Thursday, February 5, 2009
DJG / "I'm Going to Disneyland!" (aka: Super Bowl XLIII)
Super Bowl XLIII * * * *
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band * * * * * (PRICELESS!)
My big ol’ burger was completely swallowed by the time Jennifer Hudson was done belting out her beautiful “National Anthem”…the commercials were once again so-so (maybe because advertisers blow their bank on commercials every day of the week? The Doritos ones do stand out to me though)…the halftime totally lived up to expectation, was amazing and inspiring…but WOW, let's get to that game first!
Sorry CARDINALS, but that stealer of a STEELER ending was unbelievable, as many plays leading up to that, in what has to be one of the best Super Bowls in recent memory. And don’t we say that every year come the Monday morning after!? But, last night surely put the stamp on why it’s called The Super Bowl, and America needed a boost like this. It was even bigger and better than last year when Eli Manning saved the day at the last possible second (which still perplexes me).The first quarter of Super Bowl XLIII opened with Big Ben getting his rushing touchdown taken away...the second quarter ended with an I-still-have-no-idea-how-he-ran-that-all-the-way-back 100 yard touchdown interception (longest Super Bowl play ever!)… fast forward a bit to the last few minutes of the fourth quarter, and it was just the most insane amount of Super Bowl emotions, nail-biting plays and highlights in the history of the big game. Though, it was the third quarter that didn’t produce much, at least not to me. I think because it had to do with something about following BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN & THE E STREET BAND!
And a WOW-WOW of a halftime highlight reel! Where do I begin? I first heard about The Boss – Super Bowl rumor courtship connection back in August. So, I’ve nearly had 6 months building up for this. And The Boss has been turning down the NFL for years, I heard even way back when. Being that The Boss is on quite the streak of late, playing Super Bowl XLIII only put the topping on the cupcakes for me. How about we just kick it off from the get-go as pre-recorded Cardinal and Steeler players flashed on the television, introducing me to the legendary E Street Band…then, a backstage camera comes out of the stadium bowels and into the dark with the real life classic “Born to Run” silhouette of The Boss and Clarence Clemons back-to-back with guitar and saxophone in hands like weapons as “10th Avenue Freeze-Out” kicks into it’s opening rhythm and The Boss throws his guitar into the air and his tech fumbles with the catch. The Boss then looks at me and says, “Alright, get away from the guacamole. Put down those chicken fingers…turn your television all the way up for the righteous sounds of the E Street Band!” The Boss then put his near-60-year-old legs in supreme jump-ability and got right up on Professor Roy’s piano and asked me if I was really alive out there. And I said, “Yes I am.” I was ready to rock ‘n’ soul. Bruce proceeded with springing off his piano pulpit, straddled the microphone as if a prayer to God in Heaven and then bounced around the stage, telling his people the recollections on 10th Avenue, a song that live, usually extends into a 20 minute praise and worship sermon turn band introduction, but at the Super Bowl you only get 12 minutes to preach.
It was almost as unbelievable as the longest play in Super Bowl history, before I knew it, The E Street Band gained extra Clarence “Big Man” beef in their horn section pants as from what I could tell, drummer Mighty Max Weinberg brought his entire 7 (from the Conan O’Brien show, of course) with him to help in the halftime party. Thus, Clarence blew gold all over the place as he looked dressed the part of a wizard musical theory instructor in the next “Harry Potter” movie. I knew it was going to happen, but didn’t think it would come this early, but near the end of “10th Avenue Freeze-Out”, The Boss did his famous night-after-night-after-night knee slide across half the length of the stage, colliding with the viewers at home, in what I like to refer to as “Crotch Cam”. I don’t know about those of you there, but from my vantage point the slide into NBC’s camera looked like it was supposed to be intentional, just maybe not that aggressive. However, The Boss hammed it up something fierce as he displayed the biggest “I’m having the time of my life” grin on his face to the over 100 million viewers at home and the thousands and thousands there basking in the flesh of Super Bowl XLIII. I wish I’d been there…
A little winded, but not worn by any means, The Boss strapped on Excalibur as “Born to Run” officially kicked the party into second gear and hundreds of sky rockets destroyed the Tampa Bay night sky. It was a truly mesmerizing and inspiring experience, even from the cheap seats. It actually kind of reminded me of when I watched live C-SPAN coverage of the inaugural bombings of the second Iraq war, but of course the rocket red glare in Tampa was more inspiring as “War, what is it good for?”. Back to basics…“Born to Run” always ends way too soon for me (it’s a repeater ALWAYS, and I’m sure every neighbor or roommate I’ve had since 2001 either knows it by heart or are completely sick of it), but the Super Bowl shortened version brought the quintessential ROCK WRITING 101 guitar thunder and lightning really quick as Bruce and the band slowed it down and then brought it back up to that place where I really want to go and walk in the sun. But, tramps like me are born to run and I had to get to working on my dream.
DANG, is all I could think as Bruce ushered not only Little Stevie and his lovely wife Patti to the front of the extended stage to harmonize with the crowd, but also brought out about a hundred blue robed choir belters holding pure illumination in their palms as their BOSS was “Working on a Dream”, a song choice that I wasn’t expecting at all. I knew he’d more than likely want to plug the new and excellent record, but I had no idea he’d do it with the title track, I was thinking “Lucky Day” all the way. Though, what a fitting salute to America right now and a great way to feed off that “Born to Run” energy and change up the tempo. What a song, but what a performance. I really hope this happens every night on the new tour. This was even more inspiring than the fireworks.
I knew that time was ticking and how do you end a concert like this? In the back of my mind I was pining for either “The Rising”, another inspirational number, but at this point it didn’t seem like the choice. Maybe “Badlands” or “Hungry Heart” would be next!? I then thought maybe, just maybe the place would explode as the drum kicks of “Born in the U.S.A” would sound. However, all along I didn’t think he would play his ‘80s staple (and if so, I would have kicked off the party with the acoustic rendition, if I was The Boss)…I was mostly thinking that The Boss would employ the help of the 12-year-old girl he had in Kansas City, MO at the end of the “Magic” tour for “Dancing in the Dark” lessons and cartwheels. Gosh, I was hoping to get that memory back into reality. What a site that was…and I think The Boss was listening to me, but decided to throw in a change-up as he went one step back to the track right before “Dancing in the Dark” on his classic album “Born in the U.S.A.” and wrestled for them “Glory Days”! Just like any night on tour, you never know what you’re gonna get!
Changing up the lyrics from baseball to accommodate the present event, The Boss told me about his football friend back in high school who could throw a Hail Mary pass! AMAZING. BRILLIANT. But, where was his buddy now? Yep, he was now older and sitting around, thinking about the days of his youth. Little Stevie stepped up to the plate…er, yard dash?...and joined with his best bud on recapturing the youthful spirit of a bar band going down to the video hit well of the 1980s as they loosened a notch or two and belted out their “Glory Days” in extreme grand fashion. The Boss then looked at his watch and asked, “What time is it!?”. He then asked if it was quittin’ time and if they’d get called for a penalty if they went over and even said something about how they might as well just start taking ‘er into over-time!
Then, in what was probably Bruce’s actual 2 minute warning, a frumpy referee whom I didn’t recall seeing make the final play of the half, came on stage, blew his whistle and threw a yellow penalty flag in front of Bruce and Stevie. I was just blown-away at how awesome this exit was. I think that a lot of people found it pure-cheesy, but I thought it was genius orchestration to sum up what a fun-loving, genuine class act Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band really is. This was their time to get ready to clock out of the office and as Bruce asked again what time it was and Little Stevie replied, “It’s BOSS TIME!!”, dang it iff the entire crowd didn’t go completely bonkers. I think I even bonkered in my pants a bit. The Boss then put in some over-time as he wind-milled his beloved guitar six times and the band kept going and going, extending the final measures and “Alrights!” of “Glory Days”. As the band slowed things down, the Boss officially clocked out with a smiling, classic Super Bowl victory declaration of “I’m going to Disneyland!” They all held hands and I wanted more BRRUUUCCCCEEEEE!!!!!! than the forthcoming halftime football talk.
Bruce and the gang only had 12 minutes to squeeze in nearly 4 decades of music and you could tell that they came fully-equipped with a wallop of a 4-pack medley of power that not even Vegas could have predicted. There have been a lot of pretty good Super Bowl halftime acts in the post-Janet era, but none have even come close to the level of energy, passion, spirit and excitement of the party that took place last night. The halftime bar has officially been raised. I even think it was better than the opening ceremony at last summer’s Olympics (OK, maybe not ZHANG YIMOU THAT GOOD, but take note London 2012!), I just wish that they could have gotten three or four hours! They used every bit of the allotted 12 minutes to remind me how they can do what they do and MORE on any given night of the week with an extra 2 hours and 48 minutes. Well, of course without the awesome aid of exploding rockets, a large backdrop of digital light boxes that brought to mind the communications of “Close Encounters of the Boss Kind”, a choir, added horn section, referee, and not to mention a grand stage and setting that only The Super Bowl could provide. But, Bruce & The E Street Band are no strangers to big venues and big stages…
Cardinals, sorry for your loss. Your road to Super Bowl XLIII was a great, hard-fought one and I was rooting for you. But, look on the bright side of the ball, at least you got to open for THE BOSS!-djg
CTJ's 2008 List (On Top of Danny's)
Danny made a great list of his favorite films that he saw in 2008, but as I looked at his list there were a few that we both saw and raved about that I wanted to add to the list, as well as a few that I saw myself and loved. Between the two of us, you should have enough films to keep your Netflix queue full for awhile. :)
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
DJG / Record Store Day = "High Fidelity"
In April, I plan to watch a movie that's in my all-time top five list, "High Fidelity". I visit Rob Gordon and friends at least twice a year and I can't think of a better day than National Record Store Day on April 18, 2009.
DJG / Max Payne
Max Payne * * 1/2Directed by: John Moore / 2008
Hey BRO, I just kicked off feBROary with the most amazingly madhouse of a movie called "Max Payne". You heard of it? It’s based after a video game. You a gamer? I’m not, used to when I was younger, but that’s cool cause the movie didn’t even need to have good story development or anything to get my investment. Let’s blow that S*%T up! Marky Mark is looking cut in it and he’s pissed cause somebody killed his wife and daughter way back. He’s on the loose and beating up bad guys cause he met some hot babe (well, not really cause I think she kinda looks like Kumar with a wig on, at least in that last James Bond movie poster I saw…ya know, Harold’s White Castle buddy?) for one night and then two minutes later somebody murdered her and planted Max’s I.D. badge on her body. No joke. I was like, “What?!” So, Max just goes ape and uncovers a ton of stuff and with the aid of that Jackie girl from “That ‘70s Show”, whom I think should just stick to receiving her butt-load of royalty checks from that sitcom’s glorious run on syndication. So Marky Max…he goes and beats up Chris O’Donnel, who we haven’t seen in a movie since “Batman & Robin”. Chris is cool and all, but didn’t age well and I bet that is why he’s been in hiding. Remember when I took that picture of his hot mug from People Magazine back in 1996 cause I wanted a fine example of how to get my hair cut for the salon girls? Yep. But, dude…I don’t want his hair now. Anyway, so Max keeps killing people and blowing stuff up and then there is this one part that has him getting nearly frozen to death…to DEATH, bro!...and then he miraculously crawls out of the frozen ice (and thankfully the bad guys quit shooting at him, as bad guys always give up way too easy!) gets whack drunk on this crazy blue liquid stuff that the U.S. military designed to calm down troops in battle, yet it fills them with awesome Terminator-like strength. It’s not really rage, just soothes them and brings peace so they can go into battle and DESTROY. But, the dudes I saw swill it earlier in the film could have already kicked my butt, even if my butt was juiced on the blue stuff. But, whatever. So, Mark (aka: Max Payne) took like a double-dose of this stuff and started getting crunked-out. I guess he didn’t know that you’d see winged demons flying all over the place after you drank it. He just thought those other poor suckers who took it were hallucinatin’ or something? Also, he took the stuff and become unfrozen and got right up and the constant snow that was falling for the entire movie turned to pieces of burning ash and then Max Payne just went downtown on a ton more bad guys until he got to the final bad guy boss. It’s tight. WAY TIGHT. OK, so mark off the checklist dude, because this movie has winged demons and ash falling from the city at all times…and a ton of ripped dudes with machetes, hot babes and guns. Why didn’t we see this in the theater on the big screen and in surround stereo sound!? Also, I shouldn’t forget to mention that “Max Payne” has some mega sweet effects that are sorta like “The Matrix”, but visually it's one of many movies that are trying to milk that whole "Sin City" thing but just don't make the cut, ya know? Ya know, on that "Matrix" thing though, slow-motion acrobatic gun battles with different levels of bad guys and stuff? Sweeeeet. But, Marky Mark is no Keanu Reeves. But, in the end, Max Payne kills all the guys that made him so pissed off in the first place cause they are the same guys that were involved with killing his wife and daughter. Can you believe that? Yeah, so, it was awesome, of course. It IS awesome. I think I want to be a gamer again now. Later, I gotta hit Best Buy now to go purchase a new gaming system and “Max Payne” the video game (heck, maybe the whole franchise) and the DVD or maybe even Blu-Ray cause I've always wanted one of those and why not? Later. Oh, and say hello to your mother for me.
-djg
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
DJG's CINEMADHESIVE / Encounters at the End of the World
Encounters at the End of the World * * * * *Directed by: Werner Herzog / 2008
Let's take a field trip to McMurdo Station…American Scientific Settlement…Antarctica…Earth.
As God’s children we should behave accordingly instead of exhausting our Mother Earth’s resources, like a mother whose fuse is shortened by a child’s heightened sense of not having any sense. But, what is “behave accordingly”? The word “behave” has two words in it, “be” and “have”. I sometimes just yearn to “be” and with peace of mind, like a child, but at the same time I have to play adult and sometimes that means I “have” to “have” my share and piece of mind. As humans it’s in our driving initiative to put everything under the microscope, to poke and to prod, to exploit, to show-off, to gain founders rights and an objective of intellectual gain. Rarely do we sit back and soak in the given. And will we truly be forgiven? Time will tell, at least in our relation to Earth’s perspective.
Werner Herzog approaches his film subjects like a carver of curiosities, Antarctica being one of his latest escapades, more appropriately ice capades, and it’s a wonder why it has taken Herzog this long to wander his wonders to the belly button of the world's belly. Well, because it's pregnant with life. It’s a thinker’s tank down there and on a surface of "moon-like" conditions as described by some of the inhabitants of America’s McMurdo Station, a scientific settlement nearly four times the size, and more Americanized, than even that of my actual Americanized home town. It wasn’t what I was expecting and neither was Herzog, as he wanted to get out of town and into iceberg exploration the minute he stepped off the plane. I don’t blame him. But, he stumbles on a story behind every door and behind every travel-worn face of these people. There is a line from the ‘90s comedy, “Tommy Boy”, that has always stuck with me and that is, “Your Dad could sell a ketchup popsicle to a woman in white gloves!”, and I think that if there was such a salesman, Herzog would be on the other end of the camera with white gloves on. He just has a knack for finding something in everything and everyone.
The residents of McMurdo all share a similar interest in what seems to be out of the box experiences, even when they’re in the box, so to speak, cut off from the rest of the world. Not to mention when they’re practicing survivor classes with bucket blinders over their heads to simulate a whiteout (one of my favorite scenes). The end of the world has pulled them in like a magnet. The end is their beginning, the bottom is their top. OK, you get it. Some have come to escape a dark past. Others have come due to their constant search of eccentric adventure or wonderment. Many are there for their love of the work (and ice cream, guitar concerts and science fiction) and to simply be in remote isolation. There are even some who have bags packed at all times, ready to move on if need be. But, all have truly lived more than I have and I’m oddly engaged to their inspiring tales and trials through travel. In fact, I found the filmed portions of the people of McMurdo just as captivating as its strange frozen surroundings, ice bergs, actively spitting volcanoes, seals that give off Pink Floyd-like recordings, two story naturally made ice sculptures that house toxic gases and water cathedrals with alien-like creatures under the Herzog coined “frozen sky” of the iced-over sea. Though, there is an odd juxtaposition of McMurdo’s curious, childlike play peoples and their drive to want to scientifically figure out Mother Earth. But, in the end these are still God’s children and even still, serve as a unique parallel to a lone, adamantly wandering penguin taking his own path. It’s a path we’d all want to aid motherly care package advice to, but he’s free to make that choice to poke and prod on his own path of choice.
As a documentarian you can say that Herzog too pokes and prods. Though, it rarely comes with the gusto for scientific documentation of film studies advance (well, maybe a bit of that and some intellectual studying), rather that simple yearning of child awe, spirit and artistry. Herzog has a wonder about him, at times eccentric, but always with a keen eye and brain even to squeeze something extra out of the ordinary and is careful not to draw a fine line between “normal” and “insane”. His camera is constantly looking for something mind-boggling, impressive, inspiring, worshipping, poignant and at times humorous. When someone speaks of their love for Antarctica and its “similar to the moon” likability, the camera tells what could be the rest of the story. As it captures the earth worked over by human dirt machines and “progress” taking place, one can’t help but visualize how the moon will look once we conquer and colonize it and beyond, leaving our inevitable travel tattoos (most likely after we come close to fully exhausting our Mother). And at the same time you can’t help but want to be a part of that in some strange way.Just like the mysterious come and go of the dinosaurs, humans will too. We’re up to the plate and all signs appear that we’re down in the count. The doctor playing on Earth has good, bad and ugly to its game and maybe just maybe it can boost us to having better odds if we pay attention? Though, perhaps when future civilizations, maybe aliens, come to see who we were and what we were about, they’ll happen to find a complete box set of Werner Herzog curiosities and documentations on Earth (of course they’d have to have a device to make them work, but please humor for a little longer) sitting in a shrine right next to the detailed cast of a sturgeon also mysteriously found frozen in time at the end of the world.
While Mother Earth is busy speaking, are our busy bodies truly listening instead of putting stethoscopes, microscopes and tattoos to the tune of discovering, documenting, detailing…detaching and weaning off from the mystery and childlike wonderment? But, children are nothing more than little adults, naively wandering into a foreign playground to be the first to slide down the slide with a bucket over their heads. And you can bet your bucket that Werner Herzog will be at the bottom with a camera and curiosity
-djg
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