Tag: Digital Media

Following a screening of The Counselor, one critic said: “It’s nasty film. Very well made…if that’s what you’re into.”

Judging just from The Counselor’s plot (going into business with Mexican cartels), who wrote it (Cormac McCarthy), and its location (the Texas/Mexico border), there should be no mystery as to what you’re in for.

But there are people who will ignore the rather grim poster and the film’s ominous title (Are happy movies called The Counselor?) and be shocked by the beheadings, bodies stuffed in oil drums, and shoot-outs on the side of the road.

The Counselor is the movie that Savages could have been had Savages not starred Blake Lively and been directed by Oliver Stone. Yes, The Counselor is wholly ice cold, and fits right in with McCarthy’s oeuvre (not including “The Border Trilogy”): heartless, dispassionate, realistic, with a narrative subtext that comments on the roles the characters play as they play those roles.

The Counselor (Michael Fassbender) doesn’t have a name. Why should he? He’s fodder. But he is an attorney and he does want to enter into a smuggling deal with Westray (Brad Pitt) and a nightclub owner, Reiner (Javier Bardem). Westray and Reiner warn The Counselor about what he’s getting into—don’t think for a minute Reiner’s definition of a Mexican bolo tie or Westray’s tale of snuff films won’t come back to haunt them—but The Counselor is unconcerned, even cavalier, about the danger.

There’s also Malkina (Cameron Diaz), Reiner’s girlfriend, and Laura (Penélope Cruz), The Counselor’s wife (what does she call him?). Neither has much to do, even if one of them holds significant keys to the plot. Malkina, for example, seems as if she’s on the verge of explosive rage at any moment, each word a threat, each glance a warning. Is there any mystery as to what she’s up to? It’s too bad Diaz doesn’t have the gravitas for such a role. Total asshole (Any Given Sunday)? Check. Light comedy (Take your pick)? You bet. Underhanded schemer? Not really. It’s not her intelligence that’s the problem—she’s always the smartest person on screen—it’s her acting abilities.

The two cheetahs in the movie don’t really work into the story, but they’re pretty to look at, and they give Diaz’s underwritten and overperformed character something to discuss with the hapless Goran Visnjic.

There’s also much discussion of how dumb The Counselor and Reiner are (and boy, are they) and when The Counselor’s client (Rosie Perez, who’s excellent in her only scene) inadvertently gets him into hot water, it means nothing to the cartels.

That’s a long way of saying: Sit back, don’t think about it too much, enjoy the slickness of Ridley Scott’s direction and the inevitability of the story—a sort of McCarthy specialty—if you’re given to the aforementioned beheadings, bodies in oil drums, and shootouts. There’s nothing new in The Counselor, and those who don’t appreciate a good dose of nihilism would do well to stay away. But something about it is compelling; maybe that it doesn’t pretend to be more or less than what it is.

Playing this week

Bad Grandpa
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX

Blue Jasmine
Regal Downtown Mall Cinema 6

Captain Phillips
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX

Carrie
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX

Cloudy With a Chance
of Meatballs 2
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX

Despicable Me 2
Carmike Cinema 6

Enough Said
Regal Downtown Mall Cinema 6

Escape Plan
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX

The Fifth Estate
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX

Gravity
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX

Inequality for All
Regal Downtown Mall Cinema 6

Insidious Chapter 2
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX

Machete Kills
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX

Monster’s University
Carmike Cinema 6

Planes
Carmike Cinema 6

Romeo and Juliet
Regal Downtown Mall Cinema 6

The Smurfs
Carmike Cinema 6

The Spectacular Now
Carmike Cinema 6

The Summit
Regal Downtown Mall Cinema 6

We Are What We Are
Regal Downtown Mall Cinema 6

We’re the Millers
Carmike Cinema 6

Wadjda
Regal Downtown Mall Cinema 6

The Wolverine
Carmike Cinema 6

Movie houses

Carmike Cinema 6
973-4294

Regal Downtown Mall Cinema 6
979-7669

Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX
244-3213

In the 1930s and 40s, Universal Studios produced a series of horror films which remain some of the best and most popular examples of the genre. Tod Browning’s Dracula and James Whale’s Frankenstein became the iconic depictions of those characters in the popular imagination, from Dracula’s Hungarian accent, widow’s peak haircut, and cape to the neck-bolts, squared forehead, and lumbering gait of Frankenstein (who assumed his creator’s name in the popular consciousness due to the success of the film). All remakes, adaptations, and re-imaginings of those stories today are inevitably compared to Universal’s definitive and indelible masterpieces.

Emboldened by these successes, Universal produced dozens more horror films over the next 25 years, including The Mummy, The Black Cat, The Island of Lost Souls, and The Creature from the Black Lagoon, along with sequels to all of its successful properties. Characters began crossing over into stories in each others’ increasingly comedic and ridiculous films, culminating in the infamous Abbott and Costello Meet… series of the 1950s. Those parodies earned Universal’s monsters a poor reputation in later decades, and while some of the studio’s horror films are indeed dull or awful—it’s tough to maintain quality control at such a high rate of production—Universal’s highlights include some of the most unsettling and atmospheric horror films—and some of the most sublimely ridiculous comedies—ever produced (1939’s excellent Son of Frankenstein impressively manages both).

On Wednesday, October 30th, the Library of Congress will screen two of Universal’s classic horror films in Culpeper. For several years the library has been offering free weekly screenings at their Packard Campus Theater, a beautiful movie house which shows newly restored, pristine 35mm prints from the U.S. Government’s ever-growing collection. The theater offers creative programming, informative introductions and short programs, and some of the best-looking film prints available.

In recent months, the LOC has begun curating auxiliary screenings at the nearby State Theatre in downtown Culpeper. The films are shown via digital projection rather than 35mm film, and the theater, with an admission charge, provides an opportunity to watch classic films in a newly-restored 500-seat art deco movie house, originally constructed in the 1930s.

On Wednesday, October 30th, the State Theatre is screening a double-bill of The Invisible Man and The Wolf Man. The Invisible Man was directed by James Whale, who’d had success with the original Frankenstein, and had not yet made The Bride of Frankenstein. Incidentally, Whale, his life, and his films are the subject of the award-winning 1998 biopic Gods and Monsters. While Invisible Man lacks the expressionist lighting and lush sets that characterized the Frankenstein films, it’s still a well-crafted and highly enjoyable thriller.

Based on the 19th century novel by H.G. Wells (who lived long enough to see the film, and hesitantly praised it), the plot concerns a scientist whose experiments transform him into an invisible psychotic killer. It stars Claude Rains, who is best remembered as Captain Renault from Casablanca. Rains was making his American film debut (replacing the producer’s first choice, Boris Karloff), and though he spends much of the film wrapped in bandages (often utilizing a double; Rains was claustrophobic), his genteel accent and sinister tone are incredibly effective as the title character’s seemingly disembodied voice. The film was a huge success, in part because of its groundbreaking special effects, which pioneered a primitive version of the “blue screen” process used in later decades (or the “green screen” used in contemporary CGI films).

The Wolf Man (1941) is one of the few Universal films based on an original screenplay, rather than a pre-existing novel or stage play. While it drew on centuries of myths and superstitions, it also helped to establish and popularize the werewolf concept used in contemporary films and fiction. It was actually Universal’s second attempt at the werewolf idea, after the unsuccessful Werewolves of London, remembered today only because its title inspired a Warren Zevon song and a John Landis film.

The Wolf Man stars Lon Chaney, Jr., and though it made him a star, it’s also true that he quite clearly lacks the skill and genius of his famous father, the “Man of a Thousand Faces” who had starred in Universal’s very first horror films, as The Hunchback of Notre Dame and The Phantom of the Opera in the silent era. As an actor, the younger Chaney was dopey and dull, lacking in subtlety or grace, but his loutish football player physique served him well when covered in wolf makeup.

The visual effects are comparatively unimpressive when held up against Invisible Man, or later werewolf films—Chaney, Jr.’s “transformation” is depicted via the use of a fade. The film does have a strong supporting cast, including Rains again, and Dracula’s Béla Lugosi as the traveling gypsy who bites Chaney and gives him the werewolf curse.

Tell us about your favorite classic horror film in the comments section below.

Amos Lee

Mountains of Sorrow, Rivers of Song/Blue Note Records

Amos Lee knows what an Americana record ought to sound like and Mountains of Sorrow, Rivers of Song is it. This exploration of the simultaneously universal and individual nature of life is put together in dazzling fashion. The track “Johnson Blvd” details the hard times that have ravaged a small town, while “Stranger” has a groovy roots rock sound augmented by Lee’s lyrics about the transient nature of life. “Tricksters, Hucksters and Scamps” is a fun piece of ragtime rock, “High Water” has an oddly pleasant, kooky vibe to it, and “The Man Who Wants You” is soulful and sexy all at once. “Burden” features Lee apologizing for being a burden to someone, the soft rock track “Indonesia” finds him asking, “When will I be free?” and his duet with Alison Krauss on “Chill in the Air,” details a fragmented relationship. Mountains of Sorrow, Rivers of Song, is a deeply personal, surprisingly affecting piece of work.

Blind Boys of Alabama

I’ll Find a Way/Sony Masterworks

I’ll Find a Way is the latest reminder of why Blind Boys of Alabama have endured for over 60 years as a band. To begin, there are gospel covers such as “God Put a Rainbow in the Clouds,” an upbeat rendition of “Take Your Burden to the Lord and Leave it There,” and the down-tempo, soul-stirring piano jazz number “My God is Real.” But there are surprises too. Justin Vernon of Bon Iver duets with the Boys’ Jimmy Carter on a cover of Bob Dylan’s “Every Grain of Sand,” and the chilling results will bring you to tears. Toss in guest appearances from Patty Griffin on the bluegrass gospel track “Jubilee,” and Merrill Garbus of tUnE-yArDs on “I’ve Been Searching,” and you end up with more than a few delightful curveballs on a recording that mixes the old with the new in fresh ways that will stick with you.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.

The Speed of Things/Warner Bros.

The sophomore album from Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr., The Speed of Things, is a great piece of nostalgia if you love ’80s-era pop. “Beautiful Dream” sets the tone for this record with its dreamy vibe, and between the heavy use of a beat machine on tracks like “A Haunting,” and the inclusion of xylophone flourishes on “Gloria,” the album has a generally lively, upbeat tone. The danceable electro pop of “Run” keeps things going at a nice clip, and “If You Didn’t See Me (Then You Weren’t on the Dance Floor)” is insanely catchy. This album won’t change your world in the lyrical department (“Knock Louder,” for example, includes cliché sentiments like “I will never share my world with anyone but you.”), but that doesn’t seem to be the band’s focus here. The Speed of Things just wants to revel in the glorious sounds of a time gone by.

The early reviews for Machete Kills have largely been unkind, and the big gripe appears to be that Machete Kills is too long, too repetitive, and too super violent. How many of these critics have seen a Robert Rodriguez movie before?

I think that if you choose to see a Rodriguez film—whether your editor directs you to it, or you choose to see it on date night (and what a date night that would be)—you get what you get and should shut up. The only question worth asking is, “Does this movie live up to Rodriguez’s own standards—standards being, of course, subjective?”

Short answer: Yes.

Longer answer: Massive amounts of blood? Check. Incomprehensible plot? Check. Lots of really famous actors and non-actors turning up in ridiculously tiny and absurd parts? Check.

It doesn’t really matter if it all makes sense. This is schlock for the sake of schlock, pure and simple. And in its own way, doesn’t it make sense that Mel Gibson, who is a Holocaust non-denial denier, plays a man who orchestrates the destruction of every person on the planet, save for about 20? Yes, it does.

Doesn’t it make sense that Michelle Rodriguez, who looks great, even with one eye, would lose her second eye? Yes, it does.

And finally, isn’t it a little creepy that Alexa Vega, whom Rodriguez has been working with since she was about 12, is now a hitwoman who wears chaps and little else? Yes, it’s a little creepy. But all of Rodriguez’s films are a little creepy. For God’s sake, in Machete, our lead and antihero (Danny Trejo) grabs onto a man’s small intestine and uses it as a rope to keep himself from going splat when he jumps out a high-floor window (just wait until you see the innards gags here).

Sure, some of it—nearly all of it—is tasteless. But perhaps we should all just pay out $10, sit back, let a bunch of people kill the shit out of each other for laughs on the big screen, and then let it go. At least Machete Kills knows it’s a mockery. Quentin Tarantino’s movies have the same sex, violence, and brouhaha, but they take themselves so seriously they’re hard to enjoy (see: Inglorious Basterds, Kill Bill Vol. 2, and worst of all, Death Proof).

So here’s what to expect when you see Machete Kills: Roughly a dozen beheadings; several dozen severed limbs; one burned face; many people shot in the head; Sofia Vergara, playing it so over the top that her character on “Modern Family” looks downright normal; subtle and not-so-subtle jabs at America’s attitude toward Mexico; a superdumb and useless performance by Charlie Sheen (billed by his birth name Carlos Estevez, and looking very much like his father) as the President of the United States.

Again, I reiterate: It doesn’t make sense. The plot doesn’t matter (which is why I’ve skirted explaining it here). It’s dumb, long and dumb. But boy, is it a lot of fun.

Playing this week

Baggage Claim
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX

Blue Jasmine
Regal Downtown Mall Cinema 6

The Butler
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX

Captain Phillips
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX

Closed Circuit
Carmike Cinema 6

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX

Don Jon
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX

Enough Said
Regal Downtown Mall Cinema 6

Fruitvale Station
Carmike Cinema 6

Gravity
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX

Grown Ups 2
Carmike Cinema 6

Inequality for All
Regal Downtown Mall Cinema 6

In a World
Regal Downtown Mall Cinema 6

Insidious Chapter 2
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX

Kick-Ass 2
Carmike Cinema 6

Monster’s University
Carmike Cinema 6

Prisoners
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX

Romeo and Juliet
Regal Downtown Mall Cinema 6

Runner Runner
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX

Rush
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX

The Smurfs
Carmike Cinema 6

The Spectacular Now
Regal Downtown Mall Cinema 6

The Way, Way Back
Regal Downtown Mall Cinema 6

The World’s End
Carmike Cinema 6

Movie houses

Carmike Cinema 6
973-4294

Regal Downtown Mall Cinema 6
979-7669

Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX
244-3213

Over the last 17 years, Jon Foreman has cemented his status as one of his generation’s most insightful lyricists and dynamic rock singers. He has released four solo EPs, two albums with the rockgrass band Fiction Family—his side project with Nickel Creek’s Sean Watkins—and has achieved worldwide fame for fronting the Christian rock group Switchfoot. Foreman spoke to C-VILLE Weekly by phone recently about the band’s new surfing-meets-rock ‘n’ roll-meets-faith documentary film, Fading West, which will be screened at the start of the band’s concert on October 18 at The Paramount Theater.

C-VILLE Weekly: Talk about the idea behind Fading West and how you decided to do the EP, the forthcoming album, and the documentary all at once. 

Jon Foreman: This whole thing has evolved over the years. The concept was, “How can we tell a story that’s bigger than a three-and-a-half-minute rock song?” None of us are good actors, so the thought became, “Well, maybe we can make a documentary.” We’ve loved surfing since the beginning and we love surf films, and I feel like it’s a really good format to tell a story about a journey. That’s kind of what we are on as a band—traveling around on the road, life is unfolding, and you’re making your own decisions, but you’re also definitely being influenced by what’s happening around you. We felt like it would be an appropriate place to begin, being in the ocean, and on stage.

What was it like going through the documentary experience, not only recording everything and putting all that footage together, but also finding a narrative? Was there anything that surprised you?

That was actually an incredibly revealing aspect, not only about the documentary, but also about ourselves in general. The disturbing realization is that there is not one plot, but actually there are thousands of plots. Every film is only telling a few stories at a time, and the hardest part of making this film for us was cutting the thousands of other stories, and hundreds and hundreds of hours of film that are on the cutting room floor at the end of this whole process.

That was probably the most difficult part, but I think it’s similar to making a record. We probably wrote close to a hundred songs for this project, but you [will] only hear 10 or 11 [on their upcoming album, Fading West, due in January], so I think with that we kind of adopted the iceberg principle. A friend of mine told me that Hemingway had this thought that all art—the good stuff at least—has this immense depth underneath the water that you don’t actually see. It’s like an iceberg, you see the tip of it but not the rest of it, so that’s kind of been our mantra not only for the film, but for the music that accompanies it as well.

With regard to all the other songs that are not going to be on the album, what happens with those? Do you think that writing those other songs informed the songs that did make it onto the album?

Yeah, absolutely. I think everything informs everything. Every experience you have in this life is a unique experience that informs the rest of your existence. And for us, I don’t view any song that doesn’t make it on a record, per se, as a failure. I think you have to give yourself the ability to try and take risks and know that not everything is going to be great. I’ve always thought that to write a song you have to have two voices: the critic and the child. You have to love the child even if they say and do stupid things, and not everything that voice says or does is going to be heard, but I think you have to allow yourself room to fail. So will those songs be heard on anything? Maybe someday, but I’m O.K. with it if we just did it for ourselves and for God and no one else needs to hear it. That’s fine too.

Was there ever a point where this project could have ended up being just a film or just an album, or was it always going to be both from the start?

Well, it was kind of a plan that unfolds as it goes, you know? That’s the thing about a record or a documentary. We’ve made records before that we got halfway through experiencing and decided it would be better to start from scratch for whatever reason. Let’s start over. So with the documentary, we’d never really done that before but it was the same thing, where if the storylines don’t feel compelling and nothing’s really happening, then at some point you have to ask yourself the question: “Is this a tale that’s worth telling?” So I think we went into this journey not knowing whether either the record or the movie would be anything at the end of it, but hoping that we’d capture something that would be worth revealing to the rest of the world.

Sometimes when watching a movie that’s emotionally distressing, one has to ask, “Just how much pain can we watch these characters endure? What’s the endgame here?”

Director Paul Greengrass’ Captain Phillips is one of those movies. It stars Tom Hanks as the titular captain of the container ship Maersk Alabama that was laid siege by Somali pirates in 2009.

Greengrass is on familiar ground. He specializes in harrowing action pictures. In addition to directing the stark and brutal sequels to The Bourne Identity—The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum—this is the guy who wrote and directed United 93, a fictionalized account of United Airlines 93, the plane that crashed in rural Pennsylvania after it was hijacked by terrorists on September 11, 2001.

In other words, Greengrass is no stranger to extreme drama, violence, and human suffering. Audiences expecting a rollicking adventure on the high seas should look elsewhere. Captain Phillips is simple, deliberately paced, and, at times, relentlessly intense. The fact that it’s PG-13 refers to the amount of blood on screen, not to the degree of trauma its main character and several secondary characters face.

Hanks is Richard Phillips, a Vermont-based captain of a container ship. He’s in charge, and even before the voyage, in a brief scene with his wife, Andrea (Catherine Keener), it’s clear Phillips is at the end of his rope. But life is life, and there are kids to get through school and bills, and Andrea drops Phillips off at the airport so he can meet his ship.

That’s where the domestic bliss—if it’s indeed bliss—ends and the terror begins. In distant Somalia, we see pirates gathering on the shores to head into international waters to storm ships, take their cargo, and, if need be, do away with the passengers.

It’s here that Captain Phillips falters a little. Character development is not its long suit. Sure, the Somali pirates have bosses who threaten to kill them and their families, but is that going to make us sympathize with them?

Nah, we’re with Phillips and his crew, even the guys who gripe that their union contracts don’t include hijacking pay. Not that they have long to gripe, because two pirate ships are off in the distance and closing.

The first pirate attack is thwarted when the pirate ships are too slow. But one of the pirates, Muse (Barkhad Abdi), has an idea: Put the other boat’s outboard motor on his boat and double the speed. It works, and the next day the pirates are on the Maersk Alabama.

If you recall the story from the news, you know what happens next. Greengrass, aided by performances from Hanks and Abdi, does well keeping the drama going, even when Phillips is captured and much of the remaining running time takes place in a lifeboat with periodic diversions to Navy destroyers.

It’s on the lifeboat that the film’s energy flags, even during what is supposed to be intense drama. The pirates are woefully one-dimensional and mostly just shout at each other. Of course, this movie isn’t about them. It’s about Phillips and his struggle to survive. Hanks’ final scene, when it’s all over, is truly heartbreaking.

Playing this week

Besharem
Regal Downtown Mall Cinema 6

Baggage Claim
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX

Battle of the Year
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX

Blue Jasmine
Regal Downtown Mall Cinema 6

The Butler
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX

Closed Circuit
Carmike Cinema 6

Cloudy With a Chance
of Meatballs 2
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX

Don Jon
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX

Enough Said
Regal Downtown Mall Cinema 6

The Family
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX

Fruitvale Station
Carmike Cinema 6

Gravity
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX

Grown Ups 2
Carmike Cinema 6

In a World
Regal Downtown Mall Cinema 6

Insidious Chapter 2
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX

Iron Man 3
Carmike Cinema 6

Metallica: Through
the Never
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX

Monster’s University
Carmike Cinema 6

The Patience Stone
Regal Downtown Mall Cinema 6

Prisoners
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX

Runner Runner
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX

Rush
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX

The Spectacular Now
Regal Downtown Mall Cinema 6

Turbo
Carmike Cinema 6

The Way, Way Back
Regal Downtown Mall Cinema 6

The Wizard of Oz
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX

The World’s End
Carmike Cinema 6

Movie houses

Carmike Cinema 6
973-4294

Regal Downtown Mall
Cinema 6
979-7669

Regal Stonefield 14
and IMAX
244-3213

Hip-hop documentaries can give the street genre a bad rap, too often overlooking its positive influence. The five-part Global Hip-Hop Film Series covers everything from hip-hop’s growing influence on Turkish kids to the history of one of its founding groups, The Sugar Hill Gang, and features discussions with filmmakers and producers. Learn about the influence of hip-hop culture and how youth from countries all over the world shape their ideologies through its popularity and influence.

Through Friday 10/11. $3-8, times vary. Jefferson School African American Heritage Center, 420 Commerce St. 409-5424.

Lee Koch

Whole Heart/Self-released

Whole Heart is likable for a variety of reasons. Most of it has a calm folk vibe, and there is something refreshing about the way Koch gives equal weight to relationships with lovers, strangers, and God. The Americana track “Journey to Unfold” is noteworthy for its focus on living life intentionally and the acoustic guitar and echoing whistling on the romantic ballad “Trusty Branch” showcase the album’s predominantly earthy sound (everything from harmonicas to hand claps appear on the record). “Being Broke” is arguably the album’s most soulful moment, then the pace picks up with the lively, funny bluegrass number “Celebrities,” the rollicking, swampy blues of “Sweet Release,” and the gritty live sound of “Keepin’ On.” Koch demonstrates his comfort with singing ballads as well as belting out soulful tracks in a fantastic display of musical vitality.

Andrew Belle

Black Bear/Elm City Music

On Black Bear, the follow-up to his critically-acclaimed album, The Ladder, Andrew Belle reminds us that he has a gift for combining great melodies with insightful lyrics. But the sonic quality is very different this time around. Gone is this singer-songwriter’s signature acoustic sound and in its place are heavy doses of ambient piano pop, synth rock, and electronic alternative music. Relationships are at the core of this album’s content, and whether it’s about wanting someone who may not be good for you (“Wants What it Wants”), or something stronger and more familial (“Sister”), Black Bear is loaded with dramatic material. Belle warns against the temporary beauty of this world in “Details” and when he sings, “I love, I love you, and all of your pieces” on the first single, “Pieces,” he paints a picture of an all-encompassing love. Black Bear is filled with gorgeous lyrical and musical moments.

KT Tunstall

Invisible Empire/Crescent Moon/Blue Note Records

Invisible Empire/Crescent Moon is destined to be one of the biggest curve balls of 2013. Forget what you think you know about KT Tunstall based on her previous albums because you’d have to be clairvoyant to see this one coming. Tunstall has ditched the rock ‘n’ roll theatrics and pop song structures, and instead has filled this dazzling record with subdued material that makes her sound like a different artist. The Americana-tinged opener “Invisible Empire,” mirrors this creative re-
imagining of herself and the country folk track “How You Kill Me?” is performed with the skill of a seasoned veteran. “Yellow Flower” is a soft, romantic piano ballad, but “Crescent Moon” is the album’s standout track featuring subtle, lush piano and spine-tingling orchestral flourishes. This is a bold career move for Tunstall and it pays off in spades.

Sarah Jarosz

Build Me Up from Bones/Universal

While listening to the third album from singer-songwriter Sarah Jarosz, Build Me Up from Bones, it is hard to believe she is only 22 years old. The prodigious mandolin, banjo, and guitar player has a gorgeous voice, an uncommon way with words that is spellbinding, and she takes chances. The bluegrass and folk elements that marked her first two releases are still there, but added to the mix are groovy jazz (“Book of Right-On”), gritty rock ‘n’ roll (“Over the Edge”) and moody Americana (“Dark Road”). Jarosz showcases her broad vocal range with a subtle performance on the bluegrass-tinged title track, while her alluring siren song reels you in on “Mile on the Moon.” Jarosz’s penchant for weaving picturesque tales continues on “1000 Things” when she deftly personifies Fear and Youth as people from her recent past, and the romantic, mournful ballad “Gone Too Soon” is so convincing that you’ll think it’s about you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyWTEcOxlog

Jonny Lang

Fight for My Soul/Concord

If you want some good gospel-flavored rock, then Fight for My Soul, the latest record from Jonny Lang—his first collection of new material since 2006’s Turn Around —is your cup of tea. From the raucous opener “Blew Up (The House)” to the R&B grooves on “What You’re Looking For,” from the funk-infused “Not Right” to the soulful “We are the Same,” this record feeds on passion, emotion and the artist’s commitment to the material. In addition to Lang’s skill as a guitarist, the album highlights his skill with a pen as well. Lang takes on everything from a relationship with a woman (“Breakin’ In”) to a relationship with God (“Fight for My Soul”), and the 32-year-old’s gravelly voice adds a wizened element to the album as a whole. Whether wailing vocally or letting his guitar do the job, Fight for My Soul is a reminder of Lang’s phenomenal talent.

Blitzen Trapper

VII/Vagrant Records

VII is a solid return to form for the Portland, Oregon-based rock band after its lackluster previous release, American Goldwing. It’s almost as if the group looked at the criticisms of the last record, shrugged its shoulders, and just got back to doing what comes naturally. “Feel the Chill” and “Shine On” are somewhat off-kilter rock tracks in the vein of Eels, and singer Eric Earley sounds as confident as ever in the heartfelt (“Don’t Be a Stranger”) or when he is freestyle rapping like it’s a breeze in (“Oregon Geography). Rock tracks like “Thirsty Man” and “Valley of Death” score points for including fun elements like scratching, beats, organs, banjos, and distorted harmonicas. Earley’s lyrical prowess is on display and also comes out during rapid-fire raps in a record that feels more honest and true to the spirit of the band.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqtlcHiSHTE

Calling a movie Newton’s Laws of Motion would probably have the potential audience running for the hills. Imagine it: Director and co-writer Alfonso Cuarón undertakes such an ambitious project, a movie set in Earth’s orbit with characters under constant threat of danger, but no one goes to see it because they think it’s a documentary about physics. So we get Gravity.

Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) and Matt Kowalsky (George Clooney) are in space. There are other astronauts, too, but they’ll be dead in approximately nine minutes. This is a pure adventure movie. It’s a wonder the other characters even have names.

Because of something stupid the Russians do with a satellite, there’s suddenly a ton of debris (or more) hurtling toward Stone and the team. The good news is she avoids being killed by the aforementioned debris. The bad news is Stone is left floating through space.

Re-enter Kowalsky, who, along with the help of some jets on his suit, finds Stone and rescues her. Unfortunately, there’s catastrophic damage to their space shuttle. There are also dead crew members floating nearby, and Stone is running out of oxygen.

Worse yet, the nearest space station is damaged enough by the debris that Stone and Kowalsky can’t seek refuge there, or at least not for very long. There’s a Chinese station nearby. That will have to do.

Gravity is pretty shrewd. It gives Stone and Kowalsky disaster after disaster with each worse than the disaster that came before it, and there’s no time to consider the realistic possibilities of such disasters. Gravity has moments of drama that are so intense, you may feel as if your breath is sucked away from you as quickly as Stone’s oxygen supply.

But at some point, it does get to be absurd. Hitting something in space. Bouncing back in the other direction. Grabbing onto something. Fire. Escape pods. Space parachutes. Landing gear. More debris.

Fortunately, Gravity runs about 90 minutes, and there will be plenty of time to decompress afterward. Plus, Bullock’s effortless charisma and big-budget acting chops go a long way.

It’s in the technical department that Gravity really excels. Until now, the best looking space movie has probably been Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. Even with all the computer-generated images in the world, space has never done quite as well as his models.

Now the bar has been reset. Gravity is seamless, and looks as if it were shot in space, not a studio backlot. The editing, likewise, is seamless. Cuarón took the reins himself with Mark Sanger (who was responsible for the rather showy visual effects in Cuarón’s Children of Men).

Then there’s Emmanuel Lubezki’s cinematography. Lubezki has a habit of shooting big, flashy projects. Sometimes they look great (The Tree of Life), and sometimes they look like big, flashy projects (Children of Men). Gravity, which is no doubt a big, flashy project, is truly impressive. If only its story was at the same standard as its technical components.

Playing this week

Austenland
Regal Downtown Mall Cinema 6

Baggage Claim
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX

Battle of the Year
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX

Blue Jasmine
Regal Downtown Mall Cinema 6

The Butler
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX

Cloudy With a Chance
of Meatballs 2
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX

Don Juan
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX

The Family
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX

Grown Ups 2
Carmike Cinema 6

In a World
Regal Downtown Mall Cinema 6

Insidious Chapter 2
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX

Iron Man 3
Carmike Cinema 6

Jobs
Carmike Cinema 6

Metallica: Through
the Never
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX

Pacific Rim
Carmike Cinema 6

Paranoia
Carmike Cinema 6

Percy Jackson:
Sea of Monsters
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX

Prisoners
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX

R.I.P.D.
Carmike Cinema 6

Rush
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX

Short Term 12
Regal Downtown Mall Cinema 6

The Spectacular Now
Regal Downtown Mall Cinema 6

Thanks for Sharing
Regal Downtown Mall Cinema 6

This is the End
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX

Turbo
Carmike Cinema 6

The Way, Way Back
Regal Downtown Mall Cinema 6

The Wizard of Oz
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX

We’re the Millers
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX

World War Z
Carmike Cinema 6

Movie houses

Carmike Cinema 6
973-4294

Regal Downtown Mall
Cinema 6
979-7669

Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX
244-3213