Cassadaga
MUSIC
BRIGHT EYES
CASSADAGA
Bright
Eyes
Longtime indie/folk favorite Bright Eyes returns with the follow up to the ambitious 2005 dual release of I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning and Digital Ash in a Digital Urn. Cassadaga, named after a Florida town known for its wealth of psychics and spiritualism, finds Bright Eyes tapping into new territory with a thicker, lush country sound.
Singer, guitarist and songwriter Conor Oberst is once again joined by frequent
Bright Eyes collaborators and now full-time members Nate Walcott and Mike Mogis. Several guests appear on the album, including Sherri and Stacy DuPree of Eisley, M.Ward and Janet Weiss of Sleater-Kinney.
"Make a Plan to Love Me" sounds like it could be in a musical, with its swirling strings and soft background vocals. "Middleman" has a mysterious folk feel complete with violin and heavy percussion. "No One Would
Riot for Less" is haunting with its slow build. "Coat Check Dream Song" is a psychedelic trip that's reminiscent of Sufjan Stevens with its use of vibraphone and electronics.
The one thing missing from Cassadaga is the strong emotional appeal of Bright Eyes' previous albums. But instead the songs are full of new sounds and experiences.
Perfect Stranger
★★★★
Chris Brower
MOVIE
Every so often, a movie comes along that reminds audiences just how terribly wrong a "sexy thriller" can go. Enter Perfect Stranger.
Halle Berry plays Roweena, a strong-willed ex-newspaper reporter whose childhood friend is found dead at the bottom of a lake. Citing a sordid affair with the dead friend as a motive, Roweena targets big time ad executive Harrison Hill (Bruce Willis) as suspect number one. To crack the case, she takes a job at Hill's ad agency and slowly seduces him, all the while playing cat and mouse with him in a private chat room posing as someone else. With the help of
computer geek and hopeless admirer Miles (Giovanni Ribisi). Roweena uncovers information that reveals that not everyone is as they seem.
Never has a movie been less sensual or less suspenseful. This wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't trying so hard to be sexy and thrilling. Of course, an exciting pace is hard to keep up when the movie falls back on flashbacks every six minutes. But style is not completely to blame.
The script is riddled with plot holes and inconsequential scenes. This, of course, could be meant to distract the viewer from the absolutely ridiculous climax. To give you an idea, the
filmmakers actually had three different endings filmed, each with a different killer. Some might say that having so many different endings is a sign of good screenwriting (see: Clue), but here it's just Russian roulette and a cheap ploy to boost DVD sales when the time comes. By then, however, Perfect Stranger will be the perfect torture device.
Rated R 109 minutes
Jared Duncan
ALL RATINGS ARE OUT OF A POSSIBLE FIVE STARS. ★★★★
18➤ JAYPLAY 04.19.2007