Brief Reviews and Whatnot...
FILM
Ok, I had 24 hours to mull it over and Revenge Of The Sith still sucks. If you want to see a better distortion of reality with politically feel-good historical revisionism, see Kingdom Of Heaven. Suspend any belief or political leanings and embrace it for what it is, a Swords-minus-Sorcery epic starring the tall glamorous elf Legolas and Liam Neeson as his father/rediscovered mentor who curiously dies very early in the film (Phantom Menace, anyone?). It is quite epic, in a Gladiator sort of way, violent, emotional and visually enthralling. Saladin, enemy of the Crusaders is portrayed sympathetically, which is where I cannot decide if this is either
a) Pandering, and not trying to make the Muslims angry out of any pussy-ass honky fear... sort of like what Whitey does with the Blacks...
b) Progressive, discounting the political climate and presenting the other side, creating a conduit for the complexities that truly mire down the current situation in the Middle East and perhaps give some inkling to why these people want to skewer us like kebabs, with pita bread, onions and yogurt sauce, but with a bit more cumin than Greek food.
POPULAR MUSIC
Coldplay X & Y
I may have mentioned in past discussion that I am and have always been an ardent fan of Coldplay, despite the myriad reasons to shun such a band, mainly, the juvenile and trite reason being that they are too popular and mainstream.
Coldplay, in my humble opinion, are a great band. Truth be told, they are derivative of U2, Sigur Ros, Pink Floyd, Jeff Buckley and many other "atmospheric" groups, and Chris Martin's voice is oddly reminiscent of Dave Matthews (blecchhhh). They are a bit twee, which some may see as shite, and their melodies will no doubt grace too many car commercials and HBO promos to come, but I cannot shoot any holes in the overall sense that I get from the enjoyable listening experience that washes over me when I hear them. I eagerly awaited this new record after hearing a few online leaks of unfinished demos and such and after obtaining an advance copy I am pleased to announce that the record is every bit as lush and elegant as 2003's A Rush Of Blood To The Head. The title track of the album is a sweeping epic of longing and every emotion that makes me a sissy. It stands proudly along side of Doves Some Cities as a modern masterwork of sonic grandeur.
SELF-ABSORPTION
As I have mentioned earlier, I have returned from a 10-day jaunt in Spain, on family business. I was impressed by the little I actually saw of this fairly large European nation and am regretful that I did not have enough time to see the main tourist spots such as Madrid (which I saw only through an airport layover) and Barcelona (3 hours north of my region of travel). I spent my time is Valencia, a wealthy but inconsequential city situated on the Mediterranean coast. It was pleasant, pretty and the weather was perfect. After attending a wedding, our caravan traveled south the beach resort town of Javea, populated mainly by British and German tourists - pastey, visibly sunburned and eating sausage on the beach. I have returned, slightly more tanned than George Hamilton, and experiencing the odd patriotic pangs that I feel whenever returning home from a foreign land. New York really is one of the best places in the world and it is no wonder that it is a number one target from the hostile outsiders.
One thing that I noticed during my Spanish sojourn was the absence of any explosive gas. We ate small meals often (I lost 7 lbs. and felt constantly hungry), consisting of fresh, non-processed ingredients, drank alcohol reasonably (wine as part of the meal, never enough to get intoxicated). I noticed this anomaly an hour after every dinner when I would normally excuse myself and wander about the grounds to privately dispel with any exhaust.
It was not until the second day back in New York did I notice that my Jetpack was recommissioned, full-torque and ready to search and destroy.
Tried to watch Sith one more time - could not - It sucks very much. That is my final verdict.
FILM
Ok, I had 24 hours to mull it over and Revenge Of The Sith still sucks. If you want to see a better distortion of reality with politically feel-good historical revisionism, see Kingdom Of Heaven. Suspend any belief or political leanings and embrace it for what it is, a Swords-minus-Sorcery epic starring the tall glamorous elf Legolas and Liam Neeson as his father/rediscovered mentor who curiously dies very early in the film (Phantom Menace, anyone?). It is quite epic, in a Gladiator sort of way, violent, emotional and visually enthralling. Saladin, enemy of the Crusaders is portrayed sympathetically, which is where I cannot decide if this is either
a) Pandering, and not trying to make the Muslims angry out of any pussy-ass honky fear... sort of like what Whitey does with the Blacks...
b) Progressive, discounting the political climate and presenting the other side, creating a conduit for the complexities that truly mire down the current situation in the Middle East and perhaps give some inkling to why these people want to skewer us like kebabs, with pita bread, onions and yogurt sauce, but with a bit more cumin than Greek food.
POPULAR MUSIC
Coldplay X & Y
I may have mentioned in past discussion that I am and have always been an ardent fan of Coldplay, despite the myriad reasons to shun such a band, mainly, the juvenile and trite reason being that they are too popular and mainstream.
Coldplay, in my humble opinion, are a great band. Truth be told, they are derivative of U2, Sigur Ros, Pink Floyd, Jeff Buckley and many other "atmospheric" groups, and Chris Martin's voice is oddly reminiscent of Dave Matthews (blecchhhh). They are a bit twee, which some may see as shite, and their melodies will no doubt grace too many car commercials and HBO promos to come, but I cannot shoot any holes in the overall sense that I get from the enjoyable listening experience that washes over me when I hear them. I eagerly awaited this new record after hearing a few online leaks of unfinished demos and such and after obtaining an advance copy I am pleased to announce that the record is every bit as lush and elegant as 2003's A Rush Of Blood To The Head. The title track of the album is a sweeping epic of longing and every emotion that makes me a sissy. It stands proudly along side of Doves Some Cities as a modern masterwork of sonic grandeur.
SELF-ABSORPTION
As I have mentioned earlier, I have returned from a 10-day jaunt in Spain, on family business. I was impressed by the little I actually saw of this fairly large European nation and am regretful that I did not have enough time to see the main tourist spots such as Madrid (which I saw only through an airport layover) and Barcelona (3 hours north of my region of travel). I spent my time is Valencia, a wealthy but inconsequential city situated on the Mediterranean coast. It was pleasant, pretty and the weather was perfect. After attending a wedding, our caravan traveled south the beach resort town of Javea, populated mainly by British and German tourists - pastey, visibly sunburned and eating sausage on the beach. I have returned, slightly more tanned than George Hamilton, and experiencing the odd patriotic pangs that I feel whenever returning home from a foreign land. New York really is one of the best places in the world and it is no wonder that it is a number one target from the hostile outsiders.
One thing that I noticed during my Spanish sojourn was the absence of any explosive gas. We ate small meals often (I lost 7 lbs. and felt constantly hungry), consisting of fresh, non-processed ingredients, drank alcohol reasonably (wine as part of the meal, never enough to get intoxicated). I noticed this anomaly an hour after every dinner when I would normally excuse myself and wander about the grounds to privately dispel with any exhaust.
It was not until the second day back in New York did I notice that my Jetpack was recommissioned, full-torque and ready to search and destroy.
Tried to watch Sith one more time - could not - It sucks very much. That is my final verdict.
posted by tom @ 1:37 PM
1 Comments:
At 2:26 AM,
tom said…
After viewing Kingodom of Heaven for a second time, I retract my wiseass remarks regarding the Hollywood pandering to Muslims, suspicion of Saladin's character, etc. I was enthralled by the character of Saladin, played by the Syrian actor Ghassan Massoud and read a very interesting interview with him at http://www.beliefnet.com/story/166/story_16644_1.html.
I also did my own fact-checking in my extensive library of all things near, middle and far eastern and found that the contemplative and cerebral character portrayed was as close to truth as respectable historical accounts deem it.
Just like the new Star Wars (which is a piece of sub-feces) and aforementioned film, it takes more than one viewing to be truly qualified to make a sound judgement.
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