Share EdwardLee's profile
EdwardLee
EdwardLee's stats
- Review count20
- Helpfulness votes26
- First reviewSeptember 17, 2008
- Last reviewJune 1, 2012
- Featured reviews0
- Average rating4.1
Reviews comments
- Review comment count0
- Helpfulness votes0
- First review commentNone
- Last review commentNone
- Featured review comments0
Questions
- Question count0
- Helpfulness votes0
- First questionNone
- Last questionNone
- Featured questions0
Answers
- Answer count0
- Helpfulness votes0
- First answerNone
- Last answerNone
- Featured answers0
- Best answers0
![The Treasure Hunter [Blu-ray] [2009]](https://pisces.bbystatic.com/image2/BestBuy_US/images/products/3697/3697637_sa.jpg)
Customer Rating
2
Some TREASURES Are Better Left Buried!
on November 15, 2011
Posted by: EdwardLee
from Flack, Spain
Conflict, conflict, conflict. At the heart of every great story, there is a conflict. Sometimes, this is a conflict between characters. Sometimes, it’s a conflict between opposing points of view. Still other times the conflict can be internalized, wherein one character struggles against all odds to achieve a sort of personal best or mythic destiny. Whatever shape the conflict comes in, some version of it is necessary to push a plot forward – to move characters thematically from Point A to Point B, to force situations to develop organically within the needs of the story. What you get when you don’t really have a pronounced or identifiable conflict is … well … what you get oft times is a film like THE TREASURE HUNTER, the kind of picture that there’s absolutely nothing wrong with but still feels more than a bit shallow in the development department.
For a film less than two hours, TREASURE HUNTER feels surprisingly empty, thin, and lifeless … which it absolutely shouldn’t because there are so many elements up on the screen shared with so many other pictures. It’s one part INDIANA JONES; it’s another part ROMANCING THE STONE; it’s a few parts of the LARA CROFT movies; and it’s a few parts of THE MUMMY and THE MUMMY RETURNS. In fact, I could probably take the time to come up with dozens of other influences that come into play with a feature like TREASURE HUNTER, and they would all end up being on a list of pretty solidly produced action films. They’d be summer blockbuster. They’d be secret surprise sleeper films. They’d be anything and everything you could want in a cookie-cutter slam-bang adventure.
What’s it missing? Just about everything else needed to make it all mix together successfully.
The story feels culled together somewhat from several scripts, and, as best as I could mash it out, a disgraced archaeologist’s daughter (played by the wholesome looking Lan Ting) seeks to defend her father’s lost legacy. When it’s clear that she knows more than she lets on, the men involved in her father’s disappearance kidnap her and speed her off to the desert in search of … what else … treasure! However, these deserts are guarded by a kinda/sorta spiritual knight (played with understated toughness – most likely because he was hidden under so many layers of clothing! – by Jay Chou) – complete with the obligatory martial arts. Before you know it, he and she join forces in race against the villains to uncover the secret treasure and … well, I think you get the point.
However, the film’s central plot hinges on a series of flashbacks that detail the secret history that links these assorted characters together into a single film, and, once we know all that there is to know, it’s just not all that interesting. There’s a hook here … a bit of a surprise there … but, in the end, nothing pulls the viewer into the action to the point where you genuinely want to CARE about it all. Chou never really musters any significant charisma to carry the weight of an action film on his shoulders, and Ting never really musters any chemistry opposite her leading man. For a film steeped in its own magical, mysterious mythology, TREASURE feels mostly lost of any real treasures, and I found that a bit off-putting. I wanted to like the film far more than what I did, but it never asked me to.
This is not to say TREASURE HUNTER is a bad picture. By any stretch of the imagination, it isn’t. In fact, one could make a strong argument that it’s a very good picture. The production qualities are solid. The performances certainly appear to be on-the-mark for what was written. The action set pieces are interesting and very well staged. It’s just that nothing here really pushes the boundaries of what audiences have come to expect from motion pictures. When you can get a film like this every other weekend at the cineplexes, then something more is needed to elevate one film above the others. If not, then … well … then, like I said, you’ve left with TREASURE HUNTER. It’s something that feels like it was produced by a studio production system – with its heart and soul removed and left possibly on the cutting room floor where it does no one any good.
In the interest of disclosure, I’m happy to say that the folks at FUNimation provided me with an advance copy of the film in order to complete this review.
What's great about it: Reminds me of many other similar flicks
What's not so great: Reminds me of many other better flicks
I would recommend this to a friend!
Share this review:
0points
0of 0voted this as helpful.
![Zebraman 2: Attack on Zebra City [Blu-ray] [2010]](https://pisces.bbystatic.com/image2/BestBuy_US/images/products/1954/19547218_sa.jpg)
Customer Rating
4
Clever & Crafty Superhero Comedy/Satire ZEBRAMAN 2
on November 8, 2011
Posted by: EdwardLee
from Flack, Spain
Clever & Crafty Superhero Comedy/Satire ZEBRAMAN 2 Earns Its Stripes
I’ve never seen the first ZEBRAMAN picture. Frankly, I didn’t even know one existed. If my internet reading in preparation for writing this review is any indication, I’m not entirely certain how I’d receive it by comparison to the tidy li’l epic that ZEBRAMAN 2: ATTACK ON ZEBRA CITY (hereafter known as “Z2”) surprisingly turned out to be, but I may just have to seek it out now that I know that legendary Japanese director Takashi Miike has taken a swing at the superhero genre of films. With a name like ‘Zebraman,’ it’s safe to expect that the hero’s going to look as zany as he sounds. Perhaps he should! And maybe that’s exactly what Miike would’ve wanted.
I won’t try to decipher too much of the story here, though I’ll give it an honest try. It’s 2010, and Zebraman just saved Japan (and the greater Earth at large) from an alien invasion … or so he thinks. One of the parasitic green critters survives – hiding inside the body of a young girl – but, before our hero can do anything about it, he’s captured by a new menace: a mad scientist bent on splitting Zebraman into two beings, one that’s good and one that’s evil. Flash forward to 2025, and Zebraman’s alter ego wakes up with amnesia … but it doesn’t take long for the doddering school teacher to realize the danger of Zebra Queen, Zebra Police, and Zebra Time! It’s a freakish dystopian tomorrow where techno-pop evil dance princesses rule the day, and survival of the fittest means that, for five minutes every day, lawlessness prevails across Japan in order to provide a balance to the new social order the other 23 hours and 55 minutes requires.
Like I said, I won’t try to decipher too much from it …
That said, Z2 plays out like a bit of an epic B movie. As Miike states in one of the disc’s supplemental features, he rammed the accelerator to the floor for the picture and just kept it going. The incredible combination of story, visuals, music, and generally uncontrolled wackiness amps everything up into massive RPMs, and the talented cast – led by Sho Aikawa returning as Zebraman himself – drags the audience into this hyper-stylized world, forcing the viewers to suspend all disbelief and just have fun going along for the ride. It isn’t perfect, but cult films are never meant to be. Some jokes work. Some probably weren’t necessary. It’s all meant in good fun (not necessarily good taste), and Z2 excels when the elements come together in its own quixotic harmony.
Still, it’s a bit hard to decipher what the viewer should take serious and not-so-serious here because Z2 is, at times, equal parts satire and silliness, equal measures of hero-putdown and hero-worship. Much like Zebra City’s mayor (played with scheming undercurrent by Gadarukanaru Taka) explains to the Zebraman – during the obligatory “supervillain confesses the super-plan to the superhero” scene – life is all about keeping and maintaining a balance. Under Miike’s direction, that’s mostly true throughout the picture, even for one such as myself who came entirely to the property not knowing what to expect. There are enough expository flashbacks for it all to make only as much sense as it needs to, and that’s because Z2 is a cinematic rollercoaster ride. Don’t take it all serious – look for the clever parallels, and marvel at the obvious symbolism of how it takes ‘evil’ to literally re-awaken the forces of ‘good’ – and you’ll have as grand a time as anyone could in Miike’s bizarre world.
In all seriousness, Riiss Naka as the evil Queen Zebra nearly steals the entire show here. It may be Sho Aikawa’s picture under Takashi Miike’s direction, but Naka’s the star here. She’s the real deal all decked up in leather with a head of hair that’s fluffed toward the ceiling. She attacks each and every scene with an overwhelming, lovable villainy. Sure, it doesn’t hurt that she’s magnetically curvaceous like any good action figure should be, but the young starlet puts so much zest and energy into these scenes that it’s clear that she wants the picture to be a success even if only for her own career. She’s a wonderful flamboyant scoundrel – the perfect counterpoint to Aikawa’s foppish schoolteacher – and I can’t imagine the film without her.
What I found particularly rewarding about Z2 is the fact that, despite the fact that the film endlessly thumbs its nose at the superhero genre and subculture, it embraces it with equally as much love and affection. There’s genuine affection here – with the property, with the battles, with the characters, etc. – and that’s a rare commodity in superhero films these days. It seems that every do-gooder in a suit wants to have some dark, brooding back story, and they want to lead lives only of honor and introspection. Zebraman, by contrast, wants to ‘stripe evil’ – a horrible slogan, entirely in keeping with the zaniness of the character – and that’s it. His day job is educating kids, after all, so he can’t be all that bad.
The Blu-ray is loaded with extra features, including a ninety minute documentary on the making of the film. There are a handful of interviews with each of the major players here, including one with Director Miike; they’re all fairly brief, but they highlight what each person went into the role expecting and underscore what they gained from the process. Given the dominance of music in the film, there’s even a segment on the making of the music videos that are cleverly sprinkled throughout the picture. The features are rounded out with the original Japanese TV commercials and coming attractions.
All in all, Z2 was a very pleasant discovery. I’ve never been a huge fan of ‘cultish’ films, but I’m a huge supporter of Takashi Miike’s. This is a welcome distraction and a great way to end my viewing day!
In the interests of disclosure, the folks at FUNimation provided me with an advance copy of the film in order to complete this review.
What's great about it: Overall zaniness sustained throughout
What's not so great: Sometimes the zaniness was too zany!
I would recommend this to a friend!
Share this review:
+1point
1of 1voted this as helpful.
![Four the Record [Deluxe Edition] [CD & DVD]](https://pisces.bbystatic.com/image2/BestBuy_US/images/products/3696/3696338_sa.jpg)
Customer Rating
5
Lambert Continues to #OccupyCountry With Sass
on November 2, 2011
Posted by: EdwardLee
from Flack, Spain
“Four the Record” is a clever play on words. It is, after all, Miranda Lambert’s fourth album on the country/western scene, and it continues to show her progress in exploring the depth of profound lyrics and sound. Sure, maybe this lovely lady can truly do no wrong in the eyes (and ears) of this fan from the beginning; but I’m always surprised at her ability to craft a lesson (be it a moral?) subtly within each and every one of her songs. Without pomp and without circumstance, Lambert holds up life itself to her musical mirrors, and the result is one of most laid-back records about restrained emotions to come out of country music this year.
All Kinds of Kinds (5 out of 5): Living in this ever-crazier world, it’s clear that it takes ‘all kinds of kinds,’ and Lambert explores the idea through a song that sounds like it’d be at home as a child’s song. Perhaps that’s the best audience to learn this fundamental lesson of life: “Ever since the beginning to keep the world spinning it takes all kinds of kinds.”
Fine Tune (4 out of 5): A bit of an experimental track with her voice clearly filtered thru one of those ‘vox’ units so common to pop music these days, “Fine Tune” is a bit of a healthy musical mystery – somewhat reminiscent of ELO’s unique sound – played out with heavy bass, dreamy electric guitar, and a succinct snare drum. It quite probably sounds very little like anything she’s done before, and, on those rights, it’s a welcome diversion.
Fastest Girl in Town (5 out of 5): “You’ve got the bullets, I’ve got the gun, I got a hankerin’ for getting’ into something …” This is quintessential, Southern rockabilly, country-gone-bad-girl country from a gal who knows how to do it like so few else with her own special talents. “Ain’t you, baby? I told you I was crazy … I’ll be wearin’ nothing but a tattoo and a smile.” This is quite possibly Miranda’s theme song for life, if I’m not mistaken.
Safe (5 out of 5): A soft, light backbeat – like a solid soulmate – keeps ‘Safe’ moving leisurely, a meditation about the comfort of being in a perfect relationship. “I follow you just like a shadow only closer in; if you get tied & bound, I’ll find a way to free your hands; I’ll wash them clean of everything but me.” Wonderful. There’s no doubt that having a love in her life makes songs like this easier to write than they were before. A musical valentine, if there ever were one.
Mama’s Broken Heart (4 out of 5): Country music has always staked out solid territory about broken hearts, and ‘Mama’s Broken Heart’ slides comfortably through lands already explored many times, even by Lambert herself. “I’ve known the pain at the expense of my liver.” Perhaps the only thing that elevates the song above the norm is that, under her watchful lyrics, she manages to wring new life by comparing her love-loss to love-loss of older, perhaps wiser women. “This ain’t your mama’s broken heart.”
Dear Diamond (4.5 out of 5): It’s the song of a woman confessing her infidelity to the ring on her finger. “You cost more than he wanted to lose; and with this ring I said I do; I promise to never do what I’ve done; I’ve lied to someone, dear diamond.” It’s another ‘traditionalist’ ballad – exploring grounds not uncommon to country & western music – and Lambert has a talent of handling these without becoming trite or maudlin.
Same Ol’ You (4.5 out of 5): It’s amazing how big a girl can sound while basically strumming a guitar. Lambert’s a master of her instruments. “This time I’ve done some thinking, and I think I’m done with you ‘cause until I get to leavin’ it’s just the same ol’ me, too.” This is the kind of song made famous by the likes of such legends as Patsy Cline and Loretta Lynn. Enjoy country mastery at its finest simplicity.
Baggage Claim (5 out of 5): Sexy & hip (just like Miranda Lambert!), ‘Baggage Claim’ is a country swagger – with a bit of Motown thrown in for good measure – from one girl to the (male) drama queen of her life. “Behind every woman scorned is a man who made her that way.” The song is filled with entirely quotable lyrics any girl could use for good measure in any verbal throwdown with the man in her life.
Easy Living (5 out of 5): Bluesy & slim, ‘Easy Living’ sounds like a throwback to a song that could’ve been sung by a torch singer in some 1930’s backroom gin joint. It’s even backed occasionally by what sounds like a static old radio broadcast. “What’s a little rain to a high-ridin’ rebel or two? ‘Cause it’s easy livin’ lovin’ you.” Once the whistling comes up, you’ll find yourself head-bobbing to even Miranda’s devilish giggle. This might be my favorite track here. Wonderful.
Over You (5 out of 5): Sometimes bigger is smaller, and Lambert – like no one else in country today – knows how to dial sound back, bringing out the natural, easy appeal of the human voice; that’s what’s most needed in songs of genuine heartfelt loss like ‘Over You.’ Where other performers may’ve gone louder, she brings it back to what matters most – one song singing to another. Listen for the solo backed by just a guitar late in the song – it’ll give you chills. It’s that good. “Your favorite records make me feel better because you sang along with every song.” It’s moments like this that she celebrates in her music, and that makes her one of the best lyricists penning country today.
Look at Miss Ohio (2.5 out of 5): Everyone suffers moments of weakness that end up – by accident or design – playing out in spectacles big and small. “I wanna do right, but not right now.” The music all sounds a bit too reflective for its own goods, and that could be because Lambert’s tread this all-too-familiar territory at much greater reward even on this album. It’s a minor, forgivable weakness on an album filled with much stronger moments. It does sport some wonderfully angelic voices on the refrain, but, otherwise, I found it forgettable.
Better in the Long Run (4 out of 5): A duet with her husband (Blake Shelton), Lambert sings a ballad of ‘failed love’ that coulda/shoulda/woulda worked out if both had found themselves instead of looking for one another. “I’m just too selfish I guess; I know you’re tired and restless; it’s no surprise we’ve come undone; but I cannot love you just because you say it’s better in the long run.” Tim McGraw and Faith Hill covered similar territory in their early duets as well. Nice – not stellar – but solid.
Nobody’s Fool (5 out of 5): A country(ish) anthem for the album if there ever was one, ‘Nobody’s Fool’ will have you pounding your foot and wagging your head along with the beat and driving rock(ish) guitar. “All my friends say ‘hey don’t you know him at all?’ and I try to play it all cool; when they ask I’ll just say that he’s nobody, and me? Well, I’m nobody’s fool.” It hints of an Irish rocker to those of us who’ve listened to world music (think some of the work done by The Coors), and that’s a welcome influence here. Don’t miss out on love when you see it comin’ or you’ll end up as nobody’s fool but your own.
Oklahoma Sky (5 out of 5): ‘Oklahoma Sky’ stands for a metaphor about the perfect time, the perfect place that exists in all of our lives. It’s the moment when we find out who we are, what we want, what we stand for, what we always wanted. “With the speed of sound, I’m homeward bound …” A wonderfully, soft tune that’s lush with tugs on one’s heartstrings, ‘Oklahoma Sky’ needs to be listened to in order to be fully appreciated. No words – certainly none I can write – really do it justice. It’s a personal musical discovery more than it is anything else, mesmerizing in that secret way only life can be.
For the record (pun intended), there’s far more to celebrate here than any review can ever successfully convey, and the best advice I’ve ever given to anyone is “listen for yourself, and I think you’ll find something to like.” Lambert stealthily straddles a wealth of musical influences here, but, as I’ve always tried to convey, it’s her ability to weave romantic lyrics into the sounds that elevate her to the top of the country music scene. Nobody – and I mean nobody – writes lyrics like Miranda today. Nobody. She embraces her inner country girl and lets it all hang out – the good, the bad, the ugly, the brash, the young, the wise, the innocent, the loved, the lost, the clumsy, and the swagger – in a way that sets her apart from the competition. It’s a sound as much unique to all of country music as it is her own, and she deserves every accolade I’ve tried to convey here.
Perhaps the biggest success of ‘Four the Record’ is that Miranda leaves her audience exactly where she wants it: always wanting more.
What's great about it: Tremendous Musical Effort
What's not so great: Leaves you wanting more!
I would recommend this to a friend!
Share this review:
+5points
5of 5voted this as helpful.
![The Princess of Montpensier [DVD] [2010]](https://pisces.bbystatic.com/image2/BestBuy_US/images/products/1950/19500139_sa.jpg)
Customer Rating
4
Desperate Houselords
on October 26, 2011
Posted by: EdwardLee
from Flack, Spain
Desperate Houselords: Love, Lust & Loss in 16th Century France
For a film titled after a central female character, THE PRINCESS OF MONTPENSIER is a bit of an anomaly. There’s definitely a princess in there, but the film seems far more at ease when exploring the personalities of the various men in her life, of which there were plenty. This isn’t to say that she’s marginalized as a character; much like Helen of Troy from the Trojan War, the young princess Marie (played by Melanie Thierry) stirs up much passion in the lives of men surrounding her. She delivers them to love. She stirs them to combat. She even forces them to think. But, also like the ill-fated Helen, her story centers of the tragedies she cannot escape. Beauty may be only skin deep, but its effects can withstand several lifetimes.
Marie de Mezieres loves her ruffian-cousin, Henri de Guise (Gaspard Ulliel), but, in order to secure noble standing as well as property, her scheming father promises her hand in marriage to the Prince de Montpensier (Gregoire Leprince-Ringuet). The “transaction” is sealed – indeed, the wedding and first coitus are witnessed by members of both families – and the prince orders his bride to be taken to his castle far away from lands currently waging war, Catholics versus Protestants. Once there, Marie is to be watched over and tutored to assume her role in society by the prince’s aide, Comte de Chabannes, a deserter given asylum by his one-time enemies. Under Chabannes’ watchful eyes, Marie becomes an aristocrat in her own right – a regular 16th century feminist – while she unknowingly awakens his heart to love again.
Pursuing historical accuracy for his period drama, director Bertrand Tavernier recognized that his cast needed to be deliberately centered around young actors. After all, life expectancy in 16th century France was likely in the mid-30’s to early-40’s, with young males starting their own families by age 14. (These facts are clarified by a French historian in one of the disc’s slim but helpful extra features.) As a consequence, the average twenty-year-old back then had lived a fuller life – with more useful life experience for the times – compared to today’s average twenty-year-old. Hence, Tavernier took a gamble in crafting a historical epic around young lovers when most studios probably would’ve preferred securing more established, bankable A-list talent to tell the story of emotional depth, unrequited love, and grand wartime spectacle.
Most importantly, does the risk pay off?
The results are mixed. While none of the younger males in the story show decidedly great range, the script never truly calls for it. Leprince-Ringuet, as the somewhat self-tortured prince, gets the most screen time of the younger male leads, and he ably handles the highs and lows of armed conflict down to the quieter moments with his young bride. The rest of the men seem to be playing mostly with limited focus: Raphael Personnaz chews a bit of scenery as the shrewdly duplicitous Duc d’Anjou (heir to the throne), and Ulliel adequately captures youth’s carelessness with abandon. These three play well off one another – succinctly, they play far more effectively off one another than Thierry, as the princess, plays off any one of them – and that’s mostly because each represents a different passion in life: principle, carnal lust, and power. The princess’s story is far more interesting when these young houselords (the seduction of comfort versus the seduction of lust versus the seduction of power) are around, and therein lies the weakness of Tavernier’s gamble: perhaps Thierry wasn’t strong enough an actress to make this love-triangle – then love-quadrangle, then love-pentangle! – truly succeed. Singly opposite any of these young actors, Thierry seems outmatched if not cinematically flat. She captures some moments, but far too much of the ‘meat’ of these emotions rests on the shoulders of men for Thierry’s Marie to seem much more than the confused pawn the story required her to be.
Where Thierry’s strengths feel far more legitimate is her pairing with Wilson, who serves as her mentor and genuine father figure. These two actors play amicable against one another’s strengths, deftly navigating through the forced roles they play in French society, reasonably concealing their true thoughts and desires until circumstances permit mutual moments of weakness. He answers her every challenge, and she questions his every wisdom. It’s a subtle emotional sparring match that works – the young maiden paired with a bachelor/mentor – precisely because of Thierry’s youthful obliviousness and Wilson’s learned experience. There’s a balance here that Tavernier saw in the script, and he capitalizes on it to good measure. It’s the only truly authentic relationship here, and, thankfully, it elevates all other relationships.
While the film has great production values overall (scenery, locations, and costumes are splendid consistently), there are times that the picture feels unnecessarily bloated in order to absorb all that the cast and crew contributed; arguably, the film’s two-hour-plus run time (2:20) could’ve been trimmed, and perhaps the story wouldn’t have felt so languid in its final half-hour. And while some of the larger action sequences are expertly staged in the war-torn landscapes, the smaller pieces play more like an afterthought; in particular, much of the prince and Henri’s duel for Marie’s hand seems stiff and even amateurish by comparison. Some of this could be due to the reality of war when men were schooled to fight en masse instead of mano-a-mano. The fact that neither lands anything close to a fatal blow – not even so much as a scratch on the other – feels a bit dishonest, given the obvious aroused fury that brought them into conflict.
The disc contains only a handful of special features. (Personally, I would’ve enjoyed a commentary track from the director, but, alas, it wasn’t meant to be.) First, there’s a brief segment featuring a French historian who clarifies the historical accuracy of the picture. Second, there’s another short film (less than five minutes) that’s shot in way-too-curious close-up; it’s a brief interview with the director discussing his intentions behind making the film the way he did, his hopes for storytelling, etc. Lastly, there’s a twenty minute actor interview that features Melanie Thierry and Raphael Personnaz discussing their interpretations of their characters as well as the challenges of working in period films. I believe it’s from a French television program, but I could be wrong. (Yes, the interviews are spoken in French, but it’s all subtitled.)
THE PRINCESS OF MONTPENSIER is a grand tale told against a backdrop thick with grand themes. There’s as much duty and honor wrapped up in the story as there is love and obedience. It’s honest to say that the film won’t be for everyone’s tastes as it deliberately strives for a period authenticity not necessarily common to bodice-ripping romances (of which there are plenty of bodies but very little ripping). In fact, the only nudity featured is hardly gratuitous, but I won’t spoil it for those who discover its rather clinical expression of nuptials. Certainly, director (and master) Bertrand Tavernier weaves a tale where war remains an ugly reality; at times, he shows that the challenges of religion and nobility can be equally horrific. In the end, epics are always stories about the people who lived through these trying times, and, on that substance, PRINCESS takes its sweet time (maybe too long) in upturning every stone here – a calculated, deliberate retelling that’s possibly as much historic as it is contemporary. While the pacing is far from perfect, it’s definitely a tale worth discovering.
In the fairness of disclosure, I wish to thanks the folks at MPI Home Video for providing me with this screener copy for the purposes of watching and reviewing this film.
What's great about it: Period history detail
What's not so great: Would've liked a stronger lead actress
I would recommend this to a friend!
Share this review:
0points
0of 0voted this as helpful.
![Swamp Thing [DVD] [1982]](https://pisces.bbystatic.com/image2/BestBuy_US/images/products/7337/7337946_sa.jpg)
Customer Rating
3
Old School Creature Effects Still Rock!
on March 10, 2011
Posted by: EdwardLee
from Flack, Spain
Honestly, it’s hard not to find some modest visceral enjoyment with the welcome throwback to the time when comics-inspired films weren’t all so dark, dreary, and existential, and, far better than most harmless early efforts, SWAMP THING is just what the doctor ordered. Released in 1982 and made on an estimated budget of $3 million, SWAMP THING was only director Wes Craven’s seventh film (if you believe IMDB.com), and it starred the ever lovely Adrienne Barbeau as government agent Alice Cable, Ray Wise as Dr. Alec Holland, veteran character actor Louis Jordan as Dr. Anton Arcane (Holland’s nemesis and the film’s villain), and stuntman Dick Durock as the Swamp Thing itself.
With a script penned by director Craven, the craftiest invention of the film’s premise is to couple the main plot – an origin tale of the Swamp Thing – with an albeit mildly contrived love story between the flick’s beauty (Barbeau’s Agent Cable) and its beast (Wise’s Holland who, inevitably, becomes Durock’s Swamp Thing). As the film begins, Cable arrives on her mission to investigate security breaches around Holland’s swamp-based government laboratory, but it doesn’t take long for her to succumb to the poetic charms of Dr. Holland, a noble ‘man of science’ who sees magic and mystery in his world and work. His project – a kind of food eugenics, custom-forming plants to adapt to the harshest climates – achieves a breakthrough: he’s managed to combine plant and animal DNA to produce a nifty glowing liquid that accelerates plant growth in the most curious ways. Naturally, Holland’s made his share of enemies, and it isn’t long before Dr. Arcane shows his face with hopes of corrupting the science for his own nefarious ends.
At this point in his career, Craven had made a name for himself with small pictures – B-grade horror movies, mostly – so his choice as a director for a comics-inspired property may seem a bit out-of-the-norm, especially considering modern sensibilities as they apply to comics-influenced pictures, but Craven strengths do help elevate SWAMP THING a bit above your average fun flick. He embodies the film with an almost vintage movie serial film throughout – one scene adventures after the next – while balancing his obvious skill with growing screen tension – Barbeau being ‘manhunted’ through the murky swampland by muscled, fatigued mercenaries. Clearly, the film had to have been a serious work-out for Barbeau; as the film progresses, she’s either running, fighting, climbing, or swimming her escape from these male captors who give no real hint of what they’re planning to do with her once they capture her. She’s in great shape (hasn’t she always been?), and Craven delivers what fanboys everywhere could want: a rough’n’tumble federal agent who looks awfully swell in a sweaty t-shirt.
Did you catch that? I said it has Adrienne Barbeau in a sweaty t-shirt.
SWAMP THING appeared about a decade before Hollywood’s beginning flirtations into the world of CGI, and it shows. The film’s creature effects are (horribly) dated, and Swamp Thing and the Arcane Monster are clearly big, burly men in rubber suits, though Swamp Thing’s clearly had more inspiration, planning, and latex. Still, it’s easy to forgive because the underlying theme here isn’t about the fighting so much as it is about the emotional substance inside the fighter. Holland’s descent into the Swamp Thing is meant to celebrate and amplify his respect for life and all its mysteries while Arcane’s transformation is clearly predicated on his desire for power. Much like the work Ricardo Montalban did as Khan in STAR TREK: THE WRATH OF KHAN, Louis Jordan’s Arcane is a villain who’s prone to espouse his own soliloquies on life. His ‘man of science’ is the antithesis of Holland’s, so it’s only thematically fitting that his creature suit appears void of the obvious poetry involved in designing Holland’s. As a matter of fact, it’s entirely fitting that the Arcane Monster’s weapon-of-choice is a kingly sword yanked from the wall of his mansion while Swamp Thing pulls a thin tree stump from the swamp floor to swing in battle. How Swamp Thing vanquishes the Arcane Monster in battle was a bit of a disappointment to me, but it’s a minor quibble when you’re basically down to two overgrown men battling in oversized wetsuits.
Plus, it has Adrienne Barbeau is a sweaty t-shirt.
It’s great to hear that Hollywood mogul Joel Silver has secured the rights to produce an updated SWAMP THING film. As a fan of most comics properties, I’d love to see a new theatrical outing with a more contemporary story and modern creature effects. Still, I have to admit that I’m a sucker for some of these old school films; other than such stellar CGI creations as THE LORD OF THE RINGS Gollum or STAR WARS Yoda, I’m still waiting for a CGI creature to knock my socks off. There’s something endearing about a man-in-makeup playing Swamp Thing. While I enjoyed Ed Norton’s take on THE INCREDIBLE HULK, I found much of the actual ‘Hulk’ scenes feeling highly manufactured, almost as if they were designed in a computer instead of on the soundstage or on location … and that’s probably because that’s how they were designed. I sometimes miss the inevitable ‘fake’ of knowing that the Thing is little more than a man under plastic and latex. But, like Dr. Holland’s Swamp Thing, maybe I’m just a product of my times.
Plus, did I mention it has Adrienne Barbeau in a sweaty t-shirt?
With a script penned by director Craven, the craftiest invention of the film’s premise is to couple the main plot – an origin tale of the Swamp Thing – with an albeit mildly contrived love story between the flick’s beauty (Barbeau’s Agent Cable) and its beast (Wise’s Holland who, inevitably, becomes Durock’s Swamp Thing). As the film begins, Cable arrives on her mission to investigate security breaches around Holland’s swamp-based government laboratory, but it doesn’t take long for her to succumb to the poetic charms of Dr. Holland, a noble ‘man of science’ who sees magic and mystery in his world and work. His project – a kind of food eugenics, custom-forming plants to adapt to the harshest climates – achieves a breakthrough: he’s managed to combine plant and animal DNA to produce a nifty glowing liquid that accelerates plant growth in the most curious ways. Naturally, Holland’s made his share of enemies, and it isn’t long before Dr. Arcane shows his face with hopes of corrupting the science for his own nefarious ends.
At this point in his career, Craven had made a name for himself with small pictures – B-grade horror movies, mostly – so his choice as a director for a comics-inspired property may seem a bit out-of-the-norm, especially considering modern sensibilities as they apply to comics-influenced pictures, but Craven strengths do help elevate SWAMP THING a bit above your average fun flick. He embodies the film with an almost vintage movie serial film throughout – one scene adventures after the next – while balancing his obvious skill with growing screen tension – Barbeau being ‘manhunted’ through the murky swampland by muscled, fatigued mercenaries. Clearly, the film had to have been a serious work-out for Barbeau; as the film progresses, she’s either running, fighting, climbing, or swimming her escape from these male captors who give no real hint of what they’re planning to do with her once they capture her. She’s in great shape (hasn’t she always been?), and Craven delivers what fanboys everywhere could want: a rough’n’tumble federal agent who looks awfully swell in a sweaty t-shirt.
Did you catch that? I said it has Adrienne Barbeau in a sweaty t-shirt.
SWAMP THING appeared about a decade before Hollywood’s beginning flirtations into the world of CGI, and it shows. The film’s creature effects are (horribly) dated, and Swamp Thing and the Arcane Monster are clearly big, burly men in rubber suits, though Swamp Thing’s clearly had more inspiration, planning, and latex. Still, it’s easy to forgive because the underlying theme here isn’t about the fighting so much as it is about the emotional substance inside the fighter. Holland’s descent into the Swamp Thing is meant to celebrate and amplify his respect for life and all its mysteries while Arcane’s transformation is clearly predicated on his desire for power. Much like the work Ricardo Montalban did as Khan in STAR TREK: THE WRATH OF KHAN, Louis Jordan’s Arcane is a villain who’s prone to espouse his own soliloquies on life. His ‘man of science’ is the antithesis of Holland’s, so it’s only thematically fitting that his creature suit appears void of the obvious poetry involved in designing Holland’s. As a matter of fact, it’s entirely fitting that the Arcane Monster’s weapon-of-choice is a kingly sword yanked from the wall of his mansion while Swamp Thing pulls a thin tree stump from the swamp floor to swing in battle. How Swamp Thing vanquishes the Arcane Monster in battle was a bit of a disappointment to me, but it’s a minor quibble when you’re basically down to two overgrown men battling in oversized wetsuits.
Plus, it has Adrienne Barbeau is a sweaty t-shirt.
It’s great to hear that Hollywood mogul Joel Silver has secured the rights to produce an updated SWAMP THING film. As a fan of most comics properties, I’d love to see a new theatrical outing with a more contemporary story and modern creature effects. Still, I have to admit that I’m a sucker for some of these old school films; other than such stellar CGI creations as THE LORD OF THE RINGS Gollum or STAR WARS Yoda, I’m still waiting for a CGI creature to knock my socks off. There’s something endearing about a man-in-makeup playing Swamp Thing. While I enjoyed Ed Norton’s take on THE INCREDIBLE HULK, I found much of the actual ‘Hulk’ scenes feeling highly manufactured, almost as if they were designed in a computer instead of on the soundstage or on location … and that’s probably because that’s how they were designed. I sometimes miss the inevitable ‘fake’ of knowing that the Thing is little more than a man under plastic and latex. But, like Dr. Holland’s Swamp Thing, maybe I’m just a product of my times.
Plus, did I mention it has Adrienne Barbeau in a sweaty t-shirt?
What's great about it: fun camp
What's not so great: extremely dated film
I would recommend this to a friend!
Share this review:
0points
0of 0voted this as helpful.
![The All American Nightmare [CD]](https://pisces.bbystatic.com/image2/BestBuy_US/images/products/1610/1610318_sa.jpg)
Customer Rating
5
Make New Memories with ALL AMERICAN NIGHTMARE
on December 6, 2010
Posted by: EdwardLee
from Flack, Spain
HINDER All American Nightmare
In my younger days, I was a far greatly listener of heavy metal than I am today, but, every now and then, who doesn’t want to pitch every adult contemporary ‘rock’ album out with the trash in favor of something that has greater edge and harder bite? Hinder’s ALL AMERICAN NIGHTMARE fits my modest bill, though I know that there’s much heavier stuff out there. It works for me, and, if you’re reading the review, then it perhaps works for you. Here’s the breakdown:
2 Sides of Me: (5 out of 5) “This ain’t a love song … don’t get me wrong …” Like a hot wind blowing in over the desert, Hinder rocks hard at the audience with plenty of driving rhythm in its first track. Loving another person means embracing both the public and private personas, never an easy task, and it’s never been hotter than set to Hinder’s music and vocals.
All American Nightmare: (5 out of 5)
Another rock track pounding out a solid beat. “I love the good girls bad and the bad girls worse.” “I’m a one-way ticket to your darkest side.” Every waking parent’s worst nightmare.
Another rock track pounding out a solid beat. “I love the good girls bad and the bad girls worse.” “I’m a one-way ticket to your darkest side.” Every waking parent’s worst nightmare.
What Ya Gonna Do: (4 out of 5)
Hinder finally slows it down a bit to get reflective about facing life’s challenges. “What ya gonna do when the whiskey ain’t working no more … life don’t feel like before … nobody’s beating down your door … what ya gonna do?” If there’s any drawback to this tune, then it’s probably that every rock band asks and answers the same question. While there’s nothing new, it’s still a great listen, elevated above the commonplace by stellar vocals, even a closing coda in near acapella.
Hinder finally slows it down a bit to get reflective about facing life’s challenges. “What ya gonna do when the whiskey ain’t working no more … life don’t feel like before … nobody’s beating down your door … what ya gonna do?” If there’s any drawback to this tune, then it’s probably that every rock band asks and answers the same question. While there’s nothing new, it’s still a great listen, elevated above the commonplace by stellar vocals, even a closing coda in near acapella.
Hey Ho: (3.5 out of 5)
Borrows a heavy through-line from any rock track (the open sounds very familiar to Edie Brickell’s biggest hit) to celebrate rock and its lifestyle (and, especially, the women) that go hand-in-hand with it, hence the ‘ho.’ “You never liked any d*mn song I wrote …” Perhaps a bit too predictable to bring anything new, but there’s a welcome sense of fun to all of it.
Borrows a heavy through-line from any rock track (the open sounds very familiar to Edie Brickell’s biggest hit) to celebrate rock and its lifestyle (and, especially, the women) that go hand-in-hand with it, hence the ‘ho.’ “You never liked any d*mn song I wrote …” Perhaps a bit too predictable to bring anything new, but there’s a welcome sense of fun to all of it.
The Life: (4.5 out of 5)
Rockers know more than a thing or two about celebrating love, and Hinder is thankfully no exception. Indeed, where would wedding receptions be without songs like this? “So this is the life we talked about, this is the ‘I can’t live without,’ when the real world crashes down, oh, if they could see me now …” A stadium-style ballad if there ever was one. Nice work, boys.
Rockers know more than a thing or two about celebrating love, and Hinder is thankfully no exception. Indeed, where would wedding receptions be without songs like this? “So this is the life we talked about, this is the ‘I can’t live without,’ when the real world crashes down, oh, if they could see me now …” A stadium-style ballad if there ever was one. Nice work, boys.
Waking Up the Devil: (5 out of 5)
Welcome to what rock’n’roll does best, folks. “I didn’t come here looking for a fight, but if you’re gonna bite then you’d better have a bite.” Laughs, pretty girls, great base-lines, whiskey, rejection, anti-establishment sentiments, and terrific backing vocals. Hinder’s performance here is a bit reminiscent of some of Def Leppard’s less radio-friendly stuff but with far more edge than that band ever showed except for its early days. This might be the best track here.
Welcome to what rock’n’roll does best, folks. “I didn’t come here looking for a fight, but if you’re gonna bite then you’d better have a bite.” Laughs, pretty girls, great base-lines, whiskey, rejection, anti-establishment sentiments, and terrific backing vocals. Hinder’s performance here is a bit reminiscent of some of Def Leppard’s less radio-friendly stuff but with far more edge than that band ever showed except for its early days. This might be the best track here.
Red Tail Lights: (5 out of 5)
“Red tail lights in the pouring rain …” “We ain’t gonna get nowhere screaming …” “This is where the ending begins …” Relationships are a beach (you know what I’m saying), and rockers have charted out a special niche in celebrating those final gasps at ‘workin’ it out’ and then realizing it just ain’t worth it. This is a song to crank up when you’ve had enough.
“Red tail lights in the pouring rain …” “We ain’t gonna get nowhere screaming …” “This is where the ending begins …” Relationships are a beach (you know what I’m saying), and rockers have charted out a special niche in celebrating those final gasps at ‘workin’ it out’ and then realizing it just ain’t worth it. This is a song to crank up when you’ve had enough.
Striptease: (5 out of 5)
“You’re a wannabe stripper with a microphone, and I’d respect you more if you just took off your clothes …” Bad boys are always gonna be bad boys, and perhaps there’s no better judge of gold-diggers and fake prima donnas out there. “You ain’t no Madonna, you ain’t no Pop Queen … you’re nothin’ but a striptease.” And, at the end of the day, there ain’t anything wrong with that.
“You’re a wannabe stripper with a microphone, and I’d respect you more if you just took off your clothes …” Bad boys are always gonna be bad boys, and perhaps there’s no better judge of gold-diggers and fake prima donnas out there. “You ain’t no Madonna, you ain’t no Pop Queen … you’re nothin’ but a striptease.” And, at the end of the day, there ain’t anything wrong with that.
Everybody’s Wrong: (2.5 out of 5)
Yeah, I know, don’t judge a book by its cover. I applaud Hinder for trying something different, but “Everybody’s Wrong” is the kind of slow, introspective, meaningful rocker that either resonates with you or it doesn’t, and it didn’t really do anything for me.
Yeah, I know, don’t judge a book by its cover. I applaud Hinder for trying something different, but “Everybody’s Wrong” is the kind of slow, introspective, meaningful rocker that either resonates with you or it doesn’t, and it didn’t really do anything for me.
Put the Record On: (4 out of 5)
“I know it’s only rock’n’roll, but it’s the soundtrack of our lives …”
Music has always had the ineffable power to lift us up from where we are today and transporting us to our pasts, remembering where we were, what we were doing, what our dreams were way back then, whether it was our childhood, our high school days, our first make-out session, etc., and boys serve up another anthem that’ll have the stadiums moving. Take a trip to your yesterday by discovering this track, and it’ll probably inspire you to put other records on once you’ve finished with this one.
“I know it’s only rock’n’roll, but it’s the soundtrack of our lives …”
Music has always had the ineffable power to lift us up from where we are today and transporting us to our pasts, remembering where we were, what we were doing, what our dreams were way back then, whether it was our childhood, our high school days, our first make-out session, etc., and boys serve up another anthem that’ll have the stadiums moving. Take a trip to your yesterday by discovering this track, and it’ll probably inspire you to put other records on once you’ve finished with this one.
What's great about it: Great listening!
What's not so great: Some predictable riffs, but still great
I would recommend this to a friend!
Share this review:
+12points
12of 12voted this as helpful.
![Why Wait [CD]](https://pisces.bbystatic.com/image2/BestBuy_US/images/products/8983/8983175_sa.jpg)
Customer Rating
4
Former AMERICAN IDOL Contestant Goes for Broke!
on November 8, 2008
Posted by: EdwardLee
from Flack, Spain
Not entirely a debut album for Kristy Lee Cook, WHY WAIT bursts out of the gate with some terrific pop/country performances here. However, the chief problem with pop/country music is that, as a genre, it tries very hard to sound like pop/country music. As a result, there's a dangerous element of 'sameness' to it which I think many reviewers pick up on. Performers tend to sound alike, but Cook -- in her spirited youth -- does add some nice touches to distinguish herself from other similarly talented singers here; let's hope she keeps pushing that envelope in the future!
15 MINUTES OF SHAME (5 out ot 5):
Every guy's great fear ... set to music! Quite possibly the most fun a woman has had publicly dissing a man ("Jason!") in a country song this year. Playful. Gotta luv it!
Every guy's great fear ... set to music! Quite possibly the most fun a woman has had publicly dissing a man ("Jason!") in a country song this year. Playful. Gotta luv it!
WHY WAIT (5 out of 5)
Sly, sexy, and seductive. "I'd rather be in a long slow kiss than to be holdin' my breath like this." Throwing caution to the wind brings out the best in Kristy Lee. Reminds me a bit of Jo Dee Messina. Wonderfully big refrain. Has the jazziness of a big radio hit.
Sly, sexy, and seductive. "I'd rather be in a long slow kiss than to be holdin' my breath like this." Throwing caution to the wind brings out the best in Kristy Lee. Reminds me a bit of Jo Dee Messina. Wonderfully big refrain. Has the jazziness of a big radio hit.
LIKE MY MOTHER DOES (4 out of 5)
To be honest, the song doesn't mean a whole lot to me personally, but I think Kristy's vocals are absolutely terrific on the track. Reminds me of early Martina McBride's work.
To be honest, the song doesn't mean a whole lot to me personally, but I think Kristy's vocals are absolutely terrific on the track. Reminds me of early Martina McBride's work.
Hoping to Find (2.5 OUT OF 5)
Not a bad song, just a song. Filler track. Any country singer could do this, so there's much better stuff here to explore here.
Not a bad song, just a song. Filler track. Any country singer could do this, so there's much better stuff here to explore here.
BABY BELIEVE (3 out of 5)
Feels like an obligatory performance of the obligatory tear-jerker. Not a performance big enough to elevate the song to something more than what it is: just another song.
Feels like an obligatory performance of the obligatory tear-jerker. Not a performance big enough to elevate the song to something more than what it is: just another song.
Not Tonight (2.5 out of 5)
Settles into a sense of sameness to the last track, though it's a bit more up tempo.
Settles into a sense of sameness to the last track, though it's a bit more up tempo.
Plant the Seed (4 out of 5)
A wonderful mix of music and message. This is the type of song country performers do, and Cook puts a lot of herself into this performance. One of my personal favorite tracks here.
A wonderful mix of music and message. This is the type of song country performers do, and Cook puts a lot of herself into this performance. One of my personal favorite tracks here.
I Think Too Much (4 out of 5)
I don't doubt that there are women who think like this out there. Fun track poking fun at the decidedly female to stay in your head too much.
I don't doubt that there are women who think like this out there. Fun track poking fun at the decidedly female to stay in your head too much.
Homesick (2.5 OUT OF 5)
Nothing here to really lift itself out from any other track on any other pop/country album. Not a bad track, just nothing fresh, new, or different. Filler. That's about it.
Nothing here to really lift itself out from any other track on any other pop/country album. Not a bad track, just nothing fresh, new, or different. Filler. That's about it.
God Bless the USA (4 out of 5)
Covering the Lee Greenwood hit, Kristy puts a proud woman stamp on the project, rockified a bit too much for my tastes, but the vocals are spot on if not a bit too predictable. I gave her major props for her patriotism, though, b/c I've always loved this song.
Covering the Lee Greenwood hit, Kristy puts a proud woman stamp on the project, rockified a bit too much for my tastes, but the vocals are spot on if not a bit too predictable. I gave her major props for her patriotism, though, b/c I've always loved this song.
I think some of these songs could've sounded better if they had been stripped back a bit -- lose some of the instrumentation -- with the vocals a bit more prominent (with the only exception here being "God Bless the USA"). It seems that sometimes record producers -- especially with younger performers with great range -- there's a tendency to over-modulate the music; when this happens, the voice blends in a bit too much with the music, for my tastes, and you lose an element of rawness that can add greater character to vocal range. It's an acquired taste, and it'll come in time ... but WHY WAIT?
What's great about it: Great pop/country
What's not so great: Great pop/country
I would recommend this to a friend!
Share this review:
0points
0of 0voted this as helpful.
![One of the Boys [CD]](https://pisces.bbystatic.com/image2/BestBuy_US/images/products/8848/8848152_sa.jpg)
Customer Rating
5
A strong debut performance
on October 27, 2008
Posted by: EdwardLee
from Flack, Spain
I held off on buying this CD too early because -- to be perfectly honest -- the public fascination with that whole "I Kissed A Girl" song really annoyed me even though the song didn't. I have to say that, now that I've had a listen, I've been pleasantly surprised with Katy Perry's work here, and I'd give it a 4.5 (on a 5 star scale) if allowed. Her voice is animated and fresh throughout, even on the few lesser tracks, and she takes the kinds of risk that Pink has built a career around, although Katy's vocals may be more of an acquired taste than most pop/rock singers.
What's great about it: Pop/rock with attitude
What's not so great: Pop/rock with attitude already explored, but ...
I would recommend this to a friend!
Share this review:
0points
0of 0voted this as helpful.
![Funhouse [CD] [PA]](https://pisces.bbystatic.com/image2/BestBuy_US/images/products/9073/9073833_sa.jpg)
Customer Rating
5
Welcome to the FUNHOUSE
on October 22, 2008
Posted by: EdwardLee
from Flack, Spain
There's a 1960's one-hit wonder quality to the entire album, a sound so magically captured in the Tom Hanks film THAT THING YOU DO!
So What (5 out ot 5): A perfect gem of a song. When it comes to rockin' pop rhythms with lyrical attitude, Pink clearly commands the lead over her peers with driving songs matched with the killer refrains like that of "So What," a musical shot of adrenaline. Who cares what others say? It in the end it doesn't matter b/c talent & attitude triumphs. Never diss the rock star. Celebrate the self. One of the best tracks here. A hit out of the park!
Sober (4 out of 5): A melancholy rocker, introspective in a way only someone who's looked inside can pen and perform. Personal demons are often driven by the actions of others (bad lovers, bad parents, bad friends, etc.), but only one's self-confidence can help you achieve lasting happiness. "How do I feel this good sober?" Indeed.
I Don't Believe You (5 out of 5): Starts softly and swells in power, much like any individual's soul. Only Pink's trembling & gritty voals can elevate the power to jilted love songs like these. Tragically romantic though the love may have come to an end.
One Foot Wrong (2 out of 5): Is it jazz? Is it electronic? Is that a reggae beat? I'm not too sure what to make of "One Foot Wrong." For the record, there's also a late 60's sound working here. The track feels a bit experimental. If it weren't for Pink's massive voice, then I probably wouldn't much remember this tune.
Please Don't Leave Me (4 out ot 5): Lyrically, the song truly shows Pink's vocal strength, alternating as it does between her contemporary singer and an almost lilting little girl backing "da da da" track. A throwback sound to the teen beach tunes of the 1960's brought forward in time beautifully here.
Bad Influence (5 out of 5): Forgive me if I think that THIS is what Pink does best ... celebrating her own downright sinful badness. Pop/rock with all the attitude you can fit between the start and the finish. Actually, this tune has an odd theatrical quality to it, like it's destined to be featured in a rock movie musical or maybe just a real solid and wicked music video.
Funhouse (5 out of 5): Celebrating annihilation ... complete with its own countdown. "This used to be a funhouse, but now it's full of evil clowns." The title track is exactly the kind of song your grandparents warned you about when they said, "Stop listening to that rock'n'roll ... it's so violent." Yes, it's so deliciously destructive, and it's arguably one of the best tracks here.
Crystal Ball (5 out of 5): Smoky & reserved, it's that other kind of song that Pink does extraordinarily well. Just her voice & a twinkling guitar. Questions about the future abound, but just greet them like you would any challenge, and you'll be fine. Hint: even that crystal ball cracks, folks. Honestly, I could listen to her sing this song and play that guitar softly for hours on end.
Mean (5 out of 5): Pink does southern fried rock like Aerosmith does (and ISN'T that Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler singing back-up as he's done with her before?), complete with the blues-backed twangy electric guitars. This is the kind of vocal performance that Grammy's OUGHT to be celebrating. A big (but heartfelt) rock ballad complete with the F word worked in for good measure. "It's like a train wreck trying to hit the right track ..." Asks and tries to answer the question about how, why, when, and where the relationship went wrong.
It's All Your Fault (3 out of 5): It's the kind of track you'll be hearing playing in the background of a Spencer's Gift store for the next six months and always wonder what that's all about. Great driving undercurrent, the kind of track some kids love headbanging to these days. For all its strengths, it's the kind of song whose lyrics either means something to you or they don't.
Ave Mary A (5 out of 5): A flat-out indictment of the world we've created, complete with questioning one's faith alongside with how we got where we are.
Glitter in the Air (5 out of 5): A song that speaks to the simplest, magical pleasures of life, like a child throwing a handful of sparkling glitter into the air. Pink squeezes more depth, passion, and humanity into these four minutes that many of her peers squeeze out of an entire career.
This Is How It Goes Down (5 out of 5)
Sexy, subversive, and sinful, the perfect exclamation point to this visit to the FUNHOUSE. I could've done without the rap interlude by Travis McCoy, but that's only a matter of taste.
Sexy, subversive, and sinful, the perfect exclamation point to this visit to the FUNHOUSE. I could've done without the rap interlude by Travis McCoy, but that's only a matter of taste.
Well, after all is said and done, what is Pink's FUNHOUSE? I could be wrong (I've been wrong before), but I think she's singing about life ... the good, the bad, the tragic, the charm, the ecstatic, the love, the loss ... all of it rolled into one is the 'funhouse,' a ride that once we're all on board we have no other choice but to ride it all out ... thru the good times and the not so good times. There's something here for everyone -- much like life -- and no one should walk away disappointed. Musically, this album is absolutely terrific, and, lyrically, it's absolutely top rate. I haven't felt so excited about an artist's total release in an awfully long time, and here's hoping that Pink finds the success she so much deserves with this trip thru her own personal funhouse.
What's great about it: Pink!
What's not so great: Nada
I would recommend this to a friend!
Share this review:
0points
0of 0voted this as helpful.
![Uncounted: The New Math of American Elections [DVD] [2007]](https://pisces.bbystatic.com/image2/BestBuy_US/images/products/1705/17057097_sa.jpg)
Customer Rating
4
A Call to Action? Or a Call to Distraction?
on September 17, 2008
Posted by: EdwardLee
Regardless of your politics, it's undeniable that national elections have become big business, and the greatest message presented by UNCOUNTED is that, arguably, a technology that accurately accepts, tabulates, and totals votes cast may yet be out of reach for the Great Society ... with the notable exception of good old-fashioned paper ballots ... and UNCOUNTED, a new documentary by David Earnhardt takes great strides through measured bipartisanship to present this possibly grim reality.
Thankfully, UNCOUNTED doesn't simply focus on the 2000 Presidential election's battleground states (Ohio and Florida), and I was presently surprised by Earnhardt's attempt to maintain a level of impartiality in presenting some (certainly not all) of the information here. I've read a wealth of material on the Florida elections, specifically, and I was expecting dramatic overkill or misrepresentation of people, places, and events already healthily explored by the mainstream media. (Yes, I'm comfortable admitting that I don't quite believe an election was stolen, but I'm always willing to be shown the error of my ways.) Some of what happened in Florida CAN BE chalked up to human error on both sides of teh aisle, and, after having watched HBO's recent political film exploring what was largely the Democratic perspective, I really wasn't up for more of the same. But UNCOUNTED surprised me to some extent. In fact, I feel UNCOUNTED works best when it is exploring the controversy associated to electronic voting -- what it is, how it works, how it's possible, etc. While I'm quite certainly a wealth of the information presented here was largely available via certain media outlets, there was plenty of data regarding machine errors and whistleblowing that I haven't seen anywhere else. (You can puruse my other reviews to see that I do frequent conspiracy literature!)
A reasonable person can easily conclude that voting fraud has happened, but I don't feel that UNCOUNTED significantly establishes beyond a reasonable doubt that any one party has perpetrated it. Honest questions are raised; associations are pointed out; a call to action is challenged by the director; and it's all handled with (mostly) professionalism and courtesy. Knowing what I do about organizations like ACORN and others, it's clear that there are other types of voting fraud not explored by this documentary, but the director never explores fraud issues before 2000 with any significance. 2004 gets some discovery here, and 2006 is largely passed over, except for the subtle message that exit polling data still didn't match actual vote counts. I also found it curious that, despite the possibility of electronic error in states where Al Gore won, there was no real examination of whether similar errors could have occured in states he won ... but that's a lesser point.
However, a reality check for Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, independents, and others still remains to be underscored at the film's end: despite the position taken by the national news organizations -- that being that the actual vote counts should match the respective news organizations' exit polling data -- is, debatably, pure farce. Research companies have already shown at great lengths that people are less inclined to be entirely honest with pollsters in matters of morality, preferences, and (yes, I'll say it ...) even race; and no exit poll previously created OR yet-to-be designed will ever account for this immeasureable variable. For many -- even those who don't worship 'the State -- feel that the casting of a vote is 'sacred,' and there will always exist in some folks the desire to keep that one simple act between himself and his ballot ... and perhaps that's best for all involved.
Thankfully, UNCOUNTED doesn't simply focus on the 2000 Presidential election's battleground states (Ohio and Florida), and I was presently surprised by Earnhardt's attempt to maintain a level of impartiality in presenting some (certainly not all) of the information here. I've read a wealth of material on the Florida elections, specifically, and I was expecting dramatic overkill or misrepresentation of people, places, and events already healthily explored by the mainstream media. (Yes, I'm comfortable admitting that I don't quite believe an election was stolen, but I'm always willing to be shown the error of my ways.) Some of what happened in Florida CAN BE chalked up to human error on both sides of teh aisle, and, after having watched HBO's recent political film exploring what was largely the Democratic perspective, I really wasn't up for more of the same. But UNCOUNTED surprised me to some extent. In fact, I feel UNCOUNTED works best when it is exploring the controversy associated to electronic voting -- what it is, how it works, how it's possible, etc. While I'm quite certainly a wealth of the information presented here was largely available via certain media outlets, there was plenty of data regarding machine errors and whistleblowing that I haven't seen anywhere else. (You can puruse my other reviews to see that I do frequent conspiracy literature!)
A reasonable person can easily conclude that voting fraud has happened, but I don't feel that UNCOUNTED significantly establishes beyond a reasonable doubt that any one party has perpetrated it. Honest questions are raised; associations are pointed out; a call to action is challenged by the director; and it's all handled with (mostly) professionalism and courtesy. Knowing what I do about organizations like ACORN and others, it's clear that there are other types of voting fraud not explored by this documentary, but the director never explores fraud issues before 2000 with any significance. 2004 gets some discovery here, and 2006 is largely passed over, except for the subtle message that exit polling data still didn't match actual vote counts. I also found it curious that, despite the possibility of electronic error in states where Al Gore won, there was no real examination of whether similar errors could have occured in states he won ... but that's a lesser point.
However, a reality check for Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, independents, and others still remains to be underscored at the film's end: despite the position taken by the national news organizations -- that being that the actual vote counts should match the respective news organizations' exit polling data -- is, debatably, pure farce. Research companies have already shown at great lengths that people are less inclined to be entirely honest with pollsters in matters of morality, preferences, and (yes, I'll say it ...) even race; and no exit poll previously created OR yet-to-be designed will ever account for this immeasureable variable. For many -- even those who don't worship 'the State -- feel that the casting of a vote is 'sacred,' and there will always exist in some folks the desire to keep that one simple act between himself and his ballot ... and perhaps that's best for all involved.
What's great about it: A measured examination of voting fraud
What's not so great: Sometimes, not so measured ...
I would recommend this to a friend!
Share this review:
0points
0of 0voted this as helpful.
EdwardLee's Review Comments
EdwardLee has not submitted comments on any reviews.
EdwardLee's Questions
EdwardLee has not submitted any questions.
EdwardLee's Answers
EdwardLee has not submitted any answers.