Encore, Encore!

You've just spent over an hour singing, swaying and screaming at the top of your lungs as you watch your favourite singer/band rock it out. Suddenly, and all too soon, it's the last song, and you give all you've got left in you for this closing crowd-pleaser that brings the house down. The song ends with a “Goodnight New York/LA/Omaha/insert city name. Thank you for being such a great audience!” The singer exits the stage, the lights go down, and that's when the shrieking really starts. Why the sudden commotion? Is everyone present in the audience afraid of the dark?

Nope. You have just found yourself at that hallowed part of the show they call the Encore.

Musicians measure success by record-breaking sales, albums going platinum, Twitter followers and Facebook likes, and concerts selling out in under 30 seconds (ahem, Bieber). I don’t think it’s offensive to say that a common characteristic of most musical artists is a healthy dash of egotism. But all those measures of success I mentioned? They are all markers of popularity that occur completely removed from the artists themselves. You can’t really soak up adulation from a blog post, magazine blurb or radio interview.

The Encore is different. In the few moments before the artist re-emerges, the audience becomes desperate. Pleading, “If we haven’t been an enthusiastic enough audience, we promise we’ll be better if you just please play a few more songs. And also, haven’t you not yet played your current biggest hit? This can’t yet be over, right? Right?????”

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The Curious Case of Prometheus

From the very genesis of Ridley Scott’s most recent super-project, Prometheus, one thing was certain: this film felt “big”.  Whether you were lobbying for the production scale, the hype surrounding the film in the months leading up to its release, the film’s relationship to the ‘Alien’ franchise, or even Ridley Scott’s two most recent films (Body of Lies – 54% on Rotten Tomatoes, Robin Hood – 52%), you had a strong case for any of these being most important aspect of the film’s long-term potential success or failure.  When you factor in the release of at least three 2-4 minute videos that were meant to be viewed prior to seeing the film, it would have been easy enough to walk into the theater having predetermined what the taste left in your mouth would be as you walked out.

In a way, my preordained approval of the film helped save me questioning whether or not I actually enjoyed it.  I walked out of it enjoying everything about the film that I knew I would enjoy from seeing the trailer.  I knew the landscapes would be spectacular.  I knew I would love the homage to ‘Alien’.  Still, I had hoped I would leave the theater with more than that.  It was like going to see your favorite comedian performing live, then getting there, and hearing him tell all the jokes the exact same way they were on the HBO special.  You find yourself clapping after jokes in appreciation for how funny they were when you originally heard them, but very rarely do they produce genuine laughter.

The idea that a movie would be so deep and complex that the viewing experiences would be enhanced by watching somewhere in the ballpark of 6-10 minutes of footage that would never be in the film, prior to actually purchasing a ticket, was intriguing to me.  I found myself more intrigued when I actually watched the informative short of the conception of the android David and then, also, the speech by Peter Weyland that was just cerebral enough to make you think this was more than a sci-fi movie.

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Enter Sandman

I have a distinct memory of the first time I found out who Adam Sandler was.  I was sitting in a muggy, wood cabin at Herzl Camp in the middle of the Wisconsin wilderness with 10 other same-aged Jewish white children.  One kid had a CD player hooked up to speakers and they were blaring an album called “They’re All Gonna Laugh At You.”  This album had come out in 1993, which at this time must have been a good 3-4 years prior, but it didn’t matter.  The comedy that was coming through those speakers was absolutely perfect for a 10 year old boy at summer camp.

I, like most guys my age, have grown up with the Sand-man. Shortly after hearing his comedy album, I saw his breakout movies, Billy Madison and Happy Gilmore.  After that, Sandler movies became appointment viewing for most sleepovers and lazy Friday nights.  Sandler’s movies at the time (and arguably now) imitated me.  They were dumb, funny, and they were crass for the sake of being crass.  They included scenes where Bob Barker was getting punched in the face for Christ’s sake!

I’ve grown up (again, arguable to the actual extent) since my days at Herzl.  My fandom for Adam Sandler has become strictly nostalgic. The last Sandler “comedy” I saw in theaters was I Know Pronounce You Chuck and Larry back in 2007.  Going through his IMDB page, I haven’t even seen his last 6 movies, theater or otherwise.  And that’s okay.  I’m not his target audience anymore.

And that’s precisely why I’m writing this blog.

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A One Woman Review of Duets

The other night, I watched the new singing competition show Duets. Honestly, I was expecting a serialized version of the first time Gwyneth Paltrow insisted we take her seriously as a singer. It’s been over a decade and I still haven’t given up hope.

The show opened with a flashy opening number by the four celeb judges: Kelly Clarkson, John Legend, Jennifer Nettles, and Robin Thicke. As the four sang a rousing song asking if we the audience would allow them to entertain us, two thoughts occurred to me. First, where is the dancing monkey and elephant on a unicycle? That’s instant entertainment.

But also, that these are probably four of the most agreeable people in the music idustry: Kelly Clarkson and Jennifer Nettles are both from the South and have that Southern twang to prove it; John Legend was home-schooled by his seamstress mother in Ohio; and Robin Thicke is half-Canadian (need I say more?). Basically, these are the nicest kids in town. I’ve never watched American Idol or The Voice, but I’m pretty sure that the talent of the contestants is only barely equal in importance to the inter-judge sniping. Simon and Paula? Adam Levine and Christina Aguilera? That gets the ratings and sells the tabloids.

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JLo vs. LDP

Do you ever think about how two seemingly similar people can go in two completely different directions on the path of life?

Kind of deep, I know. But, let me bring it back to the shallow end for ya.

I’m not talking about anything or anyone of any importance here (shocking I know for this website), I’m talking about two actors/performers. 

When I was a kid, I loved movies that had musical numbers.  What kid doesn’t?  Somehow on the endless cycle of cable television, I found myself hooked on 2 movies in particular.  The 1987 classic La Bamba, about the metoric rise and untimely death of Ritchie Valens and the 1997 classic Selena, about the metoric rise and untimely death of Selena Peres.

These movies popped up in a conversation I was having the other day and it got me thinking.  What the hell happened to Lou Diamond Phillips? And why is JLo so popular?

See, those were the 2 stars of those movies.  LDP playing Ritchie, JLo playing Selena.  Although these movies came out a decade apart, they are nearly identical in story line.  Aside from the fact that Ritchie dies in a plane crash and Selena is murdered, they are virtually the same movie about the successful, short-lived careers of Hispanic singers. 

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