DATELINE - Austin, Texas - Sept. 27th:
Another 'Post From the Road', again at my favorite coffeehouse in Austin (Halcyon on W. 4th St.). Why am I in Austin, you ask?? To see the stars of last year's indie hit -- and Oscar* winner -- "Once," of course! (Not once, but twice!)
Yesterday I saw the band known as "The Swell Season" (featuring Irish musician Glenn Hansard & Czech singer Marketa Irglova) in an abbreviated, 45-minute set, hampered by sound and equipment difficulties, at the 7th Annual Austin City Limits Festival -- my first visit to this renowned event (the closest I will have to a Woodstock experience, since I am too old for 'Burning Man.')
I also heard complete sets by David Byrne and Patty Griffin, and sampled songs from Alejandro Escovedo, Jenny Lewis (Rilo Kiley), the Freddy Jones Band (from Chicago? never heard of them), and Jakob Dylan (sounds just like his dad!)
Tonight I will be seeing a more complete set by the Swells at the historic Paramount Theater in downtown Austin. Set lists for both shows will follow, as will my review of the Sunday matinee of the film "I Served the King of England," by noted Czech director Jiri Menzel. That will make it 3 Czech artists in 3 days! (In Central Texas, where Czech immigrants settled in the 19th Century).
I think I'll stop for a kolache on my drive back to Houston!
* TM
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Catching up...one movie at a time
(Belated) Review of TRANSSIBERIAN below:
But first! I found it amusing during Sunday night's dreadful Emmy Awards telecast that the two actors I called out in a previous post for being undeserving -- BOTH WON! (Dianne Wiest and Paul Giamatti). What was NOT amusing was the Emmy choice for Best Director of a Musical/Variety Program : the same guy who was the victim of my wrath in that same post -- Academy Award show director Louis J. Horvitz (bastard!) -- the man who has now ruined 2 awards shows in one year (because, purely coincidentally, he directed the G*d-awful Emmys!) He gave himself all the time in the world to accept, then later he cut-off the winning writer of the John Adams miniseries (someone who actually had something intelligent to say). Bastard!
Laura Linney gave the best acceptance speech of the night (thanking "the community organizers who formed this country" -- take THAT, Sarah Palin!!) My personal preference would have seen either Gabriel Byrne or Michael C. Hall and the lovely Christina Applegate win ... but the Emmy's exist to disappoint people who value quality television (Grey's Anatomy won one year, remember?)
Transsiberian
I fear my review comes too late to for you to see this exciting thriller in a theater, which is a shame, because it is clearly ONE OF THE BEST MOVIES OF THE YEAR!! Director Brad Anderson (of the shamefully-overlooked The Machinist) has crafted another mysterious and scary Hitchcockian world -- on a train, no less! -- lumbering across Siberian Russia with an international assortment of heroes and villains and a climax that is a touch more riveting (and gruesome!) than The Lady Vanishes (1938). Comparing Transs. to that classic is high praise from me: Anderson effectively updates the genre by showing the claustrophobia and discomfort of train travel that movies tend to smoothe over. The cast is excellent, top to bottom. I won't reveal the plot so you can be surprised by its ingenuity ... like me!
I know I didn't mention Mary-Louise Parker this time (I don't even watch her show!) but you have to admit, she is a raven-haired beauty!
But first! I found it amusing during Sunday night's dreadful Emmy Awards telecast that the two actors I called out in a previous post for being undeserving -- BOTH WON! (Dianne Wiest and Paul Giamatti). What was NOT amusing was the Emmy choice for Best Director of a Musical/Variety Program : the same guy who was the victim of my wrath in that same post -- Academy Award show director Louis J. Horvitz (bastard!) -- the man who has now ruined 2 awards shows in one year (because, purely coincidentally, he directed the G*d-awful Emmys!) He gave himself all the time in the world to accept, then later he cut-off the winning writer of the John Adams miniseries (someone who actually had something intelligent to say). Bastard!
Laura Linney gave the best acceptance speech of the night (thanking "the community organizers who formed this country" -- take THAT, Sarah Palin!!) My personal preference would have seen either Gabriel Byrne or Michael C. Hall and the lovely Christina Applegate win ... but the Emmy's exist to disappoint people who value quality television (Grey's Anatomy won one year, remember?)
Transsiberian
I fear my review comes too late to for you to see this exciting thriller in a theater, which is a shame, because it is clearly ONE OF THE BEST MOVIES OF THE YEAR!! Director Brad Anderson (of the shamefully-overlooked The Machinist) has crafted another mysterious and scary Hitchcockian world -- on a train, no less! -- lumbering across Siberian Russia with an international assortment of heroes and villains and a climax that is a touch more riveting (and gruesome!) than The Lady Vanishes (1938). Comparing Transs. to that classic is high praise from me: Anderson effectively updates the genre by showing the claustrophobia and discomfort of train travel that movies tend to smoothe over. The cast is excellent, top to bottom. I won't reveal the plot so you can be surprised by its ingenuity ... like me!
Emmy pics
The aforementioned Ms. Applegate:
I know I didn't mention Mary-Louise Parker this time (I don't even watch her show!) but you have to admit, she is a raven-haired beauty!
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