Glen Hansard is a talker. During last night’s sold-out The Swell Season concert (with Marketa Irglova,) Hansard introduced each song, giving nearly five-minute long explanations about what the song was about and its history. During all of his rambling, he mentioned how much he likes custard at Kopp’s (although he couldn’t find where it was earlier that day) and the genius of the TV show “Freaks and Geeks,” which he said his band has watched in the tour bus over the past weeks. Kopp’s custard and “Freaks and Geeks” are two of my favorite things, but truthfully, Hansard had me at hello. His concert, which incorporated members of his Irish band The Frames, was an incredible, transcendent, nearly three-hour experience filled with equal amounts of humor and heart.
Hansard and Irglova are incredibly talented musicians (Hansard on guitar, Irglova on piano.) But more than that, they seem like incredible human beings. It was something you could just feel sitting in the Riverside Theater audience. These are people who love music, love to play music, and love it that people want to hear them play music.
Like I said, Hansard was a talker. His intros into songs were often metaphorical, like “this is a song for people who are invisibile” or “this is a song about being stuck in a rut in a relationship” etc. etc. After I while, I must admit it got to be overkill (maybe because of my generational ADD.) But, for the most part, Hansard was a master storyteller and seemed to be just a funny, genial, regular guy you would love to have a couple of beers with at the (Irish) pub. He still seems utterly dumbfounded by his success (and recent Academy Award win for “Falling Slowly” for his and Irglova’s film “Once,” which I have talked about ad nauseum in this year’s Marquee). Before playing “Falling Slowly,” he acknowledged that when you write a song, you never know how people will react. But when it came to that song - the signature song from the movie - to say it surpassed his wildest explanations is putting it lightly.
The chemistry between Irglova and Hansard was palpable and expected (the two fell in love while making “Once”) but each musician on stage greatly contributed to making the show one of the best I’ve seen in forever, if not my entire life. The Swell Season techincally are just Hansard and Irglova, but Hansard recruited fellow Irishmen and Frames members to add drums, bass and guitars. But the standout, for me , was violinist Colm Mac Con Iomaire. He is an amazing talent, and added a melancholic extra layer to each song. He even did a violin solo of “The Blue Shoes” during the encore, which makes me want to purchase his album (watch it below).
The concert consisted of a balance between songs from the “Once” soundtrack and original Swell Season works (and included a few lines from “Pure Imagination” from Willy Wonka and a random cover of the Pixies‘ “Gigantic,” an odd but funny choice). It might be a cliche, but to me, “When Your Mind’s Made Up” and “Falling Slowly” were the highlights, the latter especially. Hansard said he got an email from the Whitefish Bay Middle School choir, saying they were going to perform “Falling Slowly” at a school concert and they would love it if the band stopped by. Hansard, proving just how cool he is, took it a step further and invited the choir to perform on stage with him. So dozens of middle-schoolers sang the chorus with Hansard and Irglova, and Hansard even gave them a go of it by themselves. The song was breathtaking (especially with that violin) and even got a standing ovation, something I’ve never seen for just one song at a concert.
Describing the concert - and how it made me feel - strikes me as irrelevent and too difficult for me to put into words. It was just simply an experience, and everyone in attendance last night would agree with me it had to be seen to be believed, and felt. Luckily for everyone not in attendance, a similar feeling can be had from listening to their music. Do yourself a favor and check out Hansard’s music. Another musician on stage last night described him as “probably the most passionate singer I’ve ever seen in my life” and that is no hyperbole. Check out the “Once” soundtrack of the Swell Season’s self-titled disk immediately.
The Marcus Center for Performing Arts was kind enough to invite me to opening night of “Monty Python’s Spamalot,” the outrageous Broadway musical based on “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.” I interviewed cast member Patrick Heusinger (Lancelot, among many characters) prior, so I knew to expect some pretty ridiculous stuff.
But I didn’t expect the second half of the play to basically have no plot whatsoever. Instead, it was just a series of (hilarious) sketches all poking fun at musical theater. I’m really glad I got to talk with Heusinger before I saw the show. Prior to, I expected “Spamalot” to be a recreation of “Holy Grail” with some added songs along the way. Wrong. It is more of a parody of musical theater, especially in its songs. For example, the Lady of the Lake character (played by Esther Stilwell) is a complete caricature of musical divas (Cher, Celine Dion, Mariah Carey) and Broadway heroines, complete with her own set of Laker girls (lake-r girls…get it?) Her faux-romantic recurring song, “The Song That Goes Like This,” is hilarious, as is her “Diva’s Lament” in the second act. In the latter song, she flat out says, “What happened to my part?” pointing out just how useless she is to the overall “plot” of the play.
So what is the plot? I really couldn’t tell you. In the first act, King Arthur (nicely played by Gary Beach) and his knights are ordered by the voice of God (John Cleese!) to find the Holy Grail. But after their encounter with the French guards (”I fart in your general direction,” if you recall from the movie), the knights disband and the story pretty much ends. The second act is a series of hilariously silly sketches, one of which revolves around the outing of Sir Lancelot (Heusinger) after the damsel in distress he rescues turns out to be an effeminate man (Prince Herbert, played by a very funny Christopher Sutton). And, according to the Lady in the Lake, every Broadway play needs to end in a wedding, which it does (Lancelot and Herbert, and the Lady and King Arthur). Lest Monty Python fans get discouraged, a number of familiar things from the movie pop up (the Knights of Ni, the killer rabbit, the knights of the round table, the aforementioned foot of God).
I want to stress the fact that I laughed - often, and loudly. But my main problem with the play seems to be its primary strength: its poking fun of Broadway theater. It all seemed a little too self-concious at times, a little too tongue-in-cheek (if that’s possible for Monty Python). When the characters become aware they are in a Broadway play in the second act, it’s humor seems too cheap for Monty Python. It should be a little more sophisticated, or at least as sophisticated as fart jokes can be. My gripes made me curious about the critical reception the play received. Obviously, it has been warmly embraced by audiences, selling out nearly everywhere it goes. As far as awards, it walked away with three Tony’s, including Best Musical in 2004-05.
One of my favorite websites, Slate, vehemently panned the show: “‘Spamalot’ is the Anti-Python; it systematically reverses everything that made the original funny. It is one big revue of clichés. The laughs are easy and unearned. Where the original Python was legitimately absurd, ‘Spamalot’ settles for the comfortably ‘zany.’” The New York Times, however, enjoyed it very much, particularly its original scenes that make fun of the conventions of Broadway theater. Locally, Elaine Schmidt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel loved it, calling it “simply hilarious.” Perhaps that’s the best way to look at it, to take pleasure in its simple humor. The creators of “Spamalot” are not aiming for profound comedy here. They just want to make you laugh. And they succeed.
While I did have some problems with it, “Spamalot’s” joviality and gaudiness were undeniable and extremely enjoyable. You just can’t beat its top-notch production values (remarkable costumes and a immaculate, well-designed, fluid set) and sense of humor. “Spamalot” marks the third straight high profile, high quality musical to play at the Marcus Center (after “The Lion King” and “Avenue Q“). Here’s hoping “The Color Purple,” debuting in August, will make it four in a row.
I’ve watched “American Idol” off and on throughout its entire run. I believe I even voted for Kelly Clarkson a couple of times back in the day. But my interest has completely dropped off because of its less-than-stellar contestants recently (Jordin Sparks, Blake Lewis, Katharine McPhee, Taylor Hicks). However, this season, I’ve tuned in a couple of times because of something altogether refreshing: contestants are now playing instruments! Top four contestants David Cook and Jason Castro routinely incorporate guitars in their performances, while the recently-eliminated Brooke White’s best performances were all her at the piano. Even so, I’ve long felt “American Idol” would unravel itself eventually, most likely through its contestants selling less and less records. While that seems to be happening (Sparks’ debut as yet to go platinum, Lewis’ album came and went with no fanfare, Hicks is probably dead in the water and McPhee got dumped from her record label), Paula Abdul may have wrecked this show for good this week.
While I didn’t see the episode, I YouTubed the “gaffe,” which you can view below. Bottom line: it was Neil Diamond week on the show (cue vomiting) and each contestant (White, Castro, Cook, David Archuleta and Syesha Mercado) sang two songs. Because the show was jam-packed, producers waited for each performer to sing one song before going to the judges. And leave it to Abdul to screw it up. When it came to critiquing Castro, she commented on BOTH songs (at that point, he’d only sang one). Watch the clip - her comments are written down and so specific that Entertainment Weekly has suggested the show is scripted. She said the following: “”Jason, the first song I loved hearing your lower register, which we never really hear. The second song, I felt like your usual charm wasn’t…it was missing for me, it kind of left me a little empty. And the two songs made me feel like you’re not fighting hard enough to get into the top four.”
There’s a few possible solutions: A) the show is scripted, B) Abdul is just plain nuts, C) she took notes during rehearsals. For all we know, all three are true. But I’m a firm believer that this comment, however innocuous, is the beginning of the end for the show. While this season has had some interesting contestants (White and Castro, while not “Idol” winner material, seem like they could have decent folk/rock singing careers), none of them are going to be the next Kelly Clarkson or Carrie Underwood. And with the show’s legitimacy now under fire (as if it wasn’t before), can any respectable artist emerge from the show? The respect Clarkson and Underwood earned (both mutli-platinum and Grammy-winning artists) can be attributed to pure talent, heavy producing and absolutely brilliant marketing. No one can convince me to take David Cook (this season’s “rocker”) or 17-year-old David Archuleta (this season’s Josh Groban) seriously. There’s no way I’d buy any of their CDs, even though it does seem producers are campaigning for them to be the final two. Of course producers have an agenda of who they’d like to see in the final: the two contestants that would draw the biggest rating. But this is supposed to be America’s show. Anyone is supposed to have a shot. If producers are scripting it, telling people who to vote for through the judge’s critiques, the show is done. Simple as that.
Ever since I saw the previews of MTV’s latest reality love child, “The Paper,” I knew I had to watch it. It looked just plain ridiculous. The paper featured on the show is called The Circuit, an award-winning publication in Florida. Four candidates vie for the coveted position of editor-in-chief, because as one of them puts it “journalists are the most important part…of the world.” The funny thing about this show is that it was basically my life in high school. I wasI was sadly one of these newspaper nerds in high school. When I landed the position of editor my senior year, there were definitely some better feelings thrown around by the runner-ups. Mind you, nothing as extreme as what is shown on the show. These high schoolers are even more caddy.
My favorite comment thus far: Amanda (pictured above), who Slate Magazine humorously and accurately dubbed the “Tracy Flick of journalism” (in honor of Reese Witherspoon in “Election“), falls ill and asks for soup from some of her newspaper comrades. The minute her friends are off the phone with her, one particularly witty high schooler quips: “We should get her cream of bitch.”
Amanda is a fascinating individual, and I don’t doubt for a second this is how she is in real life. She is the kind of girl who plans out her outfits for the entire week on Sunday night (she also got a scandalous nose job before her senior year). “Procrastination is a foe I have not met yet” she remarks lounging next to her pool, while the rest of the newspaper team scrambles to complete their editor applications last minute. This is a girl who loves power - she says landing editor is the greatest thing to happen to her in her entire life. She grabs a box of macaroni and does a little jig while saying, “I’m the big cheese! I’m the big cheese!” No wonder everyone hates her, she’s a cartoon version of a real human being. Here’s a rundown of the cast of characters, in relation to characters of “The Office” for no particular reason. We all went to high school with people like these (and by people I mean characters):
Amanda (Editor in Chief): The Michael Scott of the paper, i.e. the blabbering idiot who occasionally shows signs of heart. Has a crush of the unrequited variety on Alex.
Alex (Managing Editor): The Jim Halpert of the paper, the nice guy torn between his past loyalty to Amanda and his disappointment over coming in second.
Adam (Advertising Manager): The Kelly Kapur of the paper, the drama queen who never stops talking (i.e. yelling), especially behind people’s backs.
Giana (News Editor) and Trevor (Layout Editor): The Jim and Pam of the paper, if Jim in fact were a jerk like Ryan or Michael and Pam was a raging bitch like Kelly or Jan, they are dating and inseperable and bond in their distate for Amanda.
I’m not going to lie: “The Paper” is by no means riveting television. It’s thoroughly a guilty pleasure. But you can be sure I’ll continue to watch it to see how the staff tries to overthrow Amanda, which is inevitable. The poor girl just wants everyone to like her and has no idea no one does. It’d be sad if it weren’t so funny. “The Paper” airs every Monday at 9:30. Head to MTV.com to view the first two episodes.
It’s a common tale in pop culture. It’s cool to like something before it becomes uber-popular, and once it does, everyone jumps off the bandwagon. I fear I might be doing the same thing with “Juno.” I loved it upon its release in December - loved the dialogue, thought the indie soundtrack was hip, admired Ellen Page’s ability to be so effortlessly witty, etc. etc. But upon rewatching on DVD a few times (I bought it, which may or may not have been a mistake), it has gotten on my nerves more times than it has made me laugh.
First, the way teenagers are depicted in this movie is completely ridiculous. All of Page’s “Juno-isms” are meant to sound hip but upon further inspection are completely inane. Some examples, with their English translations:
“Shut your freaking gob” = shut your mouth
“Honest to blog” = really, as in are you being serious
“I’m forshizz up the spout” = I’m pregnant
“Phuket, Tailiand!” = F**k, or s**t
Obviously no one talks like this. And if they do they should be slapped, repeatedly. The fact that critics and audiences dubbed Diablo Cody’s script (which won an Oscar, incidentally) as ‘hip’ is beyond me because it in fact is quite nerdy. Also, I’m increasingly becoming convinced Michael Cera (who plays Pauly Bleeker, the father) is a one-trick pony. As much as I love his character of George Michael in the brilliant but short-lived sitcom “Arrested Development,” he has played variations of that in both “Superbad” and “Juno.” His line “I should be royally ticked off at you, I should be really cheesed off” when Page yells at him because he doesn’t want to go to the prom with her is easily something George Michael would’ve said.
But it’s not all bad. It’s still a pretty clever movie, and Page succeeds in making Juno a real human being, remarkable considering some of the lines she’s given to say. She actually is best in her more vulnerable scenes - when she breaks the news to her parents she’s pregnant. “Boy I thought you were the kind of girl who knew when to say when,” her dad tells her. Watch her eyes when she replies, “I don’t really know what kind of girl I am.” It’s perhaps the best scene in the movie.
And all of the supporting actors, from Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman as the adopted couple, to J.K. Simmons and Allison Janney as the parents, are quite excellent. Despite the language barrier, I think I still like the movie. But it’s not the second coming of comedy the hype made it out to be. And certainly it should not have been nominated for a Best Picture Oscar. That is a joke in itself.
A quick little recommendation for you musically interested folks out there. Go check out I Come to Shanghai. The two-man band out of California does some fun stuff with its vocals and lays down an impressive range of sounds for only two people. Plus, the duo rolls out some soothing tunes.
Gotta love the picture on the band’s Myspace page as well. I mean, how can you now love that picture? Seriously, tell me now. www.myspace.com/icometoshanghai
I doubt many of you even care about this, but it’s important to me. Yesterday, Ziff Davis announced it is ceasing the print publication of Games for Windows: The Official Magazine (GFW). According to the news release, all the previous editors are retaining their positions, but shifting their focus to online. No more print. Just online.
I’m sorry, but this leaves me incredibly disappointed. Yeah, I understand the current state of journalism and its fervent desire to put more online. So thankfully, the GFW editors are going to keep putting out stories on this crazy place known as the Internet. However, nothing will ever beat their print publication (previously known as Computer Gaming World).
Their magazine had a voice that stayed consistent throughout the issue. Readers knew that voice, and readers loved that voice. They published articles that I doubt we’re going to see in this online form of the magazine — articles that simply won’t get the hits in this crazy, fast online world of games journalism where stupid articles about the hottest video game characters take reign supreme.
It’s a sad week. I salute you, Games for Windows: The Official Magazine.
SNL has been attracting a lot of attention lately, especially in the political realm (of all places). Amy Poehler’s impersonation of Hillary Clinton is spot-on, and actually drew national attention, pointing out the fact the media asks Clinton the harder questions (and is harder on her in general). When Tina Fey returned to host, she had a particularly amusing “Weekend Update” bit about Clinton’s campaign. Watch it here. All of these skits no doubt prompted Clinton to make an appearance on the show, which she did a few weeks ago (no doubt in an effort to look “younger”).
While I don’t know if it’s being particular politically savvy, it’s nice to see SNL return to form. It’s actually funny again, and that is thanks to its MVP cast members Poehler, Kristen Wiig and Andy Samberg. (But really, everyone on the cast is solid except for Kenan Thompson, who sucks and has about two-and-a-half facial expressions.)
The past few episodes I’ve seen have all been memorable. This past weekend, the hilariously creepy Christopher Walken hosted and starred in one of the most bizarre skits I’ve seen in a while. Dubbed “Googly Eyes Gardener,” Walken plays an obsessive-compulsive gardener who is afraid of plants, so he glues plastic “googly eyes” on them and talks to them as if they’re real people. Sounds dumb, right? It is. But it’s funny. Just try not to laugh when Walken says “googly eyes” over and over and over again. Watch it here. Another amusing bit was a “Walken Family Reunion” where nearly everyone on the cast does their best Christopher Walken impression. Some are better than others, but its still pretty funny. Watch that one here.
Even though it’s still not quite up to the standards set by the Will Ferrell / Tina Fey / Rachel Dratch / Tracy Morgan era, the show is improving. SNL hasn’t been relevant to me in forever, so it’s nice to enjoy it once again. Check it out this weekend when Ashton Kutcher hosts, with musical guest Gnarls Barkley.
Upon a recent YouTube binge, I came across this spectacular clip of actor Kevin Spacey singing the John Lennon classic, “Mind Games.” While Spacey is already an acclaimed actor for his performance in such classic movies as “21″ (or maybe more for “American Beauty”), he also has some great pipes.
The job he does singing “Mind Games” is incredible. Not only does he rock it, but he also works the stage like a pro. If only Spacey was younger and had more hair. He should definitely start a John Lennon cover band. I can only imagine what other songs he would sing. Hmm… maybe, “Mother,” “Workingclass Hero,” “Cold Turkey,” “Instant Karma” and oh yeah, “Imagine.” Check out the “Mind Games” clip here.
You can’t always trust critics. Leatherheads — the George Clooney/Renée Zellweger football screwball romantic comedy — scored a disappointing 53 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and a mediocre 56 percent on Metacritic. But you know what? I liked it. A lot. It had such an almost otherworldly innocence and lighthearted tone to it, and a comfortable familiarity. It was the perfect movie to see on a lazy Sunday afternoon.
It was nice to be reminded of Clooney’s comedic abilities. He’s in full O Brother Where Art Thou / Intolerable Cruelty mode here, playing 45-year-old Dodge Connolly, the leader of the “professional” football team the Duluth Bulldogs. I use the word professionally liberally, because the first scenes show the team running around a field where a cow is grazing. With his team on the brink of folding (and the no-rules laughingstock of a league in need of legitimization), Clooney recruits Carter Rutherford (”The Office’s” John Krasinski), America’s war and college football hero, to add star power to a league that desperately needs it. But the supposed war hero Rutherford has a secret, and it’s up to the hard-nosed, wise-cracking reporter Lexi Littleton (the doe-eyed Zellweger, all dolled up in period costumes) to expose it. She, of course, ends up falling for Krasinski and Clooney. Two gueses as to who she ends up with.
Leatherheads may be light on plot, but it’s not light on delightful moments. It’s a complete pleasure to see Clooney and Zellweger together. The two have considerable chemistry, especially in scenes when they’re bickering and bantering. An amusing sequence takes the two from a romantic dance in a speakeasy to running from the cops, dressed in loose-fitting police uniforms about to jump off a building to escape. The film’s tone is all over the place, from complete slapstick and physical comedy to romance to even a sort of underlying sadness. Krasinski completely surprised me by his subdued, endearing performance. I kind of figured he’d just always be Jim from “The Office.”
I smiled all the way through Leatherheads. It’s a movie full of subtle moments — the alcoholic reporter (Steven Root) passed out on the sidelines, the piano player smashing a bottle over a guy’s head in the midst of a barfight, the numerous knowing and playful glances exchanged between Clooney and Zellweger. It’s also a beautifully shot movie, full of gorgeous sepia tones, still black-and-white imagery, richly detailed costumes and a jazzy, bouncy score by Randy Newman. The fact that critics gave it the cold shoulder baffles me. Is it great? No. Could it have been better? Sure. But there’s a danger in the self-importance of critics. Nearly all I read said the film tries to emulate past screwball classics that featured the likes of Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn — tries, and ultimately fails, they say. My thinking is that you can’t fault someone for trying. I bet even Clooney would admit he wasn’t trying to one-up those past classics, but to simply provide homage. There’s a spirit to the movie that is lost in movies today, and for that I appreciated it.
Moral of the story? Reviews are subjective. I tend to think they are the end-all-be-all in terms of determining whether I’ll pay to see something in the theater, but it’s nice to be reminded that it’s OK to have an opinion of your own once in a while.
Opinions expressed on this blog are that of the individual blogger and may not represent the views and opinions of the Marquette Tribune.
