The Museum of Fine Arts Boston (MFA) will host a free screening of the animated film "Grave of the Fireflies" (1988) Wednesday at 7 p.m., which will be followed by a panel discussion featuring some of the leading authorities on anime. The event is free and open to the public.
From the moment she sprints out of the front door with her banana-colored raincoat and purple hair, the titular heroine of "Coraline" makes one thing clear: It won't be easy to keep up with her. Coraline proceeds to lead us through deep woods with Tim Burton-esque trees, a wondrous, blooming garden, a miniature circus performed by mice and into the depths of a spider's web. All of this just happens to take place in 3-D.
It's official: They've emerged from the garage. "Love, Hate And Then There's You" (2009), the latest from the Von Bondies, sees the band dive headfirst in the direction of the catchy TV theme song "C'mon, C'mon," leaving a bit of its soul behind. Though certainly upbeat and fun upon first listen, the album isn't accessible enough to make a big splash, nor is it nearly quirky enough to satisfy garage-rock aficionados.
Imagine, if you can, a group of ordinary people with inexplicably extraordinary powers. They are as flawed as any of us, with tragic back stories and plenty of baggage. They are forced against their will to choose sides in an epic battle of good versus evil. They are even fighting against themselves! Who are these hardscrabble heroes? The mutants in "X-Men" (2000)? The heroes from "Heroes?" The vampires from "Twilight" (2008)? No! They are Pushers, Movers, Watchers, Sniffers, Bleeders and Stitchers -- obviously. "Push" takes place in an alternate reality where people go by these names based on what superpower they have.
Tufts' Africana Center hosted an evening of dance, music and spoken word on Friday night to kick off Black History Month.
In the past year, a red, white and blue image of President Barack Obama has become nearly synonymous with the word "hope" and an iconic symbol of his campaign. Now, its creator is getting a chance to share the rest of his work with the world. Shepard Fairey's first museum exhibition, "Supply and Demand," opens today at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston (ICA).
"Chocolate Fest is the best!" proclaims sophomore Jessica Noble during the Whole Foods event, which took place yesterday evening from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the store's Medford branch. At Chocolate Fest, Whole Foods offered an array of free chocolate samples ranging from fruit dipped in a chocolate fountain to chocolate cakes to a Colombian chocolate drink.
Can the global economic crisis inspire a dance? Can the effects of globalization be captured in a poem? This Saturday night, challenges confronting the global community will be taken out of the lecture hall and expressed artistically. The second annual "Issue as Muse: A Night of Inspiration," sponsored by the International Relations (IR) Program, has once again challenged students to create performances inspired by global issues of their own choosing.
Bruce Springsteen's latest album, "Working on a Dream," marks a new chapter in his long career. In each successive album, Springsteen has departed from the style of his previous one, constantly modifying his music. "Working on a Dream" is no exception.
Dear Christian Bale, We've all heard your little … speech. You had a moment and it passed and everything is good. Yeah, sure, you threatened to "kick" his "[expletive deleted] [expletive deleted]," but he had it coming. We got your back. What right did he have to look at that light? So what if he was the Director of Photography? We hope the light was "[expletive deleted] good," too, because he ruined what could have been the best scene ever. If it really was the most emotional scene in McG's "Terminator Salvation" (2009) there is no excuse. That Shane Hurlbut has some nerve. And some name. Hurlbut. You, Sir, are a master of your craft. A true artist. All joking aside, we believe that you are one of the most talented, dedicated actors working today. We've seen "The Dark Knight" (2008) about a dozen times. And "I'm Not There" (2007). You played Bob f'n Dylan, man. Bob Dylan! Not to mention "Reign of Fire" (2002) where you fought about a million dragons. And "American Psycho" (2000). Hurlbut was lucky you didn't go Patrick Bateman and hurl an axe at his butt! Actually, did you try to kill him? It really sounds like you shot the guy about two minutes in. Good. He deserved it. Punk. It isn't easy being a famous Batm?erm … movie star. There is pressure involved. Lots of pressure. Back in July, when you were recorded teaching Shane Hurlbut how to do his job, something he was obviously very unqualified to do, your Batman film was in the process of becoming the highest-grossing film of the year. You had to worry about paying the bills! Fame comes at a high price, and people need to realize that it isn't all private jets and chauffeured limos and free lunches. It's mostly private jets and chauffeured limos, but sometimes there are other things, too. Here at the Daily Arts Department, we know what it's like to be famous and have to deal with the little people. When everyone is blowing you blowing something out of proportion out of proportion, we promise not to dance to the dance remixes. Your friends, The Daily Arts Department
I'm by no means breaking new ground when I refer to greater Boston and its outlying hamlets as a rock-driven music culture. The list of famous Bostonian bands literally reads like your favorite 1996-1999 modern rock radio playlist. Aerosmith, the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Staind, Godsmack, Dinosaur Jr, The Pixies, Guster and, perhaps deceptively, Boston, all hail from Boston-area towns, and this regional legacy of loud guitars, louder live shows and generally traditional popular music aesthetics leaves little room for electronic music. In some ways, the area's music climate bears this out. While comparably sized cities like Baltimore and Seattle have cobbled together diverse, vibrant popular music cultures rich in all kinds of electronic music, Boston's accomplished and promising producers have moved out and moved on to locales more friendly to their music. In other ways, I'm a complete moron. For over a year and a half, Boston's BASSIC Crew -- Dabu, Pandai'a, C-dubs, and Damian Silva -- have helped local electronica blossom from the forgotten corners of a rock-heavy music scene to a small clique of castoff drum and bass, house and breaks DJs to a broad and truly exciting music culture rooted in Dubstep but splintering into anything that bumps. It's a culture that, whether Powerman 5000 likes it or not, is now an inseparable part of the city's musical identity. As Dabu tells it, the evolution was pretty natural: "I was spinning at this weekly in Mission Hill, and whenever I played any Dubstep, people would always come up to me afterwards and want to know where they could hear more." I, and tens of thousands of people worldwide, can relate. The first time I heard a Dubstep record played out live (it was "Midnight Request Line" by Skream if you're keeping score at home) was literally dumbfounding. The moment when the beat dropped -- a wobbly, propulsive explosion dripping with sub-bass that the bar's sound system could just barely handle -- was unlike anything I had ever heard or felt (as in physically felt in my body) before. After the requests for more Dubstep, Dabu said he "thought we should try and put something together." So was born BASSIC, Boston's most successful live electronic event featuring two of BASSIC's resident DJs and the kind of national and international talent that Baltimore and Seattle wished they could get. Though the event started out as an ostensibly Dubstep party, BASSIC has changed as its members and the genre have. "For the first year or so, we were stepping on each other's toes," struggling to both find records with the massive bass drops that Bostonians craved but also play new and exciting tracks each month, he said. "Now, its just a place to play different things that fall under the umbrella of dubstep." This makes BASSIC parties kind of like a circus: there's something for everyone, but all of it is totally absurd. On a given night, you can hear deep, decaying techno-leaning Dubstep, rootsy, reggae Dubstep, Dubstep with hip-hop, or the darkest, most evil, most bizarrely sexy music your virgin ears can handle, plus whatever electronic music all-star they bring to town. BASSIC's January installment, hosted again at The Good Life, pitted Pandai'a's all-vinyl set of dark, downtempo Dubstep against Dabu's laptop set of experimental hip-hop beats, both of which set the stage for New York electro hip-hop kingpin Eliot Lipp, mixing a range of electronic music as broad as it was good. Blending the pummeling sub-bass of Dubstep heavyweights like Rusko with smooth hip-hop tracks by Tufts' own Obey City, Lipp put together a murderous set drawing on all electronic music genres. It was a fitting achievement for a BASSIC event, and one that encapsulates the legacy this production company is carving into Boston's live music culture, one month at a time. .
Last Sunday, millions of people tuned in to watch the year's most anticipated game of football, an all-American game celebrated in a truly all-American way. But even viewers for whom the term "down" signifies no more than direction, and who only came for the excuse to drink beer and eat junk food, this Super Bowl was truly entertaining. For some people, the only reason to watch the Super Bowl is to see the new high-budget advertisements. This year, companies shelled out big bucks to reach the nearly 98.7 million Americans who watched Super Bowl XLIII. Estimates put the cost of each 30 second advertisement at about $30 million, and companies did their best to make the cost worthwhile. "Advertisers are struggling to come to terms with new technologies, [such as] Tivo and other devices, [which] allow us to circumvent advertising," Sarah Sobieraj, an assistant professor of sociology at Tufts, said in an e-mail to the Daily. "The Super Bowl is one of those rare remaining moments when advertisers know they will have one, large audience, so they pull out all the stops." Most Super Bowl ads cater to a football audience. Not surprisingly, some of the this year's best, most numerous ads promoted chips and beer. Early on, Doritos claimed the prize for the most entertaining commercial with their ad, "Crystal Ball." It features a man holding a "crystal ball" (which is really a snow globe) who, when a co-worker doubts its powers, wishes for free Doritos at the office. Disappointed that his wish doesn't come true, he throws the snow globe at a vending machine, shattering the glass and giving him access to his coveted snack. Contrary to popular belief, this ad was not created by some suit-wearing genius in a marketing office. Dave and Joe Herbert from Indiana made the ad for under $2000, winning the 2009 Doritos "Crash the Super Bowl" contest after narrowly missing the win last year. Budweiser returned with some of its classic ads and its more modern spots for Bud Light. Clydesdale horses and Dalmatians were out in full force, but the spark that once made the brewer's ads special was missing. One Budweiser ad featured a dog fetching a stick and a jealous Clydesdale one-upping the dog by fetching an entire tree branch. While this may be amusing, it cannot compete with similar past clips that included a horse football game refereed by a zebra. Another Budweiser ad focused on a Scottish Clydes-dale immigrating to America. However heartwarming the story was, it probably didn't resonate with Budweiser's target audience. Luckily, the Bud Light commercials easily made up for the mistakes of the Budweiser ads. It should be noted that many Super Bowl ads tried to use star power to attract customers. A Bud Light advertisement featured Conan O'Brien in an outrageously over-produced, Swedish-themed spectacle, and Alec Baldwin starred in an ad for Hulu.com, the popular video streaming website that is sponsored by NBC. In the ad Baldwin exposed Hulu's "true" motive: turning human brains to mush so that he and other celebrities can eat them. But the most ridiculous use of celebrity endorsement came from the gold-melting-scheme Web-site cash4gold.com. It features Ed McMahon and MC Hammer showing off all the gold things they can trade in for cash. The sad part is that both of these men fell into financial trouble recently, and they might actually need to start selling off their gold-plated giraffes and golden hammer pants once they burn through the money they earned making these ads. Another amusing, celebrity-studded ad was a spin-off of Saturday Night Live's digital short MacGruber (a parody of MacGyver). The short guest-stars the actual MacGyver, Richard Dean Anderson, as MacGruber sells out to provide product placement to Pepsi by changing his name to Pepsuber. Super Bowl ad space was also filled with tons of movie trailers for anticipated releases. The trailer for "Year One" (2009), starring Jack Black and Michael Cera, did not show much promise. Going off of what the ad portrays, Black will act like a goofball (surprise) and Cera will play every character he's ever played since George-Michael Bluth. Big name action flicks also made an appearance: "Transformers 2" (2009) and "Star Trek" (2009) both featured clips of explosions and mayhem to excite fans and other viewers. Animated films such as "Aliens vs. Monsters" (2009) and "Up" (2009) were also previewed, although most of the target audience for these movies probably didn't get a chance to see the ads. The most disappointing and over-rated ads of the evening were those by Vizio, Miller High Life and, once again, Godaddy.com. Vizio, the TV maker, made an almost minimalist ad, with just text and a voiceover. For $3 million, it seemed like a waste of time and money. Miller High Life ran a one-second ad that could be interpreted as a subliminal message. While the ad only cost them about $150,000, it's safe to assume that most people missed it since it was so short. Godaddy.com, an online webhosting service, is known for its shamelessly eye-catching ads in past years. Usually, they end with a message advising the viewer to visit their website to see the shocking conclusions that could not air on television. These ads are merely suggestive at best, since the extra material is never what viewers are led to expect. But the cutting-edge ads are not the only Super Bowl entertainment for viewers indifferent to pigskin. The halftime show (conspicuously performed by old, uncontroversial artists since the "wardrobe malfunction" of 2004) is a long-celebrated event. Hundreds of music fans wait outside the stadium for hours, flooding onto the field at halftime for a free, 12-minute concert. When Bruce Springsteen took the stage for the Super Bowl halftime show this year, expectations were, quite naturally, through the roof. This was, after all, "The Boss," a classic rocker who is no stranger to stadium-sized venues. With a super-sized version of the E Street Band backing him, Springsteen warmed up the crowd with an introductory peptalk that segued smoothly into "10th Avenue Freeze-Out," a classic but lesser-known track from the Boss's 1975 break-through album, "Born To Run" (1975). Springsteen engaged the crowd from the get-go, lending the chorus to the crowd of fans to sing, and even attempting one of the most extreme stage-moves in the stadium-rock repertoire: the power-slide. For those unfamiliar with this classy maneuver, it involves getting a running start from one side of the stage and then dropping to one's knees and sliding, preferably while hitting an impressively high note or during the climax of a song. Springsteen might have been a bit overzealous with his lead-up run, however, and most viewers were fairly certain that Springsteen's crotch actually collided with the camera filming his power-slide. Wasting none of their precious 12 minutes of Super Bowl fame, Springsteen and the E Street Band launched into the more famous classic "Born to Run." Bruce demonstrated that despite being on the brink of 60 years old, he can still hit even the highest notes. The number ended with an extended vamp and an impressive pyrotechnics display. Springsteen then covered newer ground, singing the title track of his recent album, "Working On A Dream." For this number, the E Street Band received some vocal reinforcement from the same gospel choir that assisted Faith Hill earlier during her performance of "America the Beautiful" prior to the start of the game. Finally, Springsteen wrapped things up with "Glory Days," off of his massively successful 1984 album, "Born in the U.S.A." Despite a kitschy, mid-song joke about "delay of game," Springsteen and the E Street Band wrapped up their short set with a rousing finale. Overall, the performance was on par with recent Super Bowl halftime shows, which have been much more classic rock-oriented since the famous Janet Jackson wardrobe malfunction in 2004. Despite Springsteen's reputation for supporting grassroots movements and progressive politics, he avoided political themes with his song choices. The point of the evening's entertainment was to celebrate all things American rather than initiate any sort of rallying cry or call to arms. The Super Bowl is a slice of true American entertainment. From creative advertising to the frenzied concert to the uniquely American game itself, millions of dollars worth of effort is brought to the most ordinary television sets across the country. As a result, all kinds of viewers got a kick out of last Sunday's game.
Sometimes the actors are the only reason to go see a movie. Think how important Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio were for "Titanic" (1997). Unfortunately, Renée Zellweger and Harry Connick Jr. fail to save the dismal romantic comedy "New In Town" (2009). With mediocre acting and a predictably insipid plotline, "New In Town" should be a desperate Sunday night movie rental at best. Lucy Hill (played by Zellweger) is a young, successful Miami businesswoman working her way up the corporate ladder. When she is assigned to revamp operations at a manufacturing plant in Minnesota, Lucy is forced to trade in her Manolo Blahnik shoes and cosmopolitan lifestyle for snow boots and blue-collar society. At first, the culture shock is just as unbearable as the frigid Minnesota temperature, but Lucy eventually settles into life in a rural town, even snagging herself a guy along the way. If the plot sounds familiar, that's because it is — to the extreme. "New In Town" joins a laundry list of romantic comedies that involve some variation of a high-maintenance city girl moving to the middle of nowhere and falling in love with the charming small town guy that annoys her in the beginning. "Sweet Home Alabama" (2002) and "The Notebook" (2004) are just two examples. Ultimately, there's nothing new that makes "New In Town" worth watching. The plot is formulaic, and the characters are bland and uninteresting. This is one of the precious few movies set in Minnesota since "Fargo" (1996), and it's doubtful that there will ever be another because even on screen the actors couldn't keep the misery and discomfort caused by the icy temperatures off of their cold, red faces. One of the film's biggest downfalls is its pathetic attempts at humor. In one scene, Hill goes bird hunting. During the hunt, she needs to go to the bathroom and is sent out into the woods with a roll of toilet paper to fend for herself. While it is slightly entertaining to watch Lucy try to unzip the bulky, ridiculous-looking, full-body hunting suit she is in, the whole ordeal ultimately gets nothing more than a mere smirk or chuckle out of the audience. In an attempt to help her, Ted Mitchell (played by Harry Connick, Jr.) unsuccessfully tries to undo her back zipper and wildly flings her around in the process. He eventually resorts to turning her over and cutting a hole in the derriere of her suit. Sadly, that's about as funny as it gets. Not even Zellweger's star power can save her from her unconvincing and overall lackluster performance in "New In Town." Throughout the film Zellweger never seems to connect with her character, causing Lucy to appear awkward and suffer a few missteps in comedic timing. The real problem, however, lies in the fact that Zellweger is out of her element playing the dull, cookie-cutter role of convertible-driving, Manolo Blahnik-wearing Lucy Hill. Zellweger truly shines in quirkier roles like seductive death row inmate Roxie in "Chicago" (2002), or the frumpy but endearing Bridget in "Bridget Jones's Diary" (2001), where her characters not only have more substance, but also more of an edge. While Zellweger fails to entertain, Connick Jr., thankfully, does a respectable job of playing Mitchell, the local union representative for the manufacturing plant workers. To Hill's dismay, she and Mitchell are forced to work together in her reorganization of the plant, which often leads to bickering. At first Hill finds Mitchell to be an uncouth, repulsive man who drinks beer and drives a pick-up truck, but soon enough their "strictly business" relationship turns into something more. Like always, Connick leaves every girl in the theater swooning as his character warms up to Lucy and uses his good ol' Southern-gentleman charm (never mind that the movie is technically set in Minnesota) to win her over. Although a few sparks do fly between Zellweger and Connick, their on-screen chemistry still isn't enough to keep the movie from being one long drag. The unoriginal plotline and lack of comedy ultimately make "New In Town" another romantic comedy disappointment. Zellweger's failure to connect with her role and the bland, one-dimensional quality of the other characters relegate "New In Town" to a probable (and well-deserved) box-office bust.
Aziz Ansari is a comedian, actor, writer, producer and soon-to-be-movie star. Last year he appeared on HBO's "Flight of the Conchords" with a scene-stealing role as a racist fruit vendor. His current projects include MTV's "Human Giant," in which he is the star, writer and executive producer, and a current stint on ABC's "Scrubs." Later this year, Ansari will be appearing in "Observe and Report," "Funny People" and "I Love You Man." Last week Ansari performed for a sold out crowd at The Middle East Downstairs as part of his "Glow in the Dark Standup Comedy Tour." As a young comedian (Ansari is 25), he connected well with the audience comprised mainly of college-aged students. The Thursday night crowd was ready for laughs after a lackluster opening set, and Ansari delivered in spades. His material ran the gamut from race issues to technological problems with his bigoted Blackberry to a tale of messing with his high school-aged cousin via Facebook.com. When he announced he would be trying out some material he wrote for his character, a stand-up comedian named Randy in Judd Apatow's upcoming "Funny People" (2009), the crowd did not know what to expect. The vulgar set lived up to the character's name, and was much different than Ansari's usual material. The audience, however, didn't miss a beat. The Randy act included an improvisational impression section that required the audience to call out suggestions of locations. Randy would then take these suggestions and do an impression of him participating in a sexual act in said location. Most of the locations were relatively mundane, but the crowd's penchant for "Star Wars" references and one particularly politically incorrect historical reference nearly caused Ansari to break character. By the end of the show's allotted time Ansari and the audience had built up a rapport and the comedian decided to go over his usual time. Despite his busy touring schedule, the Daily got the opportunity to ask Aziz Ansari a few questions via e-mail about his career, upcoming projects and various random tidbits. Mitchell Geller: Why did you call this tour "Glow in the Dark," the same name that Kanye West choose for his recent tour? (Besides the reason that there's a little bit of Kanye in all of us.) Aziz Ansari: I wanted a cool name for my tour like the Glow in the Dark Tour. I couldn't come up with one, so I just called it the Glow in the Dark tour. Also, I figured it would increase my chances of Kanye coming to my show, which it did! He came to the first LA date. MG: How did you get into comedy in the first place? AA: I started doing standup in college. MG: According to Wikipedia.[org], the internet's most reliable source, you studied marketing at NYU. Has this background helped you at all with your current career? AA: Not really, but I do use the word synergy constantly. MG: If and when your life is made into an Oscar-baiting biopic, which current actor would you want to portray you? Which actress? AA: I'd be honored if Diddy played the role of Aziz in an Aziz biopic and I simultaneously played Diddy in a Diddy biopic. MG: What's your writing process like for your stand up material and/or for your television show, "Human Giant"? AA: Standup -- I just jot things down in my Blackberry when they pop in my head or in a tiny notebook before a show and then work it out onstage. Usually it takes about 7-10 variations before I really find the best version of a joke. For Human Giant, the four of us and our show-runner Tom Gianas would pitch ideas for sketches with a rotating group of writers. The ideas we liked best would get written up as sketches and refined. MG: On your blog, azizisbored.com, you've been on a quest to get on a Burger King commercial. How is this going? AA: Well, to be clear, I want to be in the Diddy Burger King commercials. Thus far, no response from the Diddy or BK camp. MG: What are your current media obsessions (music, movies, video games, internet videos) or big artistic inspirations? AA: Music - TV on the Radio Video Games - taking a break Internet Videos - Mr. Chi-City! TV ? "Lost" and "24" MG: What projects do you have in store for 2009? AA: I'm going to be in a new show on NBC with Amy Poehler and the producers of "The Office" that will be on in April. I did a movie called "Observe and Report" with Seth Rogen which will also be out in April. It's about Seth being a mall cop. I play a guy that runs a lotion stand. I also did a small part in "I Love You, Man" with Paul Rudd and Jason Segel. That movie comes out in March. I'll also be in Judd Apatow's new movie, "Funny People," which comes out end of July. MG: What's your secret? AA: Pomegranate juice.
Although other former Beatles members have moved away from live performances to focus solely on crafting masterful studio records, Paul McCartney's newest release, "Amoeba's Secret," proves that the wonders of modern-day technology can translate anything on the stage into the studio. Of course, having half a century of experience and a brilliant mind for songwriting helps a bit as well. "Amoeba's Secret" is a rocking, energetic EP cut from a live show at the Amoeba Music store in Los Angeles, Calif. in 2007. The gig was arranged in support of McCartney's last album, "Memory Almost Full" (2007), his first outing on the Starbucks-owned record label Hear Music. "Amoeba" proves that Sir Paul McCartney can still captivate an audience with a very solid, ever-evolving performance. In addition, it also speaks to the marketing techniques of the Starbucks label. The EP was originally sold on vinyl only, and was hyped as a limited edition release with no plans for a CD version. The cover of the album, a pixilated photo of McCartney in concert, is another marketing ploy. It makes "Amoeba's Secret" seem like a rare bootleg. Some collectors who bought up the vinyl copies may not be pleased now that the EP has been released in digital formats, but rarity is swiftly becoming a thing of the past in this modern age. McCartney is probably as famous as he is because he so easily adapts to new technology and new trends in music. The quality of the recording proves that "Amoeba" is no bootleg. Despite having only four tracks, the entire EP is a fantastic mix of sound that carries McCartney's music into the modern era like never before. Screaming guitars, pounding drums and McCartney's signature bass tone drive the short EP from start to finish. The music in "Amoeba" transforms some of McCartney's recent studio work as well as a couple of older tunes into harder, more upbeat arrangements that are not only more suited for a live audience but are actually more suited for the songs themselves. Two songs from "Memory Almost Full" (2007) made it to the disc including the opener, "Only Mama Knows." Both songs capture every nuance of feeling and layering from the full record while cranking up the energy. The lengthy string introduction from the original "Only Mama Knows" has been shortened to get straight to the heavy guitars that drive the track. McCartney has always paid attention to the details of tone, variety, and arrangement, and "Amoeba" does not disappoint in these areas. The clarity of the guitar work is very impressive, especially for a live recording. The entire EP has a consistent, modern edge to it despite its diversity of song styles. After the rocking "Mama" comes "C Moon," an upbeat reggae song featuring a fairly amusing Jamaican impression. The track keeps the energy of the opener moving forward despite a shift in style that keeps everything fresh and interesting. The third song, "That Was Me" also from "Memory," replaces the studio cut's prominent acoustic guitar rhythm with a jangly rock n' roll electric. The drums here are also more interesting than those in the laid back studio version. Halfway through the song, McCartney sings along to the guitar solo. This serves as an engaging transition into the heavier second half of the song. When the guitar solo ends, McCartney lets loose his screaming vocals after keeping his singing pretty low-key. While he may never be able to replicate the sheer power of the screaming in old Beatles tracks like "Oh! Darling," he certainly doesn't stop trying. His voice has definitely aged and lost some of its presence and clarity, but what's left is still pretty impressive considering all the decades of work he's done. The vocals are the only piece of the EP that doesn't immediately stand out. McCartney's voice may have grown a bit weaker, but a producer as experienced as the one McCartney is surely using should have been able to make use of his million-dollar rig to give the vocals the same treatment he gave to the rest of the instruments. Aside from this minor complaint, "Amoeba's Secret" is a solid EP. The closing track, a revitalized version of "I Saw Her Standing There," continues the trend of overdriven guitars and an enervating modernization of the entire arrangement while still staying more or less close to the 1963 original. While some might consider it too short of a release, what's included on "Ameoba" is very good, and iTunes sells the EP for under $4. For any McCartney fan, especially those that never got a hold of the original vinyl, "Amoeba's Secret" is a must-buy.
Recently, actor Mickey Rourke, star of Darren Aronofsky's "The Wrestler" (2008), entered into WWE's WrestleMania 25, a pro-wrestling competition scheduled for early April, only to pull out at the last minute. We got our hopes up imagining Rourke's character, Randy "the Ram" Robinson, in real life. This led us to discuss which characters we wish were real, and this week's Top 10 was born. 10. Lara Croft: She kicks butt and takes names, all the while looking good and having fun. While she probably wouldn't be your best friend, she would definitely have your back in a fight. 9. Paul Blart: Our malls will never be safe without him. 8. Mrs. Doubtfire: Mrs. Euphegenia Doubtfire is the nanny we all wish we had. She brings families together, provides comedic relief, and is perhaps the best person to ever "Do It Like A Lady." 7. Harry Potter: Even before we saw his junk, he was still the best catch in all of fantasy history. And nobody said anything about making Ginny real... 6. Wall-E: With no viable solution to global warming in sight, it would be nice to have an adorable and sensitive little trash compactor around to help rebuild ecosystems. On lunch breaks he could teach everyone "Sunday Clothes" with Gene Kelly choreography. 5. Mary Poppins: Every child deserves a jolly holiday with Mary. Plus, she'd make a killing if she mass-produced that purse of hers. 4. Jack Sparrow: Not only is he a pirate, but he's also the only pirate that can pull off more eyeliner than Kate Moss and braided beard hair. Jack also manages to solve the movie's mystery while still being oblivious to everything around him. While some think his effeminate walk shows he's spent too much time aboard ship with his mateys, the ladies know the real truth. 3. Doc Brown: Anyone who can convert the most impractical car ever made into the most ballin'-est floating-time-machine-ever-that-needs-to-go-exactly-88-miles-per-hour-so-that-its-flux-capacitor-can-send-it-back-in-time-but-oh-wait-it-runs-on-garbage-so-we're-all-set-now-it's-a-train-that-floats-too car should be real. Roads? Phooey. Where we're going, we don't need roads! God bless those arbitrary old scientists. 2. Chewbacca: This trusty Wookie is a fantastic side-kick for any dangerous space adventures. He's pretty handy with that laser-shooting crossbow, and he's also fairly useful as a walking carpet or gigantic sponge. 1. James Bond: Let's face it: The world would be a much safer and sexier place with 007 working in the shadows. Evildoers and mad scientists, beware. This smooth-talking Brit has more gadgetry and flippant remarks in his arsenal than you'll be able to handle, no matter how many "shaken, not stirred" martinis he's downed.
While perusing the magazine selection at CVS a week ago, I noticed that almost every publication basically had the same cover: a photo of President Barack Obama with the headline "Special Keepsake Inauguration Issue of (insert magazine title here)!" My personal favorite was a gossip rag that had "Oh-Bama-Rama" in block letters over the president's face. Every periodical from Vogue to Rolling Stone to Us Weekly urged readers to save this special issue of their magazine as a memento. Don't forget inauguration! You need to know what was happening to Britney and Lindsay on Jan. 20, too! So, in keeping with the theme of the Oh-Bama-Rama that is sweeping our nation, here is my "Special Keepsake Barack Obama Edition of The Cultural Culinarian!"
Mention the Middle East and many things come to mind. Indie rock, however, is not usually one of them ... at least not for people outside of the Boston area.
The Oscars: They're stupid, pointless, overblown and mean nothing about a film's quality or importance (look at 1958 and marvel at the near-complete absence of Hitchcock's arguably greatest work, "Vertigo" (1958)). Yet I can't help but care. They are the ultimate example of "the Ugly." So let's weigh in on a few things, shall we?
A keyboard-and-drum duo is certainly a novel approach to indie rock, and the fact that such a group could produce catchy dance-punk songs without the aid of a guitar or bass is downright impressive. But two instruments can only accomplish so much together, especially within such a unique sound, and Matt & Kim's second release, "Grand," fails to build upon the band's previous success.
