Mark Goes to the Movies

Unchained (dir. Louis Leterrier) In the future some Luc Besson scholar will write a Ph.D. dissertation on his thematic fascination with families, especially the kinds of families very damaged people form with other equally damaged people (cf. La Femme Nikita, The Professional). Strangely, it balances his films' emphasis on brutal and stylish violence. So this one (which Luc wrote and produced) stars Jet Li as a child adopted by a gangster (the wonderfully odious Bob Hoskins) and trained to fight in illegal, to-the-death matches--then adopted all over again by kindly, blind piano tuner Sam (Morgan Freeman could give this performance in a deep coma) and his nutty and gorgeous stepdaughter, who teaches him to play the piano. Of course, everything goes down in a huge chase-fight sequence, but to its credit, the film spends a lot of screen time developing the familial relationship. And this was one film where JL actually gets to display some emotional range--he's not as good an actor as he is a movie martial artist, but he could be someday. Mark's rating: ***

Sleater-Kinney on Dave Letterman Tonight

Listening to my favorite rioteers reminded me that their 5/31 show here is probably the one I'll kick myself the hardest for missing. They sounded great and looked great, too--Corin ravishing in eye makeup, Carrie as pixie rock goddess (damn! hot!), Janet as Keith Moon's godchild, guitars up at perfect rev. I could only have asked for a minute more noise from Carrie's guitar solo.

A Promising Development

Gasp--you mean, Christians for Jesus?

Listening: Gang of Four

Gang of Four, Solid Gold (Infinite Zero Archive) It's hilarious that, given the number of lame-to-passable bands making big bank off watered-down derivatives of their (and Joy Division's) sound, these guys decided to reform. 'Course, as with the Sex Pistonls, why not? These guys were part of an amazing wave of musicians that followed punk down various paths suggested punk, dub, disco, all at once: PiL, Gang of Four, the Slits, the Raincoats, Essential Logic, eventually the whole bunch of downer Mancusians starting with Joy Division. Their sound matched heavy funk drums with even heavier dubwise bass (and mixing) and noise guitar, with Jon King intoning capitalist mantras in the kind of panicked tone (think David Byrne off his meds) that let you know he was trying to keep the psychic wolf from the door through repetition. So usually people point to their first album, Entertainment, and this one as their best. (Both have been pretty hard to find on CD until recently.) And where Entertainment had a more spacious, Beefheart-influenced mix (with the usual dub trickery), this one is where the metal funk really came together in cavernous, clautrophobic mixes. (And live--these guys killed Perkins Palace in Pasadena the night I saw them.)

Mark and Barb Go to the Movies

Definitely did not neglect the cinematic arts, big-budget division, on our recent California-Oregon sojourn.

Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith (dir. George Lucas) I'm not sure why everyone's so abuzz over this final prequel installment. Maybe because instead of lots of weirdly-dressed aliens sitting around in official-looking rooms debating issues that slowly, slowly develop the plot Episode III has a bunch more dogfights and battles, including one massacre of (most of) the good guys just in case you thought this one was going to end happily. You can tell all the care ILM put into every overstuffed background scene and establishing shot, only to fall right back to sleep as soon as Princess Padme and Anakin Skywalker start pitching woo. So just give thanks the damn thing is finally over with and wait for the director's uncut DVD edition. Mark's rating: **

Batman Begins (dir. Christopher Nolan) In these Dirty Harry times, I'm grateful for any blockbuster that suggests (however indirectly) that paranoia is a virus that tears societies apart, not a necessary state that separates Us from Them. I'm sure Christopher Nolan took seriously the job of rescuing this once-lucrative franchise from Joel Schumacher's kiss-of-death episodes. (Say, what ever happened to Chris O'Donnell after Batman and Robin anyway?) I even think Chrsitian Bale's rageaholic brings a little much-needed bad attitude to the batdude. But whoever thought Katie Holmes was a good female lead was probably the same genius who thought the same thing about Alicia Silverstone in 1998. And prequel or no, what's a Batman installment without a bunch of colorfully-themed criminal masterminds to do battle with? Mark's rating: **½

Bad motivational film! Bad!

The media continue their focus on the deeply-rooted, intractable issues of racism, homophobia, and sexual exploitation in our culture. Now maybe the team can get back to reinforcing their commitment to greed, mayhem, and the other values cherished by American sports lovers!