Change Your Image
brother_jude
Reviews
Scott Walker: 30 Century Man (2006)
A Glimpse at a Truly Effective Artist
When one of my musical heroes, Julian Cope, mentioned Scott Walker as one of his big influences, I had to listen for myself. I found the "Scott 2" CD by chance in a cutout bin and have been hooked ever since. The arrangements, lyrics, emotional punch and sheer weirdness of songs like "Plastic Palace People" and "The Amorous Humphrey Plugg" are impossible to get out of your mind once you've heard them. And then there's Walker's baritone voice. I can't think of anyone else singing these kind of songs and not making them sound ridiculous or pretentious. I've since acquired more of his solo work and have found it, by turns, equally fantastic and puzzling. This film does a good job of showing the arc of how he went from pop crooner to enigmatic experimentalist. I was pleasantly surprised when Walker took off the baseball cap and began to take us through his musical history. I had been afraid of him being cold and distant, given his disdain for publicity. Instead he seems to be a decent enough fellow, who just happens to possess a talent for displaying his inner demons effectively. While watching, I began to realize that the intent of his work has not changed over the years, it has merely become starker in conveying Walker's dark, though human, vision. In showing the recording process (one musician punching rhythms on a slab of meat) and hearing him explain the inspiration of certain songs (like the chilling footage from post-fascist Italy), the film gave me more insight, and respect, for Walker's later works like "Tilt" and "The Drift." If anyone wants a glimpse into a TRULY creative mind, whether a fan of Walker's music or not, I recommend they see this film.
War of the Worlds (2005)
Was expecting the worst
I'd read a lot of bad things about this film when it came out, so I thought I'd wait until the hoopla died down, that way I could see it at a theater near me that shows movies well after their normal run ... and admission is only $4. Turns out, it was not a total waste. I ended up enjoying the movie DESPITE the sentimental, family-reuniting plot used to tie the action together. It almost felt as though Spielberg was toying with some of his own conventions from movies like ET (ie: the scene where a Spongebob cartoon is playing on the TV, commenting on the ongoing action and a lot of the family's dialog throughout). It was like watching the evil, flip-side of ET. After awhile, I almost ignored this aspect of the movie because it became so overwhelmed by the Martian invasion itself. The tripods were easily the coolest and scariest sci-fi devices I've seen in awhile. Their first appearance is nothing short of stunning. The on-the-ground visual approach to the film worked extremely well; which seems like the whole point of showing it from one family's point-of-view. All of the atrocities committed by the invaders the harvesting of blood, the disintegrations were palpable from this angle. The scenes of mass migration from major cities, and especially the shot of scores of bodies floating downstream really disturbed me, especially considering the recent situation in New Orleans. And when people began rioting and shooting at each other over a car that ran, the whole invasion situation seemed eerily real. If only the family's story didn't get in the way in certain places (ie: the son appearing at the end... it would have been more believable had he died), this could have been a far better movie.