Merry Christmas everyone!

Here are my Top 5 Xmas songs/video links. Gotta like some of these classics.

#. Carol Of The Bells by Trans Siberian Orchestra (Choral version, MTC)


#. Sleigh Ride by The Ronettes


#. Winter Wonderland by Johnny Mathis


#. All I Want For Christmas Is You by Mariah Carey (whew)




#. Blue Christmas by Elvis Presley (sort of cheesy and dated, really)


Happy Holidays, all!

"Live" in my iTunes: Best of the live recordings.

+ The Beatles' Can't Buy Me Love live at The Hollywood Bowl August 30, 1965

The crowd's reaction throughout this entire track conveys the fever which Beatles-mania elicited when they broke on the scene in the United States. Insofar as this recording goes, and amazingly enough, it seems twelve years of on/off again production was necessary to perfect the audio and give birth to a recording worthy of release. Who knew.



+ The White Stripes covering Bob Dylan's One More Cup of Coffee

In the city of Detroit, in July of 1998, Jack and Meg took to an unnamed stage and produced what is widely considered to be the first live recording of The White Stripes in existence. Not to disparage them, but I think if I had been watching this duo at The Turf Club or The Uptown (a couple of local stages), truth be told, I may have walked out. I like to think I've grown a bit since then.



+ Not three months after Queens of the Stone Age released the instant classic Songs For The Deaf was released onto the public, Josh Homme and Co. dropped in on Bern, Switzerland to play a "secret" acoustic show for a select crowd lucky enough to squeeze into the venue. One track of note, Go with the Flow (the 4th song of performed — the 8th on the album) already has the force and passion usually reserved for mid-tour dates. I've heard local artists (punk, rock, and folk alike) whose impromptu acoustic sets blow away most "normal" performances. If you're a fan of the genre, this is one set you must hear.



+ Britney Spears' ...Baby One More Time acoustically performed as 'Hit Me Baby One More Time' by Travis. One of the cleanest and funniest versions of this song ever done — that includes Blink 182's, and Tori Amos' version. The crowd reacts appropriately to what is a genuine cover attempt. No joke, this works!



+ During Good Riddance's final live show (final performance ever, in actuality) they dperform "Without Anger" with such force you'd think they were playing for their very existence...and in a way they are. Here they're eulogizing, in a sense. But this is of their choosing, and the show is one for the record books. Fat Wreck recorded and released the 2007 show on limited edition (1100 copies), hand-numbered, 2x colored wax this year.




+ Lagwagon's Live At A Dive release gave us a killer, sped up version of "Razor Burn" that is both hilarious and truist. Lyrics:

"Here's another little sing-along for you all,
this goes out to all the people who just quit shaving. I think
you know what I'm talkin' about."

She broke up with me two days later
I think she met Don Juan in Italy
She has a new man, I have a new mustache
Now all my friends are gonna call me 'mountain man'
And everyone will think that I'm a stupid drifter
I'll walk the earth alone, and never shave again
On the night she left me, facial hair grew miraculously
I dressed in black like Johnny Cash and grew this beard of shame
I've heard it said she looks a lot like Sherilyn Fenn
And sometimes I'm mistaken for, Billy Gibbons
I may appear wise, but I'm an idiot
It's over, she left me, and she will soon forget me
She found out I was lame, I grew a beard of shame
'sing it Hollywood!'
Come all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant
I am a new man, I have a beard of shame

+ A list wouldn't be complete without a Me First And The Gimme Gimmes track, and Blondie's "Heart Of Glass" will do just fine. Performed live at "little" Jonny Wixen's bar mitzvah, a sauced punk super group and a room full of skeptical parents (you should see the pics/video snippets) make for an unforgettable experience for both audience and listener. And do not all Blondie songs make for awesome punk covers anyway?



+ Kreator's 2003 live album, a meld of stadium shows in Sao Paolo and Seoul, South Korea, has proven that the faint remembrance of the band's mojo for the MTV release/video for Betrayer (when MTV was a music channel...ugh) wasn't a fluke and Kreator hasn't lost a single beat since. Speed and precision are their modus operandi, and they deliver. I've heard a majority of the 2-disc work, and even as it does get a bit stale, taken one track at a time it can't miss.




+ Before Sessions At West 54th went off the air, I had the opportunity to catch Tom Waits' Nighthawks At The Diner almost in its entirety during a special hour-long edition which featured much of the originally un-aired portions. Waits has a gigantic following in Minneapolis, which is maybe the reason for the full show (and multiple airings, as I discovered). From Intros 1 & 2, to Eggs And Sausage In A Cadillac With Susan Michelson, and the witty Emotional Weather Report, this is a soulful romp that's good for a listen, in full or on occasion; whether it's at home on the stereo or during a 4 1/2 hour drive to the Minnesota-Canadian border.




+ And finally, nearing the height of his power, Mason Jennings recorded a solo acoustic version of Rebecca DeVille at the studios of KUOM for Stuck On AM 2 (from the wildly popular Stuck On AM series) and subsequently cemented the release as king of the series, with a little help from Buffalo Daughter, Lifter Puller, and yet "blown up" Minneapolis urban troubadours Eyedea and Atmosphere. But the addition of Mason's epic was the keystone to a highly successful album to be sure, and it received generous airplay on Radio K.

Quantum of Solace: The 22nd Bond

Bond and Vesper in a 'warm' embrace.

I don't quite understand the criticisms that Quantum of Solace isn't Bond enough; on the contrary, it's more Bond than Bond. Let us see for ourselves: awesome cars you would sell your mother to own, — Check. Intense car and foot chases, — Check. Exotic locales, both salacious and bad-ass ladies, — Check and Check.

In this installment we return to a more worldly and manly 007 (read: more Connery than Brosnan), as well as a return to the Cold War type of plot which splits retarded and apropos right down the middle. Unlike the pure cartoon of yesterday's Bond. Throw in a borderline ridiculous über-villian bent on some sort of diabolical master plan ad one couldn't ask for anything more! The contention that this installment's lack of "gadgets" makes it any less enjoyable is a farce. Seriously, the gadget thing has been nearly exhausted.

That being said, a noticeable amount of the realism that Martin Campbell brought to 2006's Casino Royale disappeared with this, Marc Forster's installment. Sure Royale featured borderline unreal action, but Solace's brand of action comes across far too transparent. And its abrupt style seemed to call for spinning Batman-like logos between scenes. I hate to pile on, but this is mid-tier Bond all the way down to the unbalanced title track courtesy Jack White w/Alicia Keys. Oh it's cool, just not as charming as a Bond theme should be. Sue me.

So to sum it all up, yes indeed critics, this is quintessential Bond. In the case of this installment: if only it were slightly more.

The Legend of God's Gun (2007)

Four criminals are wanted dead or alive, the chase is on and a dopey bounty hunter has dollar signs in his eyes when he catches up to the now horseless band near the town of Playa Diablo, an 1880's ghost town in the making, helmed by a corrupt sheriff (writer/director Mike Bruce) and his libertine (and hot) wife make way when a Man With No Name-ish vengeful preacher and a prosaic psycho-outlaw named El Sobero (played by the other mastermind behind this grinding, acid-colored Western, Kirpatrick Thomas) cross paths in the midst of town.

The Legend of God's Gun, known by its creators as "gravel grindhouse", is ultimately a film nearly anyone with imagination and several friends could make, and that's why it kicks so much ass, but you'd be hard-pressed to come close to this one-of-a-kind, three-years-in-the-making homage to the Spaghetti Western. That being said, the bad news is God's Gun is erratic and masturbatory even as the story is always moving forward (one minor flashback aside); I recall a 4-minute "movie" from high school A/V which we thought was the next Deer Hunter... Reality check. Back to God's Gun, some of the film noise gets out of hand in the early scenes, and maybe the strongest criticism of all, at 80 minutes it might be 20 minutes too long. However, it's loaded with solid music (Thomas' band Spindrift appeared on another grind house film's soundtrack, namely Hell Ride.) and supports the pace well and is a perfect accompaniment to the many showdown scenes, culminating with Gram Rabbit's "Devil's Playground" played over the end credits, with video!

Catching up: Four films which couldn't be more different.

Salo, or The 120 Days of Sodom - All I care to say about the vaunted film, simply known as Salò, is that director Pier Paolo Pasolini seems to relish in this, his sadistic, grotesque swan song — it's paced like he wishes us to savor what he made while he smugly watches from the periphery. It's also at least thirty minutes too long. Disgusting and illicit to the core, yet ultimately boring. Decide for yourself.

Blood Simple - A recommendation from a supplier to where I work. The Coens' simplistic cheatin' tale isn't always logical (one major gaff took me completely out of the movie for some moments) but it does own that parable-like signature that the tandem perfected and employed on No Country For Old Men some 20 years later. And in typical neo-noir fashion, it plays a tad on the surreal side to its benefit.

Shiver (Eskalofrío) - Director Isidro Ortiz of Fausto 5.0 fame (a film I thoroughly liked), has made a well-produced movie that is being sold as a combo-platter of The Orphanage meets The Devil's Backbone (if memory serves...I dropped the dvd off already) and it doesn't really disappoint if that's the guide you follow. As I think about it, it's almost a 50/50 split of the two with its own flavor sprinkled atop. Good, not great.

Snow Angels - Not only does it remind me, to some extent, of my own early small town existence (not entirely rural, mind you), but Snow Angels goes beyond simple comfort to tell a devastating story firmly rooted to the human experience. Though the film approaches the melodramatic fringe at a couple points, all is not lost as the swift retreat brings on the uncompromising emotions surrounding life and loss. Now it is a film from 2007, but don't be surprised if it finds its way onto my 2008 Best Of list.

Where is the "Saw" I used to love?

So David Hackl moves to the big chair for Saw V and proceeds to produce a plodding interruption in a series that appeared to be gaining strength; a real disservice. What we got was a warming–over of established plot points (in spades) and incoherent "trials" that did little to build on the respective momentum that the underrated Saw III and Saw IV began — Saw IV, easily the strongest installment since the original so many Halloweens ago. What, I ask, were we to take away from part V in terms of story advancement?

Maybe this is that inevitable episode in a horror series where enough key characters have either been killed off or have simply abandoned the series so that it becomes a different beast on its face. Yes, there are a couple of holdovers mixed among the fresh faces: Jigsaw's apprentice Amanda (Shawnee Smith) and obsessed FBI agent Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) anchor the episode, but these two characters seem to function on a different plane here. They toil in a vacuum of flashbacks and near misses for a majority of the film's 90 minutes, while a band of moral midgets are set to be delivered. Among these fated newcomers is Dexter co-star Julie Benz,  but her staggered contribution and questionable fate makes me wonder why producers insisted on a recognizable actress at all. All for the best, I guess, yet she should be coaxed to return in order to return a semblance of depth and progress to the series. In any event, I cannot imagine the series concludes on this sour of a note.

Saw 5 promotional poster

Bob Le Flambeur (1956)

Bob Le Flambeur ("Bob the Gambler" or "Bob the High Roller") tells the tale of a life-long gambler who has his ups & downs (more "downs" as of late) with the cards, but keeps as steady a pace as his modest means can afford him. He lives in a semi-posh neighborhood in Paris, but spends a majority of his time ducking in and out of small card clubs and dive bars to catch his next gamble. Bob is also a mentor to a younger, hipper guy named Paulo who aims to be Bob personified. Bob's (and everyone's) troubles begin when he befriends Anne, a fresh-faced street-walker, who takes Bob for just another well-off guy who wants to lavish the young Lolita with gifts for sex, but is genuinely curious about her motivations in life.

The whole relationship (if you could call it one) is very light and platonic, with Bob giving her a place to stay (she had just been hopping from bed to bed) while he stays out all day gambling. He introduces Anne to Paulo and he falls for her, of course. She could care less about who she's with as long as they spoil her, but Paulo is young and foolish and confides in her one night in bed about a fantastic heist Bob has planned on a regional casino, despite Bob's friendly warning.The next night, Anne has too much to drink and relays Paulo's bombastic promise to spoil her after the heist to a local pimp named Marc she's about to sleep with. Marc's plan to utilize his strong pimp hand on Anne is put on the back burner, as he needs to give this new-found information to the police in order to keep himself out of jail for beating up his own wife (who he's also pimping out). Everything falls on one long night, laying in wait to pull the heist.

Although Bob Le Flambeur isn't as gripping as the aforementioned heist films, it does paint a brilliant picture. Bob's quid pro quo with Inspector Ledru could very well be the inspiration for the modern heist classic Heat's DeNiro-Pacino tête-à-tête. And Criterion sure makes a damn fine looking DVD.

I have some catching up to do in the 'review' department.

Morvern Callar

Transsiberian (director Brad Anderson) didn't quite captivate as a thriller/mystery adventure; I tried to believe what I was seeing but it all seemed a bit superficial in the character department. I expected Anderson at some point to pick whether he wanted the plot to drive the film or allow the distinguishable cast to dictate the action — his indecision, or bullish intentions, left Transsiberian somewhere in between Christopher Nolan's Insomnia (which I liked) and Alfred Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train (which put me to sleep).

Greenhorn filmmaker Courtney Hunt, on the other hand, spins an engrossing yarn with Frozen River's confluence of single-parent family issues, immigration, human trafficking, isolation (small town life, segregation, borders, personal footing, and more) that although it's meant to give auds something to think on, is more soft-thriller than finger-waving drama. Melissa Leo, in a role not so far removed from her Marianne Jordan character in 2003's 21 Grams, is an outright force. Almost co-star Misty Upham plays a bingo greeter turned human smuggler who smoothly ropes Leo's character into assisting on a "run" across the US/Canadian border. This is definitely Leo's film, yet each and every role is a concrete as the one it succeeds. Could be the freshness of the direction that facilitates this sense, but I couldn't imagine that as a flaw.

Watched Lolita '62 & '97 (Stanley Kubrick and Adrian Lyne respectively) and was bored stupid for nearly 5 hours. Kubrick's Lolita has an air of respectability due to its play-like execution and the fact it doesn't revel in letting auds watch a grown man having a twelve year old for 2+ hours — a world of difference between the two films. Dominique Swain was actually 15, if it matters - Sue Lyon was 16. As an aside, both Lolitas suffered a professional curse of sorts for their troubles. Reading a few chapters into the Nabokov source material some time ago had me thinking this, not Burroughs’ much referenced Naked Lunch, should elicit conversations of unfilmability. I think Lolita's motivations would have made for a superior essay for what it's worth. Anyway, read the book, if you're so inclined.

I revisited What's Eating Gilbert Grape (Lasse Hallström, 1993) a few weeks ago and continue to be blown away by the Becky character. Juliette Lewis manifests one of the most refreshing and prudent, yet wholly empathetic, characters in all of film.

A movie I pulled from Scott Tobias' 'New Cult Canon', Morvern Callar, was a genuine surprise despite its morose first third act. A pre-Precog Samantha Morton is poised to shed the yoke and boredom of small town life upon her boyfriend's Christmas Day suicide with the aid of his recently finished novel and explicit directions to shop the book to a prepared list of publishers. She chooses to hide the suicide from everybody, including her very best friend Lana, while she attempts to rationalize the suicide — from the latter to maintain the friendship. She moves ahead with her boyfriend's wishes, all the while moving on with the next part of her life. This movie has a River's Edge meets The Ice Storm temperament that I like - grounded and sober, almost stark, and unavoidable despite their contents.