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Jet Set Arts
CD: Elvis Presley: From Elvis In Memphis: Legacy Edition
Invigorated by a 1968 TV special and the notion of returning to a Memphis studio for the first time since leaving Sun Records for RCA in 1955, Elvis Presley decided to pull out all the stops for his first non-soundtrack album in six years. The songs were well selected (“Suspicious Minds,” “Only the Strong Survive,” “Gentle on My Mind,” “True Love Travels On a Gravel Road,” “Kentucky Rain”), the production stripped-down, and the musicians Memphis-funky. Read More »
CD: Portugal. The Man: The Satanic Satanist
Portugal. The Man’s bizarrely titled fourth album kicks off with a groove so fat and swampy, you’ll swear it was recorded in Memphis, circa 1967. “The Satanic Satanist” opens with the anti-war anthem “People Say” that builds on that funky riff to become a full-fledged barnburner. “What a lovely day, yeah we won the war,” sings vocalist John Baldwin Gourley. “May have lost a million men but we’ve got a million more.” The rest of the album doesn’t quite live up to that awesome opener but it comes pretty damned close. Read More »
Movie: Ponyo
If “Ponyo” isn’t the best animated film of the year, it certainly becomes the sweetest in the wise old hands of legendary Hayao Miyazaki. An Oscar winner for the infinitely darker “Spirited Away,” Miyazaki released his lovely little “Ponyo” a year ago in his native Japan where it became a huge hit. Read More »
DVD: The Alzheimer's Project
Ugh! I can’t think of anything more painful than watching nine hours of a documentary about Alzheimer’s disease, but believe it or not, the new DVD called “The Alzheimer’s Project” an amazing, informative, and entertaining must-see documentary. The tag line says “it will change the way America things about Alzheimer’s” and that is true, just by what I said in the first sentence. Read More »
Movie of the Week: District 9
Forget the “Transformers” sequel or “G.I. Joe,” the latest action-packed sci-fi thriller to hit cinema screens is the shocking and superb drama “District 9.” With its incredibly powerful story paired with some staggeringly realistic and gory special effects, producer Peter Jackson has gleefully come full circle in this return to his beloved splatter turf. Read More »
Movie: A Perfect Getaway
When first viewing the previews and commercials for “A Perfect Getaway,” it looks like one of those 10-little-Indians slasher movies where a group of friends goes off to some beautiful locale and gets picked off one by one. Well, it’s not that simple, and in this case, it’s a lot more intriguing with plenty of twists and unpredictable moments. It’s not a slasher movie, it’s much smarter and way more enjoyable. I love this movie enough to pay to go see it again and see what I missed along the way. Read More »
Movie: G.I. Joe: The Rise of the Cobra
Hot on the heels of the first “Transformers” sequel (this summer’s biggest blockbuster so far) comes another noisy, action-packed, mega-budgeted war flick based on a line of toys from Hasbro. These days, isn’t moviemaking all about redefining your brand and exploiting merchandising revenue? Read More »
Movie: Shrink
Call it cool, mediocre, or a Hollywood insider’s version of “Crash,” but you have to respect the way Kevin Spacey dominates the screen as the “Shrink.” He’s psychiatrist to the stars Henry Carter, now spending his nights in a weed-induced stupor after days bored by industry-connected regulars, as well as his own best-selling celebrity. Read More »
Movie: Departures
Here it comes, folks, the best film of 2008, albeit in the second week of August 2009. It’s “Departures,” which certainly would have headed last year’s Top 10 list from yours truly, that is, if anyone but eligible Academy Award-types actually had seen it. Of course, director Yojiro Takita’s often lovely, lyrical film stunningly beat out heavy favorite “Waltz With Bashir” for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar for 2008, and now everyone can finally understand why voters really got it right this time, since it is finally in selected theaters across the U. S. Read More »
Movie: Cold Souls
The idea of “Cold Souls” is more enjoyable than the actual execution, and that is too bad. It’s a story about extracting souls and putting them to the side for a short while, and having an actor like Paul Giamatti play himself in this wild premise. Yeah, it’s a little like “Being John Malkovich” with a mix of “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” and a dash of Woody Allen’s “Sleeper,” but there’s a distinct reason for that. Read More »
