Top 10 Films of 2009: Honorable Mentions

Before I start my Best of 2009 list, I should preface everything by coming clean on the movies I didn't see this year. For starters, I didn't see (but wanted to!) The Princess and the Frog, Ponyo, The Cove, or A Single Man. I avoided Precious and Invictus as they didn't interest me (I know, I know, don't tell Ebert). I also didn't have a chance to catch a lot of foreign films, most notably 35 Shots of Rum, Sin Nombre and Summer Hours. With that said, here are 5 Honorable Mentions, in no order.

Up

Up is a Pixar film, and that alone should be enough to demand your attention. Starting with a bizarre premise involving an old man and thousands of helium balloons, Up was wildly successful and has since become Pixars 2nd highest grossing film ever at 290 million dollars, behind Finding Nemo. I really liked Up, but thought that it lacked a bit of tenderness that Pixar normally offers that sets it apart from the pack of Dreamworks, et al. There were even some of scenes where it became a bit too cutesy and dare I say, annoying(!). Kevin the bird and Dug the dog were fun to a point, but they simply became distractions towards the end of the film. The montage of Carl and Ellie was masterful, and I loved the sense of adventure Russell brought to the story, but all in all, I think it settled into too many cliches, a rarity for Pixar. It's still a great film, and nearly the best animated film this year.

500 Days of Summer

A few months ago, this was probably right up there on my list, but then came Oscar season and things got all topsy-turvy. A post-Judd Apatow Garden State, down to the indie band sharing and the voiceovers, and I say those in the nicest ways. Director Marc Webb has an eye for innovative scenes, from the Expectations vs. Reality split screen, to an animated musical number, he takes some chances here, but they all work in the context of the film. My gripes with the film stemmed from how Summer and Tom approached love. Tom hopelessly clinging to and longing for love, deluding himself into thinking that it's all that is missing from his life. It's no surprise how petulant he gets when things don't turn out his way. Equally frustrating is Summer, who can't even concede that they are in a relationship, and comes across as callous and indifferent to the potential of love. I understand what both are saying, but that doesn't make it any less frustrating to watch. I suppose it's refreshing to feel a little something extra from a romantic-comedy these days, but I couldn't help but feel a bit unsatisfied.

Up In The Air


For Ivan Reitman's follow up to 2007's indie darling Juno, he trades in a bit of the whimsy and doubles-down on the charm of George Clooney. George is a charming man, to be sure, but he needs a bit more material to really knock things out of the park. Much like Summer in 500 Days (above), Ryan bristles at commitment, enjoying a life of relative anonymity on the road. Of course everything changes when he meets an equally charming compatriot in the form of Vera Farmiga. The chemisty isn't as electric as I expected, but they certainly have eyes for each other. The movie really establishes some heart in the scenes of Ryan and his family when he returns home for a wedding, and he is forced to come face to face with what he has sacrificed and needs to sincerely offer life advice. Soon after this scene, the movie jumps the shark. The plot becomes a bit too predictable and tidy in the final scenes, and while I liked the ending, I'm not sure exactly what Reitman was going for in the last third of the film. It felt unfocused and simple to me, disappointing for a film which had previously asked some thoughtful questions.

Big Fan

Big Fan features a serious turn from comedian Patton Oswalt as Paul Aufiero, the world's biggest New York Giants fan. Paul works in a parking garage and obsessively calls into sports radio stations. Paul lives with his mother. Paul doesn't have a lot going for him, but he is happy so long as it is football season. By chance, Paul and his friend see and proceed to follow star Giants player Quantrell Bishop in Staten Island. Paul introduces himself to Bishop in a strip club, and after a miscommunication, gets brutally beaten by Bishop and his entourage. From here the film dives deep into sports fanaticism and what happens when two worlds collide. Paul becomes a rag doll in a high-stakes tug-of-war he wants no part of. A fantastically gripping final act and a dark, pained performance from Patton Oswalt make Big Fan destined for the 'Cult Classic' rack (or at least my DVD collection).

The Brothers Bloom

The follow-up to 2006's high-school noir-classic Brick, 2009's The Brother's Bloom found director Rian Johnson with a 20 million dollar budget and esteemed Hollywood brethren like Adrien Brody, Mark Ruffalo and Rachel Weisz. The film is best described as a heist-caper, filled to the brim (some would say overfilled) with double crosses and elaborate schemes. It's quirky without being 'wacky' and is almost as much fun to watch as it probably was to make. I'm a huge fan of Adrien Brody, and while he's a bit mopey here, Mark Ruffalo plays a great comic foil. It's not for everyone, but if you consider yourself a fan of Wes Anderson or enjoyed the stylistic choices in Brick, you'll find there's a lot to like here.

Oscar Noms

While I'm hard at work on my top 10 films of 2009 (just trying to round it out with a few foreign ones), the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences did me one better this morning, releasing their 2010 Academy Award nominees. An interesting change this year is the expansion of the Best Picture field from 5 films to 10. As a result, the Pixar film Up became the first animated film since the inception of the Best Animated Feature category to be nominated for Best Picture. It doesn't stand a chance, but as they say at the Oscars, "It's an honor just to be nominated." I'm going to list the major nominations and bold who I think will win, and italicize who I think should win. If they are the same, then it's going to look weird. I'll also try to list a few snubs if I can think of any.

BEST PICTURE
Avatar
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglorious Basterds
Precious
A Serious Man
Up
Up in the Air

With 10 nominated films, there aren't a lot of best picture snubs. With that being said, it would have been nice if the Academy went out on a limb and choose a small-ish film like Moon or Where The Wild Things Are (especially since WTWTA is a non-animated "kids" film). It's nice to see District 9 and A Serious Man up there though.

BEST ACTOR
Jeff Bridges – Crazy Heart
George Clooney – Up in the Air
Colin Firth – A Single Man
Morgan Freeman – Invictus
Jeremy Renner – The Hurt Locker

I haven't seen Bridges in Crazy Heart, but I've heard enough good things and was generally unimpressed with the performances of Renner and Clooney in their respective films. A MAJOR snub was A Serious Man's Michael Stuhlbarg (who would have been my choice). Another inspired choice would be Viggo Mortenson from The Road, but that movie never generated enough buzz to garner nominations of any sort. Also, Sam Rockwell was pretty incredible in Moon as were Nicolas Cage in Bad Lieutenant and Sharlto Copley in District 9.

BEST ACTRESS
Sandra Bullock – The Blind Side
Helen Mirren – The Last Station
Carey Mulligan – An Education
Gabourey Sidibe – Precious
Meryl Streep – Julie & Julia

Really a pretty pathetic field for Best Actress this year without Kate Winslet or Judi Dench involved. I loved Carey Mulligan in An Education though, but Meryl Streep is Meryl Streep and the award is hers to lose. Sadly not many strong female lead performances this year, but I do have a few snubs for Supporting Actress.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Matt Damon – Invictus
Woody Harrelson – The Messenger
Christopher Plummer – The Last Station
Stanley Tucci- The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz – Inglourious Basterds

This award is a slam-dunk. Christoph Waltz completely stole every scene of his in Inglorious Basterds as the sadistic Nazi colonel Hans Landa. Woody Harrelson was pretty good in The Messenger, but I think Ben Foster was better (not sure on what distinguished Best Actor from Best Supporting Actor in regards to screen time.) Michael Fassbender was another standout performance from Inglorious Basterds who should have been recognized. He was also great in Fish Tank which I reviewed last week. Another worthy addition would be Jake Gyllenhaal in Brothers.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Penelope Cruz – Nine
Vera Farmiga – Up in the Air
Anna Kendrick – Up in the Air
Mo’nique – Precious
Maggie Gyllenhaal – Crazy Heart

Mo'nique, like Christoph Waltz, has this one all wrapped up. Maybe if the Academy had nominated Marion Cotillard from Nine or Melanie Laurent (or Diane Kruger!) from Inglorious Basterds, she'd have a little competition. I think Anna Kendrick was much better than the chilly Vera Farmiga in Up In The Air. Zooey Deschanel was great in 500 Days of Summer, but I think that would probably qualify as a lead performance.

BEST DIRECTOR
James Cameron – Avatar
Kathryn Bigelow – The Hurt Locker
Quentin Tarantino – Inglourious Basterds
Lee Daniels – Precious
Jason Reitman – Up in the Air

Tarantino did a fantastic job with Basterds, and although it isn't my favorite film of 2009, his flair for dialogue and tension made for 3-4 absolutely riveting scenes. This is what makes a director great. Pacing and tension. The Coen Brothers are an obvious snub for this award, as is Werner Herzog for Bad Lieutenant.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Mark Boal – The Hurt Locker
Quentin Tarantino – Inglorious Basterds
Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman – The Messenger
Joel Coen & Ethan Coen – A Serious Man
Bob Peterson, Pete Docter – Up

I think this is probably a tight race minus The Messenger, but since The Hurt Locker will be beat out for Best Picture, the academy will probably offer Best Director an Original Screenplay to save face. I personally think it's a toss-up between QT and the Coen Bros, but what do I know. Moon and The Brothers Bloom deserve some consideration here.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci & Tony Roche- In the Loop
Neill Blomkamp & Terri Tatchell- District 9
Geoffrey Fletcher- Precious
Nick Hornby- An Education
Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turner- Up in the Air

Kudos to the Academy all around here, for 5 solid choices. I wish Where the Wild Things Are and The Fantastic Mr. Fox got nods, but that's being a bit critical. I doubt Where The Wild Things Are qualified as an adaptation anyway, considering how short the book is.


BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Princess and the Frog
The Secret of Kells
Up

As much as I was entertained by Up and Coraline, The Fantastic Mr. Fox was a better film in almost every regard. I hope people don't confuse Best Animated Film with Best Children's Film. Sad not to see Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs, and I have no idea WTF The Secret of Kells is.

Jon Hamm = Sexy Mann

If you missed SNL this weekend, it's ok. I didn't see it either, but I did see what was probably the best sketch and have taken the liberty of embedding it here for your viewing pleasure. Jon Hamm hosted this week (yes, Don Draper). If he looks familiar on the Studio 8H Stage, it's because he hosted SNL a little over a year ago and did a bang-up job. Several of the sketches from his maiden hosting are already classics, including Jon Hamm's John Hams and Don Draper's Guide to Picking Up Women. If you haven't seen them already, shame on you and scroll down. This week, he added another priceless sketch to his resume, lampooning Scott Brown (the newest Bay State Senator) and star-struck Democrats. If he isn't careful, SNL is going to offer him a spot on the cast, or at least make his Hosting Duties a yearly event (a la Alec Baldwin).

Gosh Obama is so smart/awesome

For those of you whom aren't aware, Obama held a Q&A with House Republicans today that felt a bit like the House of Commons and mostly involved Obama wiping the floor with most of them (as civilly as possible) and showing how sincere he is in reaching across the aisle. He frequently mentions how much he loathes the cheap political fear-mongering from both sides that 'box us in' from getting actual work done. He consistently assures GOP leadership that he reads their bills (he refers to several specifics) and takes responsibility for his administrations shortcomings. It was a pretty engaging 90 minute discussion, and Obama really showcases his humanitarian side and his understanding of the issues. It feels like an eternity since W was in the White House. I'm sure you don't have 66 minutes to watch this MSNBC clip of the session, but if you are at all interested in why things don't get done faster, or have any doubts regarding the President's heart, do yourself a favor and take a look.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Indie Band of the Week: Local Natives

Local Natives are a 5-piece rock group from LA who released their debut album Gorilla Manor in the UK in 2009 and will get a US release February 16th on Frenchkiss records. Combining the vocal mannerisms of Fleet Foxes and the arrangements of Vampire Weekend, Local Natives have made a some ripples on indie blogs with their single 'Sun Hands'. I greatly prefer their second single Airplanes, and have linked the video below here. It has an itchy drum part and I love the dichotomy of the structured harmonies within the verse and the rawness of the chorus. They avoid the sleepiness of Fleet Foxes and the kitsch of Vampire Weekend by striking a nice balance between the two. Check it out.

Airplanes

Local Natives | MySpace Music Videos

Beach House: Teen Dream

Thanks to SS for his Old Song Review this morning. I think (and told SS) that Jim Croce is like James Taylor but inexplicably MORE boring but that is beside the point. It is a nice song with good imagery, I will give him that. I don't want to scare him away from writing more, so I will hold my tongue and hope his next review rocks a little harder. We now return you to your regularly scheduled pretension.

When it comes to female vocalists in Indie music, women are generally given two options. The Karen O or the Cat Power. The former hoots and squeals and yelps her way through songs, usually blanketed with heavy instrumentals and rock elements. Outside of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, I don't really care for this. I am in love with Cat Power and all her derivatives. I love Feist. I love Lykke Li. And now I love Beach House. I love Beach House because they give me the smoky, forlorn vocals I expect from Cat Power, but with rougher orchestration than an acoustic guitar or a piano. An organ arrangement and electric fingerpicking heighten otherwise familiar vocal stylings and simple lyrics. Sometimes it sounds like someone trying to sing in rush hour, but Victoria Legrands voice is strong and warm enough to inspire a sense of intimacy.

It's extremely rare that a group with such a big sound can sound as vulnerable as Cat Power and her acoustic guitar, but Beach House are extremely effective at balancing and pairing sounds to compliment and buoy the vocals. Something as simple as a well-timed crash of a cymbal or a steady drumbeat can add so much to a song, and what Beach House accomplishes here makes you wonder what other aforementioned folksy singers could aspire to with a bit more chutzpah. As it is, Beach House is the only one doing things like this, and that's fine by me.

The best testament to Beach House's mastery of their craft is in the closing track Take Care. As Legrand assuredly sings her verses, you can feel the song building and shifting to something triumphant. Sure enough, no sooner will you think this that Legrand fashions herself a tender crescendo, making the lines 'I'll take care of you/If you asked me to' completely devastating. Maybe it's just me, but the satisfaction in songs like these is in the building of these moments. There's not much more satisfying than that moment when a song realizes the potential it's been hinting at the whole time (see Sigur Ros). There are a lot of these moments on Teen Dream.

Old Song Review: Jim Croce - Operator

So your host does a lot of blogging about new music. I feel there's an opportunity here to broaden the interest in the blog by covering some older stuff. Here's the plan: every once in a while I'll review an old song. That's it. Unless I really know something about the singers or songwriters I'll generally stick to my take on the song, not the history behind it.

Today I heard this song in a store and remembered how much I loved it. The number is Operator, by Jim Croce. I've never felt the way the narrator in this song feels (because that of that situation, I mean) but I love the melancholy and despair that this fellow feels. It's a moving song. My highest praise in a piece of art is that it moved me. It doesn't happen often but when it does it's amazing. The song goes something like this . . . I can relate to the feeling of telling yourself, or someone else something to try to convince yourself that what you're saying is true. I realize that's a confusing sentence. Basically it's about trying to convince yourself that you're okay.

The second thing I love about this song is that it tells a story. I'll admit that that I love to beat the beat and listen to hip-hip, pop, club, and anything that makes you want to move your body, but my favorite kinds of songs are those that tell stories. Repeating the hook over and over again gets old, even if it's really good. This is one of the reasons I like rap and LOVE the notorious B.I.G. Look at some of those lyrics, especially those for Juicy; good rap entries often tell stories. I love Juicy, but that's for another day. Back to Jim Croce's Operator.

The story of the lyrics conjures the image of a man, soaking wet in an anonymous phone booth on some street corner in the city. It's pouring rain outside the booth and his hair is plastered to his forehead. His suit is soaked and has that clingy quality that wet suits get, especially the arms as he hold the phone receiver to his ear. You can't really tell if there are tears on his cheeks because of the rain, but you can see the anguish in his face. He leans against the top of the payphone with his head on his forearm.

He's trying to call his lost lover who ran away with his good friend, Ray. He wants to tell them that he's doing fine and doesn't need them, but the very act of seeking to do this confirms that he hasn't "overcome the blow." The operator never makes a peep in this song. She presumably gives the man the number at some point but really, the man just needs a shoulder to lean on. By the end of the conversation with the operator, the man decides that he doesn't need to make the call after all. He's still crushed but the operators been so much more than kind. We all need someone kind, and I love this old song.

Review: Fish Tank

Fish Tank starts as a familiar coming of age tale, but in the middle of the third act bucks convention dramatically. 15 year-old Mia comes from a broken home and lives with her mother and her younger sister, perpetually dishing streams of expletives and insults in their general direction. Things aren't much better outside these four walls, as she bullies other girls and dabbles in illegalities. She harbors secret aspirations of becoming a hip-hop dancer, but all in all, her life sucks, and she knows it.

Everything changes when her mother begins dating the charming Connor (Michael Fassbender). He treats her kindly, supports her dancing, and is everything her life is bereft of. Unsurprisingly, she crushes hard. Her crush is the familiar teenage variety, born from frustration and jealousy. It is all-consuming. She watches him longingly from afar, visits him at work, takes interest in his interests. Everything feels innocuous enough, and you wait for the scene when she awkwardly acts on her feelings and is rebuffed. I'm not going to spoil the movie for you, but that does not happen. The gripping third act is a complete deconstruction of this kind of film, and offers no easy answers.

Director Andrea Arnold does a lot with the typical mumblecore, cinema-verite' style that is popular these days, but stretches it over a tense story arc to keep it from feeling slight and pointless. Many shots are from hand-held cameras, offering Mia's viewpoint from her bed or through a window, observing her subjects from a distance with detached loneliness. You don't blame Mia for feeling attracted to the first person who treats her with dignity, and despite her callous behavior, you pull for her. Like the California Dreamin' cover that plays a large role in the film, Mia's life is quite the winter's day. She is not without her own California dreams, but without knowing the rules of adult life, she chases them in unfortunate ways.

Timewaster of the Week: icheckmovies.com

So I came across this nifty little website a few days ago, and it soaked up most of my Sunday afternoon. It's a simple concept, offering lists of movies and allowing you to click and check off a little field on the right hand side of the page if you've seen it. There are also provisions to allow you to mark a movie as a favorite or to dislike a movie. What's interesting here is how they aggregate the films. They have IMDB's Top 250 films (of course), but they also have the 50 top-rated films by Genre and by Decade. They also have tons of Critic Lists, Website Lists, Award Winners and even Highest-Grossing films. For example, here are some of my stats of interest:

I have seen 143 of IMDB's Top 250 Films. Pretty sad. However, if you look closer, I've seen 42 of the Top 50 films of the 2000's and 35 of the 1990's. From here things drop precipitously (and linearly) to seeing only ONE of the top 50 films of the 1910's (DW Griffith's The Birth of a Nation). For someone who is always looking for new movies to see, this place is a goldmine. And for someone who thinks they are a film-snob, it's also humbling to see all the gaps in my film knowledge (Film Noir, Westerns). I do take offense to the website saying I don't watch a lot of Documentaries. I watch a SHIT-TON of documentaries, as many of my friends can attest. When SS says bring over some movies, at least 2 of them will be documentaries. SS will proceed to toss them aside and ask what Volver is about, but you get my drift. There are worse ways of wasting your time.

I've seen 515 movies, but I'm still checking them off as I write this, so sign up and try and knock me off my high horse.

Authors Note: I just realized no one can read the image I posted above. What are you going to do about it? That's right.

iSlate? iPad? iDontgetit

Apple hysteria has reached critical mass this week. If you haven't heard, Apple has an 'event' on Wednesday. Apple's 'events' are similar to Oprah's favorite things episodes in that otherwise sane people LOSE their shit. Heck, if Steve Jobs eats a bad tuna sandwich it's on Gizmodo by the time he leaves the bathroom. I understand the fascination with Apple. The iMac was a massive hit, the iPod revolutionized portable music and the iPhone changed cellphones forever (and probably saved AT&T's arse). Rumor has it that Mr. Jobs has something big up his sleeve again this week, and all signs point to a tablet computer. With it, Jobs undoubtedly hopes to topple the Kindle, netbooks, portable gaming, magazines etc. All manufacturers of portable entertainment are probably Googling how to tie a certain knot right about now. I'm going to talk them off that ledge now.

Here's the thing guys, Tablet computers are not new. I remember playing with them years ago. They let you doodle with your finger!! You can click with your FINGER!!! .....FINGER!! Listen Steve, can I call you Steve? People are fine with the imbalance of form vs. function on the iPhone. With auto-correct, even the fattest thumbs can bang out a text message. A TEXT MESSAGE. Could you imagine writing a research paper like this? How about even a grammatically complete sentence? The thought alone makes my thumbs curl. Computers desperately need a tactile keyboard, something with some give and springiness. I'm writing this blog post on my netbook that has the smallest keyboard I've ever seen (cellphones notwithstanding), but it's still a keyboard. I don't care how many games you can play or how awesome videos look on it, by handicapping peoples ability to communicate, it's going to simply be a big iPhone. Not a bad thing, but hardly revolutionary.

There are other rumors that the screen will be OLED. OLED's are fantastic (my Zune HD has one), and use very little power, but the incredible contrast and colors they afford are not the characteristics you look for in an ereader. Books are bland, but easy on the eyes. An important quality for something you plan to stare at for hours. I will concede that magazines and gaming would be incredible on a 10-inch iPhone. But what makes it more than a 10-inch, $1000 iPhone? It seems as though Apple is trying to create a need and fill it (a fundamental marketing strategy), but how many of its own products is it willing to cannibalize? People have already seen through the iPhone/iTouch racket, and 99% of people who this product is gearing for are perfectly satisfied with having a home computer and a cellphone. Blurring this line doesn't exactly count as "creating a need". I'm sure it will be sexy, and I'm sure it will be extremely intuitive and user-friendly, but when the dust settles, I'd be surprised if it will really be "the most important thing I've ever done" as Steve Jobs has claimed this week.

Here's hoping I'm wrong.

My tax refund is burning an Apple-sized hole in my pocket.

Things I Hate: Running in Winter

What's the worst thing about winter may you ask? No, it's not shoveling and having your Latissimus Dorsi get the Devil's Massage (if you can't see that, it's SS's cramp chart) for three days. Nor is it scraping off your car in scrubs whose heat capacity is eclipsed by tissue paper. The worst thing about winter is trying to run in it. I love running, and I don't necessarily mind running in the cold, but winter offers a perfect storm of terrible that makes me want to curl up under my electric blanket until the vernal equinox.

The WORST part about winter running is how obscenely early the sun sets. I'm not one of those people who gets all bent out of shape for a week after daylight savings time, but I couldn't help but make a bulge-eyed cartoon face when I realized it was dark at 4pm. This leaves me with two unsavory options. One, succumb to the sun's sadistic schedule and get to work early, leave at 3:30 and drive like a bat out of hell to get home and changed in time. Or two, throw caution to the wind and try to run in the dark. More often than not I manage the former, but for the purposes of this blog post let me tell you that running in the dark is an adventure of Homeric proportions.

Running in the dark is akin to doing gymnastics in space. You may have mastered the fundamentals, but the rules as you know them don't apply anymore. To those of you who are thinking 'Shut up and buy a light', I say 'I have a light and you're being rude'. Running lights are NOT for path illumination, but are instead worn to draw attention to your person, so that when you are inevitably run over, your lawyer will have a good case (though you'll still be dead). Short of wearing a headlamp and looking like a spelunker, you are wholly at the mercy of street lighting. And there is no street lighting. As such, you evolve superhuman spatial awareness. I can now spot puddles/ice patches from 50 paces. Of course, I can't tell them apart and they are impossible to avoid. This leads to some sophisticated calculations regarding the angle of my feet on this ambiguous patch of water. In my experience, it is best to assume that everything is black ice. Otherwise, you will find yourself bleeding out on Mass Ave. and nobody needs to see that. Its also important not to panic in the event you find yourself slipping on the ice. Much like a car, you need to shift into a lower gear and try to ride it out. Sudden movements will only accelerate your fall and may result in unnecessary collateral damage (sorry SS).

In addition to the danger of PLOWED terrain, there is also the matter of those who cannot be bothered to do their civic duty and shovel their sidewalks at all. In this situation, you will play human Frogger. You will also make a mental note of the address for egging purposes. You will also forget all of this five seconds later when you are sideswiped by a Corolla. Don't say I didn't warn you. What I'm trying to say here is that running in the dark, on ice, and sometimes in the road is a foolhardy idea, and you would be wise to join a gym from December to March if you value your body in its current state of 'not-dead'.

Review: The Year of Living Biblically

The Year of Living Biblically recounts author AJ Jacobs' year-long experiment in following the Bible as literally as possible, while at the same time traveling to and interviewing other religious folk, from all over the "crazy" scale. Intrigued by the subject matter (though admittedly a bit burned out by non-fiction over the last few months), I looked forward to a crash course on the Bible, something I knew very little about. While the concept sounded gimmicky, I was willing to withhold judgement. At least for a little while.

As I mentioned earlier, the book finds Jacobs following biblical rules and traveling throughout the United States (and Israel) to understand how people can interpret the same Bible in such disparate ways. The chapters that involve the author interacting with different sects, whether they the Amish or Tennessean Snake-handlers are engaging and respectful, mostly because they allow the followers to explain their belief system themselves, unprocessed by Jacobs. Unfortunately, these scenes are few and far between.

The majority of the book takes place in Jacobs' apartment in Manhattan which he uses as an opportunity to harass the ever-loving piss out of his pregnant wife and attract as much attention as possible from complete strangers. This would be comical if he weren't completely reveling in the attention. I understand parts of the bible are silly, but did he really need to bar himself from sitting anywhere his wife sat if she happened to be menstruating? Of course not, but it makes for a hilarious blurb on the inside cover! He treats most of the book like a self-indulgent stunt and as a result, when he tries to make any grand statements they come across as trite and convenient. He vows to take every passage in the bible literally, but spends much of the book molding and trimming them to fit what he felt like talking about (usually some lame joke). He dismisses others as being 'clearly metaphoric' snarkily and then handles snakes a few chapters later while acknowledging that most Christians believe 'picking up serpents' to be a metaphor.

As SS spoke of at the book meeting, hating Jacobs' the man made the book even more frustrating because he interviews some genuinely interesting people with fascinating things to say. I learned a great deal about the Bible and developed a respect for those who view it simply as a guide to do good. If the whole book consisted of these interviews and life philosophies alone I would have been quite satisfied. Instead, I had to suffer through Jacobs' obnoxious sideshow routine.

Spoon: Transference

In my younger days, I bristled at the thought of a band evolving. Why did Radiohead have to go and eff things up when The Bends rocked so hard? Couldn't they have just set up a studio in the land of riffs and whines and stamped these out ad infinitum? Sure they could have, but can you imagine a decade without songs like Idioteque, There There and Myxomatosis? Me either.

Spoon has made a career out of cranking out taut, efficient pop-rock albums, every song threatening to be copped for an indie film or a TV show (The OC, ahem). Even their experimental twists like The Ghost of You Lingers on Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga are still obstensibly Spoon. Maybe that's why the first few tracks off Transference feel so wobbly. Not wobbly in a bad way, wobbly in that the reliable strum progression doesn't go where you expect, and you feel an uneasiness. Spoon is operating without the safety net of bridges and a chorus here, and you're scared for them. Even the next song Is Love Forever? brings to mind the teaser trailer for A Serious Man, with bits chopped and looped, reverbed vocals yipping and cutting off mid-syllable, the whole thing sounds like a Spoon remix, but there's enough of the familiar Spoon gleaming through to outweigh the lack of any discernable hook.

The rest of the album drifts back toward traditional Spoon fare, but isn't without string flourishes and vocal distortions that try to fetter away the melodies that are clearly there. The rousing piano-drum driven Written in Reverse allows us finally exhale, relieved that Spoon are still the indie Iron Chefs, taking basic ingredients and crafting a delicious amuse-bouche of rock and roll.

Spoon's last album, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga seemed to have captured the bitterness and incredulity of being dumped, with fanged songs entitled Don't You Evah and Don't Make Me A Target that mince no words in tearing down the unfortunate subject. If Ga Ga is Spoon's break-up album, Transference finds them finally at peace with that chapter. The broken skips and loose ends here show that they aren't as they once were (they may never be), but there's the undeniable feeling that they are shedding a bit of their former selves. As Daniels sings on Got Nuffin, "got nothin' to lose but darkness and shadows/got nothin' to lose but bitterness and hang-ups."

Indie Band of the Week: Broken Bells

Broken Bells is a collaboration between James Mercer (of The Shins) and Danger Mouse (of The Grey Album fame). I've enjoyed Mouse's work with Gnarls Barkley and his production turns on the underrated The Black Keys' Attack and Release and The Rapture's Pieces of the People We Love. The Shins are a different story entirely. James Mercer's meandering echo is pleasant enough, but helplessly reduces me to zZz's if it takes him more than 1 verse to dangle a hook. A fantastic lyricist and perfectly capable of singing up an octave and imparting a bit of emotion into tracks, it's no surprise that the most successful songs on Wincing the Night Away (their most recent release) were those that found the band keeping their experimental urges in check (Sleeping Lessons, Australia, Phantom Limb).

If anyone is capable of revitalizing a tired formula, it's a new producer like Danger Mouse. Sure enough, the lead single The High Road sounds absolutely nothing like any Shins track I've ever heard. Keyboard loops float off into space before Mercer comes in, his echo on full display, singing down on us like that Teletubby sun baby. Before you can even place that it's "that Shins dude", a chorus of 'AHH's' sweep you into the bridge and Mercer's confident falsetto. The chorus is effective because it doesn't leave Mercer hanging to carry the load himself, sacrificing some intimacy but offering some needed reinforcement and depth. As a result, the song has a refreshing anthemic energy to it.

Listen to The High Road below:

It is also available as a free single on the duos website brokenbells.com

Now You've Done It...

Forgive my foray into politics for a moment, but something needs to be said about the nail-biter of a Senate race going on here in Massachusetts. Both of these candidates are imbeciles. Thankfully, they are simply placeholders to serve out the rest of Kennedy's term. Unfortunately, the first vote either of them will cast in the Senate will have incredibly far-reaching repercussions. Neither side can afford to lose this election and are pulling out all the stops. For Martha Coakley, this means recruiting the president himself to make a fluff appearance in the aftermath of the Haiti disaster. This is the political equivalent to having your parents help you with a book report you haven't started the night before it is due. It's going to suck, but all you want to do is pass. For Scott Brown, this means selling his soul to the rabid drones of the "Tea Party" movement and all that entails.

In Massachusetts, having two democratic senators is as much a foregone conclusion as Bill Belichick wearing one of these numbers on Sunday afternoon. Only an incredibly inept campaign and an aw-shucks candidate (DID YOU HEAR HE DRIVES A TRUCK??!) could buck this trend. While Coakley shmoozed and and treated her campaign like a victory lap, Brown quietly and steadily rose in the polls until last week when someone on Coakley's staff had to be the buzzkill and point out that the race had become a toss-up. Since said wake-up call, Coakley has responded with a punchdrunk mix of attack ads and nonsensical speeches, desperately trying to stop the bleeding.

Tomorrow will reveal whether she managed to turn things around in time, but regardless of whether she pulls it off, her campaign has been an epic study of hubris. It's too bad there is so much riding on it, because as much as I'd love to see her lose, I'll still be pulling the lever for her tomorrow afternoon. I'll just pretend its for Ted.