Max Payneful
So I got the chance to watch Max Payne recently and I couldn’t even finish it. The movie was just painful to watch. As a fan of the games, I was surprised how poor the transition to film was. The story went no place for me, I finally turned it off. Also Mila Kunis was just painful in this role. I’d avoid this movie.
Check out Zodiac
So I got to check out the movie Zodiac by David Fincher this weekend at The Crest a local second run theater in Seattle. The movie is about the Zodiac Killer who terrorized the San Fransisco Bay area through the late 60′s to mid 70′s. The movie really breaks into two sections, with the first act being about the actual crimes and the media publicity and the second half is about the obsession of Robert Graysmith, the comic artist at the San Fransisco Chronicle at the time of the killings, and his attempts to figure out who the Zodiac Killer true identity.
The film is a great departure from David Fincher previous body of work. This was just a crime drama, and not the mind twist that Fincher has previously done with The Game and Seven. The attention to detail in the time period is striking and really has a excellent visual style to it without even noticing it. Many aspects are subtle but greatly effective in making the movie quite tense at moments.
The movie also had an excellent cast including Jake Gyllenhaal as Graysmith, Robert Downey Jr. as Paul Avery the crime reporter at the SF Chronicle, and Mark Ruffalo as Inspector David Toschi. All of them give great performances especially Downey Jr, as he always does. Gyllenhall really plays the part of this noble naive eagle scout perfectly. At times you can see the boyhood curiosity in his eyes through the film, which then turns into a downward spiral of obsession losing everything including his marriage and children.
Probably the one major problem with the movie is the length, at almost 2 hours and 40 minutes. It keeps going and going. While it is full of some amazing insight and information and some great story telling through film, it does drag for about the last 30 minutes. There are some spots that really could have fallen on the editing room floor.
Overall it was a great true crime movies. If you are interested in shows like Dominick Dunne’s Power Privliege and Justice, L.A. Confidential, The Black Dahlia, or Summer of Sam, you might want to check out Zodiac when it comes out on DVD in a couple months.
Magic Potion Review
!@(uploads/2006/10/magicpotion.jpg:L225 popimg: “The Black Keys – Magic Potion”)The Black Keys return to the record store quickly with Magic Potion after the Chulahoma EP released in May. Magic Potion returns to a more traditional rock sound, but still holds that strong deep blues sound that The Black Keys are known for. From the first track on the album, Just Got to Be, you can feel the soulful rock riff as if Jimi Hendrix was still alive and rock was still king. The album doesn’t stray from this theme of love and heartbreak, as with any blues rock blues album. Daniel Auerbach and Patrick Carney have produced one of the better records in the last couple years with their fusion of sounds. Auerbach raspy voice pains you with some of the more heartfelt or heartbreaking songs like Strange Desire and Goodbye Babylon and then backs it up with guitar work that sound so simple and elegant you feel like you could pick up your trusty guitar and start playing a little diddy, but you soon realize how talented and amazing the guitar work is on the album, especially on Just a Little Heat and Give Your Heart Away. Listening to The Flame is a draining experience but so rewarding, being one of the strongest tracks on the album. The slow drive of this song just goes straight to the bone. This album has to easily be one of my favorites of the year, and will probably compete for my album of the year. My only regret is not seeing them when they were in town recently. I am really kicking myself in the ass for that one.
[rating:4.25/5]
Wolfmother album review
!@(uploads/2006/04/wolfmother.jpg:L popimg: “Wolfmother”)Rock music has been on the downslide the last couple years with a couple bright spots such as The White Stripes, but Wolfmother is about to change that with their U.S. self titled debut this May. Bone crushing cords, thundering drums, and some psychedelic lyrics make for some great songs for a debut. The album starts with the powercord anthem Colossal, which only sets the tone for the rest of the album. Joker and the Thief just take you back to turning on your black light and smoking out and putting your headphones on to Zepplin and Black Sabbath. Later tracks become more dynamic in their delievery like Tales From The Forest Of Gnomes, which starts out as a slow paced dreamland then breaks into an upbeat anthem with some great guitar work. I also have to mention Dimension, which has an AWESOME power riff and the lyric, Purple haze is in the sky. Anything that has purple haze in a song is cool with me. This is the perfect album to pickup for the summer months ahead, and for those who need to fill that rock void.
[rating:4.5]