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ENTERTAINMENT

Netflix’d: Thief Movie Reviews

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I’m of the opinion that anything is worth doing if you accumulate knowledge. I am therefore of the opinion that if nothing else comes from my Netflix’d column (money, career prospects, writing experience, etc.) then it will have all been worth it just to have had a better grasp on this fact: Netflix takes down movies and shows eventually. I had originally intended to have this article be a review of the brilliant British sitcom Peep Show, but unfortunately it would appear that it has been removed from instant streaming. In that case, I will be doing another movie review for this week, so make sure you catch Thief before it goes the way of Peep Show.

Netflix Thief Movie Reviews

Title:  Thief
Director: Michael Mann
Writer: Michael Mann
Year: 1981
Running Time: 122 minutes
Starring: James Caan, Tuesday Weld, Robert Prosky, Willie Nelson
Genre: Crime Drama, Neo-Noir, Heist flick
Similar To: Rififi, The Long Good Friday, Heat

Film maker Michael Mann has been going through a bit of a rough phase as of late. His last two films (Miami Vice, Public Enemies) received negative reviews, and his HBO series Luck was cancelled after one season not for it’s low ratings, but because of PETA concerns surrounding the fact that three horses had been killed during the show’s production. From his recent work, it can be hard to recall that at one point the director was seen as a very consistent and appealing director. Known for his strong visuals and keen ear for selecting memorable soundtracks, Michael Mann has had a really interesting film career, especially when you consider he was the first director to bring Hannibal Lecter to the big screen (Manhunter), as well as have Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino share a scene (Heat). The 70-year old filmmaker is actually rather under-appreciated when one thinks about how often his name is brought up compared to peers like Martin Scorsese, and I actually feel his first film, 1981’s Thief, may actually stack up as his very best picture

The film is a Chicago-set crime drama that is indeed about a thief. This time it happens to be a guy named Frank (James Caan), who runs a bar and car dealership, but It’s all a front for his real career as a professional jewel thief, Lately though, he’s been wondering about giving the game up, and he wants to start a family with his girlfriend (Tuesday Weld), and is trying to get the right amount of money to support it. His exploits eventually bring him to Leo (Robert Prosky), a Chicago mob leader who is looking to pull off a very lucrative heist in Los Angelas, and he enlists Frank to help him.
Certainly not the most original plot in the world, but like several other great crime thrillers, Thief is all about the presentation and execution. Mann has nearly every shot of this film bursting in splendor, particularly in the action heavy scenes. One scene early on where Frank pulls a gun out in a office makes particular use of clever camera work, using plenty of close ups that give us a claustrophobic sense. Of course, the heist scenes are even more impressive, and they’re 100% believable in terms of the technology and methodology we see on screen, and are filmed in a really effective manner. Completely free of the trappings of CGI, Mann has his actors use real blowtorches and safe crackers in the film. Lengthy, carefully paced, and light on dialogue, the heist scenes in Thief recall the legendary robbery sequence in Jules Dassin’s noir classic Rififi,  which is saying a lot for a mainstream Hollywood film that was released in the 80s.
Thief is certainly a grade-A technical merit on Mann’s part, but James Caan also makes this his film as well. One would of thought that James Caan’s career would have really taking off after the Godfather, but he actually has been involved in plenty of lousy pictures throughout his decade spanning career. His performance in Thief remains a highlight for him, as he makes Frank quite an affable anti-hero. He’s a rugged and take-no-shit kind of guy, but there’s a real longing in him to go on to a life that actually means something. Some of the best scenes in the film involve Frank’s time with his love interest, such as scene when he’s yelling at her about how obvious it is that he’s a thief, while also asking her for sympathy. It’s probably the single funniest and sweetest scene that Mann has ever directed.
Flaws are few and far between, but there are some notables. A few of the scenes that take place in LA look absolutely nothing like the city (they weren’t shot there), and there could of been more storyline involving the film’s corrupt cop characters (especially considering how good an actor Dennis Farina is). As I said before the story is familiar too, but Mann finds ways to capitalize on the film’s necessary cliches. It’s all tightly wound, and ideally sets up the film’s heightened intensity and grit in the final act.
Thief is a must see film for crime fans, and arguably one of the best American pictures of the 1980s. Michael Mann really was at the top of his game here, as the film’s simplicity in plot allowed him to concentrate on conjuring some really complex visual cues. While it’s understandable when people say that all great directors burn out eventually, watching Thief gives me confidence that Mann still has that sort of mentality inside him. Even though this film came out over 30 years ago, I really do feel Mann has it in him to make another great film like Thief.

Golden Boy Falls Short of Gold Standard

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Theo James in Golden Boy (Source:CBS)
Theo James in Golden Boy (source:CBS)

Golden Boy, Tuesdays, 10p.m Eastern Time, CBS

Last night, CBS, the network that brought you 3 CSI’s, 2 NCIS’s, Hawaii Five O, Blue Bloods, and numerous other cop shows over the past decade unveiled the newest in their never ending assembly line of shows about people investigating murders and drug dealers in Golden Boy.

Golden Boy tells the story of Walter William Clark Jr. (Theo James), as he makes his meteoric rise from beat cop to the the youngest Police Commissioner of New York City. After a short three years on the job, his on the job heroics led him to a promotion to the homicide squad. While there he’s paired up with a Don Owen, whom is a veteran detective closing in on retirement (Chi McBride). While solving murders, he’s dealing with equally ambitious and underhanded rival cop Christian Arroyo (Kevin Alejandro).

Plot wise, the show seems to be pretty contrived, but the fact that the entire show is told from the perspective of Clark makes this perfectly acceptable, since I would expect that a character of that ilk would try to present himself in the best possible light to a newspaper reporter (Richard Kind). It seems pretty solidly written, giving a show a little more pop than your standard issue crime procedural, even if it tends to over-rely on jargon during the shows numerous action scenes.

There’s one glaring problem with Clark is that even as commissioner, he comes obnoxious and entirely unlikeable, even when he’s trying to console a victims family. This brusqueness is even more apparent when Clark plays his younger self, as he slaughters the fourth amendment and performs a sick revenge fantasy all within the span of our premiere 60 minutes. In a semi related quibble, this may be the New Yorker in me, but why does every cop in Golden Boy‘s NYPD sound like they’re from Boston?

Chi McBride on the other hand, is excellent as grizzled veteran Owen. He plays the grizzled veteran actually trying to teach the young upstart Clark. Owen seems to be the moral center of a show that seems to angle itself long-term into the story of a rivalry between Clark and Arroyo. Kevin Alejandro plays an excellent smug snake as Arroyo, though it’s difficult to differentiate him from Clark at times because of how smugly Theo James plays Walter Clark.

The cinematography is interesting, and generally strong with its heavy use of time lapse photography. They also take advantage of some unique shots, like a spring to life shot in the opening scene to create a sense of urgency unlike any other I’ve seen in a TV show to this point. One minor quibble in this area, is that every window has this weird glow to it that makes it seem like the characters are staring at TV’s every time they look out the window.

Final Verdict: Golden Boy is serviceable as both a political drama and a cop show, even if it tends to be a little pedestrian at times. I think that the pilot should have at least made Clark as commissioner a little more likable, as quite frankly, I struggle to see why I would recommend a story about the rise of such an unsympathetic protagonist. This might be worth checking into later to see if James can hit the soft notes as Clark, but unless you happen to be watching the NCIS smorgasbord lead-in, I can’t see going out of your way to catch this.

Album Review: Iceage – You’re Nothing

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images (1)

Iceage:          You’re Nothing

Similar Artists:          The Fall, No Age, Metz

Genre:          No-Wave, Goth-Rock, Punk, Post-Hardcore

Label:          Matador

 

Somehow, this nihilistically driven punk band made up of Danish teenagers has gotten a lot of attention in America as of late. Ever since their debut in 2011, seemingly due to their blood splattering live shows that excellently showed off the band’s raw intensity, they have been called “saviors of punk” and “the only authentic punk-revivalists”. It’s funny though, that many label this as straight up punk music, because it actually has much more in common with no-wave bands or sludgy goth-rock. Sure, there are hooks and some poppy moments, but the music should have proved inaccessible to most indie rock listeners (It hasn’t). If a change is happening regarding ugliness ever so slightly making its way into the mainstream, Iceage are leading the battle, and they certainly have enough energy and wit to do so.

Regardless of whatever astronomical alignment brought this band into the spotlight, they are surely worthy of the praise they have received. With “New Brigade” and now this, Iceage have crafted some of the most brash and delightfully sloppy rock music in recent memory. Just like some of the best hardcore albums, at fewer than 30 minutes, these two are exceedingly brief and spontaneous. There is no repetition, and each song encapsulates an impressive amount of detail. The cavalcade of distortion, grimy textures, and Elias Bender Rønnenfelt’s dogly yowl of a voice make this a difficult listen, but much like a My Bloody Valentine album, the waves eventually part and we can tell just how labored over these songs are.

“You’re Nothing” sees the band make the appropriate improvements to their sound without sacrificing any of their grit. This is a tighter record in terms of songwriting and just about everything else as well, but it still feels that these young punks are simply making music for themselves,  and that they don’t give a shit what anyone else thinks. This album is certainly no overhaul in sound, and it shouldn’t be, because Iceage are mining territory that no one else is right now.

Each and every song here is worthy of analysis, but I’ll just remark on a few key pieces. Opener “Ecstacy” is the band’s brazen stomp of dirtiness that conveys the album’s heavy, anxiety led themes. During the verse Rønnenfelt sings /Pressure, Pressure, all god knows/ in his zombie drawl while we are buried by creaking gothic guitars. “Burning Hand” is a heavier piece that incorporates sludgy “Melvins” inspired guitars and dreadful vocals.  In case you thought these guys couldn’t kick out a demanding and fastidious guitar riff, “In Haze” puts you to rest. The link that holds all these pieces together is the infusion of manic, sweat inducing percussion.

“Morals” might be the true highlight here, with piano chords (yes, you read that right) laying alongside exasperated vocals that cry,  /to be someone like you/ which recalls “The Cure” at their self loathing best. The second part of the song continues with the painfully sung verse /where’s your morals/ which is surely to be one of their defining live moments. “It Might Hit First” is screams and dissonance, lightning fast chord patterns and incessant drumming. The last two songs, “Awake” and “You’re Nothing” are some of the most accessible. The title track in particular is very reminiscent of 70’s pop punk, and surely contains what is to be some of their most shouted lyrics at upcoming shows.

While describing this band, it is necessary to use negative adjectives (incessant, exasperated, dreadful) that you wouldn’t imagine added up to good music, but somehow it all works perfectly here. To take a quote from David Byrne “The better a singer’s voice, the harder it is to believe them”. This completely describes why so many people become infatuated with artists such as Dirty Projectors, or the even uglier Xiu Xiu. Like those artists, (Talking Heads included), Iceage is pure, expressive and wholly authentic, three traits that have always added up to make great music. They have always been the traits that I have followed in my quest of endless music discovery, and as of now, I will follow Iceage wherever they take me.

 

Track Listing:

1.) Ecstacy*

2.) Coalition*

3.) Interlude

4.) Burning Hand*

5.) In Haze

6.) Morals*

7.) Everything Drifts

8.) Wounded Hearts

9.) It Might Hit First

10.) Rodfæstet*

11.) Awake

12.) You’re Nothing*

Album Review: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Push the Sky Away

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Push-the-Sky-Away

 

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds:          Push the Sky Away

Similar Artists:          The Mountain Goats, Tom Waits, Scott Walker

Genre:          Singer-songwriter, Post-Punk, Indie

Label:          Bad Seeds Ltd.

 

How many people can say they truly know Nick Cave? I certainly can’t, and I don’t think I would want to either. He is a perplexing artist whose ideals have stretched his work far beyond that of any of his so-called peers. His extensive discography with the Bad Seeds alone has been consistent enough that each new release has presented the band’s signature style in a freshly drawn light. Despite their increased age, these folks have never lost their edge as musicians, and the material they are putting out nowadays is arguably as great as its ever been. However, and this is a big however, if you are a newcomer, there is a time consuming process involved for full enjoyment.

If you aren’t familiar with this band’s previous work, it is quite essential that you start at the beginning, with 1984’s  “From Her To Eternity”, or better still, you can start with Nick Cave’s highly influential goth-rock group “The Birthday Party” in 1980. So this is undoubtedly a lot of music to listen to, and taking the plunge will likely put you out of listening to anything else for about a month, however, the process is crucial because of Nick Cave’s constant progression upon past ideas and his use of “inside jokes” that only the closest-knit fans will comprehend. Missing out on even one album can be detrimental to your view on the band’s universe as a whole. If you are a hardcore music nerd like me, you shouldn’t allow that for yourself.

Still, despite having listened to the entirety of this band’s music, I can’t say I have digested all of it, especially when speaking of lyrical content. True lyrical insight here requires focused listens, preferably accompanied by a lyric sheet –  but any fan will tell you it is worth the extra time. Much like Tom Waits or John Darnielle, Cave has created a dense mythology around his work. Encased in these albums are several novels worth of picaresque characters, interesting scenarios and fantastical settings; all of which revolve around Nick Cave’s black sense of humor and irresistibly sardonic tone. Nick Cave is not simply trying to be the coolest person in the world; he is also trying to be the most interesting and intelligent.

This is his 15th album with the Bad Seeds, and alongside “The Boatman’s Call”, “No More Shall We Part” and “Abbatoir Blues”, it is among his most somber and least rock & roll. Only on “Jubilee Street” are we greeted to anything resembling a traditional rock piece. Assumingly inspired by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis’ film scores over the past few years, this is music of the cinematic variety. All the tracks here are accompanied by some sort of orchestral element. The production values are high, as we are now used to with this band, but the instrumentation is all used tastefully to prevent any bombastical splurging.

We have heard orchestral before from these guys, so what really sets this album apart from previous work is its lack of percussion. This lack of a beat  gives the album a buoyant, dream like feel, and is best represented with the mesmerizing opening and closing tracks –  which are peerless when concerning any of the band’s previous sounds. With that said, you certainly won’t be mistaking this for any dream pop band, it is still Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, but now they are wearing a highly glossy new shed of skin.

Some songs, such as “Finishing Jubilee Street”, are clearly about dreams, but with the bizarre imagery laid throughout I wouldn’t be surprised if the entirety of the album was culled from nocturnal fantasies. There are some truly head scratching lines here, like when Mylie Cyrus and Hanna Montana play roles in a song that clearly has nothing to do with them/her, or a reference to Wikipedia being heaven. Similarly, the spelling of the first track, “We No Who U R”, seems to reflect that the band is poking fun at an earlier generation. Previously, most of Cave’s lyrics have been enrooted in the past, so this new, very modern approach of spawning lyrics from random internet searches seems all the more grasping (and of course, hilarious). It is a nice change of pace for the band, as many of the lyrics seem more open to interpretation and impressionistic, yet still containing Cave’s knack for storytelling.

So if I haven’t made myself clear already, this is a great album, and one that has its own spot in the group’s discography. After the high octane rush of “Dig, Lazarus, Dig” and the Grinderman side project, we needed something more mellow. This is the perfect antithesis of those records and shows yet another, just as worthy side to the band.

 

Track Listing:

1.) We No Who U R*

2.) Wide Lovely Eyes

3.) Water’s Edge

4.) Jubilee Street*

5.) Mermaids*

6.) We Real Cool

7.) Finishing Jubilee Street

8.) Higgs Boson Blues

9.) Push the Sky Away*

* – Album Highlight

New York City Street Photography- The Beauty of Emptiness

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New York City is like a gorgeous woman. She flashes her incredible figure that anyone can see from miles away. The spires and towers gleaming skywards are unmatched in their beauty. People come from the world over to gaze upon them and they never leave unimpressed.
However, it’s the intimate late night conversations with her that truly reveal her soul. In order to get as close as you can to her beating heart, you don’t climb to the top of the tallest building; you get as close to ground as you possibly can. You address her in the stillness of the night and listen to the sound of 8 million souls breathing. It’s in the rare moments of solitude that you find out who and what she is.

Empty 5th Ave.
5th Ave., NYC, Photo by Mark Giarrusso, 2013
Fire Lane/ Bus Only
5th Ave., NYC, Photo by Mark Giarrusso, 2013
Empty Lexington Ave.
Lexington Ave., NYC, Photo by Mark Giarrusso, 2013
Empty Diamond District
Diamond District, NYC, Photo by Mark Giarrusso, 2013
Empty 42nd Street
42nd St., NYC, Photo by Mark Giarrusso, 2013
Smoke on Madison
Madison Ave., NYC, Photo by Mark Giarrusso, 2013
Intersection of Lex and Nowhere
Lexington Ave., NYC, Photo by Mark Giarrusso, 2013

Chatty Talk with Elise – Justin Timberlake & Jay-Z

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Heyyy there & welcome back!!

 

Boohoo!! This is a sad thing, that I definitely didn’t see coming!!  The absolutely adorable Josh Brolin & Diane Lane have decided to call it quits after 9 years of marriage.  So sad, I definitely thought these two would make it work!Diane LaneWe’ve all seen the absolutely stunning Mila Kunis, Charlize Theron, & Kate Moss as the face of Dior.. Well we can add another beauty to the list!  Jennifer Lawrence stuns in the most recent Dior campaign & can we blame Dior for scooping her up? She’s breathtakingly gorgeous! Don’t believe me? Take a look for yourself!

Jennifer LaweranceA congratulations is in order for Amber Rose & Wiz Khalifa as they welcomed their baby boy, Sebastian “The Bash” Taylor Thomaz into the world!  Though they haven’t posted any pictures of the baby yet, I am absolutely sure he’s a handsome little fella.  Congratulations!! Who doesn’t love a cute baby??Wiz & Amber Rose BabyJustin Timberlake & Jay-Z just announced a 12 city tour for the summer… YUM! You’re making a huge mistake if you don’t go see this show, I can promise you that I am!! Suit & Tie, what’s not to love???JT Jay Z

85th Annual Academy Awards Live Coverage

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The Oscars: Tonight starting at 7 p.m. On ABC

6:30 pm: Good Evening Ladies and Gentlemen! I’m Mike Tyminski, and I’m back to live blog this years Oscars. The Oscars always tend to be the apex of awards season, and there are a number of intriguing questions that go along with this years ceremony.

Source: Wikipedia
Source: Wikipedia

First and foremost on many viewers minds: Who is going to pick up the Oscar for Best Picture? We have a diverse group of films here, ranging from musical classics (Les Miserables) to historical period pieces (Lincoln) to contemporary action dramas (Zero Dark Thirty) to foreign artsy flicks (Amour). The real question here though is, can this award season’s juggernaut Argo, be stopped (it did seem to be the most snubbed of the Best Picture contenders)? Will early favorite Lincoln recapture its’ luster in the eyes of voters? Will Quentin Tarentino finally get some respect for Django Unchained? Or will it go to a dark horse like Life of Pi, Silver Linings Playbook, or Beasts of the Southern Wild?

The most hotly contested category this year, however, is for Best Supporting Actor. With five former Oscar winners in Alan Arkin (Argo), Robert DeNiro (Silver Linings Playbook), Tommy Lee Jones (Lincoln), Philip Seymour Hoffman (The Master), and Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained), each of whom turned in stellar performances in their respective films. While I’m personally pulling for Waltz, I could get behind any of the candidates winning.

As with the Grammys, my primary focus will again be on the presentation. We have a controversial host choice this year in Seth McFarlane. The question is, which Seth McFarlane will we get? Will we get the man who has a clear reverence for the golden ages of film and TV to the extent that he made six homages to the “Road To…” series in his hit series Family Guy, or will we the get the man whose also responsible for some of the most line-obliterating jokes on broadcast TV? It should be interesting to see the mix, and whether he will go in the pantheon of great hosts like Billy Crystal in the mid 90’s, or the pantheon of awful hosts like David Letterman. I’m personally cautiously optimistic here, and I can’t wait to see how the show itself turns out.

Jessica Chastain on the Red Carpet -- Source: Yahoo!
Jessica Chastain on the Red Carpet — Source: Yahoo!

6:55 pm: Some news and opinions from the red carpet.

We will see a number of medleys tonight, including one from Les Miserables and another involving past Oscar winners singing hits from their respective films (including Catherine Zeta-Jones singing a number from Chicago and Jennifer Hudson singing a song from Dreamgirls).

The red carpet seemed to move at a considerably slower pace than the Grammys with only a handful of stars arriving as of 6:40 pm. Most of the early arrivals have been fashion successes with no real fashion nightmares along the lines of Adele’s from two weeks ago.

On the red carpet front, Jessica Chastain is looking amazing in an elegant coral dress that works despite all of the potential pitfalls that could have came with that dress. In terms of more edgy outfits, Samantha Barks succeeded with a cute black dress with a plunging neckline.

I’m a little torn on Zoe Saldana’s dress, which has a feathered top leading to a sleek, multi-shaded bottom the split up the leg that Angelina Jolie, popularized last year. While I’m not a huge fan of feathering or overly busy top, as your eye moves towards the legs, the dress picks up in elegance.

My highlight of the Red Carpet so far?: Jennifer Lawrence lamenting the lack of food before the show mentioning that the show is “way too long”.

It’s 7pm, time to switch over to the ABC feed.

I've spent an hour of my life determining whether or not this dress is a winner...final verdict? It is. (source: Yahoo!)
I’ve spent an hour of my life determining whether or not this dress is a winner…final verdict? It is. (source: Yahoo!)

7:30 pm: Some more news from the red carpet…

In terms of fashion, I’m slowly finding that most of the looks that are not clicking with me seem to be isolated to ABC’s red carpet coverage team. Neither Kristin Chenowith nor Kelly Rowland’s looks are particularly resonating with me, with Kelly’s looking awkward due to the way the wrap up top feels around her bodice. Anne Hathaway’s dress is failing with me similarly, as the cut feels very awkward and more like an apron than a classy dress on what has to be the classiest fashion night of the year.

On the star front, the stars are trickling in at a faster rate, Catherine Zeta-Jones is looking fabulous in an ornate gold dress. Naomi Watts has a modern Silver Sparkled number that looks classy even with an open shoulder and a clawlike cut.

In an update, having gotten to see a wider shot, Zoe Saldana’s dress has officially won me over.

8:00 PM: With only one network showing live Red Carpet coverage from here on out (ABC), I’m going to take a minute to pop out some quick pre show predictions:

Best Picture: Lincoln (I think Argo doing as well as it did everywhere else was as much a response to the Academy keeping Ben Affleck out of the race for best director).

Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis (Less a prediction, more an inevitability)

Best Actress in a supporting role: Anne Hathaway (See Above)

Best Director: Michael Haneke (This could really be anyone BUT Ang Lee, my inner geek demands payback for the 2003 Hulk movie, I feel like Amour needs a nod in a major category somewhere and here seems to be the best place).

Best Supporting Actor: Robert DeNiro (Silver Linings Playbook  needs a little love somewhere along the way).

In red carpet news, Charlize Theron looks magnificent in a very modern (almost futuristic) looking white Dior dress. I’m also pretty fond of the Black and Gold sparkly dress that Nicole Kidman is rocking tonight. Lots of black, white, and gold tonight on the red carpet, but I feel that’s standard issue for the Oscars.

In what has to be a redemption for her from two weeks ago, Adele is wearing a black dress that seems miles better from the flower print disaster she wore two weeks ago.

This may be me, but I feel like there’s a small trend of people bringing their mothers to the show, as both Bradley Cooper and Chris Evans have brought their mothers to the show tonight.

Charlize Theron's futuristic dress from tonight's Oscars (source: Yahoo!)
Charlize Theron’s futuristic dress from tonight’s Oscars (source: Yahoo!)

8:25 PM: One last batch of updates before we go inside for the show:

The quote of the Red Carpet so far: “Win or lose, I’ll be drinking” – George Clooney

It was teased tonight that we should be getting some kind of Bond tribute in an interview between Robin Roberts and Halle Berry. Speaking of Ms. Berry…those shoulder pads are killing me and really need to be left in the 1980’s where they belong.

Jennifer Aniston is rocking a dress that feels like a tale of two dresses: From the waist up it’s a dress that looks classy, elegant and timeless, that train however, doesn’t seem to flow naturally from the material itself, and as a result gives off an unflattering vibe.

One final spoiler, Kristin Chenowith is somehow involved with the finale of the show.

On that note…the show’s about to start, be back with more after the first commercial break and keep checking in throughout the night for more opinions and news!

8:55 PM: We open to Seth McFarlane walking out to the usual fanfare and a brief introduction. McFarlane opens with “the quest to make Tommy Lee Jones laugh begins now”. McFarlane’s speech so far seems to be tacking closer to reverence for the classics than the irreverent side that people dreaded we would see from him. Seth announces this year has a theme for the first time in “Music in Film”.

 

We get a cameo from William Shatner trying to stop Seth McFarlane from singing a number titled “We Saw Your Boobs” (backed up by the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles). This leads into Seth McFarlane singing “Just the Way you Look Tonight” backed up by Charlize Theron and Channing Tatum. Shatner also tries to prevent McFarlane from re-enacting the film flight with sock puppets. This leads to another song and dance number with Daniel Radcliffe and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. William Shatner only then finally upgrades it to mediocre, only for Seth to find out he offends and takes home Sally Field after he fawns over her role in the flying nun. He amends that by singing “Be Our Guest”

This leads to Seth McFarlane bringing out Octavia Spencer for our slugfest of the night: Best Supporting Actor.

Our nominees are: Alan Arkin (Argo), Robert DeNiro (Silver Linings Playbook), Philip Seymour Hoffman (The Master), Tommy Lee Jones (Lincoln), Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained).

AND THE WINNER IS: Christoph Waltz! He’s 2 for 2 (his prior win for Inglorious Basterds).

Waltz has a very grateful tone, thanking Quentin Tarantino and his fellow costars.

Overall I thought this opening was stellar. McFarlane was funny except for one misplaced jab at Mel Gibson, the musical numbers were on point, and opening on the biggest bloodbath of the night has already given this night a sense of importance. We seem to be getting more of class Seth than crass Seth and if that’s the case this should be a very enjoyable three hours.

9:12 PM: Seth calls out Paul Rudd and Melissa McCarthy to present the award for Best Animated Short Film

The Nominees Are: Paper Man, Maggie’s Longest Day Care, Adam and Dog, Fresh Guacamole, and Head Over Heels.

The Winner is: Paper Man, John Kahrs.

They also present the best Animated Film:

The Nominees are: Brave, The Pirates, Frankenweenie, Paranorman and Wreck It Ralph.

The Winner is: Brave

Mark Andrews walks up rocking a kilt. He gives a quick set of thank yous.

Reese Witherspoon is out to highlight three of our Best Picture nominees: Les Miserables, Beasts of the Southern Wild, and The Life of Pi. Clips of all three of those movies are played.

We then get a quick cut back to Seth McFarlane, who gives credit to Quezevahne Wallisfor scoring a Best Actress nod at the tender young age of nine.

Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Samuel L. Jackson, Mark Ruffalo, and Jeremy Renner are out to present the award for Best Cinematography.

The Nominees are: Anna Karenina, Life of Pi, Django Unchained, Lincoln, and Skyfall

The Winner is: Claudio Miranda of Life of Pi.

Robert Downey Jr. and Sam Jackson then get into a mock argument after Sam skips most of the introduction for Best Visual Effects (and then fails to get the envelope open).

The Hobbit, The Life of Pi, The Avengers, Prometheus, Snow White and the Huntsman.

The Winner is: The Life of Pi. (and thankfully NOT Snow White and the Huntsman).

The Jaws theme cuts off the Visual Effects speech, proving that the guys in the back don’t really get that much respect.

That segment moved at a fever pitch, going through four awards in about 12 minutes, hopefully the show gives it’s segments a little more time to breathe from here on out.

9:27 pm: We return to Seth McFarlane, who introduces Channing Tatum and Jennifer Aniston, who come out to announce the awards for Achievement in Costume Design:

The Nominees Are: Anna Karenina, Les Miserable, Lincoln, Mirror Mirror, Snow White and the Huntsman

The Winner is: Jacqueline Durran (Anna Karenina).

They then announce the Nominees for Achievement in Makeup and Hair Stiling

The Nominees Are: Hitchcock, The Hobbit, Les Miserables.

The Winner is: Les Miserables.

Seth McFarlane then introduces Halle Berry, whom then introduces a tribute to the fiftieth anniversary of James Bond in film. Halle Berry stumbles a little on the teleprompter, before a montage with the Bond Theme, Live and Let Die. The montage then seamlessly integrates into a live performance of “Goldfinger” by Dame Shirley Bassey. It seemed like a solid tribute if you’re sort of person whose into the 007 films (which admittedly, I am not).

9:46 pm: Jamie Foxx and Kerry Washington come out to announce the award for best short film.

The Nominees are: Curfew, Death of A Shadow, Assad, Bukhazhi Boys, and Henry.

The winner is: Curfew

They also present the award for best short documentary film.

The nominees are: Kings Point, Open Heart, Inocente, Monday’s At Racine, Redemption

The award goes to: Inocente.

The documentary’s producers, Sean and Andrea Nix Fine then take the opportunity to request for increased funding for the arts, noting the change for the subject in their documentary from homeless to artist in one short year.

Sean then introduces Liam Neeson, whom introduces three more best picture nominees: Argo, Lincoln, and Zero Dark Thirty. It seems particularly interesting that the three most America-centric movies are grouped together.

Seth gives a little bit of an Oscar tidbit mentioning that Daniel Day-Lewis was the second actor to be nominated for playing Lincoln (Raymond Massey was the first), before pitching it to Ben Affleck (after making sure to bring up Gigli, of course).

Ben Affleck is out to present the award for Best Documentary Feature, getting a jab back at McFarlane stating “I thought this show was going well, but there’s still time for you to turn it around”.

The nominees are: The Gatekeepers, How to survive a plague, The Invisible War, Searching for Sugar Man, and Five Broken Cameras.

The winner is: Searching for Sugar Man.

This may be me, but using the Jaws music as the “Speed up, your speech is too long” music feels pretty tasteless.

10:05 PM: Seth brings out Jennifer Garner and Jessica Chastain, whom are both here to present the award for Best Foriegn Language Film.

The Nominees Are: Amour, Kontiki, No, A Royal Affair, War Witch.

The winner is: Amour (did you really expect anything else? It is nominated for best picture).

Seth then introduces John Travolta who then introduces a medley of the finest tracks from Les Miserables, Chicago, and Dreamgirls. It opens with Catherine Zeta-Jones performing “All That Jazz” before segueing into Jennifer Hudson performing “I’m telling you, I’m not going”. This then merged into a track from Les Miserables, with a large segment of the cast performing “One Day More”.

Something seemed off with Zeta-Jones’s performance (there were parts where it seemed like either her sound cut off or she was off lipsync), but I thought Jennifer Hudson did an excellent job on her song, bringing the power that a song like “I’m telling you” needs. On the Les Miserables portion, both Hugh Jackman and Samantha Barks stood out the most, as they seemed to be strongest singers in the ensemble.

10:25 pm: We return to Chris Pine and Zoe Saldana, whom are out to present the awards for the scientific and technical awards.

After the quick montage, we return to Seth McFarlane, who busts out a little self-deprecation about Ted before introducing both Mark Wahlberg and the Titular bear of his movie, Ted. They present the award for best sound mixing:

The nominees are: Argo, Les Miserables, Lincoln, Skyfall, and The Life of Pi.

The winner is: Les Miserables.

They also are presenting the award for Best Sound Editing. We finally get some of McFarlane’s line crossing humor, as Ted is trying to explain to Mark that you have to be Jewish to work in Hollywood.

The Nominees Are: Argo, Django Unchained, The Life of Pi, Skyfall and Zero Dark Thirty.

The Winners Are: (a tie) Zero Dark Thirty and Skyfall.

Seth then introduces the next presenter, who were the Von Trapp family singers (with a joke where where a Nazi storms in and screams, “They’re gone!”), before turning it over to Christopher Plummer, whom presents the award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.

The Nominees are: Amy Adams (The Master), Sally Field (Lincoln), Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables), Helen Hunt (The Sessions), Jacki Weaver (Silver Linings Playbook).

And the winner is: Anne Hathaway (shocker, I know). She gives a seemingly interminable speech but doesn’t get the Jaws music (also a shocker, I know).

10:40 PM:  Hawk Koch, president of the Academy of Film Arts and Sciences, announces the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, it will show how movies are made and announces the winners of a program where a number of young filmmakers whom won the right to hand the Oscars to the presenters tonight.

Seth then kicks it to Sandra Bullock, whom presents the award for Best Film Editing.

The Nominees are Argo, Zero Dark Thirty, Life of Pi, Lincoln and Silver Linings Playbook.

And the winner is: Argo.

Jennifer Lawrence is out to introduce the theme from Skyfall as performed by Adele. The performance is everything you’d expect from Adele with tons of movements from a single arm, and her killer pipes doing most of the work. If you saw her Grammy performance last year, it basically is the same but with a different song, but i’m perfectly fine with that, as it’s become an Adele trademark at this point.

10:53 PM: Nicole Kidman is out to present the last three nominees for best picture: Silver Linings Playbook, Django Unchained, and Amour. We see trailers of all three.

Seth then kicks it to Daniel Radcliffe and Kristen Stewart, whom are out to present the award for Achievement in Production Design. Kristen sounds either high, sick, awkward, or disinterested…I can’t tell which but it seemed like she was ill at ease up on stage.

Anna Karenina, The Hobbit, Les Miserables, Life of Pi, or Lincoln.

And the winner is: Lincoln.

Seth then introduces Selma Hayek discusses Governor’s and Humanitarian awards. D.A. Pennebaker, George Stevens Jr., and Hal Needham. Jeffrey Katzenberg won the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.

11:05 PM: George Clooney is out to introduce the “In Memoriam” segment of the Oscars. Amongst those that passed in the movie industry in calendar year 2012 are: Ernest Borgnine, Eiko Ishioka, Ralph McQuarrie, Jack Klugman, Celeste Holm, Adam Yauch, Michael Clarke Duncan, Charles Durning, Carlo Rambaldi, Erland Josephson, Richard Robbins, Stephen Frankfurt, Harris Savides, Tonino Guerra, Ulu Grosbard, Herbort Lom, Bruce Surtees, Andrew Sarris, George A. Bowers, Tony Scott, Theodore Soderberg, Lois Smith, Geoffrey Ammer, Neal Travis, Mike Hopkins, John Lowry, Hal Davis, Nora Ephron, Charles Rosen, Jake Eberts, Mike Kohut, Frank Pierson, Chris Marker, Charles Washburn, Ray Bradbury, Richard Rodney Nennett, Roger Sherman, Richard Zanuck, Matthew Yuricich,  and Marvin Hamlisch.

The in memoriam then led to a Musical number by none other than Barbara Streisand, who sang “The Way We Were” in tribute to Marvin Hamlisch.

11:18 PM: Seth introduces the stars of Chicago, Richard Gere, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Renee Zellweger, and Queen Latifah to introduce the award for Best Movie Score:

And the nominees are: Anna Karenina, Argo, Life of Pi, Skyfall, and Lincoln.

And the winner is: Life of Pi! (real shocker!, but that’s because as anyone whose ever taken a music of film course in college, it’s instinctive to assume that John Williams wins any score award in the history of everything ever, so seeing John Williams (Lincoln) not win is a mild upset by default).

They also presented the awards for Best Original Song:

“Suddenly” (Les Miserables), “Skyfall”(Skyfall), “Before My Time” (Chasing Ice), “Pi’s Lullaby” (The Life of Pi), “Everyone Needs a Best Friend” (Ted).

And the award goes to: “Skyfall” (Skyfall). Adele gives a short tear laden speech before passing it over to Paul Epworth, whom gives the short generic “Thank You” speech we’ve seen 100 times already tonight.

11:29 PM: After a very brief introduction, Charlize Theron and Dustin Hoffman appear to announce the awards for Best Screenplay (Adapted). Charlize and Dustin get in a great dig, with Charlize saying “A great screenplay comes from an inner light, or an inner darkness”, with Dustin finishing the sentence saying “or a writer who needs work.”

And the nominees for Best Adapted Screenplay: Argo, Beasts of the Southern Wild, The Life of Pi, Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook.

And the winner is: Argo. Suddenly it seems like Argo has a real shot at taking home the big prize tonight.

They also present the award for Best Original Screenplay.

Original: Amour, Django Unchained, Flight, Moonrise Kingdom, and Zero Dark Thirty.

And the Winner is: Django Unchained. Quentin looks disheveled, but thanks his cast, cuts off the music, and then fawns over the competition in the writing category saying “This will be the writers year”.

And on that note if my count is right, we’re down to the two big acting awards, the award for Best Director and the Award for best film.

11:37 pm: Seth introduces Jane Fonda and Michael Doglas, who walk out through a background of glass flower like objects to present the award for Best Director.

And the Nominees Are: “Michael Haneke (Amour), Benh Zaitlan (Beasts of the Southern Wild), Ang Lee (Life of Pi), Steven Spielberg (Lincoln), David O. Russell (Silver Linings).

And the winner is: Ang Lee (for the Life of Pi and ruining the Hulk so badly they had to make a remake three years later…no i’m not still bitter he took my nine dollars and two hours of my life).

12:04 pm: Seth introduces last years best actor winner, Jean Dujardin, to present the award for Best Actress.

The Nominees Are: Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty), Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook), Emanuelle Riva (Amour), Qevenzhane Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild), and Naomi Watts (The Impossible).

And the winner is: Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook).

Jennifer nearly trips on her dress on the way to the stage, she gives what feels particularly like a heartfelt speech that leaves Jennifer on the verge of tears. Oddly enough ABC cuts to a shot of Robert Deniro falling asleep on his shoulder.

Seth then gives no introduction to Meryl Streep (his exact words, “our next presenter needs no introduction), whom is out to present the award for Best Actor.

The Nominees are: Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook), Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln), Hugh Jackman (Les Miserables), Jaoquin Pheonix (The Master), and Denzel Washington (Flight).

And the winner is: Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln). Daniel Day-Lewis is the first actor to win three Oscars in the best actor category.

Daniel Day Lewis gets in a quick joke about being committed to play Margaret Thatcher, while Meryl Streep was Spielberg’s first choice for Lincoln. He gives a humble, endearing, and funny speech in which he thanks his wife for putting up for his method acting.

Finally, Seth introduces Jack Nicholson to announce the award for Best Picture. His copresenter is First Lady, Michelle Obama.

And the nominees are: Argo, Zero Dark Thirty, Django Unchained, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Amour, Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook, The Life of Pi, and Les Miserables.

And the winner is: Argo!

Ben Affleck is up to accept the award for Best Picture for Argo. In a touch of class, the producer who isn’t Ben Affleck or George Clooney gets the first crack at the speech, and immediately thanks…George Clooney. Affleck acknowledges the other 8 great films in a very rapid fire speech, eventually thanking everyone ever even remotely affiliated on this movie including his wife (Jennifer Garner) whom “he dosen’t associate with Iran”.

Finally, everything moves back to Seth, whom moves to the plugs segment, where all the major fee plugs of the show were given. Seth then brings out Kristin Chenowith, whom then perform a musical number dedicated to the losers, including Lincoln and Amour.

I will be back in a few minutes with a wrap-up and final verdict.

The Final Verdict: While I’m steamed about Ang Lee winning, by award shows standards this show worked. The gimmick of making McFarlane as McFarlane being mostly classy with some affectionate parody to old hollywood while hiding McFarlane’s more brusque jokes in a Teddy Bear or behind the whims of William Shatner seemed to strike the perfect compromise between the two aspects of McFarlane’s humor, and he totally deserves a second go (though like all of us, we wouldn’t mind getting a year of Fey and Poehler also). Seth was also particularly strong once the show hit hurry up mode (and his introductions were reduced to 15 words or less) around 11ish.

The presentation generally worked with the few performances involved generally hitting (Catherine Zeta-Jones was the only one who felt particularly off). For a show that was supposed to be all about “Music in Film” though, there seemed to be very little music within the show itself, with only three or four notable performances.

If I will dig at ABC for one thing, it’s the fairly misleading advertising. They advertised a 7 pm start time online, only for those who tuned in to find out that they were instead giving you a 90 minute (of strictly worse than E!’s) Red Carpet Show.

For those looking for more Oscar coverage, stay tuned to Manhattan Digest as our movie experts break down the show. Additionally, my other gig (The Mike Staub Pod Show, find us on Facebook) will be putting out an Oscar themed show later in the week where some of our actor friends put in their two cents on the show.

DJ Dainjazone- from LMFAO’s DJ to man with a mission

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Images
Credit to raant.com

DJ Dainjazone has become one of the most sought-after DJ’s in and outside of the Los Angeles are in which he resides.  After coming off an uber-successful tour with Grammy nominated superstars LMFAO, he took time to sit down with me and discuss what he has going in his career and the steps he took along the way to get to where he is.  Really good read and someone you should be on the lookout for in the upcoming months.  Check it out.

So how old were you when you decided you wanted to become a DJ?

I started DJ’ing about six and a half years go around the age of 22.  I’ve always had an interest in DJ’ing in particular the hip-hop elements of it.  I can’t really break dance or rap, so I figured doing this would be perfect.  One night some of my basketball team members were throwing a house party and I decided to DJ the whole event.  Turned out to be a great success.  From there on I took matters into my own hand and made this into a career.

Who would you say are some of your musical influences that inspire you?

I would say guys like Chris Brown and Kanye West, ones that really express passion in what they are doing.  I am a huge fan of Travis Barker and it inspires the hell out of just watching him play the drums.  Stuff like that.

How would you describe your sound as a DJ for me?

It is tastefully all over the map.  Red Foo of LMFAO lets me play more stuff that is hip-hop based.  At the same time I like to throw curveballs in my sets but do it in a tasteful way.  I like to educate a crowd and teach people new things when it comes to being a DJ and doing this has been a great platform for that.

When people hear your sets who do you usually get comparisons to?

I’ve gotten DJ AM a couple of times before.  No one really besides that.  For me with AM that is the ultimate compliment.  He is the Michael Jordan in this field and broke down so many walls in terms of finding a way to be creative so anyone that says that to me is truly gratifying.

What was the experience like working on LMFAO’s recent tour?

The first feeling I had in this whole thing was truly how tiring it was.  The schedule was crazy- we would do a set, go to another country and so on and so forth.  In a span of three weeks we would only have two days off.  I saw both sides of it truly- how relaxing and cool it was to really how intense it got.  The intense times where was I learned a lot about your character by learning to be patient and survive mentally and physically.  I persevered through and overall it was a great experience.

LMFAO got nominated for a Grammy this year for “Sexy and I Know It”.  What were your thoughts on the show overall?

The Grammy’s for me is always an awarid show for the more grown crowd.  Other award shows tend to me a little bit more goofier and people acting out, that doesn’t really happen here.  It was a chill show that really was done very appropriately.

You have a hashtag on your Twitter handle about #theteam.  What exactly is that?

The team’s group is myself, DJ Rell and Sean Harris who raps and produces.  The team came organically, we even have our own hand pose to boot.  Few other guys are based in Las Vegas and LA.  This team ultimately consists of guys that I have chemistry and gel with, which ultimately is the most important thing when you are forming a team.

What are your plans for the rest of 2013?

There is a brand that I am working on called Infinite Intelligence.  It is the name on my Twitter handle actually.  It is related to DJ’ing and represents my lifestyle and being great in everything I do.  It is putting out there that anything you do is possible and you can do anything you want if you put your mind right.  I am going to put documentary videos on what I do- shopping, DJ’ing, working out,m etc.  Let people out there know how we are proceeding.  I also plan on redoing my website in the upcoming months and I have a great new logo that is done.

www.djdainjazone.com/

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Credit to wanttickets.com

www.facebook.com/Dainjazone

https://twitter.com/djdainjazone