A Benihana Christmas

In the middle of season three of NBC’s show, The Office, the cast starts to take a new shape when the Scranton branch of Dunder Mifflin absorbs the Stanford branch. Viewers are introduced to several new characters Andy (Ed Helms) and Karen (Rashida Jones) along with a returning favorite Jim (John Krasinski).
In one of the funniest episodes of the season, the employees are busy preparing for the Christmas party while Michael (Steve Carell) plans to surprise his girlfriend Carol (played by Carell’s real wife Nancy Walls) with a trip to Sandal’s Jamaica.
After a hasty wedding proposal, in a previous episode, Carol is on the fence about their short-lived relationship. She decides to call it quits with him after he photoshopped himself into a family photo with her kids in place of her ex-husband, making for a hilarious set prop.
Michael is, of course, deeply distraught from his break-up and sulks around the office and tries to cancel Christmas, yes the holiday, not just the party. In his usual and overdramatic ways Michael tries to milk the break-up for all it’s worth until Andy decides to take Michael out to cheer him up.
Jim and office oddball Dwight (Rainn Wilson) tag along with Andy and Michael to Benihana for a guy’s lunch out. Dwight gets separated from the group and is forced to sit at the other end of the hibachi table and it drives him crazy. Andy and Dwight are still competing for Michael’s attention and approval and Andy’s character starts to progressively develop in this episode when he tries to assert himself with the guys.
Meanwhile back at the office Jim’s former and maybe still current love interest, Pam (Jenna Fisher) and Jim’s girlfriend, Karen are bonding over planning a better Christmas party than “The Party Planning Committee” headed by neurotic, cat-crazed Angela (Angela Kinsley).
Michael and Andy end up bringing two waitresses from the restaurant back to the office party after a few Nagasake bombs, “one part (egg) nog, three parts sake,” according to Andy. Michael “falls in love” with his waitress, but midway through the party can’t tell the difference between his waitress and Andy’s, making for some hilarious antics as Michael mark’s her arm with a sharpie after he figures out who she is.
After Michael’s waitress bails because the party is lame as she puts it, Michael is once again crushed because he thought he found “the one.” Jim convinces Michael that it was a mere rebound after his break-up and it wasn’t love. Here Jim reveals that his feelings for Pam are still there and dating Karen is a mere distraction to “forget about the girl who broke your heart.”
Karen and Pam decide to merge their margarita-karaoke themed party with Angela’s nutcracker Christmas party and all broken hearts and cat-fights are put on hold while everyone in the office enjoys the party.
Michael decides to ask his ex-fling Jan (Melora Hardin) to Jamaica, she accepts and viewers are left wondering what’s to come after their trip.

Almost Famous

“Almost Famous” is a semi-autobiographical film about Cameron Crowe as he became a music writer at the age of 15.
The film, written and directed by Crowe in 2000, follows the aspiring rock critic as he is tossed into the chaos of the world of sex, drugs and rock-n-roll. William Miller (Patrick Fugit) a boy genius, months away from graduating high school, convinces his overbearing and neurotic mother Elaine, played perfectly by Frances McDormand, to go on tour with the band to write a potential feature story for Rolling Stone.
William grew up with his mother and older sister, Anita (Zooey Deschanel) and lacked friends in school, most likely due to being skipped ahead a few grades at an early age. William often turned to his influential sister, who rebelled against their mother by bringing records home. Their mother always claimed every musician was stoned as she pointed to Simon and Garfunkel’s eyes on the cover of their “Bookends” album. Tensions built between Elaine and Anita and Anita leaves the home to set off as a stewardess. Anita gives William her record collection and some listening suggestions and this is clearly a notable point in his life.

A few years later, William meets rock critic and writer, Lester Bangs (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and convinces Bangs to mentor him in the art of critque. William’s first assignment is to cover a Black Sabbath concert. Here he meets Penny Lane (Kate Hudson) a “Band-Aide” or groupie. He also meets the fictional rock band “Stillwater,” and the group, especially singer and guitarist Jeff (Jason Lee) and Russell (Billy Crudup) respectively, take particular interest in William after he convinces the band he is a super fan, worthy of their time and attention.
The band decides it likes having William around and ask him to meet up at a few shows down the road. William accepts partly because of his interest in Penny Lane. When William starts submitting writing samples to Rolling Stone, the editors are convinced the kid, even though they don’t know he’s a kid, has potential. The editors take interest in his writing style and the up-and-coming band Stillwater and decide to let William have a shot at an in-depth piece about the band as they tour across the country.
Now, insert every cliché thing about rock-n-roll in the early ‘70s. And although the story isn’t anything fresh, the film rises above all others in its genre through the exceptional and honest acting done by the cast. The soundtrack paired perfectly with the film, with tracks from Led Zepplin, The Beach Boys, Cat Stevens and Simon and Garfunkel.
The film falls short with its fairy-tellesque happy ending as it steers away from the grit, grime and honesty of the cruel world of rock ’ n ’ roll it consistently portrays, but other than that, it pulls through with solid acting from the not-so-well known cast at the time and excellent cinematography to give it the film a ‘70s feel.

Best Coast, Crazy for You (Mexican Summer, 2010)

If there ever was a time to judge an album by its cover, it would be now. A bright yellow background with a palm tree, a cat and a beach that resembles a postcard from the ‘60s gives listeners a great preview of what’s to come on the 13 tracks about boys, California and getting stoned.
Best Coast, an indie-pop band from California, released its first full-length album “Crazy for You” in the summer of 2010. Still getting heavy play months later, the album makes for a feel-good listen any time of the year. Singer, songwriter and guitar player Bethany Cosantino croons on tunes that never make it past the three-minute marker as simplistic lyrics mixed with fuzzy unproduced sounds make for an endless lazy summer vibe on standout tracks such as “Crazy for You,” “Each and Everyday” and “Boyfriend.” On “Our Deal,” Cosantino cries, “I wish you would tell me how you really feel/ But you’ll never tell me ‘cuz that’s not our deal” over haunting guitar riffs, simple percussions and echoes of her own voice.
Keeping with their summer vibes, the record sounds like something that could have been made in the ‘60s in the midst of surf-rock— imagine if the Beach Boys and the Dum Dum Girls got together today.

Though the band released several EP’s before, they didn’t prove to be as upbeat, structured or focused as their new full-length release. Their 2009 EP, “Where the Boys Are” didn’t sound promising. The band sounded like another group trying to make an unstructured album for the sake of making noise, as you could barely make out the lyrics Cosantino was signing through the muffled guitar.
Cosantino started singing clear, comprehensive lyrics and she should have done it a while ago, since she has a charming voice. The group also toned down the fuzziness of its sound by adding some uplifting poppy percussion elements to the new album. Around the same time of the album release, the group also added drummer, Ali Koehler of the Vivian Girls, giving the band a more complete sound.
While their new simplistic sound is effective, on several of the tracks the lyrics start to lack creativity and are easily confused with similar lyrics from other songs on the album. With Best Coast’s newly revamped sound and style no listener with ever have to suffer from the winter blues again because “… there’s something about the summer.”

Le scaphandre et le papillon

Based off of the real-life tragedy of Elle France’s Editor-in-chief, Jean-Dominique Bauby, “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” directed by painter Julian Schnabel, is a poignant and beautiful film in both its story and composition.

The French film is an adaptation of a memoir, of the same title, written by Bauby before his death and it appears with English subtitles.

Bauby (played by Mathieu Amalric) suffers a massive stroke at the peak of his career in the mid 90s. The film follows Bauby after his accident, as he is trapped inside his own body, in a complete state of paralysis, yet fully conscious of his surroundings. His only form of communication is blinking. The majority of the film is told from first person narrative—through Bauby’s eyes and his thoughts which the audience hears out loud.

Before his accident, Bauby had a book deal. Now trapped in a hospital and in his own body, he decides to continue with the book deal, but tell it from his experience of his current state. He works with a therapist who comes up with a language system to interpret his blinking. One word or blink at a time, his therapist helps him write his book, which essential becomes his memoir.

One of the most emotional scenes in the film can be seen early on after you witness Bauby in his “locked-in” state, he is no longer able to open and close his right eye. Doctors decide to stitch his eye shut to prevent an infection. The audience witnesses this through the lens of the camera as if they were Bauby’s own eye.

Trapped in his own mind, Bauby’s most intimate thoughts are shown and while the audience empathizes with the character, they also become conscious of the power of the human mind to overcome even the most traumatic of events in ones life. When Bauby moves past his feelings of self-pity, bits of humor are weaved in to scenes from his inner monologue.

The audience meets significant people in Bauby’s life--his children, his ex, his father and his current girlfriend, though she refuses to visit him in the hospital. The brief encounters of these characters don’t allow for much development on their own, but they are developed in Bauby’s own memories of them and past events as he still has feelings of guilt from unresolved relationship problems.

A large portion of the film is set in Bauby’s hospital bed with an eerie coastline in the background that mirrors the solidarity he must feel.

The 2007 film is Schnabel’s third and probably most notable to date, as he previously gained recognition as a filmmaker with his first release “Basquiat.” And though Schnabel is American, he seems to have mastered the art of French film.

TGIF Mr. West

It’s been almost two years since Kanye West released his last full-length studio album “808’s and Heartbreaks.” The album exposed a side of West, a darker more emotional side that was not heard on previous albums as he had made it after two traumatic events, a bad break up and the loss of his mother. Still, it fell short with expectations from the fame-level West had risen to.

West released the single “Power (Remix)” on Aug. 20, not through an album, but through his blog. The rapper promised via Twitter to release one song every Friday (dubbing it Good Fridays) until his album “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” is released Nov 22.

West has not only released songs every Friday like promised, but made them available for free through downloads on his website. It is hard to fully judge the songs released as a complete entity, because of the uncertainty of what will make the cut on the full-length album. But so far, the songs have re-sparked a fervor that once exuded from West.

Though the heavily auto-tuned, simpler and more pop-like 808’s seemed more purpose-driven than past albums, it lacked a certain passion and energy that was heard on previous songs like “Good Life,” “All Falls Down” and “Spaceship.” 808’s should have made West grow as an artist, but instead it felt more like it distracted him. But Good Fridays releases have reminded us of the mega hip hop star West is, lyrically and musically showcasing his ability to collaborate with a collection of diverse artists.

It is West’s second Good Fridays release “Monster” featuring Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj and Bon Iver that stands out as one of the most powerful tracks so far. Bon Iver frontman Justin Vernon opens and closes the song with his soulful voice over hip-hop beats and West confesses on the chorus, “Everybody know I’m a muthaf***ing monster.” But it’s the angst and hype that comes from each of the lengthy verses from Jay-Z, West and Minaj that hype this song up. With Minaj’s being most abrasive, she toys back and forth with her vocals ranging from a fury to cute, girlish talk. She raps, “First things first I’ll eat your brains then I’mma start rocking gold teeth and fangs.”

Another track that earns heavy play is “Christian Dior Denim Flow” with John Legend, Kid Cudi, Pusha T, Lloyd Blanks and Ryan Leslie. The track is an ode to West’s love for the fashion world. The emotion-evoking ballad with a violin, “I got the world in my hands…” mixed with heavy drum beats and catchy percussions was worth the extra day West waited to release the track due to a hacking.

Good Friday’s energetic tracks have seemed to slightly humble West from the egomaniac he is. OK, if you follow him on Twitter he isn’t that humble, but at least he is confessing to some pretty bad faux pas in the past. And on these tracks he owns up to his out of control ego, “No one man should have all that power…Stop trippin’, I’m trippin’ off the power.” Although if there were ever a time he should be giving himself kudos it’s now.

Critical condition analysis

Time Out Chicago ran a piece about a panel of Chicago critics, well, critiquing themselves and their opinions.

Here is the article.


While all of the critics brought up valid arguments, a majority of them agreed that passion in whatever particular field you are critiquing is key. And passion and education play two important roles for critics.

Sam Jones, book blogger, Golden Rule Jones brings up a great point when he stated, “Critics are like statistics—what they say is almost meaningless without the underlying story.” This makes sense because, even though there might be super fans within the target audience, if there are readers who are unfamiliar with a particular author or artist, it would be best to look beyond that and help them understand some background information

He then goes on to say “We come to trust critics by reading them…” It is true. If you pay attention to several pieces by a particular critic, you learn to trust their opinion, whether you agree or disagree with the review, you are still looking for them to give you a solid foundation to work with when forming your own opinion.

The panel transitioned into a discussion about the “rapid evolution” of the websites and blogs and the disappearance of print pieces. Jones asked an interesting question about whether or not readers appreciate the editorial content enough to pay money for it. Of course, there was much skepticism. Why pay for something when you can have a dozen reviews of a particular album with a few clicks of a mouse.

Jones went on to discuss a positive thing about being an online critic, “Well on the web I can treat my readers more intimately, because I know them.”

Kris Vire, Time Out writer agreed with Jones’ point by adding that it is easy to get feedback and interact with readers through comment spaces and message boards. Jim DeRogatis, music critic, added that nothing but the mode of delivery has changed. While this is true, responding to writers and readers is simply easier online.

The discussion bounced back and forth about the validity of Internet readers and writers. Jones said, “For many people, the Internet is a vast internship opportunity.” This is very true. Head writer for The Onion’s A.V. Club Nathan Rabin said, “I’ve always seen criticism as an extension of fandom.” Which brought up one of the initial topics of the discussion; being passionate in the critical field is one of the most important things you can do as a reviewer.

The good and the bad

Good: Closer -The lights go on for The xx by Sasha Frere-Jones
http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/musical/2010/01/25/100125crmu_music_frerejones?currentPage=1

The New Yorker’s review of The xx’s live show in a small Lower East Side venue and their self-titled debut album hit the nail on the head. It was indeed spot on. The review was a success as Frere-Jones expressed his dissatisfaction in their live show and used it to transition into a convincing review of their January 2010 album.

Starting with the bands lackluster and awkward live show, Frere-Jones set the scene as a member of the crowd, standing before the London-based group as they avoided eye contact with anyone in the venue. And although the writer was disappointed, he didn’t give up on them as a band. Instead he consciously listened to the album again and used his experience as a way to better understand them and why they aren’t as successful as a live group. “The xx (the album)”, though incredibly intimate, is as simplistic as it could be. It’s sensual and incredibly personal and like the writer said the music is meant to be whispered into someone’s ear in the dark, not exploited on a stage in front of hundreds. Frere-Jones used good details and examples of not only lyrics, but also sound riffs and emotions of the tracks on the album.

The review was a holistic approach and it was successful because he used a scene-setting opener, in which you thought it was going to be a bad review and turned it into a clear, valid point about not only this album and live shows, but from other bands in general.


Bad: Pitchfork Sia “We are born” by Liz Colville
http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/14296-we-are-born/

Colville’s review of Sia’s latest album didn’t work for a couple of reasons. The most obvious one is that Colville spent a majority of the review giving readers background information on the artist. Sia has been around for almost a decade, if not more. There is no point in wasting that much time giving the history of her music career. It could have been summed up in two brief sentences instead of two very long paragraphs.

Also, the review really didn’t tell readers much about the actual album. She gave some comparisons to songs sounding like ones off of a previous album. However, given the amount of space she used divulging in background information, one could assume the reader wouldn’t know what a song off of her old album sounded like. At one point in the review Colville said, “…the melodies are boring.” That is one of the most vague things you can say in a review. It is telling the audience nothing about the actual melodies or why they are even boring. There are no details about any of the tracks. There is no sense of what the writer was actually feeling when she listened to this album.

She then closes out the review by saying the sounds on the album don’t reach the electronic pop level of the big time names like Lady Gaga, Katy Perry and Ke$ha. I’m not quite sure why these artist would fall into a category with the music of Sia. For those who have seen her live and listened to her for a few years, they wouldn’t get the sense she was trying to be on a level with them either.