Sunday, March 04, 2007

Frank Zappa 'Broadway The Hard Way'



The Academy has passed out the Oscars and Babel won the Best Picture Award and maybe a few others. I don’t care about how many awards the film has garnered and I don’t watch any award shows. Award shows are generally boring and I have found that many of the winners, for the most part, suck.

I’d rather read the list of winners the next day which is often found in the newspaper. It saves me a lot of time and allows me to spend that time doing something else unproductive and entertaining.

When the film Babel came out, our sister station 1075 KZL had a premiere screening that I couldn’t attend. And now after watching 20 minutes of the film, I’m very glad that I didn’t waste my time in the theater.

Babel failed my 20 minute test.

I got the DVD from Netflix over a week ago, but I haven’t had the time to watch it. Last night after work, I had a block of time to give it my full attention. But that attention kept drifting off and was starting to focus on a nearby clock instead.

Babel started off in Morocco where some cat sold a rifle for some dinero and a goat. The kids using the rifle wanted to test the limits the seller boasted about and fired upon a bus. As it turns out, it shot Brad Pitt’s wife. Then the film ended up in Japan, I think, with young women playing volleyball.

I didn’t know where the film was going and I didn’t care. I saw the 20-minute mark on the screen and that joker was jettisoned out of my player faster than Paris Hilton can strike a pose.

It was painfully boring. Here’s a picture of me watching the first 20 minutes of Babel



I immediately put in The Illusionist to wash the taste off my palette and I managed to watch about an hour before my eyes started getting heavy. I will finish it up after this update.

The Illusionist seems like a very interesting film.

Here’s an interesting article found reprinted in today’s Greensboro News & Record.

It’s a future that I don’t like.

Now don’t get me wrong… I like technology as much as the next cat. When the CD came out, I was very excited about getting my hands on them. Yes, I loved my vinyl albums and I still have all of them today.

I have, for the most part, resisted the MP3 players.

I can see how convenient they are, but I cannot get behind purchasing music without some sort of tangible thing to hold in my hands. It just doesn’t feel right. For you to understand… It would be like going to your favorite restaurant and having them serve you through an IV drip.

There’s no joy associated with downloaded music that for years came along with a package containing information about the producer(s), the songwriting credits, special guests, and liner notes.

The kids, and perhaps I’m wrong, today don’t care about that stuff. They just want to get it and go. And to me, that attitude has about the same amount of intimacy that a cheaply produced pornographic DVD possesses.

Just call me a CD/Vinyl romantic. I will still purchase CD’s while they remain part of the musical landscape. And when I purchase that MP3 player within the next month, I will take great care in converting those cherished songs from my CD collection into MP3’s.

As Mick Jagger once sang… “What a drag it is getting old…”

5 comments:

  1. Anonymous11:49 AM

    'Babel' didn't win Best Picture. 'The Departed' did.

    Bonehead.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yeah... I is ignorant and too lazy to look it up. Imagine that with all the information available to me on the Internet.

    The Departed I saw in the theaters and I gave it 4 out of 5 stars on Netflix.

    Just shows how little I care about the Oscars and how lazy I am about researching.

    I will stand by my stupidity.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous11:23 PM

    Thanks for the review of Babel. I'll keep it out of my queue.

    I received The Lady In the Water in the sleeve where Shut Up and Sing should have been. It didn't pass the 20-minute test here, which is unfortunate because I adore Paul Giamatti. However, Blockbuster will send me the correct movie, and I'll get an extra free "trade" at store this month, so I can't complain. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous1:25 AM

    Bebo - Lady in the Water didn't pass the 20 minute test with me, either. It's a shame because I really wanted to like it.

    I really liked Shut Up & Sing, but I'm a diehard Chicks fan. It didn't tell me a lot about the scandal & its aftermath that I didn't already know, but I still enjoyed watching my girls.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous7:50 PM

    Yep, I wanted to like it too. I made an extra effort to like it to no avail.

    I can't wait to see the Chick flick even though, like you, I followed the scandal pretty closely. I always liked their music, and the latest CD is arguably their best work.

    I really like some of Rick Rubin's influence as a producer. He's worked a lot with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (saying that they're my favorite band is a gross understatement). I was tickled to see that Mike Campbell appeared on the Chicks album. Heartbreakers tend to do a lot of work on the side. :)

    ReplyDelete