Is it me or is Jim Gaffigan just about the funniest stand-up comedian working today? I saw him last month at the Cobb Energy Center, and as usual he was hilarious, riffing on everything from bacon to laziness to, yes, hot pockets.
For those of you unfamiliar with his act, I highly recommend viewing his stand-up DVD Beyond The Pale. Great stuff. In the meantime, here’s a look at his signature spiel on Hot Pockets:
Some of my recently posted articles at Examiner.com:
1) The Order Of Myths (film review). Solid documentary about the 300-year history of Mobile’s Mardi Gras celebration–and its racial ramifications. Read the review here.
2) An Exclusive Interview With Chris Smith. Smith, the award-winning director of American Movie and The Yes Men, quietly delivered one of the best films of ’08, The Pool. In part one of my interview with Smith, he talks about the genesis of the project, how he wound up shooting in India, and what it’s like working with first-time actors. In part two, he discusses what it’s like to shoot a film in Hindi, how he made The Pool look so good on a tight budget, and his bold plans to tackle the animation genre.
3) Anita O’Day: The Life Of A Jazz Singer. Though hardly a household name, singer O’Day is a jazz legend in the class of Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday. She also led a wild life that included a 15-year heroin addiction. This documentary features plenty of incredible music and fascinating anecdotes. Read the review here.
To access all my Examiner.com articles, click here.
Regator.com, a website co-created by my friend Kimberly Turner, has a snazzy redesign featuring photos and a more user-friendly interface. In my definitely biased opinion, it looks top-notch.
For those unfamiliar with Regator, the site lets you search top-quality blog posts on hundred of topics from a constantly updated directory of hand-picked blogs. If you’re looking for a way to sort through the thousands of blogs on the Internet, it’s definitely worth a look.
I’ve been slack about posting since much of my spare writing time has been focused on a new film column gig at Examiner.com. Here are some recent articles I’ve done if anyone is interested in checking them out:
1) Save Me (film review). It’s scripture vs. homosexuality in this riveting drama directed with astute evenhandedness by Robert Cary and featuring a superb supporting performance by “Who’s The Boss” ’80s sitcom mom Judith Light, of all people. Read the review here.
2) Top 10 Eastwood-directed films. With Changeling in the theaters, I whittle Eastwood’s impressive filmography down to his 10 best (no easy task). Read the article here.
3) The Pool (film review). Venkatesh, an 18-year-old living in India and working long hours as a hotel “room boy,” yearns to work his way up the social ladder. I can’t say enough about this great film from director Chris Smith (American Movie). Read the review here.
To peruse all the above and more, including features on the Top 10 biopics of the last 25 years and director Ridley Scott’s 10 best films, click here.
The October issue of ChopTalk, which includes my cover story “A Catcher’s Life,” is now on newsstands. It includes interviews with all-star Brian McCann, backup Clint Sammons, and coaches Eddie Perez and Brian Snitker. Check it out if you get a chance … hope you enjoy!
With the presidential election six weeks away, it seems like an appropriate time to revisit An Unreasonable Man, arguably the most compelling film related to the ’08 candidates. This documentary and ’06 Sundance Film Festival entry chronicles the life of independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader, from his consumer activist roots in the early ‘60s through his controversial presidential run in 2000 and beyond. (For more ’08 presidential candidates on DVD, check out the A&E Biography: John McCain episode, as well as the documentary American Blackout, which prominently features Green Party candidate and former Georgia Congressional Representative Cynthia McKinney.)
Nader has recently gotten some press for his comedic Obama Girl and Cardozo the Parrot YouTube videos, as well as his early warnings regarding the demise of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. But as An Unreasonable Man shows, he’s been mixing it up with political and corporate bigwigs since the late ‘50s, when as a law student at Harvard he began examining auto industry safeguards following his friend’s death in a car accident.
Much of the film’s first half focuses on auto safety history, General Motors’ efforts to discredit Nader, and talking-head interviews, but An Unreasonable Man remains compelling for the occasional surprises it yields. It’s tough to say what’s more shocking: watching Bobby Kennedy at the GM hearings and realizing how far back Nader goes, or listening to the head of GM apologize before a congressional commission. Dude, CEOs used to take accountability for their actions?
The revelations continue with the fact that George McGovern considered Nader for VP in ’72. As the key bills Nader spearheaded tick off–Clean Air Act, Freedom of Information Act, etc.–we also hear from a few Nader’s Raiders who report on his intolerance for anyone who pursued a path he disagreed with. Was this the first sign of what some critics call Nader’s egomania?
After hosting Saturday Night Live in its late ‘70s heyday (Nader on SNL?-whoa!), the ’80 and ‘90s saw Nader become increasingly frustrated with the political process, which led to his presidential run in 2000. And that’s when the documentary gets particularly interesting, as we hear about the obstacles Nader (and all third parties) face in running for president. With Nader, McKinney, and former Georgia Congressman (and current Libertarian presidential candidate) Bob Barr excluded from this year’s debates, it’s fascinating to see how the two parties work to make it difficult for other candidates to participate. In one of the film’s most eye-opening scenes, Nader is denied entrance to the Bush-Gore debate—as a spectator—despite having a ticket in hand.
As for the election itself, we hear from the editor of leftist magazine The Nation, who blames Nader for Gore’s loss, as well as the Iraq war and other societal ills. We also get insights from pundits who defend Nader’s right to run and question whether he actually cost Gore the victory. Directors Henriette Mantel and Steve Skrovan do a fine job of balancing points of view here, although an interview with Gore himself would have been a huge coup.
While the movie dedicates plenty of time to Nader’s relationship with progressives, one complaint is that it barely probes his fascinating interaction with conservatives. This constituency, particularly libertarians, has always supported Nader in bigger numbers than some might expect, but other than the presence of Pat Buchanan, this faction doesn’t appear much. Considering Ron Paul’s recent appearance on CNN with Nader, it’s too bad this angle isn’t explored more.
Overall, though, An Unreasonable Man is a fine introduction to Ralph Nader, and although it would have benefited from a little more creativity and bigger-name interviews, it’s recommended viewing for anyone interested in the ’08 election.
W. Axl Rose, Zack de la Rocha and Greg Dulli. This unlikely trio comprises my short list of all-time favorite musical frontmen. And while Dulli has proven prolific since the breakup of seminal ‘90s alternative rock band The Afghan Whigs, delivering multiple albums with the Twilight Singers, Gutter Twins and under his own name, Axl and Zack have basically disappeared from the musical world. Until now.
Since the breakup of Rage Against The Machine in 2000 (they’ve since reunited on stage, but have yet to record again), Zack has released exactly two songs: The antiwar “March of Death,” a superb track released directly online, and “We Want It All,” a song off the ’04 soundtrack Songs and Artists that Inspired Fahrenheit 9/11 that’s reported to have originally been recorded with Trent Reznor as part of a never-released album.
Less than two months ago, Zack returned to the scene with a triumphant 5-track EP, One Day As A Lion, recorded with former Mars Volta drummer Jon Theodore. The music—primarily a mixture of rock drumming and electro keyboards—occasionally gets a tad repetitive, but overall it’s a strong CD, and from the opening words of the first track “Wild International,” it’s clear Zack is back. “They say in war truth be the first casualty,” he snarls, sounding as fresh and angry as ever. Welcome back, Zack … now when can we hear a full album worth of material?
Since it’s been 17 years since the last full album of new material from Guns n’ Roses frontman Axl Rose—and nine years since his underrated industrial-flavored track “Oh My God” appeared on the End of Days soundtrack—the release of even a single track from Mr. Rose & company seemed unlikely. But with the release of Rock Band 2, Guns have unveiled the first track off the eternally delayed Chinese Democracy album:
Keyboardist Dizzy Reed is the only remaining member from Gn’R’s Use Your Illusion era besides Axl, so you’d expect the band to have a different sound, and it does in fact feel like a new Gn’R, from the opening, techno-flavored beats to Axl’s ultra-low vocal stylings to the wildly bizarre guitar solo. Fans longing for an Appetite-sounding track with Slash’s signature guitar sound are likely to hate the song (I suggest they stick with Velvet Revolver’s sturdy, more straight-ahead rock records).
Personally I’m thrilled to see Axl and his talented new group of players taking the band in a different, experimental, surprising direction. The song’s been growing on me with each listen, which begs another question: Will we see Chinese Democracy in 2008? It may be closer than ever before.
Sasha Stone over at the Awards Daily website recently posted her list of the Top 10 Best Picture winners since 1980 … OK, I’ll bite. But since I’ve inexplicably only seen one of the Best Pic winners from 1980 to 1987, I’m going to make this a “Top 10 Best Picture Winners Of The Last 20 Years” list. Sounds easy, right? Not so much … but here goes.
10) Forrest Gump (1994). Yes, I’m kicking off the list with a bang, selecting perhaps the most-maligned Best Picture winner of the last two decades. Yes, I’ve heard the uber-negative interpretations of the movie, and a lot of film fans I respect dislike—and even hate—this flick. And yes, I’m as surprised as anyone to find this film clinging to the #10 spot, since I rank Gump a distant #4—at best—from ’94 alone, behind the true masterpieces of that year: Pulp Fiction, The Shawshank Redemption and Quiz Show.
So why the inclusion of Gump? For starters, selecting a film from my bottom 11 was basically a crapshoot. While many film aficionados—myself included—relish bashing the Oscars, it’s tough to find a Best Pic winner from the last 20 years that isn’t highly entertaining and boasts at least some semblance of artistic value. So there were a few other movies I was very, very close to penciling in here.
But when it boils down to it, I’ve revisited Gump more than I have the other films on the list, and that has to count for something. Surprisingly, it’s aged pretty decently in the last 15 years. It’s a well-made film with great performances and a sweet message. True, I may be kicking myself in the ass for this one next time I watch Titanic or Return of the King or Rain Man. But for now, I’m going with it—like they say, stupid is as stupid does.
9) Chicago (2002). Another selection I’m far from comfortable with—I’m not even sure this was in my top 5 the year it came out. But the dance numbers are great, the songs are memorable, Catherine Zeta-Jones is dynamite, and even Richard Gere rocks the house. Chicago is just flat-out fun, enough to lure me back for several repeat viewings, whereas many of the other Best Pic winners haven’t tempted me to revisit them.
8) The Departed (2006). Scorsese finally got his Oscar with this one, and while I don’t consider it his best movie (I’m partial to Taxi Driver), it’s certainly impressive filmmaking, anchored by a pair of superlative leads, Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon, delivering career-best or near-best performances. Its standing in the top 10 is still a little precarious, however—I need to watch this one again.
7) No Country for Old Men (2007). This film marks the beginning of what I consider a rock-solid top 7. Admittedly, much to the chagrin of my fellow film friends, I’ve never been a huge Coen brothers fan, but they nailed it with this one. It’s a worthy Best Picture winner, although the Academy should have spread some more acting love around via noms for Josh Brolin, Tommy Lee Jones, and maybe even Kelly MacDonald.
6) Million Dollar Baby (2004). While not a perfect film, Clint Eastwood’s boxing saga delivers an emotional gut punch that left me reeling. It’s also beautifully shot and edited, and the acting by the three leads (Eastwood, Morgan Freeman and Hilary Swank) is flawless. Unlike some of the detractors who call MDB overly manipulative, I’ve never felt it crossed that line. To me it’s just a tough tearjerker with a final shot that ends the movie on the perfect note.
5) Dances with Wolves (1990). Admittedly, I haven’t seen this film in a decade or so. But I’m thinking it’s been sorely underrated due to the negativity surrounding a) the fact that it beat out Scorsese’s beloved Goodfellas, depriving Marty of his first Oscar, and 2) the fact that Costner’s career has basically tanked since the mid-‘90s. But looking at the film on its own merits, I still think it broke new ground, telling the devastating story of American Indians losing their land in epic, risky fashion.
4) American Beauty (1999). This seems to be a trendy pick these days for “one of the worst Best Picture winners ever,” and I’m not quite sure why. I remember coming out of the theater and immediately thinking “masterpiece.” For me this beautifully written, wonderfully directed tale of suburban disillusionment is still potent today. True, the troika of promising young leads (Thora Birch, Wes Bentley, Mena Suvari) hasn’t done much since—though Birch did deliver in Ghost World—but I don’t understand the backlash against this film. And Spacey has never been better.
3) Schindler’s List (1993). Remarkably powerful stuff, with Spielberg at the absolute top of his game, commanding all aspects of the medium on a project that was obviously personal to him. I know some people have a beef with the “Spielberg ending,” but I think it works better and is far less egregious than some of the finales of his other works (e.g. War of the Worlds). Liam Neeson, Ben Kinglsey and a deeply disturbing Ralph Fiennes provide unforgettable performances in depicting perhaps the most horrific episode of the 20th century.
2) The Silence of the Lambs (1991). I saw this one five times in the theaters (don’t ask), and despite inspiring many lackluster imitators, it hasn’t gotten old since. It’s also one of the few films that significantly improved on the source material. Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins give performances at a higher level, but the small roles are also indelible, from Ted “Put the lotion in the basket” Levine to Brooke Smith as his rebellious prisoner and Anthony Heald as the slimy Dr. Chilton. Director Jonathan Demme has never made another film quite this good, but he seemed to strike all the right notes here, showcasing a restraint that was sorely missing from Ridley Scott’s disastrous Hannibal.
1) Unforgiven (1992). One of the few films I consider flawless from start to finish, this revisionist western marked Eastwood’s critical and commercial breakthrough after a pair of strong experimental efforts, Bird and White Hunter, Black Heart, screened at Cannes but failed to track at the box office. Like many of Clint’s efforts, this shattering meditation on revenge, violence and redemption grows more rewarding with each viewing.
The trailer for Clint Eastwood’s new film Changeling, starring Angeline Jolie, came out a few days ago. Overall, it’s pretty strong—it looks like a beautifully shot film with some potentially strong performances and interesting plot twists. Maybe this will be Clint’s Chinatown?
I would have liked to have seen the Cannes logo at the beginning of the trailer marking the film as an official festival selection, as well as a few critics’ quotes (since the film was generally well-received at Cannes), kind of like the excellent Mystic River trailer—still the best trailer for an Eastwood film for my money. Also, I’m a little surprised there are no scenes or mention of Academy Award nominee Amy Ryan (Gone Baby Gone). I know her role is supposed to be fairly small, but in his review of Changeling, Emanuel Levy wrote:
“In Changeling, Ryan plays Carol Dexter, a fellow innocent prisoner, a foul-mouthed but decent whore ho helps Christine during her lockdown in a mental ward. Rendering another bravura performance that nails the part in four scenes, Ryan again deserves serious consideration for the Supporting Actress Oscar.”
So the omission is a little puzzling. Maybe Universal is assuming most people don’t give a rat’s ass about Amy Ryan? Or perhaps they just didn’t want to show too many of the mental ward scenes?
Anyway, with this film and Burn After Reading coming out, I’m looking forward to a healthy dose of John Malkovich. When I first heard his voice over the phone speaking to Jolie, I flashed back to his amazing In The Line of Fire performance for a second. Looking forward to seeing what he does with a meaty dramatic role here, and of course hoping Eastwood’s recent hot streak continues.
A little more than a year ago, I decided to expand my musical horizons and gradually acquire the Top 50 albums in Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All-Time list. The reasons for this were several: I’m a huge music fan, I’m a sucker for lists, and I’m a dork.
When I commenced this worthy quest, only five of the 50 albums on the list were in my collection of 250-plus CDs (which includes four Mr. Big albums, thank you very much), with two others that could be classified as “borderline”-owned.
Following are the albums from the RS 50 Greatest list that were in my collection when I started this little journey, along with my comments on each:
12. Kind of Blue, Miles Davis. This was the first jazz CD I owned, as I’m sure it is for many others. I’m no jazz expert, but it’s reasonable to say that the playing on this CD is spectacular … which is undoubtedly why it’s the top-rated jazz album on RS’s list. Had I owned this album when I played the sax in 4th grade, I like to think my jazz career wouldn’t have ended just two years and dozens of chewed reeds later.
17. Nevermind, Nirvana. I’ve always thought this CD was just slightly overrated, which is to say there are a few other albums from the same time period that resonate more with me. Also, I’ll cop to having some lingering bitterness about the role this album played in ushering out a lot of great metal bands (see: Anthrax), which is tempered by my gratitude for all the crappy metal bands it closed the books on (see: Trixter). But don’t get me wrong—this is a freakin’ great CD, with no weak tracks to be found—no arguments about its inclusion here.
46. Legend, Bob Marley and the Wailers. Tremendous songs, no doubt—these tunes succeed on so many levels, from the classic reggae sound to the social commentary to the ability to conjure up college Reggae Sunsplash party memories that I thought had long been washed away by cheap grain alcohol punch. Getting back to the album itself, I love it, but it does seem like a bit of a cheat by Rolling Stone to have a “Best of” CD on this list, don’t you think?
47. A Love Supreme, John Coltrane. I started gobbling up classic jazz CDs about five years ago after watching Bird, Clint Eastwood’s excellent biopic about jazz legend Charlie Parker (played by Forest Whitaker in a superlative performance). Since then, Coltrane has become my favorite jazz musician. Personally, though, I’ve enjoyed Blue Train and Giant Steps a little more than Love Supreme. But again. no complaints.
48. It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, Public Enemy. Back when most white people were afraid of PE, and years before Flava Flav began his downward spiral toward reality TV embarrassment, a friend of mine– who was clearly much cooler than me–introduced me to Public Enemy. Specifically, to their Fear of a Black Planet CD. I’ve been a huge PE fan ever since and even got to bump fists with Chuck D. at one of their shows, an exchange that ranks right behind the birth of my daughter as the greatest moment of my life. Personally, I’ve always thought the Black Planet album was their best CD. Still, a good selection by Rolling Stone and no arguments with It Takes a Nation of Millions being the top rap album on their list.
…And two CDs that are kinda, sorta in my collection.
20. Thriller, Michael Jackson. This was the first vinyl album I ever bought. (It was followed by Eddy Grant’s Killer On A Rampage, the cover of which featured Mr. Grant wearing a rulin’ pair of amazingly short shorts.) And as I recall, I was on the receiving end of some mockery from my classmates as a result of my Thriller purchase. Now, I don’t remember exactly what they were listening to at the time, but I’m pretty sure it was something cheesy that didn’t come close to cracking a little something called RS’s Top 20 albums of all-time.
Admittedly, I haven’t owned a record player for a good 20 years, and my copy of this album is buried somewhere deep in my parents’ storage closet alongside my baseball cards and Star Wars action figures, so I’m not really sure whether this qualifies Thriller as being “part of my CD collection.” Nor can I really comment on the album itself, other than to say it’s inspired me to break out my own personal “Thriller” dance from time to time, which has to count for something.
29. Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin. My dad owns this album on vinyl, and in fact owns a highly impressive collection of late ‘60s rock albums (Cream, the Stones, Blind Faith, etc.), which is even more amazing considering his early-‘90s Michael Bolton phase. But I digress…
I listened to my Dad’s vinyl copy of Led Zeppelin a lot during my pimply high school years. And I own the Zep box set, which includes most of the tracks off this CD. I guess I can’t really say I “own” this CD … but I can confirm that it is highly worthy and makes for an excellent air guitar soundtrack.
Stay tuned for future posts as my tour through Rolling Stone’s Greatest 50 albums of all-time continues.
