Tuesday, July 01, 2003
(A TARDY) VIDEO REVIEW PALOOZA!!!
"Are You Happy Now?" by Michelle Branch
Directed by Meiert Avis
Grade: B+
This video should be much better; in fact, I had originally thought of giving it an A or A-, but upon further review cannot justify such a high ranking. The concept is intriguing, placing our heroine in a malleable world that shifts from gold to blue, possibly in relation to the mood of her lyrics. However, such connections prove inconsistent over the course of the video, not coherent until the end. The effects are nifty, but their meaning muddled. The song carries the video, and Michelle Branch's charisma is not to be denied.
"My Love is Like ... Wo" by Mya
Directed Paul Hunter
Grade: C+
Paul Hunter has been drifting back into the MTV playlists, but he doesn't have much to work with here. Mya essentially covers Black Rob's "Whoa!" Sure, the lyrics are different, but come on. (For an excellent cover of "Whoa!" called "Wow!", chech out this.) In the middle of the video, the song stops and Mya breaks down in a tapdance, for no other reason than that Paul Hunter always stops the songs so that the singer can break down in a dance completely unrelated to the rest of the song and/or video. And Mya hardly comes off as the sexpot the song requires, despite Hunter's best efforts (and his commendable decision to stop cutting away whenever things get interesting). A mediocre effort all around.
"Faint" by Linkin Park
Directed by Mark Romanek
Grade: A
Here we go. Linkin Park finally decides to do a video without 4,423,234 digital effect shots, and lets Romanek pare down the excess and concentrate on simple imagery. The arc of the video is simple but elegant, beginning with silhouetted back views of the band. The chorus intones "Don't turn your back on me/I won't be ignored", and, sure enough, the camera gradually moves from behind to a profile to a front-on view as it hits the climax. Simple, good work, and precise images keep you involved. The song also has a drive that some of Linkin Park's recent singles have lacked.
"Cry Me a River" by The Antichrist
Directed by Francis Lawrence
Grade: Big Fat F
I was just browsing LaunchCast's Top 100 Videos and was appalled to find this still in there. Aren't people over this putrid crap? I'm not giving links because no one involved is deserving thereof. Thumbs down, toes down, everything down on this nonsense.
"Are You Happy Now?" by Michelle Branch
Directed by Meiert Avis
Grade: B+
This video should be much better; in fact, I had originally thought of giving it an A or A-, but upon further review cannot justify such a high ranking. The concept is intriguing, placing our heroine in a malleable world that shifts from gold to blue, possibly in relation to the mood of her lyrics. However, such connections prove inconsistent over the course of the video, not coherent until the end. The effects are nifty, but their meaning muddled. The song carries the video, and Michelle Branch's charisma is not to be denied.
"My Love is Like ... Wo" by Mya
Directed Paul Hunter
Grade: C+
Paul Hunter has been drifting back into the MTV playlists, but he doesn't have much to work with here. Mya essentially covers Black Rob's "Whoa!" Sure, the lyrics are different, but come on. (For an excellent cover of "Whoa!" called "Wow!", chech out this.) In the middle of the video, the song stops and Mya breaks down in a tapdance, for no other reason than that Paul Hunter always stops the songs so that the singer can break down in a dance completely unrelated to the rest of the song and/or video. And Mya hardly comes off as the sexpot the song requires, despite Hunter's best efforts (and his commendable decision to stop cutting away whenever things get interesting). A mediocre effort all around.
"Faint" by Linkin Park
Directed by Mark Romanek
Grade: A
Here we go. Linkin Park finally decides to do a video without 4,423,234 digital effect shots, and lets Romanek pare down the excess and concentrate on simple imagery. The arc of the video is simple but elegant, beginning with silhouetted back views of the band. The chorus intones "Don't turn your back on me/I won't be ignored", and, sure enough, the camera gradually moves from behind to a profile to a front-on view as it hits the climax. Simple, good work, and precise images keep you involved. The song also has a drive that some of Linkin Park's recent singles have lacked.
"Cry Me a River" by The Antichrist
Directed by Francis Lawrence
Grade: Big Fat F
I was just browsing LaunchCast's Top 100 Videos and was appalled to find this still in there. Aren't people over this putrid crap? I'm not giving links because no one involved is deserving thereof. Thumbs down, toes down, everything down on this nonsense.
FIRST READER CONTEST!
Become the Official First Reader of my decrees! Touch me for information.
THE LUNATIC IS ON THE GRASS
Armond White, Resident Lunatic goes on and on about a movie most people will never ever hear of, then takes a few paragraphs to give a conventional opinion on Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle. I'm disappointed that he didn't have more to say, and such I have no cause to dissect his unadventerous ravings.
Become the Official First Reader of my decrees! Touch me for information.
THE LUNATIC IS ON THE GRASS
Armond White, Resident Lunatic goes on and on about a movie most people will never ever hear of, then takes a few paragraphs to give a conventional opinion on Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle. I'm disappointed that he didn't have more to say, and such I have no cause to dissect his unadventerous ravings.
Monday, June 30, 2003
FIRST READER CONTEST!
Become the Official First Reader of my decrees! Touch me for information.
FEATURE LENGTH MUSIC VIDEO REVIEW
Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle
Directed by McG
Story by John August
Written by John August and Cormac Wibberley & Marianne Wibberley
Grade: A
Is Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle the most misunderestimated movie ever? Well, probably not quite ever, but certainly in quite some time.
Do people not understand that this is a comedy? A satire of the summer movie in general, consisting of spoofs and homages to countless movies? I suspect that many critics find it a rip-off or a failed actioner, and not the entertaining genre deconstruction that it is.
Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle takes the tropes of the modern summer tentpole movie and runs with them, using them for fun--but much of the fun is how the movie revels in the ridiculous that other action movies pass off as routine. The action is no less absurd than in the lamentable Mission: Impossible II, but at least McG has the good sense to not try to turn his movie into opera (unless pop-rock opera counts). The ridiculous digitally-altered action that has become commonplace in summer films is turned on its head, exaggerated to the point that a non-cynical viewer has no choice but to laugh. By reducing the blockbuster film to its essence, the Angels franchise puts into relief how corrupt those other films are. Is this intelligent? Probably not. Is it street-smart? You betcha.
This is obviously not a platform for acting, but let us say that the film makes much better use of Bernie Mac than its predecessor did of Bill Murray. There is at least one brilliant cameo, which I shall not ruin, and another used to great comic effect.
And despite what you may read, it is coherent--just silly. The plot actually does makes sense, it just doesn't matter. But in how many other action movies does it matter? Very few. This film points out that absurdity. The Angels are super-detectives, finding the smallest clue and drawing boundless conclusions in aid of their investigation. Is this silly? Of course. Is it a spoof? Duh. Does it cohere? It does; it coheres more than The Good Thief, a solid movie severaly overvalued by many critics for its own joyless brand of genre deconstruction. Yes, that film had a compelling character study at its core, but its genre machinations were tired and muddled.
Great movies provide an emotional, intellectual, and visceral experience. Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle is not intellectual, and I don't mean to infer that it is a great movie. But it is delirious fun, a knowing satire, and a tonal improvement on the first movie. Many critics forget that one of the reasons we go to the movies is to have fun, to be amused, and to laugh at ourselves and other movies. Mindless fun is a valid reason for going to the theater. Would it be bad if every film pursued mindless fun at the expense of insight and emotion? Of course, and during the summer movies and audiences bend much to far in that direction. But I'm not going to take that out on a film that gets the film quotient right, all the while pointing out how so many other movies get it wrong.
Become the Official First Reader of my decrees! Touch me for information.
FEATURE LENGTH MUSIC VIDEO REVIEW
Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle
Directed by McG
Story by John August
Written by John August and Cormac Wibberley & Marianne Wibberley
Grade: A
Is Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle the most misunderestimated movie ever? Well, probably not quite ever, but certainly in quite some time.
Do people not understand that this is a comedy? A satire of the summer movie in general, consisting of spoofs and homages to countless movies? I suspect that many critics find it a rip-off or a failed actioner, and not the entertaining genre deconstruction that it is.
Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle takes the tropes of the modern summer tentpole movie and runs with them, using them for fun--but much of the fun is how the movie revels in the ridiculous that other action movies pass off as routine. The action is no less absurd than in the lamentable Mission: Impossible II, but at least McG has the good sense to not try to turn his movie into opera (unless pop-rock opera counts). The ridiculous digitally-altered action that has become commonplace in summer films is turned on its head, exaggerated to the point that a non-cynical viewer has no choice but to laugh. By reducing the blockbuster film to its essence, the Angels franchise puts into relief how corrupt those other films are. Is this intelligent? Probably not. Is it street-smart? You betcha.
This is obviously not a platform for acting, but let us say that the film makes much better use of Bernie Mac than its predecessor did of Bill Murray. There is at least one brilliant cameo, which I shall not ruin, and another used to great comic effect.
And despite what you may read, it is coherent--just silly. The plot actually does makes sense, it just doesn't matter. But in how many other action movies does it matter? Very few. This film points out that absurdity. The Angels are super-detectives, finding the smallest clue and drawing boundless conclusions in aid of their investigation. Is this silly? Of course. Is it a spoof? Duh. Does it cohere? It does; it coheres more than The Good Thief, a solid movie severaly overvalued by many critics for its own joyless brand of genre deconstruction. Yes, that film had a compelling character study at its core, but its genre machinations were tired and muddled.
Great movies provide an emotional, intellectual, and visceral experience. Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle is not intellectual, and I don't mean to infer that it is a great movie. But it is delirious fun, a knowing satire, and a tonal improvement on the first movie. Many critics forget that one of the reasons we go to the movies is to have fun, to be amused, and to laugh at ourselves and other movies. Mindless fun is a valid reason for going to the theater. Would it be bad if every film pursued mindless fun at the expense of insight and emotion? Of course, and during the summer movies and audiences bend much to far in that direction. But I'm not going to take that out on a film that gets the film quotient right, all the while pointing out how so many other movies get it wrong.
APPY POLLY LOGIES ...
... to all my imaginary readers. I was buried at work last week, and too busy to actually watch any damn videos, so that was two strikes against posting.
Strike three? No readers exist.
... to all my imaginary readers. I was buried at work last week, and too busy to actually watch any damn videos, so that was two strikes against posting.
Strike three? No readers exist.
