My Amazon DVD Reviews: Jonah Hex

Jonah Wrecks

2 Out of 5 Stars

A total waste of two great acting talents, Josh Brolin and John Malkovich, Jonah Hex gets mired in an awkward mess of a script, CGI over-dependence and a plot that feels more like an episode of The X-Files meets Wild Wild West than "Revenge Gets Ugly," the movie's tag line.

When Dr Loveless...I mean Quentin Turnbull (Malkovich) decides he wants to find the "Nation Killer" weapon to nuke President Grant in some sort of Confederate Resurrection plot, the man Turnbull tortured and forced to watch the murder of his wife and child, Confederate Soldier Hex (Brolin) out of 'retirement' to track his old nemesis down. However, Hex has an extra talent via the Crow Indians who brought him most of the way back from the dead; he can talk to corpses once he touches them. If Hex can stop the plot, he will be a free man and forgiven his Confederate and murderous bounty hunter sins. So, OK, a pretty good premise.

But the movie is paced so choppily that its very tough to follow. Both Hex and Turnbull are played in a dry and droll manner, leaving Michael Fassbender to pick up the slack as the sole character to show any sparks. There are some interesting cast members here (Aidan Quinn as President Grant, and both Will Arnett and Tom Wopat are involved), but again, the convoluted script leaves little room for characther development. Megan Fox is here, playing a monochromatic prostitute with a soft spot for Hex. After watching this stillborn mess of a movie, she's probably the only one left who does.

My Amazon Reviews: Glee Cast "The Ep's"

Journey to Regionals, The Power of Madonna
3 out of 5 Stars

  

One of the reasons the original cast albums from Glee are such enjoyable outings is the variety of artists, genres and styles of music mixed together. The exuberance of the cast and the arrangements often masks any shortcomings or comparisons to the originals. By focusing entirely on a single artist, and one of the most iconic of the past couple of decades, that is a luxury not granted to "The Power Of Madonna." Because of that, this EP is the weakest of the multiple Glee soundtracks to date.

Frankly, Madonna's shadow overwhelms the songs here, with only "Like A Prayer" matching the verve of its creator. Other than the medley of "Borderline/Open Your Heart" and the cast multiple duet-ting on "Like a Virgin," the rest of the songs fall short. "4 Minutes" (despite the two stellar singers Amber Riley and Chris Colter) is the worst of the batch, and seems to be here merely as a set piece from the show. Jane Lynch (as Sue Sylvester) does a note for note recreation of "Vogue," where the show's remake of the classic video was more interesting than the recorded song.

Madonna herself overpowers the covers of her own work. While the Glee episode that featured these songs was great fun, the EP itself is strictly average. The main thing this CD (and its corresponding TV show) made me think about is how soon "Material Girl: The Musical" is from being staged on Broadway.

Having struck first gold with the season opening cover of "Don't Stop Believing," the Glee Cast make a full circle return by pulling out three more Journey songs for this season finale sendoff. "Faithfully" is given a full-soaped duet treatment with Rachel and Finn (Lea Michelle and Cory Monteih), the full cast tears it up with a medley of "Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin'/Any Way You Want It," and then a slightly more energized second recording of "Don't Stop Believing."

What follows is a version of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody," done with no particular flair. (Looked great on the show, though.) The full cast gets a crack at the chestnut of cheese "To Sir With Love," and without doing much to the original arrangement, knock it out of the park. Finally, Mr Shuester (Matthew Morrison) goes all Jack Johnson on us by serving up a ukulele and guitar version of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow." While that particular song is one I have often stated should be retired from public performance, I must admit, this arrangement was thoroughly enjoyable. "Journey To Regionals" is a nice addition to the Glee discography, but the lack of variety makes it only so-so. I got it as a completist; casual fans can probably pass.

My Amazon Reviews: Squeeze "East Side Story"

 

Squeeze to Perfection

5 Out of 5 Stars

Of all the new wave bands to come out of the 80's, Squeeze were the most classicist of the pop makers. "East Side Story" marked a creative peak for them and marked the moment when Chris Difford and Glen Tilbrook began to really earn those Lennon/McCartney accolades that had been bandied about in their names. For roughly 50 minutes, this album rips through all sorts of variations on the pop songbook of styles with only a couple of minor misfires, which are redeemed by the mere presence of "Tempted," which is one of the - if not the very - best songs of the 80's.

The band was feeling their oates on several fronts. For starts, flamboyant showboat Jools Holland was out of the band, with the soulful crooner Paul Carrack taking his place. This attention more on the band's exquisite songcraft. Difford and Tilbrook had also started out with the concept of the album as a two disc affair with each side being a collaboration. Only Dave Edmunds came through on the pledge, and he contributed the album's fiery opener, "In Quintessence."

The remainder fell to frequent touring buddy Elvis Costello and producer Roger Bechiran. The remaining 13 songs on ESS fell to their studio skills, I have often wondered how much they pushed Squeeze to experiment with the eccentricities of "Heaven," "There's No Tomorrow" and "F-Hole," the album's three quirkiest songs. While the experiments didn't always work for me (I could have totally done without the countrified "Labeled With Love"), the band's incredible skills with a hook come through every time.

The penultimate moment to all of this, again, was "Tempted." Giving Carrack a moment to have a white-soul workout with the clever wordplay and the tricky vocal interplay (including a cameo from Costello) made this a most irresistible song. While it didn't make it to the charts in America, it has kept the staying power of a classic. And while it wasn't even a single, the interconnected melodies of "Mumbo Jumbo" have never failed to blow me away. Same for the rock-abilly closer of "Messed Around" (makes me wish Edmunds had been around for this one), that still makes me tap my toes in sheer amazement. "East Side Story" was Squeeze (and by extension, Tifford and Dilbrook's) peak. Afterwards, indulgence started getting the better of them. For this album, though, every highlight seemed to be followed by yet another moment of brilliance.