REVIEW
movie review // 'DATE NIGHT'
Hollywood hits, indie flicks and everything in between.
One is the disconfited king of situational comedy. The other is its snatky, horn-rimmed queen. Yes, Steve Carell and Tina Fey have finally joined forces for an onscreen fling of epic proportions. So why is their Date Night such a clumsy miss-fire?
The movie suffers from its too familiar set-up, which begins with yet another case of mistaken identity. Phil Foster (Carell) and his wife, Claire (Fey), are an innocuous couple from upper-middle class New Jersey suburbia, hoping to rekindle their lackluster marriage with an impromptu night on the town. While trying to find a table at the swankiest of New York bistros, the Fosters unwisely impersonate another couple to claim their reservations.
They barely have time to order an over-priced truffle risotto before being accosted by armed hoodlums in the employ of local mobster Joe Miletto (Ray Liotta). The goons are convinced that the Fosters are in fact the Tripleleorns, a husband and wife team of blackmailers that have stolen a flash-drive full of compromising secrets.
After an improbable escape, Phil and Claire try to clear their names by tracking down the real Triplehorns. Aiding them on their quest is Holbrooke (Mark Wahlberg), a perpetually shirtless security expert who Claire knows from her work in real estate. The rest of Date Night mostly consists of the Fosters running from the thugs, intercut with distracting diatribes about how to make modern marriage work in the long run. Maybe that's why many of the jokes fall flat. The performers barely have time to catch their breath.
That's a shame, because casting is the film's only definite strength. Wahlberg, shrugging off a recent slump at the box office, is becoming very adept at self-deprecation, James Franco and Mila Kunis are both uproarious as the actual Tripplehorns. And Carell and Fey are such an obvious pairing that their chemistry together is almost a foregone conclusion.
But their inspired lunacy is hindered at every turn by insipid dialogue and uninspired direction by genre workhorse Shawn Levy. By the time Date Night ended, I felt like I'd just been stood up by two of the funniest people in Hollywood.
// LANDON MCDONALD
movie review // 'HOT TUB TIME MACHINE'
hollywood hits, indie flicks and everything in between.
Hot Tub Time Machine is a movie you want to rent — don't waste your money to see it at the theater. Yes, it's funny, and yes it has a somewhat star-studded cast, but, just rent it.
Anticipated as the next The Hangover, Hot Tub Time Machine fails to deliver. Instead, you are greeted with a time-traveling spoof that harbors good intentions and moral lessons on life and friendship, but is severely buried in the ridiculously and inappropriately obscene character of Lou (Rob Corddry) also known as "The Violator." After walking out of the theater, I actually felt violated by his character. Lou is accompanied by Adam (John Cusack), the recently single middle-aged man who doesn't know what his next move is. Nick Webber (Craig Robinson, The Office), the has-been rock star who is whole-heartedly dedicated to his wife, and Jacob (Clark Duke), the twenty-something loner who is Adam's nephew and housemate.
Like all time-traveling movies, TV shows, books, etc., the story begins in the present. The characters are established, and after an incident involving Lou, the three friends (and awkward nephew) reunite to relive a weekend in Kodiak Valley — the hallmark place of their
youth. Much to their dismay, the once booming mountain town is in economic ruin. Nonetheless, they plan to make the most out of it.
Then they find the seemingly normal hot tubs. They drink, get wasted, freaky music and flashes of the past race across the screen, and bam! welcome to 1986.
Deciding that the repercussions of the butterfly effect far outweigh their immediate desires to change history and themselves, the three friends set out to relive one epic weekend exactly as it has happened before. Of course that would be boring to watch, and so, misadventures and sheanigans ensue.
Guys may enjoy the toplest girls, crass language, and excessive vomit, but girls, if you really want to see this movie, I'm telling you, you're not going to like it. I will admit there were the occasional witty lines and nostalgia for 80s music, but like I said before, this movie is a rental at best.
★ ★ ★ // MIA IVERSON
music review // BONNIE 'PRINCE' BILLY & THE CAIRO GANG - 'THE WONDER SHOW OF THE WORLD' (DRAG CITY) KJHK's weekly guide to sonic consumption.
If haven't heard of Bonnie "Prince" Billy before, Will Oldham is the mastermind behind the name and the music. He is as strong as ever on this his 13th album under the Billy moniker, and the first to credit his recent backing band the Cairo Gang.
Similar to Townes Van Zandt or Bill Callahan of Smog, Oldham is all about creating songs that channel a sentiment or feeling through the carefully written characters depicted in his songs. Some are ballads, and most all paint very personal pictures of those characters. The opening lines of "Troublesome Houses" very clearly outline the rift between two former lovers.
Just as much on display as Oldham's songwriting and lyricism is guitarist/leader of Cairo Gang, Emmett Kelly. He keeps the songs moving and provides a nice counterpoint to Oldham's subtle picking (see "Teach Me to Bear You" and "Merciless and Great").
The production is very simple and pure. Nothing complicated added in post. Nice harmonies too; the Cairo Gang balances nicely with Oldham's voice and style. Everything is laid out in the open, from the musicianship to the feelings of the subjects in each song. This album will give any Billy fan what they want, and will please anyone with a contemplative sense about them. Finally, a lyric from The Wonder Show of the World that Will Oldham probably lives by: "Without us, song is nothing."
// MILES WHETSEL
music review // JONSI — GO (XL) KJHK's weekly guide to sonic consumption.
The frontman for the Icelandic group Sigur Rós, Jón Thor Birgisson, better known as Jonsi, is out with his first solo album after leading Sigur Rós for more than a decade.
Jönsti's voice is definitely one-of-a-kind, but there's more to him than just vocals. His compositions are pretty epic and just remind of nature in general. To get a sense of it, picture Jönsi standing and singing in a big, open field with his arms spread wide, surrounded by a whole bunch of birds, leaves, flower petals, and other random things flying around him. I could also see this kind of music playing as the ending credits roll in a movie.
Go is basically all of Jonsi's compositions that didn't quite fit the Sigur Rós vibe. All these tracks are pretty joyous and uplifting. I've never heard such a heavenly and spiritual voice from a male singer before.
Visual associations aside, the drums are loaded with reverb as if they're playing in a large hall and are pretty tribal and marchy. There's also lots of deep and rich string patches. There are some high-pitched dancy wind instruments in "Go Do."
"Grow Till Tall" is the most incredible track on Go. As the title suggests, it grows very tall with Jonsi's voice melodically leading the growth of the track while strings and drums join in and build things up.
★★★☆// ADAM RYDELL
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