NoFace for Film

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Prior to The Quiet Earth, Geoff Murphy made a handful a good films (Wild Man, Goodbye Pork Pie, UTU) in his native New Zealand. Shortly thereafter he helmed an unfortunate number of Hollywood films (Young Guns 2, Freejack, Under Siege 2, Fortress 2) that may be considered guilty pleasures at best. He was also called upon by fellow Kiwi director Peter Jackson to head up the second unit on all three Lord of the Rings films. So what is the point of this little history lesson? Hollywood kills good directors (John Woo and Sam Raimi, prime examples).

But, I digress. Despite the a lackluster couple of decades, Geoff Murphy does have a grand if only marginally well known legacy in The Quiet Earth. Science fiction and horror fans will recognize and appreciate the premise; Zac Hobson (Bruno Lawrence) wakes up one day, goes through the motions like any and every other day, and slowly realizes that he is, inexplicably, the last person on earth. The scenario plays out basically as is expected but it is the manner of the presentation and plotting that make it remarkable.

The film ultimately has only three characters, whose dynamic, touches on Alfred Hitchcock and Shakespeare without any pretense. Zac’s subtle and deliberate decline into the reality of his new position in the world leads to him swinging from disbelief to depression to mania to megalomania to acceptance and back to disbelief. The storytelling and character interaction allow for empathy without distraction and the science fiction elements are beautifully woven into the fabric of the drama so that the one doesn’t overshadow the other.

There are several mysteries involved in the story that are revealed with wonderful precision by the director through a series of well placed flashbacks and the subtlety of mood and movement, but you’ll have to find the film and watch it to understand the full glory.

This is not a flashy film. It is however a master stroke. It is unfortunate that this film has all but vanished into obscurity, along with its director but they both still exist and there’s always a second wind. Always. Good Luck.

« Ok- now I’m done!

I’m not done yet! »

I have nothing against Blake. I think he’s very cool and a great performer. He’s innovative and is one of the most unique contestants ever on the show. But he isn’t half the singer that Melinda is. No way, no how. His vocals are weak. I knew that Blake had a lot of fans, but I never thought that they could take down Melinda.

I thought that perhaps it would be a Blake/Melinda finale. I had figured that with LaKisha’s exit last week, her votes would transfer to Melinda, and maybe a few would trickle to Jordin. It appears that most transferred to the latter.

I suppose I can look at this in a positive manner. Melinda won’t be forced to sing the inevitably crappy Finale song and produce the inevitably bland debut album. She’ll still be tied to the soul-sucking Idol machine, but not as much if she had won. And many non-winners have done rather well. I’d say that Jennifer Hudson, Chris Daughtry, and Clay Aiken aren’t complaining about their lives, and not even Elliott Yamin, who came in third place last year.

Speaking of Elliott, that’s one hell of a transformation eh? With the long, curly hair and capped teeth? He almost looks like Josh Groban now. His great performance last night reminded me of how weak Blake’s vocals are.

The rest of the episode was boring as usual. In my previous post I was complimenting the episode on how it was nearly filler-free, but I forgot that most of the filler occurs during the results shows. Yep, they had the Homecoming footage after all, not to mention a plug for the upcoming Idol tour and some new reality show about a band. Yawn. I almost fell asleep during Maroon 5’s performance.

I honestly have no idea what next week will be like. It really is a battle of the fans now, and if Blake has more fans (or more rabid fans), then he will win. Sadly, I will be missing next week’s Finale and Results episodes due to some previous engagements, which means that I won’t be able to write about them either. Yes I know, it’s very sad. Now now, dry your eyes folks. It’ll be okay. Do try to go one without me.

And with that, I’d like to say thanks for reading my American Idol recaps. Although I’ll be taking a much-needed break from them, rest assured that I’ll be back in January when Season 7 starts.

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I’m not done yet! »

Judges’ Choice

Ya know, I’ve always wondered how the judges decide on which contestant to offer their song choices. Do they draw straws? Rock paper scissors? Eeny meeny miney moe? Guess we’ll never know. Anywho, the contestants received their song assignment via a fax sent to the mayor or governor of their hometown (whichever politician they meet).

B

Paula chose the Police’s “Roxanne” for Blake, which I thought was interesting since Blake’s face always reminded me of Sting. Mercifully he played it straight and didn’t beatbox, but I wasn’t crazy about his vocals. Randy and Paula liked it, but Simon couldn’t help but compare it to the Police, and naturally the original artists were better.

B+

Simon chose Jordin’s song, which was “Wishing on a Star”. I thought it was pretty good, but it didn’t make me sit up and take notice. Randy thought it was a very good vocal and was Beyonce-like, but ironically Simon didn’t like it, particularly the jazz arrangement.

Oddly enough, Randy chose Whitney Houston’s “I Believe in You and Me” for Melinda, breaking the cardinal, unwritten AI rule that no one should sing a Whitney song except for Whitney. Naturally, Randy had to remind everyone that he worked with Whitney in the studio. Seriously - can his head be any bigger? I had to laugh when the governor’s (or is it mayor’s?) wife called him “Randy Johnson”. I thought it was pretty boring, but all three judges loved it. Simon awarded Round 1 to Melinda.

Producers’ Choice

As I mentioned, in the past these songs were chosen by Clive Davis. However, this year he left the task to the producers. I guess the old man preferred to stay in his sarcophagus and count his money. To be honest though, I feel that their song choices were better than the judges’.

B+

Jordin sang Donna Summer’s “She Works Hard for the Money” which was better than the first performance but still wasn’t that great. It’s an upbeat song, but she didn’t really move around much on stage. Randy enjoyed it, but once again Simon didn’t care for the arrangement.

A-

I thought it was odd at first for the producers to choose a rock song for Melinda, until I found out later that it was a Tina Turner song. She sang “Nut Bush City Limits” and vocally was wonderful as usual. Simon said that he loved that side of her.

A

When Ryan announced that Blake was singing Maroon 5’s “This Love”, I knew immediately that it was the perfect song choice for him. It has his name written all over it. Not only was it infinitely better than the first performance, but he looked more comfortable on stage. Paula said, “This is a good night for you,” while Simon said that it wasn’t a copycat performance. In the end, Simon awarded Round 2 to Blake and Melinda.

Singers’ Choice

The ladies chose songs that they previously sang in the show. I’m not sure what to think. On one hand, I feel it’s a cop-out since they had sang them before and weren’t challenging themselves. On the other hand, it’s clever since they picked songs from their strongest performances that were sure to please the judges and the audience.

A

Jordin sang “I, Who Have Nothing” and it was as terrific as the first time she performed this piece. Randy said it was her best song of the night, while Simon grumbled that it was a very old-fashioned song and performance.

Blake sang Robin Thicke’s “When I Get You Alone” and once again it was the right song choice for him. Not quite as good as “This Love”, but it still suited him well. Like me, Randy preferred his earlier performance, but Simon said, “I actually really liked that”.

Melinda closed the show with “I’m a Woman”, which she performed perfectly in the past and performed perfectly last night. Randy was pleased that he’s seeing different ranges of Melinda’s vocal abilities and is convinced she can sing anything. Simon said that if he were to reward someone a place in the finals, it would be someone who has been consistently good throughout the competition, meaning Melinda.

My thoughts: Unless all of Melinda’s fans developed carpal tunnel and couldn’t use a phone, I think it’s pretty safe to say that she’s going to be in next week’s finale. As for the other two, I’m hesitant to take a guess. On one hand, Jordin deserves to be in the Top Two, as she’s vocally superior to Blake. However, I think that Blake has more fans and is the better entertainer. I would buy Jordin’s CD, but I would watch Blake in concert. I really can’t guess who is going home tonight, but I’m going to say Jordin because Blake may have the upper hand in terms of fans.

Who will be going home: Jordin

Who should be going home: no one

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I’m not done yet! »

Don’t get me wrong - I overall liked Dreamgirls. The music is catchy and great to sing along, and the costumes and set are fabulous. Jamie Foxx is terrific as the Dreams’ calculating manager Curtis. It’s amazing to see him start off being so likeable and ending up a soulless jerk. In general, the story flowed nicely. However, there are rocky parts. First of all, it’s strange that the film abruptly transitions from just having musical performances to the actors suddenly breaking out in song. Yes it’s a musical, but it should have been more consistent. Don’t change the format halfway through the movie.

Second, I wasn’t impressed with Hudson and Murphy’s acting. Hudson is a singer who plays a singer. Wow, that’s a stretch. Besides, the angry black diva role has been done before. As for Murphy, it’s not that hard to imitate James Brown and Jackie Wilson. Black comedians have been doing that for ages. I just figured that people were shocked that for once Murphy wasn’t the voice of a cartoon character, or not appearing in some brainless family comedy. That being said, I did prefer Murphy during the second half of the film, in which he portrays an older, somber, and haggard Jimmy.

Dreamgirls was recently released on HD DVD, under the title “2-Disc Showstopper Edition”. The film quality itself didn’t look that great to me, compared to say, Superman Returns in HD. I was hoping for some colors jumping out at me, especially considering Jimmy Early’s colorful outfits. Then again, considering that other reviews have praised the film quality, maybe it’s just my TV. The sound was crisp however, which is crucial for a film musical.

This 2-disc set is chock-full of special features, but they aren’t that different from the DVD Showstopper Edition, except that they’re in crystal clear HD. Disc 1 contains the film, Knowles’ music video for the underrated “Listen”, 12 extended scenes and musical numbers such as full length versions of “I am Changing”, “Steppin’ to the Bad Side”, and “Heavy”. I’m glad that they didn’t just weave the extended scenes in the film, because I didn’t really care for some of the music not sung by the main characters. The extra footage notably includes a Hudson musical performance of “Effie, Sing My Song,” which was not seen in the theatrical release.

Disc 2 is where the meat really is. There’s a two hour documentary called Building the Dream, which is a very detailed account of everything that went into creating the film, from the film’s Broadway roots to the actors that brought those beloved characters on the big screen. There’s also little features that focus on costume design and lighting, but what was especially cool were the previsualization sequences. Various scenes are shown via a combination of storyboards and rehearsals by the actors’ choreographers. Another feature I liked were the audition and screen test footage. The Knowles screen test featured her in full makeup and costume singing “Dreamgirls” with a piano accompanient. That scene demonstrated that the woman can actually sing, just differently from Hudson. There’s also a choreography audition of the “Steppin’ to the Bad Side” musical sequence, but while Keith Robinson (who played Effie’s brother C.C.) was present, other dancers performed in place of the actors (Foxx, Murphy, etc.)

If you’re a Dreamgirls fan, this is the ultimate version of the film for you.

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I’m not done yet! »

Oh look, we finally get the Pink performance that was promised to us like, three weeks ago, during Idol Gives Back. Apparently that bloated, waste of an episode ran out of time, so they had to scrap footage of her performance and stuff it in this week’s results show. Hey, I’ve got an idea on how to prevent that from happening again: dump out some of the filler! Yeesh. I mean, they could have trimmed the Ben Stiller segment to fit her in.

Oh yay, Fantastic Four 2 preview. Sure, the special effects look cool, but you know damn well that it’s going to suck far worse than the disaster that was Spider-Man 3. I’ll still watch it since I have no life, but I expect nothing of substance to come from it. I’m surprised though that the whole starring cast was in the AI audience though. How cute of Ryan to pretend that he’s straight by hinting that he thinks Jessica Alba is hot. Come on now buddy, we know that your turn ons are cranky, incredibly tanned, old British guys who wear tight black T-shirts.

At least the group song wasn’t bad this time. The smaller the group, the less cheesy, show choir-like the performance. I thought that the girls harmonized well in their Destiny’s Child version of “Emotions”. Yeah, like they sang the Bee Gees version.

Speaking of the Bee Gees, Barry’s performance of “To Love Somebody” was horrible. When he first started to sing, he seemed to get startled, as if he didn’t expect the mic to be turned up so high. As he continued, I realized that it was just his style of singing. What the hell was that? Why was he singing in such a clipped manner? It was like he was speak-singing the words.

As for the results. Ok so I was wrong, and Blake didn’t go home. It seems that everyone, even LaKisha, knew that she was going home this week. Go figure *shrug*

Anywho, let’s think about how this affects the rest of the contestants. LaKisha’s votes will now go to Melinda. Next week, Blake will most likely get knocked off. His votes will most likely go to Jordin. I’m guessing that Blake and Jordin’s combined votes will outweigh LaKisha and Melinda’s combined votes, leaving Jordin as the winner. On the other hand, if by some twist of fate Jordin leaves next week, her votes may split. Some will go to Melinda, others will go to Blake. This means that Melinda will win.

What do you guys think? Who is going to win?

« Ok- now I’m done!