Germany; you have the also-rans: Spain, Czech Republic, Uruguay, Netherlands. I'm afraid England remains with the second group after struggling in the group of bubbling teams-in-betweens, namely France and Argentina. Shame...
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Black Sheep
The 2006 zombie-sheep flick from New Zealand could be the best movie Peter Jackson never made before the Rings trilogy. The reason for this comparison is not only the fact that the Kiwi was responsible for the most fun zombie movies ever - quite unlike his epic adventures of today - but it shares the blood and gore that we were so used to get from him before he plunged into the PG hell.
Black Sheep owes a lot of debt to "Braindead" and "Bad Taste", but it has its own modern twist to it. In these days of "Shaun of the Dead" and "Scream", mixing horror with comedy seems to be the norm. And there is nothing wrong with that. At least it's not the horror-porn of the Eli Roth crap.
What sets these aforementioned horror-comedies from the Jackson fare is that they all have a very tight script. "Black Sheep"'s structure remains intact until the very end without becoming utterly formulaic like the '80s movies all the screenwriting books are citing. The exposition given in the first ten minutes is very organic and informative. The characters are consistent throughout and the pace never falters. It actually feels like a blessing that this was a non-Hollywood project with completely unknown actors (at least for non-Kiwi audiences) and cheap yet "realistic" special effects. I could easily see the effects being handled with an iMac, but the animatronics work so much better - wasn't that the reason why "Jurassic Park" was so effective?
Black Sheep owes a lot of debt to "Braindead" and "Bad Taste", but it has its own modern twist to it. In these days of "Shaun of the Dead" and "Scream", mixing horror with comedy seems to be the norm. And there is nothing wrong with that. At least it's not the horror-porn of the Eli Roth crap.
What sets these aforementioned horror-comedies from the Jackson fare is that they all have a very tight script. "Black Sheep"'s structure remains intact until the very end without becoming utterly formulaic like the '80s movies all the screenwriting books are citing. The exposition given in the first ten minutes is very organic and informative. The characters are consistent throughout and the pace never falters. It actually feels like a blessing that this was a non-Hollywood project with completely unknown actors (at least for non-Kiwi audiences) and cheap yet "realistic" special effects. I could easily see the effects being handled with an iMac, but the animatronics work so much better - wasn't that the reason why "Jurassic Park" was so effective?
Monday, November 12, 2007
Running out of Space!
To my surprise / shock / dread my iPod is running out of bits to hold my music. I never thought I would have 30GB worth of music, but now I do.
It puts a lot of things in perspective. I am a kind of person who saves all his belongings for an impending apocalypse of sorts - which means, what I possess, I shall possess in the future too. And this, of course, applies to music. However, over the years I have shed some albums from my collection. One thing that comes to mind is the Sting / The Police best of album. Not that I don't care for the blond siren or his white-raggea-punk style, but somehow I must have felt the urge to get rid of that album. Another victim was a Beatles tribute album. It is a wonder I had that in the first place - I have no inclination to hear another note from the so-called Fab-Four, or as I would like to call them, the Bottles.
Anyway, the whole point of this particular rambling is that I am running out of space and that I would have run out sooner had I not got rid of some stuff. But, then again, who needs an iPod that can hold 160GB...Yours Truly, for sure...
It puts a lot of things in perspective. I am a kind of person who saves all his belongings for an impending apocalypse of sorts - which means, what I possess, I shall possess in the future too. And this, of course, applies to music. However, over the years I have shed some albums from my collection. One thing that comes to mind is the Sting / The Police best of album. Not that I don't care for the blond siren or his white-raggea-punk style, but somehow I must have felt the urge to get rid of that album. Another victim was a Beatles tribute album. It is a wonder I had that in the first place - I have no inclination to hear another note from the so-called Fab-Four, or as I would like to call them, the Bottles.
Anyway, the whole point of this particular rambling is that I am running out of space and that I would have run out sooner had I not got rid of some stuff. But, then again, who needs an iPod that can hold 160GB...Yours Truly, for sure...
Man Your Battle Stations
Coheed and Cambria rocked and rolled Los Angeles last night and Yours truly was present at the proceedings. I want to dedicate this space to the aforementioned band.
It used to be a dinosaur rock: over-indulgent, snobby, and out-and-out British. But, prog rock seems to be taking over the masses without the masses' knowledge. Coheed and Cambria are one of the few bands that are bridging the gap between the prog rock shenanigans with the ridiculously emotional emo. And they do a great job at that.
Personally, prog rock is one of my favourite sub-genres of rock. I love the musicianship, the intricate melodies, the absurd lyrics...it's just fantastic. Understandably, it shouldn't be the music of choice for the ADD-addled generation of ours. Yet, last night proved this wrong.
Kids screaming "man your battle stations"! And not to some German power metal band, but an American band made up of, yes, young players! That's just amazing. Only a handful of years ago a music like Coheed's would be deemed ludicrous, but it is now hip.
For once, I'm happy...now I can share my prog with other people!!
Johnny Rotten...rot...
It used to be a dinosaur rock: over-indulgent, snobby, and out-and-out British. But, prog rock seems to be taking over the masses without the masses' knowledge. Coheed and Cambria are one of the few bands that are bridging the gap between the prog rock shenanigans with the ridiculously emotional emo. And they do a great job at that.
Personally, prog rock is one of my favourite sub-genres of rock. I love the musicianship, the intricate melodies, the absurd lyrics...it's just fantastic. Understandably, it shouldn't be the music of choice for the ADD-addled generation of ours. Yet, last night proved this wrong.
Kids screaming "man your battle stations"! And not to some German power metal band, but an American band made up of, yes, young players! That's just amazing. Only a handful of years ago a music like Coheed's would be deemed ludicrous, but it is now hip.
For once, I'm happy...now I can share my prog with other people!!
Johnny Rotten...rot...
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Leaving the City of Angels
It's almost time to bid farewell to Los Angeles and head back to Boston. But, before I leave, I want to take this moment to list the stuff I am going to miss here in L.A.:
1- My friends: Although they are not part of L.A., I think the only time I will come back here would be to visit them. I'm going to miss hanging out with them.
2- In'N'Out Burger: definitely the best fast-food burger I've had in my life. Animal style, baby. Animal style. On the same note, I'm going to miss guacamole in my burger too...
3- Rainbow Bar & Grill: Even though I didn't get to see Lemmy, dining across the booth where "November Rain" was filmed is pretty awesome, don't you think?
Unfortunately, these are the things I will miss. So, despite a future gastro-intestinal problem, the only thing I will miss from this city are my friends. And they better come and visit me wherever I end up.
P.S. I know, this blog sucked...
1- My friends: Although they are not part of L.A., I think the only time I will come back here would be to visit them. I'm going to miss hanging out with them.
2- In'N'Out Burger: definitely the best fast-food burger I've had in my life. Animal style, baby. Animal style. On the same note, I'm going to miss guacamole in my burger too...
3- Rainbow Bar & Grill: Even though I didn't get to see Lemmy, dining across the booth where "November Rain" was filmed is pretty awesome, don't you think?
Unfortunately, these are the things I will miss. So, despite a future gastro-intestinal problem, the only thing I will miss from this city are my friends. And they better come and visit me wherever I end up.
P.S. I know, this blog sucked...
Monday, November 5, 2007
Nightwish
When Nightwish announced that they fired their inimitable vocalist Tarja Turunen back in 2005, everybody - including Yours Truly - was convinced that it was career suicide. Forget the amazing musicianship and leadership of "Steve-Harris-of-symphonic-metal" Tuomas Holpainen, or the subtle chemistry between the band members (check out their live songs on YouTube and see how tight they are), or the formidable back catalogue, which serves as a blueprint for countless imitators around the world. Nightwish was famous for Tarja. The Siren almost was Nightwish.
Fast-forward to 2007 and the announcement of a new album and a World Tour. Hold on, who will sing? The charismatic Viking Marco Hietala? He is a good singer, as is evident on 2002's "Century Child" and 2004's multi-million selling "Once", but, surely, he can't sing those sweet ballads. Then they revealed Anette Olzon (again search YouTube and see when she is unveiled for the first time - it's hilarious!)
The first album with Anette, "Dark Passion Play", is marginally different from their excellent back catalogue, yet it is quint-essentially Nightwish. "Amaranth", "Cadence of Her Last Breath" and the absolutely amazing epic "The Poet and the Pendulum" would sit comfortably on any of their albums. But, the songs seemed to have been tweaked to accommodate Anette's less flashy vocal style. I had my reservations as to how the old songs would sound like. Don't get me wrong. Anette is a wonderful singer with an angelic voice, yet Tarja was a different angel, you know?
And last night in the House of Blues in Los Angeles I was once again blown away by Holopainen's genius. Anette's lungs are not only up to par with Tarja's in older tunes, but she sings them with a passion that was lacking in Tarja's more trained voice. "Wish I Had an Angel", "Dark Chest of Wonders", and "Nemo" never sounded better. She is a perfect fit for Nightwish. It is perhaps injustice just to praise Anette about last night - the whole band were at their peak. I am absolutely convinced that Nightwish is the best live band around.
Thank you, Nightwish, for making last night an unforgettable experience. You deserve to reach higher and I am sure you will.
One last note is about Tarja - her collaboration to the Nightwish wagon is carved in stone and they can't take it away from her. Maybe she will be Paul Di'Anno of Nightwish?
Fast-forward to 2007 and the announcement of a new album and a World Tour. Hold on, who will sing? The charismatic Viking Marco Hietala? He is a good singer, as is evident on 2002's "Century Child" and 2004's multi-million selling "Once", but, surely, he can't sing those sweet ballads. Then they revealed Anette Olzon (again search YouTube and see when she is unveiled for the first time - it's hilarious!)
The first album with Anette, "Dark Passion Play", is marginally different from their excellent back catalogue, yet it is quint-essentially Nightwish. "Amaranth", "Cadence of Her Last Breath" and the absolutely amazing epic "The Poet and the Pendulum" would sit comfortably on any of their albums. But, the songs seemed to have been tweaked to accommodate Anette's less flashy vocal style. I had my reservations as to how the old songs would sound like. Don't get me wrong. Anette is a wonderful singer with an angelic voice, yet Tarja was a different angel, you know?
And last night in the House of Blues in Los Angeles I was once again blown away by Holopainen's genius. Anette's lungs are not only up to par with Tarja's in older tunes, but she sings them with a passion that was lacking in Tarja's more trained voice. "Wish I Had an Angel", "Dark Chest of Wonders", and "Nemo" never sounded better. She is a perfect fit for Nightwish. It is perhaps injustice just to praise Anette about last night - the whole band were at their peak. I am absolutely convinced that Nightwish is the best live band around.
Thank you, Nightwish, for making last night an unforgettable experience. You deserve to reach higher and I am sure you will.
One last note is about Tarja - her collaboration to the Nightwish wagon is carved in stone and they can't take it away from her. Maybe she will be Paul Di'Anno of Nightwish?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
