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Hancock

Date: July 4, 2008
Location: Regal Oakwood Plaza, Hollywood

There are plenty of problems with Hancock, to be sure.

My primary complaint is that the film is too short — the ending, in particular, feels rushed, and I would have liked several more scenes exploring each character’s reactions to the climactic events. The villain, too, is lacking — though, in a way, he is supposed to be. But I wanted a stronger setup to his role in the third act. There’s an extended action sequence following the film’s big reveal that feels wrong in its details, and I would have preferred to see its context explored through a mix of dialogue and action as opposed to a big budget set piece.

I’m being vague here because there is also a whole lot that’s very right about Hancock, and discussing most of it means getting into spoiler territory. So, that’s what I’ll do… follow to the jump if you’ve seen the film or don’t plan to.

Otherwise, see it before checking back.
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Best. Performance. Ever.

I’m so glad I stumbled across this on YouTube… it’s Fiona Apple and Elvis Costello performing the latter’s great song ‘I Want You’ on a VH1 special from a couple years back.

This clip encapsulates what I love about Fiona Apple as a performer… not just the technically impressive vocals, but the extraordinary passion she puts into every song. She is always, to use an acting term, entirely in the moment. So much so she can be uncomfortable to watch sometimes, in a good way.

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Jakob Dylan – Seeing Things

Poor Jakob Dylan. While his lineage no doubt gave him a leg up in the music business, it has also prevented him from ever really being appreciated on his own merits. And that’s a shame, because he is a truly great artist.

I’m not sure if Dylan’s first solo outing, Seeing Things, marks the end of The Wallflowers. I hope not, because the band has put out several very strong rock albums that are quite different from this stripped down affair featuring mostly just Dylan and his guitar. To reference an artist they’re often compared to, The Wallflowers’ albums are to Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the U.S.A. what Seeing Things is to Springsteen’s Nebraska.

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Wall-E

Date: June 29, 2008
Location: Muvico Boynton Beach

One of Pixar’s most admirable qualities is the respect it shows for the intelligence of its audience, adult and child alike. The provocative themes of films from Finding Nemo to Ratatouille are often more resonant than anything you see in live action; the jokes are organic and rarely easy. And remarkably, their respect is rewarded big-time at the box office. Pixar not only creates Disney’s most creative films, but its most lucrative.

On paper, Wall-E looks like the most challenging Pixar film yet. Set (initially) on a depressingly bleak future Earth abandoned by humans and covered in waste, told almost entirely without dialogue, this is not The Little Mermaid. But the title character is such a lovable misfit (reminiscent of E.T. in both his appearance and his curious fumblings) that it might not be such a gamble after all.

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