The husband and I made it another double feature night at the Arbor last Friday. Can I just say again how much I LOVE the staff there?!
We started off with "An Education" in the late afternoon. This film stars Carey Mulligan and Peter Sarsgaard and is set in London in the early 1960's. The story follows Jenny, a prep-school student whose whole life is centered around getting into Oxford. The focus doesn't seem to bother Jenny as she looks forward to her time at Oxford as a time to escape her parents and eventually move to Paris and listen to French pop music. Her life is intersected by David (Peter Sarsgaard) a worldly gentleman with a penchant for showing young women the school of life. The movie (with screenplay adapted by Nick Hornby - !!!) is enjoyable and actually much funnier than I thought it would be. Alfred Molina, Olivia Williams, Cara Seymour, Dominic Cooper, Rosamund Pike, and Emma Thompson shine in their supporting roles and Carey Mulligan really treads the line between 16-yr-old schoolgirl and "young woman" very well. I don't think this is Best Picture, but Mulligan and Hornby's contributions are delightful and worthy of accolade.
We then moved on to "Crazy Heart" - Jeff Bridges' tour-de-force as an aging country singer-songwriter. Thank you, director, for opening the movie at a bowling alley - you know we all wanted it, thanks for delivering. Word of warning - this movie is INTENSE! Maybe not "Precious"-intense, but intense in its own way. I knew the film was about the redemption of this man, but I didn't know we were going to follow him all the way down to the bottom, and then lower than that. The music really takes center stage and I think that really added to the authenticity and credibility of the film - not to mention the actors doing their own vocal and instrumental performances. Who would've thought?! The cameos are so outstanding that I won't ruin them for you. Of the two from our double feature - I would recommend this one over "An Education." Can't wait to watch The Dude accept his Oscar. And Ryan Bingham (fellow Austinite!!! or former, at least).
I had Monday off in honor of President's Day, so I decided to catch up with my husband on our Oscar quest (he was 2 ahead of me!). So I headed down to South Austin to catch "The Blind Side" at the AMC at Barton Creek Square Mall. Foolish me forgot about "Percy Jackson & The Lightning Thief" opening this past weekend - I just about had a heart attack standing in line to buy my ticket. No fear upon entering my theatre, just me and old people. Not gonna lie - I really enjoyed this movie. I thought Sandra Bullock was great as a tough, but soft Southern mom and I'm glad this story got told on the big screen. Some critics have branded this film as racist, and I do see that. But at the end of the day, isn't it just about reaching out and helping someone who is down-on-their-luck even though they're not like you? Again - not Best Picture, but a good movie about football and family.
So on Tuesday it was time to catch up on our neglected Netflix and watch "In The Loop" - nominated for Best Original Screenplay. This one is a government satire about miscommunication and power plays eventually leading to declaring war - all in about a week. It involves both British and American politicians and I just don't know if I got it. I would maybe want to watch or discuss it with someone who knows anything about the inner workings of politics (*cough*Will*cough*). It was pretty funny for the first half and then I just got really confused - and kind of ended up not liking any of the characters. Apparently the movie is spun off from a show on the BBC - sadly British humor does not always translate for me. But how awesome was it to see Anna Chlumsky again?!
The future holds "A Serious Man" - coming in our Netflix today. This is the last Best Picture nominee for us to view. Not sure what we'll see in the theatre next - "Nine" has the most nominations of any movie we haven't seen. But "Shutter Island" opens this weekend and I want to see that...who knows...
Friday, February 19, 2010
Monday, February 1, 2010
One fast move or I'm gone...
Life has been moving at breakneck speed in my world as of late, but in the midst of all of it, the husband and I made it out last Wednesday to a show at Antone's. I've only been to Antone's one other time (travesty, right?) and both times I have been impressed at HOW GOOD it sounds in there!!! It really must have the best acoustics of any club downtown. Everything is balanced and clear and not too loud. I really think almost anything (or anyone) can sound good at Antone's. When in Austin, I would recommend catching a show there - I hear they have great blues nights.
So what made us go out on a work night a mere 4 days before my brother's wedding? Ben Gibbard. You would, too. Over the past couple of years Ben (of Death Cab for Cutie and the Postal Service) has been working on a project with Jay Farrar (of Son Volt and Uncle Tupelo). The project was centered around creating a soundtrack for a film version of Jack Kerouac's "Big Sur" called "One Fast Move or I'm Gone." The process started in 2007 and the album came out late last year. Gibbard and Farrar didn't know each other when it all began and Farrar stated in an interview with the Austin American-Statesman that their early sessions really documented their getting-to-know-you process. By the end of it all, about 90% of the material came straight out of the book and an album was born.
The album in and of itself is very interesting because it is less a melding of 2 styles and more an instance of 2 styles co-existing side-by-side. Gibbard's songs are fun, easy pop and Farrar's have a country/blues bent. From what I know about the book/Kerouac, it seems to be an appropriate juxtaposition. The album starts out with the effortless "California Zephyr" (helmed by Gibbard) and ends with the melancholy "San Francisco" (conversely led by Farrar). In a nutshell, this is how Kerouac's trip to Big Sur went and I think the music captures that. If this was a great review, I would have read the book as well, but what can you do.
Willie Johnson (of Centro-Matic) opened and did a respectable job. It was just himself, his guitar, and a looping pedal. I got a little bored, but he was really sincere and had a nice presence. I know I'm old when I have little tolerance for opening acts. Let's just get to the act I paid to see! And so we did...
True to the album, Ben and Jay opened with "California Zephyr" and then ran like a well-oiled machine. They must have used 10 different guitars between the two of them. The hardest-working guy on stage was their guitar tech - he used each song to tune the next guitar and always got the right guitar to the right guy for the right song. The next hardest-working guy was their steel guitar player - he was out-of-control and pretty much the best I've seen/heard. The whole show was fun to see and experience - and I really felt like I was experiencing a unique moment in music, I wouldn't say I feel like that during a lot of the live music I see. Ben Gibbard got to rock a little more than he usually does with Death Cab (fan girl moment: I was like literally 7 feet away from him whenever he sat down at the piano! EEE!!!!!!) and looked like he really enjoyed that opportunity. Watching/listening to Jay Farrar made me want to get into Son Volt and Uncle Tupelo (my friend, Andrew, is out there rolling his eyes - he's been telling me about Son Volt for years). He plays harmonica like a lead guitar soloist - AMAZING. They played the whole album and some other songs that may have been covers, but I didn't know them. Two encores later, it was time to go and it was totally worth staying out past my bedtime.
Buy the cd, see the show, you'll enjoy it.
So what made us go out on a work night a mere 4 days before my brother's wedding? Ben Gibbard. You would, too. Over the past couple of years Ben (of Death Cab for Cutie and the Postal Service) has been working on a project with Jay Farrar (of Son Volt and Uncle Tupelo). The project was centered around creating a soundtrack for a film version of Jack Kerouac's "Big Sur" called "One Fast Move or I'm Gone." The process started in 2007 and the album came out late last year. Gibbard and Farrar didn't know each other when it all began and Farrar stated in an interview with the Austin American-Statesman that their early sessions really documented their getting-to-know-you process. By the end of it all, about 90% of the material came straight out of the book and an album was born.
The album in and of itself is very interesting because it is less a melding of 2 styles and more an instance of 2 styles co-existing side-by-side. Gibbard's songs are fun, easy pop and Farrar's have a country/blues bent. From what I know about the book/Kerouac, it seems to be an appropriate juxtaposition. The album starts out with the effortless "California Zephyr" (helmed by Gibbard) and ends with the melancholy "San Francisco" (conversely led by Farrar). In a nutshell, this is how Kerouac's trip to Big Sur went and I think the music captures that. If this was a great review, I would have read the book as well, but what can you do.
Willie Johnson (of Centro-Matic) opened and did a respectable job. It was just himself, his guitar, and a looping pedal. I got a little bored, but he was really sincere and had a nice presence. I know I'm old when I have little tolerance for opening acts. Let's just get to the act I paid to see! And so we did...
True to the album, Ben and Jay opened with "California Zephyr" and then ran like a well-oiled machine. They must have used 10 different guitars between the two of them. The hardest-working guy on stage was their guitar tech - he used each song to tune the next guitar and always got the right guitar to the right guy for the right song. The next hardest-working guy was their steel guitar player - he was out-of-control and pretty much the best I've seen/heard. The whole show was fun to see and experience - and I really felt like I was experiencing a unique moment in music, I wouldn't say I feel like that during a lot of the live music I see. Ben Gibbard got to rock a little more than he usually does with Death Cab (fan girl moment: I was like literally 7 feet away from him whenever he sat down at the piano! EEE!!!!!!) and looked like he really enjoyed that opportunity. Watching/listening to Jay Farrar made me want to get into Son Volt and Uncle Tupelo (my friend, Andrew, is out there rolling his eyes - he's been telling me about Son Volt for years). He plays harmonica like a lead guitar soloist - AMAZING. They played the whole album and some other songs that may have been covers, but I didn't know them. Two encores later, it was time to go and it was totally worth staying out past my bedtime.
Buy the cd, see the show, you'll enjoy it.
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