As much as I've been distracted by the ugly bizness of politics lately, I'm still doing the job none of you pay me to do - meticulously reviewing movies, music and cultural trends with an eye honed covering Fashion Weeks and the most fab-tabulous cultural outings on all the known continents for the finest glossy mags. But lately I've let some of those reviews fall aside without proper posting. So as I soak up the autumnal glow outside one of my favorite old-school Seattle coffeeshops (Caffe Ladro on top of Queen Anne), I'll try to catch up on a few that come to mind. Hope you don't mind the shortened shtick given the backlog.
Films
"Snakes on a Plane" - a sporty C-Plus rating. While the silliness loses much of its bite before the climax, if you're looking for stupid thrills you can do much, much worse. See it with a passel of drunken frat guys, if at all possible.
"Factotum" - a meanderingly arty C-Plus rating. Matt Dillon ain't bad. Lili Taylor is this year's Comeback of the Year That No One Will Notice - sexier than ever and whipsmart. But if you want to see this movie, rent it. Or, better yet, rent "Barfly".
"Half Nelson" - a reluctantly harsh C-Plus. Ryan Gosling looks like Tim Roth and Ed Norton's lovechild. And he's got his Daddies' acting chops, to be sure. His co-star, Shawna Epps, steals every scene she's in. But there's something unsatisfyingly derivative in this arty-farty fave. Still worth the rental.
New Music
"Boys and Girls in America" by The Hold Steady - a solid A-minus. If you have a soft spot for The Replacements and love the idea of the Twin Cities being the inspired scene of many, many drinking laments, this is the album you've been waiting for all these many years. I left Minneapolis before Lifter Puller established themselves there and achieved legendary status. The Hold Steady is the new incarnation of the braintrust in LFTR PLLR, transplanted to NYC. But they still know what works. OG TC F (original gargantuan Twin Cities fun). BY THS I U RCK (buy this if you rock).
"The Information" by Beck - a confused B-Minus. Love Beck. But he's starting to sound more like a brand than an identity.
"The Crane Wife" by the Decemberists - a hopeful B-Minus. I love these guys. But even I can only tolerate so many 13-minute songs about seafaring adventures. Making the move to a big label I expect will soon inspire them to shift to writing about getting laid and rocking out. That will be an unwelcome change. Nonetheless, my short-lived love affair with them appears to be in great peril.
"I'm Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass" by Yo La Tengo - a strong B-Plus. They are after all my favorite living band. And they continue to write songs that weave into albums rather than radio playlists. In short, I'll listen to anything these three put together. I'm just glad that so much of it is still so damn good.
Time to dive back into the other things I should be writing. Hope your own reviews are glowing today. Rock on.
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