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(11/17/10 10:35pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The 1980s weren’t actually that bad, at least as far as music goes. There were a lot of great albums made then, although they didn’t always make it to the radio. On their debut LP, “Sports,” Weekend channels the best bands of that notorious decade with stunning proficiency.Weekend has been labeled a “noise-pop” outfit, but the designation is a misnomer; there’s not a single bit of noise on “Sports.” Instead, the songs are covered with a layer of haze that paradoxically obscures their beauty while making it even more glorious.The band effortlessly evokes the great bands of the 1980s. At times, they shoot for the dark and sparse textures of Joy Division, but just as quickly they jump to songs melodic enough to make The Cure proud. Also like that great band, Weekend likes to start their songs with multiple minutes of instrumental bliss.I couldn’t understand a single word from Weekend’s singer, but that didn’t matter. “Sports” is something to be enveloped by, and words would just get in the way.
(11/11/10 1:17am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>A friend recently sent me a “New Yorker” article by Richard Brody about the French filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard being snubbed by the Academy Awards. Godard is to be given an honorary Oscar this year, but the Academy is relegating him to a dinky, honorary ceremony Nov. 13. He’s not the only one; Francis Ford Coppola, Eli Wallach and Kevin Brownlow are all not good enough to be honored at the regular ceremony. To shun this incredible pool of talent is truly a travesty.For my money, Godard is the greatest living filmmaker. I could spend all day listing off his great films: “My Life to Live,” “Contempt,” “Pierrot Le Fou,” “2 or 3 Things I Know About Her,” as well as the film that ushered in the French New Wave, “Breathless.”The man has influenced directors such as Martin Scorsese, Steven Soderbergh and Paul Thomas Anderson. There’s nothing more exhilarating than watching a Godard film fly by.Coppola isn’t exactly a slouch either. Although his career has mostly fizzled out, the man directed four of the best movies of the 20th century, including the first two “Godfather” films, “Apocalypse Now” and “The Conversation.” Wallach is probably best known for his role as “The Ugly” guy in “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.” Brownlow is best known for documentaries and books on the history of Hollywood cinema, particularly of the silent age.So why would the Academy Awards shuffle these great people off to the side? One reason might have to do with Godard’s big fat mouth. In a 1987 film, Godard (who played the protagonist), made some comments commonly considered anti-Semitic. That can’t be forgiven, but it’s not the whole picture. Later in the film, Godard creates a memorial to the Holocaust, the greatest tragedy of the 20th century.Godard’s views make him someone you wouldn’t want to hang out with, but they don’t diminish the greatness of his films. More likely, the reason Godard has been shunned is what is interpreted as an anti-American viewpoint. Starting with the great works of the ’60s, the director wasn’t afraid to denounce the war in Vietnam. In films such as “2 or 3 Things I Know About Her,” Godard criticized American consumerism; the final shot is of a model city constructed with boxes of junk food, detergent containers and assorted brand name groceries.But Godard’s views don’t explain the lack of Coppola and others. The real reasons they’re not good enough for the regular show: time limits and ratings. The Oscars are so long, and instead of cutting out a dance number or movie preview, they’ll just exclude great artists. Plus, the suburban mother who just wants to see celebrities might change the channel when they start talking about some French guy. And that’s what they really care about.Perhaps Godard isn’t a great match for the Oscars; the award show celebrates the commercialism that he abhors. But Coppola and others deserve to be honored at the main ceremony, not shuffled to the side.
(11/11/10 1:04am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>“Due Date” has all the elements of a relatively good comedy: great actors, a successful director and a scenario that leaves room to deviate from the norm. But somewhere along the line things go horribly wrong, and “Due Date” becomes merely bearable.Robert Downey Jr. plays an uptight jerk whose wife is going to have a baby in a few days. His unintended compatriot is played by Zach Galifianakis, who, in an incredible display of stupidity, gets the two kicked off an airplane back to Los Angeles and put on the no-fly list. Downey’s wallet was left with his luggage on the plane, so he’s forced to tag along with Galifianakis as they drive across the country to his wife.Galifianakis is often hilarious, but the screenplay leaves little room for Downey’s character to develop. It’s a real shame, considering how magnetic his screen personality usually is. There just isn’t any reason to care about these characters.The final portion of the movie runs on autopilot, with Downey arriving just in time. So what?
(11/03/10 11:41pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>When the first “Saw” film came out, it was actually sort of an interesting thing. The creepy doll was cool, and torture porn was still the new kid on the horror block. But that was seven films ago, and thankfully, hopefully, maybe, “Saw 3D” is the end of the line for the series.The jigsaw killer has been dead for a while, but one of his protégés is still around, putting people in traps where they undergo physical and psychological torture in order to escape with their lives. Only problem: There’s another disciple in town.The acting in this film is more nauseating than any of its gore. Better and cheaper actors could have been found in some community theater project. Watch the lead detective for some quotably dumb lines (if you respect yourself so little).I can’t vouch for the position of “Saw 3D” in history, but can say this with certainty: worst movie I’ve ever seen. If I hear anyone else say “game over,” I’ll put a reverse bear trap in my mouth.
(11/01/10 2:03am)
Bear in Heaven played The Bishop this Thursday, and what a show it was. The concert was one of the best I've seen in a long time. Surprisingly, the openers were almost as good as the headliner. Sun Airway started off the evening. Unfortunately, I missed most of their set. I made it in time for the last two songs, which were both enjoyable, but I don't feel qualified to judge their set based on them. Sun Airway has received a lot of buzz from Pitchfork, including comparisons to Animal Collective. However, those comparisons were based on two tracks, a trend in pre-releases of which I'm not a big fan. The next band was Lower Dens. The band is a project of Jana Hunter, who was previously known for folkier music. Her Lower Dens music is a drastic departure. Often dark, sometimes slow, always dreamy, I heard strains of bands like Sonic Youth and The xx. Some of the guitar style came from Sonic Youth; the guitarists coaxed out chimes and drones from their guitars. Like The xx, there was a focus on dark pop, although it was a bit darker with this band.
(10/28/10 12:28am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>That’s right, classical music. You’re probably wondering, do they even make that stuff anymore? The answer is, yes, they do, and it’s some of the newest, hippest music that you’ve never heard of.You’re also probably wondering, didn’t they stop making that back in the 1800s or something? Now you’re wondering how it is I’m reading your mind. The answer to your first question is, not really. People have been writing classical music right up through this century. Someone probably finished a piece yesterday. Unfortunately, “classical music” isn’t the best description for something that’s also modern, but I’ll stick with it for convenience’s sake.Around the turn of the 20th century, classical music began to mutate away from the romanticism of the late 19th century. Igor Stravinsky wrote “The Rite of Spring,” an unbelievably raw and violent portrait at pagan Russia. At the same time, Arnold Schoenberg and his pupils were experimenting with atonality, a complete departure from the major and minor keys that had been a fundamental part of music. Later in the century, this atonal music was given its own set of rules to follow.Another group of postmodernists, led by John Cage, began to experiment with the most fundamental part of music — determinism — and in turn created works of chance that might never be performed the same way twice. Not everyone was comfortable with the experimental path classical music took, and a group of minimalists led by Terry Riley, Steve Reich, Philip Glass and John Adams returned to tonal music and an exploration of rhythm and texture through repetition.While these latter developments took place, rock music had already claimed its dominant position as the music of now. Hip-hop and rap help out too, but for the most part, rock is still the music that stands for everything new. In reality, it’s always a step behind classical music.The most important rock band of all, The Beatles, had been exposed to contemporary composers, and the influence is obvious in every backward guitar part and tape loop of their later albums. “Revolution 9” owes more to Karlheinz Stockhausen than to Chuck Berry.In the late 1960s and 1970s, progressive rock bands copied the structures and grand scale of classical works while The Velvet Underground was influenced by the works of John Cage. Frank Zappa even wrote his own thorny modernist works for orchestral and rock instrumentations.Today, bands such as Animal Collective couldn’t exist without Steve Reich. Noise and experimental bands openly list their classical influences. At every step, classical music is egging on rock to reach ever-greater heights.So next time you’re looking for a band that none of your friends have heard of, maybe check out that composer they’ve never heard of instead. Find a recording of Stravinsky’s “Rite,” or Reich’s “Music for 18 Musicians.” Perhaps explore Cage’s works for prepared piano or electronic music from Stockhausen or Xenakis. It might be called classical music, but it’s looking towards the future.
(10/27/10 11:30pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>How to Dress Well is the musical alias of Tom Krell, a resident of Brooklyn and Cologne. Krell recently released his debut LP, “Love Remains,” and while the album is frustrating at times, it’s also absorbing and haunting.How to Dress Well has been labeled as an R&B project, but that’s a stretch. Krell’s music sounds closest to Justin Vernon’s Bon Iver, with plenty of falsetto vocals and sparse, ethereal textures. Nobody is calling Bon Iver’s music R&B.The poor descriptions shouldn’t scare anyone away, though. The music on “Love Remains” is often hypnotizing, and Krell’s voice floats above the fray.The biggest problem with “Love Remains” is its lo-fi-ness. The sound that stands in for bass drum is similar to a cardboard box being kicked, while the album constantly clips and distorts. A little bit of hiss adds warmth; a lot is just annoying.Those complaints don’t do much to sully the impact of “Love Remains.” It’s impossible not to be sucked into the music. Suggestion: listen while driving alone at night.
(10/27/10 11:14pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>“Please Give” has moments of incredibly dark comedy, but also moments of heart-wrenching sadness (never exploitative). This contrast between dark and light is what makes “Please Give” so successful.The film focuses on two families. In one, Catherine Keener and Oliver Platt run a furniture store stocked with the mid-century leftovers of people’s recently deceased parents. They also have a teenage daughter who wishes for nothing more than to fit into a nice pair of jeans.The other family is composed of an evil old lady and her two granddaughters, played by Rebecca Hall and Amanda Peet. Keener’s family owns the old lady’s apartment, so the plan is to tear down the apartment’s walls and make a master bedroom after she dies.The real standout of the film is Hall, whose face conveys such beautiful and subtle emotions. It’s impossible not to feel sad when her mouth turns down.There are few laugh-out-loud moments in “Please Give” but plenty of moments that capture something real and fleeting. And that is truly beautiful.
(10/25/10 1:25am)
Their first album was Red Bloom of the Boom, and they followed it with the critically acclaimed Beast Rest Forth Mouth. I've had that album on heavy rotation for the last few weeks. At times it sounds like some kind of Joy Division/New Order hybrid, combining the dark mood of the former with the pop sensibilities of the latter. I find the album difficult to describe, probably because it's so hypnotizing; it's easy to forget what you're doing when it's playing. A standout from the album is "Lovesick Teenagers", a song I dare you not to like.
(10/20/10 11:39pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The newest Belle and Sebastian album, “Write About Love,” is one of the strongest the group has released in a while. While the band neither does anything particularly experimental nor rises to epic heights, it manages to put out one of its most concise and consistent albums in years.The album opens with “I Didn’t See It Coming,” sung by member Sarah Martin. Martin tries to ease the worries of an unknown lover, while leader Stuart Murdoch echoes her. A simple piano line adds a nice touch to the song, but the real show is in the tasteful rhythm section.Not all the songs achieve the same pop perfection. Following a nefarious trend in indie music, Murdoch collaborates with other singers and not always to great effect. (Has indie music been poisoned by rap’s endless collaborations?) A duet with Norah Jones never goes anywhere, while Carey Mulligan’s contribution is surprisingly good (she’s in everything!).Ultimately, the low moments are solidly in the minority, making “Write About Love” one of the band’s most enjoyable albums to date.
(10/13/10 10:16pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>It’s been five years since Sufjan Stevens released his last song-based album, “Illinois,” and fans have been waiting for a proper follow-up ever since. “The Age of Adz” (pronounced “odds”) finally fulfills that desire, but it’s likely to confound the expectations of as many fans as it delights.“Adz” is full of Stevens’ usual elements: extended instrumentation, breathy vocals and piercingly earnest lyrics. But unlike previous efforts, this new album is full of glitchy breaks and bits of electronica. One can hear a not-totally-superficial resemblance to Radiohead’s “Kid A,” which also added electronica to that band’s palette and followed a more experimental direction. “Adz” may sound like a complete departure from “Illinois,” but it’s actually a summation of Stevens’ post-“Illinois” releases; the studio manipulations and computerized messiness of “You are the Blood” from the “Dark was the Night” compilation have been mixed with the grand orchestrations of “The BQE” to magnificent effect. It’s a difficult combination, but it’s one that is ultimately rewarding.The songs on “Age of Adz” switch between moments of pure bliss and schizophrenia (fittingly, the album is inspired by Royal Robertson, an artist with schizophrenia). Just as the computerized textures begin to seem unbearable, beautiful orchestral flourishes come to the rescue. The finale, “Impossible Soul,” is a 25-minute exploration of Stevens’ diverse moods, peppered with bits of acoustic bliss that eventually mutate into one of the darkest pieces in Stevens’ catalogue. It’s essentially a microcosm of the whole album.Some will miss the unbridled joy of “Illinois,” and perhaps Stevens’ next album will return that optimism to the mix for an even greater synthesis. Until then, “Adz” remains a dark but captivating step in Stevens’ journey.
(10/13/10 9:58pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>While most people were raving about “Up” before the 2010 awards season, a much smaller group was touting an Irish animated film called “The Secret of Kells” that most people never even got the chance to see. “Kells” lost out on the award, which was not a tragedy by any means, but the film is still impressive, even if only for its visuals.“The Secret of Kells” follows Brendan, a young boy living in a medieval village in the company of a group of monks. Their village is under threat of attack from marauding barbarians, but Brendan is more concerned with writing holy books. While wandering through the off-limits forest, he meets a young fairy girl who will be invaluable in helping him complete his mentor’s most important text.The visuals of “Kells” are nothing short of amazing. The backgrounds are incredibly intricate and detailed in contrast to the film’s box-like characters. However, the film is lacking in some areas, particularly character development and story. Despite some faults, “Kells” is still a beautiful film to view.
(10/07/10 4:38am)
Monday night's show at The Bishop a bit of a mixed bag. I heard one band (that I had seen before) that I don't really care for, but also got to experience a new and exciting group. You can probably guess which is which based on the performance order. The first group to go on was The Growlers. I had seen them previously when Dr. Dog came to town. They served the same purpose then as now: to lower my expectations so they could be promptly be blown away by the headliner. The Growlers play some kind of mix of psychedelia and folk (sorta), but nothing seems to click. Their singer's voice was rough and his range extremely limited. That's not a death sentence by any means, but he couldn't find a way around those limitations; he gave every song a similar vocal melody. That was exacerbated by music that didn't sound much different.
(10/07/10 12:16am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>“The U,” director Billy Corben, 2009 — After the Dolphin’s 1972 perfection and before Dan Marino (and even into his tenure), the University of Miami, aka “The U,” was defining what football meant to South Florida. Billy Corben’s documentary of the same name is a fascinating depiction of how the social and racial unrest of early Miami of the 1980s manifested itself in the Miami football program. The players coaches Howard Schnellenberger and Jimmy Johnson recruited were as brash and unpredictable as the rapidly developing city itself. The interviews and footage are brilliant snapshots of how gangster and thug culture were really received before hip-hop took them to the mainstream. — Adam Lukach“Man on Wire,” director James Marsh, 2008 — “Man on Wire” follows Philippe Petit, a 24-year-old wire walker from France, as he sets out to fulfill an extremely lofty dream. Petit wanted to perform a high-wire walk between the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers, which were the tallest buildings in the world in 1974 when the events of the film took place. As the fascinating events unfold, interviews with Petit’s friends add richness to the narrative and offer insight into Petit’s motivations. “Man on Wire” won the 2009 Academy Award for Best Documentary, a collection of other prestigious awards and the hearts of audiences everywhere. — Corin Chellberg “Super Size Me,” director Morgan Spurlock, 2004 — “Super Size Me” follows filmmaker Morgan Spurlock as he sets out to eat nothing but food from McDonald’s for 30 days. His goal is to illustrate by exaggeration the health risks of the country’s increasing consumption of unhealthy fast food. He goes through an ever-worsening range of symptoms as the film progresses, starting with weight gain and eventually including depression, sexual dysfunction and heart palpitations. By the time Spurlock completed his experiment, he had gained almost 25 pounds. This entertaining but stomach-turning film will make you think twice before ordering a Big Mac the next time you are at McDonald’s, and that’s probably a good thing. — CC“Sherman’s March,” director Ross McElwee, 1986 — “Sherman’s March” begins with a shot of a massive empty apartment as McElwee narrates how he always dreamed of making a movie tracing Northern general William Sherman’s march through the South during The Civil War and seeing if its effects are still relevant today. However, it quickly turns into a tale of McElwee’s love for the women in his life and his failures in connecting with them. At times heartbreaking and hilarious, “Sherman’s March” is the film Woody Allen would make if he made a documentary. — Mikel Kjell“Jesus Camp,” directors Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, 2006 — In the last decade, dozens of skeptical filmmakers have directed their vitriol at organized religion, blaming its influence for everything from the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 to the corruption of young children. While Bill Maher’s much more successful “Religulous” uses humor to aim at the former, Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady’s “Jesus Camp,” the far superior documentary, seeks to shine light on the latter. Scenes like the one of home-schooled children of Evangelical Christians pledging their allegiance to the flag of the Christian nation after being taught by their mother that evolution is an unproven theory are truly disturbing. The film should serve as a call to arms to stop extremists from teaching their kids whatever they want. — Brad Sanders“For All Mankind,” director Al Reinert 1989 — Filmmaker Al Reinert documented the history of the Apollo space missions using footage shot by the astronauts themselves. The film features a classic score from Brian Eno, the perfect accompaniment to Reinert’s celestial visuals. No fictional movie to date has represented anything as visually stunning as the documentary footage used here. — Brian Marks“F for Fake,” director Orson Welles, 1974 — Orson Welles’ final film was this free-form documentary that was part a study of reality and fiction, a pure experiment in filmmaking, a biography of an international art forger, an autobiography of Welles’ career, factual to the smallest detail, and part lying through his own teeth. It’s a bizarre work of art by the greatest of all directors, and real or fake, it’s absolutely mesmerizing. — Brian Welk“An Inconvenient Truth,” director Davis Guggenheim, 2006 — “An Inconvenient Truth” is the famous documentary of former Vice President Al Gore’s efforts to teach people around the world about global warming by giving detail-rich and visually stunning presentations. A large portion of the film is that very presentation, presented on a massive scale. That format combined with Gore’s reputation as a bland speaker may sound more like a nap-inducing lecture than a documentary film, but the presentation is dramatic, compelling and backed by a mountain of widely accepted data. The film paints a chilling picture of a slowly warming planet and serves as a clarion call to action, and it was the first to do so for the masses. — CC“Night and Fog,” director Alain Resnais, 1955 — Alain Resnais’ documentary about the Holocaust is one of the shortest made on the subject and also one of the most important. Resnais avoids minutiae and instead focuses on why something so unimaginable could happen. The answer: There is no explanation. — BM“Woodstock,” director Michael Wadleigh, 1970 — “Woodstock,” directed by Michael Wadleigh, helped to define an entire generation.Wadleigh (with the help of editors, including a young Martin Scorsese) used innovative visual techniques to catalogue all of the music and mayhem of the famous festival. See it if only for Jimi Hendrix’s closing performance. — BMThe “Up” Series, director Michael Apted — The “Up” series became the most ambitious collection of films ever made, fact or fiction, after starting in 1964 with 14 students and the mantra, “Give me a child until the age of 7, and I will give you the man.” Michael Apted faithfully followed how 14 kids from different parts of Britain grew and developed in seven-year intervals, and his project has not stopped. In 2005, Apted’s subjects turned 49 in the series’s seventh installment, and “56 Up” has been announced for a 2012 release. — BW“The Man With the Movie Camera,” director Dziga Vertov, 1929 — Regardless of whether you can call it a documentary, “The Man With the Movie Camera” is one of the greatest films ever made. Released in 1929 with an average shot-length as rapid as today’s action extravaganzas, the film was the first wholly cinematic experience of the time. It has no plot, no characters and no intertitles, and it proved that audiences could watch the shooting, editing and screening of a film about the day in the life of the people of Moscow. It’s one of the most remarkable cinematic experiments of all time. — BW“The Cove,” director Louie Psihoyos, 2009 — The Oscar-winning documentary of last year is one of the most heartbreaking, empathetic documentaries I’ve ever seen. It condemns the practice of dolphin slaughter in Japan on an emotional, environmental, ecological, political, cultural and medical level. It does all of this as though the viewer were watching a crime caper. Try not to cry at the horrific footage of dolphins being stabbed to death in a secret cove off the coast of Taiji, Japan. — BW
(10/06/10 9:16pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Deerhunter’s ascent in the indie rock world could be described as predictable, but that’s a compliment, not an insult. Every Deerhunter album has been better than the last, and the newest, “Halcyon Digest,” is undoubtedly the band’s strongest work yet.The band’s output can usually be divided into the albums, which are sometimes challenging but always rewarding, and the EPs, which concentrate on the more pop-oriented songs. The new album merges the two categories, creating a product with the scope of previous albums and the dreamy pop of the EPs.The two album singles, “Revival” and “Helicopter,” are so ecstasy-and-trance inducing that they almost dare you not to put them on repeat. It’s worth fighting the urge, as the painstakingly sequenced album is best when experienced linearly.“Halcyon Digest” is Deerhunter’s most cohesive album to date, which leaves an important question to be answered: What could possibly top this?
(10/04/10 6:34am)
The band's first exposure was through a series of mock-PSAs, before they had released any music. Shortly afterward, Dead Oceans picked up the band. Despite their dubious beginnings, the two albums that followed show an evolving band worth checking out.
(10/03/10 3:41pm)
This Thursday featured plenty of quality music acts performing in Bloomington, but the real draw for me was the Yeasayer show at The Bluebird. I had seen them this summer at Lollapalooza, so I knew their stage show had plenty of promise, but it also seemed shaky enough to collapse at any moment. The band members had to supplement their playing with prerecorded music (nothing unusual), but sometimes the levels would get out of whack and the live music would be eclipsed by the prerecorded sounds, or vice versa. Of course, this may just have been a consequence of playing on an outdoor stage on a windy day. After The Bluebird show, I have to assume that Lollapalooza was an anomaly.
(09/29/10 11:15pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Oliver Stone has never been crazier than he is now, with his idolization of Hugo Chavez and his belief Hollywood is controlled by Jews. Despite the explosions in his brain, Stone has created one of his most enjoyable movies in years with “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps.”The film picks up approximately 14 years after the events of the last film, in 2001, as Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas reprising his Oscar-winning role) is being released from prison. This section is only a tiny detour, and the film jumps again to 2008. Gekko is now an author with a book whose title questions his famous line: “Is Greed Good?” It looks like he’s gone straight, and Gekko even predicts the collapse before it happens.Things are complicated with Shia LaBeouf’s character, Jake Moore, who is engaged to Gekko’s estranged daughter Winnie (played by the always charming Carey Mulligan). Jake is a successful trader who specializes in green energy. Although it seems that he truly cares about the good the industry might do, he also hopes to make millions from it, and his goals remain somewhat ambiguous.Jake thinks that repairing Winnie and Gordon’s relationship might be beneficial for everyone, so he meets with Gekko privately to set it up. Everyone but Jake seems to know this is a bad idea, and Gekko might not even be the straight arrow that he appears to be.Josh Brolin plays the film’s most obvious villain, while Frank Langella plays Jake’s mentor. Both contribute excellent performances. But even with great actors, the film sags at points. Where the first film was perhaps a bit too cold, this one feels too sentimental in some of the family scenes.There’s also an unfortunate Charlie Sheen cameo. Half the audience thought he was playing a more obnoxious version of himself, not Bud Fox from the first film. If Fox’s reward for finally doing the right thing is to turn into Charlie Sheen, what could possibly motivate Gekko to do something good? That question is left unanswered, but the film is still enjoyable enough to make you forget about Sheen.
(09/29/10 10:56pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>It seems the mockumentary style of television comedies has been done to death, but somehow “Modern Family” manages to avoid any staleness. It’s undoubtedly one of the funniest shows on TV.The “Modern” part of the title is important. The three families the cameras follow include examples of multi-cultural families and same-sex couples. The show isn’t really about different kinds of families, though; it’s about the commonalities among all families.Ed O’Neill plays the patriarch of the family. He’s married to a much younger woman, who has a son from her previous marriage. His uptight daughter and her painfully un-hip husband are busy dealing with rebellious children. The third family is composed of the patriarch’s son and his partner, who have just gone to Vietnam to adopt a baby.Although there are some overly emotional moments, occasionally, the show mostly sticks with laughs, which are never in short supply.
(09/28/10 5:08am)
Yeasayer at The Bluebird Thursday, September 30 9 pm $20 21+ Yeasayer have gone through a considerable metamorphosis in only two albums.