in the blackness of the room......

....the film begins to roll....

with lollapalooza grabbing all the attention, there are actually 5 big films that have been viewed just before and after that mighty weekend.

the most recent viewings:

"The Island"
there's no question i love me some ewan mcgregor!
and as the movie gets more into it, you actually get a double helping of ewan!.....but i won't spoil it for yooz guys who still wanna see it fur yurselves.

it's all about clones, the future, being lied to, etc etc etc.....

this is one of those michael bay summer blockbuster fuckers that i tend to avoid, but fuck if ewan and scarlett and "the future" didn't just suck me in and suck my $5.50 outta my wallet......

call me a sucker for car chases, but the one on the los angeles freeway fucking rocks! yay for summer blockbusters!!

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"Stealth"

why the fuck was i so drawn to this?
navy fighter jets are always pretty cool.......perhaps it's my undying love for "top gun" and everything it spawned......

the story is kinda weak.....the "stars" are also kinda weak (jamie foxx, jessica biel and josh lucas)......the summer blockbuster effects are in place, so that helps......and for whatever reason, the theatre i was in had a really fucked up sound system, even tho it promoted itself as "digital"......fuckers......

kind of a dud, sadly.

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and here are a few that i've failed to report about:


"Charlie and The Chocolate Factory"
there's no question i love me some tim burton!!
the guy is fucking brilliant......and with this twisted little remake, he has my permission to retain his awesome-ness.....hahahaha

this is one long acid trip of a movie.....fucked up dance numbers and songs, whacked out characters, and the shit himself: johnny depp.

perfect fucking roll for the guy, played to perfection and with the proper amount of "over the top"-ness.....

i expected big things from this one, and walked away totally impressed and fulfilled.....

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"Wedding Crashers"
there's no question i love me some vince vaughn!!
i've loved the guy since "swingers", followed the highs and lows devotedly.....mix him with a lot of owen wilson and you've got yourself one crazy laugh-fest......

this thing is pretty crude from start to finish with the humor, so be warned.....but you always end up laughing about the crudeness, so it's all good......

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"Dark Water"
finally, there's no question i love me some jennifer connelly!!
i've also been really into all the japanese horror movie remakes that hollywood has shoved down our throats the last year or so......

but honestly, this one just wasn't that scary or creepy.......i was always hoping to be fucking jolted from my seat, but it never came.......

lots of rain, lots of slow camera moves, lots of creepy music.......but not much of the "horror" stuff that i was hoping for.

lollapalooza 2005

did you hear the news?
it was hot in chicago over the weekend.
FUCKING hot.
kinda like STANDING ON THE SUN fucking hot.

from the Chicago Sun Times:
"The temperature in Chicago on Sunday was three degrees shy of the all-time high of 105 degrees, reached in 1934".

At the hottest point on Sunday afternoon, Tegan and Sara, my fellow Canadian cuties, quit playing after singer Sara Quin passed out and was taken backstage.

"About 70 people were treated for heat exposure from the event, and two people were sent to the hospital with heat stroke".

I came across 2 people who experienced trouble with the heat - one girl dropped like a bag of rocks saturday morning while we were all waiting for the gates to open. The other guy happened to be sitting next to me under a tree sunday afternoon, waiting for his buddy to grab a medic. And yours truly ALMOST became a victim of the heat sunday evening, watching my last band of the weekend. But more on that later.

So Saturday morning I hit the road to make the 3-hour trip to Chicago - relatively painless for that kind of trip. As I pull into the big city (around 9am), the skies open up and I'm given the impression that the weekend might be wet, even though the earlier weather forecast had called for sunny and clear. Oh well.

Find my exit easy enough, find my hotel easy enough and park the car. Get myself checked into the hotel, but naturally no rooms will be available until mid afternoon. No worries.

With the rain having ended and leaving us with an overcast sky, I make my way a few blocks to Grant Park and join the early crowds in line. Volunteers are moving through the crowd checking tickets and handing out weekend wristbands, so that should speed things up a bit. Not bloody likely!

I think we ended up standing in line for 1.5 hours waiting for the security checks to open, and this would be the time of our first heat casualty as mentioned above.

So the gates open and I check out the merchandise, grab a poster/program/schedule/etc. and make my way to the main field with the 4 music stages. My first impression was that the layout would fucking suck. 4 stages at each corner of the rectangular field could only mean a wash of sound, but as I soon found out, being closer to each stage kind of erased that fear based on the wall of sound coming from the particular stage you were at.

First band of the weekend: The Redwalls (11.45am)
Found myself a piece of grass and parked my ass. These guys are Chicago locals and had a good vibe.

Next band:
...and you will know us by the trail of dead (1.30pm)
Parked myself at stage left and enjoyed the sounds of M83 from across the field while the band set up. They thoroughly kicked everyone's ass as expected and trashed their equipment to end the set. Fuck yeah!

Next band:
Kaiser Chiefs (2.30pm)
Not nearly as close to the stage this time as they had already started their set, but it was pretty fun just the same. The lead singer was close to losing his voice, so at the end of their set, he invites a guy and girl from the front row to sing "Oh My God".

At this point I make my way back to the hotel to grab a room key and drop my backpack that I had been hauling around all morning. In the air conditioned comfort of my room, I splash some water on my face and take a lovely little nap. Right around 5.30pm I make my way back to the park for further musical acts.

Next band:
The Black Keys (6.30pm)
Park myself at stage right and enjoy the sounds of Blonde Redhead from across the field while the band set up.

The Keys fucking kicked everyone's ass. A killer 2-piece band (drummer and guitarist) that rock out the blues! Instant highlight of the weekend.

Next band:
The Walkmen (7.30pm)
Park myself at stage left and enjoy the boys from NYC. I tend to attract the crazies, as evidenced by the freak behind me who would let out blood-curdling screams throughout songs, with no apparent reason for it, other than to scream. Oh well.

Next band:
Digable Planets (8.45pm)
Reunited after 10 years apart, this hip-hop trio made everybody shake their ass.
Again parked myself at stage right - Great stuff and a great way to end the first day of Lolla'05.


Sunday morning was leisure time, sleeping in and resting for what was to be an unbearable day at the park. Somewhere around 11.30am, get myself checked out and make my way back to the park. Was it hot? Yeah, it was fucking hot. Like walking out of the hotel and into the sauna. And the skies were clear, which would only make it worse.

First band:
OK Go (11.45am)
Park myself at stage left and prepare to be thoroughly rocked by these Chicago locals.
For their last song, they play a tune from their soon-to-be-released new disc and the 4 band members perform a killer dance routine. Fun!

Next band:
Kasabian (1.30pm)
Same stage as OK Go, so I kept my same spot, but unfortunately with the sun directly above me, scorching my arms and neck. Enjoyed the sounds of The Ponys across the field as the band set up. And the English blokes did not disappoint, thoroughly rocking it for the crowd.

By this time, the afternoon heat is beginning to kick my ass, so I grab a seat between stages and enjoy the sounds of Louis XIV. I had fully intended to catch Tegan and Sara, and I managed to catch their soundcheck, but the heat was just too stifling. Sounds like I missed seeing Sara pass out on stage. Instead, I made my way off the music field and up towards the entrance, searching for a glimpse of shade, which I thankfully found near the Kidzapalooza stage. It turned out pretty well, cuz their was a fun little female punk band from Detroit who played punk rock nursery rhymes!! Kick ass!!

The punkers changed my mind about leaving early and forced me back into the stifling heat of the music field.

Next band:
Ben Kweller (4.30pm)
Parked myself at stage right and prayed for the sun to sneak behind the stage rigging.
Ben thoroughly kicked our asses!

Next band:
The Arcade Fire (5.30pm)
This was easily the FARTHEST away I had been from any band during the weekend. The crowds were immense for whatever reason. The man himself, Perry Farrell, came out and introduced the fine Canadian troupe of musicians and wowed the crowd.

Next band:
The Dandy Warhols (7.30pm)
Parked myself at stage left for what was to be my final band of the weekend. Enjoyed the sounds of Spoon from across the field as the band set up. The trippy sounds of the Warhols were awesome, but it was obvious the heat was finally wreaking havoc with my body. By the second-last song, a very long and drone-y jam, I was moments away from going down like a bag of rocks. The only time that has ever happened was at an acoustic Posies gig in Cleveland a few years ago, where I totally blacked out and woke up looking at the floor. Scary shit!! And I could totally sense that it was about to happen again!! Thankfully I had water with me, so I tried to sip it up and keep my senses. There was also a steel barrier in front of me, so I leaned on that to gain some composure, while sweat began to pour down my forehead. I've pretty much determined that being on my feet for 2 days, under intense heating conditions, and the sensory overload of the music totally makes my system shut down. So leaning on the barrier saved my ass, cuz I was able to take the pressure off my legs and bring myself back to center.

By the time they did their last song, I was feeling much better and I was ready to get the fuck out of there and into an air-conditioned car for the ride home.

Got back to the hotel parking garage, fetched my car and hit the road. Another uneventful 3-hour ride back into Indiana and in my bed a little after midnight.


Perhaps the weekend heat will be a nice preparation for the next adventure:
My return trip to El Paso, Texas this coming weekend.

August in Texas?
How hot could it possibly be??

Tales to follow.

like eating glass

it's the july long weekend: Canada Day up north, Independence Day in the USA, Live8 events scattered around the world, the Tour de France is underway, Wimbledon finals, etc. etc. etc. etc.

wherever you are, whatever you've done to enjoy the long weekend, cheers to you.

me?
it was the blackness of a movie theater.


War Of The Worlds
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there were moments of total jaw-dropping on my part, particularly when "the aliens" rose from the ground, or the water, and were fully exposed......

it's a fine example of Spielberg summer blockbuster fun......the story about Cruise as the asshole father who redeems himself by saving his family?.....all fine and good......the story of how "the aliens" are eventually defeated?.....all fine and good......but i was there for the effects and not much else.....thankfully Spielberg delivered on the goods......good stuff!


Layer Cake
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this is another british crime caper, in the vein of the Guy Ritchie flicks from a few years back......lots of levels of deceit......some pretty killer tunes sprinkled throughout......good stuff!


Batman Begins
===========================================
i'm proud to say i haven't seen any of the previous batman movies......

val kilmer?
nope.

george clooney?
nope.

michael keaton?
nope.

they all seemed pretty cartoon-y to me, which is probably the idea, coming from the background of a comic book......but they just never posed any interest to me, so i never jumped in.......

but then there's this one......christopher nolan (director of memento) jumps into the ring of summer blockbuster.......christian bale jumps into the batsuit......i have mucho respect for both of those guys, so that's not a bad place to start......

and then there's the fucking GLOWING REVIEWS and endless positive word of mouth i've been collecting since it opened a few weeks ago.......so i went for it......

and yes, it's VERY fucking good!......nice and dark, which is how i generally like my movies......nice touches to keep it "true" to the original story of how he becomes batman.......lots of nice big effects to keep the blockbuster fans in their seats.......and a couple of very cool "jokes" and one-liners to keep it light.......

consider this non-fan fully hooked!
and if they can keep the director and star together for more, count me in!