Posts Tagged ‘Scott Malchus’

Basement Songs: Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, “Stick With Me Baby”

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In the midst of all my mid-life reflection last week, I received an email from a guy I hadn’t heard from in raising-sand1twenty years. John* had tracked me down through the massive power of the Internet, so of course, I immediately directed him to the Basement Songs (we writers are kind of narcissistic that way). After a friendly exchange of e-mails that detailed an overview of our lives, John checked out a couple of my columns and wrote me a follow up e-mail. He told me to disregard the previous e-mail as bullshit. He then wrote one of the most confessional letters that has ever shown up in my Gmail inbox. I’m not going to go into details because his life isn’t an open book like mine (again, narcissism), but I will say that John had a rough time in the ’90s. Happily, through the love of a good woman who never gave up on him, he’s dug himself out and now leads a happier life.

I understood what he was talking about. I went through a period of months a couple years ago in which I suffered through a paralyzing depression. I couldn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel and each day it got harder and harder to get up and face life. I, too, am lucky that I had a good woman and good friends to help me through the times and to right the course of my life. Have you ever experienced that? Have you ever tripped into the dark sides of your psyche and dragged your loved ones with you? If you haven’t been through that hell, then you, my friend, are fortunate. (more…)

TV on DVD: “Blood Ties: Season Two”

BloodTies_S2If vampires, mysteries and romance are your thing, you can do much worse than Blood Ties, the supernatural drama that aired on Lifetime in 2007. The second season collection contains the final nine episodes on three DVDs.

Blood Ties stars Christina Cox as Vicki Nelson, a former cop turned private investigator. Her partner is a hunky, ageless vampire named Henry Fitzroy (Kyle Schmid). The two of them are hired to solve crimes that are out of the ordinary (demons, cat people, etc) and sometimes get brought in by Vicki’s old police partner and lover, Mike Celluci (Dylan Neal). Although all three are “friends,” there are lingering feelings between Mike and Vicki, feelings that make Henry a bit jealous. Likewise, Mike isn’t too sure how he feels about his ex hanging out with a bloodsucking bo-hunk. This strange romantic triangle makes for some light moments in between the X-Files-esque cases that form the basis for the plots of Blood Ties.

Nelson is a no-nonsense, hard nosed detective; she’s not afraid of anything. It’s this quality in her that makes her attractive to both men. Of the two, she seems more drawn to Henry and seems open to the idea of living forever. However, Henry knows that should he give her the gift of eternal life, their love will evaporate; he will have cursed Vicki into watching her friends and family die. This makes Henry one of the most sensitive vampires I’ve seen since Brat Pitt bared his fangs in Interview with a Vampire (this show did come out long before Twilight and The Vampire Diaries). Henry is no pushover and is quite protective of Vicki, as is Mike. The tough guy detective draws many stares and places his career in jeopardy by constantly going to Vicki for help. Some begin to question his sanity as he lets slip his belief in the supernatural. (more…)

Basement Songs: Jeff Beck with Terry Bozzio and Tony Hyams, “Big Block”

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In an effort to conserve gas and save money, I’ve been riding my bike to the train station on a regular basis.Beck It reminds me of my sophomore year at BGSU, when I’d zip around the campus on the red one-speed I bought for three bucks from my friend, Brett. With my Toledo Mud Hens hat turned backwards and an obnoxious turquoise backpack over my shoulders, I’d ride to classes or just tool around aimlessly with the strong Bowling Green winds trying to blow me over. Accompanying me on these journeys was my semi-reliable Emerson portable cassette player (made from the finest plastic China had to offer). And blasting through my headphones in October of ’89 were my favorite albums at the time: Edie Brickell & New Bohemians’ Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars and Jeff Beck’s Guitar Shop.

Brickell and her band were the flavor of the month, with a hit single and exposure on the radio and MTV. Beck’s record, on the other hand, was released with hardly any airplay and little press (the only review I read appeared in Rolling Stone). What the mainstream missed was their loss, because this is one killer album. Featuring his longtime collaborator Tony Hyams on keyboards and former Missing Persons drummer Terry Bozzio, Guitar Shop is a solid mix of rockers and ballads. Moreover, each instrumental displays a 45- year old Beck on fire, showing up the hair metal rockers half his age who dominated the radio in the late ’80s. In the movie in my head, when I wanted to feel cool and ride around like I was Mel Gibson on a bike, I would cue up “Big Block,” with its funky beat and nasty guitar solo, and just cruise the campus. (more…)

DVD Review: “The Brothers Bloom”

the_brothers_bloom_200j5tnThe Brothers Bloom is the second feature film from writer/director Rian Johnson. His first, the high school film noir cult classic, Brick, revealed a promising filmmaker with a fluent style and a knack for writing interesting and unique characters. Brick was a critical success and found an audience on DVD. Because of this, Johnson’s follow-up was bound to be scrutinized as many would be left to wonder whether Johnson was part of the next wave of great filmmakers or just another one-hit wonder. In the end, Johnson’s second effort received limited release and didn’t do well at the box office, which is a shame, because The Brothers Bloom is a beautifully shot film that uses the wide screen to its advantage in all of its scope and color. Brothers is now available on DVD, and it builds on the promise of Brick, succeeding in all of the ways necessary to guarantee that Johnson will continue making movies for years to come.

Mark Ruffalo (You Can Count on Me) and Adrian Brody (The Pianist) star as Stephen and Bloom, two brothers who have always shared everything. Tossed around from foster home to foster home as boys, they learned that they could only depend on each other. They also learned that they could make a lot of money by conning people. The opening prologue of The Brothers Bloom is an innocent, funny and expertly executed introduction to the boys, finding their calling as con artists and scamming their peers. From the start, Stephen is the planner and Bloom the one who sets the con in motion. We also see that at this early age Bloom longs for a connection with someone other than the brother he loves and admires; he wants to be loved. As Rod Stewart’s version of “I Know I’m Losing You” accompanies the boys’ slow-mo walk out of their latest town, the film titles appear and the story jumps ahead 20 years, when Stephen and Bloom are world renowned for being able to pull off the most elaborate and well-staged cons. (more…)

Basement Songs: Patty Griffin, “Be Careful”

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Since the day we moved into our house, I have regularly snuggled my daughter Sophie for about 10 minutes before she1000 kisses goes to sleep at night. When she was younger, it was to help ease her fears over the creaks and rattles of her room when the lights were off. As she got older, this routine turned into an opportunity for the two of us to catch up on our days. I found out about how school was for her, and Sophie asked me questions about my job.  For the past year I have tried to end this nightly routine.  Whenever I expressed this to Julie, my great wife admonished me by saying, “There’s going to come a time when she wants nothing to do with you. Enjoy this while you can.” Generally I pooh pooh this comment; I can’t imagine my daughter not wanting her dad around.

I vividly recall dropping her off for the first time at daycare when she was just two months old. It happened to coincide with my first day at a new job, so I was already a bundle of raw nerves. Letting her go and placing her into the care of people I barely knew was one of the worst things I ever had to do, and after I left the daycare, I had a meltdown in my car before finding the strength to start the car. I felt like she was already moving on. (more…)

DVD Review: “An Audience of One”

audience_of_one_DVDAn Audience of One (2009, Indiepix)
Purchase this DVD from Amazon or from Indiepix

At age 40, Richard Gozawsky, a San Francisco Pentecostal pastor at one of those houses of worship where the members are encouraged to speak in tongues and prayers become shouting matches with the devil, saw his first movie ever. Soon thereafter he received a message from God: Richard was to form a production company and make the greatest, biggest motion picture of all time. It was to be called Gravity: In the Shadow of Joseph, and this cross between Star Wars and The Ten Commandments was going to change the world.

Sounds like the makings of a high concept, studio-budgeted comedy from the Bruce Almighty playbook, doesn’t it? Think again, my friends, because Gazowsky and his journey are the subject of An Audience of One, a documentary from director Michael Jacobs. The film, originally released in 2007 and the recipient of many festival awards, has come to DVD through Indiepix. If you’re tired of documentary filmmakers injecting their beliefs and themselves into their movies, or if you simply enjoy well-made, dramatic movies with humor and eccentric characters, then the nonjudgmental An Audience of One is a film you should see.

Jacob’s film opens as preproduction of Gravity is underway. The volunteer members of the church are making costumes, running the finances, and planning a company move from California to Alberobello, Italy, where they plan to shoot their movie. Having never directed a movie in his life and having never produced anything of this capacity before, Gazowsky is able to raise enough money to put the film into production. His “how hard can it be” attitude about film making and his undying faith that God will guide him have convinced people that he will make this movie. As spiritual leader of his entire production staff, no one questions his actions; no one thinks he’s going to fail. As for the professionals hired to light and work on the camera crew, well, a gig is a gig as long as you get paid, even if the director of the film is delusional. (more…)

TV on DVD: “New Tricks: Season One”

NewTricks_S1New Tricks: Season One (2009, BBC)
purchase from Amazon: DVD

Call it Cold Case for the retired crowd. The BBC’s mystery series New Tricks doesn’t break any new ground as far as procedural dramas go and the whodunit aspect may not have you on the end of your seat, but the series has an interesting premise and a charming cast of eccentrics that really clicks.

Amanda Redman (so great in Sexy Beast) plays Superintendent Sandra Pullman, an excessively competitive Scotland Yard detective whose career was on the upswing until an unfortunate dog-shooting incident during a hostage rescue. It wasn’t the dog that derailed her career, it was that the hostage leaped from a window and wound up in a body cast. The embarrassment to the police leads to a demotion, of sorts. Pullman is assigned to lead the Unsolved Crime and Open Case Squad, a new division made up of retired detectives.

The first person she approaches for her new team is Jack Halford (James Bolam) her old boss and mentor. A well respected member of the force before stepping down off, Jack is a widower still grieving over the death his beloved wife, Mary. He lives a lonely life in a big house where Mary is buried in the back yard. After long days Jack can be seen conversing with his dead wife, seeking her advice, needing her comfort. These scenes are touching, but Bolam doesn’t milk them for tears. In fact, some scenes are often humorous as he details the shenanigans of his new crime-fighting endeavor. (more…)

Basement Songs: The Temptations, “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg”

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One of my brother’s infamous parties was going on downstairs in the basement.  He didn’t have to return tobig chill Columbus for a couple weeks, so I guess he felt one more bash was justified before he left for college. In the past, I had sat upstairs and watched a video while the music thumped through the basement door, but this year was different. I was a freshman in high school and I knew some of the people downstairs. Furthermore, I was deemed old enough (not “cool enough,” mind you) to join the older kids in the basement.

I may have been the youngest person in the room, and I didn’t care. Sitting on the second-hand, musty green couch, located right next to the stereo, I stared as the few girls I knew  (just a year ahead of me) made out with guys two or three years older than them. I studied the techniques of concealing alcohol in plastic cups in case my parents decided to make an unexpected visit. Mostly, though, I just listened to music and got to play DJ. I was spinning The Big Chill soundtrack, that collection of ’60s hits that started the Hollywood trend of marketing movies to the sound of nostalgia and oldies. I hadn’t seen the movie yet; it wasn’t on my list of must-see videos — it didn’t have blood and guts or lowbrow humor. But I loved the songs compiled by writer/director Lawrence Kasdan. While I tapped my foot and did some dorky air drumming to Marvin Gaye and The Rascals, I felt the couch shift as someone sat down next to me. (more…)

DVD Review: “The Proposal”

proposalThe Proposal (2009, Touchstone)
purchase from Amazon: Deluxe DVD Edition | Blu-ray

Sandra Bullock is at the top of her game and Ryan Reynolds gives one of his best performances to date in the romantic comedy The Proposal. This funny, sweet and beautifully shot film is released today on DVD and Blue-Ray.

Reynolds plays Andrew, a degraded executive assistant at a publishing company working for bitch on heels, Margaret (Bullock). Although it’s a lowly job, Andrew understands that if he can survive his tenure with the reviled Margaret, he’ll eventually be promoted to book editor. As the film opens, Margaret has a huge dilemma: Through a visa violation she’s about to be deported back to her native Canada, and she’ll losing her job and reputation. In a moment of desperation, she lies to her bosses and U.S. Immigration that she and Andrew are actually engaged, thus meaning she can stay in the U.S. Andrew only goes along with her plan on the condition he gets his promotion. However, the government expects her to prove their engagement is real. To further perpetuate the scam, Margaret must accompany Andrew back to his home state of Alaska for his grandmother’s 90th birthday.  From there, Peter Chiarelli’s script becomes a fun fish out of water story as Margaret the ice queen’s heart slowly melts.

Once they arrive in Andrew’s small Alaskan hometown, Margaret quickly learns that Andrew isn’t the man she thought he was and gains new respect for him.  She gets to see the loving relationship he has with his mother, Grace (the always adorable Mary Steenburgen) and his rambunctious grandma (a riotous Betty White). Besides the tension created by Andrew and Margaret lying about their relationship, there is the strained relationship Andrew has with his father, Joe (an excellent Craig T. Nelson).  Joe looks at Andrew’s literary pursuits as a whim and is impatiently waiting for his son to return home and take over the family business empire. (more…)

Basement Songs: Shawn Colvin with Mary Chapin Carpenter, “One Cool Remove”

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Julie said she was waiting for me.Shawn Colvin Cover Girl

In 1994, outside the special effects warehouse where I worked, a cat had delivered a litter underneath a pile of lumber directly next to the open area where we used fiberglass chemicals. To save these babies from cancerous fumes they were moved to a safer location, but the mother never returned. A group of us divided up the kittens and when the runt, a squeaky fur ball with white fur and black and white gray patches one her back and legs, was the only one unclaimed, Julie and I adopted her. We named her Doodle.

The first night the two of us woke up periodically to feed Doodle from a syringe. She was so tiny that Julie could put her in the front pocket of her overalls. Over the next week or so she slept on the bed with us, or on my chest where she would knead my chest with her claws. When she was hungry she would “mew,” which was pathetic and sweet at the same time. This all took place in our first apartment, a one bedroom sweatbox located in North Hollywood. It was a big place, but the AC didn’t work, thus the summer days were almost unbearable from the hundred-plus degree heat in the San Fernando Valley. Couple that with the class bells from nearby North Hollywood High during the school year, and you can understand why the rent was pretty cheap. (more…)