Sunday, December 16, 2007

Disturbia (2007) & Transformers (2007)

The reason I clumped these films together is because they both star cutie-patootie Shia LaBeouf and they were both pretty much average films. Transformers was slightly better though. So both these films are about Shia's character getting into mischief, and then talking himself out of it, that crazy rascal. He plays a typical teen boy, obsessed with video games, attractive lady companions, and talking his parents off. Both films pair Shia with a gorgeous, thin, yet curvy love interest. These "tight hotties" are doing so much for my self-esteem :s...the films both end with Shia macking on his lady... ah shit, I totally spoiled it for everyone!
In terms of narrative both films are pretty weak, but you can't expect much from major hollywood vehicles. Disturbia was pegged as a Hichcock Rear Window knock-off; yeah, the story has the same skeleton, but really the efforts are not where near comparison, puh-leeze. Transformers is a what-you-see-what-you-get, which means a 15 year old wrote the scripts, but I won't deride it for that reason, because they never pretended to be more than an summer blockbuster.
In the way that supporting actors go, the films had some credibility. Carrie-Anne Moss played a never-there mom very well, but Transformers took the cake with John Turturro playing the bad-cop turned good-cop, he totally made the slow "story" scenes enjoyable to watch.
In the end I recommend Transformers for a good popcorn flick, but Disturbia is pretty weak, so no go there.

Tuesday, December 04, 2007

Feist - December 3, 2007 - Hamilton Place

This show was great, I really enjoyed it. It was my second time seeing Feist live so I came in with some expectations, Feist met those expectations, but for different reasons. The first time I saw Feist it was at the Folk Festival in Ottawa, we were outdoors, it was rainy and cold, and dark. All things said it was also a great show because Feist is awesome live. I was standing right against the bars, so I had one of the best spots essentially, and it was a pretty cheap ticket to get in.
Last night the show was indoors, it was seated, and I was on the first balcony so not as close as I'd like. Feist definitely brought her lady funk which was great, she chatted a bit with the audience, and did a fair mix of her older stuff along with most tunes from her new cd. She did a 3 song encore which I thought was more than generous due to lack of audience participation, but it seemed like it was part of the set regardless of how the audience reacted. Opening band Great Lake Swimmers were great also. Their songs were so soothing that I felt like curling up and napping it was so relaxing.
What I find interesting about Feist, and what got me wanting to write this post is that even with only 3 CD releases to her name her music is evolving in such an organic way. Her first CD, which most people have not even heard of "Monarch (Lay Down Your Jewelled Head)" has an unpolished feel to it. I can't claim much expertise to this album because I've only listened to it maybe one and a half times, but it's definitely neat to listen to to get a grasp of Feist's roots. "Let it Die" is the album that introduced most people to Feist, including myself. The CD is awesome, and by far one of my favourites. It has a disco era feel to it that really makes it a swayable album to listen to. Most of the tunes are down tempo, but she uses awesome classical instruments with electrofusion it's definitely candy for your ears.
The latest CD, "The Remainder" took some time for me to warm up to. The sound is a lot more professional than "Let it Die", and also more accessible to audiences. I originally saw this as Feist selling out because it was only after her song "1234" was used for iPod, that she became popular in the states. But eventually I have come to enjoy this CD also because it still evokes the classic Feist style and rhythm.