After making two of the most acclaimed films set in the Middle East in recent history (2008's The Hurt Locker and 2012's Zero Dark Thirty), director Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal place audiences on the ground of another war zone in this year's Detroit.
As with those previous efforts, Bigelow and Boal waste no time in commenting on a very relevant and fiery issue. Based on the Algiers Motel incident which took place during the Detroit race riots of 1967, the film draws equal inspiration from the more volatile than ever relationship between police and black youths in America today. Detroit is knowingly a very topical film, and one that was inevitably made to stir arguments. As with Zero Dark Thirty's depictions of torturing prisoners of war, the ugly topics of Detroit will undoubtedly garner intense criticism from people on all sides of the issue.
This is precisely what makes Bigelow such an effective director of such heavy films. Both Bigelow and Boal are willing to stir the pot without taking sides, opting instead to focus on dimensional, flawed characters and being completely unafraid to show the pitfalls on all sides of an issue. Unlike the average war movie which makes a clear distinction between good guys and bad guys and writing the script accordingly, Detroit is littered with characters that cover the whole spectrum. There are psychotic cops, decent cops, opportunistic black criminals and innocent black men. There are no caricatures in Bigelow and Boal's sans-filter view.
While the film acknowledges its own limited accuracy, Bigelow's focus is on realism. Despite the specific circumstances and arrangement of the facts, Detroit is completely successful in putting the audience in the domestic war zone that was the Motor City in 1967. Detroit is easily one of the most harrowing depictions of one of the ugliest chapters in recent American history. From the opening raid on an illegal nightclub which kicks off the riots
and the film's nightmarish centerpiece at the Algiers Motel, the danger seems all too real. More than once in the film, characters comment that the situation more closely resembles what they expect to see in a foreign war zone like Vietnam, not American soil.
The cast does a remarkable job all around, but the show is clearly
stolen by Will Poulter, who portrays the corrupt, psychotic cop that can
only be described as the film's villain. Even within the confines of a
film where the focus is on the events rather than the unique portrayal
of the characters, Poulter brings nuance to his role, knowing that an
actor needs to do more than scowl to be threatening. The others, including Algee Smith and The Force Awakens star John Boyega each turn in impressive performances, but Poulter will undoubtedly resonate the most in our minds with his smug, baby-faced take on a racist antagonist which has rarely commanded the screen until now.
The film's grim and realistic feel is due in no small part to Bigelow's shaky multiple-camera approach, which make the action sequences play more like a documentary than a feature film. The film's claustrophobic climax at the Motel plays almost like a horror movie, with a sadistic cop (Poulter) torturing young black men and two white women while making allusions to "helping" them. Taking place in a very confined set and driven almost completely by tension rather than action, the scenes at the Detroit motel are all the more disturbing and frightening considering they were based on true events. When characters are being humiliated, beaten and witnessing their friends being executed and dying on the floor, it's genuinely upsetting.
Detroit is far from being a perfect. More often than not, Boal and Bigelow's most explicit stabs at commentary break the film's "say more with less" approach, which is most noticeable when the characters themselves make explicit commentary on the topics at hand. Bigelow says more with sequencing and her direction of the cast than Boal does in a two minute monologue. The film also suffers from its sprawling ambitions, running at nearly two and a half hours and tackle multiple story lines while attempting to cover (frankly) too much ground for its running time. By the time the events at the motel conclude, the film begs to conclude instead of warranting nearly another full act depicting the aftermath.
Despite its admirable success at underlining difficult and questions and placing the audience directly in the crossfire of an ugliness that continues to sweep this country, Detroit will likely be missed by the movie-going public which propelled Bigelow's previous films. Perhaps the topic is too ugly and hits too close to home for an audience that more intensely craves superhero escapism. While I can't say I blame them - the film wasn't exactly a pleasant experience - it would be a shame if the public missed this film, as it forces us to examine a pressing, horrifying issue with no real solutions.
Friday, August 11, 2017
Friday, June 30, 2017
Arroyo Seco Weekend Review (Alabama Shakes - Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers)
This past weekend, I had the opportunity to see one of my favorite classic rock bands as well as one of my favorite newer rock bands at the first "Arroyo Seco Weekend" festival, a Pasadena-based event investors hope to groom into a festival of almost Coachella-like proportions.
Being that this was the event's debut, it was inevitably a humbler affair than that. Over a period of two days, the festival boasted only a handful of A-list headliners and smaller acts that were even more obscure than Coachella, which has essentially become a pop monster monolith that has long outgrown its independent spirit.
I attended the first of two days, where the two biggest headliners were Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers and the Alabama Shakes. Both acts seemed to be perfectly tailored to the summer festival setting - with the driving California-tinged rock of the former and the laid back soul-inflected grooves of the latter best suited for the crowd smoking and swaying.
It was nearly perfect concert weather when I left late to beat the traffic at 5:30 PM. The sun was still out but it was relatively shady and beginning to cool in the low eighties. The marketing material made it unclear exactly where one needed to go in the sprawling Rose Bowl property. Indeed, I found myself at the nearest "Drop Off" zone nearly half a mile away from the Rose Bowl entrance, whereupon I found myself walking another good long distance just to find myself at the festival entrance and then the nearest musical tent.
The venue itself was ingenious. Brookside Park is spacey scenically green. The fast-casual style food vendors gave the festival a slightly more elegant, modern atmosphere - a far cry from the smelly bleachers and greasy nacho plates of a say, a sports arena concert. This felt like a $125 experience.
I caught the last five minutes of Roy Ayers performing what was likely his encore piece, a jam-heavy version of his jazz-fusion crossover hit "Running Away". One thing that struck me about seeing Ayers is the increasingly diverse range of jazz fusion fans. Over the past few years, I've noticed more and more college-aged people of varying backgrounds appreciating R&B and Jazz from the seventies onward. If I had to guess, I would attribute its growing popularity to modern artists like Thundercat, Flying Lotus and Kendrick Lamar, who seem to be ironically introducing virtuoso-based music to the bearded Coachella crowd.
I then made my way over to the main stage dubbed "The Oaks", where both the Shakes and Heartbreakers were due to play within thirty minutes. I spent most of that time being herded into five different spots by festival staff who seemed oblivious and somewhat aloof, a symptom of the festival's need to adapt to the ins and outs of the venue. I staked out a spot behind a VIP section not much bigger than a pitcher's mound, where I could barely see the stage but I was free to turn around and leave without having to navigate a crowd.
Eventually, some slightly muted cheers signaled the arrival of the Alabama Shakes. It's hard not to market Brittany Howard as the heart, soul and face of the band considering her command of the stage. The band turned in an impeccably played yet somewhat muted performance, likely due to the festival's taming the sound as to keep from interfering with its other stages, as well as well as the venue's outspoken neighbors.
No one in the Shakes played particularly bad, in fact they played wonderfully. However, the low volume imposed on their set exposed something of a weakness in their songwriting. As a hard groove-based band, they depend on the slam of the kick drum and Howard's powerhouse vocals to move an audience, and the sound did justice to neither. This meant the band could only excite the crowd with the power of their songs, and the less recognized songs seemed to serve as pointless bookends. Thirty minutes into their set and five songs past "Hang Loose", some of my fellow concertgoers became vocally restless. They also missed a golden opportunity by omitting "Hold On" and "Always Alright".
Still, Howard was a delight to hear and see in the flesh, as she has all of the class and charisma of her classic rock heroes with none of the ego. Within a moment, she could flip the switch between doe-eyed stage banter and the sexy, primal Curtis Mayfield-esque delivery of "Give Me All Your Love". The highlights of the set came from Sound & Color, where the deeper funk-based grooves had the ability penetrate the audience a bit more. After the Shakes' set, there was a surprisingly large exodus of younger concert-goers who were likely less interested in staying for Tom Petty.
By 8:30 PM, the sun had set and the still-massive crowd of thousands surrounding the Oaks stage. If anything, a larger crowd had formulated to replace those who left after the Shakes. I was getting antsy, as I've rarely attended a show that started on time. Then again, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers are nothing if not known for their professionalism. Less than three minutes after proposed their set time, much louder cheers could be heard when a familiar blonde man in sunglasses took the stage.
Being that it was their 40th Anniversary tour, one might think that the Heartbreakers would take greater risks digging into their catalogue but after opening with "Rockin' Around With You" (notable as it's the first song on the band's first album), the show seemed heavy on the hits. It was surprising to see just how many hits the band has accumulated over the years. The general public is aware of "Free Fallin'", "American Girl" and "Mary Jane's Last Dance", but it was also refreshing to see so many younger audience members mouthing along note for note to lesser known gems like "You Don't Know How it Feels" and "Wildflowers".
The Heartbreakers have earned a reputation for being one of the tightest rock bands from the classic rock era, and this was exhibited to a 'T'. It was obvious that these guys have been playing these songs for several decades, to the point where not a single note was missed, even during improvised solo sections. The famously economic band wasn't afraid to stretch out and jam in certain sections, with guitarist Mike Campbell, keyboardist Benmont Tench III and Petty himself each taking extended solos that demonstrated virtuosity while economically serving the song. There were no psychedelic jams that came off as pointless noodling. Even if Tench decided on the fly to use an organ instead of a piano or Petty decided to take a solo normally handled by Campbell, it's clear that the band all operates on the same wavelength and are incapable of throwing each other of their game.
Well into their sixties, the band was never known to possess the sort of epic intensity for which frontmen like Freddie Mercury, Mick Jagger and Prince are known. Petty and the band crafted their mid-key rocking sound forty years ago and have impressively retained that same tempo this whole time. Petty's exudes a different brand of stage presence, one that is distinctly laid-back but not exactly mellow. As he strutted slowly over the stage with his army of guitars while occasionally stopping to groove with the backing singers, the word "effortless" came to mind.
There was a vibe from the band and their devotees in the audience that this was a special show. Special in that it was a grand opening for Pasadena's latest bid to revive live music outside of their more high profile Rose Bowl concerts and the more intimate venue The Rose (which opened its doors last year) - and because Petty himself has hinted that this tour may be their last. The Heartbreakers has never been a band that abuses the "farewell tour" card, so there was a sense of sadness in the air as well that this might be the last time for many people to sing along to "American Girl", "Refugee", "Free Fallin" and "Learning to Fly" in the flesh.
(photo credit: Chad Ellis)
Still, Pasadena and Petty were a perfect match - one that took decades to finally materialize. There was no better setting for
the band than such a venue in the middle of the suburbs not unlike those that characterized some of his most well-known songs. The city was even name-checked in "Jammin' Me". It was clear that much of the local crowd had grown up listening to these songs which mixed the best innate qualities of the American South with a distinctly Southern California voice.
Considering the chaotic and divided state of the world, there was a sense that the sort of uplifting and from-the-heart rock and roll Petty and the band are known for was what the world needed, more than ever.
Being that this was the event's debut, it was inevitably a humbler affair than that. Over a period of two days, the festival boasted only a handful of A-list headliners and smaller acts that were even more obscure than Coachella, which has essentially become a pop monster monolith that has long outgrown its independent spirit.
I attended the first of two days, where the two biggest headliners were Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers and the Alabama Shakes. Both acts seemed to be perfectly tailored to the summer festival setting - with the driving California-tinged rock of the former and the laid back soul-inflected grooves of the latter best suited for the crowd smoking and swaying.
It was nearly perfect concert weather when I left late to beat the traffic at 5:30 PM. The sun was still out but it was relatively shady and beginning to cool in the low eighties. The marketing material made it unclear exactly where one needed to go in the sprawling Rose Bowl property. Indeed, I found myself at the nearest "Drop Off" zone nearly half a mile away from the Rose Bowl entrance, whereupon I found myself walking another good long distance just to find myself at the festival entrance and then the nearest musical tent.
The venue itself was ingenious. Brookside Park is spacey scenically green. The fast-casual style food vendors gave the festival a slightly more elegant, modern atmosphere - a far cry from the smelly bleachers and greasy nacho plates of a say, a sports arena concert. This felt like a $125 experience.
I caught the last five minutes of Roy Ayers performing what was likely his encore piece, a jam-heavy version of his jazz-fusion crossover hit "Running Away". One thing that struck me about seeing Ayers is the increasingly diverse range of jazz fusion fans. Over the past few years, I've noticed more and more college-aged people of varying backgrounds appreciating R&B and Jazz from the seventies onward. If I had to guess, I would attribute its growing popularity to modern artists like Thundercat, Flying Lotus and Kendrick Lamar, who seem to be ironically introducing virtuoso-based music to the bearded Coachella crowd.
I then made my way over to the main stage dubbed "The Oaks", where both the Shakes and Heartbreakers were due to play within thirty minutes. I spent most of that time being herded into five different spots by festival staff who seemed oblivious and somewhat aloof, a symptom of the festival's need to adapt to the ins and outs of the venue. I staked out a spot behind a VIP section not much bigger than a pitcher's mound, where I could barely see the stage but I was free to turn around and leave without having to navigate a crowd.
Eventually, some slightly muted cheers signaled the arrival of the Alabama Shakes. It's hard not to market Brittany Howard as the heart, soul and face of the band considering her command of the stage. The band turned in an impeccably played yet somewhat muted performance, likely due to the festival's taming the sound as to keep from interfering with its other stages, as well as well as the venue's outspoken neighbors.
No one in the Shakes played particularly bad, in fact they played wonderfully. However, the low volume imposed on their set exposed something of a weakness in their songwriting. As a hard groove-based band, they depend on the slam of the kick drum and Howard's powerhouse vocals to move an audience, and the sound did justice to neither. This meant the band could only excite the crowd with the power of their songs, and the less recognized songs seemed to serve as pointless bookends. Thirty minutes into their set and five songs past "Hang Loose", some of my fellow concertgoers became vocally restless. They also missed a golden opportunity by omitting "Hold On" and "Always Alright".
Still, Howard was a delight to hear and see in the flesh, as she has all of the class and charisma of her classic rock heroes with none of the ego. Within a moment, she could flip the switch between doe-eyed stage banter and the sexy, primal Curtis Mayfield-esque delivery of "Give Me All Your Love". The highlights of the set came from Sound & Color, where the deeper funk-based grooves had the ability penetrate the audience a bit more. After the Shakes' set, there was a surprisingly large exodus of younger concert-goers who were likely less interested in staying for Tom Petty.
By 8:30 PM, the sun had set and the still-massive crowd of thousands surrounding the Oaks stage. If anything, a larger crowd had formulated to replace those who left after the Shakes. I was getting antsy, as I've rarely attended a show that started on time. Then again, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers are nothing if not known for their professionalism. Less than three minutes after proposed their set time, much louder cheers could be heard when a familiar blonde man in sunglasses took the stage.
Being that it was their 40th Anniversary tour, one might think that the Heartbreakers would take greater risks digging into their catalogue but after opening with "Rockin' Around With You" (notable as it's the first song on the band's first album), the show seemed heavy on the hits. It was surprising to see just how many hits the band has accumulated over the years. The general public is aware of "Free Fallin'", "American Girl" and "Mary Jane's Last Dance", but it was also refreshing to see so many younger audience members mouthing along note for note to lesser known gems like "You Don't Know How it Feels" and "Wildflowers".
The Heartbreakers have earned a reputation for being one of the tightest rock bands from the classic rock era, and this was exhibited to a 'T'. It was obvious that these guys have been playing these songs for several decades, to the point where not a single note was missed, even during improvised solo sections. The famously economic band wasn't afraid to stretch out and jam in certain sections, with guitarist Mike Campbell, keyboardist Benmont Tench III and Petty himself each taking extended solos that demonstrated virtuosity while economically serving the song. There were no psychedelic jams that came off as pointless noodling. Even if Tench decided on the fly to use an organ instead of a piano or Petty decided to take a solo normally handled by Campbell, it's clear that the band all operates on the same wavelength and are incapable of throwing each other of their game.
Well into their sixties, the band was never known to possess the sort of epic intensity for which frontmen like Freddie Mercury, Mick Jagger and Prince are known. Petty and the band crafted their mid-key rocking sound forty years ago and have impressively retained that same tempo this whole time. Petty's exudes a different brand of stage presence, one that is distinctly laid-back but not exactly mellow. As he strutted slowly over the stage with his army of guitars while occasionally stopping to groove with the backing singers, the word "effortless" came to mind.
There was a vibe from the band and their devotees in the audience that this was a special show. Special in that it was a grand opening for Pasadena's latest bid to revive live music outside of their more high profile Rose Bowl concerts and the more intimate venue The Rose (which opened its doors last year) - and because Petty himself has hinted that this tour may be their last. The Heartbreakers has never been a band that abuses the "farewell tour" card, so there was a sense of sadness in the air as well that this might be the last time for many people to sing along to "American Girl", "Refugee", "Free Fallin" and "Learning to Fly" in the flesh.
(photo credit: Chad Ellis)
Still, Pasadena and Petty were a perfect match - one that took decades to finally materialize. There was no better setting for
the band than such a venue in the middle of the suburbs not unlike those that characterized some of his most well-known songs. The city was even name-checked in "Jammin' Me". It was clear that much of the local crowd had grown up listening to these songs which mixed the best innate qualities of the American South with a distinctly Southern California voice.
Considering the chaotic and divided state of the world, there was a sense that the sort of uplifting and from-the-heart rock and roll Petty and the band are known for was what the world needed, more than ever.
Tuesday, May 23, 2017
Alien Covenant: How Did We Come This Far? (SPOILERS)
It's been nearly forty years since Ridley Scott gave us Alien (1979), the innovative bridge between Horror and Sci-Fi which still haunts the public consciousness with its unforgettable body horror and rundown take on futuristic space travel. Thirty odd years ago, James Cameron did the unthinkable - create a sequel that equaled (some say surpassed) such an iconic film with his own masterpiece, the action classic Aliens (1986). From that point on, Fox decided to rub out the series' integrity as they milked its cash potential with sequels of gradually denigrating quality, eventually culminating in the much-maligned Alien vs. Predator crossover. The second of those films was a C-grade movie so forgettable it felt like a sophomore film project.
Scott decided to follow up on the original film (ignoring the franchise as a whole) in a sense with 2012's Prometheus, which was marketed not so much as a prequel but simply a film that preceded the original Alien within the same shared universe. While it shared many deep connections with Alien, it was indeed an entirely different sort of film. While Alien has taken a life of its own as a cinematic masterpiece, its ambitions were small. It wasn't much more than an expertly crafted slasher film, with the theme of corporate evil simply serving as an intriguing plot twist to add to the film's tension. Prometheus on the other hand is a film entirely about deep themes such as creation and faith. It didn't result in a better film. In fact, one of the major complaints about Prometheus was that its ambitions far exceeded its grasp.
Alien: Covenant serves as a sequel to Prometheus, albeit one that is intended to point toward the direction of the original Alien film. This means that it shares the grand, epic scale of Prometheus while providing more beloved creatures and features viewers have come to demand from an Alien film, evident in some of the Prometheus' criticism. As a result, Alien: Covenant is an odd, mixed bag of a film experience. Like Prometheus, its epic themes of creation tend to be at odds with its sometimes surprisingly workmanlike action and creature effects. It's almost as if Scott is attempting to pepper his vision of the Prometheus tangent with elements from the first two Alien films. While it's a delight to see chestburster, facehugger and the xenomorph creatures as we know and love them, they're also so familiar that we applaud their appearance rather than recoil in horror.
Covenenant's premise is predictable, but not to a fault. A colony ship receives a distress signal from the planet where the survivors of Prometheus crashed. You can guess the rest to a T. A group of explorers from the colony ship discovers what appears to be an uninhabited planet only to find that it's essentially a testing ground for David (Michael Fassbender), the sinister android from Prometheus who is strongly implied to be the principal creator of the Xenomorph creatures.
These further explanations to unravel the mysterious origin of the creatures is the best feature of this film, and Prometheus. If anything, Covenenant heighten one's appreciation of Prometheus. At this point, it's clear that Scott is attempting to answer many questions from the original Alien film within the span of several films. So far, Scott has shed light on the origin of the Xenomorphs, the "Space Jockey" creature from the first film, the often untrustworthy Weyland-Yutani androids and how they are connected, providing a surprisingly satisfying story of creation in the process. It's a story that will require a familiarity with the original Alien films and one or two more films to complete, but it's a direction worthy the franchise's deep and mysterious back story.
Unfortunately, these aspects fall at odds with the film's tendency to be gaudy, if not outright silly at times with its visual effects. Even in the worst of the Alien films, it's clear that the magic of the Xenomorph creatures and their enduring menace lies in practical designs. Thus it's surprising that the director of the first masterpiece of subtlety would green-light some of the most laughable creature designs seen in the franchise so far. There are at least two "chestburster" scenes in the film which are properly built up with the right amount of tension and horror only to be completely deflated with monsters who could have easily fit into a video game film adaptation from twenty years ago.
The first two Alien films were revolutionary in their dystopian, stripped down approach to a distant future set in space, from Scott's cast of "truck drivers" to the dark, haunting industrial designs courtesy of James Cameron in Aliens. Like Prometheus, Covenant takes advantage of modern designs, from pseudo-smartphones to holograms that look like they were designed at least thirty years after the future depicted in Alien. One can excuse Covenant for its gloss as its a prequel, and the Alien timeline could simply depict a timeline in which those technologies have degraded. This isn't to say Covenant isn't a sightly experience. With its sprawling, gorgeous scenery and impeccable set designs, it holds up with the best of any contemporary sci-fi blockbuster. As a visual auteur by nature, one can't blame Scott for having fun flexing his craft.
The cast is mostly forgettable, with Katherine Waterston filling in the requisite Ellen Ripley-like role, Billy Crudup as a bumbling recently-promoted captain and Danny McBride as a tough-as-grits pilot. While everyone turns in a fine performance, there's unfortunately little that can be done with these necessary yet completely unoriginal caricatures. The glaring exception is Michael Fassbender, who plays dual roles to great aplomb as the helpful android Walter and the shady David, who has grown into a villainous role since his introduction in Prometheus. David is a character who intrigued us (thanks to Fassbender's icy, unnerving portrayal) in that film and is revealed as an important component of the entire Alien universe. If anything, Fassbender distracts from the film's creature antagonists as an android who has independently harvested some of the worst habits of humanity.
It doesn't seem fair to dub Alien: Covenant a bad film by any means, but it's wildly uneven, buoyed only by Scott's peerless talents. It does suffer the unfortunate fate of being tied to one of the most beloved sci fi franchises of all time. Comparisons to the original films are unavoidable, despite Scott's endeavor to make a completely different type of film with his new series. Alien: Covenant seems to be the first step towards bringing us the creatures we all love from those first films, but it's also a hurried step. Even within the span of a very long two hours, it seems that Scott could have saved a thing or two for the next sequel. Even with all of its bumps and mishaps, Covenant is still very competently made, and it's always a joy to see another entry in this franchise, whether it's horrible or merely okay. It is at the very least, a worthy continuation of the franchise's return to form made with Prometheus.
Scott decided to follow up on the original film (ignoring the franchise as a whole) in a sense with 2012's Prometheus, which was marketed not so much as a prequel but simply a film that preceded the original Alien within the same shared universe. While it shared many deep connections with Alien, it was indeed an entirely different sort of film. While Alien has taken a life of its own as a cinematic masterpiece, its ambitions were small. It wasn't much more than an expertly crafted slasher film, with the theme of corporate evil simply serving as an intriguing plot twist to add to the film's tension. Prometheus on the other hand is a film entirely about deep themes such as creation and faith. It didn't result in a better film. In fact, one of the major complaints about Prometheus was that its ambitions far exceeded its grasp.
Alien: Covenant serves as a sequel to Prometheus, albeit one that is intended to point toward the direction of the original Alien film. This means that it shares the grand, epic scale of Prometheus while providing more beloved creatures and features viewers have come to demand from an Alien film, evident in some of the Prometheus' criticism. As a result, Alien: Covenant is an odd, mixed bag of a film experience. Like Prometheus, its epic themes of creation tend to be at odds with its sometimes surprisingly workmanlike action and creature effects. It's almost as if Scott is attempting to pepper his vision of the Prometheus tangent with elements from the first two Alien films. While it's a delight to see chestburster, facehugger and the xenomorph creatures as we know and love them, they're also so familiar that we applaud their appearance rather than recoil in horror.
Covenenant's premise is predictable, but not to a fault. A colony ship receives a distress signal from the planet where the survivors of Prometheus crashed. You can guess the rest to a T. A group of explorers from the colony ship discovers what appears to be an uninhabited planet only to find that it's essentially a testing ground for David (Michael Fassbender), the sinister android from Prometheus who is strongly implied to be the principal creator of the Xenomorph creatures.
These further explanations to unravel the mysterious origin of the creatures is the best feature of this film, and Prometheus. If anything, Covenenant heighten one's appreciation of Prometheus. At this point, it's clear that Scott is attempting to answer many questions from the original Alien film within the span of several films. So far, Scott has shed light on the origin of the Xenomorphs, the "Space Jockey" creature from the first film, the often untrustworthy Weyland-Yutani androids and how they are connected, providing a surprisingly satisfying story of creation in the process. It's a story that will require a familiarity with the original Alien films and one or two more films to complete, but it's a direction worthy the franchise's deep and mysterious back story.
Unfortunately, these aspects fall at odds with the film's tendency to be gaudy, if not outright silly at times with its visual effects. Even in the worst of the Alien films, it's clear that the magic of the Xenomorph creatures and their enduring menace lies in practical designs. Thus it's surprising that the director of the first masterpiece of subtlety would green-light some of the most laughable creature designs seen in the franchise so far. There are at least two "chestburster" scenes in the film which are properly built up with the right amount of tension and horror only to be completely deflated with monsters who could have easily fit into a video game film adaptation from twenty years ago.
The first two Alien films were revolutionary in their dystopian, stripped down approach to a distant future set in space, from Scott's cast of "truck drivers" to the dark, haunting industrial designs courtesy of James Cameron in Aliens. Like Prometheus, Covenant takes advantage of modern designs, from pseudo-smartphones to holograms that look like they were designed at least thirty years after the future depicted in Alien. One can excuse Covenant for its gloss as its a prequel, and the Alien timeline could simply depict a timeline in which those technologies have degraded. This isn't to say Covenant isn't a sightly experience. With its sprawling, gorgeous scenery and impeccable set designs, it holds up with the best of any contemporary sci-fi blockbuster. As a visual auteur by nature, one can't blame Scott for having fun flexing his craft.
The cast is mostly forgettable, with Katherine Waterston filling in the requisite Ellen Ripley-like role, Billy Crudup as a bumbling recently-promoted captain and Danny McBride as a tough-as-grits pilot. While everyone turns in a fine performance, there's unfortunately little that can be done with these necessary yet completely unoriginal caricatures. The glaring exception is Michael Fassbender, who plays dual roles to great aplomb as the helpful android Walter and the shady David, who has grown into a villainous role since his introduction in Prometheus. David is a character who intrigued us (thanks to Fassbender's icy, unnerving portrayal) in that film and is revealed as an important component of the entire Alien universe. If anything, Fassbender distracts from the film's creature antagonists as an android who has independently harvested some of the worst habits of humanity.
It doesn't seem fair to dub Alien: Covenant a bad film by any means, but it's wildly uneven, buoyed only by Scott's peerless talents. It does suffer the unfortunate fate of being tied to one of the most beloved sci fi franchises of all time. Comparisons to the original films are unavoidable, despite Scott's endeavor to make a completely different type of film with his new series. Alien: Covenant seems to be the first step towards bringing us the creatures we all love from those first films, but it's also a hurried step. Even within the span of a very long two hours, it seems that Scott could have saved a thing or two for the next sequel. Even with all of its bumps and mishaps, Covenant is still very competently made, and it's always a joy to see another entry in this franchise, whether it's horrible or merely okay. It is at the very least, a worthy continuation of the franchise's return to form made with Prometheus.
Saturday, April 29, 2017
T2: Trainspotting Hits the Mark
The original Trainspotting has endured as a cultural touchstone of the late 1990's, a piece of art that spoke to latter-day Generation X'ers in a way equaled only by Fight Club. Like that film, it was something of an irreverent fluke. Like many viewers, I was taken aback by Trainspotting's blunt portrayal of heroin addiction and dark, sometimes crass humor. It wasn't a film that seemed tailor-made for the Oscars in terms of tone. Yet despite its few off-putting scenes and overall gritty tone, there was something undeniably magnetic to it, a quality that called for repeated viewings. And that's the strength in a film like Trainspotting, it only gets better with every view.
Sequels to such films are tricky endeavors. Today's Hollywood has a market secured for big sequel-friendly franchises, with mammoths like Marvel and Disney seemingly pumping out multiple entries per month. It's more of a rare occurrence when filmmakers decide to continue the story of an independent film grounded in reality, even one as beloved and successful as Trainspotting. T2 was announced several years before its release and lumbered in development hell to a point where it seemed to be both unlikely and perhaps unwise. Would it truly be a good film with a statement of its own, or merely a trip down nostalgia lane?
Despite the return of most of the original cast, director Danny Boyle and writer John Hodge, it's mostly the former. T2 proves that a sequel made decades after the original will inevitably fail to recapture the lightning-in-a-bottle of the original, even if it's a film of superb quality in its own right. T2 is indeed unlikely to amount to the same cultural significance and widespread popularity as its predecessor, but it's about as good a film as one could ask for. Based very loosely on the plot of Porno, writer Irvine Welsh's sequel to Trainspotting, T2 follows the heroin addicts of the first film through their passage into middle age.
Even with a number of cheeky in-jokes and nods to the original film, T2 isn't a cheap nostalgia piece. Ironically, it's a film that is very much about nostalgia, making no qualms about the fact that it's a reunion of players coming together after twenty years spent apart. The film takes the best advantage of this fact, making nostalgia and the futile attempt to recapture the excitement of youth one of its main statements. The original Trainspotting was a coming of age story about wasting one's youth and going nowhere in the ghetto, thinly disguised as a study of heroin addicts. T2 is about wasting one's adulthood and going nowhere at the steps of age fifty. In many ways, the film essentially catches up with the core audience of Trainspotting, seemingly tailor made for aging Gen-X'ers lost in the age defined by social media.
While it makes its own unique statements and has a heart of its own, T2 doesn't reinvent or change the agenda of Trainspotting so much as it updates it. There are familiar devices, such as the conniving younger female lead, who serves to point out the foolish nostalgia of the aging protagonists, similar to Diane from the first film. Though leading man Mark Renton (Ewan MacGregor) has presumably left behind his petty criminal past, he resumes his old shenanigans when he reveals his new life has fallen apart and he hooks up with the same crew. "Spud" Murphy is still good-natured and still hooked on heroin. Simon (formerly "Sick Boy") Williamson is a blackmailer and low-level pimp, and the newly-escaped Franco Begbie is still the uncontrollably violent psychopath we all love from the first film.
While their lives as junkies were portrayed with sometimes chilling realism in the first film, the characters still had a youthful, Rock 'N Roll rebel charm. This time around, there is no luster in their portrayal. None of them have "made it" in later life, so to speak. All are on the brink of financial and domestic failure, and all feel completely consumed in today's world driven by Snapchat filters and an obsession with fitness. Each character is given an emotional monologue about their own insecurities, each of which are surprisingly relevant and hit close to the heart. If there is a message, it isn't completely bleak. The film has a hopeful heart in "Spud", who begins to turn his nearly-aborted life around when he learns about exercise from Mark and discovers a way to turn nostalgia into engaging storytelling.
The plot of T2 is merely a vessel for its grander statements about life. If anything, the required familiarity with the first film is the film's lone weakness. There really isn't much to the story unless viewers are invested in seeing where the characters of the first film ended up. Like the original, the charm of T2 is in Boyle's stylish direction, Hodge's surprisingly emotional script and the familiar energy brought on by the original crew that flows like a shot in the vein. The film's onscreen texts, flashbacks and moments of surrealism almost recall Boyle's 2008 masterpiece Slumdog Millionaire more than Trainspotting.
Like the original Trainspotting, one of the main stars of T2 is undoubtedly its soundtrack. The original was a memorable collection of 90's Britpop and Alternative Electronic Music that perfectly encapsulated the punk attitude and snobby music fandom of the characters in their twenties. In an era where Rock as we know it seems to be on its deathbed, T2 brings together more hard-edged and forward thinking electronic artists like Scottish Alternative Hip-Hop group Young Fathers, making them sound almost as exciting and Rock & Roll as Blur or Iggy Pop. As nostalgia is at the center of the film, there are also a few appearances of classic Rock artists more mainstream than what was heard in the original. One of the film's most touching scenes is a pseudo-fantastical montage of Renton and Simon singing along ritualistically with an over-capacity club patronage to Queen's "Radio Ga Ga".
T2 won't join the annals of great sequel history as those with the luxury of being made almost in tandem with the original film, from The Empire Strikes Back to The Godfather, Part II. It does however manage to bring great relevance to twenty-year old themes and characters, which is in some ways more impressive. It also manages to make some deep observations about this turbulent day and age and how we can feel directionless in its wake. At the heart of the film lies an updated version of Renton's infamous "Choose Life" monologue from the original. After he delves into the familiar pitfalls of social media - "hoping that someone, somewhere cares", he characterizes human interaction as having been "reduced to data". Renton essentially voices the familiar criticisms we've all aimed at the age of vanity and personal branding, and it's refreshing to see them finally displayed on the silver screen.
Sequels to such films are tricky endeavors. Today's Hollywood has a market secured for big sequel-friendly franchises, with mammoths like Marvel and Disney seemingly pumping out multiple entries per month. It's more of a rare occurrence when filmmakers decide to continue the story of an independent film grounded in reality, even one as beloved and successful as Trainspotting. T2 was announced several years before its release and lumbered in development hell to a point where it seemed to be both unlikely and perhaps unwise. Would it truly be a good film with a statement of its own, or merely a trip down nostalgia lane?
Despite the return of most of the original cast, director Danny Boyle and writer John Hodge, it's mostly the former. T2 proves that a sequel made decades after the original will inevitably fail to recapture the lightning-in-a-bottle of the original, even if it's a film of superb quality in its own right. T2 is indeed unlikely to amount to the same cultural significance and widespread popularity as its predecessor, but it's about as good a film as one could ask for. Based very loosely on the plot of Porno, writer Irvine Welsh's sequel to Trainspotting, T2 follows the heroin addicts of the first film through their passage into middle age.
Even with a number of cheeky in-jokes and nods to the original film, T2 isn't a cheap nostalgia piece. Ironically, it's a film that is very much about nostalgia, making no qualms about the fact that it's a reunion of players coming together after twenty years spent apart. The film takes the best advantage of this fact, making nostalgia and the futile attempt to recapture the excitement of youth one of its main statements. The original Trainspotting was a coming of age story about wasting one's youth and going nowhere in the ghetto, thinly disguised as a study of heroin addicts. T2 is about wasting one's adulthood and going nowhere at the steps of age fifty. In many ways, the film essentially catches up with the core audience of Trainspotting, seemingly tailor made for aging Gen-X'ers lost in the age defined by social media.
While it makes its own unique statements and has a heart of its own, T2 doesn't reinvent or change the agenda of Trainspotting so much as it updates it. There are familiar devices, such as the conniving younger female lead, who serves to point out the foolish nostalgia of the aging protagonists, similar to Diane from the first film. Though leading man Mark Renton (Ewan MacGregor) has presumably left behind his petty criminal past, he resumes his old shenanigans when he reveals his new life has fallen apart and he hooks up with the same crew. "Spud" Murphy is still good-natured and still hooked on heroin. Simon (formerly "Sick Boy") Williamson is a blackmailer and low-level pimp, and the newly-escaped Franco Begbie is still the uncontrollably violent psychopath we all love from the first film.
While their lives as junkies were portrayed with sometimes chilling realism in the first film, the characters still had a youthful, Rock 'N Roll rebel charm. This time around, there is no luster in their portrayal. None of them have "made it" in later life, so to speak. All are on the brink of financial and domestic failure, and all feel completely consumed in today's world driven by Snapchat filters and an obsession with fitness. Each character is given an emotional monologue about their own insecurities, each of which are surprisingly relevant and hit close to the heart. If there is a message, it isn't completely bleak. The film has a hopeful heart in "Spud", who begins to turn his nearly-aborted life around when he learns about exercise from Mark and discovers a way to turn nostalgia into engaging storytelling.
The plot of T2 is merely a vessel for its grander statements about life. If anything, the required familiarity with the first film is the film's lone weakness. There really isn't much to the story unless viewers are invested in seeing where the characters of the first film ended up. Like the original, the charm of T2 is in Boyle's stylish direction, Hodge's surprisingly emotional script and the familiar energy brought on by the original crew that flows like a shot in the vein. The film's onscreen texts, flashbacks and moments of surrealism almost recall Boyle's 2008 masterpiece Slumdog Millionaire more than Trainspotting.
Like the original Trainspotting, one of the main stars of T2 is undoubtedly its soundtrack. The original was a memorable collection of 90's Britpop and Alternative Electronic Music that perfectly encapsulated the punk attitude and snobby music fandom of the characters in their twenties. In an era where Rock as we know it seems to be on its deathbed, T2 brings together more hard-edged and forward thinking electronic artists like Scottish Alternative Hip-Hop group Young Fathers, making them sound almost as exciting and Rock & Roll as Blur or Iggy Pop. As nostalgia is at the center of the film, there are also a few appearances of classic Rock artists more mainstream than what was heard in the original. One of the film's most touching scenes is a pseudo-fantastical montage of Renton and Simon singing along ritualistically with an over-capacity club patronage to Queen's "Radio Ga Ga".
T2 won't join the annals of great sequel history as those with the luxury of being made almost in tandem with the original film, from The Empire Strikes Back to The Godfather, Part II. It does however manage to bring great relevance to twenty-year old themes and characters, which is in some ways more impressive. It also manages to make some deep observations about this turbulent day and age and how we can feel directionless in its wake. At the heart of the film lies an updated version of Renton's infamous "Choose Life" monologue from the original. After he delves into the familiar pitfalls of social media - "hoping that someone, somewhere cares", he characterizes human interaction as having been "reduced to data". Renton essentially voices the familiar criticisms we've all aimed at the age of vanity and personal branding, and it's refreshing to see them finally displayed on the silver screen.
Friday, March 10, 2017
Kong: Skull Island - First Impressions
Though Peter Jackson's ambitious yet exhausting remake of King Kong was released nearly twelve years ago, Kong: Skull Island still seemed to be something of an abrupt reboot when it was announced. Then again, Hollywood seems to grow increasingly unable wait when it comes to recycling ideas or rushing out sequels. This usually results in a plethora of pretentious superhero films or blindingly overblown science fiction cash cows. In the case of Skull Island however, Hollywood finally got it right.
Released mainly to embed Kong into the same Legendary Pictures shared universe beginning with the studio's 2014 reboot of Godzilla, Skull Island bears none of that film's attempt at scope or nuance. It is a lean, mean piece of action-adventure that rarely, if ever feigns to be anything else. At a relatively condensed run time of almost two hours (perhaps in response to the Peter Jackson entry), the plot moves along at a satisfyingly fast pace yet so much is told to a point where it feels like a solid two hours. Within the first thirty minutes, the human cast is well stranded on the namesake island setting and the big star is revealed in the flesh.
The film is that rare epic science fiction monolith which proves that there is an art to making a good big, dumb monster movie. Some, like Legendary's Godzilla fall prey to their own pretensions and fail to entertain while the average Marvel film is so overblown with unbelievably blinding action to a point where it all becomes numbing. The monster sequences in Skull Island actually demonstrate touches of nuance and craft, often verging on being truly intense. There's a particular scene where Kong spins a helicopter in the air and we catch a flash of his face through the door, which proves to be impressively frightening. Skull Island doesn't attempt to up the ante in terms of its CGI creativity, and is a better film for it. When characters are eaten by an island monster or a helicopter crashes, it's genuinely exciting.
The human characters of Skull Island are mostly uninteresting and serve mainly as props to further the plot, but no one goes to Kong: Skull Island expecting unforgettable humans. Still, the cast makes the most of their garden variety roles. John Goodman and Samuel L. Jackson in particular turn in routinely strong performances as the typical government man and an unhinged military colonel bent on revenge, respectively. Kong himself is the only character audiences will care to rate, and he looks better than ever standing at over 100 ft. tall. In terms of design, Kong still bears the more realistically ape-like visage of Jackson's CGI imagining while bringing back some of the more monstrous features seen in earlier Kong films, including King Kong vs. Godzilla.
Atmosphere is one of the film's strongest virtues. Set at the end of the Vietnam War in 1973, Skull Island features the expected period references and a rich soundtrack featuring some standards of the era in addition to a few surprises (David Bowie and the Stooges in particular). The filmmakers take full advantage of the Vietnam-era time period, fitting the film's humid jungle setting like a glove. There are times when Skull Island bears the obvious visual influence of Platoon and Apocalypse Now, and it really works with Kong and his home.
Overall, Kong: Skull Island will probably not endure as a noteworthy classic or even come close to touching the magic of the original film, but is easily one of the most thoroughly entertaining, well made sci-fi popcorn flicks I've seen since Cloverfield, and it has a better sense of humor to boot. It wastes not a minute on pointless sociological diatribes, nor does it flex its CGI for the sake of exhibition.
I spent every minute of the film enjoying Kong stomp on people, brawling with giant bugs and even chuckling at corny jokes courtesy of John C. Reilly's character. Never once did I find myself wondering about my Instagram or rolling my eyes at something silly on screen. It was a well spent $18.95. Go see it, and see it in a theater.
8/10
Released mainly to embed Kong into the same Legendary Pictures shared universe beginning with the studio's 2014 reboot of Godzilla, Skull Island bears none of that film's attempt at scope or nuance. It is a lean, mean piece of action-adventure that rarely, if ever feigns to be anything else. At a relatively condensed run time of almost two hours (perhaps in response to the Peter Jackson entry), the plot moves along at a satisfyingly fast pace yet so much is told to a point where it feels like a solid two hours. Within the first thirty minutes, the human cast is well stranded on the namesake island setting and the big star is revealed in the flesh.
The film is that rare epic science fiction monolith which proves that there is an art to making a good big, dumb monster movie. Some, like Legendary's Godzilla fall prey to their own pretensions and fail to entertain while the average Marvel film is so overblown with unbelievably blinding action to a point where it all becomes numbing. The monster sequences in Skull Island actually demonstrate touches of nuance and craft, often verging on being truly intense. There's a particular scene where Kong spins a helicopter in the air and we catch a flash of his face through the door, which proves to be impressively frightening. Skull Island doesn't attempt to up the ante in terms of its CGI creativity, and is a better film for it. When characters are eaten by an island monster or a helicopter crashes, it's genuinely exciting.
The human characters of Skull Island are mostly uninteresting and serve mainly as props to further the plot, but no one goes to Kong: Skull Island expecting unforgettable humans. Still, the cast makes the most of their garden variety roles. John Goodman and Samuel L. Jackson in particular turn in routinely strong performances as the typical government man and an unhinged military colonel bent on revenge, respectively. Kong himself is the only character audiences will care to rate, and he looks better than ever standing at over 100 ft. tall. In terms of design, Kong still bears the more realistically ape-like visage of Jackson's CGI imagining while bringing back some of the more monstrous features seen in earlier Kong films, including King Kong vs. Godzilla.
Atmosphere is one of the film's strongest virtues. Set at the end of the Vietnam War in 1973, Skull Island features the expected period references and a rich soundtrack featuring some standards of the era in addition to a few surprises (David Bowie and the Stooges in particular). The filmmakers take full advantage of the Vietnam-era time period, fitting the film's humid jungle setting like a glove. There are times when Skull Island bears the obvious visual influence of Platoon and Apocalypse Now, and it really works with Kong and his home.
Overall, Kong: Skull Island will probably not endure as a noteworthy classic or even come close to touching the magic of the original film, but is easily one of the most thoroughly entertaining, well made sci-fi popcorn flicks I've seen since Cloverfield, and it has a better sense of humor to boot. It wastes not a minute on pointless sociological diatribes, nor does it flex its CGI for the sake of exhibition.
I spent every minute of the film enjoying Kong stomp on people, brawling with giant bugs and even chuckling at corny jokes courtesy of John C. Reilly's character. Never once did I find myself wondering about my Instagram or rolling my eyes at something silly on screen. It was a well spent $18.95. Go see it, and see it in a theater.
8/10
Tuesday, January 31, 2017
Introducing Big Star - America's Greatest Forgotten Band
Big Star is nothing if not the most ironically-named group in Rock history. Similar to the Velvet Underground, their influence on several subsequent musical movements is immeasurable despite garnering virtually no commercial success throughout their existence in the 1970's. While they are still unknown to the general public, they have been frequently hailed as favorites of both Rock journalists and bands like R.E.M. Since the late 1990's, Big Star has slowly begun to permeate mainstream culture with the use of their songs in films like Adventureland and That '70s Show - the theme of which featured Big Star's "In the Street" as covered by Cheap Trick.
Led by singer songwriters Chris Bell and Alex Chilton (former vocalist of the Box Tops), Big Star are often credited as being the definitive "Power-Pop" band, a sub-genre characterized by Beatles-inspired pop songs and heavy Who-like power chords. While a handful of their songs certainly fit the bill, Big Star's sound was more diverse, with diminutive songs rooted more in Folk and Soul. Right out of the gate, their 1972 debut #1 Record stood in contrast to the progressive-tinged mainstream Rock of the time. Big Star's guitars were crunchy, but not heavy. Their harmonies were pretty, but not operatic. Chilton and Bell crafted earthy Pop / Rock anthems like an American Lennon and McCartney. Catchy rockers like "My Life is Right" and the acoustic ballad "Thirteen" lyrically (and musically) captured the fleeting innocence of teen culture, from school dances to driving around looking for a joint - essentially the spirit of Dazed & Confused in a 3 minute song.
After the release #1 Record began Big Star's critically acclaimed yet commercially disastrous legacy, Chris Bell left the group, turning the creative duties over to Chilton. Like their debut, the sophomoric effort Radio City was centered around simple Pop / Rock, but with often cryptic lyrics and an audible weariness due to Chilton's growing cynicism surrounding the group's financial misfortune. Songs like "Back of a Car" and their signature song "September Gurls" (featured in Rolling Stone's Top 500 Songs of All Time) were still rooted in crunchy guitars and sweet melodies, but they also had a dreamy air to them which reflected a shift from the sunny optimism of the debut.
Their most notorious record Third / Sister Lovers is one of Rock's most shambolic and bizarre experiences. Often considered an Alex Chilton solo effort, Third is a thrown together collection of acoustic demos and half-finished demos augmented with maudlin strings and noisy textural treatments courtesy of producer Jim Dickinson. Dark ballads like "Kangaroo" and "Holocaust" viscerally detailed Chilton's descent into complete despair while sardonic rockers like "You Can't Have Me" saw him wounded and contemptuous at an industry which virtually ignored Big Star's acclaimed existence, leaving them in dire straits. Third was never even properly released until 1978, four years after its recording and the band's dissolution.
It was this tragic saga that made Big Star's story one of Rock's most mythic and Chilton a hero to underground rockers. Like the Velvet Underground, Big Star's influence was widespread and diverse, with bands like Cheap Trick and R.E.M. adapting their crunchy guitars and pop simplicity. Moody Alternative rockers like Nirvana would emulate the doomed pop sound of Third on subdued records like MTV Unplugged. Paul Westerberg of '80s Indie Rock kings The Replacements paid perhaps the deepest tribute, writing the classic "Alex Chilton" in tribute to one of his songwriting heroes.
Led by singer songwriters Chris Bell and Alex Chilton (former vocalist of the Box Tops), Big Star are often credited as being the definitive "Power-Pop" band, a sub-genre characterized by Beatles-inspired pop songs and heavy Who-like power chords. While a handful of their songs certainly fit the bill, Big Star's sound was more diverse, with diminutive songs rooted more in Folk and Soul. Right out of the gate, their 1972 debut #1 Record stood in contrast to the progressive-tinged mainstream Rock of the time. Big Star's guitars were crunchy, but not heavy. Their harmonies were pretty, but not operatic. Chilton and Bell crafted earthy Pop / Rock anthems like an American Lennon and McCartney. Catchy rockers like "My Life is Right" and the acoustic ballad "Thirteen" lyrically (and musically) captured the fleeting innocence of teen culture, from school dances to driving around looking for a joint - essentially the spirit of Dazed & Confused in a 3 minute song.
After the release #1 Record began Big Star's critically acclaimed yet commercially disastrous legacy, Chris Bell left the group, turning the creative duties over to Chilton. Like their debut, the sophomoric effort Radio City was centered around simple Pop / Rock, but with often cryptic lyrics and an audible weariness due to Chilton's growing cynicism surrounding the group's financial misfortune. Songs like "Back of a Car" and their signature song "September Gurls" (featured in Rolling Stone's Top 500 Songs of All Time) were still rooted in crunchy guitars and sweet melodies, but they also had a dreamy air to them which reflected a shift from the sunny optimism of the debut.
Their most notorious record Third / Sister Lovers is one of Rock's most shambolic and bizarre experiences. Often considered an Alex Chilton solo effort, Third is a thrown together collection of acoustic demos and half-finished demos augmented with maudlin strings and noisy textural treatments courtesy of producer Jim Dickinson. Dark ballads like "Kangaroo" and "Holocaust" viscerally detailed Chilton's descent into complete despair while sardonic rockers like "You Can't Have Me" saw him wounded and contemptuous at an industry which virtually ignored Big Star's acclaimed existence, leaving them in dire straits. Third was never even properly released until 1978, four years after its recording and the band's dissolution.
It was this tragic saga that made Big Star's story one of Rock's most mythic and Chilton a hero to underground rockers. Like the Velvet Underground, Big Star's influence was widespread and diverse, with bands like Cheap Trick and R.E.M. adapting their crunchy guitars and pop simplicity. Moody Alternative rockers like Nirvana would emulate the doomed pop sound of Third on subdued records like MTV Unplugged. Paul Westerberg of '80s Indie Rock kings The Replacements paid perhaps the deepest tribute, writing the classic "Alex Chilton" in tribute to one of his songwriting heroes.
Tuesday, January 24, 2017
Top 10 Influential Proto-Punk Bands (Part 2)
5. T. Rex
Along with Bowie, T. Rex front man Marc Bolan was Glam Rock's chief pioneer, single-handedly giving birth to the genre's visual and musical trademarks. Bolan merged a trashy, groovy take on early Rock & Roll with mystical lyricism that bordered on pretentious if not for a kitschy sense of humor. In many ways, Bolan was the definitive Rock star, effortlessly commanding the stage with a vibrant swagger and a love for the limelight. Like Bowie and Slade, T. Rex enjoyed a short-lived but enormous sweep of popularity among youths in the U.K. known as "T-Rextasy". In the U.S., their most well-known songs are the sleazy "Bang a Gong (Get it On)" and the roaring "20th Century Boy", the latter of which was featured in a Levi's commercial in the '90s.
Beginning as a folk-oriented duo featuring Mickey Finn on hand percussion, T. Rex later upgraded to a full lineup featuring bass and drums on their magnum opus Electric Warrior. Driven by Finn's almost tribal percussion and Bolan's fat, reverb-drenched guitar, T. Rex balanced their catchy dance-able rockers with mock-epic ballads often augmented by a string section. While Bolan's lyrics and Rock star exuberance would seem to put him at odds with Punk, his joyously pure sound and tongue-in-cheek sense of humor endeared him with the street kids. Indeed, Bolan was one of the few old guard rockers who fully embraced the Punk movement, inviting the Damned as a support act for his late '70s comeback tour.
T. Rex's influence stretched far beyond Punk, inspiring a legion of Hard Rock, Heavy Metal and Alternative Rock artists to follow. Like many of the artists on this list, T. Rex had a a strong crossover appeal, serving as an inspiration for both out-there Punk bands and mainstream Hard Rock bands. The Black Keys continue to carry his legacy into the modern era with Bolan-inspired songs like "Lonely Boy", and even Pop wunderkind Prince wrote his own take on T.Rex's sound with the No. 1 hit "Cream" in 1991.
Recommended songs: "Bang a Gong (Get it On)", "20th Century Boy", "Jeepster", "Telegram Sam", "Ride a White Swan".
4. New York Dolls
Though the Ramones or Patti Smith may have officially kicked off the late '70s New York movement at CBGB's, the New York Dolls may have been the first true Punk band in sound and spirit. Often classified as a Glam Rock band due to their androgynous, flashy sense of fashion, their sound was anything but glamorous. Mixing their back-to-basics Rock & Roll with Lou Reed-esque tales of urban decay, the Dolls stood in direct contrast to the excess of early '70s mainstream Rock with their ugly, noisy take on pure Rock & Roll. Thanks to front man David Johansen's dead-on Mick Jagger impression and guitarist Johnny Thunders' reputation for substance abuse worthy of Keith Richards, the Dolls were often maligned as a poor man's Rolling Stones.
Though they only released two classic albums in their early '70s heyday, both were massively influential for capturing the harrowing, irreverent and bizarre spirit of New York "street" music before it officially found a home at CBGB's just a few years later. The Dolls' nasty grind and completely off-the-wall fashion made them enormously influential on subsequent bands in all forms of Rock, most notably on both Punk bands who adopted their primitive sound and even Hair Metal bands, all of whom owe something to the Dolls' kinky dress sense.
Unlike once-edgy Rock bands from the Rolling Stones to Guns 'N Roses, the New York Dolls' sound remains too dangerous and bizarre to ever truly permeate the mainstream. While their bitchy "Looking For a Kiss" made a cameo appearance in 2009's Adventureland, you're not likely to hear one of their songs at a football game or a car commercial anytime soon. The Dolls will always be too edgy, regardless of how culture changes.
Recommended songs: "Personality Crisis", "Looking For a Kiss", "Trash", "Jet Boy", "Human Being".
3. David Bowie (Ziggy Stardust & the Spiders From Mars)
Though it seemingly bordered on cheating to add a solo artist, David Bowie's influence on Punk Rock (and popular music in general) cannot be overstated. Oddly enough, only a handful of Bowie's songs truly sound like Punk, but he was the definitive Rock star for musicians who came of age during his early '70s commercial heyday. An early adopter of shifting musical conventions and a champion of the bizarre, Bowie's string of albums throughout the '70s showed constant musical growth and have influenced hundreds of artists across all genres. Few artists have shared a stage with artists as diverse as Bing Crosby, John Lennon, Sonic Youth and Trent Reznor.
Bowie was arguably most influential on Punk Rock bands during his time as "Ziggy Stardust", a fictional stage persona created by Bowie and backed by his real-life touring and recording group at the time, the Spiders From Mars. Bowie's fearless swagger and Mick Ronson's brash, roaring guitar tone elevated Bowie's songs to epic proportions. Along with friend and professional rival Marc Bolan, Bowie was one of the few artists from the Glam Rock movement to truly create a massive public hysteria, captivating youths and frightening elders.
Not only did Bowie influence every three-chord driven Punk band with bitchy rockers like "Suffragette City" and "Hang on To Yourself", he also acted as the chief inspiration behind many Punk-associated genres with his late '70s albums referred to as his "Berlin Trilogy". Their experimental, electronic nature presaged gloomy Post-Punk artists like Joy Division and New Wave bands like Duran Duran. It would be easier to find artists who haven't been influenced by Bowie in one way or another, especially in the Punk world.
Recommended songs: "Hang on to Yourself", "Suffragette City", "Rebel Rebel", "Queen Bitch", "The Jean Genie".
2. The Stooges
Rock rebel Iggy Pop is often dubbed as the "Godfather of Punk" thanks in part to wild, shocking antics that continue on till this day but also due to his tenure fronting Detroit's the Stooges, one of the wildest and most confrontational Rock & Roll bands in history. Releasing their debut in 1969, the Stooges stood in wild contrast with the hippies with their rough, streetwise swagger and anarchic sound. Few Rock bands can be described as truly chaotic compared to the Stooges. Pop and his band were among the first Rock bands to take an axe to Rock conventions, frequently employing heavy machinery and vacuum cleaners as instruments, creating a metallic blast reflective of their Motor-City upbringing. Only the Velvet Underground presaged their use of dissonant noise in music. The Stooges took it to another level, playing blisteringly intense Rock which was then considered too menacing to be classified as Garage Rock and too primitive to be Heavy Metal.
Like Mott the Hoople, the Stooges were all but disbanded in 1973 before David Bowie took it upon himself to bring Pop and the band to England, rejuvenating them for what turned out to be the aptly-titled Raw Power. Though the band was always loud, menacing and aggressive, the album took that intensity to new heights. Little to no Rock music was as confrontational as Raw Power in 1973, which was classified as the "loudest album ever recorded" in a late 1990's reissue. With rampaging songs like "Search & Destroy" and the Chuck Berry-on-steroids title track, the Stooges essentially wrote the blueprint for Punk Rock.
Like many of the bands on this list, the Stooges were equally influential on Hard Rock and Heavy Metal as they were on Punk and Alternative artists. Virtually every major band from either side of the equation has cited the Stooges' wild, unhinged sound as vital to their sound. Guns 'N Roses included their own version of "Raw Power" on their covers album The Spaghetti Incident, and the album itself has been touted as a favorite of both Kurt Cobain and Cee Lo Green. There have been bands who have outdone the Stooges in terms of volume, speed and heaviness, but few have matched the "raw power" of Pop and his band in their heyday.
Recommended songs: "I Wanna Be Your Dog", "No Fun", "Loose", "Gimme Danger", "Cock in My Pocket".
1. The Velvet Underground
An obvious choice for top pick, the Velvet Underground is undoubtedly the most iconic and renown cult band in Rock history. Few other groups can claim such a massively widespread influence, spanning virtually every off-beat musical movement to spring in their wake. Forming in mid 1960's New York, the Velvets stood in stark opposition to the flower power movement with their bleak, harrowing tales of sadomasochism, drug addiction and urban horror. Led by one of Rock's most treasured poets Lou Reed, the Velvets instead fell in with Andy Warhol and his troupe of "superstars"- a collection of poets, visual artists and drag queens.
The Velvets were the original "Alternative" Rock band before the phrase even existed. Their edgy, avant-garde informed sound appealed to artistic outsiders and their primitive approach inspired young musicians who realized that they too could play guitar. On their first two records, the Velvets pushed rock beyond conventional boundaries into dissonant, noisy and often ethereal territory on the two-chord ode "Heroin" or "Sister Ray, a grisly seventeen minute jam ruminating on drag queens and murder. On their last two records however, the group began to explore more palatable territory beginning with hushed electric folk on The Velvet Underground and conventional Pop / Rock on Loaded.
A common colloquialism attributed to the group is that they sold very few records in their heyday, but everyone who bought one subsequently started a well-known band. They were the first band in popular music to become well known more through word of mouth than record sales or radio play. To this day, the Velvet Underground continues to influence bands with Reed's left-of-center take on Pop, Rock and Folk. When Lou Reed died in 2013, he was honored by a diverse set of stars from Martin Scorcese and David Bowie to Samuel L. Jackson and Metallica - a testament to the Velvet Underground's silent but monumental impact not only on Punk, but on the art world as a whole.
Recommended songs: "I'm Waiting For the Man", "Heroin", "White Light / White Heat", "Pale Blue Eyes", "Sweet Jane".
Afterward
While I tried to focus on relatively lesser-known artists, there's no denying that Punk Rock was also indebted to plenty of mainstream music. The seeds of Punk were sown as early as the 1950's with Chuck Berry's three chord teen mischief anthems and in the mid 1960's, when bands like the Kinks and the Who played songs that would have been considered Punk if released a decade later. One must also recognize the importance 1960's Garage Rock, as many of the groundbreaking singles on the Nuggets Garage compilation undoubtedly informed the earliest Punk bands.
Along with Bowie, T. Rex front man Marc Bolan was Glam Rock's chief pioneer, single-handedly giving birth to the genre's visual and musical trademarks. Bolan merged a trashy, groovy take on early Rock & Roll with mystical lyricism that bordered on pretentious if not for a kitschy sense of humor. In many ways, Bolan was the definitive Rock star, effortlessly commanding the stage with a vibrant swagger and a love for the limelight. Like Bowie and Slade, T. Rex enjoyed a short-lived but enormous sweep of popularity among youths in the U.K. known as "T-Rextasy". In the U.S., their most well-known songs are the sleazy "Bang a Gong (Get it On)" and the roaring "20th Century Boy", the latter of which was featured in a Levi's commercial in the '90s.
Beginning as a folk-oriented duo featuring Mickey Finn on hand percussion, T. Rex later upgraded to a full lineup featuring bass and drums on their magnum opus Electric Warrior. Driven by Finn's almost tribal percussion and Bolan's fat, reverb-drenched guitar, T. Rex balanced their catchy dance-able rockers with mock-epic ballads often augmented by a string section. While Bolan's lyrics and Rock star exuberance would seem to put him at odds with Punk, his joyously pure sound and tongue-in-cheek sense of humor endeared him with the street kids. Indeed, Bolan was one of the few old guard rockers who fully embraced the Punk movement, inviting the Damned as a support act for his late '70s comeback tour.
T. Rex's influence stretched far beyond Punk, inspiring a legion of Hard Rock, Heavy Metal and Alternative Rock artists to follow. Like many of the artists on this list, T. Rex had a a strong crossover appeal, serving as an inspiration for both out-there Punk bands and mainstream Hard Rock bands. The Black Keys continue to carry his legacy into the modern era with Bolan-inspired songs like "Lonely Boy", and even Pop wunderkind Prince wrote his own take on T.Rex's sound with the No. 1 hit "Cream" in 1991.
Recommended songs: "Bang a Gong (Get it On)", "20th Century Boy", "Jeepster", "Telegram Sam", "Ride a White Swan".
4. New York Dolls
Though the Ramones or Patti Smith may have officially kicked off the late '70s New York movement at CBGB's, the New York Dolls may have been the first true Punk band in sound and spirit. Often classified as a Glam Rock band due to their androgynous, flashy sense of fashion, their sound was anything but glamorous. Mixing their back-to-basics Rock & Roll with Lou Reed-esque tales of urban decay, the Dolls stood in direct contrast to the excess of early '70s mainstream Rock with their ugly, noisy take on pure Rock & Roll. Thanks to front man David Johansen's dead-on Mick Jagger impression and guitarist Johnny Thunders' reputation for substance abuse worthy of Keith Richards, the Dolls were often maligned as a poor man's Rolling Stones.
Though they only released two classic albums in their early '70s heyday, both were massively influential for capturing the harrowing, irreverent and bizarre spirit of New York "street" music before it officially found a home at CBGB's just a few years later. The Dolls' nasty grind and completely off-the-wall fashion made them enormously influential on subsequent bands in all forms of Rock, most notably on both Punk bands who adopted their primitive sound and even Hair Metal bands, all of whom owe something to the Dolls' kinky dress sense.
Unlike once-edgy Rock bands from the Rolling Stones to Guns 'N Roses, the New York Dolls' sound remains too dangerous and bizarre to ever truly permeate the mainstream. While their bitchy "Looking For a Kiss" made a cameo appearance in 2009's Adventureland, you're not likely to hear one of their songs at a football game or a car commercial anytime soon. The Dolls will always be too edgy, regardless of how culture changes.
Recommended songs: "Personality Crisis", "Looking For a Kiss", "Trash", "Jet Boy", "Human Being".
3. David Bowie (Ziggy Stardust & the Spiders From Mars)
Though it seemingly bordered on cheating to add a solo artist, David Bowie's influence on Punk Rock (and popular music in general) cannot be overstated. Oddly enough, only a handful of Bowie's songs truly sound like Punk, but he was the definitive Rock star for musicians who came of age during his early '70s commercial heyday. An early adopter of shifting musical conventions and a champion of the bizarre, Bowie's string of albums throughout the '70s showed constant musical growth and have influenced hundreds of artists across all genres. Few artists have shared a stage with artists as diverse as Bing Crosby, John Lennon, Sonic Youth and Trent Reznor.
Bowie was arguably most influential on Punk Rock bands during his time as "Ziggy Stardust", a fictional stage persona created by Bowie and backed by his real-life touring and recording group at the time, the Spiders From Mars. Bowie's fearless swagger and Mick Ronson's brash, roaring guitar tone elevated Bowie's songs to epic proportions. Along with friend and professional rival Marc Bolan, Bowie was one of the few artists from the Glam Rock movement to truly create a massive public hysteria, captivating youths and frightening elders.
Not only did Bowie influence every three-chord driven Punk band with bitchy rockers like "Suffragette City" and "Hang on To Yourself", he also acted as the chief inspiration behind many Punk-associated genres with his late '70s albums referred to as his "Berlin Trilogy". Their experimental, electronic nature presaged gloomy Post-Punk artists like Joy Division and New Wave bands like Duran Duran. It would be easier to find artists who haven't been influenced by Bowie in one way or another, especially in the Punk world.
Recommended songs: "Hang on to Yourself", "Suffragette City", "Rebel Rebel", "Queen Bitch", "The Jean Genie".
2. The Stooges
Rock rebel Iggy Pop is often dubbed as the "Godfather of Punk" thanks in part to wild, shocking antics that continue on till this day but also due to his tenure fronting Detroit's the Stooges, one of the wildest and most confrontational Rock & Roll bands in history. Releasing their debut in 1969, the Stooges stood in wild contrast with the hippies with their rough, streetwise swagger and anarchic sound. Few Rock bands can be described as truly chaotic compared to the Stooges. Pop and his band were among the first Rock bands to take an axe to Rock conventions, frequently employing heavy machinery and vacuum cleaners as instruments, creating a metallic blast reflective of their Motor-City upbringing. Only the Velvet Underground presaged their use of dissonant noise in music. The Stooges took it to another level, playing blisteringly intense Rock which was then considered too menacing to be classified as Garage Rock and too primitive to be Heavy Metal.
Like Mott the Hoople, the Stooges were all but disbanded in 1973 before David Bowie took it upon himself to bring Pop and the band to England, rejuvenating them for what turned out to be the aptly-titled Raw Power. Though the band was always loud, menacing and aggressive, the album took that intensity to new heights. Little to no Rock music was as confrontational as Raw Power in 1973, which was classified as the "loudest album ever recorded" in a late 1990's reissue. With rampaging songs like "Search & Destroy" and the Chuck Berry-on-steroids title track, the Stooges essentially wrote the blueprint for Punk Rock.
Like many of the bands on this list, the Stooges were equally influential on Hard Rock and Heavy Metal as they were on Punk and Alternative artists. Virtually every major band from either side of the equation has cited the Stooges' wild, unhinged sound as vital to their sound. Guns 'N Roses included their own version of "Raw Power" on their covers album The Spaghetti Incident, and the album itself has been touted as a favorite of both Kurt Cobain and Cee Lo Green. There have been bands who have outdone the Stooges in terms of volume, speed and heaviness, but few have matched the "raw power" of Pop and his band in their heyday.
Recommended songs: "I Wanna Be Your Dog", "No Fun", "Loose", "Gimme Danger", "Cock in My Pocket".
1. The Velvet Underground
An obvious choice for top pick, the Velvet Underground is undoubtedly the most iconic and renown cult band in Rock history. Few other groups can claim such a massively widespread influence, spanning virtually every off-beat musical movement to spring in their wake. Forming in mid 1960's New York, the Velvets stood in stark opposition to the flower power movement with their bleak, harrowing tales of sadomasochism, drug addiction and urban horror. Led by one of Rock's most treasured poets Lou Reed, the Velvets instead fell in with Andy Warhol and his troupe of "superstars"- a collection of poets, visual artists and drag queens.
The Velvets were the original "Alternative" Rock band before the phrase even existed. Their edgy, avant-garde informed sound appealed to artistic outsiders and their primitive approach inspired young musicians who realized that they too could play guitar. On their first two records, the Velvets pushed rock beyond conventional boundaries into dissonant, noisy and often ethereal territory on the two-chord ode "Heroin" or "Sister Ray, a grisly seventeen minute jam ruminating on drag queens and murder. On their last two records however, the group began to explore more palatable territory beginning with hushed electric folk on The Velvet Underground and conventional Pop / Rock on Loaded.
A common colloquialism attributed to the group is that they sold very few records in their heyday, but everyone who bought one subsequently started a well-known band. They were the first band in popular music to become well known more through word of mouth than record sales or radio play. To this day, the Velvet Underground continues to influence bands with Reed's left-of-center take on Pop, Rock and Folk. When Lou Reed died in 2013, he was honored by a diverse set of stars from Martin Scorcese and David Bowie to Samuel L. Jackson and Metallica - a testament to the Velvet Underground's silent but monumental impact not only on Punk, but on the art world as a whole.
Recommended songs: "I'm Waiting For the Man", "Heroin", "White Light / White Heat", "Pale Blue Eyes", "Sweet Jane".
Afterward
While I tried to focus on relatively lesser-known artists, there's no denying that Punk Rock was also indebted to plenty of mainstream music. The seeds of Punk were sown as early as the 1950's with Chuck Berry's three chord teen mischief anthems and in the mid 1960's, when bands like the Kinks and the Who played songs that would have been considered Punk if released a decade later. One must also recognize the importance 1960's Garage Rock, as many of the groundbreaking singles on the Nuggets Garage compilation undoubtedly informed the earliest Punk bands.
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