(Kind of) my town

After a relatively homebound and sedentary year, a mad late summer rush of moving and live music tuckered me out. The recuperation process was aided by unexpectedly pleasant August weather, but mostly by time to chill out with my Sassy Frassy Lassie and the precious princess kitties. Let it suffice to say I ain't keeping up with the movie scene like I used to, and that I will be hard-pressed to come up with a top 5, let alone a top 10 for 2008. It's not like Hollywood is doing much to woo me these days, though. I mean, thank goodness "The Love Guru" and "Meet Dave" flopped so hard. If such awful-looking turds could make money in these times of economic uncertainty, I might have lost complete faith in my fellow Americans.

There was probably a time in my life when a big-budget remake of "Death Race 2000" would have been met with gleeful anticipation. After seeing a single ad for the loathsome P.W.S. Anderson's latest crapfest, I'm not even morbidly curious. It manages to look worse than that "Rollerball" redux did, and the appearance of Ian McShane only serves to remind me of the two final seasons of "Deadwood" we will never see. Seriously, just re-release the original. It has David Carradine, The Real Don Steele and a young Sylvester Stallone in his greatest role ever.

And what's with all the matter-of-fact movie titles, like calling a teen sex comedy set at a college "College," or calling a drama about a bunch of rich women bonding "The Women"? I know, the latter's a remake, but how does that make it any better than, say, "Disaster Movie"? I suppose "College" and "The Women" at least seem to have something to do with their titles, whereas "Disaster Movie" seems to be about currently popular movie characters and tabloid magnets getting kicked in the nuts or pushed off a cliff. It looks like the worst movie to be released in the eight months since its widely hated auteurs' last "comedy," the more cleverly-titled "Meet the Spartans," which, like their "Epic Movie" and "Date Movie" before it, made back its low budget in domestic box office alone.

Then, as if it were not already obvious that Greed-o Lucas had returned to the well of his once-beloved "Star Wars" mythos three too many times, a second animated take on "The Clone Wars" might do the trick. Of course kids will want to see it, but adults? Come on, don't support this endless mockery of your childhood icons. The prequel trilogy is done, and considering its quality, it's okay if you are, too.

Speaking of childhood and animated movies, think back to when you were much younger, and what a big deal a new animated feature was. Contrast this with how many goddamned "animals go to space" quickies have already been vomited at kids this year. With "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" shooshed off to 2009, the rest of the year should be open season for low-grade, unimaginative, assembly line kiddie crap. Come on, "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa"? I'm shocked there's not another awful-looking "Garfield" movie in the pipeline. Why not the ultimate lazy movie title: "Bee Movie 2"?

In spite of this, I would like to see "WALL-E." And "Pineapple Express." And "Iron Man." And "Tropic Thunder." And "The X-Files: I Want to Believe." And "Hellboy II: The Golden Army." And "Hamlet 2." And "Vicky Cristina Barcelona." And "Step Brothers." And "La Terza Madre." And "Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay." And "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian." And "Forgetting Sarah Marshall." There's probably more I've already forgotten about.

Many of the new films I've seen this year have been things I didn't care about, and what I have chosen to see hasn't been overwhelming. I finally saw J.J. Abrams' monster mash "Cloverfield" the other day. Like Neil Marshall's "Doomsday," it was decent entertainment, but not the a-freakin-mazing genre classic it could have been. Despite some choice gore, George A. Romero's "Diary of the Dead" was kinda disappointing, and this is from someone who actually liked his leftie zombie snoozer "Land of the Dead." Directed by three different people with three different tones, the little thriller "The Signal" was definitely interesting, yet it lacked a strong finale to tie its disparate visions together. "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" was as good as it could have been at this point in time, but it's definitely the weakest of the series, and for once the blame doesn't merely lie with Lucas. I got a copy of "Be Kind Rewind" sitting here which I haven't watched yet, I hear that's good.

Seriously, until a couple of weeks ago, the only movie that really bowled me over all year was "American Ninja 2: The Confrontation," and that one's not only hilariously bad, it's 21 years old. Thankfully, as I indulged in a pair of birthday movies this year, they both kicked ass. In case you ain't seen 'em, be advised of possible SPOILERS.

"The Dark Knight"
Regardless of being promoted to bejeezus, I had hopes for Christopher Nolan's sequel. "Batman Begins" was all right as a reimagined Batman origin story, but it was pretty tedious and suffered from serious underuse of second villain The Scarecrow. Now, we're through with the exposition and can dig a little deeper into what Batman does, as opposed to who he is. The secondary villain here, Two-Face, is actually crucial to the main thrust of the story. The typically great Aaron Eckhart's intense representation makes up for the cartoonish insult delivered by Tommy Lee Jones and Joel Schumacher back in '95. And what do you know? We also see Cillian Murphy as The Scarecrow back to his old tricks pretty early on in "The Dark Knight," as if Nolan were admitting Batman's coolest villain deserved a more momentous fate than getting tased by Katie Holmes. Speaking of Holmes, Maggie Gyllenhaal pays the bills by taking over her thankless not-from-the-comics role (Bruce Wayne's childhood crush/serial District Attorney dater), and is at least nicer to look at. With a permanent expression somewhere between smarmy and disturbed, I still think Christian Bale makes a good Bruce Wayne. He overdoes that goofy Nathan Explosion voice every time he slips into the suit, but compared to Kilmer or Clooney, he's perfect. Finally, there's Heath Ledger. I'll admit I assumed the universal accolades were posthumous ass-kissing, but, no. Ledger really does live up to the megahype. His Joker is true to Nolan's series in that he's sort of realistic, but moreso true to the character's essence, a freewheeling anarchist and a sadistic criminal mastermind in one. Downtown Chicago looks breathtaking standing in for Gotham City, and so recognizable that at least three different bands mentioned it onstage during Lollapalooza, held mere blocks from filming locations. "The Dark Knight" is the kind of blockbuster I can get behind: too scary and downbeat for young kids, not too stupid for older kids or adults, great to look at while remaining character-driven. In that, it reminds me of Burton's superior "Batman Returns" (check out the advertising art I posted above - "The Brat, The Bat and The Lawman"?). Of course I hope it eventually pulls past "Titanic" in the all-time domestic box office sweepstakes. It's darker, more fun and displays greater internal logic.

"My Winnipeg"
On the other end of the budgetary scale, yet just as eye-pleasing as any Hollywood event, Guy Maddin's latest is a good introduction to his work as well as a bit of a departure for him. It's ostensibly about his Canadian hometown, but in the spirit of his great "Brand Upon the Brain!" filters its information through Maddin's unique impressionist viewpoint. The idea running throughout is that the narrator wants very badly to get out of Winnipeg (a curious approach when you consider the film was commissioned by the city), but cannot. He's stuck on some sort of bus or train, trying not to nod off like the rest of the populace, who literally sleepwalk through the eternally snow-shrouded streets. His mission is to revisit all the places that tie him there one final time, to reminisce and ultimately obtain some sort of closure. Naturally, most of the facts he conveys about Winnipeg are dubious at best. Unless there actually is a team of ancient hockey greats that still meets for epic ice clashes in the ruins of the historic stadium, or a second pair of phantom rivers underneath the forked Red and Assiniboine rivers, or the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, with whom Maddin collaborated on 2002's "Dracula: Pages from a Virgin's Diary," was founded by an occultist who used early productions to disguise séances which contacted the spirits of gay buffalo, we instead get glimpses of how Maddin sees, rather, would like to see, the Manitoban capital. He even restages moments from his youth in what he says is his old house, bringing in actors to play his siblings alongside his "real" mother, who is actually cult '40s femme fatale Ann Savage playing Guy's TV actress mom. Yet, while firmly centered on a single, unrecognizable place and one life lived there, the emotions put forth in "My Winnipeg" are universal. Anyone from a place marked by mundanity that is both cozy and oppressive can identify with a need to find elements of the mythic, fantastic or plain-out bizarre among the unassuming uniformity. And who doesn't feel cheated or abandoned when they see mainstays of their childhood altered or demolished? Since much of the film looks like signature Maddin (intentionally grainy black-and-white, jump cuts, emphatic intertitles), its occasional color digital video shots of contemporary Winnipeg become its most jarring images. What starts as a petulant rant evolves into an indisputable ode at its conclusion, a little sad and very sweet. In his usual magnificent, roundabout way, Maddin touches and entertains, and maybe even informs.

OK, how's about checking out some other stuff? Here are two CD reviews (Unicycle Loves You and GZA/Genius), plus my chat with Rob Kleiner of Chicago genre benders Tub Ring. Their groovy debut for The End Records, The Great Filter, didn't make any of my way-drawn-out 2007 music retrospectives, but only because I hadn't heard it until recently. I remember first seeing Tub Ring the summer after I graduated from high school. It doesn't feel so long ago, but it was actually 15 years. Jesus. Also, expect a new playlist with all new music soon-ish.