June 2011

There were 16 posts published in June 2011 (this is page 3 of 3).

Maid Of Dishonor

Bridesmaids

It seems like a female answer to all the bromantic raunchy comedies in recent years is something that’s been long overdue.  Well the new(ish) comedy Bridesmaids certainly delivers on that notion, and who better to deliver such a film than mega comedy producer Judd Apatow?  Still, most guys don’t seem willing to go out and see a ladies’ version of The Hangover, but me and Sean nonetheless took it upon ourselves to go out and see it together in a theater mostly packed with women.

In Bridesmaids we follow Annie, (Kristen Wiig) the former owner of a failed bakery who sees her best friend Lillian (Maya Rudolph) getting engaged, and is asked to serve as Lillian’s maid of honor.  Annie’s life starts to fall even more apart as she takes part in the pre-wedding festivities with a varied group of bridesmaids, which includes Helen (Rose Byrne), whom Annie fears has replaced her as Lillian’s best friend.

I’ve always liked Kristen Wiig, but I’ve kind of felt like she usually comes off as just kind of annoying on SNL and hasn’t yet had any particularly memorable film roles.  Well with Bridesmaids, that’s no longer an issue, because she’s pretty fantastic throughout the film.  She’s never afraid to go for broke, and for the most part she’s pretty hilarious from scene to scene.  In fact, most of the cast is pretty excellent, with the obvious stand-out being Melissa McCarthy, who basically fills the Zach Galiafanakis role of the bizarre soon-to-be sibling-in-law.

Though Bridesmaids isn’t quite overflowing with gut-busting sequences, it’s still filled with a lot of laughs, including an extending puking/defecating sequence that I’ll admit I found pretty amusing.  There’s definitely a looseness to a lot of the scenes, many of which seem like they had to of been heavily improvised.  Sometimes this does tend to make the film’s pacing lag a little bit, but honestly I didn’t really mind, considering the film is filled with characters that I simply enjoyed spending time with.  And I think that attention to making believable and relatable characters as well as delivering laughs along with some heartfelt moments is always the mark of any successful Apatow production, and Bridesmaids surely has those vital ingredients.

I think every summer I’m usually looking for that one great comedy, and this summer Bridesmaids might be it, though I think it could be beat.  Still, you’d be hard pressed to find a romantic comedy (or possibly ho-mantic comedy) quite as refreshingly brazen in comparison to all the crappy rom-coms that Hollywood has been unloading on female audiences for years.

Death Cab Decoded

Death Cab For Cutie – Codes and Keys

I had a handful of posts planned for this week, but with school finals I fell a bit behind. Don’t worry though, I still plan on doing my weekly installment on the story of The Defenestrators, I’ll just have to postpone it a little further so be on the lookout. I also have a few other albums and what not to review, but enough about that let’s talk about this album.

In the whole grand scheme of Death Cab For Cutie I’m not really sure where Codes and Keys stands. While Narrow Stairs felt like a significant leap in production and songwriting, Codes and Keys seems to continue the same kind of idea with just a slightly different musical approach. To some that may sound like total bullshit, but it’s the best I can explain how I feel about it. I’m not sure that I like it better than Narrow Stairs, but it’s a damn fine successor with some excellent production and instant Death Cab classics.

The shtick here was to record a less guitar centric album and use a more synth oriented sound. So does this mean it’s like Postal Service? No, not really, in fact the band has more appropriately likened it to Brian Eno’s 1975 album Another Green World. I can see this somewhat in the ambient synth textures that support the bulk of Codes and Keys and the use of electronics to create various rhythms, so it’s definitely reminiscent of that work, there’s just no English guy singing about St. Elmo’s Fire.

Despite this more electronic approach the songs on Codes and Keys would probably be interchangeable on almost any Death Can album. What can I say? They have an established sound. “Home is a Fire” and “Unobstructed Views” and maybe “Some Boys” best represent this “new sound” but there’s just as many familiarly arranged Death Cab tracks. “You Are a Tourist” is easy to fall in love with in it’s catchy riff and dissonant chorus hook as is “Underneath the Sycamore” which for someone reason really reminds me of something off of Narrow Stairs. The title track “Codes and Keys” is without a doubt my favorite track on the album, it’s just a great song, great melody, and great “George Martin-esque” strings.

As much as they might want to claim, I don’t think the band hasn’t made any significant leaps in style, but why should they? They seem perfectly comfortable with where they are and I love listening to where they are. I suppose at some point they’ll need to throw us off with something unexpected to stay fresh, but until then I’m perfectly content with what they’ve created here.

Favorite Tracks: “Codes and Keys”, “Doors Unlocked and Open”, “You are A Tourist”