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Funny People

funnypeopleFunny People is a step forward for writer/director Judd Apatow even as it’s the weakest of his three films. It’s his attempt at a Manhattan or Hannah and Her Sisters (with more dick jokes), while 40-Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up were more lightweight Annie Hall.

Don’t be misled by the Woody Allen references. Judd Apatow is no Woody Allen. But his films tread the same ground… modern relationships, wall-to-wall jokes, a showbiz milieu (with Los Angeles in place of New York City). And Apatow is the reigning voice in comedic filmmaking today, as Allen was in his heyday, though Apatow’s reach extends beyond his own films to a slew of movies he’s written and/or produced.

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Song of the Day #381: ‘My Guy’ – Mary Wells

marywells

Another Smokey Robinson classic that became another #1 hit for Motown. Robinson should have a special wing in the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame. Hell, he should have his own building. I wonder if he wrote this before or after ‘My Girl,’ and if he wrote whichever one came second as a companion piece to the first. Wikipedia, usually so helpful in these matters, is silent on the subject.

This is one of those songs in which the singer professes love by dissing the object of her affection (‘My Funny Valentine’ is another that comes to mind). “No muscle bound man could take my hand from my guy…. no handsome face could ever take the place of my guy.” If this song was directed to me I’d be pissed! So I’m weak and ugly, but at least you love me. Thanks!

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Song of the Day #380: ‘She Don’t Want Nobody Near’ – Counting Crows

filmsghosts[Note: Please welcome another guest blogger, my sister Amy, whom you know well if you read the comments here]

Clay is notorious for his hatred of Greatest Hits compilations. He won’t own them, even if those are the only songs he wishes to listen to from a particular artist. Therefore, when he realized I owned “Films about Ghosts,” the Counting Crows’ version of a “Greatest Hits” album, despite the fact that I own all of their other albums, he understandably chided me.

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Song of the Day #379: ‘When I Dream of Michelangelo’ – Counting Crows

satnightsThe 6-year gap between Hard Candy and Counting Crows’ next album, Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings, was the longest yet. And unfortunately the new material wasn’t quite worth the wait. Conceived as a split between hard songs (the Saturday nights) and soft (the Sunday mornings), the album wound up a bit too extreme on both sides of the spectrum.

Each half contains some strong material but each also contains songs simply not worthy of the band’s name. Opening track ‘1492’ is the one song in the Counting Crows’ catalog that borders on unlistenable… a blistering hard-rock tear that doesn’t relent for four minutes. The other five songs that make up the album’s first half are better but not better than average by Counting Crows standards.

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Song of the Day #378: ‘Up All Night (Frankie Miller Goes to Hollywood)’ – Counting Crows

hardcandyAs much as I love August and Everything After and This Desert Life, if I had to choose I would name Hard Candy Counting Crows’ best album. One reason is that, like those albums, it does so many things right but, unlike them, it manages to do absolutely nothing wrong. I don’t hear a false note on Hard Candy.

The biggest hit off this album is oddly enough a hidden track, and one the band didn’t even write. A cover of Joni Mitchell’s ‘Big Yellow Taxi’ tucked away after a few minutes of silence at the end of the album wound up on a movie soundtrack and the Billboard charts. I heard Mitchell’s original the other day and was reminded of how much I like what the Crows did with it. Hers, not so much.

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