Not much going on to blog about… it’s April 10 and I’ve yet to see a 2008 movie. That has to be some kind of record. And it’s by choice, as nothing has opened that I’m really excited to see.
So, in the interest of new content, here is a list of all of R.E.M.’s full-length studio albums, in order of my preference:
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It’s a difficult challenge for a great, established band (or solo artist) to put out new material. When you have a dozen albums behind you, filled with classic songs, how can you avoid the let-down of comparisons to your storied history?
Accelerate is R.E.M.’s 15th studio album and viewed in that light it is something of a disappointment. There is no ‘Half a World Away’ here. No ‘Nightswimming.’ No ‘Driver 8,’ ‘Can’t Get There From Here’ or ‘Fall On Me.’ No ‘So. Central Rain’ or ‘Rockville.’ How could there be, really? Those songs, and many others, are among the all-time greats, written and recorded over a decade in one of those creative bursts that has to have a beginning and an end.
Date: 
April 3, 2008
Location: Clifton Living Room
As much a horror movie as a musical, Sweeney Todd is exceptionally graphic — I don’t think I’ve seen this many throats slashed in such a short time before in my life. And that bizarre mish-mash of genres is one of the best things the film has going for it, despite the queasiness it inspires. This ain’t Oklahoma.
Sondheim’s music is wonderful, and the actors are up to the task of singing the complicated tunes. The standouts for me were Johnny Depp and Alan Rickman’s duet on Pretty Women and a little boy (who probably has the best voice in the entire cast) singing Not While I’m Around. Those gorgeous melodies are enhanced by the melodrama surrounding them.
The story itself is a little thin — a typical revenge tale that relies much more on atmosphere than character. Depp is wonderful as always, and there isn’t a weak link in the cast. The grim subject matter and pervasive violence keep it from being the sort of thing I’d revisit often, but I’m very glad I saw it.
The latest Counting Crows album suffers from Goldilocks Syndrome — parts of it are too hard, parts are too soft and the rest is just about right. The concept here was that the record’s first half represents the “Saturday nights,” with hard-rocking and much mayhem, while the rest calls to mind “Sunday mornings,” and the gentler comedowns they provide. The idea would have worked better over two discs, but presented as one album of fourteen songs it seems less like a high concept than a purposeless and jarring shift in tone.
Date: March 28
Location: Clifton Living Room
There is so much working for this movie, and one big thing working against it. First the positives. The acting is uniformly excellent, with Emile Hirsch delivering a haunting performance that should have been recognized by the Academy — he is alternately charming, obnoxious and desperate, and pulls off one of those DeNiro-esque body transformations that makes the film’s last scenes particularly distubing. Hal Holbrook, Vince Vaughn and Catherine Keener (among others) flesh out their supporting roles superbly, painting a portrait of American life outside the spotlight and making McCandless’ fate even more poignant. The photography is lovely, especially in long shots of the Alaskan wilderness that drive home just how far this young man went to escape civilization. Eddie Vedder’s original songs are lovely, and were wrongly overlooked by the Academy.
So what’s the negative? Sean Penn, simultaneously the film’s biggest asset and it’s fatal flaw. Penn does a wonderful job shaping the story, putting us in McCandless’ shoes (or bare feet), telling a sad story without losing sight of the spirit behind the young man’s journey. But he wields his camera like a blunt object. I really appreciate cinematic masterminds like Scorsese, Paul Thomas Anderson and the Coen Brothers when I see a showy director fall flat. Penn throws in every trick in the book — freeze frames, slow- and fast-motion, jump cuts, you name it. But why? The story is most effective when he just settles in and shows us two people talking, or delivers a breathtaking overhead shot of a small bus lost in a sea of mountains. The show-offy stuff distracts and detracts from an otherwise special movie.
