http://blogcritics.org/ A sinister cabal of superior bloggers on music, books, film, popular culture, politics, and technology - updated continuously. en Copyright 2005-2007 by the authors Sun, 14 Dec 2003 14:54:57 EST http://backend.userland.com/rss Blogcritics.org custom software http://blogcritics.org/ Phillip WinnSunday, August 26, 2007, marks the switch of all Blogcritics.org article feeds from full-content to short-content. This is the result of several converging factors, and is unfortunately a permanent decision (as permanent as any decision can be on the web, that is). We are aware of all of the reasons that this is a Bad Idea, and we are aware that some of you will be quite upset about having to click on something to read the free content, and we're sorry. Unfortunately, despite great effort, full-content feeds are not currently economically viable. Two other factors are involved: full-content feeds have resulted in an unprecedented level of content theft, with BC content appearing on many websites, usually spam sites, without attribution or permission. This duplicate content causes a cascading set of problems, not the least of which is that search engines generally aren't favorable to duplicate content, and don't always guess correctly. Finally, our RSS advertising partner is strongly in favor of short-content feeds. We hope that you'll continue to subscribe to BC via RSS, and when an article grabs your eye, it's only a click away, still free on the BC website. Thank you for your understanding. Administration0@blogcritics.org Sun, 26 Aug 2007 12:00:00 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2003/12/14/145457.php Jay Caruso** SPOILERS AHEAD **I saw this movie last night for the first time. It was by accident really. It was on 'Encore' and since it had received such rave reviews, I decided to watch. It also received at least four Oscar nominations. One for Sissy Spacek for Best Actress, Tom Wilkinson for Best Actor, Marisa Tomei for Best Supporting Actress and Best Picture. The movie takes place in Maine and tells the story of a couple (Wilkinson and Spacek) whose only child is murdered by the ex husband of Marisa Tomei who th son was dating and how they deal with it afterwards. The movie started out very well, even though it was pretty easy to see what was going to happen despite every description of the movie only hinting at it. Afterwards, the characters are left dealing with the loss, knowing he was their only son, and that any opportunity to have another has passed them by. The performances are very good. Marisa Tomei was nominated for an Oscar, but her character seemed to be relegated to nothing more than a worried girlfriend before the murder and a grieving girlfriend afterwards. There wasn't time to for us to learn more about her character and how her relationship with the son developed, so it suffers from that and she comes off as one dimensional.Sissy Spacek's performance was given the most ink and while it is very good the standout here is Tom Wilkinson as Matt Fowler. If you don't know who Wilkinson is, you may recognize him as General Cornwallis from 'The Patriot.' His Oscar nomination was dell deserved.The movie is paced slowly, but thankfully it wasn't filled with melodramatic nonsense that would have easily made me go back to watching 'Mallrats' which was in the DVD player when I noticed this was on. Unfortunately, the movie which started out as a dramatic character study, suddenly descends into a dumb 'revenge' movie that's better suited for the claptrap seen on the Lifetime Movie Network, than an Oscar nominated motion picture. I lost all interest at that point, and spent the rest of the time changing channels, only checking back in to see how it would all resolve itself at the end. Problem is, there really was no resolution. It was though the writers couldn't think of anything to do, so it just...ended. I was annoyed that I wasted 90 minutes of my time watching a very good movie, only for it to be ruined in the last 30 minutes. Video10966@blogcritics.org Sun, 14 Dec 2003 14:54:57 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2003/09/07/154934.php Jay CarusoTime Warner was kind enough to send me an advanced copy of Tucker Carlson's book. The least I could do was offer a review.Political junkies like myself probably know who Tucker Carlson is. For those that don't, he's one of the conservative hosts of CNN's 'Crossfire' (Bob Novak being the other). He also writes for the 'Weekly Standard' and for some time had his own show on CNN that he co-hosted with liberal Bill Press called 'The Spin Room.' Tucker's book, "Politicians, Partisans and Parasites" explores some of his adventures in the business of cable news, and offers some of his thoughts and opinions on many of the other people who work and operate in the business. Some of it also is personal, as he relates to us several stories that didn't have anything to do with cable news, but it's clear that Carlson knows these stories may not have been possible were it not for his status as a televisions news figure.A couple of things surprised me about the book. First, the length. It's a short book by today's standards for such tomes, with less than 200 pages so it reads very quickly. Secondly, it steers away from the formulaic liberal bashing that permeates so many of the books being published these days. Carlson does get his digs in at liberals at times, but that is to be expected. Overall, I found the book to be funny, informative and surprising considering what Carlson has had to say about people in the business - especially about conservatives.Carlson as a person, is a stark contrast to the image he portrays. My wife always remarks on his haircut, bowties and what she believes is a preppy name (wait until she learns he has a brother named Buckley), and that preppy goodie-two shoes image is what comes across on camera. However, Carlson is a guy that just recently gave up a smoking habit, likes to drink, and has a mouth that would put a guy like Bobby Knight to shame. In short, Carlson has an "I don't give a fuck" attitude and that made me like him more.Carlson's book starts off discussing how 'The Spin Room' came into existence, and how dealing with a lousy producer named Don drove him and co-host Bill Press crazy. In one segment, Don wanted Carlson and Press to talk about some panda bears China was sending to the United States because "nobody changes the channel when pandas are on." After looking at nothing more than a crate on a tarmac for a few minutes they broke for commercial at which point Press blew up and yelled, "Hey Panda Man! I didn't see the pandas you promised Not one. Not even fur. Where were the fucking pandas?" Carlson said after that, they didn't pay much attention to Don and proceeded to basically do what they wanted with the show. Carlson indulged in a few stories about the show, leading us into it's quick demise (it only lasted 8 months). He goes on to tell us about his being asked by CNN to co-host 'Crossfire' much to the dismay of people like Tom DeLay. His spokeswoman told the New York Post that he was "not a real Republican." Bob Novak was not thrilled with the idea either. We're told about his surviving a plane crash in Pakistan three weeks after 9/11 and was told by investigators that they didn't know why the plane, which landed in the desert, didn't "burst into a ball of flame." Carlson was also the subject of a rape accusation (the woman had severe mental problems and the accusation was bogus) and the fear he experienced in those couple of days. He had an adventure in Vietnam with Senator John McCain, where he was close to spending time in a Vietnamese prison because of his big mouth (he was freed thanks to the intervention of the Clinton state department emplyee James Rubin). What sets the book apart however, is Carlson's frank and honest opinions of the people he has to deal with along the way. Regarding James Carville (one of the liberal co-hosts of Crossfire), Carlson initially thought Carville came off like like a madman in order not to be bothered by CNN suits, but at one point realized that it was all real. "There was nothing phony about his outrageousness. He actually didn't care. For rea;. And it was clear he was having a great time not caring." One time, Carville decided to tell Carlson about one of his sexual fantasies - right before 'Crossfire' started with a studio audience listening in. When a horrified producer started yelling in Carlson's ear to get him to make Carville stopped, Carville noticed the look on Carlson's face and said, "Is that Sam? Is that Sam Feist our corporate butt-boy producer? Sam, if you an hear me, lighten up." Carlson writes, "It was at that moment that James Carville became one of my favorite people."Jesse Jackson was described as "phonier than I imagined" when it was obvious that Jackson didn't have a clue what he was talking about prior to a segment of "Both Sides" but came off looking like an expert once the cameras rolled. According to Carlson, not only had his staff prepared questions to ask about the issue, but also prepared answers.He says Chris Matthews hyperactive way of doing his show "is not an act" and gives an example of how Matthews would respond to a simple question like, "Are there any coffee cups in here?"With regard to Bill O'Reilly, Carlson says the criticism that he merely panders to the reactionary views of his audience is "shallow" but he also says that O'Reilly has a "schtick" and that's playing the Everyman. He says that all it will take is one time for O'Reilly to do something that conflicts with that image, to put him on the "whatever happened to?" list.On Jerry Falwell: "I'd gone to the interview assuming Falwell would live up to his reputation as an uncompromising right-wing ideologue. Instead, he was just another publicity hound. And he wasn't even amusing."Al Sharpton: He's often compared to Jesse Jackson, but Carlson says "Sharpton is smarter, funnier and much less self-righteous." Barney Frank: "He defies all probability by being an even more unpleasant in person than he is on television." Carlson related a story how Frank berated a producer on Crossfire because she wanted to fix his blazer that had become bunched up. He didn't care what he looked like. Carlson said he spent the break tormenting Frank about wearing makeup and wondering why he did if he didn't care what he looked like. James Traficant: "There's no politician I miss more. Traficant was a terrific guest not simply because he was compusively outrageous and wore a hairpiece that looked like a racoon, but because he was willing to appear on television drunk."Bill Bradley: "Travelling with Bradley was like slow death. The made no effort to disguise his contempt for the press or for the political process. His speeches were so dull they constituted a form of aggression aimed at the audience: You are my captives. I can do to you what I will."British Press: "I've rarely met one (British reporter) who didn't drink like a Soviet factory worker."Carlson also tells us about certain likes and dislikes. He cannot stand party hacks and tells us of a time when he was able to sit in on a conference with a bunch of talking heads for Bill Clinton during the Lewinsky scandal and couldn't understand how a group of intelligent people could allow themselves to be given certain talking points and just go out and repeat them like robots. He has a different view of ideologues. No matter how outrageous their views may be, to Carlson, they're honest and that's what matters.He accuses Dan Rather of lying when he said "I hate this story because I love my country" with regard to the Lewinsky scandal. Frank Sesno on the other hand, said, "I love this fucking story" with Carlson saying a real newsman loves news and is honest enough to admit it. Carlson also bemoans the fact that people in Congress these days have such good manners and lacks color. He enjoys the colorful ones, no matter how outrageous they are. He tells us of Don Young, Congressman from Alaska and how he gave a speech before some students at a high school. The issue was federally funded art, and Young said it included "photographs of people doing offensive things." When asked what things, Young responded, "Butt-fucking. You think that's art?" Fritz Hollings is described as "the nastiest politician in Washington." Hollings response to the Japanese premiers accusation that Americans were illiterate and lazy was a cartoon suggestion: "You should draw a mushroom cloud and put underneath it, 'Made in America by lazy and illiterate Americans and tested in Japan.'"Two items in the book stood out to me. The first was Carlson's criticism of Karen Hughes, one of President Bush's most trusted advisors. If you remember, Carlson wrote a piece about candidate Bush in the now defunct 'Talk' magazine. In the piece, Bush revealed that like most Americans, he uses swear words, especially the word 'fuck.' Carlson admired this, and wrote about it. He was shocked to see Karen Hughes on the air a few days later denying Bush had said such things, and that Carlson had made it up to get publicity for himself. When Carlson called her to tell her stop lying about it, she wouldn't. Not only that, Hughes told him that she never heard Bush talk that way, despite the fact that Hughes was present when Carlson was interviewing him. He attributed her denial to either discipline or a mental problem or both. Carlson also said she was "shamelessly dishonest." The second example that stood out, which I thought was hilarious was what Carlson did to people who would attack him on air. He said dismissing such attacks about a print piece is easy, since the person doesn't agree with what was written. It isn't personal. By contrast, on television anything said towards you is personal, and there were times when it got to him. He said instead of trying to defend himself, he just drafted a form letter that he would send out to said people. It read:Dear Mr. Jones, Fuck you.Sincerely, Tucker CarlsonClassic. As I mentioned earlier, I enjoyed the book because it was a departure from the usual gaggle of nonsense that is being published. In fact, I have stopped purchasing such books because most of them are the same thing, said by somebody else. Carlson's book is different, and I recommend picking it up. Books8178@blogcritics.org Sun, 7 Sep 2003 15:49:34 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2003/08/20/103920.php Jay CarusoSome movies should never be remade. The best remakes are from movies that weren't very good the first time around. The most recent example I can think of is 'Ocean's Eleven.' But now comes the sad news that one of the best cult movies of all time (I'm not even sure if the label of 'cult' movie fits), 'The Warriors', directed by Walter Hill is going to be remade by Tony Scott ('Top Gun', 'Crimson Tide'). Why?'The Warriors' is one of those rare movies that is good and bad at the same time. The action, tension and great band of characters allow us to overlook the huge plot holes, cheesy dialogue, and wooden acting. It's also great to watch now, because some of the cast have gone on to bigger and better things. For others, it was the end of the line after that. For those pop culture heathens who have not seen it, 'The Warriors' is about a gang from Coney Island in Brooklyn who attend a 'super-gang' meeting in the Bronx. They are there to listen to Cyrus, a charismatic Black Panther type who talks about the gangs taking over the city and shouts "Can you dig it?" to the adoration of the thousands of gang members in attendance. Well, Cyrus is shot to death by one of the gangs there (we never find out why really. The shooting is done by the little weasily guy who played 'Luther' in 48 Hours. Oh and his name is 'Luther' in this movie too) and The Warriors are blamed. From that point on 'The Warriors' are determined to get back to their turf, but now they have all the gangs in New York chasing them. Their route takes them everywhere from the subway to Central Park and finally back to Brooklyn where the final showdown is to take place.It's a cheesy good time and the cheesiness starts right away when one of the Warriors, 'Cowboy' (Tom McKitterick in his first and only role) is asking "What do you know about Cyrus?" The answers are things like, "He's the one and only." and "Magic. Pure magic." Well that explains it for me.After Cyrus is capped, the guys realize they are going to have to "bop" their way back. No, not dance. Bop. That's the word used instead of 'fight' in this movie. "We may have to bop are way back" and "This is for all you boppers out there" are just a few times it is heard. I guess if you truly did want to fight some guy, walking up to him and saying, "Do you want to bop?" would do the trick. The gang is full of cliched members of course. The leader (the second leader - the first, 'Cleon' gets lost in a crowd of Gramercy Riffs right after he is fingered as the gunman) Swan (played by Michael Beck in his greatest role), is a quiet type, but you know he can kick ass. There's the wiseass, Vermin (played by Terry Michos who went on to have a starring role in a 'Simon vs. Simon' episode) who at one point asks, "What the shit are we gonna do?", which has to be the first and only time I have ever heard the word 'shit' used that way. There is also the member who thinks he should be leader, Ajax (played James Remar who has actually gone on to have a pretty successful career as a character actor in quite a few productions) whose always "Sick of running from these wimps" and thinks everybody's going "faggot." Then there are the 'other' members. The ones who are there, but are just there to fight. Finally, there is the weakling. For whatever reason, in the movies all gangs always have one guy you know could never make it into a gang in real life. Yet, in movieworld, there's always room in the gang for a wuss. The character of 'Rembrandt' is that guy. He's given the duty of spraying the Warriors 'mark' wherever they go. One would think he'd be able to come up with this elaborate mark since his name is Rembrandt, but all he does is spray a big 'W' the one time they show him do it. Maybe the other guys can't read. However, they know where the subway stations are. That's one of those little plot holes I talked about earlier.Of course there has to be a girl involved. She's (Mercy is her name) played by Deborah Van Valkenburgh, best remembered for her role as 'the other sister' on Ted Knight's 'Too Close For Comfort.' Everybody remembers 'Sara', the blonde sister with the great rack. They should have gotten her. Then again, at one point the Warriors are contemplating pulling a 'train' on Mercy and stop to fight...oops...bop. Nobody would have believed they'd push Sara aside just for a silly bopping session.The essence of the movie however, is its' surroundings, props and complete lack of gang fashion (or naming convention for that matter. One of the most interesting things about the movie, is that aside from the gang members and cops, there's almost no other people on the streets. New York is the city that never sleeps. However, in this movie, it's the city that slipped into a coma. Two people make appearances in the movie and they're both white. In addition, they're white people in places that no white person would go in New York that time of night. To truly appreciate the cheesiness (it's a good cheesiness though), you have to take a look at some of the other gangs:First up are The Baseball Furies. They wear baseball uniforms, paint their faces like clowns and run around with bats. They chase some of The Warriors through Central Park and after Cowboy says he's going to drop from exhaustion, Ajax, Snow and Swan then proceed to kick the crap out of 10 or 11 guys with baseball bats while they have no weapons. It also brings out one of the lamest threats ever heard in cinema from Ajax: "I'll shove that bat up your ass and turn you into a popsicle." Whose going "faggot?"Check out 'The Boppers.' No significant role in the movie though 'The Pimps' would be a more accurate description.The Highhats. Tell me who the hell would be afraid of a bunch of guys who are nothing but mimes?? I'd see them and be like, "Do the rope thing! Do the rope thing!"The Electric Eliminators. They have to get to the bowling alley after they meet up with Cyrus.The Savage Huns. Actually, they all tried out for a part as a Conehead on Saturday Night Live and were rejected.The Lizzies. The best gang name ever. These chicks were tough. In fact, they tried to kill a few of The Warriors and in one of the few times when you could cheer a man kicking a woman's ass, one of them had a chair broken over her head.In one of the finer moments in the movie, Swan, Ajax, Snow and Cowboy had just got done taking care of The Baseball Furies when the come across a pretty young woman (played by Mercedes Ruehl) and Ajax wants to have some fun. The others decline (with Ajax telling them they're going "faggot" of course) and Ajax heads back. Now, the average person could have a brain the size of pea and realize that young attractive women don't decide to hang out on a bench in the middle of Central Park, late at night by themselves. The realization that she's a cop doesn't come as any surprise to us when it happens. Other highlights: The Rogues car. Luther and his buddies drive around in the biggest piece of shit I have ever seen. It has graffiti on it and barely looks like it could drive one block, yet it hauls 10 gang members all the way to Coney Island like a bunch of clowns at the circus. The DJ. Played by Lynne Thigpen (who sadly passed away this past March), she gives constant updates as to The Warriors progress and offers words of encouragement to the other gangs chasing them. It's nice to know the local radio station is giving directions to the people who want to kill you.Luther's creepy ode to get The Warriors out from under the boardwalk. Using 3 glass bottles on his fingers and that voice, he shrieks, "Warriorsssssssss..........(pling pling pling).....come out to...playyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!! (pling pling pling)....Warriorssssssssss..........come out playyyyyyyyyyyyeeeeeeee!" There is so much more to love about this classic. How the hell could anybody even think of remaking such a film? Video7709@blogcritics.org Wed, 20 Aug 2003 10:39:20 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2003/06/03/114653.php Jay CarusoI remember when Tombstone first came out ten years ago (yes it has been that long) and thinking that it looked pretty good. However, I was a little worried about how it would be pulled off. I wasn't sure about the casting of Kurt Russell as Wyatt Earp, and director George Cosmatos had left a legacy of movies that included, 'Leviathan', 'Cobra' and 'Rambo: First Blood Part II.' This was his first since 'Leviathian', a 4 year gap and he was directing a western. Needless to say, I was skeptical.Much to my complete surprise, the movie is an absolute winner. 'Tombstone' works because it doesn't pretend to be something it isn't. Cosmatos didn't try to do 'Unforgiven', a much deeper and personal look at revenge and the old west. Hell, this was a straight up action packed shoot em western with great characters and fine performances all around.The story centers around Earp (Russell) and his two brothers Virgil (the gruff Sam Elliot) and Morgan (Bill Paxton) and their move to Tombstone Arizona where they believe they will strike it rich. Content to no longer be a law and order man, Russell moves in on the Oriental Saloon (after getting rid of a troublesome Johnny Tyler (Billy Bob Thornton)) to start staking his claim. The trio is joined shortly thereafter by Doc Holliday (Val Kilmer). Of course, this happy little world couldn't exist forever could it? The Cowboys burst on to the scene led by Curly Bill Brocious (the always good Powers Booth), Johnny Ringo (Michael Biehn) and the Clantons, Ike (Stephen Lang) and Billy (Thomas Haden Church). Several events lead up to Wyatt Earp once again putting on his badge and gun belt again. Rounding out the cast are Dana Delaney as the woman who make the tough Wyatt Earp melt, as well as Jason Priestley and Billy Zane. Charlton Heston even has a cameo. Russell does a fine job and brings a certain intensity and passion to the role of Earp making him a much more intriguing character than Kevin Costner was able to do in 'Wyatt Earp.' That standout here though, is Val Kilmer. It is easily his best performance. He steals every scene he appears in and rips off so many good one liners that fans of the film still repeat them today. I have not seen the re-issued DVD yet, but it contains the all the extra goodies DVD fans come to expect such as deleted scenes, commentary, featurettes and storyboards as well as some really cool packaging. I plan to buy my copy as part of my 8th wedding anniversary bag of gifts. You should get one too. Video5848@blogcritics.org Tue, 3 Jun 2003 11:46:53 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2003/05/27/222049.php Jay CarusoI'm watching part of 'The Usual Suspects' on the 'new' TNN. The movie is so good that ignoring it, even if it is on television is impossible. But I have to laugh at what the censors allow viewers to see but not allow them to hear. Remember the scene in the garage basement where they are ripping off what they think is jewelry and cash? Kevin McManus (Steve Baldwin) shoots the bodyguards in the head. Blood and brains splatter against the side of a white van. 30 seconds later, Verbal Kint (Kevin Spacey) shoots Saul right between the eyes. None of this is edited out. All of the violence is there to see.However, most of the profanity is either silence out making the it sound at times like a skipping compact disc, or is edited with the most ridiculous change. In the original script during the lineup scene each guy is told to read off a card that says, "Give me the keys you fucking cocksucker." It was changed to, "Give me the keys you fairy godmother." Can you imagine hardened criminals saying that? It's absurd, and it's even more absurd that viewers can watch people getting their heads blown off, but for some reason, we're apparently not mature enough to hear the word 'fuck' unless it's on a premium cable channel.Profanity is not always a necessity, but it does lend a sense of realism to characters who come off as people who would use such language. Some cable networks, such as FX are starting to push the envelope with shows like 'The Shield' (it's my understanding that cable stations - not just the premium channels - are not under the same rules and regulations as network channels, but have followed the network standards) and while it was major news when Mark Harmon said 'shit' on 'Chicago Hope' a few years ago, 'NYPD Blue' characters regularly use it. It isn't a big deal, and I suspect the networks would draw higher ratings as a result. Video5680@blogcritics.org Tue, 27 May 2003 22:20:49 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2003/05/19/165122.php Jay CarusoIt's a very good movie. So please. Stop comparing it to the original.It's a tall order. But one of the things I cannot stand to hear when I ask somebody if a movie that happens to be a sequel (or 2nd part) is any good is, "I liked the first one better."Great. But that is not what I asked you. Was the frigging movie good or not? Sequels are almost always inferior to their predecessors. In my view, only twice in movie history has a sequel been better than the original. 'The Godfather II' was superior to the 'The Godfather' and 'Lethal Weapon II' was actually better than 'Lethal Weapon.' Some sequels should never even have been made (Exorcist 2, Jaws 2, Psycho 2, The Sting 2, Another 48 Hours) and there are times when the audience says, "Enough already!" (Rocky, Rambo, Superman, Lethal Weapon, Batman, Beverly Hills Cop -- apparently Sylvester Stallone didn't get it as he is making another Rocky movie). And finally, some - including The Matrix - are not really sequels at all. The Star Wars saga and The Lord of the Rings trilogy fit into this category. They are merely one bit story broken up into different parts. A true sequel can stand on its' own. If you didn't see the original Matrix, you'd undoubtedly be confused watching Reloaded.That being said, yes, Reloaded doesn't have the freshness of the original. The bullet-time effect is nothing new and the fight scenes are more intense, but are not much different than before. The scipt is at times, very hokey, and the performances are somewhat wooden, just as they were in the first film. So then why am I saying it's very good? well, because it is. The fight scenes are still exciting. The bullet time effects are still way cool, and there's a cast of characters involved that the audience truly cares about, despite their wooden performances. It's the second part of a 3 prong story, so we're left wanting of course, with a whole load of questions, but many of the questions we had prior to this installment are answered.The movie is set some time after everybody realizes the power that Neo (Keanu Reeves) possesses. However, in this installment it is really onlu Morpheus and a couple of others who still believe Neo is 'The one' (ie some kind of savior) that is going to rescue the human world from The Matrix. The machines have been digging to get to Zion, an underground city where people who have been freed from The Matrix now live. The Oracle (played wonderfully by Gloria Foster) wants to see Neo again, and tells him that there is a way to get to the core of The Matrix. To do that, he needs to get a hold of The Keymaker (Randall Duk Kim) who is basically a computer program being held by Merovingian (a great villian played by French actor Lambert Wilson - I wish they had more for him to do). This leads to the prospect of a very difficult mission in which Neo asks Trinity (Carrie Ann Moss) to stay out of The Matrix. Neo has been having dreams that she is killed. She agrees, but everybody knows it will not happen. The chain of events leads to the climactic highway chase that is worth the price of admission alone. The ending is rather abrupt, but with The Matrix: Revolutions coming out in November, there certainly is not going to be a long wait.The Matrix: Reloaded has flaws. It is not a perfect movie, and some fans of the original are sure to be disappointed. I enjoyed it. In fact, my only complaint stems from the fact that the 'R' rating could have been easily avoided if they had simply removed the ridiculous crowd org-bondage/Neo-Trinity love scene that looked more like something you'd see in an MTV video than in a movie. The love scene itself was tastefully done, but the rest of it was just tacky and totally out of place. Other than that, it is still worth the price of admission. Video5423@blogcritics.org Mon, 19 May 2003 16:51:22 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2003/05/16/201743.php Jay CarusoI heard many good things about 'The Ring', a remake of the Japanese movie 'Ringu' based on the novel by Koji Suzuki. I was told it was scary, suspenseful, beautifully shot and acted, and just all around spooky. Maybe I was expecting more, but I was rather disappointed.When a mysterious videotape is played and watched, the person gets a phone call right after it is over telling them they will die within 7 days, and they do. When journalist Rachel Keller (Naomi Watts) learns her relative Katie has died after watching the tape, she investigates. She watches the tape, as does her son and ex-husband Noah (Martin Henderson). So now the race is on to find the origins of the tape, and the people on it so she can discover why people are dying and put an end to it.I won't give away too much of the plot but if you have seen 'The Sixth Sense' with Bruce Willis or 'Stir of Echoes' with Kevin Bacon, you'll have an understanding of what this movie is about. Unfortunately, the movie doesn't allow us to learn why certain things have happened. They just do and I felt cheated as a result. The 'twist' towards the end of the film came off as a lame attempt by the filmmakers to make this particular movie 'different' from all the other ones we have seen over the last few years. It falls flat. The movie was shot with a lot of contrast and then later had a greenish tint added to it. The effect is apparently supposed to add to the atmosphere of the film and make it more creepy, but it even that effect has been used quite a bit lately, that it becomes more of a disctraction than anything else. That being said, the movie isn't all bad. For its' faults, the movie is still worth a look, but if you're expecting to have your socks knocked off, don't say I didn't tell you so.If you're looking for something truly creepy, I would suggest you rent 'The Others' starring Nicole Kidman. I truly enjoyed this film and it makes use of light and shadow to create it's aura of creepiness, and offers some true surprises and twists, most of which you do not see coming. Video5370@blogcritics.org Fri, 16 May 2003 20:17:43 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2003/04/06/142356.php Jay CarusoEven though a good deal of music out nowadays sucks, or sounds so much alike, there are a few artists I enjoy enough, where I am willing to plunk down the cash in order to purchase their work. Linkin Park is one of them. Linkin Park is one of the many rap/rock bands out these days, but in my opinion, they are one of the best. Mixing hard rock with rap melodies, a DJ's touch and smart lyrics, they are way ahead of their counterparts such as Limp Bizkit and Papa Roach as artists. When I first heard Linkin Park, the song most often played was 'Crawling' off 'Hybrid Theory' and I must admit that lead singer Chester Bennington's (yes that is his real name) voice was annoying (and he still sometimes overdoes it). It wasn't until I heard 'In The End' that I realized how good these guys were.Their latest effort, 'Meteora' was 8 months in the making. They started writing some of the tracks during their last tour in the summer of 02' and finished up most of the recording by the end of the year. The disc sports 12 songs rather than the usual 9-10 that have seem to become the norm for most new releases these days. The CD is 'enhanced' in that it offers some extras you normally do not get, including a video for the first single. 'Somewhere I Belong' as well as a 12 minute documentary called 'The Art of Meteora' where the band discusses the concept of the album cover art and how it was conceived. There is also access to special website content (made unavailable when copying the CD), and few other small extras. There is a special version of the CD that includes a DVD with a 35 minute behind the scenes documentary of the making of Meteora. This will cost an additional 5 bucks, and I think it's worth it.What's interesting to see is how this band embraced technology to do their recording. Thanks to the digital age, the entire band was not required to all show up at the same time to experiment with songs and new sounds. Drummer Rob Bourdon didn't have to drag his drum kit around to Mike Shinoda's (Emcee, vocals) home studio. He would just record his tracks, have them saved to a portable hard drive and would just bring that over. All in all the CD is a pretty decent sophomore effort. They have a rather simple formula and stick to it. I suspect as they get a little older (hell, they're all under the age of 30), they will begin to experiment somewhat. The only complaint I have is with lead singer Chester Bennington. There are a few songs where he starts screaming simply for the sake of screaming, and it gets to the point where I am just clicking ahead to the next song so I don't have to listen to it anymore. He does have a strong voice, but he needs to take it down a notch.The CD/DVD is worth the price. If you like Linkin Park, go ahead and buy it. Music4380@blogcritics.org Sun, 6 Apr 2003 14:23:56 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2003/03/25/115937.php Jay CarusoSometimes, you can find some good movies in the bargain bin. I grabbed the 'Suicide Kings' DVD for $5.88 and a VHS copy of 'Snake Eyes' with Nicholas Cage for $3.88Suicide Kings had an ensemble cast that featured Jay Mohr, Henry Thomas, Sean Patrick Flanery (think he's Irish?), Denis Leary and Christopher Walken. It's almost hard these days to watch a movie that has Walken in it and not enjoy it (at least during the time he is on the screen). The guy is so good and he doesn't disappoint here as a crime boss, kidnapped by a group of rich kids to use in order to get their hands on $2 million. Denis Leary plays Walken's right hand man -- he was to Sammy Gravano as Walken was to John Gotti. The movie is a slick 'whodunit' where the details behind the facts start to unfold as the film moves along. It's a concept where everything is not as it seems in the beginning. Leary and Mohr bring their comic skills to the script as several of their ad-libbed remarks brought about the biggest laughs. The ending is somewhat predictable even as the filmmakers try to surprise us, but that's allright. Watching Walken work his magic with his younger counterparts is worth the time it takes to watch it. The movie dragged on a little longer than I would have liked but that's a minor complaint. Usually, a DVD that costs $6 is going to be lacking for extras, but this one had quite a few. There was a screen specific commentary by director Peter O'Fallon and one of the three screenwriters, Wayne Rice. Some of it was recorded together as Rice and O'Fallon laugh about certain scenes and discuss how they worked out differences they each had in the script. At other times Rice talks about O'Fallon in the third person. It was either recorded separately or O'Fallon went to the bathroom or something. Most of the commentary is fair. They spend too much time saying things like, "Oh watch Mohr right here. His expression is great" and discussing the problems they had with the budget. When they do get into the behind the scenes imformation about the actual filming it is much more enjoyable.There are several deleted scenes, as well as two alternate endings. The endings came about as a result of testing, and this film went through a good deal of testing. I don't know if that amount of testing it par for the course in Hollywood, but I suspect it isn't considering the amount of crap they release. There are storyboards and an interesting scene breakout where you can listen to one particular car scene in a tunnel with just the dialogue, sound effects, or music or a mixture of 2 or three. There are also the usual cast and crew biographies, production notes and theatrical trailers. It's a pretty good movie, and it's a steal at such a low price.I've seen 'Snake Eyes' before, but I had pretty much forgotten all about it. Brian De Palma, the director has had a mixed bag of results over his career. He can be really good sometimes -- 'The Untouchables', 'Mission: Impossible', 'Carrie', 'Blow Out', 'Scarface' -- and really bad -- 'Body Double', 'Bonfire of The Vanities', 'Raising Cain', 'Casualties of War'. 'Snake Eyes' falls somewhere in between. 'Snake Eyes' takes place in only a few hours (save for the epilogue) , and stars Nicholas Cage as Atlantic City detective Rick Santoro, a dirty cop in a dirty town. He's happy because a buddy of his, Gary Sinise is in town protecting the Secretary of Defense and got Rick some front row seats for a heavyweight title bout. The Secretary is assassinated, and a conspiracy unfolds as Santoro tries to get to the bottom of it.The visual aspects of this film are just amazing, especially in the first 20 minutes which takes place in long steadicam shot. In that time span, all the characters are introduced and the murder takes place. Unfortunately the movie starts to go downhill from there. The main problem is that the plot and antagonists are revealed much too quickly, and once that happens the film really has nowhere to go. The suspense is gone and the ending feels somewhat contrived. However, it isn't all that bad, and you can purchase it for what it would cost to rent. Video4060@blogcritics.org Tue, 25 Mar 2003 11:59:37 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2003/02/13/104215.php Jay CarusoIt's a slow process, but they're learning. Check out Listen.comRight now, you can register for free and if you subscribe, you can burn tracks for 49 cents until the end of March. I still don't like the fact I will have to pay $9.95 for a subscription fee and then be charged to burn the tracks as well, but I suspect it will be sooner than later when that changes.One thing is for sure, the sound is just awesome. If you have a broadband connection, you can't really tell that it's coming via the Internet. Most streaming audio used to have that little 'echo' in the background that made it sound like the music was being played in a tunnel. Not here.KaZaa and IMesh are still going to rule the day, but at the very least, the recording industry is starting to slowly remove their heads from their asses. Music3170@blogcritics.org Thu, 13 Feb 2003 10:42:15 EST