Redbox Reviews

I'd say Traci and I watch maybe one DVD a month. We make it to the movie theater about once a year. We nearly went into movie overload in Utah's Dixie.

Taken - I really liked it. Traci was thoroughly disturbed and hasn't stopped thinking about the teenage prostitution industry ever since. We both agreed that it was okay for the friend to die, because it was her fault for trusting a Frenchman in the first place.

Confessions of a Shopaholic - Don't get Traci started on the inconsistencies between the book and the movie. (She still enjoyed it.) I loved the cameo appearances by Detroit Pistons Bad Boy John Salley. I went out and bought myself a green scarf immediately after.

Knowing - Traci HATES Nicolas Cage. I only rented this one because I thought Traci's dad would like it. (It turns out he'd already seen it.) I knew I had made a bad choice when I was waiting for the DVD to vend and the couple behind me said sarcastically, "We could always get 'Knowing.'" I turned and asked if it was that bad. "We haven't seen it, but our friends said it was the worst movie they've ever seen. But you may like it." Turns out they had pretty smart friends.

DVD Review: Bazan Alone at the Mic

It's no secret that I heart Pedro the Lion and Pedro The Lion-related projects (I've written about it at least here, here, here, here, here, and here). So I was pretty excited about David Bazan's new DVD.

David Bazan
Alone at the Mic

To tide fans over until his first full-length solo release, former Pedro the Lion leader David Bazan offers up an intimate live collection of songs spanning his 11-year career. It is impossible not to be drawn in by the tales of conflict, betrayal, and waning faith. Backed by just a piano, electric, or acoustic guitar, Bazan shows he is just as talented a singer as he is a storyteller.

Between songs, Bazan fields questions about songwriting, touring, and cutting ties with his Evangelical Christian background. Though he is no stranger to such questions--at nearly every performance he allows the audience to ask him anything they want--on camera he seems a bit shy. He brushes by a question about his changing views on religion and, when asked when he'll finally write a long song, he insists that his tragic tune "Slow Car Crash" technically qualifies.

The performances are amazing. Pedro the Lion classics "1976" and "When They Really Get to Know You" are as beautiful as expected, but the real surprise is the piano version of the Headphones song "Never Wanted To." The heartbreaking "Please Baby Please," from Bazan's upcoming album, show there is still plenty to look forward to.

www.davidbazan.com. $13.99 + shipping.

DVD Review: The Up Beat

I've been a ska fan ever since I went to my first Stretch Armstrong show at UVSC when I was 14. By the time I was 17, we'd morphed our grunge band, The Twelfth of Never, into the ska band Left Foot Forward. Thus making us one of the 8 million high school ska bands at the time.

Local dude Brandon Smith recently made a documentary of Utah ska's golden age. Buy a copy or come over to my house and we can watch it together.

Here's a review I wrote for IN.

The Up Beat

If you grew up in Utah in the '90s, whether you'll now admit it or not, you likely spent at least one weekend skanking in Provo. Thanks to the combination of great local bands, great promotion, and a lot of high school and college kids with nothing better to do, Utah was once the ska music mecca. Lest we forget, Salt Lake City filmmaker (and trombonist for the Upstarts) Brandon Smith, gives documentary treatment to the scene's heyday.

The Up Beat follows the history of ska from its roots in Jamaica to its export to England, as told by pivotal players Toots Hibbert of the Maytals and Buster Bloodvessel of Bad Manners. From there, the genre eventually made it to the States, with Utah at the forefront in the movement.

Local bands like Swim Herschel Swim and Stretch Armstrong weigh in on how they helped make Utah one of the largest ska scenes in the country. Corey Fox, owner of the Velour club in Provo, comments that at the height of it all, Stretch Armstrong played a CD release show to a crowd of more than 2,000 and every national ska act made Utah a touring destination.

Though the scene peaked in the late '90s, this film helps the memory live on for anyone who has a soft spot in their heart for a good horn section or just wants an excuse to bust out those two-toned shoes.

www.theupbeatmovie.com. $12 + shipping.

The Grumbly Knight

I really enjoyed the Dark Knight, but I was a bit bugged by Christian Bale's "Batman voice." I guess that's just how superheroes have to talk these days. However, I was happy to know that I wasn't the only one to find it a bit ridiculous.

You only need to watch about the first 30 seconds to get the point, but the punching is generally funny throughout:

Hu-loh

I think kids (or at least little girls) are born knowing how to talk on a phone. We gave Paige a little red old school telephone rattle when she was really little and even though we have never had a phone that looks that, she somehow knew that she should hold it up to her ear.

Now whenever she gets her hands on a phone (or anything that looks like a phone), she'll put it to the side of her head and say, "Hu-loh." Then she'll babble some stuff and say "Bye," and put the phone down on her leg.

I've noticed lately Paige doesn't even have to have a phone to talk on one. If I just hold my hand up to my ear say "Hu-loh," she will immediately do the same.

Yesterday I was giving her a bath and she really cracked me up. She found the little plastic cover to one of Traci's razors and put it up to ear, "Hu-loh." It made me think of that part in Zoolander when Derek gets the call on his tiny cell phone and answers, "God?"

I unsucessfuly tried to find the clip on YouTube. Fortunately, I did find Traci's favorite part, the gas fight.

Wax On?

I am giving up on creativity. I had to teach a church lesson on obedience last week. While I was preparing, I tried to come up with an interesting way to present the topic, so the kids wouldn't fall asleep. I could think of anything when zapppp! inspiration struck. I would show a clip from the Karate Kid.

After fastforwarding through all the swears (that Danielsan sure was an angry kid), I showed the clip of Daniel waxing the car, sanding the floor, painting the face, and painting the house while Mr. Myagi threw punches and kicks at him.

Now, if you were a 16-year-old boy, wouldn't you love to watch the Karate Kid at church? Of course. Not these kids. None of them had even seen the movie. Who hasn't seen the Karate Kid? This is what's wrong with America.

Please Tupac, Don't Hurt 'Em

Oh, the wonderful world of cable. I have now shifted from my nostalgia for grunge to my love of '90s rap. Thanks to VH1's Black History Month programming, I watched "Tupac Resurrection" last week and I finished up the MC Hammer movie "Too Legit" tonight.

I thought I was familiar with the Hammer story, but I guess I stopped paying attention, you know, in the mid-90s. Did you know that Hammer signed to Death Row Records? Whah? I thought that the movie was lying, but Traci checked the facts (if you can call a visit to Wikipedia 'checking the facts).

From Wikipedia: "Hammer next signed with Death Row Records, then home to gangsta rap stars Snoop Dogg and Tupac Shakur. The label did not release any of Hammer's music while he was with them. However, Burrell [Hammer's real name] did record music with Shakur, and the album he recorded leaked onto the internet some years later. Their collaborative efforts are yet to be released. After the death of Shakur in 1996, Burrell left the record company."

Rumor has it that "Unconditional Luv," Hammer's track featuring Tupac is floating around out there in internetland, so I'll have to see if I can track it down. Again, Hammer on Death Row? Who knew?

Talladega Nights

After a short stint of actually going to the movies, I'm back to renting DVDs. Last night, Traci and I watched Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. We both love Will Farrell, but this was not his best performance. Though there were a few laughs, overall, the film was only mildly entertaining.

For us parents, the best line of the whole movie was during one of Ricky Bobby's prayers to "Baby Jesus."

Dear little baby Jesus, who's sittin' in his crib watchin' the Baby Einstein videos, learnin' 'bout shapes and colors. I would like to thank you for bringin' me and my moma together, and also that my kids no longer sound like retarded gang-bangers.

Oh, that dang Baby Einstein company! You make us crazy, but everyone once in a while you sneak into a Will Farrell joke and make us laugh.

While Talladega Nights was plenty watchable, if you really need to get your funny on, stick with Anchorman.