Real Topeka People

I’m still writing up a post on last weeks amazing week of live music, but today’s SotD is ‘Fitzcarraldo’ by The Frames, led by the magnificent Glen Hansard whose performance at the Sydney Opera House this week with his ‘The Swell Season’ partner Marketa Irglova was revelatory.

This song in particular was amazing live, filled with the same raw passion captured in this clip from Lollapalooza 2006. Hansard is the perfect frontman; always present, always engaged and engaging, always riding the wave of his emotions as he reaches out to his audience.

Running a bit behind here…. but the Nominations for the 81st Oscar were announced last week. You can find the full list HERE.

Here’s my early thoughts on the nominations - I’ll be posting a more detailed list of predictions / thoughts before the awards on February 23rd (Australia time). Still have only seen half of the major noms, so take that into account. On to the categories:

Best Picture:
‘Slumdog’ seems the lock here at the moment. A feel good picture in a year that was desperately needed it. A multi-cultural production, full of light and colour, drama and comedy, and a scrappy-battler-makes-good plot.
I can’t speak of ‘The Reader’, ‘Milk’ and ‘Frost / Nixon’ yet, but I would be happier with a ‘Benjamin Button’ win in this category than ‘Slumdog’. Not sure why, but ‘Slumdog’ just feels a little like ‘Crash’ to BB’s ‘Brokeback Mountain’; a good film that is going to beat out a more nuanced, deeper piece of cinema.

Actor In A Leading Role:
So happy to see Richard Jenkins here for his performance in ‘The Visitor’. A very well deserved nomination.
The buzz is currently on the Mickey Rourke bandwagon, but with so many top-notch performers this is probably the most open of all the categories. Penn and Langella were both critically lauded and will probably steal at least some of the Rourke ‘cinderella’ vote. But enough to snatch it way from him?
Also, I think I might be one of the few who is reasonably happy to see a Pitt nomination here. Yes his Benjamin Button was a quite passive character, but the emotional journey he takes can be clearly seen in Pitt eyes as they grow clearer and younger. There were probably other worthwhile contenders (DiCaprio? Colin Farrell?) but I didn’t think Pitt was an egregious inclusion.

Actress In A Leading Role:
Melissa Leo was the surprise inclusion here. I guess they only had room for one indie actress performance and Kristin Scott Thomas was the one who missed out (her role in ‘I’ve Loved You So Long’ was generating a lot of heat early on).
Since I’ve seen none of these performances (yet!), I can’t really say much other than I think Winslet is the favourite due to her aggressive campaigning, with Streep close behind.

Supporting Actor:
Call this the ‘Heath Ledger Memorial Award’. Whether or not his is the strongest supporting performance is moot; Ledger will take this as a posthumous honouring of his amazing talents.
Michael Shannon’s nomination is very well-deserved, but his role was minimal. I think the Downey Jnr. nom is a bit of a stretch; he wasn’t THAT convincing as an Australian, let alone his channelling of a black character.

Supporting Actress:
I have yet to see ‘The Wrestler’, but the current buzz is on a Marisa Tomei win. Which would make her probably the most unlikely double Oscar winner of all time. From the good word I’ve heard / read about her role, I think there will be less chance of any urban mythology about a mistake this time.
I’ve only seen Taraji P. Henson in ‘Benjamin Button’ so far, and her role as Queenie was unexpectedly moving. I’m holding out on any serious prognostication until I’ve seen ‘Doubt’, which features two of the nominees in this category.

The Wall-E Award:
Do we really even need to announce the other nominees on the night (’Bolt’ and ‘Kung Fu Panda’ apparently)? This feels like a cage match between Chuck Liddell, Verne Troyer and Gary Coleman.

Best Song:
Huh? What? Two ‘Slumdog’ songs and one Wall-E song? And no appearance by The Boss?!? Come on. Despite winning a Golden Globe he can’t even get a nomination at the Oscars?

Best Director:
Following the Best Picture prediction, Danny Boyle seems to be the pick here. I would have no problem with this, especially with Boyle’s track record of making compelling films in any genre. But I also feel Fincher’s work in ‘Benjamin Button’ was far superior; juggling the use of a new technology, the expansive period of the film’s story, the egos of it’s superstar actors and the complexities of tone was a much more difficult task and one that Fincher flourised in doing.

The Host:
Am I the only one experiencing a little cultural-cringe factor about Hugh Jackman as host? I guess I’m worried they are going to turn it into the Boy From Oz and have him do a bunch of cheesy musical numbers. Give me the snarky humour of a Jon Stewart or Chris Rock over that kind of double-glazed ham anyday.

This trailer has definitely got a bit of a ‘Napoleon Dynamite’ feel to it, but there’s a few laugh-out loud lines and I actually like the concept. I’ve been air drumming on car trips for the last ten years - I never knew you could make a career out of it. This is what have I been missing!

File this one under ‘HoM’ for ‘Hit Or Miss’. It did win some big Audience Choice Awards at festivals, so maybe its more Hit. Time will tell.

Dead Letter Chorus: Magnolia Farm from shoottheplayer.com on Vimeo.

Courtesy of the brilliant ‘Shoot The Player’, our friends Dead Letter Chorus playing a lovely version of ‘Magnolia Farm’ on the Sydney Festival free pianos.

Check out some of the other great Sydney Festival acts captured by the excellent ‘Shoot The Player’ team on their page. They definitely capture the emotional power of live music in their unpretentious, natural, ‘this-moment-in-time’ videos.

“Hopeless emptiness. Now you’ve said it. Plenty of people are onto the emptiness, but it takes real guts to see the hopelessness.” - John Givings.

So says John Givings, a psychiatric outpatient mesmerisingly played by Michael Shannon in Sam Mendes’ searing adapatation of Richard Yates’ ‘Revolutionary Road’. He’s speaking to a young Connecticut couple, Frank and April Wheeler, who have revealed to him that the ‘hopeless emptiness’ of a material suburban life, is what they believe to be the root of their marital strife. Shannon’s two brief but indelible scenes are the best moments of a very good film. His character’s unflinching honesty tears away the cloaks of self-deception that Frank and April Wheeler have been using to shield themselves from the pain of their disintegrating relationship.

Played masterfully by Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, the Wheeler’s are a couple who are searching for reasons to explain their ennui and discontent, and latch onto an escape to Paris as the panacea for this melancholy. But when the plan falls apart, neither has the self-awareness to realise that it would have only been a band-aid on the gaping wound that is April Wheeler’s depression and the monotonous boredom of Frank Wheeler’s work life. The film feels like watching a replay of a plane crash; you know a violent impact is coming but you can’t look away.

April in particular is a fascinating study in unchecked depression and suburban self-loathing. Her fanciful notions of a vivacious new life in Paris ignore the essence of her struggle; that wherever she goes, there she is. Winslet buries herself into a role that is both piteous and sympathetic.

It’s a dark film, but gripping in its slow-burn voyeuristic window into the Wheeler’s ‘idyllic’ life; a life that is envied and respected by their friends and neighbours, until that is, the bubbling anger of latent, repressed desires erupts in a brutal moment of domestic disquiet.

Surprisingly snubbed by the Oscars (though I have yet to compare it to ‘Frost / Nixon’, ‘Milk’, or ‘The Reader’), I thought it was Oscar-calibre in its moody, evocative cinematography by the great Roger Deakins, and its assured, subtly symbolic direction by Mendes. Though as mentioned, Michael Shannon is the stand-out; his character, like Shakespeare’s Fool, gives words to the audience’s dismay and disgust. His final line to April is one of the harshest statement’s from one character to another I have ever seen.

From the very funny boys at ‘The Lonely Island’, the first single from their debut album ‘Incredibad’:

It feels a bit like they’ve jumped onto the coattails of Flight of the Conchords, but these guys have actually been doing stuff like this for years. I highly recommend checking out the shorts on their page, and the pilot for their TV show that didn’t get picked up, ‘Awesometown’.

I am glad that it wasn’t just me that felt that way at the end of The Sixth Sense.

Thanks to DK for the heads up!

Finally saw this excellent horror film from 2008 last week. ‘The Orphanage’, directed by first timer Juan Antonio Bayona and produced by Guillermo Del Toro, is the story of a family renovating a defunct orphanage in coastal Spain. Mother Laura wants to turn the orphanage into a home for disabled children. Her son Simon has made an imaginary friend named Tomas. After an argument with his mother, Simon goes missing, and Laura sees a boy who may or may not be Tomas in the caves near the orphanage.

It’s an exceptional film, and one that has really resonated since the viewing. It avoids cheap scares and grounds the horror of the film in the emotional drama of Laura’s grief over her missing child. The question of what really happened to Simon is the engine of a gripping, taut plot that unfolds at a slow but absorbing pace. Belén Rueda’s performance as Laura is the key to the film’s quiet power; her guilt and anger is totally realistic. There’s a few images in the full that are unforgettably chilling, like the aforementioned first appearance of the strangely menacing Tomas. If you want the to get the most enjoyment out of the film, I wouldn’t even watch the teaser trailer below - just go into it blind and enjoy the ride.

If you enjoy horror movies that don’t rely on cliched “boo” tactics and have believable performances, you’ll definitely enjoy ‘The Orphanage’.

P.S. I didn’t link to it in case it disappears, but if you google ‘the orphanage’ I believe you can find the entire film, broken into 11 segments for viewing online.

Here’s one from left field - Patrick Krief, formerly of The Dears, is now lead singer of his new band, Black Diamond Bay. Here’s a live performance of Krief’s song, ‘What We Wanted’.

It’s a great song and clip, and there’s a bunch of other tracks worth checking out on the Myspace page. Wishing him the best of luck with his new band.

A while back I posted the first ‘Great Rate’, some opinions on what is underrated, rated, and overated in the world of film, tv, music and trends by my buddies and I.

I thought it was a good time to look back on 2008 with a new ‘Great Rate’ for 2009. Our correspondents are Andy Daniel, Lara Wiseman-Daniel, Nuf, Mel and Angela Meyer.

MUSICAL ARTIST/BAND

Underrated:
AD: Pete Yorn - amazing singer-songwriter, live and in the studio. No surprise, his new songs on his Myspace are also ear-catching.
ANG: Supertramp - one of the greatest 70s bands, hardly ever talked about these days.
NUF: Kings of Leon - they deserve all the recent accolades they’ve been getting.
LA: Youth Group - My favourite Aussie band who are FAR FAR better than their Forever Young cover suggests.
ANDY: Children Collide, although you will probably be hearing about them soon. Getting lots of good reviews!
MEL: Dido.

Rated:
AD: Radiohead - they get a lot of critical love and hate, and I can understand both, even though I am firmly in the former group. They are definitely one of the 10 biggest bands in the world, but they have never really been recognised by a mainstream audience due to their challenging material.
ANG: Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - rock on.
NUF: Band of Horses.
LA: MGMT - That album is actually really awesome.
ANDY: Kings Of Leon - I don’t know anyone who didn’t enjoy ‘Only By The Night’.
MEL: Silverchair.

Overrated:
AD: The Presets - I’m pretty sure my computer shat out their album after a bad virus.
ANG: Kylie Minogue - too much glitter, she’s blinding.
NUF: Amy Winehouse - If she wasn’t on crack no one would give a shit. Everyone loves a tragedy and that is the only reason we keep hearing her.
LA: Gabriella Cilmi - or should I say, Gabriella Kill Me. (Ad: Hey, that’s my line!)
ANDY: Kid Rock - his total butchering of Sweet Home Alabama should be illegal!
MEL: The Veronicas.

ALBUM:

Underrated:
AD: ‘When The Pawn Hits…’ by Fiona Apple.
ANG: ‘Cease to Begin’ by Band of Horses.
NUF: ‘I-Empire’ by Angels and Airwaves - I don’t know if it’s ‘cool’ to like this album or not but I really dig it.
LA: Doves first album, ‘Lost Souls’ - In my all time top 5 for sure.
ANDY: ‘Emergency’ by the Pigeon Detectives
MEL: ‘Garbage’ by Garbage.

Rated:
AD: ‘For Emma, Forever Ago’ by Bon Iver. This one made plenty of critics top 10 lists for 2008, but I only just got my copy at the start of this month. It’s a stripped back yet stirring display of solo singer-songwriting, and Justin Vernon’s voice is amazing; reedy but yet powerful due to the clever multi-tracking of the vocals.
ANG: Coldplay’s ‘Viva La Vida’.
NUF: ‘A Hundred Million Suns’ by Snow Patrol - I have never really “followed” these guys but consider me a fan after this album. Looking forward to catching up on their old stuff. (Ad: Check out ‘Final Straw’, an even better SP album in my opinion).
LA: Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Rumours’ - I think it may just be my all time favourite record.
ANDY: ‘White Noise’ by The Living End, definitely the best record they’ve ever made. I can’t fault it and i was never a really big fan before!
MEL: ‘OK Computer’ by Radiohead.

Overrated:
AD: ‘Lessons To Be Learned’ by Gabriella Cilmi. Okay, I wasn’t going to put anyone in this category unless I heard their entire album, but with the amount of hype on Gabriella Cilmi, unless the album is equal to Led Zeppelin IV, it’s OVERRATED.
ANG: Whatever Pink’s latest is. I find her irritating in her faux-toughness.
NUF: ‘Timbaland’ by Timbaland - A few okay tracks didn’t mean it deserved to be given all this hype. He keeps using the same production tricks over and over and over again.
LA: I fully agree with Ange about Pink, but I’m going to say whatever Madonna’s latest is. You are old and you look like a piece of gristle. Give it up and go look after your kids.
ANDY: ‘Chinese Democracy’ by Guns and Roses. Had a listen to this to see if it really belonged in the Rolling Stones’ top fifty albums of the year and personally, I think it’s worse than Nickelback!
MEL: The Soundtrack to Star Wars.

FILM:

Underrated:
ANG: ‘The Visitor’ - this is such a wonderful, quiet film about big things. Fantastic performances from usually character-actor types.
NUF: ‘American Beauty’ - I know, it won the ‘99 Best Picture, but I bet in a discussion of great movies this film hardly comes up if at all. As quick as it came it feels like it was forgotten even quicker. Don’t forget the goodness and genius of this film.
LA: ‘Tron’ – awesome 80’s CGI with added Dudeness thanks to Jeff Bridges!
ANDY: ‘Into The Wild’ - I know this is old news, but I’m still bitter about it only getting one oscar nom last year. Sean Penn at least should of got a best director nom for this great film.
MEL: ‘Australia’.
AD: ‘The Station Agent’. This is the debut film from the director of ‘The Vistor’, Angela’s selection. Tom McCarthy’s 2003 film is a warm character study, with natural humour and genuine honesty in the relationships between the characters; a lonely dwarf, a gregarious food vendor and a grieving artist, drawn together at first by their geographic proximity and later by their empathy for each other. This film should have made Bobby Cannavale a well regarded character actor.

Rated:
ANG: ‘The Wrestler’ - so damn good.
NUF: ‘The Big Lebowski’ - Brilliant film, brilliant drink - right Ad and DK? (Ad: ‘Mmmmmmm….Lebowskiiis’).
LA: ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ - It lives up to the hype.
ANDY: ‘The Dark Knight’. I have seen this four times now and it still impresses on each screening.
MEL: ‘Little Children’.
AD: ‘The Dark Knight’. I already wrote about it in My Top 10 films of 2008, but I can add to those thoughts a belief that ‘The Dark Knight’ is not only the best comic book film ever made, but will force future
adapters to look a the grains of realism and emotional truth in the fanciful tales, something that has always been done in fantasy and science fiction. Nolan’s approach will redefine the genre.

Overrated:
ANG: ‘Transformers’ - Yeuch.
NUF: ‘Erin Brockovich’ is the all time winner but I better throw a new one in here …. nope, no film can possibly be more overrated than Erin Brockovich…hmmmm, maybe ‘Mamma Mia’? (Ad: ‘Phew, I thought we were
going to miss a Brokovich reference this year’)
LA: All of the High School Musical films. AERGH.
ANDY: ‘Tropic Thunder’ - It was good but not as good as every one was hyping it up too be. I think because everyone’s expectations were really high on this film they didnt want to admit that it wasn’t really that funny. It had a few great moments by Black and Downey Jnr but Stiller was once again stuck in O.T.T (over the top) mode.
MEL: ‘Lord Of The Rings’
AD: ‘Tropic Thunder’. Funny, but garnering supporting actor nods at the Golden Globes? And making critics Best of 2008 lists? Uh, No. There’s a lot to enjoy about TT, but I don’t think anyone is going to be comparing it to ‘Dr. Strangelove’ in the distant future (also, can Andy please stop reading my mind).

TV SHOW:

Underrated:
AD: ‘Rescue Me’. Still working on Season 1 of this show, but Denis Leary’s portrayal of an emotionally scarred firefighter in post-9/11 New York has already captivated me. Can’t wait to catch up on this sleeper that gets very little ink but contains some really great performers.
ANG: ‘ABC’s First Tuesday Book Club’.
NUF: ‘John Adams’ - I know it kicked ass in the States but I haven’t spoken to one person in Australia that watched it? Does that count? You don’t have to be an American to love this show. Amazing writing, it wasn’t schmaltzy and the cast was perfect.
LA: ‘Lost’ - People say it doesn’t make sense and that they never provide any answers to the million questions they raise, but it’s so addictively watchable and ‘Brother’ Desmond is extremely hot.
ANDY: ‘Entourage’ - Should of won the Golden Globe, although i havent seen ‘30 Rock’ yet.
MEL: ‘The View’

Rated:
AD: ‘The Wire’. I read for two years how great ‘The Wire’ was on a dozen different websites and magazines and this year was fortunate enough to get Season 1 as a Wedding Gift from my good buddy Sean. After ploughing through Season 1, I had to splurge and get the remaining four seasons (through a
less-than-reputable Asian supplier). All five seasons were stellar. Definitely lived up to the hype and leapt into my top 5 TV shows of all time.
ANG: ‘The Simpsons’ - always and forever.
NUF: ‘30 Rock’ - Easily the funniest show since Seinfeld. Perfect cast, hilarious writing, self deprecating and no canned laughter. Perfection.
LA: ‘Dexter’
ANDY: ‘Dexter’
MEL: ‘Flight Of The Conchords’.

Overrated:
AD: ‘CSI’. How can this be America’s top rated drama? I don’t get it. If you like crime shows, watch the true crime stuff on channels like CI. Not some pretty, wooden actors pretending that the forensic unit solves every murder in Las Vegas.
ANG: ‘Sixty Minutes’ and ‘A Current Affair’ and all the other sensationalized ‘news’ we get.
NUF: ‘Australian Idol’ - I won’t even justify it. It’s too easy a target. (Ad, La and Mel: ‘Booooo!’)
LA: ‘Two and a Half Men’ - if I ever hear that theme song again I will stick a pen in my eyeball.
ANDY: ‘America’s Next Top Model’ - I haven’t seen a looker on it yet.
MEL: ‘Sportscenter’. (Ad and Nuf: ‘Booooo!)

TREND

Underrated:
ANG: Tape Walkmans.
NUF: Photo bombing - I would never do it but the aftermath is hilarious.
LA: Comfort.
ANDY: Retro T-Shirts, like my awesome Thundercats shirt (no bandwagon jumpers please).
MEL: Hats / Beanies
AD: Facebook on your mobile. Now I can update my status whilst sitting on the toilet! “Adam is… dropping some kids off at the pool”.

Rated:
ANG: Flattering vintage dresses.
NUF: Lime Infused Low Carb Beers.
LA: Waistcoats / Vests on chicks.
ANDY: Skate Shoes - so comfy and I don’t even skate.
MEL: Showercaps.
AD: iPhone. I hate it, but I’m jealous of the people have one. Damn Apple and their shiny, curvy design scheme.

Overrated:
ANG: Bumcracks.
NUF: Bashing Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes - He is obviously a fruit loop but seriously, enough. I know people who used to love his movies and have single handedly been talked out of liking his movies by the media….that blows.
LA: Stilettos.
ANDY: Anti-war shirts from Supre. Yuk.
MEL: Bras.
AD: Fake Tans. Awesome. You look like an ooompa-loompa. High five!

ACTOR:

Underrated:
AD: Michael C Hall. Loved his David Fishcer in ‘Six Feet Under’ and yet his very cool, morally challenged ‘Dexter’ is probably a tougher role. Can’t wait to see where he takes the character in seasons 2 and 3 (yes, I am behind on Dexter also! Give me a break!)
ANG: Mark Ruffalo (aka Muffalo).
NUF: James Franco - After ‘Pineapple Express’, Spidery 3 is forgiven. Hilarious performance.
LA: Jeremy Davies.
ANDY: Jeremy Piven - Consistently steals the show on ‘Entourage’.
MEL: Sean Penn.

Rated:
AD: Jake Gyllenhaal. Solid in films like ‘Rendition’ and ‘Zodiac’, but hardly transcends the material. I think he would have been perfectly suited to ‘Spiderman’, which he turned down before it went to Tobey Maguire. A good actor, but not in the same realm as his sadly departed ‘Brokeback Mountain’ compadre.
ANG: Michael Cera.
NUF: Philip Seymour Hoffman.
LA: Phillip Seymour Hoffman (aka Pheymour).
ANDY: Brad Pitt - He’s awesome, see Benjamin Button for evidence.
MEL: Leonardo DiCaprio.

Overrated:
AD: Richard Gere. Just look at his last five years. ‘Shall We Dance’, ‘Bee Season’, ‘The Hoax’, ‘I’m Not There’, ‘Nights In Rodanthe’. Sure, no absolute stinkers there, but nothing that screams A-list leading man. I’ve never really got what women find attractive about him either. He’s no Clooney, that’s for sure.
ANG: Shia LaBeouf.
NUF: Tie between Adrian Grenier and Jeremy Piven - One note actors who can only do the one schtick. For proof, just ask Piven what he did when he realised he would of had to do a different performance….oh no, too much sushi!!! cough! cough! (Ad: I think between your selection of Piven in overrated and Andy’s in underrated Piven must categorically fall under the definition of Rated!)
LA: John Travolta.
ANDY: Will Smith - Hasnt done a good movie since, hmmm, I can’t remember!
MEL: Colin Farrell.

ACTRESS:

Underrated:
AD: Michelle Monaghan. Ridiculously cute, yet obviously intelligent actress. Excellent in ‘Gone Baby Gone’, pitch perfect for the material in ‘MI:3′ and ‘The Heartbreak Kid’, and one of the best things about the severely underrated ‘Kiss Kiss Bang Bang’.
ANG: Diane Wiest.
NUF: Amy Adams - just cause. (Ad: The Sean Connery movie??)
LA: Keira Knightley - She’s so young and is already becoming one of the best actresses of her generation.
ANDY: Zooey Deschanel - one of the only good things about Jim Carrey’s ‘Yes Man’.
MEL: Laura Linney.

Rated:
AD: Kate Winslet. Finally getting some award recognition. Her performance in ‘Little Children’ is the anchor of that movie. Has always been great.
ANG: Kathy Bates.
NUF: Keira Knightley - I caught ‘The Duchess’ recently. Awesome performance. She is the real deal.
LA: Cate Blanchett.
ANDY: Kate Winslet.
MEL: Kate Winslet (Ad: I think she wins this category, hands down).

Overrated:
AD: Reese Witherspoon. Can pretty much run a role into the ground. Have never really liked her, and can’t understand the critical or commercial love her. Her ‘performance’ in Rendition was awful - I think she mistook ‘looking constipated’ for ‘worrying over my kidnapped husband’. Plus, you will forever think of her as ‘Greasy Reese’ after you read Kevin Smith’s tale of almost egging her house.
ANG: Kate Hudson - Almost Famous was her high-point, now she’s swapped ‘cool’ for cliched chick-flick crap, one after another. Bride Wars? Come ON!
NUF: Angeline Jolie - I don’t even know if it is her fault but enough. Go away. You’re not a God or cool or anything. You have just crawled from marriage to marriage up the ladder so you can afford to buy babies. You annoy me and you’re not hot….Phew, I feel better now. (Ad: Anyone else think Jolie needs to fire her publicist?)
LA: Reece Witherspoon - Oscar winner!!? Geez Louise).
ANDY: A tie between Anne Hathaway and Kate Hudson, both awful. I saw the trailer for ‘Bride Wars’ and I think some shit actually came out my mouth (Ad: I would consult a doctor about that buddy.)
MEL: Angelina Jolie.

Thanks to Dove for the heads up on this great song by U.S. artist Ray LaMontagne.

What a classic old school vibe. It’s too late for my wedding now now, but if I was getting married soon this would definitely be on the DJs playlist.