Dancer In The Dark

Frances Ha

As much as I enjoyed the high-octane stupidity of Fast & Furious 6, I think my brain needed a break from the recent string of blockbusters I’ve been subjecting myself to. Or at least it needed a break from the trailers, because Jesus Christ, I already had a massive headache before Fast 6 even started. All thanks to sensory-bashing sound effects accompianied by the subtle imagery of Denzel Washington exploding a car full of money or cowboy Jeff Bridges tackling Ryan Reynolds out of a twenty-story building, which is no big deal because they’re cops and they’re dead or something. But I digress, since there is a time and place for movies like Fast 6, and thankfully there’s still a time and place for movies like Frances Ha, a film that pretty much exemplifies the words “small” and “indie”, but is a charmer nonetheless.

Frances is the titular character of the film, and she’s fairly typical of the sort of self-involved twentysomething artist-types that are just trying to get by doing the thing they love (Hmm, sounds like some people I know). Frances is struggling to make it as a dancer in New York, and the film deals a fair amount with that dilemma of putting your energy into something you’re passionate about, all while facing the harsh realities of growing older and more jaded. But most of all, it’s just a fun but also very real character-driven dramedy, as Frances seems to go from apartment to apartment, trying to make a connection with the quirky Brooklynites that seem to permeate her life. It’s a fairly loose story in terms of plotting, but this is a trait I’m usually willing to embrace in movies if I’m invested in the characters and their world (which I was). Plus it never really feels meandering thanks to the film’s tight running time of 86 minutes.

I’ve pretty much liked all of writer/director Noah Bambauch’s earlier work (give or take a Margot At The Wedding), despite the fact that they can sometimes be a bit divisive thanks to the prickliness of their characters. But because Frances is more of a starry-eyed dreamer than the bitter depressives that usually dominate Bambauch’s films, the style and tone here reflects that. Thanks to an eclectic musical score, and some striking black and white cinematography, the film has a sort of French New Wave meets Manhattan kind of vibe to it. And fortunately for me, Bambauch’s cynical touch keeps things from ever venturing into outright whimsy, since I’m finding I have a pretty low threshold for whimsy.

But really, the driving force here is the film’s co-writer and star, Greta Gerwig. I think at this point she’s one of our finest young actresses, as well as one of our most naturally gifted ones. She’s in pretty much every frame of the film, and despite the unpredictable and seemingly unambitious nature of the character, she always manages to make Frances charming and likable without even a hint of phoniness. I don’t know if Gerwig will ever quite make the transition to mainstream stardom, since showing up in lame romantic comedies has been the best she’s been able to do so far. But she’s already been doing good stuff on the indie circuit for years, and Frances Ha is just another indication that she’s completely capable of carving out a great body of work outside the constraints of Hollywood.

Some Kind of Movie – Ep. 3: Boldly Going Where We’ve Gone Before

By now you’ve hopefully read my review of Star Trek Into Darkness, or at least someone’s. But maybe you were craving a little more. Maybe you wanted a spoiler-filled discussion of the film’s merits. Well, here you go. Here it is. The four of us talking about how well Into Darkness compares to the rest Trek legacy, and also how well it stands as a film on its own. And, once again, spoilers.

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Obsessongs: “One More Time”

I wanted to do an obsessong as soon as Colin debuted the feature, then immediately lost my drive. For one, it was writing about music, which I consider myself particularly poor at. But more than that, I wasn’t sure how to pick a song. What are the official criteria? Is it a single song that is so strong that it makes me listen to a whole album just to get to it? A song that I have to listen to over and over? One that I just like way more than I should? But with the release of Random Access Memories and the recent death of Anthony Moore, I thought this gem from Daft Punk was worth discussing.

Song: “One More Time” by Daft Punk
Album: Discovery
Year: 2001
Written By: Thomas Bangalter, Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, Anthony Moore
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C.A.T: L.A. Woman

The Doors – L.A. Woman (1971)

In remembrance of legendary keyboardist Ray Manzarek, I present you with a “Classic Album Tuesday” of The Doors celebrated L.A. Woman. The last Doors album to be recorded with Jim Morrison (who would die three months after its release) L.A. Woman is The Doors at their nittiest and grittiest. Tired of recording in the upscale Sunset Sound studio, The Doors opted to record their sixth album in their own L.A. practice space. Working alongside producer Bruce Botnick (also co-producer of the classic Forever Changes by Love) and Elvis Presley bassist Jerry Scheff, L.A. Woman recaptures the raw intensity of the band’s early work.

Primarily recorded live, sans a few keyboard overdubs by Ray Manzarek, L.A. Woman feels more like a live album than a studio album. There’s a drunken rambunctious fervor that not only makes the album playful but honest. Even a deteriorating Jim Morrison still had enough chutzpah to give the music just the right amount of “Umph!” Fun fact: Jim Morrison recorded his vocals in the studio’s bathroom to get a fuller sound. Crude? Maybe, but in the end product it only adds to the down ‘n dirty style of L.A. Woman.

The material is primarily blues rock oriented. With songs like “Been Down So Long” and “Car Hiss By My Window” you wonder if Morrison was singing while laid back with a bottle of jack and a mouth full of Texas BBQ. And of course you have the jam based title track. A song that feels as if it was made up right on the spot during band practice. It also spawned one of Morrison’s classic lyrics “Mr. Mojo Risin” a memorable anagram of his own name.

Non-blues cuts include the undeniably catchy pop song “Love Her Madly” and the famously mysterious “Riders on a Storm”, one of Manzarek’s most hypnotic performances and a superb swan song to Morrison’s career. It’s hard to say what would’ve happened to the band had Morrison lived. Either way we still got six solid albums and memories that will last until the end.

Favorite Tracks: “Hyacinth House,” “Love Her Madly,” “Riders on the Storm”

Retrospecticus: The National

I feel like I should be pretty excited about The National’s new album, considering these guys are one of my favorite bands of the last decade or so, but I can’t really say that I am. It probably has to do with the fact that I’ve been distracted by a bunch of really good albums that’ve come out recently, as well as the fact that The National aren’t the most appropriate band for listening to in the summer, especially compared to the summer jam-packed album Daft Punk are also releasing tomorrow. There’s also the fact that The National have made a career out of crafting albums that take a while to grow on you, so it’s probably safe to say that the brilliance of Trouble Will Find Me might not hit me until a few weeks after my first listen. But maybe this retrospecticus will get me excited, as it should make it apparent that The National are very very good at making albums I like.

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Trek On

Star Trek Into Darkness

Do not forget, don’t ever forget, that the creative team behind Star Trek: The Next Generation had four shots at making a good movie. Four shots, and like a poor marksman, they kept missing the target. One of the smartest shows on TV, a complex, weekly discussion of life, morality, and the spirit of exploration, and the best they could do were passable-to-bad action flicks. The same franchise that gave us (maybe) the greatest sci fi action movie of all time just could never make it work with a new cast. So JJ Abrams turned that shit around in 2009. He painted with broad strokes, brought back the original characters, focused on what everybody knew about the series. And it was good.

Somehow, the stakes are higher for the sequel. Yes, Abrams and the writers and the cast showed they could revitalize Trek universe and show us a rousing origin story, but with that done, would these new versions of the characters strong enough to propel a whole new adventure? And with the announcement that Abrams will be directing Star Wars: Episode VII, would he be able to prove he’s ready to direct a big deal sequel, something he hadn’t done since Mission: Impossible III? If he screwed this up, a profound disturbance would be felt in the force.

He didn’t screw it up. At least, not in the ways that matter most. The poorly titled Star Trek Into Darkness picks up sometime after the last movie. Kirk (Chris Pine), made captain of the Enterprise by Tyler Perry at the end of the last film, is a capable, but reckless leader. That recklessness gets the better of him in an early sequence, and the movie sets out to prove that he deserves to be the man in charge of the Federation’s flagship. It’s not the most exciting direction for the movie to go in, but it’s nice to see that the writers were more worried about Kirk’s ability to fail upwards than even I was.

On the other end of the spectrum is John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch, you can tell he’s British because his character is named after two Beatles). He’s just a big ol’ jerk. And a terrorist, in perhaps the least interesting aspect of this story. He’s out there blowin’ stuff up pretty early on, and he is quickly made the Federation’s public enemy number one. So Kirk goes after him, as he is wont to do.

This is a slick movie. Like, damn. It’s also a movie that you could tear apart if you wanted to. There are more than a few moments when I found myself asking, why are they doing this? Why is this a thing? And the answer to those questions was always because it’s awesome. People can teleport, why take the shuttle? Because it’s awesome. Kirk’s really smart, why’s he always trying to fight dudes hand-to-hand? Because it’s awesome. The Enterprise is a space ship, and again, people can teleport, why is it underwater? Because it’s awesome.

The thing is, you could go back to any Star Trek and ask similar questions. Why the hell do only senior staff beam into dangerous situations? Shouldn’t they stay onboard, and, you know, lead? The problem might be glaring obvious in retrospect, but as long as a movie doesn’t leave you constantly befuddled, I think it gets a pass. For the most part, I was happy to be taken on Into Darkness‘ ride. I wish it was a smarter movie, because it’s Star Trek, and it should be smart, but it’s not made for me.

And yet… There are some parts that make me wonder. When the klingons take off their helmets, the reveal of their rigid foreheads only means something to the fans who are aware that the species didn’t always look how they look. Alice Eve is in the movie for two reasons: that shot of her in her underwear for the trailers, and her character’s name, which will mean something only to series fans. Otherwise, she does basically nothing, which is sad, because we’re supposed to want her on this crew. One character reveals something about his or her backstory that will only mean something as to the fans, in the actual story itself its nonsense. And there are parts of the ending that go too far in paying homage to the earlier films, trying to recreate moments that frankly this new series hasn’t earned yet.

But like I said, it’s probably not for me. They tried making Trek movies that worked for both Trekkies and peasant-folk, and it didn’t work. Star Trek is a big deal, and damn near everybody knows about most of the stuff this movie references, and they’ll feel giddy when they recognize it. Outside of the Trek context, this is a tight action movie that cherry picks some of the best ideas from recent hits like Inception and Skyfall and throws them in space. That sounds pretty fun, doesn’t it?

But seriously guys, what’s your beef with the transporter?

Vampire in Brooklyn

Vampire Weekend – Modern Vampires of the City

If you’re looking for an in-depth analysis of the 1995 Eddie Murphy classic Vampire in Brooklyn, look elsewhere. Instead, here’s something that’s almost as good. Modern Vampires of the City is the third release from Vampire Weekend, the indie pop foursome that’s getting harder and harder to classify. Lucky for them, that’s what makes them so great. Vampire Weekend’s sound has always been tricky to pinpoint. They started out a little Paul Simon-y, their second album was faintly electronic and now they’ve become something almost impossible to define because it’s like nothing we’ve ever heard. Modern Vampires of the City is an amalgamation of everything Vampire Weekend has done previously and then some. Ezra Koenig’s lyrics are more scholarly and insightful than ever, Rostam Batmanglij’s production is more ambitious, and the two Chris’ hold down an always steady rhythm section.

One of the most defining characteristics of Modern Vampires is its foray into baroque pop. Vampire Weekend had played with this classically romantic sound on past songs like “M79” but here it’s more refined. “Step” is a prime example with its sweeping elegance. There’s a great sense of maturity and growth on Modern Vampires but that doesn’t mean it can’t have fun too. It’s hard to think of anything more enjoyable than the oddly danceable “Diane Young”. Other songs like “Finger Back” and “Worship You” remind us that Vampire Weekend haven’t forgotten the playful punch of their first album. For an artist to grow and adapt without abandoning the sound that made them famous is quite an accomplishment.

I will say that Modern Vampires of the City may not feel as instantly approachable as the first two albums. It’s an unusual sound at first but if you have a pulse you should be able to adapt. I also miss the brevity of past Vampire Weekend songs but I’d sacrifice that any day for better songs. You know you love an album when you eagerly look forward to the next time you sit down and listen to it all over again. Ya Hey!

Favorite Tracks: “Diane Young,” “Step,” “Ya Hey”