Music & Movies: 2010-09-01T20:31:59Z Copyright (c) 2010, Carla Nelson ExpressionEngine tag:thecornernews.com,2010:09:01 tag:thecornernews.com,2010:index.php/music_n_movies/5.11588 2010-09-01T19:28:58Z 2010-09-01T20:31:59Z Carla Nelson cmerrill@thecornernews.com Katy Perry “Teenage Dream”
Standouts - “Firework,” “Not Like the Movies,” “California Gurls”

Katy Perry's new CD is like a magical slot machine: Select any song and you'll hear a hit.

"Teenage Dream," the singer's sophomore release, is a 12-track set that has many flavors: Thumping dance jams, groovy midtempo numbers and pop ballads that are subtle and soft — just like the cloud Perry's nude body lays atop on the album cover.

Much of the credit for the hit factory goes to the album's producers, which includes Dr. Luke, Benny Blanco, Max Martin, Stargate, Tricky and Greg Wells. They're hit-makers who clearly saved their best material for Perry.

But another big reason for the album's magic is Perry herself. She has a booming voice, and can out-sing pop tarts like Britney Spears and Ke$ha, whose vocals are usually whispery and weak. They usually fade into the background of the album's beat. Perry's vocals not only ride with the beat, they advance it.

"Teenage Dream" also explores the 25-year-old's roller-coaster of emotions: She's horny on the explosive "Peacock," lost on "Who Am I Living For?" and mysterious on "E.T." She builds you up on the pulsating and addictive "Firework," but brings you down (well not you, but Travis McCoy) on "Circle the Drain." On the latter tune, about McCoy's drug addiction, a bitter Perry spits firebomb lyrics like: "Wanna be your lover, not your (expletive) mother."

Perry closes the album with "Not Like the Movies," a slow, but sweet ode to her fiance, actor-comedian Russell Brand. Picture perfect? Guess so. ]]> tag:thecornernews.com,2010:index.php/music_n_movies/5.11587 2010-09-01T19:13:38Z 2010-09-01T20:16:39Z Carla Nelson cmerrill@thecornernews.com
The band is made up of Jay Brown on guitar and harmonica, Mitchell Johnston on bass, James T. Brown on drums, and new member Alfred Michels on fiddle, with all but Michels adding to the three-part harmony vocals. Andy Christopher had provided second guitar and vocals on previous albums, but critical health problems in the last year have sidelined Christopher, which provided the inspiration for the title song on Lazybirds’ new album, “Broken Wing.”

Fans have been waiting eight years for this, their third album, and it’s been worth the wait. The song, the only original tune on the album, is a beautiful, personal ode to the horror of a close companion injured, and the hope surrounding the situation, and the rest of the album follows suit, with strong versions in the Lazybirds’ old-timey style of Dylan’s classic “Forever Young,” Sly Stone’s “Life,” and The Slickers’ “Johnny Too Bad.” The rest of the 14 songs included are traditional classics, all given the Lazybirds unique arrangements to the listener’s delight.

The opening cut is the only song featuring a performance by Christopher, “Good Morning Blues” sets the tone of this fine album with a solid performance by all. Other memorable tunes on the album include their fabulous versions of “Blue Moon of Kentucky,” “Alabama BBQ,” “Travelin’ Man,” “Champagne Polka,” and “Mother Earth Blues,” highlights on an album with no low-lights. Lazybirds’ bio states that the band focuses, but is not limited to, music from the first 50 years of recorded music. That’s a great way to characterize their sound, but doesn’t take into account their uncanny ability to make enjoyable even the most trite and corny compositions. What it doesn’t communicate is the fun these guys have making their brand of traditional music.

Lazybirds are best characterized by their own words: “Broken Wing, what will you do? You’ll fly.”

Hear Wildman Steve’s Internet radio station, Internet radio for music lovers 24/7, at www.wildmansteve.com.
]]> tag:thecornernews.com,2010:index.php/music_n_movies/5.11586 2010-09-01T19:09:55Z 2010-09-01T20:11:56Z Carla Nelson cmerrill@thecornernews.com
Really, that’s about how quickly it all collapses. Director Daniel Stamm’s faux documentary starts out with deadpan delivery and a dry sense of humor, then it turns riveting, then truly frightening, then just plain silly. It’s like it morphs from being a Christopher Guest movie to “The Blair Witch Project” — as if writers Huck Botko and Andrew Gurland didn’t know where to go, so they went over the top.

Until then, the filmmakers keep you guessing as to what’s real and what’s imagined, what’s a disturbing mental disorder and what’s actually demonic possession. And the fact that this Eli Roth production uses all unknown actors helps us get sucked into this eerie world.

Evangelical Louisiana preacher Cotton Marcus (Patrick Fabian) has been performing exorcisms for the past 25 years, but he knows they’re all a sham. He long ago lost his faith — if he ever had any, that is — and for a while has had no qualms about taking money from true believers in the name of supporting his own family. But now, with his conscience weighing on him, he decides to let a camera crew come behind the scenes to expose his tricks as he “performs” one last exorcism.

And it truly is a performance. Cotton is hugely charismatic, a natural showman, and he’s all too happy to divulge how he uses his iPod to make evil groaning sounds, or how he gets a puff of smoke to come out of his crucifix at a climactic moment. But he’s not arrogant about it, which is key: He’s engaging and confident but never so full of himself that he’s off-putting. Fabian finds the balance in his character’s conflicting motivations, which is crucial to allowing us to go along with him on this tried-and-true one last job.

Randomly, he selects a letter from the Sweetzer family living in fictional, rural Ivanwood. There, teenage daughter Nell (the extraordinary Ashley Bell) has been acting strangely, and the livestock are being slaughtered. Her father, Louis (Louis Herthum), a serious fundamentalist, begs Cotton to purge the demon he thinks has possessed his innocent little girl. Her younger brother, Caleb (Caleb Landry Jones, creepy in his stillness), isn’t shy about telling the reverend and his camera crew he wants them to go away.

Cotton breezes in, works his magic and breezes out. Or so he thinks. In that classically frustrating horror-film fashion, he finds he can’t leave. And as he gets dragged deeper into this family’s troubles, he finds himself in deeper trouble than he ever could have imagined.

Even before things turn violent, though, Stamm capably creates a suspenseful mood through the naturalism of the film’s look, the expert use of silence and pacing. The insularity of the Sweetzer family, the defiant way they’ve cloistered themselves from the outside world since the death of Louis’ wife two years ago, is enough to put you on edge. There are moments in “The Last Exorcism” that will make you hold your breath, and others that will make you want to look away.
It’s rated PG-13 but don’t let that fool you into thinking it’s soft. Actually, it’s the vagueness and the unknown that make “The Last Exorcism” so powerful — at least for a while.
]]> tag:thecornernews.com,2010:index.php/music_n_movies/5.11571 2010-08-26T14:31:12Z 2010-08-26T15:35:13Z Carla Nelson cmerrill@thecornernews.com
The earliest examples include the Ventures’ “Colorful Ventures” (each song title had a color), and Frank Zappa’s “Freak Out!,” a satire on rock music and American society. But it became a real staple when the Beatles issued “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” and was reinforced with the Who’s “Tommy.” Other uber-classics include Jethro Tull’s “Thick as a Brick” and Pink Floyd’s “The Wall.”

Destined to go down in history along side these mega-classics is Shooter Jennings’ new album, “Black Ribbons.” Jennings, the son of outlaw country superstar Waylon Jennings, has thrown off all remnants of his country upbringing and made the greatest concept album of the decade.

The premise involves a narrative by a fictional “hippie philosopher” DJ who calls himself “Will O’The Wisp,” who is showcasing the fictional band “Hierophant” for his final broadcast, as the government is to take over all public radio airwaves for their own programming at the end of his show, thus marking the end of free speech as we know it.

The message is powerful and relevant, and the music is moving and memorable. It is rock music, and very well-written rock, using recognizable affectations, such as a rhythmic cadence, or a familiar backwards guitar riff, very tastefully and sparingly, to simulate the feeling of familiar classic rock. The narrative is engaging, the message is clear, and the music speaks for itself.

“Black Ribbons” is an instant classic, and quite possibly the best album released so far in this century.

Check out Shooter Jennings, along with Corey Smith and the Benjy Davis Project, at the Lake Martin Amphitheatre on Sept. 5.

Hear Wildman Steve’s Internet radio station, Internet radio for music lovers 24/7, at www.wildmansteve.com.
]]> tag:thecornernews.com,2010:index.php/music_n_movies/5.11500 2010-08-24T16:58:26Z 2010-08-24T18:03:27Z Carla Nelson cmerrill@thecornernews.com
This is not a joke, by the way. This movie is a complete blast. To borrow a phrase from the kind of B-horror flicks to which "Piranha 3D" is such a loving and effective homage: Run, don't walk.

Like "Snakes on a Plane," which came out in the dead of summer four years ago, "Piranha 3D" knows exactly what it is and does exactly what it should do. It's about piranhas ... in 3-D. Do you really need to know anything else?

It's cleverly knowing without collapsing into parody. It makes great use of its extremely random cast, including Elisabeth Shue in an unusually bad-ass role as a sheriff, Ving Rhames as her deputy and Jerry O'Connell as a Joe Francis type. Christopher Lloyd has one great scene in full-on, crazed Christopher Lloyd mode as the resident fish expert. The second you see Eli Roth — playing the emcee at a wet T-shirt contest, no less — you know some hideous fate will befall him. And then there's Richard Dreyfuss, who makes a very cute cameo off the top. That's all we'll say.

But the whole point of this kind of movie is the gore, and French director Alexandre Aja finds hilarious and creative ways to kill off his characters. Not a huge surprise, given his previous movies — the suspenseful "High Tension" and a Wes Craven-approved remake of "The Hills Have Eyes" — but here, there's a lightness and a sense of fun about the carnage. If that makes sense.

Best worst animal attack movies ever

Besides, partying provides the premise for the film. It's spring break at Lake Victoria, Ariz. — really Lake Havasu — and hordes of drunk, horny college students have arrived to trash their perfect bodies. But there's something swimming in the water that can do that much more efficiently. Actually, there are thousands upon thousands of them. The piranhas have razor-sharp teeth and ferocious eyes, but they almost look as if they're smiling as they prepare to tear into some unsuspecting fool's flesh. A seismic shift beneath the lake created a rift that unleashed these prehistoric creatures. Now they're here, and they're hungry.

In classic horror-movie fashion, the victims get picked off one by one. Sheriff Julie Forester (Shue) and Deputy Fallon (Rhames) discover the first body and call in the scientific experts, led by Adam Scott (cast against type). But containing the fish is as difficult as stopping the partyers from dancing on boats in their bikinis to generic house music. And so when the inevitable bloodbath happens — and oh yes, it does happen — it's vast and horrifying but with some giddy glimmers of absurdity sprinkled throughout.

Stuck in the middle of this are Julie's three kids, the eldest of whom, Jake (Steven R. McQueen), has become an impromptu crew member on a "Girls Gone Wild"-style video shoot. Yes, there is plenty of nudity and girl-on-girl action here, but again, it's used with a wink and a smile. "Piranha 3D" knows it needs to titillate on every level.

Visually, though, it was shot in 2-D and then converted to add a third dimension, but it looks better than other films that have followed the same path, including M. Night Shyamalan's muddled "The Last Airbender." Still, some of the underwater mayhem is a bit hard to make out, especially when the fish are doing their damage in darkened caves.

But Aja mostly employs the 3-D precisely as he should with this genre: in totally gimmicky, gratuitous ways. A guy sprays beer from a keg and it shoots right at you. A girl has too many tequila shots and yacks off the side of the boat and into your lap. And of course there are the fish, zooming right at you to take a bite.

There could be a moral to this story: Don't go to the lake and act like a cheesy, drunk idiot during spring break. But that would be no fun.
]]> tag:thecornernews.com,2010:index.php/music_n_movies/5.11494 2010-08-20T19:43:07Z 2010-08-20T20:48:08Z Carla Nelson cmerrill@thecornernews.com
There. Go ahead and send nasty e-mails. But it's true.

Director and cowriter Edgar Wright ("Shaun of the Dead") certainly generates infectious energy while bringing Bryan Lee O'Malley's graphic novels to the screen, and he sprinkles wonderfully weird little details throughout. But it's the story -- and some lively performances from an appealing, eclectic cast -- that make the movie work. The video game flourishes grab you the first couple of times, but they eventually grow repetitive and tiresome, especially once you realize that Scott really is going to have to fight every one of his new girlfriend's seven evil exes -- the arbitrary task that's placed before him

Scott doesn't have much going for him that would make him a natural fighter. He's played by Michael Cera, and that pretty much tells you all you need to know. Scott is 22, plays bass in a garage band with his friends and lives in a shabby studio, where he shares a mattress on the floor with his gay best friend (Kieran Culkin).

When he meets the saucy and mysterious Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), a delivery girl with ever-changing hair colors, he's instantly smitten. Then, to his dismay, he's assigned that scary task of defeating her old boyfriends to win her heart. As played by Brandon Routh, Jason Schwartzman and Chris Evans, among others, the exes are a bizarre cross section of humanity, and the animated flashbacks explaining how Ramona ended up with each of them are brief and amusing.

Trouble is, Cera's Scott is never as interesting as the various freaks who surround him, both friends and foes. There's a ton of great roles here for strong young actresses like Winstead, and Culkin steals every scene he's in. His presence alone is enough to make you wonder how much better "Scott Pilgrim" might have been with a central figure who had a little more personality. Sure, Scott is supposed to be a nerd, but he didn't have to be boring.

Nevertheless, the dialogue and the music keep you engaged, at least while the movie lasts. Once it's game over, though, it may not stick with you for very long -- which probably will suit the short attention span of its target audience just fine.





]]> tag:thecornernews.com,2010:index.php/music_n_movies/5.11487 2010-08-19T16:20:49Z 2010-08-19T17:26:51Z Carla Nelson cmerrill@thecornernews.com
One that has been more than 40 years in the making has been released this year by 429 Records, one whose concept had to wait until it could be made. “A Song For My Father” is a remarkable compilation of the talented children of some very legendary artists paying tribute to their fathers’ work. The album opens with a powerful new arrangement of Santana’s “Evil Ways” performed by Salvador Santana that sets the tone admirably. Many of the artists are recognizable in the mainstream, like Matthew and Gunnar Nelson (Rick Nelson), Chynna Phillips (John Phillips), Carnie and Wendy Wilson (Brian Wilson), Louise Goffin (Gerry Goffin and Carole King), Ben Taylor (James Taylor), Devon Allman (Gregg Allman), A.J. Croce (Jim Croce), Adam Cohen (Leonard Cohen), and Ky-Mani Marley (Bob Marley), others well-known on their own musical turf, such as Jen Chapin (Harry Chapin), Ivan Neville (Aaron Neville), Spencer Gibb (Robin Gibb), and Sarah Lee Guthrie (Arlo Guthrie), and all have turned in exciting performances of unique and, in many cases, stirring arrangements of well-chosen songs from their parents’ catalogs.

My favorites include Devon Allman’s take on “Midnight Rider,” Jen Chapin’s heartfelt arrangement of “Cat’s In The Cradle,” and Ivan Neville’s heavily funkified version of “Yellow Moon.” Don’t wait for next year’s Father’s Day to get this album for your Dad, he’ll appreciate it anytime and so will you.

]]> tag:thecornernews.com,2010:index.php/music_n_movies/5.11389 2010-08-17T17:03:28Z 2010-08-17T18:06:29Z Carla Nelson cmerrill@thecornernews.com
Yet the flick also offers sufficient emotional heft and self-discovery to make you feel as if you've actually learned something and, perhaps, emerged a better person solely through osmosis.

It's easy to see why author Elizabeth Gilbert's memoir became an international phenomenon, even without help from Oprah Winfrey.

Everyone's looking for something - for answers, for their true and higher purpose - and Gilbert had the fortitude (and the wherewithal) to take off alone on a journey around the world to find herself after her divorce.

Having Julia Roberts star as Liz Gilbert in the film version of the best seller, in theory, only makes it more appealing to an even wider audience.

Roberts is radiant as ever, and director and co-writer Ryan Murphy's adaptation allows her to show off her full range with plenty of hard-core hankie moments.

Not unlike the production numbers in Murphy's juggernaut TV series "Glee" on Fox, the search for meaning in "Eat Pray Love" is played with complete earnestness.

But even cynics viewing this movie (or the vast majority of men) would find it hard not to be impressed by the lush visuals and, on a more substantive level, moved by some of the performances.

In the India section of the story, Richard Jenkins pretty much steals "Eat Pray Love" away from Roberts as the hippie Texan who serves as the voice of reason when Liz is feeling lonely and sorry for herself.

She accuses him of talking in bumper stickers - which the script from Murphy and Jennifer Salt is frequently guilty of, as well - but he shakes things up and, more crucially, delivers one hell of a monologue in which he describes what led him to the ashram.

Jenkins is such an intelligent and honest actor that he makes every moment feel authentic. He kind of makes you want to see a movie about his character instead.

But "Eat Pray Love" is the story of how Liz, a successful author, leaves her husband (Billy Crudup) when she realizes she no longer wants to be married to him.

She also leaves her much-younger boyfriend (James Franco) when she realizes she's losing her identity to him, and then leaves New York entirely.

Her first stop is Italy, a place she's always wanted to visit and where she immediately falls in love with the people, the sights and the language.

This would be the "eat" portion of our adventure, and the scene in which Liz takes on a plate of spaghetti plays like food porn.

She lovingly twirls the noodles around her fork and lifts them into that perfect mouth, slurping and sucking the pasta in with delight. Warning: Do not see this movie if you're hungry.

The Thanksgiving turkey she shares for breakfast with the locals and expats who become her makeshift family is a nice touch, but it also looks seriously delicious.

Next, she's off to pray at an ashram outside New Delhi, India, which she finds is harder than she'd expected - the whole process of keeping the mind still, and all.

This is where Jenkins' character, Richard from Texas, comes into play. But Liz also befriends a 17-year-old girl on the verge of an arranged marriage - a lively, colorful affair with gorgeous, intricate costumes - and that relationship provides its own poignant moments.

Finally, she finds love in Bali, Indonesia, where she visits in the beginning of the movie and returns to learn from the elderly medicine man who prompted this whole journey.

Since "love" is in the title, we know Liz will find it, so there's not a whole lot of suspense.

Still, Roberts' scenes with Javier Bardem sparkle because ... well, he's Javier Bardem. And his character is just a real man: strong, confident and exciting but also sweet and sensitive.

He's comfortable about welling up as he says goodbye to his 19-year-old son who's visiting from Australia. Again, it's that whole female wish-fulfillment thing.

Beautiful as it is, the Bali section is overlong and it wraps up the film with the kind of romantic comedy cliches that, for the most part, were blissfully absent from the first two-thirds.

Regardless of how you feel about the movie, though, "Eat Pray Love" will make you want to head out for wine and pasta with your girlfriends afterward. Any excuse will do, and this is a good one.

]]> tag:thecornernews.com,2010:index.php/music_n_movies/5.11379 2010-08-11T14:55:16Z 2010-08-11T16:03:17Z Carla Nelson cmerrill@thecornernews.com Arcade Fire “The Suburbs”
Standouts - “Suburban War,” “The Suburbs”

Arcade Fire have always set the bar high for themselves, while creating powerful, though-provoking albums. On the highly-anticipated third album from Win Butler and crew, the group sounds angrier and louder than ever as they nostalgically rail against suburban life. Instead of focusing on writing another “Wake Up” the group spent more time creating an atmosphere, with the result being a wonderful follow-up to 2007’s “Neon Bible.” Pulling out all of iTunes age tricks, the album has been released on special edition vinyl and the CD was released with eight collectible covers.




]]> tag:thecornernews.com,2010:index.php/music_n_movies/5.11378 2010-08-11T14:52:42Z 2010-08-11T15:54:43Z Carla Nelson cmerrill@thecornernews.com
Cut to 2008, after he had finished a tour of Australia, when Finlay decided to conquer the states in the flesh and move his base of operations to Nashville.

Since then, he’s shared the stage with John Hiatt, Johnny Winter, Buddy Guy, Booker T & the MG's, Kid Rock, Kanye West and Chris Isaac, to name a few.

Working on a new studio album, but delayed due to a lack of time off the road, Finlay has released a live EP titled “Bootleg” to satisfy the overwhelming clamor of his fans for new music. Recorded at Norm’s River Roadhouse in Nashville in March of this year, this seven-song set represents well.

Opening with a blazing homage to his chosen genre, “Three Chord RocknRoll” sets the stage for what’s to come in fine style. But that is by no means all you’re in for with this smokin’ live set, as he deftly shows in the next tune, “Burning It In,” a funky rock number that he introduces as “a love song.” The funk continues with “Last Minute Romance,” followed by a chunky mid-tempo ballad called “What I Was Dying For.” This is followed by the autobiographical “Send My Mail to Nashville,” a jaunty New Orleans’ style boogie called “Ain’t Gonna Make It to the Dance,” and the closing rocker “That’s Gonna Leave A Mark.”

Throughout the album the listener is treated to Finlay’s exciting guitar work, which blends equal parts Texas-style blues and British guitar-god mayhem to spectacular effect. Canada’s loss is our gain, and if Trevor Finlay is half as exciting in person as this album would indicate, I’m glad I won’t have to go that far to see him!

Hear Wildman Steve’s Internet radio station, Internet radio for music lovers 24/7, at www.wildmansteve.com.
]]> tag:thecornernews.com,2010:index.php/music_n_movies/5.11377 2010-08-11T14:45:15Z 2010-08-11T15:51:16Z Carla Nelson cmerrill@thecornernews.com
It happens for good reason; Dread Clampitt is one heck of an exciting band, and their new album “Learnin’ to Live” proves that point in many ways. The band is made up of Balder Saunders on mandolin, Kyle Ogle on guitar, Kenny Oliverio on bass, and John Reinlie on drums, with occasional appearances by their mentor and honorary member, Duke Bardwell, whose pedigree includes playing bass with Elvis Presley for two years.

Dread Clampitt has been around playing bars and small halls in the southeast for quite a few years now, and have built a solid fanbase through their shows and their three previous albums, each of which have shown a progression in their development and songwriting capabilities.

“Learnin’ to Live” continues that progression to an exponential degree, with some of the finest songwriting and playing the band has offered in its storied history.

The album opens with a solid barn-burner called “Livin’ Out Of Leavin’,” which tells the story of a girl who is not so faithful. That leads into their new fan-favorite, “Redneck Coozie,” a delightful tale about a brown paper bag. The album is full of newgrass, bluegrass, and even has a touch of New Orleans in Bardwell’s classic “Bayou Country,” which has been recorded previously by Delicious Blues Stew and The Underdogs. Add to this the fact that 2009 Instrumentalist of the Year Sam Bush appears on most of the album and you’ve got one of the best albums of the year.

Hear Wildman Steve’s Internet radio station, Internet radio for music lovers 24/7, at www.wildmansteve.com.
]]> tag:thecornernews.com,2010:index.php/music_n_movies/5.11318 2010-08-10T17:41:38Z 2010-08-10T18:44:39Z Carla Nelson cmerrill@thecornernews.com
On paper, this could have been painfully lame. Will Ferrell is doing a variation on his tried-and-true film persona: the overly earnest guy who’s totally confident and oblivious to his buffoonery. Mark Wahlberg, meanwhile, is playing with his screen image as a tough guy and a hothead, doing a version of his Oscar-nominated role in “The Departed.” And the joke you see in the TV commercials — in which Ferrell blasts Little River Band’s mellow ‘70s hit “Reminiscing” on the way to a crime scene — is good for a laugh but it makes you wonder, is that the best they’ve got?

It all could have been too familiar, too cute. But there are just enough tweaks to these characters and this formula — and a refreshingly weird, kinky streak throughout — that make “The Other Guys” an unexpected kick. It runs out of steam in the third act and probably could have been tightened a bit. And we didn’t need the Powerpoint-style presentation over the closing credits preaching to us about corporate greed: We’re all quite aware it’s a problem. But the majority of it works.

A big reason for the film’s success is that the action sequences are played totally straight. The chases and shootouts on the streets of New York are elaborately staged and detailed — down to the cliche that the bad guys always have crazy amounts of automatic weaponry but still manage to miss our heroes, even when firing from a helicopter. There’s also an homage to John Woo that takes place in a glassed-off conference room with documents and bullets and bodies flying in artful slow-motion; again, because it’s choreographed so well and not played cartoonishly, it’s more effective.

The comedy similarly has a deadpan tone; it’s self-aware but not tongue-in-cheek. This is not over the top like a “Scary Movie” parody, and that makes it more appealing, too. The tossed-off pop culture references feel naturally like a part of the fabric. Like the previous movies Ferrell has collaborated on with writer-director Adam McKay, “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy,” “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby” and (with lesser success) “Step Brothers,” “The Other Guys” comes from a realistic, often understated place, which makes the wild moments pop out that much more. (Chris Henchy co-wrote the script, but Ferrell obviously had lots of room to improvise.)

Ferrell stars as Allen Gamble, a New York police detective with the demeanor (and wardrobe) of an accountant. He’d rather solve crimes from the comfort and safety of his desk, but he’s always happy to support his colleagues with some hearty words of encouragement. Wahlberg plays his partner, Terry Hoitz, who used to be out on the streets and is itching to get back, but is stuck in the office with Allen because of an accidental shooting. (There’s a flashback to it, and if you’re a Red Sox fan, you’ll enjoy it.)

The city’s hotshot detectives (Samuel L. Jackson and Dwayne Johnson, also toying with their larger-than-life personae) dominate by solving the most high-profile cases. But Allen and Terry stumble across something that looks shady involving corporate financial guru David Ershon (Steve Coogan), a sort of British version of Bernie Madoff. Coogan adds his own style of dry humor to the mix and is among a strong supporting cast that includes Michael Keaton, Rob Riggle and Eva Mendes.

And speaking of Mendes, she’s crucial to a running joke that, surprisingly, works the whole time. We won’t say much more about it, though. You should really meet and get to know these guys for yourself.

]]> tag:thecornernews.com,2010:index.php/music_n_movies/5.11311 2010-08-04T20:36:21Z 2010-08-04T21:39:22Z Carla Nelson cmerrill@thecornernews.com Buckcherry “All Night Long”
Standouts - “It’s a Party,” “Recovery,” “Dead”

The buzz around Buckcherry’s new album “All Night Long” has thus far come from the sleeze-rockers’ decision to take on BP and its response to the oil spill in the song “Our World.” That will probably soon change; “Our World” is, in fact, kind of a buzz kill. It’s a noble gesture, but if forced to choose, diehard Buckcherry fans are more likely to place their .99 cents on foot-stomper “It’s a Party,” or on songs like “Recovery” and the final track (and perfect way to end the record) “Dead,” which hearken back to the ballsier sound of the band’s earlier work. All Night Long is a riff-heavy, groove-driven, and overall better record than what many might have expected from Buckcherry after “Black Butterfly.” And for that – and, sure for their political awakening – they’re to be commended.


]]> tag:thecornernews.com,2010:index.php/music_n_movies/5.11310 2010-08-04T20:30:38Z 2010-08-04T21:40:40Z Carla Nelson cmerrill@thecornernews.com
Score another one for Asheville, as Bobby Miller and the Virginia Dare Devils have released their first album of traditional bluegrass after several years of wowing audiences in the region. The band is led by mandolin master Bobby Miller, a Georgia boy who ended up in Asheville by way of Virginia. Along the way, he learned of the tale of Virginia Dare, the first person of English descent born in the New World. Inspired by the legend (read about it in the liner notes), he named his new band after her.

Virginia would be proud, as the Dare Devils are one heck of a band. “Brother, Adieu” is the first album from this group of stellar musicians, and it delivers in grand style. Produced by Miller and fellow Dare Devil Dobro master Billy Cardine, this collection of traditional bluegrass tunes, original music, and a couple of choice covers showcases the talents of each musician in the band, who combine to create a very special blend of styles that takes the band beyond traditional into the exceptional.

These guys aren’t just great players, they are emotionally invested in the music, as you can practically hear the joy coming off their instruments. A band’s love of their music is often intangible, but the Dare Devils approach traditional songs with such reverence and enthusiasm it is apparent they are deeply involved with their songs. The originals are well-written and significant, and their covers of John Hartford’s “Scotland/I’m Still Here” and The Beatles’ “She Said She Said” show great creativity in their arrangements and deep admiration for the respective composers in their remarkable treatments.

All in all, Bobby Miller and the Virginia Dare Devils have created, in “Brother, Adieu,” the finest album of bluegrass music I’ve heard this year.

Hear Wildman Steve’s Internet radio station, Internet radio for music lovers 24/7, at www.wildmansteve.com.
]]> tag:thecornernews.com,2010:index.php/music_n_movies/5.11309 2010-08-04T20:26:40Z 2010-08-04T21:27:41Z Carla Nelson cmerrill@thecornernews.com Rick Ross “Teflon Don”
Standouts - “Free Mason,” “Live Fast Die Young,” “Tears of Joy” “MC Hammer”

If Rick Ross’ fourth album, “Teflon Do,n” doesn’t receive a Grammy nomination for “Best Rap Album,” I’d be surprised. Yes, it’s that good. While “Teflon Don” is a typical Rick Ross album at its core, he tries to step it up lyrically and move beyond just pushing weight and pimpin’. But for the most part he stays in his lane and that’s what makes the album so good.



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